Chapter 18: Ever After

Rays of shifting light scattered through the island leaves as they danced by the gentle tug of the wind. While Kukuroo Mountain was plagued with icy gales whistling through skeleton branches, Zevil island was blossoming with warmth and life. From the crimson butterflies that hatched from their gauzy cocoons to the sky brushed birds that sang their melodious ballads down the winding streams. There was even life teeming among the rot of fallen deadwood with black beetles burrowing through the hollowed trunks and woodpeckers rapping at the moss covered bark.

The peace of the island welcomed him. Awakened him.

He stared up towards the canopy of leaves and crimson butterflies encapsulated his sight. Fragments of ruby reflected off his deep, black eyes. And though his muscles were weak from disuse, he smiled. It was strange and discomforting and he struggled at first. If anyone saw him they would think he had something vile to spew but did not know the exact words to speak them and would hesitate to step too close in fear their presence would give him inspiration for the right ones.

He had little practice in the ways of smiling, but when he lifted his hand out to the fluttering crimson wings and a butterfly landed gently on his finger like that of a close friend, he thought smiling could become this effortless.

Blood dripped from his finger and the butterfly sucked what it could get from him. Starved.

It was then that he knew, but didn't mind, the single focus of these blood driven butterflies. Not when their wings were so beautiful and shimmered like wet stones under the sun.

His nails suddenly sharpened and he curled all his fingers into a tight fist. When he opened his palm, blood pooled in its center. A bountiful fountain to quench this little creature's thirst. Pain didn't bother him, not as much as it used to, especially not when it was for the benefit of something so fragile and beautiful.

He watched the butterflies in silent marvel as more fluttered down to him. Tickling his hand. Smiling as they drank his blood.

In his fleeting moment, he let them feed.

Hisoka lived.

There was no greater remorse than failing to kill a man who was supposed to already be dead. And watching him walk away free with a smug smile plastered on his face.

Psyche was here to reunite with the love of her life, but her body wanted nothing more than to scream. She failed to kill her target and the Hunter Association did not help to soften the blow of her pain. They kept her locked in a lavish hotel suite while withholding its location to her, only knowing the final phase of the exam was not far away. They found her anonymous check she left for them during the first phase of the exam. Beans cut it in half, stating that the association does not accept blood money. They confiscated all her possessions and questioned her over tea and guarded smiles until she grew tired than irritated with her own truth by its dozen retellings. She told them she was here for her husband, she was here to kill a man. Separate individuals, she made certain to clarify. She didn't care if they didn't believe her, they could not make her truth anything less of what it was with their doubts and suspicions.

She asked for her husband. She inquired of his safety.

They didn't deny nor confirm that Illumi was here, but she was not permitted to leave her suite until the end of the exam, the chairman did not want to put the rest of his applicants at risk, a comment which Psyche couldn't help but want to gawk at. She wasn't a danger to anyone (other than Hisoka), but she politely agreed and feigned sweetness instead, Isaac Netero was a friend of Zeno Zoldyck, of the Zoldyck Family, and she wanted him to like her. Maybe it was selfish of her to want him to think of her as a dutiful and loving wife, as a good and honest girl.

Psyche was left with nothing to do but count the days and wait. She imagined it as living on a quaint little homestead, circa 1820s, preferably in a prairie with a nearby and suitably walkable distanced village, waiting for her husband to come home to her from war. A world that was just the two of them and their old collie dog that has long outgrown herding sheep and everyday it doesn't move from the spot its master told it to wait on the porch as it looks out into the prairie for sudden change—Psyche was digressing again. It was exhausting, yet exhilarating at the same time! Inbetween, she replayed her fight with Hisoka over again in her mind, as there was little else to do, how she was on top of him with her knife over his heart. She didn't understand why she'd let him distract her for so long or let him twist her around his maniacal whims and take his tall tales for truth. His smile gave away his lies when she ripped her knife from his hand. He laughed at his blood—he laughed at her. She hated herself for believing his lies, but him most of all. Ordering Beans around, and plotting Hisoka's murder, was her only consolation after her failed assassination.

She gazed out her window and sighed until she suddenly saw a young boy scurry through the courtyard with his arm wrapped in a sling. His hair was spiked and green and he stomped and stomped and stomped until all the birds took notice of his sour mood and flew away. Psyche watched him go from door to door and back again. He looked lost. Was he a hunter applicant too? But he was only a little boy. Soon he found a door and didn't come back out and more hourly meals arrived precisely on time like the clockwork of prison chimes.

In the days of her looming insanity, Psyche dolled herself up, rearranged the furniture for the right feng shui, and anxiously prepared for Illumi's return. She looked back into the courtyard and decided that the flowers there would look better in her suite. When Beans comes back, she will ask him to pick some. With the right amount of flowers, candles, and draped linen, this room could become very romantic. What will Illumi think when he sees her?

There was a knock on her door, and the clank of a key unlocking.

Psyche turned around.

She didn't care about flowers anymore. He was just as she remembered him on their wedding day.

Illumi stood at the threshold of the door. After the seminar with all the newly passed hunters, Isaac Netero pulled Illumi aside and told him a visitor was expecting him. Illumi didn't need to ask who. His eyes met hers. "Hello, wife."

