Iason returns, telling his partner the shark is dead. Daniel, Killua and Alluka meet Rosalia and Sarah Servedio.
Iason returned to the laboratory, finding his partners split into separate Hyperbaric Chambers. He kind of expected it, given the way the machines work, only one person at a time was supposed to be in a single machine.
He highly doubted the resort would dedicate a single room to divers who would experience rapid ascent, often due to mistakenly swimming to the deepest parts, and resurfacing before their bodies had adjusted to the change in pressure.
What he didn't expect, however, was to see multiple machines lining the walls; he wasn't even sure if there were other machines located at different parts of the resort, but if there were, this room alone held five machines.
They must have been expensive too. The machines looked to be on the high-end of expensive, the top-tier of the Hyperbaric Chambers. Sure, the resort was expensive so it was bound to be raking in cash… but the kinds of machines they had, must have cost a pretty Jenny.
Right now, two were currently taken. One by Sakura, and the other by Gon. With him there, that means only two will be spare in this sector, provided they have other rooms with these kinds of machines.
If not… hopefully, no one else will need them during the day.
"How did it go…" Sakura asked behind the machine, his nose covered behind a mask to help regulate his body oxygen, helping reduce any bubbles that may have formed in his bloodstream from surfacing too quickly.
"We… the creature is pretty much dead." The teen offered a smile to his partner. There was no way the creature survived Geoffrey's attack. Gon was strong, but Gon as of now, was nowhere near that man's level… maybe before he lost access to his Nen… maybe, but right now… no.
As Iason turned to look at Gon's sleeping form, Sakura posed another question "So, Gon killed it…?"
"He didn't…" Iason paused, a hand now resting against the glass that housed their partner's resting body, "Geoffrey did…" The silence made him tear his eyes away from Gon, instead opting to face his other partner, Sakura "The smell… it was dreadful."
"I can imagine…"
"One of the security guys kept vomiting…"
"I probably would've too…"
"Probably…" Iason found himself once more smiling at his partner. Sakura didn't give off the kind of vibe he'd have a strong stomach for those kinds of smells. Even he felt sick and queasy after having to smell the creature's scent. He was lucky he didn't vomit… but it was certainly testing his maximum threshold.
The boy held a hand on the machine, wishing he could stroke his partner's hair "How are you going?"
"I was lonely… but at least now I have you to talk to."
He felt as though he let Sakura down to some degree. He should've been there for his boyfriend, not guiding the others to the shark's last location "Your wound…?"
"No issues… Gon is the same, thankfully. There was a possibility of the toxin going into overdrive from the treatment, but he has been fine. Cassidy is doing periodic checks, making sure he's doing okay."
"I would certainly hope so…" The woman spoke calmly as she entered the room, holding a pair of scrubs out for the young boy still yet to be in a machine, "It'll be a little loose, but at least it's still in a similar size. So strip down, put it on and I'll get you set up in the machine."
As Iason removed his clothes, Sakura's eyes glanced over his partner's body, accidentally checking him out in the process.
Iason's smile grew. Did he just check me out? While he wishes that was the case, the most likely answer was that Sakura was checking him for any wounds "Did I see you checking me out?"
"No…" Sakura blushed madly, "I was making sure you didn't have any unregistered wounds."
"Do I pass the eye test?" The boy snickered as he put on the pants.
"Yes… you do."
"Good…" Iason put on the loose upper shirt, continuously smiling at his partner "I appreciate the cautious look down."
Cassidy popped the lid open. They didn't exactly have a step ladder or footstool to help him climb into the machine, "Sorry about this but I'm going to need to help you up into the machine, as it was built more for adults." Picking the boy up, she sat him down on the seat.
"Thank you…"
"You're welcomed…"
The teen did look a little out of place in the machine, but as he lay comfortably in the machine, the interval beeps the machine, along with the sounds of the mask helping fill his lungs with constant oxygen ran in the background.
He won't be able to sleep… not while alone, but at least he'll have Sakura in the background checking up on him… and to talk to. But while she was there, doing basic tests, he posed the researcher questions "So, Cassidy, how's Gon going… from a doctor's perspective?"
"While he shows no signs of waking, which is concerning… He's not in any serious, danger for the moment. All his levels are fine, no formations of toxin… he's doing fine. Kite, his friend will be here in a week… so hopefully by then, he'll be up and about with no issues."
"Provided Kite doesn't knock him out…" Sakura remarked in the background.
"He told him not to make stupid mistakes, to learn from them… and I'm pretty sure this counts as one."
"Noted…" Cassidy offered a smile, "He'll be fine."
"I assume the machines aren't designed for two people…"
"While I'm certain two of you can fit in one machine… they're designed for a single person. I'll come back in an hour or two to check on your vitals."
As Cassidy was about to leave, Sakura spoke up "Thank you… for looking after us… for helping Gon."
She gave a nod, walking away without another word.
"I'm sorry… I wasn't here for you during your alone time with Gon."
"It's okay… you were helping the man, leading him to the creature's location."
"I still should've been here for you…"
"Thank you… Iason."
