Surrounded by a bunch of people dressed in white and wearing colorful masks. That's something you don't see everyday.
"W-What the hell is this!?" Leorio shouted. "Move out the way or you'll get punched!"
Leorio was putting up his fist to intimidate the group but they didn't move a budge.
Within the enormous crowd, there was a elderly lady, not clothed the same way, coming out and walking towards us.
"She must be the leader out of this entire group" Gon said quietly.
The elderly lady gave a short laugh as she looked at each of us.
"I see there are four of you here. How interesting." She said
"What's so interesting about seeing us here old lady?" Leorio said in annoyance.
"Let's just say, in order for you to pass through my little town, you must first pass my quiz" The elder lady said with a creepy grin.
"We'll take your quiz" Kurapika said without any hesitation.
"What!? Are you insane Kurapika!? This could be a trick!" Leorio shouted.
"Hm..well I want to take the quiz too" Gon said shyly.
"Well, what can go wrong with a few questions." I said, shrugging my shoulders
"Tch. Fine. Do whatever you want." Leorio said with a sigh.
The elder lady looked at each of us and nodded.
"First question, Your mother and love are trapped in two separate rooms. They are about to be eaten by a pack of wolves. With the little amount of time you have left, you're only able to save one of them. Who would you save? Your mother or love?"
That's our question!? I thought to myself. How on earth do you expect us to answer that?
"You all have five seconds to answer" Said the elder lady.
I looked at Gon and Kurapika and they stayed quiet. The look on their faces showed that they figured something out.
I for one can't seem to understand this quiz. I'm not really the type of person that has an interest in puzzles or mind boggling questions.
"Okay. Final question." The old lady started saying.
"Wait, what about our previous question?" Leorio asked.
The elder lady ignored Leorio and continued her question.
"Your brother and sister are hanging onto the edge of the cliff. They are on the verge of falling. Once again, you can only save one. Who would you save? Your brother or sister?" She asked.
I still don't understand this quiz. If she moved on to the final question, then we must've gotten the first one correct. The only thing is, we were quiet the whole time.
Is silence the answer?
"The hell with this!" Leorio shouted. "I'm sick of your dumb questions! Just let us pass!"
Leorio moved forward and was about to attack the elder lady.
"Leorio! No!" I shouted as I jumped in front of the elder lady and blocked his punch.
"Move out of the way Aoi! I'm tired of these ridiculous questions!" Leorio screamed
"If you just shut up for two more seconds then she'll let us through!" I screamed back
We were silent for those two seconds.
"I presume we pass this then old lady?" Kurapika asked.
The elder lady had a serious look at first but then changed to a smile.
"Indeed you pass"
"Huh? What? What just happened?" Leorio said in confusion.
I let go of his arm and he fixed up his suit and tie.
"Silence was the answer all along. Right Gon?" Kurapika said as he looked at Gon.
"Yeah." Gon replied, shaking his head.
"I assumed silence was the answer when I noticed that the two of you didn't say anything. I still don't understand why it was the answer though. I was just following you" I said with a cheesy smile.
"Well, I was actually following Gon. I knew he must've known the answer and followed his silence as well." Kurapika said.
"Oh. That was because I heard faint screaming up ahead after the old granny said her first question. I had a feeling that those answers will probably lead us to our deaths. So I just thought staying quiet would be the best answer" Gon said
I looked at that kid in amazement. I didn't even hear anything. Gon sure is an interesting character.
"This is still dumb" Leorio said in annoyance.
"You may still hit me if you wish." Said the elder lady.
"No. I won't waste my time hitting a woman. Plus there is a line that shall not be crossed." Leorio said.
"Good choice Leorio. You almost crossed it earlier. Good thing Aoi stopped you" Kurapika said.
"Shut it" Leorio said as he huffed his nostrils and looked away.
"By the way Granny," Gon started. "Are you working with the Hunter association?"
"Indeed I am" She said as he flashed us her license badge. "I am one of the proctors and you passed one of the preliminary test"
"Wow, that's awesome" I said with a smile.
"Now that we passed, can you please lead us the way to the examination site?" Kurapika said.
"Yes. We will take you through a long, dark tunnel. You'll have to cross through there and follow the signs. By following the signs, there will be a married couple who will help you navigate to the examination site." she said.
"Wow. Thank you very much Granny" Gon said as he bowed towards the lady.
We all bowed to her as well. The elder lady and the group of villagers in white lead us to the entrance of the dark tunnel.
"It should take you a few hours to get through the tunnel. Don't forget to follow the signs. I wish you all good luck." She said and bowed to us.
We bowed once again.
Gon fixed up his backpack and took a running position.
"I'll race you guys to the end of the tunnel!" He screamed.
With that, Gon headed off with Leorio running after him.
"Oi! Gon! You're cheating! You didn't even give us time to prepare!" Leorio shouted as he tried to catch up with Gon.
I couldn't help but to laugh. They sure are funny.
