Debris and dust were everywhere, clouding your vision just a little bit.

But even so, you knew you were able to finally land a hit on him. You smiled, gripping the hilt of your dagger even harder.

It seemed like yesterday when you last fought Sanguis. The bright lights of the Arena, the audience cheering and screaming from every corner, and the stage you and Sanguis performed in. They were all coming back to you.

Sadly, it seems like you only ripped his right sleeve open, exposing the flesh of his forearm that you tried to target.

Your initial smile turned to a deep scowl, realizing that he barely dodged you. However, as soon as you took a closer look at his forearm amidst the dust floating around from the fight, that scowl disappeared completely. Your eyes were wide, and you took in a shaky breath.

The scar he had on his forearm was jagged, yet it resembled the shape of a sickle. It was all-too-familiar, and you never thought you would see it again.

Sanguis noticed your expression, a small smirk forming on his lips. "It's a pretty nasty scar, isn't it?" He leaned closer to you. "But you're not one to be bothered by something like this, so why the shocked face?" his smirk grew wider.

Your Nen wavered, dropping your defense significantly. "T-That scar..." your hands were shaking as you pointed to it, looking up at him with disbelief.

Sanguis' smile grew more sinister. "Looks familiar?"

_____________________

"It's so nice to see you again, (Y/N)." You heard a hauntingly familiar voice behind you.

Killua held you even tighter, while Alluka rushed to Killua's side. "You snake..." he seethed.

You managed to break free from Killua's grasp, whipping around to face the source of the voice. Your brows furrowed at the sight of him. Even though months had passed, Sanguis' aura and the way he carried himself was the same as you remembered

Sanguis gave you a close-eyed smile. "It's too bad you have some company right now. I would really love to catch up with you after all this time." He takes one look at Killua's murderous glare, making him chuckle. Right after, he released enormous amounts of Nen from his body, filled with malicious intent.

Even when Killua stood in front of you protectively, you still felt that overwhelming pressure. You were frozen in your place as if you were weighed down by a huge boulder.

Suddenly, you felt a huge gust of wind. It blew past you sharply, and the pressure you felt disappeared along with it.

You turned back to see that Sanguis had disappeared. "Wait!" you instinctively called out, trying to chase after him.

"(Y/N)! What the hell are you trying to do?!" Killua grabbed your shoulder and kept you in place. "We need to contact Ryu and Senka right away–" He takes one look at your face. "Oi, what's up with your cheek? It's bleeding!" You could see Killua's eyes shift from icy and serious to panicked and worried.

"H-Huh?" you placed a hand to your cheek. Sure enough, you felt a slight sting, making you flinch. As you pulled your hand away, your fingers were stained crimson.

"It's a cut. Thank god it's not a very deep one." Killua stared at it worriedly. "What was with that snake's aura? If we didn't have Ten, we would've been cut to shreds right about now." Killua sighs. 'It's almost like Gon's scissor move in Jajanken...'

You grabbed Killua by the shoulders. "I need to chase after him right now! This might be the only chance I'll ever have!"

Killua's eyes widened as you said that. "Are you serious?! We need to call Ryu and Senka before we do anyth–"

"I'll be right back!" You let go of Killua's shoulders and ran to the forest as fast as you can.

"(Y/N)!!" Killua yelled for you, frantically reaching out for your arm, but it was too late.

At the sight of you fading away, sparks of electricity started flowing through him as his gaze grew more alert. He quickly turned to his sister. "Alluka, I want you to call the Hunters and update them on the situation, and don't go anywhere until they come here," he says with a much more serious tone than before. As soon as Alluka mustered up a small nod, he took off, following after you with his Godspeed.

Alluka stared at Killua as he chased after you, practically stunned by what just happened. "Onii-chan never talked to me like that before..." she mumbled to herself, before snapping back to reality. "Ah! I need to tell them!" She frantically reached for her phone to call Ryu and Senka.

