The Passage of Twin Disciplines
Chapter Twenty
The Catalyst
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Lux frowned as she shut the front door to her brother's home, eyeing the tanned, rolled parchment on his kitchen table. She knew who it was from. Another letter from the Institute of Magic, demanding she return.
The prodigal mage had already sent her reply, that she would be staying within Demacian borders, rumours of an impending war or not. For decades, the Institute of Magic was where the gifted trained and learned to control their magic. It was a place where your birthplace or race did not matter. Humans, yordles, minotaurs, half-bloods and elementals alike were welcome within the sanctuary of magic.
Most who trained became loyal to the institute over even their own birthplace, striving to rise within the ranks. The Arch-Mages, the ruling council if you will, of the institute were mostly aged, and would constantly profess their neutrality so to stay out of the Summoner's eye and ever increasing pile of contracts.
Whenever word of a war or possible confrontation broke out, they would call back all of their spellcasters, though there were few that were allowed to leave the institute, even for a short while. Lux was fortunate enough to be allowed a month's privy from the stoney walls.
Now that Freljord and Noxus were snapping at each other's necks, as well as fresh blood being drawn between Demacia and Noxus, the Arch-Mages were pulling any possible support from all sides.
Some believed it was because of a blood-fued between the Master Summoner and the High Arch-Mage that the institute worked so hard to stay completely out of their game on the Fields of Justice. Others believed it was because of the white knuckled grip the Arch-Mages kept on their knowledge of magic, secrets they did not wish to share with those they considered to be 'black mages'.
And still others believed it was a deep born distrust and distaste for the Summoners. Manipulating other living creatures to fight to the death and then resurrecting them over and over so they could continue to spill blood was the darkest form of magic. A magic long ago forbidden by all within the Institute.
Lux was long ago named a prodigy. A pure light mage of her natural talent came along only once every couple decades. As a prodigy she had been trained under the Arch-Mages directly, rather than within a class and a normal tutor, so as to not waste her natural born talent.
In return, she was expected to remain loyal to the Institute, and only the Institute, so that one day she would rise to the status of Arch-Mage and watch over the secrets her teachers were fighting to keep.
It was expected of her, however her loyalties to her homeland were not so easily forgotten.
When Jarvan had been captured, she had rushed to the battlefield without thinking of the repercussions. Her assistance on the battlefield in Demacia's favour would be seen as the Institute taking a side within the struggle, and her actions could still effect her fellow mages.
The Summoners were not known for their forgiveness, or to let such an opportunity slip through their fingers.
Lux knew she should return to the Institute now, and beg for forgiveness. She would be punished, and there would be bartering with the Summoners, but they would survive, and she would be forgiven, in time.
She sighed, and shook her head, waves of white-blonde hair swishing against her shoulders and back. No, Lux knew that she would never be able to renounce Demacia in entirety and grovel at the Arch-Mages feet. She would not beg for forgiveness over an action she did not regret.
Jarvan was alive, and she would not apologize for that.
Her other options... They were equally distasteful. Although, for very different reasons. She could proclaim herself free from the Institute's influence or support, thus making her a rogue mage within the Demacia army. She would lose many friends, and gain many enemies. What worried her more than that, though... was that Lux knew she would be targeted by the Summoners and would not find any help from the Institute. She would be left to fend off the Summoner's tactics alone.
There would be more than one or two eager up-comers looking for her to sign their contracts. A rogue mage was rare. Very much so. To date there was only two within the league and only one was a true rogue. The other had signed a Summoner's contract before she had come of age to join the Institute and was now without a choice in the matter. More than that, they would want her for the same reason the Arch-Mages had wanted her. Because of her status as a prodigy, and she would once again find herself under relentless training and scrutiny.
Her third option, was to accept Jarvan's parents proposal, and hope she could convince Jarvan that it was the only option they truly had. Even if it was not the fairy tale she had wished for, and dreamt about.
Lux smiled slightly, no, enough with the depressing thoughts. It still could be everything she wished for, it simply would not be the usual story that everyone told. At least this way, she would be free from the Summoners for a little while longer. As of yet, they were not bold enough to try and contract royalty. How long that would last... Was so far, uncertain.
She hated what she knew must be done, but to remain free from anymore chains, she knew she had to convince her Prince of the necessity of her plan. For both his sake, as well as hers.
With an affirming nod, Lux held her chin up high and skipped towards her room to change, patting the top of Galio's stoney head as she passed. The gargoyle snorted at the bubbly blonde and yawned, cracking a slight smirk across his chiseled visage.
