Thank you guys for the reviews, I will add some sweet moments with Illumi but the focus will of course be on Hisoka and Mirana! :)
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own HxH.
WARNING: This story contains violence, blood, torture and in later chapters smut!
A sharp coldness starts to crawl down my back as I gaze into the dark space. The only sound that could reach my ears is my own breathing and if I wouldn't know better, I would say that I'm completely alone in this room.
But I saw with my own eyes how the tall man followed me into it and it is quite nerve-wracking how invisible he seems to be right now. No breathing and no steps can be heard from him, just as if the man doesn't exist.
Suddenly I notice a small light in one of the corners of the room and I turn my head to stare at it. I curiously observe how the small light inflames a candle and soon a table, which stands in front of an iron wall, can be seen. Beside it stands Illumi who blows out the matchstick which was black from the fire.
It's not easy to make out his form because it seems as if he is merging with the darkness and not even the candle could do much against it. It is also too dark to see anything else in this room, the only things I could look at are the table and his dark eyes. But maybe that is for the best, I'm sure there are many things in this room which I remember quite well, but nothing what I want to see right now.
I notice how Illumi stares at me and I kind of have the feeling that he is waiting for something, but what am I supposed to do right now? Everything in my head starts to work and I try desperately to find the right thing to do.
Unsure if my decision is the right one, I speak the first words that come to my mind. "You told me that I'm 'a special case'. Just what exactly do you mean by that and how will it affect my training with you?"
"Before I answer your question let me ask you something." He begins and steps to the side. The darkness surrounds him now and I can't see him any more. I decide to stare at the candle on the table and to concentrate on it while keeping my breath steady. "Your fathers training.. was it painful for you?"
Why is he asking me that? But I don't see a reason why I should lie to him, I'm sure that my words won't change the outcome. "I was eight years old at the time when my training started and it was painful at that time, I mean I was only a kid back then, but I got used to it." I tell him truthfully.
"I see.." His voice comes from my right side and I slightly flinch. How could he move around without making a sound? Is he walking around me the whole time, as if keeping me caged?
"So you got used to it. Does that mean that it became normal for you to hide your pain or rather did the training actually hurt less as time passes?"
For a moment I think about his strange question. Yes, wearing a mask is nothing new to me, but did I become numb towards the training? This is something I never thought about. I frown in confusion and shake my head.
"I.. I don't really know. Maybe a little from both? I never thought about the last one, but I'm sure that the training was not once painless for me."
"That's to be expected, after all you don't have the control over your ability." Illumi states from my left side and I yank my head in his direction.
"What are you talking about?" I demand to be told and wait for his answer.
"You are special." He says with a deep voice. Suddenly a sharp pain strikes my neck. With my right hand I feel for the spot that hurts and notice something sharp and thin sticking in my skin. A needle? Did he do this to me?
"W-What the..?" I begin, but before I can pull out the needle another one hits my right hand and I pull it back in front of me to hide it from the attacker. "What are you doing?!"
My heart beats fast against my chest and I look around, desperate to find him in the dark. The places where the needles rest inside my skin begin to burn as if he had hold them in fire before throwing them at me.
I clench my teeth together to hold back my voice. "You must know that you are pretty talented, Mirana, but it seems that you didn't noticed it. Because of the torture you had to go through you unconsciously developed the capability to use Nen and you even specialized on a certain power."
Two other needle hit my left and right leg. Fire flows from my legs to my neck. Both of my arms are his next target and I can soon feel the pain in the crook of my arms. Unable to calm my shaking legs, I fall to my knees and lay one hands to my left side on the ground so that I don't fall completely in the dirt that covers the ground.
"You could numb your sensation of pain to protect yourself from the agony you had to go through." Another one hits my spine. "But you can't control it and there is still a lot of potential to this power." he says and I notice how the candle disappears from my field of view, he must be standing in front of me.
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my heart and I scream. I scream out of pain like never before and tears begin to roll down my face. My body shakes and I bite down on my lips, not wanting to scream even more. The taste of iron fills my mouth and I swallow the warm blood down.
"I will help you to use your power. I will make you stronger." For the first time I can hear footsteps coming closer to me and a little rustle from his clothes. With his next whispered words I can feel his breath on my face. "You will be strong enough to change your fate if you really want it..."
Before I can think about the meaning of these words another pain strikes my forehead. My eyes widen and the shaking stops. I can feel how I'm falling into a darkness that is even thicker than the one in this room and my body falls onto the cold floor. After that a calming emptiness envelops me and the pain fades away.
Illumi stands up, takes the unconscious body in his arms and lays it down against one of the iron walls near the candle. With one hand he strokes away a strand of hair from the girls eyes and inspects her face. It looks as if she is sleeping, the pained expression has left her face and even her body relaxed.
He stands up and walks to the only door in this room. Before walking through it, he notices a shuffling sound across from the sleeping Mirana. With one fast movement he throws a needle in the direction and the shuffling abruptly stops.
He opens the door, walks through it and locks it behind him. While striding through the corridor he thinks about the girl he met for the second time by now. Her life will change, this much is certain. Maybe she will kill for her father soon, but will she do that?
Illumi shakes his head. How should he know? For someone who was raised in a household full with killers, a mission where you have to kill a living being is nothing unusual.
Maybe the first killing, an animal for example, is a bit bizarre and your first time killing a human who begs for his life confuses you, but it is your duty to bring it to an end and you will get used to it the more you practise it.
But to tell the truth, Illumi never had a problem with it. At the time when he was six he already killed a human for his mother and she was overjoyed by his act, even more because he had done it without her instruction.
