Chapter Text
And in the end, it was over. The entire city could finally rest in peace. They were free from Noxus. Zaun and Piltover had come together as one after so long. Now, all that was left to do was to repair what had been broken. To rebuild everything from the foundations and, to his chagrin, to honour those who had fallen in battle.
Among them, Jinx.
He looked up and took in the landscape before him. The houses and buildings of Piltover shone with an unknown intensity, illuminating the city with a light that seemed new, almost alien. The lights reflected in the waters of the river, the same one that had somehow witnessed the separation between the two sister cities. The calm in the air was palpable, almost unreal, as if the war and chaos that had marked the last few years had never happened. Yet, deep within him, he knew that nothing would ever be the same. Even though the city shone with a hopeful glow, the people did not celebrate victory; They cried for those who were no longer there, for those who were lost in the midst of the devastation.
His fingers gently ran over the paper he held in his hand. Every fiber, every little mark on the paper, told him more than he could understand at that moment.
"P O W D E R"
He had lost her, again. When Violet return, he couldn't help but notice her expression, dull, empty. He looked around for the blue-haired girl, who, perhaps had stayed behind, perhaps was playing a bad joke on him. He wanted to believe that with all his might, but… No, it wasn't like that, Jinx had sacrificed herself to save her sister, and there was nothing to be done about it.
That had been her decision. Who was he to intervene in it?
Jinx's memories kept spinning in his mind like a torrent. Those broken smiles, those uncontrolled laughs that he didn't know if they were from happiness or desperation. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had been taken from him at some point in his life, and he could never give her back what she lost.
He closed his eyes, and there she was. He could see her with disturbing clarity. That girl he'd shared so many moments with, the girl who'd been with him in every corner of his life. And then there was the person she'd become, the one who'd been lost in the darkness of herself. For so long, he'd convinced himself that Powder had died the same day Jinx was born. But he was wrong. Powder never left. She was there all along, hidden deep inside her. And he didn't see it in time.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips at the thought. When had it taken him so long to realize it? Had he really needed to see everything they could have been to understand that he should never have given up on her? He was willing to etch her memory into his skin, so that he would never forget that at least, for a brief moment, he had seen the soul of the girl he once knew.
His eyes moved, not really seeing what was before. Piltover and Zaun seemed so different now, so far from what they were before, as if they had grown in two opposite directions until they finally met at a common point. Still, the taste of victory was bitter. Piltover's buildings stood in their majesty, while Zaun remained a shadow of what it had been, but now sharing a bond with its sister city. There was still tension in the air, a feeling that nothing had really been resolved, that the war, although over, had left a wound that would never fully heal.
He looked up at the starry sky, searching in those points of light for some comfort. Perhaps, among the stars, Jinx, was still there, in some corner of the universe, laughing, mocking him. Maybe that was the lie he told himself to avoid giving in to the truth that terrified him so much. But the stillness of the night, the silence that enveloped the landscape, told him otherwise. What had been his friend (and maybe even something more), was no longer there, and all that remained was the echo of her footsteps and the final explosion that separated them forever.
-I should never have let it get to this point- he muttered to himself.
He should never have stopped looking for her.
The fire did its job, incinerating the paper with that name written on it. He just watched in silence. There was nothing he wanted to say at that moment, just look. Contemplate the future and long for the past. He couldn't help but miss her. He could no longer pretend that everything was fine, that he could keep his feelings to himself. No, he was no longer that Ekko who had run away when he saw the kind of person his Powder had transformed into, this was different.
The peace he had fought so hard to achieve did not feel complete. There were sacrifices that could not be repaired, wounds that would never heal. In the distance, he heard the muffled voices of people He gathered in the squares, commemorating his dead, but without the joy that would be expected from a victory. It was a collective mourning, a silent burden that weighed on everyone. And in the midst of that silence, his heart continued to scream for an answer that he did not have. Soon he would have to return to the firelights, Zaun undoubtedly had to recover from everything he had suffered these last few months. To become the strong leader that everyone needed again, for the children, for the wounded, for his family.
