XIV. Recognition — Love City, Greed Island
Part I
« So this is it ? », asked Lara, her mouth full of one of these delicious heart-shaped cakes that Love City's baker was famous for. They tasted like chocolate with a dash of rose on the inside and Lara was almost considering buying three other ones because they tasted like pure bliss.
Hisoka was licking the remnant of his own cake off his fingers, examining the facade of the building.
« Yes, it seems to be the place. »
It was a very grandiose building that looked more like a palace than a brothel. Only the two statues of half-naked greek women at the entrance could give away the true purpose of the hotel, otherwise, with its pink colored walls and golden roof, it was quite elegant. Located in the heart of the city, it was bigger than most buildings, but the grand golden letters indicating « The High Priestess » were blinding anyone who put their eyes on it so that you couldn't help but steal a glance at it. The whole place seemed pretty calm, considering it was early morning. Brothels were active at night, after all.
« So, what do we do ? » said Lara, wiping some crumbs off her shirt, « Do we just introduce ourselves directly or pretend we're clients ? »
« Well, it's not my place to decide, sweetheart. This is your mission after all, » Replied Hisoka with a sly smile.
Lara knew he just wanted to know if she was smart enough to elaborate a good plan.
« Thanks for the help. Anyway, I'm pretty sure there's no use pretending we're clients. I'm fairly convinced those two statues are looking right at us. They already know we're here. »
Hisoka chuckled lightly, pleased with his little fruit. Indeed, the two statues were no ordinary stone, but surveillance cameras. He had noticed the slight sparkle in their eyes, something most people wouldn't notice because they would be too focused on the blinding golden letters right behind. Those who sent the assassins to fetch them were most likely already informed of their presence and Lara and him had to show them they had seen right through their little game.
« Well, here we go then, » sighed Lara, but Hisoka didn't fail to notice the slight intake of her breath, a sign that she was nervous despite her calm attitude.
The inside of the palace was exactly like you would expect it to be. Small, full of pink curtains hanging all over the reception room with candles lit at each corner. Two corridors lead to somewhere dark and private where a scent of incense was coming through. Everything was calculated to make the client at ease and appease his eventual feelings of shame in coming to such a place.
The receptionist was a pretty woman with enormous breasts and a sweet smile plastered on her face. When she saw the both of them come in, she immediately greeted them and asked with a soft voice, « Welcome to The High Priestess, a place where everything you've ever imagined can come true. What can I do for you ? Are you looking for a third partner ? Maybe a dungeon with all the accessories you could dream of ? We also have five of our workers that could… »
« No, please no, we're not here for this… » stammered Lara, already getting flustered, more because of Hisoka's eagerness to the possibilities rather than the receptionist propositions.
« Really ? Tell me what you wish for then, we have anything you want. »
« We want to see the White Lady. »
The receptionist stayed frozen, her sweet smile not moving from an inch despite the atmosphere suddenly becoming as cold as ice. The assassins did not lie, there was something about this lady that was more than what they had let on.
« Follow me, » finally said the pretty woman before disappearing down the left tunnel behind her.
They followed her carefully, ready to strike at any moment as she led them through a dark spiraling stairwell, going deeper and deeper in the ground. The warmth of the surface seemed to have disappeared and Lara's heartbeat began to beat faster at the idea that she might be trapped once again. Hisoka didn't seem to mind as much, but she had noticed his expression growing more serious as they kept walking. Both of them were thinking the same thing : no getting out so easily now.
They finally arrived at the end of the stairs and Lara gulped audibly at the smell : a mix between salt and something rotten. Ocean water.
When they emerged from the darkness, they were met with something that looked like a church, with rows of benches on either side of an alley. At the end of the path was a throne, white as snow and shining with the light of a huge chandelier that was hung on the arched ceiling. All of it was bathed in a blueish light that Lara couldn't find the source of until they were invited to advance by the receptionist. She didn't waste time to retreat back up the stairs once they moved forward.
Lara hadn't dreamed, there was a smell of the ocean. Because right in front of them was a glimpse of the vast ocean with fishes of all kind swimming around.
I sometimes forget that we're on an Island… It's definitely possible that they dug deep enough to find the bottom of the Earth… But why a church ? Thought Lara, looking around for any possible exit and finding none. She was starting to sweat. Water, closed spaces… It was as if someone picked out all her deepest fears and found a way to merge them in this place.
