Everybody wants to be my enemy

- I want... A cloud! Blue! A blue cloud.

She had not thought about it beforehand, it was just the spur of the moment. The only thing that came to her mind was the color of the sky, and the few clouds which stained it, here and there, the day Vi and the others had brought her topside. The idea just came out of her brain, then out of her mouth.

- A blue cloud...? But clouds are usually white? Or gray?

- I said blue! she screamed back, waiving her gun under the young man's chin.

- Okay! okay! Your choice!

Jinx lied back on the chair, slightly relaxed her grip on the handle of her weapon, but did not let it go. Her blue braids were now reaching beneath her shoulders, and it tickled her a bit when she moved.

Most of Silco's crew were wearing tattoos. Some on the arms, some on the neck or face, some everywhere. And if Silco himself didn't have one, the black mark on his face sometimes felt rather similar. She was part of the crew too now. She had earned some tattoos. She wanted them. Needed them.

-Wh..Where? stuttered the man, trying to keep his fear in check.

His hands were shaking a bit, and he was terrified that she'd blow his brains out if he fucked it up.

- I don't care. Here. On this arm.

- Okay. Okay okay. I got a couple of nice shades. Just... Lay back. Relax. Don't move. I got you. Okay. Okay.

He grabbed a couple of vials and poured some blue inks into smalls cups. A few seconds after, the buzzing of this tattoo machine filled the air and occupied the space. Jinx waited for the first bite of the needle, both excited and scared at the same time. When it finally came, she shivered, and tensed her whole body to stop her from moving.

The first few minutes went fast, and were not so painful. That's how the outline works, quick and lights traits, short strikes on her skin. Then, her skin started to burn gently, stretched and traumatized. It was when the artist changed the needle to a bigger one and starting filling the inside of the cloud with a superb blue shade that the true pain came. That's when it happened.

The silence. The calm. The loneliness. Pushed away by the noise of the machine, Mylo, Claggor, Zap and every other voices were cast away, back to the darkness. They left her alone. The feeling of relief was such that a tear came unwillingly to her right eye and she almost dropped her weapon. This state of plenitude swallowed time and space, and before she could truly realize how incredible this was, it was already over.

- I'm done! said cheerfully the artist. I think it's actually pretty cool! What d'you think?

His professional excitement had temporarily erased the fear.

Jinx looked down and stared. It was good indeed. Better than what she had hoped for. Still, she pointed the barrel at the man once more.

- Again, she said.

- A..Again? How do you mean, again?

- I want another one. Here. Now.

- Okay. Okay okay.

He didn't dare to say that it would cost more. He would consider himself lucky if he just got out alive. He started the machine again.

- Another one.

- What? again?

The second cloud was a bit smaller than the previous one, but his artistic mind could already see the beginning of a bigger piece emerge from the skin.

- Yes! Again!

- But.. how many do you want?

- I don't know! Ten! One for each person I killed!

That was a lie. She didn't count. She had stopped after the first three. The only one that mattered.

- Oh... Okay. Okay okay,

So he did another blue cloud, further down her forearm.

Then another one a bit higher up on her shoulder. Still it wasn't enough. Jinx wanted to still hear the sound of the mechanical needles. She still wanted to feel the stinging pain. To keep the ghosts at bay.

- If you want, I can make you a bigger piece, offered the artist, now completely absorbed in the project. I could do a part of your chest here, then go down you ribs and side, it would look sick!

- Yes! Yes do it!

Jinx was not threatening anymore, it was closer to a beg.

- But it's gonna sting much more than the arm, you know?

- Good. Do it.

So he did, and she embraced every second of it. The pain was indeed much sharper, more present, almost taking her by surprise, and it lasted a long time. A much, much longer time. A perfect time.

Looks good.

Meh

Don't like it

Awesome.

Kill him after

- No... no no no...

She couldn't refrain a small sob.

- No? What no? I'm almost finished! exclaimed the artist, now scared for his life again.

- They're back... They're all back. It's not working anymore.

