𝐄𝐤𝐤𝐨 | 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬

18. Giving Up

I glanced at owl boy as we walked towards the crowd.
"Does she come here often?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual despite the whirlwind of emotions I was holding back.
He shook his head, his expression soft.
"Only a couple of times," he admitted.
"She's got her own battles to fight. But when she shows up, it's always... well, it's good for morale." He glanced at me with a knowing smile.
"And I figured you'd want to see her."

I nodded, my gaze drifting back to Vi as the crowd parted slightly, giving us a clearer view. I couldn't help the small, hopeful smile tugging at my lips. After all these years, after everything, she was here. And a feeling that maybe there was a chance to mend what was broken, grew in me.

"Go on," Ekko urged, nudging me forward. I took a deep breath, steeling myself as I stepped closer to the woman who had once been like a sister. The noise around us seemed to die, Vi's eyes locked on my figure, a tense silence began stretching between us. It was thick and suffocating, much like the air out of base.
I had imagined this moment a hundred different ways, in so many circumstances and from different points of view. Silco never let me see her since her return had been announced among the Zaunites, but I had pictured Violet running to me, relieved, or maybe just cracking one of her quips to break the ice.
But the reality was starkly different.

The flicker of recognition in her blue flecked eyes did nothing to soften the wariness in her stance. If anything, it only hardened, shifted, guarded, and the enthusiasm I had felt up to that very moment, drained from my body like a punctured lung.

She saw no friend.
She saw a traitor.

Her eyes darted to Ekko, who was watching with an almost hopeful anticipation, like he expected some sort of long-awaited reconciliation. Instead, Vi's voice came cutting like a blade.
"What is SHE doing here?"

Not 'whoa, you're alive' or 'shit, it's been years.'
Just cold, unfiltered hostility.

Ekko stepped up, clearly prepared for this. I wonder if he imagined this type of reaction.
"Vi, she's on our side now. It's been a lot for everyone. People change. And sometimes mistakes—"

"Can't be undone." Vi interrupted, her tone dangerous and low. She turned her full attention to me then, taking a single step closer.
"So, Shark— Did Silco send you?"
My breath hitched, not at the accusation itself, but at the certainty in her voice. Like she had already made up her mind.

"You really think I'd be here if I'd still be working for him?" I bit back, that familiar anger that used to be my go-to whenever I was in an unpleasant situation, came flaring back.
She scoffed, shaking her head.
"You tell me. Where is Powder? Where's my sister?"

I clenched my jaw. Of course. That's what this was about. Vi still thought Jinx was the same girl she had left behind all those years ago.
Even if from what I had been told, she had tasted her fist already.
It was frustrating, infuriating even, watching her cling to a version of Jinx that didn't exist anymore.
"You don't get it, do you?" I muttered, shaking my head. Vi's fingers curled into fists at her sides.
"No, you don't get it. I need to know where she is, where he's keeping her—"

That was it. That was the last straw.
"You left her!" I snapped, my voice rising.
"You ran off and left her alone to deal with the mess you made! You, Mylo, Claggor— you went in there with no plan, just pure stubborn pride, and you got them killed!"
The words left my mouth before I could stop them, before I could think of what they would do to her. Vi's face twisted, her jaw clenching so tight I thought her teeth might crack.
And then she moved.
A single, menacing step towards me, enough to stand in front of me in all her might.