Hello, lovely readers! How have you been?
The beginning of the end has arrived. Prepare your hearts.
It's nor really a long chapter, but I thought that there was nothing else I could add or I would've to split it into two parts and I didn't want that. The next ones have to be focused on one subject only.
I will be referring to Kite as they in the future, but for the next three chapters after this one I won't use much pronouns for them and I think you'll understand why when you read it, and if I mention pre-reincarnation Kite it'll be used he/him as in canon. In this specific chapter, however, I wanted to show the contrast between his reincarnated self and the self that Dhea knew so I opted to use she/her. It will not happen again.
This is my last chapter before I enter hiatus. Yeah. I'm kinda sad to announce this. I will really miss interacting with you guys, you're all so sweet to me and this story :') As I told you before, I will continue to write while I'm away, and maybe, just maybe, I might drop a new chapter if I feel comfortable enough with my progress and my life's situation before I officially come back. And, believe me, the next chapters I have ready are truly... Interesting. So wait for me, please!
Thanks to all of you who have supported Cataclysm since the beginning. I hope to see you soon :)
Until then, farewell.
—Cherry
the.*apple**seed: What can I say? I love cliffhangers! XD (sorry for how I had to write your user, this platform can be a pain sometimes)
"Hi… Do I… Know you?" Medea asked, slightly confused.
The girl said nothing, staring so deeply into her eyes that Medea felt apprehensive. "It's been a while." She said, at last.
"Um, I'm sorry, but—"
"Heard you've gotten yourself into a pickle lately… Nothing new, I suppose." She took a grape to her mouth and chewed it calmly. "But, honestly, I didn't expect to meet you so soon. And specially not here."
"Wait, do you know each other?" Gon asked, as confused as Medea.
"Cool shirt." The girl pointed at Medea's shirt instead, ignoring the question.
"Oh, thanks." She smiled.
"Gray doesn't suit you, though. You look like shit."
Medea blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Should've gone for black instead." She added.
"What the hell?" Medea approached her, face contorted with indignation, and pointed a pointy red nail at her. "Just so you know—"
"Not every color suits you."
Medea scoffed. "Of course, it does, Ki—" She stopped herself from saying that little four-lettered name at the last second, eyes wide.
The redhead raised a brow, as if waiting for something.
"Of course it does." She repeated, smiling smugly.
The teen ran a hand through her face. "You never change. Unbelievable."
"I'm simply divine. Why would I bother to change anything about myself?"
"You still don't know how to accept a contrary opinion, do you?" She continued.
She rose from her seat abruptly, eyes gleaming with something that resembled sorrow. But why?
The other teenagers mimicked her, startled by the sudden change in mood of the previously calm girl. Gon seemed even more confused than Medea while trying to understand the unusual situation.
"From all the things I've dealt with in my life, this certainly wasn't what I expected to be faced with today." She declared. Her hands trembled on the table and her knuckles were white due to the force to maintain them in fists. "This is the last straw for me."
Medea arched an eyebrow, noticeably worried about the girl's statement. Was she responsible for the death of someone she held dear? It would explain the tension that was spreading through the environment, leaving everyone there uncomfortable. "Dramatic much?"
"What do you mean, what's going on?" Gon tilted his body forward to look the girl in the eyes, a crease between his brows.
"I can't do this."
"Can't do what?" He asked again.
"Please, get her out of here."
"What did you just say?" Medea asked, outraged. "Who do you think you are to throw me out?"
"You know what? I'll leave. Honestly, I don't care as long as I don't have to deal with you." She commented, heading for the door.
"Go ahead then!" The woman told her, confused and offended. "Leave! No one cares!"
"No, wait!" Killua said. "You don't have to leave!"
"It's either her, or me."
"No one is leaving!" Gon interjected, frowning. "I don't know what is going on, but we are all friends here and I won't allow either of you to leave like this. You will stay, and so will Medea!" He determined.
"I will—"
"No!"
The girl looked at Gon with a displeased expression.
He, on the other hand, just kept staring at her with frightening determination.
And then she sighed. "Where's the whiskey?" She asked wearily, going in the opposite way.
