I will start by saying that DarkAnon guessed it right. The creatures that attacked Tanyas village were void creatures, hence the purplish glowing residue. Salt is the only known way of inhibiting Void related things from spreading. Since the void needs to consume life to spread, the best way to contain it is to ensure no life grows near it.

So Im in a bit of a dilemma. I just realized that I got the age gap wrong between Garen and Lux. In the lore she is younger than him by at least 5 years, possibly 6 or even 7. In my story I have it as three years.

Should I go back and change it?

They released an actual canonical Timeline for the lore After I started writing this story, so the information I had been using was on pure speculation/headcanon/reddit posts.

HuangBaiLian: Glad you liked the POV shifts so far.

SingNonomori: No he is at the military Academy.

Raphaim: Hands were thrown.

Xenocanaan: Wait no longer my friend.

Lull Meister: Your right, the names Tanya and Tianna are a bit too similar. I will let you pick the name.

DankAnon: DING DING DING! We have a winner! He gets a Gold Star. It's official, and will be mailed post haste. I won't comment on the Sylas thing cuz I consider it a spoiler if I say anything regarding that.

InNeedOfTP: Ikr Sona isn't shown enough love. She is my favorite support….okay that's a lie, sorry. My favorite support is actually Sion, but thats cuz he is so stupid to lane against lol. He is a big tanky meatball that can still support you even when he dies.

Lightblade23: She will definitely be meeting more champs. If I have my way she will eventually meet EVERY champ.

/

Chapter 15

/

It was only after walking down several halls did I realize I didn't actually know where the Arena was. I turned to Sona sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck. "You don't happen to know where the Arena is, do you?"

Her blank stare was answer enough. So with a sigh we kept walking, looking for someone to ask directions. We didn't have to travel very far before we ran across a group of students hanging out by one of the large windows.

Doing my best to put on a friendly demeanor, I approached the group. "Excuse me?" Seeing their curious gazes locked on me, I continued. "Do you guys know where the Arena is?"

One of the boys took the initiative and stepped forward slightly, a small smile on his face. "We do- " His gaze flickered down our forms, his lips tugging downward slightly. "-however I dont think we could talk you through it considering you probably wouldn't know the landmarks." He paused for a moment, scratching his chin in thought before continuing. "I suppose we could take you there though. I remember my first day here, I know I wish I had someone to help me out."

"If you would be willing to do that we would appreciate it." I said as I gave a slight curtsy, Sona not far behind.

The boy just nodded and we followed his group down the hall. "So why did you want to get to the arena? Classes don't start for another week."

"Ah, well I kind of got locked into an Honor Duel earlier." I nearly walked into him as he suddenly stopped and whirled around with wide eyes.

"You sort of what?!" He sounded incredulous. "What do you mean you got into an Honor Duel? Who in the world would challenge a first year like that, the school year hasn't even started yet!" He looked genuinely appalled at the thought.

I played with my hands awkwardly. "Well umm...I uhh...I'm sort of the one who issued it…..to an older girl…."

His mouth just opened and closed silently. "Bu-but why?" He sounded so lost, I felt a little bad. "Honor Duels are a serious thing! You don't just challenge someone to those! People can die! In fact people have died during honor duels! Why in the world would you do that? Do you think it's some sort of game!" His voice was getting angrier and angrier as he talked.

I blinked at him, shocked at the sheer anger he was displaying. "I'm well aware of how serious an Honor Duel is, but she was bullying my friend, and insulted my family. I can't just sit back and let that sort of thing slide." I looked him in the eyes trying to convey my feelings properly. "I appreciate that you feel so strongly about me possibly endangering myself. But I can more than handle myself. Besides, as the insulted party it's well within my rights to dictate the rules so that we only use blunted blades. I have no intention of killing anyone, nor getting killed myself."

His tense shoulders loosened slightly as he let out a deep breath, his brown eyes shining with a mix of disappointment and understanding. "I suppose you're right. But I still think you're being horribly irresponsible." With that he turned back around and continued leading the way.

/

The Academy of Dawnhold technically had three arenas, but only one of them was equipped for such things like Honor Duels. The other two were essentially just gymnasiums with packed dirt floors, a glorified training yard really. But the one we were going to now was an amphitheatre hewn from polished white marble. The entrance itself had two statues of knights with their swords drawn skyward flanking either side of the door. With enough seats to hold the entire student body if needed.

Currently almost all the seats were empty, save for a few scant watchers who somehow heard of the upcoming duel.

