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.

 

[timidAristocrat]

Vi clung to Powder like a comfort teddy, but a part of her, knowing just how wrong it is to see these people, looks at Vander Mylo and Claggor with eyes of a wild complex stir up of emotions. Joy? Yeah joy is in there, but mixed in is also confusion, regret, worry, and most confusing for everyone involved in this is the inclusion of not a small dose of fear. Violet takes a slow, shaky breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth, repeating it like a mantra to herself while the boys of the family approach, and she finally, softly asks.

"Am..... am I dead? Is... this the- I don't fuckin know, the... afterlife or something? Its- I mean it's gotta be right? Cuz-" She points at Mylo and Claggor "I- saw what happened to you and-" she shakily turns to Vander next "And you were there for what happened to me-" But then her eyes land on Powder, and she ever so softly says "But then why are you here...." Vi seems almost scared to touch everyone but Powder, placing a palm on her face to prove to herself that she's real. "You- did you fall in after me or- I just..."

Vi is finally cut off as Vander puts a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch softly.

"Hey, it's alright kiddo-" he says, and suddenly she's fourteen again coming home with scuffed up knuckles and a bloody nose. Her face pulls into a mixture of relief and pain and sorrow before she pulls him and her brothers all in together.

Sure, none of them know what's going on, not even in the slightest, but for a good few minutes, they were back together.

Now, Powder may realize this by now, but VI in this instance, she looks just like the portrait Ekko made. The Vi he claimed to see in a dream, but of course, now Powder knew better... Down to the tattoos, the only difference being the enforcer outfit she was wearing.

"A-ah- shit- easy on the hugging-" She softly grunted out. It was a long fight, a difficult one, and that blow she took from Va.... from.... from the other Vander... Just thinking of him as Vander right now puts a chill down her spine- but anyways, the blow she took from him is finally starting to hurt. Adrenalin is a powerful thing, even with Vi's high pain tolerance, she couldn't ignore it much longer. The gash wounds across her side, the pain inside her arm (perhaps it's broken? Hard to tell) and the ringing in her head. Finally in her family's arms, in whatever heaven this could be, it seemed her body simply decided this was the safest place she'd be finding, and she finally gives out. Vi passes out right into Powder's arms, falling limp onto her sister.

 

[Zariah Turner]

Powder staggered as Vi collapsed into her arms, stumbling as she awkwardly managed to catch her sister. The rest of the family comes rushing over, their concern for Vi plain on their faces. Why did she pass out? Is something wrong? Is she hurt? Is this - my fault, somehow? A part of Powder’s mind is spiraling, falling into panic. Her vision starts to scratch out again, and she stumbles slightly. Vi is okay. She has to be. She can barely fathom having her sister back, barely believe it’s real - Powder isn’t sure she could handle something being wrong with Vi. There’s nothing wrong. But as Vander takes Vi from her arms, Powder looks down to see blood on one of her hands.

Blood. She’s… she’s bleeding, Powder realizes. “I - I think she’s hurt,” she says, voice still hoarse from the tears in her eyes. “She was - she was bleeding.” Powder isn’t sure why that’s so hard to say, why it’s so difficult to admit Vi might have gotten hurt. Vi had gotten hurt all the time when they were kids. She always recovered, kept on fighting. Except - except when - except on that terrible, terrible day… When she had gotten hurt and didn’t get back up. Powder looked down at her hands and realized they were shaking.

Claggor came over and laid a hand on Powder’s shoulder. The touched helped steady her, bring her back to reality. Vi - this Vi - was alive. She is. And Vi was back, somehow. Really, really here. That’s what I need to focus on. Taking a shaky breath, Powder followed her brothers and Vander as he carried Vi out of the bar, taking her to… her old childhood room? Powder looked around the space, feeling overwhelmed by memories again. Memories of times spent here with her sister. Showing Vi her latest inventions that never worked. Begging Vi to teach her how to fight. Vander laid Vi down on the bed in the room - Powder hadn’t realized they had kept it.

Powder took a seat in one of the old, beat-up chairs in the room, Mylo and Claggor sitting down next to her. They sat there, silent and on edge, as Vander began to look over Vi’s wounds. After several tense minutes, Powder finally asked, “Is she gonna be okay?”

Vander nodded. “She’s beat up, but it’s nothing serious.” Powder let out a sigh of relief, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. Vi is okay. She’s okay. Vi was alive, and here, and she was okay. “I cleaned up her wounds. Now we’ll just have to wait for her to wake up.”

So they sat there, anxiously waiting. Eventually, Vander stood up and hesitantly went back to run the bar. Mylo and Claggor eventually left as well, leaving Powder alone with her sister. She stared at Vi’s face, trying to reconcile with everything Vi had said before she had passed out. She… she said that something had happened to Mylo and Claggor. And… Vander. But… they were all fine here. So… what did Vi - what did this Vi - see that we haven’t? That line of reasoning was leading Powder to a conclusion she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about. Yet she couldn’t help remembering the mural Ekko had shown her. The mural of Vi, all grown up. A mural that looked just like the person laying before her. He said he saw it in a dream, but… was that really the case?

Powder would have to wait until Vi was awake to find out.

 

[timidAristocrat]

Vi dreamt in vivid colors. She dreamed about the blue explosion that took her family away. She saw her brothers pierced and crushed by rubble. She saw Vander give himself up once again, watched as fate pulled on her heartstrings to give him back only to snatch him away again. Then, in a flash of pink she could see herself, from Jinx's perspective, falling down down down into the hexgate tower. Closing her eyes and accepting the inevitable. She saw Jinx scream, and weep into her open palms and when she looked up, it was the same eyes as that little girl that killed her family before, tinged with a terrible purple stain.

Vi gasps awake in a cold sweat, panting softly as she quickly brings a hand up to her face, almost checking if she's real again. She sweeps her bangs to the side, wiping the sweat from her brow before wincing as her quick movement stoked pain in her side. "Ah- shit shit-" She softly swore to herself, not having noticed Powder sitting there quite yet.

The lights in the room were dim enough to practically be as useful as if they were off, something Vi would be grumbling about had she not been more preoccupied by the new stitches she had just partially broken, leading to her bleeding into her shirt again. At least the window was open, allowing fresh Zaunite air in, and a little bit of soft light from the moon. The enforcer uniform she was wearing sat on a nearby chair, which she moved out of the way slightly to get herself up. "Cmon- one, two, and-" She drags herself up, wincing a bit from it before finally spotting her in the corner of the room.

"Jinx...-" She starts, before hesitating. Nothing here seems the same, wherever she is, a part of her even thinking this is all part of some dreams she's having in her death throughs. She lightly corrects herself, speaking even softer as if to evoke the name may hurt her, whispering out "Powder?" almost asking it like a question.

Her hand this whole time had been searching the wall for the fuse switch, which she flips back on, turning the little lightbulb hanging on a cord in this small room on. She winces a little at the sudden brightness inside, before locking eyes with her sister.