ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴛʜɪs!? ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ!

ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴡғᴜʟ ᴅʀᴀᴡɪɴɢ ʙʏ ᴍᴇ :ᴅ !

ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀʏ, sʜᴇ ɪs ᴡᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ ᴀ sʜɪʀᴛ! ɪᴛ's ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴɢʟᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴅʀᴇᴡ ɪᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇs ɪᴛ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʟɪᴋᴇ sʜᴇ ɪsɴ'ᴛ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴘʀᴏᴍɪsᴇ ɪᴛ's ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ!

ᴀɴᴅ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴇʟʟ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪɴ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ sᴘᴇʟʟ/sᴘᴇʟʟ ᴄᴀʀᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴄᴀsᴛ :)

༺♥༻

༺♥༻

The grass was a sea with white-dew-foam upon crests that rise so freely toward the sunlight. It was was compressed under the wind in beautiful shimmering waves, each blade turned momentarily to reflect the beautiful rays of sunlight.

Each strand of grass moves in the summer breeze as easily as her hair, the waves and rustling as alive as the steady breaths that left her lungs.

Feeling as if someone was watching her, eyes of thunder slowly observed the area and a small frown tugged at her lips as she glared into the distance.

'Hey, Valentine!'

Snapping out of her trance, the young girl turned her head towards the voice and seeing Killua and Gon, Valentine perked up as she smiled brightly, walking towards them.

"Hey guys",The young blonde said and still had the bright smile on her lips as she stood in front of them, looking up at the two,"Thanks for waiting for me! But.. you guys know that we're being watched, right?"

Looking between one another, Gon and Killua nodded as they looked towards the girl, the silverette having his hands stuffed into his pockets.

They hadn't noticed any towns either.

'Yeah, we noticed',Killua agreed and looked around.

'And everyone's heading the same way',Gon spoke up.

Humming slightly, Valentine rocked on her feet and looked around, the soft breeze gently caressing her skin as her eyes gleamed.

Pointing to the left and then the right, Killua observed the ways that each contestant were going and knew that they had gone either left or right.

'There or.. there?'

Eyes widening in shock, Gon's mouth dropped and he began to wonder just how he had known.

'Huh, how did you know that?',The green-haired boy questioned and tilted his head to the side.

Looking in between them, Valentine looked Killua's way and she was wondering the same thing.

As soon as she had gotten here, she had felt as if someone was watching them.

'Because that's where whoever it is, is watching from',Killua stated and then, stuffed his hands back into his pockets,'Unfortunately, we have no idea what they're watching us for'

'Good point'

Staring off into the distance where someone was watching them from; but they couldn't see, Valentine's lips pulled down into a deep frown and her eyebrows furrowed in thought as she stared off for only a moment, before looking back towards her friends.

'Well, whoever it is, we need to start gathering information',The silverette said,'Come on'

Beginning to walk, Valentine walked in between the boys and soft hums left her lips as she walked with a small hop in her step, the gentle coos coming from Zeus's beak echoing in her ears.

'So, how'd it go?',Killua asked and leaned forward to look at Gon.

Tilting his head, the green-haired boy let out a small hum of confusion and blinked slowly.

"The saved data on the memory card",Valentine spoke up, looking towards her brown-eyed friend,"What was on it?"

Raising his hand, Killua called out for the book and it appeared in front of him from a cloud of smoke.

'How many cards were inside?',The silverette questioned as he played around with the book and it followed wherever his hand went.

Tilting her head slightly, eyes of thunder followed the book as it moved and a small smile slowly spread across Valentine's lips.

'There weren't any'

Snapping their heads towards him in shock, Killua and Valentine's eyes widened in surprise as they stared at Gon.

"Huh!?"

'What!',Killua exclaimed,'Really?'

Looking between the two, Gon nodded at them and a smile spread across his lips as his eyes brightened.

'But, there was a message from Ging',Gon explained.

'What'd he say?',Killua questioned.

Wanting to know as well, Valentine leaned forward slightly and quietly waited in anticipation.

'He told me to enjoy the game',The green-haired boy told the two.

Feeling as her face deadpanned, Valentine's lips pursed and a small sigh left her lips as she slowly shook her head.

Of course he did.

