A/N: This is the part where I apologize for such a long wait because of School, Procrastination, Different Fandom, Lack of Computer to Use, Lack of Computer Time, Laziness, and Unproductivity.

This is also the part where I'll say I regret changing the plot, but heck, what can I do now?

*Note: The names mentioned below are perfectly random, out of my head. If you guys know what they mean, tell me. Because this is what I call the midnight-creativity. (It's 11:52pm here.)

Sorry for the lack of proofread. I'll do it tomorrow. P:

OWC: 3,072 words

Disclaimer; HxH is owned by Togashi.

Chapter 25:

Zephyr

"Gon-kun."

All their heads turned around warily to the new voice. They were all worried that the cold voice was Illumi—and they all subconsciously edged toward Gon, the thought similar in their minds: 'No one must touch him.'

Gon had a different reaction, though—he brightened up, as if he had already seen Killua. "You're the man from the phone!" Gon greeted the newcomer, recognizing him. His voice was high-pitched, and a little too joyful. How Gon recognized the man through his voice (especially since Gon only heard him once through a muffled telephone conversation) was something unthinkable for Akane, Kurapika and Leorio, so they didn't bother to ask.

They turned their heads to a man dressed in formal attire, all in black. He bowed politely to them, the four 'guests' of the Zaoldyeck mansion. (Whether that was good or bad, they couldn't tell.) Polite he seemed to be, but under that very gentlemanly layer and that pretty face lay one of the most treacherous, cheating personalities.

But no one knew that, of course.

"I'm Zephyr," he said, murmuring as he introduced himself, still bowing low to the guests. "But sadly, I'm not the butler; I'm not the one who answered the call. But—that matter aside—I suppose you are the friends of Master Killua?"

Gon had this 'shock' look on his face. "Oh… you're not? But your voice sound alike!" After a few seconds of pouting, he went on to introduce. "I'm Gon Freecs, and this is Kurapika, this is Leorio—"

"Listen," Leorio cut him off. "We're very very honoured to meet you, the head butler of the famous assassin clan, but we are in some kind of rush here, and we just want to see Killua fast…"

"In a rush?" Zephyr asked, before finally slouching on the couch opposite them. His long, light-brown hair fell down gracefully, shadowing his eyes. All his formality went down the drain when he slouched there as if he was at home—he was , really, anyway—and lay there on the couch carelessly, like he was a kid. "What's the big idea? You've just gotten in to the place as far as you can go on Zaoldyeck territory. So why are you hurrying?" He brushed his bangs off his face and smugly winked at Akane. "Not all people get this far."

Akane shuddered with the gesture; and with that she hugged herself, in an attempt to cover up her bare arms. Kurapika saw this motion, and defensively took a little spot in front of her, trying to defend her.

"What? Do I make you feel uncomfortable? It's not like I'm gonna kill you or something. I have no right to. 'Lumi just sent me here. It's not like he told me to stab you and get you the hell out of here. I'm just here to keep you company…" Zephyr ranted, cleaning out his nails, taking out the little bits of dirt that snuck between them. He absentmindedly twiddled with his hair after that, his hazel eyes looking at the chandelier that was lit above them.

Zephyr continued to murmur to himself. "I could've run away too, you know. But I like this place so much. It's so great, so grand. I wonder what made 'Lua run off. He had—has—everything he could ever want. He even gets all of this when he grows up since he's the heir. I mean, who gets something like that every day? If I was in his place… geez. It's not like they're making him pay that much a price…"

Now Akane was confused. Everything that the Zephyr person said made her more perplexed about the situation. More than that, he calls Killua and Illumi like they were friends—the rest of the people they met in the Zaoldyeck territory always added a '-sama' at the end of the Masters' names. But here… here Zephyr was calling them informally, in pet names, even.

Aww come on. 'Lua and 'Lumi?

"You talk about them like you're friends. You talk about this place like it isn't hell. What are you, who are you in this place? You're different from the others," she stated, and asked. She waited for an answer, waiting as Zephyr finished eating his apple.

Everybody became tense and serious. Zephyr put down the knife he used to cut the apple and put down the apple on a plate. He didn't sit up—he still was on that comfortable lying position. He turned to Akane with laughing eyes, oddly enough.

"You're fast, girl. I like you. How old are you, and what's your name?"

Akane was vexed at his calm, playful demeanor. She asked him a question, and he only responds with that. 'How old are you, and what's your name?' That jerk! What gives him the right to talk like that? HECK! She clenched her hands to fists

"I'm Akane, and I'm 16. And I don't give a damn if you like me or not," she said, with that 'harrumph' tone in her voice. She also had that implied 'I-hate-you-and-I'd-hurt-you-and-whack-you-till-you-bleed-so-don't-get-anywhere-near-me' message in the glare she sent out to him.

Instead of shrugging away from her, Zephyr just smiled and even chuckled at her response. "That makes me like you even more. You're a fighter, a strong girl. I bet you dragged your friends into this mess, hmm? Very nice. Now I see what he sees in you."

Zephyr just dragged Akane back to the confusion stage of the argument. "He? Who's he?" Akane asked, a little frantically, like she was desperate to know who.

