Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If someone were to ask Lux to put all the words she'd use to describe the City of Progress into one, she supposes beautiful would fit the best. In a way, the tall spires clawing at the sky remind her of home, the difference being High Silvermere was built atop mountain peaks, rather than built to imitate them in size. It's daunting. It's magnificent. It's a little bit scary, too.

It is good, then, that nobody seems much interested in little Luxanna's opinion as she trails behind her parents, silently soaking in all the wonders on display at the Progress Day fair. She'd have to lie and say she finds the city abominable, else Mother and Father would be cross with her. After all, no place which allows for using magic is worthy of speaking in a positive light.

How sad, she thinks, that such a wonderful city has allowed itself to fall to the lure of the arcane. When her tutor had first taught her about Piltover, she spoke of it with nothing but respect for a people much like their own - descendants of refugees who sought a sanctuary from the destruction mages wrought. A brilliant people, sometimes to the point of madness, but of good character nonetheless.

Based on the things Lux has heard this last year though, especially when nobody thought her to be in the vicinity, no such respect would be given in her lessons now.

For what must be the hundredth time, the young girl raises her eyes up towards the gargantuan construction work towering above the city - the very first sight of Piltover she's seen when still out at the sea, some hour before the rest of it crested the horizon. She's never seen anything so big before, not even in the capital. It's amazing, and it's not even finished yet!

Not that she wants it to be finished, of course. No sane person would, no matter how the Piltovans tout their invention will usher in a new, better tomorrow for the whole of Runeterra.

"Luxanna!" Mother's call brings the girl out of her reverie. She must have slowed down and fallen behind while... contemplating the structure.

"Sorry," she curtly apologises once caught up.

"Pay attention dear, I know Piltover has many sights to behold, but you can still see them after the address."

"I know, Mother. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just don't dawdle, alright?" Mother's severe features soften as she gives her a smile, one Lux eagerly returns. She's right, of course. There'll be plenty of time for sightseeing once her parents have performed their duties as the king's emissaries. The whole world has gathered at the Piltovan invitation. It would be beyond embarrassing for her family not to attend because they were looking for their lost daughter.

With that in mind, the girl makes sure to keep to her parents' side and not get too distracted by all the wonders surrounding them from every direction. How Mother and Father can retain such focus as to not even glance at the endless inventions they pass on their way, Lux can't comprehend. It’s not like it’s all magic here. She knows what science is. At least some, anyway. Enough to tell the machines all around them aren't moved by the abominable forces of the arcane.

Now, why would someone build a two-wheeled contraption which moves its passenger about like a horse would, when a horse already does the job, Lux can't say, but it's fascinating to see all the same.

She resolves to ask her parents to let her ride it later. It looks fun.

Before long, her family's attendant shows them to their destination - a building Lux at first believes to be a greenhouse, with how the walls are mostly glass and steel - but turns out to be a lecture hall, one repurposed for the day's address. Much like everything else she's so far seen in Piltover, it's big enough to easily fit thousands.

And thousands there are. Everywhere she looks people of all shapes and sizes tower above her; Lux doesn't think she's ever seen this many in one place before. Her mouth goes dry as she for the first time realises just how populous the city must be. If the same rules apply here as they do back home, then only a select few among the whole populace are even allowed inside. To have this many gathered, and almost all Piltovans - it's easy to tell the guests like herself apart by attire - the city-state must be home to hundreds of thousands! Many times that of High Silvermere. Maybe more than the capital itself!

Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, Lux reaches out for Mother's hand. A wordless request to which Mother acquiesces, if with a reproachful look. She's not wrong to chastise her, Lux is eleven already and by far the less impressive sibling than Garen was at that age.

She holds onto the familiar hand like a lifeline, which it might as well be in the sea of people amongst which Lux feels herself drowning. The waves of them part before her parents like they always do, split apart by the impressive bulk of Father’s stature, and only rarely is a glance spared downwards, as those always are. She can't even see where they're going, what with the crowd.

There's a little bit more breathing room once they reach their destination by virtue of seats taking up the space people could have, but most remain unclaimed while the attendees still mingle.

