After entering the tent, Marsen first drove everyone inside out, then stepped out himself. He stood right outside the main tent, tactfully leaving the space to Logan and the two sisters. He stayed outside like security, refusing to let anyone in—especially that tall, long-legged Enforcer who looked thoroughly annoyed.
"I said let me go!"
"Let go—I'm not going in!"
Caitlyn shouted. From a distance, Marsen watched the scene. He lifted a hand slightly, and the people restraining Caitlyn released her. Caitlyn rubbed her wrist, glanced around, then obediently found a spot to sit down.
At this moment, her weapon was in their hands, and she was surrounded by guards watching her. She wasn't stupid—she wasn't about to do something reckless.
Even though she was furious, Caitlyn couldn't find any way to resist right now. So she stayed put alone, quietly waiting for Vi to come out.
And inside the tent—
Vi was staring at Jinx, who was sitting beside Logan. Vi's expression was complicated, but she didn't say anything.
She couldn't help thinking: if this were the past… Powder would be sitting beside her. But everything had changed.
And Isha also caught Vi's attention—because the girl was sitting obediently next to Jinx. Every so often, she would look up to check Jinx's expression. And when Vi saw the way that child looked at Jinx, her chest suddenly tightened, a stabbing squeeze blooming in her heart.
Vi knew that look.
Because Powder used to look at her that way.
No one else existed in her eyes—like as long as Vi was there, that was enough. Vi was her whole world.
And now?
Vi found Powder's gaze unbearably unfamiliar.
"Tell me," Jinx said, staring at Vi with intense focus. But if you looked closely, you'd notice her beautiful blue pupils were slightly unfocused. "How'd you end up hanging out with an enforcer?"
Because she was forcing herself to control her emotions—forcing herself not to listen to the shrill noise in her head, forcing herself to stay focused. Jinx refused to look at the colored lines that vaguely outlined human shapes around Vi, refused to look at those flickering images.
But even if she didn't look… the voices still swayed through her mind.
So she lifted a hand and knocked hard on her own head—but after just one knock, Logan caught her wrist and stopped her.
Jinx tilted her head and looked at Logan.
"It's okay," Logan told her.
"…"
Jinx looked at him, blinked, and her pupils regained their brightness. She nodded.
Then she turned back to Vi.
"Fine. I'll explain right now."
Vi took a deep breath, then told her everything—how she met Caitlyn, how Caitlyn told her about the smuggling-related bombing in Piltover, and how they found monkey graffiti at the scene. Because of that, she worked with Caitlyn and got the chance to be released.
Other than that, she truly didn't know anything.
"I'm someone who was locked in prison," Vi said seriously. "How am I supposed to know what's happening outside?"
But Jinx didn't believe her.
Because how could there be that many coincidences?
Over these past years, she hadn't exactly stopped causing trouble for Piltover. This time the commotion was bigger than usual, sure—but why did it just so happen to get Vi out?
"She's telling the truth," Logan said from the side.
Vi shot Logan a grateful look. Then she looked back at Jinx and said, "Your turn, Powder."
"Are you really working for Silco now?"
The moment she asked it, the question stabbed at the thing that had been lodged in her heart ever since she returned to Zaun.
How could she not care about it?
Silco was the one who killed Vander—and now her little sister was working for him.
Vi hadn't planned to dig into it too hard. Like she'd said: no matter what Powder had done, Vi could always tell herself Powder did it to survive. As long as she could see Powder again, as long as she could be with her, that was enough.
But could she really pretend she knew nothing—like a coward hiding in its shell, acting like none of it happened?
No. That was never her.
If anyone else had done this, Vi wouldn't be sitting here talking. She'd have thrown a punch first, then asked her questions after.
But because it was Powder… Vi sat down and talked. And she asked.
After hearing Vi, Jinx leaned forward and yelled at her:
"Ha! Yeah, I'm working for Silco!"
"So what? My dear sister—did I disappoint you?"
"I told you, Powder—no matter what you've done, I can understand you."
"Yeeeah, you un~der~stand~ me. Ha! Sure you do." Jinx folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't brought an enforcer with you, I might've believed you."
"I already told you, Powder! Caitlyn and I are just partners. Without her help, I wouldn't have been able to see you at all!" Vi's irritation was bleeding through.
Listening to the sisters, Logan couldn't help finding it funny—and also a little helpless.
But it was obvious Jinx was slowly calming down.
Because now, even though she kept going on about Caitlyn, she didn't have that twitchy, unstable look anymore. And the reason she kept bringing Caitlyn up was just because… jealousy?
Jinx was jealous of Caitlyn—jealous that the first person at Vi's side when she got out wasn't her.
And honestly, watching Jinx and Vi bicker, Logan found it pretty entertaining.
In Zaun and Piltover, when Jinx and Vi met, it usually lasted less than a few minutes before something exploded into chaos and cut their conversation short. But right now, even if the atmosphere was awkward, they were actually talking.
Logan suddenly felt weirdly satisfied.
Yeah. Let's see who dares interrupt them now.
"Help? If Mom and Dad found out you made friends with an Enforcer… oh my god, I don't even want to imagine what they'd think." Jinx spread her hands, dripping with sarcasm.
"And you?" Vi snapped back instinctively. "If Mom and Dad found out you turned into a—"
But when she met Jinx's eyes, Vi froze. The rest of the sentence died in her throat.
She slumped, head dropping. She looked like someone who'd lost the fight the moment it started.
Then she lifted her head again and forced herself to change the subject.
Her gaze fell on Isha, sitting beside Jinx's leg. "Who is she?"
Jinx glanced at Isha, reached out, and patted her head. "What? Only you get to have a little sister? I can't have one too?"
The moment she said it, Isha happily wrapped her arms around Jinx's leg, pressed her face against Jinx's thigh, and rubbed against her, making a couple of soft "mm" sounds.
After getting smacked down again, Vi said painfully, "You never used to fight me like this, Powder… What happened? What is this?"
"…"
"Can we go back to how it was?"
Jinx opened her mouth, looked at Vi—and then fell silent.
Sadness and pain rose across Vi's face.
And then she heard Jinx's voice.
It was quiet, but in the stillness of the tent, it was crystal clear.
"I don't know," Jinx said.
Vi's head snapped up, her eyes locking onto Jinx.
She said I don't know.
Not we can't.
In an instant, Vi's eyes lit up a little brighter.