The Hunter's Fantasia: A Never-ending Tale
By Kumatenshi
VOLUME I: THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES ** Chapter VI --- The Fairy & The Prophet **
From the memory crystal of Zumi
"Another day has come and gone", I sighed with my eyes still fixated on the image in the water. It was a small girl with long cyan hair, pale white complexion, and eyes not very different from sparkling sapphires. She was standing of the gigantic silver moon. Behind her small and fragile body extended a pair of wings, large and silvery-blue. To earn those wings; she went through many metamorphoses, way more any butterfly. She thought she could then fly, high up into the sky. To her despair, her wings could not even rise into the air. Alas, she was trapped in this secluded place. She cried out for help but no one heard her and she heard nothing, except perhaps my breaths, my pulses, and the roaring wind. Occasionally, a petal of a flower, kidnapped by the wind, would descend onto the surface of the water and made her vanish, like magic. Yet, a few seconds later, she would reappear. Exactly who was this girl? She cared about me and accompanied me, so I presumed she was a friend; She represented the truth and never lies, so I presumed she was honest; She looked and behaved like me, so I presumed she was my reflection. Turning away from the water, I lifted my head and closed my eyes, trying to catch the wind's silent lullabies, as usual. But tonight, I heard more than that. I heard a very soothing and peaceful melody. I began pondering where the melody came from. I quickly scanned the forest behind me and I saw smoke coming from the center of the forest. Since the awakening of the monster, no one dared to climb this mountain, save to camp in the open. Gathering my energy and courage, I walked in the direction of the smoke.
Slowly and quietly I tiptoed to the bushes behind the camp for a view of the campers. I saw a young man with very short, black hair that was cut in a funny shape. His features were those of an ordinary man, which had nothing special in them. He had dark eyes and bore a comic expression on his face. He was tall, well built, and wore a long, blue gown. His companions addressed him as "Leorio". He struck me as a very plain man but when I caught a glimpse of those dark black eyes, they were alert, cautious, and filled with energy. Sitting next to him was a younger boy who responded to the name "Gon". He was much shorter and dressed in a very cute outfit. Judging from the fishing rod beside him, catching fish should be his trade. His eyes were much bigger than those of "Leorio" and they were filled with life and optimism as if he never recognized the word fear in his life. His hair was short but shot right into the air, putting forward another piece of evidence of the unlimited energy residing in his body. He reminded me of the great prophet Jin, a great friend of my parents before they left me for heaven. On the opposite side of the fire sat a silver-haired boy, roughly the same age as "Gon" but his manners and his speech indicated he must have had an excellent education and came from a very prominent family. He responded to the name "Killua". Wait a minute, "Killua"? I thought I heard papa and mama said that name before.oh, but I could not remember. He wore the same style of clothes as the boy called "Gon" but they did not match him at all. He had a fair complexion and almost perfect features. I wonder how many female human beings would be waiting in line in hope to marry him in the future. Finally, the boy sitting next to him had golden hair that shone even brighter than the fire in front of him. He was the most "beautiful" creature I have ever seen, elegant and well mannered. At the same time though, he also bore an extremely dangerous air. For a moment I thought I saw a pair of dark, bloody wings extending from him but it disappeared so fast I was not sure if it was only my imagination. His eyes were huge, not as attractive as that of the silver-haired boy but they reflected confidence and determination. He was slim and slightly older than "Gon" and "Killua" but younger than "Leorio". His friends called him "Kurapika".
"I don't think it's a good idea to continue circling like this", said the man named Leorio, "I think we should come up with a plan. If we continue like this, we'd starve to death".
"But what plans do you have?" asked the silver-haired "Killua".
"Perhaps", said "Gon", "I could try to use my gift to see if we could get any hint".
"That's a good idea!" said "Leorio", "I'll go get you some water" and he disappeared. A few minutes later, he came back with a bowl filled with water from the lake. "Gon" closed his eyes and concentrated very hard. Then he opened them again and stared into the water.
"What did you see?" asked "Leorio".
"Blue.blue wings."
"Blue wings?" "Kurapika contemplated.
"Did you see anything else?" "Leorio" asked again but "Gon" shook his head.
