Hey, hope you guys are enjoying these new chapters.
I think it's the best time to warn you guys right now that I'm writing straight-forwardly.
Which really means I'm not planning any of these things out.
So... You might see me get tangled in a ball of yarn like a cat.
But yeah, again, thanks for all the support.
Drained from the day, Quinn retreated to her room early, but leaving her door cracked open for Valor, who was still wandering outside somewhere. The eagle will return when he pleases, she just hopes that he won't interrupt her sleep.
Valor, being the trouble maker he was, has been causing a ruckus within the dining hall. He would dive into people's platters, especially the apprentice summoners', stealing food and eating it in a high place where no one would reach him. This made many people angry, and if it weren't for not knowing Quinn's location, they would have barged in on her and made her discipline Valor some more.
However, as Kayle walked into the dining room, everyone pretty much shut up. No one wanted to get on the Judicator's bad side, and Valor didn't exactly want to bother the angel either. His pride was hurt on the day that they raced, but the stubborn bird wasn't willing to admit it.
"What was all this uproar about?" she raised her voice, looking across the large hall for a face that would give her an answer. When no one gave a reply, she walked over and stood beside the nearest table that was occupied, both of the sitting figures being apprentice summoners, by the looks of their purple and white robes.
"I asked a question, may I get an answer?" Kayle set her hands on the edge of the table, leaning forward as she glared hard at the two of them. It was fairly intimidating, especially when she's wearing this much armor, and always ready to strike anyone down. The summoners thought themselves lucky that they were able to negotiate with this being at all.
"Oh sister… Now who's the bad guy?" Morgana, on the other end of the dining hall, teased in a mocking manner, "Look at these frightened little souls…" She set her hands on one of the intermediate summoners, dressed in blue and white. The woman summoner flinched, but did not dare to move much more.
Kayle straightened her posture and stared hard at the vile sight before her, watching Morgana lean down and kiss the summoner on her left ear.
"What exactly happened here?" the Judicator questioned, but didn't expect a straight answer. Especially out of that demonic being.
"Oh, just some blue feathers roughing up some grub." She looked up at the ceiling, where Valor was hiding.
"Valor?" Kayle looked up; the familiar blue feathers were bundled up in the corner.
"Aww… You scared the poor thing, and you call me a fallen angel." Morgana chuckled and left the shoulders of the young summoner alone as she strolled towards Kayle.
"Leave." The Judicator narrowed her eyes, but it wasn't very apparent from her helmet.
"In case you didn't notice, that is exactly… What I'm doing" The dark angel pointed it out, walking calmly past her sister, but purposely bashing her dark wings against the white ones, "My bad." She grinned as she exited the doors.
Kayle sighed in frustration and made her way until she was almost directly under Valor's position.
"Come down here." She ordered, but only received a defiant squawk as a response.
"Don't make me go up there." Kayle threatened, but it was an empty threat for she was forbidden to fly within the building.
"Squawk! Squawk!" Valor screeched, and opened his mouth to stick his tongue just a little out and swooped down, but not towards the angel. He was aiming for the door, expecting to be light enough for him to push. That thought went away as he slammed his body against the door, having no apparent effect on the large double doors at all. He sat on the ground for a little and finally got up to peck at the door.
No one bothered to get up and help the little creature, and Kayle decided she might as well. She sneaked up on Valor as he was trying to decipher how to open the doors, scratching at the bottom of the metal barricade. In one quick dive, the Judicator's hands were able to snatch the large blue bird, causing it to descend into the state of shock and attempt to flap his wings around.
All eyes were on her at this point, and she decided it was best to leave the hall, so she kicked the door open and left quickly.
"I'm taking you back to Quinn." Kayle explained, but it didn't seem to reach Valor's ears, for he continued to struggle.
"Hey!" she finally caught the eagle's attention with her authoritative voice, but she can tell that Valor does not like her very much from the looks he was giving.
"I'm taking you back to your master," She looked at the eagle with a hard stare, "Are you going to show me the way or not?"
For a while, Valor continued his struggle once more, this time kicking and flapping with more effort, but Kayle's iron grip was inescapable, so he relaxed himself and let out a defeated squawk.
"Good. But I'm still not letting you go until you're in your room." She explained, and Valor pointed his beak towards the direction of Quinn's room.
It was very weird to see Kayle, of all people, walking down Demacian-Ionian hallways. Several summoners and champions caught sight of her and immediately let her pass through. It was even weirder to see Valor in someone's hands without struggling.
They finally came up to a door, decorated with some feathers and a small Demacian banner. The door was slightly ajar, so the Judicator merely pushed it open, but took caution.
