"Woah!" Gon exclaimed as they entered an enormous ballroom. "This is amazing! It's already decorated and everything!" He declared.
"Yeah, it's inhuman," Killua said. It was a grumpy statement, but the awe in his voice let Gon in on his friend's true thoughts.
The ballroom was circular, with a 150 foot diameter. The ceiling was way up, and there were various balconies at different heights towering over the space. It was nighttime, and twinkling stars could be seen through the huge windows that lined all the walls. The floors and walls were solid white marble, but the pink fairy lights strung all over everywhere gave the entire place a rose-pink overlay. There was an orchestra of string and wind instruments already situated on the stage in the corner, playing ambient music as hundreds of humanoids poured into the room. Vines and vines of creeping jenny were strung about like cobwebs, and Gon swore those were fireflies! How did they even get fireflies? They were in the frigid mountains! In the center of the room was a majestic fountain. Similar fountains were situated all over the palace, but this one was particularly large and ornate and was unfrozen so that turquoise waters spilled within it. On the left wall, the palace workers were setting up a giant table and filling it with food. There were dried meats, cheeses, fruits, and desserts of every kind imaginable.
"I can't believe all of this is for us!" Gon exclaimed.
"Yes, but do not take this too lightly," came a feminine voice from Gon's side.
Killua and Gon jumped in surprise, Circe having once again materialized out of nowhere. The Neko-Girl was not wearing her usual handmaid uniform, but was now dressed in a floor length black gown that pooled around her feet. Her hundreds of braids were pulled away from her face in an elegant updo that was laced with pearls. Her eyes were sheathed in glittery white makeup that popped against her dark skin.
"When did you put all that on?" Killua demanded.
Circe blinked her milky brown eyes, "I stopped by my quarters on the way in."
She said it as if it was nothing.
The Valkyrie shook his head, "I just don't get you people."
"What did you mean by not taking this lightly?" Gon asked.
The dark skinned Neko-Girl turned her attention to Gon, swishing her tail. "I mean that this is a distraction staged by the High Priestess. Everything was readied so quickly, it shows that she has been planning this for a while now. She is using this to interrupt the usual schedule around here in an effort to upset your, our, investigation."
"Oh," Gon said, deflating. Why can't she just throw a party like a normal person? Why do there always have to be ulterior motives with this lady?
"That's alright," Killua said in Gon's direction. "We can use this as a chance to get closer to the other court members. She may be trying to disrupt our investigation, but in doing so she sacrificed her ability to keep us from the courtesans. And besides, she pulled this too late. We already have a lead! Speaking of which, Circe, what is the plan regarding that?"
"I have found a woman willing to disclose information. We had initially planned to meet with her tomorrow, however I fear that this party is a coverup for a search of the village. Isolde and the girls under her command will likely be patrolling the village and threatening anyone who was seen to be too friendly with the two of you over the past three days."
"Will that prevent us from meeting with the lead lady?" Gon asked.
Circe smirked. "No. Her majesty is still unaware that I am working with you. So she is entirely in the dark regarding my lead since I am the one who met with her. We will still be able to meet up. However, we will have to be very cautious tomorrow whenever we go. You will understand tomorrow, when you see the precautions Isolde will be laying out during the party tonight."
Killua sighed, "I sure am glad we've got you here, Circe. No one here takes lightly to outsiders, and without your help we wouldn't have gotten anywhere in this investigation."
"Yeah!" Gon added. "Thanks so much for helping us! We'd be nowhere without your inside info!"
Circe's eyes widened at the praise, and she blushed, a small smile dusting her lips as she looked to her feet. "Thank you, truly," she murmured. She reminds me of Killua sometimes… like now, and how she reacts to praise. I know she doesn't like me much, but she's a really nice person! I truly am grateful to her.
"So~~"
Gon turned his attention to his friend, "What?"
"This means that we have a goal: to talk to every courtesan. Except for Tyson and Wobble, of course. I say we turn it into a little competition~~"
"OO! YES!" Gon all but yelled, gathering a few odd looks from the party guests milling around them.
"We'll race to see who can talk to the most courtesans! We'll meet by the fountain in two hours! The general goal is to scope them out, and see if they lean more towards Camilla's side or ours."
"Racing to talk to ALL the courtesans or just the ones you identified?"
"Just the ones I identified."
"Cool! This is gonna be so easy! You're going down, Killua!" Gon taunted.
The Valkyrie smirked, tail swishing mischievously behind him. "Oh really? It won't be as easy as you think."
"What do you mean?" Gon looked back and forth between Circe and Killua, both of them had similar expressions, though Killua's was more pronounced. They really are super similar.
"First off, this crowd is enormous! And there are all kinds of intricate balcony floors up there," the silver haired boy explained as he gestured upwards. "Also," he said as he held up a finger in Gon's face. "We'll have to dodge all the regular citizens, who will try to be all over us."
Understanding washed over Gon. "Ohhhhhh! That is gonna make it harder."
Killua snickered.
"But also more fun!" Gon declared with fisted hands and a wild grin on his face.
