The sound of explosions could be heard within the rocky mountainous region. The ground was littered with small craters.

Gon dashed away with great speed as soon as he landed on the ground, managing to dodge a ki blast that struck the ground. Charging the Ja-Janken in his hand, he sweated as he made a hard effort to not lose control of his energy while evading the barrage of energy attacks heading his way.

Up in the air, Gohan, holding his hand up to the sky, unleashed a powerful ball of energy which rocketed skywards.

The ball splintered, and the sky glowed as energy rained down toward the earth.

Gon's eyes widened as they all seemingly came down at great speeds.

Suddenly, all of them came to a slow stop. Instead Of causing mass destruction on the ground in which he stood on, all of the spheres levitated harmlessly, pausing for only a second.

Before they each started zig zagging in different directions.

Gon let out an angry sigh as he felt one of the energy beams heading straight for him, forcing him to quickly move out of the way.

That distraction however, was enough to make him lose focus, the aura he had gathered in his right fist, dissipating.

'Damn!' He cursed inwardly.

Gon focused both his Nen and senses into detecting the movement of the attacks. His body jumping, dashing, dodging, and performing several acrobatic movements in order to barely evade the volley of ki.

Performing a backflip as three ki spheres came at him in different directions; he saw them collide with each other.

The explosion that was conceived from the collision sent Gon flying into the air, him landing harshly in the ground as he was unable to regain his footing.

Disoriented, he covered his eyes as light shined from above him. Thankfully, his senses warned him of an incoming attack, and he quickly rolled to the side, sloppily regaining his footing before a ki ball smashed into the ground.

'He was using the sun's light to blind me from that ki blast… Good thing I sensed it in time.' He thought.

He looked up to see Gohan, floating in the sky with his arm crossed. All of the ki blasts swiftly avoiding him.

Gon closed his eyes and managed to evade a ki blast coming from behind him. As he ran, he kept dodging any attacks he could, a few of them grazing him, leaving his skin slightly burned.

Grinning as he felt a few energies following closely behind him, He focused his Nen into the bottom of his feet, propelling him into the air.

Zig zagging through the air with the blasts after him, he allowed himself to fall to the ground, using it to propel himself toward Gohan.

"Show me rock!"

Gon began to charge his attack while rapidly approaching Gohan, who still calmly had his arms crossed and looked unconcerned.

"Jan…"

"Ken…"

Just as he was right in front of Gohan, ready to unleash his attack, he let out a confident grin before completely vanishing at a great speed toward the ground.

Gohan's eyes widened as the energy balls he had following Gon where now suddenly about to strike him.

He quickly dispatched the ki blasts with ease, sending them flying into different directions by redirecting them with his hand.

As he landed on the ground, Gon made sure not to lose his momentum and dashed for cover behind a large rock structure.

Continuing to charge his Ja-Janken, Gon felt three ki blasts approaching him and began running around the rock.

The first ki blast had exploded when it had failed to hit Gon, colliding instead with the rough surface of the structure upon getting too close to it. The second suffered similarly as it had managed to corner Gon only for him to jump high into the air, using the shockwave as a boost.

The final ki blast followed him skyward, and just as it was about to hit his back he turned around and swiped his hand at it hard.

SLASH!

The ki blast split into and flew off aimlessly before hitting the ground, bombing the earth. A proud grin adorning his face, Gon allowed himself to hover as he saw all of the spiraling ki blasts surround him.

He made his way to the ground and began to cut through every attack that made its way toward him. Some of the ki blasts exploded when, upon failing to hit Gon, ended up striking the rock structures instead.

Slowly but surely, he made his way toward Gohan's position. Just as he was near, he jumped sky high into the air and morphed his Ja-Janken to an aura covered fist by using Ko.

Gohan held out his hand and easily caught Gon's fist, unaffected by the shock wave that the blow gave off.

Suddenly, just as Gon was preparing a kick, a timer could be heard going off from Gohan's wrist.

The two relaxed their postures, and Gohan smiled.

"Well done Gon!" He congratulated, allowing his fist to go free.

