Disclaimer: I do not own hunterxhunter. All characters and plot of the said manga/anime is under the intellectual property of Yoshihiro Togashi. This is a work of pure fiction whereas names, OC's, places, or events are products of the author's imagination. If there is any resemblance to actual/real persons, places, or events, then it is pure coincidence. Furthermore, I do not own the cover image and give full credit to whoever owns it.
Case File #3
1.15.2008
Dr. Navi Riche
According to the weekly report from 0007, no significant information has been retrieved. There were no errors with the procedure as the operation was discreet and resulted with no casualties. As of now, 0007 has not shown any signs of deficiencies with the skillset needed from a Sparrow. Further and careful observation will be done.
Mission Status: Ongoing
Volume 1: Chapter 3
The Test II
Leorio continued to whine throughout the whole trek in the dark tunnel, and now that they were following a seemingly endless path in the forest, his complaints just multiplied.
"She said, 'you'll reach the top in two hours'" Leorio mockingly copied the voice of the old lady that tested them, "Yeah right. It was two hours, two hours ago!"
For the most part of the hike, Kurapika, Gon, and Erin just chose to ignore Leorio's rants who was now lagging behind the three of them. Leorio walked up to another sign in the forest, hoping to see something different from the many signs that he's seen before it.
Leorio sighed, "Another 'beware of magical beasts' sign? We're never gonna' find this stupid exam site!" he then started to shout out one complaint after another to the three that were ahead of him, "You guys! I'm so hungry! I need to take a dump! I'm getting tired!"
"Try to keep up Leorio!" Gon encouraged him.
Kurapika on the other hand just sighed in annoyance, "If only he didn't waste all that energy through constantly complaining."
"Look everyone, I think I see the cabin." Erin informed the two boys who were with her and started speeding up her pace of walking, not bothering to also inform Leorio.
"Leorio!" Gon called out, "We're almost there! Erin just saw the cabin!"
"Seriously?! Well, it's about time!" immediately he runs to catch up to the three who were in front of him.
The group continued to walk towards the cabin in complete silence, trying to be cautious, not knowing what they were going to face next but knowing that they might encounter a random obstacle at any moment. The four of them climbed up the stairs leading to the cabin's entrance and were now standing in front of wooden double doors.
Leorio knocked twice and asked if there was anybody home. But no one answered. With the lack of any response, the group decided to open the door themselves.
The sight that they beheld after opening the doors immediately made the four of them take guarded stances – the inside of the cabin was a complete mess, there were broken furniture everywhere and a man who looked gravely injured was lying face down on the floor, but what made everyone extremely cautious was the large beast standing in the middle of the room. The beast turned around to look at the new intruders with a malicious grin.
"What the hell is that!" Leorio exclaimed.
"It appears to be a Kiriko," the blonde informed his companions calmly, "it's a magical beast that can take on human form and is extremely intelligent."
"I see." Erin muttered, trying to process and vividly remember all the information that she's gained so far.
"There's a woman in its arms!" Gon said with full concern.
Leorio looked down on the floor, "And that guy needs immediate medical attention."
The magical beast did not bother to wait around and swiftly jumped through the back window of the cabin, still having the woman in its clutches. Kurapika, Gon, and Erin rushed to the window that was just shattered.
"Please save her!" the injured man begged, "You have to save my wife!" Gon nodded and instantly left to chase the magical beast.
"Leorio! We're leaving the injured man to you!" Kurapika instructed.
"Got it!" Leorio replied, already working on providing first aid to the injured man on the floor.
"I'll stay here in case something else happens." Erin reassured the Kurta as he hurriedly took off his sling bag, nodded at her then jumped out the window after Gon.
The house suddenly became quiet, as if no commotion had just occurred. The only sound that could be heard was Leorio's calming voice as he kept on reassuring the injured man of the safety of his wife. Erin situated herself in a position wherein she would be able to see and guard all entrances of the house after examining the whole scene. Once again, keeping her feet slightly apart and her hands clasped behind her back.
Three windows in front of the house. One on the right and one on the left. One window at the back. One set of double doors in the front. And from what I recall when approaching this cottage outside, there's one window for probably an attic. I see no set of stairs so perhaps this is the only floor. Erin enumerated in her mind.
A few seconds passed – then minutes, until Leorio spoke up, "Erin, I'm already done fixing him up."
