Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends, also I'm running out of disclaimer jokes…

A/N: Hey long time no see, even if it's been barely a month since my last update it felt like a long time has passed. Got another long chapter for everyone to enjoy. Hey did you guys know that a piece of writing is considered a novel if it is longer than 40,000 words? Okay it depends on who you ask… but I'm taking what I can get. With this chapter I technically wrote a novel's length worth of fanfiction, and I'm not not even close to being done. Wooo.

To answer valguienmas1's question left in their review - I wrote Jayce as an otaku because I wanted Ezreal to have a friend that shared the same interests as him. Ezreal is totally an otaku himself, no one dances the Haruhi dance unless they watch anime, and so I decided to have Jayce as one too so they can more in common. I know his lore has him as a genius inventor (that may play a part I'm sure, just don't know when) and a charismatic poster boy. The last part I play off as it being cheesy machismo because I find it more entertaining and funner to write..

With that said, on with the show~!


"For the last time this isn't a double date." Ezreal said. He was annoyed now. He, Lux, Quinn, and Jayce had just reached their stop on the train. The group hopped off the train and headed straight down to the street. The station was only a quick walk to Piltover's Downtown district. The plaza Ezreal had in mind had everything one could want for any interesting hobby a person could have. The blonde boy had thought Lux could use a pick me up and was bee lining it towards his favorite cafe. It was no Morgana's Sinful Succulence, but that was all the way over in Noxus. And this one was a damn close second in his opinion. Quinn and Lux were a few steps behind him and Jayce, talking to each other quietly. Ezreal was trying to lay down the ground rules for their trip downtown. He wanted Jayce to understand right off the bat that this wasn't anything special. This was definitely not a this a thing between him and Lux. Nor was it a set up between Jayce and Quinn. The last thing Ezreal wanted was for Jayce to misinterpret this whole thing and ruin it. "Lux was feeling upset today so we," Ezreal motioned to both himself and Jayce. "are going to show her and Quinn a good time without making it awkward."

"When have I ever made anything awkward?" Jayce said. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Contrary to Ezreal's belief he wasn't that stupid (He had exceptional grades). He just believed in casting a wide net when it came to love.

Ezreal returned a deadpanned look that screamed, 'you can't be serious.'

Luckily Lux chimed in before Jayce could protest, stepping between the two of them. "So where are you guys taking us? I haven't really been up here before." She looked around the street amazed at the sights around her. The buildings were really high, there were a few shops here and there. The top floors were reserved for apartments. The price of which must be insanely high. She never gotten a good view of the cities she went to as the Star Guardian. Too preoccupied with saving the world to appreciate the scenery around her.

"Yeah me neither." Quinn said with a shrug, keeping a watchful eye on Ezreal. Lux had stopped hanging out with her brother and his friends. So Shyvana and Quinn had gotten curious. They had noticed the two blondes hanging out more frequently. They would talk before and after class, maybe in the hallway before they went off to their clubs. For a while Quinn thought there was nothing to it. Then Lux decided to give her homemade lunch to Ezreal and head off to the rooftop alone with him. She had thought Ezreal was attached to the hip with Jayce. Those two ate lunch together all the time, watching anime on a phone with shared headphones. When she overheard Ezreal inviting Lux to tag along with him Shyvana told her to tail them so she could watch out for Lux. "You aren't taking us to any weird places are you?"

"Nah." Ezreal brushed Quinn's skepticism off. He made sure he was taking the lead on this outing, and he was going to show the girls the best of downtown. "We're going to a cafe at the end of the plaza. No gimmicks unlike the rest of the places here, just great desserts and coffee." They turned the corner at a main street so they can enter downtown proper. When the plaza came into view both the girls looked on in wide eyed amusement. Every corner of the plaza was packed, the weekend had brought everyone out tonight. Even some social shut ins from the looks of it. All around people walked by in a never ending flow up and down the streets, only interrupted when some broke off to enter a store or stop to look at an advertisement. The stores were trying their best to attract the most costumers. Some had employees standing out in front handing out flyers or stamp cards to their restaurants. The cards were actually really useful, buy enough from a restaurant and you can end up with a free meal. Between Ezreal and Jayce, they had three or four free lunches lined up for over the weekend. Ezreal turned to everyone. "You girls might want to stick close. You won't believe how easy it is to get separated."

Lux nodded and took a step closer to Ezreal. Jayce waggled an eyebrow at Quinn who decided to take a step closer to Lux.

Together all four walked through the crowd.


Janna was high above the city, her eyes scanned the ever darkening sky for any trace of Nocturne. The wraith's shadowy body was proving to be useful camouflage against the dimming sunset. She tore her gaze away from the city and to her phone. On the screen Lux's name sat just below her thumb. Janna was hesitating, and she knew it. She should call Lux, tell her about the wraith and the threat it poses. But. Janna's mind flashed back to the scenes Nocturne had dredged up in her mind. Her chest ached at the memories and now her imagination was running wild with them. Replacing the faces of old allies with Lux. Janna shook her head, trying to push away the intrusive thoughts. Her hand wouldn't stop shaking, only her determination kept her mind calm enough to hunt the wraith down.

"Zephyr." Janna said, finally breaking the silence of the night air. She looked to her guardian spirit. The small weasel-fox creature hovered into Janna's view, its large eyes watched Janna with concern. "We need to widen our search. Head south and keep an eye out for that wraith. If you find it, lead it back to me or come get me." Zephyr nodded and shot past Janna. The little spirit disappeared into the city in a second.

Janna looked down to her phone one last time. The last thing she wanted was to expose Lux to such a demon. Especially with its ability to bring about one's fears. She could barely keep herself composed after what it had done. But Lux was a guardian and as such was a warrior. Janna tightened her grip on her phone as she called…

It went to voicemail. Janna cursed, Lux must be too preoccupied to answer her phone. That or she didn't notice it ring. She instead sent out a text to her, telling her it's an emergency. To come back to school as quickly as she could and call her at once.

