Notes: not sure if i mentioned it, but this chapter and the last are happening pretty much simultaneously timeline-wise. just from different perspectives! warnings: gore, hallucinations(?)


A soft buzz catches Athena's attention.

"Looks like Nobunaga already lost those kids," Franklin says monotonously as he looks down at his phone; presumably at a text from Bonolenov, who stood at the base to keep watch.

"What kids?" Shizuku asks plainly. {YES, I know jokes about her poor memory are tired, but I had to)

"Hasn't even been that long." Franklin scoffs as he slips the too-small phone back in his pocket.

A small, content smile sits on Athena's face. She gently inhales and exhales through her nose.

The Troupe is assuring that the auction isn't going to be canceled tonight, so Athena knows for certain the dairy will be in her hands soon. Then, she can move on and go back home.

Being with the Troupe is fun, exciting, and dangerous—but she really needs these curses removed.

"Word from the boss," Shizuku announces.

Franklin and Athena await the message.

"He wants us to go to the Cemetery building." She continues.

"Ah, we're about four blocks away from there." Athena answers.

"He says to make it a big show," Shizuku adds, and Franklin huffs in content.

"Then it's finally time." He smirks.

"Theatrical revenge, hm?" Athena hums. "I can get behind that."

The three of them walk close enough to stick together, but not close enough to be classified as a group. Athena walks just behind Shizuku and Franklin.

Despite her lack of sleep, there's a skip in her step—it feels like everything she's been working for will pay off soon.

She suddenly comes to a stop when someone turns the corner of the building and stands directly in front of her.

Athena would have walked around the person, but they're staring right into her eyes, unmoving. She stares back at the tall figure, breath steady.

There's no malice in their aura, no ill intention.

The individual standing in front of her is cloaked in black cloth, with only their face and hands uncovered. They have the most alluring black irises, so wide you could barely see the whites of their eyes, and pale dewy skin.

It feels like minutes—hours—are passing by, but Athena can't look away.

"Show me what you can do." The figure says, finally.

Athena slowly tilts her head a bit and furrows her brows. Breathing comes a little harder.

What?

As if they're reading her mind, they clarify.

"Show me your strength. Impress me." Their smooth voice slows and echoes in Athena's mind.

Almost in a trance-like state, Athena begins to feel like she isn't in her body anymore. Like it's a weird dream and she can barely make sense of what's happening. Separated from herself.

Slowly, she slips.

"Show me you're worth it." They continue.

The pale individual holds out a card to Athena—no, a photo.

Athena is unable to grab it. She can see it, though.

She focuses so hard it makes her feel nauseous. Three figures and a whole lot of blood. It's… some people murdered.

Terrance, Nautica, and José are in the photo.

Their throats are slit messily as they lay lifelessly on the floor of wherever the photo was taken.

Her outward appearance is lax and unemotional, but inwardly she's horrified by the sick picture. She looks back into their black eyes and wishes she could kill them right now.

Athena slips further.

They continue to stare into each other's eyes. The pale figure's lips start to move again slowly—they're saying something, but Athena doesn't hear a thing.

And all of a sudden, she jolts back to reality. You know, like when you're falling asleep and then you get the sensation that you're falling so you jolt awake?

Athena feels completely normal again—and no one is in front of her except for Shizuku and Franklin. She stands still as her eyes scan the area.

What the hell just happened?

Is my family dead?

On the floor, she sees the photo—except now it's a blank, white card. She checks the back of it just to be sure. Nothing.

So, just an illusion?

She clears her throat and dusts off her sleeves. Athena knows she's been sleep-deprived these last few days, but did she really just hallucinate and then fall asleep while standing up?

That was just… a little too weird, though.

"Athena! Catch up!" Franklin says from up ahead.

Noticing that he isn't too far from her, she realizes that the hallucination must not have been too long.

"I need a damn nap," Athena whispers to herself.

She lets out a sharp breath and touches her head momentarily before she runs to Franklin and Shizuku, nearly stumbling over but gracefully saving herself.

"Let's go, we're late," Franklin says as he turns and continues to their destination.

"Wait," Shizuku exclaims before summoning Blinky and smashing in the window of the nearest car, "this'll be quicker."

"Great thinking," Athena says. She unlocks the door and hops in, hotwiring the car as swiftly as she can.

Franklin insists he'll drive since they'll be heading straight into a war zone.

The short car ride forces Athena to think about the photo—er, fake photo.

Why of all things did she imagine that?

She thinks back on what happened. The hallucinated being said, "show me you're worth it" and "impress me."

