A/N

Game: League of Legends

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters, background stories, settings…etc. Everything in this fanfic belongs to Riot games.


"Got no creed, I've got no creed, to back up my faults;

Only be, I can only be, what's been set for me." – "Maybe I'm Crazy" by Monarchy

Like a butterfly caught inside the glass jar; that was how Lux felt when she saw the Prince unexpectedly at the Assembly.

The Lady of Luminosity had been summoned again this day, merely a day after her outlandish encounter with Malzahar, who was still trying to convert her to serve the Void. She still couldn't make up why and how she got there, but it hardly mattered to her now that she saw the ghost that had been haunting her for so long.

Jarvan IV stood quietly with the lance in one hand, he looked deep in thought, perhaps thinking about the upcoming battle. The other person in the room was the Twisted Fate, who sat on one of the chairs next to the round table and examined his deck of cards. When Lux went inside, the ripples of her heart reminded her of what had been there once – those feelings for Jarvan – yet she remained calm and tried to make conversation.

"Hey," She started, with a smile on her face, "It's been a long time, Jarvan."

"…Oh," He looked up and was surprised to see her, as if he never noticed her from the beginning, "Long time… Lux." He did not smile.

For a second neither of them knew what to say.

"So…" She tried not to let the awkward silence fill the air, "Have any idea what happened to Darkwill?"

Jarvan's face darkened, "Not a subject I would like to talk about. Not here." He turned away from her gaze.

That was when Lux knew she had stupidly gone over the line and decided to shut up. Even though she knew that nothing romantic would happen between them, she still wished for that dear friendship; but now, even that seemed undesirable.

Time slowly ticked away as her teammates started to arrive. Lux heard footsteps.

Her heart missed a beat when she saw a tall shadow behind the door.

Vladimir…?

"Hey there… Ouch," said the Minotaur who found the door too small for his enormous body, the horns on his head bumped into the door frame. Disappointment was written all over Lux's face as the four of them exchanged simple greetings and sank back into tranquility.

"I guess I'm just going to…. Fix my nose ring." Alistar thought his teammates weren't happy to see him, so he figured best not to do anything inappropriate (save the stamina for later); had he been that Emo little mummy, he would have ran out and burst into tears in the restroom.

Lux felt rather spiritless, she only hoped for a good match and less summoning for the rest of the day. But whenever she thought about spending another day just adding paper cranes to her collection, she wanted something more exciting to do – like when she was sent to sneak in to the heart of Noxian High Command, eavesdropping important information and deftly moving between light and shadow… now that was the true adventure she wanted.

She was grateful that she had Aurora's adventurous genes, or else she would have just lived a boring life as an average housewife of some Demacian… Prince.

The thought of her parents might have secretly arranged her marriage with Jarvan was deeply terrifying. If it had been a few years back, she would have gladly accepted this idea; Now? Not so much.

How could she even kiss him, her husband? Just imagine his brooding face accompanying her for breakfast, lunch, and supper, day after day; his constant absence, political conflicts (though she would gladly aid him on this matter), and ignorance of what was happening to their relationship (that is, if they even had one)… She knew immediately that it wasn't the life she wanted, no.

Not to mention the royal obligation of producing an heir…

Everything she knew about sex came from those cruel days in the military, where the girls would have never-ending chatters about "those passionate nights," and when the occasional insomnia had struck her and made her conscious till morning, not missing a single moan or suppressed screams of pleasure in her barrack. She was curious then about sex and how an unforgettable experience – according to her girlfriends – it was.

But having sex with Jarvan out of obligation and not adoration was unimaginable. Not that she had never fantasized about her union with Jarvan… just that to her, embracing another body must be an act of love, nothing else.

She sighed at the thought of marrying him.

Hmph. Thinking too much, she said to herself, Of things that didn't even happen yet, ha, silly.

Compared to letting her thoughts run wild, she managed to convince herself that making paper craft might yet be a better pastime.


The battle had begun. Right before they left the base the Minotaur let out a fierce battle cry:

"Today is a good day to die!"

The Prince frowned, "… That's my battle cry, Alistar." said Jarvan, clearly displeased by this little violation of his catchphrase.

"Right. I forgot, my apologies." Alistar scratched his horn embarrassingly before proceeding to his lane.

Jarvan and Lux exchanged a long look. Then he spoke: "Take care of yourself. I'll be around. Show no mercy to those Noxians."

"Don't worry, Jarvan," though she wasn't sure if he really was worried for her, "You know me."

But I don't know you anymore…

She then went for the middle lane.

The forest was quiet, she relaxed after making sure that there were no ambushes with her spheres. The final countdown had ended and the minions began to emerge, she held her baton tightly, prepared for the first encounter.

She saw the opposing minions, but her opponent wasn't there. Lux immediately became alerted and sent a signal through the psychic link to notify her teammates of a missing foe. Then she started finishing off the wounded minions.

A short minute later she saw two distant red fireflies floating midair. As they approached, however, she realized that those were no fireflies –

Those were the eyes of the Reaper.

A minion dropped beneath her feet – she had missed the last hit – but it didn't matter. She wasn't expecting him on the other team.

Her opponent, upon seeing her, grinned at her and bowed elegantly. He did not speak. Lux noticed the change of his appearance: his long hair falling down on his shoulders, and the retro costume he wore was exactly like what she had seen in Malzahar's nightmare. The sharp glove was removed and Lux could see his neatly filed nails, which she knew soon will be coated in blood.

She regained composure and smiled back at him. All the challenge set in front of her was exciting and she looked forward to this fight against him.

Throughout the match, Vladimir frequently vanished from her sight, only to be found harvesting her teammates on other lanes later. She did warn her teammates, but the Reaper's speed and tactics were impressive; he always found a way to counter them.