For Jinx...
Ekko slowly stood up, feeling the weight of time on his shoulders, as if each passing second was a cruel reminder of his inaction. He looked at the ashes left by that scrap of paper. Her name disappeared in the ashes, but in his heart, the mark of his friend, his torment... his best enemy, remained intact. He could not get rid of her, he could not erase what she meant. What he felt when he saw her again. Although, he didn't want to forget it either.
A jingling sound woke him from his reverie, his hand slipped into his left pocket and pulled out what was inside; a small rag doll. Her hair was made of blue and brown wool, she also wore a helmet with bunny ears hanging from the top of it.
"-What are you making?-."
"-A doll, isn't it obvious?-."
Ekko had observed its meticulous manufacture. Isha. That was the name of the "toy." He smiled weakly as he looked at the rag doll in his hands. "Isha," though it wasn't just a name. In reality, the doll was a reminder, a tangible manifestation of the promise Jinx had made to herself. A symbol of what she was trying to build, something that could never replace what was lost, but at least it tried to make sense of the chaos in her life. After all, she loved the person she had made that doll for, and the brunette understood it perfectly the moment he saw it.
"-I, I wanted to apologize, Ekko-."
"-There's no need-."
It was strange, what he couldn't accomplish in so many years, a child had done in just weeks. He hadn't met her, but of course, if he had, he would have genuinely thanked her for giving Jinx the peace she hadn't found in a long time. Maybe for a short time, but it was still something significant.
"-You deserved something more at that time and I... I was a complete idiot. I acted the same way Vi acted with me that day-."
Ekko wondered if he could have really saved her. Maybe not. Maybe there was something about her that was beyond his understanding, beyond what anyone could have done. Maybe she planned to leave this world anyway and her way of saying goodbye was by sharing her last moments with him. She planned that and, well, it had worked out perfectly.
"-If you don't want to forgive me, it's okay, you know? I'm used to people not doing it-."
"-No, it's not about forgiving you. It's about understanding. I... I didn't know what was going on with you, what you felt. Maybe, if we had talked, if I had seen beyond what was in front of my eyes... I don't know-."
Ekko looked at the rag doll with a sad smile, letting the weight of his thoughts envelop him again. The silence stretched for a long time, dense as a fog that seemed not to want to rise. Isha was in his hands, but Jinx's absence still suffocated him.
"-You had changed and I had simply tried to drag you into the same past that we both wanted to bury-."
***
The smell of oil and alcohol seeped into his nostrils, and though he had initially disliked it, it no longer bothered him. After so many failed attempts, none of it mattered anymore. This was the sixth time he had ventured into the Last Drop since Vander and Benzo's deaths, he wasn't going to give up. He knew Powder was with Silco, and he would save her. No matter what he had to do. He still believed she was there, scared, trapped in the same darkness he was also living in his own way. And she didn't deserve that fate.
He had laid out a meticulous plan, each step carefully calculated. He knew the thugs guarding the entrance wouldn't notice if he followed the routine to the letter. Everything was planned. After so many failed trials, today would be the day Powder would finally leave with him. Just like old times.
When he opened the door to that office, a familiar figure was the first thing his eyes caught sight of.
-POWDER!- he exclaimed, emotion choking his voice. His legs didn't hesitate to run towards her, and he hugged her with all the strength he had left. -I'm so glad you're okay-he said, taking her hand.-Come, we have to go- but the words hung in the air, because Powder didn't move.
Ekko watched her, Powder's figure, motionless in front of him. The hug he had taken for granted had stopped in the air, as if an invisible force had frozen it the very moment his arms surrounded her. A lump formed in his throat as, with his hand still extended towards her, he tried to understand what he saw.
-What are you doing here, Ekko?- the girl managed to articulate as she looked at him. She frowned as she looked for some point that would indicate where he had managed to enter. -How did you get in?-.
