For readability's sake, I split this chapter in two because it was getting kinda long.

Two

Back in middle school, Lux always dreaded the first day.

It wasn't that she was antisocial or anything, or that she wasn't welcome. The All-girls school she attended was nothing if not welcoming - at least to those of her standing.

No, she instead felt that as each year passed, she was growing more and more restricted. Her grip on her own life slipping, bit by bit, and her identity outside of just being 'Luxanna Crownguard' stripped away piece by piece.

So it was an incredibly fresh sensation when she awoke feeling excited.

Her alarm was quickly shut off, and she rolled out of bed with a smile. That was new, too.

She stretched, pulled open the blinds, grabbed her toiletries, and walked down the hall to the showers. She rushed through her morning routine, finding that the facilities were of decent standard.

Maybe not quite what she was used to, but very workable indeed.

She dressed quickly when she returned to her room, noting that she could do with a mirror, before quickly doing her make-up – her phone would do for now.

Before she finished, she stole a glance to the staff leaning against the wall next to the door. She remembered the rush she felt the day before, the pure ecstasy...and frowned.

Shaking her head, Lux grabbed her bag and materials for the day. Books, stationary, a few emergency supplies, and a leisure book if she ever had a moment. Yep. She had everything.

Before she shot out of the room, she side-eyed the staff one last time. She considered bringing it with her, and as she did, she felt a tingle creep up her spine. It wasn't much, but she stared down a few moments longer, lust quietly snaking up her body...

She shut the door firmly behind her.

It was early, so it wasn't a surprise to her that she saw no one else roaming the hallways. In fact, she encountered no one until she reached the lobby, and saw a single girl, small and with long, blonde and...pink? hair, sleeping on the couch in a pile of the fluffy pillows. Lux left her alone.

On the opposite side of the lobby were a pair of large archways, one leading into a similarly large room lined with long, white tables attached with similarly long benches on either side of them. Golden pillars dotted the room, and to the side was a wide bar counter, complete with displays of food and an older, yawning lady with long, sandy hair tucked in a tight ponytail, elbow resting on the bar counter top. Behind and above the lady was a chalkboard, various listings of the meals on offer. Lux noted a few cute doodles of what looked like rabbits next to a title scribbled in a fluffy print, WELCOME TO NEW STUDENTS.

Lux approached the lady, who didn't notice her until she was standing opposite her at the counter. And when she did notice her, the lady looked away with a yawn, before quickly double-taking and shooting upright, hand still covering her mouth in a deep, deep yawn.

'Ah, uh, welcome!' She yawned again. 'What'll it be?'

Lux smiled at the lady, whose name tag read "KAHINA :)", and took a glance at the chalk menu. There was a lot of choice, she noted, but most things were limited to lunch and dinner. Those had numbers next to them. Under the breakfast section, she saw a choice of three meals, plus a hot drink of her choice. Also, no numbers.

'Good morning! I'll have the A set with a black coffee, please.'

'Sure thing. But you'll have to wait a few minutes for the food, the chef isn't in yet. I can whip up your coffee, though.'

'That's okay! I'm just an early riser.'

Kahina chuckled. ' a seat, I'll call you over when it's ready.'

'Thanks, Kahina.'

The lady looked a little surprised at the address, but quickly smiled and punched the order into the register. The dormitory cafeteria was otherwise empty, so Lux went ahead and sat down at one of the closest seats, and waited patiently for her coffee.

The time passed pleasantly, Lux making the occasional small talk with Kahina as she prepared the drink. Once she had it, Lux left the lady to her nap before more students started arriving, which happened about ten or so minutes later.

Lux received her meal just before that, graciously accepted it, and moved towards the back of the room. She found the food to be pretty good, although nothing amazing. She didn't want to complain, though, as she knew in the back of her mind she was just used to a much higher standard than was likely possible to recreate. Plus, breakfast was free.

Eventually, she spotted someone she recognised in the gradually growing crowd, a smaller boy with reddish-brown skin and a messy head of white hair, who in turn spotted her while waiting at the counter. Lux smiled and signalled a small wave to him, and Ekko responded with a tired smile and an even lazier wave back. After he got his 'meal', which was just a single cup and a bun, he moved to her and sat opposite.

