Hello, first of all, thank you very much for clicking on this story!
This story was made because I had the biggest urge to write something more halloween-y, and it obviously had to be about HxH, because it's the only anime I can currently focus on. I started writing this a week before Halloween and I knew from the beginning that I'll not finish it at time (I wanted to post it on Halloween, of course), but whatever, it's still Nightmare Before Christmas, right? *wink wink* I'm also one of these people who would celebrate Halloween all year round if they only could so for me Halloween's every day lol.
This title is just a modified verision of one of Powerwolf songs (btw this is my favorite band, go and check them if you want!) "Ira Sancti (When the Saints are going wild)." Maybe it's just me, but it suits this story well enough (and unfortunately I'm not really creative with titles, oops.)
At first, I wanted to put this story in the crossover section, but I decided not to, because . . . yeah, I just noticed it's more like an AU then a crossover (but if I'm making a mistake, please tell me, I'll gladly change that!). I'm not planning on using the characters from the original movie, maybe except for the trick-or-treaters and just a brief mention of Jack Skellington, though he'll never really appear in this story. I just really like the whole concept of Halloween Town (and the other Towns) and I just had to make some use of it!
Another thing is, I changed my writing style a little and now my chapters are longer than they'd ever been (I used to write chapters with 4000 words while this one has around 10 000, and even more with this note), my sentences became longer, or at least that's what I think and . . . yeah, you'll see yourself. I don't know if it's just me, but the long chapters are my favorite~ I'd especially like to know what do you think about this style, because it's the first time I'm using it and I'm curious about what others think about it and about the whole idea of putting HxH characters into this AU. I liked it a lot in my head, but it's hard to tell if it looks as good written as actual chapters, though.
Please, feel free to tell me if you find some mistakes or if a sentence seems unnatural or awkward or somethying like that. I'm still learning and didn't find a beta yet~
Oh, another thing. Things like songs, memories or anything that happened in the past will be written in italic.
Okay, that's the end of me talking.
Please enjoy!
"See the moon, hear that tune."
"Moaning, groaning, oh so scary."
"Through the lonely cemetery."
Three masked children with empty jack-o'-lanterns in their little hands stood in front of the door to one of the many crack houses lining the street and knocked three times, waiting for the owner to open the door. The house looked like it was about to fall at any moment, but so looked the other houses in this district of Halloween Town, being a shelter for all of the town's residents; monsters and ghosts of any kind. Its broken windows revealed the dark interior of the house, where a single Wolfman ran through the living room and stood on the other side of the door to turn the doorknob.
The three of kids — one with a long-face mask and pointy, witchy hat, another one wearing round mask with its teeth grinned in a hellish smile, yet another with red, devil mask and matching blood-red costume — raised up their pumpkins, waiting for some candies to be dropped inside before they said in unison, "Trick or threat!"
Hisoka the Clown with the Tear Away Face didn't wait for the owner to open the door, instead he jumped down from the brick wall surrounding another house on the other side of the street and made his way to a place where most monsters gathered together at this time of year. Before he could make a couple of steps towards his destination, he heard the kids shouting loudly "Trick!" and an ear-piercing scream of the poor Wolfman occupaying said house when a big explosion lit up the street, and hot flames of fire started consuming his sweet haunted home and the neighbouring houses on either side of his mansion. The clown chuckled with amusment, heels of his almost feminine shoes clattered on the cool pavement before they joined the other noises on the street.
Three tall and slim vampires walked past him, whispering something to each other in an elegant manner as a bunch of white ghosts flew above their heads, all screaming in their chilling voices, "They're coming! They're coming!", "Everyone! Line up!", "It's time!" It's time!", "The time has come! It's tonight! Tonight!". Witches crossed the night sky on their brooms, turning its sticks towards the center of the town, where an entire army of reather peculiar-looking people gathered around a lonely fountain, the crowd getting bigger and bigger with each passing second. People with tentacles instead of legs, rotting corpses who just came out of their graves, people holding their heads in their hands to not lose it on the run, a single Headless Horseman on his black horse, werewolfs, mummies, scarecrows and other nightmares, all ran closer to the fountain, all excited for the great come back of the Pumpkin King and his royal family, all waiting for him to announce the big holiday they were all waiting for.
Hisoka blend in the crowd and stepped closer to the fountain; some children looked inside with excitment to see if the famous ghoul family's really coming, but the poison green surface didn't move a bit; and if Hisoka wasn't already 280 years old prick — with an impressively youthful look — he'd gladly join them. It's been so many years, but he was still exited like a little kid for this time of year when he could legally go out of Halloween Town to the mortal world and gouge out some eyes, break some bones (not his own, of course) and dance on the cold corpses of all the sceptics who still didn't want to belive that ghosts and monsters from under their beds are real. It's not like he wasn't doing this throughout the year, sneaking out of the town and making chaos in the other worlds they couldn't normally reach, but it wasn't such fun as now, when all the other monsters were about to join the game.
Ghosts from cemetery appeared above the fountain, forcing the gathered creatures to rise up their heads to look at them, flying in circles and moaning loudly before they started their traditional song they'd always sung before the King's arrival, "Boys and girls of every age, Wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see. This, our town of Halloween." they made a big circle above the crowd and danced rythmically to their own words before the rest of the monsters jointed them, singing, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Pumpkins scream in the dead of night, This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright. It's our town, everybody scream in this town of Halloween." Ghosts and other creatures with deep voices sung together, "I am the one hiding under your bed, Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red, I am the one hiding under yours stairs, Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair." The ghosts danced above them again, coming closer to each other and then splitting up again, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween." Children standing next to the fountain, as excited as their parents and other adults, looked up at the ghosts, also wanting to join the performance, "In this town we call home, Everyone hail to the pumpkin song, In this town, don't we love it now? Everybody's waiting for the next surprise."
