"Please, just call me Lux, Chosen." Lux said, a gentle smile on her face. "Luxanna sounds far too formal."

"And you may call me Leona, Lux." The Chosen of the Sun responded, then her voice lowered, turning into a hushed whisper, a promise of complicity and secrecy as she added, "Or have you forgotten our little chat before I left Demacia, so many days ago?"

The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Days?" Lux took a step forward, allowing her voice to drop as much as Leona's. "Years."

Leona's eyes opened wide. Had so much time passed by without her noticing?

Perhaps being so obsessed, so absorbed with a certain woman, a certain chase, had made her lost track of time.

And she hadn't recovered it ever since losing it on that eclipsed day.

"Time surely flies by."

Lux's smirk remained, even though she saw the pain, the sorrow, the burden on Leona's shoulders, all shining inside those golden eyes. "Faster than we think."

"What did you say brought you here?" Leona quickly asked, a curious frown successfully masking her feelings.

"That's a matter we'll discuss alone." Lux answered with a smile on her bright face as her eyes darted towards Eos for a split second, indicating his presence was a bother.

Leona smirked, as she understood the hidden message. She nodded, "Very well," she turned and motioned for Lux to tag along. "Follow me." She said as she began walking towards the door.

Lux followed her as Leona walked past Eos, out of the ceremony room. She picked up her pace until she was side by side with the warrior.

"I may have misinformed your Elder about my traveling partners." Whispered the blonde, without even looking at Leona as she stared straight ahead. Leona cast a curious glance in her direction.

"Oh?"

Lux smirked. "He believes some Demacian battalions are coming to aid me in aiding you. Truth is," She looked at Leona, that smirk still in place. "I came all alone."

Leona raised a brow in question. "To aid me...?"

Lux nodded. "In defeating the Scorn of the Moon."

Leona halted, watching as Lux walked for a few more steps before realizing she had stopped moving. The Demacian turned to look at her.

"What." Leona said, her eyes closed.

Lux began. "Well, you-"

"Why do Demacians think we need your help?"

Lux's curious expression turned into a frown. "Excuse me?"

Then Leona's piercing glare was on her as the warrior closed the distance between them a bit. "When did we ask for help? When did I ask for help?"

"Leona-"

"Everyone around me seems to think they know better than I do." Leona's face was almost against Lux's as her voice dropped to a growl. "Everyone should be wiser and remember nobody knows Diana better than I do."

And then Leona's glare faltered as she saw Lux's eyes grow cold and something restrain her limbs. Slowly, she looked down at her own body, but saw nothing keeping her still.

Yet she couldn't move.

She raised her brows as she noticed how sunlight was bathing her despite not being under it.

She looked up at Lux as she remembered the Light Mage's abilities.

"And you, Radiant Dawn," Lux began, her tone as amicable as ever, "Should remember that I'm your ally, not your enemy." Her eyes softened. "I never assumed I knew better, I'm just offering you my help and you'd do well in remembering that next time you feel this anger."

Seconds passed and Leona calmed down. When Lux was comfortable enough once more, she released the warrior.

"Thanks." Leona mumbled.

"I really don't want to have to do that again, Leona."

"You won't have to." She quickly let out, a slight blush covering her cheeks as her eyes were cast on the ground. "I apologize for my behavior."

She looked up upon feeling Lux's hand on her shoulder and saw the girl offering her a smile. "No harm was done." The blonde said. Then, as Leona sighed in relief, she added, "Though such outburst begs for an explanation."

The warrior felt defeated, disarmed by the mage. "Let's take a walk outside the Temple and I'll tell you what you wish to know."

Lux nodded. "Fine by me." She said, feeling a certain change in Leona's energy. What was it about Diana that she knew so well?

What was it about Diana that made her eyes grow so dark?

So they silently made their way outside, nobody daring to question the Champion of the Sun as she walked side by side with none other than Luxanna Crownguard.

And as they left the Temple, as they reached its' exterior, Lux seemed ready to listen, but Leona wasn't willing to speak yet.

So, with a shake of her head, she motioned for the blonde to keep following.

And she did.

And they walked.

And they reached a certain cliff...

"What a pretty view this place has," Lux commented upon making it to the cliff's edge, letting herself be marveled by the sight; the forest underneath them, the Sun above their head.

Leona nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, pretty." She made her way to Lux's side, her eyes still glued to something beyond the horizon, still lost inside her brain.

She didn't notice Lux's analyzing stare as the Light Mage studied her in silence.

