A/N:...was going to update Elden Ring today, but I felt Arcane deserved some love.

This month's really beaten me up T_T

My leg's quite possibly fractured; can hardly put a bit of weight on it. The isolation continues, and its driving me quite...mad.

As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this, if people don't enjoy...well, I won't continue it. What's the point in writing something no one likes? Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule -two jobs!- I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!

No questions this time. Some folks took issue to the author notes being too long. *shrugs good arm* Make of it what you will.

Alright then, I've kept you long enough. Lets get into the meat of the matter and have some fun!

Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!

Bit of a more focused chapter this time, don't mind me.

"An interesting enigma. Allow me to present one of my own. I find power reveals the truth in our hearts.

Even the weakest can become something remarkable with a bit of strength...

...and you'd be amazed what some would do to keep it."

~Silco.

Sister My Sister (The Moment)

Vi cornered her a week later.

In hindsight, Powder knew she'd been had the moment she stumbled into her room after a long day's training and found her sister sitting on her cot. Alone. Mylo and Claggor were nowhere to be seen. Why did that relieve her so? Perhaps it was the best; she'd grown distant from her "brothers" of late, she'd been so focused on her training that she'd barely spared them a second thought.

But not Vi. Never Vi. She'd never forget her one and only sister.

A sister who didn't look much pleased right now...

Surely it was nothing. It was late, right?"

"Hey, sis?" she grimaced. "Can I have my bed back? I'm kinda sleepy."

"In a minute." Vi patted the space beside her. "We need to talk. Think you can manage that?"

Nope! "Do we?" Powder fought down a nervous giggle and didn't budge, not a bit. "There's nothing to talk about.

Vi gave her that look, the same one that had always quelled her, ever since she was little. The infamous "I'm not angry, just disappointed" look that her sibling had mastered so well. Powder tried to stand up to it. To her. She really did. But it was just so hard.

A little whine escaped her lips. Being the little sister was hard.

She kicked at the floor with one foot and looked down, feeling terribly small. "M'sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you... I've been busy, you know?"

"I know." Here at last, Vi's expression softened a fraction of an inch. "You've been off training ever since those enforcers came by."

Urk! And here she'd thought herself subtle. Powder scratched at her cheek and looked away. "Sorry about that...?"

"Don't be." Vi made way for her when she sat beside her. "I talked to the old man while you were out."

"Naruto?" Powder perked up again, despite herself. "Does he need me? Where is he I can-

"Whoa, hey!" her sibling held up a hand. "The old fart didn't ask after you. Relax."

Indignation flared in her heart. Old fart?!

"He's not old!" she puffed out her cheeks in anger. "He's amazing, and you don't know anything about him."

Vi weathered her remark with a patience only an older sibling could possess. "And you do?"

Powder firmed her upper lip and stood her ground. "More than you!"

"In that case," and now they came to the meat of the matter, "Would you be willing to teach me what he taught you? I could help you. We could get strong together."

...

"Why ask me?"

A blink "You're my sister."

As if that explained everything!

...I know you already asked him. Is that why you're asking me?"

Her face closed down in an instant. A pit of dread opened in Powder's stomach and swallowed everything she'd ever known. The bedroom felt small all of a sudden. Cramped. The walls closed in. What had brought this on? Then came the panic, dark and cloying, awful and choking. No. No, no. No, no, no. This was not happening. This could not be happening. Naruto had promised. He'd told the truth! Kept his word! So why was Vi asking her?! Why now?

"Vi, no." she sputtered out. "I can't."

"Can't?" her sister rose, not towering over her, but close enough. "Or won't?"

"Its not that simple!" the words burst out of her in a reedy whine. "This isn't something I can give to you...

"Can't you?" she didn't back down, not for a moment. "You're in over your head here, Powder. I'm trying to help you here; pull you back from the edge...

She didn't need to be pulled back from the edge! There was no edge! None at all! If there was one, she was driving her to it!

Something snapped in her.