"Well Aoi, we should catch up as well or else we'll fall behind" Kurapika said as he smiled towards me.
"R-Right" I said with a slight blush.
With that, Kurapika and I started running after Gon and Leorio.
It took us about 3 hours to completely get out of that tunnel. We took a few minutes to catch our breath.
"Phew. Well, that was fun. Right guys?" Gon said smiling.
"Awh man. That sure was a work out" Leorio said with a tired voice.
We looked at our new surroundings and noticed that we're by a lake.
"A lake? Are we supposed to swim our way there?" Leorio questioned
"I don't think so. Remember that old lady mentioned that there was going to be a married couple that will navigate us." Kurapika said.
"Oh yeah. But where are they?" Gon asked.
I looked past the tunnel and noticed a small boat, just the right size to hold the four of us.
"Hey guys, there's a boat ahead of us. Maybe we can use it to make our way through the lake." I said
"Good idea Aoi. Let's be careful though. There might be a trap somewhere close to us" Kurapika said
We made our way onto the tiny boat and we took turns with the oar. There were signs saying 'beware of beast ahead' around the lake. I'm pretty sure those are the signs we're told to follow.
We eventually went straight ahead to the other end of the lake and came upon a small cabin. We walked towards the cabin and noticed two people, a man and a woman, sitting at the front porch.
"Welcome. You four must be here for the Hunter's exam" The woman said with a smile.
"Yes we are. You must be the married couple that old lady said earlier. Can you take us there?" Leorio asked.
"We will take you there but first, you must help us with something." Said the man.
"What do you want us to help you with?" I asked.
"If you've seen the sign while coming here, we need you to take care of the beast for us." The woman said.
"Yes. If you can help us get rid of this beast, then we will help you navigate to Zaban City." said the man.
I felt my necklace shaking every time the married couple spoke. There is something about them that seems suspicious.
"We will help you get rid of this beast." Kurapika said
"Thank you very much" The married couple said with a bow.
"Do you know where we can find this beast?" Gon asked.
"Yes. The beast is usually flying around the lake. So you will have to get back on the boat to search for it." Said the woman.
There! My necklace definitely reacted to that last statement. It's actually my bass reacting. She's lying.
"Okay. Back to the boat it is" Leorio said as he started walking towards it.
"Wait guys" I said
"Something wrong Aoi?" Kurapika asked.
With my nen, I summoned my Bass guitar from my necklace.
"Can you repeat where that beast would be?" I asked the couple.
"Uh...the beast is located somewhere around the lake. You would need to get back on the boat to search for it." Said the man.
I felt the strings on my bass reacting.
"You're lying" I said.
"Huh? What are you talking about Aoi? And what's with that guitar?" Leorio asked.
"Sorry, I should explain myself" I said. "This bass guitar is my source of lie detector. The strings on my guitar would vibrate whenever someone is lying. As you can see, my guitar is reacting to that last statement. Which means they are lying."
I looked at the married couple. They don't seem worried at all.
"Would sending us back on the boat lead us to our death?" I asked seriously.
They were silent at first but the husband was the first to talk.
"You're correct." He said.
"Wow! Nice catch Aoi." Gon said.
"So if taking that boat will lead to death, where the hell is the beast!?" Leorio shouted
"It is possible that maybe, the two of you are actually the beast." Kurapika said looking at me with my guitar.
Nice one. Kurapika knows that my guitar will react if they lie.
The couple were silent again. This time, the wife responded.
"I guess we can't lie our way out of this. You are right. We are the beasts." She said.
Within a few seconds, both husband and wife transformed into a fox like winged beast.
We all took a fighting stance with me putting my bass guitar away and taking my flute out instead.
"Don't worry. We will not fight. The four of you passed this part of the exam." The man said with a smile.
"Eh? We passed?" Leorio said in confusion.
"Yes. If you went back on that boat, you would've had automatic fail. It's thanks to this young lady for catching our lie." The woman, glancing towards me.
"It's all thanks to my guitar" I said, patting my necklace with pride.
"That necklace is your weapon?" Leorio asked.
"Yeah. I can summon certain instruments with it. They each have unique specialties so it's pretty useful" I said with a smile.
"That's really cool" Gon said.
I nod my head and continued to smile.
"Now that you all passed this part of the test, We will now take you to Zaban City." The woman said.
"How are you taking us there?" Kurapika asked.
"Flying of course" The man said as he spread his wings. "We'll each take two of you."
Leorio and Gon was with the woman and Kurapika and I grabbed onto the husband and they flew us to Zaban city.
As we were flying towards Zaban City, Kurapika started a conversation with me.
"You made a good call earlier. I had a feeling something was suspicious as well but you beat me to it" Kurapika said with a smile.
His smile was very charming. I couldn't help but to look away and blush.
"T-Thanks. I was just following whatever my instrument was reacting to." I said with a nervous laugh.
"I can tell you must be a pretty strong girl. I would love to see more of your skills Aoi" He said with another smile.
I feel my face getting hot.
