Idelian

≈•≈

Author: Many authors, as this fic originally started as a Round Robin. Later, it was revised by me. I also wrote the last chapters of it.
Translate: This fic was written in another language. Since I like it too much, I decide to translate it to English.
Disclaimer: No, of course. HxH and its characters do not belong to any of us.

Pairing: Kuroro/Kurapika, Leorio/Kurapika, Hisoka/Illumi, hint of Killua/Gon
Genre: Romance/Angst/Adventure
Warning: Some violence
Summary: Kurapika didn't know he would lead his friends into danger when he accepted an offer to search for a mysterious artifact. Neither did he expect he would have to face his feeling for his worst enemy. KuroroxKurapika. HisokaxIllumi.

A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews, they mean a lot to me.

≈•≈

Chapter 7: Escape

Written by Kaito & Kal Kally

Killua groaned and stirred. He pushed himself up and looked around. It was already morning. The snowstorm had ended but the sky outside the window was still dreary with heavy gray clouds.

"Am I alive?" Killua wondered, remembering the horrible pain earlier. But oddly enough, he wasn't in pain now and there wasn't any sign of wounds on his body. For a moment he thought that maybe it was just his nightmare, but seeing Leorio lying face down on the floor, he understood that the experience was real after all.

"Leorio." Killua poked at the doctor and received no reaction.

'Did he die?' He got panic and tossed the man onto his back. He sighed in relief when he fell Leorio's breath.

Killua went outside, took back a handful of snow and threw it at Leorio's face. Immediately Leorio jolted up, dashing his eyes around frantically. "What happened? Are we attacked?"

The man growled when finally noticing Killua's laughing face. "I told you not to do that. What happened?"

"It was your fault." Killua sighed and sat down in front of the laptop and pressed the power button. It had been turned off, may be because the strange energy earlier had messed up the electricity source.

"I didn't do anything!" Leorio protested.

"It's not that easy to break a 'keyword'. Especially the keyword of something that powerful. I guess that is the result of your carelessness. Oh!" He said in amazement as he looked at the computer's clock. "We've been out for just an hour. No wonder the sky is still that dark. It's not even the morning yet."

"Did we break the wall?" Leorio asked, moving closer.

"The program window opened, and disappointment hit them like a bucket of cold water. The nen wall underground had disappeared, but the nen wall above was still there unharmed.

"Didn't you say the sphere was created by two walls?" Leorio said. "There must be another keyword."

"Oh well." Killua's shoulders slumped. "Better find it now."

However, they searched for hours, but still couldn't find any sign of the other keyword.

"Just our luck." Killua groaned when they both gathered at the room with the computer, exhausted and frustrate. "The keyword must be on the sphere's border then. What should we do now? The wall is too large! We will never find it!"

"..."

"Let me think... the nen at the keyword will be weaker... if we can find it on the graph..."

"Then find it!"

"It's pointless. The graph can zoom into actual size. This huge sphere has the radius of 10 km. The perimeter will be about 60 km. It will take us days to view every part of the graph."

"Anything is better than nothing."

"Fine." Killua sighed and opened the program reluctantly. He created the graph, decided a pattern and put the camera on auto mode. Soon the camera slowly changed.

The two hunters' eyes were pasted on the screen at first, but as hours passed, they soon got tired and started to become distracted. Leorio found a book to read while Killua was just lying there, staring at the ceiling.

Only until now did they realize they were terribly hungry. It was the third day since they were separated. In those three days, so many things had happened, taking away their appetite. They decided that Killua would stay to watch the program while Leorio made something to eat.

However, there was no food in the house.

"I can't believe it!" Killua sweared when he heard Leorio's sinking news. "Now we don't even have much time left to inspect this damn sphere."

"We can still go hunting outside."

"Are you kidding? What can we probably find in this barren snow land?"

"..."

With nothing to do, they returned to their work, trying to forget their hunger. It was hard to concentrate on the unbearably monotonous movement of the camera, and soon, none of them paid attention to the screen anymore. Leorio returned to his book, while Killua drifted off.

