Chapter 13: The Deceiver

"You wouldn't leave me, right?"

Talon lied on the ground. Cuts, bruises, burns, and all that stuff covered his entire body.

"You really put up a good fight." I said standing above Talon with my arms crossed.

*cough* "hehehe..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're alive. Good. I didn't wanna be talking to a dead man."

Talon coughed out blood as he began to speak. "I've been sent on missions that were otherwise impossible. Not once have I ever failed, but now *cough* I can clearly see that you are just something else."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, you're no joke either. Sorry about your arm by the way."

"My arm?"

He notices only now that his right arm has been severed.

"WHAT!? IT'S GONE! Oh well, I'm a lefty anyway."

I laughed before picking up one of Talon's daggers and observing it, "As an assassin you must kill your targets swiftly in one fatal strike. The moment you failed to kill me meant you've already failed your mission."

Talon had a smug look on his face. "Tch... I know that; and my mission was never to kill you. You must be really conceited."

I paused for a bit. "Wait- You mean..."

"That's right~"

I heard the voice of a woman behind me.

"Our goal was to capture this cutie right here."

Slowly, I turned around. As I thought, Ahri was being held captive. She was unconscious with a small yellow chain wrapped around her neck. The one holding her was none other than the Deceiver herself, Leblanc.

I know that this sounds like a dirty move, but I thought to also use Talon as a hostage. Turning around, he was gone. I only caught a glimpse of a person with red hair holding a body and running through the forest.

"He's already long gone. No need to worry about him. You should instead pay attention to what's in front of you." Leblanc said mischievously.

I just got out of a tough fight with two Noxians and now I have to deal with this. Not only am I tired, but she also has Ahri. I can't help but feel really aggravated.

"I wonder how you could ever leave a lovely gem like this out of your sight. You should learn to take care of your things or else someone may snatch it and use it for other things." Leblanc pulled Ahri closer and slowly licked her neck, causing the unconscious fox to twitch ever so slightly.

I felt a vein pop on my forehead. Seeing Ahri treated like that got me pissed.

I charged at Leblanc at blinding speed, but stopped abruptly. My face was a mere inch away from hers.

That Magician Bitch winked at me which infuriated me even more.

I looked down and saw a yellow chain wrapped around my waist. I followed the chain and saw that the other side of that chain was held by a cloned version of Leblanc.

"I'm surprised. You still have so much energy in you even after your fight with that foolish man."

I tried to get out of the ethereal chains, but I couldn't move a muscle. I was limited to movement above my shoulders.

The clone laughed. "It's useless. As long as my chains are wrapped around you, only I dictate whether you can move or not."

"YOU BITCH!" I ferociously yelled. "I SWEAR I'LL FU- *inaudible chatter*"

"Hmm? What's that? I'm sorry, but I can't seem to hear you."

The sly grin shown on her face was so infuriating. I just wanna punch it in.

I tried to yell from the top of my lungs, but not a sound was heard. To make matters worse, I felt no connection with my mana so I wasn't even able to use any magic. It was the first time I ever felt so powerless.

Leblanc standing in front of me (the one holding Ahri) pushed me down to my knees. She bent down to look me straight in the eye.

"Don't worry, Black Mage. There's nothing wrong with you. I just silenced you for a bit. That's all." Leblanc giggled. "You're always so powerful and free-willed, but now you're unable to even save someone right in front of you. How does it feel to be so restricted?"

I gave her such a look of murderous intent, that the likes of a bear would back away.

"Hmm? That's quite an expression you have there." Leblanc licked her lips. "You know, you're kind of cute now that I look at you closely."

I clenched my teeth and mustered up whatever strength I possessed to speak.

"I'll... k-kill... you!"

She looked somewhat bewildered. "Oh? You managed to talk! You are just so full of surprises. I think I like you."

Just then, Leblanc put her lips on mine.

My eyes shot wide open. I was shocked by her sudden action.

The kiss lasted a second before she let go. She tasted like raspberries. What a shame. I really like raspberries.

Leblanc smiled. "Mmhmm... you taste good."

I felt the chain around me loosen a bit. Using this chance, I quickly reached out to try and strangle the bitch with my right arm.

In a moment, she vanished and Ahri dropped to the ground. I, again, found myself unable to move himself.

"Hahaha! Why are you getting so worked up over an illusion!?"

Leblanc walked from behind me and laughed hysterically.

"Don't get your hopes up. I only allowed you to move in that moment. You're still under my control."

Leblanc looked at Ahri.

"Look at that! The damsel in distress. Can't you hear her calling out to you?"

The Deceiver held my cheeks and moved my face to look at the fox.

"Aren't you gonna save her?" She teased. "Look at that defenceless body. Anything could happen to her now."

Leblanc created another clone who picked up Ahri and placed her on a kneeling position in front of Rez.

"I think it's time to wake up our little fox friend. I wonder what will go through her mind when she wakes up to find her lover kissing another woman."

"You wouldn't..." I weakly said.

Leblanc giggled. "Silly. Of course I would."

I helplessly watched as the Leblanc copy kissed Ahri directly on the lips.

I don't know what's going on. The last thing I remembered was sleeping on a comfortable couch. Then I felt a pair of lips touch my own so I thought Rez wanted to wake me up with a morning kiss. I played along and went deeper into it, letting his tongue slide into my mouth. That's when I thought something was wrong. The kiss felt like it had plenty of experience, unlike Rez who was a bit clumsy. I opened my eyes after realizing that it wasn't Rez, but a woman.

I quickly pulled away. Those lips were too soft and fruity to be Rez's!

The next thing I knew, I witnessed something that I didn't want to believe. Right before my eyes, Rez was making out with Leblanc.

"Rez...? W-What are you doing?"

