𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 -- 𝐒𝐞𝐱 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭
                        𝟎𝟎1 : Leave me
                      (𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚, 01x03)

𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 and Ekko shared a couple of things in common: curiosity, creativity, and the reputation of being the level-headed ones in their trio. Though Moon more so than Ekko. He often gave in to Powder's mischief, encouraged it even, but she let him believe he was as steady as she was.

There was another thing they both carried—the weight of guilt for what became of Moon's family.

Ekko had passed along his 'tip' to Vander's kids, though he hadn't gone with them, as he had work to tend to. Moon hadn't followed their plan either, choosing to stay by Vander's side at the bar, absorbed in her paintings, letting her mind wander. That didn't mean she'd stop them, though. She didn't want to be the one to ruin their fun.

But maybe she should have. Never had she expected them to blow up a building. Never had she thought Powder's bomb would actually work.

A group of enforcers staggered into the pub, clearly looking for someone. For them. God what had they gotten themselves into.

They spoke to Vander, what it was about she seemed not to pick up, her heart practically pounding in her ears.

The enforcers searched the pub, ultimately finding nothing.

A group of enforcers staggered into the pub, their heavy boots thudding against the wooden floor as they scanned the room, clearly looking for someone. For them. God, what had they gotten themselves into?

Moon's pulse raced in her chest as the men spoke to Vander. She couldn't catch the words, but the tension in the air pressed against her skin. Her heart was pounding so loudly, it nearly drowned out the voices.

The enforcer in the front caught sight of her, his eyes narrowing as he nodded toward her small frame. "This one of the culprits?"

Moon's breath hitched in her throat, the icy grip of fear crawling through her veins. Her gaze snapped to Vander, her protector, her anchor.

Vander, ever calm, never flinched. He shook his head, his voice smooth as he lied, "I don't know where or who the culprits are, but she's not one of them. Don't let her leave my sight; she's too frail."

There was some truth in that, Moon thought. She did feel fragile. But as the lie slipped from Vander's lips, her heartbeat slowed, just a little. She knew her siblings were safe—Vander had sent them a message the second the enforcers stepped foot in the bar. But how safe? She couldn't quite shake the unease crawling beneath her skin.

The enforcers' eyes swept the pub, their steps heavy as they searched every corner, rifling through drawers and knocking over tables. But after several minutes, their search yielded nothing. They grumbled under their breath, clearly dissatisfied with the result.

Frustrated, the lead enforcer turned toward Vander one last time, his voice low. "Keep your nose clean, Vander. We'll be watching."

Vander nodded, his expression unreadable. "Of course," he said smoothly, all charm.

As the enforcers filed out, Moon's breath finally escaped her lungs in a shaky exhale. She felt weak, her legs trembling beneath her. But she forced herself to stand tall. It wasn't over yet. There was still too much at risk.

And as much as Moon wanted to believe that everything would blow over, that the storm would pass and things would settle back into their usual rhythm, a quiet truth lingered in the back of her mind, one she'd never dare speak aloud. It whispered softly, yet undeniably—this wasn't over. No matter how much she wished it to be.

𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 has given her two tasks before he left. To turn himself in in placement for her siblings she figured though he wouldn't tell her.

1. Stay at The Last Drop, watch over the pub and keep a handle on things until he got back
2. Don't let Vi or the others follow him.

She failed one of those, simply because, though they knew she wouldn't go with them or approve, they told her their plan and left anyway.

And she should have followed them. She *should* have stopped them.

Maybe if she had, they wouldn't have gone to Silco's factory. Maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have been caught in that explosion.

Then she wouldn't have had to see Sevika stumble through the door, her arm severed, blood spilling out in heavy, dark streams, a pained and hollow look in her eyes as she locked gazes with Moon.

It was then that the truth finally hit her. They were gone. Not one of her family members had survived. Not Vi. Not Powder. Not Vander. None of them.

Her body trembled with the weight of the loss, a deep, gut-wrenching ache radiating from her chest and spreading through her limbs, like she was being torn apart from the inside.

