~Chapter Nineteen : Saving Our Dear Friend~
~Start~
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You were all now inside of an airship traveling to a country called the Republic of Padokea. Gon was looking out of the window, with his eyes blank and seemed spaced out. Leorio and Kurapika has gone somewhere to buy snacks while you were just sitting next to Gon.
You hugged your knees to your chest and looked at Gon. He seems to be in a deep thought, probably thinking of his dear friend, Killua.
You grew kinda worried for Gon as you saw his unhappy face. It's really unusual to see him like this, you wanted to cheer him up.
"Killua..." Gon called out and leaved his mouth open.
At the same time, Kurapika and Leorio came back with potato fries and sodas. You smiled and grab one piece of potato fry from Leorio and insert it to Gon's open mouth.
Gon looks suprised as he felt a potato fry entered his mouth. He looked at you as you giggled.
"Don't worry, Gon! We'll save Killua!" You cheered him up. "We're his friends after all! We'll see him soon!"
Leorio and Kurapika nodded in agreement as they sat down across from the both of you. Gon smiled at you and widen his mouth to eat the potato fry you gave him and looked back at the window but this time with a smiling face.
"Yeah! Definitely!"
**********
Finally, you all reached the region of Dentora of the republic of Padokea, the country where Killua lives. You were all currently riding a train to arrive at this Kukuroo Mountain. Then, upon looking at the window, you all saw a glimpse of the mountain.
"There it is." Leorio stated. "The top of that mountain is where the family of assassins lives? It looks really creepy..."
"Yes." Kurapika said. "Once we arrive, we'll start by gathering informations about the mountain."
Leorio nodded. "Okay."
**********
Once you did arrived, you all went to a nearby person and asked about where the direction the mountain is.
"Kukuroo Mountain?" The woman said. "In that case, you should take the scenic mountain tour bus over there. The tour only runs once a day but it should give you a guide." She said and pointed to a bus.
You all followed what the woman said and ride the bus. There's a bunch of other people in the bus but not enough to make the bus full. Infront of the bus was a orange-haired woman that seems to be the tour guide.
"Okay..." The girl started. "Thank you for taking the Lamentation tour today. We will be visiting the Kukuroo Mountain. The home of the famous Zoldyck family assassins."
"Look." You heard Leorio whispered to Kurapika.
You looked behind you and saw them looking at the tough-looking guys on the back seat.
"They're obviously not tourists..." Leorio said.
"Yeah..." Kurapika agreed
"Everyone?" The tourist guide called. "Please look at your right."
You looked to your right and found the famous Kukuroo Mountain. Your and Gon's eyes shined with amazement as you both looked at it.
"That is Kukuroo Mountain, where the Zoldyck family lives." The tourist guide said. "A forest surrounds the 3,722 meter-high mountain. The Zoldyck estate is somewhere around that mountain, but no one has ever actually seen it."
"The Zoldyck family consists of ten members," The girl continued. "A great-grandfather, grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and all other five childrens. All of them are assassins!" She said. "Then, let us approach the mountain."
You looked behind you and sweatdropped when you saw Kurapika's eye twitch as he was struggling to the sleeping Leorio.
**********
You all didn't really come closer to the mountain, the bus just stop infront of a large gate with dragon statues. The gate was unsually large. It has 7 doors that is getting bigger and bigger.
"That's really something..." Leorio said.
"This is the front gate of the Zoldyck estate." The tour guide said as people began taking pictures everywhere. "Also known as Door to Hades. Because no one who've entered has ever returned alive."
"To enter, you must pass through the door besides the security checkpoint." The guide said. "But the area beyond the gate is private property so we can't proceed."
"Hold on!" Leorio yelled. "This is the front gate!? But the mountain is all the way up there!"
"Correct..." The guide said. "The Zoldycks own the Kukuroo Mountain, as well as the surrounding land."
"This whole area is their backyard?" Leorio said.
Gon turned to the guide. "Hey, Guide-san..." Gon said and pointed to the gate. "What do we have to do to go inside?"
The guide smiled, unusual smile. "Little boy...Were you listening to my explanation?" She asked.
Gon nodded. "Uh-huh..." He said as he looked at the gate. "But..."
"If you enter inside, you'll never get out alive!" She yelled. "The assassins live inside!"
"That's all sham." You all heard someone said. You all looked to see the tough-looking guys earlier inside the bus.
"A family of assassins that no one has ever seen before." One said.
"Just a photo of their faces worth a hundred million." One with a large sword.
