Maha woke up so early that his mornings were usually the day before for the others. He was eating his breakfast when Killua was born. He had an appreciative nod when he heard the new. A son again. Good. It will encourage Kikyo to have more children again, until they have a girl. Or they'll make a girl of one of their sons. It bought surprising results. It happened before. Maha could name all the precedents in the family. He had a stunning memory, and a knowledge about the family nobody could explain. Not that anyone tried. Nobody cared about him, and he carefully ensure it remains this way. He made his life a constant disappearance. He was a ghost, an intangible impression, a drop of a man in the air, and he was everywhere, heard everything, saw what shouldn't be seen, and no one knew about it.

So, at dawn, no one saw him leaving the manor and going to the orchard ravaged by the storm. No one saw him climbing a surviving apple tree, chewing an acid unripe apple, while he was watching.

Below, butlers and the newcomer were cleaning the orchard, saving what can be saved, sawing what cannot. Chrollo was working hard. What an obliging little boy. An helpfulness that looked all natural. He must had practiced hard to show this spontaneity. Just as he may had practiced to propose services that were actually orders. Silva told him he could be a true Zoldyck, did he ? He sure wanted to prove himself.

He was sounding holes left behind by knocked over trees. He said he wanted to know how far the roots were going through the fragilized ground. It was important, to know if the nearest surviving trees were at risk to fall or die. He was running from tree to tree, examining them carefully. Maha smiled and jumped off the apple tree, slowly coming to him, as he was just taking a walk.

"You're clever." he said, looking at the sky, just like he was commenting the weather.

Chrollo, a kneel in the mud a covered with dirt, stood up, visibly disconcerted.

"Thanks you, master Maha. To what do I owe this compliment ?"

Maha snorted : " "Master" Maha ? Be careful, kid. After you served some "lady" to Kikyo all evening long, you'll raise suspicion. Don't push it too far."

"...Lady Kikyo allows me to…"

"She doesn't forbid you. It's different." said Maha while sitting crossed legs on a cut down trunk.

He was smiling at the boy. A thin, witty smile. It let it last. Without saying anything. Chrollo quickly showed some discomfort..

"What do you want ?... I mean, what can I do for you ?"

Maha burst out laughing. "Oho, what a bossy tone ! And badly made up ! Yeah, you can bite your lips, you have a reason. You're wrong, you shouldn't want to be adopted and be a second-hand brother. You're leader material. What a waste to look at you acting flunky.'"

"You're mocking me."

"No, I'm having fun of the situation. And I'm admiring. You're not the first one who walks around the mountain looking for the seventh nen. Every people who tried always started by the venerable high trees on the east slope. A tree that grew up in mythological times, that may be so old and imposing…. they all think that. You don't. You started the conversation about botanic at diner with Kikyo, you showed off your erudition and all, and Kikyo gave you a verbal map of the fauna around. Clever. And you, knowing the older, rarer and astonishing trees are on the east, you tackle banal fruit trees on south slope. Tell me why."

Chrollo robbed his neck in embarrassment, looked at his dirty hands, and tried to get rid of the mud of the oversized overalls that Silva led him.

"It's logical. The legend says the Specialist exorcised the transmuter right away, but it's probably a deformation through repetitions. No need to lock up so carefully a guy who had become inoffensive again. The Specialist probably needed months, or years, before going with the exorcism technique. Meanwhile, a starting family is stuck on a mountain. They need to provide for themselves. The fruit trees are probably the only trees that were already here from the beginning. Trees die, are replaced, but the orchard remains. The trees are regularly pruned, their natural appearance is modified, they all look the same. This is the best place to hide a special tree, a tree that can't die. And when mum… lady Kikyo told me the orchard has old and rustic varieties…"

"... your hypothesis had been confirmed" ended Maha. "Very good. How did you know the tree wouldn't die ?"

"It was more of a hope than a deduction. A time nen may protect its owner from time ravages. The only way to be sure is to verify on the spot."

"And when would you know you found it ?"

