A misty chill infected the room, though it was unclear whether the cause was external or internal. The three were paralysed by the hanging question, studying the rotting, disembodied hand upon the floor as best as possible in the dimmed light. Senses were flaring and frozen and locked in position, unable to properly grasp the situation for which none were prepared.

"Your body is human... but you're not... Is that right?" Gon asked, needing to fill the uncomfortable silence.

A wide, toothy grin flashed at the trio from the blackness beneath the hood. The room began to echo with the hiss of wheezing laughter. Snapping out of their stupefied trance, Killua and Misaki automatically assumed defensive positions.

"How did you know?" the elder managed to squeeze out between cackles.

Gon's eyes narrowed as his mind caught up to him.

"I noticed the smell the first time we met. I just didn't think it could be true."

"Outwitted by a little boy... That's very rich."

The laughter sharpened, hitting a frequency that caused the others to, ever so slightly, cringe at the pitch as it reverberated in their ears and down to the core.

"What are you?" the tanned boy pressed on, the curiosity in his voice overwhelming any distaste he might have felt.

Drawing a deep breath, Number One replied, "I... am a creature the likes of which no human has ever truly experienced before... At least, none that are still alive."

"Is that a threat?" Killua snapped, trying very hard to sound more surefooted than he felt.

"A threat... Yes, that's what you could consider me; a threat to all mankind... a threat to this feeble planet."

"Does that mean you're causing the eruptions?" Gon questioned, his tone stiffening a bit.

The L.I.G.H.T. commander's voice burbled in amusement once again.

"Where did you come from?" Misaki demanded, pointing the tip of her umbrella towards the creature with a stagnant, outstretched arm.

"I... come from a world that you humans have deemed 'The Dark Continent'."

"The Dark Continent?" the girl repeated, her tone marred with stunned disbelief.

"What's The Dark Continent?" Gon asked.

"It's-..."

"It's a world that was never made to be conquered by humans," Number One cut in bitterly. "Despite all the death and the curses inherited from mankind's careless expeditions to my home world, they never learn. Humans would destroy this planet with the same carelessness, and yet still they continue to overreach into territory not meant for them. They refuse to be happy with what they have and always aim to take more. This is why humans would be their own destruction."

"If there's no way for humans to invade your world, why would you bother destroying ours?" Killua commanded, fists clenching as he spoke.

Grinning wider, the elder spread his arms apart in a grand gesture.

"I began as merely a gaseous life form born in The Dark Continent. I was alone and all I knew at the time was that I craved more than anything the company of another life. I don't know exactly how long I was in solitude, really, spending an insurmountable length of time doing nothing beyond merely existing. My entire world was little more than the patch of ground around me and I never spoke or had thoughts to entertain myself. I was conscious, but not much else. There was only the overwhelming desire to be accompanied and that was the beginning and the end.

"Perhaps it had been hundreds, or thousands, or millions of years before another life form stepped into my midst. Perhaps it had only been weeks, or days, or hours; I suppose I'll never truly know. All I do know is that when that human approached, I was drawn into him with every fibre of my being. He breathed me in unknowingly, and from the moment that his body and mind likewise became mine, I was finally alive.

"The feeling of having access to thoughts and a range of complex emotions was incredible in the beginning. I revelled at the fantastic power of the human circulatory system and the knowledge passed about in the human brain. Most of all, I felt complete and exhilarated to have fulfilled that driving force that had been telling me that I needed to stop being alone. I had no idea at the time that I was really just his curse.

"The human, who was called 'Frank', eventually learned of my existence. He was at first indifferent, doing everything he could to simply study me and my purpose. He told me he was a Conspiracy Hunter who had been sent to my world to explore and collect data. Most of his comrades had died on the journey, and the few that survived had been forced to turn back. He insisted to give me a name and settled on, 'Nakama'. In those days he was fascinated with me, and I felt special for it. He would speak to me daily, asking me questions that I could reply back to in a human language by way of access to his brain. I was so comfortable sharing his skin in those days that I would occasionally even take control of the body when he slept, enjoying just being able to do simple things like walk or write with a pen.

