Phantom Girl

Chapter 1

Lucy POV

"I am sorry Rick, but I really have to do this", I mumble to myself while strolling through the crowded streets of York New City.

A few days ago I left my foster dads home without leaving a message. It took me several days by train and hitchhiking but I have a goal that ist worth it: I am going to find my death moms braclet in the underground actions. I got a tip from a mate in college, and decided not to tell Rick about it, because he clearly would have stopped me from coming here. Of course he would have. This is a terrible idea. All the big mafia bosses will be there, and if anybody recognizes me I'm as good as dead.

But still I have to try since that bracelet is the only thing that is left of her. Our house was burned down, and everything, photos, memories, their dead bodies was turned into ashes. All that was left was ash and dust and tears. A shudder runs through my body as the memories of that day flow through me. Images run through my head that I am still trying hard to forget. A single tear runs down my face, which I quicky wipe of.
This is not a time to mourn, but to face the past that has been haunting me.

Sighting, I turn into a main road, just to stand in front of an even bigger crowd. What's going on here? Driven by curiosity I make my way through the people to see what's happening. Soon, I find myself in front of a little platform with a tall guy and two kids on it. An expensive looking jewel sparkles on a table, what is probably what's attracting so many viewers.

"Winning this gem is easy." The tall guy announces, holding it up for everyone in the crowd to see. "For only 10.000 Jenny, you can attend an arm-wrestling contest with this little boy here." He shouts and points at the shorter one with dark hair. "If you can beat him, the jewel is yours, easy huh?" He grins a little and lets his gaze wander over the crowd. "So who want's to try first?"

Eventhoug don't have any interest in the gem, since the only thing I am looking for in York New is my mother's bracelet, I still stay to watch. This might be interesting, I think. And well, it is.

Even though he doesn't look like that, the little boy is really strong and he beats one opponent after the other. he looks like the matches are really hard for him, but I can tell that he is faking it.
By activating my Gyo, I can see that he is focusing Nen on his arm. I chuckle a bit, when I realize that. ‚Well, that's a smart way to earn some money,' I'm grinning to myself, just when a girl brushes down past me and gets up on the platform to give it a try.

She is slightly taller than me, and has a beautiful figure, which is further emphasized by her black turtleneck sweater and tight jeans. Her hair is pitch black and cut on shoulder length. Her nerdy glasses hake her look really smart, rather than strong enough to beat that kid.

Yet, her expression is perfectly calm, as if she was sure she'd win. Well, maybe she just arrived and didn't see how the boy took down all those musclemen.

They get into position and I can immediately tell, that this match is going to be different. When I see that the boy having a hard time for real this time, I activate my Gyo once more, expecting the girl to use Nen as well. But surprisingly she doesn't.

‚Wait, how can a girl be so strong without using Nen?' I ask myself while blankly staring at the scene in front of me.

Eventually, the boy wins once again sending her hand on the table with a crash. Sweat is running down his face, and I can tell he's shaking from exhaustion.

With a slightly disappointed look on her pale face, the girl leaves the stage, finding her way back trough the crowd.
Being tempted by her, I instinctively start to follow her, without thinking about it. I keep my distance from her, using Zetsu to hide my aura.

The girl straight walks a up to some strange looking guys who seem to be her friends. One of them is very tall, two meters at least and rather heavy. With the scars all over his face, he looks kind of scary. Yikes, his earlobes are elongated, almost reaching down to his chest.
The other one is quite small for a guy and has a slim figure. Next to his buddy he almost looks like a child, but his face, which is half covered by a high collar, shows that he is already my age, maybe even older. Despite of his small high, he looks pretty attractive. His messy raven black hair is reaching almost down to his shoulders and his pitch black eyes are narrowed a bit, as if he is slightly annoyed.

He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his almost floor-length black coat and greets the girl with a small nod. "Well?" He asks her, his brows slightly pulled up. "I lost," she answers in the same calm tone. "He's strong." She sights quietly and crosses her arms. "I sort of wanted that diamond."
"Why didn't you use your left hand?" The big guy asks, looking down at her. "Yeah, why didn't you use your stronger hand?" the other one ads. "Oh right. He extended his right hand, so I just did the same. I'd like to challenge him again." The girl chuckles and turns around to go back. "You can't" the raven haired guy cuts in. "No time, we have a job" he exclaims.

"Yeah that's right" the big one agrees. "Besides buying and bidding would be weird, we're thieves." He says casually. "If we want something we take it." The smaller one ads with a smirk.

I blink in disbelief as I realize what he just said.I instincly take a few steps back, suddenly feeling like I really should get away from these people, who suddenly seem very dangerous to me.

The voice of reason is telling me to run, while I am wonderings why I even followed herin the first place. I tend to put myself in unnecessarily dangerous situations while my head switches all common sence.
The same second my feet start moving, the raven haired guy turns around to me and looks me straight in the eyes. His dark eyes flash for a second as he's captivating mine.

My heart immediately starts to beat faster, while I stand there paralyzed. ‚Shit, did he realize I overheard their conversation?'
It seems as if time has stopped, as we stare into each others eyes. I know that I need to run away as fast as possible, but my body wont move.
But just as he starts to move towards my direction, my instincts start to kick back in and i start to run. I quickly turn around and vanish in the crowd behind me, pushing the people in front of me. People are giving me annoyed glances, but I don't care. I feel the blood rushing through my head, while I keep sprinting towards the end of the market square.
I take turn into a smaller alley, and then again and again, until I reach an other crowded street full of marked stalls.
Panting, I stop and take a look around.
‚He wouldn't have followed me this far, would he?' it shuts through my head. My whole body is still shaking while I look around me suspiciously. When I can't see any of those guys, I finally manage to calm myself down.

‚Jeez. Lucy, you've been in this town for like two hours and you already managed to get your stupid ass into trouble . Pull yourself together!'