"Seriously!?" Leorio yelled as You, Gon and Kurapika sweatdropped at him. "Damn! I should've taken a bunch of photos of Killua!"
"It's just another case of rampant rumors masking a mandant truth." They said as they walked towards the security guard.
The big guy one ripped open the door and grab hold of an old man, which you assumed to be the security guard. "Open the door!" The guy said.
"I can't do that..." The old guy said. "Master will not be pleased..."
The guy with the sword smirked at him. "Don't worry." He said. "We're gonna kill your master."
The old guy sighed and handed him the key. The big one quickly grabbed the key from him and threw him from the side. The two of them proceeded to enter the door.
You and Gon quickly ran to help the poor old man. "Are you okay!?" You and Gon exclaimed as you both kneeled down to help him.
"Yeah..." The old guy said and looked at the door and sighed. "Man...Now, Mike's gonna have a double meal again..." He said, making Gon and you confuse.
Then, you all heard a loud scream of the two guys. It lasted for about 5 seconds until everything became silent. Then, the door opened slightly, all of you prepared what to see.
Then, the next thing appeared sended shivers down your spine. A skeleton, a human skeleton with the clothes of the two guys. Their skull both have cracks in it.
Then, a giant fury hand appeared and was the one holding it, the hand threw down the skeleton, making it the bone fly in different places.
The tourist and the guide all screamed in terror and quickly ran inside the bus.
"Man...Mike's only supposed to eat in assigned times..." The old man said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Mike! Don't blame me if you get fat!" He yelled.
"What was that?" Kurapika said.
"Don't know..." Leorio said and stared at the door.
"Hey, the four of you!" You all turned around and saw the guide, waving a flag. "Hurry up and get on the bus!" She yelled.
You and Gon stood up, smiling. "Ah, no, we're okay! You can all go!" You yelled.
"Yeah! We're gonna stay here!" Gon yelled.
The guide only widen her eyes in shock and confusion.
**********
Sun was now about to set, you and the others was inside the security guard's office who was serving a tea for the three of you. You all explained why you all came here.
"I see..." The old man said as he pour tea on a cup. "So you're young master Killua's friends..."
"I'm happy, I worked here for twenty years but this is the first time that any friends have come to visit." He said as he lay the tea down on the table infront of you.
He sat down on a chair across from all of you. "Since I work here, I shouldn't say these things to you but it's rather lonely here. No one ever came to visit." He said and pointed to the trash can where the skeleton of the two guys is located behind him. "Though we see people like that."
"It's pretty unsual to have a family of assassins but there's always a price to pay." He said and bowed. "I'm happy that you all visited, Thank you."
"Don't mention it..." Leorio said.
"However, I cannot let you inside." He said. "Didn't you see the large arm of the creature back then? It's name is Mike, it serves as the Zoldyck family's watchdog." He said. "It obeys everything the Zoldyck family say and will attack anyone else. The beast still follows order of it's master ten years ago. To kill every single intruder."
The old man scratched his head. "But, technically he isn't following order anymore because he keeps eating them..." He said and laughed
Your eyes shined with excitement and your cheeks blushed. "Watchdog!?" You exclaimed, making everyone looked at you suprised. You looked up, dreamingly. "I've always wanted to see how different a watchdog is to a normal dog! Uwaah! This is so exciting! I want to see it!" You squeled.
"I can't let you inside no matter how excited you are to see the watchdog." He said, making your shoulder fell down in disappointment. "I wouldn't want young master Killua's friend to turn into skeletons." He said and drink his tea.
"Sir, how come you are safe?" Kurapika asked, making the old man looked at him. "You go inside, correct? If you never needed to enter, you wouldn't have to have a key with you."
The old man smiled. "Quite perceptive of you...But you're only half right." He said and took out a key. "I require no key yo get inside, this key is for intruders."
"Key for intruders?" Leorio asked.
"For some reason, eighty to ninety percent of intruders attempted to use the front gate." He said. "If I don't give them the key, they'll try to break the gate down. So troublesome..."
"So we added a locked door to one side." He explained. "Intruders takes the key from the helpless guard and then, Mike eats them."
Then, Kurapika widen his eyes. "That's it!" He said.
The old man smiled. "As you can see, I'm no ordinary guard, I merely clean up after Mike." He said.
"The front gate isn't actually locked!" Kurapika said.
"Exactly." The old man said.
"What!?" Leorio said and all of you looked at the front gate.
**********
It was now night time and the moon appeared. You were all infront of the front gates of the Kukuroo Mountain. Leorio was the one who's gonna attemt to open it.