"I think that's councillor Hoskel over there." Lux hears Father point out to Mother. "Has it really only been two years? It seems age has taken an interest in him."

"And he in fine dining." Mother mouths, barely audible over the swarm of other conversations.

The young Crownguard stands on her tiptoes, looking where her parents are, and there the councillor is, indeed much aged and much… grown, in comparison with the faint memory she retains of the man's visit in High Silvermere. He seemed nice enough, certainly nicer to her than many other statesmen Lux has had to attend dinners with.

"Luxanna, find your seat, won't you?" Mother tugs her hand out of Lux's grip, only waiting for her daughter's nod before making her way to the councillor with Father in tow.

Well. It's not like Lux wants to listen in on the peculiarities of the trading lanes between Piltover and her fair home, anyway.

Unfortunately, finding her family's spots quickly proves to be more challenging than Lux would've assumed. In addition to the matter of having to squeeze herself through the crowd, she can see no paper stands marking the seats for her family, nor any other tags to speak of. Is she supposed to just pick a spot at random? Surely not. Seating arrangements are a matter of great importance at events like this. What if she accidentally sat next to a Noxian? There are no names assigned to the first row (which, at least, is understandable in that the first row would already know their places), nor in the second (where the staff could point the attendees to), but neither are there in the third, or fourth, or fifth - by which point the girl gives up the search, as there's no way her family would be told to sit so far in the back.

Somewhat at loss, Lux decides to look for an attendant to show her at least the right area. A choice she regrets the moment she steps away from the seats and into the much denser crowd behind them. She's mostly successful in avoiding collision with everyone else milling about, having years of practice to her name. Only, back home she knows exactly where she's supposed to be and where she's going. Here, the crush of people blots out the horizon, and the ceiling - uniform glass and steel - lacks any familiar frescos adorning it that she could orient herself by.

All around she can see only the shifting masses of colours and unfamiliar faces. The noise is so loud it drowns out her thoughts. The air is hot and the farthest thing from fresh. Why is the address happening indoors? What if the giant steel beams fall and the glass they support falls with them? Why not just use the expanse of the outdoors, where space and air are endlessly abundant?

A people prone to madness indeed. She wants to go home.

The buzzing in her ears sinks deeper, all the way through her skull where it grows into an all-consuming roar of voices and clutter and heartbeat - none distinguishable from another - all of them coming from everywhere, inside and outside. She has to get out. Back under the sky where it's cool, and quiet, and where people won't knock her over by accident.

Something- someone, grabs her, and the world snaps back into focus.

Lux looks down at the small hand grasping her own. Then up the skinny arm and into a pair of wide blue eyes framing a freckled nose.

"Wanna get outta here?"

It takes Lux a moment to parse out the words of the strange girl's grotesquely mangled Noxi, but once she does, it's all she can do to nod and allow herself to be led through the crowd. Eventually, they pierce through the mass of bodies and outside, where she can finally breathe again.

She takes a few moments to catch her breath before properly regarding her rescuer for the first time.

Scrawny is the first thought which comes to Lux's mind. Really scrawny, actually. And pale in a way she's never seen before, which is saying something given Lux has seen many a lady who's not let the sun kiss her skin for at least as long as she's been alive. She's dressed strangely; like a boy, and fine in quality but strangely uncared for. Her hair, blue like her eyes, is gathered into a plait, and kept together by pins where it would otherwise stick out.

"You okay? " the girl asks, or so Lux thinks - the words only just familiar enough to intuit.

"Y-yes. Thank you."  She stumbles over the half-familiar words. "I get lost there."

"I figured." The girl flashes her a sly smile, showing off a missing upper tooth. "You looked like you were about to cry."

"Was not!" Lux's cheeks heat up in an instant. She crosses her arms, then lets them drop again at the girl's smirk. "I need go back."

"What? Why?” Her companion’s smirk drops. “There's nothing there."

"For add- for speech?" It's Lux's turn to frown in confusion. "What else?"

"But that's boring. All the fun stuff's here."

That, Lux must admit, is a point she can't contest. She's never much liked standing around and listening to the adults talk about something or other she's no frame of reference or care for. Still:

"My parents there." she shrugs helplessly.

