Disclaimer: (See previous chapters)
This update was unexpected, but I found myself inspired.
The main reason for the long hiatus on this story was my indecision regarding the direction I wanted to take it. I had two options: One, I could go a sappy dark romance; or two, I could put in some real plot and start spreading the darkness to more than just our dear Sona Buvelle.
I have decided upon the latter option, and so this story is no officially AU – at least to some extent.
Note:
All three of the first chapters – and any future ones unless otherwise said so take place during a time prior to Sona's joining of the League of Legends.
Also, the card whose name was used for this chapter's name is Underworld Dreams
Enjoy your read and don't forget to leave me a comment or two!
Sincerely,
Toph the Trickster
Sweet Corruption:
Underworld Dreams
"In the drowsy, dark cave of the mind, dreams build their nest with fragments dropped from day's caravan."
~TtT~
On the first night, the very first time the dreams came to her, all she saw was darkness.
There was no form; neither form of self nor form of surrounding for the darkness dominated so much that Sona Buvelle found her ability to see and look around completely useless.
At first, there was silence. And despite the fact that she knew there was nothing to see in the void around her, the woman had persistently tried to see into the black; she had gone as far as attempting to move around with her lack of physical form, not really succeeding at getting anywhere or at least not being able to discern whether she had managed to move or not.
What was she doing in a place such as this? She could not help but ask herself that. This was the very first time she had encountered a dream of this nature, one so unlike her normal fair and those shared to her by her friends and contemporaries. The woman was accustomed to hearing of flights of fancy, ideas given form or ideals and ambitions presented in completion.
She continued her frantic swim through the void in her search of herself; she desired something familiar, something that would remind her of the dreams that she was so accustomed to.
This dream was abstract, unfamiliar ground and therefore, something she rejected on instinct. Her reaction was not a conscious one, not one that she would have done had she taken the time to calm herself and understand her situation better.
That was simply not the case.
It was after she had exhausted energies that she argued to herself she should not posses that she began to hear the words echoing out to her. It was in a language she could not understand despite her exposure to all the languages of Valoran in her travels.
The voice brushed against her, the first thing to give her a sense of physical sensation within the formless void. The ticking of a clock accompanied it when it repeated its words persistently.
It spoke slowly, every word accompanied by a deliberate blast of cold against her unseen entirety, reminding her of the coldness she experienced when in the presence of the emperor, yet at the same time different. For unlike the Mordekaiser, the feelings she experienced from hearing the words were enforced by no emotion; they lacked that distinct domineering nature the emperor exerted over her.
Was this the emperor, then? Absent of his will to have her, yet him all the same?
The invisible clock was ticking again, the constant beat sounding like breaking stone while the voice continued relating its message to her.
The ticking of the clock was growing louder to her, but she couldn't ever be sure because of the absence of her ears; cracking – yes, it had to be cracking she was hearing between ticks of the second hand.
It was the sound of embers cracking on a flame, but one that burned cold as it ripped through her.
The voice ran deeper as it continued its tirade, the woman feeling herself shudder in the void as the chill seeped ever closer to her core.
At this point, Sona became aware of self again, her senses no longer bound to simply feeling abstract impressions on a form that did not exist. Her fists clenched from the cold as she shut her thighs together subconsciously in anticipation of something that would not be there.
She was awake a moment later, her covers rumpled at her waist.
She was panting as she tried to get her bearings: she was in her room in Buvelle manor. Casting a glance around the room, she observed that it was the same in every aspect and no wind was blowing. She could not feel the emperor with her, not even that will of his that kept her sated most nights. No, Sona was alone as alone could be in the security of her room.
Yet why was she so disturbed? She found little sense in being bothered by a dream. Yes, it was not the type of dream that she was accustomed to, but she could not see why that should be distressing her in the manner it was now.
Her breathing slowed, the musician finally calming down from the panic her sudden waking had caused and thereby allowing her to collect herself.
