Chapter the week, thanks for stones of power.
-----
[Time Remaining: 99:45:29]
"My God, what a woman," Salazar muttered from a hidden alley, spotting a woman he had been searching for a while. He couldn't help but admire her rough and determined figure, biting his lower lip as he looked at her.
That woman was obviously Sevika, with her hair slicked down and the same usual serious, lost look in her eyes.
"Just what the doctor ordered," he said with amusement to himself, freely expressing his taste—tough women made him stupid.
"Although this isn't the time for visual pleasures. She doesn't have the arm Jinx made for her yet; she has to go see her soon." With a plan in mind, he kept watching Sevika, which he didn't complain about—she was a visual delight.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focused on his task, following her from a distance, watching her occasionally glance sideways or speak to strangers.
"How long is it going to take her to go see Jinx or to Silco's office?" After an hour of following her, he only saw her walk back and forth and talk, visibly irritated and increasingly annoying him.
Seeing her turn into an alley, he got a little hopeful that she was finally heading to Jinx's hideout or Silco's office. He followed and peeked carefully, but when he didn't see her advancing, he suddenly felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the side of his head, sighing.
"Shit, I let that pretty ass distract me and fell for the oldest trick in the book." He raised his hands with a guilty and exasperated expression, sighing in defeat.
Sevika, hearing this from the stranger who was following her, narrowed her eyes suspiciously, more because of his calm demeanor despite having a gun to his head.
"Who are you?" she asked seriously. It was clear she'd been stressed lately—her furrowed brow gave it away.
"Would you believe me if I said I'm just an admirer?" he replied with a lopsided smile while looking at her from the corner of his eye, her gun pressing harder into his head.
"I don't have admirers."
"Maybe a suitor?" he flirted, to which Sevika didn't react at all, making him sigh in disappointment.
"I need to practice my seduction skills," he told himself, while the Zaunite woman began losing her patience, grabbing his shirt and slamming him against the wall, placing the barrel of her gun right between his eyebrows.
"No more games. You're going to tell me who you are and why you were following me, or I swear you'll die right now," she threatened seriously. Salazar knew Sevika wasn't someone who made empty threats—she always followed through.
Despite this, Salazar smiled kindly, not truly feeling threatened.
Why would he feel inferior in front of a gun when his hands could unleash enough explosions to destroy a building?
"Sorry, doll, as much as I'd love to be at your mercy in bed, I prefer being the one on top," he laughed a little, and Sevika, now fed up, was about to shoot him somewhere as a warning.
But then Salazar grabbed the gun in a quick motion, pushing it away from himself. The shot grazed his side as Sevika instinctively pulled the trigger. He disarmed her with a strong hit to the hand, making her recoil in pain. He calmly picked up the weapon and examined it before throwing it far away—it was worse than his own.
Sevika narrowed her eyes—he had almost broken her wrist with one blow and forced her to release her firm grip on her weapon.
Shaking her only hand in pain, she watched the man who had thrown the gun, now looking directly at her.
"I really didn't want to hurt you. I planned to follow you because asking would've been useless. You'd never tell me something important to you without knowing who I am," he explained, walking calmly toward her with his hands in his pockets, unconcerned.
Sevika stepped back—not out of fear but caution—glancing at the weapon behind the man.
"But now you leave me no choice. So, could you tell me where Jinx is?" he asked politely, as Sevika stopped backing away, staring at Salazar.
He didn't look like an Enforcer, which meant he was after Jinx on his own—either he knew her or was hunting her personally.
"You know her?" she raised an eyebrow in doubt, continuing the conversation while plotting.
"Something like that. But don't worry, I just want to talk to her. I've been looking for her since I arrived here," he said, gesturing around, referring to Zaun.
"I know nothing happens here without you knowing. You must know where she is, right?" he smiled smugly, confident, while Sevika, analyzing the situation, remembered his earlier flirting.
It struck her as odd since people usually feared her, not liked her. But she didn't care.
She could use it to her advantage. She had no intention of telling him where the one person capable of uniting the Zaunites was, now that Silco was dead.
"I can tell you," she changed her stance to a less tense one, smiling back, which surprised Salazar with the sudden shift in tone.
Sevika approached, maybe a bit too close, making the man raise an eyebrow as he cautiously took one hand out of his pocket.
"But... how about you and I have a little fun and get to know each other better, handsome?" she said flirtatiously, pressing her body to his and bringing her face close to his, close enough to feel each other's breath. Salazar's eyes widened in surprise—he never expected Sevika to act this way.
"What?—Ahg!" Unexpectedly, she kneed him hard in the groin, making him double over in sharp pain.
"F-Fuck, t-that was literally a low blow," he said, supporting himself on the wall, but he quickly began to recover, breathing deeply to calm down.
He should've expected that from Sevika—she was from Zaun, this woman played dirtier than anyone. He mentally scolded himself for letting his guard down.
"Goodbye, future children," he groaned as Sevika scoffed and calmly picked up her weapon. When she turned to look at Salazar again, he was in front of her with his hand raised.
"I'm done," he said bored, no longer complaining about the pain—he had an impressively high tolerance.
Before she could react, a controlled explosion blasted from his hand, hitting Sevika square in the chest and sending her flying into the trash, crashing into a dumpster and denting it. She coughed blood and collapsed to the ground, clutching her burned chest in pain.
