Warning: This chapter is slightly darker than most have been. Coarser language, stronger violence and more adult themes in the latter half of this chapter that will probably spill into the next one as well. (but nothing that surpasses what was in the original HxH story, fret not)
I ran through trick tower. But this time, I was alone.
There were no prisoners. And no pesky assassins. Just my anger and I.
The only sound I heard was that of a single pair of feet dashing through the labyrinthine halls of Trick Tower.
This was a journey I had to make alone. This was my rescue mission. One full of uncertainties, but I'd face a dozen enemies on my own if I had to. I didn't care if that fluffy haired brat insisted I was making a huge mistake. I didn't care if I had to fight this battle on my own.
Who cared if he betrayed me as soon as I told him my secrets? I didn't. I didn't, I don't!
All I cared about was getting back my journal and quieting the burning that crept through my bones. I just wanted to have that familiar weight against my chest again. Who needed a shitty assassin as a friend? I'd be fine without him. I only needed one friend. I'd told Killua that much when he turned his back on me.
But forget about that idiot...
My En told me that I was closing in. That the sourced of the aura calling out to me would be found at the end of the corridor. Ironically, my enemy would be in the light at the end of the tunnel. Waiting for me to arrive.
My feet slowed, but my heart kept on racing ahead of me. My wits surged to flee me, but I held them back, willing them to be still. If I was gonna lose my head, then this unknown enemy would have to take it off my shoulders themselves. I had to stay calm and collected... I had to be better than I have ever been before.
I was here to take my journal back. By whatever means necessary. Losing my temper before the game even started wasn't on my to do list.
My feet moved one foot in front of the other, marching me forward to meet my opponent.
When I came to stand at the precipice of the light, a great room expanded before me. Every sound, including my final steps, echoed hollowly. The tall ceiling rose into black obscurity and brown brick walls lined with redly glowing torches. On the far opposite wall, a small figure sat. Its face was hidden by a shadow cast by the brown cowl of their prisoner garb.
But what attracted my attention was the sound of pages being turned and the small gray and white object in their hands. The infinitely valuable treasure that was within my sights. My inner voices screamed that it was so easily within reach... and yet.
My hands clenched as the thief, surely aware of my arrival, leisurely turned another page. And I found my legs moving, unable to bear another moment of separation. Unable to bear the audacity of this person who thought they still deserved to breathe. I burned to swiftly rectify their error.
But their voice shocked me into stillness.
"Very interesting book you have here." The woman quietly commented in a delicately lilting voice. The distinctly female sound echoed hauntingly off the walls of stone and my skull. She snapped my book shut, igniting my irritation and evaporating away my shock. The woman tilted her head as she regarded me from the shadow of her hood. "Your handwriting is very pretty. It's a pity that I can't make sense of a word of it!"
I grit my teeth. This wasn't what I expected. A she wasn't what I expected. This reaffirmed my fear, and solidified the single truth I knew; the fact that I had zero clue what I was betting my life on. And yet my goal still remained the same.
… if I defeat her, then I automatically pass this exam. That was the deal Lippo worked out with me. And more importantly... I get to take my journal back.
"Ah, but I suppose that isn't the whole truth, is it..?" The woman continued slyly, giggling to herself as if she knew something I didn't. "There is one passage that's written in a language I understand, isn't there..?"
My eyes widened and my muscles tensed as I realized what she meant. I cringed at the sound of her oh so casually flipping through pages of my most private thoughts. And then as she spoke the precious words I'd read a thousand times over, nothing disgusted me more than hearing them in her mocking, sing-song voice. A chorus of echos that repeated her like a mocking audience of ghosts.
"Hello journal, it's nice to meet you! My name is Clear Antinium, and I'll be writing in you from now on, so I hope you don't mind. I promise I'll take good care of you, and tell you all of my secrets! I'll tell you about all the adventures I go on, and you'll get to know all about my best friend Iana, and Hazard and Akarii. Hopefully they're still my friends when I read this.. but if they aren't, I'll still have the memory of them in your pages. So please take care of them and I'll take care of you!" She snapped the book shut with a small laugh. "Talk to you soon, journal!"
A cold hatred clung to every inch of me. This woman... she was trying to get under my skin. And damn it, it was working. But for some reason, it didn't make me want to run at her screaming... it made me want to carefully break her fingers, one by one. Savor each scream for mercy, and grant her none. This was a new level of loathing, even for me.
I didn't move and didn't speak. And for a moment, neither did she. And then with a sigh, she rose to her feet, my book pressed against her chest. A place it certainly didn't belong.
