Chapter 30 – Cardcaptor Gon pt. 1

The boys finally get to do what Gon's father requested they do on Greed Island. With Raphael's help, they explore some of the rich world.

Author Notes:

Gwuest It took me way too long to realise I just posted chapter 27 twice, I fix it up a while back so it should be displaying chapter 28 properly.

Iencjwkoskcmf Wow... just... wow... I see your two braincells are fighting real hard for third place. So let me make this easier for you to understand. A homosexual, is writing this story. So, enjoy. : )

Now back to continue this story.

"So nothing has changed on Kurapika's end. He's well aware of the possibility of Chrollo removing his Judgement Chain. So it's safe to say that this Chrollo is not the same Chrollo we're thinking of."

"Then who is it…?"

"No idea." Killua could only shrug from the situation. Kurapika had no idea, nor did he have a clue. There's no way one of the Spiders would use his name in this game, that would be sacrilege. But there's not really anyone else that would think to use that man's name… except maybe Hisoka, but he would have no reason to be here. "Kurapika wasn't concerned, or he didn't care." If Kurapika wasn't bothered by the situation of Chrollo eventually escaping, they shouldn't care either.

"Then you two got worried for nothing." Bisky gave the boys a warm smile, "So you should be focusing on yourselves."

"There was one more thing…" Killua found himself turning to Raphael. What he found at the harbour master's house was also a little concerning "Raphael."

"Hmm?"

"Why does the Harbour Master have a map of the world?"

"Ah, well…" He couldn't exactly tell them the truth. That would spoil the fun of the discovery. But that doesn't mean he can't give the others hints along the way "Well, as you know this game shares rules with reality. The sun, wind, time, the motion of the ocean and so on, and so on. The fact that he has a map of the outside world shouldn't surprise you given those facts. This game follows those rules so the game master doesn't need to design much from the ground up. Think of the Harbour Master as someone who imports and exports goods, the reason he has that map is to help pretend he's trading with the outside world."

"So the game is merely pretending to exist so that the laws of nature can touch this place."

"Sort of, the rules of nature that govern reality, can also be applied here. That's why we can bring things from the outside world here, without issues…" He paused for a moment, now smiling at Killua, "It's also why you can't use your phone while here. You can't make calls if there's no phone towers for the signal to bounce off of…"

Killua looked long and hard at the boy. He had a feeling he knew what the teen was hinting at. Greed Island might be a real place.

But that wouldn't explain some mechanics in the game. Like the fact that bodies disappear on death almost instantly. Or that no NPCs are aware of Nen, but can still be affected by it.

Maybe this was all a ruse, a way for him to sway his opinion on an idea…

But still, if Greed Island is a real place, that could be concerning. How exactly were they keeping this whole island a secret from the rest of the world?

To the rest of the world, this was nothing more than a really expensive game. But to Pro Hunters… this was a training ground rich with ideas, events… and world-changing cards.

"I'll keep that in mind." Killua turned his attention to his friend once more, "Whoever this Chrollo person is, let's try and avoid them. Nothing good can come from meeting them."

Bisky understood the situation they were in. Raphael gave a huge hint to the boys without outright telling them anything. From Killua's reaction, it looks like he's figured out what the teen was trying to hint at. But at the same time, he still has some questions on his mind.

On the other hand, Gon is either ignoring the possibility, or the fact Greed Island is a real place doesn't change the fact he wants to keep playing this game.

But considering Killua's back, Gon might be entirely fixated on his best friend finally being back "If you have no other concerns, Killua. How about we start with the basics? Not by training, but by finally beating this game."

Killua and Gon got excited at the news. They were finally going to do what Ging told Gon to do, which was to enjoy the game.

Raphael offered a wide smile, "In that case let's do a couple of fun quests. The game is rich with different processes to obtain cards since Gon doesn't want to go the stealing route."

"Yeah! It wouldn't be fun if we stole all the cards without playing this game like Genthru did."

