Chapter XXX

Despite the crippling winter season, Hisoka showers under the cold water for half an hour. Long, needlepoint claws rake through his red hair, the purple highlights melting away into a puddle at his feet. He has another dye waiting on the sink, a deep shade of blue to complement the season.

When he finishes, he steps out, completely naked, one hand rubbing at his hair. Valtiel is not home at the moment, allowing him to roam free as he wishes without someone complaining of his nudity. He does not mind showing her anything, but it certainly bothers her, sending them in another episode of her covering her face until he finds himself some clothes.

He stands in front of the massive window and looks down on the city below. Snow caps the roofs and roads. Thin frost even dances on the window, swirling patterns that crack under his fingernails. With a quiet sigh, Hisoka roams the space again, bored out of his mind, and starts rummaging through cupboards and drawers for something to entertain him.

In the bedside table's drawer, he blinks and pulls out a pair of black leather gauntlets. His amber eyes study the intricate mechanism−the straps and loop−and notices the gleam of the blade hidden beneath the folds. The gauntlet itself feels odd; one quick Gyo shows him a thin sheet of aura surrounding the blade. Amused, he sets the gauntlets down and picks up another item.

A necklace.

He turns it around and realizes that it is more of a locket than a necklace. The tip of his claw taps over the intertwined locks, gold and raven. Leaning against the cold window, he opens the locket and a small knowing smirk spreads across his lips.

So his suspicions are not unfounded, then.

He drinks in the photo inside: the Danchou and Valtiel together, somewhere warm and sunny, standing so close together that has the Danchou's arm snaked around her waist, and he pressing an intimate kiss on her hair. Hisoka wonders what happened to have these two so far apart now, when they were so close before.

The television screen beeps. Tearing his attention away from the locket, he reads the announcement on the screen and chuckles. He puts back the locket and gauntlet inside the drawer.

"I'm home," Valtiel announces as she enters through the front door. She wears an old-rose woolen sweater with a cream scarf and black leggings. She cradles a bag of groceries in her arms when she turns around for the magician, eyes unconsciously glossing over his bare body.

"Welcome home," he greets, still standing tall and proud by the window. "You came back just in time."

"What are you wearing?"

"Um, nothing?"

"Exactly! Where are your clothes?!"

He chuckles and fumbles for his tailored clothes in the closet. "Oh, by the way, did you get what I asked for?" He pulls out his jester outfit, lavender with magenta accents, and starts dressing where she could see.

She waves her hand, dismissive, and turns her back on him. "Yes, yes, but please tell me you're dressed now. That's vile, Hisoka-san, wandering around naked when you know I am around."

"All the more reason to be naked, Val."

She snorts and goes to the television screen. It is usually the means of the Heaven's Arena management to announce battle schedules, list of available opponents, invitation for matches, and even dinner menus. Today, it announces another invitation. She expects to read Hisoka's name or even hers, but the name in the screen is unfamiliar to her.

"Who's the Lady Death?" she asks.

"Hm?" Hisoka joins her, dressed in his getup now, though still without the face paint. "Oh, that's you, Val."

"Me?" She blinks up at him. After a month of sharing a room with him, she could not tell whether he is lying or not. He is as unpredictable as any of the Troupe members. She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose in disagreement. "Is this not a bit cliché? Since when did they start calling me as such?"

"Every fighter gets a stage name here in Heaven's Arena," he explains. He looks at the ceiling and ticks them off with his fingers. "Like Cato and Arianne are known together as the Mercurial Twins. Someone called Kastro is the Tiger of the South, while I myself am called the Grim Reaper."

"The Grim Reaper?" she echoes, unbelieving.

"Why, yes." He beams at her, smiling. "Don't you think it's fitting? They say it is because I always kill all of my opponents. It's a bit of a stretch because I don't really kill them, they get themselves killed."

"No. You just kill them on purpose." She makes a face. "Stop being so pretentious."

"And now you're called the Lady Death." He continues beaming, like a child excited over something. He chuckles and taps his chin. "What a pair we would be, too. The Grim Reaper and the Lady Death." He smirks, well aware how this one annoys her. "The Diabolical Duo."

