Trapped

I laugh everytime I think about this. And I should mention that this is a spur of the moment ship. I thought that it was really cute.

December 14

(Lux)

I sighed in relief as I felt my feet touch the ground in the Institute of war. That was a rough match! It was bad that I was against Katarina, but my summoner didn't really know what he was doing, which made it worse. Thankfully, Lee Sin saved me multiple times. Jinx wasn't much help, and ended up being carried by Leona. Thankfully, one of the enemy summoners decided to leave so we won. As I stretched my arm across my chest, Lee walked over and attempted to place a hand on my head. He missed twice.

"Well, that's not your shoulder." He frowned when he finally got there. I giggled, which made him grin. "Anyway, you did well out there." He smiled fully, ruffling my hair slightly.

"You did well too, Lee." I grabbed his hand and held it for a second. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem." He smiled again, taking his hand back and putting them in his pockets as he walked away. I waited until Katarina and Draven left before I did. I'd rather not be caught between them. I'd say that there's about 20 of us currently in the institute. It's a couple of weeks before Christmas and most of the other champions have gone home. Garen and I are still here, mostly at our parent's request to stay an extra week. They must be planning something. I hummed to myself as I walked out of the room. It's going to be a nice time, spending time with both my parents and my brother. We almost never get to spend time together.

"Lux!" I stopped walking so Garen would stop running just before he ran into me and knocked me over. Again. "I thought that you'd already gone to your room! I just ran there and now here!" I smiled and patted him on the shoulder as he leaned on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm going to be staying here for another day to talk to a summoner. So, you have to head home without me." I frowned slightly. "Don't worry. I'll still be home in time." He smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Can't it wait until after Christmas?"

"I'm afraid not. Jarvan asked me specifically." I sighed and nodded. "I'll only be a day late." He pulled me into a hug. "Don't worry, Lux. There's no way I'd leave alone at this time of year." He lifted my chin up and kissed the top of my head. "I'll see you tomorrow." I watched him walk off with a sad look.

"Isn't that sweet." I turned on the spot to see Caitlyn and Vi stood there. Caitlyn was smiling, Vi wasn't.

"More sappy." The Sheriff elbowed her partner, who just laughed. I had to smile at the exchange.

"Are you two going home?"

"Nobody to go home to." Vi said and pointed a thumb at Caitlyn. "And her parents don't want her."

"Vi!" The bruiser barely dodged the rifle butt that was aimed at her face. "That's not true! They're just going on holiday!" I cringed this time. I guess that you have to be used to each other to do things like that. Before Caitlyn could speak again, manic laughter was heard, followed by a wet slapping noise and a flash of blue. Vi paused for a few seconds, pressed a finger to the pink paint that was now all over her face, and ran after Jinx, shouting numerous curses. "It's been nice talking to you, Lux." Caitlyn sighed before chasing after the pair. It's always like this with Vi and Jinx. The summoners have tried multiple things to keep them separate. It's difficult to do when both of them can break down walls as easily as tearing paper. As I continued walking to my room, I heard various shouts from the three women. I barely stepped into the Demacian wing as the chase ran by. Garen would probably cover my ears when he heard some of the words that Vi was using.

"Ugh. Again?" I turned around and smiled at Quinn. It was obvious that she had just been woken up. "Can't they go to the other side of the institute and do that?" I treasured her as a friend since she was the only person in Demacia that didn't treat me like I was highborn and fragile as a sheet of ice. I heard valour squawk in annoyance. "Fine, fine." She sighed, stepping out and shutting the door. "Val gets enough sleep, When will I?"

"If you need somewhere quieter, you're welcome to use my room when I'm not here." She smiled and pushed the brown hair out of her eyes. It's rare to see her without her helmet.

"I'll be fine. Valor might mess something up in there. Better not risk it." I smiled back. Quinn yawned and stretched her arms above her head, exposing some of her stomach. It was really tempting to poke her. The chase finally died down when a wall was broken. "Is it bad that I don't care if either of them get hurt?"

"If you were fully awake, yes." She laughed and ruffled my hair.

"Have a nice holiday, Lux. Maybe I can get some sleep now." I gave Quinn a small wave as she turned to open the door back into her room, getting anther loud squawk. "I'm closing the door!" I chuckled as it closed. When I reached my room, I placed my staff in it's holder and started undressing. I remembered what happened last time and walked over to lock the door. That was an incident I don't want to repeat. Sejuani and Ashe had gotten into another argument, and they obviously didn't realise that they were in the Demacian wing. They both ran straight into my room as I was getting changed. Every champion from the Freljord wrote an apology, but that didn't stop Jarvan and Garen trying to kill multiple people. If there has ever been a quiet day at the Institute, it was before I joined. I had a quick shower and got dressed again. I haven't had any chance to spend time with my family over the past few months. I jumped as an explosion rang out through the halls, followed by a faint: 'Psycho!'. I just sighed and hoped that Quinn didn't get woken up by it. As I was about to start drying my hair, somebody knocked on the door.

"You still in there, Lux?" I put my towel over my shoulders to stop my hair from dripping down my back and opened the door. Vi was stood there, still covered in paint and looking very annoyed. "Could I borrow your sink before this stuff dries completely?" She gestured to the pink smeared across her face. I hid a smile behind my hand.

"Of course you can." I stepped back to let her in.

