Hello, lovely readers! How have you been?
I AM SO EXCITED FOR HXH'S COMEBACK OMG T.T Seriously, when I saw Togashi's tweet I almost fainted! This is so unbelievable! Now I've got to catch up on the manga asap
Anyway, moving back to my regular chapter notes.
This chapter really begins to explore Medea's past in depth, as I had promised you, at least the part regarding the brothel she grew up in. Also, I really like to write cunning Illumi, it does things to me lmao
A big thanks to everyone who keeps supporting this story! I'm really grateful for all the readers and friends I've made through this story, and I'm even happier to know that you guys are liking Medea, it's a big accomplishment for me!
Please do not forget: updates take place every Monday and Friday from 12pm to 5 pm PST! This Thursday, on the same agreed time, however, I will publish an extra chapter! Yep, you've read it right! We'll have not two, but THREE new chapters! It's my way of celebrating the marvelous news for our fandom.
See you,
—Cherry
Tall, dense trees surrounded the two men as they walked. The scent of cypress was strong, but in a comforting way; it kind of reminded him of home. However, the oak tree and palm tree, and all the tropical plants around the forest were so overpowering that the cypress became nothing compared to them. He was not at home. He was in an entirely different country now.
The soil beneath his shoes was dark and humid. Rich. After all, it was a tropical forest, it was obvious that it would be like that.
It was hot, way hotter than he expected it to be, so he had no option but to tie his hair up.
His dark eyes took in the sight around him. Colorful. Bright. Exotic. Occasionally, one or other creature would appear in their way, curious, before simply disappearing behind the vegetation once again. They looked odd in an interesting way — although some of them were borderline ugly, in Illumi's opinion.
Still, just like everything else in that forest, they were diverse and vibrant.
He wondered if the so-called Rainforest Beasts were also that impressive. Not that he wished to find out. Zeno had told him stories about them and, well, they were not known for being easy-going creatures. That was precisely the reason he had decided to pay a Claysian guide to navigate him through the gigantic forest in the heart of the country.
Also known as Lost Land, the Republic of Clayso was an archipelago located east of the Yorbian continent. It was practically separated from the rest of humanity by thousands of sea leagues. Due to the distance to other countries, illegal and immoral actions took place freely on its streets.
Money laundering, drug commerce, human trafficking… The list was long. Nothing good could come from there. Clayso was a place forgotten by the morally correct part of civilization, but, without a doubt, it was a safe haven for corrupted people.
Clayso was the land of everyone and no one at the same time.
And it was also Medea's former home.
In the central-western region of the country was the tiny province of Proyca. There, the first brothels of the country had arisen and received fame over the centuries. Other points of prostitution existed in different parts of the nation, but the most-known remained Proyca.
The city was eternally crowded. The tourist guides, eternally busy. Illumi had quite a difficult time trying to find someone available for him to hire.
Men and women of all kinds longed to experience the pleasures of its residents, curious about the so-called techniques that they knew. They were not afraid to perform any forbidden desires of their customers, always ready to take and be taken the way clients wanted them to. There were no limits. All fantasies were fulfilled in Proyca.
May your dreams come true was literally their motto.
However, it was a hard-to-reach region. The forest surrounding it was dense, tricky to those who were not accustomed to it, therefore, people resorted to experienced guides to take them to their destination. They, much like him, did not want to get lost and become food to the local beasts.
The city's large limestone portals emerged on the horizon, drawing Illumi's attention.
There was loud chattering nearby, cars honking, and hurried footsteps. It was messy.
"And we're finally here, mister." Announced his guide, smiling.
Illumi nodded. "So this is Proyca." He stated to himself.
This is where she came from.
"Yes, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Everyone always does!" The man laughed.
"I am sure they do." He muttered, staring back at him. He extended the thick amount of bills, all perfectly folded, in his direction. "The rest of the payment."
"Is this the amount we had agreed upon?"
"Yes. Thirty thousand first, then forty." He assured calmly. It was slightly more expensive than he had expected at first, but, oh, well… What was he to do? "Go ahead, count it if you want."
The man narrowed his eyes, then smirked. "No, there's no need for that. You seem like a good fella, a serious one. People like you never try to deceive me." He put the money on his belt bag, zipping it carefully afterward. "Well, mister, it was nice making business with you. I have to go now, but I strongly advise you to visit the Devil's Tail. The escorts there are exquisite."
"Alright."
"Hope to make business with you again very soon!" The man waved goodbye and disappeared behind the trees once again.
Illumi blinked. "Oh, no! I forgot to ask him about the brothel!" He sighed. "Shit."
