A Piltover Academy Student in Demacia (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 10: The Fall

When Powder had been nine years old, a boy she had known named Ajuna had missed a jump between two walkways in the upper reaches of the Lanes and fallen hundreds of feet to the cold, hard ground below. He was dead before anyone could get to his body; hell, for all intents and purposes, he was already dead the moment he missed the jump. Hitting the ground was just a technicality at that point.

Powder hadn't seen it happen, thankfully, and it wasn't until she was older that anyone would even talk to her about it in anything besides vague allusions. It was nothing more than a cautionary tale about life in the Lanes, a tragic event relegated more to imagination than memory. And yet, nearly a decade later, Ajuna's fall was what came to mind as Powder watched the body crumple; just like Ajuna, they were dead before they even hit the ground.

***

Less than half an hour before, blissfully ignorant of the nightmare that was soon to befall her, Powder tapped her fingers on the plush armrest of an obscenely luxurious chair. She stared at the floor, uninterested in the gaudy arrangements of finery strewn throughout the sitting room, paintings and busts and other displays of the disgustingly vast wealth of the royal family. She hated the palace, just as part of her still hated the Council building back home; façades of decadence, dangled under the noses of the desperate and the needy. Piltover's councilors were responsible for the laws that had made Fissure-folk undesirable in their own city; Demacia's councilors were responsible for the laws that made its magicborn citizens cower in terror. Different nations, different nobles, and yet the same shitty actions.

In a nearby chair, Sona sat calmly, a perfect opposite to Powder's anxious, angry fidgeting. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before and there were dark bags under her eyes; in those qualities, at least, Powder and her were identical. Sona had agreed to the plan with a degree of resignation, as if she believed she'd be apprehended the moment they stepped foot outside of the Buvelle estate. But they'd made it through the city without seeing another soul, and as the gatekeeper returned with news that Lady Crownguard had agreed to meet with them, the glint of hope had returned to Sona's eyes. The clock was still ticking, of course, but the riskiest part was over. Sona was going to be okay.

The door opened. Powder and Sona stood and greeted... Lux? Certainly it was Lux who had entered, blonde and tall and fair, looking almost exactly as she had the last time Powder had seen her. But something in her movement, something in the way her eyelids kept slipping half-shut, as if she were drifting to sleep or occupied in thought, gave Powder pause. It was Lux, but not a side of Lux that Powder had ever seen before.

"Hello, Powder. Sona. To what do I owe the pleasure of such an early meeting?" Lux asked serenely. She stood still, her arms at her sides, as if she were presenting her defense at a trial.

"Uh, hi," Powder said awkwardly. She'd been worried that, when she saw Lux again, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from yelling, from crying, from wanting to hold Lux. But the moment had come, and it was all she could do to stop herself from backing away and fleeing from the girl. "There's been... well, shit hit the fan, Sona had to use magic to heal someone, and the Mageseekers are coming for her."

Lux tilted her head slightly to one side. She blinked once, but said nothing.

Powder continued, disconcerted by Lux's calm. "I, um, well, we had a plan. Since the Hexcore kept you safe from the Mageseekers, we're going to have you give it to Sona to—"

"No." It was a response so unexpected that it took Powder a moment to realize what Lux had said. Her mouth opened, then shut, then opened again, but Lux continued before she could speak. "Powder, if what you're saying is true, then the Mageseekers are likely seeking Sona out as we speak. It might be hours before they find her, or it might only be a matter of minutes. If they were to find her within the Citadel, is it not possible that they might discover me?"