The Mercy in Farewell: Epilogue

Lanfen fished her phone out of her pocket, trying to ignore Nemmi parading around the room with a fresh, sparkly watch in his beak. Assortment of presumably ill-gotten goods in front of her, she recognized the vase. She'd be giving that to Auntie. Everything else, however…

Nemmi dropped his watch to screech at the door. Found out already. Fantastic.

After letting it ring obnoxiously long, she started to wonder what kept him today. Usually, if she called, he would answer right away- texts were more of a leisurely answer-within-a-day-or-so affair if otherwise preoccupied. Maybe the unprompted video call just refused to go through. Who knows where he had disappeared to this time.

Finger hovering to the end the call in defeat, he finally answered.

"Lanfen," Chrollo greeted softly, that tone always reserved for her, picture of calm making her brow raise. Blood on his face without a hair out of place, the background noise distinctly Phinks complaining and general mayhem, she wondered what chaos the Troupe was creating.

Must be wrapping up if he decided to answer regardless.

"Hey, Chrollo. You busy?" A body-shaped blur flying behind his head, pursued by familiar tracksuit green, Chrollo smiled while assuring her no, not busy at all. Just a bit of cleaning. "I happen to have found some fine art while cleaning up something myself. I was wondering if any of it was worth reselling?" Most of it looked like junk, but last time she decided that, Chrollo told her that he had previously sold that junk for billions a few years prior. Nemmi made fun of her for days.

"You can't just take evidence."

His voice earned instant exasperation. She aimed a glare over her shoulder to the doorway. Nemmi indignantly chucked his watch. Roeis managed to duck under the watch, Nemmi skittering away to find more ammunition- or retrieve his watch, it all depended on his mood. Doe eyes glaring back at her failed to threaten. Only added to her annoyance. The pain in the ass Roeis was, he made her knock out everyone opposed to simply killing them, and then he had the audacity to finish tying them up before she could do her usual side business.

Not to mention he had rudely begun learning Anchian just to keep her from plotting in his presence.

How she hated working with him- but still did, because he was a much better hunter than assassin. She moved her phone so Chrollo could see their unwanted guest.

Roeis tensed, complaints tapering to a silent scowl following Chrollo's pleasant greeting. She wouldn't dare correct the assumption.

She found out before even leaving Meteor City. Pictures of the letters saved on her phone, when Chrollo asked to see them, he had also explained that Roeis, despite his nature screaming opposite, was a Delphi, and son of Hecate's beloved brother. Roeis seemed to be under the impression she would tear him apart over it. Probably because Chrollo treated the supposed secret as a waiting knife. Roeis should have seen through the simple misdirection; she had let him live despite taking Auntie hostage, and that was a far worse offence than any thin blood ties.

"It won't matter," she said, phone turned to the pile of goods, "Chrollo will resell whatever he takes, and he'll give me most of the money." Her infamous antiques dealer, Chrollo was a very supporting boyfriend. A little heat in her face, truthfully, Chrollo absolutely spoiled her. The Troupe kept the money made from their heists, obviously, but Chrollo's side projects and her passing goods to him still made a rather ridiculous amount he then shared. "How do you think I fund projects like this?"

Certainly wasn't the association. She'd already hit the loan limit again. So much for having a star...

Roeis kept to quiet agitation. Even if opposed to her existence, Roeis understood they could accomplish more by playing nice together. They'd already taken out a few groups that trafficked not only animals, but people and weapons and all the shady stuff between. If he didn't like the results, he wouldn't keep agreeing to work with her. He could stand to drop the high-and-mighty attitude, though.

"If you shut up, I'll split my share with you."

"Fine."

The sourness made her eyes roll. If Roeis just admitted he wasn't the pinnacle of morality he had once pretended to be, she may tell Chrollo to give him his ability back. Couldn't have him with two obnoxious qualities, but his Nen would be a lot more useful.

"Chrollo," she said, turning the camera back towards herself, breaking his concentrated appraisal, "will you be able to collect these soon?" Quieter, free hand picking at her sleeve as Nemmi dramatically threw himself on the floor, "I have a gift for you, too."

"A gift?" Chrollo's quirk of a smile flustered her worse. She wished it was just her in lingerie, that was less embarrassing than giving actual thoughtful gifts. "There's also something I would like to show you," he added, show opposed to give drawing suspicion. His expression shifting, tone grave, her heart paused. "I have that final pressing issue to take care of after this."

