Idelian
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Author: Many authors, as this fic originally started as a Round Robin. Later, it was revised by me. I also wrote the last chapters of it.
Translate: This fic was written in another language. Since I like it too much, I decide to translate it to English.
Disclaimer: No, of course. HxH and its characters do not belong to any of us.
Pairing: Kuroro/Kurapika, Leorio/Kurapika, Hisoka/Illumi, hint of Killua/Gon
Genre: Romance/Angst/Adventure
Warning: Some violence
Summary: Kurapika didn't know he would lead his friends into danger when he accepted an offer to search for a mysterious artifact. Neither did he expect he would have to face his feeling for his worst enemy. KuroroxKurapika. HisokaxIllumi.
A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews, they mean a lot to me.
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Chapter 14: The center of the world
The group had reached the peak of the mountain and discovered a massive, ancient ruin. The snow had fallen lightly again. Its snowflakes landed gently on a huge, round stone platform a body higher than the ground with many tall columns surrounding it like a broken cage. Some columns had collapsed, scattering dark stone blocks both on the platform's surface and all around it.
Kurapika had recovered some of his strength and now he could walked without Leorio support. The strange letters on the edge of the platform caught his interest and he translated whatever he could to the group, claiming that they used a more modern Kuruta language. According to Kurapika, the ancient people living here had once used this platform as a temple where they held their sacrifice ritual every full moon.
The platform had four stairs at four directions leading to its surface. Only Killua used that method as he had Gon to lead. Everyone else just jumped right on it.
Killua let Gon sat down near a dark, large stone and looked around. There were many deep artificial crevices stretching all over the platform surface. Even though Killua could not get an overall view of the board platform, he knew the crevices must form some kind of patterns as they were similar in many parts, and all of them ran towards a marble altar at the center.
They had reached the top of the mountain, and if what Roy said were true, they should be safe by now. The young assassin could only guess, as inside the nen cage Illumi created for him he did not feel the aggressive energy. But as he watched the other, Killua realized with a sinking sensation that the danger had not yet passed.
Hisoka was the only one who still can act like nothing happened. Everyone else looked rigid with tension, even Illumi and Kuroro. It also meant that even here on the top of the mountain, the strange power still assaulted the senses of the fighters. Killua also noticed that his brother was grasping one arm tightly with the other hand, looking like he was cold. Kurapika kept blowing his hands now and then, and Leorio hugged himself, running in circle, complaining and shivering. Kuroro might also feel cold, as he hugged Machi close to his chest, trying to keep her warm. Killua wasn't surprised about Leorio, but if the cold weather could affect even strong fighters like Illumi and Kuroro, the temperature must have dropped very low.
His attention turned back to Gon. In the nen cages, the dangerous presence stopped mauling at his senses, and the freezing cold also couldn't penetrate. All what he could feel was a comfortable and safe warmth of his own energy. If it were only him, Killua wouldn't care much, but he was grateful to Illumi that the nen cage had protected Gon from harm.
"The four holes around this altar… These columns of lights…" Kurapika pointed at the bright altar with four light beams lit up to the sky, illuminating a large area around them. "If I'm not mistaken, they represent the four doors you have told us. But you also said that 'a door has been opened', then why all the four holes lit up?"
"We have reached the mountain peak! Why doesn't this power go away?!" Leorio demanded furiously.
"How can I know?" Roy shrugged. He was also shocked by the events.
"Don't joke around." Leorio snarled. "It was you who told us to come here!"
A high laughter cut them off. Hisoka pressed a hand on his face, looking like he was having a lot of funs. "It's hilarious how little you do know, being the guide after all."
Roy glanced at Hisoka in caution. "What do you mean?"
"Why the open four doors? Because the ritual has started much earlier before we stepped on the Rolrick Trasfery. The keywords on the way up here are not meant to start the ritual. It's only to open the seal around this place. Now even though all the four doors have opened, the last Trial Gate is still close. And if we can't get into Idelian before night come…" Hisoka fleered, "… then all of us will have the honor of experiencing the sacrifice ritual that those Ryodan members had gone through."
