When all of us stormed the palace at midnight, and when we came across the central stairway, there was a huge, red and muscular Chimera Ant, who I believed was the Royal Guard Youpi, sitting on the stairs.

He growled as soon as he saw us and began to mutate, growing four more arms, two on each side. I saw Shoot freeze in his tracks, and I was worried that he might not stand a chance against Youpi.

Suddenly, the palace began to rumble, making all of us tense up. Then, yellow Nen arrows crashed through the ceiling and fell to the floor. Everyone was shocked, and Gon ran up ahead, much to my dismay. Killua followed him while everyone else stayed in their spots, then a moment of realization hit me.

Knuckle and Meleoron. If they got hit by one of those falling arrows and died, would the invisibility wear off? Wait, Nen can grow stronger after death, so if they died and remained invisible, their corpses can rot without being found. But how will we know if they died or if they're still alive? If they're dead, then someone else will have to take on Youpi, one of the King's powerful Royal Guards.

I ran up the stairs after the two boys, not concerned about the Nen attack at all. Just as Gon was about to attack Youpi, something collided with the Royal Guard's side, and I gasped and widened my eyes.

They're alive!

I was relieved when both of them survived the attack, but Youpi started to mutate again, growing more eyes out of his head and becoming more terrifying.

Youpi must have questioned the unforeseen attack instead of focusing on all of us. He didn't see Knuckle hit him because of Meleoron's ability, God's Accomplice. From what Lizzy told me about Hakoware, Knuckle's ability, it can be activated when Knuckle lands a hit on an opponent. Since God's Accomplice is active, the little creature called A.P.R. is invisible to Youpi, so he can't be able to tell what is going on. As long as Meleoron holds his breath, the two of them will be undetected by everyone, including Youpi.

All of a sudden, I felt a familiar and ominous aura, causing me to stop running and feel a bit anxious. Pitou turned their En back on, which meant they were trying to protect the King.

Youpi merged three of his arms to form a giant fist and raised it up high. He smashed the staircase, some of us barely dodging the attack. Lizzy and I jumped to the second floor with Gon and Killua and continued moving forward.

We met up with Ikalgo, who was disguised as his former boss, and we headed toward the throne room where we would expect the King. As we entered a different room, I looked back to see Killua changing direction. I stopped running for a moment before deciding to continue following my sister and Gon through the palace.

When the three of us arrived at the tower next to the throne room, we saw Morel's Smoky Jail surrounding the entire third floor of the tower. We stared at it for a moment until Gon ran to his left, and we followed him. He stopped to see someone walking out of the tower, and we did, too.

All of us gasped when we recognized the ant as the most powerful of all Chimera Ants, the King. Two other people walked out, following him. I recognized one of them as Chairman Netero, and when the old man recognized the three of us, he pointed behind him, probably showing Pitou's whereabouts.

I felt Gon's aura spike up, and I shifted my eyes to the boy, who was ready to take on Pitou.

Oh, my. I can tell how much you wanted to defeat Pitou so badly. That look on your face...I can't help but feel very worried about what you're gonna do.

His aura greatly reduced and he remained silent as he watched the King and the two old men have a brief chat. A little while later, Killua came to us and saw them. I heard him gasp.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Grandpa." The silver-haired boy muttered.

I realized he was referring to the other old man with Netero and the King. He was his grandfather? What was he doing here?

"Could he be the one who was behind the Nen attack back at the palace?" I asked.

"Yes. That was his ability, Dragon Dive. I saw him use it one time, but I couldn't remember when." Killua stated, and I grunted softly as I watched the old man release his aura, creating a Nen dragon that took Netero and the King away from here to go someplace else.

"Guys." Gon spoke up, catching our attention. "Pitou is right over there. Let's go."

He jumped off the tower we were on, and Killua hesitated for a moment. I looked at him with a worried expression on my face, and he showed the exact same thing. He jumped after Gon, and I took Lizzy's hand and jumped off with her. Before she could break free, I used Windy Roar to push both of us upward and onto the main tower where Killua's grandfather stood.

