Dottore was a maniac. Someone that moved for his own interest and used the Staritsas influence along with Pantalones funding in the pursuit of knowledge.
He knows many things, and even believes he knows everything in the world. So of course, when he saw a human... No, a desperate puppet that wanted power and revenge agaisnt his creator...
How could he resist? Expecially after realizing Wanderer didn't know who his real enemy was? It was too perfect. And Wanderer didn't realize, or care enough at the time. Just like Dottore, he believed he knew his history better than anyone else.
"You know it wasn't your fault, right?"
Wanderer huffed a smile, but shaked his head.
"I taught him how to make those clones. He used the Shoguns method of making puppets to create their bodies... All because of me, and that's not all the ideas I gave him."
Revenge was all he wanted back then, what did it matter if his body was broken because of it?
"I brought him data about Abyss creatures, assisted in his proyect of making an archon... Let him break and reattach my body... It was crazy."
Wanderer frowned at the memories.
"I don't remember much, only the results of Dottore making puppet versions of himself."
He sighed, his tone changing from neutral to pure hatred.
"I wish I could've tore them apart..."
Nahida decided to drop the subject and smiled slightly at his words.
"I apologize for making your revenge less sweet.
Wanderer chuckled before rolling his eyes.
"Still haven't forgiven you for it."
"Yes, you do hold a grudge."
He laughed, closing his eyes as his front teeth showed with the wide smile.
"Guess I do."
Nahida loosened her hold on his arms, letting him take the chance to escape from this session.
"It's the first time you talked about him."
"How about we make it the last?"
"I'll agree to that request for, now."
She watched him sit on the bed beside her. She remembered something Kite told her in that moment.
"Right, Kite said he'll start focusing on us separately. Tomorrow will be your day, and he'll work with me the day after."
Wanderer threw himself on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he heard her speak.
"Hmm... Why exactly are we being separated?"
"He said that I, needed extra attention so he would give us a whole day to work with him."
Now that he thought about it, he would be leaving her alone with a guy....
He sprung up with a frown.
"Hell no. I'm not leaving you alone with grandpa over there."
"You do know I'm older, yes?"
"So?"
Nahida giggled while shaking her head.
"It seems you have many concerns as of late."
He rolled his eyes and layed back, crossing his arms with a frown.
"As if."
He's not concerned about the training, of Nahidas elemental state or wether or not Killua and Kurapika were alright.
All those fake reasons made him realize how different he's become. It seems like Scaramouche has left for good, only coming around to cause trouble and make snarky comments.
"... Maybe I am."
Upon hearing no response, Wanderer turned towards Nahida. Seeing her laying down with her body towards him. Breathing evenly with her eyes closed. He scoffed and stood up, grabbing a blanket before gently draping it over her. He turned the lights off and decided to sit by the windowsill and look outside.
It seemed Kite and Spinner were still talking outside. Kite was as calm as ever, simply observing her as Spinner seemed to get more irritated by the second.
Dottore used to have a habit where he would mumble everything so he wouldn't forget it before he could take notes. Wanderer had only ever saw it on his younger clones, before the bad habit was taken care of.
But even from those younger clones, he had managed to gain a lot of information from lip reading alone. He kept his eye on Spinner, catching some sentences.
'So that's it? We put everything on hold because of them?'
Kite seemed to sigh, looking at her with disappointment.
'It was time for a small break anyway. Since they found me, it means the empire failed to keep my information safe. I need to deal with that first.'
Spinner frowned, crossing her arms with a slight pout.
'That girl seems like trouble, I don't think she'll last long.'
Kite smiled.
'I wouldn't be so sure about that.'
He looked up at that moment, looking eyes with Wanderer. Kite tilted his hat in greeting as Wanderer only huffed before closing the curtain.
-
When Nahida woke up, Wanderer was gone. She slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes and got down before leaving the room. She glanced inside the living room, to the big, red couch around a fireplace inside the wall.