"I tried to be nice. You can't blame me for being a little rough," he said, walking toward her casually.
It was true he liked her, but he wasn't about to be humiliated like that by anyone. His attitude toward her shifted from platonic admiration to indifference—and even annoyance.
Sevika couldn't do anything. Her weapon had flown off in an unknown direction. She lifted her head and saw Salazar standing over her. Glaring angrily, she tried to stand, only for Salazar to stomp on her burned chest, making her scream in pain as she tried to push his foot off, useless against his superior strength.
"How I treat you from now on is your fault for refusing a civilized conversation," he said seriously, twisting his foot and making her grit her teeth, eyes filled with hatred toward the man above her.
"Now... where is Jinx?"
---
"That's why they say never meet your idols—especially the woman you like," he said dramatically, clutching his heart with a thespian-level exaggeration.
He walked through a dimly lit hallway, mostly dark, giving off a melancholic vibe.
"This is way too emo for someone like Jinx... must be Silco's touch," he chuckled as he reached the end of the hallway, where he found a massive hangar painted everywhere with a small personal workshop. Approaching the edge, he saw enormous blades and a seemingly bottomless pit.
Whistling in surprise, he backed away from the edge, not wanting to fall by accident.
"This is a full-on lair, huh..."
"Do you like the place, my handsome intruder?" a voice echoed throughout the space—clearly female and mocking.
"Honestly, it's too melancholic for my taste. I prefer something colorful," he said calmly with a relaxed smile, earning an exaggerated, slightly insane laugh from around the place.
"Hahahahaha! I think the same!" The voice became clearer—he recognized where it came from: behind him.
He turned slowly. There she was, smiling and carefree, a weapon in hand but not aiming at him, hands on her hips and a playful smile.
"I've wanted to change this place for years, but they never let me..." She was about to say something but fell silent. He noticed a faint trace of sadness—and even regret—in her eyes, but she quickly recomposed herself.
"A change wouldn't be bad. Though I'm no interior designer. If you're here, that means I took a while, huh?" He deduced Sevika had somehow managed to alert Jinx before he arrived.
But this was Jinx—she'd never hide from someone looking for her. In fact, she'd be curious and confront them.
"You could say that. When Sevika told me someone was looking for me and even beat her up, I couldn't help but get interested in who it was," she said, twirling her weapon with her finger on the trigger.
"Yeah, she wasn't exactly kind when I asked her. Though without her, it would've been really hard to find you. This place is well hidden," he gestured around, with Jinx snorting playfully.
"That sounds like Sevika. So, are you going to tell me why I suddenly have a crazy fan?" she asked, heading to her small workshop, walking past him and sitting on a swivel chair.
At this moment, Jinx wasn't as crazy as her LoL version—a relatively normal conversation was possible.
"I came to propose something. It's up to you whether you accept or not."
"Oh, an indecent proposal? How bold! Hahaha!" she said, clapping excitedly and laughing.
"Though I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm a free soul. I don't need a boyfriend telling me what to do—they're so annoying," she crossed her arms and pouted, turning her head away in rejection.
Salazar chuckled at her antics but continued his speech.
"It's not that... yet. But I want to ask you something: after everything you've been through recently, wouldn't you like to start over?" he asked, walking around the workshop and leaning on a worktable with crossed arms.
Jinx looked intrigued and confused.
"Start over?"
"That's right. Go somewhere else. A new life, new reputation, new friends..." he glanced at her dead friends' dolls but closed his eyes calmly, waiting for her reply.
Jinx fell silent for a moment—then let out a humorless laugh.
"Okay... are you some kind of fairy godmother or something?"
"Maybe, to you. But I don't grant wishes—I offer opportunities. I have a team. We've all suffered. I'm looking for people capable of surviving and, most importantly, taking care of each other," he explained, walking toward her and extending his hand in invitation.
"I came for you. I want to offer you the chance to leave everything behind. A new family. A place where you can be happy," he smiled kindly and sincerely—it wasn't manipulation. He hadn't lied. If she accepted, she would truly be family.
Jinx stared at the offered hand. She didn't know him, and suddenly he was offering her something like this—her doubts were justified.
"As if that were possible..." she whispered. It was all... too good.
A family.
It was so impossible it made her angry.
"In case you didn't know—my name means BAD LUCK!" she shouted, standing up abruptly and facing Salazar, who was a head taller than her.
"What kind of people would want anything to do with me? Everyone ends up hurt... Sil—" she couldn't finish. Strong arms wrapped around her, and her eyes widened. Instinctively, she wanted to push him away, but her arms didn't move.
She froze.
"I know it's hard after what you've been through. I don't expect an immediate answer. I just want you to know one thing—if you come with me, I'm willing to risk my life to protect you, Powder."
Jinx's eyes opened wide upon hearing that name. She remembered her childhood—suddenly feeling like that little girl again: vulnerable and desperate for validation.
After a while, she finally managed to speak.
"Do you say that to all the girls?"
"Only the pretty ones," he joked, as her trembling hands gripped his shirt and pulled him into a hug.
"How can I believe you?"
"Let me prove it to you."
"....."
"Don't fail me... or I'll kill you..."
"Count on it."
[Ding... Congratulations, host, for successfully recruiting Jinx!]
---
The title of "the prophet" really suits him, huh.
Even if he preaches himself.
Did you like how Jinx was recruited?
Too emotional?
Too easy?
Smash or pass Sevika?