When Snake ran out of water, she broke a fruit off the first cactus she found and gnawed on the bulb as she pressed on through the disorienting heat. The landscape of whitish-tan stone wavered uninhabitable before her. Only the toughest of plants and reptiles lived in defiance of this world. Many of them, she was warned from an early age, were poisonous. It was a landscape where creatures couldn't run from their sluggish predators under the strength-sapping sun, so they developed toxins instead. They were constantly evolving, too, the predators to become immune and the prey to cook up harsher chemicals. One might say it was a constant battle between life and death.

Snake would say it's just the persistence of death.

Her boots occasionally crunched on fractured stone and the sun slowly but surely drifted from one side of the sky to the next. It was mid afternoon, more than twelve hours since she'd left on foot from the closest airport, when she finally came to a stop.

At her feet was a small colony of toad burrows. After briefly counting them, she shifted her gaze to a small mound of rocks to the side. Using the iron tip of her boot, she dug into a small crevice and jerked the rocks up and over to reveal a narrow hole barely large enough to fit a human of her size. She grabbed the handle beneath the overturned rocks and slipped inside.

With the opening sealed, she landed in complete darkness, but she simply placed her hand on the wall and began to walk. At one time she might've worried about spiders, lizards, or snakes she couldn't see. Then again, worried might be too strong a word. It might be more accurate to say she'd been cautious of them. Thankfully that had stopped the moment she adopted their venoms. It was easily possible a few new ones had developed since she was away, though, so she waited hopefully for her fingers to catch on a few spindly legs, or for fangs to sink into her boots.

They never came, unfortunately.

When light began to fill the tunnel, she regretfully let her hand fall from the wall. Already in a state of Zetsu, she peeked around the corner. As expected, a guard stood in a small dent in the wall, a candle hung up beside him. She loaded her dart gun and sunk a needle into his neck.

She could have chose a toxin that simply put him to sleep, but she'd been given a time limit that she didn't want to dawdle on. The man's body instantly began to react to the new substance, the lymph nodes in his body swelling with liquid. He was quickly unable to speak, so Snake stepped out of hiding and continued on her way, giving herself only a moment to pause and admire the gruesomely bloated man before passing. It was surely terrifying and felt awful, but it was one of the quicker ways she could let him go. He wouldn't last long when things began to pop.

To her surprise, there wasn't another guard along the path she took. She kept going until natural light began to seep in through specially inserted plates in the ceiling. It wasn't that they connected to the surface: that was a misconception most children had. It was a network of reflective surfaces in a smaller tunnel that ran over the main ones. Eventually, though, she did emerge into a small room where one wall was missing. She walked over to it and looked down.

Below was a larger area, a common space, with a few people meandering about, and beyond that, the canyon.

When she wasn't in anyone's direct line of sight, she dropped herself down and went to the ledge. Stepping back into the light of the sun, she gazed down the cliff face to the murky red river below.

It was almost strange, that it was the Devil's Vein that made it feel like she was actually home.

People whispered behind her and she stepped away from the edge. If she didn't want to draw attention, she shouldn't stand in the burning sun like it's nothing. A quick glance at the connecting tunnels allowed her to gain her bearings.

At this point, she wasn't a hundred percent certain where she should head, but she did have a likely guess.

After she left the commons area, the few people she passed didn't pay her any mind. The tunnels were as silent as ever. After all, if you weren't in a closed off room, voices echoed down the halls and to other ears, ears that perhaps you didn't want to hear what it was you were saying.

At one point, a dust-covered boy came shuffling down the halls opposite of her. She took in his filth, his stench, and the ragged condition of his clothes, and when they were about to pass, she extended an arm to stop the child. He stopped, but raised an eyebrow with a look that told her he had no care for whatever she had to say.

Quietly, she asked, "Are you from Dahlia's Children's Home?"

"Huh?" The volume he spoke with surprised her, to say nothing of his brazenness. "What's that?"

She blinked. Then she lowered her hand. The boy gave her another strange look before going on his way. He was clearly an unwanted child, but...hm. It seemed the tunnels had become safer since she'd been away. And...Dahlia's Children's Home was no longer around? She hadn't considered it, but it wasn't too surprising. It was obvious Ms. Dahlia had had great difficulty in hardening herself the way she had to. Or maybe she'd been silenced herself. Even if she struggled, the latter seemed more likely. She had her doubts Ms. Dahlia would abandon her children.

When she emerged out of the tunnels, it was to a small opening that also overlooked the canyon. Across from the tunnel she came from, a door sat, with a glassless window sitting at its right. Cloth hung over it from within.

Indeed no noise came from it, not even the muted pad of footsteps. There was no smell of coal, either. The furnace had not been used in some time.

When she tried the door, it was unlocked.

The front room was empty, albeit for the old furnace, kitchen table, and cupboards. The connected room behind it, too, held only the cobbled together couch. She didn't bother to check the restroom that branched off the back room. She went straight for the stairs.

She expected the basement to be dark. It wasn't.

The curtain on the window was drawn, giving light to the far half of the room, and a single candle was lit beside a certain bed. Atop other beds still bodies laid above the sheets, clearly dumped there carelessly. Three boys and a girl. The closest was a boy slightly younger than her. His skin had darkened, and his muscles grown, but she still recognized Rose's crooked nose that had never healed right.

