...PRELUDE:...

*Do you believe in Fate and Prophecy?*

*Fate**?

I never wanted to believe in such thing.

I used to think that we all make our own fate.

There shouldn't be anything destined to be.*

*Prophecy**?

I thought it was simply some kind of tools to be used.

We could all use it to our benefits

But I was wrong.

It turns out my whole being was to prove that fate does exist

And prophecy is something that we'll have to bear serious consequences if we choose to rely on it.

For me… my fate...

Was to fight my own darkness!

And in this endless struggling journey,

I made a pray to the Lord that I wouldn't have to be alone!*

...__________________________________________________________________________________________...

...CHAPTER 1: Professor Ellis...

Abraham University.

It's a private academic institution known for its highly-sought after degree programs and ludicrously expensive tuition fees.

In autumn, everything looked dewy and magical. The University massive campus was adorned by a majestic red color of maple trees and the dreamy golden sunlight.

"Oh, it's that time of the year already?" A man in his late 40s raised his eye at the calendar lying on his office desk. It showed 31st July.

He's the dean of Abraham University.

"I'd appreciate it if you grant me a month's leave this year, too, Sir." The young girl gave a respectful bow.

She was dressed in a formal purple suit, with milky brown hair neatly tied up into a bun.

"Don't be too formal, Professor Ellis." He laughed. "We already agreed on this every year, haven't we?"

"Thank you so much, Sir." She smiled gracefully.

That's right. This young girl, Clandestia Ellis, is in fact, a promising professor at Abraham University.

Not only she's one of the world first-rate professor that exceled in her field of psychology but also an outstanding researcher and an international board-certified doctor. One couldn't tell from her look because she's got that carefree and playful air around her. She earned her Psych Doctorate at the age of 14 and became one of the youngest professors in the world. For 3 years working here, she's become an irreplaceable asset of this university.

He wouldn't want to lose such a young and incredible talent so he allowed her to take a month's leave every year for her personal business. It's already been years that she's here so he's quite aware of what her leave is reserved for.

"Send my wishes to your cousin, ok?" He smiled.

"Yes, Sir. She'd be very happy." She laughed.

"She must be." He chuckled. "Having a good cousin sister like you who's willing to take a month leave every year just to celebrate her birthday."

"Haha. I'd be sure to remind her so." She said cheerfully.

"But you're kinda worrying me, my dear." He laughed.

"Why is that, Sir?" She tilted her head.

"You seem to forget that you're only 17." He stated matter-of- factly. "Shouldn't you spend more time for yourself like… going on trip with your friends or getting a boyfriend or something?"

"Oh, don't worry, Sir." She winked playfully. "My cousin has a dozen of suitor candidates waiting for me."

With that, they both broke out laughing. Professor Dan might be Clandestia's superior and the dean of this university but he acted like a father figure to her so this kind of banter is nothing new between them.

"Well, have fun selecting, then." He chuckled.

"I will, Sir. Take care."

With that, she turned on her heels and left the dean's office.

An incoming call got her attention. She pulled out her hand phone and immediately beamed at the caller ID.

"Yes, cousin?" She smiled, hearing the excitement on the other line.

"I'm on my way, Neon." She chuckled. "Of course, see you soon, missy!"

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

16 hours later.

At the Nostrade estate…

In a chamber filled with transitional-styled furniture pieces….

A girl in her late teens was sleeping restlessly on the big king-size bed.

Her long flight had efficiently worn her out.

Initially she only wanted to take a short nap but somehow it turned into an unnecessary long slumber.

Her long milky brown hair cascaded on the white bed sheet, shining like waves of silk.

On a day in September, the weather should only be cool and soothing but the girl was breaking out in cold sweat. Her slender figure curled up into a ball as she unconsciously tried to hug herself.

Her eyes tightly shut but her brows was knitted together. Her whole body trembled like she was fighting some kind of pain.

In her dream land…

She saw a pair of eyes.

A bright shade of scarlet.

Eyes that looked full of rage and sadness.

Whose eyes are those?

But she had no time to wonder as she was suddenly drifted to a white blank space.

There were voices calling her.

