~ Chapter 33 ~
Killua has stopped breathing by the time Nanika places her hands upon his arm. His head has fallen to the side. Sweat-stained white hair intermingles with the dirty ground, dyeing it a powdery orange; and dark, inky lines color his veins all throughout his body. Nanika avoids looking at his chest. The ugly gash across it, how much blood covers the ground around her… it causes orangeness to cling to her knees.
Tears pour from her eyes, but Nanika wastes no time dispensing all her power into Killua – pawing through the last remaining tendrils of his life force, searching for just one modicum of her brother's consciousness. The smallest sign is all she needs to latch onto him and save his life…!
"No," Nanika chokes out.
She checks again and again, but…
She finds nothing.
Beside her, Gon's eyes empty into pitless holes. His voice lowers until only the deepest register occupies the space around them all in the glade and its encroaching twilight. "Nanika, if you have to trade my life for Killua's, do it."
Nanika shakes her head, refusing to look at him as she continues searching. "I can't… do that," she says brokenly, trying to stay focused.
"I'm begging you!" Gon cries. Leaping to life, he takes her by the shoulders and shakes, but not enough to disconnect her healing hands from Killua's body. The pain, hopelessness, hurt, and confusion in his eyes startles her. In this moment, Gon is nothing more than the same nervous and uncertain boy she met at the base of the World Tree, ready to meet the father he had searched for so long and wide, who said good-bye to her and his best friend with barely an inkling of the value of his own life… Back then, she and Gon – and Killua – they all knew there was more to the world than any of them could ever know – lying dormant all around them – yet they barely had a clue…
The blade wound in Gon's side is not enough to distract him from the pain blooming in his chest from Nanika's silence. Alluka breathes through Nanika's consciousness in grieving concurrence. "I can't…! My power… it doesn't work like that…! I can't trade one life for another…! Especially not yours… Not even to save my brother!" Their voices meld into a conglomerate of broken speech as she bows her head, shaking from the loss, but a hideous thought cuts through the darkness in Gon's mind.
"What if… I make a wish?"
Alluka and Nanika clench their eyes shut and shakes their head, spraying tears all over the ground. Her long black hair sways from the motion. "No! I won't grant it!"
"Why not?!" Gon shouts. He lets go of her shoulders to clench his fists, and his aura transforms from grief-stricken frozenness to resentment. "You want to save Killua too, don't you?! Then trade my life for his! I know you can, so just –!"
"Of course I can!" she sobs, interrupting. Her voice is thick with tears, her face broken from the burden of a decision Gon is placing on her. "But this –! It isn't worth it!"
Bisky, Palm, and Ikalgo stumble onto the scene to see the others surrounding the lifeless, silver-haired boy on the ground, their heads bowed. A gloved hand quivers up toward Bisky's small mouth as she gasps out a "No…!" Palm and Ikalgo stared blankly at Killua between the others, fixated, eyes wide, until Palm breaks down, falling onto her knees. Tears spill from between the scaly hands over her eyes, over her violet orb, attempting to blot out her omniscient existence.
For the first time, Gon takes in Alluka's and Nanika's figure: Her face is naught but an empty visage. She knows what she could do, but doing it would only make her a criminal in Killua's eyes. He wouldn't want to live knowing Gon had died. He would never forgive her for carrying out such a deed, just as Gon doesn't want to forgive her for not doing so now.
He hadn't been thinking about her point of view when he proposed to sacrifice himself at all, and he knows… having all the power in the world… she must be feeling the brunt of this loss more than anyone present now, because at the end of the day, she has to make the final decision to let Killua die.
Die…?
The last strands of crimson sunlight barely illuminate in the sky, and Gon sways. He feels nothing at all and yet everything at once.
"Gon…"
A gentle voice brings him back to the present, and he looks up to see Canary, resolute solemnity in her expression as she clutches her staff respectfully before her in both hands. Slowly, he turns his head to the others, sobbing around him – Bisky and Ikalgo, even Kalluto, their body wracked with poison, overwhelmed by the death wrought within their family within a mere few weeks. Gon shakes his head, refusing to believe them.
"No…! There has to be another way! A way to… to… to save him!"
Nanika's power no longer here, Alluka tries to place a hand on him in reconciliation, but Gon wards her off by slamming a fist into the ground in frustration, causing orange dirt to explode into the air around him.
