Get Jinxed: A Tale of Mental Instability and Poor Decisions (Arcane/League of Legends)

I didn't know for sure how long Lux would be rattled after getting hit by Zapper, it wasn't like I'd had a lot of opportunities to test it out on people using the stun setting. Or the kill setting, for that matter. There were all kinds of factors that went into exactly how effective a hit from Zapper would be, considering I was shooting people with electricity. I quickly grabbed her sword and set her up in the chair across from the couch Seraphine and I were on. We didn't want her freaking out and trying to stab us as soon as she recovered, after all.

That didn't mean I wanted to start things off in a hostile way. Sure, maybe it was a bit too late to worry about hostility after I'd shot Lux, but that had been almost a minute ago, there was no sense dwelling in the past. After all, Lux was gonna walk out of this room eventually, and that meant we needed to be on semi-decent terms. Well, that or I was gonna have to figure out how to kill an ambassador's daughter and get rid of the body while also deflecting any suspicion away from myself and Seraphine. Maybe if there was no other way to keep Seraphine safe I'd cross that bridge, but I really didn't wanna think about it.

After waiting a little bit, Lux shook her head, and her eyes seemed to be back in focus and locked onto me. She wasn't smiling either, when up to now she'd seemed to have a serious case of resting happy face. If I wanted things to be friendly and cooperative I probably needed to set the right tone. "Heya, Luxy. Sorry about zapping you like that. Didn't know it was you, I just kinda reacted on instinct. It shouldn't have been powerful enough to do more than rattle you a bit, but are you feeling okay?"

Lux blinked, and a second later she was back to smiling. It didn't exactly look like a normal smile though, something about it was a bit too forced. Well, I suppose I couldn't blame her for still being a little on edge. "Well, I suppose that's understandable. I imagine you took my sword away so I wouldn't accidentally hurt myself while I was suffering the effects of your... welding tool." Her eyes lingered on Zapper for a second. "That said, my sword was a gift from my Aunt Tianna, I'm quite fond of it, and since I seem to be fully recovered now I would like it back."

Yeah, that wasn't happening. I suppose it wasn't a surprise she didn't wanna make this too easy for me. I didn't wanna get sidetracked talking about her sharp hunk of metal that apparently also had sentimental value. "So, Lux, old buddy old pal, there was something I was just a little bit confused about that I was hoping you could help me understand. See, I thought you and I agreed that I was gonna have a quick private talk with Seraphine. Then next thing I know, I'm zapping what I assumed must have been some creepy stalker or something, and it turns out it was you. I'm sure you can understand why I'm a bit confused right now."

"Ah, yes, that." Lux chuckled and brought up one of her hands to rub the back of her head. As she did so I noticed something kinda funny about her gloves (Actually, why was she wearing gloves anyway? It wasn't cold or anything.). I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong about them, but in hindsight maybe I should've taken them along with her sword.

I wasn't gonna let worrying about her hands distract me from her words, though. There was the faintest hint of pink on Lux's cheeks as she spoke. "I suppose I do owe you an apology for being a bit nosy. It's just that your sister was teasing you two about being in a relationship, and neither of you exactly denied it, and I've always been a bit too curious for my own good. In hindsight, I really should've just asked the two of you directly if I wanted to know. In any case, I was on my way to the powder room when I heard the two of you speaking and I had a momentary lapse of judgment, forgot my good manners, and tried to listen in. I apologize."

"Yeah, well, sorry about shooting you or whatever." I shrugged. I wasn't actually all that sorry, but an apology seemed like the polite thing to do under the circumstances. Besides, I didn't want her holding a grudge about it, even if she kinda had it coming. That didn't even get into how bad things might get between Piltover and Demacia if word got around that I'd shot Lux, even if it didn't cause any long-term harm. Well, I was pretty sure there weren't any long-term effects. It wasn't like I could go around shooingt a bunch of people with Zapper and watched them for years to check for long-term effects...

"How much did you overhear?" Seraphine cut in, a lot blunter than she'd usually be. Though I guess I couldn't completely blame her for not being in the mood to dance around the question of whether Lux was gonna report her to anyone.

Lux cleared her throat, setting her hands on her lap. "Quite a bit, but I can assure you I'm not the sort to gossip about other people's private affairs."

"Just the type to spy on them," Seraphine cut in, an unusual frown on her face. "Oh, and you can drop the fake smiley act. Maybe you can fool Jinx, though I wouldn't bet on that, but trying to lie to me about your emotional state is never gonna work. You're scared, mentally preparing yourself for the possibility of violence, and wondering how far you'll have to go to get out of this situation. If I had to guess you're still hoping you can talk your way out of this, but if you think we intend to do you harm you're prepared to strike first."

