The ship came to a sudden stop, much more roughly than Luxanna had anticipated. Her body flung forward a few inches before being abruptly stopped by her safety belts, which felt like they'd be cutting into her chest and abdomen.

Although they managed to hold her body in place safely, the belts couldn't do the same for her long, blonde hair, which fell into the young girl's beautiful face. She turned her mouth into a frown, before lazily blowing away some strains, when she noticed a chuckle coming from one of the other passengers, on the other side of the cabin.

"First time riding the Hexgate ships?", the well dressed gentleman asked with a smile.

But before Luxanna could answer, one of her bodyguards, that her brother insisted on accompanying her, was quicker on the draw, "Don't you dare disrespect Miss Crownguard!", the muscular man threatened while jumping up from his seat next to the young girl.

But the always warm hearted and loving young girl was quick to intervene. She grabbed the arm of her bodyguard gently, to which the man spun around in an instant, "It's alright, don't worry.", she told him with a calm voice.

The strong man looked back at her before nodding, apologizing and sitting back down again, "Yes, I'm sorry Miss Crownguard."

Luxanna smiled, while looking over to the finely dressed man sitting across from her, "Yes, it is my first time.", she said with a shimmering voice.

The man, first scared from the sudden threat of the guard, now took back a resting position before smiling as well, "Well, I'm sure it won't be the last. These marvels of transportation will soon be in every major Nation of Runeterra, I bet. Well, at least I truly hope so. I invested a lot of money into this Technology!", the man laughed out, to which Luxanna responded with a giggle of her own.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please refrain from exiting the ship, until it comes to a complete stop. We're happy to have had you on board.", an announcement voice echoed through the speakers in the corners of the room.

The young, blonde girl took this as her signal to release the locking mechanism on her safety belts and to stand up. Although the trip only lasted for a few minutes to an hour, the girl's first action after standing on her feet again was to stretch herself. The man to the opposite of her stood up as well and gave the girl a final smile, before tapping his hat and leaving the compartment towards the exit of the ship.

Luxanna smiled back at the man, before reaching out towards her luggage that was resting on a shelf above her. The coffer was heavy, but nothing Luxanna couldn't handle. Although her guards thought differently.

Even though she knew that her family only meant the best by making these two armed men travel with her, she felt like they were overdoing it, when one of the two quickly grabbed her luggage with a smile. She appreciated the gesture, since she knew they were meaning the best, but sometimes she just felt belittled. As if everyone around her still saw her as just a child.

Quietly, she obliged and let the man carry the heavy bag for her. Just smile and say nothing. That's what her parents always taught her. With a quiet resolve, she left the ship with her bodyguards following closely behind her.

The girl stepped out of the gigantic hex gate tower, onto a stone balcony that overlooked the Nation. The girl stepped towards the cold, stone railing and took a deep breath of the fresh air, before taking in the astonishing view. Before her, lay the City of Progress.

Pilover.

She had heard from the city only from books, stories and, of course, she knew the incredible inventions that stemmed from here. But she also knew the dark side of this Nation. The one, she could only vaguely make out in the distance. Zaun. The undercity. Luxanna read a lot about its history with Piltover, but she still felt like she had only scratched the surface.

This would be her first destination for this visit. Not officially, of course. Officially, she's only here for some research and first hand looks at the new hextech inventions. But unofficially, she wanted to take this opportunity to expand her horizons. Learn about Piltover and Zaun first hand. Her first destination were the lanes. The deepest pits of the undercity. She wanted to know how the people lived there. Maybe even how to aid them. She wanted to see the real Zaun. Not the Zaun she knew from pictures and books.

Her moment of calmness was quickly interrupted by a male voice, coming from her left side, "Welcome to the City of Progress! I hope your travels were calm and without any problems."

Lux turned her head, while still resting her hands on the stone railing in front of her. The man she was facing now, was in his mid thirties, she'd guess. He wore formal clothes, and had a bright smile branded on his face. He stretched out his right hand, in a welcoming manner. Luxanna pushed away from the stone and stretched out her arm to greet the man with a handshake.