She laid back down on her bed and instinctually felt her back arc upward as it was assaulted by a strange, warm sensation.
Sleeping naked had afforded her different things, one of those things being immediate contact with her sheets majority of the time; warmth was normal.
Her eyes widened though, her lungs drawing air while she fought her instinct and tried to let herself lay flat on the bed.
There.
She felt it; it was not just her back but her legs and arms as well now that she really took the time to consider it. That strange wet and warm feeling that was enveloping her; it was weighing down her comforter, making it heavier with the weight of the liquid in much the same way it was affecting her hair.
It smelled of copper, a delicious scent that she had been coming to recognize on instinct since she began using her etwahl's darker uses nearly a full year ago.
Sona gasped, realizing what was so wrong about the situation and how little sense it made.
Why would that be here? On her bed? Completely drenching her in fact?
Without delay, she reached out and turned the light on her nightstand on.
Promptly, she looked down and found herself in wanting of a voice.
Sona struggled now, slipping on the soggy sheets with her slick hands and legs; her hair stuck to her back, face, and pillow, now a color that she couldn't recognize as her own; her bed – once a pristine collection of white silks that she so adored – had turned sanguine and unrecognizable before her.
Her jaw was locked open, eyes wide and unable to leave the macabre sight.
For she – her linens, hair, and body – were dyed red and smelling of blood.
~TtT~
Luxanna Crownguard was not particularly happy. While it was a given that she rarely ever found herself really happy despite her outwardly bubbly persona, today she was feeling particularly poisonous.
It was one of her few days off – something that came very rarely for those that served in Demacia's oh so prideful military – and today she was called in to see to a favor.
Minister Roberto Zar had unexpectedly called on her earlier this morning, asking that she come over to the library because he needed her help with something. While she had been disinclined to accepting the request, she owed the old man for allowing her free access to the library and an unlimited number of books allowed for borrowing at a time. And there was the fact that Zar's private section in the library was second only to the continental archives of the Institute of War – a place she had yet to gain entry into.
She sighed as she passed through the threshold that lead her into the library's primary hallway, polished stone columns rising up from the marble floor and reaching for the ceiling. The blue banners hung from the pillars flashed the golden emblem of her home city-state. Light filtered in from the colored glass panes that formed the ceiling above her as it cast images of the nation's prided soldiers unto the floor below her while placing what lay behind the columns in the darkness.
For years since she had been forced to join the military, she had turned to the one passion that never left her: her interest in magic. Garen buried himself in his work – though sometimes she was made to wonder if it really was work he was so busy with whenever he went to the Institute of War – and Jarvan was still listed as missing in action the last time she had asked for him.
Her studies were all that was left for her to do whenever she wasn't working. And Zar – when he saw her perusing through the book regarding application of runic magic in the manipulation of light and heat – took note of her bored and more than slightly unsatisfied look before telling her that he had several books regarding magic that she might find a little more interesting and less repetitive than the books that she had access to in the National Library's public section.
That had been two years ago, and Zar had not been a very prominent politician at the time – he still wasn't, actually – so Lux wasn't entirely sure it was wise to follow a person she didn't know into the library's private section.
Ultimately, she had decided that she could bank on her abilities to make herself transparent to get away should he ever decide to attempt anything improper.
The payout of giving her trust that one time had opened to her a treasure trove of new things to read. There were so many books in the man's private section that caught her interest that she was still reading through it now; the collection ranged from history to magic and technology – the latter greatly catching her interest because of its difference from what she was accustomed to.
Most of the books in Zar's collection did not discuss the runic magic that was practiced by majority of the people in Valoran – those that didn't were so few in number that they could usually not be identified. These books spoke of primal magic, power taken from the very land they tread upon and warping them according to one's own needs and desires.
