Lost Time Memory [HxH]

2| Meteor & Stars

They went on foot and the journey was extremely quiet. Shizuku and Phinks walked in front, leaving Chalice and Feitan at the back.

She periodically adjusted and shifted her scarf's position. Her eyelids half covered her eyes to the point that it made her look like she was getting sleepy.

"Chalice, don't mind him" a blonde boy reassured with a pat on her shoulder. "He's concerned... WE'RE concerned about you"

She nodded to show that she understood, her attention glued to their leader's leaving figure.

The blonde followed her gaze, a smile carving on his lips. "Don't worry. It's your plan and I promise you I'll look after him"

He ruffled her hair and jogged towards the raven-haired man while waving back at her.

She combed her hair and sat down, her back leaning on a boulder. She started plucking the petals off a flower to kill some time until she eventually heard some hooves.

Chalice leaned forward on a medium-sized stone in front of her to gaze at the canyon underneath.

"Quit spacing out" Feitan snapped at Chalice, pulling her away from her reverie.

She gave a small nod before she adjusted her scarf once again while her mind started to buzz with a few curses.

When she tried to recognize where she was, Chalice didn't have a clue what the place was.

It almost look liked a desert to her, minus the sand dunes because she just can't find any.

"What is this place?" she asked herself. Trash was everywhere but to her surprise, in that dark atmosphere, children littered the place with bright smiles that rivaled the place.

Chalice decided to place her attention to the children who seem to be playing 'tag'. Some would climb on heaps of scrap to escape the 'it' and run away with glee on their faces.

"It would be nice to be a child again" she thought, a frown printed on her face.

Chalice felt someone brush past her and realized it was just a little girl with strawberry blonde hair who was also playing the game.

For a minute, the two of them were lost in eye contact, both oblivious that both of them stopped walking/running.

"Tag your 'it'!" a raven-haired boy tapped the girl on the shoulder before he sprinted a few meters away from her.

The boy's interference broke their gazes on each other and proceeded to whatever they were doing.

Even if Chalice looked forward, she still felt the gaze of the child upon her and she was worried for some unknown reason.

Did she even know the child?

"She's a hardheaded girl alright" Phinks' voice pulled her away from her thoughts.

"Probably talking about me again" Chalice sighed internally. She realized she was at the foot of a building which was most likely where her brother lived with her escorts.

Stepping inside, Chalice kept a passive look instead of looking for her brother.

She wasn't in the mood of meeting him or even her parents, if they are even alive.

"Where's the boss?" Shizuku inquired.

"Left a while ago with Pakunoda" Nobunaga replied.

"Why?" Shizuku asked once again but Shalnark gestured at her to silence.

Chalice ticked her tongue in annoyance in an almost silent manner. "Just how cliche should this get?"

"How about some introductions to start with?"

Not all of the members of the Phantom Troupe were present so the only ones who introduced themselves were Phinks, Shizuku, Nobunaga, Feitan and Shalnark.

A fight broke between Phinks and Nobunaga during the intro which Shizuku and Shalnark tried their best to end while Feitan stood there with an emotionless look.

"C-Chalice, was it?" Shalnark asked while scratching the back of his head before patting on his clothes to remove the dust. "Did you get what we all said?"

Chalice's head was looking elsewhere. When she felt their stares, she turned to look at them.

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And plugged out her earphones.

"Were you saying something?" Chalice asked in a monotone voice.

Behind Shalnark, Chalice could almost make out hell fire brewing.

She missed the introductions.

Before anything bad could continue, Shizuku asked Feitan to take her to her room.

"You're a bad liar" Feitan told her while they got far from the others.

"Shut up" Chalice was about to wear her earphones when Feitan interjected, "You're not even listening to anything"

"How can you be so sure?" she asked with a vein popping on her head. She couldn't stand him any longer.

"I can sort people whether they lie or speak the truth" Feitan responded. "You're lucky I didn't have to torture you to get some answer out of you"

"Why didn't you?" Chalice muttered and thought to herself, "It would actually better if he killed me"

Without warning, she slammed the door behind her as soon as she entered the room. Chalice slumped her back on the door and sat on the floor, her arms hugging her legs closer to her chest and start bawling her eyes out.

Chalice didn't manage to count the curses she spat in her head, words that started to belittle her existence, and how she didn't have time for all of this.

Everything happened so fast, she thought.

Raising her head up, she felt the cool evening breeze and noticed the window open. Wiping tears off and removing the wet hair all over her face, Chalice stood up and walked slowly towards the window sill.

As soon as her eyes gazed on the roofless heavens, the stars blinked down on her and she was just in time to see the meteor shower.

Chalice fingered the end of her scarf while taking in the redness it had.

"I am so sorry"

Out of the corner of her eye, the little strawberry blonde girl watched Chalice from her make-shift house.

"Why is she with them?"

The girl pondered about it and thought she needed to tell him about her whereabouts.

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Sorry for the short chapter. There's just no other way of making it longer. I do hope you like it and of course, continue reading and supporting this book.

Edited: 8/30/2016