Disclaimer: It has reached the epilogue and yet HxH is still not mine. Tragic.


EPILOGUE


The night was extraordinarily peaceful.

There was no cloud in the dark sky, nothing to obscure the stars from performing their nightly dance for the unanimous spectators. Gentle breeze blew playfully in the darkness of the night, flirting with each other, as well as with the ocean and the grass and the trees. A mansion stood in a hill, overlooking the little town and the ocean. Inside one of its many rooms were a man and a woman.

The room was quiet except for the sound of Oud being played gently and with expertise. The melody was of an ancient tale that had long disappeared from the transient memories of humanity, but still it was preserved by her. She travelled the world, weaved tales and eternised them into all manners of melodies and songs. Untouched by the hands of Time, she continued watching over the world sleeplessly; watching and listening, weaving and singing tales. That was her role, and it was to be so until the world came to an end. She was Scheherazade.

Faintly among the fine tunes produced by the Oud was the soft tapping sounds of the pale sinewy finger of a man against a wooden table. He was sitting in a comfy office chair, his elbows rested on his desk that was of dark mahogany wood. There were stacks of books and papers on the table, as well as a set of stationery neatly arranged in its stand. Behind him was a long stretch of window that overlooked the ocean beyond the edge of the hill where the mansion was standing. He could see the horizon from his spot easily. Standing against the wall on the side of the table was a huge shelf filled with books of many subjects, though it was dominated with textbooks pertaining to Medicine, herbs and poison studies. The only natural illumination in the room was the pale moonlight penetrating the window behind him, but it was pale in comparison to the glaring light that the screen of the laptop on his desktop was emitting.

He was Lucian Virgiliu, the young Count of Wallachia and heir of the throne. He was a full-fledged vampire, but he was a person who loved humanity more than anything else. His eyes were supposed to be glassy and dull like a dead fish's, but they were exceptionally otherwise. True that they were of boring grey colour; almost pale blue in hue, but there were certain glints that rightfully never belonged to the living dead.

He stared at the screen for a while, tapping his finger contemplatively against the surface of the desk, before he finally lifted the said finger and pressed a certain button of the keyboard of the laptop. The woman heard this sound, and looked up. Her wavy black hair—which seemed to glimmer under the faint moonlight—bounced slightly. Her jade eyes looked at the vampire casually.

"Finally sent?" She asked huskily without stopping her fingers' play with the Oub.

"Yes." Lucian sighed contently and leaned back to his office chair. "Thank you for your assistance, Scheherazade. Without you, I won't be able to finish all these."

"Hm…" Scheherazade looked at her Oub and changed the melody she was playing. "I am the chronicler of Man's stories. No humans can hide their stories from me, so long as the world lives on."

"True. But I heard you are quite selective when it comes to picking the stories to tell and weave." Lucian said as he turned off the laptop and put it aside.

"But of course." She hummed softly as she tapped on the strings of the Oub. "However, I find it more interesting that you decide to write a particular story down into a book."

"Well, technically it's not me. I just sent their stories to my friend who's a writer by profession. She'll be able to transform my crappy writing into something truly marvellous." Lucian laughed softly and closed his eyes.

He recalled the efforts he had spent into gathering all the bits and pieces of their stories; from beginning until present day. He had no problem recalling the memories of them that he had during his journey with them, but he had no idea about their lives while he was not around. He had to ask people about them; and consequently he received countless account of their stories from multitudes of perspective. It was an astounding experience. However, Scheherazade was the main contributor to his writing, since she had long ago decided to record their stories as well.

"Why are you so involved with them, Lucian? Why are you so attached with them?" Scheherazade asked him softly. Somehow, the tune of her music had turned rather melancholic.

Lucian opened his eyes and looked at the exotic woman with golden honey skin. He shrugged at her questions and then reached out to take a certain photograph from his desk. When he looked at that photograph, his eyes softened and there was a soft glow that appeared as a stark contrast with his grim appearance and true nature.

"Why, I wonder?" He whispered dreamily.

