By Yomi
Chapter 1
Everything is still a bit tentative with this project so I'm posting up another two chapters to see what everyone thinks. The original Untitled is still undergoing re-editing but I can assure you that there will be no major changes such that this sequel will be difficult to comprehend.
So without further ado, please tell me whether you think the sequel
is plausible (or likeable). The problem with sequels is that the author
is perceived as never wanting the story to end and that the fanfic will
drag on and on. I can only do my best to avoid that sort of impression
with the sequel here.
Summary: After the major defeat of the Nihilists at the Forbidden Palace in Greater Arcadia, the scattered remnants of the organization regroup and make a final bid to unlock the secret behind the natural nen user. Three years on, they have found the perfect test subjects and are about to discover a major breakthrough but they also realize that they have attracted the unwanted attention of certain people.
Features: Hisoka x Illumi and a handful of original characters in minor roles.
Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter is copyrighted by Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump Weekly, Shueisha and Nippon Animation (thanks for the info Cherrie!)
Chapter I – Two lost children
Kikyou irritably brushed the dewy rain drops from her shoulders, grimacing at the fact that her favourite shirt was near saturated and her shoes almost ruined. Compounding to her discomfort was her wet hair, plastered to her face and rainwater dripping into her eyes.
"Lousy weather!" she fumed, silently glaring at Silva who was methodically wringing water out of his long mane of hair. "We should have taken a private coach! That way, we'd be halfway to Florence by now, instead of stuck in this backwater countryside with muddy tracks and this run-down shack that tries to pass itself off as a motel. The blankets will have fleas!"
"Kikyou," Silva replied, using a tone of incredible patience that he had labouriously perfected over the years, knowing that it would drive his wife crazy, "it's just water, not poison and will not kill you. And fleas can't kill you either."
She threw her hands up in the air and stormed out of the room they have rented for the evening, floorboards creaking on cue behind her. The door slammed shut, bringing down a handful of dust and Silva warily studied the ceiling, wondering if the beams and supports would collapse in the storm and fall on him at night.
The dining area was in near disrepair: corners of the carpet curled up unsightly, revealing families of silver fish beneath and the wall paper was grimy and peeling away with large holes hastily patched up by newspapers. How on earth did she end up in this miserable country town?
She headed straight towards the fireplace and thrust her hands forward to ward off the chill threatening to seep into her bones. Her fingers flexed accordingly to start up the blood circulation and Kikyou noted she was standing close enough to the fire to feel her clothes drying off.
"Just how hard is it to get to Florence? If it wasn't for the lousy weather, we'd take the blimp and if there were more people in this ghost town, we'd even go there by horse coach. Anything better than to walk! Gah! All this because I had to personally pick up a gift for my niece!"
Her shoes, tattered almost beyond repair from all the walking they had
to do ever since the engine of their private car decided to shrivel up
and die and Silva had no bloody clue how to fix it, were flung into the
fire. Kikyou watched in relish as the fire flared brighter for a moment,
consuming the footwear. There was another pair of shoes in her luggage,
another pair not catered to walking and if Silva expected her to walk for
the rest of the way, even if her feet would suffer, she'd make sure his
ears would share a similar fate.
"Kimmy, did you hear the lady say she was going to Florence?" a young boy whispered, although there was a tremor in his voice and moisture welling up in his eyes which indicated that he would burst into tears at any moment now.
"Yeah, I heard," the young girl replied to the boy, clenching onto the sides of her dirt riddled dress. Unlike the boy, she gritted her teeth and fixed the stranger with a gaze of mistrust. "You think she's a nice lady?"
The young boy made a sullen noise and shifted closer to the young girl, his small chubby fingers worming their way into the palm of her hand. He gave the hand a tight squeeze although his arm was shaking.
"She's ok Kimmy, but I think she's kind of angry right now."
"I'm trusting you on this brother."
His hand on her clenched harder, a single tear escaped and he was shuddering almost violently.
"It's not like we have a choice anyway. I want to go home to mama and dada."
Kim mimicked what her father usually did and puffed up her small chest and set her mouth into a harsh and unforgiving line. Unbeknownst to her, it just made her look like a grumpy little girl with overly red cheeks, but for now, she had to feel brave for the both of them. Her brother shuddered some more.
"Not like that Kimmy, adults don't like you looking like that. They won't believe you."
She scowled. "Ok Hal, you be in charge for once. You're the bigger brother."
Hal fiercely rubbed his eyes until the flesh around the eyes were a bright pink. He bit his trembling lip but managed a firm nod.
"You have to cry and I'll talk to the lady."
"But I don't feel like crying! I'm not you!"
"Big brothers look after their younger sisters. Not the other way around. So pretend you're upset."
Kimmy pinched herself on the arm until tears sprang into her eyes and she savoured the feeling. "And you," she sniffed, "should stick out your chest a bit more. Like the way dada does."
