Chapter 45: Crisis
Reading the prophecy, Ronin instantly understood why there was only one verse.
According to the poem, he was going to die next week.
Naturally, there was no need to predict the rest of the month for a dead man.
"The vital crimson hue shall be lost" likely referred to the loss of his Sharingan (Scarlet Eyes).
"A fate toyed with begins with a gaze" pinpointed exactly how the eyes would be lost.
Ronin tapped his finger on the table. A specific name surfaced in his mind.
A member of the Phantom Troupe obsessed with making puppets. The current #4 of the Spider.
A character who technically only appeared in the Phantom Rouge movie: Omokage.
Ronin recalled the movie with disdain. It was a messy film that relied heavily on fan service cameos. Even Omokage's abilities were riddled with plot holes.
However, the core concept was dangerous.
Omokage was a Specialist. His abilities were:
Soul Doll: He creates puppets without eyes that possess the memories and partial Nen abilities of the original person.
Soul Call: If a doll makes eye contact with the original person, it steals their eyes. The eyes only return if the doll is defeated.
Doll Catcher: He can fuse three dolls into his own body to use their abilities.
In Ronin's inherited memories, Omokage existed. He was known as an "Eye Collector."
It was impossible for him to have missed the Kurta Massacre. In the movie, the plot even opened with a puppet of Pairo stealing Kurapika's eyes.
Omokage was practically designed to be Kurapika's nemesis.
But in the lore, Omokage's ultimate goal was to create puppets of the entire Phantom Troupe. That was why he joined—he needed contact with the members to copy them.
In the movie, the Troupe hunted him down because he dug up Uvogin's grave to steal his eyes for a puppet.
But does stealing Uvogin's eyes really make the puppet stronger? Ronin doubted it.
Ronin suspected that the "real world" version of Omokage might have abilities slightly different from the movie version.
Regardless, Omokage was a massive threat.
If Ronin hadn't received this warning, he might have been ambushed.
The ability to steal eyes upon eye contact was a hard counter to the Sharingan.
The last two lines of the prophecy were simple to decipher.
"The color of fire follows your steps" referred to Kurapika following Ronin.
"Ending as a new trophy for the Spider" meant that after Ronin lost his eyes, Kurapika would follow him into the trap, and both would be killed by Omokage (the Spider).
Without his eyes, Ronin was crippled. And Kurapika, who didn't know Nen yet, would be lambs to the slaughter.
Neon really saved my life.
"Well? Did you figure anything out?" Neon asked expectantly.
Ronin folded the paper and put it away. His tone shifted to one of scrutiny. "Your poem is great, but I have to question your intentions."
Neon froze.
"You said you suspected your ability might be a curse, not a fortune," Ronin lied smoothly. "I'm here to tell you: You're right."
"Because there is no second verse. That means I die next week. There's no future left to predict."
"That..." Neon was speechless.
"Since this is all caused by your curse, you have to take responsibility," Ronin said casually, as if discussing the weather. "For the next week—no, until the start of next month—you're sticking with me. If I die, you can be buried with me."
"No way!" Neon refused instantly.
Refusal was futile. Under the horrified gazes of the cafe staff, Ronin knocked Neon unconscious and carried her out the door.
Police arrived quickly. They found no trace of the kidnapper, but they did find the corpse of the janitor in a nearby alley—heart missing. (Ronin's Shadow Clone had handled the loose end).
Soon after, Light Nostrade arrived, looking annoyed.
Upon confirming his daughter had been kidnapped, Light left a cold instruction: "Wait for the ransom call. If they call, I'll handle it. If they don't, assume she's dead."
His tone was indifferent.
A rebellious daughter who liked weird things and looked too much like her dead mother... Light Nostrade didn't care about her. He was a pragmatist. Only useful things had value.
And Neon, having not yet revealed her prophecy ability to him, was currently useless.
Ronin handed the prophecy to Kurapika, complete with his annotated interpretation.
He also wrote down everything he knew (or "suspected") about Omokage.
When Neon woke up, Ronin forced her to write a prophecy for Kurapika as well.
Neon looked at Ronin with horror. She realized Kurapika was Ronin's ally—likely a younger brother or close friend given the look of admiration in the boy's eyes.
He treats his own friends like this? This man is a devil.
Kurapika's prophecy was similar to Ronin's. It pointed to him dying alongside Ronin at the hands of Omokage.
"Can fate be avoided?" Kurapika asked, his head aching from the grim news.
"Yes," Ronin said with certainty.
In the Yorknew Arc, Chrollo used Neon's prophecies to avoid the destruction of the Troupe. He changed the outcome by changing his actions.
Now that Ronin and Kurapika knew Omokage was the threat, they could change their fate too.
Neon's prophecies were only valid for the current month.
Once the month ended, the prophecy expired.
They had two choices:
Actively hunt down Omokage and kill him before he kills them.
Avoid Omokage entirely until next month, get a new prophecy to confirm safety, and then hunt him down.
Option 1 was high risk. Option 2 required knowing how to avoid him.
But regardless of the method, Omokage had to die.
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