Feitan emerged in all regalness, his grin large and twisted behind the crimson cloth of his protective garments. He was a king, and the inferno was his kingdom. The white patterns and metal accents of his royal attire glowed orange as he stepped out of the pit of fire, flames trailing his heels on foreign soil and backlighting his figure.

As he grew farther away from the middle of it all, his outfit started to deteriorate and turned to ash as soon as it touched fresh air, leaving him only with himself and his original clothing. He lightly stamped his boots in the dirt, shaking off any lingering embers before they could burn through the leather.

A fist flew from behind him with the intention of smashing his head open, but Feitan dodged and caught it easily, gripping the knuckles tightly. "Too slow."

Phinks drew back his fist, the indents red and hot from Feitan's fiery fingertips. He forced a sneer into his voice. "You got to have all the fun today."

He shrugged. Rather in a good mood from the fighting, he raised a finger to pull down his mask and allowed Phinks to see his face as he rightfully stated, "Not my problem I'm better than you." He was pleased when this caused a few veins to pop in the man's exposed forehead.

Before Phinks could throw another punch and escalate the teasing into a full-on fight, Feitan moved past him and walked on, keeping his own steady pace while ignoring his angered shouting from behind.

As he'd suspected, Phinks had come to ambush him on his own. The other members were situated by the lakeside, a peaceful and vast body of water coming from a large waterfall and flowing out into separate rivers and brooks. He couldn't make out each individual figure of theirs with the tree that hung low and overshadowed them, but...

It had to be a trick of a light. As he approached, he continued to run the numbers through his head, list each one of their faces he saw as he drew closer, rechecking and checking again because something had to be wrong. He had full confidence in his vision, so maybe some of their shadows were overlapping.

They couldn't be one short.

"Feitan-san!" Zushi came running up and tried to grab him, to which he skirted around the child. "Kalluto is trying to murder me."

"Ah," Kalluto affirmed, calling out from a distance as he pushed back the wall of overhanging leaves. Feitan could see his sleeves were bunched up as much as they could go, ready for action. "You mess with my hair, you face the death penalty. Get back here, you coward."

They ran in circles around the older Spider, and he rolled his eyes. Still, he couldn't stop himself from taking a final headcount. Phinks made one, Kalluto and Zushi with their stupid games made two and three. As Feitan slipped out of their human cage, he continued. Killua ranting about how easy the mission had been made four. Lucky was complaining it hadn't been anything short of immensely difficult for him, and prompted even further arguments that Feitan was growing tired of. (Five.) It suddenly seemed as if everyone was actively going out of their way to flock to him, for the three he had left behind not moments ago and two he hadn't seen were suddenly in his presence. He understood he was the impromptu leader of the Spiders while Chrollo was gone, but this was a bit much.

Six, seven. Only seven.

"Where Rein?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't-"

A sudden silence. No one was quite sure who'd spoken. Their thoughts instantly flew to the fire Feitan had left behind, the heart of it still ablaze in the distance and sending clouds of smoke into the air.

Killua turned his head towards Feitan. "You didn't burn her to smithereens, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. Still, he knew inside that if he had—which was a possibility considering there was a gray area in which he would burn but not be able to sense anything he did—she was beyond help.

Zushi spoke up quietly. "I thought it was an enemy first, but now that I think about it, it might have been Rein. I saw someone catch on fire." He shook his hands around quickly to calm them before they could say anything. "Rest assured, I'm sure the waterfall took care of it."

Machi's eyes narrowed. "Waterfall," she echoed quietly. It was meant to be asked, but it wasn't doubtful enough to be a question, as if she was wary of an answer she didn't want.

He nodded curtly. "It looked like she was falling, but if it was Rein, I guess she jumped into the water on purpose."

When Rein had been made a blank slate, the memory remover had stated they would need to write down specifically things they wanted her to remember. Chrollo had arranged it all so she would recall speech, movement, and basic laws of nature, but after that, he had needed to teach her. And they all had helped in that training. Maybe things hadn't gone quite the way they hoped it would, but Rein still was a healthy girl, and that had been successful in its own way. She knew how to fight. She knew what could be poisonous, when it was alright to let her guard down, and how to think for herself. But among the things they'd taught her after she lost her memory, a few had been left out. Machi looked out over the surface of the water sharply, and her words came quick:

"Rein can't swim."

