Chapter 4- Unusual start of the two friendships
I'm sorry, once more for bad grammar, but I will correct everything when my internet connection gets faster. Enjoy.
"You are one of the Spiders?" Nora asked, glaring at the man. His appearance still astounds her. That hair, attire, the predator eyes.
"I'm not."
All three of them, Nora, Sota and Kurapika stood confused, Sota above all people. He really did think that Hisoka was one of the Spiders. Who else would be the monster enough to kill all of his opponents in the Heavens Arena.
"Are you sure?" Sota asked, glaring at Hisoka with excitement, but quickly, in the next moment he turned to Nora with a smile. "Nora?"
She nodded.
In next second both Nora and Sota were gone, disappeared into the thin air. The ones left, Kurapika and Hisoka stood astounded.
"Where- What?" Kurapika asked nervously looking around, seeing whether they ran somewhere.
"Haven't you sense it?" Hisoka asked, with face distorted from a vicious smile. "It seems both of them can use nen pretty well."
"Are they a threat?"
"I don't know. But I would be fun, seeing them again." Hisoka shrugged his shoulder and smiled.
This evening it seemed Nora and Sota were on the go all the time. From previous car chasing to now, again running somewhere, completely out of the breath.
"God- He is scarier in the person!" Sota exclaimed looking at Nora. "Is he one of them?"
Without providing him with the clear answer, she just kept running and laughing like everything will be fine. "Well, he-he. I couldn't specifically read his aura, but he was neither lying or telling the truth."
"Wait?! You couldn't read his aura - nen, whatever?" Sota asked.
Nora continued to smile. "Well... His aura was a bit faint, washed out, or I don't know, colorless maybe."
"Colorless aura!? Is that a thing?"
"There are some cases, where people's aura don't develop the certain color because stress or some kind of trauma from childhood or adolescence, children psyche is a lot more fragile than ours. But also, sociopaths and psychopaths have faint aura, and to be honest, he strikes like that type of person."
She stopped and started coughing, heavily.
"Be careful, you shouldn't ran and speak!"
"Shut up!"
Hot cup filled with cocoa warmed his hands. In front of Sota's eyes stood part of Nora's hotel room filled with maps, papers and empty cups of coffee.
"How long have you stayed here?" Sota asked Nora as she stood above maps. She turned his way to answer.
"Maybe a week, it is a good hotel, nothing too fancy. But the main reason why I picked this one is because it is far away form centre. You can't imagine how loud it gets when parties in the main streets start."
Sota chuckled lightly. "Believe me, I know. I work in Parnas City and it is hell at night."
"Parnas?! The one in west region of Minbo?"
"No, one on the east Shaelta. What, do you know of Parnas at Minbo."
Nora smiled at that question, smile that warmed up whole, gray colored, hotel room. "I grew up there."
For few seconds, Sota stood in the middle of the room, speechless. Gathering words to say. "How did you survive?" He asked finally.
"I grew up near the sea. Only the core of city suffered. I grew up normally, completely normal, nothing happened to me, pure luck. Just because there were more boys at the core, they were stronger so they planned attack only there. It was such a tragic, I believe they still haven't recovered. I mean, how could they? It only happened twenty years ago."
"How many children died?"
"About one thousand were found at the sea shore. Waves brougth them. Their bodies just kept coming, especially at the dusk. The ones that survived boat rode, about two thousand of them, were sold as slaves to Kakin, so that's it,l three thousand children. Personally, I believe ones that were thrown out of the ship as extra and died had better luck that kids that-"
Strong noise arised at the entrance to the room as the wooden door fall at the floor. Three people entered, running towards Sota. Before he could do anything, he was shot by some strange bullet, and the result was that his body lifelessly fall on the ground in instance.
"And how long did you think I could wait for you?!" Nora shouted at those that just stormed into the room.
"Calm down, sweetie, it only took us a two hours. You handled yourself well. Bravo!" Said woman with bright pink hair that stood out from Nora's light brown one.
"Don't talk like I'm incompetent to take care of myself." Nora pouted.
"You are," said a man with beard. "Twenty seven out of twenty eight times this year you abused your nen and almost started using your life energy, you shit-head idiot."
She got noting to say about that. But as she was resting from Neil's schooling young boy, just about Sota's age, walked to her.
"Banana pancakes, ha?" He asked her in the most offensive and serious tone. But just about she was to answer, she started laughing from bottom of her lungs.
"Sasha, I'm sorry, but I had to! It was so hilarious. Who mixes brocculi and banana except you?! Ha-ha. I'm dying! Hilarious!"
