New chapter! There's so many pairings on this one I don't even...


The hour of the match approached way quicker than Luxanna was expecting. When she entered the Demacian summoning chamber, her other teammates were already at the platform, ready to be teleported to Summoner's Rift. Sona and Quinn offered her a warm smile while both Jarvan and Garen refused to look her in the eye. 'As if this bad gut feeling wasn't enough', she thought to herself. As she joined everyone at the platform, Sona's worried voice invaded her thoughts. "Are you alright Lux? You look pale…" The blond just smiled softly, "I'm alright. Let's do this."

At the Noxian side, Katarina's good mood was about to go down in flames. Swain had asked everyone to be at the chamber an hour prior the match to discuss some important matters. But once all the team was present, he did nothing more than make a rough sketch of the entire match on the magic board present in the room. "So first Katarina and Cassiopeia, you will help our Jungler Darius to get our blue…", he started while drawing some sort of line, connecting what seemed to be their blue buff to the enemy's red, " Then you go here and help him steal their red. That shall make Jarvan very mad. With luck, you may be able to get first blood." This went on and on for what felt like forever; the sinister blade briefly moving her eyes away from the boring board to eye her teammates. Cassio was painting her nails… claws… sharp thingies, Draven was busy looking himself in the mirror again while Darius seemed to be paying the biggest of attentions to Swain's orders. 'No surprise there…', she thought, her eyes drifting to the last member of their very weird team. Thresh was sitting in the far corner and seemed somewhat busy tormenting the souls on his lantern. Swain had requested his presence as an ally for the match, something he did not refuse. Everyone was uneasy at first, Thresh not being a noxian, but soon became used to the idea.

Katarina's thoughts were interrupted when Beatrice, Swain's weird crow, cawed loud. The redhead instantly looked over Swain, who seemed to be requesting her attention for some time now. Before she could ask, he glared daggers in her direction and spoke, venom present in every word. "This is your last chance Katarina. I'm letting you go top lane against your 'boy-toy'. You better wreck him hard… Or else." "Or else what? Is that a threat?" He just laughed in reply. "I don't make threats. I make warnings. This is your last chance to prove your loyalty. If we lose this match… You're being exiled from Noxus. Hey, maybe you could join your friend Riven!"

His maniac laugh filled the summoning chamber as he walked out, leaving a very shocked and furious Katarina behind.

/a/

Meanwhile in the nearby ballroom, a huge screen had been set for every summoner and champion who wished to watch the match. Ezreal sat in the first row of chairs, between Jayce and Vi. Ashe and Tryndamere sat behind them, along with Leona, Soraka, Olaf and Janna. Caitlyn and Graves had chosen to sit down on one of the last rows, away from pry eyes (especially the eyes of a certain law enforcer, who would certainly make way too many questions, proceeding to scare the man away with threats.) Shen and Akali sat side by side in silence, exchanging occasional glances between them; Kennen seemed to notice but said nothing. On the last row of chairs, Miss Fortune and Gankplank were having their daily argument. At first it was just a small bickering; no one paid them no mind. But soon enough it got louder as Sarah threaten to shove oranges up his ass if he didn't stop showing off to other girls. All ears and eyes in the room were now on the couple, but they were far too busy to even notice. "You're a prick! How dare you to take your shirt off to show your muscles to Janna! Oh wait wait… Excuse me. Not muscles… fat!" Gankplank turned red at the comment, squashing the orange he always seemed to be carrying around. "Are you calling me fat? Arrrrgh how dare ya! And yes I did take my shirt off… At least I have one." A muffled giggle followed by a 'Oooooooooh' were heard after his comment. Sarah turned red… and smirked. "I'm going to punish you for that darlin' ~", she purred. Everyone proceeded to facepalm as they started to make out like there was no tomorrow…

"Foolish humans." A dark voice spat at the farthest corner, the spheres surrounding it moving out of pattern clearly showing the distress. "You shouldn't let them get under your skin like that, Syndra. Or perhaps are you somewhat… jealous of that sort of interaction…?" A second voice was heard as another dark figure slowly joined the woman at the corner. "You should know me well enough by now to not assume such nonsenses Malzahar. I could simply care less for that sort of… show." The man just chuckled as he took her hand, gently kissing it. "My apologies my 'queen'. I sure know better." She just smirked at his small gesture, their little moment being observed at a distance by a really curious plant.

