Crescendo, Chapter I:
Build something new
The low drumming of the airship engines was the only sound to be heard as the city of Piltover slowly disappeared in the distance. On any other day the ship would be bustling with activity right now, children running around excitedly on their very first airship ride, their parents desperately trying to keep them from flinging themselves off the ship in the process, crew giving out safety advice for everyone to ignore and even just the general background noise of a few dozen people having conversations among one another. On any other day the atmosphere on a ship like this would've been described as exciting, fun, breathtaking or perhaps even boring. Today however, it was best described as somber. The vast majority of both the passengers and the crew sat in complete silence, with only a few hushed bits of conversation arising every now and then, but they died down again just as quickly. Instead, the passengers mostly sat in their seats or stood on the railing, restless and agitated. Some seemed to constantly look over their shoulders as if to check that some horrifying monstrosity wasn't about to sneak up on them to devour their very souls.
And who could blame them really, when that had actually happened not two days prior. Everyone here had either chosen to stay behind and fight for Piltover or had simply been too late to make it out of the city safely before the attack had begun. Either way they witnessed the attempted military coup by the Noxians and the inexplicable chaos that ensued once the "puppets" as they had been dubbed showed up. Fighting for your life should be enough to put anyone on edge, but having your soul briefly disconnected from your body was what was pushing everyone over said edge and the true reason for the tense silence currently filling the small airship.
A quiet metallic creaking noise rung out, nothing more than a slight shift in the machinery in order to adjust to the minute change in wind direction. Were this any other day, the sound would've gone unnoticed, joining the chorus of background noises. This day, every single pair of eyes immediately shot towards the source of the sound, waiting in tense anticipation before, after a few seconds everyone collectively released a breath they didn't know they were holding. A soft, joyless chuckle followed the exchange, drawing a few brief glances towards its source, a fairly small, wiry looking figure with torn up clothes and a cream coloured cape with the hood up, standing at the railing facing away from the rest of the passengers and looking back at the city they just left. Pink eyes rolled in their sockets at the jumpy behaviour of the other passengers before settling back on the only place they had ever seen until now. The place that had made her who she was. That had broken her until she wanted nothing more than to break it just as badly, and then broke her some more until she wanted nothing anymore. Even now, standing at the railing the thought of how simple it would be to just jump off and be at peace continuously hammered into her skull almost painfully. Yet just when Mylo had finally shut up about how she didn't deserve the peace that came with it, that idiot Ekko just had to come back and guilt trip her into staying alive! Seriously, what an asshole, he doesn't talk to her for seven years, beats the living shit out of her, disappears into a parallel dimension – still not sure whether that was a metaphor or not – and comes back to tell her it's never too late? Ugh!
With a quit groan Jinx's head slumped downward against the metal railing, probably earning her a few more irritated looks from the rest of the passengers. Her head was pounding like crazy, whether due to the neverending unwanted opinions being given to the previous thoughts or just the ridiculous amount of physical trauma she had taken throughout the last few weeks she could not tell. When did she make it a habit to get her ass beat on a daily basis anyway? Even shimmered up and with fancy new powers, everyone she faced recently seemed to best her easily.
Maybe if you had trained harder you could've actually saved Vander and Isha.
Her hands tightened around the railing. She had long stopped questioning where her thoughts ended and Mylow's and Claggor's began. Silco had been added to the list not too long ago and for a moment she was terrified she would start hearing Isha. That had not happened yet, possibly on account of the fact that the young girl was mute, then again that seemed a bit too rational an explanation for insanity. It was also very much just her trying to push the thought process past that accusing voice. Thanks for the reminder brain!
