(Shiki's P.O.V.)

After Zexion passed out from shock, Lizz and I pulled him out of the wreckage and tied his hands to a sewage pipe. "Hey, wake up, you piece of crap." I slapped him for the fifth time.

"Shiki, he's waking up," Lizz pointed out, that turd finally beginning to stur. He groggily shook his head and cracked his eyes open. Recollecting his utter butt whooping, Zexion gasped as he gazed up at us.

"It's about time you come back," I said impatiently. I squatted in front of him and leaned forward, glaring into his bloodshot eyes. "Now, set everybody's memories back the way they were and maybe... I'll only beat you to the point that your face will be beyond recognition."

Zexion's gaped mouth curled into a smile. His eyes widened as he suddenly began laughing. Not the reaction we were looking for. "I c-can't," he chuckled.

I grabbed him by the shirt and slammed my forehead against his, knocking his glasses off. It stung a little, not because I'm used to ignoring pain. I was just too mad to care. "What do you mean you freaking can't?!"

"Shiki, careful!" Lizz urged. Right, I forgot with whatever skin contact he makes, he can change memories. I took my forehead off. A streak of blood broke out where the impact was along with a nose bleed, but the lunatic was still laughing.

"I can't fix your precious memories."

I punched him in the face, disregarding Lizz's words. "Bullcrap!" I yelled.

He was still giggling as if the pain was fueling him, or he's just pissing me off out of spite. "That's the price of my special ability. I can't undo what I've already done. You're just gonna have to trust your own memories."

"Why I oughta..." Boy, how much I want to punch this motherhover a hundred times right now. I gritted my teeth, holding myself back from doing so. Lizz placed a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll find a way," she said. "Yuki was able to break out of his spell and so did you. Maybe under the right conditions, it'll take time."

"We can't be too sure." Even though I got all of my memories back, something still didn't feel right, like something was still missing. It has been itching at the back of my mind ever since my eyes opened to the truth. Not only that, but my brain still ached from all the fake memories floating around. Even though I know they are fake, they still feel convincing. It's annoying. I just want him to get rid of it.

"Oi!" We turned our attentions toward a door with four people walking out. Liz and I were overjoyed to see that it was our friends. Though I wanted to say alive and well, only half of that statement seemed true. Gon and Killua were both badly injured with Killua using his jacket as a sling for his arm. It was surprising to see them limp while still smiling. Alluka seemed perfectly fine. Yuki too, other than that dark bruise on her cheek and hobbling on one foot with her arm around Alluka's shoulders. Overall, I'd say they look victorious.

"Yuki!" Lizz cried cheerfully as she ran to her best friend. Yuki let out a huff when Lizz crashed into her and Alluka, giving them a big hug.

"You guys did it," I said with with huge relief, smiling.

***

(Yuki's P.O.V.)

My body winced in pain when Lizz held us tight, but we were all so happy I didn't want to worry her. Lizz let go with a sigh, but her attention soon turned to my face. Even with the slightest touch it still stung my cheek.

"What happened here?"

"Oh, that..." I said sheepishly. "Yeah, Illumi kinda had me there."

"That jerk! Where is he? I want to give him a piece of my mind too!"

"You don't have to," Gon said. "He's history."

"KYAAA!" Lizz shrieked at the sight of Gon's messed up face. She smooshed his swelled, bruised cheeks with both hands. "What happened to you?! Did Illumi do this too?"

"Actually... It was Killua who bruised me up good," Gon laughed it off.

"And I said I was sorry," Killua responded, embarrassed.

"And I said I already forgive you."

Killua's strength was quite shocking, actually seeing it in action for the first time, and quite scary first hand. So this is what Killua does for a living, what his entire childhood was like. He would be put in actual life-threatening situations where he has to rely on his strength to live. I wonder what kind of back aching, excruciating training he had to go through as a kid?

"I can take care of that," Alluka said. "Just say the word."

"You can go first," Killua insisted to Gon.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, man. I can wait for my turn." Killua walked to Alluka and placed his hand on top of her head. "Something... heal Gon."

