Chapter Text
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**********1 YEAR later after Hextech********
Jinx , I can't live without you, it's been a long time since I saw you last , I will never stop missing you. We didn't get to finish talking about .... Well you know.
I just can't believe in your memory anymore-
When I close my eyes all I see is you... and when I wake up you're not here....
Jinx, please come back.
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Ekko paused his writing, giving his eyes time to take in the words, registering them back to him. The same words that will never be read by the person they're meant for. He's written countless letters over the past year. Trying to deal with the overwhelming grief. That no one seems to understand, and the sad part is that he didn't even understand it himself.
At first he assumed he was fine. Then the days started rolling by, and he had to watch other people be happy. Vi reopened The Drop in Vander's honor. Caitlyn took her place on the council. Piltover and Zaun built the city's back up. Firelights and others that had been welcomed in the hideout , made their way back up to the top.
That's when the feeling finally sunk in. He's alone, with nothing more to fight for. The thought never crossed his mind what he would do if peace ever happened, and who he would share it with.
So, with nothing next in mind. Ekko started to ask himself questions. What will he do ? Would he leave the firelight days behind him; as many did. Should he keep pushing for an even better world? What's even a "better" world to him ? The answers abandoned him and the questions overwhelmed him.
He felt lost.
Ekko eventually leans into writing. Putting words on paper helped. Giving him that deep breath he needed. To keep moving forward and not explode from his thoughts. He felt better. Or maybe that's what he tricked himself into thinking.
As long as he could write...
Still, it came to a time when that wasn't even enough. All the grief finally caught up with him. Ekko was so busy surviving that he outran his feelings.
But now he had time to stew in the hurt. The feeling was like if someone dropped a boulder on him. Snatching him into his reality. Now it's all too consuming. Watching from the backgrounds. While everyone else stood in the spotlight of their own story.
Quickly, Words on paper did not cut it anymore-
Ekko grabs his forehead and squeezes. Then used his hands to ruff up his dreads, yanking his fingers through them. He grunts; frustrated. Ekko's mind raced, his chest pounded, his adrenaline rushed, and his heart ached. All Ekko emotions bleed out of him, showing in each one of his movements.
He tried to hold it together. However, the dam he built with carefully written words on paper, was becoming weak. Nothing gave him that escape anymore. Each gap is a small leak that had him bursting at the stitches.
Threatening to drown him.
"Why," he whispered. "Why is it just me," he cried. Standing up in a clouded rush, his chair falls back onto the wooden floor with a loud thud. The sound filled the empty silence.
Grabbing each side of the desk, his breath coming out hard and exaggerated. His face scrunched up in frustration, his eyes were wild. "Why did I even bother! Nothing helps," he yells.
Ekko couldn't take it anymore. He picked up his table and threw it across the floor. Letting the letters scatter on the floor. Ekko fell to his knees, and screamed. Wrapping himself in his own arms.
"WHY," he screamed, not caring who heard.
His friends ran to him, hearing his gut wrenching screams through their walls. Scar and Alex ran to him, and did their best to comfort him. While their friend finally broke.
++++++ Ekko's house ++++++++
**********1 year ½ later after Hextech ********
(Still dealing with depression)
Ekko laid there in complete silence, stretched out on his old bed, that's filled with different blankets he collected over the years. The room was completely dark, with only a few peeks of light that found its way through the cracks.
"Ekko? Are you hiding in here? I haven't seen you around," Alex said, coming from the front room.
Ekko quickly turned to his side facing the wall. He didn't want Alex to see his face. "What," Ekko snapped, getting irritated as Alex steps weighed the floorboards. Ekko just wanted silence, and to be left alone. Hearing the creaks of the floors made him agitated.
He just wanted to drown.
When he heard a light knock he grimaced. Ekko turned around slightly, to see her leaning against his wooden closet. Alex was smiling a big goofy grin, her green eyes sparkled happily.
He rolled his eyes, before turning back around. That made one of us, he thought.
Alex pushes a strand of her black hair behind her ears. "Ekko, do you plan on wasting away here forever . She- She's gone Ekko it's time to move on," Alex voice cracked, as she tried to stress her point, trying to get through to him.
He stayed silent.
"Ekko, you promised us you'd at least go out once a day," Alex reminded him of the deal he made with Scar and her.
