The now fainter, heterogeneous combination of spices greeted the four as they reentered Haku's residence. They took little notice of it however, as they were far more distracted by the sights and sounds of society around them at the Volcanic Islands' city, which were full and carefree despite the deadly eruption of Tanzanite prior. Many questions filled their minds in regard to the legitimacy of this, and whether or not the people were entirely real or perhaps integrated with fakes planted by L.I.G.H.T. to keep up appearances.
Haku gestured chivalrously toward the doorway, allowing the three younger travelers to enter first, and then turned in a redundant attempt to pull closed the front door, (which was still missing from its hinges due to Misaki having kicked it off upon the initial return from Tanzanite). He waved a dismissive hand at the empty frame, and then joined the others in the kitchen, crunching a fist-sized beetle that had taken up residence since his leaving under the sole of his shoe and twisting at the toe for a moment.
"So here's what I was thinking," he began when he realized that the remaining three were looking to him to speak first. After a moment, he almost chuckled and sighed, "It's honestly hopeless."
The faces of the two boys fell, and a single corner of Misaki's lips twitched.
"There must be some way to stop a volcano from erupting," Gon pressed.
Haku shook his head sullenly.
"No, there are really none."
"Do we need to stop the eruption?" Killua asked, half in thought. He unwrapped an orange, bunny-shaped candy on a stick (which he'd retrieved from the paper bag in his pocket) and pressed it under his tongue.
"Huh?" Gon blurted out.
"I mean, if we can manage to just make it so the eruption isn't as powerful, wouldn't that be enough?"
Everyone exchanged glances in silence.
"There are ways…" Haku murmured quietly, recapturing the full attention of the others once again, "…to slow lava flow."
"Would slowing it be enough?" the plum haired girl questioned carefully.
Haku removed his glasses, held the lenses up to the light with squinting eyes, and then returned them to his face.
"No," he admitted, "I don't think it would. Although, there are effective methods used to redirect lava to stop it from destroying cities."
Gon perked up.
"How?"
"Well, pouring cold water in to running lava can slow it down, and blowing holes in the earth's crust can cause the lava to flow from the holes rather than burst out in a rush from the peak of the volcano."
"Can we do that somehow?" Gon almost pleaded.
Haku smiled sadly and replied, "The problem is that these techniques are practiced on subaerial eruptions… volcanoes that are above ground. The volcano that is causing all the problems is under water, which is a whole different can of worms."
"Isn't there some way we could set up all the above ground volcanoes so that they don't react badly when the big eruption happens?" Gon suggested.
In an unreadable tone, Misaki asked, "Gon, do you know how many volcanoes are above ground in the world?"
The boy shook his head.
"More than fifteen hundred," Haku answered hollowly.
"More than fifteen hundred," the girl repeated to him to add to the impact. "L.I.G.H.T. expects that it's possible for this eruption to happen in three months. For the sake of our survival, let's assume that is our maximum time limit. We can't go around the world and try to slow that many eruptions; not to mention the fact that not all of those fifteen hundred volcanoes will erupt with lava. Remember Tanzanite?"
"Oh, pardon me," Haku interjected, "but fifteen hundred is the number of above ground volcanoes that were active before all this started."
"So where does that put us now?" Killua inquired.
Haku clucked his tongue.
"There are probably hundreds of thousands of volcanoes that were inactive between land and water."
Killua's eyes widened and he nearly choked on his lollipop, wrenching it by the stick from his mouth in order to cough freely. Gon patted his back to assist him when he realized that his wheezing and hacking was not fleeting.
"That many?" the boy gasped between coughs.
"I'm afraid so."
"This is hopeless," Killua mumbled to himself as his fit finally slowed to a halt.
"It's not hopeless," Gon argued. "There's got to be a way to save everyone, we just haven't thought of it yet!"
Haku smiled slightly at the spiky haired boy. He truly admired his spirit, though he found himself feeling unworthy in his uselessness to concoct a plan to compliment it.
"Maybe…" Misaki whispered, and the table's occupants rotated instantly to face her.
"Maybe what, Misaki-san?"
She drummed her nails from her smallest finger to her index finger in a fluent wave several times, her amber eyes clouded in thought. Judging by her expression, which had manipulated itself in to one of notable distaste; it was a painful one, indeed.
"Maybe," she repeated, lowering her voice further, "Gon is… right..."
"I am?" the boy asked curiously, excited but confused.
"He is?" Killua questioned in disbelief.
"Maybe… we can survive as long as we have enough places that aren't affected by the eruptions."
"Ah!" Killua grunted in understanding. "So you're saying we don't need to stop all of the eruptions, just enough of them that there will be areas worldwide that can hold the amount of people while the rest of them are happening."
"I thought of that?" Gon questioned, stunned.
"Wait a minute," Haku interrupted seriously. "In theory that sounds great, Misaki-chan, but there are some huge holes in that plan that I think we need to address."
The bespectacled man stood as if to gather more attention if it were possible, and forcibly shoved his sliding frames back up to the bridge of his nose before leaning forth and planting his palms on the table.
"The methods I mentioned to slow the lava flow of an eruption are assuming the eruption is under regular circumstances. The tragedy we're trying to prevent is happening because there is a volcano located on the North Pole that is under water and going to result in earthquakes that will register at a magnitude of thirty; enough to alter the lifespan of a neutron star. We can't be so quick to assume that an eruption like that will only cause typical eruptions in the other volcanoes that it will set off. It's quite possible that a magnitude level like that might completely wipe out the earth even if we spend three whole months preparing 'safe zones'!"
Gon rose from his seat and strolled over to Haku. He gently placed a tanned hand on the side of his arm.
When the man met his gaze, he said softly but sternly, "…But, Haku-san, we have to try."
"Gon-kun…" he mumbled in a voice that seemed to obviously restrain the full intensity of his doubt.
"Still cowardly, Haku-san," Misaki teased from across the table, a small but smug smirk playing on her mouth. After a moment she added, "What is there to lose?"
"Either we spend three months trying and succeed," Killua rationalized, "or we spend three months trying and die anyway. If we don't do anything, we're guaranteed to die; all of us."
"There's the possibility that we might come up with a better plan while we're working, too," she reminded him.
"Come on, Haku-san," Gon urged, "please help us."
The dark haired man cringed, still unconvinced.
"You know a lot about volcanoes that the rest of us don't," Killua told him quietly, discomforted to admit so despite the truth in it.
"It would be a real asset to us if you were involved," Misaki assured him, nodding.
A roll of tears collected in Haku's dark eyes, and he turned down his chin as if to disguise them. He removed his glasses and pinched the corners with his thumb and index finger in an attempt to be inconspicuous about his obvious weeping.
"You… the two of you…" he whispered shakily, nodding his head at Killua and Misaki without actually looking at them right away, "…want me to join you? Do you really?"
Exchanging a hesitant and awkward glance, the two bowed their heads slightly and then lifted them once more. Haku smiled weakly and borrowed a moment to replace his glasses.
"Alright then!" he announced, fueled by a confidence that had not surfaced before. He straightened up his posture and narrowed his eyes in a sleek show of determination as he explained, "Here's what we have to do: Grab your gear, because we're headed to the southern Volcanic Islands to visit the volcano, Variscite! Prepare for testing phase one!"