"Please stop saying that." Valtiel sighs exasperatedly. "If you keep mentioning that, I would not be surprised if the marketing team of Heaven's Arena would start calling us together by that. And Lady Death?" She groans, digging her knuckles into her eyes. "I'll have words with the marketing team when I get the chance."

"But why? I think it's cute."

He starts rummaging into the grocery bag and pulls out a small box of multi-flavored chewing gum that he has seen in commercials. He flings the box into the air and catches it with a string of Bungee Gum connected to his index finger. He smiles at Valtiel as the box dangles like a clock's pendulum. She uses Gyo and he comes away with another laugh.

"By the way, that announcement means someone is inviting you to another fight."

"How unfortunate." For me. She turns back for the screen and nibbles at her thumb.

It has only been a week since she last fought−her opponent an eager Nen user with the ability to teleport in wisps of black smoke. An Emitter. His trick was swift and unpredictable, but when she used her ability and he was suspended in the air, movements slowed down, it all took her a moment's notice to break his bones and leave him limping on the stage. The crowd cheered for her then, chanting different names other than her own, and somehow, the management ended up giving her a permanent stage name.

Lady Death.

What a terrible joke. Laughable. Pathetic.

Valtiel reads her challenger's name. Vargus. I never heard of him. Then again, she does not really keep watch on the fighters here. Hisoka does not either, both confident in his abilities and too lazy to make researches. Like her, he has had one fight after Arianne, against a Conjurer who died drowning in his own blood, his own weapon stuck through the neck.

"So, are you going to accept the offer?" Hisoka asks through a mouthful of gums.

"I might as well." She shrugs and folds her arms. "Someone has to maintain our position here. If we keep refusing invitations, they'd force us back to the 150s. I don't intend to fall back. The room and food here are good, and the prize money is more than what I expected."

"I noticed you're hoarding all the prize money you can get," he observes idly.

"I am not hoarding." She dislikes that word. "I am earning, Hisoka-san. I have something in mind with which to dedicate all the money." The school, back in Meteor City. She gives a little sigh. How she misses her other home, her childhood home, a home she knows she loves but could scarcely remember in her heart.

She looks at Hisoka's smirking face and says, "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"No doubt I won't," he agrees.

"Vargus."

The name already leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. What ability would he have? It is a bit daunting for her with no more than one year of battle experience to fight someone without knowing their background at least. Cato and Arianne had reviewed their opponents beforehand. Killua monitored his potential opponents as well. Shouldn't she and Hisoka do the same?

"Will you fight him, Lady Death?" he teases, seated on the couch with his arms spread over the back.

"You know what? I will." She takes the tablet near the television to confirm her schedule.

"When will you fight him? Maybe I have enough time to print shirts and tarpaulins for you."

"There's no need for that, Hisoka-san," she mumbles. When the magician raises an eyebrow as if to say "Oh?", she smiles and turns for the kitchen. "I just need you there to cheer for me, that's all."

Hisoka blows a bubble and pops it. "Aren't you very sweet to me, Lady Death?"

An indignant hiss comes from the kitchen. "Don't call me that."

On the day of the fight, three days later, Valtiel finds herself standing alone with the referee. The gigantic screen shows her picture and someone else's, a young man she believes to be Vargus. He has long fiery auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail and a thick, ugly scar running down from his right ear to the curve of his jaw. She stares at the picture for a while, assessing his character like Hisoka always does.

Ten minutes into waiting for Vargus, the referee shakes his head. "Valtiel?"

She stands straighter, alert. "Yes?"

"It's alright," he says to ease her nerves. "You win by default."

"Huh?" She stares long at the wrinkled face of a middle-aged man. She stares as if she has no idea what to do with the information given, as if she has no means by which to process it. Default. So it is possible to win in Heaven's Arena by default? Dressed in her jumpsuit and her mind already conditioned for battle, she does not expect sudden change in plans, and so has no idea how to react.

