Medea's brain shut down.
A wave of horror crashed against her and settled in the pit of her gut. In her face, there was no longer the debauched smirk nor the daring gleam her eyes usually carried, instead, they were replaced with an expression she had never given anyone in a long time the pleasure to see before.
Despair.
During that endless, sullen silence, she continued to stare at the card. Any and all color had been drained from her cheeks and lips. The air was like fire in her lungs, she could barely breathe at this point.
Her fingers trembled. She had begged anything, anyone, any deity for that damned suit. Any spades. That was precisely what she had gotten, in the end.
Ace of Spades.
"Oh. What is this?" Hisoka asked, words dripping with venom. "Didn't you say you never lost?"
It was true. Medea was an excellent gambler. Luck was never a problem when she made bets, and, in fact, it seemed to always favor her — a good example of that was the one she had made with Kurapika, back in Padokea. Yet, that was not what happened this once. Not when she needed the fortune the most.
Fate was not on her side this time. It was on Illumi's.
Not a single word left her mouth.
"What is wrong, little dove?" That sultry, sarcastic voice made her entire body shiver in distress, but she still did not look at any of the men in front of her. "Cat got your tongue?"
It was not that she did not know what to say; she did. She had many things she wanted to tell the both of them, claims regarding the veracity of the game, her opponent's honesty, the lack of involvement of his companion, and much more. But still, she remained quiet. Medea could not bring herself to utter anything.
This moment was a big, disgusting stain on her impeccable gambling trajectory. It was too much. Too humiliating. Too unavoidable.
This did not make any sense. Her brain tried to comprehend what the Ace of Spades in her hand meant, but, again, she could not.
Medea never lost.
It was simply a fact. It was supposed to have been irrevocable.
"An Ace?" Medea flinched slightly when that cruelly amused tone rang through her ears. "I guess that means I win."
"It does!" Cheered Hisoka.
"What did you do?" Her voice faltered and she hated herself for it. At first, she could barely raise her face, but she ignored the bitter taste on her tongue and stared at the dark-haired assassin. "What the hell did you do ?"
Illumi grinned. "I did nothing."
"You did something," Medea insisted, leaning over the glass table, "What was it?"
"I have done absolutely nothing, Medea."
Slamming the glass, she grabbed him by the collar. "You motherfucking liar!" The other cards fell to the ground, but she did not care. Not when Illumi continued to look at her in that infuriatingly haughty way, "Tell me!"
Chuckling, he shook his head. "We made a blood oath, do you not remember? I could not cheat. I could not go against that even if I wanted to. Still," He held one of her wrists and pulled her closer, faces mere inches apart. A disturbing smirk appeared on his lips, "I do not think it would have been necessary. You lost, anyway."
Before she could land a punch on his cheek, something prevented her from doing so. She stared at her fist. A bright, sticky pink aura engulfed it, which made her frown in pure confusion.
Then, it dragged her forward, slamming her face against Illumi's chest. She groaned. He, on the other hand, tilted her chin upwards, which made her gulp. When his thumb brushed against the corner of her mouth, Medea froze in place. Her mind went completely blank. There was nothing except for Illumi and his touch.
Close.
He was too close.
In that position, she was able to see some speckles of brown and olive green in his cold eyes, however, they seemed to disappear under the shadows of his thick lashes. They were completely different from those of his siblings. Feline, yes, but not simply pretty. They were gorgeously predatory. Lethal. Enticing.
On all the other times they had been near each other, she had not sensed any smell on him, but, for some unknown reason, this time she did. Cinnamon and ginger, with a touch of something woody at the end, like cedar or cypress. It was good.
"Deny it as much as you want, but the choice was entirely yours," Illumi told her, breath so warm that it made her entire body temperature rise.
"You did something…"
"I did not."
"You… You changed the…" She replied, unable to tear her gaze off of his. "Cards. Or made Hisoka cheat in your place, somehow."
"You are wrong."
"Liar."
"Why do you call me that, and yet your voice does not sound angry in the slightest?" Arching an eyebrow, he asked, a hint of cheerfulness in his voice. "One could assume you do not actually mean that…"
"I do." The woman insisted, trying to distance herself, but to no avail.
"Liar." He sang tauntingly, that victorious smirk still on his pinkish lips. "Why do you not admit it at once, Medea?"
"Admit what?" She asked, eyes shining with a mist of fury and confusion.
The tip of his nose brushed against hers as he gave her a low, bored chuckle. "That you failed on purpose."