Psyche ran into Illumi and threw her arms around him—welcoming him home. It felt like eternity waiting for that door to open. There was so much she wanted to ask him, so much she wanted to tell him. In the rush of having him by her side at last, she only felt an overwhelming joy that if she were to speak, she would cry. And she did. She cried into his green jacket, clad in gold bulbs now reminiscent of pearls, that she once hated but now adored because it was his and he wore it handsomely well. And he was exceptionally handsome.

A surge of unease spiked in Illumi, though he guarded his face well and revealed none in the thin line of his lips. The urgency in his voice may have given him away, if one knew him well enough to detect a subtle change in his tone. Rare as it was. "I've been in constant contact with Tsubone during my time spent taking the exam to update me on any new information regarding the recent attack that has been made against the Family. As I could only look into the matter so much, given my lack of resources and time here on my end. If anything were to happen to Tsubone, I already established a line of succession on who would take her place, and so on, and for them to contact me directly and continue her work. If you're here…" Illumi feared something terrible. Fearing for his family at the Mountain and his little brother whom he just sent back—possibly to a battlefield. "Has something happened at home? Is everyone safe?"

Psyche held her breath. Her tears gave him the wrong impression. In all her time spent trailing the hunter applicant pool, she didn't think about the attempted assassination, made by a zombified Zoldyck butler, on her wedding day. Or the reanimated corpse of Dezmon Foile that eerily warned her not to marry Illumi. While Illumi spent his time masterfully juggling between taking the hunter exam and investigating the psychos bent on hurting his family, Psyche started a fight with a clown and was attacked by every living thing in nature, all in a roundabout attempt to justify following Illumi just because she wanted to be near him. She didn't even have Hisoka's severed arms on a platter to measure up against Illumi's success. Illumi is smart and amazing and so in control and never stops looking out for his family even when his life is swamped with his own responsibilities while Psyche on the other hand… didn't even do the considerate minimum of keeping in contact with his family after she left Kukuroo Mountain on her wild pursuit. Did this already make her a terrible wife?

Psyche stammered. This was a terrible way to start discussing the possible mortality status of his family. "Of course! Everyone is fine." She nodded convincingly and hoped to God they were.

"Oh, I see." Illumi's shoulders eased with relief. "Then you've found a lead regarding our attacker? That's what you've come all this way to tell me, I can't imagine anything less."

Psyche gulped. "Ah, yes. This assassin of ours. They are still at large, which you already know…and Tsubone is well and looking into it."

"I see. So nothing has changed since I last spoke to her." His eyes trailed off beyond her.

Psyche feared she was wasting his time and worried he would leave if she didn't have more to say. "Actually, there's more. I have something that I need to confess, only to you. I don't want to start off our marriage by keeping secrets."

Illumi waited, and Psyche told him about the reanimated corpse of her target. He did not look pleased. That incident was weeks ago, the day before their wedding. A particular emotion that Illumi knew Psyche wouldn't like him divulging, spiked within him at the realization that she waited until now to tell him this vital information. "This assassin, who is able to come close to us undetected and has already turned one of my butlers into the walking dead, accessed your information and knew where you would be before you arrived at Kukuroo Mountain."

Was he implying that she led the killer to his home? "I know it seems worse than it is—"

"I assure you that this is the worst that it can be. An enemy knows any way into our home and we have no knowledge on how to keep them out. They knew about your job and got to your target before you did. They've been spying on you, possibly far longer than they've let you know, since they felt comfortable relaying a message to you. They could have hurt you, or worse, that goes for my family too." Illumi reeled a hand through his hair. "If I knew this happened, then the wedding should have been postponed until the threat was eliminated."

He wasn't yelling at her, he was just stating facts, but it shocked Psyche all the same. This wasn't how she imagined their Ever After together, but she couldn't blame him because she knew he was right. "I didn't—I couldn't let that happen. At the time, I didn't think it was important."

"Putting our families in jeopardy is not important?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I—our marriage has been planned for so long by our parents. I didn't want to ruin it, for anyone. Killua ran away, Milluki was hurt and your mom was still processing her grief, and everyone was waiting for this. Some joy in the midst of all this chaos. And you have no idea how much you are wanted by so many people. My mom convinced me it was only a jealous suitor trying to scare me into abandoning you. It wouldn't have been the first time. I believed her and didn't give it another thought, because my love for you—for us—is stronger. I didn't think it was something more serious until the attempted assassination, and it finally clicked in me afterwards by the time you left. But you're right. If I knew all of this beforehand, I should have told you. I'm here now, telling you."

Illumi breathed. Psyche was dutiful, loyal and loving just as his mother promised her to be. There were no flaws in this perfect wife. He was wrong to accuse her, when so little of the enemy was known and he knew just as much as she did. Less actually, from what she's told him. "They are masters in hiding themselves, that much is clear, so you couldn't have known. Even my family didn't until the attack. No one is more clueless than I in all of this. I just have a sense of urgency in protecting my family and it's all I think about until I know everyone is safe. Thank you for coming all this way to tell me, and I will never forget this kindness or your strength to endure my presence."

Her voice was gentle. "I understand, and I think you're the very force that keeps Kukuroo Mountain from crumbling to dust. Your family is lucky to have you as a son and brother. But you're wrong about one thing. I never have to force myself to endure anything with you. Never had before."

"I can think of one," he gestured to what he was wearing. "It's alright, I got a feeling you were uncomfortable after the wedding and if I learned anything from the exam, it is how others perceive me. It was a good reminder." Nor one he should ever forget.