"Why do you always do this?! Can't I just have this one thing?!"

Here at last, her sister flinched. Tough cookies! Too little, too late. "Powder-

"No! You have everything! You're strong and fast and smart and before this I was nothing! Less than nothing! And now all of a sudden you want the same thing! Why?!" The dam broke and her voice went with it. "So you can be better at this, too?!

"That's not it all!" Vi laid a hand on her shoulder. Her pity burned in the worse way. "He's using you, and I just want to protect you-

"Liar!" Powder shoved her away and sprang to her feet, desperate for distance. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!

"I do!

Too much. She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't understand. Why didn't any of them understand?!

"Get out!"

Violet balked. "Excuse me?

"I said get out!" She shoved with all her might. "OUT!"

Vi rocketed backward with a startled yelp.

An awful crack filled her ears.

(.0.0.0.)

"You sure this'll work?"

Vander looked up, squinting in the low light.

"Here's hoping?" Naruto looked up from the contraption he'd been building, its form shadowed in the gloom. "Not really." A glowing golden hand slapped down the hatch with an audible clank. "This'll give Piltover a scare if nothing else. Something to chew on while we get ready.

In a flash he zipped across the scaffolding, down a ladder, and landed beside him. There could be no denying the merry light in his eyes. Not unhinged, but dangerous all the same.

The blond had been manic after his meeting with Silco. Mad, even. But to make this?

Vander grimaced. "Shock. Right...

"Don't be like that." a hand clapped his shoulder to reassure him. "This'll be the prank to end all pranks; and hey, if it works, we'll have peace with Piltover, allwithout a drop of blood. Isn't what what you wanted?"

A noble idea. But noble ideas often failed. "...assuming Silco doesn't interfere."

"He'd best not if he knows what's good for him!"

Just thinking of him made Vander shudder.

To think that old devil was still up to his old tricks. It wasn't a surprise, merely another string of disappointments in a long line of such. And he was to blame for it. Shoulda killed him that day. He could have, if he hadn't lost his nerve. Maybe if he'd done the deed, they wouldn't be in the situation they were now. But the past was the past as they say, until quite suddenly its the present. Then the future. Even after this time, his old friend was determined to fulfill his dream...come fire and brimstone, if need be.

"Look," he began slowly, choosing his words with care, "I appreciate what you're doing, but this...?"

A harsh bang had both men looking up.

"...what was that?

(.0.0.0.)

...Vi?"

Her sister didn't stir.

Didn't move, didn't rise, didn't so much as twitch where she lay, sprawled against the wall.

She was too quiet. Too still. Panic pulsed in Powder's heart. Her legs were heavy as she crept out into the hall after her. Slowly at first, faltering steps, then emboldened by panic. Frantic, fumbling hands patted her down cradling her arms, and then, when no response came, her head.

"You're fine! You gotta be fine! C'mon, wake up...

Her palms came away red.

Her world stopped.

Blood. She hadn't see it at first; so closely did it blend with her sister's pink hair. But she did now. Panic became fear as she shrieked. Fear warped into dismay. Dismay...terror. Vi...she was breathing wasn't she? Had to be. Must be. If she wasn't...

"What's going on here?!"

Powder pivoted too late. A hand came down on her shoulder, rooting her where she knelt. In her fear, she hadn't sensed Naruto's approach. He was upon her now like a storm, blue eyes wide. He took everything in at a glance, saw Vi's sprawled form, the dent in the wall, the blood on the floor.

...Powder? What did you do?"

Horror bleated in the little girl's mind as she recalled his warning. She'd hurt someone. Not just someone, but Vi. Her own sister. He would take it away. Her chakra, all of it. He'd take it all away. She'd broken the rule, his one rule, done the one thing he'd told her not to do. He'd punish her for it.

Wouldn't he?

