BLD14
Ch.14: action
"Milluki, you weren't hacking anything were you?" Illumi hums.
"I'm sorry Illumi, but I can't do that, especially if we're steadily outnumbered. What you're doing is suicide, I'm only being truthful."
"You are underestimating me."
"I think not. But I'll collect my half of the bet at the funeral no one will go to."
Illumi leaves the room, walking around the too quiet house alone. Most of the servants had followed after his mother, Canary going so far as to spit on his shoe as she left. Oh yes, how clever they were to get an army on their side. It was the only chance they had. Two Zoldycks –three if Xeno agreed- would be a tough match for any one group. The Phantom Troupe had barely stood up to them the first time they fought. They would be more than careful this time.
Milluki was right, it was ridiculous to think he could slaughter all of them. He'd settle for the "happy couple" though. Everyone else were just annoying and unnecessary, even Killua now. His poor little brother, losing his mind and leaving the family.
"Oh who am I kidding, if anyone's crazy here it's me. But that's not the point, we can't just be like that. We can't keep running away from this life, our job is the only thing holding this family together. Sure it sucks, but it wouldn't if we actually stayed together instead of running the first chance they got. The weak die, that's how it's always been here. And they'll see that I'm serious when those men I found find them. Angry little shits they were too. "
Break
The fire crackled comfortingly at the end of the large room, illuminating several figures huddling around it, cards in hand. Occasionally, giggles erupted and hands were thrown.
"Man I suck at this game!" Gon sighs, leaning against Leorio's shoulder, "why is this so hard?"
"It's not hard," Kurapica replies, "you just need to watch carefully and play your hand right."
Kalluto tosses his cards into the down pile, "I have to agree with Gon, this game isn't easy for those unfamiliar with it."
But despite the protest, the game continues on, Feitan and Kurapica retaining a steady lead on the others.
"I'm bored of this." Feitan announces after a while, "We play something else instead."
The group spread out in search of something else to play in the study. The room was full of books, but board games or other forms of entertainment were few. Eventually they settled on taking turns telling parts of a story.
"-and the brave princess tied up her hair and put on a mask before climbing atop her horse. Kurapica?"
"She rode to the outskirts of town, her trail lit by the moon. There she met a knight wearing black armor, and a mask as well. Feitan?"
Feitan smirked as he thought. "The knight knew who she was. He say 'princess, do not fear me. I help you. We work together to rescue the-"
A door opening cuts him off, and everyone turned to see Kuroro breathing hard.
"Hisoka just showed up, some of Illumi's followers on his tail. There's gonna be a fight," he explains, "right now we have Machi, Hisoka and Killua holding them off, and everyone else standing guard. Follow me."
Everyone followed Kuroro up into the attic, stifling silence choking them. Alluka was already up there, with Melody. Kuroro goes down to join the fight and Feitan begins stacking boxes against the door.
Kurapica places himself by the window, chains drawn. The joyful giggling blond by the fire was gone, replaced by a fiercely protective warrior.
Kalluto peaked out over his shoulder, and gasped as he say Killua be thrown back into a tree.
"Killua…"
He ducked away behind a box of papers, clutching the long sleeves of the hand-me-down pink sweater in closed fists. It still smelled like Vanessa's perfume.
"Killua's getting hurt. So are Machi and Hisoka, probably. And it's my fault. I had to be the rebel. I had to cross that line. Yes, yes I did, I had to. Someone had to. But I wish it wasn't like this. I wish we could just fight with words. But that's hurt more probably. Why is there no true answer? I'm right, but at what cost? What use is my happiness and freedom if my family falls apart?
What sort of family falls apart so easily?"
Break
Hisoka lunged toward the man in front of Killua, taking the blunt of his attack without flinching. In return he slammed the man's head back into a tree, killing him instantly.
"You okay Killua?" Hisoka asks, offering the assassin a hand.
"Yeah, thanks for getting that guy. He just came outta nowhere." He replies, dusting himself off, "how many are left?"
"Only about five out here, but four or so got inside."
Killua swore under his breath, and charged into the thick again, Hisoka not far behind.
Illumi had sent 30 men to try and weaken the defenses. Some worked for the family, but others were probably blacklist hunters looking to bring back a limb of the spider. Most had already been dealt with, but with three against thirty, a few managed to get to the house.
It wasn't that the rest couldn't deal with them, but Killua was a bit concerned. These me seemed oddly aggravated for normal blacklist hunters. It was almost like Kurapica; they seemed to have something personal connecting them to the fight. Like they had a reason to want Feitan and Kalluto dead.
Killua broke from his thoughts long enough to rip a man's heart out before spacing again.
"They were all male, at least thirty years old unless they're all like Leorio. Big muscle-y types who look like assholes. And most of them seem to be attacking Machi… oh shit, they're THOSE types. That's the last thing we need right now!"
Break
It took all of Feitan's self-control to not break down his barrier of boxes and kill several people. But bloodstains are hard to get out of expensive antique carpets, so he held Kalluto's hand instead. Everyone was on edge, especially Kurapica.
"I lost my family once…" he whispers, looking at Gon and Leorio, "And no jealous older brother is taking you all away from me."
Kalluto squeezed Feitan's hand, making him look over at him. Kalluto sent Feitan a small but bright smile. Feitan returned the small gesture before pulling up his bandanna and sending the others a nod.
The fight on the floors below them began to get louder, and closer. Everyone took their battle stances, and breaths were held. There was a single moment of painful, long silence. It felt like a million years. But then, all the noise came back a million times louder, a million times closer.
The boxes were flung away in an instant, and Feitan immediately pushed himself in front of Kalluto. After the debris fell to the floor, Feitan rushed forward without even looking at his enemy.
His sword plunged through the first man's chest, but a second hit him hard in the gut with a nen-enforced hammer, knocking him into the wall. From somewhere behind him, one of Kurapica's chains shot forward, down the hallways, hitting a man in the back. Feitan kicked the man to his left, and rolled over backward into a crouch on the stairs, and looked around for Kalluto. The younger male was at the doorway, behind Kurapica, flanked by Leorio and Gon.
"we can't have a fight at the top of a staircase. I've gotta distract those goons!"
This thought in mind, Feitan slid down the stairs, catching the gaze of the man who had hit him. The man followed him down, thinking he had the upper hand. But his hammer didn't have much range in the narrow stairwell, and so the only way he'd get a clear hit was to swing from above, leaving his entire torso open for Feitan to obliterate him.
"You runnin' away pretty boy?" the good grunts, "of course you're a coward, lil bitch you are! Bitch-boys deserve each other, fucking scum!"
The man raised his hammer.
"Don't fucking cross me." Feitan spats, "this little bitch likes blood."
There wasn't much left of the man when ten seconds had passed. Mostly just chunks of meat and a severed head. Anyone who had been left had been taken out by the others at the top. And Kalluto didn't have a scratch on him.
Even though Feitan knew he was covered in blood and other gross things, he embraced his fiancé gladly.
"You completely destroyed that guy Feitan!" Kalluto giggled, "What did he even say to you?"
"Nothing important Kallu." Feitan insists. "you lose brain cells hearing it."
(A/N: I suck at action-y scenes. But it had to happen, because I wanted it to. You can't write a hxh fic without some blood, you know?)