And this is the last chapter! I am sorry it took so long to come out! I have been incredibly busy and for some reason, I just wasn't satisfied with the ending. At any rate, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for sticking by me through this long process of getting this story out. I hope it was worth your while!
Disclaimer: As usual, Hunter X Hunter and all related characters, stories etc do not belong to me. Neither do I own the nursery rhymes mentioned in this chapter.
The End: Little Sheep
He was with her again but this time he was dressed. So was she, even if she was only wearing lingerie.
"You're leaving?" she asked, sitting up on the bed.
He smiled at her and adjusted his coat. "Yes, unfortunately. My job here is done."
"But…" she struggled with the words, "I still don't understand. Who are you? Why do I keep dreaming of… of sex? With you, I mean."
His smile widened and he came up to her, leaning so close she could smell his cologne. "Because," he whispered in her ear, blonde hair tickling her face, "you look so helpless and vulnerable now that I just had to fuck you."
Someone was screaming and it was probably her. It was loud and shrill and interrupting her from asking a lot of questions, so Midoya clamped her tiny hands over her mouth to shut herself up.
"Thank you," the spider said, turning to face her. "That was starting to become irritating." His exposed eyeballs fixed onto her and she stumbled backwards away from him.
Somehow, Midoya managed to tear her eyes away from his grotesque, skinless face to stare wide-eyed at the pile of glittery sand that used to be Kuroro, or rather, Pariston. At least she thought it was sand; it looked more like crushed diamonds to her, mixed with the finest charcoal-coloured powder she had ever seen. It looked incredibly sparkly and incredibly filthy at the same time.
A movement above her drew her attention and she looked up just in time to see the spider drape the skin he had just peeled off Kuroro's face over his own.
"Ah, much better," he sighed, using four hands to hold the skin in place. "You have no idea how frustrating it is to not have your skin. Flies and maggots, I assure you, are but the least of your worries." He sighed deeply and glanced at the woman beside him. "It took you long enough to find Pariston's avatar, June. I was getting tired of ripping the skin off faces and discovering they're just part of Midoya's dreams and memories. While I strongly endorse excessive violence, I am also an equally ardent supporter of variety, and skinning people does get boring after a while."
The woman shot him a cold glare. "At least I completed the mission, unlike that ridiculously-named panther who had to be put down because she couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe," June Kito retorted. "Do you know how difficult it is to navigate Midoya's mind? I live here and I still get lost all the time, and this is despite the fact that I have been granted her excellent sense of direction."
"Ooh, I can certainly imagine how difficult that must have been. I've known Midoya for years and I can't still figure out how her mind works," the spider said sympathetically, and both of them shook their heads in shared misery. "Organisation has never been her best quality," the spider added. "I've always wondered how she ever managed to run her businesses the way she does."
"That's easily explained, I run her businesses and she made sure I have an obsessive sense of organisation." June Kito rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how tough it is being a figment of her imagination. She has such as clear and vivid imagination, and she envisions even the tiniest details. Every single aspect of me was crafted meticulously by her. I literally have no self of my own."
"Hmmm, I would pity you if you didn't detest me so much."
"Oh, please. Have you not been listening to me? Every aspect of my personality is determined by her. I can't stop myself from disliking you if…"
"Uh… excuse me?" Both of them turned as one to stare at her and Midoya made a terrified sound at the back of her throat. "What is going on?" she asked, her voice shrill and frightened. "You… you killed Kuroro… but then he turned into Pariston Hill. An older Pariston Hill. And then he turned into sand. What is going on? Why are you looking at me like that?"
The look of what she could only describe as morbid curiosity disappeared off their faces to be replaced by suspiciously blank expressions. "It's bizarre, isn't it?" the spider said mildly. "I've never heard Midoya's voice do that before."
"And that's a good thing too," June Kito said. "Imagine having to hear this voice twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We'd end up poking holes in our eardrums just to escape it."
"Wh… wh…" Midoya looked between the two, feeling confusion and panic well up within her chest. "What… is…"
"Does she looked confused to you?" the spider asked. "She looks confused to me."
"It's her default look," June Kito agreed.
"I… I don't…" Midoya clenched at her chest, trying to talk through the frantic pounding of her heart. "I just… where's… what…"
"It's a long story," the spider said finally. "First of all, you should know that I am the real Kuroro Lucifer. The 'Kuroro' you've been travelling with is Pariston Hill, the one who started this whole thing."
All the blood drained out of her face. "How… why… but he… he had your memories, didn't he?" she asked. "He told me about you and me. Was everything he said a lie?" Including everything about how powerful she would later become?
"No," June Kito said, her icy black eyes narrowed. "That's why it was so hard to find him. He had enough of Kuroro in him that it was easy to mistake him as a fragment of your mind wandering aimlessly around. There was no blip on the radar saying 'Here there be Bastards."
"That terrible man managed to hijack my mind," the spider explained frankly. "He stole enough of my memories to form a plausible avatar, one that could actually pass off as me. I am fortunate Midoya managed to protect me before he took everything. Unlike her, I failed to realise my mind was under attack until it was too late. Having the advantage of knowing what this technology does gave her just the edge she needed to retain control of our minds. Of course, she was also terribly distracted by that boy and so she couldn't protect me fully."
"What? What boy?" Midoya asked dazedly.
"That boy," the spider said, his lips twisting in a grimace of distaste. "The last of the Kuruta. The only living bearer of the Scarlet Eyes left in this cruel world. You do not know how much I desire to put his eyes in a bottle of preservatives. But I digress."
"You digress way too often," June Kito said coldly. "Have you ever been tested for ADHD?"
"Multiple times in fact."
"And?"
"And the doctors kept running away screaming. I shall never know why, but I suspect it has something to do with my tendency to ramble on about how much I enjoy digging people's intestines out. But I digress again."
"Like I said…"
"Yes, I heard you the first time." The spider sighed. "Let's go."
Midoya jerked back when he held one of his hands out to her. "Go? Go where?" she asked, backing away.
"To the real Midoya of course." The spider smiled wryly. "Now that her mind is free, she can finally emerge from her secret bunker. It is time for her to end this farce. You've been dying to meet her, haven't you? Well, now's your chance."
Midoya shook her head. "How do I know you wouldn't tear my face off too?" she asked.
At that, the spider's smile turned cold and inimical. "And what would I want your face for?" he asked, and the cruel indifference in his voice made her shudder. "So?" he went on, when Midoya did not move. "Are you coming along?"