Clandestia… Clandes…Tia…

"What are you?" She quivered.

"You knew who we are!" She heard whispers mixing with faint eerie laughter. "You .are. our. possession!"

An indescribable pain sunk in. Her knees went weak. They're the "grim reapers".

How could they still exist?

She thought they're gone for good after what happened 4 years ago.

How did they come back?

"You're lying." Her lips trembled. "You evils, get out of my mind!"

"Hahahaha." Their inhuman laughter got closer and clearer. "You are us. We are you!"

"No!" She screamed. "Leave! Go away!"

She sprung up in bed with her eyes wide open. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour.

"Huff…Huff…" She gasped for air like a pathetic fish stuck on a shore. Her deep purple eyes misted by tears.

She frantically scanned her surroundings.

White bed sheets, pastel violet walls and faint lavender aroma filled the air. Sunlight was seeping through the windows.

This is her room at the Nostrade mansion.

She hugged her chest, trying hard to calm herself down. Tears were flowing out of her eyes uncontrollably.

The nightmare ended but it's still awfully vivid in her mind.

What was that? It can't be a regular bad dream.

Realization struck her hard. It's a prophecy from the "grim reapers".

Her curse is coming back!

…

Suddenly, there was a wooden rapping-like noise outside her door

"Lady Clandestia." She heard a woman's voice.

It must be one of the Nostrade's maid.

"Yes, come in." She dried her tears and composed herself.

The maid promptly walked in and bowed at her.

"Lady Neon invited you over to her room, Lady Clandestia."

"Alright, tell her I'm coming over." Clandestia sighed. She guess her rest must wait for a while. Her cousin is already missing her. But a quick shower's still needed though.

After she changed into a comfortable light blue dress, she followed the maid to Neon's chamber which was only a few minutes' walk from hers.

Clandestia arrived at a pink room. Everything was pink, even the bed sheet.

It's so Neon-like.

"Tia!" Neon jumped on her feet in excitement.

Clandestia already expected it but as Neon threw herself on her, she almost lost her balance.

"Hey, easy, little missy!" She wriggled her way out of Neon's suffocating embrace. "I know you miss me much but are you trying to murder me now?"

When Neon finally let go of her, she was gasping for breath. "Neon, do something about your way of greetings! I don't wanna die so young. I haven't even had my first boyfriend yet."

"Alright, I'm sorry." Neon pouted. "But you can get a boyfriend anytime. What was that beautiful face for anyway?!"

Their little banters made all the maids in the room smile.

It's quite refreshing for them to see Lady Clandestia here at the Nostrade mansion every year. The girl really know how to make people feel at ease. Even their spoiled and fussy little Miss Neon was livelier with Lady Clandestia around.

From what they know, Clandestia's father was Sir Light Nostrade's little brother. Unwilling to continue the Nostrade clan's business, he got himself disowned to marry an ordinary woman with no connection the underground world and took her surname. Clandestia followed her mother's surname, too. After Clandestia's parents died years ago, Sir Light has taken custody of his niece.

Right at that moment, a husky male voice from outside caught their attention.

"Boss, the new bodyguards are here. Would you like to see them?"

"Yes, let them in, Dalzollene." Neon said, dragging Clandestia to sit beside her and wait for the new bodyguards to make their entrance.

At Neon's permission, four people walked into the room and promptly introduce themselves.

Clandestia eyes fell on them.

There was one tall and sexy woman with red hair called Baise. One hairy bulky guy named Basho who looked like 1970s cowboys you see in movies. Another one was Melody- a short woman with buck teeth and bald head but strangely, she gave off a very comforting vibe.

The last one was a guy seemed to be around her age with medium blond hair who goes by the name Kurapika. From the sound of his exotic name, Clandestia made a quick guess that he was some kind of ethnic from the East. He wore blue tribal clothes that accentuate his light skin.

The moment his sharp, dark black eyes met hers, her eyes widened in revelation.

...CHAPTER 2: AMETHYST...

Being a blacklist Hunter, Kurapika possessed an amazing skill of analyzing people very quickly when he's first introduce to them. From the person's appearance to their mannerisms or even possible bad habits, he would efficiently acquire the information and put it into use when needed.