That familiar dark mist shrouded Alluka, replacing her face with the white mask known as Something. "'Kay..." Something walked toward Gon and raised her hands. Gon slouched, placing his face between her hands. Suddenly, a warm bright light lit up like a small twinkling star. My jaw dropped when the light faded, revealing Gon's face polished back to normal.

"That's amazing!" I said, astonished. "I didn't know Something can also heal." Something's face changed back to Alluka's and gave a proud smile before closing her eyes and fainting. Luckily, Killua was quick to catch her, letting her head rest on his shoulder as he rubbed her back. "But wait... I thought you would have to complete three requests to get a wish."

"Actually, what I gave her was a command, not a request. An exception only her awesome big brother has," he boasted. Lucky him. "But don't worry, it's not like I abuse that power. When Something heals, it takes a lot of energy out of her and she needs to rest. There's no need to worry about big, dangerous requests from her after healing someone either."

"Wow. So that's why Illumi needed both you and Alluka," Lizz said.

"That's right. Only I know all of Something's rules and loopholes. If Illumi has control of me, he would have control over Something."

Thank goodness it didn't come to that. Alluka would be a prisoner and Killua would be a puppet. Imagine what a twisted man like Illumi and the rest of his family would do with that kind of power with no limitations.

"Did you say that Illumi was defeated?" Ienzo, whom I now learned his real name to be Zexion, questioned in utter dismay. We were so caught up in our reunion that I almost didn't notice him sitting there. His face was dripping with his own blood. He had his hands tied behind him to a pipe protruding from the ground. His pants were torn and stained with blood, but patched up to stop the bleeding. "No way."

"Ha! Looks like you'll be missing payday," Shiki gloated as she walked toward Zexion to rub it in his face.

Zexion lowered his head. "This can't be... this wasn't supposed to happen to me."

"Oh, yeah? Well, believe it," Lizz said as we all came closer, circling around Zexion. "We're gonna turn you in to the Hunter Organization either way, so you're gonna help reset our memories back whether you like it or not."

Zexion's shoulders began to shake as he began to chuckle in a menacing way. "Oh, I'll reset your memories all right..." Zexion's arms were suddenly free from his binding and he leaped forward, lunging his hand toward me. With his battered legs, I didn't expect him to make such brash movements. Killua was still holding Alluka carefully, too slow to react unexpectedly.

"Yuki, look out!"

Before I could even move, Lizz intercepted between me and Zexion. With his two forefingers, Zexion poked Lizz on the forehead and tapped it once with his index finger.

It all happened so fast that I couldn't even begin to process what just happened. Zexion dropped to the ground, the adrenaline drained from his legs, as I caught Lizz while she fell back, dropping to my knees. Her body was suddenly limp as she laid on my lap, her eyes closed. "Lizz?" I called out, but no response. I panicked and shook her. "Lizz!" I was freaking out. Did he attack her in some way? Did he knock her out? I hovered my hand over her mouth to check if she was breathing. There was humidity in my palm, thank goodness, but why did she suddenly drop like a fly?

Zexion groaned when Shiki stomped her foot on his back. "What. Did. You. Do?"

Zexion chuckled. "I erased her memories." All of us fell into utter silence. "All of her memories are set back to the day she was born, even before she learned how to walk. Once she wakes up, she'll be nothing but an empty husk."

Upon hearing the defeat of Illumi, Zexion tried to take one of us down with him. Me. But Lizz shielded me and took the hit instead. I hugged Lizz closer to my chest, my mouth quivering as I begin to feel the tears from the back of my eyes well up. This shouldn't be happening. I just got my best friend back after remembering her and now I'm going to lose her again.

"You no good-" Shiki was interrupted when Gon politely shoved her off of Zexion, a shadow casting over his eyes. He pulled up Zexion by the shirt and punched him in the face, knocking him back to the ground.

"You worthless scum!" he shouted, the furry and hatred in his eyes now blazing like a fire. He went on top of Zexion and punched him again. "Put her memories back right now!"

