Part 3
« You're going to tell us who you are right now or I'll reduce you to ashes, » said Lara with a chilling stare that actually made Gon and his friends gulp.
Juzen and Katrina were tied up in front of them, their backs against a tree in the forest next to Love City. After Hisoka and Lara went to retrieve their card and gave it to the kids, they saw two shapes casually running away from the dancing hall. Before they could even leave the city, Lara had greeted them with a hand around each of their throat.
« We can't. It's a secret mission, » said Juzen, whose glasses now laid in Lara's hand. She hated that she couldn't see his eyes when she talked to him.
« You're both aware that one call to the Black Sails order and I'll know everything I need to know, right ? »
« Then why bother with us ? Let us go you bitch ! » spit Katrina, her purple hair a mess around her pretty face. The woman was far from the gentle lady with the fluttering eyelashes now. She was scared, Lara could feel it. There was something more than just pretending to be apart of the order, something else truly terrified them.
« What's the Black Sails order ? » asked Gon, confused.
« A group of mercenaries, » replied Hisoka, who was leaning on a nearby tree, not bothered in the slightest by the situation, « They specialize in spies and killers all around the world. It is said that they can obtain informations on anyone, from farmers to presidents. I've killed a few of them in the past, all of them were very… ruthless. »
« Not all of them, » defended Lara, « They only hire people they consider trustworthy. Which might explain why they did not accept you, Hisoka. »
The clown started a bit. Of course she knew he had offered his services to the Black Sails…
He was about to reply when Gon grasped Lara's hand and looked at her with a gleam in his eyes. « Does this mean you can find informations on Gin ? You could do that ? »
Lara stared for a second, surprised. Her whole face softened at once and she put a comforting hand on his spiked hair. « I'm sorry, Gon, but there's nothing on Gin in our database. I looked into it before coming inside the game, knowing he was one of the founder of Greed Island, but except his Hunter status and a few basic informations, there was nothing else. It seems that he managed to erase himself from every single place in the world, which impressed the order quite a lot. The only thing I can tell you is that a few of them had met him before, and they all said that he was a truly incredible man. »
She felt Gon's hope falter the further she talked, but she still saw him brighten up at the last sentence. Lara didn't have the heart to tell him the whole truth. Yes, they did say Gin was an incredible man, but they also said that most of the members of the order would pay a large amount of money to break the guy's kneecaps.
« Are you done ? All this whining is starting to piss me off. »
« Cut it Katrina, » said Juzen, clearly the smarter one. He knew very well that they were in no position to anger Lara — or any of the group for the matter — and that they should better play it safe.
« He's right you know, » replied Lara, turning back to them, her power emerging slowly to remind them who they were talking to, « I'm not known for my patience. And if there's one thing I hate more than lying, it's disrespect. I've been lied enough my whole life to know you're hiding something, so you'd better spit it out now. »
Lara didn't miss the purple haired girl swallowing hard, this combined to the sweat on her brow confirmed what she suspected.
« We won't talk, » simply said Juzen, remaining calmer than Katrina.
« Hisoka, » called Lara, not even looking at him.
He slowly advanced to her side, yawning. Just like her, he was getting bored of this little game. She titled her head towards him, a smile growing on her face.
« I'm quite thirsty after our little dance… Would you mind fetching me something to drink ? Preferably something hot, » she said with a little pout at the end.
Hisoka beamed. He was not used to this side of Lara and he enjoyed it so much his eyes creased in excitement.
« At your service, my love. »
A second later, Hisoka's card was flung in the tree were Katrina was leaning. Before she could let a breath out, a chunk of her long hair fell to the ground and a trickle of blood was flowing down her neck. She screamed but Lara was on her the next instant. Her black tendrils shot out of her hand and fed with pleasure on the blood that was leaking. Hisoka had cut deeper than Lara would've liked, but it was just enough for her to make a little demonstration. Once her neck was wiped clean of blood, Lara retrieved with indifference the card embedded in the tree and stood next to Hisoka again.
« Thank you very much, » she said, giving him back his Joker card that was now covered in blood. « My pleasure, » he replied before he licked the blood off the card in a way that made Lara's stomach flutter a bit too much to her liking.
