A/N: So this chapter is freakishly short and I'm sorry for that. I just couldn't seem to sit down long enough to write it. I promise to make of up to you guys with an extra long chapter next time.
The sound of footsteps fill the vacant halls. The darkness is thick, saturated and syrupy as it curls around the two of them and nips at the small circle of light that follows them as they walk. The candle is smaller now than when they first started. It's nearly a nub, a waxy stub almost burnt to its final flickers of light.
Clementine is quiet despite how she would usually fill the silence with senseless chatter; she's busy picking through all of the horrible things she has done in her life to deserve being locked in the dark with Hisoka. She doesn't think she's done anything bad enough for the universe to punish her this way but honestly, there might be something she hasn't thought of yet. Can the universe punish people for things they haven't done yet or does that go against some kind of cosmic law?
She's not quite sure how long they've been walking, but it takes a few hours for a candle to burn out entirely so Clem assumes it's been at least two or three. Although, the candle she's been using to light their way through this horrible labyrinth was already missing a significant chunk of wax by the time she fell into the tower; so her estimate isn't as accurate as she would like it to be.
Numi is perched on her shoulder, talons clamped around her shoulder. She's lucky that his talons have yet to grow into the enormous razor sharp monstrosities that Felidae Strigiformes are known to develop in adolescence. He would have torn the flesh he's holding onto into shreds otherwise.
Numi spent the first ten minutes of their walking hissing at Hisoka and bristling whenever the magician would look away from the cards he shuffled in his hands to glance at him in interest. Clem has to hold back the urge to twitch every time she notices this.
She's pretty sure he's doing it just to irk her; that or Hisoka is honestly considering eating Numi, that if Clem is deciphering the gleam in his eyes correctly.
Actually, now that she thinks about it, he's probably doing a lot of crap on purpose just to be douchebag- like breathe the same oxygen as her. And have the audacity to use his longer legs to walk much quicker than she can keep up with without breaking into a mild jog. And be such a dick that he lets his aura seep out and make the air near them heavier with the pressure it exudes.
Honestly, if she had been unaware of Nen and auras, she would have collapsed from the feel of Hisoka's aura pressing down on her. As it is, she's ninety-percent sure that Hisoka knows that and is using his trip through the Trick Tower as a way to test just how much she knows about Nen. Hisoka doesn't seem to know about her sensing ability or how self-aware her aura seems to be, which is an extremely good thing for Clem. But that's probably the only good thing about this situation.
Hisoka knowing anything about her is bad- incredibly, incredibly bad.
The candle drips some wax onto her fingers and Clem glares at the flame.
"It's your turn to hold this freaking thing," Clementine says because she doesn't have any self-control when it comes to keeping her mouth shut and whoever says she does is a liar, "I've been holding it this entire time."
"Why in the world would I do that?" Hisoka smirks. His eyes are bright. He seems to delight in the way Clem's face twitches at his words. "It's your responsibility."
"And why is that?" Clem grits out and tries to hold back the urge to throw the candle at Hisoka's stupid smirking face. It's harder to fight the urge than it should be considering that doing so will most likely get her killed. The aches in her body twinge in remembrance of how easy it would be for him to kill her.
"It was your idea to retrieve the candle from the first room so it's your responsibility now." He brings a sharp nailed finger up, tapping his lips thoughtfully. He looks amused. "You're a big girl aren't you, Clementine? I'm sure you can deal with a little responsibility."
The hand not holding the candle twitches towards the blade on her hip. Hisoka seems to catch the aborted movement because his smile looks more delighted than mischievous now. Clem closes her eyes and blows out a long-suffering breath. Maybe dying will be worth it if she can just see the look on Hisoka's face after she wacks him with a candle. "What kind of bullshit logic is that?"
Sure, it was her idea to go back to the room they had first found themselves in for the candle that had been there when they arrived. But she doesn't see how that makes holding the candle her responsibility.
She tosses Hisoka a glare. "You just don't want to hold it, do you?"
Hisoka laughs. "Now, now, you say that as if it's a bad thing."
Ahead of them, the path splits into two different directions.
"Oh how fun!" Hisoka says cheerfully, spreading both arms outward in an dramatic sweep. "It's a game of choice."
They come to a stop at the split in the path just as the candle sputters out. The darkness that had been held at bay by the dim light surges forward, wrapping around them and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. As if partial lighting hadn't been had enough, now she's in absolute darkness with Hisoka. She turns her head upward in despair and wonders why things like to go so wrong for her.
Life really isn't fair. Where is the equality, the justice?
"What way do think we should go?" Clem asks in grumble. Hisoka might be serial killer weirdo but he's strong and something Clem has come to notice is that the stronger someone is, the better instincts they have. She's not above using this odd quirk of those stronger than her to make sure she survives.
Plus she doesn't want to be responsible for guiding them into a death trap so she'll leave up to him to decide where they should go-
"Why don't you choose?"
-or Hisoka could dump the responsibility of their lives into her wax covered hands without second thought.
"I don't really think letting me decide is such a good idea."
She can't see the expression on his face- hell, she can hardly see a foot in front of her face- but the way she has the sudden urge to scowl, makes her feel as if Hisoka is pouting at her in the darkness. His aura doesn't give much away; nothing besides anticipation for what path she chooses, at least.
"Now Clem," His finger pokes her cheek and Clem jerks back. She's not sure how he even knows where her face is but he has some freakishly sharp nails that she doesn't really want to feel jab into her face again. "It's not fun to give up before you've had a chance to take a wager."
