Dedicated to @Kerozeo for the awesome cover up there! ^ <3 

Even with the usual Teridian night seeping fatigue into her bones, Leah barely slept that night, too excited by the fact that there was a Leaguer in her house that had come specifically to invite her to the League of Light itself.

And here she'd been thinking that mural was going to be the highlight of the week.

She was up with the sun and recharging her heart in its rays before her father or Asriel was even awake. As the crystal filled with Light, she glanced back on the ground, watching her shadow fade. It'd once been said that the Radiant's homeland was a place where shadows didn't exist, that they had truly been the children of the sun, but if there was once any truth to it Leah doubted it still held now.

Shadow gone and heart filled with Light, Leah skipped back inside, heaving open the heavy door with its usual creak to find Asriel and her father around the table.

"You must be excited," said her father, eyebrows raised as she sat down and accepted the plate of food. "I don't think you've recharged your heart completely before leaving the house once this month."

"You aren't going to find any excuses to keep me in today!" sang Leah, digging into her food.

"I'd hate to have to explore the ruins alone," said Asriel with his usual grace. He turned his questioning look to her father. "You don't care to join us?"

He shook his head. "I have work to get done. Someone has to keep this place standing, and Leah's too busy in her ruins with her books to recharge the Teridian's crystalite."

"Ah, I was curious as to how you made a living around here," said Asriel. "The Teridians have crystalite?"

"Yep," said her father. "These ones, anyway. They're on the slightly more civilised end of the Teridian scale, and the chief managed to get his paws on some Human crystal-tech. Only problem is, the crystalite that powers it doesn't recharge in the sun. They need a Radiant for that, and in exchange, they give us what we need to survive."

Asriel bobbed his head. "Intriguing. Teridian culture has always fascinated me with their avoidance of modernisation. Are there any other Radiants in this area?"

"I hope not, or I might be out of work."

Asriel laughed. "Fair point, sun brother."

The conversation turned to Leah's work for the rest of breakfast. In between hasty mouthfuls, she told him what she'd learned out of her mother's books about Radiant history, her early education in the Human's cities before they'd moved to Teridia. With every nod and smile Asriel gave her, Leah's ego swelled a little more.

"Shall we be off to these ruins?" asked Asriel when they were done. "We'll come back after for anything you wish to take with you to the League. Speaking of which," he said, glancing to her father, "Would you care to join us at the League? Your daughter's work would more than cover the expense, and I'm sure we can find work for you."

Her father stroked his teal-coloured beard, fingers running over a thin line of imbedded crystals on his cheek. "I think I might have to decline. The Teridians around here need me, and I've become quite fond of the area, even with the frosts." His smile crinkled as he looked at Leah. "Besides, sometimes you have to let the young ones glow on their own." Leah rushed forward and hugged him, which got a laugh out of him. "Oh you aren't going just yet, missy. Go out to the ruins, I'll start making preparations here."

With a quick kiss on his cheek, Leah grabbed her backpack and led Asriel to the door.

"It's a little walk, but it's not too bad," she said, closing the door behind her. "This way!"

"You know, I didn't expect to see two Radiants out here," Asriel said as they walked. "When my colleague returned to tell me about your research, I was most surprised. Our race doesn't exactly suit the harsh Teridian climate. Any idea why your father chose to live out here?"

Leah twirled a lock of violet hair around her finger. "I think it was my mother that wanted to come to Teridia. Dad just wanted to make her happy, and it wasn't happening in the Human's cities."

"Is your mother still around?"

Leah hugged her arms. "No."

The rest of their walk maintained silence, mainly, she guessed, because Asriel's fitness was sorely lacking. He lagged behind her own steps, his breathing uneven, so she left her questions for when they reached the ruins, silently pleased that she was showing him, one of the League's head researchers, how Radiants could really do it.

They entered the grove, following the trail Leah's almost daily visits had cut through the grass and entangled limbs of the trees. Hilt out, Leah hardened Light into a blade, waving it in front of her as she usually did to avoid nasty surprises. The creepy crawlies that lurked within the leaves were a hardy lot, and killing one once it was in your hair was not her idea of fun.

The grove came to a little area she'd opened up over the months. It was quiet in here, only gentle filters of sunlight peering through the thick canopy of leaves. She made her way down the path she'd explored yesterday, pointing out the more interesting pieces of ruins she'd uncovered.

"That's the top of a wall that's still pretty much in tact," she said, pointing at a crystallite block that was so far embedded into the ground that it barely came up to her ankle. "I dug it out once, but the rains washed the dirt back into the hole. Over there is where I found the first tunnel with the smashed mural inside, aaand here's the tunnel I found yesterday!"

She was proud of the fact that she could answer every single one of Asriel's questions, and if not, her research journal held the pieces that she'd forgotten. They explored the first tunnel first, with Leah having to cut her way back into its depths thanks to the fast-growing vegetation. Thankfully, the plants hadn't yet invaded the interior, leaving that part of her labour untouched.