Roy had turned fully to Hisoka, his eyes cold and murderous. "Why do you know that much about Idelian? Hisoka, who are you really?"
The magician only smiled mysteriously. "So Roy, don't you think it's time you told us who you really are?"
"Kurapika!" Suddenly Leorio shouted. Killua startled, then stared at his friends in worry as Kurapika had just vomited blood. Leorio let Kurapika away from the altar and forced the blond to sit down. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Leorio asked frantically.
Of course he is not fine, Killua thought, how can he be that stupid? While Kuroro silently used his nen to protect Machi from the vicious power, Leorio didn't do anything. And he calls himself a doctor, Killua shrugged his head, but all he does is just bustling around and asking nonsense.
However worry was just worry. Killua didn't want Kurapika to be hurt, but he was handful with taking care of Gon. Kurapika would have to make it on his own then. With Gon in this state, Killua didn't dare to risk causing his friend harm by helping anyone else. He glanced up at the sky again. Even though the light from the altar had brightened up the whole platform, darkness had blended into the clouds, turning them into dark gray mass. Soon night would fall on this mountain. The question 'why' might have appeared in the young assassin's head, but it did not stay long.
Reason did not matter. It was reality that made him worried.
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Roy startled as he saw Kurapika vomit blood. The boy couldn't handle the pressure of the strange energy very well in his current condition. Hisoka might not be easy to deal with, but right now, Roy simply didn't have anytime left to worry about the magician. If Kurapika's health turned any worse, his plan might crumble.
"Well, well…" He said lightly. "What else to say? I am only a mere guide."
With a lightning speed, he left his position and appeared before Leorio and Kurapika. The doctor yelled in shock, unable to follow the swift movement. "What do you want?!" Leorio shouted, hands groped around crazily for his knives.
Roy grasped a hold of the man's shirt and easily threw him away. The man slammed into a stone column at the edge of the platform and plummeted down.
"Kurapika!" The doctor quickly recovered and rushed back. The young assassin also sprang to his feet. From somewhere behind, Kuroro's murderous aura flamed up.
Kurapika weakly raised his hand, trying to call his chain. "You—"
Ignoring everyone, Roy grasped that trembling hand brutally, forcing the fist to unclench and drop into the boy's palm a rusted pendant.
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Illumi look at the vestige of the ancient civilization with an onlooker's attitude. Other peoples might saw this relic as a huge and majestic architecture, but in his eyes, it was no more than a useless pile of broken stones.
His hand tightened on his owned arm. Chilly. The icy air cut into his skin like sharpened knives, threatening to turn him into ice. Even the high resistance after all the hard training he had gone through couldn't chase the cold away.
The sound of footsteps abruptly lashed at his senses. Illumi nearly attacked, but realized it was only Hisoka. The magician lifted his eyebrows at the needles between his fingertips with a questioning look. Illumi just shrugged and called the needles back. He closed his eyes, trying to breathe normal, trying to keep himself unaffected by both the danger and Hisoka's presence.
The other Hunters and Roy slipped into an argument. Illumi frowned at Roy. Had they been tricked? When they arrived at the mountain top, the strange power didn't lessen. Instead, it flared up into an enormous pressure. He tried to ignore it, but the instinct of an assassin didn't allow him to. Every sense screamed at him, demanding him to take action, choking him as they disobediently picking a fight with the existence of the energy source. His mind was as taut as an instrumental string, ready to snap at any moment.
"It's hilarious how little you do know, being the guide after all."
Hisoka's laughter made Illumi glance at the magician. He didn't really listen to people's conversation since they reached the mountain top, but there was something strange in Hisoka's tone that bothered him, something that Illumi could not put his hand on.
"Why the open four doors? Because the ritual had begun much earlier before we stepped on the Rolrick Trasfery. The keywords on the way up here are not meant to start the ritual, only to open the seal around this place. Now even though all the four doors had open, the last Trial Gate was still close. And if we can't get into Idelian before night come…" Hisoka smirked, "… then all of us will have the honor of experiencing the sacrifice ritual that those Ryodan members had gone through."
