Janus came to a sudden halt. Something was wrong.
He steadily turned his gaze, taking in the area. This part of Zaun wasn't particularly pleasant to look at, especially not during night. Filthy concrete walls covered with grime and graffiti towered over him, they were all that separated him from the ominous black pillars that passed as buildings in the daytime. The walls crossed and intersected seemingly randomly, creating a labyrinth of dark narrow alleyways that were more covered with opaque puddles and debris that they were honest pavement.
Janus allowed himself a scowl. As much as he hated this sight, it wasn't wrong. Zaun had always been this disgusting, in fact before he had begun his work it had been worse. At least now these alleys were free from glowing toxic waste and oil colored blood. He had worked so hard for so long, but the city was starting to change – after all these years he was starting to save this wicked place.
And all that work would mean nothing if he couldn't complete this patrol. Something was happening, something terrible, but what was it?
A gale blew down the alleyway, it was strong enough to blow some of the garbage at Janus's feet away out of his sight. Any normal person would have found the wind biting and harsh and cold, but Janus found it to be a pleasant breeze. The wind here was his ally; it had taken him some time, but he had managed to tame it, to earn its trust. He could manipulate the currents as other people would control their limbs. And this particular gale had a message for him.
He closed his eyes shut hard, forcing out every sense out of his mind except for touch. He studied the breeze carefully – every place it rushed over his skin, every tiny change in direction is billowing cloak made, every tiny inflection pressure it placed on the hairs of his body. He studied the message carefully until he understood it.
North.
Janus took a tight grip of his scepter as he began to march. North of the business plaza was a residential area. Home to the estates of some of Zaun's barons and politicians. Janus could feel his skin crawling at the thought of having to go there, despite all of his work those people still lived lives of luxury and excess while less privileged Zaunians lost their lives to disease and hunger every day. Still, he couldn't help but think that at least things would be slightly more aesthetically pleasing as he stepped on the rotted carcass of an animal too misshapen to identify.
Janus had been on the move for slightly under ten minutes. But, despite the winds trickling tiny amount of information to him, he still wasn't entirely sure what he was going to encounter.
The air was warm around his arms – whatever was happening was still going on. It was as cold as ice around his neck – it was almost over. It tasted sweet – people were hurt, maybe dead.
A sharp gust blew across his chest, stinging like a scythe had slashed across his skin – he was almost there. He took a loose hold of his staff and quickly swung it out in front of him. The winds changed their movements at once, turning to coil around Janus's legs in a miniature tornado. The hazy gale lifted his feet off of the ground easily, as if he had always been weightless. He no longer needed to run, the winds carried him faster than any human could move. He loved moving like this, it almost always brought a cheerful smile to his face. But tonight he didn't feel any joy in it. The wind blowing past him as he flew was harsh and hot – it tried to warn him of something terrible.
It came too late.
Something shimmered in the darkness ahead of him. Moving on instinct, Janus's head shot to the side. Something struck his cheek, sending a cold shock through his face. He made a sharp turn to his left, with a wave of his palm the winds supporting him died out, dropping him hard in what felt like garden soil. He tumbled his way out of the fall, quickly springing into a careful crouch.
He was still, only moving his eyes to observe what was around him. He was in a courtyard filled with tiny patches of greenery, the walls and buildings around here were smaller than Zaun's usual, smooth and clean too. Probably the entrance to some Baron's estate, Janus didn't care, he was too focused on what lay on the pavement path he had been following. A thin piece of smooth metal reflected the dim glow from the lanterns that hung in a web from the trees around him. It curved ever so slightly into a pointed tip and it had a thick black section on its back…
A sharp noise cried out, followed by a blunt thunk. Janus jolted his gaze to his side. A few inches from him was a dagger that wasn't there a moment ago. Janus had just started to feel surprised when he felt a cold wind blow across his neck – a warning.
Janus bolted from his position, leaping to a stand and spinning around to see a woman standing closer to him than his own shadow.
"Hello." The woman smiled, brushing away a misplaced lock of her scarlet hair. "You're pretty light on your feet aren't you?"
Janus felt a surge of gust pound against his shoulder. He juked to the opposite side as the woman's arm flew upwards, another dagger passed over him, just far enough to not cut into his skin.
"Annoyingly light." The woman complimented in a shrewd voice.
"Who are you?" Janus pressed, regaining his balance. It was difficult to make out her features in such low light, the pitch black skin suit that only separated briefly at her mid riff didn't help. Though if he focused his eyes enough he could swear he could see a deep red scar running across her face.
"Just a tourist." The woman smiled coyly. She made a quick shrugging motion that flowed into a spinning motion that sent daggers swing toward his face. Janus didn't need the wind to warn him this time – he sprung backwards, making the dagger miss him by just millimeters. The woman abruptly stopped her spin, standing still she only glared at Janus with confused frustration. She clearly expected that last attack to do the trick.