Poppy was making a mad dash through the winding streets. She kept looking back to see if the wraith was still on her tail. There was a glint of crimson metal as Nocturne turned the street and came into view. Poppy gulped a hard lump in her throat. She had been running for a while now. Only being able to catch her breath if she found a alley way to momentarily duck into. The damn thing was always on her. The yordle was unaware that it was tracking her through other means. Nocturne didn't rely on sight alone. In his visions souls shone bright like flames. Poppy's soul was that of a guardian, unbeknownst to the host, and so shone bright like a beacon.

"Damnit" Poppy swore under her breath. She ran around another street, looping back from where she came. If she went too far south she would run into Targon Hills, running up and down the hills would be killer on Poppy's legs. Sometimes she hated having such stubby legs. When she couldn't see Nocturne anymore, Poppy slumped against a brick wall. The building had a small alcove she could hide in, probably some entry to a closed business or office. Her breath was ragged and her lungs felt like they were on fire. "Think, think." Poppy screwed her eyes shut. She racked her brain, trying to come up with some sort of idea to get rid of her pursuer. The Star Guardians popped into her mind again. Poppy knew she needed their help, this was obviously something they could deal with. How could she contact them? Her dream didn't tell her that, only that she had some kind of connection to them.

A metal on metal hiss threw Poppy back to reality. On instinct she ducked as a large metal blade came crashing into the wall. Rolling to the ground Poppy had noticed that the blade would have cleaved her head clean off if she didn't dodge in time.

Wretching the blade off the wall took a bit of effort. It gave Poppy enough time to gather her thoughts and run off again. Nocturne let out an inhuman growl. He was getting frustrated. Building up some of his vapor, he shot out a stream of dusk towards Poppy. The dark energy shot through Poppy but didn't break her stride. Poppy's skin burned as if she had touched dry ice, it was incredibly cold. Her vision was clouded too. Darkness enveloped her, as if the shadows of the buildings had gotten thicker and fell on her like a blanket. She kept running, not knowing what else to do. Nocturne came upon her too quickly, riding the darkness around Poppy with increased speed. His finger extending with sickening pops, the bones contorting into tendrils to dig into her mind. Poppy could do nothing as she felt his fingers magically bor into her head, finding her inner most fear.

All of a sudden Poppy was back in the past, she was a little girl again. She was... somewhere… The memories were too foggy, almost indistinguishable. The buildings around her were a blur and so was the ground. The only clear thing was the tall yordle standing next to Poppy, her father. He looked down on Poppy. His kind eyes had wrinkles around them, and his large moustache was a broad stroke of fur that traveled from ear to ear. Poppy's heart welled at his presence. He reached down and ruffled her hair, messing her bangs and loosening her carefully made pigtails. The little act made Poppy blush and giggle. She hadn't seen him since… since. Poppy looked around again. The surroundings becoming clear with realization. No, no. Poppy looked over to her father, he was carrying a package. A delivery from his metal shop.

"Hey let's take a shortcut. If we can drop this package off early we can grab a treat on our way home." He smiled and gestured to an alley. "This should take us through to the-"

"NO!" Poppy practically screamed. She tugged at her father's arm. Too aware of what was waiting for them in the alleyway. The memory froze, as if she had paused a VHS tape and static edged around the corners of her eyes. Then it sped up, forcing the memory to play unaltered. She found herself in the alley way now, despite her protests seconds ago. Her father jovially made his way through it. Poppy felt a lump grow in her throat. She clutched her shirt tightly, threatening to tear the fabric. She hated this night. Looking back now, she should've seen them. The shadows at the end of the alley moved too obviously, her father was blissfully unaware of the threat. Two figures appeared from the other end of the alley.

The muggers walked ominously as they came into view, they quickly blocked off Poppy and her father. They were trapped in the alley way. Words became muffled and the noise around her dropped off to silence as Poppy watched on. The muggers were saying something, their mouths moved but no sound came out. Her father said something back to them, holding his package firmly in his hands and kept his daughter close. His arm was a protective shield to her. There was another exchange, then a short beat, then an eruption of violence as the muggers lept for her father. Her father faced the muggers head on, creating enough of a gap for Poppy to run. She could see her father looking at her, eyes wide with terror. He was yelling for her to run. She didn't want to. She wanted to stand her ground, but before she knew it she was moving away, the scene playing before her eyes unhindered by her protests. It played like it had back then. She didn't get far, only far away enough to find a hiding spot amongst the trash bins. She was nothing but a coward. Tears stained her cheeks as she remembered watching her father being pushed hard against the wall. The mugger holding a dagger in his side. Poppy almost yelped at the sight, her hands catching the noise before it could escape. Her hands were clasped tightly around her mouth. With forced silence she ducked further into her hiding spot. The muggers' shadows moved over her, unaware of her presence. They disappeared down the alley from where they came. Poppy didn't know how long she had stayed there. Crying hot burning tears silently in fear that the muggers might come back for her.

The darkness started to choke Poppy as she fell deeper and deeper into the memory. Nocturne hovered over the small yordle. His dark magic pulling her fears to the front of her mind. Blood trickled out of her nose and her eyes rolled back, the stress he was putting on her was slowly killing her. Poppy weakly grasped Nocturne's arms. It was a futile attempt at breaking free. She probably wasn't even aware she was even trying. Nocturne had to laugh at that thought, she definitely had a fighter's spirit. It wouldn't matter, soon enough she would collapse ripe and ready for him to harvest her soul.

Biting wind suddenly surrounded Nocturne, breaking his concentration. He dropped Poppy from his grasp, her small body wobbled as she barely stood up. Nocturne saw a small creature whip around him, it carried enough wind behind it to cut into his body. With a hiss, Nocturne slashed at the creature. It swiftly dodged his blade, traveling up Nocturne's arm and past his head. Turning his attention away from Poppy.