From his bag, he took a notebook and quickly flipped the pages, searching for the one where the priestess wrote the information on the brothel where Medea had lived. He had to ensure that he knew the name of the place he needed to go.
He had to find out more about Medea. It was urgent.
Illumi had, in fact, promised his father that he would take her home, and he would. But he couldn't simply force her to do so, that would be stupid. He wanted her collaboration, he needed them to work together so she could be accepted by the rest of his family. And, for that to happen, he had to lure her with the correct pretext.
Unfortunately, he could not pull the 'you owe me a favor and you will pay it now' card on her, as much as he wanted to.
So roaming Clayso to find something to make her bond with him would have to do.
Proyca's streets were full of people and various buildings, each one brighter and more colorful than the previous, promising unforgettable moments of pleasure. He bit his lip as he walked. Medea had been in one of them during her childhood. What had she learned during her time there?
No. It is not the time for this. You have to remember what brought you here.
He took a deep breath. He had to focus.
People talked loudly on his left; on his right, a group of prostitutes announced their brothel's 'menu'; a bit ahead, drug dealers offered drugs for a low price; and, on the road next to him, the honking was increasing. There was a lot of noise. It was deeply annoying, he felt like he was in York New, and he truly despised that aspect of the city. Illumi sighed and looked at the page once again before continuing to walk.
Lys. That the pleasure house that had trained her until she reached what they considered the age of majority.
He clenched his fists.
Age of majority, what a joke. An eleven-year-old was nothing but a child. A child who was auctioned off as a piece of meat to whoever gave the highest price. He pursed his lips. It was alright. He would make sure to avenge her later on. They would not go unpunished for forcing themselves onto her.
And he would take a long, long time until he was finished with them.
He smiled.
Yes, that was only fair.
Illumi went through the entirety of the city's downtown twice, but there was no sign of Lys anywhere. He frowned, frustrated. Where could it be?
Had Medea given the wrong information to the priestess purposely? Was she trying to hide at least that minor fact about her past? It certainly was not the case. From the things he had read on the priestess' report, she was truly devoted to her faith, so lying to them seemed unlikely.
Lys has to be somewhere.
His eyes roamed around one more time.
Far from the city center, near the hills, there was a quieter area. It had modest houses and a large orchard, which he assumed was for the residents' subsistence, but other than that, there was nothing. Just ruins.
Remnants of old buildings lay there — metal structures and bricks spread on the ground, completely mucky, shards of glass shining between the overgrown vegetation, and some tiles were scattered around the road that led to the main square. It was uninviting. Depressing. Not even the sun shone on that part of the city.
The atmosphere was sullen, darker, as if there was something haunting the place.
Illumi sighed. He was already so close to it… It would not hurt to take a look.
The place was almost entirely empty, except for a few children who played among the plant-covered debris, an elder woman who cleaned the stairs of her house slowly, and himself.
He took his hands to his temples, massaging them to make the headache go away, walked towards a wooden bench in the tiny old square, and sat there. Illumi huffed. He was so worried about answers to Medea's mysterious life before she became a Hunter that it was starting to affect him physically. Great.
A hand touched his shoulder and he turned around. A brunette teenager looked at him with apprehension. "Are you alright, mister?" She asked.
Illumi said nothing, opting to look at her coldly instead.
Scared, she pulled her hand back to herself. Silence prevailed for a few seconds, both of them just staring at each other uncomfortably. Finally, tired of standing still and doing nothing, she decided to speak again. "Are you lost?"
Was he?
Honestly, Illumi couldn't tell anymore.
He just wanted to find that damn whorehouse, but apparently, nothing related to Medea came easily to him. He always had a little catch or trouble when it came to her, it was annoying. Sighing, he shook his head. "I'm looking for the pleasure house of Lys. Do you know where it is?"
The girl frowned. "I'm sorry, but Lys is no more, mister." She explained. "I believe your trip here was unsuccessful… However, if you wish to meet the current best brothel, I can give you the directions to it."
"And Medea Lanfort? Have you ever heard of her?" He asked.
She seemed to think for a few seconds, but before she could answer the old woman interrupted her: "Don't pronounce this demon's name in Proyca." She growled, green eyes staring at him with an unusual hardness.
Illumi arched an eyebrow. "Do you know her?"
The woman snickered. "I had the displeasure to, yes."
"Could you tell me—"
"I suggest you forget about it, young man, and leave before this brings unnecessary trouble to you."
He got up and walked to her. She barely reached his waist but her posture was so imposing that it did not make a difference. Her gray hair was stuck in a bun, and her face, even though wrinkled due to what he presumed to have been long, hard years, conveyed something that Illumi identified as power. At least, what was left of it.
