New Stars
Lore
Legends
In the beginning of all things, the First Star gave its light to create the universe. New worlds were born – and with them, warriors imbued with the light of the First Star. These protectors are supernovas blazing bright, yet destined to collapse as furiously as they burn.
They are the Star Guardians.
The Call
As a Star Guardian fades, their power is reborn in new protectors. Star Guardians are chosen for their strength and resolve, but above all, they are chosen for their courage. It often signals a cataclysmic battle elsewhere in the universe when multiple Star Guardians are chosen to serve at once.
Translating Worlds
Star Guardians must familiarize themselves with the customs and rituals of a planet in order to blend in with its inhabitants, dispelling any suspicion about their true nature. Such activities often help strengthen the bonds between young Star Guardian teams.
Shatter
Star Guardians are imbued with incredible power, but with it comes a lifetime of service to the universe. It is a life burdened by responsibility and fatal consequences. Although rare, a Star Guardian may reject their fate as a protector. However, the results of such an action reverberate across the universe and beyond.
Burning Bright
Star Guardians can only defeat the darkness that spreads across the universe if they stand together. They will fight as one or fall as many.
A New Horizon
Lore
Starfall
Lore
There’s this dream I keep having.
It starts pitch black. It’s so dark, I’m not sure my eyes are even open. It’s like being woken up when the power’s gone out. All those familiar bits of light snuffed out, swallowed up. Just me and an empty night. I can’t help myself. I reach out, hoping that it is just a blackout, that I can just push away the weight of being alone like too many heavy blankets. But the darkness doesn’t move.
I tread midnight like water in a well, all the while the cold drip of loneliness slips down my back. Then I realize that there’s no surface to break. My chest tightens. My panic rises and it’s hard to breathe. I’m in way over my head. Then someone or something’s pulled the plug at the bottom of the darkness and I’m sinking further into the inky black. My mouth opens to yell, to scream, but only silence comes out.
What did I expect when I have a mouth full of nothing? My heart’s beating too fast. Just when I’m about to give up, just when I’m about to let go, I feel them.
. . . . I feel their light. It’s like warmth and joy and comfort and laughter got balled up together so tightly they had no choice but to catch fire.
My eyes are open. Maybe they were there from the beginning, but this is the first time I can truly see. Their faces are so beautiful, so peaceful. They’re sleeping, dreaming maybe, untroubled by the darkness that surrounds us. I stretch my arms out, but they’re too far. That’s when I realize we’re falling.
The horizon of a world big and blue rushes up to meet us. I can’t concentrate on where we’re going, the danger that’s fast approaching. At this point I don’t care. All I can see are my sisters falling. The atmosphere of the planet below us burns hot, and their lights ignite.
My arms ache to the bone. I try to catch them. I try to hold on, but I can’t stop them from falling. I’m not strong enough to keep us together. I’m not enough for them. The tips of my own fingers start to glow and break apart. The last thing I see is their emblems darkening as their light shatters into a rainbow of ragged cinders.
And then I wake up.
I’m in my bed, the blanket in a sweaty tangle. The darkness is gone, replaced by a muted gray. I’ve taken to sleeping with one of the windows open. I walk over to it and watch the street below. The soft glow of the lights outside paints me and my room in shadow. Above all the sleeping quiet is darkness. I can feel it still, stretching on and on. It’s hard to see the stars from the city. Just a few pinpoints of light break it up. But I know more are out there. Somewhere.
I crawl back into bed and wait for the dawn. I don’t go to sleep. I can’t. The dream is the same.
Always the same.
There’s this dream I keep having.
It starts pitch black. It’s so dark, I’m not sure my eyes are even open. It’s like being woken up when the power’s gone out. All those familiar bits of light snuffed out, swallowed up. Just me and an empty night. I can’t help myself. I reach out, hoping that it is just a blackout, that I can just push away the weight of being alone like too many heavy blankets. But the darkness doesn’t move.
I tread midnight like water in a well, all the while the cold drip of loneliness slips down my back. Then I realize that there’s no surface to break. My chest tightens. My panic rises and it’s hard to breathe. I’m in way over my head. Then someone or something’s pulled the plug at the bottom of the darkness and I’m sinking further into the inky black. My mouth opens to yell, to scream, but only silence comes out.
What did I expect when I have a mouth full of nothing? My heart’s beating too fast. Just when I’m about to give up, just when I’m about to let go, I feel them.
. . . . I feel their light. It’s like warmth and joy and comfort and laughter got balled up together so tightly they had no choice but to catch fire.
My eyes are open. Maybe they were there from the beginning, but this is the first time I can truly see. Their faces are so beautiful, so peaceful. They’re sleeping, dreaming maybe, untroubled by the darkness that surrounds us. I stretch my arms out, but they’re too far. That’s when I realize we’re falling.
The horizon of a world big and blue rushes up to meet us. I can’t concentrate on where we’re going, the danger that’s fast approaching. At this point I don’t care. All I can see are my sisters falling. The atmosphere of the planet below us burns hot, and their lights ignite.
My arms ache to the bone. I try to catch them. I try to hold on, but I can’t stop them from falling. I’m not strong enough to keep us together. I’m not enough for them. The tips of my own fingers start to glow and break apart. The last thing I see is their emblems darkening as their light shatters into a rainbow of ragged cinders.
And then I wake up.
I’m in my bed, the blanket in a sweaty tangle. The darkness is gone, replaced by a muted gray. I’ve taken to sleeping with one of the windows open. I walk over to it and watch the street below. The soft glow of the lights outside paints me and my room in shadow. Above all the sleeping quiet is darkness. I can feel it still, stretching on and on. It’s hard to see the stars from the city. Just a few pinpoints of light break it up. But I know more are out there. Somewhere.
I crawl back into bed and wait for the dawn. I don’t go to sleep. I can’t. The dream is the same.
Always the same.
Chaos. Utter chaos. There’s pancake batter on the ceiling. How are we supposed to save the universe if we can’t get it together ourselves? Janna is quietly washing the pile of dishes that Poppy’s been creating. She’s staring out the window in front of the sink. Zephyr is sitting on the counter next to her attempting to lick the syrup from its paws.
“So,” I start to pace in the little bit of open space in the kitchen. “I think we should talk about the next year. School’s about to start and…”
“Hey, whatcha drawing, Loopy?” Jinx leans over Lulu’s shoulder, stealing a bite of her pancake with a spare fork. She doesn’t want to think about the future so badly, she’ll even feign interest in Lulu to get out of it. I try to keep my deep sigh inaudible.
I start again. “As I was saying, we…”
“It’s the starfall,” Lulu interrupts, completely unconcerned that words were coming out of my mouth. “The new stars are coming.” Without looking up she pushes a paper flyer across the table towards Jinx. A glob of whipped cream and sprinkles drips off Jinx’s pancake piece onto the paper as Jinx gives it a once over. She smirks and leaves it on the table. I can see the flyer has more than ten words and only one picture, so of course Jinx has totally lost interest in it.
I stop my pacing behind Lulu, taking a good look at what our little artist has been drawing for the first time. It’s a field with some trees around the edge. The five of us are standing in the field looking up at a night sky. Janna being the tall, purple one, Poppy has her hammer, and Jinx’s long, red pigtails are easy to pick out. I guess I’m the round pink one. Does my hair really stick out of the sides of my head like that?
“This is you?” I ask, pointing to the green-haired one in the meadow of green and black fireflies. Lulu nods, biting her lip in concentration as she shades in the dark blue of the sky. Among the penciled-in stars there are more colors.
“What about these?” Jinx asks, pointing at the colored bits.
“New stars, of course,” she says, rolling her eyes at Jinx. Lulu looks up at me. “Can we go?”
“There are no more new stars here,” Poppy says as she turns another pancake.
There’s a loud clatter from the sink as Janna fumbles a plate. “Sorry,” she stammers as she catches it.
I walk over and stand next to her. Through the kitchen window I can see the wispy clouds are gone; it’s just a big, empty summer sky. In the sink, Janna slides the sponge around the plate’s outer rim in a slow, wet orbit.
“Nice save,” I say, offering Janna a towel off the counter. “The slippery ones are the hardest to hold onto.”
Janna looks over at me and then down at the plate she’s been washing. Her cheeks color pink, betraying her normally cool demeanor. Something’s up.
She nods and puts the extra-clean plate in the dish rack. She tucks a lock of lavender hair behind her ear and picks up another syrup-drenched plate from the stack on the counter.
Yup, something’s definitely up.
Jinx, oblivious as usual, continues to drown her pile of pancakes in syrup, alternating layers with whipped cream and sprinkles.
“You know how much I hate to agree with our blue-haired door stop,” Jinx says as she crams a full fork in her mouth. “But Loops, it’s just us against all the big bad this part of the galaxy has to offer.”
Lulu puts down her pen and picks up the flyer, handing it to me. I take it and wipe off Jinx’s melting clump of whipped cream and sprinkles with a kitchen towel, smearing a wet rainbow trail across the top of the paper.
“’Camp Targon’s Summer Starfall. Watch the summer meteor shower. Get out of the city and get to know some new stars. Games and amusement. Last chance for summer fun’,” I read aloud. “It’s hosted by the Astronomy class at the university and open to all the local high school students.”
I look up. No one’s listening. Lulu’s back to drawing. Poppy and Jinx are stacking more and more pancakes on their plates, determined to see who can eat the most. I can see Janna’s face in the reflection of the window. She’s lost in the sky again.
The paper crunches in my hand. I ease my grip, embarrassed by how tightly I’m holding on. The deadline to register for the camp is today.
“Last chance,” I breathe the words to myself. I look at the girls; everyone’s going in different directions. They are not going to be happy about this. But I’m the captain. This will be good for them. “It will be good for us,” I whisper out loud, talking myself into the decision.
“Pack your bags, ladies,” I say loudly, pasting a bright, shiny smile on my face. The bubbly confidence is as much a show for them as it is for me. Each of them looks up, unsure of what is about to happen.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and start dialing the number on the flyer. “We’re going to welcome some new stars.”
Jinx slips a floppy sunhat on as she ambles down from the bus. She had insisted on wearing her bathing suit on the ride over. The obnoxiously loud colors of her bikini are tempered only by the sheer cover-up billowing behind her in the breeze.
“Alright, nerds,” she sighs. “I’m going to find the pool. Time for some cannonballs.”
“It’s a lake,” Poppy corrects her while carefully watching the bus driver unload our gear onto a patch of grass.
“Whatever, Short Stack.” Jinx grabs a tote bag graffitied with hand-drawn stars and oversized guns from the top of the pile. As she passes Lulu, Jinx tugs on the teal butterfly bow in Lulu’s hair. “See ya later, Loops.”
I look at Poppy.
“She didn’t actually bring a cannon, did she?”
Poppy shrugs. “Do you really think she could keep her mouth shut about it if she did?”
I’m about to call after Jinx and insist she stay with the group, when I hear a groan behind me. I watch as the bus driver pulls out the last bag, his arms quivering with the effort.
The blue duffel is nearly as big as Poppy. She watches him carefully, her foot tapping out an impatient rhythm in the dry grass.
He sets the duffel down with a little grunt. “What have you got in there, kid? Rocks?”
“Nope.” Poppy reaches over and snatches up the handles of the duffel, swinging it over her shoulder with ease. She flashes a toothy, satisfied grin at the bus driver. “A hammer.”
Poppy gives me the same smile, I’m sure remembering the challenge I gave everyone before we left, that we’re here to blend in and hang out. Be normal. She grabs the handle of Jinx’s forgotten wheeled bag and nudges Lulu gently.
“Come on, Lulu. Our campsite isn’t going to set itself up,” she says cheerfully.
Lulu nods, humming a song only she knows the melody to. She flutters from wildflower to pinecone to pebble, marveling at every treasure the camp has to offer while Poppy maintains her dutiful march down the trail.
The bus starts back up again and then pulls onto the road. I watch until it disappears behind an outcropping of rocks and trees.
“No turning back now, huh, Janna?” All I can hear is a breeze blowing through the pines.
I spin around slowly. The last of the other stragglers from the bus are already halfway down the trail to the camp. The bus drop off point is empty. “Janna?”
I finally find Janna standing on the rounded top of a granite boulder that’s sunk deep in dirt. She’s got her back to me. Her hands are wrapped around her arms and the curls of her lavender hair are bouncing in the invisible breeze.
“Janna?”
I drop my backpack on a clump of grass and clamber up to stand next to her. Down in the little valley below us I can see the bustle of other campers and teams setting up. Between the trees there’s the glittery sparkle of Lake Lunari. My bet is that Jinx has already launched herself in there. I feel a smile cross my face as I wonder if she realizes that it’s fed by snowmelt.
But Janna’s not looking at any of that. She’s so tall. I shade my eyes from the sun and look up for a few minutes, straining to see what she sees. It’s another piercingly blue summer sky, empty save for the craggy face of Mount Targon and a few white clouds.
My elbow brushes her arm as I shift my position.
Janna looks over surprised.
“Oh. Hi,” she says, like I haven’t been standing next to her for the last five minutes. She smiles, but I can tell that she’s still worried about whatever it is that’s been bothering her.
She looks over to where the bus dropped us off.
“Where did everybody go?”
“Wow.” I shake my head. “You really are somewhere else, huh?” I look back at the purplish-gray outline of Mt. Targon framed by a dark fringe of pine. There’s still snow on the peak this late in the summer.
Janna rubs her hands over her bare shoulders and sucks in a breath as if she were suddenly chilled. It’s not even a little cold. The clear sky and sun overhead make me wish for the first time that I had followed Jinx’s advice and just worn a swimsuit and shorts. I fan my face with our camp registration.
“We should get going,” Janna says, her long legs stepping down easily from the boulder as if walking on air. She looks back at me as I fumble down the rock. Her smile fades as she glances back up at the sky. “There’s a storm coming.”
“What?” I try and look back at the sky, but my foot slips on a pocket of loose gravel and the roundness of the rock. As usual, too many things at once. I sit down hard in a puff of dust, the back of my leg scraping on the rock.
“Ow.” I wince at the sting. Just what I need. Lulu, Poppy, and Jinx blown to the corners of the camp. Janna feeling like she’s on another planet. And now their intrepid leader is going to be taken out by her own two left feet.
“Fantastic,” I mumble into my hand as I rub my face.
A cool breeze catches the damp hair at the back of my neck. I look up to Janna offering a healing hand.
“Nope,” I say. I manage a smile. “I’m fine. Remember, no powers while we’re here.”
Janna shrugs. “Better be careful then, we’ve only got one leader,” she says. She looks at me and I’m sure she can hear all the doubt rattling around in my head. She turns back to the trail as I stand up.
“Let’s hurry,” she calls over her shoulder. “We’d all be lost without you.”I let out the breath I’ve been holding. That’s what I’m afraid of.
The camp information table is draped in dark purple fabric. Rocks and big pinecones hold down stacks of different photocopied flyers. Sitting behind the table is a girl with long black hair. No, not a girl. She looks too old to be in high school and way too cool for a dusty table at a summer camp. She must be one of the Astronomy class sponsors. I hear Janna’s footsteps stop behind me as I walk towards the ‘girl.’ I take this as a not so subtle clue that I’m on my own.
I walk up to the table. The tall pines and late afternoon sun combine at an angle so there is shaft of light stabbing me in the eye no matter where I try to stand. The contrast of light and dark makes it hard to see the person behind the table. She makes no effort to move out of the shadows and instead sounds somewhat amused by my inability to find a good spot to have a conversation.
“Hi,” I say, sticking my hand in the general direction of where I think she is.
“Name.”
Not exactly the friendliest response. Also a step more to the left than I anticipated.
“Lux,” I answer, a bit flustered. “Luxana. My group is the—”
“Hmmm… ‘the Star Sisters,” the girl interrupts. Her voice holds a strong note of mocking disapproval. “That’s such a… cute name. You two are the last to check in. Leaders are usually the first ones to check in.” She lets out an exasperated sigh for emphasis.
Sun and planet align so I’m finally granted a sliver of shade to get a better look at our collegiate judge. On closer inspection, I think I preferred the audio only version. She’s pursing her lips as if she had just eaten something gross, but still had manners enough not to spit it out. A lanyard name tag with perfectly put together letters reads: .
“I’m sorry,” I try again, trying to sound more confident. I knew I should have told everyone to stay together. “I stayed to make sure all our bags made it off the bus. The others were really excited about getting to the campsite.”
I feel Janna’s fingertips on my arm, supporting me. I look over at Janna. Her normally calm face is grimacing at the girl behind the table. I do a double take between them before returning to the conversation.
“Well, we’re all here now,” Janna says curtly.
“Great,” Syndra says, totally not meaning it. “Space twenty-sixteen. Some of your group is already there. There’s also a loud one down by the lake. I assume she’s one of yours.”
Jinx. Fantastic.
Syndra leans over and picks out some of the colored papers. She stops and looks up when I don’t immediately acknowledge Jinx as my responsibility.
“You might want to, you know, deal with that,” she says. “Here’s a map and a schedule. The best viewing for the meteor shower starts after midnight.”
Syndra hands me the stack of papers, her eyes narrowing as she looks me over for a final judgment. I am obviously not living up to expectations. “You understand that leaders are accountable for keeping their groups together when it gets dark, right?”
“Yes,” I squeak. I nod dumbly, feeling like a child. I clear my throat to try and find my voice. “I promise I’ll keep everyone together.”
As if on cue, a group of four wanders in from one of the trails. It’s like cool just supernovaed in the middle of camp. A wake of starstruck campers begin to gather in little eddies behind them. I can’t blame them; I can’t look away either.
“Now there’s a team you can learn something from,” Syndra says pointedly. I watch as her snark melts into a smile. “!” she squeals.
The center star in the approaching constellation looks up. She brushes her perfectly side-swept, peach bangs from her eyes, and smiles. A tall redhead, a quiet girl with mint colored curls, and a kinda cute guy with blonde hair flank their all-too popular leader. Of course the group makes their way over to us, picking up more followers like a magnet. Not only does each member exude individual awesome, they move together effortlessly.