She would make the best of this, she always did. All you had to do was look for the patch of sunlight and help it break through the storm clouds
~o~
Nidalee dragged her paws as she walked slowly down yet another alleyway in the maze like forest of caves. There were too many smells. Too many humans, too many animals. Too many scents she did not recognize. It did not matter how long they stayed within this place, every time they turned a corner there was a dozen more smells for her to sort through.
The huntress knew what her mind-mirror wanted. She knew what she hoped for. That the huntress would catch a whiff of her attacker, the one with the cold metal and the fluttering tail that sounded more like a wing than a tail. That they would be able to track the trail back to her den and attack her while she was cornered.
Nidalee sneezed and crooned. Her nose was clogged, her paws were sticky and her fur needed to be groomed. They had walked the streets every night for the last hunt-cycle with only two small spots where they found a patch of clothing and a drop of blood. Both very far apart with no logical link.
Whatever this predator's territory was, it was big. Far bigger than any of the snarlers in the forest. Far bigger than her old hunting grounds.
Nidalee flicked an ear towards Akali who was doing her best to keep her thoughts quiet and her frustration down. The cougaress was shamed to disappoint the human, but her nose was too overwhelmed to complete the task she had been given.
Akali yawned, fighting with herself to say the words she knew needed saying. They were both exhausted, and needed to return to the castle to get what few hours of sleep they could before the King sent for them or became suspicious.
Instead, all she could manage was to scratch the top of Nidalee's head and smile slightly. "Com'on, lets go to sleep."
Nidalee paused and lowered her head, her tail between her legs and ears down before she began to pad after her companion when it hit her. The softest scent, there, between the stones of the path.
It had been so faint that she had not been able to detect it in her weariness without practically pressing her nose to the ground. Closing her eyes, Nidalee took a deep breath in. Yes, that was definitely the same scent. There was no mistaking it.
Running her nose over the crack in the stones, Nidalee followed the scent up to the base of the nearby wall of the house beside her and stood on her back paws to follow it up as far as she could. But where did it go? The scent touched strongly on two spots against the wall before disappearing. Growling, Nidalee let her claws out to grate against the wall of the house before she dropped down and retraced the scent, unaware of Akali watching her silently.
There, the single spot amongst the cracks. Then another, closer to the wall and finally the two spots on the wall. She followed them, nose down then up against the wall only for it to end again when she remembered how the assassin had gotten away before. She had climbed up, and jumped from stone-leaf to stone-leaf.
Congratulating herself on how clever she was, Nidalee purred and paced the road as she eyed the distance to the stone-leaf top. She could make it, it wasn't that far. But would it hold her? She had to try, for her mind-mirror. She had to try.
Akali listened quietly as Nidalee traced the scents and followed her gaze as she began pacing back and forth. The roofs? Surely she didn't travel only by rooftop, it would be too easy to spot. Akali frowned as Nidalee snorted and shook her head, still focused on judging the distance and how to get a grip on the slippery surface.
It would explain why they hadn't run across more than a speck here and there.
Before Akali could ponder their newest clue any further, Nidalee sprang into the air and landed on the slippery roof, almost tumbling off when she struggling to find a grip under her paws.
Once she had secured her footing it hit her, like a wave crashing against the side of a cliff. The scent she had been searching for in the haystack of human smells. The wing-tail. Above the bustle and the commonly travelled trails, this was the only scent that seemed to cross the stone-leaves other than a few stray cats.
With a snarl Nidalee focused her eyes on the trail the wing-tail had left that was so thick she could practically see it without using her nose. Nidalee had found her, and soon she would find her den. And then, she would rend the fool-hardy cubs flesh from her bones and suck her marrow from her bones. The wing-tail would not get away.
Nidalee has been listening to Akali's logic, she knew what the wing-tail hid. The cubs.
~o~
The thin line of light that was the only source of illumination in the musky, dank prison widened, letting in gradually more of the life-sustaining nectar that Katarina found herself craving. The Du Couteau let her eyes lazily travel over to the opening door, dark bags dragging down her usual sharp appearance.
Her hair was matted and filthy, her skin pale and covered in sores and welts, particularly around her chain ankle and the palms of her hands. The rat that had been chewing at her boot let out a squeak and took off for the opening in the back wall, disappearing without another whisper of sound.
From the cell beside her the massive minotaur shifted, his ears lifting slightly as he watched the figure enter the dungeons, his nostrils flaring slightly as he gave her his complete attention.
The figure walked up to Katarina's cell and looked down at her for a moment, setting down a bowl of sludge and nudging it close enough that Katarina could get it through the small opening at the floor.
With a scowl, the Katarina spat and turned away, letting her back rest against the cold rusted bars.
The girl took no heed of the insult and pushed on towards the minotaur's cell, kneeling before him and smiling warmly.
