Chapter 2

When Lux opened her eyes, it was still dark. Her head was aching, and her back was burning. After two failed attempts, she managed to stand up with a moan of pain. She could barely stand on her legs, and she felt exhausted and completely empty, as if something was missing. She took a few steps forward before her legs could no longer bear her weight. How was she going to go back to the Institute? She remained on her knees, holding her head in her hands, fighting against this terrible headache. Boots appeared in front of her, although she hadn't heard a noise indicating that somebody was coming. She looked up, and recognized Diana who was carefully looking around. "What are you doing here? And what happened to you?" she asked.

Lux tried once again to stand up, and Diana took her arm to help her up. The Lunari passed the mage's arm around her shoulders and, half-carrying her, she added "I'll take you back to the Institute."

It took them almost an hour to reach it, and Lux could feel that Diana was losing her patience because of the slow pace. The sun was lazily rising when they reached the gates of the building. Diana was now carrying Lux on her back, as the blonde could not walk anymore. Fortunately, Lux was a short girl, and Diana had a strong constitution. The Lunari headed to Soraka's room and banged on the door until the sleepy healer opened it. "What is it?" Soraka was used to being woken up anytime in the night and never blamed it on her patients.

"Could you take a look at Lux?" Diana said "I found her in the gardens. She is hurt and has difficulties walking." She laid Lux on Soraka's bed and the healer started scrutinizing the young woman's body. "What happened?" the purple woman asked.

"I already asked, but she couldn't answer." the Lunari shrugged.

Lux was feeling less weak and managed to articulate "I was in the gardens with Fiddlesticks, and he did something to me. It don't know what it was."

"Fiddlesticks?" Soraka frowned. "What on earth were you doing alone with him?" She started wrapping Lux's upper body in a large piece of cloth.

"I didn't know it was him. I... I received a letter asking from my help, and when I went to meet the guy, Fiddlesticks showed up."

"But why would he lure you over there?" the Lunari impatiently asked.

"Luxanna, what did he do to you exactly? I need to know it in order to understand the extend of the damage in your body. I feel magic, but I don't know how it works."

"He just touched my heart with the tip of his scythe, and I felt weak all of a sudden. He said he wanted me to give him a part of my power." Lux winced as the healer tightened the bandage. Soraka gave Diana a concerned look and said "As far as I know, there is no way of doing such a thing. Not without killing the person you extract the power from. Let me have a look at your energy toll." She took Lux's hand, and her eyes turned white as the testing process was on. After a short minute, the Starchild's eyes turned back to their yellow tint. "Your energy is low, but it is slowly regenerating. I suggest you wait and rest for at least a full day. If there is anything wrong, call for me."

Lux nodded and stood up to get back to her room, still a bit unsteady.

"Diana, can you ensure she gets back to her room without collapsing?" Soraka asked the Lunari.

The latter snarled, but didn't refuse. She help Lux -a bit harshly- walk to her room.

"Thanks" the blonde said when they arrived.

"Welcome" Diana retorted with an ice-cold voice before leaving.

The next day, Lux woke up at sunset. She felt rested, and the only pain she felt was from the wound in her back. She took a few steps around her room, and noticed with content that her legs had almost completely recovered. She hoped, however, that she wouldn't be called to the Rift before the end of the day. She stopped by Soraka's room to thank her, but the healer was nowhere to be seen.

"She's never here when we need her!" a voice snarled.

Lux turned around and saw Zilean, part of whose head was dark and burned. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Some trouble with my explosive clocks. Do you know where this human unicorn is?"

"Don't call her like that! She's probably in the Fields."

She strode away before Zilean could add anything. She heard him mumble until she turned a corner. She was worried about what had happened with Fiddlesticks. Should she inform anybody? She had no way of contacting her brother. No one seemed to be aware of the event, which meant Diana and Soraka had kept silent. She decided not to tell anyone. After all, violence was often used among the champions, even outside the Fields.

The day after, she felt in great shape and smiled when she got called for a new match. She teleported on the platform in the base. Poppy, Leona and Lucian smiled while Jax was already commenting on their strategy.

"Calm down, Jax." Poppy said, annoyed. "Everything will be fine."

"Yes, you are probably right." Jaw replied, surprising everybody "After all, we've won all of our previous matches. Good luck guys!" He left, headed for the depths of the jungle.

"What's wrong with him all of a sudden?" Poppy asked, skeptical.

Leona and Lucian shrugged and laughed before going towards the bottom lane.

"See you, Pop" Lux smiled. She jogged on her own lane, ready to win this match. She would be fighting against Ahri, while Leona and Lucian would have to deal with Jinx and Blitzcrank. Diana and Nasus were their two other enemies. After several minutes, Lux still hadn't seen any sign of her opponent. Was Ahri elsewhere? "They are all with Poppy" her Summoner said.