"Hm, I like them now. They have a certain charm. You're strangely indefinable, in a good way, and green looks good on you."

"Strangely indefinable? I like that." Illumi paused, then awed quietly. "I've been that way all my life. Oh, you're good."

Psyche giggled.

"I never thanked you, did I? During the wedding, when the assassin aimed to take my life, you pushed me out of the way. You've risked your life to save mine. You didn't have to."

"Anyone would have done the same."

"No, they wouldn't." Illumi paused. "You're very good. More than I deserve. Did you know, my brothers tell me I piss them off. Do I have another to attest to that?"

"Illumi Zoldyck, you do not piss me off."

"Now that you've said it, I'll need it in writing."

Psyche laughed, hopeful again. "There is another reason why I came to see you."

"What would that be?"

"You!" Psyche was dumbstruck. Dumbstrack that he had to ask and that he kept in contact with Tsubone, and not his own wife! Maybe she should have never left Kukuroo Mountain, if it meant she could still hear his voice everyday. What a fool she is!

"Me?"

"Yes, of course you! I thought you were dead! That's all I could think about!"

"Dead? Hm, you seem disappointed. I can leave and try again if you would like."

"No!" Psyche shouted, to which Illumi chuckled in response, teasing her. She said softly into his chest, "I'm sorry, please don't go. I just got you back. I've only meant that I missed you. I missed you so much that I couldn't bear for us to stay apart." Not when they were just brought back together after spending years alone. "It isn't fair. I thought my heart would give out."

Illumi tilted her chin upward, so her tear stricken eyes met his. "I've made you cry."

"No, you could never." Psyche shook her head.

"You can tell me why." He crooned, his voice deep and comforting and curious. Illumi could not deceive himself into believing all his heart was made of stone, but in its deepest part where he let himself be free to feel there lingered an unwillingness to accept another would weep just for him. He waited for her answer to tell him he was right or worse—wrong.

"That's just it. You being here is all my reason. I love you." She turned her cheek into his palm, basking in his touch now that it was by her side. It felt as if the world was held in the palm of his hand and it was everything she needed. No more, no less. Her eyes closed in sweet relief as his thumb caressed her cheek, a rosy hue blooming under his tenderness. His touch caught stray tears which held the last of her fears. "And I love this." She will stay by his side forevermore.

Mild and soft, she offered her heart to him. Her touch stirred thoughts and uprooted memories within him, everything that threatened his undoing. Even so, he liked this too. Admitting this desire was the first strike in allowing his stone walls to crumble. "I didn't think my absence would have this great of an impact on you. I told you I wouldn't be gone for long, though I suppose I'm to blame for not knowing how long the exam would actually be. This," his thumb made slow circles over her cheek and she melted from his touch, "is long overdue. How have you been? I should have asked more about you. I should have been more…attentive." His thumb then stopped, with the desire to caress her lips that ached for lovers' kisses. She turned her lips into his palm and kissed him. It was a quiet spark that stoked his heart. "In truth, I didn't want to trouble you, but it seems that is all I have done. You have every right to tell me how terrible I am."

Psyche's heart was beating so fast, she wondered if he could hear it too. Even though she felt this way, nothing bothered her anymore. Was this love? Knowing she could die today if fate decided it was her last, and still be happy. "Not at all. What minor grievances I've been dealt are little compared to what you've been through! It's not your fault they kept you away for weeks, that was out of your control and I don't blame you in the slightest. All your focus had to stay on taking the exam and surviving and trying not to die as they threw you from one jungle to the next. It's inhumane, really. People sue over this, y'know. But you're safe and that's all that matters. Oh, how was the exam?" Psyche asked, eyes glittering. She wanted to know everything.

Illumi paused, as if weighing not how much he should tell, but mainly who he should be cautious about admitting. He remembered what happened during the exam, and on Zevil island.

Psyche pouted. "Did something happen during the exam? You can tell me, baby." She waited for him to speak what was ailing his mind.

"Actually, yes, there is something I need to speak with you about—" Illumi raised an eyebrow. "Baby?"

"What, you don't like it? I can call you by other names too, whatever you like. What do you prefer? Darling, babe, my beloved—oh, I've always adored Clementine. Do you feel like a Clementine?"

"Like the fruit?" Illumi didn't know what feeling like a Clementine meant, but he felt more like a green bean, if anything. "I don't have a preference, anyway, I passed."

Psyche would prefer if he did have a preference and tell her, but she'll find out what he loves in time. Now, she was too busy beaming with pride. Her husband came back to her, alive and as a fully licensed Hunter! "That's amazing! Now you have a license for that upcoming job of yours like you said. Congratulations! Apart from my recurring fantasies of your death, I just knew you would pass!"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"We have to celebrate! Oh! We need cake. I don't have that, hmm, what do we have instead?" Psyche hummed. "Candles! I have candles!" She hurriedly made a turn to run for anything she could stick a candle in. Maybe a turkey and swiss sandwich Beans delivered to her for lunch?

It was cute seeing Psyche all excited and Illumi was curious what she was going to set ablaze. But he pulled her back and she melted in his arms. "Perhaps light fires later. Let's talk first."

Psyche spun back into his arms, as if he's done this easily to her before and now beyond her own dreams. She sighed dreamily back in his embrace, wishing time would stop so she could treasure this moment longer. The best way to live life was to be held by Illumi Zoldyck. "Okay." Then she blinked and grasped his hand between her own over her chest with a fiery determination. "Illumi."