'Mornin'.' He said. His eyes were half-closed.

Lux smiled brightly. 'Good morning! Are you excited for the first day of classes?'

'Oh god, another morning person.' He said, grumbling. 'Ah, sorry. That's a good thing, probably.'

Lux continued to pick away at her cup of coffee, now half-full, with a giggle. 'No breakfast?'

'Hm? Oh.' He shrugged, and took a sip from his drink. It was much lighter than her own, and a thin line of froth remained on his lip. He didn't wipe it away for a moment. 'No. I don't like breakfast.'

'You're missing out.'

'I'll take my chances.' He took another sip, and sighed. 'It's too damn early. I don't get you people.'

'"You people"?' Lux raised an eyebrow.

'Uhhhhh - Sorry. Well, my roomie woke me up at the crack of dawn, rustling around, stomping! Ugh.'

Lux took another sip. 'That's unfortunate. I'm sure he didn't mean to.'

'Why'd it have to be him, too? Like, come on. This has to be a joke at this point, right? It's too much.'

Lux didn't really know how to respond, so she took another sip of her coffee. Ekko noticed the liquid in the cup, and raised an eyebrow.

'No milk?'

'I like it like this, it wakes me up.'

'Gross. How do you drink that? So bitter.'

Lux laughed. 'I guess I'm just used to it.'

Ekko's lips curled into a smile. His eyes were still tired, though, but Lux figured his own caffeine was kicking in. He started nibbling at his bun, a plain roll. He nodded towards Lux through bites.

'So? How's your roommate?'

Lux almost spit out her drink, but managed to stop at a simple double-take. She cleared her throat and chuckled nervously. 'I, umm, don't have one.'

Ekko's eyebrows shot up. 'What?'

'But it's not a big deal! Apparently there was something that the management messed up! I don't know what, though.' That last bit was the only lie, but even that much made her cringe inside.

Ekko leaned back on the bench and let out an exasperated sigh. 'Ahhh. You wanna trade? You can have mine, I'll take the single.'

'I don't think that would go down well.'

Ekko frowned. 'Probably right. Damn.' He shot her a glare. 'Lucky.'

She shrugged, and took another bite. She was nearly done with her food.

'Speaking of, who's your roommate?'

Ekko opened his mouth to respond, before a energetic voice approached them.

'Morning, morning.'

Lux looked and saw Ezreal, a slight dampness to his hair and a very awake grin to his lips, sit down next to Ekko with a plate of food. He had a lot of it. And two cups. Lux's eyes widened. Ekko sighed. He gestured to Ezreal with one hand.

'And there you have him.'

'You're looking grumpy.' Ezreal said, immediately digging into his pile of food. He smiled at Lux before taking a bite. 'Morning, Lux.'

'Morning!'

'Don't give me that, dude. You were up at FIVE!'

'Four-thirty, actually.'

'...Why.'

Ezreal shrugged. 'Morning training.'

Ekko stared incredulously, before groaning with a shake of his head. 'You woke me up, man.'

'Oh, wait, really? Sorry, my bad.' Ezreal smiled apologetically, but Ekko just glared. Lux had to suppress a giggle. 'But like, you were up late doing - whatever it was with the tools. I couldn't fall asleep for the longest time.'

'Oh, excuse me.'

'You should try waking up a little earlier. You need to get some practice in.'

'Just like, be quieter, please.'

Ezreal nodded eagerly. 'Will do. Seriously, sorry. You can join me for the training, if you want.'

'Yeah, no. Hard pass.'

'Don't worry - I'll be gentle.'

'Please refrain from comments like that.'

'Fine, I go pretty hard anyway.'

'Could you not.'

'Are you two excited for our first day of classes?' Lux interjected, finally finishing her meal.

'Hm?' Ezreal looked up with a stuffed mouth. He swallowed. 'Yeah, I bet our classmates are all super strong!'

'It's too early, man. I wanna know what the professors are like.'

Ezreal's eyes shifted away, shadowed by a sudden, deep darkness. 'Same. They can't all be like him, right...?'

Lux hummed.

'Well, I'll see you guys in class, then?' She said, already standing.

