[Bitp:R] Hueco Mundo 2

[Frozen_Feet]

"Ah, so you were born from thousands of malicious ghosts who fought, slew and ate each other in mindless hatred until only one was left...", Lalita recounts, stopping behind the servants. He hooks his arm around their necks and leans forward, placing his head between theirs. "... and when no grand purpose could be derived from it, you tore off your masks and came here? So how did you end up in position you're now in?"

[nothingclever]

The two girls didn't bother looking at Lalita. He'd come into view if he chose to. His touch generated no reaction.
"We felt no hatred, but the rest is true. We ended up here because we chose to be here. We wanted to live amongst others peacefully and enjoy the joys of civilization as we did as humans so we came here. This is the most peaceful and pleasant place of all. We get to do whatever we like in relative safety and in return Edward occasionally asks something of us. We aren't afraid of fighting, we just aren't interested in it."

[Frozen_Feet]

Lalita turns his head sligthly both left and right to glance at the girls. Then he fixes his eyes on Canguro. "Lady Primera once asked me if I was a lion or a dog", he begins. "While I could see what she was after, I think the way she put it was a bit flawed. I think it would've been better to ask whether I was a dog or a wolf. Can you guess why, Miss?"

[Zerkai]

Canguro's cheeks turned a little pink as her eyes scanned over the "Well... they do look more human... I didn't notice their mask fragments at first." She gestured to their earrings.

"A dog or a wolf?" the dark-skinned arrancar cocked her head to the side, hand on her towel as she approached Lalita and the girls "Well... dogs and wolves are related, but dogs are domesticated."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Yes", Lalita affirms. "Superficially, they can be very much the same. Untrained eye might mix one for the other - they're the same species, after all. But there are clear differences. For example...", he brushes Clarice's chin with his hand, "teeth of a dog are dull, childlike compared to those of a wolf. Their bite is only half as strong." He moves his hand to caress Clarice's cheek just around her eye. "A dog has wide, childlike eyes - where a wolf has narrow, adult ones."

Lalita stands straight, removing his arms from the girls' shoulders. "There's a difference in attitude as well. Both vie for dominance, but dogs are more naive, passive, keener to submit... the finer aspects of power are alien to them." He reaches to ruffle the hair of the girls. "Even when they achieve leadership, they rarely know what to do in such position. This is because they are made to serve, not to lead. And when they find someone to serve, they are likely to be loyal to the point of senselessness... it takes little more than a feeding hand to keep them happy."

"Wolves are more aggressive. They know leadership is not just fun and games - they understand responsibility. The survival of the pack, it depends on the leader's prowess. Each wolf keenly understand its power, and is ready to assume the leader's place if he shows signs of weakness. The leader of the pack understands this as well - if rest of the pack chooses one path when it chooses another, it knows to yield, because otherwise, it will lose its position."

"Because of this... dogs seem flawed to wolves. They are akin to adults with minds of children. Due to this, if a dog and wolf meet each other in the wild... it usually ends up with the latter killing and eating the former." Lalita lets go of the hair of the girls - and reaches through their Hollow holes with his hand, so that Canguro can see his upturned palms. The maids might feel an uncomfortable tingle of warmth as faint, crimson aura flows over Lalita's skin. "Dogs and wolves descend from the same wild beasts, but through aeons of breeding, dogs were made from something terrifying and powerful into tools... and eventually, just something cute and harmless, to keep around for company. Just like these two little things here."

The warmth builds up untill it becomes burning hot - for a moment, it seems like Lalita might burn the hapless maids from within. But then, he withdraws his hands and reaches to brush the necks of the girls, briefly touching their earrings. "I do have to wonder though... how much of the wild beast actually remains? How about you tell me?"

He reaches for the earrings of the girls... and then violently tears them off.

[nothingclever]

The girls endure the pain of the abuse and stand undaunted. They grimace and their legs momentarily falter, but they straighten back up. Telepathically they console one another. They speak sounding clearly disgusted. "How stupid can you be? There is more to life than fighting. We said we weren't interested in it. That doesn't make us any less strong mentally. Why should we obsess over who is strongest? That's infantile. The answer is obvious too. Edward is the most powerful. He just doesn't concern himself with trying to make others realize that fact. Your foolish behavior isn't going to get a rise out of us." Clarice and Charlotte stare at Lalita with disdain.

