Chapter 4

Some kind of pleasantries

He closed his eyes, and started to focus on his hearing, searching for a sound that was out of place. With the lights out and him standing still, the intruder would enter his territory clueless, without knowing what to expect from Tenebron. The runeblade's power was depleted, thus the magical glow that these blades usually had didn't exist. Runeblades had multiple ways of generating their power, and their wielders took this greatly into account when choosing one. These blades picked their users, not vice versa. A blade fueled from draining its user's mana would be dead weight in the hands of a non magical creature. This specific weapon was fueled by being moved around. The longer its user stayed in combat, the more devastating and nimble the blade would get, eventually making the weapon lighter than a feather but able to unleash horrifying attacks, vanquishing any foe in a single hit. For now, the blade's battle fury was sated.

Footsteps… he could hear them still a bit far from him, all the way back to the stair that he followed to come down here. They were approaching, fast and steady, but with a few moments of hesitation in between. The intruder was scared or cautious. Knowing her, it most likely was the later. A few more seconds and Katarina de Couteau burst into his line of sight in a flurry of steel. Tenebron turned the runeblade sideway, using the flat side of the weapon to block the incoming daggers. Even at this first taste of combat, the first of the four runes started shining dimly. He didn't need more power, it was a challenge, not a deathmatch. He swung the blade in a horizontal slash, releasing a small pulse of emerald energy towards his attacker. Though it knocked her back and forced her on a defensive crouch, the pulse didn't harm her in any other way.

" Are you seriously using Stelwardia against me?" she said with a mocking tone.

"Why not, she has been inactive for quite some time. This blade is way too pretty to keep it on a shelf all the time."

"I will agree on that" replied Katarina, while leaping towards him, seemingly to impale herself on the massive blade which was now pointed towards her, only to Shunpo the last second behind Tenebron. One of her blades went directly for his right ribs, while the other for his right thigh. Instead of the soft sound which indicated the severing of tendons and bones, the reply was a loud metal *thud*, followed by the sound of metal being shattered. Katarina stared where her daggers were a second ago, now broken in half by a quick and powerful defensive slash from Tenebron. Stelwardia didn't even have a scratch.

"Check mate." He told her with finality.

"I could beat you at any point…" she replied, pretending that she couldn't care less.

"Sure… So, what brings you here?"

"You are coming tonight, aren't you?"

"I don't get why I, one of Noxus' undercover assassins who goes on missions every now and then, have to show my face in front of hundreds of ambassadors, generals, soldiers and annoying reporters. You can go with Talon."

" He is going with Cassie…"

"Darius?"

"Been there, done that. It didn't work out well."

"Draaaaven?"

"No way…."

"Garen?"

"Are you even trying to convince me?"

"Swain?"

"He is going with LeBlanc" she said while giving him a menacing glare. She knew that he had mentioned Swain just to piss her off.

"So I am your last resort…. Well then I guess I can't come, I am nobody's second choice" he said. Oh this was going to be too good. For some reason he always enjoyed pissing her off before agreeing with her.

"FINE. Don't come, I don't need you. I will go to the ball alone… and probably get hit by every single old ass general… and self-entitled ambassador… and horny soldier… and wanna-be stylish reporter… OK, OK I need you, please come!" She said, faking distress.

"Jokes aside though, why does Swain need us there? Doesn't he have enough Noxian representation already?"

"He wants every single League champion from Noxus to be there…"

"I am not a champion…."

"You are my escort… And I am pretty sure that most of the so called "League champions" won't be able to last against you for more than five minutes."

"So I have to reveal my face, wear clothes unsuited for combat while surrounded by enemies, discard most of my weaponry and pretend that I enjoy a useless, time-wasting event…. Let's do it!" he said with sarcastic cheer.

"Did you actually just say yes?"

"Kind of."

"Okay! We are leaving in two hours. Meet me in front of my manor!" She finished her sentence, and then she Shunpo'ed out of the room, probably to return to the De Couteau manor and get ready. This wasn't a good idea...

The two hours seemed like two days, but then again this is what happened every time he made an arrangement with a female associate. To his delight, Katarina didn't take long before she exited the manor through the door. The late evening orange sun was fighting against her descent as she walked down the few marble steps that brought the manor's entrance to street level.

"Wow..." was all he could muster.

"How do I look?" she said with a shy smile and an audible string of embarrassment in her voice.

