Dangerous Gift

With Karthus away at the library, Elise was left to watch over Achlys at the cathedral. It was exactly what she needed to uphold her bargain with Thresh and Achlys had been more than a willing, though unknowing, participant in their schemes.

The young girl was always so eager to spend time and talk with her beloved Auntie. It was Elise however, with her silver tongue forged in the crucible of the Noxian court, who controlled the course of their conversations. Today was no exception, and she had carefully directed the pace and topics of Achlys's chatter to get it where she needed it to be; form greeting to talk of what was new, talk of magic, how hers had grown, to asking if she felt as though she had become stronger, then her fight with Hecarim, and ending with the frustration that still swirled around her from its outcome.

"I know I shouldn't have fought him," Achlys said, "but he was being a, a, what was that word Father used? Oh! A brute, He was being a brute. I didn't want him to keep doing that. Not doing anything feels worse some times. But if I didn't fight, I wouldn't have gotten Mist-sick. And if I didn't get sick, I wouldn't have met the king. And if I didn't meet him, he couldn't have fixed me and made my magic stronger. Maybe it was a good thing I fought Hecarim? I don't know. What do you think Acheron?"

The floating skull made a clicking sound that signaled either uncertainty or indifference. Whichever it was, Elise didn't know and didn't care. She had the conversation right where she wanted it.

"Let's not think about whether fighting Hecarim was god decision or not. What is done is done, you cannot change the past. What you can do though is build upon what has happened; influence how the future pieces will fall."

"Pieces? Is this another big girl game?"

"It is and that game is called 'resiliency.' Now tell me, losing to Hecarim, I can imagine that that was frustrating."

"It was," Achlys nodded.

"Powerlessness is such a terrible feeling. Are you practicing fighting with your magic enough?"

"A little bit. Kind of."

"Hmm, 'kind of.' What do you mean by that?" Elise asked, knowing almost exactly what the response would be, "Is your father not teaching you?"

"He is, but a lot of it is getting other wraiths to fight for me instead of me fighting myself," a small frown appeared on her face, "I want to be stronger than that. I want to be able to protect them too. You know how that feels, right Auntie?"

"I know exactly how you feel my little bug, and I am so glad that you do feel this way. All young women should want to learn to protect themselves."

"Oh good," Achlys sighed, "I was worried that my thoughts were weird since I know that I should not fight if I can help it. Oh, and then Thresh stopped teaching me fighting magic, which also made me think that there was something wrong. I don't know why he stopped. Teaching me to fight was his idea. I thought it was a good idea too, and if you agree, then it must be a good idea, right?"

"I think it is, which is why I want to teach you to fight."

Achlys blinked in surprise.

"You do!? But what about my father?"

"Don't worry about him. He's not the only one who knows what is good for you. He doesn't always know what a living girl needs. I do."

"What do I need?"

"To learn to fight like a living person, not just a wraith."

"What is different about fighting like a living person? I will still be fighting with magic, won't I?"

"You will, but you should also be prepared for times when you may not be able to use your wraith magic or if someone gets in too close to be able to cast your magic safely."

"I still have Acheron."

"Yes, your little pet could protect you, but you should not rely on it alone."

"But all I have is my magic, wraiths, and Acheron."

"Not anymore. Here, this is for you."

Elise produced the bundle Thresh had given her and presented it to Achlys, just as she promised she would do. With excited hands, Achlys snatched the gift from Elise and began to unwrap it.

"Careful," Elise warned the eager child, "it's sharp."

A moment later and Achlys held the dark sheath in her pale hands.

"I've seen these before," she said as she turned it over in her hands, "the wraiths of warriors have these."

"You know what it is?"

"A knife."

"No, but you are close. It is a dagger."

"What's the difference?"

"I knife could be made for many reasons. Some are made to cook, others to cut wood, but a dagger is only made to be a weapon."

The smile on Achlys's face wilted slightly.

"It was made just to hurt people."

"Sometime you need to hurt people to take care of yourself."

"Thresh said something like that too," she said with a sigh.

"He's right though."

Elise kneeled down and took one of Achlys's hands. She ran a slender finger over the young girl's cool knuckles and spoke gently to her as she did.

"Try thinking about it this way," she cooed, "the weapon was not made to hurt someone, It was made to protect you."

"Protect me by hurting someone else."

"Better them than you."

"Better them than me?"

"Yes, my dear."

She brought Achlys's hand to the grip on the dagger.

"Now, let's take it out and practice a little. And remember, it is sharp, so be careful."

Achlys nodded and together they wrapped their fingers around the handle and pulled the blade from its sheath. Steadily, Elise withdrew her hand, leaving Achlys alone wielding the weapon. The young girl's eyes were transfixed on the glinting blade before her, her expression somewhere between wonder and fear.