Janus took advantage of the distraction, swinging his staff in a wide arc behind him. He summoned the winds to him, they coiled around the staff's tip and pushed along with Janus's swing back toward the intruder, creating enough thrust to crush the shell of a decently sized krug. The woman had started to move to avoid the attack, but it came too fast and too strong. Janus allowed himself to wince away just at the precise moment it met her body.
Instead of the expected roar of shattering bone, a sharp shrieking sound cut through the air. Janus stumbled as he finished his swing. There had been no resistance; no blood or screaming; he had hit nothing.
Janus warily turned back to where his foe had been standing, seeing only a shining cloud of crimson and silver dissipating up into the sky.
"Okay I'll admit, that was impressive." The woman's voice mocked.
Janus turned to see her leaning against a tree, several meters away from where she had been just a second ago. She was totally unharmed, not a single crimson hair out of place.
"Of course." The woman shrugged. "Anything would be impressive compared to them." She nodded her head deliberately to her side.
Janus took the message and looked where she wanted him too. In the distance, at the edge of the garden where the actual compound began, a trio of armored bodies lied on the ground motionless on top of dark crimson puddles.
"Don't bother if that's what you're thinking, they're long dead." The woman warned.
"Guards?"
"Not very good ones, they didn't even last a minute." The woman smirked as she removed a blood-soaked dagger from her belt and playfully slashed it through the air.
"I'll ask you again. Who are you? What are you doing here?" Janus's voice became sterner.
"More like what I've done really. Past tense. The owner of this place is… was some wannabe warmonger, hoped to turn a turn a profit through escalating gang violence."
"You're a vigilante?" Janus accused, unsure of how he felt throwing that word around at other people.
The woman looked surprised for a moment before bursting into a loud chortle strong enough that she had to clutch at her stomach.
"No – ahaha – oh gods no…" she slowly regained herself. "He ended up… overestimating himself, made a few enemies in Noxus and so I came to kill him!" She still wore the smile from laughing.
"Noxus?" Janus's grip on his staff tightened. If there was one place he held more contempt for than Zaun, it was Noxus. That nation had taken Zaun's corruption and blood and turned it into an artform – practically integrated it into the very structure of its administration.
"Noxus…" Janus let his anger cool. "Noxian assassin with daggers and… what I assume is teleportation… you are Katarina Du Couteau."
"Katarina" 's eyes widened at her mention. "That's pretty clever of you. And what if I am?"
Janus did not give an answer, just heavy seething. He let his rage return. The winds noticed his agitation and began to slowly sweep around him in a spiral.
"I've heard of your… shall we say exploits? Your body count is greater than anyone I've ever met."
"Oh my, I have a fan. How cute." Katarina smiled.
"I am no fan!" Janus roared. "It was a mistake to leave your home. I will bring you to justice."
"You'll try." Katarina sighed. "Just like aaaallll the others did." she pushed herself up from the tree and gave a wide vertical stretch.
Janus had just begun to move when she gave a quick laugh and disappeared into nothingness with the same shrill sound as before. Janus straightened himself and let his eyes dart across the courtyard. He couldn't see any trace of her, nor did he expect too. The wind proved to be better eyes, casting a warm feeling on the crease of his neck. He loosened his grip on his staff and thrust it upwards. A semi visible sphere of hazy white wind bled out from the staff's tip and enveloped Janus. Through the milky cloud, Janus could still feel the winds, they poked at his sternum like icy lances until he looked in the direction they wanted him to.
The tiny glimmer of metal in the moonlight was a fleeting sight as the daggers flew straight at him. Janus's training stopped him from flinching as the blades reached the final foot of their deadly journey. They changed their directions violently, flying off into the far reaches of a small garden.
"I hate mages, some people find their tricks fun – I just find them annoying." The now familiar voice informed from behind. Janus turned to see Katarina poking her hand at the wind bubble that surrounded him, giggling as the gales pushed her fingers away.
"But, this is a little fun I suppose. I'll see about getting one of my House's mages to learn some wind magic." Katarina withdrew her hand and drew a fresh dagger.
"My magic is too pure for the likes of Noxus." Janus warned.
"Now that's hurtful, who do you think you are?"
"The man who finally brings you to justice."
"Riiiiight…" Katarina rolled her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion.
"Enough!" Janus shouted. He lurched forward to grab at Katarina's arm. She dodged the advance and quickly snaked around to just outside of his reach. She flicked her dagger forward, holding onto it tightly as the shield's gales tried to repel it.
Janus turned his staff and thrust the blunt end forward, aiming for Katarina's forehead. She didn't even appear to be looking at the weapon, but still ducked under it. She reached up and grabbed a hold of the weapon before Janus could make another blow. She didn't have the strength to wrench it from him, instead she pushed it to the side as she slipped up, using it to control her leverage she spun quickly, slamming a kick into the side of Janus's shield. The wind sputtered a roar as it temporarily lost control of its shape.
