The morning bird's song filled her ears, but that wasn't what stirred her.
The chilly air prickled her skin, but didn't cause the shivers running down her spine.
When Lux realized she lay alone on the bed, she jolted awake as sleep ebbed away. Fingers clutched the cold sheets in mild panic. Cold where Fiora should have been laying next to her – how had she missed the duelist just now?
"Bonjour, mon amour."
Her head snapped so fast to the door, she heard her neck pop. Fiora appeared with a small sack dangling from one hand and a square stack of cloth in the other. She wore the same attire from the wedding but opted out of the heavier layers and coat. When the duelist set said items down beside Lux, it really struck the blonde how unfair the gods had been in creating the woman standing next to her. Fiora made something as simple as a long-sleeved tunic and form-fitting pants work with her charms – roguishly handsome yet retaining the elegance and grace she was well known for.
It brought to Lux's attention the amount of skin she showed herself, and she drew the sheets against her chest. "G...good morning."
Fiora leaned over to press a chaste kiss to her forehead, effectively wiping out any semblance of logic. The blonde's cheeks burned at the affectionate gesture. "Um, where did you go?" Curse her squeaky and breaking voice.
The duelist responded without so much as noticing the effect she left on Lux simply by walking into the room. "I spoke with some people, mostly Irma and Aurora." The no-nonsense, all-business tone Lux was more familiar with cut into the fluttering feeling in her stomach. Judging by the urgency in her voice, something unsettled Fiora enough to go back to her usual attitude normally reserved for strangers. "We must leave soon, but first you need to eat."
Lux narrowed her eyes at Fiora, watching her pull various fruits from the sack. "Wait, aren't you the one that's supposed to be injured?" She took one when the other woman offered.
"I heal quickly with enough rest," she explained simply. "Aurora's salves helped speed up the process. Two weeks is extensive for me for this type of injury – I tend to regain my strength within a week without medicines. However, you've seen Nera's garden – she cultivated it to aid in rapid recoveries. I'm glad to see those lessons have passed on well."
Was that why Fiora rarely showed signs of extreme fatigue? Never once has Lux seen her at her absolute limits and out of commission like she had been. "I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you, not the other way around," the blonde grumbled, taking a frustrated bite out of her pear. "You were injured just yesterday-"
"-yesterday?" Lux found Fiora staring at her in bewilderment but it softened seconds later. "Mon cher, you've been asleep for three days."
She dropped her fruit. "Three day?!"
"Oui," the duelist confirmed. "Aurora confirmed Miss Buevelle's diagnosis of extreme exhaustion, though through magical depletion." Fiora reached down to pick up the pear and brushed the dirt off the skin. "The fact that you were still able to wake up after you eviscerated a petricite boulder the size of twenty grown men is something that should have kept you asleep longer. The sheer amount of magic needed to accomplish such a feat requires an incredible reserve of magic." Lux learned not to question the gifts others possessed, but not once did she consider herself capable of something that magnitude.
"Then how come I woke up so early? And how did you know I'd be up so soon?"
A smile tugged at Fiora's lips, amused by the question and probably a memory. "Your magic. Every morning I woke up to it coiling around me as I tried to leave. Clearly someone wanted me to stay put."
Lux didn't bother suppressing the urge to groan, despite not being entirely responsible for her actions. The dream she had of Fiora could remain under lock and key for as long as she was alive. "I said it twice before, but please kill me now."
The duelist laughed. "This morning was the first time it didn't attempt. I sensed you were on the verge of waking up. I still don't fully know how, but your aura seemed to tell me that. Perhaps Nera knows more about this than I do." Her smile vanished and Lux felt the mood somber much too soon.
She could see the desire to run back to the Great City shining clearly in teal eyes. Fiora loved Nera to the ends of time and leaving her behind must have taken a great deal of self-control over her emotions. Lux gently brushed her fingers over the duelist's cheek, drawing her attention easily as she tutted softly. "Hey now. You can ask her after this war is over with. She'll be okay. They'll both be okay."
Fiora closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I hope you are right."
