Chapter 18
Liam had to move his headquarters again after the failed interrogation attempt two days ago. He had never expected that people could sneak past the well guarded sewers, and he certainly couldn't have reasonably anticipated that the rescue squad would contain an eunuch as well - Echlan's own protégé of all people too.
He gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. Striker had backed out at the last moment, meaning that he would have to reorganize his plans. He had designed the fall of the Emperor on the same day that she gave her Pledge to the nation, one sniper carefully concealed on one the many roofs of Forbidden Palace, and it just took a single bullet whilst Rodimostev III was off guard and the Kalinnan dynasty would finally collapse. Then, he had explosives planted around the city and they would detonate in one glorious and symbolic burning of everything corrupt about the old dynasty. It would also be the perfect revenge for Kim.
He wondered what made the sniper change his mind. When they approached him, he had been overly enthusiastic to participate. He even offered to demonstrate his skills and he shot the eye of a rooster weathervane from a quarter of a mile away with his reinforced weapon whilst a gale practically blew around his ears. Just like his legendary dad.
Altesia barged into the cramped warehouse room near the market. She dressed like a bounty hunter in dirty, well worn leathers of brown and black with her greasy black hair tied back tightly with another strap of leather. Strapped on her back was a mean, vicious looking machine gun with her ammo slung in the front and tattooed on her forehead was the symbol of the Nihilists. She smiled at him revealing pointed teeth.
Liam fought the urge to shiver and tried to look calm and confident in front of the maniac.
Altesia was a Nihilist through and through. All her life she tracked down nen users to reveal secrets in an effort to create the perfect device which could cancel it out - similar to the Void. They had done extensive research onto the long line of Arcadian Emperors and even kidnapped some of royal birth to see what sort of genetic makeup differed from the general population, and what gave them the special natural nen user that occurred once every century or two.
No one truly knows who started the organization and what its purpose was. Why target the Emperors? And the obsession to obliterate every last natural nen user in the world gave them the title of Nihilists. Enigmatic and mysterious, always operating in the darkness where no one dared to look. And Liam had to ally himself with these despicable terrorists because he needed their special backing when they stormed the Forbidden Palace. That was originally plan B, but now that Striker had withdrawn from the operation, he had to resort to it.
"What brings you here Altersia?"
"I heard the kid folded. We've got to take him out."
Liam sighed. Working with brutes and psychopaths was such a difficult job. "That won't be necessary. He wasn't privy to any of our plans apart from the one two days from now. Since he's no longer co-operating with us, he won't know what we will be doing tomorrow. Just leave him alone."
She took out a wicked looking dagger and began to trim her dirty fingernails. "Very well Liam, I'll leave him alone. But what happened to Janis?"
"He was careless and overconfident plus we were ambushed with nowhere to run. His throat was slashed."
"Why didn't they attack you?" she accused, making it sound like the slaughter of a house full of pigs.
"I don't know? I was electrocuted with a few million volts of electricity and consequently got knocked out. I saw Koran there, along with another eunuch by his side who I don't particularly recognize. He killed Janis and the hostages were quickly kidnapped in the confusion."
Altesia sneered at him. "I told you that it was a pointless mission. Did you manage to gather any information at all from the kids then?"
"No, they refused to talk." Liam had to look away. Any more, and he would seriously grab his rifle and blast her head off, just to make the world just that much cleaner.
"Great." She threw her hands hopelessly into the air. "We lost Janis, and you got nothing to show for that mission. I think you're loosing your mind Liam. You're so obsessed about that woman that you'd risk your own rebellion just to find out who she really is. It's a trap I tell you, a dirty trap and you're falling right in. You know it, but you're still falling for it and you're going to pull everyone down with you if you keep it up too."
Liam ignored the brimming contempt in her voice and wondered who exactly had lost their mind. He waved his hand in dismissal, indicating his wish to drop the subject.
"You've got the plans for the city?"
Altesia snorted. It was an ugly noise. "Yeah, right here." She took out some crumpled sheets from her briefcase and laid out the floor plan on the shaky table. Liam bought the light down lower and grunted as it almost hit his head.
"There are four main entrances to the city." Her dagger pointed to the four walls. "The Northern Entrance, Eastern, Southern and Western Entrances are all frequented by patrol guards and maids who go on duties. They all need Imperial Passes to enter, and possibly identification as well. According to reports, some of the guards there have photographic memories and can recognize anyone that leaves and enters." She waved at some other structures attached to the outer walls. "These are the outer palaces, usually residential areas for the visiting royalty, now occupied by the Generals who are in town. Here is Kastro Court, and the Mad General is living near the northern side, but reports come in saying that on most nights he passes out at a number of pubs and nightclubs."
"I know all about it." Liam gruffly responded. He didn't like to make references to his past affiliations with the Imperial Court. "Get to the point, have the explosives been carefully planted yet?"
Altesia's grin displayed her pointed teeth again, and Liam fought hard not to shiver. Instead, he distracted himself by adjusting his coloured glasses. "Why yes, it's all in place. And we've even got flame-throwers ready to make sure the fire really spreads."
"It would have been more symbolic if Rodimostev was shot whilst making her speech." Liam sighed dismally. "But this will do just as well. How many people do we have on standby?"
"Your rebels are currently being fitted with weapons and ammunition. There are around five thousand of them. We have around eight hundred people, but there will be more."
"More?" Liam felt his anger rising, clearly expecting more support. "We strike in exactly nine hours! How do you think you're going to smuggle more people into the city? The sewers have been swept clean by the Imperial guards, there's literally no other way in other than by parachuting!"
"Are you always this edgy?" she said, sneering. "Of course there won't be any more people coming in. We've got a new device that we want to try out.."