I was standing off to the side near the weapons rack, picking up the various armaments, trying to find one similar enough to one I was familiar with. As I swung a rather thin blade through the air, Sona tapped my shoulder grabbing my attention.

She stood, awkwardly fidgeting. "Are you sure about this? What if you get hurt?" She signed worriedly.

I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to put her at ease. "I will be fine Sona. Tell me, do you know who the Delacour family is?" Seeing her head shake, I continued. "The Delacours are a family of merchants. Very successful merchants. I've heard my mother complain enough about them monopolizing trade contracts to know that they are very, very rich. Such a family would have no need for learning more than the bare minimum of self defense, assuming they even bother at all. And judging by how thin her arms were I doubt she has ever lifted a blade in her life. While I on the other hand have been drilled practically daily on how to defend myself since I was seven." Sona seemed to look a little better now at my words. Shooting her a grin I continued. "If anything you should be feeling bad for her."

I was glad to see her face worry on her face had receded a great deal now that I had explained it to her. Turning away from her I resumed my inspection of the various weapons, doing my best to hide my nervousness. I had spoken the truth, the girl's arms had lacked almost any sign of muscle definition, and her hands had looked soft and smooth, not a callous in sight. She bore no signs of ever doing anything besides basic exercise to stay in shape. But still I was nervous.

Never had I ever fought someone in melee. Training or sparring didn't count, as it was regulated and I knew the instructors had no intention of actually harming me. I most assuredly didn't count my fight with the Freljordians two years prior, using magic from a distance, and fighting physically up close were two entirely different things.

Finally finding a blade that felt right in my hands I set about going through some moves. Each swing flowing into the next, my muscles memory just going through the motions.

I was sure I would win the fight. In fact I was sure I outclassed the older girl so thoroughly in the art of combat that I would win without so much as a bruise to show for it. And yet, I was nervous.

Before long I grew tired of swinging at air and moved to sit with Sona on the bench. A quick glance around showed that while I had been busy more students had found their way into the stands.

"So…." I trailed off awkwardly. We hadn't talked face to face in a little over two years. I took the time to examine her out of the corner of my eye.

Her hair had gotten longer since I had last seen her, nearly brushing her shoulder blades. Her height had increased considerably, and her body had filled ever so slightly, very vague curves were becoming visible. Clearly she had already started puberty, something I had thankfully yet to go through. It was bad enough the first time I had gone through it as a guy, I was understandably rather apprehensive at the prospect of going through it again as a girl.

It seemed she had noticed my staring and was now staring back at me. We just stared at each other for a few moments, taking each other in.

"Your hair is very long."

I blinked at the unexpected comment. "Is that a good or bad thing?" Suddenly feeling a little self conscious, playing with the near elbow length strands.

"It looks fine." She quickly waved away my worry. "But wont it get in the way?" Finishing with a few mimed swings.

I snorted at her animated gestures. "Ah. Well yeah, if I just leave it loose like this it would." Reaching down I untied a leather thong from around my wrist. I used it to tie my hair back into a ponytail, I would probably need to cut it soon. As even with the ponytail, the length made it a bit unwieldy for physical activity. But for now it would be fine.

Once again we lapsed into awkward silence.

Trying to clear the awkwardness I spoke. "Why were they picking on you if you don't mind me asking? I only caught a few words."

She shrugged. "I don't mind, it's not like it's some secret anyways. As you know, until two years ago I lived as an orphan in Ionia. Lady Buvelle was visiting my village on some business and she decided to adopt me. Apparently some people have a problem with a 'nameless peasant reaching above their station'. They were trying to brow beat me into dropping out before you arrived." It was kind of weird seeing her put air quotes with her signs.

"Does that happen often? Why is this the first time I'm hearing of it." I scowled, staring at my friend thinking of all the letters we had traded over the years and how she had made no mention of any of this.

"Would it have mattered if I told you?" She sighed, the exhalation of air the only sound she was capable of making. "All it would have done was upset you."

"Doesn't mean I wouldn't have wanted to know." I huffed more than a little petulantly. I knew logically she was right, she lived all the way in the capital so it wasn't like I could have done much. Turning to her, a thought suddenly striking me. "Wait, what about Garen? He was in the capital for at least a year now. Does he know?" The answer better be no. If Garen kept this from me too, he was in for a very, very strongly worded letter.

She shook her head. "He was always busy with his training, so I didn't want to bother him."