I can’t help it. I’m so jealous my teeth hurt.
“Syndra,” Ahri says. “Are you all done? We missed you on the hike this afternoon.”
“I had to wait for the stragglers,” Syndra says looking at me.
“Yeah,” I say. “Sorry about that.” I turn to Ahri and smile, extending a hand. “Hi. I’m Lux. You must be—“
“Cool,” she says, finishing the conversation before it even got a chance to start. She eyes my extended hand floating out in space in front of her for an extra moment, really letting my awkwardness sink in for everyone. Finally her perfectly manicured fingers touch my hand in a halfhearted shake. “Charmed, I’m sure.”
Ahri turns to Syndra, effectively dismissing me from the conversation.
“Okay,” I say a little too loudly. “Nice meeting you, I guess.”
A breeze starts to blow through camp and I turn around abruptly and pick a direction to just start walking in, any direction, as long it’s not towards the information table.
Which is exactly when I run smack into Janna. The stack of camp papers goes flying. So much for situational awareness. Once again I’m on my butt in the dusty grass looking up at Janna. Only this time my annoyance is tempered by the expression on Janna’s face.
Her earlier grimace has been replaced by a dark scowl. The light breeze around us picks up into a stronger gust.
“I have to take a walk,” Janna says. She’s not asking. She doesn’t even look down in my direction. This is weird. I’ve never seen Janna so… so angry.
“But Janna,” I say, grabbing at the flying papers and trying to pull my wind whipped hair from my mouth at the same time. “They just told us to stay together.”
It’s too late. Janna walks down a shady trail taking the wind with her. Behind me, above the dying wind, I hear Syndra laughing. I hope it’s at something clever Ahri must have said. I venture a quick look back, only to catch Syndra looking directly at me. And smiling.
I turn away and concentrate on putting my multi-colored stack of flyers back together, letting the trail of lost paper take me as far away from the cool kids as I can get.
I find the last flyer curled in the hollow of a tree. Instead of bending over to pick it up, I let myself sink down onto a pile of pine needles and lean against the tree. In front of me is the lake, but now that I’ve stopped moving I realize I have no idea where I am.
I push my back against the scratchy bark. This trip is so not going how I wanted it to.
We’re not even together, let alone working more as a team.
My face feels hot. The back of my throat tightens. The light glinting off the lake in front of me blurs a little. I can feel the water well in my eyes.
I start rifling through the stack of papers I’ve collected to distract myself from my sudden pity party.
“And not a single, stupid map.” I let out my frustration out in a groan. “How can I be a leader if I don’t even know where I’m going?”
“Meh. Maps are totally overrated.” A guy’s voice breaks the background noise of distant campers. I look up. Great. It’s the cute, blonde guy from Ahri’s star-studded entourage. I stand quickly and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.
“But, if you really think you need one, I happen to have this on me.” He hands me a slightly wind-crumpled map of the camp. My group’s site is clearly circled and numbered in Syndra’s perfect handwriting. His grin is a little lopsided. “I have a knack for finding lost things. I’m . You can call me Ez.”
I nod, trying to control my sniffling. He’s still smiling. Is he flirting with me? I look around. He takes a handkerchief from his pocket and hands it to me.
“Thanks,” I murmur awkwardly. Even in the shade of the pine trees, his eyes are really blue.
“Maybe you can help me find my team.” I gesture to the trees around us. This little corner of camp is empty except for the two of us. “Seems everybody’s lost but me and you.”
“Sounds perfect.” He sweeps a lock of blonde hair away from his eyes with his hand and gestures with a gentlemanly bow back to the trail. “It’s Lux, right? Like a light?”
“Yeah,” I nod. If he only knew. “My mom had a thing for desk lamps.” I feel my bubbly confidence returning, the one that Jinx constantly complains is so annoying. I look over and watch his cocky smile falter for a second. He’s not sure if I’m teasing him. It’s my turn to smile. Am I smiling too much?
“I’m just kidding,” I offer.
“Sure, lamps are cool,” he says a little relieved. “But not exactly my favorite kind of light.”
“You have a favorite kind of light?”
“C’mon, doesn’t everybody?” His cocky grin is back. The small footpath we’ve been following is about to join up with the larger trail that goes from the lake to the main part of the camp.
“Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?” It’s silly, but I’m totally forgetting how sorry I was feeling for myself a few minutes ago. For the first time since getting to the camp, I’m not worrying about anything, not even tripping over my own feet.
Which is exactly when Jinx shows up, a mischievous grin plastered on her face along with wisps of lake-soaked hair. Her smile tightens as Ezreal steps out of the shadows and onto the path.
“Hey there, Lux buddy. Find a new friend?” Jinx’s clap on my back startles me back into reality and I nearly choke on my tongue trying to answer her.
“Jinx, this is Ez,” I cough, trying to catch my breath. “Ez, this is Jinx.”
Ezreal extends a hand to Jinx. Jinx accepts the challenge and strong arms him, squeezing his fingers and pumping his hand up and down like some kind of backwards arm-wrestling contest. Much to Jinx’s surprise, Ez takes the awkward handshake in stride.
Jinx yanks him closer. “What exactly are your intentions towards our Lux, may I ask?” she says in a threatening whisper that all of us can clearly hear.
I feel my face go pinker than my hair.
“We… We…” Ez stammers. “We were just talking about our favorite kind of light. Did… Did you have one?”
Nice save, Ez. If there’s one thing that can distract Jinx, it’s talking about herself.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Jinx says. She eases some of the tension in her grip and lets go of Ezreal’s hand. Ez opens and closes his fingers, double-checking that they still work.
“Really?” I say, surprised. “You have a favorite kind of light?”
Jinx turns to me. “Well, of course. Doesn’t everybody?”
Ezreal shrugs. His cocky grin is back.
“Ezreal, is everything alright?” a cool voice asks. And now it’s a party. The tall redhead, the second star in Ahri’s constellation of awesome, approaches from farther up the main camp path. She doesn’t look too pleased with any of us. Especially Jinx.
“It’s alright, Sarah,” Ezreal says, attempting to smooth over the redhead’s rough contempt.
“Hi. I’m Lux,” I dust my hand off on my shorts and offer it to her in greeting. Her eyes narrow and suddenly it feels like I’m under a dissection microscope. And, of course, when I get nervous, I can’t stop talking. The words just start to pour out like someone left the faucet on. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Sarah. Your hair’s super cool! I don’t think I could ever pull off red, but on you—wow.”
“,” she interrupts. “Sarah is for friends.” From the look on her face, I do not fall into that category.
“Oh, of course. I’m Lux. Did I say that already? I was just looking to pick up the team snack and got a little lost.” I search one of the flyers in my hands for the details I know I saw a few minutes ago. “Yep, team snack, right here at the mess tent. Looks like it’s chocolate chip cookies and… and… oranges.”
“I hate oranges,” Miss Fortune says coldly. She looks at Ezreal. “Ahri wants us to walk the perimeter before dark.”
Ezreal gives her a mock salute. “Aye, aye, captain.”
Miss Fortune rolls her eyes and begins walking back up to camp. Jinx begins to pull me in the opposite direction.
“I’ll catch you later, Lux,” Ezreal says and starts to jog after her.
I can’t help it. I call after him. “You never said what’s your favorite!”
He stops, shakes the hair out of his eyes, and cups his hands together.
“Starlight,” he shouts back. Even from this distance I can see his lopsided grin clearly.
He turns and catches up to Miss Fortune.
“Huh,” Jinx muses thoughtfully. “I totally thought he was gonna say double rainbows.”
It’s my turn to roll my eyes. I punch her gently in the arm.
“Come on, let’s go find those cookies.”
It’s nearly dark by the time Jinx and I make it back to camp. By the way Poppy is going after a cord of firewood, I can tell she isn’t pleased. Jinx loudly crunches through another cookie, announcing our arrival.
“Took you long enough,” Poppy grumbles. She picks up another piece of wood to cut down to size.
“Ooh. There you are!” Lulu jumps off the stumps she’s sitting on and rushes me in a hug. At least someone’s glad to see us.
“Don’t sweat it, Bam Bam,” Jinx tosses the bag of oranges onto our picnic table. “I brought oranges and cookies.” Jinx looks into the bag again and brings out the last uneaten cookie. “I mean, I brought oranges and one cookie.”
Jinx breaks it in two, giving half to Lulu and keeping the other for herself.
“Here you go munchkin, don’t say I didn’t share,” she says.
Lulu looks up at Jinx and smiles. Poppy groans.
“Alright,” Jinx adds, “But only ‘cuz you’re crazier than me.” She gives Lulu the other half as well. “And because I don’t want Poppy to have any,” she whispers loudly. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to set some stuff on fire?”
“You mean a campfire,” I say.
“Yeah, one of those.” Jinx reaches into her Stars and Ammo tote bag. I can hear Kuro’s squeaking and the distinctive click of a trigger.
“Uh-uh.” I shake my head, “No powers.”
“Killjoy.” Jinx rolls her eyes. Poppy laughs between wood chops.
Janna bends over the campfire ring with a lit match and a bundle of dry pine needles.
After a few seconds, the needles catch fire. A thin waft of smoke rises and Janna blows gently, coaxing a bigger stick in the middle to ignite. She tucks the flaming bunch into a teepee of wood in the center of the ring and gives Jinx a satisfied smile.
“And that’s not cheating?” Jinx drops the empty cookie bag on the table with a melodramatic sigh and starts looking around for a stick. “Whatever. Did we bring marshmallows?”
Poppy sets the neatly-chopped logs in a pile next to Janna. “Aren’t marshmallows all you brought?”
“Ooooh yeah,” Jinx snaps loudly, remembering. She finds her discarded tote and pulls out a bag of marshmallows, threading four on long, thin stick. “I brought a towel too, Shorty. I’m responsible.”
I settle onto a stump near Janna. She seems better than before.
“You alright?” I ask her. She nods.
“I think I just needed a bit of fresh air.”
I gesture to all the trees around us and smile. “Well, I guess we came to the right place.”
Janna nods her agreement, but without my enthusiasm. Before I can ask further, Lulu dusts the cookie crumbs off her hands and climbs up next to Janna.
“Tell us a story, Janna,” she says.
“I don’t really know any stories, Lulu.”
“How about a ghost story, Janna,” Jinx adds, “You’re old. You probably know some ghosts, right?”
Janna arches a lavender eyebrow at Jinx.
“Please?” Lulu pleads.
Janna takes a deep breath. It seems no one can deny Lulu tonight.
“Alright,” Janna begins. “Once upon a time, there was a lonely light that stood against darkness.”
“Was it the First Star?” Lulu asks.
Janna nods.
“Yes. In the beginning the First Star was all alone. After a while it didn’t want to be alone anymore so it took all of its starlight and spread it across the night.” Janna waved her hand gently across the sky, gesturing to the blanket of stars above us.
“And that’s where we came from,” Lulu says proudly.
“You. Me. The animals and the trees. Even Jinx,” Janna adds with a smile. “Everyone carries a little bit of that light. It’s very powerful stuff and the First Star knew it needed to be protected from the darkness. The first Star Guardians that were chosen were said to be very strong and full of light.” Janna’s voice drops slightly. “But, those that burn bright, burn quickly.”
“Isn’t that what we’re here for?” Poppy adds, confused. “It’s our duty to protect all of the First Star’s light.”
“Yes,” Janna agrees. She looks over at me. “But it’s more than duty; it’s our destiny. And it’s our destiny to do it together. The First Star knew how hard it was to be responsible for so much and do it all alone.”
“Did anybody ever decide not to go with the flow, you know, against the whole destiny thing?” Jinx pokes her marshmallow stick at one of the burning logs, knocking off a few glowing embers. I’m surprised. I didn’t think she was paying attention to anything except burning sugar.
“There was a Star Guardian, once, who decided she’d had enough of the cycle. She didn’t want to return to starlight. She wanted to stay just who she was.”
“You have my attention,” Jinx says, turning to face Janna.
“It’s said that she first came to be in a system full of darkness,” Janna continues.
“Did she find sisters, like us?” Lulu asks.
“Oh, yes,” Janna says. “And because her corner of the galaxy was so dark, they meant everything to her. For a time they were happy. And she was happy with them. Then one day there was a battle. A great evil came, swift and terrible. She lost her sisters in the fight and she became very sad.”
“That would make me sad too,” Lulu sniffs.
“Me too, Lulu.” Janna says, hugging her. “But they say that instead of staying sad, she became angry and turned away from the First Star’s light. They say she followed the evil to where it came from, hoping she could find some way to undo her destiny.”
Lulu shivers and snuggles closer to Janna.
“Is she still alive?” Poppy asks.
“I don’t know.” Janna thinks. “If she is, her light would be pretty old by now.”
“Older than yours, Janna?” Jinx mocks.
“Yes,” Janna says, mocking her right back. “Older than mine.”
Lulu yawns. “Was that a real story?” she asks.
“I’m not sure anymore, Lulu,” Janna says quietly.
It’s quiet. All I can hear is the crackle of the fire as the weight of the night settles over us. I decide to break the silence.
“Well, the meteor shower begins in about four hours. Maybe we should get some sleep before then,” I offer.
Janna stands the sleepy Lulu up and marches her slowly towards one of the two tents. I go to follow her. Poppy stops me and points to the other tent, before going in ahead of Janna.
“You’re with Jinx,” Poppy says quietly. “She snores. Good luck.”
“I heard that, Little Bits,” Jinx says, stuffing another handful of marshmallows in her mouth.
“Don’t worry,” Janna says as she navigates Lulu into the tent. “I’ll look after her.”
I smile and grab a bucket of water to douse the campfire. I look up. More stars than I can count cover the sky. So many. Maybe more Star Guardians. Just like us. It would be nice not to feel so isolated. I shake the hope from my head and pour the water onto the fire. It sizzles and steams as the glowing embers are drowned, leaving me alone in the night.
I climb into the dark tent. Jinx is already whistle-snoring and I can hear Poppy smacking her lips in the other tent. Not exactly peace and quiet, but we’re together. There are four holes in the tent roof. Through them I can see the sky. I try and count the stars beyond our world.
I don’t even make it to ten before I’m swallowed by sleep.
The darkness is the same, but this time the dream is terrifyingly different.
Instead of just me at the bottom of the lonely well, we’re all there. Lulu, Janna, Jinx, and Poppy. We’re all lost in the darkness. Their calm serenity has been replaced by panic.
Each of their muffled voices lap over each other, pleading with me to get them out. Above us and far, far away I can see a handful of stars. Their light wavers, nearly blinking out. They call to me too, but I can’t reach them. I can’t move. Glowing ash rains down from above. It glitters as it falls through my fingers. I recognize what it is before the muted light winks out completely.
Star Guardian emblems. Shattered and broken.
An unseen weight hits me full in the chest, knocking the wind out of me, pushing me down further. The starlight above fades even more, moving away from me. The heavy weight bounces up and down, shaking me, but my arms and legs are dead weights. I’m stuck, frozen in the darkness.
The weight stops bouncing. I keep sinking.
“It’s no use,” Poppy’s voice is annoyed and resigned at the same time. She sounds closer, but I still can’t reach her.
“Here. Let me show you how it’s done, Smalls.”
There’s a metal scraping sound and a slosh of liquid. I suck in a huge breath as cold water splashes over me. I’m drowning. I am literally drowning this time. I sputter and blink my eyes open. It was just a dream. Sort of. The weight on my chest is distinctly Poppy-shaped.
Jinx is standing over the both of us with an empty canteen in her hand. “Oh look, our fearless leader is awake now.”
“Was that completely necessary, you two?” I wipe my eyes and try to sop up the water from my sleeping bag with a spare sweatshirt.
“Lulu’s missing,” Poppy says quickly.
I’m on my feet, out of the tent, and pulling on my shoes. I open the flap of Lulu’s tent. Her sleeping bag is empty. So is Janna’s.
“Janna didn’t even take the cane I made her,” Jinx adds, true concern peeking out in her voice. “What if the old lady falls and can’t get up?”
This is worse than the dream.
“We couldn’t go find them without you,” Poppy says insistently. “You said it’s our duty to stick together.”
“I just wanted to dump a canteen of water on you and see what happens,” Jinx says. Her tone says she doesn’t care, but her face disagrees.
“Can we leave now?” Poppy pulls at my arm.
Resting on top of Janna’s pillow is the picture Lulu made of all of us in the meadow.
We’re all looking up at the sky. New stars, Lulu said. My stomach sinks as I look closer at the picture. The fireflies. Black and green glowing things surround us. I have a totally bad feeling about this.
I look at Poppy and Jinx. I can’t remember the last time they shared the same expression. Their worry is clear. Flashlights aren’t going to cut it tonight.
“Poppy, get your hammer. Jinx, wake up Shiro and Kuro,” I say. “It’s time to bring out the big guns.”
The light from my staff is infinitely better than a flashlight, but does nothing to calm my pounding heart. I stop my run to get a better look at the map of the camp I’ve clenched in my other hand. Unfortunately, Lulu must have found someplace out of the way. We’re well past the boundaries of the camp.
“There’s a clearing near here,” I say. “A rock slide’s made it off limits to the rest of the camp.”
“Sounds like a great place to welcome the new stars,” Jinx pants, more than a little winded from the growing elevation. “Stupid cookies.”
Poppy tightens her grip on her hammer. “Let’s go.”
The distance between the trees becomes greater, finally opening up to a full meadow. I take a deep breath. Jinx lets out a low whistle.
It’s beautiful.
A low fog has settled like a misty quilt over the area. Moonflowers trail over tiny wild roses. Arcs of little blue flowers poke up and hang over the mist. White granite boulders catch the sliver of moonlight and dot the dark meadow like a stony star field. Above, the meteor shower has just begun.
Sitting in the center of it all on a red and white checkered picnic blanket is our little green-haired Lulu. She even brought the oranges.