"It's a real shame too…" Raphael looked over to Killua, "I have the perfect card to abuse, especially in Killua's hands. Bandit's Blade. Stab a person, get a random card."

"Oh shit, really. Gon, please can we just go on a spree with that card in a town? It's easy pickings."

"No, I want to work for these cards."

"Lame…" Killua rolled his eyes at his friend, "They better not be boring."

"Shall we do a test of strength? Gon, what do you think of collecting bugs?"

"Eww, gross!" Killua interrupted the other before he could say anything else on the matter. If Raphael's definition of fun is to go trudging through a swamp to collect worms and bugs, he doesn't want to keep being friends "We are not trudging through a swamp to gather bugs."

"Not a swamp… but a tree. We might need something else in that case."

"~"

Raphael showed them around a small village giving them small pointers on how to figure out how to start questlines.

There are a few processes for doing this. Like meeting group requirements, and triggering the quest through random dialogue. Or the fun option, stumbling on it by chance out in the open world.

Gon looked up, wide-eyed at the huge tree. It must have been hundreds of metres tall. The tree itself also looked abnormal, like there were thousands of trees interweaving into one singular massive tree.

A middle-aged, muscular man stood near the base, his hands clasping on top of a comically large hammer.

His features lit up from the players standing before him, "It's said that the legendary King Great White Beetle lives only on this tree! There's only one way to capture it, and that's to shake the tree to its core." He offered his hammer out to the group, "Would you like to give it a try?"

Gon shook his head to the hammer, stepping up to the tree where most of the impacts had been made. Everyone has always struck the same spot, the cracked and blistered area being their focal point.

He should aim for that area too, to lessen the burden of damaging any more of the trees' roots. He prepared his attack, the one he's been practising with Bisky this whole time "First comes Rock! Rock…" Aura pooled around his fist, increasing in size as the seconds went by.

As his fist started to glow orange, a ball surrounded his fist, continuing to increase in strength as Gon focused his attack, "Paper…" Grinning widely, he swung his fist into the tree, "Rock!"

The tree rattled for a few seconds, nothing almost happening.

Then within a split second, a black cloud erupted from the branches.

Killua was enamored "Wow…" That was until he saw what was raining down.

"Book!" Raphael made the call, pulling out three cards before they were covered in insects. He handed Killua and Bisky each an umbrella, popping his open in a nick of time.

Killua shivered as bugs continued to rain down around them, thuds along the umbrella indicating how many were actually raining on them.

"I suggest we start looking for the Beetles. There's a lot of ground to cover."

The four got to work, calling out whenever they captured the beetle."

In the end, Gon held up four cards triumphantly "That's four King Great White Beetle cards!"

"That's a pretty good amount, even though we only need one. But we could trade the others. I'm sure not everyone is strong enough to rattle the tree."

"Hah, we could've gotten more if Gon had thrown a real punch."

Even though it sounded more like an insult, Gon didn't care. Four was enough. Plus, given the damage to the tree already, he didn't want to harm it further "I didn't want to damage the tree. Four is enough anyway. What else can we do Raphael?"

"Hmm…" The teen racked his brain for the more straightforward quests. There were a few they could do, some more difficult than others. But as long as Killua and Gon can have fun, he doesn't see them complaining that much along the way."

There were a few more days before the major events in Antokiba. There was also Dorias, the City of Gambling. But if Gon wasn't a fan of stealing…

Gambling would probably be in that category as well.

There were a few subterfuge quests Killua would be great at. Some are not so much tests of strength, but puzzles that he could use the other's strengths to their advantage.

He doubts Bisky would be of any use. Not because she's weak. She's far from it. Gon and Killua would rather be the ones to collect most of the cards on their own.

"Oh, I thought of a quest you might like. How are you with… horror themes?"

"Like distorted monsters?" Killua raised an eyebrow, "Or are you talking about the classics; zombies, skeletons and ghosts?"