Athena sits in the back seat, and during the short drive, she has to make quick work of forgetting it. She could have a long slumber and dissect her delusions later.

Right now, she focuses on her aura. It's calm and flows steadily before a switch flips and then it's strong and protective, like a titanium wall closely shielding her body.

She's impressed with how fast she can focus and maintain the strength of her aura.

Dad would be proud.

No disguise, she's ready to face this head-on.

Franklin and Shizuku do the same, preparing for the inevitable chaos that is about to ensue.

Franklin steps on the gas pedal as hard as he can without breaking it and drives straight through a barricade from the auction's vehicle checkpoints.

Employees and mafia members are startled and confused. The latter is ready to fire until the car crashes and explodes, thanks to Athena per Franklin's command.

With no hesitation, Franklin activates his Double Machine Gun.

It doesn't take long before the three are identified as enemies, and a group of mafia members shoots mercilessly at them, to no avail. Franklin blasts them with ease.

The mafia members swarm in, taking advantage of their accident. Franklin turns to a group coming from one side, and Shizuku stands safely behind him. Athena takes the opposite direction far enough to not worry about harming them with her attacks, but they're still close enough to have each other's backs.

An arriving mafia car speeds down the street, barreling towards the three. Word hasn't gotten around quickly enough, so they don't immediately recognize Athena as the threat. They try to slow down and stop before they hit her.

Had she been a random civilian, they would have hit her. She gets a firm stance on the ground and forces the car to stop with her hands, leaning against the hood of the car and staring the men down.

The men who have just slammed their noses into the dashboard from the abrupt stop are confused momentarily, but that doesn't last long as Athena plummets her fist through the hood and into the engine, using her fire to cause the car to explode.

A group of mafia members flood out of a nearby building, having heard the commotion. They take their aim at the three, communicating with each other to maintain an effective offense.

Athena picks up a lone tire from one of the destroyed vehicles and chucks it swiftly, as easy as if it were a frisbee. The impact alone takes two men out of commission.

The other three shoot at her simultaneously, mostly missing. One bullet Athena catches like a fly between her hands. Her aura prevents most of the damage, but it'll likely still leave a small bruise.

Coating the bullet with her aura, she flicks it back to them and creates a small explosion, breaking the glass to the building's door and rendering the three men useless.

She exhales sharply.

Franklin has taken care of his side, noticeably when the sound of thunderous bullets ceases. It's time to move on.

They walk further down the street, closer to chaos.

Pakunoda and Shalnark are surrounded by a group of men strategically shooting at them. Their movements are slight and graceful as they dodge bullets and shoot back.

No matter how awed she is witnessing the Troupe's true talent, she knows she can't dwell on it for too long.

Athena looks around for any enemies that have not been given any attention.

Safe behind a wall, two men with assault rifles take cover as one of them call for backup—they understand that they need it desperately, and fast.

As he completes the call, he looks up and realizes one of the criminals is standing in front of him, an eerily calm look upon her face.

"Lonely?" She mutters.

Promptly, he raises his gun to her, but Athena is quicker. A Nen sharpened hand allows her to slice both their guns cleanly in half, rendering them useless.

The mafia men are fighters, though. Just because they don't have their guns doesn't mean they give up. One of them brings back their fist and throws an impressive punch aimed at her chin.

His forearm slices clean down the middle, from his middle finger to his elbow.

Athena holds her hand up, which is still sharpened with Nen. His blood drips down her forearm and off her elbow. Her hardened facial features do not falter as the man screams in agony and tries to hold his arm together with his uninjured hand.

"Show me you're worth it, or their deaths will be for nothing."

Athena freezes, muscles tensing in disbelief.

"What did you say?" She turns her head to look at the other man.

Oh fuck. He feels small. Or is it that she suddenly became bigger? It feels like she's choking him but clearly—she isn't even touching him.

Athena lunges, gripping him tight to keep him still and closes in on his neck, opening her mouth wide and biting down hard. The crack of cartilage and the squish of muscle are audible before she pulls back. A thick coat of blood spills intensely from his throat.

All happening in only a second, she immediately spits it onto another man's face.

The warm redness drips down her chin. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and licks her lips.

Why does it taste as good as cherry?

The man she spits the flesh at cries out in disgust and wipes his face with his uninjured hand before turning to run, trying to salvage any of the time left in his life.

Athena breathes hard, body shaking in anger, "Come back!"

She makes quick work of him, clawing down his spine and leaving him to die on his own.

Stuck in place, she huffs out quick breaths and contemplates what the fuck just happened.

He… he said…

Her hands ball into tight fists and she screams out a scratchy, guttural cry filled with both melancholy and wrath until her throat is sore.