“Oh, thank the First Star. She’s here.” A gentle breeze pushes some of the mist away as Janna steps out from behind a tall pine next to us. She must have come up the opposite way from camp. Even she is a little out of breath.
“Lux!” Lulu jumps up. I can’t stop myself from running to her. I’m running so hard, the ground shakes. Wait, no… I stop running, but the ground’s still shaking. A greenish black glow starts to emanate like sickly veins beneath the mist. A vibration rumbles in time with the now pulsing glow.
“Lulu.” I can barely hear myself over the deep growl of the moving rock beneath us.
“We’re not alone. New stars are coming, Lux.” The innocence in Lulu’s eyes has disappeared. She takes my hand. “I’ve seen them in my dreams.”
Even though she’s standing right next to me, her voice sounds so far away. Like she’s still caught in that dream.
Jinx, Poppy, and Janna circle around the edge of the meadow. The earth heaves beneath my feet.
“Stay back!” I shout.
The warning comes too late. The cracks break into deep fissures. The mist ruptures and a horde of black insects the size of dogs comes crawling out, dripping an eerie green light.
Staff in hand, I reflect a beam of Starlight to the nearest creature. The light hits the creature beneath its winged carapace. It explodes in a disgusting burst of lucent green goo.
“By Starlight,” I whisper. “They have wings.”
I shout to the others. “They have wings! We can’t let them reach the camp!”
“Woo-hoo.” I can hear Jinx whooping over the fray. “Shiro. Kuro. Who’s feeling ferocious?!” Missiles start firing before she even finishes her sentence. “Come on Short Stack, it’s bug squashing time.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice, Rocket Breath,” Poppy shouts back.
I see Janna rise off the ground a few feet. “Hold on, Lulu.” I feel her fingers tighten around mine. Janna’s voice echoes in the field.
“For tranquility!” A gust of wind blows the mist from the meadow. Several of the creatures get caught in the whirlwind eddies, smashing into heavy tree trunks. Now that the fog is gone, I see there’s way more of the awful little things than I thought. This isn’t like the other attacks. We’re in way over our heads.
“Look, the new stars!” Lulu shouts.
Five lights streak across the sky. They’re heading straight for us. I follow their arc as they touch down. The lights separate and hit the meadow in a perfect, five point landing. Several of the creatures explode with their impact. When the dust and goo settle, I nearly have to pick my jaw up off the floor.
It’s Ahri and her entourage. Miss Fortune, Syndra, Ezreal, even the quiet, mint-haired girl.
“You’re a Star Guardian?” I yell. “You’re all Star Guardians?” No one can hear me over the fray. That, and everyone is listening to Ahri.
“Time to shine, ladies,” she says. Her smile alone could light up the meadow. “You too, Ezreal.”
They move as an efficient, synchronized unit. Miss Fortune raises a gleaming white pistol and fires the first shot. It blows through one creature and right through to the one behind it. It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile and I count my lucky stars that I’m not the current object of her attention. Ahri and Ezreal are blurs of light as they dash into and out of the fight. The creatures are definitely not fast enough to keep up. Ahri giggles and blows a kiss towards one of the bigger monsters. Seemingly even more mindless than before, it starts to walk slowly toward her and the glowing orbs she’s playing with. Her giggle stops cold as she lobs the orb at the creature, obliterating it in a burst of dark ooze.
Syndra hangs back, but only for a moment, entering the fray with three of her own orbs. The maniacal grins on the balls could give Kuro and Shiro a run for their money. At the center, the girl with mint green hair raises a long staff in the air, channeling Starlight from above. Looking at her, I feel my racing heart start to slow down and my breathing get easier. Ahri’s orb catches the last creature effortlessly, exploding it in a shower of black insect exoskeleton and bioluminescent goo. As quickly as the new team had arrived, it’s over.
Ahri rubs the tips of her fingers together as she gathers her orbs, obviously not pleased by the creature’s residue. Syndra juggles her dark purple familiars while her casual arrogance lifts her up above the mess.
“All in a night’s work, eh ?” Ezreal says, giving the quiet girl a wink. “Thanks for the little pick me up.”
Soraka maintains a serene smile while nodding enthusiastically at Ez.
Obviously satisfied with all the excitement, Ez smiles in my direction as his winged familiar tucks itself neatly back into his gauntlet. Miss Fortune blows a trail of smoke from her twin pistols and ignores both of them.
The easy moment is fleeting as the ground rumbles again. Before I can count to two, the earth ruptures, knocking me back. I hit my head hard against a log.
“Ow.” I try and shake off the metallic whine now stuck between my ears. I stop moving when I see the meadow itself is going all wonky, like the fabric of space and time is warping in front of me. The green glow is back and stronger than before.
“Lulu! Jinx!” I search for the girls, but all I can see is the hulking carapace of what looks like a space bug the size of two elephants emerging from the biggest rupture in the ground.
I feel the ground ripple and then there’s a streak of light in front of me. A white gauntleted glove reaches out and catches my hand as the earth beneath me starts to give way.
It’s Ez.
“Told you I’d catch you later.” His voice is drowned out in the chaos. “That inter-dimensional nasty isn’t going to explode itself.” The world is literally going to pieces and he’s still smiling. “You ready, Starlight?”
I nod. Ready as I’ll ever be. He lifts me up, launching me into the sky above the monster. From this vantage point I can see everyone.
Janna and Soraka contain a new horde of little evils crawling up from the smaller cracks.
Ahri, Miss Fortune, and Syndra begin taking those out as they start to maneuver into a better position against the big one. I land close to Lulu as she avoids the monster’s many limbs while Pix zaps at the smaller creatures. Jinx and Poppy look like they’re arguing at the edge of the field. I can barely hear them above the fray.
“You want me to what?” Jinx yells.
“The Rocket. Fire me on the Rocket!” Poppy shouts back.
“Poppy!” Jinx’s jaw drops in shock. Then a smile slowly blossoms on her face as she leans over and excitedly hugs the short blue haired girl next to her. “I thought you’d never ask.”
A moment later Poppy is riding a missile towards the creature’s dripping maw, hammer in hand. The hammer connects with a loud crack. The creature reels back. Its moment is up. I lift my wand and channel Starlight into it. The creature’s sharp incisors snap greedily in the air. It sees Lulu at its feet and opens wide.
My beam of light smashes into it, bursting right out of the back of its head. A spray of noxious liquid drenches the field. The creature screeches and starts to topple over.
Its heavy, flailing limbs reach back in its death throes. Right where Lulu is. I look around. There isn’t anyone closer. I dive in and push Lulu out of the way. Black monster pieces rain down on top of me.
And then it all goes dark.
The first thing I can hear is canvas flapping gently. And birds chirping. My fingers are resting on a thin blanket. I crack my eyes open. Sunlight stabs me in the eye through the four little holes in the ceiling. I’m in my tent.
“Ugh… What…” The words get caught in my dry mouth. I try to sit up more, but think better of it as the ceiling starts to spin. “…am I?”
“Not dead,” a too-cool voice answers.
The fabric at the foot of my sleeping bag pulls as someone adjusts their position. I try and squint through the dizziness. Ahri tucks her perfectly peach hair behind her ear.
“You took quite a fall last night,” she says.
The events of the night start rushing back in some kind of horribly disjointed movie. Running through the woods. The field. The creatures. Lulu. Then everything crumbling around me. It wasn’t just a bad dream.
I bolt up, completely regretting the sudden move a moment later when my brain catches up and slams into the inside of my head.
“Lulu? Is she?” I grimace a little in pain. I rub my forehead to try and shake off the headache.
“Everyone’s fine. I sent them to get breakfast,” she says. “I’ve been told there’s a hammer with my name on it if I don’t tell the stubby, blue one when you’ve woken up.”
Ahri picks up a canteen that’s sitting next to her. She hands it to me.
I look at her as I take a sip of the cold water. This close and I can see that we can’t actually be that far apart in age. But there’s something about her. More experience. More confidence. She’s seen more of what the universe can throw at us. She’s the leader we’re meant to have. I know it.
“I wanted to tell you, you made the right choice,” she says. “Risking yourself and stepping in like that.”
“It was nothing,” I say, pushing away the compliment. “Any one of us would have done it. It’s what Star Guardians do. We’re sisters.”
She laughs softly, but then a touch of darkness washes over her face. A moment later it’s gone, the mask of perfection back in its place.
“We’re not sisters,” she says quietly, her voice tinged with regret. “We’re just strangers with memories.” She stands up.
“We’ve sealed the incursion point. My team will be returning to the city this morning. We’ll take care of anything that comes up from now on. You and your girls can stay here until you’re recovered. Enjoy the summer sun. After that, stay out from underfoot.”
“Wait, you’re not going to lead us?” I ask, confused. My head is pounding. “Like, all of us together? With a team twice as big, we’re twice as strong. We worked great together last night.”
“You almost got yourself killed last night,” she says.
I’m not listening anymore. “Together, there isn’t anything we can’t face.”
“No, Lux,” she says with an air of finality. “Together, there’s so much more to lose.”
And just like that, dismissed again. Ahri turns to leave.
“Star Guardians are a team,” I say. I swallow the tightness in my throat. I’m not going to beg, but I can try to make her see reason. “It’s our destiny.”
Ahri pauses. She looks at me carefully. The tent flap is open; the bright sun divides her face in light and shadow. “Destiny?” she says; a subtle bitterness creeps into her voice.
“That’s such an ugly word.”
The flap of canvas closes behind her. I can feel my face getting hot in frustration. She’s a Star Guardian leader. Why won’t she lead us? Why is she leaving me alone? I stare up at the top of the tent. The four holes of light dance above me.
Not alone. Jinx and Poppy and Lulu and Janna are out there. They need someone. I can’t just let this go if I’m all they’ve got.
I lurch to my feet and stumble towards the light outside. I don’t have time to wait for the world to stop spinning. Jinx was right.
Summer’s not going to last forever.
The Slumber Party Summoning
Lore
Okay, I’ll admit slamming the door in their faces was a bit of an overreaction.
“.” I make the words come out calm and easy, but I can feel my palms go sweaty in the oven mitts I’m still wearing. Can’t forget about dinner. I keep my white-knuckle grip on the front door handle. Lulu stops her absent-minded twirl in the hallway, coming up to stand next to me. I take one more breath in and out before turning towards her. “Do you know why teammates are standing on the porch?”
“Yep,” she says, nodding her head. She draws herself up a little taller, “You said, ‘This is a man-da-tory Star Guardian council meeting.’”
Just my luck. I instinctively release the door handle, as I hear Lulu do an extra bubbly—but very stern— impression enunciating each of those syllables.
I definitely said that.
To .
Who still isn’t here yet.
Lulu makes for the handle, the smile on her face positively beaming. “They’re Star Guardians, right?”
I nod dumbly.
“Super,” she says as she opens the door wide.
The three of them are still standing on the porch where I left them, although in decidedly different positions. looks like he was mid-sentence trying to calm down a much more annoyed .
No, not ‘Sarah’, I remind myself. Sarah’s for friends. I learned that all too well from last summer’s outdoor adventure.
Miss Fortune’s usual smirk is now an angry grimace as she furiously texts something on her phone. Behind her, the quiet girl with mint green hair——is carrying a bakery box from Pastries. They look at me intently, probably wondering if I’m going to slam the door again. I can actually hear crickets in the bushes.
Lulu reaches out into the uncomfortable silence and takes Ezreal and Fortune by the wrists, pulling them inside. Fortune’s so surprised, she goes along with it, nearly dropping her phone. I can feel the pink climb up my cheeks as Ezreal flashes his trademark grin in my direction as he passes by. I wave meekly with one oven mitt.
Soraka leans in close and whispers “Cinnamon rolls” in my ear, like a spy password. She smiles, hands the heavy bakery box to me, and walks quickly to catch up with the others.
“Welcome,” I hear Lulu announce from the living room, “to our Star Guardian sleepover party!”
This is awkward.
I can hear the second hand of the clock in the kitchen tick off another minute that we’ve been uncomfortably quiet. Ezreal is wedged on the small couch between Fortune—still texting on her phone—and Soraka, who’s quietly watching Lulu while nibbling on a cinnamon roll. Janna and Poppy are sitting on the stiff dining chairs Lulu dragged in from the other room. Lulu is bent over the coffee table, folding a piece of paper into some complicated shape. I have no idea what she’s making, but her soft humming is the only other sound besides the clock.
And me, well, I’m pacing a well-worn path in the carpet.
The first to break the silence is Fortune. She stops texting, lets out a disgusted sigh, and finally puts her phone face down on her lap, the small pistol charms on the end jingling loudly. She looks around, taking in everything in the room from the faded pattern on the curtains to the beige-colored couch for the first time. Her disappointment is evident. As she sinks back into the cushion behind her, Ez leans forward.
“You all do this regularly?” he says. “Get together like this?”
Poppy and 
Janna stare at him. Poppy still doesn’t understand why Ez was chosen as a Guardian. I keep telling her the First Star chooses each of us for a reason. She crosses her arms and watches him, clearly still not convinced.
“Yes, doesn’t your team?” Janna asks. She’s calm, at least on the outside, but there’s a slight breeze circling the room even though the ceiling fan isn’t on. I can tell she’s just as on edge about them being here as I am.
“Ahri…” Ez starts and then looks at Fortune. Fortune rolls her eyes, her perfectly feathered bangs rippling as she shakes her head. “Well,” Ez continues. “Ahri prefers to be out and about where there are people. She’s not much of a homebody herself, and she figures most trouble wouldn’t be either.”
Great. They think we’re homebodies. Could this get any worse?
“Is that why she and 
Syndra didn’t come? They have something better to do?” Poppy asks, her foot tapping out an impatient rhythm against the foot of her chair. Janna stiffens at the mention of Syndra.
Soraka jumps in and tries to change the subject. “Your friend, the one with the long red pigtails—”
“The loud one,” Fortune interrupts. “The one with a rocket launcher.”
“Yes, the one with the glitter bombs,” Soraka finishes. “Is she coming tonight?”
“Jinx? She’s always fashionably late.” I look at my watch. ”She just loves to make an entrance.” The words are barely out of my mouth when the front door opens and slams loudly. I hear the familiar sound of a tote bag full of Shiro, Kuro, and a handful of fireworks hitting the ground in the hallway.
“Luxy-Poo! Windchimes! Shortstop!” Jinx calls out in a sing-song voice. “I’m home!”
Jinx saunters into the living room just as Lulu triumphantly finishes the last fold in her project. Jinx lowers her sunglasses to the end of her nose. It’s dark outside. It has been dark outside for more than an hour. “Looks like you got the party started without me.” Jinx smiles, obviously enjoying all eyes on her, until her gaze finds Ez stuffed in the middle of the couch.
“Oh, he’s here too,” she says, the enthusiasm sucked out of her like a fast-leaking balloon. She tugs on the bow in Lulu’s hair and focuses on what looks like an oversized paper pincher in the young Guardian’s hands. “Whatcha got there, Loops?”
Lulu takes her hands out of the folds of paper and hugs Jinx around the waist. “I need another number.”
I stop my pacing to take a better look at the star-shaped object Lulu’s made. It’s a paper fortune teller. I haven’t seen one since primary school. The numbers on the flap show how many times the fortune teller should open and close it, with the last number chosen revealing some kind of mysterious destiny. My fortunes always ended in doom. Maybe because I always played with Jinx.
“Four,” I say. Maybe Lulu’s paper project can be over quickly.
“Twelve,” Jinx says.
“Two hundred forty-six,” Fortune says. Her satisfied smirk is back.
“Two hundred and forty-six it is.” Lulu smiles at Fortune and grabs a pen off the coffee table, scribbling the number onto one of the flaps. Lulu sits down at Soraka’s feet, offering up the paper oracle, encouraging her to pick a number to start the game.
“Do you braid each other’s hair too?” Fortune asks watching Lulu and Soraka, her words dripping with sarcasm.
“No—” I begin.
“Sometimes,” Poppy says at the same time, rushing to defend the unaware Lulu. Janna nods enthusiastically.
Ugh. Can neither of them play it cool?
“What I mean is, no, not all the time. We don’t braid each other’s hair all the time,” I stammer. “I mean, we discuss team stuff. Important Star Guardian matters.” I cough. “You know, saving the universe.”
“And braid each other’s hair,” Poppy adds truthfully.
Fortune rolls her eyes and goes back to her phone.
“How about we skip the usual slumber party stuff and talk serious Star Guardian matters?” I offer.
“Bor-ing,” Jinx says. She eyes Lulu as she slowly opens and closes the paper fortune teller for Soraka. “How about we play a faster game with more consequences?” I hear the trigger click of Shiro and Kuro waking up.
Ezreal claps his hands and rubs them together excitedly. “Sounds dangerous, I’m in.”
“Great. Let’s start.” Jinx smiles, but then quickly turns on Ez. “Truth. Or. Dare. Is it true that you have romantic intentions towards our Luxanna?”
“Jinx!” I shout.
Ez opens his mouth like a beached fish, definitely not having prepared for this particular game.
“Truth,” Janna says loudly, diffusing the rising energy in the room as if blowing out a candle. All heads snap towards her.
“Ez has to answer,” Jinx says watching the color rise in Ez’s face.
“First person to volunteer goes first,” Poppy says. “That’s the rule.”
“Fine,” Jinx says, obviously dissatisfied. “Is it true that you are older than Poppy’s hammer?”
I watch Janna’s look from Jinx to Poppy. Jinx is thrilled to see Janna momentarily flustered, while Poppy absently touches the handle of the hammer where she’s set it against her chair. Janna’s gaze settles on Soraka for a moment and then moves on. “False.”
Poppy eyes her hammer with a newfound awe and respect.
“Really?” Jinx raises an eyebrow. “But, it’s true that Short Stack’s hammer has more personality, right?”
“You can’t ask her another question, Jinx.” Poppy points out. “It’s Janna’s turn to ask a question. That’s the rule. Janna, go on, who are you going to pick?”
“Soraka,” Janna says gently. “Truth or Dare?”
