Chapter 2: Trees and Shadows

"I'm dead! I'm lost! It's dark! And now I'm fucking hungry! Why the hell am I hungry if i'm dead!?" Jinx cried and screamed at the sky for hours until she finally decided to get up and try to find something to use as clothes. "I don't even see a path that I'm supposed to follow. I'll just wander around and try to find clothes and shelter, I guess." She tried to walk in a single direction, passing by Lilies and Carrion flowers along the way. Dark clouds covered the sky and thunder cracked above the tainted land, scaring the bluenette with every sound. "Please don't start raining, I'm miserable enough." She sat down on a log and began to throw nearby rock at a flower, missing every time. After the 16th rock she threw, she finally hit the flower, and immediately realized her mistake. The flower started screeching and crawling out of the ground, "Hurts! Hurts! Hurts!" when it was free, it started running in circles. "Oh my god i'm so sorry little plant thing!" Jinx whined. "Are you going to be o-" Before she could finish the sapling exploded, leaving a hex crater where it stood. "That was pretty!." Jinx stood up and started walking away but fell when the ground started shaking and more saplings started crawling out. "This is bad!" She began to run as fast as she could, panicking as the screams of little plant bombs could be heard right behind her. She saw a river just ahead of her, hoping they couldn't swim, she tried to push herself to go just a bit faster. As she made it to the banks, the saplings began to jump onto her clinging to her hair and legs, biting and tearing away pieces of flesh and hair. "Get off of me damn it! That hurts!" She dove into the water and managed shake most of them off, but one of the sapling bit into her leg hard, refusing to let go of its prey. She tried to swim to the surface but the current was strong. Jinx screamed and inhaled water as she felt heat and force hit her leg. The sapling attached to her leg exploded. The pain and current were too much, and she was sucked down the river, helplessly inhaling water the entire time.

"She is in critical condition. She's lucky you found her when you did. Her soul would have died and she would end up in the void." "This is partly your fault! Planting those demon imps around the isles!" "THEY ARE LIVING SAPLINGS, YOU WHORE OF NO VIRTUE! THEY ARE THE ONLY PLANTS LEFT TO BRING THE FORESTS BACK!" "I'm sorry Mao, please just fix this girl for me?" "Why do you care so much for her?" "I just do okay? Also, with that magic, give the girl some real tits please." "So that's how it is, is this is another one of your slaves evelynn?" "She won't have a choice after i rescued her. Now, hurry up please!"

Maokai and Evelynn were sitting in a forest opening, gathering plants and potions to save the girl that lay in front of them. Racing against time as the girl slowly slipped away to the Void. Evelynn stood by the girl's side and caressed her cheek, trying to comfort her while she silently wept in agony. "To have this happen at such a young age… But don't worry, i'll take very good care of you." Her hands slowly moving down the girl's body towards the waist. "I will make you wait outside if you can not behave yourself Evelynn." Maokai pushed her back and began working on a healing elixir. "Always ruining my fun Mao." Evelynn stated quickly then stormed off.

"Why do I hurt so much… I can't feel my leg." Jinx woke up, strapped onto a stone table. She noticed the giant figure looming over her holding a bottle of strange looking liquid. "Drink this, it will make the pain go away." The figure said quickly. Jinx opened her mouth and drank the mysterious liquid, retching when it hit her tongue. "That was disgusting! What the hell?" she screamed. "Medicine is not meant to taste good." The giant said as he unbuckled the straps. "Now don't try to get off the table, I don't think you are ready to walk yet." "Whatever!" Jinx stood up and fell down immediately. "Why can't I walk? What did you do to me?" "Look at your legs girl!" The giant yelled. She looked down in horror and screamed. "WHERE IS MY LEG! YOU TOOK MY LEG! GIVE IT BACK TO ME! I NEED IT!" "Now, now, no need to scream at Maokai young lady. He's the one who saved your life after you lost your leg to those little demons. But hey, you may have lost a leg but look at what i asked him to give you." A girl walked up behind Jinx and began groping her chest, bouncing them up and down. "W-Who are you?! Let go please!" Jinx began to blush and squirm as this happened. "I am Lady Evelynn, and you are going to become one of my favorite toys. This here is Maokai, he is the shaman for the souls here." Evelynn got up and began walking around the opening. "I saved you from the river, so in return, you will be mine. Do you understand?" All Jinx could do was nod silently in agreement. "Let's take you home and get you bathed and fed. Then I'll decide if i want you clothed, Mao please carry her to my house. I can't do it because of how dreadfully tired I am." Jinx tried to protest, but was picked up and carried to the mysterious girl's house. "This is my life now?!" she thought to herself as she began to think back to her days in Piltover.

