A big thank you to Just a Cadbury, SpadePirates4Eva, Rina Dragonfly, Anime lover and all silent readers!
Just a Cadbury – Your wish has been granted, enjoy!
SpadePirates4Eva – Huzzah!
Rina Dragonfly - …I may be tempted to draw this, when I get my mojo of drawing canon characters back.
Anime lover – Really? Hmm, I thought most authors did. Well, glad to see you're happy about it! Yes I noticed that as well, it kinda kills the story for me. ~Looks up Nagi Sanzenin~ ADORABLE! So many questions, so much time to answer them. I am attempted to do little spin off chapters here and there, they wouldn't be canon or anything; so they'd have their own little series. Not sure yet. Best. Trailer. EVER!
Side note: - Another picture of Mishka is up (because I'm out of practice and she's fun to draw). It's on my profile, so feel free to check it out.
Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.
It's been an odd day today; Gittarackur actually said where they lived. We're going to rescue Killua not matter what stands in our way!
We had been on the airship for a while, I think for two days. Gon and I had finished our race at the same time again and once again argued a little bit about who won. We even asked my brother and Leorio about it and they both said that it looked even. It had been dark by time we were allowed to board. I had wondered around the airship for a while, looking at everything with interest. By time I got bored I went back to our seats. Kurapika and Leorio weren't there but Gon was. He sat with an elbow leaned onto the window seal, his chin sitting lazily on top of his hand. I wondered over to him and sat next to him, sitting on top of my hands and swung my legs slightly backwards and forwards. It took him a little bit of time to notice me; he jumped when he did and turned his head as I smiled at him.
"Are you okay?" I asked him. Gon looked away for a moment to think about it before turning his head back to the window again to stare out of it. I stood up myself and sat down opposite of him staring out of the window myself, my hands sitting in my lap.
"They're not as pretty as the ones on the first airship we went on." I said staring out of the window as Gon nodded his head. I looked at him through the corner of my eyes before turning my head back towards him, looking at him with furrowed brows.
"You're worried about Killua too, aren't you?" I asked him as he nodded his head again. I turned my head back towards the window looking out of it once more and staring at the lights down below us.
Silence fell between the both of us; it felt strange not having Killua here with us, really strange.
"I don't understand…"Gon said trailing off as I looked at him again.
"It's hard to believe that Killua killed Bodoro. I don't really want to believe it's true, even with the evidence." Gon said, never taking his eyes off the window. I nodded my head and turned back to the window myself looking out of it as well.
"I find it hard to believe to. But when we rescue him we can forget about it and have fun times all over again." I said smiling a sad smile as I continued to stare out of the window. Even though I watched what happened, I still couldn't believe that Killua did it. He said he was from a family of assassin and we believed him, but to think he could do that and not look as if it affected him even a little bit was too strange. Silence fell between the both of us again as we just stared out of the window, blankly, looking at the ground below.
"Killua…" I heard Gon start saying before having a chip shoved into his mouth. Gon turned his head, lifting his chin from his hand. I turned my head around as well looking at who shoved food into Gon's mouth. We looked up to see Leorio holding a few boxes of chips and a couple of drinks under his arm and Kurapika held another two drinks. They both smiled down at us as Leorio stood up straight.
"What's with the long face, Gon, Mishka?" Leorio asked putting a chip into his mouth and smirked at us.
"We'll be in the Republic of Padokea by morning. You'll see Killua soon enough." Kurapika said as me and Gon smiled widely at the both of them.
"Yeah!" Gon said opening his mouth wide and eating the chip that hung from it. Swallowing it he turned back to the window.
I quickly stood up and sat next to Gon again allowing my brother and Leorio to sit next to each other. Kurapika sat opposite me while Leorio sat opposite Gon. I didn't want to look out of the window anymore, it kind of made me feel sick after a little while before so high up. Kurapika and Leorio handed us our food and drinks.
"Thank you." I said to the both of them I placed my food into my lap quickly and quickly took a sip of my drink and closed my eyes tightly scrounging up my nose.
"It went up my nose." I said rubbing my nose with the back of my hand.
"That's because you didn't let it warm up first." My brother said as I nodded my head and quickly placed it between my knees to let it warm up this time. I decided it was probably better to eat my food first. We talked as we ate our dinner about random things that came to us. Leorio was the one that did most of the talking though, or criticising if it was things he didn't like. Eventually we had all fallen asleep somewhere around eleven.
Sunlight hit my eyes making me close them tightly before opening them slightly. I felt a weight on the right side of my head, not on the top but not fully on the side either. I turned my head slightly with my eyes groggily and could just about see Gon's head on the side of mine. My cheek rubbed against something, it felt Gon's jacket. I quickly reached round and poked his shook his good shoulder very lightly. I saw him open his eyes slightly himself before sitting up straight again and yawning loudly. I sat up straight again and quickly dug through my bag looking for my hair brush. My hair had gotten really tangled leaning my head on Gon's head. I winced slightly as I pulled the brush through and heard Gon laugh slightly.
"Sorry, I used your head as a pillow." Gon said smiling widely and apologetically. I shook my head and smiled widely back at him.
"That's okay! I did the same to your shoulder." I said to him as we laughed about it smiling widely. I finished brushing my hair and shoved my brush bag into my bag. Finally waking up I looked at the seats opposite. Kurapika and Leorio had gone somewhere.
"Hey, Mishka!" Gon said making me look over to him to see him looking out of the window. I stood up and walked over to the and looked out, smiling widely with Gon. We were coming close to the airport.