" That's a lot of crowd control..." was his reply. As she was no longer blinded by the sun hitting her in the face, she could finally see his face more clearly.

"What the..."

" Did you seriously think I was going with my real face?"

"Still you could had chosen something that would match you better. I mean seriously blonde and blue eyes? Like that Ezreal boy?"

"Did you just call me homosexual?"

"Kind of" she replied, mimicking his reply from earlier. She laughed at that and rewarded him with a hug. Tenebron escorted her to their carriage while holding her arm in arm. After letting her get on it first he sat next to her, and they both pulled their "masks" off, showing how annoyed they were that they had to waste one of their few and relished day offs. Both being assassins meant that the words schedule or work hours didn't exist in their daily routine. It was quite rare to spend a week undisturbed. Somehow there were always people who according to other people "didn't know their place". Tenebron couldn't help but think of how many of these... "places", him, Katarina, Talon, Darius, Draven, the "Muscles", and many others had swapped, secured, or even out right deleted. More than two hundred people had fallen thanks to him, yet not one of them would be his business if he wasn't blackmailed by life itself, and later getting payed extreme amounts of money.

Through chatting and a bit of light sleep, the trip to Piltover seemed short. When they exited the carriage, the sun was no longer supervising from its seat of clouds, it was night-time, his favorite time.

"How do I look?" This time it was Tenebron asking and he was not referring to his tuxedo.

"Like a spoiled rich teenager on steroids, but realistic." replied Katarina after inspecting him for a couple of seconds, who understood what the question was about before he even finished his sentence.

"I will take that as a compliment.." he said, ending the short conversation and starting to act "normal" as they were approaching other people.

He had to admit that even though he would rather be home, spending some time relaxing, or perhaps reading one of his non-military books, the Piltoveran ambassadors had style. They were led by neatly dressed peacekeepers through the main entrance, and into the building's gardens. In the distance, he could see the large cylindrical white building. Tall and healthy blue jacarandas along the straight stone pathway embraced the black starlit night sky with their violet blossoms. These massive trees appeared to have been sprayed with some sort of gold dust, as there were small and short gold flashes all around them. There also seemed to be some kind of hidden chorus signing, as he could hear low relaxing chanting, just enough to make the visitor realize that they were there, but not loud enough to steal the glory from the gardens. It truly made the assassin excited to see how the inside was decorated. After their walk through the exterior, they entered the main building.

They were welcomed by another pair of peacekeepers.

"Would you be kind enough to state your business here?" said one of the guards, while he was trying hard to not impale his glare on Katarina's cleavage.

"We are here for the ambassadors' ball." she replied with her voice full of boredom, and a matching glare, throwing her lack of interest for the guard in his face.

"Of course, twenty-sixth floor, you can take the elevator there. Do you want me to escort you?" he said, still hopeful.

Feeling that the guard was getting annoying, this time it was Tenebron's turn to reply with polite words and tone, which however left no room of misunderstanding.

"The lady is already being escorted. I believe you need to attend to other arrivals too."

"Indeed" retorted the guard and returned to his post in front of the main door, followed by his partner. They made their way to the elevator and the machine departed for the twenty-sixth floor.

"Seriously... "the lady"?" asked him Katarina while they were in the elevator.

"If we are going to pretend we are indeed in to this kind of pleasantries, we might as well be convincing." he retorted, while he gently grabbed a strand of her hair and started playing with it.

"Do you really think it will be that easy?" she said pulling her hair away from his palm, and turning to face him with a mischievous smile.

"Maybe... we have to make the hours pass somehow anyway."

"Hold your horses Casanova.. I have fallen for this "harmless teasing" before, it won't work this time."

"We shall see." he said, as he winked at her mischievously, right as the elevator reached the twenty-sixth floor with the characteristic ding!

The doors opened and the room was revealed to its full glory. The floor was made out of traditional Demacian night oak, which was now shining due to its cleanness. There was a rhomb on the floor, centered on the middle of the room, dividing it into five pieces: The four sides and the middle which served as the dance floor. Three of the four sides had seats for the guests and the hosts of the event, with medium sized tables which were occasionally united to form a larger one, so many people could sit next to each other while eating and discussing. While there was no clear rule, it was obvious how the sides were divided. On the south side, which was the closest to the elevator, and the point where Tenebron and Katarina were standing, was the neutral side. Ambassadors from Bandle City, Bilgewater, and the Freljord could be found sitting there. The east side was dedicated to Noxus and Zaun, and the west side was reserved from Demacia and Ionia. Finally, the north side was where the orchestra and the buffet were set. The seats closer to the middle were kind of neutral, where people (or creatures in some cases) from different states who wanted to just have a friendly chat without risking to get into trouble sat. The further the seats were from the dance floor, the more elevated they were, so everyone could watch without disturbing the others.