She looked up, staring at his black eyes with disinterest.
It was then that Illumi noticed the ornament on her hair, a copper-colored metallic object in the shape of a twisted rose. An old courtesan.
He arched an eyebrow. "Tell me what you know about her."
The old woman leaned her wooden broom against the door jamb and crossed her arms. "Didn't you hear what I said, you fool? Go away and do not bother us with memories of this girl!"
"Unfortunately, I cannot do that." He responded in his typical cheerful tone. "I came to gather information about Medea and I'm going to obtain it, whether this city likes it or not."
She raised an eyebrow, thinking carefully, and rolled her eyes, snickering. "That damned girl's been making enemies. How delightful." She murmured. The woman gestured for him to follow her, entering her house and heading to the wood stove, where she put a little water to boil. "It's unbelievable that someone like her hasn't been killed yet."
Illumi just watched her put a few leaves in the water, separate a porcelain teapot and place two cups of the same material on the tiny kitchen table.
She sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. I want every information of yours regarding Medea." Illumi promptly replied.
"My services are not free."
He narrowed his eyes. "How much?"
"How much do you have?" She retorted.
"Enough."
"Then enough it is." The woman chuckled. "Give it to me."
Illumi hesitated. Then, he sighed, taking his hand to his pocket, and threw the stack of bills on the creaky wooden table.
Her green eyes glimmered and for the first time, she genuinely smiled. "Ah, so you're a rich or powerful one… I see. She won't stand a chance against you, mister."
"Stop babbling. I want the thing I paid you for." He demanded, patience running thin.
"Of course, of course… Well, where should I start?"
"From the beginning."
She nodded. "My sister and I were prostitutes in our youth. We were really miserable and it was our only resort. As the years passed, we were reassigned to be instructors for the younger courtesans that arrived." The woman told him. "I liked what I did. Guiding the new generation was interesting, especially when they began to create their own techniques and share them with us to help their coworkers." Her voice sounded nostalgic, it was as if she could experience her moments of glory once again, even if only for a few seconds. "My sister, on the other hand, never liked it. She found it especially cruel to force the children to learn how to pleasure a person before they understood what all that meant."
"Did you not agree?"
"Well, if I survived it, so should they." She shrugged. "And they did. It's a matter of survival."
She removed the tea from the stove and poured it into the teapot, a typical smell of mint and chamomile invading his nostrils. The old woman placed it in the center of the round table and, with a little difficulty, sat on the chair while motioning for the man to do the same.
Illumi sat down, listening to the wooden chair creak a little. "I see. But what about—"
"I know, I know! I was about to get there, do not pressure me!"
He clenched his jaw, but said nothing. Arrogant old hag.
"The first time Medea came in here, she was still just a little girl. She must've been three or four… Being next to her was intolerable."
"Why?"
"It was suffocating, and… Weird." She explained, frowning. "I remember one of the maids told me it had something with her aura. She said it was terrifying. That she had never seen anyone with such a dark, unstable thing like that before, specially a kid. At first, I didn't believe her, but as the time passed, I had to give in. Her aura, or whatever it was, drained the energy of anyone who spent a lot of time next to her, it… No, she was strange."
He looked at the empty cup thoughtfully. Three years old. It was at the same age that he had begun his training to become an assassin.
An uncomfortable feeling made his chest ache, but he looked up again as the woman served him tea.
"Anyway, Medea was Araeso's little treasure, he was the brothel's owner. She was the youngest slave he had bought and was quick to learn, and it didn't matter if it was something as simple as helping to wash clothes or something more challenging, like reading. So Araeso, being the business-oriented man he was, decided to start her training when she turned five. Hyo, my sister, was responsible for taking care of her whenever Araeso was away."
Illumi sipped some tea, studying the woman. "What was she like?"
"What do you mean?"
"Her personality."
"Witty and annoying. That girl got on everyone's nerves with how much she talked." She rolled her eyes. "But the problem started when she turned eight." The woman continued.
"Oh? Why?"
"Well, Medea found a book about Hunters in the library. How she found it, I have no idea, but she did. Anyway, she started to fantasize about leaving, which made Araeso extremely preoccupied and mad." The teacup touched her lips and she made a weird sound as she drank from it, tilting her head back. The bronze rose in her hair shone. "He said that if she had time to think about foolishness, then she also had time to train more. She would only come out of the training chambers after passing out from exhaustion."
"And yet that did not stop her from thinking about it." He stated, arms crossed.
The woman took a deep breath. "No, it didn't."
"When did she…?"
"A few months before she turned 11." She replied. "Araeso searched the whole country for her, but couldn't find Medea anywhere."