Here we go, he thought. Ekko lets out a flat chuckle, as he slowly lifts his body off the bed. Deciding it was time for him to leave. Already knowing this conversation is going to rub him the wrong way. It always did, although he knew Alex's heart was in the right place. He just didn't want to be bothered or lectured.
"You look chipper as usual..." Ekko spits in a tired voice. Rising off to the opposite side of the bed; still facing the wall. Ekko plants his feet on the floor. Frustrated, he places his face in his palms. He tried to find the right words, but he couldn't.
" It's not that easy," Ekko snapped, his temper boiling over. All the emotions he was feeling squeezed their way out. "It's not like she's on vacation. She's dead. I fought, but what did I gain?"
Alex looks around Ekko's small bedroom and signs in discomfort. She grabs one of her arms. "She couldn't be that special," she mumbled under her breath. "You helped gain our freedom," she spoke up.
"OUR freedom. What did I gain for myself?"
"This is not you Ekko . The leader I know would never lose his cool like this! Look at you! Are you even aware that you only go out to drink at The drop," Alex signed, grabbing the bridge of her nose.
"Well...," Ekko smirked.
" Maybe you need to stop holding on to a me that doesn't exist anymore," he says, picking up his hoverboard out the corner. He walks towards the front room, swiftly passing her by.
"Please Ekko, It's a trade day, how about you go and just to see the lights, " Alex whispers, the hope in her dying just little. Her eyes tracked his back. Watching pick up his shoes and sliding them on. "I can-"Fine Alex, I'll go out. But I'm not going to see no lights." he said ignoring her pleas, before walking out the door.
"Wait-"
Ekko jumps on his hoverboard and flies out the hideout, leaving Alex behind.
When he gets outside the sewers. Ekko looks up at the blue sky fading into night. He sucks in a deep breath.
Still, bewildered how easy the air goes in and out.
With Sevika on the council. Changes happened, and Zaun is now independent. It didn't take much convincing. It was the least they could do, they said, along with supplying different things at a drop every month.
That was the deal.
Now the city is better and brighter. Nonetheless the tension is still high among the people. Piltover couldn’t just ignore Zaun like they once did. Still most grudges are kept in check, as they stay to their own sides.
Keeping everything wrapped in a blanket of ‘peace.’
"It's him," Ekko heard the people calling out. Groups of people start to form. He waved down. Ekko couldn't help himself. The Zaun people still looked up to him. Even though he couldn't even look at himself.
On the inside Ekko just couldn't accept being the savior, when the one he promised to save... he failed too. He felt like a failure, and a liar.
When getting to The drop he smoothly hops off the hoverboard. In the same step he place it on his back, and walks through the door. The place was overflowing with people, many laughing, and others sipping their drinks. Ekko makes his way into a dark corner, taking a seat.
He couldn’t help but eyes drifted over his head ,where the mural Ekko painted rested. It was a portrait of Jinx and Vander. Vi had asked him to draw it in their memory. When she decided to repair the place and reopen it.
He sighs deeply before raising his two fingers. With a wave of his hand he alerts the quick eyed bar bartender.
"Back again," Vi said, with a smile on her face that met her blue eyes. She pulled up a chair, sitting on it backwards.
"Like clockwork," Ekko replied
" Don't get too wasted, last time we weren't sure if you were going to wake up," Vi warned. "Having boy-savior die here is bad for business. Plus, I need your help with my roof."
"No promises, and shouldn't the new owner take care of the repairs" he chuckles darkly, putting the mug to his full lips. The waiter finally dropping his drink.
"Uh- no, plus it's the least you can do," Vi smirked. "These drinks are adding up."
Ekko smiles softly behind his cup. "Yeah, I hear ya, can you refill this cup," he asked with a coy smile, as he waved the empty cup inside down.
"Yeah whatever," Vi laughs, and grabs his empty cup to refill. She goes to the bar to refill his previous cup and brings another. She slams the cup down in front of him. Ekko reached for a mug.
"Where's the shiny girlfriend," Ekko asks, just making small talk.
Vi eyes go wide, before she quickly avert her gaze. "You no... she's busy with work, and stuff. Which is what I need to be doing. I'Il talk to you later," Vi quickly walks off.
Ekko watches the back of her overalls as she heads back to the bar. Feeling completely confused but not surprised. Vi's been acting dodge about the subject. Caitlyn hasn't been around lately.
He let the conversation roll off his shoulder and continued to drink. The night went on, people came, and people went. Ekko took cups down like water all through the night. Entertaining himself with picking up bits of information, as he sipped through his weight in beer.
