Heaven's Empress ||COMPLETE||

|8| A Match to Remember

|First Person POV|

I resisted the urge to smack myself - why did I feel the need to keep going on and on about the Empress? Hisoka would know that something was up sooner or later. I leaned back and sighed.

The elevator door opened with a ding, and I stepped out. I bumped into a girl - who wore a large hoodie and shorts - that was about 12, and on the 180th floor? Was she lost? I was about to ask, but then stopped myself. I've learned that in Heaven's Arena, the more questions you ask, the more confused you become.

I was going to just let her slide past me, but then I caught the distinctive lilac scent of my purple pills. My eyes narrowed and I spun around. I placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her, but she turned around with a wicked grin and twisted out of my grasp.

"Looking for this?" She held up a bottle filled with purple capsules.

I glared. "Where did you get those?"

"Does it matter?" She stuck her tongue out at me haughtily. "Hey, your next match is me. Maybe defend against five of my attacks and I'll consider giving them back."

I glowered. "Little girl, do you have any idea who you're messing with?"

She edged closer to me and smirked cheekily. "Why, the Empress of course~" She twirled around and was gone.

I snarled under my breath and smashed my fist into the nearby wall; oh, I wasn't just going to fight her - I'll make her suffer, make her beg for forgiveness I'll - fuck! - I'll be late. It turned out that she was headed for the Arena. I sighed, and followed suit.

|::|

"Our next battle is between two beauties~! Give it up for Zel Heika and Ki Hatamei!"

Cheers erupted across the stadium as Ki shot them smiles. She radiated a golden aura, the flaming lights grew brighter as the cheers increased. She blew a kiss at her adoring fans and they ate it right out of her hand, exploding into a frenzy. She turned towards me with a haughty smile.

"Shall we start then?"

The temperature around me dropped to sub-zero, and I finally unclenched my muscles that were taunt from anger. A slow smirk slid onto my face as I looked up with a freezing gaze - she tried to mask it with contempt, but the flicker of fear that ran across her face was unmistakable.

My smile grew as pale ghostly blue flames flickered onto my hands. It was uncommon for people to use nen in battles beneath the 200th floor, but, well... this little thing pissed me off.

She struck, intending to sweep me off the stage with a powerful sweep of her legs. I inhaled deeply and dropped my center of gravity; shifting my weight to the bottom of my legs, I caught her foot as it made contact with my skull. I shot her a savage smirk and encased her right foot in ice.

Applying the slightest bit of pressure, I crushed the cube - shattering ice and bones and blood everywhere. Ki shrieked - but I was not done with her yet. I lifted my right hand, and closing in with the grin of a predator, I set what remained of her right foot aflame in the icy-inferno of my nen.

Her screams of pain told me one thing - she too was but a jockey, a pawn in someone else's game. My eyes narrowed as I swept her body away - who sent her after me, and why?

Ki quickly stammered out her surrender and tried to get away. It was quite an impressive sight, considering that she only had one foot. I chased after her, and intercepted her just as she was about to enter her room.

The door was slamming, but I stuck a foot in between the small opening and forced my way inside. She screamed when she heard the lock engage; she turned around and hobbled backwards. Falling onto her bed, she stuck her hands in front of her face - completely and utterly defenseless.

Pale red flames ignited in my palms as I closed in on her with a feral smile. I sat down on the bed besides Ki as her scream rose to a beautiful crescendo. Then, her scream stopped abruptly.

Ki peeked out from her hands, and saw that my flames this time weren't harming her. The blood quickly stopped from the stub she had, and the cells regenerated. I glanced back up at her and was amused by the quizzical look she had.

"W-why?" She stammered out.

"Hmm?" I asked, focused on healing the girl's leg.

"Why would you help me? I - I stole from you! I tried to kill you -"

I let out a bitter laugh. "You are no where near my level, so don't worry." I ceased my nen flow and nodded approvingly at her new limb.

"Still - I'm your enemy, aren't I? I'm -"

"Merely a pawn. Like me." I smiled sadly. "I know, it's okay. Will you tell me about who sent you after me?"

Ki bit her lips nervously and tugged at her hoodie. Then, as if remembering something important, she ran back to her closet and started digging through it. I stayed where I was, half amused and partly cautious - she wouldn't turn on me, would she?

Ki returned momentarily with various containers of pill capsules in hand. She bowed and shoved them towards me.

"H-here! These are yours."

A faint smile was on my mouth as I answered. "So they are. Did you touch them?"

She shook her head, her dark black hair bouncing. "N-no. He instructed me to use gloves."

"He?" I looked up.

She started to fidget again. I sighed. "I know, it's hard to sell out someone that saved your life."

She stared at me. "How did you -"

"Know? Well, let's just say that he doesn't change his tricks much." I gave her a pointed look. "It was him, wasn't it? He's back?"

Ki nodded, her lower lip trembled. "He said he's coming back to save you. He said -" Her eyes widened, and she let out a frightened gasp. "I- I shouldn't have told you that. He's going to hurt me now -"

I stood up, and dropped the pills back onto her bed. Reaching down, I patted her smooth black hair and ruffled it a bit. "Don't worry kid. He won't be hurting you anymore, not when I'm through with him."

I handed her a key card and instructed with a smile. "Put those pills back where you found them, alright? I trust you can get back without my help. Also, you can stay in that room for now - he won't bother you anymore, I promise."

Ki's eyes quivered with hidden tears, and she reached forwards to engulf me in a hug.

"T-thank you so much!" She ran off, glad to help her new savior.

I stretched, and looked out the window at the setting sun. I suppose, that I've kept him waiting long enough. Time to find this dreadful ex of mine.

|::|

A/N: Hey guys~! I'm almost done with exams, and so updates will be coming at a rapid-fire pace after next week. Are you ready for it? ;)

hype!