OH HI!
I didn't expect this many folks interested in this premise of a fic so AAAAA THANK YOU.
This took longer to write for me due to the amount of research of some bits of old league lore that I had to pick and choose to fit this fic. I might end up writing a little slower for this one generally since I have to do my head in on how things go from one place to another.
I hope I don't disappoint, and if I do, don't hesitate to let me know because I am open for critical feedback.
No one would stop to think that maybe Pilties are just a bunch of ungrateful louts. Scratch that, they are ungrateful louts. Fresh air, cleaner streets; almost everything is gilded in gold no matter where you'd look.
Weird, ain't it?
Weird how, despite all that gatekeeping the uppercity folk would do to protect their investments, they had the gall to toss away their abandoned inventions down at the pits of the Undercity in a heap. Wasteful ingrates. Look at all those guys the chem-barons had hired just to reinvent from the failures of topside. Before they knew it, good ol' Smeech makes it his job to profit from the scraps; repurposing them into body augmentations while exploiting the poor bastards who couldn't pay for said augmentations.
Smart guy, Jinx admitted.
She knew for a fact that Ekko, if he were here would never stand for it. Remnants of Silco's poisoned words would linger in the back of her head as she watched another kid trip and fall among the uneven heaps. The longer she stayed far away from the Lanes, the clearer she saw how deep the city's wounds were. That sweet suffocation Silco inflicted warped her in a sense; making her praise the cleverness of these enemies before throwing her grenades at them. Cruel as it sounds, Ekko's death was the price for her new found wisdom. And in that wisdom came with a dim view of the world.
Just before her mind would go south, she turned to Eve who was crouching next to her. There they were, hiding at the mouth of one of the abandoned aqueduct tunnels overseeing the scrapyard below.
"So, what do you think?"
"I think it's a bad idea," Eve grimaced.
"Good ol' chem-barons making turf wars out of Pilty scrap has got to be one of the funniest things I've seen yet," Jinx chuckled sardonically. "Makes me want in on the job."
"Please don't joke about things like that," she retorted. "Bad enough that almost any kid with blue hair is a target on the streets."
The sight of Eve's pink hair always makes her think about the one who couldn't be with her in this moment. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that Silco must've felt the same way towards her.
"The rumour mill says that this is the very scrap where Progress man's rejected gadgets get kicked off," she stated as she watched another poor sod get beaten up by one of the chem-baron's goons. Both girls winced at the sight just as she added; "Dunno how much of that's true, but seeing this plenty of folk- maybe someone's in on something."
"Maybe its because everyone's gotten the same intel? Or just a made-up rumour to mess with everyone to remove the competition from another pile?" said Eve. "How do we know if there's even a scrap of hextech left in here with everyone digging around? How is hextech even powered up anyway?"
"…Crystals," Jinx shrugged.
"Crystals," Eve deadpanned. "Jinx, you can't seriously believe we can find something like-"
"-Oh, everyone knows that part. Everyone wants the same thing. But not us."
"Then why are we here instead of scouting around info on sabotaging another shipment?"
"Because a certain grumpy enforcer spill that some bigshot inventor lost his notes a few nights ago," Jinx gave her a sly grin. "While the rats look for scraps of hextech; we're here for the notebook."
Eve groaned, facepalming. "I can't believe we're risking our lives for something so stupid. How do we even know it'll end up here?"
"Pfeh, you didn't have to follow me if you were scared," Jinx rolled her eyes.
"I'm not!" she hissed.
"So what am I, Eve? What's my name?"
Eve gave her a puzzled look. "Jinx, duh."
"Exactly. And what do jinxes do?"
The fellow firelight member held a tight lip, glaring at her before she released a long sigh. "What are you planning?"
Jinx turned towards the scrap heap as the overseer hollered at the workers. The workers began dragging the sacks of junk into a pitiful line. A common sight to see; one that she had resigned to herself to accept like a callous forming in her heart.
"Oh, you know how the saying goes," Jinx then grabbed her pistol from her holster, pointed the end of the barrel at the lynchpin she had set up weeks prior. "To turn a frown upside down; all we need is a little bit of panic."