"Hello." He greeted us. "If you'll all excuse me, my job here is done. I know nothing beyond this mission."

We were silent as we watched him walk away and hop on to the edge of the tower.

"I'll let you draw your own conclusions about what's happening inside." He jumped off the tower and disappeared, us still keeping our mouths shut. We turned around and started walking to the tower where Pitou was located in.

When we got inside, we went through the dark hallway and into a room filled with light. We saw some sort of Nen beast with strings attached to a white-haired girl, and a cat-like ant hunched up next to her.

Neferpitou.

Gon took a few steps toward the Royal Guard, who turned their head around slowly to look at the expression he was wearing. They had a surprised look as they saw the four of us come in the room.

His aura began darkening and intensifying, frightening them. I tensed up as soon as I felt it.

"Do you...remember me?" Gon asked, his voice filled with lots of pure anger. Pitou only stared at him in shock.

"I'm Gon Freecss! I came here for one reason! To get Kite back from you!"

I started to analyze the situation going on in front of me, wondering why Pitou wasn't preparing for battle.

Is Pitou nervous or attempting to run away? The latter is not possible, and neither is the former. That Nen beast they're using, it's healing that girl! And Pitou, they're protecting her! Like a mother would do if she and her babies are in danger! But...why? Pitou isn't capable of something like that! Did the King order them to heal the girl? If so, why does he want her to be alive, even though they're completely different in terms of species and status?

"Get away from her now." Gon demanded, and the Royal Guard gasped. The boy moved closer to them, frightening them more.

"I said get away from her! And take that monster with you! And then, fight me! Fight me so I can get Kite back!" He yelled at them, and we all gasped at what they did next.

Their knees were on the ground and their palms were facing up. They bowed their head down, making me realize something.

That gesture...they don't mean any harm!

I was stunned by that. How could this be? The Royal Guard was trying to surrender to us! That was totally unexpected! Neither of us thought that Pitou cared about that girl so much that they would do anything to save her life.

"Please...wait a while." They spoke softly.

That only enraged Gon, and his aura grew even stronger than before.

"Are you kidding?! What the hell am I supposed to be waiting for?!" He screamed at them, his infuriated tone scaring Lizzy, who let out a horrified gasp.

"Get up! We're going outside!" He demanded, and Pitou just stayed in the same position, unaffected by his rage.

It's just as I thought. Pitou doesn't want to cause any trouble and only wants to protect and heal the girl. The King most likely ordered them to heal her. Does she have to do anything related to what's going on? No one, absolutely no one in the Extermination Team, knew she would be here in this palace! Wait, could she be the reason the King injured himself? That can only mean that...that girl is special to him. He doesn't want her to die. But, if I tell Gon that, he'll go insane! Dammit, what can I do?

Gon took a couple more steps before Pitou stopped him.

"I'll do anything!" Pitou cried. "I'll do anything you say! So please wait. I...I have to save this person, no matter what it costs!"

The room was silent for a while, and I already had a bad feeling of what was going to happen next.

"'Save?' What do you mean by 'save?'" Gon asked, his voice sounding dark and quiet.

"Anything? You say you'll do anytbing?" Killua asked, taking some steps forward.

"Killua. I'm the one asking the questions here." He coldly told him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Now, what do you mean by 'save?' Tell me." He asked Pitou again, this time more coldly and seriously.

The tension kept growing every second, and I hadn't thought of anything to say to keep him from losing his temper. I noticed Pitou sweating a lot, trying to calm themself down to answer.

"This person...is someone important to someone I really care about. The King is who he is today, because of her. If she dies, then the King will cease to be who he is. She's that important so...all I want...is for her to live. Please let me heal her, and then I'll do anything you say. Just wait." They pleaded, still in the same position.

"You want to save her life? You're telling me that you really want to save this girl's life?" Gon questioned their reason.

I could see his aura shrouding his body as he was shuddering and breathing heavily. I felt very bad for the girl who was probably injured from Killua's grandfather's Nen attack. In order for Pitou to bring back Kite, they had to stop healing her and let her die.

