Chapter Text
Luxanna took a deep breath as she stood motionless, eagerly waiting for the signal that would mark her triumphant entrance to the front stage. She had done this a thousand times already, and yet, she always grew anxious at the prospect of breaking the illusion she had worked so hard to create.
That was why every time she was about to start a concert, she had to remind herself of what she had to do:
They don’t want to see Luxanna.
They all only crave for the illusion.
The illusion of Luxanna Crownguard.
And to do that, all you have to do is sing.
Suddenly, a bright flash of yellow light and a cloud of white, sparkling smoke took over the whole stage, causing the vast sea of loyal fans to scream in excitement for the moment they had all been waiting for.
And once the smoke dissipated, world-famous celebrity and singer Luxanna Crownguard was standing in the middle of the stage, dressed up in a breathtaking, gold-and-blue colored dress that sparkled thanks to the spotlights directed right at her, and ready to give the unforgettable performance of a lifetime.
“Hello everyone!” The blonde-haired singer greeted her audience with the help of a beautifully decorated microphone in hand as she raised her other arm to the sky. “Who’s looking forward to the last concert of the Vibrant Light World Tour!?”
The audience immediately responded by enveloping the entire stadium in another wave of screams and cheers.
“I can see you’re all excited,” Luxanna continued once the screams and cheers had died down. “I’m excited as well to be singing for all of you, but before I start, I do have to say something.”
There was no loud response from the stadium, but from the many whispers and murmurs that could be heard through the whole place, it was clear that everyone there was intrigued to hear what she further had to say.
“Since this is the last concert of my world tour, I have decided to make one little surprise for one of you right here…” Luxanna hinted as she began to amble throughout the front stage, the spotlights on the top of the stadium flawlessly following her movement.
Everyone in the stadium gasped, completely taken by surprise by the implications of the words that the blonde-haired singer had just said out loud.
They were not going to be prepared for what she was about to say.
“You see, I’ve decided that I’m going to choose one single ticket from one of you,” Luxanna announced as she pointed her finger to the enormous audience standing in front of her. “And whoever is the owner of that ticket, they will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend one whole day with me, Luxanna Crownguard! What do you all think of that?”
“Oh my god, I NEED her to choose my ticket!” Caitlyn screamed in raw, unbridled excitement alongside every single other person in the concert.
Vi immediately began to laugh, relishing the sight of her usually reserved and well-mannered girlfriend completely losing any semblance of formality right after the famed singer had made her unexpected announcement.
On the other hand, her younger sister Jinx didn’t find it as endearing.
“Can you please take control of your girlfriend?!” Jinx chastised her older sister, raising her voice as much as she could so as to be heard despite the thunderous screams and cries that had just inundated the stadium. “She’s acting like a complete idiot!”
“You know how she gets when she goes to a concert. How else do you think she was going to react?” Vi shouted back, moving her head closer to Jinx in order to be heard better. “Besides, I find it cute if you ask me.”
“That’s cringe.” Jinx reprimanded Vi, still not understanding how Caitlyn could be so excited about this and how Vi didn’t even seem to be bothered by it.
In fact, she still didn’t understand how anyone could be excited about all of this! Everyone here was screaming and bawling in excitement at the possibility that they could meet with that blonde singer standing on the stage. Didn’t they realize just how ridiculous they all looked.
By all means, she should have been in her room, wasting her time on the internet or on other more interesting and productive things.
But no.
She had to be in the middle of a huge concert because Caitlyn and Vi wanted her to be there.
It all started when Caitlyn learned in the news around a year ago that Piltover was going to be the last stop of Luxanna Crownguard’s something-something World Tour all across Runeterra. Since then, her sister’s girlfriend couldn’t shut up even a single second about how they all had to get tickets in order to go see one of her favorite singers sing live.
As expected, Caitlyn didn’t take much time to convince Vi.
But convincing Jinx was a whole different story.
So for the next few months before the date of the concert, Caitlyn kept endlessly insisting that she had to hear Luxanna Crownguard sing in person to see why Luxanna was one of the greatest singers of her generation. Of course, this obviously didn’t convince Jinx in the slightest.
Caitlyn kept trying and trying, but with no other option left, Caitlyn had to resort to the nuclear option: She downright bought her ticket anyways and threatened Jinx to give her absolutely no slack.