"Mishka sit down, we're landing soon." I heard my brother say and turned around to see him and Leorio had come back. I quickly nodded my head and dropped myself into the seat opposite Gon so I could watch out of the window as well. I was excited, we were at the Republic of Padokea, and we were closer to seeing Killua! I couldn't help but bounce slightly in my seat excited.
The airship landed and the four of us quickly got off it with our belongings. Me and Gon followed behind Kurapika and Leorio as they were looking for the train station. We finally found it and boarded the train. Me, Gon, Kurapika and Leorio had opened the window and stuck out heads out slightly to get a better view. I hadn't been on trains much; we either walked or travelled by bus. I loved the feeling when being on the train; they were so fast it was unreal!
"There it is." Leorio said as we all brought our heads back inside. Gon had taken a seat next to Leorio and sat by the window and I had taken a seat next to my brother and sat by the window. We all continued to look out of it at the mountain that seemed to have a big black cloud around the top. Leorio leaned his elbow onto the window seal and lazily leaned his hand into his palm.
"The base for this family of assassins is on that mountain?" Leorio questioned quietly, staring bored at the mountain.
"It sure looks creepy." He finished off as me and Gon continued to stare at it with wide eyes.
"Yes. Once we reach our destination, we should start gathering information." My brother said looking at Leorio. Leorio nodded his head at my brother as he turned to face him. Me and Gon sat up in our seats a little more to look at the mountain.
"Okay." Leorio said to Kurapika.
We got off the train and walked into town. My brother decided the best way to get information was to ask the local people. We walked over to a lady who stood behind a stool. She was rather large, had brown short hair and very small eyes. She wore a pink bandana and orange shirt. Her chest looked huge!
"Kukuroo Mountain? In that case, you should take the scenic mountain bus tour over there." She said to us as she placed her hands on her hips.
"The tour only runs once a day, but you'll have a guide to show you around." She said, pointing over to a red and yellow tour bus. It had a line of people next to it, wanting to get onto the tour themselves. She said as we nodded our heads as thanks to her. I quickly dug through my bag. Gon stopped and turned his head around looking at me questionably.
"What you doing, Mishka?" He asked walking back as I dug to the bottom and pulled out my wallet looking at him with a smile.
"I want to send a picture to Sarah to show her me and big brother became hunters and that we made friends! So I'm going to get a camera." I said to him smiling widely as he nodded his head smiling back. I quickly picked up a disposable camera pack and gave it to the woman. She looked at me oddly and pressed some buttons on a calculator.
"That's two hundred Jenny." She said to me as I nodded my head and handed her the money. She handed the camera back to me in exchange.
"Thank you!" I said to her and quickly shoved it into my bag with my wallet. Gon and I quickly ran over to Kurapika and Leorio who stood in the queue looking over to us.
"Hurry up or we'll miss the tour!" Leorio shouted over as we caught up to them.
We got onto the bus pretty quickly after me and Gon caught up. We had decided to sit in the front. Kurapika and I sat next to each other at the very front behind the driver as Gon and Leorio sat in the seats behind us. Both me and Gon had chosen the window seats. The bus began travelling off the main street and onto an up-hill road. It was bumpy, but on either side of the road was green grass with flowers blooming. It was very pretty. Our tour guide was a lady with very big orange curly hair; she saw a blue skirt suit and a little blue hat. She also held a microphone to her mouth. Her eyes were green and her skin as a little pale.
"Okay… Thank you for taking the Lamentation Tour today." She said bowing and stood up straight once more with a wide smile on her face.
"We will be visiting Kukuroo Mountain, home to the famous Zoldyck family of assassins." She said holding a hand out to her side. Me and Gon stared out of the window excitedly. I could feel Leorio lean forward.
"Look." I heard him whisper making my brother turn around to look behind him. I couldn't help but look as well and sat on my knees on the seat, hiding my head behind the chair so only my forehead and eyes were visible, my fingers curled around the top of the chair. There were two men at the back. One was large and had blonde spikey hair on the top with darker blonde on the bottom and shaved close to his head. His shirt was brown with a fur collar. The other guy was a lot smaller than him. He had black hair that was spikey and slicked back and a green shirt.
"They obviously aren't tourists." Leorio said as I nodded my head.
"Yes…" Kurapika said as I looked up to him, staying behind the chair seat.
"Do you think they're up to something?" I asked him in a whisper as he looked away from them and looked at me instead.
"It's hard to say, but we'll keep an eye on them." My brother said as I nodded my head and sat probably on the chair again. I quickly shuffled over to look out of the window again, seeing if we had passed anything new.
"Everyone… Please look to your right." The tour guide said as me and Gon looked up. We could see the Mountain much better now. It was a lot clearer. The black smoke still covered the top, which I found odd.
"That is Kukuroo Mountain, where the Zoldyck family lives. A forest surrounds the three thousand, seven hundred and twenty two mountain, and the Zoldyck estate is somewhere on that Mountain. But no one has actually ever seen it." She explained to us. The bus drove around on the hill, going in circles. The road had no barriers, so the bus driver had to be really careful in order to not drive us all off the edge. I could hear Leorio snoring behind us and quickly drew my eyes away from the window. He leaned back on the chair with his arms outstretched and head back, dribbling and snoring. I raised an eyebrow slightly and shrugged my shoulders a little before turning my attention to back out the window again.
"The Zoldyck family includes ten members: A great-grandfather, grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, and then, there are five children." The tour lady said holding out five fingers on her free hand. I kept my eyes locked outside the window.
"Killua's family is huge!" I whispered over to Gon who nodded his head.
"Yeah." He whispered back to me as we continued to stare out of the window again.