Scanning the crowd, he could already feel better. As much as he usually didn't care about such stuff, he couldn't help but take pride in the fact that Katarina was the most beautiful woman in there, and he was the one escorting her. She was wearing a tight strapless black dress, which started under her armpits, barely exposing her cleavage, and was just long enough to perfectly cover and compliment her pelvis and buttocks. As for her shoes, she had chosen a pair of low heels, which left her red toes free. A pendant with a golden chain and an emerald in the shape of a rain drop was adorning her thin and long neck. She was wearing a bracelet with 4 rows of small, carefully polished emerald spheres. Her hair were brushed and ironed to be perfectly straight and able to follow her every delicate move like a ruby curtain of silk. Her face make-up was rather simple, with emphasis on her lips and eyes. Her lips were a pure ruby red of passion, accommodating her hair, and her eyes had a thin but intense line of black around them, making her gaze breath-taking. Her hair occasionally gave barely noticeable silver sparkles whenever the light made contact with it. He couldn't name the product that caused that.

"Is everything okay?" she asked him, with another smile, pulling him out of his thoughts. It took him a couple of seconds to reply.

"Yeap. Let's get moving."

"Lead the way." she replied, winking to him. She knows... he thought, allowing himself to relax.

Without overthinking it they headed for the Noxian side. On their way there, they met Swain on his own, watching over the dance floor from the back seats.

"Hey Swain you old crow, what are you doing up here alone? Where is LeBlanc?" asked Katarina in a i-am-making-fun-of-you tone. Swain wasn't agitated by that, he replied with his own sense of controlled humor.

"Lady De Couteau.. I am afraid my escort had some pressing matters to attend to. Speaking of escorts, who would this b..." His sentence was cut from a choked laughter, the result of an attempt to not laugh out loud at noticing Tenebron's "new" face.

" .you." was the assassin's reply.

"Why would you feel like that?" he said, before staring at him again for five seconds, only to release another choked laughter.

" I am not bothering to answer that..." He said as he proceeded to take a seat on the same table that Swain was, followed by Katarina.

"So, what are we doing here? Where are the others?" He continued.

"Last month you were complaining about how often I deployed you. I am giving you a day off, both of you. Isn't that brilliant?" He said, returning the favor to Katarina with his own "I-am-making-fun-of-you" tone.

"This doesn't fully answer my question…" he said in a calm tone.

"You will find them all around the place. I can see Draven hitting on a Demacian infant over there…"

Following Swain's gaze, Tenebron indeed saw the executioner giving the "I-am-everything-you-will-ever-need" look to a blonde girl with a blue dress. He didn't need to see her face to realize who she was. Luxanna Crownguard… He had spared her life a couple times for a number of reasons. Mostly because she had never been the primary target in any contract so far. A bit further he spotted Talon, who had indeed come with Cassiopeia. They were both drinking while telling jokes he couldn't hear, but he could see they were laughing. At least someone was having a great time there. A tall pale man with white short hair, crimson eyes and matching clothes was sitting on a chair close to the middle of the room, appearing to be deeply engaged in conversation with another man, with asian face features and a long black ponytail. As with most men in the room, he had chosen to dress in black. He recognized both Vladimir and Xin Zhao. His gaze shifted to the edges of the dance floor and… were his eyes deceiving him? Darius was talking to a woman? And a pretty one. He identified the woman as Quinn, one of Demacia's most efficient scouts, and one of the few to outmaneuver him once. They appeared to be engaged in a rather flirty conversation.

Seeing him observing the dance floor, Katarina grabbed his hand and lifted him off the chair.

"Wanna join them?" she asked.

"With pleasure, my dear" he replied, allowing her to lead the way once again. Her behind was a feast for the eyes.

As soon as they left the Noxian area, they were greeted by a hulk of a man. Although not exceptionally tall, the guy was huge in terms of muscles. He had blue eyes and brown hair. He was wearing a blue suit, with the emblem of the Dauntless Vanguard on the fabric that protected his heart. He had an annoying challenging look on his face and was staring directly at Katarina. Garen Crownguard… This one was only alive because of his escort's interventions, or Swain's clear orders to keep him alive for reasons known only to him.

