As the sun rises, they stand before the notorious Zoldyck property. Nautica and Athena stand off to the side with Zebro, while Leorio, Gon, and Kurapika stand directly in front of the Testing Gate.
As Leorio and Kurapika use all their strength to push on the Testing Gate, Sequant mutters, "It's impossible."
Soon after, the two boys give up their efforts and opt for more training. As Zebro sets them up to carry various heavy household items, Seaquant walks to Nautica and Athena with a cigarette in his mouth and looks them up and down, sizing them.
"How many doors can you two open?" He asks.
"I don't know." Nautica admits.
"I don't know what my maximum is, but I was able to open the first ones with ease." Athena says.
"Well, why don't we see what your maximum is? That way we have a better idea on how you two should train." He suggests. Nautica and Athena look at each other and shrug.
They walk up to the gate and stretch their bodies thoroughly. Gon comes to watch, taking a seat a little distance away. When they place their hands on the door, Seaquant stops them.
"No, not together. Separately." He says.
Nautica walks to Gon and sits next to him, letting Athena go first.
"How many do you think she can open?" Gon asks her.
She looks up at the large Testing Gate. "I wouldn't be surprised if she could open all of them. She's stronger than she looks." Gon's eyes widen in surprise.
Athena bounces on the balls of her feet and shakes her hands as she prepares to open the gate. She summons her Ren as powerful as she can manage and in one swift motion, she shoves the doors to the Testing Gate.
A loud slam is heard as six sets of doors fly open and hit the back of the wall. Athena's Ren disappears, and she falls back, landing on her butt with a thud.
Her chest is rising and falling almost dramatically, showing her exhaustion. She used every ounce of her strength, so it takes her a moment to catch her breath.
Gon's mouth opens and he's speechless in awe, like she's shown him something he didn't know was possible. Athena stands and walks over to them, sitting on the side of Gon.
"I'll come back for that last door." She says, still exhausted but now smiling.
Seaquant motions his hand for Nautica to go next, so she stands and walks over to the door. She knows for a fact that she won't open as many as Athena, but she swears she'll beat herself up if she doesn't get at least half of what she did.
Nautica relaxes her body, controls her breathing, and flares her Ren. Her hands connect with the cold door and she pushes.
Three sets of doors open. Nautica doesn't collapse, instead, her feet are still planted firmly on the ground and she's not exhausted at all. For a moment, she wonders if she could have opened more.
Seaquant clears his throat, gaining their attention.
"You," He points to Nautica with his cigarette, "Will train double of whatever those two boys are doing." He says. "And you," he points at Athena now, "Will get triple. Go."
Athena groans and stands. They walk to Zebro so he can set them up for training. If Nautica is able to open more doors, she's glad she didn't. She'll already be exhausted with what she has to train with.
Four days into training and everyone, except for Gon, goes to sleep exhausted every night. Although, some nights Nautica notices Gon sneak off. To where, she doesn't know.
Since Zebro suggested Nautica and Athena train while using Ren their days have been more intense and tiring.
At dinner, everyone eats a meal that Zebro has prepared. Nautica tries to eat fast so that she can go to sleep earlier, since she's so exhausted. Right now, they're having a conversation about everyone's progress.
"Maybe tomorrow we add more weight to the vests, eh?" Zebro says.
As Nautica frowns and takes a sip of her tea, Leorio hisses lightly from where he sits in front of her. Pausing mid-sip, Nautica's eyes glance over to him to see if he's okay. He sits hunched over, one elbow on the table. One hand is covering his mouth.
One of Athena's hands is under the table, unseen, while her other hand carries a fork full of food. She looks at Nautica and shrugs innocently as she places the food in her mouth and chews.
Nautica ignores them and turns her attention to the conversation. Zebro says tomorrow's training will involve pulling heavy boulders.
Leorio stands suddenly and holds his hands together in front of his obvious boner.
