five
Lux stared with dazzled eyes at the Sorcery Club.
The carpeted hall, save for a square patch in the centre which was a smooth stone, was huge – a multi-floored open cathedral with a curved ceiling and adorned with intricately crafted columns, each engraved with detailed patterns that snaked upwards before melding with the stone roof. In the centre of the roof was a massive glass skylight – tinted blue and golden. Rays of soft, coloured sun danced into the room and bounced off the polished stone walls. Refractions against the flowing fountain water.
It was beautiful.
Time just seemed to freeze before Lux even noticed the bustle in the room; students were rushing about, and each of the floors – visible from two balconies that overlooked the bulk of the main hall – were loaded with movement as well.
Even at the entrance lobby, people were weaving around her. Among them were a few similarly awestruck. Fellow first years, probably. Lux spotted one she recognised, and made her way through to her.
'Alune! You're in sorcery, too?'
Alune blinked back, a little surprised, before she gave a little wave. 'Hello. You are Lux, yes?'
'Mhm. Is your brother here too?'
The tall girl gave her head a tiny shake. 'No. He is in Assassin Club.'
'That's a shame. You two seem close.'
As Alune gave her a small smile in response, the people around them began to crowd together. A few pointed up to the highest balcony.
Lux's eyes followed the fingers towards a tall girl, raven haired and well-proportioned, looking down and leaning onto the railing with casual grace. Flowing from under her skirt – which even from this far away, seemed to be justa little too short for Lux's taste – bushy white tails were swaying side to side.
The hall gradually quieted. When it was finally silent, the girl pushed up, posture straight.
'Welcome to the Sorcery Club,' She called down, sultry voice carrying clearly down. 'Over the next three years, you will learn to control and master each of your individual powers, and put those powers to use in the fight for good in the years beyond. I'm Ahri, the incoming Club President, and it is with great pleasure I officially welcome you into our ranks.
'We're going to spend today just introducing ourselves; our official activities will start next week. For now, please familiarise yourselves with the facilities – don't hesitate to ask the second or third years if you have any questions. Our advisors are also on hand; keep in mind they are the only ones who can officially recognise a duel.'
Ahri took one last, sweeping look over the first years, smiled, and removed herself.
Lux stared up, the students around her murmuring amongst themselves. She caught a few of the words – mostly boys whispering about how pretty Ahri was – and found herself turning to Alune.
'Excited?'
Alune weakly smiled back. 'I think so.' She looked down at the chattering students. 'There is lots of students.'
Lux supposed so. She had a feeling this was about average though. Assuming a four-way split between the intake of students, this looked about right.
Either way, Lux wanted to see what the club was all about. She gestured towards the open hall with a smile.
'Let's go introduce ourselves.'
Her nervous companion nodded.
It went about as smoothly as Lux could hope, her acting as the main initiator of conversation, Alune timidly standing to the side and speaking when gently prodded. Most of the seniors seemed nice - small demonstrations of power were given by a few of the males, most of which Lux politely nodded at – and were all excited when Lux told them of her own light-based power. She was happy to give a few demonstrations of her own, mostly the 'lighter', a trick where she concentrated a tiny fraction of energy at her fingertips. The trick was to let the energy bubble, making it seem unstable, before flaring the reserve and almost after immediately extinguishing it. It seemed to be a hit.
It was nice to be not only free to use her powers, but to receive active encouragement to do so. Tianna had made every effort to limit Lux's time to hone her powers for reasons that Lux privately scoffed at. It was frustrating to think back on it, but that feeling was drowned out by how the power embraced her.
But yet – she felt incomplete. Something was off. Missing. Her powers didn't seem her own anymore, not fully. No, Lux knew that wasn't the truth. But she still yearned for it.
The staff.
She had left it in her room again today. Lux didn't want to bring it with her, but after two days she had started to feel a tiny yearning in the recess of her mind - calling to her. It was easily ignored for the most part, but when she used her powers now...
A sharp yelp, followed by the sounds of a crash to the floor, woke Lux from her musings. She spun around to see Alune sitting on the floor, rubbing at her head and bowing it apologetically at another girl, flowing white hair and bronzed skin, glaring down at Alune with disgust.
'Watch where you are going! Be lucky I am not hurt.' She had an accent, but unlike Alune – whose accent was soft and evidence of genuine attempts to converse in a second language – hers was hard and regal, almost angry. Well, she was angry.
'I am sorry! I am sorry!' Alune said through rushed dips of her head. The other girl scoffed, turning as she dramatically dusted at her jacket.
Lux wasn't a fan of the scene, so she moved to Alune, offering her a hand up. As she did, she looked to the arrogant girl's back.
'You should apologise, too. Alune looks more hurt than you.'
'Oh?' Her voice sounded threatening, but there was a hint of...joy? Lux couldn't place it. Regardless, she turned. 'And why should I?'
'You did knock her over, after all.'
Alune stood, furtive glances shooting between the two. She managed a weak laugh.
'It is okay, Lux. I tripped, that is all.'
'See?' the girl smirked. 'She knows her place.'
Lux smiled back. She hated people like this. 'That's not a particularly nice thing to say to a fellow clubmate.'
She snorted, then stalked up to Lux. She was a full head shorter, but she glared at Lux with the eyes of a predator. 'You talk big, peasant.'
Lux's eyebrows shot up, as did the corner of her mouth. She bit back the retort.
Instead, Lux plastered on a bright smile, and held her hand out to the shorter girl.
'Luxanna. Nice to meet you, miss -?'
It was the short girl's turn to look confused. She stared between Lux and her hand for a moment. Then, she scoffed once more, and turned away.
'You are not worthy of my anger. Be grateful, you nobody.'
A small crowd was gathering, looks ranging from concerned to excited spread among them. Alune was tugging at Lux's sleeve. Lux just smiled, hand still extended.
'And what do we have here? A catfight on the first day?'
Lux turned to see the club president approaching, a small grin edging her lips. Lux didn't notice earlier because of how far away they were, but she had two fluffy ears poking out from under her hair – and whiskers. Or at least markings that looked like whiskers.
The short girl's expression stiffened, but she drew herself up to Ahri.
'This girl,' she side-eyed Lux with disgust. 'Is being insufferable. I demand she be removed.'