"It…" She chewed on her lip, hating the anticipation, loathing the even lesser, lingering, hesitancy. "It has a date now."

A shadow lurking, having disappeared after leaving a pile of corpses and that dreadful promise. He never made contact. He always rejected her desires. Paranoia or truth, but Lan still felt pursued, a tug away from being in clawed hands, love whispered from her executioner's lips.

A final phantom from the past clawing to keep her in hell with him…

"We will be-"

"Don't." Unwavering, she said, "I don't want to know."

Let him die a phantom as she lived her life.

Let her play his dutiful judge and merciless executioner.

Lanfen, a dozen lizards clinging to her clothes, crooked smile on her face as she held up another for the camera… Title banner beneath something or another about illegal animal trade, the interviewer's voice ignored in favor for her- only her-

"Wrapped in towels and tape, shoved into a suitcase with limited ventilation-" Smile fading, pity for caged creatures suffocating, she exchanged the lizard in her hand for one on her shoulder. Explanation in a soft voice, rambling, topic of conservation completely uninteresting, he only wanted her face and voice, her attention and care. Selfishly denied her entirety, her will, he lost her.

A model hunter, on the surface, rumors colored her in blood. Connections to criminal groups' that met gruesome demises, bodies felled with blade aura or spider fangs…

He always knew. Such a formidable thing, his fledgling.

Crow on his chest, feathers sticky crimson, mangled fingers tracing exposed teeth, muscle, and bone, skin ripped away, heart beating, lungs again forcibly drawing breath-

He could chase her, yet…

Lanfen kept her promise, and he would break his. Always. Condition until death, for his darling fledgling, had been met in his end, no matter how fleeting.

But Chrollo, Chrollo insulted and denied. Borrowed abilities of the spiders invited them to intervene while absent. He would recover from this loss before pursuing the fight he wanted once more, terms his own, no stage set to unworthy spectators.

A click, her absent voice and face remained, unforgettable, indestructible. Something he no longer desired to break but was broken by.

Hand running over his face to disguise the price paid, joker halved by the ace of spades, an act of mercy, he would disappear. For her. Forever.

A text sent Lan crashing down several hallways.

Knuckle at her heels, "Get back here!" he shouted, crumpled form in a clenched fist. "You can't avoid the financials forever!"

Several people flung themselves to the wall to keep from their warpath. How any of these researchers and graduate students got anything done while hosting Hunters was miraculous.

Lan shoved open the door to the front office with unnecessary drama, Nemmi's head tucked under his wing. Less than five minutes- Lan catching the text late- and he already had a small crowd. The receptionist, two researchers, and a grad student, damn magnetic personality and innocent act managed to make her coworkers fawn over him. Chrollo really sold her lie of 'my boyfriend is an antiques dealer.'

Chrollo's eyes met hers, his amusement earning a pout. He continued regaling the tragic theft of rare artifacts from a private collection in Kou-Ang, Anchi. Blood and bodies, he had been raiding a Bai Ze officer's estate last they spoke.

Knuckle came to a stop a step behind her. "Never mind," he mumbled, understanding the emergency.

Door leading to the opposite wing on the building swung open, Lan hanging her head with Nemmi. Smoke rat hidden in the corner sold her out as much as her accidentally mentioning Chrollo being on his way to visit.

"If it isn't the pickpocket," Morel greeted, pulling attention from Chrollo, his audience confused.

Knuckle had allowed her to get away without much more than the promise she wasn't actually a part of the group. Morel… not so much. And he didn't even know the full spider-filled story. Just that Chrollo radiated bad vibes. Lan trying to explain it away as 'Chrollo is the pickpocket from Yorknew' made matters worse.

Shoot joined Knuckle in gawking at the unfolding scene of Chrollo and Morel exchanging greetings. "You better run for it."

Last time Morel and Chrollo were left alone, a conversation disguised as an interrogation turned to them going out for drinks to discuss who-knows-what. She found them one drink away from hugging, both the sappiest, clingiest drunks. Only thing more mortifying had been Auntie and Morel exchanging stories about her doing the dumbest stuff, Lan having forgotten their lunch plans while covered in baby gharials.

Lan darted from the safety of the doorway, fingers quickly finding Chrollo's wrist to drag him towards the exit. Nemmi left In to chastise him for her. She called, "See you later," over her opposite shoulder.

