The room was just how she'd left it. Powder went over to her bed and pulled out from under it her box of belongings. She sighed as she sorted through it, setting aside the things she wanted to take with her.
From among the pastel crayons and scraps of metal she pulled out a large badly worn notebook. It had served her faithfully all these years as both diary and sketchbook but now she hesitated to open it, at a loss for how to put down the events of the last few days on paper.
She stared at the cover as her facial expression alternated between resentment and regret; echoes of Vi, like an invisible duo of angel and devil whispered competing words of tenderness and taunts into her ears. She shook the pair off her and opened the book to a recent page: a drawing of her, Vi, and the rest of their makeshift family. She grabbed one of the crayons and furiously scribbled over the name above the blue haired stick figure. She wrote above the blotched out name Jinx and felt a sense of relief.
Eager to vent the rest of the sorrow on the verge of exploding out of her, Powder grabbed another color and was about to cross out Vi's figure but stayed her hand at the last second, focusing her eyes on the simple pink haired smiley face. As if holding a knife above Vi's face, Powder's hand shook with the force of the internal conflict going through her heart. Her breathing quickened as years of Vi's kind expressions scrolled through her mind and her ears rang with the voice of her sister calling for Powder. She let out a frustrated cry and threw the crayon away.
Defeated, Powder closed the notebook, gathered it along with some crayons and a few of her bombs in progress, and headed back upstairs.
Silco, standing behind the bar, watched Powder come up the stairs and shuffle dejectedly over to dump her stuff on the bar top and then climb on to a stool. It was just the three of them inside the Last Drop now; Silco was cleaning and organizing the liquor, Jinx was moping, and Sevika continued snoring in her favorite corner.
"What's the matter Jinx? Lose something?"
"No," answered Powder, leaning her head on her arms on the counter. What she wanted to say but dared not was that she had indeed lost something, and that something was her sister.
Having guessed who the colorful cup and straw kept under the counter were for, Silco took a bottle of juice, normally used for mixed drinks, and poured some for her.
Powder sipped on the drink with a look of thoughtful melancholy on her face while Silco watched patiently. Finally, she asked, "Are you going to hurt my sister?"
Silco had expected the question to come up at some point, but still couldn't hide the rueful smile on his face. How could he be surprised by her fickleness when he'd been haunted by the same doubts with Vander at first? "I thought you didn't have a sister," he reminded her in a light teasing tone.
"Well..." Powder shifted in her seat and avoided his eyes. "I tried, but I just can't," she admitted apologetically. "So please don't hurt her!" she begged him.
As if lost in thought for a moment Silco didn't respond, but continued polishing the glass in his hands. "Did the two of you fight often?" he asked her at last.
Powder shook her head vehemently. "Vi's never lost her temper like that before, and she didn't even hit me that hard, see?" She patted her left cheek as if to prove to Silco it didn't hurt anymore, even though it slightly stung.
Silco set the glass and rag aside. "Did you know," he said, leaning closer to her as if confessing a secret. "When I was young, Vander and I fought all the time. And over the dumbest things you can imagine."
"Even though you guys were like brothers?"
Silco nodded. "Believe it or not, the fighting only brought us closer, because no matter what happened the day before, we always had each other's back." He sighed. "Until we didn't."
He moved away from the bar and motioned for Powder to follow him. "Let me show you something."
Curious, she followed him upstairs and towards a locked door.
"Vander told us never to go in there," stated Powder. "But Mylo picked the lock once, he said it was just a boring office."
Silco took out a rusty key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He looked back down at the surprised Powder and said, "Vander didn't tell you whose it was, did he? Who helped him build and run this place?" he sounded slightly disappointed. "I came up with the name you know."
The door creaked open and Silco walked in and paused, letting the nostalgia wash over him as he surveyed the dusty room, preserved just the way he had left it all those years ago. The knowledge that Jinx was behind him kept him stoic, but the full weight of his actions kept him rooted to the spot, watching phantoms of a happier time drift around him. At last he moved past the doorway and to the desk at the back.
Silco pulled out of one of the drawers a stack of aging photographs. He flipped through them until finding the one he wanted, he turned around and handed it to Powder. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the two cheerful figures surrounded by smiling faces caught up in the midst of a celebration.
