LeBlanc and the White Iris
Written on January 20th, 2022 by Ethan Zhang
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The Deceiver
A sorceress with short, dark blue or black hair walks into the room. Six hooded figures sat at a table with a spot open at the end. The sorceress sat down and asked the council what their request was. The request was an assassination of the leader of an organization that was gaining power, and the sorceress smiled. Assassination and deception were her specialties, and she knew exactly how to get to the leader and began to insinuate.
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The Waltz of Roses
A man walked into Lady LeBlanc’s office and put a letter down on the desk. The man then left the room, leaving Lady LeBlanc to her own devices. LeBlanc read the letter. It was an invitation to a mysterious meeting with an organization that wanted the service of the Black Rose. The Deceiver decided she would personally handle the request. She put on a cloak and grabbed her staff.
Lady LeBlanc found the building the meeting was held and ensured that nobody followed her. She opened the door and walked into the hall. An unmarked door stood at the end of the hall. LeBlanc walked in. Six hooded figures sat at a circular table. The Deceiver sat at one end, and set her staff aside as one of the six figures slipped her a sheet of paper. On it, an order was written. The order was the assassination of one of the leaders of a cult that was gaining power and needed to be put down, for the sake of the region. Lady LeBlanc smiled and asked for the time and place. One of the six figures slipped the Deceiver an invitation.
The invitation was to a ball that many prominent and high-ranking Noxian officials would be at, among the rich, and the most handsome and beautiful that Noxus could provide. Among them was the leader of the cult, who was known as the White Iris. The ball was extravagant and accommodating as everyone had drinks, ate, and talked. Servants provided for their guests and nobody suspected a thing. That is, until Lady LeBlanc walked in the door.
The moment Lady LeBlanc stepped through the door, conversations stopped. All eyes were on her as she carelessly walked to a table and picked up a glass of wine before walking away to a group she seemed fond of. Conversation resumed as Lady LeBlanc chatted with others. Then the dances began.
Lady LeBlanc was a proficient dancer. She graciously glided across the floor. The White Iris was dancing as well. In his arms was a young lady who had fallen for his ideas and his charm. The White Iris was a man of art and class, irresistible to most. Most. Lady LeBlanc danced with her partner, keeping an eye on the White Iris and his partner, who seemed equally keen, their eyes often locking for fleeting moments as they danced. The waltz was where the unease settled in. The council the Deceiver had met earlier was getting impatient.
The Deceiver walked up to the White Iris and asked for a dance.
“Lady LeBlanc wants to dance with me? What an honor.” The White Iris waltzes with the Deceiver as they make their way to the door of the main hall. The Deceiver charms the White Iris and in his room at the palace, she marks him with a sigil. The Sigil of Malice took effect immediately as the Deceiver distorted the reality around them. Then the Deceiver drew a blade and intricately carved a rose into his thigh as blood ebbed from the wound.
The Deceiver chants a spell and the wound cauterizes. The cauterization stops the blood flow in his leg and the White Iris appears to be dead. Appears to be. The Deceiver had been deceived. The body of the White Iris smiles and fades away. A knock at the door. Lady LeBlanc answers.
“Hello Lady LeBlanc, is the White Iris here?” A well-dressed man asks.
“No. He just left to attend to some matters. I am waiting for his return.” Lady LeBlanc replies. The well-dressed man smiles and walks away. Shortly thereafter, a man in a white suit walks toward the room. Behind him walk several bodyguards, many armed with daggers. They introduce themselves to Lady LeBlanc.
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The White Iris
“Lady LeBlanc, I knew you were after me the moment you came to the party. Did that council of six invite you? What’s their price?” The White Iris walked around the Deceiver, who had her staff in hand already. Lady LeBlanc replies to the White Iris. A double-cross is prepared by the Deceiver, but the White Iris was still too blind to see it. Lady LeBlanc leaves the party, leaving the council confused as to why she had not completed her task.
A crow comes to Lady LeBlanc carrying a note. It was the council of six, demanding where she was and why she hadn’t finished her task. She stopped at a nearby shop, wrote a response, and sent the crow into the dark night sky. The moon cast a dark glow over the area. Lady LeBlanc smiled, she had dark plans. The White Iris would fall prey, he was reckless and blind. It wasn’t hard to get to him, it just required time.
