Archive of Our Own

“Hey little girl.”

Silco couldn’t help but use that moment to mock the girl. She was so many things; the oldest sister of many, a brawler, the leader of her own little gang, and most importantly, Vander’s Prodigy. Half of him had always been confused why Vander would abandon his lifelong goal for just a few puny children, but another half of him had wanted to feel what Vander had always felt with those kids.

He gripped the knife tighter in his hand—the knife that he had used to stab Vander on the bridge. Vander’s Prodigy had stopped crying and was looking up at him, eyes still coated with tears. Though there was a clear sense of fear in her demeanor, he noticed that some of her attention lied elsewhere. He guessed that it was on that little sister of hers.

Silco grinned slightly, wanting to mock her more. “Where’s your sister?”

The girl ignored him and cranked her neck to check on her sister, only to see a man in an enforcer’s uniform looming over her sister’s unaware body.

Vander’s Prodigy frantically scurried onto her feet, desperate to get back and help. Silco simply gestured towards her, a signal for his people to capture her. She was soon detained by his biggest man and dragged away, with her hands still clawing at her little sister, who was crying on the other side of the dark alley.

It was time for Vander to pay.

***

“I already told you she would be a problem,” Sevika insisted. “All she knows how to do is punch. Look at what she’s done now! She even attacked some of our own!”

Silco continued to flip his papers calmly. “There are always mishaps in battle,” he said. “The firelights were her target, and most are dead.”

Sevika gulped down the whisky from her bottle. “It wasn’t a mishap,” she snapped. “She froze up and lost her shit. I could’ve handled those brats. She’s a problem and we all know it.”

“We?” Silco turned from his chair to face a thoroughly annoyed Sevika. “Who’s we?”

Sevika paused and looked away shamefully.

“I expect better from you than excuses. It was your job to make sure things went smoothly,” Silco said. “You failed. Don’t disappoint me again.”

Sevika didn’t say anything back and stood up to leave. The door closed louder than necessary behind her.

He sighed and let the papers drift onto his desk. “The world’s growing smaller every day, thanks to the hex gates. Now, we’re cut off. The topsiders are leaving us further and further behind.” He stopped his grumbling and checked his surroundings as he clips his eyedropper intact. “What happened?”

An irritated voice spoke up from the shadows. “She already told you.”

“I’m asking you.”

Footsteps slowly emerged as the shadow peeled away from the speaker’s figure. A tall woman with vibrant pink hair walked up to his office table, eyes turned to the ground dejectedly.

“One of those fucking firelights was a girl… with blue hair,” she said quietly. “I freaked and… aagh then I fucked up.”

Silco didn’t respond and handed her his eyedropper. She walked around the table and took it from his hand, leaning forward slightly to prepare.

“Your sister is gone,” Silco reminded. “The enforcer killed her before you could get to her. If I had left you there, you would’ve died as well.”

“I know,” she said. “I know, I know! Enforcers, right? Always getting in the way, fucking things up, and making a mess in the Undercity. Typical topsiders.”

“Today’s screw-up will set us back weeks,” Silco informed.

She clenched the eyedropper, clearly trying to control her temper. “I’m…sorry, okay? Sorry.”

“I need to know that I can rely on you.” He put her hand in his, making sure she knew how sincere he was about this. “I’m doing this for us, Six—for all of us. The sons and daughters of Zaun deserve more than their run-off.”

Six pursed her lips. “I… it won’t happen again.”

“I know.”

She leaned forward again and pushed the drop of shimmer into his eye, watching anxiously as he wrapped his hands around his head in pain.

Silco wiped the dripping shimmer from his cheek and settled down, regaining his usual composure. “Sevika will clean up today’s mess.”

“Sevika?” Six frowned at that. “But I still have to spar with her today. I need to beat her ass up for trash-talking about me to you!”

“Sevika is the only one who can do it properly,” he explained. “You should take some time alone today—calm down a bit.”

“I don’t need ‘alone time’.”

“Have it anyhow.”

With that, Six left the office to head back to her room.