Erin turned to see the injured man all patched up properly – something that she knew would require a certain level of proficiency in medical services. "You did it in such a short time," she smiled at Leorio, "Quite impressive."
Leorio was about to feel good about the compliment but immediately frowned, "Why does your compliment still sound like an insult to me?"
The redhead didn't reply since she already looked like she had tuned out of their conversation.
How rude, Leorio thought. But I should just focus on taking care of this guy before arguing with her.
"M-my wife…" the injured spoke up weakly and shakily lifted up his hand, "I need to…"
Leorio gripped his hand and said with full conviction, "Don't worry! My friends will save her so you should just focus on resting and refrain from talking. Right, Erin?" he then turned to the girl hoping to give some extra reassurance. But she gave no response, she only kept glancing at her surroundings with an unreadable expression.
Sheesh, for Pete's sake!
"Oi Erin!" Leorio shouted at her.
She bent down on one knee by the door's entrance and stared at the floor, "Yes," she replied with the most soothing voice, "They will save your wife mister."
Leorio clicked his tongue in annoyance. The way she said it didn't sound fake but to him it didn't feel genuine, like she wasn't trying at all.
"I… I need to go to her…" the man attempted to sit up but was failing to do so. "I can't just stay here knowing she's in danger…"
"Don't be crazy!" Leorio gently pushed him back down, "You can't move in that state, it's better to just –"
"More importantly," Erin suddenly spoke up which made the two men turn their attention towards her, "How long have you and your wife been living here mister?"
The injured man paused for a brief moment but recollected himself and acted like he was surprised by her untimely question, "For quite some time now…" he replied with a weak voice.
Erin subtly narrowed her eyes and slowly stood up from her bent position. A safe answer.
"Be specific." She said.
"Oi! What do you mean 'more importantly'? Your question isn't important at all!" Leorio shouted at the redhead.
Erin just stared at the man lying on the floor - her silhouette emphasized by the moonlight shining through the door and her shadow looming over him. The man could not hear Leorio dishing out the little girl for how she shouldn't bother the husband and let him rest. All his senses focused on the one thing only he noticed – her gaze.
Well, what do we have here? The man lying on the floor thought. Menace? And coming from a little girl?
He almost wanted to smirk but he had to keep the act up. Interesting but also – he looked right through her eyes only to see abyss - quite unsettling.
Erin stepped forward, still keeping her gaze and posture then said, "Well?"
"We've been living here about a year now." He replied, not knowing what she would do with false information.
"I see…" she replied then turned to the fuming man in the suit, "Leorio, you just wasted your medical supplies on this person."
"Huh?! What are you talking about?!"
"Y-yeah," the husband stuttered, "What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is that," Erin looked him in the eye, "None of this real. Right mister?"
"Eh? What do you mean?" Leorio was now clearly confused, "How can you say that?"
The husband was still trying to maintain his act and was about to say something to justify himself, but seeing how the redhead continued to firmly hold her gaze, he knew that his efforts in hiding the fact that he was a navigator and this was all a test would just be in vain for it looked like she wasn't going to back down any time soon. Standing in front of him was a very sharp and observant girl who probably saw through his act along the way. He sighed and smirked, finally dropping his act.
"Alright, alright," he said while sitting up then attempted to stand, "You got m- ", the husband immediately stopped halfway when he felt something sharp slice through the air and cut his right cheek, hearing the sound of a knife piercing the wooden wall behind him.
"I suggest that you remain in the position you are in," Erin said calmly with her right arm stretched out, indicating that she was the one who threw that knife, "A fraud who just admitted to trickery can't be taken for granted. Answer my question with no unnecessary movements."
There was no need to wait for the girl to say any kind of threat because the tone of her voice itself already sounded like one, and so the man remained in a sitting position. Even Leorio, who was still having trouble in keeping up with the events that just transpired, felt the hidden uncanniness that Erin had just shown.
"Is this all an act?" she asked.
The amount of pressure she exerted towards the man sent shivers down his spine, "Yes," he said, "How did you know?"
She paused for a moment like she was considering whether he was telling the truth or not, but after a few seconds she spoke, "When we arrived here there were no signs of forced entry. No broken windows. No broken doors. And no scratches on the floor by the entrances whatsoever. But the inside was a complete mess. How?"