Hisoka's aura is spread out in the air around them, which makes it infinitely harder for Clem to discern exactly where the magician stands in the darkness. If she narrows in on the cloud of his aura, focuses- heavy iron filling her mouth, saliva thick with sweetness of a candy she's never tasted in her lifetime, metallic and tartness combining on her tongue like an exotic new flavor- then Clem can faintly hold the outline of Hisoka's location in her mind's eye. The body always has a stronger, more potent concentration of aura than when it's released into the air.
She can visualize the way his aura clings to his skin, to each pore it languidly exudes from. In this way, she will not ever be truly blind in the dark. It takes a lot of concentration thought and doesn't do much to stop her from bumping into solid walls, so it's not as helpful as she would like it to be.
Right now, she's using this technique- this awesome extension of her ability- to know when to swat at Hisoka's hand like a petulant child when he pokes her cheek again.
"Stop poking me," She hisses and considers biting Hisoka's finger when it approaches her for a third time. "I'll choose a path, damnit. Just keep your pointy fingers to yourself."
The aura outlining Hisoka's body shows how he pauses minutely- though she can't make out whatever the expression on his face may be. She's not that good at this aspect of her ability; she's never really had much hands-on practice with it and hasn't really perfected it past the stages it's currently at.
"My life is in your hands," He says brightly, as if she didn't been stressed enough without his little comment. Clem is full of spite and ignores him, pretending she doesn't hear him and musing over what path they should take.
Clem's senses are telling her that on the path to the right there are various auras awaiting them, most of them strong enough for her ability to pick up on. The path to the left is clear of any aura signature but something in her gut tells her that it's too simple for it to be anything less than a trap.
She puts a hand to her chin, stuffing the tiny candle nub into her pocket because she's honestly not sure if it'll come in handy later. If she tries, she can imagine that everyone is here with her and what they would think about the fork in the path.
Clem is sure Kurapika would agree with the decision that the path on the left is too easy. Leorio would be saying something about the path on the right being the obvious trap if there are people there waiting in ambush. Hanzo and Gon wouldn't be very helpful either, excited beyond rationality about venturing into the great unknown of either path. Killua would be saying something snide and rolling his eyes at everyone's varying opinions on the situation.
Clem sighs. Even imagining her friends are there to help her make the decision isn't very helpful. If only this was one of Killua's stupid video games, that way she could just apply video game logic to everything and make her life easier.
Wait a second… Clementine pauses, blinks at the darkness surrounding her and smiles.
"I know which path to take." She says and turns, Hisoka's heels clicking on the stone as he follows her lead into the inky shadows of the tower.
The fist comes at his throat without warning, only seconds after the first round has begun.
Hanzo catches it in his palm, blinking at the burst of speed of the scarred man but not particularly impressed. His fingers curl about the fist and in a movement almost too quick for the eye to catch, slams the heel of his palm upward into the man's chin. Spittle flies out of his mouth, tinged red from where blood mixes with the saliva.
"Holy shit," He hears Leorio shout, "What the hell just happened?"
Hanzo almost laughs at the sheer shock in his voice.
"That was so cool!" Gon cheers from the sidelines, "You were so fast, Hanzo!"
"That was nothing," He brightly calls to the others, knowing that Clem would be calling him a show off if she was present. This simply the result of being a student of the shinobi arts for his entire life. It'd be more astounding is Hanzo hadn't been able to counter such a sloppy first attack on automatic.
The man lurches backwards, a large hand nursing his jaw and trying to move out of Hanzo's reach. He looks shocked at the graceful way Hanzo countered his attack, while simultaneously launching his own.
"The match doesn't end until one of us yields, right?" Hanzo asks, just to clarify, since he doesn't want to be the one to lose his match on a technicality. His opponent rubs his chin and gives a slow nod.
Hanzo scratches his cheek absentmindedly and grins. "That's simple enough."
On the sidelines, Leorio sputters in disbelief, "That was nothing, he says. That's simple enough, he says."
"Let me show you," Hanzo calls over with a chuckle.
The ninja blurs forward, appearing behind the man in the span of one blink to the next. Hanzo's face is devoid of the smile from earlier. His eyes are cold. He twists the man's arm behind his back, kicking the back of his knees with enough force for a loud crack to resound through the cavernous room.
The man drops to his knees swiftly.
"Do you yield?" Hanzo asks in a tone of voice similar as to how one inquires about the weather.
The man lurches forward, shocking Hanzo for the briefest of seconds into loosening his hold. He is willing to allow his arm to be wrenched out of its socket in order to escape Hanzo's grip. The man grits his teeth against the scream that his dislocated shoulder brings to his throat and without blinking away from Hanzo, forces it back into place.
"No," The man grits out between bloodied teeth.
Hanzo gives a small shake of his head. "It's valiant that you're holding on to your convictions even in the face of adversity but-" He steps forward, eyes locked on the man in front of him. "-I'll break your arm if you don't yield now." There is no tone of humor in his voice.
In the sidelines, even Leorio falls silent at his words.
There is a blur and suddenly Hanzo is besides the man once more, gripping the man's good arm in one hand.
"Will you yield?"
The man pales slightly but doesn't yield.
"I warned you," Hanzo says somberly before he swings his free hand down and breaks the man's arm.
"Next time, I will break your other arm."