Back then, he needed much persuading in order for her to comply. Now, she listened so seamlessly, being much more understanding. Even with that problematic temper of hers, she’d learned how to control it at times.

And back then, she refused to be called her original name. Silco had tried many things, but she disliked all of them. He would begin to get angered by how picky she would get, sometimes even deciding it’d be better to just kill her instead. But one day, she showed up with “VI” tattooed on her cheekbone. He’d asked about it hesitantly, but she told him “it isn’t Vi, it’s Six.”

Six for her mom, six for her dad, six for Mylo, six for Claggor, six for Vander, and six for her sister. Six people, all who she had failed to protect.

He never thought that he could ever be so genuinely kind.

He also never thought he’d one day call “Vander’s Prodigy”, “My Prodigy”.

***

“I almost drowned in these waters.”

Six stood in front of him, arms crossed around herself as she shivered slightly. “You literally told me a million times.”

Silco waded through the water. “Vander… he wasn’t the man you thought he was,” he stated carefully, not wanting to trigger anything. He knew very well how defensive Six would get whenever Vander was brought up. No matter what, Silco still needed to keep her faithful to him.

Six’s voice went from mildly pissed off to uncertain. “Yeah… he was like a brother to you but he turned his back and… betrayed you. Was that it?”

He refrained from pausing to avoid her reminiscing. “I’ve got a new one for you,” he said as he ran his fingers through the water. “That day, I let a weak man die.” Without another word, he lowered all of himself into the water and waited for a few moments before resurfacing.

“And another… was reborn.” He turned to Six, his voice at its most serious. “Your fear of loss goes many ways. It can either break you or forge you into something greater. You need to let Violet die, so that the fear of loss will no longer overwhelm you.”

He reached his hand out at the girl, who didn’t wait to wade through the waters to reach him.

“You have power now,” he said. “Like how you were always supposed to have. Six is perfect.”

The girl let him run his fingers through her fluffy hair before sinking herself into the water with his assistance.

“We’re going to save Zaun, right?” She asked right before sinking in completely. “We’re going to avenge everyone who’s suffered in the Undercity?”

“Yes. We will show them all.”

Her hopeful eyes were the last thing he saw before the water engulfed her whole, disappearing as bubbles died away.

***

Silco noticed that something was off with Six. She’s been sneaking out, thinking that he wouldn’t notice, and questioning his orders more than usual. It’s been like that ever since her latest mission; go to Stillwater prison to release Silco’s captured goons.

At first he thought it was just puberty, like how he read in those books. But then he remembered that puberty had long passed Six, now that she isn’t a teenager anymore but actually a young woman in her early twenties. Then, he thought it was stress.

It wasn’t until one of his men reported seeing her with another woman. Dark, ocean blue hair, sky blue eyes, and about six feet tall. It was no doubt the infamous Caitlyn Kiramman of the Kiramman family.

But that’s impossible, he told himself. Six, the one that hated topsiders (especially enforcers) the most, associating herself with one? Six was the very last person he thought would ever be all friendly with an enforcer, much less such an important one like Caitlyn Kiramman.

“She’s becoming a traitor,” Sevika told him. “You have to get rid of her!”

“No,” Silco retorted, trying to keep calm. “She’s just confused. With some persuading, she’ll be back like always.”

He repeated his own words in his head everyday whilst trying to find the right time to confront Six. One day, when he was alone in his office trying to apply concealer to his wound, Sevika barged in with shimmer pouring down from her robotic arm.

He patted the powder onto his face with a soft piece of foam, not even batting an eye at her. “You are making a mess.”

Sevika panted, straining her hoarse throat so that her words came out loud and clear. “The sister. She’s back.”

Now that grabbed Silco’s attention. He dropped everything in his hands and stared at her intently. “From the dead?”

“Apparently,” Sevika continued. “Marcus didn’t kill her. He shot her once in the leg and just left! Now she’s even working with the firelights, creating specialized weapons and even making an antidote to the effects of shimmer!”

