AN: please note that names are going to be flipping a lot and the name someone calls themselves or someone else has a lot of meaning.
"Powder-" Sevika heard the distant call that was abruptly cut off. She turned to see Marcus struggling to drag Violet away, a white rag clamped over her mouth and nose.
"Silco!" the one-armed woman got her boss's attention with her yell and started to run off toward the ally the enforcer was in. Even with one arm Sevika knew she was a force to be reckoned with. A flying knee strike got the Top-Sider to drop Vi and knocked him out.
The girl was already unconscious from his sneak attack, and it didn't look like she was going to wake up anytime soon. Ah well, less work for her. Sevika scooped up the girl and thew her over her shoulder. Best to get her to their base before she wakes up.
Silco had his back turned. He was distracted. Every good thief knew that this was the opportune moment to strike. Ekko knew this. So, when the boy was sure that Silco wasn't paying attention, he ran from his hiding place to drag powder into a nearby ally.
Ekko wrapped his arms around Powder's trembling form, lifting her from the ground and dragging her to the small ally across from them. Ekko predicted a lot of factors in his rescue of powder, Silco or his goons could turn around, powder could be injured, or Vi could see them and give them away. However, one thing he didn't predict was for Powder to fight him
"Let me-" Ekko quickly covered Powder's mouth to silence her, praying that Silco didn't hear her. The girl continued to struggle against him, coming dangerously close to knocking over some trash.
Eventually, Ekko had to push powder against the wall, just to keep her still and keep her from running back out. He couldn't blame her really, it took everything Ekko had not to run out of that ally to try to save Vi. Sevika currently had the pink-haired girl draped over her shoulder and was carrying her off to who-knows-where. Silco following.
"We can't go after her. He'll kill us." It killed Ekko to say the words out loud, even long after Silco had left.
"We need to get her! We need to save Vi!" Powder was practically in hysterics, still fighting Ekko even if she had no idea what she would do once she was free. Her begging to go after Vi soon turned into mumbling fits, of which Ekko couldn't make out anything other than "Vi", "promised", and "Jinx".
The fit lasted for hours before Powder wore herself out, falling to the ground sobbing. it was then that the girl finally said something understandable. "It was all my fault."
Ekko blinked in confusion. Why would Silco's attack be her fault? "What?"
"It was all my fault! Don't you get it? I'm a jinx!" Powder devolved back into hysterics. Ekko simply pulled the girl into a hug, waiting until she calmed down enough to listen to him.
"I killed them." The girl sounded so heart broken. Ekko didn't know what to do, so he decided to fucus on what he could fix.
"You didn't do this. Silco did." Ekko spoke with conviction. Even if Powder didn't believe him, she might remember his words when she was upset.
"Besides, why is being a jinx such a bad thing?" Powder pulled back and looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Just jinx them." Ekko gestured to the outside of the ally, where Silco had just been standing a few hours prior. "Be a hinderance, be a thorn in their side, be a menace. Be their Jinx."
Powder lit up. "Ya, I might be a jinx, but that means I'll Jinx you!" she screamed that last part out at the place Sevika had taken Vi. After that, the two kids made their way back to Benzo's shop. It was time to cultivate their "jinxing" plan.
Vi knew she was moving. But that was all she could understand as her mind felt as though it was filled with a drowsy fog. Every thought she had seemed to slip away into the fog, leaving Vi in a weird limbo where she couldn't reliably perceive her surroundings.
The girl was just managing to chase away the fog when she felt cold metal clamp around her wrists. Vi tried to pull her hand in front of her to see what exactly was stuck on her wrist, only to find both her hands fixed to the wall behind her, stretching her arms out in a T-pose and forcing her to remain standing.
That wasn't right.
Vi just couldn't seem to find any reason as to why she is restrained. Did she do something to really piss of Vander? Wait, Vander wouldn't chain her up no matter how far she pushed him. Did she get arrested? It was then that Vi realized she was not the only one in the room.
"Ssevika? Whatzz goin on?" Vi's voice came out slurred, making the girl's frown deepen. Why did she sound like one of the drunks at the bar? "Wherezz Vanderr?" Vi looked around for her guardian, only to become more confused as she doesn't recognize where they were. The pink haired girl looked back to Sevika after her assessment of the room, only to find the woman staring at her in a stoic silence.
Why was she looking at her like that? Where was Powder? Vi couldn't shake the feeling that she was forgetting something important. Something had just happened, Vi was sure of it. Where was she just at? Vi remembered that she had gone looking for Vander with Mylo and Clogger after the enforcers had…
Vi's eyes widened once she remembered. "YOU TRAITOR!" she managed to yell at Sevika with minimal slurring, pulling more violently at her restraints. "WHEREZZ POWDERR?" Vi could feel herself snarling. Sevika had betrayed Vander, she set them up, she was one of the reasons Vander was dead.
Dead…
Vi felt all the fight leave her body as the memory of her almost father's dead body flooded her brain. Not to mention what she did to powder afterwards. 30 seconds and Vi managed to screw up the one thing Vander asked her to do with his last breath. Then Marcus got the drop on her…
Both Sevika and Vi neglected to comment on the tears that were now rolling down the younger girl's checks while Vi forcibly chocked back her sobs. She refused to show that weakness in front of the woman who helped kill her family. The two women remained like that for several minutes before the squeaking door broke the silence.
"Apologies for making you wait, I needed to get my associate here and some equipment-" Silco drawled as he and another man whose face was wrapped in bandages walked in.
Vi didn't hesitate for a second to start screaming at Silco. "You son of a BITCH! You killed-" Vi was cut off as the back of a hand made contact with the side of her face, causing her head to whip to the side and crack against the wall. The pink haired girl could feel the nausea rise in her stomach as her vison swam. That hit really didn't help with whatever drugs Marcus used to knock her out.
The girl tried desperately to shove down the vomit threatening to make its way back up her throat and focus her vison on the monster of a man standing in front of her. She had almost managed to get her bearings back when Silco's twisted, gnarled hand found its way into her bright pink hair. Vi let loose a small whimper of pain as he pulled on her locks, forcing her to meet his eye.
"You will not speak to me that way." The coldness in Silco's voice sent shivers down Vi's spine, causing her to clamp her jaw shut as she couldn't think of anything else she could do. This must have been a good enough response for Silco as he gently released her hair, letting her head fall in defeat.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this is Singed, he is going to be handling your treatment." Vi's head snapped up at the word 'treatment'. The realization and sudden movement did nothing to help the girl's building nausea and aching head. Vi knew the terror she felt showed on her face, but she refused to speak for fear of pushing Silco any farther.
"Yes, I know it seems scary, but trust me you will be better off for it." What did Silco mean by that? What 'treatment' could he possibly be planning? From what he said it didn't sound like they would just be treating her wounds. The bandaged man moved to pick up a syringe filled with a clear liquid and made his way over to Vi.
The chained girl thrashed and struggled as the man came closer. Vi didn't know what that substance was but she knew she didn't want it near her. Vi could feel the metal cuffs holding her wrists bite into her skin, becoming slippery with her blood. This is what caused Sevika to decide the girl was becoming too much and grabbed a hold of her shoulders and head to keep them still.
Vi never knew she could miss the mind-numbing fog that had consumed her brain just moments before, as, once the bandaged man plunged the syringe into her neck, Vi could swear her head had been lit on fire. The sensation drew a scream from her throat as the drug burned its way through her veins like molten lava.
The pain soon became all consuming as Vi was no longer sure if she had just thrown up or why she was here or even who she was. All Vi knew was the pain decimating her body and eating away at her mind. Vi could feel her consciousness slipping away, only faintly hearing "Soon Violet will die and you will be reborn as Aerona. Soon everything will be better. For both of us."
Vi didn't even have a chance to ponder the words before the world fell away into blackness.
Powders wasn't acting quite right. Everyone noticed how she threw herself into her work, constantly muttering about bombs and finding Vi. No one had the heart to tell her that Vi was probably dead. That Silco probably killed her the moment he found her.
She was also insisting that people call her Jinx. Ekko hadn't meant for her to take his advice about being a jinx so seriously. It almost seemed like the girl was losing her grip. That 'grip' however, didn't affect her ability to build or, more accurately, destroy.
After Vi had been taken by Silco, Powder threw herself into perfecting her bombs and other weapons. After only a few short months, powder had successfully designed a paint bomb, a traditional explosive the size of an average hand grenade with a chomping jaw feature, a handheld gun with larger than average bullets (she claimed that was for people on shimmer as normal bullets wouldn't affect them as much), and a three-barrel, rotating machine gun.