Another shudder ran through her body. Was this really the man that she was dating? He felt so different from the other Kuroro, the one who was merely Pariston in disguise, so much colder and harsher. She was afraid of him, genuinely, truly afraid.
But… if this was a chance to meet her real self, the one who was no longer trapped in the mental asylum…
"Okay," she said, and reached out for his hand. "I'm in."
"Good," the spider said and took hold of her hand.
Then he leaped out of the window.
"Arghhh!" Midoya screamed for a while before realising that they weren't falling. Instead, they were floating over the York Shin dreamscape as if they were in a giant swimming pool looking down on a circuit board below.
"Relax," the spider said calmly. "It's Midoya's dream. We can fly if she allows us to."
"Muh…" Midoya mumbled, her eyes wide as she stared at the ground far, far beneath her. From above, the land below looked like a series of unevenly-sized squares, some bigger than others, and some fading into invisibility. They fit together like jigsaw pieces in some areas, and overlapped in multiple layers in others. They reminded her of melted rice fields seen from the sky.
Abruptly, she realised what she was looking at.
"That's York Shin," she said, pointing at one square. "And that… that's the desert with the grey sands where I saw that monster you… I mean, the other… Pariston said is my sensei."
"Netero. Your sensei and your father in all the ways that count. You both love and revile him."
"And that one," Midoya continued, pointing, "that one is where I saw Midoya… that is me kissing Leora."
"Ah, that is truly a story I do not know though I have spoken to Midoya's memories of this 'Leora' person. She must have been special to capture Midoya's attention. Unfortunately, I can't tell from Midoya's memories of her. They are coloured too much by Midoya's perspective."
She ignored him as she stared at another square. "That's where I saw my sister," she said softly. "Poor baby sister."
"Yes, the unborn sister, doomed to die before she was born. And your mother, beautiful, elegant Miharu Dunstan. Born with a genius IQ that was bred out of her by an abusive husband and a society that demanded she be nothing more than a vacant, perfect wife and mother."
"If I had never been born with Nen, I would have ended up like her," Midoya said softly. "She was my future and I hated her for it."
"Well, who can tell? That's all speculation though since you were born with Nen and are thus destined for a much more violent fate," the spider said. "But at any rate, you must be able to see by now how astoundingly amazing Midoya's mind is."
"Yes," Midoya agreed. "All the dreamscapes are… are stages, compartmentalised and categorised into different boxes. It's like… she has total control of her mind, even the parts psychoanalysts claim we cannot control."
"Yes, but not quite. Midoya is obviously a macro-manager, based on what we are seeing. All the large themes and landscapes are perfectly catalogued. But when it comes to the details though… let's just say, if she had the sense to organise everything within each box properly, she would have the most orderly Unconscious known to humanity. As things stand, the dreams within each box are just a chaotic mess."
"So…" Midoya glanced down at the hundreds upon thousands of boxes below her. "Where is Midoya? The real one?"
The spider smiled. "Where else?" They started to tilt suddenly as he brought them down, rushing towards the ground in a disorientating blur of colours and sounds.
When Midoya was done screaming and clutching at the spider's pink apron like an overgrown monkey, she managed to look up at the building looming forbiddingly over her.
Immediately, her blood ran cold with fear.
"The York Shin Mental Asylum," the spider said. "Welcome home, little sheep."
"Oh god. No, I… I don't want to go in there," Midoya stammered. "I've rather not. Really." She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he held onto her with a force that bruised her skin.
The spider smiled, and it was cruel and mocking. "Really?" he questioned, voice heavy with contempt. "Your real self isn't afraid. She's sitting in there, quite comfortably too. And she's waiting for you."
Midoya hesitated, feeling her arms shaking within the iron grip. "Is she really not afraid?" she asked in a very small voice. "Is she really as fearless as you say?"
The spider's smile widened, and this time it was filled with pride. "Shoulders back, back straight, head held high; as regal and as proud as any queen. She could stroll through Hell and the Devil would hold the door for her and worry about whether she would find his lodgings too tacky." he said fondly. "That's the Midoya I remember, not the snivelling thing that you are."
Midoya looked away. "Pariston is nicer than you are."
"There's a reason you aren't dating Pariston. Dating. Urgh. Really need to find a better word. At any rate…" the spider turned his back on her, "I'm going in. Follow me if you like."
He took off and she followed. She didn't want to; she was just too afraid to stay alone.
So into the glaringly white corridors she went, the smell of antiseptic trying in vain to hide the raw odour of animal musk invading her nostrils, the feel of dry, freezing air on her skin… She reached out and grabbed the hem of the spider's pink apron, tugging it, willing him to pick her up and protect her. He didn't even bother to spare her a glance.
Then she saw them, the doctors and nurses, lining the corridors like rows upon rows of mannequins. All of them looked how she remembered, except for the blank, empty looks on their faces and the syringes which have replaced their fingers. Something blue and fluorescent sloshed in the syringes. Their eyes, glowing pits of yellow, followed her as she stumbled next to Kuroro, weeping in terror.
"Where is she?" she sobbed in a frightened voice. "Where is the real me? The one who isn't afraid of anything? I want to meet her. I want to be her. I am so tired of being afraid."
"Patience," the spider said in his cold, indifferent voice as he led her on. Up and up they went, past closed doors stained with bloody handprints and still figures glaring hatefully at them, until they reached a room that Midoya was intimately familiar with.
"No," Midoya sobbed, pulling away from the steel door looming over her. "I'm not going in there. I'm not going back. Never."
This time, his hand clamped around her wrist, holding her so tightly she felt her bones creak. "Coward," he said, and the worst thing was that there was no judgement in his voice, as if he were merely stating a fact. "Your real self is in there. That's who you want, isn't it? Have you not the strength to take what you want for yourself?"
"She's in there?" Midoya whispered. "Really?"
"Beyond any doubt," the spider replied. One of his hands pulled the door open, revealing the darkness within. "After you."
Midoya stared into the darkness, her face stained with tears and her heart pounding with fear. "I'm just don't want to be afraid anymore," she said in a querulous voice - and stepped inside.
At first, she couldn't see anything. It was just so dark. But slowly, her eyes started to adjust and she could pick up outlines in the room. The room looked strange, different, as if it was much larger and much smaller than she remembered. Shadows filled every corner, shadows that seemed to sway in an invisible wind.
Her body bumped into something soft and warm, and a voice protested the contact.
