Chapter 2

When the quartet of boys finally saw Byleth coming out of the washroom area in the airship lounge, they found that she wasn't alone but rather arguing with a man who looked suspiciously like her.

"I told you, I hate being male! Why do I have to be Bereto?!"

"Shut up! You were the one who said that you will help!" The boys heard Byleth argue back.

"Ugh but not like this!" The man said, and he finally noticed the quartet looking at him strangely. "Oh. Hi."

"Who are you, mister?" Gon asked.

"Uhh…" The man looked to Byleth, his eyes asking for help.

"His name is Bereto Eisner." She said with a blank expression. "My brother."

"Ehhh?!" The four boys cried out in shock.

"I asked him to come because I couldn't let you two boys go off alone."

"We don't need a chaperone!" Killua exclaimed.

Byleth gave an unimpressed look at the silver-haired boy.

"Your grandfather asked me to look over you."

"What! Gramps never cared about me going out alone even when I was four!"

"You're going with me?!" Kurapika looked at the woman strangely. "Why?"

Byleth gave a look at the blond. "It's about what Hisoka said to you about Yorkshin. The Spiders."

Kurapika's breath hitched. He gave a suspicious look at the woman but didn't say any more.

"Wait, Gon! Before you go…!" Byleth stammered out.

The black hair boy peered at the blue-haired woman, curious as to why she was calling his name.

"Before you go… can you…" Byleth blushed. "Can you give me a hug?"

"…" There was silence from everyone watching.

"Are you a shota-con, you hag?!" Killua yelled while Leorio and Kurapika's expressions turned to confusion. At Killua's comment, Byleth gave a menacing glare and he backed away.

"Of course, Byleth-san! I don't mind!" Gon said lightheartedly.

Byleth's expression brightened like the sun and she crouched down to engulf the boy in a tight hug.

.

"It's a boy!"

"Get him away! Quickly!"

"Don't you want to hold him though?"

"No! Get him away, Ging!"

The midwife gave a sad look yet quickly handed the baby to Ging.

Ging glanced at the bundle in front of him and gave a soft smile. He turned back to Byleth.

"Goodbye, Byleth." He said with melancholy and he disappeared.

Seeing the empty ground in place of Ging and her son, Byleth started sobbing. Tears dripped down and ugly cries escaped her throat.

"I… couldn't even hold him. I couldn't even give him a name…" The azure-haired woman looked at her empty hands and tears flowed down even harder.

"It's okay." Sothis's voice rang out in her head. "Ging will take care of him."

"He better…" Byleth choked out. "Or else I'll bury him alive."

.

"I still think this chaperone thing is stupid," Killua drawled out as he rested his palm against his chin, looking out of the blimp taking them to Heaven's Arena. "My gramps is such a worrier."

"I'm sure we'll still have fun! Right, Bereto-san?" Gon gave a wide smile and the male mirrored it.

"Of course, Gon! But Bereto is such a boring name. In private, how about you two call me Sothis instead?"

.

"I can't recommend you to any of my clients."

"What?! But I'm a Hunter!" Kurapika exclaimed to the agency woman who looked at him with a bored expression.

"But your exam isn't over yet. I can tell." She lifted up a finger and although he could feel something, Kurapika couldn't see the foreboding aura that the woman was encapsulated in. "You can't see a thing, can you? Ah, but it seems like your friend can."

Kurapika turned around to face Byleth, who was standing with her arms crossed over her body.

Seeing Kurapika's frustrated and demanding look, Byleth waved Kurapika over. "Come, Kurapika." She stepped out the door and the Kurta followed her, still a bit angry that the agency woman would not give him a job.

They were at a wood clearing, two miles away from the town they were at and Byleth finally stopped.

"You could sense it, but not see it, right?"

The blonde Kurta furrowed his brows. "Yes. What was the aura that she was giving off? It felt… dark and oppressive."

"That is called Nen"

"…Nen?"

"Yes. And from now on, call me sensei."

Kurapika looked at Byleth with a confused expression.

Byleth smirked. "I will be teaching you Nen."

.

"Gon, Killua, you pass." Wing smiled and said as he held the now cracked wine glass in his hands.

While they jumped in joy, Wing looked at the man who stood lazily against the wall, his arms crossed together. His calm and lazy attitude throughout the boys' entire four months of training showed that he didn't even care about the boys learning Nen. Or even Nen in general. However, seeing the slight aura enclosing the man's body, it was obvious that the man knew Nen. Yet strangely, he would rather have a stranger teach the two boys he was watching over rather than himself. The azure haired man merely looked in slight amusement at the boys learning Hatsu and doing the Water Divination Test.

"Ah, Bereto-san, was it?"

The man looked to Wing, his brow cocked in a curious manner, but nodded.

"You've just been watching these children train these past few months. But what is your Nen type?"

"Ah," Bereto hummed and brought his finger to his chin to look like he was thinking. "I suppose technically, a Conjurer?

"What? You know Nen?! Why the hell did you not teach us then!" Killua yelled, annoyed that they could have learned Nen earlier from their chaperone.

"I said technically, Killua. I technically can't use Nen. But my body's creator can."

.

