[Ding... Congratulations, Host, for successfully recruiting Jinx!]
The World of Arcane has been unlocked in the shop!
Reward: Jinx's Scientific Genius.
Additional Reward: 100,000 points for Jinx's chaos in her own world.
Even though it was a good reward, it didn't compare to the one I was holding in my arms.
Slowly, our embrace loosened. Jinx wiped the tears from her face.
"Well, you sure put on quite a show, huh…?" she said with a crooked smile, cleaning one eye as she pulled herself together after the emotional moment.
"I've been told I'm pretty good with words."
"They weren't wrong," she replied with a small laugh, now calmer, looking at Salazar—still not fully believing that someone who had come out of nowhere had managed to lower her defenses so easily.
"Where we're going isn't exactly a peaceful place," he warned.
"I'd recommend bringing with you anything you might want."
"Is this some kind of fine print I wasn't aware of?" she said, hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"Something like that."
"Well, whatever." She shrugged cheerfully, already returning to her usual self—a few words weren't going to change Jinx overnight.
And it wasn't like Salazar wanted to change her.
As he watched her choose what to bring, he saw her stop in front of her friends' dolls, gently running her thumb over them.
Salazar noticed and stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder to make her look at him.
"You know that starting over doesn't mean forgetting everything, right?" he said softly, while Jinx stared at the dolls.
"Ever since you appeared, you've been talking like you know me. Why do you know so much about me?" she asked harshly, without looking away from them.
"I know many things about everything. When I arrived here, I was given information. I know more about you than you know about yourself," he said, standing beside her as she remained lost in thought.
"You only agreed to come with me to see if what I said was true, right?" he asked, watching her put the dolls into a bag before wandering around the workshop, mostly picking up weapons, explosives, and a Hextech crystal.
"Would you condemn me for that?" she said with a carefree smile as she organized her things.
"Not at all. The fact that you're giving me a chance is already more than I expected," he admitted, crossing his arms as Jinx stood in front of him, ready to leave.
"Well, I'm known for being unpredictable, explosive, and a little crazy—though I don't agree with that last part," she said indignantly, hands on her hips.
Salazar let out a small laugh at her response, looking at her bag with a sigh.
"I'll tell you where we're going later, but I must warn you that it's very likely you won't be able to come back for a long time… maybe never. That's why… Vi asked me to let her say goodbye to you, if you allow it."
He started walking toward the exit, with Jinx following him—only to stop dead in her tracks at his words.
"Vi said that?" she asked, rubbing her arm, her voice cracking slightly.
"I ran into her while I was looking for you. Everyone in Piltover is hunting you after the council attack. She told me she hoped I'd find you—she said it wasn't safe for you to stay here anymore."
Jinx didn't answer. She simply kept walking beside him until they reached an alley—one of many scattered throughout Zaun.
"So, what do you say? Do you want to say goodbye?" he asked as Jinx put on a cloak to hide her identity. The streets were full of enforcers looking for her.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she pulled up the hood.
"Should I?" she asked in return, and Salazar simply shrugged, continuing on his way.
"It's your decision. But I'd recommend it. Closure is good… even if it doesn't always feel that way," he said sincerely, making Jinx stop to think.
Salazar waited patiently for her answer, watching her hide under that hood and hearing a whisper.
"You say I won't be able to come back here?" she asked, looking at him with one questioning eye, Salazar nodding.
"For a long time, at least, yes. You won't be able to. I'm sorry…" That left Jinx thoughtful, something rare for her, since she usually acted before thinking.
"Then let's go…" She started walking, taking the lead, giving Salazar the answer he needed.
"Just one piece of advice… Try not to let Vi's cupcake see you," he recommended, walking beside her as Jinx looked at him confused.
"Cupcake?"
"The enforcer."
"Vi swings that way?" she asked, surprised, her companion nodding—both of them starting a playful conversation as they walked through the rotten streets of Zaun.
—————
Piltover — Central District
[Time Remaining: 90:43:09]
"So… your bombs are made just from scrap and gunpowder?"
On top of a building in Piltover, Jinx and Salazar sat cross-legged facing each other, with a few metal plates, packets of gunpowder, copper, and wires spread across the rooftop, the sunrise behind them.
"Yup! And some copper with screws! Oh! And especially dye, but that's more my personal signature!" Jinx laughed happily, deciding to teach her new captain a bit of how she did things.
"Wow, impressive." Even with Jinx's scientific genius now in his arsenal, he didn't have her creativity. That she came up with things like this on her own was fascinating.
"An inventor like you will be very useful to all of us," Salazar commented—Jinx stared at him for a moment before crossing her arms.
"You know a lot about me, but you haven't told me anything about yourself. That's unfair." She puffed out her cheeks in protest, Salazar simply smiling.
"Well, you didn't ask until now." He shrugged, Jinx blinking and thinking, stroking her chin.
"Good point…" she admitted simply as Salazar began trying to assemble a bomb like Jinx's.
"But go ahead, I have nothing to hide from my family," he said as if it were nothing, taking a screw from Jinx's bag to adjust the pieces—unaware of the impact those words had on the blue-braided girl.
"Family?" she whispered, touching her head as pain surged from fleeting memories of Silco, Claggor, and Mylo's deaths.
Salazar noticed, looking at her and leaving the bomb half-finished. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I can't have a family…" she said, clutching her head, staring at the ground, memories of what happens to the people close to her tormenting her—until a hand rested on her shoulder.