Understandably, Jinx didn’t like this at all.
Tensions between the two of them had risen so much total war seemed to be the only option. Thankfully for everyone in Zaun, Vi proposed that in exchange for Jinx coming with them to the concert, she would buy takeout whenever Jinx wanted for the next month.
And at the time, that seemed like a good enough offer
But you know what?
Now that she was at the concert, she realized that she should have asked more from Vi because she was already hating it here.
She hated that everyone at the concert was way too sweaty for her liking, she hated that this ‘Luxanna Crownguard’ seemed like the usual caricature of a gullible celebrity, and she hated that all of her fans were absolutely bonkers for her.
Caitlyn included.
“Vi! Vi!” Caitlyn suddenly chimed in. “The chance to speak with Luxanna Crownguard ! That would be absolutely amazing!”
“I’m sure it would be, Cait, but you shouldn’t get your hopes too high,” Vi cautioned her girlfriend, but with an endearing tone. “There’s a lot of people who could win it too, you know?”
“I know, I know…” Caitlyn hesitated, but her tone of voice made it clear that she wasn’t offended by Vi’s warning. “But still, if I were the winner, I’m sure I would ask her if she’s planning on doing a collaboration with Seraphine. Wouldn’t that be amazing?!”
Vi was about to respond, but then Jinx interjected.
“No, Caitlyn ,” Jinx corrected her sister’s girlfriend. “It would be a huge waste of time and kind of pathetic.”
Caitlyn huffed in indignation.
“That is because you still do not understand just how talented Luxanna Crownguard is! It would be an absolute privilege to meet someone like her!”
Luxanna took another deep breath, but this time, it wasn’t because of anxiety.
This time, it was because of exhaustion.
Exhaustion of being cheered on by so many simpleminded fans who were too enamored with her to see through her disingenuous act.
Exhaustion from the illusion.
This was the side of her that she made sure nobody knew about. Everyone out there thought that she was the cheerful and genuine Demacian superstar who deeply appreciated the adulation and appreciation of her millions of fans all around the world. But unfortunately for them, this was not the case.
They all craved for Luxanna Crownguard, and Luxanna Crownguard was the illusion itself.
Take her whole persona away, and all that was left was a talented singer who couldn’t help herself from being cynical and self-interested about every single thing she did.
So after a long day of singing in front of thousands, all she wanted was to get some time for herself.
At the moment, she was simply spending some time inside her personal dressing room, sitting in front of the brightly illuminated mirror where she would make sure to look her best and still wearing the same eye-catching gold-and-blue colored dress that she had worn throughout her concert and had left the whole stadium speechless. Nonetheless, there was none of the charm she had so flawlessly exuded just a few hours ago.
She was simply there, surfing through the never-ending deluge of ads and social media posts on her phone, aimlessly trying to find anything that would pique her interest in any significant way.
And she would have kept doing so if someone hadn’t knocked on the door of her dressing room.
Luxanna immediately rolled her eyes in annoyance, for she knew who was the person looking for her.
“Enter,” Luxanna replied, not even shifting her eyes away from her phone.
The door then opened, and there stood a tall, slender man wearing a formal, red-colored suit and carrying an electronic pad with him.
“Ms. Crownguard?” he said.
The man standing by the door was none other than Vladimir, the tour manager who had been the single, most important person behind the management and logistics of all of her greatest concerts. She was more than glad to have him, because to succeed in such a cutthroat industry like the one she was, one needed reliable people like him in order to truly stand out.
And yet, if she were to compare him with something, she would compare him with a vampire, sucking out all the fun and excitement that a career in singing would bring thanks to his meticulous attention to details and his willingness to play along with Luxanna’s most self-serving interests.
“What do you want, Vladimir?”
“Quite simple, Ms. Crownguard,” Vladimir promptly responded. “Now that the world tour is over, we need to talk about your plans for the next few months.”
“Just get on with it,” Luxanna signaled by raising her other hand.
“Of course. First of all, there is the collaboration you had hinted to your fans a few months ago. Now that we’ve finished with the Vibrant Light World Tour, I think it’s high time we start working on that.”
“Yeah, it’s about time,” Luxanna replied in a sarcastic tone. “Is there anyone you have in mind?”
“I was thinking of Seraphine.”