"How are your wounds today, Alistar?" She asked, setting down a second bowl she had been balancing in the crook of her elbow and reaching into it's depths to pull out and wring a cloth. Alistar snorted softly, letting out a deep sigh as he let his bulk rest against the bars.
Without another word exchanged, the girl reached between the bars and without fear, brushed back a strand of dark brown hair that had escaped her bun and ran the cloth gently over a deep lesion on his forearm. With a groan, Alistar grated his teeth and shook his head, horns banging against the bars and sending vibrations through them.
The girl pulled back her hands in surprise before regaining her calm composure.
"I am... sorry." Alistar apologized, flinching at the brief flicker of fear his actions had instilled within his only friend."
She shook her head, reaching back through and gently touching his fur covered limb, this time dabbing the cloth within the cut before rinsing it clean and repeating the process.
"Don't be. It is I who should be sorry." The girl smiled sadly and continued to clean the minotaur's wound silently, unrolling a patch of gauze and wrapping it around the torn limb before moving onto the many cuts that littered his arm and shoulder.
"You had no reason to be sorry, Ayelia. It is not you who put me behind these bars." Alistar replied, raising his hand to lift her chin with a single finger so he was looking into her eyes, his bulk dwarfing her easily. "Your kindness is all that keeps me sane within this hell."
"But if I was stronger... Perhaps-"
"No!" Alistar roared, pulling back his gentle touch and slamming his fist upon the ground, forming a small dent. Ayelia did not flinch this time, merely watching the once mighty warrior before she continued her tedious task. "No," he said once more, gentler as he regained his control. "I forbid it. Do not try to free me from this prison, you would be killed. I will allow no one else to die for my mistakes."
Katarina laughed, resting her head back against the bars as she rolled it to smirk at the pair. "Listen to you, acting as if you care for the life of others. Do not pretend for her. You and I are the same, drawing in our victims until the right time to strike, before we rip out their throats and throw them to the cheering crowd. You are nothing more than a caged animal waiting for your next chance to tear the innards from your victims. Do not act as if you care for the lives of others." Laughing, Katarina shifted her gaze to Ayelia.
"And you, if you wish to fuck an animal so badly, there are easier ways. Plenty of other strays."
Alistar bellowed and rammed his head against the bars that separated them, hooved feet churning against the stone floor. Still Katarina laughed, edging on the fury consumed minotaur as he roared and slammed his head into the bars again and again. Only to be finally silenced when guards rushed into the room and injected him with a sleeping toxin, dragging out Ayelia and leaving Katarina to her laughter.
~o~
Nidalee sprang from the stone-leaves and stood in front of a maw of iron, tail swishing in the early morning glow. Another hour or two and the sun would be up, they were running out of time.
The trail went further, into the massive cave behind the iron trees, with tops that stood like spear tips.
Akali passed the cougar where she stood without a whisper of sound, letting her fingertips just barely grace the top of Nidalee's head. Her eyes hard, she reached up into her tied back hair and pulled out a hidden pin, making quick work of the lock on the iron gates.
Without wasting another minute, the pair slipped behind the bars and shut the entrance behind them as they made for the front doors.
The house, or more appropriately, mansion stood dark and looming above all the surrounding buildings. Ancient stone statues decorated and accented the home, the yard tidy and very plain. Giving the home a sleek, but reserved feel, even with the midnight blue paint that warmed slightly in the early morning glow.
Akali strode with long strides, fists bunching as she made for the front doors, eyes locked on the handle. Her heart pounded as the wind blew at her tightly wrapped hair. This was it, the moment when answers would be given. The moment when she would finally be told the truth, and not simply run in circles. The assassin had them, she was certain of that fact. One way or another, she would get her answers.
Why it was that she was so certain this stranger, this person she didn't know would tell her the truth, when her own mother and the King of Demacia would not? It was a feeling that formed deep within her gut and seemed to urge her forward, telling her this was the right path. That now, finally, she would be allowed to take off the blind-fold that had her stumbling around in the dark.
Akali paused when the front doors creaked open and a young boy, dressed in a suit that was two sizes too big bowed silently.
"My mistress bids you welcome, and humbly asks that you follow me so I might show you to her sitting room, princess of the Kinkou."
Pausing to regard the boy with the sandy blond hair that swept across his forehead, Akali nodded her agreement, not trusting her voice and followed as the boy turned and silently led them through the inner hallways. What other choice did they have? Barge inside when either way they were expected? Leave, and try again another day? No, to go with the flow of events at present was the smartest choice.
The house was just as dark on the inside. The floors were a dark wood, with brown walls and dark carpets rolled down the centre of the walkways.