[Frozen_Feet]

Lalita steps back before the servants, eyeing them curiously. "My my. You sure are well-taught", he muses, holding the earrings in his palms. "If only I'd found you sooner." There's a grinding sound as Lalita curls his hands into fist - then a crack as the earrings are crushed. Drops of blood seep through his fists and fall to the ground. "Where are your zanpakutos? I did not see them among your clothing, and you have nothing on your persons now."

[nothingclever]

The maids didn't care about what he did to their mask remnants. He'd already removed them. They resumed their indifferent tone. "We haven't been taught anything. You're the one deluding yourself. Why should we bother telling you? Looking to break them too to torture us? Harming people who have done nothing to you and aren't putting up a fight? Pathetic."

[Frozen_Feet]

Lalita tilts his head to the right, letting the shards of the earrings fall to the ground. "Torture you?" He crashes his heel on them so hard that the floor cracks - nothing but dust remains. "What is a Zanpakuto but a reminder of your past nature? What other function does it have than to fight? If you truly have ascended beyond your bestial nature, why would it matter if I broke them?"

He steps closer, a crimson aura flickering on his skin. His pupils distort, becoming like two, thin crosses - the maids can see themselves cruficied at the centers. "Wouldn't that just finalize the work?", he says. "Sever last connection to that bestial nature, Remove the last obstacle on your way to enlightment? Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself..."

Lalita reaches forward again, pressing his fingers against the edges of the girls' Hollow holes. His touch is searing hot, painful. It'd leave a mark on their flawless skin. "Even if I broke your zanpakutos, there's no-one in this land who could do anything about these. Even you could not heal them, no matter how much you'd want. Without hearts... you can be nothing more than effigies. No matter how human you look, you will never become so."

"Deep down, you will always remain as wild beasts."

Lalita looks into the eyes of the servants, one after another, his touch burning deeper. "Fetch me your Zanpakutos. So I can break them. Or be forever gone from my sight."

[nothingclever]

"Go ahead and kill us, we won't bow to you," they stammered as they started to hyperventilate. Tears and snot began to stream down their faces as they contorted in agony, but the girls refused to cry out. It was taking all they had not to, but they wouldn't give in. "We fear neither you nor death." Clarice and Charlotte had taken the words "gone from his sight" to mean they'd be reduced to ash. Their legs buckling, the two clung to one another for support.

[Frozen_Feet]

"That, my darlings, is what we call a lie", Lalita says, glaring at the two as they huddle together. He does not remove his burning touch from them. "Death by my hand means oblivion - at least, as far as I can tell. There'll be no salvation or next life. Why would you not be afraid? Then again...", he lets go and grabs chins of the girls, pulling them closer. "You are Hollows. You came into being when thousands of ghosts could no longer hold back the emptiness clawing inside. Maybe you'd find solace in non-existence?"

Porcelain skin is slowly becoming charred black under his touch. "Isn't that the deathwish inherent in all of our kin? But I don't wish to kill you... your powers are too useful. Even if I ate you, your power would not become mine. I hold no illusion that your demise would fix my own being." The crimson aura around him fades, leaving only faint trickle of blood running down the girls' necks - Lalita blood.

"How did Callahan introduce you again?", he says with a bleak voice. " 'They will do whatever you wish', wasn't it? I will not say this again. Fetch your Zanpakutos, so I can break them, or be gone from my sight."

Lalita lets go of the girls and steps back. "You are dogs. Do as you're told."

[Zerkai]

"Preparese, Salto Poderoso!" Canguro's voice shouted after a series of static bursts from sonido, following a burst of spiritual pressure as Canguro had quickly took her zanpakuto and released it. Her towel dropped to the floor as she was covered in white chintin-like armor, a skull half-helm and serrated greaves and gauntlets now attatched to her legs.

