Once again, thank you to everyone who has made it this far through the story. Its your guy's view count that truly motivates me to write. Its corny and has been said by everyone, but it's nice to know that you're making something that people like. It's like a positive re-enforcement.
Also, in this chapter, I make slight little cases of foreshadowing. They're really subtle and I might miss them on the first way through. But check out for the wording on some of the phrases. It might not make sense on purpose. As a little puzzle, see if you can find them.
Have a great morning/day/evening/night/knowing you shouldn't be up but you are/ :)
The door swung shut quietly behind them as the two girls entered Lux's room. The room was covered in lights and symbols of demacian pride. Banners, Pictures, alongside several trophies were common sights along the walls. Pictures of her along with other members of demacia were along the wall. A portrait of her was larger than the others, showing a picture of her face along with her title "Luxanna Crownguard, The Lady Of Luminosity, Demacian Infiltrator." This came off as kind of weird to Irelia, as she had never really assumed that the light mage would be an infiltrator.
"Hey Lux, your picture displays that you are a Demacian Infiltrator. Is that true?"
"It sure is Irelia. Do you like the room?"
Irelia looked around the room for a few more seconds, taking in how much nicer it looked that her own. It was well lit up with fully adjustable blinds being able to let in 99% of light and block out 99%. Very expensive, but the cost would be miniscule to a champion of the league, and even less for the daughter of demacia. Her bed was placed against the wall opposite her kitchen. Everything else was hidden behind a wall that was located at the end of the room. She took off her sandals and placed them gently beside the door. Lux walked her way across the room and opened up her fridge, ducking down behind her counter and leaving sight. Irelia looked at the pictures on the wall before gave a question from across the room. In her hand she held a bottle of something; the label was simply too far away from her to read.
"Do you drink wine Irey? This bottle is 5 years old, so I'm hoping it'll be good."
"Well, yeah. Of course I do. But what is the big occasion? Why are you going to open it?"
"I don't quite know. I was just wondering if you drank wine. It's kind of an experiment. But anyways, it'd be rude of me not to offer some to you now." She went and got two cups before opening and pouring the wine. She then offered one of the one quarter filled glasses to Irelia.
"Thank you Lux, but I'm really not quite sure exactly what you're doing this for."
"Is it bad for me to try and be kind? Hmm?"
"Well no, but you're really doing this all to be kind?"
A small grin spread across Lux's face. "Well, no. Not quite. But for the most part, yes I did. Now would you like to take a seat? You came here to talk to me didn't you?" Lux made a motion to several chairs that were originally hidden from her sight when she first entered the room. Irelia walked over and sat down, taking a quick drink before starting her words.
"The truth is, I didn't really have anything that I really truly needed to talk to you about. I just wanted to talk to you and thank you for getting me up that one morning. I never had time to thank you before, so I decided I would do it now."
"Hm. You're Ionian. I don't mean to sound like I'm stereotyping you guys, but you always have something important to say if you mean it. You're hiding something from me. What are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding anything; I just wanted to thank you for waking me up. I don't quite think that Riven would be alive and breathing right now if you hadn't gotten me up. So I want to thank you for indirectly saving her life."
A quick smirk came across Lux's face as she caught on to the hint of the discussion.
"This has something to do with Riven, doesn't it? That's why you're here. You wanted me to give my opinion on something that had occurred between you two, but you backed out and tried to cover your trail."
Irelia gave a suspicious look to the light mage. Not because she was wrong, but because she had gotten that much from a quick apology.
"Well, you are somewhat right there, but I promised to keep it between just us too, and I'm not going to break my word."
"Well, that's a good trait to have. I'm proud of you. Just don't forget that I'll always keep whatever you tell me secret alright?" She said with a smile
"Of course you will. Thank you for the offer Lux."
"Also, I'm rather certain that you've heard about the upcoming tournament haven't you?"
"Not that I've heard of recently. How come?"
"They're going to be hosting a tournament. Well, two of them if we're going to be more precise. One of them is a tournament to be controlled by summoners. The other one is going to be much more personal. It's still simulated, meaning that you will still never die. It's more of a grudge match if you think about it.
"What do you mean it is a grudge match? I don't quite get what you mean."
"Well, inside of this simulation, you control yourself. And you take actual damage, unlike in normal games."
Sudden Shock hit Irelia. "What is the point of these? What are they supposed to mean?"
"They're a grudge match between champions. All champions will be forced to participate as well."
"This seems absolutely useless. Why are we encouraging such violence?"
"I'm not quite sure, Irelia. I asked Jarvan what he thought about it, and he also seemed to be angry about it. But it has been decided by the head summoners and owners of the institute of war, and we're forced to obey it."
"That's just a terrible idea. You don't condone this idea do you?"