"What?! You can't have whiskey!" Medea stated.
"Mito, where's the whiskey?" The girl repeated purposely louder this time, heading for a tall, crystal cabinet filled with all kinds of multicolored bottles.
Mito sighed. "On the top shelf."
"What?! She can't drink, she's not old enough!" Medea argued, looking at the woman beside her like she was crazy.
"Yes, I am."
"You're not! What are you, Alluka's age? Gon's? You're a child!"
"I'm older than you." She replied, standing on her tiptoes to reach for the bottle she wanted.
"Oh, right. As if." She rolled her eyes.
"It's valid that you don't believe me. A lot has changed since we last saw each other." Her voice had a pitiful tone that made irritation run through her body.
She hated being treated like she was just a poor, little thing.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, starting to lose patience. "You talk as if we've met, but I've never even seen you before! I don't even know your name!"
"Oh, that's easy enough to solve…" She stared at him again, her childish face completely serene. "My name is Kite."
For a few seconds, no one said anything. The sound of the birds chirping outside, and the leaves of the trees blowing in the wind were the only sound filling the room.
And then Medea scoffed, rolling her eyes with little amusement.
"Wow, so funny… I only know one Kite," She ran her fingers through the platinum strands that fell across her face, "and he's not you."
"Wait, Medea, you and Kite know each other?" Gon looked really surprised by the information, shifting his gaze from the woman to the girl impossibly fast.
"Do you know him?"
"Of course! And Killua does too! But how do you know him?"
"He's my long-time friend." Explained the white-haired woman calmly.
The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, raising her eyebrows as she looked at the older woman from head to toe. Shaking her head disdainfully, she sneered and rolled her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard, which caused a few strands of hair to fall across her face and obscure part of it.
"You made it very clear that I was anything but that three years ago." The girl replied, sarcasm dripping from her words. "So since you don't want me here, I see no reason why I should want you either."
Medea's brows furrowed.
No one but Kite and herself knew about their argument; there was no need for her to talk about it with anyone and she knew that he had certainly kept the matter secret as well, as he usually did. Both of them were very secretive about their personal matters.
So how did this girl know about it?
Confusion clouded her thoughts.
Had Killua seen the photo in her closet and, connecting the dots, figured out what had happened? Was this just a trick on his part?
She studied the girl once more.
From this angle, with a distant, cold glow in the girl's expression, the light coming delicately through the window, there was something she felt acquainted with.
Medea held her breath.
The hardness present in those round eyes was a memory she held dear, she had seen it many times in the past during training, although it was a detail belonging to almond eyes. The nose, although upturned and not aquiline, still crinkled as if experiencing a rotten odor — a typical habit he had when he was irritated. Her lips clenched in a line as she passed her thumb over her collarbone, a habit as intrinsic as breathing.
It was so familiar, yet so different.
It could not be true.
That could only be her head playing tricks on her again.
No, it could not be true, it did not make any sense! Kite was a man eight years older than her, extremely tall and serious, that girl was not… She was not him.
She could not be him. How could she be him?
Her hands ran over her face and she inhaled with difficulty. The ground swirled under her feet and she staggered backward, being promptly helped by Mito, who grabbed her shoulders and helped her to her feet as she turned back to face the girl in front of her.
"Stop clowning around," She babbled, feeling her jaw quiver and stepping back. She frowned for a moment. "Kite is a man, there's no way you two could be the same person! Not unless he…"
Her eyes widened as she remembered something he had told her many years ago. A certain attribute he had developed as a plan B for extreme situations. Really extreme situations.
A measure that could be used as a last resort.
There was only one way that girl could be a real Kite, and that meant something Medea did not want to have to accept.
The girl sat down on the sofa once more, opening the bottle of whiskey and pouring it into a glass she had picked up from the cabinet.
"It's exactly what you're thinking, Medea."
"The reincarnation ability?" She whispered, utterly pale, unable to look at the person she was talking to. "H-He…"
"I died." She agreed, bringing the glass to her lips.
"But… No. No. I don't believe it." She shook her head.