Ezreal started to frown, but quickly replaced it with a wide smile. Then replaced that with some food. 'Sure, sure. See you later, Lux.'

Ekko nodded too and sunk into his arms, folded on the table, with a yawn. 'Later.'

Ezreal stared, slack-jawed, in horror.

They were sitting in the classroom, about half of the first years, and were currently being given an introductory lecture by their homeroom teacher.

It was Graves.

He wanted to scream. A year with Graves? The man seemed to barely be able to stand Ezreal for stretches of minutes; how was he going to treat him over a year?

Why was the man even a teacher, anyway? He clearly hated his job.

He sighed, drawing a 'Shhh!' from someone close by.

Well, whatever. There was a saving grace to being in this class, and it was sitting a few rows ahead of him, attentively scribbling notes down with an adorable degree of intensity.

Lux was really pretty. He knew that, but man, seeing her again this morning just made him happy. He wasn't really sure why, but he knew he was just...glad. No, that wasn't the right word. He owed her his life, right? That was all it was. Whatever. With her here, he could probably put up with Graves.

As if he had shouted his name out loud, Graves shot him a glare from the podium. He sat up straighter. With a small huff, Graves continued on his speech, which he was clearly reading off a sheet of paper.

Ezreal was paying enough attention to get the gist of it. Welcome and all that to the school, God-weapon training, opportunities to show off your skills, yada yada. Something about Exams. Points. And then came the actual interesting bit, the stuff about clubs.

Apparently, the clubs were very important at the school. You lived and breathed your club, going on trips and participating in inter-club contests all throughout the year. At the end of the year, there would be a winning club, and the winners would receive a prize that Graves said, verbatim, 'will be enticing to students of all status, and fan the flames of competition.' Ezreal pushed down a laugh. Graves glared at him anyway.

The entirety of the morning passed this way, with each student going around in turn introducing themselves to the class, and Graves lazily acknowledging them with a tick on a checklist. They were given a rundown of their classlist, from History to Maths, and then were told of consequences of failing and all that. Ezreal wasn't worried. He was good at that type of thing.

He passed the time by idly thinking back to the previous day. The thoughts did cause some phantom aches in his muscles, exacerbated by his morning run, but he ignored those and replayed the fight. For whatever reason, he kept thinking about the explosion of energy Lux threw at the end. It was dazzling.

Also, she had an incredible smile while she shot it, but Ezreal pushed that aside with a slight blush.

The one thing he didn't get though, was where that staff came from. Lux didn't have it with her before, and she couldn't have hidden it anywhere on her person. She didn't bring anything into the trial. He supposed that it could have been retractable, but it seemed unlikely.

The only other thing that came to mind was the pillar of light in the room. It was there when they started the fight, and as soon as Lux had the staff, he remembered it was gone. That was probably the key here, but Lux hadn't said anything about what happened. He supposed he could ask her, but he also just wanted be thankful she did whatever it was. He'd be dead otherwise.

And just like that, the lesson was suddenly over. Ezreal blinked, blankly looking around as the other students rose from their seats. He quickly joined them, following someone's call to bow. They did, and then sat again. Grave's gravely voice rang through the room.

'Dismissed.'

Graves swiftly exited the room.

Noise erupted around Ezreal. Students chatted with each other, introducing themselves, properly this time. Ezreal was going to do the same, but also wanted to talk to Lux, so he made his way to her desk.

She was putting away her materials, but looked up to him with that warm smile of hers as he approached. 'Heya, Ez.'

'Yo.' He replied (casually). He immediately furrowed his brows. Wait, no. That wasn't right. He raised a single hand in a motionless wave. 'Uh, Hey!'

Lux's smile deepened, glinting in her eyes. Ezreal noted the way her cheeks dimpled. It was really cute. 'You were fine the first time. So, Ekko's your roommate, then?'

Ezreal forced a smile. 'Oh, yeah. Real lucky, that.' That was a lie. Ekko clearly felt the same way, and Ezreal was not joking when he mentioned Ekko kept him up. It was like a terror attack on his sleeping senses.

Lux responded with a light laugh. 'It's good you two get along already. You'll probably be great friends. Shame he's not in our class.'

He doubted that. 'Yep, you bet.'

