(Jarvan - PoV)
"She what?" I ask, shocked.
"She defected to Noxus with the mages," Karn repeats. "According to the surviving prison guards she helped the mages escape, after escorting them around the prison leading them to all of the Mageseekers and their associates we had captured. It...wasn't pretty. I don't know for sure if she participated in the battle afterward but several men reported seeing her leaving the city with them after the construct was defeated."
...
The man finally had time to stop by and fill me in on everything and I asked him about Cithria. This...was not the answer I was expecting. I know everyone has been hit hard by events, myself included, but...
...
I guess she decided that we are, indeed, the baddies, and switched sides. Once more, I wonder...
I wonder if perhaps they have the right of it.
...
"Is there anything else, sir?" Karn asks.
I look at him. The big white-haired man is so...worn. His normally shining armor is covered in dust, and in need of a good polish. He has been doing not just his job, but most of mine as well, while I lay here recovering. I did finally manage to convince Shyvana to rest with me for the most part as well, something I mildly regret seeing the wear on him, but honestly, she wouldn't help much with his duties. She is more of a fighter than a commander, organizer, or even leader.
Looking at her I confirm, no, it was the right choice. She at least looks far better than she did before, a few days of rest having done wonders for her health. Admittedly, much of that may be due to our...proximity. Xin mostly refusing to leave the room does often make things rather awkward, however.
Xin himself...I don't know what to do for him. He has changed not a bit, since father's death. Silent and stoic, my new shadow. What will he do if I am no longer prince? If there is no longer a kingdom for me to be the prince of? I suppose Shyvana may appreciate the privacy.
...Actually, that may just be me. She doesn't seem to care.
"Do you think she was right?" I ask after a prolonged silence.
"...Sir?"
"To quit. To just...give this to Noxus. Do you think she was right?"
The man stares at me bewildered. The idea appears completely incomprehensible to him.
"The upcoming League match. I have considered...if I am going to fight at all."
His jaw drops at the admission. I am sorry Karn...
"But...sir, without you...we need you, sir! What if Noxus wins?" he asks.
"What if Noxus wins indeed? Look around you Karn, is this what you want? Is this what Demacia needs? I...don't even know what I am fighting for anymore. The Demacia that I fought for doesn't exist, it was a damned lie. And the people? Are they really better off like this? Under the damned Council?"
"I...but, you are the Prince! We never fought for the Council, but for you! For you to lead us!" he objects.
"And this is exactly where my family and I have led us. Ruin..." I slump backward into Shyvana, who wraps her arms gently around me. "Our wisdom was founded on lies. Our experience misguided. No, Karn. While I may be better than those imbeciles, I am not fit to rule a nation, not now. And this entire game was the Council's idea in the first place. Do you know what they risked to set it up?"
"...Aye. Yes, sir, I do," he admits.
"I am not truly fit to rule the nation, and even less fit to rule alone, so I can't just execute the lot of them. No...no, I will keep quiet for now. But when the time comes, I do not think I will fight. Demacia...Demacia died long ago. It is time we stopped parading its corpse around pretending."
(Lux - PoV)
Oooo, fancy!
Dancing through the halls ahead of everybody, I can't contain my giggles. I get some odd looks, but given I am accompanied by FOUR Champions and have wings, no one says anything. That's right bitches, go back to your business.
It's the Institute of War and I will dance if I want to! I finally get to accompany Brother to a match, I am so excited! And Big Sis, Annie, and Kat too!
It's so pretty. Built to titanic scale, with impressive pillars, big shiny crystals, and glowy lines highlighting everything. And the magic! Oh the magic, I can feel it infusing everything! I suspect it is why everything is glowing, and why there are so many sparkles. My wings don't even stand out much here. At least until I cut a bitch with them. Big Sis is best teacher.
Still, no wonder everyone is terrified of the League if they can waste so much magic like this. They must have oodles of power to throw around to use it on such flashiness. Smirking, I flex my wings. Gee, I have no idea what that is like.
Everyone else seems to take it in stride. Well, almost everyone, Cithria seems a bit torn.
Yup, guess who got herself a new minion? This girl!
Cithria was a Dauntless Vanguard who was accompanying the mages for some reason. Something something, duty, justice, yadda yadda. Really, it seems like she had a bad case of hero-worship for Brother and got hit hard by his defection. Finding out that Demacia is a bunch of jerks and having the hots for Sylas afterward kind of broke her. Hormones are a bitch, aren't they girl?
So she came over to our team with the mages and decided to swear herself to Noxus! That said, we don't have any real government people around, just soldiers, so Brother and Kat took her oath instead. And Brother being Brother, he promptly told her to just protect me, so here we are.
I can see a bit of fangirl in her. I think she still likes Brother, but since she also seems to have a crush on Sylas and has that whole duty and honor thing...yeah. I don't think I will be sharing with her, not unless she gets her head on straight. Girl has to get her priorities in order.
I suppose I can get the Sylas thing, he does always go around shirtless. I may have taken to accidentallying Brother's shirts as well, especially now that I can use my wings as weapons. A pity I had no luck with getting Morgana's during training. Alas, I should have expected her to have precautions against my little whoopsies.
Anyhow, Cithria seems a bit torn on the whole magic thing still. Girl is very much coming around, having met so many of us recently, but, well, a lifetime of ingrained Demacian distrust is hard to overcome. And a lot of this magic seems to be damn near unbound.
...
Ok, Demacia may have at least a little bit of a point. It is really hard to not poke it with a metaphorical stick right now to see what happens.
I mean, I'm just curious. I guess I could ask Big Sis, but where is the fun in that?