It was almost 10 AM in the morning. The young and beautiful Ahri was slowly waking up after a sound sleep. Her night was well. She almost didn't want to get up, but there was much to be done. She had to get situated as soon as possible. Her reputation and perhaps even her life itself were at stack. Ahri had no time to lose.
She got up and got dress quickly. She had to skip most of her morning routine this time so she can get things started. All she really did was brush and tied her hair in her usual matter, and added a little bit of make-up. Normally, she would also take a morning shower and clean up, but that would only waste valuable time. She felt that she was already running late.
As Ahri prepared to head out, she quickly noticed her new roommate, Riven's absence. There was no telling where she might be. Ahri can only guess that she was either summoned or doing whatever it is she usually does at around ten in the morning. She didn't worry about it too much. Ahri had too many other things to deal with as it was.
She left her bed unmade and headed out. The first thing she had to was to request the institute to prevent her from being summoned. She had never actually done this before. For the longest time, Ahri had little problems with being summoned and participating in league events. To some extent, she actually enjoyed them. She enjoyed the thrill of using her power and cunning at its fullest against her enemies, and when things came accordingly, it was beyond satisfying. The hardest part though, was losing badly, and the feeling of death, like what happened yesterday. It doesn't typically happen too often, but it was enough to irritate her nonetheless.
But it was too risky to be participating with her weakened powers. Ahri would never win another match this way. Her Charm spell won't even work properly. To add insult to injury, it seemed like she had to put more effort and energy into casting them to begin with. Normally, it would be easy like it supposed to be, but it was almost like she was still learning how to even use spells. It was beyond bothersome.
She wonders if the other mages have this problem.
Ahri arrived at the main chamber where she would be speaking with the administrators of the institute. They were in charge of organizing the league and keeping the summoners and champions in line. Ahri was a little nervous. She had only spoken to them once before when she first joined the league, and that was a fairly long time ago. They seemed to be capable of greater power if they're able to keep all the champions in check. Perhaps if they wanted, they could easily destroy them all. Ahri wasn't entirely sure what they were truly capable of, and she wonders if she'll ever find out.
She was greeted by a mysterious bearded old man. It was too difficult for Ahri to even recognize him under that dark purple hooded robe. He looked higher class though as the robe was more dynamic. Ahri guessed he was one of the administrators. As he approaches her, he bowed respectively before her. "Greetings, Ahri," he said.
"H-Hi…" Ahri didn't know what to think of him. It was as if he thought she'd wanted to talk to him. Ahri clearly didn't. She just wanted to get this over with.
"I assume you wanted to speak with the administration?" he asked.
"Yes. I wish to exclude myself from any league activities until further notice." She decided to play it safe and act more formal than usual. It was a serious moment for her, and she didn't want to anger him.
"For what reason?" he asked.
Ahri paused for a few seconds, debating on whether or not she should tell him the truth. Then she vaguely, "I am unwell."
"Hmm…" The strange man fiddled with his bread and replied, "Very well. In that case, I'll see to it that you won't be seeing league matches involuntary. Is there anything else you would like to address?"
Ahri thought about it and almost said no, but she wonders if the man knows anything about the mystery of her weakened powers. She was still reluctant on telling him exactly what was happening, but she figured it might be helpful. What could go wrong?
"Is it unusual for mages to… have their abilities weakened, or even lost?"
"Hmm..." The man remained silent for several seconds, seemingly in deep thought. During that time, Ahri questioned to herself if it was even a good idea to ask him that. "That is a good question," he said finally. "Talent does not simply simply disappear just like that. It is possible though, that one's power can be weakened or silenced temporally via technique or artificially."
"Huh... Thanks. I was just curious."
"You are welcome, Ms. Ahri. Is there anything else?"
"No, that's it. I'll be going now, sir."
"Very well then." The old looking man bow to her again respectively. "I bid you farewell then, my lady. I hope that you will feel better soon." He turned around and slowly vanished before Ahri's eyes.
"Well that was easy," she thought. Ahri was quite glad she was able to cross that off her to-do-list. Not only that, but the elder managed to shed a little light in the foxwoman's predicament. Perhaps someone or something was effecting her abilities in some shape or form, and it was supposed to be temporally, at least she hoped. Ahri wondered how long it supposed to last before the effect wear off. She truly hoped it was soon, if not this minute.