"Hello, Kat." He said with his deep voice.

"Bye, Garen." Was her reply as she walked past him. He grabbed her hand gently, but forcefully as she passed by him.

"Can we talk for a bit?"

"Did I pronounce "bye" wrong or something?"

"It won't cost you anything if you just listen to me…"

"It will, our time." she said showing Tenebron with her hand.

"Your name?" he asked, switching his gaze to the assassin.

"Does it matter?" he replied

"Yes it does."

"I will give you one warning, champ. You better take it and leave." A part of him didn't want Garen to take the advice. He wanted the Demacian to make an aggressive move. Just to justify the assassin's imminent assault. He was about to do just that, when a woman with jet black hair, stunning green eyes and an elegant black dress raised her hand in front of Garen's chest, stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't…" a mature and harsh voice. Shauna Vayne kept staring at Garen until he turned around to leave. Then she turned to the assassins, raising and lowering her eyebrows fast, as if she was greeting but also warning them. He replied with a soft nod. He was pretty sure that she could see through his deception, and he inwardly thanked her for not giving him away. They had fought aside or against each other a few times. Those few times were enough for both to learn to respect each other. Vayne was not just another mercenary. If he had to describe her with one word, it would be "relentless". They had much in common, such as their background, their current lifestyle and decision making.

"So Vayne has more clothes that her usual outfit… I am surprised!" said Katarina

"Indeed, she is very pretty tonight."

"Excuse me?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Of course he had and it was on purpose. A mere bait before the actual gank…

"You are with me and you just said that she is very pretty…"

"According to you I am not with you, I am merely escorting you because you couldn't find a better match" He didn't have to look at her to realize she was staring him in disbelief and anger. It was again one of those times that his inner demon got the best out of him and he just wanted to annoy her, before ultimately agreeing with her.

"Oh really?"

"Yeap"

"I think I will go to the restroom…" was all she said as she turned around and left.

Bingo… he thought. All he had to do was to wait a bit to frustrate her, and then move in for the kill.

Five minutes passed before he followed her. As soon as he opened the restroom's door and passed through it, the door was violently closed behind him and (as expected) a really frustrated Katarina pushed him with his back on the wall. She tried to kiss him, but instead she met the mask's lips.

"Get this shit off you…NOW!"

Complying he removed it, revealing his real face. It was not the first time she saw it, but due to the amount of time between those few instances that she got to see it her reaction was always like the first time. It took years for her to see his face. Though he was often in the De Couteau manor for various reasons, Tenebron always wore a mask when he wasn't alone. Citizens of Noxus had learnt the hard way that to try to remove his mask without his permission was to sign your death sentence most of the time. Most people thought he hid it out of shame for his looks. Afterall, other assassin not only didn't hide but even show their faces as often as possible to make their enemies fear them. This theory was far from the truth. Underneath the different masks that covered it, was a handsome face, with elegant cheekbones and , slim male lips, jet black hair (short to the sides and back, while forming a spike line in the middle of his head's top), and almond eyes, whose irises appeared to keep dancing like emerald flames. An epitome of male beauty, that's what she had called him in the past and appeared to still believe it.

After removing it, they started kissing hungrily, with his back still against the wall, and his partner climbing on top of him, he supported her with his hands under her perfectly round buttocks, squeezing them every now and then, making Katarina emit a soft moan every time. He could feel himself getting harder with each second passing. He had started lowering her dress to expose her breasts, while she was unbuttoning his shirt, when a loud bang was heard from the outside. Closing his eyes in frustration for a moment, he gently put her down, fixing her dress while doing so, and then he proceeded to button his shirt.

"This isn't over…" He told her with firmness.

"Not in the very least. I will buy you some time, don't be late!"

With that she pulled her two signature daggers from a belt under her dress and dashed out of the restroom.

He pulled his sleeve up to reveal a metallic cylinder with a number pad around his left wrist. He typed a code and he was surrounded by a green cloud of energy.

"It's showtime…" he whispered as he felt his armor and mask connecting with his skin.

Author's Notes: Hey, I am back! For how long? I don't know. I just felt like writing this one. I hope you enjoy, feel free to leave a review regarding your thoughts for this chapter or the story in general, or make a suggestion. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you soon, I hope…