Prologue: Espionage

The dusted concave tunnels seem to go endlessly. Torches lined the left side, their intervals so wide as to leave some darkness in between each torch. Sometimes, there were iron doors in these intervals, other times, it was only another wall, rarely though, would the tunnel split to grant an occasional turn in direction. Depending on what was above the tunnel, the walls and floors would be wet from dripping water from the surface, or very dry and dusty due to the torchlight. There were cracks in the ancient bricks if one looked close enough, which made the strength of these tunnels' foundations worrying.

Footsteps echo from somewhere deep within these tunnels, but they were of little concern, as they have become the sort of constant background noise to Luxanna's ear. What she wouldn't want to catch sound of was the clattering of moving armor plates and heavy treading of steel-soled boots. That meant patrols. Light, padded footsteps only meant torch-changers or servants sent to fetch something in these tunnels.

A group of footfalls have gotten nearer, emerging from the end of the tunnel. One, two... three pairs... She thought. Not long, she heard talking that grew louder.

Luxanna stopped where she was and stuck by a shadowed wall untouched by torchlight. Every muscle and thought paused, her hands gripping to the wall and her breaths silenced.

Armor plates colliding against one another sounded as these men moved, with the slight clanking of their large weapons of traditional Noxian military culture: axes and war cleavers. They grew closer and closer, their boots sounding with heavy steps lacking a cadence, and their conversation becoming coherent as they neared the spot where Luxanna had been.

"... not very sure of the Raven's thoughts about it. With all these League restrictions, I guess it'd take some time before they make another arena for the Lowers." said a male voice.

"Bah, the Raven wouldn't want to disturb himself over crowd entertainment. He's always a busy man, barely get to see him since his coronation as Grand General." Another said.

Lux paused her breathing. Three large men, all in varying armor of Noxian craft, walked by her, the blades of their great weapons glinting in the dim orange torchlight, giving away a shine to Lux's eyes.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe Kavenir is just screwing with us again with the sort of rumors he's picking up." The last man said. "You know whatever he says isn't true... Most of the time."

Their voices distanced off. Lux waited for their footsteps to stop sounding before she can move on again. Though she had cast invisibility over herself — cloaking her entire body in perfect translucence— sound would still be a problem. She wouldn't want them to hear her own footsteps all of a sudden. Not long after, silence returned to the tiny roars of the torch fires. She could breathe a bit more easily now.

Lux continued on. This was the sixth or seventh time she had encountered a patrol. That means she was nearing the more secretive sections of these tunnels as there were more guards. It was both an assuring and risky sign. She had been here in these tunnels more than once, but sometimes, for the sake of security, the tunnels would be rearranged with new openings or new blockades. Memorizing year old plans of this place never worked for Lux, so she always navigated this place using pure instinct. She was good at that.

They've most likely changed the location of their Main Archives. She thought. They've done that once before and it was likely that they have moved it again since her last successful infiltration. There's no way to be sure. I have to find their new architectural plans of this place. She couldn't find one before she had entered these tunnels, but Lux figured that she'd have more chances of finding it in these places.

The tunnel finally cut into two different directions. Lux took the right, as it lead to the more unexplored areas of her mental map of this place. As she walked, she began to hear whistling, a sort of lively, work whistle echoing to her direction. Naked footsteps sounded. A servant boy was coming from the end of this corridor.

A smirk grew on Lux's lips. Finding the map for these tunnels would be more time consuming. This was going to be an easy alternative.

She hid herself in shadow, and, after whispering a small spell, she rearranged the way her body emitted light. From invisibility, the light around her changed to make her appear different to others. A sort of pseudo-shapeshifting, as she liked to call it. It was riskier compared to invisibility when it came to stealth, but when it came to deception, it was effective.

Walking slowly, she left the darkness and begun nearing the small Noxian boy.