Roy had turned fully to Hisoka, his eyes cold and murderous. "Why do you know that much about Idelian? Hisoka, who are you really?"
The magician only smiled mysteriously. "So Roy, don't you think it's time you tell us who you really are?"
A bell rang in his head, alarming him that something was not right. His gaze turned skeptical as he watched the magician and remembered their encounter with Kanfu. Why did Hisoka know that much?
"Well, well…" Roy's smile was like a snake. "What else to say? I am only a mere guide."
Suddenly he dashed to the blond with such a speed that normal people would never saw his movement. Roy threw the doctor away. The man quickly recovered and rushed back, murderous aura also flared up around Kuroro and his brother. The threat of a bloody battle was obvious, and still Illumi could not bring himself to care. He watched all the commotion detachedly, all thoughts focusing on Hisoka.
But as Roy took the blonde's hand and dropped something into his palm, Kurapika's aura began to change. The doctor reached them, but this time it was the blond that fought him away. A little interested this time, Illumi paid more attention to his surroundings. The blond aura had changed completely from weak and worn-out to vicious and dark. It was as if the blond had merged into one with the powerful existence that had stalked them from the time they walked through the seal of the mountain.
Kurapika stretched his arm towards the altar, on his palm burning a strange letter. A keyword, Illumi thought in awe. But how could it happen? A keyword could only be created on the material surface of the destination object, or on the surface of the energy cage itself. He had never heard that a keyword could be created on the body of the keyword master. In only a second, everything changed. The power in the air solidified into one huge, massive source somewhere on his left. Illumi swirled back and gaped at the blinding light sphere on the altar. This power… it was ten times, no, hundreds of time more enormous than what they had experienced on the road to the mountain top. Not nen, not elemental… simply energy, pure and frightening. Brutal and atrocious, it assaulted his mind directly with its intensity, with the smell of burning air and with the piercing pain it left on his skins. It shoved fear and panic down his throat against his will. It threatened him with not death, but something else, something too horrible and disgusting to be described by words.
The light sphere enlarged, and in a moment swallowed up the whole altar. Illumi unconsciously stepped back and murmured to himself. "I'm not overwhelmed. I'm not overwhelmed. Oh shit, I'm overwhelmed." He breathed out in shock.
The light was still spreading rapidly. Illumi hastily turned back and reached his right arm out toward his brother. There wasn't even time to be confused. Without thinking, the only thought inside his head was that he needed to push Killua out of here. Somehow, someway… he didn't know. He only knew that he needed to do it.
However leaking out of Illumi's hand was only a faint trace of nen. Illumi froze, then remembered that just one or two hours earlier, he had used up all his strength to create two nen cages that he had been so sure it could never be broken without his will.
The doctor once again raced back to Kurapika. Kuroro had also left the Ryodan woman to run to the blond. Illumi couldn't careless, for he knew that his nen cages were just feeble, pitiful jokes comparing to this danger.
Killua must have knew it somehow, as his brother squeezed the wounded boy tightly, trying to use his small body to shield his friend from the light.
It was too late. The light had reached them. He could feel its searing breath hot on his back. His hand clenched, a choked sound escaped his throat.
Illumi turned back to the light. If there was no way out then confront it.
A Zoldirk would not cower before anything.
Right before the light swallowed him up, a strong hand gently closed on his.
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The world returned to him in the sensation of someone holding his hand. The warmth of that small hand calmed his heart, telling him to just lying there, enjoying the peace. But as the sense of danger crashed into him next, Killua snapped his eyes open in alarm.
He pushed himself up quickly. Darkness surrounded him from all direction, but he still could make out the faint outline of a body sitting beside him. Gon.
"Where are we?"
Gon didn't reply.
Surprised, Killua turned to his side. In the shadow, he couldn't saw Gon's face, but he felt painfully clear the trembles of the hand clutching his own.
"Gon… oh Gon…" The memories rushed back, and he hugged Gon hard, unable to say anything. Tears rose, but this time they could not fall. Gon did not cry, so he could not.
