(A/N): This is my first project _;, I'm open to critique and ideas for later chapters ^^
The pairing will be revealed later in the story ;D Thanks for reading!
Surrounded by clean white walls illuminated by the dazzling glow of a blooming chandelier the richest and most influential nobles in Demacia stood. Their witty topics spun out in threads of smooth voices that playfully chased each other in the large, exquisite room.
Lux beamed again, and gracefully lifting up her silk white gown, she modestly curtsied with a neat 'thank you' as another compliment was tossed of her match earlier today. It seemed every Demacian was humored by Katarina's humiliation Lux had pulled off today in the Summoner's rift. Oh, how merrily the party goers chatted up Lux with this news, repeating and echoing it under the bright crystal light above their heads.
The Lady of Luminosity had risen so far at such a young age, and she was bound to shine brighter before she went out. Across the room, the beautiful Lillia Crownguard herself fluttered between guests, basking in the glamour of her daughter's success. Turning from the scene, Lux swallowed her punch in a thirsty gulp. It was starting to become a little too bright.
While smiling and tossing greetings as well as thanks to recognizable faces, Lux made her way through the crowd undetected until she slipped out the open entrance and retired to her sleeping quarters a little early.
Stepping through the darkness, Lux slowly relaxed her shoulders and sank into her high heeled clip-clopping that rippled and echoed below the high ceiling. Heaving a sigh, she pulled out the crystal flower from her hair and ran her gloved fingers through her strained golden strands. She stuck the ornament back in her hair after soothing her scalp.
"I never think about negative things." She said, showing her teeth and slowly bringing her sore limbs to climb the grand spiral staircase which snaked up to her bedroom. She had just finished the last step when she heard faint sounds of seemingly familiar voices.
Garen had left to retire immediately after talking to Prince Jarvan, Lux reminded herself, and pretended, with a small giggle, that it wasn't an unfamiliar woman's voice he was conversing with. However, as she moved closer to her chambers, it was evident that the argument was coming from her own room, not Garen's.
The night of her first mission, as she slept in the corners of Noxus, was when she had learned not to ever be found without her weapon. Lux bitterly recalled the filthy Noxian slums as she pulled out her staff from underneath the right side of her soft white skirts. And with a deep breath, she carefully slipped out of her shoes and sneaked up with her bare feet.
"Garen, we don't need her." Muffled sounds of the woman's voice slipped into Lux's ears.
"She is skilful in what she does Kat."
"Yeah, in petty love spells to charm that poor handsome explorer, I'm sure."
"Luxanna isn't that kind of girl, Kat!"
By now Lux had crept up to the door to her room, breathing faintly and ready for the intruder. She grasped the doorknob and duly noted that Garen had let a Noxian general's daughter into her bedroom.
'Petty love spells.' Lux smiled wryly. She knew who she was going to aim for.
Throwing open the door with a loud slam, Lux cleverly threw her snare as Kat's red hair caught her vision. Kat, having her back turned to the door and nowhere to run, was hit dead on. Lux twirled her staff with grace as she prepared to cast a second spell, but stiffened as she felt a firm anonymous arm around her and a cold blade at her neck.
"Back from the party, I see." A low voice taunted Lux, cutting through her doubts. The Blade's Shadow, right on time.
"Talon DuConteau." Lux addressed him as she dropped her staff to her ground beside them, releasing Kat. The blade was immediately removed. Talon was known infamously as the loyal dog of General DuConteau, his adoptive father. That is, until the general disappeared and Katatarina joined the League leaving Talon to search of his whereabouts. Related by will, not by blood, were Katarina and Talon DuConteau, pity it was the opposite for the Crownguards. Hearing the door close behind her, Lux forced herself to calm down and moved forward.
"Lux!" Garen called as he helped a rather grumpy Kat up.