"Psyche." Illumi breathed. He tried to ignore the ember her touch made him feel of the temptation she was offering him already within his grasp. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest, and the trepidation in her breath.

"Be honest with me. I can handle the truth. Were they cruel to you? Did anyone subject you to terrible and unspeakable torture? Were you stalked and hunted at night by feral animals? Were you made to suffer?"

If Freudian slips told Illumi anything it was that his dear wife secretly preferred if he came back to her in a casket. Lid closed and nailed shut. Then it clicked in his mind as he sighed. "I see that my grandparents got to you before I could warn you of their nonsense. They mean well, like everyone else in my family, but I guess that in and of itself isn't very reassuring. What did they tell you? No, nevermind. I could guess. Blood hoppers coming out of the ground and grabbing unsuspecting victims to their demise?" He already imagined all the nonsensical ideas of his death they spun for her.

Psyche's cheeks turned red, embarrassed about how ridiculous her fears sounded out loud.

"I thought so." Illumi wondered if he should tell her that the blood hopper horror story originated from how he played as a little child. He'd dig burrows and holes, and underground cities if it pleased him. He'd lie still beneath the first layer of earth and wait for someone to come by and until the right moment emerge from the underground and grab them by the ankle for a scare. Of course, he wouldn't actually drag them underground, he'd let go and flee and laugh. His grandparents would act along while pretending mortal doom, and by now Illumi knew the retellings more than his own memories. The most dangerous assassins in the world were defeated by a five year old; with dirt in his hair, worms in his pockets, and paper fangs scribbled in red crayon taped around his mouth. Sometimes they told him they missed those times when he was little. Illumi reasoned this was them reminiscing. It was nice to know he was still, in their eyes, a bloodthirsty monster.

Psyche gasped, as if now having a revelation. "Did the association bribe the remaining applicants with hush money to keep quiet? I've passed through the casualties while trailing you and the man I'm hired to assassinate, and I can't even begin to explain-"

"You're going to need to if you want me to follow along. Just this once, assume I know nothing."

Psyche relayed her entire journey to find him, and then she noticed a subtle change in his eyes when she mentioned her target, Hisoka, and how ferociously he fought for his life and almost maimed her because of it. She didn't miss a detail and may have exaggerated some more than others. Will Illumi barge out of the room in a blind rage and threaten to kill Hisoka for her sake? The thought excited her. "Oh, it's just some insane, homicidal man that is no doubt out to get me because I tried to assassinate him first. It's my undertaking alone to bear for my client and I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, so please don't trouble yourself, for my sake. It's too out of the way and I know how busy you are. You don't need to get vengeance for me, you've been through so much already."

Illumi nodded, cooly. Not even surprised that Hisoka has a hit over his head. "Say no more. It sounds to me like you can finish the job yourself. I have a lead on where he's going to be next. If you want, I can tell you."

Psyche blanched. This wasn't the reaction she was expecting. Of course she can fight for herself, but that wasn't the principle. "Oh…that would really be helpful…thanks. Yeah, um, how do you know?"

Illumi smiled. "Right, I understand the weariness in accepting possible misinformation, but don't worry. He told me himself. You better get a move on before the trail goes cold. He travels a lot. And actually, I had a pleasant experience taking the exam. It was less of a chore than I thought it would be." Illumi told her of running through marshes and hunting pigs, jumping off Split Mountain and boiling spider eagle eggs. Navigating and solving bizarre and deadly puzzles hosted by prisoners of Trick Tower felt like living through the Goosebumps stories of his childhood come to life (he would have finished first if he wasn't so enamored by his own nostalgia. When a prisoner emerged from a smoking, spiked coffin to scare him, Illumi happily applauded.) However, Zevil Island was uneventful and he slept through most of it. "I had fun."

This was a lot for Psyche to process. Illumi was somehow, unbelievably, on good terms with Hisoka and the exam was nothing more than a game to him. While Psyche barely made it through the harsh landscapes, Illumi was having the time of his life. Still, by the end of his tale he was smiling. Psyche wanted to be happy for him, but something in her gut didn't sit right. Everything Hisoka said to her on Zevil Island resurfaced in her head and she knew something happened there that Illumi wasn't telling her. Then she looked down at his right arm, and gasped.

Illumi looked at her then at his right arm, "This? It's nothing. My arm is-"

"Broken!" Psyche shrieked.

"You can tell? I barely noticed." Illumi said, sarcastically, and then told her how it became this way. Psyche was the second person to notice, or at least tell him so. "I wasn't very popular among the other applicants, particularly during the last phase of the exam. Though, I can understand why."

"You mean another applicant did this? Popularity be damned! That's no excuse for them to do this to you! Please tell me who it was and I'll have them beg me to kill them." Psyche scowled. Furious at this unknown heathen who dared to lay a hand on her beloved husband. She bet it was Hisoka. He seemed jealous and heartbroken while he fought her, so he probably took his frustrations out on Illumi.

Illumi was unbothered by his broken arm nor Psyche's desire to kill the person responsible for breaking it. It was a charming sentiment. "The same thought crossed my mind, but I decided against it. Lest my little brother Kil despise me for it. Or until circumstances change. You know how it is."