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Patience, Summoner
Lady LeBlanc was being berated for her lack of success at the ball. The council demanded to know why she could not complete her task. Her response was simple.
“Patience, summoner. We need to find his true self. Tricky, isn’t it?”
“Just get the job done before the deadline or your contract ends.”
“Are you certain?”
“Of course. Do your job, LeBlanc.”
“LeBlanc, we mean it.
“Patience, summoner. I will get it done by your deadline.”
Lady LeBlanc walked out of the room, her back on the council as they were shocked by the way she carried the conversation and defied their wishes so easily. Lady LeBlanc looked into a mirror. The face cracked. The Deceiver smiled back. Lady LeBlanc walked away from the mirror, the Deceiver following her.
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Never Cross Lady LeBlanc
The White Iris discussed at length with his advisors on the use of the Black Rose for their strategic goals. His advisors warned him that the Black Rose was not to be messed with and that Lady LeBlanc was not to be crossed. The White Iris did not listen. He believed he had more control over the Deceiver than he actually did.
The White Iris stood on a balcony. Below him, Noxians bustled left and right. His movement was gaining traction, and enemies. The council of six, which was unnamed, had control over some Noxian politics and economics but everyone knew Swain was the man in charge. The White Iris wanted to change that and make Noxian life better, but life doesn’t always shine bright.
Lady LeBlanc walked onto the balcony. She stood next to him and asked a few simple questions.
“Who are you, truly? What do you stand for?”
“I intend to bring Noxus to a new era, without lies, without deceit. I stand for that. Who I am… does not matter to the movement.” His response was not the one Lady LeBlanc sought. The Deceiver smiled and left the balcony. Dissatisfied, Lady LeBlanc knew who she was double-crossing. A man with little magic and of insignificance to Noxus.
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The Black Rose Shall Bloom Once More
Lady LeBlanc informed the council of six of her plans. They silently deliberated and cleared it to be put into action. The Deceiver had made her plans, and she prepared to carry them out flawlessly and silently, the way Lady LeBlanc knew how to. The Deceiver smiled and picked up her staff as she walked out of the conference room.
The streets of the city were empty. The Deceiver knew something was off, but kept walking. The presence of assassins permeated the air. Lady LeBlanc’s staff tapped lightly on the ground. The sound echoed throughout the city. Several cloaked figures lay in the alley. They gave each other a quick glance and then dashed out into the streets.
The assassins surrounded the Deceiver as a mirror image stepped out of her body and smiled. Identical. The assassins were dumbfounded, yet they pressed the attack. Daggers were pulled as several assassins attempted to ambush Lady LeBlanc. The Deceiver simply fired off light spells that struck the assassins. They fell to the ground, their bodies limp and colorless.
Other assassins began to converge on the identical copies. Daggers tore into flesh as a mirror image of Lady LeBlanc screamed. Then, the mirror image disappeared. The Deceiver smiled and waved her hand. Chains pierced the assassins’ hearts. All the chains converged in the Deceiver’s hand as she tapped her staff. The ethereal chains tightened. Lady LeBlanc laughed. The ethereal chains tightened again. By now, many of the assassins were gasping for air. Then the ethereal chains tightened again, and then… they snapped. The remaining assassins dropped to the floor, their lifeless eyes betraying their fear in their final moments. Lady LeBlanc conjured a black rose and added petals to it. The Black Rose was growing.
Lady LeBlanc returned to her vast estate and sowed seeds. Around her was her garden of black roses and other black flowers. The flowers each represented a death inflicted by the Deceiver. Lady LeBlanc chanted an ancient spell and the seeds she sowed arose under her care. Two stems intertwined and formed two buds that were distinctly their own. Then the buds bloomed and competed for the resources, one black rose killing the other in the process. The flower turned white and Lady LeBlanc picked it up and crushed it in her palm.
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The Last Dance
Lady LeBlanc walked towards the White Iris’s mansion. The mansion was a stone bastion. Lady LeBlanc knew that the White Iris was dancing his last dance. In a way, he knew it as well. The Deceiver was notorious, she was a force to be reckoned with, and she was manipulative. The White Iris had a minuscule number of personal guards at the mansion that barred Lady LeBlanc’s entry.