With Powder working almost around the clock, Ekko practically had to force her to eat and sleep, even then, it wasn't much. Having gotten very concerned about the Powder's state, Ekko worked relentlessly to get her to do physical combat training with him. After all, he didn't want her to be a sitting duck in the fight if she ran out of ammo.
It took months to get Powder to a place Ekko could call 'proficient at fighting' or 'not dead immediately'. The fighting also helped Powder get her mind off of Vi for a while. It would seem to most that the blue haired girl was moving on from her grief for her sister, Ekko knew better. That was why he didn't tell her about his plan to put Vi in the mural of the fallen, she would only insist that her sister wasn't dead and spiral into a frantic search that would last until she wore herself out. Which, speaking from experience, would take a long time.
Powder also insisted on going to almost every firelight mission that included Silco, in hopes of finding something out about her sister. Every time it happened and Vi was still no where to be found, Powder would lock herself in her room for a couple days, working on more gadgets.
Ekko hoped that Powder would accept that Vi was gone soon. She was only going to end up self-destructing if she kept on going like that. But Ekko couldn't deal with it right then, he was chasing down a rumor about a shimmer shipment. Hopefully, Powder would be willing to talk to him after this mission.
Everything was fuzzy. Someone was talking. Were they talking to her? Probably not. Most people didn't. well, the doctor did sometimes, but it was mostly nonsense that she didn't understand. Why were there so many voices? She tried to open her eyes, but the lights were too bright. Why were the lights always to bright?
Oh, wait, now one of the voices was trying to talk to her. It is so hard to make out the words. She focuses harder to hear. "Ah, there you are. How are you feeling?" how was she feeling? What kind of question was that? What could she answer? Numb? No, there were no "feelings", so she just shook her head.
"That is alright, Aerona. You'll know someday." Hold on, she knew that voice. He always asks her this. It is Silco. She likes Silco. Whenever Silco is around nothing bad happens. Sometimes she hurts, but never with Silco around. He is nice.
"I'll see you tomorrow." No, Silco was leaving. She can't let Silco leave. If he leaves something bad might happen again! she needs Silco to stay.
"Wait" she barely manages to Croke out the word, but it does the trick. Silco turned around, looking at her expectantly. She couldn't get anything else out. What was she supposed to say to get Silco to stay? To get him too never leave? "Come back." She doesn't know why she chose these words, but they seemed to please Silco.
"Do you want me to stay?" She nodded her head franticly in response to Silco's question even though it made her head swim really bad. "Okay Aerona." Who was Aerona? Was that her? Silco seemed to say it a lot so that must be her. She would let Silco call her that. She staired at Silco, just hoping he would really understand what she wanted.
The girl had stayed strong for months. It was starting to become rather tiresome really. She always seemed to hold on to her hatred. Silco sighed. His pet project was becoming tiresome. She never responded to her new name, and she never answered his questions.
The man was about to leave the scientist to get back to work on her when he heard it. "Wait." The word was so soft he almost missed it. "Come back." Silco turned back to his project to see her looking at him with wide eyes, practically begging him to stay. This was exactly what Silco was waiting for.
For now, Silco had to keep the joy off his face. She needed to believe this. "Do you want me to stay?" the girl nodded like crazy. She was finally ready.
Silco had finally broken Vi.
The drugs the doctor had been giving her for months were to help her forget her troublesome past. Usually, it only took a few doses for a person to forget everything, then a minor, continuous dose to keep it that way, but Vi had the strongest will of anyone he had ever seen. All the more reason she would be the perfect addition to his ranks.
"Release her." Sevika didn't hesitate to follow the order and pushed a button that released Vi's restraints. Without the cuffs holding her to the wall, Vi promptly fell down on her face. Silco suppressed a small chuckle at this. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
He bent down to help her up. "Come along now, Aerona. We have so much work to do. Together." Silco reviled in the way the girl's face lit up at his words. his plan was working beautifully. Now she just needed a little training, and she would become the most fearsome fighter in the undercity. And completely under his control.
(AN: just in case anyone is confused, Silco renamed Vi. He named her Aerona, which means carnage (Celtic). Just like he told jinx that she needed to kill powder to become Jinx, Silco "killed" Vi and made her Aerona by erasing all her memories)
(AN: this is Vi's POV but since she thinks her name is Aerona she will be referred to as such, though jinx and the other firelights will still caller Vi. The same thing will apply to future parts in Vi's POV. I'll mark them just to be safe.)
For four years Silco and Sevika trained Aerona, taught her to fight and sent her on missions. They ranged from stealing certain items from topside, to shadowing Silco on deals so that no one got any idea's that they could hurt him while she was around.
The only missions Silco and Sevika refused to let her go ones were the ones where they knew the Firelights would show up. Whenever that got word about those damn firelights, they would practically demand that Aerona stay at head quarts. It annoyed her to no end. They would insist that it was to protect her, but Aerona was sure it meant they thought she was inadequate.
Well, she would show Silco. Today Sevika was going to transport their biggest shipment of Shimmer yet and there was a danger of firelights showing up to ruin it. Silco told Aerona to stay behind, but there was a hidden compartment in the underbelly of the airship for her to hide in.
Once hidden, Aerona waited for the fighting to start, knowing to pop out when she heard Sevika's war cry. Aerona leapt out from her hiding spot, hood up, smashing the two nearest firelight's heads into the wall, knocking them out instantly. Why did Sevika and Silco think she wasn't ready for this? These firelights were barely a challenge.
"Aerona! What the hell are you doing? Get out of here!" Ha, Sevika was stuck to the wall from the crystal grenade she got hit with. Who wasn't ready now Sevika?
Aerona continued to fight firelights. Admittedly, they were decent fighters while on their hover boards, forcing Aerona to duck and dodge to avoid their crystal bombs. It was going quite well, that was, until real bombs joined the mix.
A blue haired firelight jumped down from the back of another's hoverboard, launching bombs in all directions. Aerona got behind cover just as the chain of explosions went off. Damn, there goes Silco's shimmer. Well maybe Aerona could bring him a few firelights to take his anger out on. Starting with the blue haired, bomb wielding, maniac.
Sevika was still screaming at her to get the hell off the ship, but is she wanted to get rid of Aerona she was going to have to free herself first. Aerona ran at the firelight, tackling her to the deck of the airship. The firelight was small, but fast. She managed to wiggle out of Aerona grip almost as soon as she established it.
The girl also managed to land a kick to Aerona's face, knocking her hood back. Aerona glared at the firelight as she got back into a fighting stance, only to see the girl standing blank faced, open mouthed at her. Aerona smirked, this hesitation would be the end of this little firelight. She dashed at the firelight again, only to get a face full of hoverboard.
This seemed to shake the blue haired firelight out of her stupor. "Vi?" hmm, that must her partner's name. Aerona growled, getting ready to fight again. "Vi, wait it's me! It's Powder!" was the firelight talking… to her. That wasn't possible. She had simply mistaken her for someone else. Or something.
Aerona brought her fists up to guard her face as the masked firelight charged at her, hoping to get another hit in with his hoverboard. Aerona dodged bellow the board and went after the blue haired firelight again, but she jumped over Aerona, using her back as a type of springboard.
"I'm sorry Vi." Sorry? Why was the firelight sorry? And why did she keep calling her the wrong name? Aerona was waiting to see their next move when she was flung forward, a loud bang accompanying the sudden push forward.
Aerona felt her face smash into the ground, probably breaking her nose. The world around her sounded fuzzy, a lot of yelling going on. Was that Sevika? Aerona couldn't see her, she couldn't see anything really. It was all just so fuzzy. The only thing Aerona could make out was the bottom of a boot as it smashed into her face.
Maybe this was why Silco thought she wasn't ready.
The firelights didn't find out about the shimmer shipment until the last second. It took every resource at their disposal to get to the airship in time to destroy Silco's drugs. They had a plan of attack to follow once they hit the airship, but it quickly got knocked off course when Silco's secret weapon showed up.
Jinx usually hung back on these kinds of missions, as her uncanny ability to destroy everything around her could sometimes endanger her fellow firelights, but once Silco's secret weapon came out, it was decided that Jinx would go in and "Have her fun".
Ekko flew Jinx down on the back of his hoverboard so she could launch her bombs into position to destroy the shimmer. She thought it was a bit odd that Sevika seemed to be yelling at her own people, but Jinx didn't have any time to figure it out as she was tackled to the floor. Luckily, all her training sessions with Ekko paid off in making her hard to hold down. Jinx launched out her foot at her attacker, feeling satisfied at the grunt of pain it drew. However, the satisfaction didn't last long as Silco's secret weapon's hood fell.
