Chapter V
Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Feitan set out to their task as the sun rises in the horizon. The Scarlet Eyes are still up on the altar, and when Chrollo turns back for Valtiel, he finds her up there again, gazing so intensely as if she could will them back to life and ask them the questions she would not ask him. He gets the feeling that she might be suspicious of him, that there might have been some discrepancy in his lies to her, but as far as Chrollo is concerned, being a perfectionist, there are no gaps in his lies.
He shivers under his black coat from the cold morning breeze. "What are you thinking about?"
Valtiel says, "You are right, after all."
"I am?"
"They are the most beautiful color in the world."
"Yes," he agrees, "they are."
An hour later, the sun has fully risen in the skies. The other members of the Troupe are occupying themselves in their own business. Phinks and Franklin are arm-wrestling each other, betting two million Jenny for each win. So far, Phinks is winning, much to Franklin's annoyance. On the other side of the nave, Shalnark busies himself with his new laptop and phone, tweaking some new applications he had found from the Hunter website.
Omokage slips into the shadows and approaches Valtiel. She has opened one of the stained-glass windows and looks out on the grassy field ahead. "You look radiant," he says.
She looks at him from head to toe. Each Spider has their own strange charm, though there is something about this pale, grey-haired puppeteer that makes her wary. "Oh, thank you."
"I was told your name is Valtiel?"
"Yes, it is."
"A fitting name." He nods in appreciation. He shifts his post, circling the young woman like a vulture to its prey, and tries to block their leader's watchful and possessive gaze from his position near the altar. "I suppose Danchou chose it for you?"
"It is my only name," she argues. "None other."
"Oh?" A provocative step towards her. His lips curl into a sinister smile. "Are you sure?"
"You−" She reads something in his wild black eyes, and it makes her stop and consider. "What are you−"
"Suggesting?" The puppeteer reaches out and rakes his long, bony fingers through her hair. He sighs in contentment, being so close to her, enough to see the bright golden flecks in her eyes. If only he could do as he wishes, then this girl would have long been dead, but with a puppet of herself to live forever. His fingers travel further down to the tips of her hair and attempt to touch the exposed skin of her neck and collarbone.
A dark, foreboding aura warns him from continuing. Omokage knows to whom it belongs.
The double doors open wildly and bang against the walls. With great enthusiasm, Uvogin roars that they are back. He raises both fists, which hold several paper bags, stained with blood on the edges, from a very unfortunate department store. Nobunaga frowns as he and Feitan approach their leader above the dais. Feitan drops more paper bags at Chrollo's feet to let him choose.
"Hey, Omokage," Uvogin says as he walks over to their side in the church. "Stop creeping her out, would ya? Give it a rest so she can choose for herself."
Grateful for the distraction, Valtiel pushes herself off the window ledge and sidesteps Omokage. She approaches the other Spiders with careful steps, somehow still perturbed of their hostile looks and deep frowns. Only one of them has the grace to smile so cheerfully at her, and she smiles back, hoping that they could be friends in this sea of glares.
Chrollo shuts his book and joins the others down the dais. He proceeds to check each of the paper bags, pulling out various feminine clothing that his men could find: a black office suit, a pair of tank top and pants, a baggy tracksuit, a lacy evening dress… Chrollo shoots a quick glare at Feitan's direction, who just shrugs and turns away.
In the end, the Spider head chooses a black yukata with dark purple floral patterns printed at the edges, its obi also a dark purple hue. He tosses it unceremoniously to Valtiel's face.
"Change into this," he orders in the same quiet voice, and goes back to his reading. "In another room."
"Hmph. Change into this," Valtiel repeats in a mocking tone, which elicits a few chuckles from some Spiders. Others, she notices as she slips out of their sights, gasp at her blatant disrespect.
She finds a dark alleyway that connects the nave to the basement stairs. In the shadows, no one could see her change clothes. The yukata is a bit larger yet soft against her pale skin, and it only takes her half a moment to put everything on−sash and all. She gathers her unkempt hair and lets it loose over her right shoulder. The sleeves go past her arms, and so do the skirts. When she goes back to the others, the mistakes she made are obvious in their incredulous faces.
Again, Chrollo gets up from his chair, sighs ever so softly, and starts fussing over her yukata. He works on her like a professional, very familiar with the workings of the clothes. He blocks the other Spiders from watching, well aware of their nagging curiosity of the girl.
Then he steps back, admiring her with critical eyes, yet frowning at her long hair.
"Your hair needs to be dressed," he says at length.
"My hair?" She blinks. "What's wrong with it?"
Chrollo looks around the spacious aisle and finds the other Spiders gathered around them. Still no signs of either Machi and Pakunoda. He berates himself for asking them to patrol. There couldn't be a more fitting time to order the only two female Spiders to care for the Kurta girl.
As if sensing their leader's need, Nobunaga steps forward from the line. "I can dress her hair," he offers.
There is a collective gurgles from the others.
"You?" Phinks chortles.
Nobunaga fumes. "Of the people in this room, who can actually style their hair?!" he barks back, one finger pointing at his topknot.