Gon fell to the ground, breathing heavily as his body, no longer fueled by adrenaline, could now feel the exhaustion it was truly in. Gohan landed gracefully on the ground, walking over toward his student.

Upon arrival, earlier in the day, Gohan had told Gon that they would be conducting a similar exercise that Gon had done with Piccolo.

Gon still had to make sure he wasn't hit for one hour, but this time was able to fight back and even test his skills against Gohan through direct combat. Gohan was to remain in the same position until the exercise was over and he could only attack using Ki blasts.

"Your reflexes and skill have improved a lot! And in such a short time too. You really are something special, you know that?" He said encouragingly.

Gon gave him a tired grin, too exhausted to really say anything. It had taken him 17 tries to finally be able to last the entire battle. A much grander improvement over Piccolo's 25 tries.

Although to be fair, Piccolo didn't give him any handicaps…

"Alright, I think you've earned yourself a break" He said looking up toward the sky. Seeing the position of the sun he let a smile cover his face. "In fact, I think we missed lunch time! I'll go get the boxes while you catch your breath."

Gon nodded in appreciation as his teacher went to retrieve the lunch boxes that had been stored safely in a small, nearby cave before they had started training.

Gohan landed softly on the ground next to where the packages were.

Crouching to grab them, he held them tentatively as stood up and smiled. He closed his eyes as he sensed a familiar presence just behind him.

"Hello Mr. Piccolo." He greeted, a pleasant tone making its way to his voice. "Anything I can help you with?"

Piccolo, who had been standing by the entrance, flew downwards to stand behind his student.

"Just passing a message from Goku."

Gohan turned around to face his master, his interest piqued. "Is something wrong? Dad seems pretty busy lately…"

"He has been busy." Piccolo said. "He told me to tell you that he's hosting a tournament."

"Oh?" Gohan turned around to face Piccolo. "Where?"

"He's talking with Hercule about it." He explained. "Apparently working on getting the World Martial Arts tournament privately set up for all of the people we know."

Gohan nodded, smiling. "Dad has been pretty bored lately. I'm guessing he wants me to join?"

Piccolo nodded, causing Gohan to cross his arms. "Let me see if I can get a day or two off work. I'll let you guys know if anything comes up." He paused, a thought suddenly coming to mind. "When will this tournament take place?"

"About a week after his fight with the kids. You know, right? Gon's probably already told you."

Gohan nodded in understanding before he pondered to himself. "Let me see if I have anything that week. If not, I'll try to reschedule."

"So you'll be entering?" Piccolo asked.

"Don't see why not." Gohan smiled and nodded. " This sounds like a great opportunity to see how much I've improved since Buu. With dad and Vegeta entering, I'll definitely need my A game." He noted, chuckling. "Thanks for the heads up Piccolo. I'll tell Videl and Gon the news! Have a nice day."

Nodding to his former teacher, Gohan turned around and made to fly off, before his accent was suddenly halted by a hand planting itself onto his shoulder. Puzzled, he turned around, looking at Piccolo questioningly.

"Goku also said to not tell Gon."

"What?" Gohan's eyes furrowed in confusion. "Why not?"

"He wants to surprise them with it after the fight." Piccolo informed.

"Ah, okay." Gohan smiled. "I'll just tell Videl then. Thanks." Gohan said before flying up toward the entrance, and turned around one last time to Piccolo. "Oh, before I leave, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?"

Piccolo looked at him, cliff faced as usual. "You know I don't eat."

"Well, yeah." Gohan rubbed the back of his head. "But you know, for the company."

"I can take care of myself." He snorted. "Besides, I'm going to train for the tournament. Be sure to do the same."

Gohan nodded, before waving goodbye to his mentor. Piccolo stared at him as he left before closing his eyes and shifting his head downward.

'I better come up with something good for when I have to fight one of the saiyans.' Piccolo thought to himself.

As he landed, Gohan saw that Gon was sitting up right, now looking less out of breath. Turning to greet Gohan, Gon let out a radiant smile.

"Hey, took longer than I thought you would." Gon noted, before letting a wink pass his features. "Was there a lot of traffic?" He joked.

