Maria's POV

Last night's events were all I could think about. I couldn't help it; my first friend ever and the shadows would never bother him. As his face appeared in my mind like a clear image with his ever so charming smile (I was exaggerating and I might have imagined flowers appearing in the background), the heat rushed up to my cheeks like an ablaze inferno and my heart thumped erratically like a continuous boom of thunder against my ribcage. I could just die from hearing him talk. Not literally, but you know what I mean.

True to his word, the guards, who Netero ordered to throw me out, came to pick me up at ten o'clock on the dot and I had no choice but to bid farewell to my new friend. Of course, we exchanged contact numbers to keep in touch and maybe I internally squealed while I held that piece of paper which had his number close to my heart.

"...ria..."

It seems like Feitan was only staying in Swaldini for a month because he has urgent business to attend to on September 1. Yeah, it made me really sad knowing it. Something about his boss ordering all 12 of his employees, including Feitan, to gather. I tried to ask about his work and all he said was that they collected expensive stuff then sold them in a bidding auction. No wonder he has so much money.

"...aria..."

Which was kinda weird. I figured that he was a bandit or a thief or something along those lines with the way he dressed and how he looked, but a collector of all things? I was filled with disbelief after he said that. Not only that, the way he glared at the cashier guy when I bought snacks for the movie was deadly. If glares could kill, that poor cashier guy, whose name is Marti, would already be dead. How does a collector like him have such a frightening glare?

And I wonder why Feitan was glaring at him though... All Marti did was try to ask her phone number-

"MARIA JAYSON NETERO, ARE YOU LISTENING?!"

At the utterance of my name, I immediately jumped from my seat and with a voice filled with confidence, I yelled, "THE ANSWER IS SIX!" Mr. Lorenzo, a Hunter exorcist/tutor, stared at me blankly.

Ricardo Lorenzo is 45-years-old and has been part of the Hunter Association for the past 10 years. Right now, he has three stars for having exorcised a great deal of dangerous, Nen-possessing demons during his work as a Hunter. Mr. Lorenzo has greyish eyes as well as grey hair and beard even though he is still quite young. He stands at a height of 190 cm centimeters, which is I think 6'0. His clothes are those of a priest, plus the cross necklace hanging around his neck. He is my fifth tutor for the past week.

"T-The answer is six because there are six types of Nen-users...?" I stated unsurely with a nervous smile. The anger and irritation in his eyes disappeared as he stared at me in the eye and then scratched his chin with his right hand, as if contemplating what to say.

"Maria, have those de- I mean, shadows been bothering you?" Realization shot right through my brain and my brows shot up as soon as he said that. I almost forgot about the shadows! I wanted to hit myself for that, but didn't. I can't believe they really did not bother Feitan and I while we were together. Heck, they never even came out when I fell asleep, which was unusual and suspicious; still I felt relieved and confused. What happened to them and where had they gone?

I racked my mind as I searched for them, but there were no delirious voices annoying me and I didn't even see that large shadow that usually sticks to Mr. Lorenzo when he doesn't activate his Nen.

"N-No... Right now, they seem to be gone." I finally answered after a long pause. My tutor narrowed his grey eyes as he frowned. Then he started to make his way towards me. Like every other human being who understood how dangerous I was, he taught me the fundamentals of Nen and a few ways to subdue my emotions from running amok a hundred meters away from me, which is pretty reasonable to a degree. Ever since I knew how to use Nen, the shadows' distance of attack doubled so now they cover an area of 75 meters around me.

When he started to walk towards me, I stiffened and my hair stood on end as our distance slowly lessened. I could see the fear in his eyes and the hesitation with each step he took closer to me. This was a gamble we were daring to play; gamble that could take away a life.

Finally, he was right in front of me. My heart was beating loudly and I held my breath as I looked up at him. Our eyes met with silent fear and determination.

So, we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Three minutes passed, yet Mr. Lorenzo still stood before me, unharmed. My rapidly beating heart came to a complete halt at this sudden revelation. I didn't want to believe it; after suffering for so many years against these things that tormented me day after day, I just couldn't believe that the shadows were...

"..gone..." I whispered in disbelief. The shock finally came to me as my knees dropped to the ground. I should feel happy, ecstatic even, but I just felt empty. The shadows, my tormentors, were gone, but the heavy weight on my shoulders remained.

