Athena jolts awake, and the world is a dizzy blur for a moment. The sunlight is far too bright in her eyes, so she covers them with an arm.
Who left the damn window open?
Her throat is raw and stings as she swallows. Even worse, there's a foul taste in her mouth. She gasps as she realizes,
Oh shit, I'm home!
Without giving herself much time to adjust to being conscious, she jumps off the bed and stumbles out of Nautica's bedroom, using nearby sturdy objects like a dresser or the wall to keep her balanced.
Damn, what time is it?
She ignores a throbbing headache and makes her way through to the kitchen. It's muffled, but she can hear someone shouting from outside. From the sound of it, they're close to the house.
"Athena!"
Did she hear that right? She freezes in place, trying to hear which direction they're coming from. There are about ten seconds of silence before the next shout.
"Athenaa!"
The call sounds playful, and oh so sweet.
"Nautica?" Athena opens a wide window and attempts to scream out, but her voice is too hoarse.
When more time passes and she can no longer hear Nautica calling out for her, she walks out the back door and looks around the unfenced backyard.
The house phone rings in the kitchen. She pays it no mind.
"Where are you?" Athena says and looks around, perplexed. She walks along the soft grass slowly, leaving the back door wide open.
"Athena! Come on!" Her voice is further now and coming from the direction of the beach.
She walks toward the voice. Toward her sister.
Before she can make it too far, the voicemail begins to play on the speaker.
"Nautica." It's Terrance. Athena stops moving immediately and tries to listen. "I'm sorry. If you're back at home, you must know that. Call me, I need to talk to you urgently. It's about Athena."
She can't hear most of his message at all, considering the voicemail is coming from inside the house, but she knows it's him by the sound of his voice. Before she knows it, she's jogging the short distance back to the house.
When she's inside, she immediately snatches the phone and calls Terrance back. It only rings once before he answers.
"Nautica?" He says softly.
"No, it's me. Where are you guys?" Athena's voice is high in both excitement and worry. She cannot describe the relief that yesterday's hallucinations were just that.
Terrance doesn't reply right away, as if he's thinking of what to say.
"We're all here at José's flat." He says.
She sighs in relief and relaxes her clutch on the phone. "Good, I was really worried when the house was empty. How's Nautica and José?"
"They're fine." He answers too soon, too roughly. Something is definitely on his mind. "Listen, we need you here as soon as you can. We've got a lot to discuss."
"Y—yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can," Athena answers, a bit stunned.
The call ends and she keeps the phone to her ear a little longer, standing in silence.
He didn't even ask about the diary. Or if she's okay. Whatever, she needs to get to them quickly.
In a flash, she's in her room, stuffing a set of fresh clothes and the diary into a duffel bag. Terrance telling her to meet them at José's probably means she's going to be there for a while. Otherwise, they'd have just gone to her.
She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and nearly jumps like a frightened cat.
Athena leans into her reflection, gently touching her face for further assurance. She does not look well, at all. Her fingers glide down her neck, over three semi-fresh scratches.
That's new.
A glance at the blood under her fingernails can vouch for the cause of the scratches. But then again, she clawed numerous men to death last night.
She clears her throat and considers a shower. It would be disgusting to show up dirty, bloody, and smelly to José's.
Athena peels the bloody clothing off her body and takes her time under the cool water, enjoying the feeling of cleaning up after so long. When finished, she immediately attempts to dry herself with her fire but is reminded that her aura is not so generous right now.
She towels off and throws on her clothes, using Zetsu for her fatigue.
A last glance in the mirror and she decides on a turtleneck. She doesn't really want to explain why those scratches are there—not like she's so certain anyway.
Though she did have a good guess, Terrance would not like it.
After a rushed hygiene ritual, she yanks her duffel bag off the bed to leave. In the process, she accidentally knocks her pillow off the bed, along with the bottled message underneath it. The clink against the wooden floor catches her attention.
Athena looks down and immediately recognizes it's from Nautica. When they learned about their lineage, they often "mailed" other Sirens by tossing letters in a bottle to the sea, hoping to get a response.
Though they never did get one, that isn't entirely surprising.
Slowly, she picks it up and uses a finger to pull out the letter.
It's vague, almost cryptic. "Dad's not who we think he is," "please, trust me," and "I can't go back to him ever again," are mentioned, among other minute ramblings and pleads.
She scans the note, reading over it twice just to be sure she doesn't miss anything. Perplexed, she pinches her eyebrows together. In the end, the note says:
"I'm waiting for you at the Plaza Hotel in room 605."
She's still for several moments, trying to visualize what exactly happened between Nautica and Terrance. It's obvious he hurt her, but how?
Athena closes her eyes and sighs. "I'm so sorry Nautica," She whispers, upset with herself and the decisions she's made.