She then started walking slowly towards the man, and every step made the atmosphere feel more tense, "How could the outside of the cabin be so untarnished, if a magical beast broke into your home? I considered the possibility that the Kiriko pretended to be human and entered the house without breaking in after remembering Kurapika say that they can take human form. But…" Erin suddenly stopped walking when she was already about a meter away from the man, "You told me yourself that you and your wife had been living here for a year now. So how could you two possibly be oblivious of the presence of magical beasts in the area? There are dozens of 'beware of magical beasts' signs plastered throughout the forest which is why I find it highly unlikely that you haven't encountered one before this incident for the past year. And as I recall, we were told that the navigators living here would test us if we passed their standards."
There was something monotonous with how Erin explained the information and proof she just offered, which made the navigator silent for a few seconds, trying to read the unreadable girl but to no avail. "Well, I'll be damned," he finally spoke, "You hit the nail on the head."
"Seriously?!" Leorio whipped his head from the navigator to Erin, clearly in shock.
"So can I stand up now?"
The redhead suddenly smiled, "I suppose so…" she said, showing no trace of the menace she projected towards the fake husband.
"Why don't we step outside?" the navigator said while standing up. "Let's just wait for your friends to come back. And if they're as smart as you then I guess it won't take too long." He then walked outside, leaving Leorio and Erin alone in the cabin.
Leorio was staring at Erin, not knowing what to do or say, Should I say 'good job!' or 'nice catch!'? Hmm… But it feels weird to say that… I've been calling her a smartass all this time, and now, her being a smartass actually helped us.
The redhead noticed him being deep in his thoughts so she smiled at him, "What's wrong Leorio?"
"Eh? Um… nothing! Haha! Ha… ha…" he scratched the back of his head. Leorio couldn't help but remember the image she projected while interrogating the navigator. Such a shift in her demeanor made him slightly creeped out. Fortunately, he was too dense to dwell on the disturbing feeling he felt from Erin and said, "G-good work! Erin…"
She nodded and walked towards the back wall of the house, pulling out the knife embedded in its wooden structure. She turned back to face Leorio while flipping the knife with her hand, "Here you go Leorio." she said and threw the knife to him at the same time.
Leorio easily caught it and curiously analyzed it, only to realize that the knife Erin used was actually his own pocket knife. "Wha- How did you get this?!"
"I'm sorry," she tilted her head, "I thought you consented when I asked to borrow your knife and you didn't react at all when I took it."
"You didn't even ask!"
"Now, now. In the end, all is well," she replied with a reassuring smile and walked past Leorio towards the front doors, "You still have your precious pocket knife don't you?"
"Don't give me-!" Leorio wanted to shout back a retort but since he already wasted a lot of mental energy with everything that just happened, he just sighed.
Whatever… I give up, he thought as he grumpily stomped his way out of the cabin.
"Hmm… How many years has it been since someone could tell us apart?" one of the two magical beasts asked then looked at the other.
"This is exciting!" the other Kiriko exclaimed.
Leorio leaned over Kurapika to whisper, "Can you tell their faces and voices are different?"
"No… not at all…" he replied.
The man then leaned lower on his other side to whisper at Erin, "What about you? Can you tell them apart?"
"I cannot as well. It would take a long time of observing to figure out the subtle differences," she replied, "Gon is just from a different species."
"You… may have a point there…" Leorio agreed.
The words Erin used sounded insulting but Kurapika could understand what she was trying to say – Gon was just beyond human comprehension, and the Kurta couldn't agree more to that.
"You see, the one Kurapika and I beat is the husband." Gon tried to explain to his companions which was only in vain since they still could not distinguish who he was referring to.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves!" one of the Kiriko said, "We are the navigators. Our family provides support for the Hunter Exam."
"I'm their daughter!"
"I'm their son!"
The people who pretended to be the wife and husband introduced themselves respectively.
"Man, you had us fooled." Leorio lifted his shoulders and extended both arms with palms facing upward, then he glanced at Erin, "All except one that is…" he muttered and placed both hands on his hips.
"The Hunter Exam changes their venue every year and they make it quite difficult to locate it." The Kiriko explained.
"So we, as navigators, help guide applicants to the exam site." The other continued.
"But we don't help every candidate." The daughter added.
The son nodded then said, "We test applicants to see if they are worthy to take the exam."