"All of them are assassins!" The tour guide said to us in a happy voice as she finished off her sentence.
"Then, let us approach the mountain." She said to us as the tour bus continued to travel.
The tour bus stopped outside a giant wall with two huge metal doors closed shut. We climbed out the bus and looked at the doors with wide eyes. Me and Gon stood slightly in front of my brother and Leorio as we looked at the doors. They looked metal and had a giant metal dragon running over the top and all along the wall.
"That's really something." Leorio said, covering the tops of his eyes with his hand. People stood in front of the doors, posing and taking photos of each other. The tour guide held a hand out towards the door as she began talking once more.
"This is the front gate to the Zoldyck estate. Also known as the Door to Hades because no one who's entered has ever returned alive. To enter, you must pass through the door beside the security checkpoint." The tour guide said as I looked over to my right. There was this little square yellow building with a blue roof. Next to it was a brown door. That door looked tiny compared to the huge metal doors. I looked back up to the huge metal doors once more as the tour guide began speaking again.
"But the area beyond the gate is private property, so we can't proceed." She said to us happily. Leorio turned to her, glaring angrily at the woman.
"Hold on! This is the front gate? The mountains all the way over there!" Leorio said to her, pointing towards the mountain that seemed so far away compared to the gates.
"Correct… The Zoldyck owns Kukuroo Mountain, as well as the surrounding land." She said making my eyes go wide in shock. Killua's family owned all of this?! Why did they need so much space? I mean okay they had five kids but that's a lot of space for five children. Leorio slouched down slightly as he looked at the gate with disbelief to what he was hearing.
"This whole area is their backyard?" He asked in a whisper as he slouched down some more.
Gon turned his head towards the tour guide as I continued to stare at the mountain and gate in disbelief.
"Hey guide… What do we have to do to get inside?" Gon asked her pointing at the gate. I was interested as well and turned my head wondering the same thing. The tour guide smiled widely with her eyes closed and placed a finger on her cheek, tilting her head slightly to the right.
"Little boy, were you listening to my explanation?" She asked him, making Gon put his arm back down to his side and nod his head slightly.
"Uh-huh. But…" He began saying until the tour guide butted her voice back in.
"If you go inside, you'll never get out alive! Assassins live inside." She said, looking at him angrily before going back to her smiling way once more and tilted her head once more. The two guys from the back of the bus walked behind her, it looked like they were carrying things on their backs. Looking closer it was only the little guy carrying something on his shoulder. It was a huge silver sword, it was long and very wide. It didn't look very light and he was carrying it with ease on his shoulder.
"It's all a sham." The smallest one said making the tour guide look at him questionably.
"Huh?" She asked him and turned her head slightly to look at him. I looked at him questionably as well, wondering how he had come to that conclusion.
"A family of assassin's that no one's ever seen." The biggest guy said as they walked towards the brown doors.
"Just a photo of their faces is worth a hundred million." The smallest one spoke one more, smirking as he continued to walk forward. Leorio ran forward slightly, staring at them in disbelief.
"Seriously?! Damn! I should have taken a picture of Killua!" Leorio said snapping his fingers angrily and swung his arm across his body. I looked at him questionably. Just because he took the picture wouldn't have meant anybody would have believed him. Gon looked at him questionably as well and my brother looked at him annoyed.
The two people walked up to the security checkpoint.
"It's just another case of rampant rumours masking a mundane truth." The smaller guy said as they stopped next to the security checkpoint. The bigger guy ripped the door off the hinges making me gasp slightly. He threw his hand in and pulled out an old looking man wearing a grey suit with a grey security hat.
"Open the gate!" The big guy demanded of the security guard.
"I-I cannot do that. The master will not be please." The security guard said to him. I couldn't help but furrow my brows slightly, he was doing his job and that big guy wasn't making it easy for him.
"Don't worry. We're going to kill your master." The little guy said to him. The security guard sighed in defeat and started rummaging through his pockets. He pulled out a brown looking key and held it up for the two guys to take. The guy holding him snatched it out of his hands and threw the security guard onto his back to the ground. He began sitting up as Gon was the first to run forward. I followed closely behind him, wondering if the security guard was alright myself; that fall didn't look very good. Kurapika and Leorio both ran after me towards the guard.
"Are you okay?" Gon asked him, furrowing his brows as the security guard rubbed his head. Gon knelt down behind him as I stood next to him.
"Yes, I'm fine." He said as the brown doors closed shut. The three of us looked over to the door.
"Man… Now Mike's going to end up eating between meals again." The security guard said as me and Gon looked at him questionably. Who was Mike? We heard screams coming from behind the door; it made me flinch at the sound. We all stood in silence, wondering what was going to happen.
The door soon opened, my brother and Leorio took a slight step back as Gon just glared towards the door. A skeleton head popped out. I screamed a little out of shock and slammed my hands over my mouth, furrowing my brows as I looked at the skeleton. I could feel my vision going red from fear and couldn't help but quickly look down and closed my eyes tightly, remembering what my brother had said. I heard something hit the ground and scatter all over the floor. Everybody started screaming and running back to the tour bus, everyone but us four.
"Please… He's only supposed to eat at assigned times. Mike! Don't blame me if you get fat!" The security guard shouted over to the doors. I opened my eyes slowly, calming myself down. My vision was a little bit back to normal, but I could still see red, it wasn't that much though. The skeletons laid on the floor by the door, scattered everywhere. I kept my hands over my mouth that was terrifying; I wasn't expecting to suddenly see skeletons.