Silco slammed his fists on his table, not caring that his important paperwork flew onto the floor. “Marcus,” he murmured. “Kill him! He couldn’t even finish a simple job from years ago!”

Sevika scoffed. “Yeah, you bet I will. Not before I fix my arm up though, boss.” She accentuated the “boss” scornfully before dragging herself out of his office, still leaving trails of shimmer in the hallway.

Silco slammed the table again, this time even harder. Not only did he now know what was causing all the unnecessary problems during important missions, he also had someone who was a potential threat to his plan with Six. What a mess, what a mess…

***

It didn’t take long for Silco to find Six’s sister. The long blue braids and the metallic shine of the flare gave it away even in the thick fog.

“Hey, little girl,” Silco called out slyly. Six’s sister lowered her hand from the air and pivoted around sharply. “Who are you waiting for all the way up here?”

It took a second for her to realize who he was.

“You…!” She tried to wave away the fog as she marched up to him. “What did you do my sister…?!”

Silco chuckled as his men crouched to a fighting stance, ready to defend him. “I made her stronger,” he replied. “Though she was strong to begin with anyhow… as you already know.”

The sister growled and loaded her cannon. “I’ll find her,” she declared. “I’ll find her and then erase all those willy-nilly delusions you put in her head from existence!”

Silco put his arm out, wordlessly commanding his men to stand down for now. He eyed the flare buckled to her belt and couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t need to fire that thing, little girl,” he said. “Six will not come looking for you, not when she has me.”

The cannon’s barrels spun. “Her name is Vi!”

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Silco continued, ignoring her protest. “Violet fell down a well and is no more. Only Six remains.”

The sister stayed silent. Though Silco couldn’t see her exact expression through the fog, he could tell that her hope was deteriorating.

“Save yourself the trouble and don’t fire that thing,” he told her, signaling for his men to attack. But before his men could get close, gunshots were fired at random places. The large tank that was wavering above them fell, along with many other unstable logs.

A long, frustrated scream of agony was heard as everything came crashing down. It was beginning to get closer to him, but the frustrated scream became pleading shrieks. He guessed that she was being hauled away by a fellow Firelight.

There was no way Six’s sister would persist any longer after that dispute.

***

He should’ve known better. After a couple of flawless missions, he thought that the sister had finally given up. He was glad. But he jinxed it right as another colorful explosion erupted near his office window.

Silco sighed, utterly exasperated. He clipped his eyedropper intact and looked around, expecting to see a trace of Six in the shadows like always. Because of his exhaustion, he didn’t notice anything. He tilted his head upward and to his surprise, struggled to aim correctly. Perhaps it was because he got used to Six doing this for him for too long.

Just as he was about to place it at the correct spot, someone snatched the eyedropper away and loomed over him, sitting on the table while pinning him against his chair.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

Silco didn’t try to get away. “Where have you been, Six?”

“Oh, you know. Here, there, avenging all the dead people I had failed to protect.” She grabbed his face and squeezed. It hurt, though he knew it wasn’t even a quarter of her real strength. “Turns out, they’re not all dead.”

Silco tried not to feel intimidated by her glare. “I can explain—” Six stabbed the side of his face with the eyedropper, interrupting him.

“Don’t stall around, Silco,” she said, her voice like poisonous honey. “I need quick answers. Quick as in… now.”

“I didn’t know,” he answered hurriedly. “Marcus told me someone had killed her. He even said he found her body. I didn’t know the firelights had—” Another stab.

“But you found out, didn’t you?” Six pried. “Yet you hid it from me, you know, like a fucking liar.” Another stab, this time harsher than ever.

The pain from each stab was driving him to an edge, but he clenched his fists and pressed on. “I wanted to protect you.”

Six laughed, but no amusement was behind it. She scowled at him with her silver eyes, fuming with rage and spite. “From what? There’s no piece of shit here that would dare harm me.”

“The enforcer who had shot your sister shot her with the intention to kill,” he said, making sure she heard everything. “And have you forgotten about your mother? Your father? They were all killed by enforcers.”