"No pet name…" Iason faked a pout.
"Thank you, Teddy…"
"You're welcome… Little Flower."
"Iason…?"
"Yeah…"
There was a long pause, Sakura eventually spoke up "Gon will be alright, right?"
"He will be… once we're out of the machines, if he's still not up… I'll make sure to rest by his side. That should help him recover"
"Thank you… I think I'll need to join you. I can't stand being away from the two of you for a second longer."
The boy chuckled once more at the situation, eyes full of love. He deeply cared about his partners, wishing he could be by their side right now. But the machines could only house one person at a time. Still, he spoke up about the situation "I wish I could be there to hold the two of you. Maybe our recovery could've been faster in these machines."
"Probably…" Sakura felt himself melting at the words, how much his partner cared about his wellbeing and Gons. He appreciated every moment he got to spend with his partners.
Gon had survived…
Iason had survived…
He had survived…
They will get to spend more time with each other "You're right."
"~"
Killua held his phone up, making sure they were at the right address. Vastorie's acquaintances tended to be rich, all owning massive homes or businesses… Rosalia and Sarah weren't like that.
They had a decent size home, big enough to be at least a four-room home… but it wasn't a mansion or a business-size home.
So how exactly do these two, work? How did their home house the materials needed to continue their work?
Was their business at a separate location?
He guesses there's really, only one way to find out… and that's to ask them.
"It looks homey…" Daniel remarked about the place.
"Yeah…" Killua half responded, eyes drawn to a window he happened to see somebody walk by "One of them is home. Let's check the place out…" Killua held his sister's hand, guiding her up to the door, his partner right behind them.
Pressing the doorbell, a chime rang, followed by the sound of two footsteps moving around in the house "I'll get it."
The door clicked open. A younger-looking woman stood at the door, a warm smile with creamy orange eyes and long platinum-brown hair hanging over the front of one shoulder, stopping just under where the armpit was. She looked down at the trio, "Oh, you're earlier than expected."
"The flight didn't have any issues, so we ended up arriving much earlier than anticipated. sorry about that."
Completely opening the door, the three took in her graceful appearance. A floral pattern apron covered her white shirt and pants, tiny flowers patterned across the shirt differentiating the two articles of clothing.
She had a single gold ring on her finger, gesturing that the two women were indeed married, or at least engaged.
"Well, come in…" The older woman gestured to the trio, the three stepping into a warm and welcoming house.
"My apologies, I'm Sarah. Rosalia is in the kitchen in the middle of a Nen Inscription, so she may be a while."
"That's fine…"
"Put your luggage up against the wall, I'm still in the middle of cleaning out the last room. So for the moment, how about I bring you over to the kitchen?" She led the three to the kitchen, Rosalia at the table with her head down, focused on her current task.
Her curly orange hair was tied up, most likely to stop it from falling in front of her face as she worked.
There was some clutter filling the table, along with a couple of metal plates stacked on top of each other.
A feathered pen made of aura was pressed to the plate, slowly gliding across the metal.
Sarah walked up to the other lady, pressing a kiss to the back of her head, "Honey, Killua, Daniel and Alluka are here."
"Oh, shit… should I-"
"You keep going. Once you're done, I'll introduce them to you properly."
"Sorry about that…" Rosalia remarked flatly, eyes focused on the metal plate.
"It's fine…" Daniel was quick to dismiss, "I assume your ability prevents you from looking up."
"Oh, I can look up… it's just it's difficult to maintain my focus with my movements as my ability requires a certain amount of attention to detail. I'll be done in about fifteen minutes."
"Great, while you're working on that… I'll have a little chat with our new guests. Once you're done, head into the dining room."
"Okay…" Rosalia never looked up, still focused on the job before her.
Killua moved slightly from his spot, noticing a headband visor adorning her face. It had a single glass covering her right eye, a series of multiple lenses being spaced out, most likely helping with different types of magnifying, specifically for her delicate hand movements. The thing is both eyes were open, both looking at the same object, it's just only her right eye was covered.
Before he could pose the question, Sarah was leading the three through the house once more. They were led past a door, along a hallway to a separate room. It was a small dining room that could host at least six people, nothing as big as what someone like Ashton could offer… but it still had that roomy feeling.
Both Sarah and Rosalia were able to own a small quiet home, that left people feeling like it gave a sense of belonging. Having everyone sat down, Sarah addressed the trio once more "I'll be back in a second. I'll bring some tea, water and juice for the sake of variety." She left the room once again, leaving the three alone before any of them could object.
When she left, Alluka piped up "Sarah is very nice… soft-spoken, calming… gentle."
Daniel offered a gentle smile, "Like Killua when he's not being mean to someone."
"She probably could rip someone's heart out…"
"I would do no such thing…" The woman in question chastises the boy, "and it's rude for you to assume so."
Killua was taken aback, considering he was so used to her calm demeanour, that her slightly aggressive tone caught him off guard, "My apologies…"
She smirked at the boy, "I'm not the slightest bit upset at your comment. To be fair if anyone tried to hurt Rosalia I would murder them… with kindness, of course. Not a knife to the back or whatnot."