"Try out? You mean you can't guarantee that it will work?"
Altesia ignored the interruption. "It's mind manipulation. We've tested it on individual subjects, but we don't know what will happen when we unleash it on whole crowds."
That calmed the leader of the rebels down somewhat. "Not bad.imperial troops fighting imperial troops.."
"Uh, no." Altesia said firmly. "the device is most effective on the feeble minded. Professional fighters are too well trained, so that might now work against them. We were thinking more along the lines of civilians - "
"NO!" Liam thumped the table so hard with his fists that the rotting structure crashed to the ground. Altesia calmly regarded him.
"It's the perfect weapon Liam. Think about it - do you really think that the Imperial Guards can bring themselves to shoot their own people? That would be devastating for their morale! Not to mention their image as well."
"And what about our image? We're supposed to be replacing the old decaying corruption with something better! Not stoop to the same level as they do."
"Well Liam, let me remind you that our bargain was 'anything it takes' to overthrow Kalinnan. Now, if you're not willing to go to the extremes, then say goodbye to your dreams of revolution."
"Ok, lets just say for now that I agree to using this device. What happens if it fails, doesn't work, or is counteracted? Do you have backup?"
"I can't guarantee that it won't fail, but I highly doubt it can be counteracted. It's not like mind control is the latest development in science. If things don't work out the way we want it to, then our troops will hold the civilians hostage. With your people, we could literally threaten the entire Capital. And they won't dare to launch those hideous Sky Cruisers either, unless they want to blow their own people up, which is highly unlikely."
Liam shook his head in despair. "Let me rectify a few things that you have said. You're right about mind control, not many people are even familiar about the concept at all, but when the Emperor speaks, everyone follows. I'm sure you're heard of that. It is her voice which I fear will be able to overcome any influence that your device seeks to create."
"All the better. If she wants to use her voice on the civilians, it means that she'll have to step outside the Forbidden Palace. It'll be like stealing candy from a baby then."
Liam fought hard to sigh dramatically. "This is Arcadia Central, with the Forbidden City right at its center. It is the Emperor's power base because there is nen flowing all around us and the Emperor can take it up and use it at will. If you will let me continue now. As for those Sky Cruisers, I think that it is very likely that Rodimostev will use them - we all know how ruthless she can be when she's determined to have her way, like all the other butchers. Do you remember the rightful heir to this throne she's currently sitting on? Talien Kalinnan was going to be Emperor after Rodimostev II died, and he was one of my best friends. He would have been a competent Emperor, someone this Empire needs, not some idealistic, fanatical child! She stole his rightful throne and then signed his death warrant." Liam choked back tears. "Gods. To think that Kim died for something like this! One hundred and twenty six people Altesia. The demon child ordered the death of the entire Talien household, servants and all, even the dogs! She will spare no one, and certainly not a few thousand citizens here in Arcadia Central if she wants to have her way. And those children she ordered to march through the minefields! What kind of monster orders children who can barely walk at gunpoint to march across those bloody booby trapped fields! It is an abomination! Absolute abomination!" Liam shook uncontrollably as images surfaced in his mind of children, their faces miserable and dirty, afraid, not knowing why they were punished. Some young girls cried as overseers armed with cattle prods and whips mercilessly urged them on whilst random explosions shook the earth about them. He took deep breaths and steadily looked at the Nihilist. "And do you seriously think that the civilians will behave like sitting ducks? Most likely they'll grab whatever they can lay their hands on and fight back."
Altesia glared at Liam with harsh fury and contempt for his weaknesses. "The device will not fail." She spat out and left the room, banging the door shut behind her.
Liam flexed his stiff fingers which had curled up so tightly into a fist before that the nails had dug into his palms and were bleeding freely. He missed all his friends and relatives, all dead or have fled in exile. For a brief moment, Liam considered pressing the barrel of a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. Perhaps one of the Imperial Guards could do that for him tonight when they storm the Forbidden Palace.
=============
Hisoka awoke to the cool dabbing of something along the side of his face. On his forehead was a wet compress, and the largest black cat he ever did see was licking his face!? His narrow eyes widened in surprise, for seriously, the cat was HUGE. He heard a familiar soft laughter and turned to see Illumi, dressed in what Hisoka believed was a tailor made maid's outfit. The soft fabric and pastel colours gave him a decidedly voluptuous look and Hisoka hoped that the assassin couldn't see his shiver of excitement.
"What time is it?" he managed to croak.
"You've managed to sleep all day. It's ten o'clock already and you haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Illumi glided over and sat next to Hisoka on the bed to take away the wet towel off the clown's forehead. Hisoka silently commented to himself how inviting Illumi smelt. Illumi shifted Cat to one side.
"Where'd you get that?" Hisoka gestured to Cat, now demanding attention by rolling onto his back.
"Oh, it's stray, and I'm going to keep him. His name is Cat." Illumi smiled, obliging to give Cat his tummy rub. Hisoka looked back and forth between them, and quickly hid a smile. The two were so alike!
He sided up closely to Illumi. "Illu." He purred.
"Yes?"
Strong arms encircled around the assassin's slender hips. "Are you going to play nurse? They beat me black and blue. Pat me down to see if they've broken any bones." He smirked planted kisses on the bare neck. Illumi squirmed and broke free from Hisoka.
"Have you no shame." He blushed furiously and quickly went to retrieve something from the table. Hisoka watched him scuttle about with longing eyes. "Here, I've been keeping this warm for you." Illumi presented a large platter before him. "The soup's really nice. I'll have to see if I can beg the recipe from the chefs." He handed a hot bowl brimming with soup to Hisoka, but the magician shook his head. Instead, he opened his mouth, gesturing.