"I won't tell you~" Zephyr murmured, and snickered so much like how Hisoka does, Akane couldn't help but shiver. This action made Kurapika and Leorio tense; it made Zephyr just laugh harder.

"What are you, her protective barrier? Let her loose, boys. Can't you see there's a lioness in her, fraught to get out of that cage you're tying her into? If she wants to fight back, let her to. That's the only way she'll learn." Zephyr stared at Kurapika and Leorio, who stared at Akane, before they finally backed away from her a little bit to give her some room to breathe.

"Now that's better," Zephyr said with a Gon-like grin. "Now, let's get to know each other…"

"Wake up, idiot."

Milluki hit Killua with the whip, and he was instantly awake. Killua took in the surroundings—the gray brick wall, the machine that was fastened to the wall controlling the electric volts that pierced him several times, the chains that strapped him to the ceiling and floor, the door that seemed too far away.

And finally, his older brother, obese and with thin, slit eyes, with eyebags falling underneath.

"Oh, good morning, brother. Didn't think morning would come by fast."

Milluki just whipped him again. "Don't talk to me like that," he hissed angrily, as angrily as a pig could get. "Get down there, Grandpa Zeno is waiting for you in the corridor."

"In the corridor?" Killua asked, mostly to himself, as he plucked himself off the chains that bound him. What an odd place to meet. Old man really got some fancy taste.

Killua went down on the floor, slowly stretching his painful, cramping arms and legs. He had stayed in that position for more than at least two days, after all. He felt the heat rush back into their proper places as he stretched every painful muscle, as every nerve ending jolted back to life.

"Well, I'll be leaving you now, bro," he said carelessly, flipping his silver hair carelessly back into its place as he got into a thick black turtleneck. He put his hands into the pockets of his navy blue shorts, before finally walking out.

He was barefoot, but he didn't mind the pain as the wounds on the soles of his feet opened up again. He walked up the stone stairs of the underground torture chamber, and opened with a loud bang the steel door as he pushed it back to the edge, the farthest it could go. He closed it with a steely thud as well.

He turned around to see his grandfather leaning on the opposite wall. He looked up upon sensing Killua's stare.

"Ahh, he's awaken you, finally. Get ready; you're going to the butler's quarters."

Killua raised an eyebrow. "The Butlers' quarters?"

Zeno nodded. "Yes, the Quarters. I've sent your friends there. You clean up and go there; I've asked for them to fix up your things."

"But Mother and Father—" Killua started, but he never managed to finish.

Zeno pushed him off. "I've talked to your Father. It seems I won't be able to make a move with your mother. But that's not what you have to worry about right now."

Killua cocked his head to the side. "If you've bothered with them, then what is it I have to worry about?"

"It's Zephyr."

And with that, Killua ran; he was barefoot, but he didn't mind the pain of the wounds in his soles opening up again because it didn't equate to the pain he felt in his head and heart when he learned about Zephyr.

He knew Zephyr; Zephyr would do anything to help Killua. Anything to make him stay.

Zephyr would do anything to hurt Killua's friends.

"Gemma!" Zephyr shouted, running around the lawn as happy as his 14-year-old self could. The sky was blue and the clouds were white, the sun was shining, and it was a happy day.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Gemmais? That's my full name! And that's how I like to be called!" his younger sister, aged 13, screamed to him from the spot where she was watering the flowers.

He put out his tongue. "It's just because he called you that! But your name is Gemma! It's in the school record. Gemma Dea. What kind of person wants to be called Gemmais?" He fell down on his back on the grass, breathing in the soft scent of spring.

"I want to be called Gemmais. Because it's a beautiful name! And I like it that way, Zephyrus," she said, a little teasingly. "It's fun to have these mysterious, unusual names, don't you think? That's why we have to make the best of it. So I'm Gemmais!"

Zephyr pouted. "Whatever. I'm happy with my nickname. Zephyr is enough, and Zephyrus is one syllable too many. Okay? Go and dream about that Killua person. I doubt he even exists."

"Oh you're just a jealous freak, Zephyrus. And I don't really care what you say. Whatever. He said he'll visit me today~ isn't that so sweet?" Gemma twirled around the garden. "I can't believe he's only five. He's so cuuute!" Gemma made a puppy-dog face that made Zephyr's stomach spin.

Then, she plummeted to the grass below, sighing his name ever so softly: "Killua~"

"Eeww, you're such a pedo, Gemma. What is wrong with you?" Zephyr rolled in the grass, inhaling the scent. "Sometimes I wish I had a normal younger sister instead."

Gemma elbowed him. "Urk, you have little taste. What don't you find interesting in him? He has dark eyes, light hair, pale skin; it's like, everything that you're looking for in a girl, right? Maybe he has a sister. Go ask him later."

"Like I will!" Zephyr insisted, rolling even farther away from her sister. "I won't touch that little baby of yours, you disgusting maniac!"

Gemma stood up, getting the watering can to splash it to her brother's face. "You deserve that! You have little respect. BLEH!" She put her tongue out and rushed inside the house.

In a few minutes, Zephyr—who was still on the grass, wet like a newly-hatched chick—heard the bell on their front door ring. He supposed it was that Killua person after he heard her sister's squeal.

