WARNING:
This content may be sensitive to some users. Read at your own discretion. Contains violence, gore, and homicidal events.
I leaped out of my chair and dodged Hisoka's grasp, then sprinted out of the tent. Now was the time to run before his trap. In that instant, the joy-filled circus became a death trap for me to stay in as I anticipated it would. But Hisoka's bloodlust oozed too much, pressing against my back. A heavy warning.
Their powers...I can't handle it. I know what he's planning.
I desperately climbed onto the rooftops for a better angle. The night welcomed me with a gentle breeze...but this would be anything but gentle. The roofs of each building were large and flat at different height levels. Easy to get by and escape through though I'd be as exposed as a white rabbit on the road. The naked moon and stars illuminated the city without a blanket of clouds to cast shadows.
Gyo! I sensed something in the air, my eyes scanned my surroundings.
Oh no. From the third act.
It was the small dot of Nen I saw traveling from box to box. Hisoka didn't need to catch up, he had these people after me. But why? To test my strength?
The dot rocketed toward me and I darted the other way, running as fast I could-
BOOM!
I covered my ears in time, but the sound knocked me back. The little dot...it was like a speaker. I didn't have time to completely analyze the situation. Kesem was after me. He was here and I needed to take him out.
The sound still pounded my eardrums, making it hard to concentrate. I couldn't locate him and kept running. But where? Away from here, away from the city where no one would get hurt. Is that dumb of me? Probably. The further I ran, the weaker the sounds became.
It probably has to do with range and is connected to Kesem's distance.
My skin shuddered, sensing someone else nearby. As I leaped over a building, my vision showed a girl about to attack me from behind a chimney. I immediately picked up a rock and flung it at her.
Ko!
She cried out in pain when she jumped out, taking her by surprise. The rock shattered her right hand and she fell to the floor. It was the acrobat from the first act. I sprinted the other way already understanding the danger of her power.
I need Bisky. But I shouldn't put her in danger too.
The acrobat picked herself up and followed behind closely.
It probably activates when she touches me.
"Why are you doing this?" I shouted. I knew she was somewhat exhausted from her act. There was no way she could catch up.
"Don't you know Hisoka?" She surprisingly responded through ragged breaths behind me. Stinging sensations gnawed my skin. I could feel the pain flooding from her, onto me, but my adrenaline barely covered it. What had Hisoka done to instill fear within her?
I imagined Bisky yelling at me, telling me I couldn't protect everyone.
I can't let her get caught in the crossfire. This is between me and Hisoka. Not anyone else.
I stopped on another flattened roof, "What happens if you fail?"
"I don't know...I can't risk it. I can't risk my career!" She ran in to touch me, but I naturally evaded.
"How do you know Hisoka?" I asked her, ducking a punch. This might be my chance to get an advantage over him on the battle.
The girl and I were both agile, her slightly more flexible but weaker in strength. Her movements were quick but lacked in the arm with the broken hand.
"I was told he used to work here." She leaped in the air for kick, but I strayed from physical contact, only evading like Bisky's training. "He was here for only a short time, killed the old ringleader, then left. Everyone told me to do as he said."
I ran away again sensing Kesem on his way.
I knew it. Hisoka was tied to this place.
My head jerked left, Kesem's Nen was already here and I darted in the opposite direction.
"AGHHHHH HELP ME!"
My heart leaped. I looked around. The voice of a little girl, shrieking as if she was about to die.
What-
I covered my ears again. Another blood-curdling scream came from a different direction. Then another. And another. And another. I stopped in my tracks, stunned, as the screams endlessly overlapped each other, and I was sure my ears were bleeding. It wasn't just the volume that shook me, but the realism of it.
And then she tapped me. "Finally..."
My body immediately disobeyed my brain, standing up to mirror her. My head throbbed from a headache, sweat trickling down my skin. The shrieking stopped but my heart kept jumping, unsure who to follow.
Kesem caught up and revealed himself. "Did you think it was only one? My acts truly are art of deception."
The ringmaster also appeared. We were on a roof near the wall of jungle trees. Night speckled above, not letting me cool down. The clouds hid the moon and for a moment I felt lost.
