Chapter Text
Luxanna Crownguard stood proud, taking in the sunset over Terbisia. The evening light sparkled and refracted in ways not even she could reproduce, settling low and warm over wide fields and cozy houses. It was a representation of all they’d endured, everything they’d built, all their victories and losses and hardships and their tenacity through it all.
The picture of serenity was broken by a figure hurrying toward her.
Quickly climbing down from her vantage on the battlements, Lux met the man halfway. “Ferrin? What is it? Have you had another vision?”
Taking a moment to catch his breath, the seer nodded. “Yes, Lady Crownguard. Something is happening in Piltover, by the Hexgates. The ambient arcane levels are far higher than anything we’ve ever seen—”
Abruptly, suddenly and without warning, she felt it. Something wrong.
The tether within her, present for as long as she could remember, was pulling taut.
That bond, of which she understood nothing, had always been a vague guide in her life. It didn’t steer her, or influence her actions; it was just there, always, a promise of something incredible on the horizon. The feeling was persistent, continuous, just white noise in the background until she focused in on it; and then it was like realising she was breathing, or clenching her jaw or moving her hands while she walked. It was constant, unyielding and unknown, and an ever-present comfort even when she had nothing else.
And it was straining, twisting and fraying—
And then it snapped.
It wasn’t painful. At least, not in the traditional sense.
All she could feel was a hole in her chest, in her heart, her soul, and the nothingness was everything.
She’d felt it fade before, becoming especially faint once, late in the night a few months ago, but it had still been there. It hadn’t ever been gone.
Absently, she collapsed to the ground, not registering Ferrin’s panicked shouts or the impact of her fall. She felt nothing but the gaping abyss, like something was missing. It was well beyond her understanding, but somehow, Lux knew that a piece of her had died.
“She… she’s dead,” Lux murmured dumbly. She didn’t know what the words meant, and she didn’t know who she was, but Lux knew it to be true.
It was like she'd lost an organ that she hadn’t been aware of. The warm colours around her, so beautiful only moments ago, dulled and faded to mere shadows of their former vibrance. Sounds grew quieter, like she was hearing everything from the other side of a thin wall. The loss of something she’d barely even had was overwhelming, unbearable in its intensity, or lack thereof—
She blacked out on the spot, and began to dream.