VII
Usagi tossed in her bed, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. She groaned as she rolled out of bed. She stepped into the living room, then the kitchen, then glanced into the guest bedroom.
The bed was already made and the room was kept untouched. The only signs that Ahri was here were small hairs from her tails on the floor. She glanced around, wondering where she went. Stepping backwards outside the room, she went back into the kitchen. She still saw the ingredients and the potion on the table from last night. Usagi couldn't be bothered to clean if she was going to use it again.
She opened the front door, only to find the fox outside. She sat down and stared up at the sky, her tails waving in the wind. Usagi had read somewhere that Vastayans had a longer lifespan than humans did. How old is Ahri, she wondered, staring at the woman.
Usagi finally sighed and said, "You'll hurt your eyes if you keep looking at the morning sun."
Without looking, she replied, "Our eyes are not as delicate as yours."
"You're right, my eyes are very light-sensitive. Us humans can really damage our eyes and lose eyesight if we stare at the sun." Usagi explained to her.
Ahri turned around and stared into her face. She pursed her lips and her expression hardened for a moment. Usagi raised an eyebrow as Ahri told her, "Your eyes are a strange bright red. Are they genetic?"
"My magic transformed them like that. They used to be brown."
"I've never heard of such a thing." Ahri stared into her eyes in amazement. She then chuckled and pointed to the woman's heart. "However, it's not like I have seen a glowing heart before either. You must study strange magic."
Usagi said nothing more as she walked back inside and told her, "I'm going to take a shower. Just wait for me."
Ahri nodded and continued to sit down until the woman was out of her view. The fox vastayan stood and tiptoed her way back inside. Usagi's bedroom door was wide open, perfect for the woman to take her diary without being noticed.
She saw the book sitting beside her lamp. It was open to a different page this time and curiously piqued her. She grabbed it and ran with it outside. The sun illuminated the words as Ahri started to read the page. It didn't take her long to realize it wasn't just a spell book. It was information she would only attain by eating her essence. And that would be going back on a promise she made to herself long ago.
She recognized what this was though. Human love. But it was different from the couples she'd seen. It didn't feel two-sided and from what she flipped through last night and what she saw now, it was forbidden as well. Why would she do that to herself?
It was true, Ahri was in a forbidden relationship right now. But they both loved each other so it didn't matter to her whether it was forbidden or not. But this... she remembered what Usagi had told her. Her diary were feelings she wouldn't tell anyone. That meant this person didn't know how Usagi really felt about them. She pondered why humans tortured themselves like this - wouldn't it make sense to express your feelings?
But the more she read, the more she thought this woman wasn't so stable. Ahri saw the spectrum of human nature through her travels. She remembered the merchant woman that tried to cut one of her tails to sell, reminding her of the greedy nature of humans. But she remembered a man, sacrificing himself for her to be safe during the Noxian war. It reminded her of the contradictory self-sacrificing nature of humans. She had Usagi at the latter end.
Something in blue writing caught the woman's attention. It was a spell, with a warning sign on it. It was warned that the spell was not fully developed and that it needed more stability. Written in bold was "Ascent" with Ionian writing underneath it.
A wave of guilt washed over her suddenly. How could she read the secrets of someone she just met? It was, to an extent, as cruel as eating the essence of humans. She closed it and went back inside, putting it on the table. A headache rip through the side of her head. 'Forget what was written. That's her business, not yours.'
Usagi stepped out of the shower, wrapping the blue cloth around her waist. She fixed the neck of her dress that was adorned with peach blossoms.
"Are you ready to go?" the green-haired asked.
Ahri nodded slowly. As she walked past her, fixing her hair, she had a sinking feeling in her chest. Her perception of her had changed and she became a different person in her eyes. She turned back to the green-haired woman who had both hands in her hair, furiously fixing the bun.
Ahri couldn't bear to look at her illuminated heart and turned away.
Sona was excited to leave today to go back to Demacia. She glanced outside, a cliffside view of Northern Ionia. Filled with lush greenery of rainforests with beaten paths separating them. She almost wished she could bring this back to Demacia, to show her friends how beautiful the island is.