A voice just like hers.
Midoya gasped at her doppelganger and her doppelganger returned the gesture. It was herself she was looking at, herself as she was now – eight year old Midoya June Kito dressed in a hospital gown.
"Who are you?" she asked and a million identical voices asked the same question.
She looked around and, as if a light switch had been flicked, she suddenly saw that the entire room was filled with hundreds, thousands, millions of her, eight year old Midoyas, all in hospital gowns, all looking around with the same look of shock and horror.
"What is going on?" she cried, and a million voices asked the same. "Stop repeating what I'm saying!" she screamed and a million voices screamed with her.
Wailing, she stumbled around, wanting to find the door, to leave - but it was gone. She spun around in circles, clutching her face, and everywhere she looked, identical faces looked back, each as terrified as hers.
Panic exploded in her chest and she ran. Blindly, wildly, she crashed into the clones around her. They crashed back, slamming into and bouncing off the padded walls, falling and being trampled on by a million feet, getting up and being pushed over again. They ran and they ran and they ran, and it was like the room would never end.
But then it did.
A narrow corridor appeared before them, curving at the oddest angles, and they struggled to squeeze through. Fingers clawing, mouths wide open in terror, they fought through, struggling down the corridor though their bodies were squeezed so tightly together they couldn't breathe.
Down and down and down they went, their throats torn with silent screams, their fingernails ripped off in bloody patches. Down and down and down they went, bones breaking and lungs bursting under the immense pressure of the crowd.
Abruptly, the corridor disappeared and they found themselves tumbling into a room, large and bright and occupied by only two things: a chair and the queen sitting on it.
A million eyes widened in awe. Shoulders back, back straight, head held high; as regal and as proud as any queen, she glowed so brilliantly that they had to shield their eyes to look at her.
But even through the glare, they could see her hands moving, moulding something in her hands as she chanted to herself:
"Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep, and can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them." She dropped something onto the floor and it landed with a soft, wet sound. "Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep, and dreamt she heard them bleating; when she awake, 'twas all a joke – ah! Cruel vision fleeting." The item that she dropped on the floor started to grow, bloating up and expanding with a wet sucking sound. "Then she took up her little crook, determined for to find them; what was her joy to behold them nigh, wagging their tails behind them."
"Oh," a million voices moaned when they saw that the strange thing was wearing a hospital gown. "Oh," they moaned, and the strange thing joined them.
The queen on the chair rose and looked over them, a faint smile on her face. "This must be all of you," she said. "All my little sheep, finally back home."
"Who are we?" a million voices whispered. "Who are we? What are we?"
"Poor little sheep, so lost and forlorn," the queen said softly. "Come. Follow me and I'll explain it all."
"Tell us," they whispered, as they trailed behind her. "Tell us what is going on."
"Yes, I will. From the very beginning," the queen said and she led them out onto the twisted corridor. "Today's tale shall be that of the Sandman."
"The Sandman's coming in his train of cars, with moonbeam windows and with wheels of stars," a million voices whispered.
"The biggest mistake the Sandman made was not attacking me with the weapon I invented myself," the queen said as she walked down the corridor, her bare feet making hardly a sound. "The biggest mistake the Sandman made was thinking that he had successfully invaded the fortress that is my mind."
"He was wrong," a million voices whispered. "He was very wrong."
"It was not an invasion," the queen said, as she strode past the doctors and nurses bowing to her. "He was never at any time close to breaching the fortress of my mind. All the dreams he saw, all the memories, were but part of the battlefield, the neutral ground where we both stood, facing each other with equal might. You see, little sheep, all along, this was chess. He had his pieces. I had mine. He came with dreams. I replied with nightmares."
From amongst them several large figures rose. Armando Basilio, his face twisted in never-ending agony as he loped beside them on canine limbs. Neville McGraw, his kind face set in the waxy expression of death, trod over them with his great hooves. On the ceiling far above their heads, a giant foetus crawled, giggling as it played with the deformed bat swooping around it. Right behind them, gliding like a ghost through a haunted house, Leora Devi Sati smiled enigmatically as her fingers traced the walls of the corridor, causing paint to peel off in thick clots.
"My nightmares," the queen said, her voice as cold as ice. "Horrible, grotesque, immortal children, forged from my darkest memories and made powerful by my emotions. They became weapons against the Sandman, sent out to every corner of my mind to seek out the Sandman's shadow and destroy it."
"So many attacks," a million voices whispered. "We were so scared."
"But it was not enough," the queen told them as she led them around another bend so queer it was like they were now walking on the ceiling. "I could not defeat the avatar on my own. You see, I cannot risk even a silver of the Sandman's mind remaining in mine. So I had to hide. I had to hide myself away and reduce my control to the barest minimum. It was the only way to trick him into thinking he had full access to my Unconscious. With me out of the picture, my dark children were free to roam, but I knew they could not stop the Sandman on their own. I needed helpers, helpers with their own minds."
They finished turning the corner and found four figures standing there. June Kito, cold and cruel, barely spared them a glance as she fell in behind the queen. Kuroro Lucifer, thirteen arms hanging by his side, joined her. The panther, as dark as a shadow and as menacing as a cold night, slunk beside him. And on the other side, the brittle husk of Kurapika joined them.
"My dearest Poe-chan looks like a beast but she's really just a part of me. Every hunting instinct, every scrap of my Nen abilities, went into my creation of her. She had one goal and one goal only, and that was to hunt down the Sandman. Unfortunately, at that time, it had not occurred to me that the Sandman had been clever enough to hide his own presence, even from his avatar." The queen rested a hand on the giant head. "If the Sandman's shadow held no malice towards me, a creation that is nothing more than a bundle of instincts cannot sense him. In the end, she backfired on me when she mistook the shadow for the real Kuroro and protected him instead. Hence, I took her back into me to serve a better purpose. I gave a part of her to you, to trick the Sandman's shadow into thinking that with each step you made, you were gradually turning back into me."
"Poor kitty, poor, poor kitty. Couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe," a million voices whispered.
"My June is a nightmare, just like Leora and Mother," the queen said, gently stroking the frozen face. "But she is a special nightmare. I poured in so much effort, so much time, so much of myself into her, that she became sentient. She is my imagination come to life. My best friend in the world; my real imaginary friend. As brave as me, as smart as me, and as familiar with my mind as me; if anyone could find the Sandman's shadow, it would be her."
"We've always wanted an imaginary friend," a million voices whispered.
