The Reason We Fight

Chapter 72. The Aftermath

When Kakume opened her eyes, she found herself at the infirmary, in the same bed had been when she had lost consciousness during Tserriednich's Nen training. Her core temperature was low, she could feel it in the sluggishness of her mind. She was awake but wan, exhausted, feeling vacant in her own skin.

"Leorio, she's awake!", she heard a woman's voice speak. Cheadle. She was doing her rounds of the patients. The sounds and voices were making her head pound, pulsating painfully.

"Why am I here?", she asked.

Leorio rushed into the room. Senritsu was also there, though Kurapika was nowhere to be found. "Ah! With how little aura you had left, I didn't think you'd ever wake up".

Kakume said nothing. She didn't know how she ended here, and they were not answering her question. Cheadle approached her, her arms crossed.

"We made some negotiations with Halkenburg. Being the only adult in the Hui Guo Rou line who survived the massacre, authority on internal affairs was automatically conferred to him". She made a deep sigh and slid a hand through her hair. "This is a delicate situation. Normally, it would lead to a death sentence, or in the least, prison for life. But in the context of the succession war... knowing that you were merely a pawn whom Tserriednich lost control over..."

There was a massacre, and the older princes were dead. She had no recollection of that.

"The monarchy was abolished, as Halkenburg had promised he would do if he managed to win the succession war", Leorio said, enthusiastically. "Slavery was declared illegal in Kakin. Isn't that great, Kakume?"

It had been one of the goals of the Red Hands, she knew. Once, she had felt very strongly about it. But now, she felt... nothing. "I'm... tired", she said, dully. She felt nothing at all.

"Has Kurapika survived?", she asked in an indifferent, conversational tone.

Leorio gave her a queer look. "Yes...", he said, wary. "He must be with queen Oito or with Halkenburg. I'll notify him that you woke up".

"Okay. If you want".

Senritsu had been silently studying her since she entered, a melancholic expression on her face. "Are you alright? You seem a little... different", Leorio asked her.

"Her Nen is gone", Senritsu said suddenly, her voice raw. "Her heartbeat is as still as glass. I've never heard that in a person, it's almost as if... all her affections have just disappeared. Her mental state is hollow".

Cheadle nodded gravely. "Yes, I suspected this would happen. And with the sheer amount of aura that she used, I doubt she will ever recover her ability to use Nen. In fact, she will likely never come back to the way she was".

"I have a limited shelf life in any case", Kakume noted.

Leorio interjected. "About that, there's something you should know", he began, looking rather embarrassed. "The tests we did the last time you were here... as well as your symptoms - nausea, fatigue..." He hesitated momentarily.

She blinked. "Am I dying? Is it the Vitum?"

"Not quite".

-

Kurapika ran to see her as soon as he caught wind of her awakening. He had been worried about her, after what happened. His own condition has been mostly manageable – he had lost a lot of blood, but after a transfusion or two, he was good to go. Hers on the other hand was mystical in nature, Nen-related. When he arrived, however, Leorio blocked his way.

"Wait", he said, halting him with a hand on his chest. "You might want to take a step back, give her time to acclimate..." He was hiding something, looking uneasy, restless.