“But Mylo, Claggor, and Van—”

“Remember who took care of you all these years?” he said, more tenderly this time. “Who gave you a home? Me. I am your family. Everyone else leaves us. If it isn’t betrayal, it’s death.”

He cupped Six’s cheek in his hand, relishing how she leaned into his touch. “I need you now, more than ever,” he assured. “You must complete the transformation. It’s the only way the Undercity will finally gain peace.”

Six glanced around at everything except for him. He guessed she didn’t want him to see her in such a vulnerable state, not when she’d been the powerful alpha of Zaun for so long.

“Six… do you understand?”

She blinked vigorously, hoping that would chase away the tears. She didn’t say anything and just nodded reluctantly, sliding his chair closer to her with her feet as she leaned in to put the drop of shimmer in. After Silco composed himself, she had already fled from the table.

***

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He had been focusing so much on waging war with Piltover and the sister that he’d forgotten about the Kiramman girl.

One of the enforcers that worked for him reported seeing Six and Kiramman on the bridge, along with her sister and the leader of the firelights. The enforcer informed him that they were arguing at first, but the disagreement was soon resolved with just a couple of hugs.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Six was his. His daughter, his weapon, his prodigy. She wasn’t supposed to be with or listen to anyone else but him. And now, because of the daughter of Kiramman, she was straying from him? Would Six betray him as well, just as Vander did?

No! That could not happen! Silco had always been well aware that Six was more like Vander than anyone else in the world. In the early days of Six’s arrival, he couldn’t help but see Vander in her—the same Vander that drowned and betrayed him just for the sake of it. But everything changed since then. Six was his. Six was not going anywhere, especially not in the middle of their revolution!

Silco wasted no time. He immediately recruited some of his men to follow him to the bridge. No matter what, he needed to get her back. It was his duty.

Upon arriving near the bridge, he noticed that there was an unusual smog layered on it. Red sparks that could come from none other than Six’s gauntlets blinked in the air. Silco, seeing the red sparks, rushed onto the bridge without even caring if his men were following behind or not.

Six’s gauntlets never zapped like that unless it was broken, which only happened once before. If he was assessing the situation correctly, then…

The smog parted before him, revealing an unconscious and heavily injured Six in front of him. He had demanded her not to use the explosion function unless it was an emergency, and if she did use it, then she must take off the gauntlets. It seemed that Six, like the rash woman she was, didn’t listen.

Despite his irritance, he ran to Six’s side with no hesitation and lifted her head towards him, examining her wounds. Her left arm, the one she probably used to activate the explosion, was tattered and still bleeding. Soot and dust coated her face and dark purple bruises could be seen from her ripped shirt and pants.

She was barely breathing.

He lifted her onto his back, struggling under her weight. His men soon caught up, ready to assist him. But he didn’t want them. There, his top priority was to get her to Singed.

“Tell Singed to prepare for my arrival!” He ordered. “Not a single second will be wasted!”

In the lab, Singed strapped Six down onto his medical bed.

Singed slid on his gloves. “Her injuries are severe.”

“You think I can’t see that?”

“Hm. I believe I can save her. But the process will be…” Singed paused. “The bad thing. Sometimes, death is a mercy.”

“She can take it,” Silco said, not backing down.

Singed filled a syringe with a bright, yellow liquid. “And before I begin,” he added. “Are you prepared to lose her?”

Silco staggered back, not knowing how to answer. A painful cough sounded behind him and he turned around to check. “Six!” He ran to the medical bed. “Six!” Her dull silver eyes were facing him, yet they looked like they were staring elsewhere.

After a few moments, he knew the answer. “She won’t die, doctor,” he said. “You know her. She can’t die.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Singed strided forward. “I understand,” he said, but Silco could barely hear him as he injected the yellow liquid into him. “I too, once had a daughter.”

His vision faded to black.

***

“A thousand times I’ve imagined this moment.”

Silco hung his head low beside Vander’s statue.

“Never like this.”

The dark atmosphere enveloped him like a vortex, slowly sinking him into the wasteland. The winds seemed to be whispering threats, sending chills down his spine.