Killua's eyes flashed for a second, and then he smiled. "Of course that would excite you."
"Let's get this competition started!"
"Alright!" Killua said with a grin.
"Ready~~" Gon said.
"Set~~" Killua added.
"GO!" they yelled at the same time, and then rushed off into the crowd.
Circe watched them (Killua) go with a lighthearted smile on her face.
…
Gon sighed in exasperation as he finally wormed his way out of a conversation with a Neko-Girl named Retz. It had already been an hour and a half, and he had only talked to Tubeppa! He kept being pulled aside by citizens, and so far an hour and twenty minutes of that time had been dedicated to a bunch of casual conversations. He had been about to approach Momoze when Retz had ducked in front of him, and he had lost his chance. At this rate Killua was totally gonna win!
Is that Momoze again? It is! Yes! Gotta hurry-
"Lord Gon?"
The hybrid swallowed a scream of frustration, and schooled his exasperated expression into a happy smile. "Yes?" he said as he turned around to wherever it was now.
"Oh! It's really you! My name is Rebecca and this is my friend Delora-"
Gon inwardly smacked himself as he was dragged into yet another conversation with civilians. He really did love talking to people, and all this socializing would do wonders for their public image, but he was in a competition! With Killua! So it was even more important that he win! He needed to excuse himself and go rush off to Momoze before he lost her again!
No good, Gon thought to himself with an inward sigh.
He just couldn't do it!
"You're too nice," that's what Killua would say. And I guess he's right. There's nothing wrong with being nice and I really love being nice but… it's just so inconvenient at the moment! But still, I just can't walk away, curse my politeness!
Gon settled down into what he could tell would be a thirty minute conversation at least. He went ahead and accepted defeat, there was no point in fussing over it. He'd leave the courtesans to Killua!
…
Killua smirked as he watched Gon be stopped by another set of Neko-Girls. He had been about to approach Momoze, but it looked like those dreams had been crushed. Not that it would have mattered if he had talked to Momoze! Killua had already talked to her! At the very start of the competition too!
The Valkyrie shook his head and laughed to himself, Gon was too nice!
Killua had talked to Momoze, Fugetsu, and Kacho, and he had seen Gon talking to Tubeppa. That only left Oito. This might be a bit of a challenge…
The Valkyrie ducked out of the reaching arms of a random Neko-Girl with an apologetic smile, and continued his search. Where Gon stopped for anyone who called for his attention, Killua was ignoring everyone and deftly dodging out of each and every embrace. He gave them all a saccharine smile as an apology - had to keep public image up and stuff - but he didn't have time to mess around! He had a competition to dominate in, and a very important goal to achieve.
Where could Oito be? She's the only one I haven't seen, and I've patrolled the entire ballroom - including the balconies - three times already! This is annoying. Looks like I'm going to have to rely on my assassin training-
Killua's heart lifted when he saw a flash of silky black hair.
Oito!
The runaway prince was relieved, he wouldn't have to use his training after all.
Killua made a beeline for the Princess, dodging Neko-Girls as he went. "Princess Oito?" he said aloud before she could slip out of sight.
The quiet woman turned her attention to Killua, black hair swishing around her waist. Sapphire eyes met eyes of plum purple, a darker spinoff of Wobble's lavender shade. "Ah," she gave a politie smile. "Prince Killua, how are you?"
Prince.
Killua twitched his tail slightly, and Oito's eyes flashed.
"I'm well, and you?"
She called me Prince Killua instead of Lord Killua. It's so incredibly subtle, but it's her way of saying that she is against what Camilla is doing, and that she is hoping we will step in and change things. She's a smart one. She said it as if it was nothing, so if I hadn't already been so alert I wouldn't have noticed. She gave me an opening to acknowledge her signal, if Isolde or her hags are watching right now, they'd have no idea.
"It's a little stuffy in here, but other than that I'm fine," Oito responded with a light-hearted tilt of the eyes.
"Not one for crowds?" Killua asked nonchalantly.
"No."
"Me either."
"Would you care to join me on the outside balcony?"
Outside balcony? I didn't even know there was one! She's got that glint in her eyes again too.
"Lead the way," Killua said with a smile.
There's no doubt about it. I've hit the jackpot. She's just as cunning as Camilla, but without any animosity or flawed logic. Oito is the perfect inside ally.
The Valkyrie walked at the Neko-Woman's side all the way to the edge of the crowd, this time no one stopped him. Princess Oito commanded a great respect from the citizens of the Neko-Village.
Oito led Killua out a door and onto - sure enough - an outside balcony. The ledge was railed by a dark metal railing, due to the outside of the palace being made of dark materials. The sprawling village looked peaceful, with little balls of soft orange light twinkling across the city scape. The night sky was a black-indigo, the moon a cheshire smile in the sky. Stars twinkled overhead, and the surrounding mountain peaks held the village in a loving embrace.
The Valkyrie leaned against the rail, mind drifting to Gon.
I wish he were out here with me…
AHH, where do these intrusive thoughts keep coming from-
"You're a smart one, that I can tell," Oito said, pulling Killua from his thoughts.