The screen suddenly came to life as the announcer's voice filled the room. "Welcome to Summoner's Rift!"

/a/

The members of both teams occupied their rightful places in lane as the match started. Just like as planned, Cassio and Kat helped Darius with the blue buff; Lux, Quinn and Sona helped Jarvan. Katarina then made her way to the top lane where Garen was already farming the first minion wave. Their eyes locked for a second, The Might of Demacia whispering a "Don't expect me to hold back", getting a "never expected you to do so" as a reply. As they both engaged in a cat and mouse game of their own, Jarvan was making his way towards his red, completely unaware Cassiopeia and Darius were waiting for him there. Lux was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she forgot to sign the m.i.a. from her lane; a mistake that turned out to be fatal to the prince who got caught off guard…

"First Blood!"

Garen noticed too late his friend's distress near their red buff, as the first kill of the game was announced. Taking advantage of his sudden distraction, the Sinister Blade used her shunpo on him, fiercely throwing her knives, doing enough damage to make Garen retreat to his tower and eventually recall.

In the meantime, Jarvan was raging at Lux for her lack of map awareness. The light mage kept apologizing without any avail; the prince was too caught up blaming her relationship with the explorer for her distractions. The Lady of Luminosity had no other option but to remain quiet, barely focusing on her opponent; Cassio sensed the blond's distress and sure took advantage of it, landing a fierce combo that caught the mage off guard.

"An ally has been slain."

"Too easy.", Cassiopeia said between laughs, taking her time cleaning yet another wave of minions and doing some damage to the enemy's tower.

In bot lane, Quinn and Sona were already having a hard time deflecting and dodging Draven's axes and Thresh's pulls. The duo was so aggressive that not even the decent heals from the maven could avoid the adc's health to drop near zero. To make things worse, Darius came bot and managed to pull Quinn towards himself when both her and Sona got distracted: Draven and Thresh pulled back to the second bush while Darius managed to use his teleport to the first bush (the demacian ward had already run out), allowing the Hand of Noxus an easy grip on the adc when she and her support got out of their tower's limits to farm a minion wave. However, just when Draven was about to throw the axe that would finish her off, a dark voice rang in his head: "If you dare to hurt Quinn, I will rip that mustache of your face". Talon. The glorious executor had been intercepted in his way to the quarters the night before by the assassin, who openly threated him in case he laid a hand on Quinn; he was also advised to not say a word to anyone about the nature of Talon's and the girl relationship. So the axe openly missed its target, allowing Quinn to run back to her tower in safety, leaving a very furious Darius behind.

Twenty-five minutes in, Noxus was clearly dominating the match. While Kat and Garen remained evenly matched on top lane, both with no kills/deaths/assists, Lux had feed Cassio three more kills and had lost her first tower. Quinn and Sona had died twice each for Darius and their tower was gone as well; Jarvan had picked the only two kills of the demacian team on Draven when he hesitated to kill Quinn once again and got caught off guard on ganks.

To give their main plot a head start, Cassio pinged Darius to help and gank top. Garen had the river warded so he saw them coming; he quickly retreated to his tower, preparing himself to defend it. Jarvan pinged a On my way from their base; however when he finally got close enough, Garen had already been towerdived hard by the three noxians, the tower gone with him. Sighing deeply, he pinged Lux to go grab their blue buff while he took the red one.