She had failed them. The realization swept over her like a tidal wave, suffocating her, drowning her in guilt and sorrow. Her breath hitched in her throat, sharp and ragged, as if the very air had been stolen from her.

Her vision blurred—everything around her spinning as the room seemed to close in. Her legs wobbled beneath her, and with one final, desperate breath, she collapsed to her knees.

The floor felt cold beneath her, but it was nothing compared to the chill that gripped her heart. The tears came suddenly, harsh and uncontrollable. A raw sob escaped her throat, a guttural sound of grief that she couldn't hold back.

They were gone. And she had been too late, too hesitant. Her hands trembled, reaching out as if she could pull them back, but it was pointless. There was nothing. Just the hollow, aching silence that filled the space where they used to be.

The weight of the guilt pressed down on her, suffocating. She had let them go, let them follow their reckless path, knowing full well it might end in disaster. And now—now it had.

She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the cool, unforgiving floor, as if hoping that somehow, through the touch, the cold could numb the fire inside her. But it didn't. Nothing could.

Her body shook with the force of her sobs. She felt small—so small—as if the world had shrunk around her, leaving only the unbearable emptiness of their absence. The thought lingered in her mind, unrelenting: I should have stopped them. I could have saved them.

But the words, like the tears, fell on deaf ears. She was alone now. And there was no undoing it.

The world had shifted irreparably. And in its wake, only silence remained, heavy and suffocating, just like the loss that pressed in on her chest.

Pity was the only thing Sevika could give her. There was no tenderness in her gaze, no promise of comfort or protection. Sevika had no intentions of staying with the girl, of raising her, of guiding her through the shattered remains of her world. What Moon needed wasn't pity—it was answers, it was the warmth of family, it was the safety they had all been robbed of. But Sevika had none of that to offer.

Her final act of love to Vander had been simple: closure. She had seen to it that Moon wouldn't stay up at night, endlessly wondering what exactly happened to her family, to the ones she loved. Sevika had been the one to bring the news, and with that, Moon was given what no child should ever have to know. But it was the truth. It was the final, crushing blow. They were gone.

And Moon would carry that knowledge with her, forever. It would haunt her, gnaw at her in the quiet moments when her mind had nothing else to hold onto. It would follow her through the streets of the city, through every breath she took, until she couldn't tell where the grief began and where it ended. The knowledge would stay with her like a heavy shadow, one that would stretch across her every thought, every movement.

She didn't need to wonder anymore. Sevika had made sure of that. And for that, Moon felt nothing but emptiness.

𝐄𝐊𝐊𝐎 couldn't sit still. Every part of him was restless, the weight of the past few weeks pressing down harder with each passing day. He tried to focus, tried to keep his mind on the tasks ahead, but his thoughts always drifted back to Moon.

Two weeks had passed since the explosion. Two weeks since Sevika walked into The Last Drop with news that had shattered everything. And in all that time, he hadn't seen Moon. Not a single trace of her, and no word from anyone. That wasn't like her. She wouldn't just disappear, he thought. But that was exactly what had happened.

A customer at the bar one evening had given him the first sign. The man, slurring his words a little, had muttered something offhand, as though it didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. "You know that girl you're always lookin' for?" he'd said, his eyes shifting uncomfortably. "She's been gone a while. Two weeks now, I think. Rumor is, she was... sold off."

Ekko froze, the blood draining from his face. Sold off? His mind reeled. He'd heard rumors—terrible rumors—about things that happened to people in the undercity, but the thought of Moon being taken back to that horrible place, to the brothel... it sickened him.

He didn't ask the man anything further. He didn't need to. The pieces fell together in his mind with terrifying clarity. She'd been taken back to that hellhole, the same place where she had first been found, the same place that had been a part of her past, a part of the nightmare she'd been escaping.

Ekko couldn't sit by and do nothing. He couldn't. But finding her wouldn't be easy, not in this city, not in the places where people disappeared without a trace.

The next few days were a blur of dead ends, until one evening he managed to track down a woman who worked at the brothel. She was lean, with cold eyes and a weary sort of resignation about her that suggested she'd seen more than enough in her life. She hesitated when he mentioned Moon's name, then relented with a sharp sigh.