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, I didn't! You cheated!"
"That deep, deep down," Proceeded Illumi, tongue slowly running over his lips, fingers grabbing her chin to keep her in place. "you wanted to lose. You wanted me to win, do you know why?" He blinked, eyes analyzing her cautiously. "Because you want this as much as I do." He whispered.
Medea licked her lips, mouth suddenly too dry. "I don't."
"You do."
"No."
"Then why are you still so close, Medea?"
She blinked and only then did she notice that the pink aura no longer surrounded her hand. She was free. Nothing was keeping her still.
"Oops. Guess I forgot to tell you I detached my Hatsu from you." Hisoka sighed. "Silly me."
As if waking from a slumber, Medea pushed him away and got up from the glass table in a rush.
There was a murderous gleam in her eyes and every fiber of her being told her to jump on his neck, to choke him so hard that his heartbeat stopped all once. But then again, he would have no problems avoiding that.
Stupid Zoldyck and his stupid assassin training.
"Don't ever get close to me like that again, do you hear me?!" Her voice was so high-pitched that it made her cheeks burn. She sounded like a squeaky toy. It was absolutely ridiculous, especially with how she attempted to control her shaking body. " Brudna prasha ! That's what you are! Brudna Padokiejskiy ! Merushna !"
"Stop using Dnihipian words." He warned her, a subtle threat in his words.
"Lovebirds, please stop fighting!"
" Zashierv , Hisoka!" She growled. "I'm done with both of you!"
"There is no need to pretend you did not plan on letting me win, Medea," Illumi placed his face on his hand, studying her with an unreadable expression, "you want to be mine. That much is clear."
A loud, ear-piercing cackle erupted from her throat and she threw her head back. " Yours ?"
"Yes."
"Oh, Illumi, I pity you, really." She took a hand to her lips, trying to contain a smile. "You're completely delusional!"
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are!"
It was his turn to laugh. It was an empty, terrifying sound that made her blood run cold. "And you, Medea, have failed to notice that that is precisely what you are now." He pointed out. " Mine ."
"I am not!" Argued the woman, shaking her head. "You will break this stupid… Whatever the hell this is, and you're going to let me go live my life in peace, as I deserve! I'm done with your bullshit!"
"Or?"
"Or I'll kill myself."
Narrowing his eyes, Illumi crossed his arms and said: "You will not."
"Stop underestimating me!"
"You're far too obsessed with that stupid Single-Star Hunter title to commit suicide, and we both know it very well. Besides, I would never let you do that." Added him, apparently not bothered in the slightest by her empty threat.
"You have no say in what I do or don't! You are not the boss of me!" Stated Medea.
"No, but I am your fiancé."
She turned to him, flaring with rage.
There was a glint of cruel amusement in his eyes that made her insides turn with agitation. Son of a bitch . He was enjoying every second of it — feasting in her despair like it was the finest of the delicacies, a rare, exquisite treat that very few had access to, a unique opportunity. And it was. After all, it was not every day that Medea Lanfort lost in a bet.
Gritting her teeth, she glared at him. "How dare you call yourself that?"
"It is nothing but the truth. From now on, I am your fiancé, so stop whining about it at once, Lanfort."
Illumi's authoritative tone made something inside her burn in agony. Her fiancé. The coffee in her stomach became so heavy that for a moment she wondered if she would throw up. He was serious. That was what Illumi considered himself to be, what he was. Her fiancé.
The two of them… Together ? This was brutal. "Don't tell me what to do, otvralyenu chevok !"
"As long as you continue to behave like a child, I will." His voice was leveled, but there was an edge there that she still managed to identify. "And if I have to tie you down for you to control yourself, believe me, I will do it as well."
"I am not a prized calf you can keep locked up, you worsony !"
"I never said you were."
"You don't have to, your actions speak louder than any words! You have been stalking me, sending me gifts to trap me into a relationship, you kidnapped me," Listed Medea, raising a finger for each argument of hers, "and you want to deprive me of making my own choices!"
"No, I simply will not allow you to kill yourself. You are free to do whatever you wish, as long as you do not compromise your safety or my family's." Illumi told her.
"And who are you to decide something for me?"
"Your future husband."
Red blurred her vision and the sound of her breathing became louder, heavier, angrier. "You fucking— Stop referring to yourself that way!" Medea demanded through screams.
"Whether you like it or not, that is what I am."
"It's not! You're a maniac, not my… My fiancé!"