Psyche didn't. She wasn't sure what he meant by Killua despising him over killing his attacker, or how someone breaking his bone barely qualified as a problem to him. But she nodded in agreement anyway. Wait, Killua is here too? Why didn't he mention that first, and is Killua okay? She'll tackle one problem at a time, but for now, her only focus was on Illumi. "Here, sit down. No, lie down. Let me take care of you." She guided him towards the bed.

"I didn't know you were so impatient to play house already-oof!" Illumi was swiftly pushed back onto the bed with Psyche already unbuttoning his jacket—she works fast. "I'm no doctor—purely a technicality—and you may not like this, but it isn't necessary to take my clothes off. Not that I mind, but I think you do."

"I need to see the extent of the damage. You said you were also thrown, so your shoulder could be dislocated too. Hush while I work." Psyche worried that Illumi might be hiding more injuries since he thought so little of his arm. Her brother used to be the same way, hiding everything that hurt the most from her. She was blind then, but she wouldn't be now. Her fingers unfastened the last button and Illumi felt more of him that he cared to admit flush when she opened his vest to reveal a tight fitting tank top that didn't fail to grasp a moment of her attention. His muscles are bigger than she last remembered. He's stronger now-stronger than her too. Her fingers brushed over him just enough to make his breath shiver.

He wanted her to do more than that. More than feather touches and gentle brushstrokes and cautionary reserve. He wanted hands beneath his shirt pressing down and moving up the curves of his waist while her body weighed over his hips. She's straddled him before and always made him suffer in the unbearable heat of his clothes under dim lights in quiet rooms. Hiding pleasure with silent moans while having to bite down on his own lips. When her hands left his body and the dream was gone—he craved that insufferable heat once again.

When she opened the first aid kit and took out a bone saw (she needed a scissor to gut the gauze but there wasn't one), that was a little too rough even for Illumi's liking. He knew he had no other choice but to intervene. Illumi sat up. "I know you're eager to help me, but I can handle it from here." He extended his arm in front of him and soon it was surrounded with aura. He glanced at her, "you can turn away if you want, or cover your ears. Or both. Now's the time to do it."

The sound of bones breaking and remodeling sent a chill through Psyche's back, but she didn't turn away as Illumi channeled his nen into mending his own arm. Soon the bumps flattened and his arm straightened, and was only left with a few bruises that will heal in their own time. She had no idea he was capable of this. Her own mother has healing abilities, but not for anything that could mend injuries below the skin. Psyche and her sisters had scars and burns removed from their bodies, but a broken bone was serious. How many times were Illumi's bones broken in his life that prompted him to create a nen ability to fix them?

"Ah," Illumi exclaimed, flexing and extending his arm. It moves effortlessly now. "Much better." He noticed her staring. "You're very quiet now. Don't worry, it was a good, clean break. That's the preferable way if one is given the choice, so it was easy for me to mend. Besides," he marveled at his arm while faded crescent marks could be seen in the center of his palm and a small smile played on his lips, "bones become stronger after they're broken."

Before Psyche could speak a question that even she was afraid to ask, there was a knock at the door. Illumi was the one who answered it.

"Oh, it's you." Illumi said, surprised. "I didn't think we'd meet again so soon."

Gon scowled at Killua's big brother, and felt a wave of bitterness from having seen a bit of his best friend in Illumi's face. They may look alike but they're totally different people, he thought. "Yeah." He briefly looked past Illumi and noticed the other person within the room. His eyes met Psyche's, and the scowl in his eyes lessened, but did not disappear.

Illumi leaned against the wall, casually. Blocking Psyche from Gon's sight and forcing Gon to look back at him. "Did you forget which Mountain or do you have more things you need to say to me?"

Gon shoved the plastic bag he was holding towards Illumi. "Beans told me to give this to you."

"What is this?"

"Dunno. I didn't look."

Illumi peered inside the bag. It was filled with Psyche's confiscated possessions. Including her cellphone, his grandfather's tracking device, and the murder weapon she used against Hisoka. Which was his own knife. "I assume you wouldn't budge until Beans relented and let you carry out this task yourself. Right?"

Gon didn't say anything, other than glower as he handed the bag to Illumi.

"Alright then, if that's everything." Illumi looked back at his wife and made way to close the door until Gon jammed his boot between the door and the frame. Illumi was tempted to slam it shut, a few broken toes wouldn't make Killua hate him. Instead, he reluctantly opened the door. "Sorry, I rudely cut you off. What was it you were about to say?"

"I came here to apologize. I'm sorry for breaking your arm." Gon's apology contained all the sincerity of a robber being caught mid heist.

"You know you don't need to make up a reason to do something, you just go ahead and do it."

If Gon said he was going to apologize to Illumi, then Leorio and Kurapika were going to tag along too. Except they wouldn't use words, but their fists. "Yeah, I know. So just accept my apology already."

"Excuse me, but broken? No, I don't believe so."

"I know I did." Gon barked.

"Ok, let's revisit what happened. You grabbed my arm, yes, tossed me up like a rag doll, yup, then you let go, but broken?" Illumi tched. "Oh no, a broken bone would be very hard not to feel. If you did, not that you could, hypothetically break my arm then I would have been on the ground in an instant because from the way you held it, it wouldn't have been a clean break. It would have broken into shards and cut into surrounding tissue, and caused internal bleeding and worst case, I would pass out from shock and then I wouldn't be able to speak a word to let anyone know." Illumi's eyes pierced the boy and Gon instantly wanted to run away. Any sinister gaze Gon thought he saw disappeared and was soon replaced by a light smile. "But as you can see, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern though. Broken bones are very painful." He looked at Gon's arm wrapped in a sling. "You're aware of that."