Rez pulled away from Leblanc only to be turned around and kissed by her copy.

"We're just having some fun, Ahri." Leblanc teasingly said.

This Bitch! Why is she here? Was she sent here from Noxus? Leblanc is known for playing around with her targets. She is manipulative, dangerous, tricky, and with those looks, seductive. It's no wonder she's called 'The Deceiver.'

"Stop it! Let him go!" I growled at her.

"Why? It doesn't look like Rez wants to stop. Look at the way he moves his tongue."

I looked closely and saw that Rez was going along with the kiss. His tongue was moving in sync with Leblanc's. It seemed as if he was enjoying it.

"R-Rez...?" I felt a tear fall from my eye. More than ever, I wanted to break off the kiss, but with this chain around my neck, I was forced to watch.

Leblanc whispered into my ear. "Don't you think he would get tired of you? Most men would get bored of the same girl. It wouldn't be surprised if he were to leave you for someone else or possibly even me."

I didn't want to believe a word she said. I know Rez isn't that kind of guy. He wouldn't fall for someone else just for pleasure. I mean, Rez loves me...

...Right?

Suddenly, I snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed dark-violet spires arose from the ground forming a giant circle around us like a cage.

"Huh?"

Leblanc stopped what she was doing. "This is-" A shadow formed over her growing bigger and darker over a short time.

In a few seconds, a cosmic substance of dark matter fell upon Leblanc and Rez.

I froze in place, my mouth held agape. A lot of crazy things happen in my daily life, but I just can't handle today.

I gained control of my body as the ethereal chains vanished from my neck.

In a few seconds, the dark matter dissipated. I went up to check and I saw Rez's body twitching on the freshly made crater.

I decided to leave him be. He got up from worse things before. I'm more worried about what's happening around us.

"What!? He should be taken care of!" Leblanc yelled out. It seems she evaded the dark meteor before it landed.

"Grrrr..."

I heard a high pitched growl behind me. I looked to the direction of the noise and saw a small man coming out from the darkness of the forest.

His eyes twitched slightly as he spoke. "My evil lair is completely ruined! I'm gonna make sure you pay me back for what you have done!"

"Shit! I planted several bombs. How could you have survived!?" Leblanc was in a state of panic.

"You pathetic servant! How long do you plan on laying there? Get off your lazy ass!" Veigar commanded, ignoring Leblanc.

"Geez Master, your dark matter hurts like Hell and I was damaged enough. Can't I rest for just a few seconds?"

Of course Rez would be fine. Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved.

He got out of the crater and was popping almost every bone in his body. "Are you okay, Ahri? You're not hurt are you?" He offered his hand to help me up from my kneeling state.

Rez shook off a cosmic meteor that fell from the sky and he's helping me to simply stand. I couldn't describe how embarrassed I felt.

I pouted and looked away. "I'm fine. I don't need your help."

"Come on. Give me your hand."

I looked back to him and saw a calm smile from his face.

His concern for me was enough to give me a flushed face, but adding a warm smile was just unfair.

"F-fine!" I gave him my hand, allowing Rez to bring me back onto my feet.

He cracked his neck. "Alright Master. For playing with my body and messing up your place, how should we deal with this little troublemaker?"

The little yordle mage waddled toward us. "Allow me to give her a proper 'punishment'." He followed with a cynical laugh.

Leblanc gritted her teeth. "Tch... Like I'd let you lay a finger on me!"

Before she could even react, Leblanc froze in place. It looked as if the space around her was frozen from time.

"Nice one Master! There's no way she's getting out of this."

"What happened? What did you do to her?"

"Do you see these spikes surrounding us?" Veigar asked.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Simply put, I have full control of space and matter within the perimeter of these large spikes."

"I was trapped like this for about 3 months. This was one of many punishments."

I looked to Rez. "You seem oddly happy about that."

Rez nodded. "This is punishment 11."

"Anyway..." I changed the subject to avoid believing that Rez was into masochism. "Now what are we gonna do about her?"

The two of them looked toward Leblanc. Both their faces grew menacing smiles.

After a small rest, the sun had finally risen above the horizon. Rez and I continued towards Noxus.

The things the little yordle mage had done to Leblanc was too terrible to mention. I think it's better to just forget about her.

Rez spoke. "Ahri."

"What is it, Rez?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Umm... You know... back there with Leblanc, I hope that didn't bother you."

"Remembering what happened to her, there's no way I wouldn't get bothered."

"No, I mean, before Master arrived."

"Oh..."

The look on Rez's face looked like it bothered him quite a bit.

Does this mean that Rez acknowledges my love for him? He's a big airhead so he either forgets or ignores it.

"I wasn't exactly happy when I saw you and Leblanc kiss, but I knew it was against your will. So I'm not entirely bothered by it, I mean, it still bugs me just thinking about it."

"I see." Rez just continued walking.

I grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss.

After a few seconds, I looked him in the eye. "These lips belong to me. You better remember that."

Rez smiled and patted my head. "Whatever you say." He turned and continued walking.

I can't figure out what's in his mind. He was pretty normal awhile ago, but then he gets all mysterious the next second.

To be honest, I am bothered by what Leblanc said. Even if he acknowledges that I love him, the question still remains:

Does Rez love me?

Even if we did do those things, he's still a man who should get those urges. What if he does leave me? What if I'm just a bother to him.

"What's taking so long?"

Huh?

I felt a tug on my hand, which brought me back to reality.

"Again, Ahri? I thought we were done with the whole spacing out thing. Come on. Let's go."

Rez held out his hand in front of me.

The way the rising sun shown on his face was mesmerizing. Instead of simply taking his hand, I wrapped my arms around his and held it closely to my chest.

I smiled at him and he chuckled a bit before announcing, "Alright! Now to head for Zaun!"

Eh?