"Dear brother." Lux sighed, and glaring at Kat she continued, "You've brought two Noxians into my room. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Sister, I didn't mean to surprise you in this manner." Garen stepped in front of Kat, "I believed you would show up later. You always stick around for the parties."
Lux jumped a little as a loud snort erupted from behind her. She spun around to find Talon with his face in his hand. Had he laughed at her extravagance? Turning red, Lux hastily combed her mind for a clever insult but a small chuckle from Kat interrupted her.
"You guys need to loosen up." Kat sighed, trying to dismiss her laughter by waving her hand and Garen laughed along with her failed attempt.
Lux relaxed. So Garen too had secrets to pleasure himself with. How long had he known these two? Long enough to relax and laugh around them, of course. As Lux had sat and listened, Garen, free from the eyes of Demacia had done himself justice outside the Demacian honor. Underneath the Demacian rule that she hated could Lux only find her own justice through servitude and sacrifice. That was the only way she could have 'family'. And Garen was family.
"Alright Garen, tell me what's going on." Lux breathed, trying to calm herself down.
"Alright, well this is a rather long story…and it isn't really mine." Garen sat down on the bed grinned, and glanced at Kat. "Kat, would you?"
Kat too, perched on the bed, Lux's bed, (much to Lux's disdain) and gestured everyone else to follow. "Might as well sit down?"
Lux gave a small glance behind to Talon's feet. He apparently hadn't moved an inch but her weapon was now gone.
"No thanks." Lux smiled, "Begin?"
Eyeing Lux wearily, Kat began, "Well, as you know, Talon has been tracking down our father, General Marcus DuConteau, with me. After much digging, what we found was a little disturbing. Right after General Darkwill was assassinated, our father went missing. My father was to General Darkwill like Talon is to my father; he respected him for his power." Pursing her lips, Kat paused, "How much do you know about Swain?"
The Master Tactician, General of Noxuxs, those names that stirred up courage inside Demacians was no different for Lux as the clever strategist inside bubbled with excitement. "Other than what is normally given to us champions? Well, my summoner does tell me a few things here and there." Lux smiled coolly. "But being the 'Master Tactician' I guess I can safely assume he's quite the mastermind, especially when you think about the incident back in Kalamanda."
"Yes, and General Darkwill, at that time, was the one thing that kept him from ruling Noxus." Kat continued with bitterness, "Of course, the General's dog had to go too."
"However, that's not what we're here for. A few months ago, I managed to snag this file," With a flick, Kat pulled out a folded yellowed paper from her jacket, something alike the pages of the files summoners keep deep in the back of the Institute's library, "It's the earliest known file on Swain. He-"
"-Came in with a broken leg and a bird on his shoulder that wasn't there before." Lux finished, smiling smugly.
Kat carefully met Lux's gaze, and humbly added, "Maybe I should get friendlier with the summoners like you." She slowly pulled the paper back into her jacket, "But here's the most important part: it was apparent that he felt no pain. What could this mean?" Pausing for a smirk, Kat then continued, "Well, later on when your dear Prince Jarvan IV was captured by Jericho Swain, his secret escaped."
Jarvan was downstairs, attending his guests and arranging plans against Noxus. Lux duly noted that Jarvan had told Noxians this important information before her, one of his most trusted tacticians.
Garen spoke up, "…Yes, Prince Jarvan changed that day. He realized who Swain truly was. See, Lux, Swain is no longer Swain, he died that day he screwed up his leg. He contracted a demon to survive, the very demon that sits on his shoulder as a raven."
"And why would a man who believed in true strength contract a demon?" Kat added with a smirk, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
'It made sense.' Lux thought to herself, 'Back in the summoner's rift, when Swain dies, his bird calmly hops off and waits for him to respawn. And even Swain's powers seem to come entirely from his raven… And if he's using his contract to control Noxus… True power, my ass, he himself is the opposite definition of that very concept. And that's why Jarvan would do anything to have him dead… He would even side with Noxians.'
