Hey! I'm finally back! And I'm super happy to be. I kept thinking about this all week. I was itching to get to a computer and post this chapter. So don't worry, you weren't the only ones waiting. I hate postponed updates probably as much as you guys do. Anyway, this is ten years in the future from the last chapter, and let's just say that Corona has changed a lot. This chapter is a bit of a story recap, but I felt it necessary for her character to settle into place. This is not only where the main characters truly begin to come into her life, but it gives a great insight as to her personality and how she interacts with the people around her. In the future, I will do my best to avoid rewriting the story already there, but please forgive me? Just this once?
Anyway, enjoy at your leisure.
I run my hand through Shal's blonde hair, elbow resting lazily over the edge of the basket. Even though I sit in his lap, Shalnark ignores me. I continue to play with his hair anyway. Doing so at least keeps me occupied so I don't lose my temper. My annoyance is on the edge of warping into anger, after all. I had been really looking forward to the rarities at the auction. To kill everyone there only to find that all the goods are gone….it seriously irks me.
Shal lays a hand on my shoulder, drawing to my attention that I've begun to yank on his locks. I smile an apology and release him.
This hot air balloon is horribly cramped with eight people in it. Really, my only options were to either stand or sit in someone's lap. Standing would lead to me fidgeting, which would lead to my annoyance growing, which wouldn't end well for anyone in the basket. Shalnark was really my only choice for sitting on. Shizuku and Machi would have been no fun. Machi wouldn't have let me, and I don't particularly care for girls anyway. They can be so picky, or submissive. Both can be annoying, and submissive people are just so boring. Franklin reeks of sweat, and Nobunaga's a stuck up idiot. Feitan is both too small and would have tried to kill me before remembering to flip a coin. I may be fast, but I'm nowhere near his level of speed. Uvogin wouldn't have minded, but his hard muscles don't exactly provide comfortable seating. Therefore, Shalnark. I like Shal, anyway. If he was a little stronger, and willing to drop his guard around me a little, I'd consider him for my other half.
"Ah." My hand stills when Shalnark speaks. "It seems we're running out of fuel."
"I'll secure us a spot to land," Machi states, leaning over the edge to observe the land. I glance down, too. Rocky terrain dominates the area below us, creating a difficult landing ground. With all those thugs pursuing us, it would be pretty nasty if this balloon landed where they could easily reach. I'm sure a few stray bullets are all it would take to push me over the edge. While I'm sure knocking those imbeciles around would provide an outlet for me, if we land in an area where they can approach us with ease, there might arise a feud between us members of the Phantom Troupe. The mafia didn't send enough underlings for us all to have fun with.
Machi snaps her hand out, throwing her needle and anchoring us to the top of a cliff. I'm not particularly a fan of her, since she's so stiff and all, but Machi isn't an idiot. The top of cliff will be perfectly suited for us to watch on from a distance, like spectators to a game. She chose the ideal spot.
We descend gradually, the black cars chasing us gathering at the foot of the cliff to wait for us to land. Bracing for impact, I wrap both of my arms around Shalnark's neck. As usual, he pretends I'm not even there. As usual, I might as well not be.
No one so much as grunts when we hit the ground. The balloon slowly deflates, sliding down the side of the cliff as the last of its warm air escapes its grasp. People begin to hop out. Feitan is first, probably because he was so uncomfortable being so close to the rest of us. I unlatch myself from Shalnark, hurdling the basket. He's right behind me, the last out.
"There's a ledge a fourth of the way down," Shizuku points out, adjusting her glasses. They must've shifted on the impact from landing. "We'll probably be able to see them better from there."
"Then what're we waiting for?" I step over the edge, allowing myself to drop. The moment I land, I flop onto my stomach and situate my chin in my hand to watch the suited men collect outside their cars. I'm quickly joined by the rest of the troupe, although I remain the only one lying down. As the men gather and hoard together, drawing their firearms and aiming up at us, I snicker. They're like tiny little ants, with barely a bite to be concerned about. Even in such large numbers, ants are only there to be squashed.
"Leave them to me," Uvo grins, flexing his muscles with excitement. He hops down below, where all the little black suited men squirm. If he's the one taking care of them, I'm sure he'll put on a show. When one of the men approaches him to talk, I break into hysterics. Brainless idiot! I bet he doesn't even know what Nen is! He can't, if he's dumb enough to step up to die first like that.
