Jinx woke up under the tree.
She knew this place, she was certain about it, but everything felt strange. She remembered that the Firelights' liked their green, but this was a bit too much — anything and everything in her vicinity radiated of this eerie, spectral color. She was about to go tell Ekko that they seriously needed to talk about design standards for their home, when she remembered.
This is… the world of the dead. I made it.
"Hi." A girl in a hoodie startled her from behind. She was all green as well, but Jinx couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen her before.
"Vi?" For a second she got frightened that her sister had died in the meantime, but her fears were soon dispelled as the girl introduced herself.
"I'm Eve."
"I… don't think I reme— …oh."
Her hair is not pink here, but it's her. I killed her.
"Yeah," she confirmed.
Jinx started to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. Suddenly, she had no idea why she was here or what she wanted to say or hear.
"You know, that handsome swordsman guy told you to come here with a plan."
"I… I did. But just one look at you, and… I forgot everything. I… I…"
Eve hugged her, causing her to freeze.
"You… I killed you… for no reason at all… and you're not angry at me?"
"I was. For a very long time," she said, pulling back from her. "And so were the others."
About two dozen Firelights appeared before her from seemingly nowhere, forming a circle around them. She recognized them all from the mural.
"But when you get here, you start seeing the big picture. Sides to people that you weren't there to see when you were alive. You've changed." Eve smiled. "Some of us got here thanks to you. The others were just curious and wanted to see you. We all followed you in your last few weeks in Zaun. We saw you embracing our home. Helping it survive. Helping it move forward. And for us, that is enough to let go of our hate."
A young man stepped forward from the circle.
"Hi. I'm uh, Thomas. Felix's brother, if you remember him."
She nodded. How could I forget?
"Can you tell Felix… that his big brother loves him and watches over him? I never got the chance to do so, it all happened so quickly."
"He knows… but I'll tell him, of course."
"Using her as a carrier pigeon, now that's an adequate punishment for her crimes!" Eve laughed. "Count me out though. Ekko used to tell us a lot about you and Vi. I dyed my hair pink because I was a fan of your big sister, but I'd die again before I let her know that."
The former Firelights laughed, and one by one they all gave Jinx their last wishes to be forwarded to their loved ones.
"I will tell them all. I swear I won't forget a single one of them," she said, weeping.
"You really should hold back some of your tears. You keep this up and you're gonna run out of them very quickly in this place," Eve teased her.
A fox appeared in front of Jinx. It was the only thing in this world that illuminated a different color than its usual green — its snow-white fur culminating in nine tails at its back, each of them shining blue, brimming with spiritual energy. It hopped towards the exit, looking back at her expectantly.
"That means you should go," Thomas said. "You came here to see your loved ones, right? I hope you can find them."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Keep up the good work, Firelight," Eve encouraged her.
As she followed the fox into the vast emptiness and the tree vanished behind her, she heard the girl's voice one more time, warning her.
"You should tread carefully. Not everyone in this place has forgiven you."
She moved forward step by step, following the creature leading her. She wasn't particularly stepping on anything — here, the Spirit Realm seemed to be in constant chaos and flux. The Firelights' base already disappeared behind her, but she could see no other features in the distance, just endless wastes of green void around herself.
She was sure she could hear a strange voice from somewhere far away, but she couldn't categorize it as anything she had ever heard before. It was almost funny — she used to hallucinate the voices of the dead, and now she came to their realm to listen to them for real.
A few minutes of walking later, something started taking shape in front of her. It soon resembled a building, one close to her heart. One that she destroyed.
The Last Drop was intact.
She ran to the entrance but stopped before it, worried by what she would find inside if she opened the door. As she fought against her fears she heard voices filtering out through the door.
"She will be here soon, don't worry."
"She should have been here by now. What is she doing?" followed by the sounds of footsteps rapidly following each other.
She opened the door and stepped in to see Vander and Silco waiting for her.
"And the guest of honor is here!" Vander greeted her.
"Well, there you go, she made it," Silco confirmed.
The old jukebox started to play the same music that was her and Vander's favorite. Our Love.
"You weren't worried by any chance?"
"Bah, nonsense. There was no way she wouldn't arrive."
"Aww, you were moving up and down all agitated for some other reason then?"
"Yes, clearly. I was…"
"On a rate of two turns per second…"
"You also kept rattling your fingers so stop harassing me!"
"You two… are friends?" she put a pause in their debate.
"Well, you see…" Vander started.
"We had our disagreements in the past, but…" Silco continued.
"Our love, is a bubblin' fountain…" the jukebox proclaimed.