She pockets the note and slings the strap of her bag over her shoulder. Her footsteps are loud in the empty house before she covers up with a hooded coat and exits the front door.
Athena sets off and heads to the one who means the most to her.
The sun's rays shine through the windows, creating warm squares on the cold hotel room floor. The balcony door is open and there's a gentle breeze, accompanied by the sound of cars driving by. It obscurely sounds enough like a stream of water to keep Nautica from losing her mind.
She bites her lip, though she's been zoned out staring at the hotel door for the last half-hour. Her leg bounces in anticipation.
Will Athena come? When?
The room is silent, everyone is out. Gon and Killua are meeting up with Kurapika at the park, and Leorio and Zepile are out making some money for the kids.
Leorio insisted that Nautica not stay alone. Not when she's been through so much emotional distress in a short time. She waved him off and would not budge in her decision.
She told Athena she would be here, so she's not leaving. She can't.
He was hesitant, but he left, promising to be back as soon as he could. He made her promise to call him if she needed him for anything at all.
So she sat on the couch and hasn't moved since they walked out the door.
With each annoying tick of the clock, Nautica's anxious thoughts swirl in her mind.
There are a few different possibilities in her mind as to what's happening with Athena. The most realistic possibility is that she's dead, considering the news from Kurapika, but Nautica will not let herself accept that one. Even just thinking about it makes her stomach churn.
Another possibility is she failed her mission and returned home, but Terrance has already brainwashed her to forget Nautica. That one is also very realistic.
The less likely one is way more comforting though, and that's the possibility that Athena completed her mission and went home, but saw her note before Terrance got his grasp on her.
What a reach.
She sighs.
Unless…
Nautica holds on to the little hope she has, and she holds on tightly.
Honestly, she doesn't know how many more minutes pass before she clears her throat and stands, wiping her sweaty palms on her black button-down.
Waiting like this is fruitless, she might as well do something to pass the time.
…
After a few more moments of stiff silence and an annoying, loudly ticking clock, she groans and takes a deep breath.
Out of all places, why did she choose to confine herself to this one room?
Leorio and Zepile are in a small auction hosted in the most crowded part of the market. It's a particularly sunny and windless day; the type of sunny that just gently kisses your skin.
It's the foundation for a perfect day in Leorio's book, but by far, this will not be a perfect day. At least, that's what his anxious gut is telling him.
"10,000!" Shouts a man in the back of the crowd.
"10,500!" Shouts another, and the bids keep rolling in, but after a couple of shouts, Leorio hears none of them.
Nautica told him yesterday about Athena's 'secret' curse, so he understands why she so suddenly cut him out of her life. But shit, he still feels so…
Hurt.
Even if Athena didn't mean what she said to him at the airport. Goddamn it, why didn't she just tell him the real reason in the first place? Of course, he would have understood! Did she not trust him? He doesn't understand.
Is it right to feel this way? … Hell yeah, it is. He assures himself.
"Our piece is next." Zepile nudges him out of his thoughts and wraps his lips around a half-smoked cigarette.
Leorio mumbles, "yeah."
He sighs and looks away, wondering what things might've been like if he never went to visit Athena for his birthday.
If things were different.
He just has so many questions now. He had already accepted the end of their relationship long ago. Well, mostly…
Psh, the best part is this whole six months he's been believing that he did something wrong!
He shakes his head and vaguely hears the announcement of the highest bidder. The next item is brought out and the bidding commences.
Damn, he knew going to YorkNew might be pushing it a little, but he came for his friends, not her.
Then somehow Nautica showed up to his hotel room uninvited and invited Athena over. If she survived, he's going to be face to face with her soon. Leorio shakes his head.
'If she survived.' Thinking like that makes it feel like there's a weight in his stomach. For her to die before they get to talk about what happened. Before he gets to hold her once more.
All this is making him feel ridiculous. He wishes Nautica never found his hotel room. All these repressed memories and feelings about Athena flooding back like they never left.
If they ever left…
Hell, who is he kidding. If he's being honest with himself, he still really cares about her. Even after everything.
Leorio looks down at the admission. He cares about Nautica too, and secretly, he's happy she showed up.
Look at him, contradicting himself. He smiles softly and realizes he could never really give up on those two. They're too close to his heart, just like Kurapika, Gon, and Killua are.
"Sold for 355,000!" The auctioneer announces sharply.
Zepile throws his cigarette on the floor and stomps on it aggressively. He swears under his breath and shoves his hands in his pockets.
Leorio's ears perk up to the sound of money. "Oh, great!" His mood has finally been lifted. He hasn't even realized the fit Zepile is throwing.
