"We need to find a place to hide and regroup."

They came across a small stream through the thicket of trees they had been traveling through for the greater part of the last two hours. No Demacian army, no mages, not even the local wildlife cross paths in that time. The eerie peace gave them relief for every second spent without being spotted, but also contributed to a mounting anxiety they shared silently-

When would they be discovered?

"Where do you suggest?" The blonde stared pensively at Fiora, who had taken a moment to pull off her boot and dip her bare foot in the chilling water. Staying out of sight took priority, but the further they traversed, the more problematic her ankle became until even her willpower succumbed to the radiating pain. The duelist was a deceptively durable woman and if even she had to pause in their desperate escape from the vices of law to tend to the issue, then it needed more attention than she let on.

Where indeed could they seek temporary shelter? Without a proper map or landmarks to orient themselves, it was hard to tell how far away the next closest town would be. And given they couldn't have made it too far from the capital, the likelihood of those towns receiving news of the attack made it risky to chance going there; someone could be looking for them or they would be turned away in fear of being targeted for hiding them.

"Can you still walk?" Lux sat beside the duelist by the bank and watched as she retracted her ankle from the stream. Fiora rolled her ankle a few times, but made no show of emotion as she did so.

Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?

"Possibly, with a few rests here and there."

Still not enough to get out of Demacia – which also burned an even bigger question in the back of the blonde's mind. If they did manage to leave the borders of the kingdom unscathed, that left the question of where they could possibly go. Noxus would sooner imprison and torture them for sheer pleasure and Shurima sat across a strait nigh impossible to cross without a sturdy ship and a willing captain. The Freljord was completely out of the question since it lay on the other side of the Great City, opposite of where they escaped. Forget Ionia and Bilgewater – one too far, and the other probably easier to swallow them whole before they even made it to their ports.

Which left Piltover and Zaun, but getting to there meant going through Noxus-

Lux glanced down at the wand carefully balanced in her lap. They had to start somewhere, and right now Fiora's ankle limited many of their options.

Maybe... just, maybe?

If she could just find the marks-

"I might have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

Fiora eyed Lux warily. "What?"

"It'll be a bit of a walk-"

The duelist glared at her, apparently offended by the subject. "I like living. We have come too far to give up. If I must walk, then I will walk."

Lux sighed and stood up, offering a hand to the duelist. "Then we'd better get going. I also like living, and not being caught."


Darkness blanketed them as they foraged through the trees. A part of Lux wanted to call on her magic and illuminate their surroundings if only just a bit, but in doing so risked their safety. The pitch black was as much their savior as their vice, and without proper moonlight to guide her way, she relied on gut instinct and familiarity of the terrain under her feet.

Fiora could only follow and try to keep pace. With no idea of how far their destination lie ahead of them, she grit her teeth and fought through the pain as best she could. Every misstep sent a wave of pain radiating up her leg and slowed her gait enough for her to reach out and grab the blonde's arm. "Lux, are you certain we aren't lost?"

Lux slid Fiora's arm over her shoulder and supported her weak side. "Positive. When the Mageseekers initiated the Purges, many escaped under Sylas' wings. Others didn't want to leave the City, and a good portion of the persecuted simply wanted to be left alone. Those who sought peace from all the conflict found ways to hide in plain sight and thrive under the shadow of the kingdom's iron fist."

They stopped in the middle of a clearing and she let the tip of her wand dip down and touch the ground. "I would know. I helped them escape."

The end of her wand glowed dimly, radiating a soft, white light as it illuminated the leaves scattered around. And as Lux poured more magic into the wand, their surroundings came to life. At first one person stepped from behind the trees, then two more, and suddenly the two women were surrounded by multitudes of faces. Fiora had never seen such diversity in one place and could only look about herself in awe. Old, young, men, women, children, and of all nationalities.

One woman stepped forward from the crowd slowly gathering around them. Unlike the mages in Zeffira, the duelist felt not an ounce of hostility. Curiosity, perhaps, but a greater portion of apprehension. However this person displayed none of the above.

"Lady Crownguard?" Soft-spoken. Skepticism laced her voice, and Fiora watched her features morph into one of disbelief. "Is that really you?"

Lux smiled tiredly. "Good evening, Irma. I hope everyone has been safe."

"We received news of the attack earlier. Is it true?"

"Yes."

Alarmed whispers and hushes swept through the gathered.

Irma frowned and approached them when she noticed the two looked ready to collapse. "What happened?"

"Long story. Is there a medic that can see to her ankle?"