“All we ever wanted. The boy didn’t even haggle. And what do I lose, but problems?” He tried to ignore the way his voice broke. “Oh, it all makes sense now, brother."

He took the bottle of liquor from his coat and poured some into the moat of Vander’s statue. He held the bottle up and drank from it, savoring the way the alcohol made him feel wistful and so weightless.

“Is there anything so undoing… as a daughter?”

Six. Vander’s daughter. His daughter. Vander’s prodigy. His prodigy. Blame it on the alcohol, but he didn’t know what was what anymore.

He had once thought of children as weaknesses. He had once thought of them as a burden. His narrow-minded self couldn’t fathom why Vander would abandon his lifelong goal for them. But… now he knew. At least, he thought he knew.

In the early days, he thought that he could turn Six into another Vander. He had deliberately thought of Six as a blank slate, one that he could paint on however he wished. He thought that Six could be the Vander that didn’t betray him. Now he realized that he couldn’t do that—because Six was not Vander. Six was Six.

He didn’t notice Six lingering on the other side of the statue, her eyes flickering a vivid violet as she chose between her late father and her current one.

***

When Silco woke up, he found himself on a plush cushion, though the only movement he was able to attempt was a twitch of his finger. His entire body was paralyzed, shoulders to toes. He was clearly forced to take a very strong dose.

He moved his head as silently as possible, craning his neck to hear the muffled talking in front of him. Even though the voices were blurred, he could still recognize Six’s voice.

“I thought I’d never see this place again,” he heard her say. “But… it sure brings back some memories.”

Another voice rang out, louder than Six’s tired tone.

“Vi! Are we alone?”

The sister…

The shuffling sound of wooden planks being shifted was heard. “Not quite,” Six replied, still speaking like a hollow doll. “But for now we are, unless… you want to be alone forever?”

The sister sniffled, clearly on the verge of tears. “What happened, Vi,” she asked. “What happened? Why did you leave me all those years ago, for the jerk that murdered Vander? Why, Vi? You have to tell me, you have to!”

Six’s footsteps came forward—fast, as if she suddenly became concerned. “I didn’t mean to, Powder,” she sighed. The ground creaked as her shadowy silhouette knelt before her sister. Silco’s finger twitched again as her hand reached out to caress her also paralyzed sister’s face.

“I tried to come back to you but… something happened. I got taken away. All those years, I thought you were dead. I lived with the guilt of your death suffocating me. Who knew that…”

“I’m here, Vi. As long as you don’t leave me again, I won’t be going anywhere.”

“Oh, you never left,” Six chuckled, but it sounded bitter. “I always heard you—saw you even. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I’d wake up and see you rocking on your hammock while drawing your little doodles. Then I’d see you turn around and smile at me… and I would hear your voice talking to me, too…”

“Then why?!” Her sister shouted now. “Why are you helping that douchebag now?! Have you forgotten what he did to Vander? To Mylo, Claggor, Benzo, and everyone?! Why do you stay with him, Vi, when you can come join the firelights with me and Ekko? Hell, even going with that girlfriend of yours would be better than staying with that Silco geezer!”

“There are some things that you just don’t understand, Pow,” Six answered as the lights flickered out. There was a long pause, so ominously calm that even a cat would feel afraid. The floor creaked again.

“I never thought I’d ever see you again,” Six said, hushed. A soft smile could be faintly depicted in her tone. “I’m glad that you still consider me your sister.”

Suddenly, the room lit up because of the row of candles on the table. Now, the room was bright enough for him to make out the setting. Before, the light was so dim that the only thing you could see was a yellow speck from where the light came from and vague shadows.

The sister immediately recognized where they were. “This… the basement of The Last Drop? Vi, I thought it was destroyed! But… it still looks exactly the same…”

“Same,” Six said nostalgically. “But I was able to find it and clean it up again after beating Sevika.” Six glanced briefly at Silco. “Speaking of that bitch…” She sunk back into the shadows again for a brief moment, before aggressively dragging someone out of the shadows and throwing them onto the cushion near Silco.

