A/N: Hi guys! I am soooo sorry about not updating in pretty much a year... School and everything. Busy summer. I don't really have a good excuse. I'm sure you guys probably don't want to hear them anyways. But on another note, I want to thank all of my readers who have followed, favorited, and reviewed. It really does warm my heart to know that people like it that much. And if you come back to this story after the long hiatus it's been on, then I'll love you guys even more! From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for sticking with this story and all it's spotty updates. So, onto the long-await continuation of the story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own HXH or its characters (except Shizuka).

Killua: ... as usual, you own nothing.

me: yep.

Killua: including Shizuka.

me: nope. I do. she's my wonderful idea... So shut up. -_-

Killua: yes ma'am *squeak*

It's been about a month since we left the Zoldyck mansion (Killua had told me when we were released). Killua and I have been on the road again for most of that… with two extras.

"… And why are you two coming with us, again?" There was a pretty obvious tick mark on Killua's forehead, shoulders hunched.

"Because!" replied a happily creepy voice. It wasn't quite as strange as Illumi, but still. The stupid clown smiled widely. "I want to see you two ripen to be the perfect fruit for picking!" That voice sent chills down my spine. Killua's ghost white face told me that he felt the same.

"Ok… then why are you here!?" The snowy haired boy whipped around and pointed an accusing finger at his wide eyed brother.

"Me?" Illumi asked innocently.

"YES!"

"Because you need me to find that girl's mother's old penthouse in the city." His matter-of-fact way of putting it really pissed me off. It was true, of course, but that only made it even more annoying. Killua let out an agitated groan. I would've joined him if I could.

-Back in the Zoldyck Mansion-

Two deadpan expressions were facing an emotionless face. "… So… We're doing what now?" Killua questioned.

"We're going to find the culprit behind the burning of that siren's mother."

" 'That siren' has a name, you know."

"Oh. Really?"

"Asshole."

"Now now, Killu. That's not a very nice thing to call your dear older brother."

"Dear older brother my ass." Killua rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Illumi seemed to think for a minute. "Ok, then how about I put it this way. We're going to go find connections to that-" a killer glare made him reconsider his choice of words, "-to Shizuka's mother. Don't you want to learn more?"

Nothing was said, and Killua and Illumi seemed to be locked in a nonverbal debate.

Throwing up his hands, Killua relented. "FINE! You can come!" He looked over in my direction. I nodded that it was ok, but hesitantly. I wanted to learn as much as I could about my mother (and maybe even my father), but I also didn't want that psychopath anywhere near Killua. Not after what he did before. We both gave Illumi cautioning glares. "One wrong move, and I'll take Shizuka and run."

A moment of silence, then Killua's killer daggers were met with a carefree smile. "Ok."

-End Flashback-

And that is why we are in our current predicament. Walking through the woods with two very abnormal people tailing behind. Just peachy. We reached Yorknew City in about another hour or so, and from there, came the welcome relief of the two creeps having to walk in front to act as guides.

The streets were crowded, as expected of a large city. There were people of all kinds there. Fancy kinds, casual kinds, hip, gangster, and of course, the poverty stricken people. Those made my heart wrench. Only 5 months ago I was the same. Lost. Unknown to the world. No one to care about me. No one to be sad if I perished the next day. I desperately wanted to do something for them, but having no money myself, that was next to impossible. I wish there were thousands more people like Killua to help these people find a home to belong to and put a roof over their heads. Unconsciously, I had gravitated closer to Killua. A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked up. Although the blue eyed boy didn't look back at me, I could feel his support through the contact. I smiled at him gratefully, sending my own inaudible message.

I'm not sure if it was because we were a strange site, or if it was because of the two weirdos in front of us, but we seemed to attract a lot of side glances. And perhaps it was just my imagination, but were people avoiding us? Well, can't blame them. They have good sense. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near our strange group myself if I could've helped it.

I tug on the slightly taller boy's sleeve. "Hmm?" Killua looked down at me. I didn't look back at him. Just pointed to the two figures bantering in front of us, putting thumb up or thumb down. I heard his slowly deepening voice sigh. "Who knows" he said quietly. "For all I know, he could be leading us into another trap." I kept my gaze forward and said nothing. "However," he continued, "he does seem to have a genuine interest, so I think he's probably telling the truth." I nod.

Illumi came to a sudden halt in front of us, and we stopped as well. "Killu, it's not nice to talk about someone behind their backs." He didn't turn around to face us.