"That's enough Lalita. The two of you are dismissed." Canguro spoke up, thick tail cracking against the floor as she ordered Clarice and Charlotte to go. The blades on her forearms, extended about two feet from her arms, eyes not visible with the helm covering the upper half of her face.

"You're starting to remind me of the Primera Lalita."

[nothingclever]

Clarice and Charlotte snatched up their clothes and went on their way. They didn't run, they walked.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler

Show

Genoveva's Room: Edward and Genoveva

Edward had obviously heard the ruckus, but he didn't let it bother him. He waltzed right in and up to the Primera as if nothing had happened, smiling happy as a clam. "Hello there Genoveva. You're as gorgeous as ever. I've come to deliver a letter from Lalita and bask in your radiance. In addition, I've come to gawk at your marvelous mammaries and bodacious bottom." He spoke plainly and presented the envelope to her.

Genoveva's Room

Genoveva is still staring after the trail that Ruwa had left in the air when Edward peeks his head into the room, breathing heavily as she glances over her shoulder with slanted eyes once more. It's impossible to tell if it's because she's put too much of herself into the serpentine fraccion's thrashing or just over-excitement at the 'offense' that Ruwa had committed.

"Well ain't ya the freshest peach ta see 'bout des parts?" the Primera says in good humor, turning with her customary smirk to plop down in her chair, "Eh? 'hat's dat guy doin' sendin' meh letters?"

Still, she snatches the letter from Edward and tears it open, reading through it once before tossing it aside with a thoughtful expression. She doesn't speak for some moments as she forms a bala and incinerates the errant piece of paper.

"Dat so...? Ya know ya got an Espada in yer district Edward?"

==================================================

Amada

"Pico-sama! You're awake!" Amada says with more then a bit of relief when Pico opens his eyes and manages to start complaining again. If he was well enough to whine then he would be just fine once a medical professional had attended to him. The heavily armored Fraccion slumps a bit but picks up her pace, jogging slowly after Paramonos even as a wry smile creased her face.

"You lost, that's what! I'd smack you with my shoe if I didn't think it'd kill you!" the shrimpish arrancar scolds, "You can thank Lalita for the state you're in, assuming you survive the night!"

[InyutheBeatIs]

[Paramonos's Shoulder]

Pico lets out a sound of complete disgust. "Oh yeah, I forgot where I was for a second."

At that point, he winces, his lungs starting to hurt now that he's fully back in the realm of the dead. "...Lalita?"

"Eh, who gives a crap. Don't give me any lip, please. I've been through enough crap, trust me."

[nothingclever]

Genoveva's Room
Still chipper as ever, Edward started to ramble. "I do now, but I didn't before. Would you mind telling me what he wrote? He left my city for several days and came back without telling me what he did during his absence. He was quite worn out when he returned. I'm a nice guy so I naturally decided not to pester him too much about his doings or read the letters he wanted delivered. Instead I secretly took them from a servant to deliver myself. I suppose Lalita has dethroned Pico from what you just said. Good for him. He shouldn't have kept that a secret from me. I'm proud of him. I hope he doesn't suddenly think we can't be pals anymore because he's moved up in the world and now he's too good for me. I know I must be boring you with all this talk, but I've just gotta add, the sound of your labored breathing was exhilarating. If only I were the cause."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Preparese, Salto Poderoso!" Canguro's voice shouted after a series of static bursts from sonido, following a burst of spiritual pressure as Canguro had quickly took her zanpakuto and released it. Her towel dropped to the floor as she was covered in white chintin-like armor, a skull half-helm and serrated greaves and gauntlets now attatched to her legs.

"That's enough Lalita. The two of you are dismissed." Canguro spoke up, thick tail cracking against the floor as she ordered Clarice and Charlotte to go. The blades on her forearms, extended about two feet from her arms, eyes not visible with the helm covering the upper half of her face.

"You're starting to remind me of the Primera Lalita."

Lalita turns to look at the indignant Canguro. For a moment, she can see herself nailed at the center of the crossed pupils, before they shrink into round shape again. "The Primera? How astute of you", Lalita replies. The worst part is that is sounds like an honest compliment.

"I see that you're using your resurreccion against me. Care to tell me why slap on the cheek would not have sufficed?"