"Luxanna Crownguard, it's nice to meet you.", she said calmly, while hers and the man's hands shook.

"Jayce Tallis, it's a pleasure to make your aquantains.", the man responded formally, "We made a room ready for you, not far from the new council building. I hope it meets your expectations."

"I'm sure it will, Mister Tallis. But to get to the reason for my arrival-", the young girl started, while the two started walking down a long set of stairs.

"Ah the new Hextech inventions! Don't you worry, Miss Crownguard, a few hiccups need to be sorted out and a few problems need to be fixed, but by the time your nation will receive them, everything will be perfectly in order.", the man reassured her happily.

"I'm glad. You know that the views of my dear homeland are a bit… Outdated, if you ask me. I'm happy that we could find a middle ground in hextech. But… When will I be able to take a first look at the new inventions?", Luxanna asked, trying desperately to keep up that pretentious, formal voice.

While the two soon reached the ground level and made their way to the hotel, Jayce Tallis answered her with a big smile, "The technology should be ready for you tomorrow. Take this day to settle in."

Luxanna responded with a big smile of her own, while responding, "Thank you very much, Mister Tallis-"

"Ah! We've arrived!", he interrupted her.

Luxanna looked at the building in front of her confused. It didn't look like a hotel at all. A big, shiny house, not much different from the others surrounding it.

"You'll have room 115, on the tenth floor. The best of the best. Your guards have their own room, not far from yours. I hope you enjoy your stay.", he explained to her, before reaching out his hand once more.

The young girl shook it with a smile, while thanking the man for giving her such a warm welcome.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a council meeting to attend. We'll see each other tomorrow.", Jayce said with a smile, before turning around and leaving the young girl and her bodyguards alone.

Luxanna nods in confirmation, before turning her attention towards the large building in front of her. The young girl smiled brightly, before entering and making her way to the tenth floor, where her room was waiting for her.

The hotel room was brightly lit and luxuriously decorated. A warm couch stood on the far end, that looked just as comfy as her own back home in Demacia. The bed, large and soft, stood a little separated from the rest of the furniture, towards the left of the entrance. The blue and golden sheets shimmered slightly in the soothing sunlight. Luxanna smiled, before swirling around to face the two guards, who were closely following her on the way up.

"You two can take the rest of the day off. Treat yourself! I should be fine on my own!", she told them, still brightly smiling.

The guards looked at each other, before turning their eyes back to the young girl in front of them, "We're sorry, Miss Crownguard. Strict order from your mother. We're supposed to not leave you unattended.", one of them explained in a strict and monotone voice.

"Please, this is Piltover!" Luxanna cheered, in an effort to convince them, "Nothing bad can happen! Also, I'm not a child anymore! And technically, my mother isn't here, so you're under my command, or am I mistaken?"

The men looked at each other again, confused, before the one who was talking before answered, "W… Well, I… I think so…" he mumbled out.

"So, I order you to let me explore Piltover a bit. Don't worry! You won't get into trouble! If something happens, I tell my mother that it was my idea and you two are off the hook. Also, I won't go anywhere dangerous anyway, so no need to worry." Luxanna explained with a smile.

They finally sighed out and gave in, "Ok, Miss Crownguard. But please, be careful. We will be here, if the need arrives."

Luxanna nodded, still brightly smiling, when the guards saluted and left her to her own.

The young girl closed the door carefully and walked back into her room. She looked around with a smile, before calmly opening the big window and letting in some fresh air. She took a deep breath while looking into the distance.

There, on the horizon, lay her destination for today. Beyond the shiny buildings, busy streets and the bridges. The underworld, the lanes, Zaun.

She wanted to finally experience something different than what her parents planned for her. They were always there, controlling her life, but not this time.

Not anymore.

The blonde girl made up her mind and pushed herself away from the windowsill, before leaving the small room entirely.

But while she was on her way to the undercity, doubts creeped into her mind. Maybe this was a little too dangerous? Maybe the books she read and the stories she heard were true and Zaun would tear her apart?

She was thinking and contemplating, but for every argument against it, she had something to counter it. If it gets dangerous, she will always have her magic. If nothing was down there, she could always just leave. She wanted this. She needed this.