"Relax your arm," Elise advised, "it is good that you are showing caution, but it will not turn around and bite you. You do not want your arms to be completely rigid during a fight. Watch me, I will show you."

The older woman's hands move so swiftly Achlys could scarcely tell that they moved at all, but there in Elise's hand was another dagger. Its blade was long and thin, forged in the stiletto style. Along the length of it a spider web pattern was etched and it was not too difficult how striking the weapon would look as the blood from a wound filled the lines. The handle of the weapon was rounded and shaped to be comfortable to grip. There were no decorative carvings here, but at the very base, a spider, plated in silver and decorated with a glittering ruby in its abdomen, rested.

"Where did you get that?" Achlys asked.

"Daggers are a popular accessory in Noxus," Elise answered with a smile, "an essential one, really. It may not make use of it as much as others I know make use of theirs, but I am still quite fond of it."

"But where did it come from? I didn't see it before."

"I had it hidden on me. Once you feel more comfortable with your dagger, I will teach you how to conceal it and pull it from that hidden place quickly. First though, you must practice the basics. Let's go out into the yard where there is more space."

"Okay," Achlys chirped.

Before she could take a step though, Elise caught her by the shoulder.

"Uh-ah. Sheath the dagger before you take another step. I know if you trip and fall on that blade you will just come back as a wraith, but if Karthus returns to find his daughter dead, he will try and kill me."

"But then we will all get to be wraiths together."

"Oh, I have no desire to die."

Achlys gave a quizzical look to her aunt but did as she was asked and slipped the dagger back into its sheath before following Elise outside.

The following hour passed like a breeze, pleasant and invigorating. Achlys followed along with Elise's instruction as best as she could; first watching, then mimicking, then letting Elise reposition her grip or stance, and then trying again. The nervousness she felt about the weapon at the start of the lesson quickly vanished and was replaced by budding confidence, though she still winced at any mention of having to actually stab someone. Even with these unpleasant thoughts, the lesson was over all an enjoyable one and Achlys was tired, sweating, and thoroughly happy.

Both she and Elise sheathed their weapons and Achlys went over to the stairs of the cathedral and sat, letting out a contended sigh as she did so.

"Thank you, Auntie," she said, "that was fun."

"If you think what I did was impressive, you should see what the assassins of Noxus are capable of. Those of the Du Couteau family are especially impressive."

"Will I get to see them when I go to Noxus someday?"

"Perhaps," Elise said with nod, "Tell me now, do you feel like you will better be able to protect yourself now?"

"A little, yes."

"I am glad to hear it, and before I forget, there is one more thing I wanted to show you. There is something special about your dagger. It has the ability to channel your magic and cover the blade in balefire. Do you want to try it?"

"Yes!" Achlys cried, all her energy returning at once.

She sprang back to her feet and drew the weapon once more; carefully this time though, since she now knew how to safely do so. For this part though, she didn't need Elise's instruction. The magic that flowed through her responded to her desires with a thought and glimmer of green in her eyes. She envisioned balefire engulfing the blade, a thing she had seen on the weapons of many other wraiths, and with a brilliant flash, her weapon was aglow with the haunted magic.

"Wow," Achlys gasped, "it's just like a wraith's."

Coated with the magic, it now felt like an extension of herself. She moved the blade back and forth before her. Her smile grew as she watched the flames waver and flare up. The carvings along the handle and pommel also glowed with green light, with trace amounts of balefire even flitting from the forgotten rune when Achlys made the magic swell.

Elise watched the young girl's delight with a small amount of concern. This concern however was less for Achlys's safety as it was for that of the other members of her order. Any dagger could be dangerous, but this one in Achlys's hands was incredibly deadly. It had the power to harm wraiths but more alarmingly, for the living even a small cut could be fatal.

The Black Mist was like a poison if it could make its way into the body of a living person and now this dagger, wreathed in cursed magic of the Isles, could sap the life away of anyone unfortunate enough to be cut by it. Elise herself had once been wounded by a creature whose attacks were infused by the Mist; a monster known as a soulgorger. It was some of the worst pain she had even experienced. It had chilled her to her core and only the venom of Vilemaw coursing through her had kept the chill of death from claiming her. The other who had been wounded by the monster that night was not as fortunate.

And now Achlys had that power. That excitable, cheerful, eager little girl could accidentally kill with a scratch. For a moment she questioned if giving this lethal potential to Achlys was the right choice but she pushed the doubt from her mind. This is what Thresh had requested of her in exchange for the translated text, she reasoned to herself, and Achlys's magic had the same potential to damn someone, so worry did her little good. It was as she told the girl earlier, what was done was done. She could not change the past, but she could build upon it and continue to influence how the future pieces would fall.