"You win," the referee repeats, understanding her confusion. "More than ten minutes have passed. If the other fighter, no matter if he is the challenger, does not make an appearance, you win." He turns for the announcer in her box, who loudly declares Valtiel to be, indeed, the winner. The referee offers a hard, wrinkled hand. "Congratulations on your win."

"Th-Thank you." She shakes his hand and goes down the stage. The crowd cheers as she goes, and in her confused state, she smiles and waves.

They shout louder, basking in a fighter's attention, chanting the stage name the management has given her.

Lady Death! Lady Death! It sounds wrong in her ears. It is as if they are calling for Death himself−the dark figure cloaked in black robes that is always depicted in books.

She looks up at their faces, seeing the hunger for fight and blood reflected in their glazed eyes. She realizes they are disappointed to miss a fight. As she disappears into the tunnel, she gives one last smile and waves to them.

She undoes the tight ponytail, letting her hair tumble in a sea of silver-gold across her back. Over a month since Pakunoda's meticulous haircutting, her hair has grown another few inches, the tips touching her waist. The jumpsuit's fabric is scratchy against her skin, making her note to find herself proper clothes rather than rely on the magician to find her some. Last time, he offered her a feminine version of his jester outfit. She had raged to him back then and Hisoka was not one to push the ridiculous idea further.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, she is surprised when the magician is not there waiting for her. It has been a habit between them, wait for each other to finish matches, walk back together to the room they shared.

One week after her encounter with Illumi, the management called that they could have private rooms of their own now, but Hisoka declined a change of rooms. Valtiel followed his lead and settled into another domesticated situation, but not as warm and comfortable as she did once. This time, instead of playing husband and wife, she plays the role of a friend−or at least that is what she thinks of her dealings with the magician. And as far as she could tell, Hisoka sees her the same way. Probably. There is no telling anything with Hisoka.

"You weren't there to watch," Valtiel says as soon as she is through the door. The magician is flopped on the couch, lazy as ever, watching the television. Her eyebrow raises. "And you never watch the news."

"I knew you were going to win by default," he answers, yawning. His hair is down again, no star-and-teardrop painted under amber eyes. And, much to her chagrin, no clothes again. He stretches arms and legs as he lies facedown on the couch, a pillow tucked under his chin.

"How so?" She averts her eyes from his shameless nudity and turns for the television.

A female reporter announces a mysterious death of one of the 200th floor Arena fighters. The police are taking the body away on a stretcher, the corpse bloody beneath white sheets. A lock of fiery auburn hair pokes from underneath and there is no need for her to ask whose body it is.

Hisoka hums from the couch, legs swaying in the cold air. "Apparently, someone already murdered Vargus earlier this morning, before his expected appearance at the stage." Lazy eyes flicker up to her, and he grins, all white and sharp canine. "Any ideas who could have done such a thing?"

She falls silent, her mind racking for answers. She knows no one else on this floor except the magician. She has no other friends, no colleagues, and the other fighters she knows well enough are Killua and Illumi. But it has been a month since then, and she has never seen a glimpse of the two brothers.

It must be someone else, she thinks to herself as she nibbles her lower lip. A coincidence. Vargus might have been killed by a past enemy, or a thief who set upon him before daybreak.

"I can think of a few names," the magician suggests, rolling over the couch so that his face is up to the ceiling, smiling innocently while she averts her eyes again.

Just then, a soft knock comes from the door.

Hisoka sighs like a contented cat. "It must be them."

Valtiel shoots him a rather suspicious look before receiving their guests. Whoever they are, they carry a strong aura together: something she has not felt in a long while. When she opens the door, expecting an enemy to pounce at her, she gapes and stares.

"Kiddo!"

Uvogin ducks under the doorframe and immediately engulfs her into a bone-crushing embrace. Bulging muscles come around her petite form, with all the tenderness the largest and tallest Spider could muster. He grins as he cradles her like a doll, bounces her in his arms like an infant. He draws back and grins broadly at her face.

"Look at you! Haven't seen you in a few months and you're looking well and bonny! And your aura! Very nice," he gushes, nodding appreciatively.

