Talon drew his blades as he spotted a huddled figure cramped into the spot he called his home, he was still several yards away, and Talon had made sure to wade through the waters without the slightest of sounds. The shadows had easily aided him into appearing right in front of the intruder, as if out of nowhere. But Talon had underestimated his size and movements, his stealth immediately broken by the sound of his body bumping slightly against his precariously stacked crates— fortunately the crates did not fall— but the stranger had shot right up, blinding him with an unnatural radiance.

"S-stay away from me!" Talon shielded his eyes from the illuminated stranger, but just as she had lighted up, she started whimpering and dimmed. "I-I just… I just want to go home…"

The stranger was a pale-skinned girl with light hair and tear-stained blue eyes; small and delicate, she was still practically a child. Talon thought it was strange that she immediately dropped her guard, but he had figured she was only hiding from law enforcement as well. He was not constantly in the company of other people, so he found himself not quite knowing what to do. "Is… is anything wrong?"


"Lux… Luxanna, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Lux heard the clattering of blades falling against her bedroom floor, but she had experienced a familiar safety and calm as she felt a comforting warmth envelop her completely. Am…am I dead?

Lux gathered the courage to open her eyes, completely surprised to find herself still in her room, sitting on her bed… and Talon du Couteau, the assassin who was going to end her life, holding her in a secure embrace.


Talon knew what he was doing was more than just stupid, aside from practically failing his mission, he was not going to kill this girl, and she was most likely going to hate him for taking advantage of her. Noxus and Demacia will know, all of Valoran will know. He did not really care much for city-states and allegiances, but he knew the full extent of what he was giving up. When Talon saw the terror he was causing her, he immediately wanted to apologize, he even wanted to disappear, but he knew there was no other choice. He had been the one protecting her from what made her act that way—Talon couldn't stand being the one she was afraid of.

Lux had finally started smiling more, quite radiantly, he remembered, during the days before she was ultimately taken from him. She assured him that they were her allies, that they would take her home, but she said it with such a heavy sorrow that he almost wanted to abduct her for her own good. But that was nearly ten years ago. They were both completely different people now. Talon was so sure he had forgotten all about the luminescent girl lost in the sewers, the Luxanna that lit something he couldn't quite understand inside of him.

Talon found it soothing that their embrace still felt the same after all those years. Both of them might be full-grown adults by now, but the warmth and comfort was still the same. He was also slightly amused at how he has grown to be much bigger than her now, and that she has grown to be so… soft.

"W-why… what's… How do you know me…?" She probably doesn't remember him, but she had wound down considerably and was now much less tense.

"You never stopped wetting your bed 'til you were 7, you hadn't seen your older brother in about 5 years, you were sent to gather intel on various important Noxian figures because you could do neat tricks with light, you could… bend light in a way that made you look like a completely different person," Talon unconsciously tightened his hold, "I know all of this because you showed me."

Luxanna pushed him off of her with a start, Talon immediately felt uneasy and a little hostile as his reality was slowly returning to him. Lux, however, grabbed fistfuls of his tunic as she pulled him closer to her, "You… you're that boy from 10 years ago!" He pulled down his hood, as if to aid her. He could see her studying his face with eyes that were welling up with tears, "You helped me get to Kalamanda… And you… you never told me your name."

Talon was more than surprised to know that she had not forgotten him, even though she had plenty of time and all the opportunities to do so. He had always been on the streets long after that, every manhole he passed reminding him less and less of his past suffering and more of her smiles and radiance. Up until his indoctrination into the du Couteau house, the streets would never let him forget her. His newfound company in Marcus, Katarina, Cassiopeia and the rest of the Noxian army, however, made it easier for him stop thinking about her. Soon enough, he was sure she never existed.

He did have his suspicions when he encountered the Lady of Luminosity on the Fields of Justice, but she was vastly different from the girl he saved years and years before. She fought her opponents with grace and flair, she refused to give up unless her summoners would make her, and even then she constantly fidgeted from the inactivity. She laughed quite a lot, too. Oh boy, did she laugh.

It was only when he saw her again tonight, that he fully recognized the girl from long ago. It wasn't the most ideal of reunions, since it required him to get her far over the edge before he realized that she was still the same, vulnerable girl. Only, of course, she was no longer so vulnerable. He felt a strange kind of pride knowing that she had grown so strong. But dread and disgust immediately mixed inside of him when he realized that Demacia most likely threw this girl— who wanted nothing to do with the sordid activities of the military— into the fray of many other battles, into the belly of many other beasts, and into the territories of many other enemies. Except for all those times, he was not there to help her. He didn't want to start imagining what kind of pain or terror she's had to go through. She might be a noble, but she had to survive too.

