Jinxed | Jinx Arcane Oneshots

Shattered Promises | ANGST

ANGST

I could hear the screams before I saw anything. The sharp crack of gunfire, the panicked shouts of the enforcers, and the unmistakable sound of metal clanging against stone. It all hit me like a wave as I stumbled through the alleyway, my heart pounding in my chest.

It was supposed to be a simple job. In and out. Hit the shipment, steal the tech, and disappear into the shadows. But Jinx, she always had to go and make everything chaotic. And now, everything was falling apart.

I ducked behind a pile of scrap, peering around it to see Jinx at the center of the mess, her wild blue braids whipping around as she shot at the enforcers, laughing manically like she didn't have a care in the world. She was a force of nature when she wanted to be.

But not today. Today, something was different. I could see the wildness in her eyes, that manic glint, but there was something more to it. Fear. Desperation.

I don't know how it happened, but before I knew it, she was gone.

I turned back to the chaos, hoping to catch her, hoping she hadn't abandoned me. But there was no sign of her. I fought my way through the crowd, pushing past bodies and debris, but the deeper I went into the carnage, the harder it became to tell where she'd gone.

It felt like an eternity before I heard the distant screech of metal on metal, the unmistakable sound of an escape. She was gone, and I was left behind.

I barely made it out alive.

Somehow, I managed to crawl to safety. Grateful for whatever thin luck kept me from the enforcers' grasp. I didn't know how long it had been since the heist went south, but I didn't care. I had to find her.

The last time she'd pulled something like this, we'd promised never to leave each other behind. But promises didn't seem to mean anything to Jinx when her survival was on the line.

I pushed through the streets of Zaun, my mind a haze of anger, worry, and confusion. My fists clenched at my sides as I tried to ignore the gnawing ache in my chest.

She couldn't have left me. Not after everything we'd been through. Not after all the times I'd been there for her, all the times I'd kept her from falling apart.

My feet carried me to a familiar place. Her hideout, the one place where I knew I'd always find her.

I didn't even knock before barging in.

The sound of tinkering filled the air, and I followed it to the back of the hideout where I found her hunched over a workbench, surrounded by broken gadgets, wires, and what looked like a few half-finished bombs. Typical Jinx.

But when she saw me, her face twisted into something off. She didn't seem surprised, didn't seem relieved to see me. She just looked... guilty.

I stood there for a moment, fists still clenched, heart hammering. "You left me," I finally spat. The words stung as they left my mouth, but I couldn't stop them.

Jinx didn't answer right away. She just stared at the workbench, her fingers absently picking at a piece of scrap metal. "It wasn't like that," she muttered, her voice soft but defensive. "It wasn't like that at all."

"You said we wouldn't leave each other behind," I shot back, my voice shaking with the weight of what had happened. "You promised me, Jinx. You promised."

She stood up quickly, shaking her head, and took a step back, like she was trying to distance herself from the conversation. "It wasn't my fault. It just got... messy. I didn't leave you, okay? I just—" Her words trailed off, and she fidgeted with a piece of metal in her hand.

I took a step forward, anger boiling over. "You left me to die, Jinx. I was stuck there, fighting for my life while you ran away. What the hell was I supposed to do? What happened to us?"

She flinched, but the fire in her eyes didn't dim. She still wore that wild smirk, the one that hid her true feelings. "I wasn't gonna let myself get caught. That's all. Don't you get it? I'm not some hero. I do what I have to do to survive."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing bitterly, though there was no humor in it. "Survive?" I repeated. "By leaving me behind?"

"Well, I didn't ask for you to follow me, did I?" Her voice raised again, more defensive. "I didn't ask for any of this. You think I wanted to drag you into my mess? You think I wanted you to get hurt?"

"Don't you dare say that," I snapped, stepping forward. "You dragged me into this from the start. You wanted me here, Jinx. You needed me."

She recoiled like I'd slapped her, her eyes flickering with something that looked a little too much like regret. She swallowed hard, but I saw the tears threatening to spill over.

"I didn't... I didn't want you to get hurt, Y/N. But I can't.. I can't be the one who gets dragged down, okay? I can't lose anyone else. I can't lose you, too."

For a moment, I almost believed things could go back to the way they were.

But then, as the silence stretched on, I felt something stir inside of me. Something cold. Something I couldn't ignore. I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "But I can't do this anymore. I can't keep getting pulled into your chaos. I can't keep getting hurt because you don't know how to let anyone in."

Her eyes widened as if the words cut deeper than any blow I could have thrown. "No, no, no! I really can't lose you, Y/N!"

I shook my head, my heart pounding. "I tried, Jinx. I really did. But I can't keep doing this. Not like this."

She stood there, frozen, her wild eyes wide and full of pain. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. The silence was deafening.

"I need to go," I said, my voice cracking as I turned toward the door. "I can't stay."

And I walked out, leaving Jinx standing in the remnants of our broken promise.