It was difficult for her to comprehend actually, mainly because of the fact that the books she was reading that the scale such magic worked on was so large that no single mage she had ever interacted with in her life – as a teacher of otherwise – could be capable of such feats. It was taking her a long time to go through that part of Zar's collection but she had been grateful for his allowing her to take whatever books she wanted home with her provided she brought them back to him for his inspection once every two weeks.
Lux sighed, this was the first time Zar had ever asked her of anything, really; perhaps it was only fair that she allowed him.
"There you are!" She turned to one of the dark gaps between columns and found herself face to face with Minister Roberto Zar. The pale, old man was dressed in wispy purple robes that seemed to blend with black that surrounded him – a stark paradox to the yellow that Lux chose to wear that day which made her seem a part of the rays of colored light that shone unto the center of the hall. Zar smiled at her and sent the young soldier a shallow bow before saying: "This way, our guest is waiting in my office."
Lux always found it amusing that Zar's office tended to look very Noxian: It was in a perpetual state of darkness, with only a few candles illuminating the most important places of the enclosure such as the desk and bookcases.
It just went to show that sometimes the differences between Demacians and Noxians weren't all that large – not that the Crownguard girl would ever bother sharing these sentiments of hers.
Her eyes immediately locked unto the one object in the room that wasn't there whenever Lux paid the good minister her very rare visits in the office: the red form standing before the bookcase, the candlelight making the cloak's black embroidery appear like shadows in the flame. A delicate hand occasionally reached out to turn the page of the book the stranger had been reading.
Lux knew that the thick carpet in the hallway leading to Zar's office and the carpet inside the room prevented their footfalls from being heard by the stranger. The former female reached out and grasped the minister's shoulder to catch his attention, asking in a whisper:
"Who is she?"
Roberto's impassive expression did not break as he gave her an immediate answer: "You will find out soon enough." Turning away from Crownguard, the minister called out: "Miss, lady Crownguard is here."
The cloaked woman turned, her hand reaching up and bringing her hood down while the other closing the book and setting it aside – forgotten. Piercing amber eyes looked at Lux while the apparently older woman's face remained soft. Red hair was tied into a pair of twin-tails at the nape of her neck and fell over her shoulder to her front.
She looked familiar, but Luxanna couldn't place the woman's identity.
The guest nodded toward them, lacing her fingers together then walking toward the couch that faced the coffee table in the center of the room and sitting down. The woman looked at them expectantly afterwards.
"I hope you were not waiting long, miss?" If Lux was left distracted thinking about how she recognized this woman, Zar remained unaffected by the latter woman's appearance and went on to business.
The guest shook her head but still remained silent, making Lux wonder why the older female had not yet spoken a word.
The guest then turned to Lux – waiting.
Lux sat down on one of the chairs, one between the guest and the minister; seeing this, the red-haired woman waved her one of her hands once, a strange wooden object flying toward them from behind a curtain; its swift movement made it difficult for Lux to identify.
That was, until it landed softly on the guest's lap – at that point, Crownguard wasn't sure whether or not her surprise was shown upon her face.
The wood was polished to a shine, making it look golden in the soft candlelight; Wings were carved on each end of the object, a set of three strings running between the latticework.
It was an instrument, one that had gained considerable fame over all of Valoran over the course of the past few years and there was only one such thing.
The etwahl; of course, only one person on the continent owned such a rare piece:
"Sona Buvelle?" Lux immediately covered her mouth when she realized she had voiced her suspicion out loud.
Sona's amber eyes lit up in amusement as she smiled. Nodding, the musician gestured to the box of sand that decorated the center of Zar's large table; she plucked one of her instrument's strings:
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Luxanna Crownguard."
Lux found herself blinking at the writing on the sand, not really expecting the popular musician to use such an unorthodox method of communication. The blonde was aware that Sona was mute, of course, but the former had never expected the older female to use the etwahl in such a manner. Lux wasn't even aware the instrument was capable of such a thing in the first place.
Odd…
Music was played once more, and the blonde was made to look at the sandbox again:
"I trust minister Zar has informed you of why I have asked for you?"
