Quinn was innocent of High Summoner Irvin's death, but that didn't stop her from being self-conscious of every single action she took. The words she had spoken, the inflection with which they had been said, and her body language had all been under close observation, and she had tried her best to temper them, while still acting naturally. Vessaria herself had said she didn't believe Quinn was responsible for the attack, but by the time Quinn had left Vessaria's office, she was quite convinced that the High Summoner didn't like her.
Stepping outside of the Institute of War's main building, Quinn slowed her pace and breathed a sigh of relief. It was dark out, and the air was brisk, but she welcomed the feeling, as compared to the stifling atmosphere inside the building. It had been six days since she'd first seen the walls of Senta, and, as though it were a poison, Quinn had gradually built up a resistance to the city's stray magic, so it bothered her less and less with every passing hour.
She did not consider this acclimatization a benefit to her well-being, but rather it was like fighting with a dull blade – if someone wanted to harm her with magic, their job would be all the easier. It might take an additional second to realize the danger, and by then the attack wouldn't be avoidable.
Adapting to Senta had been a gradual change, but since High Summoner Irvin's death, she had become all the more aware of this weakness that she had developed, and it was for this reason that she found herself watching her surroundings closely, trying to make out the figures in the dark – Summoners who were so devoted to their jobs that they ignored the standard working hours.
Someone was approaching her from the Institute's gates, and she casually stepped off the path and onto the grass, to wait for them to pass by, but the figure changed course again, heading directly towards her. Unable to identify the person so bent on meeting her, she mentally cursed the architects of the Institute, who'd not bothered to light the entire field between the building and the exit.
"Quinn!"
With the single word, enthusiast and almost foreign to her ears, she recognized the person immediately. Maybe some of the pressure that had built up during the interview, where she'd had to be cautious not to contradict herself, hadn't yet left her, but she breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Hi, Lux," she said, squinting in the darkness. She could barely make out the girl's features. "How can you tell it's me from so far away?"
"Magic, of course. Magic. Who do you think I am?"
"Ah. Right, the Lady of Luminosity." Despite the darkness, Quinn could see Lux grimace.
"I never liked that title."
"No?"
"No. I didn't even get a say in it."
"Well, you were probably too young at the time."
"You're right. I guess I was around ten when the College of Magic came after me."
"And," Quinn hesitated. She was pretty sure asking a woman her age wasn't appropriate. "How long ago was that?"
"Seven – no, eight – years ago," she said, as they both returned to the path and started towards the gate and the path that descended into the city proper. "I'm one year your junior, if that's what you're wondering."
"I-" Saying she wasn't would be lying. Lux simultaneously seemed younger and older than twenty. "How'd you know my age?"
"Demacian military records," she said, with a dismissing wave of her hand. "Anyways, how did it go with Vessaria? She didn't hold you as long as I thought she would."
"No, but she had enough questions for me."
Lux laughed, before quickly falling silent. They passed through the gates, and Quinn stared down into the city. The industrial sector was mostly dark, but many houses still had their lights on. Lux stopped behind her for a few seconds, and then they began the descent, their footsteps on the gravel becoming more pronounced as they paced themselves down the hill.
"High Summoner Vessaria is smart. I knew she wouldn't arrest you or anything, but I'm still glad you're okay."
"You didn't have to wait," Quinn said.
"I'll walk you home."
"That's not necessary."
"I know."
Quinn sighed. She almost smiled, too. It felt weird for someone to be so concerned with her, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome. Prince Jarvan had always voiced his concerns for her safety, but when Lux did it, it felt genuine.
The Institute of War and its hill were within the inner residential district, which housed nobles and other important people, so the first few buildings they passed were massive – probably more appropriately called manors – and now that they were level with the rest of the city, the wind was weaker and the temperature noticeably warmed up. In retrospect, the Institute had seemed colder than it had any right to be, and Quinn couldn't help but wonder if something else, aside from the night's weather, was responsible for it.