He looked at her, confused, but decided not to push further. He finished his work in silence, while she endured, while her ghosts observed.


Vi took her sweet time before heading toward the bridges and the Undercity. She didn't believe that Jinx would need her already, after all, shit always went sideways in the dark of the night, not in the middle of the day when it was lunch time. Some unwritten law of the universe, surely.

A friendly and useful law, for sure, because she really needed to shake that headache off. She stayed in a park, lying on a bench, waiting for the time to pass, until she'd feel it would be time.

She even grabbed a bite, paid with the last bits of coin she could find hidden in the depths of her pockets, and for some reasons, it felt like her last, so she took her time to appreciate it under the sun.

She felt free. Almost good. She knew where she was going, and why she was going, and she wasn't scared.

Some people recognized her in the streets, stared at her, some kids pointed at her gauntlets. She would wave, smile, wink. Say goodbye. See ya around.

When she crossed the bridge and jumped down some roofs, like in the old days, she almost felt like home. Not completely, but almost. Not a single second she thought she'd be too late, that she'd had taken too much time.

Walking down the Lanes, under the dozens of neon lights already lit up, she thought of another song of J69.

"We own the night, you and I. We're gonna live forever. It's in the stars we'll never die. If we stick together."

That could have been her. Her and Powder, if things had gone a different way, in another life, the life she was thinking of when she had promised her sister this city would respect them. Then she thought of another one.

"Let's all die young. It's so easy and fun. One more night and we're done. Let's all die young."

This could also be them, right here, right now. In this life where everything went to shit.

Some people hailed her on her way, some street-food vendors, a couple of old folks sitting around doing nothing but watching life unfolds in front of them, some guys trying to sell contraband. Most of them people she had helped one way or another in the past six months. People in the Lanes were, quite literally, a colorful bunch, but Vi, with her flashy pink hair, was always standing out. At that point, pretty much everyone knew who she was, at least by reputation.

- Hey Vi! smiled Jericho. Here to grab a bite? Where's your lovely companion today?

- Sorry Jericho, I'm here for business today. Cait's working.

The creature raised an eyebrow, skeptical at the tone Vi used.

- Alright, if you say so.

- I'll try to swing by later, she added, trying to soften a bit her attitude. See ya man.

- Sure thing kid.

The Last Drop was not far from there, as somewhat consciously, Vi slowed her pace, trying to delay the inevitable just a bit, allow herself more preparation. The street was emptier in the premise of the soon-to-be battleground, as a warning, or a premonition.

The bar was silent, from the outside, which was in itself already very unusual and scary. Vi stalled for a second, took a deep breath, and entered, fists clenched and ready.

She was welcome by the sight of three bodies lying on the ground and a pool of blood dripping all the way to her boots.

- Oh! Hey Sis ! You made it! Awesome! Be careful where you step! Care for the traps! It took me a lot of time!

Jinx was sitting on the bar, playing with an empty bottle. Something clenched in Vi's heart. It was not the first time she saw dead bodies, not the first time they had been dropped by her sister, but it was just as painful to her soul. She stepped inside, dodging the thin wires blocking her path, trying not to slip into filthy, red-stained floor.

- What happened? she asked in return, pointing at he closest cadaver, three holes in his chest.

Jinx shrugged.

- They didn't want to give us privacy, so I made them.

- Isn't this place supposed to be controlled by Sevika anyway?

- Oh yes! Yes yes, but she's not here right now. She's searching for me. She's really trying to get me ! Like, real hard! Probably wants to make me pay for Silco, or something like it. She's on the other side of town, ehehe. She got some intel that Jinx was there, I wonder who from...

Her gigantic smile made her question very rhetorical. Clearly, Caitlyn was partially right, she was still sane enough to hatch a good plan.

- The blood will attract the wolf, explained the blue-haired woman, proving again that she had thought this through. So we just wait!