The transaction takes place and they walk away with the money for Gon and Killua. Zepile continuously grumbles and mutters irritably under his breath as they walk away from the crowd.
It's been close to an hour since Nautica's been waiting alone in the hotel room.
She's on the floor, stretching her sore legs with a yoga pose when the doorknob jiggles, and the sound is like an alarm to her. She jumps up and stands tall, ready to run into the arms of her sister.
Finally.
The door opens, and Gon springs through. His energy level particularly high today.
"We're back, Nautica!" He shouts with glee before the others enter the room, seeming a bit unsettled. They must have had a tense conversation before entering.
She'll never admit it but there's a twinge of hurt that it wasn't Athena. It doesn't last more than a split-second, though. How could it, when Gon lights up any room he's in?
When Leorio walks through, his eyes quickly scan the room. After a moment, his shoulders relax, but he too feels a bit of disappointment that she isn't there.
Nautica's breath catches in her throat when she sees blond. She knew Kurapika was coming today but as he walks through the door it feels so surreal.
As his eyes catch hers, he freezes too.
They immediately notice a change in each other, though they can't quite put their finger on what it is.
His disciplined aura is the most obvious change.
Leorio, Gon, and Killua walk throughout the room, settling in and talking to each other about money stuff. Their voices are just background noise to Nautica and Kurapika.
Kurapika is the first to crack a smile. It's soft and warm and pulls an even larger smile out of Nautica.
Before they know they're even moving forward, they're hugging. And laughing because damn it, they've moved too fast and knocked the wind out of each other.
And then just like that, it feels like no time has passed at all between them.
"Nautica, you hungry?" Leorio calls out from across the room, holding the room's phone to his ear.
After a moment of no answer, Leorio looks over to their tight, friendly embrace and smiles to himself. "Eh, who cares, you need to eat." He mumbles before asking them to double the order and hangs up.
When they're finally satisfied with their hug, Nautica has a bit of guilt she needs to get off her chest.
"I never realized it was the Phantom Troupe you were after." She says with a soft sigh.
"Yeah. Many of them are dead now, but Gon's encouraging me to focus on recovering my clan's eyes rather than seek out the rest of them."
Gon nods in confirmation, and Kurapika smiles at him.
Oh, so not all of them are dead, Nautica thinks. Her hope grows stronger.
She bites her lip and looks to Leorio, who has that same optimistic look on his face. They both have this one burning question.
"What is it, Nautica?" Kurapika asks calmly. He reaches out and softly rests his hand on her arm. It's obvious something's on her mind.
She clears her throat and pushes a curl of hair behind her ear. "There's something I need to ask you. And—and tell you."
He looks at her expectantly.
Nautica moves out of his reach to swipe the 'wanted' flier from the coffee table and unfold it. She holds it out to him and points at Athena's headshot.
Kurapika raises a brow.
"This one." She taps the paper. "Is she one of the ones who died?"
He takes a quick look. He doesn't need long to think about if he remembers; their dead bodies and bloody faces are engraved deep in his mind.
"Yes." He says simply. The look on Nautica's face immediately stuns him. She looks like she'll vomit or faint. Or both.
"Are you sure?" Her voice is soft and shaky.
"W—why the interest?" He says worriedly, but still gentle. He looks to Leorio for an explanation but he's completely frozen in place, bewildered by the news.
Nautica is silent as she searches for the right words to answer him. Her world is spinning but all hope is not lost.
Kurapika turns to his younger friends for answers. Gon and Killua both knowingly look to each other and then back to him.
"Athena was working with the Troupe," Killua admits and gestures to the flier. "That was her in disguise."
Kurapika's brows furrow. He turns to Nautica, but before he can shout and demand answers, she holds his shoulders tightly.
Tears begin to swell in her eyes, and she uses all of her willpower not to lose it.
"Kurapika," she says, and the crack in her voice simmers his anger instantly. She swallows the lump in her throat. "Are you absolutely positive? You saw her, dead?"
It's strange, considering Kurapika's opinions on Athena, but it actually hurts him to verify. "Yeah."
Nautica can feel her heart break. It's heavy in her chest, in her throat. It spills from her eyes in the form of hot, uncomfortable tears.
Hope melts into grief.
For several moments, Kurapika stares at her almost dumbfoundedly. He puts his anger on the situation aside and comforts her, pulling her close and letting her sob on his shoulder.
He has so many burning questions, but he holds her for as long as she needs him to.
Though, after seeing the destruction the Phantom Troupe brought to them last night, he doesn't have any positive feelings towards Athena. And he doesn't quite care too much that she's dead if he's being honest, but he does care about Nautica.
A few moments pass before she pulls away from him and wipes her nose. She sniffles and breathes raggedly, desperately trying to compose herself for the sake of her friends. Out of politeness, she thinks.