It's true, isn't it? They're dead. They're dead they're dead they—

Her face feels hot, she wants to explode. She can't think straight.

There are several moments where the only thing Athena can register is the pounding of her hear in her ears like drums.

Her pupils are blown so wide, one might see hell if they look into them for too long.

At the corner of her eye, she sees the pale figure. Quickly, she looks but nothing is there.

Just her peripheral vision playing tricks on her.

She flares her Ren, and her aura burns around her body like a deadly fire.

Athena is fire.

Before she knows it, she's back on the battlefield. She wants to feel their bones crack against her knuckles and smell their blood spill. When she moves, her aura burns the men near her and causes cars to explode so that no one except the Troupe is safe around Athena. Her stamina is seemingly endless, pumped on by her thundering adrenaline.

The blazing fires practically light up the night.


There is no one left around Athena. Faintly, she can hear gunshots at the other end of the block.

She finally catches her breath. How much time has passed? Everything seems too quiet and calm now, even her heartbeat.

Her mind begins to clear, and she thinks for just a second, and—

"I think I'll have you."

Athena's head whips around to find the source of the voice. Her muscles tense and she's ready to strike but—

Nothing makes sense.

No one is around. More importantly, why did the voice sound like it was literally in her ear?

At this point in the night, she cannot muster any aura stronger than Ten. She drops to the ground and her knees skid roughly against the pavement.

This whole time, has that voice been in her head?

What the hell is real?

Okay, so… If that wasn't anyone...

Athena inhales.

That means I'm just very tired.

She holds the breath in.

My family is safe, at home. They're safe. They're—

"Athena," Pakunoda says softly. When Athena turns her head, Paku is holding out her hand.

Athena exhales, finally.

She smiles ever so slightly, and they get a firm grip on each other's wrists. When she helps Athena stand, they walk through the aftermath of the Troupe's revenge.

Safe.

Only the crackling of the blazing fire and the whistling of wind can be heard on the streets as the group of bandits come together.

Two-thousand mafia men, dead.

By the hands of eight people. Kortopi didn't contribute much, and Hisoka disappeared right when the action started.

However, Hisoka's back now. Some of the group members side-eye him.

Athena leans against a tree and sighs. The amount of expended aura is finally catching up to her, full force. Though she will admit, she feels better.

Pakunoda undresses and replaces her own clothes with an expensive black dress—courtesy of Kortopi, who copied it off of some woman in a nearby building.

Machi turns, sensing someone nearby. She relaxes when she sees who it is.

"Danchou," Phinks says happily as he notices him too. He looks Chrollo up and down. "Are you alright?" He says, referring to his ragged, torn clothes and dirty face.

Chrollo cracks a smile and chuckles a little. "Yeah, just a little tired is all."

"You did go up against the Zoldycks," Shalnark says.

"Ah, I wish I'd been there to see," Shizuku adds. Athena's eyes close as her body further relaxes against the tree.

"Kortopi, are we all ready to do the next step?" Chrollo says as he steps closer.

The smallest troupe member nods, as they'd discussed it previously.

"We'll stick to the plan, then," Chrollo says. "Also, don't touch the ambulance that's carrying that girl."

Athena's eyes open—she knows what girl he's talking about. A bubble of anger sits in her throat, why should she get to live? She's as bad as the rest of them.

However, she will obey Chrollo.

As long as I'm here.

Through her anger, Athena doesn't realize that Kortopi has already begun making copies of the Troupe members who were on the "wanted" flier, plus Chrollo.

Kortopi stands in front of her now. She brings her attention to him, and the small hand he holds out to her. She gives him her hand, and Phinks snickers.

"Get your head out of the clouds." He says to her.

"Sit," Chrollo commands.

Athena complies, dropping to the grass. She glances up at Kortopi ever so slightly.

He brings his hand over her head, and the other hand to his side.

"Wait," Pakunoda interjects. Everyone brings their attention to her. "She was disguised in the flier." She continues.

Chrollo hums in agreement. "Hisoka."

Athena and Hisoka look to each other. She sticks her tongue out at him and he holds back a light chuckle. He approaches her and uses his Texture Surprise to make her hair and irises bubblegum pink, just like he did before.

In almost no time, a duplicate of Athena falls to the ground under Kortopi's other hand. As quick as he placed it, Hisoka removes the Texture Surprise.

It's weird seeing other people's lifeless duplicates on the ground, but it's especially creepy to see one of herself. It's nothing like looking at a twin.

She almost doesn't even recognize the body. And with the amount of dry blood splattered on their face and arms, it already looks dead.