"Lucky you for getting lost then! I can go wherever until the speech's done. Wanna join me?"

Well, she'd rather, yes, but it's not really a matter of want, is it?

"I not know… my parents look for me."

The girl rolls her eyes. "You wanna waste your time listening to some old Piltie patting himself on the back for an hour, be my guest. But I'm not going back in there."

With that, she turns to walk away.

All of a sudden, the idea of slipping back inside on her lonesome, back to where all the noise and heat and people are, makes her parents' inevitable punishment for wandering off seem a lot less scary. They're going to be upset no matter what she tells them, anyway. She might as well enjoy her freedom while it lasts. The crowd might thin some by then, too.

"Wait!" Lux grabs the other girl's hand again, just to find her head empty of words when her rescuer looks back to their joined hands, then her.

"Yeah?"

"Um-" She lets go, and drops into a rehearsed curtsy. "My name is Luxanna Crownguard . What is your name?"

"It’s Pow-” she cuts off with an abrupt scowl. “Jinx."

"What?" Lux tilts her head, unsure of what she’s been told.

"My name's Jinx." The girl makes a show of mimicking Lux's earlier curtsy, failing completely in getting even one of the subtleties of it right.

Jinx. Lux turns the name over and around her tongue, needing to be corrected a couple of times by its bearer. It sounds so exotic. Like one of those far-away places in Shurima her tutor had taught her about. Well - perhaps not so far away now that she need only cross a river to reach it, rather than a sea.

"Sooo are you coming or what?" her new friend asks with an extended hand.

Lux looks into the girl's expectant, wide blue eyes, and makes her decision.

Exploring the fair with Jinx is a much different experience to attending it with her parents. For one, the girl shares in Lux's own enthusiasm for the devices on display, both those for sale and not. Prototypes, Jinx painstakingly explains they're called, there to gather attention of an investor - a patron. For another, she seems well-versed in the underlying principles behind much of the gadgetry, and is only too happy to impart her knowledge on Lux, even though she understands only about a quarter of what’s being said, and that’s with a copious amount of gesticulation and both their best attempts at bridging the language gap. The girl can furthermore tell at a glance which displays have anything of interest, as well as how to get around the fair without being bogged down by the crowd.

She also, unlike Lux's parents, has no compunctions against buying the many exotic treats offered by the salesmen, and better yet, sharing in them.

"Can I ask question?" Lux speaks up as they sit on one of the benches, her gaze transfixed on Jinx licking the remains of something called cotton candy - sugar made softer than snow - off her fingers. The sight makes her acutely aware of what she must've gotten on her own hands in the time she held Jinx 's. "You not look like Piltover. Where you from?”

"I better not!” the girl proudly exclaims. “I’m from Zaun." Zaun? Lux has never heard of Zaun. With that being the case, it must be really far away, or maybe just called something else in Demacia - her geographical knowledge is spotless. "And right back at you. I mean, you kinda look like a topsider but you talk even funnier than they do." She exclaims with a laugh, which, once Lux works through the meaning of her words, she supposes she can’t fault her for.

"Ah." She says with a furious flush overtaking her face nonetheless. "I guess I live high? In High Silvermere . It in mountains? Demacia ?" She keeps elaborating upon seeing the lack of comprehension in the other girl's features.

"Huh? What's a Demacian doing in Piltover?"

"What about Zaun?"

Jinx stares at her for a second, almost making Lux draw into herself for having apparently said the wrong thing. Then the girl erupts in a fit of giggles.

"Yeah, okay. That's a good point. Keep your secrets."

"It not secret," Lux answers at length. "Me and my family here to see- that.” Try as she might, the foreign word won’t roll off her tongue, forcing her to simply point at the towering structure looming over the city.

"The slingshot? But it's not even finished, what's there to look at?"

Given Lux doesn't rightfully know, she can only shrug at the question.

"Slingshot?" she asks, instead. That’s not the word she heard everyone use.

"Basically," Her friend says with a shrug. "It's supposed to accelerate anything you put inside, but ignore physics on the way so you don't pop out as paste on the other end. Just, whoosh!" She makes a gesture with her hand. "You're a thousand miles away."