Leorio immediately straightened his posture after hearing what he said, worry and concern apparent on his face.
"Kurapika." The daughter called out.
"Yes."
"You successfully used the vaguest of hints to determine that we weren't spouses." She then lifted her arm to show the marks covered by her clothing and revealed that they were fake by erasing them, "The hints were these tattoos which, in this region, mark a woman as single for life. Kurapika has demonstrated that he is very knowledgeable. Therefore, he passes."
The Kurta finally released a sigh of relief and is congratulated by his fellow companions.
"Leorio."
He stiffened at the sound of his name but managed to reply, "Yeah…"
"You never realized my true identity," the son started, "However, you dressed my injuries faster and more thoroughly than most doctors. Most importantly, you continued to reassure me that my wife was safe."
Kurapika and Gon smiled at the comment realizing that their friend was kinder than he made himself to be, whereas Leorio only expressed embarrassment with what was stated about him.
"Your empathy makes you worthy to take the Hunter Exam. Therefore, you pass."
"Really?!" Leorio immediately falls to the ground, "Thank goodness…"
The rest of the gang congratulated the now stress-free man as the son moved on to the next person.
"Erin."
"Yes."
"You are the only one to figure out that the incident was all an act to test applicants with your keen analytical skills."
Kurapika raised his eyebrows in surprise and glanced at Erin. I sensed that she was a smart girl, but I didn't expect her to possess such observational skills. Impressive.
"Your high level of perception makes you worthy to take the exam. Thus, you pass." The son announced.
Erin slightly bowed her head showing gratitude to the navigators while Gon lifted up his hand for a fist bump which she gave with a smile.
"And finally, Gon." The Kiriko said, "Your superhuman physical ability and powers of observation make you worthy to take the Hunter Exam. Thus, you pass."
Being glad that him and his friends had passed the test, Gon grinned widely at them and raised his hand to give each of them a fist bump once again.
"Alright!" One of the magical beasts stood up, "Let's bring you to the exam site!" and as it said that, both the son and the daughter transformed into a Kiriko as well. "Each of us will carry one of you as we fly. Got it?"
"Umm… Fly?" Leorio asked.
"Exactly." The son stated then shifted his arms into wings and flapped them.
"Woah!" Gon exclaimed.
"What are you waiting for?" the son directed his question towards Leorio who then stepped closer to the Kiriko that was now hovering three meters above the ground alongside his family who were also doing the same.
"So are we supposed to just… hang on?"
"What are you expecting? A princess carry?"
"O-of course not!" Leorio shouted, "I was just clarifying!"
"How long will it take to get there?" Kurapika asked then jumped to hang on one of the Kiriko's legs, who was promptly followed by Gon and Erin grabbing on to the other magical beasts. Seeing that everyone had already readied themselves for the flight, Leorio also followed suit.
"We'll probably arrive at sunrise." One of the Kiriko, the daughter, replied. The four magical beasts started to go higher and higher into the night sky.
"Eh! That long?" Leorio exaggeratingly reacted and due to his sudden movement the Kiriko carrying him attempted to balance himself by flapping his wings vigorously.
"Stay still or I'll drop you!" the Kiriko scolded him.
Erin looked at Leorio and said with a concerned tone, "What's wrong Leorio? Are you afraid?"
"Of course not you little brat!" He glared at the redhead then quickly behaved himself to prove his point.
Erin giggled daintily, "If you're worried about falling from this height, then don't be. The impact will kill you on the spot so that means you won't have to suffer."
"Jeez… Thanks for the reassurance…" Leorio sarcastically commented.
"Glad to help." Erin replied and smiled at him like an angel.
Gon immediately brightened up the atmosphere that was somehow slowly going to a morbid ambiance as he grinned and said, "Isn't it great that we all passed?"
"It's too early to celebrate." Kurapika stated, wanting to remind his companions of reality and avoid complacency, "We've merely earned the right to take the real exam."
"What's wrong with celebrating a little right?" Leorio said with a carefree smile.
"Well, so far, most of us has helped each other in some way, and that's why we're here now." Erin commented.
Leorio – already being sensitive to Erin's elusive provocative remarks towards him – eyed her and shouted defensively, "Why'd you use 'most of us' and not 'all of us' huh?!"
"Yeah Erin!" Gon said.
