Here's a funny little thing: this story will soon be 4 years old. We have managed to advance to chapter seven.
Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned belong to Riot.
Warning: This story includes a lot of bad language (there's Katarina in it, duh). If you feel offended by obscenities, please do not read this chapter.
All Things Considered
Chapter 7: The Institute of War
Cassiopeia slithered back and forth in front of the High Councilor's office at an ungodly morning hour. Her lower lip was starting to swell from the fanged teeth bothering it and she just hoped nobody would see her in her current state.
She'd always been used to lying; in fact, lying came to her so easily she could often spew out a good excuse without batting an eye, but it's been ages since anybody had asked her to. Now that she fully realized not only hers, but also Katarina's fate in the League of Legends relied on her shoulders, she was feeling... rather nervous, to put things mildly.
If anything went wrong, if by any chance there were repercussions for disappearing like her sister did and she didn't cover it all properly, Katarina was going to slice her tail right off.
The door creaked open and Cassiopeia's heart jumped to her throat as she dreaded to see the face of the old man. Instead, she was met with curious golden eyes of a young woman stepping out of the office, a bird with equally captivating stare perched on her shoulder. She seemed to be just as taken aback by Cassiopeia's presence in front of the office as the Noxian was to see her, and for a second neither of them moved while they just looked at each other.
"Cassiopeia," the Demacian acknowledged more than greeted her, a short, courteous nod issued more out of habit than actual respect for the other girl.
"Quinn," she answered politely, but her neck and shoulder remained stiff as a statue. Not only was the ranger Demacian, but also a commoner; the mere fact Cassiopeia even responded to her seemed to unsettle the other girl. With a somewhat sour expression, she stepped aside, leaving the door ajar.
Cassiopeia waited till she started down the corridor, Valor's eyes never leaving the Noxian's, almost giving her the creeps. She hated birds ever since she was a child. She hated birds even more since she'd had the questionable pleasure to meet Swain. When Quinn disappeared around the corner, Cassiopeia let her stiff shoulders ease back and turned towards the door.
Despite it being open, she still thought it necessary to knock.
"Enter," came a voice of an old, tired man. She pushed forward, wincing ever so slightly when the warm carpet of the corridor gave way to a cold marble floor in the office. The High Councilor Relivash was sitting behind a desk in the middle of the room, looking ridiculously short and fragile in his massive, mahogany chair. The room was situated on the Eastern side of the building, allowing the morning sun to peek through the large window behind the man, illuminating the various papers in front of him. "Ah, Lady Du Couteau," he seemed to brighten up a bit upon seeing her, though Cassiopeia would never have an idea why. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"
"High Councilor," she spoke quietly, bowing her head deeply to show proper respect. After all, the man was her superior and, judging by his looks, a hundred or so years old; even if he wasn't a Noxian, he wasn't a Demacian as well. Though she despised the non-affiliated for not being brave enough to choose their fraction, she was glad they refrained from choosing the wrong one. "I would like to pledge for leave of absence for my sister."
The defeated sigh that escaped his lips wasn't exactly the kind of reaction she'd expected.
"And why couldn't the Sinister Blade come to see me in person?"
Cassiopeia sucked on her fangs. This was where the tricky part came in.
"It was an emergency," she started quickly, taking on an adequately worried expression. A subtle raise of Relivash's brows told her to continue. "A letter came overnight stating a sudden deterioration of our mother's condition." It was a terrible lie, one that made her conscience give out a long and painful internal scream. She prayed to whatever gods there were their mother was fine and healthy back in Noxus–had she any other option, she'd keep the poor woman out of this. Still, she suspected it was one of the very few things they wouldn't question her too long about - and from the High Councilor's expression, she could read she was right. "Katarina departed immediately–"
"Regardless of the situation, she should have come to me first," he cut in, his voice harsh but with an undertone of pity. "This is a clear violation of the Protocol."
"I am aware of that," Cassiopeia agreed, speaking softly but firmly. So the man still had a fight coming. "As I am sure you are aware how hot-headed my sister is," she couldn't keep the spite out of her voice. "There was no possible force in the whole of Valoran to stop her once she'd read the horrifying message."
