Part 16: Facing X Another X Challenge

SECCO RASVIN

We've finally reached the airport, taking some short breaths and let myself dropped on the said place's ground.

"You're really fast." I complimented Gon while I didn't saw slight exhaustion on his face.

After that short rest, we rode on the airship, flying towards the Republic of Padokea to take back Killua from his family.

We all just stayed in one spot of the airship towards the dining room, on a large window, looking at the beautiful night scenery below. During these minutes, I was deep in thought, thinking about what did I do... that I didn't do anything to save Killua. I was just standing there, yet I didn't protect him from his brother. I promised to protect him... but... I couldn't...

"Secco?" I came back to my senses when I heard Gon say my name. I turned around to see him with his worried face.

"I've never seen you smile so often after what happened to Killua. It makes me worried."

I stayed silent, deciding whether I should tell the truth or not. Even Kurapika and Leorio were ready to listen. I left them there for seconds and finally spoke.

"I encountered Illumi before the final phase of the exam." they all gave me a surprised look. I was kinda expecting that. "He attempted to kill you, Gon, and take Killchi away... so I swore to him that I'll protect you both with all my life accidentally... and I didn't regret it..."

They still in shock because of what I said. "...But I couldn't do anything to stop Killua from leaving..."

"It's okay, Secco!" Gon shouted as the rest nodded in agreement. "We will take back Killua, for sure!" he said with a thumbs up and a warm smile.

I smiled back, but it's not fake anymore, and just watched the beautiful scenery below until we made it to our destination.

After we took the airship, we rode towards the Dentora region of the Republic of Padokea, where Killua lives. And then, we took a tour bus towards the Kukuroo Mountain.

"Well... thank you for taking the Lamentation Tour today." the tour guide with orange curly hair said with her lapel to all of us. "We will be visiting Kukuroo Mountain, home to the famous Zoldyck family of assassins."

We all leaned to the window where we can see the mountain clearly. The top of it was very cloudy and dark, I can feel my body hair stand.

The tour guide continued to lecture us about the introduced mountain and the Zoldyck family.

After some hours, we finally made it to the entrance of the mountain, where a huge tall gate with long walls, welcomed us. It was made of pure metal, painted in dark colors. The gate was not just one, but many more, with roman numerals attached at the very top of each. On the top of the gate are two statues of a dragon, facing each other.

The guide said it was also known as the Door To Hades, for no one who entered had ever returned alive, which made me shivers and started to take a step back away from the gate.

I couldn't help myself but stare at the gate, scanning it from bottom to the top. Zoldyck family is really something. No wonder Killua considers me as a pest in the group, because he lived in power.

The guide also explained that a door beside the security checkpoint is the only way to pass through.

"But the area beyond the gate is private property, so we can't proceed." she ended with a smile.

"Hold on!" Leorio shouted, complaining about something that he doesn't understand. "This is the front gate? The mountain's still a long way over there!"

"Correct." the guide answered. "The Zoldycks own Kukuroo Mountain, as well as the surrounding land."

"So this whole area is their backyard?" Leorio classified with a facepalm, as I also dropped my sweat.

"I-It's amazing..." I fake a smile and just stared at the gate.

Gon started to ask some questions about how to get inside the gate. The guide was annoyed by his question and scolded him that it was impossible to enter.

Then, two men started to approach the security checkpoint, one was a big muscular man, and another one is an average man carrying a large sword with his one hand.

They smashed the door of the checkpoint and pulled out an old man wearing a guard outfit with their hands. They asked for the key of the door beside them, but the guard keeps resisting. We all just watched the events unfolding before us as we cannot do anything to stop those guys from acting violently.

If they were normal people, they will be accused of civil cases, but I'm pretty sure that they're Hunters, based on their outfits and how they confidently take action.

The guard doesn't have a choice but to reveal the key. After getting what they wanted, they threw the old man away and approached the door with their greedy smirk.

Gon and I both ran towards the poor old man and helped him to get up.

"Are you okay?" Gon asked him.

"Yes. I'm fine," he answered and we all looked at the door as it closed, showing that the two men finally passed through the gate.

"Man..." the guard suddenly muttered. "Now Mike's going to end up eating between meals again."

"Huh?"

"Mike?"

Gon and I both looked at the old man and looked at each other with confusion. I don't understand what he says, but when we suddenly heard the scream coming from the other side of the door, maybe it came from the two men earlier, my heart beats so fast, as I had a bad feeling about this.

The scream ended, getting all the attention of people around us, then it fell silent. None of us moved a single inch from our positions and just stared at the door, waiting for someone or something to get out. A sweat dropped beside my face.

The door opened slowly and revealed a human skeleton before us. We all gasped, a hint of surprise and fear seen on our faces. The skeleton was followed by another one and a very large hand that belongs to a demon was actually carrying them with their clothes.

And those clothes seem familiar. Wait! They're the guys earlier!

The hand let go of the skeletons and let them dropped on the ground with a crashing sound. The guide suddenly screamed because of her experience and the other tourists started to run towards the bus. They hurriedly entered the bus.

The guard shouted at the door, shouting to someone, or something. The guide shouted at us to come back to the bus but Gon refused and said that we will be staying here.