She cast a glance at Hisoka, who maintained his usual superior smile and seemed to find the place quite charming. Lara wished she could take everything as lightly as he did.
The further they approached the more Lara realized that there was actually someone on the white throne. She had already evaluated the two others standing on either side of it, a woman with short blond hair and a man taller than Hisoka and twice as muscled.
The woman standing on the throne was wearing the same shade of white as the seat she was on, draped in a big hooded cloak so that they could only see the bottom of her sun-kissed face and her long blue hair falling out.
Lara immediately felt the danger she represented. The two guards were pretty strong, but nothing Hisoka and her couldn't handle. The lady on the other hand… There was something off about her, something dangerous.
Hisoka and Lara stopped a few meters from the throne. The lady raised her head at them, revealing a stern face with eyes as blue as her hair. She was young, probably a bit younger than Lara, but looks could be deceiving.
« Who are you ? » asked Lara.
« You are in presence of the White Lady, the savior and protector of the island, » immediately responded the man on her side, « It is a great honor to be in her presence and I shall be the one to answer your questions as you do not deserve to even look at our mistress. »
« I'm not in the mood for any of these eccentricities, tell me who you are and how you know Helvar, or I'll burn this place to the ground and you with it, » growled Lara, angered by the fact that the White Lady seemed to be looking down on her.
The buff guard seemed ready to fight the two newcomers but the woman stopped him with an indifferent hand. She removed the hood of her cape and Lara's eyes darted to the white diamond that gleamed in the middle of her forehead.
« My, such a crude language… » she sighed, almost disgusted, « I am the White Lady of Greed Island. I save those who have lost any hope in the world and wish to come here for salvation. You'll find many of my servants in every part of the island. They warned me of your presence when you set a foot in the game. »
« You're not answering my question, » repeated Lara, boiling inside.
Hisoka was carefully looking between the both of them. On one side was a strange power, calm and steady like ocean waves, on the other a fire demon ready to explode at any given time. He was looking at his precious toy getting more and more impatient at each words and truly wanted to devour her right here in front of all these people. It was going to be an interesting encounter.
« I did not, indeed, » replied the blue-haired woman, sitting upright like a proud statue on her throne, « The truth is, I do not wish to tell you where Helvar is. »
« So you do know him. »
« I do. Enough of your questions, I have one of my own. Do you remember someone named Cassio ? »
« Cassio ? » repeated Lara, taken aback.
She quickly tried to do a mental note of everyone she met that could've been named Cassio, but nothing came to her. This was a usually very bad sign.
« No, I don't know anyone named Cassio, » she said after a moment and she noticed a flicker shimmer through the lady's calm gaze. It had to be someone dear to her.
« That's quite amusing. I recall that you did meet someone named Cassio at Heaven's Arena, didn't you ? »
Lara noticed her voice going more and more severe, as if she was waiting for her to slip so she could actually have a reason to fight. The atmosphere had gone too cold for it to end well. The black-haired girl tried as hard as she could to remember her opponents at Heaven's Arena, but she couldn't put a face on anyone that might be Cassio.
« He fought you on the last level before reaching the 200th floor. He had short blond hair and could conjure plants out of thin air, » the lady pressed, her knuckles going white as she gripped the sides of her throne.
A face emerged inside Lara's memory. Yes, she remembered the quiet young man with dazzling eyes that could make any kind of plant grow from the ground. It had been a challenging fight, for once. She had shown him a glimpse of her aura and he had shivered in fear — he hadn't had a heart attack like most of them did, which was pretty impressive —, but refused to quit. He had forced her to break his neck by landing a tricky attack that left her with a broken arm.
A scorn crept up the White Lady's face when she realized Lara remembered, « Cassio was the man you killed with a twist of his neck when he was defenseless. The man that could make a whole garden flourish with a snap of his fingers. The man who just wanted to earn money in Heaven's Arena and swore to spare those who were powerless. You killed him without any hesitation… » she rasped, barely a master of her emotions.
Cassio was conceited and careless, he refused to quit the fight and made a fatal mistake. »
He was my husband ! » cried out the White Lady, standing up with tears in her eyes.
Lara visibly flinched. It was painful enough to be accused of murder everywhere she went, but knowing they had someone they cared about was like reliving the day she was torn from her dead parents' bodies by the organization.