The distraction was enough to wake Poppy from her daze. Dreaded memories fell away back into the recesses of her mind. She steadied herself desperately trying to keep on her feet. Feeling the side of her head, Poppy could feel the thrum of her head beat against her skull. She was mad and afraid. What kind of monster was this thing? Poppy shook her head, forcing herself to regain her focus. She looked up and saw the flurry of strikes Nocturne was making. He was slowly being pulled away from Poppy thanks to the small creature. Poppy didn't question it. She took the opportunity as soon as she saw it. She started to run as fast as she can again, despite the burning in her lungs telling her to stop.

She hated the feeling that was welling up in her gut. It was fear, like from that night her father died. Once again she was doing nothing but running away. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. Furiously she wiped them away with her forearm. No matter how much she tried though, the tears kept on coming. Dad, what do I do… I wish you were still here. Poppy's father always knew what to do. He was brilliant and strong. A hard worker that built up his own business with her bare hands. What was Poppy?

The Star Guardian was wrong, she was nothing compared to them. Her a guardian? Yeah right. Like she could make a good guardian. She couldn't fight like them. If she could, then that night in the alleyway would have ended differently. She wouldn't have hid and cried like a child. No, all she was just some little yordle. She knew her limitations, and this was way above what she could do.

Poppy dug deeper and kept her legs pumping. She ran back north, heading up a street that connected to the main street. The spirit that fought off Nocturne flew up next to her. Poppy would have let out a small yelp if her lungs weren't already worn out. The creature waved to her, signalling to follow after it. Poppy starred for a long moment, trying to figure out if she should trust it or not. Her gut said yes so she nodded to the creature. If it hadn't saved her, she wouldn't know what would have happened to her. Zephyr returned a nod and flew ahead, there was a small bit of light trailing behind it. The light made it easy for Poppy to follow. Not only that but the creature had a bit of a tailwind to it. Poppy could feel her stride becoming stronger, moving her faster with each step.


"Wow!" Lux said. She watched in excitement as the waitress brought out their orders. The group of teens were seated in the corner of the cafe inside a booth. Ezreal and Lux sat next to each other. Which forced Quinn and Jayce to sit next to each other. The waitress placed a cake in front of Lux, who stared at it hungrily. It was a large for a personal cake and shaped to look like a cute cat laying on it's back with a huge rotund belly. The cake was chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it, there was also a couple of fruit slices placed around all of it. The whole thing was styled to look like a small pet's comfy bed.

"The best part is that it's a molten cake!" Ezreal said as he leaned in. He pointed to the large center body. "Cut into it."

Lux did as he said. There was a bit of resistance as the thin fondant on the cake held its shape. A second late it broke and chocolate syrup erupted from inside. The syrup oozed onto her plate and covered the fruits around the cake. Lux squealed in delight as she took her first bite, using her fork to grab as much cake and chocolate covered fruit as she could on the small utensil. It was simply magnificent. The molten center was actually bitter so the sweet cake contrasted well with it. There was even slight hints of raspberry in the syrup. It was a careful balance of flavors that danced on her tongue. Lux took her first bite slow, she wanted to savor it as much as she could. She hummed happily as she licked her lips.

Ezreal laughed at Lux's amusement before turning his attention to his parfait. On top it had fruits cut into thin strips and skewered with pocky, and the thin chocolate bar propped up in the middle was molded to look like a bird. It was suppose to resemble a peacock. To him it looked like a turkey, mainly because of the fat scoop of ice cream on top made the body look way bigger than it was suppose to be. He took out one of the pocky skewers to start, it would be hard to eat with them in the way. To be honest, this wasn't his favorite dessert, he had only chosen it because he was determined to try at least one of each item on the menu and he hadn't tried this one yet. He was kinda jealous of Lux's cake, that one was really good and was the reason why he had recommended it to her. He was surprised when Lux leaned in to look at his own dessert. She laughed when he mentioned it looked like a turkey to him.

Quinn's eyes darted back and forth between Lux and Ezreal. They were in a deep conversation with one another. Jeez, look at these two idiots. She looked down to her cup of hot coffee. It was a large mug with an absurd amount of foam and cream. They had asked her what she wanted to put in her cup. Jayce explained that they did little designs in the cream. Normally they drew things like flowers or leaves. Quinn had asked for a bird, like her pet cockatoo Valor. A doodle of a bird stared back at her from her cup of coffee, it was only a head as they couldn't fit the whole body without losing all the details. She smiled and took a generous sip. It was sweet, really sweet actually. She figured she was drinking a sundae more than a cup of coffee. Subtly she sent a quick text off to Shyvana, her phone hidden underneath the table. So far Ezreal has been nothing but nice to Lux. The way the two were acting were pretty much confirming Quinn's and Shyvana's suspicions. They knew Lux had a crush on Ezreal, now it looked like she's actually taking steps forward in it.

Jayce sighed and leaned over to Quinn so he could whisper to her, "I feel like a third wheel here."

Quinn almost rolled her eyes at him, but she had to agree with him. She did feel out of place watching the two blondes talk to each other. At some point Ezreal had scooted closer to Lux, they were only a hand's width apart from each other now. "Me too." Quinn said.

Nodding, Jayce broke into Ezreal's conversation. There was no way he was going to sit on the sidelines awkwardly all night, 'not a date' yeah right. "Want to hit up the arcade afterwards?" There was a spark in Ezreal's eyes when the arcade was mentioned. He was an avid video gamer. He loved playing games and Jayce knew he wouldn't turn down any challenge thrown at him. Back in Ezreal's dorm room they actually had a tally chart, marking down how many wins each person had over the other. Currently Ezreal was winning by four tallies.

"Hell yeah. They just made a new dance game. It's all motion controls." Ezreal said excitedly.