We stayed with the guard until the sun began to set, and explained who we are, and what are our objectives of staying here. We also knew that the hand that we saw earlier came from the Zoldyck family watchdog named Mike. It only obeys the family and still follows the order that they will kill every single intruder.

The key that the old man gave to the men earlier was made for them. And he wasn't a guard, but rather a cleaner of Mike's mess. And the front gate was not locked at all.

Leorio tried to open the door with his bare hands but to no avail. He even complained that he used all of his strength to push the gate.

Then, it was the old man's turn to open it. He removed most of his upper clothes and showed a very muscular body. All that I can say is I'm amazed, despite her age, he still well-built. He approached the door and said that does who couldn't open the gate is not qualified to enter the Zoldyck estate. He pushed the door with all his strength and successfully opened it.

We all have the same look of surprise in our faces as we all stared at him. Amazing! Based on Leorio's attempts, that is heavier than the heavy cargoes I troubled to carry.

He also explains that Mike was ordered to not attack the ones who entered through the Testing Gate. He also explained that each of the gate one's doors weighs two tons, which is a lot, and the following gates were doubled. He also stated that when Killua came back, he pushed one to three gates. He carried sixteen tons, making me realize that I was indeed just a pest to him.

But Gon refused to enter the Testing Gate and insisted to enter the intruder's door, requested the old man to give the key to him, or climbed on the gates.

The old man, named Zebro, finally called the butler's headquarters, but rejected us immediately, making Gon mad and couldn't control himself but to climb the walls.

We started to run towards him and tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen. Until he realized that his anger was controlling him so he apologized to us.

With no choice, Zebro opened the front gate for us and let us meet Mike. He was a very huge dog, and our eye colors were really the same, but somehow different, like Killua.

My legs started to shake in fear and took a few step backs away from the dog. I can even see a hint of fear on Gon's face, saying that he cannot fight him because he's scared.

Then Zebro let us stayed in the servant's quarters for a while. When he opened the door for us, I felt the ground suddenly starts to shake and saw some marks on the floor as he opens it. I saw Kurapika also noticed it.

Then, a man with a mustache, smoking some cigarettes, showed up in the stairs beside us.

"This is Seaquant. He works with me here." Zebro introduced.

"Good evening!" Gon greeted him with a matching bow.

"S-Same here!" I startled and also copied Gon's actions. I got used to hanging out with some older guys on the ship that I don't have manners anymore.

He just stared at us and left. "If you managed to win over Zebro, you must be very special. Well, make yourselves at home, though it won't be that easy."

Seaquant started to lecture us that we will give up and go home, making Leorio frustrated and started to pick up a fight.

"We understand that it won't be easy." Gon suddenly spoke, with his head lowered down. I just stared at him and listened to what he was about to say next.

"But I'm not leaving... not until I see Killua!" he added. "When Killua was in trouble, I wasn't there for him. If I had been there, I could have stopped Killua."

What he said really triggered me at that time. Me too, if I was strong enough at that time, I could also have stopped Killua.

"Killua is my close friend!" Gon ended and I smiled at him optimistically to show my agreement.

"Then why not do some training here?" Zebro mentioned, catching all our attention and listened to what he says.

"Training?"

"Listen to me, Gon. You three are allowed to work together to open the gate. With a little training, it should be possible. How about it?"

Gon thought about it for a while. "I don't like the idea of being tested..."

"But if there's no other way..." Kurapika spoke.

"We'll just have to do it..." Leorio said.

"To get Killchi back!" I ended the sentence, showed the same smile to them.

"Yep!"

"Then... I'll need you to put these on." Zebro said and we all looked in curiosity.

They each gave us a heavy black vest for us to wear. When I received mine, not aware of its weight, I immediately fell on my knees, dropped my hands along with the vest that I was holding.

I stood back with all my might, carrying the vest with my both arms. My sweats started to drop on the floor as I tried to balance my body, trying not to fall again.

Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon also had troubles in carrying their vests. We all started to wear the vests and it really felt like the gravitational force was carrying me towards the ground. Zebro said it weighs fifty kilograms.

The next training is he gave us each a cup of tea. We all stared at them and started to grab them out of the table with both hands. I grabbed mine but it was too heavy and like it was really stuck in the table. The cup weighs twenty kilograms.

He also explained that each furniture weighs over twenty kilograms apiece. Leorio started to search for the bathroom.

We sleep in our bedroom with none of the vests.

"Secco." Kurapika called, so I leaned over to him."You don't have to do this, you know. Just leave it to us."

I stared at his face and gave him a smile."Don't worry. I'll be fine. I want to do it."

I looked at my left bandaged hand, checking some bruises or anything, and formed it into a fist."Because of me being weak, because of me being a burden, I couldn't save Killchi before. If I was strong enough, I could have saved him. So I won't give up."

It's my fault that Killua behaves like that, for I was so weak to stop him. Even that back hug I gave him wasn't enough to stop him from leaving.

I turned around again to see Kurapika with my serious face. He sighed and gave me a troubled smile. "Well, I don't have a choice. I was just worried earlier. Sorry for saying that."

"It's okay," I said and smiled back.

Then, we started to sleep in our beds.