A/N: Sorry for not updating guys...I've just not been into this story lately. This chapter isn't so great, I mean nothing really happens till the end. Just a reminder because I know I'll get reviews about this... This story was based off the 1999 anime, NOT the manga, and NOT the new version of the anime, so I guess it's kind of AU.

On a happier note, anyone who hasn't already should check my profile for links to Fern fanart! McDonalds ,I'm lovin' it!...the fanart I mean. So if you love me, you should hop on the bandwagon and draw Fern too! I may update faster...probably...maybe...hopefully...yeah.

Disclaimer: Do I look like Togashi? ...Don't answer that. Point is, I don't own HXH, but I do own Fern.

Chapter 20: Akulla

Five days later, Fern found herself standing outside the biggest, tallest, strongest gates she had ever seen, wondering how the hell that much land could possibly be owned by one family. She bet if she sold one 1/1000 of his land, she'd have enough money for a life time.

Rich bastards.

"Excuse me?" Fern asked, turning to the tour guide beside her with a polite smile. "Coco-chan? Can I ask you a question?"

The tour guide smiled at the small blonde. "Of course, honey! What would you like to know?"

"Um..." Fern paused, pretending to think. Then she smiled. "How do you get inside?"

The tour guide yelped in shock. "Inside? Weren't you listening? It's a bad place! It's dangerous! Honey, you don't want to go in there. "

"Please? Pretty pretty please? With a mushroom on top?" She sniffed and pouted innocently. "It's not like I'm actually gonna try it…" Yeah...totally, I'm totally not gonna try it...

Coco relaxed, but frowned. "But...no one who enters ever comes back out alive!"

"It's all a bluff," a gruff voice said.

Fern glanced up to see a burly man. A long, crooked nose protruded from his red, blemished-covered skin. Ugh, gross. I think someone needs to look up the word hygiene in the dictionary, 'cause he certainly does NOT know the definition. Nevertheless, she smiled. "A bluff? Why do you say that?"

The man smirked. "A phantom murderer family nobody's ever seen. If no one's ever seen 'em, can they be real? It's just a load of bull shit, that's what it is." She noticed the weapons he and the man next to him were carrying. They were bounty hunters, probably after the large bounty on the members of the Zaoldyeck family.

"Does that mean you guys are going to go in?" Fern asked, blinking curiously.

The burly man chuckled. "Hell yeah. We're goin' in and showin' those Zoaldyecks exactly what they are! Losers! We'll turn 'em in and riches'll pour outta our asses."

"In fact," his partner said, smirking menacingly. "Just watch. We'll show you now." He grabbed the gate's security guard and shook him until a ring of keys fell out of his pocket. "Piece of cake," he said. He tossed the man to the ground in front of Fern and Gon.

"Ouch," the man grumbled to himself as he rubbed his back. "Hmm. Mike will have something other than his usual food once more…" He sighed. "Ah well, I guess it can't be helped."

Fern frowned. Mike? Food?

Creak…

"Heh," the bounty hunter with the sword grunted as they pushed open the doors of the gate and stepped inside. "Now all we got'ta do is find those damn assassins."

The gates to swung shut behind them.

…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A terrible scream pierced the air. Fern paled. Gon stiffened. It sounded like…like… Fern swallowed…Like someone's being tortured.

A huge, furry paw opened the gates a crack and dropped something on the ground. The objects clattered as they collided with the ground. The paw quickly retracted and disappeared as the gates swung shut once again. Fern's eyes fell on the things the paw had dropped. Her breathing hitched.

"S-s," Fern stuttered. She swallowed, eyes staring at the pile of human bones on the ground. "Skeletons."

Her eyes ran other their cracked skulls, the picked-dry bones, and the gaping, empty black holes where their eyes had once been. Their flesh had been ripped from their bodies while they were alive…

Fern shuddered.

"Mike!" the security guard yelled from beside her, causing her to jolt from her thoughts. "The master has forbidden that you eat between meals! If you get fat, it won't be because of me!"