"I don't have the strength Illu. You'll have to feed me."
Illumi scowled a bit but bought a spoonful to Hisoka's lips. The clown slurped up the food and smiled widely.
"Gosh, you're right Illu. We'll raid the kitchens, find a chef and intimidate the recipe out of him!"
"Allu's up running and jumping again." Illumi quietly commented, feeding in another spoon. He hoped Hisoka would get the point.
"Oh really?" slurp. "Then he'll be able to look after himself now." Slurp. "Another assassin ready to frighten the crap out of the world." Slurp. "It means that you don't have to constantly look after him anymore." Hisoka almost choked. He starred at Illumi's expectant face. "You can leave home then." The magician whispered, almost dazed by the idea. Slowly, his hand reached up to cup Illumi's cheek and the latter leaned to his touch, his eyes half closed.
Hisoka swallowed the strange lump of nervousness in his throat. "Illu, if I said that - "
The door barged open and revealed Koran smiling widely indicating that he had many things to talk about with Hisoka. Except his smile quickly dropped when he realized that he had interrupted a tender moment, and Hisoka's glare was not doing much to reassure his health and safety. Stuttering some excuse, any excuse, he ducked his head, closed the doors and hurriedly retreated, mumbling to himself as if nothing happened.
The moment lost, Hisoka sighed and watched Illumi reveal to him the next platter of food.
"Fried rice?" he groaned like a spoilt child. "I was expecting something more exotic!" He immediately withdrew any ill criticisms however, after tasting his first mouthful. Every now and again, he traded small jokes and dirty remarks to Illumi who either giggled or lightheartedly scoffed in response. Cat knew a pair of lovers when he saw it and he just put his head down, knowing that there wouldn't get any more tummy rubs tonight.
The light wooden doors flung open again and Kikyou barged in.
"Illumi! I've been looking for you all day - " Kikyou was greeted to the scene of Hisoka in the middle of being spoon fed fried rice by her son. No, Kikyou had too much control to die from shock, but she certainly did loose her grip on her hysteria. "What are you doing!" she shrieked, rushing forward to loom intimidatingly over Illumi.
Illumi deliberately filled another spoon and pushed it into Hisoka's eager and awaiting mouth. "Spoon feeding Hisoka, mother."
The was a general pause.
"Do you plan to stop? Kikyou asked, dangerously.
"Yes" he said simply, but there was naked steel hidden under the gentle tones of his voice. "when I have finished the plate."
"Why are you doing this Illumi? Why do you denigrate yourself like this? You're a Zoldick!" Kikyou's fury had consumed everything, even her voice, so all that came out was but an intense and trembling whisper. Illumi abruptly stopped what he was doing and glared at her.
"No mother, you and everyone never treated me like a Zoldick. Now kindly leave the room."
"Don't you dare talk to me like that Illumi. I'm your mother! Now get off his bed and get changed out of those ridiculous clothes too. You're going home, right now, and the first thing we're going to do is cut your hair and refit your wardrobe." Her hand shot forward as if to grab him and drag him away, but it stopped midway and Kikyou hesitated.
There was something different about Illumi, perhaps it was the way his eyes now shimmered with life, no longer the dull and lifeless. Or perhaps she saw in them a new strength of character, like a new person emerging from a shell. Something was so fundamentally different that it unsettled her, and she feared whatever it was that was inside her son, stirring, finally awake. He was no longer the puppet whose strings could be pulled at will and controlled. Something had finally taken over.
"Who are you? What have you done with my son." She whispered.
Hisoka, quietly watching the standoff, noted the disappointment, miserably concealed in Illumi.
"I am your son mother. You just.don't like me." Illumi said, quietly with eyes downcast.
There it was, simple, bitter truth and Kikyou could just stare at him in silence. Her jaw finally started working again, and she tried to stutter some things.
"Of course not Illumi..mama loves you all."
But Cat hissed at her and she knew she it was a lost cause with Illumi idly pushing the rice around on the plate with a sullen expression. She gathered whatever dignity she had left and turned to leave, salty tears stinging her eyes.
One big fat tear trickled Illumi's pale cheeks after Kikyou closed the door behind her. Hisoka quickly wiped it away and began to murmur comforting words. Cat knew that he wasn't doing any good here, so he left the couple alone and soundlessly jumped out of the window with padded feet and wandered about the large Forbidden Palace.
==========
Zeno sat down quietly on the shallow stone steps outside the huge and oppressively silent library on a light Summer's night in Arcadia. Echlan's steps approached him and he shuffled over a bit more.
"Found the book at last. Here, hold this." The Master Eunuch handed Zeno the lantern whilst he made himself comfortable on the steps outside, shuffling his dark blue robes as he made to sit. Under his arm was a large, dusty book, its bindings fraying and its yellow pages carefully preserved. Echlan's perfectly manicured and polished fingernails glinted in the dim light, and he gave Zeno a painted crimson smile. "There's still time Zeno, your grandson is not broken."
But the old assassin slowly shook his head. "No Echlan. I've been a bad grandfather, and it's too late. The least I can do is help Illumi understand his powers at least."
Echlan looked at him in slight reproach. "You should have contacted me Zeno. I could have helped."
"There was nothing you can do. He knew that he outclassed us all and wouldn't have consented to have that power taken away from him."
"Not to take away that power. You can never do that, but at least I could have helped you control it. You should have brought him to Arcadia."
"And let the Emperor kill him?!"
Echlan frowned. "Yes, Rodimostev wouldn't have liked to know that someone of your grandson's caliber existed." He gave a small sigh and opened the book, flicking to his desired page. "Perhaps it was destined then."