"How dare you...say that? How dare you?" He growled, his aura spiking up. "Damn it! The hell if...the hell if I'll listen to you!"

"Gon, hold on!" Killua called, stopping him from moving any closer to Pitou. "It's likely she was injured because of us. It was probably Grandpa's Dragon Dive."

"And?"

"It looks like Pitou's healing her. You have to let them finish!" Lizzy pleaded.

"So what?"

"Quit being selfish and calm down! That girl is seriously wounded, and you aren't even considerate of her condition! The only thing you should do right now is wait so that Pitou can heal her completely and then they can bring back Kite! Don't you dare let your anger be the cause of her death because you can't be able to control it!" I said everything I thought out from his hostile behavior towards Pitou. However, he only brushed it off and clenched his fists in extreme anger.

"'Likely?' 'Probably?' You guys want me to wait because of that?! Even after we wait, can we be certain that this thing will keep the promise?! Hell no!" He screamed, taking me aback. "'Likely?' 'Probably?' Seriously?! That's crap! That's just crap! What the hell is wrong with you guys?! You guys want...You guys want me to trust that thing?! Seriously?! Because there's no way in hell!"

All of a sudden, we heard a loud cracking noise, and we saw Pitou breaking their arm, much to my dismay.

"I'll break my right arm, too, if you like. If that's not enough for you, then I'll break my legs." They said, whimpering from the pain and growing tension. "If you think I won't keep my promise after I finish healing her, I'll let you break every part of my body, as long as it doesn't hinder my healing ability. Just let me save her, please!"

I heard Gon pant continuously as he shuddered more with growing rage until he smashed the floor with his fists and began to cry.

"No fair. It's not fair, damn it! Why are you helping her, after everything you did to my friend Kite?! Why?!" He yelled, and I gasped in realization.

"I want you to tell me!!" He roared, his aura exploding and lighting up the whole room. Lizzy's voice trembled, and I stared at the raging boy in astonishment and fear.

His aura died away after a while, and all I could hear were the sounds of his quiet, ragged breaths and sniffles. I couldn't bring myself to say anything else that would keep him from losing control of his anger and frustration towards Pitou. Seeing him like this was hard for me to handle, and for Lizzy, too.

"To hell with this." Gon got in a stance and prepared to use his Jajanken ability on Pitou. "Show me—"

"No! If you kill Pitou, we'll never get Kite back!" Killua yelled at him, reminding him of our real objective.

It took a while for him to listen, and he eventually disabled the ability before he could have the chance to destroy Pitou once and for all.

"Must be real nice for you, Killua. You can stay calm...because it's not your fight." The cold boy stated, making him flinch. "And it's none of their concern either." He added, referring to Lizzy and I.

I twitched my eyes in anger at the unintentional insult. Lizzy's breath shook, and she shuddered.

"What do you mean 'it's none of our concern?' Do you have any idea about how we feel about you when you're about to explode just by putting yourself before others to reach your goal?" She spoke in a soft, quivering voice. "I can't stand watching you get all angry and frustrated over everything Pitou did to Kite, and the fact that Pitou is willing to heal the girl completely to keep the King's nature alive. Why can't you admit Pitou is telling the truth about keeping the promise?! You need to pull yourself together and let Pitou do what they need to do in order for them to bring back Kite! If I have to see you like this any longer, I won't...I won't be living my life the same way again!" She started to cry, tears streaming down her face.

Gon didn't look back to see her heartbreaking expression. Instead, he only said these painful words to raise her sorrow.

"Lizzy. If you don't like it, you might as well leave. All I care about is getting back Kite. Nothing else."

She let out a sharp gasp, his words stabbing her like a knife. More tears filled up her eyes, her breaths becoming more uneven and ragged. She sniffed and clenched her fists in both anger and sorrow.

"You're a bastard!" She screamed and ran out the room sobbing, leaving me and Killua filled with lots of concern for her.

"Lizzy!" I called after her, but she didn't turn back.