Hal frowned and said in even softer tones, "But people are afraid when
dada sticks out his chest. No, I want to do it my way. Mama always told
us to be polite to strangers. You're never polite. Let me do this."
Kikyou felt something tugging at the corner of her skirt and wondered what stray mutt had decided to latch itself onto her and sink its rotting teeth into her priceless silks. She yanked her skirt back and a growl rumbled in the base of her throat.
"Stupid mutt! Shoo – "
The sight of two forlorn and wretched looking children, with their big puppy dog eyes filled with tears and pity, put a stopper on Kikyou's temper. The toddlers had to be no older than three, in their ripped clothes, torn especially at the sides, and the boy's particularly defeated expression.
"Children! Is something the problem?"
The young boy sniffed, wrenching her heart with pity. "Are you going to Florence ma'am?"
And a delightfully polite boy to boot as well! She tentatively reached over to brush the stray strands of fringe from prickling his astonishingly clear docile grey eyes and almost wanted to claim the colours for herself.
"I am," she finally managed, "I am. What's the matter?"
"We want to go home but we don't know how to get there. Could you please take us with you?"
"Mama can pay!" the younger girl loudly exclaimed, coming out of her diminutive and vulnerable shell of helplessness without realizing it. Her brother swallowed an uprising horror and he broke out into cold sweat whilst his sister heatedly went on: "Mama will pay you for the travel fees. I promise you she can!"
"Hold on, hold on. We're half a country away from Florence. How did you two end up here?"
The boy's head dipped low and he fought not to cry. "We got separated."
"Kikyou, what are you doing?"
All three almost jumped from the undetected presence of Silva. The silver haired man gave the children a severe gaze, not moved by what he thought to be a deceptive appearance of meekness and he was especially unnerved by the way the girl looked like she was faking her tears. When his glare lingered on her longer than was necessary, she caught his suspiciousness and she willed her tears to flow more generously.
"Oh Silva! Even Mike's terrified of that look!" Kikyou herded the toddlers into her arms, shying them away from her husband's interrogatory glare. "These children just want to go home to their mama and papa, isn't that right?"
Silva watched on in disbelief as his wife cooed over the two kids, kissing and cuddling them like her own grandchildren. Animals sometimes suffered from phantom pregnancies; his wife suffered from phantom grandmother-hood ever since Illumi disappeared off the face of the earth, presumably with his male lover.
Although she tried not to let it show, but somewhere in her heart, Kikyou discovered a new emptiness, a void that could not be refilled ever since their eldest son departed without a word, vowing most likely to never return. The quiet and obedient Illumi had pulled off the most masterful deceit, surpassing Killua. He was able to sustain a relationship with another man for eight years, right under their very noses, without them ever suspecting until it was too old to tighten the leash to rein him back in again.
Illumi was too old, too cunning, too manipulative now. And the man had managed to hide it all away from them. Coupled with the fact that he had Kalinnan blood and was a natural nen user, a god amongst mortals, by all rights he should have been rightly named the Zoldick heir.
Had he stayed at Kukuru mountain, he would be twenty seven this year and Kikyou would have found him a good, strong wife and there'd be at least three children running around the tunnels of Mount Kukuru. Kikyou would spend most of the day chasing after her grandchildren, playing hide and seek with them or ordering them back into their cells to receive their training. Kukuru mountain would have been a livelier place.
"Kikyou," he said, rubbing the sides of his temples, "those two are not your grandchildren. And we don't run charities." Or, the small voice at the back of his head continued, you'll grow attached to them and the Zoldicks will be branded as kidnappers instead of assassins.
"Such a nasty old scrooge isn't he? Don't worry children, aunt Kikyou has plenty of money. We can go out and see if there is a place in this dump where we buy you some new clothes and then I'll treat both of you to hot chocolate!"
She pretended that she didn't hear Silva's groan with unparalleled brilliance. Her other hand reached out to stroke the young girl's cheeks, puffy from all the crying. It was not until then that she realized what beautiful ivory white skin she had, and how big her coal black eyes were.
"So children, tell aunty Kikyou what your names are."
"My name is Haldier, but mama and dada call me Hal."
"Kim."
Silva balked, and Kikyou likewise. Her trembling hands slowly moved forward and cupped both her cheeks, then one hand ran through short raven coloured hair, just long enough to bring forward to her lips so her teeth could worry on them, as she did now.
How on earth did she not see the appalling familiarity in this face?
Throat constricted by emotion, Kikyou was only able to mutter: "What a very appropriate name."
Author's Note
I'm going back to my older style of shorter chapters. I'm also consciously trying to improve on the economy of the language. My other fanfic: Definition of our Existence will be the next fic to suffer the new style changes (if I can bring about any. It might take a while to improve on this, but I'm trying). I'm going to keep my chapters less than 5000 words, use more economic and effective language and learn to push the plot along a bit more. I think everyone will welcome these changes.