« People like you don't know anything about love ! You kill, again and again, without mercy. The only thing you seek is destruction and agony. I'm not the only one who had suffered because of the both of you. One of my spies disobeyed my commands while tracking you down. She lost her brother because of you, Hisoka, and while she was mourning, you and Lara were bathing, doing the most unholy things as if you were above everyone else ! » she yelled, her aura surging in a blueish halo around her.
Hisoka and Lara exchanged a glance. So it was one of them who had attacked them back at the lake. Knowing someone had spied on them at this peculiar moment might have made Lara blush if the atmosphere wasn't laced with bloodlust. The White Lady had lost all her composure and was now truly frightening to behold. Only Hisoka's smile seemed to grow with delight, actually, he was more enthralled than worried about the situation.
« I'm truly sorry about your husband, just as Hisoka is about your spy's brother, but we never kill unless it's absolutely necessary. »
At least it was true for her, Hisoka was something else entirely, « I just want to find Helvar, I have unfinished business with him. »
« Helvar is too good for you, » spat the White Lady with disdain.
Lara's eyes began to glow. No one had the right to treat her with such arrogance and no one had the right to even dare say a word about her and Helvar. He was her savior, her only family. She wouldn't let anyone treat their relationship like this.
« There it is, the true monster inside of you, » the White Lady hissed, « Go on, show us how ruthless you truly are, I've waited so long to finally give you what you deserve. Scylla, Memi, take care of Hisoka. Lara is all mine. »
And with these final words, the fight erupted. Hisoka and Lara immediately positioned themselves back to back, slowly rotating as the three of them circled the pair.
« Well, this looks like a lot of fun, » purred the clown, not at all bothered by the obvious danger they were about to face.
« Will you be able to take both of them ? » asked Lara, less certain about the outcome of the fight. They knew everything about them while the pair didn't have a single information on the three of them. It would take a long time before they could assess each of their abilities.
« Oh please, they're just guards. I'll kill them quickly to watch you fight, sweetheart. Oh, the only idea of it is already turning me on… » he moaned.
« Freak. Don't get killed. »
« Don't die either, I'm not done with you. »
Both of them parted, going on opposite sides of the church with incredible speed. The group split like they expected. Lara was faced with the White Lady and Hisoka had to handle both of the guards.
« I hope you feel what I felt when I lost the love of my life when they kill Hisoka, » said the White Lady, murder and pain swirling in her eyes.
« What ? We're not even dating, » she chuckled.
« I know love when I see it, Lara. It's going to tear you apart. »
The White Lady made the mistake of attacking first. Lara thought she would easily dodge her soaring blue aura, but her wall of fire barely blocked it. She was thrown a few meters behind, her shoulder colliding with the marble pillar.
Water.
She could control water.
Fuck.
Lara looked up with mix of fear and confusion as the White Lady threw away her cape, revealing a white outfit with a wave drawn on her chest.
Oh, the irony. Lara, a master of the darkest fire in the world, facing the only person on this planet that had the power to extinguish her aura.
« Don't think for an instant that I was foolish enough to fight you with an inferior ability, Lara. I was born among the waves, I drowned all of those who ever crossed my path. I create water to quiet down people like you, people who think their fire burn brighter than anyone else. There will be no ember left inside you once I'm done with you. »
Lara got back up and her fire started to envelop her once more. She chuckled. « Then I'll take you to the fires of Hell with me. »
They both lunged, Lara surrounded by flames, like a shooting star, the White Lady surrounded by waves like a great tsunami. Hisoka managed to keep an eye on them while avoiding blasts of ink and chains and found their ballet exceptionally beautiful. He could not wait to be done with those two fools to observe the girls fight, but they were quite challenging to fight at once. The girl used ink and papers to throw inky figures at him while the big man was using paint to write out of thin air the weapon he needed. His weapons, Hisoka understood quickly, could range from a simple knife to a literal canon. Both of them worked quite well together, but Hisoka figured that if he managed to steal their pens, they would be defenseless. In the meantime, he was dodging their attacks with his bungee gum, keeping an expecting eye on Lara.
She on the other hand, was already panting by the end of her first attacks, but so was the White Lady. They were evenly matched, but Lara refused to use the true extent of her power yet. She didn't want her dead until she had told her where Helvar was.
