Le Clown Rose

2!

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"Opal, are you awake?"

The floor the young girl laid on was cold and hard to the touch. Sometimes, when she had an exceptionally good performance, Karl would give her a pillow to rest her head on at night. Most nights she slept on the floor by his bed, however.

Her baby pink eyes were already wide open, but she pretends to be asleep when she hears her master's voice.
"Mmm. Come on, I know you're awake." He grumbles, clicking the lighter up to the cigarette in his mouth while nudging her small back with his foot.
"Get up. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Opal stayed still for a few seconds before finally getting up, turning her hollow-cheeked face towards Karl as he smoked a cigarette.
He grabbed the 6 year old girl by the arm, forcefully pulling her up onto her feet to lead her outside the circus tent.
The two walk side by side amidst the other entertainers, the early morning sun barely rising enough to illuminate the field in a soft, white light.

Karl comes to a halt once they reach a couple of men, both knelt down on either side of a small boy between them. Opal couldn't get a good look at him just yet, but he looked like he was around the same age as her, maybe a few years older.
Her large, baby pink eyes widened in surprise. She never met anyone around her age, being raised in the circus for as long as she could remember.

"How's the boy?" Karl asks, keeping one hand wrapped around Opal's small wrist while the other smoked a cigarette.
"He's alright. He'll be fine." Says the other man, standing up from his crouching position. He glances down at Opal but pays her no mind before looking at Karl.
"You sure you wanna take him in? He's one of those mute ones, you gotta beat him if you wanna get a word out."

While the adults spoke, Opal marveled at the sight of the young boy sitting on the ground. He had multiple open wounds on his cheeks and arms, but his expression was completely unreadable.
When his bright, golden eyes flickered towards Opal, she softly gasped and looked away.

"Yeah, I'll take care of 'em. This one's not making us much money." Karl grumbles under his breath, puffing out a cloud of smoke towards Opal as he tugs her arm.

She squirms slightly in response before he violently shoves her away, spewing out a few insults before returning his attention to the man before him.

Opal stumbled a bit, a painful gasp escaping her throat as she fell on the floor right beside the young, magenta haired boy.
She sat up right quickly and rubbed her small head, a pained groan emitting from her before she notices the boy staring at her.
Her eyes widen, her hand pausing its caress on her head as she lifts her head up to look at him.
"Hi." Opal mutters shyly after a few seconds of silence pass between them. The boy simply stares at her in response.

"Are... are you okay?" She squeaks out, her large eyes flickering across the wounds on his face.
The boy does not respond.

"Well... it sounds like you're going to be joining us. I hope we can be friends!" 

The boy does not respond.

Opal swallowed a small lump that formed in her throat, her briefly excited eyes softening to a somber disappointment. She holds eye contact for a few more seconds before sighing and standing up.
"Well. I guess I'll see you around."

As she turns to walk back to Karl, cold fingers suddenly reach up to grab her hand.
She snaps her head back to the boy, her eyes widened in surprise to see his hand holding hers firmly.
"Hisoka."
The boy whispers his name. His wide, sunny golden eyes twitching slightly when he spoke.

Opal stares at him, her jaw dropping down. Her features quickly soften as she kneels down in front of him, holding his hand between her small, soft palms.
"I'm Opal. Let's be friends, Hisoka."

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"Oi, are you going to finish her off or not?"

The world around Opal seemed to stop. A sea of dead bodies surrounded the once lively stage, the air around her felt deadly silent.
Amidst the massacre surrounding the troupe, blood painted across the benches and staining the wooden stage floor crimson, Uvogin stood in front of Hisoka with a grim gaze in his hazel eyes as they trailed down to the pretty pink clown in his comrade's hands.

Hisoka panned down to look at Opal, his wicked smirk curling further upwards at the sight of her shivering in his grasp. He follows the direction her head was turned to where her old master, Karl, lied dead on the floor.
"No," He muses softly, bringing his attention back down to Opal.
"I'd like to keep her alive for a tad longer. If the boss doesn't mind, of course."

The troupe members share puzzled looks with one another, Hisoka's wishes going directly against Chrollo's orders.
"Do you do anything other than waste time?" Shizuku quips in, pulling herself up onto the stage after collecting as much dead bodies as she could.
"Her head was requested. Keeping her alive is a direct opposition of the boss's orders."

"I suppose I'll just have to convince him."
Hisoka's words came out softer than a whisper, fingers twirling her perfectly styled hair.
"Ridding the world of her Nen powers would only be wasteful. I'm sure he'll agree."

♠️♣️❤️♦️

The troupe members knew better than to fight Hisoka whenever he developed an interest in someone. What he wanted, he got. Arguing with him always proved to be futile, even a coin toss always ended up in his favor.

Opal was uncharacteristically quiet during the car ride back to the base. Her hands were bound together using Hisoka's bungee gum. She didn't even need to use Gyo to know they were there.
She was cornered in the backseat, her horrified wide eyes staring straight ahead as her living nightmare sat beside her. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, Opal's dream was shredded into nothing. A circus team that she fought tooth and nail to build alongside her useless master, all dead in one night.

"Hey, Hisoka. How are you going to convince the boss of anything when your little friend barely looks alive?"
Uvogin comments from the passenger seat of the car, glancing at the rear view mirror to see Opal shivering in the backseat like a wet cat.

"Yeah. I don't think she's going to snap out of shock soon." Shizuku mutters from the drivers seat, momentarily turning her head around to glance at the pink clown.

"You know, she kind of looks like you, Hisoka. Similar face paint and hair colour. Are you guys related?"

Hisoka peaks at the pink clown after he had been peering out the window. An unreadable expression washes over his sharp features.
"No. Perhaps it's just a lucky coincidence."

Opal didn't know if his feigned ignorance was supposed to make her feel better or not. So far, all she could feel was pure, unadulterated fear in his presence.
She dreaded the day she would have to face Hisoka again. No one in their cruel world ignited fear in her heart the way he did, she made it a point to never cross paths with him again.
It seemed her luck was running out.

"Mmh. Alright. Maybe the boss will like her magic tricks, he's eccentric like that."
Shizuku responds simply, turning her head back towards the road.

"Well..." Hisoka leans in closer towards Opal's head to whisper in her ear.
"Let's hope she snaps out of it soon and gives him a show."
He presents her with a subtle warning, his final attempt at protection.

(credit for young Hisoka art goes to @moose_ung on Twitter!)