It was late in the evening. Killua was shaken into awake. "What's the hell?" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Turn the camera back a little!" Leorio screamed.

"Lower your voice! It hurts my head!"

"Just turn the camera back! I think I find the keyword!"

That woke the young assassin up completely. The boy scrambled to the laptop and stopped the auto mode. Then he turned the camera back slowly. Leorio hadn't been wrong, on the nen wall, there were many vague shapes with color lighter than their surrounding area. The shapes lined up and formed a long streak on the nen wall's surface.

"Is it the keyword?" Leorio wondered.

"I don't know. Let's go there to see. Come on." Killua stood up and walked to the door. "What are you doing?" He turned back and raised his voice as he spotted Leorio digging into the pile of stuff near the laptop.

"We need a flashlight. Yesterday it cost me more a lot of time to reach the nen wall. It's getting dark. Without a flashlight, how can we see anything?"

"... That's right. Then let's bring along this laptop too." Killua returned to the laptop and checked its remaining power. "You go taking the signal-receiver sphere on that pole down."

"Why?"

"To check the direction. And when we reach the nen wall, we still need something to tell us where the keyword is."

"OK."

They moved faster than usual, fueled by the past few days' frustration and the desire to get out of the nen cage as soon as possible. Yet they had to stop many times to turn on the laptop, checking if they were walking in the correct direction. When the two hunters reached the nen wall, the sun had already disappeared into the horizon. However, its fading glow still lingered on the western sky, casting a dim light on everything.

"Here? Or here?" Killua walked slowly along the invisible wall with small steps.

"To your left a little." Leorio watched the signal of Killua's energy while turning the flashlight to the direction of the light color strip on the screen. "There! Stop there."

"I'm going to do it." Killua said and focused his nen to his hands. "You prepare too. What we will face might be much serious than last time. Whatever happens, try your best to protect the laptop. If we lose it, we're done."

"OK. Now I'll direct the light on each group of signals. Start from the highest one." The light focused on a place above Killua's head.

Killua pushed nen to his hands little by little, starting to attack the place marked by the flashlight. He had prepared himself to face with a keyword so powerful that he would have to use up all his strength to break it. However, just when his nen met the invisible wall's surface, a strange letter flared up brightly in a second, then immediately disappeared.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

The two hunters were both surprised, as it was so easy that it seemed suspicious.

"..." Killua stared at the air where the letter had just appeared. "How can it be so easy..."

"..." Leorio said after a pause. "Then it's our luck. Let's continue."

"No..." Killua's eyebrows knitted together as he was lost in deep thoughts. After a moment, he ran back to Leorio, who was sitting on a rock with the laptop on his thighs. "Leorio, there's a problem."

"What?"

"It was too easy! Everything was too easy. A wonderful power supply in a house in the middle of nowhere. A laptop with ready-to-use program. The devices just enough to cover the nen cage's border... then the pendant right in the house! And now a keyword that is too easy to break!"

"Then the table just turns to our favor. What else?"

"No! Everything was too easy! If there were someone who wanted to imprison us, they would never put the keyword in a house right at the center of the cage. And we wouldn't be able to do a single thing if they just destroyed the power supply or the laptop! I think all of this has been arranged. We have been arranged to break this keyword!"

"But why? Imprison us in a cage only so that we'll break it. It just doesn't make sense!"

"Unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless it's the key of the seal that is important."

Leorio startled, realization suddenly hit him. "The message on the pendant!"

"And the letter that has just appeared."

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know. Where's the paper we used to cover the laptop? It's lucky that we do bring a pen along. Now remember to copy the letter while I try this again."

They returned to breaking the keyword. The strange letters appeared one by one; all were scribbled down on the piece of paper Leorio was holding. When the last letter was destroyed, Killua half expected to encounter what had happened in the wooden house, but there was nothing special except that a bright white aura started to glow around something on the ground at a remarkable distance to their left. The white light coalesced into a shimmering sphere and tore off into the sky. Leorio and Killua both ran to that place. The snow's surface had melted, revealing a broken pendant, which might have been buried under it earlier.