The ringmaster whistled, "You're a wild one. Did you enjoy the show?"
I bit my lip in discomfort. For my body to not be in control...who knows what could happen to me. Was there a way out of this?
"Cherry, keep her steady and hold her towards the floor." The ringmaster said.
Her name is Cherry...
The woman sat on her knees, holding out her wrist and I copied. They tied my hands and feet with a rope.
"How lovely~" Hisoka's daunting voice caught my attention. "So naive you are...you knew I would break you did you not?"
"I won't." I held a firm gaze. Breaking wasn't an option.
"I won't kill you of course. But I could at least break your spirit~" He came towards me. His body shrouded in the same bloodlust I saw last night. Someone about to kill. "You didn't think I'd let you carry out your mission without a scratch now~"
"Kesem," I said ignoring him. He didn't speak but raised an eyebrow at my sudden call. "How- what was the purpose of the rabbit?"
Hisoka narrowed his eyes then crossed his arms and nodded, giving Kesem approval to respond.
"Well, it was just a cover-up for my ability."
Kesem didn't actually reveal his ability, but he didn't have to. The rabbit gave him an excuse to lean into his hat, to whisper into it. That's why he kept the hat off most of the time, his sounds teleported into the floating speakers.
A conjurer. Dangerous and overwhelming. I'll have to catch him off guard.
"It wasn't hard to figure you out," Hisoka continued, "your weakness is clear as day. Even strangers prompted your fear."
Fear? Not possible. I would know if I was scared of something.
"You're wasting your time." I gritted my teeth but winced as the ropes burned my skin. Cherry's subtle movements rubbed harshly against it. Her power released on my neck and head, while the rest of my body sat still, obedient. Hisoka snapped his fingers and the ringmaster created a young woman with pink drabs from his aura, who looked around frightened.
It looks so real...but it isn't.
Suddenly, a dagger shot through her heart, and she wailed of pain, crippling to the floor. My heart constricted, stealing the breath from my lungs as I was struck in horror, unable to move. My eyes would only watch the blood spill from her chest until she stared at me with empty eyes.
I gulped, "W-why do you show me this?"
Hisoka placed a hand on his hip, nodding in approval. "Mmmmm again!~"
A young boy appeared to my left, running away from an attacker. He tripped and fell, leaving him vulnerable. "HELP! Please! Someone!" He shouted covering his face.
Kesem whispered words into his hat. The voice changed into the searing pitch he wanted me to hear. My instincts forced me to move but I couldn't.
I tore my eyes away and squeezed them shut. "Stop..." I muttered under my breath. But the future events played over, and over, and over again.
It's not real.
It's not real.
It's not real.
Something heavy loomed over me, something crawled in my aura as the screams only continued. Screams that my brain wouldn't stop associating with the people in my village. My family. Every little girl I heard could have been the sound of my own sister. Every woman could have been my mother's scream. What did they sound like?
"Please don't do this!" Someone shouted behind me.
"Save me!" Another screamed across.
"Help..." The soft whispers of a kid fell just beside my knees.
I was stuck in a loophole that seemed never-ending and opened my eyes hoping to cease the images but I gasped as pools of blood scattered the roof and lifeless bodies stared into my soul. I kept my gaze glued to the floor in disbelief as the screams grew louder. My hair was still tied back, but strands were sticking to my face from the sweat. I couldn't cover my ears. My body sat motionless, letting my ears ring uncontrollably.
Pain, death, and blood flickered in my peripheral vision, yet I feared I would imagine worse if I closed my eyes again.
It's not real!
It's not real!
It's not real!
My wrists rested on my lap and I found my throat constricting. Every fiber of my muscle wanted to relax, to fall as a crushing weight pressed over my back. I wanted to lay down, I wanted to collapse.
The sounds finally grew quieter, until they stopped, leaving my chest heaving. My senses slowly adjusted to Kesem and the ringmaster. Their auras spiked with heavy guilt, and it waded around in jagged tension.
I kept my head down as Hisoka kneeled by me. "Tell me, how are you feeling inside?~"
I looked at the ground in despair. My throat constricted. The sudden dullness of the atmosphere made me question why I was here. Why I even bothered with the mission, with my power, with Hisoka. Was this his plan...to break my will to save people? Or to simply prompt me to kill him?