"What was that?" I heard Kurapika ask as he and Leorio both looked at the door. I took a deep breath through my hands and closed my eyes tightly again before opening them seeing my vision had gone back to normal. I dropped my hands to my sides and took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. I think I was better now.
"Hey, boys and girl! What are you doing? Get on the bus!" She tour guide shouted making us look over to her. She waved her flag in the air and kept going side to side from the bus, trying to get us to come back. Gon stood up and smiled widely at her.
"You can leave. We're staying here." Gon said to her holding a hand out to his side as he turned to face her fully. The guilds eyes went wide as she looked at Gon and stopped her swinging and flag waving.
The bus had left. The security guard invited us into the security checkpoint where we could explain our story to him. The sun was being to set, making the sky an orange red colour.
"I see. So you're young Killua's friends. I'm happy to hear that." He said as he poured out some green tea for Gon. The inside was a lot bigger then it looked on the outside. There was a table and a cabinet killed with different utensils. I stood next to Gon and Kurapika as we listened to the security guard talk. I couldn't help but stand close to my brother, not feeling as brave anymore after seeing the skeletons. He lifted the teapot upwards again after he finished pouring his tea. The security guard smiled widely to himself.
"I've worked here for twenty years, but this is the first time any friends have come to visit." He said handing the handless cup to Gon on a saucer. The guard sat down on the chair behind him after making himself a cup of tea. He leaned his hands onto his thighs as he smiled up at us. I picked up my cup of tea with both my hands and placed the mug to my lips, blowing down into it slowly as I watched him. I was thankful for my sleeves being slow long to the point where they covered my hands; it stopped some of the heat coming through. Kurapika picked up his mug as well and just stood there holding it.
"Since I work here, I shouldn't say this, but the place is rather lonely. No one ever visits. Though we do see a lot of those…" the guard said and pointed his thumb to the bin containing the skeletons. I felt a chill run up my spine and quickly turned away, deciding to face my brother instead and took a long sip of my tea. After taking a long sip I slowly turned back around and looked at the security guard, continuing to hold my tea in between my hands.
"Well, a family of assassins is pretty unusual. So I suppose it's the price they have to pay. Anyway, I'm glad you're here. Thank you." He said to us, bowing in his chair slightly to show his thanks.
Leorio waved his hand at him, feeling uncomfortable with the thanks.
"Don't worry about it." He said to him and placed his hand back down onto the table again.
"However…" The security guard said and opened his eyes. He brought his head up to face up probably with a smile on his face.
"I cannot let you inside." He said as I furrowed my brows slightly.
"But…why not sir?" I asked him hesitantly, being as polite as I could through my nervousness, itching to ask him why he couldn't let us inside. The look on his face became serious as he continued to look at us.
"Didn't you see the large arm of the creature? Its name is Mike. It serves as the Zoldyck family watchdog. It only obeys family, and will attack anyone else. The beast still follows the order its master gave it ten years ago… To kill every single intruder." The security guard said continuing to look at us seriously. The guard lightened up and sat up straight again. He slapped a hand onto his head as he closed his eyes once more with a nervous kind of smile. I took another sip of the tea nervously after listening to the story.
"But technically, he isn't following the order. Because he keeps eating them…" He said and laughed at the end of his sentence. He picked up his cup of tea and looked back at us with a friendly smile once more.
"Anyway, I can't let you inside. I wouldn't want to reduce young Killua's friends to skeletons." He said laughing once more. That didn't make me feel any easier. The good thing was he didn't want to reduce us to skeletons, bad thing was we couldn't go inside the save Killua.
I took another long sip of my tea nervously, breathing into it through my nose and furrowed brows.
"Sir, how is it that you're safe?" My brother asked him as I stopped sipping my tea at the same time the security guard did after hearing my brothers' question.
"You go inside, correct? If you never needed to enter, you wouldn't have a key." Kurapika said, pointing out that very small detail that I had forgotten all about. The Security guard chuckled slightly and opened his eyes to look at my brother quite seriously.
"Quite perceptive of you. But you're only half right. I require no key to get inside. This key is for intruders." He said and dug into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the brown key once more, holding it up in the air. That was the key those two people snatched from him.
"A key for intruders?" Leorio questioned as the security guard kept looking at us quite seriously.
"For some reason, eight to ninety percent of intruders attempt to use the front gate. If I don't open the gate for them, they'll try to break it down. Such troublemakers… So we added a locked door to one side. The intruders take the key from the helpless guard, and then Mike eats them." He said, pocketing the key back into his jacket once more. I took one last sip of my tea finishing it.
"That's it!" I heard my brother say suddenly making me jump and swallow my tea quickly. I coughed slightly and held my cup in one hand and patted my chest with my free hand after swallowing so suddenly.
"As you just realized, I'm not a guard. I merely clean up after Mike." The now fake security guard said to us, leaning forward once more. I quickly placed my empty mug back onto the table and stood back in front of my brother once again standing close to him.
"And the actual gate isn't locked!" Kurapika said sternly to him as the fake guard leaned forward some more.
"Exactly." He said. Leorio turned around in his chair and looked outside through the gap in the wall where the old door used to be.
"What?" He said as he looked at the giant metal gate.
Night had fallen by time we had finished our tea. We walked outside with the fake security guard. Leorio stood in front of the metal door as the rest of us stood away from him. I stood in the middle of Kurapika and Gon. Leorio started waving his right arm in a circle and then leaned forward, pressing his hands against the metal doors. He began pushing at the doors, but they weren't doing as so much as even moving a little bit. They must have been really heavy. Leorio stopped pushing on the doors and hunched over, red in the face and started breathing heavily to get his breath back. He then tried pushing the doors open again before trying to pry them open to the sides. The doors were just not having it; they wouldn't move a single inch. He stood up straight and started swaying his hands backwards and forward. It looked like he couldn't move them from the wrist at all.