"Oh yeah." Gohan said dryly. "It was a killer. You should've seen it." He laughed, before shaking his head. "Truth is though. I actually ran into Piccolo."

"Oh yeah?" Gon inquired. "What did he want? Is he gonna come train with us?"

"I'm afraid not." Gohan shook his head. "He came by to make sure I was training myself. Just checking in, that's all." Gohan shrugged.

"Oh." Gon sighed, sitting with his legs crossed.

Gohan sat beside his student and placed his lunch box on their respective laps. Little conversation came as Gon devoured his meal, Gohan patiently reminding him to slow down as to not choke on his food.

"After this, we're gonna be practicing with your Ja-Janken: Paper. See how many you can shoot before you run out of aura." Gohan informed Gon.

"OSU!" Gon nodded eagerly, before resuming with his meal.

With the Son family...

In the morning hours of the Son family home, Goten and Alluka had just finished with their breakfast, Chi-Chi already handling the dishes. Killua had begun working on a new training regiment given to him by Goku, who had left shortly afterwards.

"Mom, we're done! Thanks for the meal" Goten cried, getting up from his chair.

"I'll take care of the dishes, dear." Chi-Chi said, nodding. "Make sure to stretch before you train."

"'Kay" Goten turned to Alluka. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Alluka responded following Goten's lead. "Thanks for the meal Chi-Chi!" She cried out as she was exiting the door.

"Do your best Alluka!" she cried back.

As Goten led Alluka through the dense forest, Alluka caught up with Goten and began to walk alongside him. "Thanks for agreeing to train me today." Alluka said, smiling at him.

"Hey don't mention it!" He grinned back. "With all the chores mom has to do, I'm happy to help."

The two continued in comfortable silence, Alluka glancing around at her surroundings while Goten easily navigated them through the area.

They soon stopped as they finally reached their destination.

"Oh wow…" Alluka gaped at the sight.

There seemed to have been a landslide in the area. Chunks of rock that had fallen from the cliffside above covered the area, having knocked down several trees.

"Saw this before breakfast." Goten stated. "Luckily, when I tried sensing the area, there weren't any trapped animals. Most of them probably ran off by now." He said, relieved.

"Okay..?" Alluka urged him to go on. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Well first we're gonna arm wrestle like I said yesterday." He confirmed. "After that, we're gonna break em!"

"Wha-"

"It'll be fun, trust me! I'll explain later. But first…" He let himself fall to the ground, landing on his belly. "Let's see what you've got!" He challenged, burying his elbow into the ground.

Nervously but bemused, Alluka followed suit. She gently laid herself on the dirt and raised her arm to meet Goten's. As their hands connected, Goten smiled in anticipation.

"I'm not gonna use my aura since you don't know how to control your's yet. Sound fair?"

Alluka nodded, Her eyes narrowing with focus. "Sounds good…"

"Alright, then on the count of three we start!"

Alluka nodded, nervous due to never having arm wrestled before…

"One…"

Was she even strong enough for this yet? Granted she was from another world that had higher gravity but these people were way too powerful.

"Two…"

Goku was an excellent example. It wouldn't surprise her if the zealous man had taught his own son a thing or two about being strong. Plus by the way he told Goten to be careful around her wasn't exactly a boost to her confidence…

"Three!"

Just as soon as she had heard the boy crying out the number, She quickly pushed against her hand with all of her might. Clenching her teeth as she attempted to make his hand go down. Goten eyes widened, taken aback by the sudden push, only to smile as he resisted.

Alluka slightly leaned in on her hand to give it more weight, hoping it would help even if just a little bit.

Goten however, did not budge.

Then, slowly, he began to push back, meeting Alluka's force with his own.

The two were caught in a stalemate for several seconds, Goten trying his best to not completely overwhelm the girl and make it seem like it's more difficult for him than he thought it might be.

As time went on, The back of Alluka's hand finally touched the ground.

"Darn!" Alluka breathed out a tired sigh.