"That sound cool." Lux said from her side of the booth. She never played too many video games, too much of her time was spent on studying. Her parents had expected a lot from Lux, and so they restricted a lot of her free time. Honestly because of the slew of lessons she had to take from private tutors she had lost interest in simpler things. Now that she was out here away from her parents they had some appeal. She was suppose to be having fun, and what better way was there than to kill time at an arcade. "I've never been in an arcade before." She admitted. Ezreal and Jayce looked shocked, like they couldn't believe any healthy teenager could have lived through sixteen years of their life without having stepped one foot in an arcade. Quinn on the other hand understood. From what she had heard from Shyvana, Garen and Lux's parents were really strict.

"You'll love it." Ezreal said. There was a few games he could think of that would most likely interest Lux.

The boys started to eat faster, wanting to get to the arcade as quickly as they could. Even though the one they knew would be open until 2 in the morning, they didn't want to waste any time. Quinn shook her head. She decided to take her time with her coffee. Lux ate slowly too. She didn't want to rush eating her cake. How could she savor it if she ate it all in a few bites? Besides she was in no hurry.


Poppy stopped, her hands fell onto her knees as she took in giant gulps of air. She looked over to the spirit guiding her. It had lead her back up the main street, dipping into alleyway after alleyway to slow her pursuer down. Now they were at a large business district. At least Poppy thought she was in a business district. The sun was barely above the horizon now, in only a few more minutes the night would truly begin. She won't be able to see in the sky anymore. The dim moonlight and handful of streetlights were the only things illuminating the city. The spirit was eyeing the sky. Poppy hoped she had lost the wraith, she would suspect it would be harder for her to see it now that the sun had finally set. Suddenly the spirit shot up into the sky, leaving Poppy stunned at its sudden departure. "Hey wait! Where are you going!?" Poppy called up to it. She waved her hands frantically to try and grab its attention. When it didn't reappear Poppy cursed. She leaned onto the building wall. Her back slamming hard against it in frustration. What was she gonna do now?

She felt it more than saw it. The air around her seemed to cool, the thin layer of fur she had on her skin pricked up at the sensation. The lights around her seemed to dim as she was hit with a bout of paranoia. The shadows grew in a dark haze and crept closer to Poppy. The little yordle's heart raced as two eyes stared out at her through the darkness. Their ice cold color made Poppy freeze. Suddenly they grew as Nocturne flew towards Poppy with terrifying speed. His blades held out like a diver ready to pierce whatever lay in his way. Poppy's legs were set in stone, she couldn't move. All that running had only tired her out and now when it mattered she was caught like a deer in headlights.

Poppy braced herself, her eyes shutting as tight as she could, when a torrent of wind surrounded her. The harsh winds created a barrier between her and Nocturne, with her in the eye of the miniature storm. Nocturne slammed into wind barrier his blades sinking too deeply for Poppy's comfort. Nocturne was flung away a second later when the wind around Poppy expanded. The wraith dug his blades into the ground, tearing up the sidewalk to slow himself. Amazed, Poppy looked around for the source of the magic that saved her. She saw the Star Guardian hovering slowly to the ground. The spirit that guided Poppy was resting on her shoulder. Poppy let out a sigh of relief before collapsing down onto the ground. Her legs could no longer hold her weight.

"You are safe now." Janna said, her staff held up ready to fight.

Nocturne winced as it looked at Janna. Her soul was shining like a star. It almost burned him as he continued to look. Carefully he pulled back away from the two, using the shadows around him as cover. He needed to be careful, the purple one held magic in her that could harm him. "I saw your fears…" His voice whispered into her ears.

Janna blocked it out, not wanting to play into his hands. If she got too riled up she might slip up and leave herself defenseless against him. She landed onto the sidewalk, moving so she could stand protectively over Poppy. "Can you stand?" Janna asked without looking. She kept her eyes on the darkness, waiting for Nocturne to show his face.

Poppy shook her head then realised the Guardian wouldn't see her answer and so let out a raspy "No." She was still catching her breath, standing up was way out of the question.

"Okay stay behind me then." Janna saw Nocturne jut forward at an odd angle, aimed straight for Poppy. Quickly Janna sent Zephyr to slow his movement. Just as quickly Nocturne's form turned to vapor, becoming a shroud of darkness. Zephyr fell through Nocturne, doing nothing to impede his attack. Janna strengthened her protective shield on Poppy and met the wraith head on.

Her staff clashed against his blades briefly before he rebounded and whirled around Janna, catching the shield on Poppy with one of his blades in a wide cleave. Poppy felt the impact on the shield, her body yielded and skidded further into the hard concrete. She scrambled backwards completely helpless. The fear burned in her chest as she watched on.

Janna twirled her staff, parrying a strike from Nocturne to get into his guard. She dug her heels in and pushed her staff as hard as she could into his chest, pivoting so she could pin the offending demon against the wall. His blades were attached to his forearms, their cumbersome size made it impossible to get an angle on the guardian. Janna let her fury build into a raging torrent of wind. Her body was surrounded by a towering gale. The razor sharp wind cut into Nocturne and cracked the brick wall behind him.

Nocturne yelled in pain, the inhuman screech made Poppy flinch at the sound. The wind held magic that burned him to his core. Janna didn't care. Her fear was fueling her now. She wanted nothing more than to destroy the demon before it could harm anyone else. Nocturne struggled in her grasp. He couldn't concentrate long enough to shift forms, he doubted it would help if he did. The wind was strong enough to scatter the vapor before he would be able to reform. He relied on his other magic. Fighting through the torrent Janna channeled he extended out his fingers into tendrils. Janna felt them stab into her psyche, and the memories came rushing back like a tidal wave. She grit her teeth and poured more of her power into the gale building up all around her. The wind was cutting into her skin now, the magic she was channeling was turning on her. She was pushing the upper limits of her power. Sharp marks cut into Janna's exposed arms and her face. But the damned wraith wouldn't die. She could feel him rooting further into her mind, deeper and deeper past mental blocks she put up a year ago. Blood came out of her nose and ears, it rolled down her head before the wind took it. It was a battle of endurance, all it took was for one to lose their concentration.