From behind me, I hear Shal ask, "Is anyone up for a game of cards?"
I hear Shizu and Franklin volunteer and tap my foot on the ground without changing position. When no one notices, I force the aura around my foot to start leaking out and try again. This time, I feel their eyes fall on me.
"Deal me a hand," I request. Shal lays the cards beside me without question, and only when he's done dealing do I reach over to grab them. I've had the habit of constantly hiding by aura for years. I suppose it comes from the fact I never wanted to be found as a kid. While it comes in handy at times, when I actually want people to take notice of me, it can get irritating. I've grown so used to containing it, it actually takes conscious effort for me to show my aura instead of hide it.
I study my cards. I have a queen of diamonds, and ace of spades. Those are the only two notable cards in my hand, all the others being a variety of numbers. It seems I have mostly spades, though.
"Hey," I tap my foot again to get their attention. "What game are we playing?"
"Just go fish," Shal informs me. "Corona, do you have a ten of hearts?"
Setting down my cards, I sigh, "Go fish." Then, I glance over my shoulder at the giant who is Franklin. "You, do you have an ace of spades?"
"Go fish," he grumbles.
Growling, I kick off my right shoe and grab a card off the top of the pile with my toes. Since I'm not unbelievably flexible, like some members of the troupe, I have to twist and reach back to retrieve the card.
"You shouldn't draw cards that way," Nobunaga mentions. "I saw your card."
"Shut up, old man. You're not even playing."
I can practically hear his temper snap. "What did you say?"
"I said shut up." I smirk, gleeful as he clenches his teeth with rage. "If you have a problem with doing so, you could always flip a coin. I'm heads, like always."
"Ignore her, Nobunaga," Shizu advises him, stealing a card from Machi. I flip onto my back to be able to see everyone better, holding my cards above my head.
"Yo, Uvo! If you can see my cards down there, I'll kill you if you give the others any hints!"
I can't help but smile as his laughter echoes around the rocky cliffs. "You don't have to worry, Corona! I wouldn't want to get you angry!"
"Corona, do you have a three of spades?"
Smile transforming into a grimace, I hold out the card for Machi to take. It's gone from my grasp in under a second.
"It seems like none of them were worth fighting."
"Hm?" I turn to Feitan, but he's gone silent again. Then, I look down to Uvogin. Feitan is right, they're all obliterated. None of them must have been very strong. Guess it's a good thing Uvo was the one fighting and not me, then. Their being weak would only prove to upset me more, if they were my opponents.
"I'm out of cards," Franklin declares, standing.
"What?" I glance at my own hand, which has barely been touched. Ah, I'm an idiot! Of course I'd lose at go fish! With my Zetsu going on continuously, they barely realize I'm here, so they barely ask for my cards. That's seriously no fair….
"Shall we have another round?" Shalnark suggests, beginning to shuffle. I hand him my remaining cards, slipping back on the shoe I'd earlier discarded. He smiles at me, finishing his shuffle. "Don't worry about it, Corona. You'll win next time."
I'm about to respond, commenting about how he's such an optimist, but something appears to have caught his eye. I follow his gaze. I wish my eyesight was a little sharper, but I shouldn't be so down about it. I can see farther than most people with the help of my Nen. Still, I'm able to make out the shadows approaching from beyond the wall of now ownerless cars.
Shalnark stands, going to the edge of the ledge and calling, "Hey, Uvogin! They're here!"
So they must be the legendary shadow beasts. As they approach, I'm able to make out their features better. They're three men, and none of them are the slightest bit attractive. One's a lumbering fat dude with a pot belly, another's a stick with spiky hair, and the last is a squat little old man in what appears to be a tracksuit. For the three of them, one word comes to mind: Yuck. Although they're so widely famous, they don't look like much. Uvogin probably won't have such a hard time with them.
Feitan stands to join Uvo, but is stopped by Uvogin shouting to stay out of it. He probably didn't get enough of a kick out of the last fight. Shal chuckles, sitting back down with Machi, Shizu, and Franklin.
"Let him handle it," he calms the black haired boy. "How about a round? Want me to deal you in, Feitan?" Of course, Feitan refuses. I don't request a hand this time, and Shalnark doesn't deal me one. Instead, I dangle my legs over the edge to watch the shadow beasts.
Just in time. Uvo's fist is raised high, collecting his Nen for an ultimate blow. He's on the ground, though. What did I miss?