"I didn't wait the entire time," Lux confessed. "Curiosity got the better of me, so I did some walking. The city was swarming with the city guard and Summoners. The east, west, and south gates were closed for almost an hour – though they've reopened them now – and everything just felt so off."
"They aren't going to find anyone," Quinn said, surprising herself with her confidence.
"No," Lux agreed. "No, probably not. But it helps instill a sense of security, considering a High Summoner just died."
"Not dead."
"What?"
"He's not dead, just petrified," Quinn clarified. "He's going to die, though, according to Vessaria."
Lux hummed. "I just don't really understand it. Who stands to gain from this, and why kill only one of the High Summoners? He was an important person, but if there's no follow up to this attack, then it doesn't make sense."
As they entered the middle class residential district, Quinn slowed down, making sure to check every alleyway they passed. Lux gave her an odd look, but Quinn continued. Her eyes constantly roaming, she even made sure to check the rooftops.
"You say important, but I'd never heard of him before today," Quinn said.
"That's you, and you are... different. Everyone else learns the High Summoners in school – wait a minute – did you ever go to school?"
"Of course I did!" Quinn said. "I'm not that uncivilized. But our lessons focused on more practical things."
"Such as?" Lux asked, looking relieved.
"Hmm. There wasn't really a curriculum, so the lessons were always all over the place. Telling the difference between black bears and grizzly bears. Estimating currency conversion and taxes. How to fix tractors."
"And how do you tell the difference between a black and grizzly bear?"
"Grizzlies have more defined snouts and longer claws."
"Five Demacian gold to how many Noxian bronze?"
"Two thousand five hundred."
"And fixing tractors?"
"Throw it out and buy a horse."
"That's not fixing it," Lux pouted. Her expression when she felt cheated was entertaining, and Quinn stole a sideways glance, stumbling into a pothole on the road. She recovered as casually as possible, berating herself for the lack of awareness when she was supposed to be on high alert.
"I did say practical things. Besides, my village didn't have a resident mage."
"No resident mage?" Lux said. "Isn't that a little dangerous?"
"There's one there now, but when I was about three or so, our only magic user passed away. The village elder kept asking the capital for support, but Everridge isn't a place people want to move to, so we never got help. It was just something we had to put up with, and we got used to it fairly quickly. Just last year, Prince Jarvan told me a mage and his family moved in."
"Oh."
Was Lux surprised that the king had ignored their request?
If it hadn't been for Quinn joining the military, stopping an assassin, and being promoted, Everridge would still be defenseless. Lots of people had died when monsters from the forest attacked – her neighbours and a girl in school who she'd been relatively close to, included – and their unsure way of life had gone on for over a decade. It was only after she'd become close to Jarvan IV that she had brought up the subject, and the prince had went directly to the king, immediately starting the search for a mage who would move to Everridge.
The outer residential district was quiet. Her and Lux were the only two people on the roads, aside from the occasional city guard or Summoner, who gave them pointed glares. The few taverns they passed were lacking in drunks and had an unusually gloomy atmosphere, and the bartenders were wiping their counters with looks of boredom etched on their faces. Most people were probably hiding within their houses, waiting for security to die down. The rodents of the city perhaps sensed something was amiss, because they scurried around with abandon, showing no fear in their search for food.
Quinn had always believed the most beautiful sights were found in nature. The unmarred, wavy patterns of grain on sand dunes in an endlessly repeating landscape, a picturesque beach hidden in an alcove protected by aquamarine waters, or low hanging branches in a rainforest, mossy and moist, with small red fruits hanging from them and lit by scattered streams of light which broke through the leafy canvas far above. There was so much Quinn had seen in half a decade which had astounded her, and so much more she hoped to see – and would, provided she found a way to escape death's embrace – but cities had never held her interest, because she hadn't believed there would ever be beauty to be beheld, within the crowded, polluted atmosphere.
This belief fell away to confusion, when they turned a street corner. Quinn was a step behind as they passed a nearby storefront, and for a brief moment, the store's light illuminated the girl in front of her, bathing her in an orange incandescence.