He pushed the gates but the gate didn't even budge even a slightest. Leorio panted and proceeded to open it again with many different ways. You all just watched him while sweatdropping.
"I tried pushing and pulling but the gate wouldn't budge!" Leorio said. "Are you sure it isn't locked!?"
"You're just aren't strong enough." The old man said.
Leorio turned to face him, with a vein on his forehead. "That's absurd!" He said. "I've been using all of my strength!"
Then, the old guy took off his tie and outer cloth to reveal that he's actually really mascular and walked over to the gate. "Just watch." He said and place his hands to the door. "This door's name is The Testing Gates. Anyone who can't open this door is unqualified to enter the Zoldyck estate!" He said and pushed the gate open.
One gate opened but it closed eventually after a few moments. The old guy turned to all of you. "As you can see, the gate closes on his own. So if you ever open it, you might as well ran to go through." He said. "Don't worry about Mike, he have an order to not attack anyone who passes through the testing gate."
He wiped the sweat out of his forehead. "But this is getting tougher as I age..." He said. "But they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so I need to keep in shape." He said.
"I also need to mention that each gate's one weights two tons." He reminded.
"Two tons!?" Leorio said. "There's no possible way you can open that!" He said but look at the guy as if he realised something. "But what was that? Gate one?" He asked.
"When you go up a gate, the weight doubles." He explained. "The gate opens depending on how much strenth you used."
"Incidentally, when young master Killua came back, he opened the gate through three." Zebro said.
"Gate three?" Gon said. "Then that will be twelve tons!" He said.
You and Kurapika sweatdropped. "Sixteen tons, Gon..." You both said, making Gon blushed in embarassment.
Gon scratched the back of his head. "Ehehehehe..." He laughed as he sweatdropped.
"This is what required to enter this gate." The old guy said. "The Zoldyck family lives in a whole completely different world."
"Hmm...I don't like it..." Gon said and turned to the old guy. "Sir, please lend me the key. We came here to save our friend not to be tested." Gon said.
"You can consider me as an intruder, so lend me me the key, I'm going through the intruder's door." He said.
"Gon!" Kurapika said.
"Hey..." Leorio said.
"It doesn't matter if you don't lend me the key, I'll just climb the wall, if that's what it takes." He said.
"Don't be stupid Gon! Did you see the monster's arm!? It's bigger than your body!" Leorio warned.
"I just can't accept this!" Gon yelled. "Why would you test a friend? I'll never enter through that door!" Gon yelled.
The old man scratched the back of his head. "You're absolutely right. However, forcing your way through is impossible. Mike will kill you."
"I agree." Kurapika said. "We have plenty of time, let's find a way to enter through gate one."
But Gon just reached out his hand as if saying to give the key to him.
"It's no use...His never gonna change his mind." Leorio whispered to Kurapika.
"Indeed..." Kurapika sighed.
"Unfortunately, I still can't lend you the key." The old guy said. "I cannot feed Mike young master Killua's friends. Well, please wait here for a moment." He said and walked towards his office.
You all followed him to his office and found him dialing a number on the telephone. "Hello? Sorry to disturb you, this is Zebro." He said.
"Actually, four of young master Killua's friends are here to see him." Zebro said. "Yes. Yes. I understand. Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. I'm very sorry, sorry to disturb you." He said as he put down the phone. "Man, I got in trouble..."
"Did you call the mansion?" Gon asked.
"Ah, no, that was the Zoldyck family butler." Zebro said. "All communication with the mansion must first go through the butler's office. It's hard to contact any of the family members."
You and Gon walked towards him. "Can you please call him again?" You asked. "This time, we'll talk to him."
"Sure I guess..." He said as he dialed the butler's number. "But you two wouldn't like the experience." He said and gave Gon the phone. You leaned in and use your power to hear clearly.
"Yes, this is the butler's office." A man voice said on the phone.
"Hello. My name is Gon..." Gon said and turned the phone to you.
"And I'm (Y/N). We are two of Killua-kun's friends." You said and gestured Gon to turn the phone to him again.
"Is Killua-kun there?" Gon asked.
There was a silent for a moment but then, the voice eventually spoke up.
"Killua-sama has no known friends."
He said and the call was dropped. You and Gon stayed their blankly for a while but eventually, Gon dialed the number again. You and Gon waited for him to answer again. When he answered...
"Yes, this is the butler's office."
You and Gon grew a vein. "How can you possibly know that!?" You and Gon yelled, suprising Leorio and Kurapika in the background. "Just put Killua on the phone!"
There was silence then the butler spoke up. "I believe your names were Gon-kun and (Y/N)-san." He said.