Pulling the trigger, she fired at the lynchpin, setting off a clockwork machine before the siren horns began to blare out loud metal riffs of an obscure Zaunite band. Everyone at the scrapheap jolted, setting everyone into a frenzy.
"Let's move," Jinx set her gun back to its holster, head pointing towards one of the passage ways within the tunnel.
"You still haven't said anything about your plan!" Eve hissed as she followed.
"Start Improvising!"
"That is not a plan!"
Echoes of the panic reverberated the tunnels as the two made their laps down the path, her heart thrumming with excitement as she counted the seconds in her head. By the time they reached the other exit of the aqueduct, her colourful smokebombs set off, obscuring the people's visions. Jinx then tossed the improvised enforcer's mask at Eve before she put her own mask on.
"Really?" Eve whined.
"All or nothing, toots," she gave her the thumbs up.
"How are we able to find this notebook in a place covered in smoke?"
"Worry less about that and start digging."
"Ugh," she groaned before she put the mask on.
Jinx flipped the visor over her eyes, tainting her vision in neon green colours. She didn't lie when she said that her main goal was retrieving the notebook; she just failed to mention that searching for hexgem shards was optional. When Eve put her visor on, she turned to Jinx, her bodily gestures expressed her surprise at the vision.
The glass visor wasn't tinted for the fun of it; it revealed the glow of hexgem shards that could easily be overlooked in broad daylight. And the notebook in question was owned by an inventor who had their fair share of dabbling a hand at hextech. Jinx glanced from side to side, looking for traces of a damaged, leather-bound book amidst the panicking folks. And there, she spotted trails of speckled glowing blue dust over a water-damaged notebook. Pencil scratches and a few bleeding ink stains marked its open pages.
There we go.
She swiped the notebook in hand, was about to turn her heel until she saw a bright glint in the corner of her eye.
Now that's the largest shard I've seen in a while.
Jinx ducked down and grabbed the shard, tucked it into her pouch then gestured at Eve that their job was done.
With a spring to her step, Jinx tugged at the satchel strap as they travelled through the tunnels by foot. She hummed her childhood tune as she did; satisfied with their haul. Eve on the other hand kept glancing back to lookout for anyone tailing them.
"I hope you haven't forgotten," Eve grumbled.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I haven't. Just give me a few moments before I, uh, see a friendly face," Jinx grinned. "I have a thing to show off to."
It took a moment before Eve raised a brow then gave a small smile; "Tell 'im I said hi."
"You got that chief," Jinx clicked her tongue while pointing her finger guns at her.
At the arrival of their crossroads, Eve turned to the path towards their hideout; Jinx turned to the opposite direction. Now alone, she slows down her pace; her steps now heavy as the grief slowly weighed down her chest.
Every year gets a little better, they say. Every year, the load becomes lighter and the days get brighter. But this is the undercity; you have better luck winning cards than praying for a miracle.
The trail of neon paint on the wall told her enough she was getting closer to her destination. The dimness of the tunnel slowly fading as the light seeped through the end of it. Then, Jinx stopped in her tracks as the nary whispers of her ghosts began to prick her ears. She winced at the words, her footing unstable she had to lean against the side.
You killed him.
All your fault.
All your fault.
She jinxes every job.
You're a jinx!
"Shut up," she fought back their taunts, her hand curled to a fist before she slammed it against the wall. The pain stung. The pain was good. The pain reminded her these voices are vestiges that reflect the weight of her crimes. Of her sins. Her guilt. Back then, it took the entire gang to silence them to regain her rationale; but the ghosts would come back, of course. They always come back.
Then, a crow squawked right in front of her; silencing the ghosts. Jinx pushed herself off the wall, her eyes looking down at the audacious black bird.
"You got my attention," she said to it. "Here to steal another one of his treasures?"
The crow squawked again.
"Who am I kidding, it's your home too," she grumbled, resuming her steps forward.
Her boots clanged with each step, seeing the light streaming up ahead of her. The Firelights mural had their own shrine to hold vigil to those who lost to Silco and the enforcers, that included Ekko's face on the wall. But to Jinx, she wanted to mourn him in solitude. Her own small shrine set at a dead end of the tunnel with a gaping hole on the ceiling that allowed the sunlight to spill forth onto the floor.
