Better. Vi's roughness had come off now.
"Your veil is really pretty," Vi said as she put her matching blue veil on. "Look at you. No one ever sees blue brides. You're pretty, Pow-Pow. I can't help but cry."
The crying wasn't over how pretty she looked. They didn't even change the ripped dress. "I didn't want you to see all that. My shimmer at least kicked in. Won't get married all beat up looking now."
"Don't worry. I'm going to head out. Twenty minutes, okay?" Vi said. "I'll be waiting."
"Okay." Another deep breath. She watched her head to Shields and Cake.
"Hey, I want to talk to you," Vi said to Shields. "Come on."
"Um?"
"Just go, Shields." It'd be better not to defy her. Especially since she seemed okay with her again. "I've got this now."
"You look so pretty, PJ," Cake said toward her, giving her a hug before they all left.
Right. I do look pretty. That's why I am even in this situation. Okay. So? Veil is on right. She touched it. Right. Dress is on right. She touched it, cementing herself in the moment. Feeling the crunch of the lace and the smoothness of the dress in her hand.
"Jinx."
Hm? She looked toward the door and saw Ekko.
He closed the door behind him.
Okay. Not the person she wanted to see right now, and he wasn't looking friendly at all. That could be in my head again. Is that in my head? He really doesn't look friendly. Damn it, where was Shields? With Vi. She'll be back. Help me figure this out.
"My Firelights returned after you touched them," he said.
Oh. Paranoid, just paranoid. "I told them to come with me if they wanted to live. They were going to die or live a brittle life where the slightest motion of a limb would cause it to break if I didn't."
"One survived."
"One did?" Really?
"Yeah. It allowed me to find the cure for shimmer damage. Also, it prevents addiction, ceases addiction, and makes shimmer worthless byproduct the body can't do anything with." He went over and pulled back her veil. "That is worth waaaaay more than gold."
Then she saw him pulling something out and moved away. "What are you doing?" A syringe?
He groaned. "Are you kidding? That is not your base power."
"He knows what you were up to. Although I didn't," she said curtly. "I planned on telling you about the touch thing more, after you fixed the liquid. He gave my full strength back."
"Aw." Yeah he was upset. "Fuck!"
"What about the magic, Ekko? What's the deal with it?"
Ekko groaned. "It won't be too hard to correct, everyone will need varying amounts for a little while, but once your body's power levels get back to normal, you'll be fine. But, you couldn't get that, and be a vaccine to shimmer."
Oh. "Great. If I get unstuck."
"All of Zaun pays for it," he said.
Jinx bit her lip. "So, what do we do?"
"I need . . . time. To figure this out."
"He already knows, Ekko, I just told you that. Tell me Vi didn't try something yet?"
"She was moving Cake and Shields out of here."
"Great. He's got Cake and Shields near him now." Damn. "Guess I'm getting married today. Hoping that wasn't the case."
"Sorry. I can- if you just visit-"
"He's not gonna let that happen."
"I can sneak over here and visit-"
"Not without the default. I'm useless, just like now." Nope, don't make him worry! Take a deep breath. You knew it would probably go this way.
"I'll figure something out," he muttered.
"Yeah. There's a way to save Zaun. Gotta . . . gotta figure something out." She covered her face back up with the veil. It didn't make it any easier to see his face. He looked so depressed. Those eyes. She always hated when he had those eyes. Failure never suited a guy like that.
She grabbed his hand and patted it. "Hey, it's fine. I trust you, Ekko. You'll figure this stuff out."
"I could bust you out, Sevika's been gathering for us, I even got the Firelights here."
Firelights? On ships? He dropped his hand again. "That's expensive. Guess the ring you stole was helpful, huh?"
"Well, how could I resist?" He almost smiled, but it didn't reach. "I was allowed a plus one. I could."
"Fix me though, and it's over for Zaun. I know you, you can't do that. Stopping shimmer is your number one goal. And. It's better to do that. Bring back some of the old Zaun again. I guess. Happiness follows helping others so. I better get going." She passed around him toward the door.
Until she felt him grab onto her hand. She looked back at him.
His eyes. Damn, Ekko. She didn't even know how to help those eyes.
"I could. I could," he repeated again. He was struggling. "I could fix you. It would just. It would cost."
"Yeah. Zaun," she said. She moved her hand from his. "It's cool. I know you, Buster, you are the smartest guy around. You figure all the science out. You'll get there, or, I'll figure out how to get him to want to battle a weak point again." She moved her hand away and went out the door.
Outside, everyone was gathered. Never took long. Poor Vi looks terrible.
She waved like a juvenile at Vi and grinned, trying to make her feel better. It didn't work, that expression didn't change.