Irma nodded and reached out to Fiora, but the duelist stepped back and glared at the brunette. Sensing her hesitation, Lux leaned up and buried her face in raven hair. "It's okay, you can trust them. I swear on it."

Irma raised her eyebrow at their close proximity, but when the taller woman lifted her other arm wordlessly, she caught sight of the emblem on her cape. "House Laurent?"

"Oui, I am Fiora Laurent."

The brunette made to bow but before she could even so much as twitch the duelist held up her hand. "Please."

"I am just... shocked is all," Irma explained as she slowly made it to the other side of Fiora. "I will explain more once we find Aurora. She's our resident medic – she's no healer-mage but she learned from the best there is." The people parted to let the trio through and as they dove deeper through the trees, Fiora sensed their presences fading and leaving them alone. It seemed their arrival had been as much of a surprise as the two women finding them, but wholly wanted to be left in peace. She couldn't fault them – especially with what was going on within the kingdom.

They came up to a small alcove carved into the small hills. A couple of modest huts lined the sides of it, but if one didn't look too closely, it could have been easily overlooked. When Lux's light filled the space and chased away the shadows, someone stepped from one of the huts and approached them with a lantern in hand. "Irma? Lady Crownguard?"

"Aurora, sorry to bother you so late at night-" The woman waved her hand. Neatly cut purple hair hung from her face, bangs barely hiding wide amber eyes.

"Nonsense. I'd do anything for you or Lady Crownguard."

"Please, just call me Lux," the blonde interjected, more uncomfortable by her formal title than anything else. She did however run up to give the older woman a tight hug. "Fiora needs her ankle looked at and Irma said you could do the job."

Aurora gasped. "Fiora, as in Fiora Laurent?"

The duelist groaned and buried her face in one hand. "Oh for the love of all that is holy and sacred - oui. Je suis Fiora Laurent de la Maison Laurent. "

"You speak the same language as Wisteria?" Fiora's irritation quickly gave way to curiosity when Aurora identified it. "How do you know-"

"We are long time friends. My servant, Nera, was her mentor."

The medic guided them to the hut she stepped out from. "Come, any friend of Wisteria is a welcome friend of mine."

Fiora noticed a few things about the healer-houses she seemed to have frequented as of late – one, all of them had a soothing aroma filling the space and two, they exemplified the kind of persons inhabiting them. Mina's home in Cloudswood reminded her of a small garden – slightly disorganized but full of life and vibrancy that rejuvenated her simply by standing in it. Sona's was well-kept and organized, ready to accept a patient at any given moment yet there was a touch of grace in the layouts of all the medicines. Aurora's was much more down to earth, boasting the fewest herbs and other pastes but surrounding her in a warmth that made her feel relaxed and comfortable. It helped the space functioned as her living area as well, making it even more inviting for the duelist to lower her guard.

"Do you mind if you take your boot off? I need to assess the damage."

Fiora acquiesced. She let the medic take her foot gingerly and let her do what she needed to do. Lux and Irma sat at a dining table across the room and chatted idly.

"How did you guys manage to escape the capital?"

"The old sewers I led you out of the first time. It was blocked at the end, probably after being discovered by Demacian guards as a potential weakness in our defenses. We managed to get out though thanks to the wand you lent me."

Irma held up her hand, lips pulled into a warm smile. "It is yours Lux. You've made better use of it than I ever will. But back to the matter at hand, I am surprised you and Miss Laurent are alive and well. We heard Sylas managed to assassinate King Jarvan III as well as some other noble houses."

Lux frowned deeply. "I didn't think he'd get that far."

"On the other hand however," Irma continued quickly, trying to raise the somber mood. "Shauna Vayne, House Buvelle, and the majority of House Crownguard and Laurent were confirmed alive. Only you and Miss Laurent are unaccounted for, apparently on both sides of the equation."

"By the sounds of it, the rebellion has been contained?"

Irma shook her head. "Afraid not. Somehow without you two in the picture, neither side are certain of how to proceed. The guards within Demacia are too wound up to protect those they can, while the mages have been too busy trying to keep the city under siege. It's currently at a stalemate of sorts, but I doubt it will last very long."

Fiora, who had been tuning in partially while the healer rubbed some salves over her ankle, let her head fall back to stare up at the ceiling. "Mon cher?"

The two women at the table glanced over at the duelist, but Lux responded. "Yeah?"

"What do you know of the Veiled Lady's 'sister'?"