A violent flash of lightening and the sound of a clap of thunder at close proximity startled the reminiscing pair and they turned, wide-eyed to see what was going on.
Alluka muttered a few harmless curses and dusted himself respectably. He too looked wide-eyed at his surroundings and saw his grandpa with another old eunuch.
"What the hell was that?" Echlan composed himself quickly and gestured for the child to sit beside his grandfather.
The young albino child shrugged, taking his seat dutifully. "Nothing much, just practicing some teleportation."
Zeno looked at the youngster sharply. "Who taught you that?"
"I taught myself when I was looking at quantum physics and dimensional mathematics."
Echlan bit his lip prettily. "That doesn't sound like something a child should be studying."
Alluka's only response was to shrug again in nonchalance. "I thought that if I had to be crippled for life, at least I'm going to devise a way to travel around so that I don't have to bother Millu or big bro all the time. So I researched on dimensions in particular and hyper efficient energy usage and discovered that the shortest distance between two points was not a straight line after all, only that it takes a rather compressed amount of energy to make the extra speed through the time and space continuum."
"Ouch, I'm starting to get a headache. Hold me Zeno."
The older assassin laughed again and tousled Alluka's hair, slightly dismayed when the young boy tensed beneath his touch.
"You seem much more.clearheaded now Allu."
"Of course grandpa. Much of the madness came from the frustration of being able to feel my limbs, but not able to use them. And then there were nightmares of course.but I suddenly feel so much more confident of myself and my powers now that I can walk again. I can realistically think about revenge now, and lots of people will be hurt."
"You also know what this means don't you?" Zeno calmly asked.
"Yes." Alluka replied, bitterly. "It means that big bro is going to leave home."
"Sorry Allu."
"No you're not. You never were, and you never will be. You never looked at big bro all these years and everyone made his life miserable. Now he's going to leave home because it'll make him happy and so god help me, I'll hurt anyone who tries to get in his way."
"Hmmm.his attitude's certainly taken a sharp turn. Why don't you run along now and find your brother." Echlan suggested, deciding to take note not to leave his back unguarded against the youngster for that was a blatant and open threat to all Zoldick family members.
Zeno watched in fascination as Alluka's face went slack, trance-like, eyes unfocused and blank. A few seconds later, they snapped back with life and he pulled a face of slight disgust.
"I'd rather not disturb ani right now." He shivered so more and shook his head vigorously as if to get some image out of his mind.
"Why not?" Zeno asked, rather surprised.
"He's.doing adult stuff." Alluka replied gruffly, looking away in embarrassment. The general silence around them prompted Alluka to reluctantly continue. "You know," he whined "stuff big people do behind closed doors."
"You mean sex?" Echlan frankly said.
Alluka's face went blank again and he pulled another face. "Almost, almost." He shivered again, face now crimson. After all, what he did just then basically amounted to peeping and spying on his brother. "They're still smooching, sorta.with a lot of tongue.and clothes were flying the last time I checked."
"When did you check?" Zeno regarded his grandson with mounting seriousness and wonder. But the look on Alluka said that he didn't trust his grandpa and that he had accidentally given away his talents and abilities by mistake. But he did speak, if only because he was eager for someone to be proud of him after so many years of cold neglect and loneliness.
"They messed with my brain four years ago. I started developing psionic abilities - "
"Mind extensions?" Echlan looked fascinated. The young albino nodded, a little unsure.
"To that extent, yes, that is probably a good description. My mind.just sort of leaps out whenever I want it to, and it does what I want it to do. Like for example, I'm currently sending out waves of mental energy, and in my mind, it's like I've got this radar screen constantly on and I've got the entire Forbidden Palace mapped out in my mind."
"Amazing." Zeno muttered. "Can you read minds then? Control people?"
"Sure, that's actually a piece of cake. I pride myself in being able to add my psionic energies to my nen to create an even more destructive force. It'll help my assassination abilities for sure, grandpa." He said happily hoping for some praise. Zeno managed a small smile. "What's the matter grandpa? You don't seem pleased."
"Of course he's pleased." Echlan interjected, glaring fiercely at Zeno through heavily mascaraed eyes. "He's just fathoming the possibilities and development that you can achieve with this power. But he's in fact really worried about why despicable terrorists such as the Nihilists would give you this gift of esp. But if you find no problems within yourself, then all must be in order. Right, Zeno?"
The old man blinked a few times and dumbly nodded. In fact, he was afraid of another prodigy grandson. A talented one like Killua was different because he was predictable, but a wildcard like Alluka, or what Illumi had been, only caused doubts and fears to stir within Zeno.
"This book, Allu" Echlan hurriedly continued. "contains a record of all remarkable Arcadian Emperors. Dynasties may come and go, but this Forbidden Palace remains so no one is stupid enough to try and destroy these records." The eunuch daintily held up the book for Alluka to examine, but a fragile sheet of yellow people fell out. Alluka picked it up and frowned deeply after he glanced over it.
"This looks nothing like a record of past Emperors. It looks more like the ravings of a madman."
To prevent explosions, seek the white devil. Three hours past midnight, we all go to hell. Parents and brothers, will turn against each other. Fight the madness with the devil..When seven suns are suspended in the sky The Eighth will burn the brightest, but that which burns twice as bright lasts half as long Defend! Defend! Summon the Guardian and the Dark Executioner! Oh, the Despair! The Dark Executioner shall deal despair and they will fall. Protect the One and let no ill befall her. But it's too late! Killers are forever killers. And the world is plunged into darkness for eternity.
"I believe I wrote that." A mysteriously smooth and deep voice spoke and the three turned around to see who it could be.