-I’m here to rescue you, Pow-pow- he said, a glimmer of hope dripping into his voice. -I’ll tell you on the way, but we have to go now-.
Powder didn’t move, didn’t even blink. Her eyes, once bright and full of life, now seemed empty, dull. Her expression was almost… distant. Like she was trapped in a place Ekko couldn’t reach. The air between them was charged with a heavy, painful tension, like each word had the power to break him even further.
-I don’t wanna be rescue- she said, taking a step back. -I don’t want to go with you, I’m Jinx now- she said, her voice low, almost inaudible, like she was afraid someone might hear her. -You have to go-.
Ekko couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jinx. How could that be possible? She wasn’t the girl he had known, little Powder, the girl who had grown up beside him in the dark alleys of Zaun. That voice, cold and distant, did not belong to the girl who had once been his friend. At least, not the same girl he had shared secrets and laughter with, the two of them dreaming of something better, something different.
But for Jinx, that old name brought back bad memories. It was the name of the girl who had caused the death of her family. The weak one. The defenseless one. She was no longer like that, she didn't want to be like that.
-Jinx…- the word came out of his lips in a whisper, as if he were tempting reality to crumble before him, as if by saying her name he could banish the image of that person he no longer recognized. -You must be kidding me- she looked at him, but it was not a loving or friendly look, it was a distant look, as empty as the echo of the explosion that had destroyed their world.
Ekko, desperate, forcibly took the other's hand. After everything he had done to get to her, he could not lose her.
-You can't be serious. Just confused…- what had started as a conversation had turned into a fight.
-LET ME GO!- the girl exclaimed.
-WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE, THIS IS NOT YOUR HOME! You are Powder, not Jinx-.
Her expression hardened, and Ekko noticed a darkness in her eyes, a darkness he had never seen in the girl he knew. It was as if the place that emotions occupied in her had been emptied, leaving in its place a relentless coldness. The girl who had once been his friend was no longer there.
What he never expected was what she did next.
-Powder is dead- her hand landed on the opponent's cheek. A dull sound accompanied it and Ekko fell to the ground after that. -The little girl you knew is gone, Ekko- she said, lowering her voice, a flash of guilt in his eyes as he saw what had happened, but then a crooked smile graced his face. -I'm better off without you, without Vi. Without any of them. So, if you're done, get out and don't come back. Forget Powder-.
Ekko remained on the ground, stunned, touching his cheek that still burned from the blow. A cold sweat ran down his forehead as he tried to resemble what had just happened. Powder… no, Jinx, it couldn't be. It couldn't be the same person he had known. That girl he loved.
And the one who had been his friend, she was now someone completely different.
He stood up slowly, not taking his eyes off her. The pain of the slap throbbed in his face, but the real pain was in his chest, crushing him with the force of a condemnation. How had she gotten here?
But Jinx didn't look at him, or rather, she didn't see him. Her empty eyes scanned the space around them, as if everything that had happened in those few seconds was just a distant echo, something not worth remembering.
-I am Jinx now-.
Those words echoed in his mind. He couldn't understand it. It was too cruel a truth to accept. The girl he had known and loved had been replaced by a distorted shadow, someone who had undoubtedly suffered more than he could ever imagine. Jinx had not only changed her name, she had thrown away everything that had ever united them. The past, those memories of games in the alleys, the laughter, the promises of a future together, meant nothing anymore.
-I don't understand you- he said in a broken voice. -I don't know who you are now-.
-Who am I?- she repeated in an almost mocking tone. -Who am I?- Her laughter suddenly died away and, for a moment, Ekko thought he saw something that was escaping her. A crack in the facade of coldness that she had raised around herself, as if a piece of her old friend was still there, struggling to get out. -Honestly, Ekko… Who are you? The hero who would save the lost girl? Don't make me laugh. If you're going to play "The Boy Savior," at least do it with a person who wants to be rescued. I'm fine with my current life. I don't need your charity-.
At what point had everything changed?
***