Blue eyes widened slightly. "Kayle? Did Morgana mention her?"

"Oui, she said she was coming."

Problematic, Lux mused silently. "Then the Great City may very well fall. Remember Zeffira and how it fell to the Twin Sisters?"

"Vaguely, but oui."

"Many have forgotten who they are, but the Twin Sisters are children of the Aspects of Justice. Two sides of the same coin and once protectors of the earliest years of Demacia." Lux let her mind drift back to the aging tome she found. "Strife and conflict between their ideologies of Justice split them, and as a result led to the widespread destruction of Zeffira. Both have left Demacia since, but in their own ways have never completely abandoned the kingdom. The older of the two you are more familiar with as 'the Winged Protector,' Kayle. The other is the 'Veiled Lady,' Morgana."

"The Winged Protector is responsible for much of Demacia's laws, yet she never appeared once. The Veiled Lady has become myth, yet she visited us in the flesh," Fiora concluded, the new information turning over and over in her mind.

"Morgana almost never leaves the outskirts of Demacia, so if she came to you of all people with a warning, then that means Kayle feels the pull to come back as well."

The duelist shook her head and sat upright when Aurora finished working on her ankle. She had cotton wrapped tightly around the appendage but not enough to cut off her circulation. "It's a bad sprain, but it will heal as long as you keep the weight off it. It may take a couple of weeks, but otherwise I see no permanent damage. I'll give you a few vials of the salves I've applied to speed up the healing process, just remember to reapply it every few hours."

"Merci, Aurora."

The healer grinned shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "My pleasure. It's not every day I get to tend to someone like you. You're a well-behaved patient considering the extent of the injury. Most would be squirming and hissing in discomfort."

Lux giggled at that. "She's usually that way whenever she likes someone. I think it's a healer thing."

Fiora scowled, but failed to find a rebuttal. The blonde had a point – thus far she hadn't found herself snapping at any of the healers they came across; Sona, Mina, and now Aurora were so welcoming the duelist didn't have it in her heart to keep up her usual demeanor. While her rational mind couldn't conjure up some sort of remark, her emotions stepped up to the plate. "I love you, though, Lux."

Said woman blushed profusely at that, a bit shocked by Fiora's lack of a filter and the unabashed confession. Considering their attire and the audience they had, really it couldn't have come at a worse time. "You're exhausted, aren't you?"

Fiora rolled her eyes. "Oui, imbécile."

"Come with me then." Irma rose from her seat. The duelist stood up unsteadily on one leg and leaned on the blonde for support when she came over. "We have spare rooms in the alcove. It's not as nice as what you are probably used to, but I can promise you they are comfortable enough."

"Finally, a promise I don't have to keep," Fiora muttered quietly, earning a sharp jab to her ribs from Lux. "What? I'm not wrong."

The blonde elbowed Fiora again. "No, you're not but for your own sake just shut up Fiora. Stop being so cheeky."


Irma led them to the hut next door, but instead of taking separate rooms as she originally offered, Fiora refused to leave Lux's side. Given everything they had gone through, it didn't surprise the brunette one bit. "If you need anything, Aurora is nearby and I am across the way. If trouble comes, she'll notify you immediately."

"Thank you Irma. We're forever in your debt."

"A small favor for the freedom you gave us. Had it not been for you, we wouldn't be living in peace for the last few months." Irma didn't linger long and left the two to their own devices.

Fiora collapsed on the modest bed in the corner of the room, an appreciative moan escaping her lips. Lux laughed at her haphazard sprawl and tugged at her pant sleeve. "Don't fall asleep on me yet, you're still stuck in that suit."

As if on cue, the duelist rolled over and sat up in a heart beat. The blonde had already begun the process of taking off her shoes and letting her hair down from the braid it had been put into originally. "Lux, what are you doing?"

Lux stared at Fiora in confusion and bewilderment. "Undressing?"

When the duelist didn't budge, Lux sighed and dropped her hand. "Fiora, I am not sleeping in a wedding dress. I spent all day in this. Now help me get this off because I can't reach the ties on the back."

Normally, Fiora would have hesitated. She was comfortable enough to show some skin in her own quarters, but outside of it kept herself covered as much as she could – reasonably enough given the fact enough men and women perverted her on the daily with their eyes and imaginations. However she never gave much thought to actually seeing Lux bare. It made her fingers twitch and her heart race.

She hardly had experience with intimacy, and that fact only manifested stronger in her gut with every knot she pulled apart. And when the blonde was fully released from her confines-

"Mon dieu, you are gorgeous."

