𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓?

Taste what fell from grace.

Vi and Caitlyn took a hesitant step forward, their eyes fixed on the tragic figure before them. The Zaunite girl, once an emblem of innocence, now stood transformed by the ravages of time and circumstance. In her trembling arms, she clutched an enormous weapon, its shape resembling a fierce shark. The weapon seemed almost an extension of her rage, as if it too shared in her sorrow and fury. She screamed in a voice filled with grief and anger, tears cascading down her cheeks as she fired the weapon at the so-called "City of Progress."

Caitlyn's heart raced as she shouted, pushing Vi away in a desperate bid to protect her mother's life. Vi's gaze darted between Caitlyn and her sister, Jinx, whose eyes now glowed an eerie pink. The transformation was undeniable—Powder, the sweet girl Vi once knew, was gone. Overcome with emotion, Vi wept, her tears mingling with the dust and debris around her. She watched Caitlyn run, her boots pounding the ground, each step a drumbeat of despair.

The explosion at the councilor's tower reverberated through the air, shaking the very ground beneath them. Vi called out to Caitlyn, her voice breaking with urgency, but the enforcer turned, her weapon drawn and aimed at Vi.

"Don't come any closer, Zaunite," Caitlyn commanded, her voice trembling with both rage and sorrow. Tears streamed down her face as she glared at Vi, her grip on the gun unsteady. "My mother is dead because of you people." Her words were a knife to Vi's heart, each one cutting deeper than the last.

Vi shook her head, her own tears blurring her vision. "Caitlyn, please, listen to me," she pleaded, extending her arms in a gesture of desperation. Her heart felt as if it were being crushed. "We can work this out, you and me. Please, don't leave me." Her voice cracked under the weight of her sorrow. "Please," she repeated, her eyes searching Caitlyn's for any sign of forgiveness.

Caitlyn's expression hardened, her eyes dark with anger. "I never want to see you again," she spat, wiping away her tears with a fierce swipe of her hand. She turned and walked into the thickening fog, her silhouette quickly swallowed by the mist.

Vi fell to her knees, her screams echoing in the desolate space around her. She clawed at her head, her cries a raw manifestation of her anguish. "Caitlyn, please! Don't leave me!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and broken. "I need you, please!" Her sobs racked her body, each one a convulsion of pain. She scratched at her chest, the physical pain a mere shadow of the torment in her heart. Rolling on the ground, she dug her fingers into the wound Sevika had inflicted, the pain a perverse comfort.

For a moment, Vi lay there, her body a trembling heap of sorrow. Then, with great effort, she pushed herself to her feet, using the debris for support. Her eyes, once vibrant and full of life, now seemed empty and hollow. She moved forward in a daze, her steps unsteady, the blood from her open wound staining her hoodie.

She wandered through the ruins until she came upon a set of stairs leading down into the undercity. The air grew thicker with fog and dust, making it difficult to breathe and see. Her lungs burned with each inhale, her vision blurred by the swirling particles.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced her ears. She hissed and clamped her hands over them, shaking her head in a futile attempt to dispel the noise. "What the..." she muttered, her voice barely audible over the ringing. Driven by some instinct, she stumbled towards the source of the sound. The closer she got, the less painful the noise became, guiding her like a beacon through the murk.

She emerged from the fog to find herself standing before a massive hole in the ground, its size dwarfing anything she had seen before. The hole was pitch black, a void that seemed to swallow all light, yet the edges glowed with strange hues of red, purple, and pink, casting an eerie illumination on her face.