'Removed?' Ahri said, a single eyebrow rising. She casually leaned onto one leg, arms folded and tails lightly twitching. 'And why would we do that?'
'She has insulted me! Me!'
Ahri giggled. It was mocking. The short girl narrowed her eyes.
'Oh, sorry, sorry. I was told we would be getting someone like you this year.'
Short glared, fists clenching. 'And what do you mean by that?'
'A real-life Princess. Those are pretty rare these days. Guess the cliches aren't all junk then, hm?' Ahri's tails swished. 'You are, um, Qiyana, I believe, yes?'
Short turned her nose up, still glaring. 'You are correct. Qiyana Yunalai, member of the royal family of Ixtal.'
'Heard you were pretty strong, even among your family. Remind me, which number in line are you to inherit? The documents are so hard to remember.'
Qiyana looked like she was about to explode, but Ahri turned to Lux, pretending to not even see Qiyana.
'So, you were bothering Her Majesty over here? Looks like I'll have no choice but to remove you from the club, first-year.'
Lux heard a muted yelp from Alune, and a confused - triumphant, but confused – sound from Qiyana.
'Oh, but you're just so cute – I don't really want to let you go.' Ahri turned to Qiyana again. Lux was enjoying watching the girl's confused faces, not fully understanding Ahri was playing with her.
'Talking about this is tiring, seriously. So, Princess,' Ahri batted her eyes to Qiyana. 'Find it within yourself to forgive her the transgression of speaking plainly. You got that? Good, good. Wonderful.'
Qiyana opened her mouth to reply, but Ahri giggled again, eyelids fluttering.
'You don't have a choice, actually.' Ahri said.
Without waiting for a reply, Ahri turned and began mingling with the onlooking crowd as if nothing had happened.
Visibly stunned, Qiyana glared at the senior's back, then Lux, then Ahri again, then growled and stalked off.
Lux just laughed.
'L-Lux, I am sorry...'
'Huh?' Lux tore her gaze away from Ahri and back to Alune, who was close to tears by her side. 'W-wait – why are you crying?'
'It is my fault, this.' She said, sniffling.
'No, it's okay,' Lux smiled, warm and genuine this time. She placed a hand on Alune's head, which was a little awkward, considering Alune's relative height. Alune looked down at her. 'Seriously, it's okay. She got what was coming to her.'
'But, but...!'
'Would it help if I apologised as well?'
As she continued to calm Alune down, Lux's eyes wanderied towards Ahri.
'And that's what happened with me.'
Lux finished her story and leaned back into her seat. Ez hummed from his own desk, two rows back. He had a fresh patch of bruises on his face and forearms, and had only smiled into the distance in response when Lux had inquired after them – muttering all the while.
'Your President sounds cool though,' he said. He winced as he did. 'Ours showed up drunk.'
'What? Is that even allowed?'
He shrugged. He winced.
'Rest of the club seems cool, though. Oh, get this – we have a fourteen year old! Fourteen. And the Advisor is huge.'
From where Lux was, it sounded like the Battle club was less a club, and more a daycare.
The bell rang, and Professor Graves jerked upright from his sleeping position behind the desk. His eyes stared daggers at the intercom speakers, waiting for the sound to subside, before slipping out a low growl that Lux was sure the students didn't need to hear. He stood, and took his place behind the lectern.
'Alrigh', alright. Class is now in session. Let's do the thing.' He gestured to someone.
If the Professor wasn't as imposing as he was, Lux knew there would be laughter rippling throughout the room. Instead though, the students stood, the only sound the mass scraping of chairs against the floor. A single voice rang out from the front row.
'Rise!'
Lux stood.
'Bow!'
Lux bowed.
Graves waved his hand dismissively. 'Okay, that's enough. Take your seats, we got a lot to get through today.'
The intercom buzzed again.
'Professor Malcolm Graves, to the Principal's Office. Malcolm Graves, to the Principal's office. I repeat -'
The Professor glared up at the intercom again, Lux's lips threatening to break into a laugh – he looked as if he couldn't decide to be annoyed or grateful for the out. With a harrumph he set his glare back to the students.
'Self-study.'
As soon as he left the room, the chattering resumed. Lux turned back to Ez, who was smirking after the Professor. Then he frowned.
'Any idea what that was about?' Lux said.
Ez shook his head very slightly. 'No, no idea. I hope it takes a while, though, I wanna delay this as long as I can.'
'Delay what, class? I thought you were a good student, Ez.'
He wiggled his hand. 'No no, class is whatever. I need to talk to him about, uh, my, ah – gauntlet. It may have, kiiinda, uh. Broke.'
'What? How?'
With a pained smile, he looked into the distance again. 'Yeah.'
Lux frowned. 'Helpful. Want me to take a look?'
'I got Ekko to do that already – the kid's really good with gadgets.'
'And?'
'No dice.' He leaned back into his chair with a deep sigh. 'I dunno what to do. I'm going to need it on friday, but I'm really not looking forward to a Graves lecture.' He smirked a little. '"Malcolm", though? Heh.'
'Did Graves give it to you?'
Nod. 'He got someone in the Luminary club to make it – Oh! Wait!'
He shot up, and Lux recoiled a little into her chair from the sudden move. 'Idea?'
'It was so obvious! I'll just go over to the Luminary club and get whoever it was who made the thing to fix it! Easy!'
'Oh, the Luminary club? I know a few people there, if you want me to go with you.'
Ez was nodding, but Lux didn't think he actually heard. He was gathering his things – and attention of the students – before simply exiting the room. He was grinning.
Lux just blinked after him, then chuckled to herself. Her new friends were weird.
Like the good student she was trying to be, she opened up her history books, pen and paper in hand.
The Luminosity clubroom looked largely the same, with one main difference – there was people.
Ezreal closed his phone – the new Battle Club groupchat open – and wandered into the room, sounds of tinkering and welding reminiscent of those he heard late at night from Ekko's side of the room. He wasn't a particular fan.
He spent a few minutes just walking up and down the columns of benches, occasionally peering over the shoulder of at-work students before quickly moving along. Everything they were working on seemed cool, but Ezreal wasn't there to just admire.