Lux clenched her fists. Slowly meeting Kat's eyes, she asked, "…How long was Prince Jarvan in on this?"
"Since that night Kat snuck into Demacia to assassinate the noble." Talon answered, suddenly beside Lux.
Lux paused and recalled when Garen and Kat had called off their soldiers in great chaos at Kalamanda. Her heart pounded loudly in her head as she let all of this outdated news steep in her mind. When Kat showed up right in Demacia wanting to tell Jarvan something about Swain not long before Lux had joined the League, Garen had held his blade against his own forces, protecting her.
"Yeah, we had one piece of the puzzle, they had the other." Garen laughed, "A great coincidence, really."
Lux's fists hardened as a dull pain engulfed her heart.
"And why did you tell me all this?" Lux spoke evenly, the image of a smiling Garen and intimate Katarina beside him burning into her eyes.
"Lux, your ability to bend light allows you invisibility. We need to know more about The Order of the Black Rose, Swain's original team, to find his motive. We need you to put out the war coming between Demacia and Noxus. Would you help us?" Kat asked.
Lux gave another glance to Talon, paranoid of his positioning. She wearily attempted to calm herself down and think about her answer. It was frustrating, how could they just expect her to be strung along on their plans after the silence all this time? They did need her, hell, this was what she did for most of hr life, and they probably would not take no as an answer. But being held prisoner in her own room was not going to convince Lux to do anything.
Slowly, she opened her mouth and began, "I work for Demacia's well-being. I can't let myself be distracted by other missions."
"Lux, please, we need you!" Garen groaned, "I was afraid you were still like this."
"Like what?" Lux asked innocently, staring down her brother and into his fierce eyes.
Kat sighed and stood, "Look, what we mean is that Jarvan is the will of Demacia, no? Well, if he's in on this, and you are too, you would be following his will. Demacians fight for justice, and doing this would be the same, right?" Reaching out her hand, Kat stepped forward towards Lux.
Stepping back, Lux's mouth opened to a decent reply, a social order she had grown accustomed to doing, but could find no words. Kat had played her game, reasoned with her in a way that mirrored her own. She was obviously not the foolish tool created for murder as Demacians knew her. She was cunning with her words yet honest with her meaning, and underneath it all, she was reaching out, being friendly. Something very un-Noxian-like. Lux already knew this mission wasn't about Demacia. It was about ending the war. But something seemed off with her charming smiles, her confident and intrepid voice. Perhaps Kat was trying to reach out to a Lux in the dark, or perhaps, she was just trying to bend Lux to her will. Either way, for Lux, the result would be the same.
"You pose a good argument; however, Prince Jarvan is not yet the ruler of Demacia. You should recognize where my loyalties lie." Lux replied with a mask of calm but her insides bubbled with content spite.
Kat pulled back her hand with a snarl and spoke with a hint of a laugh, she was done playing the game. "Lux. You're jealous aren't you? Jealous that the seemingly courageous and hard working brother you've always been forced towards had ironically actually been everything you wished to become all those years before you entered the military and died. You've lost your childhood, your dreams, you innocence and it has left you weak. You're jealous of his strength to move on, something you can't find in yourself."
Kat had stood up mid-rant and was now looking down at Lux breathing unevenly. Lux kept swallowed her satisfied smile and furiously began to think up her next retort. Something stupid that glorified Demacia and a nonchalant observation on Kat's rapidly changing attitude that made her untrustworthy sounded just about right. But a moment before it escaped her lips, she stopped herself.
What if Kat had offered Lux her hand and Lux had tossed it aside in honor of 'respecting Demacia'? Lux's lips thinned as glimpses of her mother and her father ran through the back of her mind. A vague feeling of loneliness filled Lux's heart as cold and strict faces grew further and further away from her leaving Lux spiteful and frustrated with herself for ever trying... She had become her mother's pawn, and grown into what she used to despise all those years ago as a confused child. Lux repeated her own words in her mind, full of contempt and jealousy. She shouldn't have let her spite take over her tongue.
