Dawn at the Wild Rift (Book IV)

Chapter 20

"Heyya, what's the matter with beauty? Why's her other eye dead white?" Jinx whispers.

"I told you, didn't I? It's an after effect of what happened in the temple." Talon hands her the key of the prison cell before leaving. Since some disturbance appeared out of nowhere, he has to take care of them before they become a huge nuisance.

Jinx stares at the key with an eyebrow raised. She is told that the key holds a quarter of the power that could control Hanabi's actions. She clutches the key as her eyes settle on the sleeping Hanabi. Talon is indeed doing everything in his power to hold her. And even if the intruders are stronger than they expected, she is more than sure that before they'll take ahold of Hanabi, everything would be over with victory on their side.

While others think that Hanabi is simply in deep slumber, her mind is actually wandering in the past of the first Scarlet who made a pact with the Demon of Curse. After the incident at the temple, her consciousness is constantly being dragged in the time when the Scarlet is alive. The wondrous scenery of old Runeterra, the people who lived in peace, the beauty of the old Wild Rift, as well as the chaos and curse that ruined the continent's prosperity, Hanabi has seen them all through the memories of the Scarlet.

She came to believe the words of Talon about the war of Runeterra against the Black Dragon. And along with that thought, she couldn't bring herself to fully hate Talon. He simply wants to save his home, however, in exchange is for her to lose her life. That part is the thing she finds unfair. It is as if she only lived this long to become a sacrifice for the sake of the survival of thousands of people she doesn't even know and save a continent she doesn't consider as home.

Hanabi suddenly flings her eyes wide open after her consciousness gets dragged back into her body. She senses the presence of another person just across her cell so she clenches her hand, summoning her kunai.

"Relax, beauty!" Jinx swirls the key around her finger while leaning on the cold wall. "Dontcha worry at all, we'll surely fight for real on the battlefield."

"Yeah, you're right," she agrees. Hanabi suddenly disappears from sight, leaving only black smoke behind. She appears before Jinx, her kunai clenched at her right hand, and with one swift cut, she feels a spurt of warm blood right on her cheek.

Cursing under her breath and gritting her teeth with the sudden attack, Jinx did not dare hesitate to fight back. She grabs her gun from behind and pulls the trigger, shooting bullets after bullets while Hanabi runs from one place to another to dodge them. She couldn't rely on her sight anymore but her other senses are still enough to fight her way out.

With one last bullet left, Jinx makes sure to hit Hanabi, and once she pulls the trigger once more, smirk forms on her lips because she is more than sure that she caught her. However, much to her disappointment, Hanabi summons her Higanbana and uses it to deflect the bullet, giving her the chance to counterattack. Lunging at the braided girl, Hanabi swings her Higanbana and summons her kunais. Jinx dodges the double blade weapon and this time, her cannon greets Hanabi upfront.

"Say hello to Fishbones!" Her high-pitched laughter echoes throughout the basement, giving Hanabi the chills that her opponent is, in no way, hesitant to truly fire her shark-headed cannon launcher. Still, she throws her kunais before landing both feet on the ground and while Jinx dodges the kunais, she takes that opportunity to slide her foot over the ground and trips Jinx. With her arm raised, her Higanbana returns to her, and with much strength, she aims to cut off her head.

But things didn't go her way because Jinx still has the upper hand.

"Grovel on the ground!" Her command is absolute and with the key that Talon gave her, she manages to make Hanabi obey even though it is against her will. Her Higanbana and kunais puff into black smoke. She is immediately on her knees and her forehead is touching the ground, bowing in the direction of Jinx.