Fandom Arcane - A Far Kinder World

[timidAristocrat]

It was automatic. Sometimes your body moves without you thinking, it knows what you want to do, what you need to do. Vander lunged at Jinx, time seemed to slow, and before she knew it, Vi had lunged in response.

She was grabbed, rolled across and over the near-fallen walkway, before finally starting to plummet. Vander held her for only a moment, before simply seeming to stop, and letting go. Vi, in a rush near shoves him off as she lets her gauntlets slip off her hands to reach for Jinx's hand, and she misses.

The last thing she heard, was her screaming "VIIIIIIIIIII-" and slowly tapering off, too far to hear. Vi took a second, and closed her eyes. She always wanted to die with her eyes closed, instead of open.

But the impact never came. Instead, a brief silence, like someone muted everything around her, shut off, and separated. The next, as she opened her eyes she was somewhere new.

Vi shoots to sitting up, looking around in a panic. This room, right, yeah this room, she recognizes this room. The workshop where she, and her three siblings had once stolen the starting puzzle pieces to hextech. The girl glances around, putting a hand on her face. "I'm alive..." She softly mutters to herself. "I... I think I'm alive..." There's always the chance she isn't. Without really thinking she pinches herself, and winces a bit. "Ah-! yeah definitely alive. Better question is where am i?"

The room looked abandoned, like it hadn't been touched ever since that day? Whatever, it doesn't matter, what matters right now is getting back to Jinx. She staggers to her feet, pulling down the boards covering the door and practically stumbles, still injured from the fight before, out onto the streets of Piltover.

At first, she thinks it's just her head. She's rattled, nearly died and appeared here- however. Magic? The arcane? Something like that. But, the streets look different, duller. Still Piltovan, but... More like when she was a kid? Before the difference between under and over city made as much as a difference, before- oh my god- before the hexgate, she realized as she looks out onto a clear view of what would have been the skyline, and sees it gone.

Vi stumbles a bit in a daze, walking backwards before bumping right into someone. She mumbles an apology, before starting to run.

Where is she? Vi needs a touchstone, something she'll always know. She needs to go back home to the fissures.

Wherever she is, it's different, such a different world. A market where there used to be a checkpoint on the bridge crossing the river. Piltovans and Zaunites chatting without a care in the world. The sky South of the River was clear, something she can't remember ever seeing. The streets are clean, chaotic sure, in that eclectic way things tend to be in the undercity, but not trashed. She hadn't even noticed it at first, taking a breath before sighing. The airs clean. Maybe not at clean as Piltover, but there was no sting when it went down, like the grey had been cleared.

Finally, she makes it. Standing there silently for a moment. It's similar to when she was a kid but different in a way. The colors are brighter, and the light hits it in a different way... She had to know what was in there. Perhaps this is heaven, a better version of her childhood, all brought back, laid out for her.

She takes the handle and opens the door.

 

[Zariah Turner]

Inside the Last Drop, Powder sits at the bar, watching everyone go about their business. It's late afternoon, and patrons have already begun to come in, ordering beverages and getting an evening meal to have with friends. Mylo and Claggor are sitting at a table off to the side, chatting with a girl that's caught Mylo's attention. Vander is behind the bar counter, serving people drinks, laughing and making conversation with people. Powder could have sworn she had seen Ekko somewhere, and normally, she would have gone to hunt him down, but... she'd been keeping her distance a bit. He seemed like he was back to normal now, but things had been... weird around him a bit back. Powder wasn't quite sure how to handle the whole situation - wasn't sure what she thought of it, emotions were still warring inside her - so she'd decided to hang back until she sorted out. So instead, Powder absent-mindedly twirled the straw in her drink, watching the bustle of the Last Drop during the evening.

Then the door to the Last Drop opened, and everything came to a halt.

Powder didn't see what had caused it at first, since her focus wasn't on the door, but she heard it open. Heard the small, background of sounds people moving around, eating, or playing games vanish as everyone stilled. Heard conversations die out all across the space. Powder spun around in her seat, confused as to what had caused the commotion.

And found herself staring at a ghost.

It can't be! Powder thought, frantically, starting to feel scrambled, out of place, even though she had been fine moments before. Powder couldn't fathom the person who had just stepped through the door. She couldn't be here. She was gone. It's - it can't be her, she's gone, I must be seeing things. Powder looked around frantically, turning to Vander, needing someone to help, to show her that this wasn't real - but he was standing there, in the middle of cleaning a cup, as frozen as Powder felt. He sees her, Powder realized, turning to look at Mylo and Claggor - also frozen. They all do. Then... she must be... real.

But... how? Powder knew her sister was dead. I was there, when it happened, I watched her die - the world seemed to grow scratchy for a moment, before Powder did her best to shove the painful memories to the back of her mind. Yet, somehow, her sister wasn't... gone. She was... here. She looked different, older, but unmistakably the same in all the ways that mattered to Powder.