The man folded his hands on the desk and stared at them, obviously pondering her pledge. Since they joined the League, neither of the Du Couteau sisters disobeyed the rules so openly; hell, if somebody was to ask Cassiopeia she'd say her sister's sudden lawful nature was at least a little suspicious. She hoped this alone would sit well with the High Councilor and speak in her favor.
That, and the fact that his own wife was suffering from a terminal disease, according to Cassiopeia's not-so-legally obtained knowledge.
"I understand the gravity of the situation," he said at last, raising his eyes to look at the girl's face. There was nothing but pity and compassion in them, and Cassiopeia immediately knew she won. "And I will let it pass, but only this one time."
"Thank you very mu–"
"My only condition is that you sign the absence papers with your own name, Lady Du Couteau," he stopped to smile briefly, his thin lips forming a perfectly parabolic line that looked as if a child drew it on his face. "Shall anything go... not according to the rules, both of you would be held responsible." Cassiopeia's stomach sank at that, but she didn't make any comment. "I do trust you, Lady Du Couteau, and believe me when I say that I want nothing harmful for either of you. However, we have these rules for a reason, and to allow a breach like this I need some kind of... confirmation that my trust in you is not to be broken."
She gulped down the acid in her throat. Signing with her own name that Katarina wouldn't do anything reckless was basically putting her head through the nook.
Then again, Katarina was doing this for her.
"I understand," she said slowly, head held high on relaxed shoulders. Making it seem like she had nothing to be afraid when she signed those papers. "Thank you, High Councilor."
Without another word, the man took a clean piece of parchment from a pile on his desk and started to fill it with words, slowly forming a document. Cassiopeia watched him for a few seconds, before the sight of fresh grass growing outside the window grew more entertaining. The scratching of his quill continued for another few minutes while she just sat there on her coiled tail.
"Here," he said at last, passing the parchment in her direction. His finger lingered just above the lower right corner. "Sign in this place."
Cassiopeia's eyes skimmed the document only briefly; she remembered the teachings of her father about how important a signature was and how it could be misused, but this was the High Councilor of League of Legends, after all. Not finding any disturbing keywords, she took the quill he was offering and quickly put her name down.
"Is that all?" Relivash asked as he poured hot wax in the lower left corner of the document.
"Yes," she answered, watching him press the ring from his middle finger into the wax, leaving a clear sigil once he took his hand away. "That would be all."
"Very well, then."
He smiled again, then waved in the general direction of the door. Taking that as an order to leave, the Noxian straightened her back and slithered across the cold floor, eager to be out of this place at once. The stuffy air was starting to make her dizzy. The room could use a good dusting and, if anyone asked her, so could its owner.
"Cassiopeia?" came from behind her just as her hand rested on the doorknob. She turned around abruptly, surprised with the common way he called her by her first name; if anything, Relivash was well-known for keeping up the formal facade. The sun illuminated the room behind him, but the large chair he was sitting in effectively blocked the light, keeping the High Councilor in almost complete darkness. His eyes gleamed eerily when he spoke, "I hope to see your sister back at the Institute, soon."
Something in his voice made her blood chill.
"So do I," she answered quietly and, with a quick nod, left the office in hurry.
Not even a whole day passed since her talk with Relivash before she fully felt just what she'd committed to do.
She had two matches scheduled for that day, and another one for the next. However, being a very popular champion, Katarina had almost precisely twice the amount of work to do. And what Relivash failed to mention while she signed his paper - without Katarina around, it meant Cassiopeia had to take on her duty, unless she found somebody to fill the space for her.
She managed to do that, of course she did. Once. She practically begged LeBlanc, which was a pain in itself as the woman was awfully creepy. Hell, the Deceiver even went as far as to ask her to beg on her knees – a thing impossible and just plain cruel, which left Cassiopeia torn between wanting to kill the older woman and herself. Her face hadn't borne her emotions, though, for she was sure LeBlanc would torment her more if it had. Relying on her pride, Cassiopeia told her she could well fight in the last of Katarina's matches by herself (which she couldn't), but she would much rather allow the Deceiver to take her place in the Evening Show out of the goodness of her heart (which she wouldn't). Whether the damned witch believed her or not she'd never know, but it was when she said that her opponent was supposed to be Ahri that LeBlanc finally gave in. She bore an odd fixation with the fox; Cassiopeia didn't want to think about it for too long.