Problem was, he didn't know who to talk to.
Everyone there at the moment was probably a second year at least, so he could probably just talk to anyone and get somewhere, but there was the problem of what to say. 'Hey, I got something made here on Monday, and here I am, three days later, and I need it fixed?'
Yeah, no.
'You there.'
Ezreal's eyes popped to the girl who called him, short and blonde with untrusting eyes. She stalked up to him, hands on hips.
'Who are you? Freshman? I didn't see you at the briefing yesterday. A spy? We have no secrets for you!'
Ezreal blinked. 'Uh, what?'
'I knew it,' the girl's grey eyes narrowed. 'You're here to steal from us.'
'Wait wait wait, no, you've got the wrong idea!' Ezreal quickly fumbled into his bag, and pulled out the broken gauntlet. 'I'm here to get this fixed.'
Her eyes split wide open as she dropped them to the shattered glove. 'Where did you get that? More importantly, how did you break it? The casing looks brand new!' She squinted and leaned in closer to examine it, then practically leapt back. 'Ahhh! It's an original, too! And you broke it?!'
'Yeah, uh, sorry about that, really.' Ezreal said. He tried to replace the glove into his bag, but the girl grabbed it, holding it to her chest defensively.
'Hey! That's mine!'
She glared. 'You can't be trusted.'
…
'Just tell me where I can get it fixed, please.'
….
'Uh, please?'
Tentatively, she released the gauntlet. Still glaring, she led Ezreal down the rows of desks towards the back of the room. Here, the sun shone harder through the windows, and as a result the wooden desks were graced with better light. There was only one person working back here, monopolizing the entire workbench with various gadgets and gizmos.
The boy remained hunched over the desk, jacket strewn sleeveless over his shoulders as he worked intently on something at the desk. He didn't hear them approach.
Ezreal glanced at his guide, who – still glaring – flushed slightly, before lightly tapping the working boy on the shoulder.
'Hmm? Garen?' His voice was deep and charming. He turned off his tool, and turned to face the girl whilst relieving his eyes of goggles. He smirked at her. 'Oh, Amaranthine. What's up? Getting used to the student life?'
His face was covered in grease, but somehow it only made him more handsome. Suave hair and deep blue eyes accompanied the winning smile, and the disregard of his uniform only added to his cool image.
Amaranthine flushed a little deeper, but shook her head. Her glare returned in full force, and she turned it to Ezreal. 'I found him with some of your tech, broken.'
'Found is not the term I'd use.' Ezreal mumbled. He smiled sheepishly at the boy, who was looking at him with curiosity written on his face. 'Hey.'
'Hey there. Freshman?'
Ezreal nodded, and brought out his gauntlet. Immediately, the boy's eyes sparkled.
'Oh, this! I was wondering what Professor Graves would need a power glove for. He got it made for you?'
Ezreal nodded, feeling more than a little embarrassed at the state of the tech. The boy seemed to not even notice. Instead, he laughed.
'Always knew he had an actual heart. No one man could be that grumpy.' He flipped over the glove in his hands, examining it.
Ezreal liked him already. 'That's what I'm saying.'
He snorted, placing the glove onto his desk. Goggles on and tools powered up, he immediately began attacking it.
Amaranthine stared dreamily. Ezreal just stared.
Minutes bled by, and nothing moved. Ezreal, now feeling a little confused, looked to the girl.
'So, uh, what now?'
'Hm? Don't bother him! Be grateful he's working on your mess - and for free, too.'
'R-right.'
The cool boy paused for a moment, and turned in his seat to lock eyes with Ezreal, who only blinked back in response. He was smiling.
'Well, freshman, I have to say; no one has ever broken something of mine so quickly. Consider me impressed, genuinely. What's your name?'
'Ezreal, sir. And really, sorry.'
He laughed again. He somehow made the simple action cool. 'Jayce Brighthammer. And no, this is good. I can't improve this stuff if no one pushes the things. If anything, I'd like to say this is a favour. How'd you even do it?'
Ezreal shuffled on his feet. 'I, uh, may have gotten into a sparring match with a third year.'
'Did you push the gauntlet so hard it exploded?'
'No, he smashed it with a stick.'
'Ah. Yeah, that'd do it.' He laughed again. 'I'll fix it for you, no problem. But I've a favour to ask in return.'
'Jayce!' Amaranthine sounded shocked. He winked at her, flashing a white grin. She melted.
'Sure, Jayce sir.'
'Just Jayce, Ez. I'm just a student.' He tapped the gauntlet. 'I want you to push this thing to it's limits. Really put it through the paces, don't feel the need to hold back. Better you break this stuff when we're at school than when you're fighting a monster, eh?'
Ezreal returned his grin. 'Sounds like something I can do, Jayce.'
'Wonderful, wonderful. I might also dump some extra tech on you then, just to test it out. You don't mind being a test dummy, do you?'
'If they're even half as good as the gauntlet, I'd be happy to.'
'Perfect. When do you need this fixed by?'
'Uhhhhhhh,' Ezreal started, now very much aware of the glare from Amarinthine, and Jayce's cool gaze. 'Tomorrow.'
'Ex-CUSE me?' Amaranthine shouted.
Jayce didn't shout. Instead, his smirk deepened. 'You know, for a first-year, you're very demanding.'
It was after club, and before dinner.
Lux was waiting in the dorm's spacious lounge – sinking deep into the long side of one of the sofas. As she previously suspected, the pillows were indeed super-super soft. She was happy to be consumed by them.
She didn't know what her face looked like, but she imagined it was blissful.
'Lux, you good there?'
'Ugweh-?'
Slowly opening her eyes, Lux was greeted by a concerned-looking Ekko standing over her. He furrowed his brows.
'What kind of sound was that?'
'A dignified one.' Lux wiped away at her mouth. 'Where's Ez?'
'Getting a snack before we get to it, I think.' He eyed her. 'It's, uh, not safe -y'know, to like, uh...sleep there. Alone, and all.'
She blinked at him. A smirk crept onto her face. 'And why is that?'
'There's some weird people in the school.'
'Uh-huh.' She snickered. 'You wanna try?'
'Wha-? No!'
'It's suuuuuper comfy though.'
