Part 60: Starting X New X Life

He continued to stare at the ceiling above him while waiting for something from the laptop in front of him. Even though her arm was finally removed from her whole body, Grenno still didn't know where the monster is coming from. He had been encountering several victims of these cells, including the man he found before.

As he was about to go back to his device, someone walked through the door, revealing himself to him. His worn-out lab coat is already stained with dirt that came from different places, and the first aid kit that he had been carrying all of his life is still intact.

"What brings you here..." Grenno tried to correct his posture for the man in front, trying to be proper in order to not be ridiculed. "Albert?"

"Long time no see, Grenno." The man named Albert Steinfield said, with a sincere smile stuck in his face, filled with kindness and good intentions. But the former doesn't buy this kind of behavior.

"I thought you decided to live a normal life, and never gonna show up here again." He insulted, as his eyebrows became more attached to each other than before, irritated by the man that showed up in his office. He was desperate to push him out of his lair, but knowing him, he knew that he has something that would interest anyone, especially a researcher like him.

"That's what I thought... but there's something that you must know," Albert spoke, his smile disappeared and replaced by a serious face, growing more tension inside the office. "And that's the reason why I came here."

"Tsk. I don't have time for your shi–"

"It's about Secco Rasvin... and her arm." The man stopped him from his inappropriate sentence by getting to the point of the reason why he came here. "I know you taught her Nen."

"How do you know about that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Like you, I have eyes and ears everywhere too," Albert answered his question, which made the latter more irritated of him. He was known to have unlimited access to information around the world, even the underground, so a doctor challenging him into a battle of information will really displease him. "But enough of that, I want to have a talk with you... about what's really going on with Secco."

"My student is investigating it right now with what they found in the Philene Village... so I don't need your help." He tried to be stubborn, keeping himself away from the offer of his friend.

"I don't want you to need me. I just wanted to help." The doctor said, now more serious. "That Nen Beast inside her... is a dangerous threat."

"What do you mean?" Grenno raised an eyebrow once more.

"Her mother was my patient when she's pregnant. And I tried to ultrasound her stomach. There, I found the monster cells in the baby's arm." He started explaining, as the researcher unexpectedly listened to it. He doesn't have a choice. This is a big piece of information. "Then, I found out that it wasn't staying in just one part of the body. It was moving and multiplying."

After hearing about it, he tried to grab his chin with his fingers, thinking deeply about what he heard. If it was multiplying and moving, then they might have a goal or order that was coming from the manipulator that summoned them.

"I met Secco in the Yorknew City and I scanned her body with my X-ray," Albert said, showing a small flash drive in between his fingers.

"Oh. That annoying Nen technique of yours." The former said, trying to mock and insult the doctor. But he didn't let it bother him and just continued to explain everything he knew.

"Anyway, I have it on this drive." He said and gave it to Grenno to attached it to his laptop. He might get annoyed by his friend sometimes, but he always trusted him, so he didn't have any second thoughts about inputting the drive into his laptop. This minor action made the doctor smiled as he finally knew that he was still considered a comrade.

Together, they both watched the x-ray result and the researcher didn't expect what he saw in one of the charts in the display. His eyes widened as he noticed something that would surprise him as he had been searching for answers for years and years.

"Wait! The cells..." He said, couldn't believe what he just saw.

"Yes. They started to occupy her brain." The doctor confirmed and finished his statement, trying to let him know all information.

"I don't know who's controlling them, but I'm sure that they were ordered to take over their owner's mind and full control of her body." He added, his eyes were staring at Grenno with solemnity, trying to say that what he was about to say was very important. "If my calculations are correct, then they already reached her brain by now."

***

---

No man can be a sailor if his ship can't fight the storm and no man can be strong if he, himself, can't stop his mind. No matter how much lightning tried to reach the very deck of their ship, how many waves tried to stumble them down, how many winds kept toppling them, they kept sailing.