"Uvo-san?" She lays her hands flat on his broad shoulders. Her eyes wander around his face and clothes, not believing that Uvogin himself is here. Spiky grey hair. Black eyebrows. A brown bearskin cape, short, and boots. She could not believe what she's seeing. "Are you really here, Uvo-san?"

"Of course!" He bounces her again before setting her back to the floor. "And not just me!"

From his sides, two more familiar faces appear.

Machi enters from the right, arms folded across her chest, wearing a cold expression. Her blue eyes flicker from Valtiel to the room beyond, noting the curtains, chandelier and furniture with her usual cold grace. Then her expression melts away as she smiles at Valtiel. "How have you been, Val?"

Valtiel answers with an eager embrace. "Machi-san! How I've missed you!"

"I suppose that means you're well." Machi rubs the other woman's back, as if that would quench her excitement. Over her shoulder, she notices a pale figure lazing across the couch. She scowls at him.

"It's very good to see you again, Miss Valtiel." Yuan stands behind Machi. His stark white hair, bronze skin and electric-blue eyes are easy to place, despite the months without seeing each other. Valtiel jumps into his embrace next, reaching only beneath his chin, and he shyly pats her back.

"How long has it been, eh?" Uvogin places a large, heavy hand on her head. "Since Meteor City?"

"A few months, almost another year." Valtiel smiles back.

Indeed, it has been months since she has seen these faces, except only for Machi. She has seen her only last month, back in that old, crumbling castle where Hisoka had replaced Omokage. But Uvogin's face is way back in Meteor City. Yuan even longer, almost a year, when they raided a cult's auction and lodged in a hunter's cabin. So much time has passed. So many time yet spent less with her friends. Her heart skips a beat at the thought of it: most of her time spent with someone else, months and months, with a certain dark-haired individual. She misses the Spiders, yet she misses him more.

Suddenly, Uvogin flinches. A low menacing snarl rumbles in his throat. His aura bursts from him, almost knocking Valtiel from her feet while Uvogin snarls louder like a beast. Hazel eyes are trained upon the figure on the couch−still lazing, still provocatively innocent.

Uvogin lunges first, all big hand and sharp claws. Hisoka jumps from the couch and lands on the other side of the room. The sudden attack and evasion sends the poor couch reeling across the room, smashing through the windows. Thousands of frost-covered shards erupt and rain down on them. Uvogin kicks at the floor to propel himself to the magician, everything about him naked, even his enjoyment as he faces against a fellow Spider. Uvo reaches out for him, but Hisoka pulls himself away using his Bungee Gum.

Flying towards the other end of the room, he flicks his index finger and the closet door flies open in a swirl of colorful tops, pants, and dresses. Uvogin glares at the theatrical display of the magician crisscrossing his flimsy threads and connecting them to different clothes. Hisoka smiles as he plunges himself into the clothes and glides back onto the floor, now dressed in a red-and-gold with black accents.

He stands up and copies a magician's bow. "Ladies and gentlemen, there are no tricks."

Uvogin snorts. "I'll show you a trick, bastard!" His fist starts glowing. "Big Bang…"

Machi's Nen threads go around his fist, thighs, and legs stop him from continuing. Even Yuan is on the edge, hand outstretched to hold a nearby candelabrum.

The wild roar Uvo bellows is enough to send Valtiel shuddering.

Machi shakes her head, calm and composed. "We're not here to kill, Uvo."

"Didn't you see him?" Uvogin jerks his head to where the magician stands, complacently quiet.

The threads neither tighten nor loosen, though they are strong enough to keep him in place, to keep him from advancing and wracking the room more. He snarls, baring his own canine at the other man.

"Loose me," he tells Machi with another deep growl. "Loose me and I'll end the pervert clown right here. Right now."

"Killing a Troupe member is against the rules," says Yuan.

"He's not−" Uvogin blinks, the anger in him turning into confusion. He looks at Valtiel, and then to Hisoka, and back to Machi. "When you said we have a new member, I thought−"

"That Valtiel made it into the Troupe?" Machi suggests.

"Danchou said she's one of us now," Uvogin answers, sounding resentful.

