PHASE 6: Déjà Vu

Nostrade sat on the comfy sofa of the luxurious hotel room, patiently waiting for someone as he stared at the timepiece hanging on the wall. As the clock continued ticking, he heard several footsteps outside and soon after, he saw the doorknob rotated in a slow manner. The door gave no creaking sound when it opened; Amaranth's boss gestured and stood up as soon as his eyes landed its gaze on his expected guest.

"Ah, please let yourself feel at home Sir Lacroix," Nostrade requested.

"We're very sorry if there was a sudden change of plans for this meeting. Please do understand that we only value your safety for this reason," the man with tattoos beneath his eyes added while accompanying their visitor inside, together with two more unnamed bodyguards of Lacroix. "Please take a seat."

Lacroix shook his head, "It's alright. I appreciate your sincere effort." He then proceeded to acknowledge Dalzollene's invitation to sit down.

The bodyguards stood behind their clients, making sure that their bosses will be free from harm as every second passed. As for the persons they're guarding, Nostrade and Lacroix, the two sat in opposite spaces, facing each other. As soon as their eyes met, they're conceptuality seemed to have reached the same goal in mind.

"So… Shall we start the negotiations now?"

Meanwhile…

The wind of the night was blowing cold and stiff beyond the walls of every skyscraper in York Shin City, suitable for the clash between two souls at odd.

Amaranth repeated her question once more but this time, she spat out the words more forcibly, "Who the hell are you?!"

There was no reply.

The splintered window of the building merely functioned as the portal for letting in the moonlight and humid air to pass but this night; it served as the entrance of Amaranth's new opponent. She stared at the shiny shards of the window's glass being crushed into smaller bits by the steps of her approaching enemy. The man cast a peculiar shadow which rested on the moonlit ground, his features barely made visible by the serendipity of the hours of darkness.

"Well, that was quite an entrance. Shouldn't you be introducing yourself first or something?" she asked in a sardonic manner whilst waving her hands at him impertinently.

There was no reply. Again.

Amaranth looked at him intently, ranking his abilities with her gaze. He was like an expressionless doll; his thoughts seemed to be burrowed deep enough for it was impossible to tell what he was thinking at the very moment. Jet black hair lay down until his waist, almost the same length as her silver locks. But what caught her attention the most were his eyes which seemed like a bottomless pit of unimaginable gloominess – the trademark of Illumi Zoldyck. Nevertheless, Amaranth still remained clueless about his real name at the present time but she was sure to say that the person in front of her is capable of giving off an awfully wonderful fight.

Receiving no favorable answers, she obliged herself to do the talking again. "Silent type, huh? I like that," she sarcastically said while removing the needles from her shoulders. "I'll ask you again, who are you mister long hair? Answer me or else I'll keep calling you such names."

Still, no reply followed.

"What's your problem? Too scared to speak? Are you deaf, mute or something?" She gave him an idiotic smile despite knowing the danger at hand. "Well if that's the case... You're lucky because sometimes, I can be a little generous to the handicapped. So tell me now, who are you, really?"

Illumi swatted several needles towards her as part of his first answer. "You don't have the right to know," he finally furnished a response in a bleak tone.

"At last, someone who will give me a wholesome fight showed up," Amaranth said while gracefully evading Illumi's attack as if she was dancing with the breeze.

His attack signaled the start of their fight. At the first pace of the fight, Amaranth planned to concentrate more on her defense. Her main purpose for doing so was to study the movements of Illumi. Indeed, she was trying to find a loophole in the manner of his consecutive attacks while not abandoning her concentration to avoid getting pinned by his deadly pricks. All she did to deal with him at the moment was to evade until she sees an opening for launching an attack.

Illumi kept on bombarding his needles at her. While resuming his footsteps, his fingers were following the direction of his target and one after another, he released his needles in such lethal speed. Unfortunately, all of his pins ended up piercing the wall from which she went by but he was successful in driving her into a corner.

"You've got nowhere to run now." His bloodlust poured out at the sight of his restricted enemy.

The silver-haired maiden knew her situation but she still managed to bring about an insult, "So this is how you treat ladies, huh? Locking them up into a small space until they couldn't escape. I'm telling you, this isn't the right way to make a woman happy." She bit her lip in dismay but thought of something to extend their fight.

Abandoning her defensive state, she paced her momentum on the wall and used it to gather enough power to thrust herself in midair, giving her body enough air time to pass above llumi. Amaranth landed back to back with her target, she immediately spun around as soon as she touched the ground and turned her hands into a deadly strike, aiming to hit her opponent's cervical vertebrae. But before she could even hit, Illumi opposed her first attack using his forearm. Surprised by his skills, Amaranth lost her focus for a second.

What?! He blocked it?! I thought he was just a good-for-nothing throwing machine!
I can't believe he's good at close combat too!

As their arms clashed, she felt the stiffness of his muscles while speculating that she might get killed sooner if she continues to take the fight in such manner.

Illumi firmly grabbed her by the wrist with no intentions of letting her escape; his grip was enough to make mere humans wince in pain but as for his current enemy, her reaction was a bit surprising than usual. The lady twisted her joints at the base of her captured hand a little to gain hold of his wrist as well. "Let's see who's going to have a broken wrist first," she challenged him.

The expressionless Illumi yanked his wrist and released a kick which landed on the girl's jaw, sending the silver-haired maiden flying to the rubble within the darkness. Dust spread like confetti and distorted their the line of vision due to the impact. Amaranth's body slumped onto the ruins but she was completely conscious, not a single feeling of loss and fear entered her well-being.

"That was pretty good. I wasn't expecting that," Amaranth praised her enemy, wiping off the blood trickling from her lips as she tried to get back on her feet.

