Of Lions and Blonde Avengers:

Chapter 12:

Of Hell and High Water

Kurapika slipped into her hotel room almost silently, letting the door fall closed behind her. She wasn't planning on sneaking up on him, it was just in her nature to be quiet. The first thing she took note of was Bahari lying on the ground, watching whatever was happening in the kitchen with vigilant eyes.

Her aura lashed out almost violently as she came around the corner. Komugi and her friend sat slumped over in their seats. The nanny had collapsed onto the floor by the stove, and towering over her stood a man with an uncanny resemblance to Chrollo. He was lanky, much skinnier than the muscular and toned Spider Head, and was currently whistling a strange tune and pouring some tea into two porcelain cups. She did nothing, even as he turned with bright green blazing eyes. There was no telling what kind of Nen ability he had, or what restrictions were attached, but he was Chrollo's brother so she could assume he was powerful. She couldn't let him touch her.

"Ah, finally," he said, setting down the cup in front of her, yet maintaining an easy distance. "The woman of the hour. Sit down, sweetheart. We'll be here a while."

Her eyes settled on Komugi's limp figure, one eyebrow raised expectantly. He followed her gaze.

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's just asleep. I didn't want an innocent little woman like her to listen to our conversation."

Probably didn't want her blabbing about it. Kurapika sat down despite her best instinct, knowing deep inside he expected her to be more cautious. Playing by his rules was unacceptable.

Roro sat across from her, and she finally had time to take in his appearance. He wasn't as put-together as Chrollo, his black hair more tousled and a small stubble growing on his chin. His dress was casual with black jeans and a navy v-neck shirt.

His head tilted to the side as he took her in as well. "You are much prettier up close. The disheveled look suits you. I suspect you and my little brother had some fun before you tried to kill him."

She glared but kept her anger under control. "What did you want from me? Or, did you simply come to speak of the nonsensical."

Raising his arms placatingly, he continued when anyone else would've lost hope. He really was Chrollo's brother. She needed to stop thinking about that man. Chrollo could wait for his sentence. Roro was threatening one of the only people left in this world that she cared about. "I just wanted to make sure you hadn't slept with him. I wouldn't want to kill off my own niece or nephew prematurely, after all."

She wasn't going to engage in this conversation. It was absolutely ridiculous. "You mean to kill me, yes? Then, get on with it." Get on with it so I can pummel your face into the ground. He looked too much like Chrollo for his own good.

"I actually came with a proposition," he said, bringing out a thin blade sharp enough to kill. His eyes roamed it as if deliberating what its purpose would be.

"Go on."

He smiled. "Your reunion with your family. In this world instead of the next."

Her brain rolled its imaginary eyes. That was impossible. She said nothing, so he decided to explicate further.

"I could resurrect your family and give them new bodies. Bodies without the curse of the Scarlet Eyes. You would live normally."

"What's the catch?"

"Your life."

One life for a hundred and twenty-eight. That hardly evened out. He was definitely lying.

"I'm a lot of things, sweetheart," he started, "but I'm not a liar by any account."

His eyes showed no sign of a lie now that she met them, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either. It was a look she'd often seen in Chrollo's eyes as well. "How certain are you that this would work?"

"Ninety-nine percent at least," he answered. That last one percent was clearly all the ways it could fail. She doubted that safety net was set out to help her. "I know people. They're specialists who can put the souls of the departed into other bodies-"

"I refuse."

His easy grin almost faded into a scowl, but he quickly caught himself. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"One hundred and twenty-eight souls for another one hundred twenty-eight. I won't be responsible for the deaths of those people."

"Surely, the lives of your people are more important than the lives of a few strangers?" What a strange mentality. This was the man who raised Chrollo? At least, that was what he told her. Who knew if it was true?

"I'm afraid our perspectives differ slightly," she answered. "I do not wish to bring my family back. I've dealt with the fact they're gone. I simply want to live now. Besides, the Scarlet Eyes aren't a curse. I'm proud to be a Kurta and I wouldn't change a thing." Even if they were chased and massacred for them. It wasn't the Scarlet Eyes, it was the people who wanted them for their own.

He shut his eyes in contemplation. "I see. I was hoping you'd accept my proposal. You see," his eyes opened and focused on the blade in his hands. "I, myself, cannot kill you with my own hands."

"You were hoping I'd do that myself," she concluded. The man nodded, dropping the blade on the table with a loud clatter.

"It's unfortunate. I suppose you still want to kill my brother and his friends?" he asked.

"That depends," the blonde avenger replied, "on his answer."

He smiled. "That doesn't sound too promising, but I suppose love is the strongest force in the universe. Who knows? Maybe he'll get through to you?"

"Perhaps." Unlikely.