He recalled that he had been attracted to Kuroro Lucifer since the first time they met at Abelard Constantin's place. The human gave off aura that was unlike any other normal humans. He was not exactly talking about the scent of his blood—odd as it was—but more of the man's personality. He had never encountered a human so enigmatic and mysterious like him; a loner yet sociable; gentlemanly yet merciless; a man of contradiction, a man of ruthless compassion. He wanted to understand him, to know what was going on in his mind.

However, the more he thought about it the more he was convinced that his involvement did not start there. The beginning was when he first saw Kuroro Lucifer with Kurapika Kuruta standing by his side at Abelard Constantin's party. He could foresee a storm coming at that time; with those two as the heart of that storm, and he could not bear to miss being part of that storm.

It was a very whimsical desire, but it was too strong to ignore…

Brooding mode? A voice; hoarse and vulgar, reverberated from nowhere and everywhere.

Hearing this voice, Scheherazade frowned but she remained unfazed with her Oub.

Before long, a wispy blue will-o-wisp appeared. It soon morphed into a solid shape of a little blue-skinned boy with bald head, save only for a small ponytail jutting from the back of his head. His attire was unmistakably middle-eastern, and he had a look of grand mischief on his face.

Oh, what's that woman doing here? He rudely asked while wringing his nose in mock disgust.

Scheherazae ignored him as if he was non-existent. She merely continued playing with her Oub, immersing herself in her own world. Irritated, the genie let out a string of curses in ancient language that only Scheherazade understood. If she was offended by it, she had perfectly masked it. In fact, a mocking, derisive smile graced her face; irritating the genie even more.

"More of a reminiscing mode. I can't believe it's been so long…" Lucian muttered wistfully.

I thought time is indefinite for creatures like us? The genie hovered about the room before finally flew behind the pale man and floated over his shoulders. He peeked at the photograph that Lucian was holding and his eyebrows shot sky-high. Is that them? And they have kids now. Blimey! I think my eyes are tricking myself.

"And to think that you were the one who put that, I quote: 'stupid bind', on them. How long has it been, Hassamunnin?" He put an elbow on the arm-support of the chair and leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand.

Like hell I keep track of time. But what's been going on?

"Things happened. It's been very lively. Too bad you haven't been around."

You aren't going to tell me what's happened, are you? It's all thanks to me that they end up like that, you know! The genie protested.

"But you leave halfway, so you forfeit your right to know. If you want to know, ask them yourself."

You do know that they're going to blast me to the next generation on the spot if I'm to appear in front of them…Hassamunnin murmured.

"Serve you right." He said with a snort.

Scheherazade's grin widened, but Hassamunnin was too busy fuming at Lucian to notice it.

Lucian, you scumbag!

"Mă rog (whatever)." He shrugged.

I bet you've looking at that picture like some smitten, blushing virgin 'coz you wish you have your own family and you wish you're still a human like them! Ain't I right? The genie scoffed rudely at him.

"Hassamunnin. Watch your mouth, or get out of my place."

The genie might be slightly older than the young vampire, but at the moment it was undoubted that Lucian was emitting a murderous aura that he rarely gave off at all. His voice was unusually steely. His eyes flashed dangerously crimson; they were so bright that they glowed eerily like a pair of ruby in the darkness of the room.

Scheherazade even looked up and regarded Lucian with a look of curiosity in her jade eyes. A smirk played on her lips but she said nothing. Hassamunnin gulped hard and decided to depart from the room with a rude farting sound as his parting 'gift'. Scheherazade's music once again dominated the room, and the tune had turned soft and calming. A few minutes passed, until the tension finally left the vampire.

"Are you sore in the heart?" She asked him gently.

"…I guess…" Lucian muttered solemnly, and Scheherazade could see the shade of wistfulness in his grey eyes.

"In that case, shall I lighten your heart?" She said huskily as she changed the melody of her music.

Different tune flowed, filling the small, dark room. It was not a jovial tune, but calm and tranquil. Lucian put the photograph carefully on the desk; as if it was a treasure, and put his arms on the desk and put his chin on his hand. He went back staring to the photograph.