"That was taken when the Lanes first opened for business." Silco stared out the stained glass window at the distorted streets of the Lanes stretching away. He reflected on how the humble little black market had grown and expanded over the decades into the full blown mercantile district it was now and regained a sense of hope. How different the future of Zaun looked now compared to when he was a child, slaving away in the mines with the rest, just barely earning enough to eat. But the relative prosperity that business had brought was a double edged sword, and he knew without needing to be told how short most people's memories are; the hatred for the Topsiders had already faded to disdain and contempt, and only a few like Sevika still shared his vision of an independent Zaun, dealing with Piltover on a equal footing. Not oppressed enough to foster hate, yet not free enough to demand respect, they were at a crossroads where a single decision could alter their destiny. And he understood this was true of her fate as well.
"If you had told the Vander and me in that picture that in just a few short years, one would try to drown the other, do you think either of them would have believed it?"
Powder shook her head.
"So you see, what we want to believe and what is, are very often at odds with each other." Silco sat down in the chair and faced Powder from the opposite side of the desk. "Your sister left you, that is the reality. You need to accept it."
Powder shook her head again. "Vi's not like that," she insisted. "She'll come back I know she will!" her voice was soaked with desperation. "She's just... hiding, that's all. She's worried you'll hurt her but if she knows you won't then she'll definitely come back." Powder slapped her hands on the desk and almost hopped on to it with how far she leaned over to Silco. "So please please promise you won't hurt her, please?"
Silco couldn't look into her distressed eyes any longer and turned the chair around. She reminded him far too much of his younger self, even down to the sibling dependency. How he cringed now thinking back to how weak and pathetic he was, always relying on his bigger, stronger, more confident brother Vander to take care of everything. He knew what needed to be done, and for her own good.
"Alright," he responded hollowly. "I promise."
He was caught off guard when she hopped over the desk and hugged him tightly with both arms around his neck.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Powder ran off just as fast as she had appeared.
"Where are you going Jinx?" coughed Silco, rubbing his neck and watching her disappear down the hallway.
"I'm going to find my sister!"
It was the first time he'd seen Jinx so energetic, and heard her voice so full of cheer and determination. Knowing there was no stopping her now, he leaned back and sighed as he heard the front entrance slam open and shut downstairs.
Woken up by the commotion, Sevika found Silco upstairs still in the office. She walked in and took a seat on the couch. "Your little troublemaker just ran off," she said with a smirk.
"You think I don't know that?" responded Silco, annoyed. "Before you get too comfortable, shut the door will you?"
Stopped just as she was putting her feet on the coffee table, Sevika got up again and walked to the half open door. She took a quick peek outside, scanning for eavesdroppers just as a formality and then closed the door. "Doesn't seem like she doubled back," said Sevika, reading the concern on Silco's mind. She sat back down and looked over at Silco.
"Send some of the boys to keep an eye on Jinx. Keep her safe."
Sevika pulled out a cigar and lit it. She took a deep draw while waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"I want the pink haired one gone," stated Silco plainly. "I want her to disappear, never to be seen again."
Sevika blew out a cloud of smoke and watched it dissipate. "What're you gonna tell the twerp when she finds out?"
"She won't," said Silco, adamant, threateningly so.
Sevika took the hint, but puffed her cigar with eyebrows raised as if to say she doubted that it'll work. "No offense boss, but don't we have bigger fish to fry than these two brats."
"So get it done, quickly."
Well aware she was already pushing her luck, Sevika took another drag before asking, "Sure you're not making the same mistake as Vand-"
Silco pounded the desk before she could finish. "I'm. Not. Vander."
Sevika tried to meet Silco's glare coolly, but his unsettling left eye still sent an invisible shiver down her spine.
"And the last thing we need is a pink haired copy of him." said Silco, seething. "So I suggest you go do something about it."
Sevika saw the wisdom in his words, regardless of if it was simply a justification for sheltering Jinx. She had seen what that girl was capable of on the warehouse bridge, not a good idea to let a talent like that mature and hold a grudge. She conceded and got up to leave.
Holding the door, Sevika glanced back and asked, "You want us to bring her to you first?"
"No," replied Silco nonchalantly. "I promised Jinx I wouldn't hurt her sister."
Sevika let out a single laugh and closed the door.