A Boy and His Fox: Redux Ch. 32
AN: For those of you who've read the original A Boy and His Fox, this chapter may not come as much of a surprise to you. For those who haven't read it, however, I would ask that you not post spoilers in the comments. That being said, I'm excited to announce that we've reached $200 in donation for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital through the Charity Streams. If you're interested in following along, please feel free to follow me on Twitch or Youtube, username KibaElunal. Once again, thank you all for your support, and I wish you the best of luck in life and literature. -Kiba
I sat in my room, feeling horribly sick to my stomach. For the second time I ran to the toilet and threw up into it. As the water swirled down into the sewage, I found myself wondering what the hell was going on with me. I was late. Not by a few days, but by a few weeks at this point.
Magnus had locked me in this tower, not willing to let me outside. He said that he thinks the reason I'm sick is because of over stimulation. Funny, because he didn't seem to mind getting his stimulation from me.
I rose to my feet, just as I heard the door open. Warwick strode in with a tray of food and water. Seeing me, he smirked, eyeing me up and down. "Got to say, foxy, it's like you're getting better every time I see you."
"I don't feel better," I shot back, taking the food from him and heading back to my bed to eat.
He sank down next to me with a ferocious look in his eyes. "Maybe I could make you feel better," he cackled. "I think I've got something that will treat whatever ails you. It goes down nice and easy, too."
One of his claws extended to run along my ear. Without hesitation, my ear snapped down against my head as I gave him a low growl. "Get the hell out of my room, Warwick. I'm not interested in anything you have to offer."
"I don't see what your problem is. Not like you haven't done it to everyone else. Everyone in the League knows what you do. Heh. Maybe you're just worried I'll ruin you for your precious Summoner."
"Believe me, Magnus doesn't need to worry about you ruining me. If anything he needs to be worried about me ruining you." To nail the point home, I held up my hand, coalescing my foxfire into a swirling fiery ball and shoving it towards his nose.
Hissing from the heat, he jumped away from me and gave another growl. "You worthless, brainless slut! You don't even know who your Summoner is, you stupid whore! You should be begging me to give it to you!"
After he stormed out and I found myself alone again, I tried to ponder what he meant. I didn't know who my Summoner was? If it wasn't Magnus, who was it? And that man, Kiba. He seemed confused about it, too. He'd mentioned a man named Kal.
As soon as the name popped into my head, I felt a sharp pain in my head that drove me to my knees. Anxiety and fear overwhelmed me as I stayed there on my hands and knees, the room spinning around me. When it began to fade, I tried again to recall the man Kiba had mentioned.
Once again the pain, fear, and vertigo struck me. What had happened between me and this man that would cause such a violent reaction from me? I had to figure something out. I couldn't exactly just stay here either.
Creeping to my window, I threw open the shutters to find that the distance below was some fifty feet up. There was no way I could possibly make that jump without breaking my ankles or worse.
"What are you doing?"
I wheeled about to find Magnus standing at the door, looking rather angry. Behind him Warwick had a smug grin.
"Just getting fresh air," I lied.
"Warwick told me you've been rather rude, considering our hospitality."
"Oh, he did, did he?" I scoffed. "Did he tell you about how he propositioned me to suck him off?"
Warwick straightened and backed away from Magnus as he turned to regard him. "You did what?" he demanded. "Let's get something straight, you stupid mutt. She's mine, not yours. If you want to bury yourself in some common whore, go find yourself another Champion."
Though I wanted to protest that I wasn't his, nor was I a whore, something inside of me kept my mouth shut. Magnus removed his belt and began to whip Warwick mercilessly. Despite that the much stronger wolfman probably could have taken him, something about the belt buckle made his skin sizzle.
He howled in pain, scrambling for safety. Magnus, however, refused to let up his abuse. Satisfied, I closed my door and sat upon the bed with a sigh. It looked as if I weren't going anywhere soon. After everything that happened, I was certain Magnus would be in a foul mood as well.
I put my hands in my head, shutting my eyes tightly, and trying to pull back whatever curtain was keeping me from the truth. Regardless of how much it hurt, I had to find out what happened to me. I just had to.
Having arrived at the Institute of War, our group split apart for some much needed rest and recuperation. Despite Lux's insistence, I told her that it was best if Katarina and she took a rest from the train ride.
Annie, however, had to come with me.