He took a look around the room, and noted the various groups forming, chatting with varying degrees of enthusiasm, then looked back to Lux. Battle talk could wait. 'Wanna introduce ourselves?'

She nodded enthusiastically. 'Yeah, lets! I'm excited to make some friends.'

He shot her a thumbs up. 'One down, then.'

She returned the gesture with a grin. That was cute, too.

They introduced themselves to a few of the groups in the room, and Ezreal found that they were generally very amiable. He tried to remember their names, from Apehli-something to a girl named Alune, and a short boy named Gabriel. There were a lot of them. Either way, Ezreal's pleasant conversations were interrupted by an aggressive vibration in his pocket.

Shooting Lux an apologetic glance, he took out his phone and read the text. He had a few, but the culprit of the recent one was from Graves. It read simply, Staff Room.

Frowning slightly, he grabbed his bag from his desk. He turned to Lux and his new classmates, and scratched the back of his head with a slight laugh.

'I forgot I gotta go do something. Catch you guys after tomorrow?'

Lux waved back gently, that smile once again gracing her lips. Aphel-dude nodded solemnly, and gestured with a...military salute? Weird guy.

With a slight shrug, Ezreal exited the classroom and made his way to the staff room.

And when he got there, Graves was leaning against the wall, tapping his foot rapidly as he flipped through a series of papers he had clipped to a board. He saw Ezreal, stood straight, his annoyed expression becoming one of anger. Or it looked like it. As far as Graves was concerned, Ezreal figured this could be his smile.

'What happened in the Trial yesterday?' He said, simply and flatly.

Ezreal stopped, and rubbed at his hair. 'I thought you guys would know.'

'We don' have cameras down in the Weapon. That would be too expensive.' Graves slid the staff room door open and entered, Ezreal in tow.

'Yeah, but don't you guys have some ways of monitoring the students?' Ezreal said. 'Place was more confusing than your directions.'

Graves wasn't amused. He took a seat at a sparse desk – it was spartan in it's coverings. A single cup of steaming coffee and a single photograph, faded - but looked as though it was Graves and someone else gripping each other's shoulders, were the only things on it. Graves dumped his clipboard onto it, and glared at the boy.

'Don't play dumb. You and your friends were far too roughed up for it to be those damn bot's fault.'

'Hey, those bots were tough!'

'Then you're just weak.'

'I am not!'

'No, you're not.' He agreed. 'Those cuts on your cheek aren't from anything the bots could do, so tell me; what happened?'

Ezreal regarded Graves for a moment. There was no concern in his voice, but he was adamant. Clearly, he thought something was up, too.

'There was a room. White, wooden, pretty big.'

Graves's eyes narrowed. 'Go on.'

Ezreal hesitated, and picked his words carefully. 'There was a room, musky and very, very old. Looked like it had been untouched for ages – I'd wager a good hundred years at least. The carvings on the walls would indicate -'

'Get to the point.'

'Right. Sorry.' Ezreal cleared his throat. 'Anyway, there was a creature. Purple, large, looked like an insect. It had really sharp claws, but we managed to kill it.'

'And you thought it a good idea to not immediately tell me, why?' Graves was scribbling something down, but managed to shoot a sidelong glare at Ezreal. He shrugged.

'I was tired.'

'You're lucky you're alive. How'd you beat the thing?'

'Lux, uh, my classmate, managed to blast it with energy.'

Graves scribbled something down with a nod. 'The redhead girl? Anythin else?'

Ezreal thought about the light, and then the staff, and shook his head. 'No, sir.'

Graves nodded, and waved him away. 'Get outta here then. I got shit to do.'

'You shouldn't use language like that with students, Graves.'

'…'

'Leaving! Leaving, sir.'

Graves turned to his desk with a grunt, and Ezreal quickly made his exit. He wanted to take his first visit to his club – The Battle Club.

Ezreal stared with furrowed brows.

This was the Battle club's base?

A single hut, warm brown oak with red brick highlights, stood in the far recess of the school gardens. It wasn't very tall, nor very wide. It was maybe two storeys, and about as fat as a classroom and a half. Ezreal double-checked the note with directions the secretary had gave him.