"She is, but not as a Troupe member." Machi chooses her words carefully. "We did not come here for Valtiel, but for him." She nods towards Hisoka, who smiles back at her. "This is Hisoka, Omokage's replacement, our newest Number Four."

Uvogin growls as the threads disappear. He glares at the magician's face and could not forget how the other man was naked only a few moments ago. A pervert, sharing a room with Val. He could not wait to get back to base and report everything to the Danchou. Surely, Chrollo would see the disadvantages of letting Valtiel loose in the world, without the Spiders tracking her every moments. It's been a month, perhaps she has had enough of wandering around and come back to her senses, and realize that her home is with the Phantom Troupe. Phinks and Shalnark told him that once.

But Uvo sees nothing of those in her face. Despite her joy to see them again, her body language is different.

Machi turns to the magician. "We have orders from Danchou."

"Oh? So soon?" Hisoka produces a deck of cards and shuffles them. The wind picks up, entering through the shattered window in cold gusts, blows his cards to the floor. He chuckles then.

"A mission?" Valtiel confirms, her throat constricted.

"Yes, but for the Spiders only," Machi says.

"I see."

"Danchou wants everyone gathered for the mission," Yuan adds. He stands by the door, as if afraid to enter. His electric-blue eyes flick from one to another except Hisoka, whose smile makes him wary. "It's an unspoken Troupe rule for everyone to gather during New Year season." His eyes go to Valtiel and he notices the longing in her face. "Just like last year."

Valtiel nods, quiet and thoughtful.

Uvogin rests his forearm on her head and bends down to her eye level. "You can come along with us," he says, grinning. "Everyone's on their way to the base now and we just came by to pick up trash clown over here. It should have been you, Val, our newest member. The next time someone dies, I'll petition for Danchou to save you a spot," he says with a wink.

She smiles, a forced one. "That's very kind of you, Uvo-san."

Machi folds her arms. "So are you coming, too?"

"I'm not a Spider member." Another one of her favorite excuses. Valtiel's platinum-blonde hair stirs as the breeze howls again, stronger and colder. Swirls of snow follow the breeze, landing everywhere in the room.

"I think Danchou will be glad to see you in person again," Uvo suggests, tactless in his words.

"Perhaps." Valtiel nods, voice dry as bone. "Perhaps not."

Her less enthusiasm to go back to the Troupe makes Uvogin and Yuan exchange glances.

Only Machi seems to understand, being present during the last raid when she and Pakunoda noticed the strange melancholia hanging around their leader like a plague, and the way he and his Kurta tried their best to avoid each other's presence until the very last moment. The act reminded Machi of stubborn children in the playground. She wonders now how long this stubbornness and pride would even go.

The television screen lights up again. Everyone gathers at the front.

Another challenge, this time from a challenger called Farley.

"I hope this one doesn't die so soon," Hisoka comments from behind the group.

"I second that," Valtiel murmurs. After Vargus, she has another challenger in waiting. She takes the tablet and confirms her schedule with the management. In the screen, it beeps and declares her match tomorrow.

"You mean that Vargus person?" Uvogin snorts, arms crossed over a broad chest. "Idiot had a death wish, challenging you like that, kid. What about this Farley person? I can kill her for you."

Valtiel rounds on him, aghast. "You killed Vargus?"

"Yeah." He shrugs. No remorse whatsoever. "The bastard was telling everyone in a bar that he'd kill you in your match today. Fucking showoff."

"Uvo got very mad," Yuan adds with a small smile. "Broke his neck with one slap."

"I'd kill this Farley for you, too, kid." Uvogin grins down at her.

"But you can't! If you kill her, then it would be another win by default!"

"Oh? That happens?" Uvogin blinks.

"I told you that's how Heaven's Arena works," Machi interrupts with an exasperated sigh. "You weren't exactly listening. If your opponent does not show up, that's win by default for you."

"So what's the problem? If I kill Farley, then Val gets another win."

"I bet she doesn't want to win that way," Yuan offers.

"Of course she does!" Uvogin pats her head again like a puppy. "Don't you, kiddo?"