The pink hair. The scar on her lip. The gray eyes. It couldn't be, could it? Jinx felt herself freeze, unable to move even as Vi ran at her for another tackle. She would have been dead meat, if not for Ekko nailing Vi in the face with his hoverboard.
"Vi?" jinx saw her sister starting to get up again, growling. "Vi, wait it's me! It's Powder!" she needed to reach Vi. Why wasn't she responding? Why was she still attacking?
What was wrong with Vi?
Jinx didn't spend too much time thinking about it as Ekko flew at Vi, trying to take her off balance again, but she only ducked under the board and ran straight at Jinx. It was a simple set up. a strait dash from her attacker, a bomb placed well enough that they wouldn't notice, and a good-sized boom. Jinx didn't want to fight her sister! She didn't even know why Vi was attacking, but she needed to knock her down. If only to create some time to figure out what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Vi."
As always, Jinx's bomb planting was perfect. Vi didn't even see the attack coming. So what if the sound of her sister's face cracking into the ground broke Jinx's heart? So what if she couldn't look as Ekko delivered the knock-out blow? So what if she wouldn't look her sister in the eye for fear of the emotions she might find there?
Ok, so maybe Jinx couldn't do a lot of things, but she could stop Ekko before he struck her sister again.
"What are you doing?" Jinx kept one eye on Sevika, who was still struggling to break free, and one eye on Ekko.
"I'm taking down Silco's weapon! Now that they're willing to fight us, a lot of our future plans could be in danger!"
He didn't recognize her. The thought stunned Jinx for a moment. "Ekko, no. that's Vi, don't you recognize her?" Ekko took a closer look at the girl's face, brushing back the pink hair before he sighed.
"It is her." Even Jinx could see the frustration engraved into Ekko's face. "But that doesn't change the fact that she is working for Silco. Even if we don't know why." He whispered the last part so quietly that Jinx almost didn't hear it, especially since she was already picking up her sister.
"Jinx, what are you-" Jinx continued to ignore Ekko, but the look on her face must have made him rethink his words.
"I've been looking for Vi for four years. I'm taking her home and you can't stop me."
The firelights took the damn girl. Sevika tore her way out of the crystals holding her just in time to see that little demon throw Aerona onto one of their little hoverboards and take off. that's just perfect. The only individuals who could erase all the hard work they had put in to erase Vi and create Aerona. Hopefully, Aerona has her spare pills, and the firelights don't take them.
Gods, Silco wasn't going to be happy when he heard about his favorite project falling into firelight hands. She was going to have to track those little bastards down and fast.
(AN: Vi calls herself Aerona and everyone else calls her Vi)
Her face hurt like hell. That was the first thing Aerona realized when she came to. The second was that she was chained to a tree inside a weird tunnel system. Aerona got to her feet and immediately started trying to free herself. She had learned a few years ago from Sevika that with just a little wiggle room and a little blood, one could get out of any restraints. Unfortunately, Aerona only had one of those things and the cuffs were skin-tight. Stupid firelights.
It was only after she had tried to free her hands that the blue haired firelight from before came running out. Aerona growled, if she had just a little more wiggle room that firelight would be running straight into the fight of her life.
"Vi, Stop! It's okay! You are safe here I promise. It's me, Powder." Oh, this again. this firelight obviously had enough time to figure out she wasn't this 'Vi' person, so why wouldn't she just drop it?! Aerona charged at the blue haired firelight only to find that she was standing just outside of the reach of her chains. Aerona hitting the end of the chain caused her to be violently yanked back and fall on her ass.
Aerona got back to her feet with the right amount of space between her and the firelight that she was as close as she could be and still have enough chain to fight. Aerona was expecting the girl to attack, but instead she looked… sad. Aerona couldn't figure out why she would be sad. She wasn't the one chained up.
Footsteps echoing throughout the area cut off Aerona's chain of thought. Now the little firelight had backup. Great. However, the firelight surprised Aerona by glaring away the other firelights instead of using them to jump her. Aerona kept herself tense and ready, just in case.
"It's okay Vi. just Ekko. 'Little man'. You remember him, right?" now what was she on about? The look of concern on the firelight's face was quickly replaced with rage when Aerona didn't reply. The brawler almost took a step back for how intense the firelight's rage was.
"Vi, I don't know what has happened to you but-" Aerona had enough of this firelight and her games.
"Stop calling me that!" Vi threw her hands up in rage. "I don't know who you think I am and frankly I don't care. I don't care who you are or what you do, but if you don't unlock these cuffs you won't live to regret it." The firelight's reaction to the threat was… interesting. She didn't look scared or even angry. She just looked even more sad.
That pissed Aerona off.
She surged forward, ready to make good on her threat right then, but the stupid firelights kept out of her reach. Aerona pulled at the chains with everything she had, snarling at the blue headed girl. Aerona pulled so hard even as her arms gave 'way and she let them get pulled behind her.
The firelights began to walk away. The cowards! Aerona charged forward in rage one more time, but swiftly regrated it as she heard a sickening pop. Her shoulder had popped out of its socket. Aerona couldn't help but cry out in pain. No matter how many times it happened, dislocating a shoulder still hurt like a bitch.
The brawler knew what she needed to do. The girl made her way back over to the firelight's tree and searched for a branch at the right height. Once she found it, Aerona carefully set the hand of her injured shoulder on the branch so she could grip it. Oh, she hated this part. Aerona quickly wanked her shoulder down and back, still holding onto the branch, until another 'pop' could be heard. It was back in place.
Aerona turned around to see the two firelights staring at her in shock. She just gave them a smug smirk in return. Maybe now they could see just who they were dealing with. The pink haired girl watched the two shuffle away, feeling satisfied enough to lay back against the tree she was chained to for some sleep.
The last thought that drifted through Aerona's mind before slipping away into sleep was 'did I remember to take my pill this morning?'
Jinx reluctantly agreed to keep Vi in the prisoner containment area. It was located at the center of the back, right against their tree, with chains wrapping around the tree to attach to a prisoner's wrists. Jinx winced a little bit as she clamped the chains around her sister's writs. She had stay unconscious through the short fight back. Jinx was rather relieved that she didn't have to hurt her sister again, but she would never admit to that.
It was several hours before Vi would wake up, so Jinx utilized the time to set up camp in the prisoner observation room so she could keep close to Vi as well as sending Scar to take care of Vi's wounds. He grumbled about having to reset her broken nose, but it made Jinx feel better that the damage she did was repaired. And if Jinx also ran off the usual prisoner guards with threats to not come back while Vi was there, well then no one bothered to call her out on it.
The joy Jinx felt upon seeing her sister's eyes open was immediately dashed when Vi's eyes launched open and began pulling on the chains with an insane amount of force. So much so, that Jinx could see her sister's blood all the way from the observation room.
"Vi, Stop! It's okay! You are safe here I promise." Jinx tried to calm the frantic woman down, but it was like she didn't even hear her. "It's me, Powder." That got Vi to turn around. Jinx felt her hopes rise. Did Vi finally recognize her? The airship thing was probably just because Vi got confused in battle or something. Vi would never attack her own sister. Right?
Jinx soon realized She would in fact, attack her own sister, as Vi charged at her, being stopped only feet away due to the chains yanking her back. Vi growled, low and deadly, as she rose from the ground and stood in front of Jinx with just enough slack that she could fight if Jinx ran at her.
Vi was setting up to be attacked. The thought broke Jinx's heart all over again. her own sister thought she would hurt her. On purpose. Jinx wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull her sister into a hug. To assure her over and over and over again that she would never hurt her, that she would never let Silco near her again, and that she would always be safe as long as jinx was alive.
These plans got interrupted by the sound of footsteps racing toward them. Ekko lead the way in with four guards following him. Jinx shot Ekko a glare, who then, upon seeing she was safe, signaled the men to stand down and wait outside. Vi however, had only gotten more tense with the arrival of more firelights.
"It's okay Vi." Jinx tried to calm her sister down again. "It's just Ekko. 'Little man'. You remember him, right?" Vi's growling only got lower. The realization struck Jinx hard. Her sister didn't recognize them. She didn't remember.
Jinx felt rage bubble up in her chest. Just what had Silco done to her sister? Brainwashed her?
"Vi, I don't know what has happened to you but-" Jinx hoped she could get through to Vi but the brawler cut her off.
"Stop calling me that!" Vi threw her hands up in rage. "I don't know who you think I am and frankly I don't care. I don't care who you are or what you do, but if you don't unlock these cuffs you won't live to regret it." Jinx realed back at the threat. Vi never threatened anyone like that. Threatened to punch? Yes. to kill? Absolutely not.
Vi surged forward again, trying to reach Jinx, but with her wrist restrained as they were, she only managed to pull her arms behind her back as she snarled at her and Ekko. Vi looked more like a rabid dog than a person as Ekko dragged Jinx back to the observation room.