This time everybody, singing the same song in unison, began to move in a dance to the rest of the song, "Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can, Something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll scream. This is Halloween, red 'n' black, slimy green. Aren't you scared? Well, that's just fine." They grabbed each other's hands, tentacles or other limbs and circled the fountain, dancing in pairs this year's Dance Macabre, "Say it once, say it twice, Take a chance and roll the dice, Ride with the moon in the dead of night, Everybody scream, everybody scream, In our town of Halloween." and with the last line the surface moved, small rippels appeared on the poisonous green liquid and vibrated a little before a silver-haired man finally emerged from the fountain. The current Pumpkin King, Silva Zoldyck, stood proudly above the crowd, putting one leg on the fountain's edge and looked around his citiziens with a cool expression on his face, and then stepped down onto the ground. Despite his cold, blue eyes that scanned the crowd judgmentally, the excited mass wasn't afraid at all, cheering and singing the rest of the song, "I am the Clown with the Tear Away Face, Murder in a flash but I leave no trace, I am the who when you call, who's there? I am the wind blowing through your hair, I am the shadow on the moon at night, Filling your dreams to the brim with fright."
Next, a big hat decorated with bows and flowers appeared above the surface before his wife, Kikyo, stood behind her husband's back and looked at the residents from behind her visor, curling her little, blood-red lips into a tiny smile and hidding her little, sharp fangs behind her fan. She jumped down gracefully from the fountain's egde to make more room for the rest of her ghoul family and joined her husband. The water vibrated once more, people held their breaths for a while before another ghoul stood in the fountain, his black, long hair covering his pale face before he tossed it onto his back to reveal two black, dull eyes that made some girls scream in excitment as if some famous celebrity had just visited the town, wishing they could get his attention. Illumi, the first and the eldest son of Silva and Kikyo stood next to his parents, greeting the most important people of the town. Hisoka smirked, though the ghoul didn't even spare him a glance, busy with other people's greetings and the screams of a bunch of his fans.
The next son, Milluki, appeared in the water after his brother, whipping the blood from the corner of his mouth as if he'd just ate something — someone? — really tasty and got out of the fountain with a bored expression. The girls' screams weren't as impressive as before now, but that didn't matter, because the only screams that are important are the ones of their victims. Everyone's attention was once again brought back to the fountain as the third ghoul child, the heir of the family legacy and the next Pumpkin King, Killua, surfaced before them from the green water, hands in the pockets of his striped jacket, eyebrows furrowed at the crowd angrily as if being here was the last thing on his wish list. Hisoka smirked once more; oh, if this kid didn't want to be the next King of the Halloween Town so bad then he'd gladly take his role. Killua stood behind his oldest brother's back, trying to avoid all the hand shakes, kisses, and pats on the head from the people who wanted to greet him properly.
Next, the fourth child of Silva and Kikyo got out from under the small waterfall of poisonous water, her hair wet and a big smile on her face. Two sisters in one body, known as the Two-Faced Child, Alluka and her sister, Nanika got out from the fountain after their brothers to be greeted immadietly by a bunch of kids their age who wanted to play some deadly game with their old friend and her demon sister. The last and the youngest child, Kalluto, came out from under the waterfall after his sisters, scanning the crowd silently with his big, pink eyes, similar to the ones of his oldest brother's. The Child that Never Smiles. Some say his expression never changes, unless he catches some victim from the mortal world he can eat later; only then he finally laughs like a kid he is. His laughter is the last thing one'll hear before they die. He jumped down onto the pavement and ran quickly to his mother to grab her hand, almost like a living doll running to its owner. The song didn't stop until every family member got out of the fountain, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. In this town we call home, Everyone hail to the pumpkin song."
Two older man with long, white moustaches and tall cylinders, Siamese twins, grabbed gently Kikyo's hands and brought them closer to their mouths, bowing and saying at the same time, "Welcome back to Halloween Town, Your Highness."
"That's a pleasure to see you all again, Mister Oogie and Boogie" she let them place a little kisses on the back of her hands and withdrew her hands from them immadietly to grab Kalluto's fragile hand so hard she almost broke her youngest son's fingers, but the little ghoul child didn't even flinch. Silva looked around the people, his cold blue eyes scanning every monster's face, a serious expression on his face that seemed to be carved on his face forever by a skilled sculptor. "Citiziens!" he bellowed, making everybody stop in their track and look at him in expectation, "Another year has passed, but your halloween spirit has not forsaken you. So, with the song on your lips you sing every year, it is time to start preparations for this year's great holiday. As always, it's forty days left until our big night. Let's make the scariest halloween night in history real." his speech was short and quick, but enough for the Halloween Town residents to make them feel the halloween spirit again. The crowd cheered loudly, some monsters already running back to their homes to start preparing themselfes for this year's big night.
"Did everyone hear that? Do not dissapoint the King this year!" the town's mayor shouted after the running crowd, but his words were pointless since everybody knew exactly what they need to do. "Your Highness." this time Mister Oogie and Boogie turned to Silva, "The council would like to invite you and your family to a dinner where we could discuss every important matter about the upcoming holiday." one of them said.
"Of course. We'd all gladly join you in the meeting, right?" he said, his wife nodded her head, but Silva didn't even spare her a glance; he turned his head to look at his sons, noticing that one of them had vanished and furrowed his eyebrows. Before he could do anything else, the two man in one suit continued, "The dinner will be tonight at midnight in the council room." Mister Oogie said. "Please, don't be late." his brother finished as Mister Oogie looked at him angrily. You fool. He's a King. He's not gonna be late. Mister Oogie sent him his thought, but his brother, Boogie only shrugged one shoulder. Silva looked at Illumi with furrowed eyebrows, his son's big eyes staring back at him in expectation.
"Wherever he is, bring him back to the council room before midnight. He's never going to come back himself." he said.
"Understood." his oldest son nodded as the rest of the siblings went their separate ways to come back to the council room at midnight.
Killua hated it there. He hated everyone making a big fuss about their return from the underground. He hated people being satisfied with the same thing every year. He hated that nothing ever changes here, in the Townof Halloween; and especially he hated his senseless legacy that'll never let him run away from this place, his brothers always following orders and making him do the same, his parents being proud of something he hated the most, of their stupid family name that bounded him to this town forever. Killua was the most bored, angry and unsatified 120-year-old in history. Walking straight ahead, as far from his brothers as he could, he glanced quickly at some kids his age, preparing their halloween candy buckets, carving pumpkins, playing with saws, axes, knifes and other childlish toys as if they were several years younger than they really were, but it looked like it was making them way happier than Killua will ever be.