"What about this?" Lux picked up the other things Fiora brought with her, hoping to divert the subject. It weighed heavily in her hands, much more than the dress.
"A change of clothes," she answered, welcoming the change in topics. "You did express a mild distaste of the wedding dress."
The blonde rolled her eyes, leaning over to kiss the duelist on her cheek. "I much prefer wearing something like if I'm marrying a particular Laurent." It was Fiora's turn to burn and Lux found her embarrassment endearing. "Still, I appreciate the fact you remembered something so trivial. It's one of the nicest things anyone's done for me in a while. Er, well, notwithstanding Irma and Aurora's generosity of course."
While simple in material, Lux knew without a doubt they were made of the highest skill possible. They even got got her height and size correct after unfolding the tunic and holding it up to her front. She would have to look like a Demacian commoner for a bit, but that beat running around in a dress the entire time.
There was only so much of looking like a runaway bride she could stomach.
"What did Irma and Aurora have to say?" Lux asked between bites of her food and dressing herself.
Fiora frowned. "There have been sightings of an ornate, winged warrior in the Great City."
The blonde froze and stared at her. "Kayle is here?"
"Oui. Her arrival spurred on renewed retaliation against the Mage Rebellion and in turn have redoubled the mage efforts. They were able to contain it within the city, but now the fighting has spread to every corner of the kingdom."
"Anything about Morgana?" Surely with the Winged Protector's return, the Veiled Lady would show herself once more.
Fiora pursed her lips thinly. "Non, but that is the reason why I woke up earlier than usual today. She came to me in my dreams."
Lux slowly closed her mouth when she failed to come up with an adequate response. Morgana never told her she possessed abilities as that, but then again she knew very little of her and her sister to begin with – just what she learned from books and what the Celestial revealed herself. "Did she say anything?"
"Leave."
The brevity drove it home. Everyone seemed more intent on preserving their safety than trying to stop the civil war consuming the kingdom, but perhaps this was what Demacia needed – a reawakening. Like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, once it swung too far to one side it must come back with the same momentum.
The only difference here was them trying to avoid being crushed in its wake.
"Where could we go?" The unanswered question burning in the back of Lux's mind. Fiora's injury drove it out but it came back as reality bore down on them.
Fiora smiled and rose from her place. "Finish dressing and come with me."
Lux emerged from the hut, hot on Fiora's heels. A few mages gathered at the center of the alcove along with Irma and Aurora and gauging the din reaching her ears, they were riled up by something. She spotted a few horses towards the entrance but what caught her attention was a peculiar young woman she met only once before.
"Kepi?"
Upon hearing her name, the teenager stopped chatting with the two other women and grinned as the pair made it towards them. "Yep, good to see you again Blondie."
Lux's eyes darted between Fiora, then the younger Crownguard, and back. "How- I don't-"
Irma and Aurora glanced at each other, waving the other mages off to give them some space. Kepi waited until the clearing emptied out. "There's a nifty thing Demacians are unaware of called the 'Pilto-Net'," she began. "It's an intangible network that allows for rapid transfer and sharing of information at any location at any given moment in time. If you could imagine the Alabaster Library and multiply it hundred-fold, it's kind of like that except anything you want to know about you can find it instantly."
"Uh..." The concept itself baffled Lux as she tried to wrap her mind around it. Something with that level of convenience couldn't possibly exist, could it? But given the reluctance of Demacia in regards to progress, their isolated stance hurt them more than it helped in many cases. "How does this relate, if you'll forgive my ignorance?"
"I don't quite understand it either," Fiora added. "But to simplify what Kepi told me – Demacia's issues have not gone unnoticed by the outside world. News of the Great City's seige have made it to several nations through this 'Pilto-Net.'"
"Word made it to Piltover in less than an hour." Kepi pulled out a strange looking box from her pocket and lit up when she pressed something on its side. "Before I left Demacia, I gave Ma something like this. It's a long-range communication device – er, think of it as a physical form of 'telepathy' but allows for chatter both ways."
"Intriguing," Lux murmured as the teenager passed it over to her to inspect.