"I've tried pushing and pulling, but it won't budge! Are you sure it isn't locked?" Leorio asked the fake security guard.
"You just aren't strong enough." The fake guard said making Leorio turn around and glare at him.
"That's absurd! I've been using all of my strength!" Leorio shouted at him angrily. The fake guard took off his jacket, shirt and tie leaving him in his trousers and white tank top. He looked really muscly without the layers and if anything it kind of disturbed me slightly. He began walking to the door as me, Kurapika and Gon watched him with interest.
"Just watch." He said and stopped in front of the gate next to Leorio. Leorio moved away from him slightly as he watched the fake guard.
"This gate's official name is the Testing Gate. Anyone who cannot open this gate is unqualified to enter the Zoldyck estate." He said as he crossed his arms over with his fists clenched. He threw his arms down with his hands straight. The muscles in his arms began bulging. It kind of looked like he was glowing. I raised an eyebrow slightly at that but decided to keep quiet about it. I was sure my brother had picked it up, he picked up everything. He placed his hands onto either side of the gate as we watched him. With one push he opened the gate with ease. He let go after a few seconds and took a couple of steps backwards; the bulges in his muscles on his arms disappearing as he stood up straight. The fake guard turned around facing us with a smirk.
"As you just saw, the door closes automatically, so you'll want to run in, the second it opens. You don't need to worry about Mike. He has orders not to attack any who enter through the Testing Gate." He said and rubbed his head with his arm. He had begun sweating after opening the gate.
I looked at him with a determined look just as Gon did. It seemed a bit bizarre to me that they would want to test their own son.
"Still, this is getting harder as I age… But they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so I need to keep in shape." The fake guard said as he turned his head towards the door slightly, the kind smile returning back to his face.
"I should mention that each of gate one's doors weights two tons." He said making us stare at him with wide eyes. Two tons?! That was so much! No wonder Leorio couldn't open it. But that fake guard, he opened it as if it was nothing! I tried hard to take in the information but it wasn't easy to do.
"Two tons? You're not supposed to be able to open that!" Leorio said waving his hand in a dismissive manner. He then placed his hands back onto his hip and bent down a little with a disbelieving look on his face.
"Wait, what did you say? Gate one?" Leorio asked him as the fake guard turned his head slightly to look at us with the same smile.
"Yes, have a look. There are seven gates. When you go up a gate, the weight doubles." He said as we began looking up at the gate, counting the numbers. I stared at it with wide eyes as Gon stared at it with his mouth slightly open and wide eyes. Even my brother couldn't help but stare at it with wide eyes in wonder. Leorio did as well, and he even complained more about it.
"Doubles?!" He said as the old man looked up as well and placed his hands onto his hips.
"The number of gates that open depends on the amount of strength you use. Incidentally, when young Killua returned, he opened gates one through three." The fake guard said to us.
"Gate three? That would be twelve tons!" Gon said making me gasp at the weight.
"That's so much!" I said surprised by how much Killua was able to push open. My brother crossed his arms across his chest and closed his eyes.
"Sixteen tons, Gon." He said making Gon rub the back of his head and laugh at himself for his bad maths. I wasn't great at maths either, even more so when surprised with things like that. I turned to my brother looking at him with wide eyes and in pure amazement.
"That's still so much!" I said to him in a shocked tone of voice, amazed at how anybody could even push open that much. My brother looked at me with an eyebrow raised slightly before smiling at me and nodding his head as he uncrossed his arms.
"Do you understand now? This is what's required just to get in the door. They live in a completely different world." The fake guard said to us as I furrowed my brows. It didn't seem like a very nice world.
"Hmm, I don't like it. Mister, lend me the key." Gon said to him and turned slightly to face him. I turned slightly to face the fake guard myself and looked at him determined.
"We came here to see our friend, not to be tested. You can consider me an intruder. So let me borrow the key. I'll use the intruders' door." Gon said turning around and holding out his hand to the fake guard. I turned around myself and fidgeted slightly with my sleeves as I looked down to the ground towards the door with my brows furrowed. I didn't want to go through the intruder door, but we came here together and as much as my brother will scold me for it later, I wasn't going to leave Gon to go through on his own. I looked back at the guard and took a deep breath.
"I-I'm going to! We came here together; s-so it's only right I go through the intruder door with him." I said to him bringing up whatever courage I had managed to summon to speak up to the guard, even if it was stutter filled. Gon looked at me quickly before looking back at the guard with his hand still held out.
"Gon! Mishka!" I heard my brother say to us angrily making me flinch at the tone of voice and close my eyes tightly quickly before opening them to look back at the guard. I didn't like acting against my brothers will, and if I was honest I hadn't really done it before, it felt strange and I wasn't sure if I liked doing it. But Killua needed our help! And I planned on sticking by Gon no matter what.
"Hey…" Leorio said to us quietly, either believing what we were saying or not believing the tone of voice my brother had used.
The security guard looked at us sternly as Gon continued to talk.
"It doesn't matter if you won't loan us the key. We'll just climb the wall, if that's what it takes." Gon said as he turned his head to face me with a determined look on his face.
"Mishka, how well can you climb?" He asked me making me snap my head up to face him. I furrowed my brows some more with a frown.
"Not that well…" I said to him as he nodded his head and turned his head back to the security guard once more. I did the same as I tried my best to summon up whatever courage I had once more.
