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Chapter 27: The Diary
"Baron Silco, the negotiator from Noxus has arrived," came the voice of a subordinate from outside the door. "Those hyenas are quick to catch the scent," Silco mused as he lit a cigar and took a puff. "Let him in."
Soon, a man clad in armor entered the office, his body marked with many scars, even bearing a knife scar on his face. "Hello, Mr. Silco, I am Wilbur. I'm here to represent Noxus to condemn the action of your daughter in killing our officer and to demand compensation," he stated. "Based on our discussions, you owe us fifty thousand Shimmer vials as compensation." The man's words, paired with his cold tone, added to the discomfort.
"Compensation? What exactly were your soldiers doing in civilian clothes on our turf with so many weapons?" Phil asked with a smile. He had removed his helmet, although the armor still clad his body. The man ignored Phil and coldly focused on Silco. "Is this the attitude you present for negotiation?" he asked, a hint of arrogance in his tone.
Silco took a deep drag from his cigar, holding the smoke for a moment before exhaling. "This is Zaun, not your Noxus. My attitude here is none of your concern."
"As I understand, Zaun is having some trouble with Piltover, things aren't looking so good for you," Wilbur stated, his condescending tone blatantly obvious. "And Noxus recently emerged from a costly conflict with Demacia," Silco countered.
Wilbur gave Silco a long look, realizing the negotiation wouldn't progress any further. Despite Zaun's seemingly small status, he couldn't lower his stance. "I'll relay your message back. I hope you won't regret this," he replied.
Silco didn't even glance at him, his attention focused on intel regarding the upper city, revealing weaponized rooftops: "Phil, show him out." "Take care, Wilbur," Phil said as he maneuvered the mech to escort him away.
Afterward, Phil looked at the energy depleting notification inside the mech, sighed, and headed back home. Once he had the mech recharging in the lab, Phil decided to check on Jinx. Alchemical energy supply wasn't quite sufficient; perhaps it was due to the high energy consumption of the "Mecha Kingdom Fenrir."
As he pushed open Jinx's door, Phil was startled. The room was a chaotic mess—though that was nothing new. More importantly, Jinx was gone. He picked up a black notebook from the floor and began flipping through it. The contents were scattered—something between a diary and a scrapbook.
"Today I met a strange person, he helped me in Piltover."
"That idiot Mylo, I despise him."
"I ran into him again today, but he ignored me."
"I fought with the runt today and won. Maybe I'm not the weakest."
"The strange person is called Phil; he gave me a gun, and I love it."
"My sister will always be with me, I'm sure of it."
"Ha ha, my little monkey alarm is finally invented."
"Phil is so nice, I enjoy talking to him."
"It's weird, how the four of us can cause such chaos in the city above, but why does Vander refuse to fight?"
"Mylo told my sister I'm trouble, and she agreed. I heard it."
"My sister talked to me; she said I'm the best and shared some of Mylo's embarrassing stories, so I forgave her."
"Why won't she let me go? I can help too."
"She says I can't, won't say it aloud, but I know she thinks it. The way she looks at me shows it."
"Sorry, Vander. Sorry, Mylo. Sorry, Claggor."
"Vander is gone, Claggor and Mylo too. It was Powder who killed Vander. That night, Powder died too."
"I'm nothing but trouble, trouble for Jinx. Even my sister said I'm trouble, and now I'm completely Jinx's trouble. Phil wants me to become the enemy's Jinx. Silco took me in; we're both beyond redemption. Today was the first time Phil took me on a mission. He blew up an alchemy baron right away. I want to be like that; it's so cool. Phil treats me well; he can tell I'm thinking about my sister and said he'd help me find her. There's still no news of my sister. I miss her, but I don't need her. Nothing worth missing. Liars like Vi, full of lies. I'll always be with you! Powder. Louder, louder. Where are you now? I can't do it. I'll never succeed. I never have. Silco asked me to take care of some people. I made them explode just like Phil. Fishbones wants to blow something up, and so do I. Silco trusts me, Phil takes care of me. I'm doing well here. I'm no longer a child. Giving Shimmer to Silco no longer seems scary. We're both wicked. There will be a future; Vi and I will both go there. No, there won't be. She doesn't want me, she doesn't want Jinx. Being with Phil makes me feel safe; he knows what I'm thinking. He trusts me; Vi hates me. He accompanies me; Vi hates me. He loves me; Vi hates me. I close my eyes and see them; they want me dead. You're nothing but trouble! Trouble! Trouble Jinx! Sorry, William! I never thought you'd come looking for me because of that thing. I came looking for you, Sister. With Fishbones. Don't read my diary, Phil! Haha, just kidding."
Phil read the notebook from front to back before sighing and closing it. It seemed he'd have to let her use the card, even if it was a waste. Phil looked at the doodles in the notebook; the monstrous images revealed Jinx's current mental state. Jinx wasn't in the bedroom. Seeing the fresh marks in the notebook, he touched them—the doodles hadn't dried yet. It seemed she hadn't been gone long.
Jinx had just woken up, only to find she'd surprisingly been asleep in bed. Abruptly, she stood up to check the time. "Three hours?" She got out of bed, picked up Fishbones and Pow-Pow, and was about to head out. Suddenly, she remembered something and opened her secret box—her private space, mostly filled with things Vi had left her. "Time to end it." She scribbled a few lines in the notebook and pinned the bunny Vi had once given her to her waist before leaving the room.
Jinx lay in wait on the bridge, bringing along her new invention this time, the Mechanical Wildfire. It was something akin to mechanical butterflies, each equipped with a micro bomb. The power of one might be minimal, but hundreds together would be astonishing.