Goten took in a few breaths himself, standing up and offering a hand to Alluka. Alluka looked at the hand offered to her. "Hey don't feel too bad…" He said seeing how frustrated Alluka seemed. "I wasn't expecting you to be this strong. If you train you're gonna get much stronger!" He said, trying to encourage her.

Alluka huffed, reluctantly taking his hand and using it to boost herself upward. "Sorry it's just… I feel like my training is going a bit slow."

"There's nothing wrong with that though," Goten said, confused as to what she was feeling. "I mean, didn't mom say that everyone moves at their own pace?"

"She did…" Alluka admitted, looking away.

Goten awkwardly scratched his cheek, not knowing how to respond to that. Looking to change the subject he began walking toward the rocks. Slapping his hand on one of them he looked at Alluka.

"Okay, now that we've done that let's do some stretches. After that we can train with these boulders."

He began to stretch his legs, making sure that his fingertips touched his toes while he sat on the ground.

Alluka followed his lead and started to do some back stretches. Meanwhile, Goten saw fit to try and see if he could converse more with her, finding that ever since he had met her, Alluka seemed to be rather withdrawn.

His mother, who had seen her more open side, said that she was probably nervous since she had apparently never had a friend the same age as her.

"So where do you come from?" Goten asked.

Alluka responded automatically, following her brother's example. "Kukuroo village." She turned to Goten, "It's pretty far from here."

"I've never heard of it." He noted. "What was it like back there?"

Alluka frowned, not wanting to lie to him. Despite the fact that she would probably not see him again after the plan unfolded, She couldn't help but want to make friends with him.

"Well it's… um. It's pretty quiet." She explained lamely. She began to sweat as she didn't quite know what else to say, feeling already very guilty from lying in the first place.

Let me handle this

Suddenly Alluka's eyes turned pitch black. 'She' Turned around pretending to focus on another exercise.

"By that I mean that there really wasn't much to do. We had a lot of freedom since we were young and didn't have to worry about chores. It was a very safe and peaceful area." Said "Alluka" in a calm tone that didn't waver. "That said, it did get pretty boring sometimes."

"Oh. Is that why you chose to go out and adventure?" Goten asked.

"Yes. Killua in particular was adamant about getting out of there." There was a chuckle in between 'her' words. "I didn't want to be left behind, so I joined up with him."

"What about your parents?"

Alluka did not answer, her head tilted downward. Unknowingly, black eyes went back to blue.

Sensing a sadness within her, Goten frantically got up after suspecting the worst. "Oh! Um… Sorry…"

"It…" Alluka stuttered. She knew what he was thinking and she hated that she had to fool him. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Frantically scratching his head, Goten came up with something that might help her cheer up. His eyes suddenly lit up as something came to mind.

"Hey! I got an idea." He said, putting as much cheer in his voice as he could. "How about, instead of training, we go see something else!"

Alluka looked at him, confused. " Um… what do you mean?"

Grabbing her hand, Goten pulled Alluka up. "Just trust me. You'll love this!"

"H- hey! Wait!"

Before she knew it, Goten was already pulling her along at a rapid pace toward another part of the forest. Gasping frantically to keep her feet moving along with Goten's pace, She put a hand up to her eyes to keep the wind from hitting them.

After running a fair distance away, suddenly Goten began to slow down before coming to a stop, Alluka tripping slightly before being held up by the shorter boy.

"Goten, what are you doing?" She asked, surprised. Goten only turned back toward her and let out a boyish smile very reminiscent of his father. He then turned toward the trees and gave a loud whistle.

Soon, the area they were in was full of animals. From a giant bear to a small squirrel. Alluka was wide-eyed with surprise.

"I can't show you Tera yet, but these are my main animal friends. I hang out with them the most!"

Alluka let out a slow grin as she softly placed a hand on a deer's head, petting it gently. Alluka then turned to Goten, a warm smile on her lips.

"Shouldn't we train first though?" She said, slightly unsure.

Goten shrugged. "Playing has us running around, jumping, and having a good time. I'd say it's good enough."

Thinking about it, Alluka grinned as she turned to face him. "Okay! How should we 'Train' then?" She asked mischievously.