"What's this?" They looked at each other.

"There are three keywords? But I thought..." Killua frowned.

"Should we bring those pieces along?"

"That may be a goo—"

Killua froze, unable to finish his sentence. Beside him, horror was also painted clearly on Leorio's face. The pressure in the air suddenly rose, and soon became rocketing. The two hunters stared at each other, confused and panic. The impression of the horrible power and searing agony they had experienced earlier flashed back, creating terror in their hearts.

A scream. A scream so tortured that it seemed almost inhuman. Then silence. The pressure vanished. Around them, only the sounds of the wind crashing into pine trees remained.

Such a frightful silence...

"What... what was that?" Killua spoke, his voice trembling a little.

"...don't know..." Leorio replied, shaken.

"Quick! We must leave here immediately!" Killua hastily helped Leorio to collect all the pendant's broken pieces. "No! Don't put them there! Don't mix the two pendants together." He cried and stopped Leorio before the man could drop the pieces into his right pocket.

"Has the nen wall crumbled?" Leorio wondered.

"We will find out soon."

There were no obstacles on their way this time. The nen cage was indeed broken. The flashlight and laptop were both destroyed by the pressure, so Leorio and Killua just ran blindly forwards, fearing all the time that they might be lost and suddenly find themselves return to the very start. They could only sigh in relief when they got off the mountain.

Killua abruptly stopped.

"What's the matter?"

"It wasn't done by human."

"What do you mean?"

"That keyword wasn't created by nen."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know how I know. But the energy that my hands touch was certainly... nothing like human... I can't say it clearly, but it's just... just very strange..."

Leorio hit the boy's head lightly, and then pulled him away. "We escape from that place, don't we? Forget it. Let's find something to eat. I'm so hungry that I could eat a whole elephant."

The troubled look remained on the young assassin's face. He turned his head, looking back at the mountain with worried eyes.

≈•≈

The hidden face didn't allow Kuroi to see the gray-hair man's expression, but just from his voice, one could tell that he was pleased. "Group 4 has completed their first mission."

"Hex, what do you think about them?" Kuroi asked the other through the window screen.

"Not extraordinary, but good enough to be the 'chosen'. But isn't it a little dangerous to choose such a strong force of 'chosen' ones? Can we control them?"

"What are you worrying about? The hostage is in our hand. Beside..."

"What?"

"I still have an ace up my sleeve. With him, I can dispose them anytime I want. The magician is a different matter, but he won't be a problem. You can say we have something like a contract. And you know that what I need is not quality, but quantity. Only with that number of 'chosen' ones can we open the way to the 'center of the world'. And when that time comes, Idelian will belong to us."

"Your ace? Who is he?" Hex asked, sounding curious.

"You don't need to know. Just back me up and supply me with everything I may need for the coming battle. When we get our hands on Idelian, half of it will be yours."

"Fine. I have to go now. I'll the rest in your hands."

"Of course."

The window turned black, Hex had signed out of the program. Kuroi dropped himself back to the comfort of his chair and stared at the empty window in disdain. "In my hands? Idiot! Only those who dare to defy the Creator, to face with the ultimate law of nature will be able to control it. Even you. Just only a little mouse struggling in its hand."

Blood splashed on the keyboard, and onto the screen. The gray-hair middle-aged man slumped down and died instantly before he could understand what had just happened. The body was pushed away. It felt off the chair and someone sat down, didn't mind that he was sitting on a pool of blood. The sound of the keyboard was the only noise in the room.

The sound stopped.

"Have you had that program?" The voice of a girl broke the silence.

"Already. It's as easy as a piece of cake," answered a cheerful male voice.

