Thread by @DamadiSangue

#Jilco #Jinco #FantasyAU

1.

Heavy is the crown, poisoned his dark throne.
A big city - metal and glass; monsters and men.
Zaun stood like a bastion of rock and rage in the middle of Runettera, a dense, dark lump of stone and chem prodigies.

https://twitter.com/JilcoPrompts/status/1540316345409183745

Everything died in Zaun, but what survived was merciless - distorted and ferocious.
Sevika watches the king sit beside his 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, listening to her asymmetrical, weak breathing.
"She will make it."
The king is silent, he ignores her.

""Jinx is a sturdy monkey; she will not abandon you."
"Strange choice of words." and roars the voice of the king, a caged predator.
Silco brings his clenched fists under his chin, gives her an annoyed look.
"The court murmurs, sire."
"It always has."

"Those were difficult years. Controversial choices."
"The kingdom has never been more prosperous."
"Wealth is not always synonymous with satisfaction."
A thunder shakes the heavy night air, dissolves the silence.
"The Chem Barons are loyal to me."
"How long?"

"For the time needed."
Sevika inhales, watches Jinx moaning in her sleep.
"Power is a heavy burden, sire."
"That's all it takes."
Silco brushes Jinx's forehead, pushing aside a lock of sweaty hair from her neck.
"But it has no value if it consumes itself, sire."

Silco rubs his eyelids, releases an exhausted sigh.
"I'm going to get more water: and some milk. It will be a long night."
Outside, the rain has the same sound as shattering glass.

2.

The storm picks up and has been beating up Zaun for hours.
Jinx shows no signs of improving, on the contrary: her fever has risen and the king watches over her with hallucinatory eyes, shiny with sleep and fatigue.

"She breathes too fast." he says, and Jinx's bloodless hand disappears in his.
"She is fighting the disease."
"She is losing." the king exhales, and for a moment Sevika has a premonition - a 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 window into the future.

𝘑𝘪𝘯𝘹, 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.

A relentless iron fist, a heart so fragile it crushes and crushes - a kingdom brought to its knees by the pain of a single man.
Jinx opens her eyes, confused - glassy.

"Jinx." the king calls, and leans towards her.
She looks at him - 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 him.

"Jinx." he repeats, and however imposing he may be in that rostral and scarlet lorica the king is helpless now, living flesh into which it would be 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 easy to sink and tear.

"Do you want some water?" Sevika asks, but Jinx ignores her - she smiles, and shows threads of blood between her teeth, under her tongue.
"Silly." she murmurs, and reaches out to his face — she lifts herself weakly on her elbows.

The king supports her, 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 to her.
Jinx looks for his mouth, she has no awareness of where she is - who is in the room besides her and his 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
Silco weaves his fingers in her hair, kisses her without any uncertainty - he breaks her breath with his own.

Jinx closes her eyes again, lets her self go to a hot and dense unconsciousness - sick.
The king slips by her side, pulling aside sheets damp with sweat and fatigue - he carries her in his lap, letting her rest against his chest.

He caresses the bare crease of her shoulders, the soft curve of her hips.
Sevika places a glass of water next to the bed, sits down in the armchair previously occupied by the king.
In his arms Jinx is the same frightened child of eleven years ago.

3.

Sevika fell asleep.
An hour, no more; enough time for her to be lost for a moment when she wakes up.
She squints, swallows - she feels like she's swallowing sand and glass.
"The fever is going down."
The doctor.
"The pulse is weak, though."
"What does it mean?"

The Eye of Zaun and his blind fury.
"I'm not sure; this disease is unpredictabl. It kills some, leaves others demented. In some cases it compromises internal organs beyond repair."

Sevika inhales, exhales; she tries not to make any noise.
"One night. One night and we'll know."
The fate of Zaun lies in the hands of a still unconscious girl.

4.

Jinx opens her eyes with difficulty, licks her lips - cracked.
She looks around, absorbing the details of a room that, for a moment, she doesn't recognize.
The fire burns high in the fireplace, and someone is wetting her forehead.

In the dim light she makes out Sevika's face, Singed's hooked profile.
She opens her mouth, tries to speak - she lacks her usually strength.
Jinx closes her eyes, inhales - sighs, trying to call Silco's name.
She rolls more tightly in the sheets and falls again.

5.

When she awakens there is no longer Sevika or Singed at her bedside, but Silly.
He is lying next to her, and he is sleeping - opens his eye as soon as he feels her move.
Jinx curled up against his chest, her legs intertwined with his, her arms around his waist.

He kisses her forehead, her cheekbones; he goes down to her mouth, looking for her calmly, without haste.
Jinx sighs, letting his warm, rough hands run on her.
Silco massages her back, the curve of her neck - he holds her as if she was 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 -

the beginning and the end, alpha and omega.
Jinx closes her eyes and lets his gestures reshape her.