Hi there! Here I am with the next chapter. :)
As always, thank you very much Yandere Shoujo and Luxurien for leaving a review to last chapter. :D
And another thanks to Luxurien for once again helping with editing the fic. ;)
Music suggestion: La Valse d'Amelie (piano) – Yann Tiersen (personally, I really like the version from an youtuber whose username is TheChiefEmperor)
The Museum of Music wasn't all that much. The building was small in area and three stores high and divided in wings according to the instruments: string instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments and so on. Unsurprisingly, the place was deserted save for Senritsu and Feitan.
The two walked through the Museum's hallways for the better part of an hour without finding anything and the thief was starting to grow impatient, his heartbeats becoming more dangerous by the minute.
"Would you like me to play a song for you?" Senritsu offered, trying to appease the man beside her. Her offer had an effect contrary to the desired, making Feitan even more annoyed.
"I no fucking pet to be calmed by song whenever you want." The thief spat, glaring down at the woman. "Just find clue already."
With a quiet 'sorry', Senritsu doubled her attention on the sounds around her, hoping to pick up any sort of whispers or mumbles, but she had no luck. Soon they were on the last wing of the Museum – the wing of wind instruments – and Senritsu was starting to worry that Feitan might want to leave before they found out what the quest's next step was.
And she was right; Feitan was about to order the Music Hunter to give up this search in the museum when she suddenly halted her movements.
"I hear something." Senritsu spoke, closing her eyes to focus on the sound. "Someone's whispering. Play, play, play… I can play anywhere. Say, say, say… Why don't you come play with me? Yes, yes, yes… I'm giving you a dare."
"Where?"
"On the roof."
Both Nen users ran up the museum's stairs until they reached the door that lead to the roof; it was made of iron and smeared with blood, just as the ones Senritsu had found in Antokiba and Dorias. Just like its predecessors, the door hissed at the Music Hunter and Feitan:
"Who is the oldest singer of death?"
Before Senritsu could even think about the answer, Feitan delivered a Nen-enhanced kick to the door. To both of their surprise, the door remained intact.
"Tsk. Door must be enchanted by game spell."
Senritsu agreed. Had it been a regular door, it would've been flying in the air right now. Feitan was surprisingly strong, despite being so small. However, that wasn't important at the moment; Senristu had to focus on the question since it wasn't nearly as obvious the first one.
Oldest singer of death… Oldest singer of death… Oldest singer of death…
Unconsciously, the Music Hunter tightened her grip on her flute. Her eyes widened and she raised her instrument to her eyes.
Oldest! The flute is the oldest musical instrument created by humans, and is one of the four instruments with a solo of the Sonata of Darkness.
Feitan raised an eyebrow as the woman beside him observed the instrument in her hand before smiling at the door.
"The flute." Senritsu answered.
With a click, the door opened itself.
"Let's play."
The museum's roof was… pretty.
Unlike the other dark places this quest had taken the Music Hunter to, the roof lacked any signs of blood or other human remains. Instead it was full of colourful balloons with many different shapes, much like the ones she found floating above the rest of the city, only smaller. Senritsu smiled softly, happy at the change of scenery, while Feitan scowled at the colourful decorations around him.
"Hehehehe… You came to play with me?"
Feitan and Senritsu spotted a teenage boy with green hair sitting on top of a particularly large balloon. He had a transverse flute - much like Senritsu's - in his right hand and a sadistically demented smile - much like Feitan's smiles during his "interrogations"- on his lips. Senritsu noted that, unlike her other opponents so far, the boy wasn't a NPC; he had a heartbeat.
The Music Hunter raised her flute to her lips. Feitan grabbed his umbrella/sword's hilt.
"Oh! You can play like me, can't you?" The boy asked, ignoring Feitan as he stared directly to Senritsu. "That's so cool! Let's see who's better!"
As soon as those words left the boy's lips, he started playing his flute. As the notes poured out of his instrument, the wind around the boy grew wild, creating a circular shield around him.