Think! Think! Gon commands himself, pressing his other fist into his head, his nails sharp in his palms. He can feel himself hyperventilating, startling the others out of their mourning to recoil and shudder at the dark orange-red aura that scorches the earth around him. Gon wants to utter the magic words that will ensnare Nanika in the process she can't escape – his own power oscillating with hatred and despair. Was it Alluka's and Nanika's fault for not allowing him to make a wish? Kikyo's and the Zoldycks' faults for causing this entire situation to begin with?! His own fault for being unable to find a way to save Killua before any of this happened…?!
Gon questions everything he can to keep hold on reality as the world melts away, his malefic energy scouring the ends of the earth for something to hold onto, some hatred to keep him grounded enough to move forward – until he realizes.
I don't care if this is the end.
His disposition is the same as back then.
There's only one path left to go after this.
That ugly part of him rears its head in his mind's eye, its circular white eyes and large gaping mouth baring dripping, savage teeth in the darkness. An endless basin that would never be filled no matter how much he fed it.
No…
The earth cracks around Gon. Worried at first that these emotions got the best of him, the others gasp in panic, until they see his aura dispel into a million fragments all around them: like the globs of liquid that fall after a bubble gets popped by the smallest jab of a pin.
This wouldn't be what Killua wants, he reminds himself.
Killua wouldn't want to know that he lived by taking Gon's life, or that his dearest friend forced his sister to go through with the traumatizing process.
The wind and light around Gon fade, and the others regain their footing in the glade. He collapses onto his forehead and knees. At first, the others are wary to approach him.
The shuriken in Gon's side stings only vaguely compared to the salty tears scraping pathways down his face, his anger snuffed into sadness.
Is there really nothing I can do…?
His sadness presses all the others in the very air, oppressing him with his Enhancer honesty and power. After what they just experienced, they understand these emotions are no regular tantrum. Hesitantly, Alluka places her hand on him, and this time, he doesn't ward her off.
Killua's aura is slipping away.
Alluka and Nanika can hardly make a sound when Gon finally sobs openly and loudly, like a child who still can't understand why things don't always turn out as he planned.
And he's all right with that.
Amidst sobbing, Gon feels a lingering sense of Killua's presence in the air, and at first, he believes it to be his imagination – Killua's ghost trying to comfort him and tell him not to be so sad. But when Gon clings onto Killua's arm, in hope of feeling just a smidgen of the warmth they shared, he can feel Nanika's power coursing through them both, where her head rests against his shoulder.
Gon lifts his tear-stained face to Killua's line-tattooed corpse, and Alluka/Nanika senses it too: A speck of Killua's attention, clinging onto his friend's sadness, onto Alluka's grief – onto everyone around him, refusing to let go.
Keeping his hand on Killua's arm, his other on Alluka/Nanika, she knows what to do. She places a hand on Gon and Killua in turn, forming a triangle of aura flowing between them. Everyone moves in closer, unintentionally contributing to the focus of Killua's sister and his best friend. Again, Nanika searches through the layers of death and decay in her brother's body, until she finds him. Locked away in a dark, untouched corner, Alluka/Nanika lets out a deep sigh of relief. In this shadowed realm of filtered consciousness, she finds him lying on his side, hugging his legs close to his chest, currently asleep. Killua is naught but a young child here, scarless, clutching a giant stuffed ChocoRobo to himself.
There you are.
Nanika's power explodes into a manifold of chaos. Everyone watches in awe, the enormous Nen alighting Gon's, Killua's, and Nanika's bodies, creating a dome of white light around them all. Their power flickers, sucking the blood from the ground around them until it is no more. The last of twilight officially fades into black.
Gon blinks as the power recedes, he feels a bit dazed. Alluka collapses into his arms. Surprised, Gon brushes a few strands of black hair out of her face and behind her ear to see her breathing deeply before looking toward his best friend. She's only sleeping.
It's too dark for Gon and the others to see after the brilliance of Nanika's power, so Gon places a hand on Killua's chest – to find it no longer emaciated and bloody. His chest body rises and falls with easy breaths.
The ululations that escape Gon's throat are enormous as he hugs Killua and Alluka to his chest. Unaware of the elation and praise of the others, he has no idea how long they stay that way, until heading back to the cottage for some rest.
