Asta was still chatting with the tall Sentinel when Lux approached.
Both men paused when they noticed her.
"What's up, little lady?" Lucian asked casually, one brow raised.
"Oi!" Asta snapped immediately, rounding on him. "Just because you're tall doesn't mean you get to look down on all of us. Just you wait. Once I hit my growth spurt, I'll be even taller than you. Then you'll be the little man."
Lucian barked out a laugh. "What growth spurt? You're short for life, my man."
Lux felt a small twitch in her eyebrow as she watched the two grown men hurl insults at one another with complete sincerity.
"Uhm…" she tried.
"Don't mind them. They're just having fun."
Lux glanced down slightly as a young boy appeared beside her, almost seamlessly blending into the group. He offered her a polite smile.
"I guess the captain just hasn't really found someone he can talk to normally until now," he added. "I'm Darryl, by the way."
Luxanna bowed her head slightly in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm actually aware of who you are, the first member of the Black Bulls."
Darryl attempted to maintain composure and failed rather spectacularly, a blush creeping across his face. "Ah, it's not anything so grand. The captain just took pity on me, that's all."
"But look at what you've accomplished," Lux said earnestly. "My brother says you're already stronger than some of the Dauntless Vanguard. That's your strength, and it matters. It is a big deal."
She smiled warmly at him.
"And I believe everyone should be thanked for good deeds. You fought for us. So… thank you."
Now Darryl was unmistakably red. "It was, it was nothing. You're welcome. I guess."
Lux's smile widened slightly, though it faltered a moment later as she felt a faint, inexplicable chill brush across her shoulders.
She glanced behind her.
Two girls were watching her from a short distance away, a tall young woman with dark hair and composed features, and beside her, a girl of perhaps sixteen summers. The younger one was glaring openly in Lux's direction.
For some reason.
'Ah… I may have stepped on a gromp,' Luxanna thought with a strained smile.
Refocusing quickly, she turned back to Asta.
"My name is Luxanna Crownguard," she said more formally. "I heard you were being granted Terbisia as your demesne."
Asta blinked, then sighed lightly. "She already told you? What, are you her daughter?"
Luxanna shook her head. "No. I'm her niece. Garen Crownguard is my brother."
"Really?" Asta's face brightened immediately. "Garen's a pretty cool guy. Nice to meet you, Luxanna."
"Likewise," Luxanna replied, smoothing a hand over the front of her dress as she gathered herself. "I wanted to congratulate you. Terbisia… it may not look like much on a map, but it means something to a great many people."
Asta scratched his cheek. "Yeah, I'm still wrapping my head around that part. Still not sure if I should accept. Baron Asta just sounds weird."
Lucian snorted. "Has a ring to it."
"It does not," Asta shot back immediately. "I don't even know what barons are supposed to do."
"Govern," Luxanna supplied gently. "Protect. Provide structure. Ideally, inspire loyalty without demanding it."
Asta blinked. "That sounds very similar to the Wizard King."
"Terbisia is… different. The people there have already been living outside of Demacia's favor. They've learned to rely on one another." Her eyes held his. "They won't need a ruler. They'll need someone willing to stand with them."
Darryl glanced between them, then quietly excused himself, retreating toward the food with suspicious timing.
Lucian folded his arms, watching with open amusement. "I'll leave you two to discuss governance and mutual respect," he said dryly, stepping back toward the grill.
Now it was just the two of them, the noise of the celebration filling the space around their pause.
"You seem awfully invested in Terbisia," Asta said finally. He tilted his head slightly. "You were in Terbisia when I put up the barrier, weren't you?"
She nodded once. "We thought we had been discovered. For a moment, I believed it was the end."
Asta's expression shifted, guilt flashing briefly across his face. "I didn't mean to scare anyone. I just… I didn't want the Mist getting in."
"And it didn't," she said softly. "You protected us. Even if we didn't understand it at the time."
Asta let out a breath. "Good."
There was something so painfully straightforward about him that it disarmed her more effectively than any grand speech could have.
"You truly come from a kingdom ruled by magic?" she asked.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Magic's everywhere. Most people have it. If you don't, you're kind of the odd one out."
Luxanna absorbed that quietly. "And is it better?"
Asta considered the question more seriously than she expected. "It's not perfect," he admitted. "There's still corruption. Still class stuff. Still people who abuse power. Magic doesn't fix that." He shrugged.
She smiled faintly at that.
"I don't want Demacia to become the opposite extreme," she said. "I don't want mages ruling non-mages. I don't want fear flipped in the other direction. I want… equality."
Asta's grin returned, softer this time. "Then we want the same thing."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Across the yard, the tall dark-haired girl who had been watching earlier crossed her arms more tightly. The younger one muttered something under her breath.
Lux resisted the urge to look back again.
"I suppose," she said, drawing in a steady breath, "that means we will be working together."