Chrollo bite his lips again. "A clue… A incoherence… Using my gyo…"

Maha shooked his head : "Here stops your genius and you know it. If only a clue or a simple gyo could show the seventh nen, it would no longer be a mystery for anyone for a long time. This tree fascinates every Zoldyck kid. They all look after it at a time of their existence. Why do you think Illumi likes so much lonely trainings in the forest ?"

Chrollo gasped, eyes open wide. Maha laughed again.

"What ? You thought you were the first one ? Silva is right to think you're pretentious. Ho, here you're blushing now. You're a loner, aren't you ? Those who stay alone too much tend to feel different. Nobody is. Deep down we're all the same. But loners think that being unique make them important. Nobody is important. There are only people who do important moves."

"I want to do important moves."

"You chose the wrong family for this. All we do is maintaining a certain social balance, depending entirely on wealth. What we do is hard, and lucrative, and profits to the dominant social classes, and too many people takes this as "important."

"Finding the seventh nen is important."

"It won't make you an important person. It will only make you a powerful one."

Chrollo frowned. Maha pat the cut down trunk he was sat on, inviting the child to sit next to him. "Everyone is the same, but everyone has his own way to be the same as everyone else. Tell me kiddo, what do you prefer most ? Importance, power, or respect ?"

"You don't talk about love or being myself or anything ? Old people always mention that."

"Love without respect is vain, and you can't be yourself if you don't know what you prefer among importance, power, or respect."

Chrollo looked to think hard. "But… isn't it the same thing ? This is what I want, all of them."

Maha sighed : "What a pity. You're promising, but you're still a child. You lack self-awareness."

Chrollo shrugged. "It's useless to know who you are when you know what you want."

Maha almost feel of the trunk out of laughter. "What a clear-cut tone ! How confident you claim such bullshit ! Yeah, you're definitely made to be a leader. Only a leader can be so dumb and being proud of it. Remember this, you who don't love yourself and don't want to learn who you are. Be a leader. Earn respect. Defy order. You'll make important moves."

Maha jumped off the cut down truck and stood up straight before Chrollo. Then he stooped. Chrollo looked at this with astonishment.

"How old are you ?"

"It's a rude question."

"I pretend I'm older too. To look juvenile."

"Me too."

"You look… centenary."

"So I look much more younger than I am."

"Aren't you master Zeno's grandfather ?"

"I've been a lot of people's grandfather. I've alway been someone's grandfather. You're right, kid. Temporal nen protects who owns it, even just one second…"

Chrollo stood up, his breathing shorten by excitement.

"You… you are…"

Maha rose a hand in a calming gesture. "No, I'm his son. One of the two he had with the first enhancer's daughter. My brother and I inherited Enhancement, and a part of the Time Nen touch. We needed a transmuter heir, as you already know. We found a little girl, and a boy, who showed aptitude to Transformation, since the Nen were unleashed on the world. We adopted them. Every genetic bond with the first Transmuter have been cut out. It's a good thing. The trace of the temporal nen haven't been transmitted."

"So you are…"

"... a little two thousands years old, yes. I've stopped counting."

Chrollo sat down again on the trunk, stupefied. Maha explained.

"Nen is a constant, and finished force. The more nen users are, the less powerful every individual's nen is. It's divided. Nobody can imagine how powerful the first nens were, and the Temporal Nen was the most powerful of all. But every nen runs dry. I'm going to die some day. I'm patient. My father killed himself after eight hundreds years. He didn't grow old, and it terrified him. Time was running away from him. It's understandable. After all, my father had killed it once...Fortunately, I'm decaying. I want to go to the end of my time. My brother too, I think."

"He's still alive ?"

"Ho yeah. He's the president of this hunter society. He carries the touch of Time Nen too. Some says he's learnt to control it, through prayer. It's said he can constrict time, or something… If it's true, good for him, bad for the time. I don't have a lot of news from him lately. He ran out of discussion topics, as you can think. But I think he's having fun."

"Why are you telling me this ?"