'Enjoy the game? Is that it?',Killua questioned and then looked back at the book floating above his finger,'The thing is, this just doesn't really feel like a game to me. Book'

Suddenly, the floating book disappeared in a flash of light and seemed to go back into the ring that Killua was wearing.

'What do you guys think about all of those 
rules that the girl explained to us?',Gon questioned and looked between the two, wanting to know what they thought.

Humming slightly, Valentine placed her hand on her chin and tilted her head up, looking towards the sky as she watched the puffy clouds slowly move.

"I couldn't keep up with half of them",The young blonde said and stretched out her arms for a moment, before scratching the top of her head as a stressed sigh left her lips,"And I already forgot most of them"

Hearing the huff-like chuckle that left the silverette's lips, a small smile twitched at the edge of her lips and Valentine looked towards the boy, watching as he shook his head, a small smile on his face.

'I don't know enough yet',Killua said and shrugged slightly,'I suppose, we'll see'

Sensing something flying towards them, the four tensed up and hearing a high-pitched ringing; kind of similar to the one she makes when she teleports, Valentine looked up at the sky as the boy's quickly did the same, seeing a light shooting towards them.

It kind of looked similar to a shooting star.

Suddenly, out of the light appeared a man with purple hair and dark purple headphones, who stood a couple of feet away from the group, a devious smirk on his face.

'Let me guess, this is your first time playing, huh?',The man asked them.

The cocky smirk that he had as soon as he had arrived was still plastered on his face and Valentine's eyes narrowed as she watched him, waiting for any opportunity.

If he struck first then she wouldn't hesitate to end him.

'Ehh, who knows?',Killua replied,'You must be a player, you've got a book'

'You think?',The man questioned and paused, staring them down with a strange grin on his face, before he stared messing around with the book in his hands,'Heh.. so you three are Killua, Gon and Valentine, huh?'

As soon as they heard their names, the three tensed up and Gon looked towards the man, his eyebrows raised in shock.

'How do you know our names?',The green-haired boy asked.

The man only chuckled at Gon's questioned and slowly nodded his head.

'That is an excellent question',He replied and looked back down at his book.

Shifting slightly, Valentine looked at her friends out of the corner of her eyes and her hands twitched slightly at her sides; her instincts telling her to grab her daggers.

Watching as he held up a card, the three tensed and kept their gazes on the man, suspicious as to what he would do.

'Trace on!',The man exclaimed and the card in his hand began to glow,'Attack Killua!'

Eyes widening in shock, they all tensed up and a similar light to before began to shoot towards Killua, but just as he was about to run, his eyes widened a bit more as a small shadow casted over him.

As soon as she had heard those words, Valentine perked up with worry and her eyes widened slightly as she watched the card glow, before it shot towards Killua.

A harsh and rather painful ringing filled the air as a blurred apparition appeared in front of the boy; Zeus haven fallen off of them which made him fly as soon as they had disappeared, their arms outstretched as the bright light slammed into them, before disappearing into their body.

'Valentine!'

With a small grunt, Valentine stumbled slightly and shook her head as a weird feeling filled her body before disappearing as soon as she had placed her hands on her chest, looking to see if she was injured.

But thankfully, she wasn't.

'...Uh oh..',Someone muttered.

Suddenly, the atmosphere around them began to darken and it felt as if the man's lungs were being squeezed, being deprived of air as a cold glare met his eyes, face devoid of any emotion.

'What the hell..',Killua began to ask and his voice was low, his tone was bone-chilling and dangerous,'..did you just do to her?'

With his eyes wide in terror, the man looked towards Killua as the young boy stood in front of the blonde he had attacked and his whole body shook with fear, but as soon as Killua's left foot turned his way, he quickly took another card from his binder.

'Return on! To Masadora!'

Before Killua could even think to reach him, the man had disappeared in a ray of light and flew up into the sky.

Stopping in his tracks, a small scoff left Killua's lips as he watched the light shoot away and shot a glare in the direction the man had fled.

But that angered expression soon turned to one of worry as he turned towards Valentine and quickly went towards her.

'Are you alright?',The silverette questioned and observed her with his eyes, making sure that she wasn't injured,'You shouldn't have jumped in the way you idiot, what if that spell seriously hurts you?'

Biting down on her lip, Valentine glanced away from his eyes for a moment, before looking back up into his ocean gaze that was filled with worry as a small sigh left her lips.