Waiting was not part of Vi's plan. What was she supposed to do in the meantime? Just chitchat like nothing ever happened? No way. Screw it all and jump at Jinx, knock her out and bring her to Stillwater? She'd be safe in prison, at least from Warwick, but she wasn't sure she could do it. Not in time, not while being 100% sure the wolf would not jump in at the wrong time and tear them both to pieces. Or just barge in at the end of the fight, no matter who'd be the winner, and just finish the work.

Jinx's best chance to survive the Hunt was Vi's fists, and they both knew it. That was why Jinx had followed her, asked for her help. Warwick was just too strong to be beaten by anyone. Vi had survived by pure luck, Jinx and Ekko had barely escaped alive together.

Vi inspected the bar around her. She had not been back there since her fight with Sevika, and it had changed quite a lot. It felt more chaotic than when Silco owned it, maybe because of the bodies on the floor, but at the same time, closer to the times of Vander. The smell of booze, of sweat, not gunpowder and drugs, the colors of fire and not electrical neons. In some twisted ways, it had some nostalgia. As if Sevika herself missed Vander more than Silco.

Or it could all be just in Vi's head. That was also highly possible.

- So, started Jinx, how's it going with my new sister-in-law? Getting all mushy-mushy?

Yeah, no, chit-chat was DEFINITELY off the table. Vi grunted and turned her head away. Of course, Jinx, in all the madness of her mind, would not let that go.

- Come on, you can tell your little-sis! I mean, I've seen her naked, I know she's hot! I...

Without a warning, Vi lost all control of her nerves and tried to grab Jinx's throat in her hand and crush it beneath her fingers. They closed on nothing but air, the young woman having dodged gods only knew how.

- Woooo! Hatlady is a sensitive topic I see! Things not okay between the two of you?

She giggled, as if someone else had said a funny joke.

- What about you and Ekko, uh? countered Vi, trying to fight fire with fire. Heard you tried your luck with Little Man?

For a second, Jinx seemed lost and shocked, and the purple of her eyes fade back to the blue of the old days. The trick of lights faded just a quickly, and she smiled even more insanely.

- Ehehehe, he told you? How's he? Wolfy didn't bite his leg off?

Vi pursed her lips again, pissed off. There was no winning with her. She kept feeling like she was two steps behind, a rat in a maze, played by her maniacal laugh.

- Come on! insisted her sister. It's boring! You're no fun! You used to be more fun!

- And you used to be a lot of other things, gritted Vi between her teeth.

Silence fell again, as Jinx turned her attention back to the empty bottle and started playing with it like a bored toddler, pouting.

Every second passing by were turning Vi more and more toward insanity. Her little sister, sweet little Powder, just right next to her, and yet so far away. So... gone... The more she saw of Jinx, the less human she looked, closer and closer to an animal with attention disorder.

Here's to a new us.

Not a single ones of her nightmares had dared making Jinx worse than she already was the night she had killed Silco, and Councilor Kiramman. And yet reality had no issue being so cruel.

Finally, almost as a deliverance, a howl shook the night outside the bar.


-Ehehe here he comes, grinned Jinx.

She dropped the bottled which shattered to the ground in a thousand pieces, and drew her gun.

Vi tensed and made sure her gauntlets were properly attached, responding well, ready to beat the crap out of anything. She braced, and put herself into defensive position.

She waited for a few seconds, then a full minute, and nothing happened. No more howls, not a sound, not a movement.

- Where is he? groaned Jinx, now very displeased with the turn of event.

She jumped of the bar, and as soon as she touched the ground, all hell broke loose.

A giant shape barged into the place like a storm, with thunder and wind. It ripped all the wires scattered around the entranced in the process, and four grenades went off at the same time. The force of the explosion threw both Jinx and Vi away, toppling them over the bar. Chairs and tables crashed on the walls, all windows scattered in shards.

- Youhou! cheered Jinx, getting her heap back up above the counter. That's an entrance!

Warwick was standing in front of them, most of the wall behind him blown to pieces into a massive hole. The explosions had left traces of burnt fur all over his back and right legs, some pieces of it still lit up for a few seconds before the wind snuffed them out. A part of his ear was cut, bleeding on his skull, small drops falling to the ground one by one.

