I'll try to not write too much here because it may annoy all of you the big amount of words I use here. So let's get straight to the point:
Xayah and Rakan won't be appearing here, SORRY. I promise them for the next chapter.
Apologies at the end!
I tried to edit it, but it was SO much. Ironic, I know! Apologies!
Please review, feedback, MP ME, WHATEVER YOU LIKE!
4. Runaway Girl
Her breath was unstable as she ran across the forest. Her legs protested painfully as she jumped again to avoid an unfaithful root, grabbing her dress to avoid it to catch itself in the woods. She didn't know how much time passed since the last time she was in Demacia, but the sun was still up, and that was enough to tell her that she still wasn't far away enough. Her mind quickly analysed through her memories and it told her that, if her calculations were right, she was still in the middle of the way between Demacia and Sagitta, the closest village.
Her body started to feel dizzy as she kept forcing the nature magic through it, warning her that if she keeps running, the consequences will be severe. Something clicked into her senses, making her to stop abruptly. She leaned her hands into her knees, trying to catch her breath again. She ignored the sweat running down through her forehead, and the thought was clear to her. She needed to rest.
Unlike everyone may think, she wasn't in a very fit state. Sure, she was thin and stuff, but she wasn't the type who rise early to crush her body into the heavy mass of weights or the gravity pushing her down while running kilometres. Being healthy was more than enough to her body to stand in good state; and she hasn't reported to train to military months. So, feeling completely unsafe and stupid by what she was about to do, her eyes darted across the clearing, trying to find somewhere nice to rest. To a normal person, the only things that were there trees: completely useless, but for her were more than enough.
Enduring the tiredness in her legs, she walked to a giant tree in the middle of the forest, stopping in front of it and breathing the last necessary air to feel, at least, more relieved. She tried to use again her magic nature, closing her eyes for a moment and allowing her magic to her skin. She grabbed the cortex with her fingers, the nature magic doing its job, and started climbing. Breath after breath, she managed to reach one branch big enough to her body to lie down and rest. She rolled carefully at the center of it and lied down facing the sky. Lux's eyes didn't furrow a single bit this time when the sunlight splashed around all her face, this time in her eyes. So chose instead to relax and to think what she would do next.
Her mind came up with the thought of her chasers, possible chasers. But she wasn't afraid, however. Inside in the forest, it was very unlikely to anyone find her, especially while using nature magic. She has her magic imprint hidden for now, but she has to work with it, to try to open fully her link to nature. She was sure that the state of untraceable of her was thanks to her constant suction of the wild magic around her, but not because her imprint was permanently changed. She still wasn't in symphony with the nature; and her body won't stand the magic flowing inside forever, at least not now. But to practice, she has to rest first.
Her eyes slowly started to fall down closed, her body attached to the branch like if it was a root into the dirt. The wind howled and some leaves started to raise and to move around her gracefully.
It was one moment. Her eyes closed and she felt outside the world. Her energies came up abruptly into her body, making her to sit straight, almost making her to fall down dangerously into the ground, being a couple of meters away from the dirt. Her head felt confused and some dizzy, but when she managed to recognize the sun almost starting to hide, an alarm turned on into her head.
Don't wanting to left trace, she immediately summoned nature magic to replace her light magic. Not using her normal magic won't assure her hiddenness, or that was the book said. So, gathering more focus, she again tried to catch as magic nature as she could.
Lux peeked at the ground, relieved that nothing was waiting for her at the end. She carefully moved at the trunk and, with the help of her magic, started to climb down, liking the odd sensation of the wood into her fingers. After a few minutes, she jumped the little space left and glanced around the entire environment. She spent a couple of seconds looking up at the stars that were slowly appearing in the sky before starting to run again.
The way didn't feel obnoxious as before, the slightly dark ambient helping a lot, making her feel safer. Dark was… odd for her. She knew for sure that the Dark she talks to eradicate was one thing, but then, there was that… darkness she liked. It was her best friend while she entered at the military and when she spent countless weeks at Noxus' underground. That darkness was gradually appearing around her; it felt the same way as the forest; like it was talking to her in a strange way.
She tried to not feel distracted by her thoughts as she kept moving into the fogs and keeping an eye around her. As a few kilometres went by, the trees started to be scarce, its size being smaller and smaller as well. Her vision caught immediately the sight of harvest fields and small houses at the distance. She noticed how the trees suddenly stopped to appearing, forming a single line that separated the forest between the town of Sagitta. She quickly rushed behind a tree and her eyes analysed the whole situation. Sagitta was a town dedicated to farming, so she wasn't surprised seeing a lot of harvest fields occupying the fermented earth, with a few houses not being too far away from each other. As the sun made its latest efforts to hide, her gaze connected with a little girl, which was staring at her back.
Lux froze, with her mouth slightly open. She quickly glanced at the kid, noticing how she was holding a doll with also a bridal dress, but way prettier than her broken one. Now that would be problematic. She was supposed to sneak in the town without being noticed anyone.
"Miss…?" came the voice from the kid, hesitant. Lux smiled slightly, trying to chill her down. "Why are you hiding behind a tree?" she asked, this time watching her deep green eyes and how they seemed to glow in the darkness, not seeming to mind it at all.
"Oh, hey there" Lux said, moving slowly away from the tree. "I was just… watching the big barn from there."
The girl frowned and turned her head around; checking up that Lux effectively was watching the red barn of her family, a dozens of meters away from them.
"Oh, right," she said, facing her again and smiling innocently. When she faced Lux again, her eyes widened, finally noticing her dress. "Oh no! What happened to your dress?"
The blonde blinked and paid a look to her outfit.
"Oh, this?" she shrugged, chuckling a little. "Don't pay attention to it. It's just… I had to cut it down to run."
The kid frowned in confusion, hugging her doll. She shook her head.
"Why did you have to cut it down?" she asked slowly. "You don't wanna marry?"
Lux sighed slowly, smiling gloomily at her.
"You're right. I didn't want to marry today."
Her answer was followed by a silence, with Lux passing by the trees and sitting down in the ground almost uncomfortably, thanks to her dress. Her companion walked at her, apparently without fearing of her anymore. She also sat down and started to caress the white threads, admiring it closely.
"My mom always told me the day you marry is the best day of your life," she rambled, frowning a little. "Did she was wrong?"
"Well, I didn't marry today, did I?" Lux said playfully, stealing a goofy smile from her. "That's very wise from her. I'm still looking for the best day of my life; probably it could be that one."
They both stood in silence, watching now the sky was finally becoming dark.
"Wait, isn't too late to you?" The elder said, with one eyebrow raised. "Wouldn't you get in trouble?"
"Oh, I totally forgot!" she answered, boggling and standing up abruptly, watching with fear the direction at her home. "Mom is going to kill me!"
Lux laughed a little, standing up as well.
"I should go, too."
The girl snapped out of the dread state of hers and stared at her in curiosity.
"Where are you going, miss? It is too far away?"
Lux considered the idea of not telling her about anything, but what harm she possibly could do? It was just a little girl.
"Well, it's indeed very far away from here," she answered, smiling slightly. "This is barely the first stop of many."
"And you're going to make all the way through with your wedding dress?!" she screamed, indignant. "Wait here!"
Lux opened her mouth to try to say something, but all her efforts weren't enough to stop the kid to run away in the direction from the barn, passing by it and still running, probably at her house. She furrowed her lips and stared at her dress, picking some with her hands. She was right. She would make all the way to Ionia wearing that? It wasn't like she had the chance to pack clothes, her backpack not being big enough for it, but a bridal dress?
"Seriously, Lux?" she told herself. "A kid pointed you out a big mistake. You are becoming so blunt."
She sighed and waited, counting the stars and thinking about her empty stomach. Her head turned around at the forest again, considering the possibility return for a moment and find something to eat, but it would be too rude from her if she walks away just like that. So she ignored all the complaints and waited patiently.
Loud steps awakened her from her trance, drawing her attention at the silhouette of the little girl running back at her again, holding something in her hands. Lux's eyes narrowed, trying to recognize what she was holding, giving up effort after a couple of seconds.
Finally, she was in front of her, breathing heavily, but a smile in her face. The blonde smiled at her and watched with questioning the brown bag in the girl's hands.
"What's this?" she asked with curiosity, incorporating herself and walking at her.
She only smiled at her question and putted her little hand inside the bag, taking out two pieces of clothes. Lux's eyes widened at the realization of what she was doing for her.
"Here, take these clothes," the kid said, putting the clothes back inside of the bag and handing it over to her. "This is some old clothes from my mum; you will make a better use of it!"
Lux blinked, but accepted slowly the gift into her hands, surprised by the gratitude.
"Thank you, but are you sure of this?" Lux said, noticing that, to her dismay, the bag also contained two boots to wear. Her mind clicked and she suddenly remembered that she ran way with two giant heels. Peeking at her feet, she noticed that both were bare. She didn't notice. "Your mother is alright with it?
"She would!" She answered dismissevly, grabbing Lux's wrist and dragging her at the barn. "C'mon, you can change there!"
"Wait, how she would?!" Lux called alarmingly, resisting the grab and looking around expectantly, expecting a furious mother to come out the darkness and jump to her jugular.
"Well, the thing is… I didn't quite tell her about you," she answered shyly, laughing nervously and reaching for the barn's big doors, pushing both. "But it doesn't matter! She won't notice if we hurry up!"
Lux let out a little yelp of surprise at being pulled towards inside the building. She sighed and watched how the girl peeked outside suspiciously before closing the doors. She then turned around and pointed out with her finger towards a pile of hay bale.
"Quickly, you can change behind of that hay!" She cried, urging her to hurry up. "Oh, right, I'm Anna! I didn't tell you my name, sorry!"
Lux smiled slightly, hugging the bag.
"I'm Lux. Didn't told you either," she said before running behind the hay. She dropped carefully the bag and started to struggle with her dress, trying to take it out as fast as she can. "Are you sure this will fit me?" she asked, sliding her arms out of the dress and fighting with her legs.
"Yeah, don't worry! She is as slim as you; like a stick!" she said, sitting in an old wood chair.
"Hey, I'm not that slim!" Lux protested indignantly, finally pulling out the dress of her and ignoring the cold breeze running through her almost naked body. She quickly folded her dress to put it inside the bag, feeling bad about how short the dress truly was. It's like a dress one would use in a club. At least, she has a lot of space. "I'm gracefully svelte."
"Yeah, yeah, hurry up!"
Lux huffed impatiently, grabbing a red square shirt and passing it through her shoulders and buttoning it up before following with the dark jeans. She didn't waste any further time thinking that effectively the clothes suited perfectly on her; instead she chose to grab the brown boots and putting it in both feet. The mage walked a couple of steps, deciding that she liked her new clothes and stepped out the hay, grabbing the brown bag.
Anna's gaze examined without any shame her silhouette, nodding and smiling. Lux blushed a little.
"How do I look?" she asked, making a little flip.
"Great," she answered, jumping out the chair and walking at her. "You can take the bag with you; it's also old enough to give to you." Anna assured confidently. Lux smiled, not knowing if she has to thank her or feel bad. "But hey, are you going to travel at night? Mom always says I never should go outside at night."
"Your mom's alright," she answered, grabbing the bag and hanging it up in her left shoulder. "But I have no choice; I need to keep going."
Anna pouted sadly, not happy with Lux. Lux smiled at her face and walked at her, crouching down at her.
"Tell me, Anna, do you like roses?" she asked with a confident smile.
Anna frowned in confusion, not knowing why she was asking that all of sudden.
"Of course! They are so pretty," she answered. "We even tried to plant some, but they always dried out at the end of the season. They're pretty hard to grow."
"Then I have a gift to you," the blond said. She focused again in the nature magic, making her hair green again. She heard a "woah" from Anna as she twirled her hand. The white rose Ezreal gave her appeared in her hand in a flash of green light.
"Miss!" Anna said with her voice muffed with awe. "Are you a mage?!" she cried, trying to reach the green sparkles that were floating around Lux's hair.
"I'm just an ordinary mage," she joked, giving the rose at her. "This is a very special rose. Just put it in the dirt and water it every day. It will grow even in winter, I promise!"
Anna's eyes shined with amazement before grabbing the rose carefully with her hands. Lux watched her for a couple of seconds before she straightened her body and looking at the exit.
"You don't have to worry for me, Anna," Lux assured, walking at the barn's doors and opening it slightly. "I wish the word has more lightened people just look you!"
Anna laughed happily and rushed at her side, almost hugging the rose into her chest.
"I wish I had that cool magic you have," she said, stealing a smile from Lux.
They slowly opened the doors, peeking outside and making sure that no one was around before getting out and closing the barn.
"Aw, too bad I have to go. I wish we could talk more," the blonde pouted, glancing at the horizon. She turned around and glanced at Anna one last time. "I guess this is the goodbye."
Anna nodded, smiling unapologetically, but sad. Lux checked her clothes one last time before smile to the little girl and start to jog away, in a parallel direction at
"Bye-bye, Lux!" she cried, moving her hand.
"Bye, Anna!" she answered without turning her back, but her smile never faltering.
"ANNA, WHERE ARE YOU?!" a voice echoed horribly through the air, making them both to boggle in surprise. "You better not be outside! CAM, WHERE'S ANNA?!"
"Crap!" Anna almost huffed, the fear being almost palpable in her voice. She turned around and quickly started to run at her house.
Lux blinked, being still in her spot watching the show. One second later, she laughed loudly and came back to her way, feeling delighted by the little encounter. Such a coincidence seemed to occur to her. At least she still has some luck.
She tried to keep her pace as silent as possible, moving very fast between the grasses and jumping some fences into the private proprieties. Her eyes connected with an apple tree at the distance, fully grown and with delicious apples to harvest. Her stomach ordered to her to get some food and she listened, praying internally that those farmers she was stealing from wouldn't have anything dangerous to use to shoot at her. Her gaze suspiciously glanced at the window of the house, almost beside the tree, and covered with one curtain that glowed yellow. One climb later, she managed to get a dozen of apples ready to eat. Lux laughed mischievously, not feeling bad a single bit, and disgusting her first food in hours. As her throat was chucked up, her body was back into the running again. She jumped a big fence without any problem and almost run in into a man. She was unable to gasp in surprise, but she managed to back off again, using the walls of the house as a hiding place.
"Goddammit this fucking horse!" an old man screamed to, apparently, a horse. Lux frowned in disgust at the use of words, remembering when she cursed a month ago. "This shit can't do a fucking thing! You are completely useless!"
And as the horse seemed to understand what he said, he neighed almost angrily. She tried hard to not laugh, managing it barely and paying attention one more time. Her mind remembered painfully to her the old memory of her old steed, Starfire. She locked the memory away in an instant; pretending to never have remembered it.
"You know WHAT? FUCK OFF!" the man screamed with full force, storming in his house, not without banging the door loudly.
Lux's face contracted in disbelief as she approached at the end of the wall, slowly making sure that no one was watching her. She glanced at the entry of the house, checking that the windows were covered by curtains before start to find the horse. She found a black horse already with a mount, wandering a couple of meters away from her. Her mind quickly connected the fact that she needed transport and that she has got some apples to do the job. She bit her lip.
Maybe that was another coincidence?
She slowly walked off the wall, moving with care steps at the horse. He seemed to notice her because he stopped to walking around and started to stare at her, almost expectantly. Lux tried to avoid making the grass sound with her new boots as she stopped in front of him. She smiled, but not too bright.
"Hey, buddy," she whispered slowly, holding up bot her hands up and making eye-contact she was taught to do long time ago. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? Here," she said, grabbing an apple from her almost exploding bag and handing over it to the horse. "It's all yours."
The animal whined smoothly before leaning into her hand to bite the apple, devouring it in a couple of seconds. The mage watched this satisfactorily, glad that the animal didn't seem afraid of her. She shook off her hand to take away everything unpleasant before focus again in the horse.
"Now I'm going to your side innocently, okay? Don't make any move…" She spoke as the horse's eyes followed her moving, right into its side. She confidently lifted her right leg to put it in the stirrup, using her hands to grab her body into the mount and boosting it with her force, gracefully landing above. She moved her butt to make herself confortable and she sighed happily. The horse didn't seem to be bothered by what she has done, too.
"Well, that was easy," she said to herself, frowning a little after a couple of seconds. "Maybe too easy…"
She watched with extreme paranoid at the forest, direction which she came from, expecting a full army of men to come out and to start to chase her. Nobody came seconds later. Lux sighed. She should keep going now.