It seemed that Sevika was also paralyzed from the shoulders and down, but even so, she thrashed her head around furiously. With the gag on her face, Sevika couldn’t do anything except to mumble and groan.

“Can you shut up for one fucking second?” Six grumbled as she pulled two more people out of the shadows. This time, she placed them next to her sister. One was the leader of the firelights, and the other was the daughter of Kiramman, the enforcer Six had been hanging around. These two, unlike Sevika, were not gagged.

Six peered down at them like she was inspecting a beautiful piece of artwork. She laughed sourly to herself and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, round gem. It was a smooth royal blue, with visible lilac tendrils billowing in the glasslike structure.

“The hextech crystal!” Kiramman gasped. “We’ve been looking for it everywhere. Why do you have it, Six? You told me that you knew nothing of it!”

“I was lying, cupcake,” Six stated. “I stole it.”

She laid it in the center of the table, where nobody could possibly reach it except for her. Looking at Silco, she smirked. “This is what you wanted me to get for you, right?” She said. “Well now I got it. Too bad I’m not gonna give it to you.”

She trudged nonchalantly around the rectangle of couches, drawing everyone’s attention to the two empty seats at the ends of the table. One was old and dusty, probably the old one she used to sit on. The other one was newer, with sharper stitches and a cleaner fabric. Silco could recognize it as the chair from her room back near his office.

The way Six had set the room up was strangely, almost unnervingly, domestic. It was almost as if she took all of her familial fantasies and implemented them into this very scene. Silco felt ice slide down his paralyzed spine.

“Now,” Six drawled, appearing behind her sister. “Where should I sit?” She glanced at both sides of the table. “Would you like to discuss amongst yourselves?”

“Stop this already, Vi!” The sister pleaded. “I don’t get why you would even want to work for that bastard, but I don’t need to understand. I really, really, really just want you to come back.” She nudged her head toward the flare still strapped on her belt, leading Six’s eyes over as well.

“I’d kept this the whole time, hoping you would one day come find me,” the sister sobs. “Remember your promise, Vi? That wherever I am, all I need to do is light it up and then you’ll find me. Remember? I was gonna do it but that stupid blockhead stopped me before I could! He even told me you didn’t love me anymore!”

Silco decided that he couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Her name is Six!” He roared at the sister. “And she is going to help me achieve peace for the Undercity! Isn’t that right, Six?”

“He told me you didn’t love me anymore!” The sister interrupted. “That’s not true, right? Vi! Tell me that’s not true!”

“You—you shut your trap!” Silco retorted. “I never said anything like that!” He turned back to Six, who was breathing heavily. He opened his mouth to offer words of affection, like she’d always craved, but was interrupted by more people.

“Six! I know you’re not like this,” Kiramman said. “Which seat you choose is not up to me to decide. I know both Six and… and Vi are capable of being good people. You have a good heart. I know it. Don’t let Silco deceive you.”

Those damn Kiramman, always having a way with words. Silco must find a way to overpower her speech somehow.

“What the Piltie said!” The leader of the firelights agreed. “I know you aren’t like this, Vi! Remember who you are!”

“Remember Vander!” The sister yelled. “Benzo! Mylo and Claggor! Weren’t they all killed by Silco?”

Six’s eyes flashed a dangerous violet. “No, you’re wrong. He didn’t kill them—”

“—You did!”

Silence cascaded over them like a freezing tide, drowning and suffocating them in a wordless nightmare. Even Sevika, who was squirming around and causing a ruckus, fell silent. The only sound to be heard was Six’s heavy breathing, echoing off of the walls.

Her eyes flickered between colors, glowing violet for a second before going back to their usual silver—back and forth, back and forth. She blinked them back to silver before staggering towards her sister.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, oh lord, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean tha—”

At that moment, the paralysis wore off on Silco’s arm. He jerked his arm upward and grabbed Six’s arm before she could make her way to her sister.