Lux can't help but stare, slack-jawed, at the flippant disregard of the biggest magical undertaking since the Rune Wars her companion is showing.

"But... it magic."

"...Yeah, and?" Jinx gives her a look like it's Lux who's deficient for bringing it up and not herself for failing to mention it.

"I- magic dangerous?"

An alarmingly sudden pained grimace twists the girl's features into an ugly scowl. Her hands fly up to clutch at her head, hiding her face behind her arms.

"No shit it's dangerous." She groans out into her arms. "They don't mention it in the brochures but if you can launch ships with it, you can launch bombs, too. I mean- the whole tower is one giant bomb!"

Lux's mind screeches to a halt. The brochures, indeed, do not mention this potential use for the tower. Distantly, she realises this is the more pressing issue of the two currently on her mind. Addressing it, however, seems far too daunting a task

"Uuh, you okay?" Jinx questions her stunned silence once she stops massaging her temples.

Lux is not, as a matter of fact, okay. What sense of wonder she felt previously when gazing at the construction scraping the clouds above Piltover is gone without a trace, replaced with a tension grasping at her lungs. It is obvious, in hindsight, that the Slingshot can be used for more than just commerce, as Piltovans ostensibly tout. With the project finished, no nation in the world would dare to attack the city-state.

Yes, Demacia could likely take the city, but it would happen at the expense of all the cities of their own nation as the Piltovans launched a strike after strike after strike with absolute impunity. There would be no home to return to.

Madness.

"You say ugly word." Is what comes out of her mouth.

"Ugly?" The girl pins her with a bewildered stare. "What, you mean like- shit?"

A terrible sense of foreboding descends over Lux at the sight of Jinx 's grimace transforming into a wicked grin.

What follows is, without a shred of doubt, the single most foul thing Lux has ever heard in her life - and she's never even heard any of the words before! To the point she can only guess their meaning on the fly. To the point she doesn't think Garen could do the same even if given a pen, paper, and a minute to write his attempt down. Certainly not on the go like that. It's impressive in all the wrong ways, and sends Lux's heart stampeding. If Mother or Father heard this...

"I need go," she abruptly announces, making to stand at the same time. She would've, if not for the hand immediately grasping at her elbow.

"No, wait. Wait. Sorry. Sorry," she laughs, she has a pretty laugh - Lux decides. "Couldn't help it. You might not be a Piltie but you're still a topsie alright."

Lux doesn't quite know what to make of the words. On the one hand, they feel like an insult, on the other, they don't feel like they're meant to be.

Hesitantly, she sits back down by Jinx 's side.

"Where you learn that?" She whispers in spite of herself. It's a wretched sort of fascination, much like watching a lashing be carried out.

"I dunno, everywhere? Don't even remember."

Lux thinks back to what bad words she knows herself. She's learned about as many from the servants working in the estate as she has from overhearing her parents when she wasn't supposed to. If even a half of what had left Jinx 's mouth she learned from her parents… well. It doesn't endear Lux to them any.

"Bad words. Not say them."

"Why? Everyone else does it."

"Because-" Lux cuts off the reply to the very same question Mother once gave her after administering punishment for cussing. Because we're Crownguards. If we are to set an example, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard. The matter of Jinx not being a Crownguard aside, she has a hunch the girl wouldn't much care for such an answer.

"You want be like everyone else?" She asks instead.

The words must strike a chord with the other girl, going by the way her eyes widen and mouth falls slightly open.

"You know, that's a pretty good point. Everyone's idiots."

A snort slips past Lux's mouth before she can school her emotions.

"Mean. Lots stupid. Not everyone.” She chastises in penance, drawing another laugh from Jinx in turn.

"You're such a goody two-shoes, you wouldn't last a day in Zaun."

Right. Zaun . She really needs to ask her parents where that is. Or better yet, read it up somewhere so they don't learn she must not have been paying attention to her lessons. It doesn't sound like a very nice place, though. It sounds like Noxus.

A thread of worry attaches itself to Lux's heart. What if Zaun is somewhere in Noxus? Is her new friend among the many conquered peoples of the empire? She understands their tongue readily enough, and her own is sufficiently similar Lux can grasp it in turn. But the same could be said of the lands her people have liberated. Why, Lux herself speaks Noxi, and so does her whole family!