As if in a trance, Powder stood, hesitantly taking a few steps forward. "Vi?" She asked, hesitantly. "Is that... you?"

 

[timidAristocrat]

Moments ago, The Last Drop was the same center of the community it had always been. Regulars filtered in and out, ordering drinks from an ever smiling Vander as he intermittently told the same five stories he always had on hand. Silco was here earlier as well, but he had some business to attend to and stepped away for a bit. Ekko had been here earlier but when Mylo mentioned Powder would be coming he saw his way to the door as well, perhaps drinking outside for now, giving Powder the space she seemed to need after whatever happened a couple days ago.

It was a regular Thursday evening. There wasn't even a band playing, no bar arguments or even couple arguing in the booth. There's maybe three other patrons inside if you don't count friends and family, makes sense for a quiet afternoon. Why's it always seem like fate has a way of choosing the most normal days to turn upside down huh? Sometimes, Vi wishes these things could all be compressed into one simple bad day. But she was already here. She had to go inside.

She'd seen everything leading up to here, every hint, every single clue that would tell her what she was about to see and yet, she knew she wasn't ready. Especially as she opened the door and saw Vander standing right there behind the bar. She was known to keep her feeling buried, it's important for someone like her. Makes you seem stronger, add in reputation and physicality, sometimes you can end fights before they start. But you can't fight feelings, can't scare em off, can't tell them to swing by another time when the whole family comes knocking.

Vi manages, for a good fifteen seconds she manages, by just silently imagining it like seeing an old picture. Not real, a passive observer, someone peeking in on a world you've long since lo-
"Vi?" She asked, hesitantly. "Is that... you?"
-and she instantly begins to crack. Vi can't remember the last time she'd cried. Perhaps it had also been the last time she saw Vander, who now stared at her, white in the face. The same way Mylo and Claggor were staring.

"J....Jinx?"

She notices the tears that'd formed only when her voice cracks. Fuck, she tries to swallow it, shove that back down but there's so much more happening here than she can pummel back into the ground. She manages to keep the waterworks from falling, save for two tears, one in each eye. But the expression across her face was unmistakable, and she can't help herself but to pull Powder into a deep deep hug, squeezing tight. Claggor stands first, but doesn't approach right away, and Mylo seems glued to his chair, his legs almost feel like they don't work anymore.

Vander gulps, his throat dry. A slow breath before speaking "Alright. Everyone out." his voice is low, but its deep rumble carries through the bar. It spoke with a conviction that told those not welcome in this moment now would be a wise time to leave, and speaking the opposite to the family in the room. Patrons filter out, and soon, the bar is empty, save for the five of them.

 

[Zariah Turner]

"J....Jinx?" Says Vi, her voice cracking.

Powder froze, standing there stiffly. The world began to shift, scratches and scribbles began to appear. Memories of her first, early jobs with Vi and everyone else, barely getting to tag along because they never thought she was good enough. A jinx, Mylo had called her, like it was her fault everything went wrong, even though everything did seem to go wrong - Why is Vi calling me that? Why? I'm not a jinx, I'm not, I haven't heard that in years, I thought this would have stopped by now -

And then Vi was hugging her tightly, and all the thoughts and scratches vanished from Powder's mind. After a moment, Powder hugs Vi back, just as tightly. Whatever doubt she had left, worries that it wasn't really real, vanished in an instant. This was her sister. Her sister was back, she was alive - alive! - and Powder was able to hug her, and see her, and talk to her, for the first time in so many years. Tears came to Powder's eyes, and she cried silently, hugging Vi. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her sister until she finally got to see her again.

Powder wants to stay like that forever, there with Vi, knowing her sister is alive and real, but eventually, she stepped back and wiped her eyes, vision slightly blurry from the tears. Probably just the tears. Vander had cleared out the bar, and the last patrons were quietly slipping out the door. "You're... here," she said to Vi, her voice filled with wonder. "You're actually here!"

It's as if Powder's words break a spell over Claggor and Mylo and Vander. Claggor comes to stand by Powder, as does Mylo, though his walk is a bit unsteady as he gets up from his chair. Vander walks over from around the counter, face still pale, and comes to a stop by them. He looks at Vi, his expression an unreadable mess of emotions, before pulling Vi into a tight hug. Powder hangs back for the moment, and Mylo and Claggor do the same.

The shock of Vi coming in, coming back - she's alive, she's really alive, - is still strong, and a part of Powder is itching to talk to Vi, to ask her where she's been all this time, how she's not dead, why she stayed away all those years, why didn't she come back sooner? Don't think about that, Powder tells herself, chanting it over and over to banish the doubt that has started to creep in again. She had her reasons - she had to - and she's here now, and that's all that matters. The mantra helps Powder a little, and scratches she hadn't even noticed start to fade away from the corners of her vision. Vi is here. That's all that matters.