"Uh, not you?" Feitan mocks.
"Shut up, bastard!"
"We can just wait for Machi and Pakunoda to come back," Franklin suggests.
"Why not let Nobunaga try?" Shalnark smiles at everyone. "I'd like to see him try. Right, Danchou?"
Chrollo assesses the situation and looks back and forth between Nobunaga and Valtiel. Though Franklin may be right on his suggestion, he would also like to see what the hotheaded samurai could do. Nobunaga has been hostile to her ever since she arrived, that it makes Chrollo wonder why he would like to help now.
With a little nod as the leader's permission, Nobunaga rolls up his sleeves. He sits Valtiel on their leader's chair, turns her back against him, and sets to work.
Five minutes later, the church rattles with raucous laughter from the Spiders.
"That's not a bow!" Phinks clutches his stomach as he doubles over and bellows another laugh.
"You can't tie a bow to save your life!" Uvogin, teary-eyed, continuously slams a fist on the nearest pew.
"You're so full of crap, Nobunaga." Feitan fights the urge to grin, but fails as he turns around and snickers.
"Don't be so mean!" Shalnark tries to calm everyone down. "He tried his best!"
Phinks calms himself for a while and jabs a finger at the girl's hair. "That's not even good!"
Seated on the chair, with hands on her lap, Valtiel blinks at the commotion unfolding in front of her. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled up into two ponytails in each side, tied by a dark purple ribbon that matches her yukata's patterns and obi. However, Nobunaga tied the ribbon in the strangest angles, making the bow stand out vertically, its flimsy ends swaying upwards.
Eyeing the awkward bows, Chrollo brings a hand to his mouth and chuckles.
"Stop giving me that crap, Phinks!" Nobunaga wrestles with the blond Spider and shakes him by the collar of his blue shirt. A large vein pops out of the samurai's left temple. "It's not funny!"
"It is for me," Phinks points out and receives a headbutt from the samurai.
"Now, now, that's going too far," Franklin interrupts. He steps between the two men and forces them apart. Nobunaga sulks on the pew, arms in his sleeves, while Phinks goes away with another bout of laughter. Shalnark joins him, although his laugh is more careful not to offend Nobunaga.
"That's right," Feitan chimes in. "No serious fights between Troupe members."
"He started it," Nobunaga mumbles with a huff.
"Me? Why is it always me? Besides−" Phinks climbs up the dais and leans his forearm against the chair's back. He leans close to the Kurta and fingers the ribbons on her hair. "I think it looks cute. Exactly your style, Nobunaga."
A bench flies in the air. Phinks ducks out of the way and it crashes behind him, only a few feet away from the altar of the Scarlet Eyes.
Chrollo clears his throat. "That's enough. You did… well, Nobunaga."
It is supposed to quench the samurai's temper. It works. Nobunaga spares one last glare to the snickering Spiders and calms down. The rest of them start to disperse, looking at Valtiel's strange bows and cannot help but keep laughing until the night kicks in.
That sunset, Machi and Pakunoda return with three new faces trailing behind them.
Valtiel, forever seated on Chrollo's right side, the flames of the candles burning low around them, finds the new people strange yet intriguing. She edges closer in her seat, golden eyes following the movements of a short man with a mop of blue hair, another gangly man covered in bandages, and a young man standing as tall as Phinks yet with silver hair and feverish dark blue eyes.
Chrollo senses her interest perking and follows where her attention is. "Kortopi, Bonolenov, Yuan," he whispers, flipping to another page. "Now the Phantom Troupe is complete."
The young man with the silver hair idles closer to the dais. He meets her eyes, and then, sensing her focus on him, flushes in embarrassment and scuttles next to Franklin.
"Yuan," says Chrollo. "Our newest member; he's still very shy."
"Oh."
She nods, but doesn't take her sight off the newest three comers. The one whose name she remembers as Shalnark welcomes them with a bright smile; Uvogin and the others ask some quiet questions. Then she feels the inquiring gaze of the two female Spiders. She meets both their eyes and wonders what they must be thinking of her.
"Paku." Chrollo's voice resonates inside the church.
"Yes, sir?" The blonde woman ascends to the altar. Her brown eyes stray to the Kurta girl.
"Check her again."
"What should I ask her?"
He faces the young woman next to him, and could not help but remember the night he first laid his eyes on her. As much as he wanted the hatred and the anger to return to her, he is also quite entranced of her serenity. There is so much more that he wants, but patience is the key: she belongs to him, after all. He has all the time in the world to enjoy her.
"Valtiel," he says, savoring the sound of her name, "what do you remember?"
"I-I am not sure," she stammers, the fear creeping up to her as the blonde woman holds out a hand to her, and grabs her by the wrist. She winces at the tightness of her grip, and jerks forward when the other pulls at her like she would a rag. But instead of pain, she feels a cool, soothing sensation from her touch.
"Pakunoda is a mind specialist," Chrollo explains to abate her anxiety. "She can see through a person's mind and know what they are thinking or hiding. I am hoping she could help you remember."