She disregards the nagging feeling. Jinx is nice. Surely, a Noxian wouldn’t be nice.

"Maybe I am." She throws her nose up in the air and crosses her arms dramatically, having not a clue of what she might be confessing to, but more importantly, drawing another giggle from Jinx , missing tooth and all. "You think this time we go back?"

"Lemme see." The girl pulls a rather large, round pendant out of a pocket in her trousers - one that might've once been golden or brass, but has since been scribbled over with a variety of blues and pinks and violets arranged into what Lux thinks are meant to be animals. Jinx flips it open, revealing it to be a clock. "We still got some time."

Fascinated, Lux reaches out on instinct, but stops herself.

"Can I touch?"

"Sure. Just be careful, I’m borrowing it."

That goes without saying, Lux thinks, but nods nonetheless. She's seen such small clocks before, but never held one in hand. It'd have been rude to ask of the guests that had them, and the next smallest clock she's ever seen stands proud in the Protector's temple, taking up only a little less space than a sundial.

The device in her hand has more to do with jewellery, Lux thinks, than a clock. Not for the materials used, but the sheer delicate intricacy of its innards, visible through the glass face of it. The gears, the springs, the… she doesn't even know what to call them - are all so tiny , with tinier still notches carved into them to all overlap with each other and make up the rapid tick-tock against her ear. No wonder Jinx wants her to be careful, the thing looks ready to break on a gust of wind, let alone touch! And so useful, too.

"Pretty." She pays due compliments as she hands the piece back.

"It's a watch, bumpkin. You can buy these at any store if you’ve got the cash."

"Really?" Lux leans in excitedly. She might just have found herself a souvenir to ask for.

"I mean, maybe not any store, but they're not that rare? Becha we could find one here at the stands. Wanna go see?"

Lux hesitates. Because yes, she does want to go see. But she also wants to see the outside of her room sometime during her stay in Piltover, and if she doesn't return to her parents before the address is over, that wish is unlikely to come to fruition. On the other hand, she knew she was making a mistake when she chose to follow Jinx , yet she's made it anyway.

She looks into new friend's eyes, wide and hopeful - and knows she can't bring herself to dash the light in them. She's already in trouble, so might as well. It's not like she'd have a tenth of the fun she's having with Jinx back with her parents.

Still. She does need to return to the address hall, and sooner rather than later, as that is where her parents will surely be waiting. Maybe she can say she couldn't find them before the speeches started and didn't want to disturb everyone by pushing her way through to the front? Oh, but what if they catch her lying? That would be ten times worse than what she's actually done. No, she'll just say she got turned around and went out for some fresh air. And then she didn't want to disturb anyone. Yes. It's not even a lie. Not a big one. She really wouldn't have wanted to disturb anyone.

"Okay. But go back after, yes?"

"Works for me!" Jinx replies before grabbing Lux's hand in her sticky own again, and jumping off the bench with her companion in tow.

True to her word, and much to the young Crownguard's elation, they soon find a stand offering various mechanical odds and ends, clocks of varying sizes among them.

"So, which toy would the young lady want?" The merchant, a rather portly, older man, turns to regard them after finishing up with his last client.

"Um- sorry. We just look?"

The man gives Lux a once-over, his brow rising as something clicks in his mind, prompting a smile to overtake his face.

"Ah. Not from Piltover, are you?" he addresses her in strongly accented, but clear Demacian. "That's alright, it's Progress Day! Browse to your heart's content. Just be careful! Once broken, considered sold." His warm smile wanes as his eyes find Jinx , his voice noticeably less cordial when he addresses the girl. "And you?"

"Here with her," the smaller girl replies with such bite to her tone Lux can't help but stare. It's like a cold gust of wind on a pleasant summer afternoon; the way the atmosphere has suddenly changed so much.

"Are you now?" The man's eyes drop to their still-joined hands, before turning back to Lux again. "Well, go along you two. We don't need any trouble here. "

What?

"But-"

"C'mon, bumpkin." Jinx interrupts her with a tug on her hand. "You gotta get back to your parents, right?"