"I think it's a bit late now, perhaps we should all get some rest. We should wake up early tomorrow morning and discussed our plans," suggested "Killua". The others seemed to agree and they got themselves ready to sleep.
Having nothing more interesting to observe, I began my journey back to my home near the lake. I was almost there when a hand gently touched my shoulder. I screamed.
"Oh, did I scare you? I'm sorry. My name is Gon. I saw you behind the bushes just now. Did you need something?"
He.he could see me? No way, how could any human see me.
"You.you can see me?"
"Why of course. I also saw your wings. I saw them in the bowl of water when I was trying to see the future and now I see them again. They are really pretty."
"What did you say? You.you could see the future!?" I was truly shocked because only one clan of half-nymphs could see the future and this boy must be one of them. Wait a minute, he looked so much like uncle Jin and he could predict the future.he must be related to uncle Jin somehow.
"Yeah, I can but I'm just starting and I can't really see much".
"Do.do you happen to know the great prophet Jin?"
"Great prophet? No I don't know any prophet. However I know someone by the name of Jin. My father."
"Great prophet Jin is your father! Thank God, my prayers are finally answered. Could you please take me to uncle Jin then? Oh, I should first introduce myself a little. My name is Zumi, I'm a full aqua nymph. Uncle Jin used to be my father's best partner, until my father died several years ago, leaving me all alone in this lake."
"Zumi.I.I'm sorry but I couldn't take you to my father."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because I've never seen my father in my whole life".
"What? You have never seen your own father?" I asked with great surprise. All of a sudden, a feeling of desperation overpowered. Yet, when I stared at those dark, innocent eyes of the little boy in front of me, the urge to render sympathy soon replaced the wave of sadness in my heart.
"Zumi, do you know my father?" Gon asked.
I nodded.
"What's he like?"
"Uncle Jin? Let me see, I only met him a few times when I was a child. That must have been at least 7 or 8 years ago. Though vague, I had an impression that he was brilliant and powerful, humorous and wore a big smile. He had extremely confident eyes, just like yours. However, when he saw me, I had the feeling that he was sad.no.not really sadness, but there was a sense of emptiness in those eyes."
"Emptiness?" Killua, who was hiding behind the tree, asked in surprise.
"I.I'm sorry, I.I didn't mean to overhear.I just woke up and found Gon was not in bed. So, I walked across and found you two talking.I did not want to disturb so." the silver-haired boy's face turned a tomato red.
"It's okay, Killua. Don't worry, we aren't chatting anything confidential and it seems you're not the only one overhearing our conversation anyway." Gon said with a smile as he turned his face to the short bushes from which the embarrassed Kurapika and Leorio emerged.
As a result, the four of them sat with me in front of the small fire. Tonight, as every other night in this vicinity, the wind is blowing gently and rhythmically interacting with the surface of the lake. However, tonight, I cannot enjoy the symphony of wind and water for I have some interesting guests and a story to tell.
"I did not understand why there would be emptiness in a man as cheerful as uncle Jin in the beginning but now that I have meet you Gon, I think I start to understand a little."
"You think that's because he missed Gon?" Leorio asked.
I nodded.
"But if he really missed Gon, why did he not take Gon with him? Why did he never even come back to see Gon for once? There's no reason whatsoever for a parent to ignore his own child like this." Killua protested. It appeared to me he had a strong perception of what a good parent should be like. "There is". Kurapika, who had been silent up until now, suddenly said. "There are times when a parent, regardless, how much he loves her child, must leave him."
"Such as?" Killua asked slightly disbelievingly.
"When you are in a dangerous situation where you know the best and only way to protect your child is to leave him." Kurapika said as he stared hard at the fire. For a second, I thought I saw his eyes turning red but I thought I must have mistaken. Perhaps it was just the sparks from the fire.
"So, my father was in a dangerous situation?" Gon suddenly turned to me and asked.
"I don't know.probably. I never knew exactly what my father and uncle Jin were doing. I only knew that he was a great prophet and he was soliciting my father's help because he said something really bad would be happening in Dentora."
"What would happen?" Leorio asked.
"I do not know" I sighed, "The only thing I recalled was winter".
"Winter?" Kurapika suddenly rose. His face was filled with horror. Then, he quickly recollected himself and sat down.