Gon was scared; he kept snuggling into his chest. Killua tried to calm his friend down while looking around. Normally his eyes could see well in darkness, but he saw nothing except the unending darkness. The energy level in the air was low but darkness covered his eyes like a thick scarf. Killua took a deep breath, clenching his hand around Gon. He had been terrified when he felt it, the godly, ferocious power on the altar. The fear had not gone away now, still clinging to his heart and poisoning his thoughts. Killua was rarely terrified of anything, except Illumi. Even when facing the most dangerous circumstances, he was calm; however, it was the calm that born from absolute self-trust, from the position of the strong who could saunter in the light since he had known clearly what lurked in the dark. But now, the realization that he was just a feeble, pitiful pawn in the game of the unseen forces had shaken him to the core.
Forcing himself to calm down, Killua checked their condition. He was not wounded, so was Gon. Illumi's nen cages must have protected them somehow; however its nen walls had reduced to several weak, thin layers.
"Let's go, Gon." Killua said and pulled his friend up. He squeezed the small hand in encouragement and pulled Gon to follow him.
Where to go? Killua didn't know. There was neither path nor direction in this darkness. But he just could not sit in a place waiting for whatever that had slaughtered the Ryodan members to spot them.
Killua had been walking for a long time when he saw a large open door ahead. On the other side of the door was only light. Not the cruel and threatening light he had saw on the altar, but a tender and inviting soft light.
In darkness, the door looked like it was floating. Killua hesitated. What should he do? The other side of the door didn't carry any threat, but it could also be a trap. He looked back at the long way they had gone, only to find a thick wall of darkness. His eyes traveled back to Gon. The weakened nen cages weren't strong enough to store his nen. They kept seeping out so he had to resupply them with his nen constantly. If he didn't find a way out, soon he would be exhausted. And then, Gon would…
Killua refused to continue that thought. He grasped Gon shoulders and looked deep into the confused and dull eyes. "Listen, we'll go there. Whatever happens, don't be afraid, all right? I'll protect you with my life. We will make it out of here, I promise."
Gon did not response. Those words were more like therapy for his stricken heart more than for the lost mind of his friend. The light on the other side of the door still invited them with a promising vision of safety. Killua breathed in deeply, and then lead both of them through it.
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The sweet fragrance of wild flowers mixed with the smell of wet soil, caressing his skin like silk. A bird chirped; its singing voice blended with the murmurs of a brook somewhere faraway into a light, happy song. Leorio groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He tried to sit up, but just stirring hurt. What happened? He tried again, but the pain won over his effort. He could only bring his body up only a little before he fell flat on his back. The grass did not help much. Their leaves were sharp, and some rubbed his hands and cheeks all the wrong way.
Grass? Leorio startled and blinked up at a deep crystal blue sky high above. Fresh grass rustled all around him. Tiny white flowers swayed in the wind, some even stuck in his hair and sleeves.
Why was there grass? Weren't they standing on the stone platform? Where was Kurapika? Worry rushed back with that name. Leorio grit his teeth and pulled himself up, finally succeeding after several tries.
It seemed he was no longer on the same mountain, because he was really stifled in the pile of thick coats he was wearing. Leorio staggered up and darted his eyes around, shocked as he found himself in the middle of broad grassland. The wind glided on the grass, blowing green waves far to the horizon. The doctor took off his winter clothes in difficulty as each friction of cloth against his skin hurt. As the coats fell down lifelessly on the grass, Leorio froze as he stared down at his shirt and trousers, all wet with blood. Quickly he took them off and checked his own wounds.
Whatever the massive power was, it had left two deep, long slash on his left arm, one on the right, three on his chest and back, one on his left leg. Not to mention many shallow ones around them. The strangest thing was that even though Leorio was bleeding, there were no holes or torn places on the clothes. The doctor was not the type who cracked their heads over trivial matters though. He just tore the clothes to tire the wounds up without any further thoughts. After another long moment of resting, he got up and started to search for Kurapika. Leorio was sick with worry. The boy had not been well on the mountain top, and now in an unfamiliar place his health could have turned for the worst.
The soft, murmuring sound of water lured him to his left.
