So this is a short chapter, like the last. Sorry, but I promise the next chapter will be longer, and possibly the longest yet! Look forward to it! Anyway, I'm actually stuck on the chapter I'm writing right now. I know what I want to happen, but I have to start the chapter some way that won't bore you all. I guess I'll go around asking again. My friends are pretty awesome in that regard. They'll put up with a bit of my rambling if I tell them I'm having a writer's block. And it's interesting to hear their suggestions. Every brain thinks in a slightly different way, after all, and sometimes where I find a brick wall they find a neat little path through a thicket...if that makes any sense. Does it? I think it does. Sometimes running through the story to myself also helps. When I'm home alone, I'll just pace a bit and talk out loud for a while, and sometimes something comes to me. That's how I decided that the two of them would get kidnapped.

Wish me luck, and read away!

My eyes open to pitch blackness. I sit and glance around the empty void, limbs too heavy to bother moving. Then I remember what happened and sigh. There's no way to tell how long I was out, or how long I've been here. Shouldn't that shorty have a little courtesy, and maybe install a glowing clock in this room or something? Then Kurapika and I could at least know how long we've been held captive.

Oh yeah, Kurapika's here. At least, he was here the last time I was awake. It's possible they moved him while I slept.

The thought quickens my heart rate. "Kurapika?" I choke. I cough, saliva forming and moistening my throat. Well, this is better than before, at least. It still kinda hurts to talk, though. "Kurapika? You're….are you still here?" Nothing. I suck in a deep breath and put as much volume as I can into my voice. "KURA-" I break off hacking, my chest screeching in pain. Maybe that was pushing it.

"...I'm….awake."

I relax, heart steadying back into its usual pace. He's still here. We're still together. If he was gone, I get the feeling I would've yanked myself out of these chains even if it meant tearing off my own hands. And then I'd probably have collapsed on the floor exhausted afterwards, and have been chained back up some other way, but at least this way my hands are saved.

I blink, then grimace. I really just thought that, didn't I? Why the hell would I have to sacrifice my hands for him? I'd rather keep my hands attached to my wrist, thank you very much. I can't believe that urge even crossed my mind.

"I must've fallen asleep after I ate," Kurapika deduces, his voice small. He seems to be able to talk a lot easier than I can. Either his suppressants aren't so bad, or he's a hell of a lot better at enduring the dry pain and the effort that accompanies talking for me. I doubt it's the latter. "Have you eaten yet?"

I begin to shake my head, then stop. It's not like he can see it. "Did they bring food?"

"They did. I saw them set yours by your right hand. You should be able to reach it, but it'll be a bit harder to get it in your mouth. These chains don't allow for much reach."

I groan at the prospect of moving, but force my hand to grope around in the darkness anyway. When my fingers come into contact with something squishy, I curl my fingers to pick it up.

"What is this?" I wonder, feeling it all over with my hand. It's probably already disgustingly dirty, anyway, so what's the harm? This guy obviously isn't used to keeping hostages. He has no idea how to treat them!

Kurapika answers, "It's bread." I lean my head back against the stone wall, my hand with the bread in it dropping. Like I'd eat it! Bread? Just bread? And bread that's been sitting on the floor, no less! That shorty needs to step up his act a little and treat us a bit better, asap!

As if reading my mind, Kurapika urges, "I know you don't want to eat it, but would you rather starve?"

I'm about to lie and say I'm eating it, but the Nen sword threatens to pierce my heart. As it does that, I realize I'm stuck with it. I can't remove it if I can't use my Nen. It seems like he realises that, too, because he says,

"If you don't tell me you're eating it, I won't believe you are."

"So you'll believe me?"

"You're pushing it."

I stifle a snicker by tearing off a piece of bread and stuffing it in my mouth. The process requires me to strain against my chains, but I disregard the discomfort. "I'm eating it." After I swallow the first bite, my stomach grumbles to life and I find myself ravenous. I quickly down the rest of the bread, dropping my hand immediately afterwards. Just that little span of time pulling against my shackles has probably rubbed my wrist raw.

Finished, and still hungry, I scrunch my nose. "That was disgusting."

"Have you finished?"

"It's sweet of you to care about me," I tease.

"I have some questions for you," he ignores me. "Like who it was who kidnapped us. You know who it is, don't you?" I groan. I don't wanna talk about this! I don't like that old geezer, nor how I'm involved with him. His connection to me is one I've been trying to throw away. "Corona, it won't help us if you keep me in the dark." I can't help but laugh at his word choice. My breathing quickly turns heavy with the burden of laughing under the influence of the sedatives, but I'm pretty sure I catch a small chuckle from Kurapika, which makes me laugh harder. Despite the shortness of breath, it feels great to laugh! I feel like I've been deprived of it for so long!

"Fine," I catch my breath. "I'll tell you. That shorty that was in here before….that's Mr. Limmings. He's the head of some company….some restaurant chain, last time I checked…..that rivals my father's."