"Did you know something? Kurapika?" Leorio asked.
"Yes" Kurapika answered. "I have read from somewhere that there was a spell, called Eternal Winter, which could turn a whole country into a lifeless state of snow and ice. Probably, "something bad" meant that the spell of Eternal Winter would be cast onto Dentora". Kurapika tried to maintain a cool and calm voice but I could tell from that shocked face a minute ago he could not just have read about the spell. He must have witnessed it with his own eyes. However, as he did not talk any further, I did not feel I should press on and ask more questions.
Silence befell the place for a few long seconds before Gon broke it with his childish but clear voice. "Zumi, why did you want to meet my father?" Gon asked.
"That's because it was the last wish of my father before he passed away. He made me promise him to deliver something to uncle Jin." I asked.
"What is that?" Leorio asked.
"Sorry, but I could not tell you. My father said I could tell no one or show no one except uncle Jin." I answered while trying to avoid Gon's eyes.
"If you had to deliver something to Gon's father," Killua asked, "then why did you stay here? Why didn't you go and look for Jin?"
"If I could," I sighed, "I would have long gone. As a water nymph, I could only leave this place until I could fly. It was a rule and regardless of the situation, no water nymph can leave their birthplace on foot or they will be cursed. My wings have fully developed, but somehow, I just can't fly." The sadness in my heart began to conquer my body and I could feel tears flowing down my cheek. It seemed the humans in front of me were slightly puzzled for their faces all showed "oh gosh, I don't know what to do" kind of expression.
"Zumi", Gon said in an attempt to cheer me up, "why don't you let Leorio take a look at you? He's a doctor and probably he could help you."
"Really? But could a human doctor help me?" I wondered.
"Don't worry," Leorio said with confidence, "I have read a few books about nymphs and I have seen my teacher curing one or two before. Although I don't have much experience, I think I could still be able to tell if something went wrong with the structure of your wings".
In the next half hour, Leorio and I retreated to the little spot behind the bushes where he examined my wings. Occasionally, I could hear him whisper a few strange words. Finally, he said, "strange, but there seems to be nothing wrong with the structure of your wings. I just don't see why you couldn't fly with them."
"Perhaps," Kurapika said, "it is not a physical but psychological condition. Zumi, when you try to fly, what do you think about?"
"Huh?" I was dumbfounded. What really was in my mind when I tried to fly I could not tell. "I just kept on thinking about flipping my wings, I guess." I replied haphazardly.
Kurapika was looking straight into my eyes, causing me to blush a little. "This is just my hypothesis but I think the reason you could not fly was because you did not want to leave this place at all."
"But that's not true!" I argued. "I wanted to leave this place, this .this gloomy and lonely place. I wanted to leave it immediately". I started crying hard. Leorio could not tolerate anymore and handed me a nicely folded handkerchief but Kurapika continued in a rather cold voice, "As I said before, it was only a hypothesis but it occurred to me that consciously, you would like to leave this place, to leave the sad memories of your father's death, and to fulfill your promise to your dying father by delivering whatever you have to deliver to Jin. However, unconsciously, you did not want to leave this place for a world where you know nothing about. In that world, there would be no one you could trust or depend on. You didn't know what would happen and it was that sense of uncertainty and feeling of lack of control that made you want to stay where you were. Consequently, until you could overcome your own fear, you would never be able to fly."
I now stop crying and look up at Kurapika. His face remained expressionless but those eyes, those pair of large eyes seemed to have seen right through my body and into my heart. Those words were hard to hear, less to absorb or digest, but they were right. Raised under the protection of my parents, I did not have the courage to stand on my own feet. I was nothing but a coward.
Then, Gon stood up and said, "Zumi, why don't you come along with us? When I get home, I can ask Aunt Mito about my father. Probably she has some ideas where he is. I can help you find him."
"Really?" I asked.
"Of course", Gon smiled, "besides, I wanted to meet him too. I wanted to find him and ask why he left me and Aunt Mito all these years".
"I would help you too," Kurapika said, "I am very interested to know if the "something bad" had anything to do with the spell of eternal winter".
"Now, there Gon and Kurapika, if you two are going, then I must go too." Leorio said.