Her hair was glowing, like the flames of a fire, and even as Quinn stopped and stared, Lux kept walking, with her happy, upbeat gait, as though completely unaware of her own beauty. When Lux came to realize she was walking alone, she threw her head back, tilting it and offering a curious smile. Quinn felt an odd feeling in her stomach as her heartbeat sped up. The girl in front of her was entrancing. Golden hair and fair skin, with inquisitive, blue eyes, and her defined neck and delicate cheek bones all combined into an image that Quinn wanted to commit to memory forever.
In the peculiar way she'd come to know from Lux, the girl rushed forward, closing the gap between them in a second, before leaning in with a concerned look.
"What's wrong?" Lux said with a frown.
"Nothing. I'm tired, I think."
"Nothing? It doesn't seem like nothing."
Her curiosity was so earnest that Quinn decided to be honest. "I was just a little surprised. I guess I never noticed before, but you have really nice hair."
Voicing it aloud, Quinn realized how embarrassing it sounded. Lux, however, didn't seem to care. Smiling, she skipped forward to close the remaining distance between them, and before Quinn could think to back off, Lux grabbed her arm, preventing retreat. Quinn put up a feeble resistance, as though she wanted to be overpowered, and once in close quarters, she realized that Lux's aura – the latent magic around her body – didn't upset her. In fact, Quinn cast her thoughts back, looking for a time where it had, and she found it had never bothered her. It wasn't uncomfortable, like when in the presence of Summoners or Demacia's elite soldiers.
Their height difference wasn't all that much, but suddenly Quinn found herself staring down into Lux's eyes.
"Um... Though I'm sure you've heard that a lot before."
"Thank you," Lux said, oblivious to how awkward Quinn felt. "And no, not really. I think the last person to compliment my hair was Ezreal."
It took Quinn a second to relate the name to the person. A Piltovian, who, if rumours were to be believed, had been seen on dates with Lux. Lux paused, and Quinn tried for a second to pull free from her grasp, but Lux did not yield. She apparently wasn't done.
"But I think I like your hair more."
"Um..."
"Anyways," Lux said. "Let's keep moving before we draw any more attention."
She pulled away, and the moment was broken. It took a second for Quinn to realize that she classified it as a 'moment', and she spent a few more seconds debating on what exactly a moment was, but came up clueless.
"Any more?"
Lux gave a subtle nod towards the window of the shop they had stopped in front of, where three children of increasing heights were pressed against the glass, watching them with beady eyes.
Quinn tried to focus on her steps and her destination, rather than the girl beside her, so she started a little when Lux ended the silence.
"Hey, Quinn? I have a question for you."
"Okay."
"And if you don't want to answer it, it's fine. You don't need to."
"Okay."
"I was wondering," Lux said, her motions now more refined as she kept several paces ahead of Quinn, despite not knowing where Quinn lived. "About your relationship with Prince Jarvan?"
Relationship? "What do you mean?"
"I mean, it was kind of sudden, but about a year ago you two started spending a lot of time together. Whenever you were in town, it was generally assumed you would be with Jarvan, and then you would just disappear again, not even talking to anyone else. Anyways, my point is, I was wondering if you two are always just discussing business, or if you're friends, or – or, you know, something more."
"No," Quinn said as they stopped at an empty intersection. "That's – we weren't ever that close. Maybe friends, at one point, but I don't really consider him one anymore."
"No?"
"No," Quinn said firmly, regaining traction in their conversation. "We're too different. He's a lot like your brother, I think. His notion of reward was to give me status – to put me on a level with the elite. We're so different, he thought it was what I wanted, and now I'm here and it may be childish of me, but I can't help but partially blame him, even with all the mistakes I've made."
"Do you find him attractive?"
"No," Quinn said, and it was the truth.
"Then..." Lux paused, tapping her fingers together. "Is there anyone you like? Gerrit, maybe?"
"What? No. Definitely not him."
Hadn't they just been talking about Jarvan? Lux was supposed to rebuke her for blaming the prince for her own failures.