Three people were there, she could see the brown afro belonging to Stick Dinner, the white hair belonging to Yuras and finally, the teal strands Podungo had.
Nahida walked to the couch and peeked her head out to see them.
"Good morning."
Everyone turned to her, smiling upon seeing her.
"Morning! Your little boy toy has been taken to hell by Kite."
Stick said that with such an innocent smile... It took Nahida a minute just to digest his words. Yura stared at him, his beady eyes seemed to signal he was slowly losing his sanity with each word Stick said.
Podungo nodded along without saying anything.
"I see... So he's training at the moment. May I ask what you're all doing?"
Since Wanderer was gone, she should use this time to know everyone better. Stick smiled and signaled for her to sit beside Yura on the couch. Nahida took that offer, smiling at Yura once she was comfortable.
"We're not doing much, just enjoying the silence since neither of these two talk."
Nahida knew that feeling. She smiled while remembering the many times Wanderer stayed with her in silence.
"Yes, it's a rare moment of gentleness."
Stick laughed while nodding.
"Damn right."
Another look from Yura caused him to snicker.
"Yes, yes. No cursing In front of the child."
Nahida giggled as Yura looked away with pink cheeks. Stick continued talking.
"Now. Let's talk, how's your training going?"
Nahida was expecting a bit more small talk, but this also worked on her favor. She was hoping to get advice from other minds.
"Well, it's not going as I'd like. Kite wants me to try and manipulate the nen of others, but I can't seem to do it."
Stick raised an eyebrow as Podungo turned her small body to face her. Completely interested, the silence allowed her soft voice to be heard.
"Control other's nen...? That's not easy at all."
Nahida nodded.
"It's not, I can't even seem to move it."
"Have you tried to control beings with a much smaller amount of nen?"
A smaller, amount? Nahida shaked her head.
"No... I didn't even think about that."
She figured started big would give her faster results and didn't even consider practicing with small amounts first. Podungo decided to keep explaining, her voice seemed to get louder with each word.
"Every living being has nen, from the smallest insects to the largest mammal. Even plants have them."
Nahida perked up at the mention of plants. She thought back to the second phase of the exam, when a leaf had caught her attention. Her elemental sight showed her a small, white line at the very base. She had no idea what it could've been at the time, but now... Maybe it was nen?
And when they arrived here, it had seemed like the forest was welcoming her. With a familiar feeling the Sumeru rain forest often gave her. Almost like the forest itself was made by her.
Nahida stood up and hurried outside after ushering a 'thank you' to Podungo. She almost bumped onto Spinner if the redhead hasn't dodge out of the way.
After seeing the worried glanced of the three inside the living room, she decided to follow after Nahida.
Once outside, Nahida looked around until she spotted a leaf. She went to it and grabbed it, holding it upwards towards the sky. That faint, white line appeared once more. Elemental sight didn't tell her anything about it...
Wait, how did Kite figure out where their elemental powers were stored? Nahida assumed it was elemental sight, since nen and their elements are similar in nature...
But if he had used nen then, it's a different story. Nahida made a decision, she used the power stored inside her to see the leaf through a new filter.
The black silhouette of the leaf appeared, each vein it had was coated with white. Something elemental sight had never done. She squinted her eyes at it, watching the lines fade and move towards her hand. Where they were absorbed and stored inside her.
Nahida watched the leaf shiver up before turning to ash when the wind picked up.
It seems she was right, nen was their source of life-force. If, if she had succeeded in manipulating Kites nen...
She clenched her hands so tightly they started shaking.
What would've happened to him
-
Spinner watched the leaf die with her mouth agape. Holy, did she just... Absorve its nen?
-
Wanderer fell down, his elbow prevented his face from meeting the ground. Grinding his teeth to stop focusing on the pain his body was feeling. He glanced up at Kite, seeing the bastard smiling at the sky.
"It seems, you've both made great progress."