However, he never succeeded in killing her, nor did she him. When he had confronted her alone, she was surprised that he fought like a gentleman – an attitude that fit his appearance perfectly – it almost seemed like he did it on purpose, spinning those liquid blades rapidly around him but never too aggressively. She would attack him then, feeling that he was trampling her pride, but he would always refund his lost portion of blood from her, along with a satisfied smile. Therefore the outcome of their fights was always an eye for an eye, they were always on the equal strength and stamina level. Only in teamfights did they score assists or kills on each other.

However, as time flew by, the battle was turning in favor of Vladimir's team, and soon Lux's team would lose their last Nexus turret. The super minions were chopping through the lanes and rushing in the base. Vladimir and his teammates had charged in, prepared for one last teamfight.

"Taste my lance, Noxian! For Demacia!" Jarvan head started the fight and prioritizing Vladimir as his target.

"That which runs through you will run you through." coolly replied the Reaper while releasing the tides of blood towards his enemy. His teammates charged towards their opponents, and fell down one by one with the opposing champions.

Meanwhile Lux was recovering at their fountain; she did not hesitate to join the fight when she saw the remaining two men, Jarvan and Vladimir at each other.

It was an even match. Jarvan technically slammed his lance repeatedly towards Vladimir but the agile Reaper dodged his attacks by sinking into a pool of blood. Lux watched until she found a chance to land an unexpected stun on Vladimir; it caught him off guard as he stared at her with widened eyes.

The next moment Lux felt something warm hit the side of her cheek. She knew what it was, for she had witnessed how Jarvan took the opportunity to plunge his lance deep into Vladimir's body and then pulled it out with great force. She heard Vladimir's painful groan as he fell on one knee…

The scene made her feel hurt, as if she somehow discovered empathy with the Reaper. The blood – his blood – on the tip of Jarvan's lance had drawn a crimson line in the air before raining onto the ground, with one or two drops on her cheek.

"Mm," breathe Vladimir while holding himself in place with one hand. He grinned at Lux and her ally, "Effective teamwork… finally." His other hand disappeared in the crimson mess in front of his chest.

Jarvan walked up to him and held the lance at Vladimir's pale neck, "Say your prayers, Noxian!" to which the Reaper replied, laughing, "Kill me now, coward Prince. Save your so called last mercy; this battle shall end anytime." Vladimir casted a glance at the super minions smashing down the Nexus.

Jarvan let out a frustrated roar; he swung the lance and prepared for the last strike.

That was when Lux lost it. Impulsively. She would not let Jarvan hurt him; the match was lost, it seemed to her unnecessary to do any more killing.

Or, perhaps, she did care for him.

"No, Jarvan don't!" She hollered on the top of her lungs, about to ran up to hold his lance in place.

But her words were muted by the loud explosion of their Nexus as time froze for all of them. She felt herself taken away from the Rift by an invisible force, and sent back to the room where the team had assembled. They had lost.

She saw the defeated face of her teammates and the still enraged Jarvan; it was clear he did not successfully land that last blow, and Lux was happy about it. Slowly, her team retreated back to where they belong through the portals, leaving her and Jarvan alone in the room. He took a minute to calm down before walking towards her and eyed her unbelievably.

"I cannot believe you said that." Jarvan shook his head in denial, "Tell me you didn't say that, Lux, please tell me now." His voice trembled a bit.

She bit her lower lip, startled – she didn't know that he heard her scream.

"Jarvan… I was…"

"Forget it," He interrupted her rudely, not willing to hear more, "None of this ever happened." He stared at her, eyes accusing her harshly; then he left her without saying goodbye.

Lux felt saddened by his reactions, she knew, better than anyone else, what she just said could cost her head if Jarvan reported it to the King, due to the strict rules of Demacia. In fact, Jarvan alone could sentence her to death for treason if he chose to.

If he saw her as a traitor.

But he didn't, he was willing to keep it secret, if not painfully.

For Demacia's sake, she was a Crownguard whose brother was the leader of the Dauntless Vanguard, the sword of the King… She could already imagine Garen's face if he had learned about this. Her misbehaviors on the Fields of Justice. Her sympathy towards a Noxian.

What have I done? She asked herself, as disappointing tears blurred her vision.

Suddenly, light footsteps approached her from behind. She turned around and was welcomed by the familiar smell of blood. Stood in front of her no one but the Reaper himself, with the piece of cloth on his chest torn apart and drenched in blood; the wound, however, was already healed.

"Tsk tsk," Vladimir lifted her small chin with one hand; Lux avoided his touch and lowered her head, refused to look at him. "This is the second time I've seen you cry." His lips curved a smile.

Lux stared at the ground, unmoving; she allowed the tears to drop on the floor, for she didn't know what to say.

Vladimir held up her face with both hands, forcing her to look at him. Her face was a mess with his bloodstains and tear trails, her hair tangled together – but all of it looked cute to him, the face of a defeated Lux. He thought she was crying because of her loss.

Sobbing lightly, Lux felt Vladimir's hand wiped slowly through her cheek and the bloodstain vanished beneath his fingers, leaving a light hue of red – almost like a blush – on her face. His touch sent soothing pulses to her heart as their eyes met.

"Shame," he licked the finger with his blood on it, "It's such a nice makeup for you."

She couldn't help but chuckle softly at the statement; how tactless Vladimir could be when he wanted to… he would have never guessed that she cried because of realization of what he meant to her and the frustration that came with it. She looked at him through misty eyes, with the side of her face leaning gently against his hand. His mischievous smile made her feel better somehow.

Moments later, he let go of her face and began walking away; she halted him, but before she even said anything, Vladimir uttered slowly, "You were brave to have spoken those words today, Luxanna."

"…And I appreciate you for saying them."

Then he left, disappeared behind a portal that Lux could not enter.