Long A/N is long: For plot (pffft what plot?) purposes I changed small bits of canon. If I recall correctly, Chrollo didn't know about Neon until Uvo got info out of that one guy. But here, I made it as though he's always cared. But, some people wanted the story to deviate from canon anyway. After this though, I intend on changing up the plot some more, or at least adding more events and interactions.
Aleta's future foresight is only up to the Election and the movie. I don't want to insult Togashi's genius by writing up what the new arc would be like, but given that Gon wont meet Ging, I honestly don't know what to do.
Edit 6-23-16: Boy I'm glad I held off.
Not Strong Enough
Chapter 25
Phinks had been nice enough to let her borrow his robe for the time being. Given her height and muscle mass, it wasn't overly large. However, she was still forced to stay in the cold, damp warehouse. Gon and Killua had it easy since they had a single member to worry about. And he wasn't even the fastest. Aleta had to deal with nearly all of them including the strongest, fastest, and smartest. Well, Chrollo may be the smartest, but Hisoka was extremely intelligent for a man that dressed like a clown and murdered people.
Aside from Nobunaga, Phinks and Hisoka, none of the other members seemed to care that she existed. Well, care was a strong word. They more or less just kept an eye on her and Hisoka just kept building card towers, but it was obvious he was probably thinking gore filled thoughts about her. In their moment of silence, Aleta had some time to think.
First, how she got back.
Did her fairy god mother take pity on her? Or did she have hyper trans-dimensional power that she just didn't know about yet? It made no sense. The first time was from putting her head down, the next was actually sleeping, and once again, sleep. It couldn't be sleep itself since she did that every day. Though if anything's for certain, Aleta never expected it on all counts of it happening. Just like when arriving back home, Aleta wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad. Not like her mom would miss her since time apparently didn't seem to move, though time still moved, though slowly, in the Hunter world.
A quick look around showed that most of the members were just doing their own thing. Was this really what it was like among the band of thieves?
Well, it didn't matter at the moment. They were keeping her alive, for now. Until she was out of their sights, she couldn't escape. If Hisoka hadn't texted Illumi already he was no doubt looking for her. Somehow, Aleta had to get away. The closest event was the auction, though even with over half of them gone, she still didn't stand a chance.
Winning them over to her side was just as useless as running away. Each of them were ready to kill each other at the drop of a hat. They cried over their comrades, but at the same time Machi would no doubt slit Hisoka's throat. Well, she seemed to dislike him anyway.
It wasn't until later did a car pull up outside.
Curiously, Aleta turned around from her seat on the ground to see a walking wig, a slender woman, and a handsome man emerge through the door way. A very, very handsome man. His eyes meeting hers caused an intense flare in her cheeks and prickles on her shoulder and neck. It had to be none other than Chrollo Lucifer, Pakunoda and the little person who's gender Aleta still didn't know. Might have been a boy.
"Ah, Leader. This is Aleta. Er, how do I explain this…eh?" Nobunaga stopped his introduction from the small squeak Aleta made when Chrollo took a step forward.
Aleta couldn't help it, she was on the verge of another nosebleed like when she first saw Illumi. The open shirt exposing his muscular build wasn't helping either.
"Hi-uh, hello, I-I'm Aleta. I, um…um…can see the future. And I sorta know you want what Neon Nostrade has. And I know about your nen book. And your Ben knife. And a lot of stuff. Pleasedon'tkillme. " she managed to sloppily piece together.
Nobunaga gave her an odd look before turning back.
"Yeah, we found her just lying here. I mean, we checked the area first, but when I looked over she was just there. Out of nowhere. Hisoka and Machi knew her, but she apparently knows all of us. Claims to see the future and wants to help you."
"Yeah! I mean, yeah. That's, uh, right."
Chrollo placed his hands in his pockets and observed Aleta a bit longer.
"Oh, and she was sorta almost naked too so she had to borrow Phinks' robe." Nobunaga added.
Aleta's face was probably a new shade of red itself. Women were of no concern to Chrollo, but something about him made her want to leave a not terrible impression.