"Don't be stupid, Gon! Didn't you see that monster? Its arm was bigger than your entire body!" Leorio scolded Gon as he tried to talk sense into him.
"Mishka, what are you thinking?! It's a very dangerous and stupid thing to do! You'll get yourself killed!" My brother scolded at me making me flinch at his scolding and fiddle with the sleeves of my shirt more as I shifted my weight somewhat. I had to stand by Gon with this decision. It hurt me a lot of not listen to my brother for once and to have him scold me, but it felt as if it was something I needed to do.
"I won't accept this!" Gon said to Leorio making him stand up in shock. I shook my head quickly and closed my eyes tightly as my brows stayed furrowed.
"I'm sorry big brother but I'm sticking with Gon on this one. We came for Killua together and I want to see it through to the end!" I said back to my brother. I heard him catch his breath in his throat slightly, taken back by the words I had said. I felt bad for saying it; if I was honest. Really bad.
"Why would you test your friends? We'll never enter through that door." Gon said speaking for the both of us as he glared at the fake guard.
I opened my eyes after taking a deep breath and looked up to the fake guard myself, trying my best to give glare at him as well. I managed to sort of do it, but it was a mixture between a furrow and a glare. The fake guard scratched the back of his head as he furrowed his brows himself with a frown.
"You are absolutely right. However, forcing your way through is impossible. Mike will kill you." He said to us holding out a hand trying to reason with Gon about the decision. I guess it was technically ours, even if Gon was doing the talking for both of us. I was just so nervous right now, and scarred to be going against my brother that I couldn't get myself to speak.
"I agree. We have plenty of time. Let's figure out a way to enter through gate one." My brother said, sounding a lot calmer as he tried to reason with Gon…us as well. I didn't know what was more worrying, my brother acting this calm, or us going to enter through the brown doors. Gon held out his hand once more to the fake guard, the same look on his face as I continued my best to try and glare at him through furrowed brows.
"It's no use; they're not going to change their mind…" I heard Leorio say to my brother.
"Indeed…" I heard my brother say, defeat in his voice. I could feel a stare onto my back and it made me fidget slightly uncomfortably. The fake guard placed his hands on his hips as he looked down to the ground.
"Unfortunately, I cannot lend you this key. I will not feed young Killua's friends to Mike. Well, please wait here for a minute." The fake guard said as he walked past us. He came back a short while after and prompted us to follow him. We all did so willingly.
We stood inside the security checkpoint once more. I stood next to Gon and in front of Kurapika. I stood closer to Gon, I wanted to try and give my brother some space after speaking back to him. Leorio stood behind Gon and next to Killua. He leaned one arm onto the top of the door frame with his suitcase over his shoulder. The fake guard typed in a number and held the phone to his ear. We could hear it ringing.
"Hello? This is Zebro. Four of young Killua's friends are here to see him. Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. Yes, I understand. Yes. I'm very sorry. I apologize for disturbing you." The fake guard, who had called himself Zebro, said and hung up the phone. I followed Gon inside the building as the others followed me. Zebro rubbed his head.
"Yep, I got in trouble." Zebro said with disappointment in his voice.
"You called the mansion?" Gon asked him. Zebro turned his head over his shoulder and looked at us.
"No, I was speaking with the Zoldyck family butler. All communications with the mansion must go through the butler. It's very difficult to reach any of the family members." Zebro said as me and Gon walked over next to him. I stared at the phone as Gon looked up to Zebro.
"Could you call him again? We'll talk to him this time." Gon said referring to me and him.
"Sure, I guess… But you won't enjoy the experience." Zebro said with uncertainty in his voice as he looked at Gon and then picked up the phone, dialling in the number once more. We watched as he dialled the number. I quickly walked over to the other side of Gon and stood on my toes to listen as well. Gon held the phone so that the speaker and microphone were facing outwards, that way both of us could hear and both of us could speak as well. We heard someone pick up the phone.
"Yes, this is the butler's office." The voice said. It was a male voice on the other end.
"I'm Gon, one of Killua's friends." Gon said as I stood on my toes slightly more, hating the fact that Gon was taller than me at the moment.
"I-I'm Mishka, I'm also one of Killua's friends." I stuttered to him, feeling nervous about speaking to this butler on the phone.
"Is Killua there?" Gon asked him questionably. The phone went quite for a little while before the voice spoke again.
"Killua has no friends." The voice said and hung up.
I furrowed my brows, he hung up the phone and said Killua had no friends.
"That wasn't very nice…." I said trailing off. The phone bleeped as the line went dead. I heard my brother and Leorio shuffle slightly. Gon put the phone down and went to pick it up. I beat him to it this time and held the phone between us as Gon dialled the number in again. The phone rang a few times once more until the same voice picked up again.
"Yes, this is the butler's office." The man on the other end said once more to us. It was quiet for a few moments, I was about to speak until Gon started shouting down the phone.
"How could you possibly know that?! Put Killua on the phone!" Gon shouted down the phone making me jump. I almost dropped it and but I regained my composer and held onto it tightly in my hands again, holding the phone between us. The air rang slightly. I looked behind me to see if my brother and Leorio could hear it, but they looked shocked at Gon's outburst and had stepped away. I looked between the two, when I looked at my brother I quickly snapped my head back round listening to the conversation. It was quite for a while.
"I believe you said that you were Gon?" He questioned him.
"Yeah." Gon replied to him as I took the chance to speak to let Gon calm down slightly before he started speaking again.
"P-please sir, we just want to speak to Killua." I said down the phone myself, stuttering. I didn't shout, but I didn't sound all that confident either.
"And I believe you said that you were Mishka?" The voice asked me next.
