Two Rivers: Beginnings

CHAPTER 16: Loss X Spider X Freedom

That very same night, Kurapika found himself in utter despair. Happy, relieved, shouts made him feel the opposite of whoever emitted them.

"THE SPIDERS ARE ALL DEAD! We found their bodies!"

Those words echoed in his brain, as if trying to make sense of them.

It was just a little after the incredible outbursts of aura when he heard of the announcement. It was so odd..., just how much despair he felt. To be truthful, it felt almost humiliating.

Kurapika knew it was a selfish thought, but it didn't change the plethora of emotions that surged though him.

After all, it was his sole purpose on living. And now it was all but gone. And... he barely did anything.

Those were his last thought as his mind went blank, and his legs brought him to who-cared-where. Dawn came and he found himself on a random rooftop he didn't remember climbing. He stared, sighed, and shed invisible tears.

It felt like a long time until his consciousness started to return... but when he felt a ring- it was like his mind was suddenly forced back to his brain. As if it was some sort of liquid floating around with the adjacent wind.

He realized that it was his phone. It signalled a message. His hand mechanically lifted it up to eye level and, Kurapika, seeing who it came from made him remember the words she uttered not too long ago.

"We'll be waiting for you."

And as if sensing he forgot, she messaged him again. Only this time with a specific location to make things easier for him.

"We'll be waiting for you at the park, around 8am if you're not too busy. See you~! XD"

And Kurapika could only smile.

Eyes abruptly opened, revealing bright blue orbs that just came from the land of dreams.

"hmn..." she uttered involuntarily as she stretched her arms as far as they could go. She wiped the lethargy away and looked around her room, eyes soon ending up on her classical and very expensive clock that hung on her wall.

6:30am

She frowned. She never even bothered looking at that clock before, since she always had the luxury of taking her time and being fashionably late. She wondered why her eyes were staying there, suddenly very interested in the ticking hands that signified something temporal like a person's life.

She seemed to have woken up a little earlier than usual that day, too, but since she probably wouldn't be able to sleep anymore she called Eliza and the others.

Remaining in her bed, Neon waited for her ladies-in-waiting to ready her bath and clothes and her mind started wondering about uncharacteristic things.

She recalled her conversation with the mysterious raven-haired man, primarily because of her sudden interest with something insignificant like the time. They, she and the man, had opposite philosophies about spirit. He even said he was fond of accomplishing what the dead wished to. She didn't understand it at the time, and even now she didn't.

And now he was dead, like everyone else would be eventually.

She frowned at a remembrance of a picture. She collected body parts, so the body didn't quite creep her out. There was a twinge of disappointment that she was never going to see him again, but then she mused that she could always collect a body part or something.

But Neon was not (that) stupid, there was a reason they let her see a picture of him dead. She confirmed that he was, indeed, the man who took her inside. They never said anything else, even when she asked. They had been especially defensive and she was extremely annoyed that they were refusing her, Neon Nostrade's, wishes.