Yep. This was it.

He stood there, confused for a few moments more, before he was brought back down by a wiggle of the doorknob to the clubroom. He considered running for a moment, but the door then swung open with a bang, and out stepped a sighing girl, tall and dark haired with fair – if slightly tanned – skin, bag slung over her shoulder. Her eyes were shut tight, bridge of her nose pinched between two fingers.

'It's only the first day, Zoe, and the clubhouse isn't exactly easy to find.' She said, exasperation clear in her voice. Ezreal stared for a moment, before another, smaller girl burst through the door.

'Don't be so sour! Look! Here's someone!' The smaller girl, Zoe, dashed up in front of Ezreal with the broadest smile he had ever seen. It terrified him. Her hair was...well, it started blonde at the base, before gradually fading into a warm poppy pink, long and flowing freely down to her waist. Her eyes, one a glowing gold and the other a deep set blue, glimmered with excitement as she beamed up at Ezreal. He cleared his throat.

'Um. Hello?'

'Hello! I'm Zoe!'

The taller girl quickly unpinched her nose and opened her eyes, purple, eyeing Ezreal with mild surprise. She quickly stood upright, and gave a small bow. 'I'm sorry, we weren't expecting visitors today. Professor Braum is out, if you're looking for him.'

'You're here to join the Battle Club, right? Right? I want some new people, ever since the third years graduated, it's just been me and 'Relly over here, but she's always so sour, and the Prez is never around, and the Professor just laughs, I don't know with me or at me, honestly, and it gets pretty boring, y'know? Oh, I'm Zoe, by the way! Nice to meet you! Do you like mooncakes?'

Ezreal was used to kids. He had been the oldest at his old home, and always had a soft spot for any of the younger kids that ended up at the home. So despite 'Relly' immediately chopping Zoe over the head and telling her to apologise to the newcomer for the verbal diarrhoea, Ezreal's lips curled to a small smile.

'Name's Ezreal. I'm here to join the Battle Club.'

Zoe whooped with excitement, but the other girl just widened her eyes, then cleared her throat again.

'Ah, my apologies then. I just assumed...' She looked across the field, scowled, then shook her head slightly. 'Doesn't matter. I'm Irelia. Welcome to the Battle club. We don't officially meet until tomorrow, but I can quickly show you the clubroom.'

'And I'm Zoe!'

'You said that already.' Irelia said, not looking at her. Zoe pouted, but followed as Irelia turned and walked back into the hut. He should probably stop thinking of it as that.

Inside, the room was...quaint.

Large, open, and very, very dusty, the Battle Club looked more like a repurposed dojo than a place for teens to hang out. Wooden panels, the centre-most boarding worn with abuse, covered the whole floor. The walls and ceilings were likewise. The backwall was the only holdout, instead two massive windows that brought in waves of natural lighting, reflecting gently off the oft golden wood. Thin benches littered the walls, except for one, which instead had a series of long shelves, covered in training materials and even things like books. Next to that was a desk, a round white figurine atop it. An electric fan sat quietly by the desk's feet.

There were two banners hanging off of the ceiling, wooden rafters, both red and fluttering slightly from the breeze that waltzed through the room from the open door. They both bore the Durandal insignia, but in a brilliant battle red.

After seeing the Luminary Clubroom, this was shocking. He stared. Zoe noticed, and chuckled nefariously.

'Awesome, ain'it?'

'Whole sentences, Zoe. Don't be rude.' Irelia said absently. She turned her nose up slightly, and set down her bag on a close bench. She turned to Ezreal with a small smile.

'Excuse the dust. We don't have a cleaner for the holidays.'

'I did offer!'

'And if I let you, we wouldn't have a Clubroom to come back to.'

'Nuh-uh!'

'Is this it?' Ezreal said.

'Hm? Yep, that's it. Believe me though, it might be too big, of all things.' Irelia smiled wryly. Zoe pouted.

'I think it's great! We've got everything here, look, look!' Suddenly, Zoe fell through the floor with a zwop, a thin pink circle emerging in the floorboards, before she appeared briefly on the other side of the room, grabbing something, then reappearing where she started. She held a thin wooden practice sword in her hands, a great big grin slapped across her face. Irelia sighed and pinched her nose again. Ezreal gaped.

