A Piltover Academy Student in Demacia (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 12: Reunions & Resolutions

Now

"Wait, wait, slow down a sec, this shit is getting confusing," Vi said, putting her elbows on the bar and rubbing her temples. The Last Drop was closed, partly in celebration of Powder's return that morning, and partly because Vi and Powder had forced Vander to go to bed, after discovering he hadn't slept in close to two days due to preparing and worrying. "Now, before I flip the hell out, when you say dead..."

"Well, technically speaking, I didn't die," Powder said. "There is a version of me that died, admittedly, but Ekko's device managed to return me back to the moment I turned on the machine. So, in one sense, I didn't even get hurt, even if, in another sense, I did also get extremely badly hurt. But hey, I'm the one who walked away in the end, so all's well that ends well."

"I still dunno how things ended well, after what you did. You're lucky you didn't blow up half the city, changing the schematics like that," Ekko said, shaking his head. "You realize the device was only supposed to operate on a rolling four second window, and not just run for hours on end, right? It was meant for immediate accident prevention, not some long-term resurrection. And it sure as hell wasn't intended to be halfway across a city from you while you used it! Forget the city, I dunno how you didn't manage to blow a hole in time itself."

"Listen, I had to improvise, ok?" Powder said impatiently. "I was about to fight some body-stealing nightmare with months' worth of stored magic at its disposal. I might not have known what to expect, but I knew four seconds was not gonna cut it. Now do you two wanna hear what happened, or just keep woulda-coulda-shoulda-ing shit that's over and done with?"

"Fine," Vi said, in a tone that indicated that she felt rather far from fine. Ekko gave her a look that said he intended to lecture her further about proper use of his creations at some point, but merely nodded. "So ok," she continued, "all that shit happened, you... well, you know, and then you just... traveled back? Or was resurrection or something, like Ekko said? That's the part that's messing me up. I mean, do you remember what happened?"

"No," Powder said quickly. She shot a glance at Ekko, whose brow furrowed slightly as she continued. "No, basically everything from when I first pushed the button to when Lux pushed it again is just sorta gone. I guess since it kinda acted like a rewind, maybe those memories got lost in the process? I mean, they never technically happened for me anymore, so how could I remember, right?"

"That... makes my head hurt," Vi said. "I... I just need to get some air for a second." She stood and walked outside, her fists clenched, leaving Powder with Ekko. He watched as the door swung shut behind Vi before leaning close.

"So, what's with the bullshit about not remembering?" he asked. "The whole point of the Z-Drive is that you recall what happened after you return back."

"What good does it do Vi to know?" Powder said, raising her arms in exasperation. "'Oh yeah, just so you're aware, I vividly recall everything that happened to me before Lux hit the button. And just in case you were wonder, yes, remembering what it feels like to be burned to death in a giant laser is fucking me up so badly that I can barely sleep.' Nobody benefits from me talking about it, Ekko." She sighed, crossing her arms on the table and resting her chin on them. "I'll just... get over it."

"I mean, you might benefit from talking about," Ekko said. "You ever stop and think that maybe that's a good enough reason? Putting yourself first for once?" It was, of course, an incredibly valid point. She was, truth be told, growing tired of putting on a brave face, of pretending to be fine.

"I... I'll think about it," Powder said. "But don't tell Vi, ok?"

"Deal," Ekko replied. They sat silently for several minutes; eventually Vi walked back in and sat down, breathing heavily. There was fresh dirt on her knuckle wraps, and Powder guessed that there were likely new impact marks in the alleyway walls.