It was staring at the sisters, hesitant, or maybe just patient, like the true predator it was. Its mouth moved a bit, and a large amount of saliva dropped to the floor, mixing itself with the blood. His eyes were hard, hungry, and his fangs started to show up out of his mouth. It growled, low at first, and the sound then turned itself into an horrific howl.

The massive reservoir of green liquid, stuck in his back, suddenly collapsed into its body. A mechanism triggered, somewhere inside, and the liquid seemed to pour in the veins of the wolf. The mechanical parts covering its body, its claws, slowly turned green, then red, a shining, burning red, making it twice more nightmarish than it already was. The more the drug took over its blood, the more Warwick seemed to fall into a pit of madness and hunger.

Even Jinx shivered and felt terror take over her own insanity. Vi, next to her, was completely frozen in fear, not a thing that happened every day. Drooling like a sick beast, the monster kept switching targets with its eyes, from blue to pink, until something, somewhere deep within its guts, unleashed it.

Jinx moved just as fast and dodged the claws by a hair. She stepped back, once, twice, escaping death each time by an inch, until she jumped high, reaching and climbing on a beam above, out of reach.

- Wolfy has a thing for me! How nice!

Vi did not wait for another opening and engaged her full power in a massive hook, straight to the jaws. The Atlas Gauntlets collided with its skull with the force of a truck and sent him flying against a wall, shuffling a cloud of dirt. The wolf, furious and unphased, jumped out toward her, all fangs and claws out.

Vi yelled and smashed her gauntlets together, connecting the two gemstones. The explosion, channeled through the mechanics, produced a wonderful burst which send the beast flying back to where it came from.

- That's a good boy! laughed Jinx from above. Now sit! Sit!

Warwick was very much not in a complying mood, and went back to the fight, forcing Vi on the backfoot, having to dodge fangs and block claws. She managed to hold her own for a few seconds, until the wolf switched tactics, taking her by surprise, and sunk its teeth in her left gauntlet.

The metal cracked with a scary noise, and Vi felt the pressure of a thousand world trying to erase her hand from existence. The fang had managed to pierce through several layers of steel, stopped just in time by some miracle, only scratching the skin underneath.

- You heard the lady! She said SIT!

Vi hammered the face of the wolf so it would finally let go, but he stood strong, and instead, with just a movement of its powerful neck, sent her flying in turn, landing outside the bar.

Vi had been lucky to see her gauntlets freed in the process, and the relief made her forget the pain of the hard landing. The weapon was now almost unusable, but it could still serve as a shield, or a brass-knuckle.

She stood back up, repressing the shakes in her legs.

Warwick went straight for her, but was once again stopped in its tracks. Jinx had unleashed her own beast, and Pow-Pow the machine gun was spitting bullets in a firestorm.

Some of those bullets just bounced back on his skin, tough as scales, some seemed to do a bit of damage, not much, some missed and crashed a few centimeters away from Vi. The pink-haired brawler engaged her Hextech shield just in time to prevent the end of the gust from shredding her to pieces.

- Jinx! Fucking hell!

But the maniac just laughed, looking only at her target which now jumped around to escape the bullets.

In a flash, the wolf was back in and jumped so high that Vi's heart stopped in her chest. Jinx dodged again by half a hair, but the back of the monster destroyed the beam she was standing on. Jinx used the momentum to twist and deliver a powerful kick to the beast's head. It didn't flinch. She grabbed and climbed on another beam, close to her, and pulled the trigger again. It pushed the wolf back a bit, but not enough, and with a massive slash, tore through the wood, depriving Jinx of her standing ground. She fell and crashed down below, her machine gun far from her.

- Shit, she groaned.

Warwick could have snapped her head right there, if not for Vi to interrupt it with a charge worthy of a tank. She put everything she had in her course, shoulder first, and hit it in the flank, moving it out of the way and against the bar which cracked and exploded under the force. It fought back, and the claws ripped through the beloved red jacket, taking bits and pieces of skin and flesh along with them.