She considered resting in the lounge and watching the Evening Show that she was supposed to star in, had she not been too tired after having fought in four lengthy matches that day already. When she slithered past the entrance, her mind was changed upon seeing the sheer crowd in the room and hearing the unrestrained, animalistic roar of voices.
Which led her to where she was now – her bedroom. Lying in her nest of pillows and covers and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling above, too tired to even sleep. Who could have guessed that the hardest part of her deal with Katarina would not be convincing the High Councilor, but the very League of Legends itself. She would have to find somebody– somebody unpopular, who'd gladly take up the chance to shine. Though the officials claimed it was completely random, Katarina had an almost guaranteed place in the Evening Show every other day. And while she'd love to keep those to herself (who wouldn't?), she was well aware this could be her chance to get a little work off her shoulders.
But who to turn to? LeBlanc already made it clear she wasn't too happy with the idea; while the Deceiver had lost some of her popularity recently due to a misunderstanding with one of the Demacian Summoners, who Cassiopeia could only hope got accepted into a good mental asylum, the older woman probably saw filling up Katarina's space as below her standards. Same went for Swain, as far as she knew. Talon would probably agree to help her, but he already had a lot of work of his own, Morgana was usually in the games anyway, but taking a different lane. Vladimir... she'd rather not talk with Vladimir.
A sigh escaped her lips as she put her hands over her face and combed her fingers through her greenish hair. The Noxian champions were either too busy, too proud or too creepy. Or supposed to fight in a different role, according to League standards.
She had to figure something out, and do it quickly. Come tomorrow, she'd have to be in two places at the same time twice. And one of those times, she'd have to come up with a way to face herself.
Sore wasn't even beginning to explain how she felt.
Sure, all wounds received during a match disappeared the moment they left the Fields. But the weariness ran deep in her body, marking every bone with pain she had no way of getting rid of. She might have to force Katarina to treat her to a nice, week-long rest at one of those hot spring resorts - as soon as her sister got back and Cassiopeia was, hopefully, returned to her former appearance, seeing as letting a giant half-snake in a hot tub was probably not in any resort's offer.
Whenever she thought about it, it made her heart skip a beat. Katarina was really doing it; she was going to retrieve the sword of the sorcerer, Cassiopeia had no doubt about that. Once her sister committed to doing something, there was no thing in the whole universe able to stop her. After the years she spent as a hideous monster, Cassiopeia might finally have a chance to live a normal life again, if what Udyr had said was true.
But then there was the second part of what she'd learned; those other girls who were cursed just as she was, all of them were dead now. She hasn't felt any different lately than she'd had for previous years, but there could be no signs of the curse killing her for all she knew. Random pains in her magically altered body were nothing new, but since the evening she'd talked with Udyr, the slightest cramp of a strained muscle filled her with dread. Thankful as she was to her sister, she couldn't help but wish Katarina would hurry the hell up.
After two matches in the morning, however, Cassiopeia was not able to distinguish those random pains anymore.
"Cassiopeia?"
The voice cut through the silence of the corridor she claimed as her resting space as an arrow through the Fog of War. Her head snapped painfully to the side, following the intruding sound.
"Quinn," she found herself speaking before the though settled in her mind properly. Void be damned, she was tired. Not a whole week passed since Katarina's departure, but she already was running out of options to find substitutes for her matches; not to mention, she was forced to socialize far more than she'd like, with people that she'd never even think of talking to before. One of them standing in front of her now. "Have you made your mind?"
The question was crude, but her tired brain could not care less about courtesy.
"I thought of a better solution, to be honest," Quinn answered, stepping closer to where Cassiopeia was perched on a wide windowsill, but not close enough to cause either of them discomfort. "I admit I am surprised you came to me, considering I'm not even a mid-laner."
Well, you're one of the very few Demacians that I could bear talking to, Cassiopeia thought, but managed to keep it to herself.