'What the hell?'

'I know! Cool, right?' She tossed the sword to the side with a clatter.

'Don't scare him, Zoe. I'm sorry, Ezreal, she's just very excitable.'

'No, that was really cool!' Ezreal said, eyes wide. Zoe smirked, producing a proud sound. 'No seriously, what did you do? Wait, nevermind. Watch. This.'

'Ooh! Powers!'

Ezreal grinned, and focused on himself. He felt the power inside him respond, tentatively at first, but he pushed and willed it to spread throughout his body. When enough filled him, he released, and he Shifted. When he opened his eyes, he was on the other side of the room, a clapping Zoe and a mildly impressed Irelia eyeing him. Ignoring the sharp needle of soreness that stabbed at him, he shot them a thumbs up, which Zoe returned. Irelia let out a single chuckle.

Zoe dashed up to him, funky eyes sparkling. 'What. Was. That!'

With a grin, Ezreal dramatically rolled his head and shoulders. 'That was just a taste of my powers. Cool, right?'

Zoe nodded fervently. 'What's the move called?'

Irelia snorted as she approached, much more calmly. 'Here we go again.'

'Name?' Ezreal asked.

'For the move! Mine is called Candy Dash!'

'No, it is not.' Irelia chopped her on the head lightly.

'Fine. Portalling!'

'A name, hm. I've been thinking of calling that move the Shift.'

'Ooh! That's so cool!'

'Right?'

Irelia cleared her throat. Ezreal and Zoe turned to her. 'I guess that would mean your ability is speed?'

'Uhh, not quite. It's uh, a work in progress.'

Irelia tilted her head slightly. 'I'm not sure I follow.'

'Yeah, I've got that before. I don't fully know either. Sorry.'

She smiled. 'Don't worry. We're here to help.'

'By the way, my power is like this; I can like, see the threads of the world, right? So I can like, see where they connect, and where they intersect, and where they don't. Oh, they're never parallel, by the way – that would just be really weird, y'know? It's more like a criss-cross. Inside, outside and inside and besides – but never on top? Anyway, I can grab 'em, and then they go like WHOOSH, BRVVV, WhrrRRR, y'know?'

Another chop from Irelia. 'Remember to breath, Zoe.'

'I am!'

Ezreal smiled up at Irelia. 'It's like you're her mom.'

'Don't remind me.' She grumbled, but Zoe giggled.

'She's way cooler than my mom. Mom never let me stay up past 10, but Ire-Ire does!'

Ezreal's eyebrows perked up. 'You're roommates?'

Irelia smiled forlornly, and Zoe beamed.

'Yep.' They both said.

Ezreal hummed.

Irelia checked her wrist, a thin-strapped yellow watch hidden under the dark sleeves of her blazer. She sighed, and looked to Ezreal apologetically.

'I have to go. I was only going to drop something off in the clubroom today, so I can't really stay long. We meet properly tomorrow after classes, you'll get to meet the Club President. Maybe. The professor will be here for sure, and so will we. I'll give you a full rundown then.' She nudged Zoe, who was spacing out. 'Come on, say goodbye.'

Zoe pouted, but grinned to Ezreal. 'See you tomorrow, new friend!'

Ezreal returned the grin. 'You bet.'

The two bowed (well, Irelia did) and left. Ezreal was left standing alone in the open room, flecks of dust gently visible in the rapidly fading sunlight with a smile on his face. They seemed nice. Add Ekko, and there were four of them. And apparently one more. His smile waned slightly.

Only five members?

Suddenly, standing in the centre of the wooden room, the brilliantly red banners fluttering slightly from residual momentum above him, he understood a little of what Irelia had said.

After classes ended for the day and Ezreal had went off on his own, Lux hung around with her new classmates a little longer. It was exciting, finding out all the different parts of the world that they came from, just for the academy. They hadn't discussed their powers, but she was sure they were all unique.

Tired but not hungry yet, Lux still had one piece of business left to attend to. She was going to do it the day before, but she had just been so worn out. And since the sorcery club was not scheduled to have first-year orientations until the day after, she had the afternoon free. She quickly sent a text to the person in question with a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

It was a short walk out of the class building to the Luminary clubroom - well, room didn't quite cover it. It was massive. And very blue. Lux noted the stained glass windows, shining a cascade of colours into the bustling room. A quick scan of the room found her target.