She ran towards them and hugged them both. Vander put an arm around her, and after a little nudge towards his old partner, Silco did the same.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's because of me that you are both…"
They replied at the same time.
"No, Powder."
"No, Jinx."
She stood there, enjoying both of her adoptive fathers' embrace.
"What happened to us, we did it to ourselves, Jinx."
"You were not the culprit here, kid. You were the victim."
"If you did anything, then it was bringing us together at the end, making us see what was truly important."
"So you… made up? Here?" she asked, still not fully believing the scene before her eyes was real and not made up by her brain. Perhaps it is both.
"Let's say, that after everything happened… the scales still tipped the right way for both of us," Vander smiled.
"We've been brothers for a long time. Circumstances caused us to fall out, but…"
"We found the way back to each other."
"And that's thanks to you, Jinx."
"Oh, you two…" She disappeared in their embrace leaning against their chests.
"Listen, kid, the two of us…"
"…we want to tell you something very important."
She looked up nervously.
"I've never really known how to raise you, Powder," Vander started first. "I knew how to work around Vi. She was like me, and I could pass what little wisdom I gained over the years to her. But you were different. You needed someone better than me to be a role model for you. I did the best I could, but it wasn't enough. And for that, I'm sorry."
"No…"
"In my blind hate and rage against Topside I used you," Silco continued. "I thrust you into the middle of a gang war so young, taking away your innocence. We were both broken, but you were just a child. I should have known better. And for that, I'm sorry."
"No…"
"But look at what you've done, kid."
"You raised yourself out of the mess we made for you."
"You went ahead and united Zaun, something neither one of us could do."
"You secured the future of our home."
"You secured the future of your own home."
"And for that, we're proud of you," they said simultaneously.
"But I'll keep moving on proud and strong with you…" the jukebox confirmed.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything you gave me. I love you both."
She was sure she heard the strange noise again, this time from somewhat closer, but the music coming out of the jukebox muffled most it.
"Your Mom and Dad told us to hug you in their place as well," Silco said.
"I… can't see them?"
"Not how this place works, kid," Vander explained. "You were too young to remember them when they… came here. But they see you. And they want you to know that they love you very much."
That makes no—…
She felt something hit her head and she turned back, only to be sprayed in the face by a green liquid that felt like water, even if its color would have indicated something far more sinister as its origin.
"BOOM! You're dead," Mylo laughed, holding a water-pistol in his hands.
"As immature as always," Claggor added, yawning.
"Aaaaah. You always did this when I was small," Jinx complained.
"That's what got you practicing. Took less than a week for you to beat me in a shootout. I was quite jealous, you know."
"Ignore him, Powder, that's just his way of trying to apologize to you," Claggor slapped Mylo in the back and the skinny boy took three steps forward involuntarily, barely able to keep standing.
"A… apologize? It should be me—"
The two boys replied at the same time.
"No."
"You didn't mean it, Powder, we know." Claggor spoke. "It was an accident. We should have taken you with us that day. Anyone would go crazy if they were left behind in a crisis like that. I would have followed us in your place too."
"We saw what you went through… all these years. All of it… because…"
"Ahem. What he wants to say is…" Claggor readied his hand, but Mylo folded before he needed to use it again.
"Listen, Powder, I'm… sorry for calling you a jinx. It was really shitty of me. I put you under too much pressure, and I'm really, really sorry for it."
"What is a bad nickname compared to death?" she asked. "It's not your fault… that I ended up like this."
"And it's not yours that we ended up like this, either," Claggor smiled.
"It's… it's okay, you idiot."
Mylo seemed relieved.
"He was worried you were going to haunt him for the rest of his days here," Claggor teased.
"What— no I wasn't worried, shut up!"
Jinx managed to laugh while crying for the first time in her life.
If you are the ones who have forgiven me, then that noise out there…
"Where's Isha?" she finally dared to ask.
"She… she doesn't really want to see you, kid," Vander said. Her world was about to break, when he continued. "But I'm sure she will come along if you try to find her."
What does that mean?
A loud shriek emanated from somewhere outside of the inn, not so far away. It sounded as if a hundred people cried out in pain in unison. Vander and Silco looked frightened.
So that's what I've heard before.
The jukebox stopped.
As if on queue, the fox appeared at the entrance, waiting for her to continue her journey.
It's trying to protect me.
"Time to go, kid."
"And don't be too late!"
"Scram, Powder!"
They pushed her out of the inn.
You're trying to protect me from whatever that is, out there, right? You're all trying to protect me.
