Cards and Keys

Chapter Eighteen: Choices

Lucy POV

The site of the final phase was surprisingly beautiful- a modest mansion with marble floors and cream walls. A stark contrast to grimness the previous sites.

"Wow, I can't believe this is it. What are you gonna do when it's over?" I turned to Hisoka as we walked, not quite believing that we only had one more phase to go. I'd enjoyed the exam, so part of me was sad to know it was ending.

"Hmm, I think I'll head to Heavens arena. It's a fighting arena for nen users~and I could use the practice." He presses a finger to his mouth in thought. I wasn't too surprised, a battle arena seemed like an environment that Hisoka would suit perfectly. I just felt bad for whoever he ended up fighting.

The examiners hurried us through the halls and we were led into the main hall. It was empty besides a large whiteboard hidden by cloth. Netero cleared his throat, calling for our attention.

"The final phase will be a tournament of one on one matches," he began pulling back the cloth,"however, you only need one win to pass."

I look to the others with surprise. If we only needed one win...then that meant there would only be one loser. After all the crap we'd been put through, I was surprised the final test was this forgiving.
Everyone else seemed fairly pleased as well, though there were mutters that some got more chances than others. I studied the board, glossing over all the possible matches. It was true, it was heavily tilted in certain peoples favour. Luckily I was one of the people who had more matches, so I wasn't really complaining. And it looked like my first match would be against either Gon or number 294.
I frowned upon that realisation. I'd said that I didn't want to fight Gon, fighting kids just didn't sit right with me. So I just hoped that he'd win the match, as I was not at all opposed to fighting 294. I believed his name was Hanzo? I didn't have anything against him, but it seemed like a fun enough challenge.

"One last thing before we begin," Netero added,
"you are not to kill your opponent or other applicants. If you do so then you will be failed."

Ah, that was a slight relief. Now I didn't have to worry about the others too much. Though...it looked like Kurapika's first match was against Hisoka.

"You better not break any bones." I reminded Hisoka of our previous agreement- as long as we were teammates, he was not to hurt any of my friends. We were more than teammates now, so I was fairly confident he'd keep his word. Though I wasn't sure what exactly we were.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on it~." He hummed happily, vague as always.

Once the chatter had died down, we all gathered round for the first match. When the whistle blew, Gon gave us a thumbs up and got in a fighting stance. His eyes flared with determination as he ran head first at his opponent.

The 'fight' that ensued was brutal- consisting of Gon being beaten down repeatedly by Hanzo. I cringed with every punch he took. He won in the end, but his arms had been twisted in an unnatural direction and he'd passed out as soon as the match ended. I wanted to go check on him, but the examiners said that we had to stay put and assured me that he just needed to rest.

A few more fights passed by, going about how I expected. Though Kurapika and Hisoka's fight was a surprise. The surprise being that there was no fight at all. Hisoka had simply whispered something unintelligible into Kurapika's ear, then surrendered.

"What did you say to him?" I asked in a hushed tone as Hisoka returned to my side.

"Just something about catching spiders~" He explained.

Spiders.That was the group that had killed Kurapika's family. I gave Hisoka a side eye that said 'we'll talk more about this later.'
I was curious to know how Hisoka knew who they were, and to how he knew that they were involved with Kurapika. I knew Hisoka was powerful, but I couldn't help but worry at him meddling in the affairs of mass murderers. I'd seen him bleed. I knew that despite how he may appear- he was still only human.