"No." Valtiel smacks his hand off her head and he blinks, shocked. She stands up against him in her tallest height, even though she barely reaches his chest. The man is a giant, a whopping eight-footer to her and Machi's five feet. He even makes Hisoka look like a child beside him. "I don't want to win by default again, that's nasty," she says. "And you guys should go. Whatever Troupe business you have with Hisoka-san, you should probably get on with it. I am staying here. The management will come around and probably offer us another room."

Uvogin shrugs his shoulders. Her opinions make not much difference against his stubbornness. "We're just here to orient the new member of the mission's details," he says and points at the pink-haired Spider. "So Machi can stay here and orient him, and maybe even settle with the new room. Yuan and I will be looking for somewhere to eat and sleep for the day. Kid, you're coming with us."

"Why do I have to clean up after your mess?" Machi puts both hands on her hips.

"Because you're so good at it, Mach." Uvogin spreads his lips into a childish grin. He tugs at Yuan and Valtiel and pulls them out of the room. "And because you look so pretty today. Bye!"

And he slams the door shut and escapes away with Yuan and Valtiel in tow.

Machi just scratches her head and turns back to the magician. Hisoka is smiling at her. She hisses.

"Get off my back, clown."

Downtown, Uvogin finds a bar with a rustic ambiance. He kills the staff and the guests, gathers tables and chairs into one pile group, and serves the bar's dinner menu of grilled steak with a side dish of roasted potatoes and lemon cakes. He swoops in and out of the kitchen while wearing a bloodied apron across his thick girth. He serves tankards of different alcoholic beverages, trying each one the bar has to offer: ale, mulled wine, mead. He clinks mugs with Yuan, coaxes him into a drinking match, but Yuan declines, and settles quietly into his seat.

"How's everyone doing?" Valtiel could not help but ask. She is halfway finished into her steak.

"Oh, so good." Uvogin slurps at his ale and belches at Yuan's direction. He snickers. "Everyone's doing great. I heard Paku and Bono are travelling together after a side mission. I believe Danchou went traveling with Phinks and Feitan this time. The others are coming along to meet us at the base, too. You should really tag along, see everyone for yourself."

"I couldn't intrude in a Troupe mission," she says. "I tagged along last time because I was asked to."

"Eh… Even if Danchou never asked for you, that automatically means you're invited."

"I have a match tomorrow," she reminds him.

"So what? We can wait until you finished." Uvo refills his tankard with mead and takes an experimental sniff. Delighted at the scent, he gulps it down in three deep swallows.

"Plus, it's New Year's Eve next week," Yuan murmurs. "You wouldn't want to miss New Year's celebration with us."

He rarely looks at anyone in the eye, but when he does, his soft eyes go with a soft smile. The most shy member of the Troupe, contrasting Uvogin in his loudness and rudeness. They are a perfect match in these dim-lighted surroundings.

She shakes her head, still stubborn. She looks at them both. "What is the mission about anyway? That everyone needs to be present?"

Uvogin shrinks in his chair and seems content into busying himself with the food.

Yuan chuckles and swirls the mead in his mug. "I suppose it's my story to tell," he mumbles and finishes his drink, as if hoping it would grant him courage. He meets Valtiel's inquisitive gaze with another tender smile.

"I was born to a family of slaves, Miss Valtiel. My family has worked mining for gemstones and precious metals for so long that my own parents have not seen the sun in years. I was born under the mountain. Raised. Worked. Whipped. I never saw the sun until I was eighteen, when I ran away."

Valtiel couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"My master's guards and hounds chased after me for four nights straight. I did not stop running. I was afraid to stop and become the subject of torture. For my crime, I knew death was inevitable. So I kept running until I crossed another country's borders, marked by train tracks. I stopped running then, so exhausted I couldn't feel my body. I collapsed, right there, on the track where a cargo train was approaching.

I thought then: maybe this is how I die. After nights of running, I would die from an accident. I accepted death, but somehow, fate did not let me die. Someone saved me, pulled me off the tracks at the last moment. When I had the strength to open my eyes… Danchou was smiling down on me."

Valtiel nods, engrossed in the story that she leans toward the table.