"Oh?" Asta echoed. "Are you getting assigned to me or something?"
"I've basically lived there the last year or so. The people of Terbisia are all mages I took in," she clarified. "I myself am a mage. I'm a light mage."
Asta's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Ohhh! You have light magic?!" he exclaimed, his voice rising as he leaned forward until he was only inches from her face. "That's seriously amazing! We don't have a light mage in the Black Bulls!"
Lux instinctively stepped back, a faint flush rising to her cheeks at the sudden invasion of space. "All magic is wonderful, I think," she said, composing herself. "Mine isn't particularly special compared to anyone else's."
Asta shook his head emphatically. "Wrong! Even in my homeland, light magic is ridiculously rare. I've only ever seen four other light magic users in my entire life."
Lux rubbed the back of her neck, trying to process that. "Four people? Then it can't be that rare, can it?"
Asta let out a dramatic sigh. "One of them was the First Wizard King. And the only reason I met him was because he sealed himself inside a statue for five hundred years. Another was an elf who lived during that same era. He reincarnated later, which is how we ended up meeting."
Lux stared at him for a moment before letting out a small, disbelieving laugh. "I'm guessing the others have equally outrageous stories."
Asta nodded firmly. "Exactly! It's almost impossible to find another light magic user." He straightened with sudden resolve. "You should join the Black Bulls."
He said it with complete seriousness, as though it were the most natural conclusion in the world.
Lux blinked. "I… what?"
"You heard me," Asta said, folding his arms with a decisive nod. "You've got rare magic, you care about people, and you're not afraid to stand up to your own kingdom's nonsense. You're perfect."
Lux pressed her fingers lightly to her temple, unsure whether to laugh or panic. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I already have responsibilities here. Terbisia, the mages, my family..."
"Details," Asta waved a hand.
"They are not details," Lux insisted, though her tone remained warm.
Asta paused at that.
The grin softened, though it didn't disappear entirely. "Yeah," he said. "I get that."
"You want to get stronger don't you? Strong enough to protect those that you care about," Asta added more reasonably. "The Black Bulls are exactly what you need then. And besides, you can't say no to the captain. That's how captain Yami recruited all of us."
"That sounds dangerously unsupervised," Lux said.
"It is," A voice confirmed dryly. The tall woman had suddenly appeared behind Lux, placing her hands on Lux's shoulders.
Darryl, who had also reappeared with a plate stacked far too high, nodded sagely. "Very unsupervised."
"You should join, Luxanna Crownguard," the tall woman said in a low, almost sultry voice as she stepped up behind Lux and lightly rested her hands on her shoulders. The unexpected closeness sent a small shiver down Lux's spine. "He can be quite persuasive, the captain."
Asta visibly stiffened. "Oh no. She called me captain."
"Does she have to join, though?" the younger girl, who had been glaring from afar, now stood with her arms crossed, eyeing Lux with open suspicion.
"Wouldn't the girls outnumber us even more?" Darryl suddenly asked, glancing around as if only just realizing the numbers.
Asta tilted his head. "The girls already outnumber us. Shyvana's a Black Bull too, remember?"
"Oh. Right." Darryl straightened, determination flashing across his face. "I'm still going to surpass her. Once I gain more experience as a Sentinel and fight more monsters, I'll become even stronger."
"You can do it, Darryl!" Asta declared immediately.
"Right, Captain!" Darryl replied with equal fervor.
Lux couldn't help the soft laugh that slipped from her lips at the sheer energy of it all.
She hesitated, then glanced back at Asta. "You really do collect interesting people."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Oh? It seems our friend has already accepted her fate," the tall woman chuckled, finally releasing Lux's shoulders and stepping around to face her properly. There was amusement in her sharp eyes.
"Hmph." The younger girl looked away, though not before sending Lux one last measuring glance.
"That's good to hear," Asta said brightly. "Welcome to the family, Lux."
"I… I didn't..." Lux began, then stopped herself. She let out a soft sigh, a wry smile forming despite her best efforts. "I did not agree to anything."
A man from a kingdom ruled by magic. A wielder of anti-magic. Now a Demacian noble. Laughing around a grill while holding onto a sword that once belonged to a fallen king.
He should have been impossible.
Instead, he felt strangely… grounded.
"You're going to accept lording Terbisia, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yeah," Asta nodded without hesitation. "I've thought about it. If they're giving it to me, then I'm responsible for it. I don't half-do things."
"That," Emilia muttered, "is unfortunately true."
Lux drew in a slow breath. "Then I'll be working with you."
Asta's face lit up again. "Nice. You're gonna get so much stronger. I don't think you even know half of what Light magic can do Luxxana."
"Lux," she corrected gently.
"Lux," he repeated easily.
And so, Luxxana Crownguard joined the Black Bulls.
"Does that mean that you're really going to marry Lady Fiora Laurent?"
"Argh!!! I forgot about that part!"