"Why?" Kurapika asked.
"Why! Because I just could not leave you kids going on a journey! Aunt Mito would blame me for that." Leorio exclaimed.
"So, you finally admit you're an old man?" Kurapika said teasingly.
"What! Kurapika, you." Leorio's face turned red with anger.
"I will also help." Killua said smiling.
"Killua," Gon said, "but you can't. Once you get back your memories, you will have to return to your family. They will be worried about you."
"Probably, but Gon, you saved me and came to this dangerous mountain for my sake! I must thank you and the only way I can think of currently is to help you find your father."
"Killua.thank you!" Gon said cheerfully. "Okay, then, let's go and get Memalia to cure Killua's am..am."
"Amnesia, Gon". Leorio helped.
"Right amnesia! After that we'll all go to Aunt Mito and ask about my Dad! Perfect." Gon was smiling.
"Memalia," I screamed, "you're looking for that flower Memlia? But the monster has occupied the land where Memalia usually grow. You'll get yourself killed if you go anywhere near the monster!"
"We know," Gon smiled, "in fact, we had already met the monster once and she tricked us and dumped us into a swamp."
"Then, why did you still want to go get Memalia?" I asked puzzled.
"Because we cannot let the wicked monster run our lives! If we were afraid of her and ran away, then Killua would never get his precious memories back and the people in the village would never feel safe again. Besides, I have friends whom I can trust so I am not afraid." Gon smiled.
"Friendship.what a wonderful thing." I thought as I closed my eyes. For a moment, I felt my body getting lighter and the air thinner. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself flying! What a fantastic feeling it was, I thought, to be able to dance so freely through the sky, which a few hours ago, I could only stare at. All along, I thought I have fully matured but I it was merely an illusion I used to deceive myself. The truth was, I was still hiding inside my cocoon. However, today, I have finally found the weapon, known as friendship, to break open my last cocoon.
As the first light from the rising sun began to brighten up the sky, I joined my new friends to embark on the first adventure in my life. I did not look into the water again before I left. However, even if I did, I knew what I'd see --- a smiling water nymph with friends and hopes for the future.
VOLUME I: THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES ** Chapter VI --- The Fairy & The Prophet **
From the memory crystal of Zumi
"Another day has come and gone", I sighed with my eyes still fixated on the image in the water. It was a small girl with long cyan hair, pale white complexion, and eyes not very different from sparkling sapphires. She was standing of the gigantic silver moon. Behind her small and fragile body extended a pair of wings, large and silvery-blue. To earn those wings; she went through many metamorphoses, way more any butterfly. She thought she could then fly, high up into the sky. To her despair, her wings could not even rise into the air. Alas, she was trapped in this secluded place. She cried out for help but no one heard her and she heard nothing, except perhaps my breaths, my pulses, and the roaring wind. Occasionally, a petal of a flower, kidnapped by the wind, would descend onto the surface of the water and made her vanish, like magic. Yet, a few seconds later, she would reappear. Exactly who was this girl? She cared about me and accompanied me, so I presumed she was a friend; She represented the truth and never lies, so I presumed she was honest; She looked and behaved like me, so I presumed she was my reflection. Turning away from the water, I lifted my head and closed my eyes, trying to catch the wind's silent lullabies, as usual. But tonight, I heard more than that. I heard a very soothing and peaceful melody. I began pondering where the melody came from. I quickly scanned the forest behind me and I saw smoke coming from the center of the forest. Since the awakening of the monster, no one dared to climb this mountain, save to camp in the open. Gathering my energy and courage, I walked in the direction of the smoke.
