The Fountain

The Fountain

Chapter 1

"Wow! It's so big!" Gon said as we walked into the Old Man's library.

Kitakura-san, as he introduced himself as, was a man at, what I would guess, about 50 or 60 years old. He was quite tall, taller than some of the people we've met anyway; he had long brown hair and a face that would give any normal person the creeps. His eyes were deep blue, his nose was crooked- I would have figured that he had been in too many fights, but he claimed that he had never been in a fight- his mouth was the creepiest thing on his whole face- twisted and deformed. Gon thought he was a good person, but I had my suspicions.

"Hey, Kitakura-san, where did you find all of these books?" Gon asked in a voice that would make even the toughest of men give in to whatever Gon required.

"I actually had most of these books given to me by my long-since deceased father." Kitakura-san replied in a raspy, yet non-threatening voice.

"Have you read all of them?" Gon asked.

Kitakura-san let out a light-hearted laugh and said, "No, no, not even a fraction."

"Oh." Gon said rather disappointed.

While they were talking, I had made my way over to a part of the library that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in over a century.

"Hey, Old man," I said, "You said something about having the whole library organised by subject, right?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. What is it that you want to know?" He answered.

"What subject is over in this section?" I said, pointing to the section that had cobwebs and dust all over it.

"Oh. That's just a section on mythical treasures. It's not my favourite section, so that's why it's all dusty." He answered without even looking at the section I was pointing to. Instead, he just kept looking at Gon, who was looking through the books doing who knows what.

"Killua!" Gon said excitedly. "I found something!"

I jumped off the ledge I was standing on and ran over to him.

"What is it?" I asked him.

Gon looked up at me in a sheepish grin and said, "Your girlfriend!"

I staggered back and said, "Wh-what do you mean 'my girlfriend'?"

He showed me a picture in this book. It was a picture of this person with hair down to their feet. It was black and white so Gon thought it was a girl. I hit him on the head.

"You idiot! That's a guy!" I scolded him.

"Really?" Gon asked, studying the picture. "I guess you're right." He said, again grinning that sheepish grin.

Gon and I have been best friends since we took the Hunter Exam, where we first met. After that, I just felt like I needed to be with Gon, to protect him. Although I would never tell Gon, but my feelings for him go some-what beyond friendship. I can't quite explain it myself.

"Killua-kun, Gon-kun. Why don't you spend a few days here? I'll let you use my library any time that you want." Kitakura-san said.

Although I'm not sure if Gon noticed, but I did. Kitakura-san's voice was less raspy than it had been before. Something was definitely strange about him.

We had decided to take him up on his offer, seeing as how it was getting late and we had nowhere to stay for the night. From what I had heard from other people, there were dangerous creatures that came out during the night in this area.

Before the sun had set, I was determined to look into that section that had not been cleaned. One book caught my eye. "The Fountain of Eternal Youth", it said. I opened the book and read its front page,

"Who so ever drinketh from this fountain shall have youth eternal and shall never grow old or die."

I knew that this could be my chance to gain one of my fondest dreams. And I knew that if I were to drink from the fountain, I would have to take Gon with me so he could drink as well. We would have to go in search of this fountain. But we couldn't do it that day for the sun was already setting.

"Killua," Gon said looking over my shoulder. The sound of his voice had taken me by surprise. How was it that he was able to sneak up on me like that? No one had ever been able to sneak up on me without me knowing of their presence before. "Killua, what's that?"

"Uhhhh… Nothing. Just a really boring book, that's all." I fake yawned. "Man, I'm getting tired, aren't you, Gon?"

"Now that you mention it, I am feeling a bit sleepy." Gon said, and then yawned.

"Hey, Old man. Where're we staying?" I asked.

"Follow me and I'll show you to your room." Kitakura-san said, this time with no raspy-ness in his voice. I definitely felt something horrible from this man.

Kitakura-san led us upstairs from the library. Gon had fallen asleep before we even made it to the stairs, so I carried him. Kitakura-san stopped right in front of a huge door. He put a key in the lock and turned the knob. What was behind the door was a huge room, possibly larger than the library.

He spoke in a soft tone that reminded me of Hisoka, "This is going to be your room. Now, get a good night's sleep because tomorrow is going to be a long day." He let out a laugh that was definitely close to Hisoka's, if not right on.

I entered the room with Gon on my back and the door shut behind me. I heard Kitakura-san lock it. We were trapped inside this house for tonight.