[Draken]

[Distrito Tres]

Ivaz nods a little, reaching an understanding.

So, unlike actual Espada, you won't hold on to the spot till you die. Just when somebody's better than you. Makes sense, I guess. A lot more Espada would be alive if they followed that route.

Course, there'd be a lot more revenge attacks, too.

She eyes him for a moment.

So...how many come to take this spot so far?

Clovis points to the side, where there are ten arrancar men wearing their last ties and another two women watching clocks slowly lower torches into the hay of their pyres.

"That many, all in a day's work. There were more ladies but what can I say, not all of them were so disposable... You are very much not disposable yourself."

"SO! Here to see if you can handle being tercera? All you have to do is beat lil' ol' me and you get to rule all of this place... With all the duties Von Geister expects of his espada that they mostly don't fulfill thinking it won't come back to bite their asses later... Literally, history tells me."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Distrito Tres

Again with the compliments. You know, you're making it harder for me to want to beat ya.

...Just kidding! She grins.

So! She claps her hands together. Let's say we take this to a less destructible place, eh? I mean, we both know what kind of collateral damage we'd cause. And does the winner really wanna be in charge of clean up? I don't.

[Draken]

"Ah, fine, fine. Into Acelia's palace we go then. Lady had a special cerimonial arena dug in the foundations of the city, it doesn't get any less destructible than that, lassy. Believe it."

Clovis pulls out a small cilinder with a button on it, and then backflips into the air above Ivaz even as he presses the button.

And then the floor ceases to exist under her feet, and he dives into the tunnel, possibly with her falling in as well.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Ivaz is surprised for a moment by the lack of floor, and does fall.

Doesn't take her long to have her hand on the hilt of her zanpakuto as she falls, waiting for the floor to come. She's braced herself to land on her feet.

And she's keeping an eye for Clovis. In case he decides to attack while she falls.

[Draken]

Clovis does pirouettes all the way down, until finally they land.

The room they found themselves in was a relatively large dome, the floor was white, the walls were white, the ceiling was white, all very smooth and polished, it looked as if they had fallen inside a massive ivory cup turned upside down.

And there was the faint spiritual power in the walls, and a feeling of something unusual hidden behind the walls.

"Behold, here, in the very foundations of Las Noches, between the districts and the undercity. We bask in his majesty's presence, here you need not bring him proof, for his eyes are upon you should you succeed."

Clovis then joins his two sticks, and they grow into a staff, which then produces a the steel blade of a scythe. Clovis rests his zanpakuto over his shoulder as he walks up to one edge of the chamber.

"Weapons draw, ladies first."

[Zerkai]

"I haven't used anything against you. I didn't want to strike you if I didn't have to." Canguro stated, retracting her forearm mounted blades.

"... And, uh.... I didn't want to wait to get dressed first." She added awkwardly, crouching down to pick up her towel.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Underground Arena]

As Clovis speaks, Ivaz looks the place over, analyzing it. Simple battlefield, really.

When he draws his zanpakuto, Ivaz watches with interest. A scythe, huh? That should be interesting.

Her hand already on the hilt of her weapon, she draws it out. Slowly. So that he can clearly see its unique shape.

Ladies first? Such a gentleman. She smirks, and then she sonidos to her right, swinging her left arm towards him as she goes. Several Balas are fired right at him.

[Draken]

Clovis waves his hand once, twice and flings a a bone stick at each of the bala, causing them to explode prematurely and engulfing him in smoke.

And from the smoke, the scythe surges downwards at Ivaz, screeching through the air with barely contained energy surrounding the blade.

"Far too many buffoons in this city have forsaken courtesy for the sake of stupid violence m'dear. I may be a jester but I am not a cog in the engine of the idiotic rabble that ascends and falls each day among our fair streets."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Underground Arena]

Ivaz Sonidos forward, away from where the scythe will strike. She's still wearing a huge grin.

She swings her arm at Clovis again, firing more Balas. And then Sonidos to her left, to fire even more.

Seems she's content to just use Balas for now.