"Kat got your tongue?" Talon asked, instantly getting a disapproving look from the other two.
"Seriously, Talon?" Kat sighed, exasperated. "Your sense of humor and timing are both trash."
Lux began as evenly as she could, ignoring the need to laugh at such an uncharacteristic comment and even more so, the growing pang that beat painfully in her heart. "Your theory is almost as disagreeable as I am, and it won't help a bit in convincing me." And unable to bear the situation any longer, she rushed to her window and leaped out in a flash.
Hearing sighs of frustration, and worried calls from Garen, Lux moved faster, frustration overcoming her as her dress pulled at her in complaint. She managed to find a grip on a sturdy wedge of uneven brick a little ways below her window and began to carefully scale down the wall before running out into the deep blue of the night.
Stepping into the courtyard, Lux sighed and slowed her pace. It wasn't far from her room, but nobody seemed to have followed her. Lux tried to kill the pang in her heart and the shaking in her fingers with a exasperated sigh. Her eyes twinged with the threat of tears and she bit her bottom lip to keep it all in. She took a seat at a shaded bench, towards the far end of the garden, not wanting to be seen losing composure.
"I have no reason to feel sad." Lux shivered, allowing her arms to wrap around her body.
"That you don't." Lux turned her head in surprise and prepared to attack, to find Talon beside her and herself weapon-less. "I was sitting here this whole time, you know." He added.
Lux internally grimaced, ashamed of her vulnerability. "I see Garen and Kat are worried about me." She replied cheerfully, showing her teeth. Then smiled wider, pleasantly surprised at the flawless voice of her own acting.
"Yep." Talon agreed grinning. His low taunting voice Lux knew was rather unsettling with a jolly tone. Lux's annoyance began to make itself evident as he continued to tease her. "And you know why?" he asked.
"Why?" Lux asked, smiling back just as mockingly, finally breaking the facade.
"They sent me because I don't care what sort of guise you put on. I'm not afraid to hurt that pretty little face of yours underneath." Talon stated, pretending to examine his blade for emphasis. After a moment of silence as Lux considered his words, he continued, more seriously, "Let's talk."
"You've now taken off that insulting guide of your own?" Lux laughed, crossing her arms and looking up at Talon's hooded face. It was dark and she could barely make out his eyes.
"Possibly." Talon answered, and leaning into Lux's ear, he asked quietly, "How about a little bet?"
"A bet? Well, it's obvious what you want..." Lux murmured, a little uncomfortable with the distance, "But if there's nothing in it for me, it's not quite interesting, is it?"
"Depends on what you want, I guess. I'm assuming you'd know at least that." Talon smirked, drawing away and twirling Lux's staff in his hand.
Lux's eyed visibly widened, then narrowed. "Yeah, okay. I win, I get my staff. You win, you get me to work for you." She snapped, annoyed that she hadn't expected that.
"Yes, it seems you understand." Talon smiled.
It was strange to see a hired assassin like Talon work for such a noble cause. And to trust Garen's decision in choosing Lux wouldn't be possible without a strong bond considering how disagreeably Lux had acted so far tonight.
Lux felt a tight tug inside and jested spitefully, "So, will it be a bet on how far Garen and Kat have gone yet?" and smoothed her fluffy white dress as she stood up. "That would be much too easy for you, no?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'I bet I could beat you in a duel to the sunrise'." Talon quickly lifted himself and started walking away from the bench, slowly backwards. "Won only if the other admits defeat?"
Catching on, Lux stood and began to crouch, bending her knees against the tug of her short dress. "Okay, rules?"
"You've been in Noxus haven't you? Those solo missions you always went on had to be somewhat productive. No rules, anything goes as long as the other admits defeat." With a smooth soundless motion, Talon's crooked blade slid out again to cover his right arm.