He sighed in frustration, and Lux laughed. With a stretch, she slowly removed herself from her bed of fluff and stood. She stretched again. Ekko shrugged.
'Well, whatever. You got everything?'
Lux nodded, and picked her bag from where it leaned against the sofa. 'It's still the first week, so we should have a pretty straightforward session.'
'That's why I said we should've just done this next week.' Ekko said, grumbling. 'There's no point in doing it today.'
'It's good to build the habit early.'
He snorted.
'Sorry, sorry. Long line,' Ez said, jogging up to them with a plastic-wrapped snack in tow. 'We ready to go?'
'Yeah, let's just get this overwith.' Ekko said.
Lux nodded with a yawn, and the three of them began making their way to the spiral staircase that lead up to the first floor's balcony. She'd heard there were some fairly large desks on the first floor, and she wanted to study there after club. She'd mentioned it at breakfast that morning, and Ez had jumped at the idea. Ekko had found himself roped in by proxy.
'We should have it mostly to ourselves, since the caf'll start serving dinner soon.' Lux said as they began their ascent. Ez and Ekko exchanged a look.
'What?' She asked, eyebrow raised.
'...Do you think we can catch Irelia's cooking again?' Ekko said.
'No, two days in a row would be... Wait. I'll go through Zoe.'
'Oh, nice idea.'
'Are you two really that broke?'
They looked to the distance.
Lux sighed.
'Didn't you just buy a snack?'
'It was one and a half marks!'
They crested the final stair and came to the landing. The first floor had no living spaces, instead around the centre pillar where the stairs leading to the student's rooms was a general-purpose lounge area. It had ample room to provide desks with varying types of seating. Lined against the windowed walls was a single long table, ochre stools lined up at mostly regular intervals, interrupted by the occasional couple sitting together.
Dotting the rest of the room were tables – mostly uniform in size, but differing slightly in shape. They appeared to be carved out of unprocessed logs, the gentle moonlight blanketing the atmosphere against the roar of the artificial fireplaces set at the sides of the ascending staircases; it gave the space a homely feeling that Lux couldn't help but smile at.
Ez whistled. 'Nothing like this back home.'
'This whole dorm is pretty fancy, gotta say.' Ekko said.
Lux nodded happily, and set her bag down at a desk close to one of the fireplaces. The boys followed suit.
Ez's phone pinged, and he sent a smile and thumbs up towards Ekko. Grinning, he returned the gesture. Lux rolled her eyes.
'Okay, I'd like to call our first group study to session!'
'Okaaaay.' The boys said in unison.
They started with Math. Surprisingly – at least to Ekko – Ez had a grasp on the material beyond what any first year should. He quickly became the surrogate teacher, helping Lux and Ekko when they had any questions.
How naturally he slipped into that role was what surprised Lux. He had mentioned having siblings before, she supposed, but it was kinda strange to her to see him be so mature.
'Oh. I did not expect to see you here.'
Lux rose from her notebook to an approaching Qiyana, her face screwed in disgust mixed with contempt. Lux frowned.
'Hello, miss...?'
'Qiyana! Qiyana Yunalai, peasant.' She glowered, snorting at Ezreal and Ekko as they looked on in question. 'I see you don't keep better company outside of club.'
'Uhhh...' Ez said. Ekko's eyes narrowed to slits.
'And you are? We're kinda busy here.'
'You will be quiet,' Qiyana spat, turning back to Lux. 'You insulted me today. Apologise, and I will allow you forgiveness.'
'Okay, now see here -' Ezreal said, rising from his seat.
'Quiet,' she spat at him. Ez stopped and stared at her, face contorted in genuine confusion. Qiyana huffed. 'You will not address me so.'
'What do you want? Me to apologise?' Lux stood. 'If you apologise to my friends, then alright.'
Snort. 'You have nerve, to demand something of me. I shall not bend to your will.'
'Then,' Lux said, sitting back down. 'Please leave. We're busy.'
Ez and Ekko stared for a moment longer, then sat back down, still shooting glares.
Qiyana though, was fuming. She stalked to Lux's seat, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Lux yelped at the surprise move.
'How. Dare. You.'
Lux, after recovering from her moment of shock, had had enough. She shot up, glaring daggers down at the girl. Lux knocked away Qiyana's hand.
'No. How dare you. I don't understand your problem, but for the last time – leave.'
She heard Ez and Ekko stand behind her. She put a hand out to stop them. Qiyana darkened.
'And for the last time. Apologise for insulting me.'
They locked glares.
'Hey Ezreal! Ekko! Ooh, new friends?'
Lux didn't drop her gaze, but in her peripheral saw a newcomer come bouncing in, smile spread and arms wide. She grinned at Lux and Qiyana.
'Hello! I'm Zoe. Do you wanna eat with us, too?'
For a moment, Lux and Qiyana stood, dumbfounded. Then, with a dramatic hmph, the haughty girl turned to walk away. Lux stared after her, not listening to whatever the others were saying beside her.
She let her go with a sigh. Qiyana was more trouble than she was worth, but that wouldn't stop her from causing it. With a shake of her head, she forced the smile back to her face and joined her friends again.
'Sorry about that.'
Ez ran a hand through his hair. 'You okay?'
She nodded. Ekko folded his arms and shot the stink eye at Qiyana's back.
'Who is she? Who even gets off on that kind of attitude?'
'I'm Zoe!' The small girl shot a hand up.
'Not you.'
'Someone from the Sorcery club. She was being an ass, so I called her out on it.' Lux smiled wryly. 'Guess she didn't take it too well.'
'Sorcery? Oh! Do you know Tails?' Zoe said, asking Lux.
She blinked for a moment. 'The president? Yeah, she intervened earlier.'
That aside, 'Tails'? Lux couldn't imagine President Ahri putting up with that name. Zoe didn't seem to think so, though, and puffed out her chest. Even though she was wearing her uniform – sans the blazer – Lux found it hard to imagine her as a student.
'Sounds just like our Fox, all right. Anyway, anyway, Relly's done cooking! Come on, come on.' She gestured quickly, bouncing back towards the stairs. Ez and Ekko hesitated, concerned scowls towards Lux. She noticed, and waved them away with a grin.
'I'll catch up.'