"The classics. Ghosts." He smiled when he saw Killua getting excited. It seems the boy was a lover of classic horror monster movies "There's two possibilities. Double Postcard to the Dead and Poltergeists Pillow. The postcard lets you send a letter to a dead person, and they'll respond the next day. Or… the pillow allows you to become a poltergeist. You leave your body and wander around doing whatever you want to do as a ghost. The catch is you gotta return to your body within twenty-four hours or you will die… for real."

Raphael saw the glimmer in the boy's eyes. But Gon seemed a little hesitant about the idea, probably because of the description of the pillow.

"Both require visiting haunted grounds. A graveyard for the postcards and a haunted mansion for the pillow."

"Gon seriously, we have to do both!"

"Alright, since Killua wants to do that. Any other ideas?"

"You have the fledgling eggs, unlimited resources, objects, anything to choose from really. There are multiple ways to gain some of these cards as well, not just through quests and hunting them down. Just, don't ask to do the…" Raphael waved his hand around, trying to think of the best way to describe what they were without outright stating what they implied, "The body pills…"

"The body pills…?"

Raphael let out a frustrated sigh, he ended up having the opposite effect on them, "Weird body-altering pills. Like sex-changing pills. Or… ugh, I regret ever doing Doyen's Virility Pills. My god, the fungus I had to collect left me wasting a day."

"Yeah, let's skip those," Killua admitted with a faint blush. He had an inkling of how Raphael ended up wasting his day.

"Aww… but it sounds fun. I loved collecting and sampling different plants back on Whale Island. I should be fine picking up those kinds of plants."

"Yeah, no, Gon. we're going to skip those. What else, Raphael?"

"Hmm… I'll make a pathway from here to Antokiba. We'll collect as many cards along the way before branching out from that town." Raphael pulled out his map, showing all the dots marking areas around them.

Was this what the full map looked like, or was this what his map looked like after collecting multiple key points?

"Is this a full map?"

"I have a full map. Your map progress resets when you leave the game. I could technically buy an empty one and tap every area I know that has a landmark, but going by the detailed map, I've discovered at least ninety per cent of the map on my own." Raphael pressed his finger against the forest north of Antokiba and west of the badlands, "I suggest we collect the pillow from here…" He dragged his finger around the curve, stopping at another part of the forest, "Grab a Gold Dust Girl along the way before making our way to the graveyard for the postcards at…" He pointed at a section outside of the forest, "Here."

Dragging his finger outside of the forest he pointed towards their next route, "Before making our way to Antokiba, there's the Eternal Hammer, Roaming Ruby, Night Jade and the Virtual Restaurant we'll aim to pick up along the way. From here I'll let you decide the direction we take next. There are a couple of good routes with some detours for some really rare cards. For example, the Mystery Pond and Tree of Plenty. The general area is the same, but it doesn't spawn in the same spot. So we'll need to hunt those cards down with the limited information we're given."

"Sounds like a plan." Killua pointed in the general direction of where they were going to head, "Show us the way to the pillow."

Rolling up his map, Raphael led them towards their next location.

"~"

The group felt eyes on them, different to the kind that were on them earlier. Those were players, this was unnatural, supernatural…

It was a lovely little mechanic, one that was replicated in multiple areas.

Raphael pressed into the haunted house, stopping only at the entrance. It was a mansion with multiple rooms, most filled with jumpscares, while others had what they came for.

Raphael stopped at the staircase, a low groan echoing through the empty hallways. He found himself smiling, "Now that the quest is active, we split up?"

"Killua, how about we join together… It feels a little scary."

"Pfft, it's not that scary. There are probably only jumpscares here. Right, Raphael?"

"No spoilers from me. We're looking for a pillow, which should be easy to find. Just search the rooms properly. Don't bother marking searched rooms, stuff gets moved around here. Remember the description, that's what we're dealing with."