Her head still on the railing Jinx could feel the panic building in her chest, as she almost felt Claggors arm grabbing her around the neck from behind and putting her in a headlock. Her vision blurred slightly, both from the lack of air and the tears as she struggled not to lose composure, painfully aware of all the people around her. Normally she couldn't care less about other people and would scream it out all she wanted, but with how tense everyone already was that would likely lead to some ugly scenes, and if anyone recognized her she would presumably would have to murder everyone on board. Which, YES MYLOW she knew she shouldn't do. So here she stood, the infamous criminal mastermind turned heroic symbol turned actual war hero, clenching the rusty railing like her life depended on it, slowly waiting for the worst of her panic attack to subside. Had it always taken so long? She really didn't know, most of the time when something like this happened she would do something drastic to make her feel better quickly, instead of just weather the storm. Slowly, painfully slowly, she felt the pulse in her ears calm down in its drumming. Trying to normalize her breathing she slowly released the grip on the railing. Had her hands been bleeding before? Probably not. With a quick shrug and a grim smile she wiped the blood into the remainders of her clothes and looked back up, only to see an entirely unfamiliar landscape ahead. Blinking a few times in confusion, the pressure on her chest seemed to finally release fully. She did it! She had taken Silcos last advice and walked away from it all.
It had all seemed so much simpler when she felt nothing at all, burning away her entire existence. She had already taken the advice to heart then, ending the cycle she was trapped in for all her life by ending her life itself, it had made so much sense. But then stupid Ekko came along and made her care again, and once again she was unable to do it. Instead she just went and saved her sister and probably all of Piltover. Might as well die doing that.
This time there was some fondness in her smile, and a few more tears fell on the metal railing. She hadn't planned it when coming to Vi's aid, even if part of her was convinced she wouldn't make it out alive, but dying while holding on to her dad and saving her big sister in the process? That was alomst too good to be true. And yet again, when she was about to pull the pin she couldn't help but hear Ekko's voice.
"It's never too late to build something new."
She wished she could have had a last conversation with Ekko, tell him thanks and she would try her best, whatever that may be – maybe punch him in the face for making her try - but she knew if she revealed that she was alive to Ekko or Vi she wouldn't have been able to leave, and would be doomed to continue on with the cycle. It had to be this way, the world needed to think Jinx was dead, so that everyone could heal without her constantly messing things up. It was a perfect plan really, with only one teeny tiny little question remaining at the end.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?
She rolled her eyes again at Mylos hysterical laughter and pulled up her shoulders in a helpless shrug. The goal so far had been to make it out of the city without causing attention, being seen or blowing something up. All of which she had aced by the way! But now that she had completed her objectives, what came next? How was she just supposed to "build something new" when so far all she'd ever done was destroy?
With a sigh Jinx turned around to face the other passengers for the first time in what could have been minutes but might as well have been some hours. They were a sorry looking bunch, mostly Pilties of course, wearing fancy clothes that had seen some fresher days. Clearly changing your clothes didn't take priority when your life was in danger. Some looked up when she turned around, but quickly averted their gazes. The rest was still as fearstruck as before, nervously bouncing their knees or constantly switching seating positions. The nervous energy immediately put Jinx back on edge as well, but she managed to keep a calm face this time. There'll be more than enough time for mental breakdowns when this ship had landed and she had found a secluded place.
Come to think of it, what was the target location named again? Krexor? She caught a brief glimpse of the name written on a sign at the port but didn't give it much thought at the time. It was definitely not a name she remembered hearing before, but then her geographical knowledge was effectively limited to Zaun, so that wasn't saying much. Taking a quick look at the airship proved more useful. It was rather small in size which meant that, without Hexgates to shoot it across the continent it would be meant for shorter distance flights, not longer than a day by her estimate. It was also early morning when they started and they were heading roughly towards the sun, so they should be moving in an eastern direction. Looking up into the sky she blinked in surprise as the sun seemed to almost mockingly blare straight at her from the back of the ship. Panic began to arise within her. Had the ship turned around? Was she heading back to Piltover right now and all her effort would have been for nothing. What if that sheriff decided she wanted revenge after all and she – she'd been standing at that railing, staring off into the distance for hours on end, hadn't she? Laughter echoed in her mind. Oh, you too now Claggor? Screw you and cut a girl some slack! Before she realized it she was giggling along loudly, not caring for a moment about appearances. The moment passed as quickly as it had come. Digging her mechanical finger into her thumbnail she tried to refocus on the task at hand. Less then a day of travel, eastwards, almost there. If it was a coastal city she could find a ship and get even more distance between herself and Piltover. Except she could barely handle being stuck in this confined place with so many people for a day and actual ship journeys could take weeks!