VI

"Liar! My sister isn't dead, This isn't her body! JInx wouldn't kill herself!" Vi screamed at her partner when they brought in the body of a girl with long blue hair. "Vi… You know how mentally unstable she was, it is a big possibility that this is really her." "Quit lying Cait!" Vi just got on break when the body arrived to the city morgue. Usually she would joke about the way the bodies looked, but today was different. The body in front of her resembled her older sister way too much. "Don't lie to me Cupcake, where did you find this body? I need to know." Vi grew angrier and more desperate as each second passed. "We… We found her just off the coast of Piltover. Body had her guns and a bag full of parts that were stolen the day you last saw her." Caitlyn walked over to Vi and began taking something out of the bad. "We know this is the body of Jinx Strausse because this is her phone, it has pictures of you from work all the way to mid-chase. I'm sorry Violet, your sister is dead." Vi was speechless when she was handed the phone, tears beginning to blur her vision. She began going through the photos of her. There was one of her at work showing off her hextech gauntlets to a new recruit. Another was one of her at home watching a movie and hugging her teddy bear, Mr. Bix. She scrolled through a few more and stopped at one that had writing on it. It was a picture of her from the day before, breaking through a wall to catch up with the bluenette. The writing said, "Even if we can talk face to face like normal sisters, i'm glad this is one way we can at least spend time together." Vi dropped the phone and began to bawl and punching the floor, causing hexplosions from her gauntlets with every hit. "No! I want my sister back! It can't be like this! The last thing I told her was I wanted to kill her when i caught her! I'm a terrible person! I'm the reason she's dead!" Caitlyn had to call security to pull Vi away from the crater she was beginning to create, which had started to shake the whole building. "Violet I- " " Save it, I quit. I'm going to bury her myself. Then, I'm going to join her…" Vi grabbed the guns and gently picked up the fragile girl in front of her, and walked out of the building.

Jinx

"How am I supposed to walk now?" Jinx asked Maokai curiously. Jinx was much calmer now due to evelynn's way with words. "You may have to use a crutch for the rest of your life as a soul, or we can try to find a temporary leg." He said calmly. "How did I suffer bodily damage if i'm a soul?" "Magic can destroy even the souls of the dead." "Oh…" Jinx began watching evelynn while they walked, wondering why she couldn't say no to this women. "Some say she is a witch with the body of an empress." Maokai said. Jinx blushed quickly and looked away, not trying to glance back at Evelynn. "Stop saying weird things, you dumb tree!" "I will drop you right now, you ungrateful brat." "Do it! Evelynn will kill you in a heartbeat." She gasped, realizing she was relying on someone else to fight for her. " So you are gonna be protected by Lady Evelynn? Interesting." "Just shut up and walk!"

Evelynn's house was a small 3 bedroom house, hidden away by thick woods and rivers. The outside was dark blue, had vines crawling down the side and had a small garden of flowers. Jinx watched the flowers carefully, fearful that they might crawl out and chase her again, and this time she knew there wouldn't be any escape. "Don't worry dear, they aren't demented saplings like the ones you found." Evelynn said softly, trying to cheer up the frightened girl. She picked a black rose from her garden and placed it in Jinx's hair, then stepped back. "The flower suits you very well." She said confidently. Jinx blushed and hid her face behind Maokai's arm. "T-Thank you, Lady Evelynn." "Let's go inside and get you fed and bathed." "Ok." Jinx said shyly.

Evelynn opened the door and helped Jinx down from Maokai's shoulder. "Come, I'll help you get to the bathroom. Hold onto my arm and I will keep you steady." Jinx grabbed onto Evelynn, but still struggled to stay upright. They walked slowly into the house, trying not to strain the bluenette to much. Inside, the first room was a living room, decorated with purple walls, white carpet, paintings of faraway lands and a cobblestone fireplace positioned against the south wall. The room had oak chairs and leather couches, enough for an entire family to sit in one room. "Its very nice looking, Lady Evelynn." Jinx said quietly. "You can explore once you are done with your bath." There was hallway that branched off in three directions, to the left was a staircase leading down, to the right was the master bedroom, and in the center was the bathroom. Evelynn hurried Jinx into the bathroom and shut the door. She turned on the water and waited for the tub to fill. While waiting, she began to unbraid Jinx's hair, being careful not to pull too hard. "Your poor hair is all messed up, maybe we should cut it a bit, Just so it's harder to get tangled." "Maybe, but i've always had it long." Jinx said, looking at herself in the mirror. Evelynn turned off the water when it filled the tub and began helping Jinx in. "Don't worry… we can replace the bandages after your done. I'll be out in the hallway if you need anything." Evelynn stood up and walked out the door, leaving Jinx alone in the bath.

Vi

"Yorick, I need your help with a burial. Yes, Its very urgent! It's my sister, I understand, bye." Vi hung up the phone and sat on her couch at home, tears staining her cheeks. She hadn't gone to work that day because of how much she had been crying. She didn't need everyone to see the Piltover Enforcer as an emotional wreck, it would be terrible for her reputation. She stared at a picture of two small children playing with dolls. "I remember this day… it was my Eighth Birthday and we were playing with my new dolls. I miss the old days…" She started to cry again. "Are you done mourning?" The grave digger was standing behind her, waiting impatiently. "Your sister's soul is living in the Shadow Isles, enslaved by The Dead King." "What the fuck does that mean?" Vi wiped her tears and began to grow angry, grabbing a knife that she had near her. "You break into my house, then you start saying bullshit like my sister's soul is enslaved!" "All evil souls are enslaved by the King. If you want to bring her back from the dead, travel to the Isles and take the heart of Mordekaiser." "I'll kill you if you are lying grave digger, so beware." Vi went to her room, grabbed her gauntlets, packed some clothes and left without another word.