Yet very few actually left any personal impression on him.

The few people that occupied his mind were limited to either the Phantom troupe, clearly in a bad way, or his close friends when he took the Hunter exam.

But right now he thinks there appears to be an exception.

In this bizarre pinkish chamber, two people were sitting and quietly watching him. One of them is Neon, young boss of the top mafia family- the Nostrades. There is nothing particular about her except that she's got a peculiar hobby of collecting body parts which was the main reason he's here for this job.

But there was another one. A girl around his age with long brown hair in contrast to her fair skin and a pair of unusually purple eyes. A strikingly vivid shade of purple that resembled amethyst gemstones.

Although he sensed no malice, there was something definitely unnerving about the way she's looking at him. Under the soft sunlight seeping through the windows, it felt like those glowing amethyst eyes were prying deep into his mind.

If this is a kind of personal impression he's got from this girl, it's seriously not a pleasant one. Though it's unprofessional, he instantly broke the eye contact and made no attempt to hide his discomfort. Strangely, the girl seemed to snap out of her trance. She showed a hint of confusion and bashfulness. Wasn't that an act? Now she's puzzling him.

"Guys, you four will be guarding Lady Neon 24/7." They heard Dalzollene instructed.

"Yes, Sir." The four new body guards replied in unison.

"Also, as instructed by Sir Light, you'll be in charge of Lady Neon's cousin, Miss Clandestia Ellis's safety for the time that she's here, too." He added, which quickly turned everyone's attention on Clandestia.

The said Clandestia was busy being bashful though. She felt like a kid caught stealing candy. She was practically gaping at that Kurapika guy. It was an absolutely rude act to do upon a stranger. He must have been offended.

What has gotten into her? That's right, she felt a sense of dejavu the moment their eyes clashed but she couldn't recall meeting him any time before. In fact, she's pretty sure they've never met before.

Another reason was that Clandestia has an extra-sensitive intuition when it comes to people. She reacts stronger with people that hid intense emotions, both in good and bad ways. Whenever she looks at them, she'll unconsciously feel some kind of aura. Like a moth drawn to the flames, her power is attracted to those kind of strong emotions. What she saw in this blond bodyguard was a dark and vicious but at the same time terribly forlorn aura. Although this ability comes in handy for her profession of psychology research and when she was treating emotionally-ill patients, she never quite liked it.

It felt nasty prying into people's personal sentiments. When she really needed to use this ability, she always managed to keep it discreet from her patients/ research targets. Most of the time, it'll be quick enough that they wouldn't notice anything peculiar from her and only commented that her eyes have a bit of a hypnotizing effect.

This Kurapika guy was different, she felt like she was the one being hypnotized by his complex and intense aura instead. So she went into a trance and temporarily lost touch of the situation.

She cursed her own absurdity. Should she be apologizing to him now? Her hunch told her that it'll turn into a disaster if she tried that. So she pretended that nothing happened since she already freaked him out enough.

"Please to meet you all!" Clandestia put on the best of her smile, like really nothing happened. "I hope you'll take a good care of my sister Neon."

"Yes, Lady Clandestia." They all repied, except Kurapika though.

Oh, so… the silent treatment? It's not that she complaining. She deserved it anyway.

With all the introduction done, the head bodyguard Dalzollene instructed them to get ready for the flight to Yorknew City.

Clandestia sighed looking at their retreating backs. On a second thought, maybe it's better to apologize to that blond later when she has a chance.

There was Neon's scream of excitement and the maid's busy noises of packing stuffs. Then they all got into the limousines and headed to the airport.

Ah… What a long day! Clandestia sighed.

————————————————————————————————————————————

The sun in early September was particularly bright.

Yorknew City was packed in the day time. The underground auction was the biggest event here every year so there would be a lot of tourists and mafia families flocking to the city this time.

The Nostrades limousines stopped at Hotel Beitacle, a grand six-star right in the City's center.

Neon was practically skipping on her feet all the way to her hotel suite. Her pink ponytail swung back and forth merrily.