"Jinx," he began calmly. "Nothing will happen, trust me. The past doesn't have to be something that stops you from moving forward. There's only one way to not be afraid of losing someone, and that's becoming strong enough to not fear anyone taking what's yours," Salazar said. Jinx had light tears in her eyes as she whispered.
"And what if the problem is me?" A sad smile formed on her face. Salazar just smiled back, tightening his grip on her shoulder.
"Well… then you'll have to be stronger than yourself… or surround yourself with strong people who'll take care of you…" He said the last part with a confident smile. Jinx looked at him, not knowing what to say, until Salazar finally spotted who they were looking for, signaling the street below to Jinx, who looked and saw Vi.
Staggering with a bottle in hand, obviously drunk.
"Wow, she got drunk fast. Even for her. I guess knowing your sister killed your girlfriend's mother can't be easy." At that, Jinx's eyes widened as she looked at Salazar interrogatively, demanding an explanation while he sighed, scratching his head.
"Right, I forgot to mention that…" he lamented. Jinx looked at Vi, everything she wanted to say suddenly feeling like nothing.
"Is it… too late to back out?" she said with a pained grimace, shrinking back as Salazar shook his head.
"It's up to you. Vi is probably very… unstable, but I think in that area you're the expert," he said, standing up and crossing his arms as Vi stumbled below, Jinx saying from behind, "Hey! What did you mean by that!"
After her outburst, she stood up and joined Salazar, looking down at her sister.
"Just tell her something you'd like to hear yourself… You're sisters after all. I think you understand each other…" Salazar smiled. Jinx sighed and looked at him.
"Will you step in if it gets ugly?"
"If you ask me to," he replied calmly. She nodded, and with a few agile acrobatics, she landed behind Vi.
Jinx landed behind Vi with a dull thud.
"Boo."
Vi spun around instantly, on guard, fist raised before she could even think.
She froze.
"…Jinx."
She didn't step back.
She didn't run.
She clenched her teeth.
"Look me in the face," she said, her voice hard. "If you're going to show up, don't do it like a damn shadow."
Jinx tilted her head, a crooked smile trembling on her face.
"Wow… I thought you'd scream more."
"After everything you did," Vi shot back, "screaming is the least I owe you."
Silence.
"Did you come to finish the job?" Vi asked. "Another shot? Another explosion?"
Jinx let out a sharp laugh.
"And miss this face? No, no… this is new."
She started pacing in circles, restless, gesturing wildly.
"You know, I thought you'd be happy to see me. Or that you'd try to arrest me. Or hit me." She stopped abruptly. "But you're just standing there like a statue!"
"Because if I move right now," Vi said, not breaking eye contact, "I don't know if I'll hug you or punch you in the face."
That threw her off.
"Heh…" Jinx brought a hand to her head. "That sounds… fair."
Vi took a step forward.
"You tied me to a table." Another step. "You killed Silco." Another. "You launched a missile." She was right in front of her now. "And now I know you killed Caitlyn's mother."
Jinx opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then smiled… but her eyes shone too brightly.
"Wow. When you say it all in a row, it sounds worse."
"Don't play," Vi growled. "Not with me."
Jinx snapped.
"I'M NOT PLAYING!" she shouted, laughing and crying at the same time. "You think I plan these things? That I wake up and say 'oh, today I'll kill someone important'?!"
Vi didn't move.
"It doesn't matter if you planned it," she said. "It happened. And now we live with it."
Jinx breathed heavily, clutching her head.
"I… I just wanted you to look at me," she whispered. "To see me. To choose me."
Vi clenched her fists.
"I chose you. Always." Her voice cracked for a second. "But every time I run toward you, something explodes."
Jinx let out a hysterical laugh.
"That's the joke!" She leaned forward, staring at her closely.
"That's what I am, Vi. Explosions. Noise. Death." She struck her own chest. "And even so… even so, you kept coming after me so many times."
Vi held her gaze.
"Because you're still my sister."
That was a direct hit.
Jinx took a step back, trembling.
"Don't say that…" she murmured. "Don't say it like it still means something."
"It does," Vi affirmed. "Even if it hurts. Even if you hate me."
"I DON'T HATE YOU!" Jinx screamed. "That's the worst part!"
She fell silent, breathing heavily.
"I'm leaving," she said suddenly. "Very far away. Before I take something else from you."
Vi nodded slowly.
"If you leave…" she swallowed. "Do it because you want to live. Not because you think you don't deserve to be here."
Jinx looked at her, confused, broken.
"You always say things like that…"
"And you always do whatever you want," Vi replied, with a tired half-smile.
Jinx laughed, angrily wiping away a tear.
"Take care of your cupcake, then." She turned around. "I don't want more blood on my hands."
"Powder," Vi called. "If you fall again… I'll come for you. Not to arrest you."
Jinx stopped.
"Then?"
"To pick you back up. Even if it costs me my life again."
Jinx didn't reply. She looked at her, and with a sudden impulse, went in for a hug, which Vi accepted. They didn't say anything—there was no need anymore. When they pulled apart, they simply smiled.
She jumped, disappearing from Vi's sight. Vi leaned against the wall, shielding the sun with her arm, a sad smile on her face.
She disappeared among the rooftops.
From above, Salazar was waiting. Jinx landed beside him, breathing hard, laughing and crying at the same time.
"That was horrible," she said.
"I thought it was nice. That scene almost made a man cry…" he commented with a smile. "But not this man, unfortunately." He shrugged, making Jinx laugh and clap.
"You're definitely an asshole!"
"Thank you, I'm here to serve…"
¡Happy new year asshole!