Archive of Our Own

Lux was a saint of the Winged Protector. Apparently.

Her battlefield miracle had left quite the impression with those who had witnessed it. From their perspective, she vaporized a silverwing raptor and then brought a dead woman back to life in a blinding flash of light. The reality of it obviously wasn't that clean, but they didn't know that. Light and healing were evidently both associated with the Winged Protector, a prominent Demacian deity, so what else were they supposed to believe, having seen all that. Word spread and before they knew it, half the kingdom thought Lux was a saint, blessed by the Winged Protector herself.

The problem was, they didn't have a good explanation to suggest otherwise. Nobody had any idea what really happened, least of all Lux, who had been delirious from fear, pain, and exhaustion, or Rio, who would be the first to tell you that her perceptions were difficult to trust at the best of times. For all they knew it actually could have been the Winged Protector, and that was really not helping their case that it wasn't. The only thing they knew for certain was that the magic had come from an outside source and that Lux couldn't do it anymore, no matter how many people came to her for healing. 

There were at least plenty of other people in Terbisia who could provide healing. Before her exile, Lux had been a prominent member of the Illuminators, a Demacian religious charity that aided the sick and ailing. They were friendly to mages even before the Mageseekers were disbanded, going as far as helping Lux establish escape routes to Terbisia. Now that the war was over, they set up a hospital in Terbisia to help those recovering from the battle, and now to also tend to all the people that came to Lux looking for miracles.

All this was to say, Terbisia had received a lot of new people after the winter snows thawed, and nearly all of them had come for Lux. A lot of them were mages looking for a new home and to whom Lux was a hero. This was phenomenal, it was everything Lux and Rio had hoped for and more, and their community had grown beyond their wildest dreams. The religious pilgrims who came only to bow at Lux's feet were much less pleasant. They clogged up the city and taxed its already stretched resources and rarely stayed long enough to meaningfully contribute anything to the community.

And then of course there were the ones who just wanted to kill her. Royal decree or no, hatred of mages ran deep in Demacia. It had been only a matter of time before someone showed up looking to cause trouble and it didn't take long for a brawl to break out. The bigots had their asses resoundingly kicked and were currently on their way to prison in the Great City, but the damage was done. Lux had hoped for Terbisia to be a peaceful place, but security measures had to be taken; they set up watches at the city gates and confiscated weapons from all visitors.

Of all the people who came to Terbisia to see Lux during this time though, there was one in particular who stood out. She was a yordle, all of about three feet tall, blue skinned (furred?) with strikingly purple eyes. Her blonde hair was bound in two pigtails that were each longer than her arms and frankly probably heavier. She wore a suit of miniature steel armor and had a buckler slung over her back, although to her it was more like a tower shield. 

Rio didn't really notice any of that at first though. She was more fixated on the hammer that was easily over twice as long as the yordle was tall. Its head alone was larger than her entire torso, and yet she carried it over her shoulder like it weighed nothing.

"Good morning!" she said cheerily. "I'm here to talk to Luxanna Crownguard."

"Uh. Yeah." Rio finally tore her eyes away from the hammer. "Lux is usually very busy, but you're welcome in the city. You'll just have to leave your hammer and shield outside."

"Oh no, this is Orlon's Hammer, I can't just leave it outside," the yordle said. "Besides, the hammer's the whole reason why I'm here."

"Right..." Rio examined the yordle more closely, but found only excitement in her eyes. "Why exactly are you here?"

"It's a long story," the yordle said. "It would be easier to just explain it to Luxanna herself."

"I'm Lux's partner," Rio said. "Anything you can tell her, you can tell me."

The yordle's eyes lit up like a child's. "Rio?!" she gasped.

She closed the distance between them in an instant, faster than Rio could react. Rio jumped and reached reflexively for her sword, but the yordle had only come to shake her hand. "I have heard SO much about you," she said, continuing to shake her hand very enthusiastically. "I love your tattoos, I never heard about those! My name's Poppy, by the way."

"Uh, thanks..." Rio pulled her hand away cautiously. "How exactly have you heard of me?"

"Everyone's heard of you! You're Luxanna's lover, brought back from the dead after heroically giving your life to protect your beloved."