"You know, I wasn't sure you'd come to take this back." She said, her pleasant surprise reverberating around the walls of the chamber. "I assumed it had to do with your Nen, seeing how you drew it when you felt threatened... but when I made off with it, I found that there was no aura attached to it at all. Strange. What is its value to you?"
I felt her shadowed eyes evaluating me. Gauging my response for some sort of weakness. When I didn't show any intent of responding, she sighed and removed the cowl from her head, pulling it backwards to reveal a surprising face. A pleasant visage greeted me. One that I wouldn't expect from the high risk criminal that she must have been.
What crime was she guilty of to get locked up in here of all places...?
Her hair was an unassuming brown, her eyes warm and motherly. Part of me wondered if she had been rightfully imprisoned. But that illusion was shattered by the memory of her aura as she hunted down Killua and I. She'd been quick enough to catch us. And in her attack, I tasted a familiar thrill of excitement. She had lusted for our blood.
She was a criminal. She was my enemy. And she was dangerous.
And I was gonna have to figure out how to take her down.
"Where did your friend go?" She asked, smiling genially and resting one arm across her stomach as she settled into a comfortable stance. "I was very much looking forward to playing with both of you. You can't imagine how excited I was when Warden Lippo asked if I'd like to indulge in his little game. He knows how much I do enjoy the company of young men such as yourselves, and it's been such a long time since I saw anyone but the uncouth criminals of this prison.."
The smoothness of her voice and freshly revealed glint in her eye unnerved me to no end. But finally the conversation had shifted to something worth talking about. Something other than undisguised, although effective, attempts to piss me off.
Still, fresh wave of irritation rushed through me. "We aren't friends."
She made a thoughtful noise, tapping my journal against her filthy lips. "Hmm... the way he pulled you away from danger and into the safe room could have fooled meee."
I clenched my fists. "Me too."
Her expression brightened at my verbal response. "Oh delightful! So we can have a conversation!"
I felt my eye twitch. What an annoyingly chipper opponent.. almost like a magician I know. My eyes shifted to settle firmly on the gray bound book she was touching so casually. I need to get that away from her as soon as possible.
As if feeling my stare on it, the woman stroked the binding of the journal, almost lovingly. My gaze flicked back up to meet hers. She smiled cleverly. "If you're willing to talk, then we can get on to introductions. And perhaps to negotiations?"
I swallowed down the pride that urged me to punch her square in the face; that tactic would get me into more trouble than it was worth. I had no clue what her abilities were... based on her provocation, a close quarter fight was what she was looking for. Even if she too was in the dark about my capabilities...
I made a note to stay away from her, and moved forward into whatever game she wanted to play. I was at her mercy, and she knew it. She knew she held the gray and white key in her hands.
Still, I couldn't help but be terse. I was an unwilling participant in this game. But it wasn't for me to enjoy playing; the joy was all hers. "Fine. Talk."
Her eyes crinkled with joy. "No need to rush things, child. Introductions must be made before bargains." She casually made herself comfortable on the floor, folding her legs elegantly beneath her, the picture of one at ease. "My name is Odep Rafftic. My sentence here at Trick Tower has been carried out for three long years.."
She swept a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. "For the crime of human trafficking."
A familiar cold swept through and robbed my skin of warmth. "Selling other human beings for money, huh..?"
That certainly was a heinous crime. One I'd known of in my childhood of living as a homeless child but had thankfully evaded... for the most part. However, that was something to think of another time... All that mattered was that I held no love for the crime.
I knew what it meant for humans to be treated as objects. I knew how twisted a person had to be to place a value upon a human's existence and traded as if one person could own another.
That being said, I wasn't quite sure that act itself was enough to land one in Trick Tower of all places... there had to be another facet to her story... But she was speaking again, and I didn't have enough pieces of the puzzle to reveal the answer. I'd have to figure it out as I went.
"And you, little blond boy?"
I found myself glaring harder at her. Her condescension was grating to say the least. "You already know my name, don't you? You read it yourself. And I'm thirteen, thank you. I'm a teenager, not a boy."
Her eyes glittered and I could have swore she swelled with excitement. How creepy could this woman get?
"My, my, you are quite grown, aren't you Clear?" Hearing her call me that filled me with disgust. "And would you care to tell me what importance this book has to you? I simply cannot fathom why you would risk your chances in this exam for it."
"Does it matter?" I cut. "All that matters is that I want it back. By whatever means necessary.."
