Dis Aliter Visum - Chapter 96 - 2,361 words
Note: it's been far too long since my last update. again. let's say my priorities went to my niece who had to deal with a lot of trauma. this story is nearing the end, at last. hope you'll enjoy it to the end.
Beta-reader: unbeta'ed, unedited.
Chapter summary: But some are doomed to fail.
Chapter 96
It had been a perfect plan. Kuroro had thoroughly researched the compound. He even had had his Spiders research what he couldn't get access to himself, busy as he was with one stubborn blond Kuruta. It had been an impeccable plan, and yet, it all went to hell the moment he took his eyes off his companion.
At first, things had progressed swimmingly well. They made it inside of the compound without a hitch. They could hear people cry that intruders had crashed the front gate and the three of them - Kuroro, Kurapica and Gon - had met up right on time. The guards were all focusing on Hisoka and Killua, thus leaving the inner mansion somewhat deserted. They had reached the vault, and it was then that things started getting out of control.
As Kuroro teleported himself into the large safe room, deep inside of the underground part of the mansion, he heard noise from the room he'd just vacated. He trusted Kurapica and Gon to hold things there and started looking through the objects inside of the safe, looking mainly for the Scarlet Eyes, but also for any valuables that caught his eyes. If he were to force his way into the most well-protected room outside of banks and government vaults, he was going to make damn sure it would be worth his while.
He wasn't disappointed. The safe room was filled with antiques - original antiques, at that; something he knew quite well how to ascertain - but what interested him more were the large jewels that could be re-cut and fenced, valued artwork that he could hang in his house until he grew tired of them, and of course, the Eyes.
He started putting together everything that he wanted to leave with, making a neat - and somewhat considerable - pile in one corner of the large, cluttered room. The sounds from the fight were muffled through the heavy door, but they got progressively louder and distracting as he worked. When he heard a large bang - the sound of a human body connecting violently with the heavy vault door - he decided that he'd lingered long enough. He completed one last tour of the many and extremely valuable objects in the room with perhaps more haste than he normally would. Kurapica was a strong fighter, even without the use of his nen, and Gon had tracked him and some of his Spiders with Killua back in York Shin, but the fight kept getting louder. It was also getting much longer than he would have expected.
Kuroro quickly threw his Fun Fun Cloth over the loot that he had amassed, then, his Skill Hunter still in hand, he shifted his position from inside of the safe, to outside. He hoped that he wasn't going to reappear through the body of a mansion guard or worse, Kurapica, killing them both. Against all odds, he rematerialised in a clear area of the room, seconds before someone crashed into him from behind. He lost his balance for half a step and threw the man off, but then he felt sharp pain in his shoulder. He turned and hit the woman behind him in the throat, destroying her windpipe. She let out a pained croak and gurgle, then collapsed to the ground, twitching.
Kurapica.
He had to find Kurapica.
He avoided a knife and pulled up a ko shield into his chest just before a heavy fist hit him. The man was a nen user, and a strong one. He was humongous; nearly as big as Franklin. His arms and legs looked like tree trunks, and he had an ugly, hungry look on his face that screamed bloodlust. If there were nen users, it explained the length of the fight.
Kuroro quickly glanced around as he avoided another vicious blow from the large man.. He caught a glance of Gon and jumped back. He kept an eye on his enemy, but kept searching the chaos for a sign of the blond. The guards were far more numerous and stronger than he'd anticipated. The hall was filled with men and women, fighting, running, rushing at them. All manners of clothes and hair colours created chaos in the large hall. The Ryodan leader kept trying to locate one golden head, growing nearly frantic now. If the blond was hurt -
He caught a glimpse of gold, moving in his peripheral vision and felt reassured that Kurapica was still alive and mobile. Kuroro grabbed a decorative stick from a vase and strengthened it with shu, using it to stab his opponent in the throat. He moved at the speed of light, and there was nothing that the guard could do. There was a gurgle and a gasp, and the giant fell. Kuroro glanced to his left again and caught sight of the blond, just as he heard a deep cry of pain from the same direction - Kurapica had likely dealt a vicious blow.
Another guard, who looked like a child in Edwardian clothes, jumped in front of him and avoided with careless ease a violent blow from the Spider Head. The boy was fast and clearly a skilled fighter - probably a man, if male at all, disguising his true appearance. Even if he were a child, Kuroro knew better than to underestimate him due to his appearance.
The boy stuck out a knife at him, and as he reached in close to Kuroro, the blade suddenly sprang forward, from ten centimetres to a good twenty, and if Kuroro hadn't jerked away, he would have been struck right through the heart. The young boy quickly moved back and out of his reach as the Spider Head kicked at him, and Kuroro only managed a glancing blow on his opponent's leg. The next punch went right to the centre of the guard's chest, propelled forward as Kuroro ran at him, but by then, the boy had had time to protect his vital organs with ko.