"Hey, I wasn't dead," Rio grumbled. She wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that she had also become a part of Lux's legend, but she supposed it was inevitable.

"Either way, that's what brought me here to see Luxanna, or uh, Lux," Poppy said. "I was entrusted with this hammer by Orlon himself, the founder of Demacia. For over a thousand years I have been searching for the true Hero of Demacia who is worthy of wielding it. And if half the things I've heard about Lux are true, then I think I may have finally found her!"

That was... certainly something. Stranger with a very large weapon arrives, asking to talk to the governor for reasons that are fantastical at best and refuses to surrender said very large weapon; everything about this situation logically screamed "bad idea", but there was something about Poppy that was disarmingly genuine. Yordles tended to be very strange people after all, it wasn't that far fetched. It certainly wouldn't be the weirdest thing Rio had encountered during her time in Demacia. Whimsical ass fantasy land.

"Sure, what the hell," she said. Poppy seemed mostly... well, not harmless, but well intentioned. More importantly, it would do Lux a world of good to have a distraction like this right now. Between recovering from her injuries and running the city, she was in dire need of a break.

Poppy hurried excitedly along behind Rio as she led her through the crowded streets. She and her enormous hammer drew quite a few odd stares, all of which she returned with a smile and a wave.

Lux was at home, working through her physical therapy exercises, which consisted of squeezing her fist and holding light objects while twisting her wrist. Rio could tell by the tremble in her hand that she had already been at it for longer than she was supposed to. She stopped abruptly when Rio came inside, looking a little embarrassed. 

"Sorry," Rio said. "There's, uh, someone here to see you."

"Lux!" Poppy shouted before she was even inside. She barely fit through the doorframe with her hammer.

"Yes?" Lux said, glancing at Rio with a quizzical smile. "Can I help you?"

"I think that you are the hero I've been looking for!" Poppy set the hammer on the ground with a resounding thud and proudly put her hands on her hips. 

"... what?"

"I was entrusted with this hammer by Orlon, founder of Demacia," Poppy explained. "On his death bed, he asked me to find the true Hero of Demacia worthy of wielding it. For over a thousand years I have tried and failed to find this hero, but I'm hoping that today, my search will finally be over."

"I, uh..." Lux looked at Rio who just shrugged. "Okay. What makes you think I'm the hero you're looking for?" she asked, but the tired look on her face said she already knew the answer.

"You're a saint of the Winged Protector!" Poppy said. "You brought someone back from the dead! If that's not hero material, I don't know what is."

"She wasn't dead," Lux said quickly. She sighed. "Look, I know there a lot of stories about me, but you have to trust me when I say I'm not a saint." 

Poppy frowned. "So you didn't heal her?"

"Something else did. I don't know what it was, it just worked through me. And even if it was the Winged Protector, it was a one-time deal. I can't do it anymore." Poppy's brow furrowed in thought and Lux said, "I'm sorry, but I'm just not a saint. I can't heal anyone."

"What about the battle?" Poppy said. "I heard that you vaporized a silverwing raptor in a blinding blast of light and single-handedly turned the tide of the battle."

"Well... yes, but-!" Lux held up her right hand before Poppy could say anything. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal the twisted, scarred skin that wrapped up to her elbow. "This is what really happened. I killed the raptor, but exploded my staff and broke every bone in my hand doing it. Not as heroic as the stories make it sound."

Poppy refused to back down. "But you did convince the king to disband the Mageseekers and reverse centuries of bigotry against mages, right?"

"It was mostly Shyvana that did the convincing," Lux said. "I just signed the decree."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Rio said, joining in with Poppy now. "You founded this refuge and have led it for three years and counting. You've saved countless lives, including mine, more times than I can count. Maybe you're not a saint or whatever, but you're definitely still a hero."

"See! She knows what's up!" Poppy said.

"Okay, fine," Lux said with an abashed smile, but Rio wasn't done yet. 

"Say it," she insisted. "Saaay it."

Lux huffed but with a blush mumbled, "Fine. I'm a hero."

Rio elbowed her kindly and Poppy stood triumphant. "I knew it! Here, try the hammer," she said, indicating the hammer that was currently cracking the bricks it sat on.

"You're kidding," Lux said, raising her scarred hand again. "I can't even hold a pen."

