Kurapika was seated next to her best friend Pairo, and sceptically eyeing the script she'd been handed for the play she was supposed to be in. Pairo hummed quietly next to her as he worked on Leorio's costume for the play, delighted at the task he'd been given, but Kurapika was still having trouble accepting her own role in the play.
"Remind me why I auditioned for this in the first place?" she muttered, mostly to herself, but Pairo heard her and answered:
"Because Leorio didn't want to audition alone, especially with Hisoka vying for the same part. Can you blame him? Besides, I think the role of princess suits you nicely. I'm already working on your dress, you know."
"As much as I appreciate your vote of confidence, I really doubt I'll make a very good princess."
"Yeah, you're too irate." Pairo teased gently.
"Oh, hush. Besides, you're not the one acting with Hisoka. I knew that bastard would get the role of Spider King, I don't know why Leorio thought auditioning for that part was a good idea."

Kurapika shuddered at the thought of playing the female lead with Hisoka as her partner. Pairo patted her shoulder sympathetically. While she had only auditioned semi-seriously, the director had insisted she take the part of princess, practically forcing a copy of the script into her hands. Leorio had been hoping to get the male lead in the play, the Spider King, and had instead ended up being given the part of a loud but friendly spider (technically not an actual arachnid; all of the Spider King's subjects were called spiders, regardless of species), which Kurapika thought suited his personality much better.

Unfortunately, that left her to deal with a certain red-haired weirdo, and while the role of Spider King did suit his personality, Kurapika would rather keep her interactions with Hisoka to an absolute minimum. He seemed to think the opposite, trying to hang out with her as often as possible, claiming that the friendlier they were off-stage, the more compatibility they'd have on-stage. She swore up and down he'd started stalking her. Hisoka denied everything with a shit eating grin that told Kurapika she'd been absolutely right in her suspicions.

Flipping open her script, she leafed through it, eventually settling on rehearsing some lines near the end she had trouble remembering. She knew Pairo wouldn't care if she bounced her lines off of him. She cleared her throat.

"Give me the child. Through dangers untold and hardships outnumbered, I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond Meteor City, to take back the child that you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great..." she resisted the urge to turn the page, trying to recall the next line. She always had trouble with this one.
"You have no power over me?" Pairo supplied.
"Yes, that's it. 'You have no power over me.' I just can't remember it, for some reason." She sighed, sinking down in her seat, before jolting up again. "Oh no. Speaking of my terrible memory, I just remembered I promised Miss Mito I'd babysit her nephew at seven. I have to go." She grabbed her bag hurriedly, waving goodbye to Pairo before practically catapulting herself out of his house, barely catching the "Good luck!" he'd called after her as she dashed away.

As she ran down the street, thunder rumbling in the distance to signify an oncoming thunderstorm, an impressively large raven spread its wings and began to fly after her.

The rain had just started to fall when Kurapika arrived at Mito's place, and Mito answered the door before she'd even had the chance to knock. The woman pulled her inside and started rambling gently.
"Kurapika! I can't thank you enough for coming on such short notice. You're the only one who's willing to babysit Gon anymore, you know? None of the other babysitters can keep up with his energy."
"It's alright, Mito, Gon's a little angel. I love spending time with him. He probably likes me too, and won't let anyone else babysit him." Kurapika joked, patting Mito's arm. The poor woman needed all the help she could get, ever since her brother Ging had left Gon in her custody. Mito had no choice but to take the night shift that day, and Kurapika was glad to watch over the little boy while she worked. After seeing Mito off, Kurapika padded up the stairs to Gon's room. The spiky-haired toddler squealed in delight as he saw her, lifting his arms up expectantly.

"Pika!" he called out happily. She smiled as she set down her bag and lifted him up. "Hello, Gon. Have you been good to your aunt lately?" he nodded enthusiastically, before wiggling, signifying he wanted to be put down. Kurapika obliged, setting him gently on the floor, where he toddled over to his toys, lifting one up and waving it at her. "Play?" he asked.

Outside, rain began to fall, and the raven perched itself on the windowsill, observing the two.