"I think that this conversation is getting too heated too fast. Do you want to go and grab something to eat? I haven't eaten today, and it seems like a smart idea before we go to sleep for the night." Lux asked in her normal perky voice as she downed the last of the red liquid.
"Yeah, that would be great. Thank you Lux."
The two left the room, leaving nothing but silence behind.
They walked through the hallways down towards the canteen, exchanging jokes and kind comments between each other, trying to lighten the mood. Irelia decided that it was nothing that she needed to worry about and that she would much rather spend time talking to the perky girl beside her. Just simply being around her made her feel better and within moments, she felt much happier than she had a short time ago. Arriving at the canteen, the face of tryndamere appeared behind the counter.
"We'll take two of whatever you have left. Also, what are you doing back there tryndamere? Isn't your turn at the food counter supposed to be over?" Questioned Lux with her normal, happy tone
"I got an extra week for lashing out at rumble after a game that he lost us." Replied the barbarian king as he scooped out two small plates of corn, rice, potatoes and a strange looking piece of meat of to both before handing them over.
"Thank you Tryndamere, and sorry for your terrible duty." Responded Lux as Irelia trailed behind, keeping silent. Lux was a great talker, and she enjoyed doing so, so Irelia let her do all the talking.
The duo walked over to an empty table in the barren cafeteria and sat down.
"So Irelia. How do you like it here at the institute? You got here a while after some of us did. So how are you liking it?"
"It's a decent place, but I'm a bit homesick. I know I'll get over it, but I miss my wooden house that I owned back there. It doesn't seem like home here. But I'll get over it. How are you liking it?"
"I love it here. It takes some getting used to, but eventually you will learn to love it. It'll grow on you, I promise" she replied with a smile.
"Are you afraid for those competitions? The ones where you can actually be injured?"
"Let's not talk about those, ok? It makes you frown, and you don't look as cute when you're frowning." Irelia put a smile on her face.
"You're right. We shouldn't be worrying about that right now." Irelia poked at the meat with a fork and she filled her mouth with vegetables.
"How was life back in Ionia? I've only been there on business, but I never really got to enjoy it."
"It's beautiful. I guess that's kind of biased isn't it?" She said with a laugh. "But it is a beautiful place full of great people. It's a little bit different than other places by the way we dress and the way we act, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. What about Demacia. Is it as nice as the rumours say?" She said as she cut off a piece of the meat.
"Oh yeah, Demacia is nice. It's very pretty once you get there and look around. I love it there, but probably not as much as I'd love Ionia. I've read books on it. I was thinking about maybe moving there one day."
"You're more than welcome to move to Ionia any time that you want to. We would welcome you with open arms."
Lux cut a small piece off of her meat and placed it in her mouth. Her face cringed up as she forced herself to down it.
"Don't take a bit from that meat. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it seems way too bitter." Irelia took a small chunk of the meat and placed it in her mouth. She crushed it carefully with the back of her molars and swallowed it. The taste was refreshing, and it tasted like something she would eat back at home. "I'm not quite sure that it's that bad Lux. Maybe it's just a bad piece of the meat?"
"It could be. Would you mind if I took a bit of that, see if it's any better?
Irelia cut off another small chunk of meat and placed it on her fork before handing it over to Lux. She examined it quickly before biting it off the fork delicately and slowly.
"Yours is much better. Thank you Irelia."
"I would ask to test yours, but based on your facial reactions, I'll take your word for it and pass." She said with a grin
The two finished off their meals and, after a quick farewell to Tryndamere, walked back to Lux's room. As she was half in the door and Irelia was about to return to her own, Lux tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hey Irey, do you think that one day, you could show me Ionia? Just bring me there for a week or something, just so that I can see what it looks like?"
Irelia's mind processed the situation. Lux was a kind person, and declining her offer would seem rude. But she wasn't sure that Lux really wanted to go there, or what her real intentions were. But the girl was as innocent as one girl could be.
"I would love to Lux. But don't you think that someone such as Xin Xhao could bring you instead? It would be much more emotional with someone like him, and you'd both learn the landscape instead of just one of us. It's a beautiful place, and it's somewhere that everyone should see."
"I appreciate the offer, but I would much rather appreciate it if you brought me instead. Do you think you could do that?" She asked with a chime in her voice.
"Well then certainly Lux. I would love to."
"Well then, hopefully I'll see you tomorrow then!" Lux's smile grew broader as she said her farewell. The door closed behind her and a soft jumping noise was heard behind the door. Irelia decided that maybe she should think about what this meant; there was only one thing in the world that mattered to her right now, more than anything else. She entered her room and closed the door behind her, making sure that it was properly locked. Walking over to her small bedroom, she took off her vest and pants and placed them neatly on the hooks adjacent from her bed, before tucking herself in and closing her eyes. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.