"I hope you're ready for a long night," she talked to the horse, who merely whined at her. "I'm going to call you… Tenebris! We'll make such a good friends!" she said excitedly, caressing his snout delicately. "Now, let's get out of this place before that crazy man catch us."
Sagitta was such a good place.
The days passed, and quickly followed weeks. Lux's journey went without any big problem. After crossing the limits of Sagitta, she travelled for a few hours with Tenebris, always making sure that she was nature magic into her body. The road that followed Sagitta was free of any tree, so she didn't have the privilege to stop to rest for a moment. She was glad that Tenebris was completely fine with its new owner, and he wasn't tired in the slightest after they abandoned the small town.
Traveling around all Valoran was definitely way different than she used to remember, the memories of her whole life betrayed her. She felt sad that most of the times, the only reason she has to get out of Demacia to travel any place but the League, was because a mission. She has never got the chance to explore the world, to see it by herself, yet she knew it very well. She knew where she was exactly right now, but she never has been here. She recognises the kind of tree besides the path, but she has never touched it. She recognizes that bird that flied off, but she was actually delighted by seeing its green feathers for first time.
The path between Demacia and the Mashes of Kaladoun, felt completely new at her. She saw with awe the Great Barrier that spltted up Valoran in half as she tried to not lose focus in the nature magic, and also to keep a balance in Tenebris, which was moving with regular pace at West. The memories of her short past there appeared in her mind, making her to smile ironically. There, she has the darkest and brightest moments in her whole life. The moment when she finally connected entirely with her light… and the things she was forced to do to reach it. The Solari were the only known who knew how to use the powers of the sun, which derived her light magic. They were delighted by seeing a light mage after so, so many years of not seeing a single one. They weren't the ones who coerced her to accept its teachings, but Demacia. That didn't mean that they were too soft with her, though.
She asked to herself if Leona was up there, doing her Solari stuff and dealing with Diana, away from the whole word; in a plain simple way to say it. She felt her mind blurred for a moment; she didn't though Mount Targon as a place to hide, but it should be her second option if everything went wrong in Ioina. At least, she wouldn't be bothered by the rest of the world up there. She just first had to work on her magic imprint; so Ionia is still the best option.
She sighed as she started to see glimpse of marsh appearing gradually in the road. She played with her black dyed hair, still feeling weir about it. When she stepped out Sagitta, the whole word seemed to know about her betrayal to Demacia. Almost every town or village she stopped to get (steal) provision for the trip, she could hear her name whispering mouth by mouth, some of them fearing her. Lux felt bad. They surely thought that now she would be a bad guy.
And the worst part is (excluding that she almost reached the marsh), is that because the League of Legends was an allied of almost every single town in Valoran, they surely made them to know that, despite not having proofs, she was the thief who stole two precious books. She was sure that now she is pretty much one of the most wanted people in the word. And yet she managed to stay hidden by just using wild magic. But because the magic nature doesn't change her physical appearance enough, she had to do it by the traditional methods: dying his hair and using contact lenses. She applied some make-up in her face to conceal some major features and she was fine.
"Neat trick," she thought playfully.
Tenebris huffed in tiredness after the long walk. She let out a compassionate exclamation as she stroked its snout delicately.
"Good boy, we're almost there" she said reassuringly and smiling. "It would be hard to warm in night, but I'll handle it."
She really tried to stay positive, but the thought of spend a cold night in the middle of the marsh wasn't helping her out. She sighed. At least, she wasn't supposed to face any champion there. It would be hard to reach the forests of Ionia without face one.
The mage cringed around her body, feeling how the nature magic in her body slowly dissipated to give way to the weird one from the marshes. She didn't quite know how to describe it, but it was somewhat… sticky, different from the one she was used to. The green faints on her hair almost disappeared, as so the minimal glow into her eyes. The contact lenses almost hide it completely, but it wasn't a problem.
She sighed. At least it was safer being around trees than the bare road.
Lux walked carefully around the mud, grabbing Tenebris by its rope to avoid falling down in the ground. The night will be falling soon in the marsh, and she still has to find a good place to settle to spend the night. She tried to focus in her environment, not paying attention at the unnerving sounds of the insects and being lucky enough to pick up some dry firewood. Her horse slowly followed her behind, obediently and not making any sudden move. It was surrealistic, but she loved it.
The girl focused her gaze at the distance, recognising a miraculous spot, free of backwater and conveniently in a shape of a small hill. Lux smiled excitedly and rushed the pace, dodging puddles and guiding Tenebris through the way. A few seconds later, she managed to reach the little hill. As she dropped the wood into the ground, Lux grabbed her new-acquired canteen, a little gift she made to herself in the second parade, and slowly approached to her horse, carefully making it drink its contents. She sighed sadly, that wasn't enough, but it was all she has for now. She reached for her other bag in the back from Tenebris and grabbed two apples to give him to eat.
After feeding him, she moved to a weak-shaped tree, grabbing the robe and knotting it to the tree. She turned around and faced Tenebris.
"I'll be right back with some food… If I'm lucky," she said carefully, petting the snout. "Wait here."
Tenebris whined slightly and Lux smiled. She flipped and started to run quickly at the North of the marsh. The Serpentine River was just right above her, being kilometres far away, but the river disembogues very close to her position. Her hand reached for the small hairpin in it, unravelling it from her head as she ran, always making sure to not forget to use nature magic. She repressed a grin of discomfort as she replaced more magic into her body, still not getting used to it.
Lux moved across the dangerous environment, almost slipping thanks to the wet dirt and the deceptive water. She moved for some time, always taking note of the position of the sun to have an idea what hour it is. She grabbed a rock and carved a random tree, leaving a signal to make easier to come back later. The end of the Sepertine Riven wasn't too far away, so she managed to reach it after a half-hour. The marsh slowly started to disappear, being only glimpses of it at the appearance of disembogue. Lux narrowed her eyes, passing by one small stream and jumping it, landing in the other side. Her eyes immediately connected with the shallow waters, trying to find something there to eat. She strode through the grass that was about between green and brown, the two biomes joining.
The girl slowly walked at the edge of the waters. Lux sat down and took out one of the laces of her boot and knotted it tight in the hairpin. She tested it to make sure that it won't break before start to looking for an unlucky insect. She found a small beetle moving peacefully away a couple of meters from her. Using the same rock than before, she closed her eyes and smashed it to the animal. Now she has some bait.
The mage grabbed it quickly and inserted it in her make-shift hook. Lux twirled the lace in the wind before throwing the hook into the water, sighing silently and watching the bait floating in the word, hoping that she would catch somewhat to eat. She stood there quietly, waiting patiently to something to happen. But after a few moments… nothing happened.
Lux repressed an exasperated sigh and decided to try something new. Closing her eyes, she canalized the tiniest of nature magic into the lace, guiding it through the fibre till the hook. A second later, the water started to glow in a faint green around her bait. No more than a minute later, the hook quickly was engulfed not catching her by surprise. She quickly stood up and pulled back with the necessary force, pulling out the water an average sized carp. She caught it in the middle of the air flawlessly, using her body to restrain the resistance from the fish and, using the same sharp rock she used before, she quickly cut of the head from the gills. The animal stopped instantly after that. The girl went down and tried to clean up her food as much as she was capable, washing away the blood and the things she didn't want inside her body. She repeated the process with her lace and hairpin.
She straightened again and returned the lace into her boot again and attached her hair again with the hairpin, putting back in place. Lux grabbed carefully her precious fish and started to run back into the marsh, jumping the stream from before and following the indications she left. Another half hour later, she noticed at the distance the big figure of Tenebris lying in the ground, apparently relaxing. Lux quickly finished hiking and walked at him, grabbing her bag and leaving the fish there momentary. She then started to seek for rocks big enough to form a small bonfire. That proved to be a task that tested Lux's nervousness, but she managed to do it after a few minutes, anyways. The rocks forming a circular spot and safely away from anything flammable, the girl picked up the firewood again and accommodated in the centre. She then proceeded to ignite the wood using a small stick in the ground. Small sparkles appeared, reacting at Lux's encouraging breath, before turn into a small fire that spread across the wood. Lux smiled satisfactorily; Garen would be pleased.
The rest of the day went by her cooking her food and hitting the hay with the well-received warm from Tenebris. Her paranoia of anyone finding her made her sleep. In the next days, she would be hitting half way.
The whole process of sleeping went by in amazing speed. Lux, used to almost not fully rest, felt how the time passed in an incredible amount of time. She closed her eyes and she felt out the world for a moment, just for the next moment to come by, forcing her to open her eyes again. The bonfire was now a pile of ashes in the ground, and the moon was still in the sky. But yet she knew she has to move; her internal clock told her that now was five in the morning. She stretched her muscles before quietly wake up Tenebris. She slowly stood up and cleaned everything before setting everything to start to move again.
She was surprised to found that her body already sympathized with its new nature magic inside. She also found out that she no longer needs to keep canalizing magic in; her body do it by itself now. She was close.
"Have you heard about that girl who ran away from that city Demacia?" a gossip old woman whispered to another, leaning in the street stall in the middle of the twin city of Asthangi, Shanti, in the North of the Academy of War. "Everyone's talking about it; they said that she is now an enemy of everyone, even of that League of Legends itself."
"Oh, I did hear it," another woman huffed as she saved oranges and pineapples in a bag. She leaned slightly as she was saying a super-confidential secret. "But I don't know why everyone is so afraid of it; it's just a girl! A good army can handle her."
The peddler furrowed her nose hideously, shaking her head. "I've heard that she is a high skilled thief that stole something from the Insitute of War; and they can't catch up with her! She suddenly disappeared from the earth!" she cried alarmingly, spreading her mood to the other woman. "A lot of people say that she even started to be a troublemaker, going so far to even kill a man."
"That's unbelievable!" she answered. "That…!" she was abruptly interrupted when a black horse ran almost above her, forcing the woman to let out a little scream and to move just in time to avoid being crushed. Both women stood in silence for a couple of seconds, staring incredulously at the figure with a black hood which was mounting the animal, quickly moving away in the middle of the street. "That punk! How does the authorities allow this?!"
The black figure above the horse kept moving. She ignored all the angry shouts from the people who she almost crushed and grabbed hard the mount of the animal, hiding behind her hood; she didn't care. The horse moved straight to the East exit from the city, not stopping by any reason. Suddenly a couple of guards were almost beside her, trying to stop her for keep fleeing. She didn't hesitated when she raised her right leg and kicked one of them straight into his chest, dragging the other one with him thanks to the thrust. But then another came from the other side, and then there was dozens of them running at the gate to block it. She sighed exasperately and, with a lot of effort, she focused in the magic inside and raised her hand, which glowed green. The ground below them started to glow in the same colour as her hand, and an instant later, dozens of fierce roots erupted from it, chasing and grabbing the feet of the men. Some of them fell painfully in the ground, some screamed in surprise and now they were desperately trying to rip the roots off their feet. She made the horse to avoid every single of them and jumped some in the ground, hurrying up at the gates that now were closing.
"Close the damn gate! He's going to escape!" one screamed, feeling relieved from being able of break free one of his feet, but screaming again at seeing how another root came out the ground to grab it again. "Damn these fucking roots! Watch out, he's a mage!"
The girl huffed in disgust at being confounded by a man. They didn't think a woman could escape from them so easily? The horse made perfectly out of the town. He didn't stopped running till they were far away enough to avoid both of them being caught by their chasers. The woman above him ordered the horse to stop; he listened. The road was desert when the woman jumped off; she moved away the hood, revealing a frustrated face. Lux screamed with impotence at anyone in particular, making sure to empty all wrong with her.
They now believe that she was a runaway killer?! This is what she was now?! She just couldn't live her life as how she wants without anyone meddling on it? Lux forced herself to stop. She grabbed her head and closed her eyes for a long time. She shouldn't be so upset; it was what it's supposed to happen, after all. She messed with the big guys and she wouldn't be running away without any consequence.
But it still was hard. She was used to be one of the most beloved people of Demacia. She was used at the falseness of everyone; she liked it or not. Being in the dark side felt wrong. But at the same time, she knew it was the right thing.
Tenebris pushed her slightly with his head, whining slightly to try to draw her attention to him. She irreparably smiled, rewarding him by petting his snout. She pouted as she stroked his soft skin.
"You shouldn't be with me… I only bring problems."
He neighed in disgust, shaking his big head. Lux laughed at him.
"Sometimes I ask myself if you can actually understand me," she confessed, frowning. "It's kinda weird."
Tenebris didn't make any sound of response. Lux furrowed her lips, but shook her head, erasing any thought of her head. She moved at his side and went up his back, making herself comfortable before picking up the rope and shaking it.
"We have to keep moving; we still have a long way to reach Noxus," she said tiredly, glancing at the Ironspike Mountains, not too far away from them. "Oh, this night will be so cold…" she whispered, already shivering.
Infiltrate in Noxus never was so difficult.
The whole city was under red alert. The entries were strictly obstructed by dozens of guards, who checked thoroughly on every one who has to enter or exit, even making some to undress in order to avoid any big problem. The non-existent patrols in the outskirts of city now existed; every street, corner and public buildings were under the vigil. It would be completely impossible to just sneak in and to get to Noxus' military dock, not without her invisibility magic. Her fake appearance won't be enough to fool everyone there; she would be instantly recognized by her features. The so-dammed gossiped already made its job.
The funny thing is that it was completely her fault. After her little show in Shanti when she escaped from the authorities with Tenebris and using nature magic, it didn't take too long to their chasers to connect points and to figure out that it was her. Then, everything started to become a nightmare. The Real Guard and whoever else chasing her also took notes of the appearance of her horse. That kind of details that she even didn't know, like the small scar in his back, or the strange dark hair he was, which was way lighter than any horse she ever seen.
A big pain her heart remembered to her the decision she had to make. Having so many problems to get inside Noxus alone, she couldn't imagine what she would have to do with having Tenebris with her. She just couldn't do it. The best solution was to set free him in the best place she could ever think: the nature. She may come up with another solution if she has the time to do it, but she quite didn't have a single bit of it. She was being fenced; she didn't have any escape routes but Noxus. They managed to decipher that she was actually leading towards to the city. Lux hoped that they didn't know the rest of her plan or she will be screwed.
It still unnerved how well Tenebris took the goodbye. It wasn't easy to find a good meadow who gave her the enough amount of safeness to just drop him off on it, even with the possibility of anyone discovering her while doing it. But she forced her to do it nonetheless. After saying her last words to him, "I'll be back to pick you up fast as I can. Make sure to hide," he just whined at her as always and turned around to walk away into the paramo. That's when she confirmed that he actually understands her, every single word. She then felt better.
The absence of him made her to feel that loneliness she was used to have. But it would be too stupid of her to depress now, not when she was so close to get away. Alone, she was sure she can handle Noxus. After all, she wouldn't be Luxanna Crownguard if she hadn't an ace up in her sleeve.
Noxus was a city which was located in the very mountain. There wasn't any forest relatively close, so she made sure to store all nature magic as she can before leading towards it. Enter by the surface was discarded. But that wasn't how she managed to sneak inside Noxus' underground. Years ago, while the war between them and Demacia was fully active, she also faced a high security all over the place. She was ordered to find another way in. Her answer was in front of her. She made her investigation long time ago of the whole city. She found contacts, people who betrayed their own homeland and even being paid some things in order to Lux get the most information as possible. Demacia didn't help her out, but it wasn't time to think about how stupid she was in that time. One of that information, the one who allowed her to enter, was a secret entry, kilometres away from the city itself. It was a secret passage that connected with the prison of the city, which was located in one of the extremes of Noxus. The possibility of facing the bad guys in the prison or even the passage didn't make her to back down. She hasn't further options; she prayed that luck was in her side again.
The dawn will appear soon.
She ran quickly in the almost steppe biome, ignoring the cold breeze and not paying attention at the dried trees around her. She stopped at almost three kilometres away from the city. Her eyes didn't glance at the enormous city right into the mountain at the West, but at the well-hidden entry of a small cave that connected with the mountain. Lux moved inside, narrowing her eyes thanks to the lack of light inside. She ran while tapping carefully the wall, noticing with some shivers the entire cobweb that covered almost the whole place. She finally stopped at the end of the cave, pretending to be a dead end. She strode, however, at the wall, getting down and tapping slightly the ground beneath it in a complicated pattern. The rock crumbled slightly after that; and she only has to push with a lot of force the rock down, making it to move and open just like a door. Lux stood up and stared at the hole, completely dark. She took a deep breath before holding her nose and jumping in it.
