Chapter 7

"Who are you?!" The trio of Hunters brandished their weapons as they demanded answers to the lone woman sitting down in the prairie surrounded by hundreds of those beasts that gave them a bit of trouble earlier.

She raised a singular eyebrow, wondering what these men were even doing in this place.

"I'm just a mercenary. Ah, I was also a teacher at some point," She replied. "Who are you?"

"A mercenary? In the Dark Continents? Are you a Hunter?" The man who seemed like the leader of the group asked without answering her questions.

"I asked you a question after answering yours, young man," she responded with a frown. "Who are you?"

The man looked a bit taken aback but he responded with a small bow. "I apologize, I believe that I have been too much on guard with all the encounters we have faced today. My name is Issac Netero. These are my friends Zigg and Linne. But you said that you are a mercenary, correct? Are you traveling alone in the Dark Continent?"

"It has been quite a long time since I have seen any humans. The Dark Continent, you say? I was not exactly sure what the name of this place was, but my legs just took me here on my travels. I do not know what you mean by 'Hunter' either."

"Miss, what can we call you and where are you originally from?" Linne asked with curiosity. "It would be hard for anyone to come here normally, especially alone although there was one documented incidence."

"My name is Byleth Eisner and I am from Fodlan. However, it fell long ago and only ruins of the once grand empires and kingdoms are left." A look of reminiscent and a bit of sorrow could be seen on the mercenary's face.

"Fodlan?" Zigg asked with skepticism. "I have never heard of a place and I have been to every part of the Known World. Which continent is that country in?"

Byleth shook her head. "Fodlan is the name of the continent. I don't believe that it is part of the 'Known World' you are from."

The three explorers' eyes widened.

"Then are you saying that you are from the Dark Continent? There is a human civilization here?"

"I believe there may be a few human beings alive in small communities but I have not run into any humans in a long time."

"How was it since you have met other people?"

"I do not exactly know if my sense of time is the same as humans from the Known World or if the definition of time is the same but if I can speak your language, then I believe that they would be similar. You are the first humans that I have met in six hundred years."

.

"I think I should really go now, Sensei. Hisoka told me that he would tell me the abilities of the Phantom Troupe members if I meet him tonight," Kurapika said softly as he stood up from lying on Byleth's lap for the past thirty minutes. He was surprised that she insisted he lie down for a while and that he stopped resisting after setting his head down for a little bit.

He felt as if his anger and sadness about the Phantom Troupe member subsided due to her comfort.

Her warmth felt motherly—something that he hasn't experienced in years. He was grateful toward his teacher and gave a small smile as she nodded and motioned him to go.

"Ah wait, Kurapika," Byleth stopped him as Kurapika started walking away.

The blonde student turned back to his teacher, waiting her to tell him something important.

"Make sure Hisoka knows that I'm staying at the Landmark hotel."

"Huh? Why would he need to know that?" Kurapika asked with genuine confusion.

Byleth shrugged. "To say that I'm available on some nights for some fun."

Kurapika's still looked a bit confused and then his eyes went wide as a small blush appeared on his cheeks. "Wha—I thought you were using him as an insect repellent?!" He accused with embarrassment.

"I did say he was handsome though." Byleth replied back with a blank expression, looking as if she wouldn't changing her opinion even with all the people in the world telling her NO.

The blonde covered his reddening face and turned away from his teacher.

"Please call and tell him yourself if you want him to know such a thing. GOODBYE NOW!"

Kurapika stormed off, trying to get his flustered face back into the stoic façade he put in front of others.

The azure haired teacher smiled softly at her student rushing to get away. She knew that the blonde would never relay such a message to the Clown. (not that she wanted him to in the first place). She also knew that it would make the blonde take his mind off of the burden of defeating the Phantom Troupe for a moment.

But it's your fault that he's become like that, isn't it? Just like how it's your fault that they've become like that too.

And Byleth pushed that thought down as quickly as it surfaced.

.

"So you got 300 wins? You got back the three million jenny you used to buy the diamond ring, but do you know that you'll have to win at least about 900,000 times in order to get the minimum starting bet?" Byleth said with a sigh after she heard what the boys were up to that night. She didn't expect to meet them in the middle of the street surrounded by scores of onlookers.

