Shuffle The Deck

Chapter 22 - Omen

"One...two...three..."

Her hands swayed with her body in a slow manner, ending in a clasped gun position. She took a deep breath and drew all her aura into her glossed fingertips. With a focused inhale, she made the aura denser, and with the exhale, she snapped open her eyes.

In one blast, she aimed it at the sky, a huge cloud of white surrounding the entire forest. She clasped her palms against each other, panting heavily. The snow was coming down at a fast pace, and she quickly took one more breath.

"And, release!"

Instead of the snow raining down on her like all the previous times, all that surrounded her was a thick mist, covering the whole forest for about one hundred meters. Her face went from terrified to ecstatic, and she stared with accomplishment at her feat. She had mastered a new technique, along with an upgrade to her ice braces, and a secret weapon only to be revealed in her battle. This mist was only active for five minutes, which was more than enough time. It was only a cover for attacking, but could easily be seen through by using Gyo. She had the idea of releasing the mist only near the middle of their battle, or when Hisoka was gaining the upper hand. It was not only a diversion, but a place where she could attack his blind spots.

"Hey, DJ!"

Lilah looked behind her, dissolving the mist with a small snap of her fingers. It fell to the ground, sinking into small water puddles all around the forest. She grinned as she saw the two boys walking up to her, Gon ecstatic and Killua looking extremely bored.

"Oh, hey you two. Been training hard I see?"

"Mhm! We've been practicing Water Divination with Mr. Wing, and he just let us out for a few minutes," Gon explained, quite happy.

"That's good to hear. I'm happy you two have been working hard." She tousled their hair softly, making Killua try to pull away with a huff. "Not a kid anymore, y'know."

Gon picked his head up. "Oh right, you have your fight with Hisoka tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, I do. Are you both coming?"

"Obviously. It's a no-brainer," Killua scoffed, making Gon laugh a bit.

"Yep, he said it! We'll both be there, along with Zushi and Mr. Wing. They said they wanted to see you in an actual fight with a skilled opponent, so..."

She clasped her hands together, overjoyed. "That's a relief. I thought I might have to buy you guys tickets to my own match today!"

Gon grinned broadly and looked around at all the puddles. "Oh, right. You also knew Nen before the Hunter Exam, right?"

She nodded. "You want to know my type, right?"

"We're curious," Killua blankly stated.

Lilah laughed softly, holding her hand out to the two boys. A swirl of snowflakes appeared, turning into a small geyser, and dissolving into cold snow in her hand.

"I'm a Transmuter. My aura can turn either rigid, or cold, and then to a frozen texture, basically snow. It's not too impressive, to begin with, but once I began training and developing my skills, it became pretty powerful. I have a few new things I'm going to try during the battle, so pay close attention. Also, don't forget to use Gyo, okay?"

Killua and Gon nodded, watching her form an ice dart in her hand. "A little snippet of what you may see," she began, pointing to a tree a few meters away. With a small wind-up, she threw the projectile through the air, and it landed on the bark. Ice fractals erupted around it, turning the entire tree into a frozen sculpture. With a brush of her hands together, the ice dissolved into the snow, and then cold water.