[Draken]

The blade crashes down on the floor, but is unable to pierce through, the tip merely halting at the white surface, while it unleashes its witheld energy outwards and blasting away the smoke screen from Clovis, an unusual cero washes over the floor and towards the walls.

Clovis, meanwhile, deftly dodges the balas, at least one he frames between his legs, another he avoids by tilting his head to the side. Six are simultaneously avoided by assuming a stance that makes his overall form resemble a duck.

A ninth hits him square on the stomach and sends him tumbling at the floor, onto a wall and back on his feet, slightly dazed byt already pulling his scythe back to his grip by means of a string.

"Well, you pass the test!"

Clovis puts both hands on his scythe, a second blade appearing on the opposite end, as he splits it into a pair of kamas.

"You are not trash, Ivaz Erizo, I still question if you are tercera material, however."

The two blades spin in his hands, and once they stop, a pair of thin ceros, shaped like crescent moons, soars through the air towards Ivaz.

"Cero cuchilada!"

[Frozen_Feet]

"I haven't used anything against you. I didn't want to strike you if I didn't have to." Canguro stated, retracting her forearm mounted blades.

"... And, uh.... I didn't want to wait to get dressed first." She added awkwardly, crouching down to pick up her towel.

Lalita places his hands behind his back, the loose towel around his waist sliding a bit lower. "Is that so?", he says wryly. "Lack of clothes lead you to reassume your form as an agitated beast? Even though it only makes your basic essence more naked to my eyes?"

Lalita takes a step closer to Canguro. "Resurreccion is hardly meant for preserving modesty - it's meant for fighting. And if it's really your... heart's desire to fight me... frankly, a slap on my face would've been less hurtfull, Miss."

Another step. He's right before Canguro now. "Do you think they were right?", he asks, nodding at the door the maids walked out to. "Do you think they put up a strong front? Either could've lifted their hand and made me stop any moment. They could've just walked away. Why did they not do so?"

"Was it because they've been taught to obey their master? Not to bite the hand that feeds them? Or is it because they'd resigned to their deaths already, certain that they could do nothing about it?"

"Would you like to hit me? I'm wide open."

[Zerkai]

"Basic essence? Heart's desire?" Canguro remained crouched, looking up at Lalita as her head slowly tilted to the side in curiosity. Then she suddenly held up her right hand, four fingers up.

"My only real desires are to eat, sleep, get stronger, and get higher up in the food chain." She counted them off on her fingers. "... And possibly finding that big red Arrancar eating plant I saw a week ago." She glanced down at her fingers for a moment before turning her attention back up to Lalita.

"I don't really know or care which of you were right, I don't think about those kinds of things. You, Charlotte, and Clarice can go ask the Ghost King which one of you are right if you're getting that worked up over it."

"If we're going to spar though, We should wait till tomorrow." Canguro stood up straight, putting the towel over her shoulder as she moved to walk past Lalita, smiling as she gave his shoulder a playful, but careful punch, which seemed difficult to accomplish with forearm mounted blades.

"Just because you're wounds are healed doesn't mean you shouldn't rest up. You looked pretty bad before they patched you up."

[Frozen_Feet]

"The Ghost King? Why would our so-called king have anything to do with this? He is just another Hollow", Lalita remarks dryly as Canguro pokes him. He stays still, looking at the empty spot where she stood just a moment ago as she walks past. "You are delightfully simple, Miss. I sometimes wish I was more like you."

He turns to look at Canguro's back, sighing. She doesn't see it at the moment, but there's a weary streak on his face. "I used to think like them, you know", he tells. "Maybe I still would, if Master Edward really was the strongest. But he isn't."

Lalita looks for a bed in the room, then walks to it and sits down. He wipes the blood from his palms on the towel he's wearing. "He isn't. He's just a fool", he laments. "For pity's sake, he thinks the Primera is beautiful! Pursues her as if she was just another girl. Even though she would not think twice about snapping his neck if it'd suit her whim." Lalita shakes his head, then fixes his eyes on Canguro's face, hoping that she will look at him.

"What about you, Miss? Do you think I'm beautiful? Do you think I deserve to be, after what you just saw?"