The hole in question opened to the view of the wide river; wide enough for a small child to try and slip in and out into the abandoned sewers. For this case, not only was this place a perfect place to mourn; it became the perfect crow's nest to come in and out and hoard its treasures. The crow that greeted her kept tailing her in small hops before it flew onto the crate she set up for her best friend's shrine.
The bird cawed at her. Jinx never really knew where this black bird came from; after all, no bird has ever survived in the undercity. Not with the smog and the stench. Not that she cared as she ignored its presence and set her stuff down before sitting on the crude, makeshift stool.
"I'm back," she sighed, resting her elbows on her knees. "And never any better."
Ekko's shrine in question was made up of a knitted doll of him, a few cogs and a makeshift pot of incense ashes she could no longer afford to restock. Even though the real mural of the stuff he owned was there under the tree; the shrine in this corner was made of things they both held together. Bits and bobs, cogs, a yellowing paged notebook, a small wrench and a screwdriver. Everything else she gave to the main mural to appease the gang who had revered him so highly.
"Eve says hi, by the way," she said, then scoffed. "Five years and everyone's still so noisy. But not you. You're never around, telling me the same thing everyone else says. Scar said that it'll get better but… I miss you. Your gang misses you. Sometimes I wish I could hear you again. Telling me things like what you know about Vi. Or scold me. Yell at me why I shouldn't go back to… him."
The crow cawed again.
"At least you have mister birdy for company," she chuckled. "Even here, I can't keep you to myself if I can help it. I kept thinking about that day, y'know. How, if you hadn't gotten me out, then maybe… you wouldn't be dead. And here I am. Everyone's trying to follow your lead even when you're not around. Saying 'Ekko would have wanted this,' or 'If our leader was here,' or 'he gave it all to save your life-' *sigh* I wish you didn't try but… here we are and here I am. Talking to a dead guy."
She then grabbed the hexshard from her pouch and presented it before the shrine. The glow of it caught the bird's attention.
"Do you see this, Ekko?" she said. "Just a tiny fragment of the stuff that got them killed. Who would've thunk I end up swiping one of these again?"
The bird then flew over to land on her shoulder, its dark eyes gleaming at its aethereal blue glow.
"No, mister bird, its not for you," she closed its beak with her two fingers. The crow tried to wiggle out of her grip. "If you behave, I'll let you see it."
Releasing the corvid from her hands, it few away from her shoulder and onto the ground, cawing at her with beating wings. She turned her attention to the shard, smiling at the irony of it all. Many would haves and could haves won't change the past.
Then, a gentle wind began to blow through the tunnels. Not a cold one, but enough for the yellowing pages flutter on the crate-shrine.
There was that breeze back then too, she thought. The day when-
Padded steps then echoed across the tunnel, making her turn to the source of the noise. The tandem beat made her assume they were footsteps, but the lack of a clang meant the person wandering around had no shoes.
"Who's there?" she hollered out to the dimming void.
Silence answered in its stead.
The black bird then turned to the direction of the path; then flew into the darkness, leaving her alone in the shrine.
"A real pickle, huh," she remarked, then focused back on the shard in hand. "We've been making progress, y'know. Saw some of your old scratches on that notebook of yours before I added a few of my personal touches. Still can't figure out how to finish improving that hoverboard prototype yet. I thought, maybe the shards might help, but- after everything… I guess it'll be the last resort."
Jinx stood up, stretched her limbs as she lugged the satchel over her shoulder. She gave the doll one last glance before said; "See ya around. Got a meeting to catch up."
It didn't take long before she reached the entrance to their hideaway, knocking on the metal barrier on a coded pattern only any firelight would know. As soon as the entrance rolled open, the sunlight glared into her eyes, making her squint. The quaint little haven Little Man made for himself. That majestic tree that had taken root over the metal structures never failed to awe her in its proud splendour.
Some of the kids they picked up started running up to her, pestering her with questions on her trip outside their sanctuary. And in turn she began to recount another of Vander's stories instead; shedding light to the tale of Janna saving the trapped minors in the middle of a cave-in. Their adorable, squishy faces manage to squeeze her heart out of that dark stupor; reminding her of the things Scar reiterated on what Ekko wanted.
