Noxus

What Karthus had assumed would be a few pages of additional etiquette to go alongside the old book Elise brought may as well have been a second book.

"I advise that you read these all for yourself before attempting to teach them to Achlys," Elise said as she handed Karthus the papers, "My associate was most generous to write out all these instructions for you. Do not let his generosity go to waste."

"Judging by your tone," Karthus said, "I assume that this knowledge did not come without a cost."

"Nothing in life, or death, as it seems, is free. But yes, I did have to make a trade for this."

"I hope the cost was not too great."

"Knowledge for knowledge," Elise answered, "He wanted to know why I needed information about a dead kingdom, so I told him."

"You told your cult about Achlys?"

"Those faithful to the Spider, no. Those who work to strengthen the Empire, yes. Do not worry, Karthus, they are no more dangerous to Achlys than your king is. If anything, I believe she would be safer with them than him."

"I still disagree with your choice to reveal her to them."

"They are not an easy group to keep secrets from. If they wished to know why my trips to the Isles became more frequent, they would have found out without me telling them. Now they know and, fortunately, they do not disapprove. They even agreed to aid me in finding things for her on the condition that they be allowed to meet her when I eventually bring her to Noxus. This is a more than fair arrangement, Karthus. I suggest you do not argue with me about it."

With that final statement, Karthus sensed that the conversation about Elise's associated was over and he said no more on the matter.

"Now," Elise continued, "be a good father and go study. I want to spend some quality time with little Achlys."

Elise found the young girl outside in the cathedral's yard. She was on her tiptoes, reaching up the wall and trying to encourage an annoyed looking spiderling to descend so that she could play with it. Beside her, the guardian Acheron floated, watching the spiderling intently.

"Well my little bug," Elise called over, "I have finished speaking with your father so we can go on our walk now."

Achlys immediately abandoned her task of trying to coax the spider down and ran to Elise's side. She clamped onto Elise's outstretched hand.

"Where are we going?" the child asked.

"Karthus said that you would show me your garden."

"I can take you there."

"Lead on, Achlys."

"Okay!"

Walking hand-in-hand, the pair wandered from the cathedral towards the old forest, talking as they did. A small parade of spiderlings followed.

"Did you see Auntie," Achlys asked, "I braided my hair all by myself today."

Elise looked down at the girl's hair. The braid was lopsided and looked liable to start unraveling at the slightest touch, but yes, it was indeed a braid.

"An admirable braid," Elise commented, "When we get to the garden, I will show you some tricks on how to style your hair. With enough practice, you'll be able to mimic Noxian style."

"You talk about Noxus a lot, Auntie."

"You talk a lot about the Isles because you live here. Noxus is my home."

"What is Noxus like?"

"Oh, my little bug," Elise chuckled, "that is quite the question."

"Why?"

"Noxus is a big country. It is difficult to describe it with a few sentences."

"Is it bigger than here?"

"Much larger."

"Woah."

"So, what's it like in the part you live?"

"I live in the city of Noxus Prime."

"I thought Noxus was the country?"

"It is. Noxus is the country; Noxus Prime is the capital city."

"That is confusing."

"The capital," Elise continued, "is an enormous city, larger than anything you have seen before. People travel from all over the world to be there. And why wouldn't they desire to be there? Noxus is the most powerful nation in Runeterra. The world watches our every move; our politics, our military, our culture. Some do it out of admiration and a desire to emulate us, other watch out of fear, trying to learn how to gain advantage over us. The Empire doesn't care though, so long as the world is watching us."

"When you see it, my little bug, you will want to be a part of it, part of something so big and grand. You will want a piece of that power and once you have a taste for it, that is all you will hunger for. And there are so many ways in Noxus that you can satiate that appetite; decedent meals of food from every corner of the Empire, fine art of all mediums, magic from the most powerful sorceresses, fashion of excessive luxury."

"Lots of pretty dresses?"

"Beautiful dresses, trimmed in gold and crimson. Dresses that were made just to show the wealth and power of the wearer. And then, once you are all dressed up, with glittering jewelry and perfectly styled hair, you attend balls and other social gatherings because you want them to look at you."

"Are those gatherings the big girl games you told me about?"

"Yes, and the prize for playing the game well is power."

"Not candy? That's my favorite prize. Unless there is cake. Then cake is my favorite."

"If you have power, you can buy all the candy and cake you want."

"Oh, wow."

"Sadly, there are some who want to change how the game is played."

"Oh no."

"Yes," Elise nodded, "there is a new man in charge of the Empire. He wants to see our game destroyed, but my friends and I are working to make sure that, no matter what he does, we will never get to stop playing."

"Can I help you, Auntie?"

"I know you will when you are older."

"But is there anything I can do now?"

"Maybe."

"Tell me! Please!"

"Alright," Elise said with a devious smile, "I will tell you. Years ago, I came to these Isles looking for something. I still haven't found it."

"What was it?"

"A skull."

"Oh," Achlys chirped as she reached out to grab Acheron and hold him out towards Elise, "like this?"

"No, the skull I am looking for isn't made of crystal. It's a real skull of human bone."

"I haven't seen any."