"Er—Zebro, thank you for dinner but I'm not hungry anymore." He says as he turns to jogs upstairs.
Athena scarfs the rest of her food down, almost animalistic, and dashes up the stairs.
"Thanks for dinner, Zebro!" She calls out.
Everyone's chatter halts as two loud thuds can be heard seconds after. Nautica sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, hoping they stay away from her bed.
"Zebro, with the way things are going, how much longer do you think we'll be training?" Nautica asks.
"Maybe another week, possibly a month." He says simply.
She sighs and continues to eat. A week or month is just too long to be waiting for someone to open a door.
"I can't wait to see Killua again." Gon says.
"What do you plan to do with Killua once you reunite?" Nautica asks.
He puts his finger to his lips and hums. "I know I want to do something fun."
"What about you Kurapika, what are you doing once we get Killua?" Nautica turns her attention to him.
He swallows the last of his food and stares at his hands. "I need to look for a job." He says simply.
She feels hidden intent behind his answer but decides not to pry.
"What are you going to do?" Kurapika asks her, snapping out of his revenge-filled daze.
"I'll have to go home. My dad's expecting us."
After dinner is over, they head to sleep. Going upstairs, they find that Leorio and Athena are sprawled out and asleep on their temporarily claimed bed.
They're not even laying right; half their limbs are entangled in each other's and the other half are hanging off the small bed.
The next night, after a nice ice-cold shower, Athena dresses into sweats and a hoodie, and puts her hair into a bun at the top of her head. It's especially comfortable because the weather is chilling.
Since they've been training at this house, every night she's been going to sleep with her whole rib cage sore. She's not able to heal herself, because her exhaustion doesn't let her; it takes too much energy.
She considers giving up on her healing ability altogether. It isn't as easy as she wishes it was and after a long time, the ability has only progressed a little.
Luckily, every night, Leorio massages her and gives her painkillers. In return, she applies heat to her hands and massages his sore muscles. Right now, all she wants to do is relax with him. Grabbing a blanket, she finds Leorio.
"Hey, you want to chill outside for a little? It's nice out." she tells him. Everyone's already fast asleep, but for some reason he's still awake.
"Outside?" He asks, looking at her suspiciously. "Well, okay."
The stars are bright and beautiful. Athena lays down a blanket and plops onto it, laying on her back. Leorio drops to his knees next to her and begins to unzip his pants.
"Hey—what... what are you doing?" she asks him.
"What we came out here for." He answers as if it's completely obvious. Athena lets out a small laugh.
"I really meant just chill. You know, relax. Even though you do look rather appetizing, I'm very tired."
"Oops."
Leorio fixes his pants while mumbling an apology and lays next to her, sighing in relaxation. The past week has been very trying for everyone.
For the next ten minutes, Leorio and Athena make their own stories out of the constellations. She can't help but giggle when his stories get purposely stupid. When they're done, they fall quiet and listen to the cicadas sing.
"Leorio?" Athena says, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Hmm?"
"What does it feel like to love someone?" She asks. She sounds innocent, like a seven-year-old asking their mother for the first time.
Leorio crosses his arms behind his head and closes his eyes. "Uh, well in my last relationship—" He begins.
"No, not romantic love." she interjects. She turns on her side to face him, propping her head up with her arm.
He knits his eyebrows together and looks at her. "Huh? Don't you love your family? Haven't you ever felt love for a friend?"
She stares at him, face emotionless. He blinks at her in surprise and doesn't say anything.
"I don't." She finally says.
"I find it hard to believe you don't love Nautica or your dad."
Athena shrugs.
Leorio tries to process this, but doesn't quite understand—though, he doesn't question her. He looks back up to the sky.
"Well, love is a... er—nice feeling. It's kind of like caring, respecting, and accepting someone all at the same time." He explains. Scratching the side of his face, he finally meets her eyes.
"Hey, don't look at me like that." He suddenly says.
A smile is forced upon her face. "Like what?"