"But I asked some people in your name," she continued, emphasizing the last part as if she wanted Cassiopeia to know just how in debt she was, "and, though it was very hard to find somebody, considering the current situation, Sona was kind enough to agree to help you."
It took Cassiopeia a good few seconds to understand what the Demacian was saying.
"Crownguard is not back yet?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
Quinn eyed her for a while with suspicion.
"She's not." There was a slight shift in her voice, an accusation hidden between those two words. "It's... a very unfortunate coincidence."
Cassiopeia raised her brows, but decided to keep any comments to herself.
"Well, thank you," she said simply, feeling no need to prolong this conversation. "And thank Sona from me, I doubt I'll have any occasion to do so in the nearest future."
With that, she turned her face back to the window overlooking a small lake, where a group of yordles sat at the water enjoying the first warm day in a while, and listened to the faltering footsteps behind her.
By the time Katarina's been gone for a full week, Cassiopeia began to resent any form of human interaction. She had enough of begging people, enough of fighting people and just plain enough of seeing people for the whole year. In the middle of the spring.
It was the first free evening she had in that time, and she'd treated herself to a long, hot bath that helped to ease the stiffness in her joints. After that, she just settled in the comfort of her pillows with a book she'd gotten from the Institute's library little over a month ago.
By midnight, her eyelids began dropping so heavily that she decided to nestle for the night, when she heard a short, loud knock on the door.
She froze with her hands holding up one of her pillows, her mind already playing a scenario in which the High Councilor told her Katarina had just been confirmed as the murderer of twenty Demacians and Freljordians and they were both sentenced to life imprisonment – or worse.
She glanced at the clock just beside her bed to confirm that it was, in fact, the middle of the night, when another, more impatient knock sounded. With a sigh, and glad she actually decided to dress herself in a cotton shirt after her bath, Cassiopeia let the pillow fall on top of the pile and slithered over to the door.
When she swung it open and saw the person on the other side, she couldn't decide if she was relieved or furious.
"Quinn?" Judging by the tone of her voice, she was mostly surprised. Quinn stood in the dim-lit corridor in casual clothes and lacking her usual companion, and Cassiopeia noted this could well be the first time she'd saw the other woman in something else than her Fields of Justice attire. She considered slamming the door shut and going back to her bed, but she couldn't do it now that she'd acknowledged Quinn's presence. "Do you realize what time it is?" She hissed.
Instead of answering, Quinn held out her hand, holding a small piece of dirtied parchment with something scribbled on top.
"What is this?"
"A letter," the Demacian answered patiently. "Valor found the bird that carried it circling the Institute, almost dead from exhaustion. It's for you."
Cassiopeia eyed the letter with suspicion. Now that Quinn said it, she could see it was addressed with her name; however, she didn't recognize the handwriting at all. And it wasn't a common occurrence to receive fan-mail this way.
"Thank you," she muttered as she made to snatch the letter from the Demacian's grasp. She didn't, though, as Quinn moved her hand away.
She must have made a very bewildered face at that point.
"Not so fast," Quinn said before Cassiopeia had the chance to open her mouth and throw a snide remark. Then, completely out of nowhere, the Demacian's expression changed to a worried one for just a split second. She quickly glanced down the corridor. "Can I come in?"
The request was just as bizarre as the whole situation if not more, and Cassiopeia found herself dumbstruck enough to move out of the way while the Demacian slid past her into the room.
"What–" she started when she slammed the door shut and turned to face Quinn. "What the hell are you doing?"
Quinn looked at her sternly, not fazed in the slightest with the hostility in Cassiopeia's voice.
"This is Lux's handwriting," she said, pointing to the Noxian's name scribbled on the paper. Cassiopeia was almost taken aback with the suddenly angry tone. "Can you explain that?"
She couldn't. Try as she might, she had no idea why Luxanna Crownguard would write a letter to her and send it in such an old-fashioned way.
"Did you read it?" she answered with a question instead.
"No," Quinn admitted with a sour look on her face. "I wanted to, but I figured it would be better to ask you. This whole... coincidence," she spat the word out as if it was a curse, "is getting more and more suspicious. People will make the connection at some point."