Vi grunted and fell back, holding her belly with her arm, trying to stop the blood from pouring. She blocked two other hits with her left arm, using the gauntlet as a shield. Sparks lit the place every time the metal claws scratched, tore, ripped on the steel of Jayce's creation. Jinx grabbed her big sister by the collar and dragged her back, clearing her line of sight, and shot her gun multiple time.

The hits to the head seemed to bother the beast, at least a bit more than before, and few drops of blood ran along its forehead.

It groaned, growled and then howl, a cry of such fury and power that Fear itself sunk its teeth into Vi's heart. Her ears almost exploded and when it finally closed its mouth, a buzzing, blurry sound kept ringing, everything else dulled away. Senses in shambles, she didn't see the next hit coming, and Warwick hit both of them with enough force to shake her from skull to toes. She landed against her own sister, crushing her against the wall, feeling her bones crack under the pressure.

Dazzled, senseless, she looked at her own body, noticing how her belly had now started to bleed more than she'd like. She couldn't tell if she had been hit somewhere else, she could barely feel her legs.

Jinx groaned behind her, waking up through the pain.

- Vander... Vander please!

It was the last thing Vi could do. The last thing she wanted as well, but she felt it, it was that, or her life, and her sister along with it. Begging.

- Please. Don't do that. It's me, Vi! You know me! You raised me! Please.

Warwick stopped. It looked at her, with the same eyes it had when they had faced each other the first time.

- Vi... Violet...

- Yes! Yes Violet! It's me!

The voice from its jaws was, again, almost human. She could hear him, recognize him, beneath it all. She added.

- It's Powder too! Powder, my sister! You remember her?

The wolf looked at the blue hair and tilted its head. Vi moved a bit, just a bit, so he could see her face.

- It's Powder...

Warwick raised its muzzle in the air and sniffed, several time, soaking the smells in.

- No... Not Powder. NOT POWDER!

It charged, jaws wide.

With nothing but a reflex, a last, unexpected reflex, Vi grabbed the fangs in her hands. Her left grabbed a top one, barely holding on in the armor falling apart, her right caught a bottom, with all she had. She felt the powder of a hurricane behind it, the pressure, and she hold on. Best she could. Not tall and proud, not magnificent as the hero of a child story, but barely, desperate, her feet slipping on the floor, her mouth stained with blood and drool, her clothes torn, weird sounds coming out of her mouth, between begging and whimpers.

Yet, she hold on.

With everything she had. With the last bits of strength she had in her.

She couldn't win a battle of strength against that monster, she knew it. She twisted her arms, her shoulders, her hips, and used the momentum to throw Warwick to the side.

They gained a few seconds, precious seconds. Vi grabbed her groggy sister by the collar, and dragged her out of the bar, running for their lives.

- We gotta go, we can't beat it.

- Wait. Wait!

Jinx slapped Vi's hand away and fell to the floor. Slowly getting back her strength and sense, the trigger-happy woman got back up and smiled again.

- Time for a little show, she said.

She pulled a little blue stone out of her pocket, a terrible, cursed, wonderful little bubble of blue. The blue of fate.

Vi wanted to protest, to stop her, to say something, but she couldn't, she didn't have time.

Jinx opened the chamber of her beloved, custom-made little gun, Zap, and put the Gemstone in it. Just like its big brother Fishbones half a year earlier, it seemed to gorge itself with power, turning blue, casting lights and sparkles.

Warwick emerged from the wrecks of the bar, foaming at the mouth, literally.

Jinx raised her left hand and aimed. Vi prayed silently, wanted to close her eyes, but couldn't. Just like she couldn't look away when the rocket tore the sky.

Jinx pulled the trigger.

No bullet came out. Instead, a flashy, ray of lightning crossed the field at the speed of light, wide as a canon ball, hot as infernos and blue as the summer sky above their heads when they were children..

