On The Count Of Four: Garen

I'm only a man with a candle to guide me,
I'm taking a stand to escape what's inside me.
A monster, a monster,
I've turned into a monster,
A monster, a monster,
And it keeps getting stronger.

~•~•~•~

All Lux could feel was pain. Physical and mental pain taking over every single part of her body. Her hands were shaking. The blood ran in rivers.

On the count of four she would be dead.

So be it.

She closed her eyes, awaiting for the upcoming shot. Dreading it even.

But it never came to that.

She heard the clicking of his gun, she was sure of it but the trigger was never pulled. She heard another cry and blades being thrown at. She peeked over to see what she never expected to. A flash of red, that was what she saw and then Khada Jhin fleeding, his left upper arm bleeding out. Katarina spotted her laying against the tree all beaten up. She picked up the mage's stuff and headed over were Luxanna Crownguard laid.

"You fool," Katarina spoke softly as she kneeled down to check on her injuries. "Why did you do that?"

Lux chuckled humorlessly. "You know why, Katarina DuCoteau."

The Noxian assassin helped the Demacian back to her feet. Lux was badly injured but she would recover eventually. Under different circumstances, Lux wouldn't even allow her to approach her. But everything had changed forever.

She had spotted Katarina in the crowd the day of the funeral. She was cloaked, of course, but she had still risked everything to come to Demacia and attend Garen Crownguard's funeral.

Lux had understood. From that day on, she stopped holding grudge against the Sinister Blade.

"I'm not your ride home," Katarina declared before handing her the stuff. "But I can get you to safely for now."

"Yeah, sure," Lux mumbled. With the help of Katerina, they started walking towards the opposite direction of the one Jhin had ran to.

"There's a tavern nearby," Katerina informed her. "You can rest there for a while but then you have to return to Demacia with the first available ship."

"No." Lux shook her head. "I won't go home."

"Don't be stupid," Katerina deadpanned. "You can't stay in Ionia. You need to go back. You're in danger here."

"I can't go home. I've got unfinished business here!"

"Business that almost got you killed, in case you haven't noticed!" Katarina exclaimed angrily. "Listen." she rubbed her forehead. "You have no idea what you're going against to and you're not on your right mind either. You can't kill Jhin."

"Can you?" Lux snapped.

Katarina glared at her. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a trained assassin. This is literally my job."

"Then you suck at your job," Lux murmured.

Katarina suddenly grabber wrist and Lux yelped in pain. "I came all this way out to save your sorry ass," she hissed. "The least you could do is show some gratitude.?

Lux huffed. "Let's not fool ourselves, Katarina. That's not why you are here. You couldn't possibly know I was in Ionia searching for Khada Jhin."

Katarina sighed in defeat. "Alright, you got me. I didn't know you were here. I only found out when I arrived. Satisfied?"

"Then why did you come in Ionia? You're not exactly welcomed here, are you?"

Katarina didn't respond. Lux narrowed her eyes.

"I knew it! You're such a hypocrite, Katarina!" The Lady of Luminosity accused her. 

"You can't do this," Katarina said calmly. "And I think you should have realized that by now. I've assassinated people before, I know the deal."

"I've killed people before and you know it!"

"Yes, but not out of revenge," Katarina pointed out and Lux realized she was right. "Besides," the assassin added in a lower tone. "That's not what he would have wanted."

Right.

What Garen would have wanted.

Honestly at this point, Lux wasn't sure of what her brother would have wanted.

They kept walking in silence. Lux was still in pain. Her injuries weren't too bad but she would definitely need some time before trying again. However, her mind had trailed off somewhere else, to her brother to be specific.

He shouldn't have died, not him out of all people, in such a cruel way. He was a hero and he didn't deserve to have this sort of end. That's why she was after Jhin. Because it wasn't just her brother that had been murdered. It was the Might of Demacia.

That's why she had pursued this endless hunt but now she was only left with her failure.

She felt completely empty.

They finally reached her destination and Katarina turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Lux asked.

"After him," she responded without turning to face her. "I need to get this over with."

Lux pressed her lips. "I want to come with you," she declared.

"No." Katarina shook her head. "Go home, Luxanna. Vengeance doesn't suit you." And with that, she left leaving Lux behind.

Lux wanted to scream at her, to yell,  but she knew it was pretty much pointless at this point. All this was for nothing then. She'd return home with empty hands.

But maybe Katarina wouldn't.

Clenching her arm, Lux entered the tavern.

~•~•~•~•