This reminds her to lick her sleeve and wipe her face, but she does a horrible job at cleaning the blood off. Good enough that no one would scream and run at the sight of her, though.

Athena turns her head when she hears the cracking sound of Chrollo ripping off his duplicate's arm.

"I never thought I'd see that." Shalnark chuckles.

The other members who have a duplicate begin to damage them, staging it to look like they died from their wounds. They can't get too crazy, though.

Athena stares down at hers. She knows she needs to keep the face identifiable, but she literally cannot stand it staring back at her.

She opts for a single bullet to the chest.

They scatter the six bodies, and that's that.

Within minutes, they find their way to the room with the merchandise.

The auction will soon begin, thanks to Illumi manipulating the Ten Dons into assuring every fool in the building that the notorious Phantom Troupe leader is dead.

There's a hum in the large room of approval and victory. Athena scoffs.

Dumbasses.

The members who were not on the 'wanted' flier dress into suits, so they can move around the building easier and still fit in.

Hisoka approaches Athena and leans against a merchandise crate next to her.

"So, where is that precious item you went through so much trouble to get?" Hisoka asks slyly. "You know, the one you said will give you the strength to have a decent fight with me?"

Athena side-eyes him and then sighs. "Chrollo hasn't given it to me yet."

Hisoka scoffs. "You're almost more obedient than official troupe members."

"Whatever."

"It's bound to be here somewhere. Just get it yourself~" He says.

Athena is silent and unmoving for several seconds.

Eventually, she walks to the other end of the room. She doesn't have the energy for that right now.

The diary is up next to be auctioned. Feitan is the one to find it hidden in the boxes.

Like all the other items, Kortopi duplicates it and Pakunoda sends the copy out for display so rich assholes could bid on it.

The announcer shouts in the other room, but Athena can barely hear. The combination of his voice's fluctuating volume and the noise inside the merchandise room makes it hard to hear the full description.

"Made from items only found in the deepest part of the ocean" … "exclusive details regarding a rare magical beast species!" … "authenticated by Deep Sea Hunters!" … "also been confirmed that it includes" … "Starting price is 100 million!"

It's all she can hear, but she gets the gist.

Most likely, Magical Beast Hunters and Deep Sea Hunters among anthropologists are bidding for it.

Chrollo is already next to Kortopi when Athena arrives, hoping to receive it.

The leader holds two of the diaries. One in each hand.

"You made another copy of it?" Athena asks Kortopi.

He looks up at her, round eye blinking once.

"I'm quite interested in reading this," Chrollo says.

"So long as I get the original."

Chrollo smiles and holds out one of the diaries.

"How do I know that's not a copy?" She asks.

He laughs softly. "Why would I bother showing both of them if I intended to deceive you?"

He's subconsciously already accepted Athena as a part of them, now. There's no need to play games with her anymore and give her a hard time. More or less, he's figured her out.

She takes it and clutches it to her chest.

The second it's in her hands, she can tell it's the original. She's never held it before, but it has its own aura as if the book were alive and reacting to Athena's touch.

"Thank you," she says, bowing her head ever so slightly. He responds with a hum. Athena walks away, to look at it in private.

The diary.

In her hands, bound by a strong seaweed that still looks fresh, even though that should be impossible.

She opens it and mindlessly flips through the pages, which aren't made of paper, but rather something foreign. It's a very uniquely made book, she'll give it that.

But…is it really worth everything she put herself through?

Athena stops flipping the pages when she notices a drawing of Nautica, smiling so innocently. Unmistakingly happy.

It's drawn with ink and incredibly detailed—someone must've spent hours on it. Below her picture is writing in a foreign language. There's no way Athena can make out what it says.

Completely undecipherable.

A pang of sadness hits Athena hard. Seeing a drawing of her sister makes her realize just how much she misses her.

Athena desperately needs her. Somehow, that kind-of-awkward-when-it-came-to-emotional-support is something she'd give anything for right now. Her presence alone is comfort—it's home.

They'd been through everything together, so why did Athena feel the need to do all this on her own? That on its own didn't make any sense.

It's kind of late to be thinkin' about this, anyway…

The auction finishes and the Troupe heads back to their temporary base, with every single piece of merchandise from the night. This was a very successful job, indeed.

Sure, they still had a little more merchandise to get from tomorrow's auction, but mostly, they're finished!

The crates of stolen items are scattered among the large room. Beer cans are opened, and wine bottles are popped.

Time to celebrate. Hell, they deserve it.

