Epilogue
"To Be Continued..."
Somewhere in-between worlds, in-between time, in-between reality... stood a girl.
"Why haven't you told them?..." She muttered underneath her breath, gazing upon a mysterious entity above her.
"Did you forget that -
s a l v a t i o n
is revealed in the -
t r u t h?"
The entity floated above her silently, his diving helmet shrouded in a bright light.
Moments stretched between them. The girl waited for an answer, but none came. No matter. It was easy to get anything talking.
"They're waiting... You're leaving them? That's not like you." A devilish grin crossed the girl's face. How many times had the diver evaded
her touch? Why here? Why now? The carnival meant nothing...
was nothing. Mere toys conjured from a children's cautionary tale. It held no meaning in this world of darkness.
It was not a means of escape.
Just a dead end.
"... It is not their time," said the diver, seeing fit to answer.
"It is not my place to interfere. This is... how it should be."
"Oh," the girl held a knife within her hands, toying with the sharp object as she brought it to her face. Becoming intrigued with the entity before her, her eyes were filled with interest.
"She's going to -
e n j o y
- this..."
"THIS PLACE IS HER -
C R E A T I O N !
M O T H E R !"
The slash was succinct. Symbolic. Decisive.
Mother guided it.
Mother embraced it.
The dead was for Mother to embrace, and what was this diver, but the shell of a man long dead?
It was over in a flash, the diver's bright light snuffed out, bringing darkness back to this dark world. Except--
"I am not here for them, and I am not here for you." The diver had once again rejected Mother's embrace, his light shining as brightly as ever. The girl shook with indignation at the offence. What was the diver's purpose for being here?
As the thought flashed across her mind, images flashed across her vision. A storm. A lighthouse.
Images both familiar and foreign to her. She knew what she saw, and also then knew the diver's game. He was close. Just like Mother.
Her touch caressed the barrier between dimensions, so utterly close to S A L V A T I O N. The never-ending school had just been a test. A mere
taste. The pieces were in place for Mother to reach beyond the stars. In Her hands was the source of so much creativity.
Thoughts running wild. Entities drawn into darkness. The carnival a mere front for the real fun.
A front that had not fooled their enemy, it seemed.
"Very well," said the girl.
"We play."
The girl departed, leaving the diver to his business. Whether or not his plan was to send a message, it was sent nonetheless.
***
As Hisoka watched from the sidelines, seeing the people around him unable to make heads or toes of the murder before everyone, he sighed, uncrossing his arms to run a hand through his hair. How bothersome. Nobody could appreciate a good murder these days, eh? Very well. Since it seemed like he wasn't going to have any personal satisfaction of drawing out any more shock and horror by just waiting, he may as well do the dramatic reveal for those investigative types and then be done with it, no?
With that being said, he would make his way into the middle of the crowd, raising his arm into the air to get everybody's attention, and then speaking in an unusually calm and collected voice.
"Everybody, everybody. I have an important announcement to make concerning the murder of this poor soul. I'm only going to say it once, so you'd all ought to listen, 'mkay?"
With a clearing of his throat, he would spill the beans just like that, without a tinge of remorse or regret in his voice.
"I am the culprit of this gruesome murder."
Don't you feel dumb? The creepy murderer turned out to be the murderer.
With a smile tugging at the edges of his lips again, the murderer walked into the center of the stage without any fear of being attacked for any vengeful white knight, Hisoka idly sat down on top of Spike's corpse like a makeshift chair, taking a breath as he did so.
"The fact of the matter was... When I'm surrounded by so many...potent people, I get a strong urge. A desire to let my urges out, if you would," he spoke, nonchalantly eyeing Bazett, Deadpool, and a number of others, despite the strange use of words,
"But of course, when you go at someone who's been making you feel those feelings too quickly, it only leaves you feeling unsatisfied. You have to tease yourself so that when you do get to the main course, you don't feel cheated, you know?"
"With that said, I didn't want to attack someone strong so quickly. I wanted an appetizer. Something to whet my urges," Hisoka said, clasping his hands together idly,
"So that's why I killed the weakling. If the act of killing is like bread, then he was my butter. I used him to hold me off until I'd be able to fight someone strong, but alas, it seemed that time was not on my side."
"As for how I killed him... It was actually far simpler than one might think. A good hunter enjoys the thrill of the hunt just as much as killing the prey, right? So I played with him for a little," the jester explained, producing a playing card almost out of thin air, idly fiddling with it in his fingers as he continued to speak,
"Stalking him like a hidden predator, I used the art of intimidation to my advantage, breaking a number of the mirrors wherever I went to give him a good scare, hence the glass on the floor, all the while I threw a number of my sharpened cards at him, hitting non-vital areas at first to lower his morale," he continued, licking the edge of the card he was holding in his hand.
"Eventually, once I had decided that it was time, I got the drop on him from behind and slit his throat. All the blood that had flown from his wound... It just made me so excited. Blood had drawn out bloodlust, and before I had known it, I had given the dead man two solid punches in the face. I really couldn't help myself," Hisoka said, his tone more like an embarrassed child accidentally breaking a vase with those last few words, before returning to a "normal" tone again.
"So there you have it; why and how I killed the weakling. Normally, men like that don't interest me in the slightest, but I made an exception, just so I could hold myself back for those that really made me tingle," he said, giving Bazett a wink, before getting back to business.
"So now what? Will you all try to crucify me for my heinous sins? Are you even capable of such a thing?"