There should be shouts and screams covering the whole ship, but it was enveloped by the thunders' cries like it never existed in the first place. The dark waters below rose, even more, pushing the ship to their undesired direction. The stormy night refused them to leave in the sea alive, as it kept them giving rain and thunder.

"C-Captain!!"

At last, the shout can be heard from afar, then a weak middle-aged man went out of his room, trying to fight the motion of the ship from wobbling in the waves. He ran as fast as he can towards his destination until he finally made it.

"What's the matter?" A man turned his head around to see who's approaching him. His sailor hat stayed intact, no matter how strong the cold wind is to fly it away. His beard grow longer and became white, the same as his hair.

"S-Secco is..." The man stuttered, unsure if it is right to say it. "Secco is..."

The captain widened his eyes, even though he didn't even say anything, he understood what he meant through her cracked words and scared face. She had never done it for a very long time, and yet, now she did it again. They were sure no one can stop her from doing it, unless by force.

"AHHHH!!"

The thunderstorm was followed by a scream, a scream of pain, fear, and hatred. The voice of a young girl echoed in the storm, desperate to do something that she is always doing before.

Holding a knife with its sharpest blade, she raised her hand. Her wet blue eyes filled with water flowing down on her cheeks stared at the wrinkled purple arm with despise and anger. She had never wished to have this monstrous arm in her life, and yet, she had been given to her, causing her life to be miserable. She wanted to remove it, even that takes to kill herself.

Her blonde hair became a mess, everything about her became a mess. Her identity and pride were taken from her, and now she's hopeless.

"AHHHH!!" She yelled as she stabbed her arm with the knife, causing her to fill the intense pain and her blood to rush out. And yet, the arm is still there, unarmed and bathing in blood. But that didn't stop her from going further. She was about to repeat it the second time.

Before she could do it, the door beside her opened with a slam and the captain showed up in front of her, but she didn't care, she kept stabbing herself. He immediately rushed towards her side, tried to stop her along with other men. She had been with them since last year. He treated her like his daughter, and everyone treated her like their little sister, so they don't want her to suffer because of this.

"Secco! Stop it!" The captain shouted with his deep voice, signaling the others to grab her by the arms, while he tried to remove the knife from her hand. Both of her arms raised, blood dripping from one of them.

"Ahh!!" She tried to resist, still willing to continue what she had been doing like the pain was never a big deal, but the strength of the men cannot be stopped by a weak little girl like her.

"Please! Just stop it!" He yelled. Couldn't be able to take her actions, he raised his hand in the air and slapped her cheeks with enough force to feel the pain.

This woke her up, causing her to stay quiet and spaced out of nowhere. Her whole body was shaking. Her voice trembled and her breathing became abnormally. The tears that were once flowing earlier kept going out of her eyes.

Then, she reached for the captain's body and hugged him tightly, like a little kid that was being bullied and abused by a group of people. She wailed like a child, like a lost soul that was trying to find herself. She really became a mess, and no one except a few people would care.

The storm finally calmed down along with her. She went out of her room, trying to breathe some fresh air out of the clear starry night sky. The calm waters sparkled with the stars but the moon above shone the brightest. She had never been out of her room for a long time.

She reminisced about her first day coming inside the ship. Her first objective was to steal one of the cargos and run away from it, but then, she was caught by the sailors. She regretted what she did until the captain decided to keep her around and started taking care of her. At first, she was skeptical and couldn't be able to trust them, but then, she is growing to trust them, like they were her family.

She went back to reality when she saw a glimpse of a figure floating in the water, being pushed by the small waves towards their gigantic ship. She squinted her eyes and stretched her neck to lean closer.

After minutes of identifying what it is, she found out that it was a small boat, carrying one person that was now lying on its deck. Unfortunately, she couldn't be able to know who is riding it.

Without any choice, she removed the external part of her clothes and decided to jump into the cold waters of the night. Because of her staying on the ship, she was being forced to practice swimming in the sea, since one day, there will be no one to save her once she fell. She already knows that. No one would save and help someone with a distorted arm like her at all.