He smiled again, almost fondly, standing up and placing his cup of tea in the sink. "I suppose I should take my leave then." She stood as well, planning to see him out, but as he passed his hand wrapped around her wrist and he pulled her closer. His lips pressed to hers before she had time to react. She let out a noise of protest as his tongue swept over the inside of her mouth, placing her hands on his chest to push him away. Chrollo. He was the only one allowed to . . . enough! This wasn't the time to contemplate her persistent feelings for that man and the fact there was definitely more to his crimes against her. She'd come to hate him eventually, but right now she had to deal with this psycho.

Her legs suddenly went limp, and he let her fall to the ground, gazing down at her with what she could only take as pity.

"What did you do to me?" she hissed, seething, as she tried to pick herself up. It was no use, her entire body seemed to have lost its will to move.

"Ah, just a little sleeping pill," he said, kneeling down and tilting her chin up. "Didn't see that coming did you, sweetheart?"

The tea! Goddammit, he must be immune to whatever he put in it, but for her it was just as strong as ever. It was brilliant, sickeningly so. He was Chrollo's brother, after all.

"What will you do now? I thought you couldn't kill me."

He shook his head. "Oh no, I can't, but if I somehow made another person drop you into a deathtrap, well then," he brushed her cheek ever-so-gently, "I'm not really the one doing the killing."

Not directly, anyway. She should've known.

"How's a dip in an old well sound?"

"Terrible."

He chuckled, clapping his hands. "A sense of humor. Chrollo's a lucky man, or should I say, was."

The blonde sent him one last heated glare before her eyelids finally sealed close.

. . .

When she woke up, the water had already gotten up to her neck. Thankfully, she had been sitting when she awoke. Unfortunately, her right leg was broken and her Nen seemed to have taken an inconvenient break from being helpful. He had certainly taken every precaution to keep her hear. You know, other than the fact that she'd learned to swim with broken appendages years ago. As if she'd be done in by . . . oh wait, no, he'd chained her to the ground.

Well . . . shit. She would be done in by the most basic of death traps.

A sharp, squeaking noise suddenly echoed through the dark well. It sounded suspiciously like a microphone.

"Testing, testing!" Roro's voice rang. "Can you hear me, sweetheart?"

"I appreciate you leaving my other leg alone, but couldn't you have simply twisted my ankle or perhaps not damaged any of my body parts?" she asked, surprisingly calm.

The cave lit up all of a sudden.

"Look into the water," said the psychopath. The blonde did so, figuring she had nothing to lose.

What she saw forced her to stand up, all her weight transferring to her good leg. Letting the shock fade, the Kurta bent down to pick up one of the bones scattered across the floor. There was no mistaking it, these were the bones of a human. But they were so small . . .

"Let me tell you a story, sweetheart," Roro spoke again, and his voice was filled with something akin to guilt. "About my brother."

She said nothing, still staring at the remnants of someone who died in this watery grave. There it was. The panic. She was still human.

"Once upon a time," he started and she simply had to roll her eyes. He was certainly dramatic. "There was a beautiful little girl named Cecilia. She lived in a dark place but she was happy enough. Cheerful and playful, especially when she was with her best friend, a boy named Chrollo." Surprise, surprise. "They did everything together, practically inseparable. But the boy had a destiny to fulfill, and the girl was trying hard to steer him off course. The brother of the boy knew Cecilia was making him weak, so he took it upon himself to . . . get rid of her. Chrollo never found out, believing his best friend had simply abandoned him and all was right with the world once more. The boy continued to follow his chosen path with a band of close allies, putting his all into creating a legacy the world would never forget."

"You drowned her," the blonde said. "You drowned a child all because your brother stopped listening to you."

"That's not the end of the story, sweetheart," he almost scolded. "We haven't even gotten to the best part. One day, Chrollo got into a fight with a man called Karol, an old rival of his. He got away easily, it was a simple flesh wound, but he, unfortunately, stumbled upon a girl from the nearby village. Or rather, she stumbled upon him. That girl was you."

"Yeah, I was sort of there."

"Don't interrupt me! Goodness, you are an impudent one," he said, a little vexed now, before moving on with the story. "He loved that little girl like a little sister, adored her, really. But of course, this couldn't last. He had to go back home eventually. But when he returned, his brother noticed the changes in his aura. It was similar to Cecilia's influence but amplified tenfold. The village that little girl came from had given him a troublesome brush with hope. So, I decided they had to go too. There was just one problem. The Kurta were strong." Got that right, bastard. "Not only that, but there was one hundred and twenty-eight of them. I specialized in target murders, not massacres. So, I thought, what better way to snap him out of his little trance than to have him murder the cause of it. Chrollo was unreasonably stubborn, however. It took wiping his memories and a year and a half of visions in isolation to get him to realize this was the best option."