"She's dead," the woman said, her voice low and flat. "A customer—some rich bastard who thought he could take what he wanted—he killed her. He didn't take kindly to being refused."

Ekko's stomach twisted as the woman spoke. She was matter-of-fact, as though the loss of life meant little to her, but to Ekko, it felt like a jagged wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Why?" Ekko choked out, though he already knew the answer. Moon had refused him. She had refused to comply. She had refused to break. Moon, strong as she was, had inherited something from both Vander and Vi—a resilience that was too much for the world around her.

The worker's eyes shifted, and she looked away before responding. "She wasn't gonna do it. She didn't care for what that bastard wanted. She didn't break." Her voice softened, almost regretful. "She fought. Too much, I guess. People like her, people with that kind of fire, they don't last long around here. The customer... he wasn't happy when she wouldn't bend." She shook her head. "They never are."

Ekko felt the weight of her words, each one a blow to his chest. She fought. That was the Moon he knew. She had always fought. But she had fought too hard.

His mind was a blur, the image of Moon, vulnerable yet unyielding, refusing to submit, the same way Vi and Vander had refused to back down in the face of everything the world threw at them. It wasn't enough to save her.

"Where is she now?" Ekko asked, his voice tight with grief.

The woman didn't look at him, but her eyes softened just enough. "Behind the building. They dumped her there like she was nothing. Perhaps that's what she was. Shame, she was young."

Ekko left her standing there, her words echoing in his mind. His heart pounded in his chest, but it was a different kind of pain now. Anger. A cold, seething rage that rose up like a tidal wave. Moon was gone. And the city, the world that had destroyed her, would answer for it.

Ekko's footsteps were heavy as he walked toward the back of the building, each step a weight he couldn't shake. His mind was numb with the urgency to find her, to see her, to make it real before he could even think to process what had happened. When he rounded the corner, the sight stopped him cold.

There, behind the dilapidated walls, lay Moon's body, discarded like refuse, her once vibrant form now lifeless and still. The blood that had stained her clothes and pooled around her was a sharp contrast against the cold stone beneath her, and the emptiness in her brown eyes ripped through him like a blade. She wasn't just a casualty. She wasn't just another broken part of the city. She was her—the girl he had begun to care for in ways he hadn't yet let himself admit. And now she was gone.

He couldn't—no, he wouldn't—let her lie there, abandoned.

With trembling hands, Ekko knelt beside her, carefully lifting her into his arms, his breath ragged and unsteady as he made his way through the streets of Zaun. The weight of her body against his chest felt like it could crush him, but he pushed forward, focusing on the one place he could bring her where the city's filth couldn't reach her. The sea.

The journey felt endless, each step heavier than the last. His muscles ached, and the anger simmered beneath his skin like a storm he couldn't outrun. By the time he reached the cliffs overlooking the dark, crashing waves, Ekko's tears had long since dried, but the rage had not. He gently laid Moon down on the rocky ground, brushing the hair from her face one last time.

His fingers lingered there, tracing her cheek like he could still feel the warmth of her skin, like she was still there. But she wasn't.

The waves pounded below, and with a sharp breath, Ekko knew what he had to do. As he lifted her once more, the weight of it all pressed on him—this loss, this brutal, finality. He couldn't stop the shaking in his hands as he released her into the sea, watching as her body was carried away, swallowed by the dark water.

Zaun had stolen so much from her. But she would not be forgotten. And he would make sure of that.

He didn't know how yet. But he would find a way. He wouldn't let her death be just another one of the city's forgotten tragedies.

Moon deserved more than that.

LOVE SPEAKS!

New Arcane book! I will be making one based off Sevika and Celeste from my Headlock book soon but following Act 3 I really wanted to make this book. It'll be short and likely all chapters will be posted by tomorrow. You will see my accidentally call Moon Aviva and describe her with gold eyes instead of brown. Pity me please I made them a little too alike appearance wise but this is me coping with how I now have to end my Jinx book.

Fun fact: I don't like Timebomb, if that wasn't evident.