Leorio initially thought that someone was finally taking his side, only to be disappointed after the boy finished his sentence and realized that Gon was not agreeing with him and was actually ignoring what he said.
"As long as we stick together, we'll get through all of this!" the boy encouraged his friends with a wide grin on his face, which in return, also brought smiles to Kurapika and Leorio's faces. However, for a fraction of a second, without anyone noticing, Erin frowned. Afterwards, she then started to chuckle softly. Gon, who was the only one who heard her light giggles, asked, "What's so funny Erin?"
"Oh nothing." She replied, "Nothing at all."
I wake up with the feeling of something cold and hard pressing on the side of my face. I blink my eyes a couple of times but everything remained blurry, and there was a pounding in my head that didn't help in improving my vision. I try to move but my limbs betray me. And after maybe a few minutes? Well, I couldn't focus on counting – I realize that I am actually lying face down on a white floor. I try to push myself up once again, and fortunately my body wasn't too weak to be considered useless.
"Look! Another one's waking up." I hear someone call out – a child's voice. The voice sounded grateful and weary at the same time.
I finally sit up and see two boys rushing towards me. One of them kneels down in front of me and hastily asks, "Your name! What's your name?" his ocean blue eyes glistened with hope.
"Calm down," his companion coolly said while putting a hand on the blue-eyed boy's shoulder and kneeling down beside him, "She just woke up. Don't frighten her."
The panicky boy bit his lip like he regretted his actions, "You're right, sorry."
The calm boy with golden brown hair then turned to me, his honey-colored eyes meeting mine, "How do you feel?"
I was still confused but chose to oblige with his question, "Drowsy… and sore." I reply then place my hand on the back of my aching neck while looking around. We were in a room that was nothing but white, I couldn't even tell its size, but seeing many bodies sprawled out on the floor, we were probably in a very big room.
"Where are we?" I ask.
The boy with the golden eyes frowned. "We don't know. Both of us actually woke up not too long before you." He then moves to sit down in front of me, followed by the other boy. "Can you remember anything before this? Like how you got here? Or even your name?"
"My name? I'm…" I pause, not because of hesitance, but because something that should've naturally come out of my mouth failed to do so. My name – nothing came into mind, not even a single letter.
"I… don't know. I can't remember. And I don't know how I got here."
The two boys sigh in disappointment.
"So none of us can remember anything before this incident." The golden-eyed boy said.
"What are we going to do?" the other boy asked with a shaky voice while anxiously combing through his raven hair, "Maybe we were kidnapped? I mean look, we're all kids here."
I look around again and just notice that almost all of the bodies are actually children.
"That's highly probable," the calm boy stated.
The raven-haired boy immediately stands up and starts to pace back and forth while muttering something to keep himself calm.
I glance at the nearest body then ask the golden-eyed boy, "Are they… okay?"
"Their alive. We checked most of them before you woke up." He replied.
"I see."
He stays quiet for a few seconds then says, "You seem surprisingly calm about all this."
I pause before answering, "So are you. But I feel like something in the back of my mind is telling me that I have no choice but to stay calm."
He stays quiet for a few seconds again then informs me of what he has found in the room so far, "There aren't any exits, there aren't any objects, and all of us here are children."
"We should look for more clues." I force myself to stand up and thankfully my body listens. He also stands up and we slowly walk around the room together while avoiding stepping on the bodies. I glance at the other boy who is still pacing back and forth, "Is he going to be okay?"
"I hope so. That's what he did before to calm himself down when he woke up."
"So you were the first to wake up?"
"Yes."
"How long were you the only one awake?"
"Maybe an hour? Yeah. He woke up after an hour. Then you woke up about thirty minutes later. Hard to tell."
"I see…" I stare at some children that were clumped together, "Most children here look like they're nine to twelve years old. You look like you're nine."
He looks at me as if I said something he wanted to here, "I thought so too. You can't see yourself, but you actually look younger than most of us here. Probably seven years old? There are only a few of your age though."
I nod at him and point out something I noticed. "And I don't know if this is significant but most of us here are dressed rather nicely don't you think?"
He glances around, "Now that you mentioned it, we are wearing decorous clothing." He then widens his eyes, "Are we hostages for a ransom? We might be from wealthy families."
I place a hand on my chin. "It's odd. We can't remember who we are, our family, how we got here, and anything about our lives right?"