Ala'aldeen… Janna didn't know if she thought that or if it was Nocturne whispering in her mind. Remember him sent a wave of… regret… through her entire body. It ached deep in her heart. How had she forgotten… Her grip on her powers faltered at the thought.

Nocturne felt the wind slow and he capitalized on it. His form turned to nothing but a shroud of darkness once again. He wrapped around Janna like a cloak, his grip on her mind still tight following the trail that lead to the source of all her fear, before reforming behind Janna. Nocturne gripped Janna's head in one hand the other other held her arm tightly. His claw like fingers holding so tightly that they drew blood. He slammed her into the wall forcefully. The impact knocked the wind out of Janna, and her gale died to a pitiful breeze. Janna's vision swam as her mind lost focus. She couldn't keep her mind on the here and now, it kept flitting back to the past. Nocturne laughed as he kept the guardian pinned. He drew back his arm with deadly purpose.

Poppy watched in horror. The scene felt too familiar. Her legs shook in fear as she remember the exact situation playing out when she was younger. She was too young to do anything then and now she was too weak to do anything now. Her fear burned in her chest and down her arms. It turned to anger and frustration. She hated herself for being so useless, she yelled at herself to do something. She can't let the guardian die because she was being like the coward she was back then. Forcing herself onto her feet she felt a warmth bloom in her. The fire that burned in her core fueled her body giving it a new kind of strength.

With a roar that no normal yordle can muster Poppy charged forward. Her body erupted in light enveloping her small form. Poppy's hair was turned into a bright blue shade and was adorned with a winged headband. Her baggy shirt and basketball shorts faded in the light. In their place the light built up more and more, coalescing into a dense set of armor. Her guardian uniform was nothing like the others. It was more akin to that of a knight. Smooth pauldrons and gauntlets weighed her arms down, and her torso was encased in a cuirass detailed with a large yellow star. Her legs wore a matching pair of greaves, making each footstep fall heavily. The only thing that resembled her fellow guardian's ensemble was that she wore a blue skirt.

Poppy tackled Nocturne, her small body belied the weight and power she carried. She slammed shoulder first into the wraith, she could feel the ribs his shadowy body hid crack under her pressure. His body flew back and hit the concrete sidewalk with a thud. Shaking his head Nocturne looked up to see Poppy's soul flare in brilliance. He winced as he looked at the two guardians. Their combined presence made Nocturne fall back into the darkness. He needed to rethink a plan of attack. Poppy threw her hand to the sky and an aura of blue light surrounded her. It trapped Nocturne in her steadfast presence cutting off his retreat. In her raised hand she summoned a hammer. It was gigantic compared to her small yordle body, practically three times her height. The long handle was wrapped in blue leather, and the head was a shining gold. On either side of the head was a winged star. With as much strength as she could Poppy swung the hammer downward. Nocturne braced himself, bringing his arms up so his blades can catch it. The crash sent a wave through Nocturnes body. He felt his whole being tremble from the trauma. The shock of the hammer continued down until it hit the ground, cracking the pavement in a star pattern. A second later light erupted from the cracks. It burned Nocturne, who thrashed at the pain. He pushed the hammer off and backed off as fast as he could. He did not make it far, he barely got airborne when a star shaped shield ricocheted onto his head. The strike made him stagger. He couldn't regain his thoughts in time when Poppy was on him again, catching the shield as easily as she threw it.

They locked weapons, Nocturne struggling to keep his arms up against Poppy's renewed strength. "Your courage sickens me." Nocturne harsh voice echoed in Poppy's ear. Nocturne dropped his guard and sent Poppy stumbling forward in surprise. Nocturne grabbed Poppy's head with his claws and dove back into her mind. Another dose of her nightmare will destroy any courage she built up.

The memory played out the same as it did before. Nocturne waited for the trembling fear so he could feed upon it, but it never came. The mental version of Poppy watched the worst day of her life play out with unwavering resolve. Her hand clenched tightly. "That won't work anymore." She said into the air. Even though her eyes were welling up with tears she never broke her gaze on her father or the muggers. "I know I can't change that night… no matter how much I want to. Instead I have to be strong, I can't let my fears and doubts stop me like it did that day. Dad always worked his hardest, he never let anyone say he couldn't do something. He stood taller than any yordle could, and was bigger than his height. And I need to always do the same. I might not be anything special but I can always try."

Nocturne's hold on Poppy shattered, he staggered backwards unable to understand how Poppy broke his hold. He needed to get away from these two. He could gamble on one. Janna's fear was her weakness. Poppy was something entirely different. Her fear was not stopping her. She powered through it, using the fear to find courage he did not think was possible. Poppy charged into Nocturne right into a wall. The impact stunned the wraith, he couldn't defend himself from Poppy's next swing. Her hands slipped to the end of the handle, allowing the full weight and momentum to carry into the strike. The hammer slammed into Nocturne. His ribs collapsed and the bones were pulverized into dust as he was driven into the wall like a nail. The wall behind him cracked into a star pattern. Nocturne couldn't pry himself out before the eruption of light burned away his vaporous body. His vapor was scattered to the winds, leaving Nocturne only a blackened skeleton trying desperately to reform itself.

"I'm not done yet you stupid ghost." Poppy choked up on her hammer. She spun it in her palm. The speed picked up so fast that the hammer was just a blur in a matter of seconds. As she spun it she was gathering light, condensing it in the hammer's head. When she was done it was a giant ball of blue light, almost like she held a dwarf star at the end of her hammer. She slammed the hammer down onto the ground sending a shockwave rushing straight into Nocturne. Blue light erupted beneath him. The light was so densely packed it hit like a wrecking ball. Nocturne's body was catapulted by the final attack, it limply fell through the night sky. He was like tiny shooting stars as the light that stuck to his body trailed off him.