Liam had to move his headquarters again after the failed interrogation attempt two days ago. He had never expected that people could sneak past the well guarded sewers, and he certainly couldn't have reasonably anticipated that the rescue squad would contain an eunuch as well - Echlan's own protégé of all people too.
He gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. Striker had backed out at the last moment, meaning that he would have to reorganize his plans. He had designed the fall of the Emperor on the same day that she gave her Pledge to the nation, one sniper carefully concealed on one the many roofs of Forbidden Palace, and it just took a single bullet whilst Rodimostev III was off guard and the Kalinnan dynasty would finally collapse. Then, he had explosives planted around the city and they would detonate in one glorious and symbolic burning of everything corrupt about the old dynasty. It would also be the perfect revenge for Kim.
He wondered what made the sniper change his mind. When they approached him, he had been overly enthusiastic to participate. He even offered to demonstrate his skills and he shot the eye of a rooster weathervane from a quarter of a mile away with his reinforced weapon whilst a gale practically blew around his ears. Just like his legendary dad.
Altesia barged into the cramped warehouse room near the market. She dressed like a bounty hunter in dirty, well worn leathers of brown and black with her greasy black hair tied back tightly with another strap of leather. Strapped on her back was a mean, vicious looking machine gun with her ammo slung in the front and tattooed on her forehead was the symbol of the Nihilists. She smiled at him revealing pointed teeth.
Liam fought the urge to shiver and tried to look calm and confident in front of the maniac.
Altesia was a Nihilist through and through. All her life she tracked down nen users to reveal secrets in an effort to create the perfect device which could cancel it out - similar to the Void. They had done extensive research onto the long line of Arcadian Emperors and even kidnapped some of royal birth to see what sort of genetic makeup differed from the general population, and what gave them the special natural nen user that occurred once every century or two.
No one truly knows who started the organization and what its purpose was. Why target the Emperors? And the obsession to obliterate every last natural nen user in the world gave them the title of Nihilists. Enigmatic and mysterious, always operating in the darkness where no one dared to look. And Liam had to ally himself with these despicable terrorists because he needed their special backing when they stormed the Forbidden Palace. That was originally plan B, but now that Striker had withdrawn from the operation, he had to resort to it.
"What brings you here Altersia?"
"I heard the kid folded. We've got to take him out."
Liam sighed. Working with brutes and psychopaths was such a difficult job. "That won't be necessary. He wasn't privy to any of our plans apart from the one two days from now. Since he's no longer co-operating with us, he won't know what we will be doing tomorrow. Just leave him alone."
She took out a wicked looking dagger and began to trim her dirty fingernails. "Very well Liam, I'll leave him alone. But what happened to Janis?"
"He was careless and overconfident plus we were ambushed with nowhere to run. His throat was slashed."
"Why didn't they attack you?" she accused, making it sound like the slaughter of a house full of pigs.
"I don't know? I was electrocuted with a few million volts of electricity and consequently got knocked out. I saw Koran there, along with another eunuch by his side who I don't particularly recognize. He killed Janis and the hostages were quickly kidnapped in the confusion."
Altesia sneered at him. "I told you that it was a pointless mission. Did you manage to gather any information at all from the kids then?"
"No, they refused to talk." Liam had to look away. Any more, and he would seriously grab his rifle and blast her head off, just to make the world just that much cleaner.
"Great." She threw her hands hopelessly into the air. "We lost Janis, and you got nothing to show for that mission. I think you're loosing your mind Liam. You're so obsessed about that woman that you'd risk your own rebellion just to find out who she really is. It's a trap I tell you, a dirty trap and you're falling right in. You know it, but you're still falling for it and you're going to pull everyone down with you if you keep it up too."
Liam ignored the brimming contempt in her voice and wondered who exactly had lost their mind. He waved his hand in dismissal, indicating his wish to drop the subject.
"You've got the plans for the city?"
Altesia snorted. It was an ugly noise. "Yeah, right here." She took out some crumpled sheets from her briefcase and laid out the floor plan on the shaky table. Liam bought the light down lower and grunted as it almost hit his head.
"There are four main entrances to the city." Her dagger pointed to the four walls. "The Northern Entrance, Eastern, Southern and Western Entrances are all frequented by patrol guards and maids who go on duties. They all need Imperial Passes to enter, and possibly identification as well. According to reports, some of the guards there have photographic memories and can recognize anyone that leaves and enters." She waved at some other structures attached to the outer walls. "These are the outer palaces, usually residential areas for the visiting royalty, now occupied by the Generals who are in town. Here is Kastro Court, and the Mad General is living near the northern side, but reports come in saying that on most nights he passes out at a number of pubs and nightclubs."
"I know all about it." Liam gruffly responded. He didn't like to make references to his past affiliations with the Imperial Court. "Get to the point, have the explosives been carefully planted yet?"
Altesia's grin displayed her pointed teeth again, and Liam fought hard not to shiver. Instead, he distracted himself by adjusting his coloured glasses. "Why yes, it's all in place. And we've even got flame-throwers ready to make sure the fire really spreads."
"It would have been more symbolic if Rodimostev was shot whilst making her speech." Liam sighed dismally. "But this will do just as well. How many people do we have on standby?"
"Your rebels are currently being fitted with weapons and ammunition. There are around five thousand of them. We have around eight hundred people, but there will be more."
"More?" Liam felt his anger rising, clearly expecting more support. "We strike in exactly nine hours! How do you think you're going to smuggle more people into the city? The sewers have been swept clean by the Imperial guards, there's literally no other way in other than by parachuting!"
"Are you always this edgy?" she said, sneering. "Of course there won't be any more people coming in. We've got a new device that we want to try out.."