She blinked. …fat…? Her eyes widened slightly as she turned back to staring at the gate. What the frick? So two fat steroid-using hobos just walked into the Zaoldyeck's front yard, got eaten by this mysterious monster thingy, and this old dude is worried about his pet gaining weight. She blanched. Yeah. Uh, reality check needed much? I really don't think obesity is the problem right now. She frowned and rubbed her forehead. Is this 'Mike' thing possibly the Zaoldyeck's…guard dog?

The security sighed and stood up, shaking his head. "Never listens…" he mumbled to himself, grabbing a broom from his house and sweeping up the skeletons.

. . .

After the incident with the bounty hunters and the gate, the tour bus had driven off and left Kurapika, Leorio, Fern, and Gon stranded with the security guard. Then, the security guard, Zai Bu-Lon, invited them into his little building to talk.

"I see…" the security guard said, sipping his tea. "You are Master Killua's friends?"

They nodded.

"That's good to hear," he said. He smiled softly down at his tea. "This family is lonely. The only ones who come to visit are bounty hunters like the ones you just saw. I'm glad Master Killua has friends." He took another sip of his tea before placing the cup down on the table and sighing. 'However," he began, raising his eyes from the table to lock with the fours'. "I cannot allow you to enter."

Gon frowned. "Why not? We're his friends. Aren't we allowed to visit him?"

Zai Bu-Lon shook his head sadly. "You saw it too, didn't you? The paw of that enormous animal…That's Mike-the guard dog of the Zaoldyeck's. It obeys only the orders of the family—to kill all intruders- otherwise it's uncontrollable. Actually, more than loyal, it's greedy." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Anyways, I can't let you enter. Allowing Master Killua's friends to be reduced to bones…" He shook his head again. "I can't do that."

Fern narrowed her eyes at him. "If that's the case, why are you unarmed?" she asked suspiciously. "You must be able to enter somehow."

Kurapika nodded in agreement. "Why else would you have a key?"

"Ah, good question," he said. "But you are only half right. To enter," Zai Bu-Lon began, "I don't use this key. This is the special key for intruders. All these weird people proudly come up to the front door, and when they can't open the door, they try to destroy the entrance. It's annoying." He frowned. "So we built a door on the side with a lock, so that this way, intruders come to steal it from me, and I don't resist. Then they're killed and eaten by Mike. I'm only in charge of cleaning up the messes Mike makes."

"So…" Fern mused, narrowing her eyes, "on the real door, there's no lock."

He nodded. "Exactly."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down here!" Leorio exclaimed, bursting into the conversation. "What's going on? There's two gates? One doesn't have a lock?" He scowled in frustration. "That doesn't even make sense!"

Zai Bu-Lon just sighed and stood. "I guess it would be best just to let you guys see for yourselves then…"

"Then you'll take us to the real gate?" Gon piped, eyes glittering hopefully.

He nodded. "Yes."

Fern sighed as the group stood and began to file out the door, following after Zai Bu-Lon as he led them down the dirt path around the outskirts of the Zoalyeck territory, away from the fake front gate and towards the real entrance.

Who knew entering someone's house could possibly be so complicated a process?

She let out a sardonic laugh. I guess no one's coming to sell girl scout cookies here.

. . .

If Fern thought getting to the real gate meant they could actually go in this time, she was wrong. Because this time, even though it was the right gate, they had to actually open it. And as Leorio quickly discovered, that was no easy feat.

The doors were heavy—probably as a test, she assumed. There were seven doors to the gate, and the first one was two tons to open. The next one was four tons, and the third one was sixteen, and so on.

The first door was four thousand pounds.

Four. Freaking. Thousand. Pounds.

Fern had three words for them.

What.

The.

Hell?

Do they think we're superman or something? Fern thought to herself incredulously. I mean seriously, even on steroids, that's ridiculous. This is impossible! IM-POSSIBLE, I tell you!