His whistling stopped when the boy caught sight of her. He bowed his head down and visibly quickened his pace. Lux continued to amble on, eying the boy. You can tell that the boy can feel the weight of her look. He didn't wish to face up and meet her eyes, for it might meant more orders for him.

"You, servant boy." She said as they neared. The boy stopped.

"Yes, Commander Katarina?"

She stopped in front of him. He had looked straight ahead and paused every muscle of his body like a soldier would in the presence of a revered officer. Lux had a spark of pity for Noxian children like him, but that never clouded her mindset when it came to being in disguise.

"Look at you, how dirty and unkempt your appearance... If you wish to become a soldier, you would show better bearing than that pathetic excuse." She said, scanning the boy of the torn rags he wore and the many dirt and bruises that marked his limbs.

He bowed his head once again. "My apologies, Commander Katar-."

"Shut it. I don't want to hear your apologies. Under whose order's are you following, child?"

"General Darius', sir. He sent me to fetch a scroll from the Main Archives."

She paused. "I see. Never mind it. I prefer to pick a more eligible servant. Carry on and fix yourself the next time you show yourself to me."

"Yes, sir." He said, voice cracking for some reason. He scurried on, running down the tunnel.

She was lucky that the child didn't recognize the true Katarina's voice. Lux's brother, Garen, had once commented that she clearly mimicked the voice of Katarina at an instance when she had mockingly tried to mimic her voice. But that wasn't a reliable comment. Some guards in her past infiltrations did managed to recognize the difference in voice. Thankfully, the child didn't.

Lux waited for him to be out of sight before she had recast invisibility over herself again. Years of espionage had made this sort of work with her magic easy, like driven by muscle memory and triggered by instinct. She had sharpened her way with Noxian conversation, always presenting a stern tone and a boasting manner of speech that convinced the lowliest worker to the highest nobleman.

She didn't plan to lose the sound of the child's quick, naked footsteps. But before she continued on, Lux stopped. There were wet almost unnoticeable splatters on the floor in the direction of where the child ran. It took a moment for Lux to recognize them.

Oh my... She thought. Those were tears. A sense of guilt arrived to her. Though he was Noxian, he was still a child. Seeing the fresh bruises, Lux didn't mean to add more hurt. It was unlike a Demacian to bring any form of harm to innocents, especially for a Crownguard such as herself. She caught herself over-thinking over one Noxian child. It mattered no longer. She could afford no delay.

After she had lost the sound of the quick naked padding of his feet to the distance because of her momentary pause, Lux decided to follow the fresh trail of tears, spotting it easily by making its light appear brighter using her magic. They were not necessary tears, but at least she had some use out of them. It removed some of her guilt. She had her own judgment of things. If an action brings out something unnecessary, then it has become a mistake. She guessed that the tears have become necessary for her mission, though not intentional.

She let her mind off the child as thoughts concerning the entire mission returned to her head. It brought ease and a better reason to think heavily. The trail lead her to a new turn that she has not explored. Perhaps it's one of the newer ones... She stopped when she saw a large, wooden door by the end of this corridor. There were two guards guarding each side, axes in both hands.

Lux retreated to the corner and changed appearance, this time, to a different disguise.

She stepped out and walked forward to the end of the corridor. When she had arrived there, the heavily armored guards stiffly pressed their axes against their chests and said: "Forever strong!" To which Lux simply nodded to, as was the normal gesture of an arrogant Noxian noble when given a salute. Well, they wouldn't want to hear a woman's voice coming from the mouth of a renowned Noxian High Major all of a sudden.

She was allowed entrance.

Lux had entered the Main Archives. A great fiery glow resonated out of a large crystal centered at the ceiling, granting decent although slightly shadowed light to the entire room of cabinets and shelves. Cabinets stuck to the walls, containing scrolls categorized by content as so were the books on the many shelves dividing the middle part of the room. Each were quite tall, requiring ladders to reach the topmost rows of the shelves and cabinets. With so much information, there was barely any space to cross through each aisle and fit all the shelves in the room.

