Hi, sorry for the delay—it's been a crazy week.

I receive quite a few messages about artistic collaborations, so just to be clear: I'm not interested. I truly appreciate the attention given to my fiction and welcome any feedback, whether positive or negative, but I'm not open to collaboration proposals. Please refrain from sending them.

That said, enjoy!

Chapter VII – Goodbye

Night had fallen, and Ekko's plan had gone smoothly. In no time, they had slipped through the airship deck and smuggled into the bilge. It almost felt like when they were kids—sneaking around, eavesdropping on the adults. But this time, it was far more serious—they couldn't afford any mistakes.

Ekko had found the perfect spot for Jinx to hide. She was still weak from her injuries, so he helped her settle in. Earlier, he had offered to tend to her wounds. She had refused at first, insisting that the Shimmer would take care of it. But Ekko had pushed, arguing that it would heal faster if properly treated. She had been too exhausted to fight him on it for long.

Now, they stood in the dim glow of moonlight filtering through the cracks in the hull. The pale light made her look even paler than she already was. Ekko knew she would be fine—she was Jinx, after all. But a part of him still worried.

"Why are you helping me, Ekko?" Jinx asked softly, pulling him from his thoughts.

Ekko hesitated for a moment before answering. "I think you're wrong. There is a good version of you."

He stepped back, ready to leave, but turned one last time. His gaze lingered on Jinx—tired, weak, the dim moonlight catching on the bandages wrapped tightly around her belly. For a fleeting moment, he saw Powder. The girl she used to be, the one he had known before everything fell apart. His chest tightened.

Jinx watched as Ekko hesitated, his expression unreadable in the shadows. Then, slowly, he raised his hand and made the bunny ears sign before disappearing into the fog.

The pink smoke slowly dissipated. Caitlyn could make out Vi's silhouette, kneeling with her head in her hands. Watching her like this was unbearable. There was nothing she could say or do to make her feel better. In fact, she knew that what she was about to say would only make things worse. The thought alone sent a wave of nausea through her as she took a hesitant step forward.

"You think she's still alive?" Caitlyn asked softly.

Vi flinched, caught off guard by the unexpected presence. But the moment she recognized Caitlyn's voice, the tension in her shoulders eased slightly, a fragile sense of calm settling over her. "No," she murmured, more to herself than to Caitlyn. "It was just a stupid idea."

Caitlyn could feel Vi's intense gaze on her. She knew Vi was waiting—demanding—to hear what she had found at the bottom of the Hexgate. Yet, despite having thought about it the entire way back, Caitlyn struggled to find the right words. Everything had changed since that morning. At first, she had planned to lie—to tell Vi that her sister was dead—even though she had strongly suspected Jinx had survived. But what she had discovered down there had changed everything. Now, she wasn't just lying against her own doubts. She was lying against the truth.

She had prepared herself this time—her notebook and camera tucked into a bag. She'd found some rappelling gear and a headlamp. Of course, her rifle was also packed. For this round, she entered the Hexgate through the inside shaft.

As she began her descent, a wave of dizziness hit her. It was far more disorienting than the security ladder. The depth of the shaft was enough to give her vertigo. From her perspective, she couldn't shake the thought that she was wrong—nobody could survive such a fall.

As she went deeper, a familiar smell reached her. It had a burnt scent, but there was something else, something she'd smelled before. The scent grew stronger, and her eyes were drawn to something glowing on the walls. She swung closer, trying to get a better look. Then she saw it—pink and blue glowing dust with a sharp, acrid odor. It was from one of Jinx's grenades. She wriggled around to snap a picture before continuing her descent. The deeper she went, the darker it became. Soon, she spotted the entrances to the air ducts from the Hexgate plans. There were too many to check all of them. She pulled her rifle from her back and used the scope to inspect the tunnels. It was hard to make out anything clearly as the light grew fainter the farther she descended.

Then she saw it—a bullet-like impact on the wall. She took a closer look; it wasn't a standard bullet. The metal of the wall was slightly melted, in the exact same way that Hextech crystal weapons caused damage. Once again, she swung closer. Thankfully, the blast had caused fissures in the walls, so Caitlyn was able to grip onto them. Using her headlamp and the lens from her scope, she managed to determine the origin of the bullet. It led her to an air duct opening. She jumped to reach the other side. The shaft was wide, and it took her several tries to get across. Finally, she reached the air duct entrance and managed to step inside.

The sun had started to set, taking the light with it. Caitlyn switched her headlamp back on and illuminated the area. What she saw horrified her. There was blood—a long trail of it. She had to place her hand over her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. Whoever had been here was seriously injured. She crouched to examine the viscous liquid. It was nearly dry now. As her headlamp passed over it, she noticed a faint violet glitter glinting in the blood. She wasn't sure what it was, but she tried to capture it with her camera.

Caitlyn pulled out her rifle and started moving cautiously along the blood trail, as she had learned during her Enforcer training. When she reached its origin, it led her straight to the propeller. There were small drops of blood on it, and it was deformed, as though something—or someone—had been blasted against it. She moved closer to examine the center, and that's when she saw it—blue hairs stuck in the mechanism. While taking a closer look at the propeller, she noticed the same faint glitter trailing into the tunnels. She moved toward it and discovered bloody footprints leading away from where she stood.

Now, she was sure Jinx was alive.