Clandestia smiled at the sight of her innocent cousin sister. They are only one year apart but she felt like a real big sister herself.

The Nostrade' servants were busy handling the luggage. Neon's surely got loads of them. Clandestia took a quick glance at the body guards following right behind them. The bodyguards are not considered servants at the Nostrades so they're free from handling minor errands. Kurapika was busy talking to Basho but the conversation didn't look so pleasant. The odd thing was that she vaguely caught her name mentioned by one of them. She's got a little curious and reflexively slowed her steps.

"Hey, was Lady Clandestia checking out on you earlier?"

She heard Basho banter and almost choked on her own tongue. What non sense! Clandestia immediately regretted overhearing them. She quickened her steps to catch up with Neon.

"Stop making non-sense assumptions." was Kurapika's indifferent reply.

"Not assumption. Just obvious." Basho retorted, humor filled his voice. "We saw her gaping at you back then."

"Cut it out." Kurapika was clearly annoyed. "It's not even funny."

"What's with that cold reactions?" Basho clicked his tongue. "She's quite a looker, isn't she?"

Kurapika strode ahead, leaving his annoying bulky colleague behind.

He was unaware that one of his bosses was secretly mortified.

...CHAPTER 3: YORKNEW CITY...

Yorknew city. 3 p.m.

Since the auction date is drawing near, there is a festive mood going on in every corner of the city.

Clandestia was strolling leisurely down the streets leading to a lively day market in the city center. Her milky brown locks cascaded down her waist, shining and swaying softly with every step she took.

It’s a relief that Neon had no interest in commoners’ market stuffs so she’s got this time all for herself. It’s not that she’s stopped loving Neon’s company or anything, she just wanted some peace once in a while.

She squinted her eyes and looked up. The sky was a clear shade of blue. The water fountain at the roundabout where she arrived was sparkling like silver. Everything in the city seems luminous under the sunlight.

She loves hectic daytime like this when things are all bright and buzzing. It’s an effective distraction for her, away from the prophetic dreams problem that she had these days. She sighed. It’s been 4 years since her last prophetic dream. She’s even scared of falling asleep nowadays.

Ah, this is useless! When did she become this feeble?

She puffed her cheeks and gave them a sound slap with both hands as if to wake herself up from her endless thought. It hurt more than she thought though.

“Lady Clandestia?!! You’re okay?” Some of the Nostrades’ bodyguards escorting her panicked.

“I’m ok. Just a bit tired, don’t worry!” Her mouth twitched. Great, she must look like a lunatic now.

Talking about bodyguards, she’s got another issue at hand. Apparently, people at the Nostrade mansion thought she was doting on that blond guy who is currently busy guarding her cousin sister at the moment.

In fact, Clandestia thinks this may come in handy though. It’d be a good excuse.

She’ll go ahead and make it look like the rumor was true then. It’s much better than letting him suspect that she was trying to read his mind which he might already speculated. The guy seemed pretty sharp and may get unnecessarily cautious around her. This is when rumors can be convenient indeed. She smiled grimly.

Well, it’s not too hard faking an interest in a guy for a limited time. She saw how the female students at her university did it all the time.

While she was busy with her thoughts again, a certain gadgets store came into her sight. Her eyes brightened. Just what she needed.

“Welcome, this is hot right now!” The store clerk cheerily showcased a hand phone in front of the store.

He was talking to two boys around twelve or thirteen year’s old standing in front of her.

One of the boy had spiky black hair. He looked seriously interested in the hand phone. The other boy has messy white hair and a pair of cat-like sharp eyes which gives off a mischievous vibe. The duo looks really pretty that they immediately attracted attention from everyone passing by.

“Boys, it’s a card-size and very thin.” The store clerk took out his own credit card to emphasize the phone’s handy appearance. “It even has a tracking device, so it’s good for meeting people.”

She heard the spikey black hair boy gave a “wow”. His big brown eyes were wide like saucers.

Ha, so cute. Looks like he’s really buying it.

She tilted her head and look at the shop clerk.

Dang, this guy doesn’t look trustworthy at all. It’s too convenient for adults to prey on young children and make sales.