But…apparently it wasn't, because according to Zai Bu-Lon, when Killua had returned he had opened three gates. Did that make her a wimp, or did that make him Chuck Norris?...No. Neither.

It made him Chuck Norris wearing a superman costume and chocolate underpants.

I need to talk to someone sane. Like, uh, right now.

A spontaneous urge to call Akulla on the phone overwhelmed her. She hadn't called him in a while and it made her insides jumpy. The more she actually pondered the idea, the more the thought tempted her. She hadn't called in literally, forever. Ugh…guilt was started to eat away at her stomach.

She couldn't help it. While a tomato-faced Leorio attempted to open the gate for the thousandth time, Fern turned away from the group, heading for the forest behind them.

Kurapika blinked. "Fern? Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna make a quick phone call," she said, waving around her ragged old cell phone for him to see. "Catching up with an old friend. Because I'm bored and I can."

And then she walked off, disappearing into the leafy foliage.

. . .

Fern rested her back against tree trunk as she pressed her phone to her ear. The dialing tone was ringing obnoxiously monotonously in her ear.

When the ringing finally stopped, Fern opened her eyes. "Hey, Akulla?" she asked. "You there?"

"Oh, who are you again?" Akulla's voice grumbled through the phone. "It's been so long. I don't think I can remember."

Fern groaned loudly. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry really, I'm just like, reaaaaaally busy. Empashis on the really." Then she perked up. "Wait! You missed me!" She broke into a grin. "Awwww, look at you, you missed me? Were you worried? Come on, admit it! You loooove me, Akulla looooves meeeee-"

"Shut up!" He was definitely turning red. He growled. "…Stop jumping to conclusions."

She laughed for a while, then sobered up. "Anyway…"

"Yeah," her friend's familiar voice crackled. "Need something, or just calling to talk my ear off again?"

"I don't talk that much! Geez…I just need to ask a couple of questions," she defended, pouting. "You don't need to be so stingy…"

She heard him sigh. "…What? What do you want?"

"I want information."

"On what?" He sounded tired.

"The Zaoldyecks."

She waited.

The crackling of the fuzzy speaker was all that answered.

Fern frowned. "Hello?" Why wasn't he answering? Bad cell-phone reception? "Akulla? Are you still there?"

"….Yeah, I…didn't hear," he said finally. "What'd you just say?"

"Um…" Fern mumbled, her frown deepening slightly. Akulla not listening? Now that was a new one. No, it's the phone, she thought, glaring at the clunky old thing. Always spazzing at the worst moments. Stupid piece of crap. It looks like I found it in a dump! …Which, I did. Whatever. She sighed, shaking her head. "I asked what you knew about the Zaoldyecks."

"The Zaoldyecks?" Akulla repeated. His voice was unreadable over the phone.

"Yeah."

"The Zaoldyecks?"

"Duh, didn't I just say that?" Fern rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to say it? The. Zaoldyeckssssss. Z-A-O-L-D—

"—Yeah, I know. I'm not an idiot. But, godammit Fern-Why?"

She furrowed her brow. "Why what?"

He sounded like he was gritting his teeth. "Why do you want to know?"

"Uh, because I'm curious?" Fern huffed. Her chest panged at the angry note in his voice. Was he mad at her? "Why? Is there something wrong with that? Why do you want to know why I want to know? Why're you being so nosy, huh? You think just cause I haven't seen you in a while you can be all mean and grouchy to me?"

"Fern! I'm not being nosy! I just don't want you getting into stuff you shouldn't!"

"What does that mean?" she asked incredulously.

"Look, I don't know why you want to know about the Zaoldyecks, but please, just stop! Whatever you're doing, stay away from them."

Fern's eyes narrowed. "Why?" she demanded. He knows something.

"I don't like it. It's dangerous."

Why doesn't he want to tell me? "So?"

"Just stay away from them!"

Why was he being so ornery today? Fern frowned. "I don't see why I should listen to you."

"Fern!" Akulla shouted. "I'm serious. Listen to me. You're gonna get hurt."