Nidalee skipped inside, barely dodging the closing door with an unhappy snort. The young human had only held the door long enough to ensure Akali was inside unhindered and had thoroughly ignored the large cougar that was standing beside her.
Inside the cave smelt musty, with many different scents that were similar but unique at the same time. There was another curious point, the smells were all aged except two. They were strong, certainly, but at the same time, distant. As if one day there had been many humans within this home and then suddenly... they had vanished.
Nidalee flattened her ears against her skull, wondering if that was how her home must smell now.
After a few moments, Akali stopped when the boy pushed open a door and stepped aside so she could pass, bowing once more.
"You will find my mistress inside." He explained softly, staring at the floor as Akali walked by, Nidalee close at her heels and growling softly to warn the boy if he should drop the door on her once more.
'Ignorant cub', Nidalee snorted, pausing when she realized Akali's familiar presence was gone, her thoughts left to echo only within the recesses of her own mind, far from her mind-mirror's conciseness. Alarm shot through her, and she looked to Akali to see if she would react to her warning when again she realized it would not reach her.
"Welcome." Greeted a silky voice, perfectly even with no emotion. Nidalee turned to growl, when she realized the noise sounded wrong. It sounded like the noise she made in her other half, but she hadn't shifted. Looking down, Nidalee found herself looking at fingers rather than claws and sat back on her rump to look at her arms in amazement. She hadn't felt the shift at all...
What was going on?
"You'll find that your black magics will not work in this room. As soon as you passed the threshold, all spells cast or magical items are temporarily... suppressed." The woman spoke, smirking as she watched the anger grow on Nidalee's face as she bared her teeth, a sight much less frightening without her fangs behind it.
Akali reached for her necklace, closing her fingers around the cougar carving and finding it icy cold to touch, like a corpse that had lost its spirit long before. It unnerved her, but she resisted showing any other weakness, or checking on Nidalee in front of the enemy in an unfamiliar area. The huntress was strong enough to defend herself, Akali had to believe that if they were going to get anything from the assassin.
Still, being unable to silently pass information, when she was so used to it, was making the Kinkou uneasy and tilted her off-centre.
"Now, why don't you introduce yourselves and explain what was so important as to break onto my property to ask?" The assassin smiled slightly, setting down a wine glass as she leaned back in her arm chair. Her black hair trailed down her shoulders and licked at her collar, free from its usual confines to show off a wavy gracefulness. Her glasses, removed so her eyes were visible shone baby blue and her outfit from before gone in place of a simple, tight black shirt and loose pants.
For all appearances it looked as if she was getting ready for bed and not to greet guests.
"What did you want with Nidalee?" Akali demanded, letting the first question that popped into her mind air itself.
"Tch, such poor manners for a princess. I would have thought your mother would have taught you something of conducting yourself in a civilized way." Their hostess tut-tutted. "But then I must be tired, where are my manners, please, have a seat." The dark woman smiled, her skin a pale white as if it rarely saw the light of day.
Akali narrowed her eyes and glanced at the chair across from the assassin, deciding for now, it would be better to play along. Nidalee did not move, digging her nails into her crossed legs as she glared openly at the source of her contempt.
Akali opened her mouth to ask her question once more before she was silenced by a raised finger. "Now, now. Since your mother obviously did not tell you about proper edict, allow me. After inviting you inside, since you did not see the need to ask for permission to enter my property, I had you escorted into a proper room where we could talk.
"Next, I offered you a comfortable place to sit, and rest. Once my guests, you, are comfortable," she smirked, eyeing Akali's stiff posture and Nidalee's partial hissing fit. "Next, I offer you something to drink so it is out of the way before any formalities are addressed. So, may I offer you anything to drink?"
"No." Akali answered instantly and Nidalee made an odd noise of agreement.
With a heavy sigh, their hostess continued. "You are not quick learners, it is rude to refuse outright, and with not even a thank you for the offer. Ahh well, it cannot be helped.
"With that out of the way, next is the introductions. I know who you are, you are Akali, heir to the Kinkou dynasty and Shadow Warrior within your own ranks. Do you have anything to add?"
"No." Akali answered again, tapping her fingertips against the hilts of her weapons. "But, if you know of me that you should also know I do not enjoy games. Why did you attack Nidalee? What did you mean by unsung heroes?"
"I will take that as a no, so we will move on to my introduction. My name is Shauna Vayne, last living heir to the Vayne dynasty also known as, to criminals and black magic wielders such as yourselves, the Night Hunter."
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Longish chapter, also if you can figure out the meaning behind the title and the last line it will give away a clue. Hint: It's not as obvious as the obvious.
Anywho, gotta keep tippity-tappitying so drop a review! They fuel me! Ps, love ya'll.
-Kiravu