"I like to call them 'tele-talks,' but their official name is 'cell-phones.' I'm particularly proud of this one though. I rigged it to go beyond the normal signal range so it could reach Ma from this far."
Fiora and Lux stared at Kepi in complete confusion. The teen slapped herself on her forehead and groaned. "Right, forgot that's Piltie talk. For it to work, you need an anchor similar to how magic requires a vector to direct it. Demacia doesn't have infrastructure in place so I had to improvise by finding something that could boost its power to go this far. It's shitty quality, but I can at least contact Ma in case of emergencies."
It dawned on Lux. "Like petricite flora that can amplify magic."
"Bingo – wait." Curiosity lit up hazel eyes. "Something like that actually exists?"
Fiora rolled her eyes. "Oui, we can enlighten each other later. More importantly how did you know where we were?"
"I reached out to Ma when I first heard about the attacks. Said Buvie told her you and Blondie escaped the capital and were on the run. I figured you could use some help getting out of Demacia period, so I found someone who was willing to sail me here. God, this place is a mess." Kepi combed a hand through her hair. "We found out the ports had been sealed off, so we docked offshore in a bit of a remote location. Finding you that way was a lot harder, but Ma suggested reaching out to folks she knew. I remembered Aurie pretty well so I just asked the Wind where I could find her."
"Wait, wait wait." Lux waved her hands in front of her. "Asking the wind? Are you an Aspect?"
Kepi quirked an eyebrow. "Aspect? No, I just – I have a lot of friends, okay? She's a really nice spirit and she likes me so..."
The blonde turned to Fiora, expecting her to be just as stupefied but the duelist simply shook her head. I guess I can ask some other time. Despite the oddity of it all, Lux went along. "What about getting here so quickly? Even with the best of transports, it would have taken at least a week or more to arrive."
"That's if you go through Noxus – how did you know that?"
Discomfort coursed through Lux. "I'd rather not talk about that. So, how?"
"By the power of modern technology. I'll spare you the logistics of it, but we were able to sail here in two-days' time. I had to get here by horseback though, and trying to lead two horses through rough terrain is a lot harder than you'd expect." Kepi frowned and sighed. "I wanted to get my parents out too, but they're trapped in the capital. Oddly enough, they're probably safer there than you two out here, and as long as I can keep track of Ma, I suppose it's fine."
"I don't mean to interrupt, but we have a small issue." The three of them saw Irma approaching with a well-armored guard in tow. At first they assumed he had been caught spying on them, but the lack of bindings said otherwise. "This scout reporting seeing Sylas with a small group of mages scouring the forests surrounding the Great City. They are still some distance from here, but it's better to be safe and leave now."
Fiora scowled, anger simmering under her skin at the mere mention of his name. "He knows."
Dread settled in Lux's stomach, her face draining of blood at the revelation. "Without petricite to absorb my magic, he'll know exactly where we are. I'll be recognizable in an instant even with disguises."
"Then we should leave," Kepi reiterated, waving her arms in the air. "How about we stop talking about Mad Max and what could happen and actually go?"
It felt good to be on horseback rather than roughing it out by foot. They steered clear of the main roads and the older women had to rely on Kepi's guidance through the thickest parts of the forest. When she said remote, she meant it – not a single soul crossed their paths since they left the Mage's Grove. Much of their traveling was spent in silence until they stopped to take a short rest and give their horses a break.
Kepi and Lux chatted idly as they worked their way through a small meal, but the duelist found herself lacking an appetite and opted to stand watch instead.
Fiora couldn't shake the feeling of eyes bearing down on them, despite being away from any signs of life.
"I noticed you have a shield on your saddle." Lux pointed to the horse Kepi had been riding all the while. "It doesn't look Demacian."
The younger Crownguard shook her head. "It's not. It's Targonian. I spent a lot of time in Piltover, but I used to go on expeditions with the Archaeological Society. We were trekking through Shurima when we were attacked by Void creatures." Kepi sighed and hugged her legs to her chest. "A lot of people died. I tried to help but there's not much you can do against something so... otherworldly."