As soon as the words left her, there was a splash in the lake. On the shore, pairs of shoes and two jackets had been left behind; one of a tracksuit and one a vibrant rustic green. The two Enhancers were already well ahead, splashing with long, hurried strokes.

Killua shrugged. There was a certain weight to his shoulders as he did so, but he didn't seem to be as concerned. "It's Rein," he said, kicking off his sneakers. "I think she'll be able to survive for a bit, so we just have to find her before it's too late. If she's smart, she probably set off a burst of aura before she fell, so while she'll be unconscious, at least she'll float to the surface."

Machi looked him straight in the eye. "Her Hatsu. Her skirt," she listed. The girl had always had a fascination for petrology, and tended to drop anything that caught her eye into her pockets, pockets that had grown larger over the years to have enough capacity to have all her rocks at her side at all times. Even her Nen ability was based on rocks now. Conjured and real, it was a certainty she would have them both to weigh her down. "Rein couldn't float if she tried."

There was a moment of silence as her words sunk in before a curse slipped Killua's lips and he started to pull off his shirt.

*     *     *

It had only been a few minutes, but for searching under the water it had been far too long.

Those who could swim were paddling furiously about the vast lake and the crashing waterfall, diving and squinting their eyes in hopes that they could spot her. There was a chance that she'd been pulled into an air pocket, but it was far more likely her aura had done something subconsciously to try and keep her alive. But she was still out there somewhere, and even before they'd left the lodge she'd been covered in all sorts of injuries and only barely able to keep her head up. Her aura wouldn't hold out for long, if it even had at all. If it hadn't...

Lucky nursed a fractured rib on the side, clenching his jaw as he could only sit and watch.

Machi came back up from the stream trickling out of the lake. She'd set various nets in different places with her threads, so if Rein hit one of them she would automatically know. But the nets only covered so much, and there were numerous places her nets wouldn't be able to reach. The possibility it would be of use was slim.

"Crap," said Lucky, voice cracking. "Crap."

Dozens of feet away in the middle of the lake, Phinks broke through the water's surface, treading for a few moments and shouted several stronger swear words at the top of his lungs before raking in a deep breath and diving again.

Machi agreed with them both, muttering under her breath as her grip on her own crossed arms tightened. She herself wasn't an adequate swimmer and would only be in the way if she stepped a foot into the water. From a distance, she could only look and observe. She would have preferred if it had been a rockslide or any other site on solid ground, where they could all easily clear away the rubble and determine, at least, where Rein wasn't. But water could not be plowed away. It couldn't be blown through with Phinks' Ripper Cyclotron and it couldn't be cut away with her threads. If one scooped it out of the way, it would only flow back into place, obscuring places they had already searched and perhaps carrying Rein further out of their reach.

If Rein was holding out at all, the circumstances were already looking grim.

Machi turned her head towards the cliff Zushi claimed Rein had fallen from. If there were only some sort of way to pinpoint where she was visually, then perhaps they could try and spot it from that height. But even her vivid red skirt would fade quickly in the water, and the depths were...

The sun shifted in the sky, sending sharp rays of light into Machi's eyes. She squinted and held a hand up for shade, the sunlight breaking off and fracturing into small beams, sending the water sparkling. It would have been beautiful if they hadn't been so pressed for time.

Her gaze narrowed, but not from the light.

...sparkling.

"...Stones..."

A sudden vision came to her. The wooden planks of the lodge and a firm door behind her back (the shower room? Why was she there?), holding a tattered skirt and a phone she'd never seen before. (A phone. Rein didn't have a phone, at least she hadn't thought so.) In the faded memory it was there in her hands, refracting the ceiling lights in the most obnoxious way. She'd asked her about them. (But when?)

"Rhinestones."

She didn't know where the memory had come from. It was grayed and hazy and far from trustworthy, but the familiarity of it twisted in her gut and told her to take it, take it and run and act before it was too late.

