CH 12: Aftermath

(A/N: Funny fact. For all of you guys who don't like MC's name, did you know that it wasn't supposed to be that? Yeah, it wasn't. It was supposed to be Slalithilia instead! Ain't that a fucking tongue twister, huh?! Bet y'all would have lost your shit if that happened hahahaha!!

Also, a question. So, as some of you might know, I have an original book. I won't go into details, but everyone in that fantasy world has a system. What should the people who fight to get stronger be called? Like, player, but something else. I don't want to call them players. Should it be something like Champions of Legends? Give me suggestions please.)

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"V-Vi?" Jinx froze up, shocked by the girl she mistook as her sister. As she just stood there, staring in shock at the pink-haired girl, panic and trauma slowly creeping into her eyes, said girl struggled to get out of her hold. When she saw she couldn't, she let go of the fire, letting it fall to the ground to burn the Shimmer.

Or at least she intended for that to happen. The moment she let go, Slathilia immediately grabbed it in the air :"Nope, none of that." Before completely enveloping it with his biomass and destroying it.

"Jinx? hey." He softly called out, putting a hand on her shoulder to make her relax from her panicking thoughts. She did, and caused the girl to be able to break free. But she didn't manage to run away, because Jinx immediately shot her in the back, killing her.

"No!" The leader of the Firelights screamed, kneeling beside her and shaking her to see if she was alive. When she didn't move, he turned to the panting Jinx and Slathilia who stood next to her, a finger comfortingly rubbing her shoulder.

Angry panting muffled by his mask sounded, and after checking his clock, he took out his weapon and rushed towards them with a roar. But Jinx, still in shock, simply grabbed her minigun and started blasting, roaring as she shot without care.

But another Firelight quickly saved the leader and flew around on his hoverboard, trying to dodge all the shots as Jinx continued shooting. However, even after they ran away, she still continued shooting. The panic unabling her to stop, and just continue whatever she was doing.

Seeing the panic in her eyes growing worse and worse, Slathilia quickly stopped her :"Jinx! Jinx, baby!" He called out, gently but firmly grabbing and stopping the minigun that was beginning to malfunction, hugging her shaking form :"Hey, hey, it's alright, okay? It's alright. Everything's alright."

Taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, her breathing picked up, before soft sobs broke out as tears began to roll down when she hugged him. Noises muffled by the chest she tried to hug as hard as she could.

"It's okay. It's okay." He whispered, gently rubbing her back to comfort her :"Everything's okay. Let it all out, baby. I'm right here." Causing her to hug even tighter. Not caring about the eyes of the others as she sobbed into his chest.

Not even Sevika's, who she would never show any moment of weakness in front of. The older woman looked at Slathilia with a serious face as she asked for reassurance with her eyes. Not saying anything other than comforting whispers to Jinx, he nodded gently at Sevika.

As she sighed in frustration, her attention was pulled by the eerie alarm of the enforcers. Turning serious, she quickly turned to the hybrid boy who was still hugging his crying lover. As he nodded back, his biomass started to spread from his legs like a black and red curtain on the ground, enveloping all the Shimmer and storing them.

"Hey, baby. Baby." He gently called out, stopping the hug and gently putting his hands on her cheeks, making her look up. Wiping away the tears, his heartstrings were pulled at her sniveling face as he kissed her gently, trying to calm her down :"We can't stay here, alright? The enforcers are gonna come any second. We need to get out of here."

She kept crying, sniffling as hiccups and sobs broke out of her throat :"O-okay. Okay, just don't let go of me. Please, just don't let go of me." Making him even sadder as he hugged her tightly, comfortingly :"Never, my love. I'll never let go of you."

Picking her up bridal style, as she tried to squeeze into him, he turned to Sevika with a serious face :"I've stored all the cargo. Let's get the hell out of here." And as she nodded, he set the airship on fire while all of them began to run. So did he, as he began to jump and run through walls while tightly holding Jinx.

-

"She fired on us." Spitting out the seal of her alcohol bottle, Sevika snarled as Silco looked at pieces of papers. The four of them all were in Silco's office, but Sevika didn't know that. Slathilia and Jinx were in the empty spot on the ceiling, Jinx's little room where she would stay for fun sometimes. And currently, both of them were there, while she sat on her boyfriend's lap, enjoying the comforting backrubs.

Silco :"There are always mishaps in battle. The Firelights were their target, and most are dead."

Sevika :"It wasn't a mishap, she froze up and lost her shit. If not for Slathilia, the entire cargo would've gone to shit. I could've handled those brats. She's a problem and we all know it."

Silco :"We? Who's we? I expect better from you than excuses. Slathilia prevented the shipment from being destroyed, which was his job. But it was your job to make sure things went smoothly. You failed. Don't disappoint me again."

As she got up with a grunt and stepped out, Silco dropped the papers on his desk with a sigh :"The world's growing smaller everyday, thanks to the Hexgates. And now, we're cut off. The Topsiders are leaving us further and further behind. What happened?"