There was no sign of Kurapika, but Leorio found a narrow river instead. The slow and gentle water carried on its stream the fallen flowers of some unfamiliar trees, offering travelers a taste of sweat serenity. Leorio walked down the river and sighed in relief as even near the middle, the river was only up to his chest. The water was clean enough, so he believed it wouldn't infect his wounds.
He advanced another stepped, and shouted in fright as he stared at the crimson flow around him.
He was wading in a river of blood.
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Hundreds… Thousands of graves surrounded him in the middle of a huge cemetery. Illumi had been walking for hours, but before his eyes were still unending rows of graves. Light-headed and confused, the assassin weaved through the graves to a dry, dead tree and sat down under its scrubby branches. His sore body demanded to rest; he had waked up and found himself stuck in this strange world with serious injuries and a terrible headache. Now most of the wounds had stopped bleeding and the headache had gone, but he kept feeling his mind going in circle like he was staring at the world through a heavy mist.
Illumi thought of getting up and continued to search for a way out idly; however, the thought melted away as quickly as a snowflake. The cemetery stretched out to the horizon, telling him it was pointless to struggle to escape.
And… Illumi rested his head on the tree bark. It was just so… peaceful…
Death was everywhere. Death leaked out from the graves, entwined with the wet smell of mud or rotten wood, and spread all over the ground. Death echoed in the ravens' song and carved into the lone sunset its dark existence.
It was sorrowful enough to make one's heart break…
But even as death closed in from all directions, Illumi sighed and closed his eyes, never feeling more content.
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The world rushed back in agony. The stained gray ceiling was the first thing Machi saw when she opened her eyes. She sat up, feeling like she had just crossed the border between life and death.
What had happened? Shouldn't she be on the Rolrick Trasfery? She remembered to go there with the rest of the Ryodan, and… A choked cry escaped her throat.
Shizuku… Sphinx…
Right before her eyes, they had…
No, she could not let it affect her, Machi pressed her hand on her face. Right from the beginning when they chose their path, they had always been walking in the arms of death. So there was no reason to regret. There was no reason to be mournful. Even if… there were things more horrible than death…
What had happened?
After Sharlnark deciphered the words on the pendants, they took the linguist's unbroken pendant, hired a plane and flew straight to the Rolrick Trasfery. As they reached the mountain, the Ryodan met with a city in panic
The mountain brightened up in a huge sphere of light, its edge nearly met with the level 2 barrier. Some of the guards at the level 2 ran back, only to vomit blood and died within an hour. The special city force, the unit directly under the mayor's command was dispatched to bring the remaining guards back, but they never made it to their destination. The unit consisted of carefully chosen men with good combat skills and high resistance to damage. However, all of them went berserk and lunged at one another, turning the rescue to a bloodbath. The hunters that had volunteered to help claimed something or someone was messing with their head. They all left, fearing that if they stayed, they would end up with the same fate as the mayor's men.
Ryodan felt the influence immediately, but they were much more powerful than normal hunters so they could handle it well. However, they could not get through the light wall around the mountain. It took them a while to find out that only with the pendant, a group of three or four people could pass through the light wall.
"Since this pendant is unbroken, there must be at least one sacrifice ritual left." Sharlnark told them. "We should bring the boy with us just in case. If anything happens, let him be the sacrifice."
So Shinzuku, Sphinx and Machi left, carrying the boy with them, confidently that they could find Idelian. The path up the mountain was hard, not because of its terrain but because of something, a strange, suffocating presence constantly striking at their minds. On the way, suddenly the pendant they put on the boy lit up, and they were enveloped on a huge white light.
Machi didn't know what had happened. She only remembered trying to reach her comrades through a haze of agony, and finally fainted, her mind numb with anguish as mutilated body parts fall around her like a rain of blood.
What about the rest of the Ryodan? Were they safe?
Machi looked around, desperate to find away back. The room she was in was a mess with piles of junks and rotten food leftover. Moss grew all over the foot of the walls and along the dry water streaks running down from the cracked roof. The wall in front of her had broken down, revealing a vast, painfully blue sky behind.
She must be in an abandoned skyscraper somewhere, Machi thought, stalked by a sense of familiarity. She dragged herself to the broken wall, dread of what she would see.