Mr. Lorenzo nodded stiffly. "Y-Yes, that would be it. But-" he turned around and let out a big sigh, "-we shouldn't keep our hopes up. There must be some meaning as to why those shadows suddenly vanished." My eyes flickered to the porcelain, tiled floor and my hands shook as I trembled. The blame, which I always threw at the shadows, made its impact in my heart and the guilt of those deaths slowly lurked into the deep crevice of my mind.

"What do you mean by that..?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer. I just needed a voice to distract me from the memories flashing vividly in my mind. The bloody, unforgiving, cold memories.

"Your body is still the same as before. The reason why you have an unlimited amount aura no matter how much you use it up is that your body absorbs the aura, which is leaked into the air. When I stood in front of you, I felt my aura being sucked away." My eyes met my tutor's once more as he continued, "you also get tired easily because of the aura you use up, specifically the shadows use up. Not only that, you said you could see them right? Sticking themselves to other people?" I already guessed that, but hearing it from someone other than me was quite reassuring.

I nodded. "Yeah, but right now, I don't see them... Not even on you." Mr. Lorenzo blinked as if shocked to hear this. The tone of his voice suddenly changed, which baffled my very being.

"There was a demon sticking itself on me?" His eyes, which was blank of emotion, burned with anger and disbelief. My throat tightened at his yell, but I slowly nodded. His large hands then gripped my collar and he easily lifted me up to the air. If it were not for my small body and large shirt, I would have chocked at his tightening grip.

"What did it look like?!" I didn't understand why the usually calm tutor of mine had become like this. Sweat dripping from his forehead, eyes blazing with insanity and disbelief, and mouth contorting to a feral snarl. It was quite scary how his attitude changed so fast. I looked into his eyes and saw fear. Of course, it was always fear that drove people to change.

At first, I found the situation frightening; now, I found it normal. My body relaxed as soon as I realized this. Of course, this happened so many times before. How could I ever forget?

"...a woman. Your shadow looked like a woman." I spoke simply while I tilted my head. I watched with half-lidded eyes as his lost its focus and his hands, which tightly held my shirt, trembled.

"No, no, no, no, no, that was long ago. Too long. Why didn't you tell me this?!"

That's when I knew my theory was correct. Even with the shadows gone, I could still lead people to their death.

His trembling hands finally let go and I dropped once more to the ground, and my knees hit the tiled floor with a loud thump. His breath was shaky and his whole body was trembling so much I thought he'd get a stroke.

"I-I-I d-di-didn't meant to, alright?! I didn't mean to do it!" Calm and calculating. That was who Mr. Lorenzo was. Who I thought he was. I barely believed that behind his blank eyes was a truth he tried so hard to cover up. I wanted to tell him that running away wouldn't help him, that he must face it head on. But I couldn't. It would mean I was being a hypocrite; I was always running away, even in the face my family's death, because I feared of the worst. I couldn't even promise myself to do it, why should he?

I remained sitting on the ground as Mr. Lorenzo broke down before me. Tears flooded out of his eyes as he knelt on the floor with his face down. I couldn't see the sanity, which he held so tight and firm, crack to pieces.

I frowned and sighed in huge disappointment. Ah, so sad. At least he survived for four days. The other four couldn't even live past a day without breaking down, especially when the shadows were there. Jeez, I really wanna go see Feitan. Being here sucks.

Third Person POV

Chairman Isaac Netero hummed as he absorbed this new information which Mr. Beans just gave him. "It's too bad... Search for another exorcist that can help Maria." Mr. Beans chuckled nervously.

"Chairman, that is a bit impossible right now.."

Chairman Netero's brow rose. "What do you mean?"

"The news about Maria has already reached to all Exorcist Hunters. No one wants to be hired anymore even with the amount of 1 million jenny, not with the cost of their sanity and their life." Mr. Beans explained with a disappointed and hurt look on his green face. His heart wanted to help the breaking girl in her room,but he wasn't an Exorcist Hunter. He didn't know how to help her. Chairman Netero placed his elbows on his desk as he thought deeply about the situation at hand. Only a week had passed yet they were still unable to help a fifteen year old control even one, single demon.

"Have you...found the documents of her past yet, Mr. Beans?" Asked Chairman Netero as he looked down at the important papers on his desk, which seemed unimportant right now.

Mr. Beans turned and hurried to his desk. He looked through the piles of papers scattered messily without a care and when he found what he was looking for, he returned to the chairman. "It was difficult to find out about her past since she wouldn't tell us anything except her name and age." Mr. Beans sighed as he placed a single piece of paper with bold printed words on Chairman Netero's desk above the supposed important papers. "I was only able to find a tiny bit, but I don't think it would help. It seemed as if someone had deleted all her documents, including her birth certificate." Chairman Netero picked it up and began to read the printed words.