"Yes." I said to the butler down the phone.
"Let us pretend that Killua happen to have friends named Gon and Mishka. There is no proof that you are Gon and Mishka." The butler said to us. Gon glared at the table.
"If you put Killua on the phone, he'll recognise us!" Gon said down the phone, sounding just as angry as he did before. He hadn't calmed down one bit and if I was honest it was actually a little scary, considering he was usually really happy and calm.
"By your voice? That isn't a reliable test." The butler asked and said to him making Gon turn his head slightly to try and look at the phone as I continued to hold it between us, standing on my toes.
What was said down the phone next shocked the both of us.
""If you put Killua on the phone, he'll recognise us!" "P-please sir, we just want to speak to Killua."" The voices said on the other end of the phone. I looked at the phone shocked, so did Gon. The recording was spot on, it sounded like perfect matches of our voices.
"That was a simple recording. And there are many other ways to mimic a person's voice. Next, you'll claim that he'd recognise you both by sight. There are only a few methods by which you could perfectly mimic someone's appearance. But it still isn't impossible. Additionally, it's possible that someone forced you both to approach Killua for sinister purposes. As long as the threat exists, I cannot let you meet with Killua." He said as me and Gon continued to look at the phone slightly being held by me between us. I dropped from my toes and quickly stood up on them again.
"The Zoldyck family practices the trade of assassination. Naturally, it has made enemies. As butlers, our duty is to guard our masters from their enemies. I apologise, but please leave." The butler said to us and then hung up the phone. The hang up beep played through the phone as I held it between us for a while. Gon started walking away making my quickly drop back down from my toes and hang up the phone.
"Hey! Gon!" Leorio said as I quickly followed after Gon.
"Wait! Mishka!" I heard my brother say after I walked past them both quickly.
"Gon!" Leorio yelled once more after Gon.
"Mishka!" My brother yelled once more after me.
We both got to the outside as I followed Gon quickly from behind, fiddling with the sleeves of my shirt. He was so angry by what the butler said, it was scary. I could hear his breathing and that was what scarred me. Gon stopped in front of the door and turned his head towards me over his shoulder.
"Copy what I do over the wall okay?" He asked me with a serious looking on his face. I flinched slightly at the look and nodded my head quickly.
"Uh-huh." I said to him nodding my head once more. Gon reached behind him. I quickly took a step to the side as he brought his fishing rod back and then flung it over his shoulder. The strong went over the wall. Gon walked over to the wall with me following close behind. He climbed it a little bit and pulled on the string a couple of times.
"Hey! Stop it, Gon!" Leorio yelled after Gon.
"Don't even think about is, Mishka!" I heard my brother yell after me. He sounded angry once more and it made me flinch. There was so much anger going around and I knew I was going to have to apologise to my brother so much after this.
"It's okay. You two can wait here. We'll do it by ourselves." Gon said as he turned his head and nodded at me. I furrowed my brows and nodded back walking over to the door as well. I looked carefully at Gon's hand; he had the string curled around his hand. I picked up the string in one hand and wrapped it around my free hand. Just copy what Gon does, that's all I had to do. Leorio and Kurapika ran over to us just as I had finished wrapping the string around my hand and as Gon had put his other leg onto the door.
"I can't let you do that!" Leorio said to Gon as Kurapika stopped next to him.
"I can't let you do that either, Mishka!" I heard Kurapika say as I looked down to the ground slightly before walking closer to the wall.
"We'll be fine." Gon said as he began climbing the wall.
"No, you won't!" Leorio shouted at the both of us. Gon struggled to start climbing the door and I waited patiently on the ground. The string shook all over the place and swung Gon from side to side.
"We should all calm down!" Kurapika said to us as he took a step closer.
"I'm perfectly calm! Come down here, Gon!" Leorio said as Gon hopped up the door. Once he got a little bit higher and nervously put a foot onto the door and waited just that little bit more for Gon to get up a little bit higher.
"Don't be stupid." Kurapika said to the both of us as Gon got a little bit higher up the door. I took a deep breath and quickly put my other foot onto the door. I held onto the string tightly with both my hands. I copied Gon's stance, knees bent and go up one foot at a time. It was kind of like the Trick Tower thing with Kai, but instead of going down we were going up.
"Gon, Mishka, I'll give you the key. You can go through the door." Zebro said as he walked over. I had managed to climb a little bit up with Gon by time Zebro got to us.
"Hold on, pops! We can convince Gon and Mishka to stop!" Leorio said as Gon and I climbed a little bit further up the door.
"Really? But they appear to be stubborn children. To make amends, I'll accompany you through the door." Zebro said as Gon stopped climbing. I quickly stopped after Gon stopped so I wouldn't bump into him. We both looked at Zebro as he looked up at us.
"It's possible that Mike may recognise me and decide not to attack. Though I'm almost a hundred percent certain that he'll kill us all." Zebro said making me furrow my brows at him. Gon looked over his shoulder quickly at me making me look up when I felt someone staring.
"Untie it from your hand and jump down." He said as I looked at him with wide eyes before looking behind me. That would require falling, I didn't want to fall. I furrowed my brows and swallowed the lump in my throat. I uncurled the string from my hand nervously and took a deep breath before pushing off the wall slightly and letting go. I landed on my feet but stumbled a bit. I quickly moved out of the way as Gon landed next to me, keeping a hold of the string. He furrowed his brows at Zebro.
"You can't do that. We don't want to cause you any trouble." Gon said as I quickly nodded my head agreeing with him, furrowing my brows as well.
"That wasn't the intention at all!" I said to him as Zebro looked at us sternly.
