[BitP:R] Hueco Mundo 3

[Nicklance]

"Thank you."

Sabas takes the offered seat, with some difficulty due to his size. He folds his legs into a cross-legged position.

"Simply put, I am curious. I am aware of the indications of my form, but I am old enough to remember the Aerie de Sacrificio. Cuerva de Sangre, Empress Dowager of the Dark Flight was not one to bow her head to anyone or anything. Now, you serve His Majesty as an Espada; a high position, but a subservient one none the less. I would like to know why. You are not, of course, under any compulsion to answer, but know that I believe strongly in the value of information, and the principle of equivalent exchange."

Cuerva leans back, pinching the bridge of her nose as if it would stave away a headache.

"The Aerie de Sacrificio is no more, Quinta. Take your memory back to a thousand years ago, a week earlier at the aftermath of the Gotei 13's full force invasion of the Aerie. All 13 Captains faced me as a single cohesive unit while their Vice-Captains backed them up. The rest of the Shinigami army belched forth from their artificially made Garganta, made from the blasted 12 Division's reishi tracking device for pinpoint accuracy. The Storm Legions were taken by surprise. Most of us were sealed away in nearly an instant. So confident were I that I could simply slaughter them one by one that I failed to realize they had isolated me from my own forces and every moment I wasted picking them off one by one is a moment they had to set up an elaborate sealing ritual. When the Kido corp commander stepped up to the fray, it was over."

The very hall that Cuerva uses for her temporary office echoes that distant pain and humiliation, as if the building itself would dig a hole and hide in it from the shame.

"I am sure you remember that. It was the first time that all 13 divisions and the other two decided to work together against a single target with her large army. That thousand years did not treat us well either. We were sealed but our consciousness aren't. Those who did not devolve from lack of feeding went mad from starvation. The black isolation broke the minds of those who did no longer need to feed. I desperately held my own starvation at bay by entering a meditative trance. The Ghost King attracted far less attention back then, I became the face of Hueco Mundo, the terrifying thing that would still and silence any Shinigami with my name. But during that thousand years, I became a symbol of Shinigami triumph."

Cuerva reached for the paperweight, made from sekiseki and gripped it tight. "I could hear howls of anguish, the sounds of hunger, some of them even resorted to eating themselves. Others of a stronger mind cried out for me, others cursed me. When the seal weakened, I reached out with my full strength and smashed it, but it was too late. Nobody was even sane enough to respond to me. They turned to the darkness of their minds and got lost in them." the paperweight cracked a little from the grip.

"I come here, because the Empress Dowager of the Dark Flight no longer has a Dark Flight to command over. Even her precious home, built for isolation and later for a sort of society that rivals Las Noches, is no more than a nest for mad Hollows. All I simply want now, is a new nest where I can build anew. This partnership with the Ghost King is for mutual benefit. He uses me as a tool, I have a new home with authority and jurisdiction to learn from my mistakes and improve on my administrative and military skills."

[Dorizzit]

Sabas listens intently to Cuerva's explanation of her change of heart. He doesn't move, twitch, or even blink, but it is still very close to impossible to determine what, if anything, he is thinking about the affair. His own memories backed up everything that she said; the Aerie de Sacrificio, at its height, had indeed once been even more of a face to the military power of the Menos than Las Noches. Although he does not mention it, Sabas himself had personally witnessed the beginning of the Shinigami assault before choosing to leave in case he was discovered.

The information about the Aerie's sealing, however, is new. A seal over the entirety of the Aerie both enclosing and starving its inhabitants was a fearsome thing indeed, particularly against Hollows, who defined themselves by their hunger and regressed when they could not feed. Truly, Kidō was incredible. All the more unfortunate for the Shinigami that knowledge of Necromancia was now spreading.

Despite his own internal tangents, Sabas remains totally attentive as Cuerva speaks. Her answer seemed honest enough, and she didn't seem to have any illusions. For now, at least, Sabas is satisfied. Once she is done, he replies.

"I see. I will take my leave, then, if you have no objections."

[Nicklance]

Sabas listens intently to Cuerva's explanation of her change of heart. He doesn't move, twitch, or even blink, but it is still very close to impossible to determine what, if anything, he is thinking about the affair. His own memories backed up everything that she said; the Aerie de Sacrificio, at its height, had indeed once been even more of a face to the military power of the Menos than Las Noches. Although he does not mention it, Sabas himself had personally witnessed the beginning of the Shinigami assault before choosing to leave in case he was discovered.

