I'LL BE WITH YOU ― KURAPIKA KURTA ✓

──── 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔

——————✧◦♚◦✧——————⋆

Gon, Kurapika, [Y/N], and Leorio have arrived at Dentora Region of the Republic of Padekea, where Killua lives.

"There it is. The base for this family of assassins is on that mountain? It sure looks creepy." Leorio muttered as the rest of the group's eyes landed on Kukuroo Mountain.

"Yes." Kurapika nodded, "Once we reach our destination, we should start gathering information." The three others nodded in reply. The four start gathering information and ride a tour bus.

A woman with curly, messy, and orange hair, bows to them politely. She explained the history behind Kukuroo Mountain and the people living on it. After the explanation, the group arrived in front of the front gate, where behind laid Kukuroo Mountain.

"This is the front gate of the Zoldyck estate. Also known as the Gate to Hades because no one who's entered has returned alive. To enter, you must pass through the door beside the security checkpoint. But the area beyond the gate is private property, so we can't proceed." The guide informed.

"Hold on! This is the front gate?" Leorio asked in disbelief. "The mountain's all over there!"

"Correct...The Zoldyck family owns Kukuroo Mountain, as well as the surrounding land.

"This whole area is their backyard..?" Leorio muttered to himself.

Gon turns to the guide, "Hey guide...?

"Yes?"

"What do we have to do to get inside?" Gon asked, pointing his finger at the iron door.

The guide hummed, "Little boy, were you listening to my explanation?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"Uh-huh but..."

"If you go inside, you'll never get out alive! Assasins live inside."

"It's all a sham." A large man said. He was holding a large weapon on his shoulder. Besides him was a taller, lankier man, but he also looked ready for battle. "The infamous of assassins. Just a picture of them is worth millions."

"Seriously?! Damn!" Leorio cursed out loud, snapping his finger irately. "I should have taken a picture of Killua!" Kurapika, Gon, and [Y/N] all gave him a blank look.

"It's just another case of rampant rumors masking a mundane truth."

[Y/N] watches them break the security door down and threaten the security guards to give them the keys. The old man warned him about his master, but sighed in defeat and handed the keys, and they enter, stating they'll get an award for taking pictures of the Zoldyck's. Not even five seconds later, the group heard bloody screams come from the closed doors. Not long after, a huge furry hand throws their corpses outside the wall. All the tourists scream in horror and run back into the tour bus. The guide person urged Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, and [Y/N] to get inside.

Gon gave her a reassuring smile, "You can leave. We'll stay here." She gave them a "Are you crazy?" look and had the driver drive away as fast as they could.

~~~

After many failed attempts of the group trying to get a hold of Killua, due to the stuck-up butler working in the mansion, the group learned a bit about Zebro.

"Mike is trained to kill anyone who enters the gate." Zebro states.

"Sir, how is it that you're safe?" Kurapika asked. "You go inside correct? If you never needed to enter, you wouldn't have a key."

The old man smirked in amusement, "Quite perspective of you. But you're only half right. I require no key to get inside." He reached inside his pocket and holds out the key, "This key is for intruders." He stated.

"Key for intruders?" Leorio repeated.

"For some reason, eighty to ninety percent of intruders attempt to use the front gate. If I don't open the gate for them, they'll try to break it down. Such trouble makers...So we added a locked door to one side. The intruders take a key from the helpless guard, and then Mike eats them.

Kurapika's eyes widen in realization, "That's it!"

"As you just realized, I'm not a guard. I merely clean up for Mike."

"And the actual gate isn't locked!"

Zebro took the group outside to the gate to try and open it. But none of them came close except for Leorio. He got it to shift a bit, but not much.

"Why the hell are they so heavy!?" Leorio yelled in frustration.

Zebro sighed as he removed his uniform off, "Just watch. This gate's official name is the Testing Gate. Anyone who cannot open this gate is unqualified to enter the Zoldyck estate." He places both palms against the stone gate and opens the first door that weighs two tons, surprising the group.

The door closes by itself as Zebro turns to them, "As you just saw, the door closes automatically. So you'll want to run for it the second it opens. You don't have to worry about Mike. He has orders not to attack anyone who enters the Testing Gate. Still, this is getting tougher as I age." He sighed, "But they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so I need to keep in shape."

"Two tons?" Leorio gasped, "You're not supposed to be able to open that! Wait, what did you say? Gate one?"

"Yes, have a look. There are seven gates. When you get up a gate, the weight doubles."

"Doubles?"

"The number of the gate that opens depends on the amount of strength you use. Incidentally, when young Killua returned, he opened one through three."

"Gate three? That would be twelve tons!" Gon exclaimed.

"Sixteen tons, Gon." Kurapika and [Y/N] corrected him.

After some talk, Gon begged Zebro to just let him through the fake doors. Zebro refused and after a while, Kurapika, Leorio, and [Y/N] stopped Gon from doing anything stupid. One thing leads to another and soon enough the group was finally inside the Zoldyck's property. Now they were taken to the servant's quarters.

"This is Seaquant. He works with me here." Zebro introduced the man to them. Gon was quick and introduced himself as well. After they all conversed with each other they were put in some training weights that were supposed to be on all times, except when they were sleeping. Everything in the room weighted, the cups, the doors, hell, even the chairs they sat on.

Every night, Kurapika, Leorio, and [Y/N] would try to open the gate door with no success while Gon watched due to his injuries. Finally, one night, the group open up the doors, with the help of Gon, of course. Together, they successfully opened 3 doors.

Now they were starting to get close to meeting Killua.

——————✧◦♚◦✧——————⋆