« Enough of this little game, » rasped the White Lady, a hateful smile on her lips, « I know you have more to offer. Fight seriously or I might get upset. »
« You have given me no reason to fight seriously, lady, I'm not going to waste my energy on you. »
As expected, this angered the blue-haired girl quite a lot. With a grunt, she raised her hands to the sky. An enormous wave surged right behind her, almost reaching the ceiling of the church. Lara raised her arms as well and built her wall of flames as the waves came crashing against it, evaporating with a sickening hiss. Soon, the cathedral was wet with hot steam and their environment became blurry.
Lara saw the lady's smile in front of her before she felt a sharp pain on her side. She retreated to one of the pillars, climbing on it until she was above the mist. Fuck, she had planned on the mist to hide her presence, swore Lara, seeing blood on her side where something had cut through.
The White Lady appeared in front of her, on the opposite pillar, looking triumphant.
« I expected a bit more from you, I must say. »
Lara snorted, « It was well done, I admit it. But I really think you should lie low for now. Literally. »
The White Lady scanned her face, confused. Lara raised her thumb in front of her mouth and the lady's eyes widened in fear.
Lara took a deep breath. Fire erupted in a grandiose arc of darkness, burning everything from the ceiling to the ground.
The mist evaporated almost instantly and the three fighters on the other side of the cathedral watched in amazement as the fire burnt eagerly, thrice the size of the little woman who was producing such chaos.
Hisoka smiled.
When she dropped back to the ground, the last black flames dying out in smoke, Lara was fully expecting the White Lady to be unharmed. Indeed, she had protected herself with her own bubble of water, crouched close to the ground. When it popped, the lady was entirely wet, and fuming.
Of course, the fire heated the bubble she was in. A bit longer and Lara might have boiled her alive.
« A little hot, maybe ? » she taunted and was delighted when she was met with a snarl.
« Heaven will never open its gates for you, Lara. »
« Honey, Heaven built those gates because they feared the sight of me coming for them. »
The girl lunged again and again with a dozen spears made of water but Lara managed to block her every single time. She was fast, but Lara was experienced. The White Lady lacked fighting knowledge, sign that she hadn't been in any real fight in a long time. She wasn't a Hunter, and for once, Lara thanked herself — and Helvar's prediction — for taking the exam.
Lara produced a blot of fire that hit her enemy right in the guts, and she yelped as she landed hard on the marble floor.
« Tell me where Helvar is, and I'll spare you, » said Lara, advancing close to her.
The girl was panting, recalculating her chances. She thought she could drown her in a pool of water as she first wanted to, but to use this ability she herself had to be underwater. Lara would boil the water immediately and she would have wasted energy for nothing. But she knew this dark-haired monster, just as she knew Helvar. She could make her yield.
« He left, didn't he ? »
Lara blinked, snapping out of her fighting stance, « What ? »
« Helvar. He abandoned you, he fled from you. »
Lara remained silent, but she felt her anger rising once again.
« After all, I wouldn't know much. He barely talked about you, you were just a fleeting apprentice in his life. »
« Shut up. »
« I told you he didn't deserve you. But now, I'm convinced he just doesn't want you to find him. »
Lara roared, her fist going straight for her face. The White Lady smiled. She caught Lara's head right between her hands, almost crushing her face.
« I hope you learned to hold your breath. »
A bubble formed around Lara's head, surrounding her in water and keeping her from breathing. She staggered back, clasping at her head without any success.
Panic seized her. Water, so much water…
I can't breath, I can't breath, I can't breath…!
The memories came rushing back all at once. The escape, the building burning, her falling in the middle of a river, her foot stuck on a branch, her head underwater…
Lara screamed inside the bubble.
Hisoka on his side had managed to knock out the lady, but was still fighting against the buff man. He saw Lara's trembling body as she was desperately trying to get free of the bubble of water that the lady was holding up.
He didn't know what to do. Should he rescue her ? But then it would mean she wasn't actually worthy of interest for him… Should he let her die ? Could he let her die ?
A strange pang of fear made its way through Hisoka's heart and, distracted, he let his head collide with his enemy's bat. He immediately got back up and taught the man a lesson by slicing his finger off with his card, but Hisoka was still debating helping Lara as her body hit the ground, convulsing.
The White Lady was still holding her grasp, watching her from afar.
« I knew it was just a facade. You're worthless. »
But then, she noticed something growing right inside Lara's body. It looked like a star was slowly expending in her whole core, making her glow like a living Sun.