"I don't really think about those kinds of things," Quinn said, though as of a couple minutes ago, it might have become a lie. "I have my hands full just trying to stay alive and fed."
"That might not be true anymore, now that you're with the League. And anyways, aren't you ever lonely? When you're out on the job, for example?"
"I have Valor to keep me company."
They passed a house in silence, hearing the sounds of a crying baby inside.
It occurred to Quinn that she didn't know exactly what Lux's work entailed. She had always assumed they were in the same line of work, but that might not have been true.
"Are you ever lonely when you're doing your work?" Quinn said. "Is that why you asked me?"
"I don't know if lonely is the right word," Lux sighed, "but it's hard to keep my head on straight when I'm alone for so long. Sometimes I'll wake up in the forest, look around, wondering if I shouted as loud as I could if anyone would even be able to hear me – and sometimes I have these thoughts that what I'm doing is pointless, or for a second I'll even wonder where I am, and then I panic and all my training goes out the window and I can't even find north. And there's nobody around so it's completely fine for me to go a little insane because no one will ever know and can't judge me, and-"
They passed a pair of city guards on patrol, and Lux fell silent momentarily.
"And, yeah, I guess I do feel lonely," she mumbled once they were gone.
Quinn didn't know what to say. Was it just her or did Lux reveal a really personal secret? And how exactly was she supposed to react to that? She couldn't even offer any advice. There weren't really any solutions, yet if Quinn didn't have the company of Valor, she certainly would have fallen into the same mental space.
No, Quinn was pretty sure silence was the appropriate response. Lux wasn't looking for anything from her.
They passed a tavern whose doors were open. Inside, a group of Summoners were seated at a table, their beers clinking together. They were clearly drunk, and considering High Summoner Irvin's fate, Quinn was puzzled at their celebrating. Maybe he wasn't a very popular man. When the aroma of chicken drifted out through a cracked window, Quinn was reminded of their dinner cut short. They had left their plates half eaten when they'd been ushered away from their food to be quizzed by the investigating Summoners.
Quinn cleared her throat. "What happened back at the restaurant? I never even had a chance to pay the bill."
"Didn't need to," Lux said. "They waived the fee. Meal was on the house for all the customers who were there when the attack happened."
"Then I still owe you."
Lux smiled in a way Quinn could only see as conniving. "I suppose you do."
As they left through the outer gates, the area around them took a drastic drop in quality of life. The roads were no longer cobble, but uneven dirt, and the houses were in various states of disrepair, some roofs had holes in them and front yards were full of weeds. They passed a house with a cat sitting tall on the roof, its eyes glinting in the moon as it tracked them.
Quinn caught Lux giving her a furtive glance.
"You don't have to accompany me the whole way, you know," Quinn said.
Lux shook her head. "I know, but I don't mind. Besides, I want to know where you live."
"Why?"
"So I can hunt you down when you're hiding from me." She smiled, but Quinn didn't find it comforting.
They walked in silence for another minute before Quinn felt obligated to speak up and defend her choice in housing.
"I prefer out-of-the-way places. It's cheap, too," she said.
Before Lux could offer a response, the fluttering of wings alerted Quinn to Valor's arrival. Looking up, she smiled. Valor, only visible when he blocked out the view of the stars in the sky above, flew closer.
"We've got a new place," Quinn said when he joined them on street level.
"In the slums," Lux interjected. "People are going to start thinking Demacia doesn't treat their champions properly."
Valor perched on her shoulder, and for a moment Quinn wished she were somewhere in the forest, far away from Senta and its people. But perhaps not far away from Lux.
"Here we are," Quinn said, approaching her house. She pulled the front window open. "Go ahead and check it out, Valor. I'll be in in a minute."
Valor listened, entering the house. He would find it crowded, but it wasn't like they planned on spending much time at home.
"There's no lock?" Lux said as Quinn opened the door.
"I have nothing of value to any thieves. Besides, if someone wants to kill me, I don't think even a thousand steel doors will stop them, let alone an aged wooden one."