The plasma ray tore through the beast, broke a fang which went flying up in the air, and threw back Warwick into the bar like a ragdoll, shaking the fundations to their core. The wolf let out a whimper, pathetic and sad, looking in disbelief at the massive wounds on it torso, bleeding red and green. Vi could barely see it from the outside, buried under rubbles and splinters, but she tensed and cursed the gods when she saw the beast trying to shake it off and get back up. She didn't have much fight left in her.

But Warwick collapsed. It fell back to the ground, mouth opened, breathing painfully, barely, bleeding from several wounds.

Just like Vi's heart when she thought Jinx might just had killed Vander a second time.

- Fiou! cheered Jinx. That turned out pretty cool didn't it! Zap's on board, baby!

Despite her bravado, Jinx's shoulders fell a bit and she stumbled slightly, clearly exhausted and dealing with the adrenaline withdrawal. Still, she looked in better shape that Vi, and the pink-haired woman felt a cold shiver down her spine, thinking about what was next.

- Come on, let's finish it off, said the youngest.

- Powder no, we cant'! You've heard him! It's Vander! He's still alive!

Jinx looked at her, death in her eyes, along with a newlyfound, and dreadful, seriousness.

- It ain't Vander anymore. He's gone. Just like Powder.

Jinx reloaded her gun, with usual bullets with time, and ahead toward the ruins of the Last Drop.

Vi raised her hand to stop her.

Then she heard a sound, familiar but unexpected, and more than anything else, terrifying.

She turned on her heels in a flash and raised an Hextech shield with her only valid gauntlet.

Too late.

Eyes wide, a surprised look on her face, Jinx stumbled backward and collapsed on the floor.


- Powder! cried Vi, extending her arm to try and catch her falling sister, in vain.

In the end, when Vi didn't have the time to think about it, when her body was controlled by her instincts, the blue haired girl was still Powder in her heart.

Heart which, at that very moment, skipped several beats, frozen in terror and panic.

- No no no no no! Please no! Please!

But Jinx's eyes were already closed, and her body as still and unresponsive as the painting Ekko had made of her. Vi frantically touched and searched her body, looking for an entry or exit wound, but no matter how much she did, she couldn't find any blood. Her hands were still dry.

- Come on, come on, wake up! We need to leave!

Any time could Warwick get back up and resume its Hunt. And Vi didn't think for a second she could protect her sister if she was dead-weight.

In her panic, she looked up toward the Last Drop, expecting to be charged and killed any second, but Warwick was gone. The only thing left of him was a disgusting puddle of blood, green drug and drool. She briefly allowed herself a sigh of relief before turning back to her sibling, trying to lift her up and carry her in her arms on the way back.

She didn't know where to go, she was just... moving forward. Straight ahead. Leaving Jinx's gun and the gatling behind, lying in the dirt of the Lanes.

It took more than five minutes before she crossed path with Caitlyn.

The Pulsefire rifle hung in her back, and her right arm was handing loosely at her side, despite the left hand trying to hold it still. All sorts of emotions boiled within Vi's heart and head: hate, anger, love and relief, confusion and despair. She froze, Jinx weighting heavily on her arms and shoulders. She wanted to yell, she wanted to drop her sister and hug her lover, she wanted to turn back and run away.

- What did you do? she finally asked, trying to use the anger to overshadow the despair.

- I'm a sniper after all, Violet. It's what I do.

Caitlyn's voice was calm and steady. Vi gave up and gently put het sister down, back against a dirty wall.

- What you do, uh? Hide from four streets away and wait to shoot my sister in the back?

- Yes. I don't need to tell you how this works.

- What are you doing here? insisted Vi.

- Isn't it obvious? I'm here to watch your back, and capture Jinx.

- I told you not to come!

- And I decided I didn't give a shit. No matter how much I love you, VI, I need your permission neither to do my job, nor to do what's right! Dare I say, it is exactly because I love you that I need to do both.

Vi stared, silent, angry but unsure.

