Chapter 1 : Resolve
Hi guys! This is my first fan-fiction ever, and welcome to my first chapter of this story!
There are many stories that I love, but I hope that my story isn't a copy of anyone else's work.
I don't own anything other than what I have written, the actual characters belong to Riot Games.
Thanks for reading my story. :3
I awoke with a start, bolting upright in my bed, breathing heavily with sweat trickling down my face. I have never had a nightmare before, only dreams and fantasies of the unknown world that I hoped to learn more about. This was a first for me. I looked around my room and after realising that it was just a bad dream I decided to back to sleep.
After about 10 minutes, I decided that it was futile and shifted my legs over to the side of my bed. Once I was up and about, I moved toward the balcony doors of my room. Opening them slowly, I tried not to make a sound as I knew my family was trying to get some much needed rest. The last thing I wanted to do now was wake my brother, Garen, up from his beauty sleep since I knew how important it was to be on your toes when fighting the Noxian hordes.
Not first hand, obviously. Mainly from my academic works and historical extracts. Stepping onto the cold stone of the balcony, I noticed how beautiful Demacia was in the mornings. Albeit, at around 2 in the morning most people aren't awake giving me some time to think with how quiet it was. There was a slight chill in the air, as it is when you are awake so early and the sun hadn't come up yet.
I looked out over Demacia, the bright golden colour of all the houses reflecting moonlight back towards the moon as if to be as defiant as possible. Our family's home was up upon a hill giving me the best possible view in all of Demacia, aside from the top of the library's tower. I smiled at that, thinking that I'd love to just stare at the city all morning from up there. If I could get up there, that is.
When after about half an hour had passed, I turned away from the scenery and toward my door when I heard around two people moving hastily with hushed whispers. Even as they walked hastily down the staircase, which lead from the top floor (where the sleeping chambers of my family resided) to the manor's main hall, they spoke but the words were drowned out by distance.
I assumed it might have been Garen as I know that he goes on early scouting missions with his vanguard, as a precaution to protect their home they love so much. As for the other person, I figured it must have been one of Garen's scouts that was allowed to enter the manor freely. I always wondered why he seemed tired, but I dismissed the thought as I assumed it must be because he worked so hard. Now, I know why.
Another 30 minutes passed, and I decided that it'd be a good idea to try to get more sleep as I had to go to the Library of Demacia in the morning. The library was where most Demacian citizens and academics became educated through their younger years. Since I was not old enough to join the military (Not that I wanted to, but that is what is expected of me), I studied at the library– learning about the wonders of Valoran.
Garen is an exception. He joined the army at a very young age and received an education from the scribes that travelled with the military. The scribes mainly travelled with the army whenever the troops were mobilised in mass, so that they could document any events that would unfold and record it as a part of Demacia's history.
The sunlight broke through the thin curtains, shining on my face with no remorse as I awoke suddenly. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I yawned and stretched out my arms as far as they could go before falling back down on my bed, arms extending to the ends of the bed with my eyes wide open staring at the ceiling of my room. "Can't the sun just wait 5 more minutes before rising?" I groaned to nobody in particular before resolving to get up and take a shower.
Shifting my legs over the edge of my bed, I got up and moved towards the bathroom. There was a long white curtain that was draped over a white-silver coloured bar that was fixed to the wall above the archway that lead into the bathroom.
In the bathroom, you'd see on the left wall was the basin, in which you could wash your hands. The far right corner had a bathtub about double the size of an average one. In the far left corner there was the shower which was surrounded by glass panels that prevented the water from spilling out all over the bathroom floor. In between the bathtub and the shower and against the wall was the toilet. Just above the large bathtub, was a sandblasted glass window which allowed the morning sunlight to grace the room with its presence without being wholly transparent. Next to the bathtub was a small table which held things like soap and and small towels. There were similar looking tables next to the basin and shower.
Entering the bathroom, I walked toward the shower and turned the knob of the hot water tap counter-clockwise to open it. As I did that, it spluttered clear streams of warm water onto the shower floor, and then doing the same with the cold water valve adjusting it until I found a temperature with which I was comfortable. Stepping out of the shower's enclosure while the water was still running, I slipped out of my nightgown. I walked back to the shower and the moment I stepped into the warm stream of water, I pretty much melted like snow when the sun comes out after a heavy snowstorm.
As the water massaged the bare skin on my back, I thought about the nightmare. Fragmented, as the memory of it was fading away, I remembered holding something forbidden. Something magical that only I could control. Yet, I feared what I held so much that it scared me.
I stood there for a good long while, before I decided to wash my face and hair. A moment later I turned both taps at the same time, clockwise, so as to make sure I wasn't frozen by the cold water when the hot tap was shut off.
I stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the small table as I passed it. I walked carefully so that I wouldn't slip on the tiled floors while drying my hair. After I had dried my hair, I carefully wiped down the rest of my body with accurate dabs with the towel. Once I had felt that I was dry enough, I wrapped a fresh towel around myself and walked out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom.
When I passed trough the white veil once more, I found one of my family's servants waiting patiently for me with a white dress that had been tailor fit for me. As it is when you are part of nobility.
"Good morning, Miss Crownguard. I trust you are well?" the servant said with a polite curtsy and raised the ends of her skirt slightly above her knees.