"I don't like that."
Quinn ignored the resolute statement from Lux, not sure what to make of it, and they said their goodbyes. In minutes, Quinn was standing in the middle of her house. She was tired, and would probably fall asleep in minutes, when she laid down.
"Valor, do me a favour?"
He waddled out of their room with his penguin imitation and tilted his head, wide eyes watching her attentively.
"See her home."
When he didn't react, Quinn sighed. "I'll owe you. Turtle, next time we're near the ocean?"
For some reason, Valor loved eating turtle. She had discovered his odd quirk years ago, when they'd first began to travel together. Moving north, along the Demacian coast, they had stopped for the night, and Quinn had decided to see how useful he would be. She had asked him to fetch them dinner, and he returned ten minutes later, attempting to drop a massive turtle on her head, like a crow breaking a walnut on rock.
She had easily sidestepped it and yelled at him to find them some real food, but he refused. The turtle had withdrawn into it's shell, and Quinn realized it was the only food Valor couldn't eat on his own. She had dutifully executed the turtle and – after struggling to break the bottom shell off – cooked it, making soup for herself and letting Valor eat the meat raw. She hadn't found it particularly enjoyable, but since then, whenever they were near the ocean and she left supper up to Valor, they would, without question, be eating turtle - the only prey that wasn't a prey, to the Demacian eagle.
"Where exactly are we going?" Quinn asked for the third time, much less hopeful of a straight answer than the first two times.
"In here, I think," Lux said.
It was early morning, and Lux had woken her up. Usually her biological clock woke her up just after seven, but Lux had come knocking on the door at six thirty, insisting it was for a good reason. Maybe showing her where Quinn lived wasn't such a good idea, if this were to become the new norm.
There were few people awake so early in the morning. A scattering butcher stalls in the market were weighing and cutting their veals, but most hunters would still be out in the forest, tracking their prey.
Entering the industrial district, Quinn was surprised to find it was very different from how it looked when standing up on the plaza at the Institute of War and looking down. From that vantage point, the industrial district looked unhealthily like Zaun, with a smoky haze hovering over the buildings. As she walked through the place, however, she found the air to be clean and the sky was cloudy – but they were white clouds high in the sky, not man-made ones.
The two of them stopped at a blacksmith's shop, next to the river which ran through the industrial district. The building was a newer, two story structure, a window on the second floor indicating it was also used as a living quarters, yet being by the river it seemed flora was intent on overrunning the place. Ivy was climbing up the sides of the house, and the tiles on the roof were covered in yellowish, sickly looking moss.
The bottom floor appeared to be divided into two. One half was an open air workspace, where the metalworking was being done. A large pile of wood was stacked against the house, and shelves upon shelves of tools and products - swords and armour, primarily - were displayed towards the road.
A forge was being worked by a large man, and behind him, a woman was watching.
Without hesitation, Lux approached.
"Good morning, Caitlyn," she said.
The woman turned towards them.
Though Quinn didn't immediately recognize her, she was left with the feeling that she'd seen the woman and had heard the name before.
Caitlyn was dressed in a short skirt – which Quinn found ridiculous so early in the morning – and she had long brown hair that was curled at the end. Her large eyebrows hinted towards heavy use of mascara, and her cleavage was finding trouble fitting in her dress. Her lips were a dark red, and if not for her bare arms showing muscle, Quinn might have penned her as a noble who'd never lifted a finger in effort before.
There was also the brown leather straps on her leg, Quinn noticed a moment later, with a pistol and knife attached to them. The weapons contradicted her looks, and finally she found meaning in the name. Caitlyn, the sheriff of Piltover, was a member of the League of Legends. She was currently acting as representative of Piltover, along with whomever the Piltovian Council sent to Senta as an advisor. In other words, she had power on par with Karma and Prince Jarvan.
"Ah, Lux, you found the place. Good, I was beginning to worry my directions weren't clear enough."