- Now, continued Caitlyn, I'm sorry I couldn't help with Warwick. I had it in my sight most of the fight, but we both know the Pulsefire are non-lethal. Jinx's bullets did nothing to it, so mine would have been useless. Worst, it would have revealed me. It might have escaped for the time being, but it's hurt, and it will give us some time, keep people safe a bit longer. And now we can bring Jinx to Stillwater.

She made a step to the left, toward the criminal, but instinctively, Vi stepped in-between, her shoulders raised, fists slightly moving up.

- Are you going to try to stop me?

- Maybe I should, growled Vi.

But Caitlyn didn't look upset. She didn't event look surprised.

- Are you going to punch me, Violet? Use those gauntlets on me, fight me like I'm one of those thugs?

Vi winced and stepped back.

- I... no..

- No you won't. I know you, you're better than this. And you know it too.

And she was right. There was nothing on this earth, in the heavens above or the hells under, that would push Vi to hurt Caitlyn. The gods themselves were forcing her to put down the arms.

- I'm your partner, insisted Caitlyn. I've had your back, like I've sworn to. Like I want to. It is done.

Vi's anger dissipated, letting more than enough room for despair to fill the gap.

- How... How could you? she stuttered. You had no rights!

- No rights? repeated Caitlyn, now trying to control her own frustration. I had every rights! The right as Piltover's Sheriff! As Jinx's victim, after she kidnapped me. As a victim's daughter, after she killed my mother! The right as your partner, to do all I can to help you! Vi! Listen to me! I understand! I know how hard this must be for you. I understand! We already had that discussion. You cannot ask me to forget about my grief and my duty! And I cannot ask you to put you own sister in the same jail you were locked in! So I did it for you! So you didn't have to! So you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for this. It's my burden, as much as it is my right!

Vi seemed to crumble from inside, like a castle of glass. She couldn't speak, couldn't cry. Couldn't move.

- Violet. It's time. We got her. Let's get her the help she needs. So you can see her, watch over her. This needs to happen. For everyone's sake.

Vi could not stare at her girlfriend any longer, so she stared at her gauntlets instead. The broken one, the intact one, both just as useless now. Nothing could solve this for her, no amount of violence, no amount of blood, nothing would be enough. She finally realized, gazing at the dim blue light of the gemstone, that the only way out was forward. No more escaping this, delaying this.

- How long is she gonna be out ? she finally asked.

Caitlyn tried not to smile and show her relief.

- Several hours, at least.

Vi picked the unconscious body up once more, and loaded her on her shoulder.

- You're wrong about something, Cupcake. She's still my responsibility. If anyone needs to put her ass in jail, it's me. I owe her that much. Go home, Caitlyn. You need to get that arm fixed.

Caitlyn checked her broken arm. It was still terribly painful, but nothing she couldn't handle for a moment.

- Let me at least walk back with you. Please.

- What? You scared I'd bail out and leave the country with her?

Caitlyn knew from her tone that she was being a smartass again, bringing back that cockiness to hide her pain.

- Like you could live two weeks without me!

- Ah shut up. Help me carry her! She's heavy.

- I got a broken arm!


Jinx's nightmares were purple, as always. They were always more faces in it, demonic, twisted, sometimes unrecognizable and sometimes way too clear.

For the first time though, there was a wolf. Not purple, but green and red, molten lava and blood drooling from its mouth. Or was it a man? A wolf's head on top of a human body? Nothing made sense, but it was chasing her. It was catching up. It sunk its fangs in her flesh.

She woke up.

All was dark. Dark with the usual shades of purple. No, it was not dark, not totally, there was a dim, greenish light somewhere in front. Her head hurt, she tried to focus.

When her brain registered and recognized the shape sitting on the floor back against the wall, on the other side, all her ghosts woke up at the same time and screamed. Not at her, for once in maybe forever, but they lashed out like never before.

Bitch! Dirty bitch!

Traitor! Traitor!

Kill her ! Kill the bitch ! Burn her! Burn them all!

Shoot her!

Instinctively, she tried to ignore them, but at the same time, her left hand reached mechanically toward her hip, only to find the holster empty.

Her eyes got used to the low light and she finally saw what separated the sisters. The bars.

