To Be Free

II

On the outskirts of the village in an abandoned building, six figures gathered around the seventh. The room was dim, few candles lit to provide light. The phantom troupe came to this no-name village in search of the one suspected of holding the title, "Phoenix", the undying. It was rumoured that Phoenix was whimsical and would grant wishes with little to no sacrifices. The information they had bought was correct. As planed the Phoenix walked into their path. You seemed to be in your late 20's but it's recorded you are closer to 3000 years old. The Phoenix is truly whimsical. You almost removed the chain without prompting but changed your mind for one reason or another.

Chrollo flashed an enigmatic smile, it seemed it wasn't the first time they had met. Yes, he recognized that power from years ago, back when the troupe was newly formed. The night of the Kurta genocide. He supposes there are survivors from that night, but he has no lingering interest in the Kurta. The Spiders didn't understand the boss's smile. Chrollo had always been an enigma, even his followers deemed him unpredictable.

"Are we ready to move?" Chrollo asked his companions.

"Yes Boss", Franklin answered.

Using your description they quickly found your current name was Y/N and went under the alias of Phoenix at Heaven's arena. Snarlacks learned your first match on the 200th floor would be in 14 days. They would move then, engage after the match. Chrollo had confidence Hisoka could wear down any opponent. An immortal wouldn't be any different.

"What're you going to do with her?" Even now, Machi couldn't understand what her boss was thinking, "you intend to coerce her to your cause?"

"Coerce?" Chrollo faced her. No, it would be wasteful to merely use the Phoenix, "no I intend to keep her." He rested his chin in his palm, "14 days from now we kidnap the Phoenix", he smiled.

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"Speaking of the Phantom troupe", Bian took another swing of her beer, "word has it. They're here."

Both you and Jane froze. "Please tell me you're joking", You faced Bian. A rare emotion twisted Bian's brow who shook her head seriously. You covered your face with a sigh. If at all possible you'd like to avoid coming into contact with the Spiders.

"They're another reason we came here", Gon added, "a friend of ours has a vendetta with the group. It's rumored they were here so we followed."

"What do they want here?" Jane was understandably confused.

"Some years ago a chain user put a chain around Chrollo's heart. That way he can't use nen", Killua looked to You pointedly, "he's here to find someone who can remove it."

"He thinks Nee-chan can do it?" Hikaru sat back.

A shiver zinged up your spine. "Wait chain?" You stood straight.

"Nee-chan?" Jane watched You pace nervously.

"No he knows I can", you covered your mouth and faced them, "I might have made... I've made a grave mistake."

"What did you do?" Bian sipped her beer. She may seem unbothered but there was a slight quiver in her voice.

"I didn't know he was a Spider!" you hissed before your voice dropped, "he was injured so I thought I'd help..."

"Please tell us you didn't take the chain off", Killua looked uneasy.

"I was about to but I didn't", both boys sighed in relief. You bit your nail, "he didn't look like any spider I've seen..."

"You've engaged the spiders before?" Gon tilted his head.

Your expression twisted. It wasn't regret, but there was some pain in your eyes. "The Kurta... I watched from a distance." Watched wasn't quite the wording but it would suffice.

Killua jumped to his feet, "are you serious?"

"The only reason the Kurta didn't all die out was because of her", Bian pointed to Jane. The boys looked to the slanted eye twin hungry for answers.

"I'll explain that later", You butted in. You relayed the details of the man you saw earlier that morning. In full details even mentioning the bandage around his forehead and the earrings.

Gon nodded, "you met the leader of the phantom troupe Chrollo Lucifer."

"The head of the Phantom troupe knows what I look like", You bemoaned. This was something you desired the least. You sat with a complicated expression. You couldn't predict when they would make their move "Well, it's already decided we'll move", you sighed, "we'll address that when we get to it. Right now these boys take priority."

Killua saw your obvious distress and decided to be kind enough to help out. "Well", he started nonchalantly, "Gon's fought Hisoka before and we've fought alongside him as well."

"Trying to earn brownie points?" You smiled, "knowing is half the battle. What do you got?"

"That guy is really strong and the persistent type", Killua was animated as he spoke and looked so disgusted Hikaru started giggling. "He may be driven by his bloodlust but he's calculating, he reads every opponent well. If you don't want to fight him, he'll give you a reason to."

"Oh goodie", You sighed. The clown will try to get under your skin, great.

"He tells this to every opponent so he'll probably tell you in the ring", Gon licked the icing covered fork, "his nen has properties of both rubber and gum."

"Who does that..." Hikaru was taken aback.

"He does it because winning isn't enough for him", You looked to the boys. They nodded, "I hate this already", you groaned miserably.