I wonder if the child is around here... Hopefully not. She decided to be more careful here, as those who visit could be higher ranking nobles, and with nobles came skilled honor guards and unavoidable and uncomfortable Noxian conversation. She continued on inside the vast library of Noxian knowledge. Of course, she did not expect to recover military intelligence. She pulled a random book from the first shelf she has come under.

A Tale of Glory... Hmm... Interesting... Lux thought after scanning through the pages. She hid it in her sling-sack.

She had to leave with at least three books and one piece of vital intelligence. The latter was already recovered. All that she was doing right now was more of a self-mission to a sate a curiosity beneath her. Noxian culture interested her to some degree, and she was fond of hearing many stories out of a Noxian's perspective. Her people, the Demacians, were skeptical, or, as Lux saw it, ignorant of Noxian culture and knowledge out of military tactics and politics. Lux was one of the few who saw more than war and bloodshed out of Noxian culture. These books provided her with one of the only ways she could know more about the sworn enemies of her land.

She scanned through the entire extent of this shelf, ignoring the higher sections as she scanned book by book. Unlike Demacian books, Noxian books commonly do not have their titles written on their spines, so it made searching for a good piece of Noxian literature even more difficult for Lux. She had to judge the content based on the thickness of the book. If it was thick, then she would pull it out and spare it a quick scan to save time.

Women in Noxian Society and Warfare... She scanned it. Without a doubt, the first few paragraphs mention Katarina.

... the most impressive paragons of Noxian women would be Katarina, an assassin and commander of the Noxian High Command. She is responsible for many vital operations against Demacian military, at times delaying entire army movements with the assassinations of many officers. She is the example of feminine Noxian strength, whereas in Demacian society, females are traditionally housewives with very few exceptions in the nobility. We shall be more in-depth in discussing the symbol and importance of Katarina later in the book. There are also other important figures, namely...

Traditionally housewives? Lux felt the urge to write to the author of this book and list down a hundred examples of Demacian women she knew that did not serve as mere housewives. That was a piece of Noxian propaganda right there. She nonetheless found it an intriguing topic for a book, as she had never encountered stories of feminine feats in Noxian battles and society apart from Katarina's. It found a place in her sack.

With two books and one more left to take home, she decided to take one book from the more unexplored areas of the Main Archives to make it seem more interesting. Lux moved into the more deeper sections of the Main Archives. She followed the same mindset as she had when in a Demacian library: the more farther inside the library, the better content. She loved to see less noticeable books to pull out and discover their potential. For some reason, it satisfied her to know that not many read a book that she enjoyed.

She arrived to the second-to-last bookshelf of the rows. After letting her fingers skid against the spines, she pulled out a rather thick book and opened it.

The Forbidden Peace between Two Kingdoms

The title gave her a sense that this was a book telling about war, and that it contained tales of ancient Noxian campaigns into Demacian lands. She opened the book to its middle section.

"I know that this love for you cannot exist. The war between our people divides our lands, and the hatred divides our people, but I know that nothing may divide us." Seridel said, his young, Demacian heart bouncing off the sides of his chest.

Vaerna felt tears caused by the words recited upon her. "Oh, Seridel, the strength my people have that makes them go to war is nothing compared to the strength of the love we share."

Lux's eyes widened upon reading those lines. A Noxian and a Demacian? Together? Oh please... But, even if such situation weren't possible in the thousand years of war and rage between her people and the Noxians, she felt that the book was readable and interesting to an extent. Romance between a Noxian and a Demacian was never probable, much less peace.

The Noxians pillaged their lands long ago and taken many lives of brave soldiers who sought for only justice. Lux thought that, if wasn't her who found this book, if it were just any Demacian like her brother, they would have found the story's idea disgusting, as a Noxian would too. No wonder they've placed it this far in the archives.

She decided that it would be, in a way, worth reading. She'd never encountered a book with this topic in her life and this just might be the only copy in all of Valoran. Lux figured that no scribe would be ordered to copy this book by hand because of its disagreeable content. It fit in her sack.