Lux shook her head, stepping aside to sit on a bench next to the forge. "Not a problem. She's all yours."
"Quinn," Caitlyn said, approaching her with a wide smile. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Uh, likewise," Quinn said, shaking hands.
"I'm sorry I've dragged you out here so early in the morning, but it's a teensy bit time sensitive. I take it from your confusion that Lux hasn't told you anything?"
"She hasn't," Quinn said, seeing an amused Lux on the sidelines.
"Tomorrow is the last day of the Piltover-Noxus trade agreements. We've already made tremendous progress, but there's one match left which is extremely important to us. It's about regulating the control of Tor Bay. The winner of tomorrow's match will have a great deal of influence over the renewal – or dissolution – of laws regarding usage of the bay."
As the water dividing the two city states, Tor Bay was the busiest shipping lane in the world. Hundreds of boats from all around the world arrived and left the bay every day, and Zaun dumped gallons of toxic sludge into its waters every hour, which further antagonized the relationship between the two city states.
Years ago, Quinn had taken a boat through the bay on her way to Ionia, under orders from the king. There had been a stark contrast between the waters outside Piltover, whom invested large amounts of money into decontamination magic and machinery, and the waters closer to Zaun, which looked muddy but were in all likelihood poisoned by much more than simply mud.
"As I'm sure you can guess, Ionia's already interested in the matter because the bay has all of Piltover's ports, which are essential to Ionia's imports and exports businesses. We've spoken with Karma and secured Lee Sin for our battle on the Rift. In the interest of promoting strong bonds with Demacia, too, I spoke to Prince Jarvan about recruiting Lux. He said it was fine, and..."
Lux stood up for a second. "I accepted," she said with a casual smile.
"Okay," Quinn said slowly, not sure where the conversation was going.
"Let's walk," Caitlyn said, motioning along the river.
Quinn shrugged, and they departed from the roofed forge, walking along a well worn path. The river was almost more appropriately a creek. It had a slow current, and was shallow and quiet. Though it was slightly too wide to jump over, the water was completely transparent, and she could see the rocks and sand at the bottom, only a few feet beneath the surface. The path they were taking would eventually lead to a bridge which crossed over, and beyond that, the city's eastern wall.
To her surprise, Lux didn't follow them. She remained behind, seemingly engaging in conversation with the blacksmith.
"I have a proposal for you. Fight for us on the Rift."
"Me?" Quinn frowned, breaking pace to stare at her. She had no interest in participating in another blood bath on the Fields of Justice, especially not for Piltover's cause.
"Yes," Caitlyn said. She hesitated a little, perhaps not expecting a negative response. "I've already been granted permission from Prince Jarvan to recruit you."
"Why me?" Quinn said, shaking her head. "You said yourself that it was an important match, and I've got no experience."
"Hear me out before you make any decisions. It is an important match, so I've put lots of thought into this. Besides, you do have experience, and though the numbers may not favour you, I saw actual footage of the battle and you did good enough that I think you would be the correct choice. My first piece of reasoning is how the draft is turning out. It started out yesterday. Zaun announced Warwick and Twitch."
She'd fought Twitch before, and if she were to fight again, she'd be most comfortable against him. He used a crossbow, which meant she could better predict his actions, and his strongest ability, invisibility, was something she could actually counter to some degree. Warwick, on the other hand, she had no opinion of, besides her dislike of wolves. It was odd though, to announce Warwick as the first pick. If she had understood things correctly, kingdoms – and city states – usually announced the team's 'captain' first. Warwick was certainly no leader. She would have expected Singed or Victor, or someone of the likes.
Caitlyn crossed her arms. "I'll admit, Karma might have hinted that you would be a good choice against Twitch, but that was well before everything else came together."
"I'm not exactly eager to visit the Rift again."
"We had first picked Orianna, and responded with Lee Sin and Heimerdinger," Caitlyn continued, unperturbed. "Middle, jungle and top lane respectively. And here's why I want you on the team: two hours ago, Zaun announced their third and fourth champions. Victor and Thresh."