Gon began to doubt what he knew. "I thought I did." He felt that he did do something wrong and it didn't matter that Illumi was a terrible person, Gon always had a cold pitted feeling in his stomach that wouldn't go away until he made the situation right. That's why he was never good at lying, hiding secrets or bottling up his emotions. He was an honest boy, to the point where it made him anxious when he wasn't. Sometimes he wondered if that was true goodness at all just so he wouldn't have to feel bad. "I don't want to owe you anything."

"It was an honest mistake." Illumi leaned his head against his right arm, which was perfectly healed and not broken as far as Gon could see. "Nor do you owe me anything. Gon. You can either choose to let that weigh heavily on your conscience, or, you might like this better, you can go rescue my brother and never let me see him again. Sounds good?"

"Right!" Gon smiled for the first time in Illumi's presence.

"I'm glad we cleared this up. Goodbye." Illumi shut the door behind before Gon could run off. He turned to Psyche and said in astonishment when he heard the boy run down the hall. "That's the kid who broke my arm."

Psyche giggled. So that was the boy she saw while looking out her window earlier. She was curious what their previous conversation was about and wondered if she was ever going to see him again. He's cute.

"He really is a good kid," Illumi lamented. "But damn, he has an impressive grip, stubborn disposition, but very good manners. His mother raised him well. Hopefully the latter of those things rubbed off on Killua. Ah!" Illumi raised the plastic bag. "The Hunter Association brings you gifts."

"My stuff!" Everything they took from her was accounted for in the bag. Then Psyche admitted she tried calling Illumi before the exam began, "you may have accidentally blocked me on your phone."

"Then I have to change that." Illumi took out his phone and un-blocked his wife. He had a habit of blocking any numbers he didn't recognize. For security reasons, he said.

"Illumi," Psyche breathed. "Even though that boy came all this way to apologize, that was very good of him, and of you for forgiving him, but he also seemed angry. And then you mentioned him rescuing your brother, Killua, right? Then never letting him see you again? I don't understand what's happening because that sounds like straight up kidnapping, to me, honestly. What happened during the exam?"

Illumi combed a hand through his hair and sighed. "After Killua ran away, he applied to take the hunter exam. It was part of the reason why I'm here too. I still need a license for an upcoming job, but my main priority was watching over my little brother, ensuring his safety and returning him home." He paused, reluctant to say the rest. "We were paired during the last phase of the exam to fight each other. Only one of us could become hunters."

Psyche covered her mouth with her hands, shaken by this new, tragic knowledge. Illumi was protecting Killua this entire time. It seemed as if Illumi carried the responsibilities of his entire family on his shoulders and yet he never complained. And by a cruel twist of fate, the brothers were forced to fight! "I can't believe the Chairman, who's a good friend of your grandfather, forced you two to fight each other like that. He knows who you are, he shouldn't have done that. Unbelievable!"

Illumi didn't disagree with her. "The reason Gon is angry with me is because he and his friends are under the belief that I forced Killua to fail the exam. They even brought it up to Chairman Netero. What they failed to understand is that my baby brother and I didn't want to fight each other and came to an agreement so we wouldn't have to. I would never lay a hand on my brother over something as trivial as a piece of plastic. Not even a looming deadline could make me consider it. At that moment, acquiring a license was the least of my priorities, but Kil knows I was also there for work, so the rest goes without saying."

Psyche clasped her hands over her heart, feeling sorrow and sympathy for her husband and brother-in-law. "That must have been so hard on you."

Illumi sat down on the bed beside her. "I'll survive. As I watched Kil throughout the exam…anyone could see how tired he was by the end of it. I'm impressed that he was able to progress this far, but he wanted to leave and was glad to put the exam behind him. I told him it was okay for him to go home and that nothing he could do to us would make us want him any less."

"It must have been so beautiful, rekindling a bond that was thought to be lost but not forever gone."

"It was. As soon as I told him, all that stress and anxiety he carried on his back that visibly weighed him down, he instantly dropped it all, and was better because of it."

"You did the right thing. Anyone else would have done no different in your position."

"He was eager to get out of there and left before he could tell those boys why he chose to throw the match, so that's why they're convinced they must rescue Kil because he 'wasn't acting like himself.' They've known him for barely two weeks while I held his hands when he first began to walk. Let them believe what they want, but I know my brother better than anyone else and he was ready to go home."

Psyche nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing. "Is it safe for Killua to go home by himself? He should join us and we'll travel together. I think, after this harrowing experience, it would be best if his older brother was beside him so he knows that everything will be okay. Returning together might make him less nervous considering how he left. With your mother and Milluki, and all."

"That's very thoughtful of you, however this is something Kil needs to handle by himself. He's learning to face the consequences of his own actions, finally after so long, he's taking everything I said to him to heart. Besides, I'm a little selfish. If he were to join us, then we wouldn't be alone."

Psyche kissed Illumi. She wanted to do this for sometime.

He let her. It was slow and unfamiliar at first, but then he remembered, as first loves and first kisses are rarely forgotten. It was a powerful force that felt as if he was awakened with a spell. He remembered where he would hold her against him. He remembered the way her body dipped into his when he tugged her hair back to kiss her neck. He remembered her gasps when he nipped her skin and all the sweet promises he whispered in her ear. He remembered kissing her outside in spring, and only stopped when it began to rain. He remembered how he never wanted to stop.