“Seraphine would be ideal, but she’s about to start her world-tour, so I don’t think that will happen any time soon,” Luxanna responded, not even turning her face towards him. “Check with Akali then. The industry seems to be moving towards hip-hop, so a collaboration with her could be very productive in the long run.”
“Duly noted,” Vladimir responded as he started making notes on his pad. “Moving on, there is the interview that you’ll have with Piltover Saturday News in a few weeks.”
“Absolutely great,” Luxanna retorted, once again in a sarcastic tone
“I’m aware of the distaste you have for them, but we need to keep you trending on the news in order to be in the best position to promote your newest ventures,” Vladimir explained. “That being said, do you want me to start working on a script in order to let them know on time which questions you’d be willing to answer?”
“Sure, why not. That’ll make things way easier for me.”
“Very good,” he concurred, making more notes on his pad. “And finally, there is the issue regarding the special ticket.”
“Oh god, the ticket,” Luxanna grumbled, placing her phone away and putting her hand on her forehead in frustration. “I know I was the one who came up with the idea, but do I really have to?”
“You already announced it to an audience of almost a hundred thousand people,” Vladimir explained to her. “Even if you wanted to, you won’t be able to back down without any substantial media backslash.”
“Absolutely amazing,” Luxanna huffed. “So how’s it going to be? You’re just going to choose a random ticket and then organize a one-day meeting with whoever wins?”
“That’s pretty much the plan,” Vladimir explained. “Still, if you want me to veto some particular individual and/or demographic, then I would be more than glad to do so.”
“Just choose a random one,” Luxanna noted. “I just want to get over it as fast as I can.”
“In that case, I’ll have the machine choose one random ticket from someone in today’s audience and then make sure that the announcement comes out before midnight.”
“Is that all?”
“That will be all for today.”
“Good. Can you leave now?”
“Sure Ms. Crownguard. See you tomorrow at your rehearsal,” Vladimir finished, taking little time to leave the room and seemingly unaffected by Luxanna’s rudeness.
And with that done, she simply kept using her phone just as she had done before her manager had interrupted her.
Of course, she now couldn’t stop thinking about how annoying it was going to be to meet with whomever ended up with the chosen ticket. Even though she was the one who came up with the idea in order to stir up public opinion in her favor, she now regretted doing so. Chances were that she was going end up spending one whole day with a naive fan who was going to be absolutely head over heels for her, and frankly, she couldn’t think of anything more annoying than that.
“No. Fucking. Way,” Jinx said out loud as she verified once again her ticket with the one on the screen.
Not a minute had passed since the three of them had left the concert that Caitlyn began to constantly check her phone to see if the official website of Luxanna Crownguard had announced who was the owner of the chosen ticket. And well, since Caitlyn was getting so anxious about the possibility of winning the ticket that Vi had to rip away the phone from her hands in order for her to calm down.
In her place, she convinced Jinx to check every thirty minutes or so until the announcement of the winning ticket was finally made. So there she was, waiting in front of the old computer they had, waiting for the exact moment where she could march her way towards her older sister’s girlfriend and victoriously announce that she had not won the ticket.
But to her own dismay, this is not what happened.
Sort of.
“What?” Vi asked, her voice hard to hear since she was in the living room with Caitlyn.
“You’re not going to believe this… but I won the ticket,” Jinx announced, trying her best to not sound as if she were joking.
For a moment, there was an eerie silence in the air, only interrupted by the whooshing sound that the ceiling fan was making.
Then, chaos errupted.
“YOU WON THE TICKET?!” Caitlyn gasped, running her way towards the computer and forcing Jinx off the chair so that she could prove the veracity of Jinx’s words with her very own eyes.
Not far behind was Vi, visibly shocked by the sudden sequence of events that had just transpired.
“Jinx, I sure hope you’re no-”
“I swear to god, I’m not lying!” Jinx reassured Vi as she pointed her finger towards the computer. “I won the ticket. Just look at the screen!”
Vi didn’t waste any time in sprinting towards the computer and standing next to Caitlyn as they both checked if Jinx was saying the truth. The way they then dropped their jaws made it clear that Jinx had indeed won the ticket.
Vi was the first one to react.
“I can’t believe it. You won the ticket!” Vi congratulated her younger sister, hugging her so tightly as to raise her off the ground.
“P-Put me down, Vi!” Jinx lashed out at her sister. “Stop acting like an idiot!”
