I sigh in grief as the trip is going to be a long wait.
With only my books, and mind to entertain me so far, I speak Gon, striking up a conversation "Gon, how can you stand this trip? I'm dying of boredom here..."
Gon smiles at the window, ignoring me as his more fixated on what's happening outside.
I click my fingers near his ears, drawing his attention. Gon turns to me, faster than I had anticipated, smiling widely "What Daniel-san?"
I smile, amused from how he addressed me "What's with the –san prefix? Or better yet, why are you in a happy mood?"
Gon smiles, swinging his feet under the chair back and forth "We going to save Killua!"
I smile lightly at Gon "You bet your gravity defying hair we will!"
I return to reading after that comment.
After a few seconds, Gon interrupts my reading "Why were you in the infirmary?"
I look up, questioning Gon's question "What?"
Kurapika and Leorio joins in as well, interest to hear the reasoning for passing out at the exams. Leorio points out his reason for the question "Yeah! You didn't receive any types of injuries... You just suddenly, passed out after that fight, why?"
I look at the three of them confused as to why they are even asking me this.
I remember something that happened earlier to the scenario, begging me to ask them what had Killua said prior to passing out "Only if you tell me what Killua said during his speech to Illumi..."
Kurapika and Leorio look at yeah other confused, as Kurapika asks "You missed the whole speech?"
I shift an eyebrow, pointing out my reason to ask this question "No, I heard most of it... I just missed the part about me..."
Kurapika looks at Leorio as Leorio nods back.
Kurapika leans in closer, so that Gon doesn't hear, seeing as it concerns more me "He said that he may have feelings for you... saying that he likes, like you Daniel..."
My face goes red, freezing in my tracks.
W-What? Killua... may like me as well...WAIT! I think I'm just hearing things...
I smile, thinking I miss heard what he had said "I'm sorry I think I'm hearing things..."
Kurapika repeats the words, so that I can sallow every word "He likes you... as in more than friendship!"
He may love me... and I might be in love with him... Maybe this is just a messed up dream... YEAH... A dream...
I calmly look at Kurapika "That's a-O.K."
I'm in a complete daze as the thoughts rotate through my mind in a never ending cycle.
Gon speaks up, questioning my strange behaviour "Are you ok, Daniel?"
I shake my head, smiling at him "I'm awesome... now... About your question... I have a mask, which I carry around with me... And sometimes the person, within the mask asks me... to do things for him... Like kill people..."
Kurapika nods "Are you sure you're not crazy?"
I nod at Kurapika, rectifying my sanity "The person, whomever they are speaks to me whenever he feels like it...When I first wore the mask I kinda freaked out and threw it off... since then he has spoken to me, but most of the time I choose to ignore it... His using whatever methods he can to get me to kill..."
I clench my fists, speaking calmly "I will not kill another person, as long as I live! Hunter License or not!" Gon smiles at me before I look down.
Leorio and Kurapika look at each other carefully.
Leorio places his hand on my shoulder, in concern "I'm you'll be ok. I know you can beat this guy's mine games?"
Leorio nudges Kurapika, hoping to get a speech out of him "Right, Kurapika?"
Kurapika smiles "I'm sure you won't have to do that... or you'll put yourself in my shoes!"
I nod slightly, focused on Kurapika "That's one group... I hope to never cross! However, if you ever need help dealing with them, I'm just one phone call away... if I had a phone..."
Kurapika laughs before responding seriously "It's ok. It's my burden to bear anyways!"
I look back at Gon, who's looking outside the window, thinking seriously.
Gon in his serious thinking trance, speaks "Killua..."
I look carefully at Gon before returning to read.
Don't worry Gon... his life will no longer be controlled by his family! At least... not while I'm around! Hold on Killua we're coming to save my cute... WHY THE HELL AM I THINKING HIS CUTE... Alright he is cute, but still! I shouldn't be thinking it! But... he is handsome... *Mental Slap*
Time Skip
The trip felt long and tedious for the group as they travelled to Padokea.
First there was the blimp, now a train I sigh at the group "What transportation is left?" Leorio continues to look out the window, joking at my question "Maybe a rock climbing session..."
We reach a clearing as Leorio points out "Look there's Kukuroo Mountain, the home base for the family of assassins is on that mountain? Right! It sure looks creepy..."