The silver-haired Spider sips his drink again. "He took me in, cared for me, and taught me Nen. One year later, I joined the Spiders. And three years after I escaped that mountain, we're going back to liberate the rest of the slaves. There are thousands of families underneath, a million of us there."

"That's amazing," she breathes.

"And that's why Danchou wants everyone. It's not an easy task," Yuan says. He shifts and his sleeves fall to his elbow, revealing crisscrossing scars over his bronze skin. Whipped as a child. Tortured as a teenager. Now he would come back for blood. His bloodthirst does not reflect in his blue eyes.

"Still not coming, kid?" Uvogin says, stubbornly persuasive.

"Nope." She laughs when he makes a face. "I have a match tomorrow."

"Indeed." Yuan raises his tankard to her, proud of the scars he bears. "To your match, Miss Valtiel."

"To your win." Uvo raises his own.

"To our victory." Valtiel clinks her modest glass of fermented apple juice.

The next morning, the three Spiders intend to watch Valtiel's match unseen, up near the exit doors where no one would notice them. Somewhere, Hisoka must be watching as well, but like the shy person he claims to be, decides to watch away from the Spiders.

The crowd is thick, chanting the accursed stage name with fervor. Machi and Yuan glance awkwardly at each other, but Uvogin cups his hands over his mouth and chants with them. "Lady Death! Lady Death!"

In the arena, Valtiel wears a red tracksuit and white linings at the sides. Her face is showed in the large television screen; she looks wary and on the edge, and Uvogin notes with appreciation that she has a warrior's expression on her now.

Farley is about her age, if not older, with glossy black hair pulled back in a thick braid. She wears a desert garb and carries a spear, twirling it around her lithe body, the blade slicing through the air.

Uvogin snorts. "I could snap that neck with thumb and index finger," he mumbles.

"Remember, this is not your fight," Machi hushes him, eyes fixated on the arena. She leans forward and rests both arms on the railing, while the big man sulks behind. "You're spoiling the Heaven's Arena challenge for her. Let her enjoy her time."

"She should have just gotten tired of that clown and come back to us," Uvo whines.

"Well, she's not coming back any sooner," she fires back.

At the ring, the referee declares the start of the fight. Machi leans closer, as if she could have a better look from their position up here, but she cannot miss this fight. She wants to report back to Danchou, even though he never once mentioned any report about his Kurta. Whether he has grown tired of her or not, Machi could not tell.

The fight below commences: Valtiel on the offensive. Uvo comments that she is confident because of her opponent's build. Farley is not as burly as Cato had been. The Kurta bombards the other woman with punches to the upper body, but Farley blocks them all with a spear. Farley tries sweeping the blade across Valtiel's stomach, but she deflects the attempt with a back kick on the blade.

The spear shoots out of Farley's hands and soars through the air. Uvogin puts a hand over his eyes and whistles.

Without a weapon, Farley starts darting across the arena, one tile after the other while eyeing Valtiel. In the large screen, Valtiel's golden eyes follow where Farley's foot lands every time. At Yuan's closer inspection, she is using Gyo.

Farley attacks again, tackling Valtiel to the floor. Once Valtiel is flat on her back, the dark-haired woman pounces out of the way as the tile beneath Valtiel explodes in a wave of white rocks and dust.

Uvogin and the others gasp and strain to see what is happening. "A bomb? Conjurer, then?" he demands.

Yuan shakes his head, himself a Conjurer. "A Transmuter, I think." He spares a sideways glance at Machi, who nods in confirmation. "With an affinity for Conjuration techniques."

"Val should have seen through it," Uvogin growls. "She was using Gyo the entire time."

"She was studying her, yes," says Machi, full attention on the match below.

Her eyes flicker from the arena to the screen, where the cameras are zoomed at the Kurta, limping to stand and suffering the effects of a conjured bomb. From what Machi could discern, Valtiel's back is sizzling and smoking from the explosion, the fabric of her red tracksuit ripping away. The tips of her long hair are burned out.

This is not good. She narrows her eyes. She can't be too hurt. Danchou won't like that.