He didn't stand up—he wasn't going to touch that 'baby' of her sister in anyway. He didn't want to look him in the eye. Because he had seen what happened to his sister, he didn't want that happen to him as well.

He just looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds took on different shapes of different sizes. Everything was silent—a little too silent, he thought. But he just lay there, still.

The bells that hung from the back door to the garden tingled. He lifted his head an inch to see who was coming through—if it was that Killua boy, he'd dash to the forest behind him.

But it was his sister, bleeding with a cut on her throat, crawling, stumbling over to him, down the three steps that led to the grass. She sprawled on the grass, her blood spilling over, tainting it red.

He immediately rushed to her, and he screamed. "Gemma? Gemma! Gemma wake up! Gemma!" He didn't know what to do, even if he was older than her. It had always seemed that she was older than him in the mind. Now he was panicking, and she couldn't do anything to soothe him.

Tears gushed down from his eyes as he took his sister in his arms. "Gemmais, Gemmais… come on, wake up… please…"

"Zephyrus… run… out… kill…"

He stopped, in the middle of a hiccup, when he heard his sister's voice. He looked down at her, her almost gold eyes watery with tears, her face smudged with a scary amount of blood. Her eyes were pleading, begging.

She raised a bloodied hand to caress his cheek. "Run… Zephyr… He'll… kill… you…"

Her voice was so soft and what she was saying as incoherent. He couldn't understand her, he could barely catch her last words.

But he did.

"Sorry… goodbye."

With that, she breathed, and her spirit let go of her even if her eyes were still magnificently open. She had a gentle, painful smile on her face.

Zephyr took his sister in his arms and sobbed through her fine brown strands of hair. From inside the house, he could hear a female scream—he thought it might be his mother. In a while, he knew he'll hear the heavy , deep voice of his father. But he knew his father will fight first, before he screams.

But it would still end the same way, he knew. They'll still both die.

He wanted to run away, to save his own life, but he couldn't leave his sister. Saving his life seemed to be the least of his problems—he wanted to keep the house, he wanted to bury his parents, he wanted to be with his sister for a few more minutes. He wanted time to stop for a few moments—the 14-year-old's mind was still too shaken up to think straight.

Finally, he came. The little five-year-old came out the back door, where his purplish eyes bore into Zephyr's hazel-ish ones. He didn't smile, he didn't frown—he had a blank expression. Slowly, step-by-step, he went down to the grass where Zephyr sat with his sister's head on his lap.

"You… how could you? You're a kid! How could you?" Zephyr asked, a little angrily at the kid. But he was more surprised than angry, and he had no space to think about it. His words just flowed out as tears started to choke him.

The kid, meanwhile, just stared at him. His eyes were wide, his white shirt soiled into the beautifully horrifying crimson shade of blood. If anything, Zephyr would've sworn the kid had smiled at him first before the he spoke to him.

"Let's play."

"Let's play a treasure hunt game."

Zephyr was juggling a few coins with both his hands, and he was already standing up. Akane, Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon watched him warily.

"It's simple. I'll hide these five coins, and you'll have to search for them. If you can't find all of them before Killua enters the main door of the Butlers' Quarters, I'll take care of you and just tell 'Lua you all left. It's that simple."

Akane had a weird feeling for that 'I'll take care of you' statement, but she just brushed it off.

"Now all of you face the wall!" Zephyr said, raising his arms to the statement as if he was conducting an orchestra. All of them did, voluntarily, with Akane thinking that the only orchestra this man was playing was of DOOM.

Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock. The clock on the wall ticked as Zephyr hummed, running back and forth from room to room, hiding the five special coins.

He had shown them the coins earlier; they were gold coins laden with platinum on the sides, marked with his last name in the center: Dea. There were intricate designs with numerous flower and vine patterns circling the 2-inch in diameter coins, and it was really special.

"Turn around now!" He said, and they all did. Zephyr no longer had the five coins in his hands, and he bowed with a grand smile. "There. Timer starts now, and until Killua comes. I'm guessing that's in 20 minutes."

20 minutes? Akane thought. That's an awful long time to make us hunt five coins. Then, she remembered the size of the Quarters and changed her mind about the situation.

"I'll go to the east one," Akane said, pointing at the corridor going right way. "Gon, you go to the north one, Leorio, the south, and Kurapika, the west. We'll meet here in 10 minutes then we switch so that it's fresh eyes, got it?" she said, obviously making all the planning.

Her other teammates nodded, and they took their separate paths, Zephyr nodding a little gleefully as he watched them go.

Akane walked, exploring room to room, as comprehensively and quickly as she could. She looked at all nooks and crannies of every room, but there seemed to be no end to it. Every room was clean; immaculately clean, even.

She walked the carpet floors of the eastern corridor, when suddenly she heard shuffling from a room near her. She turned, and from within the shadows of a room, she saw two pairs of eyes peeping, looking at her.

At first she was terrified, but when a thin hand threw three coins at her, she became a little less creeped out than earlier. She walked nearer the door, to pick up the coins, before finally coming near the door.

"Who are you?"