The two only turned around when Vi let loose a pained cry. Ekko was forced to grab onto Jinx to keep her from running over to her sister, who Ekko was sure, would likely kill her.
Jinx watched in horror as Vi forcibly yanked her dislocated shoulder back into place without so much as a whimper. What did Silco put her through? What has she been doing all these years? Jinx felt herself being pulled back into the prisoner observation room again, but all she could see was Vi's smirk. She was proud of herself. Proud of how she injured herself and fixed it without complaint. How many times had she been forced to do something like that?
"-nx? Jinx?" oh Ekko had been talking to her. Jinx looked back at her partner. "Are you okay, Jinx?" She just shook her head in response and pulled away.
"That doesn't matter. Vi is definitely not okay." Ekko looked like he wanted to interrupt her, but Jinx wouldn't let him. "You saw her! She just re-aligned a dislocated shoulder like it was nothing! You know how much that hurts!" Ekko cringed, probably remembering the only time he had dislocated his own shoulder and cried when Scar put it back into place.
"Jinx, we might have to consider that we can't help Vi-"
"FUCK THAT! That is my sister out there and there is nothing I won't do to help her! She has been under the care of a lunatic for four years! I just need to show her how much better off she is here, how much I love her." Jinx dropped back down into her chair. "I can reach her. I know I can."
Aerona woke up violently, her mind fuzzy. She knew this sensation, it had happened only once before, the time there was a supply issue and Silco couldn't get her medication for days. He and Sevika had locked in in one of the lower cells and honestly, Aerona didn't remember most of it, but Silco said she freaked out a lot. After that he had kept an emergency stock of her meds in case any supply issues happened again. Shit! She must have forgotten to take them before the attack at the airship!
Aerona checked per pockets for her meds but found none. Those damn firelights must have taken them! Aerona could feel her breathing pick up, like she had just run across the entire undercity, and a strange tightness took over her chest making breathing even harder. She needed her meds! Silco had said so. How was she supposed to get them back?
Just then, the blue haired firelight came back in. she must have noticed that Aerona was awake and pacing. She held her hands up in that stupid "peace making" gesture that Aerona hated. The brawler let out a low growl, just to keep the firelight away. shouldn't this firelight be more scared of her? Didn't she have any sense of self-preservation?
She topped right outside of the reach of Aerona's chains. Okay, so the little firelight had some self-preservation. "Hey, Vi, it's ok. You are safe here." Why did she keep calling her that? Vi wasn't her name! instead of snapping at the girl for this yet again as she wanted to, Aerona just felt another weird sensation fill her chest. Was she dying? No that wasn't right. poison was different. And why would the firelight poison her when she was chained up anyway. No, this had something to do with missing her meds.
Aerona hated to sound weak but right now this firelight was her only connection to what she wanted. "My medication. You took it. I need it." The firelights wouldn't withhold her medicine, right? they had principles or something.
"Your medication?" this girl was annoyingly dense.
"Yes. Medicine. Stuff I need to not get sick." So, Aerona was a little snarky. Sue her. She was chained to a tree. she deserved a little snark.
"You never took any before…" the girl spoke softly, as though that would make the words less confusing.
"Before? What do you mean by before?" the girl opened her mouth to answer but Aerona cut her off. "You know what, I don't care, just give me my meds." With this Aerona glared at the fire light, hoping to intimidate her just a little bit.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I don't have them."
"Then find out who does!" Aerona was starting to get desperate, and she knew the firelight could probably tell. The brawler didn't care at this point. If it got Aerona her meds, it was worth it.
"I can't. If Ekko took them, it was for a reason." The felling in her chest was getting worse every time this girl opened her mouth. It was getting harder to breathe again, and now there was a strange ringing in her ears. Oh, when had she sat down? This ground was too hard.
"Vi. Vi! Can you hear me? I need you to answer!" If Aerona wasn't focused so much on how bad her chest hurt and the strange metallic taste in her mouth, she might have noticed how worried the firelight sounded.
No, she couldn't answer! She couldn't breathe! Why couldn't this damn firelight understand that she couldn't breathe?! Aerona startled when she felt the firelight touch her face. She tried to push them off, but the firelight was unmovable, staying right by her and holding onto her face saying… something. Aerona couldn't make it out, and frankly, she didn't care enough to try. She was just trying to breathe!
She just… wanted… to breathe…
Vi passed out in the middle of her panic attack, not that she would know it was called that. She just couldn't come out of it enough to get enough air in her lungs, so she hyperventilated. Jinx signed, petting her sister's hair. Lord knew she couldn't so it if Vi was awake.
She just wanted to know what was wrong with Vi! Why couldn't she remember her? Why was she willingly working with Silco? Why was she so freaked out about some medication? Jinx would just have to figure it out later. Vi's panic attack had woken her up, not that sleep was all that easy to come by these days.
It was just so nice to be able to hold Vi like this again. Maybe it wouldn't he so bad if she just… closed her eyes… just for a minute…
(AN: Vi calls herself Aerona and everyone else calls her Vi)
Waking up was far more peaceful this time, even with the pounding headache. Aerona took stock of her surroundings to find that she was still chained to the same tree in the firelights base. The girl sighed. This was growing rather annoying.
It was then that Aerona noticed the blue haired firelight. The idiot had fallen asleep withing her reach! Finally, some good luck. Aerona reached out to gab the girl so she could be used as a hostage when her chest seized up. the pink haired girl dropped her hand and grabbed her chest hoping the feeling would go away. it simmered down but didn't fade completely.
Aerona knew this was a side effect of missing her meds, they always helped her not feel things she didn't want or need, like this damn gut-wrenching sensation in her chest! Someone had told her once what this feeling was, but Aerona couldn't remember who it was or what they said. That happened sometimes, a memory that was almost there but just out of reach. Silco had always said that she didn't have to worry about it so she didn't but it was still rather annoying.
She was fully prepared to ignore the feeling, despite its discomfort, and went to grab the firelight again. Again, the brawler paused, just inches away. something in her just couldn't go through with it. It was almost like what she felt when Silco was around. Wait, she felt attached to this firelight? But that was impossible! They had never meet before a few days ago and Aerona wouldn't have grown attached to her in a couple days, let alone a couple days where the girl had chained her to a tree!
It didn't matter how she had grown attached, Aerona just knew that she was. Well, this threw a hitch in her plans. Without thinking, Aerona placed her hand on the firelight's, holding it. The pink haired girl froze. Why was she doing this? Why could she touch the firelight casually but not to use her to escape. Everything was starting to become too frustrating to think about. Aerona decided she was content to simply sit there and think for a while.
The firelight looked so peaceful. Maybe Aerona should know her name. what did the girl say it was? She had said it when Aerona had first woken up and during their fight on the airship. Powder! That was it. She had introduced herself as powder.
The name sparked something in the back of Aerona's mind, but it was too muddled and too far out of reach for her to access. Instead of dwelling on that, Aerona decided to focus on the new sensation in her chest. This one was warm, like she just drank hot tea or something. The girl decided that she liked it, just a little bit. But what was it called? The memory was starting to come back, but Aerona was still confused on who it was with.
He had called this… heart. Something about her having a good heart. It didn't feel all that good earlier, but now… Aerona would diffidently call this a good heart. But why was it tied to a firelight? Aerona didn't know and at this point she didn't care. She just wanted to stay like this for as long as she could. She just wanted this peace to last a little longer.
There was a horrible feeling in his stomach. Ekko knew this feeling, it always came just before something was about to go wrong. Right before an enforcer showed up when he was on a job or Silco's goons attacked his Patrol. Ekko tried to ignore the feeling for a while, but it soon became too much to ignore. The boy decided that the best thing to do to get rid of the feeling was to check on their recent biggest problem. Vi.
He couldn't figure out why Jinx was intent of trying to reach her sister. Vi's gone. She became Aerona, Silco's second in command, his secret weapon. Vi couldn't even remember her own name anymore, let alone who powder was. Ekko shook his head and climbed the stairs to the prisoner observation room.
Ever since they captured Vi, Jinx had been living in the place, refusing to leave for anything. "In case her sister needed her" she'd said. What a load of crap. Vi was more likely to kill jinx than ask for her help. The white-haired boy rounded the corner to greet Jinx only to have his stomach drop into his feet.
Jinx wasn't there. There was no way she would leave Vi alone, at least not without having someone else watch her while she was gone. So, where was she? Ekko knew the answer immediately and bolted into the prisoner containment area while sounding off the alarm. He was greeted with the sight of Vi sitting on the ground next to a very still (Please be sleeping, please don't be dead) Jinx, holding onto one of her hands… almost… gently?