Killua glanced down at his black, striped jacket, his maching graphite suit pants, and then touched the small, silver cross on his collar with his fingertips. Why was he even wearing it? It wasn't like there were any religious people in this town, and especially not in his family. If there was a god of any sort none of them would be here, right? The path he took led him to the cemetery where the big swing gate opened up on its own for him and closed behind his back with a loud creak as he stepped inside. He strolled through the now empty graves since all the skeletons, ghosts and zombies were still somewhere in the town, and let the moonlight guide him down the quiet, cemetery path.
He walked up a single spiral hill, stood on top of it and looked up at the night sky while the big, yellowish full moon illuminated his features from one side, its light glistened sadly in his eyes. He never signed up for being an heir. He never wanted this kind of power and fame his father possesed; this were the things his brothers wanted, not him. He'd gladly give them the title of the future Pumpkin King, if he only could, and then he'd run away from this place as far as possible and never come back; he'd see what's waiting for him on the other side of the town's gate, he'd find a place no one had ever found before and he'd stay there forever, alone and finally happy. Killua looked into the distance at the Hinterlands as if searching for some advise from the single jack-'o-lanterns scattered all over the area, glowing with their faint orange lights with some sort of nostalgia in their carved grotesque eyes.
He sighed deeply and sat on the egde of the hill, legs crossed and hands behind his back, propping his whole body. He felt shivers going down his spine and immadietly felt a presure on his back as if somebody was standing behind his back or watching him from afar. He turned his head slowly to see if he can spot anyone suspicious while somebody's ghost-white face flashed before his squinted eyes, "Boo!".
"Oh, it's just you, grandpa?" Killua asked lazily, looking at the elderly man behind him — ex-Pumpkin King of Halloween Town or at least that's what some people said. Killua couldn't really imagine this cheerful older man on the same place as his father currently was.
"As always, hard to scare." he said, "Like a real Pumpkin King." Zeno nodded his head.
Killua turned his head back to look up at the stars. He heard his grandfather's quiet footsteps behind his back as the man came closer to his grandson and sat next to him on the egde. Zeno used to be the Pumpkin King before Killua's father took over the town and now, as he retired, he passed the authority to his only son's family, freeing himself from all the responsibilities of being a king. He was a free soul now, he could go wherever and whenever he wanted to and didn't have to live underground with his family to go outside only once a year. That's why it wasn't very unusual to spot him at this time of year in the cemetery. He always liked strange and quiet places; just like Killua.
"How come you never got bored with it?" Killua asked.
"How come you're getting bored so easly?" his grandfather answered him with another question. "How do you think you're not gonna like your future job if you didn't even try it yet? Nobody ever told you that you have to be like Silva when you grow up. You'll get the power to change a lot of things when you become the King yourself."
"It's not only that." Killua looked down at the dirt beneath his legs, "It's . . . the town. There's only one thing people think about all year long. They don't wait for anything else. Isn't it boring to do just one thing all your afterlife? Do you think I could change even that?"
Zeno looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Why would you change that? That's the only purpose of this town."
"Staying in one place and waiting just for this one day? It's boring. Really boring." Killua yawned theatrically, "I don't want to scare people anymore. Why would I do that if I know how they're gonna react? It's not fun anymore. It never was." he said, almost whispering, knowing that at this point his grandfather wasn't much different from the rest of his family. He may be a pretty good listener, but he'll never understand what he's grandson was really going through.
"Oh, you're not the only one who's ever been bored with this town, trust me." Zeno said, making Killua looked up at his thoughtful face, "Once upon a time, there was a man, ha!, a Pumpkin King back then, who also wanted to make a big change in a town where nothing ever changed. Indeed, he was bored with his afterlife, really bored." Zeno grabbed his chin like an old man he was, "And angry. He didn't like his people didn't want to change their old traditions. And you know what?"
Killa rolled his eyes, "Grandpa, I'm serious."
"Me too!" Zeno furrowed his eyebrows in a playful manner. Killua knew this old story too well. He's grandfather used to tell him that every time his grandson felt down; and he'd probably told this story to all his brothers at least fifteen times in their afterlives. Killua used to really like this story, but even the best and most exciting tale in the world gets boring after some time; the elder ghoul didn't seem to acknowledge it yet, though. "So he decided to just left the only place he knew for a while and go as far away from the town as he could. And then, guess what? He indeed . . ."
"He indeed did find another place." Killua finished, tired of hearing the same old legend for millionth time.
"And it was the most unusual and happy place he's ever seen with his own two eyeholes!" Zeno said with fake excitment. "People were singing songs on the streets, decorating their houses, giving each other presents . . . You know, something like a box wrapped in a colorful paper with a surprise in the inside."
"Like what?" Killua asked, never hearing of the presents part.
"I don't know. Bombs maybe." Zeno shrugged his shoulders before he continued, "Everything looked like it was made out of magic. It was as if he'd stumbled upon a wonderland from some old fairy tale. There were lights, weird triangular trees, small monsters with green clothes and long ears, strange white puffs he'd never seen before were lying on the streets and falling from the sky . . ."
"No, that's impossible." Killua shook his head as the story started to become more and more unrealistic.
"But that's true!" Zeno sounded offended, "He was so amazed by everything around him that he decided to change his own town into a completely different place." Killua looked expectantly in his grandfather's direction as if knowing already what was going to happen next in the story. "And then" Zeno continued, Killua's eyes shining with excitement, "He ruined everything! It turned out that his town had its own purpose and he should've never tried to change anything in the first place, because bad things were about to happen. The end." His grandfather finished his story, earning an angry look from his grandson. "I've never heard this version of the story." Killua said with furrowed eyebrows, "How was it supposed to help me?"
"It was supposed to help you understand that some things do not need to be changed." Zeno got up from his place and turned his head to the cementary, "You'll see soon enough that when you become the King yourself you'll look at this place in a completely different way. Now, please excuse an old rotting ghoul. I also have some things to do before Halloween really starts." he chuckled lightly and turned around, "See you in forty days!" he waved his hand to Killua and dissapeared in the dark like a ghost. Killua sighed deeply and kept staring at the stars above the town as if nothing had happened, altough he could still hear his grandfather's words repeating in his head the ending of the story. The moon was still watching him from his right like an all-seeing eye that seemed to know all a his secrets, even the ones he hadn't discovered about himself yet.