The two spent the rest of the time running around with the animals, hopping on trees, and chatting aimlessly. Alluka felt a sense of joy at finally playing with a friend that wasn't Killua or Gon. Lunch time seemed to come quickly as they spent it hanging out, Goten secretly training Alluka through their play session by having exert herself physically through games.

Deep in her mind however, the guilt of deceiving him continued to haunt her.

Back with Gohan...

A beautiful sunset descended on the landscape as Gohan and Gon arrived back at the large house. Upon entering, the smell of a delicious meal made its way into the boy's noses. The three of them sat together and ate in a calm silence.

Eventually after an hour or so later, Gon bid the couple a good night before going off to his room. Videl and Gohan shortly did the same. As the two laid in bed, Gohan reviewed some notes from his work and Videl adjusted her pillow.

He turned to his wife, remembering the message that Piccolo had given him.

"Piccolo came by today, you know…"

"Oh yeah?" She asked. "What'd he want?"

"He told me dad was hosting a tournament."

Videl blinked twice, processing the statement before turning to face her husband. "A tournament?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah. It's a small private one. Only us and our friends are gonna be going." Gohan clarified. "Apparently he's getting your dad to help to get it privately set up for all of us to see how all of our training has been paying off."

Videl nodded, an excited smile making its way to her face. "I'm down with that! When's it gonna be?"

"About a week after his big fight with the kids." Gohan said, chuckling at his wife's excitement. Truthfully, he too couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement course through his body. While he had never been too big on fighting or martial arts, he still did enjoy the wonders of ki and its potential utilization. He often wondered if it could even be explained scientifically.

Such a feat would open up a world of possibilities in the world of physics, medicine, and personal care.

He could even write a book about it.

"Well in that case, I really better start training harder." Videl noted. "I might have time to learn that cool sword trick Gon can do!"

"You mean his Ja-Janken: Scissors?"

"Yeah, that!" She nodded vehemently. "It'd be really cool to catch em' by surprise." She turned to him grinning. "Might even help with making dinner!"

"Sure." Gohan chuckled. "Just try not to accidentally cut up the kitchen, dear."

"Oh!" Videl realized. "Goten is definitely gonna enter with Trunks." She smiled fondly before letting a mildly annoyed look pass by her face. "I hope they don't use fusion. I love the tykes but Gotenks was really annoying."

Videl turned to her husband, suddenly remembering an important detail. "Hey speaking of which, hasn't your brother probably finished his adventure by now?"

A look of realization passed by Gohan at his bride's inquiry. "Oh yeah… his adventure should be finished by now." He noted. "With them training Killua and Alluka, they probably forgot to tell me."

Thinking for a moment, Gohan made a decision.

"Say, Videl?" He asked, getting his wife's attention. "How about we pay Mom and Gon's friends a visit tomorrow? It'd be a good chance to catch up with Goten too."

Videl nodded, thinking it was a good idea. "I'm sure the dojo won't mind if I take a small vacation. Don't you have work though?"

"Oh they gave me a day off for working overtime." He waved, nonchalant. " Besides, I always have time for family."

"That you do." Videl smiled.

A plan now in mind, the couple finished their respective activities and fell asleep.

With Alluka...

A full moon rose over the night sky, illuminating the land in a subtle manner. Alluka and Killua appeared to be fast asleep in their bed, each on their own separate side.

Goten and her had a blast playing with the animals before going back to the house for lunch. As soon as the two finished eating she then felt more invigorated to train and as such, had a competition to see who could smash the most boulders, Goten still not using aura to give her a fair chance.

The match had ended with Goten obviously winning.

Alluka could feel a strong connection between her and Goten, already feeling as though they could be friends.

With the day over the two of them joined the others for dinner before retiring to their rooms, Goten and Alluka sharing a fist bump.

With both of the siblings far too tired to speak, they both wished each other good night and let darkness engulf them.

Or, at least, That was Alluka's initial plan…

Nanika, it seemed, had made plans to talk with her on this night.

Alluka stood in the vast darkness once again, awaiting the arrival of the mysterious entity. While she waited, she decided that she would decorate the area to her own liking.