"I've found the tops of the walls of this room that extend back further, but the plants are the only things holding this place up," said Leah, gesturing to a slim corridor. "I tried using hard Light to hold it up, but it didn't react well. The crystalite walls rejected it, like it wasn't resonating with mine."

Asriel walked over, running his fingers over the crystallite. "Did you try filtering out the colours in the Light? The Radiants of old often filtered their Light before imbuing the crystalite to give it depth and specific colours according to their rituals."

Leah glanced down at the blade of her sword, suddenly self-conscious of its white glow. "I didn't even know you could filter Light."

Asriel's eyebrows shot up. "Really? You were never taught?"

Leah shook her head. "No. We moved to Teridia before I was old enough to learn, and my father was always too busy building the house or working to teach me. I figured out most of what I know by myself."

"Different filters of Light have different properties, different strengths, so if you want to bring out particular traits in your Light, you filter it," said Asriel. "For instance, a purple filter for the Light in your blades would work better than white light, but that is something we'll have to fix when we arrive at the League. Did your mother not have the knowledge to teach you?"

"My mother turned Lightless barely a month after we left Human lands."

This was the bit that hurt, but she'd figured Asriel would have to learn the truth eventually. Leah just hoped it wouldn't ruin her chances in the League. For all she knew, the parasite was something tied into their bloodlines, which explained why pureblooded Radiants were more often affected than those with Human or Teridian blood in their veins.

But Asriel's face just softened, apologetic. His attention left the wall. "I'm sorry, Leah."

"It's part of the reason I started this research at all," said Leah, tapping the cover of her journal. "I don't remember much of her. I just remember the monster that my father had to put down. If we had a cure, it wouldn't have happened." She glanced around the temple's interior. "Even if this was just a Sun temple, it felt useful. Like there might've been something in here that I could find that would unlock the mystery."

She didn't mention how she'd found it, following the whispers she'd heard after a night of being caught in an early frost. Her father her brought her in and wrapped her in blankets in front of the fire, but she'd heard it. A strange tugging on her heart towards that grove of trees that, seven days of wandering later, she'd uncovered the first part of the ruins that had driven her frenzy.

She wasn't about to convince a League's leading researcher that she was crazy when he was offering her what she'd always dreamed of.

"I was going to suggest that you join the expedition team, but if it's a cure you're passionate about, we have a team dedicated to the effort, and they've recently come across a lead. Progress is slow because of the requirements, but I feel like you'd fit in perfectly, if you'd--"

"Yes!" said Leah. "I mean, expeditions are great, but a cure!"

Asriel smiled, strands of blue hair glinting in the Light of her sword. "Then it shall be done. Shall we head back and prepare for our departure?"

Truth be told, Leah was keen to go back into the other tunnel she'd found yesterday and see how far she could go before risking being crushed by the stuff she was trying to study. "You don't want to see the second tunnel?"

"I am quite convinced this is nothing but a sun temple," said Asriel. "I feel our time would be better spent making our preparations so we may return to the League by tonight."

"Tonight?" said Leah, questioning Asriel's sanity. "You realise that it's at least a week's ride to the coastline, and then you'd have to wait for a boat and then the League's even further inland--"

"Not for the League," said Asriel. "We have developed, in accordance with the humans, what we are calling Displacers. In short, they're crystallite shards carefully extracted from the Spires. The Displacers resonate with their Spire, and when activated with Light, will instantly return to their parent Spire and take their holder with them. Travel, for Radiants, at least, is simpler than ever."

Leah couldn't remember the Spires. Not clearly, anyway. Her memory showed her large, sacred pillars of crystalite. Her mother had once said they were the tendrils of the planet's core, wanting to taste the sunlight for itself after eons trapped inside the shadow of stone. "Well that's going to save a whole lot of time."

Asriel smiled. "Indeed. Shall we return?"

Her disappointment about leaving the second tunnel unexplored was easily swallowed as Asriel told her what she could expect to be doing at the League. It seemed to come down to research and training, possibly the occasional expedition if the research required it.

Which led to another questions--who she could expect to be working with.

Before finding the ruins, she'd spent her time devouring the stories and news of Leaguers and their exploits from the locals, and now, with the prospect of joining the League herself, she realised she might just have a chance to meet a few of the more notable characters.

There weren't many full-blooded Radiants that featured in the stories, but she knew the names of several mixed-bloods whose styles of doing things resonated with the Teridian culture. Lira, the Lightless slayer. Kieran, who had repelled Lightless attacks alone on more than one occasion and come out without a scratch. Dilimra, the master of the human's crystal-tech. In her mind, they were legendary. They were about to become real.