Janus grunted, while the wind repaired itself he focused his strength into his arms and took control of his staff back. Katarina briefly looked surprised when it was forced out of her grasp and even more so when Janus sent it back, smashing into the side of her face. The small grunt of pain she made quickly transitioned into an angry growl as she recoiled away. Janus spun back, swinging the staff for a follow up. Had Katarina been a millisecond slow her face would have taken the full force of the blow, instead only a few of her hairs were pushed away as she dodged by the slimmest of margins.
She raised up another dagger and began coiling her stance as she steadily paced in a circle, scanning for the best place to strike.
Janus decided not to give her a chance. He took a hand off of his staff and thrust an open palm at the assassin. The winds understood his intentions and darted to wrap around his limb like a tight brace. They squeezed hard into his skin, causing pain for just a moment before they launched themselves forward in the direction of his palm. The spinning air bullet was invisible to Katarina, she had no reason to attempt to dodge or guard. The air cracked and boomed across the courtyard when it impacted against her arm.
Katarina could only shout half formed profanities as she was forced off her feet and thrown into a nearby wall. The impact was heavy, enough to partially shatter some of the clay tiles that lined the wall's surface. Katarina slumped down, having to prop herself up with her arms, lest she fall headfirst into the ground.
"That… hurt…" Even from meters away, Janus could hear her heavy breaths.
"That really… fucking hurt you stupid fucking asshole!" Katarina shouted as she picked herself up. Her stance was uneven and hunched – she was clearly in great pain. Still, Janus was impressed. Every other person he'd used that kind of force against had been instantly defeated, but judging by the cold hate in her glare this woman was far from defeated.
Katarina's smile was far larger. "Look, iI'll admit, that was cool, but I've had to live with my sister my entire life – I've had to survive against real magic. "You think I'm intimidated by your girly little spells?." She laughed up a spittle of blood, it didn't seem to bother her.
"What do you – girly? You're a girl."
"Your powers of observation are truly a marvel to behold." Katarina's voice was vacant of emotion. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a trio of fresh blades.
"Please put those away, don't make this harder for yourself." Janus felt more pride than sympathy saying that.
Katarina laughed as she straighter her stance. The human body had hundreds of ways of displaying it was injured, in an instant Katarina had gone from displaying several dozen of them to showing not one indicator of pain. Her pose was just as perfect as it had been at the beginning of the fight.
"Alright then. Let's get serious." Katarina said, sounding bored.
"Serious? You treat this like a game?"
"A girl has to have fun somehow, and all of the bars are closed." Katarina put on a friendly smile.
"You are a special kind of insane. I warn you again, you cannot defeat me."
"Oh please." Katarina licked at the tip of one of her daggers. "I killed the last hundred people that said that."
Janus felt cold winds pierce at his back like icicles.
Another ear-splitting sound, like metal scraping against itself cut through the air. The sheer harshness of the noise made Janus flinch. He regained himself within a split second, but when he did Katarina had vanished, as far as Janus could tell he was simply alone now.
The wind new better, forcing a warm draft over his head. Janus glanced up in time to see three blades falling upon him. His wind shields easily blasted the first two away the moment they made contact, the third blade resisted the winds' push for a few seconds before receiving the same fate as its companions.
"Where did –" Janus was interrupted by a pulse of hot air to his backside. He was barely turned around when another volley of daggers made their impact against his barrier. They were repelled away without much difficulty, but they had dealt notable damage to the shield's structure. the winds desperately turned and tossed over each other to rebuild the perfect spherical shape. Their work was constantly interrupted by flying blades. Coming from Janus's right, then from his left, then above him, then from behind.
It was dizzying. No more than a second would pass after a blade struck the barrier when another would strike at a different location. Janus could feel the winds screaming in frustration as they fought to reconstruct the shell. There was too much to repair to focus on maintaining the proper shape and slowly the shield started to distort and stretch and twist into an ugly nebulous blob that spasmed and struggled like a rat king after every dagger strike.
Janus wanted to comfort the winds, to aid or encourage them, but he had to focus on what they were too busy to do – finding the assassin. His scanned the courtyard as well as he could, the lighting was dim to be sure but he knew he should still have been able to see any person within knife-flinging range. The fact that he had to keep moving to try and keep up with the knives' rapidly changing trajectories didn't aid him.
It had been a long while since Janus felt frustrated in a battle. This didn't make any sense - to move so quickly between places and attack from them, no one could move this fast without arcane assistance. But there were no clouds of smoke from her previous disappearances, nor could Janus sense any mana besides his own.
A small breeze cut across Janus's arm and coiled loosely around his staff. Janus understood the message and allowed himself a heavy sigh when he realized the winds were right. He rose the staff above him and began to channel his mana upwards, sparring only the bare minimum required to maintain his barrier. The staff quickly began to glow, shining a rapidly brightening azure light that lit up the entire courtyard. Most normal citizens would have been awed to behold such an amazing mastery of the arcade, but Janus new the truth.
