Trigger warnings in the description
Violet
I'm not sure how much time passed, but I realized I didn't care. I had Powder with me again. Nothing else mattered. Eventually Powder shifted and leaned back a little to rest heavily on her knees, her tinted eyes staring hollowly at me. To my relief, she kept her hands in mine, and I tangled my sturdy fingers with her withered ones.
"What am I going to do?" she muttered lowly, her voice gravelly. She closed her eyes as her shoulders started to quiver, and dirty tears streaked down her cheeks. "I've ruined everything. I have no chance of any sort of life now. Everybody both Topside and Bottom has a reason to hate me."
"I don't hate you, Powder," I said immediately, keeping my tone soft. She looked at me with a limp sense of doubt, and my heart throbbed. "I don't," I repeated. "Never have, never will."
"You hated me in that moment," was her muttered answer. "When you put two and two together and realized that I killed our only family left. When you hit me. Called me- called me a... a jinx." The words slowly faded out.
I stifled a sob, tightening my grip on her hands in the hopes of keeping us both grounded. "I didn't, Powder. I didn't. I-I'm so sorry. I was so- I was so angry, and my very being felt like it was being split in two, and then I- I hit you and I will n-never forgive myself." I began to stammer and searched desperately for my words. "When I saw the blood on my hands, I realized what I was doing and I-I knew I had to get away before I hurt you again. I just needed space to calm down enough to get us both away, and then, I saw Sil-" I stopped. "I saw them standing over you, and it felt like I'd been struck by lightning.
"I tried to get to you, I called out your name and I was running and I-" I paused again, my voice dissolving into tears as I held onto her, sinking further into myself. "I got arrested and taken away, and I spent seven years in an absolute hell, and I didn't know if you were even alive and I just-" Powder's grip tightened in mine, and I looked up, both our eyes blurry.
"You didn't... you didn't leave me?"
"No, no no I never did, I would never do that, I love you, you're my sister, Powder, and I just- I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I was sobbing, guilt and sorrow coursing through my bones as lead slimed its way down my spine.
Powder was silent for a moment, and then she lunged towards me, her thin arms wrapping around my shoulders as I quickly held her to me, crying into her neck. It was more of her comforting me than the other way around. "No matter what," I hiccupped, "No matter what, I will never leave you again. I will always be here. I'll help you, I'll stay with you, it'll be you and me against the world."
"You... you promise?" A whimper, a plea.
"I promise."
Stop making promises. Stop making promises. Stop making promises. STOP-
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I bristled, a growl instinctively building in my throat as I tightened my hold on Powder protectively. What...?
It all happened so fast.
One second, Powder was in my arms.
And the next...
Jinx was up on her feet in a flash, the Shimmer that had been permanently injected into her system enhancing her speed, and in turn, enhancing the danger. The paint splattered machine gun that had been previously missing was now strapped over her shoulder as she pointed it around erratically, her sunken eyes crazed. I stood, bracing myself as I reached towards her hesitantly.
"Hey, hey, Powder, it's okay-"
"My name is Jinx! It's Jinx!" she screamed, spittle flying from her mouth, making her appear as a rabid dog. "Stop. Calling. Me. POWDER! She's dead, and you killed her!" She staggered away from me, her gun slinging around dangerously. "You killed her! You killed her!"
No, no, no please no no no no no, I had her, it was going to be okay, it was supposed to be okay-
A gunshot. I wanted to flinch, to duck away, but I just stood there, the phantom pain of a bullet already spiking through my stomach. I was ready to die at the hands of my sister. I deserved it, didn't I? I failed.
And yet- nothing came.
Jinx hadn't shot.
There was a flash of bloody red, a strangled yelp.
Dread filled me, my blood icing over as my heart froze.
Caitlyn.
Caitlyn
I hadn't originally planned to shoot. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the lack of screaming and weapons added with the numbness of seeing Jayce's dead body casually slumped against a wall just a couple yards away from them was more than enough to tranquilize me. And yet, I tensed when Jinx -when Powder?- lunged forward back into Vi's arms from where she knelt. She wasn't attacking, but now I was rigid. My breathing came a little faster. My muscles felt uncomfortably tight.
Why hadn't Vi used the flair?
There was a moment of quiet, and then I spotted two figures cautiously approaching the pair on the street from different sides, hidden by shadows. Ekko and Councilor Medarda. I sucked in a breath, the much needed oxygen rushing through my body and pushing me to carefully fix my stance, once again bracing my rifle at the ready.
I don't want to be a murderer.
There was something, the shifting of my body, or the silence of a well trained and padded boot on the crackling cement, but I felt myself thrown off kilter, my heart fearful. Powder pulled away from Vi down below -Jinx pulled away- and my beloved was on her feet, trying to reach for her.
I saw the chaos that would ensue before my mind could truly register what was going on.
The girl was screaming and crying, her sanity gone as she threatened the life of my world with her heavy artillery. She claimed her title, her place as a jinx, and she wailed and lamented about the death of a past life, of a little girl who wanted her family back.
She took a lethal step towards Vi, and my body spasmed. My scope was on Jinx's forehead before I could even blink, and I knew nothing but cold fear. My finger twitched.
I shot.
——
When I was seven, there was a day where the city of Piltover wasn't safe for me to be outside in. I didn't exactly understand what was happening, but I could hear the gunshots and the sounds of bombs going off on the bridges.
"Who are they killing?" I asked my mother quietly, my eyes reflecting the fire through the glass as I watched the destruction from my room.
She was silent, and then her noble hand quickly drew my curtains closed. "Go to bed, Caitlyn."
"Why are they hurting people?" I said, ignoring her command.
"They're barely people." Her voice was gruff and cold. I didn't like it. Why weren't they people?
"Why can't we just be at peace with each other?"
"They attacked first, Caitlyn. They brought this upon themselves."
"Who?"
"The Undercity. Criminals and murderers, the lot of them. Useless."
My heart shuddered, and I allowed myself to be led to bed and tucked in, my mother's lips pressing a quick kiss to my forehead.
"Sleep, child."
But I didn't sleep. I just listened to the sound of death well into the night, my little brain running and running as I thought over what she said.
They're barely people. Criminals and murderers, the lot of them.
Useless.
It was the complete opposite of everything my father ever taught me. Human kindness, empathy, love.
My interest only grew.
I knew I wanted to be an enforcer. It didn't feel like a silly child's dream, it didn't look like a fantasy I would never reach.
Maybe I could be better than the city I was molded around.
I don't want to kill.
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