Ekko didn't get any time to focus on what he saw as Vi jumped up immediately, standing in front of Jinx, who was still not responding, and snarling with all the ferocity of a rabid dog. The girl was low to the ground, seemingly expecting an attack, and leaving a little bit of room in-between herself and jinx.
Ekko prepped his time rewind device, just in case the worst occurred, as the masked firelights that were standing guard raced in. The guards all noticed Jinx behind Vi at the same time, one rushing in to distract her while another got jinx to safety.
Unfortunately, Vi was a lot smarter than anyone gave her credit for. She used the momentum of the charging firelight to throw them into the ones trying to save jinx. The brawler stepped closer to the fallen girl, who was still not moving, and Ekko was starting to worry. He scanned jinx over from where he was, looking desperately for any signs of life. She had always been a deep sleeper, but this was a whole new level of deep sleep.
Catching his eye, Vi noticed Ekko was looking at Jinx. The boy nearly panicked when the brawler suddenly dropped to her knees right next to jinx and took a hold of her head. The guards raced to rush in, but an open hand from Ekko stopped them.
Ekko examined Vi closely, needing a reading on if and when she was going to hurt Jinx, but to everyone's surprise, the girl seemed to be looking Jinx over… for injuries? That couldn't be right. Vi was trying to kill her sister just yesterday. The fighter seemed to be scanning her sister over desperately, eyes flickering to anyplace an injury might have occurred.
"Vi?" Ekko tried to call out softly so he wouldn't spook her and throw her into a rage, but the brawler jumped up and snarled at him again, this time standing over her sister.
Oh. She was trying to protect Jinx. Did she think the firelights were going to hurt the both of them?
"Vi, It's okay." These words didn't do anything to calm her, so Ekko tried again. "We are her family. She is safe here."
It was the wrong thing to say. Vi reared back like she had been slapped. Ekko didn't know what to make of the reaction, but it did spart a little bit of hope for Vi.
"We would never hurt her." Vi definitely didn't believe him if her renewed snarling was anything to go by.
"Would you hurt her?" Ekko needed to know. He needed to know if Vi was really too far gone. He needed to know if she would hurt his family.
"No!" Vi's responded immediately, sounding rather offended by his question. She almost sounded like her old self, but that Vi was gone as soon as she appeared. "Wait no, I mean… no… I just…" Vi sounded like she was at war with herself and looked heartbroken as she let her gaze fall to the ground in front of her.
That look told Ekko everything he needed to know. As long as Vi would stand and fight to protect her sister (even against her own allies), she was still family. Jinx was right, Vi was still reachable.
(AN: Vi calls herself Aerona and everyone else calls her Vi)
"We are her family. She is safe here." Aerona didn't know why those words hurt as much as they did. Hell, she didn't even know why she was protecting this fireli- Powder. The firelight's name was Powder. She needed to protect Powder. Yes, that felt right. there was no way in hell Aerona was letting these damn firelights near her.
"We would never hurt her." Liars! These firelights were liars! They were probably just waiting for Aerona to turn her back and then they would-
"Would you hurt her?"
"No!" the words slipped passed Aerona's lips before she could think of their weight. "Wait no, I mean… no… I just…" Aerona groaned in frustration, not knowing how she felt. She looked down at the ground and for the first time in her life, Aerona didn't know her next move.
Waking up was always so hard. Jinx could never seem to pry her eyes open for the longest time. she could hear yelling nearby but couldn't be bothered to get up for it. She was safe, Jinx was so sure of it. She didn't know what made her so comfortable, but she hadn't slept this well since… since that night.
She startled a little bit when hands settled on her face and the yelling sounded closer, so Jinx decided she needed to wake up. She just about screamed in shock to find Vi standing over her, just like she had done so many times in ally fights, but the look on her face was terrifying. Jinx had only ever seen it once, when Vi found her getting beat by a small group of guys from the neighborhood. Mylo always said that, if he and Vander hadn't shown up when they did, Vi might have beaten those boys to death.
"We would never hurt her." That was Ekko. Why was he trying to convince Vi that he wouldn't hurt her? Jinx could practically feel Vi's growling. She definitely didn't believe him. "Would you hurt her?"
The question made Jinx freeze. It was the question she had wanted to ask since the beginning, but she was just so scared of the answer. What if Vi said yes? What if she hated her? What if she-
"No!" that word stopped Jinx's spiral. She said no, just like she always had. Her sister was still in there. "Wait no, I mean… no… I just…" Jinx could feel her heart break at her sister's uncertainty.
Jinx didn't even think to hesitate before she got up and wrapped her arms around Vi. Her sister didn't push her away, but she also didn't hug back. It was a start. "It's okay Vi. No matter what I'm not giving up on you." Vi gave in and rested her chin on top of her head, letting go of some of the tension she held in her body. It was the best almost-hug Jinx ever had.
It was a moment Jinx wanted to last forever. However, it was ended far too soon as Ekko cleared his throat, trying to get Jinx's attention. She glanced over to see him motioning her to get out of Vi's range, the firelights on guard standing tensely behind him.
When Jinx moved to walk to Ekko, she felt Vi growl again, louder than before. Her sister's arms came up around her, holding the blue haired girl in a grip that was borderline bruising. The firelight guards dropped into fighting stances, ready for when Vi tried to hurt their comrade.
The way Vi grabbed her wasn't of much concern to jinx though. It felt exactly like how her sister held her whenever she was scared at night, close to her chest and curled around her. Almost as though Vi was reminding herself that her sister was within her reach, and thus, under her protection.
"Vi, it is okay. I promise. I'll come back in a few minutes." Jinx felt her heart break again at how torn Vi looked. Jinx slowly, as not to scare her sister, raised her hand to Vi's cheek, running a thumb along it in a comforting motion. "I'll ask Ekko about your medication too." That was what got Vi to let go.
Jinx could see how tight Vi's jaw was, showing just how uncomfortable she was with the situation. The obsession with her medication worried Jinx. She had no idea what she could possibly be taking. It would have had to be something Silco gave her. But what could Silco possibly be giving her sister? Jinx shook her head, maybe Ekko would have the answers.
Jinx walked back to the observation room, much to the surprise of the guards. Ekko simply waved them off but with a message to keep close. Something he no doubt was trying to hide from Jinx.
"What the hell was that?" Ekko whisper screamed as soon as he entered the observation room.
"It was an accident." The excuse sounded weak even to Jinx. "She had a panic attack and knocked herself out. I couln't just leave her alone." That sounded a little better. Ekko raised an eyebrow at "Panic attack" but didn't interrupt her.
"She was looking for some kind of medication. Freaked out when I didn't have it." Jinx glanced back out at her sister, who was alternating between pacing and sitting down. "You know anything about it?"
The look Ekko gave told Jinx that he knew exactly what she meant. "You took medication from my sister that could have ended up hurting her and you didn't even-"
"I didn't know what it was or what it did to her!" Ekko interrupted. "For all I knew it was a shimmer enhancement that she could have used to escape and hurt someone!" Jinx curled in on herself, wondering if that was what Vi meant. No. she had said that the medication was to keep her from getting sick.
"Vi said that it kept her from getting sick. She seemed pretty desperate about it to." Jinx really wanted to get back to Vi and make sure the girl didn't think she was lying. "You know what they are."
Ekko sighed. "Not really. We know it has shimmer in it, but other than that the only thing we know is that has a lot of similarities to existing psychedelic drugs." Jinx raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "Hallucinogenic drugs." Still nothing. "Bad mind drugs."
Oh. OOOHH. "ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT SILCO DRUGGED HER?" Ekko rushed to put a hand over Jinx's mouth, which she promptly licked.
"Eww, Jinx! Keep your voice down, if that is the case, we can't let her hear you!"
"Why not? She should know!" Jinx moved to go out to Vi, But Ekko pulled her back.
"If we tell her she won't believe us." Jinx paused. Would Vi believe her? "We have to let her detox and draw her own conclusions."
Jinx sighed. She could do that. She could be patient. "Okay, okay, fine. But I am going to go back out there and spend time with my sister and hopefully help undo whatever that shit-stick did to her."
With that Jinx stomped back out to her sister, silently cheering at the smile that Vi let out, even if she did try to hide it a second later. Baby steps. Jinx could do this. She waited years to find her sister, she could wait for her sister to come back to her. It just took baby steps.
Silco slammed the papers in his hand down on to his desk. Aerona was nowhere to be found. He and Sevika had been looking for the firelights HQ ever since the first nuisance in a mask showed up. Why had she felt the need to stow away on a mission that he had specifically forbid? Now his personal weapon, that he spent a lot of time and money on, was in the hands of the firelights.