The Music Hunter narrowed her eyes. Sound was nothing more than vibrating air, so that wind wouldn't allow any of her songs to reach the boy's ears; using Winter's Freeze on him was out of question for now.
Then she noticed that the balloons that were closest to her started to inflate. And explode.
Quickly, Senritsu started to play her flute.
Leaves of Autumn. This song emits Aura to my surroundings, creating a spherical shield of a five-meter radius with me as its centre that keeps other people's Nen at bay, protecting me and whoever is nearby from any Nen-based attacks.
The green-haired boy's eyes narrowed at seeing how his balloons' explosions were doing no damage to his small adversaries, but the sadistic smile on his lips only widened at seeing the woman using yet another skill similar to one of his. He was happy she was the one to play with him.
Feitan felt Senritsu's song protect him from the balloons, but at the same time force him into a state of Zetsu and he scowled; he didn't need her protection and he didn't want her to keep him from attacking. Giving the Music Hunter a brief glare, Feitan grabbed his umbrella/sword and jumped off the shield's area to run towards the boy.
Feitan's heartbeats were anxious for a fight, so Senritsu wasn't surprised at the thief's action, but that didn't stop her from mentally berating him. He should've used the time she bought them to analyse their opponent's abilities instead of jumping head-first in the battle. No doubts, Feitan had more than enough reasons to be confident in his strength, but he still shouldn't be so reckless.
Senritsu heard the boy's heartbeats speed up in excitement and noticed how he started playing a different melody. Now, instead of exploding around her, the balloons were flying quickly toward Feitan.
The thief unsheathed his blade and sliced at a balloon that was right in front of him.
The green haired boy's smile widened to unnatural proportions and his song sped up.
A scalding steam shot out of the balloon and to Feitan. The man's eyes widened in surprise as he quickly used Ken on his body, protecting it from extensive burns. Fury doubled, instead of retreating shortly, Feitan sped up towards the boy, ready to kill. Senritsu and the boy's eyes widened when, for a millisecond, the torturer disappeared from their sight.
The thief reappeared in the air, right in front of their opponent, and forced his way through that weird shield of wind around the boy with his blade raised and ready to strike.
Changing his melody yet again, the boy concentrated the wind blades flowing around him into one specific point: Feitan. Stronger and faster, the blades delivered powerful hits to the small man who, at that exact moment, was using Ko on his left arm and sword and so, couldn't defend himself. Feitan's eyes widened as he felt his chest and abdomen being sliced open at many different angles by the wind blades.
The boy smiled sadistically at the thief and was about to change his song once more to return to his defensive wind shield when he started hearing a sweet melody that reminded him of winter. Then he noticed that the air he blew in his flute wasn't strong enough to produce any sound and at the same time his fingers were sluggish and uncoordinated.
Since the wind was no longer circling the boy in that wild manner, he was now open to Senritsu's music and the Music Hunter was no fool to allow such an opportunity to pass. Without a second thought, she started playing Winter's Freeze.
Brain working slower by the second, the boy couldn't really keep up with Feitan's movements, and did not notice when, before falling to the ground, the thief used his blade to slice at the balloon on which he was sitting. Next thing the boy knew; his flute was no longer in his hands and he was diving to the roof, which was far too many meters below him, without being able to think fast enough to use Nen to protect himself.
The fall was painful.
Unable to move and coughing up blood, the boy watched with eyes wide in fear as Feitan approached with his blade raised, smiling sadistically at him. He shut his eyes and awaited his death.
Feitan swung down his sword, anxious for the sweet feeling of slicing that annoying boy's flesh. However, all that his arm felt was the rough halting of his blade on the roof's ground. Eyes narrowed in threat and heartbeat cold in fury, Feitan glared down at Senritsu, who was a few feet away from him, holding the boy protectively in her arms.
"What you think you doing?" Feitan demanded, taking a step in Senritsu's direction. "Give him back. I kill him."
The Music Hunter shook her head. "You can't kill him. I still have to ask him about the sonata."
The boy coughed up blood.
"He no using Nen when he falled. He good as dead."
"I can fix this." Senritsu spoke, laying the boy softly on the ground.