"You're making me get mushy on purpose, aren't you?" He says, a hint of attitude in his voice.
"I would never." she laughs and sits up. "I just like listening to you talk. Your explanation on love seems a little simple, though."
"There's really no words I can put together to actually explain it. You can figure it out yourself." He waves his hand as to dismiss the subject, embarrassed.
He sits up and spreads his legs on either side of Athena. "Your dad should have explained love to you sometime in your life, right?"
"Eh, my dad's pretty emotionally clammed up. I do know one thing though, my mom was the love of his life. But he doesn't often talk about it."
"That's the first time you've ever mentioned your mom to me." He says, voice cautious and curious.
"She died a few minutes after giving birth to me, there's not much to say about her other than she's a Siren, too." She says. Leorio goes quiet.
"What about your family?" Athena asks.
Leorio gives a bright, contagious smile. "Four younger brothers and a strong hearted mother."
She doesn't want to ask if it wasn't mentioned, but—
"Dad?" She asks.
"Walked out."
"Were you and your brothers close?"
"We had to be. Since we had little money, we made each other less miserable. All I've wanted was to become a Hunter and make their lives a little easier." He says, looking down in thought.
"A doctor." Athena corrects him.
He looks up and holds his gaze into her eyes. She reaches her hand forward and soothingly combs her fingers through his hair.
"I think you're amazing." She says in almost a whisper.
She removes her hand from his hair and scoots closer, wrapping her arms and legs around his body. Her head rests on his chest, his heartbeat within earshot. He wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on the top of her head.
"I think you are, too."
She can feel the vibration in his chest when he speaks. For some reason, this conversation has made her soul feel like it's been scrubbed raw and cleansed. In other words, she's happy.
"Let's go to sleep." Athena says. "We're having more weight added on us tomorrow, so we should rest while we can."
She lightly traces her fingers along his spine. He doesn't release her immediately, instead his arms tighten around her.
After a moment, they release each other and stand, walking back to the house to get a much-needed night of sleep.
Nautica's arms are extremely sore, but the feeling is good. She knows this means she's improving her strength.
Leorio and Kurapika stretch and prepare to try to open the Testing Gate yet again. Zebro allows them to take off the weighted vests, which they're entirely grateful for. As they attempt to open the door, Nautica and Athena stand on either side of Gon.
As they push, the two boys are only able to slightly open the door, but they don't quit.
"I want to help." Gon mutters under his breath.
"Why don't you?" Athena asks him as she places her hand on his broken arm. Unaware by Gon, Athena is healing him.
"I just need a little more time before I can move my arm." Gon replies.
"Try it." Athena says.
Gon moves his arm, testing the pain. He's momentarily confused, quickly becomes determined as he ditches his arm sling and walks forward to help them open the gate.
Alas, with the three boys' determination and strength, the doors are opened. They step inside to go back to the servants' house and get their things, and part from Zebro and Seaquant.
Nautica looks around as they walk straight through the forest. It's very quiet, and she sees no one other than them, but she has the strange sensation of being watched.
"How are we going to know which way to go?" Nautica asks.
"Heading straight for the mountain is our best shot." Kurapika answers.
"Do you think there'll be traps?" She asks him.
He thinks about this. "It's a great possibility, considering who lives here."
"Between your intelligence and Athena's strength, any traps shouldn't be a hassle." She says.
"Are you saying she's stronger than all of us and all of the Zoldyck's traps?" Kurapika looks to her with narrowed eyes. He's only slightly offended, considering he's spend a great deal of time strength-training with Zebro.
"She's also saying we're all dumber than you." Leorio grumbles in a low voice.
"She opened up to the sixth door on the Testing Gate, Kurapika." Gon points out, calmly.
"Sixth?!" Kurapika and Leorio exclaim in unison.
Kurapika and Leorio were off training when Seaquant commanded Nautica and Athena to open the door, so they missed it.
"Guys." Athena says.