Finally a decision she made on her own. And while she was walking down the streets of Piltover, which got less and less busy the closer she got to the bridges, she finally, maybe for the first time in her life, felt truly free.

The young girl walked across the long, sturdy bridges and got shot with some questioning stares from people who walked across as well. But Luxanna didn't mind. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to see the world, starting with the dark undercity of Zaun.

Did she just imagine it, or did the air get colder as soon as she left the bridge behind her?

It got thicker as well. And a strange stench started to reach her nostrils too. All in all, Luxanna felt incredibly uneasy in this city. Was this really a good idea?

No way she was backing out now, though. She was practically already there. She had to prove this to herself.

The young girl continued to walk down the lanes and caught wind of a lot of stares coming her way. She looked back at them with a smile that could brighten up even the darkest of alleys, but the residents of Zaun didn't care about that. They kept on staring at the blonde girl, while she was walking down, deeper into the heart of the Lanes.

Luxanna slowly started to realize that the city may really be dangerous, if she wasn't careful. Out of fear, she stuck to the more populated areas and stayed away from dark alleyways and street corners that looked a little too suspicious to her.

After a long walk, Luxanna finally reached a rather open plaza, with a building being the centerpiece of it. Above it's entrance, it read in bold letters:

The last Drop

The girl thought to herself: Looks like some sort of bar. Maybe I can meet some people there, who can show me around?

Without a second thought, the blonde girl entered the building.

As soon as she stepped foot in the bar, the attention of everyone inside shifted to her. Everybody was looking at the young mage, who got increasingly nervous, with each passing second this state of the room held on.

Through her racing heartbeat and the sweat slowly accumulating on her temples, she smiled brightly and tried to cheer out a friendly "Hello", but it came out more as a quiet and nervous whisper.

Nobody said anything back.

An eternity passed, before they all just continued to do what they were doing before. Drinking, chatting and gambling. All except for one, who had their glance still glued to the young blonde girl. Unbeknownst to Luxanna.

She breathed a sigh of relief, before making her way to the counter, where a young bartender was already waiting for her. She sat down on one of the barstools, her position was perfect as ever. Straight back, arms stretched out on the counter in front of her, hands folded and a bright smile on her face.

The young man, maybe around Luxanna's age, looked at her with a confused and frightened look.

"What can I get you?" He asked in a monotone, yet strangely fearful voice.

The blonde girl didn't know what to answer. She only had a small pouch with gold in her pocket and wasn't sure if it was enough to pay for anything expensive. Also, she wanted to stay sober. She drank incredibly rarely to begin with, but this was a moment where it was a particularly good idea to stay sober. So, she tried to keep it simple.

"Just a glass of water, please." She said, smiling brightly at the young man across the wooden counter.

The bartender chuckled, before nodding, "A glass of water, coming right up." He said, before turning around and grabbing a glass bottle from one of the bottom shelves, together with a glass, that had stains on it already. He filled the transparent liquid from one container into the other, not spilling a single drop, before he calmly rested the now filled glass on the counter in front of the young woman.

Lux thanked him with a friendly smile, but the man's attention was somewhere else. He looked past Luxanna onto the far ceiling before nodding and turning away.

The girl thought it was rather weird and decided to check it out. She turned around and watched at the spot, where the barkeeper was looking mere seconds ago, but the rafters beneath the ceiling were empty. Although she saw nothing, it felt a lot like she was being watched.

Feeling increasingly uneasy, she gulped down the last bit of water before leaving some gold pieces on the counter and leaving quickly. Even though it was against her own character, she didn't even say goodbye. She just wanted to get out of there, in the hopes of getting rid of that feeling.

But she didn't.

Luxanna walked back the way she came. Turning around ever so often, to check if she really was alone. She never saw anything.

A sound. The young girl spun around swiftly and saw… A cat. Nothing to be afraid of. She chuckled and lay her hand on her forehead. "What's wrong with me? Nothing's here. I'm just too easily scared sometimes." She said to herself, before she heard a clicking sound behind her.

"Who the fuck are you?" A female voice asked.