Ahri was going back to her room to resume her daily routine and think about what she could do next in private when she saw Katarina, the Sinister Blade passing by. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to test out her Charm spell again. The silence effect typically doesn't last that long. In fact, this was the longest it was supposed to last. Her powers should be returning to their full potential, she thought.
She aimed carefully at the red-haired woman before taking another shot. If successful, Katarina's thoughts should be about nothing but Ahri, and the woman would no longer be able to resist her, regardless if she even swings that way or not. Ultimately, it was a temporally love spell designed to throw the target off-guard.
Ahri threw her heart-shape orb at the woman and watched it land on her back. At that point, Katarina was supposed to fall for her. She turned around only to have an indifferent look on her face. There was no signs of interest for the foxwoman.
"Was that you?" asked Katarina.
"Dammit!" she cursed softly. Ahri knew instantly that it still doesn't work. This upset the Nine-tailed fox greatly.
"Y-yeah," she Ahri embarrassingly, scratching her head.
She was trying hard to think of a proper excuse as to why she was trying to charm her, but Katarina simply asked, "What do you want?"
Ahri forced herself to smile, but it was faint. She wonders if the other woman knew her true intentions. "I just wanna say hi. Hope I'm not a bother or anything."
Katarina grinned lively. It almost seemed like she was in a good mood. "No bother. It's nice to see you too, Nine-tails." She walked a bit closer to the foxwoman.
Ahri didn't really had much against Katarina as she did against Talon. In a way, Ahri kind of liked her, but she was fairly intimidating. Like Talon, Ahri always had trouble fighting against her in the fields, but they seemed to be more evenly matched if anything. She was well aware that the Du Courtou family were skilled assassins, and Katarina was no exception.
She then added, "Sorry about yesterday by the way. My brother can be a real bastard sometimes."
"He is," Ahri agreed. "I was just wondering how he can be dealt with."
Katarina shook her head. "As much as I like you, foxy, I'm not allowed to share my families secrets," she said.
"Of course," Ahri complained.
The Sinister blade grinned again. "Sorry, honey. Wait, aren't you roommates with Riven now?" she then asked.
"Uh-huh."
"If you want, I can tell you a little bit about her, though. I was once her superior, you know."
The kind of information Katarina was offering seemed quite useful. Ahri really didn't know much about her new roommate, and Riven was a little too quiet for Ahri's liking. It seemed like it would make sense to take up on the woman's offer.
"What can you tell me?" asked Ahri.
Katarina looked around her surroundings before proceeding. She then guided her to the nearest wall and leaned closer to Ahri. The red-haired woman spoke in a softer matter. "Well, I'm not gonna lie. Riven was actually quite the exceptional warrior of Noxus. Quite possibly one of the best even, I must admit. Besides me of course," she grinned.
"You don't have to tell me that," said Ahri in the same tone.
"Buuut," said Katarina in a more sly tone. "she's also quite sensitive."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Even back then, she couldn't take criticism that well if it was harsh enough. She didn't always take jokes well either. She was somewhat of a drone."
So far, Ahri was intrigued. She was learning so much already. "Go on," she said.
"Riven also developed a little sense of rebellion a shortly before she "exiled" herself. I remember her disobeying me once." Katarina then started grinning more lively again as she spoke. "Y-You know what I did to her?"
"No, what?" she asked eagerly.
"I pulled her down to my lap and started spanking her hard."
"Wh-what?!" Ahri then laugh hysterically. She found that to be all too hilarious. To have a seemingly strong warrior being punished like a mere child was just unbelievable. Ahri would have trouble forgetting this. "Th-that is so..." She soon had trouble finding the right word to describe it.
Katarina waited for Ahri to finish laughing before continuing. "Yeah. Normally, my punishments were a little more severe, but I was in a good mood at the time, and I felt like screwing with her. It was pretty hilarious."
"I bet that taught her a lesson," tensed Ahri.
"Wanna know something else?" she asked.
Ahri remained quiet again and nodded.
"Rumor has it that Riven also... "flies that way," so to speak. In fact, I have a feeling that she actually had a crush on me at the time. I honesty don't really blame her," she grinned.
"Is that so?" Ahri asked, amazed by the information that was giving to her.
"Normally, that kind of stuff doesn't fly well in Noxus, but I personally have nothing against it. I kinda thought Riven was a little cute for a woman. Too bad she walked out on us," she said, crossing her arms.