Holding her hand in mine we entered into the Great Hall where the High Councilors were awaiting us. "Summoner Kal'adamsul, you've returned," one noted. "With Annie Hastur as well."
I nodded. "That's right. We've found Annie, but there's a further problem. Annie was not the only champion to go missing. I've located the man behind it all. He is a Summoner of Ionia: Magnus."
There were some hushed whispers among the crowd. One of the robed figures held up its sleeve and through a glowing portal stepped a man I'd only ever seen once. He was slightly older than the picture in Ahri's room, but immediately he made my skin crawl. I put Annie behind me protectively and prepared for the worst. You never knew what a cornered beast would do.
"You summoned me, Councilor?" he asked.
"Magnus, you stand accused by another Summoner of crimes against the League of Legends. You've been accused of the kidnapping and binding of champions against their will. How do you plead?"
"Proposterus! I've done no such thing. How would I possibly even do such a thing?" He turned towards me and growled. "Just because your Champion realized how pathetic you were and came to my side, does not give you a right to accuse me of such horrible things. You see, Councilors, this is why the League shouldn't humor having mere children wielding the responsibility of being a summoner."
I clenched my empty fist tightly. "I have proof. Annie Hastur was brought to us by a group purporting to be in service to you."
"All that proves is that I've done your job for you, fool. You should be thanking me, instead of accusing me of treason."
"I don't thank kidnappers for returning their hostages," I snidely shot back.
"Enough!" the High Councilor boomed. "We shall hear it from the girl herself. Annie, is it true that this man, Magnus, kidnapped you?"
The purple haired girl emerged from behind me and stepped forward into the light. She turned back to look at us both before giving a wicked looking smile. "No," she said. "Magnus helped find me when I got lost. He said that Kal would bring me home, but…but…" Tears began to well up in her eyes. "When I found Kal, he said that he burned my house down. Because my parents wouldn't tell him where I was."
My eyes widened in shock. "Annie, why are you saying this?!" I demanded.
"There you have it," Magnus stated. "Not only is he a failure as a summoner, but a monster of a human being as well. If anyone deserves to be dragged before this court, it is he!"
The overwhelming silence began to crush me under its weight. This was just like before with Katarina. "Well, Kal'adamsul. Do you have an explanation for this?" The question stumped me. I didn't know what to say. I was innocent. I didn't do it.
With my words trapped in my throat, I just stared into the blank empty hoods of the High Council. Magnus spoke when I could not. "Am I done here, Councilors? Or must I entertain this villain's ridicule further?"
"You may depart, Magnus."
He went to take Annie by the hand. Immediately, the paralyzing fear that I had evaporated. He was going to steal her away again. Katarina had mentioned that Magnus could control people. I had no doubt this was his doing, and I wasn't going to let him hurt her any more. He managed to pull back his hand just before my blade would have severed it from the wrist.
"What do you think you're doing, boy?" He growled. "You would dare attack a Summoner of the League unprovoked."
"You're not taking her," I stated firmly. "I'm the one in charge of this investigation, and mark my words, Magnus. I will stop you."
"High Council, you cannot possibly allow this fool to sit here and continue on as he is!"
"Stand down, Kal'adamsul. You know the law. There will be no bloodshed here in the Institute of War." I stared up at the Council before looking back to Magnus. I sheathed my sword, but not without a pit of disgust forming in my stomach. "As for Annie Hastur, she will remain in the League's charge until a decision can be made about her arrangements."
"This is an outrage," Magnus protested. "How long will you allow this boy to treat the League of Legends as his own personal playground?!"
"That is a discussion for us to have with him in private, Magnus."
"Very well then. I shall take my leave. But I hope that the League of Legends will see to it that this harassment ends."
"We'll take it under consideration. Good bye, Magnus."
As he teleported out of the chamber, Annie let out a sigh before coming back to me and hugging my arm. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she buried her face in my sleeve. "Annie?" I questioned.
"I'm sorry," she choked. "I didn't mean to…"
"Do not fret, Annie," the High Councilor told her. "We can recognize magical influence when we see it. Even if it is more powerful than we've encountered before."
I took a sharp breath. So they knew. I was right! Katarina was telling the truth about everything. "Why?" I asked. "Why did you just let him walk out? Surely now you can see that he is dangerous! What purpose was my investigation if the League won't even punish the man responsible for all of this?!"
