Chapter Text
“Here’s to the new us.”
Jinx scoffed tiredly as she pushed herself from the chair. It was not a goodbye, but rather a new beginning. The start of the monster she had become. The jinx in her late family. Empty eyes and cheeks stained with former tears of shimmery purple looked back at the stranger she once called her own – her sister. With an absolute objective in mind, she took hold of the glowing blue gemstone sitting on top of the cupcake and left Vi alone.
Just like she had done to her in the past.
Leaving the tea party behind of her, Jinx walked ahead to the spot to end it all. To fulfil the wish of the dead as the voices continue to ring inside her head. She could have sworn that another added to the mess in her mind.
We will show them.
We will show them all.
The thought of her late father strained her heart, her breath barely keeping up to remain herself calm. Don’t cry. His last words repeated themselves inside her head. You’re perfect. Jinx is perfect, and she had killed the only person who had seen that in her. Her own hands tainted with blood of someone, who had accepted her for what she had become; for who she is.
You ruined everything. You are not good enough.
You are a Jinx!
You’re perfect.
Tired. She was tired of it all — the voices, Vi, Silco. They had no right to take up all the space inside her head, but there she was. She wanted it all to disappear, to destroy and never to be seen again. Jinx shook her head to escape her thoughts, losing her footing in the process. She almost fell, using Fishbones as a crutch to regain her posture. It was all cursed — she was cursed — cursing everyone and everything around her. Why did she had to suffer alone? To hell with it! Everyone should feel her pain and wrath.
Reaching her destination outside the wrecked building, the view was painted with the maroon moon, almost mocking her and her murderous intentions. Are you here to belittle me, too?
She started to hear Vi in the back, calling out for the topsider. Her shimmer-filled veins burned at the thought. Focus Jinx, finish his last will. Sighing in disappointment, she positioned her heavy weapon on her shoulder and aimed. Her legs wobbled at the added weight. Why was she so weak? The recent surgery had taken its toll on her slim body, but she cannot be weak. Not now at least. Jinx never misses — she can’t miss. Wiping her eyes with her dirtied gloves, she took a deep breath and pointed at her target once again.
There were voices in the background, shouting her name. Jinx recognized Vi’s voice. She could hear their footsteps — one pair… then another, slower, dragging themselves in the debris behind. Switching the safety of her weapon, the runes on Fishbone were glowing a beautiful blue in contrast to the blood-red of the moon. Her finger slowly placed on the trigger, she shut one tearful eye to precisely aim at Piltover. Her nose sniffled slightly to calm herself, but the shimmer was already blurring her sight.
Why are you hesitating?
Do it, Jinx. Powder. Jinx.
Powder! Jinx is perfect.
Pow-pow, stop! Don’t cry. You’re perfect.
Pulling the trigger, she screamed.
Her head was throbbing. Her senses were diluted, but there was a constant screeching in the back of her mind. Shut up, she thought. Or maybe said out loud, not that she would give a damn. Couldn’t she have a moment of peace? Groaning for crying out loud, Jinx slammed her palms at her temples to soothe the ache, which was initially the plan, but sharp pains on her wrist brought her back to reality.
What the—
Realizing the more she pulled, the more it hurt, her ears finally picked up the sound of chains clanking instead of the dissonance in her head. She was cuffed for god’s sake. She does not remember when or how. What the hell happened? Trying to open her shut eyes, she was met with resistance against her heavy eyelids. With time and great effort, Jinx opened them slowly, bracing for whatever the world would throw at her again. Looking at her surroundings, she was locked in a small dark room with a steel door. Surprisingly, she was left alone with no surveillance of any kind. But she was cuffed to the fucking wall.
She rolled her eyes as her breath came out ragged – she needed to escape, needed out. Her captors were smart enough not to use ropes, or else she would have bitten herself out a long time ago, fuck! Jinx kicked her legs out in frustration. How did she end up in this situation? Judging by the state of her torn and dirty clothes, she had not been here for long. But what did not for long mean? Her body is not a clock, goddamn. Calm down and remember, stupid brain! Hitting her head on the wall in frustration, she leaned her weight against it, thinking about what to do next. She needed to calm down, or else the hellish voices will wreak havoc before she could. It would only be a matter of time before Silco would show up with his goons and free her, yes, Silco—
Silco‘s dead.
You killed him, remember?
Ah. Jinx does remember. How could she forget? The holes inside his body caused by her minigun. His lowered head and blood dripping from his mouth. A cold shiver shuddered down her spine and her mouth felt stuck on nothing. Her jaw stiff as if dislocated. Unable to move nor mutter a noise, she felt trapped inside her own body, only the voices keeping her company against her will. Her voices reminding her of what she had done, ridiculing her entire being.