"And with Zebro's training, I don't doubt she can open all of them now." Nautica tells them. "But that's not the point—"
"Guys!" Athena hardens her voice.
They all look forward and see a young girl no older than fifteen. She wears a suit and blocks an opening to a fence.
Although the look of sheer determination on her face is enough of a warning, Gon isn't going to stop now after we came all this way for Killua.
"Leave. You're trespassing on private property." She says. She and Gon discuss the topic of whether they have actual permission to see Killua.
"In any case, this is where I draw the line. If you take one step beyond this line, I'll remove you by force." She insists. As if on instinct, everyone puts up their guard and prepares for a fight.
It's only when Gon raises his hand to halt them when they all come to understanding of what's going to happen. They don't want it to happen, but they couldn't stop it if they tried. Gon is somewhat of an unstoppable force.
'Screw that' Nautica thinks. If she were to walk forward and get her aura on the girl, she could convince her to lead them to the Zoldyck mansion. It's so simple.
Nautica walks with Gon towards her, and when they're at a close enough distance, Nautica says, "Look, we don't want any tro—"
The girl whacks them both simultaneously, and Gon is sent flying while Nautica is pushed back. Leorio and Kurapika quickly pull out their weapons, and Athena's aura is embodied by flames that can only be seen by Nautica and Canary.
"Guys, don't interfere. Let me handle this." Gon says.
"Are you fine?" Athena asks Nautica.
Nautica nods, and Athena dismisses her Nen and controls her temper. Nautica straightens out her clothes and stares intently at the young girl ahead.
Athena grabs Leorio's hand, which carries his knife.
"Now baby, what were you going to do with this? You'd be hit before this even touched her." She says in a quiet voice.
"She hurt them! I had to do something." He whispers back.
"I don't want you hurt."
They continue their hushed conversation as Nautica and Kurapika pay attention to Gon, and the seemingly endless amount of hits he's taking. The damage reminds them of his fight with Hanzo.
Still having the feeling of being watched, Nautica's eyes wander to the left. Very faintly, she can sense someone in the bushes a distance away. Her senses are better.
The sun begins to set, and Gon is still taking hits.
"Don't you realize how futile this is? Why don't you stop him? Aren't you his friends?" She asks.
Enraged, Gon punches the pillar next to her. They talk for a while, revealing she has feelings when it comes to Killua, when suddenly she starts crying, begging them to save Killua. From what exactly, they don't know.
Something hits her in the side of the head and she collapses to the floor. Looking to their left, they see two people. One of them is the one Nautica sensed, and the other is completely unknown.
As they rush to Canary's side, the lady who shot her addresses Gon and says that Killua wants them to leave.
Without moving her head, Nautica looks down at the unconscious girl. By the way Canary almost begged them to save him, she can safely assume Killua did not say that.
For a while, Killua's mom, Kikyo, talks to them. Then, suddenly, she gains intel that causes her to shriek and leave.
While Kalluto and Gon briefly speak to each other, Athena sneaks over to Nautica.
"I'll heal her, you make her take us to Killua." She whispers into Nautica's ear.
She looks up to her and nods. Casually, Athena drops to one knee and places a hand on both of Canary's temples, beginning to bring her back to consciousness.
"I probably shouldn't say it, but these people creep me out." Leorio mutters. "And I bet they were lying about Killua's saying that he can't see us."
"You're right. Something's off." Nautica says.
"Gon, we can't go back yet. How about we tail them?" Leorio suggests.
"Sure, but if we do that, she'll take the blame." Gon says.
Athena stands when she's done healing Canary. Nautica steps forward to make contact with her, just for a tiny moment so that she can take over her mind.
"I will take you to the butler's office." Canary says suddenly.
Nautica stops mid-step and looks to Athena, confused. She's not even controling her, but either way, it works out.
The Zoldyck property is enormous, so they've walk for a very long time.