≈•≈

The underground cell was dark. There were torches along the walls, but the dim light they created couldn't chase away the shadows at all the corners. There were no torches outside, so all what Illumi could see was limited in this room. The stone surface of the floor and wall felt cold. Its icy touch even got past the barrier of his clothes to roam on his skin.

There was no struggle to escape. The assassin just hung limply in his chains. Was it because he was exhausted and severely wounded? Just by looking at his bloodstained clothes, one could say he had lost a great deal of blood.

Time quickly passed. When the torches were going to die out, a person came into the cell. Illumi lifted his head up slowly. It was Kanfu. The drainer gestured his men to relight the torches then walked closer.

"Are you satisfied with your rest here?" Kanfu asked mockingly.

"Where is Hisoka?"

"Still on the outskirt of that town. Even if you could go there, I doubt you would recognize his corpse."

Illumi remained silent. Kanfu pushed his chin up with the handle of his whip. "At a loss of words? Weren't you really arrogant that time?"

The lack of response quickly angered the drainer. Kanfu started to whip Illumi furiously, trying to get any sign of fear from the assassin. However, he didn't success in any moan, or any pained expression.

"If you want to kill me, then hurry up." Illumi just murmured.

"Don't be so cocky!" Kanfu snarled. "You're in my hands now. Don't even dream of escape. Even to death."

"..."

"You think you're important just because you're a part of that team? Too bad. It is nessesary to make up a group of seven to get Idelian, but it is not nessaesary from the whole group to be alive. And now it's time you left those fools to meet your end."

"It seems everything has been perfectly arranged." Illumi's voice was as faint as a whisper.

"Clever, but too late!" Kanfu laughed. "Kuroi-sama had foreseen anything."

Suddenly there was a small crashing noise outside. It was so low that Kanfu wasn't aware of it, but Illumi had heard it clearly. Some emotion returned to the indifferent eyes. It was just for a moment, but disappointment had shown clearly in those depths.

Kanfu was still speaking volubly. "We have recorded all your actions. You're nothing more than just mere puppets."

"Really?" Illumi's low laugh startled the drainer.

"How dare you!" Kanfu snarled and whipped again. "You should feel honor to become our puppet. When Idelian falls into our hands, we will become the first who know the secret of the power that exceeds the limit! With that power, we will become Gods ourselves."

"What a pity. You don't have a chance." The expressionless reply was colder than ice.

"Wha--" Kanfu couldn't finish his sentence as four cards sank into his shoulders and back. The force behind the cards pushed him forward, and he had to transfer nen to his feet to help himself from feeling face down to the ground. Kanfu turned back and stared at the newcomer in disbelief. In front of him, Hisoka was leaning at the doorframe with a mocking smile on his lips, and the corpses of what had once been Kanfu's men at his feet.

"It can not be... I killed you..."

"With your skill? What a joke," Illumi said, dropping the chain onto the ground and walked pass the drainer, heading to the door.

Kanfu quickly raised his arm to catch Illumi, intending to use his special ability again before the assassin could go too far from him. His hand paused in midair as he quickly summoned his sword to block a needle that flied towards him with incredible speed. The needle hit his sword, but this time it was nothing like what he had encountered earlier. The drainer had put all his strength into the sword, but the needle still snapped it into two half and sank into his arm.

There was no blood, but Kanfu's arm immediately became limp. His eyes widen in horror. Kanfu hastily recreated the sword with his strong hand, intending to chop off the poisoned arm. However he was too late, the nen sword disappeared as the flow of nen refused to work once the quick poison had spread throughout his body.

"You—" The broken words were full of frustration and anger.

"Acting?" Illumi half turned his head back to the drainer. The distortion had taken place and now his bruised face had returned to normal. All the wounds had disappeared, leaving only dry bloodstains and burnt marks on his clothes. "If you had researched about us that thoroughly, you should have known acting is my strong point. I live with it."

"And a magician will a bad one if he doesn't know how to act." Hisoka added.