She could hear Lestara in the other room, writing something with her pen. Sometimes she would help her adopted daughter write sheet music for her music to sell to others. Because of her mother's research with the ethawl, she had studied music and its effects as well.
Her own ethawl rumbled in her lap. Sona plucked at its strings lightly, creating a new melody she'd never heard before. It didn't sound like anything close to what she's made before.
That's when she heard the faint sound of a man humming nearby.
The shadow of the man was at her feet. She followed it to her bedroom door, where a man stood at the frame. Sona could see the mask, the gun he held and the cane that was in his other hand. She could've sworn she stopped breathing for a minute.
"Sona Buvelle, it's been a long time." he said, his voice emphasizing her name.
She inched back; who was this man? He felt familiar but she'd never seen him before. He stepped closer to her, only the echo of his breathing could be heard. "We've met through my numerous... love letters I've sent you. Allow me to formally introduce myself, my name is Khada Jhin."
It all clicked in her head. She scrambled to her feet and pulled the strings on her instrument. A dazzling blue aura emanated from her as she fired several notes at him. He rolled to the left, dodging most of them. One cut the sleeve of his cloak. He let out a tsk as he quickly loaded Whisper.
Sona felt a shooting pain in her hand and her other hand went to cover it. Blood dripped from her hand onto her ethawl. When she removed her hand, there was a bullet wound in the back of her hand. Glancing up, smoke came from his gun as he had his hand on the trigger.
"I'm sorry dear, I can't have you attacking me." Jhin said to her. She clutched her hand tighter, wanting to scream but no sound came out. "Your friend isn't doing what I asked of her. So she needs a bit of... encouragement."
She used her other hand to play a different tune, surrounding her with a green aura. The bleeding stopped and her wound healed. When she looked up, he stood over her, an arm outstretched to her.
"Come with me, dear. You have an audience waiting for you."
Again, the blue aura surrounded her and bolts flew from her instrument, narrowly missing him. She pushed him aside and ran out the room.
Sona ran through the hallway of her mansion. She couldn't find her mother anywhere and it was as if she had no guards around. If only she could call for them, but she had no voice. The blue-haired scurried to her mother's room and was about to open the door when her legs seized up. Something shot her ankles and paralyzed them. Her etwahl made a loud shrill, like nails clawing down on a chalkboard before Sona fell forward.
She could hear the clicks coming from his footsteps. She reached for the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open. If only this was a terrible dream.
Her mother was on the floor in a pool of her blood. Sona could see four bullets in her, glowing a light blue. She crawled to her body, her hands and dress stained in red, and held her in her arms. Tears streamed down the sides of her face, hugging her mother closer to her.
"Lestara was always a beautiful woman. I simply needed to get her ready for one of the final performances." Jhin said from behind her. He leaned forward, careful not to let any of the blood get on his clothes. "Look, Sona, do you not see the flowers blooming from her chest? The butterflies emerging from the cocoons in her eyes? The garden that I've made?"
She covered her mouth, but the smell of blood was already on her hands. The other went to her stomach, to stop herself from vomiting. Usagi was right; this was a madman.
This time, two guards came in and grabbed Sona by the arms, tugging her away. She didn't struggle or try to run this time. Another guard came in and took her instrument. It played a tune but all the notes were off. A series of screeching and scratching came with it.
His extremities tingled. He had to keep this woman alive. If news broke out into Demacia about the death of Sona Buvelle, it might hurt the alliance they've created with Demacia. And then more people will sought after him.
Not to mention, she was Minoriko's close friend. She would come after him with rage. He wanted to keep her just out of range, always one step ahead of her. And he can assure he was at least a few steps ahead.
Ahri lifted her head into the sky. She felt a change of direction in the wind. It troubled her for some reason; perhaps it was the slight change or the fact that it carried the scent of artificial magic. Something that she remembered came from a place called 'Piltover'. She hadn't realized how long she'd been standing there until Usagi came over and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Oh... I think something just happened. The wind changed direction and I smelled hextech magic. Something that came from a place called Piltover." Ahri mumbled, unsure of herself.