"Yeah." You and Gon replied.
"Let us pretend that Killua-sama has friends named Gon and (Y/N), there is no proof that you are Gon and (Y/N)." He said.
"Just put Killua on the phone, he'll recognize us!" Gon yelled as you nodded.
"By voice?" The man said. Then, you both widen your eyes as you both heard Gon's voice on the phone. "That's a simple recording and there are many other ways to mimic a person's voice."
"Next, you'll claim that Killua-sama will recognize you through sight." He said. "There are few possible ways to perfectly mimic someone's appearance."
"Additionally, it's possible that someone forced you to approach Killua-sama because of sinister purposes." He said. "As long as that method exists, I cannot let you see Killua-sama."
"The Zoldyck family practices the trade of assassination. It's natural for someone to come after them." He said. "As butlers, our duty is to protect our masters from enemies. I apologize, but please leave."
And he dropped the call once again. Gon put down the phone as well and the two of you exited the office, angerily.
"Hey, Gon, (Y/N)!" Leorio called but the two of you kept walking. He sweatdropped. "They're pissed..."
"(Y/N) will agree to climb the gates now..." Kurapika said.
Leorio looked at him. "What!?"
Gon used his fishing rod as a rope and climb on it, you were about to climb as well when Leorio and Kurapika ran to the two of you.
"Gon! (Y/N)!" Leorio called.
"It's okay, Leorio, we'll just climb this and face the consequences, no matter how bad it is." You said.
"Yeah. You guys just wait here, we'll go by ourselves." Gon said.
"No, Gon, (Y/N), come down, now!" Leorio called.
"Calm down." Kurapika said.
"I'm perfectly calm!" Leorio said. "Gon, (Y/N)! Don't be stupid!".
Then, Zebro approached the four of you. "Gon-kun, I'll give you the key." He said. "You can go through the door."
"Hold on, pops! We can convince both of them to stop!" Leorio said.
"Really?" Zebro said. "It's true that (Y/N)-san doesn't really look like a stubborn girl, but I doubt Gon-kun will listen to you." Zebro said. "To make amends, I'll accompany you to through the door."
You and Gon stopped climbing and looked at Zebro. "It's possible that Mike might recognize me and decide not to attack. Though I'm almost hundred percent certain that he'll kill us all..." He said.
You and Gon jumped off the gate. "No, you can't do that." Gon said.
"Yes, we'll just cause you in a lot of trouble." You said.
"No, I will come with you." Zebro insisted. "The result will still be the same even if I stayed behind." He said.
"If I send young master Killua's friends to their deaths, I'll never be able to face him again." Zebro said. "If you die, I will also die."
You and Gon looked down. You nodded at Gon and he nodded back and pulled his fishing rod out of the gate. "We understand now." You said.
"Yeah, we didn't consider your situation." Gon said.
You and Gon bowed. "We're sorry." You both apologized as Leorio and Kurapika smiled at the both of you.
"Both of you must've like animals." Zebro said.
You smiled. "Yes! Very much!" You said while Gon just gave a nod.
"I see...Did the two of you grow up in a countryside?" Zebro asked.
"Yep!" Gon said.
"Well, I didn't really grew up in a countryside but I grew up in a pet shop. That's why I love animals." You said.
"I see...I'm going to open the testing gate again. I'll let you see Mike in real life..."
**********
Zebro opened the testing gate once again and let all of you enter to see Mike for yourselves. You're really excited, excited to see the said watchdog.
"Hey, is it really okay for us to enter here?" Leorio asked, nervous.
"Yeah. We'll be fine since we entered through the testing gate." Zebro said.
"Mike! Come here!" Zebro called.
His voice echoed through the forest. You all waited for the said beast and after a few moments, you all turned to the side once you all heard growling. Then, a giant dog-like creature appeared through the darkness.
Gon widen his eyes in fear as well as the others but you just kept staring at it blankly.
The creature stared at all of you then, sat down like a normal dog. Zebro turned to all of you.
"Gon-kun, do you understand now?" Zebro asked. "This is a trained hunting dog. It's nothing like the wild animals you're accustomed to."
Gon sweated nervously, obviously scared of the harmful creature. "You probably expected to be able to communicate with him until you saw his eyes." Zebro said. "Mike is currently memorizing the appearance and scent of the human he's never seen before. Nothing more. He's like a machine."
"Gon-kun, could you fight him?" Zebro asked.
Gon quickly shook his head. "No! I'm scared! I'll never be able to fight him!" Gon said, making Zebro smile.