Cassiopeia blinked, moving closer to the other woman as she stood her ground firmly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she hissed out each word clearly, her face less than two feet away from Quinn's. She held out her hand. "Can I have my letter now?"
With a sigh of defeat, the Demacian handed the piece of parchment over to her, and Cassiopeia wasted no time in untying the thin string that held it rolled.
When her eyes landed on the words inside, her brows furrowed upon seeing another, familiar scribbling.
Cass,
It's gonna take longer. I need about two months, more if anything happens on the way. Think of a good cover.
Katarina
PS. I have the Crownguard girl with me. Make something up.
Color drained from her face. Two months - or more - was far more than she'd planned, and far more than she thought Katarina would need. And why the hell would she take Lux-
"There's something on the other side," Quinn said quietly, just as Cassiopeia's eyes landed on a Please give this letter over to Quinn written in the same handwriting previously identified as Crownguard's.
She flipped the parchment to the other side and motioned for Quinn to come closer. There, written by Luxanna's hand was another, longer note.
Quinn,
I am sorry to ask you a favor again. I am in Demacia with Katarina Du Couteau. I will be escorting her to the Freljordian border and then coming back to Institute. Hopefully, I will be back in a month. I ask you to keep this information private and instead tell the officials that my visit in Demacia will be prolonged due to the deterioration of my health. When my brother comes back, please tell him I am visiting my doctor in Northern Demacian lands and staying with an old friend of mine.
I also hope the sudden disappearance of both me and Katarina will not cause too much trouble. I would like to ask both you and Cassiopeia to try and cover this issue at the Institute, for mine and Katarina's sake.
P.S. I swear I am doing it out of my own free will and nobody is keeping me captive, in case anyone asks. NOBODY is forcing me to write this letter (also NOBODY knows I AM writing this letter AT ALL and I would hope it could remain this way).
P.P.S. If you hear about two females illegally crossing the Demacian border, one of them blonde and the other hooded, neither of us knows anything about this.
"That is quite a lot to ask of you," Cassiopeia said under her breath as her eyes skimmed the note again. To think that she would learn more about her sister's current situation from Luxanna Crownguard of all people... the letter seemed rushed, the writing was uneven and she could swear the girl was writing it on anything but a solid, steady surface, but that was still more than Katarina decided to share with her. She almost huffed in annoyance.
Then it hit her; her sister was in Demacia with none other than one of the most recognizable Demacian champions and Cassiopeia had no idea how that came to be.
"I don't understand this," Quinn said quietly, as it seemed she only finished reading now. Her eyes left the page to look up at Cassiopeia, who was currently studying the other woman's face. "What is all this supposed to mean?"
Shrugging, Cassiopeia left the letter in Quinn's hands as she slithered over to her nest of pillows.
"Trust me, I know about as little as you do," she muttered after a while, wincing at her own wording. If there was anything the Demacian wouldn't do, especially after reading what they've read just now, it was trusting her.
"I doubt it." She made a sour face again. Without waiting for any kind of permission, she sat down at the edge of Cassiopeia's bed, seemingly paying no attention to her annoyed face. "Last I heard– well, read from Lux, it was a tiny little note slipped below my at the crack of dawn."
She was speaking quietly, presumably scared anybody would hear them, and Cassiopeia, as much as she hated to admit it, was mighty grateful for that. Not that anybody could actually hear them, seeing as her room was mostly secluded from the rest of the Noxian champions, but she appreciated the discretion.
"As I said, I have no idea what Lux–" she fought back a wince "–is doing with my sister. If you turn the letter and read the part addressed to me, you will see that it's in fact the first time Katarina is telling me about it."
As instructed, Quinn flipped the parchment and quickly skimmed over the short note.
"What is it your sister is doing?" she asked, suspicion evident on her face.
"None of your business."
"Apparently it is, seeing as we're in this together now."
Cassiopeia sent her a gaze that would surely turn Quinn to stone, had they been on Summoner's Rift right now.
"We're not together in anything," she hissed.
"Oh, but we are," Quinn answered in a very cocky tone that only fueled the Noxian's irritation. "See, your sister is doing some shady business gods know where, and from what I gathered you're covering her ass back here." Cassiopeia moved to object, but was stopped with a literal hand to her face. "And since Lux is with her and I'm, as you probably have guessed, covering for Lux, we are going to need to collaborate now."
