"Ekko, my lad."
Ekko glanced from over the railing he'd been leaning against. "Heimerdinger."
Heimerdinger moved an empty barrel to reach the railling to lean across too. "Why did you give Miss Jinx back?"
"Well? Pajamas is Vi's sister."
"Why are we calling Miss Jinx, Pajamas I daresay?"
Ekko smiled. "She got herself a nickname. It's either that, PJ or Jinx. Hey, they called me Little Man and Buster and Mister all the time. Fair is fair."
"Oh, fine. But?" Heimerdinger sighed like Ekko didn't get something. Lad, I am throwing you a lit match, please strike it? "Could you not make it a nickname all the time? I do not want to go with what I went through for almost three years with that other Ekko."
"Other Ekko. What was he messing up on?"
"Miss Powder. I tell you, I could not take another day. Do you know when he finally started to partner with Miss Powder?"
Ekko looked confused. "Weren't they always together?"
"As friends, yes, but not a partner." Which is something you should be thankful about. He was friend zoned soo deep, that even when he asked her out after she broke up with a boyfriend, she could not see what he was doing. Hopeless chap. "He really needed a partner for his projects."
"Uh huh." Ekko didn't even seem to care about any of that, he was ready to tackle the next subject head on. "Speaking of? You knew that village. You found Jinx ahead of time, and you had me know about that mage magic beforehand, without telling me," Ekko accused him. "Why didn't you tell me she was alive and in trouble?"
"It's a hidden village, ran by a mage. They usually have certain rules, and they can be dangerous. You saw today, just how dangerous. Do I need to go through all of it again?"
"No, I get it, but you still could have told me."
"I also needed to prepare backup plans anyway for if he did touch Miss Jinx. Which, he did."
"My shimmer factory. You did that too somehow, didn't you?"
Ah yes, of course, this part. "Bad enforcers, but I know the speed of the mercenaries."
"You took a risk on my village?!"
"That was a coincidence. I was looking into things, I wanted her to come for the factory but it was already yours anyhow. I didn't hire the enforcers, if that's what your thinking. I discovered them, and instead of telling you, I went to the village first for that one. I mean, an enforcer was coming down, I wanted to be careful," he admitted. He got everything, Ekko. I lived in that beautiful world for three years. No betrayal. No more big losses. Fun competitions and inventers aplenty. What can I say? He glanced toward him. You deserve some happiness too, Lad.
"That was still risky, you could have just told me."
"Yes, but? I brought her back to you, didn't I?" he pointed out. "This whole chem-baron thing, Ekko, it's less risky than you think. You see. Miss Jinx was getting treated, before she even received medicine."
"What do you mean treated before?"
"She's actually constantly being treated," he said making him think harder. "The shimmer in small doses is medicinal, I know that you know that, but there are also some things within shimmer that are actually helping her mind too. She went from blowing up the council, to finding her sister and playing nice. She even took care of a young nipper named Isha. That child tragically passed on and she went to prison. Popped out."
"Then I popped in," he admitted. "How do you know all this?"
"Documents, journals, books, I investigated very well before making these plans," he said.
"Uh huh." Yep, he was going to ask about the next part. "Is Anatoly's father really on his way out, or were you trying to get her to invite me to that village?"
"Oh." I hated Anatoly, he deserved everything he got and more! "Of course you'd see that. He hurt many people, Ekko, I'm not exactly feeling bad about it. He'll survive."
"Hmph. Fine. From what Shields said, guy did deserve it after all. And. I'm sorry about your friend, Margaret."
"Not a topic I want to discuss," Heimerdinger admitted. "But one I will if it convinces you of my plan."
"No. Fine, back to this shimmer thing. She was at the end of her rope, and I had the Z drive. It still took a lot, Heimerdinger, to get her to stop. You are really calling that treatment?"
"Yes, well, unfortunately adjustments at first to medicine, can actually be worse for an individual."
"You're saying that shimmer 'medicine' drove her to blowing herself up and that's just an oops?"
"It's a balancing act, Ekko, in the mind itself, especially in the first few weeks. But remember, that wasn't even shimmer's intention. It's not medication, that was a side effect. So, forget about the really bad things, and concentrate on the good." He started numbering off on his fingers. "She saved a little girl named Isha. She raised that little girl. She fixed Sevika's biomechanical arm, a feat in building something to fix and not destroy for once. She also helped Vi. She was following Vi around while her sister was . . . pit fighting?"
"Pitfighting?" He hadn't caught that one it seemed. "Vi was doing what?"