"So you can understand there is nothing left for you here. I know you're not a transmuter. And this strange Bisky person will know it soon too. I also know that a transmuter butler of mine suffers from a strange illness that deprives him from his hatsu. I know you're responsible for this. You created a hatsu to steal the Time Nen - s a basic transformation nen should be nothing for you. But the temporal nen is not a basic nen. A nen that has never been divided, a nen as strong as every nen users reunited… You can't handle this. You'd die, before Milluki kills you."

Chrollo looked at the top of the fruit trees, rustling under the cold wind. He remained silent for a moment, then say : "Milluki'll never harm me."

"Not that he wants. But he will."

"We are family…"

"You know nothing about this family."

Maha had stopped laughing for a moment. He looked genuinely sad for the boy. "This thing you're feeling right now. This is what happens when you don't know what you want. You came for a thing, and discovered what you really wanted. What you're feeling now, this is what happens when you're not prepared to lose what you really desire. You have to learn this. Or you'll spend your life in vanity, chasing what other people craves for, unable to chose your own desires, and you'll get things you don't care about, and get bored of, and then you'll want something else, stealing and wearing and wanting again, and again, and again."

"You're lying."

Chrollo stood up too. He was taller than Maha this way. He had recovered his authoritarian voice.

"You're just trying to scare me. You're wrong. I'm not a child. I know what I want. And Milluki. Will never. Harm me."

Maha sighed with an infinite sadness. "Poor child. Silva is right, you'd deserve what you want. But go away. You came here to earn something, not to lose the last property you have. Take care of it. Go away, before your heart is broken."

Maha slowly walked away. Chrollo looked at his back. His face was indecipherable.

"Master Maha !"

Maha, his back still turned to him, had a witty smile. "What again kiddo ?"

"The tree. The tree of time. What is it ? Which one ?"

Maha snorted : "You were sat on it one second ago, boy."

Chrollo jumped as if his butt was suddenly on fire and palpated the bark. "What ? It's cut ! It will die ! Will it ? I mean… no it's just a tree, a tree can't live out of time only, master Maha, we need to…"

"Don't feel sad for this tree. It made terrible oranges. Bitter as can be."

"The nen ? Where the nen gone ? What will occur to it ? Will it come to the ground ? What if they burn the tree ? Can a nen burn ?"

"So many questions and none of them is right. The nen is gone for a while."

Chrollo took his breath to ask another questions but rather stay silent.

"I told you, stealing the nen would kill you. You didn't asked why, which is quite surprising of you."

Chrollo thought for a second. "It happened before."

Maha nodded. "A little girl stole it. Not on purpose. She had no idea. She was just adventurous, and, I must confess, a bit capricious. She couldn't stand anything being refused to her, even if she had the kindest heart. A bit like you. She only wanted an orange. Because it was forbidden, and because she wanted to give me a juice… She bite an orange, and it killed her"

Chrollo saw the back of the old man shrinking even more. Even without seeing his face, Chrollo could feel his immense sadness.

"... She was your daughter, right ? The one you adopted."

Maha nodded again. Chrollo licked his lips, asking carefully :

"So…. the nen… is in her grave…?"

Maha turned to him, glancing at him with reproach. "Maybe I got carried away when I said you have a kind heart. You never lose your target, don't you."

Chrollo grimaced : "Sorry, I wasn't thinking of robbing…"

"You were." Maha sighed. "I don't blame you, I did worst for less. But no, it's not in her grave. She has no grave. I say she's dead, because living people usually stand in a spot in time and space."

Chrollo frowned : "What happened to her…?"

Maha shrugged : "Nobody exactly knows. She's nowhere and everywhere at the same time. I can feel her existence, but not her presence. I've learnt to recognize her. In unbelievable coincidences, when time seems to roll on itself to create a chain of precise actions that lead to a present that has always been there but shouldn't. I recognized her in the curious demands of time, and rewards that had nothing to do with the demands.I repeat, the temporal nen is too powerful. It almost has its own will. She's the nen now, and the nen is her. It's said time is capricious. It's said time can heal anything. It's true. Time is a six years-old little girl. If you want to know where the seventh nen is, call her. Her name is Nanika."