Lux's smile vanished as she let out a sigh, slumping down in her seat. "So we're dispensing with any pleasantries and pretenses, then?" When she looked back up at us, she just looked ... tired. "Fine. Yes, I know that Seraphine's a mage. No, I won't be reporting you to any authorities in Piltover, and certainly not to my parents or anyone in the Demacian delegation. I give you my word of honor as a Crownguard that your secrets are safe with me. Even if I were captured by enemies of the state and tortured, I would die before a single word of this passed my lips."

"Those are some fancy words." I crossed my arms over my chest. "But talk is cheap. I did my research before I met you. I know your uncle's the guy in charge of hunting down and locking up people like Seraphine. Earlier today you were fishing for info on how you could use Hextech against mages. It's not exactly painting the picture of someone who's gonna ignore the fact that you just found a mage who's in hiding. How are we supposed to trust you?"

"Trust." Lux let out a bitter sound that technically qualified as a laugh. "I honestly don't know how you could trust me. How anyone could trust someone else. I haven't been able to trust anyone, not even my own family. Not since the day I discovered this."

She took off one of her gloves, revealing her hand. A hand that was positively glowing. With a flick of her wrist the light left her hand, coalescing into a small ball hovering above it. She waved her fingers around, and the ball of light followed them. Then she snapped her fingers and the light flew back into her hands and vanished, though it felt like I could kinda see it glowing from within her. "Now do you believe me when I say I won't tell anyone?"

"Yeah ... that changes things." There was a lot to process now that I knew Lux was a mage. Not to mention it put a new light on several things that had happened before, like our talk about using Hextech to lock down magical powers. I'd assumed she wanted it to help her government lock up mages, but it was probably a lot closer to the same issue Seraphine had. It wasn't like Lux could get any training in handling her magic when all the mages were hiding from the government. Even if she could find someone to teach her, no fugitive mages would trust her when her uncle was in charge of hunting them down. At best, they'd assume she was one of the mages who worked with the Mageseekers to hunt down rogues.

Wait, actually...

Seraphine put a gentle hand on my arm and whispered to me. "I'll tell you if I sense any deception."

I let out a breath and felt some of the tension ease out of my spine. Seraphine might not be an outright mind reader, but she could probably figure out if Lux was trying to play us. Especially if I asked the right kind of questions to get a reaction out of her. "So, you're a mage, while your uncle's in charge of hunting down all the mages in Demacia. That's gotta be pretty awkward. Do you get some kind of royal exemption for that?"

"No." Lux sighed and buried her face in her hands. "If anything the law applies much more strictly to us than it would to any other family. Uncle Eldred would insist on making an example of me to prove his dedication to his cause and quash any doubts. My parents and even my brother truly believe in Demacia and everything it stands for. It's why I can't trust them. My brother is one of the most noble, forthright, and honorable men I've ever known. He's supposed to join the Dauntless Vanguard soon. I know he'll always do the right thing. But ... according to the laws of Demacia, the right thing to do is to report me to the authorities so I can be locked up by the Mageseekers before I hurt anyone. I should've turned myself in as soon as I discovered my powers, but I..."

Was she scared for herself? For her family? Of her family? Probably all of those. There was one other reason I wanted to focus on, though. "You didn't turn yourself in because you know it's all garbage." I put an arm around Seraphine. "Seraphine here's basically the sweetest, most caring person I've ever met. She's not dangerous to anyone. I've only seen her use her magic to hurt a person once, and that was a real asshole who definitely had it coming. Even then Seraphine just blasted the bad guy back with magic a bit to stop her from choking me out. I did a lot worse once I got loose." Shot her eye out with a nailgun. Good times. I'd even put that nailgun on a mount back in my workshop, a trophy to first weapon I'd ever build to save lives.

Lux grimaced and shook her head. "That might be true now, but magic corrupts people. People were never meant to touch the Arcane. It drives mages mad until they become insane murderers like Sylas of Dregbourne. That's why I need to find a way to get rid of my power, or at least suppress it enough to stop it from destroying my mind. I can't get access to enough petricite potions to keep my magic suppressed without raising far too many questions, but if you could make some kind of Hextech device to lock my powers away I could finally be safe." She pulled her legs up onto her chair and wrapped her arms around them. "Is it so wrong to just want to be safe, and still have a life with my family? Maybe we could even free the other people in the Mageseeker prisons if there was a device we could use to seal their powers instead of needing to regularly dose them with petricite potions."