She smiled demurely at my waspishness. Like a patient adult to a toddler, she took her time in replying in her measured and peaceful tone. "I suppose that is so... And the means have been somewhat decided for us, haven't they? Warden Lippo has given us delightful incentive to put on quite the show for him... The seed of competition has been sown, and I have no intention of withholding my best efforts, despite our age differential.
"For if I win... in whatever competition we agree upon, that is... then I am liberated at last." The gleam in her eyes simmered in premature satisfaction. She seemed more than confident enough in her abilities. Tch. Arrogant witch. I cut in before she could continue her all too cocksure speech.
"When I win, then I'm going to pass this portion of the exam." I stated, voice rising into the darkness looming above. Even the shadows echoed my conviction. They encouraged the clenching of my fists. "And I'm taking my book back."
She smiled and shimmied warmly, as if my hostility enlivened her. I scowled.
Maybe it was a result of tangling too often with Hisoka, but her eagerness to fight me made me want to hurl. And maybe hurl something in her face, too.
"But – if you lose," She countered, her eyes sliding to the side with a whimsical negligence as she alluded to something I'd hoped to forget. They snapped back to me. I had trouble swallowing. "Then you become warden Lippo's assistant. Is that correct?"
I felt a strange cold swim across my skin. Yes, that was correct. And it was that piece of this puzzle that made me more nervous than any other factor in this deal. The reality that Lippo had something to gain from me losing... that Lippo, in pitting me against this she-devil, was hoping I'd lose. Expecting it.
And this woman, Odep, knew it. Knew that she was favored in this match-up, in which Lippo held all the cards and knew the score.
I finally managed the clear my throat.
But I wasn't going to answer her. Wasn't going to confirm that no one, not her, not Lippo, and not Killua, expected me to come out of this scuffle successful. She already unarmed you once, what makes you think you can win without half of your weapon, Killua had said.
I wasn't shaking in fear. I wasn't. This was anger that was quaking through my limbs. Not fear, not terror, not panic, and certainly not doubt..!
Her voice was soft, almost pitying. I nearly missed her laughter. "You don't have to answer... I already know."
I snapped.
"PICK YOUR COMPETITION. PICK IT! I'll DEFEAT you, no matter WHAT it is! I don't care if you choose mathematics, luck, knitting, ANYTHING. I don't need your approval! I don't need the warden's! I don't even need KILLUA'S! I swear that I'll show ALL OF YOU THAT I CAN WIN!"
She clapped her hands once, speaking briskly as my whirling mind grasped for purchase. "Very well then! It's a competition of hide and seek tag, then! If I catch you within five minutes after a head-start, then I win." This was all happening too fast. She splayed and rolled her fingers in a wave. "Just one touch, and it's over."
I swayed on my feet, glaring darkly beneath my brows. "Fine. Let's begin."
She wagged a finger, still speaking too quickly for me to truly keep up. "Ah, ah, ah, not quite so hasty. I have been locked up in this stone prison for a much extended stay. I am not so eager to return to this place... but I would like to try a few things... before my freedom is once again on the table to be stolen. There are a few things I would like to... test, crimes that I would surely commit were I freed without first experiencing them."
The tether between my consciousness and my body was immediately severed under the sharpness of her gaze. Beneath the exact precision of her plans, yet to unfold, I felt utterly exposed.
"If I win..." She seemed to hum with excitement. "You will free me of my curiosity, and no longer will I ever need to be chained again."
"Fuck you."
"How perceptive."
Stomp, stomp, stomp. Quiet your steps, Clearian.
Pant, gasp, pant. Damn it... silence your breathing.
Whip, flare, sizzle. Tame your stupid aura..!
"AUGH!" I cried out despite myself.
This is was so fucking rigged! I was supposed to hide physically, when I'm already shit at that. And I was supposed to conceal my aura, when I'm DOUBLE shit at that! It all made me want to scream; wasn't even trying anymore!
To top it, off, failure wasn't even just about losing a fucking book anymore – it's not JUST about a psychotic clown that was going to decapitate me, or about some shitty blue eyed assassin hunting me down – it was now ALSO about some deranged criminal doing GOD KNOWS WHAT to me, and the icing on tippy-top was that I basically sold my soul to a freaky warden who for some reason wants me to be his apprentice?
? ! ? !
GIVE ME A BREAK!
My back hugged the stone wall I flattened myself against. My clothes clung uncomfortably to me, the heat of exertion forced me to yank my hood from my head. What could I possibly do to beat this bitch?
I couldn't hide from her. That much was evident. So I'd opted to run. Run as far as I could from her. And yet, a voice in the back of my mind nagged me that it wouldn't work. She'd hunted me down before, from the depths of the tower, to where she'd found Killua and I when we'd been moving through the tower for dozens of hours. Following my trail with only a five minute head-start would be nothing..!