"Making money off of beating people up. She was spiraling downward apparently."
He looked concerned. "I didn't know that she sunk that low."
"Yes. Miss Jinx's sister Vi lost Miss Caitlyn Kirriman because apparently she wouldn't let her kill Miss Jinx with the child Isha on top of her."
Huh? "Man. Nobody tells me anything." He always felt like the odd guy out. "So hang on, Vi and Caitlyn were fighting Jinx, and this orphan kid got in the way? And Caitlyn was gonna shoot through the kid if she had to?" Oooh.
"Yes. Anyhow, shortly after that Miss Jinx went to Stillwater to rescue the child Isha, and she rescued a good bit of Zaun in the process. She actually saw your friend Scar there too."
"Yeah. Uh. Heard about that later. She did . . . sort of . . ."
"She took her sister out of that degrading pit by showing her their father. Do you see?" Heimerdinger pointed out. "While it is touch and go, the shimmer is like a backup. If anything happens and you lose Miss Jinx. She doesn't get her meds. She has too hard of a time adjusting. It's like um?"
"A little hand up," he said. "Shimmer, in small quantities, the way it is in her. Isn't. Bad. That's weird, Professor," he pointed out. "All shimmer did in experimentations was turn people into monsters. I mean. Vander. Vi did tell me about him." He looked a little forlorn. "She didn't turn into a vicious monster. She just got faster and her eyes changed color."
"Yes. Miss Jinx didn't have anything more on that," he said. "Well, if she did, mmm, it wasn't in the therapy notes. I didn't want to dig into her diary unless I had to."
"Okay. You know? You probably shouldn't be telling just anyone about this."
"Oh no. I'm just telling you, Ekko. You are the one who should be dealing with Miss Jinx. I wanted to show you that it wouldn't be so bad. Shimmer helps her lightly no matter what."
"Yeah, but if Shimmer was like a cape, her meds are a damn crown," Ekko admitted. "Shimmer is accidental, that medicine was designed to help."
"However, you cut through to her that way. And how was she? Afterward?"
Ekko's expression changed into a smirk. "Banging. I don't know how it happened. One minute, I'm trying to move her away from ending everything. The next. She's decorating me."
"Oh?" he said curiously.
"And I decorated her. And we decorated her ride. And." Everything. "We sailed into war playing loud music on a balloon."
"You see? If anything happens and Miss Jinx does lose control, just know, she will be back. As long as she doesn't go through heaps of trauma," Heimerdinger stated. "You could do this, Ekko."
"She died a lot, Heimerdinger. A whole lot."
"Her becoming Miss Jinx at this age will be hard. I've seen her records, her treatments, her symptoms and dividing her like this will be even worse. She won't be at the end of her rope this time. I admit, it's not perfect. I would expect a battle or two."
"I would expect a battle everyday." He remembered a younger Jinx too. Not a kind thing came out of her mouth. She had been trying to make him stay away, so he wouldn't know about Mylo and Claggor. He didn't know that back then. How would she respond if he used that?
"Yes. If you can handle it though? If you can handle her." A light nod. "There is something from that world, that you could have. One of the greatest things it took him most of his life to obtain."
Ekko looked behind himself before looking off the railing again.
"Do you know what that is?" Heimerdinger hinted at.
Umm? What would the professor care about with her?
"How did you like Miss Powder, Ekko? At the dance?" he asked.
Damn. "She was nice. I saved Jinx because of her. I could see something good that she could be."
"Oh, well, she'd never be her though," Heimerdinger corrected him. "While they are technically the same, they are so very different. Miss Powder is a . . . a nifty person. She was raised in a stable environment, experienced personal pain, but came out well for it. Miss Jinx is a mastermind criminal and inventor who goes with her absolute gut. She is passionate about what she has to do. There is no way they will ever be the same."
"Okay? So?" He got that. "I know they are never gonna be the same. I know Jinx will never be like that. It was just a look at what she could have been, and it helped me save her."
Heimerdinger still seemed agitated. "What happened between you and Miss Powder?"
"Well, what's that matter?"
Oh, something definitely did. "On their nights together, that Ekko would dance with Powder as a nice friend before they got together. She always gave him the cutest little peck on the cheek. Once they became a couple, they usually went further away from the party, and parted with a real kiss instead for the night."
Oh. Ekko was fidgeting. "Okay. So. I kissed her. So?"