Having to listen to Leorio complain makes Nautica slightly less fond of him, in fact, it makes her want to put her aura on him and make him believe he shouldn't speak for the remainder of their time together.
Although, she holds back from the tempting option.
They arrive at a mansion with several men in suits in front, who were waiting for their arrival. Welcomed inside, the butlers treat the five new Hunters with kindness, serving them tea and patching up Gon's wounds. Despite this, Nautica feels like there's a catch, like it's too simple.
"How about a game, to pass the time?" The Butler Gotoh suggests.
"A game?" Kurapika asks.
Gotoh announces the game will double as a test, and they have no say against it. A blade is pointed to Canary's neck, and the tension in the room heightens. He explains the rules and says if they're all disqualified from this so-called 'game', that he'll tell Killua they left.
Each round they become disqualified one by one. On the last round, Gon is the only one remaining. Two butlers join in and all their hands scramble at lightning speed.
Gon points his thumb back. "The person right behind me." He says.
All the butlers clap for Gon's brilliance when Killua enters the room, asking for Gon.
Gon and Killua have a cute little reunion, entirely grateful to see each other after what seemed like forever. Killua asks Gotoh why he wasn't notified of their arrival. Gotoh simply says he had them participate in a friendly game.
Nautica clenches her teeth, knowing it was anything but friendly. If anyone believes what Gotoh says about it being friendly, they're more stupid than she thought.
"That was really good acting." Leorio says.
Nautica furrows her eyebrows and looks at him. 'My point has been made.' She thinks.
When Gon finally meets them outside of the mansion, they make their way and walk out of the Zoldyck property. Later, they stay overnight in some cute hotel in the city.
Nautica texts José to pick her and Athena up, and take them home when he's free. When she hits send, she decides to sleep for the night.
The morning is gorgeous and colorful, bright and booming with happiness and the feeling of accomplishment. They walk down the town's streets, making their way to the train station.
As Kurapika finishes explaining Gotoh's coin trick, a familiar car parks next to them.
"What's José doing here?" Athena asks.
Almost instantly, her heart skips a beat as she realizes why, and she finds herself wishing she didn't have to leave.
José steps out the car and opens the back door. "Sorry I'm late. Last minute client."
Nautica is content with the outcome of the adventures she's had with her new friends. She sighs, and smiles. "It was really great to meet all of you. This past month has been so interesting, thanks to you guys. Good luck finding a job, Kurapika. I hope to hear from you soon."
As Nautica says her goodbyes to the four boys, Athena frantically chews on the inside of her cheek. She doesn't want to leave—not yet, it's too soon.
All her anxieties simmer down when Leorio brings her into a warm, strong hug. She smiles and forgets about her worries; she could just visit him whenever she wants to.
Leorio removes one arm from the hug and lightly grabs her chin, bringing it up so they're face to face. He gives her a sweet, chaste kiss and releases her from his arms.
"Bye Athena." He says.
"Wait a second." she says, jogging to the car.
She opens the passenger's door and scrambles around José's car for a paper and pen. Nautica enters the back of the car and closes the door. When Athena finds a paper, José tells her to sit down so they can leave.
'Screw the pen' she thinks. Hurriedly, she uses her Hatsu to apply heat to her index finger's nail. Then, she burns her phone number into the paper and smiles, rushing out to give it to Leorio. She folds the paper and hands it to him.
"Whenever you get a phone, that's my number."
Leorio smirks and nods, placing the paper into his pocket.
"Well, I hope to see you guys again sometime. We'll be in YorkNew city in case you ever visit there." Athena says and walks away, smiling.
"Stay safe!" Nautica calls out from a rolled-down window as Athena gets into the car.
As José drives away, Nautica and Athena think back on every day since they first arrived at the Hunter Exam. A lot has changed for them, both mentally and physically. They know their friends should be learning Nen soon, so they hope the best for them.
And suddenly, they hope they cross paths again.
Notes: Yes, Nautica and Athena weren't invited to meet up September 1st in YorkNew.