"Your part in the blood oath was to happily comply with this arrangement, Medea, and I suggest you start doing it now ." Replied the man, face hardened with annoyance, but eyes still gleaming with that unfamiliar and dangerous spark. It made Medea deeply agitated. She hated that. She wanted it gone from his eyes so she could finally feel less like a frightened prey and more like the predator she aspired to be. There was no way she would allow him to have that role.
"I'm not one of the little high-class toys you can order around, Illumi!"
The man nodded calmly. "I know. If I wanted to, I could have one of them, but I do not."
"You should!" Medea told him, running her fingers through the tattoo on her wrist, trying to ease the ill feeling in her core. "There are so many women who would be so happy to be your fiancée, Illumi!"
"Yet, you are the one I want."
"But why?"
"I already told you, I—"
"No, don't come with that whole 'you survived the drug and you're smart' bullshit!" Interrupted the woman. "What made you interested in me? And I want you to be honest ."
There was a moment of silence, the two of them just looking at each other, overwhelmed with thoughts that could not quite be expressed in words. A crease appeared between his naturally arched brows.
At last, Illumi pursed his lips and sighed. "I find you… Intriguing."
"Intriguing? That's what made you paralyze me and put me in a fever coma?" She scoffed.
"That night we fought was odd to me." Began the assassin, staring at the Ace in front of him with an empty expression. "You did not care that I was going to kill you, you were much more preoccupied with the possibility of falling into Lasym's favor again. I thought you were very, very dumb, but then you broke my nose." Frowning, he poked the card. "I never let people get close enough to do that, and yet… Somehow, you did."
Medea clicked her tongue and took a hand to her own nose. "Well, you did the same. We're even."
The corner of Illumi's mouth curled upwards. "Sorry."
"You don't seem like you are. Scrularch ."
"You surprised me, you know? When you stopped fighting." His eyes met hers and Medea found herself unable to do anything but pay attention to the man in front of her. "And when you returned my needle, I thought that, maybe, you were not as stupid as I thought you were. I realized that you needed to be watched. You could become a danger in the future."
Her lips curled in a half-smirk. "Oh, really?"
"Yes. A different type of danger from what I am used to." He confessed. "You are untrained. Untamed. And yet you stole from me, harmed me, got into my home. Survived an ancient drug that leads people straight to their deaths. This is the type of danger that has…"
"Potential?" She finished.
Illumi nodded. "You fascinate me, Medea Lanfort. And I want you by my side."
"Because you fear I might become a threat to you?"
"Yes."
"But why marriage?" Scowling, she paced around the living room. "If you wanted to keep an eye on me, why not befriend me? I mean, you said it yourself that we'd be good friends when we were texting, and you already have Hisoka as your friend anyway, what is another one?"
He rolled his eyes. "I was lying, obviously. I never saw you as anything but my potential wife after you left my home. And Hisoka is not my friend, Medea. I do not need them."
"Rude!" The magician complained.
"We are allies. It is a give-and-take relationship, we are equals." The assassin explained, putting a lock of hair behind his ear.
As the redhead typed something on his phone, a little smirk sprouted on his lips and his golden gaze landed briefly on the other man. "Oh, baby, you're so romantic! Love you too, you delicious piece of ass!" He blew him a kiss before staring at the screen again.
"What about me? Am I your equal, too?"
"You are my fiancée." Was all he said.
That bothered her. Deeply.
She squinted her eyes.
"We barely know each other, Illumi. You don't know my favorite color or my favorite food, or, I don't know, my favorite season! The little things, you know? Not some basic facts you found out while stalking me!" She was quick to add, passing her hands through her hair. "Why would I marry someone who hated me until last month? Someone I don't trust ?"
"Because I can provide for you." His voice was calm, soothing, as if he wanted her to understand, or rather, agree with what he told her.
Medea's face contorted into an expression of repulsion. "I'm not a whore you can buy, Zoldyck. I told you this before and I will tell you just this once more: I am a Hunter . I do not need your murder money!"
"I know. But would it not be good to not have to worry about money? About your expenses?" His smile was soft but cold as he got up from the floor and took a step forward. She took one back. "You could finally live where you want, where you deserve after everything you have been through. In luxury."
"If you think that I'm so easily bought, you're dead wrong, mister Zoldyck." Medea rumbled, a nauseating feeling spreading through her body. "I am not a whore." She repeated.
"You could relish in your refined tastes without feeling guilty. You would not have to be afraid of losing it all and going back to the situation you came from."