Now Killua remembered why he'd stopped liking this story a long time ago and why his brothers never got bored with it, so he decided to make up his own ending of his grandfather's legend; in his head the ex-Pumpkin King succeeded with his plan and changed the whole town into a place he'd visited somewhere outside the town's gate and everyone were happy ever after, the end. Killua shook his head. It didn't make any sense; even some old childlish story that was supposed to give him some sense of hope and happiness only made him feel even more miserable. He's going to live for eternity in a place that'll always remain the same and there's nothing he'll be able to do about it.
As he realized that, he heard some silent footsteps behind his back, walking slowly on the rocky path and coming closer and closer to the hill he was sitting on. Killua didn't know why, but something about those steps made him shiver, sending chills going down his spine. He breathed out and was surprised to see that no white puffs of smoke appeared before his eyes as he did so; he immadietly got so cold. Was his grandfather trying to play some silly game of his right now? If so, Killua wasn't in a good mood now, and the elder ghoul should know it best. Killua looked over his shoulder at the long path behind him to see what could be the source of his strange body reaction and saw a dark, tall figure standing in the darkness of the night in the middle of the long and widening path. The slender, humanoid form raised up its head to look at his little brother's shocked face, letting the yellow moonlight illuminate his pale, emotionless face.
"Illumi."
Illumi's lips curled up into a tiny warm smile, "Here you are. It's quite lovely at this time of year, isn't it? But if you wait a little longer for Halloween it'll be even better." he said in a monotonous voice, never breaking eye contact with Killua, not even to blink his eyes. It was creepy even for an heir to the Pumpkin Throne such as Killua; as a future Pumpkin King he shouldn't be afraid of anything and anyone, and especially not of his older brother. It just showed how bad of an heir he was. Why was he the only person to see that this role was definitely not made for him? "Were you here all the time?" Illumi asked, "It's almost midnight. Father asked me to brought you to the council room when the time comes. Shall we go?"
Killua didn't move. "Y-yes, sure." he mumbled, trying to force a little smile onto his face and failing miserably, "Did something happen?" he asked, standing up. It was rare to see his oldest brother with a smile like this.
If this question surprised Illumi, he didn't show it on his face, "Hm? No. Why do you ask?" Illumi hung his head to one side. Killua furrowed his eyebrows. His little brother shook his head, earning a questioning look from the older ghoul, "Nothing." Killua said quietly, coming down the hill. They both exited the cemetery, letting the old, creaking gate shut behind their backs at the same time as someone jumped above the fence on the other side of the quiet area and lounded heavily on the ground with a loud thud.
The council room was, in fact, the biggest hall in the entire Halloween Town that could easly fit every important person of the town. The invited guests sat down in front of a long, heavy, wooden table and began talking vigorously with each other, making one big noise out of their screams, moans, laughs and cutlery clincking against the dishes. Silva sat at the very end of the table with his entire family on his right and the most important politicians on the left. Big portraits of the previous kings of the town lined the walls on either side of the table; some of them were staring silently at the whole feast, regreting they couldn't be a part of it, the others were blinking, closing their eyes or looking in different directions, wishing that the loud guests would finally go away and let their trapped souls rest in peace.
Behind Silva's back, at the end of the eneromous hall, was a big fireplace where the last blue flames of fire danced calmly on the burning wood. Moonlight was pouring in from the tall windows on either side of the fireplace. Over the fireplace was the biggest painting of them all, showing the old Pumpkin King that was the last one to rule the town before the Zoldyck family took over the town; Jack Skellington standing with all his glory somewhere in the middle of a forest, some orange, glowing, halloween pumpkins smiling in their direction from the painting with their sharp, carved teeth. He held his head high, his fist clenched on his chest. Killua'd always imagined that this was the previous King from his grandfather's story that ruined the town while trying to make something great out of it, something that no one had ever done before him. But it didn't make sense. If he'd really done that then his portrait wouldn't be hanging in such visible place.
"I don't really like Uncle Lurch." Kalluto said flatly from his far seat at the table.
"Don't eat if you don't like." Kikyo looked at her son from her seat closest to her husband's and shoved another piece of meat to her mouth. Illumi was sitting next to his mother, listening to the conversation his father had with one of the politicians on his left who tried to engage the younger ghoul into their talk, even though Illumi didn't say a word since the beginning of the dinner. Milluki was sitting on his right, looking totally unbothered by the strange taste of their meal that his youngest brother refused to eat. Killua was sitting between Milluki and Alluka, looking at his own meal with bored expression and stabbing his meat with a fork. Alluka sat next to Killua and looked around the people, being just as bored as her older brother. Kalluto was sitting almost at the end of the table, hidding his doll-like face behind his fan elegantly just as his mother had taught him to, so that he could look even more girly and fragile than he already did.
Killua looked around his siblings and noticed Alluka looking down at the back of her palms as she put her own fork away, her big, round, cold blue eyes hidden under the curtain of her long, black eyelashes. Killua lowered his head to look at the face of his sister, "Is something wrong?" he asked quietly. She looked up at him and squinted her eyes a little in a poor attempt to smile, "It's nothing important, brother." she looked down again, "You know, today I saw some children in costumes, carving pumpkins next to our fountain . . ."
"Hm? Would you like to make some jack-o'-lanterns, then? How about we do that after the dinner?" he asked with a smile, happy that he'll be able to finally think about something more interesting than his never-ending boredom. "No." Alluka shook her head, "I thought that maybe one day . . . You know, I'd like to go trick-or-treating with them." she said in a small voice and heard as someone dropped their cutlery on their plate, but at that time none of them knew exactly who it was.
"Nonesense." Silva said firmlthe from the far end of the table, interrupting some men who were trying to talk to him to look at his daughter, "Why would you do that, Alluka? If you want something sweet to eat just say a word. There's no point for any of us to dress up and ask strengers for candy. You can have it all right here and now."