"That's when she took the Hunter exam…" He murmured to himself, but the woman nodded nonetheless.
"One of the girls was close enough to her to know what she had done, and after a few weeks of negotiation, she sold the information to Araeso in exchange for her own freedom."
"But Medea did not come back after that, did she?"
"For Enoull, she would've done whatever it took." The woman answered as she ran her fingers through her gray fringe. "They were… Medea was attached to her. She came back for Enoull, but she deceived her and led her straight into Araeso's arms. That was all he had been waiting for, so he auctioned her virginity that night."
"And Medea was raped…"
The old woman scowled. "No. That little demon spawn was always lucky." She spat. "I warned my dear Araeso so many times that keeping her alive would be a problem, but he never listened to me! Never! And in the end, his pet killed him. Do you know how?" He shook his head. "Her aura. That monstrous thing blew up the pleasure house of Lys! And everything you see out there," She gestured to the window. "the forest, the square, this house, is what Lys used to be. We're sitting on its remains. The explosion was so intense that it killed everyone here immediately and destroyed all the buildings at the foot of the mountain range; the tremors were felt even in the center of Proyca."
Illumi reflected on her words, a deep crease between his brows. If what this woman was saying was completely true, then Medea was more capable than he had assumed. However, the most important thing to him at the moment was not how strong her Nen was. No, he was barely paying attention to that.
What made his blood run hot was something else.
There was a tiny, minimal possibility that Medea could be a virgin. To know that, maybe, he could be the first to touch her made his head spin.
She could still be pure. Untouched.
She could be his.
Only his.
That was incredibly appealing.
"You know, young man, you are the second to come here in less than six months to hear from her…"
He let out the breath he did not know he was holding and tilted his head to the side, confused by the woman's words. "How so?"
"Another man came to me a few months ago, begging me to say something about Medea." The old woman looked at him, green eyes full of contempt. "So, if he doesn't take care of her, I ask you to do it."
Illumi stared at her.
Slowly, nodded. "I will, do not worry."
"Good. It's about time someone put an end to that nuisance of a girl."
"Put an end to her?" He shook his head. "Oh, no. I already tried that and did not like it one bit."
"What?"
Long, pale fingers pulled a needle out of his pocket as he quickly got up and placed himself behind the old woman. Its sharp, pointy end touched her carotid, and she stiffened in her seat when he took another weapon to the opposite side of her neck. Her eyes widened and her body shook as she stared at the silvery peacock kanzashi.
"That… That's my sister's kanzashi, but…?"
Illumi blinked. "I got it from Medea, obviously."
"What?!"
Smiling, he finally spoke up: "Now, if you want to survive… Tell me what you know about this man." His tone was distracted, but the way his hand gripped her shoulder was proof that it was not the case. Words fell from her mouth in a rush, listing everything about the other man, from the first moment they met to what they had talked about; even the small details of his appearance were told. Her fear was palpable. Illumi raised an eyebrow. "I see…"
"Does that mean you'll let me go now? You'll let me live?" The old lady asked.
Illumi let her go and walked to the chair he had been sitting at until then, turning to her one last time as if considering the request. "No."
All color disappeared from her wrinkled face. "But I helped you!" She argued.
"If anyone else threatens you, you will let them know I was here. You are unreliable. It is not worth keeping you alive." He aimed for her forehead. "Besides, I cannot allow you to offend my bride and go unpunished, can I?"
"Y-Your—"
The kanzashi sank into her forehead before she could even finish.
Humming, Illumi approached the corpse, collecting the weapon, and the pile of money on the table. He twirled the kanzashi between his fingers, sighing, and put it back in his pocket.
In the end, his trip to Clayso had been more profitable than he had imagined. He would have a lot of fun with the new information he had obtained, he was sure of that. If he played his cards right — and he would — he would wreak havoc on her entire life.
She would have no one to count on except for him.
Ah, Medea… You have no idea of what is happening in the shadows, do you?
However, as long as she was by his side, Medea would be fine.
Illumi would make sure to take good care of his dear future wife.
DON'T FORGET: NEXT THURSDAY, AT 12PM PST THERE WILL BE AN EXTRA CHAPTER!
—
Gosh, Illumi is so romantic :') Killing everyone who talks shit about the woman you want is most certainly the best way to express your feelings, too bad you haven't, you know, actually TOLD her about that. But that's just a minor detail.
—
Unbeknownst to Medea, Illumi has made a life-changing decision to the both of them. What will his next step be? And will she be able to pass the final phase of the Act of Choice?
To find out the answer to these and other questions, stay tuned for the next chapters~