They quietly walked to put some distance between them and her coworkers.

Some hunters were convinced she had ties to the Phantom Troupe. Not only because of Roeis' stunt during the Hecate fiasco, but because of a few stolen goods mysteriously passing between the two. That said, most just assumed she had black market ties because her line of work. Disrupting operations, she needed inside sources. Never mind that some of her targets happened to become the Troupe's.

Not that mister brilliant helped her reputation. Or his.

Fighting in Heaven's Arena, blowing up the stadium, the number of dead spectators, he made her match mistake look minor.

Her steps slowed. Hollow. An end to a beginning, she left him in the past, and she'd never known closure. She didn't know what she felt, whether relief outweighed disbelief, so she felt… nothing. And she would live that lie until it was the truth.

Chrollo took the moment to catch up to walk at her side. She released his wrist, his arm then around her, hand on her upper arm to avoid Nemmi. "Lanfen." Chrollo pressed a kiss to the side of her head, a smile breaking through. "I've missed you," he whispered.

She leaned into him, Nemmi hopping to the ground to let them cuddle. "Missed you too, Chrollo. Let's go to the house."

A small shared property, under her name, but paid for by Chrollo. They had a few, scattered around the world in cities they frequented. Most were quite empty, only spare clothes, a stash of cash, and essentials kept there. Between the Phantom Troupe and Hunter Association, Lan had a lot of places like that to stay while traveling.

But this one quickly became more of a home. Maybe, soon, she'd call it that.

Chrollo's hand left her shoulder to take her hand, fingers entwined with hers. "Have I distracted you from your work?" he asked, fully unconcerned. The first day anytime he visited, she very willingly let herself be stolen away. She had to make up the antiques dealer lie because of that, and the fact she let him come to work with her. (A perfect guest, he would listen to her ramble about her projects, or he would quietly read beside her- or, sometimes, plan heists. Braver coworkers were the issue, approaching him, curious, Chrollo then playing in half-truths to amuse himself. Sometimes he played his part too well.)

"You saved me." She laughed once. "I'll take any excuse to get away from going over the financial statements for all our projects."

Knuckle was going to hunt her down for this.

Chrollo waited for Lanfen to reappear.

The stack of paintings precariously leaned against a wall pinned with photos and maps, the marble bust on a side table scratched apart by talons, the first edition copies of classical works on a bookshelf beside harlequin romances and scientific journals, and the few ceramic pieces placed behind various framed pictures of animals, he wondered how Lanfen had managed to get all these back to the house. He would have to use Fun Fun Cloth to inconspicuously move it all.

Lanfen came around the corner into the living room. Wrapped present in her hands thrust towards him, eyes anywhere but his, awkward smile in place, her 'Here!' was a high-pitched squeak.

Flowers in a stolen vase, he had sneaked in before going to fetch her from work. As much as the first time, her reaction to the flowers was to complain she'd just kill them while utterly flustered. Perhaps it had been a bit cruel when she already seemed so nervous about giving him this gift.

"Open it," she urged, as excited as nervous.

Chrollo set it on the coffee table as Lanfen sat beside him. Heavy paper, him picking at a corner, "I believe this is the first properly wrapped present I've ever received." Perhaps he should start wrapping some of her gifts instead of leaving them around the house or producing them from his pockets.

Paper torn aside, Lanfen leaned forward as he lifted the lid. A bundle of haphazardly folded fabric crammed into the box, Lanfen was absolutely terrible at folding. The precision cuts to the wrapping paper had to have been Nemmi's work, as well- the jagged cuts Lanfen and Arri produced compared to Nemmi perplexed him, yet she tended to rush tedious work whenever possible.

He took the presumed coat from the box, shook out the wrinkles while holding it in front of him. Similar to the original, with buttons decorating the front and fur trim around the collar and sleeves. The minor additions were a few crosses laced together on front, fur trim around the bottom edge, and the subtle, delicately sown spiderwebs on the inside lining. "I felt bad that the original got ruined," she mumbled, reverse cross on the back in view as he turned it. His last replacement had been destroyed during his match with Hisoka, though he doubted she knew that. She had wanted to know nothing more of that past demon. "It took a while, but I really like the coats made by this lady in Kou-Ang, she makes a bunch of super cute gothic stuff, so I commissioned her to make it, stole it when it was done so maybe she wouldn't know it was for the Phantom Troupe's leader, and pretended to be really sad about it being stolen before paying the second half of her commission anyway because…"

Chrollo stood, passing the coat to Lanfen, accidentally interrupting her excited rambling. Unbuttoning his shirt made a giggle slip out of her before she could stop it. "You're the only person that'd take off their shirt to try on a coat," she teased, exchanging the coat for his shirt. Slipping the coat on, the soft lining, he looked back to her. "I made sure it'd feel nice shirtless."