This was Ekko's legacy; taking root in this growing community like that majestic tree.
"Bird Lady just told us another story too!" Anjuna, the oldest boy among them gave an enthusiastic grin. "She was just telling us a story of the Blacksmith and the Knight."
"Did she, now?" Jinx couldn't help but rest her hand on her hip.
So, the crazy lady stuck around in the end huh.
"What else did Bird Lady do with you guys?" she asked.
"She showed us how to whistle like a bird!" Maya waved her hand as she jumped. "Bird Lady can whistle with her two fists like this!"
With her two small hands, she cupped it into a ball with placing her lips to between her two thumbs and blew; making a weak, hollow whistle.
Jinx whistled. "So, she can show you tricks like that too, huh."
She raised her gaze out to the area where the subject in question would often sit. Sure enough, 'Bird Lady' as the kids coined her, sat by one of the metal crates; half her face hidden by the shadow of her hood as she raised her arm out into the air. Then, she saw that same crow fly to her and landed over her arm before she stroked the bird's feathers with her finger.
"Alrighty, folks. Go scram and play, I have a few important things to do," Jinx pointed her thumb at herself.
Thankfully, Anjun got the cue as he led the kids back to their own spot, leaving her to beeline her way towards the hooded oddball. The woman looked up; her lips curled to a smile at her.
"It seems my friend has told me you had quite the adventure today," said Bird Lady.
"Ah huh," Jinx deadpanned. "Says the lady who talks to birds."
"Any feathered beast is a friend of mine. Isn't that right, Aquila?" Bird Lady then started tickling the crow, only for the crow to hop off her arm and onto her shoulder. "Pity that no sparrow could ever cross the fogs of this city."
"And here I thought I was the crazy one," Jinx muttered.
The veiled lady chuckled as she gestured to have her sit next to her. "Oh, but sometimes the things that make us strange are the things that make us grow. Ah, but that's not important. How are you, Jinx?"
She hated being asked that.
"Doing rather swell," she folded her arms at Bird Lady. "Still can't figure out how me and the mini bugs see you and not the rest of the gang."
"Tis a fair sentiment," Bird Lady nodded. "I am often told I am a weed in the middle of a forest. One often overlooked until someone decides to uproot me from the ground. Ah, but I have my ways. And weeds often find a way to root themselves back in."
"Right, so you'd rather I call you a weed?" she quipped.
"Call me any name you'd like," the lady smiled.
"…Yeah, I'm sticking to Bird Lady thanks."
"Very well."
Gotta love the Undercity; always drawing in different shades of crazy. Jinx had often wondered how Bird Lady was able to squeeze her way into this place. Every folk they brought in were either shimmer addicts and poor sods caught in the crossfire. And yet here the veiled lady sat, petting the crow that seemed far too familiar with the company of humans.
"Tis gladdening to see you hail and whole," Bird Lady added. "I often worry for you and your friends each time you leave."
"What, 'fraid of losing the tinkerer?" she retorted.
"Don't be silly, dear. Any old soul would worry for the fates of the young."
"Whatever you say, Bird Lady," Jinx shrugged, turning her heel to the direction of the tree house. "Just make sure to let those bird friends of yours to ease up on the droppings."
Bird Lady chuckled, "I'll try."
Sheesh.
The core members of the firelights sat in their preferred seats. Scar stood over the table; a map spread across its surface that held colourful marks that signify each chem-baron's influence. Eve sat closest to the door on top of a barrel while Rayn sat on the seat across the room. Pike preferred to sit by the main table, one leg over the knee to take notes on the meeting. Crow's seat was empty. So was Hatter's. Everyone in the room already knew what that meant. It's only to be expected that Ekko's seat was also empty.
Jinx on the other hand, made her seat by the linework of pipes on the ceiling. Old habits die hard, as they say, as she preferred the areal view of the entire room. It didn't take long for everyone else to get used to her sitting at the top; their gazes no longer making it a habit to look up whenever she chips into the conversation. The tinkerer doesn't make plans, she just has to list off the stuff they need fixing.
No sooner did the meeting end had Scar decided to stay behind in the room while the rest of the members left. That was Jinx's cue to realise he wanted another one of those 'talks'.
