EVEN WITHOUT NAMING YOU

CHAPTER 1

And Swain's crows would be at the heart of that battle.

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The airship shook its wings under the cool wind of Demacia. Jinx stepped down from the airship, her boots striking heavily against the cold Demacian ground. The wind blew fiercely, but she didn't care. It had been weeks since she left Zaun, since she had moved away from the dark alleys and chaos. Now, she found herself in this distant city, surrounded by imposing walls and a culture that was completely foreign to her. Demacia. Demacia was not Piltover, nor was it Zaun, yet it was the only place where she could hope to hide. Here, she was nobody. Just a shadow among others. A place she had only heard of from afar, in frightened whispers, rumors she often heard from Silco, and fragments of conversations among the Piltover family. A kingdom far from Zaun, a place where magic was feared, almost forbidden, and where she was nothing more than trash that needed to disappear.

There was a time when she thought Demacia was just another place with its own rules and powerful men, a place she would eventually forget in the chaos of war. But here, everything felt colder, more structured, more orderly than she had imagined. No dark alleys, no bars of iron and steel where she could hide. No, Demacia was a city of light and order, with unremarkable cobblestone streets, white marble buildings, and a breeze that carried a scent of power and perfection. It was... strange.

She pulled her coat tighter around her, blending into the crowd of inhabitants dressed in neat and orderly clothes, their posture straight and their faces determined. She made an effort not to stand out, not to draw attention. She let her steps guide her, her mind waging a silent battle. Jinder... This name she had chosen, this new identity, was more than just a mask. It was her refuge. Her remedy. A way to escape, to distance herself from Powder, the fragile little girl she had been, from Jinx, the madness she had become. Jinder was who she wanted to be. A silent, cold figure, far from the flashes of light she had left behind. Her mind froze for a moment, memories flashing back, uncontrollable flashes of the devastated city, the explosion of her memories, and the war that had forced her to flee. The streets were vast, wide, paved with neat, square stones. The sunlight reflected off the white buildings, presenting an image of cold perfection that sent a chill through her heart. This wasn't Zaun. This wasn't Piltover. It was a place that hadn't seen her born, grow up, or lose her sister. She forced herself to focus. A new beginning. That's what she had told herself, right? But at every corner, at every child running and laughing, she felt more and more like a stranger.

A group of children ran ahead of her, laughing joyfully. They seemed carefree, full of life, like a bright light amidst this orderly city. Jinx paused for a moment, a freezing coldness invading her body. She watched them for a moment, remembering Isha, a face she had lost touch with, but now returning with a sharp pain. She froze, a vision of Powder, the little girl she had been, brushed against her thoughts. She had nothing of that anymore. No childhood. No family. No connection to the past. Isha, she had wanted to protect her... But now, she was alone.

She looked away and quickened her pace. She couldn't stop. Not here. Not now. Not in this perfect kingdom.

She was heading to the outskirts of Demacia, away from the main roads, where the shadows seemed to harbor secrets. The evening light only allowed her to distinguish silhouettes, but in the distance, she heard loud voices and hurried footsteps. The scene unfolding before her made her stop in her tracks: a group of guards were rushing down an alley, their attention fixed on a figure who seemed to be fleeing. Jinx, or rather Jinder, watched the scene with a detached expression, before noticing the glow that accompanied the figure. A burst of light – a sudden explosion, like a spark in the night – and she saw a young woman escaping her pursuers. A beam of light streaked through the air, drawing ethereal shapes, as the opponent tried to contain this magic. Light. A pure and dazzling magic, spilling around the fugitive. Jinx froze for a moment, a shiver running down her spine. This was not something she saw often, and not something she wanted to see here. She knew that magic was not well-regarded here.