"And it weighs more than I do, but I can carry it around just fine," Poppy said. "It has a way of working with people it likes. Come on, just try it!"

Lux half shrugged and half sighed and walked over to the hammer. Its pommel came all the way up to her nose. She wrapped her left hand around it and pulled with her entire body weight, but it barely even budged.

"Try some magic," Poppy said. "Maybe that'll wake it up."

Lux shut her eyes and sputtering light flowed through her hand and into the hammer. Sweat began to gather on her brow, but the hammer still didn't move.

"I can't," she gasped, releasing the hammer.

"Come on, is that all you got!" Poppy said, trying to be encouraging. "What happened to vaporizing silverwing raptors!"

"I can't do it," Lux snapped. Poppy backed down and Lux said in measured tones, "I learned to cast spells with my right hand. It's very difficult relearning to cast with my left, especially without a staff to channel through."

Poppy's ears perked up like a cat's when she said that. "Well that settles it," she declared. "We just need to get you a new staff."

"That's not-" Lux sighed. "I can't just drop everything to get a new staff."

"I can wait," Poppy said with a determined fire in her eyes. "I am very patient and very stubborn."

"I think we should do it," Rio said. Lux gave her a look and they stepped aside for a moment.

"You don't really think I'm her destined hero, do you?" Lux said quietly.

"I mean, that would be cool, but no, probably not. But I do think you need a new staff."

"I can still do magic without one."

"But you're struggling without it," Rio said. "Don't think I can't see how much it gets to you. You've been through hell and it's hard to get back on your feet. I think this staff thing will help."

Lux blinked in surprise and embarrassment. "I can't just leave."

"Sure you can," Rio said. "The city will be fine without you for a day or two and you need a break."

Lux hesitated. "I'm in no shape to fight if there's trouble."

"That's why Little Miss Hammer is coming along," Rio said. "Even if we don't get a new staff, you need the air. Get out of the city, have some fun, remember?"

Lux sighed and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, okay."

"Attagirl," Rio said and brought them back to Poppy. "Now, where do we look for a new magic staff?"

"There's an elderwood tree in the woods, maybe half a day east," Lux said. "Aeri always said that elderwood branches make superb wands and staves, but nobody's been able to get to it. It's guarded by a blue sentinel."

"Excellent!" Poppy said. "The greater the danger, the greater the heroism. Let's go!" She picked up her hammer and marched out the door.

Lux and Rio had a bit more prep to do. Rio gathered Ratchet and a night's worth of camping supplies, and Lux informed the others of her departure. Rio also insisted that Lux wear her hand brace. Its light aluminum frame supported her wrist and palm while leaving her fingers mostly unhindered. Colorful hearts and sparkles decorated the knuckles and marked it as Rio's creation.

Poppy was waiting for them at the gates, bouncing on her heels, hammer across her shoulders. "Lead the way!" she said as Lux took to the front and Rio followed her into the woods.

-

The woods were always brightest at the beginning of spring. They were bursting with the myriad sounds and colors of life renewed. Sunlight filtered through fresh oak leaves onto budding dandelions around which bumblebees flew. A breeze blew through the grass and over mossy stones in the creek. Red birds and blue birds and brown birds all sang from the trees, each call a distinct voice in the spring symphony. 

Rio could see the tension melt away from Lux's shoulders with every breath she took. The tremble in her hand calmed and the crease in her brow relaxed. Her breath slowed and her posture slumped as she finally got out of her head for a little bit. She led the way, through patches of ivy and under low-hanging maple branches, and Poppy and Rio followed along behind her.

"I like your crossbow," Poppy said, nodding to Ratchet. "Is it Piltovan?"

Rio bit down on an instinctive snap back, reminding herself that most people in Demacia had never heard of Zaun. "Not exactly," she said. "I'm from Zaun, but I made it myself here. Her name's Ratchet."

"Incredible mechanism on the side there," Poppy said. "How much draw weight does that get you?"

"About 350 pounds, give or take." It used to be closer to 450 pounds, but she had to dial it back a bit after the battle. She wasn't as strong as she used to be.

"Damn," Poppy said with a low whistle. "I've never heard of Zaun, but you must be some fine craftsfolk if you were able to make something like that out here."

"We've always had to be resourceful," Rio said. "Piltover never gave us anything more than their leftovers."