The diminutive guard tried to stick Kuroro's chest with his knife again, but the Ryodan leader swiped his legs from under him. The boy went down with a yelp - perhaps the boy really was a boy after all. Skilled enough, but not on par with Kurapica and his fr-
The world tilted suddenly and Kuroro fell against a wall with a surprised gasp. Godsdamnit. Gods - all - fucking - damn - it! He had been so focused on Kurapica, on making sure that the blond was alive and trying to get to him - he had been had.
Poison.
Strong poison, at that.
“Kurapica,” he managed, his tone heavy with warning - or he thought it was anyway; it was surprisingly quiet for taking so much energy to utter.
Quiet or not, Kurapica heard him. Kuroro saw him look in his direction in surprise, then he fought with renewed fervour, but not to get out as Kuroro had intended his warning to urge the blond to do. No, Kurapica was pushing his way towards the Spider Head. The idiot.
“Don't,” he started saying, but even he could not hear his own voice anymore.
He saw the blond yell something, but Kuroro couldn't hear him either.
His vision was going fuzzy at the edge, dark and scratchy, like old film projections. He barely saw the knife coming his way again, and only through his rigorous, life-long training did he avoid getting skewered right through the heart. He deflected the blow with his bare hands, distantly surprised that the pain he had expected didn't come, even as his blood ran red between his fingers. He couldn't tell where the blow actually landed. He couldn't feel anything, not even his own body.
The young boy that had been attacking him was suddenly gone. In his place was Kurapica, beautiful, stubborn Kurapica, his eyes blood-red, his skin beady with sweat, hair sticking to his forehead. His fine features showed grief - why grief? - and he was clearly screaming something his Kuroro's face. It didn't matter. Kuroro couldn't hear a sound.
“Why didn't you run?” he thought he asked, but he couldn't be sure.
Kurapica's face blurred and Kuroro's vision went dark, like lights glowing bright and suddenly shutting down.
The next memories would only come back together later, in fragmented pieces that made little at sense, until his mind could piece all of the sensations back together in order.
At first, there was light again, and sound. Loud, irritating sounds, like screams and the stomping of feet on stone floors. He tried to focus, but stone tiles moved too fast all over his field of vision, so he closed his eyes again.
Later, the jostling penetrated through the fog in his mind, though he wasn't sure how he could be aware that he was being carried when he couldn't even feel his own body. And yet, he just knew, somehow.
Darkness again, then Kurapica's voice, cursing a long line of shameless and dirty words in five languages that Kuroro knew and few - he suspected - that he didn't. It was rare enough to hear him use one such word, let alone a long litany of them, that it struck Kuroro as incongruous. He tried to laugh, but he wasn't sure that he managed.
A car door slammed shut, startling him to consciousness again. More whispered curses and a jangle of keys.
“- texting Killua!” he heard.
“Tell him to get -”
He was unconscious for the entirety of the drive. His next conscious thoughts came as he was lying on a hard mattress. It seemed to him like he'd missed a lot and he thought that it should worry him, but he still felt somewhat distant and disconnected. There was movement at his right and he raised blurry eyes in that direction, trying to make his body obey him somehow. Kurapica was there - bright, golden Kurapica with worry written all over his fine features.
“Kura-” he began, but the blond cut him short.
“You have to!” he said, and Kuroro had no idea what he was talking about.
“Wha-” he began again.
“The ring!” Kurapica said urgently. “You have to take off the ring! I can heal you!”
Kuroro vaguely thought that it was funny how frantic the blond was acting. He had no intentions of removing any ring, but he couldn't quite remember why that was. He weakly lifted one hand, but saw no jewellery. When he lifted the other, he saw a thin silver band.
“I can't remove it,” Kurapica added, drawing Kuroro's attention back to him. “You have to do it.”
“Why?” he asked, though it came out as more of a croak than a word.
“Because I can't heal you if you don't,” the blond said, his tone nearly desperate.
“Heal me,” Kuroro echoed vaguely, wondering what it was about him that needed healing.
He didn't really feel pain or anything, really. Just a vague sensation of floating somewhere. He knew this was bad, for some reason, but he couldn't quite grasp at why this was a dangerous situation.
“Godsdamnit!” Kurapica exclaimed, jostling the older man as he slapped a hand down on the mattress, close to Kuroro's arm - not that he could feel it. “Idiot, you are going to die if you don't let me use my abilities.”