Name: Maria Jayson

Blood Type: O

Age: 15

Birth date: July 30, XXXX

Birth place: Ubec Metropolitan Hospital, Ubec City

Home Address: XUXBXEXerror...Meteor City

Chairman Netero's brows furrowed together and he looked over the paper once again. Mr. Beans stood, patiently waiting for the chairman to speak.

After a few minutes, the chairman finally looks up at his secretary in confusion, "This can't be right."

Mr. Beans frowned. "What do you mean by that, Chairman?" The chairman said nothing and returned the paper to the green man. Mr. Beans scanned the paper in his hand and his eyes immediately widened in shock.

"Wait...when I printed this, Maria's home address was Ubec City, Nanupitak St. When did it change to Meteor City?" Chairman Netero didn't answer, instead he brought up his suspicions.

"This must be the reason why the Phantom Troupe are after her..." His quiet muttering reached Mr. Beans ears and the secretary dropped the paper in shock letting it flutter down to the tiled floor.

"Ph-Phantom Troupe?! I-I didn't hear about this!" The chairman looked up and locked eyes with the scared secretary.

"It was when those shadows took over her body while she was asleep, they spoke of a Spider trying to catch her and one of its legs, the 5th one, wanted to kill them..." Chairman Netero explained as the memory filmed back into his mind like so many times before.

It was the third night since Maria Jayson came in and it seemed that she was becoming worse and worse each time they tried to teach her to control those shadows. Her deathly screams echoed throughout her enclosed room like a siren's deafening screech. After the death of two Exorcists and ten bodyguards, Chairman Netero finally took the initiative. Before it was only one or two workers, but within that day alone, she had already killed twelve. The old man stared, his eyes half-lidded, at the chained, teenage girl on the bed. The lights kept flickering on and off as if affected by her pained moans and spluttering groans. The chairman didn't want to do this, like he had before when she almost killed those two kids. He can still remember it so clearly when her eyes suddenly flashed black and she jumped for the white-haired boy, her sharpened fingers ready to sink into his pale flesh.

He had to do it. He had to snap her neck again. It was the only way for the shadows to stop their killings. Even now, trapped within these walls, countless of his workers who couldn't use Nen to protect themselves were slowly losing their sanity. When Maria is in pain, the chairman theorized, the shadows are able to whisper their darkness into anyone's ears within its territory. The whole building was its territory though. He knew that snapping her neck would not kill the living girl; it would only subdue the shadows. Whenever the shadows were hurt, even to the point of dying, they'd heal the body before returning it back to the sole owner.

They didn't want Maria to die. They needed her.

This was just another theory of his, but he assumed that it was correct. He remembered that time when a Hunter made a mistake and shot a bullet infused with Nen at the possessed Maria. It pierced her straight through the skull and the bloody contents of her brain splashed behind her like a messy, red painting. Instead of falling on the ground like he expected, she cackled like it was nothing and the blood and brain matter dripped out of the bullet hole when she tilted her head. It was as if the shadows were mocking them that it was impossible to kill it. When the shadows left, the bullet hole had healed and, except for the blood splatter and brain matter splattered on the ground and objects nearby, there were no signs that she had been shot in the head.

She miraculously healed, like a bullet in the head was nothing.

The chairman, still standing nonchalantly, wondered how a shot in the head couldn't stop them, but a simple snap of the neck did.

"You...you'll do it! Just like that time!" The childish, girly, awkward, calm tone he was so used to had changed into a masculine, demonic one. The terrifying voice is what Maria called it.

The chairman felt himself hesitate. Maria's dark brown eyes reminded him of the innocence and sparkle in Gon's. It broke his heart that her innocence was torn apart just because she had been possessed. She wasn't given a choice; she was forced to kill those she cared about as well as those innocent bystanders. Death happened so much in her short life time that she stopped feeling guilty. It was as if she was just moving forward without a guide or direction.

The chairman sighed. "I will have to... To stop you from killing the people inside this building."

The thing snarled and tried to jump at the chairman, but the chains stopped it. "NO! I'LL KILL EVERYONE! EVERYONE! I NEED TO! I HAVE TO!" The chairman frowned at its words.

"What do you me you 'have to'?" Instead of resisting or trying to trick him, it answered quickly in a high-pitched, panicked tone. The terrifying voice had changed into a squeaky, fearful tone.

