The Guilty Will Know Agony

Hey all,
In this chapter Varus mentions the language of the ancient Ionians. I took a little bit of creative liberty and decided to call it Minoan. What can I say? I like ancient history in the Greek areas.

The first few days of walking were spent almost completely in silence. It was only broken when the pair were accosted by an extremely irate and extremely large wolverine. It reminded Lux of the giant wolves found in the Summoner's Rift, two heads coming off of the neck. A strange green liquid was frothing from its mouths and Varus concluded that it would unwise for either of them to get bitten. Lux rolled her eyes when he said as much and drew her staff.

"I don't get hit", she called back cheerfully.

True to her word, the young woman dodged in and out of the enraged creature's mouths. While she almost danced around, firing off shots of magic, Varus lined up his shot. He wanted this over quickly, watching the girl nearly get bitten was causing his heart to clench.

"Demacia!" She cried in victory, letting off a bolt of light. However, before it could hit the beast a demonic arrow flew past and took it down. Lux rounded on Varus with sudden fury.

"Kill steal! I had it covered, you purple jerk!"

The man behind her looked confused, his bow slithering back into his palm. Lux couldn't stop the shudder of revulsion. Shouldn't that hurt?

"This is not the League, we just had to kill it. Why does it matter who completed the deed?"

Lux bristled, "It was my kill! You do it when we lane together too!"

Varus didn't have pupils or irises, but she was certain he was rolling his eyes.

"As long as we continue moving forward to the nexus I do now see how it matters"

Lux shook her head. Of course he didn't understand. He didn't have to live up to the noble name of Crownguard. Varus didn't have anything to prove by being in the games.

"I was unaware it was important to you, miss Crownguard. I will endeavor to avoid 'stealing your kills'"

She sniffed and turned away with a flick of her hair. The victory felt like ash on her tongue but she kept walking anyway. Maybe now she would get more kills when they were together. It would give her family less to be disappointed with.

Varus followed the young girl. He and Pallas had been together for long enough that he never considered that he fought alone anymore. Even before that, he was honored as the best warrior in Ionia when he was chosen to guard Pallas. Clearly this little light still needed to prove herself, though to whom he was unsure. Being accepted by the summoners was a great honor in itself.

His stomach had begun to feel tight and his throat constricted. Was he actually feeling guilty about offending her? He was used to the pervasive, ever present guilt for his failure those years ago. The weight was part of him. This was different, urging him to go and make amends.

He caught up so that they were walking together. They stayed close to the side of the road, in case they had to quickly hide from any Noxians looking for them.
In an attempt to distract himself from the strange feeling of guilt he spoke,

"You study magic?"

She looked at him in surprise. It was the first time he had tried to start a conversation since she had met him.

"Yeah, lots of different subjects, not just magic", she tried to sound casual.

Even Varus could hear the edge of excitement in her voice at the prospect of talking about her research. He had very little knowledge, but there was some he could recall.

"For a time I studied my people's history before I became… how I am now"

Lux's ears perked. That had almost sounded like a personal detail about the strange man. The other Ionians didn't talk about Varus. Whatever he had done to get his powers was bad enough that they refused to even speak about him.

"Ionian history? We have so little about it in the Demacian libraries. Apparently they keep it all in scrolls in a long forgotten language" her gaze went off into the distance, "No one in Demacia knows how to read them. What I wouldn't give to get access to all that knowledge!"

Varus' mouth quirked upwards, it was almost a smile. The Ionians guarded their past jealously.

"Much of those scrolls are about ethics and laws. Lessons passed down, that we may learn from our ancestors mistakes. I would approach Ezreal with a request. He may be open to teaching you Minoan and find a way for you to access their records"

He and Pallas both jerked in surprise when the young woman latched onto his arm. Her excited squeals of 'do you think so?' were lost to the ringing in his ears.
She was touching them. One hand wrapped around his bicep, the other his forearm.

The chords of dark muscles twitched and Lux looked down. The substance felt almost like reptilian skin and very warm under her hand. Half of her brain idly pondered how his body maintained homeostasis. The other half was directing blood to her cheeks. She nearly jumped backwards,

"I apologize, that was very forward. I just got so excited…" she trailed off when she saw that he was looking at his arm instead of listening to her.
"Are you okay? I didn't mean to offend" she was getting quieter with each word. He finally shook himself and started walking again.

"There was no offence, miss Crownguard" his voice was gruff.

Images of his wife in his arms, of Theshan lifted onto his shoulders flashed into his head. It had been an age. Pallas seemed similarly disturbed, conveying so with the feeling of stepping into too cold water and flesh being devoured by bugs.

Ancestors, Varus wished the spirit would just talk. He cleared his throat and tried to change the subject.

"Your illusion magic is quite impressive. Even Pallas was fooled when you came for us."

Lux ran through the long list of dignitaries, nobles and League combatants in her head.

"I do not know of a Pallas"

Varus looked at her as if she had two heads. He motioned to his arm and legs.

"The spirit that aids me, I had thought the most brilliant of Demacia would know that"

She bristled at his implication but couldn't quell her curiosity. There was very little known about Ionia, less so about Varus himself. Perhaps in their few weeks of travel she could gain information. She might be able to find something tactically valuable to bring the spy masters.

"Demacia knows very little about Ionia, as I said before. So your arms and legs are where the spirit stays?"

He paused, considering how much he should tell her. His secrets were of a personal matter but he doubted that the Demacians would stoop to dark magics to gain the power of Pallas.

"No, I am slowly being consumed by it, it is the price I pay for its power"

Lux gave the man a look over. Not even half a man, if what he said was true.

"Why did the Noxians capture you? His Highness didn't say"

"They captured me because I was attempting to murder Swain"

It wasn't a secret. Now that the man himself knew that Varus was out for his blood he didn't see the point in hiding it. His expression darkened and his lip curled into a snarl, "he was expecting me… I failed"

When his statements were met with silence he glanced over. Lux's eyes were bugging out of her head.
"You tried to kill the grand general of Noxus?!" She finally squeaked, "are you nuts? The political vacuum in Noxus is already making our peace unstable! You can't just kill Jericho Swain!"

He frowned in confusion at her outburst.

"I do not care about his position, only his death at my hands".

She gasped as claws wrapped around her forearm. She looked into pale eyes and a snarling face.

"The guilty will know agony. Someone took them from me. Someone must pay. They will all pay for what they have done. I do not care who gets in my way."

"Beware a man with nothing to lose?" She taunted back at him. He flinched and pulled back.

"You cannot possibly understand", he growled, before stalking off.

Lux threw her hands up and rolled her eyes, mindful that he didn't notice. Maybe the reason the Ionians didn't bother with Varus was because of his one track mind. The sooner they got back to Demacia, the better.