"You are stuck in your own moment in time," Heimerdinger warned him. "If you don't see that. If you don't see what you are giving up by seeing Miss Powder through Miss Jinx when you-"
"I don't, I see Jinx!" He yelled at him. "I know she's not Powder! Powder never did a damn thing wrong in her life, she didn't murder-!" He quieted down, realizing she might hear him. "I know they are different. I see a good person she could be."
"You don't see the good person she already is," he warned him. "Which is sad because that version is fading away soon, with only little bits between."
Ekko just looked disgusted at him. "I know she's good. Deep down. That's why I came back. I never expect her to become . . . her."
"Hmm. Well, call it universe biasing," Heimerdinger said. "Something about things in the same universe verses the alternate. Everything in the alternate does feel off. Almost dreamy. Survivable, yes, but always off. I knew Miss Powder for three years. I knew Miss Jinx for less than half an hour."
"Okay, what's your point, Heimerdinger?" Ekko asked. "You are just saying things and blaming me for stuff." His nostril flared. "I don't care what you are trying to say. I'm not going to become the next Silco, and that's final. We'll figure out something else."
Heimerdinger shook her head. "She is doomed to be married in six months at this rate."
Ekko groaned.
"Because only you can reach her. Yes, I said her mind can repair itself. I never said it was going to be an unstoppable force that was easy! I said that I know how to get memories to flow into each other, and I created the way to get it done. It is not going to be half as easy, maybe even impossible, having her locked up in prison and Miss Vi seeing her sister once a day."
He didn't say anything.
"They need to be free. Both sides." Heimerdinger started to get off the barrel. "That being said, I urge you to get back in there, and hold Miss Jinx instead."
"I don't think that's a smart idea."
"I think it's the smartest idea of everyone here, that you continue the process of holding her."
"Nah. I gave her to Vi. She wants to hold her own sister," he reasoned seeing Piltover just ahead. "Besides, me holding onto her like that, it was giving the wrong vibes to the Firelights. We are almost there anyhow. Getting closer to the . . ." Oh. Oh! "I wish I brought a telescope! Heimerdinger, do you have one?" Heimerdinger gave him a little one and he looked out toward their landing spot.
There were enforcers in the landing spot. "Damn it, Vi!"
He moved back inside the ship. "Vi, there are enforcers out where we are landing!"
Vi just continued to hold Jinx. "Sorry, Little Man. This is the best way."
"What?" She wouldn't. "You are going to turn your sister in?"
"Ekko, she's becoming Jinx, and I won't take that lightly," she said. "Last time I tried to save her, we met up, and everything was okay for like a minute. Then she saw Caitlyn, she started to flip out, and now I know why. I tried to talk to her more, but then you abducted me."
"I was trying to help."
"Yes, but it didn't, and the next time I saw her again, she went crazy because of Cait being an enforcer again. She literally shot up the middle of us to try and split us apart! She went crazy. We didn't get along, I was . . ." She stopped. "Anyhow, we were at each other's throats until she came to see me somewhere."
"At a fighting pit?" he called it out.
Yeah, that didn't please her. She didn't say anything about that. "She was in a relaxed state, and I almost choked her to death. We went out, just us. See? She'll be okay, if we keep her under control until she trusts me."
"Well, she's gonna see all those enforcers coming on her!"
"No, she won't."
Oh, damn it. "Vi. Did you give her something?"
"Just a little sedative. She'll be okay," she promised. "She'll be taken right away after we draw some blood. Cait wanted to be extra prepared too."
"Vi! You promised you wouldn't tell her about the potential vaccine!" Of course she told her girlfriend about the vaccine. Her honestly wonderful damn trusted girlfriend that ran the enforcers!
"I tried not to, but in the end, I thought back about where it all went wrong, and I blurted it all out!" Vi admitted. "I won't lose her in the heat of a battle in her mind, Ekko! Not again."
"Traitor!"
"I know it's hard, but Caitlyn will make sure that Zaun gets the cure too. It's safer this way, Ekko. We can't have Jinx just out there blowing stuff up. We can get this out to doctors and-"
"Who can afford doctors in Zaun?! Who can afford anything? There's no system in place for distributing this stuff to people, everything is hand to hand!"
He moved toward her and she stood up.
"She's delicate, Ekko. Remember? That's why you were holding her even in a compromised position."
And that's why she wanted her sister back. That's why she brought it to his attention, so he would hand her over. "Sneaky." Heimerdinger had been right, he should have kept a hold of her.
"Besides. You are leading the Firelights in your own fights. Powder isn't your responsibility, and neither is Jinx. She's mine. I'll watch over her, and Zaun will reap the benefits without corrupting the Firelights."