The four people in the photograph were not exactly looking back at him, since it was a photo taken in a rush of moment—courtesy to Fino and her upgraded camera—but still it was his favourite one.

"Te-ai schimbat foarte mult (you've changed a lot), Lucifer." He whispered while poking a face on the photograph with his finger. "Cred că a început, deoarece te-ai blocat cu ea (I think it started since you got stuck with her)."

Scheherazade did hear those words, and she did understand those words. She understood all languages, considering her role in the world. She said not a word of it, and kept her counsel to herself. Instead, she kept drumming her fingers against the strings of the Oub, plucking them and weaving new melodies.

A beeping voice broke Lucian from his reverie. He took out his cell phone and was surprised to see Fino calling him. It was unusual for her to contact him.

"Yes, Fino dear?" He greeted her playfully.

[Lucian! It's twins! TWINS!]

He was quiet for a moment to give time for the ringing in his ears to die down, before he responded.

"What twi—oh. Oh. Aah…" He laughed out loud. "Then? How's their response?"

[Meta and Bia are absolutely thrilled. Kurapika almost fainted. Kuroro…laughed.]

"Laughed? Why on earth did he laugh?" Lucian blinked. Dear Lord, they seemed to already have their hands full with two children and now they were going to have more? And he laughed at that? Oh, maybe he was feeling masochistic at the moment.

A woman in the room snickered softly as she heard the conversation.

[Beats me.] Lucian could virtually see the girl shrugging. [Anyway, so far the ones who know about this are only the four of them, me, my family, Shalnark, and you. Kurapika made a really CLEAR point that she doesn't want anyone else to know, since she wants to avoid unnecessary hassles. She even made Shal swore not to say a word to the other Spiders. No fun…]

Suddenly, in the background of the call there was a shrill yell.

"So what's with that noise? Someone's going for Third World War?"

[Oh, that's Kurapika yelling at Kuroro again. Usually she's not this temperamental, but her mood-swings make things harder for her. Basically, Meta asked them why he has that mark on his palm that's identical to Kuroro's.]

"And what did they tell him?"

[Umm… I think something along the line: he's Kuroro's son…]

"Well, that's true anyway. So? What does that have to do with this fight?"

[Actually, they're not fighting. More like Kurapika taking out her frustration on Kuroro. Anyway, since Meta thinks of Bia as his sister, he drew the same mark on Bia's palm with permanent marker.]

"And Kurapika's frustrated because of that?" He asked incredulously. It was not like Kurapika to get upset over such small issue.

[Mood-swings, Lucian. Mood-swings…] Fino said with a sigh. [That said, do you have anything to erase that permanent marker thing from her palm?]

"I guess I can make one." Lucian shrugged. "By the way, how's it going?"

[Hm? You wanna hear?]

Lucian heard a shift, and then the next moment he could really hear the conversation going on between the Spider Head and the last pure-blooded Kuruta.

[You think this is fun, don't you?] Came Kurapika's growl.

[Should I not think so?] Oh, Lucian could so hear the chuckle in his voice and feel the temper rising in the Kuruta's head.

[You're impossible! Let me go, I'm going to get something to wash that stupid mark off her hand!]

[We have no such thing here, and I don't think any of the shops in this town sell something like that.]

[WHAT? Then how did the children get their hands on those permanent markers, in the first place?]

[My guess is that they are gifts from someone else.]

[Who?]

[Ask them.]

[Well?]

[Killua gave it to me when he visited last time.] Meta chirped fearlessly. It seemed that he was already used to this kind of situation.

[Why didn't you tell me?]

[You didn't ask.] His reply was straight and absolutely remorseless.

[What?] That was Kurapika's shriek.

[On the bright side, at least he's not lying to you, Kurapika.] There, the chuckle in his voice again.

[Tell you what? He starts talking like YOU!]

[Is that a bad thing?] Meta piped in innocently.

[W, well…]

[Good point, Meta.]

[Kuroro! YOU—]

There were muffled sounds of someone being gagged, and next was a kind of dragging sound, and last was the sound of footsteps on the wooden staircase, and finally there was a distant sound of a door being closed; presumably on the second floor of the house.