. . .
Killua awakens sometime in the middle of the night to find Gon at his side, his head in his hands. To Killua, it feels as if he woke up from the deepest, most replenishing slumber of his life. Even so, he doesn't move until the puffy quilt and single lamp on the wooden table beside him come fully into view. A quaint chest of drawers, laced curtains, and wooden figurines of creatures from the local environment also populate the room.
"Wha… where am I…?"
Despite knowing firsthand that Killua is ready to run a marathon after being healed by Nanika, Gon quicky stands and places a hand on his chest to tell him not to go too fast.
"Killua…" Unable to follow his own advice, Gon jumps and smothers his best friend before Killua can utter a word of indignance at the action.
"I'm so relieved!"
Killua feels the tremors in Gon's body as he sobs. He pats and rubs Gon's back in consolation, understanding what must have happened after he passed out. "It's okay. I'm okay."
When Gon finally pulls away from him, wiping tears from his eyes, he explains, "Alluka healed you."
"I figured."
"Mmh…" Gon sits unmoving before him in the warm yellow lamplight, eyes downcast.
"You okay?" Killua asks.
"It's just… I almost did it again. Sacrificed everything around me because I couldn't stop trying to find someone to blame…"
"It sounds like you stopped yourself, though."
"Eh?" Gon's amber eyes lift onto the image of his friend leaning back against the bed's backboard, eyebrows cocked in confusion.
Killua smiles lightly at him. "'Almost did it' means it didn't actually happen, idiot. You realized that wasn't the right path to take and stopped yourself. Eh?"
Gon watches Killua for a moment, amazed at the warm feeling spreading inside him so soon after Killua has been healed though really – he shouldn't be.
That's right… Gon's head falls low, so low until his raven hair flops horizontally in front of Killua over the quilt top. "I-I guess you're right…"
"Thaaat's right. So there's no need to judge yourself so harshly."
"But –!" Gon lurches forward.
"Is Alluka nearby?" Killua interrupts.
Gon sinks back in his seat again, expression sullen. "Yes. She's resting in the next room over. She still hasn't woken up yet." Lifting his face again, there's an urgency to Gon's voice. "Killua. We all thought you were gone. We were – I was so scared. I couldn't –!"
Killua senses Gon is about to go into another spiral of self-blame over what happened. Killua shushes him with a gentle finger to his lips. "Gon. You did everything you can, and for that, I'm grateful. But you need to rest. This isn't over yet. Do you understand?"
Gon sees the seriousness in Killua's face and knows he's referring to Silva and Milluki, and possibly Zeno. Killua's right, but…
"You're not going to decide to do something stupid and leave me stranded here because of your own self-blame, are you?"
Gon gives him an apologetic smile. "You really think I would do that after I decided to go to the mansion alone?"
Killua smiles humorously at his response, but when Gon says nothing, lips pressing together and cheeks flushing from shame, Killua's expression sobers.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something painful."
"It's okay," Gon says, wiping his eyes. "I know you didn't mean it." The directness of Killua's apology causes the vestige of Gon's shame over a few weeks ago to dissipate in his throat. Not entirely, but substantially.
Killua reaches forward to take Gon in his arms, and they just sit there for a moment. Eyelids fluttering closed. Taking in deep, husky breaths of each other's scent. For one moment, all is still.
Killua's soft voice breaks the stillness.
"What happened to my mother…?"
"She's… she's gone…"
"Did I…?"
"No. Canary killed her after she took the shuriken out of your chest."
"I see…"
Killua's hands massage Gon's arms in comfort, and he feels Gon's aura calming beside him. Though, Killua's gaze travels out the window, to the silence of the wasteland beyond. Somewhere, Amane and Ikalgo tended to the task of burying Kikyo. Buzzards circling overhead, Canary stood idly by to watch as clumps of dirt fell over the dead woman's ghastly, smooth, and unfettered features. Once the orange dirt was padded down over Kikyo's grave, Amane had placed an arm on Canary's shoulder, as if to say, We have no more need to stay here, to be caught in our bitterness for what has already passed. Canary rested a brown hand on top of Amane's in return, and smiled. They made their way back.