"My Kuroro is not a nightmare, not always at least," the queen said, holding one of the thirteen arms. "My poor darling, caught in the sands of the Sandman, and dragged into this nightmare. I protected him with the little energy I could spare, but it was barely enough. The Sandman caught his mind, enough so that he could take his guise. But I triumphed in the end, for my love's mind remained free enough for him to fight. And so he did. Like a spider in its web, he waited with his ten sentinels, waited for the opportunity to take down the avatar and regain his mind."
"A monster," a million voices whispered. "A monster and his ten friends."
"And finally, most important of all," the queen said, gently touching blonde hair. "Kurapika, the last known living Kuruta, bearer of the Scarlet Eyes and the most vulnerable mind I have ever seen. For you see, he was not one of the Sandman's conquests; he was mine. I brought him into my dreams, to let him see, to let him understand the threat I was under. Then I let him return to the real world so he could resolve it for me. Even now, he must still hear voices in his head, voices that tell him what and what not to do. Voices that he must imagine are from his own conscience. Those with the most vocal morals are the easiest to control."
"We've always been good at doing voices," a million voices whispered.
"So my pieces were set," the queen said. "All that was left to do was fight for control. Whenever the Sandman tried to access a dream, I pushed him to another. Whenever he felt me eject him from my dream, he would try to enter another. It helped that he chose to make his avatar so perfect. In order to make his avatar undetectable, he had to make it truly believe it was Kuroro Lucifer. So, it had no knowledge of what to expect and thus no knowledge of how to control the dreamscape. That meant I could manipulate it to my heart's content."
"And so it fell," a million voices whispered. "Like sand in an hourglass."
"Of course each dreamscape I pushed him into was protected," the queen said, turning around another bend that seemed to take them sideways out of time and space. "Protected by the one person in this world I can trust fully: me."
Waiting for them beyond the bend were the Midoyas of various ages. The Midoya of the desert, her face still mostly covered, glanced them over and crinkled her nose. The Midoya of the forests, confident and relaxed, smiled and waved, though there was something of distaste in her eyes. The toddler Midoya grinned widely at them, her decapitated head in her arms, and stuck her tongue out.
"Protectors and defenders," a million voices whispered. "All of you. Protectors and defenders. But we are not like them. Are we really you?"
Ahead of them stood a giant door, as sturdy as any bank's vault, and lined heavily with chains. "Yes," the queen said as she stopped before it. "You are me." With a gentle shove, she pushed the doors open and stepped inside. "But you are also not me."
"What are we?" a million voices chanted. "What are we?"
The queen was barely visible within the room as she spoke. "Many years ago when I first invented the Dream Initiation Programme, I tried it on myself. Foolish, yes, but I was young and fearless then. When it hit me, all the doors in my mind were blown open. Every hatch I had sealed, every wall I had put up, all tore open. Every road and every corridor, every crack and every crevice was visible before me. And in the depths of my mind, in the darkest places of my Unconscious, in the place where the real monsters live, I saw my greatest nightmare of all – a creature so unbearable, so terrible, so frightening I had to bury it, bury it as deep as I could and will myself to forget it exists."
"The monster in the closet, the monster in the room," a million voices chanted. "Hiding behind the couch and under the bed."
"No," the queen said, and her eyes glowed in the dark. "Not behind the couch or under the bed. Not in the closet or in the room. Right in front of me. Always right in front of me." For the first time, her voice shook when she spoke. "The monster I saw that day was you."
From within the darkness, her hand reached out and one of them disappeared into the room.
"You are me yet not me," the queen said as she continued to pull them into the room. "You are not a memory or a nightmare. You are everything about me which I fear and hate. You are the me who is weak. You are the me who wants to rely on others. You are the me who wants to give up. You are the me who is always frightened, always fearful. You are the me who keeps needing to be saved. You are the me who wants to be saved."
Their numbers dwindled as she dragged them in.
"Everything that I hate about myself, every weakness and every fear," the queen whispered, her voice a thin thread in the dark, "that is what you are, little sheep: a simulacrum, a homunculus, Frankenstein's monster made up of the parts of me that I can never kill, the parts of me that make me want to kill myself."
"We are weak. We are fear. We are everything you always were," a million voices whispered.
"Yes, and so I know you will always be my greatest weapon," the queen said, her voice steady now. "The Sandman's shadow is drawn to weakness, and you are nothing but an amalgamation of weaknesses. So I let you out, millions of you, to roam every crevice of my mind. I knew he would be immediately attracted to you like a shark to the scent of blood. Only this blood is poison. Your weakness became his. You dragged him down, weakened him, delay him, forced him to protect you, to care for you, to travel slower than he would want to. You made him fail just as you have made me fail all these years."
By now, only one of them remained, the only one wearing a black shirt over her hospital gown.
"We are the anchor around a drowning man's foot, a shattered wing. We are the broken bones tearing through perfect flesh, a rope wrapped around a fragile neck," she whispered, and a million voices echoed the same from within the room.
"Yes," the queen said, as she grabbed on to her, "you are right, my greatest nightmare, the last of my monsters. You are absolutely right. So it is now time to return you to where you belong."
"So dark, so cold, like floating in space. So heavy, so crushing, the weight of the earth," the last of them whispered, a million voices echoing the same, as she was dragged into the yawning cavern, to the bottomless pit in the middle room.
"Buried forever," the queen said, letting go, "never to surface again. Buried forever, till death stakes its claim."
And the last of them said, "Buried for now, a second, a year. But we'll be there in every shed tear. Leave us alone, and we'll come home, wagging our tails behind us."
And a million voices echoed the same.
The world was starting to come back to Kuroro Lucifer, Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, and he wasn't sure he liked it. After what seemed like an eternity in the surreal, mutable, illogical world that is Midoya's mind, reality felt odd to him. It was too solid, too hard, too present. The floor beneath him felt like an anchor, the air around him like water in his lungs – and the fist meeting his jaw exactly like a fist meeting his jaw.
"Oof," Kuroro mumbled and flopped back onto the too-real floor.
"Don't be a wimp," the chain-user said coldly, dragging him back to a sitting position with Chain Jail. "I've only restrained you, I haven't hurt you – yet."
It took a few seconds more but finally actual light started to make sense to his eyes. "Well, well," Kuroro said, rotating his jaw gingerly. "It is my displeasure to meet you again, chain-user." His eyes shifted from Kurapika to the three people standing near a pile of destruction that used to be Midoya's apartment.
