[ARCANE] Would've, Could've, Should've TimeBomb [EN]

Chapiter 4

I apologize for the time it took to release this chapter, but I hope you'll enjoy it! Feel free to leave a comment—I always take great pleasure in reading your thoughts!

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A crimson silhouette lunged at Powder, clutching her cape with desperate strength, as if afraid she might vanish before her very eyes. She had recognized her thanks to the painting Ekko had created. He had captured her perfectly.

"You're real?" Vi asked, her voice trembling with emotion.
"Vi? Is it really you?" Powder replied, breathless.

"Oh my god, Jinx, I thought you were dead... The explosion... Vander..." Vi stammered, loosening her grip to take her sister's face in her hands. Her eyes were brimming with tears, their blue as deep as Powder remembered.

A detail caught her attention: a tattoo under Vi's left eye. It was the same symbol Vander had on his hand. The coincidence sent a shiver down her spine.

"Where were you all this time?" Vi asked, her voice breaking with emotion.

"I..." Powder hesitated, unable to form an answer. Emotion constricted her throat. She was beginning to understand that here, for reasons beyond her comprehension, she was called Jinx—a name she found far from flattering, if anyone asked her opinion.

Seeing her sister in front of her, alive and well, was a dream she had carried all her life since the tragic accident. And now that dream had come true, she didn't know what to say. All she knew was what she couldn't say: that she wasn't truly her sister—not the one from this universe.

So much had happened in her life, yet none of it could be shared with Vi.

"Come in," Vi said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder to gently guide her inside the manor.

A fireplace crackled in the richly decorated room. A massive library covered almost an entire wall, concealing the green wallpaper, while family portraits were carefully arranged on the opposite wall.

"So chic," Powder thought as she examined the paintings. Her gaze stopped on one of them: a funeral portrait of Cassandra Kiramman, the counselor.

Suddenly, she felt a gaze weighing on her. Turning her head, she saw Caitlyn, silently watching her. Leaning against a wooden and gold guéridon, Caitlyn gripped the piece of furniture so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Why did you come back?" she asked in a cold voice, not loosening her grip.

"What?" Powder replied, caught off guard.

"We were finally at peace. She had mourned. Why did you come back? Why now?"

"I... I'm not sure I understand."

Caitlyn straightened up and slowly approached, moving with the grace of a feline ready to pounce on its prey.

"I want to know why you're here," she said, striking the wall next to Powder. "Why fake your death to disappear, only to come back now? Vi was finally happy, and here you are, ruining everything. Again. You should've stayed in the rat hole you hid in."

Powder stared at her, silent. She had no answer to give.

In response to her silence, Caitlyn clenched her teeth, turned on her heel, and slammed the door shut behind her.

'I don't think she really likes me,' Powder thought as she rolled her eyes.

Vi entered through the opposite door, a tray with three steaming cups balanced in her hands. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the nearly empty room.