Lux wrapped her arm comfortingly around the young woman's shoulders. Despite her positive bravado and outlook, Kepi endured through more than what anyone should. A plight all too common with Demacians hiding secrets it would seem, as her eyes darted to Fiora's back.
"We weren't doomed, as you can tell I'm still alive. Two people, just two people, came and saved us. I remember one had hair as white as the silver moon, and the other with eyes as brilliant as the morning sun. They fought them off like they were made of paper." Kepi held up her hand to the sun and flexed her fingers subconsciously. "It was so surreal, like watching the Sun and Moon dance. I felt like I could fight alongside them, so I picked up the sword the Sun cast aside when one of the Voidlings managed to pin her down by her shield and drove it into its head. They told me to visit them at the base of Mount Targon and I do, every other odd month or so. They gave me a sword and shield of my own, to protect me since I didn't really have anything at the time."
Lux frowned. The base of Mount Targon? Wasn't that where the Ra-Horak resided?
"We should move." Lux and Kepi quieted when Fiora retreated from the trees and came towards them. "Now."
The blonde canted her head. "Did you see something-"
Fiora's gaze went past Lux's head, widened slightly at the sight of crimson eyes lurking in the shadows.
Instinct drove her to shove Lux aside right as something massive barreled into their resting spot. It knocked her several yards away, momentarily disorienting as she struggled to recover from the impact. Fiora had all of two seconds to roll on her back before a wide, grizzled maw snapped relentlessly at her face.
She raised her arm to shield herself, expecting to lose it to the beast's frenzy only to find its teeth locked around it and unable to penetrate through the thick material of her coat. The duelist grimaced when black liquid oozed past her face and the creature's foul stench filled her nostrils with the promise of death. Up close, it was far more horrifying than anything she'd witness in her nightmares.
Yet, she dared reach up to grab one of its horns and kept it locked against her.
As long as it stays away from them-
"Get the fuck off her!" Suddenly the weight lifted off Fiora and the monster stumbled off a few feet away. She scrambled back watched in awe as the smallest member of their group squared off with it. She had a shield on one arm and a strange looking long-sword in the other, deftly dodging its swipes and rolling out of the way when it tried to slam its fists down onto her. Kepi parried a massive black spike sent in her direction and grabbed onto its horns to swing herself onto its back.
Enraged by the elusive teenager, it tried to grab at her and pull her off.
"Just fucking die!"
Her sword morphed into a spear, the sharp end glimmering before disappearing straight through the top of its head. It let out a blood-curling howl, cutting off sharply as its head exploded in a spray of black blood and mangled flesh. The rest of the body collapsed in a heap and threw the younger Crownguard off.
What the hell was that?!
"Fiora?!" Hands cupped her face and wide, terrified eyes greeted her vision. "Oh gods, are you okay?"
Unable to find her voice, the duelist nodded. Sore and shaken but she had all her limbs still.
"Urgh..." Kepi pulled herself to her feet unsteadily and glanced over at the other two women. "What a mood killer." She jogged over and helped Lux get Fiora on her feet. "You okay Miss Fiora?"
Fiora groaned at the repeated question, but kept her annoyance in check considering she had a second close encounter with death. "Oui," she confirmed after inspecting herself a second time. "What was that?"
"Void creature. We're lucky it wasn't a mature one." Kepi sauntered back over to the fallen beast, watching as its body slowly disintegrate in the sunlight. She retrieved the spear, now without a tip, and shook the blood off it as much as possible. "I didn't think I'd have to use this. "
Fiora slowly stood up with Lux's help, her body rattled from being tossed around as easily as a child's toy. "Why here?"
"Why not here is the better question, honestly." The teenager pressed a button on the spear and it retracted into its original form of a sword. "The world is a much bigger than the borders of Demacia. The Void, however, is a place entirely separate from ours and composed of horrors we think exist only in our dreams. It has portals all over the world, but the Freljord and Shurima have the most. Because Demacia is Freljord's neighbor, seeing one show up isn't entirely unlikely."
It made sense then.
"But seeing one this far from the Freljord, however, is concerning."
With the hulking creature dead, the weight of danger lifted from her shoulders although her guard remained firmly in place. "It may be wise for us to continue without delay then."
