Shattered Realities: Tales from Arcane

"You're Perfect."

The following scene may be distressing for those seeking a happy ending, but Jinx's path is always jinxed. She can never escape the chaos that follows her.

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The crack of the gunshot echoed through the narrow alley, splitting the air as if it tore through the night itself. Jinx’s world slowed, and she felt Isha jolt in her arms, her tiny body shuddering as the bullet found its mark.

“No!” Jinx’s voice was a raw, broken scream as she tightened her hold on Isha, trying to shield her, as if her own body could somehow pull the life back into the girl. The rain mixed with the blood on her hands, cold and sticky as it seeped between her fingers, staining her clothes, her skin—everything. “No, no, no, no, Isha!”

Isha’s eyes fluttered weakly, the brightness in them dimming, her small hand reaching up to clutch at Jinx’s jacket. “Jinx…” Her voice was barely a whisper, soft and fading, but it cut into Jinx deeper than any blade. “Don’t leave me…”

“I’m here! I’m right here!” Jinx’s voice broke as she cradled Isha closer, rocking back and forth, whispering desperate words she could barely string together. “You’re gonna be okay, Isha, just—just stay with me, please, please…”

But Isha’s gaze was already drifting, the life slipping away, and within seconds, her body went still in Jinx’s arms. The alley fell silent, the only sound Jinx’s shuddering breaths as she stared down at Isha’s lifeless body, disbelief twisting into a raw, feral pain.

Then came the voices. Twisting, taunting, their cruel whispers lacing through her mind, growing louder and louder until they were all she could hear.

You failed her, Powder. You couldn’t save her. You’re cursed. Everyone you love dies, because of you. The words echoed, each one slashing at her already fractured mind, sinking their claws deeper into her broken heart.

Just like you lost Vi, they hissed, a dark, mocking laughter curling through her thoughts. Just like you lost everything.

A new voice rose among them, harsher, dripping with malice. You’re a jinx. You’re always a jinx. Everyone around you dies. The voices grew louder, pounding like war drums in her skull, each accusation tearing her apart. You can’t save anyone. You destroy everything you touch.

Jinx clutched her head, fingers digging into her scalp as she shook, trapped in a storm of rage and agony. It’s your fault. Isha’s dead because of you. You’re the curse that destroys everyone you love.

Her mind spiraled, plummeting further into the darkness. But then, through the chaos, another voice rose—a familiar, deep voice, full of fierce loyalty and conviction, the one voice that had believed in her when no one else did. Silco. She could almost feel his presence, his hand on her shoulder, as his final words echoed through her mind, piercing through the clamor of torment.

"You're perfect."

The words wrapped around her heart, a lifeline pulling her from the depths. Silco had seen her—the real her, with all her jagged edges, all her flaws—and he had chosen her. He had accepted her, and in his last moments, he had called her perfect. No one else had ever given her that. Not Vi, not anyone. Silco, the one constant, the one person who had stayed, had believed in her, even as the world crumbled around them.

Slowly, she raised her head, her tear-streaked face hardening, her gaze locking onto the enforcers still standing in the alley. She released Isha’s body, feeling a calm, cold rage settle over her, a stillness that steadied her shaking hands as her fingers tightened around her pistol.

“You did this,” she hissed, her voice guttural, each word sharpened by a fury she could barely contain. “You took her from me. You took everything from me.” Her voice grew louder, fueled by Silco’s memory, by his belief in her, by the pain that demanded justice, that demanded blood.

With a scream that echoed through the empty streets, Jinx lunged forward, firing wildly, recklessly, every shot a release of her grief and rage. She could feel Silco’s voice driving her forward, steadying her, giving her the strength she needed to keep going, to keep fighting. You're perfect, his words rang in her head with every pull of the trigger, with every explosion she unleashed. She tore through the alley like a storm, her face twisted with a terrible, unhinged resolve.

The enforcers tried to fall back, but she pursued them, her grief and fury leaving her unstoppable, a force of nature driven by Silco’s final gift to her—his faith. Her screams mixed with the blasts of gunfire, the fiery bursts of her grenades lighting up the stormy night as she tore everything in her path to shreds.

And as the smoke cleared, as she stood alone amid the ruins, her breath coming in harsh, broken gasps, Jinx could almost feel him beside her, proud, reassuring. She held onto the memory, clutching it as her last remaining tether to sanity. She straightened, her mind quiet for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the voices finally silent.

She was Jinx. She was his. And she would make the world burn for what they had taken from her.