Plus, she was stranded without her medication. If she was off it for too long, she would begin to remember her past. Silco could not let that happen or all his conditioning would be for nothing. It was bad enough when they could just lock Aerona up in her old cell while she was struggling with her memory, but now she was with the one person she would probably remember first!
It was a disaster. Her little sister was probably trying to fill her head with all kinds of things. Hopefully, Aerona would keep her stubborn streak and reject anything that blue haired demon would say. Until Silco found his weapon, he would wait and prepare a massive dose pill to, hopefully, negate the effects of Aerona being off her meds for so long.
"We think we have a location!" one of Silco's foot soldiers burst in the door. He would forgive the lack of knocking this time since it was for such important information.
"Tell me." Silco was not going to beat around the bush for this. He needed his weapon back.
"An old tree in the sewer system. It is where the firelights live. Our source says she is there, chained up in some kind of prisoner containment area." The man seemed so proud of his information. Silco would have to knock him down a peg later, right now, he needed to find Aerona.
Silco stood up and walked toward the man, maybe trying to intimidate him a little bit, to give him new orders. "So, go get her."
"We can't sir." The guy looked properly terrified now. Good. "We have to gather our forces and make a plan. It is actually well protected, and it will be hard to get to the prisoner area."
Silco sighed. He really needed this conversation to be over. "Just do it. Quickly!" the men flew out of the room. Hopefully to prepare to attack the firelights. Silco knew he couldn't leave such a mission to his lackeys. He would have to go himself.
Silco would get his weapon back. Soon.
(AN: Vi calls herself Aerona and everyone else calls her Vi)
Aerona didn't know what to make of the fireli- Powder coming back. She kept her word. Even said that the other firelight guy, Ekko she'd said his name was, was looking for her missing meds. That was a huge relief to hear. Aerona didn't know what she would do if she had one of those memory episodes while captured by the firelights. Silco had always said that she was more vulnerable if she was off her meds.
Aerona froze. She wasn't just more vulnerable physically when off her meds, Silco had also told her that she was weaker mentally. More 'susceptible to suggestion' is what the doctor said. Is that what was going on? That must be the reason for all these weird feelings and wrong memories. Aerona growled to herself, silently cursing that she hadn't remembered that sooner. She was going to need to get out of there and soon.
The blue haired firelight continued to babble on about some new tech she was designing moving ever so slowly closer to Aerona. The older girl scoffed, this girl really was stupid, continuing to get within a prisoner's reach. The sound didn't go unnoticed by the firelight.
"Vi? Are you okay?" Aerona didn't know what this girl's game was! She almost looked genuinely conserved but that wouldn't make any sense! Aerona was just a prisoner, why would this chick care at all? And she was still calling her the wrong name!
"That's not my name! why do you keep calling me that?" the words left Aerona's mouth before she thought about their consequence. Stupid medication withdrawal, making her mind muddled so she would say things she didn't mean. That was it. That was why Aerona kept saying and doing things she clearly couldn't mean. It was just the meds. That was why she let the firelight hug her. Just the missing meds.
The firelight just blankly stared, pissing Aerona off more. "What? What are you talking about Vi? Your name is Vi, short for Violet. Has been forever. I would know, our parents gave you that name."
Our parents?
Shit! Was this girl claiming they were siblings or something? Aerona never had any siblings, Silco had said so.
"You're a liar! My name is Aerona and I would know if I had any siblings especially if they were so disappointing that they became a firelight!" Aerona had gotten up, causing the firelight to scramble back out of the reach of her chains. Damn, now she couldn't grab the girl. Aerona clenched her fists in anger at the look of pity that slowly formed over the firelights face.
"Who told you that?" the girl had the Gaul to ask Aerona if she knew her own name?
"Silco told me. Silco doesn't lie. Not to me. Not ever." Silco had promised that he would never lie to her, he knew Aerona's hatred for liars.
"Oh, Vi" the firelight reached out to try to touch Aerona's face as she had done before, but this only caused her to flinch back violently and take a step back to keep out of the girl's reach. The strange squeezing feeling came back when Aerona saw the hurt look of the firelight's face but chased it away quickly. Liars don't deserve sympathy.
"You are a liar. I've never had a sister and my name is not Vi. It's just the withdrawal messing with my head." Aerona whispered the last part, but the firelight had clearly seen it based on the face she made.
The girl opened her mouth like she was going to say something only to be cut off by her partner yelling. "Jinx! I need your help over here for a second." Jinx? Aerona knew the firelight said her name was Powder. Was this just another trick to try to screw with her head? Aerona stormed her way back over to the tree, not even waiting for Powder to walk away.
Stupid firelights were just trying to screw with her. Aerona just needed to remember that and not let them get into her head again. The pink haired brawler watched Powder walk back to her partner, feeling her chest tighten when she saw tears in the younger girl's eyes. Ya, keeping them out of her head was going to be easier said than done.
Jinx tried to hold in her tears as she raced back to the prisoner observation area, hoping that Vi wouldn't see them. She didn't like this version of her sister. Jinx just wanted Vi back.
"What did I just say about telling her about the drugs?" Ekko sounded so mad.
"You heard her. She thinks that Silco was helping her! He twisted her mind Ekko and the sooner she knows that the sooner we can help her get back to her old self." Jinx argued back, fully letting her tears fall.
"Pow," no one called her that, not anymore. "The old Vi you are looking for just might not be there anymore." Jinx moved to protest but held off when Ekko raised a hand "I'm not saying that she is irredeemable, but it is possible that she has changed. Just as you have." Ekko was right, Jinx was really different from Powder wasn't she. "This is going to take time. You need to be patient."
Jinx sighed. Right patient. She could do that. For Vi. She nodded to Ekko and sat back down in her usual chair to watch as Vi sat leaned up against the tree she was chained to, looking deep in thought before drifting into a doze.
Upon seeing the peaceful look on her sisters sleeping face, Jinx promised then and there that Silco was never going to lay a single hand on her sister ever again.
Everything was blue. Blue fire and smoke were everywhere. The shockwave of the blue blast trapped Aerona under the door she had just been trying to keep closed. She looked up to see two vaguely familiar boys similarly trapped, though the amount of blood surrounding them showed they were dead. Aerona felt more than heard the pounding footsteps as a huge monster approached, causing her to increase her struggle to get out from under the rubble.
The rubble shifted a few feet away from Aerona, revealing a new figure, a large buff mam with a beard. Aerona could swear she knew him some somewhere, he had told her something really important, but the memory still eluted her grasp.
The man from the rubble took out goons left and right before he charged at the purple glowing monster. Wait, purple? Was that an old simmer addict? If a shimmer addict was here, where was Silco? Just as she thought of the man who cared for her, Aerona noticed him standing across the catwalk, just watching the fight.
Why was he just watching? Aerona tried to call out for him to help, but her voice felt like it was stuck in her throat. The brawler watched in horror as the shimmer addict pounded the bearded man to hell before throwing him on the deck of the catwalk. He tried to get back up to fight when Silco stabbed him in the back. Aerona couldn't even cry out as her mind raced to figure out who she was scared of and who she was scared for.
Silco let the man choke him for a moment before pushing him off the catwalk. What was going on? Aerona had no idea who that man was but something in the back of her mind screamed that he was important. The same voice screamed that she needed to get away from Silco.
That didn't make any sense. Silco had saved her. He had told her so. The shimmer addict pulled the door off of Aerona. She ignored the strangely diluted pain in her limbs to turn around, Silco must have decided to use some of the old shimmer because she was in danger. Was Aerona in danger though? She could have sworn she was okay a few moments beforehand, but one look at the shimmer addict was enough to convince her that she was definitely in danger.
Aerona knew that the old Shimmer addicts never looked particularly friendly, but this one look murderous. Aerona chanced a glance at Silco as the addict stomped its way towards her. Her blood ran cold at the hateful glare Silco was giving her. Aerona tried to scream, but no sounds left her mouth, leaving only the raw sensation of ab abused throat.
What was going on? Why was Silco looking at her like that? Did she do something wrong? Was he upset she had gotten captured by the firelights? Aerona's thoughts came to a scratching halt as another addict came running at the first, picking him up and slamming him into the door frame, killing him. Aerona shook with fear as the new addict approached her but calmed immediately as she saw it was the bearded man from the rubble. Wait, why did his face bring her comfort? Why would he take the old version of Shimmer? Everyone knew it was toxic and volatile.
Silco seemed to be backing away from Aerona and the man from the rubble. Why was he leaving? Doesn't he want to help her? Why wouldn't Silco help her?! Aerona felt herself get grabbed by the bearded man and held close to his chest as he leapt from the burning building.