"I'm sorry, Mr Lucifer, sir," Lucy, half her head missing, said forlornly. "He's taken you hostage, sir, and there's nothing we can do about that. We daren't attack for fear he kills you."
"We are truly sorry," Julius reiterated, half-bowed from what appeared to be several broken ribs.
"That's very understandable," Kuroro mumbled, eyes sliding to meet the lone figure standing a little away from the severely injured pair. "What are you still doing here? We've already gotten rid of your parasite."
"Making sure the boy doesn't kill you," Pariston Hill said frankly. "I've been saying this for a while now: I don't have any intention of actually hurting anybody, you included, because that would only make Midoya mad and I really would not like that. Why doesn't anybody believe me?"
"Because you are insane, sir," Julius told him politely.
"Oh, that's a terrible thing to say," Pariston replied dejectedly. "If only I could blame my violent tendencies on something as comprehensible as a mental disorder…"
"I apologise if my words have caused you grief, sir."
"Oh, not at all. I only really grief when my favourite playmates are dead."
The conversation was very interesting and insightful into a potential enemy's psyche, but a kick to his ribs brought Kuroro back to the more urgent situation at hand.
"I have you hostage," the chain-user snarled. "Pay attention."
"Yes, yes, I know that," Kuroro said patiently. "That's not important. What's important is that I am out of Midoya's dream. Which means…"
"I took the antenna out," the chain-user said, eyes glowing behind brown contacts. "I may want to kill you, but I wouldn't drag an innocent woman down just to do so. Unlike you, I am not a monster."
"Innocent," Pariston snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Children," Kuroro agreed, his eyes wandering to the figure on the couch.
"Don't bother looking to her for help," the chain-user said, tightening the chains, "I cut her with your Benz, the one with that drug in it. No one's getting you out this time." Kuroro grunted again as he was yanked to his knees. "No one's coming to help you," the chain-user said, his pulse throbbing visibly at his throat. "Now, you are going to answer my questions or…"
"Oh stop it," Midoya said tiredly from behind the chain-user and pulled him backwards so roughly he ended up on his bum.
"Wh…?" the chain-user barely had time to gawk at her properly before her hand clamped painfully around his wrist, squeezing it so hard his chains disappeared entirely. "Ow! What…?"
"How on earth are you still moving if the chain-user nicked you with my Benz?" Kuroro demanded, trying not to sound too shocked. "That thing can paralyse a whale."
"Oh sweetie, don't get mad at me, but I kind of made myself immune to your Benz."
Kuroro stared. "What? When? How?"
"Some years ago with an antidote I invented from samples taken from your Benz. Oh don't look at me like that, dear. It was just a precaution, the same way I get you to wear a condom during sex."
"How is that…" Kuroro didn't get to finish his sentence because he suddenly had a face full of unpleasant, vengeful chains. He would have gotten caught too, if Midoya hadn't stepped in front of him, forcing the chain-user to yank the chain away or risk activating the curse wrapped around his heart.
"Play nice," she said evenly. "The both of you. Or I'll be mad."
The chain-user snarled, "This is between him and me. Move aside or I'll kill you too."
Oh, bring it on, Kuroro thought wistfully. In the mood she was now, Midoya would crush him like the bug that he is. Unfortunately, Midoya had other ideas. Instead of breaking his neck, she pinched it just at that correct spot, knocking the boy out before he could retaliate.
Then she turned to him and, as if he were a disobedient puppy, added a pointed, "No."
"But…" Kuroro cut off what he was going to say when Midoya's Nen erupted from her like a shotgun blast, slamming into the floor in front of Pariston Hill who had taken advantage of the confrontation to approach them.
"Come any closer, love, and I'll take off your feet next," Midoya said, and her voice was warm and friendly and made Kuroro want to hide under her bed.
Pariston eyed the hole in the floor then looked back at Midoya. A conciliatory, if queasy, smile graced his face and he raised his hands. "Now, Midoya," he said slowly, soothingly, "aren't you going to listen to my…?"
"Love," Midoya said, her voice as soft and cuddly as aforementioned disobedient puppy "hush."
It was an illustration of how terrifying Midoya was at that moment that Pariston Hill's mouth snapped shut like a sprung trap.
"Thank you," she said, and her eyes glowed like hellfire. "Lucy. Julius."
"Yes, Miss Kito?" Julius murmured as Lucy dropped a brief curtsy.
"You require medical attention. As does Kurapika." She gestured with her head. "Take him to the lab."
"Yes, Miss Kito," Julius said and picked the chain-user up with one giant hand.
Wearily, he trudged to what appeared to be a plain boring section of wall and pressed a button Kuroro had never noticed before. To Kuroro's amazement, a section of the ceiling slid open and a flight of stairs descended from it.
"What on earth…?" he demanded. "Midoya? There's a second storey to this place?"
She offered him a weary smile. "This is a penthouse, dear. Penthouses tend to have two stories."
"But… but I've never… why haven't you shown it to me before? What's upstairs?"
"An emergency room with medical supplies. I installed it shortly after the Zodiacs killed me. Since we didn't have a proper emergency after, I never had any reason to show it to you. Except last night after we were all beat up by the Zoldycks. But I got distracted in the shower. And in the bedroom. And in the kitchen. By the time I stopped being distracted, Machi was already here."
"Well yes, granted yesterday was a very distracting day… So, what was it then, before becoming an emergency room?"
"A giant inflatable castle."
Kuroro eyed her suspiciously but could not tell if she was joking or not. Even as they had been bantering, her entire attention had been fixed on Pariston Hill, still standing there with his hands in the air. His face was neutral, even a little sheepish. Midoya just looked… calm, calmer than he had expected her to be.
Which probably meant she was seriously pissed off.
"Hello, love," she said, her voice as warm as summer's sun and as light as a spring breeze. "Well, I've seen more of you in these 24 hours than I have in an entire year. I can't say I'm terribly happy about that."
"Hello Midoya," Pariston replied, and when she didn't take his head off, continued, "I'm sorry you aren't happy to see me. I, on the other hand, find it nice to see more of you. Old friends like us should keep in touch more often."
"Is that so?" Midoya asked, smiling sweetly. "I had no idea you craved such intimacy with me to the extent of wishing to invade my mind like that."
"Oh, love, I've always wanted to be close to you, closer than anyone in the world," Pariston replied, smiling warmly. "That's why I did what I did, of course. That's why, when I found a piece of you that had no memory of who I am, I fucked it like there was no tomorrow."