Zexion spit out blood before giving Gon a defiant grin. "I said... I erased her memories. Can you get something back once it's been deleted?"

Another brutal punch. "Don't give me that!"

This time, Zexion spit out a bloody tooth. "You gonna cry?"

"Shut up!" Gon switched from left hook to right hook, each alternating blow adding more fist marks on Zexion's face, splattering blood on the floor.

"Gon... stop," I said. This was becoming too sick and scary to watch. The once cheerful Gon now beating a boy who is already down mercilessly. He was losing it. "Stop!"

"Gon, that's enough!" Killua hooked his arms under Gon's shoulders, pulling him away from Zexion, whom he still tried to beat like a mindless animal. "If you keep this up he'll die, and then we'll never lift the Nen off of Lizz." It was hard to tell when Zexion had fallen unconscious between the series of punches, his face mangled.

Gon breathed and managed to calm down, but when he looked at Lizz, he punched the ground in frustration. "Tsk! What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Killua, what about Something?" I suggested. "She can do anything you tell her, right?"

Killua looked down in despair. Not the reaction I was hoping for. "Alluka rests for a really long time after healing someone. If Lizz wakes up before Alluka does, then..."

"It would be too late. Lizz will lose all of her memories. Is there really nothing... we can do?"

Everyone was silent, sharing the look of despair. Killua turned around with his hands in his pocket. Shiki sat down next to Gon, patting his shoulder. His fists were tight, saying that he refused to let this be the end, but with no solution, it was hopeless.

I looked down at Lizz and brushed her hair out of her face. "I'm so useless..."

Killua turned around. "Yuki, don't say that-"

"It's true!" I yelled. Something inside of me that I didn't know that has been building up until now was finally bursting out all at once. "All of you guys are extraordinary and strong. You've always been carrying me, but what have I done? What can I do? I can't... do anything. I couldn't even protect my best friend. She's going to lose her memories... all because of me. This is all my fault." Tears began trickling down my face, dripping on Lizz's cheeks.

I didn't like to think about it often, but I have always been envious of my friends. They all have powerful talents and have experienced grand adventures while I'm just a simple high school student who can barely run to the train on time. I am very different from my friends. I always have to rely on them to save me. Maybe if I was strong and not always the damsel in distress at those times my friends saved me, maybe things would have ended up differently. Maybe if I was as sharp, quick or strong like them, Lizz wouldn't have to put herself in danger for my sake.

"I wouldn't talk too soon just yet." We all turned our heads toward the voice in the shadow, two pairs of footsteps walking toward us. When the two figures emerged into the light, Shiki and Gon stood up with everyone's surprise.

"Kalluto?" Killua uttered. Kalluto closed a hand fan he was holding as he approached us with a tall, lean man with dark skin walking beside him. He was wearing a navy blue jacket, suitable for the weather. "What are you doing here?"

"How did you get here?" I inquired. I wasn't able to reach neither Canary nor Kalluto on the phone. How did he know to come here?

"During my mission, Canary informed me that she received news of you contacting the butlers. She figured that if you tried contacting her, something serious happened to Onii-chan. That's when she contacted me. I had Miluki to track down your phone's location. Luckily for you, I was a few hours away in the area while on a mission."

"Doing what?" Killua asked.

"Finding him," he gestured to the man accompanying him.

The man politely placed his hand on his chest with a blow. "My name is Abengane. I am a Nen exorcist."

"A Nen exorcist? That's perfect!" Shiki cheered. Both Kalluto and Abengane seemed confused so Shiki started explaining. "It's a long story, but that piece of trash is a Nen manipulator." She pointed at Zexion. "He screwed all of our memories, including Killua's, and right now Lizz is on the verge of losing all of her memories. Is there anything you can do?"

"Please, she's my friend," I begged, still cradling Lizz's unconscious body.