"Watch your tone, Summoner," one of the gruffer voices answered. "The judgments of the Council are not for you to understand. They are for you to follow as directed."
"Let us be fair. He deserves to have some explanation."
"I believe he has earned that much."
"Please! I need to know why you released him! He has my Champion and right now, she is suffering."
The High Councilor stood and pulled back her hood. "That is precisely why we had to let him leave. As you said, he is dangerous. No doubt he has contingencies in place for if things go awry. This new magic he has displayed…we don't know how it works or functions. If we arrest him, we could lose every Champion still under his influence."
Influence. That word triggered something in my mind. The tiny spheres of Influence that Kat mentioned. Jinx told me she spit one up. But why? What made her spit up the sphere? I pondered it over and over again. "May I try something?" I asked. "I think I have a solution."
The Council looked confused, but one by one they nodded.
I knelt down next to Annie and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Annie, this is going to be a little strange. I'm going to try to summon you, so I need you to let me in, okay? Can you do that?"
She nodded quietly and closed her eyes. It was a little more difficult to find the soul connection with Annie. It didn't come as easily as when I had the gauntlet, but still it was there, however weak. As my soul brushed against hers, it struggled violently from me. It was as if two live wires had sparked for but a moment before flailing wildly from each other.
This was normally what happened when incompatible souls tried to link. Some Summoners could force it to work further, but all I needed was that tiny touch. Sure enough, Annie began to retch before a small glowing orb the size of a marble fell from her mouth, bouncing twice on the ground before rolling to a stop.
"There is your cause," I explained. "Magnus has somehow synthesized miniature Spheres of Influence. They must serve as a remote link to the victim's soul, allowing him to summon them from anywhere, and I'd be willing to guess, more than one at a time, too."
More conflicted whispers among the Council. "Be that as it may. Even with your quick fix of using a Soul Bond to remove the Sphere, applying such a solution over who knows how many champions is unfeasible. Our only course of action is to look for a more permanent solution. Until then, we will do what we can to help you."
This was disappointing. I wanted more to be done, action to be taken. Even after everything, it felt I was still just as far from Magnus as I was when I started this whole mission. I rubbed Annie's back to try to make her feel better. "There is one thing I need," I murmured. "I need a champion. My true champion."
"Explain what you mean, Summoner."
As I sat in the room, I couldn't take my eyes off of Katarina for even a second. She just lay there, lounging on the bed like nothing had happened! It pissed me off so much that she was underestimating me just because I was younger than her.
"So how's Garen?" she finally asked.
"He hasn't been killed yet," I huffed. "None of your Noxians can even come close to leaving a scratch on him."
Katarina rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. There's probably a whole stack of letters waiting for me when I get back home then."
"What are you talking about?"
She turned to regard me with a sly grin. "Oh. You don't know. Heh. Looks like dirty secrets run deep in the Crownguarde family." Just as I went to argue, she held up her hand. "Easy girl. I'll tell you. Your brother has a bit of a crush on me. Not a month goes by that I don't get some sappy poem or a portrait of him out of his armor."
"Liar. Garen would never conspire with a Noxian."
"Conspire?" she laughed. "Conspiring has nothing to do with it. It's not like he's giving me state secrets or anything. He's just got the hots for me. Believe it or not, it is possible to have a life outside of the military."
"Well, I suppose you can't really help who you love," I surrendered.
Again, she let out an obnoxious guffaw. "He doesn't love me, kid. In fact, I'd probably wager the only things Garen loves are himself and his reputation."
"That's not true. He loves me. And if he's putting in that much effort, I'm sure he loves you, too."
She rolled over onto her stomach, putting her chin on her hands. "Let me ask you something. What do you think love is?"
I stared at her, trying to judge a deeper meaning in her question. "Well, I think love is when you have someone who comes and sweeps you off your feet. Obviously, it's because there's something that you see in that person that you really like."
"Ha! Okay, now Kal's story makes so much sense now."
That brought me back to my senses. "What are you talking about? What did Kal say?"
"That you raped him."
"Liar! Kal would never say that about me!" I cried. I was so angry, light began to charge up in my hands.
Katarina, seeing my reaction, just let out a sigh. "Shut the lights off, kid. You know we can't fight in here." She was right. The wards here made it so if I had attacked her, I would have regretted it. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess no one has talked straight with you before. Maybe tall, dark, and morbid has, but probably no one else. The truth is, Lux, you don't love Kal. And trust me, he doesn't love you."