"Yeah, and?" came the reply. Illumi giggled.

"Same defensive Killu as always."

The younger brother didn't even bother to respond.

"Anyways, we're here."

We all looked up at a building adorned with what could be thousands of windows. The glare of the sun made it hard to look up at the top for very long. The lower portion of the building was made of bricks: red at the bottom, beige at the top. Beautiful marble columns were embedded into the brick walls, and had beautifully sculpted Corinthian capitals holding up a band of friezes. The lowest frieze depicted ships sailing on the sea, soon to land on a sandy beach. These sailors would hop out of their smaller landing boats and scramble up the hill to a Greek style open building. Musical instruments were depicted all around like a lyre, harp, flute, and a few others I couldn't make out. It also looked like there was something else in that building, but I couldn't tell what it was because it was missing. Looked like it had fallen off at some point.

The bricks, although new in the sense of building age, couldn't help but be slightly darker in certain areas at the top where the bricks ended and a more modern appearance took its place. Metal and windows made up the rest of the 200 foot building.

"The darker spots are from the fire." Illumi announced. "This is the place." We all followed Illumi into the building. The inside may have been even more impressive than the outside. Everything was of different colored marble stone. The columns imitated the Greek style such as they did on the outside. The little shelf area built into the top of the columns supporting the roof held various statue busts. Some of them were full sculptures. And yes, some of them were somewhat… uncovered. They looked like Greek statues that I had seen in a magazine in the garbage when I was on the streets.

A grand staircase started in a central location, but then split off in two directions, spiraling upwards to the multitude of stories above us. I think I was seeing a cultural pattern here. I giggled quietly to myself.

Illumi walked up to the front desk, towards a young woman in possibly her early 30s. "Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?"

"I am looking for someone who used to be a resident here." He replied. His lack of manners grated on me. I hated people who just demanded information. Not even a greeting, jeez.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot disclose that information unless we are informed by that person that they know you. My apologies." She seemed genuinely sorry. Illumi hummed a bit to himself as he thought about the situation.

"What if I told you that the person we're looking for used to be a resident here?"

"I'm sorry, but I still can't do that."

"What if I told you that the person is dead because of an incident that happened here 25 years ago?"

This time, the lady said nothing. "I'm sorry…?" Now she just seemed confused. Illumi sighed.

"Does anyone still work here who's been here for more than the past 25 years?" he was started to get slightly annoyed.

"Let me go check. Please wait a moment, sir." With that, she turned on her heel and went behind the door that must've separated the reception desk from the hidden portion of the reception area. She returned a few minutes later with an older looking man in tow. He was wearing the same red and gold uniform as his female companion, only, of course, for males.

"Hi folks. I heard you were looking for someone who used to stay here 25 years ago, correct?" His voice was much deeper than Killua's, but also had a more friendly tone in it. I guess one could say it sounded like it could belong to a grandpa.

"That is correct," Illumi answered.

"Well… I can't tell you a whole lot about the incident itself, other than the fact that it seems as if it had started in a room and then spread. As for the person, then yes. We do have records of all the occupants we have ever had. But first we must know if you guys are at all related to that person. Regardless of if they may currently be deceased, it is still out policy. We don't want to accidentally give off information while the deceased may still have family elsewhere. Privacy reasons, you know?" He gave us an apologetic smile. The Zoldyck brothers seemed to size the aged man up, as if trying to decide if they could mangle the information out of him.

I jabbed Killua in the ribs with my elbow. Hard.

He yelped and turned on me. "What was that for!?" I gave him a pointed glare. "What?" he asked defensively like a child not wanting to admit to something despite being caught red-handed. I rolled my eyes. But all play aside, I walked up to the front desk. Slightly surprised by my sudden bold move, Illumi and Hisoka, the weird clown that had tagged along with Illumi, stepped aside to let me through. They watched me carefully. I really wanted to punch them for always sending shivers down my spine, but I digressed. The man behind the counter looked at me, my head just barely clearing the top of the edge. I pointed to myself.

Nothing. I pointed to myself again. The man and the younger woman only looked at each other, puzzled, then back at me. "Um… yes? What is it dear? Would you like something?"

I pouted at being treated like a really young child. I whipped around and kicked the desk backwards. Everyone jumped. I got strange looks from other people standing in line for the reception desk. I stared straight at Killua. Right in the eyes. I pointed to the ground in front of my feet. I wasn't asking. I was demanding.