Garen was a beefy guy; he stood tall and solid as he worked behind a much leaner, and smaller, black-haired boy, who was seated at a desk on the far side of the room. Lux felt a wave of simple, pure joy at the sight of her brother. She hadn't seen him in, what, almost a year? Too long.

She walked up behind him, and cleared her throat. 'Garen Crownguard? May I have a moment?'

'Ah, yes, just a momen...' He began, but stopped with a wide grin as he turned to face her. 'Yes, of course. I'll return in a moment, President.'

The seated boy, focused intently on whatever he was welding, waved a hand. 'No prob, just come back quick. We're almost done here.'

With a nod and a grin, Garen gestured Lux out of the main room into one of the smaller lounges. The still-large room was spacious, and comfy. Bright and warm blues decorated the furniture, and the stained glass windows gave it a regal feel. Lux took a seat, and Garen plopped down with a loud thud.

Garen regarded Lux with a smile. Lux did the same. Garen and Lux didn't look very much alike – which was one reason she thought it safe to talk to him in public – and he was handsome. Dark, tussled hair framing a sculpted jaw and deep, blue eyes marked him a certified heartthrob among the female - and some male - servants in the Crownguard manor. Lux always found it quite funny, and she assumed the trend continued at Durandal.

'I'm glad to see you, sister.'

'Sister? Where?' She said, half-jokingly, half-bitterly.

Garen's lips snaked downwards into a partial scowl. 'Ah. Yes, apologies. I forget sometimes how absurd Tianna can be.'

'She's still the same as ever, I suppose.'

'And Jarvan?' He asked.

Lux smiled wryly. 'She still wants me to go through with it.'

Garen scowled. 'You know that I don't approve of her forcing you into -'

'It's fine! It's fine.' She sighed. 'If I can change her mind while we're at school, maybe I can get out of it.'

'If you say so, I suppose.' He shrugged, and then his smile was back. 'How was the mood at the manor when you left? I assume Cithria was pleased for you?'

'Cithria asked me to send back pictures of you. Daily.'

Garen snorted. 'And it's like nothing has changed.'

'Daily, Garen.' Lux said, seriously.

'...Is that a threat?'

With a giggle, Lux shrugged. 'Oh well. I suppose Cithria can wait. That aside, how are you? It's been a year, have you finally decided on the future?'

'Hmm, no, not particularly.'

'Made any good friends?'

'Quite a few, indeed. There is a group of wonderful Ionians in the Sorcery club, as well as a Shuriman girl who has great potential. She almost won the Year-End Tournament last year, it was a shame she couldn't quite pull through, and then there's Jayce, he's a good connection to have.'

'Wait. The Jayce?'

'Yes,' Garen nodded. 'He's every bit as brilliant as the rumours would have you believe.'

Lux hummed, impressed. Then a thought struck her, and a devilish smirk touched her face.

'What about a, hmmm, Katarina?'

Garen froze, a stupid face of shock spread across his usually stoic face. Lux tilted her head innocently. He coughed.

'Ahem. Katarina? No, I don't believe I do. Nope.'

'You've always been a terrible liar.'

'...It's nothing you should concern yourself with.'

'Are you dating?'

'Wha-? No! Not ye- wait. No.' He cleared his throat, but devolved into a few coughs. Pounding at his chest, he glared at Lux, who eventually gave in to her giggles. She waved her hand in surrender.

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. She seems nice anyway, why would you want to hide her? At least you can choose.'

Garen's eyes flashed downwards. 'It's not that simple.'

They fell silent for a moment.

Garen coughed again, forcing a smile to his face. 'Either way, I am glad you are here. Truly. The academy is better for it.'

Lux returned the smile brightly. 'You have no idea how nice it is to hear that.'

He smirked. 'So then, are you here for just me? Or are you part of the Luminaries as well?'

'Just you, you big oaf. I'm in Sorcery.'

His eyes widened, but he nodded. 'I'm not surprised. It's a powerful club, for powerful people. You'll fit right in.'

