The Present - Hunter x Hunter fanfic

Chapter 14: Upon reaching the torture chambers...

Hunter x Hunter (c) Yoshihiro Togashi

Chapter 14: Upon reaching the torture chambers...

 Killua swiftly made his way down to the dungeons. According to the camera feed, Saori was hanging just outside the torture chamber, above a small river. Killua hastened to open the secret balcony reserved for viewing the torture firsthand. Killua had never been hung there before, but he had seen a victim of the torture. His thin wrists had been marred by the tight shackles that held him. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot. His bones poked out from under his skin. His eye whites had turned yellow. His hair, dark the month before, was gray-white and wrinkles showed all over his face. It was as if he had been replaced by Rip van Wrinkle.

 But Saori wasn't there. Neither was Silva Zoldick. Kurapica sighed. All this trouble for nothing. He should have just continued through Doni-Shi to Ryuusei-gei to search for clues there. He made to turn around and leave, when Killua stopped him.

 'I can sense some Nen. It's just outside the chambers, and its feels like my dad's Nen, except that the Nen is really, well, it's like its not there at all.'

 Gon reached out his En.

 'I feel it too, and it's like a trail leading us from the place. So we should go and-'

 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME GON? IT COULD BE A FALSE LEAD!'

 'Shut up Leorio. Because it is nearly impossible to hide all traces of your Nen once used. Which means...'

 'It's a lead, all right~'

 Leorio stepped backwards.

 'But then, how would you hide your Nen?'

 'Only~ if you have reached your maximum Nen capacity~ I can feel that his Nen is very close, too close to reaching his Nen capacity~ I just don't know why he doesn't do it~'

 Hisoka shrugged, then revealed a fan of cards in both his hands.

 'But... why did Killua's dad use his Nen?'

 'I've never been on that torture device in all my 13 years of life, but I can tell there's something special about it. How about we take a closer look?'

 Killua rested his palm against a stone in the wall, and a secret door slid open, revealing a small stone balcony. Opposite the stone balcony was a brick wall overgrown with moss and vines on the side facing the garden, whereas the side facing the travellers was painted a beige-white. Beige-white, apart from two shackles spaced evenly from each other on the wall, and what looked like fresh blood on and around the shackles.

 'Who here wants to take the bloodstained metal? Bags not it.'

 'Bags not it.'

 'Bags not it.'

 'Bags not it.'

 'Fufufu~ what an honour~ but, before I do this~ someone other than Leorio must support me~ Those shackles are covered in Nen~'

 Kurapica leaned forward to take a better look at the shackles. They were covered in Nen, but there was no Nen coming from the blood... And from experience, Kurapica knew that blood held a lot of Nen.

 'Oh~ Mister Ku-ru-ta~ so kind of you to offer yourself~'

 Hisoka clapped Kurapica on the back, sending Kurapica flying forward, only to be stopped by the railing of the balcony. And this time, when Kurapica turned to see the shackles, they had Hisoka's Bungee Gum on them. But the Bungee Gum was disintergrating.

 'Hurry up, Ku-ru-ta~'

 Kurapica wrapped his Nen around the gum strandsand tugged violently. One of the shackles burst free from the wall, landing with a clatter back inside the room. Kurapica withdrew his chain, and to his horror, it had started to disintergrate: it was almost as if the chains had been pulled into the shackles.

 'Well~ we should keep this shackle~ we can use it as a weapon~'

 'But it's going to suck the Nen out of whoever carries it.'

 'And,' Killua added, 'It's gonna make them look older. You know how if you use Nen for a long time, your body stays younger for longer? Well, I think it's the opposite when Nen is taken away from the body.'

 Leorio and Gon nodded in unison.

 'In that case... let's just try following that Nen trail of your fathers. But before we can do that, do you think you could lead us out of here, Killua?'

 'Yeah, this place IS my house, you know.'

 The group turned to leave the room, Hisoka bringing up the behind. Before he turned down the corridor, he took a suspecting glance at the brick wall which had been closed by Killua. But it was closed no more. Silva Zoldick smashed Hisoka in the face, knocking him out cold. Silva then used his Hatsu, and produced a camera which he sent to the foursome.

 - A camera can take and record memories. Keep them forever. It can also give them back by means of a photo. Memories forgotten are sometimes better off.

 And he erased the foursome's knowledge of Hisoka appearing on the trip.

 Supporting Hisoka using his Nen, he left the room via the balcony, closing the passage behind him.