He nods.
"But we can remember to a certain extent. Like basic knowledge and communication needed for human interaction, or social constructs to determine that being well-dressed means that you're from a well-off family."
"You're right. It's like there's just a gap in our memories. And that gap is our identity and how we got here."
Suddenly, silence filled the air. Perhaps we both just realized that the situation we were in was really dire.
"Since we don't know our names, why don't we assign nicknames? It would make things easier right?" he said, breaking the silence.
"That is a good suggestion. Well, how do we decide?"
He thinks for a second, "How about something visual? It's easier to remember. So… what would you call me?"
I look at him in the eye and easily decide, "Gold. You probably can't remember but you have golden brown eyes."
He smiles then nods.
"What about me?" the other boy asked while walking up to us. I didn't notice that he was already done panicking. "I heard about the names."
"Then you'll be 'Blue' same with your eyes." Gold said then turns to me, "And you'll be… Red, same with your hair."
I nod at him.
"Hey guys. A few of them are waking up now." Blue points out while looking at the other children.
We rush to the scene and repeat the same process of explaining and questioning and calming every person down. Until there was only one child left who wasn't awake.
"So you don't remember anything as well?" Gold asks the poor girl who is still shaking like she was naked in the middle of winter. She looks even younger than me and she appears to be the youngest here.
She hesitantly shakes her head, clearly still afraid of the situation.
Some of the children who tuned in on our conversation with the girl sighed. Some started to panic more. While some just walked off like they didn't care, probably a defense mechanism to control their fears.
Gold pats the girl's head and tells her with a reassuring voice, "Don't worry. Just stay close with us. We'll get out of this. Okay?" he then extends his right hand to her, offering to help her up.
Still, she hesitates, which wasn't left unnoticed by Gold.
"Can I suggest a great nickname for you?" he asks.
The girl looks up and shows in her face that she remembers what Gold just told her about the nicknames. She nods without keeping eye contact.
"April. You know why?"
She shakes her head.
"The color of your hair reminds me of cherry blossoms and they usually bloom during the month of April."
The girl slightly calms herself after seeing the soothing smile that Gold just gave her. She nods in approval of the name and takes the hand that he offered. She continues to cling to him even as we start walking to find out where Blue had gone. It's hard to spot him with how many we were in the room. Roughly estimating, there were probably more than fifty children here.
"I'm Gold and she's Red." He introduces us and the little girl shyly nods.
"You're pretty good at that." I softly uttered to Gold, keeping my voice out of the little girl's earshot.
"Well, someone needs to be able to calm everyone down. Or else we'd be having a mass panic. And children are easily agitated."
After the few interactions I have had with Gold, it appears to me that he's also forgetting that he's a child too, even if he was one of the eldest here.
"Not just that though," I reply, "It's like… Maybe you have a little sister or brother that you don't remember."
He turns to look at me and for a moment - something that was probably too subtle for a normal person to notice, but somehow I unknowingly did – he wore an empty expression, more like nothingness.
"Maybe… Maybe I do." Then he immediately looks away like he spotted something. "Blue! Over here!"
I see Blue run over to us, making his way through the crowd. "Is she the last one?" He gestures to April.
"Yes." I reply. He hopefully looks at me if we got something out of her and I shake my head at him. It surprises me that even after interrogating so many children and coming up with no answers, he's still hoping until the very last chance.
He grunts then folds his arms and taps his foot on the floor, which kept the same rhythm as the right index finger he taps on his left arm – a mannerism that I noticed he has. "From the moment I woke up it already feels like we've been here for almost more than one day." Blue said, "And I don't know why this is strange to me but we're exactly a hundred children here."
Gold raises his eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
"Yes! I'm sure of it. I'm confident in my counting. It's what I do to keep calm."
Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrow at him, "How do you know that?"
"What?" he stops tapping both his finger and foot, "I- I don't know. I guess I just do."
Gold gives a short hum, "I guess we can still remember our habits huh?"
I nod. Grateful, that we at least gained a few information, and the more information we have, the more clues we get to escape this place.
"It's bugging me though." Blue continues, "Why such an exact number? Is it coincidence?"
Suddenly, without a warning, I hear a loud ominous sound of a music box playing. I frantically search for the source but realize that everyone in the room was hearing it since they were doing the same.