"The spider! The spider 's head is after her...neeeeeeed to get stronger. Stronger! We need to stop the leg from piercing her heart! Poison! Poison! He'll poison us! Take us away! KILL US! WE WORKED TOO HARD! TOO HARD FOR THIS! YEARS AND YEAR AND YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS! WE'VE BEEN TRAPPED TOO LONG!" It screamed as well as sobbed and brought its knees to its chest. "The leg...the fifth leg will kill us...poison her mind and heart...must get stronger to...oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh..." With a final, weakened moan, her body collapsed on the bed and the tense atmosphere that filled the room seconds ago vanished.

The chairman lets out a sigh of relief. He didn't need to do it. His eyes flickered to the sleeping girl and he frowned as its words stayed stuck in his mind.

"...the spider's head is after her and the fifth leg will kill her and the shadows..." The chairman said again after recalling that event. Mr. Beans felt his mouth go dry at the explanation.

"That means..." The green man began, his voice laced with nervousness and fear. "...that either of them is here right now at this very moment." The two stared at each other in stunned silence.

*Swoosh! BAM!*

A gust of wind blew against Mr. Beans and the chair where the chairman had just sat spun around and around as the door, which slammed behind him, resounded in his ears. The green man soon followed after his boss after overcoming his shock.

Considering his height and his legs, Mr. Beans took a while to arrive at the place where he was sure that Chairman Netero had gone - Maria's room. After what he said earlier, the two knew that they had to warn Maria about the Phantom Troupe and Chairman Netero immediately made his move. But when Mr. Beans arrived at the familiar hallway he'd always pass to check on Maria, the door that was supposed to be close was cracked open. Literally, cracked open. It was as if the door was forcefully pushed.

The secretary feared the worst when he entered the desolate room. Everything remained the same - the desk, the bed, the crosses, everything - there was nothing out of place.

*crinkle* (A/n: Sorry, I have no idea what a paper being stepped on would sound like)

Mr. Beans looked down to see a crumpled piece of paper and he hesitantly picked it up.

"Oh, no..." He whispered as his hands clenched the paper tightly. He now understood why the chairman wasn't in the room. Mr. Beans dropped the paper and quickly left the room to call for Hunters.

Dear Chairman,

Since I don't have any tutoring for the entire day and the shadows seem to have gone somewhere, I'll be having a day out with that friend I made yesterday! Don't worry I won't get into any trouble and I'll be back by dinner.

- Maria

This was less worse than having Maria kidnapped, but with the Phantom Troupe lurking around, Mr. Beans still feared the worst. What worried him the most while he dialled for nearby 4-star Bounty Hunters to come quickly was that the friend Maria made was really a part of the infamous Phantom Troupe. He hoped it wasn't.

Too bad he was.

~with Maria and Feitan~

Maria stood by a random convenience store that she made no effort to know its name. Her phone was clutched in her hand while she waited for her friend to reply to her text. Okay, maybe she left the Hunter Association Building without actually making plans with Feitan. She was bored and didn't want to be alone at that moment. With the shadows gone, there was no one who could talk to her...the only person she really wanted to see was Feitan.

Feitan grumbled obscenities and other colorful words as he walked out of the small house that he had stolen after Maria left him the day before. It was already ten in the morning, but he was still tired. After what transpired last night, Feitan had a very hard time falling asleep without Maria's smiling and blushing face appear in his head. It took him several hours before he could even take a decent nap, but then he had to wake up again because of a rather unusual dream, which he didn't want to recall. He could feel the blood rush up to his face from the remembrance of it and he quickly shook his head to clear his mind from such thoughts.

His fingers rubbed his tired eyes as he walked towards the street where Maria said they would meet up. Feitan looked down at his phone and reread the text she sent.

Maria: Morning, Fei! I got nothing to do today so wanna hang out? I'm waiting on Takuni Street and am standing in front of a convenience store...it has a big, red building with the name Saezuru across of it. I'm pretty much lazy right now so I don't feel like looking at the name of the store. Text me back quick if you're busy so I can leave. See ya!

The short man could feel the corner of his lips slightly lift up before it fell back down as he pressed a few keys then shoved the phone back into his pocket.

*bzzzt*

The phone vibrated in her hand and Maria wasted no time to turn it on. Her mouth formed a wide grin and butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she read the message she received.

Feitan: I'm coming.

It was just two simple words, but for Maria, those words meant the whole world to her. Rereading the text made her want to squeal happily and roll around on the cemented sidewalk. People started to wonder what made Maria so happy as they stared at the blushing and grinning teenage girl. The same girl wondered what the two will do today.