The sky morphed to a pinkish - purple hue, light pink clouds surrounding the area. A small cloud manifested itself from underneath Alluka's feet.

The rest of the surrounding morphed itself into a cliff littered with cherry blossom trees, a waterfall splashing into a clean lake that reflected the dreamy color of the sky.

Satisfied with her work, Alluka sat down and manifested a toy from the fluff below, transforming it into a small plush doll.

As she waited for her companion to show up she began to play with it, moving the doll's limbs around without much thought.

Her eyes widened as an idea popped into her head.

Since this was a dream, anything was possible. Including, say, a doll being able to move on its own?

Alluka made an effort, imagining the doll moving on it's own.

And just like that, the doll followed Alluka's mental commands.

Smiling with eyes full of wonder, Alluka sat the doll down on the floor, holding it still and making it look as though it were standing on its own.

The doll began to dance aimlessly at her command, Alluka cheerfully nodding along while she made it so that a faint melody played in the background.

Suddenly however, as the doll raised it's right "hand", Alluka found that her left hand had been abruptly forced into raising itself into the air.

Eyes widening in shock, she looked up to see that a dense black string had wrapped itself around her arm. Upon trying to tug on it, or make it go away, the string remained still, and pulled on her even higher.

Out of nowhere, three more strings come spiraling down into Alluka's other limbs, pulling her sky high and having her flop through the air like a bungee cord.

The cords let go after a minute, allowing Alluka to fall messily to the cloud floor. In front of her, Nanika appeared, a sly grin on its face.

"Hello there." Nankia smiled, mischievously.

"You and Killua love giving me a hard time, don't you?" Alluka huffed.

"No. You're supposed to say, 'General Ken-'" Nanika stopped upon seeing Alluka's confused face. "Nevermind. You're too silly to understand."

Alluka narrowed her eyes. "One of these days, I'm gonna catch you guys off guard! Then you'll see…"

"Not our fault you're so easy to mess with." Nanika responded dryly. It made its way closer to where Alluka was, promptly sitting right in front of her. Alluka pushed herself off the soft texture and sat upright.

"Is that why you took so long to get here? To catch me off guard?" Alluka asked, giving a faint frown in fake, playful anger.

"Maybe…" Nanika teased. The two giggled as they made themselves comfortable in the spot they sat in

Both of them remained quiet after that, letting the comforting silence take route. Alluka took a few deep breaths in order to get her thoughts together.

"In any case," Nanika began. "I wanted to see if you were alright."

"Oh?"

"I can tell you're having a hard time getting nervous around Killua and Goten. Especially this morning. What's on your mind?"

Uncomfortable with the topic she knew they were going to talk about, Alluka played with her fingers a bit. "The plan… It, um…" She stuttered lightly. "W-When do we start it again..?"

"We will initiate it after our big fight with Goku." Nanika patiently reminded her.

"Right…" Alluka said, slightly unsure.

Nanika's face morphed into an expressionless demeanor.

Alluka looked up to her

"I'm… well honestly I'm really nervous…" She admitted. "I mean, well, you know…"

Nanika looked at Alluka patiently waiting for her to tell her the issue.

"It's just…" Alluka rubbed her arm. "I've never kept a secret from Killua or Gon before." Alluka looked down, saddened. "It's hard for me to do that. E- even with what you've told me."

"I thought it might be easier with Chi-Chi and Goten. But…" Alluka felt guilt well up in her chest. "Both of them are so nice and cool and I think that I… I've maybe sort o-"

Nanika nodded, its expression calm. "I see."

The two remained in an uncomfortable silence, Alluka not willing to look at Nanika, afraid that they might be angry.

"Sorry." Alluka mumbled. "I'm not doubting you or anything. I jus-"

Nanika grabbed Alluka gently by the chin and gently guided her to look back up. It was wearing a small smile on its face. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

Alluka's heart beat slowed down upon seeing that they weren't upset.