"Dead players?!"

"No, hopefully not. I don't think the GMs would allow for that detail to slip through the cracks. It'll make getting this card difficult to obtain. Because the players could be moving the pillows from room to room."

Killua pointed at the staircase, "I'll search the upstairs east wing, Gon you wanna look downstairs, we'll meet at the stairs?"

"Okay…"

"Bisky, I'm gonna do the upstairs west wing. Wanna deal with downstairs?"

"Wouldn't the kitchen and laundry rooms be downstairs? That's not really fair for Gon and I…"

"The rooms are pre-generated on entry, per group. So one of us is bound to run into the kitchen."

"At least that's fair. How many pillows can we find?"

"It's random, but at least two should spawn, given our group size. Shall we?" The group split up, each beginning their search. Raphael pressed the first door open, greeted by the sounds of walls being scratched. He ignored it, checking the room for any beds.

The room looked like an old study, books coated in dust filled the shelves. The ledgers were written in an unknown language. He plucked a book off the shelf, opening it to a random page.

It was filled with scribbles, nothing tangible. Right before he could put it back, the book was ripped straight from his hands and tossed onto the floor.

It seems whatever event was plaguing this room was aggressive… or it didn't like him reading their books. Yet, the entity wasn't even done. Something ran across his arm, a feeling of sharp nails.

However, there were no marks, just a ghostly feeling.

He left the room, opting to search the other rooms.

"~"

Killua found a hallway overlooking a large dining table. He could see Gon poke his head into the room "Wow…"

"Yeah."

Gon jumped from the voice, only to realise who it was "Killua, I thought you were going upstairs?"

"I am, just look up."

Gon saw Killua, giving him a wave with a huge smile "It's a little scary in here. Why don't we search the rooms together?"

"Gon, you'll be fine. I'll head to the end of this hallway and go through the other door. Why don't you head back and search the doors on the other side?"

Even though he was reluctant to, Gon agreed to the plan "Alright!" However, when Gon tried to open the door, it refused to budge, "It's stuck."

"Give the door a jiggle. The house is old. So the doors are probably designed to get stuck randomly."

Gon pulls at the door handle, twisting the knob in every direction. But it refuses to budge. It's as though it was being held shut by something stronger than him… or someone, "It won't open…"

"Try another door."

Gon moved further into the dining area, spotting a door on the other side, close to the fireplace, "There's another door. I'll try that-" He stopped dead in his tracks, the door he couldn't open earlier creaking wide open, "Killua…"

"Yeah?"

"The door opened on its own."

"The one you spotted?"

"The one I couldn't open…"

Killua looked down at the dining area, seeing if there was anything else out of the ordinary. Nothing looked out of place. That was until he spotted a chair rocking on the table below, "I don't think we're the only ones in this room."

"Gon, run for the door…"

Gon ran towards the open door, the door slamming shut immediately.

Killua was forced to look up when he heard heavy footsteps running on the other side, "Run!" He ran for the door he spotted earlier.

Gon screamed as he ran by the table, plates and chairs being sent crashing to the floor. He jumped over a set of chairs, slamming his weight against the door. It flung wide open.

The boy managed to force the door shut behind him, locking whatever was inside, in. When he took a step back from the door, it thudded as though something was slamming their body against the door.

All actions ceased after a minute, the house quiet once more.

Gon let out a breath of relief. He turned around to see multiple doors. Looks like he has more rooms to check.

"~"

On the other hand, Killua barely managed to reach the door before something pushed against his back. He fell to the floor with a loud thud.

The boy got back up, immediately swinging his hand out to whatever was behind him. There was nothing, not even the sounds of something running through the hallway. He reached for the door, forcing it open with ease.

When he exited the room, closing the door to the dining hall, he found himself smiling widely. The house functions as a real haunted house "This is fucken cool!"