"Oh, stop being dramatic!" The teen scolded her. "Don't pretend that you care now that we're surrounded by other people. Back in Lapet, three years ago, it became obvious that you didn't." Her voice was cold.
"Don't speak to her like that!" Alluka interjected.
"Why not?" She replied. "It's not a lie, she said so herself."
"She didn't—"
"Is it…" Medea interrupted, staring at her again. Her violet eyes overflowed with emotions, all extremely conflicting and intense. It was as if they were clashing to gain full power over her. "Really you? No pranks?"
The redhead just looked at her, slightly annoyed, but still calm. "Am I by any chance someone who toys with other people?"
Medea's breath caught in her throat. It was as if she was being punched in the stomach. Had she not been supported by Mito, she would have taken a step back.
Then it was him.
No lies, no distance, no barriers; nothing was between them for the first time in three years. Kite was back.
At last, him.
The girl, no, Kite, just blinked slowly and disinterestedly, and turned her face away with a lost look.
"Kite, what happened to you? I don't understand…" The broken, frail voice irritated her own ears.
"Your curse worked, apparently."
"What curse?" Questioned Killua, completely confused.
"The last time we spoke, I said that he would die," Medea hugged her own body, shaking her head vehemently. "but I, I didn't mean that!" She hurried to say, her eyes wide as she looked at her long-lost friend. "You know I didn't mean it! I never meant for you to die. I just, I—"
"Do I know?" She inquired wryly before drinking more whiskey. "I'm not sure."
"Kite, come on, you've been with me since I was little, you know I'd never mean it!"
"And we spoke? Really?" Kite scoffed, ignoring her last words. "Last time I checked, you were the one doing the talking, not me."
"Of course we did!" Medea defended herself.
"No, you did! Oh, no, you shouted what you wanted and didn't even let me speak!" Reminded Kite, eyes burning with intense coldness. "It's easy for you to act like the victim now."
Medea swallowed hard. "It's not like that, I didn't—"
"You did!" She shouted, pointing his forefinger at her while holding the nearly empty glass between his remaining fingers. "You said I was nothing but a… What was that term you used again?"
"Kite…"
She brought a finger to her lips, pretending to think for a moment.
"Ah, yes, a joke for the Hunter Association. Ah, and also Ging's bitch." his face was impassive, resolute. "But I'm sure you remember that, don't you?"
The whole room fell silent.
All eyes turned to her, shocked and critical at the words her younger self had spoken to the man.
She felt dirty.
Being reminded of how terrible she had been to someone who had only helped her since she left Proyca was shameful, especially since this was happening in front of people she cared about.
How would they react to this side of her? Would they distance themselves from her as well?
If that happened, should she blame them?
Of course not.
Medea was nothing but a self-centered person, a mean, incredibly proud, and nasty woman who could do no good even if she tried. It was understandable for people to leave her. There was no one to blame for that other than herself.
"Yes, I remember… And I deeply regret it."
"Don't lie."
"I was extremely unstable back then!" She explained, cheeks red with embarrassment.
Kite shook her head, pouring more whiskey into the glass. "No, you were acting the same petty way you always did!" She retorted sourly. "You can't stand to hear a different opinion or advice that your immediate response is to hurt people around you!"
"You left me for a bunch of strangers, Kite!" Medea argued, all the feelings she had long locked in the darkest corner of her mind finally resurfacing. "You knew about my issues, you said I could trust you to always be there for me, and you left! How did you expect me to react?"
"Like the mature girl I thought I knew!" The voice was pubescent, but Medea could hear the deep, slightly husky tone she knew so well under those words. Kite took a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair, lifting her head and closing her eyes. "I just won't leave because Gon insists that I stay, otherwise, I'd be long gone by now."
"Wait, I…"
"Wait? For what? For you to start offending me again?" Kite asked, getting up and approaching her with slow, calculated steps. "Pretend you don't see me and I'll do the same until Gon's birthday. I truly have nothing else to talk to you." She turned to walk away, but Medea held her wrist.
"No, wait!" Medea begged. "Just…" She bit her lip. "Please don't hate me anymore. Please. I'm so sorry for everything, truly."
The figure hung her head forward but made no mention of moving.