Phinks' cheeks are an adorable shade of pink when the alcohol hits. He tends to stand too close to people when he's tipsy. Athena doesn't mind, she finds it amusing.

They unbox a priceless vinyl record, supposed to be created for one of the old kings—something like that. They play one of the better sounding records.

Shalnark is the first to dance, followed surprisingly by a tipsy Machi. Pakunoda accompanies her, holding her hips close from behind and sways to the old music.

Athena remains sober. If she drinks one drop, she thinks she might just fall asleep. Phinks approaches her, holding his arms out to her, nonverbally asking her to dance. His hips are already moving to the beat.

She laughs softly and shakes her head, but he pulls off her seat and picks her up, spinning around playfully. His smile is so infectious, Athena's cheeks hurt.

Aw hell, why not?

His enthusiasm has given her the energy to dance with them, even if her sleepiness makes her look as tipsy as them. The dimly lit room fills with laughter and happiness.

When things have chilled out, Athena tucks the diary under her arm and walks to Chrollo, who sits comfortably atop a box of merchandise.

The duplicate diary rests in his palm as his fingers of his other hand slowly circle the rim of his wine bottle.

"Danch—" She says before shaking her head slightly— "Chrollo."

He looks up at her from the diary and hums. "This certainly is an interesting piece, isn't it?" He says, eyeing the diary that peeks out from under her arm.

Her facial muscles relax.

"Can you understand it?" He asks, calmly.

There's a slight pause.

She bites her lip and looks to Pakunoda, who drinks from her wine glass and is already looking back at her. Her eyelids are kind of low; she's feeling really good tonight.

"Yes," Athena says. She looks back at Chrollo, who is smiling slightly now.

"I'd love to discuss it, then, Athena."

She sighs softly.

Her fingers slide along the tough seaweed binding of the diary she clutches.

"Chrollo," She breathes, "I can't stay here."

He's frozen momentarily—that surely wasn't what he was expecting.

By no means is he desperate for her presence, but… things were just feeling nice.

Chrollo blinks and exhales. "I'm sure our paths will cross again." He says, sure of it. He'd bet on it.

People like her belong with people like them.

"It'd be nice if they did." She replies, genuinely. But she needs to get away before she grows so attached to them that there's no going back.

She needs to see her family. She needs to see Nautica.

Their gaze on each other lingers for a moment too long.

As most of the Troupe members are asleep, except for Nobunaga and Bonolenov who keep watch, Athena slips out.

The walk home feels endless. It seems like an hour before she's at her porch.

Athena drags her feet against the floor and struggles to keep her eyes open. Exhaustion has caught up to her, double time.

She reaches into a black flowerpot and pulls out the spare key, unlocking the front door. When she pushes it open, she doesn't bother taking the key out of the lock.

The house is dark—is anyone home? Or are they just sleeping?

CRASH

A dull thud and the sound of glass cracking pierce the silent house. Athena's head whips toward the direction of the sound, and for a moment she swears she sees something. Turning on the light, she realizes there's nothing there.

Athena closes her eyes momentarily and sighs. The hallucinations don't shock her anymore.

On the ground is a picture frame with the glass cracked from the impact of the fall. She notices it and picks it up to get a closer look.

Nautica, Athena, and their father are huddled together with candid smiles. It was taken right after she and her sister had mastered the four main principles of Nen. Terrance was so proud.

Athena sighs, this was her favorite picture. The crack on the glass is large and covers the entirety of the other two's faces. Athena's is fine.

She stares at the cracks for far too long. Or maybe she's half asleep standing up.

Athena gently stands the frame where it's meant to be and walks straight to the hallway. The pit-pattering of her feet is the only sound in the entire house.

The closest room is Terrance's, her dad's. She peeks her head in and glances around. The air is stale. No one is in there.

Hmm.

She walks further down the hall to Nautica's room.

The door is cracked open a little, so she pushes it with the tips of her fingers and scans the room slowly but thoroughly.

Empty. Quiet.

She steps in and sighs, plopping onto Nautica's bed face down. In an ideal world, she would have washed the sweat and dried blood from herself first. She plans to do that in a minute… she just wants to rest her feet.

Where is everyone? And what the hell are the odds that no one is home the same night I hallucinated their dead bodies?

I should really get up and search a little more. There could be clues. Maybe a note left as to where they are. I should call them. Oh, maybe they're at the beach. Wait, what time is it?

The scent of Nautica's sheets fills her senses as she immediately passes out.

It's a miracle she made it this far.


Notes: athena can be a little dense when she's tired. i hope you guys are staying healthy. please consider leaving a review, they really help by letting me know if i'm doing okay or not!