She sighed and jostled forward to stand in front of them. “Excuse me… Can I see the phone, too, Mister?”

“Oh, sure, miss. This will come in handy for young girls like you, too.” The shop clerk immediately switched to her.

She smiled and took the card-sized hand phone. She knew this one. One of her student from the university bought it for his grandma or something. He said it’s convenient for old people since it only has basic feature of making and receiving call. In other words, it’s pretty much an almost useless phone with no feature at all.

“How much is it?” She asked.

“100 K. Special price for you, young miss.” He said enthusiastically.

Ridiculous! She remembered her student told her it’s only 30 K or something.

She smiled wryly and casted the two boys a meaningful glance. The black haired boy gave her an innocent look. Great, he didn’t get it.

But the cat-eyed boy was staring back at her. He silently put his arms around the back of his head and watched her. Oh, looks like he understood.

“Thanks, Sir.” She smiled calmly. “But I’d prefer a phone with a lot more additional features. This is downright expensive for a basic phone.”

“SHE’S RIGHT!!” A male voice was heard from behind. She promptly turned her head. “DON’T BUY THAT ONE!”

A very tall guy in a black suit showed himself in front of them. He wore glasses like some typical office clerk but his eyes were intense.

“You’ve got it right, little lady.” He winked at her and turned to the boys. “Yo, Gon, Killua!”

“Leorio!!!” The two boys shouted excitedly. So they’re friends.

“Guys, calm down. I thought this little lady was your new friend?” He winked at her again.

“No, I just happened to be interested in the same store as them.” She smiled kindly. Now that their guardian has come, she’d better let them be and get on with her business.

“I’m Leorio.” The guy flashed her a wide smile. He’s definitely flirtatious but strangely, her hunch doesn’t give any warning. He gave off a rather pleasant and honest vibe.

Leorio came up a little closer to her and slightly lowered his voice: “Thanks for taking the trouble and help my two friends earlier!”

That promptly made her beam internally. In fact, her intuition has never been wrong. Meanwhile, the body guards standing a meter away from the store started getting cautious seeing Leorio’s action but she secretly gave a hand sign for them to stay put.

“You can call me Clandestia.” Clandestia smile brightly, thinking it’d be nice to make an acquaintance at this new city anyway.

Her brilliant smile seemed to send Leorio into a temporary trance. He failed to react while the white hair boy came up to them and gave him a firm nudge by the elbow: “Oi, snap out of it, Leorio. You looked stupid.”

“Hmm.” Pfft… Clandestia tried hard not to laugh at Leorio. She doesn’t want to look rude. So in an attempt to distract herself, she turned to the boy and asked “And you are?”

“The name is Killua.” He replied, giving her a scrutinizing look again.

“And I’m Gon.” The black haired boy came up and beamed at her. “Nice to meet you!” He added cheerily.

She grinned back. This boy is really loveable.

“Nice to meet you all, too.” She kind of like them.

“Here is my business card.” She offered them, her purple eyes shining. “I’m a professor and also a psychology doctor.”

“Oh, Leorio’s a doctor, too” Gon smiled. “Doctor Ellis? Is that how you’re called?”

“Just Clandestia is fine.” She beamed at Gon.

“A professor looking so young?” Killua asked mischievously. “Or… are you secretly an old lady?”

“Hey, I’ve only turned 17 last month!!” She scowled.

That earned Killua a hard slap on the head from Leorio: “How rude, that’s no way speaking to a girl!”

“Ouch! You damn old man!!” –Killua fumed, shooting Leorio a dirty look.

“Pfft, hahaha…” Clandestia broke out laughing. Her intuition was right. They’re fun people. “You guys are really close.” She added amusingly which made Gon and Leorio chuckle in turn.

“Oh, and forgive my rudeness. This is my name card.” Leorio pulled out his business card and offered to her. “I’m an internal medicine doctor.”

“Pleased to be acquainted, Doctor Leorio.” She giggled playfully. That efficiently gave Leorio a nice blush.

“Ahem... By the way, have you found a phone that suit your preference yet?” Killua gave an awkward cough and changed the topic. He can’t stand the sight of his stupid friend anymore.