When Crownguard looked to the minister, the old man interjected: "No, miss Buvelle, I have not." Sona nodded at this, playing several more notes:
"Very well," The letters were slashed unto the sand – Lux observed – as though done by some unseen blade. "You see, miss Crownguard-"
"Lux, please." It wasn't always easy being expected to perform as well as her brother had within the ranks of the Demacian military, but such had occurred. Everyone had been of the opinion that she, too, would uphold the Crownguard legacy of outstanding service to the city-state. Lux rather not be referred to such outside times when it was necessary because of such.
Nodding, Sona continued: "Lux, of course.
"You see, I feel that I am being…" There was a pause in the playing of music, Sona's hands hesitating above the strings; of course, the writing stopped as well. The musician's expression was unreadable at this point; her eyes cast low in recollection.
When she remembered, the red-haired woman met her amber eyes with Lux's blue: "Plagued by magics; magics of non-runic nature."
"May I ask:" Crownguard interrupted, her blonde brows furrowed together. "What makes you believe the magics are non-runic?"
The reply came quick as the sands shifted to the plucks of the string: "I have found myself greatly exposed to runic magic as the nature of my profession requires me to." Sona smiled at the younger girl, eyes glinting. "Certainly, you know how runic magic feels. I personally find it difficult to explain but I trust you understand what I mean, no?"
Lux nodded: "Like lightning and gravel. Even the elemental magic generated by runes gives a similar aftereffect. Many mages in Valoran can't tell the difference but that's because they are rarely ever exposed to anything else."
"It is for this reason that I have asked for your counsel." There was a short pause in the playing as Sona's left hand gestured to the minister. "Minister Zar had let slip that you had been given access to his private collection within the library; from my many conversations with him at my concerts, he has mentioned that he had information on magic of other disciplines. Though I had originally been intending to do the research within his library myself, he also mentioned something to me that caught my attention:"
There was another pause; in this, Lux raised her eyes to look at the woman she was having a conversation with. On Sona's countenance, Luxanna saw an expression she had never seen on the former before; with the former's popularity, it was no surprise that many of her concerts were broadcasted to most of the continent through the magical viewing system used by the Institute of War for League matches, and on those performances Buvelle usually wore a cheerful expression, eyes soft and lips pulled upward in a gentle smile.
This time, the amber eyes pierced Lux; cherry-painted lips set in a thin line while the older woman allowed the moment to drag on for a few seconds.
And when she started playing again, the words on the sand were:
"What is 'Finales Funkeln?'"
Lux acknowledged that she was surprised upon finding out about the etwahl's ability to write – and if her suspicions were correct, more – but she had not expected the woman to be aware of the spell she had been working on – the only person she had confided such information into had been the minister who had been giving her tips on applying the theory on primal magic that she wanted to use as basis for the spell.
Her eyes widened. She looked to Zar with her mouth open, the obvious betrayal in her blue eyes accused him.
"When lady Buvelle shared her plight with me, I felt obligated to share information that might assist her." He nodded to Sona who reciprocated the gesture. "She has… heard things, things that she believes might originate from the same tongue where your new spell's name has come from, and she is of the belief that you might be able to help her understand."
The music of Buvelle's etwahl prevented Lux from replying to Zar's excuses and the latter female's attention was diverted to observe the changes in the sand:
"I take full responsibility for whatever wrong minister Zar might have done you in sharing what he knew with me." When Lux checked Sona's facial expression, it was still set to the serious look the older female had earlier. "But I felt it necessary to find someone knowledgeable in the language to assist me in understanding some of the words I could remember from my dreams."
"Dreams?" Crownguard found herself speaking before she knew what she was doing.