Noticing Luxanna's movement in her map, Katarina quickly teleported to their mid tower, making her way across the river and halting in a bush nearby the enemy's blue buff. Holding the blade containing the poison her sister had prepared a few days prior, the Sinister Blade started to contemplate Cassio's words. Was it really worth to kill his boyfriend's sister for the sake of revenge? Sure it would bring great glory to her name among her fellow comrades… But she was sure to lose her position as a champion on the League… not to mention Garen. No, it wasn't worth it at all. 'Screw this', she thought to herself as she craved the blade in the nearby wall and shunpo'd away. Just when Katarina started to farm mid lane, a shadowy figure materialized in the bush the sinister blade was on, a clawed hand pulling the blade free from the rock. "I knew she would fail… Glad I thought about plan B.", the mysterious being said to itself, letting out a chuckle as it got closer to the light mage, who was running low from attempting to take the blue buff. Just as when Luxanna was done and ready to recall, a knife came flying from the bush behind her, craving itself in her abdomen. Gasping in pain, she managed to look over her shoulder, a pair of red flaming orbs greeting her from the tall grass. Just as soon as it was there, it was gone; and the mage found herself unable to move in mere seconds. Sitting on the floor, she bit her lower lip hard as she pulled the blade free, the sign of a weird purple substance mixed with her blood on the wound being enough to make her cry for help as she realized the cruel truth: she had been poisoned.

Quinn and Sona were the first ones to notice her distress and quickly approached the blond. The maven quickly used her heal but to their surprise, it didn't work. "We have to take you out of here, maybe the spawn will help. I never seen this type of thing happening before…", the adc stated, concern filling her features. "It's… Katarina's blade…", Lux spoke quietly, "But someone else threw it… She was… farming mid when it happened." Sona kept spamming her heals with no success while Quinn picked the blade off the floor and brought it close to Valor's face. The bird eyed the purple substance in it and made a soft sniff sound followed by a trail of loud shrieks while flapping his wings wildly; his owner face turned white as she understood Valor's distress. "Garen, Jarvan call this match off, someone tried to kill Luxanna!", she started, picking the mage off the floor and running as fast as she could towards the spawn, the blade held in Valor's claws. "Quinn, don't be silly. We die here all the time-", Jarvan replied, being interrupted by the adc. "No you don't understand. Someone poisoned her. Sona's heals are not working and the spawn will not heal her either; whoever it was used angel's root poison. It's a flower that grows in the Shadow Isles, really hard to obtain. Hired assassins use it to finish off their targets… kills them in the space of a night if the antidote is not administrated as soon as possible."

The match was called off shortly after the incident and Lux was transported to the hospital wing of the League. A very distressed Katarina left her confused teammates behind as she ran as fast as she could through the halls, soon joining Garen in the waiting room. "Garen I'm-", she started but he turned around and cut her off. "Shut up! Just shut up!", he yelled . "I didn't do it!" He took a step towards her, their faces inches away. "Quinn found your blade near my sister… Even Lux confirmed it was yours. And you mean to tell me…", he narrowed his eyes dangerously, "You didn't do it?!" "I was in mid lane when everything happened! How would I freaking harm your sister at that distance?! And seriously, poison? I don't use it!" she spat, furious at his accusations. "Like I would believe you… the proof is there. Katarina, I really never expect you to go so low… Get off my face, we are through." Before she could say another word, two high summoners accompanied by Caitlyn approached them. Opening the scroll he had in hand, the first summoner read "Katarina DuCouteau, champion of Noxus, by order of the council you are thereby to be taken into custody for the attempt murder of Luxanna Crownguard, champion of Demacia. You are to be held in League grounds under the care of Sheriff Caitlyn, champion of Piltover, who by our decision will handle this case under our laws; should it also be known she is authorized to use force should the guilty part refuse to comply."