“Ah yes, I’d prefer a phone which can use a lot of languages.” She replied. “I knew the one you were checking out earlier was crap but I’m not sure what to buy neither. I’m just a tourist here anyway.”

Their friendly banters made her almost forget what she’s originally came here for.

“In that case, I recommend Beatle verion 07.” On cue, Leorio pulled out a hand phone, which is true to its name, looks like a cute beetle figurine.

“A little heavy and pricy but it has worldwide usage, 200 languages translation function and you can watch TV and record, too.” Leorio explained enthusiastically. Well, looks like he’ll work well as a salesman, too. And she knew that phone. She saw that Kurapika guy using it, too.

“WOWW, let’s get that, Gon!!” Killua yelled excitedly. “I want it!!”

Clandestia smiled. No matter how cunning he looks, he’s still a young boy, huh?

“Hmm, agreed! I want it, too” She added and turned to her new doctor acquaintance. “Leorio, since you’re good at this. Can you help us choose that beetle phone?”

“Rogers.” Leorio playfully made a salute. “Anything else that you want?”

“I want some extension for that phone, too. Like a smart watch that can connect to the phone, I guess?”

“Beetle smart watch, huh? Ok. Guys, wait for me here. I’ll get you the best price!” He winked and made his way into the store.

And indeed he really kept his words.

A moment later…

“80 K for each?!” Clandestia said in amazement. “You really got us the best price, Leorio!”

“Told you so.” Leorio patted his chest which was now swelling with pride. His nose was pointing high to the sky.

“There was even an audience forming around us just now.” Gon said in utter disbelief.

“You really went overboard.” Killua cocked his head, hands in pockets. “I’ve never seen anyone be applauded for buying a cell-phone.”

“Neither have I.” Clandestia agreed. “And the watch was only for 35K. OMG…”

“Yeah, you’re the best Leorio!” Gon exclaimed cheerily. “Thanks to you, we’ve all saved a lot of money!”

With that, everyone laughed to their heart’s contents like they’re already best pals.

At that moment, Clandestia noticed some of the bodyguards getting restless from the corner of her eyes. Ah, that’s right. It’s almost noon. She has to return to Neon.

She sighed, feeling a bit thwarted.

“Are you alright, Clandestia?” Surprisingly, Gon was the first to notice.

“Well, I guess it’s time for me to go.” She said. “I’ve got some business to attend to.”

“So soon?” Leorio asked with disappointment. It’s been long since he came across a beauty like her.

“Yeah, thanks for your help. I had a lot of fun with you guys earlier.” She beamed. “I guess it’s a goodbye then. If we’ve got a chance, I hope we’ll all meet again.”

“Sure, Clandestia.” Leorio said “We’ve got your card, so we still can contact later.”

“See you next time, Clandestia!” Gon added

“Ta-ta!” Killua only gave her a short salute but she can see his eyes were not so cold like earlier.

With that she waved her hand, gave them a bright smile and left.

She pivoted on her heels and head back to the hotel, feeling unusually upbeat.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Back on the crowded streets of Yorknew city…

“Hey, are you coming with us or not?” Killua clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Leorio had this gloomy expression ever since the purple eyed girl left.

“Hurry, Leorio. We’re starving!” Gon shouted.

“Right, right. What do you boys even know other than eating and playing?” Leorio sulked.

Killua gave Leorio a side glance and sighed. “Oh? But I know that she’s not simply a professor or doctor. Didn’t you notice her bodyguards? They didn’t look like normal bodyguards.”

“Ofcourse I know. She must be from one of the mafia families” Leorio sighed. “It also means that she’s here for the auction just like us.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Gon tilted his head. “I felt that she’s a nice person.” He added firmly.

This made both Killua and Leorio smile. They couldn’t bring themselves to disagree.

“In fact, I think I’ve really found my soul-mate.” Leorio comically clutched his chest and spoke solemnly.

“Aha, you fell in love with everything that wears a skirt.” Killua rolled his eyes.

The three friends continued their long-waited banters and disappeared into the crowded street of the city.

Little did they know that the encounter that day was the start of their tangled fates.