She shook her head at Gon and Leorio balking at the fact that the woman was right.

"That's what I thought too," Killua shrugged, a bit exasperated that he did nothing today except for holding up some jewels for hours and nowhere close to the money they need to raise to get even close to bidding on the coveted copy of Greed Island. "Do you know of any methods of getting money quickly in Yorknew City? We were planning to go to the Flea Market tomorrow and see if there are any jewels we can make people more interested in paying more money to play against Gon."

Byleth hummed as she thought to herself for a second.

"I believe if you go to the Market, you would be able to find something. Just a hint though, boys. Try using your Nen more."

The three boys blinked as if they were given a present that they didn't know what to do with but Gon then smiled widely.

"Some more training? That sounds like a good plan!"

"We don't need training right now, baaaaka," Killua drawled. "We need money." He shot the azure haired woman an annoyed look. She responded back with a shrug that signaled that the look didn't affect her at all.

"Ah, but if you're looking for money, how about doing something for me?"

The quartet finally looked to the sketchy looking man who tried catching their attention for a while now.

"Money? What do you mean, sir?" Leorio put on his businessman smile and put his arm around the man who approached them.

"Ahhh you see, I'm the head of a small Mafia group and we would like for the boy to… show us a little bit of his strength. I assure you—it's good money." The man gave a smirk and Leorio's eyes brightened.

.

"I can't believe I am letting you guys do this." Byleth clutched her head as if she had a headache. She doesn't have headaches, but she felt as if she would have one if she was a human being.

It might have to do with the terrible smell that was permeating through the underground fighting ring.

"Eh? But this is good training, isn't it, Byleth-san?" Gon asked with innocent eyes. "And we can make money!"

"This fighting ring is practically the same as Heaven's Arena. If you let us go while you sent Bereto as a chaperone, I don't think you can say that we shouldn't be here." Killua stuck his tongue at her childishly, daring her to retort back.

And at those words… Byleth had no comeback.

He was right after all.

But it wasn't the fact that this was underground that she disapproved.

It was literally just the smell. That was it. At least Heaven's Arena was clean.

She sighed exasperatedly. Why couldn't immortality make her impervious to bad odor?

"Ah wait! Sorry ladies and gentlemen!" The host suddenly switched to a man with eccentric neon hair. "It seems like the fights will have to be canceled, but we're going to play a game with a humongous reward!" And then he motioned to his co-workers who started passing around flyers.

Byleth saw the flyer and immediately realized that something must have gone terribly wrong with handling Uvogin. Why didn't Kurapika tell her about this?

Looking back to her charges, Byleth saw that the boys were trying to catch her attention while she was lost in her own thoughts.

"Have you talked to Kurapika recently? I think we should call him and ask what is going on with this… if they are actually the Phantom Troupe."

Byleth bit the bottom of her lip, wondering if she should spare the details or not.

But she already hid Gon's parentage from him. She could hide something like helping Kurapika defeat the Phantom Troupe a little longer.

As a teacher, they weren't ready yet. But as a mother… she just wanted to keep Gon—and even Killua—away from the danger.

She pushed away from the hypocrisy of leading another student to fight for her sins at the moment.

"I actually did see him earlier, but he didn't say anything about the Phantom Troupe." A white lie worked best in these situations. "I think it would be alright if you tried calling him."

"Eh? You saw him earlier? You should have told us that we could have seen him too," Gon said with a sad pout.

Byleth looked a bit sorry and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry about that Gon. I didn't see him very long because he was quite busy and I just needed to tell him sensitive information that couldn't be said through the phone."

Gon didn't stay sad for very long because he smiled radiantly again and told her that it was alright. He then reached for his phone and called Kurapika's number. After a few rings and the phone continuing to stay silent, the black-haired boy frown and looked to his companions. "It seems like Kurapika isn't answering. But do you think we should hunt for them by ourselves for now? This can make so much more money!"

Byleth's eyes opened wide.

She didn't expect this, but she should have. Looking at the looks in the three boys' eyes, there was no way for her to convince them to not chase after the bounties of the Phantom Troupe.