Angrily Kanfu tried to fight with the poison. The scene of the two fighters walking away danced before his eyes mockingly. He hadn't fallen yet, but they didn't even care that he existed. The drainer screamed. Suddenly his skin was torn in many places and black blood spurted out of the open wounds. It splashed on the walls and painted the floor red.

"I haven't lost yet!" Kanfu growled. He had used nen to force all the poison out of his vein. He just couldn't be defeated. Not now. Not when they were so close to their goals. However with that much blood lost, it was even harder to remain standing.

Hisoka and Illumi had turned back, but none of them looked impressed or concerned, which made him even angrier. The drainer's body started to glow a bright green light. He was going to use his most powerful technique, also the most dangerous one as his body in this weaken state might not be able to take all what he would absorb.

"How bothersome." Illumi said quietly and stepped up, a needle between his fingers.

Suddenly Hisoka wrapped his arm around his chest and dragged him back roughly. "What?" He snapped, but had no time to react as a massive force filled the room.

A whirlwind of blinding while light surrounded Kanfu and soon expanded to the whole cell, craving shock and confusion on the drainer's face. In only a second, it became an overwhelming source of power. Kanfu's face was distorted and blended into the whirlwind. His scream twisted into some horrible noise. Illumi was used to dying screams, however, the sheer agony in this inhuman scream, in the pain that turned into eternity still put shivers down his spine. All the corpses of Kanfu's men were suck into the whirlwind and instantly were torn and melt.

Illumi felt the pull immediately, but unable to react. He could only stared at the scene. He couldn't move his fingers, not to mention scrambled away from the cell. The pressure in the air was too much. It almost felt as if he was being crushed under the deepest part of the ocean. Hisoka's arm tightened around his chest and he heard faintly the magician was gritting his teeth, a sign that he was putting all his strength into resisting the whirlwind. Still they were dragged forward little by little as the power continued to get stronger.

The world turned brightly white. For a moment Illumi thought he had gone blind. However, the power disappeared as abruptly as it came, leaving the room to a heavy silence.

It took a while for Illumi senses to return to him completely and he was able to see well again. Hisoka were standing behind him with his arms fold. He didn't smile and his eyes were serious.

"What had happened?" Illumi looked back at Hisoka questioningly.

The magician just shrugged. "No idea. Let's go."

Illumi frowned. He walked into the room cautiously. Blood and gore splattered all over the floor, but for some reason it had become all dried. In the middle of the room was the most deformed corpse he had ever seen. There was nothing left that resembled the one who had once been called Kanfu.

There was a round place on the floor that wasn't stained with blood, even though it was in the middle of a pile of gore. On it were two pendants, one was broken, each piece glowed a weak white light. The other was a rusted circle with an image of the sun and several words craved on it.

Illumi picked a broken piece up and examined it, wanting to know if the pendant was the source of the power earlier. He failed though, as the glow quickly faded. He was unaware of the faint worried look on the magician's face.

His eyes left the piece to rest on the unbroken pendant. He stretched his hand out for it.

"Acting totally different from usual." Hisoka's voice suddenly erupted, distracting him from the pendant.

Illumi stood up. His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"If you had really wanted to deceive me, you wouldn't have acted that poorly."

"But in the end, you also faked your defeat, didn't you? Why do you come here?"

"Not satisfied? Then why did you let yourself be captured in the first place? It seemed you had already known about this quest's ultimate ending, but you still accepted Kuroi's offer. Illumi, are you seeking for death?"

Illumi swirled around, the murderous stare fixed on Hisoka. "I warn you. Do not speak that nonsense."

Hisoka just smirked. "Why are you losing your calm so easily now, my dear Illumi? I understand you more than anyone else. You're jealous of your own brother. But not like that brat, there's only one way for you to reach your freedom. It's death. After seeing Kanfu attack with his special ability, you see your chance. To leave in honor and the pride of your name will still be intact."

"SHUT UP!" The needles flied at Hisoka angrily, each was thrown with the will to kill, but all were hit to the side with only one card.