"I don't think it works that way." Hextech was all about finding ways to channel and control magical energy, so I could probably come up with something to help a mage regulate and stabilize their powers. I'd toyed with designs for something like that to help Seraphine, but I hadn't quite cracked it yet. Besides, what I'd been working on was more like adding training wheels to a bike, while Lux wanted me to build a brick wall that would stop the bike completely.

I could probably come up with something that blocked or disrupted magic as long as the person wore it, but that wouldn't satisfy the Mageseekers. A mage could just take the device off or break it. Besides, the problem was the existence of the Mageseekers in the first place, not the fact that their tools for messing with mages weren't efficient enough.

Before I could figure out a good way to explain that to her, someone pounded on our door. "Lady Crownguard, are you in there?"

Lux's eyes widened, and a second later she called through the door. "Yes, I'm here! I'm fine, I'm just talking to Jinx and Seraphine."

"Very good, milady." Judging by the thud of heavy boots and clinking of armor, the tin cans had taken up position outside the door, waiting for Lux to leave.

Seraphine glanced back at the clock and grimaced. "I need to go meet up with my band if we're gonna be ready to go on stage." She stood up and cleared her throat. "Jinx, Lux, thank you for checking in with me before the show, and for your discretion regarding what we discussed. I'm sure we'll have more to talk about later." She stepped out of the dressing room, her eyes flicking to the guards standing to the side of it before she closed the door behind her.

No way we could talk with the guards hanging out so close by. Even if they weren't actively trying to listen in, all it would take is one of them picking up the m-word and they'd start paying closer attention. "Yeah, we'll talk later." I picked up Lux's sword and started passing it back to her, only to pull it away with a teasing smirk.

Lux's smile was back in full force. "Jinx, I would appreciate having that back. I wasn't kidding when I said it was a gift from my aunt."

I was gonna give it back eventually. On top of the sentimental value, it was pretty clearly not that much of a threat. If she was a mage she didn't need a sharp hunk of metal to gut me. I just wanted to have a little fun with her first. I smirked and slipped the blade through my belt. "I dunno, I think I'd pretty look cool with a sword. Maybe I should take it back to my workshop and see if I can come up with some fun ideas for how to make it a bit better. A sword that shoots lightning or fire is just objectively better than an ordinary sword."

Lux tried to grab it off my belt, but I quickly stepped back out of range. Trying to tackle me and wrestle it back was probably beneath the dignity of a noble daughter of House Crownguard. Then again, if she grew up with a big brother she probably had some experience with wrestling. That's just how siblings were.

Instead, she opted for a different tactic. With a downright diabolical grin, she asked. "Jinx, while you were studying homeland, I don't suppose you happened to read up on what it means when a young woman of noble heritage gives her sword to someone else?"

"Technically you didn't give it to me, I stole it." I pulled it out, casually swinging it around until I accidentally hit one of the couch cushions, only for the blade to easily slice it open with barely any resistance. So she keeps her sword sharp, noted.

Lux watched with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk as she watched me hastily stuff the padding back into the cushion before using Zapper to seal it shut, then flip the cushion over to hide the damage. Which would've worked a lot better, if not for the fact that the other side of the cushion had a large stain on it. I mean, really! Who ruins one of the cushions on a shared piece of furniture and just flips it over to try to hide the damage?!

Once I gave up on damage control she cleared her throat. "In Demacian tradition, a young noblewoman presents their intended with a blade upon their betrothal. It is meant to symbolize how their future spouse will guard and protect them from all who would threaten them or impugn their honor. If my parents see you running around with my sword, they might want to pull you in for a conversation about your intentions. It's rare for Demacian nobles to wed foreigners, but not completely unheard of, and I suppose Kirammans are a wealthy and respectable family..."

I quickly offered her the sword back without any further comment. Once she had it back and safely secured in its scabbard, she giggled at me. "Now I know you need to do more research about Demacian courtship customs, because I just made that up."

"Oh, you sneaky..." I quickly pulled myself back from any colorful language. The last thing I needed was for her guards to come barreling in screaming about defending the honor of Demacia after I called their lady a sneaky bitch. Even though she totally was one. Not in a bad way, though. Or at least I didn't think it was bad. If anything, it made me like her more.

I cleared my throat, and put on some haughty rich Piltie airs for the benefit of any guards who might be listening at the door. "Well then, Lady Crownguard, shall we head back to the concert hall?" I dropped the act as else something occurred to me. "I hope Caitlyn hasn't caused too much trouble while we were away."