"Counselor One is really changing this place," a random dude said out loud. Clearly too wasted to be trying to gossip. Or talk politics.
"Yeah, Sevika knew what she was doing bringing him on," a middle aged man chirped. "Building that dump site for waste was a stroke of genius."
"I don't know, sometimes I get a funny feeling about him. He came out of nowhere. I wonder about him," a much older gentleman interjected, voicing his concerns.
The table goes silent before they burst out into laughter. "You know nothing, you're just an old fool, who can't let the youngsters take care of things without puking on it," the first man said.
"Just look at this! Without him, who would ever have thought to have a trade day!"
"You just need a reason to drink," someone yelled.
" I don't even think I saw him actually use the trade day for what it's for," the fourth man added.
"You got that right. The only trading he does is giving his coin for a drink."
"And that's the only thing I'll ever trade," the man announces confidentially. All three of them burst out into drunken laughter.
The much older gentleman gets up to leave. When he turns around he catches Ekko looking from his table. He carefully leans over.
"Don't listen to them. Their fools. They'll throw their whole life away. People like them only see the bottom of the cup. Bridges must burn underneath them before they see what's actually in the cup. Don't waste your time on minor details," the old timer warns. "Answers always come ," he smiles.
"What if they never see even then," Ekko asked.
"Then they have a new slate, because the old is gone. Everything comes in full cycle eventually," he raised his old grey brows. Studying Ekko with bright eyes, before wobbling out.
"And don't come back," one of the three men called after him.
Ekko looks at the strange man wobbling out. Putting the mug back to his lips, but the words stuck with him. But, Ekko had his fill of drunken babble for one night, and tunes everyone out. Enjoying the rest of his night with full rounds. Until he couldn't tell his right leg from his left.
Eventually he passed out, Ekko head melting into the table. Vi made her round and cleared his cups. She stroked his head and put a finger under his nose before moving on.
*************Hours later************
"Ekko GET UP," Vi's voice bled his ears. Disturbing his head, making the raging headache more noticeable. He grabbed his head, adding pressure on his forehead. Trying to get himself to focus.
" What time is it? What's wrong," he asked, squinting up at her, trying to make her out. Although her face wasn't clear he could see the distress carved into her face.
"Get up Ekko," Vi frantic voice finally registering. "IT'S NOT SAFE."
"What's going on," he asked looking up. He is surprised to see Vi's face is completely torn. Her eyes are wide open and red. Looking frantically around.
"I- I don't know," Vi said breathlessly.
" Outside. They- " She couldn't get her words out as she tried to explain. Ekko gets up and pulls her into him, patting her head.
"Okay. Okay, calm down. Just show me," Ekko tells Vi trying to sooth her. Ekko looked around the bar; noticed it was empty. He could hear shouts from outside.
"We can't go out there-"
The drop doors burst open. Ekko's eyes widen as the few firelights that walk in. The group quickly look around frantically until they spot him and Vi.
"Ekko are you alright," Alex voice carries through the bar.
"What's going on," Ekko asked, starting to get nervous. His eyes darted all across the distraught faces. Vi finally picked up her face. Just enough to say the bridge burning news.
"They destroyed it Ekko," Vi whispered. "They destroyed Vanders statue," her voice broke.
The world slowed, as Ekko took in everyone's broken faces. Nobody could look him in the eye. No one denied it. He looked between everyone frantically. Getting overwhelmed he let go of Vi, and ran out the bar towards the statue. Leaving everyone calling out to him in the dust. When he made it Ekko was completely winded.
Nonetheless, he didn't get a chance to catch a breath. Ekko's sharp breathing hitched, when his eyes fell on Vander's statue. They widened in disbelief. The statue was laying flat on the ground with people surrounding it. Some cried, others faces were carved in horror, and the last few were under the statue. Dead.
His heart raced, and his stomach turned. Ekko stumbles backwards, tripping over himself. But he didn't get far before his insides became his outs. He puked everything out.
"NOOO, daddy," a child screeched In the background.
"Piltover," random voices of war screamed. Chaos broke out.
"RUN!"
People wailed, others screamed, and others got cut of-
Ekko struggled as he tried to get onto his feet. The liquor was working against him. The air became impossible to breathe, stinging his eyes. He fell onto his knees. Using one arm he reached out. He looked up to see Vi running towards him and his friends. It was the last thing Ekko saw before he blacked out.
To be continued.......
:} Ta-ta