Clicking his tongue softly, Naruto knelt beside her. As she looked on, his palms shimmered a soft shade of gold; gold that he laid upon Vi. A faint groan fled from the girl's lips. It only made Powder feel all the worse. For a moment there, she'd thought she had k...ki...no. She couldn't form the word, not even in her mind.

"It was an accident!" she hiccuped. "I didn't mean to...

"I'm sure." his eyes didn't leave Vi, not for an instant. A bead of sweat ran down his skull. "Cracked her skull pretty bad, though. Not sure if I can fix this in one sitting..

She wasn't sure how long he knelt there. Minutes. Hours? It could have been either. Eventually he pulled away. Dread reared its ugly head. Now. He'd do it now. Any second now, and he'd rip her chakra away, punish her for her foolishness, for her slip. She'd go back to being nothing. No one. Just a useless girl with her useless bombs.

Her voice warbled under his gaze. "I'm sorry...

"Its alright." Warm arms enfolded her, holding her close. "She just hit her head."

Powder glared up at him. "No, she didn't! I hurt Vi!"

His arms tightened around her just so.

"She. Hit her. Head."

Realization dawned, and it was both ugly and beautiful all at once. He'd keep this a secret? From Vander? For her? Powder nodded tentatively, but her fears weren't so easily quashed. They writhed and wriggled in her heart even now, a great serpent devouring her every thought, a frenzied flame scouring all before it. Why did he treat her like this? Why did he baby her? Favor her? She wanted to believe that she knew the reason, but to even think of it, especially now, threatened to reduce her to a gibbering wreck.

"Am I," she swallowed once to master herself and failed, "Am I really that important to you?"

"Eh? Course you are." he gave her a quizzical look. "You're my apprentice."

Ha. Right. Just his apprentice. Nothing more. Nothing less. Of course.

Her eyes watered, tears stinging her vision. "Stuffy old man...

He favored her with a wry smile. "Uppity brat."

Powder latched on. Only then did she cry.

She...she really did love him.

It terrified her.

A/N: There we go.

To be clear! Naruto doesn't know how she feels.

Like I said, a more insular chapter, but it goes to show how things are changing. In her heart of hearts, Powder is fragile, but so too is Vi. Don't think she'll forget this. Or will she? Cracked skulls are a right bitch to deal with, I can speak from experience on that front.

As ever, we're following the Ember's Rule here. That's no joke. Really, it isn't. If folks don't like this...well, I'll not continue it. Every bit of feedback helps. Reviews are the fuel which keeps me writing in these crazy times. With my tight schedule, I simply don't have time to write a story folks don't like. Without them, my inspiration cannot take wing and I can't write a word. So by all means, speak up!

Reviews are my lifeblood. Without them, I cannot write.

So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Revieeeeew, Would You Kindly?

They keeps an old man alive.

And enjoy the previews.

As ever:

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

YE BE WARNED!

Get ready to smile~!

Obvious references are obvious~!

(POTENTIAL!) Previews! What can I say? I've been busy.

"ITS NOT FAIR!"

"Mylo and Claggor are missing."

"You have a choice to make girl. I can't make it for you. Only you can.

What is it you want? Power? Safety? Or family?

Well? What will it be?"

"I HATE YOU!"

"No. You hate being powerless. There's a difference."

"You think!" another blow hurtled them away. "You can hurt! My apprentice?!"

They looked up. Just in time to see a building crash down on their head.

"Why won't you die?!"

Someone stalked through the smoke.

"Honestly, has this ever worked?" he sighed softly, wounds healing, the damage undone before their very eyes. "Your kind never learn. But that's alright...

THRUCK!

...class is now in session. And I'm the teacher!"

His victim folded over as a fist slammed through their torso. They hurtled up into the air, only to cry out as a hand caught their ankle, yanked them down, and whipped them into the ground. The street creaked and began to crumble, leaving a decidedly human-shaped impression behind.

"Open your textbook to chapter nine!" Naruto's boot stomped down on their chest, grinding them deeper into the dirt as he leered down at them. "Also known as the pages of PAIN!"

R&R~!