---

"WOO! SERAPHINE!" I barely managed to grab Caitlyn before she could climb up onto the stage. "Hey, Seraphine! It's me, Caitlyn! Jinx's big sister! It's so cool that you're finally performing on stage!" She turned to one of the random audience members. "Isn't she just the coolest?! I've known her since she was a kid, and now she's up on stage performing and being the star of the show!" She went back to screaming in the general direction of the stage. "YOU'RE AMAZING SERAPHINE, I LOVE YOU! JINX LOVES YOU TOO!" She turned back to the random stranger she'd been accosting, who seemed to be trying to escape the conversation they'd somehow been dragged into. "Isn't she just so cool and amazing?!"

I was definitely impressed by Seraphine as well, but in my case I wasn't impressed by the spectacle of her being on stage so much as her ability to keep on singing despite Caitlyn being just the absolute worst sort of fan. She'd already tried to climb up on stage once to hug her, and I'd barely managed to cover her mouth in time to stop her from shouting about how Seraphine was 'her sister's girlfriend.' I guess I really must love Caitlyn like family, because I was putting up with her drunk ass despite all of this.

I threw a frustrated glower back and Lux, her guards, and the Enforcers all hanging back and watching me deal with Caitlyn on my own. "Could I get a little help here?"

One of the Enforcers sheepishly shook his head. "We suggested that she lie down and rest, but she didn't listen. I'd rather not manhandle Councilor Kiramman's daughter."

Everyone else nodded along, probably because they were cowards. I mean, I get it, they didn't want to risk anything happening that would bring Mrs. Kiramman's wrath crashing down on them like a ton of bricks. What they were missing was that if they let Caitlyn embarrass herself in public she was gonna be pretty pissed as well. Though probably a lot more of that anger would be going Caitlyn's way rather than being aimed at them, which was all they cared about.

Meanwhile, Seraphine kept singing like a pro, ignoring all the drama playing out on the floor beneath her. Though maybe not completely ignoring it, considering she was definitely looking our way while she was singing.

Whoever thought that we,
Could end up meeting,
It's been a journey!
It's karma possibly!
That it was always meant to be our destinies!
Within the clouds,
Just you and me!
If I could be a constellation with you in the sky...
We'll paint out all the stars,
Slowly creating our perfect night.
We may be outshined,
By all the Moon's light
But together, I know we'll see this through!
That's why I wanna be a constellation with you in the sky!
Together, shining so many colors with all of our might!
I'll never break this line...
Connecting all our lives!
No matter what it takes or how bright you'll become!

As the song wrapped up everyone started clapping and cheering, including Caitlyn. Which was a huge relief for me, because it meant she'd stopped trying to get on stage or doing anything else that required me to take action, so I could actually join in on the applause. Seraphine and her band had turned in a solid performance despite all the craziness that had played out in her dressing room. That was a relief, I'd been a bit worried she'd be off her game.

Of course, now that the concert and the rest of the school festival was wrapping up, I had a completely different problem to deal with. Lux and I needed to talk some more about everything that just went down, but I also wanted to check in with Seraphine and get her thoughts about it all. I could use walking Seraphine home or Lux back to her hotel as an excuse to squeeze in a little private conversation, but it wasn't like I could ask the other to wait back here while I walked one of them home, then turned around to pick up the other.

Then there was the whole Caitlyn issue, she was still pretty smashed, so I didn't exactly trust her to make it home on her own. Sure, since I had two Enforcers hanging around I could probably tell one of them to escort her home, but there were a few obvious problems there. Even leaving aside the whole 'do I trust a pig with a drunk girl' question, it was a pretty safe bet that the Enforcers would just take Caitlyn's drunk butt to the front door and bail. If I was the one taking her home I could help cover for her and explain the whole spiked punch situation.

Ugh. I really needed to figure out how to be in more than one place at the same time. At this rate going back to Zaun tomorrow morning was gonna feel like a relaxing vacation.

---

Current Stability: 0
Willpower: 1

Who Does Jinx Walk Home?

[ ][Walking] Lux
- [ ] Write in what they should discuss
Issues: Abandonment (-3), Trauma (-3)
Failure Result: Jinx struggles with trusting Lux enough for a real conversation.

[ ][Walking] Seraphine
- [ ] Write in what they should discuss
Issues: Abandonment (-3), Trauma (-3)
Failure Result: Why do things feel so awkward right now?

[ ][Walking] Caitlyn
- [ ] Write in what they should discuss
Luck Roll: DC 5
Failure Result: Caitlyn is too drunk for much useful conversation.

Willpower

[ ][Willpower] Spend Zero
[ ][Willpower] Spend One for +3 to Rolls

---

Lyrics shamelessly stolen from Here