Somewhere, Killua knew his mother's corpse laid six feet underground, while he remained here, saved by his friends and treasured by his best friend…
Back in the warm cottage, Gon notices Killua's attention is somewhere else, and wants to say something to comfort him – to tell him that it isn't his fault Kikyo died.
Gon bites his tongue.
It's a bad habit of his, assuming he knows what Killua is thinking, that it's his responsibility to alleviate whatever was happening inside him, when the despondence in Killua's aura now isn't mourning, exactly, just… thoughtful and sad.
"Everyone else is fine," Gon says, not giving in to his desperate urge. "Kalluto sustained a few wounds from fighting Kikyo, but Bisky used Cookie to treat them and said Kalluto should be fine within a week or so."
Killua nods. "I see."
Finally, much to Gon's relief, Killua leans back so Gon can see his face. Killua is relaxed despite his deep contemplation. "Illumi and my mother… Kikyo…" Saying her name aloud is unreal, making her all too proximal and distant at the same time, and his blue eyes fall past the quilt, Gon's arms the only thing tethering him to the space around them. "You should rest, Gon," Killua says again, "but, you know…"
"Hm?"
"We're going to have to tell them."
"Tell who what?"
"That they can't come with us," Killua says, disregarding Gon's question. "To the Zoldyck Estate."
At first, Gon worries this is another one of Killua's attempts to take on the terror of the Zoldyck Family alone, but now he senses it. Killua finally has a plan. A plan that doesn't involve Bisky, Ikalgo, Palm, Kalluto, or Alluka. Not just for their own safety, but for his and Gon's success – for the untold generations of Zoldycks to come.
Before either of them can say anything more, Kalluto hobbles in. "I overheard everything," they say to Gon and Killua's exaggeratedly horrified expressions, clutching their side. "But don't worry. I understand. The rest of us would just get in the way and create more animosity between you and the remaining family. And you're going to need everything you can afford in order to face Father."
At Kalluto's seemingly innocuous expression, Killua's expression darkens. "You're all right knowing that I'm planning to face Silva head-on?"
Coming to a stop at the edge of the bed, Kalluto avoids their brother's gaze. "Mm. As you said, things can't go back to the way they were."
Gon and Killua glance at each other, unable to understand the younger Zoldyck's newfound resignation.
Kalluto continues, "But you can't leave without telling everyone first. They'll be devastated. Bisky, Palm, and Ikalgo already feel bad for being unable to do anything to help you guys against… Kikyo – again."
Killua sighs, his shoulders drooping against the pillow. "You're right. Thanks, Kalluto. I'm, um… sorry things ended the way they did with… mom…"
After a moment of motionlessness, Kalluto takes a deep breath. They shrug slightly, not revealing anything in their expression. "It's fine. I have a chance now. To be who I want to be. That's what matters… right?"
Killua smiles at his youngest sibling sympathetically, until, to Gon's and Kalluto's surprise, Killua reaches forward and hugs them to his chest.
A few more tears later, the three of them talk in quiet voices – until sunlight pokes through the spindly trees. Kalluto asks about the time Gon and Killua met, when Killua was nothing more than a lost boy in need of a higher purpose, and Kalluto smiles, seeing themself in Killua's predicament from back then, though their path would turn out to be much different, for sure. The youngest Zoldyck falls asleep between the two lovers that morning, whose hands interlock above their head. It's the most comfortable they've felt in years.
. . .
The next day, Killua enters Alluka's room and shuts the door behind him. She's already awake and sitting in bed, rays of morning light filtering in through the curtains. The makeup of the room is similar to Killua's and Gon's own, and the closed window keeps out the heat rising off the land outside.
"Alluka, I –"
She hushes him as he sits down on the bed. "No need to tell me, Brother. I already know you're going back to the mansion alone. I understand. I can't speak for the others, but Kalluto and I – all of us – we've all already done all we can to help you. Only you can fight finish what you started six years ago. We'll all be here supporting you from afar, waiting for your return."
The mutual understanding of their situation has Killua relishing her presence even more before he has to leave. He's gladdened to be in such a heartbreakingly bittersweet position, to emancipate himself, his younger sister, and his youngest sibling once and for all.