"That is alright, there are other things on the Isles that can aid me and my friends."

"Like what?"

"Magical items."

Once again Achlys held up Acheron's glowing form.

"Similar," Elise said, "but not quite. Acheron is bound to you. I don't think he will be as helpful to my friends."

"Oh, okay," Achlys sighed, "then what am I looking for?"

"That's thee difficult part; I don't always know what I'm looking for until I see it."

"Then how am I supposed to help?"

"Keep growing up, just as you are. Keep practicing your magic and etiquette."

"The big girl game rules?"

"Yes. The more you practice, the more powerful you become."

"And the powerful girls get the cake, right?"

"Correct, my dear."

Their conversation was cut short by their arrival at the garden. Achlys released Elise's hand so she could speed ahead and begin giving a tour of the garden.

"Welcome to our garden!" she cheered, "Over here are the beans. These are called beats, and those are turnips. Oh, and over here, look! Father was finally able to get the rhubarb growing. You brought me jam made from this once. It was sour but I still liked it. And by this tree is where I met Katherine. She's my friend. Do you remember when I told you that?"

Elise nodded along with Achlys's chatter until the young girl final sat down and caught her breath.

"I love our garden," she said with a contented sigh, "Do you like it?"

"It is better than I imagined it would be," Elise answered truthfully.

"Do you have gardens back in Noxus?"

"More questions, my, you are curious today."

"I like asking questions."

"I have noticed."

"So, are there gardens?"

"There are not many gardens in the capital," Elise answered, "the city is crowded with many people and gardens take up space, but for those who can afford it, the gardens are spectacular."

"Do you have a garden?"

"At one time I did, but I haven't taken care of it in many years. One of my friends has a lovely one though. I believe you would enjoy it. It is filled with topiaries, those are bushes trimmed to look like statues, flowers of colors I doubt you have ever seen before, and butterflies of the richest crimson shade. We will visit him when I am finally allowed to take you back to Noxus. I know he is interested in meeting the one he wrote for."

"He wrote something for me?"

"He did."

"Tell him 'thank you' please, and that I would like to visit his garden someday."

"I will let him know."

Achlys pat the ground next to her, inviting the other woman to come site beside her.

"Can you please show me the hair braiding tricks?" she asked.

"I did promise you," Elise said as she knelt beside Achlys.

She removed her crown, letting her scarlet tresses fall gracefully onto her shoulders.

"Your hair is so pretty, Auntie," Achlys sighed, "I wish mine was the same pretty color."

"Your hair is beautiful as well, my dear. I know many who would kill to have such silvery locks as you."

"Really?"

"Really. Now watch closely, little bug, and I will teach you anything you want to know about braiding hair. Do you know how many years it took me to learn the secret of how to braid all my hair to fit under that thing?"

"No."

"Decades," Elise chuckled.

"How long is a decade?"

"Longer than you have even been alive."

"Oh."

An hour slipped by before either noticed. Achlys had been thrilled to spend time with her aunt, learning how to take care of herself and ask more questions about Noxus, and Elise had been more than content to indulge the young girl. When Achlys had finally created a successful braid in her hair, Elise reached over to hug her close.

"Well done," she praised.

"Thank you for teaching me," Achlys smiled.

Elise continued to hug Achlys before finally releasing her with a sigh.

"Oh, I wish I had a daughter like you."

"Why don't you?"

"I have my spiders as my children," she chuckled, "and my husband died before I could have any."

"Oh. Is he here on the Isles? Can I meet him?"

"No, he died back in Noxus many, many years ago. He has no wraith here."

"I'm sorry," Achlys said, her voice full of concern.

The thought of being separated from family forever was a deeply unpleasant one for her.

"You do not need to be sorry," Elise cooed, "I do not miss him. I have much better companions than him now, and I have you."

"Aww, I love you, Auntie."

"And I love you, my little bug."

She placed a kiss on the child's forehead before releasing her. As Achlys moved away, several spiderlings approached Elise and climbed up onto her back where they set themselves to work braiding her hair so that it would once more fit under her crown.

"Are the spiders your secret?" Achlys asked.

As the spiderlings descended from Elise, she placed the crown back atop her head.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "the spiders are my secret."

"I knew it," Achlys smirked, "Do you think Acheron can learn to braid my hair?"

Elise chuckled.

"Maybe after a few decades of practice, he will be able to. Come now, we should return to the cathedral. I have little doubt Karthus is growing concerned that we have been absent for so long. Also, I have more gifts to give you."

"More presents?"

"Yes. I did not want the only books I brought you to be about etiquette, so I brought some others that I thought would interest you."

"What are they about?"

"Noxus."

"Oooh!"

In the following months Achlys had read and reread and reread again the books that Elise had left for her. There had been a dozen children's books and, as Elise had said, most of them were about her homeland. There were books detailing Noxian history, collections of parables that lauded the three principals of strength, books about magic, a bestiary of Valoran wildlife, and a collection of simple poetry.

With each book she read, her curiosity about the outside world grew. And though the idea of being away from her father for so long was still enough to make her not wish to travel just yet, but the longing was there. There was a whole big world waiting out there beyond the Isles and someday, she was going to see it.