"I understand that this is a big change for you." Nanika began. "Trust me. It is for me too. I've never really tried hiding anything from anyone before. Especially not you…" Nanika looked down, having what seemed to be a solemn expression. "I don't blame you for feeling attached to Chi-Chi or her son. It's only natural to want to make friends, especially with ones your age."

It gently took Alluka's hand into its own.

"We have too much to gain from this though." Nanika said, with conviction. "It may seem hard now, but deep down, we both know how positive the outcome will be."

"How far do we have to go?" Alluka asked. "We're already lying to them. Are we gonna manipulate them too?"

"Maybe." Nanika shrugged. "I can't promise that we won't."

Alluka's eyes widened as she looked down, Her heart beginning to beat faster as the scenario came to mind. Lying already made her feel sick to her stomach. She couldn't even imagine trying to manipulate them.

"You told me once that you thought about being a hunter, right?" Nanika questioned softly. "Well this is what it means to be one."

Nanika stood up and stared at the horizon, having its back to Alluka. "Ask Anyone with a hunter license. Sometimes, to get what you want, truly having a dream and devoting yourself to it, you will need to make sacrifices. Even ones you're not proud of."

"Sometimes…" Nanika raised it's right hand, "You will need to be a hero. Tell the truth, make friends and do activities that you enjoy."

Nanika gave a side glance toward Alluka, making sure she was paying attention before raising it's left hand.

"Other Times you will have to be the villain. You'll end up making enemies, working for people you don't like. Manipulating the lives of others in order to influence events to your benefit." Nanika states.

"The world isn't black and white, Alluka. We all live with our own versions of right and wrong. Developing morality comes with experience."

Nanika made its way toward Alluka, sitting down next to her and placing the palm of its hand on her shoulder.

"And besides, is what we're doing any different than what our family did to us? What Gon and Killua COULD be doing to us?"

Alluka didn't respond.

"This is reality. This is how humans work. How people achieve their goals. Sometimes it's harmless and sometimes… Well not so much."

Nanika closed its eyes, sighing. "Fact is, If you can't adapt to societal behaviors and learn to use people, people are going to use you."

Alluka nodded, not looking pleased at all, but understanding what Nanika was explaining to her.

"Nevertheless," Nanika continued, "It will take some getting used to, as do all things." It brought Alluka closer to it by engulfing her in a gentle hug.

"Remember. I'm not doing this to hurt you Alluka…" It spoke soothingly. "I love you. We're partners, and we're doing all this so we can be happy."

Pulling away, Nanika stared directly into Alluka's eyes. "I'll happily lie for you, like I did to Chi-Chi and Goten. But only when Gon or Killua aren't around. You have to be strong enough to do your part whenever it's necessary."

They stared into each other's eyes, Nanika placing both of its hands on Alluka. Alluka slightly hunched forward while Nanika stood with a straight back.

"For happiness."

Alluka's eyes closed.

"For happiness…"

And yet despite those words, all Alluka could feel was dread.

Dread at what was to come.

Dread at the idea of Killua Gon or her new friends finding out and them not liking her anymore.

Dread of the future.

Heya! Chapter 16 is in the house!

I got a bit writers block but luckily, I got this out just before Christmas. Hope you guys like it!

As you can probably tell by now, Nanika is the big villain of this story. Having them manipulate poor Alluka has been kind hard for me since I generally see these two as having a very playful loving relationship.

But at the same time I can totally see them having a craving for power. I mean, Imagine if you were forced to grant wishes for the rest of your life. Even though your just as intelligent as other people around you. I know I'd be pissed and want more!

I thought It'd be a nice set up for a villain so I decided to go for it.

This is actually one of my first stories so my writing isn't exactly top notch. Still got a lot more to learn...

Nevertheless, I hope that I'm doing these characters justice and that you enjoy my writing.

Before I leave off today, I want you guys to know that I'll be taking a vacation to properly plan out some other stories that I want to write. I don't know when I'll get back to this story but I will not abandon this fic. It shouldn't take too long though.

Anyway that's all for now folks! Merry Christmas (Or whatever you celebrate,) and Happy New Year!

I'll see you all in the next chapter of Dragon Hunter ZX!