[Well, that's the end of the show.] Fino's voice came with slight regret. Lucian could tell that she was enjoying it.

"Let me guess: Kurapika almost cursed, and so Lucifer dragged her upstairs to continue their argument safe from the children's ears, while Meta and Bia have been watching from sidelines as if they're watching live movies, minus the popcorns."

[Bingo!] Fino exclaimed.

While Kurapika was not a foul-mouthed person, she had greater tendency to curse than Lucifer did. Actually, Lucian could count the number of time when Kuroro Lucifer actually cursed with only the fingers of one hand. That insufferable debonair always maintained his refined mannerism whenever wherever, and Lucian could guess that he wanted Meta to be as 'refined', therefore the 'spare the children from profanities' policy that Kurapika was more than eager to support.

[You know…] Suddenly Fino lowered her voice into a whisper and her tone turned conniving. [Once I saw Kurapika broke down into tears during her mood-swing—]

"She can cry?"

[Of course she can! What do you think she is?] Fino hissed at him. Scheherazade, on the other hand, rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay. My bad. Continue, please." He still could not imagine a female warrior like Kurapika crying for the life of his, though.

[And Kuroro was there. Actually, I was just passing by. When she started crying, I think Kuroro looked frightened for a moment!] At the last part of the sentence she started going into a fit of giggles. [You should've seen his face!]

Lucian was too dumbstruck to respond. Kuroro Lucier, frightened? That notion was absurd in itself—he was not even the least bit nervous when confronting the most infamous assassins in the world working in tandem to off him—but frightened upon seeing his woman crying? Okay, come to think of it, if he was to think hard, it seemed rather plausible an idea since this was Kuroro Lucifer he was talking about: psychologically unsound, remember?

"Oh, by the way, Fino. Since you mentioned Shalnark, it reminds me. How're things between the two of you?"

[Oh, I gotta go now. Busy, busy, busy.]

CLICK.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Lucian scowled at his cell phone. Fino always slithered out of the conversation when the topic of her and Shalnark came up. Who would have guessed that she was such a shy, sheepish girl when it came to marriage? Well, maybe he should have guessed.

"Cred că ar trebui să meargă acolo mai des. (I think I should go there more often) Am fost lipsă arată atât de multe de interesant. (I've been missing so many interesting shows)" Lucian said with a sigh.

Lucian put his phone on his desk, and then smiled. Things sounded really lively there. His eyes wandered to the photograph sitting on his desk again, and Hassamunnin's words rang in his mind:

You wish you have your own family and you wish you're still a human like them!

Lucian narrowed his eyes. He took the photograph and brought it closer to his face. The photograph of the weirdest family on the surface of Earth, consisting of individuals with odd predispositions—but the most important thing about them was: their understanding with each other.

He had always been afraid of forgetting how it felt to be a human, and so he kept on observing humans as long as he could remember. In his long years of observing humans, he had seen many groups of people—family, couples, siblings, brethrens—breaking apart in conflicts. Many of those conflicts were because of lack of understanding and acceptance of each other, and the lack of chemistry between them. Many people forced others to change the way they wanted them to. It was a folly.

Kuroro and Kurapika knew that they were different in many things, and they left it as it was without trying to change the others. They accepted the others as whatever they were, period. Like in a dance, they acted accordingly in synchronisation with their understanding of their partner.

Oh, of course they fought verbally. The scariest thing about their verbal fight was that sometimes they looked more like they were doing lawyers-fight in a court hearing. More often than not, he could not even comprehend what they were arguing about.

Was Lucian envious of them? Was he jealous of them?

Yes.

However, perhaps it was uncalled for. He had been there since sometime near the beginning of their Hassamunnin-fiasco (as Kurapika sometimes termed it). He had been with them from start until now. He had his parts of helping them (and getting them into troubles as well). Would it be presumptuous of him to call himself part of this odd family?

He hoped not.