Soraka is halfway through a cinnamon roll, staring attentively at Lulu opening and closing the paper fortune teller while counting under her breath. Shisa sits on Soraka’s shoulder monitoring the whole operation with a focused frown, at once completely confused at what Lulu is doing, but intent on making sure it happens with the utmost efficiency. Without missing a number—and to Shisa’s satisfied approval—Lulu nudges her elbow into Soraka’s knee, letting her know she’s been tapped into the group game.
“Yes,” Soraka smiles, a bit absent-minded. “That’s me.”
“Truth or dare?” Poppy repeats, taking her self-appointed position of game referee very seriously.
“Uh, truth,” Soraka says.
Janna thinks for a minute. “What do you remember—”
“Well,” Soraka jumps in, excited to be included in the game. “Ezreal and I went to Pantheon’s earlier. I had a cinnamon roll. He had an iced coffee, no milk because his tummy doesn’t like dairy—”
Poppy clucks her tongue. “Janna, it has to be an ‘Is it true’ question.”
Soraka sits up straight on the couch, tucking her legs beneath her, and waits. Zephyr floats in from the dining room and curls up in Janna’s lap. Janna rests a hand on her companion, a slight breeze rustling its fur.
“Soraka.” Janna’s voice is low and calm, barely above a whisper. “Is it true you can remember a time when the First Light was whole?”
“Oh, yes.” Soraka nods with her whole body. “I mean, true.”
The room goes eerily silent. She looks around. All of us are staring at her. Jinx can’t remember what she had for lunch today. Even Poppy and Lulu can only say what it was like when they were called. I’ve asked Janna about the First Light and especially its guidance, but the memories, even for her, are murky and broken.
“Wait, you all can’t remember?” Soraka’s voice wavers a bit. “But—”
“You have to pick one person to ask a question, Soraka,” Poppy says cutting her off with the rules of the game. “And they have to pick truth, and—”
“We get it, Smalls,” Jinx jumps in, changing the subject before Janna or I can ask more questions about Soraka’s memories. I’ll have to find a quiet moment later to talk to her.
“My turn to pick. Okay, mmm…” Soraka bites her bottom lip and then turns in her seat to face Ezreal. “Ez. I pick Ez!”
“No fair. I wanted to pick Ez,” Jinx pouts.
Poppy shakes her head. “You already went.”
“Ladies, please. There’s enough adventure to go around.” Ez tucks both hands behind his head and settles back on the couch. Fortune pulls out one the small throw pillows from behind her, fluffs it, and slams it back into the sofa and Ezreal, conveniently knocking the literal wind out his gallant sails in the process. I stifle a giggle into one of the oven mitts I’m still wearing.
Ez blushes and tries to recover his normal breathing gracefully.
“Dare,” he chokes on the words. “I choose dare.”
“I… dare… you…” Soraka pauses between each word, watching Poppy to make sure she’s getting it right. Poppy nods. Ez waits expectantly. “I dare you to do that thing you do,” she says finally.
Ez shrugs, totally not following whatever Soraka is talking about.
“You know, that thing you do. With Yuuto,” Soraka continues, clapping excitedly for him. “And the portal thing.”
“Oh, yeah. Cool. I can totally do that.” Ez reaches into his backpack and taps on the bright blue of his Guardian emblem. “Hey, bud—wake up. It’s showtime.”
“Portals? Portals sound dangerous.” Poppy asks as a white-winged familiar pounces into the room. It leaps into the air, wings spread, its bright blue eyes the same color as Ezreal’s.
“Portals are dangerous. Very dangerous. But lucky for you, you’ve got me. And this isn’t quite a portal. Technically it’s a shortcut through another dimension.” Ez flashes a lopsided grin at Poppy and starts looking around the room, eyeing a black ceramic bookend and a small potted plant. “Alright, Soraka, do you think that bookend is good enough for a demonstration of a little arcane magic?”
Soraka shakes her head, wrinkling her nose. Between Yuuto’s chirping loops, I can hear Lulu deep in concentration.
“Two hundred and forty-four. Two hundred and forty-five,” she counts. “Two hundred and forty-six!” she announces triumphantly. “It’s done, Soraka.” Lulu waves the paper oracle around in her hand.
“The fortune maker!” Soraka lets out a giggle. “I almost forgot.”
“Fortune maker it is!” Ez says, “Yuuto, let’s go. Time for a true display of skill.”
Yuuto arcs in the air, turning towards Ez. It looks like Yuuto is going to crash right into Ez, but at the last minute, Ez and Yuuto combine, granting Ez a brilliant set of white feathered wings that fill the room. Less than a second later, Ez disappears through a wavering portal to reappear hovering over Lulu. He plucks the paper fortune maker out of her hands.
“Just going to borrow this for a second,” he says and then a moment later he blinks back to the sofa, leaning comfortably back against the couch cushions with no wings and a happily purring Yuuto. He unfolds the flap and reads the fortune aloud. “‘Opportunity can’t knock if you don’t build a door.’ Huh. I like it, Lulu.”
Poppy groans. “She copied that from our takeout cookies last night.”
“That’s not her fortune,” Lulu says. She gestures to the flap to the right. “It’s the next one.”
Ez unfolds the second flap and reads it to the group. “Only in darkness can the light shine brightly.”
“The First Star told me that,” Lulu says.
“The First Star talks to you?” Fortune cocks her head in disbelief. “Still?”
“Yes,” Lulu’s face is a serene smile. “Ezreal, when you open a portal like that, where did you say you go?”
“Uh-oh,” Ezreal whispers.
“What’s ‘uh-oh’, champ?” Jinx leans over Ez as he struggles to keep a grip on the folded paper.
“We may need to get rid of this.” Ez gives a weak smile. “Like right now.”
Before anyone can make good on that suggestion, the paper oracle rips itself out of Ez’s hands. It tumbles around the room like a possessed autumn leaf. A high-pitched whine begins to grow. It seems like it’s coming from the fortune teller itself.
The paper folds and unfolds a dozen times, finally dumping out a small but squat, black and green, glowing creature. Everyone is on their feet.
“Did you just bring an annoying, interdimensional hitchhiking demon into Lux’s living room using your not-a-portal portal power?” says Jinx, watching the unruly little monster jump from the arm of the sofa to the carpet.
“I might have,” Ez whispers. “Arcane magic doesn’t come with an instruction manual.”
“Cool,” Jinx says.
Ez looks at me, mouthing the word Sorry.
“This has only happened once before,” he says.
Fortune elbows Ez in the side.
“Okay,” Ez corrects himself, “This may have happened more than once. Possibly six or seven times, but it’s totally not a big deal.”
The little creature jumps on the coffee table. All I can see is Poppy’s hammer rear back and take a wide swing. There’s a crack of wood and the coffee table splinters. That is definitely not going back together ever again. The dark shape darts away unscathed.
Janna stands up, her arms lifting in the direction of the creature. A breeze starts to build, shifting the debris of the coffee table and fluttering the pages of one of the books that had been sitting on it just a moment ago.
“I got this, Janna.” Jinx is returning from the hall, Shiro and Kuro nipping at her heels.
“No,” Fortune says. I snap my head around to see one of Fortune’s shiny white pistols leveled at my face.
“Woah, Sarah. Not so fast. That’s a little close quarters, don’t you think?” Ez tries to step closer to her to push her guns off their mark. I feel my stomach drop as adrenaline coats my insides. This was her plan all along. My luck’s run out. She is going to end me.
“Fortune—”
The words barely leave my lips before I hear the pull of a trigger.
“Time to say goodbye,” she says. There’s a sharp pop like a balloon. My hands go up to my nose and eyes, quickly checking them out that they’re all intact and where they belong. A second later, there is no demon, and fine bits of paper start to rain down on everyone as the fortune teller explodes into confetti. It looks like it is snowing in my living room. Lulu is dancing in it, of course.
“Look, now it’s a party,” she exclaims. Shiro and Kuro tumble each other in the remains of the coffee table, while Shisa looks very disturbed at their delight in wanton destruction.
Unfortunately, my relief at being whole is short-lived. An angry, beeping alarm begins to wail as a smoky haze creeps throughout the house, originating from the kitchen.
“Smells like burning,” Jinx says.
Oh, no. Dinner.The air is thicker in the kitchen. What was dinner for the team is now charred ruins stuck to a metal baking sheet. I cough and wave the oven mitts I’m still wearing, trying to move the smoke haze around. I open the window, letting the cool fall air in. The alarm finally shuts itself off.
My eyes are starting to water. I tell myself it’s from the smoke and the mess in the oven, but I’m pretty sure it’s from the mess of things going on in the living room.
“Everything’s ruined.” My voice is small and pathetic even to my own ears.
Then I hear a shuffle of footsteps on the tile floor. Janna or Ez must have braved the smoke to offer some comfort. I wipe my eyes quickly, surprised as I turn around.
It’s Fortune.
“Well that’s definitely not edible,” she says.
I nod my head in agreement. “Definitely not.”
Fortune’s phone vibrates with a text message. Ahri, I’m sure, telling her what all the cool kids are doing.
“This is probably not the way you wanted to spend your Friday night,” I offer.
I pick at the burned bits of what was dinner on the aluminum foil. “Sorry Lulu dragged you into all this. Dinner’s ruined. The party’s ruined. I totally understand if you want to go. We’ll figure things out by ourselves.”
Ugh. Too many words. Why can I not stop talking around her? I take a deep breath and try to start more clearly.
“Fortune—”
“Sarah,” she interrupts. “You can call me Sarah.”
“I thought Sarah was for friends,” I say.
Fortune’s phone vibrates again. Instead of looking at it, she puts it in her back pocket. “I came in here to apologize. You looked pretty freaked out back there.”
“Have you ever been on the other side of one of your pistols?”
“No, I guess not,” she chuckles. Her voice takes a serious turn. “You need to understand I would never hurt another Guardian. Not ever.”
I nod. There’s something more behind her declaration, a pain she hasn’t quite put away.
“I know Ez kinda made a mess of things, he does that sometimes, but would you mind if we stayed? Soraka would be fine if dinner was nothing but cinnamon rolls, but Ez ordered some pizzas to say sorry for the little portal mishap. But I totally get it if you want us to go—”
I hold up an oven mitt-clad hand. It’s Sarah who seems to have too many words now.
“Wait, you want to stay?”
Sarah opens her mouth, but is interrupted by an ecstatic Lulu skipping into the kitchen, a bouquet of pastel fabric and ribbons spilling out onto the floor around her. She shoves an armful of trimmed white flannel into both Sarah and my hands.
“These are for you,” she chirps before skipping back out of the kitchen.
“Lulu, dear,” I call after her. “What are these?”
Sarah holds hers up by its shoulders, inspecting Lulu’s handiwork.
“You’re right,” she says, smiling. “This is not how I usually spend my Friday nights, but I think this whole pajama party thing might actually be a little fun.”
“Really?”
“Well, yeah.” Her grin takes on a particularly mischievous bend. “And, I’ve always wanted to see what Ezreal looks like with braided hair.”
Light and Shadow
Lore
A cosmic darkness threatens to overcome three former teammates who were thought to have perished.
- Lyrics
How does it feel
Got no one on your side
It isn’t how it is really meant to be
How does it feel
Got no one on your side
It isn’t how it is really meant to be
As light and shadow
The sun and the moon
Torn between love and hate
I’ve gotta get it somehow
Gaining by losing always haunt us
To our dying day stuck in the haze
How did it ever come to this
I thought I’ll never see you again
Once the stars were scattered in pieces all over the galaxy
Eyes on eyes what d’you wanna regain
After all I wonder how you feel ’bout this madness
The Twilight Star
Lore
I have too many questions I want to ask her. I sneak a side-glance as we walk. She’s looking straight ahead. I watch her gaze sweep back and forth across the far perimeter of the park, her red hair catching the last scraps of the afternoon light with each step. Does she see something? Is this the way she normally patrols? Is she bored? Why is she here? I can’t believe she wanted to come. Why did she come? I quicken my pace to keep up.
“,” I say, remembering.
She doesn’t look away from the path ahead, so I keep going.
“Thanks for coming. I know this was a kinda last-minute ask. draws weird stuff sometimes. A lot, actually. And the other Star Guardians from your team—”
“ really does have detention, ,” she says.
“Oh,” I stammer. “It’s cool.” I can feel the pink in my cheeks. I tug on the tips of my gloves. She turns to look at me, a smug grin softening her face.
“He wanted to be here,” she says. “ too, but was short staffed. And tonight is astronomy class at the university—”
“—And ?” I blurt out too quickly.
Sarah’s smile tightens. “She’s been busy.”
“No worries,” I say, looking for a way to change the subject. In the middle of the park, pushes and a free-loading on a squeaky merry-go-round. Lulu sways idly in a close by swing set, its metal chains clang softly, like lonely windchimes. There’s no one else in the park besides us. “It’s pretty quiet.”
“Like you said, it’s probably nothing,” she says casually.
I take the folded slip of paper out of my pocket. The frayed edge where I tore it out of Lulu’s notebook flutters in the breeze. The shapes of the playground equipment and power lines surrounding Valoran City’s metro park were clear enough, but it was the dozens of circles in the sky that worried me. Poppy said that it was too warm in physics class, and Lulu was just doodling to stay awake.
“Look!” Lulu shouts from the swing, snapping me out of my thoughts. She is at the top of the swing’s arc, gesturing excitedly at the horizon. A bright spot has risen just over the silhouette of the skyline. “Twilight star! I saw it first.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. It’s just a star. Stars can’t hurt us.
“The twilight star is not a real star,” Poppy groans. “Technically it’s a planet.”
“Janna said everything has starlight in it,” Lulu argues back.
Janna nods her head in agreement.
“What are you gonna wish for, Loops?” Jinx juggles Shiro and Kuro absently as the merry-go-round spins. Lulu pumps her legs on the swing, pushing it higher.
“More stars!” she shouts. “I want to see more stars.”
“But it’s not dark yet,” Jinx says. “The other stars aren’t out yet.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Lulu pumps her legs harder. “The other stars are always there no matter what. Even if you can’t see them.”
“Rocket-breath is right,” Poppy says, hiding her reluctant agreement with Jinx by examining a non-existent scuff on her hammer. “It needs to get really dark before you can see the stars in the city. It’s not like at the camp.”
I cup my hands together and shout back to them, “You’re all right.” Jinx opens her mouth to argue, but shrugs and takes the win.
I turn back to Sarah.
“Are they always like this?” she asks. I’m sure she’s thinking about us compared to her own team. How this kind of talk would never happen if it was only them. They would just get right down to business. Search the park and be done. I can’t tell if she’s disappointed or annoyed or both.
“You mean are they always this argumentative?” I offer. “No, I mean, well, yes… sometimes—”
“This innocent,” she says, quietly.
“Well, you have Ahri to lead you. Of course you always know what you’re doing. Us, well… All they’ve had is me.”
“Innocent isn’t always a bad thing.” She has that faraway look on her face again, like she’s trying to remember a dream she had a long time ago. She nods her head slowly as if agreeing on the memory. “Yes, that’s who you remind me of.”
“Me? Remind you of Ahri?!” I ask, trying desperately to not sound desperate. Does she really think I’m like Ahri? Which part? Maybe a younger Ahri? I mean, she should know, she’s Ahri’s lieutenant. Did Ahri have multiple lieutenants on her old team? Maybe if our teams join, I can be another one, like Sarah?
“No.” Sarah lets out a sharp laugh. I don’t know if she can read minds, but my hope deflates like an untied balloon.
“Someone else. You remind me of else,” she says, softening. “Someone I lost a long time ago. She had pink hair too.” She looks me over again, and I try not to squirm under the scrutiny. “Come to think of it, you’re also too for your own good… and such a. You’re kinda a mix of all of them,” she says.
Them? The team you lost? Is this a bad thing? Who were they? I add ten more questions I want to ask her to the list running constantly in my head.
How did it happen?
“Lux! Sarah! Look.” Lulu yells happily, interrupting my thoughts before I can get any further. “My wish!”
We look back at the distant playground. I run through a quick check. Lulu. Jinx. Poppy. Janna. Still safe and sound. The twilight has softened all of them, making them seem younger than they really are. The street lamps in the park click on in an unsettling coincidence. Hovering above the team are a swarm of twinkling lights. The team looks like they’re caught in a magical dream.
“Loops, It’s like Short Stop said, it’s not dark enough…” The creaking of the merry-go-round slows to a stop as Janna, Poppy, and Jinx look up as well. It’s getting darker fast. Too fast. I can barely see the trees around the edge of the park. Sarah and I start walking back toward the playground more quickly.
“Those aren’t stars,” Sarah says. I squint to get a better look. The points of light waver, almost glistening. As we get closer I can see what Sarah means. Dozens of thin translucent spheres reflect the light from the street lamps. ? They were… bubbles? I stuff Lulu’s drawing into the cuff of my glove.
“I don’t think the twilight star heard you right, Lulu,” Poppy says. “Those are bubbles.”
They aren’t just bubbles. One of them floats down toward Poppy, almost as if it was following the sound of her voice. Poppy steps back, letting it drift toward the metal railing of the merry-go-round.
The hushed silence is interrupted by a snort-laugh from Jinx. “C’mon. They’re harmless—”
A trail of bubbles begins to close in on her. I reach for my wand as I start running. “Jinx!”
I throw the staff out ahead of me. It and a just graze the top of Jinx’s pigtails before returning to my hand. A sphere of multicolored light covers Jinx and Poppy. A few bubbles bounce off the barrier and pop against the swing set leaving behind a swirl of dark mist, fluttering black shapes—bugs perhaps, or moths?—and a long, high-pitched laugh, like the delighted cackle of a child.
“That can’t be good, right?” Jinx whisper-yells. “Let’s pop these bad boys!”
“My thoughts exactly.” A of Sarah’s twin pistols fire before she can finish her sentence. A wave of bubbles pop in a shower of black haze and twisted butterflies.
“What’s inside doesn’t look that great either,” Poppy says.