"How about you (Y/N)-san? Could you fight him?" Zebro asked you.
You stared blankly at Mike for a while and spoke up. "Fight him?" You asked and smiled widely. "Why would I fight him!? He's adorable!" You said and ran towards Mike.
"Ah! (Y/N)-san, don't...!" Zebro said but was suprised when Mike did nothing when you reached Mike.
You hugged Mike's fury leg. "He's so fluffy! Such a cute little puppy!" You said.
Gon, Kurapika, Zebro and Leorio stared at you in disbelief. "P-Puppy?" Kurapika said.
Suddenly, dog ears popped out of your head and fluffy dog tail appeared on your back. Mike looked at you and you looked at him with a gentle smile. Then, to everyone's suprise, Mike licked your cheeks.
Zebro looked suprise. "How is that Mike is already this close to you? It took years for his trainer to tame him." He asked. "And why is it that you have tail and ears of a dog?"
You looked at Zebro and smiled. "I happened to be part-animal." You said. "Usually, I keep this as a secret from everyone but at times like this, I just couldn't control it. So this is just a secret between all of us, okay?" You said.
"I see..." Zebro said, smiling and turned to Gon. "How long will you all stay here?"
"Until we meet Killua!" Gon said. "We won't leave until we meet him!"
You smiled. "That's our main purpose why we're here after all..." You said and pet Mike's fur.
Zebro laughed. "Then, please come this way..." He said.
Your dog deatures disappeared as you looked sadly at Mike and he, too, seems sad, it just doesn't show in his face. "Sorry, Mike..." You apologized and hop of him.
You waved at Mike and catch up with the others.
**********
You all reached a normal looking house. "This is the servants' quarters." Zebro said. "It's getting late, you all should stay the night here." Zebro offered as he opened the door.
You all noticed how, hard-looking the door is. The door grate through floor leaving a large scratch. "Come on in." Zebro said.
"Hey, I'm back!" Zebro yelled.
A guy that seems to be smoking came down from the second-floor. "Oh, you rarely bring guests."
"This is Seaquant." Zebro introduce. "He works here along with me."
"Good evening!" You and Gon greeted.
The guy just turned and walk away away from all of you. "If you managed to win over Zebro, you all must someone special." He said. "Make yourselves at home, though it won't be easy." He said.
**********
"You all wanted to see young master Killua?" Seaquant said and laughed. "That's a riot!"
"Sorry, but we're dead serious!" Leorio yelled.
You were all sitting in a chair inside the living room with Zebro pouring tea to your cups. "Let me give you all a warning. Give up and go home." Seaquant said.
"What was that!?" Leorio said, getting angry.
"Zebro told you all about the testing gate right?" Seaquant said. "That should give you the idea to what this place is really like."
"We know it won't be easy." Gon said as he look at Seaquant. "But we won't leave until we see Killua."
"When Killua was in trouble, we weren't there for him." Gon said as he looked down sadly. "If we could have been there, we could've stopped him!"
You nodded. "If we don't save Killua, we'll feel as if we've just betrayed him." You said. "And being betrayed is one of the worst thing that could happen in one's life especially if that person is one of the dearest person you've met!" You said.
"It's frustrating on how we were just sleeping in a bed like we have no worries while Killua is being troubled by his own brother!" Gon said. "So that's why we'll save Killua!"
"Killua is our dear friend!"
**********
~End~
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A/N :
I don't why I'm so dramatic while writing this, probably the feels. Anyway, I don't know what the freak happened in this chapter but I hope you enjoy it! Hey look, this only took me one day!
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Awesome new people who got candies :
• Lys-chan
• KestrelMatthews
• anime_hunter_lover
I Love all of you!
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Comment Responses :
achokawa (Chapter 18)
= You have an aniki? I'm Jelly! I wish I had an aniki! But I have a cute little brother so I guess it's fine!
Give_meh_cheesecake (Chapter 18)
= And the friendship is slowly turning into love...
Sapphire-Galaxy (Chapter 18)
= We'll get him soon!
LONG_LOST_LOVER, KestralMatthews (Chapter 18)
= Thank you! I believe everyone is a good writer, not just me!
_Forever_Fan_Girl_ (Chapter 18)
= A-Ah! Calm down! Sure, someday, this story will end but according to my plans for this story, it will take a few months or so! So cheer up!
AyeshaKatashi (Chapter 18)
= Thank you! I hope you'll love this chapter as well!
earth-to-self (Chapter 18)
= Darn it! I knew it was too obvious!
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**Please Wait Patiently for Chapter Twenty**