The ground quakes in its boots as his fist swings down, crunching into the rocks. I giggle as I shake with the earth I sit on, closing my eyes against the light of his Nen. Uvogin is one person I never want to fight. Not only is he an enhancer, one of the types I'm helpless against, but in regular, physical terms of strength, he's also stronger than I am. He's a beast, if ever there was one.
The strength of his Nen actually singes off most of his shirt. I breathe a sigh of relief, glad I'm far enough away to keep my clothes intact. But now his tattoo is showing. It's not like I'm against the enemy knowing who they're fighting, but if they take notice of me by some slim chance, now they'll know I'm part of the troupe. If they escape without dying, anyway.
I like being the member working under the radar. Only a few of the other members of the troupe have seen the small spider on my hip, and I like it that way. So long as not a single living soul knows of my affiliation with them, I don't have to have even the smallest seed of worry that someone stronger than me might come tracking me down.
I'm not sure I like these shadow beasts. Not only are they ugly, but their fighting styles are disgusting to match. The little man in the tracksuit seems to be using Nen on his own hair, which is probably greasy beyond belief, and the stick is actually using his teeth! Who would ever want to bite Uvogin? I can't imagine he tastes any good.
Nonetheless, Uvo's stopped moving. The stick yells something about his teeth being poisoned, but not lethally. I scoff, a similar reaction coming from the people behind me.
"It'd be over, if the poison was lethal," someone disapproves.
"Too bad the guy's a sadist," I snicker. "It's gonna be his undoing."
"I can understand wanting to drag it out." I don't have to turn around to know it was Feitan who contributed that comment. Out of all of us, he takes the most pleasure in torturing his victims. In terms of sadism, he beats out the stick by leagues.
When I see what comes out of the potbelly's mouth, I begin to gag. Are those leeches? That's it, he's the worst! The other two are gross, but that's beyond compare! Who stores leeches in their mouth?
I relax when Uvo bites a chunk out of the leech lover's head. Thank god that hideous human is dead! I never want to come across another like him!
From there, Uvogin begins cleaning up. Using bits of the potbelly's skull, he spits the projectiles through the stick's head. Then, he turns to the tracksuit dude and pauses. I can practically see his mind working. Uvo's easy to predict, since he doesn't think things through too much.
A second before he sucks in his breath, I realize what he's going to do and clap my hands over my ears. Behind me, I can hear the instantaneous response of the others doing the same. As Uvogin's scream resounds through the cliffs, we all wince against the power of the sound. The intensity of it causes my bones to shift painfully, but I quickly strengthen myself using Nen to stabilize.
Uvo having ceased the yelling, I slowly remove my hands, breathing in deeply. I shielded myself a second too late. Great. Now my ribs are going to ache for the next day.
"You idiot!" Franklin's sudden shouting gets me to flinch. "Warn us first!"
"You had plenty of time to cover your ears," Uvogin disregards, glancing back at us.
I take to my feet, stretching. Shal leaps down to check out the leeches, Shizu brings out her vacuum, and for some reason I don't catch, Franklin is given money to go buy beer. Well, we're done here, but we still didn't get any treasure. I should probably go sleep off the disappointment before I do something I'll regret.
Gasps draw back my attention to down below, where there are all the sudden chains. I blink, baffled. Those weren't around Uvogin a second ago, were they?
Then he goes flying, pulled away into the darkness by the mystery chains. Machi is the quickest to react, throwing one of her needles. While the others begin to discuss what to do about the abrupt kidnapping, I just grin. Maybe, just maybe, the next few days will be more interesting than I'd expected.
So, what're your thoughts? I feel she's a pretty distinct personality, which makes it interesting for me to write. It's particularly entertaining to explore how she reacts with other people. Is it odd that that's how I view human interactions? Honestly, I'm not the most sociable person. When I'm around strangers, I'm more likely to observe from a distance than I am to willingly interact with them. It's like I'm gathering data...which, in a way, I suppose I am. Although I lack charisma myself, I love learning how people work and how they bond. I guess the people I watch do tend to grow on me, but they're basically my research subjects. When we part I don't really get emotional. I just sort of think, 'Ah, it's too bad I'm no longer going to be able to observe this personality type'. Don't get me wrong, though! I do have good, true friends! I just...don't sympathize with many people. Maybe I should work on that, although I'm not sure how one would go about doing so.
Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!