"Conjured chains. That's my goal—to chain all the Spiders and bring justice to what happened to my clan."

Byleth gave a nod of approval. "Very fitting, Kurapika. And how will you use them? Manipulating them will only give you 60% of the power of a Manipulator."

"Yes, but people will believe that I am a Manipulator."

The Professor hummed. "Being a Conjurer is very useful in different situations."

Kurapika gave a look to the Professor. "That makes me question, what Nen type user are you, Professor? I don't think I've seen you use your Nen type abilities before."

"What do you mean? You've already seen it before."

.

"What?!" Gon looked at Bereto with wide eyes. "Then are you saying… you were created… by Byleth-san?!"

Wing also looked at the man with wide, shocked eyes. "That's… astounding! This is like Kastro's ability to create a double, but how is it possible for a conjured body to be able to last for so long? How is your creator able to manipulate you so seamlessly?"

"As you know, if there is a strong enough vow and strong enough limitation, then anything is possible." Bereto paused and his lips curled into a smirk. "As for manipulating this body… it is because this body was blessed by the goddess."

"You're spouting nonsense again, like an old geezer. But I should have realized earlier, dammit." Killua cursed. "You're like a shadow, like my butlers, but you never nag at what we're doing so I don't even think about your presence anymore. You were right behind us when Hisoka was on the 200th floor trying to stop us with his Nen."

"Ahh! You're right Killua! He was right behind us the whole time. Ah!" Gon looked like he came to a deep realization. "How did we even see him before we learned Nen? If Byleth-san created you out of her Nen, shouldn't it have been impossible for us to see you?"

Bereto blinked his eyes. Gon was a very perceptive boy… much like his parents.

"Normally, yes. But Byleth was blessed by the goddess."

He gave a Gon a wink and didn't say any more.

.

Senritsu shook in fear as she stepped pass a duo of Nen users in front of the Job Agency. From far away, she was sure that there was only one heartbeat and one footstep. The desolate town only had a few humans roaming around, so the musician could easily distinguish each heartbeat and footsteps without using much of her Nen powers. The duo stood out. One didn't make any steps while walking. The silent footsteps didn't bother her. Plenty of Hunters and Assassins are able to move without making a sound. The blonde's angry, furious heartbeat didn't faze her. She could only feel sad about it.

But the woman.

Senritsu couldn't help but turn around to make sure there were two people. But when she did, her eyes met the azure haired woman's cold, blank, blue eyes that stared straight back at her.

The musician's breath hitched and she froze even as the other woman's eyes turned back to the road in front of her.

How was it possible?

How did someone living not to have a heartbeat?

"I won't go with you to your bodyguard mission."

Kurapika frowned a little at his teacher's words. "Did you find a different job at the Agency? I thought you were coming to Yorkshin with me."

Byleth nodded. "I am. I will be at Yorkshin before September 1st. I have to finish up some errands before meeting you there."

The blonde gave a small hum at the Professor's words and then nodded. "Then safe travels, Professor."

"Thank y—Ah fuck."

.

"Well, you look familiar." The red-haired clown said.

"Hmmm… Sorry I don't think I've ever met you." Bereto responded without even looking at the clown who slipped right next to him, intruding on his personal space.

"Maybe, but you look very familiar."

"I haven't met you before. But you must be talking about my sister. Byleth."

"Oh-ho? Sister? I've seen you shadow Gon and Killua. And you know Nen yet you don't participate at Heaven's Arena Tournaments." Hisoka talked but mainly talked to himself as Bereto continued examining a set of ribbons being sold at the small booth. "Care for a battle?"

"Not really."

That wasn't actually a request."

"Really? It sounded like one. How about you give me some personal space, you ugly clown."

Hisoka's expression turned confused, conflicted, and amused all at once. "…Ugly clown?"

"Do you seriously think Byleth likes some kind of psychopathic maniac clown like you? She deserves someone far better."

"As an adult, I am sure Byleth-chan can make decisions by herself."

"No. She's a child. A clown like you better not mess with her." Bereto started walking away but paused to turn back to Hisoka. His eyes shined with sinister intent and an all too familiar glare. "Or Gon."

Hisoka watched him walking away, but he wasn't going to let down such an insult nor the flippant attitude of this man ruin his mood. He nonchalantly sent a blob of Bungee Gum at the floor on the path that the azure haired man was walking. The clown smiled as the man stopped, or at least forced to stop as his foot became stuck to the ground by the Transmuted Nen.

"I said before though, haven't I? It wasn't a request."

Bereto's blank face warped into a cruel smile.

"You said to avoid fights, but this is unavoidable. I'm sure you understand, right?"

And Bereto used his right arm to reach backward as if he was taking out a sword that ninjas carry behind their backs. But instead of grabbing the empty air behind him, he grabbed his neck.

And tore out his spine.

.

"Sothis. I. Told. You."

Byleth seethed and Kurapika hesitantly watched his professor talking to herself. Then his eyes widened as he saw massive amounts of blood running down the Professor's legs.

"Don't. Use. The. SWORD!"

.