Buvelle nodded, the sands shifting to form another message: "Dreams. For the last several weeks I have been having dreams of strange nature. I hear sounds I have never heard before and see sights I am unfamiliar with. They were never an issue before as I rarely woke in the night finding myself unable to sleep afterwards." Still, Sona's expression was impassive. "Whenever I wake from these dreams, I feel the tingling of magic around me. Make no mistake, it is not the lightning and gravel over my skin that you stated earlier." The musician closed her eyes for a short second and took a deep breath before continuing.
"It was a chill, a chill that at the same time burned me inside and out. On some level I also felt dread for reasons I cannot understand; but at the same time, I felt a power surrounding and embracing me that I could scarcely hold my own powers back."
Another pause; this one far longer than the ones before it; Luxanna understood that Sona was now giving her time to analyze the information that the latter had presented her with.
It was quite clear at this point that Sona was capable of some degree of magic. The ability to telepathically manipulate objects by means of her etwahl was evidence enough to prove that point. The moment Sona had brought up the topic of non-runic magics – something that most magi on Valoran would frown upon as heresy – Lux had found herself trying to discern the energies surrounding the older female's instrument and how they interacted with the world around it; after all, most sentients could only tell the difference between schools of magic by being exposed to different kinds. It was the main reason why summoners that had worked with the void-born creatures, Malzahar and Kassadin were able to identify the nature of the magic so easily after being exposed to them.
That wasn't what bothered her most though.
Crownguard had a very specific reason why she kept returning to minister Zar's library. Yes, he had books that the national library did not possess. Yes, she found them interesting and informative. But there was something else among the old tomes that kept Lux coming back:
The library contained books that spoke of other magics. They were books that were neither runic nor void-born, they were books that spoke of magics so old and primal that there recorded history held no trace of anyone ever practicing the magic on Valoran soil. It was the exact same magic she was trying to incorporate into some of her light-based spells: Finales Funkeln was a very meager example of the little studies she succeeded in under that school of magic. It surprised Lux greatly that it had merely been a miniscule application of what she had learned and to some extent wondered what would occur should she be able to fully master the spell theory involved.
But Lux's blue eyes stared at the woman in front of her, some part of her that she could not identify following the trail of feelings emanating from Lady Buvelle and noticing something that she had not observed till just then.
Perhaps it had been because it was more subtle than Lux's own application of the spellcraft, or it was because it was focused on something far smaller than a large beam of light that could be seen from across a field of battle.
Sona Buvelle, the very last person Luxanna thought would manifest such magic was practically wrapped in it like a shroud. The feelings of power greater than what Lux herself could comprehend came from the musician in pulses and only now seemed to touch the blonde; it was different from her own spell though, so much more different. For whilst Finales had been wild and unrefined, what she felt from the red-haired woman in front of her was the exact opposite: The magic was calm and streamline, without inconsistency.
Perfect. Lux could think of no other word to sum it up.
"Miss Buvelle," The blonde finally said, blue eyes meeting amber ones. "I will try to be as honest with you as I can." Lux paused, taking a deep breath as Sona had earlier before continuing: "I am unsure whether the spellcraft that you are experiencing in your dreams is of the same school as what I am studying now. But if the magic that I can sense from you is any indication, I can say that there is a very great similarity between the magics and that I wish to help you understand what your experiencing as much as I want to study it for my own benefit."
Luxanna leaned forward and leaned against her elbows while lacing her fingers together before saying: "It would be an honor to work with you."
For a very, very short moment, amber eyes glinted with something dark. Lux wasn't sure if she had imagined it, but delicate hands were moving quickly over steel strings as the sand was moved about in its container.
"I am thankful for your cooperation, Luxanna Crownguard." White teeth shined with a smile. Lux found herself feeling uneasy. "I certainly hope that our work together would benefit the both of us greatly." And then Sona Buvelle – the single most popular musician in all of Valoran to date – stood up and floated away. Her hood pulled up and her etwahl hidden beneath her cloak. From where Lux sat in Zar's office, the older woman looked like a crimson ghost fading into the shadows
There was definitely something strange about this woman. That much was clear to Lux, and she was going to find out what.