Her smile was unnerving, although, he couldn't place why "So you already know why we're here I assume."
"Mainly to speak to Rosalia…"
"Yes. But apparently, you have certain…" Killua rolled his wrist, trying to think of the best way to put it. He doesn't know the exact details of her ability, just that she can look into the future in some capacity "skills that could help us with something."
"Like…?"
Killua reached into his pocket, handing the photo over to Sarah. The lady looked at the photo with intrigue "A future telling… I could do it." She then slipped the photo back to Killua, "But not today. My ability is taxing, but more importantly, if Rosalia is working, I tend to save up my limited strength."
"That's fine…" Killua took the photo back, placing it back into his pocket.
Daniel spoke further on the matter "But you can look into the photo, and give us more answers?"
"Yes, it's possible. I can sort of… relieve the moment through one of the person's eyes… to see what they see. The taxing part… is I have to relieve the moment that led up to the act. Usually no further than thirty seconds in advance, hence the taxing bit… What clues were you expecting?"
"Anything that can tell us how to avoid the situation."
"If you got the photo from Ashton, it's unavoidable… even if I tell you how to avoid it. She takes photos of what comes to be. What I see may be different to how it goes with you, but the result will remain the same."
"So it's unavoidable…" Killua muttered under his breath. That's not good… even if we knew what will happen, we can't avoid that specific outcome.
"Killua has something else he wants to ask you…" Daniel nudged his partner, gesturing that he asks her for assistance with the other thing he wanted to know.
"Oh…" The lady acted surprised, once more intrigued by the situation. Two surprises in one day. Sure, it was their wife they were mainly there to see… but some of her skills made her equally important to their visit, "Another delve into the future?"
"No… I was hoping…" Killua smiled awkwardly from being put on the spot. He was going to leave it for much later… once they've settled. He wasn't actually, planning on asking it so soon "I made a request with Daniel, brought the idea up with Mikkel… and he suggested I speak to you about it."
"And that is…?"
"I want to make a chocolate fountain…"
The woman frowned "You can buy them in stores… I'm hardly the person to ask such a task."
"Here's the thing. Daniel promised to make me a chocolate fountain mud cake."
She continued to stare at Killua, "I'm sorry, can you run that by me again."
"I want to make a chocolate fountain, chocolate cake."
"I guess… I could do something that unique. I assume Mikkle will build the parts, I gotta just assemble and design it."
"Yes… I don't plan on leaving everything to you, I will explain what kind of design I want."
She raised her eyebrow in response, "So, there's more to this… It's not just a chocolate fountain cake…"
"It's gonna be layered."
"So pop out shelves so it's possible to layer said cake… exactly how many layers are you looking for… and how big is it gonna be."
"Three layers…"
"THREE? Are you planning on sharing said cake cause this sounds like it'll kill a normal person."
"Killuua's not normal… he once spent two billion Jenny on chocolates over the span, of two years."
"Wow…" Sarah didn't know if she should be shocked or impressed. On one hand, that's easily a world record breaker… two million, in two years. On the other hand… that was a lot of sugar consumed over two years.
"What's wow…" Rosalia questioned as she entered the room. She kissed her partner on the head, arms wrapping around her frame in a gentle hug.
Killua's eyes fell on the woman's face, noticing the deep scar on her left eye, the pale eye turning as though it was robotic, to face him. Both of her eyes were now on him, her concern being directed towards him "What's wrong?"
"Your eye… that must have a gnarly history."
"Oh this…" Rosalia pressed a hand to the eye, moving the object from left to right. Once she let go, her eye returned to its original position, flicking in a similar direction to where her other eye was focused.
"Made by Mikkel, programmed by Annex, refined by me. I used to wear an eye patch, but I didn't want to yarr anymore like a pirate." She joked about the matter, "It takes a lot of aura to power it. It can… be very difficult to use with my ability. So I tend to not move it. But, it gives me the ability to see as long as I continue to focus aura into it… long story short, it uses the nerves in the eye socket, as well as Gyo to control where I'm looking."
"And the scar…?"
"Daddy dearest didn't like the idea of the love of my life being a female… so, he hurt me. He flew into a rage in front of the girl, bashing my eye in out of rage. I lost my girlfriend… because my father was bat shit insane and she didn't want to be near him, which is understandable… but he nearly killed me in the process. Had I not run… god knows what he would've done to me."
Daniel's eye twitched slightly at the news, "I assume he got his ass handed to him at some point."
"Yeah, he went to jail… I got tossed into the foster system… people made fun of my messed up eye."
"When does my father come into your life? Vastorie before you ask…"
"Well… he didn't get involved, per se. I applied to be a hunter, he was my secret Nen instructor… the rest is history. It would be years before I ever became a pro… or got this eye. But hey, now I look like an evil mad scientist, so I call that a win-win in my book."
"But enough about my terrible life… let's talk about yours." Leaning forward, the lady's bosoms rested on her wife's head, a smile creeping along her lips, "What is it you're expecting from my wife and I…"