The information about the Aerie's sealing, however, is new. A seal over the entirety of the Aerie both enclosing and starving its inhabitants was a fearsome thing indeed, particularly against Hollows, who defined themselves by their hunger and regressed when they could not feed. Truly, Kidō was incredible. All the more unfortunate for the Shinigami that knowledge of Necromancia was now spreading.

Despite his own internal tangents, Sabas remains totally attentive as Cuerva speaks. Her answer seemed honest enough, and she didn't seem to have any illusions. For now, at least, Sabas is satisfied. Once she is done, he replies.

"I see. I will take my leave, then, if you have no objections."

Cuerva nods. "I will not keep you."

[Dorizzit]

Sabas stands and bows again, before sliding off of his chair.

"Should you require anything, do not hesitate to call upon me."

He leaves.

[horngeek]

Palacio, Octava District

Mei opens the doors, as she reaches the Palacio.

She turns to Serazel. "All right. Serazel, can you please do a room-to-room search? If you find her, try to bring her down to the front hall.

...Weave. Araña."

Mei's spear turns to silk, and a skintight cocoon starts to form around her body.

[Kuroimaken]

Serazel nods briefly, and darts around the Palacio looking for Ruwa.

[riccaru]

The twins looked at each other, confused, because Cashin's wounds were no worse than Kaitin's, but nevertheless she approached him. As she came closer, she dared to speak again.

"Please, my lord. I appreciate your concern for me, but we both require attention. We beg your kindness, my lord."

Sereg raises an eyebrow when she nears him and speaks. "Seems Talon taught you to speak your mind. Good. I'll have use for that yet. Come closer, Cashin. I want to see if anything else has changed about you." Sereg stands up, his left arm away from his body in an invitation to come closer. Almost as if her wants to hug the girl.

Adam crosses his arms, this creature is interesting.

"I came from the underground prison pits large enough to form a microcosm of society here in Las Noches. No you will not know where it is, and neither could you find it. And I prefer your kind not sniffing around down there too."

"I asked where you came from, not where you were. You can't believe that you belong in Hueco Mundo can you? You're nothing but a weak little quincy." The anger in Alexander's voice in unmistakable as he takes a step toward Adam. "And what the hell do you mean your kind? We're the same, child. I'm just a little more."

[Callos_DeTerran]

Genoveva

The arrancar girl seems to find the concept just as amusing as Rouga does, snickering at it before giving a shake of her head. "Fine, 'free' us, whatever. Point is, ya like to chop down us hollows an' arrancar even if ya think yer 'freein' us."

She paused there to saunter closer towards Hannibal, lips turning up in a savage smile, "An' if what Ah say is any indication, ya ain't 'xactly da weak type either. Ya need a strong enemy, right? Morah people like meh or dis fool?"

[Frozen_Feet]

The man slides further, clearly agitated by Genoveva's mannerism. "Get to the' point", he snarls. "Ye wanna fight, or not? If not, start askin' questions that make sum effin' sense."

[Nicklance]

"I asked where you came from, not where you were. You can't believe that you belong in Hueco Mundo can you? You're nothing but a weak little quincy." The anger in Alexander's voice in unmistakable as he takes a step toward Adam. "And what the hell do you mean your kind? We're the same, child. I'm just a little more."

Adam takes a step forward as well. "Clearly you are a little more stupid. I was born and raised here in Hueco Mundo. And no true Quincy are tainted with Hollow reiatsu. You are dead, you came here a Hollow clinging to vestiges of your past glory. But you are no longer Quincy. Any more questions?"

Uncrossing his arms, Adam slips his hands into his pockets in a very nonchalant manner.

[riccaru]

Adam takes a step forward as well. "Clearly you are a little more stupid. I was born and raised here in Hueco Mundo. And no true Quincy are tainted with Hollow reiatsu. You are dead, you came here a Hollow clinging to vestiges of your past glory. But you are no longer Quincy. Any more questions?"

Uncrossing his arms, Adam slips his hands into his pockets in a very nonchalant manner.

"More a quincy than you'll ever be. You're more like a pet for whoever took you from that prison. I'm using my power to continue the tradition. You and whoever raised you were sitting in a hole for, what, 16 years? Lot of good you did." The movement doesn't go unnoticed, but Adam can see Alexander's quincy cross on his wrist, ready to be activated in an instant.

[Nicklance]

"More a quincy than you'll ever be. You're more like a pet for whoever took you from that prison. I'm using my power to continue the tradition. You and whoever raised you were sitting in a hole for, what, 16 years? Lot of good you did." The movement doesn't go unnoticed, but Adam can see Alexander's quincy cross on his wrist, ready to be activated in an instant.