"I know." Alluka said, this time louder than before so that her father could hear her from her seat, "But . . . It'll be just this one time and . . . I've always wanted to do this. It seems fun and . . ."
"Fun?" her mother asked sceptically, "What's so fun about collecting candy? Why don't you just play tortures with your brothers or summon a demon like every good girl your age?"
"It's . . . boring." Alluka said, clenching the her skirt with her fists under the table, "I just want to have fun like most of the children my age. It's just one night in the year anyway."
"You know it's not something a royalty like you should do. Leave it for other kids. They're not like you and you're not like them." Silva finished the conversation as Alluka's mouth hung open and she came back to looking sadly at her hands. Killua looked at her discreetly as his father went back to his conversation with the other councilors. He could still remember when he also wanted to go outside and trick-or-treating with other kids his age and if he only could, he'd still do that. He remembered when he'd also told his oldest brother about his intentions, and Illumi'd responded with something very similar to what their father had said earlier so Killua'd never told their parents about this, knowing that they'd never agree to that.
Killua made sure their parents were busy with themselfes and leaned closer to his sister to say in a half-whisper, "If you really want to, we can go and trick-or-treat a little when the dinner ends."
Alluka looked at him with shining eyes, "Really? Really, brother?"
"Yes, yes. But not so loud. You know dad hears everything." and it was creepy for both of them.
Alluka put her index finger on her mouth, "Right. Quiet." she whispered. Killua pat her head with a reassuring smile as Kalluto looked away from these two and went back to eating his meal, even though he'd said eariler that he didn't even like it. Milluki looked at his little brother with furrowed eyebrows, and Killua pretended he didn't feel his brother's angry stare at the back of his head. Good thing it wasn't Illumi or else their parents would know about their plan before they could even get out of this room.
As they both turned back to their plates, the big double doors at the other end of the room opened on their own and a headless kitchen chef in his white and slightly torn uniform stepped into the room with a big silver plate with lid on his hand and lifted the lid to reveal his own rotting, bluish head that said with a French accent, "Ladies and gentleman, please make some room for the special royal dessert made by the best and the creepiest kitchen chef from the far Europe." his body bowed slightly and his head rolled his eyes, "Be sure to also try some of his special drinks." at that the councilors cheered happily, and the chef hid his head back under the lid and stepped out of the room. At the same time, two long queues of elegantly dressed waiters walked into the room and stood on either side of the hall to put the food on the table and pour some wine into the silver chalices.
The councilors let out some happy cheers such as "For Halloween!", "For the King!", "Satan save the King!", "And Queen!", "Yes, and Queen!" and clinked chalices with almost everyone at the table, exacluding the youngest ghouls. It didn't take long for them to pass out in the middle of their drunken games. Some of them laid their heads on the table, others began to sing — or reather mumble — some drunken songs, a man with long animal-like fangs started crying his big red eyes out while another zombie-man tried his best to cheer him up, and the only politician who didn't end up drunk was Jason the Skeleton who's drink flowed through his bones to landed on the floor.
Illumi swirled his own drink in his hand. The last thing he wanted was to end up like the rest of the guests. He brought the chalice closer to his mouth at the same time as a little knocking on the window caught his attention. He shifted his eyes to the window where a black raven sat comfortably on the windowsill and tapped a few times on the glass. The bird looked at him in exceptation, his little, black, shining eyes, almost as hypnotizing as his own. Illumi put his chalice down and got up from the table. "Excuse me." he said quietly, earning a questioning look from his father. The party was almost over anyway. Without any further ado, he walked silently past the table and went out through the doors.
Hisoka the Clown with the Tear Away Face, back then known as the Homeless Nonamed Child from Fleet Street, couldn't belive his own two eyes. He looked around the small wooden shops, houses lining the wide path, zombies walking to and fro slowly with their unseeing eyes focused on something far before them, skeletal dogs running happily in circles, kids his age playing the knife game somewhere in a narrow alley, and everything was happening underground as if there was another Halloween Town, but hidden deeply from almost everyone from the real town; and all he did to find this place was jump down some unguarded open tomb. He looked up to see the high ceiling made of dirt and roots that hid everything from the curious eyes of the rest of the town's residents.
The only path in the big underground tunnel was wide and led to only one place that Hisoka came across later. A big gothic residence on the very end of the tunnel stood proudly before Hisoka's eyes. Hisoka thought that the whole building looked more like a medieval castle of some vampire king than just a random expensive-looking house for some rich snobs, and it made him feel even more excited than he already was. Its high towers almost touched the dirt above the house. Hisoka felt as if the entire building was staring back at him, waiting for his next move as a cold chill ran down the boy's spine. That was not what he'd expected to find here, but he didn't feel dissapointed. The house looked so . . . dead. Even though the building itself was pretty neat, the whole house looked as if nobody was really living in there; its aura was frightening and luring him at the same time, and he felt as if he had no other choice than to come closer.
Hisoka snucked to the backyard and found himself in the biggest garden he'd ever seen in his entire short afterlife; there were shrubs clipped into the shape of animals such as bats, octopuses or sharks, fruit trees lining the single rocky path leading into a big hedge maze that Hisoka immadietly found the most fascinating. Without further ado, Hisoka ran into the maze like a little kid he was and began exploring the place further, curious about what he'll find in the center of the maze.
-0-0-0-
Illumi felt a strange scent that immadietly made him feel hungry; it wasn't a human scent for sure, but something really close to it. He looked around carefully, though it was impossible for him to see anything through the high hedge walls that surrounded him from every side. He looked down at the dead pigeon in his hand and put it on the egde of the fountain that stood in the very center of the big hedge maze. The scent was getting stronger, so strong he wanted to look for the source of it, but decided to wait a little longer. Finally, somebody's soft footsteps approched his small and almost girly figure, and he turned around to look straight into someone's amused golden eyes.