For a brief moment, Cassiopeia was dumbstruck.
"Hold on," she said after a while, even though Quinn was long finished with talking. "You were covering for Lux this whole time? I though she went to see a doctor or–"
"That's what she told me," Quinn cut in with a sigh. "And what I consequently told everyone, because, even though I could tell there was something wrong with her dropping off a note in the middle of the night to me and not anyone else, I believed she had good reasons for disappearing." She looked Cassiopeia up and down, a shade of disgust almost hidden away from her face. "That is, until I learned she went with your sis–"
"Again, I have no idea why Katarina would even consider taking Lux with her." Cassiopeia scowled. "But whatever the reason is, you can see that Lux agreed to it out of her own will, so stop accusing–"
"Or that's what your sister forced her to write." At this point, Cassiopeia was fighting very hard to keep herself from jumping at the Demacian in front of her and possibly gouging her eyes out with her bare nails, not even covered with the golden claws she usually wore to the Fields. Not only was she in her room uninvited, sticking her nose into Cassiopeia's private business, accusing her sister of kidnapping a blonde bimbo - but also kept interrupting her every time. "Listen, either you cooperate with me, or I take this letter and all information I have to the High Councilor first thing in the morning."
And now she was making demands. Cassiopeia could almost hear her own teeth gritting.
"Quinn," she started in the calmest voice she could muster now. "I admit it seems unimaginable that Lux would go anywhere with my sister, and even more bizarre that my sister would agree to... that kind of companionship." For once, the other woman kept silent and made no attempt to cut in, so, with a sigh, she continued, trying to choose the best wording to help her case. "But, taking into consideration all evidence we possess, which is not much I'm afraid, it is safe to say that whatever they are doing there together, Lux agreed to it and is helping my sister of her own accord."
She was – or used to be – a diplomat, after all.
Quinn seemed to be deep in thought for a moment after that – a moment filled only with the sound of tapping of the Demacian's fingers on the leg of Cassiopeia's vanity table. Trying to hide the clutching feeling of stress in her chest, Cassiopeia resorted to playing with a stray lock of her hair, grimacing at how the candle light awfully accented its greenish hue.
"I'm still not buying it," Quinn blurted out after a while. Cassiopeia moved to say something, but she was again silenced by the other woman. "But I have no solid proof, so I will go with your version. For now."
The Noxian kept the sigh of relief to herself. Quinn seemed to lose the will to fight too. She simply stood up quietly, not demanding to know more about the situation anymore. Cassiopeia figured it was probably – just as Quinn said – for now, and she would come back and try to question her again, but she was glad they were over it for tonight. At this point, she was so tired she could see her fingers tremble from exhaustion.
"One more thing," Quinn said suddenly, and Cassiopeia almost swore under her breath. She moved her eyes up to see the other woman still standing in the middle of her room. "The bird that carried that message, it was a Demacian messenger bird. It might be able to locate your sister and Lux back, if they haven't moved too far from where they set the bird for the Institute... and even if they did, Valor could probably track them once the bird takes him to the general area." She said it all slowly, not looking in Cassiopeia's direction. "Just something to think about."
"We'll see," was all the answer Cassiopeia could muster. Quinn shot her but a quick glance before she decided to leave at last, closing the door behind her.
Cassiopeia couldn't even be bothered to get up and lock it or put the candle out. She finally allowed herself to fall to her pillows and let out a tired breath. With her eyes shut, she lied and listened to the blissful silence while her mind worked in overdrive. There was so much new information to process that she didn't even know where to begin. Her calm evening passed on to a dreadful night, and the only trace of the soothing bath she had was the faint lavender scent.
She opened her eyes and stared at shadows dancing on the ceiling. Tired as she was, she doubted she would be able to sleep that night.
A/N: It's been long. I had a lot going on in my life and also suffered from a horrible lack of motivation (read: I was a lazy ass). I hope at least some of the people following this story are still here with us (alive). To any new readers: the next update will come at some vague point in the future. I'm through with promises.