"Only full-blooded Radiants are on the cure's research team," said Asriel when Leah worked up the nerve to ask. "So I'm afraid you won't be working with many of the mixed bloods. They mainly handle the expeditions and other Lightless containment work."

Leah's stomach tensed. "Are you sure I'll fit into the research team?"

His eyes lingered on her hair, the thin line of crystals in her skin that she knew ran under her jawline. "I wouldn't worry. You'll fit in perfectly."

Leah relaxed. If Asriel thought she'd be a good fit, well, that had to be a good thing. If not, she supposed there was always the expedition team. She could conduct her own cure research in her downtime if it came down to it--but not until she'd fought Light and crystal for her place on the cure's team.

They reached her home came up far too quickly.

Her father had been to town and bargained several large bags out of the locals in exchange for his services. They lay on the floor, empty and waiting to be filled.

Asriel excused himself, citing a need to recharge his heart entirely for the journey.

Leah stood, staring at the open bags on the floor of her room, uncertain where to begin.

"You don't have to go, if you don't want," her father said, one hand on her shoulder. "I will completely support whatever decision you make, but I think this is an opportunity you shouldn't pass up. You're dedicated to this stuff I can barely spend an hour looking at, and it's paid off."

Leah turned and hugged him once more. "I'm going to miss you."

"You too, my little sunshine, but you'll know where to find me. Keep in contact, and I'll check the village daily for any updates, okay?" Leah nodded. He clapped her on the back. "Good. Now, get packing!"

It took half an hour to disassemble her room into the three bags. She didn't have much clothing or many personal items--it was the research that was hard to fit in. In the end, under a suggestion from Asriel, she left her empty journals behind and filled her bags with her filled journals and most important artifacts.

Her room looked strangely empty without everything lining the shelves her father had so painstakingly assembled over the years.

"Are we done?" asked Asriel as Leah closed up the final bag.

"I think so," said Leah, sitting on the floor, hands resting on a bag. "This is weird."

"In a good way, I hope?"

Leah chewed her lip. "It's strange to think I'm leaving it all behind. Those Displacers are a one-way trip, right?"

"Correct."

Leah stood up and exhaled. "Then I think I'm ready."

"Then let us step outside."

Her father helped her carry the bags into the sunlight, where Asriel stood, waiting for her. Leah placed the bags inside what appeared to be a net attached to the crystalite in Asriel's hand. It wasn't the usual straight-edged shape, appearing as more of a curved bowl that cupped his hand.

Asriel gave her his patient smile. "When you're ready, take my hand, and we shall leave."

Leah nodded and turned back one, final time to her father.

She savoured their last hug for a good, long minute before she was ready to step away.

"I'll come back one day," she said quietly. "I'll come back, and I'll have the cure to the parasite, and you'll never have to worry about losing me like you did mum ever again."

He pushed her fringe back, finger tracing the crystal pattern across her temple like he always did. "Make me proud, sunshine. There is nothing you can't do when you put your mind to it, and don't let anyone ever steal that curiosity from you. Always drive to learn more, because that's what you do best. I love you, Leah."

She let herself have one more hug. The last one, she told herself with the least amount of sincerity she'd ever had in her life. "I love you too, dad."

"Now go on. There's a League of Lights waiting for their newest one."

Leah stepped away, tears brimming as she failed to blink them away. She stepped inside Asriel's net and took his free hand, struggling to pay attention to Asriel's instructions.

"It is difficult saying goodbyes, but they aren't forever," he said, squeezing her fingers. Leah nodded and exhaled, allowing her nerves to leave with the air. "Good. Now, this Displacer will put itself right back where we carved it from the Spire, so make sure that everything is behind my hand, or it'll get stuck in the Spire. Ready?"

"Nope, but let's go!"

Light flashed around her eyes as the world turned dark for the briefest moment. Like she was blinking, the world faded out, only to reappear a moment later in an entirely different area that looked like a blurred mass of colour.

"Your eyes will take a moment to adjust," said Asriel. "The Light can overload them from the spire. Drop my hand when you're ready."

There was no longer a bite to the air, now pleasantly warm. Asriel's words rang true, and Leah's vision slowly came into focus.

The white Spire their Displacer had come from loomed before her, its tip towering high above her head, its width, if she had to guess, nearly six times the span of her arms. Elegant buildings surrounded it, a far cry from the Teridian architecture she'd grown up with, sprouting delicate curves with crystalite architechture that reminded her of the Radiant ruins she'd found--gorgeous.

Leah released Asriel's hand, still taking in the wonders around her.

"Welcome to the League of Light, Leah."

*+*+*+*

A/N - These first two chapters felt a little weird pacing wise at first, but I think they worked out in the end? XD Also I changed the previous upload to chapter 1 instead of prologue because this didn't feel like a chapter 2 AND I DUNNO DON'T JUDGE ME

Vote! Comment! Unicorns!

Total word count: 4780 [on track!]