"Look I would just like to say I am sorry" Garen said for the nth time.
"I got that the fifth time you said that Garen" I replied slightly irritated. He had not stopped saying that since we set off.
Apparently, those blocks of stone Lucian carried fires off some form of magical bolts. Which he used to decimate the tree my sword was stuck in so all I had to do was kick the bit of bark left on it off. By then Garen had somewhat composed himself and we set off for their city of Demacia. Garen apologizing the entire way.
As we came turned a corner we stopped short. Not from how nice it looked though, I must admit it did look rather nice; a white stone bridge with a small river running under it, clear water passing by without force or speed. No what stopped us was the army of soldiers on one side and the small man in purple and blue robes on the side closest to us.
It seemed like we arrived just as the conversation had ended as one of the soldiers rushed the smaller man who simply picked up a brass lantern beside him, battered him about for a moment before throwing him over the edge of the bridge as if he was nothing more than a simple obstacle in his way.
"He has three fingers" I spoke up breaking the silence between us.
"Yes that is Jax" Lucian replied sighing "Jax the Grandmaster at arms"
"Grandmaster at arms?" I asked looking between the two of them
"Yes. Once it was his self-proclaimed title but his he turned out to be unbeatable in the league so the grand master decided to enforce special rules on him for how he shall fight" Garen spoke up, crossing his arms in irritation "In response he put down his own special rules. He only fights with that brass lantern and he is still a formidable opponent."
"How would he could he fight so well with such a weapon?" This man was interesting; he must be a god among men if he could fight so well.
"Nobody knows" Lucian sat down against a tree "All we know is that lantern hurts"
On the bridge there was more movement, a woman stepped forward, her armour while elegant was still practical. Her hair was straight and shone in the sunlight, a purple streak standing out against the rest of her dark hair but not in a bad way, instead went along with the rest quite well. She pulled out a thin blue sabre, like her armour, it looked both elegant and practical. The figure known as Jax perked up and span his lantern around behind him, the head suddenly jumping into flames.
"So uh… who's the lady?" I tried to sound casual about it but something just drew me to her. I could not tell if it was the air of elegance or how pretty she was.
"That is Fiora" Garen grumbled "The grand duelist, the best in the land"
"Surely she will destroy Jax then?" I looked between the two of them, they both had looks of irritation on their faces.
"Jax is the best fighter in the land" Lucian spoke up, scratching his head "They are, in a sense, the perfect equals"
Looking back at the bridge neither of them had moved yet when suddenly Fiora disappeared and Jax turned quickly bringing his Lantern down, catching her blade mid swing and pressing the attack on her. It was like a display of art, they both took turns in pressing the attack, bolstering their defences from the others attacks, counter attacking and then countering the counter.
Soon they came to a stop. Jax's cloak sported multiple cuts while Fiora's armour suffered from small dents and charring. They were panting from the ordeal when Fiora seemingly noticed the three of us behind Jax and her slight shift in sight caused Jax to take a step back and risk a glance behind him to us.
"Well this is awkward" I muttered, looking to Garen for assistance.
"Garen" Fiora spoke up; her voice was like silk with a sharp edge "We were going to come assist you when we saw the sword of Demacia drop from the sky when we ran into our little… friend"
While a soft chuckle came from whom I can assume was Jax I think he may have been slightly insulted at what she said.
"I told you to go around but you refused and attacked first" Jax spoke up, his deep voice surprising me; it had a cocky ring to it. The sound of a man who knows his abilities and strengths.
Before they could start bickering the three of us started walking over, I tried not to fidget under the looks I was getting from everyone. I get it that I stand out like a sore thumb but they seriously could not stop staring at me, though I couldn't tell if Jax was blinking or not due to the fact his mask had many eye holes so it was impossible to tell where he was looking.
"Who is that then?" Fiora asked, her eyes flicking between the three of us and Jax. Now that I was close enough I could see her ice cold blue eyes, they were just as attractive as she was.
"This person is the one who made me use the sword of Demacia" Garen spoke up, carefully wording that so they could not guess my gender.
"One mysterious male with a mask and a sword could make you go to such lengths Garen?" A smirk passed onto her face "You are getting slow and weak"
Jax turned fully to look at me before chuckling and pointing at me "Who said they were male?"
Fiora looked from Jax back to me as I reached up and pulled my mask off. It had been a while since I had removed the mask from my face so I wasn't surprised seeing that my skin was a bit paler than it normally looked, a tuft of my hair fell down, but it looked slight different from the usual blonde it was. It was now an ocean blue with crimson tips. Stifling another squeak of surprise, I managed to keep a smile on my face.
"Your hair. Its… blue? And red?" Garen spoke up.
"Thanks for noticing" I managed to say and I think Lucian may of picked up on the fact I was not expecting my hair to be the way it was because he had another one of his grins on his face.
There was another awkward pause before I decided to speak up.
"So… uh… are you going to let us pass Jax?" I spoke up again aware that everyone was looking at me.
"Depends" Jax responded with a soft chuckle, spinning his lamp again but this time towards me. "Do I get to fight you? You look like you can handle yourself"
"Uh…" I looked around for support from the others; Fiora just glared at Jax, Garen looked irritated at Jax and Lucian just shrugged. Nice to see the support from him. "Maybe after I have had a rest? I just had a fight with Garen and that took nearly everything out of me"
Jax shrugged "Fair enough, when you are ready to fight come find me. I'll be in the forest"
Turning Jax walked back off the bridge and walked away into the forest, humming a soft tune to himself.
"Well that was a thing" Lucian chuckled getting up and stretching.
"Yeah I was expecting him to force me to fight him now" I shivered thinking of how difficult it would be to fight him.
"You" I heard Fiora speak and looked up, she was walking towards us while the men behind her began moving back down the path while a small group of them split off to find their comrade who went down the river.
Deciding against trying to show her the usual response a Mirrah knight will give if talked to in that way I simply looked into her eyes, trying my best to avoid getting lost in them.
"Who are you to both fight Garen and gain the respect of Jax without even fighting him?" Once again, I had to fight my senses from being washed away in her elegant tones, god dammit how can I fall for her having only just met her?
"I'm… uh" I managed to say feeling my cheeks get flushed as I struggled to break her gaze.
"We are going to ask her that when we reach the capital Fiora" Garen responded walking up beside me "To save her constantly saying the same thing multiple times over"
"Fine but you shall all get an escort back" Fiora responded looking up at the bear known as Garen, she was about my height so I didn't have to look up at her too or I would start feeling really small.
Walking away, she gave her sword a quick spin before sheathing it in an elegant sheath and mounting a waiting horse.
"Come we have a long journey ahead of us still before we reach Demacia" She called before starting down the path.
Jogging to catch up I could only rely on my thoughts for comfort.
"Here I am, in a different dimension. Making bonds of friendship with people I barely know and falling for a woman I have only just met. I cannot tell which is more stupid" Shrugging I walked along the horses of the army, all too aware of the glances I keep on receiving. Men never change, no matter the country or in this case dimension