"Vi! Vi! Wake up!"
She saw him lying dead in the street. Dead. He was dead and it was her fault. he died to save her from the burning building.
"Vi! Snap out of it!"
The scene changed to show a little blue haired girl, crying in the street for her to come back. Aerona had no idea why this little girl broke her heart, all she knew was that she needed to help her. Needed to protect her.
"Vi! Its just a nightmare! Wake up!"
Aerona tried to move toward her but found her wrist restrained with metal clamps to a dirty wall. She struggled to get herself loose but only managed to cut her wrists to the bone. Out of the corner of her eye, Aerona could see the doctor approaching with that terrifying sadistic grin on his face, holding a syringe.
"Vi, you need to wake up!"
She could feel herself being shaken. Vi knew she needed to- No she wasn't Vi! Vi wasn't her name! Silco had said so. The firelights where just trying to screw her mind up. But were they?
Aerona saw the doctor approaching her, as well as the shimmer addict from earlier. They both charged at her, about to make contact-
Aerona felt a hard sting on her face and her eyes flew open. When had they been closed? The brawler's eyes snapped around desperately, settling only slightly when they found the face of the firelight girl and no traces of smoke and fire. Aerona grabbed the sides of the fireli- Powder's head, scanning her for any injuries before pulling the girl to herself, close to her chest, hugging powder with everything she had in her.
The two were so close that Aerona wasn't sure if she was shaking or if it was Powder. Powder kept trying to talk to her, saying something Aerona couldn't find enough energy to care about. A small voice in the back of her head made a connection about the firelight to the little girl from Aerona's dream. A realization that went mostly ignored. Aerona could figure that out latter, right now she just needed to make sure that the fireli- Powd- her sister was okay.
Everything would be okay as long as Powder was okay. She was sure of it.
After watching Vi sleep for a little bit, Jinx decided she should get some sleep too. Maybe Vi would be able to remember more in the morning. The more time without those damn pills, the better. The thought of Silco drugging her sister, the more enraged Jinx got. That man better hope Jinx never got a hold of him, or he would get even uglier.
Jinx was about to slip off into sleep when she heard screaming. Vi's screaming to be exact. Jinx was on her feet and racing out to her sister before she could think, dropping down next to the girl's trembling form as soon as she was close.
Vi was obviously having a nightmare, and a bad one at that. Jinx briefly wondered what it was about. Was it about something Silco did to her? The thought made Jinx's blood boil, but she shoved it down. Her sister needed her.
Jinx tried to wake Vi up serval times, but she was just not responding! Jinx wished Ekko were there, he was really good at dealing with her nightmares as she frequently dreamed of the night she lost Vi. But Ekko wasn't there and Vi wasn't waking up, So Jinx did the only thing she could think of. She slapped Vi.
The panic was evident on Vi's face the moment she opened her eyes and, for a moment as Vi grabbed her face, Jinx was scared Vi was going to attack her. But these fears were soon put to rest as Vi scanned her (looking rather concerned), before pulling her into a bone crushing hug.
Vi's trembling form latched onto Jinx as though she would disappear the moment she let go, mumbling incoherently. Jinx decided to hug back with just as much enthusiasm. She had only dreamed of holding her sister again and she wasn't going to let the chance go to waste.
The two girls held onto each other for a long time before Vi's trembling subsided, finally prompting Jinx to try to figure out what had freaked her out so bad in the first place.
"Vi, what happened? What's wrong?" Jinx pulled back and held her sister's face in her hands.
It took a could minutes for Vi to respond, but Jinx didn't push her, watching as her sister leaned into her touch, seemingly enjoying it. "It exploded. Everything exploded. They all died, and he wouldn't help me." Jinx stiffened at Vi's shacky voice. She couldn't be dreaming about that night, could she?
"A blue explosion? Two boys buried in rubble?" Vi nodded to both questions, causing Jinx's heart to sink. Of course, that would be what she remembered first. Jinx could lie, tell Vi it was just a dream and that was not how Mylo, Clogger, and Vander died. But that wasn't right, Vi was in this mess because Silco had lied to her and Jinx was determined to not make that same mistake.
"Vi, I'm going to tell you the truth, Okay?" another nod. "That dream you just had was a memory of the night the rest of our family died." Vi only stared blankly, blinking a couple times. "well, the whole thing began with a job that went sideways, Ekko had given us and easy target but the stuff there was a little more… volatile… than we expected. We accidently blew the place up, attracting the attention of the enforcers topside."
Jinx could tell that Vi was getting lost. Okay, basic story. leave out the unneeded details. "That part doesn't matter. What does matter is that because of the heat from the enforcers, Silco managed to take our adopted dad, Vander." Vi looked away, seemingly contemplative.
"Vander. He was a big guy? With a beard?" Jinx lit up. Vi was remembering!
"Yes, he was." Jinx smiled at her sister. "But you and the rest of the guys, Mylo and Clogger, went to go save him. And Silco ambushed you. I don't know all the details because you didn't want me to come, but I came anyway." The blue haired girl sighed. This was where the story got difficult. "I- I made a bomb to try to help you guys get away from Silco, but it was too powerful. I buried you all in rubble, killing Mylo and Clogger, and trapping you and Vander. Vander took Shimmer to save you and died in the process. Then Silco took you away."
"If I had just stayed away like you said, none of it would have happened. Our family would still be together." Jinx hadn't realized she was crying until Vi wiped away her tears. Jinx looked at her sister in surprise. She wasn't disgusted? Shouldn't Vi be angry with her? She had caused her and their family so much suffering.
"You tried to help me?" Vi sounded so quiet and timid, just like when she was when they had been children and Powder had been scared.
"Always. I haven't stopped looking for you for four years. All I ever wanted to do was help." Jinx felt ready to cry again when Vi narrowed her eyes, looking at her with suspicion.
"How do I know you aren't lying? You could have made that whole thing up to screw with my head." Vi looked so torn and hurt. She really didn't know who to believe.
"Vi, you know I'm not lying, you want to believe me!" Jinx tried to plead.
"That doesn't matter! I just don't know what you want." Vi curled in on herself, breaking Jinx's heart. Jinx pulled her sister in close, noting how Vi didn't fight her, but just went limp in her grip. Like all the fight had left her.
"All I want is you, Vi. I would never mess with your mind." Gods, Ekko was going to be pissed after Jinx pulled this next stunt. "Vi? Do you know why you don't remember much, or why it is so hard to figure out the truth?"
"Silco said I had an accident that screwed up my head. That's why I take my meds, so it won't get messed up again." Vi sounded so hesitant to tell her, it was obviously a closely guarded secret. Jinx felt her chest grow warm for a moment because her sister finally trusted her again. At least, a little bit.
"Vi, that medication is the thing messing with your head. Ekko said it had hallucinogenic properties, that it could screw with your mind and your memory, making it harder to figure out your reality." As Jinx finished, Vi pulled away, seemingly trying to put as much space as possible in between the two with Vi's back still against the tree.
"No! that's… no. Silco wouldn't do that! He wouldn't…" Vi's hands found their way back into her hair, clawing at her scalp. Jinx wanted to reach out and pull them away, but she was too afraid of Vi's reaction.
"Vi, do you remember anything? Any treatment that could have started this memory loss?" The girl only curled in on herself tighter. That was a yes if Jinx had ever seen one.
(AN: Vi calls herself Aerona and everyone else calls her Vi)
Aerona tried to chase away the memories. The doctor and his painful injections, Sevika and the beatings she gave Aerona, Silco and his hateful glare…
It was all coming in too fast. Aerona didn't want to remember this, Silco said she was better now, that she never needed to see the doctor again if she didn't want to. Her breathing became shallow and Aerona felt a familiar pressure settle in her chest. What if the firelight was right? Would Silco really do that to her? Even if he supposedly hated her family?
No, Silco wouldn't do that. Except, he would. Aerona had seen him drive prisoners to insanity, it wasn't a stretch to think he had the desire and ability to erase a girl's mind for his own gain.
Powder wanted to know if Aerona ever had any treatment that could have caused this? Those early, fuzzy memories in the doctor's lab, chained to the wall would probably qualify. But Silco had said that was just her recovering from her accident. The one he never really explained. The accident that didn't really make sense now that Aerona thought about it.
Aerona sucked in a breath and looked Powder in the eye. "Yes. There was."
Jinx didn't know what to do as Vi spiraled into another panic attack. Should she call Ekko this time? should she pull her sister into hug? Would Vi hurt her by accident? Or on purpose? Jinx was still trying to think of an answer when Vi suddenly pulled in a breath and slowly raised her head to look at Jinx.