“Don’t let them touch you.” Janna’s eyes glow lavender. A breeze picks up in the park as she begins to rise off the ground. The air current gathers fallen leaves as it begins to draw the bubbles together. Janna corrals them and the darkness they contain into a dense pack. Each of them pushes against each other, almost as if they were annoyed at being restrained.
The high-pitched laugh stops short and is quickly replaced by an annoyed groan. The noise echoes around us, setting my teeth on edge. In the center of the pack of toxic bubbles that Janna gathered, a thin circle takes shape. The circle opens into a portal, letting long tendrils snake out from some dark dimension. One unsettling squid eye opens, followed by a second. The gelatinous blob unfolds into some cross between an evil octopus and demonic jellyfish.
“Take it down,” Sarah yells. Shiro and Kuro fire eagerly. Poppy twists around, pulling her hammer back for a long, arcing hit. She growls through the effort as the hammer swings around. In a resounding smack, it connects with the bubble mass, knocking the now angry and disoriented jellyfish out of the center. The malcontent blob drifts for a moment, but collects itself and the scattered bubble pack. They move purposefully toward Sarah.
“Sarah, get down,” I yell. I can feel the heavy power of pure starlight channel through my staff, vibrating the bones in my fingers and arm. The creature darts around, hiding behind bubbles. I fire in a beam of white-hot light. The little jellyfish slips between the bubbles and I miss. I try to get closer, but it feels like time is standing still.
“Loops, no!” Jinx yells.
It’s too late. From out of nowhere, a tiny Lulu pushes Sarah out of the way. Sarah lands hard, but rolls onto her back, both barrels blasting above her.
One bubble escapes the pack above. It floats down, straining to get closer. It breaks against Lulu’s cheek in wet pop. The darkness seeps out, expanding, and in the space of two heartbeats, Lulu’s enveloped by an inky cloud . Her eyes close as she crumples to the ground in a small heap. I dive for Lulu, scooping her up in my arms. More bubbles pop above me as Sarah and Jinx finish off the last of them. A portal opens above the dark jellyfish. The maniacal laughter gets louder and the little beast floats toward the opening, almost as if was buoyed by the sound. As it crosses the portal’s threshold, it disappears, taking the remains of the dark magic with it.
I bring my ear down to Lulu’s face. She’s breathing, slow and even… is she asleep?
“Lulu!” I shake her by the shoulders. Lulu lets out a soft moan and her eyes flutter for a second. I bring my wand up, the brightness is near blinding. Lulu’s closed eyes flinch. “Lulu, by Starlight, wake up!”
“Lost. They were lost.” Lulu’s voice is barely a whisper. Her eyes close tighter against the light, and her lip quivers. It’s as if she’s stuck in a nightmare. “Dark now,” she says.
Lulu sits bolt upright, her blue eyes wide open now. She looks past all of us, like we’re not there, like she’s seeing through us to somewhere else. Like she’s somewhere else.
“She’s on her way,” Lulu says.
“She? Who, Lulu? Who’s on their way?” This is big. One blaring thought shuts out all the others in my brain. Could it be her? Is Ahri on her way? I bite my lip. I look around at Janna, Poppy, Jinx, and finally Sarah.
“Ahri!” I say. “Ahri will know.”
“No,” Sarah says.
“Of course she will.” I push off her muted reply, trying to keep a smile of optimism for the others. “Can you call her, Sarah?”
“I can’t.” Sarah won’t look at me.
“Wait, why?”
“We’re not talking right now,” she says quietly.
“Sarah, I think this is more important than—”
“—The slumber party.” Sarah interrupts looking me straight in the eye. “That night. She was supposed to come. At the last minute, she said there was something she had to take care of. Something she wouldn’t let me help with. I thought she was just being…”
“Ahri,” I finish as she nods her head in confirmation. “You haven’t seen her since?”
Sarah shakes her head no, tightening her grip on the pair of pistols in her lap. Just before Sarah looks away, I see it—a flicker of panic. I can feel my heart thump harder in my chest.
A hundred more questions flood my brain. My stomach tightens.
What could make Sarah panic like this? Where did Ahri go? What’s coming?
Are we strong enough to face it?
Am I strong enough?
I want to ask her, but I can’t.
Twin Stars
Lore Part I: Before Twilight
could see the stars. They shimmered above her, each one a flickering flame over Valoran City.
Pretty, Akali thought, focusing on those distant lights, forgetting for just a moment that she couldn’t breathe. She forgot the feeling of gravel pressing into her back as she lay prone where they’d left her. Forgot the way the other kids had turned on her when she’d tried to stop them from hurting the small, grimy puppy they’d found in the alley. She forgot everything but the stars, until a soft voice broke her focus.
“Are you okay?”
Akali tried to turn toward that voice, curious as to who’d been brave enough to break up a five-on-one fight. Awareness of where, exactly, those punches and kicks had landed, however, kept her on the ground.
“Did they knock you out?” the stranger asked, concerned.
“Knocked down, actually,” Akali corrected her with a wince. Talking hurt.
“But then I figured I’d just stay down here. It’s cozy, you know?” The girl laughed, making Akali smile… and then grimace. Smiling hurt, too.
The girl stepped forward to stand above Akali. She offered a hand, and smiled.
“As comfy as that seems, maybe we should get you off the ground? This place is gross.”
Akali couldn’t argue with that, grabbing the girl’s arm and pulling herself up.
It was only then that Akali realized she recognized this girl! Tall, pink hair, prim clothes… It was ! Pretty, perfect Kai’Sa. Akali had never spoken to her, but she knew Kai’Sa had been popular ever since she transferred to Valoran City Middle School earlier this year. The teachers wouldn’t shut up about her. Polite, excellent in every subject, quiet. Basically Akali’s opposite, or so she had thought, right up until Kai’Sa had stormed into the alley. Akali heard Kai’Sa tell all five assailants that if she ever caught them picking on anyone, human or otherwise, she’d personally make them regret it. They’d fled without another word. Akali was as impressed as she was in pain.
“I’m gonna have bruises on my bruises,” she admitted.
“You do this often? The fights, I mean, not the losing.” Kai’Sa grinned.
“Neither,” Akali hedged. “Well, not usually. Sometimes? But they were picking on a—oh, crap! The dog!”
Kai’Sa helped her dig through the nearby bins, and Akali marveled at her willingness to get her hands dirty. Literally. They were elbow-deep in trash and muck until—
“There you are!” Kai’Sa said, pulling the trembling pup from beneath a sodden bag. The creature was filthy, more dirt than dog, but it gave a small wag of its tail as Kai’Sa held it.
“I think you made a friend,” Akali said.
“And here I was thinking I’d made two,” Kai’Sa mused. It took Akali a moment to understand.
“Me?! Why would you wanna be friends with me?” Akali wasn’t good at… well, anything, really, unless you counted playing video games. Which Akali did, of course, but Kai’Sa didn’t know that.
“Well, for starters,” Kai’Sa said as she stood, still holding the dog, “I saved your life. Figure that makes us friends. Plus, you got your butt handed to you trying to save a puppy. Means you have good character.”
Akali laughed. “All right, new friend. What are we gonna do with the dog? No way my mom would let it in the house. She barely lets me in the house!”
“My dad runs the shelter down the street. I volunteer on weekends.”
“Of course you do,” Akali said dryly as Kai’Sa set off.
“Come on,” she called over her shoulder. “We can drop this little guy off, and then I’ll walk you home.”
“Huh? I don’t need a babysitter!”
“You napping in an alley says otherwise.”
Akali realized she’d never win an argument with this girl.
Kai’Sa was true to her word. After settling the dog in one of the plush shelter beds, Kai’Sa walked Akali straight home. The journey was surprisingly pleasant, despite Akali knowing what awaited her at home. She marveled at how easy it was to talk to Kai’Sa. They made plans to grab ramen tomorrow after school, and that alone was enough to drown out the lecture that began as soon as she shut her front door. However, her mother’s admonishments of “useless” and “delinquent”zz failed to hit their mark for once, banished by the word “friend” blazing in Akali’s heart like a newborn star.
Valoran City Park was busier than usual. Everyone seemed to have reached the same conclusion, opting for the longer, more scenic route to the mall to soak in the beautiful day. After all, who wouldn’t want to bask in the sunshine, birdsong, and Kai’Sa’s yelling.
“You don’t even know what it’s for!”
Kai’Sa never shouted, not in the years Akali had known her, and especially not in public, so Akali couldn’t really blame the passerby for staring. Not when she shouted right back.
“I don’t care what it’s for! No petition thing is worth burning out over!”
“It’s worth it to me! And I’m not burnt out! I’m just tired!”
Akali rolled her eyes. “Tired?! Kai’Sa, tired is you forgetting your homework, not sleeping through class!”
“Look, I don’t need a babysitter, Akali.” Their old joke now felt like a jab.
“You’re right,” Akali spat. “What you need is someone who isn’t going to let you lie to yourself. You’re pulling double shifts at the shelter on top of everything else!”
“Dad needs the help,” Kai’Sa and Akali said in unison.
“Well, it’s true,” Kai’Sa said softly.
Kai’Sa was selfless to a serious fault. It was something Akali usually admired, but now…
“There’s always someone else to help.”
“Oh, so now it’s wrong to help people?” Kai’Sa demanded.
“That’s not what I meant!” Akali knew she should rein in her temper, but— “I’m not gonna sit here and watch you sacrifice yourself for other people!”
“I thought you of all people would—you know what? Never mind.” Kai’Sa’s lower lip trembled. “I need to be alone right now.”
Akali knew she shouldn’t leave. She wanted Kai’Sa to trust her to be there when things got tough. The worst thing Akali could do was go to the mall without her best friend.
~
It’s official. I am the worst.
Guilt and shame had been no match for pride as Akali had made the trek to the mall alone. This couldn’t all be her fault, right?
That was all my fault.
Whatever else Kai’Sa had going on, she’d always been there for Akali. When things at home had gotten really bad, Kai’Sa was there for her. They’d taken to wandering Valoran City together after school, looking for trouble and trying to stop it if they could. “A bona fide crime-fighting duo,” Kai’Sa called them. Sure, it was mostly to keep Akali out of trouble, but they’d saved a few kids, too.
See? Akali reasoned. I help people!
But Kai’Sa was the one who helped her, no matter how tough it got.
And I just left her there!
“I’m the worst!”
“The worst? Seems a bit dramatic, dear.” A little old lady at the flower kiosk was smiling at her. Akali had been talking to herself. Great.
“S-Sorry. Just… being stupid.” Akali turned to leave, but her gaze snagged on a bouquet of delicate pink and blue blossoms. She recognized them. Kai’Sa loved those little flowers so much that she’d bought matching friendship bracelets with them as charms. Akali could feel the delicate metal against her wrist.
“Forget-me-nots.” The flower seller nodded, knowingly. “They represent an unbreakable bond of love and friendship. They also make a lovely apology.”
A gift! Maybe that would help smooth things over with Kai’Sa! Akali pulled out her wallet, oblivious to the strange rumbling that began above her.
Don’t look. You know she hasn’t called! clutched her phone so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. How was not hearing from worse than fighting monsters?
Don’t look. Don’t—
“Sarah?”
“What?!” she snapped.
“S-Sorry, Fortune. I mean, er, Sarah. I—you looked sort of… angry? I was w-worried.” face had turned the same shade as her bright pink hair, and guilt needled Sarah’s conscience.
“Sorry, Lux. I was thinking. About stuff.” Oh, yeah. Very reassuring.
But Lux sagged with relief. “I know you said yes to shopping with us and everything, but I was worried.”
“I’m glad you invited me, Lux. This is a welcome distraction,” Sarah offered with a half-hearted smile. “Now hurry up. looks like he’s going to implode.”
They turned to see Ezreal waving excitedly, gesturing to a Lights & Lamps store, of all places. Lux blushed.
“I’m okay, so go have fun,” Sarah said.
She wasn’t okay, but Lux didn’t need to know that. Instead, Sarah watched Lux smile before running past the flower kiosk to catch up with Ezreal. , rolling her eyes, followed them.
Sarah didn’t mind coming with them to the mall, not really. From where she sat on her bench, she could see carrying two ice-cream cones to , who might have been drooling. She spotted and being as awkward as possible at the front of a line in the food court. They’d been there for ten minutes, engaged in a polite battle of wills, with many an “Oh, after you!” and “No, please, I insist,” as an irritated crowd formed behind them. Sarah almost smiled at the thought of how long Jinx had been glaring at Ezreal without blinking
wasn’t there, of course. She’d been “busy,” but everyone else had made it. Except Ahri.
Yup. Not hearing from Ahri was worse than fighting monsters.
She’s probably in space. Or she’s dead. Or she’s dead in space!
But Sarah knew Ahri would be fine. Fine, and aloof, and unwilling to confide in anyone. Not even her own lieutenant.
It had been like this ever since… that battle. With her.
No! Sarah wouldn’t think about that, even as memories of that lonely planet threatened to rise to the surface. She couldn’t think of Ahri dragging her away from their fallen friends. Not as guilt whispered that they were dead because of her. Nope. Sarah buried that pain deep. And when she couldn’t bury it, she distracted herself from it. She had her new team. She had her phone. Easy! Except when it wasn’t. Like now.
And this is why you can’t get close to the others, Sarah reminded herself. She was barely keeping it together after losing one team. Sarah didn’t think she’d survive losing another. Not if she saw them as more than the mission.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she whispered to herself.
Sarah’s training made it impossible to truly be lost in thought. That’s why one moment she sat, trying to forget, and the next she was standing, every muscle in her body tense.
A keening whistle, the sound of something moving far too fast, was followed by a rumble from somewhere above her.
“What the—?” But Sarah was cut off as something crashed into the flower stand.Akali could see the sky. She could make out the pinks and purples of sunset through a hole in the ceiling. Petals and debris fell, and for some reason, they reminded her of Kai’Sa.
Forget-me-nots. That’s right. She had been talking to the flower seller, but she couldn’t remember why. Her head throbbed. If only her thoughts weren’t so sluggish. If only the people around her would stop screaming—people were screaming! Panic cut bone-deep. Something was wrong, and awareness, mingled with adrenaline, broke through the haze in her head.
Uh-oh, she thought dimly. This isn’t good.
“Now this isn’t good,” a male voice agreed from somewhere above her. Akali could just make out two figures in front of her, obscured by clouds of dust.
“Where are the banners? Where are the parades and adoring fans?” the voice went on.
“Looks like no one planned a party for your homecoming,.” A girl’s voice now, bored and mocking.
“I think you’re right, !”
As the dust began to settle, Akali could see who’d spoken, but—that couldn’t be right. They looked, well, ridiculous. Feathered capes? Gemstones? They were facing away from her as Xayah patted Rakan’s arm.
“Not even a balloon,” he whined. “Babe, do you know what this means?”
“That I’m going to have to coddle your fragile ego?” Xayah asked dryly.
“Well, yes, but no! It means we’re gonna destroy the city. What do you say?”
“It’s a date,” she said simply, before the pair unleashed themselves.
It was what Sarah had been waiting for—less thinking, more action. Past the clouds of dust, she could just make out Lux, Ezreal, and Jinx sprinting toward whatever had crashed through the roof. Poppy, pulling her hammer from Light only knew where, shielded Lulu, who was still eating her ice cream. Sarah couldn’t see them, but she could hear Soraka and Janna ushering panicked shoppers away from the epicenter.
“See anything?” Sarah shouted at Lux.
“Not a thing! There’s too much—Janna, help!”
A gust of wind cleared the lingering dust to reveal two figures. The taller one gave a gracious bow in Sarah’s direction, but the other only glared, hatred clouding her violet eyes. Familiar eyes. But they were the wrong color. They were wrong. They were—
Buried memories clawed their way through Sarah’s psyche. Green eyes were filled with tears. He wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving. Fuchsia feathers fell into puddles of black. Someone grabbed Sarah around the waist, pulling, pleading. A child’s laugh, horrible and cruel.
No! They couldn’t be here. They couldn’t be…
“Xayah? Rakan?” Sarah whispered.
“Looks like she remembers us after all,” Rakan mused, glancing at his partner, but Xayah only had eyes for Sarah. She snarled, and Sarah’s instincts took over.
Looking back, she would wonder if things might have gone differently had Ahri been there. She, at least, would have cautioned against transforming in front of hundreds of panicked patrons. She would defuse the situation in that calm, level-headed way of hers. But Sarah wasn’t Ahri.
“STAR GUARDIANS!” Sarah and Xayah shouted, Sarah’s words a command, Xayah’s a curse, as a kaleidoscope of color exploded from them all.
Sarah couldn’t say she fully believed in the First Light. She wasn’t keen on some unknowable, cosmic force manipulating her life. But she believed in the mission, in protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves, no matter the cost. That molten core of belief fueled her transformation, her world becoming one of color, light, and white-hot power. She channeled it, allowing starlight to replace doubt, replace fear. She could see the gem now glowing on her chest, her uniform twinkling like a galaxy. The old Sarah Fortune had melted away, leaving only a Star Guardian.
The light of eight transformations momentarily blinded Xayah and Rakan, and Sarah seized her chance.
“Boki! Baki! It’s showtime!” Sarah cried.
Her familiars popped into being. A small frown replaced Baki’s usual smirk, and Boki glanced with his good eye past Xayah and Rakan to where Saki and Riku, their familiars, fluttered nervously. Boki let out a sad squeak.
“It isn’t them,” Sarah said, whether to herself or her familiars, she wasn’t sure.
“Still making a habit of lying to yourself?” Xayah asked before hurling her feathers like knives. Sarah took them out with two precise pistol shots, but Xayah had already thrown a second volley.
“Not today, lady.” Ezreal teleported in front of Sarah, firing bolts at the oncoming darts, only to be caught off guard by Rakan. One of his feathers clipped Ezreal’s gem, missing his heart by inches.
“There can only be one leading man, you know,” Rakan offered, almost amicably.
“Yeah,” Ezreal agreed, taking aim with his gauntlet. “I’m pretty sure it’s me!”