"You can't tell me what to do," Fern protested, her stubborn streak rearing its head. She scoffed. "Besides, what do you know? I'm older than you, and I'm not stupid. I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't!" he insisted. "If you knew what you were doing, you'd never even mention the Zaoldyecks. That's the last place you ever want to be."

Fern tensed. I knew it. "Really now? What do you know?"

"More than you!"

Fern's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know so much about this?"

Silence…

An exasperated sigh came from the other end of the phone. "…Fern, I'm serious. I really don't think you should do whatever you're planning on doing. It's not safe."

"What are you talking about?" Fern asked angrily, hiding the prick of hurt she felt behind a mask of anger. He doesn't trust me. Why is he keeping secrets? I thought we were closer than that…"You know what, I'm just going to hang up. You obviously don't want to talk."

"No, Fern, don't'!" Akulla yelled, his voice crackling in the speaker. But even with the buzzing and noise in the background of the phone, she could still hear the desperation in his voice. "Sorry!" he rushed out. "Really…sorry. But god, Fern, don't. Just…for god's sake, don't. Just...forget whatever you heard about the Zaoldyecks. And…And come back."

Fern's gaze softened. "…Come back?" Her voice was weak.

"Y-yeah," he breathed out. He sounded upset. "Please?"

"I dunno…" She sunk to the ground, picking at the grass. But Killua…."My friend…Um…I really need to do something." Before Akulla could protest, she opened her mouth and rushed to finish. "But I won't get into any fights, I promise."

"No."

"…Sorry," was all she said. I'm going no matter what.

Fern lowered the phone from ear, listening as his voice became quieter and quieter with growing distance.

"Fern! Fern! Answer me!"

Her finger hovered over the 'off' button.

"Don't go—

"See you," she said.

Click.

. . .

Click.

Silence…

"Damn it!" he swore, swinging out his arm and punching the wall beside him. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, god damn it all!"

He couldn't believe it. Fern was so stupid, so stubborn—such a reckless idiot! Why couldn't she listen to for just one time? Just this once—why couldn't she hear him out? Why did she have to be so freaking stubborn all the time?

His grip tightened on the phone in his hands until the metal cracked and shattered into a million pieces. Sharp ends cut into his skin, but he ignored the blood seeping from his hand. He let the phone drop to the ground, crushing the remaining bits of it with his foot. "God damn it, Fern!" He thrust his arm at the wall again, ignoring the stone as it crumbled above the spot he had hit. "Don't—

Smash!

-Freaking—

Smash!

-Go—

Smash!

-There!"

Akulla breathed heavily as he stood, hunched over with his head down and his black bangs falling over his face, shadowing his eyes. "Stay away from the Zaoldyecks," he muttered under his breath. "For your own sake, Fern, stay away from that family…" He choked on his own words. "Please."

Slowly, the boy let his arm drop back down to his side and he sunk to the ground until he lay on the dirt on his back. The wall crumbled beside him, but he paid it no mind, instead staring up at the sky from behind the cover of his black bangs.

Don't get involved with them, Fern…

He reached up and brushed the hair from his face.

You don't want to know my family.

. . .

Four years ago, an incident occurred in the Zaoldyeck house.

One of the sons ran away.

They searched and searched, but they couldn't find him. He had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Spelled forwards, his name was Alluka.

Spelled backwards…

Akulla.

. . .

.

.

.

PLOT TWIST.

By the way, it's the end of the chapter. Just...thought I'd let you know, if...like...for some reason you couldn't tell.

ANYWAY, the chapter was short because I am lazy. But did you like the end? Who saw this coming, or...I mean who didn't it was pretty obvious... But what do you think, like it, don't like it? What about Akulla's character? Predictions for the future anyone?

OOOOH wait, random idea ! Whoever posts the 300th review( because I am greedy) gets the chance to request a drawing of Fern (because I am narcissistic) which I will upload to deviantart. Uh if you are an anon reviewer and you get 300th I have no idea how to contact you. Yeah...just saying.

REVIEW PLEASE!