Poppy looked to be putting things together in her head. "You've come a long way from home," she said. "I haven't left Demacia in... yeesh, I don't wanna think about how long."

"Been about three years now," Rio said, half to herself. "Since I left Zaun." She wondered what Vi was doing now. She glanced down at Poppy and her six foot hammer and chuckled. Vi would never believe the shit she'd been up to. 

The sky was darkening by the time they grew near to the elderwood tree. They knew they were on the right path when the animals started to glow blue in the evening shade. There was a certain otherworldly richness to the air that to Rio just felt kind of like heavy pollen, but she could see it light up Lux's eyes, quite literally. Magic was thick in these woods, and here it was at its highest concentration.

The forest gave way rather abruptly to a cool glade. Blue and purple flowers spotted the grass, broken up only by a large pile of stones. Orange sunlight touched only the tips of the trees now, all of which seemed to keep a respectful distance from the center of the glade. The branches of an enormous tree covered the space, moss hanging from its ancient and knotted boughs. There was something about the tree that felt out of place, like it was something from another world put here by mistake.

"This is it," Lux said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She took a few eager steps into the grass and a swarm of lights sprang up around them. 

A thousand golden fireflies illuminated the forest as they flew up through the branches of the elderwood tree. Its leaves sparkled and shimmered nearly transparent in cascading rainbows of light as they flew past, into the evening sky. They were all three of them speechless at the sight. It reminded Rio of the firelights back home, but there were so many more colors. It might have been one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

Awe turned quickly to alarm when the pile of stones began to rumble. More fireflies fled from between the flowers as the stones began to fit together into a roughly humanoid shape. Rio noticed now that some of them were carved with spiral patterns which might have been runes of some sort. Through them flowed rivers of shining blue magic, coalescing into a nearly solid orb seated neatly inside the hole that made the sentinel's face. 

It looked surprisingly organic once assembled. Its expressionless face gave an impression of childish curiosity and the moss and flowers that grew atop its limbs resembled fur on an animal. Its movements were fluid and it even seemed to breathe in rhythm with the gently pulsating magic that ran through it. It truly looked no more out of place in the forest than a bird or a deer.

A bear might have been a more accurate comparison, actually, as the sentinel looked rather angry. This was clearly its home and they were clearly intruding. Lux picked up on this too and tried a diplomatic approach; it wouldn't be the first giant stone creature she had made friends with.

"Hello, mister sentinel, sir," she said. "Or, uh, madam." The sentinel did not respond. "We're just here for a branch from your tree. Do you think we could just...?"

Lux took a step forward and the sentinel slammed its fist into the ground. They both froze for an instant before the sentinel charged at her. "Yeah, okay, Rio!" 

Rio had already spanned Ratchet and taken aim, though at what she wasn't sure, the thing was made of stone. She settled on the glowing hole in its face, hoping it would be some sort of weak point. Ratchet's bolt shot into the hole and... just kind of vanished. It didn't disintegrate or bounce off, it didn't pass through, it was just gone. 

Rio swore and discarded Ratchet. She drew her sword as the sentinel continued to charge Lux, but wasn't sure what good it would do her. Lux ran towards the treeline and shouted as she shot a bolt of light at the sentinel. It splashed off its stone as the sentinel raised its fists. Lux conjured a faltering shield of light which was shattered with ease by the sentinel's fist. It at least deflected enough of the blow to not send Lux soaring across the clearing, but she still fell to the ground. 

"Hey ugly!" Rio shouted. The sentinel slowly turned and began advancing on her. She wavered with her sword, looking for the softest piece of stone to break it against, when remembered something she saw in one of Lux's books. She flipped the sword around and gripped it firmly by the blade in both hands.

The steel dug into her skin uncomfortably but did not cut her as she held it like a bat. She waited until the sentinel swung and dodged to the left - and ate a face full of gravel. 

It felt like she was swimming in molasses. Her brain gave the order to move, but her limbs simply could not respond in time. It was like piloting herself by remote control.

She avoided enough of the blow to not instantly die, but was still knocked solidly on her ass as the stone fist cut her cheek and blacked her eye. She rolled into the grass, dropping her sword, and landing painfully on her stomach. Her head span and she tasted blood in her mouth.

