Gon crashed face first onto the bed and groaned in exasperation.
"I'm so MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" he whined.
Killua flopped down next to him, "You sound more annoyed than mad."
Gon flipped over so he could see his friend. "You're right I guess. I'm just really confused! This whole situation is so stupid! They weren't fighting back cause it had been made illegal… that's why I was initially mad, but now that I know Camilla has a reason for it I guess I'm not as mad as I was before. She clearly is very emotional about it, she just doesn't want her people to get hurt. I just don't see how letting them get eaten is a good alternative to just killing the stupid thing. I just don't understand why Camilla thinks this is a good idea!"
The hybrid flinched as Killua flicked him on the nose.
"I'll explain for you," the pale boy said with a dusting of a smile. "Camilla was seriously messed up by her daughter dying in battle. So she doesn't want any more Neko-Girls dying in battle, she can't handle it. So that is why she made it illegal. Clearly when she did so she had not been expecting the ice serpent to keep coming back, so when it did she just decided that some of her people dying every once in a while was a better alternative to a bunch of them dying in battle."
Gon frowned, it still doesn't make any sense. He told Killua as much.
"You're right," the Valkyrie said. "It doesn't make sense. That's because Camilla is wrong in the head. I don't know exactly what it is, but she isn't entirely sane. Her logic is flawed."
"Yeah, she's preventing her village from participating in its religion when she is the religious leader!"
"It's all very ironic," Killua said with a sigh.
"So what's with all the Champion business? I know that she was okay with us fighting the serpent because we are outsiders, and in turn not her people. She doesn't care if we die in battle, it all benefits her: we fight the serpent and protect the village so the Neko-Girls don't have to. But as Champions we are officially citizens of the village. Technically, doesn't that mean that we now fall under the umbrella of people that she doesn't want fighting the serpent?"
"Yup," Killua said, popping the p. "Stupid old hag. Her logic is super flawed and she's going against her own words. But that's just the way this big mess is. I suspect that the High Priestess is the primary enemy here."
"You think that Camilla is the actual enemy? But I thought the enemy was the serpent?" Gon asked as he sat completely up. My brain is starting to hurt.
"Yeah, but that's just a stupid ice snake! It can be defeated easily! If Camilla would just stop and think for a second, she could see that only one life will be lost at least! That's SO much less than the number of Neko-Girls that have died over the past 8 years."
"But Princess Dominique's last request was that this serpent not be killed!" Gon protested.
Killua's brow furrowed, he rubbed his tattooed neck. "That's true…"
"Camilla said that she didn't know why Princess Domonique didn't want the serpent killed, so that's why she keeps everyone from killing it," Gon said. "So we know why the Neko-Girls don't fight, why it matters so much that we do the fighting, and why we can't kill the serpent. I still don't understand why there is still a mystery to solve, and why Camilla is the enemy. The way we save them is staying here and defending them… but obviously we can't do that, so we'll just have to kill that thing and save them for good."
Killua stuck his finger in the air as he explained, "The mystery remaining is why Domonique didn't want us killing the serpent. You and I have to kill it to get out of here, so we need to find out why it can't be killed, or else we might be walking into some sort of trap. And that's the thing, we can kill the serpent easily, it's not that strong. That's why I'm so suspicious about why Domonique wanted it left alive. And that brings us to the topic of Camilla. That old hag obviously holds Domonique in a very high regard, and that really says something."
"How come?" Gon asked.
"Because she's so snobby. She claims to respect us a ton, yet she treats us rudely. So anyone that commands Camilla's true and unbridled respect is a seriously strong person. And if Domonique really was that amazing, I don't believe that she would have just said that the serpent needs to be left alive without giving any context. There has to be some kind of clue that Domonique left behind. I suspect that Camilla knows more than she is letting on, and on top of that I believe that Camilla doesn't want us to find out what that is."
"What do you think Camilla knows?" Gon asked with a hint of smoke coming out of his ears.
"That's the thing… I have a theory that Camilla does know more than she's letting on, but she only knows a fraction of the clues Domonique left behind. Which stands to say that Domonique did not want her mother knowing why the serpent must be left alive. And because Camilla isn't supposed to know the truth about the serpent, that leads me to believe that the real enemy here is Camilla."
Gon frowned, this is all so complicated… What Killua is saying makes sense, but we're going completely off of predictions and hunches, we're analyzing the actions of a woman who's been dead for 8 years!
Killua is so smart, I would never have been able to solve this without him here.
"You want me to explain why I know Domonique didn't want Camilla knowing why the serpent's gotta live?" Killua asked with a smirk.
"Yes."
"I figured it out because of Isolde, Nix, and Zephyr. Camilla has incredible resources, and a whole web of information and influence. She should have been able to find out exactly why the serpent must be left alive. So that means that Domonique, who we know was really smart and powerful, hid the truth of the situation so that Camilla wouldn't find out."