Slowly and quietly I tiptoed to the bushes behind the camp for a view of the campers. I saw a young man with very short, black hair that was cut in a funny shape. His features were those of an ordinary man, which had nothing special in them. He had dark eyes and bore a comic expression on his face. He was tall, well built, and wore a long, blue gown. His companions addressed him as "Leorio". He struck me as a very plain man but when I caught a glimpse of those dark black eyes, they were alert, cautious, and filled with energy. Sitting next to him was a younger boy who responded to the name "Gon". He was much shorter and dressed in a very cute outfit. Judging from the fishing rod beside him, catching fish should be his trade. His eyes were much bigger than those of "Leorio" and they were filled with life and optimism as if he never recognized the word fear in his life. His hair was short but shot right into the air, putting forward another piece of evidence of the unlimited energy residing in his body. He reminded me of the great prophet Jin, a great friend of my parents before they left me for heaven. On the opposite side of the fire sat a silver-haired boy, roughly the same age as "Gon" but his manners and his speech indicated he must have had an excellent education and came from a very prominent family. He responded to the name "Killua". Wait a minute, "Killua"? I thought I heard papa and mama said that name before.oh, but I could not remember. He wore the same style of clothes as the boy called "Gon" but they did not match him at all. He had a fair complexion and almost perfect features. I wonder how many female human beings would be waiting in line in hope to marry him in the future. Finally, the boy sitting next to him had golden hair that shone even brighter than the fire in front of him. He was the most "beautiful" creature I have ever seen, elegant and well mannered. At the same time though, he also bore an extremely dangerous air. For a moment I thought I saw a pair of dark, bloody wings extending from him but it disappeared so fast I was not sure if it was only my imagination. His eyes were huge, not as attractive as that of the silver-haired boy but they reflected confidence and determination. He was slim and slightly older than "Gon" and "Killua" but younger than "Leorio". His friends called him "Kurapika".
"I don't think it's a good idea to continue circling like this", said the man named Leorio, "I think we should come up with a plan. If we continue like this, we'd starve to death".
"But what plans do you have?" asked the silver-haired "Killua".
"Perhaps", said "Gon", "I could try to use my gift to see if we could get any hint".
"That's a good idea!" said "Leorio", "I'll go get you some water" and he disappeared. A few minutes later, he came back with a bowl filled with water from the lake. "Gon" closed his eyes and concentrated very hard. Then he opened them again and stared into the water.
"What did you see?" asked "Leorio".
"Blue.blue wings."
"Blue wings?" "Kurapika contemplated.
"Did you see anything else?" "Leorio" asked again but "Gon" shook his head.
"I think it's a bit late now, perhaps we should all get some rest. We should wake up early tomorrow morning and discussed our plans," suggested "Killua". The others seemed to agree and they got themselves ready to sleep.
Having nothing more interesting to observe, I began my journey back to my home near the lake. I was almost there when a hand gently touched my shoulder. I screamed.
"Oh, did I scare you? I'm sorry. My name is Gon. I saw you behind the bushes just now. Did you need something?"
He.he could see me? No way, how could any human see me.
"You.you can see me?"
"Why of course. I also saw your wings. I saw them in the bowl of water when I was trying to see the future and now I see them again. They are really pretty."
"What did you say? You.you could see the future!?" I was truly shocked because only one clan of half-nymphs could see the future and this boy must be one of them. Wait a minute, he looked so much like uncle Jin and he could predict the future.he must be related to uncle Jin somehow.
"Yeah, I can but I'm just starting and I can't really see much".
"Do.do you happen to know the great prophet Jin?"
"Great prophet? No I don't know any prophet. However I know someone by the name of Jin. My father."
"Great prophet Jin is your father! Thank God, my prayers are finally answered. Could you please take me to uncle Jin then? Oh, I should first introduce myself a little. My name is Zumi, I'm a full aqua nymph. Uncle Jin used to be my father's best partner, until my father died several years ago, leaving me all alone in this lake."
"Zumi.I.I'm sorry but I couldn't take you to my father."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because I've never seen my father in my whole life".
"What? You have never seen your own father?" I asked with great surprise. All of a sudden, a feeling of desperation overpowered. Yet, when I stared at those dark, innocent eyes of the little boy in front of me, the urge to render sympathy soon replaced the wave of sadness in my heart.
"Zumi, do you know my father?" Gon asked.
I nodded.
"What's he like?"
"Uncle Jin? Let me see, I only met him a few times when I was a child. That must have been at least 7 or 8 years ago. Though vague, I had an impression that he was brilliant and powerful, humorous and wore a big smile. He had extremely confident eyes, just like yours. However, when he saw me, I had the feeling that he was sad.no.not really sadness, but there was a sense of emptiness in those eyes."