She abandoned his shirt on the couch, standing near, fixing the fur trim. Hand trailing down his chest and side- She reached into the coat pocket instead. Palm full of rings, "You don't have to wear them," she mumbled, holding each up one by one, "but I liked them, and they wouldn't fit me, so..."

"My little crow-"

"Chrollo," she immediately whined, wanting to hide her face but her hands too full of rings.

He chuckled under his breath. Pet names and endearments were difficult, with her, given most were tarnished. He'd found a few that flustered her as much as receiving flowers. "Thank you, Lanfen." He accepted the pile, picking a few to wear for her before pocketing the rest. She seemed particularly fond of a gaudy silver skull-lined ring.

Crooked smile as she took his hand, admired the rings, he absolutely adored her.

"You've taken a liking to jewelry," he said. Silver around her throat, the most delicate chain with a small pendent, he never expected her to wear it. The most he had seen her wear had been earrings. He would have gotten her something nicer if he had known that she would insist on constantly wearing it.

She released his hand to fiddle with the non-descript bird pendent. "Its been a long time since I wore anything more than small earrings. I stopped because I didn't want something to get caught or grabbed during a fight." Her smile flickered away for only a moment, before she lovingly added, "Thin chain like this, it'd break right away anyway." Which had been the reason he had given it to her, despite never seeing her wear necklaces. "I thought it'd be a nice, small change to start with."

Fighting for her life no longer a regular activity, she had made the right choice in focusing on being a hunter. She had control over her own life, and how she flourished pursuing her own happiness. He had no regrets about his decision, either. The Phantom Troupe wouldn't have made her truly happy.

They were menaces content in terrorizing the world, human moments like this stolen to adore each other.

His fingers brushing over her cheek before he reached behind, he removed her hair tie. "Is that why you've kept your hair longer?" Running his fingers through her hair, she instead wordlessly leaned into him, forehead resting near his shoulder. She kept a section on each side undercut, but the rest brushed past her shoulders. When down, the undercut sections were lost completely.

A passing moment playing with her hair, he stopped. Lanfen lifted her face away with mild disappointment before his lips pressed to hers.

Parting, "I have a new tattoo. Would you like to see?"

She nodded, eyes moving over him, finding nothing obvious. "That's what you wanted to show me?" Not quite suspicious, but she understood he had done something of note.

"It is." He turned slightly before slipping the coat sleeve off, effectively ruining her meticulous work in fixing the collar. Her eyes were instantly on the black ink he'd carefully kept from her. Her fingers were quickly tracing feathers. A crow. Specifically, Nemmi, reference stolen from her own tattoo. Talons crushing a skeletal snake's head, a few orchids acting as a frame, he copied elements from the tattoo she had in his honor. "I thought it only fair, considering you have a tattoo representing me."

The amount of attitude Feitan had before agreeing to give him the tattoo would have had her cackling with Nemmi. After all, while Machi could manage giving a Troupe tattoo, Feitan was deceptively talented with more detailed works. That, and Machi had refused to tattoo the cross on his forehead. A tattoo for a girl was even more ridiculous.

"Almost as good as Xingyi," she mumbled, honestly impressed, "it's amazing." Wicked little smirk, he prepared himself. "Why a snake skeleton?" For the symbolic meaning of a cycle's death, when paired with her tattoo. He didn't dare say that partial lie aloud. "Come on, Chrollo. Why not a realistic, live snake?"

Her attention soon drifted from ink, her fingers more interested in feeling over muscles.

"Do we have time?"

She hummed, thoroughly distracted. Especially as his hand found her hip to pull her closer. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "It'll be close to midnight. Plenty of time."

Meiling walked to the door. Early, but still fall, the sun had set a while ago.