He didn't have to anymore.

Psyche moved with grace as she took her place on his lap, straddling him. He became a hunter, saved his brother, and survived countless perilous dangers-he deserves to indulge in his victory. She did not spare to leave any part of him ignored. His mouth gaped with a hitched breath in silent reverie when she began kissing him below his jaw, as one hand gripped the bedsheets and the other pinned against her waist.

Her world spinned.

In no time at all, Psyche was thrown down on her back with a force that shook the bed and as she looked up at Illumi pleadingly, he was already on top of her, pressing his body firmly against hers. Kissing her until they were breathless and wild while time and obligations ceased to matter anymore. He forced himself between her legs and buckled his thighs with a grunt and sharp thrust to make her spread wider for him-the impact made her gasp aloud, a fragile sound all too pleasing to him, as heat swelled between her thighs, eager to do what he wanted of her. She wanted more and she would lower herself to begging if that meant he would grind against her and relieve her of that burning ache he guiltlessly indulged in sparking. Their mouths collided, insatiable and far from being sated too soon. His body felt crushing against hers as he cared little of restraint. Years apart corroded any traces of his tenderness, and left only a desire to relinquish control and give in to all his rough urges. There was no sweetness left inside him. Psyche mourned the boy lost and surrendered to the man he became. He was rough and she pleaded between short breaths while his tongue slid into her mouth, fondling and compelling her to relinquish her voice to him. She bit his lip. As retaliation? As playful mischief? He knew the answer when she combed her hands through his hair. Her cheeks were red, her breath was shaky, and her lips were delicately swollen from his devoted attention. She hungrily pulled him back to her. Back to breathless exchanges and speechless conversations. His hair was long, longer than it ever has been before, and there was no helping it from falling on her face. No matter how many times he brushed it away, she adored these magical touches. The soft feather light kisses of his hair tickled her skin, surrounding her in a curtain of black. All she could see was him. And that's always how it felt when she was with him. There was only him and never anyone else.

He smelled like a forest, no matter how far away he was from his home Mountain. Her hands wandered to his back and struggled to grip the ends of his shirt. He leaned back and did it for her, tossing his shirt beyond himself—and she should do the same. He never took his eyes off her while he hastily unbuckled his pants.

Psyche lifted her shirt above her head and wished she was wearing something cuter underneath for him. It was nothing but a sports bra, which was gray and boring and lacked any grace in seductively removing. She wanted their first time to be special, she'd wear a sheer peignoir with a flowing shift underneath and he'd tell her she was beautiful as they made love on their wedding night. But her reality was filled with black long sleeved shirts, poor excuses of lingerie, stolen days, perilous chases, and thwarted assassinations that robbed her of the beginning of their lives together. She was done waiting and reasoned that she wouldn't be wearing her drab clothes for much longer anyway.

Illumi slowly stopped, the waistband of his pants dipped below his hips and withheld himself from palming the bulge beneath his boxers. His breath was ragged and his eyes clouded with the reflection of her wanting him.

Psyche's mouth felt empty without him in it and wondered if he wanted her to suck him off before they did anything else. She could do that for him and she knew how he liked it. She wanted him to feel good.

He reached for her neck.

He did not grab her by the throat. He did not pin her to the bed to fuck. He did not desire to shove and fill her mouth, open and eager, with his cock.

Instead, Illumi lightly traced his fingers over the thin gold chain, without pendants or ornaments, that sat on her chest like a stone and dangled around her neck like a collar. He took the metal between his fingers as Psyche's breath stilled. This necklace was a relic of the past. It belonged to her twin brother, Eros. He knew this.

Psyche didn't know what to say, so she took his hand and opened her lips for his fingertips and kissed them tenderly. Her past did not belong in this moment and she will remind him of what they had together in the present.

Illumi pulled back his hand from her and she felt instantly cold. He got off the bed and found his shirt and hers. He put his on and motioned for her to do the same. "Get dressed. There is something important we have to discuss. It can't be put off any longer."

Psyche held her shirt to her chest and began to question the extent of his injuries, worrying he was in more pain than he led her to believe. She asked questions. Whether he wanted to rest in bed or have her draw him a bath or guzzle down a bottle of pedialyte.

Illumi had no reply. He simply dragged a chair to sit directly across from her as she sat on the edge of the bed.

They stared at each other for what felt like eternity. What initially started as a reunion soon became an interrogation.

Psyche began. "Illumi-"

Illumi cut her off, no apologies given. "I'll be very direct with you. We need to talk about your brother. You have to tell me why he died."

At the Moiraio Mansion, Chaotica arrived home from an all expense paid shopping spree generously bestowed upon her by a man she and her older sister murdered.

The best kiss, in Chaotica's opinion, was the first swipe of a fresh stick of Revlon on her lips. She barged into Anomie's room triumphantly flashing the stolen hunter license and wore her best accessory—her devilish smile. Along with dozens of shopping bags from Dior and Louis Vuitton hanging off her arms. She was already wearing Prada, as she wouldn't be caught dead carrying it out of the store, still in its box. Her heels clicked on the polished wood floor as she excitedly ran to her sister. "Ann! Ann! This license is better than any platinum credit card! You won't believe what this can get a girl! I never have to be waitlisted for a pair of Jimmy Choo heels ever again!" Chaotica was determined to be the envy of every girl in the Mimbo Republic, starting with all the major celebrities.