As the door closed, she could only say one thing to them.
"I love you all."
The emptiness ahead of her reformed itself, copying the exact image of her hideout, back from the times when the two of them lived here together.
"Isha?"
She began scouring the area, but no matter how much she searched, she was nowhere to be found. Their tent was empty.
"Isha? Are we playing hide-and-seek again?"
She looked through each crate on the main platform, desperately hoping to find her hiding in one of them, but her pleas went unanswered.
"Isha!"
She looked below, remembering that she once found her holding on to the underside of one of the fan's blades. She wasn't there.
"Isha, I need to see you, please. I can't bear it any longer."
She collapsed in front of the tent that served as their makeshift home, on the verge of crying once more. As she was about to give up hope, she felt a presence behind her. She turned back, frightened, not knowing who or what she would find there.
It was her — the girl she cared for as if she were her own little sister stood before her. She was as green as everything else in this world besides herself and the fox leading her through the void, but it was her.
"Oh, Isha," she began to crawl towards her with her arms open, but Isha stepped back from her advance. One look at her face told her why she didn't want to show herself at first. She was mad, but she was also ashamed.
"I… I know you are mad at me. For what I… I tried to do."
Tears started gathering in Isha's eyes as she turned away from Jinx.
"I was an idiot. I almost wasted all of your efforts."
She spoke slowly, almost choking on her words as they came out in between her tears.
"But I was… devastated. You being here and me being out there… it's just not right."
She crawled a bit closer to her, almost in range to reach out to her. Isha didn't move.
"And I missed you. I missed you so much."
Isha couldn't endure it any longer, as she turned back and jumped into Jinx's arms, weeping.
"You little goofball."
Eve was right. She was running out of tears to shed.
"Why did you have to go, Isha?"
She shook her head against her chest, as if she was saying sorry.
"You did the same thing I did back then. I should have known. You big fat hero."
For a short while neither one of them broke the idyll of their embrace, both hoping for it to last forever.
"I never told you this before, but you should know. Thanks for falling on me from the sky. It was fun. You deserved to be happy. I wanted you… to be happy. I love you, Isha."
She planted a kiss on her forehead. For a single second, it was as if she could feel her thoughts.
"I was happy. Now you deserve to be happy too."
A terrible cry shook the hideout as the fissure's walls started to crack around it.
If only it was that easy.
"It's not safe to stay anymore, kid. You have to leave." Vander's image appeared next to them, urging her to move.
"Go on, Jinx. You have a life to live," Silco pushed her from the other side.
"Go, Powder!" Mylo and Claggor shouted from behind her.
Isha pulled away from her and nodded in agreement.
The fox reappeared on the main platform and touched the central pillar with its arms, turning it from solid metal into a waterfall, one that led deep down into the boundless space below them. It urged her to make the jump.
It's the exit.
A violent, growling sound reverberated through the fissure as another, bigger crack appeared in the wall on the other side. Jinx saw two green motes of light fly towards it, as if they were trying to fill the gap. She slowly started moving towards the waterfall, her eyes fixed on the crevice that got bigger and bigger with each second.
She reached the waterfall… and walked past it.
She heard sounds from behind her, but she couldn't understand them. The fox eyed her curiously, but stayed still, waiting for her decision.
The wall broke. The crevice became a giant hole, big enough that she would have fit through it multiple times without any issues. On the other side of it she saw pitch black darkness. She looked back and saw all who she lost, everyone who has forgiven her panicking, pleading with her to step back.
"I love you all," she repeated.
She turned forwards and made the last few steps until she reached the end of the blade closest to the hole, recognizing it as the same one where she attempted to kill herself barely a few months ago.
Fitting that it would be here.
She noticed the two motes extending the range of their light, fighting back against the intruder as it threatened to overwhelm them.
"You can stop now, Mom, Dad. You don't need to protect me anymore. I know you've been keeping them away all this time. No reason I can't see you if I can see Firelights' who I've never met in my life."
She could hear their voices as they were forced back, finally crushed by the superior force of the entity that's been chasing her.
"Powder, don't!"
"Sweetheart, no!"
Red mist entered in through the edges of the hole, running around the walls, painting everything in the color of the blood she spilled.
"All the havoc I wreaked. All the pain I caused. All the battles I fought. And you would really let me leave without this one? This is my one true fight."
The mist enveloped her, cutting off both the waterfall and the voices of her loved ones, leaving only the blade she stood on as the space she could maneuver on. She grasped the scarf she wore with her right hand with a determined look on her face.
"Time to tip the scales."