We hear the sound of something mechanical opening around the middle of the room and notice that a crowd was starting to part and the murmurs of children was starting to grow louder. Gold, Blue, and I, along with April, rush to the commotion and see a part of the white floor opening. It stops at a certain point, and something slowly emerges from it.
The first thing I see is the faceless head of a mannequin until it slowly goes up to reveal a mannequin's body dressed in what looks like a ballerina's corset and tutu. The mannequin was in the first position of a ballet dancer.
The music continues to play as the mannequin twirls around and around. When it stops, the unsettling music that accompanied it also disappeared. I notice the rest of the children clearly having the look of disturbance in their faces. It feels like no one would dare to speak up first, not knowing why there was something creepy in front of our eyes.
Gold protectively stands in front of April; Blue is intensely keeping his eyes on the mannequin, afraid that it might unexpectedly do something; While I observe how ragged the mannequin actually looks, there were improper stitches in all of its joints, and the ballerina's outfit it wore was completely tarnished and dirty.
Everyone jumps in anxious surprise when it suddenly moves. Some kids start screaming while backing up quickly.
It moves again. Then stops. Then moves again – its movements were robotic, restrained, and looked forced. Like it was being controlled by a puppet master.
"Welcome Children." A monotonous eerie voice of a woman echoed in the room. "I'm sure you've all had a good night's rest the past few days."
I notice that the mannequin's movements were in time with whenever the voice spoke.
"Soooo… Why don't we play a little game?"
At this point, everyone was completely distraught and was full of unease. Gold's actions to calm everyone down before seem like futile efforts, seeing that almost every child was now trembling.
"The rules are simple. In order for you to pass the game, you need to take one life, which means… You have to kill one person."
The words hit us all like a ton of bricks, and my heart feels like it just fell to the ground.
"W-what did she just say?" Blue muttered shakily.
"Simple right? Once you kill a person, you'll immediately pass the game and leave this place. Since there are a hundred of you here, that means, there will only be fifty winners. You can use whatever method you want as long as the other person dies by your own will. However, there is a time limit which is twelve hours. And if you fail to clear the game before then… You will die. You will see the countdown of the timer on top of the room."
I quickly glance upwards and see big red lights etched at the ceiling showing 12:00:00.
Blue starts to chuckle in disbelief and turns to me and Gold, "S-she's… joking right? This is just a joke…"
None of us could give him an answer for we were also frozen in horror.
"And the most important thing to remember," the voice continued, "There is only one rule: And that is OUR LAW. Have fun!"
The mannequin quickly drops down and the floor closes.
A few seconds of silence. Then everyone starts to panic and break down. Some kids drop and cry, others start distancing themselves from each other while shouting, and the others merely stand frozen in disbelief.
Gold attempts to calm the ones nearest to us but fails to do so. He turns to April who was pulling his shirt.
"Gold… Are we still going to be okay? I'm scared."
He kneels down and looks her in the eye, "As long as we stick together, we'll get through all of this!"
I look back up at the time and notice that it wasn't counting down yet. "The game still hasn't started," I say, "Maybe we can think of a plan."
"How?" Blue asks me, his voice going deeper, "How can you think of a plan that doesn't involve killing huh? And how can the two of you be so calm in this situation? Are you even human?"
I frown at the tone of his voice and say, "Well, it's better than panicking and breaking down."
"What was that?" he spits out the words.
"Guys!" Gold shouts, "This is not the time to -"
A long buzzing sound cuts him off and without feeling or noticing anything, everything suddenly turns dark. I can't see, hear, nor feel anything – it feels like I'm floating in a void. After a few seconds, everything lightens up and I drop to the ground. I quickly stand up and look around for Gold or Blue or April. But there weren't here with me. Everything looks different. I was not in an empty white room anymore, but surrounded by high metal walls that looked impossible to climb over. There are a few openings which makes me think that I was now possibly in a maze.
I look up to see if I would see the same ceiling. And there they were. The big red numbers which were already counting down.
The game had just begun.
Author's Note: Ahhhhh! Finally done with this chapter phew... Once again thank you if you're still reading this story! And don't hesitate to leave a review if you have a question, if you want to clarify something, or if you just want to give suggestions about my writing style ;) And for those of you who's been dying to see Killua enter the story... See you all in the next chapter! *wink*wink*