She tried to move up from being packed down on the messy floor of the building but before she could even regain her composure in the battle, a razor-like hand cleaved the air in her direction. Together with his surprise attack, Illumi spat out the word she despised to hear.

"Die!"

He expressed the honesty of his savagery by giving her a finishing move.

Eh?! I can't believe he's too eager to kill!

The silver-haired maiden was caught up in tension but still managed duck by sitting on her heels, successfully evading Illumi's deadly hand. If she was late for a second, she must've lost her head in the whole process. Inches above her, his hand stuck penetrated on the wall.

It feels like this already happened before…

Her body recessed for a while with her hypothesis but at the instant her brain picked up that single word which came from him, her unpleasant memories flashed in her head like beaming streaks of light.

DÉJÀ VU…

One by one… The events from her childhood knocked into her present, bringing about a distressing and heartbreaking embrace to her senses and emotions. Her frosty eyes almost bloated up tears when she recalled her bitter past but she knew well that this isn't the time for drama and crying. Despite the many years which passed after that unfortunate incident, her wounds still doesn't seem to have healed. Not a single bit.

That aura… It's him! I'm sure of it. He wreaks the scent of death.
There's no doubt. He's the one who murdered my parents!

Her face hardened as soon as she realized everything – that the man in front of her was her long-gone nemesis. As for Illumi, his face still remained vacant even though he's within the verge of not being able to believe that his target evaded his attack.

"I missed…?" he pondered in disappointment but his voice stayed remarkably calm. "Oh well, you're lucky this time but… That won't happen again." His eyes broadened even more at the sight of his current prey that remained still in her position.

"That won't happen again?!" She gave off an insulting laugh whilst clenching her fist in fury. "It already happened... If you know what I'm talking about," she muffled in a low but mocking voice. Amaranth still crouched below Illumi, not moving from her cornered location and not showing any signs or efforts of escaping.

"Are you scared to move?" he inquired in such unconcerned tone of speaking, ignoring her previous statements.

"Idiot. You should be the one scared." For the second time that night, she grabbed Illumi by his wrist. She stood up face to face with him while staring at his expressionless face with her flaming eyes. Amaranth's beautiful appearance started to get stained with pure anger and lament, her lips curled downwards to an evil grimace.

Could it be? This woman…? Illumi searched his memories to recognize the girl who seemed to be someone he knew and dealt with before.

"First, that dumb old ugly Lacroix didn't show up here for some reason and now, I have to deal with you. All I got lately are bad vibes. I'm really having a bad day and do you know what that means?" Her grip tightened even more, almost breaking some of his bones. "I could really bash the head of the person I'm seeing right now and that's you."

"Lacroix?" Illumi paused for a while after hearing the name she uttered. After analyzing the situation, he harshly freed his hand from her control for he finally realized that his real target is not where he's supposed to be. "I don't have time to waste arguing with you." He took several steps backwards, yet still giving a malicious glare to whom he's talking to as if telling her not to make any stupid move to come after him.

"Hey! You stupid moron! I'm not done with you yet!" Amaranth howled furiously, her eyes in rage, trying to catch up with him but was threatened by a set of needles flying towards her. She evaded his pins with precision but it provided Illumi the time he needed to vanish from her sight. "I will make you regret your refusal to cooperate!" She yelled in resentment, making sure that he will hear her sentiments. She tried searching for his trace, knowing that his enemy couldn't have gone that far. But unluckily, Illumi was good at hiding his presence, making himself able to leave without any trouble of letting her track him.

Left all alone in the abandoned building, Amaranth was eaten by her vicious thoughts. She was well-driven by her overflowing anger, she hit the wall with her tightened fist; frustrated for allowing him go that so easily. After all the years she spent, she finally found the person she's looking for. It made her heated and excited at the same time. Calm down… Calm down… I need to calm down… She repeatedly told herself, she didn't want to be controlled by her emotions for it might only cause her trouble in advance. Fortunately, her moment sulking in severe ire was ceased when she remembered the reality she has to face beforehand.

"Oh! I almost forgot… I still have to deal with Dalz…" She gave herself a facepalm, heaving a heavy sigh under her breath. Then, the silver-haired maiden remembered Illumi's reaction when he heard the name of the person she's supposed to escort. Why would he react in that kind of way? It's as if he knows Lacroix. She thought to herself. After a few seconds of thinking, an idea finally came up.

"Now I think I get it, I guess he's after Lacroix…" she whispered to herself. Still not satisfied with her conclusion, she continued scrutinizing the confusing situation. "If Dalz leaked that information about this dangerous meet-up as I am suspecting, he had probably taken Lacroix to safety already, in order to avoid mixing him up with this mess. And there's also a high possibility that he's with the old geezer now." She clasped her hands in her precise discovery but it made her bathe in anxiety too soon.

Shit.

"Boss and Dalz… If Lacroix is already with them… They're all in big trouble. Mister long hair is going to look for them. He's one dangerous fellow, I should hurry." She immediately made her way down to exit the forsaken building, her footsteps running heavily. "Besides, I wouldn't like it if Dalz or anyone else gets to deal with him. He's mine to finish," she said, chuckling in anticipation but still preventing her anger to take over her actions.

Once again, she trekked the city to carry out her intentions. Her body coalesced with darkness as she released the words in the damp air, "Looks like the one they don't trust will be their salvation. I like this."

Author's Note:

Finally! I had the time to update the story. For all those reading and waiting for this, thank you so much but I'm really sorry that it took a little longer than usual and as for the upcoming chapters, updates will still come slow (or even slower). Please bear with me. Nevertheless... I will try, by all means, to continue the story that I have in mind. For the time being, I do hope you guys are still enjoying this story. Well, that's all I can say for now. Ciao~ ^^