"I know you'll be sending a few guys to the Auction, but, to prove that I'm not lying, I was going to tell you one thing about what was guaranteed to happen. Though the only condition is that Pakunoda can not touch me."
Chrollo placed his hand over his mouth in the same matter he usually did when thinking.
"Well now, that's certainly an interesting offer and ability."
Only Hisoka knew of her real ability, and Machi may or may not have known as well. Though the likelihood of her actually knowing was low. Chrollo must have been wondering why she admitted it so easily, if it was tied to nen, he would no doubt try and steal it, but to offer so easily gave the high chance of her hiding her true nen ability. And in order to steal what she could do, she'd have to show him herself.
Aleta would be forced into a sudden course of blood bending if forced to fight. Though such a huge power had to have some sort of conditions to be met. If Aleta was going to defend herself by using the water in people's bodies, she'd have to probably get a hold of the blood itself.
Of all the times to suddenly think of a good strategy it had to be now.
"I'll allow it. This might prove to be a bit of fun. For now, though, we will move to another location."
Aleta could feel their gazes down to her bones, but she dealt with it as long as it meant staying alive for a little while longer. Now her main priority was to figure out just what she was going to tell them. It had to be big, and absolutely set in stone to happen. But what exactly?
The walk to their new location had been a brief one. It was getting dark, and everyone had their own place in the broken down complex. Aleta had taken to sitting on a fallen pillar, just in everyone's sights but not too close to anyone. They conversed as though Aleta wasn't even there. That was until, Chrollo addressed her, causing Aleta to flinch.
"Regarding your offer, tell us what will transpire at the auction."
"The items will not be at the auction." Aleta said, nervously twiddling her thumbs to suppress the trembling and hopefully any future stuttering.
"Huh? What kind of prediction is that?" Uvogin voiced loudly. He and Nobunaga seemed to be good at that.
"That's all I'll say. Proceed as you intended, but you'll see what I mean when the time comes."
Chrollo looked thoughtfully at her, then nodded.
"Well, let's see what happens."
"Hey Leader, you sure?"
"You question order Nobunaga?" Feitan warned.
"No I'm not, it's just abnormal is all."
"And since when have we been completely normal?" Shalnark joked.
"Hey, um, Feitan?"
The short man looked her way.
"What you want?"
"I'll answer your question when you get back since Franklin nor Shizuku will tell you. It's sort of a funny thing." Aleta had no idea what she was doing, but the guy didn't even know what family was. On top of being their temporary fortune teller, she could at least see his reaction. If she really was stuck with them until the whole arc ended, then at least she could attempt to have a little fun. And hey, maybe she'd get a taste of the beer they all love so much along with a cigarette too.
Livin' the kool kidz life.
Aleta held in a burst of laughter.
Yep, she was going to die.
Those assigned to actually go to the auction hurried out and those remaining stayed put. Looking up, Aleta watched Hisoka idly shuffle his cards. Chrollo seemed to be deep in a book, and everyone else sort of did nothing. They really were boring, it's no wonder that they were at each other's throats so much.
Unlike the rest of the people there, Aleta had sort of gotten used to the internet and all its pleasures so quiet time was not in her vocabulary. However, it had been too long since she had used her body properly, so she decided to pass the time meditating. Aura flowed sloppily due to mental disuse and encircled around her more like mud instead of warm air.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Pakunoda questioned.
"O-oh, well, I thought I'd try some meditation to pass the time. I'm really bored. But I know when I'm outmatched, I'm not trying anything, honest."
"Pass her a book Paku." Chrollo said without looking up from his own.
"Um, I'm liberate. I can't read anything aside from simple signs. I can barely write my name." It wasn't exactly a lie, but a few months of living in the comfort of English did that to a person. Not being able to read or write must have been heavily frowned upon or something since she kept getting odd looks to everyone she admitted it too.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. You can meditate."
Pakunoda looked like she wanted to protest, but gave in to her leader's decision. Chrollo may have still been trying to analyze her to see what her true power was. No doubt he'd probably steal any ability no matter how seemingly useless. But what he didn't know is that she had the ability to change the future, and no one could steal that.