-0-0-0-
After some time, Hisoka finally found himself surrouned by the high hedge walls in the deep hidden center of the square maze, and what he'd seen there surprised him, making his usually pretty self-confident character put a step back. He looked at the small person in the middle of the maze that leaned on the edge of a big fountain and began skinning some light grey pigeon with his small hands. The lonely kid was not much older than Hisoka, if not even younger, and had the prettiest hair the red-haired boy had ever seen, long and black, making him look more like a girl than a little boy he was. Hisoka put one step forward as the boy turned around to face the strange, homeless kid that found himself in his family garden, uninvited and bore his big black eyes into his golden ones. Hisoka felt a chill going down his spine as the dull, doll-like eyes seemed to read his mind and touch his soul.
"Hello." Hisoka said, finally. Encouraged by the boy's curious gaze, the redhead came closer, "What are you doing?" he asked, shifting his gaze to the dead, bloodied bird.
The boy looked at the bird he'd put on the fountain's edge eariler and shrugged, "I like animal bones."
Hisoka thought that there was something wrong with this kid's voice and it took him some time to finally realize that he was talking with a boy, and not a girl as he'd previously thought. This made him even more curious. He sat on the edge in front of Illumi and looked at him, amused, "You live in this house, don't you? Don't you have any better toys than that? Your parents must be reach."
Illumi nodded, "I like them." he looked at the dead pigeon with an open stomach and some small bones already sticking out here and there, "Father says its a good training before I start doing that with bigger things. Like mortals, for example."
"Cool." Hisoka smirked, "What's your name?"
"Illumi."
Hisoka reached for Illumi's hair. The black-haired boy didn't even flinch as if he was used to people touching his hair without permission, "Why do you look like that?" he asked.
"What?"
The homeless boy looked down at Illumi's strange kimono, and then back at his face, "You know people don't usually look like that, right? You look like a girl."
"My mother likes how I look. She often brings me clothes form the mortal world." he said quickly, "And why do you look like that?" Illumi asked, eyeing Hisoka's dirty shirt that seemed to be torn by someone's long claws, too big pants and heavy-looking boots.
"I like how I look." Hisoka smirked again, "Have you ever thought about cutting them short?" he asked, still holding a strand of Illumi's hair in his hand.
"No."
"You should."
"Why?" Illumi looked at Hisoka questioningly, and when the answer didn't come, the black-haired boy asked, "What's your name?"
Hisoka flinched on his place, not knowing how to answer. He didn't know his name. At that time, he didn't have any. He didn't need it. He'd always been just a "kid", "thief", "get out of my sight", "damn, it's you again" or "go away!", but none of them was a real name that started with a capital letter. Hisoka jumped down from the fountain's edge and asked, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I told you mine."
Hisoka looked around, looking for a way to change the topic, "Show me your house."
"No, if you not tell me your name first." Illumi furrowed his thin black eyebrows, "You're rude, you know?"
Yes, "rude" was also one of his names he didn't really care about, but when the boy called him so, for the first time in his afterlife, Hisoka felt something inside of him that he didn't quite like. He wanted to say something even more rude than he'd already said to make the boy even more annoyed, but then both boys heard some heavy footsteps running closer to the maze center, "Young master! Is everything okay? We heard some voices and . . ." and then the guard stopped, seeing young Hisoka standing next to the fountain and waving to him nonchalantly, "You! How did you get there?" Hisoka shrugged. How was he supposed to know that this house was guarded? There weren't any guards in the frontyard.
Hisoka turned around and began to run away. "Hey, wait!" the guard shouted behind him and ran after the boy. Illumi looked at the two indifferently before he went back to his dead pigeon and sniffed his nose. He could still feel this boy's strange, human-like scent; and he was still hungry.
The path that Illumi took led him to the one and only circus in the whole Halloween Town. The big, red and white tent seemed totally out of place in a town like this. Colorful lights illuminated the way to the entrance decorated with a big face of a clown, his mouth wide open in a devilish smile; but Illumi didn't come inside. He circled the big tent and found himself in the area intendent for circus staff. Smaller tents were scattered all over the place, as well as some empty cages, a broken van without the front window and with a broken flap that didn't want to close completely, an open tent with a big table in the middle which was probably a canteen tent and the biggest and the most colorful tent in the center, but still not as big as the main one.
Illumi came closer to the biggest one and stood before its entrace, not sure what to do. He looked around awkwardly and noticed a small golden bell hanging just above his head. The small sound of the bell sounded quietly inside Hisoka's tent, making his impresively high house of cards fall into pieces. The clown got up from his seat and headed to the 'door', already knowing who was waiting for him on the other side, seeing the slim shadowy silhouette of his guest behind the drapes. He 'opened' one curtain to see Illumi standing there with Hisoka's raven in his hand, the bird's mouth opened slightly as if attempting to let out its last scream. Illumi lifted up his hand, the one holding the bird by its neck, to show the clown how dead his little pet was.
"Hi." Hisoka said in an overly seductive tone, pretending not to see the dead raven in Illumi's hand.
"You wanted to see me." the ghoul said in his monotonous voice. As soon as Illumi'd left the town hall, the bird flew to him from the windowsill he'd been previously sitting on and started screaming to his ear "Hisoka wants to see you! His waiting for you! Tonight, inat his place! Don't be late! Hisoka's waiting for you! Hisoka's wating fo-" and didn't want to stop until Illumi broke its neck.
"Just wanted to say hello." he smiled.
"Hello."
"How nice!" Hisoka grinned as if smiling to a child, then turned around, motioning for Illumi to follow him, "Care for a drink?" Hisoka asked, and Illumi nodded his head, sitting comfortably in a big fluffy armchair. The ghoul looked around, taking in everything in the medium-sized circus tent. Hisoka's tent looked more like an apartament than a temporary shelter. It could fit almost every item a normal house should have, including some separate rooms hidden behind many heavy drapes functioning as walls and doors. Hisoka came from behind one of the drapes with two glasses of some green bubbling liquid in his hands. Illumi grabbed one of them and sniffed it curiously.
"A lot of things have changed since last year." Illumi said, looking at Hisoka sitting on the armchair opposite of him and taking a sip of his drink, "Last year this place wasn't bigger than a small pumpking field behind old Alfred's house. And look at yourself now. You're living here like some kind of royalty. Where did you even get this?" Illumi asked, showing Hisoka his half-full glass. It was one of the most expensive and rearest alcohols in the town. His father had three bottles of it in his cabinet, but seeing something like that in Hisoka's place was quite a surprise. "I'm impressed."