Machi looks at Uvogin and Yuan and know instantly that they are thinking the same. It is their duty as Spiders to preserve their Danchou's treasures. This one, the Kurta, is his most favorite. The treasure cannot be a damaged good. She'll be of no use to us then.

But the treasure delivers. Back in the arena, she fights back, another series of blows that Machi could follow easily with her eyes, but not completely understand. Valtiel is not aiming where it should hurt most, but she tries reaching out for shoulders and knees, always on the guard for any limbs she could catch. Machi wonders, just as how Uvo and Yuan are wondering now.

At the last exchange, Farley forces Valtiel back to another clean tile, which shifts and explodes under her weight. This time, she is prepared, propelling herself with the explosion's momentum and somersaults in the air. She aims her claws at the other woman, ready to rip at the nearest flesh she could reach.

Uvogin roars the loudest when Valtiel grabs Farley by the throat.

Yuan laughs and claps, while Machi keeps watching.

The Kurta whispers something in Farley's ear, her claws digging into the flesh, the wink of red blood like rubies under the bright lights. After her brief whisper, she proceeds to break Farley's knees and hips, and then throws her to a clean tile across the arena.

Like a desperate worm, Farley crawls on her hands and drags her useless legs behind her. The bomb she planted there detonates, with her right in the middle of it.

Again, Uvogin is the one roaring loud enough to represent the entire Phantom Troupe. The crowd seems to follow his lead, chanting Valtiel's name and stage name interchangeably, as fervent as sinners in a church. Drowned out by the loud cheering, the referee declares Valtiel winner by knockout.

The three of them meet her in the tunnel.

"Congratulations, kiddo! I ought to give you a kiss!" Uvogin then puckers his lips teasingly and plants noisy kisses on both her cheeks. Valtiel laughs as he pulls away and ruffles her hair.

"Very well done," Machi commends with a sharp smile. "You've done well enough for yourself, Val. That's good progress in the last month. Small wonder why you don't want to leave." Her careful words incite something else in the Kurta's eyes. Even if she tries to hide it, there is no hiding anything from Machi and her sharp instincts.

"Danchou will be proud to hear of this," says Yuan.

"Will he?" Valtiel hears herself say. She has not asked about him since the Spiders arrived. Even when she is with Hisoka, she always avoids talk of the Spider head. This time, she has broken her record.

If only he would ask me himself, I could come back. She shakes her head. No. Even if he asks, I won't.

"Feitan, too," Yuan adds. "He's impatient to hear about your progress."

"He and Phinks are still betting how long you'll last." Machi rolls her eyes at the memory. Her lips press into a thin line as she observes the burned pale skin of the Kurta's back. "You should get treated first," she suggests, the first instincts of a healer.

At the end of the tunnel, Hisoka materializes, all prepared in a new getup: bright red hair with deep blue highlights, another tailored outfit of black with magenta accents and armbands, and a pair of black high-heeled shoes. He claps as he always does after each of her matches.

Uvogin wrinkles his nose, still not accustomed to the magician's presence.

"Should we go?" Hisoka prompts, amber eyes flitting from Uvo to Machi. "Congratulations by the way, Lady Death. That was one incredible fight. You're learning fast for a little poppet."

Valtiel narrows her eyes at the word.

"She needs to be treated first," Machi rules. "We can leave when we've ensured her condition."

"Of course, my dearest Machi."

Uvo cracks his knuckles. "If you keep acting like a perverted creepy clown, I'll break your jaw."

Author's Notes: Advance Merry Christmas, folks! I'm trying to update chapters before and on Christmas Day, so I'm in a bit of a rush to edit and update... so much so that I'm writing this post-chapter note during work! Unfortunately, I gotta make this fast before the bosses catch me slacking! LOL.

Thank you for those who left review last chapter: HuangShaotian0005, MissEkat597, Milady13, xenocanaan, and Amy—you all have my sincerest thanks! Of course, I thank everyone who keeps reading and following this story! It personally means a lot to me! Many, many thanks, guys! I'll try to update around Christmas Day as well, so I'll see you guys soon! Have an awesome weekend!