The spells he had learned from the ancient Ionian scrolls had been brimming with the information and wisdom of their creators. Notes and tips for every situation they could imagine.
The only thing written for this spell were the instructions for performing it and instructions to never use it.
No more than a few second had passed an already the winds around Janus were wild; had anything been near him it would have been torn apart from Mach four winds. If the assassin was attempting anything, Janus didn't notice. All his attention was set firmly on maintaining control of this conjuring. The winds, his loyal partners under most circumstances were becoming ferocious; like flurrying feral dogs they screamed of a desire to slaughter and raze.
Eventually the spell was ready, Janus's staff was pouring out an azure blaze potent enough to blind anyone foolish enough to focus their gaze upon it for longer than a moment.
Just as Janus made the final motions of the incantation doubt crept into his head. The last time he had used this spell it had been to destroy a quartet of hex-tech flayer golems. Surely using this on a single woman would be overkill?
No; Janus reaffirmed his mind as he slammed his staff on the ground. The tales of Katarina Du Couteau's skill and accomplishments were legendary. She had hundreds of murders to her name, and those were just the ones that could be proven. Janus would never have another chance at ending this if he didn't use his full strength. He probably wouldn't even survive if he didn't either.
The winds were becoming terrible. Deafening whirlwinds tore apart the air above Janus as they raged just on the brink of his control. He no longer sensed any communication from the winds, they could not offer their encouragement as his muscles burned and his bones shook. He felt the urge to scream when a slicing pain started to shoot him. At first he though a dagger had managed to strike him, but this pain was far greater than anything a mere weapon of metal could inflict.
Janus could wait no longer. With a triumphant shout he let go of his mana and in an instant all of his control over the rampaging winds was lost.
It happened in the space of a few seconds; hundreds of violent currents burst from around Janus and shot across the courtyard. They twisted and coiled like serpents that created ear shattering booms when they collided. The trees and flowers were torn from the ground as if they had been simply plucked like vegetables from a garden. The dirt paths were annihilated leaving craters meters deep and the walls and other stone work were ripped into gravel in seconds.
Janus let his shield dissipate and his arms go limp. barely holding onto his staff. It may as well have just been a stick now; his mana had been completely depleted. The winds were silent to him, he couldn't call upon them if he wanted to.
He warily stood himself up in the new miniature wasteland. The Baron's estate was gone, just a few pieces of debris indicating it ever existed. Everything else was simply gone, only dirt and dust survived the winds' wrath.
He allowed himself a heavy sigh, knowing that he got off lucky, a warrior of her reputation could have caused him no amount of grief; it was fortunate she had underestimated him. Still, it was regrettable that he couldn't have taken her alive. Janus hated the thought of murder, but this was one very rare case he could excuse himself. Noxus was a fearsome destructive beast that hungered endlessly for conquest, but thanks to his actions here it had been partially declawed.
Janus trudged forward in the vague direction of home. There would be no end to his work tomorrow, when he would have to give a great many explanations to a great many people, but for now he could rest.
He felt something on his shoulder, at first, he considered it being a sore muscle, drained of all its might and attempting to rebel against the rest of his body. It became heavy, pressing down and gaining form as it pressed hard enough to slow his movement.
He spun around quickly, raising himself as close to a combat pose as he could.
Katarina DuCoteau stood before him, her hand nearly gripping right through his shoulder. She was a sorry sight, her previously smooth skin was now covered in bruises and cuts and dirt that turned to mud in her sweat. A thin stream of blood poured down from her forehead across a weary face. It looked as though she was putting all her life force into just maintaining an angry glare through her sunken eyes.
"You…are…" Janus's astonishment slowed his words.
"Alive." Katarina growled with a dry and rasping voice that had no trace of her previous confidence. She threw her other arm up and swung a loosely closed fist. It made a hard wet sound as it crashed into Janus's cheek. The blow was lacking in strength, having no more power than a schoolgirl's slap, but Janus was weakened too, and that small amount of force was enough to hurt him.
He nearly fell, catching new footing only at the last possible moment. Katarina's stance was no less clumsy, she teetered like a drunk as she moved upon. Janus started to move to counter, but her next attack was already halfway to him by the time he was in position. Her fist hit him hard on the top of his skull and he shouted as he fell to the dirt.
"I'll give it too you…" Katarina huffed as she came to stand above him. "That fucking hurt…"
"Glad I could impress." Janus tried to get his body to move, but only received screams of tiredness from his muscles.
"Maybe there is something too you after all." Katarina coughed a laugh.
"How are you alive? How could anyone survive that storm?"
"I almost didn't if it makes you feel better. I had to make several full distance jumps in a row, take my word for it, that's actually really difficult."
"I see…" Janus said with unintentional admiration.