"Thanks, Lux." She grinned, patting me on the shoulder. She took her gauntlets off and placed them next to the door. "Don't worry, they're not dirty." I shrugged and shut the dor as she walked into the bathroom. "D'ya think she's crazy enough to use lead paint?" Vi called over the running water. I shuddered at the thought.

"I hope not." The paint must have not have been very strong since Vi walked out after about a minute.

"Need a hand with that?"

"What?" She motioned the the hairdryer in my hand. "Oh, no need. I can do it myself."

"Yeah, but it's always nice to have somebody else do it." Can't argue with that logic. On the other hand, I have no idea what she's like with this. "C'mon. Trust me." She grinned, taking it out of my hand. I shrugged and sat down. She fiddled with it for a few seconds, surprising herself when she actually turned it on by hitting herself in the face with a blast of air. "Still not as bad as fighting Yasuo." I giggled, leaning back and relaxing. I even almost fell asleep. "See? Much better."

"You did better than Garen. Last time I got him to try, half of my hair ended up in that thing." As I got up to put the hairdryer back, I saw her wince. "How are you so good with it?"

"I stay at Caitlyn's place more often than not." I turned around as I was putting my headband on.

"Does that mean you two are dating?" She made quite possibly the loudest 'pfft' ever.

"You've gotta be kidding me! The sheriff of Piltover? Having time to date someone?" She picked her gauntlets up and started putting them on. "Trust me. I've been down that road. It's not one that I'll be going down again." I was tempted to ask. I decided against it, though. Sounds like a bad idea. "Better go find her, anyway." Vi hugged me before leaving. "See ya later, Lux." I waved to her as she left and finished putting my headband on. I should hang out with Vi more. I hummed to myself as I left the room and the institute shortly after, pulling my jacket closer as the cold wind nipped at my skin. Winter is fun on one hand, for the snowball fights and making snowmen, on the other, it gets dark too quickly and it's too cold. How do people survive in the Freljord? I walked down the path for about a minute before I walked into something. I looked around, slightly dazed. What did I just walk in to? I stepped forward again, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Is somebody playing a trick on me? I pressed my hands against it and moved around. If it is a trick, it's a very large one. I heard a squawk and turned around. Valor was flying towards whatever this was. I half expected him to fly straight through, but he crashed against the wall and fell into the snow. I ran straight over. He seemed to be fine, but injuries aren't always external.

"Valor?" I knelt down and gently lifted him out of the snow. His eyes were still bright, so he should be okay. Just a little dazed. "Valor, are you okay?" He wriggled out of my hands and shook the snow out of his feathers. I sighed in relief and stood up, holding my arm out so he could perch on it. I winced slightly as the talons dug in, but it wasn't overly painful. Thankfully, he's okay with me. He really does not like Garen. Last time he tried to talk to Quinn, Valor raked his claws down his face. I was pretty scared that it would pass on. I pressed my free hand against the barrier again. It's still solid.

"What are you doing?" I turned my head and saw Katarina standing next to me. I always wondered how she moved so quietly. "You've been feeling the air for a few minutes. Has your city finally gotten to you?" Valor narrowed his eyes and moved to perch on my shoulder.

"Theres a wall here." She just scoffed and pushed me out of the way. Valor squawked again, but I shushed him.

"There's nothing here. Let me show you." I had to cover my mouth so I didn't laugh as she walked straight into the wall and stumbled backwards. "What the fuck?" A slightly panicked look washed over her face as she pressed her hands on it. She turned to me with a look of fury and my amusement vanished like ice in a furnace. "What did you do?!" I stepped backwards, narrowly dodging the knife swipe that was aimed at my eyes.

"I haven't done anything!" As she pulled her arm back to swipe again, Valor screeched and spread his wings. Katarina flinchjed and stepped back, holding the knife infront of her.

"Control your bird."

"He's not mine to control." With a glare, she grabbed another knife and threw it, grazing Valor's leg and making him fly off with a loud screech. I watched him go back towards the institute briefly before Katarina grabbed the front of my shirt and pressed the tip of a knife into my chin.

"Now. You're going to remove this barrier, or you'll have no tongue." I dropped my staff and gripped her hand with both of mine.

"I-I can't. I didn't put it there." Her eyes narrowed and pressed the knife harder into my chin.

"Like fuck you can't. You're the only light mage in the League. Get rid of it." The soft click of a crossbow was the best thing I could have possibly heard.

"Drop the knife, Katarina." Quinn demanded, holding the weapon level with the Sinister blade's temple. Valour was perched on her shoulder, cleaning under his wing. "Drop it and back away." Katarina rolled her eyes, but let me go and took a few steps back. Quinn put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you." She just smiled and clipped her crossbow onto her belt.

"Now, what's the problem?"

"There's a barrier here, and that idiot won't take it down." I sighed and stooped over to pick my staff up.

"I didn't make any barrier." I placed my hand on it again. "If I did, it wouldn't be invisible like this." Quinn raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, pressing her hand against it and frowning.

"This can't be any of the champion's work."

"What do you mean by that?" Katarina stepped towards and barrier and touched it as if it was going to shock her.

"This kind of magic can only be done by a number of mages. There's only four mages I know about here now. That's not enough." Quinn frowned again and looked around. "Whatever this is, we can't get rid of it." I felt my eyes widen at the realisation. "We can't leave the institute."

I swear, my first chapters are getting longer and longer.