It's Alluka who breaks his thoughts, her voice eumoirous and reminiscent in the morning air. "You know… Last night, when I finally found you again, and saved you, I saw…" I saw you as a young child, but without all the scars, all the pain our family has wrought throughout the years… She stops herself. "I saw an opportunity to take away all the pain our family has caused you," she says instead. "I considered it… if for only a moment. I really… I really wanted to give you that chance, Killua, to start anew, without any of the traumatic memories of our past… But I know… wishing we could move on from this so easily with the powers I've been bestowed… It was just my wishful thinking.
"I'm sorry, Brother, for being selfish and thinking I could do it, that I should do it, but I… I can't help myself. I can't help but wonder what we – what our life would be like, if we could erase our pasts, and start anew. And a part of me still wants that, even now, after all we've been through, and all the ways you've struggled for me… I'm sorry for being a selfish coward."
Killua's hands clasp hers on the quilt. "No, Alluka. What you want isn't selfish. In some other life, I'm sure we're the siblings of some other parents, and neither of us, nor Kalluto – nor Brother Illumi or even Brother Milluki – feel that just loving each other is such a declaration of war. Sometimes, I wish we could be those other siblings from another life, too, that we didn't have to deal with this at all… It's just that… in this life… we can't. That isn't true. It is a declaration of war. There's no way I could be the brother you know and love if you took away all the pain we've been through, the pain we've inflicted on each other, all that we have suffered and shared in this life at the hands of the other Zoldycks. This pain, these experiences, they are a part of me. Of you. Of all of us."
"I know." Alluka's voice breaks. "I just wish that we didn't have to go through this endless cycle of pain… That you, especially, didn't…"
"I know. I know you just want to help me, but I…" Killua's voice gets lost for a moment. "Nobody can change what happened. And sometimes, I've worried this pain will be – is – all I'll ever know, but traveling with you and Gon, meeting and befriending everyone else… Ikalgo, Palm, Bisky, Canary, and Amane… I know… I know, one day, that won't be true." He smiles at her and quickly wipes away his tears, still grasping her hand. She feels herself getting misty-eyed too, seeing his resolve.
"Well," she says slowly, "you don't need to worry about someone protecting me anymore. I can take care of myself."
"I know," he says, his voice shaky. Once the flow of tears lessens a little, Killua leans forward to take her around the shoulders. "Thank you for being patient with me all these years, and not giving up on your older brother. I love you so much."
Alluka closes her eyes, allowing Nanika to answer for both of them.
"'Aye."
. . .
In the mid-north, the Republic of Padokea is a cold wasteland in the winters, save one mountaintop that stays chilly all-year round. Kukuroo Mountain, long occupied by a family of assassins descended from the country of Jappon, now echoes with vacancy. For generations, the locals have been too afraid to get close on the pain of death. They have witnessed many groups of men go inside only to have their bones ejected by large clawed hands; seen individuals being dragged inside screaming, never to be seen again. But the locals have never seen anyone leave alive – not even the butlers and other ruffians who were employed by the assassins, those who revolted and attempted to walk out with all the Zoldycks' secrets. They were killed, their families tortured, faster than those who came on a whim.
The Zoldycks, phantoms on their own turf, have never been spotted by anyone they wished to keep alive, hence the scarcity of their photos on the Internet. The family pays the most money to get those photos off the net, but more likely eliminates whomever is in their possession. For the first time in almost a thousand years, the grand estate finds itself in a profound desolation. Only a handful of butlers have returned after being scattered across the world by Nanika – most found it a blessing to be granted freedom in some unknown location in the vast world, sensing permanent change abounding within the Zoldyck Estate. Some returned out of fear or undying loyalty for the family and its legacy.
The manor on the summit is especially quiet. Its dusty rooms empty of the children who have now passed on to their next life, whether literally or spiritually. But deep in the dungeon halls, which may as well serve as catacombs for the many young souls that had been lined up for slaughter over the last many hundreds of years, Milluki's voice echoes in the destroyed Zoldyck throne room.
"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MAMA IS?!"
Silva's back is turned to his only remaining child. His tone is calm and insouciant. "What that woman does is no concern of mine. If she has fallen into the enemy's hands, then it's from her own negligence and lack of skill."