"But don't feel bad, that was still impressive, I think I kind of like you."
Janus didn't bother to comprehend her words, he had work to do. His body screeched in defiance as he forced strength out of his muscles. He rose quickly enough to surprise the assassin who just stared in astonishment as he wound up and threw his own punch.
It never connected, his arms gave out half way through and is fist just fell limp to his side. Janus looked up in fear at Katarina who was realizing now that she had truly won this fight. Janus's mind began to fill with horrific thoughts about how this would end, he had not expected to die today. But before he could figure out his last words a warm feeling began to grow around the back of his neck.
He had just enough time to notice how dark everything was becoming before he stopped feeling anything.
Sensation returned to him gradually. First just a piercing chill in his legs that crawled up the rest of his body, igniting feeling in his other limbs as it traveled. He then became aware of how much his muscles ached, the radiating pain of weakness made him cringe, there was something else too – a weight. Either his body was suddenly too heavy for his muscles to lift or some great weight was pushing down on him; he couldn't tell.
His sense of time was one of the last things he regained. After some failed attempts at recalling what had happened to him he ventured that opening his eyes would be a decent first step. He warily raised his eyelids, and something like tiredness fought against it, but he still managed to do so without difficulty. There was a lack of light wherever he was, he had to wait a small bit longer before his eyes adjusted. He immediately drew his attention to the light source – a torch with a dim flame attached to the wall.
He then moved to analyze the rest of his surrounding and had to fight back a sense of panic.
A dungeon; maybe a torture room? Too large for a simple cell to be sure. It was a simple room, four walls of cobblestone that seemed like they had their color forcibly ripped out of them. A single pillar of dark wood reinforced by cast iron supports kept the ceiling – which looked to be constructed from ash tree – from falling. The floor was simple pale grey stone covered in a fine layer of dust and dirt.
Janus could make out faint outlines of furniture dotting the edges of the room. What looked like stone benches of a smooth and reflective material were positioned around wooden cabinets and shelves with a single ornate wardrobe standing alone at the far corner. Various instruments and tools were neatly organized on some of them, some were recognizably metal, others were of indeterminate material.
His surroundings initially worried him – where was this? How did he get here? And other similar questions danced in his head until he noticed his personal situation and forgot all about the room.
He was bound to a slab of wood, that was tilted back at just the slightest angle to prevent him from dangling vertically from the metal shackles firmly attached to his wrists and ankles. He struggled against them, but couldn't elicit even a budge. Not that he tried for very long, he was soon distracted when he noticed he was naked. His fully body; every muscle, hair, and scar were on fully display. Most embarrassingly his penis just hung freely, and it seemed his leg shackles were placed and spread deliberately to give a full view of it.
Humiliation and frustration fought against reason for dominance in Janus's mind as he tried to make more sense of the situation. But what he had already observed about this room proved to be all there even was to see, even after what felt like hours of carefully studying everything he saw he couldn't make out anything resembling a clue.
Without his eyes to tell him anything, he tried to listen to the winds, but felt nothing. Janus was horrified and for a moment began flailing against his bindings in panic. Since first learning to harness them all those years ago, Janus had never been without the winds. They had become a part of him just as much as his own limbs were, but now he felt amputated. No changes in temperature or pressure, no tiny breezes that brushed against his hair – nothing but stale and still air. Was this underground? How far down could he be that there was so little airflow?
As disturbing as the thought of being without his winds was, Janus forgot about it when he looked straight down his body. His cock was the only part of him not completely exposed, a small device covered it. A shining ring of cold metal clutched tightly around where his shaft and sack connected to his body. Connected to the ring was a series of iron rods with less than a centimeter separating them that followed the curve of his shaft until they collided in a solid mesh just ahead of his cock's head.
Janus writhed his body as much as he could, trying to shake the cage off, but the ring clutched tightly around his member and a tiny brass padlock kept the pieces firmly together.
"What in the hell is going on?" He asked in confusion and frustration. There was no one around to answer him, but his mind had already started guessing answers.
The last things he remembered were… Zaun. He was in Zaun… doing his normal patrol… there was a… battle? He fought someone… a woman… Noxian…
Janus glared as he remembered Katarina.
It took hours for his suspicions to be confirmed when finally, the door creaked open and the Red-haired assasain walked in. Her hair was the only part of her recognizable. She was wearing a simple deep purple night-gown that was somehow less provocative than her combat attire. There wasn't a single weapon on her body, just the soft reflection of torchlight.
"Katarina…" Janus managed to keep his voice calm.
Katarina looked surprised at first, like she hadn't expected him to be awake, but that faded quickly to the confident grin she wore during their battle.
"Well good morning there. Finally awake?" she asked.
"Where is this?"
"My home, or rather the dungeons beneath it. Don't worry you're still only on the first floor of them. The conditions only get really bad in the third."
"Your home?" Janus's neck tensed. "I'm in Noxus?"