"She already told you." Seeing that Slathilia didn't answer for her, Jinx spoke up. "I'm asking you." Silco said, and Jinx finally came down. As she sat on the desk, hugging her knees, Slathilia also stepped down. But not on Silco's desk.

Gently massaging his shoulder, small tendrils came out of his fingers as his hand went to his scarred face. The side which was so heavily harmed in the past, now recovering thanks to him. His black and orange eye was beginning to turn normal, and his eyelid had already been recreated. The only reason why he hadn't completely healed it was because of not wanting to rush and risk it. He wasn't Symbiotically bonded with him, so he didn't know when his body would suddenly fight back the sudden changes.

And Silco wasn't complaining either. He was just happy he was getting his normal eye back. The ache of his eye had already diminished a lot, and he didn't even need to inject Shimmer into his eye anymore. Despite his eye being harmed so much, getting it stabbed right in the pupil had never been a fun and pleasant experience.

As he sighed at the comfort of the recovery his son's tendrils would provide, momentarily taking away all the pain and ache, he lent his ear to his daughter. Whose voice was slightly muffled by her knees :"One of those Firelight wackos was a girl. With... pink hair."

"Hmm..." He turned his chair, letting her lean against him :"Your sister's gone. You know that as well as I do." Causing her to look down :"I know." Before she turned awkwardly playful :"I know! Sisters, right haha? You can't live with 'em, can't stuff 'em back in the ol' baby maker ahahaha."

Silco :"Today's screw up could have set us back weeks, if not for Thilia being there. Good job, Thilia."

"You're welcome." He received a light chuckle as Jinx leaned against him, putting her head over his :"I'm sorry."

"I need to know that I can rely on you." He stated, grabbing Jinx's wrist gently but firmly when she played with something in the air, making her look at him :"I'm doing this for us, Jinx. All of us. The sons and daughters of Zaun deserve more than their runoff."

Jinx :"It won't happen again."

Silco :"I know. Sevika will clean up today's mess."

Jinx :"Sevika?! That ogre couldn't clean a dust bunny with a blowtorch!"

Silco :"She'll suffice. You should focus on your gadgetry. Or simply spend time with Thilia. Take some time."

As she dramatically laid down on his desk, she still fought to prove her worth :"I-I don't need time." After all, as much as she loved spending time with her lover, she always did that anyway. Right now, she wanted to just prove to her father that she wasn't useless.

But Silco just wanted her to relax :"Take it anyhow." Getting up, she stormed out of the room and to her room. The big ass one with the huge fan for the floor. Seeing her leave, Thilia sighed as he finished today's healing and leaned against the desk :"You were a bit too mean to her."

Silco :"You think so? Sigh, can't help it. She is dear to me, but she must learn. One day, she might get herself hurt if she continues to lose control like this."

Slathilia :"I get your point, but you know how traumatic that experience was for her. Betrayal is of the harshest of wounds. I think you know that pretty well yourself."

Silco, caressing his left eye :"Isn't that the truth. But we need to grow from it, learn from it. Nothing will happen if we just cry about our misfortunes. Well, at least not anything pleasant. Not around here."

Slathilia :"Yeah, fair enough. She needs some time though. You know her, she's strong. And we, we'll help her achieve it."

Silco, smiling gently :"That's what a family is about, no?"

Slathilia :"Exactly. But anyway, you give poor Sevika a lot of shit despite her being your right hand man, you know? You should treat your workers better."

Silco :"That's how you keep them in check, Thilia. People around here are like vultures. Show a moment of weakness, and they will immediately try to take you down like hungry hounds. You need to keep a tight leash on them so they can't bite."

Slathilia :"But Sevika isn't like that."

Silco, lighting up a cigarette :"No, she's not. She's loyal. My most loyal one. That's why she's, as you like to call it, my right hand man. She also knows why I'm like this. She understands. As will you, once you take my place when I step down."

Slathilia, smirking :"You do realize that my "workers" can't exactly think of betraying me, right? They aren't able to."

Silco, blowing his cigarette and handing it to him :"Yes, but those are your Infected. That will only work if you plan on Infecting everyone of your workers."

Slathilia, grabbing and blowing it lightly :"Who knows, might just do that. Makes shit a lot easier too. Damn, we really need to find you better ones. This one doesn't taste good at all."

Silco, smirking :"Maybe you can make better ones. Add it to our business, perhaps. You were the one who made a modified version of Shimmer to use as a light drug. One that wouldn't have harsh side effects. And frankly, that made our business expand by a large margin. You're quite good at bringing profits."

Slathilia, chuckling :"Can't deny that. I'll think about it."

Silco :"Hm, good. You should go to her. Take care of her. Support her. She needs you now more than ever."

"Hm, then I'll be off. Bye." He bid farewell before walking out of the room and to his and Jinx's shared room. Turned to that after her many begging attempts. The room that he turned into their Symbiotic "nest". A horror show for a room.

(A/N: You know how humans evolved from monkeys, and all mammals evolved from insects, right? Then, what if dinosaurs didn't go extinct? What if they were given enough time to evolve? What would they evolve to anyway, dragons 🤔? Lol, it's questions like this that keep me up at night.)