Once she was in the room, Kayle finally let go of the blue eagle, who did not protest nor make noises as he was set down on the ground. All he did was adjust his feathers and hopped about. She wondered why Valor was all of a sudden so quiet, but finally noticed that Quinn was asleep.
She was in quite the peaceful repose, dressed in clothes that she has only seen once before, in the dining hall. Now that she actually paid attention, it was a cerulean blue dress, decorated with golden symbols across the sleeves. It did not match the symbols that represented Demacia, but a language that Kayle couldn't recognize. The colors complimented Quinn's raven hair quite well, along with the seemingly unfathomable depth of her golden eyes.
The Judicator stopped her thoughts and reassessed herself: She was a little repulsed at how much detail she has observed, and most of it about Quinn's appearance. So she turned and glanced around the room just to keep her eyes off of the serene figure.
Quinn's room was decorated decently, most of it coming from nature, like the unfinished wooden basket sitting on one of the counters. Instead of using usual window blinds, she used carefully woven leaves that sat so snug against each other that it seemed impossible to tear down without the use of some sort of weapon. Kayle then looked at the night stand next to Quinn's bed. There were sheets of parchment, a lot of it filled with drawings and elegant writing. She shifted some of it around, reading a bit of the content where she caught sight of a peculiar one.
Spring, second month in the Institute, Day 23
Valor and I were hungry, so we decided, or more like HE decided, to steal food from the cafeteria. I guess it's bad that I'm writing this down, since if someone saw this, I'd be in pretty big trouble. So fingers crossed that no one finds this.
Anyway, do you remember that woman I wrote ab- s- time ago, the angel named Kayle? Well, while we were displacing some pizza, she was in the cafeteria. God, if you were there, you'd be laughing as much as Valor did afterwards. She came up to me, and I was f- scared!
But when I realized she wasn't wearing the usual armor she did, she seemed so much less intimidating, maybe still a little. I finally got to see her face. Her hair is blonde, just like yours were when you were smaller, except hers was shinier, so ha!
She was wearing some very interesting robes, too. There was only armor on her shoulders and hips, I think there was some on her chest too, but otherwise there was just fabric. It looked really weird, but I think for an instance, I might have been slightly attracted to her, she's just pretty, okay?
Yeah. I'll write to you tomorrow too.
Love,
Quinn
Some parts of it were blurred, almost seemed like an attempt to erase what she wrote down, many of it were crossed out too, as if she changed her mind. A sudden large amount of pain struck her chest as she read through these parchments of varying details and doodles. It was a prickling sensation, almost as if she felt guilty.
'That's impossible' Kayle thought to herself, reasoning that this was part of her job, to investigate everyone in the Institute of War, and should any of them prove to be plotting or otherwise evil, she will pass judgment on them. But the more she read through some of the parchments, the more loneliness she could feel, along with mixed feelings between pity and guilt.
This woman was writing, as far as she could gather, to a dead brother. Everyone one of these parchments do not show a name, but are always directed to the same person. Treating him as if he were... Alive.
A sudden shift in movement within Quinn's sheets alerted Kayle as she looked over; meeting the yellow eyes that barely opened a slit.
Quinn herself groaned as she recognized that the presence that was close to her all along wasn't Valor. "…Kayle?" Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat to speak again, "Is that you?"
The Judicator's eyes widened, as she took her hand off of the scattered journal, now in more of a mess after she tampered with them. Quinn's eyes looked over to her journal, and as soon as she recognized that all of it was sensitive information, she instantly reached over and grabbed onto a pile of it, thrusting them into the drawers underneath in a rush.
"How much of it did you read?" The ranger spoke in a shaky voice, gulping down the panicked clog that was in her throat.
"I…" Kayle was conflicted. As a Judicator, one always speaks the truth. Even considering any else was vile, impure, but her mouth slipped out a venomous lie: "Not much, I only saw the pictures." It stung her tongue like no other corrosive material.
Disgusting.
She sneered at herself under her helmet.
Abhorrent lie.
"Oh... Good…" Quinn let out a sigh of relief, her body relaxed as she lowered her head a little.
"My apologies, I did not wish to intrude. Valor was causing trouble in the halls, and I brought him back. Your pictures simply intrigued me, and being a creature of habit, I looked." Kayle explained, which she normally never does in an investigation. She never questioned herself; no one else did, but now…
"No… That's fine. Thank you for taking Valor back," she paused, brushing her messy black hair back, "Umm, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, rest well."Kayle bade the ranger farewell and exited the room swiftly, listening to the door close with a silent click.
You are sick, Kayle. Sick.