"~"

Bisky heard a loud crash followed by a scream. It sounded like it was coming from the other side. She was about to leave the hallway when she felt a chill run up her spine, a voice soon whispered in her ear "LEAVE!"

Bisky let out a loud shriek, her hands swinging wildly behind her. There was nothing there. Using Gyo revealed nothing in the vicinity. The house must function like a haunted house. If that was the case, there was nothing to worry about.

Now that she knows the house tries to scare the people looting it, she won't get scared again. Still, that was annoying…

She opened the closet door, seeing a child's playroom inside, dolls lined up on the couch. She immediately closed the door. She's not even going to attempt checking that nightmare-inducing room.

"~"

Raphael opened the next room, finding a kitchen. He was disappointed, but he'd check the room anyway. Even a low chance is still a chance.

As old as this house was designed to look, there wasn't much mould or expired products lying around. If anything it'd probably fit in with a ransacked house during a zombie apocalypse.

The cabinets were empty, except for a few odd cobwebs here and there. When he closed the cabinet door, one he already checked, creaked. The cabinet opened ever so slowly.

A poltergeist was at work.

The teen frowned when the cabinet slammed shut, another one creaking open.

The cabinets continued to open and close on their own, there was nothing to be found in the kitchen.

"~"

Gon opened door after door, the house managing to scare him time after time. He tried to view the area with Gyo, but nothing showed up.

No ghostly Nen aura lingered against the moving object, the house was doing it all on its own.

He managed to eventually find a small bedroom, the bed unmade. He was about to leave the room when he saw something tucked between the wall and the bed.

Walking over, he reached out to grab it.

That was when he felt something latch onto his leg. He jumped back in surprise, looking at the darkness underneath the bed.

There was nothing there…

Gon leapt onto the bed just in case, ripping the object from between the bed and the wall. It was a soft, warm, glowing pillow.

As the pillow turned into a card, Gon smiled widely. He had managed to obtain the Poltergeist Pillow.

Poltergeist Pillow

019 A - 13

Sleep on this pillow, and your astral form will be able to wander at will, but you will turn into a real ghost if you do not return to your body within 24 hours.

Hopefully, nothing else would scare him on his way out. Leaving the room, he walked around hoping to find Killua downstairs.

"~"

Killua was starting to get annoyed. Door after door, room after room, the pillow was nowhere to be found. And just because a room spawns with a bed, doesn't automatically mean the pillow he finds on the bed is going to be the one he's looking for.

The haunted house isn't helping.

Every room has some form of scaring tactic that is randomised on entry.

From creepy children's voices to the occasional moving object. He's even been shoved a couple of times.

As the bed creaked, shifting along the floor, he had enough. Grabbing the side, he went to shove it through the wall. But that's when his eyes caught something glowing.

There was something underneath the bed.

For once, the ghosts were helping him.

He looked underneath the bed, half expecting a pair of eyes to be looking at him, or at least the remains of a body. But there was nothing of that sort.

There was a pillow right up against the wall, glowing faintly. He stuck his hand underneath the bed, but unfortunately, it was out of reach.

Killua crawled underneath the bed, reaching out for the pillow. He grasped onto the edge, smiling from finally being able to reach it. Finally…

Pulling it towards himself, he was greeted by the voice of someone calling his name "Killua?"

His naming being called out of nowhere caused him to jump, banging the back of his head against the underside of the bed, "Fuck! Ow…"

"~"

When Gon walked into a room he heard shuffling coming, he wasn't expecting anything to be in the room, just another ghost moving objects around.

But as soon as he walked in, he was greeted by something he wasn't expecting.

Killua's backside was poking out from underneath a bed, legs spread and his butt swaying from side to side as though he were wiggling to try and reach something underneath the bed.

"Killua?"

A loud bang followed, along with the sounds of Killua cursing. He wiggled out from underneath the bed, a pillow in his hand and his other rubbing the back of his head, "Can you warn me next time Gon? Jeez…"

"The house does keep you on edge, doesn't it."