Don’t cry.
Jinx had not realized that purple tears rolled down her cheeks, a choked sob leaving her mouth. Slowly sliding down the wall, she curled into herself with her knees touching her head. Time passed had passed until the voices became unbearable, to the point where her sobbing turned into small giggles to a fit of crazed laughter. You don’t get to be sad, Jinx! This is all your fault! Your fault!
“My fault!”, she laughed as if it had been the funniest thing she had heard. In a way, it was. It was bound to happen, it’s in the name, one voice provided. True, Jinx nodded to herself. Now that her emotions passed like a round of Russian roulette, she was bored. Who thought of keeping her by herself? It was boring. “Hey! Anyone out there? Your guest has awoken and is very much alive!”
Nothing. Try harder. Jinx never gives up.
Yeah, but Jinx was bored. Stupid voice. She tried haggling with her chains again, but to no avail. Remembering that she kept a small hairpin inside one of her hair decorations, she reached to pull one out — only to let it fall on the floor. The sound echoed in the dead silent room. Jinx hoped that no one on the other side heard the sound. She does not know why but being stealthy made her mission more 'interesting'. For boredom’s sake. Picking up the hairpin, she twisted the cuffs in every direction in search for the lock, making her wrists wound, bruised, and sore during the process. Where was the stupid keyhole to this fucking thing? She threw her body against the nearest wall in frustration, hairpin long thrown on the other side of the room.
Her captors were playing her! “Fuck you!”, she yelled in anger and hoped it offended at least one soul outside that damned door. Jinx huffed some strands out of her face and tried another method. She directed her anger towards the cuffs, the shimmer in her veins glowing an ominous purple in the dark. Jinx tried her best to get rid of the handcuffs, hoping to make them crack a little bit under her strength, but it was futile. Weak.
“I am not weak!”, she yelled at the shadow on the other side of the room. “You have it easy, hiding in the shadows. At least I can do better than that!”
And look where it brought you.
“You little—!” Trying to sprint to the ghost of her late friend Mylo, she got harshly pulled back by the chains. An ugly knack sound from the bones of her wrist followed. Falling to sit, she thought of her last resort to escape to freedom. Jinx moved her fingers and made her fist as small as possible, and then pulled. She yelped in agony but pushed further. At one point, her bones had to give in. Sevika had once bragged in the bar about how she broke her thumbs to escape the Enforcers. If that ogre could do it, why couldn’t she? Her knuckles turned white, and a sickening pop followed. Her thumb was unnaturally bend and it hurt like hell. Cursing under her breath, she tried to calm her hysteric breathing before pushing the chains further down.
With a painful yelp, she slid one of the cuffs off. Breathlessly, Jinx could finally touch her face and wiped off her sweat. When did she start sweating? Boredom turned to tiredness and exhaustion, as she laid down on the floor, her other hand forgotten for the moment. Gazing upon her freed hand, she tried to move her thumb, and winced in pain.
Fuck.
She most definitely fucked up her thumb.
Oh, to whoever put her in this cell — to whoever was on the other side of the door — Jinx would make sure to pay them back tenfold. Oh, she was so sure about that. Her room was filled with maniac laughter before she succumbed to her tiredness and slept away in the dark.
“I’ll take her on this side—”
Jinx sprang up from the floor before being ambushed and pushed down by Enforcers. “Hey! Piss off! Don’t you dare touch me!”, she swung around her with her free hand, but the damn authorities were prepared. Her fists only met harsh armor, only making her knuckles bruise and bleed. Unbothered by her antics, the Enforcers continued to invade her space. Trying to kick them off and hysterically screaming, Jinx felt a prickle on her neck, and it seemed like time slowed down before her arms went limp and her vision turned black. Slowly, she felt herself being carried away by the abyss.
A pinch to her face whipped her awake as she let out a small yelp.
“Hey, she’s still my sister!”
Vi?
Jinx groaned in pain as she moved and straightened her jaw. Who the hell—
She winced before opening her eyes in the harsh light, only to realize that it was natural sunlight. Not the dull light that reached the ever so dark corners of Zaun.
Piltover. The voice in the back of her head provided.
“Pow—”
As her eyes were forced to getting used to the light, she saw Vi in the corner of the room and beside her was the Piltie that was holding her sister back by the sleeve of her red jacket. Voices alarmed her, signalling danger, telling her to smack her dirty hands away from her sister. But she found her body restrained to a chair.
“Get these damn things off—”, “Silence!”
“Shut up! Who let you talk anyway?”