Ez hesitated a moment longer, whereas Ekko just shrugged. They followed Zoe down the stairs, Ez shooting back a couple of glances more before his ponytail vanished under the balcony.
With a short exhale, Lux packed up her materials. Although they'd only had about half an hour to actually study before they were so rudely interrupted, Lux was satisfied with the session.
What she wasn't satisfied with was the resolution to her little spat.
Royalty or not, she was clearly stepping over the line.
Yeah, she had to do something.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked in the direction Qiyana went.
Or so she thought, but the dorm was actually quite big.
She was literally walking around for an hour.
Eventually, though, she did find her target. Qiyana was out in a back garden – beyond a small training hall, quietly looking out at a patch of flowers Lux didn't recognise. Laying a pace away from her was a heavy ring-like blade. She'd discarded her blazer, and her sleeves were rolled to her elbows. Her back was wet with sweat, and her face was...soft.
Lux didn't approach immediately – something about the sight gave her pause.
Then she remembered how utterly rude this girl had been, and scowled.
'What are you doing out here?' Lux said. 'Don't you have someone else to terrorise?'
Qiyana's reaction was sudden. She recoiled her hand from the flowers, and shot up. It was getting dark, but Lux saw the lingering red of a blush. She spun around, soft face hardening to rage.
'I should be asking you that, commoner.'
Lux folded her arms. She glanced at the flowers, then back to Qiyana. Her brows furrowed further.
'Do you always train out here?'
'How – what?' Qiyana said, pulling back a little at the lack of venom in Lux's voice. She recovered quickly. 'I must train every day if I am to maintain my skill. Something you might want to emulate.'
Lux sighed. She held out a hand, and put the other one up in a gesture of peace. 'I want to start over. I don't want my first week here to be book-ended by a petty argument.'
Qiyana was visibly confused. It seemed to be one of her two emotions, actually. That and anger. Lux didn't say anything. Eventually, Qiyana's face scrunched up...and she turned away.
Before Lux could groan in frustration, Qiyana spoke again. Softly, and without anger.
'What would you know of petty? Respect is not some commodity I will just give away like that. If I am to lead – I need to be held in awe.'
Lux, about to interject, was interrupted by Qiyana, turning one eye to her.
'What you here may think you know of power is flawed. I will be respected. I will be feared. And I will not allow something as insignificant as you to squander that.'
She moved to gather her belongings, done with the conversation. Lux wasn't, though.
'A good leader needs more than power and fear to be respected.'
Qiyana scoffed.
'I challenge you to a duel.'
At that, Qiyana stopped. She slowly turned to face her, face expressionless. 'And why should I feel the need to accept?'
'I'll prove that you're not as strong as you think.'
'Once more. Why.'
'Because you're wrong.'
'And you are correct?'
Lux shook her head. 'I don't know. But you're definitely wrong. And I'll prove it in a way you'll understand.'
Qiyana took a deep breath.
'I refuse. Good night.'
She walked past Lux.
'We can do it at the club. Everyone will be watching. If you win, I'll apologise in public for offending you. I'll get down on my knees and beg forgiveness.'
She heard the shuffle of feet stop behind her.
'And if I lose?'
'Nothing,' Lux said, turning around. 'I don't want anything if you win.'
Qiyana mused for a moment. She resumed her walk.
'Very well, then.'
Despite how confident she had been in challenging Qiyana, Lux wasn't sure she could actually win.
She lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was Qiyana's power? How strong was she? She was definitely competent with that weapon of hers – she probably trained every night.
Exhale.
Thinking like that was largely pointless. She just needed to go at her with everything she had. She wasn't about to let her sneak out a win, especially after what Lux had said. She flushed slightly thinking back on it.
Her eyes naturally fell back to the staff. It was where she left it – waiting. She frowned.
With a begrudging sigh, Lux flicked the light off and went to sleep.
The Sorcery club's open hall looked even better from the view from the balcony, Lux was pleased to find.
Classes over for the day, she had immediately rushed to club. The hall wasn't busy, and neither Qiyana nor the advisors were present, which meant she had to just wait. Compared to a few days ago, the hall felt even larger. She could actually see the carpet now, a shade of green that blended to the natural stone floor of the centre clearing.
An hour passed. Less than five people came through the doors. None of them were Qiyana, or an advisor. Lux was beginning to get a little concerned; what if there was no club activities today? It was the first friday of the term, after all.
Still, she waited. The view was pretty enough where she could almost forget what she came here to do. Almost.
Finally, the doors to the club swung open, Ahri making her way in. She wasn't alone, and a fairly large group of about five followed behind her. Among them, Lux could make out two that she recognised; Ekko and the small girl from yesterday. Zoe, she said her name was. Rounding out the group was a dark-haired girl who walked with the grace of a dancer, a lean boy with a massive tuft of hair and a slight limp, and a massive block of muscle with a smile that could light the heavens.
The Battle Club? She didn't see Ez, though.
Ahri did see Lux, and raised a hand in greeting towards the balcony, eyes glinting and tails flowing. Lux returned the gesture -sans the tails, obviously – and called down.
'Greetings, President. Heya Ekko.'
Ekko raised a hand, no wave, in response.
'First-year, it's great you're showing such initiative, but I do recall announcing that there were no activities today?'
Lux flushed. 'I must've missed it. I'm sorry.'
'No worries, I suppose.' Ahri giggled. She turned to the dark-haired girl. 'Having an extra spectator can't hurt, hm Irelia?'
Irelia shrugged. 'I don't mind particularly, but you might wanna ask the actual President over there.'
The lean boy snorted and waved his hand dismissively. 'Don't be so unfriendly, Irelia. You'll ruin the weather.'
'That's not even how the saying goes. And I am not unfriendly!'
''You're a warm and caring person', yes yes. Anyway,' he looked up to Lux, and began to walk towards the stairs. 'I don't see the harm. Braum, let's go put our stuff down.'
The big man laughed and followed.
'Hello new friend! You're Lux, right? Ezzie was talking about you! You're so prettyy!'
Irelia flicked her on the head. Zoe ignored it, and Ekko rolled his eyes.
'Ezreal'll show up later,' he called up, moving past Zoe. She hurried up besides him, leaving Ahri and Irelia by themselves. 'He had to go get something.'