“I’m pretty sure it’s ME!” Jinx shouted just as her familiars, Kuro and Shiro, unleashed a storm of bullets.
The battle became a blur of light and color, Xayah and Rakan matching the guardians’ combined attacks. How were they so powerful?! Rakan charged headfirst at Poppy, only to narrowly avoid the downward swing of her hammer. Xayah zipped toward them, but Lulu threw Pix at her face. Before Xayah could retaliate against the flapping familiar, Lux shot an orb of light that bound Xayah and Rakan in prismatic rings.
“Why are you attacking us?!” Lux demanded. “Stop this!”
“‘Stop this!’ Ugh. You guardian losers never change.” Xayah looked disgusted.
“Whatever you two are, you shouldn’t be here,” Sarah said.
“Well, you shouldn’t have—what was it she did to us, Rakan?” Xayah said as she struggled against her bindings.
“Abandoned us to die?” Rakan broke free from his ring, Xayah a beat behind.
“Abandoned us to die! Yup, that was it!” Xayah said.
Sarah aimed a shaking barrel at Xayah. “That wasn’t you! The real Xayah and Rakan are dead.”
“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself?” Xayah chided.
Sarah fired. Rakan soared to Xayah’s side in an instant, a golden shield enveloping them.
“Or is that what Ahri told you?” Xayah seethed. “That we died? Or that we weren’t worth saving!” She broke out of Rakan’s protection toward Sarah once more, but another brilliant beam of light from Lux forced her back.
“Fortu—Sarah, we have a problem,” Lux said.
“Wow, Lux. I hadn’t noticed.” Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Not them!”
Did Lux just snap at her? But Lux wasn’t looking at her, or at Xayah and Rakan. She was staring behind them, to where a small figure cowered in the wreckage of the flower stand.
“We have a problem,” Sarah agreed.
“You need to get her out of here,” Lux said.
“Me? You don’t even know what you’re up against—”
“And you’re too close to this!” Lux really did snap at her! “I watched you hesitate. You never hesitate. And we need help. Go get Ahri. Or Syndra. Anyone! And get that girl out of here.”
Sarah didn’t move, not until Lux whispered, “Please.”
She knew Lux was right. Someone had to help the kid, and Sarah… really was too close to this.
“You’re in charge,” Sarah said, jumping into the air.
“Do you ever not run away?!” Xayah threw another feather at her, but Janna knocked it off course with a well-aimed breeze. Rakan tried to intercept Sarah, but Pix hit him in the head with a smack.
“STOP THROWING THIS THING AT PEOPLE,” Rakan shouted, spinning in mid-air to land on his feet. Lulu waved at Sarah.
“Time to save a star,” she said dreamily before readying Pix for another attack.
Sarah landed next to the girl, who trembled against the only remaining wall of the flower stand.
“Hey, kid. We gotta get you out of here,” Sarah coaxed, but the girl didn’t move. She just stared at the very real, very magical fight happening in front of them.
She’s in shock.
Well, from lieutenant to babysitter. Sarah pulled the girl to her feet, half dragging her toward the exit. A swirling path of stars appeared, lighting the way. Sarah nodded her thanks to Soraka, not stopping even as Xayah shouted after her.
“Leaving your friends to die again, Sarah? You’re pathetic!”
A part of Sarah worried Xayah was right.
Akali was running, aided in no small part by an older girl she didn’t recognize right away. But then Akali remembered. She’d been one of those people fighting in the mall.
Sarah. That’s what one of them had said, right? And she had…
A gun. She had two guns.
Without hesitation, Akali kicked her in the shin. Hard.
“What the heck?!” Sarah shouted, releasing Akali and taking a startled step back. “What’s the matter with you?!”
But Akali was already outside. Had she hit her head? A concussion? That might explain why she’d seen a bunch of teenagers flinging light and bullets at each other like it was nothing. Aliens or a concussion, Akali decided. The only two options that made sense.
“HEY, KID! WAIT!”
The alien-concussion girl called Sarah was following her! Akali didn’t know what this hallucination wanted, but she certainly wasn’t about to find out.
She sprinted and—why were there so many people?! Far more than there’d been in the mall this close to closing. Akali skirted around them, veering left toward the center of Valoran City, away from the fleeing crowds.
Akali rounded a corner and stopped. She was staring at the city’s heart.
What was left of it, anyway.
Akali heard Sarah catch up to her, but it didn’t matter anymore. Not when the once unbroken skyline was now fractured under the weight of falling stars. But they couldn’t be stars. Some were made of darkest night, others glowing embers. They zipped across the twilight sky, changing course midair to crash down without warning. Where they landed, corrosive purples, pinks, and blues blossomed. Buildings collapsed, only to be swallowed by fathomless black holes that winked like all-seeing eyes. Now Akali knew why there’d been so many people. They’d been running away, not just from the mall, but from this. It was terror. It was madness. It was—
“Pretty,” Akali whispered, unable to look away.
“Snap out of it!” Sarah spun Akali away from the chaos.
Akali leaped back. “Don’t touch me!”
Sarah raised her hands. “Hey, hey. I’m on your side. I’m a Star Guardian! We’re the good guys!”
Akali laughed. “Star Guardians? Do you hear yourself?” she scoffed. “Lady, last I checked, good guys don’t destroy malls. Or cities!”
“We didn’t do this, kid!”
“Akali,” she corrected out of pure habit.
“Okay, Akali,” Sarah spat. “Back there, we were just doing our jobs! Protecting people like you from—”
“Your friends,” Akali cut her off. “That other girl… Xayah. She knew you. Which means you’re one of them!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sarah glowered. “And those two were… It doesn’t matter who they were. They aren’t like us!”
“Xayah… She said you left them to die. I don’t care who’s on what side, but good people don’t do that!”
Before Sarah could respond, a loud whoosh preceded an inferno of purple fire that funneled into a swirling mass from somewhere blocks away.
That wasn’t very far. Akali had been there barely thirty minutes ago, after all.
“The park…” Akali whispered, right as Sarah said, “Syndra?!”
Akali didn’t ask what a Syndra was. She was already running.
“Hey!” Sarah shouted after her.
“You may be okay leaving your friends to die, Sarah, but I’m not!”
Lore Part II: In the Darkest Night
Akali’s gonna get herself killed. Sarah thought about letting her go. It was a terrible thought, but her shin hurt, and Akali’s words had stung. The girl was a brat. A liability.
And she’d been right.
“I’m going to regret this,” Sarah muttered, with no one but Baki and Boki to hear her. They quipped sounds of encouragement as Sarah shot into the air after Akali. She couldn’t have gone far.
As Sarah scanned the city below, her stomach dropped. This particular brand of destruction was worse than she remembered. Or maybe she’d simply tried to erase the memory of what, exactly, magic was capable of.
Don’t remember. Don’t remember. Sarah forced herself to ignore the memories, just as she ignored the screams from the city below. She had to focus on the mission.
“Akali! Where the heck are you?”
“Come on!” someone shouted. Was it Akali?
Sarah landed, tearing off down an alley… and there! Thank the Light. Akali was kneeling in front of a pile of rubble that had clearly broken off a nearby building.
“Come on!” Akali repeated, hurling brick after brick off the mound. A falling paddle star zoomed overhead, illuminating the rubble. Something was under there. Fabric covering what looked like—
“Akali…” Sarah took a step toward her. She could see Akali’s hands, nails cracked and fingers bruised from desperation.
Another star, but the light was too bright this time. This paddle star crashed nearby, and a piece of wall was dislodged by the impact.
“Akali!” Sarah wrapped an arm around Akali’s waist and twisted, flinging her to one side. With her other hand, she aimed her pistol. Bang! The wall broke apart, landing in pieces where Akali had been moments before.
“No!” Akali screamed as debris further buried whoever she’d tried to save.
Sarah launched them both into the air. “They’re gone, Akali.”
“You don’t know that!” Akali sobbed. “They might still be alive!”
“I had to make the call! It was you or them, and it was too late for them!”
“You don’t know that…” Akali whispered again and again, just as Sarah had to Ahri on a lonely planet a lifetime ago.
They had been a team then, stronger than they’d ever been. That must’ve delighted Zoe as she snuffed each one out like a candle. Rakan fell first, as if Zoe knew how much it would shatter Xayah. was next. One spell to the chest. That was all it took. And Xayah—
“Put me down,” Akali rasped. “Put me down now!”
“If you kick me again, I will drop you.”
“I said put me down!”
“Absolutely not.” Sarah had to get Akali somewhere safe. Had to find Syndra. Had to help her—
“—friend!”
Sarah almost did drop her. “What did you say?”
“My friend—she’s out there!” Akali pleaded. “We argued in the park, and the explosion came from there, and—”
Sarah landed, placing Akali gently on the ground in front of an arcade. Its lights flickered on and off, but the structure seemed sound.
“That’s what this is about? You kicked me, made me chase you around the city… so you could find your friend?”
Akali nodded.
“Look, ki—Akali. I can’t stop all this if I’m babysitting you.”
Akali opened her mouth to argue, but Sarah cut her off. “Even if you found your friend, do you really think you could save her?!”
Akali looked away. Sarah sighed. Don’t do it, Fortune! You don’t have time!
“Look. If I find your friend—” Sarah began.
“Kai’Sa! Her name’s Kai’Sa!” The hope in Akali’s voice made Sarah’s throat burn. Fortune, you big, soft idiot. “If I find Kai’Sa, I’ll make sure she finds you.”
“Promise?!”
Sarah held Akali’s foolish hope in her heart like a counterweight.
“I promise,” she said.
Sarah worried it was a promise she couldn’t keep.
Sarah was flying faster than she’d ever flown, heading toward the park. No more babysitting. She was a Star Guardian lieutenant once again. As she soared between the last of the skyscrapers, she saw a grassy field leading up to the edge of Valoran Park. There, two figures stood at the base of the Wishing Tree.
“What took you so long?” Xayah crooned.
Sarah plummeted, Xayah’s quills passing harmlessly above her.
Where are the others? Sarah pulled up from her dive and hovered in midair, looking back to the buildings she’d passed, dread bubbling up once more. Lux. Ezreal. Her frien— Her team. What if Xayah had—
Xayah leaped, her body a missile heading straight for Sarah. There was no time to dodge! Sarah braced for impact… but it never came. Instead, gale-force winds blasted from between the buildings, knocking Xayah out of the air and into Rakan. Janna and Soraka ran onto the grass a moment later.
“That was very good,” Soraka said fondly to Janna. Poppy and Lulu rode on the older girls’ shoulders, and Sarah didn’t know if she should laugh or cry with relief. They were okay! Sarah landed just as Lulu glared from behind Soraka’s waves of green hair.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to chase people?” Lulu demanded.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude not to just let us kill you?!” Rakan countered, as Xayah rolled off him.
“Oh, shut up!” Jinx said as she shoved past a sprinting Lux and Ezreal. She fell to one knee, aiming her rocket with unusually careful precision.
BOOM! Jinx’s whoop of satisfaction was followed by Rakan’s cry of pain. The rocket had clipped his wing.
“I’m sick of you shooting at us!” Xayah swore, firing a quill at Jinx.
“Well, we’re sick of you two being jerks!” Ezreal retorted as Yuuto burst out of his gauntlet to knock Xayah’s attack off course.
“Nice one, bolt boy.” Jinx gave him a rare grin.
“Ez! Jinx!” Sarah ran to them, fighting an insane urge to hug them. “Can you clear me a path?”
Ezreal nodded, before teleporting right to Rakan. Sarah expected him to fire an arrow, or an orb, but to her utter delight, Ezreal simply tackled Rakan to the ground. Xayah raced for Rakan.
“Whatcha think, kiddies? Should we help out?” Jinx said to her familiars. Kuro let out an almost intimidating roar in answer. Shiro, ever in contrast, gave a small, horrifying grin that matched Jinx’s own. And then they were sprinting, Kuro and Shiro raining bullets on Xayah without mercy.
Lux gave the barrage a wide berth as she caught up to Sarah. “That purple explosion earlier… that was Syndra and Multi?”
Sarah nodded. “Can you hold them off?” she asked, watching Ezreal and Rakan roll on the ground.
“What does she think we’ve been doing?” Poppy said, leaping off Janna’s shoulders. She ran, hammer raised, to help Ezreal.
“We’ve got this,” Lux said as another plume of purple fire scorched the sky above the park. “Go!” She ran toward the others.
Sarah didn’t need to be told twice. Syndra was still alive! Sarah knew she was powerful, but against some foes, power was never enough.
I’m coming, Syndra. Just hold on.
Sarah raced through the trees, not stopping to marvel at the paddle stars that had fallen in an eerily perfect circle, leaving the heart of the park intact.
As she passed through the circle, she saw a tall girl with midnight hair.
“Syndra!” Sarah cried, though her relief was fleeting.
In front of Syndra sat a little girl on the swings. But this was no child. The swirling eddies of her purple hair were streaked with blue and adorned with shimmering stars. The girl looked at Sarah and smiled.
Laughter on a lonely planet. Friends screaming, falling around her. The taste of chaos and magic scorching her tongue. Cold, fathomless eyes. A grin that promised nothing. And everything.Zoe.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Syndra muttered, not daring to turn her back on the Twilight Star. Fear made every step an effort as Sarah moved next to Syndra. Sarah could see her own terror-stricken face mirrored in the gem atop Zoe’s brow. Still, she chanced a glance around the park. No sign of Kai’Sa. Thank the Light for small mercies.
“I came for you,” Sarah said. It was clear Syndra and Zoe had been fighting, but Syndra seemed unharmed. Just how strong was she?!
“You need to worry about yourself,” Syndra advised, just as another voice rang across the park. Xayah had caught up to them.
“Worrying about herself is the only thing Sarah’s good at!” Xayah spat, much to Zoe’s delight.
“Xayah! Sarah! I missed you two,” Zoe said.
“Can’t say the same,” Sarah replied.
“But we had so much fun last time,” Zoe whined. “Right, Xayah?”
“I don’t know if I’d call dying fun,” she admitted.
“It was fun for me! And I bet it was fun for Sarah! She probably couldn’t wait to get away from you.”
Sarah balled her hands into fists. “I know what you’re doing, Zoe.”
“I’m telling the truth,” she crooned. “I mean, why else would you leave?”
“Rakan was gone. Neeko was dead!”
“What about Xayah?” Zoe asked, innocently. Sarah said nothing.
“ANSWER ME!”
Zoe’s shout was so sudden that Sarah didn’t have time to react as she opened a black hole between them. A paddle star shot from the void, arcing around to slam into Sarah’s back, searing the exposed skin between her shoulder blades. Sarah fell to her knees, doubled over in agony. She pressed her forehead on the cool earth, trying to calm herself against the heat and pain, but a foot pressed on her shoulder, holding her down. Xayah.
“I didn’t know,” Sarah said through gritted teeth.
Zoe cackled as Syndra fired off three orbs of dark magic.
“See, Xayah? Sarah’s got new friends now,” Zoe teased. She then yawned, summoning portals of pitch to swallow Syndra’s attack. “It’s probably because Syndra’s stronger than you, Xayah.”
The pressure vanished from Sarah’s shoulder, and she raised her head to see Xayah turn on Syndra. Her feathers soared, and Syndra sprinted out of the way. Now at a safe distance, Syndra called upon Multi. Her familiar rose to orbit around her like small, giddy moons. Mouths opened wide, Multi swallowed the feathers whole.
“Whoa! That was almost as impressive as me!” Rakan whistled, finally catching up to Xayah. He turned to Sarah. “What’s not impressive is, like, how obnoxious your friends are? They keep following me—”
“Syndra! Sarah!” Lux was first to arrive, but Sarah heard the others not far behind.
“See what I mean?” Rakan said, before the whizz of his feathers clashed with the sound of Lux’s magic.
But Sarah didn’t watch them. Not as Xayah walked back to her, kneeling down where Sarah still struggled to rise. Zoe could hardly contain her glee, a dark aura beginning to pulse around her. Just like before.
“I watched you run,” Xayah said softly.
Xayah grabbed Sarah’s chin, forcing her to look up. At her. At Zoe. She watched as grasping hands began to take shape, magic peeling off Zoe in ligaments that clawed at Xayah’s wings. Her head. Her heart. Xayah didn’t notice.
“I watched Ahri grab you and run. I called out to you. I was alive, and you left me there.”
The hands clasped around Xayah’s throat as if to choke her, and when they moved, the wound on Sarah’s back writhed in pleasure. Chaos. Corruption. Zoe.
“No…” Sarah rasped. Darkness and pain lodged between her shoulder blades and beat like a second heart, every pulse a misery.
Sarah thought someone said her name, but Zoe shushed them.
“This is the good part!” Zoe said, and the paddle stars suddenly became a torrent, a curtain cutting the others off from Sarah and Xayah.
“Do you know what it feels like… to die?” Xayah asked. The grip on Sarah’s chin tightened painfully.
“No, no, no—” Sarah was crying, not from pain, but from memory. The dark fire beneath Sarah’s skin became tendrils, wrapping around her guilt, her fear, crushing all that she was.
“Dying was nothing.” Xayah’s voice was quiet yet somehow louder than the falling paddle stars. “Nothing compared to watching Rakan die.”
Green eyes filled with tears. He wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving.
The tendrils thrummed, gorging on her grief, and Sarah wanted to scream.
Fuchsia feathers fell into puddles of black.
“I didn’t know, I didn’t know—” Sarah’s mantra was a discordant harmony with the pain in her back and the voice in her head screaming, It’s all your fault. It’s all your fault.
Someone grabbed Sarah around the waist, pulling, pleading. Someone was shouting— Wait. Someone was shouting! Someone apart from the screaming memories.
“DON’T GIVE UP,” a voice, so at odds with the chorus in her head, rang out.
“Who are you?” Zoe demanded, and for a brief moment, the stars ceased falling.