Adrenaline hit her bloodstream and finally found what little Shimmer was left in there. She rolled away from the sentinel, not quite rising to her feet but getting far enough away to avoid its stomps.

Poppy's shield flew into the sentinel's head like a hurled discus. It staggered backwards as pebbles rained down around it. Poppy caught her shield with one hand and with the other, swung her hammer into its leg, knocking a piece of stone loose and toppling the sentinel. It fell to the ground, stone fists digging craters into the earth as it caught itself.

Poppy let the momentum from her attack carry her into a spin. She raised her other hand to the hammer and swung down so hard it lifted her a full four feet into the air as she smashed the sentinel's head to pieces. The leylines flickered like a dying flame and the stones fell back into a loose pile of rubble.

Poppy slotted her shield onto her back and shouldered her hammer. "I think I got it," she said casually.

"It's not dead," Lux wheezed from across the clearing. "It'll reassemble in a few hours."

"Lux!" Rio rushed to her side and inspected her for wounds.

"Shield took the hit," Lux said with half a smile. She winced and held a hand to her ribs. "Most of it. I don't think anything's broken."

She wiped a thin trickle of blood from Rio's swollen cheek. "I'm fine," Rio said. "Just needs ice. Let's get your branch and get the fuck out of here."

Rio helped Lux to her feet and they began searching for a suitable branch to create her new staff. Lux insisted on only picking branches that had already fallen from the tree; cutting a live branch was a good way to get a cursed staff, she said. They found three branches of about the right size and shape, and took all three for good measure. Nobody (except maybe Poppy) was eager to come fight the sentinel again. All of the branches twisted and curled in weird ways, wrapped around themselves or fused with another twig, and they all had traces of some glittery pollen, sparkling rainbow in the dying light.

With their bounty gathered, they put a healthy distance between themselves and the grove before making camp for the night. It was well past dark when Rio laid out their bedroll by magelight and Lux gathered wood for a fire. She clicked her fingers and sparks ignited the kindling, bathing the forest in the warmth of a campfire.

Rio had only brought one bedroll, and no tent, but the stars were clear through the canopy and neither she nor Lux had any problem with sharing. Poppy, for her part, just sat with her back against a tree and fell asleep. She didn't even take off her boots.

With a bit of privacy now, Lux and Rio inspected each others' wounds by firelight while they ate some dried meat and bread. Lux has a pretty nasty bruise on her ribs, but nothing was broken or exceptionally painful. Rio had a black eye and a few cuts on her cheek, but again, nothing that some ice and rest wouldn't fix. 

They snuggled down together as the night began to cool, wrapping themselves in the same blanket. Rio tenderly unclipped Lux's hand brace and slid it off, lightly squeezing Lux's hand and checking for sore spots. She removed her own prosthetic finger and carefully wove their wounded hands together. She laid down across Lux's unbruised side and rested her head in the crook of Lux's neck. Lux wrapped her arm around her and brushed her fingers lightly across the scars on Rio's back. She flinched involuntarily at her touch, but quickly relaxed into it.

Magic welled up from Lux's chest and warmed them both against the chill night air, soothing their bruises as they drifted to sleep in the dying firelight.

-

Making a magic staff was very, very difficult. 

Terbisia's local expert on enchanting, Aeri, had been killed during the Battle of Terbisia, so Lux had to rely on her books to guide her through the process. It was straightforward in principle: imbue an item with enchantments to allow it to act as a magical conduit for the caster, aiding them to achieve greater power and control with their spells. In practice, it was an incredibly long and meticulous process.

A series of runes were to be inscribed along the length of the staff. (That's why it had to be a staff, instead of a wand, so there was enough room for the rune strings.) The tricky part was that they had to be placed on the inside of the staff. In Lux's case, this was actually quite easy to achieve by taking two branches and bending them around each other in a double helix pattern. Just bending the branches took days of steam heating and cooling, even with magic to help speed things along. 

The runes of course had to be extremely precise. Lux still could barely write, let alone carve, so the runes were left up to Rio. It took Lux two days and six hours of sleep to figure out the rune patterns, which varied depending on all manner of factors such as material, weight, intent, and so on. No two staves were alike. She put extra emphasis on enhancing the durability and capacity of the staff to avoid a repeat of the incident during the battle. 