"Mhmm." Katarina nodded.
"We fought in Zaun… that's at least a week away from the Noxian border."
"And you've been asleep for three weeks." Katarina explained. "You talk in your sleep by the way."
"Three weeks?" Janus asked, astonished. "You… knocked me out… but –"
"Well I couldn't transport you or treat your wounds too well if you woke up and started struggling, now could I? I have a… let's say friend who is good at making potions. One of them down your throat and you're forced into a sort of hibernation."
"That sounds like a good deal of effort to go through for someone you tried to kill. Why am I alive and why am I here?" Janus asked shrewdly.
"Always straight to the point with you huh? You could at least ask me nicely." Katarina gave a small laugh.
"What do you want from me?" Janus remained stern and stoic.
Katarina gave an overly theatrical sigh. "I'll have to work on teaching you proper manners first it seems." She paced across the room to stand in front of Janus.
"Look" she leaned up on her toes to bring her face into clear view. She tapped her finger against her forehead and Janus soon realized she was pointing to a mostly faded scar.
"You gave that to me. It took the best healers I could buy to fix me up after what you did to me." Katarina smiled. "Except for this here, I chose to keep this."
Janus knew he was expected to ask why, he wasn't going to let her control this conversation. "You should be dead, that spell could have killed a drake."
"Well it's a good thing I'm not a drake." Katarina said as she backed away to lean against the room's center pillar. "I'm tougher than I look, dog." Katarina pounded her fist against her chest.
"Dog?" Janus asked.
Katarina smiled. "And now we get to the fun part of this conversation."
"I don't think I want to know your definition of fun." Janus replied, the Noxian's smile grew.
"You probably know a bit about me, I mean who hasn't?" Katrina shrugged.
"I know… enough."
"Well you know I'm nobility, part of the 'proud Du Couteau family'."
"You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, congratulations." Janus spat.
"Not in the slightest actually. The Du Couteau family prides itself on producing only the best and brightest – pinnacles of Noxian values. You have any idea what that last bit entails?"
"Moral depravity?"
"I'd be angry with you if you weren't right. Killing, blackmailing, poisoning, stealing – everything that makes people like you hate me was drilled into me my whole life."
"And? Ami supposed to feel sorry for you?" Janus mocked.
"Not at all, I'm rather grateful for it." Katarina propped herself up and strolled back over to stand by Janus's hanging body.
"I've gotten good at it all. Those people you saw I killed, they were supposed to have been 'the best Zaun had to offer'. How sad for Zaun." Katarina sighed. "I'm the best damn killer in the world, and one of the best liars and thieves. But there is more than just that expected in this family you know? We didn't become the best house just from murder. Politics, economics, and scheming and acting like a 'proper lady' in the eyes of the public were… are also expected of me, but I've never been too good at those. And lately that's become a problem. Father says if my siblings and I are to be the faces of this family then we will have to be more 'presentable' and he's going to force it on us, so now in between assassinations I have to take dance classes." She sounded like she was about to gag on her last sentence.
Janus felt like he should make some dry remark, but any appropriate words failed him. Of course, Katarina was a vile woman and the things she was saying made her sound like a spoiled child, but there was something… off about how she was speaking. She still wore her confident grin, but her words were slow and somber, like she was putting great weight into them.
"And I can handle that, I don't like it, but I can handle it. The part that gets to me is… is why I brought you here."
"And why is that?"
Katarina sighed. "I've always been the kind of girl who's more hands-on, I prefer to do things with my own two hands and not rely on others."
"How noble of you." Janus couldn't resist a jab.
"Correct, it is noble of me. Us nobles here in Noxus are a little different than the pampered ones from Demacia and Ionia. We're expected to be self-sufficient and strong. But apparently, I'm somehow too good at this part. Father says it reflects poorly on the house if I never use anyone else, he says it makes it look like I'm not resourceful or capable of commanding respect."
"What?"
"I know right?" Katarina threw her hands up in frustration. "I've had maids and butlers since I was a little girl and plenty of slaves too, but I guess that's not enough because they're the family's and not 'mine'. So now we're all supposed to gather up some group of slaves or something before the end of the year or else we're cut out of the family line. Unbelievable isn't it?"
"Yes… unbelievable." Janus agreed with her in the most twisted of ways.
"Cass has managed to create a little pocket of political pawns she's blackmailing or something and Talon went and made himself a harem out of the daughters of lesser houses, its fucking gross, they just sit around in a chamber all day waiting for him to maybe pop in and fuck them…"
"Is that why… I'm here?" Janus failed to hide the worry in his voice.
Katarina leaned towards him, even with her face only coming up to his chest she still seemed so tall.
"I may have procrastinated a little, I don't have a single slave to call my own and time is almost up. So I figured if I couldn't accomplish quantity, I'd have to go for quality!" She smiled, so very proud of herself. "The problem was though, that I couldn't find anyone quality. The best I found were a few meatheads from the gladiator pits."