"That makes sense… I guess," Gon replied with a sheepish look.
"Sooooo," Killua continued, "We've gotta figure out why the serpent needs to be left alive. Because if we know that, we can figure out how to kill it without any unsatisfactory consequences."
"Okay! I think I get it a little more than before. So we need to solve the mystery Domonique left behind?"
"Yes."
Gon started overthinking. "How do we know she left that information behind in the first place? I know that Domonique was super strong and smart… but what if she had flawed logic just like Camilla? Doesn't that mean that we should just kill the serpent and call it a day?"
"You're always one to jump to action, aren't you?" Killua asked Gon as he ruffled his coarse green hair.
"Yeah, I guess so. I prefer fighting to all this sneaking and thinking," the horned boy answered with a bit of a pout.
"Based on Domonique being so smart, and her wanting to conceal the truth from Camilla, I would say that that is proof that she didn't have flawed logic. And based off of Camilla having found a little bit of the secret out, that means that the answers are out there somewhere."
"Okay," Gon said with his hand on his chin in thought. "That makes sense. So… what will we be looking for?"
"I say we start by trying to find out more about the warriors. We haven't heard anything about them at all, I think we should start by asking Circe. That reminds me, we'll have to tell her everything that happened. Since she hasn't come to us yet, it's safe to assume that Isolde is preventing her from coming in here. God, those hags from hell are so annoying," Killua's eyebrow twitched.
He really hates Isolde! It's kinda funny.
"So tomorrow we talk to Circe?"
"Yes, I bet we'll get a chance in all the chaos of us being moved to the palace. If anything, we can just request Circe's help. Now that we are the Champions, we are Lords, and in turn royalty. They can't say no to us…" Killua trailed off, clearly in thought.
"What is it?" Gon asked.
The Valkyrie's silver eyebrows were furrowed over his eyes, which flashed sapphire in the dim lighting of their bedroom. "We now have access to everything… Camilla made a mistake in that regard. We can investigate as much as we want without anyone stopping us. However, Camilla doesn't want us finding out anything more. It just doesn't add up."
"Stuff with Camilla hasn't ever added up so far, maybe it's just more flawed logic on her part?" Gon suggested.
"I don't think so. She's crazy, but not stupid. Her finding out part of Domonique's carefully concealed secret proves that much. I have a feeling that she is trying to gauge how much we will find out. She must know that there is more information, and that we are the only ones who can find it. She'll be using us to try and get more information."
"But she already knows we've been finding out information, couldn't she have just let Isolde let us just do whatever we wanted before?" Gon asked, struggling to follow Killua's line of thought.
"Yeah. She's only just now giving us access to everything. It might just have something to do with our new status. She can't not give us status, she has to follow tradition. Tradition is everything to her, to all of the Neko-Girls. She doesn't want us finding out more, but still wants to know what we find out… But what if she doesn't know there's more to find out? What if… she does know, but just doesn't want to know for some reason? I wonder what exactly she found out…"
Gon frowned, "Stop just saying stuff! What's all that mean?"
Killua visibly came to a conclusion, "She has something to hold over our heads!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. But I just have this feeling that we need to do our investigating on the down-low. And keep sneaking around like we've been before. I have a strong feeling that Isolde and the hags from hell will continue trailing us, they just won't be able to stop us now that we are royals and outrank them."
Gon flung himself onto his back. "I don't get it… but I trust you."
"Do you want me to explain it?"
"NO!" Gon yelled. "Er, no. I think it would break my brain. Besides, everything you were saying just now was really confusing. You are able to find all this out from such little information. You're really smart Killua! It's amazing!"
The Valkyrie looked away as his cheeks flushed. "Idiot, you and saying these things. You're so embarrassing."
"But it's true!"
"Whatever, let's just go shower and go to bed. I'm sick of having all this stinky blood on me, and tomorrow's gonna be a long day."
"Okay!"
Silly Killua, he always gets so flustered when I compliment him! It just makes me wanna compliment him a lot more, so he gets used to it and isn't so surprised. That way he knows how amazing he is, and realizes that he has worth, and isn't just some bloodthirsty Valkyrie. Besides, I like complimenting Killua! Everything I say is true, I just wanna tell him what I'm thinking.
It's kinda funny, I always wanna tell Killua what I'm thinking.
I've never felt like that about anyone else, not even Aunt Mito!
It must mean that he's my best friend ever…
"Hey idiot, aren't you gonna shower? There's two bathrooms ya know~~"
"Oh! Got zoned out I guess, haha!" Gon leapt from the bed and skipped into the bathroom. He agreed with Killua, tomorrow felt like it was gonna be a super long day.