Repress the grief for now. Repress.
She hates that for a moment, she wishes she were still under Terrance's influence. This wouldn't be so hard if she were.
"I-I'm sorry." She takes a deep breath and crosses her arms. "I'm okay now."
Leorio shakes his head. It's obvious she's holding back. So obvious she's hurting terribly.
He steps forward. "Hey," he says sternly. She turns to him immediately, as if she's in trouble.
"Don't apologize." He finishes. His expression softens and he puts a hand on her arm as if he's nonverbally saying, 'it's okay to be sad'.
Leorio is teary-eyed but has not broken yet. His mind is stuck in denial, only barely pushing at the boundaries of grief, allowing him a tear but then denying it all again.
Another one of his friends is dead. He's almost frustrated!
Not at Athena, but fate, and any higher power that had anything to do with it.
He still has to talk to her! He still has to get his answers and fix things between them!
Leorio pulls Nautica close to himself. He embraces her tightly and she holds him back as if she knows he needs it too. The act alone makes him cry.
"We're here for you." He says, and his voice breaks.
Nautica bites her lip hard to keep from crying again and holds tightly onto the back of his button-up. Why did Leorio have to be such a great friend?
After a moment they release each other. Gon and Killua comfort Nautica with soft touches and words of sympathy and love. They assure her, yes, they are there for her. Soon after, all of them sit on the plush seats. They have much to discuss now that the question has been answered.
Things need to keep moving.
"Kurapika, what did you mean when you said your power could only work on the Troupe?" Gon asks.
"Oh, right." He clears his throat. "Well, my abilities are fueled through a contract with conditions." He says, sighing as he shifts in the cushioned seat.
"Your mental state has an incredibly powerful effect on your Nen," he continues.
Kurapika explains to the four of them that with the strength of his resolve, he has created a Nen dagger in his heart as a condition in exchange for exceptional power against the Troupe.
Breaking the condition will result in his immediate death.
Killua stands abruptly, angered by the potentially life-threatening information. He explains that a surviving member, Pakunoda, has the ability to read memories almost effortlessly.
Nautica stares holes into the floor. She hears them talking and can process the key points of what they're saying somewhere in the back of her head.
But she keeps zoning out. Everything hurts. So. Much.
In such little time, her father turned out to be a monster and her sister ended up dead.
Briefly, she considers going back to Terrance. Apologizing, admitting he was right. Feelings make me weak. Take them back.
Please.
Though, deep down, she knows that isn't the life she wants to live.
What was once a beautiful day transforms into a gloomy, thundering night.
Kurapika's phone pings loudly. It's an incoming text. He pulls out his phone and glances it over.
After reading the message, and then reading it again, he's frozen. His face feels like it's burning, fueled by pure anger.
"Kurapika?" Asks Gon.
"The corpses were fakes." His body is so tense he nearly cracks his phone.
"You mean the Troupe members?" Leorio blurts out.
"Yeah, the ones we thought were dead, weren't! Of course, a Conjurer could have pulled that off easily! Damn it, why didn't I realize this sooner?" Kurapika says, mostly to himself.
Nautica's mouth is wide. Her heart is now pounding in her chest, in both disbelief and excitement.
All she heard from that was—
"Are you serious? She's alive?!" She asks incredulously, standing too fast from the rush of the discovery.
Kurapika blatantly ignores her, too furious to answer such an obvious question.
"The situation has changed. Now what?" Killua says, as calmly as ever. "We're here to help."
Kurapika gets another call and answers instantly. It's from his co-worker, Melody, who informs him that the Ten Dons have called off the hits on the Phantom Troupe, also rescinding the reward money offered.
He ends the call and updates his four friends, who are on the edge of their seats. What does this mean?
After a lengthy explanation about the mafia's relationship with Meteor City, there's a polite knock at the door.
"It must be the food," Leorio mumbles to the others before shouting, "come in!"
After a small moment, the door pushes open and everyone looks up, bringing a pause to the conversation.
In walks Athena. She lowers her hood and her body noticeably relaxes as she spots Nautica.
Finally.
When her eyes land on Leorio, her eyes widen.
Oh fuck, couldn't she have put this in the note?
She smiles nervously, and almost apologetically before glancing around to the others. All of them stare at her as if she's risen from the dead. All except for Kurapika.
"Ah, hi." Athena breaks the silence.
"You," Kurapika says through gritted teeth. His eyes are burning scarlet as he stands abruptly and stalks toward her. His chains materialize around his closed fist.
Athena's muscles tense and the air hurts to breathe. In Zetsu, his hateful aura is much too painful. Now she knows she's in trouble but she's not quite sure what for.
"Kurapika, wait!" Nautica shouts desperately, running to get between them before it's too late.