Kuroro searched the Kuruta's eyes, not sure what he was looking for. He wasn't even sure why he was laid out on this bed, in a crummy room, with Kurapica kneeling by his bedside.
“You idiot,” the blond said and grabbed his hand and - oh, Kuroro could feel it now, feel him, feel the pain, feel the poison spreading in his veins, feel its burn, feel the blood still seeping from wounds on his hands, wound on his chest, laboured breathing, and pain, so much pain. “You're dying! I can save you, you stubborn fool! Remove the ring! It won't let me remove it myself.”
Kurapica squeezed his hand, sending sharp blades of pain up Kuroro's arms, down his shoulders and up his neck. Kuroro tried to move his hand away, but merely managed to move his fingers slightly within Kurapica's grasp. The pain and exhaustion pulled at his mind and he felt his eyes close slowly.
“Don't!”
There was another jolt, fresh pain and Kuroro snapped his eyes open. His gaze met Kurapica's desperate one. The Kuruta's eyes were red, his expression pleading as he leaned over the Spider Head.
“Don't pass out,” he continued, grabbing Kuroro's attention once more as it was drifting away. “You need to do this!”
“Can't,” Kuroro managed to say, his voice raspy and sounding strange to his own ears.
Kurapica looked him with some consternation, so Kuroro wiggled his fingers again, hoping that the blond would understand his current predicament. Kurapica stared for a moment and the older man moved his fingers again, but he could feel his eyes falling shut again.
Finally, Kurapica seemed to understand, because he moved Kuroro's hand. The pain intensified and Kuroro couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. Kurapica paused, red eyes on Kuroro's dark ones, then completed the movement, bringing the Spider Head's right hand to the left. Even then, the older man had trouble grasping the thin silver ring from around his little finger. It took some efforts, but he finally managed to slide it off his fingers.
“Hand,” he rasped out, holding the thin band aloft for Kurapica.
The blond cocked his head to the side, blinked once, then presented his right hand. Kuroro managed to slide it onto one finger, but then felt his mind go dark again. Kurapica squeezed his wrist and the pain once more managed to keep Kuroro grounded. The ring slid all the way home, and was replaced by an ornate ring, a chain springing forth from it. All of Kurapica's fingers were encircled in silver now, and chains materialized around him, floating like ribbons all around the blond's thin frame.
Beautiful.
And deadly.
But oh, so beautiful!
Kuroro closed his eyes again and let the darkness swallow him whole.
Beta-reader: unbeta'ed, unedited.
Chapter summary: But some are doomed to fail.
Chapter 96
It had been a perfect plan. Kuroro had thoroughly researched the compound. He even had had his Spiders research what he couldn't get access to himself, busy as he was with one stubborn blond Kuruta. It had been an impeccable plan, and yet, it all went to hell the moment he took his eyes off his companion.
At first, things had progressed swimmingly well. They made it inside of the compound without a hitch. They could hear people cry that intruders had crashed the front gate and the three of them - Kuroro, Kurapica and Gon - had met up right on time. The guards were all focusing on Hisoka and Killua, thus leaving the inner mansion somewhat deserted. They had reached the vault, and it was then that things started getting out of control.
As Kuroro teleported himself into the large safe room, deep inside of the underground part of the mansion, he heard noise from the room he'd just vacated. He trusted Kurapica and Gon to hold things there and started looking through the objects inside of the safe, looking mainly for the Scarlet Eyes, but also for any valuables that caught his eyes. If he were to force his way into the most well-protected room outside of banks and government vaults, he was going to make damn sure it would be worth his while.
He wasn't disappointed. The safe room was filled with antiques - original antiques, at that; something he knew quite well how to ascertain - but what interested him more were the large jewels that could be re-cut and fenced, valued artwork that he could hang in his house until he grew tired of them, and of course, the Eyes.
He started putting together everything that he wanted to leave with, making a neat - and somewhat considerable - pile in one corner of the large, cluttered room. The sounds from the fight were muffled through the heavy door, but they got progressively louder and distracting as he worked. When he heard a large bang - the sound of a human body connecting violently with the heavy vault door - he decided that he'd lingered long enough. He completed one last tour of the many and extremely valuable objects in the room with perhaps more haste than he normally would. Kurapica was a strong fighter, even without the use of his nen, and Gon had tracked him and some of his Spiders with Killua back in York Shin, but the fight kept getting louder. It was also getting much longer than he would have expected.