"Rhinestones," Machi repeated, pulse beginning to race. She whipped around to Lucky and pointed up at the high cliff, not knowing how to convey her thoughts until her tongue moved on its own. "How good is your eyesight?"

*     *     *

"There!" Lucky shouted, leaning over the edge of the precipice and pointing at the area sparkling brighter than the rest of the water's surface. "Nearer to the mouth of the stream!"

Gon listened to his instructions and ducked his head in the lake, twisting his body and pushing off the bank with a burst of aura. His figure shot through the water, sending a spray of white and foam through the air behind him. His eyes were wide open, searching the water for any sign of her. He'd been concerned on whether he would overlook it, but it was impossible to miss; a phone studded with gems and refracting light right towards him. Behind it, almost perfectly concealed by the underwater vegetation, floated a limp hand.

Pushing forward, Gon tried to pry away the rocks she'd gotten snagged on. Large bubbles leaked from his mouth as he gave a cry muted by the water, and it fell away. Her body rose from the movement and he stole that instant she was lifted up to scoop her into his arms and shoot for the surface.

Gon broke through the lapping waves and drew a breath, only hoping she was able to do the same. He wasted no time in locking her arms around his own neck and held her in place as he swam for the shore with a single hand. The others had run to the bank closest to where Lucky had indicated, awaiting Gon and hurrying him on as they sprinted to where they estimated they would land.

Killua arrived first and jumped into the water to haul them both in, dumping both his best friend and the girl onto solid earth.

She landed with a squelch to her drenched clothes and lay ever so horrifyingly still.

He intertwined his fingers around the back of his hand after he turned her face-up and started to push down on her chest repeatedly, going off on fuzzy memories of vague instructions. Killua hoped he wasn't messing this up. He'd only gotten two pumps in when Machi finally caught up and shoved him aside. She took over completely, bringing her ear to her mouth and feeling for a pulse before she bit her lower lip and restarted the procedure.

The rest of them came one by one and could only stand by with their fists to their sides as Machi's figure bobbed up and down, Rein seeming to convulse from the impact but lifeless when her chest rose up. It dragged on for eternity, and the air became heavy after Machi resorted to tilting her head back to attempt to blow the life into her. After two breaths, she started on the compressions again. It was procedure, and this was what was supposed to occur. But it felt so violent, so wrong, and so... so useless, because Rein wasn't getting up.

Machi was about to tilt her head back once more when her chest rose. It was weak, quiet, but it was moving on its own nonetheless. Brushing back pink locks that had escaped her tie from the movement, she tried to instruct them on how to move the girl back to the lodge safely when her eyes cracked open.

Her lips, damp, clammy, and with a bluish tinge to them barely moved when she breathed, "Luck... and... Ph... Phi..." Rein suddenly coughed, her back hitting the ground repeatedly as she spurted up water as her body's plea for help. She dropped still, her chest in terrible crushed pain.

Phinks heard her gargled attempt to say his name and stepped forward, striving to slap on a normal taunting grin. It came out softer than he wanted, however, resulting in a rare tamed expression. He chose his next words carefully. "You looked like Death before we left the lodge, but you look even worse now." He let out a faint 'hmph' in a sort of reassuring chuckle, and bent down to pick her up the way Machi had instructed. "Glad to see you're still kicking."

"You're okay," Rein choked out through her pain. Though her eyelids looked as if they were going to shut again at any moment, the tears that rolled down the sides of her face somehow kept them pried open. "You're all..."

The corners of her eyes crinkled the slightest bit. She closed them for some rest, in peace she hadn't felt in a long time.

"I'm so glad you're all okay."

*     *     *

"You did all this," Kurapika seethed, "for money."

His employer nodded as such, not quite sure in his own mind why the person he'd appointed as commander was so riled up. He leaned back on the open balcony. "Any wish can be granted. Why wouldn't I wish for such a splendid thing? It's what rules this world, what brings you happiness."

"You attempted to kill this man and the entire group accompanying him in the process," he continued softly, the fists at his sides clenched so hard that his knuckles paled white. "Some of them were just children."