Well, she did notice... but only after Lux's studies were already done, too late for Leona to hide under or behind any kind of mask.

The warrior was unaware of it, though. "What are you trying to see?" She asked as she closed her eyes.

Lux smirked. "It's not what I'm trying to see."

Leona looked at her. "Then what is it?"

That smirk didn't falter as the blonde added, "It's what I can't see anymore, something that's missing."

"What do you-"

"What changed so drastically in your life," Lux began as she closed the distance between them. "That made you lose that thing that made you shine brighter than the Sun?"

"I don't-"

"You were a sight to behold, Leona. Now, you're just a reflection of that." Her head lolled to a side. "What happened?"

It scared Leona how easy it was for Lux to read her. "Is it so evident?"

Lux smiled. "Only to someone as clever as me, don't worry."

Leona smirked. "Your brother wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

And then the blonde was laughing. "He wouldn't be able to see the truth even if it was thrown at his face."

"And tell me something," Leona continued, "Are people as clever as you, or are they as dumb as your brother?"

Should I be worried about my façade being discovered or not?

Lux offered her a sly smile, her eyes something feline.

Leona gulped as she watched the blonde, her expression reminding her of Diana.

The old Diana. The warrior, the scholar.

The new Diana. The Chosen of the Moon, the Assassin of the Night.

Diana. The other side of her damned coin.

"Nobody is as clever as me, Leona." Lux finally breathed out, being able to read between the lines, to read her mind. "You should never forget that."

Leona smiled. "The show can go on, then." She said, as she turned to look at the sky.

"Dare I say," Lux began, as she mirrored Leona's stance. "Not even your Elders are as smart as me."

Leona was laughing, then. "Oh, please, I've known about their lack of sight for years, now."

The blonde frowned at her, kind of confused. "Oh?"

"I've been fooling them for years." She glanced at Lux out of the corner of her eye.

"And how do you know that?"

Then a sly smirk placed itself on the warrior's lips. "Because if not, the Solari would want to kill me, too, I think."

Lux's frown deepened even more. She opened her mouth, ready to question the warrior, but-

"Diana and I used to be lovers."

And Lux closed her mouth.

Leona looked at her, no trace of any emotion on her face, but curiosity as to how Lux would react.

No judgement. No anger. No fear.

No reflection of a warrior, but just a woman and her intrigue upon her honesty being laid bare.

Her truth, naked to another's eyes.

Lux blinked once. Twice. Three times.

She looked at Leona.

After some silent seconds of analyzing her, the frown subsided, leaving room for raised eyebrows and a nod of her head.

"Makes sense."

Then Leona was frowning. "How so?"

"I don't know, but it makes sense on my mind." She looked out, into the horizon. "It's poetic and paradoxical." She raised her shoulders in a short shrug. "The Sun and the Moon being lovers." Then, she frowned. "Then hating each other." She looked at Leona. "It must be a long story, how that ended up happening, right?"

Leona sat down on the cliff's edge. "It is, actually."

Lux mimicked her. "Then I'll sit right next to you and I'll watch your Goddess leave us for the day as you guide me through your past."

Leona chuckled, her eyes on the horizon and her mind somewhere else, drowning inside her memories. "You sounded just like her."

"Like the Chosen of-"

And then Leona was glaring at her. "No."

Lux watched her in silent question.

"The Scorn Of The Moon and Diana are not the same person." She turned her glare away from Lux, at the forest below them. "The Scorn Of The Moon killed my Diana. Took her place in this world."

"I think you should begin at the beginning and finish at the end."

Leona looked at her, watched as Lux smiled that sweet smile of hers, so full of light, and waited patiently for her to begin her storytelling.

So, after a sigh, Leona begun.

And she really did begin at the beginning.

Her Rite of Kor, how she met Diana, how they grew closer to each other…

Diana's Rite of Kor, Diana's confession, her own confession, every moment that followed after that.

How Diana behaved, her passions, her former secrets, so out in the daylight nowadays…

Well, moonlight, if you will.

But there was no bit of information left behind; as Leona spiraled down into her own mind, remembering how things used to be, Lux simply listened closely.

Then she told her about Darius' ambush and the latter arrival at the Temple…

And the sight that awaited her there.

The Sun seemed to be taking her time in leaving the sky; a gorgeous sunset was displayed in front of them.

"I swore I would be the one to kill her, that day." Leona finished, her eyes cold. "That is the price we both pay."

Lux frowned. "Both?"

The warrior slowly turned to look at her. "I'm not innocent, either, that much I'll confess."

The light mage remained quiet, going through all of the information she had just received. "Hm."