Finally, she reached the floating boat in just a short time. Since her body was too small, the speed was never an issue for her to lack. After touching the boat, she climbed on top of it, until she can see the person whom she didn't recognize earlier.

It was a young lady in her late 20s wearing dirty thin clothes that had gone through hardships and struggles. Her straight hazel hair tied into a loose ponytail was now become a mess, although it would be beautiful if it was fixed. Her whole body was covered by a worn-out cloak, which kept her warm in the cold night of travel.

Then, she opened her cobalt blue eyes that sparkled under the moon, the same as her. The bags started to become visible, and her porcelain face was now stained with dirt from different sources.

"M-Miss... are you okay?" Secco said, shivering that she met a stranger. Her father was once told her to don't talk to strangers, but now, she broke that rule. Well, she decided to not listen to him anymore, as he did an unforgivable thing to her before.

The lady's eyes widened, shocked at how she recognized her face. Secco doesn't have any idea what she was thinking, so she tilted her head, gesturing that she is confused about her actions right now.

She grabbed something in her bag, which the little girl doesn't have any idea what's inside of it. Soon, she started to regret swimming towards her and met a weird lady that dressed up like that of a beggar. Out of curiosity, she tried to lean closer at her, trying to take a peek at what's inside it, but to no avail.

After a minute of inspecting her bag, she finally found what she was looking for, and raised it to the air. It was a thin glass tube that shone in the moonlight, with an unknown red liquid inside it.

"D-Drink this..." The lady said, forcefully lent the tube to her.

"H-Huh?" Confused, she refused the tube and started crawling further away from the lady. All she can think about her was that she had lost her mind, like how she lost hers earlier.

The lady understood her actions and stopped forcing the tube on her. She, then, lowered her head, couldn't be able to think of something for her to trust her motives. She came all the way here to search for the person she was looking for, but even she doesn't want to get nearby someone she didn't know.

Without any choice and plans, she stretched her arms towards her and wrapped it up to her back. Secco's eyes widened because of the sudden embrace coming from the woman.

"Umm..."

She was supposed to push her back. She had no idea who she is and she might threaten and harass her. But somehow, she never wanted to let go.

Warmth. There is warmth in between the embrace that she just received. It was strange for her to feel like this, since the only one who showed her love was only her father, and no one else. But for some reason, she can feel the love and care coming from the unknown lady she just met.

"Trust me..."

---

***

6 years later...

"Wait up, Gon!" I yelled at him, louder than my previous shouts as he got further and further away from my position. Even though I was panting between my breath, I managed to shout that loud. I reached for my knees and lowered my head, started to run out of energy because of the running and climbing we just did.

It's been a year since my distorted arm was no more and was changed by a normal human arm. I've never been so happy with my life that I don't have the cursed arm anymore.

It's also the time that Killua confessed to me that he liked me too. I was surprised and embarrassed at that time, but after that, I couldn't help but be happy and excited to meet him again.

I went to my father's suburban house, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found and the house is empty with the furniture and our photos. I don't have any idea where he went but wherever he is staying right now, I hope he is safe and fine.

"Secco, come here! Or we'll gonna miss it!" He turned around and looked at me with a wide smile on his face, determined to where he was going. It's been hours since we traveled around the forest, trying to find what he had been looking for.

"Okay, okay!" I shouted back, giving him a sincere smile as I tried to follow him since he stopped in his tracks. "I'll try... my best!"

After failing to go back to my father, I decided to stay with Gon in his home at Whale Island. I expected that they would be kind, but I never thought that his aunt, Aunt Mito, and his grandmother, would be this so caring to me even though we haven't met yet.

This is it. I tried to forget everything that happened to me in Yorknew City before. All the bullies, the Nostrade family, and the auction, they're just a thing of the past. My miserable life is no more. Now, all I had to do was to find my father, and start a new life, a simple and happy one.