“Zaun is the one that needs you,” Silco said, gentle like he never heard her abrupt accusation. “They will be with you a day before villainizing you for your goals. I am your father. I will always support you.”

Unexpectedly, this didn’t ease six as much as he thought it would. It only makes her squint and appear feverish, with the painful panting and hot tears springing out of the corner of her eyes. She put her free arm on where her heart would be and squeezed, as if she was trying to wrung the regret out of her soul. She shut her eyes.

“I sorry,” she whispered, before waving his numb hand off her arm and sprinting to her sister.

She crouched down and held her sister’s face in her hands, as if she were gazing upon the entire world. “I’m so sorry. God, I’m a fucking idiot. I didn’t mean what I said. You didn’t mean to do it, I know. You were just trying to help, weren’t you?”

Her sister nodded, solemn. Six wiped the tear tracks away with her thumb. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you.”

Her sister, with her paralysis seeming to wear off slowly as well, clutched her sister’s wrist. “It’s okay, Vi,” she sniffed. “You were just mad. I’ve learned a bit about that—saying things you don’t actually mean when you get angry, I mean.”

“I’m glad.”

The floor creaked and an audible click was heard.

“Alright, Six. Enough of your shitty games. We’re ending it here.”

Six turned to see Sevika holding Kiramman at gunpoint.

She stood up immediately. “I didn’t beat your ass so that you could fuck things up here,” she said coldly, but Silco saw the fear behind that intimidating demeanor.

“What are you going to do about it?” Sevika glowered. “Move and your pretty enforcer girlfriend will be gone.”

“Sevika!” Silco interrupted their tirade. “Put the gun down. You’re only making things worse.”

For once, Sevika refused his orders and continued standing like a statue, indifferent to any sort of persuasion.

Another pause as thick as smoke returned. It was only a stare-down between Six and Sevika now. After a long moment, Sevika huffed.

“Too scared for you ‘cupcake,’ huh?”

With speed greater than any normal human capabilities, Six dashed at Sevika and knocked the gun out of her hand, letting it land directly on the table in front of Silco.

Sevika’s eyes are blown wide with shock and a hint of terror as Six stares her down, but Sevika’s shock went as quickly as it came.

“So you think you’re all that now, huh?” Sevika kept taunting, despite knowing that she was overpowered. “Where was this power when your family died? When your mom and dad and make-shift family died because you couldn’t protect them? Do you think your strength now will bring them back? That’s some real bull right there, Six!”

“Shut up!” Six yelled, punching Sevika. It landed, but it wasn’t as powerful as everybody thought it would be. Sevika grinned to herself, knowing that her plan was working. “Shut the fuck up!”

“I won’t!” Sevika laughed. “Even with all that power, you are worthless! Piece of trash, do you think anyone actually missed you while you were gone!”

“Stop!” The sister yelled. “We missed her! We’ve been trying to get her back for eight years, for god’s sake!”

“Don’t listen to the bitch, Vi!” Ekko screamed. Their overwhelming voices overlapped each other, creating a whirlwind in Six’s minid.

“They’re lying! They miss the weak and generous Vi, not you! Six is an obstacle to them. They don’t love you!”

“You can’t do this, Six!” Kiramman joined in. “What about us? Was it really all just…!”

“Do you hear them? They’re so caught up thinking that you’re the same person, when really, you’ve completely changed!”

“Just shut up!”

With nobody left, Six stumbled to Silco and plunged onto her knees. “You love me, right?” She asked, desperate. “Six is perfect. You said so! There’s nothing wrong with me! I haven’t changed at all! I’m just doing what’s best for the Undercity!”

“You have changed,” Silco replied. Upon seeing Six’s utterly broken expression, he continued resolutely. “You’ve become stronger. The feeble Violet who let everyone perish is not there anymore, only the Six who commands my people and leads us to victory every. Single. Time.”

“Vi! Don’t let him manipulate you!”

“They’re empty words! He only wants to use you!”

“Vi!”

“You woke now?” Sevika scoffed, walking closer to Six. “Only Silco understands you! Only I understand you! They. Are. Nothing! They don’t love you!”

