Arcane: Winds of Change

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Chapter Fourteen: Inner Demons

After the day's chaos, only silence remained in Zuan's night. Somehow, Phil found himself unable to sleep. He glanced out the window; the environment of Zuan remained the same, with murky air and polluted rivers, the result of pollution since Piltover was first established and its ongoing emissions.

"I really don't know when Zuan will ever get better," Phil remarked as he lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. He paced slowly around the room, sensing a lack of vitality. "Jinx?" he called out softly, not wanting to wake the little troublemaker too loudly in the middle of the night, which would make it impossible to go back to sleep.

Gently pushing open Jinx's door, he found her room empty. Where had she gone? Phil felt a twinge of concern—not for her safety, but for her mental state. Jinx had a mental condition: bipolar disorder. At times, she would become manic, entering a highly excited state during which her talents would fully manifest, making her a true genius. At other times, she would plummet into depression, experiencing self-doubt, dejection, and denial, feeling as if the whole world was collapsing.

Her condition was partly related to her sister. With her own abilities lacking, Vi would always protect her, encourage her, and when things went wrong, receive mockery from Mylo. Vi would then encourage her again, making her feel capable, only for the cycle to repeat with further setbacks. It's a wonder she didn't go insane.

But Phil wasn't concerned with the cause of her illness at the moment. The urgent task was to find Jinx because if her condition were allowed to worsen, it wouldn't surprise Phil if she did something drastic and then cried over his body in remorse.

"Hey, Sevika. Jinx is missing," Phil contacted Sevika, who had control over the black alleys.

"I understand, little boss," Sevika replied, having just been woken up by Phil.

"Find her within half an hour. Once you find her, just inform me, and I'll go to her," Phil said curtly. He was known for his mercurial temperament towards everyone except Jinx and Silco, which made others cautious around him.

Sevika quickly coordinated her subordinates, deploying most of them to look for Jinx. In just twenty minutes, they had tracked down her location. "That crazy girl is in the abandoned arcade, boss," one thug reported directly to Sevika, unaware of Phil's presence. Before he could finish, Sevika knocked him to the ground with a punch.

"Thank you, Sevika," Phil said as he put away the gun he had already readied and left for the arcade.

After navigating a few alleys, Phil finally arrived at the secluded arcade. He saw Jinx, kneeling on the ground, with a score of [4406] displayed on the punching bag machine. She was panting heavily, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Who's there?" Jinx suddenly raised a gun towards Phil.

"It's time to go home, Jinx," Phil said, not pausing as he approached her.

"Who told you to come? Who told you to come?" Jinx shouted, her gun still aimed at Phil, like a cornered criminal or a lamb cornered by a lion.

Phil reached Jinx and pulled her into an embrace. "It's okay now, it's all over. I'll be here with you."

Jinx couldn't hold back her tears any longer. "You all lied to me! You all lied to me! Aah!" She cried and pounded Phil's back, though the angle rendered her blows weak. Phil gently patted Jinx's back until she gradually calmed down, only then loosening his hold on her.

"Let's go. I'll take you to a nice place," Jinx said calmly as she stood up. The two soon reached a high tower in Zuan, from which one could see all of Zuan and the distant Piltover. "Every time I was sad, my sister would bring me here to encourage me," Jinx remarked with a hint of melancholy, appearing every bit like a girl her age.

"What you need is not just encouragement, but an environment where your talents can grow," Phil responded, gazing at the scenery. "You knew all along. You told me before she betrayed me," Jinx continued, her hair now long, with light blue locks and sky-blue eyes that gave her a striking and unusual beauty.

"Do you see Piltover over there? I want to make Zuan like that. It's Silco's dream, and it's mine too," Phil stated. "I used to imagine what it would be like if the undercity and the topside went to war. Phil, I would become the jinx of our enemies," she said as she braided her waterfall-like long hair into twin tails.

"Let me help you," Phil said, placing his hand over Jinx's, always hoping that Jinx could control her madness through her emotions, rather than the other way around. The night deepened.

"Phil! It's Evolution Day today!" Jinx exclaimed while nudging Phil. "So, tell me your plan?" Phil inquired without stopping his work. He had unlocked his original plan skins: the 098X Dissolution Blade and the Emperor's SR "Live Fire Armor." These two pieces of gear had been under Phil's research for quite a while, but the alchemical energy couldn't support the armor's proper functioning nor transform the blade into its full form. Even the kingdom's mech-gods didn't perfectly match with alchemical energy, which was only viable due to its sheer volume but invariably harmed the mechs themselves.

"Obviously, to create a massive explosion!" Jinx responded, shaking with excitement, making it hard for Phil to concentrate. However, her words piqued Phil's interest. The Hexgate in the topside was already built—a system powered, he assumed, by the same blue crystals Jinx had obtained long ago when she was still Powder. Maybe this could support his research on the original plan skins, but he didn't mention anything about the crystals to Jinx.

"Your plan lacks imagination, Jinx," Phil commented nonchalantly. "Why destroy for the sake of destruction? What will you gain from it?" "Phil, you've changed," Jinx said with a dismissive glance at Phil. "Is there anything more thrilling than an explosion?"

"Of course, there is. Hear me out, we can..." The two began plotting, keeping Silco in the dark. It was the wild celebration of two young people. "Fantastic, Phil. You really are a genius! This is the bigger stage," Jinx exclaimed excitedly, and Phil started to feel a twinge of anticipation. In truth, he sometimes found himself wanting to revel wildly with Jinx.