"Nen-using children, mind you." His employer shook his head sadly. "It was their choice to interfere. The monsters. Devils."

Those last words rang in Kurapika's ears with a stinging familiarity, and he could only see red. Still, he kept his head lowered, allowing his hanging bangs to cover up the rest of his expression. "I am the head of your forces. It is my duty to give orders to them, not you. The majority of our entire forces are gone because of this rash decision you made to kidnap him."

He clicked his tongue. "Shame too, really. Hiring them drained much of my resources, and I heard they were the best I could get my hands on. If I rehire, I'll have to get second-rate fighters for the same pay."

He'd felt this same rage when he'd worked under Neon, when she'd disregarded the deaths of her guards in concern for her auction slots. But the anger he was feeling now was greater, kindled over a long period of time and finally raging in a change of air. This time it had affected his friends, his precious friends who had accepted him and his past warmly. And Aira, the only one like him left.

When he looked up his eyes were burning brightly, shining as the moon and casting scarlet vengeance that rendered his colored contacts near useless.

His employer stumbled back at the sight, throat constricting. His hands blindly grappled for some sort of surface as Kurapika approached him. "D-don't come near," he threatened weakly, and started to mumble vague things under his breath. "Kurta! That's what you are. Cursed Kurta that escaped and hid your eyes. There's more, aren't there? I'll find where they're all hiding-" His hand slipped the edge of the guardrail and the rest of his body followed, going off the side.

"Sir," Kurapika said, hollow, before he recognized what was happening. He sped to the edge of the balcony and reached down. "Sir, grab my hand!"

But there was still fear lingering in his eyes. He tried to swat Kurapika away, lost his grip, and fell, rolling and bouncing on hard shingles before free falling to the ground.

Kurapika's eyes were wide as he took it all in, quiet. He slid down and sat there for a few minutes, breath shallow as he heard muffled shouts from around him. In a daze, he turned his head back towards the room and somehow brought himself in. He sat in the vacated chair numbly, his eyes casting over papers about sister jewels, the transfer of aura, and instant materialization, along with information on two jewels and what they could do together.

His vision could barely keep itself straight, but certain words caught his eyes and burned themselves into his memory.

Any wish can be granted-

He didn't bother to read the rest of the sentence, didn't care for the rest of the information as his arms came loose and hung at his sides. It echoed in his mind. Any.

"Commander," a man burst into the room, "the boss has just been found and confirmed dead!"

Did he answer?

"Orders?"

He shook his head at first. What for, he didn't know. "I will take over as leader for now. After such a large loss, I ask everyone else to take their leave. I'll make sure the pay gets wired to your accounts like the previous boss arranged."

With a click of the door, Kurapika was alone once more.

Any.

He stood.

He... he could do this.

The more the idea turned itself around in his mind, the more it made sense to him. It was a wonder he hadn't seen this possibility the first time his employer mentioned wishes coming true. He became almost giddy at the thought, his steps feeling light as he paced, sending the papers to the ground with the movement he made.

His entire clan he'd lost, everybody he'd grown up around—his loving parents, the crafty elders, his neighbors and aunts and uncles and friends—none of them had deserved to die at wicked hands. Now he had a chance to redo all of it, to undo the horrible injustice done to the entire Kurta Clan. If what his employer had said was true, it would be as easy as turning back the hands of a clock, which was, in a sense, what he would do. He'd given up on it completely, never even thought that Nen could do such a wondrous thing as bringing back the dead. But it could, and he was going to take advantage of it.

He would bring Pairo back.

is this a villain origin I see

Idk why people make CPR into a romantic thing like 1 person isn't breathing and the other person is violently pumping up and down at least two whole inches on the other person's chest (two whole inches. Getting CPR hurts.) Realistically, this scene I just wrote wouldn't happen because Rein would probably not regain consciousness and would be in immense pain on the slight chance that she did. But hey

It's fiction. I can do what I want.
(sorry, medical professionals)

Any who, the time loop torture is finally over! I'm going to have to be nice to Rein after this...

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