"You cannot be serious…" Janus said.
"Already figured it out? See? You're smart too." Katarina praised.
"Why… me?"
Katarina touched her scar once more. "You are the first person in a long time who's been able to hurt me like this. You're really strong – magically and physically, and if you were able to use such and advanced spell at such a young age, you must be pretty studious huh?"
"I'd like to think so, what of it?"
"You're perfect, you silly dog." Katarina cheered. "You're strong, smart, cute, young… you're even packing down here!" She patted her hand against the cage around his cock.
"You're going to be my all-in-one perfect slave!"
"Like hell I will, you should have just killed me." Janus said.
"Don't joke about that, I had a chance to kill you, but I didn't. I spared you and treated your wounds. Doesn't that mean you owe me your life? Doesn't that mean I own you?"
"What kind of twisted logic is that?"
"No?" Katarina cocked her head to the side. "I guess you're not as old fashioned as I thought. Doesn't matter, I have another way of making you agree."
"You think I'll… give into torture?" Janus sneered warily.
"Oh no no. " Katarina laughed. "I'm not stripped of my name just yet, I still have more power and influence than you could ever know. If I tell the right people the right words I can return Zaun right back to the way it was before you came along. Every little change you made undone in the space of a few months and the murders and rapists go back to ruling those streets."
"I won't let you!" Janus shouted, futilely pulling against his restraints.
"Calm down dog, I won't do anything if you behave. You're all about saving people, aren't you? You can save everyone if you just stay here with me. C'mon, be a hero- sacrifice yourself for the greater good." Katarina stroked the side of Janus's ribcage, chuckling at how the skin tightened and warped at her touch.
"You will be my slave, my pet, my butler – warrior, bodyguard, cook, chair, anything I desire, I know you're capable of it. And in return I won't do anything to harm your precious cities okay?"
Janus's blood boiled, but he controlled himself, with only a smoldering frown showing his emotions. This wasn't a battle he could win yet, it was better to wait for a more advantageous situation.
"I know it's a lot to take in so I'll tell you what, these first few days I'll go easy on you and give you time to adjust."
"How generous of you."
"Mm-hmm!" Katarina nodded. "In fact, why don't we start with the fun job?"
"The what?"
"Like I said, you have many new jobs now, but just tonight we'll focus on the fun one- my personal toy."
"T-toy?"
Katarina pulled a small shining key out of a pouch on her belt. "I'm not like most other girls, I have… particular interests." She explained as she twirled the metal around her fingers. "Most guys I've met haven't liked them and dropped out on me; the bastards. But you'll be different. You don't have the option of leaving me."
Katarina inserted the key into the slot on Janus's cock-cage, as she turned it everything clicked into place for Janus
"You want me to be your partner?" Janus said, his voice rapidly becoming unsteady as the cage was removed and his member freely exposed.
"Partner?" Katarina smirked. "As if you'd be that lucky. You're my toy, I'm going to play with you."
"I-I don't want to… you can't… do this."
"I already am stupid mutt, but don't worry I'll be gentle."
In the streets of Zaun, Janus had learned how to read people, to tell what emotions lied beneath their faces. Katarina smile was warm and comforting, but Janus could see the unmatched cruelty and depravity behind it. And for the first time in a long while, Janus felt terror.
She acted first, taking a hold of his shaft.
"D-Don't touch me!" Janus stammered.
"Don't be nervous dog, just relax."
Janus squirmed like a dying worm. In all his years of study nothing had ever taught him how to respond to this.
Katarina cradled the organ in one hand and gently stroked the head with her other, smiling as it twitched and shivered in response. It was effective though, within moments it had started to harden to the point that she didn't even need to hold it up. And despite Janus's grunts of protest, it was growing to nearly triple its size.
"Don't pretend you don't like it boy, you're not fooling me."
"Who… would enjoy something like this?" Janus asked through gritted teeth.
"Most boys, I would think." Katarina laughed. She put on more pressure, twisting and rolling the skin with each movement of her fingers. Sometimes she would pause and glance up at him with a seductive and lustful glare. She would take in the sight of his face twisting under the conflicting pressures of hate and pleasure, she would flash a sadistic smile before returning to teasing again.
Her playtime didn't last for much longer though, soon his cock was hard as steel and it was hard for her to toy with it in the same way. She was not deterred and changed her tactic. She took a full grip of the member, just barely able to fully connect her fingers around it. She began to slowly slide her grip along the length of the shaft. Only when did the first sounds of reluctant pleasure forced themselves out of Janus's mouth did she increase her pace and begin jerking him in earnest.
"There… calming down now?" Katarina asked. Janus's movements were less wild now, instead of flailing against his all his restraints at the same time, now the most he did was timidly squirming his legs. Katarina must have found this hilarious as she soon burst into loud childish laughter as she began to stroke even faster.