The abundance of darkness didn't suffocate her as the last time she was falling. She just sharpened her sight and prepared herself to land in water, hugging her bag and praying to any god she knew in order to it not gettting drenched. She turned her body upside down and lined up her arms and legs. After almost a full minute of falling, her eyes captured a faint light of torches at the end, making a wide path more visible as she fell. She repressed the need of throw up when she entered the green, stagnant waters of the prison. She fought the flow, which tried to take her outside, and instead she swim at the rock path in the middle of the repugnant. Her hands grabbed the edge as it was a lifesaver and she pulled her body up, rolling out of the water. She took seconds to shake her body, trying to remove all the dirtiness, hugging herself. She then was quickly in her feet again, turning around and facing how the rock path kept into a wall rock. She checked in her bag, feeling extremely relieved that not a single drop of water has entered in. Feeling confident, she ran, trying to not focus in all the pipes expulsing wastes, holding her nose tightly. She was glad that she still has her hair glowing green because the light from the torches were almost useless. The way was short; she quickly was in front of a heave-looking door, which obviously was closed. Reaching for her bag, she took out a black jimmy. A moment later, the door was history. A lot of stairs followed, making obvious that Lux was very deep in the earth. As she climbed each step, she remembered exactly the full map of the prison, not expecting it to be exactly as the last time, but hoping that it was the opposite. The deeper floor, the worst criminal you'll find. She wasn't exactly expecting a fight, because she was technically in a prison, so they would be restricted, but still she wouldn't be taking any chance. She would avoid everyone, get out of the prison and get a boat to Ionia without anyone noticing. It's what she used to do, but this time without having her light magic.
A couple of minute passed without her feeling any tiredness in her body because the adrenaline of the moment. Another door was blocking the exit; she dealt with it without any problem. Her hand opened the door and she was greeted by a dark, dirty hall. Noticing with relief that she was at the end of the hallway, just as she remembered, her head peeked carefully at the other side by the edge of the door. Nobody was there. She moved out of the stairs and closed silently the door. She expertly moved in silence at the first corner of the first hallway. She was in the fifth floor of the prison, the one who is reserved for the worst of Noxus. She didn't know exactly how anyone gets dumped down here, but you must be minimum a traitor.
Lux wasn't worried at all. The thought of walking in the wing staff didn't bother her in the slightest. After all, the League solicited (ordered) support from Noxus to help them out finding her. Who would ever think she was in the place they wanted her to be in? She didn't pay attention at the various doors that were connected with the hallway; she just kept running without any problem. After a couple of minutes, her ears finally captured voices coming from the distance. Lux slowed considerably and stopped at the edge of the wall. Beside her, there was the open entry to a small kitchen. Her senses sharpened as she paid attention at the guards who were talking.
"Would you please remember me again why we are here?" one of them said. Lux didn't miss the sound of keys coming from his belt. "This is bullshit! Why they can't find a single bitch running? They have practically the whole army behind her and still they can't find her! And we're payin' for it staying down here!"
"It sucks, man, I know, but we can't do anything," the other answered, drinking something from a big cup. She guessed that it was coffee. "You have to remember that bitch was the one who entered this place like it was a walk in the park. NO one noticed her."
Lux's lips furrowed at the words towards her; she had enough. The words from their filthy mouths confirmed her assumptions she made minutes ago. If the prison was in lack of personal, then it's going be just like a walk in the park again. Raising slowly her hand, it started glowing slightly green. She focused intently and tried to not waste too much magic and also hide it. The floor behind the men started glowing green, too, but none of them noticed. She took her time as she listened.
"The warden wants us down here looking out for the prisoners," the same guy kept talking, this time moving aside her cup. "You forget what we have bounded. Or maybe you got scared, dude! Can't believe it! I thought you would want some fun!" he cried in a mocking tone.
"Shut up, fucker!" he screamed, taping slightly his ribs and letting out a small moan. "That fucking bitch stabbed me with a fucking dagger! Where did she get that?!"
As two roots came out from the floor and slowly started to move at their feet and start to move up through their legs just like a serpent, Lux's face contracted at the thoughts who threatened to appear in her head. But she ignored them, she didn't to lose focus.
A red-headed appeared in her mind, nonetheless.
"Well, she was restrained. How did she manage to do that? I dunno," he shrugged. "But she's hot as fuck; I'm gonna try later, you join me?"
"Sure thing, I gotta make her pay," he grumbled, not noticing how two pairs of root were covering his lower body just like his buddy.
Feeling completely disgusted by she just heard, Lux closed her hand with full force, without any hesitation. The roots crushed both bodies, making them to scream in surprise and pain, especially the wounded one. Lux moved quickly her hand at right, the root following her movements as it smashed both in the rock wall without any loud sound. They both fell down in the floor, unconscious. Lux moved off behind the wall and got in the kitchen, running at the one who's got the keys. She took them out from his belt, and moved her hand to order the root to retreat in the earth again. She stood up again and flipped out to run at the exit door, using the keys she's now got. Thankfully, all of them were marked with small symbols. She didn't waste further time guessing which one was from that door.
What came next was, obviously, another hallway. This time, it was perfectly lighted and significantly wider. Lux turned her head around and noticed how the hallway connected with a few ones, being way narrower than the principal. She moved silently, glancing at the various hallways. All of them weren't long enough to her sight to don't notice the end. Actually, all of them had heavy doors at the end, with a small window closed at the upper part. She noticed the magic coming from them, protective magic. There it's surely the place where the prisoners are. She didn't pay any attention; it was none of her business; and she hast yet four floors to climb.
She stopped frozen in her tracks as she almost reached the door that allowed her to use the elevator from the floor. She slowly backed off, her head moving and staring at one hallway, the only one who has the small window open. She walked at the end, reluctantly peeking through the window. What she saw made her lost her breath.
Despite being several meters away from her, Lux instantly recognized the silhouette of Katarina landing on the floor, her lower body harshly wounded, attached with black ropes and her arms restrained by two chains that were in the wall. Her head was facing the floor; she couldn't guess if she was awake or not.
"No, no, no…" she muffed in dread, shaking her head frantically. "This isn't supposed to happen!"
Her hand unconsciously reached the handle, taking it out almost instantly thanks to the electric feeling of hot magic running painfully around her hand in a flash. She sighed exasperatedly and almost broke her bag, looking for the keys again. Katarina was one of the most famous Noxus' assassin, title shared with Talon. She shouldn't be there; she should be…. killing someone. But in the prison? Why she has the feeling it was her fault? Why the world suddenly changes when she change too?
The horrible search from the key left as a result three red keys, actually. Her eyes scanned every single one and landed on the small one, which has a "K" in the opposite side of the cuts. It was an amazing thing how the key landed in the keyhole in speed record. She turned two times, took it out and tried again. The same spell reacted at her touch, rejecting her hand like a virus. She was starting to feel angry; she hasn't time to mess around. She waved her hand in front of the door, trying to use nature magic to get a reaction. She didn't have to wait too much; seconds later, an advanced structure of runes appeared.
Without thinking it more than a second, Lux scowled and expulsed a spout of nature magic into it from her hand. She fought the magic, trying to force the nature magic inside. Her magic quickly overpowered the other one and, one moment later, the door blew up in a bunch of giant roots, shattering it piece by piece. The girl managed to cover with her arms barely, stepping back just in time to avoid being smashed. After everything was landing harmlessly in the floor, she allowed herself to gaze at Katarina.
Her green eyes stare unnerved her. The red-haired woman was just looking at her in silence, like she was trying to decipher what was going on. Then, she started laughing slightly to herself, switching to her loud one a few moments later. She took her time, like she just saw one of the funniest things in her life. Lux waited patiently in the entry, fighting the need to tap her feet in the floor. When Katarina seemed to calm down, the blonde moved her legs and started to walk at her.
Only the reflexes she forcefully developed in military and all the missions she made allowed her to dodge with a somersault the dozens of knives that suddenly came right at her side. Lux landed perfectly in her feet, straightening her body and abruptly turning around her head at both walls from her side that were just meters away from her. She identified small holes in patters, probably the place where the knives came from. She almost questioned aloud about it when a small click echoed right above her. Her face seemed perked up at the speed of the light just in time to catch the sight of a giant blade quickly falling down and moving on its axis. She barely sidestepped it, and then another came, and another, and another. Her back smashed into the wall, the last blade passing just millimetres away from her nose.
One moment later, her mind yelled at her to move. Lux's gaze focused and noticed dozens of small devices appearing around all the room, excluding where Katarina was. The devices shone in red and they let out a fine and transparent red laser. She held her breath, already knowing what would happen next. She twisted her body almost in a funny way, trying desperately to avoid those lasers. A moment later, the red transparent thing became deep red, letting out a sharp sound. Lux held her breath at feeling the warm aura of the laser almost touching her skin somewhere in her back, feeling somewhat relieved that she didn't feel any pain. Five seconds went by, one of the most torturous of her life. The laser finally disappeared, allowing her to dump down in the floor and to breathe heavily, don't feeling physically tired but very hysterical.
She suddenly stood up, sending a fierce glance at Katarina, who was smirking at her like nothing happened.
"They really didn't want you escaping, right?" the blonde accused, walking the long way at the red-headed. She stopped in front of her, finally noticing more and more bruises around all her body, but she seemed to not mind at all. Katarina just kept smiling at her. "I.. uh, kinda feel it's my fault you're here. Am I right?" she asked slowly.
"Well, you certainly aren't stupid as you pretend." Katarina answered coolly. It unnerved Lux the appeased state of hers. "I never doubted it."
"Why are you here?" Lux spoke, almost demanding an answer. "I'm sure Noxus is pretty happy about you… doing your killing stuff. Well, at least some of your superiors. It just doesn't make any sense. What happened?"
Katarina furrowed her lips in an ironically smile.
"Curious…" she said. "You want to know what happened. Swain happened." It was her answer, making Lux to shot her a puzzled gaze. "He took advantage of the incident long time ago, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."
The mage cringed her body, feeling guilty flowing around her being. So she does that for herself and still she somewhat manages to mess up everything.
"He…"
"He tried to blame me for the steal," Katarina interrupted her, this time not smiling. Her gaze was completely focused in Lux's eyes. "I don't know how the fuckhe did it, but he did it. So, with the support of the League, they dumped me in this fucking jail." She said venomously, narrowing her eyes. Lux didn't say anything. "But one day later, everyone was greeted by the big news: the little princess of Demacia had just run away from her home, abandoning in the altar none other than the very prince of Demacia."
"Uh, God…" Lux mumbled very embarrassed. She didn't like the thought of everyone knowing about her personal life more than now.
"So, with that, the League realized that someone like me would never be able to steal something from them. Only someone with enough magic skills would be able to do so. And with help. They dismissed me, but as you can see, I'm still here. It doesn't matters now."
Lux sighed, but she smiled a second later.
"You're right, it doesn't," Lux answered, crouching down at Katarina and breaking her free from the chains with the force of her magic. She only raised again another eyebrow at her in response. "Knowing you, you'll want revenge. I can't help out with that, but we both need to get out of here. It's the least I can do."
Katarina stared at her. Lux leaned back again in her foot at stared at her, too. They were silent for a second before an instant later, Katarina disappeared and appeared behind her with a dagger in her hand that seemed to appear from nowhere, pressed on Lux's neck.
"And what makes you think I'm not going to rip your head off, sunshine?" she taunted, the creepy sound of her voice not scaring Lux at all.
Lux somewhat managed to sigh, before turning her head at her without any fear and shooting a tired gaze.
"Because you won't kill your lover's sister, right, Kat?" she answered with a tiny smile.
Katarina frowned hard, deeply. The dagger trembled for a second before being turned back reluctantly, safely away from Lux's body. The blonde stood up as so Katarina.
"I'm not going to kill you because of that," she hissed disagreeably, her voice sounding annoyed. "But because I need to get out of here. And I can't do it alone."
The mage smiled brightly, making Katarina to release a scowl.
"Awesome! We'll be such a great team!" she said dreamy. "Those bad guys won't stand us. They're barely something. We can totally sneak on them!"
"I think you should reconsider that, girl." Katarina said, blowing up the frenetic state from her companion. "Thanks to your little show with your… roots," she said slowly, this time taking note of her black hair and the glowing green. "They'll be here in any moment."
"…Right!" the blonde said ashamedly. Her mind wasn't in mission mode after all. She maybe got way too relaxed in her trip to Noxus, despite having half the word behind her. She was used to hide, after all, so that wasn't a big deal. "We should keep going," she said as she rushed at the exit, turning at the elevator.
"Hold on," Katarina was suddenly at her side, stopping her in her tracks. "I have something else to do," she said, her voice leaving nothing else to discuss.
Katarina unfolded two daggers and walked at the prison door that were in front of her jail, being followed by Lux's confused stared. They both stopped at the entry, silent. Lux waited a couple of seconds, expecting something great, but nothing happened.
"By the way, you smell horrible." Katarina's harsh commentary surprised her.
"I know," she said, sighing and trying to wash away the smell from her hood, noticing it for the first time here. "I had to use a sort of… alternative way to get there."
Katarina just smiled at her mockingly and shrugged. She finally moved at the entry of the jail door, with the blonde safely away from her. Her grab in the daggers tightened (making Lux's eyes narrow in suspiciously, still believing that Katarina was a mage in secret) and putted her body in fight stance. A second later, she whirled around incredibly fast, cutting everything in her way like butter. The door seemed to disintegrate behold the daggers, leaving behind tons of dust.
Katarina stopped and Lux approached, peeking through behind the red head's shoulders. A pair of seconds went by and the dust finally dispersed. Her mouth went wide open and she couldn't resist to cover it with both hands when her eyes connected with the person, specifically a guy, which was lying down in the floor just like Katarina minutes ago, almost completely naked, with just one drawer being the only thing in his body. Talon's steady eyes connected with both girls, taking a moment to analyse her before having a visual conversation with her sister.
"Uh… I guess he tried to take you out, but…" Lux said slowly, blinking in embarrassment, not used to see men like that. "I guess I would never understand you Noxus folks…"
Katarina only scowled at her words, trying to ignoring the ironic situation of her brother being treated horribly just as she treated other prisoners. She simply attached her daggers in her belt and ran gracefully at Talon. Just like before, tons of traps started to activate one by one. The blonde just enjoyed to show, watching how she dodged blades, darts, lasers, water traps, electrified tiles, guns shooting at her in crazy angles and more, still not knowing Talon has got more tramps than his sister. When Katarina finished after rolling on the floor to dodge a flamethrower, and standing up in front of Talon to break him free, Lux allowed herself to quickly run at both, taking out her hood and giving it to Talon.
"Here, you can use this to cover yourself," Lux said brightly, contracting amazingly at the current situation.
Talon gazed at her like she was a crazy.
"This smells shit," was his harsh, cold answer.
Lux snorted in annoyance, twirling the hood on him in purpose.
"Well, I guess you rather to move in the city with just those underpants, I got it, blade boy" she said sarcastically, missing the amused smirk of Katarina.
Talon scowled quite loudly and grabbed the hood reluctantly, standing up and putting it in his body in the process. Now only his lower legs were visible, excepting some parts of his torso.
"Well, I guess that should do…" Lux started to talk, but her words were suddenly interrupted by the sudden tremble of the whole building, everyone's ears registering a huge explosion coming from outside the room. Katarina throw two daggers at Talon to solve his lack of weapons, and Lux prepared her magic. She tried to not waste too much; she already has half of her reserves done.
"They're really late, don't you think?" Lux thought aloud, preparing herself and not sounding worried at all.
"Those idiots can't do things well on their own," Talon cold voice said, grabbing somewhat weirdly the daggers, not used at them. "It would be stupid of them if they think just a merely couple of guards can handle us."
"Enough of this, I want to stab someone!" Katarina screamed, snapping both of them out. Everyone paid attention at the floating dust coming from the open door, Lux coughing a little and again destroying the heated environment, and how five silhouettes coming out of it. With a disappointed pout, the red-headed discovered that they were merely simple guards and two mages. "Well, this is bullshit. Swain's stupid."