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I let out slowly. "Sona." I sighed softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Your our friend right?" Seeing her nod I continued. "And friends look out for each other, no matter what. Your happiness is our happiness, and vice versa. So I mean this when I say. The next time someone fucks with you. You tell us. Understood?" My soft tone, turning hard and stern as I progressed.

She just stared at me, her mouth agape, her hands fluttering, half way forming signs but never completely following through. With a click her mouth shut, her gaze met mine head on and she nodded a resolute expression on her face.

My stern expression melted into an easy grin. "Good, glad we got that settled, 'cause it looks like she's finally here." I could see Bianca across the arena, a sword in hand. I could tell from where I was sitting that the length of the blade was all off for her build, it hung awkwardly unbalanced in her hands.

This was going to be even easier than I thought.

Even so, the nervous knot in my stomach had yet to untie.

/

"Lady Delacour." I nodded to the girl.

She nodded back stiffly. "Lady Crownguard."

We both turned to watch the designated watcher, an older gentleman who I assumed was a teacher and not a student. Unless we had a member of staff, or someone of high standing our duel wouldn't count and would thus be counted as an unauthorized fight.

"State the reason for this Honor duel so all may bear witness." He boomed over the murmurings of the crowd.

The girl across from me stayed silent, knowing she didn't really have any grounds to stand on. Seeing that I chose to be the one to speak. "Bianca Delacour insulted my family, and insulted the Buvelle family."

"What say you, Lady Delcacour? Do you deny these claims?"

Her only options were to either decry me a liar or to own up to her prior actions. Obviously she chose the one that wasnt the equivelent of social suicide. Through gritted teeth she spoke "Lady Crownguard speaks the truth." The murmuring in the stands began anew, this time with greater excitement. Everyone loves good gossip, the fact that the student body consisted entirely of nobles or the incredibly rich just made it all the worse. And considering the game of telephone would no doubt continue on in the form of letters to their families, I wouldn't have been surprised if by the weeks end she had gone from insulting the Crownguards to eating babies or something along those lines. Her face paled considerably as she realized the damage that would be done to her standing in the student body. I felt a surge of vindictive joy when Bianca realized what her actions had done.

That was the true purpose of Honor Duels. At least in my opinion. It wasn't about hurting or even killing your opponent. It was about destroying their reputation. In a society as honor driven as Demacia, reputation was something that was almost more valuable than one's health or even life.

"The rules as dictated by Lady Crownguard are thus. No live steel is too be used, and whichever side concedes first or is incapacitated, is to be declared the loser of Duel. May the Protectors Just Gaze be upon this Duel. Begin!"

Just as I tightened my grip on the leather handle, my mind already working out the best way to approach the girl in front of me. The hair on the back of my neck rose, I didn't even have the time for the sensation to properly register before what felt like a lance was thrust through my chest.

/

I nearly dropped my sword.

An invisible hand seemed to be lodged in my chest, it digits groping around in search of something.

It had been so unexpected, so all encompassing in its violation of me that I didn't. No, I couldn't scream. It didn't feel malicious in its questing movements, it was as if what it was doing was a normal everyday occurrence. If I had to describe it, the presence let off this feeling of pure apathy, as if it were simply going through the motions, its attention focused elsewhere. It didn't care.

My magic finally caught on to the foreign presence in my body and reacted accordingly. Condensing in my body to form a sort of shield to push back the invader with. It worked. For a second, a single heart stopping second, the questing hand met resistance and stopped in its tracks. Much like what happens when a person is rooting around in the dark and finds something unexpected, the hand recoiled. At first I thought I had beat whatever it was, then I felt it.

The feeling of apathy was gone, and in its place was anger. A hot righteous fury swallowed the presence, wreathing the hand in a flame that felt achingly familiar. It felt like the hand had gained infinitely more mass than it had once possessed, whatever being was behind it was now focusing entirely on me. Once more it reached out, my shield suddenly feeling so horribly inadequate compared to the sheer power the Presence was exuding. When it reached my barrier the flames simply blazed so hot and fierce that my magic had scattered like dust before a hurricane. The hand moved ever onward, deeper inside me, deeper than any physical object could ever hope to peirce, then finally it touched me. Not my body, but me. My soul, whatever it was that made me who I was. The flames surrounding the hand licked at my soul, so hot that for a moment I feared it would burn it away. But as quick as it had touched it, it had disappeared, as it left I could feel a vague echo of satisfaction. Leaving me light headed and woozy at the feeling of having my magic swatted aside like a errent gnat, and then have what I could only call my soul be put in a metaphysical sauna.