Oh, did she also forgot to mention that the whole Council was also present in the room? But who cares, trivial matter anyway. Wait— No! The Council was safe? Her purple eyes scanned the room and she scoffed at how there was not even a bit of dust on their fancy suits. You failed. FAILURE! FAILURE! FAILURE! Jinx growled at them all. Just because they thought that they had this monster chained, they were all so high and mighty.
Oh, we will prove them wrong.
We will show them.
We will show them all.
Powder!
Shaking her head to the side, she got whiplash from Vi’s voice. Her own groans filled the room, and it was unbearable. She was in no state to negotiate with the prissy topsiders, let alone wanting to be in the presence of these pests that abandoned Zaun and its citizens.
“Let us proceed the trial.”
Jinx didn’t even bother looking up to them. Trial, hah. What trial? It appeared too funny for her, giggles escaping her dry and bitten lips. And it seemed that the Council took notice, as they exchanged concerning and weird looks with the criminal that sat before them in their circle. But there were not long bothered and continued their lawful way of talking. All she understood was blah, blah, and blah.
It’s all your fault.
You’re a Jinx!
Look what you got yourself into.
Her head twitched and she had the urge to rub her hands against her temples again. Same dilemma as before. Wait, when was that? Jinx pushed against the chair, no longer focused on what the idiots were talking about. The councilmen are soft. She might get a slap on the wrist and be send back to the Lanes, who knows. Silco’s dead.
Silco’s dead.
The realization hitting her again, striking her with a brute force and leaving her breathless. Her eyes lost focus, staring at something that isn’t there. Jinx felt cold. Who the hell dared to pour cold water on her? Her body shivered and she did her best to fight against it, shuffling against the chair.
It was your fault. It was your fault. It was your fault.
No. No. No. NO!
Enforcers left and right pressed her body further against the chair, knocking the air out of her lungs. Don’t touch me! Visions of a dirty operation table mixed with reality — she remembers fighting against restrains there as well. Jinx began chanting along with her voices, desperate pleas of No ‘s leaving her trembling lips.
Pink.
She sees a blurry of pink entering her vision and a soft voice that immediately calms her. Two palms were cupping her head and stroking a strand of hair out of her face. I’m here. I won’t leave you. Hushed words were said between them like a secret.
“Silco is dead.”, Jinx slurred. I know. We know.
“I killed him. I killed him because I am a Jinx.”
Her voice turned from weak to venom, and she laughed. Laughed for what did not become. Laughing at her downfall.
Laughing to hide her pain and tears.
“Council, you heard her. Silco is no more, and we have to thank his right hand for that.”, the new voice that she came to detest spoke. Did that stupid hat lady really think that she would start to like her? Topsiders were beyond stupid.
“That does not give her the right to roam around free. She has blood on her hands, Caitlyn! Blood of our people! We are still cleaning the bridge from the blood that was shed on that day. No more!”
Jinx remembers him. Deep hatred showed on her face. He was the wonder boy who had all of Piltover fallen for him. The damn golden boy. It was his invention’s fault that she landed here. He will just be another name on her list. Jinx will take care of him, take care of them all. That thought alone brought her joy and she began to giggle, irritating, or more, scaring the Council.
“Peace treaty no more, eh?”
“You—!”
“Jayce, keep it civilized. We are here to agree on a verdict, not to make matters worse.”, a calm and collected voice addressed the golden boy. And she’s golden girl, huh. Her jewellery against her dark skin made it almost blinding to look at her. Almost.
“We have been informed that you were the thief behind the Hextech gemstone on Progress Day. Your theft alone has brought dangers over Piltover and Zaun.”
“What a tragedy.”, Jinx tried to vocalize with a sad and emphatic voice, but her voice came out hoarse. “Hey, when are we finished? This throat needs some drinking!” It was fun to see the Council‘s faces. You could precisely tell when their brains stopped working with her little interruptions. Hilarious, really.
Ask, and you shall receive. Vi was handed a bottle of water, bleh, who drinks that junk?! She made her way to her chair, uncapped the bottle, and held it to her lips. She would rather drink the poison from Chuck’s bar anytime than this Piltover crap, but this had to suffice. Gulping the liquid like a fish who hadn’t seen water for days, she honestly forgot what water had tasted like. Fresh piltie water. This was like a slap to her face. Zaun never had fresh water, let alone drinkable. When was the last time anyone ever drank out of the toxic river and not drop dead in mere hours?
Humming for her sister to stop, Jinx took one last gulp before the bottle was taken — and splash! Spitting the water out like a water gun, she wet her sister’s pants. “Oops, I accidentally did that on purpose.” Feeling no sense of regret. Oh, sweet sis. This was only the beginning.