« What the… »
Before she could take cover, Lara jumped in the air, extending her arms on each side of her like a bird. A wave of sheer power exploded from her, throwing the White Lady on the ground, screaming as a blast of hot air scorched her skin despite her water defense.
Hisoka had had the good sense to hide behind a pillar as soon as he saw her raise in the air, but his opponent wasn't as smart and was almost burnt to ashes as the wave hit him. All the building shuddered and the glass keeping the ocean from spilling in the church cracked dangerously.
Rising above them all, Lara had her great fire surrounding her, like a phoenix reborn from its ashes, her eyes glowing with an inhuman light. Her power was untamed, bursting and destroying like she rarely ever let it burn. She looked down at the cowering White Lady, with her hair fuming and her clothes mostly burnt from her power wave.
Lara stepped back on the floor, an ungodly figure among mere humans. Hisoka was vibrating with glee.
Bits of stone and dust fell all over the ground, menacing to engulf them all in its rubbles. Lara didn't seem to care as she stood above the White Lady, barely showing any emotions, a force of nature that threatened to devour everything in sight.
And then, she saw it.
On her arm, tattooed with unforgivable black ink.
06.
She was one of them.
« You… You were there too… » Lara breathed out, her fire dying out completely to reveal the vulnerable face of a scarred girl beneath.
The White Lady noticed her gaze and her eyes widened in confusion.
Lara tore her own bandage, letting her own 05 appear.
The blue-haired girl let out a whimper. Recognition lit her eyes.
« It's you. The one who saved the rest of us. It was you… » she said, eyes filling up with tears.
Back then, Lara didn't have the time to see who she had set free in the middle of the smoke, but she did remember a flash of blue once, when she was brought to a test room.
She was one of the kids she rescued.
The whole building shook violently, and Lara had to keep a chunk of heavy stone from crushing the both of them.
« Let's get out of here, now ! »
She grabbed the lady by her wrist, running toward the stairs. Lara had noticed Hisoka easily fighting his ennemies, but she was still relieved when she saw him emerge from behind the pillars and run right in front of them. The White Lady cast one last mournful glance at her guards, but didn't stop.
The tunnels and the stairs seemed endless as the ground shook more and more and soon, they heard water gushing out inside the whole church.
« Faster ! » she yelled as the current of water was climbing the stairs as well, waiting to drown them with the church.
They finally made it to the reception room and the three of them fell down on the floor from the sheer speed they ran at. The White Lady landed a few feet from the terrified receptionist and Lara landed right on top of Hisoka. They waited for an eventual wave of salted water, but thankfully, the ocean level seemed to stop a few feet from the entrance.
Lara raised her head, looking behind her, around her, finally understanding she was safe from any closed space or water-like substance. She only realized she was lying atop Hisoka when she felt a light chuckle underneath her.
She met his playful gaze, his amused smile and sighed in relief. He only had a few cuts on his face and a bruise on his cheek, otherwise, he seemed to be fine. She went to get back up but Hisoka wrapped his arms around her, holding her down.
« Let me go, » she said, her eyes cold as ice.
« No. Because of your little demonstration I'm more excited than ever, and it's your fault, » he pouted, but truly, he was a bit relieved that she proved once again her unbelievable strength. He could play with her a bit longer.
Before she could retort anything, Hisoka kissed her eagerly, the taste of salt and blood filling his senses. Lara was too relieved to stop him, and she was quite happy to have him back, in a way. When she had her head under the White Lady's spell, she truly thought it was the end of everything. And somehow, her mind went to this psychopath in particular. She didn't want it to be the end of her adventures with him, as crazy as it sounded.
They both heard the shouts of the receptionist and Lara finally broke the kiss, stumbling upward to find the lady. Hisoka let her go with a grunt, but he had seen the blue-haired woman's tattoo. Clearly, there was something deeper going on with The White Lady and Helvar.
Lara crouched next to the blue-haired girl, who seemed younger than ever now, barely dressed and whimpering. Lara felt a pang of guilt when she saw the burns all over her skin, she really went too hard on the poor girl.
« Here, » she said, hovering her hands above her.
The White Lady seemed suspicious, but didn't stop her anyway. Lara absorbed with a huff the pain she had inflicted herself, and slowly, the girl relaxed a bit.
« Thanks. My name's Bayou, by the way. »
« Nice to meet you, Bayou, » Lara replied with a smile.