Lanfen had been adamant about having a late supper because of whatever she wanted to show them later this evening. Something about a bird. Meiling had tried to follow, but Lanfen had been talking so fast, she missed most of the explanation.

Unintended benefit of being taken hostage during that mess, Lanfen visited her so much more often. Lanfen not only had a house in the city, she often visited and stayed here for work. Meiling had been reluctant to leave Anchi. Lanfen and her had argued for hours on where she should move, after Meiling admitted it was perhaps for the best. Not only was Meiling able to physically see Lanfen more often, they even spoke more often over the phone because they weren't several time zone's apart.

Meiling felt relieved. The poor girl had been living in a nightmare for twenty years. Now she had her dream career. Meiling may not understand exactly what Lanfen did, because anything she felt like doing remained the answer, but she was incredibly proud of her. Not everyone had a Hunter niece. Even fewer had a One-star Hunter niece.

Spare key in the door, Meiling let herself in.

Her expression slipped a step into the kitchen.

Chrollo, hair disheveled, shirtless, and light hickeys down his neck and chest, stared back at her, caught.

"Good evening, Meiling," he greeted, voice unfazed. No sense of decency. "Lanfen briefly forgot she had supper plans and is currently in the shower."

Meiling heaved a sigh. "Of course," she grumbled, some things never changing. That kid had no sense of time. Still standing there, "Go get dressed."

Instead of walking back towards the bedroom, he went to the living room. A second later, and he returned with an apparently abandoned shirt. To be young and in love, she reluctantly supposed.

Footsteps, and Lanfen whipped around the corner. Hair still wet, shirt not even pulled over her bra yet, "I didn't forget," she defended, guilt all over her face, "I just lost track of time and fell asleep, I swear." Her attention suddenly on the floor, she quietly added, "Nemmi, stop laughing at me."

"Chrollo told me you forgot."

"Chrollo," Lanfen snapped without any bite. Chrollo feigned innocence. Meiling could see the amusement in his eyes. "He lied." They were both lying. Lanfen had forgotten, and Chrollo would let her push the blame on him. One of his more annoying features: he truly didn't care what Meiling thought of him. "I seriously just fell asleep."

Hate it as Meiling may, they were a good couple. Despite being a standard definition of evil, Chrollo treated Lanfen well and quite obviously loved her. Lanfen adored the bastard in return.

"Let's get going." Meiling's glance shifted between her adopted daughter and, unfortunately, her likely to be son-in-law. This wasn't at all what she had in mind when she wanted Lanfen to settle down with someone, but all the same…

"I'm surprised," Chrollo said, zero surprise present, "I thought I would have to invite myself. Have you accepted me?"

"Watch it."

Lanfen's devious little smile, "You're the one telling your friends he's my fiancé."

"Fiancé?" Chrollo repeated, much too amused.

Meiling's scowl failed to put the conversation to rest. Lanfen just kept tying her shoes like she didn't know the whole story. "I told you, I'm sick of the one trying to set you up with her nephew." That entitled brat somehow made Chrollo seem like the gentleman he pretended to be. If Meiling had to hear one more story about that idiot…

"Lanfen did just gift me a ring," Chrollo prodded, Lanfen dropping her shoelaces. "Should I move it to my left ring finger?"

Mortified, she slapped her hands over her face, Nemmi trying to finish tying her shoes judging the sudden fraying. "Chrollo, stop it," Lanfen mumbled, embarrassed that she walked right into that comment. "You're in way too good of mood today."

Meiling shook her head. They both were. Supper would surely be a disaster.

A field surrounded by thick forest, moon absent, yet starlight without light pollution cast enough to prevent blackout darkness. Despite the horrendous number of bugs, they sat in the grass at the equally awful hour of one in the morning, waiting. Their small gathering formed a circle, stories passing time.

"So," Knuckle continued, much to her misfortune, "she jumps off the boat before it stops, dives, swims the snake down, and then she just grabs the snake, the angry snake with fishing line snarled around it, by the tail, expecting nothing to happen."

Morel shook his head while Auntie shot her worst chastising glare at her. Chrollo tried to hide his amusement, but he betrayed her as well, little upturn of his lips. If he didn't behave, she was telling everyone little wriggly snakes scared the Phantom Troupe leader. And telling the snake story in revenge for her telling the porcupine seal story… Knuckle could be just as stupid as her. She had at least been trying to catch Lami to help her, not just cuddle.