"Try out? You mean you can't guarantee that it will work?"
Altesia ignored the interruption. "It's mind manipulation. We've tested it on individual subjects, but we don't know what will happen when we unleash it on whole crowds."
That calmed the leader of the rebels down somewhat. "Not bad.imperial troops fighting imperial troops.."
"Uh, no." Altesia said firmly. "the device is most effective on the feeble minded. Professional fighters are too well trained, so that might now work against them. We were thinking more along the lines of civilians - "
"NO!" Liam thumped the table so hard with his fists that the rotting structure crashed to the ground. Altesia calmly regarded him.
"It's the perfect weapon Liam. Think about it - do you really think that the Imperial Guards can bring themselves to shoot their own people? That would be devastating for their morale! Not to mention their image as well."
"And what about our image? We're supposed to be replacing the old decaying corruption with something better! Not stoop to the same level as they do."
"Well Liam, let me remind you that our bargain was 'anything it takes' to overthrow Kalinnan. Now, if you're not willing to go to the extremes, then say goodbye to your dreams of revolution."
"Ok, lets just say for now that I agree to using this device. What happens if it fails, doesn't work, or is counteracted? Do you have backup?"
"I can't guarantee that it won't fail, but I highly doubt it can be counteracted. It's not like mind control is the latest development in science. If things don't work out the way we want it to, then our troops will hold the civilians hostage. With your people, we could literally threaten the entire Capital. And they won't dare to launch those hideous Sky Cruisers either, unless they want to blow their own people up, which is highly unlikely."
Liam shook his head in despair. "Let me rectify a few things that you have said. You're right about mind control, not many people are even familiar about the concept at all, but when the Emperor speaks, everyone follows. I'm sure you're heard of that. It is her voice which I fear will be able to overcome any influence that your device seeks to create."
"All the better. If she wants to use her voice on the civilians, it means that she'll have to step outside the Forbidden Palace. It'll be like stealing candy from a baby then."
Liam fought hard to sigh dramatically. "This is Arcadia Central, with the Forbidden City right at its center. It is the Emperor's power base because there is nen flowing all around us and the Emperor can take it up and use it at will. If you will let me continue now. As for those Sky Cruisers, I think that it is very likely that Rodimostev will use them - we all know how ruthless she can be when she's determined to have her way, like all the other butchers. Do you remember the rightful heir to this throne she's currently sitting on? Talien Kalinnan was going to be Emperor after Rodimostev II died, and he was one of my best friends. He would have been a competent Emperor, someone this Empire needs, not some idealistic, fanatical child! She stole his rightful throne and then signed his death warrant." Liam choked back tears. "Gods. To think that Kim died for something like this! One hundred and twenty six people Altesia. The demon child ordered the death of the entire Talien household, servants and all, even the dogs! She will spare no one, and certainly not a few thousand citizens here in Arcadia Central if she wants to have her way. And those children she ordered to march through the minefields! What kind of monster orders children who can barely walk at gunpoint to march across those bloody booby trapped fields! It is an abomination! Absolute abomination!" Liam shook uncontrollably as images surfaced in his mind of children, their faces miserable and dirty, afraid, not knowing why they were punished. Some young girls cried as overseers armed with cattle prods and whips mercilessly urged them on whilst random explosions shook the earth about them. He took deep breaths and steadily looked at the Nihilist. "And do you seriously think that the civilians will behave like sitting ducks? Most likely they'll grab whatever they can lay their hands on and fight back."
Altesia glared at Liam with harsh fury and contempt for his weaknesses. "The device will not fail." She spat out and left the room, banging the door shut behind her.
Liam flexed his stiff fingers which had curled up so tightly into a fist before that the nails had dug into his palms and were bleeding freely. He missed all his friends and relatives, all dead or have fled in exile. For a brief moment, Liam considered pressing the barrel of a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. Perhaps one of the Imperial Guards could do that for him tonight when they storm the Forbidden Palace.
=============
Hisoka awoke to the cool dabbing of something along the side of his face. On his forehead was a wet compress, and the largest black cat he ever did see was licking his face!? His narrow eyes widened in surprise, for seriously, the cat was HUGE. He heard a familiar soft laughter and turned to see Illumi, dressed in what Hisoka believed was a tailor made maid's outfit. The soft fabric and pastel colours gave him a decidedly voluptuous look and Hisoka hoped that the assassin couldn't see his shiver of excitement.
"What time is it?" he managed to croak.
"You've managed to sleep all day. It's ten o'clock already and you haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Illumi glided over and sat next to Hisoka on the bed to take away the wet towel off the clown's forehead. Hisoka silently commented to himself how inviting Illumi smelt. Illumi shifted Cat to one side.
"Where'd you get that?" Hisoka gestured to Cat, now demanding attention by rolling onto his back.
"Oh, it's stray, and I'm going to keep him. His name is Cat." Illumi smiled, obliging to give Cat his tummy rub. Hisoka looked back and forth between them, and quickly hid a smile. The two were so alike!
He sided up closely to Illumi. "Illu." He purred.
"Yes?"
Strong arms encircled around the assassin's slender hips. "Are you going to play nurse? They beat me black and blue. Pat me down to see if they've broken any bones." He smirked planted kisses on the bare neck. Illumi squirmed and broke free from Hisoka.
"Have you no shame." He blushed furiously and quickly went to retrieve something from the table. Hisoka watched him scuttle about with longing eyes. "Here, I've been keeping this warm for you." Illumi presented a large platter before him. "The soup's really nice. I'll have to see if I can beg the recipe from the chefs." He handed a hot bowl brimming with soup to Hisoka, but the magician shook his head. Instead, he opened his mouth, gesturing.