Poppy watched what was left of Nocturne fall. She then realised that the guardian needed her assistance. Turning around Poppy saw Janna propped up with her staff, she was rubbing her head.

"Follow the remains Zephyr, we need to make sure the wraith is no more or else it could do more harm." Janna said weakly. Zephyr didn't want to leave Janna's side but did as it was told. Janna watched Zephyr chase after the fading light left by Poppy's final attack. As Zephyr left her sight her legs finally gave out beneath her. Poppy caught Janna before she could collapse to the floor.

"Hey, hey, stay with me." Poppy slapped the side of Janna's face. The sudden pain made Janna wince, it also kept her conscious.

Janna laughed, it was so frail Poppy almost missed it. "You have finally awakened my fellow guardian."

Her words made Poppy do a double take. She looked at Janna then down at her new clothes. They practically shined even in the dim moonlight. Her mind finally caught up with all that she had done, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was a guardian... Then that pink one wasn't just saying it. She really knew Poppy would be a guardian. It didn't make sense to the yordle. "I-I don't understand…"

"I'll explain later… First I need to… rest." Janna's words trailed off as she finally succumbed to exhaustion.


Lux laughed as Ezreal slumped against the railing as Jayce cheered next to his friend. They had just finished playing a set of songs from the newest dance game. It was motion controlled and so relied on a set of cameras built into the cabinet. They were taking turns and up next was Lux. She handed Quinn the stuffed Poro Ezreal had won her from a crane game and stepped onto the platform. Jayce was looking through the song list as Ezreal stepped off to make room for Lux. She was having so much fun. She was glad Ezreal had invited her to come along, who knew what she would be doing right now if she hadn't decided to come. Most likely she would still be moping from this morning's disagreement with Janna. Ezreal was being so sweet to her, thanks to him she was able to patch things up quickly with Janna. Her face flushed lightly when she continued to think of him. Quickly she shook her head and focused on the screen before her, Jayce was still choosing a song. Lux took a step forward. She read off a few song names to herself, suggesting a really pop-y song she liked and heard on the radio before. Jayce grimaced at her choice, then conceded when he couldn't find any other song he liked.

Ezreal stood next to Quinn to watch the two dance. He reached down to the floor to pluck a water bottle from the small case they bought. Arcades were always stuffy, and rarely had windows. Ezreal and Jayce told the girls it would be needed to stay hydrated. As he sipped from the bottle Quinn nudged him with her elbow. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not bad Ez." She said.

"Thanks, I still lost though." He said.

"I mean Lux is having a great time. When she ate with us, me, Shyvana and the rest of the Demacians, she didn't talk much. Mostly just to her brother. But she's really opening up now. So, not bad."

"Hey she was feeling down so I just did what any other friend would do."

Quinn nodded. She pause for a second before saying, "Yeah… I guess me and Shy weren't really being good friends. I didn't even notice how she was feeling." Quinn looked over to Lux. She was smiling and dancing to the music while Jayce was struggling with the faster paced song. Who knew Lux was so bubbly. "Do us a favor then. Keep an eye on her for us."

Ezreal smiled "Of course."

Lux cheered and threw her hands up. Jayce was breathing heavily, winded from doing too many songs in a row. Both of them hopped off the mini platform and walked over to Ezreal and Quinn. Quinn handed the poro back to Lux who took it happily in her arms. Childish as it was, she was going to name the stuffed poro.

"What game should we play next?" Ezreal asked as he passed his water bottle to Jayce. He didn't care about backwash and he greedily drank the rest of the bottle.

Jayce wanted to grab another bite to eat, all the dancing had made him hungry again. Quinn asked to see if there was any shooting games for her to play. Lux fished her phone out of her pocket. She was so caught up in all the fun she lost track of time. If she stayed out too late Garen might start calling her. She noticed she had one unread text. Looking at the number she frowned. It was from Janna. Lux read the text and a chill ran up her spine. An emergency? Lux looked at the timestamp. It was from over two hours ago. "...shit"

Lux rarely swore, when she did it caught Quinn's attention. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Ah, uh, y-yeah. I mean no." Lux handed the Poro off to Ezreal, who was now curious himself. "Something came up, I need to get going."

Ezreal looked over to Quinn who shrugged. "Oh okay. Well we can-"

"Sorry this is important, I'll see you guys later." Without another word Lux ran off. Leaving the others stunned and confused.

Agh! How can I be so careless. I'm so stupid! Lux was berating herself for her irresponsibility. She had a duty to uphold as a guardian. A Star Guardian was suppose to be a bastion, a protector against the Void. And she ignored all that for one night of fun. Lux ran through the plaza. It was still packed full of people who kept bumping into her at her frantic pace. To escape the crowd Lux ducked into the back alleys. She needed to transform. She could fly the rest of the way back to the school. She hadn't known she could fly until Janna had taught her. She wasn't a natural like Janna but if she needed to get somewhere quickly she could. Finding an empty alley Lux looked around to see if anyone was there.

Taking a deep breath Lux pulled out the magical baton. She spun it in her hand and her body was filled with magic. The Star Guardian stood were Lux was a moment before, she took a deep breath and took off into the sky.

Lux flew in bursts. She couldn't go long distances like Janna could and so she had to fly a couple blocks at a time. She was covering a massive distance, but she didn't know if she was being fast enough. Once the school had come into view Lux called Janna. It rang only once before Janna picked up. Her voice sounded weak and it made Lux worry.

"Janna! Are you okay? Where are you?" Lux said. Her voice cracked in her throat. "I-I should've been more attentive. I was-"

"Calm down, the situation is under control now..." Janna took a breath, from the other end it sounded like she was just waking up. "There was a demon loose in the city. It was taken care of and beaten back."

"That's good..." Lux was hesitant then let out a sigh of relief when she took in the news. She was hovering over the school now, her body slowly drifting downwards as she couldn't keep a steady height. "Where are you now?" Lux asked again.