Odep would know how to find me. She would be able to catch me. And then...
I wiped sweat from my brow and that line of thought from my mind.
Come on, Clearian, think damn it!
But the more I reached for ideas, the more they evaded my grasp. If I get cornered, I'll jump over her... No, she'd be quick enough to catch me. I could hide in a safe room.. No, Lippo wouldn't make it very 'safe' for me, seeing how he wants me to lose, too.
I gripped my hair in frustration.
I could.. I.. I could.. I could juke her... no you can't, idiot, your Hatsu doesn't involve diversions and decoys... or does it?
My fingers flexed. My pen was in my pocket. If I.. if I write upon the wall with it and some how managed to stab her with the pen, I could win..! Before, that hadn't been an option; it would be a waste of aura to draft a work of Hatsu without knowing what I was going up against. But now that I knew who my enemy was, I could better formulate a convincing story. I could twist her thoughts into ones that would prevent her from winning this stupid game of hers..!
But how exactly would I do that..? I stared at the scribe between the trembling fingers of my right hand as my other hand held my mouth in concentration. The condition for her victory is that she has to touch me... I have to keep her from getting close... What would make her believe that she shouldn't touch me? Key word being belie-
"Ohh little booooy~"
My feet were moving before she finished. She was close. Close enough that her voice echoed down the narrow hallways with ease. Close enough that she felt comfortable revealing herself. That she was already certain she'd caught me.
Silence meant nothing at this point. "STAY AWAY!"
I couldn't feel my legs. My thoughts and my muscles were no longer speaking, only instinct propelled me. My arms moved as if they would help me swim through the shadows. But I knew they wouldn't. I knew the moment her aura touched my En. The moment she was within touching distance of me. I knew the moment I had surely lost. I knew I wasn't crying. That would be pathetic...
Maybe if I was more like Killua.. more stealthy, more quick, more clever... more strong... then I wouldn't be in this predicament. Or maybe just a little less reckless over this book. Just that would have solved this problem. Just that difference might have changed this ending drastically.
But just as I anticipated the touch that would end this, this being my life as I knew it, there was a sudden change. One that left me breathless. In more than one way.
I realized that it wasn't the woman's aura I felt as a titanic force gripped my leg. As I was jerked to a violent stop, only to be hurled through the air, I glimpsed a larger form than anticipated. My mind rushed quicker than the air rushing past my ears. Too shocked to brace against impact, my body only managing to just barely twist to avoid smashing face first into the labyrinth wall. My shoulder screamed as it took the brunt of the force, and my knees hit the stone floor with a jarring thud, but none of that mattered. Is this it..? Am I really defeated so easily...?
When I dragged my head up, my fears took form. Of course. Just my luck. Two sets of eyes reflected the torch light, their bodily forms merged together in a single monstrous shadow. How lucky could one 13 year old get? This exam seemed to be an ever expanding answer to the question of: could this get any worse?
And of course, the answer always appeared to be a firm, unanimous yes.
The points of light to the upper left shifted to the sound of giggling. The haunting echo chilled me but I was already too numb already to shiver.
"... would it be crude to say I win?"
I was unresponsive.
"I'll take that as a yes.."
... I think I'm gonna stop apologizing for being an irresponsible writer, as it's probably expected by now, haha.
I really wasn't sure how I wanted to write this one. I knew the kind of villain I wanted, but there were many factors, such as gender, and how Clearian was going to fight the villain that I was having trouble deciding. These past few chapters have been far more difficult than I ever anticipated; this plot line was supposed to be summed up within like... a chapter, but it's really taken on a life of its own. x'D
Trick Tower is really the biggest plot divergence so far, and I've had a lottttt of trouble working out how I want this... sort of... solo mission to go. How to progress as a story without the original story as a foundation to lead its direction. Perhaps it has suffered for this. Or maybe benefited? Who knows! I suppose it's up for personal interpretation, haha.
As always, thank you for your patience and for reading! Reviews are always appreciated! = )
Guest Reviews -
AngelFaux: Thank you for the comment! And sorry if you were anticipating me explaining Clearian's second ability in this chapter! I guess I'm just as anxious about revealing it to y'all as he is to explain it to Killua, haha. But in due time, all will be revealed..! And that includes the ships I have in mind... x'D
I suppose anyone and everyone is free to ship whomever they want, but I won't tell you who I personally ship... as it might spoil or alter your interpretation... ; )