Hisoka let out a soft chuckle, "You know, I'm just trying to get used to it." Illumi raised an eyebrow questioningly, encouraging Hisoka to continue, "I think I'd make a perfect royality. A Pumpkin King maybe?" he smiled, "What do you think?"
"How would you do that? It's not like anyone would vote for you. Only people from the royal family are able to become kings. The only way to become a king for an outsider is to merry somebody from the royal family, but it's still especially difficult if an heir has already been chosen."
Hisoka swirled his drink in his hand, "Is that so? I think I've already been chosen. It's my destiny. There's even a line about me in the song, you know? I am the clown with the tear-away face, Here in a flash and gone without a trace" Hisoka hummed playfully.
"It's not about you." Illumi's tone was cold and made Hisoka furrow his eyebrows at him, "It's about the guy whose role you took over after he's been killed." the ghoul took another sip of his drink, "By you." Illumi's eyes drifted to a cupboard with a big jar standing on it with a severed head of the previous Clown with the Tear Away Face inside. Small, yellowish, unseeing eyes stared back at him, wide light-blue lips no longer smiling, the big, red, clownish nose squished against the glass. Next to the jar Illumi could see the clown's hat with a propeller, standing there as Hisoka's another trophy. "If you think that as a royalty you can do whatever you want then you're deeply mistaken. One day you'll meet the consequences of killing your own kind, whether as a royalty or not." If Hisoka was speaking with someone else now, they'd probably start yelling at him right now. But not Illumi. He's always been calm, no matter what he was talking about. Hisoka'd always been curious what he'd have to do to make Illumi snap and finally remove his mask.
"Do you really believe that?" Hisoka asked, "Look, right now I'm sitting in the same room with the eldest son of the current Pumpkin King, drinking alcohol and chatting with him as if we were some old friends. Where are the consequences, your Highness?"
"You don't have to call me Highness. I'm not a king." Illumi said, his tone calm as always. "Is that all?" he asked, ignoring Hisoka's previous question and putting his now empty glass on a small coffee table.
"It's been a while since we last saw each other." Hisoka started.
"Did you miss me?"
"I know you'd like me to say yes, but that's not what I wanted to say." the clown smiled, "How about a little trip?"
"To where?"
"To the mortal world."
"I can't leave the town unless it's Halloween."
"No one can do that. But that doesn't mean it's impossible." Hisoka stood and came closer to Illumi, "Consider it a little training before the holiday, hm?" he leaned down to him, making their noses almost touch each other, "We've been doing this before, haven't we?" Illumi liked the smell of alcohol that surrounded Hisoka; he smelled even tastier than before. If only Hisoka wasn't the town's citizien as well, he wouldn't last long in the same room as the now hungry ghoul. "Just like in the good old days. What do you think?"
Illumi stood up immadietly before Hisoka could come even closer to him, turned to the exit, and then back to Hisoka, "When do you want to go?"
Hisoka smiled, "Whenever. We can go tonight if you want. The night's long." The faster, the better he thought.
"Let me think about it." Illumi said and turned to the door again.
"You're going out? I said the night's long." Hisoka squinted his eyes at him in a seductive manner.
Illumi turned his head im his direction, and if he still had some blood in his veins, he'd probably blush, "Yes, I must go." he answered quickly and went out of the tent.
Alluka leaned against the wall of some small store that her brother'd vanished into and focused her gaze on the people passing by on the sidewalk. Killua'd told her before to wait for him outside and went into the store so fast she didn't have a chance to ask him about it. After the dinner, when they'd noticed Illumi had left, and their parents were still busy with their businesses, Killua grabbed his sisters' hand and led them out of the town hall and onto the cool pre-Halloween air. "You still want to go trick-or-treating, don't you?" Killua made sure as they stepped out of the building, and Alluka couldn't help but nod her head vigorously, letting her brother lead them deep into the town.
The street they were currently on was usually pretty calm and quiet, but when Halloween was approching, the long sidewalks were always filled with all the monsters, running to and fro in hurry, trying to get ready with everything during the last forty days they'd left to Halloween. Alluka looked down at the pavement, hearing the small cheerful voice in her head, "Is big brother serious? Can we really go trick-or-treating like the others? Can we? A-llu-ka?" Nanika couldn't hold her excitement, and Alluka could feel her sister's feelings in every part of her body as if they were her own. "I think so." Alluka answered out loud, still not sure why her brother'd went into the store. After a while of waiting, Alluka heard the door open and saw Killua stepping out from the store. "Here." he said, handing his sister a linen sack, the same he was holding in his hand. Alluka grabbed it unsure of what was that for, stretched the material in her hands to see it better and looked inside. "We don't have any pumpkins, but this will do too, right?" he asked. The girls nodded their head, Nanika's black eyes shone excitedly on Alluka's face.
"Isn't it great, brother!" Alluka smiled widely.
"What? It's just a normal bag . . ." Killua scratched the back of his head.
"No. That's great we can really go trick-or-treating this year. We've never done this before, have we?" Alluka asked, reffering to her and Nanika. The other girl flashed a big black smile on Alluka's delicate features. Well, Killua'd never done this before too, and he had to admit that he was just as excited as his younger sisters, if not even more. "Oh, really? Then I'm glad you're happy." Killua didn't know why he immadietly felt so embarrased, "But remember" he shivered mentally at the thought of their parents, "it's a secret."
"Hhh-happy?" Alluka looked at him questioningly.
"Yes, you know, it's kinda like something you can feel in your head when something good happens to you or. . ."
"Good? Then mom wouldn't be happy to hear that." Alluka smiled.
"Most certainly." Killua agreed, "Shall we go?"
Hearing this, Alluka immadietly ran closer to her brother and grabbed his hand. They walked down the street and found themselfes in the other district of Halloween Town, being welcomed by big, vintage-looking houses that lined the long and quiet street, too quiet in comparision to the other ones closer to the town center. Without any further thought, the ghouls ran to one of the houses and knocked on the door. The house was huge, painted black, with a big garden on the frontyard with various wilted flowers and high bushes that could easly reach even the highest windows of the building, covered from the inside by some black cloths. After a few seconds, the door's been opened by an elderly skeletal lady with a big white bun on top of her skull that emerged from the darkness of her home and looked at the ghouls questioningly, squinting her big black eyeholes behind her round, vintage glassess.