"Damn it!" Killua cursed and shot Gon an ice cold glare.

I couldn't believe what he just said to my sister, the one he loved the most, the one who cared about him very much. To be honest, I really wanted to punch him with Nen and rebuke him for hurting her feelings. But seeing his furious state held me back from doing so, as he would lash out at me either physically or verbally. I didn't want to get in the way of completing our objective to bring back Kite.

"I'm okay now." Gon muttered and moved closer to Pitou. They looked up in surprise.

"So, how long should we wait?" He asked, and they looked back at the injured girl with concern.

"I think it will take about three or four hours to heal her completely." They replied.

"Sorry. Too long."

I clenched my teeth in anger, fighting the urge to scream at him for his selfishness. Pitou looked down, feeling pressured by everything they needed to do.

"Then give me just one hour, and I can heal her most critical injuries. Please, I beg of you."

Silence filled the room once again, me watching in anticipation of agreement from Gon.

"Fine. You have one hour, and then you're coming with me to Peijing, to heal Kite. Can you promise me that?" The dark-haired boy told them.

"Yes, I can. I promise you."

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned my head to see Meleoron signaling me to come with him and Killua. He held out his left hand, and I took it. Then, he activated his ability and turned the three of us invisible. We ran out of the room, leaving Gon and Pitou by themselves to settle their problem.

We reached the palace courtyard. I was still angry with Gon insulting us and hurting Lizzy's feelings. But I did not show it.

"I think we're safe here." Killua said, and Meleoron deactivated his ability by exhaling out.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Shoot is out of the battle, and Knuckle is taking on Youpi all by himself." Meleoron replied.

"What?"

"You guys gotta help me. Knuckle is going to keep running away from Youpi, trying to buy more time. He's crazy!"

"Okay. What is the minimum amount of time you can maintain God's Accomplice?" Killua asked him.

"The first time, I got so scared that I had to tap out after ten seconds, but I've calmed down now. I could go for a minute if I don't have to move." He replied.

"That's more than enough. We only need one chance."

"All I care about is getting back Kite. ."

Gon's exact words played in my head over and over as I ran around in the palace, sobbing helplessly. They hurt me, and I couldn't hold back the tears I'd cried.

Chimera Ant soldiers were alerted of my presence, but I used them as targets to let out my sadness and frustration in the form of lethal Nen attacks. I punched them square in the face, splattering their blood on my face. I wiped it off and continued shedding tears.

After I killed some more soldier ants out of despair, I returned to the central stairway and wiped away the blood and some tears from my face before falling to my knees and crying my eyes out.

This was the second time someone I knew, someone I cared about, and someone I loved, broke my heart. And this hurt much more than the pain I had experienced last time. I could even say that...it hurt as much as losing my parents to the murderer. There was nothing I could do to prevent their death from happening, and I was afraid that if I didn't do something that could keep Gon from losing his sanity, sometime in the mission, I would lose him...forever.

After a moment of whimpering, I slammed my fists to the floor and broke down, sobbing loudly and in pain. I felt like my life would be meaningless if I didn't get the kind of feelings I deserved from everyone I loved, especially from Gon. I was happy around him when I first met him. He was such a cute little ball of sunshine who was willing to do whatever it took to keep his friends satisfied. My time with him had been worthwhile since I confessed to him in Yorknew City, the day after my sister and I gained revenge for our parents. He had helped me get through tough challenges and defended me as best as he could during our adventures together with our friends. Then, what Pitou did to Kite changed him from a loving young boy to a cold, ruthless monster.

Me, a caring, lovable, and sweet girlfriend who couldn't do anything to help him control himself. I should be ashamed of myself. No, I should be angry at myself. Angry at myself for being too soft like the typical little girl I was. Angry at myself for not standing up to him to the full. Angry at myself for thinking on the negative side.

His actions couldn't be controlled by anyone. Not even a long kiss could stop him. There was no way to reverse the emotional impact of Kite's broken and scarred body on him. That was beyond my thinking.