Should she just give them the money to buy Greed Island? She just chose not to because gaining their own money to go as part of the journey. Giving them money would be pointless if she wanted them to grow.

But it didn't mean that the young boys should be chasing after the Phantom Troupe at their current skill level.

"Wait… boys, you are not ready to fight the Phantom Troupe. I can give you the money you need to buy Greed Island, no matter what price it gets to."

The trio looked at the azure haired woman in various degrees of shock.

"Wait, so you had the money and you were just holding back on us?" Leorio cried out in anger. "But also… you have over 5 billion jenny?! You're super rich!"

"Seriously, we could have avoided all of this commotion if you just told us you can get us the game in the first place," Killua sighed.

"But wasn't getting the copy with our own power the reason you didn't tell us that you have the money to buy Greed Island?" Gon asked. His friends and his teacher looked at him with surprised expressions. He grinned at them with his bright smile. "It would be nice if you can give us the money to buy Greed Island but I want to try to get it with my own abilities first. How could I face my father if I was led every step of the way by my teacher?"

Byleth's surprised expression quickly changed into a small strained smile. She didn't dare show the worry knotting in her stomach. Nor the frustration that as his mother—not just as a teacher—she should lead him away from danger.

As much as she loved to see Gon's intuition and wisdom normally, she really hated it at the moment.

The azure haired teacher closed her eyes in deep contemplation.

No, she couldn't let them. Not now at least.

"No. You boys are severely underestimating their powers and you are overestimating yours. Until you develop your Hatsu, you three will be under my supervision at all times," she said as she ignored the disappointed and outraged expressions on the boys. "I will not say this again. You will not go after them. Do you understand?" She gave a look that promised pain if they didn't follow through her instructions.

They nodded vehemently.

Byleth didn't really believe them but at least she got their promise. While the boys rest, she would need to find Kurapika. Or at least use the tracker she placed on him. She had a feeling that something went on already and just wished she wasn't too late.

.

In some ways, she was too late, but maybe it was for the best.

She pulled up with a car nearby where the tracker was displaced and quickly ran toward the location.

And she was greeted with Kurapika lifelessly digging a hole—a hole big enough for a body.

And a familiar body was lying face down in the dirt next to the said hole.

Byleth cautiously approached Kurapika and he didn't even look up even though she purposely made sure that the blonde could hear her footsteps. And when he finally did look up once Byleth was only inches away from him, he didn't seem too surprised.

"I saw the tracker on the inside of my robes once I threw them to the side," he replied even without her asking the question.

The azure haired teacher frowned a bit and bit the bottom of her lips.

"I see," she replied softly. Then seeing the blood that was splattered on her student's face, she wiped it away with her palm gently. "I am sorry that you had to do this yourself Kurapika. But you defeated him. I knew you could do it."

"I had to, professor. I am glad you didn't come while I was fighting him. I need to defeat the Spiders myself," he said emotionlessly.

Byleth hugged him once again. And Kurapika didn't resist nor hug her back.

She felt a dull pain in her chest. She shouldn't ever feel such pain but seeing the boy she taught become wrecked and lifeless made the suppressed thoughts surge back up again.

The teacher looked at the body that was cooling on the ground.

She couldn't help but reflect at herself in disgust; how could she make Kurapika fix her own mistakes. The complicated emotions of guilt, sorrow, and agony made her realize that Sothis was right—her students learned how to fight from her but she learned to be human from her students.

She gripped onto Kurapika tighter, continuing to say silently 'I am sorry…. I am so, so sorry Kurapika…'

Author's Note:

I don't know why but compared to all of my other stories this one is the easiest(?) story to type out. Maybe because I actually am not changing much of the storyline and just inserting Byleth... hahaha... But I'm having fun rewatching HxH while typing the story out.

As for Fodlan being in the Dark Continent, I always imagined that Chairman Netero would be the one to find her in his travels to the Dark World with his two friends. I thought that I should write a chapter on it but as I don't know enough about Zigg or Linne, I wanted to just make it a flashback.

Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The York New Arc actually looks to be a bit longer than anticipated but I'm having fun writing it.