Abengane held his chin as he looked down for a moment. "Hmm... Nen that inflicts people's mental state is quite difficult to remove, but not impossible." He kneeled down in front of me and Lizz. "You see, memories cannot actually be erased. They're stored somewhere deep within various parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, the neocortex, and amygdala. None of these parts were damaged, which means those memories are not damaged or lost either. That man's Nen ability is keeping them locked away."

"So can you remove it?"

He took another moment to think. "Did he say anything important? Any certain conditions?"

"He said that when she wakes up her memories will be reset."

Abengane stood up and walked away, returning moments later with a metal trash can. "If what he said is true, then most likely when she wakes up, memories of her entire life and common knowledge will fade out like a dream, meaning we have no time to waste." He lit the trash on fire with a lighter and opened the rucksack he had slinging around his shoulder. He pulled out a boiled egg, covered it with strange incense, then tossed it in the fire.

Gon rolled up his scarf and offered to place it under Lizz's head for support. With Lizz in Gon's care, I stretched my legs and spectated Abengane's sorcery up close.

"What is all this for?" I asked.

Abengane kept his hands over the fire. "Every Nen user's Nen is unique, taking shape and form that fits the user. My ability turns my aura in the form of beats that consume the Nen abilities of others."

"Beasts?"

"Don't worry. Nobody can see them but me."

I didn't exactly understand what he meant, but he seemed to know what he was doing. "How long will the process take?"

"My estimate is... seven hours."

"What?! That's way too long. Lizz might wake up any time. I don't understand much about Nen, but isn't there any way to do it faster?"

Abengane scratched the back of his head. "It's not that easy. Tampering and fixing the mind is a difficult task of delicacy and precision. Locating the exact spot in her memory scape would definitely speed up the process, but..." He trailed off as he gave me a curious look. "How long have you known your friend?"

"Ever since we were kids," I replied.

"Hmm... then you will have to go inside Lizz's mind and plant the egg."

"What?!" I shrieked.

Abengane raised a hand demanding me to be calm. "You won't literally be going inside of Lizz's mind, only your consciousness. You see, aura exists in everyone, even you. By connecting your aura's with your friend's, it might be possible to transfer your mind into Lizz's with your aura in its own form."

"I'm sorry, did you say 'might be,' as in this has never been done before?"

"Normally, I would have no problem performing it here, but due to the conditions of Zexion's Nen, that's not an option. It would take too long for the beast to find the source of the Nen's problem if it entered through your friend's ear. With the help of a Manipulator, it'll make locating the Nen source a lot easier, and moving your consciousness into Lizz's mind possible."

Shiki joined into the conversation as soon as she heard the need of a Manipulator. "I'll help. This whole thing happened because of me anyways. It may not even come close to atonement, but I'll help in anyway I can."

"Wait wait wait," I said, pumping my hands back and forth to slow down. "Why do I have to go in there?"

"I have to stay here and perform the chant for the exorcism. Plus, you're her childhood friend. You would navigate through her memories better than anyone, thus finding her core memories easily. That's where the Nen is most likely affecting her memories. I also have a strong feeling that given the bond you two share, it shouldn't be too hard."

What is that supposed to mean? All of this sounded risky, unreal, and crazy, like something out of a science fiction. However, there was no time to argue. Lizz's memories are slipping by the second. If anyone is going to do this job, it's going to be me. Lizz would do the same for me.

"Okay. What do I do?"

Abengane instructed Yuki and Shiki to lie down on their backs face up, same as Lizz, with their hands holding in a circle. We closed our eyes and waited to fall asleep. As I began drifting, I could hear Abengane's strange chanting. Some words were a strange language, but other words I could make out.

"Spirits of the storm and winter, I call you forward to remove the unclean Nen possessing this girl's body. Let her sleep peacefully until it is complete."

His chanting was lulling me to sleep. I wonder if I'm even going to remember my mission once I fall asleep. Is it going to be like those lucid dreams? Will I even have control? I feel so weird, but also relaxed, like all the tension and stress is being released from my body for the very first time. Hang on, Lizz. I'm going to save you.