Rakan ran at Sarah but stopped, his eyes shifting to the sky above them. A fresh host of paddle stars waited there, but they did not fall. They were suspended, trembling in midair as if held by tenuous threads ready to snap. Rakan looked from Sarah to Xayah, some war inside him raging that Sarah didn’t understand. One side must have won out as he pivoted to Xayah, pulling her out of Zoe’s line of sight and away from the petrified stars above.
“Don’t give up!” the voice said again. But Sarah was giving up. It was her fault. The darkness in her heart knew it was time to let go. But that voice…
With effort, Sarah managed to turn to see a young girl. The girl was covered in dirt and dried blood, but it did nothing to dim the fire burning in her eyes. Sarah knew, as sure as she knew her own name, that it was Kai’Sa.
“Shut up!” Zoe yelled, hopping off the swings. Sarah watched Rakan pull Xayah farther back. “Why aren’t you shutting up?! You have to listen to me!”
Kai’Sa did no such thing, her eyes fixed on Sarah’s. “Your friends are behind you, so don’t you dare give up!” Sarah’s heart swelled, and she swore the tendrils in her back recoiled.
“Stop ignoring me!” Zoe seethed.
Sarah was struck by the raw determination in Kai’Sa’s voice. It reminded her of Akali. That foolish hope. But was it foolish? It seemed so strong to her now. That unbreakable bond was only possible when—
Your friends are behind you.
And they were. Sarah’s friends had come for her. The tendrils thrashed.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Zoe screamed, stomping the ground with a rage that shook the earth. Her footfalls gave way to pools of pink and purple slime oozing from newly formed fissures in the ground. Zoe could have blasted Kai’Sa with a thought, but Sarah realized Kai’Sa had played the only card in her hand. She’d made Zoe lose her temper.
“You’re not alone!” Kai’Sa said, her eyes glowing like twin stars.
Sarah turned again, to where Xayah and Rakan struggled to avoid the fissures and slime. They, at least, weren’t a threat at the moment, but Sarah knew it wouldn’t last. She saw Lux, and the others, all their attention fixed on Zoe. They were ready to attack, but hesitating. Sarah understood. Zoe, distracted by her own fury, seemed oblivious to everyone, even Kai’Sa. An attack could very well provoke Zoe into action, and Lux knew, as Sarah knew, they might not get to Kai’Sa in time. So they waited, poised on the knife’s edge. Syndra stood slightly off to the side, but there was a small smile playing about her lips.
Sarah turned back to Kai’Sa. “You see?” Kai’Sa said. “You’re not alone. You hear me? YOU’RE NOT ALONE.”
And as if Kai’Sa summoned them, two stars illuminated the park from high above. These were no paddle stars. They hurtled past Zoe’s suspended stars, crashing beside where Sarah knelt and Zoe raged.
“Well,” a voice said from the smoldering crater. It was a voice they all recognized. “You heard her.”
“Ahri!” Lux sounded as relieved as Sarah felt.
“Listen to the little yelling girl, Sarah!” Another oh-so-familiar voice. It wasn’t possible, but what did that matter? Neeko was smiling at her, offering a hand.
“You’re not alone,” Neeko said.
And Zoe lost control. 
Zoe was screaming, but it was all wrong. The stilled paddle stars above were vibrating, attuned to the tenor of Zoe’s fury. The pools of liquid at her feet began to boil and overflow, setting the ground aflame with multicolored fires. None of that scared Sarah, not until the screaming stopped. And Zoe began to laugh.
It was so much worse than the screams. The paddle stars dropped, crashing into one another, shards falling into black holes that sprang across the park. But it was Zoe herself that was more concerning. Her mouth had grown far too wide, her features distorting, and Sarah watched in horror as Zoe’s limbs began to stretch, cracking at odd angles only to spring back like a ball-jointed doll’s.
Zoe was growing, shooting up past the tree line, and Neeko trembled as she pulled Sarah to her feet. Sarah retched, corruption still churning along her spine. Neeko held her steady as the other Star Guardians ran up behind them, desperately holding off the careening paddle stars.
“I have seen her do this before. It is… not pleasant,” Neeko said, her voice carrying over the crashing stars. Sarah looked to where Rakan did all he could to shield Xayah from the deluge.
“Then let’s take her out!” Jinx shouted, taking a shot at Zoe’s leg. It passed through harmlessly, her body shimmering like a mirage. “Or… not.”
“Her body is more chaos than flesh right now. We have to wait until she solidifies,” Neeko said, and Ezreal winced.
“That’s gross,” he said.
“It is very gross!” Neeko agreed, “but it means she cannot attack us. At least for now.”
Sarah backed away from Neeko. “I’m afraid to ask what else you’ve learned since you died.” She couldn’t keep the edge from her voice. Neeko flinched as Ahri stepped in.
“We can talk about all that later,” Ahri said coolly.
“We can talk about it now!” Sarah demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me? Either of you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, it matters, Ahri—” But a yelp cut Sarah off. Kai’Sa had managed to dodge an errant star shard by centimeters.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Sarah agreed through gritted teeth.
“Hello, little yelling girl!” Neeko said to Kai’Sa. “That was very brave of you, back there.”
“You’re Kai’Sa, right?” Sarah asked, trying to keep the pain from her voice as her back throbbed.
Kai’Sa whipped toward her. “You know my name?”
“Akali told me—” Sarah began, but Kai’Sa had already grabbed her by the shoulders. Ouch.
“You saw Akali?! Is she okay? Something hit the mall and—”
“She’s fine—” Sarah started, but her voice was drowned by another shout.
“Whoa! Watch it!” Ezreal said, leaping out of the way as a girl-shaped blur ran through the trees into the park.
“KAI’SA!” The relief in Akali’s voice was palpable.
“Fine and incapable of listening, apparently,” Sarah muttered, but she wasn’t angry. Not as she watched the pain and desperation melt off Kai’Sa’s face.
“AKALI!” Kai’Sa sprinted to meet her, the danger all but forgotten, even as Zoe’s light began to envelop them.
Lux blasted a few stars apart before they could intercept the girls, who now crashed into each other in a fierce hug.
“I thought you’d taken her somewhere safe,” Lux said.
“I did, but I should’ve known she wouldn’t stay put. I guess… sometimes friendship is worth the risk.” Sarah saw Neeko look away, but Ahri was looking at the sky.
“The stars aren’t falling,” Lulu said, though her usual dreaminess failed to tinge her voice.
“Then the only thing that’ll be falling is you!” Xayah, no longer distracted by the onslaught of paddle stars, was on the attack once more.
Janna was having none of it. “I am getting rather tired of you!” she said, summoning a small tornado to encircle Xayah and Rakan, pinning them in place.
“We have, um, bigger things to worry about right now,” Soraka whispered to Lux.
“A bit of an understatement, Soraka,” Sarah offered.
Zoe glowed, a mountain of distorted chaos far above them, but the speed of her ascension seemed sluggish, as did her movements.
“Looks like she’s almost done,” Ezreal observed.
“Then we don’t have much time until she can attack again. What’s the plan?” Sarah demanded.
“The plan is you getting those two girls, and yourself, to safety,” Ahri said firmly, gesturing to Kai’Sa and Akali.
The two girls still held each other tightly as if afraid to lose one another again. Sarah should have been moved, but anger kept her attention on Ahri.
“No way! I can fight!” Sarah blustered.
“You can barely stand,” Ahri reminded her.
“I’m standing fine! And I’ll decide when I’m not fit for battle, captain. Just because you’re back, you think you can tell me what to—”
“I’m telling you I can’t lose you!” Ahri snapped.
Sarah knew the other guardians were beginning to tire, the paddle stars only growing in number. Janna’s hold was beginning to weaken, and Xayah and Rakan would be on them in a moment, but Sarah couldn’t look away from Ahri. She was caught, not just by her words, but by silver glistening in the corners of her purple eyes.
“I won’t risk you burning out,” Ahri said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. “That means I’m making the hard call.”
“Ahri is right, Sarah. You need to rest. Let us—let me help this time,” Neeko whispered.
“I can’t hold them any longer!” Janna shouted, the wind dying. Xayah was already on her feet, but Ahri held Sarah’s gaze a moment longer.
“It won’t be like last time,” Ahri promised.
“It better not be!” Xayah spat, just as her feathers collided with Neeko’s chest.
Neeko vanished. It was a clone! The real Neeko stepped out from behind Xayah, kicking her legs out from under her. Neeko sprinted back into the trees.
“You wanna play?” Rakan shot a quill at Ahri. It missed, Ahri ducking it with ease, but the feather clipped Sarah’s shoulder instead. She screamed in pain.
“You really tried to steal the show, but I think you’ll find we’re still the main attraction.” Rakan smirked.
Xayah raised her feathers, her smile the promise of death, but she stumbled.
The ground had started to quake.
Sarah couldn’t stand, not as Zoe shuddered above them, sending tremors through the earth that made balance impossible. Unable to coordinate on the turbulent ground, the other Star Guardians took to the air, their magic igniting a path to where Zoe thrashed above the city. Paddle stars continued to fall, more erratic than ever. Sarah watched as a star slammed into a purple light—Syndra or Janna, she couldn’t tell—only for them to recover and continue their ascent.
Sarah wanted to help, needed to be up there, fighting alongside them, but she couldn’t. Even if the earth and sky weren’t literally cracking around her, she still wouldn’t have been able to move. Not under the weight of hatred in Xayah’s eyes.
“This needs to stop, Xayah,” Sarah said. Her voice sounded so, so weak.
“Sarah’s right. You’re safe! Now we can—” Ahri started, keeping herself upright against the tremors through sheer force of will.
“Safe?!” Xayah shouted, Rakan holding her steady. “You think I’ve been safe?!”
Xayah laughed without humor. Zoe’s massive form turned, the tremors easing. Sarah wondered if Zoe was somehow listening in at that great height, reveling in Xayah’s anguish. But no. Like all that Zoe did, it was so much worse. As Xayah went on, each word dripping bitterness and grief, Zoe glowed brighter, drawing power from Xayah’s pain.
“I burnt out. I died my real, actual death. And you know what? It was amazing! I didn’t have to live with knowing that you two left me to her! I didn’t have to exist without Rakan! But then she brought us back. And I saw you.” She pointed at Neeko, who winced. “I saw that you were still alive. Safe. Which meant I’d come back not to two betrayals, but three!”
“X-Xayah—” Neeko tried to walk toward her, but she stumbled as the earth moved again.
“You ran away, Neeko. Just like they did.” Xayah pointed at Ahri and Sarah. “I came back to what? A life that wasn’t even mine? Well, lucky me!”
Sarah didn’t think Xayah knew she was crying.
Rakan tightened his arm around Xayah as he looked at Sarah and Ahri. “Why did you leave?” he asked softly, as if he didn’t think anyone would answer.
Ahri did. “I heard it… when your heart stopped beating, Rakan.” His mouth parted in surprise. “You were dead, and Xayah’s heart was slowing down.” Ahri faced Xayah. “Sarah didn’t care, you know? She tried to come for you. All of you were dead, or dying, and I was about to lose her, too.”
“You pulled me back,” Sarah whispered. Ahri nodded.
“You could have tried!” Xayah countered.
“I had to make the call,” Ahri said. “You know that!”
“We all would have died,” Neeko added.
“Then at least we would have been together!” Xayah cried. “But you three got to live!”
“But we didn’t,” Sarah said softly. They turned to her. “I didn’t.”
Xayah glared.
“You were right,” Sarah continued. “I have no idea what it feels like to die. I can’t begin to understand.”
Rakan tilted his head, considering.
“I didn’t know for sure you’d died,” Sarah admitted. “I thought you did, but I never stopped going over the battle in my head. I needed to know where we failed. Where I’d failed.”
“There’s nothing you could have done,” Ahri interrupted, but Sarah shook her head.
“But that’s just it. I could have done something. I could have died. You were there, Ahri. I wanted to throw myself at Zoe because I knew I couldn’t live with the loss. And I was right! You were my team. You were my friends—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Xayah cut in.
“You were everything to me!”
“Shut up!” Xayah said.
“Xayah.” Rakan cupped her face with a gentle hand.
“Y-you can’t believe them! They’re liars!”
“They are,” he agreed, and Neeko began to cry. “They left us there, on that stupid planet, and all that’s left is you and me against the world.” Xayah’s lip trembled, and he chuckled.
“Xayah,” he said again, her name so gentle on his lips.
“Th-they let you die,” she whispered.
“I know,” Rakan said, brushing a tear from Xayah’s cheek. He leaned close to her ear and whispered something that made Xayah clench her teeth and curl her fists. Sarah couldn’t hear what he said, but by the way Ahri’s ears flicked and her breath caught, she knew Ahri had.
Rakan turned to Ahri, and they both glanced up to where the other guardians dodged the downpour of paddle stars. Rakan grinned, and Ahri gave him an almost imperceptible nod, just as Zoe readied her final attack.
Lore Part III: The Cost of Dawn
On pure instinct, Akali had thrown her body over Kai’Sa when the earthquakes started. They’d been like that for some time, exposed under the rain of magic and stars, and Akali marveled that they were still alive. She wondered how long they could survive. Maybe longer than she thought, as both the Star Guardians and… whatever Xayah and Rakan were, leapt into action.
“Looks like she didn’t like our little chat,” Rakan mused.
Akali had to agree. The liquid that had been oozing slowly from the newly formed fissures now fell upward, drawn to Zoe by sheer gravity. In fact, much of the city seemed caught in her orbit, broken star fragments and pieces of buildings slowly moving toward her like a receding tide. Akali didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it was bad. Really, really bad.
Rakan jumped nimbly over a fallen tree that flew at him just as Xayah took out the cluster of paddle stars above.
The park afforded almost no cover, so Akali had to improvise. Whether intentional or not, the guardians had cleared a sort of path toward the jungle gym. It was close to where Zoe loomed, but at least no stars fell there. Akali pulled Kai’Sa along, dodging the bubbling color that now rained in reverse. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if that liquid touched her.
As they sprinted underneath the structure, Akali saw that the falling stars beyond the trees had started cracking like stone eggs, unleashing ominous clouds of black butterflies. The insects amassed in a huge, surging swarm, aiming for where Sarah, Ahri, and Neeko stood opposite Xayah and Rakan mere feet away.
“Look after the kids!” Ahri yelled to Sarah as she flung an orb of flame at a cluster of butterflies.
“Yeah, get outta here! Also, wait… why are these things attacking us?!” Rakan demanded, ducking under a butterfly.
“I don’t think Zoe can see us down here,” Xayah said.
“Or she doesn’t care about you,” Ahri reasoned.
“You’re literally the last person to talk right now. Rakan, don’t let those things touch you!”
“Uhh, why not?”
“Do you really want to find out?”
“Excellent point, my love.” He dodged another butterfly, then fired a feather at a cluster of them. Each one he struck broke apart… into more butterflies!
“I swear that wasn’t on purpose!” Rakan yelled.
Kai’Sa watched as the five of them were overwhelmed, butterflies pushing in from all sides, but Akali kept glancing up at where Zoe raged so close by. Akali could feel the pull as Zoe continued to suck in the destruction around her. She held onto Kai’Sa tightly. Akali saw dots of light flitting about Zoe’s face—the other guardians. How do they do it? Keep fighting, even now?
Kai’Sa placed her hand atop Akali’s and squeezed. “It’s gonna be okay,” she said, and Akali laughed. She must sound hysterical, but—
“None of this is okay, Kai’Sa. People died. People are still going to die. I mean, look at them!” Akali pointed to the butterflies. Sarah could barely hold up her pistol as the one with the lizard tail, Neeko, tried to shield her. “They’ve got magic powers, and they’re just as helpless as we are.”
“We’re not helpless. We found each other, no magic needed.”
“And there’s a good chance we’re still gonna die, Kai’Sa! Optimism can’t stop the sky from falling down.”
“But there are good people up there trying to stop this,” Kai’Sa whispered, glancing between Zoe and the butterflies. The swarm did seem a little thinner. “The least I can do is believe in them. And in myself.”
Akali wished now, more than ever, that she could be more like Kai’Sa. But she knew she never would be.
“I’ve watched them this whole time, thinking there were good guys and bad guys,” Akali said. “But they were friends, once. Just like us.” She saw Xayah take out a butterfly with a feather, almost hitting Ahri in the process.
“And now they hate each other,” Akali said. Kai’Sa didn’t respond, letting Akali work through her thoughts aloud as she always had. “Whatever is happening here, it’s strong enough to corrupt them from the inside out. It’s going to destroy them. It already is.”
Before Kai’Sa could respond, they heard Ahri shout.
“—said get to cover, now, Sarah!”
Sarah, it seemed, was finally ready to listen, the exhaustion on her face clear even at a distance. She limped toward the jungle gym, a blaze of Ahri’s foxfire igniting a pursuing cluster of butterflies.
“Leaving again?” Xayah demanded, though she didn’t look ready to attack for once.
Sarah shook her head and said to Ahri, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Instead of responding, the fox-eared girl looked at Rakan. He smirked.
“I always know what I’m doing,” Rakan said, and Akali didn’t know what to make of it.
Sarah reached the jungle gym and collapsed against a metal pole. Her ragged breathing was constant, at least. Akali shifted awkwardly.
“That was… a lot,” Akali said.
Sarah snorted. “Understatement of the millennium.” She sounded so tired.
“Sorry I didn’t stay put,” Akali offered, and Sarah opened a weary eye. She glanced at Kai’Sa and smiled.
“I’m kinda glad you didn’t,” Sarah said, and she sounded like she meant it. “Friends… Well, they’re worth fighting for.”
“So what about you? You all gonna go back to trying to kill each other after this?”
“Akali!” Kai’Sa admonished, but Sarah smiled.
“Like I said… friends are worth fighting for.” She nodded to where Rakan and Xayah faced the others. The butterflies were gone. Ahri scrutinized the two fallen guardians for a long while, and nodded.
“Do we have to?” Xayah asked, her eyes full of resentment as she stared between Ahri and Neeko.
“I don’t like sharing the spotlight, remember? Not with anyone,” Rakan reminded her.