With a smile in her face, Lux saw one of the guards taking one step at them, trying to apparent confident and failing miserably. His gaze focused intently on the DuCouteau siblings and it completely ignored the third one beside them.
"You two, freeze!" he cried loudly, holding tightly an awkward heavy-sized spear and pointing it towards them.
Katarina smiled.
"What if I say no?" she taunted almost deliciously, twirling a dagger in her hand playfully.
"You..!"
"Hold up!"
The attention of everyone turned at the small guy wearing a blue robe, gaze focused on Lux.
"What the fuck do you want, heck?!" the spear dude cried, shooting a furious gaze and the mage and at the same time, somehow, staring back at the three fugitives.
"You…" he almost whispered, watching the dark-haired Lux with scared eyes. "…You are Lady Luxanna, don't you?"
She smiled back.
"And I think you are… Nigel, right?" She said, taking notice of his silver hair, barely visible thanks to his robes. "Long time no see."
"Hold a sec, that girl?! She's Demacia's fugitive?" one of the guards screamed, widening his eyes. "That…!"
His face went suddenly dead pale a second later, traumatized and painful. Guard's brown eyes gazed down at his chest, noticing a dagger perfectly impaled in his body's heart, blood coming out of the wound. One moment later, he fell at the floor with a sonorous 'thump', following him three dead bodies more.
Katarina smirked at Nigel, the only one who's got enough reflexes to rise up a small barrier to block the projectile she threw at everyone.
"Not bad, little mage." She laughed, with Talon shooting at her a tired gaze.
"You should have at least given them some time to say they last words; we could have got important information." He said, funnily scolding her.
"I agree with him, Kat." Lux said, making Katarina to snort bitterly.
"So what, I know everything I need," she said dismissively, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Why?"
The three of them were forcefully snapped out of their little conversation. They turned her stances at Nigel, his silver shaking gaze focused intently on Lux's
"Why did you do it, Miss Luxanna..?" he questioned, blinking. "Why did you run away? Why did you abandon Prince Jarvan?"
Lux breathed deeply, momentarily forgetting about Katarina and Talon. She closed her eyes for a moment and then smiled sweetly, brightly.
"I don't expect you to understand." Lux's voice broke on the last word. "It's something I had to do, and it's definitely not your business, at all. As so everybody else's." Her palm glowed green behind her back. "I'm sorry for this."
"Wha-?" he suddenly went shut when a root behind him knocked out hard in his neck, sending him straight to the floor unconscious.
Lux sighed tiredly, watching all the corps lying in the floor. She walked at Nigel and dragged him into the wall, putting him in a sat position. She then turned around and faced Katarina and Talon.
"We should have killed him, and you know it." Katarina said coolly, eyes narrowed.
"I couldn't kill him," the blonde said hopelessly, prying through her shoulder at the sleepy body of her old summoner. "He hasn't done anything wrong. He's way too similar with me. Also he won't remember anything, I made sure of that."
Katarina snorted, but she didn't say anything anyways. Lux beckoned Talon the came closer as walked to one of the guards in the floor, getting down and pointing at it with her finger.
"Look, I think those clothes will fit in your body, don't you think?" she said in a poor attempt to change the topic.
"Whatever."
Talon strode at one of the dead men and took out his pants and boots, taking out the blonde's cape momentarily. Lux quickly looked away from him, still embarrassed. When he finished, Katarina was in their sides, seeming very impatient.
"Now let's get out from here at once, damn!" she hissed, moving at the door and not waiting for them to come.
Lux smiled and stood up, running after her with Talon behind her. After passing by the exit room, they found out that the explosion took out with it the elevator as well.
"The elevator's gone?" Lux complained aloud dramatically, not wanting to think about stairs.
"Shut it down and move." Katarina barked as she and Talon ran at the stairs.
"Alright, alright!" The blonde replied, moving as well.
Ignoring the elevator, everyone went through the stairs beside it.
"We have almost two hours before dawn drawn appears. We need to get out before the patrol finds that two prisoners have escaped." Lux said systematically, turning her body in a 90 degree to keep rushing to another set up stairs. The DuCoteau glared at her. "Hehe, well, it was like that when I came years ago…"
Silence answered her; Lux felt dumb for saying the obvious, but she recovered up in no time. The last stair was done and they broke in silently into the fourth floor, a place when horrific people were, but not that bad like Katarina and Talon. (How's that possible?) She laughed silently, and she next felt bad for joking around with something like that.
The blonde one managed to convince Katarina to try to not kill anyone who walks into them. They didn't need more bodies to hide. The jails in there were not as secured as the other ones because the prisoners didn't were so dangerous and the upper ones. They can't just make appear a dagger or move expertly in the walls and stab you with blades everywhere. Instead of jail doors, were hard-looking sliding doors with a small hole enough to pass in some food and with a small sliding window to see inside.
The trio moved away from the stairs door, with Lux leading the group. They stopped at the intersection of the jail-hallway and two more, which she already knew one of them leaded towards the offices and kitchen while the other towards showers.
Katarina glowed impatient, remembering her that she needs to keep on. She peeked at the right hallway, immediately catching the sight of two guards moving at the other side of it, backs opposite at them.
"Alright, I'll catch them and you knock them out, understood?" she said, raising her hand and twirling it.
An impatient huff made her to know that Katarina listened and that Talon was silent, no surprise. Lux focused in her nature magic and she breathed deeply. It was harder to summon her roots because fourth floor is not connected directly at earth as the fifth one. It took her a huge amount of time, in her point of view, to make the floor green in order to allow a green root to come out. The root quickly moved towards the unaware men, and in a second, it grabbed both of them by their ankles.
"What the-"
Katarina and Talon were behind them by the moment they noticed they were being attacked. Talon opted to simply punch hard in the other one's neck, while Katarina, true to herself, stabbed the other one directly into his heart. Both bodies hit the floor almost silently.
"Katty-Katty Kat!" Lux silently cried, rushing at them in funny tiptoes, almost choking in her own laugh at seeing Katarina's face upon hearing her nickname. "We're supposed to not kill anyone! You promised it!"
"WHAT the fuck was that?!" the red-headed roared dangerously, aiming for one dagger from nowhere and tossing it at Lux with an amazing speed.
Lux quickly moved out the way, watching with astonished eyes at Katarina and then at the dagger which was nailed deeply in the wall.
"Heavens, you could have killed me!" she said with wide mouth. "You're so bad with me! I thought we could be friends."
"Shut the fuck up if you don't want to be sliced." She warned, turning around. She didn't expected Talon laughing silently, hiding his face behind his hand. "WHAT are you laughing at, little cute brother?" she hissed, taking one step at him and smiling playfully. "This amuses you?"
"I don't…" he tried to say, making an amazing effort to erase the smile in his face.
Watching someone teasing Katarina with such careless doesn't happens every day.
"Well, you better watch you back-"
"Who the hell are you?!"
For what seemed the hundredth time in the day, the trio snapped out from their little fight. Lux stopped chuckling and her gaze connected with a dozens of guards standing in the other side of the hallway in a battle stance. Talon sighed.
"Looks like we weren't silent enough." The blonde said.
"This is not over," Katarina spoke deadly, taking two daggers in both her hands. "Let's finish this already."
As they went by each floor, the apprehension in Lux's heart only went bigger and bigger. The fourth floor probed that was completely impossible to escape the prison without killing anyone. There were way too many guards to stop one by one and spare them, or at least that what she keeps saying herself. Otherwise she would become insane. So she tried to smile as always.
Fifth floor were a short blessing to her, and she knew it. It may didn't look like the safest prison because yes, they three escaped with such an easiness that made it look like kids games, but that floor has got enough protections to handle and reduce any kind of prisoner. They just didn't expect someone sneaking in by a super-secret entry, not quite. It would be such a waste to put many guards as the other floors because they won't we needed… at least now.
She was supposed to stay away with that kind of stuff, because it's what Demacia forced into herself, but the passage through the next four floors probed to Lux that she was never going to walk away of it. Talon noticed how she tried to only knock out as many people as possible, not doing more than a single necessary blow where it was needed. She was sure by the wait he shot at her glances sometimes. He also didn't seem very comfortable killing with Katarina's daggers, which she assumed was because he quite rather his old blades, so he decided to try to do the same. In the other side, Katarina was having the day of her life, completing forgetting what just happened. After being deprived for slicing someone for so long, she was making sure to stab as many as she could.
The astonished stares of some prisoners unnerved the hell out of her. She wasn't there for being judged, even for those people. Some of them tried to escape at seeing the giant mess they were doing, like an opportunity. They swept away with every single guard; mage and any unfortunate one who choose to get on the way. No one prisoner made a successful break out, Katarina made sure of that, as if she almost knew every single one of them and what they made.
They almost got caught, twice. Well, Katarina and Talon didn't notice, but Lux did. They did were silent while moving and killing people, but the problem were the mages. Almost none of them were in high level such as Lux or some champions, nowhere close. She thanked that, because if it weren't for that, they would be already sending strenuous messages to the Institute of War asking for help. The blonde was quick enough to shut down those with the help with her magic.
She almost didn't believe that they've slain more than a hundred of people in just one hour. It was animal, sadistic. The prison was enormous. Almost all the hallways were made of tons and tons of jails. Each one of them was about one kilometre long, and they conformed an endless labyrinthine of paths, and endless sea of prisoners and guards. Fifth floor were almost minimalistic, but it wasn't the same history for the other ones.
Her head hurt when she questioned herself how she came up with memorizing every single corner of the place. She almost couldn't believe it, but back in that time she was… dedicated. Now it served for a purpose that she chose, at least.
And now, three floors later, the last and upper one was just as small as the fifth one, but different. It was merely the main entry of the prison. They emerged from a hole with stairs. The way out was blocked up by a giant portcullis and it followed a dirt path and another stone wall which was connected to the reception and the main entry. The place was very well illuminated thanks to some torches in the wall, but it lacked of guards as well. Lux, repressed the feeling to took out her boots and feel the dirt with her feet, found herself sensing strange vibrations coming from the all the ground around her, even from outside. Realization hit her an instant later, forcing her to let out a silent, but pitched shriek of excitement.
Katarina was already throwing daggers with her eyes at her.
"Would you shut up?" she hissed, moving out the stairs and walking without care in the world at the big double lever beside the portcullis with Talon following her. Each one grabbed one handle and started to push it. Lux smiled, already forgetting what just happened behind her and moved as well to their sides.
"Jass, Manh?! Are you two?" a male voice sounded from the other side through the door hole of the reception. Talon shot a Katarina a warning glance but she dismissed him with a snort; they kept on. "Uh, I thought I was clear before! We have strict orders to keep an eye down there! No one else will be here; it's impossible!"
"We should be thankful that this whole thing of tons of guards in one place on none of them in another was… convenient," Lux muttered, focusing in the vibrations of the other side. She could sense some footsteps and a chair moving. "No one else is in the other room as far I can tell." Katarina glanced at her just one second.
The lever kept rolling. Seconds later, Katarina and Talon stopped suddenly when a loud click echoed through the place, the portcullis already being at the top of the wall. Lux stared for some moments at the spikes at the end of every piece of iron.
"That pathetic idiot…" Talon said with contempt, narrowing his eyes. Lux has got to give him some credit, though. She also didn't believe the negligence of the man.
The blonde sighed. Now it was her turn. With some misgiving, she allowed her nature magic to glow green in the dirt and summon a root that silently moved out the room through the reception. She tried to not focus in her low reserves and instead she told the root to take care of the only guy left. A sharp blow later, another body fell into the ground.
The trio moved through the shadows, making sure to not show themselves to outside. The reception was empty and silent. Lux examined it. The place was surrounded by darkness, only momentarily lightened by random lights coming from outside. The desk was brown dark and very tall; the man being easily found, laying above it. She walked to him, effectively checking that he was very unconscious. Maybe she hit too hard? Her eyes moved at the sunglasses that were on the corner. She grabbed it and opened it, reaching to the guy's sleepy face, and she accommodated the sunglasses on him and pushed the guy back to the chair.
"Now it looks like he's got a big razzle with his friends," she said. Talon t'ched in response while Katarina shot at her a piercing glare. She smiled in response. "So where you guys going?" she asked quietly, turning around.
Katarina went silent for a moment, apparently thinking about her answer. Talon kept his mouth shout, waiting for his sister to answer.
"There's still… something to take care here in Noxus," she finally said, her words blank.
Talon kept wondering how Katarina seemed to act extremely different how she used to be around Lux. Maybe it was something the blonde did to her, as so him. Did to everyone.
"So it looks like you and Talon will stick around, uh…" she responded quietly, slowly. "I guess it's not any harm to tell you that I'm going to Ionia. Maybe you could visit me. After all, it's obvious you won't be standing in Noxus anymore." She offered kindly, moving gracefully to the main doors, her magic already telling that no one was close around to catch her in sight. "It would be nice to see you again, Kat. You too, Talon." She opened the double doors, managing to do it without it not making any shriek sound. She stopped for a moment. "I guess this is the goodbye. Farewell!"
And with that, Lux vanished into the darkness of the night in Noxus.
Katarina stared into the place Lux was for a moment. She allowed the tiniest of smiles show in her lips, a real one. Talon didn't miss it.
"Didn't know that you two were so friends." His voice snapped her out harshly, forcing her to gaze at him.
"We don't," she said dismissively, walking to the exit as well. Talon followed.
"It didn't look like that. At all." He answered coldly, not liking to being lied. "Would you stop being so pathetic? When did this happen?"
Katarina stopped in her tracks, her body tensing deadly. The man stopped as well, preparing himself to any kind of attack from the read-headed. He waited, but nothing happened.
"I don't know, it just… happened," she muttered, surprising her sibling. "When she… found out about Garen and me she never stopped trying to get along with me. She was nowhere near to quit. I almost stab her twice. But she kept calling me family, that I…" her mouth froze, her words died in her throat.
Feeling that someone was getting closer, she just closed her mouth and disappeared in a red flash right into a house roof. Talon sighed, never thinking how troubled her sister was. He disappeared as well behind her.
Maybe it was time to work on that.
Noxus' dock was actually quite far away from her. The prison was in the opposite side of the city given the direction of it, so she found herself having to run for more than fifteen minutes in order to even approach to the mountain side of the city.
Despite not having with her anymore her invisibility spell, she got by quite well with her normal stealth abilities. As she thought, the patrols were doubled on everywhere. Every corner, street, roof, alley was now under active patrol. She was nowhere safe. She was in a constant presence of
The whole situation made the girl to ask herself how she and the DuCoteau siblings broke free from the prison, and yet the answer was obvious to her. Maybe what she needed now is pure force, just like they used in that place before, but now that only would attract attention she doesn't need. She was close, she couldn't mess things up now.
Her new acquired ability to sense vibrations from earth comes in handy. She would never be able to move between so many guards without being caught if she hasn't the cool trick of sense where they currently are. Her new best friend was now darkness, ironically, because now she had to hide in it instead light. She sneaked through the houses, never quitting moving and hiding. After walk away from the prison, her objective was now the double tunnels that connected the side of the mountain she currently was. The big problem it was those tunnels were horribly close to the Main Palace and the Grand General's quarters. She could sense waves and waves of vibrations made of footsteps coming from the mountain, specifically from were those buildings were located.
Passing by the dark neighbourhoods was relatively easy. Despite that every street was under patrol operations, she already knew Noxian soldiers didn't stood out thanks to its… intelligence. They were more about fighting and killing their enemies. Demacia wasn't far away from it either, but they were more… acquainted in that aspect.
Things started to get more difficult at the point when she started to be near the tunnels. She will be wandering into lion's den.
She almost let out a small yelp of surprise from her hiding spot at seeing a squad of guards running down the street to, if she could recall well, the rich zone of the city. Then the words of Katarina popped up into her mind, making her to blink.
"Maybe she…"she stop thinking abruptly, frowning at herself for thinking such a thing. "No, that's impossible."
Either way, whatever it's happening down streets did help her out a lot. With the way now out of guards, Lux passed by the last house and run silently at the shadows of the wall out of the cross. This was the only open space she could be found, if there were someone to do it. She should thank the red-headed later.
As she made her way through the stone path to the right tunnel, the lack of nature magic in her body ironically fuelled the vibrations she was receiving from the mountain. Her gaze went up for a moment, analysing the giant quarters building that were inlaid high in the mountain. From there, she could sense vibrations from inside, and the inner stairs that connected it to outside. Some people were running at her direction.