« Now, » she said, turning around toward the two prisoner again, her eyes dark as the night, « You're going to tell me who you're working with or I'll repeat this operation until you both bleed out. »
Everyone in the group shuddered, feeling the bloodlust Lara was radiating. It was easy for all of them to forget who she actually was, and how scary she could be. Lara was just like the sea, calm and soothing on the outside, but deadly for those who tried to cross her. Kirua and Gon both made a mental note to never underestimate her again.
« We don't know who it is ! » finally exclaimed Juzen, his eyes wide with fear, « We needed money, and they offered us a job ! We were just following orders ! »
« Who offered you this job ? »
« We don't know ! » repeated Juzen, « It was a secret meeting, she has a mask… »
« She ? » interrupted Lara.
« Yes, she, » continued Katrina, who had gone very pale since the card had sliced her neck, « We were brought to her with a hood on our face, she laid down the deal, which was to separate the both of you and bring the girl with the silver eyes to her. She offered more than five thousands of jenny for the job, we couldn't refuse ! And she said she'd bury us alive if we said a word of this job to anyone else, » she added with despair in her voice.
Lara was growing more anxious about the situation. Hisoka noticed the change in her attitude as well. She had her fist balled up as if she was ready to strike at any given time. He felt quite intrigued by the situation himself : who would be crazy enough to try and trick the both of them ? Suddenly, this situation that was now entirely concerning Lara became very exciting to him. Maybe he would actually help her on her quest, he was curious to know who might be able to offer so much money for Lara.
« How can we find her ? » asked Lara, her voice tight.
« Right there, in Love City, » answered Katrina, « She told us to meet her at a brothel. All you have to do is ask to see the White Lady, they'll know who you're talking about. »
« And what's the name of the brothel ? »
« I think it was called The High Priestess. »
Lara gasped audibly, loosing all of her intimidating stance.
« What did you say… ? » she almost whispered, her eyes widened in a mix of terror and excitement.
« The High Priestess ? It's the most famous brothel in Love City, only those with enough money can hope to have a room there, » said Katrina, suddenly terrified that she had said the wrong thing.
Lara turned her head to Hisoka, who also looked surprised by the turn of events.
« Untie them, they can go, » said Lara to no one in particular, turning away from the group.
No one questioned her and Gon quickly unfastened the prisoners who immediately used a spell card to fly away from them.
Lara needed a minute for herself.
So I was right, this High Priestess is in the game. But does it means that Helvar was actually the one who sent those two to find me ? Or was the girl actually the High Priestess ? Or was it all a trap from the organization that captured me so long ago ? Maybe they caught up on me…
Lara clutched her hair in her fist, her mind going too fast for her own good. Deep breaths, Lara, deep breaths… She had to help Gon and his friends first, that was the main goal for now. Then, she would decide what to do with this information.
« Quite a surprise, isn't it ? »
Lara jumped at the sound of Hisoka's deep voice. How did he always manage to scare her so easily ? She removed her head from her hands, raising her eyes to meet his. He had a playful smile on his perfect face, as if he was enjoying this turn of events.
« Why are you smiling ? » she growled.
« Easy, tiger. I'm smiling because I find it funny that our little dance led you to find exactly what you were looking for. »
« It's not funny. It's… I don't know, » she sighed, « all of this feels strange, like there's something wrong. »
« Like what ? » Hisoka asked, serious for once.
« Like why would someone use such an amateur technique to try and trick me into meeting them but still be willing to pay five hundreds thousands jenny ? Why would someone who knows so much about the both of us choose two strangers to lure me away from you ? »
« You mean… Oh, you mean that they wanted us to find out… » pondered Hisoka, impressed by her conclusion.
« Yes. They made sure I would catch on the fake tattoo, that I would interrogate them and find out about the High Priestess. But why ? » she asked, almost groaning in frustration.
Hisoka merely raised his arms up to stretch before saying in a mischevious voice, « I guess someone's waiting for us… »
« Us ? »
« Why, yes, of course. Someone tried to trick me and my favorite fruit, I'm not going to rest until I find out who might want to kill us, » he added, winking.
« We have to help Gon first, then we'll talk about this, » Lara sighed, hoping the clown would renounce by then.
Hisoka's smile faltered a bit. He hated to be dismissed like this, even more by her.
Lara started to walk back towards the group when she heard the jester's deep voice, very aware that she could still hear him, « Careful, darling. Remember I can make you beg… »
She gave him her middle finger, still walking towards the group, blushing furiously.