Maintaining a proper aura around herself was like trying to slip into a pair of well worn heels after wearing flats for so long. It was uncomfortable, you stumbled a few times, but eventually you got back into the swing of it. The sound of a cell phone ringing caused her to drop what she was doing and pay attention since it seemed to have come from where Chrollo was.
He was silent then gave Aleta a long stare.
"My, it seems as though you were right. Now, would you kindly share where the items could possibly be?"
Blushing once more under his gaze, Aleta turned her head.
"I said I would only tell you one thing. And it came true."
"You are right, however, it could be that you were planted here by the mafia. You could be playing dumb for all we know."
He did have a point.
"Just tell them to keep heading to the desert. After the mafia attack, they'll run into the one who's responsible for all the items."
"Did you hear that Uvo?"
Aleta could imagine what the conversation was like. Full of angry questions and some death threats her way. Just the way she'd always wanted to spend her whatever day it was. After hanging up, Chrollo addressed Aleta once more.
"So, will the mafia win?"
"It will be a one sided fight. None of the guys with guns will stand a chance. Or a bazooka, or sniper rifles."
"We'll just wait and see what happens until then."
Right, more and more waiting until the next plot point happened. It was times like these where Aleta found entertainment in the things most likely to kill her. At least during the Hunter exam she had some bit of protection against the two Troupe level applicants, this time it was pure life or death.
"Hey Pakunoda." Aleta called as politely as possible.
"What?"
"Do you by any chance have an affinity with cats?"
The question seemed to hit close to home as her eyes widened by a fraction, but narrowed as the woman brushed Aleta off.
"It's not your business if I do or not. Besides, you're the one who's supposed to know everything, right?"
"Yes, right." Aleta sighed dejectedly. She was so bored, and she couldn't work on any significant nen practice with everyone monitoring her every move even without them looking. The tribal man, long haired one, and Hisoka were her only other options for company. Even Shalnark would have played cards with her. She did still have on Phinks' robe, that was enough to be a conversation starter, but until she was allowed to leave there was no way she'd give it back. Not to mention the permanent wedgy she had was killing her.
In her struggle not to pull the cursed thing out, she settled for pull ups while hanging onto a long pipe jutting out of the side of a pillar. Chrollo raised his hand before Pakunoda could say anything. Aleta couldn't help it if she was restless. Her body was just bursting with energy given that her on Earth, she wasn't a fifth as strong as she currently was.
By the time Chrollo's phone rang again, Aleta was close to attempting gymnastics until Pakunoda shot her out of the air. The dark haired man gave Aleta a glance, no doubt they were talking about Uvogin.
"Well?" Chrollo inquired as he looked her way.
"Don't worry, they'll rescue Uvogin." Aleta climbed back to her former seat. "But he's not gonna want to come back"
"We'll see then."
"After this can I go back to my hotel? I honestly just want to put some actual clothes on and Phinks' robe smells like smoke."
Chrollo was taken aback at how this girl went from stuttering and about to fall to pieces to bored and speaking to them like equals. Time and time again she had been right, and it didn't appear that she had any intentions of harm their way. Aleta silently prayed that he'd listen. She wasn't used to living in garbage all her life so only the mercy of whatever deity that ruled this world help her.
"I see no harm in it. Hisoka, take her back to her hotel and come right back."
"Sure thing, Leader."
The way Hisoka let the word draw out seemed more like he was teasing, or maybe they were just used to him acting like that. Either way, Aleta was still trapped until she was alone and positive she could get in contact with Kurapika. Pakunoda seemed as though she wanted to express her disapproval, but only pulled a scathing glare when she and Aleta's eyes met. For once Hisoka was the lesser of the two evils and Aleta made sure to hurry out of the place by his side.
Ah that's right, she'd have to tell Feitan about family another time.
A/N: [vomits externally]
This is turning out to be a complete mess. Oh god, what have I been writing? I think the imposing brick wall called apathy/writers block/being brain dead is looming right in front of me. Any and all ideas are welcome as long as it doesn't involve shipping. I don't feel like writing crack pairings right now and there will be none in this story.