"Emptiness?" Killua, who was hiding behind the tree, asked in surprise.
"I.I'm sorry, I.I didn't mean to overhear.I just woke up and found Gon was not in bed. So, I walked across and found you two talking.I did not want to disturb so." the silver-haired boy's face turned a tomato red.
"It's okay, Killua. Don't worry, we aren't chatting anything confidential and it seems you're not the only one overhearing our conversation anyway." Gon said with a smile as he turned his face to the short bushes from which the embarrassed Kurapika and Leorio emerged.
As a result, the four of them sat with me in front of the small fire. Tonight, as every other night in this vicinity, the wind is blowing gently and rhythmically interacting with the surface of the lake. However, tonight, I cannot enjoy the symphony of wind and water for I have some interesting guests and a story to tell.
"I did not understand why there would be emptiness in a man as cheerful as uncle Jin in the beginning but now that I have meet you Gon, I think I start to understand a little."
"You think that's because he missed Gon?" Leorio asked.
I nodded.
"But if he really missed Gon, why did he not take Gon with him? Why did he never even come back to see Gon for once? There's no reason whatsoever for a parent to ignore his own child like this." Killua protested. It appeared to me he had a strong perception of what a good parent should be like. "There is". Kurapika, who had been silent up until now, suddenly said. "There are times when a parent, regardless, how much he loves her child, must leave him."
"Such as?" Killua asked slightly disbelievingly.
"When you are in a dangerous situation where you know the best and only way to protect your child is to leave him." Kurapika said as he stared hard at the fire. For a second, I thought I saw his eyes turning red but I thought I must have mistaken. Perhaps it was just the sparks from the fire.
"So, my father was in a dangerous situation?" Gon suddenly turned to me and asked.
"I don't know.probably. I never knew exactly what my father and uncle Jin were doing. I only knew that he was a great prophet and he was soliciting my father's help because he said something really bad would be happening in Dentora."
"What would happen?" Leorio asked.
"I do not know" I sighed, "The only thing I recalled was winter".
"Winter?" Kurapika suddenly rose. His face was filled with horror. Then, he quickly recollected himself and sat down.
"Did you know something? Kurapika?" Leorio asked.
"Yes" Kurapika answered. "I have read from somewhere that there was a spell, called Eternal Winter, which could turn a whole country into a lifeless state of snow and ice. Probably, "something bad" meant that the spell of Eternal Winter would be cast onto Dentora". Kurapika tried to maintain a cool and calm voice but I could tell from that shocked face a minute ago he could not just have read about the spell. He must have witnessed it with his own eyes. However, as he did not talk any further, I did not feel I should press on and ask more questions.
Silence befell the place for a few long seconds before Gon broke it with his childish but clear voice. "Zumi, why did you want to meet my father?" Gon asked.
"That's because it was the last wish of my father before he passed away. He made me promise him to deliver something to uncle Jin." I asked.
"What is that?" Leorio asked.
"Sorry, but I could not tell you. My father said I could tell no one or show no one except uncle Jin." I answered while trying to avoid Gon's eyes.
"If you had to deliver something to Gon's father," Killua asked, "then why did you stay here? Why didn't you go and look for Jin?"
"If I could," I sighed, "I would have long gone. As a water nymph, I could only leave this place until I could fly. It was a rule and regardless of the situation, no water nymph can leave their birthplace on foot or they will be cursed. My wings have fully developed, but somehow, I just can't fly." The sadness in my heart began to conquer my body and I could feel tears flowing down my cheek. It seemed the humans in front of me were slightly puzzled for their faces all showed "oh gosh, I don't know what to do" kind of expression.
"Zumi", Gon said in an attempt to cheer me up, "why don't you let Leorio take a look at you? He's a doctor and probably he could help you."
"Really? But could a human doctor help me?" I wondered.
"Don't worry," Leorio said with confidence, "I have read a few books about nymphs and I have seen my teacher curing one or two before. Although I don't have much experience, I think I could still be able to tell if something went wrong with the structure of your wings".
In the next half hour, Leorio and I retreated to the little spot behind the bushes where he examined my wings. Occasionally, I could hear him whisper a few strange words. Finally, he said, "strange, but there seems to be nothing wrong with the structure of your wings. I just don't see why you couldn't fly with them."