My vision swam, and I nearly fell over then and there. It was only the glint of light off of the practice blade that brought me back to my senses. And only just. The blade whistled within a hair's breadth of my nose, so close that I would have sworn I had felt the chill of the metal. My sudden lunge backwards while saving me from taking a sword to the head, had the unfortunate side effect of making my already swimming vision almost black out entirely. It seemed that though the world had slowed tremendously while I was under that metaphysical siege, it had not stopped entirely.

Again Bianca swung at me, an overhead strike this time. My muscle memory the only thing allowing me to deflect it, if very sloppily. Luckily against such an inexperienced fighter, even that horrible parry had been enough. I stepped back, trying to buy time and hopefully regain my faculty. Thankfully, with her inexperience she probably didn't realize just how awful my defense was at the moment. Deciding instead to circle me, looking for a gap in my defense. I certainly wasn't going to complain, as every second that passed I could feel myself getting stronger.

She stepped forward and lunged at my chest, I tilted my body, allowing her to sail past me, sticking out a foot she tumbled, the sword by some miracle didn't fly out of her grip. She managed to scramble back to her feet remarkably quickly. Her breathing already coming out in harsh pants, these quick bursts of exertion clearly more than she was used to.

This time, I took the initiative, my sword flashing toward her left. She tried to block it, her sword nearly flying out of her unprepared grip. She winced, not expecting the sensation of the sword trying to twist her wrist a way it wasn't meant to. There was a reason most fighters didn't try to stop cold stop an incoming weapon, instead we more or less guided the blade away from us. Parrying was just a far superior tactic to blocking. It saved energy and ensured you wouldn have to pray your physically stronger than your opponent. No matter how strong they were in comparison, it wouldn't matter if the blade was no longer heading towards you.

In this case, not only was I physically stronger, I knew how to properly use those muscles to maximize my swing. She on the other hand didn't even know how to properly block, let alone which muscles needed to be used to stop such a swing. The end result was her sword being knocked to the side and my own blade thwacking solidly against her arm causing her to drop her sword.

She cried out in pain, making me flinch. Somehow the sound of her cry making the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was beating up a child. I nearly dropped my own sword in horror. While she was in the process of retrieving her fallen sword, I took a moment to think.

Was this okay?

My knee jerk answer was that no, this most certainly was not okay. But as I pondered the problem, the answer shifted. This world wasn't like my old one. Its rules were different, its people were different, everywhere I looked I could see the differences, some small and subtle, others more blatant and obnoxious.

I had done things in the new life I had never imagined doing before. I learned how to fight, I had actual magic, I had run into what I was pretty sure was an actual demon. I had Killed Multiple People. I thought incredulously. And yet for some reason this is where my mind decides to apparently draw the line? A crying girl?

A girl whose tears I was responsible for. A girl who couldn't have been older than thirteen. A girl who was currently taking a swing at my head.

My blade came up and I felt the jarring impact run down my arms. With a twist and a jerk, her sword was sent flying some feet away. Before I had intended to strech this out as long as possible, to make her as miserable as I could. But now I just held the sword to her neck.

"Yield?" I desperately hoped she would say yes. I wasn't sure I could bring myself to continue fighting with my will so shaken.

She held her hands up. "I yield!" She shouted towards the Watcher.

I allowed my arm to fall to the side. Once the fight was officially over did I realize people were clapping and making sounds of joy. Anger surged through me, were they happy? Two kids trying to bludgeon each other and they were happy?

I clamped down on that spike of anger before I did something stupid. This whole day was just a mess, first I find out Sona was apparently being bullied, then that Presence did whatever it had done to me, and now I had to deal with some sort of sudden moral crisis? I just wanted to find a nice dark room, preferably far from any other human being and organize my thoughts.

As I approached the weapons rack, Sona practically tackled me as she threw her arms around me. Taken aback by the sudden hug I just stood there awkwardly until she let go. "You didn't even get hit!" Her eyes shining in her exuberance.

Her earnest expression making me temporarily forget my prior anger. "I told you, you didnt need to worry."

"Yeah, but like you said, we're friends and friends worry about each other right?"

My chest suddenly felt so warm and light. "Yeah. Your right." As I put the sword away the sound of someone clearing their throats made me turn around.

"Excuse me Miss Crownguard, Miss Buvelle." It was the Watcher. "The headmaster requests that you come to his office as soon as possible.