Kuroro quickly threw his Fun Fun Cloth over the loot that he had amassed, then, his Skill Hunter still in hand, he shifted his position from inside of the safe, to outside. He hoped that he wasn't going to reappear through the body of a mansion guard or worse, Kurapica, killing them both. Against all odds, he rematerialised in a clear area of the room, seconds before someone crashed into him from behind. He lost his balance for half a step and threw the man off, but then he felt sharp pain in his shoulder. He turned and hit the woman behind him in the throat, destroying her windpipe. She let out a pained croak and gurgle, then collapsed to the ground, twitching.
Kurapica.
He had to find Kurapica.
He avoided a knife and pulled up a ko shield into his chest just before a heavy fist hit him. The man was a nen user, and a strong one. He was humongous; nearly as big as Franklin. His arms and legs looked like tree trunks, and he had an ugly, hungry look on his face that screamed bloodlust. If there were nen users, it explained the length of the fight.
Kuroro quickly glanced around as he avoided another vicious blow from the large man.. He caught a glance of Gon and jumped back. He kept an eye on his enemy, but kept searching the chaos for a sign of the blond. The guards were far more numerous and stronger than he'd anticipated. The hall was filled with men and women, fighting, running, rushing at them. All manners of clothes and hair colours created chaos in the large hall. The Ryodan leader kept trying to locate one golden head, growing nearly frantic now. If the blond was hurt -
He caught a glimpse of gold, moving in his peripheral vision and felt reassured that Kurapica was still alive and mobile. Kuroro grabbed a decorative stick from a vase and strengthened it with shu, using it to stab his opponent in the throat. He moved at the speed of light, and there was nothing that the guard could do. There was a gurgle and a gasp, and the giant fell. Kuroro glanced to his left again and caught sight of the blond, just as he heard a deep cry of pain from the same direction - Kurapica had likely dealt a vicious blow.
Another guard, who looked like a child in Edwardian clothes, jumped in front of him and avoided with careless ease a violent blow from the Spider Head. The boy was fast and clearly a skilled fighter - probably a man, if male at all, disguising his true appearance. Even if he were a child, Kuroro knew better than to underestimate him due to his appearance.
The boy stuck out a knife at him, and as he reached in close to Kuroro, the blade suddenly sprang forward, from ten centimetres to a good twenty, and if Kuroro hadn't jerked away, he would have been struck right through the heart. The young boy quickly moved back and out of his reach as the Spider Head kicked at him, and Kuroro only managed a glancing blow on his opponent's leg. The next punch went right to the centre of the guard's chest, propelled forward as Kuroro ran at him, but by then, the boy had had time to protect his vital organs with ko.
The diminutive guard tried to stick Kuroro's chest with his knife again, but the Ryodan leader swiped his legs from under him. The boy went down with a yelp - perhaps the boy really was a boy after all. Skilled enough, but not on par with Kurapica and his fr-
The world tilted suddenly and Kuroro fell against a wall with a surprised gasp. Godsdamnit. Gods - all - fucking - damn - it! He had been so focused on Kurapica, on making sure that the blond was alive and trying to get to him - he had been had.
Poison.
Strong poison, at that.
“Kurapica,” he managed, his tone heavy with warning - or he thought it was anyway; it was surprisingly quiet for taking so much energy to utter.
Quiet or not, Kurapica heard him. Kuroro saw him look in his direction in surprise, then he fought with renewed fervour, but not to get out as Kuroro had intended his warning to urge the blond to do. No, Kurapica was pushing his way towards the Spider Head. The idiot.
“Don't,” he started saying, but even he could not hear his own voice anymore.
He saw the blond yell something, but Kuroro couldn't hear him either.
His vision was going fuzzy at the edge, dark and scratchy, like old film projections. He barely saw the knife coming his way again, and only through his rigorous, life-long training did he avoid getting skewered right through the heart. He deflected the blow with his bare hands, distantly surprised that the pain he had expected didn't come, even as his blood ran red between his fingers. He couldn't tell where the blow actually landed. He couldn't feel anything, not even his own body.
The young boy that had been attacking him was suddenly gone. In his place was Kurapica, beautiful, stubborn Kurapica, his eyes blood-red, his skin beady with sweat, hair sticking to his forehead. His fine features showed grief - why grief? - and he was clearly screaming something his Kuroro's face. It didn't matter. Kuroro couldn't hear a sound.
“Why didn't you run?” he thought he asked, but he couldn't be sure.
Kurapica's face blurred and Kuroro's vision went dark, like lights glowing bright and suddenly shutting down.
The next memories would only come back together later, in fragmented pieces that made little at sense, until his mind could piece all of the sensations back together in order.
At first, there was light again, and sound. Loud, irritating sounds, like screams and the stomping of feet on stone floors. He tried to focus, but stone tiles moved too fast all over his field of vision, so he closed his eyes again.