Rio was perfectly precise in her carving. She took the job very seriously, no nonsense or distractions. It was like watching her work on Ratchet, or any of her other contraptions. They entered into a steady rhythm where Rio would carve a rune and Lux would apply the enchantment while the next was carved. 

Poppy, meanwhile, had no difficulty entertaining herself while they worked. She was very useful in hauling material to aid in construction, but her height made it difficult for her to assist in the actual constructing. She ended up spending more time telling the children stories of her adventures over the centuries. Lux and Rio more often than not also sat in while they worked, as did a good number of other townsfolk at the end of the day. 

Each story had a rather predictable pattern, in which Poppy would hear of some great hero and travel to their village. She would find said hero and aid them in some heroic task which would invariably lead to the hero's death and Poppy's disappointment. She would then offhandedly mention how she conquered the threat herself before moving on, brushing aside any praises of her own heroism. She had a very animated style of storytelling which enthralled the children, especially when she swung the hammer around in re-enactment.

All said, it took two weeks of near constant work and very little sleep to make Lux's new staff. (And this was an easy staff build, being made from two innately magical branches.) But it was a very rewarding process, working with Rio on something like this. Lux had scarcely ever felt closer to her than during those late nights doing just one more rune. 

It was a very classical shape, old wood bent around itself with a spiral at each end that served as additional focuses for spells. It certainly wasn't as flashy as her first staff, gifted to her by another mage, with its white handle and gorgeously wrought golden focuses. But it was really her staff this time, their staff. It was like a physical symbol of her and Rio's relationship, physical proof of their teamwork. Just holding it made Lux feel brighter, and that was a very good sign when it came to her magic. 

After twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep, Lux was finally ready to try it. She cast a few spells without it as a baseline, at Rio's insistence. First, she shot a bolt of light into a training dummy, leaving a small scorch mark on its chest. Then, she summoned a shield around it and Rio struck the shield with the pommel of her sword, holding it half-sword style. The shield held, but barely, large cracks forming along it and a shower of sparkles raining down.

Finally, Lux turned her hand invisible, or at least tried to. This spell was by far the most complicated and difficult one she knew, even before her injury, and now it was nearly impossible to cast. She succeeded only in weirdly warping the image of her hand, in the way something was warped when seen through a glass of water.

Rio jotted down notes with each test before handing Lux her staff. "Moment of truth," she said excitedly. 

Lux gave her a kiss for luck and leveled her staff at the target. She called forth light from her chest and sent it down her arm—her left arm, she still had to remember—and into the staff. She felt the runes hidden within surge to life at the touch of her magic. Like an arrow shot from a bow, the bolt of hardlight accelerated and slammed into the dummy with a resounding whoosh. 

Smoke trickled from the hole in its chest, which Rio examined closely before pouring water on it. She noted the diameter and depth of the hole, which had penetrated most of the way through the dummy's straw chest. 

"Yes!" Lux exclaimed, bouncing on her feet. Rio took the hint and stepped back as Lux sent another bolt into the dummy, and another, cutting her way clean through it. "Yes!!!"

"How does it feel?" Rio asked, pen at the ready.

Lux stopped bouncing on her feet long enough to explain. "Good, really good!" Rio began writing hastily. "It's like... more natural almost, if that makes sense."

"Explain," Rio said. "Did the old staff feel unnatural?"

"Not unnatural, just... different, you know? Like, it felt different to channel a spell through the staff versus through my hand. But this?" Lux held her staff up and almost wanted to kiss it. "It feels just the same as if it were my own arm."

"Fascinating," Rio said. "Maybe because it's your magic that enchanted it, or because you were so involved in the process its creation. It's a much more personal item." She pondered for a moment and set down her notebook. "Next test!"

She took her sword by the blade and held it at the ready. Lux cast a shield of light over the smoldering dummy and Rio swung. The pommel impacted with a resounding cla-ang and bounced right off, sword warbling in Rio's hands. The shield remained unscathed, but a tooth of the pommel's decorative gear fell to the ground.

"Whoops," Rio said, running her finger over the jagged edge. "Don't think this was made for half-swording," she chuckled. "But hey, the shield's great! Easily three times the strength. I wanna run some more tests, maybe if we drop weights for consistency..." she looked up from her clipboard as she noticed Lux bouncing eagerly on her heels. "Right, next test."