"Of course..." I trailed off, not knowing who he was.

Taking the window I gave him. "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Darwin Yowelstine. But you may call me Professor Yowelstine. I teach first year biology."

I curtsied. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Professor Yowelstine. Thank you for watching over the duel. You can rest assured that I will be heading straight to the Headmasters office once I leave here."

"Ah, I think you misunderstand. He requested to see both you, and Lady Buvelle."

"Oh..." I didn't know what else to say to the unexpected turn of events. "Are we in trouble?"

"No!" He was quick to assuage my concerns. "I believe he merely wishes to formally apologize to Miss Buvelle."

I nodded in understanding. To be bullied on one's first day must paint a rather bad image of the rest of the school. Though I had to wonder if his apology was on borne of genuine remorse, or if it had more to do with who Sona's family was, especially now that he was aware she was close to me. I hoped it was the first reason. I could really use some good news right about now.

/

Sometimes being King wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

People only see the grand clothes, the power, the prestige, the shiny gold crown with its even shinier gems. What they failed to see was the prematurely earned gray hairs, the stress lines on my face that hadn't been there even a half decade earlier.

The masses only saw what they wanted to see. What they needed to see.

A regal man.

A strong man.

A man who always did what was just.

The embodiment of Demacian ideals.

But it was a lie.

I wasn't regal, just had good training and lots of experience acting the part. I supposed I was strong, but it wasn't anything special, especially after the years I had spent in meetings instead of in a training yard. And I most assuredly didn't always do what was just.

That last one had never felt more true than in that moment. As I held the report in my hands. A man who always did what was just would have taken up a call to arms after reading the contents of the parchment.

Instead my hand simply tightened, wrinkling the parchment slightly.

"How sure are we of the accuracy of this?"

"Very sir. The report is a first hand accounting by one of our spies. We even obtained a small sample of it." The head of intelligence told me from his seat at the council table.

My eyes closed and I swore softly, loosening my grip and letting the parchment flutter down to the ornate table. When I opened them, it was to the sight of my council looking at me with solemn or grimm faces.

"Have your people find a countermeasure. Spare no expenses, this is too important." The head of intelligence nodded his affirmation.

Turning to the rest of the council I continued. "We need to reinforce our border, if, no when-" I corrected myself "-Noxus turns its gaze on us we need to be ready. Protector save us if we aren't."

As the council began to deliberate on the best course of action, I found my gaze turning back to the parchment laying oh so innocently on the table. But the story it told was far from innocent.

Noxus had deployed some sort of poison bomb on Ionian villages. And if the report was accurate it seemed they had only been doing it to test its potency. The quad digit death toll scribbled in black ink said it was very potent indeed.

If I had been a just man I would have already rallied the troops and sailed to Ionias defence.

But I wasn't a just man. I couldn't afford to be something so noble. For I was a King.

A just man did what was best for everyone. A King did what was best for his people.

/

AN: Hey guys! Hope y'all like the chapter. If you have any ideas, comments, complaints etc etc PM or Review. I love hearing from you guys.

Oh just saying as a reminder, Sona is Twelve while Lux just turned Ten. But since Sona was adopted into the Buvelle Family she didn't have the knowledge needed to attend the academy. So she was tutored at home until she met the Academy standard for first years.

As a reminder Kayle is the Protector. Demcians look up to her as some sort of Goddess of justice. Or something along those lines. Canon doesn't really do a good job of explaining exactly what her role is in demacia. But I figure you would invoke her for Honor Duels.

BTW Honor Duels are a thing. Fiora is renowned for them, although she fights to the death. She even said in her short story that she has killed 14 men in these duels. She always offers them a way out of the Duel if they follow her demands, but they always refuse, not willing to concede their honor/pride.

The part that isnt Canon is that the Victim gets to dictate the rules, but I figure they should have that as a thing soooo yeah.

Also that last POV shift I feel is pretty Canon. I mean Noxus did test/use poison weapons in Ionia, and I imagine that the rest of the world was shook at the news of those kinds of weapons being used in war. I'm reasonably sure that, that was the first time Poison weapons were used in a war setting in Runeterra.

Anyone figure out what happened with Lux at the start of the duel? The hints are there, sort of? Lol I think it's possible to figure it out without me telling you, but then again i'm the writer so I always know what's going on. The reason why that scene was confusing and jarring is because we're looking at it from her perspective. First person who figures it out gets another Gold Star.