Kepi nodded grimly and slung her shield on her back. "I'm with you on that one, Miss Fiora. The fact I have to add Void creatures to the list of hostiles along with Mad Max and Mageseekers is beyond annoying."
The rest of the way to the southern shores proved conflict-free and true to Kepi's word, they could see a ship sitting out some distance in the waters. A smaller rowboat sat at the shoreline with a couple figures nearby. Fiora hesitated when they came into view, but Kepi rode over without hesitation and greeted them with an excited wave.
"Boy, am I glad to see you guys." The young woman dismounted and handed the reins over to one of them. Both strangers dressed vastly differently, though Fiora recognized one of them to be Demacian given his state of dress. "I brought the horses back safe and sound, as I promised."
The other stranger simply nodded and took the reins from the duelist, soundlessly handing it over to the Demacian. They exchanged a few brief words before he left with the horses.
"These are your companions?" Fiora selected to ignore the curious inspection the other person gave them. Their voice however did sent shivers up her spine. Neither feminine, nor masculine, soft or rough. It held the perfect balance of both and echoed faintly like bells in the wind.
Kepi nodded as she climbed into the rowboat behind the stranger, oblivious to the tension between them all. "Yeah, took us a minute to get here though. We ran into a Voidling a couple days ago."
Their expression morphed from neutral into one of surprise. "Intriguing. You dispatched it, I assume?"
"With the only spearhead I had. It's gonna be a pain getting another one though. Sunny and Moony aren't gonna be happy I used it for something so small, but I'm not made of sturdy stuff like them and it technically was about to eat Miss Fiora."
The duelist took the offered hand of the newcomer, settling into one of the seats alongside Lux before they hopped in themselves. With a solid push, the boat set off on a gentle coast towards the ship.
Lux glanced back for a moment. It was hard to imagine leaving Demacia behind for the unknown, but when a hand squeezed her own, she turned back to Fiora gazing at her inquisitively.
As long as Fiora was at her side, her world was safe.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself properly." The stranger extended their hand for them to shake, a pleasant smile on their lips. "I am a little uneasy about setting foot in Demacia. They are not exactly... kind to persons like myself. I am Captain Baelhar. If you'd like, you may simply refer to me as 'Captain', or as this little pain in my ass calls me, 'Hardy Har'."
The blonde struggled to contain her giggling, coming out in an off staccato of snorts. "That's quite the nickname."
Baelhar rolled their eyes. "She has a way with them. It grows on your quickly enough."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain." Fiora accepted the hand and found their grip strong, yet soft. "Fiora Laurent of House Laurent."
"I've heard many good things about you, Miss Laurent." The captain turned towards the ship, and as they got closer, it was much larger than either Fiora or Lux thought. "Kepi spoke highly of you, and I'm glad to see you lived up to her descriptions. Pray, tell me. Have you ever been on a ship before?"
The two women glanced at each other, though it was Lux who answered. "Perhaps once or twice on a Demacian galleon, but no."
Baelhar grinned and bowed at their waist as they secured the rowboat to the side of the ship. "Well then you're in for a treat."
A/T: I had to break this chapter up. The original draft was already borderline on 6k words, and the revision took it to 4k and I was barely halfway through. Anyway, we finally made it out of Demacia guys! Sort of, kind of. But they're getting there!
This chapter will seem a bit odd, as it references a lot more to the stuff that's going on around the world. It sets a precedent for the following fanfic that focuses on Kayle and Morgana because after what they did to the lore butchering of these two, I wanted to dive into my own interpretation of them.
They'll probably never read this, but Diana and Leona is actually a reference to Mililap's Silver and Gold, a fanfic I absolutely adore and respect. I wanted to pay a small homage to it because their writing style is what influenced mine and has helped me through my own struggles.
A bit of a lofty goal, but I plan on trying to finish this fanfic by the end of this year, or at least before I move. I don't know when I'll be able to get back to this if I don't make it.
God, that took me forever. I realized I almost ran late for work, so I'm adding this after note on my shift. XD Don't try this at home folks. XD