Adam's Beggar's Grip (seele schneider) activates through the pocket of his pants, a straight bluish energe blade tears through the thin fabric and towards Alexander. As the freak is taller than the young him, the slightly upward angle that the blade protrudes takes a good shot near Alexander's genitals.

Adam's voice turns soft, but with a steel-backed tone of danger. "Then you clearly do not know what we of the Pits are capable of ********. Come get some."

[Kuroimaken]

Genoveva

The arrancar girl seems to find the concept just as amusing as Rouga does, snickering at it before giving a shake of her head. "Fine, 'free' us, whatever. Point is, ya like to chop down us hollows an' arrancar even if ya think yer 'freein' us."

She paused there to saunter closer towards Hannibal, lips turning up in a savage smile, "An' if what Ah say is any indication, ya ain't 'xactly da weak type either. Ya need a strong enemy, right? Morah people like meh or dis fool?"

"Why don't you save the name-calling for the nuptials?" Rouga comments off-handedly. "But I guess I gotta agree with the big doofus. What's your point in teasing him?"

[horngeek]

Mei, meanwhile, bursts out of her coccoon in her Resurrecion, and starts weaving a fine web of silk all over the floor and walls of the entrance hall.

It's not immediately visible. But it is there.

[Callos_DeTerran]

The man slides further, clearly agitated by Genoveva's mannerism. "Get to the' point", he snarls. "Ye wanna fight, or not? If not, start askin' questions that make sum effin' sense."

Genoveva

Subtly was, apparently, not a strong suit of Hannibal's and Genoveva lets out an exasperated sigh, dropping her head into her hands. "Do ya wanna a fight to end all fights, or not?"

It really couldn't get much plainer then that, unless Genoveva drew pictures as well. Which would be a terrible idea for many good reasons.

[Frozen_Feet]

The man's eyes narrow into purple slits. "Fight who? How?", he barks sharply. His mind is racing - what on earth does the girl think is more a "fight to end all fights", than the struggle he'd already decided to partake in?

[riccaru]

Adam's Beggar's Grip (seele schneider) activates through the pocket of his pants, a straight bluish energe blade tears through the thin fabric and towards Alexander. As the freak is taller than the young him, the slightly upward angle that the blade protrudes takes a good shot near Alexander's genitals.

Adam's voice turns soft, but with a steel-backed tone of danger. "Then you clearly do not know what we of the Pits are capable of ********. Come get some."

As soon as the power is pushed into beggar's grip, Alexander can feel it. He's done the same thing a thousand times before, and something like that doesn't go unnoticed. With a flash of sonido mixed with the quincy god step Alexander blurs to the side, just in time to avoid become a post-op. Instead the weapin grates along his leg, a superficial wound through his heirro. As he moves out of range Alexander gains altitude, hoping to get some maneuvering distance between the two Quincy. An arrow is fired as soon as he get's the distance from the crimson bow. "Where did you get that?"

[Nicklance]

As soon as the power is pushed into beggar's grip, Alexander can feel it. He's done the same thing a thousand times before, and something like that doesn't go unnoticed. With a flash of sonido mixed with the quincy god step Alexander blurs to the side, just in time to avoid become a post-op. Instead the weapin grates along his leg, a superficial wound through his heirro. As he moves out of range Alexander gains altitude, hoping to get some maneuvering distance between the two Quincy. An arrow is fired as soon as he get's the distance from the crimson bow. "Where did you get that?"

Releasing the reiryoku invested into Beggar's Grip while parrying the arrow with his sekkiseki bangle in a swift chop, Adam turns around and looks up at Alexander. "The Lady Primera gave it to me." he replies in a cool voice.

A flimsy and crude-looking bow appears on Adam's left hand, lacking any features and generally appearing as a basic energy bow, his right hand pulls the string and fires a very weak arrow at Alexander, weak enough to only sting and stun.

[strawberryman]

Mei, meanwhile, bursts out of her coccoon in her Resurrecion, and starts weaving a fine web of silk all over the floor and walls of the entrance hall.

It's not immediately visible. But it is there.

As Mei reaches an interior room of the palacio, she might begin to feel like something is off... she can't be sure what, though... until the cracks in the walls become evident. And the light tunneling noise...

Before she can react, the doors and any means of entrance collapse in on themselves, the walls dropping by about five feet, the floors crushed into oblivion as sand "floods" in.