Yeah, she knew it too though. Welp? Here I am. Ekko, Vi, even the useless Sevika can't save me from this mage. I mean, they could, but it would just cost the vaccine for shimmer. Guess I'm getting married today.
Okay, bright sides! Bright sides. Hey, they know what's going on which means everyone in the village that doesn't want to stay, they could totally be saved. That's a great thing. They will probably attempt some rescues here soon. What else? Um. I have the cure, and one day, yeah. More people to save. Vander would have been proud of me. Ekko definitely will be happy again. Yeah, just focus on that.
Except, Anatoly still didn't look happy. Why not? He was getting everything he wanted. She was shutted up. Nobody was fighting. Why wasn't he looking smug about the whole thing? Yeah, I thought so. He wants me to suffer. It won't kill me, just who I am. I'll still be connected to him.
The thought. The thought of being forever trapped, stuck in a moment like that night Silco picked her up. Mourning Silco. Watching Isha die. Any moment he wanted to, to make her suffer.
At least, that would be a nicer ending. Huh? If I could just say that. Getting married though like this. This isn't really my style when I fail. Nah.
Ekko knows what to do. I? I don't have to make it through this, just this body. With his power sensing, in a default state that they need. They think I need to be weak, but I just need to be defaulted. No adjustments.
She knew what she had to do. I know how I need to be the big fat hero.
On one side of Anatoly was Cake, and the other, was Shields. He was touching her shoulder. She recognized that look. She didn't know how she recognized that look, but she'd seen it somewhere. It was a look that said . . . Desperation. Stay back. I can barely stand without crying. It's the look of someone about to die.
He planned on killing Shields.
///She felt Shields take out the braids. "Let's swap your bang in the side with the rest of your hair, turn it like this, and you could put it up like that."
Ooh. Simple yet effective. "Bobby pins are a girls best friend."
"Yes. Always remember. There is nothing wrong with looking pretty."
"As long as there's chaos within it," she smirked.///
Killing. Shields. She was just standing there. Her body was just standing there, in a pretty dark blue dress just blowing in the wind. Not far from death.
Cake just waved, unaware her mom was dying soon on the other side. No one else noticed yet.
///"PJ will fight when necessary, but she can also give the warmest hugs," Shields told her. "I love PJ, Powder-Jinx, or anyone else you want to call yourself."
PJ went over and hugged her. "I just want to have a thousand copies of different small you's riding around with me at all times, Shields."
Shields just laughed as she wagged her tufted tail from side to side. "PJ is also funny. Sweet. Sensitive. PJ is a wonderful person."
"Snack time!" Cake walked over to join the hug too.
PJ had tried not to get too attached to Cake at least. She didn't want to get close to her like Isha. But. She had been there with her over half a year, and when Cake and Shield hugged her? It was nice. It was funny, they both always wagged their little tufted tails back and forth in hugs.
Cake was also . . . safe. That little ten year old felt safe. Like, everyone felt safe.///
I can't. It's for Zaun. It's the only thing for Zaun. It's for Zaun. She's out there, marrying a total idiot, because I basically said she wasn't worth curing! His head hurt. It's for Zaun, but not for me. It's not for me. If it was for me, I would get her the hell out of there! If I could just- we could just grab her and take the liquid - we have plenty - I could save some for the end, I just- Power. She had to be at a base power. For some reason, a state that he put her in from the past, was what it took. Without a base state, something only that guy's magic could do? Fuck you, Ekko!
"Worth it!" Jinx's voice?
"Powder!" Vi's voice.
Something happened and he had no idea if it was good or bad.
He used his zero drive and immediately stepped out this time. He saw Jinx sprint as Shields fell to the ground, Cake screamed, Jinx moved Cake out of the way, and then grabbed Anatoly while she was in mid-air, slamming him down while twisting his neck yelling "Worth it!" Before falling on top of him.
She killed him. It looked like he killed one of her friends, so that made sense. She would flip from 'protect the village' to 'kill' and he was glad she did! He ran over there with Vi to check on her when-
The bastard stood back up and just grabbed his neck like it hurt while he grabbed Jinx. "Fuck! Jinx sometimes. Sorry, Mother." He straightened his outfit back out and looked down at Jinx. "Honestly, on our wedding day?" He laid her on the ground.
"What?" Still alive, this guy was still alive?! He and Vi went toward Jinx. Vi was clearly trying not to take a swing.
"After she wakes up, you will sit down quietly, while we get married."
"Not happening!" Vi yelled. "You wanna go, we'll go."
Ekko grabbed Jinx and lifted her up. Shields was dead on the ground. Cake was freaking out in her own little world. Sorry. I thought you got him too.