"I don't have the strength Illu. You'll have to feed me."
Illumi scowled a bit but bought a spoonful to Hisoka's lips. The clown slurped up the food and smiled widely.
"Gosh, you're right Illu. We'll raid the kitchens, find a chef and intimidate the recipe out of him!"
"Allu's up running and jumping again." Illumi quietly commented, feeding in another spoon. He hoped Hisoka would get the point.
"Oh really?" slurp. "Then he'll be able to look after himself now." Slurp. "Another assassin ready to frighten the crap out of the world." Slurp. "It means that you don't have to constantly look after him anymore." Hisoka almost choked. He starred at Illumi's expectant face. "You can leave home then." The magician whispered, almost dazed by the idea. Slowly, his hand reached up to cup Illumi's cheek and the latter leaned to his touch, his eyes half closed.
Hisoka swallowed the strange lump of nervousness in his throat. "Illu, if I said that - "
The door barged open and revealed Koran smiling widely indicating that he had many things to talk about with Hisoka. Except his smile quickly dropped when he realized that he had interrupted a tender moment, and Hisoka's glare was not doing much to reassure his health and safety. Stuttering some excuse, any excuse, he ducked his head, closed the doors and hurriedly retreated, mumbling to himself as if nothing happened.
The moment lost, Hisoka sighed and watched Illumi reveal to him the next platter of food.
"Fried rice?" he groaned like a spoilt child. "I was expecting something more exotic!" He immediately withdrew any ill criticisms however, after tasting his first mouthful. Every now and again, he traded small jokes and dirty remarks to Illumi who either giggled or lightheartedly scoffed in response. Cat knew a pair of lovers when he saw it and he just put his head down, knowing that there wouldn't get any more tummy rubs tonight.
The light wooden doors flung open again and Kikyou barged in.
"Illumi! I've been looking for you all day - " Kikyou was greeted to the scene of Hisoka in the middle of being spoon fed fried rice by her son. No, Kikyou had too much control to die from shock, but she certainly did loose her grip on her hysteria. "What are you doing!" she shrieked, rushing forward to loom intimidatingly over Illumi.
Illumi deliberately filled another spoon and pushed it into Hisoka's eager and awaiting mouth. "Spoon feeding Hisoka, mother."
The was a general pause.
"Do you plan to stop? Kikyou asked, dangerously.
"Yes" he said simply, but there was naked steel hidden under the gentle tones of his voice. "when I have finished the plate."
"Why are you doing this Illumi? Why do you denigrate yourself like this? You're a Zoldick!" Kikyou's fury had consumed everything, even her voice, so all that came out was but an intense and trembling whisper. Illumi abruptly stopped what he was doing and glared at her.
"No mother, you and everyone never treated me like a Zoldick. Now kindly leave the room."
"Don't you dare talk to me like that Illumi. I'm your mother! Now get off his bed and get changed out of those ridiculous clothes too. You're going home, right now, and the first thing we're going to do is cut your hair and refit your wardrobe." Her hand shot forward as if to grab him and drag him away, but it stopped midway and Kikyou hesitated.
There was something different about Illumi, perhaps it was the way his eyes now shimmered with life, no longer the dull and lifeless. Or perhaps she saw in them a new strength of character, like a new person emerging from a shell. Something was so fundamentally different that it unsettled her, and she feared whatever it was that was inside her son, stirring, finally awake. He was no longer the puppet whose strings could be pulled at will and controlled. Something had finally taken over.
"Who are you? What have you done with my son." She whispered.
Hisoka, quietly watching the standoff, noted the disappointment, miserably concealed in Illumi.
"I am your son mother. You just.don't like me." Illumi said, quietly with eyes downcast.
There it was, simple, bitter truth and Kikyou could just stare at him in silence. Her jaw finally started working again, and she tried to stutter some things.
"Of course not Illumi..mama loves you all."
But Cat hissed at her and she knew she it was a lost cause with Illumi idly pushing the rice around on the plate with a sullen expression. She gathered whatever dignity she had left and turned to leave, salty tears stinging her eyes.
One big fat tear trickled Illumi's pale cheeks after Kikyou closed the door behind her. Hisoka quickly wiped it away and began to murmur comforting words. Cat knew that he wasn't doing any good here, so he left the couple alone and soundlessly jumped out of the window with padded feet and wandered about the large Forbidden Palace.
==========
Zeno sat down quietly on the shallow stone steps outside the huge and oppressively silent library on a light Summer's night in Arcadia. Echlan's steps approached him and he shuffled over a bit more.
"Found the book at last. Here, hold this." The Master Eunuch handed Zeno the lantern whilst he made himself comfortable on the steps outside, shuffling his dark blue robes as he made to sit. Under his arm was a large, dusty book, its bindings fraying and its yellow pages carefully preserved. Echlan's perfectly manicured and polished fingernails glinted in the dim light, and he gave Zeno a painted crimson smile. "There's still time Zeno, your grandson is not broken."
But the old assassin slowly shook his head. "No Echlan. I've been a bad grandfather, and it's too late. The least I can do is help Illumi understand his powers at least."
Echlan looked at him in slight reproach. "You should have contacted me Zeno. I could have helped."
"There was nothing you can do. He knew that he outclassed us all and wouldn't have consented to have that power taken away from him."
"Not to take away that power. You can never do that, but at least I could have helped you control it. You should have brought him to Arcadia."
"And let the Emperor kill him?!"
Echlan frowned. "Yes, Rodimostev wouldn't have liked to know that someone of your grandson's caliber existed." He gave a small sigh and opened the book, flicking to his desired page. "Perhaps it was destined then."