While Maria pondered about this, the shadows that were supposedly gone returned. They couldn't let their vessel get destroyed. They've waited too long. Maria was perfect. She was needed. They couldn't. Couldn't. They couldn't lose her. They began to lurk back into Maria's mind and were ready to take control of her, but then she felt them.

The ecstatic beating of her heart slowed and her flushed cheeks paled as soon as she felt the familiar, cold darkness envelop her small being. The voices were starting to return with each hushed tone in her mind and she was starting to see the black blobs sticking itself on the people passing by her. Her body trembled as the darkness entered her sight. They were supposed to be gone... Why are they here?! Why now! She internally yelled while she hyperventilated.

"Little miss, are you alright?" A worker of the convenience store asked as soon as he saw the trembling girl. Instead of seeing the worker, she saw him. And so she screamed.

When a familiar, dark aura was emitted at a large range, Feitan felt the air leave his lungs. He knew that aura anywhere; he felt and saw it so many times before. His legs were running before he even noticed. Frightened screams blurred past him as he sprinted to where the aura was. His heart beat accelerated the closer he got and he could feel the strong force pushing against him. When did she get this strong? He thought as he activated his Nen so he could continue running towards where she was. He knew she hated it when those shadows would kill without prejudice and leave all the blame to her. His whole body felt cold at the thought of her losing it again. Feitan was scared.

He had to save her.

Maria clutched her head and her fingers dug deep into her scalp, which made it start to bleed. The tears flooded her eyes as she struggled to fight against the darkness that clouded her sight. Her black aura spread out like tentacles and grabbed anything alive within its reach. Severed parts of the dead bodies and blood, there was so much blood, surrounded her. It was a reminder that she wasn't normal, that she couldn't live the life she wanted. Maria just wanted to close her eyes and let the darkness take over so she couldn't see the corpses anymore. But she had to fight back. She was meeting Feitan. She couldn't let him see her like this. If he did...she feared that she would lose her only friend. With that thought, her aura expanded like an explosion of her troubled emotions.

"Maria, calm down!" Yelled Chairman Netero while he tried to close the distance between them but dodged when a black tentacle slashed at him. He could snap her neck, but she wasn't possessed. If he did so, he would kill her. Chairman Netero felt helpless as he stood there, unable to do anything.

"Just give in already, Meriya! Like all those times before, just give in already!" The terrifying voice screamed as it pulled Maria away from the dimming light. The darkness was starting to swallow her up and she was finding it hard to breathe.

"You'll feel better when you wake up. You will. You will." Her mother's voice whispered the last two words and she felt her will collapse just from hearing it.

Before Maria could sink deep into the dark waters and let the darkness win, a hand reached out and grabbed onto her. Slender, long, warm fingers wrapped itself on her arm and pulled her towards the brightening light. The shadows screamed as they backed away from the light and from whoever owned that arm. Before she was pulled out, Maria heard the voice scream,

"THIS ISN'T OVER! WE WILL BE BACK! I WILL RETURN!"

Maria's eyes fluttered open and she winced at the bright light above. An arm picked her up from the cemented ground and her eyes met Chairman Netero's.

"Thank goodness you've calmed down." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around her small form. Maria didn't want to see the carnage and closed her eyes.

"Wh-What...where is Feitan...?" Her throat was dry and she had trouble speaking.

The chairman pulled back to look at her face. She was pale and her skin glistened from the sweat, but overall she was fine. "Maria, what are you talking about? There was no one here, except you and me." That's impossible, she wanted to say, but her mouth didn't seem to be working right now. She was sure though that Feitan was there. She knew those fingers that grabbed hold of her; she had felt those same fingers the day before. They were definitely Feitan's.

"Don't let them take over." A comforting, husky voice echoed in her mind and a locked door inside her clicked open.

That's why his silver eyes were so familiar.

All the memories that were locked in a chest came rushing out in a flash of black-and-white films.

Her closed eyes snapped open and her breath hitched in silent realization. She knew who he was. Where she first saw him.

She remembered everything.

Against the dirty, mossy wall of an alley nearby where the chairman and Maria were, a body laid on the dark, cemented ground with a trembling tremor. Drops of blood painted the sewage water red and the man struggled to breathe with each breath he took. His hand, stained in red, gripped his waist as he tried to stop the endless flow of blood. His other hand, the left one, held a ringing phone and he struggled to keep it pressed against his ear. When the familiar click sounded, a chilled, haunting, masculine voice answered on the other end of the line, "...who is this?"

"B-Boss, I-I found her..."