It was time to get out. She had all that she needed. Retracing her steps would prove much easier than finding her way in.

"Ah, High Major Letnur," said a female voice. Lux turned her head. Katarina stood by the end of the aisle, walking slowly towards her. "A wonder to see you here, browsing through the unnecessary knowledge you've so called."

Instant nervousness struck Lux. There was no way she could speak and not have Katarina discover her. Wait... She has no daggers? Strange as it was. Katarina appeared to have no scabbards of her daggers with blades half the size of a man's arm. But that fact only slightly reduced her lethality.

"Oh, what's the matter? Not in your usual talking mood?" said Katarina. The look of her eyes, they could pierce through her head and etch the words: 'I've found you.'

It was by that look that Lux realized she had stepped into a trap.

Never was she caught, but that did not mean she had no backup plan. She continued to stare at Katarina, unable to speak. Lux could only muster a slow nod.

"Strange strange..." Katarina approached her and stopped. "You really are silent, Letnur." She paused. Her eyes met Lux's disguise. Lux could sense the enjoyment and intimidation from Katarina's look and tone, the way a predator sees its prey. "I have but one question to ask you, you ignorant old man... Dead men don't speak, isn't that right... Luxanna?"

She has been discovered. In an instant, Lux emitted an instant flash of white light from her entire body, causing Katarina to yell and cover her eyes. Lux backed away and faded into invisibility, running to the side aisles. The flash would only momentarily blind her.

I have to escape. She thought, hastily running past the side aisle. Footsteps began to follow her. It was Katarina's and she was approaching her with a more quicker pace. She had calculated her movements and followed the mage still. I must lose her Lux thought. She had to lose her in the tunnels. A straight-on chase like this would mean being outran.

Lux made a turn to an aisle that would lead directly to the entrance. A dagger spun as it flew. The blade landed and had cut through a book. It would have caught Luxs's flesh if she had not turned.

I'm not going to be caught. Not now, not ever. The entrance was still unguarded and looked so far. Lux hoped that Katarina came alone, as she would usually do. There was no time to think. Lux was already nearing the doors. She stretched out a hand and opened the wooden door. It would only need to confuse Katarina once she was invisible in the maze of Noxian tunnels. This was her chance to escape.

She swung open the door.

A wall of Noxian shields stretched from end to end. She expected it. Lux reached both her hands out in front of her. The magic flowed inside her veins, its power invigorating, focusing towards her palms. Her eyes glowed a golden aura. It was an unstable energy, just waiting to be released Then, in an instant, a great beam of searing light fired towards all the shields.

The beam spread throughout the wall, the reflective metals absorbing it, then bouncing it back as a flash of pure light towards Lux. The white engulfed her eyes, and, in panic, interrupted the focus of her magic, revealing herself. She should've known. They used reflective shields.

As her vision cleared out, she saw a silhouette of a man stand from the shield wall. She could not recognize him. He aimed something at her. Metal clicked and a loud electrical crack roared.

Lux's body vibrated as magic-nullifying volts coursed through her flesh. It raked and at the same time numbed every nerve under her skin, like a thousand clawed hands gripped her and shook furiously. It drained her of what little mana, of what little precious reserve energy she had. It stopped.

Uncontrollable weakness took her limbs. She was falling.

The cold surface of the floor collided with the back of her head. There was the ceiling above her. It's all so blurry now.

Her eyes felt weak. She's tired, so tired, and so exhausted.

She has been caught. She has been defeated.

Slowly, the walls of her eyelids engulfed her vision in darkness.

AN: This my try on DariusxLux sort of thing. One of my first LoL fics by the way. I haven't written any sort of romance for a long time.

Might escalate this to M just in case.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Any sort of criticism is alright(except flames, I've seen enough of them in the game heh heh). See you on the next one!

Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends. It rightfully belongs to Riot.