I gotta get a lay of the land, find a comparibly safe place to sleep, get some information about the place and move on on foot as fast as I can!
She was pretty sure those were her thoughts. Whether that meant Jinx or Powder she had no idea. The two typically didn't agree on a lot, but this seemed to spark both their interests. Just as she had come to her conclusion, a crew member approached the passengers to inform them they will be landing soon. Nice! Deduction skills ten out of ten! She could become a private investigator if everything else failed. She gave one last look backwards to the setting sun, in the direction of her hometown.
Just for you Ekko, I'll give it one last shot. So this'll better be worth it.
And with a smile that didn't quite touch her eyes Jinx turned her back to her past. Her hands still felt a bit numb from the hours long stare off with the horizon, but she put them on the railing again as the airship began its slow decend into the quit town of Krexor in the light of a beautiful evening sun.
Screams filled the night air as the remainders of the small Noxian outpost desperately tried to regroup, before being flung around the air like puppets and landing with a sickening crunch. One soldier bravely charged at the invader, only to stop in his tracks, having impaled himself on his own blade. Another fired a crossbow bolt, only for it to swerve in front of the figure and sink itself deep into the side of one of his comrade's head. Shock was the last impression on the shot takers face, before with a clanking sound the armor around him tightened, breaking him in an instant. Seeing the destruction around him, a soldier rushed in front of the figure and fell on his knees, raising his hands in surrender, pleading with their assailant.
"Stop this madness, I beg of you! You've slaughtered us like animals, but there is no need for this to continue. We surrender!"
His voice was young. He couldn't have been much older than she was. The figure halted, as the soldier fearfully stared up into her golden eyes. Just as she opened her mouth to reply however, his mouth opened through a bloody gasp, his head snapping downwards to the spear impaling him from behind.
"Noxian soldiers never surrender, not even in the face of certain death. Stand your ground!"
The captain no doubt, pulled out his spear and pointed it at the approaching figure. "Do your worst, witch!"
Staring down at the young soldier still gasping for air and coughing up blood, images began to pour through the figures mind. Images of classmates, friends, turned opponents, turned husks. Feelings of intense pain as innate magic was being forcefully awakened, and the rage at the senseless pain and death all for the sake of power. Magical sigils all across the figures body began to shine in a pale golden light.
"Maybe your subordinates will think differently after your death."
Screams continued to fill the night. They did not surrender. They never did.
Everything was still at the small noxian outpost that was taken by storm by a single assailant, opponents twisted by their armor beyond recognition. The fear of her would continue to rise. Noxus would send more after her. She couldn't care less. Carefully the young woman stepped over the mess she made to the captains desk, giving a dark grin at the rudimentary setup. This was Noxus after all, brutal efficiency. She spent the next hours searching through the documents. There had to be something here, the soldier she had investigated was sure of it. Just when frustration began to spread through her, she read a report that made her snap back into focus.
"...caught trying to flee the country. Brought to the town of Krexor to be shipped to the Bastion as soon as possible. That's barely three days of travel on foot."
Saying this the womans armor began to flow off her and transform into a massive metal steed.
"So probably only a day and a half for me. Don't worry kids, I'm coming."
Authors note:
Hello and thanks for reading all the way to the end. This was my first attempt at writing in a loooong time, so I hope it wasn't too rough too read. Also, as per right now the Arcane finale has been out for around a day, meaning not a lot of time went into proof reading this, so apologies if there are a lot of mistakes, I really just wanted to get it out of my system.
Last but not least, writing about mental health issues is always gonna make things a bit more complicated, I tried to doJinx's thoughts and problems justice without going too dark, I hope it didn't come out as playing down her problems. If you happened to have found a void inside of you after Arcane ended just like me and stumbled across this feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks again!
Also, not sure if this is still necessary, but obvious disclaimer, I do not own Arcane, League of Legends or any of their characters, they belong to Riot Games.