The hairs on the back of Kuroro's neck stood up. All the lights in the room went out, as if something monstrously large had just taken a deep breath. Then a hot, scorching blast of Nen exploded in the room, turning shelves and books into dust, and ripping the wallpaper off in shreds.
"How nice of you, Pariston, to think so dearly of me," Midoya said, her eyes twin pools of molten silver, her hair whipping around in the whirlwind of her Nen, her skin glistening as liquid metal flowed over them. "How very sweet of you."
Instead of ducking behind a sturdy piece of furniture like Kuroro had, Pariston made a pained face and said, "You are angry with me. Don't be angry with me. You left me little choice, love. I barely know you anymore these days. The you from the past would have leapt at the chance to go to the Dark Continents. I needed to know what has changed to make you so…" He broke off when Midoya's Nen sliced forward to within an inch of his throat, hovering above his skin like a thin guillotine made of light.
"Are you an idiot?" Midoya asked coldly.
Pariston grimaced. "You must understand…" he tried to say, but the blade pressed closer to him.
"Of course you are," Midoya snarled. "A huge idiot. The biggest I've ever met. Even amoebas have better brains than you and they don't have a complex neural system."
Pariston stared. "What?" he asked, sounding exactly like what Midoya accused him to be.
"Did you think messing with my mind is going to suddenly return me to the state I was ten years ago?" Midoya asked sharply. "Is that what you want? A foolish teenage girl who could barely deal with her own feelings, much less the feelings of others? A stupid girl who didn't even know how to help those she cared about the most?"
"No, that wasn't…"
"Then what did you expect out of this?" Midoya snapped "What did you expect would come out of you dragging old nightmares to the fore? At best, I would just be angry with you, as I am now. At worst, you would have lost me forever. Did you even think of that?"
Pariston looked at her silently, the smile wiped entirely off his face. "Yes," he said quietly. "But it would have been worth it to know."
Midoya's hair practically stood on end as her Nen level started to rise. For a moment, Kuroro was convinced she was really going to kill Pariston, but she exhaled slowly and suddenly looked more tired than Kuroro had ever seen her. "For someone so brilliant, you are also so… absolutely stupid." The Nen blade dropped as she released her Nen. Wearily, she plopped down on the orange couch and closed her eyes.
Very slowly, very cautiously, Pariston lowered his arms to his side and sank into the green loveseat opposite her in a boneless heap. It suddenly struck Kuroro that this man was exhausted beyond measure. Chess – that was how Midoya had described the encounter. Having seen a demonstration of her chess-playing skills last night, Kuroro had little doubt she had pushed Pariston far past his limits too.
"Was it Leora?" Pariston asked finally. "Was it because I encouraged her to give up her Nen? To give up on you?"
"No, in the end it was for the best," Midoya said quietly. "She's happier now, hiding from the HA than she ever was with me."
"It's true." Pariston smiled sadly. "Normalcy suits her, our precious demon-child. Do you know I just found out she's a mother?"
"You're slow. She's already pregnant with her second child."
"Goodness, is she? You must have already met Annie then."
"Of course. I still visit occasionally, just to make sure she's safe, that no one knows she's still alive. It makes Paul feel really awkward when he sees his wife's former lesbian lover, but he has learnt to deal with it."
"I see. Not Leora then." Pariston regarded her solemnly. "Is it because I tricked you into earning your Stars?"
"No, I already got my revenge by tricking you into becoming Vice-President."
"Oh, it still burns."
"I know."
"Then is it him?" Pariston nodded towards Kuroro who had emerged from behind the couch now that the danger was over. "Is it because of him?"
"Me?" Kuroro demanded, offended though he had little idea exactly what Pariston was accusing him of.
"Kuroro?" Midoya echoed, sounding a lot less offended but just as confused. "How on earth could this be because of him?"
Pariston pouted in a bizarrely childish way. "I don't understand," he said, sounding frustrated, "why have you grown so distant from me then? Why don't you want to play with me anymore? Give me a reason."
Slowly, reluctantly, Midoya said, "I hate you, Pariston. Oh, I certainly love you too, but I hate you just as much." She looked away from him. "It wasn't Leora or Kuroro or any of the little things that happened between us." A sad smile curved her lips. "It was simply age. I grew older and changed. So did you. We have different goals, different ways of thinking… different methods from the people who used to be us. Eventually, things that I used to like about you started to bug me. Things that you once admired in me started to annoy you. We simply ceased to become compatible." She looked away from him and out of the window. "That's all that happened."
"Time? That's all? That's what caused this change?" Pariston asked incredulously.
"Don't underestimate the passing of time," Midoya said, and the solemnity in her voice made Pariston's expression soften. "Ten years can change a person, Pariston. And the person I am now can't stand the person that you are now."
Like a balloon deflating, Pariston sank back into the loveseat and closed his eyes. "Time. That's what it is? How does one fight time? What can I possibly do then to convince you to go to the Dark Continents with me?"
At that, Midoya smiled. "I never said anything about not going to the Dark Continents."
Pariston lifted his head and stared at her, his eyes wide. "So you're going?" he asked hopefully.
"Maybe yes, maybe no," Midoya murmured. "But remember this, Pariston Hill. If I do go to the Dark Continents, it will be on my terms, not yours."
An answering smile spread over his face. "Fine, I can accept that," he said, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Thanks for the fun time today, love. It was wonderful the way you tricked me into believing I had you on the run. Absolutely wonderful."
"Glad you enjoyed it," Midoya snorted. "Now get out of here. I have things to do and you're being a nuisance."
Like a mannequin coming back to life, Pariston sprang to his feet, eyes sparkling with glee. "Alright," he said brightly, smiling that glaringly insincere smile he was so good at. "We can chat again tomorrow when I return with my interior designer. This place certainly needs a huge makeover. Thanks for demolishing the walls for me though. I really thought those had to go."
Midoya stared. Kuroro joined her. "What?" Midoya demanded. "Why would you…? Don't tell me you managed to convince Nicole to sell the penthouse to you. It's… it's impossible! Nicole is too… how on earth did you… did you bribe her? What did you do?"
"Oh, I don't need to convince or bribe Nicole to do anything for me." Pariston beamed. "Because I am Nicole."
Midoya's eyes widened. "But… but I've met Nicole," she protested. "She's… she. She's a woman!"
"Mmm. I've heard that one so many times, yet it never fails to make me smile."