"Help me… remember…" Valtiel closes her eyes and focuses on whatever her mind could conjure. She sees nothing in her mind but darkness, a few blurry faces of people she could not distinguish. There's a voice of a man in the back of her mind. Danchou−it keeps repeating. Her eyebrows furrow. Danchou… Do they mean… Danchou?
She opens her eyes again and looks at Pakunoda. The other nods in acknowledgement.
Pakunoda straightens her blouse and office skirt. "I finished checking her," she tells their leader. "Still no new memories beyond the night of the incident." Then she peers at Valtiel. "I would recommend creating new memories in place of the old ones. The past is inconsequential now."
"Thank you, Paku. You may go."
"Yes, Danchou." Down she goes the dais, rejoining her comrades.
A few hours later, at midnight, Chrollo and Valtiel take leave of the Spiders. They stand from their spot by the altar and turn for the hallway, leaving the shrine of the Scarlet Eyes and its shadow lurching across the church walls. They walk back to their shared room in silence; Chrollo appreciating it after another day of rambunctious, senseless arguments among his members. Now that the entire Troupe is complete, he can expect more noise in the upcoming days.
Inside the priest's chambers, Valtiel takes a moment to peer outside the window and down to the blackened corpses of the church people. Crows have gathered since early afternoon, feeding on the corpses' eyes, tongue, and flesh, leaving nothing but grotesque bodies.
Chrollo lights up the hearth and returns his book in the shelf. He is finished with that one, a poet's take on religious beliefs, and picks another one from the same author: a book of poems that damns religions so different from what the poet believed in. He drops himself on the couch and starts to read.
"There is something I don't understand," says Valtiel all of a sudden.
"What is it?"
"Why can't I remember? Why do I have to rely on her help? What happened that night?"
Too soon. Chrollo discards his book to the round coffee table and pats the space next to him. The Kurta obeys, sitting on his right as she has done throughout the day. Instead of answering her questions, he reaches out to undo Nobunaga's awkward bows, allowing her hair to fall in loose wave of silver-gold across her black-and-purple yukata. His fingers work out on the tangles as he thinks of his answer.
"You fell," he begins his narrative, "from a very high cliff. You saved me from getting shot but having yourself shot in my place. Then you fell, and the Troupe members searched for you all night." He studies her face, finds no trace of suspicion there. He continues. "When we found you, you were wounded. More than that, you have already forgotten who you are."
"And who am I?" she presses, a bit impatient.
"You are Valtiel," he answers gently, brushing his thumb across the apex of her pale cheek. "You are one of us. There is no other place in the world for you but with us. Pakunoda is right: the past is now inconsequential. It is time to create new memories. I would help you. The Spiders would help you."
She gives him a long, thoughtful look, as if trying to see through his words. Chrollo just keeps the tender smile on his lips, his fingers under her chin. At length, she believes him and nods, which earns her another handsome smile as reward. She pulls away from his grasp and heads for the priest's bedroom, and she doesn't see the shadow of a frown crossing Chrollo's features in a brief moment.
She stops by the door's threshold as if a thought crossed her. "And what of the Scarlet Eyes?"
His intense gaze never flickers. "What about them?"
A shrug. "What are we to do with them?"
He retrieves his book and ignores her. That is one question he would not answer her−not yet at least. He watches her from his peripheral vision as he flips to the next page, feeling her gaze on his face. She is stubborn, he realizes, when she spends the next three minutes waiting for his answer. Funnily, she reminds him of Nobunaga, and he knows the samurai would not be best pleased if compared to the Kurta girl.
At length, he gives in and sighs. "We have an assignment in three days. Best get yourself a proper rest. Good night, Valtiel."
She frowns and shuts the bedroom door behind her with a loud thud.
*Valtiel - Servant/Attendant of God
Author's Notes: So, I forgot to add the name meaning last chapter, so here it is! Haha. Also, I added another OC to complete the 13 members of the Phantom Troupe, which is interesting since I get to explore another character with a different background, personality and all. This chapter is a bit short and slow-paced in my opinion, but I promise that we'll be picking speed starting next chapter. Thanks for reading, guys! Also:
Chrollo: Change into this.
Valtiel: CHaNgE iNtO tHiS.
̶S̶h̶a̶l̶n̶a̶r̶k̶ ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶i̶r̶l̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶!̶
*xenocanaan - OMG! I just realized you're one of my To Serve and Protect friends! I feel so silly for not remembering! Sorry! And thank you so much for following this story, too. Thank you always for the very kind reviews. When Hisoka finally shows up, I can imagine him teasing Valtiel and Kurapika with each other just for the shits and giggles. For the mean time, she'll have her moments with the Troupe. ;)
*polarsky - Why, thank you! I do intend to make her a fighter, eventually. I doubt she can last long with the Troupe without learning how to fight. Just the brawls and the mock fist fights in the Troupe? Girl's gotta learn how to punch. XD And yes, you're right! The -iel in the ending alludes to the angel name endings, so very Chrollo-ish.
*minfay - Step right up! You'll be the first ChroVal/KuroVal (?) shipper!
*Cirrina - Thank you so much! We all do love some Chrollo :3
Lastly, thank you again for reading. Please review!