The sentries at the gate readied their spears. They were told not to let anyone in unless the White Iris personally let them in. The Deceiver smiled. In her hand, an orb appeared and she let go of her grip. It raced to the sentry and ripped through his neck, the chain mail tearing. Shrapnel flew throughout the front of the mansion. A second orb appeared in the Deceiver’s hand. It buried itself in the remaining sentry’s gut. Blood pooled on the well-manicured lawn. Lady LeBlanc broke the lock on the gate. A pair of clones appeared beside her.
“We should search the outskirts and make sure the White Iris isn’t hiding anywhere.” Lady LeBlanc said as she smiled.
“I’ll search the main mansion, just remember girls, the White Iris is mine.” Lady LeBlanc called as she walked towards the stone behemoth. The door creaked open. Four guards attempted to ambush Lady LeBlanc. Her staff tapped lightly as she waltzed through the guards. They dropped simultaneously as chains ripped their souls from their bodies violently. Lady LeBlanc checked every room on the first floor. The rooms that led towards the staircase contained progressively more repulsive scenes.
The rooms towards the end of the hallways contained dismembered bodies of civilians and people against the White Iris. The contradiction in the White Iris’s movement and the scene that lay before her made the Deceiver chuckle. It was a juxtaposition worthy of her interest. The last room merely contained a single white iris on a glass pedestal. Inside the pedestal was a black rose. Lady LeBlanc shattered the pedestal as the black rose bloomed even more and spread across the room.
Lady LeBlanc waltzed up the stairs as her staff danced with her, her cloak trailing behind her. The upper floor had every door open, except for one. The rooms were all empty except for one. Six guards were the only security that the Deceiver encountered. She opened the door to the room.
Inside, stood the White Iris, his eyes fiery. The White Iris smiled and tilted his head.
“Lady LeBlanc, how kind of you to join me.”
“The White Iris, you had the chance to succeed, but business calls.” Lady LeBlanc and the White Iris walk in a circle. The White Iris snaps. Two balls of flames appear in his palms. The flame glows white as the Deceiver taps her staff on the ground. Five mystical orbs appear before her. The White Iris sends the two fireballs into Lady LeBlanc. The Deceiver launches the orbs, two slamming into the fireballs, dissipating them quickly as the remaining three orbs are dodged. The Deceiver summons a clone from her patrol of the mansion’s grounds. The clone dashes into the mansion and opens the door.
Lady LeBlanc slammed her staff into the ground as magic pulsed around the room. Yellow light filled the room and then began to glow purple. Sigils of Malice appeared on the walls as they shattered the stone. The Deceiver held the stone midair as the White Iris summoned white flames around him. Flames danced with the rocks as the two exceptionally skilled mages dueled. A clone of Lady LeBlanc caught the White Iris mid spell and sent mystical chains that pierced his heart and wrapped around the White Iris.
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In Defiance: A Blaze
The White Iris refused to be taken alive. Two white fireballs appeared and took the shape of an iris flower. The flames began to consume the White Iris as he smiled one last time and tilted his head at Lady LeBlanc, honoring her skill, understanding his cause had died. In his final moments, the White Iris understood why the Noxians always said “never cross Lady LeBlanc” and laughed as the Deceiver stood there, watching him. Then, his body was completely consumed and a flash of light sealed his fate.
Lady LeBlanc walked out of the mansion and dissipated her clones. The mansion lay there and Lady LeBlanc planted the seed of a black rose. The black rose bloomed, and beside it, a white iris grew and choked. The flower wilted into the ground and dissolved into ash as a small white flame flickered and died.
In the wake of the death of the White Iris, his movement was crushed by Noxian forces under the Grand General, Swain. Lady LeBlanc never knew the truth of the White Iris’s movement, nor did she care. Yet, the two organizations seemed so alike yet so different. The Black Rose and the movement of the White Iris. Light against dark. Control against freedom. The Black Rose rose above the White Iris and his movement. Even though their opposition had gone down in a defiant blaze, they were victorious. The Black Rose shall bloom once more.