"I know and I-.. I'm not going to apologize for that Killua..",Valentine spoke up slowly and hesitated for a moment,"You're my.. friend and I'll always protect you"

Staring into her eyes for a moment, the silverette went silent as he didn't know what to say and even though he wanted to be mad at her, he would've done the exact same thing she had done if he was in her position.

Letting out a small sigh, Killua frowned and looked to the side, a light blush forming on his cheeks from her words.

'Just..-',Killua started and looked towards her once more,'Just don't put yourself in danger just to protect me, okay Val?'

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to promise that, Valentine froze for a moment and bit into her lower lip, before a small sigh left her as she slowly nodded her head.

"Okay..",The young blonde muttered.

But she wouldn't say that she promised.

༺♥༻

As they were walking, Gon turned his eyes towards Valentine and watched as she walked alongside them.

'So.. how're you holding up, Valentine?',The chocolate eyed boy questioned and tilted his eyes as he stared at his friend.

Watching as both her friends turned their eyes her way, Valentine looked between them and shrugged, feeling as Zeus nuzzled into her.

As if he was bringing her comfort.

"I feel fine actually",Valentine stated and shrugged her shoulders,"I don't think it did anything"

With a frown on his face, Gon looked towards the girl and furrowed his eyebrows.

'Good, but I'm still worried',The boy stated, before nodding his head in Killua's direction,'And I know that Killua is too. That guy definitely did something to you'

'And if we see him again, I'll kill him before he even notices us',The silverette spoke up.

Blinking in shock at their overprotective tones, Valentine looked between Gon and Killua, her eyes wide.

They were insanely overprotective at times.

With a nervous chuckle, a small drop of sweat fell down the side of Valentine's temple and Zeus slowly leaned back with a small chirp as his eyes were wide as well.

"Guys.. it's fine",The blonde said, chuckling nervously,"Really, I'm alright"

Still not dropping his overprotective state; and neither was Killua, Gon looked between them with a small frown.

'Was he using Nen when he said, "Trace on"?',The green-haired boy asked.

'No, it's probably magic that only works in the game',The silverette guessed.

'Magic?',Gon asked,'What kind?'

Glancing towards Valentine for a moment, Killua sighed and placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes.

'Beats me',Killua stated,'But, we'll find out soon enough'

Nodding his head in agreement, Gon placed his hand on his chin and glanced towards the ground.

'Right..'

As soon as he had looked up, the chocolate eyed boy perked up and Gon pointed forward as soon as they had reached the top of the hill.

'Look, there's a town!'

Walking into the busy town, the three saw a bunch of papers lining the walls and windows of buildings.

'Those must be the prizes',The silverette stated.

'Wow! All of them!?'

Walking towards the billboard, the three began to examine the papers and it seemed as if all of them were actually prizes.

'It seems like it'

'Oh, guys look! Over there!'

Looking towards where Gon was looking, the three all stared at the large "Antokiba Monthly Tournaments Schedule", and slowly walked towards it, reading what was on it.

'This month is rock-paper-scissors!',Gon exclaimed.

Humming slightly, eyes of thunder slowly ran across the board and Valentine gazed at all of the activities, before looking towards the prize of the rock-paper-scissors tournament.

The Sword of Truth.

'The Sword of Truth?',Killua read aloud.

'Is that an important item?',Gon asked.

Turning their heads towards one another, the three all stared at each other with questioning expressions and Valentine and Gon shrugged slightly.

'I'm guessing so',The silverette said and turned his head slightly,'Check it out'

Turning their head towards where he was looking, Valentine and Gon saw someone they had entered the game with.

'There too'

Turning their heads the other way, the two saw someone else from before and they hummed slightly.

'You wanna play?',Gon asked.

'Of course',Killua stated.

"Totally!"

'Then since we're here anyway, let's enter lots of contests and stuff!'

'But we should also gather information'

However, before they could even think to do any behind, the boy's stomachs loudly growled and a gentle chuckle escaped Valentine's lips, before she covered her mouth to silence her laughs.

༺♥༻

ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs ᴀsᴋ, ɴᴏ, ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ǫᴜᴏᴛᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ "ᴀᴄᴛ ғᴏᴜʀ" ᴘᴀɢᴇ!