"Well, if I were you, I'd save my energy. Attacking me out of some misguided need to avenge the poor sap or anything like that will just be a waste of time and effort. Even if you do manage to down me, which I would surely look forward to if that'd actually happen, nothing would become of it."
"After all... You're all indefinitely stuck here now."
"The fact of the matter is... To pull a twist out from under the tablecloth, there is more to this world than meets the eye. For you see..."
"This world is nothing more than, quite literally, a story book, brought to life by forces even I am not able to comprehend at this moment. Perhaps the power that created this world was what drew me in, hmm?" He said somewhat playfully, before continuing to speak,
"But if you want a more poetic explanation of why this is happening... Let's see... How would I word it? Hmm."
"Perhaps it can be said that this place, this story, is fulfilled like any other story when the mystery is solved and the conflict is resolved. However, the fact of the matter is, you were unable to accomplish even that. So... How do I put this? Mmm, I suppose you could say... The villain won in the end? Whether that villain would be me, or whoever had brought us all into this place, I shall leave up to you."
"With that said, perhaps we'll have to wait for the next story in the book to be resolved, and hope that that would lead us to a happy end as we suffer from this sad end. Did I miss anything, Monseiur Loyal?"
Though Loyal had looked rather incensed throughout Hisoka's speech, his expression eventually softened, the carnival proprietor even smiling by the time the man was finished speaking.
"That does about cover it. Aren't you the helpful little jester? You ever consider carny work?" Monsieur Loyal then cleared his throat and spoke up for all to hear.
"Circumstances have made it so all the tickets you've been gathering are good for life. Or, lives, if you've managed to gather more than one! Here you must stay forever, until you can no longer continue to gather tickets! You wouldn't dare break that rule, would you?"
Dipper had been listening along silently, picking apart everyone's words meticulously inside his head in an attempt to figure all this out. Hisoka's bomb of a plot twist sent the boy reeling into shock, but it was Loyal's words that brought him back to reality, or,
whatever all this was.
"A story book! That... doesn't explain anything, actually. But, hey-- you can't just force us to stay here!"
Leonard then spoke up, sounding almost relieved at the current events.
"Oh, we don't have to. You just simply can't leave. Doesn't mean you can't sue. I swear, if we get one more lawyer in here--" Loyal cleared his throat once again, causing Leonard to pause. He looked momentarily annoyed but recovered with a small sigh.
"As I said to some of you before, we sell fun, and we will continue to do so until the end of time if we have to. But, of course, rules must be established and maintained so that everyone has a smooth experience, don't ya think? In this case, we can't just have someone walking around murdering the other guests. I won't have it!"
Loyal craned his neck to the side, thinking this over.
"Yes... Well! You all absolutely failed at solving the mystery, but perhaps we could offer a ticket on the house for getting him to confess anyway. Some of you ne'er-do-wells don't even have one yet..."
"But then, what to do about this man?" Leonard asked slyly.
"Cordis might be interested..."
"Yes, yes, I understand," Hisoka said politely with a small wave in response to Leonard's remark about the murdering,
"I'll only beat my targeted lovelies until they're holding onto but a thread of their lives. After all, it's as I said. Fruit is no good if you try to enjoy it when it's not yet ripe, so if they're just too easy, then they just simply need to grow more."
As Loyal and Leonard would continue talking amongst each other, Hisoka would proceed to continue speaking, raising his arm nonchalantly, as though thinking nothing of what the other participants of the carnival might be thinking of him right now.
"By the way... I surely could use a ticket as well. You wouldn't mind being a dear and giving me one as well, would you?"
However, upon the mention of Cordis and "what to do" about Hisoka, the magician's expression turned somewhat serious for a moment, his smile being wiped off.
"Though if you intend to take me away from my fruits... I'm afraid that'll have to happen over my dead body."
"Aren't you delightful. Do you not recall the contract you signed for me?" Leonard grinned, holding up his hands.
"You are obligated to do what I ask, even if that includes a harsh punishment."
"But not so fast, Leonard," said Loyal, butting in.
"Our carnival is missing a jester, after all. Why rid ourselves of such an asset when it can be used for fun!"
Leonard nodded graciously.
"It is our main commodity."
"Then it is settled! You will work for us... indefinitely! Try and defy it if you would like, but I'm afraid it is your only choice!"
"..."
After a brief moment of silence, as though considering the words of Loyal and Leonard, Hisoka's expression would soften up a bit as he crossed his arms, seemingly assuaged by the dismissal of the idea that he would be forced away from his other lovelies. With a small laugh, the Traitor would begin to speak again.
"Hmph. Very well, have it your way. Far be it from me to defy causality, especially when the end result works with my desires in some way. I shall be your jester then if you wish, if it means I get to continue... playing as I wish."
Oh, brother.
Though on the outside, Hisoka might seem like he was far more content with his fate than everyone else around, the truth was that this was only temporary. He would remain as he was for as long as the others inside the carnival with him continued to live and grow in strength for him to pluck when the time was right. However, he knew that even that had a time limit. Even in the slim chance that he would never be penalized in any way for his crimes, the fact was that eventually, he would run out of victims to kill. And then... He would have no choice but to find a way out of this place, maybe see if he could get home and see how dear Gon and Killua have grown since the last they'd seen him.
Time would tell, time would tell. Time would tell what would become of everyone, wouldn't it?
So the curtain closes on this story with that, but the book is far from over, is it not? Hisoka mused to himself, looking up at the roof of the tent,
No... This ending is not an ending. But an intermission. A transition into the next story, a story in which a new cast will come up, whilst we wait backstage for their arrival.
How exciting indeed...
"