The group appeared beside Lux a few moments later. Ekko dropped his bag to the side and leaned against the railing next to Lux.
'Your clubroom's pretty nice. Big, too. Like damn.'
'I'm sure yours is just as nice.'
Snort.
'Hello again!'
Zoe slid between them. She was bouncing. 'You're so pretty. How do you get your hair like that?'
'I, uh -' Lux said.
Ekko flicked her forehead. 'Sorry for her, I gave her some of my soda before we came.'
'And I told you that was a bad idea.' The dark-haired girl said, appearing behind them with a sigh. Ahri was beside her. 'You didn't listen.'
'I sincerely apologise.'
'Tails!' Zoe exclaimed.
Ahri grinned. She furiously patted Zoe on the head. She seemed to enjoy it. Ahri looked to the other girl, who rolled her eyes. 'Irelia, you need to keep better track of your children.'
'Oh, not you too.' Irelia rolled her eyes.
With a giggle Ahri retracted her hands from the child. Zoe laughed, then jumped at Ekko. He toppled over in shock. Ahri turned her gaze to Lux.
'So, first-year, I seem to recall you being involved in a little tiff earlier this week. Care to explain what that was about?'
Lux shifted on her feet. 'Qiyana was being...difficult.'
'Yes, well. Being royalty would do that do you, I suppose. You could've just walked the other way.'
Lux frowned. 'She was being rude to my friend.'
She heard Ekko yelp and Zoe exclaim something.
'Sweetie, you're never going to get anywhere with that kind of attitude.'
'Either way, thank you for stepping in the other day,' Lux said with a short bow. Ahri waved her hand away.
'Just don't go around making more trouble like that.'
'Um, about that,' Lux began, but she was interrupted by the sound of the door being flung open. Lux turned her eyes down, Qiyana sauntering in with a deep scowl. Her eyes wandered up towards the balcony, landing on Lux.
Lux smiled weakly at Ahri. 'I might have challenged her to a duel.'
Ahri's face was blank.
'Ah, it's the bitch from yesterday!' Ekko said, finally pulling himself free from Zoe's clutches. 'Ah, shit, sorry Zoe.'
'You keep doing it, just stop talking.' Irelia sighed.
'Hey, I'm not a child!' Zoe said.
Ignored.
'Hmm, well,' Ahri scratched her head. She exhaled. 'I guess I set that one up.'
'Please, President. Let me fight her.'
Ahri mused on it for a moment.
'I don't see the harm,' A new voice came, lazy and deep. 'They can be the warm-up show.'
'Yasuo, don't decide things for the other clubs,' Irelia said. 'You don't even bother doing that with ours, actually.'
'Don't be a hardass, Irelia. You'll sour the taste of my tea.' Yasuo said dismissively. He pulled up beside the group and looked down at the hall. He hummed. 'She's cute.'
'Don't be a creep.' Irelia said.
'Fine, I suppose,' Ahri sighed. She checked her watch. It was yellow with a thin strap, worn reverse. Cute and fashionable. 'If you go first, we should still be able to run through everyone. Irelia, can you go and get Professor Braum? We'll need someone to oversee the duel.'
Irelia removed herself with a nod.
'Hey, I'm the President, you should be delegating these tasks to me.' Yasuo said.
'Okay, first-year, head on downstairs. I'll have Advisor Brightsteel set up a barrier around the combat zone, so don't worry about breaking anything.' Ahri said. Yasuo shrugged and leaned against the railing.
Lux nodded, and set down her bag. She grabbed her staff, and made her way down the stairs.
Qiyana was waiting for her, ring blade in hand and face set in stone.
'Afternoon.' Lux said.
'I will not lose.'
'Neither will I.' Lux said. Around her, a blue force-field encased the stone section of the hall with a translucent, almost liquid taint. The light tinted, coating everything inside blue. 'You're not as strong as you think.'
'Prove it to me, then.'
…..
'Begin!' Ahri called from the balcony. Her voice was muffled slightly from the barrier.
Neither of them moved.
Lux began – slowly - edging to the side, cautiously. Qiyana mirrored her, poised. She held her ring blade lightly, her steps practised and sure.
Lux's own movements were equally careful. She held the staff against her back.
Qiyana had a melee weapon. Lux had her staff, true – but in close quarters, it wouldn't do much. She had to keep Qiyana out of her zone, whittle her down with little attacks.
Slow.
Lux was the first to break the stalemate. She focused energy into her palm, just a little, and flung it out towards Qiyana. Not a powerful attack; she wanted to test the waters.
The iridescent bolt soared towards Qiyana, who smoothly brought her blade up in an arc to intercept. The light fizzled against the metal.
Using the momentum, Qiyana jumped to the side and towards the fountain. Water erupted from it – answering the call and collecting along the edge of the blade.
Lux threw another light bolt, this time with more force behind it. Qiyana spun her blade to parry, and ring flowing along her body and at Lux.
She took a quick step back, narrowly avoiding the blade. Droplets of water splashed just short of her.
That's a lot of reach.
Qiyana took advantage of the momentary lapse in Lux's defence, and pushed off against the ground to shoot herself forward, blade glowing blue from the water.
Lux grunted. She didn't have time to dodge. She raised her hand in front of her, gathering and condensing light. She held it for a moment – the only one she had.
As Qiyana was barely a meter away, Lux released the Flash, white light exploding brilliantly from her palm. The whole room lit up, and she heard Qiyana yell out. Lux moved back.
Despite being blinded, Qiyana launched the blade forward – expunging the water gathered along the ring. The water arced, mostly missing, but droplets splashed onto Lux's cowl.
Qiyana jumped back, smirking despite having her eyes still shut. Lux raised a hand at her and gathered energy in her palm. She could finish this in one attack.
Eyes finally open again, Qiyana shot a hand out at Lux – and pulled back, hard.
Lux felt force on her shoulders, and she lurched forward.
She exclaimed in shock. She looked up; Qiyana rolled along her blade, whirling into a roundhouse kick.
No time to think. Lux brought the staff up, channelling her light into it – tapping reserves she didn't know she had – and yelled. The power felt incredible.
