Ending the Cycle || A Timebomb Fanfic

XXIII

Please forgive me guys....angsty chapter ahead

(Imma sleep with one eye open tonight please dont come after me)

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Jinx lay on the pushed-together cots of their shared cottage, her figure motionless as she stared at the ceiling. The room, once filled with the sound of laughter, the clink of tools, and the low hum of their playful banter, now sat in oppressive silence. It was a suffocating quiet, broken only by the faintest sound of Ekko's shallow breaths. He lay beside her, unmoving except for the fragile rise and fall of his chest. His skin was pale, his face slack, and the bandages wrapped tightly around his torso were tinged with the dark stain of blood that no amount of washing seemed to fully remove.

Ekko looked like a ghost, a shadow of the vibrant, unrelenting force he had once been. The boy who had grinned through chaos, who had held her hand as they dove headfirst into danger, who had cradled her as they slept, was reduced to this—a silent, sleeping shell of himself. Jinx felt as though a piece of herself had been ripped away and left to wither alongside him. She hadn't seen him smile in what felt like an eternity, and the emptiness gnawed at her insides like a rabid animal. The camp healers had assured her that his state was necessary for his recovery, that his injuries were too severe for him to remain conscious, but the words felt like empty promises. What if they were wrong? What if Ekko wasn't going to wake up?

Her mind spiraled with memories of the moment they had arrived in Terbisia. Galio's colossal wings had stirred up a whirlwind of dust and panic as he landed, his stone hands cradling Ekko's broken body with an almost human care. The camp had sprung into motion, a swarm of people rushing to pull Ekko from her grasp the moment she had stumbled down from Galio's massive palm. She had fought them tooth and nail, her screams echoing across the camp like the wail of a wounded animal.

"Don't touch him! Don't you dare touch him!" Jinx had shrieked, her voice raw and ragged. Her fists swung wildly, connecting with anything and anyone that came too close. Her vision blurred with tears, her breath coming in frantic gasps as the world around her tilted and spun.

Lux had been there, trying to calm her, but Lux's voice had been swallowed by the storm of chaos in Jinx's mind. The voices were back, louder than they had been in years, taunting her, accusing her. You let him get hurt. You're poison. You ruin everything you touch.

Her nails dug into the dirt as she collapsed to her knees, gripping the ground as though it could anchor her to reality. She rocked back and forth, muttering incoherent pleas under her breath. She was spiraling, falling deeper into the pit of her own mind, until a small, timid voice broke through the noise.

"Jinx?"

She froze, her head snapping up to see little Kuro standing a few feet away. The child's wide eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and compassion, her tiny hands clutching the hem of her tattered dress. Jinx must have been a terrifying sight—her face streaked with soot and blood, her eyes wild and unblinking—but Kuro didn't run. Instead, she took a cautious step forward, then another.

Jinx's hands slackened their grip on the dirt, her chest heaving as she stared at the girl. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, something in Jinx softened, cracked, and broke. Her face crumpled, tears spilling down her cheeks as she let out a choked sob.

Kuro, despite her fear, stepped closer. Slowly, she reached out and wrapped her small arms around Jinx's trembling frame. The gesture was hesitant at first, but when Jinx didn't pull away, Kuro leaned in, pressing her cheek against Jinx's bloodied shoulder.

Jinx clutched the girl tightly, pulling her into her lap as though Kuro was the only thing keeping her tethered to the world. She buried her face in Kuro's blonde hair, her sobs shaking her entire body. "I'm sorry," she whispered over and over, her voice cracking with the weight of her guilt. "I'm so sorry."