Arcane: World Two - AU (Non-binary reader)

XX - Vexed Spirit

The small girl's shy tone remains: "I see you two at the Last Drop, and you both have very vibrant hairstyles"

***

After dropping off the ballerina figurine, you want to go home and rest, but the hallucinations appear once again. You see Mylo being kicked to the streets for not having the money Iogran Mac is owed.

Reluctantly, or maybe not, you make your way to his usual spot. Torn between negotiating or just offing him. It's not long before you're watching from the shadows as he puts people in debt. You wait until it's just him before stepping out. He sees you, and unknown to you, he recognises you: "A new competitor?"

You wait a second before speaking, surveying the multiple large people guarding him: "No, a dealmaker" Had he not known you, he'd just turn you around and perceive you as a nobody, but his knowledge curses him with the awareness that you're a threat.

He looks at you a moment before looking to his men, believing that they can take you out if necessary: "Alright, come on in." He gestures to you through a wooden door in the side of the wall, one that wouldn't have been noticed had he not shown it to you. During this, a smaller woman picks up the cards that lay askew on the ground.

Upon stepping inside, you see an old, run-down bar that had been abandoned many years ago. He sits down in one of the stalls, the six bodyguards post themselves around the room and the one lady stands around awkwardly. "Take a seat, I wanna hear your deal"

You sit across from him as he lifts a gun under the table, aimed right at your lower abdomen. You know this from the shakiness of his arms and how much his guards are looking under the table, but keep it to yourself for a while: "A boy named Mylo is indebted to you, big head, looks a bit like a hedgehog?"

Mac doesn't need to think to remember how much a man like Mylo owes him, but he too wants to keep you on edge: "Hmm, I believe I recognise the name"

You now had to decide on how to do this, kill Mac or pay off Mylo's debt: "I want to drop his debt"

He knows you make good money, even with Felicia's cut, but he knows that's not money you want in your wallet. "Okay, pay up" You throw the money onto the table, it's enough to make him reconsider but he comes to his senses, he puts his hand out: "Deal"

You're about to put your hand out when you suddenly kick the barrel of the gun, the handle smashes in between his legs as his head comes forward, wincing in pain. You want him alive so you use your right arm to pin him down by the neck, you take a gun from the holster on your leg and shoot one of the guards before they can react.

Another guard lifts a board in the air as he runs at you but you take an old glass on the table and smash it into his head, killing him instantly. A bullet flies past your head, the whizzing noise stays in your ear as you turn to face the shooter, their face pale as they slowly lower their gun. You turn to see what has gawked them so, only to see their bullet in the brains of Iogran Mac.

"Shit"

You take the gun and shoot this one, at least without Mac, you can stand up now. You kick over one of the tables, using it for cover. Another bullet flies through the wood so you lay on your back and kick the table again, only this time into someone. As they are stunned you take a throwing knife from your belt and swiftly slice through the skin of the guard. You turn to the last armed man, he holds the rifle high, with posture. He lets a single bullet fly, hitting you in the upper shoulder. As you turn from the impact of the bullet, your other hand rises to shoot a dart into his neck, it hits to the point, causing him to throw up blood before falling to the ground and shoving the dart through his throat.

As they fall into a pool of their blood, you remember the one lady. You turn around to see her, drenched in blood and holding a butter knife upside-down with two, shaky hands. You walk back to the table, hand on your shoulder, and pick up Mylo's debt money. You throw it to her: "His debts closed". Preoccupied by this, you forget to remove the blowdart from the man's neck.

***

Silco paces around your room-turned-office in your later life, thinking about the detonator, the blood patterns, the autopsy, and the lack of your body. 

Sevika knocks on the door: "Silco? I have... news"

He sighs: "Come in" He sits in your seat as Sevika steps through the door. She hands him an envelope, sealed with a wax insignia. He opens it and reads it aloud: "Dear Silco, as a previous council member, we believe you deserve to hear the news that a fellow member, Iogran Mac, was found dead this morning along with his entire team of highly trained guards. Iogran Mac had a bruise on the back of his neck, as well as on his crotch. However, his head had been smashed open by what we can only assume to be a bullet. A smashed gun was found under the table, implying an attempt to fight back was made by one of the two parties..." Silco feels almost saddened by the news of his old friend's passing but the next line speaks to him more pleasingly: "...two of the guards sustained bullet wounds, one was a throwing knife and the final was a blowdart"

Sevika notices the last part: "Name someone in Zaun who knows how to use a blowgun"

Silco, heart racing, responds: "y/n..."

***

Mylo sits at a table in the Last Drop, pondering about how he can make the money back when he sees a small shadow stand over him. He looks up to see the small lady working with Mac: "I-I don't know who you sent, but your debts have been closed. Just please don't send that assassin after me"

Mylo is too drunk and confused: "What? What assassin?"

She's too scared to describe you fully: "Jacket? Eyepatch? Blowgun? It doesn't matter. Just please, never come back." She quickly leaves, not wanting to think about you anymore.

Still confused, he goes to Vander at the bar: "Vander, did you pay an assassin to kill Mac?"

Vander is just as surprised by it as Mylo: "No?" He thinks for a little while: "Where's your sister?" Like clockwork, Vi steps through the door. She sees Vander's look and knows she's in trouble, just not what for. She sits at the bar. "Vi, I need you to be honest with me here"

She becomes worried and begins to think of every bad thing she's ever done: "Okay?"

Vander takes a deep breath: "Did you kill Iogran Mac?"

Vi's confusion only grows: "Who? The con-man? No, I didn't kill him!"

Mylo pitches in: "She said the assassin wore a jacket and an eyepatch... and used a blowgun"

Powder overhears, thinking about her previous exchange with the child. It takes little courage but she still hesitates to speak up: "Some kid wanted me to thank Vi for saving her, if we're gonna keep talking Vi up"

As Vander is about to tell Powder not to speak about Vi that way, Vi cuts him off: "I didn't save a kid?"

They play dumb, but they can't help but tie the ropes between this mystery assassin and you. In a feeble attempt to prevent any outnumbering hope, Claggor speaks up: "We must just have someone new in town"

Almost angrily, Powder rebuttals: "Let's stop acting stupid. If it's not y/n, who is it?"

Both Vi and Vander sigh. Vander the only one so sure of your death that he can speak: "y/n is gone, Powder"

This isn't enough to soothe Powder: "So there's an assassin who's described to look exactly like y/n, wears the same clothes as y/n, and uses the same weaponry as y/n? And that's just some sort of... vexed spirit?"

Vi, still reluctant to let hope in, speaks: "More likely than y/n"

Powder storms off as everyone watches, her heavy footsteps slam at the stairs. Unbeknownst to them, their conversation has been overheard again, another of your scouts runs out of the bar to reach you with the news of their conversation.

And yet, unbeknownst to any of you, Powder plots a drastic plan to prove you are yet to be killed.