At least the retellings always omitted the second half. She had been too far down to break the surface before the paralysis set in. Snake in one hand, bite on the other arm, her swimming wasn't the best in the first place. She sunk like a rock before the boat could turn around. Then the panic started to set in, and she swallowed a few gulps of water before Morel could jump in and haul her back to the surface. She kept Lami in her damn hand the entire time, though.

"Then the second bite," Knuckle added, his exasperation matching Morel's, but Auntie just looked ready to pass out or throw something at her. "We got the line off the snake, got an aquarium to take it while it recovered. Lanfen walks in two days later, jumps into the tank, and grabs the snake. By the damn tail."

Lanfen had failed to mention bite one; bite two was a well-kept secret. Also, the reason she had nerve damage, bite to the same arm too soon after the first. She knew better than to be bitten, but without feeling the consequences beyond the few moments of terror at potentially drowning, she hadn't learned anything. She would have repeated the mistake again and again until death. The chimera bite, she sometimes felt phantom pains run up her arm in remembrance of her recklessness.

Morel laughed, Shoot stifling a few chuckles before his composure cracked. She pressed her lips tight to fight a smile. It was funny, now. Lan opened her mouth to whine to Knuckle about sharing the forbidden second bite story, but Auntie had other ideas.

"Lanfen once came home covered in cow manure." Auntie paused, Lan sighing, recognizing this as revenge for her keeping her reckless behavior secret. Auntie wasn't so quick to see the humor in the snake story. "Absolutely ruined the interior of my vehicle, mind you, but she had refused to tell me what happened until I threatened to take away her driving privileges."

A real threat, considering Lan very much never had a license. Couldn't just steal any unattended car, then, either. Had to take the bus. Chrollo had recently taught her hotwiring basics in trade for a makeup lesson in covering tattoos, though. Not that she had much reason to being stealing vehicles nowadays.

"This kid," Auntie said, now finding more humor in the story than she had initially, "fifteen at the time, had been running around a livestock pen with her fox friends, scaring the cows into a corner. Well, the farmer heard the commotion, came out, shotgun in hand, expecting some monster to be eating her cows. She found a teenager being launched off the back of an overgrown fox directly into a pile of manure."

Another round of laughter, Lanfen pulled the blanket on her lap over her head. Nemmi joined the cackling at her expense. So what if she hadn't noticed the old lady's shack literally right next to the pen? It looked abandoned. And she had been having fun riding around on Tai. Not her fault Yan decided to corral the cows… for fun. Definitely not for eating after Tai stopped running around like an idiot.

"Yan and Tai ditched me, too," Lanfen continued in spite of her pride. As embarrassing as this was, it was also… nice, sharing little stories from the past with friends and family. Being known wasn't so terrible. "I pushed myself out of the pile, trying not to puke at the smell, and I heard this old woman laughing so hard she ends up in a coughing fit. She thought the whole thing was hilarious enough that instead of being pissed about me trespassing and harassing her livestock, she asks how in the world I managed to tame those foxes.

"Apparently, a rumor spread through the nearby villages over the last decade that giant monsters lived in the woods. A few people swore they'd seen whole cows dragged off into the night by hulking white creatures that's scream caused death." The same rumor that had brought those two would-be hunters there. In truth, foxes just sounded like screeching monsters, sometimes. Lanfen let the blanket slip off her head, worst part of the story over. "She didn't mind me, so long as Yan and Tai kept away from her cows." She would ditch Auntie's car there, run off into the forest with Yan and Tai. She made Arri, then. Time passed, and, eventually, the old lady had to sell her cows to keep her land. The next year it would have been gone. "When I got my Hunter License, one of the first things I bought was her farm. Then, I paid her to keep an eye on Yan and Tai while I was away."

"When I went to retrieve your aunt's car," Chrollo said, his arm pulling Lanfen to his side so he could lower his voice, "that woman held me at gunpoint for fifteen minutes." Lanfen's lips pressed tight, desperate to control the giggle fit the mental image always caused. She had been in tears the first time he told the story. Not only at Chrollo having to talk down another suspicious elderly lady, but because Yan and Tai must have been nightmares to persuade without her. It was a miracle he made it back from the compound at all, let alone in one piece. "She seemed quite convinced that I'd killed you in the woods."

"An old woman knows a demon," Auntie muttered.