Not wanting to get discovered, Lux finally crossed the narrow path at the other side of the mountain, hiding herself as so her magic. She could almost feel how light magic tried to grasp her magic core, almost desperately. She felt bad. She did miss her light magic, too.
The other side of the mountain was like a different world. Despite being almost completely constructed underground, Noxus doesn't forget about the surface side. After all, it is where some of the most important buildings were. But for some reason, the other side was, unlike its opposite counterpart, forgotten. The place was being occupied by mostly poor people and those who were qualified as weak. It was like that part of any city you don't want to be.
Her eyes caught the sight of the dock at the distance; just a kilometre or so away after the tall, fortified wall and the huge hole that surrounded the entire city. Her feet started to move one more time, this time running significantly faster than before. She couldn't feel so many guards in that zone as the other side, but despite that, the place lacked of big buildings, alleys or any place you could think to hide of. Lux didn't allow herself to lose hope.
She quickly left behind the tunnel and trotted out the stone path, right into a big-shaped and convenient tree near of the entry. As her back leaned on the tree, her mind quickly deciphered the patters of the patrols, and it came up with a plan of advance.
"Good plan."
Lux's head never straightened up so fast. She instantly gazed all around herself, expecting someone glaring at her with a sarcastic expression and a mocking smile. No one else was near her; the closest one being one hundred meters away. She turned her head around, facing the three she was hiding at for no apparent reason.
"Am I going crazy or the tree just…?"
She stared at the dark brown wood, challenging it to speak again. But as always, nothing happened.
"Grandma always said that plants spoke to her… She…"
She cut off all distracting thought right away. If she was going crazy then it will be outside and safe of Noxus. Lux then braked away from the haunting presence of the three and hiked exceptionally fast in the direction of the massive hole. She didn't pay attention at the obvious path that were designed to one follow it and instead she tried her best to avoid being sighted. That path leaded towards one of the few entries of the city, and that would mean it's going to be terribly guarded. She would have to do something crazy.
Lux suddenly was just a kilometre away of the fortified wall. She saw with apprehension the big spikes that the wall showed off proudly and a so the shapes of all the people above, moving and don't losing any detail. The dozens of light beacons coming out from the watchtowers distributed symmetrically. She never thought she would be afraid of light.
She took her time to relax into the oddly and welcoming feeling of the darkness, thanks to the wall of a precarious house. So she closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and tried to smile.
"Impossible." Her mind shouted at her, punching hard her hopes. She sighed. Indeed, it was completely impossible pass through that barrier. Lux figured out that she depended too much in her invisibility spell, but who could blame her? It was extremely useful.
Then, out of the blue, she remembered the exact day in the Magic Academy, that day when she almost got herself out of sanity. Mrs Minerva found her and she…
"When everything seems impossible, even by the means of logic, you need to do something crazy."
…said that. Well, it isn't like she has another option. She just will turn off her mind for a moment…
Sighing deeply, Lux turned her head around, staring intently at the two doors in the ground, the cellar doors from the house. For what she was going to do it was needed some tools… or everything she could get by with it. She rolled off the dark corner, always silent, and crawled at the entry. She grabbed the knob with hope, expecting it to be closed, but proving herself a moment later that it wasn't. The blonde slowly opened the wood, making it aside and making appear tiny stairs.
It's the lowest of the lowest to steal from someone who was in need, but she hasn't any option left. To try to use her magic nature would be suicidal; she barely has any left. She needed to save it for an emergency; and if this wasn't one, she didn't want to think what it could be.
She jumped in, trying her best to not make any loud sound. A couple of steps were enough to reach the end. She pressed the small button from the switch at her right side, allowing the room to lighten up. She looked around, noticing that the room wasn't that empty as she thought. There was a small, red carpet at the centre, with a tools table in front of it. She walked, avoiding the bunch of boxes in front of the stairs and paid attention at the old and broken objects that were abandoned next to the table. Losing interest, she instead strode at the tools table, picking up two stakes. She tested them for a couple of seconds, noticing that effectively both were in a good state and in standby. She also found out that none of them were covered in something such like blood or so. She smiled brightly, this time way more confident than before. It was time to test her luck again.
Lux saved the two stakes in her bag and quickly fled away, moving at the stairs and climbing them, making sure to close the door behind her silently. She crawled again to her hiding spot and waited patiently. The light number one passed, and fifteen seconds later it did the light number six. The mage prepared herself, her body tensing. When the third light passed right in front of her, barely not touching her, she stormed out crazily from her spot. She run as fast as her legs allowed.
That kilometre felt like when she was six and she used to sneak into her grandmother's room to gossip about the entire Demacia and to practice her abilities with piano. That time when her mother had for some reason a strong dislike for her own mother. So much so that she always dragged Lux away from her with the excuse she "needed to study". But now, her grandma was her freedom and those lights and prying eyes were like a thousand of Lilias chasing her.
When she was about fifty meters away from the massive wall, pain in legs already ignored, she quickly unzipped her brown bag and took out the two stakes. She ran like a mental, jumping as far as she could on the wall, avoiding one big spike, and nailed the two stakes in the stone. She found with satisfaction that it didn't oppose at all. An instant later, her feet found a small surface that was deformed thanks to the ages to lean in. She then started to climb the fifteen and endless meters up.
Despite being constructed to give and horrendous death to those unfortunate who were unlucky enough to fall in, the spikes were actually helping her out to hide. One beacon light darted across the wall, dangerously near her. Lux, in the fourth meter, yelped and forced her body to twist uncomfortably in the correct angle to cover her barely. The light went above the spike, not revealing anything than just the normal wall. She sighed and got back again in her normal state. She re-nailed the stakes again and climbed one meter more. She swayed towards it four a couple of seconds and jumped on in, right above. Having just ten seconds of safeness before the next light, Lux shook her body, trying to undo the tiredness in her muscles. She cursed herself for not being in a fit state again. She was just being like all those stereotypes about mages!
The blonde repeated the process for what it seemed over and over and over. Approaching the end of the wall, Lux almost hugged the last spike with both arms. She managed to insert her body over it, relaxing just a couple of seconds because she was safe of any light for now. She looked up, trying to straighten her body as much as she could, always making sure to stick on the stone wall. There were two small deformations coming out of the wall that were wide enough to cover her small figure, one above the other. She looked up, paying attention to the vibrations she was feeling, absently saving the stakes on her bag again.
The sudden rays coming out from the horizon made the silent night, day. She felt her heart rate pumping up in her capillaries, almost making her to lose the uncomfortable position of her feet of the concave surface. She waited for a couple of seconds, finding out the correct timing to keep on. She heard footsteps moving above herself, walking in her direction and passing by her without noticing her presence. Lux then quickly got to it, flipping around and grabbing the first deformation with her fingers. She didn't know where she found enough strength to pull herself up, but she did it anyways, rising after her left leg and then following it the other one. She trembled just a bit before slowly stand up, trying to grab the stone bricks of her back. Now between the two deformations, Lux waited again.
The sun was slowly revealing itself, and Lux was going nuts thanks to it. Feeling the vibrations of some wooden crates (she didn't know how she actually knew it was wooden crates), she slowly side across the harsh bricks with her feet. When the patrol reset itself again, she quickly grabbed the edge with her slim fingers and her face twisted as she pulled herself upwards again. Her legs quickly helped her out to stand in the edge. She then jumped the thick wall left and rolled in, falling painfully behind the wood crates but silently. She managed to get half her body on her bag, easing some pain. Lux quickly adapted to her new hiding spot, sitting down in her butt and peeking through some of the edges at what she was interested. She felt a little nervous when a second later, a two guards passed by. She held her breath and prayed to all gods she knew. None of them noticed her, they just kept walking.
She leaned her head in relief into the wood, sighing. Her mind came up with all patrol's movements in an instant as she furrowed her lips, attempting to think a plan of action. Her eyes focused in what will be her get out of jail free card: the watchtower number three. She was completely sure that there was a small trapdoor inside, which leaded towards a small and somewhat hidden stairs, stairs that connected to one of the principal bridges of the city, stairs that had narrow walls covering it… But what she was exactly thinking about was that small, unnoticed window that was in that wall. She couldn't just walk by the bridge, so she would need to pass right above it, using the giant chains holding it. How did she know about that window? She attributed to her obsessive craziness long time ago, when she used to remember everything in order to "make the most perfect mission ever," as how she liked to call it.
Now that craziness was paying off, so she needed to take advantage of it. The blonde gazed with some impatience at another couple of guards coming by; to the watchtower number five that currently was watching her zone and the sun rising up. None of them will be in her book all right, specially the sun, which would hinder her escape with its… light. Her mind stopped for a second, realizing what she just thought. She shrugged.
Finally, the way was open. The watchtower number three was lightening up a random place she didn't care, but what she did care is that whoever was doing it, its back was facing the door entrance. That person won't see her get inside.
The mage grabbed her bag again, still feeling dumb about how she can forget about it, and putted on her shoulder. She waited patiently one more time, counting the amount of meters she was away from the door, and finding some poor entertainment in the torch light that were beside it. When she saw the last guy of the patrol to reset passing by and stopping at the other side of the rampart, apparently looking at the outsides of the city, she instantly was on her food, running silently at him. She did a cool ninja move (as how she saw doing Zed and Shen dozens of times) to knock him out punching on his neck. The guy let out a small cry of surprise before falling into her arms almost peacefully. She dragged him behind the wooden crates and quickly threw him, hiding the evidence.
She then gasped dramatically and turned around, running quickly at the watchtower number three. She tried to open the wooden door as silently as she can, but she only has two seconds left before the next group coming by, so she just stormed in somewhat "silently" and prepared herself, expecting some challenge.
When she expected a hard-looking guard turning around and facing her with a battle stance, she found a small and slim guy napping in one old chair, right beside the beacon. Lux felt suddenly very angry. They were supposed to be protecting the city. Yes, she was sounding extremely idiotic, but what it would be of everyone if everything goes wrong because this guy?
"Idiot, idiot! What I'm even thinking?! This guy was supposed to keep an eye for me!"
Still, because she wasn't taking any chance. She strode at him and punched hard in the nerve of the clavicle. His face contorted almost funnily before falling on the ground. The blonde sighed heavily, feeling relieved that none noticed her getting in, and flipped around, moving at the trapdoor and opening it quietly. She crutched down and lowered her feet first, putting them in the second wooden bar of the ladder. She started to descend over it, stopping briefly to close the trapdoor again.
She then tried slide over both edges as she saw in a movie when kid, but when her left foot almost twisted, she decided she would try it later. With an irritated expression in her face, she tried to go down at the speed of the light, the faint light coming out from the watchtower slowly disappearing. The area was illuminated as she descended again into the stone floor, now the path being visible tanks to a line of torches in the wall. She turned around and ran out the narrow hallway. Just after a couple of meters, she saw the small window at the distance, just as she remembered it. Lux almost smashed herself on it, extremely eager. As she opened it, the girl didn't pay attention at the down stairs at her left side. Those were supposed to be an exclusive way to the bridge, for guards only, so what she would expect if she just walks by? A warm welcoming? In a utopic word, of course.
She moved away the damn glass, making some light to come in, contrasting terribly with the strange inside. She raised her right leg first, turning her body ninety degrees. When she was about to keep going, she felt something down in her chest. She looked down and gasped in shock. Her boob was on the way, it simply refused to move through the small aperture.
Lux didn't know if she should feel good or not. Her mind instantly told her that she was being stupid, that such a banal topic hasn't nothing to do with her and the situation she was currently going on… but she smiled nonetheless, very satisfied. She wasn't that type of girl who takes it seriously, especially because she would never be with someone in THAT way. Imagine herself being touched by someone gives her creeps. Also she… she… didn't know why she was still thinking about this.
Resisting the urge to punch herself, she gazed outside through the window, leaning her right left in the row of bricks that were stick out of the exterior rampart. She pressed both her boobs against her chest in order to pass through the small space, and her left legs followed. She grabbed tightly the edge of the window and turned around, landing slowly her other leg. She was below of the level of the bridge, in another pair of deformations as before. Lux couldn't help but watch the pitch darkness of the endless hole below her. It felt like the whole thing was pulling her down, trying to surround her forever.
She pated her head a couple of times, washing away the weird feeling. It kept happening since she isol-a-t-e-d herself about not using light magic. She didn't pay any attention, though. She would never let darkness consume her.
Straightening her head up, she took a deep breath and started moving through the narrow path. She focused in the vibrations coming from the bridge, identifying every single presence over her. Lux advanced fast some meters, putting her almost right below the bridge. Two parallels, giant chains came out from the brick wall, connecting to the first edge of the bridge, following a semi-circular path to cover a bunch of wood, and then descending just a little across the rest of it above the hole and repeating the same thing with the other side.
She ducked just a little to avoid hit her head with the hard metal, moving to the other side of it and already thinking how she would get by through it. The vibrations coming from upside didn't notice the blonde head sneaking below. Lux reached up to one of the chain's links, but the fact that her arms' length weren't long enough smashed her painfully. Hesitation showed in her face, making her to glance down again. Death was just this close to her, and a bad move will end everything. It would be painful? Quite the opposite. She won't feel anything; it'll just end in an instant.
But… She'd rather die than rot in the bottom of Demacia's prison, that's for sure. She smiled to herself and jumped. She grabbed the chain just in time. Her body stuck at it like a koala at its bamboo. She had to put some force in her neck because she was upside down; now the sight of the hole unnerved her more. She twirled around it to be up it.
Now, she slowly and with a scared face, advanced, hugged at the chain. She grabbed another chain link and dragged the rest of her body to it, still aware of what was below. As she hit the end of the semi-circle, something two odd things started to happen. She suddenly was flooded by two groups of vibrations, one larger than the other. The first one came from the city, especially around the zone of the prison. She didn't have to give it too much thought because she already knew that they found out the mess she did with the DuCouteau siblings; she had to hurry up before the alarm strikes. She already was at the beginning of the other semi-circle when she thought about the second one; it was just a vibration bigger than the small ones she was used to feel, it wasn't like someone's steps or an object falling in the ground. It felt like…
"A horse?" she answered herself, turning around just enough to raise her leg, stretch it and hold it into the last chain. She moved her arm and grabbed tightly the other chain as well, and after some instants of preparation, she pushed herself at the other side, barely landing on it. But her mind didn't seem to pay it any thought. "...dragging something?"
As she turned around again to keep moving, the vibration suddenly came up in a sound of effectively a horse trotting, obviously not her Tenebris because she somehow knew that it wasn't him, moving a carriage at Noxus' entry. She didn't know why someone would even try to get into the city knowing the delicate situation (everyone knew about the fugitive, right?), but it come in handy just in time.
As she faced the smooth wall of the hole and started to climb at the top of the chain, the carriage considerably lowered its speed to attend guards' interrogation, Lux supposed.
"Stop!" she heard one of the men, feeling him walking at the now immobile carriage. Her ears were always perked up when she nailed her fingers in the top link of the chain, analysing the hard wood above her. Incredible long timbers shaped the wood, accommodated in rows, but the lower ones had small space between them of separation. So the blonde just had to push her limits (braveness) to stand up and grab them. She tried to imagine it as when she was kid and played with the monkey bars, listening to the conversation as well.
"…so he was right, uh? Good thing it worked out. Better get inside with that thing." Lux, arms hanged out and grasping wood and moving, frowned. She dammed her head voice for not allowing her to hear properly. It was obvious there was something important in that carriage and she'll deduce that whatever the thing is, it wasn't supposed to be brought by such a careless way. "OPEN IT!"
Lux's eyes snapped open as she heard the portcullis quickly opening and the carriage moving again. She neared the end of the wood, and she almost prepared herself climb the vertical part when an extremely loud alarm exploded inside everyone's ears. The mage flipped out and forced her arms to work at double speed.
"What?! What the fuck?!" Someone said alarmingly. "The alarm…! CLOSE THE DOOR, CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!"
Lux's hand smashed against the horizontal hard wood again, but this time the gravity wasn't trying to kill her… directly. She repressed painful groan and she covered the small to-do climb she yet hadn't done. The millisecond lying in the bridge was enough to give her the energy to stand up and not test her luck. She ran as fast as she can, completely used to it.
She did want to no one see her, but it seemed that Noxus' guards weren't stupid enough this time.
"HEY, YOU, STOP!" Someone screamed from above, probably on the rampart. Who else would be stupid enough to stop? Not her.