"...your father owned a restaurant chain?"

I glance in the direction of his voice. "Now you wanna know about my father?"

"No, forget it, that has nothing to do with this," he takes back his words. "Go on."

"No, I'll tell you," I grin. "That father of mine owns multiple high end restaurants. Every rich guy in Yorknew probably knows his face. He married my mother for money. I was his one and only heir. He's not that interesting of a guy, really. He's your basic rich dude whose whole world revolves around money."

"You said one and only heir, but what about your brother?" Kurapika asks, curiosity getting the better of him. "He's older than you, isn't he?"

"By about nine years, yeah," I confirm, "but he's my half brother, remember? He's my mom's bastard son, so not an heir."

"If you're the heir to something like that, then why are you running around with the Phantom Troupe?"

I roll my eyes on impulse. "Do you really have to ask? It's cause my brother's there. But now, since you banished him, I've got no reason to stick around with them. I decided to follow you around instead."

"Why don't you go back to your father and mother?"

"Wow, you really think I'd do that?" I scoff. "I'd rather die than go back to that man! I'm not his tool to use to make more money. That's all I was to him. When I got sick when I was little, he only cared that his heir might become weak. 'Corona' didn't exist. I was just the heir."

"...what about your mother?"

"Oh, that woman? Some assassin killed her. Don't know why."

He falls into silence, only our breathing filling the emptiness. Then, "The Phantom Troupe leader is your only sibling?"

"Yeah."

…..

"I'm sorry about separating you from him."

I'm in the middle of rolling my eyes again when I realize something and curse. "They took my pin!" The pin from my mom's murderer, that was my single manipulator tool. They stole it! They stole it along with my spider coin!

"Pin?"

"...it's nothing, forget it," I growl. I tense against the chains, attempting to draw out my aura and failing miserably. How long are we going to be kept here? "Actually, this isn't what you wanted to talk about, was it? What was it you wanted, again?"

"Ah." From the sound of it, it seems like he forgot there was something else, too. "So, Mr. Lemmings is your father's rival. But why did he kidnap us? Or, more specifically, you. He seems to have plenty of money, so ransom seems an unlikely reason."

"Who knows?" I don't bother to shrug in this darkness. "If I had to guess, he's going to try to get my father to step down or something using me as his bargaining chip. It's basic business to use everything and everyone however they can be useful. The question is whether or not my father will care. I mean, it's been...probably seven years since he last saw me. I'm sure he has some other kid in mind to inherit his fortune. So, if Mr. Lemmings deems us useless, he'll probably try to kill us so we don't go blabbing about his kidnapping."

"Corona! You shouldn't say that so calmly!"

"Why not? I'm too tired to get angry. If they try to kill us, I've probably got it in me to at least break their arms before I pass out."

"They could kill us while we sleep, or put toxins into our IV."

"You're too worried," I yawn. It's possible I might be able to withstand the poisons they pump into me, depending on what chemicals they use, and I'm not so unguarded as to let someone take advantage of my sleep. Kurapika, on the other hand...I guess he isn't so sure of himself. Oh, that might not be good. If they try to kill him...I can't protect him. What an odd thought. Protecting someone?

I snicker. Strange. I've never had to, nor wanted to, protect someone. "Listen, Kurapika. We're stuck here for now, until we get our strength back. It's no use thinking about what they might to do us if we can't do anything. You're just gonna terrify yourself."

He sighs. "Yes...you're right. We're lucky we weren't separated. Too much time spent alone in darkness like this would drive us both insane."

"So you're glad I'm here?" I raise a brow, anticipating an answer. He doesn't humor me, though. Instead, he says,

"My last question is about what you said before. Before Mr. Lemmings and the other man came in before, you said something about this being worse. What did you mean?"

I run through my thoughts, backtracking to where those words were spoken. Then I remember. "Oh, that. That's a story. You wanna hear?"

"It's not like we have anything else to do."

I can't help but smile. So he wants to hear more about me? I half- No, wholly expected for him to decline my storytelling, but whaddya know? If he's going to allow it, I'm going to tell him, even if my vocal chords are begging for a break.

"Well, once upon a time…."

Aaaand cliffhanger. My apologies. In my opinion, though, the next chapter is really interesting! I mean, last time we saw little Corona was in the very first chapter! Although this time, she'll be eight instead of seven. She had quite an eventful childhood, it seems. She discovered Nen when she was tiny, learned of a half brother when she was seven, the upcoming story happened when she was eight, and when she was ten, he mother was assassinated and she ran away from home. In my opinion, the reason she turned out so apathetic towards the world is fairly understandable, especially since her parents are the way they are. That might be how it started. I feel like I might've talked about her apathy before... But what do you guys think? Is it realistic that she ended up this way? If not, I need to know why so I can take heed of that in the future.

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!