Vaejo

Prologue

"Gon, you're pacing again.." Leorio said, frowning in his direction. Gon let out a sigh, rubbing his temples. "Yeah yeah, I know. But-" He hadn't been able to stay still, he couldn't just step back and do nothing could he? "Gon, people are looking for him. They'll find him. You just need to relax and-" Gon's fist clenched and his eyes grew hard, causing Leorio to pause midsentence. "Leorio it has been an entire year with no progress." He said, in a low tone. He felt a hand rest itself on his shoulder, but Gon didn't look up. He just stared at the ground, stubbornly refusing to meet his eyes. It's not possible for him to just vanish with no trace...

"This is Killua we're talking about, he'll be fine." Leorio reassured him, or tried to. Gon couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut. There was just no way. He always made sure to show up for any major event in Gon's life after they split up, even if it was just a phone call, even when he was busy or in the middle of a mission. He wouldn't just forget about Gon's 18th birthday, something was keeping him away.

Everyone had called him crazy and told him he was overreacting when he'd insisted on a search for Killua at first, but Gon had this feeling that something wasn't right. Turns out there'd been no trace of Killua at all in months, the last known trace of him had been 7 months prior when he visited his Aunt Mito to drop off Alluka. He'd said nothing that even hinted to him just falling off the map, or being in any sort of danger. Something just wasn't right.

"But what if he isn't..." There was a long beat of silence, where neither of the two spoke. Gon had gone over and over in his head all the possibilities, racking his brain for clues. Only one thing made sense. "I'm going to Kukuroo mountain." The hand on his shoulder tensed up, then gripped more firmly. "Absolutely not." Leorio said, firmly. Gon turned his head and looked Leorio in the eye, the man hesitated as he saw the resolve in his eyes. "They must've gotten their hands on him, somehow. If you won't go with me, then I'm going by myself." he needed answers. Leorio took a deep breath, then slowly let go of his shoulder. "Don't get yourself killed, Gon."

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Gon didn't even bother taking the bus like he had last time, he'd run the entire way. He might've lost the ability to use his Nen, but he'd never stopped improving his strength. Come nightfall he stood before the large intimidating gates of the Zoldyck Family estate, somewhere he never imagined being again. It might've been years since he'd seen it, but the place hadn't changed one bit. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. He's in there somewhere, he has to be.

Gon might've been stupid and reckless, but he wasn't stupid enough to walk straight into the lion's den. He quickly made his way to Zebro's booth, the old man who he'd met the last time he came. He knew there was no way he could get to Killua from here, but if he could somehow reach Gotoh... "Gon?" Gon's eyes snapped to where the voice came from, Zebro was awake, and very much shocked as he stared at Gon. "I need to talk to Gotoh." He said. "It's important, can you put me on the line with him?" The old man frowned. "Gotoh isn't...with us anymore, I'm afraid."

Gon's grip tightened around his fist. Dammit. "What about Canary?" He demanded. The man sighed. "I could try, but I can't promise you anything." Gon nodded, waiting nearby. Seconds ticked by, and Gon was already getting impatient. "Hurry up." He snapped. The man frowned, he could've sworn he saw a flash of concern in his eyes. "I'm afraid most of the house is asleep, you need to be patient." Gon's teeth gritted, with every minute that passed something horrible could be happening to Killua.

He was broke out of his thought process as he heard a creak, the sound of the massive gates opening. Gon stiffened, eyes riveted on the sight. Its someone strong, almost all the gates are opening. He abandoned the previous attempt to get through to Canary and inched closer, attempting to see who was the one opening the gate. His breath caught in his throat as the figure came into view. Illumi?

A frown creased his lips as he took in the disheveled state Killua's older brother was in, unkempt hair and eyes that looked like they hadn't slept in days. If he was being honest with himself, it was deeply unsettling to see the usually so put together assassin in such a state. Gon couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he didn't much care. His eyes narrowed, and he stepped out of his cover to face him.

Illumi's eyes swiveled over to him as soon as he came into the moonlight. "You...what are you doing here?" Gon turned his hateful gaze on him. "Where is he?" His voice was deep, with a threatening edge to it. Gon wasn't fucking around. One of Illumi's eyes twitched slightly, and Gon could see his hair shifting unnaturally with his bloodlust. His reaction was so extreme, and he felt his rage eb a little as alarm bells started going off in his head at the unnatural behavior. He quickly silenced them in favor of his rage, clenching both fists. "Answer me."

Before his brain could even register any movement, Illumi was on him. He felt a searing pain in his stomach, the assassin had stabbed his hand straight through his body. Gon hacked, blood splattering and spilling on the ground. He was already losing feeling in his extremities, his head was swimming. N-No- Illumi's haunted eyes met his, and Gon would never forget the unhinged expression on his face. "I have no use for you anymore." He pulled his hand out of Gon's torso, his legs wouldn't support him and he hit the ground with a loud thud.

"You want to see my little brother so bad do you? Well then, you can join him in the afterlife."

Shock hit his body as the words Illumi spoke really sunk in. In...the afterlife? Tears welled up in his eyes, the eyes he could barely even see out of. This whole time he was dead...? The icy cold grip of death started sinking in to his body, and he didn't fight it this time. Everything he'd been fighting for, for months, was gone. Killua... His eyes closed, and the beating of his devastated heart slowed, then eventually stopped. As his consciousness slowly slipped from his body, there was only one thing he could think about. I failed...

1158 words

To be continued...