Leona sighed.

Lux continued. "And what about her friend?"

"Her friend?"

"Helena, I think."

Leona shook her head. "She's gone insane. Diana's departure really shook her mind."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I see it." Leona looked at her and the frustration was evident on her eyes. "I'm the only person in the Temple that keeps trying, that still tries to talk to her. No one does it anymore because she's completely out of her mind, gone. She talks nonsense."

"And why do you keep trying?" Upon feeling Leona's intent gaze on her, as the warrior thought out the question for her, to elaborate, Lux did, "After all, isn't Helena Diana's best friend? Doesn't it hurt you?"

Leona shook her head. "It would hurt me more to give up hope on her and abandon her in that labyrinthine mind of hers."

Lux made a point to remember that later. "And what kind of stuff does she say that you call her insane?"

Leona chuckled grimly. "She keeps saying nonsense, really. Like, today, before meeting you, she started rambling about how white looks good with silver, so much better than gold."

Lux raised a brow. "And what looks good on gold?"

And then Leona chuckled once more. "According to Helena?" She asked, then Lux nodded. "In her own words, all of the colors of the rainbow."

Lux remained quiet, unreadable, as she thought, as Leona laughed, as her laughter died out, as she grew uncomfortable under Lux's silent stare, her slow smile.

"What?"

Lux shook her head. "Nothing."

She tried not to pay attention to the blonde's shenanigans. "So that's my story, Light Mage." She looked into the horizon, noticing how the Sun was gone, already. "That's why I must kill the Scorn of the Moon."

"Word of your little game of cat and mouse have reached Demacia. Back home, people aren't sure whether you're the cat or the mouse, anymore."

"She spared my life last time." Leona said, the shame of a warrior taking over her expression. "So she's the cat, even if this mouse keeps chasing her down."

"Now that's curious."

"What?"

"She spared you."

"Yeah, she did."

Lux smirked. "Don't you find it interesting?"

"I think she does it only to make me angrier." She looked at Lux and explained before the blonde could ask for an explanation. "I'd rather die than be humiliated like this."

"And she keeps humiliating you."

A quiet growl. "Yes."

The Light Mage said nothing as she realized she disagreed with Leona's guess. "Well," Lux began as she stood up. "Then I think it's fortunate I decided to make this trip."

Leona frowned at her as she also got up. "Why?"

"When I heard the trouble the Chosen of the Moon was giving you, I felt the need to help you, out of the goodness of my heart." She said, smiling jokingly. "But I wanted to be the one helping, instead of letting anybody else in Demacia take that place."

"And how would you help me?"

Lux brought a hand up and sparks of light danced on her fingertips. "I have my tricks." She said, smirking. "But I'll help only if your soldiers promise the same thing you did, so many years ago."

Leona raised a brow.

"To keep quiet my little secret. Nobody in Demacia knows I'm here."

Leona raised her brows. "Oh."

"So, what do you say?"

Leona didn't quite think about it. "I say that, as long as you can keep quiet about what you've learned today," She offered Lux her hand, "It's a yes."

Lux smiled and accepted Leona's offer, shaking her hand vigorously. "It's a deal, then."

"Let's make our way back to the Temple, ally."

Lux chuckled as they walked together, side by side.

And a thought hit Leona's mind. "Why did you smile so much when I told you about Helena's rant?"

And that sly, clever smile appeared on her face again. "Maybe she's a poet inside her heart."

"What-"

"Next time you talk to her," Lux interrupted her, "Pay close attention to the details. You may be missing something big there, Leo."

I don't think she's as crazy as you think.

Leona raised her brows in quiet question. "Okay…"

"And I've got a question for you, too."

"Ask away."

"A little while ago, you said you weren't innocent, either." As they walked, Lux looked at Leona. "That you also had a price to pay."

"Exactly."

"What have you done?"

Leona remained quiet as she walked, her eyes cast on the ground.

The trek back became silent; Leona analyzing her answer, Lux letting her take her time.

They were almost at the Temple when she finally said it.

"I killed her father."

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

HELLO! I'm back from the dead! Apologies for being so absent, it's just that life has been extremely hectic these days and the little time I had free, I used to see my friends or just sleep lmao.

I'll try to be a little bit more constant, like in the past I SWEAR, but I can't promise anything, unfortunately :c

I can promise one thing, though; This ff WILL reach its' conclusion! so stay tuned lovelies!

And I apologise for the short chapter! It's just that this one in particular was giving me a horrible writer's block. Next one shall be better!

Love you all my pals