"No, I'm coming with you. The result will be the same if I stay behind. If I send young Killua's friends to their deaths, I'd never be able to face him again. If you die, I will also die." Zebro said to us, sternly and seriously. The both of us looked at each other with furrowed brows before looking away. I rubbed my arm slightly and fidgeted as Gon looked to the ground.
Gon quickly flicked his fishing rod back, bringing back all the string that was being used to climb with. He turned back to face Zebro as I kept a hand on my arm, I felt bad, really bad. I had disobeyed my brother and we had nearly made a big mistake by having Zebro come with us when all he was doing was his job.
"I understand now. We didn't stop to consider your situation." Gon said to him as I nodded my head agreeing with him.
"Sorry." We both said to him apologetically. I heard my brother sigh in relief as well as Leorio. I looked to the ground and then looked up to my brother furrowing my brows.
"I'm sorry big brother…for not listening when I should have." I said fidgeting slightly on the spot and fiddled with my sleeve once more with the hand that was rubbing my arm. I saw my brother walk forward and stop next to me. He placed a hand on my head and rubbed it, accepting my apology.
"That's okay; just try to think things through before you act on impulse, even when sticking by your friend." He said to me as I nodded my head under his hand. He smiled at me kindly and dropped his hand onto my shoulder as I looked back at Zebro once more.
"You must like animals, Gon." Zebro asked Gon. Gon nodded his head slightly, surprised by the question.
"Yeah." Gon said to him.
"Just as I thought. Did you grow up playing in the countryside?" Zebro asked him as Gon nodded his head once more, his face brightening up at the question.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Gon asked him amazed at his guess. Zebro ignored his question though and turned his head towards me, keeping the same smile he had with Gon on his face.
"You're a little bit harder to tell as it seems like you travelled a lot, so you've seen quite a few different kinds of animals, am I right?" He asked me as I nodded my head slightly with wide eyes, amazed at how he simply just guessed that. Zebro looked between me and Gon, the same smile on his face.
"Gon, Mishka, I'm going to open the Testing Gate again. I want you to see Mike for yourselves." Zebro said as he turned his head towards the Testing Gate.
The moon continued to shine down on us. Zebro pushed open the Testing Gate for us, making it scrape across the ground. We quickly entered after him. I couldn't help but stand close to my brother and slightly behind Gon as we waited to see what Mike was. Leorio stood behind us, his briefcase over his shoulder.
"Hey… Is it really okay for us to come in?" Leorio questioned Zebro quietly. Zebro turned his head slightly and looked at Leorio from over his shoulder.
"Yes, you'll be safe because you entered through the Testing Gate. Mike! Come here!" Zebro said as he turned back around and began calling for Mike. Zebro's voice echoed through the woods as we waited for Mike to turn up. I could feel my fear rise up and slipped back into an old habit. I grabbed a hold of my brothers' tabard tightly, but I didn't hide behind him. We heard deep breathing and turned our heads towards the sound. Zebro placed his hands behind his back calmly. I tightened my grip on my brothers' tabard as the breathing got louder and louder, closer and closer. Soon, a giant dog came out of the woods. I looked up at it and felt my eyes widen as my vision went red. He was huge, his teeth were long and sharp, his breathing made the air feel suffocating. What terrified me the most was his eyes, they looked empty. I could feel myself shake and quickly grabbed my brother hand, holding onto it tightly as I could for safety and comfort. The giant dog laid down, continuing to stare at us. What scarred me even more was that I could feel my brothers fear as I stood next him. That dog was terrifying, it hurt to move. I dared to look at Gon; he looked just as scarred so much so that he began to sweat.
Zebro turned his head towards us.
"Gon, do you understand now? This is a trained hunting dog. It's nothing like the wild animals you're accustomed to. You must have expected to be able to communicate with him. Until you saw his eyes." Zebro said pausing his sentence. We continued to look at Mike; he just kept staring down at us. Unmoving. Not even an inch.
"Mike is currently memorizing the appearances and scents of humans he's never seen. There's nothing else on his mind. He's like a machine. Gon, could you fight him?" Zebro explained to us before asking Gon that one question. Gon shook his head quickly, the sweat on his face flying off and hitting the ground.
"No, I'm scared. I don't want to fight him!" Gon said to him, never taking his eyes off the creature.
"Mishka, this dog is much different than the ones you've probably seen. What about you? Could you fight him?" Zebro asked me as I tightened my grip on my brothers' hand even more without realised it was possible and shook my head, never taking my eyes off the dog. I couldn't help but step closer to my brother until I couldn't do that anymore. I could feel myself shake as my vision stayed red. That dog was terrifying; me and my brother had never seen anything like that. I heard Zebro chuckle slightly as he turned his head towards us.
"Well, how long will you be here?" He asked us. Gon instantly turned around to face Zebro, the fear seeming to disappear from his face.
"Until we meet Killua! We won't leave before then!" Gon said to him determined. Zebro chuckled once more.
"Then please come this way." Zebro said to us as he began leading us into the forest away from Mike. I stayed close to my brother, not daring to let go of his hand. I could hear my breathing and took deep breaths to try and calm down.
That is what guarded Killua's house. If that was the guard dog, I dread to think what anybody else was like.
Author note: I'm British! Sorry if the terminology is strange to you, we like to be confusing.
Fun fact: When cold fizzy drinks warm quickly in the mouth the carbon bubbles expand. This is one reason believed as to why fizz goes up your nose.
Fun fact two: 1 Jenny = £0.01. So Mishka's two hundred Jenny camera costs £2.00, which is how much they cost over here anyway.