Anomie looked up from her laptop and eyed Chaotica's haul. Eight bags. That was small. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but that's all? Wow, you really controlled yourself. I thought you would have brought the entire mall home."

Chaotica hummed. "You should have seen me. My control. My maturity. Ha! I only filled up one car this time. Mimette has the maids helping her carry the rest to my room."

Anomie awed her sister's self restraint, ironically. "I don't know how you do it."

"I know, I was so good today. I think I'll treat myself next time."

Anomie snorted.

"Hey! I'm not shopping just for me, y'know." Chaotica whipped out a sheer, icy blue pair of sunglasses from a bag and onto Anomie's head. Anomie posed in the mirror of her compact, approvingly. They were fabulous and expensive—her favorite look. "You're welcome. I bought a pair for each of us. Psyche will get hers, and more, on our next lunch date. Which I'm declaring a mandatory state of emergency meeting because as her older sisters it is our responsibility, no, dare I say, sacred womanly duty, to guide our baby sister in her new and strange life!"

"It's not a state of emergency luncheon if all you really want to ask her about is Zoldyck Family drama and the size of Illumi's dick."

Chaotica raised her hands in defense. "Fine, fine, fine. Let's just keep it to casual topics of conversation. Like guidance, support, gossip, Illumi's secrets and Psyche's thoughts on blackmail. I mean, hellooooo, she's right there. Don't look at me like that. What am I supposed to think when we haven't heard anything from her? She's left us in the dark and I demand answers." She couldn't help but be concerned, and curious.

"So what you're trying to say is, why not? It isn't everyday you have your own eyes and ears in the Zoldyck stronghold. No one has this kind of golden opportunity." Anomie raised an eyebrow, this was rarer than seeing lightning strike the same place twice. "That's actually…not a bad idea. I miss our baby sister, too. Let's set it up."

"I love it when you agree with me! Like I said, we need to plan, like right now." Chaotica leaned over Anomie's shoulder, her sister did not budge. "Ooooh! Did Psyche send you an email?"

"She did."

Chaotica pouted. "She didn't send me one."

"She was crunched for time, and this one's for the both of us."

"Is there paradise or trouble in her Ever After?" Chaotica squealed as she read the email, but then soon quieted. It wasn't at all what she imagined it to be. "Oh my god." She breathed.

Anomie's voice was cold. "Psyche isn't in a position to move freely."

"Does she need us to rescue her? I want to go there! OH! Can we please go?"

A corner of Anomie's mouth curved upward. "The hunter exam is most likely over by now, or will be soon, so there's nothing of interest there left for you. Read further. Look at what she's asking." Anomie let Chaotica read on and then clicked open a file, opening dozens of attachments of graphic photos and videos taken from the hunter exam. Before Psyche's belongings were confiscated by the Hunter Association, she was clever enough to send everything to Anomie.

"Oh Ann." Excitement brewed inside of Chaotica. She gazed at the photos of failed applicants falling off towers and carried away by flying beasts, chewed to bits and pulled apart in swamps, skewered on spikes and left dead in ditches, and much more that was grim enough to delight her darkest fantasies. She wanted to go there and experience all that fun first hand, but there was one photo that caught her eye among all the others. A wake of hungry vultures feeding on a dead man—with playing cards lodged in his head. One was the joker. It was familiar and unfamiliar all at once, but she still felt close to it. She pointed to it with a manicured nail, painted in a luscious shade named make u mine, "blow this one up so I can stare at it everyday."

Anomie snickered at the concept of strange places men blindly find themselves in because of their delusional pursuit of unattainable glory and riches. It was beyond hilarious to her. Psyche was kind, but Anomie spared no sympathy for idiots. She zoomed in on a giant noggin lugging tortoise, with bones between its sharp teeth. "Cute. I want him."

Chaotica cackled. "So what does our baby sister prefer?"

"The usual."

Psyche's specialty was revenge, and by its wrathful nature can take many forms. Balancing the scales, death—public outrage.

Chaotica did not try to hide her excitement as she was eager to carry out her sister's demands. She has many gifts, but there was nothing Chaotica was more skilled in than creating a scene. "Let's start a scandal!"

A/N:Thank you for reading chapter 18! Oh wow, this was a big chapter and contained a whole lot of plot haha XD This chapter also felt long awaited for me, and definitely the plot is going to start picking up from here on out! Psyche had three goals during the hunter exam arc: kill hisoka, reunite with illumi, and ruin the hunter association! She wasn't just taking tourist-y pictures for fun's sake hahaha :D (to answer chaotica's question, Psyche approves blackmail LMAO) I hope you enjoyed Illumi's lies, i mean, rendition of his fight with Killua! Poor Psyche, she has no idea and is too trusting of his words... Psyche and Illumi finally reunited but there is trouble brewing in Psyche's long awaited Ever After :3 Her past is coming back! Will the reason Psyche left home be the same reason Illumi might push her away? Look forward to Psyche's trauma i guess haha :D AND every little secret about Illumi will come into full circle soon enough, i promise :3 What I enjoy writing about my fic is seeing how it has changed and grown since 2021 and I'm looking forward to the direction of the fic's future! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading and see you soon ❤