Riza Chronicles: Book 1

All of the Dead Ends

Kurapika's "idea" consisted of a whole lot of research. It was a better plan than anything that the others could think up --minus the meeting with the perverted clown-- but it still seemed a bit anticlimactic to Riza. Still, she couldn't complain. Anything that would help her regain her memories was immediately welcomed. 

Killua, Gon and Leorio were sent to the library in order to gather anything that they could. The internet was covered in information, so even uncaptioned pictures of her or her comatose friends would help out a ton. Riza and Kurapika were to visit the journalists who wrote any articles on her or her friends. If anything, they came out with less information than they had started with. Any leads on the Phantom Troupe were immediately considered null; as they lead only to dead ends or were faked in the first place. 

It was a little past noon when Riza requested that they take a break. Her feet hurt from walking, and her throat burned from talking, as well as fighting back the knot that had stayed formed in it. 

The duo ended up stopping at a nearby cafe, both ordering sandwiches and some sort of cool drink. Riza sat slouched at their chosen table; her mask clutched in her hands. She kept looking over its surface as if it's drawn on mouth would open at any moment and tell her everything that she needed to know. 

Why did she have this thing, anyways? 

"Why do I feel like we're just running in circles..." She murmured. 

Letting out a small yawn, Kurapika leaned back in his seat. "Because we are. Hopefully, the others managed to find something useful, otherwise..." 

"Yeah... I know." 

At the edge of her vision, the girl could see Kurapika looking at her as if he was analyzing her very being. "What about you, Riza-san?" He questioned. 

"Me?" 

"Yes, you." The blond nodded. His face scrunched up in a way that made him look like he was deep in thought. "I have left you alone for the most part in respect of your privacy. However, we are running out of leads. Even if we were to try to hunt down the Phantom Troupe... Well... That's a more difficult task than finding an infamous book in a library. And when we were on the train, you seemed convinced that someone was calling your name." 

Oh yeah... That happened. A bit embarrassed that Kurapika hadn't just brushed that awkward moment aside like a normal person would, the bluette shifted her gaze to the side. It had just been a dream, hadn't it? But, the voice had sounded so similar to her brother's... Could it have been some sort of memory? Or something else? 

The 'something else' approach was a bit of a creepy one to consider. 

Still keeping her gaze far from focusing on her new companion, Riza awkwardly placed her mask back on the side of her head. And, drawing in a deep breath, she began explaining her dreams. How sometimes she would wake up hearing a voice calling for her to "wake up", while others seemed to be snippets of memories. She even went as far as confessing what she had seen back at the library. Just remembering that one "vision" made her chest tighten up. It had been so vivid, so realistic. 

Riza could recall every little detail of that moment. The smell of burning rubber, and the metallic stench of blood. The heat, and the splitting headache as her head crashed into the steering wheel. She could remember the shattering of glass and the horrified screams surrounding her. Then, silence. 

Darkness. 

"You were in a crash?" Kurapika questioned. 

"Yes...?" Her response was slow and hesitant. Had she been in a crash? She didn't have any scars from the event, or a limp leg or anything else. The girl was walking fine, she could move all of her limbs without any pain. But with the amount of pain that she had felt in that moment, it seemed like there should be some sort of trace on her that reminded her of it. "No...? I'm not sure. I mean, I am. But... I'm not." 

The Hunter didn't press for anymore information. Instead, he ended up taking out his phone. Within seconds, someone on the other end picked up. "Gon!" Kurapika spoke up. "Can you check something else for me....? Yes, it has something to do with Riza... No, we haven't found anything on the Spiders. Can you check past news articles and medical reports to see if she was ever in a previous accident? Specifically a car crash?" 

A stone seemed to drop into her stomach. "What does that have to do with anything?" Riza pressed. 

Hanging up the phone, Kurapika shrugged. "At this point, anything about your past might help." 

That seemed like a logical opinion. However, her mind immediately jumped to one fairly frightening option. It had been one that had only been brought up once, but it still freaked her out a bit. 

"...Does 'anything' include the clown?" 

"Unfortunately." 

{... Hi}