"Oh… fuck," Midoya said with great finality and slumped back into her couch. "Out. Now. I can't stand the sight of you a second longer. You too, Kuroro. Take a walk."
Kuroro blinked. "What? Why?" he demanded, aggrieved. "What did I do to offend you?"
"Nothing, dear. It's for Kurapika's sake. Now go, but be back in four hours." A genuine smile, tired but warm, spread across her face. "You, I would like to see again."
Briefly, Kuroro considered protesting, but the look on Midoya's face stopped him. "Right," he said and walked up to her. He looked searchingly over her face. "If this boy tries to kill you, feel free to rip his intestines out of his mouth."
"I will, dear."
Kuroro nodded, hesitated then added, "I understand why you wouldn't kill him. It is not your battle to fight. But he will make it yours, now that he knows who you are."
"It's not a fight if I don't take part in it. It takes two to tango, and I hate ballroom dancing."
"Oh, but you are so good at it. Still, if that's what you want…" He leaned over and kissed her. "See you in four hours. Now, Pariston…" He glanced at the blonde man. "Let's take a hike."
Without another word, the two men left the penthouse.
For the second time in a day, Kurapika found himself waking blurrily in an apartment that was not his. This time though, he was lying on something soft and warm, and covered by something equally soft and warm. His arms and legs were not restrained, but the feathery cocoon he was lying in deterred him from moving much. In the distance, he heard a feminine voice speaking softly.
"Yes, indeed," it said, "I am glad you understand why I could not turn up today, Miss Temple. We shall meet again tomorrow for a discussion about our alliance."
Wearily, Kurapika lifted his head up and looked around sleepily. Where was he? He wasn't in the apartment he had been in earlier. This place looked much the same, but with obvious differences. It was much cleaner for one, emptier too, and there were no blood stains.
Blood. Pain. Overwhelming pain. In his shoulder. Down his limb. The limb that no longer existed. He saw it. Flying off. Landing with a wet smack. So much blood. So much…
Eyes wide, Kurapika raised both arms and stared at them. His arm had been gone and now it was back. It had been cut off and now it was back. It was back. What the… He jumped out of the bed and immediately tripped over the soft comforter. Cursing, he scrambled unsteadily back to his feet and darted into the living room. For a moment, he thought his brain would dissolve into cognitive dissonance. The apartment looked just like the one he had left, with the hideous orange couch and green loveseat, and tons of books lying everywhere. Yet it wasn't the same. The walls were intact, the curtains were different and…
"Ah, you are awake."
Instinctively, the Dowsing Chain leapt to life and he drew it around him like a protective circle. Eyes wide, jaw clenched, he spun to face the speaker.
From the kitchen, Midoya smiled at him as she shoved a microwave oven into an empty slot obviously designed for it.
"Good evening, dear," she said cheerfully. "You've woken up just in time. I'm almost done moving into my new apartment. Funny how almost getting my mind taken over by an overly-attached ex-almost-but-never-quite-lover can motivate me to finish doing what is such a tedious job. Would you like some tea? I finally brought my entire collection of tea over so you can choose from a number of…"
"Urgh," Kurapika said loudly and grimaced, because his head was pounding and whatever she was saying had too many syllabuses in it for him to fully comprehend.
She looked amused at his reaction. "No tea? Never thought you would be a coffee person."
"No, I…" Kurapika shook his head, his mind whirling, trying to comprehend what was going on. "Where's that… that monster? Pariston Hill?"
Midoya shrugged as she rummaged in one of the cupboards. "Somewhere in York Shin. Probably taking a walk. Ah!" She pulled a pair of identical cups out with a pleased look on her face. "Found them."
Taking a walk? Hadn't they been fighting? Wasn't that what had happened? Why was he taking a… walk? Had everything that happened… the fighting, the dreams, the lost limb… all been a dream? "And the Spider?" he asked, trying to find something solid to grip on to. "What about him? Where is he?"
"Kuroro?" Midoya dumped a teabag into a cup and dowsed it with hot water. "Taking a walk too. A really long one. Possibly with Pariston. I wouldn't put it past my Kuroro to interrogate that bastard on all the missing parts of the story. Very curious man, the Dancho of the Genei Ryodan."
Taking a walk too? With Pariston? Wasn't Pariston the enemy? Hadn't… hadn't…?
The Dowsing Chain disappeared as Kurapika sank down onto the orange couch and lowered his aching head into his hands. What was going on? The last he had seen of any of them, it had been a battleground. He had been about to interrogate the Spider… Pariston Hill, Lucy and Julius had been forced to stay back or risk setting him off… and Midoya… Midoya was…
He opened his eyes and stared at her as she approached him. "What happened?" he asked weakly. "After I… after you knocked me out."
"Things," Midoya said with a shrug as she dropped into the seat opposite him. "I spoke with Pariston and Kuroro. We all agreed to just… leave things as they are. Our histories are too complicated for us to resolve with either fighting or talking."
"But hadn't he… hadn't he tried to…" Kurapika waved a hand in the air, trying to find the right words to describe what Pariston Hill had tried to do.
"Yes, he had," Midoya replied wryly. "I wouldn't forgive or forget it easily. But there's nothing I can do about him – short of killing him that is, and I would rather not go there. He's a bastard but he's my bastard. We've both tried to kill each other too often for something like this to matter much."
"But… he killed people, one of your neighbours," Kurapika protested, "and he hurt Lucy and Julius. They areyour people."
"Lucy and Julius are fine now, as are you," Midoya replied. "There's nothing I can do about poor Daryl. Killing Pariston will not bring him back to life."
He wanted to feel shock at the coldness of her answer, but somehow, he couldn't find the energy to. "And the Spider?" he muttered bitterly. "Doing fine, I suppose, since he's taking a walk. Still living even though innocents have died."
Midoya nodded. "Kuroro will be fine," she said, meeting his eyes calmly. "The influence Pariston had on his mind was never complete to begin with. Breaking the connection was not difficult."
Gritting his teeth, Kurapika forced himself to lean back into the couch as he stared at her. "You never answered my question," he said. When she raised an eyebrow questioningly, he added, "How could you date him? A man like him? A murderer. A criminal. A monster."
Her fingers moved nimbly as she gently bobbed the teabag in her cup. "I did answer you indirectly," she said calmly. "You saw the insides of my mind, Kurapika. Why do you think someone like Kuroro would attract me?"