Lux actually had to move out of the way because she almost smashed directly into a tree. Barely acknowledging she was so out of herself that she even didn't notice that exact border of Noxus had trees in there, making a weird sight of a temperate forest; the girl did not wasted any further time in nothing but running.
The same guard who screamed at her t'ched in disgust and quickly turned around, drawing the attention of some men, which waited for orders. It was her, he was fully sure; Swain ordered everyone to memorize all the pictures, draws, features, EVERYTHING they knew about her: every single military man, and the whole city for some reason. Noxus hasn't anything to do with that girl, but it did matter to Swain, so it has to matters to him.
"Cortez! Call the quarters and inform that we may have that damn fugitive the League has been looking for; and make sure to tell them they have to inform General Swain as well, understood?. The rest of the squad, FOLLOW ME!" he spoke aloud sternly, leaving nothing to discuss as he moved to one of the watchtowers.
"Yes, sir!"
Panic showed in Lux's face, already feeling dozens of vibrations chasing her. She hiked through the woods expertly, watching at the distance the dock. She could already feel how the people in there were mobilizing as well, fact proved because the tall bars surrounding all of it. The dock wasn't exactly how big someone could imagine as a "Military Dock" properly said, but it served Noxus' purpose of satisfying that need to… kill people and show off some strength. They had to keep an image, especially with those pirates of Bilgerwaters.
It was in the middle of the forest when she noticed how slowly her magic core started to absorb nature magic around, allowing appearing some glimpses of green sparks around her hair. But as soon it started, it stopped, as if the magic around her depleted completely. This is when she noticed that something with Noxus was really, really wrong. Its magic… she felt a feeling similar with sorrow, out of blue.
But she couldn't distract herself any more with it. Despite the strange episode, she did keep the magic inside. It felt like a boost of energy and tranquillity. The rest of the way at the armed forces' base she managed to keep herself under control. The trees around her protected her now.
Her mind didn't register how much time passed since she ran away, but all she knew the sun was fully visible, still on the edge of the world, and that she was now in front of the base, hiding behind a tree.
Her mind connected with the world again and now it was fully aware in which situation she was in. So she came up with the best thing she could do: think of a plan.
Noxus' army dock was way bigger when you saw it closer. Noxus betrayed its culture (she laughed to herself) and decided to construct more than half the thing on water. The entry, some dozens of meters away from her, were made out of, first, a big, dark gate which had double bars that secured it and closed both sides. Behind there was a small building that served to check on everyone who pass through the gate. It seemed like the lack of personal hit there as well, but Lux was sure that those bars were electrified, and it wasn't easy to climb those five meters long, and adding up on that there were obviously vigilance. Oh, how she missed her light magic… Her hand twitched; her brain stopping it by remembering her that she also had mages behind her ass, also chasing her. She sighed unhappily.
The rest of the base was built on maritime platforms. Every one of them was about one meter above the water, and they were long enough to occupy a good kilometre from the coast to the open sea. The main building was right after the entry, just a couple of meters away, while the rest of the base were made out of deposits, barracks where the soldiers live, of course watchtowers way more advanced than the simply rocky ones from the rampart and security cameras everywhere.
Her objective was a boat powerful enough to take her through the hundreds of kilometres to Ionia. Her original plan was to just find someone who had its own boat and pay some money to give a ride to Ionia. That little, hopeful plan was quickly shut down when the next day after escaped, the Institute of War itself made a shout out to inform, well, everyone. And of course it has to be a reward for her capture, to those who weren't under the League's control.
Now, recalculating everything, she concluded she has any chance to make it. Well, not without magic, but she did grabbed some in the strange forest. She thanked Noxus hadn't chopped out all of it, for some reason. Lux didn't want to think about it.
Her brilliant idea was to enter make herself a way in through earth. Any attempt of surface will result on her being immediately sighted and, consequently, captured. Another day in which magic saves her butt.
After checking up on her chasers, that by the way, they were still a little further away from her for some reason, she called her magic nature again. This time, it wouldn't be as easy as to just summon a root from the dirt, and she was now out of her precious staff. She would need to get by just the raw magic.
An idea came up in her mind, making Lux smile. She focused her magic in both her hands, a green aura surrounding them. She paid a last glance at the army base, mentally counting how much way she has to dig till hit the Guardian's Sea beginnings. She nodded and then ducked down, her hand hesitantly tapping the dirt. She has about three minutes before Noxus' guards catch up with her; plus the alarm of the dock hadn't stroked out yet. But as if her thoughts summoned it, a second later, a strident, loud and pitched alarm pierced her hear.
She facepalmed. They really took their time to trigger it; or it was just her imagination?
Her hand took the control this time, desperately starting to dig. When she expected it to hit painfully the hard dirt, she was surprised to see how the dirt moved out of the way almost by its own means, as though it shy away from the green aura. Lux hummed happily, eagerly starting to going under. Both her arms felt like they were two giant motorized shovels; she just had stretch them out in line and the rest was a job done. She first dug some meters straight down to avoid any damage to any root she could face, but the girl was surprised to see how the dirt she initially dug moved again back in its original place.
"Magic is such a cool thing… Can't believe I've been all this time stuck on light." She thought as she dug horizontally. Lux then frowned to herself. "Not that I don't like light." The girl excused herself, feeling the need to do it.
She snapped out, still not believing how she was easily distracted by her own thoughts and how she is still alive.
"Better to be like this than an emotionless robot, though."
Despite her efforts, it was impossible to shut her mind voice down; so she just ignored it. Sometimes it felt like it has own life. She advanced fast through the dirt, the most difficult thing being to crawl, dragging her brown bag with her. What it would normally take hours to do, she did it in seconds. She didn't even have to worry about landslides; the underground structure repaired itself!
When she was one hundred percent she already outpaced the dangerous gate, her mind started to work out her memories again. She never has been inside Noxus' dock before. But of course, she did have to read and memorize the whole map of the base as well. Didn't matter if her old business was underground; Demacia wasn't taking any chance. She was somewhat thankful for that.
Knowing that, she descended even more, making sure to not hit the water ahead of schedule. Then, she turned her direction towards the north side of the base, right to the exportation platform. If she could recall well, the platform B was the one in charge of take care of all trash the base produces and to export it to Zaun. Why, she didn't know. That platform was the only one who has a direct connection with the main building, also being one of the closest one of it.
She kept on a couple of meters, stopping instantly when she started to face sand instead dirt, almost fifteen meters underground. She would need now to start go up and make a hole directly into the sea. With a frown in her lips, still questioning herself about the reliability of this make-shift plan, Lux divert the curse of the hole, trying to get it as close as possible to the platform she was looking for. After a couple of seconds, the pressure on her hands suddenly intensified; making her to know that the ocean was practically above her.
She switched to one-handed and used her now free hand to take out her boots and somehow put them inside her bag, her forgotten but useful bag.
"I only hope it doesn't get ruined by the salad water…" she muttered sadly.
She deduced that the small vibrations she could barely feel in direct contact with the sand were the metal pillars that supported the platform up, which meant she was directly beneath it. She sighed deeply, not feeling ready at all. Lux looked behind her, not facing a hole as how she was expecting but a small cavity she currently was from, the sand perfectly in its place again. Then she glanced down at her bare feet, brushing them against the cold sand, but not feeling uncomfortable at all.
"Two more to the list." She said, frowning and not finding an explanation. "I'm such a trouble magnet."
She shook her head furiously and stared deeply up, right into her green aura hands. She counted to tree and smiled, then she expanded both hands and forced her magic to break out from her hands, allowing to a small explosion of magic to appear. The nature magic blew up the rest of the sand left and pushed away some salad water in the process, giving Lux a faint, beautiful sight of the sea. She breathed extremely deeply, trying to grab as much air as she could and jumped out of the hole, splashing her face with water. Her head immediately straightened out, opening her eyes, ignoring the itching in her eyes, and looking for the platform. She found it an instant later: one platform of about 25 meters, in half by a small division, making the right part longer than the other.
Lux putted her legs in the edges of what was left of the hole and used them to impulse her body upwards, the sand on her feet tickling them; not seeing how again the sand came back to its original place, leaving no clue that anything happened there. She held her breath tightly in her chest, diving towards the surface. She knew how Noxus had sensors around their entire base and nigh of it to detect any kind of enemy approaching; that was her entry card. Under red alarm, the whole base was extremely paranoid. It was completely assured they will send someone to check out the sudden movements below their own frigging base.
Lux's face twisted almost funnily in effort, the lack of oxygen kicking in painfully. She swam a couple of meters more, pushing the rope of her bag between her arm and chest in an attempt of not losing it, the promise of some oxygen making her to keep on. She did raise herself enough in the water to start seeing rays of lights entering the sea thanks to the sun; enough to give her hope. Two seconds later, she managed just in time to hold herself back, emerging silently in the surface. The first thing she did was breathe again for own sake, taking not too much time to refrigerate her blood with life as she would like it.
She looked around, trying to familiarize with her surroundings. She was floating on the shallow waters of the ocean, a beautiful sunny day with no clouds, currently beneath the largest part of the platform B, the right one. Lux didn't lose any further time. She swam at the closest pillar of metal, one from the right side of the right part of the platform, grabbing it tightly to get some support. The blonde suddenly realized she could've die down there; why the thought of it hit her so hard? Did really that time out of duty punished her so hard?
She freeze, her grab in the pillar tightening a lot. The ambient drastically changed; the tension flooded everywhere. Lux's hearth rate slowed a little, she now breathed as silently as she could. Her gaze went up, facing nothing but the metal of the platform, but she knew more. Her eyes did see more than it appeared. Slow, almost completely silent steps moved through the platform, this time not being sensed by her magic; impossible, the only thing of the platform over earth were the pillars; but her instincts. Someone, or some, were above her.
She narrowed her eyes. This wasn't bullshit like those guards from the prison. The people up were real soldiers, probably better at fighting than her. She did know where to punch to incapacity or kill somebody in an instant, but it is a completely different story when she has to do it in real battle. Those soldiers weren't sitting ducks. She switched at the pillar in front of her and waited. Lux needed to fan them out first.
She waited… The steps covered that end side entirely, but slowly, as if it was checking for something or someone. Then, it jumped at the other side, its shadow briefly impacting on Lux's skin. Some time went by.
"Nothing." A raspy, deep voice spoke, obviously to a radio. "No one is here."
"I swear this is ridiculous. How can someone sneak in and appear out of nothing in the sea below our base? It's just impossible."
"You've said it, Gin, out of nothing." The man replied calmly, apparently turning around slowly.
Lux furrowed her lips; she couldn't let them escape, she needed to bait them. Calling some nature magic again, she concentred the tiniest part she could extract of her reserves without getting out of it in her fingers. She couldn't use light magic; that would be her end.
"I wouldn't matter at the end. I'm already here; and it takes one day to trace me. By that time, I should be on Ionia." Her rebellious, stubborn mind complained.
Lux stopped in her tracks.
"But every magic left traces behind. That's why I'm using nature magic; they have no way to tell if I'm the one using it, being a lot of people that also can," she refuted herself. "If I use light magic, I'll left a trace behind me when fleeing."
"Why, of course, it'll be a nature trace instead."
The orb of nature magic disappeared immediately, her face with an expression of pure horror. She blinked and supressed all the magic nature she could desperately, absorbing as much magic waste she could back again into her body. Her own voice, thank God it came back again, just saved her ass. Magic got her inside; she needed now to get by without it.
"We better get back to our positions," the complaint one said with a bored tone. "We need to report this to Sergeant."
Lux panicked. She reached for her bag and raised it just enough to avoid water getting inside as she opened it up silently. She grabbed the stakes and threw one of them hard in front of her, landing in the water some meters away from her. A splash of water echoed.
"Hold on, did you hear that?" He replied, almost whispering. The girl beneath heard a clicking sound, probably for a gun and how the man came back again at the other side, leaving the other one behind briefly. He probably aimed someplace in the ocean. "Gin, what did you see?" He asked slowly. Lux had his chance.
She floated at the separation of the platform, her eyes falling on two pair of dark boots in the very edge. She knew what she had to do; she would regret later.
"I don't really see anything," Gin replied, this time a little serious than before. "Maybe we should check be-" He was cut off when two hands emerged from the sea and grabbed his heels. Before he could even shoot at what got him, he was dragged at the sea with incredible force. "DUDE, HEC!"
Hec turned around abruptly just in time to see the unbelieving sight of his buddy's surprised face, just before disappearing into the sea.
"Gin!?"
Lux didn't wasted any further time. She moved aside her bag and switched her hands on the man's heels to his shoulders, sinking him perforce, the factor surprise clearly doing its job. Then, stake in hand, she punched hard with the smooth handle right into the neck's nerve. Three seconds after the little ambush, the soldier was unconscious and already drowning in the water. Before dropping the body, she grabbed the gun he was carrying, a sort of artillery gun she never had seen before. The thing was heavy, and she almost couldn't make it to the other side of the platform before the other soldier rushed in.
"HEY, GIN!" Hec screamed, jumping back again and running at the verge of the platform where his partner was standing just seconds ago. He saw nothing but the crystalline water shining due to the sunrays. "Damn it!" He cried, feeling extremely impotent. He t'ched and quickly got rid of her gun, placing it beside him. He reached for his boots to take them off when-
"Freeze."
His body paralyzed immediately. The ambient turned in a suffocating bubble of pure tension.
"Raise your hands; don't even try to reach your gun."
The man did as he was told, slowly raising both hands up, not even daring to glance at the gun near him.
"Now, turn around slowly. No sudden moves."
He listened. Bit by bit, he twirled on her knees, the scuffing sound of the cloth of his clothes unnerving him. His face went up and he wasn't surprised at what he saw. It was a young girl barefoot, blonde hair with some remains of dark dye on it, blue jeans and red shirt with a bag, aiming at him. But what it did matter to him wasn't all of that but her face. That little, petite, dammed face Swain made everyone to remember, was staring at him with troubled, hesitant eyes. Hec's stare switched at her hands holding the gum, slightly trembling.
"I never thought I'd have the pleasure of meeting the person who managed to fool Institute of War for over a month. You made it look like kid's games." He started talking, stealing one eyebrow from Lux. "What are you going to do with me now? Kill me? With that stance?"
As soon the words entered in Lux's ears, her eyes widened slightly for a second. Then, she closed them and smiled in realization. When she gazed at him again, the hesitation was gone; there was instead a cold, calculative look. Hec cursed mentally.
"You're right. I need to catch myself. Don't bother trying to buy time; I'll finish this quickly." The girl answered harshly, the grab on the gun handle tightening. She closed the distance between them with just one and half step. "I just… Sorry about your friend."
His face perked up abruptly, furious, challenging Lux without any fear.
"WHAT did you do to him?!" He hissed frantically. "Where is he?!"
"Sorry, I'm running late." She answered.
And with that, instead of a killing blow as how the man expected, she just knocked him unconscious in a flashy move with the gun. She caught him just in time, saving his body from death. The girl dragged him a little and dropped him in the middle of the half-platform. She sighed.
"I hope he isn't kind of vengeful type. I don't need any more enemies."
Lux ducked down beside Hec, her hands looking for something. She checked on every corner of his gear, finally finding a small white target in the pants pocket. She only flashed at it a short glance; it was an ID army card which had an image of a serious Hec in the left side, while in the right has important information, such as full name, which she discovered it was Hector Grim, age and current rank. But what it mattered to Lux was the code bar at the end of that side. She saved the card in her pocket; it may be useful later.
Battle sense punched her mentally (how), making her to react quickly. She unzipped her heavy bag and took out her boots back again, putting them in her feet. Then, she turned around and ran. The 25 way in the platform was spend by a little hysterical Lux thanks to her wrenched appearance and her now ruined hair. She tried to distract herself gazing at the various cargo ships distributed across it, anchored and some with cargo boxes onto, some not. Her eyes then turned in front of her, right into the main building and the passage way that connected it to the platform B. Even from that distance, she could see the tall and dark walls, around two meters high. It was a strange sight; she didn't know why Noxus' taste for those colours, but well, it didn't matter. She instead sharpened her sight, looking for an entry route, her eyes inevitably falling on the ventilation duct on top of the hallway, big enough to let someone to sneak in. She frowned her lips; such a newbie plan for her, but she hasn't any other option. She couldn't use magic and she hasn't got any useful instrument with her but the ID card, and that wouldn't do everything.