"Yes, great. You're dying, Sasha is offended and there is Strossmayer agent on the floor of your hotel room." He stopped to inhale some more air. "Should we kill him or extract information from him?" Niel asked seriously.
"He stays alive." Nora answered quickly and with calm tone, and like unraveling the most well kept secret, she said: "He is a dark nen user."
"What?!" Woman with piercing pink hair asked. "What kind?"
"It is a mixture I believe. He definitely had some of characteristic of dark nen since childhood, but there is a possibility that rest of his nen was darkened by trauma, after all, he is in that years. But to give you whole chase, I can't know before I completely examine him and his aura."
"Nora, you are spacing." Sasha said, in voice more mature than before.
"What? I'm not."
"Yes, you are. The important fact is not that he has the dark aura. The one that you have been avoiding is that Strossmayers have agents with dark aura, and after all, the possibility that they posses mobilized nen users. That is a serious problem."
"That is true," Pink haired woman added. "But as user of dark aura, the rarest and the most catastrophic aura in the known world, he is, most likely, the Strossmayers candidate for the guard."
The sting of realization hit Nora. "So they are planning to assassinate me, using this immature kid? What are they thinking who I am, so un-"
"Don't fake it, Nora." Sasha interrupted her. "It is obvious you are uneasy. Chrollo and you are the easiest targets so far, walking around like it is all flowers outside."
"That bastard will be fine. He always has two or three monster-dogs laying around him. The one I am afraid for is-"
"She will be fine. She is stronger that the old man." Now, Nile interrupted Nora.
"Can you all just stop for a second," Nora said in annoyed tune and pointed to Sota, who was struggling to move a inch. "He is awake."
"Okay, let's tie up him to a chair."
The smell of home. Coffee, pancakes, sweet warmth of morning sun on the check. Slowly, still imagining the softness of home, he begun to open his eyes. The rays of light still stirred his vision. Morning. Coldness, the stinging of artificial light, rope. Where am I?
"He is opening his eyes," Someone said, who. Where is everybody. Mom?
Nora?
Coldness on his check. Morning. Morning? Hand? Slap?
"Hey, wake up? Come on. Oi! You slept all night, sleeping beauty! Oi! Brat, wake up! I didn't sleep a wink because of you, you little shit!" Nora? Is that Nora?
No, a man's voice.
Strong slap woke him for softness of a dream.
"Good morning, finally." Man stood in front of him. Strange man. Tall, with beard and untidy suit. His opposite was young man behind him, with hair somewhere in between pink and orange, dressed orderly and cleanly.
"I will inform Nora." Said the one behind bearded man.
"Where am-" Sota finally spoke. He didn't recognize his own voice. So low, tired- scared. "Where is- where is Nora."
"Don't worry, Strossmayer boy. She didn't run away. In contrary, she is coming right away."
The realization, he is a hostage. The gaze Sota gave out clearly gave away feeling that it is over, that he doesn't care. Whatever they do to him, he will not speak. I will not give them anything. It was a short game, but-
Steps. Slowly, steps were enclosing to him. Nora is here, he knew, she is here to- She was there. At the door. Confident and dressed in black jeans and blouse.
"Morning." Nora said so that barely anyone could hear her.
He did not speak.
She did not entre the room but the young guard did, joining in with Neil.
To Sota, that young guard looked like the brains of whole machinery that glued all that four people together. By looks, he looked quirky, but his eyes and voice gave intellectual feel. The was the Mafia. Sinbadery Mafia, a powerhouse.
"You go by the name of Sota, but that name doesn't represent anything, in other words it is irrelevant." Sasha begun to spoke. His voice dances as old jazz song would. Kind but powerful. "You are one of Strossmayer, this can't be more obvious. You are the only, except us and Kakin mobs, that have guards trained in nen."
Sasha sat down opposite of Sota, who was tightly tied with a rope. Unusual one. If it was normal, he would already free himself.
Nora still stood at the entrance to a room, free of any words and emotions. Niel stood next to her, probably guarding her.
"But to be efficient, I will ask everything from the beginning." Sasha began again.
"Who is that you work for?"
Sota just looked at the floor with blank eyes, which already gave up on life. There was no purpose in telling tham anything.
"Okay, are you threatned by anyone and that restrains you from speaking?" His question was bold but efficient, Sota moved his eyes up to meet up with Sasha. Nothing.
"Did you befriend Nora to assassinate her or to extract information from her?" Again, nothing.
The last one. Rule of Sinbadery says that only three questions may be answered by silence. Sota's limit already passed the norm.
"Are you fine with dying for whoever you are working for?"
Nothing.
...
This was the end of their conversation, what followed was Nora's way of questioning. The one that materializes the old dreams.