I comment trying to make a joke "Not as creepy as me on a bad night sleep, I look like I'm made of nightmares..."
Kurapika laughs before agreeing with Leorio "Yep! Once we reach our destination, we should start gathering information." We agree as a group, waiting to reach Padokea.
Time Skip - Padokea
We ask a lady at shop stand "Excuse me, we are looking to reach Kukuroo Mountain. Is there any way to get there?" The shop lady responds "Yes! In fact if you take the scenic mountain bus tour over there, they actually visit the mountain."
The shop keeper points out the bus, continuing to speak "The tour runs only once a day, but you'll have a guide to show you around."
I look confused at the shop keeper for a moment, quickly smiling, and thanking the shop keeper for the tip.
We go to catch the bus tour.
On the tour, I asked confused to the group "I thought assassins are surpassed to be... you know... hidden in the shadows..."
Kurapika shrugs his shoulders "Maybe they're open minded?"
Time Skip
We reach our destination as I whistle from the magnificent view "Now that!... Is a huge door..."
Leorio nods in agreeance "That is indeed something..."
The guide smiles "This is the entrance to The Zoldyck family estate! Also known as the door to Hades because no one who's entered has ever returned alive."
I grin, rolling up my selves. Let's change that myth...
"To enter, you must pass through the door beside the security check point."
I stop, having my epic dreams of opening the Gate of Hades crushed, in a matter of seconds. She continues her speech, smiling at each and every one of us "But the area beyond the gate is private property, so we can't proceed."
Leorio yells out in surprise "This is the front gate? But the mountain's all the way over there!"
The guide responds "Correct... The Zoldycks own Kukuroo Mountain, as well as the surrounding land."
I look at the guide "Wow that's... indescribable!"
Leorio looks down, muttering to himself "The whole area is basically their backyard?"
Gon looks at the guide "Hey, guide..."
She smiles "Yes?"
Gon responds "What do we have to do to get inside?"
I look at Gon confusingly "You apparently, just walk through that door near the security check point..."
The guide responds "Little boy, weren't you listening to my explanation?"
Gon nods "Yeah but..."
The guide retorts angrily "IF YOU GO INSIDE, YOU'LL NEVER GET OUT ALIVE! After all... Assassins live inside!"
Two guys walk past us exclaiming "It's all a shame, a family of assassins that no one's ever seen Hmph!"
The other guy responds "Just a photo of their face is worth a hundred million."
Leorio responds in shocked "SERIOUSLY? Damn! I should have taken a picture of Killua..."
I glare at Leorio, engulfing him in an evil aura "What... did... you... say?" Leorio scratches his head "Yeah, oh right! That sounded strange!"
The guys continue to make their way to the security check point, laughing "It's all just another case of rampant rumours masking a mundane truth."
The guys rip off the door, interrogating the security guard "Where are the keys to the door?!"
The security guard shakes his head "I can't do that the master wouldn't be pleased."
The man, smiles at him "Don't worry about that we're going to kill your master."
The guard sighs, holding up the key to them,
They discard the guard on the floor as Gon rushes to his side, checking to make sure he is alright "Are you ok?"
The guard nods "Yes, I should be fine."
I watch the men as they open the door, smiling casually at them "I wouldn't do that if I were you..."
The door closes shut, ignoring my warnings.
The guard sighs "Now Mike's going to be eating between meals again."
Gon looks surprised at the guard as we hear screams from a distance. Everyone stand there in shock as the door opens.
A large hand throws out some skeletons.
That... is a big dog...
The guide freaks out, screaming as I mutter to myself "It looks like Mike is well trained... He even cleans up after himself..."
Everyone on the tour runs into the bus, screaming as we stand there, soking up the situation like a sponge.
The guard sighs "It's a shame... His only supposed to eat at assigned times. MIKE! Don't blame me if you get fat!"
Kurapika looks shocked at the guard "What was that?"
I turn, facing Kurapika "Going by myths... the gates to Hades is usually guarded by a Cerberus! So I'm guessing that was the guard dog...?"
The guide from earlier, screams at us "Aren't you getting back on the bus?"
Gon smiles looking at her "It's ok. You can leave us here we're staying."
Everyone on the bus looks shocked at Gon as the bus drives off.