Below, tiny people roamed on dirty garbage among countless rusty and crooked thrown-away machine. Faraway, collapsed buildings and abandoned skyscrapers glared back at her; broken glass and steel poles tore the sky into shreds.
The city of the Shooting Star…
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Kuroro was not someone who only knew to wait passively in dangerous circumstances. He preferred to take the initiation and turn the table with his own strength. But now, he rooted in one spot with the open book hanging loosely in his hand, waiting for something to change. Anything.
It was not intuition that told Kuroro to wait. He simply couldn't decide what to do. The vast area around him was empty with nothing and no one in sight, not a single tree, not a single rock. A soft white light shone from a white, cloudless sky over a flat white floor. The unending whiteness blurred the horizon into blank space, so still and soundless that it made the dull scene of snow on the Rolrick Trasfery pale in comparison.
In his book, Kuroro had collected several treasure-hunting techniques but they had all failed to work. The searching nen waves spread out for miles, but none of them turned back, which also meant that there weren't anything blocking their way. The earlier power had disappeared and Kuroro detected no danger, but the silence world still made him tense in anticipation of an unclear approaching threat.
…
The whiteness sank even the sense of time. Kuroro felt that a couple of hours had passed, but it could be just a dozen of minutes as well. His hand rose to his forehead as a light headache suddenly attacked. Not only that, he could not concentrate and his eyes were slightly blurring. It was true that thoughts of Kurapika and Machi troubled him, but the way his body reacted was unnatural. Kuroro frowned, realizing the first symptom of being exposed to a large amount of energy for too long.
A noise startled him from his left. It might just be one of his companions, but before that thought could hit him, his strained senses had driven him into throwing nen blades in that direction.
"Stop! It's me!" The newcomer cried.
Kuroro turned around saw Roy heading towards him with joy painting all over his face.
Roy cried and jumped back, just in time to dodge the nen blade slashing down. The huge crack caused by Kuroro's attack closed and immediately returned to plain whiteness. The surprise on Roy's face turned into panic as Kuroro appeared in front of him, one hand clasped around his neck.
"What are you--?"
Roy didn't have the chance to finish his question as he was lifted up from the ground.
"Where are Kurapika and Machi ?" Kuroro demanded.
"...You..."
Kuroro squeezed harder, not enough to kill Roy, but enough to deliver pain. "Don't think I will hesitate killing you. You bring us here, so you must know where they are. Spill it out."
"...You are not..." Roy whispered, his voice lost and uncertain. His hand was no longer trying to peel off Kuroro's hold on his neck and now fell limply at his side.
Suddenly Roy raised his hand and slammed it down. Immediately Kuroro flung the other to his left. Roy pushed himself up quickly, one hand pressed on his bruised neck as he tried to regain his breathing, and the other held a silver knife defensively at his chest.
The book on Kuroro's hand opened. The air around them was thick with murderous aura, but none of them move. They both kept their defense, waiting for the opponent's next action.
A tear rolled down Roy's cheek. He closed his eyes, but tears still spilled over his eyelids.
"Why, Reficul…"
The knife slid out of his hand and created a dry sound as it hit the ground. Roy advanced towards Kuroro, his arms open and his defense dropped. "Kuroro, just kill me. I have even reduced to this resort… if I could not wake Reficul up, there wasn't any point in living anymore."
Neither Roy's unexpected attitude nor the strange name surprised Kuroro as he had faced them several times on their so-called quest. Still he held himself back. Roy might look hopeless and suicidal, but it could also be just another trick.
Suddenly Roy screamed and bounced over. He clutched his chest where a small blade appeared, gone through his body from his back. At the same time, a dry noise cruelly crushed the silence of the white world. Kuroro's calmness shattered in a second as he recognized the familiar sound of a steel chain hitting the ground.
The force of the attack pushed Roy forward into Kuroro. As a reflex, he took that body into his arms and slid down to one knee with the weight. His eyes left Roy to gaze up.
The blade stuck into Roy's back was connected to a finger by a thin chain. Kurapika stood before them, an arrogant smile on his face.
≈•≈
TBC...