What is this strange feeling I have towards Kurapika? I only met this guy a couple of hours ago. It's a different feeling than when I was with Shalnark.
That reminds me, Kurapika still hasn't explained his reason for taking the Hunter's exam.
I guess it must be something really private that he hasn't trusted to tell us yet which is understandable.
"We've arrived to Zaban City. There is the building where you'll need to sign in." Said the man as we landed in front of the building.
"Thank you very much for the help" Gon said.
"You're welcome. Good luck to the four of you" Said the lady.
The couple bowed and and took off as we waved our 'goodbye' to them.
We went through the buildings entrance and walked up to the front desk.
"Welcome to the Hunter's Association exam. Would you all kindly please register your names" The receptionist said with a smile.
We all signed in and received a pin with numbers on each one.
"These pins are your assigned numbers throughout the entire exam. Please wear them at all times so that the association will know who you are." Said the receptionist.
We placed our pins on our shirts as we looked at each other's numbers. Our numbers went from 403-406:
Gon was 405, Leorio 403 and Kurapika 404. My number was 406.
The receptionist led us to an elevator and we rode it straight to the bottom of the building.
As we exited the elevator, we entered a cave like room that was filled with other candidates for the exam.
"Wow, There's so many people here." Gon said in excitement.
"I wonder how many of us will fail this exam" Leorio said.
"Come on Leorio. Don't be so negative" I said lightly punching his arm.
"Aren't I right though?" Leorio asked
"You are but keep a positive attitude will ya?" I said with a chuckle.
Suddenly I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and saw that there's a call from Shalnark.
"Excuse me for a second. I gotta pick up this call" I said, motioning my phone.
"Alright. But don't go too far" Kurapika said.
I nodded my head and walk a couple feet away from them so they were out of ear reach.
"Hello? Shal? What's up?" I said as I picked up the call.
"Aoi? I have something important to tell you." Shalnark said, sounding urgent.
"What is it? Did something happen with the group?" I asked worried.
"No, we're fine." He said reassuringly. "I just want to tell you that Chrollo had found your replacement without our knowledge and already sent him on an assignment."
"So? What does that have to do with me?" I asked, unsure of what's going on.
"Well, the thing is, I didn't get to see him. I was on a a separate assignment when Chrollo found him. But this assignment was to take the Hunter's exam, find you and bring you back to the Troupe." He said
I stood there in shock.
Find me and bring me back? I don't want to come back. I'm content with my exploration adventure. Why does Chrollo want me back?
"Shal, I don't get it. Didn't Chrollo let me leave the group? Why does he suddenly want me back?" I asked, confused as to why this is happening now.
"He told me that we're gonna have a very big job to do in a couple of months and you are needed for the job." Shal answered.
"What job is that?" I asked.
"Not sure. He said he'll let us know when you come back." He said.
"But what if I don't want to come back?" I said, annoyed.
If it involves killing, I refuse to do it.
"I heard Chrollo mention that there will be a chance of you resisting. That's why he immediately sent the new guy to find you. He knows you're taking the Hunter exam. He may want to bring you back by force in all means necessary. So please be careful Aoi." Shalnark said.
It would be by force if I say no. Why must Chrollo make my life difficult right now.
"Well, what is my replacement's name?" I asked
"Oh right. His name is-" The line went dead.
"Hello? Hello? Shalnark? Shal?" I repeated on the phone.
I looked at my screen and realized that I lost connection down here.
"Damn..." I whispered as I hung up the phone and placed it back in my pocket.
I walked back to the guys as Kurapika was the first one to greet me.
"Is something wrong Aoi?" He asked
"No. Everything's fine" I said with a small smile.
"Who were you talking to on the phone?" Gon asked.
"An old friend of mine." I answered.
"You sure it's not a boyfriend?" Leorio said with a cheesy smile.
"No you idiot!" I shouted and knocked his head.
One of the elevator doors opened and there was a man with lavender hair and a curly mustache that entered the room.
"Welcome to the Hunter's association exam. We will officially begin phase one of the exam shortly. Let me explain one thing, if you're unable to catch up or think you're not capable of doing this, you may leave now before it's too late." Said the lavender haired man.
No one moved an inch.
"I see. We shall start the first phase. Would you all please follow me through those doors. We will be crossing Zaban City underground."
With that, two gigantic wooden doors opened and the lavender haired man started walking along with other examiners following him.
"Let's go guys! It's starting!" Gon shrieked in excitement.
"Time to do this!" Leorio said, excited as well.
"Well, let's follow this man" Kurapika said.
I nodded my head and we all started to follow along.
I felt nervous. I couldn't get the thoughts of my phone call with Shal off my mind.
Someone within this group is here on an assignment to find and me possibly bring me back to the Spiders.
I don't even know how that is going to happen as well as if I want to go back.
Walking a bit behind from the rest, I looked at Gon, Leorio and Kurapika.
I sure hope none of them are the ones Chrollo asked to replace me.