Her purple eyes widened and her breath got caught in her throat. "How do you—"
"I will not allow that to happen, Medea, you will never have to deal with that. Ever. I promise you."
"No, I…" She gulped. "I don't need that. I don't need your money. I don't."
"And I do not mean provide only in that aspect." Continued Illumi, gaze unwavering as he took in her uneasy posture. "I will take care of you. Protect you. Be by your side no matter what."
"I…"
"I will give you people to surround yourself with, to pass the time, to devote themselves to you. And I will appreciate you in all aspects, I will listen to you." Something inside her became agitated. "I will give you a family, Medea. We will make one."
Make one.
Make a family.
"Don't want one."
"You do not?"
"No."
"Do you not wish for someone who will be yours, yours entirely? Someone of your own blood?" Although his tone was soft, his expression carried a maniac air that made her perplexed.
"My… Blood?"
Illumi nodded, closing any distance between the two of them. "Yes. Your blood. My blood. United to make a child, Medea. Our child."
Her nostrils flared at that. He did not mean family as in in-laws. He meant… "A baby?" She did not know whether she felt sick or intrigued at the thought, but she merely shook her head. "That's… We're not…"
"Yes. Something that will be just ours, no one else's." Illumi's fingers touched the silvery strands of hair framing her face. "Our potentials combined into a perfect being that will cherish you as you deserve, does that not sound ideal?"
"A baby." She repeated.
"Our baby."
"I don't want a baby with you! I don't want a baby with someone I distrust!"
"I do not care if you do not trust me yet. I am very patient…" He narrowed his eyes at her, smiling. "I will make sure you do not feel unwanted. All you have to do is comply with me. With this. Accept me as your betrothed and I will give you anything you could possibly wish for."
Medea leaned on the wall, head spinning.
Protection. Safety. Loyalty. A child . What he was promising her was far too much, far too unrealistic for someone as tainted and selfish and horrible as herself. It could not be serious. "Illumi, I don't think this is a good idea."
"It is a wonderful one."
"No, I mean… You can find someone more suited for you." She said, hands sweaty. "Find them. Go after them. Forget about me, please ."
"No."
"We are too different, things are bound to go south, Illumi."
"If it is not you, I will not marry anyone." The man told her with that awfully cheerful tone of his that in nothing matched his blank countenance.
That made her turn around and stare at him in horror. "What?"
"I want you. Only you."
"Illumi, this is not love!" Her voice sounded pitiful even to her own ears, but she did not care.
"I never said it was." Was his cold, airy reply.
"And you would still be willing to marry me?"
"Yes."
"But we don't love each other!"
"Love is a distraction for the fools," Illumi said taking her wrist in his hands, fingers running through the silver vines, "it is not for people like us. We need something else."
Medea gulped. "And what is that?"
His other hand went to her hair, fingers combing the ends of her pearlescent strands cautiously. "Power." He smiled. "That is what you and I deserve. It is rightfully ours. Do you not agree?"
She said nothing.
"There is something that pulls me to you. Something intense, uncontrollable. Alluring. It is almost magnetic… I am intrigued to figure out what it might be." His voice was quiet, a whisper amidst the storm going around her mind.
"Illumi…"
"If we are together, Medea, we can conquer whatever we desire, I know it. Just give in to me."
Furrowing her brows, Medea stared at him. "Will you?"
"Will I what?"
"Give me power?"
Illumi grinned. "I will."
"And what if I want more," Continued the woman, eyes narrowing at him, "will you give it to me, too?"
"As long as it will not harm you nor my family, yes."
Indigo eyes scintillated as sweat dripped down her neck, hands colder and stiffer than a few minutes before. Why was the room so bright, all of a sudden? There was no way it was already midday. They were still having breakfast, right?
Did not matter. That was not was she was worried about right now.
The Zoldyck family had access to information that Medea, even as a Hunter, did not for the mere fact they were part of the criminal underworld. They knew things she did not. They could easily obtain anything she asked for, and she believed it would not take long. That included any information she wanted.
Even about the Order of the Golden Moon.
Go with him , whispered the serpentine voice in her mind.
Why? She asked.
He is strong. Smart. Calculating. He is ideal, it sighed, satisfied, so deliciously corrupted. Do you not want to taste his darkness? Drown in it? Suffocate in him?
Medea panted.
"Illumi." She called.
"Yes?"
"I don't feel well."
The palm of his hand touched her neck and she instinctively closed her eyes. An annoyed sigh erupted from his throat. "Your fever is back."