Why had she been so scared to use it?
Just before the kick connected with the oncoming Lux, the air in front of her solidified. The barrier of light was thick, physical, and blazing bright a brilliant white.
The two crashed into it, Lux colliding with a resounding thud and falling backwards. Qiyana's foot landed square in the middle – and she bounced off with a surprised cry. She stumbled, dazed, but quickly recovered into a slide.
Lux gasped, the influx of energy leaving her breathing heavily. The barrier shattered, white embers cascading into brilliant flashes of colour around the arena. The small shards of white refracted blue against the barrier-tinted room. She shook her head – this wasn't the time to stumble. Her shoulders. What was that force? She felt at her cowl.
The water.
With a grunt, she ripped off the cowl and threw it to the side. Lucky that it took the brunt of the strike.
Recovered, Qiyana growled. She leapt forward, the smooth stone floor cracking, pieces of gray rocks flying towards her blade. Before her jump finished, she rolled her blade to the ground. The rocks that just gathered shot down, back to the ground, and Qiyana launched herself vertically into the air.
Lux's head still throbbed. Qiyana was flying at her, fast. She had to move; but she had no time.
The ring blade began it's swing, fragments of water collecting against the blade.
Embracing the wave of ecstasy that filled her, Lux swung her staff up, all the while pouring energy into and out of the staff.
Light exploded as the staff arced, shooting up at the falling Qiyana. Lux's vision blurred.
Qiyana's eyes gaped, and she rolled the blade's swing to the side, and pulling her with it. She barely avoided a direct hit from the light. She yelled out as the energy sliced at her shoulder, fabric tearing and the light reflecting a streak of hot red.
Lux stopped pouring power into the staff. Bliss.
Then the world crashed back into her, and she dropped to her knees with short, ragged breaths. Everything hurt.
And yet, it still felt...incredible.
She wanted more.
A yell from her side brought Lux back to reality; Qiyana's face contorted in rage as she once more lunged at her.
Lux pointed her staff. Energy gathered at it's tip.
Qiyana reeled back her rock-coated blade.
'Okay, that's enough!'
Yasuo rushed in between them, steel blade clashing and stopping Qiyana's ring, and wooden blade in his other hand swung, knocking the staff out of Lux's grip.
It clattered against the floor. Silence resounded in the hall. The barrier had been lowered just enough to let Yasuo through.
'Phew,' Yasuo said, retracting both blades and standing straight. 'Looked like that was about to turn ugly. You know you aren't supposed to kill each other in these friendly duels, right? Friendly. Key word.'
Lux's breaths came too painfully to respond, so she just grunted. Qiyana made a disgusted sound.
'Anyways,' Yasuo continued. 'I think it'd be fair to say this match ended in a draw. Any concerns?'
'You -' Qiyana said.
'None? Great. Next pair, get ready!' Yasuo said, calling back up to the balcony. He gave Lux a quick pat on the head, a wink at Qiyana, and walked off.
There was some rustling away from her, but Lux just sat there for a moment, catching her breath. She looked to Qiyana, face screwed into...well, Lux wasn't sure. It wasn't anger, but it certainly wasn't happy.
She was panting, too. Not nearly as badly as Lux, but still enough that she was leaning onto her blade for support. At least she was standing. Small victory for her.
She locked eyes with Lux. For a moment, they froze. Neither of them had the energy to fill the glare with hate.
With a sigh, Qiyana kicked off against her ring blade, and walked out of the clubroom. Lux looked on with an exhale of her own.
Rushed footsteps replaced Qiyana's deliberate pace. Ez was hurrying towards her, worry stark on his features.
'Are you okay? I just got here, what did I miss? Holy, you're sweating like crazy. Can you stand? Wait, no, here - water.'
Lux wanted to laugh at the onslaught of concern, but could only manage a weak cough. It only spurred Ez on. She smiled and just let him help her up towards the balcony, into a group of equally concerned Ekko and co.
Not Zoe, though. She was raving about how cool Lux's fight had been.
A few hours later and Lux was still exhausted.
No, really. She felt like death.
She leaned back into the bench – stone – and exhaled against the gentle night's breeze. She was sitting behind the private training hall where she had found Qiyana the previous evening.
It was small, two high walls on either side of a small and square alcove that opened up beyond a fenced, thin line of flowers into the night sky. Against one of the white walls was the bench Lux was relaxing on, and the other a door back into the dorms. A sliding door into the training hall lined the last wall.
A nice spot. The breeze of the night flowed in from the single opening, bouncing back around before running up along the walls. It created a nice gust to cool off. As far as post-training hideaways went, Lux had to admit; Qiyana had found a good one.
She opened her eyelids and stared out at the stars. There weren't that many tonight, the purple april twilight lending itself nicely to the clearest night in a while. It was pretty.
Exhale.
She let her mind wander back to the afternoon. After her own fight had ended, and after she had recovered enough to watch, a few more duels took place. Ekko had done his fight while she rested, so she couldn't watch it. He won though.
Yasuo battled a second year, Taliyah, who used earth powers. Their fight had been extremely close; Yasuo barely edged out a win by throwing Lux's discarded cowl at her face. He looked quite pleased with the result, and Taliyah found it funny too. Irelia didn't.
After that, Ez and Zoe teamed up to fight a third year called Kato, who was almost as huge as professor Braum. Not quite though. They'd gotten close to beating him – Zoe threw the match by turning around at the last second to yell something at Ez, who was appropriately distracted, and had tried to calm down the child. Kato then knocked them both out with a single bonk to the head. Irelia did not find this funny, either.
President Ahri versus Irelia was the last match of the day. It was easily the most intense match, both of them extremely familiar with the other's style. Irelia's movements were simply breathtaking – it was like watching a dance. She moved with such grace and poise that Lux was impressed she could keep track of her own movements.
Ahri wasn't having it, though. She eventually struck Irelia down with a decisive blast of energy, predicting where she'd end a dash. Lux had cheered; and Ahri looked quite pleased with herself. Irelia managed to look simultaneously disappointed and genuinely impressed. She said something to Ahri after which made her giggle mischievously. She seemed to do that a lot, true, but it made Irelia blush.