"No. But hearing my name out of nowhere would." As much as he wanted to be upset, he couldn't. He finally got the pillow, "Check it out!" The pillow turned into a card, a puff of billowing smoke emitting from his hand "I got a pillow."

"Me too!" Gon showed his card, "That makes two."

"Nice!"

"You think the others got a card too?"

"Raphael did say at minimum two would spawn Maybe we were the only ones to get lucky."

"~"

Raphael opened another door, expecting to find an empty room. But he was greeted by Bisky looking underneath the bed.

Rather than jump scaring her, he let his presence be known to her.

"Raphael? Are you done checking upstairs?"

"Yeah, I got the worst luck. Kitchen, pantry and an office? You?"

"Library, study, a couple of bedrooms and a children's room."

"Did you check the children's room? A pillow always spawns there."

"No. I took one look and noped out of there. Now you tell me?" Bisky pressed her hands against her hips, clearly annoyed at the news. She could've found a pillow, if she walked into the creepy child's room.

"You didn't like me dropping hints. Where is it?"

The older woman sighed. The kid was right. Had he said something about the child's room, and it was Killua or Gon who ran into the room, it would've been an easy score for them. She held up her hand, pointing in the direction of the room, "I'll lead the way."

"~"

Raphael made his way into the room, the door slamming shut behind him. He wasn't scared in the slightest, but that didn't stop the chill from running down his spine.

The giggling of children erupted around the room, Bisky now bagging her hand against the door "What's going on?"

"Creepy children, the usual. Don't break down the door, the ghosts can't hurt me." He made his way further into the room, the head and eyes on the dolls following him around.

He stopped at the bed, looking underneath it.

Dolls were lined up, staring him directly in the eyes. He peeked over the heads to see if anything was hidden. Nothing was behind the dolls.

He stood up to look at the drawers, pulling each one open. Besides there being a wave of dust erupting from the closed drawers when he opened them, there was nothing inside.

He looked at the dolls, the way they stared at him. He picked one up, their lifeless body lying limply in his hand.

"Will you play with us?"

"No. Where's the pillow?"

He was met with silence, the doll continuing to look at him. He put the doll back down, "If you tell me where the pillow is, I can free your soul from this house. Deal?"

All the dolls remained static, staring only at him. He thought he would have to play a game of hide and seek, but it turns out one of the dolls was on his side. It pointed at a wall. The other dolls' heads twisted in their direction.

"Thank you…" The boy ran his fingers along the wall, searching for any hidden buttons or latches.

His finger found a wedge. Pressing down on the hollow point revealed a secret compartment on the wall. There in that secret compartment, was one of the pillows.

As he held the pillow, the door unlatched. Now that he was free to leave the room, he swiped the doll that helped him earlier. He made a deal and he wasn't going to break it.

"Why are you holding a creepy doll?"

"Rather than explaining it, I'll show you. Now let's find the others. Hopefully, they were able to get a second pillow."

"~"

They met up with the pair, equally excited about their findings. As they left the mansion, Killua pointed at the doll "Why did you grab that? Weren't we after the pillows only?"

"It's a secret side quest. If you make a deal with a lost soul, and they help you. You must fulfil your end of the bargain." Holding up the doll, he whispered, "Be free…"

The doll faded into dust between his fingers, leaving behind a single card, "And voilà, a Risky Dice. If you help a lost soul leave the mansion, it gives you a random card. It'll never be better than an A-Rank card, but it can give you a spell card like Mug as well. It's all luck-based." Although it was a good card, he was still hoping it'd be one of the ridiculous cards, he was hoping to avoid doing quests for, "It's a shame though. I was hoping to get one of Doyen's or the Witch's cards. Maybe next time. Shall we continue?"

"Training first. Then we continue searching for cards. Killua has a lot of catching up to do."

"Osu!"

A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.