"Sorry child, but you should have gotten rid of the psycho yourself. Why is cleanup my duty now? You know how it's annoying to get rid of guys like him." Bereto rolled his eyes he swung his spine, flicking his blood that was running down the chain of bones to the surrounding ground. Slowly, the spine started to constrict and glow orange. The hilt started to form where the swordsman held his spine.

"You call me insane, yet you tore out your spine and you talk to yourself. How amusing." Hisoka licked his lips as he saw that the man stood in his rock-like stance even though he ripped his own spine out. "Are you a Conjurer? Or a Specialist?"

"Neither," Bereto's eyes glinted with danger.

.

"Professor! Are you okay?!" Kurapika's put a hand on his professor's shoulder, trying to see what was wrong with her.

"Just… Fine," Byleth grunted out as she grit her teeth. "That stupid goddess. She does whatever she wants. Why do you always do this to me?!"

.

"Well if you really don't like me doing this, then don't send me to be a chaperone as Bereto. You should really know better. How many times has this happened? 15 times? Or was it 20?"

Bereto pivoted from his foot that was still stuck on the ground and easily dodged the Nen tinted cards that Hisoka threw. With a swing of a sword, he cut through the transmuted Bungee Gum that the clown attached to the cards with ease. As the clown got closer, Bereto swung his blade to the empty air; but instead of stopping short of the clown, the blade extended itself into segments straight to the face of the clown.

Hisoka jumped back at the sudden attack, his eyes wide at the blade that almost met his face.

"Very interesting. How exhilarating!" Hisoka dodged the sword that whipped toward his direction.

"BERETO-SAN!" There was a distinct boyish yell that came from behind Byleth.

Without looking behind him, Bereto could tell that it was the black-spikey-haired boy that loved fishing.

"Stop Hisoka! How could you fight Bereto-san!"

"I'm fine, Gon," Bereto said through his teeth as he fended off more cards and tried to keep Hisoka away from him.

"No, it's not that! Hisoka, you're supposed to fight against me in a week. If you spend your energy here and get hurt, then you're giving me a handicap!"

Bereto and Hisoka simultaneously stopped and turned to blink owlishly at Gon.

After finally waking from his stupor, Bereto sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

"You know, you're too much like your dad for your own good." Although he was shaking his head, the swordsman had a smile on his face.

"Eh?! You know my dad, Bereto-san?"

"Yeah." His face once again twisted into a large grin. "And I'm going to kill him when I see him… if Byleth doesn't get to him first."

.

"Professor! Seriously, what's wrong?!"

"I'm… fine, Kurapika." Byleth managed to let out a sigh and relaxed her body against a fallen tree trunk. "This is why Nen is such a terrible power." She tilted her head back to rest it against the cool surface of the tree.

"What kind of power makes that happen?! Are you still bleeding?"

"My body is partially connected to my Conjured body. But it's okay now. It's back."

"What's back?"

"My spine."

The blonde Kurta recoiled back with a horrified expression.

Byleth placed a finger against her chin.

"Ah, but I guess technically, it isn't mine."

Killua lazily watched the waves rolling across the hull of the ship.

He sighed.

They've been at sea for five days already, and yet they still needed to sail for three more days. Why couldn't a blimp take them instead? Traveling through water seemed like such an ancient method for traveling for the (now) rich, (mostly) tech-savvy (former) assassin. Water was a formidable opponent. It could be used for torture in so many different ways.

Waterboarding?

Dehydration?

Drowning?

They were just a few of the many ways his family members tortured him during his assassin training. Killua knew that he should fear water. He feared death, after all. However, even though Killua remembered screaming and crying when he first underwent the trials, the large body of water didn't scare him.

What really scared him was Nen. That power was dangerous. Why didn't his parents teach him about Nen? Illumi already knew it. But for how long? Did he learn from Father or from somewhere like Heaven's Arena like him?

His obsessive brother never talks about himself and Killua could never truly know his intentions. He couldn't even trust the Illumi truly cared for his family, but maybe it was just the demented way their mother taught them love—Illumi was always more similar to Mother anyways. Like so many other times, thinking about Illumi hurt his head.

And like always, Killua's cynical, pessimistic thoughts jumped from one thought to another.

The silver-haired (former) assassin sighed once again.

He liked Gon. But he didn't like the apparently Nen-conjured human(?) humanoid(?) that became their shadow for the past five months. He doubted that woman's words at first—why wouldn't he? His gramps never even cared when he went out for his first job at 4 years old. But whatever methods the young (former) assassin used to get rid of the shadow, it didn't deter him, so Killua dejectedly left him alone.

If the man was a shadow that his gramps acknowledged, Killua supposed that it would make sense that normal assassination methods wouldn't work on the man.

Not to mention, he was made out of Nen. What were the limits of Nen? What does it mean to be blessed by the goddess?

Killua wanted to create a strong Hatsu—and quickly.

He had the bare bones of an idea, but he could wait until he was done relaxing with Gon at Whale Island.

Author's Note:

Sorry if the story flow is strange. I've been working on spicing up my narrative writing skills and hopefully the back and forth banter wasn't too difficult to follow.

Also, I just wanted to write about Killua because he's such a lovable character and he probably won't get enough of a spotlight in this story...