"But-"

Her friend tugs again with a look , one she's seen enough times throughout the years to know better than to argue. They leave without another word, with Lux observing as a smile returns to the merchant's lips when another customer approaches him.

"What happen?" She eventually steps in front of Jinx to stop her, the stand having long left their sight.

"Some Piltie being a prick."

"That- yes, but why? He nice before!"

Lux doesn't know what to make of the half dozen expressions flashing across Jinx 's face in the next second; from blank to incredulous, through confusion, and hurt, then back to blank again, to finally settle on a teasing smile.

"You're alright. For a topsie." She raises their hands, prodding Lux's own open with her thumb. "Here, I got you something."

The girl presses a small, metallic object into her palm. This time, it takes Lux no time at all to recognize the miniature clock for what it is.

"When you buy this?"

"I didn't." The girl grins proudly. "I was going to, but I guess he didn't want the money."

"You steal it ?" Lux doesn't have to try keeping her voice down. The words barely get past the tightness in her throat as is.

"I had to get it somehow, right? If he wasn't gonna sell it."

Oh no. No, no, nononono. What does she do? Does she return it? They should return it. Wait, no. If the merchant tells on them, as is his right, her parents won't let her out of the estate for a year, and she can forget about asking them for a clock if she doesn't want to make that two years. It'll be no use explaining she didn't take it - she's guilty by association. For that matter, what's going to happen to the actual thief between the two of them?

"Oh, shoot," Jinx's murmur pulls Lux off of her galloping thoughts.

Shoot?

"Excuse me."

She jumps at the voice directly behind her, then whips around with a fist pressed against her chest to come face-to-face with a belt buckle. With a mounting sense of dread, her gaze trails upwards to finally rest on the frowning face of a Piltovan guardswoman.

"Y-yes?" she stutters out, mortified, the ticking clock in her fist setting the pace for her heart.

"Are you-" The woman cuts off with a quaint expression, before starting anew, haltingly, in a simile of Lux's own tongue. "Is you Luxanna Crownguard?"

Oh. She's done for. Her parents are going to disown her and send her off to climb Mount Targon to restore their family's honour. And she's going to die because she's not worthy.

"Yes," she somehow manages to respond. She's done enough. What is there but to accept her fate?

"Your parents is worried. Is you alright?"

Lux stares at the hand extended to her in stunned silence. She's- not been caught stealing?

She almost collapses with relief. She's not been caught. Of course she's not been caught, the guard came from the other direction, and she didn't give her name to the merchant. She just- she needs to somehow give it back to…

...Jinx . Whose only evidence of there ever being around is the device hidden in Lux's hand.

"Miss Crownguard." Her gaze snaps back to the woman in front of her, now crouched and gingerly holding her by the arms, an undercurrent of worry clear in her voice. "Is you hurt? Did downsider do something? Did anyone?"

"I'm fine," she replies weakly. "I just got lost. Nobody's done anything."

"Good." And indeed, the woman's rigid posture slackens noticeably. Lux supposes she would hardly wish to be the one to return her to her parents in a state of hurt, either. "What did downsider want? She harass you?"

Downsider? Oh.

"No, she was… helping me back to the address."

"Really? Well, what do you know? " The woman pats Lux on the shoulders, as adults for some reason do, before standing up. "Come get back to you family, yes? This close to attack Noxians for kidnaper you, they was." The woman pinches the air between her fingers.

Blood drains from the young girl's face. It's not as bad as being caught stealing, but almost being the cause of a diplomatic incident… her parents are going to be furious with her. She can most certainly say goodbye to any sightseeing, or being let out of her room (both here and back home), or doing anything fun at all for the foreseeable future.

Suddenly, the prospect of returning to Mother and Father seems a lot less like the good idea it was just a few minutes ago.

All the same, she obediently gives the guardswoman her left hand, the other she buries in her pocket to hide the spoils of her crime someplace better, and follows the woman back into the raptors' den.

Every now and then, Lux spares a glance over her shoulder in search of a shock of blue hair. But it's not until she's being ushered inside the building she fled from earlier, that she finally sees a familiar face waving her goodbye from the crowd.