"Huh. Interesting," Ahri smirked.
The foxwoman turned her head for a moment and suddenly noticed the Exile walking towards them now. A hint of worry chilled Ahri slightly, hoping that Riven didn't catch on their gossiping, or her affairs for that matter. Somehow, she thought it would go a little badly if she did.
"Oh, hi, Riven," said Ahri innocently.
"Hey," replied Riven.
Katarina looked at her as well and acted as if nothing happened between the two. "Nice to see you, Exile," she said.
Riven remained silent to the other woman and simply nodded at her, then looked at Ahri again. "If you don't mind, can I talk to you for a bit?"
"Sure," said Ahri. As the foxwoman was about to walk away with her, Katarina went close to her and whispered in her ear, "I'll be around for a bit if you want to talk some more."
The two walked for a little bit until they came around a corner in a less populated area, not too many other people walking by. Ahri wondered what exactly Riven wanted. Surely, she wasn't trouble already, was she?
"Did you sleep well?" asked Riven suddenly. "Feels different having another person in your room, huh?"
"I... slept fine," replied Ahri. "I honestly almost forgot we're roommates now."
"I see. But we are now, so..."
"Did you sleep well?" Ahri asked.
"B-barely."
"Well, you were on the floor and all. I figured it was a little uncomfortable. You're still welcome to share the bed with me," Ahri smiled.
"N-No," said Riven, shaking her head. "I'm fine for now. I'm used to it."
Ahri suspended that Riven was a little nervous about the idea, but decided to let it go. She can understand the reason to an extent, and she couldn't blame her. "Okay then."
"Oh, I thought you should know," said Riven. "I've been informed that there has been suspicion of some sort of collusion."
"Collusion?" asked Ahri.
"An act of conspiracy of some kind," she said. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"
"No, Riven," Ahri said quickly. "You don't actually think I would stoop that low, would you?"
"I'm not trying to point figures or anything," Riven admits. "I was just wondering if you've seen any clues of the like."
Ahri rolled her eyes. "You should left all that stuff to Caityn," she said.
"I'm not all that concerned. I've just been told to keep a look out."
Ahri really didn't know about the whole conspiracy thing nor did she care. She thought that her powers were much more important. What was really on her mind besides her sudden weakness was Riven herself. She had already learned quite a bit about her thanks to Katarina, and that information could be put to use should she need to, especially the last bit. If what Katarina said was true, it may be possible for Ahri to seduce Riven without her Charm spell, and it would have been convenient.
Of course, Ahri wouldn't be so quick to actually do that right away. It wasn't because she was also female though. For the longest time, Ahri had only gotten her way with males, but had only realized she can get away with females as well not too long ago. It was somewhat intriguing in a way. Ahri was almost always willing to try new things. Riven wouldn't be the first on her mind though. She wasn't bad looking at all, but merely considered 'average' compared to most of the other female champions.
"Was that it?" Ahri asked.
"Yes, I believe. Oh, I also wanted to talk to you about our room accommodations, but we can save that for later," said Riven.
"Alright then. Oh yeah, you won't be seeing me as much in the fields anymore," admitted Ahri. "At least for the time being."
"Why?" the white-haired woman asked.
Ahri needed a moment to think. She knew she can't just use the same excuse twice. "I just needed a break, that's all."
"Oh, okay then. I can understand that," said Riven. "I could probably use a mini-vacation myself," she smiled faintly.
"Cool." Ahri then remembered about the play Leblanc mentioned. She was suddenly interested in trying out. "Come on, let's go find Fiora."
Riven raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"You'll see!" Ahri then pulled Riven by the arm gently as she willingly followed.
The swordswoman then asked, "Why do I had a bad feeling about this?"
Arther's notes: I'm sorry my chapters keep getting shorter and shorter, for those who prefer longer chapters. I'm not trying to create a pattern or anything. xD
But anyway, I might wanna start having a beta reader from now on, because I don't want to get something horribly wrong in the lore, and there's always the possibly of spelling and grammatical errors too. I'm just a horrible typist in general.
Also, do you guys think I should alternate view points between Ahri and Riven's? I'm thinking about doing that in future chapters.
As always, reviews are much appreciated. I aim to get better at this. Thank you for your support. :D