"Ah-ah. Not just yet. I don't have my staff." Lux chided, with a little grin. She knew Talon had been counting on her forgetting all about her weapon, it was obvious. "No blades, anything else."
Lux could only see a little nod before Talon disappeared into the darkness. Quickly, Lux sprinted out of the area, her bare feet pounding away soundlessly on the stone path. Lux reviewed her advantages. Talon hadn't grown up in Demacia like Lux did, even if Lux had left in the middle of her childhood. He would probably stick to the dark secluded areas anyway. She noted that 'anything goes' and Talon could easily seek help from Garen and Kat. Perhaps the three of them had planned this all along. However, even if they did catch her, she'd have to admit defeat. And Lux doubted Garen would let anything drastic happen to her. Or so she hoped. Lux found an entrance to the party and quickly went inside. There were still people and people meant that Talon couldn't reveal himself and attack her. This would at least buy her some time to think of how make him admit defeat.
Shuffling between people, Lux tried not to break her smile and hoped she looked natural. As much as Talon wouldn't want to be spotted here, Lux felt almost exactly the same way. 'At least, not without her shoes,' Lux joked to herself sarcastically. Oh, that would devastate her mother so.
Suddenly Lux blinked a few times and realized there was a loophole to the rules, Lux recalled. Blades were deemed against the rules, but her staff... If she could just steal it from Talon, the game would be hers.
After a while of trying chatting small talk and flashing smiles, Lux had eventually taken refuge in the restroom and shuffled inside a stall. Sighing, she leaned her back against the wall and adjusted her uncomfortable dress as she slowly realized how much her body ached. She was still exhausted from the battle earlier that day. Suddenly, it hit her, why did she go and accept the bet? She was tired, and could have gotten her staff back another way, or even ordered another one. She wasn't thinking straight. Kat had been strangely perceptive earlier and calm, even when she had lost so idiotically in the battle in Summoner's Rift. The fact annoyed her. Kat had let her win. Perhaps that was why she went so far to accept the challenge, to beat them at their own game. Lux bit her tongue and told herself to focus. This wasn't a good time to be considering something so pointless. In a decision that involves her city-state, she couldn't possibly allow her personal grudges to interfere. If she beat Talon at his own game, she could be free from helping Kat. Yes, that was the point, and that was it.
With a huff, Lux washed her hands before making her way out of the restroom and charted her way to the nearest door. She had to find Talon and end this, she needed sleep.
Lux considered the places Talon could be plotting her defeat, most likely be places which were dark and shadowed. She grinned as she imagined Talon keeping away from Demacians and waiting in a secluded place to ambush Lux if, on the off chance, she ever so happened to wander there. It was almost too foolish to be true. He could have a trick up his sleeve but Lux honestly couldn't see how he could keep away from the guests while hunting her down. The party had been going on for quite a while now and nobody really paid Lux any special attention; most likely everyone who wanted her attention had, at one point, gotten it.
As she slipped out the door and allowed herself into solitude, Lux smiled wryly, considering a very simple way to draw close this bet. It wasn't very well known in the league that Lux could bend and control light without her staff. She couldn't create high concentrated beams like the spells she used in Summoner's Rift, nothing really able to be used offensively, but this was an elementary spell that had come in handy back when she was infiltrating Noxus. Talon wouldn't know she could cast without a staff, even Garen should know better than to reveal things that aren't his business.
And in a moment, her form had disappeared. She was ready to face off.
Tip toeing around the building in search of Talon wasn't easy. She could only assume where he was at and it took at least a couple of hours to catch the glimpse of his dark blue hood. . She did, long after the last party-goers had left and she had finished making an entire round of the place only to find him resting back at the softly lighted park in which they had began. Much to her annoyance, he was sitting on the bench looking as peaceful as ever, almost as if he'd never left.
Promptly, she sneaked up to him and punched him in the face for good measure.