"We are making our way back to the school."

"We?"

Lux couldn't hear the smile that form on Jana's lips, her tone was enough to convey her happiness. "There is someone I would very much like you to meet."


Ala'aldeen was at his desk pouring over the book Vel'Koz had given him. His apartment complex was tucked away in a forgotten corner of the city. He liked it, the seclusion gave him ample time to work his skills, and if need be comune with the denizens of the Void in peace. Barely anyone was ever here. He had a lot to do if he wanted to keep in the Void's favor and the privacy was much needed. Despite the book's thick size it was light reading material. Most pages were blank, left open for a soul to take its place. The parts that did have writing were of spells used to obtain souls. In theory he didn't even need to rip the entire soul away from the host to obtain its powers. Souls were powerful in that they were the collection of a person hopes and desires, the life essence of a person. A depressed soul had little power to offer compared to one filled with happiness and hope. Ala'aldeen laughed darkly to himself. He had to wonder if the contradictions whirling within him made his soul strong or weak.

He hummed in thought as he turned the page. There was more in the book besides soul manipulation. Whoever Mejai was they were incredibly powerful in their own right. The book reeked of magic, it made him wonder what kind of world Mejai came from and what could happen from mixing multiple sources of magic in a world devoid of it.

He was reminded of Nocturne. The wraith he summon was still out there, he had lost track of it as soon as he had summoned it. In truth the wraith scared Ala'aldeen. That in itself told him of its danger. He was afraid that the act of summoning the creature was not enough to bind it to his will. Voidlings can be controlled easily enough, their limited intelligence made it so. Nocturne on the other hand was more than self aware. Now that Ala'aldeen had time he re-molded the spell he used to summon Nocturne in his mind again. To decipher where the creature had come from. What he found out did not sit well with him. A creature from the dreamscape. To think he had inadvertently summoned such a demon. He would have to dispose of Nocturne as soon as possible, it was too much of a gamble to trust the wraith. He would rely on his own power to gather the souls he needed. He would also need to practice the spells. Killing a bunch of people to gather souls would surely gain unwanted attention.

Ala'aldeen sensed Nocturne before he saw him. The magic surrounding Nocturne felt weak, nothing like it was before. The wraith was calling back out to him, using some kind of link Ala'aldeen had with him from the summoning. Nocturne's body was thin, thinner than usual that is. He barely had any vapor surrounding his body, and the amount that did dripped off and sizzled into nothingness. He also wasn't entirely there. His bones were cracked and some of his ribcage was cracked into chunks. One arm was missing entirely . He lay limply on the floor, crawling towards Ala'aldeen.

The wraith reached out to Ala'aldeen, his fingers tried to claw into his mind. Ala'aldeen swatted them away with a burst of magic. Nocturne was trying to regain his strength by siphoning the prophet's fear. "I need to regain power… I sense your fear."

Ala'aldeen stood up from his chair and smiled. Sometimes fate hands you exactly what you want on a silver platter. He could kill two birds with one stone once he noticed how weak Nocturne was. No doubt from a run in with the Star Guardians. "You will find none here." Ala'aldeen pinned the wraith to the ground with a strong binding spell. He reread a passage in Mejai's tome, making sure he understood the spell correctly.

He reached out with his hand, grasping at the magic surrounding Nocturne. Nocturne writhed in pain as he felt his entire being pulled apart. A trail of green fire arced between Nocturne and Ala'aldeen's hand. It streamed steadily from the wraith's body, Nocturne's flailing did nothing to impede Ala'aldeen's spell. A large amount of fire gathered in Nocturne's chest, it buzzed between the remaining ribs before breaking out. Ala'aldeen caught it in his hand. For a moment the fire just danced there, hovering above his palm. It then condensed into a blue crystal the size of a baseball. Ala'aldeen studied the crystal. From what he saw it was crudely cut, had many fractures across its surface and barely shined when put under the light. That made Ala'aldeen laugh. The hunter of souls had a weak soul of his own.

He tossed the soul from hand to hand. That's when he noticed Janna's guardian spirit flying around outside. It was circling the block looking for Nocturne. Well it would find no trace of what was left. Ala'aldeen stood up and walked over to his windows, stepping onto the black bones Nocturne left. They crumbled to ash under his foot. He drew the curtains closed and went back to his desk. He muttered some words under his breath and placed the crystal onto a blank page of the book. It glowed and absorbed the crystal. On the page a detailed drawing of a man appeared. Ala'aldeen guessed that's what Nocturne looked like before he became a wraith. Some words also appeared, they hardly interested Ala'aldeen. He flicked through the blank pages, "One down…"


The weekend passed quickly and the following morning Lux found herself walking with Janna to school. Most of Janna's wounds have healed since then, thanks to the magic she controlled. Janna held up a hand to quiet Lux down.

"It is fine, Lux. You don't have to keep apologizing." Janna gave her a reassuring smile. It only made Lux force her eyes down to the ground.

"B-but you almost died. If I was there you wouldn't have gotten so hurt." Lux said. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt anxiously. Zephyr had informed them that no trace of Nocturne was left, so they won't have to worry about an unexpected return. That didn't really smooth out Lux's guilt.

"We cannot always be by each other's side no matter how much we want to be. Sometimes we will have to fight by ourselves. Besides I wasn't really alone, Poppy was there with me." Janna placed a firm hand on Lux's shoulder. "And I can't blame you because you were held up by friends. Remember I was a guardian before you. Those friendships outside guardianship are important to keep. You cannot let this life consume you." Janna had wished she had known the lessons she passed onto Lux when she was a guardian. The memory Nocturne had unsurfaced nagged at the back of Janna's mind.

Lux sighed. "I still feel bad for letting you down…"

They reached the school's gate. The early risers scattered around the courtyard. Poppy called out to the two and ran right over. She had been excited since she discovered her classmates were the famous Star Guardians. She was still trying to accept that she was one too. Janna assured Poppy her courage and strength was what called the First Star to her and that it was well deserved. "Lux! Janna!" Poppy said.