"Okay.. and?" the Dragonite mercenary prompted.
Oito fixed him with purple eyes. Eyes that were weary with the eternal worry of a mother, her face seemed to possess a permanent expression of concern. "Camilla and I are twins."
Killua blinked, not expecting that response.
"When the two of us were 12 years old," Oito continued, "Our mother, the former High Priestess, held an event not unlike this one. Though the purpose of it was the announcement of which of us would ascend the throne, and to make sure the public supported the choice. It was announced that Camilla would be the next High Priestess. The citizens of the village accepted the decision as easy as breathing, for she had already had the majority of the Neko-Girls in her pocket." The raven haired woman sighed. "Camilla has always had a cunning and snake-like air about her, but the day she was selected as the next High Priestess it got so much worse. I have been here with her the entire time, and I know how she thinks. I know how she feels. I know what she'll do and what she is doing. I suspect you already know that she holds something of importance to your investigation?"
"I had guessed as much," Killua answered.
"Well you are correct. I am not entirely certain of what it is, or of its specific importance for that matter. But my sister holds in her possession something from the late Princess Domonique. It was something the surviving warriors had held dear."
"Wait, there are surviving warriors?" Killua interrupted. "I thought all of them died!"
Oito's eyes flashed, intelligence swimming in the depths of those purple eyes. "That is not the case. Princess Domonique and her core group died fighting the final serpent, however, a great number of the warriors survived. But my sister pushed them into hiding when she banned fighting against the serpent. For when she did so, she also outlawed any warrior activity, and destroyed all records of them."
The destruction in the library.
This is why we can't find anything out!
"If she destroyed all evidence of them, then why is the battleground still there? And why is it just covered up by a giant wall?" Killua asked, the inquiries prodding at the back of his mind.
"My sister is a whimsical and contradictory woman. She wanted to leave the destruction as it was in remembrance of her daughter, Princess Domonique. But she also wanted to completely forget about the battle entirely, so she covered it up with a wall. An entirely contradictory situation, as I'm sure you can tell. That is just the way she is. Camilla is an unstable woman, and the reason I am coming to you is that I want you to help me overthrow her."
Killua's eyes widened and his tail stiffened in surprise. "What?!"
"I want you to-"
"-yeah, yeah, I know but where is this coming from all of a sudden?!"
Oito's eyes were dead serious, "Camilla is the bane of our village. Thanks to her selfish decisions, we have been unable to participate in our religious practices and the reproductive rituals for 8 years. Under her rule, we will trickle away into the sands of time. I want to enlist yourself and Lord Gon's help in overthrowing and replacing her."
Killua gave the keen woman a scrutinizing gaze, "And how would we go about this?"
"First the two of you would finish solving Domonique's mystery, and then defeat the serpent once and for all. Using the chaos caused by that, we will make our move."
"What would that move be?"
"Killing Camilla."
A shadow passed over the two of them as a cloud crossed the moon. Oito's eyes glowed with feline light in the darkness, and Killua knew that his sapphire eyes glowed right back. Two humanoids who walked in darkness gazed into each others eyes, looking for any cracks or signs of weakness in the other. The runaway prince and the treasonous princess sensed no such thing in the depths of the other's psyche.
"That is not the measure I had expected from you," Killua commented.
"Maybe so, but Camilla's death is the only surefire way to save this village. We will worry about the successor once she is out of the picture."
Killua considered his words before speaking, "Gon and I are only passing through. We had only intended to stay long enough to defeat the serpent, save you guys from yourselves, and then continue on to Yorknew City. Staging a coup could take anywhere from a matter of days to a matter of months. How long are you expecting us to stay here?"
"It should not take more than two weeks to take out Camilla and then reset the leadership."
The Valkyrie considered this information.
"I'd like to help you," he said, "but before I agree to this, is there anything you can give us?"
Oito swished her tail, "When it comes the time for you to steal Princess Domonique's possession from Camilla, which I am certain will need to be done, I can help you accomplish that task. I assume you have already talked to the other main courtesans as well?"
Killua nodded, "Yeah. Tyson is useless. I'm not sure about Tubeppa (Gon talked to her), Momoze seems okay I guess, and then Fugetsu and Kacho are just in it for luxury.
"Correct," Oito confirmed, and Killua felt as if he had just passed some sort of exam he hadn't known he was taking. "Momoze is on my side as well, but all of the other main courtesans are in Camilla's pocket. A few of the lower ranking Lordesses agree with me, but there are not many of us. Momoze and I can help you accomplish any inside job that should become necessary. We will lay everything out, all you and Gon will have to do is execute."
"But you will only help if we agree to assist in the coup?"
Oito nodded in confirmation.
Killua weighed his options, there was really only one. As was painfully clear in this Village, the only way to accomplish anything as an outsider was to do things the Neko-Girls' way. "Fine. We'll help you. I'll fill Gon in on it all later, but I'm sure he'll be fine with it."
A small smile crossed Oito's pink lips.
"It is a pleasure working with you, Prince Killua," she said as she held her hand out.
The Valkyrie grasped it in his own, "Please, just call me Killua."