"You did what?!" she hissed. "You forced him to kill us all?"

"No, I just persuaded him a bit. It was his first massacre so he was understandably wary even without his memories."

Ah great, now she felt guilty. He went through eighteen months of the hell she'd only been able to stand for three or four. Sure, she didn't regret cutting ties with him after all the lies and manipulation, but that didn't change the fact that the blame she'd entirely placed on his shoulders was a bit unwarranted. She'd just apologize when she got out of here.

Oh wait.

"Years later, it turned out the little Kurta girl survived and she was no longer a weakling. She'd become too dangerous, and all her wrath was focused on him. So, once again, I knew I had to get rid of her someone. And now, she will be sent down into her watery tomb to be reunited with her family. She gets her old life back and Chrollo Lucilfer continues to be one of the most ruthless thieves in the world. The End." A pause and . . . "What did you think of the story?"

"I don't know," the woman started, watching the water level rise steadily to her abdomen. "The brother sounds like a bit of an asshole."

He hummed. "Indeed, but he's working for the greater good, in the end, believe me."

"May I add onto it?" she asked, not really interested in his answer. "The younger brother finally finds the strength to get rid of the evil older brother and finally gets to decide how to live his life."

"Unrealistic."

"Really?" she asked, almost laughing now, tossing her head back a bit as the water reached her chin. "Never underestimate the power of revenge. Karma is real, Roro Lucilfer, and it will hit you hard."

The lights shut off and the voice bid her goodbye.

Karma. It was a lot more dangerous than she had thought. She had been intent on isolating herself, and now, no one would know what really happened.

She let them fall because really, it didn't matter if she cried now. Death was upon her anyway. The blonde could be a little lax with herself this once. It would mix in with the well's water anyway.

One of the bones of that girl knocked against her shoe, and she wondered how Cecilia had felt when it happened to her. Was she scared? Sad? Regretful? She had only been a child, of course, she had to have been terrified. She couldn't have felt the tinge of relief Kurapika felt right now. Losing everyone you cared about in one night could only be healed with the hope of seeing them again eventually. The revenge helped though.

Kurapika's hands clenched into fists in the water. She had to say it. Just this once.

"I love you."

For whom it was for, even she wasn't certain.

And just like that, the last Kurta resigned herself to no longer having to struggle.

. . .

NEXT ON LIONS!:

Chrollo is very upset with Roro (and a bit with Kurapika, but it's not like that will last).

(A/N: Kurapika is a conjurer, so physical strength isn't her specialty. Also, those chains holding her down are pretty strong and her Nen is gone. Wait for the next chapter. Also, for further clarification, Chrollo was practically brainwashed to kill the Kurta in a similar way Kurapika was brainwashed to try and kill herself, except it was like twelve times more intense because there was no one to help him through it. I swear, eventually, I'll make a fic where Chrollo remorselessly slaughtered the Kurta, but this isn't the one. They're not a cutesy love story, but Kurapika's also not one to fall in love with a person who committed the genocide of his people. Especially in this fic.)

Question of the Day: Nice backstory, eh? There's more. Also, YorkNew City Arc is almost over. Are we excited for Greed Island? For some KilluGon action? For no Kurapika in sight? Oh wait . . . I guess that's just a sacrifice we'll all have to make.

~ Replies to Reviewers ~

MedusaLegend: Oh, Chrollo's gonna have to work to get back into her heart, and then work some more to get back into boyfriend-status. He'll be in the friend zone for a while. I'm sorry, Chrollo, but Kurapika's a cautious person who's been hurt too many times : (

guest: Seriously, Chrollo's being a coward. But yeah, he's probably looking for Roro. We shall see next chapter. Also, Kurapika's got something up her sleeve. Chrollo is just really good at planning stuff, that's all. He also knows Kurapika really well after analyzing her behavior. Another thing, Chrollo knocked her out because he doesn't want her to become a murderer. She's too good, too pure . . . at least, compared to him. Chrollo really, really loves Kurapika and he's not afraid to show it so prepare yourself to see Kurapika give the cold shoulder to an affectionate Chrollo. Not affectionate in the way he's been in past chapters. Just generally friendly-like affection and an occasional slip-up every now and then. Roro? Behave? After Kurapika almost killed Chrollo? Pfft, as if. Komugi's fine. Kurapika on the other hand. She was kissed by someone who wasn't Chrollo (le gasp) and then sent into the most basic of death traps (blasphemy.) Wait till Chrollo finds out. Roro's become even more of an asshole now. Also don't worry about the late review. I was waiting for it and was super happy nonetheless. Thanks for taking the time!

~ End of Replies ~

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