Kurapika thought back to the dreams he had seen, the dreams that filled the empty spaces in her skull. "I saw into your mind, yes," he admitted. "It was like looking into hell, a hell populated by monsters and demons. A hell where one is always on the run, always fighting, always struggling to survive. But… I also saw... good. Poe-chan, the panther, who guided me and led me to you. You, as a child, so innocent and vulnerable. I saw many things, Midoya, many and that's normal. We all have our good sides and bad sides. Your mind is no different from any other person's. It does not answer my question."
"No, it does," Midoya said and she smiled.
The hairs on the back of his neck actually stood up. "What are you saying?" he asked harshly. "That it isn't unnatural to love a man like that? That you don't have to be some kind of monster to be attracted to him?"
"Yes," Midoya said with a nod and met his glare unflinchingly. "Kuroro killed everyone you love. I know why me being with him makes you angry. Ultimately though, he is just like me. His head is filled with monsters and demons, innocence and vulnerabilities. He has his own nightmares and he has his own dreams. I like him simply because he is who he is. Is that not a good enough reason?" She dropped an entire sachet of sugar into the second cup of tea and set it in front of him. "Drink up. You need it."
Hands moving on automatic, Kurapika brought the cup to his lips. The tea was warm, bitter and sweet at the same time. "I wanted you to be better," he said into the cup. "I wanted you to be… to not be… this. I wanted you to understand."
"Is that so? A pity." Midoya sipped from her own cup of tea. "I've long learned that blindly following what others expect of me is bound to land me in a mental asylum, drugged up to my ears and being abused by a fiancé forced upon me by my uncaring parents." Kurapika flinched. "But," she continued, her voice gentle and kind, "I do understand, Kurapika. I know what revenge means. We've both heard from others that revenge is meaningless, but we know that is not true. It may not help the dead, it may not bring back what is lost but sometimes…" her eyes lowered to her cup, "sometimes… it is necessary in order for us to move on."
His jaw clenched again. "Even if it means that I will kill Kuroro?" he asked. "Even if it means that your lover dies?"
"Even so," Midoya said, nodding solemnly. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not looking forward to Kuroro dying. But if it happens… well, I would understand why." A slight smile curved her lips. "But of course, don't be surprise if I decide to come after you for that. Kuroro may be a bad person to you, but to me… he's the man who liked me enough to take on the Zodiacs."
His eyes dropped to the chains on his hand. She wasn't a Spider, he was certain of it now. There was no way a woman like this would join the Genei Ryodan. She was a team-player, yes, but she wasn't a follower. She would never submit to anyone, especially not to a man like Kuroro Lucifer who exuded charisma like some men do cheap cologne. She would never allow it. Therefore, he knew he could not take her. Oh, he could try, he knew, he could try to fight her and she would beat him up, possibly break every bone in his body – then patch him up and offer him another cup of tea.
That made him feel better. He knew now why he had saved her, not because he owned her or because it was the morally right thing to do, but because he already knew what he should have known many, many months back, what she had tried to tell him a long time ago.
Midoya Kito was not his enemy - in fact, she could become his ally.
"I know you wouldn't help me fight the Genei Ryodan," he told her, looking up to meet her eyes, "and I know you don't owe me anything. But… really… if it is… if there is… if you have the time… could you…"
"The Scarlet Eyes?" She smiled. "You want me to help you locate the rest of the Scarlet Eyes, whichever still remain."
"Yes." Kurapika tried to maintain contact with her eyes and failed. "Please."
"Sure, I don't mind. But," she continued, when Kurapika stared up at her gratefully, "nothing in this world is free, boy."
"What do you want?" Kurapika asked, wondering if she wanted to transfer him from the Nostrad family to her family. In truth, he highly doubted that he would mind working for her. She struck him as a fairly reasonable boss and a highly capable leader.
Instead of offering him a new job though, she asked, "You know Gon Freecs, don't you?"
Kurapika blinked. "Gon? Yes, I know him. But if you expect me to harm him…"
"I have no interest in the boy." Her face was serious now. "I've heard of his potential, and perhaps that is quite exciting for some, but not for me. Don't worry, I have no intention of harming the child. The one I'm interested in is his father."
"His… father?" Kurapika asked, bewildered. "Ging Freecs?"
"The one and only." Midoya tilted her head at him. "I heard Gon finally found his father. They've met. They've spoken to each other."
"I… I suppose. Yes." God, he hadn't even checked on Gon after he almost died. He was an absolutely terrible friend.
"Good. Then I want you to do me a favour." She leaned even closer and whispered, "I want to know what Ging is doing about Beyond Netero and the Dark Continents."
Beyond… Netero? Dark Continents? Kurapika had heard of those. Everything he had heard did not bode well. If Gon's father was involved… it could not hurt to remain in the loop, if only for Gon's sake. He owned the boy that much. "Very well," he agreed. "I'll see what I can find out."
"Good," Midoya said, leaning back in the loveseat and smiling. "Now then. Biscuits?"
"Thank you," Kurapika replied, taking a piece from the offered plate. It was some sort of cookie, with a layer of lemon cream between two sweet biscuits.
It was delicious.
When Kuroro finally made it back to Midoya's new penthouse, it was empty of all vengeful spirits and occupied solely by a sleeping Midoya.
Silently, he padded into her bedroom and stared at the still lump curled up beneath the sheets. She did not stir. Warily, he pushed back her hair and examined her neck. No antenna. She was just exhausted.
Right?
The warm body stirred and turned over to face him. "Kuroro," Midoya murmured with sleepy affection, pulling him closer. "My darling. Do you think I am cruel?"
"Immensely so," he replied, pushing her hair back so he could kiss her forehead.
She smiled dreamily. "That makes me feel better," she mumbled and fell back to sleep.
As gently as possible, he slid down next to her and closed his eyes, wondering what she was seeing in the chaotic, hellish place she called her mind - wondering what he would see once sleep took over.
Monsters. Angels. Demons. Death.
A/N: And that's the end of this story! It was a really stressful story to write, because it is a very big one, with a lot of plot and twists and characterisation going on. I hope I managed to pull everything together in the end.
Also, to update you guys on what's happening next in the Series. Firstly, no new manga updates means I can't write about the Dark Continents yet. But, I certainly intend to continue writing. Perhaps, not such long, dramatic stories like this one, which exhausted me, but shorter, more light-hearted stories. I have a few options I'm exploring, so do look out for them!
Thanks so much for reading this story! Do leave a review to tell me what you thought about it!