At first he was happy to please his mother, but this is a different matter today. Nowadays he is constantly bored and nothing could stops his boredom. There just aren't many out there who could fight him head on, to tell the truth he only knows one man who could try it, but sadly enough they never met personally.
But now he found someone interesting. A girl who had a natural talent in using Nen and in a way he never saw before. If he is lucky he could learn something new from her, or he could use her for his own purpose.
There are many roads he can take, but for now he will concentrate on the here and now and watch the girls development.
He opens the door to the office and sees Nakamura who still sits on the sofa. The man raises his head as he notices the intruder and slowly stands up.
"Did she survive the training?" Nakamura asks and Illumi only nods. The father sighs and sits down again, his arms resting on his legs. "The fortune teller will arrive tomorrow night. Do you really think that we changed the future?" He asks Illumi while staring at the wall.
"You never wanted to train your daughter and without me you probably wouldn't have changed your mind, I believe that some things have changed by this action. If not, we will change our tactic." Illumi explains while going to the window. The wind howls loudly outside and rain petters against the glass. "A storm will come." He silently whispers.
Another sigh can be heard from Nakamura. "I really hope that everything will take place as planed." He says while listening to the rain.
Far away, outside the village in the mountains, stands a small wooden hut which is surrounded by all kinds of trees. Inside the hut sits Hisoka on the windowsill and he looks outside, lost in thoughts. A little further away burns fire in a fireplace and the room shines in a warm yellow, orange colour.
Hisoka slowly takes out his deck and begins shuffling. After a while he places three cards in front of him on the windowsill and turns the first one around. Peak ten. A card that stands for a big change in life, but will it be a positive or negative one?
He takes the next card and look at it. The Queen of Hearts. Of course this card has be there, he is sure that his queen is already awaiting him by now. He smiles at the thought and put the card down again.
Now he gets to the last card. The Jack of Clubs. His smile vanishes as he stares at the card, his mood clearly worsening. This card says, that a rival will appear in front of him and since this card lies beside the queen, it will likely be a love rival.
Never before did Hisoka pick a combination like this and there are two things that bother him. First of all there is nobody he could call a 'rival', he always gets what he wants without many problems. Second, the word 'love' doesn't exist for him and it never will.
A little annoyed he takes the cards and puts them back into the deck. What a waste of time, he thinks and returns to look out of the window, thoughts wandering back to nothing particular.
Suddenly his pocket vibrates and he takes out his handy. "At 8 pm we will arrive with the ferry at the port, wait for us there." He reads out loud and finally his smile reappears again. The Kuruta boy is true to his words, what a lovely night this is!
Soon he will be reunited with his toy and the real fun can begin.
It's warm. I have the feeling as if I'm gliding through thick water and it seems ad if this moment will never end.
My body is so incredible warm, but it doesn't hurt like before. Instead I like the sensation and enjoy its presence.
I slowly open my eyes and wonder why the feeling doesn't fade away like in all these other nice dreams. I look around and notice that I'm leaning against the basements wall.
The wax from the candle already fills the candle holder and it slowly drops onto the table, creating a little white puddle. Beside that nothing changed in this room.
"You are awake." Someone says and it doesn't surprise me to find Illumi standing in front of me. "Yes." I answer although it wasn't a question.
"And how are you feeling?" Illumi asks and my eyes wander down, noticing that he must have removed the needles from my body. "I think I'm fine." I tell him and rub my neck absentminded. Just then I notice the knife he is holding in his hand and automatically stop all movement.
"I guess we will continue with the next step of my training?" Instead of giving me an answer he comes closer to me, crouches down and takes my right hand into his own. He observes the point where the needle previously hit me and with his thumb he carefully goes over it. "So you aren't in pain any more?"
A little surprised I shake my head. "No, to tell the truth I kind of.. feel better now? I don't really know how to explain it."
"I see." He abruptly releases my hand and now he holds the knife right above it. "Now try to concentrate on the spot and let your energy gather there."
Without protest I close my eyes and try to do as he told me. First I search for the feeling of my life energy which surrounds my body, then I try to bring this energy to my right hand.
At the beginning I can't hold it upright and it fades away quickly, but even so the process is kind of familiar to me and I get better at it in a steady tempo. Maybe this is because of what Illumi had told me before, that I unconsciously used this energy my whole life.
Soon I open my eyes and fix them on the knife. "I'm ready." I tell him. With one fast motion he makes the knife glide over my skin. Small blood drops begin to form on the red line and one already runs to my wrist. I watch in fascination, then I look straight in Illumis black eyes.
"It doesn't hurt, not even a tiny bit." I inform him and even if I give my best to remain a neutral tone, I'm sure that he can see the joy and excitement in my eyes. To think that I can do something like this is just unreal, so interesting!
"But.." I think out loud and frown. "How can something like this benefit my father? I don't really understand why we are doing this."
With a handkerchief Illumi removes the blood from the knife and stand up. "You will understand it soon." He tells me and goes to the table to get the candle. At the wall there is a gouge and now he holds the candle into it. Flames begin to rise and they spread to the sides, creating a fire circle that goes along the walls.
Naturally it becomes brighter in the room, but it is still pretty dim. For the first time I look around and directly stop as I look across from me.
Thick, robust chains are hanging down from the ceiling and they hold thin, tiny arms captured in their cold grip. Black and white fabric is covered with dried blood and messy brown hair lies on slim shoulders.
My eyes widen, my heart beats faster and I forget how to breath. I slowly stand up and make a hesitantly step forward. This can't be true. This has to be a lie! My hand wanders to the bracelet on my left wrist which lies comfortable against my skin.
"Oh my god, Mishima!" I finally shout as realisation hit me.