Journey to the Red

Nodding in return Mary finished her plating.

With eager yet nervous steps she approached the two examiners, Menchi and Buhara. Reaching forward to unveil her dish she gave them a smile. However, she was suddenly cut off by a loud "boom" that echoed through the area.

"Out of 169 that made it here, the remaining 80 that survived to be able to cook for you, only one has passed. Isn't that a bit excessive?" Said an old man through a cloud of smoke.

Standing up Menchi responded, "out of those 80 that made it only four have tried anything different, and even then only one of those four made anything presentable. The rest served me essentially the same thing. That shows their unwillingness to try anything new, even if it may just be something like cooking. For that reason alone they should not become hunters."

"U-umm what abou-" Mary tried to speak up but was once again cut off.

"Are you sure that's the only reason? Menchi?" Asked the old man.

Backing down under the pressure the old man was radiating she explained, "No sir, one of the applicants insulted us gourmet hunter. Thus I made the test more difficult than it needs to be. For that I apolog-"

"H-Hey! P-please give me an assessment as well!" Shouted out the little girl as she presented her dish to both Menchi and the old man.

Lifting up the dish covering it the two were stunned to say the least, behind it was two bowls with what seemed to be dry pork meatballs.

"Are you insulting me with this?" Asked Menchi, "interrupting chairman Netero and I's conversation with something even a child could tell is awef-"

Before she could finish the old man had already reached for one with a grin. "Menchi, as a gourmet hunter you should try one, even if just to experience something bad."

Sighing in resignation she picked one up and placed it in her mouth, slowly chewing it disinterestedly.

Contrary to her original assumptions, as she did so a warm feeling ran through her mouth, it was as though a soup had begun to creep through the crevices of her mouth. Within the meatball a salty yet mild flavor began to invade every corner of her mouth, the previously dry meatball had changed into something else. A stew in which she could readily enjoy at any given moment. A stew which gave her a euphoric feeling of being able to accomplish anything that changed her frown into a bright smile.

It was something any Hunter would bring along with them if given the opportunity.

In essence what the little girl had created would be able to re energize one's tired body with just a bite.

Before she knew it she had already finished her bowl as she looked towards the little girl she had ignored previously. "You, how did you make this?" She asked with honest sincerity.

"I-I made it with the happiness that comes from making friends." She said with a smile.

Coughing, the old man turned all eyes to him once again, "Seeing as the second phase still has not ended, Menchi. As well as knowing full well that you made this exam harder than necessary, for your punishment you must participate alongside the applicants in one last test for phase two of the exam. Does this sound reasonable to you?"

Glancing over to Mary she looked back over to the old man, "Yes sir."

"W-wait does my friend still pass?" Asked Mary, "d-do I pass?"

Giving her a smile the old man answered, "Well Menchi?"

Receiving an O, Mary gave a smile as she looked over to her friends. As she made her way over to a waving Leorio she began to feel her nen weakening, subsequently collapsing, seeing a worried Gon running over as she lost consciousness.

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(A/N) just a little warning, but there is gore up ahead.

Blinking her eyes open, she couldn't see a thing. She realized she was seeing a night sky devoid of any precious jewels in the form of stars.

"Finally! I've been waiting for such a long time, Mary!" Shouted a voice.

Looking around, Mary knew where she was, she knew this place all too well. Previously she'd look on in horror, no in fear. Fearing that demon that had been in control, all while laughing and having fun committing her atrocities.

Blood flowing up to her ankles and wrists as she tried to stand up and compose herself.

"H-how are you doing sister?" She asked with a voice shakier than usual.

Stopping her laughter Bloody Mary jumped down from her position above Mary on her red waterfall. With a splash, droplets of blood landed on both of them as she grabbed Mary by the neck.

Tightening her grip she continued until a crack could be heard through the silence.

"You're still far, far, far too weak! Trying to control a body with a punctured lung, three broken ribs, and terrible nen usage." Its simply laughable.

Throwing the girl to the ground with a heavy thud, she ripped out a rib with a snap from one of the rotting, maggot infested corpses drifting through the waters.

"See this? This is what a normal rib should look like."

Mary quivered in fear and pain as Bloody Mary plunged her hand into her.

She slowly, slowly grabbed her lowermost left rib, and with a strong pull downwards, snapped it in half and pulled it out with a black-red liquid running out.

"This is what a broken rib looks like. See the difference?" She said with a calm yet angered expression.

Throwing away the rib from the corpse behind her, she continued, "Look at you, such a boring toy you are, nothing but a sweet bundle of innocence. It leaves such a bad taste in my mouth, you know, losing to such a pathetic creature."

Bloody Mary squatted down so as to get a better look at her.

She stabbed Mary's own rib back into her again, "what does it matter if I have fun in the outside world? What does it matter if my hobbies differ from yours? You have no path, no future! I would be able to live a normal life... Un. Like. You."

Continuing to stab her again and again she slowly but surely began to break into a smile as her pace quickened.

"In this illusory world of ours, you can still feel it, can't you? Pain. That brings me so much joy! I want you to realize that this right here, right now. Is nothing! Nothing compared to what I'll do to those friends of yours. And every time, every time you lose your grasp on this nen ability of mine, I will take full advantage of it from now."

Trying to force herself up Mary whispered to her, "I won't let you."

Finally breaking out into laughter once more she grabbed her "sister's" chin, "there it is! That's what I want to see, Mary! A last little glimmer of hope! That's what fills me with such excitement for what's to come! That short moment, that last second where my toy believes. Where they believe there's a chance they'll still make it out alive! Crushing it and forcing them into a pit of despair, there is nothing, nothing quite like it."

"Now then," she said while standing up, "let's look at some of the memories from the past shall we?"

Grabbing Mary by the hair she prepared to show her the corpses of those she had loved before.

"Don't look away, after all, I made it with the happiness that comes from making friends." She said with a grin on her face.

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(A/N) Just a quick little explanation as to why Mary eventually passed out. Using Gon as an example, in the greed island arc it shows that using nen in vast amounts will eventually lead to over exertion, eventually leading to complete exhaustion. While this could also have been caused in tandem with him exerting himself in the dodgeball match specifically it can't really be argued that the usage of nen was not also a factor in this. Now considering that Mary is not only being exhausted by her nen but also mentally by her worries she'd eventually pass out.