The startled boy put his hands up in mock surrender, and made his way to my side. I turned around and pasted the sweetest smile I could manage onto my face. I grabbed Killua's arm and made it look like we were together. Killua cleared his throat, gaining the two receptionists' attention. "Shizuka," he gestured to me, "is the daughter of the person we're looking for." Silence. I rolled my hands in a keep going sign. "And she can't talk. She's mute."

"Ahhhh, that explains it." That was the man. They both looked like they wanted to ask me questions, but I guess they decided against it. Smart move. The lady left to go take care of the other customers waiting in line. "Alrighty then. Let me check the records. Who are you searching for?"

"A woman named Cleopatra," Hisoka answered this time. The man nodded and began searching. We waited a few minutes as he scrolled through the presumably long list of names. While he was doing that, Killua got pay back. I suddenly found myself in a headlock with a fist giving me a classic nuggie on the head. I smiled playfully at Killua and tried to escape. That wasn't gonna happen any time soon. "You little twerp!" he hissed at me. But I could tell there was no anger behind those words.

We waited and waited, but as time passed on, the man's face more and more contorted. "Well? Have you found anything yet?" Killua's impatient voice broke the silence. In that split second of his diverted attention, I escaped his hold.

The man looked up uncertainly. "Um, I'm sorry to say this, folks, but it appears that we have no records of anyone named 'Cleopatra'."

"What!?" Killua looked just about ready to murder someone. "You made us wait here and go through all this trouble to pull up nothing!?" I tugged on Killua's sleeve to try to get him to calm down. But an emotionless glare from his brother effectively shut him up.

Illumi pondered this. 'There's no Cleopatra? What does this mean? Could she have lied to me about her name?… No. That couldn't be. She was about to die anyways. Why would she give me a fake name? And what she told me about Shizuka seems to be true as well. No. That couldn't be it. But then what is?"

"Perhaps we could search last names as well?" offered the man. He turned to me. "What is your last name, please, miss?"

My face stoned. I didn't know. I always knew I didn't know, but the fact that now it's preventing me from finding out more was just downright infuriating. My brows furrowed in concentration. 'Think, Shizuka, think! … But… how would someone who hasn't even had a first name since 5 months ago, know her last name? Urgh! I have to think! I have to know. How could I not…' I began getting desperate. I sank to my knees and clutched at my hair as I tried to figure out what my last name would have been.

My brain was working on over drive. I could only faintly feel a hand gently rubbing my back in comfort. Suddenly, everything went dark as if they'd turned the lights off. I stood up and looked around. Nothing. There was darkness all around. I held out my hand, but I couldn't even see that. My, what a beautiful name you have found for yourself, said a voice. It was beautiful. Truly a singsong voice that could make even the dullest of sentences worth quieting down for. It rang as softly and clearly as Christmas bells.

One moment there was nothing but darkness, but then there was a burst of light so brilliant and warm it rivaled that of the sun. I would've screamed at the shock of the brightness if I could. A soft, delicate hand touched my cheek. 'You truly have grown into a beautiful young woman." I don't know why, but that voice seemed to hold a regretful sadness within it.

Who are you? I asked. I waited for an answer, but nothing came. I was slowly becoming used to the light. Opening my eyes just a crack, I could hear something else in the background. It sounded beautiful. Not quite as nice as this woman's, but still nonetheless. A motion caught my eyes, and further back, it seemed as if a shape was falling down the side of something. Was that… a hill? And no. The shape wasn't falling. It was running. A playful laughter echoed from that happy creature.

'My dear, I must send you to sleep soon.' I began to panic. Wait, what? What do you mean!? 'You cannot stay here for very long like this. It's dangerous for your mind for the moment.' It's dangerous? But…! 'But do not worry. It will be alright. From now on, I will always be here for your times of need.' Wait! I still need an answer! WHO ARE YOU!?

Laughter answered. 'You will know soon enough. For now, remember this,' the lady leaned in close to my ear and whispered something. My eyes widen. 'Now. Sleep.' And sleep washed over me like a wave washing over a stone. That beautiful, light scenery was replaced once again by darkness.

A/N: So... yep. that's it for now. I hope it was worth coming back to for you guys! Please R&R! It'll make me happy and keep updating! I've finally got an idea of how to move the story further! XD