Katarina looked dumb folded but not even tried to resist when Caitlyn carefully approached and put the handcuffs on her. She gave one last painful look at Garen before allowing the sheriff to guide her through the halls of the Institute and down the stairs to the detention area. The first thing she noticed when they arrived their destination was Vi. She was holding the door of the cell that had been prepared to receive Kat, anger tanning her features. Caitlyn didn't say a word as she took all the blades from the sinister blade, carefully eyeing the red haired woman for any form of retaliation… But to her surprise, none come. The sheriff then gently pushed Katarina towards the cell and took the handcuffs out. Was when the assassin rubbed her wrists and got ready to enter the closed space that Vi suddenly lost it: her huge fist came down full force towards Kat's face… But to both women's surprise, Cait somehow blocked the blow using her bare hands. "She didn't resist so we can't harm her. Stand down.", the sheriff stated quietly, Vi's fist still making unbearable pressure. "Are you freaking kiddin' me right now cupcake? Lux is lying on a bed between life and death because of this trash. She needs to pay!", the enforced spat, "Now please move out of the way." "No, I'm not. Stand down Vi, it's your last warning." The sheriff and her partner exchanged a brief glare between themselves; the pink haired woman finally let her fist down and exited the room, but not before spitting on the floor in disgust.

/a/

In the hospital room, Soraka was doing everything she could to keep Luxanna stable. The mage was constantly drifting between being conscious and unconscious and kept whispering things no one seemed to be able to hear. "It's the fever, she's delirious", the Starchild said out loud to the other occupants of the room. Ezreal just nodded slightly, his hand holding Lux's tight. The explorer had rushed to the summoning chamber as soon as he noticed there was something going on with his beloved and had refused to leave her side ever since. Quinn and Zyra were also in the room, sitting on the floor with a pile of books between them. Valor's owner had decided to stay and help Soraka find the antidote; Zyra being requested to assist due to her vast knowledge in plants. Notebook and pencil in hand, Quinn was quickly taking notes about everything the rise of thorns was saying; so far they had come up with a recipe to a tonic that would help lower the fever and delay the poison effect to give them a little more time. Nami and Sona joined the group shortly after, offering their help as healers. All help was welcome after all.

/a/

Katarina eyed Caitlyn through the bars as the sheriff seemed to be absorbed with all the papers in front of her, occasionally writing something down and sighing. She had decided to work on the case while keeping an eye on the assassin, mostly to avoid the angry wave of champions and summoners that were piling up at the entrance from reaching the red haired woman and do justice by their own hands. "You should just leave and let them do whatever they want", Katarina spoke quietly, her voice just above a whisper, "Maybe I deserve to be punished for what happened." "Just because you're accused of something does not mean you are guilty of it", Caitlyn said, her gaze now on the woman behind bars. "In this particular case I am. It was my blade after all…" "True but… I know you weren't the last one to touch it before Lux was attacked." Katarina lifted her eyes and raised an eyebrow at the sheriff's words. "How do you…" "Game footage, fingerprints on the hilt… I'm pretty sure there was someone else in that match besides your team and Lux's. But unfortunately we don't have a face, only a shadow…" Caitlyn got up her chair and slowly made her way towards the cell, stopping barely inches away from the bars. "I was hoping you would tell me the truth Kat. I know someone 'hired' you to do it but you just couldn't… because of Garen", the sheriff spoke quietly, the last part just above a whisper. Katarina got up as well and walked to the cell's door, hands on the bars. "You're still holding a grudge, aren't you?", the assassin said softly, "You know I didn't mean to hurt you but… Things happened way too fast and I panicked. Not to mention we were both wasted." "I know", came the reply, "You made your choice and I moved on. Simple as that." The assassin eyed the woman in front of her, confusion slowly settle in. "Wait… You're dating someone? Who?" "Graves, he confessed a few days ago. He was the one writing all those letters." "Wait, wait… It was him? Damn, should have just kicked his ass when I had the chance…" Caitlyn let out a small chuckle, "No wonder you're stuck in this mess, you solve everything with violence." "Violence solves everything", the red haired woman said quietly, "I used to believe it really did, trust me… But seeing how things are right now, I guess I've been lying to myself all this years. Maybe I do deserve to stay here and rot; I have nothing to lose anymore. Garen thinks I'm guilty, he even said we were through; the entire Institute is out to kill me, Swain is trying to find excuses to exile me…", she let out a loud sigh, clearly frustrated. Caitlyn remained silent, her eyes glued to the ground, millions of thoughts racing her mind. Was she having a change of heart?