After that, everyone headed over to the dorms for a big group dinner. Lux had declined to join, instead grabbing a small sandwich – ignoring comments of concern from Kahina – and heading over to where she currently sat.
Then she napped.
And a good nap it was. She had awoken, eaten her food, and just sat there for a bit.
Why? Well, she'd figured she had to get some closure on this whole thing, otherwise she had a feeling Qiyana would just continue to be a royal pain.
Speak of the devil. The sliding door into the training hall slid open, and a sweaty Qiyana in light workout clothes stepped out – and stopped. Lux smiled weakly at her.
Qiyana didn't respond. She silently stepped out into the alcove, setting her blade against a wall and crouching over the flowerbed. Silence.
Lux wasn't sure what to do next. She hadn't really thought this through, she realised. Well, whatever. Small talk was usually best at these times.
'The stars sure are pretty tonight.'
Qiyana didn't respond.
'Well, the ones I can see. Pretty clear night, huh?'
Nothing.
'It's a shame, really, my brother taught me all about constellations and the like -'
'Why are you here?'
….
Lux cleared her throat. 'I don't know. To talk, I suppose.'
'Hmph,' She said. She didn't look back. Silence again.
….
'These are Zychids. They're native to the region I grew up in.'
Lux blinked. Her gaze fell to the flowers – purple, curling and ending with a red bud that closed in on itself. Qiyana was looking at them with that soft gaze, and what could almost be a smile.
'My sister, Mara, loved tending to these. They remind me of her.'
Silence.
'Do you...miss her?' Lux said, finally.
Qiyana snorted. 'I hated her. She was weak – still is. She would spend days upon days doing nothing but sit in that garden of hers. Waiting.' She frowned. 'I never understood why. Power is everything. And I was the most powerful.'
She turned to Lux. Her soft expression was gone, replaced by a slight grimace. 'I cannot accept the outcome of our match.'
Lux began to rise, much to her leg's dismay. 'Look, I'm sure we can rearrange -'
'No, you misunderstand me,' Qiyana stood too, dusting herself off and pacing with a sigh towards her blade. 'I lost. I saw the gleam in your eyes as you prepared your last attack.' She sighed, and looked Lux in the eye. 'If you had been allowed to release that, I would be - well. Not good, as they say here.'
Lux frowned. 'It was a draw.'
'A draw that could have ended very painfully. You were...laughing.' She frowned, and shook her head. 'No matter. You were right. I am not the strongest. I admit defeat. Now, leave - I need to train more.'
'I wasn't laughing,' Lux said, scowling. She stood, and Qiyana scoffed.
'You did not see your face. Either way, go. I do not wish to be with you any longer.'
Lux grinned. 'Still rude, at least.'
'Do not make me fight you now. You will lose.'
'Hah ha -' Wait no, that glare was dangerous. '- Ah. Fine. I'll see you around, Qiyana Yunalai?'
Qiyana walked back into the training room. She didn't turn around. 'I should certainly hope not.'
Right before the door slid shut, Lux could almost swear she caught the faintest trace of a smile.
But before she could dwell on it any further, she felt the full force of her aches ripple throughout her body.
Yeah, time to go to bed.
Since this is the end of the first 'arc' (arc? I guess so, it's a shonen), I feel like I can think a bit about what im planning to do with this story.
I dunno how far I'll go with it. I'd like to at least finish the first year, have a simple overarching plotline and fill it with smaller-scale, complete stories like these and some slice of life elements thrown in between, but who knows. For now, I'm just going to see where it goes.
I'm writing this mainly out of just enjoyment and because I play too much league, but I would welcome feedback on any and everything so that I can actually take this and improve.
thanks for reading.
extra 3
Battle Club 22-23
Irelia Xan (13:52): Will the first-years be joining us at Club today?
^^ZoEeeeEee (13:53): ez ez ez come com come
ekko (14:03): can do
Irelia Xan (14:10): We will be doing some practice drills today – free training, essentially.
^^ZoEeeeEee (14:13): eeeeeeeeeeeez
^^ZoEeeeEee (14:13): fat bear eating a hotdog sticker
Irelia Xan (14:14): Don't spam the chat. This is for club business only.
Irelia Xan (14:15) Ezreal how is the gauntlet situation?
^^ZoEeeeEee (14:15): fat bear blowing a raspberry
e – z (16:32): sorry just saw
e – z (16:32): ill be there
e – z (16:32): no gauntlet tho
e – z (16:32): should be good for tmr hopefully
^^ZoEeeeEee (16:35): train wit me :))
^^ZoEeeeEee (16:35): fat bear lifting weights
^^ZoEeeeEee (16:35): buff bear flexing
e – z (16:37): sure sounds good
Irelia Xan (17:05): I left the clubroom unlocked, but I'll be there a little later today. Text me if something comes up.
Irelia Xan (17:05): Yasuo should be there
変化の風~yasu (17:05): omw
ekko (17:10): why is your name a bunch of blocks lol
e – z (17:12): oh you probably need to update your phone
e – z (17:13): ill do it for you later if you want
ekko (17:15): ah ok ty
^^ZoEeeeEee set the group emoji to ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:35): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:35): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:35): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
e – z (17:36): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
Irelia Xan (17:40): Zoe, don't spam the chat please.
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:45): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:45): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
Irelia Xan (17:47): ….
変化の風~yasu (17:48): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
^^ZoEeeeEee (17:50): watch?v=RIGWamUtv4c
ekko (18:00): unlucky lol
e – z (19:27): zoe wya?
^^ZoEeeeEee (19:27): :o
^^ZoEeeeEee (19:28): here herehere whatsup
e – z (19:29): whoa that was fast
e – z (19:29): have you guys eaten yet?
e - z (19:29): ekko and I haven't
^^ZoEeeeEee (19:30): nossir wanna eat 2gethr? :))
e – z (19:31): sure perfect, we're up on the dorm balcony
^^ZoEeeeEee (19:32): ill come up and get you whn food is rdy! :)))
Irelia Xan (20:44): I don't mind you guys joining us for dinner, but in the future please text me before so I know how much to prepare. Also, this chat is for club business only.
変化の風~yasu (20:48): ( ͡❛ ⏥ ͡❛)
Irelia Xan (20:49): ffs