Several hours later, Gon, having finally used up his seemingly endless supply of energy, crawled over to Kurapika's backpack, grabbing at the script sticking out from one of its pockets. "Story?" He asked, turning his innocent brown eyes to Kurapika, pleading. She gave him a gentle smile and picked him up, tucking him into his crib and opening the script to the first page, beginning to read. She began the story of the princess who'd wanted freedom so badly she'd traded her own brother for it. She felt Gon's tiny hand touch her cheek, and when she looked at him, he had an odd expression on his face. Was it... fear? She ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Don't worry, Gon, I wouldn't trade you away like that. I'd get you back." She reassured, and Gon seemed happy with her answer, settling back down into his crib to let her continue the story. She looked at the next line, and felt an odd tingle. It was what the princess had said to make the Spider King appear in the first place. But she shook her head. It was just a story, right? The words had no real power.
"I wish the spiders would come take you away..." she stopped. Why was she so scared of this damn line all of a sudden? She'd rehearsed it just fine at school. Gon rocked back and forth expectantly. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and finished the line.

"Right now."

Lightning crashed right outside the window, the thunder shaking the room with its intensity and cutting out the power. Kurapika cried out and fell over, startled. After gaining her bearings, she sat up to soothe the probably equally started Gon, reaching into his crib- and finding nothing. Her heart skipped a beat, and she panicked, calling out his name and feeling around the rest of the crib, hoping he was playing some sort of prank- before a deep, calm voice spoke up behind her, freezing her on the spot.

"He's not there, you know." She stood up and turned, staring. There was a man in the room. Normally, Kurapika would have screamed, kicked him in the dick and called the police, but she was still frozen. Somehow, she knew. That the incantation had worked. That the spiders had stolen Gon away, and their leader, the Spider King, was the one standing before her, examining her lazily. She felt raw and exposed, as if his black eyes were picking through her soul. Finally, she forced herself to speak.
"Give him back."
"Oh, right to the point, are you? Why, you haven't even told me your name." He smiled coldly. "But if I am to expect it, I suppose I should introduce myself first."
"I know who you are. You're the Spider King, aren't you?" she shot back, regaining some of her wits.
His smile grew wider, but he showed no teeth, still staring at her, unblinking. "That is my title, yes, but not my name. You can call me Chrollo Lucilfer. And your name is...?"
She considered before answering. "Kurapika." She replied curtly. She knew giving him her full name was a very bad idea, tantamount to giving him control over her. He opened his mouth, but she cut in before he could start speaking again. "I'd like you to give Gon back." She forced out the next word. "Please."
His shoulders shook as he chuckled. "Why should I do that? You're the one who asked for him to be taken away in the first place."
"I was just practicing my lines! I didn't mean it!"
"Oh, you didn't? Well, that's too bad for you, I suppose. If it'll make you feel any better, I brought you a gift."
He produced a bauble from his pocket, but Kurapika didn't bother sparing it a glance, clenching her fists and taking a step towards the infuriating man. "Tell me where he is, right now."
Chrollo didn't seem bothered by her attempt at intimidation. If anything, he seemed somewhat amused. "You know where he is. In the realm of the spiders. He's of no more concern to you. Forget him." He caught the punch she aimed at his face with deft ease. "Is that all you have? You're no match for me." Kurapika wrenched her fist from his hand and glared at him, shaking with anger. "I told Gon I would get him back, and I meant it."
"Well, you can't beat me in a fist fight, you know. But I'm in a merciful mood today. I'll give you a chance. You can have the boy back if you can solve my Labyrinth, and make it to the castle beyond Meteor City."
"I accept." No hesitation.
Kurapika felt as if reality had been ripped out from underneath her, suddenly falling into pitch black. Chrollo's voice rang out around her, everywhere at once. "You have thirteen hours before Gon becomes one of us. Forever. Good luck."

Before she slipped into unconsciousness, Kurapika could only think about how different the bright, garish costume Hisoka had insisted Pairo make for him was from Chrollo's actual outfit, all black, with a crow feather cape. To be fair to the Spider King, she would rather go against the man himself over Hisoka playing his part.

A/N:

So, first of all: Kurapika is a girl because I'm the author and I do what I want. I'll make a version with Male Pika if somebody asks for it. Second, I hope I wrote baby Gon to everyone's satisfaction. I imagine him as a very intelligent kid, even if he doesn't talk much.

I couldn't help copying some lines from the original film verbatim, but the plot is probably going to get wildly different from here out.

Thank you for reading!