Before Feitan could protest, Senritsu started to play Wild Flower. The thief and the boy felt their fatigue leave their bodies immediately. It was not much, but it helped and after a couple of minutes the boy was able slowly sit up.
"Don't push yourself." The Music Hunter scolded softly, supporting the boy's back with one of her hands. "You should lay back down. I'll find a doctor to treat your wounds."
The boy waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Book." His binder materialized in front of him. From it, he removed a Ruler Only card. "Instantaneous Recovery, on!" And, just like that, the boy was completely healed.
Finally, the boy turned his eyes to the woman; they were as green as his hair and as bright as Gon's.
Senritsu's hat had fallen off during the fight, allowing the boy to finally take a good look at her face. His eyes widened at what he saw and a huge grin broke on his face.
"I knew it! You're just like my Master! You listened to the Sonata of Darkness too, didn't you? Of course you did! I mean, look at you!"
Senritsu's eyes widened as the boy's hand started to touch her face and hair. Then, they moved to pull at her sleeve.
"Is your whole body like th- AH!" Suddenly, Feitan's blade appeared at the boy's throat, getting him to raise his wandering hand in a gesture of surrender. "Chill out, man! I'm not hurting her or anything! I just want to see it!"
"I no give you permission to see it."
"Pffft! What are you? Her owner?" The boy asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.
The blade was pushed further in his throat.
Once again, Senritsu started playing Wild Flower in hopes of calming Feitan and that strange boy who seemed to have a serious suicidal tendency. With an annoyed sigh, the thief sheathed his blade and walked away from the boy.
"What's up with him?" The boy asked no one in particular as he massaged his neck before returning his attention to Senritsu with a big grin on his face. "I can't believe someone finally came after the sonata! And another flautist at that!"
"So, you're the one that has the sonata?" Senritsu asked, eyes shining in excitement.
"Me? Hahaha! Gods, no! My Master won't allow me within a 10-meter radius of that thing! But-"
A small smile tugged at Senritsu's lips when she heard Feitan mumble a "Wonder why" beneath his breath.
"- I'll take you to the next stage so you can get it! Congratulations! You're one step closer to getting the thing!" At the end of that sentence, the boy had his arms wide open.
Senritsu blinked. During their fight, the boy seemed to be as much of a sadist as Feitan, yet now he was behaving much like a sugar-high Gon.
"My name is Altus! I'm a Music Hunter, but I'm serving as a temporary Game Master in Greed Island because my Master thought it would be good for me to train here. Also, I'm one of the bosses of the Hell's Path quest you're on right now! Since you defeated me, I'm supposed to take you to the next stage of the quest!" With a snap of his fingers, Altus' flute flew to his left hand and he jumped to his feet. "Let's go then! To Aiai!"
Feitan and Senritsu watched the boy jump off the roof and exchanged a look. Automatically, Senritsu's gaze descended from the thief's eyes to his injured torso.
"That looks bad. Maybe we should find a place for you to recover first." The Music Hunter spoke worriedly. "We could wait for a few hours before going to Aiai."
"This is nothing; I no need your concern. The more soon we get there, the better." Feitan spoke simply, his heartbeats surprisingly calm. Then, he retrieved a Contact card from his book and gave it to Senritsu. "Contact me when you arrive at destination."
"You're not coming?"
Feitan shook his head and his heartbeat spiked in annoyance. "No song of yours worth spending time with that brat. If I go, I kill him."
"HEEEEY! YOU COMING OR NOT?! OH! ARE YOU TIRED, MISS FLAUTIST? WANT ME TO CARRY YOU?"
Senritsu nodded her head in understanding. She couldn't say she blamed solely the thief's murderous nature this time.
Well, this whole chapter was basically a fight so not much SenritsuxFeitan goodness going on. -.- However, the next stage of their quest promises a nice (and quite distraught, to be honest) development in their relationship. ;)
Also, now Feitan will have his polar opposite (Altus) tagging along for a couple of chapters more. Poor Feitan... XP
Kisses,
RedVoid