Lux swore and made from the Yordle's location. When she finally reached it, Poppy was standing by the turret with Jax and Leona. The Yordle's armor was cut in several places, blood leaking from the wounds.

"It's about time you came" Jax said. "Where is Lucian?"

"I told him to destroy the turret before coming here. Poppy, you should go back to the base."

"We have to defend this turret," Jax cried out "it can't be destroyed in the first five minutes!"

"Maybe you haven't noticed," the Solari replied on the same tone "but they are all here."

"No wait." Lux had glimpsed Ahri, Nasus, Jinx -who was yelling at her gun- and the massive shape of Blitzcrank. "Where's Diana?"

Leona's eyes widened, and she rushed towards the bottom lane, ignoring Jax's order to come back. Diana would certainly try to take Lucian out first, since he was on his own.

"What do we do?" Lux asked

"Defend this damn turret, and I'll go around. Cast your laser if you want, but this turret mustn't collapse." He left, rushing inside the jungle. Poppy took her hammer and stood next to Lux. The enemies were out of reach, but they would not wait long before attacking. Lux saw Jax on the left, ready to jump. She cast a spell to stun Jinx who was the closest to her. Nothing but sparks came out of her staff.

What the hell? She thought. She tried it again, in vain. She started to panic as she saw Poppy and Jax dart on Ahri and Jinx. Poppy swung her hammer to Ahri's flank, but the Fox dodged it by dashing aside before casting a large light ball towards the Yordle. Lux threw her staff to create a shield, but her weapon hit her teammate in the head before falling in the grass, useless. The light ball hit Poppy right in the gut, and she collapsed on the ground, motionless. Lux ran to grab her staff and turned to Jax, who had been grabbed by Blitzcrank's huge hand. "Cast your laser for fuck's sake!" he shouted. Lux focused and let her magic flow towards her hands. She felt nothing. No magic. Instead of her large and lethal laser, her staff produced pathetic sparks. Jinx had already pointed Fishbones at the Grandmaster's head. She pulled the trigger, laughing in content, and the explosion stunned all of her allies. She would definitely get into trouble for making such a dangerous move, but Jinx remained Jinx, and she wouldn't care.

The blast, however, gave Lux enough time to run away to the next turret. For the first time, she felt thoroughly terrified. Why wasn't her power working? She wasn't able to cast a single spell anymore. As she ran past a thick bush, something bumped into her, pinning her on the ground. She repelled Diana and jumped up. The woman's blade was covered in dark blood, which could only mean one thing. "Wait," Lux desperately begged "there's is something wrong."

Deaf to her words, the Lunari swung her weapon and cut Lux's throat. The young woman fell into darkness.

Countless times she waited for the gates between the limbo and the Rift to open in order to go back into the match. Countless times, she attempted to cast her spells. Countless times she failed, incurring the wrath of Jax. She had never seen him in such a rage. She tried in vain to explain that something was awry, but the fighter kept yelling, commanding her to find a quick solution. The match finished soon after it had begun. Lux was on her last legs, her outfit torn off. She wanted to break her staff and discard it. Her teammates were not in a better shape: Lucian and Jax were still willing to fight, but their gaits betrayed how tired they were. Poppy and Leona were by far the worst, constantly diving in the melee in order to prevent the enemies from moving further. Their armors were partially destroyed, and the golden color of Leona's armor was barely visible underneath the layer of blood. Before even teleporting outside the Fields, Lux had decided to talk to Soraka about her condition.

As soon as the teleportation spell ended, she ran towards the Institute, hoping that the healer would be there. A hand firmly grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from moving.

"Let me go," she barked at Jax "and don't even talk to me."

"How the fuck could I talk to you? I don't even know even know what to say!" his voice was a roar of pure anger. I can't ask what you were doing, because all you did was nothing." His grasp tightened as Lux struggled to set her arm free.

"You'd better let go of me" she threatened him.

"Or what? What are you going to do? Poke me with your staff?"

That was too much for Lux. She had never been violent, but all the frustration accumulated during the match had to get out, and Jax had stepped over the line. She raised her fist to punch the inside of his elbow, as she couldn't hit his head because of his helmet, but the Grandmaster blocked her pathetic hit, twisting her arm.

"That's enough, Jax. What do you think you're doing?" Lucian's voice said.

"Just giving this kid a reminder of the rules here."

"You're not in charge, and there are no rules which allow you to beat someone." His voice was strangely calm, considering the situation.

Jax released Lux's arm and shouted "You know what? Fuck all of you. I'm done here!"