- Hey! Hey take it easy sis. You were hit pretty hard! You've been out for... Well it's hard to track time here, but I'd say three or four hours.

Mylo, Claggor, the new Wolfman, all of them screamed so loud her head was about to explode.

- Shut up! Shut up!

They obeyed, but her own skull kept hurting even more.

She tried to get up from the cold stone she was laying on.

- Vi?

- Yeah ?

- Where... where are we?

Her sister took a deep breath.

- We call it the Pit. Not hard to imagine why. Not the best place in this town, but the safest for now. For you and everybody.

Jinx walked to the bars and took them in her hands. They were cold, rough against her skin.

For some reasons, somewhere in her brain, something told her it was all a joke. A bad prank, one like she would have loved to pull.

- Ahaha. Very funny Sis. Now let me out.

She shook the bars once. Nothing budged.

- I'm sorry... I can't.

Jinx saw the blue eyes in the dark, and panic took over. She shook more.

Nothing moved.

She screamed with all she had, along with her demons.


Vi's heart cracked and climbed up her throat as she saw Jinx shake the bars again and again.

- Let me out ! Let me out !

She has spent hours, days, weeks, trying to make those bars move one inch. She knew they wouldn't.

- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! It's just temporary, I promise! Just until we build a safer place for you, until we get you some help.

- Let me out ! Now !

- I'll come see you all the time ! You won't be alone like I was ! I swear !

- Why are you doing this to me ? Don't do that ! Please !

Vi wanted to rip her own ears off. It was an exact copy of that terrible night, the night when all changed forever. Her sister was crying her eyes out, almost scratching her skin off, begging again and again.

- Please ! Violet ! Violet ! Please don't do that! Violet !

Vi clenched her teeth and fists, plunging her nails in the palm of her hands until she bled.

- Please Violet! Violet! Don't lock me up ! I'm your sister, you can't do that! Please! It's me Powder!

There she saw it. She saw it all. Powder used to be a cute little trickster. She could lie and Vi would often fall for it.

But those purple eyes could not lie. They were filled with deception.

- I wish you were, she answered softly.

Jinx's waterfalls dried up on the spot and were quickly replaced by hate and maniac grin.

- I'll kill you! You hear me Sis ? I'll get out and I'll kill you ! I'll kill everyone you love! The Hatlady ! I'll gut her like a fish ! I'll paint her bathroom with her blood ! I'll burn your city ! You're dead Vi! Dead!

Vi turned her back on her and walked away.

- I'll see you tomorrow, Sis, she whispered.

And her way back up, in the rusty elevator she kept her eyes locked in front of her. She remembered everything perfectly, every scrap on the metal, every clinks and clanks from the mechanism, engraved in her brain since the day Caitlyn had dragged her out of here. What had been for a while important memories of a life-changing day were now turning into a horrible nightmare. She felt so sick she wanted to throw up, and so terribly sad she wanted to cry until she passed out. But she hold on, again.

It's only after she passed the giant gates and saw Caitlyn, her arm in a scarf, waiting for her outside, that she allowed herself to crumble and cried. She cried and cried, her face buried in the neck of her partner, who wrapped her with her only valid arm.

- I'm sorry Vi. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. Come on. Let's get you home .


A/N : WRAP UP! Blood and Water is done! I hope you liked it. I'm quite happy with this ending, although I understand it might be a bit abrupt. It's clearly made for a sequel, which I will NOT do. This will all depends on what Arcane season 2 will actually be like :). However, I will maybe make some oneshots tied to this work (flashbacks, or what happened during the 6 months Jinx was gone, for instance). I also have another fanfic i'd like to resume, my HPxFairyTail crossover. Feel free to drop by!

A/N2 ; I've read some comments about using quote marks, and I was a bit surprised. I made a little research, and it turns out, english books do use quote marks. But the novels in my native language ( French) do not! We use dashes, and I've seen that all my life, which explains why I use them as well. I'll try to fix that for future works =)

A/N3 : Many thanks to my lovely Beta :)