"Why don't you try to take Idelian for your own? You will then be able to gain the power that exceeds the limit, the nen system that's far above perfection. With that much power, the Zoldirk will forever disappear under your hands."

A sharp needle pierced through the wooden doorframe. There was only one this time, but the mocking grin had disappeared on Hisoka's face. On his left cheek was a long, deep gash.

"I don't need the power that surpasses the limit. I only want an answer." Illumi said slowly, his voice low but threatening. He walked passed Hisoka to leave the underground prison.

The mysterious and intimidating smile once again found it ways to Hisoka's face. "You know, you'll make the most interesting toy."

Illumi froze, but he kept his head straight. All traces of emotions had gone from his tone. "If you're interested in Idelian that much, I suggest you try to take it on your own. May be you'll become the strongest then. I'll wait for you outside if you still want to work with me. But leave me alone or else you'll regret it." With that saying, Illumi left.

After Illumi had gone for a while, Hisoka's laugh suddenly shattered the silence. His nen rocketed nearly to his limit. A fearful aura formed around him and quickly became intense. "How idiotic. You think what I want is Idelian? Leave you alone? Too late Illumi, one way or another, you will still forever be a puppet. Or... a toy..."

The power swirling around Hisoka faded. "Idelian? The power that surpasses the limit? How hilarious." His laugher was full of malice.

"Nothing can be gained without a price. All what reaches the top will soon deteriorate."

≈•≈

Endless grassland... The grass that was high up to one's knees all bended into one direction in the evening wind. It carried the metallic smell of blood. Bloody grassland... Blood was everywhere. The eastern sky was dark-blue, but the clouds where the sun had just dipped into the horizon were all bright with the light of the sunset. What were once cotton-white now drenched in orange and red. It was almost like blood had even splashed on the sky...

The boy ran and ran. Horror painted clearly on his face. But in all directions, the grassland just stretched out endlessly. The boy fell to his knees, eyes fixing at his hands. They were smeared with blood.

"No... No..." He cried, hugging his fist to his chest. "Why... Dad... Mom..."

There was no answer. Lingering in the air was just the rustling sound of the grass moving restlessly in the blowing wind. The smell of blood had become so intense that it made him felt dizzy. Suddenly he heard the murmurs of flowing water somewhere near, the sound almost made him feel soothing. He scrambled to his feet unsteadily and ran to that direction.

It was a river, the familiar river that had always been embracing his hometown gently and lovingly. Both hands dived into the clear water, sending out waves and waves of ripples. The boy cried harder, trying all his might to clean the bloodstain off his hands, but the blood seemed to have merged into the skin. It wouldn't come off even though his skin felt raw and painful, even though blood had blended into the water. And soon the whole river became a sickly red stream.

Feeling exhausted, the boy stopped. His swollen eyes stared back at him from the crimson water, the eyes on a face that was much colder and more mature.

The teenager splashed water on his face, then lifted his head and stared at the mirror in front of him. His face, his hair and even the front of his shirt were all wet, but the water's icy touch had calmed him down a little. His hands were still shaking though. His legs were shaking too. His whole body trembled. He found himself unable to leave the men washroom to go back to the restaurant. It was partially because of the fear he had experienced when he finally found a chance to get near to that powerful person. The rest... he was shaken to the core, sensing the emotions that had long been buried crawling back to the surface.

Five years being poisoned by hatred... Five years tossing and turning in his sleep, haunting by the nightmare that visited him every night... Five years living in hell... He had worked himself to exhaustion in his endless quest of being stronger and the desperate struggle to keep his emotional strength from waning. Yet it wasn't enough to put off the sinful flame that had been lighted up five years ago.

Why? Just glancing at that person in a flickering moment was enough to make the will to revenge waver.

"You don't understand, do you?" The whisper floated sweetly in a cold winter evening. In the fireplace, the flame was dancing, guiding a young woman to start knitting a child's sweater. The child ran to his mother and the woman put down her knitting needle, rubbing his hair.

"Mom, why are you so cold?" The child asked innocently.