"Morning Poppy." Lux said back. "How are you?"

"Really good! I'm still kinda, uh, tingly all over." Poppy wiggled her fingers for a bit of emphasis. "Was that how you felt when you first transformed?"

"Uh, sorta. We shouldn't really talk about this in public, remember we have to keep our identities as Star Guardians a secret." Lux glanced around to make sure no one had overheard. The last thing she wanted was for the Star Guardian rumors to start up again. She hadn't heard anything from Ahri personally, but a quick look on tumblr told Lux she was still running that Star Guardian blog of hers.

The three girls crossed the courtyard and headed inside the school. When they reached the stairs Janna said she'll see them during lunch and went to the upper floors while Poppy went to find her friend Lulu. Lux nodded to the both of them and headed straight to her classroom. Inside Lux saw Ezreal talking to Jayce, they met eyes and Ezreal waved over to her. Lux stepped up to them and bowed.

"Hey guys… Sorry I left in such a hurry friday night." She had to ditch early that night and had yet find a way to make it up to them.

"Hey it's cool, something came up. No worries." Ezreal said, waving away any concern she had about upsetting them. "Though you might want to say something to Quinn. Apparently when she talked to Shyvana about it Garen had overheard and started to go crazy."

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I got ten different calls from him that night. Some not even from his phone. Once I got back to my dorm house he was waiting at the front door for me." Lux sighed and sat down next to Ezreal in an empty seat. "Spent the rest of the weekend under his watchful eye."

"Eh, that's what's older brothers are for. They have a built in gene to look after their younger sister. So what happened anyways?" Jayce asked.

"Oh uh…" Lux bit her lip as she looked from Jayce to Ezreal. Dang it, she forgot to come up with a convincing cover story to tell. She decided to change the subject. "Doesn't really matter, it was a false alarm… Hey Ezreal, do you still have that Poro you won me?"

Ezreal brightened up and a bit of red colored his cheeks. "Yeah! I actually, uh, brought it to school. I was going to put it in your locker for you to find but uh... "

"Ez chickened out when a bunch of girls started to giggle and tease him for it." Jayce finished for Ezreal. The blonde boy glared at his friend, which he promptly ignored. Hey if Ezreal can tell funny stories about Jayce, it's fair game for him to tell the stories about Ezreal.

"N-no, I just didn't want Lux to take it the wrong way."

Lux giggled at Ezreal. His fluster grew when Jayce continued to tease him. She thought it was sweet of him. She'll have to remind him to give it back to her after school, she would love to keep it to remind her of her first time at an arcade. Technically it was also his first gift to her.


Janna walked down the hallway, her mind still lingered on the thoughts Nocturne had brought up. She remembered very little from her time as Star Guardian, she had willingly blocked off most memories behind a mental wall. Most memories Nocturne had resurfaced were the hardest ones to face, lost allies, fights against Malzahar. The prophet made it known he would not hesitate to end their lives. All except hers and that worried her. He had some kind of sick obsession with her. For the life of her, she can't remember why.

What confused her the most was that Ala'aldeen was also within her locked away memories. The last memory Nocturne dredged up played in her mind once again. She didn't know why she would lock up that part of her life.

Janna walked over to her classroom's door and paused. If she wanted answers she would have to seek them. Turning on her heel she strode past her classroom and headed two doors down to class 3-C. She slid the door open and spotted a familiar teen. He had his head looming over a book, he brushed a lock of his brown hair out of his eyes and pushed his glasses up. Janna walked to him, stopping right in front of him. When he didn't notice she tapped the corner of his desk.

Ala'aldeen looked up and saw the tall blonde. "Janna." he said a little surprised.

"Can we talk? She asked.

"Sure of course." He stood up from his seat and tucked in the chair. It was still half an hour till first bell so they had plenty of time.

Janna led him down the hallway, there were plenty of students crowding around waiting for class to start. She continued on, passed the other classes and up the stairs. Whatever she wanted to talk about, she wanted to do so privately. She led him to the Lit Club's room, she knew no one would be inside. She slid the door open and let him in. When she stepped inside she closed the door. She held the it closed behind her, her eyes were looking down at her feet.

This was the first time Ala'aldeen saw Janna look so… vulnerable. And not from one of his attacks as Malzahar. This vulnerability was from something else. His heart started to race in his chest as he saw her take a step forward.

"...Ala'aldeen…" Janna didn't know where to start really. She pushed on anyways. "I remember very little from last year. Some… personal drama made that time very hard on me." Janna paused, grasping for the right words. "But two nights ago I just remembered something very important…"

Ala'aldeen felt his breath tighten around his heart.

"Before… We were close… weren't we? Close enough to be..." Janna trailed off and then looked up to see Ala'aldeen staring back at her. The emotions she was building up over the weekend were finally boiling over. "I'm sorry I forgotten. I-I can't remember the time when we were together o-or what had drove us apart, but I remember it was my fault… I-"

Ala'aldeen closed the gap between them and hugged her. His sudden embrace surprised both of them. He didn't know what had caused Janna to come to him like this. He realised her run in with Nocturne was part of the reason. Still, she was talking to him again. She doesn't remember everything… and that was fine by him. She remembered what matter and he could use that. Ala'aldeen won't lose her twice. "It's okay, Janna" He whispered to her. "I have long since forgiven you. It was not your fault back then. Know that I'll always be here for you."

Janna hesitated and then returned the hug. Her arms wrapped around his chest tightly as she pulled him in closely.


A/N: And that's a wrap! I decided to use part of Poppy's old game lore cause I really liked the story potential it had. So I sorta combined both her new and old lore for my story. With that Poppy has officially joined the team. Up next is our favorite little fae sorceress. Let me know what you all think.

Well, see you all soon. Love you, bye.