Prophecy

Baby Talk

Kurapika returned to Prince Woble's cabin shortly after his mind-bogging trip to Tserriednich's place with Kuroro Lucifer, still pretty shaken up with all that happened.

He immediately checked on Lady Oito and Prince Woble who were both resting in their bedroom. The prince was fast asleep in her cradle while her mother snuggled in her covers, a small frown was on her face, she seemed to be having trouble in her sleep. Kurapika didn't stay long and left to talk with his fellow bodyguard.

"I'm sorry for taking time. Things happened and I have to deal with them."

"It has something to do with your original mission, hasn't it?" Bill replied. Kurapika said nothing and gave a light shrug. "Alright, I won't go there."

"Thanks," Kurapika just smiled. "So, is there anything weird that happened while I'm away?"

"Everything is normal so far. Sairid is still tightly tied in the other room. No parasitic nen beast appeared. For such an ambush attack, they just disappeared as soon as they came up. Not that I'm complaining but man, I can't let my guard down at all," Bill sat on the couch and leaned before heaving a sigh and slumping his shoulders. "Damn it. We are now so outnumbered. I seriously am anxious of what to do once those freakish beasts come to visit again."

"And like I told you, you can still back out anytime. Patrolling Deck 2 is still on the table."

"And like I told you, hell no. Not now that we've lost almost all of our comrades. But really, what is our next move? We can't possibly request for new guards now. Not that I'm aware if we're allowed to take in new personnel due to our circumstances. I was waiting for you so I can ask the Royal Troops for back up, but really, I doubt if they will give us some, and if they are trustworthy..." Bill muttered, sleepiness was etched in his face.

"Even if they allow and provide us new guards, if they are not nen-users or worse, undercover assassins or working secretly for the higher ranking wives, it's useless. But I've been thinking..." Kurapika sat on the couch as well, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. Kuroro's prophecy gave him an idea. "You said that these parasitic nen beasts either protect their hosts or attack them. That they invoke their abilities on their own and the hosts don't necessarily have to be nen-users to control them... likely because they are uncontrollable to begin with."

Bill shot him an inquisitive look.

Kurapika resumed. "When we were briefing during our departure and Lady Oito kind of grew nervous, I felt a dark, strong aura that emanated from Prince Woble. I assumed it was nothing so I didn't give it much of a thought. Then she became frantic again before the nen beasts appeared. So I came up with a conclusion that not only when Prince Woble senses danger lurking around her, her nen beast awakens too when Lady Oito is disturbed and troubled."

"Now that is nice. Meaning not only we have to protect the prince, we also have to keep Lady Oito cool and calm so the beast won't kill us indiscriminately," Bill grimaced and shook his head.

"Yes, unless... we learn to control the beast," Kurapika said.

"Oh. That's one big talk over there. How are we supposed to control it? The host itself can't even see the thing. How can we handle it?"

"Nen reflects its wielder's emotions and state of mind. Given that these are parasitic type and they don't fall on any nen category except Manipulation and Specialization perhaps, the only way for us to communicate with them is through the host. Fuel the wielder with anger and the beast will wreak havoc. Calm him down and it will be tamed. It's one crazy talk but we have no choice. I get a feeling that these beasts are under experimentation anyway. The King doesn't only look at the visible abilities of the heirs, not the ranking or age. They are factors, yes, but I think the biggest criteria for judging here is how strong or weak the nen beast a prince would create, and how she or he would control it. It's just a hypothesis, but it's likely the closest to the truth."