Brief pause, light, cheerful chirps joined the night choir of bugs. Lanfen's eyes darted around, dim glows emerging from tree shadows. She smiled, glad the low light probably hid it. "The finches will be out soon." Nemmi chirped a reminder, her excitement getting a little out of hand as she fought bouncing in place.

"Lanfen almost threw a bus driver from the vehicle when they refused to go off the road to see these finches." Her glare had no effect on Chrollo, Lan rolling her eyes while trying to keep her stupid lips downturned. "This, of course, followed her throwing a few passengers aside to steal their seats to see the birds better."

Nemmi pinched Chrollo's hand for her. Chrollo had his revenge, cold fingers up the back of her shirt making her jolt upright.

"She's banned from public transit in Kukan'yu for something similar," Shoot quietly added.

"Finches." No more embarrassing stories.

Specks of white fluttered from the trees. A few dozen became hundreds. The moonless night in a dark field far from civilization, the cloud of ghost finches glowed bright, swaying, abstract shape morphing. All attention shifted skyward to a display seen by so few.

When she had seen the finches from the bus, they had been heading this direction. Confirming the bands placed in the spring would have helped them understand the movement of different populations during migration. After all, no one quite knew where they gathered in the fall. Little white birds, they were too similar to another species without their nighttime glow, by then usually hidden in trees to sleep.

"During their fall migration, a large population of finches gather here until a new moon." A mirror to the spring display but missed until this year when her and a few researchers finally managed to track them. "Then, when its dark, they put on this display."

The glowing cloud circled the field, soon a ring over the area. Hundreds of small wings flapping became a soft hum overtaking insects, chirps blending into a whistle like the wind. Something akin to foxfire wisps, folktales recalled the fall displays lost as cities altered landscapes.

"The glow had been subtler, in the spring," Chrollo whispered beside her, void eyes focused above, fingers absently tracing her tattoos. Their vacation while under a curse…

Without the underlying dread, the mere illusion of peace, what she felt during those months with him during the exorcism had now become reality. While indeed apart for long stretches of time, whenever they reunited, wherever they reunited, it was home.

Auntie was right. She needed to settle down, but that had never meant physically. She could travel all over the world without being restless so long as she had someone to welcome her home, where ever that may be.

"The increased availability of food during harvest allows for a more vivid display." She stopped herself from describing their diet. Information overload, Auntie had listened, not followed, Lan's rant before convincing her to come see the birds. At the same time, Auntie's smile, she really was proud of her.

Nemmi shuffled, his phantom glow, for once, outshone. She absently invited him onto her lap to pet warm aura feathers.

"Further south, they're not called ghost finches," northern phantom glow replaced with starlight brilliance, "they're called starlight finches."

She trailed off, realizing that she had begun to mindlessly ramble facts as she watched the birds dividing into two groups. Content whispers of enjoyment from her friends, from Auntie, they watched with awe. Chrollo quietly offered his appreciation for their beauty, his hand slipping to her waist, pulling Lan closer. She leaned into him, Nemmi snuggling into the blanket.

The groups separated, half overhead dotting the sky as stars, half landing in the field as a still lake reflection. A few landed on her, soft chirps given before their attention returned to searching above for their partners.

Little bands on the feet, she smiled.

.

..

...

A/n: Thank you for reading!

I'm glad to have finished! Took infinity longer than intended, lol 2017 to 2022, especially since I planned to stop around ch37 following the Fan Shi arc. Thank you to everyone that's left comments/reviewed, sometimes you lot were the only reason I kept going! I can't begin to express how serious I am about that. With all the time I spent planning/writing/editing this story, it means so much to have someone acknowledge it, especially in words since numbers are more difficult to comprehend. I'm sorry I got so bad at responding back; I didn't want to fake enthusiasm when for a while I had so little.

A lot of my problems in the second half revolved around real life, foremost that I had to change the plot. I've held off complaining, but I need to say it to let it was meant to have a plague ability, and I scraped that as the pandemic started because I, for one, was stressed enough that I didn't want to write that anymore. The second half was already weaker than the Fan Shi arc, having to retcon it… made it worse. Reviews dropping off at the same, I came to resent posting to a near silent room because I'm a nightmare of a critic, especially while stressed to hell and back. I decided to finish it before posting any more because I was very close to quitting. And I didn't want that. In the end, every time I've gone back to reread it, I enjoy it. Because I wrote the Fan Shi arc as a challenge to make a polarizing plot point work and have the main villain dead the entire time. Then, the second half, as an attempt to develop canon characters while keeping them in character- while also finishing Lan's journey.