_ _ _

"Come on... where did he go?!" you muttered to yourself, rushing through the thick forest and trying to sense where that overwhelming aura went.

"Looking for someone, little (Y/N)?" It was that deep voice again.

You immediately stopped in your tracks. Slowly, you turned to the source of the voice, and there you saw Sanguis again, leaning against a tree.

"Sanguis..." you frowned, shielding your body with Ten.

He gave you a friendly smile as if he's just here for a lovely chat. "I'm quite shocked that you actually went after me. Then again..." he leaned closer. "This just shows me how much you're itching to fight me again. Am I right?"

_ _ _

Ryu and Senka were still sitting at the same table when they received a phone call from Alluka.

"Alluka's calling? That's rare." Senka narrowed her eyes as she picked up her phone. "Hello? Alluka?"

"SENKAAAA!" Alluka was practically screaming, causing Senka to instinctively pull away for a moment.

"Yikes. Guess we'll have to get you hearing aids now," Ryu snickers.

Senka glares at him, mouthing a 'shut up' before putting her ear back to the phone. "What's going on? Why the screaming?"

Alluka proceeds to explain everything. She consistently stutters and fumbles on her words along the way, but by the end of it, Ryu and Senka were just as panicked as her.

"Alluka! Alluka can you hear me? Stay far away from the forest, okay? Don't do anything rash until we get there." With that, Senka hung up, not even waiting for her reply. "Ryu, change of plans! We need to go right now!"

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Ryu replies, rushing ahead to the forest.

"Hey, wait for me, Ryu!" Senka rushes to his side.

As they arrive at the area just before the forest territory, Alluka was nowhere in sight.

Senka looks around frantically. "Where did she go? Did she run away to a safer place?"

"We can only hope so," was Ryu's reply, not even taking the time to check as he plunged straight for the thicket of trees leading to the forest grounds.

Senka takes one last worried glance, before following right after Ryu.

...Until he stopped abruptly in his tracks.

Senka followed suit, sensing a dangerous presence nearby. "This isn't like Sanguis' aura..." she mumbles, scanning her eyes through the forest. "Who's there?!" She calls out, sounding way more threatening than intended.

As the aura came closer and closer, Ryu quickly gets into a fighting stance.

"Oh~? You must be the two Hunters Sanguis talked about.♢" a voice said. From behind one of the tree trunks, a tall man appears. His cheeks were decorated with face paint, his hair was like flames of bright Fuschia, and his outfit resembled that of a jester's. To top it all off, he held two playing cards in between his long and slender fingers: An Ace and a 9 of Spades, though they weren't infused with Nen.

The hairs on the back of Ryu's neck stand on end. "Hisoka!"

_ _ _

Much like what you were doing, Killua was rushing through the forest with his Godspeed, trying to look for you. He kept sensing multiple auras, however, which only made it harder.

"Dammit! Who else is here besides Sanguis?! I can't tell where (Y/N) is at all!" he cursed under his breath, making a run for the warehouse just in case you might be there.

Just as Killua was about to make a turn, a sudden oppressive force loomed over him, stopping him in his tracks. It was a familiar feeling, that same feeling that made him feel powerless against its mere presence as a kid.

"Kil," a nonchalant voice called.

As soon as Killua heard that, his eyes widened and his heartbeat started to drum against his ears. He whipped his head to the source of the voice, laying his eyes on the last person he wanted to see.

Long black hair and huge, empty eyes. Illumi looked down at Killua with the slightest smile on his face.

"You shouldn't have been too careless, Kil. Did you forget about all the things I've drilled into you already?"

Illumi's right arm was stretched out, and there, Alluka was dangling from the back of her clothes, which were being held tightly by Illumi's grip.

"ALLUKA!" Killua screamed, his voice cracking along the way.

"Onii-chan!!" Alluka struggled as hard as she can, trying to get her feet to touch the ground.