Lux shuffled in her seat. She felt a little embarrassed, but decided to say it anyway. 'I wish I was in Luminary. It'd be nice to have an excuse to see you.'

Garen laughed. 'The words every brother wants to hear. Don't worry, Luxanna. We'll get plenty of opportunities. Besides, Durandal has a way of finding the right fit for everyone. Trust me on that.'

'Speaking of,' Lux began, but a head popped through the door to the lounge. It was a pretty girl with ochre skin and the fluffiest hair Lux had ever seen. She spotted Garen and called over.

'Garen! Jayce needs your help with something!'

Garen sighed, and smiled apologetically at Lux. He stood. 'I'll see you around, Miss Silvermare.' Turning to the girl, he spoke again. 'Coming. What, did he forget where he put the latest model again?'

Lux was left alone in the lounge, and she sunk back into the poofy cushions. The soft glimmer of the rapidly approaching evening gently enveloping the room through the stained glass windows in a blanket of dusk, she began to feel a little sleepy. Well. It was more that she was just tired. And it was only day two.

Closing her eyes for a moment seemed like a great idea, so she did.

Then her stomach growled.

Opening her eyes with a sigh, she figured she should listen. Gathering her bag, Lux left the Luminary Clubhouse and began the fairly long walk back to the Dorms.

extra

The first thing Lux noticed was the greatly thinned crowd compared to the morning.

The cafeteria was still busy, yes, but there were far more empty seats that littered throughout the groups of students chatting and munching away the evening. At first Lux tilted her head in slight confusion, but then she caught sight of another, equally confusing sight.

Ekko and Ezreal were huddled together in the corner of the cafeteria, a little ways from the counter. Kahina stood at said counter, staring blankly into space. Lux waved to her, who snapped out of her trance to return the gesture, and headed over to where the two boys were.

'What are you two doing?' Lux said.

Ezreal and Ekko didn't respond immediately. They were muttering something, fast and rambling, rummaging through something in their hands.

It would be a lie to say that Lux wasn't a little bit concerned, but she was more curious. She peered over Ekko's shoulder – he was the shorter of the two – and saw a small wallet in the palm of his hand, and his other finger running through the very sparse contents. She finally registered the hurried rambling as counting.

'Fifteen for today, then that's just over a hundred a week...if I can snag some extras at breakfast...'

'Heeeey.' Lux said again, close to his ear.

Shocked, he jumped with a yelp. Ezreal snapped out of his trance, too, and looked up from his own wallet with a similarly pathetic smile.

'Oh, h-hey, Lux! Fancy meeting you here! Aha, ha ha.'

'R-right! Ha ha.'

Lux stared at the two for a moment, mouth slightly open and eyebrows furrowed. 'I mean, yeah, we all live here now.'

Ekko and Ezreal laughed mechanically.

Lux was concerned now.

'Okay, what's wrong. You're being weird.' She would have normally felt weird herself for saying that after only knowing these two for just over a day, but there it was.

Ezreal sighed, and Ekko shuffled on his feet.

'We, uh, didn't know that dinner wasn't free.'

'I thought it was covered in the scholarship...' Ekko grumbled.

Lux looked over at the chalkboard menu, and figured the numbers were the prices. Various dinner sets were listed, with varying costs. They all looked very affordable, and sounded tasty.

'Oh, right. I think I read that in one of the pamphlets.'

Ezreal and Ekko laughed.

'Should we get some food then?'

Ezreal and Ekko laughed.

'...They're only fifteen marks each, guys.'

'ONLY FIFTEEN?' Both boys yelled simultaneously. A few students looked over, but quickly shrugged and returned to their own devices. Lux backed up slightly.

'W-whoa...' She said, the look of shock and genuine betrayal clear in both the boy's faces. She looked up to the board again, then back to them. 'Umm, well. How about I buy us dinner tonight? My treat?'

Ezreal and Ekko's faces were as if someone had just offered them a million gold pieces. Lux backed up slightly again.

'I-is that okay...?' She stammered.

'I will die for you.'

'If you ever need anything, I will be there.'

'R-right, okay...?'

And so, the first day of Lux's academy life ended.