Since it's the last chapter, I'm rambling all I want. I had 64,000 words in my outline not including by-chapter breakdowns, I have a lot of other stuff that didn't make it in.

First, I love Lan, she has become my favorite oc I've made. Mostly because she's the most fleshed out one I have. Edgy aesthetic with her clothes and hair, the fact her ridiculous abilities are a fox and a crow, when I made her I was going to have her join the troupe, so to match, I based her on a witch with familiars and went from there. Her design has changed a lot from my first sketch, hell, my style has changed a lot, but I love where she ended up. Re-reading those first chapters with her, damn am I happy with how she developed too. She started alone, animals her only friends, and directionless with death following her, to end with a group of friends and family doing what she loves. I am so glad that other people have enjoyed her as well! I was worried about that, at the start, because I was working with a lot of clichés (and contradictions) in her character and personality.

Second, I want to talk about Hisoka and Lan's relationship. He needed to lose her. Hisoka is such a stubborn, selfish bastard that at the end of the day, the few allies he has, he is willing to toss away (for a fight). And, to Lan, that's not love, it would never be acceptable. And he knew that for a goddamn while. Both him and Chrollo wanted Lan to fit in the mold of their pre-existing notions, except Lan- absolutely bound since birth to fulfilling a role chosen by someone else- refused. No matter how much longer it took me to write, every one of their confrontations, I loved the tension, the volatility, Lan's raw and contradictory emotions later on, and having Hisoka, as brilliant as he is, confused and desperate- and forget the last interaction, with him realizing he fucked up beyond repair. So, I at least, like his first and last reciprocation of Lan's will being to finally let her go even if it's the last thing he wants because he does truly love her. Change is painful, his journey to it bitter, but now he won't so easily forget the lesson. Without Hisoka, Lan, and Chrollo interacting with each other, not one of them would have changed. Especially because Hisoka always represented choice, Chrollo fate, and Lan something in between. They were a fun dynamic.

And because I can, here is where the other ocs ended up.

Roeis, of course, does occasionally end up working with Lan. While they are both antagonistic in conversation, they work well together, and have the smallest respect for each other's work. He continues to assist in Meteor City, as he feels responsible for what happened, both because he helped Haven and because Hecate was his aunt. If he had a chance to meet Circe, he would like to, just because she is the only living person that may know about his father's younger years- although Sybil, sadly, would have been just as willing to help him, family important to her. Haven reunited with the other orphans and plans to return to Meteor City in a few years once the kids are more established in the 'outside' world. They want to keep to Liang's will, help the younger citizens of the city- they deny that their funding is coming from Chrollo and the troupe, and are outright hostile if Roeis' contributions are brought up. They prefer to pretend Lan doesn't exist, any mention met with a scowl. They can tolerate Chrollo for about ten minutes before conversation devolves into silent glares. Circe and Minji are constantly on the move under dozens of cover stories and identities because they know Chrollo is hunting them down. Out of anyone, if in canon, they would have gotten onto the Black Whale hoping Chrollo wouldn't follow them to the Dark Continent. If Circe would abandon Minji, she would be spared, just like Sybil asked. She refuses, though. Agnello, following his ability being stolen, ran like the coward he is. He begged his mother for money, took it, and ran to a corner of the world to live a terribly normal life while looking over his shoulder at every turn. Chrollo has no interest in tracking him down, Haven is a larger threat- they detest him, and forget Chrollo having his convenient ability to disguise himself.

Next? I have no idea. This takes up a lot of time that I don't have a lot of anymore, but I do enjoy it, so… No clue. I enjoy planning more than writing- and forget editing, hate it- but I also tend to go overboard. I need to stay away from long running shounen is what I'm saying. Someone please yell at me if in six months I start another story without having considered the commitment. Seriously hoping I lose interest or find a fic that fulfills what I want to do so I don't have to. Anyway, I'm going to go continue practicing drawing while hoping this idea stays an idea. To the shadows I return.

Thanks again for reading this monster of a story! I welcome any reviews/comments/questions! Ao3 is easier to respond (especially to guests) since I'm trash about checking my pm box on here (and I banned myself from constantly checking email notifs).