"So, got something for me?" she asked him.
"…Yeah. I think it's best that you lay low for a couple of days," he said.
She rolled her eyes, "Lemme guess, the blue-hair hunt?"
"More than that," the chirean sighed. "Your involvement is turning everyone's eyes on the firelights. You were lucky this time today that no one's followed both of you after that stunt. But you might not be so lucky next time."
This time Jinx huffed, grumbling; "maybe I really should've just turned myself in-"
"-we all know the answer to that," Scar glared at her. "What he risked his life for-"
"-to save me from the 'Eye of Zaun'," she interjected. "You think after what he did, I wouldn't know that? C'mon, Scar. We both know why we're not making any progress other than grabbing yet another shimmer addict out of the Lanes."
It would have been better if every single one of them was bit more selfish. More self-centred. But five years spent with these guys make it harder for her to want to stay. Not while she knew Silco would break them eventually. The man in question on the other hand-
"We've been over this conversation in circles, Jinx. I made a promise I intend to keep. We all did. He never gave up on you. And there are things I can't fill that Ekko had left behind," he added, his voice grew softer. "I've got a kid now. And you're already a part of us, like it or not. So all I'm asking is for you to trust us too. We're all too far in this to give up."
"...You all are way too nice," she allowed herself to say.
At this, Scar laughed, "We don't hand over our people. Not for him or topside."
'We don't hand over our people.'
Vander often said that when the Last Drop was everyone's to share. She winced at the memory before she heard Scar heading towards the door.
"Hey," she said.
Scar paused.
"...whose water pipes need fixing again?"
"Hmph. Pip's been complaining about the leak on their wall. Might be worth looking into," she could hear the smile in his reply before he left.
The girl groaned as lay flat along the length of her seat. Eyes following the overgrowth of roots at the ceiling, observing the tiny flower vines that managed to crawl in-between the cracks.
Never giving up on me, she thought. Even after everything he still-
She bit her lips as she hooked her elbow over her eyes.
"Why aren't you saying anything, Little Man?"
The one voice she wanted to hear among her ghosts remained silent.
As the night came over their hideout, Jinx had already set herself to work by reading over the water-damaged notebook. Glancing over the pages while deciphering the blotches of ink that had once been the inventor's anecdotes, she decided it was worth wasting a couple of her precious paper just to understand its theories.
"Runes, huh," she muttered. "So that's how hextech works?"
Thankfully, the inventor also kept a chart in his book on the different runes for different uses for reference. She then glanced at the pouch that held the blue shard; her mind's eye flashing at the night when she saw the beauty of the explosions before the chaos. Jinx winced, taking in deep breaths as she reminded herself of the words her friends had often said. Words that assured her. Words that reprimanded her with kindness. Taking in one long breath, she leaned back against her chair, staring at the ceiling with her arms dangling by her sides.
Then, a song began to sing from the level below, sung by Bird Lady herself.
"Hi, says the blackbird sitting on a chair;
Once, I courted a lady fair.
She grew fickle and turned her back;
And ever since then, I'm dressed in black.
Hi, says the bluejay as she flew;
If I was a young man, I'd have two.
If one grew fickle and chanced to go;
I'd have a new string to my bow.
Hi, says the little, leather-winged bat;
I will tell you the reason that,
The reason that I fly in the night;
is cause I lost my heart's delight-"
Jinx groaned, rolling her eyes as Bird Lady continued to sing; wondering how it was that everyone was able to ignore her weird behaviour. Granted, she thought one crazy 'jinx' was enough, but having another kind of crazy makes her wonder if this was just preferential treatment.
"Bird Lady singing about birds," she grumbled. "Just one beak short of being one."
She then sat up and picked up her pencil again, glancing over the chart of runes she managed to copy. Even if she was able to replicate some of the stuff, if not Silco or the chem-barons, Pilties would've caught wind of her handiwork.
"Why should I care? It's their fault for throwing this down at the heap," she then flicked through the next few pages. "Finders, keepers."
For context, the Firelights and their community became something of a support group for her after taking her in. I'd like to think this AU of Jinx is sort of in a state of being 'halfway through the dark.' I do worry however how ooc I'm writing her as a result...
Ekko's side next. :D