Sister Cities

Part 93: Ekko

You were a wanderer

Back when you were young

I remember your eyes were clear

And brighter than the sun

I could only lead you so far

I believe in who you are

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When the meeting lets out, I leave without sticking around for small talk and let Scar know I'll be in late. I turn my comm off after that so I don't have to hear from him again when Quartz gets home and tells him and all the others what happened. I don't know how I'm supposed to go back after this.

On my way through the square, I snatch a newspaper from a stand and skim it with the corner of my eye. Predictably, the biggest headlines are about the break-in, the kidnapping, the accusations, what a failure the ball was as a political move, and how faith in the Council is at an all-time low and the evening broadcast will determine whether or not we have any shot whatsoever at recovering our reputation. (I realize as I read that I definitely should've brought guards on this walk, but that ship's sailed.) They still managed to cram in a few gossip articles, junk that probably would've made the front page if things had gone right:

Councilors Break Custom, Bring ex-Convict

Colleagues as Plus-Ones

Council Bomber and Resptech™ Inventor

Jinx Stuns Journalists with Casual

Scientific Expertise

Ekko and Jinx Reveal Former Friendship,

Spark Rumors of Corruption

Caitlyn Kiramman Wears "Firelight" Gang

Symbol On Necklace: What Could This

Mean for the Future of Piltover?

Trencher Trickster Shows Off Convincing

Piltovian Disguise

That last one comes with a picture of Tei bowing and grinning proudly at the camera. It's a small comfort.

I'm not sure where I'm headed until I find myself in front of the cemetery gates. My heart skips a beat, but I don't have anywhere else to be, so I go in and weave my way to Snake's grave. A scrap metal pinwheel with wire flowers has appeared in front of the stone, alongside a closed oil lantern and a rusty lighter. I put it on.

"Congratulations," I say, sitting in the yellow glow. "You killed yourself so I could flood our city with enforcers."

Snake doesn't respond. Some microscopic part of me is positive it's because she's angry rather than because she's dead.

As of yet, they still haven't caught the kidnappers, but the Council agreed to do a check-in and found all four of the accused missing within hours, just like Caitlyn said. We committed extra people to the search, more to have something else to reassure the public than anything— I doubt we're finding them at this point, and Caitlyn's not really concerned; it's copy-cats that worry her. Party guests are getting a payout for their troubles. Caitlyn's supposed to speak on the broadcast so people know she's really all right, and I'm sure she'll praise the rest of the Council for our investment in her safety in order to get people to calm down. There's not much else to be done.