"Yes. There was." The absolute currently in Vi's voice sent shivers down Jinx's spine.
Not knowing what to do, Jinx let Vi pull her back into a hug. She didn't know if Vi did it because she needed comfort of because she wanted to comfort Jinx. Jinx decided that it didn't matter as she held her sister close.
"This doesn't mean I believe you." Vi spoke again after a few minutes. "I just… don't… not believe you." Vi seemed to struggle to find the right words.
"That's okay, Vi." And it was. Vi was on her way to remembering and believing. She now knew what Jinx had done and didn't hate her for it.
As Jinx could feel herself drifting off in her sister's arms, she knew that she and Vi would be okay. Maybe it wasn't today, but it would be soon. Hopefully.
The two girls were woken from their sleep by the sound of explosions being set off around the firelight tree. Jinx was on her feet in a moment, looking out the single small window to see what was happening.
"Silco's goons, they must have found the tree!" Powder rushed to grab all her gear to head out into the fight.
"Powder, Wait!" Aerona yelled to get her attention right before the girl ran out the door. She looked from the cuffs on her hand to her sister a few times, trying to figure out how to word her question. Luckily, she didn't have to as Powder saw the look on Aerona's face and quickly unlocked the cuffs.
"Thank-" Aerona was cut off by a much closer explosion and it's blast wave. She instinctively wrapped herself around Powder and took the brunt of the blast. She was a lot more used to such things after all.
The explosion had made a large hole in the wall, showing the two figures who were approaching through the smoke. Silco and Sevika walked through the wall to find Powder untangling herself from her injured sister and getting into a fighting stance.
Silco simply snapped his fingers and pointed at Powder. Aerona knew that signal. It was a killing order. Sevika rushed Powder, seemingly fully intent on following that command, as Silco sauntered around them and walked over to Aerona.
Aerona got up and looked over the man who had raised her in a new light. Just who was he really? She couldn't shake the image of her dream Silco from her mind. The cold and uncaring eyes, the way he left her in a burning building, and the way he had looked at her with such hatred and distain. Was that the real Silco?
"Aerona. I've been looking everywhere for you. Come on, lets go home." Silco extended his hand out to Aerona who almost took the hand out of pure habit.
"No Vi! Don't listen to him!" Aerona yanked her hand back at the sound of Powder's strained voice. The firelight was currently in the middle of trading blows with Sevika. Silco caught Aerona's eye and frowed at how she was looking at Powder.
"Vi? No, your name is Aerona. You know that, you just haven't had your medication in too long." Silco dug around in his pocket, completely ignoring powder who continued to yell at him, and produced a massive pill. "This will fix everything. You won't have to worry about these firelight's little mind games anymore, Aerona. I promise."
He promised. Silco promised. Powder said that pill was the thing screwing up her mind, but did she really trust her maybe-sister over Silco? Silco said that he would never lie to her, but was that a lie?
The little voice in the back of her head was growing louder and louder so Aerona could barely hear herself think. It was screaming to remember how Silco was, to remember how he had stared at her with so much malice. But that had just been a dream, hadn't it? But powder knew all about it, even with almost no information. Everything the firelight told her had lined up so far, and Silco's story had… holes.
In that moment Aerona Vi made her decision.
"I don't think I want to take that." The response was instantaneous. A backhanded slap met Vi's face and sent her sprawling in the ground. Vi tried to get up but found herself pinned down by Silco's knee being embedded in her ribs and his hands grabbing at her face.
"You will take the pill Aerona! Just take it and forget!" Vi couldn't respond as she clenched her jaw in an effort to prevent Silco from prying her mouth open and force feeding her the pill. The pink haired girl's struggles got her nowhere as Silco overpowered her. It wasn't often that the man took Shimmer of got involved in his own fights, but it wasn't good for anyone on the receiving end. And right now, Vi was on the receiving end.
The man had managed to pry Vi's lips open and was using his grip on her chin to slowly work open her teeth. Vi felt like she wanted to cry. Silco had lied. He had lied the whole time! and now he was about to do it again. Vi didn't want to forget.
Just as her jaw started to give 'way, Vi felt Silco fly off of her. Powder had tackled him and thrown him away from Vi. Powder then pulled her gun to shoot him, but Silco was faster than she expected. He kicked the gun out of her hand and tried to throw her to the ground.
What neither of them realized was that Silco had kicked the Gun directly to Vi. The weapon skidded to a halt right in front of her as the two started trading blows. Vi picked up the gun and took aim, but she couldn't pull the trigger.
Silco had raised her. He was the one who was there to treat her wounds, to teach her everything she knew, and to comfort her when she got upset. But he was also the one who lied to her, erased her memories, and manipulated her into fighting her own sister. Had it all been a ruse?
And what about Powder? She claimed to be Vi's sister, which, true or not, didn't erase that fact that Vi didn't really remember her. Would she want to stay with a stranger? Aerona at least knows Silco. She knows how he thinks, what he wants, and how he works. With Powder, she didn't really know anything. If Aerona made an enemy of Silco, then Powder betrayed her, she would have no where to go. Was Vi really willing to risk everything for someone she didn't truly know?
Vi was pulled from her thoughts as Silco got the upper hand on Powder. He managed to trip her and charged in with his favorite dagger, just as Powder pulled out one of her own. They were going to kill each other. Vi looked between the two desperately trying to figure out what to do. Then a moment before blades met flesh, she pulled the trigger.
A loud band filled the air, the silence. The only thing Vi could hear was a ringing in her ears and the sound of a body hitting the floor, a bullet hole right between the eyes.
Silco was dead before he hit the ground.
Vi couldn't hear the continued fighting going on a few yards away, she couldn't hear the frantic footsteps as Powder pushed to her side, nor could she hear the grief ridden cry coming from her own mouth. Vi felt herself getting pulled into a hug, powder turning her so that she could no longer see Silco. She could no longer see the family she just killed.
For a long time, the two girls sat this way, Vi crying into Powder's shoulder. They stayed this way long after the fighting had ended and Silco's goons all ran away. They stayed that way even as Ekko entered the room and removed Silco and Sevika's bodies before joining their hug for a little while. He didn't even bother trying to clamp the cuffs back onto Vi was he left.
Vi cried well into the night. She cried for the memories she lost, for the family she couldn't remember, and for the man who had stolen it all from her. Silco might have taken her from her family, but he had also given her treasured memories while she was under his care. He wasn't a good man, but he had been good enough to make her believe that he was. Vi cried over the idea of a man who had never existed.
Powder stayed with Vi the entire time, only releasing her sister from her embrace when Vi had fallen asleep. So, Powder caried her up to her own room and let her sleep. They could deal with their wounds and other issues in the morning, for the moment, Powder was just happy she finally had her sister back, and this time she was never going to lose her again.
The undercity changed in the weeks following Silco's death, most of it for the worse. Silco's death left a power vacuum that many gangs fought to fill, resulting in higher violence rates and more than a little bit of death. Some of Silco's more loyal followers tried to kill his murderer, but since there were too many rumors surrounding his death, no one could really pin down who had done it. The brothels shut down, businesses shut down, housing was destroyed, and people fled the undercity to anywhere they could.
The Firelights stayed throughout it all, helping people get out of the city or accepting them as new members. Many new members were quite scared of the bomb-wielding, pink and blue haired sister duo that protected the tree, but soon found themselves chucking at their antics and pranks.
A few weeks after the fall of Silco some enforcer lady came down to the undercity to investigate him and the corruption he caused among enforcers, an investigation that the firelights were more than happy to help with. The firelights took the enforcer to their tree and gave her the full story and the proof to back it up. it wasn't long after that, that Marcus was removed from his position and imprisoned for his crimes. However, what was really surprising was that the next time the enforcer lady came down to the firelight's tree, she wore the Sheriff's badge. And if the undercity and Piltover had a much more peaceful relationship after Caitlyn Kiramman became sheriff then everyone decided to simply appreciate it and not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Powder started going by Powder again at Vi's insistence, though the name Jinx still stuck as her street name. however, the name never held much stigma to the girl anymore.
Vi continued to struggle with the gaps in her memory and the withdrawal symptoms caused by the shimmer she had taken for so many years. It wasn't unusual to see her racing around, looking for someone she had just remembered again or see her fighting an ally because she couldn't remember them well enough, but no matter what her sister never failed to help her though anything that happed with only a few minor explosions here and there.
In the end, not everything was perfect. Vi didn't remember everything, might never remember, but she and Jinx both knew that they are together again with their new family. And that was good enough for now.
Next time on The Prize of her Family: Catlin finally makes an appearance, Powder gets a taste of topside, and Vi gets to experience a new kind of fresh hell.