"Tch!" Milluki can hardly contain his fury anymore, finally having crawled out of his manhole to find the manor empty behind words. He spits, "You don't know where Kalluto is. You don't know where Mama is, and Grandpa has left the estate! MY OLDER BROTHER IS DEAD AND YOU CAN'T EVEN LOCATE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE –?!"
Two giant steps rumble the room, and then the man is looming over his son. His reptilian blue eyes pierce through the shadow created by his thick, tentacle-like white hair from the flickering lights beneath the deteriorating throne. Milluki had only defied his father a few times in his entire life, and the last time he did so, he was a child less than ten years old. He remembers why it's been that long since he did so, only speaking ill of Kikyo, Killua, Alluka, or Kalluto. His body shudders with the remnant memory of the unbearable pain.
"Shut your mouth," Silva commands. There is no mercy in his demeanor, nor in any part of the broken scenery around them. "If you have any sense of honor left – which is unlikely – you will aid me in upholding the Zoldyck Family name. If not, continue to cower in your room as you have all your life as a worthless hunk of meat, not even fit for cooking."
With fear in his onyx eyes, Milluki shivers at the presence of his father above him. Until he remembers his pride. His resolve hardens, and he clenches one fist as he nods.
"Fine then."
. . .
Multicolored leaves blow through the pathway leading up to the Testing Gates as Gon and Killua recall their final moments with the others, accompanied by Canary and Amane only. The laughter, tears, and words of encouragement they shared, have led up to this moment.
Killua wears the same sleeveless dark blue turtleneck he donned when he rescued Gon, but this time without the arm-length gloves, and his shirt is tucked into high-waisted, purple waist-banded black pants. His shins are covered in white wrappings that lead into flat, purple shoes, admittedly inspired by the assassin gear Kikyo and Illumi wore, at the end.
Killua steps forward. He places his slender, muscular bare hands onto the Testing Gate, pushing into all seven of them with all his strength, but to no avail.
His elbows fall against the door as he slumps against it. "Shit. This is probably the last time I'll be here, but I still can't do it…"
Gon comes forward, until he's standing beside his friend. Dressed in his usual white muscle shirt and poofy green pants, his voice is gentle. "Killua." The other reels his head up at Gon, his features tired and defeated beneath his white bangs, before they've even gotten to their ultimate enemy. "The first time Kurapika, Leorio, and I came here to rescue you, we couldn't even get one door open, you know. We had to work together just to be able to go to the butlers' quarters to meet you. So…"
Killua catches some of the assurance emanating from Gon and feels himself being filled with his energy.
"Let's do it together!" Gon declares.
Reinvigorated, Killua nods at him, calling in turn, "Right!"
Canary and Amane watch as Killua stands up and beside Gon, and together, with Gon's wide, tanned brown hands and Killua's slender, pale hands side-by-side, they breathe in the same rhythm. They focus all their Nen and strength into opening the seventh Testing Gate.
"One…"
"Two…"
"Go!" they both yell in unison.
Working together, they barely break a sweat. Slowly, the door creaks open, and a grove of trees is revealed inside. Canary and Amane pass through to the bright, changing autumn colors, and the smell of decay made palpable from the other side. Once Gon and Killua hurry through as well, the doors slamming shut in an echo that frightens a murder of crows from the trees, they clench and bump their fists in accomplishment. A few lingering butlers emerge from behind the tree trunks.
"We can handle them," Amane says, raising her fists at them.
"Gon on ahead," Canary assures.
"Got it!" Gon calls behind him as he and Killua jog forward.
"Thanks!" says Killua.
One of the opposing butlers starts to yell, "Where do you think you're goin –?!" when the yellow chrome orb of Canary's staff hits him in the jaw, knocking out a few of his teeth.
"Where do you think Silva will be?" Gon calls to Killua as they run toward the manor on Kukuroo Mountain.
"We'll check the throne room first and then –"
Now far from the skirmish of current and former butlers, Killua skids to a halt on the path within the trees with Gon beside him. "Now that I think about it… There's probably no chance he'll be there…"
"What makes you say that?"
A hand to his chin, Killua analyzes the situation from his father's point of view, parsing through the decision to have a haphazard butler horde at the entrance. Simply to distract Canary and Amane and put Gon and Killua on their toes? Wouldn't that be to his disadvantage, though, to make them more alert? Or perhaps… it was a mere distraction while he got prepared for something. "He'll want to bring me some place where I have a clear disadvantage," Killua says. "His large size and immense physical strength wouldn't go over well in the narrow dungeon halls."