"Perhaps," Kurapika said, "it is not a physical but psychological condition. Zumi, when you try to fly, what do you think about?"
"Huh?" I was dumbfounded. What really was in my mind when I tried to fly I could not tell. "I just kept on thinking about flipping my wings, I guess." I replied haphazardly.
Kurapika was looking straight into my eyes, causing me to blush a little. "This is just my hypothesis but I think the reason you could not fly was because you did not want to leave this place at all."
"But that's not true!" I argued. "I wanted to leave this place, this .this gloomy and lonely place. I wanted to leave it immediately". I started crying hard. Leorio could not tolerate anymore and handed me a nicely folded handkerchief but Kurapika continued in a rather cold voice, "As I said before, it was only a hypothesis but it occurred to me that consciously, you would like to leave this place, to leave the sad memories of your father's death, and to fulfill your promise to your dying father by delivering whatever you have to deliver to Jin. However, unconsciously, you did not want to leave this place for a world where you know nothing about. In that world, there would be no one you could trust or depend on. You didn't know what would happen and it was that sense of uncertainty and feeling of lack of control that made you want to stay where you were. Consequently, until you could overcome your own fear, you would never be able to fly."
I now stop crying and look up at Kurapika. His face remained expressionless but those eyes, those pair of large eyes seemed to have seen right through my body and into my heart. Those words were hard to hear, less to absorb or digest, but they were right. Raised under the protection of my parents, I did not have the courage to stand on my own feet. I was nothing but a coward.
Then, Gon stood up and said, "Zumi, why don't you come along with us? When I get home, I can ask Aunt Mito about my father. Probably she has some ideas where he is. I can help you find him."
"Really?" I asked.
"Of course", Gon smiled, "besides, I wanted to meet him too. I wanted to find him and ask why he left me and Aunt Mito all these years".
"I would help you too," Kurapika said, "I am very interested to know if the "something bad" had anything to do with the spell of eternal winter".
"Now, there Gon and Kurapika, if you two are going, then I must go too." Leorio said.
"Why?" Kurapika asked.
"Why! Because I just could not leave you kids going on a journey! Aunt Mito would blame me for that." Leorio exclaimed.
"So, you finally admit you're an old man?" Kurapika said teasingly.
"What! Kurapika, you." Leorio's face turned red with anger.
"I will also help." Killua said smiling.
"Killua," Gon said, "but you can't. Once you get back your memories, you will have to return to your family. They will be worried about you."
"Probably, but Gon, you saved me and came to this dangerous mountain for my sake! I must thank you and the only way I can think of currently is to help you find your father."
"Killua.thank you!" Gon said cheerfully. "Okay, then, let's go and get Memalia to cure Killua's am..am."
"Amnesia, Gon". Leorio helped.
"Right amnesia! After that we'll all go to Aunt Mito and ask about my Dad! Perfect." Gon was smiling.
"Memalia," I screamed, "you're looking for that flower Memlia? But the monster has occupied the land where Memalia usually grow. You'll get yourself killed if you go anywhere near the monster!"
"We know," Gon smiled, "in fact, we had already met the monster once and she tricked us and dumped us into a swamp."
"Then, why did you still want to go get Memalia?" I asked puzzled.
"Because we cannot let the wicked monster run our lives! If we were afraid of her and ran away, then Killua would never get his precious memories back and the people in the village would never feel safe again. Besides, I have friends whom I can trust so I am not afraid." Gon smiled.
"Friendship.what a wonderful thing." I thought as I closed my eyes. For a moment, I felt my body getting lighter and the air thinner. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself flying! What a fantastic feeling it was, I thought, to be able to dance so freely through the sky, which a few hours ago, I could only stare at. All along, I thought I have fully matured but I it was merely an illusion I used to deceive myself. The truth was, I was still hiding inside my cocoon. However, today, I have finally found the weapon, known as friendship, to break open my last cocoon.
As the first light from the rising sun began to brighten up the sky, I joined my new friends to embark on the first adventure in my life. I did not look into the water again before I left. However, even if I did, I knew what I'd see --- a smiling water nymph with friends and hopes for the future.