Talon did not show his regret and concern, but Luxanna had somehow picked up on it, "Is something the matter…?" He couldn't help but exhale a smile.

Of course something was wrong, this entire situation is wrong; his mission was officially a failure and he was still far too deep inside enemy terrain, while she had a dangerous assassin who was prepared to kill still inside her bedroom.

Talon glanced downward, "You were, uh…"—only to notice her bare legs, he returns his gaze to her face, a little flustered, "you were definitely a lot of trouble." She parts her lips in an expression of concern, but he only found himself staring at them for different reasons, "You're practically made of l-light and…" He decided to look off into the side instead, "you always blew my cover."

Lux pursed her lips tentatively, "It's not my fault you always hide in the dark!"

"Hey, it's not called "hiding", it's ste—"

Talon let out a stifled gasp as Lux hurriedly pulled him toward her and onto the bed, deftly pulling the thick, downy blankets that were neatly folded on the edge of her bed onto the both of them. Before he could formulate any coherent thoughts, he heard three rough knocks against her bedroom door.

"Luxanna, is everything alright?"

Talon held his breath as he heard the commanding baritone voice that could only belong to Garen Crownguard, Luxanna's older brother.


Luxanna did not know what to make of this night. She had been in a nerve-wracking situation only moments before; she was so sure she was looking down death's blade, only to discover that her would-be assailant was actually a long-lost friend. It stirred different kinds of emotions within her; relief for safety, jubilance at the discovery of her savior, warmth and fondness from his close contact… and most definitely many others, but her brother's sudden appearance had interrupted their cathartic reunion. Of all the positions to find herself in, she was hiding a well-known Noxian assassin from her brother, the Captain of Demacia's Dauntless Vanguard. It was just one terrifying experience after another for Luxanna Crownguard.

Garen opened her door as gently as he could manage, peering into her room, but still staying only by the entrance, "There were flashes of light coming from your room. I had thought you were actually fighting against an intruder!"

Lux sat up carefully against her headboard, "Ah, thank you for your concern, brother, I was just practicing my skills, you know?" Garen turns his head slightly at this, "—ah, you know, what mother said about becoming even better? I decided to take her words to heart, ah… you know how she can be." Garen smiles at this, and Luxanna audibly exhales. She jumps slightly as she feels Talon tapping her thigh.

"Hey," he whispers, "Hey, ask him about Katarina."

Garen furrowed his brows when he caught the slight, anxious movements Luxanna would make, "Luxanna, are yo—"

"Oh, Garen! How are your encounters with Katarina du Couteau?"

Garen was clearly caught off-guard by her inquiry, and she mentally celebrates her small victory as she notices him stumbling over a choice of words, "She's… a valiant foe! Yes, quite a… a deadly adversary." Luxanna felt more positive as she gained a steady momentum, "I heard she was absolutely stunning in the flesh, yeah? Don't you ever get distracted?" Garen inhaled sharply as he drew himself up, "Absolutely not, I do not let such things affect me! I am, after all, the paragon of Demacian ethics!"

Talon's breath tickled her thigh as he chuckled beneath her covers, "I bet that's what he always tells himself."

Luxanna found herself a little bit more light-headed and airy as she giggled along to Talon's commentary. Garen contorted his face in confusion, undeniably a little more than flustered, "What is so amusing, Luxanna?"

"Oh, nothing, dear brother," she beamed radiantly at him, "I just thought you two would make a nice couple."

Garen raised his shoulders on reflex, trying to conceal his reddened face as he fought for words, "T-that is nonsense, Luxanna!" Lux was a little too amused as she watched him turn this way and that, "A-anyway, you should be going to sleep, we awake at the break of dawn, as usual."

Lux softens her smile at her brother, "Yes, Garen, thank you." Garen nods curtly, still visibly blushing, as he starts to close her door, "Oh, and brother?"

"Yes, Luxanna?"

"Don't hold yourself back so much. You deserve happiness, too."

Garen stares at her, a little surprised, and Lux only smiles back, "Uh... Thank you, Luxanna. Good night." He closes her door with a soft thud, and she follows the sound of his footsteps until she could hear them no more.