Talon made an awkward movement to balance himself and immediately stood from his seat. Lux giggled internally thinking he was probably expecting her to have come back from running around tired which wasn't exactly too far off.
The man must have had a very acute sense of hearing because in the next moment, he glanced towards Lux's general direction.
"It's you isn't it?" Talon called out to her, "No wonder you made it through those missions even as a child. You don't need that staff at all."
'Not needing the staff' was an overstatement, but Lux wouldn't dare answer and give away her spot. She quickly made her way around him and noticed her staff peeking out of Talon's cloak of blades. It was a heavy cloak with sharp metal blades on the end, he would no doubt notice her if she tried to make a move for it. She'd have to fight him and somehow get out of it with her prize.
"Come on Luxanna, you can't fight me close combat." Talon continued, teasing Lux again. But she wasn't about to fall for a bait so stupid or let him distract her.
Lux charged towards Talon with a ready kick but Talon had been expecting her this time and blocked her attack, almost grabbing hold of her ankle even. He punched with frightening reflexes and she quickly ducked under him to avoid the blow and reached for the image of her staff. It was immediately hidden again as the cloak swung behind Talon in its rightful position.
"So you want your staff back? Of course you do, it's not a blade. But do you really think it's possible?" Talon chuckled, his easy voice a direct opposite to his obvious focus on her every movement.
Biting back a sigh of frustration Lux narrowly avoided a jab guessingly aimed at her face. This wasn't good for Lux, in close combat, Talon could rely purely on his instincts to spot her out and if she tripped up, he would take hold of her and it would be game over. Taking a few steps back and avoiding a kick, Lux caught a dim glimpse of Talon's face and noted with disdain he had closed his eyes entirely.
"I know where you are."
Giving her no time to think, Talon rushed towards Lux approximating a jab. It had been somewhat off though, as Lux sidestepped around him and went for her staff, only to get blocked again by Talon.
Lux knew this was bad. The punches were getting more and more precise with every jab and the moment her hit her, he would grab her. He'd figured out immediately that she was after her staff. He knew she'd grow tired reaching for it while he could go at defending it all night. She had to think of something quick.
Quickly, dodging another startlingly close blow, Lux gripped the edge of Talon's hood and ripped it backwards. She could feel him freeze for a split second with the unfamiliarity of having his face revealed. Lux wasted no time and simply ran around him when he reached for her and kicked him in the back of the knees.
Giving a sound of surprise, Talon buckled just enough for Lux to triumphantly grab her staff. But in less than a second, his leg swept her to the ground and the staff was being ripped from her hand. Wasting no time, Talon seated himself on her stomach and crunched his foot on her right wrist and chocked her with a single hand. He struggled to get the staff though, and the two of them fought for it before Talon cleanly punched her in the face to get her to let go. He'd obviously been waiting to do that. Just to rub it in harder, he used his free hand to hold up her staff with a satisfied smirk, his eyes staring her down as if he could see her. Lux gripped Talon's hair and pulled, not wanting to give up. It resulted in her grip getting pried off painfully. In a last ditch attempt at freedom, Lux tried to muscle him off but she was utterly helpless in strength in comparison and couldn't even kick at him. She stared into his eyes with vexation and found his line of sight unnaturally staring right into her own eyes. She'd underestimated him gravely. Lux's vision blurred, her head spinning with sudden fatigue as she wondered how easy it would be to just give up and go to sleep. Gritting her teeth, she allowed herself visibility and attempted to meet Talon's gaze with a sharp frustrated glare.
"We're leaving tonight." Talon said, the hint of a satisfied smirk playing on his face. He collected her free hand, successfully restricting Lux before getting off and pulling himself behind her. Lux scoffed at this, and Talon simply shoved her forward towards where Garen and Kat had come out to meet them.
The sun was beginning to simmer on the golden horizon.
"Hey, so you did have hair under that hood." Katarina sneered gleefully as Talon mumbled something along the lines of, "ungrateful wench."