And then Xayah and Rakan moved next to Ahri and Neeko, standing so the four of them now faced Zoe. Together.
Sarah was still angry as she watched her former team speed toward Zoe. She was furious at Ahri and Neeko for not trusting her, at Xayah and Rakan for putting the other guardians through so much to get to this point, but that anger paled in comparison to the wild, foolish hope she now held. Hope that warred with the painful memories she could no longer keep buried as Xayah and Rakan unleashed themselves upon Zoe alongside Ahri and Neeko.
Sarah knew that Zoe had broken her, with her words, with her magic, but a small voice that sounded a lot like Lux asked if maybe part of her needed to break so she could remember.
Rakan and Xayah bickering over boba, Ahri, Sarah, and Neeko laughing with them. Shopping trips and summer festivals. Battles won and lost, hopes and dreams shared, all of it together.
Sarah glanced at Akali and Kai’Sa, huddled against one another, their faces illuminated by Zoe’s horrid glow, but also by the light of the guardians fighting above them. Sarah didn’t know how to tell Kai’Sa how right she’d been—that everyone fighting out there against Zoe… they were her friends.
It was for her friends that Sarah’s heart sank. Zoe’s tantrum had faltered under the onslaught of everyone’s attacks, but now the aura around Zoe was growing again, and Xayah—where was Xayah?! She’d been right there with the others, but now—
“Look!” Kai’Sa pointed, right as Zoe lunged for a lone magenta spark twinkling by her hip.
“Xayah!” Sarah knew Xayah couldn’t hear her. Not as Zoe’s hand plucked her from the air before hurling her to the ground.
Sarah stood up, forgetting her own pain, as another speck of light followed Xayah’s descent. Rakan! His shield would protect her! Sarah watched them crash for the second time today, a mere twenty feet from the jungle gym. Rakan was soon back on his feet, but Xayah remained where she’d fallen.
“Something’s wrong,” Akali murmured.
“What’s happening to her?” Kai’Sa asked.
Sarah watched Xayah try to stand, but she was pulled down, sinister hands of chaos distorting the air around her. It made phantom tendrils in Sarah’s blood shudder.
“Corruption,” Sarah whispered.
Xayah was doubled over. Rakan reached for her, but she held out a trembling hand, and he faltered. Sarah stepped toward them.
“What are you doing?” Akali demanded.
“She’s hurt.”
“So are you,” Kai’Sa reasoned, but Sarah took another agonizing step forward, and then another. She made it all of five feet before her legs gave out.
Sarah couldn’t walk. Couldn’t fight. Couldn’t fly. Okay, then. She’d crawl. She moved, inch by painful inch, toward Xayah and Rakan.
“Sarah!” Akali shouted, but Kai’Sa shushed her.
Good girl, Sarah thought, knowing Kai’Sa, at least, could keep Akali under control. Zoe, too busy batting away the other guardians like gnats, hadn’t heard Akali shout. But Xayah had.
Xayah lifted her head, watching Sarah struggle to reach her, and for the first time since she and Rakan had returned, there was no hatred in her eyes. Only grief and… resignation?
Jinx and Ezreal crashed a dozen feet from Sarah, but they didn’t look at her before they flew back into battle. Their light, however, brought Xayah into stark relief, and that’s when Sarah saw it. Something beyond chaos had etched its way up and down her arm. Sarah fought the urge to vomit as black feathers sprung forth in clumps from beneath Xayah’s skin.
These were like no feathers Sarah had ever seen. They moved, each undulating blade dripping viscous sludge that seemed to fall in slow motion to pool in a puddle of darkness in front of Xayah. Pure corruption. Sarah pulled herself closer now, as close as she could to the edge of the crater.
Lulu landed next to Rakan. “That doesn’t look good,” she said.
“Yeah, well, Zoe’s pretty mad we joined up with you jerks,” Rakan quipped, but his heart wasn’t in it. Not as he glanced between Sarah and Xayah. Lulu patted his arm gently.
“I know what might cheer you up,” she said. Rakan quizzically looked down at her. “Mind giving Zoe a taste of my own medicine?”
Sarah wasn’t sure what she meant until Rakan picked her up by her tiny shoulders.
“You sure?” he asked.
Lulu nodded, and Rakan hurled her up at Zoe’s face. He whistled, impressed with his own aim. The green star that was Lulu grew, and grew, until she was nearly half Zoe’s size—the perfect height for headbutting Zoe right in the stomach. She stumbled at the impact, and Sarah nearly smiled in spite of herself. Lulu always knew what to do, didn’t she?
Rakan did smile, then. “Your friends are all right, I guess.”
His smile froze as he turned back to Xayah, and it nearly broke Sarah’s heart anew. Rakan had fought back, had somehow pushed against Zoe’s influence to help them, and Xayah had been hurt because of it. He knelt before her, with that false, beautiful smile on his handsome face. He took both of Xayah’s hands in his, one small and delicate, the other no more than a mass of surging, swelling feathers. Rakan didn’t seem to mind.
“What’s happening?” Xayah whispered. Rakan squeezed her hands tighter.
“Zoe’s corruption,” he answered softly. Gone was the cocky arrogance, the theatrical demeanor. This was just Rakan, a boy who loved a girl with his entire, twisted heart. He pressed his forehead against Xayah’s, and Sarah could see how bright his eyes shone in Zoe’s light.
“You fought back.” He choked on a laugh. “I am so, so proud of you… And I’m going to save you.”
Xayah’s smile faltered and then vanished. She tried to pull away from Rakan.
“No!” she screamed, but Rakan held tight.
“Come on, love. You know how this story goes.” Where Rakan’s hands met Xayah’s, a soft golden light began to build.
“No, no, no—” Xayah begged.
“The prince has to save the princess. Those are the rules.”
“Those are stupid rules! I will shred those rules with a fistful of feathers!” Xayah swore, still struggling to break his hold.
“I know you will. Breaking rules is what you’re best at. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
Ahri and Neeko flew to them, only for Neeko to smash into a shield that now shimmered around Xayah and Rakan. Ahri caught her as she bounced off the barrier.
“What is going on?” Neeko asked, dazed.
“Rakan, he’s—” Ahri began, but Rakan interrupted.
“Nope! This is my moment!” Rakan chided, but it was clear he was in pain. Still, his voice was strong… and gentle. “The star-crossed hero risking it all for love? It’s the role of a lifetime.”
“RAKAN! STOP!” Xayah begged, but with a flash, Rakan’s barrier disintegrated, golden light surging into Xayah. The corrupted feathers along her arm vanished, only to erupt across Rakan’s in turn. Xayah crumpled to the ground, but Rakan still stood, his body rigid.
Ahri took a step toward him, ready to brace him, but Rakan shook his head stiffly. Sarah gasped as black sludge began to ooze from his eyes.
“I wish there’d been another way,” Ahri said sadly.
“This is… how it has to be… captain.” His bravado was punctured by his own hacking coughs, corruption now filling his lungs and mouth. Somehow, he still managed a genuine smile as he looked between Ahri, Neeko, and Sarah.
“Protect… her.”
“We won’t leave her again,” Sarah promised, as Neeko knelt beside Xayah.
And even though dark feathers continued to pierce through him, chaos corrupting him from the inside out, Sarah was awed by how brightly he shone.
“Everyone!” Ahri shouted. “On Rakan’s signal, give her everything you’ve got.”
“NO!” Xayah screamed again, but Neeko held her back, arms wrapped tightly around Xayah’s middle.
“We promised. We promised,” Neeko cried as Xayah thrashed wildly.
Sarah tried to stand, to go to Xayah, but she still couldn’t get up.
“Not again,” Xayah wailed as Rakan shot like a spear, straight for Zoe’s heart.
His signal.
Rakan was so very small now. Barely a pinprick of flame against the night sky, but he wasn’t alone. He was never alone. Sarah watched as Lulu, still massive, held Zoe in place, the guardians one after the other firing off everything they had. Rockets and windstorms, hammer strikes and orbs of darkness, all of it rained upon Zoe’s titanic body. And still the small star that was Rakan hurtled on. He was heralded by a beam from Lux’s staff, bolstered by Ahri’s foxfire. Their conjoined attacks pierced armor made of magic itself, a crack just wide enough for Rakan to crash into.
Zoe had miscalculated. The guardians alone couldn’t stop her, but Rakan? Empowered by their attacks, Xayah’s corruption, and Zoe’s own magic? He was the quill that pierced through chaos itself.
For a moment all was darkness, before light erupted across Valoran City.
Akali couldn’t see the stars. When Rakan crashed into Zoe, the explosion had blanketed the city in a light so vibrant that she had to close her eyes against it. When she did, all she could see was magic like dark blood leaking from Rakan’s eyes as Xayah screamed. Sarah crawling, her back a scarred and bloodied wreck. Guardian after guardian swatted from the sky, falling like ragdolls, only to get back up to face death itself again and again.
Kai’Sa had been there. She’d been there with Zoe before Akali had even found her. And what did it even matter? Akali had no powers. Wanting to help meant nothing. Akali couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t help anyone! She couldn’t! She—
“Akali?” Kai’Sa startled her. Akali’s heart was beating too fast, her hands shaking too much. “Akali… They won.”
She struggled to focus because what Kai’Sa was saying was wrong.
As Akali tentatively crawled out of their shelter, three things struck her. The first, and most obvious, was that Zoe was gone. So sudden and startling was her absence that Akali worried she’d dreamed the whole thing.
“They won,” Kai’Sa repeated in wonder.
They watched the guardians land where Neeko still held Xayah in her arms.
The second thing that struck Akali was that Xayah looked… different. It was subtle, but a soft glow seemed to radiate from within her, and the diamond mark on her forehead was gone. Even her uniform seemed brighter. But as Xayah looked around, Akali saw her dim, green eyes, and was forced to acknowledge the third thing. That Xayah was looking for someone who wasn’t there.
“He sacrificed himself. For her,” Kai’Sa said, and Akali could only nod. “He loved her.”
“And it didn’t matter, did it?” Akali snapped. She could feel a chasm opening inside her heart, a fissure she couldn’t stop. Friendship? Love? It wasn’t enough. None of it was enough.
“It mattered,” Kai’Sa said softly. “He saved her. Us. We’re alive because he won.”
Akali stilled.
“She’s lost him twice, Kai’Sa,” Akali said, pointing at Xayah. “Does that look like winning to you?” Kai’Sa had no answer.
“It’s terrible,” Kai’Sa said eventually, “but that monster is gone. We have him to thank for that.”
Akali looked at Kai’Sa, and saw what Kai’Sa so clearly saw in Rakan. Sacrifice. Akali knew for certain now that Kai’Sa would never keep herself safe, not if it meant saving someone else.
“Why do you always put yourself last?” Akali asked.
“Not this again. I didn’t just survive the end of the world to start fighting again.”
“I don’t want to fight!” Akali said quickly. “I just want to understand.”
Kai’Sa sighed. “It’s not that I put myself last, Akali. It’s that I’ll always put the people I care about first. You know the petition thing? The one you got mad at me for?” Akali nodded slowly. “It was for an afterschool program, I guess. Volunteers to take kids to places like the beach or the arcade when they don’t have anywhere else to go. It sounded like a good way to—”
“Keep kids out of trouble,” Akali finished. “Kids like me.”
“Like a lot of people. If I hadn’t helped you that day, you might still be getting your butt kicked trying to save stray dogs.”
Akali tried to smile. “You’re not wrong.”
“Those kids that picked on you back then… Maybe they were just jerks, but I thought… what if they had something to care about? Someplace where they had people they could rely on.”
“Like you relied on me for the petition?” Akali felt hurt settling in her chest.
“It wasn’t because I didn’t want to tell you.” Kai’Sa took a step toward her. “If anything, I wanted to do this for you.” And wasn’t that just like Kai’Sa? Endangering herself, even though Akali would never ask that of her.
“I think I get it,” Akali said, only half lying. “But, Kai’Sa, don’t shut me out next time. You can rely on me, too.” Kai’Sa nodded, but Akali shook her head. “Promise me.”
Akali lifted her finger, and Kai’Sa hooked it with her pinky, the petals of their pink and blue forget-me-not bracelets glittering in the starlight. “I promise, Akali.”
A small part of Akali worried that this was a promise Kai’Sa was going to break, another opportunity for Kai’Sa to pick Akali over herself. But Akali held onto that moment, their promise, regardless, even as she tried to forget all that had happened. All that had changed.
Akali buried her pain deep inside, where a tendril of darkness unfurled within the chasm in her heart.
Ahri led the Star Guardians as the sky began to lighten. They had spent the last several hours searching for survivors in the ruins of Valoran City until exhaustion threatened to overtake them. Syndra had already left, intent on surveying other planets for traces of Zoe’s presence.
Sarah leaned on Lux, the younger girl using her staff as a walking stick. Sarah was grateful. It hurt even to breathe. Neeko still held a dazed Xayah, and Sarah couldn’t quite accept that they were both here, alive. Her anger almost felt pointless now. Almost.
The knowledge of what still needed to be done was something none of them were willing to face. Buildings were strewn across the streets like discarded blocks. Pools of Zoe’s corruption still bubbled along the cracks in the ground, and they weren’t sure how to get rid of them, though Soraka had some theories.
People had lost their lives last night, but many more had lost their homes. Their friends. Their sense of normalcy. Innocent people who could no more defend against Zoe than they could deny the existence of the Star Guardians. Sarah didn’t know what that meant, that this planet now knew of them, but she could tell by the set of Ahri’s shoulders that it mattered.
Xayah was the first to break the silence.
“I’m going to find Rakan,” she said, surprising no one.
“We’re coming with you,” Sarah said. Everyone but Xayah stared at her.
“What if he is not—” Neeko tried, but Xayah cut her off.
“He’s alive.”
“He could be anywhere,” Ahri added.
“So we look everywhere!” Sarah snapped.
“Why do you want to find him?” Xayah’s voice was cold, and she still wouldn’t look at her. Sarah knew, somehow, that what she said next would irrevocably impact how Xayah saw her. She took a deep breath.
“Rakan is my friend. He never stopped being my friend. Not in death. Not after. And I failed him. I refuse to do so again.”
Xayah finally turned. Wariness, distrust, and doubt all warred in her gaze, but not, Sarah noted, hatred.
Still, Xayah just shook her head before leaping into the air without a word. They watched her go. Sarah wasn’t sure where Xayah was headed first, but she knew nothing and no one in the universe would keep her from finding Rakan.
“She didn’t say we couldn’t go with her,” Sarah mused.
“Are you going too?” Lux asked.
“I said I was going to protect her,” Sarah said softly. “It’s a promise I intend to keep.”
“Then we’re coming with you!” Lux said.
The other guardians turned to look at them. Sarah opened her mouth, ready to shoot her down, but Lux put a hand on her shoulder.
“Star Guardians are a team.” Lux glanced at Ahri. “We’re in this together.”
Slowly, Ahri nodded, and Sarah considered, not for the first time, how startling Lux’s transformation had been. Gone was her hesitation. Her confidence was a beacon as she leapt into the air, lighting their way. Without delay, Lulu and Poppy went with her.
“She’s becoming a real leader,” Janna whispered, before taking to the sky.
“What are we waiting for?” Jinx said, turning to Ezreal, of all people. “Ready to hog the spotlight, sparky?”
Ezreal grinned, before he and Jinx made their exit.
Soraka turned to Sarah. “Are you ready?” she asked.
Sarah nodded. “We just… need a minute. We’ll catch up.”
Soraka smiled, understanding as ever, and then she departed, leaving Ahri, Neeko, and Sarah alone.
Sarah was almost grateful for her exhaustion. It helped dampen the painful awkwardness.
Ahri, of course, took the lead. “I’m sorry,” she said simply.
Neeko shook her head. “You don’t have to—”
“Yes, she does,” Sarah interrupted. “You knew she was alive.”
“I didn’t know for sure that Neeko—”
“I’m not talking about Neeko. And I’m not just talking about now. You knew Xayah was alive when we left them there. You thought all three of them could be alive when you left me here with nothing. No way to contact you. No way to help you!”
Ahri said nothing.
“Why didn’t you trust me?” Sarah asked softly.
That managed to crack Ahri’s façade. “I trust you more than anyone,” she said.
“You don’t act like it! I am supposed to be your lieutenant!”
“You’re also my friend! What was I supposed to do? Tell you that there was a one-in-a-million chance Neeko was alive? That Xayah maybe would live long enough to watch you die if you’d tried to save her?!”
Sarah inhaled, but Ahri wasn’t done.
“You’re not the only one who lost people that day. You were the last one. My last friend. The last person I could trust. I couldn’t give you hope and have it be a lie.”
And then Ahri was sobbing. Sarah saw her own doubt and grief now reflected in Ahri’s tears. She watched Ahri collapse under the weight of overwhelming pressure. She was their leader. She did everything in her power to protect them, but she’d tried to do it alone. Star Guardians were there for each other, right? So Ahri had failed them, just as Sarah had failed them.
Sarah grabbed Neeko and Ahri, holding them tight even as it tore at the wounds in her back. Pain was nothing in the face of this moment. They stood like that for a long time, leaning on each other. Battle had become so easy for them, but they’d forgotten what it felt like to be more than the mission. They remembered now, just as sunlight began to shimmer over the wreckage of Valoran City behind them.
Sarah Fortune could no longer feel the corruption in her back, the tendrils all but gone from her heart. But dread? Doubt? That still seemed to lurk somewhere she couldn’t quite reach. Maybe it always would, but that didn’t matter. Not when her friends shone like stars before her, their blistering light holding back the darkness.
She looked up to where the other Star Guardians had vanished, to where Xayah was already looking for Rakan, and despite the rising sun, Sarah swore she could see the stars.
Star-Crossed: Convince Me
Lore
Xayah travels to a new planet to enlist the help of a seasoned Star Guardian with a big gun and, secretly, a bigger heart.
Star-Crossed: Shine So Bright
Lore
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Lore
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Lore