Vi only sighed and shook her head, her expression turning hopeless before she retreated to her girlfriend‘s side. Yuck. Someone cleared their throat and continued their speech. Then there was some arguing. Then again, a pause. Some hands were raised. Too many it seemed because Vi jumped into the circle and talked like a topsider. Ew, was she really negotiating them? Arguing with them? How long until Jinx turns domesticated like her?
“We can’t send her to Stillwater! She- She doesn’t deserve that! I- Anything but that shitty prison!”
“Vi”, the hat lady tried to pull her back from her jacket, but to no avail.
“I volunteer! Let me take her prison sentence, or, or put me in the prison with her. Please, she can’t…” Vi‘s voice died down in her throat and Caitlyn moved her hand from her jacket to caringly stroke her arm. As if to console her. Jinx stomped her feet on the ground. Ugly thoughts filled her mind.
“Be my guest, sis.”
Her remarks were ignored as all eyes were on Caitlyn. She straightened her back and addressed all of the Council. “I believe it would be unwise to sentence her to prison in Stillwater, let alone with her sister.”, loving and caring eyes meet her sister’s and Jinx had to hold back any ounce of self-restraint to not vomit onto the floor right then and there. “I believe that according to our laws, Jinx can’t be send to prison.”
Now this was interesting. Jinx‘s ears perked up. Why was this Piltie trying so hard? To further get into her sister’s pants? Oh, she didn’t even needed to try, Jinx was long forgotten for Vi. Liar.
“Caitlyn Kiramman, please elaborate your point.”
“I hope you haven’t lied to me.”, shimmer-induced ears heard the hushed voices between Caitlyn, who whispered into Vi‘s ear, before she took a step forward, almost shielding Vi. “Caitlyn, what are you—”
“After the fight on the bridge many years ago, Vi‘s and Jinx‘s parents had died on that day. The fault lied in our government. After Vi got arrested, Silco took the initiative to play Jinx‘s guardian. Now after Silco’s death, she has only her sister. I also believe that Jinx is not of age, yet. If I remember correctly, the prisons were not made for juveniles.”
Jinx would’ve clapped. No, really. Because the speechless faces of the Council were everything satisfying she had to see today.
“Zaunite Vi, is this true?”, one of the Council’s members asked. Oh, not so trusting of hat lady, eh. But it bothered her that they were talking as if she was a child. Guardians. Pah! As if she ever needed one.
You did, Jinx.
Definitely.
Oh, shut up. This was the first time that Vander and Silco agreed on something. And that in her head of all places.
“Uhm. Wait, lemme count…”, the attention switched to her sister, who was busy counting years. Seriously Vi? You forgot my birthday? Wait. Jinx had to recount the years herself. It has been… Oh. The moment of realization hit both of the sisters at the same time. “She will be of age in four months.”, Vi almost whispered, needing time to believe her own words.
The same words that Jinx had to let sink in. Four months. Maybe you were a child after all. Shut it, Mylo. Or what? Wanna cuddle up and cry on big sis Vi‘s shoulder? “SHUT UP!”, she yelled, her voice echoing in the silent room.
The golden girl regained her posture and raised her hand. “Miss Kiramman‘s words are the spoken truth. We, as the Council, cannot preach about order and ignore the laws. Laws are meant to be kept and it seems like we cannot go back against our own words. What do you suggest we do, Miss Kiramman?”
“I think that Jinx is too far gone.”, she sighed and Vi whipped her head in her direction, confused what the topsider was admitting to. “But my partner here believes that she can be saved. We believe that she had been induced by a heavy amount of shimmer provided by Silco. We have resources that are lacking in Zaun. Let us make use of them. Prison seems too harsh. A clinical institution might resolve this matter…
Until she has reached her next birthday. Then we can once again decide between Stillwater or anything else.”
This was stupid! How dare she! Silco was suddenly at fault for her mistakes?! Her eyes an angry purple were focused on the topsider, then moved to her sister. Oh, this was her fault! She had been calling her a Jinx! She should be dealing with one now!
“How dare you!”, Jinx yelled from her chair. They were deciding her freedom as if she was nothing but thin air! Shuffling against her restraints, she stomped and kicked her legs around. Alarmed Enforcers were on her side again and tried holding her still, but her shimmer-filled veins pushed against anything that held her back. Voices in the background seemed to argue, until hands were being raised again. Trying to avoid the grasps that were holding her, a prickling sensation made its way to her neck again.
Her vision turned gradually blurry to a pitch black, the verdict long forgotten in her head.