"At one point, Frank encouraged me to talk to friends of his. He would let himself go to sleep so I could speak fully through his body... our body... and they would write in their notebooks every word I said. They asked me to do things like pick up objects in the room or walk from one line to another, and later progressed to more complex things like obstacle courses or sparring. I was able to test out the true strength of my abilities, performing tasks that those humans considered a result of some sort of"telekinesis". It turned out I was incredibly fast- faster than any human- and these people were amazed and celebrated the discovery of my power. I fell into slumber knowing that Frank and his friends would talk of how incredible I'd been. I felt more special and free than ever, always surrounded by life forms, and so blissfully far from being alone the way I once was. I believed that I came to experience human love for Frank. I would even use my powers just to help give life to his vain wishes or materialistic dreams, and in no time he was the welcomed leader of his group of Conspiracy Hunters at absolutely no cost to him.

"But the good times did not last forever. One night, I woke feeling groggy to the smell of smoke and burning wood. A heavily intoxicated Frank and I were surrounded by flames, but he refused to move. I asked him why he was resisting me when I tried to take over the body to save us. Planks of blackened wood were already collapsing all around us.

" 'You're a curse,' he told me. 'You're my punishment for entering The Dark Continent. You shouldn't exist on this planet at all.'

"His words confused and hurt me. I had felt love for Frank and lived to abide by his every wish just to express that. I begged to understand him.

" 'Every time you use your powers, people get hurt,' he explained. 'Thousands of people are dead because of your gifts to me, if that is what they truly are. You exist only to destroy; that is your purpose.'

"I told him that I had, all this time, thought that we were friends. Do you know what he said to me?

" 'You're just a parasite here to destroy the human race. A parasite that I can't extract. A parasite that is my responsibility to rid this world of. To do that, I must make a sacrifice.'

"He was wrong, as I'm sure you realize. Frank's slow, excruciating death somehow did not equate mine. But I realized then that he was right about one thing; my existence here, on this miserable planet, is to carry out the curse of my home world upon your self serving, destructive race. Humans will die as a result of their own abused planet finally destroying them. I couldn't imagine a more suitable death, could you?"

Gon, Killua, and Misaki, who had been listening in utter silence, tensed noticeably at the cruel irony left dripping from the creature's final words. While the plum haired girl tightened her grip on her still extended weapon, Killua's mind raced. The island boy, on the other hand, seemed to have kept his bearings more successfully than the other two and piped up almost immediately with a firm, confident tone.

"How can you say something so awful like it's nothing? I'm sure humans never went to your home world to destroy you, so why would you go so far just to kill us?"

Number One's hood tilted toward the boy once again, quietly taking in the sight of his narrowed, challenging eyes and sizing him up.

"I was Frank's curse before he foolishly took his life to eliminate me. His actions have served to share his curse with all of humanity."

"It doesn't have to be that way," the brunette argued. "I know that what Frank tried to do was wrong and he shouldn't have betrayed you, but you're just taking out your pain on everyone. That's not right, either."

The Dark Continent construct scoffed from beneath its cloak indignantly. Its shoulders shifted slightly.

"What could you, a foolish, little, human boy, possibly understand?"

"Your body is dying," the boy pointed out, holding his position as he stared at the sleeve that was missing a hand underneath. "It's rotting and falling apart. You weren't meant to be all alone; you said so yourself. You don't have to do this."

'That's right,' Killua thought suddenly, feeling slightly more optimistic at the realization. 'With all its power, it still can't heal its own body. That might give us the chance we need.'

The laughter started up again. First it came slowly, like a faint, rolling whisper, but then it started to grow. By the time it had reached its peak, it was a battle of its own for the trio to avoid covering their ears to escape the booming, thunderous static ricocheting between the walls.

"You poor, pitiful fools," Number One declared. "Have you not yet wondered why, with all the power that I possess, I have not simply taken your lives at the first hint of a whim?"

It let its statement sink in for a moment, relishing in the alarmed and confused glances of the three humans, before continuing.

"Do you think, even after all I've told you, that just because I possess this body, I must die in it as well?"

"Why wouldn't you have done something already if that's the case?" Killua disputed firmly.

"My dear, boy," the 'parasite' replied in a tone that held such hunger that it gave the boy apprehensive chills all through his limbs, "did you not understand at all? I cannot simply change bodies to just any human. My only chance is to join with someone whose bloodline matches one of those who survived and acquired the curse after stepping foot in The Dark Continent... and I've waited a very, very long time for you... Zoldyck, Killua."

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one, guys. Thank you for all the support and everyone following, favoriting, reading, and reviewing!