"I am feeling all right, I suppose. I didn't get as much sleep as I'd have liked. Come now silly, you know that don't have to be so formal around me, Dorothy! I've known you since I was tiny!" I said with a smile.
She smiled politely and said, "I know Miss, but your mother and father might not be too pleased if I were to start addressing members of their house so casually."
"Oh, come on! It's not like you'd get exiled. You pretty much run the house." I said as I walked up to Dorothy and playfully nudged her shoulder.
"I suppose so, but I'd still not like to get on their bad side. They have a close relationship with King Jarvan the Third and I'm sure they could do anything they wanted." she said with a slight trembling in her voice that was barely noticeable.
"Oh Dorothy, they aren't thaaat bad. I'm sure they care just as much about you as they do about me!" Lux said, smiling once more. "They'd do anything to protect our home, it's in their nature."
"You're right. I shouldn't doubt them." she said with a smile. She seemed comforted by my faith in my family. "Now, if you will, I chose this outfit from your wardrobe. I think it would look great on you if you were to put it on."
I looked at the outfit which she had placed on the small table in front of me. It was a white dress with gold accents trailing along the skirt forming unique patterns that would only be seen from the sides and from the back. The dress was accompanied by navy blue stockings which ran up to my thighs and a my signature blue headband that I always wore. Along with that, were a pair of brown, lightly-coloured knee-high boots.
Each article was familiar to me except for the armour on the table. Strange, I don't remember owning armour. On the table were light-looking pieces of chest armour, custom fit for me, that covered my chest up to around the top of my stomach, a pair of light steal boots and a pair of steel bracers.
"It's a little small for Garen, don't you think?" I said, giggling at my own joke.
Dorothy gave off a knowing grin, suppressing her laughter before saying, "It's yours, miss. Your brother originally had this set made for you for when you turned 18. He said to give it to you, since he's not going to be around for your birthday." frowning as she said that. As if she were somewhat troubled by those words.
I knew that it was not without cause, though. Dorothy is a person who cares deeply for family, and naturally she believes that when a person turns 18 that it is important that your family is there to spend it with you. The fact that Garen puts his duty to Demacia before his own sister made Dorothy question which of the two he cared about more. The set of armour said otherwise. Perhaps he cared in his own, boneheaded way.
"Woah, he had this made for me? That's actually quite thoughtful coming from someone who's never around when you need him." Dorothy looked at me sympathetically. The bitterness practically dripping from my words was all she needed to hear.
"I'm sure he wants to be here, Lady Luxanna. You know how much he loves Demacia. It's his home, the place where his family belongs. I have a feeling that he protects Demacia so that he can protect his family and friends, but you most of all." she said with a sympathetic look.
"I'm sure... The last time we had an actual conversation was when we were a lot younger."
"Maybe that is what he thinks about when he thinks about you.", she wondered aloud.
"W- what do you mean?"
"Lux, I've been serving the Crownguard family for many years. One thing I know about your brother is that he does things with every fibre in his being. If he could have been here for you, I'm sure that he would be. Whenever he talks about you, it feels as if he wants to talk to you, but can't? Like something is pushing him away. An external force perhaps?"
"He just doesn't want to get near me, I'm the little girl who can't protect myself. That's all I am to him!" I trudged toward the other end of the room in a bitter and silent rage that was not born of anger, but of loneliness and rejection. The room was tense now, it felt as though even the wind had died down to allow the emotions in my heart to calm down. Everything was silent. I then heard quiet footsteps, barely noticeable through my searing emotions.
As if to test the atmosphere, she walked up to me with measured and precise steps and wrapped her arms around my torso with a motherly comfort. I felt the tension leave me, my emotions tearing down my composure like a paper-thin wall.
I slowly turned myself towards her, so that my head was now on her shoulder. Her shirt would need replacing after the hailstorm of tears that I was about to unleash upon it. This is the first time in a long time that I feel like someone in my family cares. Someone who wants to listen to how I feel. Like a mother that every girl should have.
"Th-thank you, Dorothy...", I said as I cleared my eyes of salty-tear-water from my face. "Sorry about your shirt.", I giggled slightly, hoping to lighten the mood.
"It's good to cut loose every now and then. Letting your feelings swell like this is not good for you, and like with anything else it would prevent you from thinking rationally. I know that you are a strong and intelligent woman, Lux. Show them, your family, that you are more than just the youngest daughter of a noble family. Show them your Demacian pride!" she proclaimed as she moved my head to look into my eyes with the vigour of patriot that loves her country and all it stands for, but with a wisdom that is beyond the years of the many stewards of the royalty that give counsel to our ruler, Jarvan III.
"I-I will. I'll show them what it means to be a true Demacian."
After I said that, Dorothy straightened me up, assisting me with changing into something that wasn't drenched with salt water. It was then that I saw the gleaming armour once again, but this time it didn't shake me.
"...I'll show him what it means to be mighty." With defiance in my steps, I began to strap the armour on for the first time and with Dorothy's help, it moulded to fit me like a glove.
"Good, it suits you. Now, if there isn't anything more that you need my help with Ms Crownguard... I must take my leave." she said as walked towards the door with a bright smile plastered on her face.
"I understand, thanks again!" I yelled to the other side of the room.
Brimming with a new-found positivity, I prepared myself for the day ahead. My new armour shining bright, my journey is just beginning... No one would have guess what my life had in store for me.