A violent flash of lightening and the sound of a clap of thunder at close proximity startled the reminiscing pair and they turned, wide-eyed to see what was going on.
Alluka muttered a few harmless curses and dusted himself respectably. He too looked wide-eyed at his surroundings and saw his grandpa with another old eunuch.
"What the hell was that?" Echlan composed himself quickly and gestured for the child to sit beside his grandfather.
The young albino child shrugged, taking his seat dutifully. "Nothing much, just practicing some teleportation."
Zeno looked at the youngster sharply. "Who taught you that?"
"I taught myself when I was looking at quantum physics and dimensional mathematics."
Echlan bit his lip prettily. "That doesn't sound like something a child should be studying."
Alluka's only response was to shrug again in nonchalance. "I thought that if I had to be crippled for life, at least I'm going to devise a way to travel around so that I don't have to bother Millu or big bro all the time. So I researched on dimensions in particular and hyper efficient energy usage and discovered that the shortest distance between two points was not a straight line after all, only that it takes a rather compressed amount of energy to make the extra speed through the time and space continuum."
"Ouch, I'm starting to get a headache. Hold me Zeno."
The older assassin laughed again and tousled Alluka's hair, slightly dismayed when the young boy tensed beneath his touch.
"You seem much more.clearheaded now Allu."
"Of course grandpa. Much of the madness came from the frustration of being able to feel my limbs, but not able to use them. And then there were nightmares of course.but I suddenly feel so much more confident of myself and my powers now that I can walk again. I can realistically think about revenge now, and lots of people will be hurt."
"You also know what this means don't you?" Zeno calmly asked.
"Yes." Alluka replied, bitterly. "It means that big bro is going to leave home."
"Sorry Allu."
"No you're not. You never were, and you never will be. You never looked at big bro all these years and everyone made his life miserable. Now he's going to leave home because it'll make him happy and so god help me, I'll hurt anyone who tries to get in his way."
"Hmmm.his attitude's certainly taken a sharp turn. Why don't you run along now and find your brother." Echlan suggested, deciding to take note not to leave his back unguarded against the youngster for that was a blatant and open threat to all Zoldick family members.
Zeno watched in fascination as Alluka's face went slack, trance-like, eyes unfocused and blank. A few seconds later, they snapped back with life and he pulled a face of slight disgust.
"I'd rather not disturb ani right now." He shivered so more and shook his head vigorously as if to get some image out of his mind.
"Why not?" Zeno asked, rather surprised.
"He's.doing adult stuff." Alluka replied gruffly, looking away in embarrassment. The general silence around them prompted Alluka to reluctantly continue. "You know," he whined "stuff big people do behind closed doors."
"You mean sex?" Echlan frankly said.
Alluka's face went blank again and he pulled another face. "Almost, almost." He shivered again, face now crimson. After all, what he did just then basically amounted to peeping and spying on his brother. "They're still smooching, sorta.with a lot of tongue.and clothes were flying the last time I checked."
"When did you check?" Zeno regarded his grandson with mounting seriousness and wonder. But the look on Alluka said that he didn't trust his grandpa and that he had accidentally given away his talents and abilities by mistake. But he did speak, if only because he was eager for someone to be proud of him after so many years of cold neglect and loneliness.
"They messed with my brain four years ago. I started developing psionic abilities - "
"Mind extensions?" Echlan looked fascinated. The young albino nodded, a little unsure.
"To that extent, yes, that is probably a good description. My mind.just sort of leaps out whenever I want it to, and it does what I want it to do. Like for example, I'm currently sending out waves of mental energy, and in my mind, it's like I've got this radar screen constantly on and I've got the entire Forbidden Palace mapped out in my mind."
"Amazing." Zeno muttered. "Can you read minds then? Control people?"
"Sure, that's actually a piece of cake. I pride myself in being able to add my psionic energies to my nen to create an even more destructive force. It'll help my assassination abilities for sure, grandpa." He said happily hoping for some praise. Zeno managed a small smile. "What's the matter grandpa? You don't seem pleased."
"Of course he's pleased." Echlan interjected, glaring fiercely at Zeno through heavily mascaraed eyes. "He's just fathoming the possibilities and development that you can achieve with this power. But he's in fact really worried about why despicable terrorists such as the Nihilists would give you this gift of esp. But if you find no problems within yourself, then all must be in order. Right, Zeno?"
The old man blinked a few times and dumbly nodded. In fact, he was afraid of another prodigy grandson. A talented one like Killua was different because he was predictable, but a wildcard like Alluka, or what Illumi had been, only caused doubts and fears to stir within Zeno.
"This book, Allu" Echlan hurriedly continued. "contains a record of all remarkable Arcadian Emperors. Dynasties may come and go, but this Forbidden Palace remains so no one is stupid enough to try and destroy these records." The eunuch daintily held up the book for Alluka to examine, but a fragile sheet of yellow people fell out. Alluka picked it up and frowned deeply after he glanced over it.
"This looks nothing like a record of past Emperors. It looks more like the ravings of a madman."
To prevent explosions, seek the white devil. Three hours past midnight, we all go to hell. Parents and brothers, will turn against each other. Fight the madness with the devil..When seven suns are suspended in the sky The Eighth will burn the brightest, but that which burns twice as bright lasts half as long Defend! Defend! Summon the Guardian and the Dark Executioner! Oh, the Despair! The Dark Executioner shall deal despair and they will fall. Protect the One and let no ill befall her. But it's too late! Killers are forever killers. And the world is plunged into darkness for eternity.
"I believe I wrote that." A mysteriously smooth and deep voice spoke and the three turned around to see who it could be.