Had Phoenix been there to tell him her reading of his future, she would have told him that in the months and years to come, he would be included in the photograph of that 'family'.

"Right! I'm gonna make a kind of solvent for that permanent marker incident, and then pay them a surprise visit!" He suddenly declared enthusiastically to Scheherazade as he put the photograph on his desk; on a spot where he could look at it anytime.

"Well…" Scheherazade continued with her tune ceaselessly. "I hope it goes well. Unlike the last time…"

Lucian froze when he was about to take his jacket from the coat stand. He gave Scheherazade a sideways 'now you are part of the 'bully Lucian' group, huh?' glance/frown, but she chuckled pleasantly at the response she got.

"Hmph. Well, see you sometimes." Lucian waved a hand carelessly and skipped his way out of the room.

Although the owner of the room had departed, the guest remained there. She kept playing with her Oub, her mind wandering together with her tunes. She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the world of tales in her mind.

Tales…Stories…They were her realm, her heart, her domain, her kingdom. Her self…

"Lucian, I weave not only the stories of humans, but ours as well…" She smiled gently. "Yours included."

Scheherazade's fingers were still plucking the strings of the Oub skilfully as she got up and strolled towards the open window of Lucian's office.

"I know your thoughts, I know your feelings. I hear them. I feel them." She inhaled the fragrance of night and closed her eyes, recalling the tales of Lucian's inner self. "You are lonely. You are sad. You love humanity, you long to be part of them."

Scheherazade turned her head to look at the photograph sitting on Lucian's desk. In her eyes, they were an awkward family. For those who did not truly know them well, they would call Kuroro Lucifer and Kurapika Kuruta as a mismatch. She turned to face the darkened sky of the night beyond the window.

"You are part of their stories, Lucian. We all are. But you have always been, and will always be." She whispered to the night.

Suddenly, the window opened by itself, and Scheherazade leapt. She stood on the windowsill, bracing the dark yet gentle world outside.

"Our stories never end even after death. They continue on, passed down to the next generations, into unending legacies. Stories after stories these hands have weaved and this mouth has sung. One stumbles upon another, one crosses path with another. Futures are built upon the clashing paths of individual stories, entwining their destinies."

She leapt from the window, but her feet never touched the ground, nor were the grasses disturbed in any kind.

She could see it; far away, in the middle of a mountain, in a little town, in a small house, in its kitchen. They were there, the two of them. The lamp was off, and the silvery moonlight illuminated their silhouettes. She was sitting in the chair; holding a mug in her hands, while he stood next to her; leaning against the kitchen counter. They were talking softly, and suddenly her eyes flashed scarlet. He chuckled, said something, and then bent down to her. Their silhouette collided, and then the moon hid behind the clouds.

The night was still. The wind blew, carrying soft, gentle words that danced with a certain melody.

Their stories still have not ended.

*** FIN ***


Author's FINAL Note:

AAAAAAND this is it. The End. Fin. ^o^ That 'twins' part at the end, it's a gift for my friend who has moved to Japan and settled there with her husband ^^ I know some of you may go !O.O! but please don't flame me. Things can happen and you never know… *run away and hide somewhere*

I especially thank those reviewers who had taken their time to give me such encouraging reviews. Even those who didn't review, it's okay I'm not mad at you *bashed in the head*

ANYWAY, it's been so long and I'm truly happy that I can finish this series until this far. I won't be able to do this without YOU guys. My deepest gratitude!

Feel free to tell me or ramble at me about how and what you feel about this series. Good thing, bad thing, about Kuroro or Kurapika or Lucian or Meta or Bia or Anansi or whoever else mentioned in this series: basically EVERYTHING. I'd like to hear from you readers, so that the next time I write something else, I can still improve from your inputs.

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, THANK YOU SO MUCH! *throw confetti, blow the trumpets*

Ps: I MIGHT post some one-shots under this title, if I get a very good story plot and if I have the TIME ^^

Ps2: I did this comic strip for the fight scene of Lucian and Hisoka in DeviantArt. Title is: HxH - Lucian vs Hisoka. Alternatively, you can get the link from my profile page =P