Gon proceeds to tell the guard why we are here.
Time Skip
"Ah so you're young Killua's friends. I'm happy to hear that... I've worked here for twenty years, but this is the first time any friends have come to visit." The guard muses.
He sits down, smiling at us "Since I work here, I shouldn't say this, but this place can be rather lonely so no one ever visits. However we do get a lot of those..."
He points to the garbage can with the skeletons.
I laugh "Talk about having skeleton's in the closet..."
He smiles at each and every one of us, focusing more on Gon "Well, a family of assassins is pretty unusual, so I supposed it's the price they have to pay. I'm glad you're here, thank you."
Leorio smiles back "No problems..."
The guard changes his presentation "I cannot let you inside."
I sigh "Does it have to do something about Mike, their pet guard dog?"
He nods "Yes, it's name is Mike! It serves as the Zoldyck family watchdog. It only obeys family, and will attack anyone else. The beast follows the orders its master gave to it ten years ago... to kill every single intruder!"
I look at the door "He must be a big boy by now..." The guard smiles "However, he isn't technically following the order because he keeps eating them..."
I laugh from his comment "If you look at it that way, yeah..."
The guard smiles "Well I'm not going to let you in I wouldn't want to reduce young Killua's friends to skeletons anyway."
I smile at the guard "That why we don't plan on going through the side entrance we plan on going through the front gate."
The guard loks at me, smirking "How would you know about that?"
I smile "Know your history..."
I walk towards the gate, pointing at it "This is called the gate of Hades right? In ancient laws, there would always be two entrances one for the souls to get in unharmed and another that the Cerberus guards... isn't that correct."
I point to the large gate "I think that is the real entrance to the Zoldyck family's mansion, that the guard dog allows you to enter..."
I push against the giant gate.
Pushing hard against it I stop, blinking several times at it "Why won't you open?"
I jump up on the door pulling as hard as I can on the door.
It doesn't even budge in the slightest, earning a small pout from me "Or maybe I was wrong..."
The guard smiles "Aren't you perceptive, I guess you're not strong enough to open the door."
I look at the door, turning to respond to the guard "Just how heavy is this door, exactly then?"
The guard takes off his jacket, walking towards the door as he speaks "The gate's real name is the testing gate. Anyone who cannot open this gate is unqualified to enter the Zoldyck's estate."
The guard pushes open the door, making it look as those it was made out of feathers.
We stare in shock he turns around, continuing his explanation "As you just saw, the door closes automatically, so you'll want to run in, the second it opens. No need to worry about Mike like Daniel said. He won't attack anyone who enters through this door."
The guard wipes his forehead "The older I get the harder it seems to be to open this door but they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so I need to keep in shape. I should mention since Daniel asked, each gate weighs two tons."
I look shocked "No wonder I couldn't open it... using normal strength!"
Leorio waves his hands "Not many people can lift or move two tons... Wait did you say each gate?"
The guard nods "There are 7 gates all together and each door that opens doubles the weight..."
I count my fingers "So therefore if you open all 7 gates, you can easily lift whatever 2 to the power of 7 equals and then double it since there are two doors..."
The guard nods "Yep! When Killua opened the gate he could open gates one to three."
Gon responds "So that's 8 tons correct"
Gon starts to count as I interrupt him "It's actually 16 tons, Gon!"
The guard smiles "This is what's required just to get in the door."
I roll up my sleeves "This should be easy now that I know how heavy the door is!"
I slap my hands together, stretching out my limbs.
The guard sighs "Eh, I don't think you can pull it off like you were doing before..."
I smile, turning back to look at the man "Never judge a book by its cover..."
I take a deep breath, focusing on the door "Here we go..."
I press my hands against the door, pushing against both doors this time. I force the door open barely, putting all my back into it.
The door opens slight as I wince "COME ON... I've carrying a one ton baby dog around!"
It slams shut, throwing me back "Damn... I thought I was stronger than that..."
I smile, dusting myself off "I guess that's the best I could do..."
The guard looks slightly shocked at me "I'm... Impressed..."
The rest of the group looks shocked at me as I sigh "What? I didn't do anything strange... don't tell me my pants ripped in the process!"
I look down seeing my pants, sighing in relief after seeing my pants are ok "Yosh! I have a long way to go when it comes to catching up to Killua..."