Lux looked over her shoulder to find Fiora gazing up at her in complete awe. There was just something about the way she held her in her eyes – it differed from everyone else who came to knew the blonde as who she portrayed herself to be. Yes, she had been called pretty, alluring, cute, lovely, and all forms of less savory words when she infiltrated Noxus at one point, but never had someone used the word 'gorgeous' and with such reverence. It made her heart skip several beats and a flush to spread down to the tops of her shoulders. She shivered under the gentle brush of fingers down her back. "Though I was not aware you preferred...this kind of wear."

"Well, it is expected after a marriage for the couple to consummate. So they wanted me wearing something to stimulate-"

Lux nearly squealed when Fiora grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she surrendered to soft lips sealing hers in a heated kiss, mind wiped of all rational thought. Instead of pulling away, the blonde simply shifted into a more comfortable position – seating herself right in the duelist's lap and draping her arms around strong shoulders as Fiora's hands settled at her waist. She bit her lower lip when they pulled apart for air, finding the red flush spread across the bridge of the duelist's nose absolutely adorable. Her eyes held a hunger Lux was all too familiar with, but one she reciprocated in kind.

"I like this on you," Fiora admitted, letting her fingers play with the lace adorning the blonde's hips. And as much as Lux wanted, needed, her to go further, the taller woman kept her hands chaste. "But we are not married..."

Lux groaned, partly out of desperation to find some kind of relief but mostly at the sobering fact Fiora just had to point out.

Together, so close together, yet so far apart. "To be frank Fiora, I couldn't care less."

Fiora held up a finger to Lux's lips when she tried to move in for another kiss. "I do."

The blonde wanted to bite said finger just out of sheer frustration, but calmed when the duelist pressed a soft kiss to her nose. "I want to do this properly. Not when we are trapped in the middle of Gods-know-where, not when we are wanted fugitives, and most certainly not when I am injured."

Lux released a long sigh through her nose, reigning in on her hormones and the urge to be satisfied sexually. She waited for the duelist to open up to her, waited for her to accept her, and waited even longer while they fell for each other. It was hard to continue and she had slipped at least once, but one look at Fiora and the blonde resigned. "I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away."

Fiora respected her boundaries, and Lux needed to do the same. "Do not apologize, mon cher. I want this as much as you do, but I don't think I could even try right now. I'm tired."

And Lux saw the deep-rooted exhaustion in her eyes. Both of them had drained all their reserves of magic and probably left Fiora running on pure adrenaline the entire day. With it wearing off at this point, it would be a matter of time before she crashed.

It was easy then for the blonde to forget her own needs and put the duelist at the forefront of her mind. "Alright, let's get you out of those clothes and into bed."

Undressing Fiora took a combined effort. Lux had to figure out which straps kept the pauldron on, and once she managed to take it off and fold up the cape, the rest of her outfit came apart in pieces. She had worn more layers than she expected and none of them felt like regular material in any shape or form. "Where did you get this? It's almost like armor in itself."

"I had a tailor make it. Goes by the name of 'Taric'."

Lux almost dropped the shirt in her hands. "Taric?"

Fiora nodded slowly, confused by the incredulous look Lux gave her. "Oui, is there something I should know?"

"Taric isn't a tailor, Fiora. He was once known as Sir Taric, but was sent to Mount Targon to attempt the Crown of Stone. No one knows if he made it out alive or not. It is a death sentence to all who go."

"..."

"..."

"...so he is very much alive, and now an Aspect, I assume," Fiora breathed, as the notion of a Celestial being going out of his way to protect her sunk in. "I think I have a lot more reading to do."

Lux stared at her in mild disbelief. "That's all you have to say?"

"Mon cher, I went my entire life without even knowing they existed, only the tales they left behind. And now I've met two Aspects in the span of less than a week."

Fair point. A really fair point. "Why reading?"

Fiora stretched out on the bed, relaxing as she sunk into the sheets. "To educate myself. What else, mon cher?"

Lux frowned slightly. Maybe she too was tired and she hadn't realized it just yet. "Forget I said anything. Are you comfortable enough?"

"Oui, now come here."

The blonde crawled into open arms and nestled into Fiora's side. Feeling her bare skin glide smoothly along her own tamed her needs enough to simply enjoy the company. The duelist passed out within a minute after they found a comfortable position in the cramped space a bed for one could afford for two people, but Lux remained awake for at least a full hour after.

Maybe, just maybe, they could make this work.