"I don't want your apologies!" She murmured. "Do you really think that saying these empty words again will make me forget what you said?" Kite took a deep breath to regain his self-control, closing his fists tightly. "You hurt me. A lot."
"I know," She admitted, swallowing hard, "if I could go back in time, I never would have said those horrible things to you."
"But you can't." Kite stated. "Do you think I should accept you into my life again? After everything that I've been through?" She asked Medea, whose only response was silence.
Kite released herself with less aggression than she had expected, finally turning to face her. In those eyes, there was pain and anguish, but above all, there was a profound disappointment.
"I'm sorry…" She repeated in a pained whisper, jaw quivering.
"I died, Medea," The teen remarked. "and do you know what the worst part was? I was there, facing that monstrosity, and all I could think about was Gon and Killua. And you." Her eyes were bloodshot, a wet glint appearing as she talked. "I couldn't stop thinking about how you were right and I hadn't listened to you. About how you despised me now. And that I wouldn't see you again…"
"I never did. Ever." Medea assured her. "I… Just…"
"I thought that I could conduct that research," She continued, soberly, "that I could prove that I was useful, that I was… Someone who mattered."
That was a punch in the gut, and it was strong enough to make her stagger a little and leave her speechless. Medea dug her nails into his arm in an attempt to stay focused on the conversation, a habit she had acquired as a child.
Heavens, Medea hated being wrong. But she hated to know that she had hurt someone so important to her even more.
But that is all you know how to do, is it not? You use people and discard them when you feel like it… What makes you different from Lasym in the end? The voice in her head whispered venomously.
"You matter so, so much! You're an inspiration to me, always were," Medea confessed, approaching the teenager carefully, and slowly resting a hand on her shoulder. "I was wrong, so, so wrong Kite. I was jealous that you were spending time with those people, afraid that you were replacing me, and I… Snapped." She took a deep breath. "These last three years have made me realize how ridiculous my attitude was, I should have talked to you from the beginning, explained how I felt. I was too immature."
"Yes, you were. You were cruel." The pain in her voice made a lump form in Medea's throat. "Had I ever given you any indications that I would replace you?"
"No, you didn't."
"Then why did you act like that?"
"Because my mind told me that I was a piece of shit and you had found better company," She confessed, sighing deeply as she ran her fingers through the tattoo on her wrist, "and I believed it. It felt correct. I thought you were avoiding me, and when you came to my house, talking about going on a mission with them, I was even more sure of how right my paranoid mind was."
"But it wasn't. I went there because I missed you and thought you'd be happy for me and the others." Kite affirmed. "I would've never expected that from you."
Medea closed her eyes, heart aching painfully in her chest.
"Please forgive me. For being stupid, for being cruel, selfish, for everything I have done. I can't repair what I did, but I deeply regret all of it. The stuff I told you is not what I think of you, I promise. I wanted…" She stopped and stared at her own hands, ashamed. "I wanted you to hurt as much as I did. I thought it was fair. I should never have said any of those things." She told her, eyes watering. "But I will understand if you don't want to have me around anymore."
"Will you?"
"Yes. If that's what you want, then I'll respect your boundaries. I will not bother you until Gon's birthday, and after that we," Medea gulped, "we will part ways again. You won't have to worry about me."
Kite stared at her, face unchanged. "I would have made time for you, you know? You just had to tell me. I thought you were fine." The girl muttered.
Medea took a deep breath, her fingertips suddenly cold due to the heat building up in her face and neck. "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that."
"I truly am. And I don't want you to hate me forever," She declared. "You are my family, Kite. You are my brother. I love you more than you can ever imagine."
"Even if I don't want you in my life anymore?" She asked.
"Even if you don't want me in your life anymore."
For a while, they remained quiet. Still. They stared at each other, violet on violet.
Reluctantly, the girl's trembling hands gripped her cotton blouse, and she pulled Medea close. She pressed her cheek against the soft navel, sighing deeply as she embraced the woman.
Cautiously, she wrapped her arms around the small body that squeezed her. Her hands trembled. So did the girl.