"Shut up. What do you know?" I huffed. "You're just a Noxian. You don't actually know what love is."
"Maybe not," she agreed. "But I know you can't force love from someone. And, with certainty, I can say that love is something that requires not just trust, but knowledge. You have to know the person in and out before you can say you love them."
I puffed out my cheeks in irritation. As if I didn't already know that! You can't fall in love with someone you don't know, and if you love them you have to trust them. That's just common sense. "Well, duh. Thanks for the information. Great talk."
Katarina opened one eye to regard me. "Do you know who Kal's first summon was?" she asked.
"Well…"
"Why did he become a summoner, then? Surely you know?"
Again, I was stumped. It wasn't something that we'd gotten around to talking about. But that could come with time, couldn't it? Just how long did it take to get to know someone anyway? "So what? I could learn. Life is a journey, not a destination. I'd learn all sorts of stuff about him, stuff that no one else knows!"
Katarina rolled off the bed with a smug grin. "I know the answers to those questions. They are important answers. More importantly, I know why they are important answers. If you don't even know those, you practically don't know anything about him. That's why I say you don't love him."
I bit my lip. I hated to admit she was right, but she was. Still, I wanted to love him. I wanted him to love to me, too. But that would come next. "Tell me then," I pleaded. "Tell me what you know."
"Okay, but you won't like it."
"Please," I pleaded.
Katarina extended a finger and pointed at herself. "I'm Kal's first summon," she said.
I groaned. I should have known this was some stupid trick to piss me off. "That's the best you have? If you're going to lie to me, you have to be more convincing than that. Your souls could never be compatible."
She laughed. She laughed at me! "You're right about that," she agreed. "To be linked to him would be…weird. Yet it happened. At least three times now. In the academy, I was his mentor and partner. Well, at first, anyway. He summoned me on the mountain in Ionia, too. Finally, he summoned me in Annie's village. Or did you not notice? So let me ask you something, Lux…has he ever summoned you?"
Now I was trembling with fury. She was right! He'd never Summoned me before. A melding of souls, something that was intimate and in-depth, and he'd never done it. Even when we were in mortal danger, he'd never tried to. "That doesn't mean anything," I lied.
"Maybe not, but it's not hard to see in your eyes that that is eating you up inside," she goaded. "He would rather bind his soul to a Noxian, than to bind himself to you. That must sting."
"Shut up," I whispered. "I don't want to hear it. Just answer your other question. Why did Kal become a summoner? I'm sure it was for Ionia. He wanted to be an honorable soldier, just like me. Just like my brother."
"If you believe that song and dance, you're more naive than I thought." She may as well have said it with a cackle. The glee she showed was downright sadistic. She knew this was torturing me, and if she couldn't do it physically, she would do it mentally. I was falling for it too, hook, line, and sinker. But I needed to know. I needed to hear why Kal became who he did. "He joined for revenge. Well, he'd probably call it justice, but seeing as how he didn't bring it up to the council, it's most likely the former."
"What do you mean?"
"He had a little sister," Katarina told me. "She'd probably be about your age right now. Except she was killed. By a Noxus soldier."
I took a deep breath, trying to still myself. She was trying to get under my skin. I couldn't let her manipulate me so easily. "So he joined because he hates Noxus? Makes perfect sense to me."
"No, he joined because he hates a Noxian, not Noxus as a whole. That's where you differ from him. Your biggest rift is that Kal doesn't hate Noxus like you do. You know the horrors individuals of Noxus have committed. Don't blame you there. We've had some terrible people do terrible things. But if you think Demacians aren't just as capable of the atrocities of war, you've got your head in the sand."
"Not like you," I argued. "We don't use bodies as puppets. We don't use awful chemicals and warbots, killing other people without honor or discrimination. That is solely Noxus, and that's what you stand for, and that's why Demacia will always be there to stop you!"
"Then why didn't Demacia help Ionia?" Katarina pointed out. "You could have if you wanted to. So why not?"
"You know why not! The League said we couldn't interfere!"
"And so you just lied down like good little dogs. When the rules were unfair and unjust, you didn't even bat an eye. Instead, you rolled over and did nothing. That's Demacia's weakness, Luxanna. That's your weakness. Drawing hard lines in the sand doesn't help you. After all, sand can be swept away."