"Again?" Hisoka asked. "Wasn't she good just an hour ago?"
"Yes."
"What could have caused this?"
"Perhaps it could be related to her emotional state, I am not entirely sure."
Medea allowed Illumi to guide her to the sofa and she sat down, trying her best to even out her breath. "It could be…" She muttered in agreement, sinking her fingernails into her forearms. "It's too much, dirma , too much information in a short time."
"Has this ever happened to you?" He asked.
"Yeah. Twice."
"Do you think you might faint?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. I feel really shitty."
"Poor cutie."
"Hisoka, can you get an aspirin in my bag?" Medea pleaded, "Maybe that will help."
"And a glass of water," Illumi added.
His steps became quieter as he walked into the corridor, and she looked out the window, squinting her eyes at the brightness. "Fine," Medea uttered. "If you want me, you'll have me as your wife."
There was silence.
"I am glad you have decided to stop fighting against it," Illumi, at last, sat beside her.
"However, I do have to say that it will not be so simple. It will happen under my terms."
He tidied up his posture and put some strands of ebony hair behind his ear. "You wish to negotiate."
"Yes."
"You do know I can simply deny whatever you want, right?" He sounded disinterested, but leaned a little forward, certainly intrigued.
"I do."
"And what is it that you wish for?"
"Courtship." She stated. "And a couple of other things I want to talk to you about. But not now. In private." Her eyes darted to the corridor.
" Courtship ?" Illumi repeated, seemingly taken aback for the first time since their fateful fight on Glam Gas Land.
"Allow me to know more about you is the least you can do. I need to know you better if I'm going to be your wife, do you not agree?" Medea inquired. "Besides, we don't have to rush anything. It'll be good for the both of us to understand each other first before we get… Married."
Married.
She ignored the sickness that overtook her after using that word.
"So you want a date, is that it?" He asked, blinking slowly.
"Dates. Plural." Medea remarked.
Illumi seemed to consider for a moment, but gave her a short nod in reply. "Very well. I will take you on dates."
"Thanks."
"We can discuss the other things later." Granted him.
She massaged her temples and gave him a half-smile. "Alright."
"Alright." Illumi's eyes narrowed at her. She found it amusing. "Could you please give me back my peacoat?"
Blinking, she looked down and only then realized she was still wearing it. Medea scoffed. "It's mine now!"
"I lent it to you." He reminded her, arching an eyebrow. "I never said it was yours."
"Well, you are my fiancé…" She trailed the path from his collarbone to his neck with two fingers, smiling debauchedly. "What is yours is mine, right?"
Illumi grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer, locking eyes with her. "Not yet."
"But it's an almost …" Medea pointed out, batting her lashes. "Don't you want to make your fiancée happy, Illumi?"
Fiancée.
It felt so wrong.
There was a slightly bitter taste on her tongue, but she paid it no mind. Whether she liked it or not, that was what she was now and it could not be changed — not anymore. The best option was to suck it up and play along.
"Alright. You can keep it." He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Hisoka groaned, emerging from the kitchen. "I leave for two minutes and you two are back to eye-fucking each other?"
"We were talking," Illumi told him.
"Sure, you were…" The redhead handed Medea her travel bag. "Here. And here's the water."
Briefly, she thanked him and gulped down both the pill and the liquid. When she was done, she placed the glass on the center table and sighed. "I hope it works."
"It might take some time, but it will." The assassin assured her. "If it does not, I can always use my needles."
"Please, no more needles." Medea pouted.
"So you are afraid of them."
"I just… Don't like them near me." Confessed the woman. "But I completely respect them… As far from me as it's physically possible, that is."
Illumi analyzed her for a long time. It felt like forever. She could hear her own heartbeat. Finally, the corners of his lips turned upwards slightly and he chuckled. "Just rest, Medea." He got up from the chair with his typical grace and looked at her one more time. "If you are back to normal soon, I will not need to resort to using them before we go home."
She arched an eyebrow. "Home?"
"Yes."
"But I don't have the hut's keys, they're with Killua."
"Who said anything about Lapet?" He retorted. "We are heading to Kukuroo Mountain, my dear fiancée. My family is looking forward to meeting you. Properly, of course."
DNIHIPIAN TRANSLATION:
Brudna prasha - Filthy pig
Brudna Padokiejskiy - Filthy Padokean
Merushna - Bastard
Zashierv - Shut up
Otvralyenu chevok - Abhorrent man
Worsony - Prick
Scrularch - Jerk