She approached the end of the platform, facing the technologic-looking door, noticing how there was a small panel beside where it was supposed to be the keyhole with buttons from 1 to 9, and a small-hole line such like a pin pad to slide through it a card. She paid it just one second of her attention, thinking how those doors could've been very useful in the prison as well. It wasn't, however, what she exactly was looking for. She gazed up, raising one-handed her gun as well, still not believing Noxus' soldiers were actually using ranged weapons, and facing a very small black hole with a transparent lens. She stared it for half a second, pulling the trigger down of her gun. The piercing sound disturbed the calm ambient just for a moment. Lux sighed, putting her arm back in place. Now they'll be here in any moment; if the lack of response of those two soldiers weren't enough, then her truly image recorded by the security camera will do the job.
She ignored the door and moved to the left, running on another platform that served as support about two meters wide, being parallel with the walls of the hallway, and turning again to start to run alongside the long wall. She ran a couple of seconds, the main building being already visible, shooting another camera in the wall as bonus. The ladder that leaded towards at the top of the hallway attracted her deeply. Her hands jumped on the metal bars, already starting to climb it as she analysed the upper part of the main building, catching in sight the outlet conduit. The place was actually prettu big: it held the reception room, security room, energy room, some offices, along with the captain's and other things she now didn't remember. She was actually surprised.
Lux's hand grasped the edge of the wall at the end of the ladder and, at the same time, the same door as before snapped open loudly. Her head twisted, alarmed, but her legs kept on. As she finished standing up on the roof, heavy steps took the platform, the characteristic sound (to her, at least.) of army men doing their stuff triggered.
"Go, go, go!" some of them cried as the door unleashed a wave of bulky, armed to the teeth soldiers. The front line were made out of four men with big, rectangular black shields, behind them were another set of four men following them closely, this time with long spears. And the last four but not less important, another four men with, of course, the same long-ranged weapon she has. In front of them was what it seemed the leader: a tall man with white spiked hair; why he wasn't using helmet, she didn't know.
"Fan out! Go and find her!" The white haired man spoke aloud. "She is not outside the base; she can't run from us now!" He said sternly, receiving a loud scream of acceptance of his group, effectively dispersing.
Lux snorted without sound, holding tightly the gun at her chest while moving jumping at the roof of the main building to not being sighted. If she wasn't wrong, she did disappear for over a month, neither Demacia nor Noxus nor the Institute of War being able to find her. Sure, she maybe had exposed herself before hitting Noxus, but what's the big deal? She hasn't been caught.
Her feet hurried up at hearing one of the three groups also taking the same route as her. She took notice of the outlet conduit near the left vertex in front of her, a rectangular silver conduit coming out from the roof with a shape of a quarter of circle. She sprinted towards it, dodging the giant antenna in the middle, feeling a little sad about the thought that she couldn't damage it enough to mess their communication.
Before anyone could notice her, she quickly stood in front of the conduit and grabbed it with both hands, gun rested on the horizontal top of the conduit. She introduced her legs first, then her torso, then one arm, and the other, but making sure to not forget her gun. She slide through the curve before starting on the difficult task of descend without making any sound AND with a big gun in one hand. She stuck her back at one of the rectangular walls, while both legs were stuck in to opposite one flexed. Her body allowed her to descend slowly, hitting the fact that the metal was actually very firm and it would need a hard smack in order to produce a sound.
She moved under, knowing she would have a small amount of time until her chasers figure out she actually wasn't outside. She needed to get to the security room as fast as she can.
Her beloved boat was actually in the deposit number 5, the further away from her because that was the one Noxus Army stored ships that were currently either in reparation or useless in the actual situation, vide the no war. How (un)lucky of her. The card she stole wasn't going to open the hard door there, she was sure. That card would just open maybe the entry door of the main building, but nothing more. So, in order to get inside, she needed to shut down the whole system. She knew it sounded crazy, she had done crazy things before, like the rampart climbing before. This should be a piece of cake. She hoped.
Her butt meted the end of the vertical way. She held on the gun jealously and tried to move her head in a lower lever to peek in the vent beside her leg. She somehow twisted her body and managed to get her eyes on the thin lines that allowed vision at the other side. She was in the reception, right above the desk of the secretary. Her pupils dilated upon seeing two soldiers standing right beside the entry. She resisted the urge to laugh at them; Lux was practically in front of them and yet they didn't notice!
But for her own sake, she snapped out. The security room awaits.
She then proceed to fully lie down in the cold metal, and strangely, comfortable. Three paths were lit; one to the right that leaded towards the offices, another behind that leaded towards the captain's office, and the left one that leaded towards what she was interested now. Lux started to drag her body expertly, not letting claustrophobia affect her. A couple of meters made the job. She faced what it could have been her first obstacle: a fan with four sharp-looking blades… that wasn't working. No air moving, no fan spinning. Her arms reached for the gun first and managed to pass it to the other side, and then her body followed. Her bag was now another part of her body, attached to her leg, she moved without any problems, not a single scratch on her.
The drag continued. She advanced up in the hallway below her, sneaking through another vent that seemed available as the conduit started splitting up in more paths to the other rooms. There was a guard in front of every room, guarding like a loyal dog. There was also one man walking back and forth across the entire hallway, starting in the beginning, to the end, and repeating the process over and over. She smirked as her body crept, advancing a little further before turning at her right. The faint light that came from beneath through the vents disappeared for some moments thanks to passing through wall-in-wall, appearing again by the only vent in front of her but red.
She moved the gun aside and the bag as well, and raised her back to peek out. A small room with three big desks occupied half of it. Maps, documents, a cool-looking radio were on them, also a pair of straight keys and a small telephone station. In the wall in front of her, opposite of the entry door as well, there were dozens of screens showing up different corners of the army; the security cameras connected to them. She noticed how two of them were black, Lux's doing. Below, there were a handful of computers with war stuff he didn't try to recognize. But what drawled her attention the most were the three people down there, seated down in swivel chairs, sliding all over the place. They looked really stressed.
So, finding out she couldn't take the gun with her because the damn vent wasn't big enough and it would be risky to just simply take it with her when out, Lux slowly started to open the vent as she heard the heated stuff going on.
"She has just disappeared! Platform B was the last place she has been seen." A young woman said, almost screaming, to a microphone in the right side of the room, holding a red button while talking, with audiphones on her ears. She kept silent for a moment, hearing something from them. "Yes, understood, I'll launch it to start tracing." Said this, she dumped the button and the audiphones, her feet pushing her at the front side of room while on the chair. Lux went suspicious. She opened fully the vent and prepared herself to jump.
"Where are the backup?" One of the two men asked aloud, puzzled, sliding to the left side at the telephone station. "They should be already here!"
"Call the Quarters." The other dude answered absently, sat down in front of the main computer while tipping something.
"I'm on it, but they are unable to find General Swain!" He screamed somewhat angrily, drawing this time the attention of both his companions.
"What? General Swain is not showing up on duty?" The woman asked in extreme surprise, not noticing the figure perking up behind her and her partners, above. "He's missing?"
"We're calling to his house but he's not answering. Right now, a couple of soldiers are heading towards it; but it's strange! General Swain ignoring something like this? Especially when it has to something to do with the fugitive?" He pointed that out, reaching up his hand and grabbing one of the telephones from the station, already calling. "I'll check it out now."
Lux jumped. In the middle of the air, the world seemed to stop, allowing her mind to process what she just heard. Swain not answering meant that her suspects about Katarina were right. It's very likely she killed him, maybe with Talon's help, maybe not. The fact that Swain was probably the killer of Katarina's father didn't help at all. The betrayal only triggered the flame. Lux always knew Katarina wasn't completely loyal to Noxus. She only wanted to stab and kill people, as how disgusting and creepy it sounds, it how it is. And Talon, well, he only listened orders, but nothing else. He only stayed in the city because he also wanted to know what happened to his adoptive father. But well, all in all, it was a suspect Lux always had. And now, it's going to be even easier to escape.
She descended in what it would be called a "silent" surprise attack. She flipped in middle air and hit with her legs the guy who was calling through telephone. As his body fell unconscious at the floor, with a massive contusion for sure, the other two noticed her with an expected surprised face. Before any of them could react, Lux punched hard in the face of the man in front of her, KOoing him. She reached for the small gun in his belt and aimed it just in time at the woman, catching her in the middle act of pressing the panic button.
"Stop right there if you don't want to get your entrails all exploded out of your body," she warned coldly.
The woman gave her one of the worst fear faces she ever witnessed, making her almost feel guilty for doing this. But she didn't allow herself to faint; she wasn't going to kill her anyways.
"Now, deactivate all the security system." She ordered at the woman, who was currently frozen in her position. "I'm not clear enough? Maybe this will encourage you a little bit."
She fired. The bullet didn't make any sound when impacted right behind the woman, hitting the wall and missing her neck for just a centimetre, the muffler in the gun taking care for any sound and the fortified walls as well. That definitely snapped out the woman for her state because she didn't hesitate, not even a second, before standing up and walking at the main computer with Lux's cold gaze following her. Not less than a minute, almost all the room went "turned off". The screens above were shut down, with the three computers as well. The only light that kept on working was the red one above.
"D-done," she stammered, slowly spinning around and facing her assaulter. She was brave.
Lux lowered the gun dismissively, walking at the woman. Both stared each other, one with fear and one with… nothing.
"You did well." Lux praised, a hopeful look appearing in the woman's eyes. "At least you aren't stupid."
And with that, Lux raised her hand simply knocked another person unconscious. This time, she grabbed the woman in middle air carefully, putting her back in the chair again quickly.
She turned around and analysed the situation. Right now, not everyone outside won't notice the precarious state of the base. It won't take too much time, though; it would be enough to just try and open a secured door with a card or a password, only to find it already unlocked, that being just one example. She needed to hurry up.
Spinning around, her feet took her at the exit door, a much secured one. It was significantly bigger than any normal one, in a strange oval shape. It has a panel beside as well, but it seemed different than the other. Instead of passing a card, you needed to insert it, and it was obvious that it won't be the only requirement to fulfil in order to enter.
"Such a good door… beaten by the ventilation conduits." She thought with irony as she ran at it. "Can't blame them. They spend so much recourses securing the borders of the base that they forgot about inside."
The ID card inside her pocked made itself useful, appearing in her mind. She fished it out of her pockets and nailed it with extreme force in the cavity where the card was supposed to be putted delicately. After fighting at the resistance force that tried to deny her wishes, she succeeds. The little screen above the buttons and the cavity lightened up, a red square with big letters saying "ERROR". She smiled with satisfaction.
She saved the gun inside her other pocket, deciding she liked both, and moved at one of the swivel chair, dragging it at the corner of the room beside her where the conduit was. She went up, not gazing behind, stretching her arms and grabbing the border of the conduit. She pushed herself up, meeting with her gun and bag. She putted everything on place: bag attached somewhere and gun in hands before adapt her body to move like a snake, but blonde.
She found herself again above in the reception. The exit was calling her, but Lux stopped right into the first vent, peeking outside, hearing something she didn't like.
"What's wrong whit this?" came the annoyed complaint below her from the secretary, smashing the buttons of the keyboard. "Damn! Not now!"
Lux gulped and decided she heard enough. Her nails impaled in the metal weirdly helping her body to climb up. She putted herself in the previous position, gun in her lap, and started climbing.
"What's wrong?" A male voice echoed through the place, more distant to her.
"The computer doesn't allow me to get some files I need from the core." She explained somewhat frustrated, trying again. A sigh later, Lux knew it didn't work. "The password won't work, and I called inside the security room but they don't answer."
Lux, ignoring the pain in her back with teary eyes ad near in the end, stretched it slowly upwards, trying to hold herself in the curve of the conduit, trying to not slip off.
"I'll check it out." Was the last thing she heard before erupting outside. She snapped out instantly, straightening her body and switching her bag to her shoulder. Lux hugged her gun for a second before running at the ladders again, descending almost immediately.
Her feet on the platform again, she didn't let her guard down when she the silence greeted her. The alarm has gone off and no soldier was in sight of anywhere close to be heard by her ears. She spun around and ran, still not knowing how her legs hadn't die yet of tiredness. She passed by the main building, not bothering to shoot at any security cameras she faced. That would alert to everyone, exposing her position immediately. She didn't have any way to figure out when the security system will be activated again, but it was certain it will take some time. Hopefully enough to allow her escape.
She steadily ran across the main building's rear over the platform, right where another ramification appeared, extending the space towards to a sort of roundabout where another platforms were connected. In the middle of the circle, a pole rise raised proudly high in the air, the Noxus' Army flag showing off its colours. An instant of appreciation was enough to Lux to decide she liked it. It was quite simple: it was all washed in silver-grey, while in the middle there was a variation of the original Noxus emblem but with an anchor on it. Cool!
She smiled, but snapped out. She lowered her gaze, gun in position and kept on her way. She passed by the pole, leading towards the platform right in front of her, the one who was connected at the barracks. The first one came in her sight, the second one of a row out of three barracks, being three rows in total putted horizontally from her point of view.
She approached with caution at the closest to her, crossing through the short distance drawn by the short bridge, before the platform starting extending and forming a big, large rectangle, holding the aforesaid. The barracks were in plain simple. They only served as dormitories to the soldiers: just to sleep and spend time, while everything else they could possibly do, such as take a shower or eat, was done in further buildings ahead, like the dining hall, or also the simply called restroom.
Smashing against the wall was enough to hide her from the obvious soldiers who were from now on in the other side. It was very unlikely of them being inside of any building; it was way better of them just staying outdoors and to keep an eye on everyplace they could. But she shouldn't be overconfident.
Her senses were her best tools to reach the deposit of freedom. She would need to just thinking of magic for a moment, but how hard it could be when you used it your whole life? Not that much for sure.
It was like a bubble blowing up; her senses indeed became strangely more aware of what surrounded her, but at the same time, the world seemed darker, no matter how much sunlight washed all over her. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps coming from the right side of the building alerted her. An instant later, she chose the left side to move, silently, avoiding bumping with whoever was there. The barracks remembered to her the game of hide-n-seek she used to play when kid with Garen. The memories popping up in her mind certainly helped her out to catch up with the situation, no matter how ridiculous it seems to compare something like that with what she was doing right now.
At the end, she sneaked through the entire place without being discovered, using her abilities that appeared from nowhere, abilities without her light magic. The first row came by easily. Before crossing stupidly at the next one, she found another hiding spot, and waited on it, oblivious to the sight of everyone, just watching how the soldiers went by with dead silence in their faces, expecting something to appear. Less than a minute later, she figured out the route patrons. She waited for another chance to get out and move again; another fifteen seconds, other longest ones. She felt older.
Row two and three weren't easy to overwhelm, especially when the routes didn't left almost any aperture to be used for a fugitive. The only ones were almost made up on porpoise, as though they existed in order to fish her out and catch her in act. But no, she didn't spend such obnoxious years in the military to just let that happen, no! As always, she pushed her limits; by any necessary mean.
She managed to beat two soldiers who were in the middle of the main platform standing motionless; she couldn't go through any side; they were covered by a wall of strong and tall soldiers waiting for her, and also she didn't allowed her hands to use the tempting ladders she found. It was extremely risky. So, the silent gun in her pocket made itself useful. Two bullets in exchange of a stream of tears? Fair enough. The bigger one would be useful if she was found; Lux decided to keep it for now.
The last row appeared as she moved like a shadow through the walls. This is when not destroying the antenna paid her back. The situation in the security room now was known by everyone; the news being told to the soldiers through those small radios. The message was clear: someone busted in and deactivated the whole security system. The door is locked and the three agents inside won't answer.
The ambient changed amazingly. Lux appreciated with mixed feelings. Funded in the shadow of one wall, she took advantage of it. She couldn't be merciful, not when they dropped their guard so easily. The wall of the inconvenience was taken care of, this time, without any fatal incidents. Those soldiers were covering the way out to another roundabout split up in a way that it didn't left out any corner to sneak in, plus the watchtower that were a few meters in the other side where keeping an eyes around as well. All she needed was to dive in the water, unfortunately, again.