"But where else would he be?"
Remembering something from his conversation with Zeno, Killua lifts his head. "I know where. Follow me."
On the opposite side of the estate, Killua and Gon come to one of the few remaining outside training grounds. Still in use – well, at least before Killua ran away – ten-foot walls surround the perimeter of the sunken square arena. From the outside, its architecture appears to be nothing more than an amphitheater made of blocks of modern concrete. Trees tower over the stone walls, offering an opportunity for a sneak attack, but rather than run and hide like any good assassin would, Killua and Gon enter the arena from the main entrance. There's no way to sneak up on the master assassin whose presence they can feel in the center of the arena.
Sure enough, in the center of the arena on top of the faded pattern of the Zoldyck insignia – a dragon barring its fangs at an amorphous ball of light, assisted by two snakes at its feet – stands Silva Zoldyck.
His beefy arms are crossed, eyelids closed, legs spread to be shoulder-width. An overcast sky hides the shared highlight of his and Killua's snowy white hair, but Silva remains in the same purple assassin garb that Killua remembers from all throughout his childhood. It's as if he hasn't changed at all since then, compared to Killua's traditional assassin and improvised battle attire – but even before opening his eyes, Killua can see the greyness that has hollowed out Silva's cheeks, fractured his hair. Surely, contrary to Zeno's last warning to Killua, he and Gon will be able to take down Silva once and for all.
"Killua." Finally, those slit blue eyes open, failing to reflect any of the humanity Killua swore he saw in his father years ago. Now, he knows it was only his own warmth being reflected back at him. "You shouldn't have come back here."
"We'll see about that," Killua says without hesitation. He floats his arms upward, slowly curling his fingers into fists as electricity lights his body, hair becoming jagged from the current flowing through. Beside him, Gon's golden Nen strikes up, surrounding them in a five-foot radius.
"First, you're going to tell me why you led me all the way out here just to watch your Zoldyck empire fall."
For the first time in his life, Killua catches sight of the reassuring smirk that tights Silva's face.
"You still know nothing at all, do you?"
For a second, Gon wonders if Silva is speaking to him, but he doesn't get time to wonder – for then that monstrous aura rises up from its dormant place in the dungeons below the ground. Tearing through the flesh of the earth, the sound of its scream paralyzes his senses. Even Killua has never born witness to something so terrifying, springing to life around the man like an incarnation of Mike finally able to display all the hunger and malice his species wasn't allowed to while among the living, serving the family.
Sure, Hisoka's powerful aura twisted with a sick pleasure whenever he saw others squirm beneath his hold, and Netero's raw strength couldn't be matched by any human. Pitou's aura held a wickedness that reduced grown men into babbling idiots – of this, Knov was aware attest more than Gon or Killua. The Chimera Ant King held a potency so powerful that he contained it in the presence of all who were not true, direct threats – and even those that were. The fact that the presence before them, trembling with hardened betrayal and despair, came from Killua's own blood – it tells him all he needs to know.
A particularly large bead of sweat tickles from the top of his forehead all the way down to his chin, until it finally sizzles off due to Godspeed's electrified tremors sent through his skin.
There's no way we can defeat him.
Killua is about to inform Gon of this fact, when the blur coming toward him indicates it's too late. The battle has already begun.
My apologies for taking a bit longer to update! Senior year of college has been kicking my ass, given the presence of three apocalypses in my region, essays, and my senior thesis. But I shall persevere! I will finish this story before the end of 2020 even if I have to release the last two chapters one day apart before the end of December! Speaking of which, there are only two chapters left…! It's such a surreal realization to come to in my notes, after nearly 4 years of writing this story. Once again, I hope that the ending and story in its entirety will prove satisfying.
Thank you to the two Guests who reviewed Chapter 32! (And ofc Tibu and Bistra, whom I already replied to via Tumblr and PM~) I'm happy to hear that this fic has been able to provide entertainment during these quarantine days, and the knowledge you read through the entire story in a few days is absolutely amazing!
I hope this chapter was as satisfying as the last, and I look forward to ending this strongly with you all. I hope you'll leave your thoughts below~