"S-stop. This isn't… funny!" Janus shouted, not hiding his embarrassment at all.
"You're a bit of a stick in the mud aren't you? I need to get you to lighten up."
Janus just turned his face away and grimaced. "You… conceited…"
Whatever attempted scathing remark he was going to make was replaced by an anxious gasp. Katarina had placed her tongue on the head of his cock. She didn't do anything else, she remained frozen bent over with not even her hand moving. She waited until the first shivers started spreading through his body before she moved again, running the tip of her tongue down the shaft and up his groin.
She quickly moved back down and brought her lips to cup around his dick, letting just the head into her mouth. She started jerking her hand again, much harder and faster than before while she began to lash her tongue at the urethra. All she had to do was start making some overly dramatic fake moaning and Janus was writhing again. He tried to speak, but only heavy anxious breaths came out.
Katarina's wits were far more with her. She carefully observed Janus's movements, right down to every individual twitch of his cock inside her mouth. His spasms were growing stronger, but the time between them was becoming longer. He was getting close.
Katarina rose upwards, taking her lips off his dick slowly enough to leave behind a trail of precum. She slowed her hand as well, till her handjob could barely be considered one at all. But it didn't matter, Janus was too close, he was past the point of no return. Katarina transition from stroking his cock to merely petting the underside, only putting pressure right under the head.
Janus could feel it. He clenched every part of his body he could in an attempt to stop it. Up until the cold rush shot through his lower body, he was trying to fight it.
Katarina seemed delighted; she smiled like a young girl getting a puppy for snowdown. She quickly maneuvered her hand in front his dick, to have the burst of cum splatter and collect in her palm.
"Listen closely mutt." She announced sternly, stroking her hand across Janus's stomach – deliberately smearing his own seed across his skin. It would remain there until whenever she would decide to bathe him.
"I hope you enjoyed it because it's one of the few nice things you're ever going to get to feel. The feeling of me stroking your pathetic little cock with my fingers or my tongue, the feeling of letting it spurt your little loads, the taste of my delicious wet cunt, my hand running over your head when I pet you… and of course the satisfaction of a warm meal and a comfy bed. Those are the only pleasures in your life now."
Katarina bent forward to press her bosom against Janus's body. She latched her hands around his torso, locking him in a demented parody of a cuddle. Janus ignored the urge to push her away, the bindings on his wrist prevented that anyway.
"You will grow to appreciate those pleasures, to anticipate and yearn for them. You will come to grovel and beg for them, you will do whatever I tell you to do in the hopes that it might convince me to give one of them to you." She ran her finger across his chest.
"Why… what makes you think I'll debase myself like that?" Janus spat in defiance.
"Because without them your life is going to be a non-stop regiment of pain, boredom, and discipline. You'll go mad without the happiness I offer."
"I don't want your 'happiness'."
Katarina laughed softly as she snaked her hand up to stroke Janus's cheek. She laughed hard when he started to blush. "You say that now. But you will – the pain starts tomorrow."
"What kind of pain?" Janus asked warily. Even the tiniest knowledge about her plan could mean a massive difference in any preparations he made.
"No-no." Katarina flicked her finger against his temple. "You don't get to ask questions like that. Try 'how was your day Mistress' or 'how may this dog serve you M'lady'?
"You… will pay for that… for everything." Janus warned, trying his best to sound imposing. Most Zaunians would at least pale when he used his sterner voices, but this woman just smiled at him like a young girl would stare adoringly at a new pet.
"I'll start by teaching you how to speak properly first. Look forward to it okay?" Katarina leaned up to place a kiss on Janus's face – just outside of where he might be able to bite.
"You… really meant what you said?" Janus asked, a slow horror dawning on him.
"Of course I did silly dog." Katarina said as she picked herself up, stretching before turning and strutting away from the display.
Janus wanted to say a hundred different things, each one trampling over each other in his mind trying to reach his mouth, but none could – he could only stare in silence as she grew further away.
When she reached the edge of the doorframe she turned back at him with a smile. "Good night boy, get plenty of sleep – you'll need it."
She casually walked out, gently closing the door behind her. Janus flinched at the heavy sounds of the locks moving into position to trap him here. He almost shouted out for her return, but he knew he would have nothing to say. He could use some time alone to think on his new situation, to form a plan or at least calm his nerves.
It took a few hours for the torches to burn out the last of their fuel, leaving Janus alone with darkness, cold, and his thoughts.
A/N
UUUUUGH. Took way too long to make this, and I'm so sorry for disappearing. I was able to settle into a rhythm at the beginning and end, but for most of this I just couldn't get any work done. I'm Awful T_T but I have every intention of stepping up my work game for the future!
Anyway, I'll be honest, this isn't entirely my thing. But when it got requested I was intrigued. I have great plans for this, and it'll be fun to do something different.
A shout out to my beta readers and ObeliskX for making the request!
As always tell me what you think! Love!