Her big gun was dumped behind with pain in her heart, but she couldn't take it with her; swimming with it would be extremely difficult and she hasn't too much time. The sight of an intelligent soldier caught a strange shape moving in the water, or that was at least what he thought. But when his feet walked slowly, with caution and with his companionship asking him what was he doing, he just found the water crystalline as always. Empty. He turned around, about to ask to someone if they saw it as well, but he found the strange sight of a green leave sliding though the air, the sunlight giving it the illusion of brilliance. The leave twirled around the air and disappeared in a gust of wind, right to the direction of the forest. Everyone followed it with the gaze. A moment later, the suspects were evaporated.
This is one of those moments when Lux's breath is tested. The odds of it needing to stay in her lungs as much as possible, like, a massive amount of time, were quite low. But the odds hated her. Her lungs flounder at her desperately, ordering the grace of pure air inside. Her head only touched the surface again when she crossed the roundabout, following the platform that connected it to the beginning of the deposits zone. The breath was lifesaving; her blood felt free again in her body; but that wasn't enough. Steady breath in her throat, she swum below the H platform, her ears not missing the sound of boots above. The long wood finally seemed to approach an end, which allowed Lux to find shelter in the giant square platform, but below. Her extremities took her across the water, directing her to the "back" of the platform, right were the first deposited was settled. Her hands reached up for the pillar, the unnerving sensation of not being able to see the end of hit hitting her; she tried to not look into the water. Then she climbed it after some trouble with her wet hands. A blonde figure emerged of the water and landed on the back wall of the building, forced to completely straightener her body in order to fit in the narrow space. Being almost on tip toes, she proceeded, back smashed on the hard wall. One watchtower at the distance threatened her, but when she approached the corner of the wall and sneaked to the other side, after first checking on anyone close, she felt safe again. Her hand instinctively took out the gun in her pocket; not much bullets were left. Her heart started to throb with force. She was close.
Gun aimed in front of her, she turned around in the kind of passageway between two walls, her eyes twitching and looking for someone to shoot at. She found nobody, so she moved. Moving silently on the wall, already catching the sight again of the platform at the end of the passage, she was fast enough to switch at the wall in front of her, the shadow courtesy from the sun covering her body just in time when a pair of soldiers, guns in hands, passed by on the platform. Her heart ached painfully in stress, but she resisted; and they're gone. She did not sigh in relief; that would be dangerous, so she just opted to blink and roll out of her spot.
Surprisingly enough, the deposit number five wasn't that long away from her as her crazy mind made her think. The same sneaky patron repeated itself when it was needed. There wasn't any roundabout here, so she wouldn't be able to cover a big amount of way by just swimming. The water here was, ironically, hard to reach. This zone was full of buildings, the deposits, and other buildings, small deposits that complemented the bigger ones! The small holes on the platform weren't big enough to allow her in (she felt like she was being called fat), so it was like zigzagging. While the direct way at her ticket of freedom were about, eighty meters straight, she twisted it around one hundred fifty. She came upon tons and tons of security cameras, but none of them seemed to have had notice her. Time was such a trivial thing to her right now, so she didn't know how of it went by since her arrangement in security room, but it seemed like not that much. Besides, she couldn't waste any more bullets.
The scene around her warped, and after some struggle and a furious hair, her head slowly emerged from the water, rising to the, again, platform above her. Her eyes accommodated at the same altitude of the wood surface, giving a crazy-hoped stare at the building in front of her. Deposit number five didn't have a different appearance from the others; anything special at sight. But it did was special. And no one messed up with her special things.
The guard's throat that was guarding beside the entry room was perforated by a black projectile that appeared from nowhere. A moment later, her body fell lifeless in the ground, ground dropped to the water close to him. The two closest guards panicked, immediately responding at the fallen comrade. Before anyone else could take notice of the situation, two bullets coldly calculated smashed perfectly behind both guard's necks. They fell and died
Lux appeared in front of them, her hand trembling monstrously with disgust.
"Cold, but necessary." Her voice reminded her darkly.
Her didn't feel up to hold that gun anymore. As she dropped it to the salad water, she jumped on the puddle of blood, not wanting to get her boots covered in blood. She didn't pay any further glance at what she just did; but instead Lux reached up the heavy door and pushed the handle. The turned off screen beside it allowed her to it without any problem. But before passing at the other side, she quickly crouched down and took out another target from one of the soldier's pocket. She spun around and inserted it with force inside. Another small obstacle when the security system would be up again. She shut the door down. Then, everything was forgotten as she glanced around.
Deposit number five was actually the smallest of the five. Upon entering through the door, the floor of hard rock played the role of another platform. In front of her, after walking a couple of meters, there was a direct exit to the sea, closed with a sluice of metal. At the edge of the platform, there were two boats way bigger than the normal ones attached to two poles respectively. Of course she would forget everything.
Lux rushed at her right, dodging a pair of stairs that leaded towards to a kind of second floor made out of wide grids. The only half-glance she paid to it only made her to know that there only were just a couple of crates up there. Nothing special.
Her butt found a momentary comfort on the chair at the small control station of the deposit. Her fingers darted across the power button of the computer below the "rock table". Her fingernails tapped impatiently on the table as she saw how the green power colour flooded the screen in front of her. A couple of seconds where a small rectangle asking for a password should appear, it appeared immediately all the control options instead. Her eyes found the super important option: it was simply putted as "POWER: OFF";she switched it to on with her fingers smashing the keyboard. Done with it, she jumped off the chair and moved some steps at her right, the manual station appearing in front of her.
Every deposit was controlled through the main building, but every one of them has a manual station inside as well. Of course, they all were under the control; and no one will be operating without the consent of the base, or if someone just turn off the security system. Convenient.
The girl fired her arms at the double big-looking lever, pulling it down. A click sound echoed through the walls of the small place before the sluices creaked and slowly started to open. Lux shrieked in pure emotion as she ran at one of the two boats. She found herself at the edge of the platform, and before jumping in, she checked on everything on her. Bag, boots, the clothes, and her grandma's necklace in her neck.
"Can't believe I almost forgot about this." She muttered to herself, stroking the gem in the middle. "Good thing it's still here…"
Lux snapped out and sighed. She secured her bag again on her shoulder and jumped in the boat. Her feet landed safely on the big space inside, staggering her body just a little thanks to the dynamic surface of the water. She recomposed herself and decided to glance around. She loved the boat, in fact, it looked great. Its size was about the double than a normal one; it was soft brown inside and a hard-looking white colour on the exterior body of it. There were only two seats in the front, where was the steering wheel and all the buttons, levers and even a mini-map that currently was turned off. She smiled with excitement and stomped lightly the boat, discovering that it wasn't made out of simply wood or hollow metal, but out of a strange and solid metal-looking one. Her body rested over the gunwales to look beneath: The bottom of the boat gave her the strange feeling that was made out of bricks thanks to the lines that gave the similar shape, a good amount of bricks. But still, the thing floated on the water without any issue.
She forced herself to back off and to rush at the seats. Her hands appeared right in front of the drawer below right the steering wheel. Opening it up, she took the only thing inside: the keys. Her hands inserted the keys inside the ignition tank and twirled it one time. A small click sound echoed before allowing the engine to run. Lux's blue eyes gazed upon the bright sight in front of her. The beautiful sea shining to the sun, the breeze not fitting at all with what was going on. She sighed happily, right before the same-horrendous alarm sound striking in her ears, sounding this time way louder. The deposit was surrounded by a red light and the sluices creaked one more time, stopping opening up, and backing off again at its original place.
"Too late for them!" She screamed, grabbing the lever beside her and pulling it, not missing how the door behind her was actually being tried to break by someone; the bad guys."
The boat erupted forwards in an incredible speed, covering the couple of meters in front of her to the exit in just a couple of seconds. The sea slapped her hard; the saltwater smell flooded her nose in an attempt of encouraging her to keep going. She decided to please herself by looking at her reflection in the crystalline water, noticing for the first time she was actually smiling with pure happiness.
A siren overlapped the alarm this time, snapping her out of her dumb state. She twisted her neck and looked behind her only to find to her horror a squad of small boats like hers following.
"Well, it wasn't that easy…" She ironically said, going faster.
"What should we do, Captain?" The woman with a table said, taking a step towards the desk where the Captain was sat down, a stern expression in his face.
"What are our options?" The man said quickly, looking at the five people standstill in front of him.
"The boat she stole was one of the two we experiment not too long ago. It's safe to attack the boat to disable it and then precede with arrest her." One of them, a man, said obediently. "There's not too much we can do neither. That boat is… unfortunately for us, too fast."
"The other option is to try and convince her to stop." Another said. "But that's highly unlikely."
The room went silent for a couple of seconds, everyone lost in deep thought.
"Kill her."
Everyone but the Captain turned around, gazing in surprise at the sight of Darius leaning coolly in the wall beside the door, his face inscrutable.
"G-General Darius!" The Captain managed to joint with his lips, gazing with respect at the man in front of him and quickly standing up. He bowed before speaking. "It's a surprise to see you here! I assume you, sir, already know the critical situation we are in. We still need to decide what…"
"I sad kill her."
The man stopped in his speaking and blinked.
"Sir? But the Institute of War…" He tried to explain.
"I'm tired of those idiots." Darius cut him off harshly, straightening his body and walking up to him. Everyone moved aside. "That little Demacian did enough to everyone. Especially Noxus, OUR city. If the League of Legends has to say something about it, then they'll face me first. This became personal; don't hesitate. Aim to kill."
No one said anything for a couple of seconds.
"And… What General Swain said about this?" Captain asked softly, tentatively.
Darius stared at him deeply, making the man to regret his decision of speak.
"Swain is dead." He answered. The gaze of everyone widened wildly. "I found him bled out in his house."
"General Swain is dead…?" The woman in there asked horrified, still shocked. "But who?" She stopped herself, her face twisting in deduction. "Her?! Luxanna Crownguard killed our General?!"
"I'm still not sure." He said with his lips furrowed. "But I may have an idea…"
Everyone waited in expectation.
"But for now, take care of the Demacian. Blow up the hell out of her of the world."
For her own sake, Lux tried to not enjoy the wave riding, mostly because the Guardian's Sea was nothing to take easy of; specially when she was on just an boat, and mostly because her chasers (how tired she was of them, really) were currently getting on her nerves.
"LUXANNA CROWNGUARD, YOU HAVE THIRTHY SECONDS TO STOP IMMEDIATELY BEFORE WE FIRE UPON ON YOU!" The voice of someone irritating echoed through a loud speaker, bouncing painfully in her ears.
She choose instead to ride and pierce through a big wave coming from a couple of meters, some salad water splashing in her head.
"NEVER!" she cried hysterically, her hands crushing the steering wheel tightly, rocking between waves.
"Goddammit this fucking shit!" The man in the front line of the arrow formation screamed, frustrated, throwing the speaker at the back of the boat. "This is madness, seriously!"
The driver chuckled silently, having a lot of trouble hiding his twisted lips. The glare the man beside threw at him made him stiff.
"Oh, you think it's funny, uh?" He barked dangerously, throwing daggers with his eye. "You better…!" He almost screamed with full force when a small green light of his walkie-talkie shined, a short-radio sound following it.
The man quickly reached up for the small radio, not without paying a stare at his fellow companion, promising suffer after he was done. His finger pressed the small button and he raised the radio to his ear.
"Here Kim." He answered quickly.
"New orders: kill the target. It's ordered from above; don't hesitate." The voice from the other side said with not so strange eagerness.
He smiled maniacally to himself, nodding slowly.
"Understood." He answered. The radio turned off itself and it was back in his belt again; he turned to his comrade again, who was watching him with expectation.
"Well? What was that about?" He asked as he drove at the same time, not missing the blonde hair at the distance.
"GREAT news!" The voice erupted from his throat almost creepily, gazing again at the prey. "We've got new orders; now we may kill her!" He screamed happily, rejoicing in his own words. "Now, why don't you press that pretty button?"
The other man laughed irremediably, but said nothing nonetheless. Everyone was tired of the stupid chasing.
"Sure; just warn to the rest about the new orders." He accepted. His answer was just a shrug.
Turning his gaze momentarily below, he inspected around the several buttons, small levers and even the mini-map the boat had alongside the steering wheel. He smiled.
"Welp, I guess this is it."
Lux's gut kicked her extremely hard, like a hard punch from someone stronger than you. Her neck spun around just in time to see two small projectiles being expelled from the main chaser-boat. Her mouth opened up in great surprise and amazement, not really believing she was just being targeted to torpedoes.
"OH MY GOD!" She screamed, taking furiously the wheel and twisting it extremely harshly to the right. As the little runaway-breakers approached quickly through the water, she drove right into a giant wave; not so hard to found, literally being everywhere in the ocean.
The boat attached to the wave, Lux turning it around just slightly around its axis, making it actually to surf. When the torpedoes were about to hit her, entering the wave, she spun again the boat, managing to twisting it and making herself to pierce through it. The torpedoes emerged up from where she was just one second ago, rising in the air just some meters before exploding.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"·The man in charge of the main boat screamed, leaning over the edge of his vehicle, staring with disbelief at the big smokescreen in the air.
"That was badass…" The other one muttered, but not high enough to let anyone hear him; as he watched his senior grabbing the radio again.
He changed the frecuency before speak. "EVERYONE! Let's fire all of us this time in five seconds!" He cried loudly, turning off the radio and not waiting for an answer. "Prepare the torpedoes!" He ordered again, focusing intently on the enemy boat.
Lux's panicked eyes moved around, trying to find something useful at the situation. She needed to get rid of them right away before even trying to direct the boat towards Ionia. And of course, they won't just chase her forever.
The only thing she could find and press with her finger was a red, medium-sized button below steering wheel. Another click-satisfying sound sounded before the big rectangular panel below started to get sink just some centimetres, then it spun around on its axis, showing its other side. She blinked and smiled devilishly at the range of completely-different new functions at her disposal.
The mini-map updated, and now it was looked like military radar, showing her as a white arrow (cool) and the other five boats as a group of red points. She reached up for the button beside the green mini-map with the acronym she recognized as torpedoes. Right after pushing it, the red buttons of the mini-map were surrounded with green rings, offering her to press objectives.
"I am THAT out-dated?" She said to herself, not being able to recall a single moment were she was a full active spy and actually seeing this kind of technology. "Technology is such a cool thing!" She said happily touching all of her enemies. "Light torpedoes!" She cried while touching again the button.
"NOW!" The boss screamed.
Lux managed to gaze behind her, having the similar gaze of torpedoes running again, with the difference she also ejected her own. She noticed two things. First, she stopped driving for a moment while enjoying the spectacle; two, her torpedoes were kind of a little bigger than the other ones, and it glowed brilliant red. She lived to witness the moment of one torpedoes of hers taking out three enemies ones, almost the same story repeating with the other ones and destroying two boats and the process, and of course, she lived to not see in time the sneaky projectile that came from her side through a giant wave. Her eyes snapped open, her lips went dry and she did the only thing she could do: duck and hold on something while the fear covered her.
For her, the world went black for less than a second. To everyone else alive, the torpedoes crushed and exploded loudly through its objective.
No one said nothing as the smoke slowly dissipated in the air. The breeze didn't make itself to wait, and proceeded quickly. The last three boats remain saw with surprise how not only Lux's boat wasn't in sight, but just some chunks of boat floating in the water.
"She's dead."
FINALLY I FINISHED THIS! OMG GUYS, I'M SO SO SO SOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING FOR, LIKE, FIVE MONTHS!
I CAN EXPLAIN IT; you see, for the first three episodes, I've got this "writing-fever." Welp, it vanished starting chapter four. That's simply why it took me so long. And it's really such a shame, guys, because I have so much to write, and I even have a special gift for one of the chapters, but it's way too far away.
I'm ashamed to say that this thing will last a little while. While I feel pressured, I don't write! I just can't!
Now, if you do feel like something doesn't makes any sense (about the story plot, not the grammar, dammit), then you're wrong! Haha ha ha…
Right, I'm switching back to rate M; so that means you should expect anything here happening. Ah, yes, about that beta-reader... uh… forget about it. I guess I'm sticking with myself.
Thanks for those who cared about me and the story, really. Now, because I don't know how much it will take to do next chapter, it may look fair telling you at least its title. Well, that's what I can do, so. It's veery likely that next chapter will be called "Miles Away". The other option being "I'm going to tell you a secret." Both means, actually, the same thing, but said differently. Thanks for read!
Again, I'M SORRY!
TRIVIA: did you know I first though about Lux going through Piltover and getting help from Jinx? Welp, that was dumped because it was difficult. Jinx will be apearing later in the story.