Past him was a girl with frizzy brown hair that always used to get in her eyes. She was estimated to be older than Snake, although her age like most children at the orphanage was never exact. Camellia.

Then there was Basil, with skin the color of the desert rocks and now clouded eyes the color of a cactus. And then there was Jasmine in the bed across from Basil. He was the boy she would rock climb with after she learned. He'd never been kind enough to teach her, but he was delighted to have a companion after her mentor had taught her.

"Eight hours to spare. You must have left Yorknew immediately."

She raised her head to the stairs calmly, despite the fact that her pulse had rapidly doubled.

Illumi was walking towards her, but for once her muscles didn't tense to fight. He passed her by without looking at her, and instead went straight to the bed with the lit candle beside it. He sat on it, crossed his legs, propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin in his palm. Then, and only then, did he meet her eyes.

He was sitting on the bed that had once been hers.

"I'm glad you came. Although I admit it was small, part of me thought you wouldn't show."

"...Why did you call me here?"

"Since I know your single question is actually two, I will be generous and answer them both." He removed his chin from his hand to raise a finger. "I called you out because I wanted to see if you'd still come to me." He returned his chin to his palm. "And we are here to sever your ties."

"I have no ties here."

"You may not have emotional attachment, but people here knew of you. So I found the surviving people you used to live with and killed them. I'm sure your next question is why I felt the need to do such a thing."

He used his free hand to toss something to her. She caught it, turned her hand, and pried her fingers away.

What laid in her palm was a ring. Its band was gold, and engraved with silver vines, and a round pearl sat snuggly atop.

"If you press down on the pearl and twist it right, a syringe needle comes out. Twist left, and there's a chamber where you can store poisonous powder."

She followed his instructions, and sure enough, both the syringe and the chamber were there. She looked back up at Illumi in question.

"I assume this is an adequate proposal to you?"

He… "You want to marry me?"

She half expected him to correct her, to explain to her he was asking her to cooperate with him again, but instead he said, "It's hard to find a wife suited to marry into the Zoldyck family. If necessary, I am prepared to have relations with a suitable woman for the sole purpose of continuing the family line, but you have a fascination with me, and as I am not one for lying to myself, I am forced to admit that your fascination pleases me. You have no qualms with killing, and have the potential to excel at assassination. So," he stood and curled her fingers back over the ring, "marry me, White Snake."

She searched his expression, but he showed no signs of joking. "You aren't using my name."

His reply had no levity within it. "If I don't speak it, I will be the only one living to know it. Tell me if you've told anyone else. I'll put an end to their existence."

"I told Killua."

Illumi fell silent, his exterior as cold and unshowing as a statue.

"I'm kidding," she confessed, studying the hand Illumi still held. His fingers tightened around hers, and she could tell he was irritated with her joke. Oh well. Irritated, angry, those emotions of his were indeed fascinating to her, as were his rare moments of delight. She may have lost herself a couple of times while fighting him, but she had not missed the attention he'd focused on her, the fire in his eyes when she had. She had not missed the pleasure seeing that in him had given her.

Marry Illumi, join an assassin's family...wasn't that a sort of placement? A structure? An excuse? Being part of a family of assassins...her deadly inclinations would be completely acceptable, wouldn't they? Is this what that man had meant when he said her placement had chosen her? But how did he know about Illumi's decision? Then again, what did it matter that he knew. She could feel deep in her gut that he was right.

"What if I continue trying to kill you?"

"You will have plenty of opportunities to try, if you still wish. So long as we produce an heir before you're strong enough to succeed, it makes no difference to me if you kill me. Although, life might become boring for you if you manage."

That might be true. He had left her for only a few weeks, and she'd been completely at a loss. If he was dead, could she find a replacement? Probably not, if she was strong enough to end his life. What reason had she to kill him anymore, anyway? She wasn't some hero.

"Alright. You have a deal, Illumi Zoldyck."

His arm suddenly wrapped around her waist as he pulled her to him and forced her onto her toes. Their faces were inches apart, but she could still see a hint of a smile on his lips as he towered over her. The small sign of excitement was enough to raise goosebumps, a trill of exhilaration shocking out over her skin.

"Welcome to the family business."

The End

I didn't really warn you guys the end was coming. Sorry about that. I was unsure myself until the last chapter, but there it is! The final chapter of Thanatos! The length of this story actually caught me completely off guard. 31 is my chapter record. And in case you were wondering, because I know I never outright addressed it in the story, what meant to imply was that Illumi decided he'd keep her around when he gave her the phone. It was how he knew where she was when he left to dig into her past. Gah, I feel like I could talk about intentions forever, but I hope I did a good job of getting across some subtleties throughout this story!

But yeah, special shoutout to LuciferWho who commented a whopping ELEVEN times (if I counted correctly), and Aines445. It might've only been one comment, but for the thought you put into it I cannot thank you enough! And of course thank you to all of you reading, and all who commented, favorited, or followed. I cannot express through a screen how much you all move me with your support, and how happy it makes me to write stuff you guys like to read. Writing is always fun, but it's you guys that put the excitement in it for me! And with that, I've rambled enough and should wrap this up. Thank you guys again! I've had an absolute blast writing Thanatos! Have a wonderful life, and maybe I'll see you again in one of my next stories! See ya!