Before I could snap, a knock came at the door. As Lucian's face appeared, it was clear he'd heard some of our conversation. "I hope you two are done with your chat. We're needed in the Council Chambers. Kal is getting a new champion."
I couldn't help but feel excited. Finally, this was the opportunity I'd been waiting for! I'd be bound to him, and I'd prove Katarina wrong once and for all. Our souls were compatible, and this would be just the proof I needed.
As I stood in the Great Hall with everyone else, I looked up at the large archway. "THE TRUEST OPPONENT LIES WITHIN." That's what it read in its deep engraved letters. It was a truth that was used to test the souls of prospective champions. Today though, I could feel it's weight on my shoulders as a Summoner like I never had before.
Being Ahri's Summoner was great, and I still loved her and I loved her as my Champion. But the truth of the matter was, not only was she no longer by my side, but she was in the clutches of a madman. I wasn't strong enough to save her myself. I needed a Champion, one that I could wield to my fullest capabilities without worry.
Whoever I was truly meant to be paired with would become clear, and I had no doubt they would help me. However, I once again felt the same fear I'd felt before in Ionia. Who would be my partner? Some monster? Some villain? How could I possibly know who I was paired with?
"We're here," Lucian said, arriving with Lux and Kat in tow. Seeing where I was looking he nodded in understanding. "Pretty daunting, huh? I remember my Judgment. Gods, that was so long ago, and so difficult, too. They just laid my soul bare, without a single care in the world."
I said nothing. I turned to regard my friends and companions. "It's time I told you all the truth. Ahri isn't my true Champion. She cheated the binding test, and made it so I was bound to her. If we're going to beat Magnus, I need to be at full form, and I can't do that without a Champion."
"Why did you need us for that?" Lux asked. "You know I'd be happy to be your Champion."
I sighed. "I appreciate that Lux, but this isn't something I can choose. I need to find who is truly meant to be my Champion."
Katarina, to my surprise, came to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Be strong," she stated, her green eyes staring into mine. "There's a saying in Noxus, 'Only the strongest can rise from the dark'. So be strong. If you need our help to be strong, then we will. But if you waver, if you show weakness, you won't just get yourself killed, but everyone else as well. Clear your mind, and know we're behind you."
Her supportive words shook me to my core. I hadn't expected those words at all. Unable to form a response, I just nodded my head and turned back to the archway. It was time to conquer myself. I couldn't afford to be worried about who I was bound to. This new Champion would be our only hope, and I would rely on them for that. I just hoped they could rely on me, too.
As we walked into the chamber, the High Council stood there, staring down at all of us. The Stone of Binding hovered in the air, a crystalline beacon that was the herald of my new fate. As it spun slowly, I could hear Katarina's words echoing in my mind. I sighed, taking a deep breath. This was different. I wasn't bound to Ionia here. This Stone of Binding would search the entire pool of Champions. Every Demacian, Noxian, Piltoverian, Bilgewaterian, it didn't matter. Someone, somewhere, would become bound to me.
"Kal'adamsul," one of the High Councilors boomed. "It is time for you to bear your soul to the Stone of Binding. It will read you so completely, that its judgment may not be doubted. Are you prepared?"
"As prepared as I will ever be," I responded. My hand reached out, finding one of the smooth facets of the crystal. When I did, the rock stopped its rotation, and I could feel my aura trickling through my fingertips. It began to pool into the heart of the stone. Hundreds of faces flitted through the facets. I recognized many of them as it raced through. Caitlyn, Pantheon, Diana, Ezreal, Cass, Lucian, Ashe, Garen, Lux…They came and went as if on a rolodex, being flitted through with impossible speed.
At last a beam of light lanced from the stone, straight through my chest. I was so shocked, I couldn't begin to fathom what it meant. I was my own Champion? How the Hells was that supposed to work?! I couldn't Summon myself! I needed someone else.
However, when I heard a loud collective gasp behind me, I turned to see that the beam had not landed on me. Turning to see where it was pointed, my hand dropped from the stone in disbelief. They were as shocked as I was.
Instead, the one that the stone had selected to be my true Champion, the one my soul was meant to be bound with, was no other than Katarina DuCouteau, the Sinister Blade of Noxus.
To be continued…