Six stood up and pushed Sevika aside, walking toward her sister and her old friends. That’s right. They weren’t her friends anymore. She must understand that the only people who truly understand and love her are Silco and perhaps, Sevika. Nobody else.

“Vi! Wake up! Remember who you are!”

“VI!”

The screams continued. Six’s eyes stuttered into different colors again, her pupils shook violently. She fell onto the floor again and buried her head in her arms, trying to drown out the scribbles of “Vi” and “Six” scattering in her mind.

This was bad. If this continued, Six would be too far gone to listen to Silco again. He must end this.

There were three other people in the room. It wasn’t hard to choose which one.

He snatched the gun in front of him with his unparalyzed arm and prepared to aim at the sister’s skull, completely ready to kill her. Suddenly, he felt a strong force through his body.

“No, no no…”

The force was retracted from his chest and he realized that it was Six. Six had punched him—no—penetrated her fist though his body like a drill. He watched with nearly lifeless eyes, his blood trickling from Six’s knuckles to her elbow.

“No, no, NO! What the fuck did I do…”

Six frantically unwrapped her bandages, her hands shaking with frenzy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, what the hell, I’m so sorry…” She mumbled as she tried to wrap them around his torso.

Silco realized that… It was the first time he’d seen his daughter cry like that. Uncontrollably—like a child. He knew he was going to die. There was no way he could survive this.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered to her. “You're perfect.”

He understood why Six had always wanted him to tell her that she was perfect. He wondered what made Six think she wasn't, because she truly was perfect in his eyes. She must've thought that she was imperfect because of her past failures that continued to haunt her. That's maybe why she'd always been aiming for perfection, even though she was already more than enough.

He hoped his last words had reached her.

***

Six knew what she had done.

She killed her dad.

Her third dad.

She wasn’t able to protect any of them.

"Protect Powder," Vander said. She couldn't do that.

"Protect the family," Vander also said. She couldn't do that either.

"Everything's on you." EVERYTHING WAS ON HER.

She let out a scream of complete and utter agony.

It reminded her of the time when Vander died.

***

Powder didn’t know what to say.

Vi’s scream was so fierce that the entire building began to shake. At that point, her paralysis had completely faded. She forced herself to stand and stumbled to Vi. Her head was lifted high as her hands clawed at herself like vindictive spirits, wanting her dead.

It made Powder remember the time when Vander died.

The Silco bastard was dead. Powder was happy—somewhat. But her sister wasn’t so fond of the fact. Vi’s scream died away as Powder approached her.

“It’s okay, Vi,” she comforted. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

"Bullshit!" Sevika raged. "Everything is NOT 'okay'. Silco is DEAD. Do you know what that means, Six? Silco is dead because of you! Talk you bitch, TELL ME!"

Vi’s head hung low, as if the resentful spirits of her past were pushing her toward the depths of hell.

Powder knew that the feeling in her chest was wrong, very wrong. She couldn't help but be happy that Silco was dead, yes, but she also couldn't stand seeing her sister so... dull. Vi was never like this. Vi was strong, lively, powerful, beautiful. She was not this hopeless doll that mourned over a villain. But even so, Powder still wished that she could bring Silco back, just for Vi. For her big sister.

“Vi—”

“Remember when I told you that you were a jinx?” Vi said. She reached at the hextech crystal on the table and rolled it over to the stunned enforcer girl, who picked it up in a hurry. Vi ignored her baffled stare and continued talking to Powder. "Remember, Powder?"

Powder sucked in a breath, afraid to answer. But she didn’t need to.

A familiar click was heard. “I was wrong. You aren’t a jinx. You never were.” Her sister faced her with unnaturally bright, violet eyes before putting a gun to her head. It was the same gun that Silco had used while attempting to kill Powder.

"Vi... no!" Ekko yelled. "Put the gun down. VI!"

Vi opened her mouth to utter one last shuddering sob, something that Powder did not want to hear.

“It's me who's the jinx.”