"Trick or treat!" they said in unison, bringing their sacks closer to the old lady's face. The house's owner widened her eternal grin and giggled, "My, my, is this Halloween yet? I just went for a little nap after the King's arrival, and now I see some cute children knocking on my door. Ah, it was the longest nap I've ever had." she said, "Here, take some candies." she brought a big bowl full of some black and orange halloween candies she'd probably prepared for this occasion a while ago and let Killua take a big handful of her sweet treats. "Come on, miss, it's also for you." Alluka looked curious at the candies, and after a while, took a few of them and put them into her sack. "Thank you very much, ma'am." she said with a polite smile. "You were the first one to come to me, you know? I mean . . . I guess. Anyway, happy Halloween, kids. Ah, it was tiring, I think I'm going to sleep now . . ." the old lady mumbled the last sentence under her breath and went back into her house.
After the door closed behind her back, Killua waved his hand and shouted, "Thanks very much, granny!" he put one of his candies into his mouth and turned to Alluka, "Come on, let's go to the other houses. I wonder if everyone has the same cheap candies this year." he muttered and ran down the steps from the old lady's entrace to wait for Alluka on the sidewalk. Alluka was happy. She couldn't stop herself from smiling as she came closer to her brother and felt that this time he was the one who grabbed her hand and pointed to another house. "Now, this one." he said and took his now smiling sister with himself.
The next house wasn't much different from the previous one; the only big difference they noticed was that this house didn't have any plants on the frontyard, which made it look a little . . . dead. Killua knocked on the door a few times before it opened, revealing a tall man covered with bandages all over his body. Only his eyes remained uncovered, looking at them suspiciously. "Trick or treat!" they sang, lifting up their sacks once more.
"Huh? Isn't it a little too early for Halloween?" Killua was sure he raised an eyebrow behind his bandage.
"It's just a little training before the holiday." Alluka said quickly the first thing that came into her mind.
"Does it even matter? It's Halloween Town after all. We've Halloween all year round." Killua shrugged.
"Yes, it does. Don't ruin the halloween spirit by playing your games before the actual holiday." the mummy crossed his arms on his chest, "Now, excuse me, I still have some things to do before the real Halloween comes. Or maybe you still have some trick for me, hmmm?" he asked teasingly and brought his face closer to Killua's, not noticing how the girl's face changed while he was talking to her older brother. Before the mummy-man could do anything else, Alluka's face went snow-white, her eyes turned black while the same black smile danced on her lips, "Trick." Nanika's cracking voice said through Alluka's mouth, and the mummy looked startled at the girl's eeire face. His eyes widened; he couldn't stop staring at her face, noticing how inhuman it was.
"N-no . . ." the man started, pointing his shaking finger at Nanika "That's impossible . . . That's not . . . Yes, that's it. You're the King's children, aren't you!? What are you even doing in a place like this? Here, take the candies! No, no, no! Take them all, please! Maybe you want to come inside? Don't you want anything to drink? Are you two alone here? Yes? Oh, I see. Please, come back anytime you want, I'll give you more of it, I promise! Oh, I see, there's technically three of you, right? Come on, take more, don't be shy!"
"Ah, okay, okay, thanks very much, but we need to go!" Killua tried to calm down the man who immadietly got so excited, but the mummy wouldn't listen. Nanika finally dissapeared, and Alluka's girly face was back on its place. Seeing how the man couldn't stop talking, Killua grabbed the handle and closed the door, waving the mummy his last goodbye. "Brother!" Alluka looked at him angrily, and Killua smiled at her with the best cat-like smile he could make.
They went to almost every single house on the first street they visited, and didn't want stop, even when they didn't have any more room for candies in their sacks and had to eat the previous ones before they could even consider continuing their trip. The moon was hanging high on the sky, the night was still long, nobody was looking for them, and they could do anything they wanted, even if just for a short time. Killua didn't even notice when a small smile made its way onto his face and made his eyes shine with excitement; he was happy, just as happy as his sisters and they all wished silently that this moment would last longer, so long they'd never have to go back to the underground ever again, even after Halloween.
Several streets and hundreds of houses later, they found themselfes on the way to the cemetery. To Killua's surprise, the gate opened on its own the second time that night, inviting them inside. Alluka ran closer to the gate and turned to her brother, "Killua! Let's go there too, okay? I wonder if the ghosts will also give us some candies."
"With Nanika they won't have any other choice." said Killua and ran closer to his sisters who were already waiting for him on the other side of the gate. They started down the cementary path and began searching for the first tomb they could knock on. Alluka was walking in front of her brother, already seeing the first grave she'd like to visit first when a small movement caught her attention. She looked into the distance as something shifted behind one grave and moaned in pain. Alluka started running in the direction of the strange shape that remained behind the grave, curious about what might've made such a strange noise she'd never heard before. Killua looked at her questioningly before he shook his head and shouted, "Alluka, wait!", but she didn't want to stop. What was that exactly? Was that dangerous? Should she let Killa check that first? Or maybe Nanika'd be better?
A few seconds later, Killua heard a long, ear-piercing scream. "Alluka!' he shouted once more and ran to his sister, ready to protect her from whatever made her scream so loud, grinnig his little ghoul fangs dangerously. He appeared next to the girl at the speed of light, shifted his eyes to what Alluka was looking at and froze.
"What. The. Heaven!?"
Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the chapter! As you can probably tell, I'm even less creative with names than with titles, so if you're wondering if Mister Oogie and Boogie have anything to do with the actual bad guy from the movie, then . . . no. I just couldn't came up with any good names for them (same goes for Uncle Lurch or Fleet Street.)
I don't like the dialogues I'm writing. I think they all seem kinda . . . stupid? Idk.
Please leave a review, add my story to your favorites or leave me any sign that you really made it to the end!
See you in the next chapter, I guess!