The cold hands pressed on each side of his cheeks, gently lifted his head up. And he froze, staring into a pair of empty eyes and a gloomy smile on pale lips.

"Because you killed me."

Death breathed on his skin icily. Freezing all blood in his veins. Freezing his heart.

Kurapika jolted up. For a second he was confused and shaken, but that moment quickly passed. It was just a nightmare, and he was too used to nightmares that it didn't hurt so much any more when he was finally awake. He pressed his hand on his temple, trying to suppress a growing headache. In the past few days, nightmare has been visiting him every night.

It was only three o'clock in the morning, but the shadows of the past had chased away any sleepiness. Without knowing why, he couldn't help realizing that he felt strangely uneasy. Kurapika paced in his room, willing himself to calm down while trying to find the reason of it. This sensation wasn't even born from the nightmare. It just formed from somewhere deep in his heart, and grew to the point it was suffocating. It felt as if a storm was coming near.

Suddenly he stopped as his eyes landed on a piece of paper at the door's slit. It wasn't there when he went to bed earlier. He quickly snatched it up. On it were some badly written words. "Simplicity is the key. Trust the first impression."

Kurapika shoved the door open and rushed to the hallway, but it was dark and empty. He returned to his room, all his senses on alert. The blond sat on his bed, staring at the thick darkness before him, his hand clenching around the chain, ready to react against any sudden attack. Time passed slowly, and in the end, he drifted into sleep. A sleep haunted by the color of blood and the vague shadow of someone so close, yet so far away.

≈•≈

Dusk arrived at the highland, casting a bright red curtain onto everything. The land had become less barren. The dry grass had lost it green and turned into yellow, but still any sign of life was better than plain sand and dust. None of them felt tired, but they still slowed down. There was no need to worry, because at the horizon, a mountain shape was pained clearly on the sky.

Faraway, the mountain was covered in a strange fog, making it impossible for one to have a clear view. For some reason, the air quickly turned from hot to cold, and as they advanced further, any sign of the highland vanished from view, replaced with ice and snow even though autumn had just only begun. It was as if there were invisible walls surrounding the mountain, effectively separating it from the outside world.

"It's here." Roy announced.

Kuroro stopped and frowned. "We haven't got on the mountain, have we?"

"I just told you we must go to the mountain. I said nothing about getting on it." Roy answered and turned left, disappearing behind a huge snow pile.

Kuroro followed him and arrived at a clearing. Ice and big rocks formed its border, and in its center was a large round stone.

"We will wait here." Roy said and put his travel bag down.

Kuroro looked around. A normal place that could be reached easily. "We've been walking for a whole day. If we had used some vehicle, we would have arrived here without any effort."

"I told you the time had not yet come, didn't I? But you kept demanding to go immediately." Roy asked with a nonchalant voice. "We will reach our destination in time. Not later, not earlier. If you insist on going immediately, we will find a way to go that still allows us to arrive in time. That's all."

Kuroro frowned, but didn't say a word. That brat! He might have Kurapika's appearance, but sometimes Kuroro wanted nothing more than teaching him a lesson that he would never forget for his whole life.

They sat by the fire, waiting.

Roy looked up at the moon, toying with the pendant on his chest half-heartedly. The pendant was beautifully crafted, with a huge ruby at the center of a star, and five smaller gems at each of the star's points. He gently curled and uncurled his hand around it, a wistful expression on his face.

Silence. Silence dragged into several hours, yet no one wanted to talk with the other. Or to be precise, no one had anything to say.

Finally, the night sky slowly turned into dark red. The wind died down and the air became thick with some kind of weak energy. Roy stood up and turned to the large rock in the middle of the clearing.

"Here it comes!"

Kuroro also stood up. He put on his guard, and watched the scene cautiously. His body was tense with anticipation as he waited for anything that might happen.

A phenomenon that only repeated itself once in a hundred years...

The legend that had been the goal of so many hunters...

It now started.

Everything had just begun.

TBC...