Later, the jostling penetrated through the fog in his mind, though he wasn't sure how he could be aware that he was being carried when he couldn't even feel his own body. And yet, he just knew, somehow.
Darkness again, then Kurapica's voice, cursing a long line of shameless and dirty words in five languages that Kuroro knew and few - he suspected - that he didn't. It was rare enough to hear him use one such word, let alone a long litany of them, that it struck Kuroro as incongruous. He tried to laugh, but he wasn't sure that he managed.
A car door slammed shut, startling him to consciousness again. More whispered curses and a jangle of keys.
“- texting Killua!” he heard.
“Tell him to get -”
He was unconscious for the entirety of the drive. His next conscious thoughts came as he was lying on a hard mattress. It seemed to him like he'd missed a lot and he thought that it should worry him, but he still felt somewhat distant and disconnected. There was movement at his right and he raised blurry eyes in that direction, trying to make his body obey him somehow. Kurapica was there - bright, golden Kurapica with worry written all over his fine features.
“Kura-” he began, but the blond cut him short.
“You have to!” he said, and Kuroro had no idea what he was talking about.
“Wha-” he began again.
“The ring!” Kurapica said urgently. “You have to take off the ring! I can heal you!”
Kuroro vaguely thought that it was funny how frantic the blond was acting. He had no intentions of removing any ring, but he couldn't quite remember why that was. He weakly lifted one hand, but saw no jewellery. When he lifted the other, he saw a thin silver band.
“I can't remove it,” Kurapica added, drawing Kuroro's attention back to him. “You have to do it.”
“Why?” he asked, though it came out as more of a croak than a word.
“Because I can't heal you if you don't,” the blond said, his tone nearly desperate.
“Heal me,” Kuroro echoed vaguely, wondering what it was about him that needed healing.
He didn't really feel pain or anything, really. Just a vague sensation of floating somewhere. He knew this was bad, for some reason, but he couldn't quite grasp at why this was a dangerous situation.
“Godsdamnit!” Kurapica exclaimed, jostling the older man as he slapped a hand down on the mattress, close to Kuroro's arm - not that he could feel it. “Idiot, you are going to die if you don't let me use my abilities.”
Kuroro searched the Kuruta's eyes, not sure what he was looking for. He wasn't even sure why he was laid out on this bed, in a crummy room, with Kurapica kneeling by his bedside.
“You idiot,” the blond said and grabbed his hand and - oh, Kuroro could feel it now, feel him, feel the pain, feel the poison spreading in his veins, feel its burn, feel the blood still seeping from wounds on his hands, wound on his chest, laboured breathing, and pain, so much pain. “You're dying! I can save you, you stubborn fool! Remove the ring! It won't let me remove it myself.”
Kurapica squeezed his hand, sending sharp blades of pain up Kuroro's arms, down his shoulders and up his neck. Kuroro tried to move his hand away, but merely managed to move his fingers slightly within Kurapica's grasp. The pain and exhaustion pulled at his mind and he felt his eyes close slowly.
“Don't!”
There was another jolt, fresh pain and Kuroro snapped his eyes open. His gaze met Kurapica's desperate one. The Kuruta's eyes were red, his expression pleading as he leaned over the Spider Head.
“Don't pass out,” he continued, grabbing Kuroro's attention once more as it was drifting away. “You need to do this!”
“Can't,” Kuroro managed to say, his voice raspy and sounding strange to his own ears.
Kurapica looked him with some consternation, so Kuroro wiggled his fingers again, hoping that the blond would understand his current predicament. Kurapica stared for a moment and the older man moved his fingers again, but he could feel his eyes falling shut again.
Finally, Kurapica seemed to understand, because he moved Kuroro's hand. The pain intensified and Kuroro couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. Kurapica paused, red eyes on Kuroro's dark ones, then completed the movement, bringing the Spider Head's right hand to the left. Even then, the older man had trouble grasping the thin silver ring from around his little finger. It took some efforts, but he finally managed to slide it off his fingers.
“Hand,” he rasped out, holding the thin band aloft for Kurapica.
The blond cocked his head to the side, blinked once, then presented his right hand. Kuroro managed to slide it onto one finger, but then felt his mind go dark again. Kurapica squeezed his wrist and the pain once more managed to keep Kuroro grounded. The ring slid all the way home, and was replaced by an ornate ring, a chain springing forth from it. All of Kurapica's fingers were encircled in silver now, and chains materialized around him, floating like ribbons all around the blond's thin frame.
Beautiful.
And deadly.
But oh, so beautiful!
Kuroro closed his eyes again and let the darkness swallow him whole.