"How could you speak those things, they… They were so horrible. So, so filled with hatred. I felt…" She tried to articulate, but her words were only jumbled, sentimental sentences. Medea felt the guilt spread through her body again. "You weren't going to lose me, you weren't going to… I promised you that!"
Medea let her fingers wander through the red hair and closed her eyes tightly.
She had been so cruel that day. She did not even deserve to be asking for forgiveness, not after all that. "I know that now. I'm sorry."
They stayed in the same position for a few minutes, neither of them daring to say a word. Maybe it was the fear of breaking that peace again. Or maybe it was because they were not sure that it was not a hallucination.
Probably both.
"I know. And I forgive you." Kite whispered.
"Y-You…"
"I can't guarantee that everything will be as it was. You have changed. I have changed. But we can… Try, or at least build something new, better."
The young woman smiled, tears rolling down her face.
Kite was Kite even in a completely different body. That forgiveness she had so longed for over the years was finally being delivered to her. "I would love that."
Kite just nodded, without saying anything. It was a lot of emotion in a very short time, especially for someone as reserved and quiet as Kite.
Suddenly Killua decided to break the ice:
"So is the drama over yet? Can we get back to our normal schedule?"
The woman rolled her eyes, letting her friend go.
"You were gossiping before you saw me."
"So what?"
"So you weren't doing anything important. You're all a bunch of lazybones."
He gasped, squinting his eyes. "Look who's talking! You spend all day watching that stupid soap opera and chatting on your phone! Do you think you have the right to criticize me?"
"I do because you live in my house for free." She retorted, drying her tears.
"Not if I steal the house's deed!"
"Are you really going to argue now?" Asked Alluka with a deadpan.
"It's his fault!"
"It's her fault!"
Alluka sighed, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes. "You give me no choice…"
Killua furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you… No! Stop!"
Her blue eyes lost their natural brightness, causing a shiver to run down Medea's spine. They became cold. Dull. Empty. But they were still blue — they were still her dear Alluka's.
They were not black. It was not Illumi staring at her.
"Stop, Alluka!" Killua ordered.
"No."
"Please! I've stopped, I've stopped!"
Taking a deep breath, Medea turned her face to the side and raised her hands in the air. "You win!"
"Great!" She grinned and faced Gon, winking. "Didn't I tell you that the Illumi-mode always works?"
"Wow, it really does!" He agreed, stunned.
"What is Illumi-mode?" Mito asked Kite.
"I have no idea…" She replied.
"I hate this stupid gaze…" Murmured Killua.
"It's not that bad," Medea said, smiling devilishly before whispering next to his ear: "Kil."
"Stop!"
Medea laughed as he threw himself on the sofa, sulking.
"Idiot."
"What's wrong, Kil?"
"Stop it!"
"But, changing the subject for a moment, there is one thing really bothering me…" She commented, turning to Kite with a serious expression.
Kite arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"They won't think we are related by blood anymore. Darn it, old man." She joked, drawing a laugh from her. "So many people for you to reincarnate and you had to choose a redheaded girl? Couldn't it be a blonde?"
"And the worst thing is not even that, I'm not even a human man… Human girl? I don't know, this is still confusing to me."
She arched an eyebrow and broke free from the hug to face the girl herself. "Eh? What do you mean by that?"
"Kite is a Chimera Ant." Gon explained.
"I am honestly afraid to even ask about it… What did you get yourself into while I was gone?" They laughed. "I'm going to help Miss Mito to finish the lunch and then I want to know what you, mister… Or miss, I don't know, have been doing all these years. Besides, of course, this whole death thing."
She nodded and, slightly reluctantly, let go of Medea. "That's fine."
"Don't spare me the details."
"I won't."
"And stop drinking, you'll be sick with this skinny little body of yours in no time."
Kite gave her that familiar half-smile. "I missed you, Meds." She whispered.
She just smiled, a heartwarming feeling taking over her chest, and nodded with calculated slowness before following Mito into the kitchen.
Medea might have endured the drizzle she feared so much, but the storm is closer than ever. Will she be able to stand her ground? And what will her encounter with her anonymous ally result in to her life?
To find out these and other questions, stay tuned for the next chapters~