Lux held her staff in both hands now, more resting it on her right hand than holding it. She took several deep breaths and focused. She felt for the beads of light that surrounded her and shut her eyes as she began wrapping and pulling them...

"Holy shit!" Rio shouted. She stood up so fast she dropped her clipboard. "You're invisible!" She circled around Lux, examining her from every angle, and remembered to grab a small mirror. "Like, totally invisible!"

Lux cracked open her eye and looked at Rio in the mirror. Rio, who was standing behind her.

"Protector's mercy!" Lux cried in joy. The spell quickly fell away when she began laughing with wild delight. "How did I do that!" 

"Try it again," Rio said.

Lux shut her eyes and refocused her mind, forcing it to calm through the excitement. When she opened her eyes again, she was invisible, down to the staff. She looked at her arms and at her chest and saw straight through them.

"That's amazing!" Rio shouted, hugging Lux and jolting her out of the spell. "You did it!" She quickly eased off, remembering Lux's bruised ribs, but was still vibrating with excitement.

"I don't know how," Lux said. "That spell usually takes so much energy to sustain, but now, it's almost... well, not effortless, but a hell of a lot easier!"

"I wonder..." Rio thought for a moment. "Do you think it's because it's a spell we made? Like, a spell we made together and the staff we made together? Because it's unique and personal, it becomes more natural."

"That must be it," Lux said. She looked through her hand, turning it around in front of her face and maintaining the spell as easily as she held any shield or binding. "This is incredible..."

-

Several hours of testing later and they went to meet Poppy. 

"How'd it go?" she said, rising to her feet and looking confused at Rio. "Where's Lux?"

"Right here!" Lux said, popping out of invisibility next to Rio. "It went great!"

Poppy gasped and laughed. "Awesome!" She inspected Lux's new staff for a minute before taking a step back. "Shall we?" she said with a wave to the hammer.

Lux handed her staff to Rio and wiggled her fingers. Right now she felt like she could lift the whole world. She squared her feet and put first one hand then the other around -

"Ow, ow!" She pulled her right hand back when she tried to curl it too fast. She held her breath for a second while the pain passed.

Sails thoroughly deflated, she wrapped her left hand around the haft of the hammer and poured magic into it. Her hair and eyes glowed and she pulled with her whole weight. She staggered back abruptly as the hammer tipped over onto its side, handle nearly smacking her in the nose. 

"Sorry," Lux panted.

"It's alright," Poppy said, sounding disappointed but unsurprised. She clapped Lux kindly on the back (of the leg). "I still think you're a hero, even if you're not the hero."

"Thank you," Lux said. She offered her good hand which Poppy took and pulled her into a hug. Lux patted her on the back (or on the shield, rather) and said, "You know, you're welcome to stay. We can always use another pair of hands, and the kids love you."

"Maybe some day," Poppy said, pulling out of the hug. "For now, I still have a duty to uphold. But if I'm ever footsore or in need of a friend, I'll know where to come."

With that she bid them farewell. She picked up her hammer as easily as Lux picked up her staff, slung it over her shoulder, and walked into the woods.

"You think she'll ever realize that she's probably the hero she's looking for," Rio said.

"Hah, not in our lifetimes," Lux chuckled.

"Hopefully Terbisia will still be here when she does." 

For a moment, Lux was utterly stunned. She had never thought that far ahead, she realized. She'd never even thought past what would happen after Sylas's inevitable return. The idea of what Terbisia would look like in ten years, or a hundred, the legacy it would have, the legacy she would have, all hit her at once.

"You okay?" Rio said and brought her back to earth.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Lux said and wiped her eye. "Just got lost in my head for a second." 

Rio tilted her head, inviting her to say more, but she looked too cute when she did that with her big pink eyes, so Lux instead bent down to kiss her.

Lux broke the kiss and pulled close to Rio's ear. "I'm hungry," she whispered sexily. "Actually hungry," she said, standing up. "Like, really hungry."

Rio giggled. "I guess magic burns a lot of calories, that makes sense."

Lux took her hand and dragged her back into town towards the kitchens and the smell of fresh venison.