"You can tell the difference between real magic and artificial magic?" Usagi inquired. When Ahri gave her an enthusiastic nod, she smiled and told her, "Vastayans have very sensitive noses don't they?" she turned her head to the direction of the wind. "Either way, we hardly use hextech. What's the smell doing here?"
"Isn't there an armoury somewhere on Ionia?" Ahri asked.
Usagi blinked. "The Kashuri armoury. We made all our weapons there, but it's been shutdown for a while."
Oh. Ahri thought to a man who's essence she ate a bit of. She gained a recent memory of working in the armoury and walking from there to a village nearby. The fox asked her, "Is the armoury near a village?"
Usagi raised an eyebrow and said, "Yes. Do you know the area?"
"...Not exactly. I ate a little bit of a man's essence and the memory of him walking home from the armoury to his village was the one I received." Ahri admitted. She gave a playful grin, but there was something behind it that her companion couldn't grasp. "We should take a trip there."
Usagi shrugged and told her, "If you think we should investigate it, then let's go. It might give us some clues." she remembered back to the mass amount of weapons that Jhin had with him, including the strange gun. "Actually it will give us a lot of clues. The weapons Jhin has, I've never seen them before."
"Then we should get going." Ahri gave a small smile, then winked. "I still want that potion!"
Usagi showed her where it was as it took them only two hours max to get there. They stood from the trees, observing the armoury from a distance as dusk started to settle. The green-haired girl couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it was in full operation. People were stationed at the front entrance, carriages full of parts were being shipped in while carriages brought out weapons of all kinds. All of them were embedded with magic.
She shook her head. "There's no war— why are they making weapons?"
"Because Ionia is preparing for a war." someone said from behind them.
Usagi squeaked and snapped her head around. She glanced up and realized it was Zed, balancing on the tree with just his toes. Ahri almost had a heart attack even though she knew someone was nearby. But then she saw something strange from Usagi that she vaguely reminded her of her diary.
She smiled at him and turned away. Ahri could faintly see the flush of pink in her face. Her voice went quieter as she muttered, "It's nice to see you again. We're you investigating this place as well?"
From what Ahri could see, he was oblivious to her affection. She probably would've been too if she hadn't read the diary entries. He replied to her, "Yes, my students told me that they found the armoury running, so I personally came because I felt that it was connected to everything. That's why you're here too."
"Yes. Ahri said she smelled hextech magic in the air. So we concluded it's linked to the armoury here." Usagi told him. Zed eyed the fox curiously, but she couldn't read his eyes or his expression. "But I didn't think it would be fully operational!"
"And from the security, they don't want anyone to know what they make."
Ahri looked down, tails flowing in the wind. "I can scout the area if you'd like. They'll fall victims to my charms easily."
"I never thought a Vastayan would help someone from the Order of Shadows." Zed narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't look like you're from any of the tribes either..."
Ahri glanced down, remembering the two gemstones in her pocket. She remembered the harsh words she received from other Vastayans. The sneers and insults thrown at her when they realized she had made frequent contact with humans. "Vastayans do not welcome me. I'm a traitor to them. Mu'takl is what they call me."
Usagi saw that word in her Vastayan history book. It meant something along the lines of traitor or something of the sort. The green haired grimaced as she told her, "Don't worry Ahri, you're not the only one. All of us have been outcasted in some way."
Zed narrowed his eyes but gave a stern nod. The playful smile she kept on her face creeped up again. She leaped down from the branch and towards the right side of the compound. They both noted how fast she was.
"What did she do I wonder to be called that." Zed asked himself aloud.
"Not sure, I don't know her too well. She's Akali's girlfriend." Usagi told him, even though she knew the relationship between him and Akali - horrible, to say the least.
They both stood in comfortable, yet cautious silence. The darkness had more to say than either of them.