Anatoly stared at Ekko. "That is mine, and you are going to recognize that." He looked really angry. "That is mine, and how dare you hold her like that right now! Ekko, Ekko, Ekko! Why does she scream for you so much?"
Scream? The times he took her to a previous state before. "I was in her life a lot, that's why!" Ekko yelled back, moving just in case he felt like a good stretch. "Ksh!" This was getting bad. Not only that. He could feel and see it. PJ's medium length hair was growing. Really long. When she touched his neck to slam him down and break it, it did something. "What did you do?"
"PJ is dead, until I marry her, I will not fix her mind!" He yelled at them. "Take her from me. She'll never be whole. I've torn her into different people. Moments in time that will never fix themselves! Powder, the night before that special heist. Jinx, after she found out her sister was alive from Sevika. And no more PJ. It's her fault, she knew the next touch would do it. I warned her."
"You can't do that to her, she can't take it!"
"Of course she can't take it, she doesn't even know what happened. We'll cross that bridge after we get married," he insisted. "So? Boy Savior? Did I regenerate your enemy's hair enough for you?"
Long. Incredibly long. He touched her. That little touch. Did he really? And she knew. She knew she'd lose herself. Everything or bust. Except. He also picked her up and put her back down. "Did you do something else?" He just smirked. This asshole did something else too. "What did you do?"
"Her arms, legs, and neck have been set to 10," he said. "It kicks in about a minute after I put her down."
What was ten? Was that weak or super weak?
"Did she do it because she recognized I was killing Shields, or did she realize that base power is exactly what you needed? Getting trapped in it meant no more playing around."
Maybe she did.
"You'd think you would just straight up appreciate that I fixed your psycho friend. Instead. You just think you can kidnap her and steal her for your own selfish needs. But she will never be whole again, until I marry her. Do you have any idea what that will do to her brain in the meantime?"
Jinx. "You're bluffing!"
"Well, you'll find out." He shrugged. "I'm counting on it. Whether you accept it now, or when you reach Zaun, at some point you'll turn around and bring her back."
Vi came over toward them. "Little Man. Give her back to him."
Ekko looked at her. Her hair was as long as Jinx's now. "He killed her friend, Vi." There was no way she would go through with it.
Vi held her hands out for her. "If he swears it's for the marriage, we can kick his ass after it once she's back to normal." Her shoulders sunk. "Little Man. Give me my sister. She can't live like that. Even for Zaun, we can't do that to her. It's worse than death, isn't it?"
She can't live like that. Stuck in moments in time . . .
///"You ever wish you could just stay in one moment?"///
It's not possible to just stay in one moment. On the surface, it would have been nice. To keep experiencing a moment and not let it end. But in reality, things moved. The world moved. To keep reliving a moment? It'll break her. Ekko looked toward Vi's outstretched arms. "Should we just . . .?"
"Don't let him have his way against you, Ekko my boy!"
Ekko pulled her back even more. Oooh. Oh please, let it be. He really needed it, if he needed a piece of advice from Heimerdinger it was right now! He didn't know how or why he was out there, he just focused on him.
Heimerdinger was wearing a cloak and running across the ground toward them.
"Oh, not you." Anatoly was not impressed. "What do you want, Yordle?"
"To correct you!" Heimerdinger said. "Ekko! Do not give her up, it will end bad! Trust me!"
Trust him. Of course. He'd always trust him. He went to another universe with him, and he made it home because of him.
"Ekko?" Vi looked confused as she tried to grab her sister back. "Ekko, you are playing with my little sister's mind. Don't you dare."
Ekko watched him come up. Pretty out of breath, but he was a little guy. "Professor."
"Little Man," Vi said threateningly. "It's a dumb ceremony, once she's back to normal, we can figure everything out. Give me Powder."
"No." He pulled her back further, seeing that Vi was very ready to fight for her.
"Dear friend across the river . . ." She was waking up but she was so out of it, she was singing the bridge song. "My hands are cold and bare . . . dear friend across the river . . . I'll take what you can spare."
"Good job!" Heimerdinger showed up right there. "You can save her, and help Zaun, without bending to an Anatoly's will. I have made a contingency plan just for this occassion. You don't work against a memory mage without one."
"Who are you?" Vi asked. "And can you guarantee that my sister will be safe?"
"Vi," Ekko called out. "I trust him with my life. I trusted the topsider you brought down because you trusted her." There was no time for heavy explaining, they needed to go. Ekko wanted to ask a billion questions himself. What was he doing there? How did he know what was going on? But it was time they didn't have and he was holding PJ.
Vi got the message. She nodded and would trust in Heimerdinger.