“I won’t, because I’m so happy for you!” Vi smiled, still holding her high in the air.
“Put. Me. Down!” Jinx warned Vi again, this time with a far angrier tone on her voice.
This time, Vi did what she was told and placed her back on the ground. Nonetheless, she was still overjoyed about her younger sister being the owner of the winning ticket.
“Sorry Jinx,” Vi apologized as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. “Got a bit too excited there.”
“Yes, you did,” Jinx chastised her older sister. “But to be sincere, I’m not really that interested in using the ticket.”
“Wait, what?!” Vi questioned her sister. “Why wouldn’t yo-”
“I’m not really interested in meeting Luxanna Crownguard at all,” Jinx explained herself. “I might as well just give the ticket to Caitlyn so that she can meet her.”
“I guess that makes sense, but stil-”
“I cannot,” The blue-haired Piltovan suddenly interrupted the two sisters, her eyes locked on the screen right in front of her.
“What?!” Vi and Jinx said in unison.
“I cannot accept the winning ticket from you,” Caitlyn repeated, this time shifting her head towards them.
“Why the hell not?! Just take my damn ticket and go see her!”
Caitlyn then shook her head in disagreement and gasped in disappointment.
“I would love to take the ticket from you and see Luxanna Crownguard myself, but legally, I cannot. The disclaimer makes it very clear that you are the only one who can.”
“Let me read that!” Jinx snarled as she stomped her way towards the computer in order to read what Caitlyn was exactly referring to:
The bringer of the chosen ticket must bring the necessary identification (i.e driver’s license, passport or any other official identification) to confirm that they are the original owner of the aforementioned ticket. Any attempt to sell, copy or distribute the aforementioned ticket in any way or manner to a third-party is liable to prosecution by E-Ticket Enterprises and the legal team of Luxanna Crownguard
Now it was Jinx’s jaw that dropped.
“This is bullshit,” Jinx cussed. “This is complete, utter bullshit.”
“I know,” Caitlyn conceded in defeat. “But the law is the law, and I do want to keep my job.”
Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds until Caitlyn slowly stood up from the chair, turned towards Jinx, and placed her two hands on her shoulders.
“Jinx. You have to go meet her.” Caitlyn ordered Jinx as she looked down on her.
“W-What?!” Jinx responded. “W-Why me?!”
“Because you are the only one who can.”
“But I don’t even like her music!”
“Please Jinx.” Caitlyn begged the blue-haired Zaunite. “I’ll do anything if you go meet her and ask for an autograph.”
Immediately, Jinx raised her brow in genuine interest.
This was… an interesting proposal to say the least. Not once since she had met Caitlyn had the Piltovan woman done something like this. Caitlyn usually just lectured her about what she should or shouldn’t be doing, but begging?
This was an opportunity too good to pass.
“Anything?...” Jinx replied, eager to hear what Caitlyn had to say.
“Yes, Jinx. Anything.”
“I see…” Jinx responded as she slowly nodded her head in affirmation. She then shifted her face towards her older sister. “And you, Vi? What do you have to say about this?”
“I’ll buy all the takeout you want for the next two months.” Vi proposed.
“Three months,” Jinx countered.
“Two months and a half,” Vi counteroffered.
…
…
…
“I think you got yourselves a dea-”
Suddenly, Caitlyn tightly hugged Jinx and just like Vi, she raised the blue-haired Zaunite off the ground.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Caitlyn thanked her girlfriend’s younger sister, once again losing her serious demeanor.
“Put me down right now or the deal’s off!” Jinx warned Caitlyn just like she had done with Vi.
This was definitely not how she was expecting her night to end up like. Never in a million years would she have imagined that she would win the chosen ticket that would let her meet none other than Luxanna Crownguard herself.
And yet, the best emotion that she could use to describe her current mood regarding all of this was indifference. She hadn’t cared that much about Luxanna Crownguard and her music before all of this happened, so why should she suddenly become one of her most devoted fans? That would have been absolutely pathetic on her part.
So yes, if Vi and Caitlyn didn’t do anything stupid, she was going to accept that supposed ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity to spend one whole day with Luxanna Crownguard, but unlike every other fan of the blonde, Demacian singer, she wasn’t going to make a fool out of herself in order to get on her good side.
Whether Luxanna Crownguard liked it or not, Jinx wasn’t going to be head over heels for her.