Hisoka lifted my head to face him. And again, I felt a tinge of emotion other than bloodlust within him. My eyes trailed his body, disheartened. Because his plan would never work. As long as I had this power, I'm reminded constantly why I have to try. Why I couldn't break.
I slowly met his eyes, "I think you are the one who is broken."
He didn't react, but his shifting aura said it all. His lips slowly widened, shrugging it off. "I didn't think that would be enough anyways~" Hisoka's bloodlust expanded exponentially, and I flinched in surprise. Without my aura in control, his bloodlust surrounded me like a thick fog, trapping blistering heat inside. It consumed everyone's else's body, and it consumed him.
What does he mean by that?
"Mmmmm, how exciting!" His aura shouted. The murderous thrill pricked my skin. His habits were uncontrolled, something he was chained to, and it chased others away.
Then I heard a little girl whimper behind me and I winced.
There's more? Not another illusion-
I held my breath. A knot twisted in my chest so nauseating, I thought I would cripple if not for the acrobat controlling me.
"Leave~" Hisoka commanded, and the two men left in silence.
My heart sped up, hammering against my ribs.
This girl...was real.
"No...Hisoka please don't kill her," I couldn't catch my breath, my eyes bloodshot facing the ground, "D-don't kill her in front of me." I attempted to wiggle out of her grasp.
The little girl that sat next to Hisoka in the circus, stood before me. She was wearing a blindfold, holding herself.
"Who said I was going to kill her?" Hisoka hovered over me with a knife in his hand. He licked the tip then placed it in mine. "Scream for me~"
"HISOKA STOP!" I pleaded. "I didn't...I didn't think you'd go this far. Please!"
This will destroy me. I'd never forgive myself. I'll never take a life. I would never kill. My eyes stung, my vision blurred from tears.
"Mmmm, that defeated look...I c-can't keep it in," Hisoka hunched over, holding his stomach, suffocating deep moans, "Show me more~"
Cherry was also crying next to me.
That's right. It's Cherry who is really killing her. Not only will I lose myself, but she will too.
"Hisoka..." I gasped for air through the heated tension, "Let her go, she has nothing to do with me!" Anger rose to knock him out, to fight him. This was ridiculous.
"It has everything to do with you~" He straightened himself with sunken eyes, his voice quivered with lust. "Give me your wrath~"
I screamed at the top of my lungs, the words scratching my throat, "YOU'RE CRAZY IF YOU THINK I'LL LET THIS HAPPEN!" My emotions overflooded, veins pulsed over my skin. I squeezed my fists, attempting to break from Cherry's Nen, but my hands started raising on their own with the knife pointing out. "Hisoka, please! When I get out of this I'm going to...to-
It doesn't matter anymore. Killing would break me anyways...he doesn't know how far I'm willing to go.
A plan. My necklace, my eyes, swarmed with humming energy from the moon. "It's not happening again." I bared my teeth and enhanced my Nen, clinging to sheer desperation. Cherry's Nen surrounded me...but her broken hand. Her Nen slightly weakened in that area and weakened on me.
Ko!
I focused every ounce of Nen into my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. My arms stopped moving but shook precariously, fighting against her grip.
I growled, releasing the rest of my energy. The moon was almost full, its power surging through me. But the knife plunged forward, and I sucked in a sharp breath as it stopped just against the little girl's dress. My fingers twitched violently to turn the knife away.
No, no. J-just...a little...more!
At the peak of tension, the Nen snapped only from my hands, hearing Cherry cry out in pain. I immediately turned the knife inwards, away from the little girl but towards myself, then attempted to cut the ropes. My body was still manipulated but I was halfway through. My eyes burned to end this stunt, almost there. I felt Hisoka's aura waver, he was distracted while the little girl trembled. Would this be enough? The rope thinned, about to snap. My muscles were on fire as the knife pushed toward the girl. My entire body screamed on edge, pulling the knife back to finally slash through.
Pull, pull, pull!
But at the last attempt, all of the Nen around my body deactivated, and the knife drove into my stomach.
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