She was trapped.

...With the slithering form under the sand.

[Ciudad Baja]

Talon smirks as the twins escape, repairing the door herself. It couldn't do to leave a hole in her defenses, after all. After finishing, however, she quickly leaves for the upper city, donning a concealing cloak and lowering her reiatsu output as much as possible.

She had business at the domain of the Septima District's Infante.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Octava District - Near Palacio

Ivaz had been walking past the Palacio. There weren't any signs of Ruwa in that part of the district, so she decided to check the other side of the Palacio.

And when she was walking by the Palacio, she heard the sounds of the collapse.

She turns her head towards the direction of the source, a slight grin on her face. She's made her move. Good. I was tired of waiting.

Ivaz starts running towards the Palacio. Let the games begin!

[Kuroimaken]

Serazel, too, had rushed towards the crumbling part of the Palacio. Surely Ruwa couldn't have brought the entire building down. Or at least that was his hope.

Not that he expected Mei to have died from the collapse. Even given her arachnid form, to die from squashing like that would be... unfit for her.

[Callos_DeTerran]

The man's eyes narrow into purple slits. "Fight who? How?", he barks sharply. His mind is racing - what on earth does the girl think is more a "fight to end all fights", than the struggle he'd already decided to partake in?

Genoveva

"How's gonna haf ta remain a mystary fer the time being considerin' da uncertain company present." Genoveva drawls with an idle shrug of her shoulders at the topic, tilting her head briefly toward Rouga.

"As fer who Hanny, Ah'm talkin'bout a great whoppin' big city of creatures just like meself and dis lug. Hollows an arrancar as far as de eye can see, not ta mention a pretty awesome change of scenery from da perpetual night ya've found yerself in. Ya gotta admit, it's a pretty sweet deal!" she expouses off-hand, non-chalant about the entire ordeal. Then again, it's not really clear if she's referring to Las Noches, her own Kingdom, or someplace else. The damnable arrancar girl was as mysterious as always about her true intentions.

[Draken]

[Ciudad Baja]

Talon smirks as the twins escape, repairing the door herself. It couldn't do to leave a hole in her defenses, after all. After finishing, however, she quickly leaves for the upper city, donning a concealing cloak and lowering her reiatsu output as much as possible.

She had business at the domain of the Septima District's Infante.

Infante Raom, Royal Envoy to the septima espada...

Can be found sleeping atop the terrace of a tower in Distrito Siete.

[Kuroimaken]

Genoveva

"How's gonna haf ta remain a mystary fer the time being considerin' da uncertain company present." Genoveva drawls with an idle shrug of her shoulders at the topic, tilting her head briefly toward Rouga.

"As fer who Hanny, Ah'm talkin'bout a great whoppin' big city of creatures just like meself and dis lug. Hollows an arrancar as far as de eye can see, not ta mention a pretty awesome change of scenery from da perpetual night ya've found yerself in. Ya gotta admit, it's a pretty sweet deal!" she expouses off-hand, non-chalant about the entire ordeal. Then again, it's not really clear if she's referring to Las Noches, her own Kingdom, or someplace else. The damnable arrancar girl was as mysterious as always about her true intentions.

At which point Rouga moved in to bap her in the head. Comically so, perhaps.

"Seriously, girl? Think I can't keep a lousy secret or two? There aren't that many places that fill the criteria you just mentioned, you know."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Ain't tellin' me much", the man grumbles to the girl, and nods towards Rouga. "If ye can't tell me while he's here, get rid of him."

"Who damn moron'd build a city here, anyways?"

[horngeek]

As Mei reaches an interior room of the palacio, she might begin to feel like something is off... she can't be sure what, though... until the cracks in the walls become evident. And the light tunneling noise...

Before she can react, the doors and any means of entrance collapse in on themselves, the walls dropping by about five feet, the floors crushed into oblivion as sand "floods" in.

She was trapped.

...With the slithering form under the sand.

Mei staggers a little, but given her eight legs and the fact that she's on the wall, she doesn't get hurt.

She makes her way to the ceiling pretty quickly, denying Ruwa a sneak attack, and starts weaving something...

[Kayne650]

Sereg raises an eyebrow when she nears him and speaks. "Seems Talon taught you to speak your mind. Good. I'll have use for that yet. Come closer, Cashin. I want to see if anything else has changed about you." Sereg stands up, his left arm away from his body in an invitation to come closer. Almost as if her wants to hug the girl.

Cashin stops dead when he mentions Talon, and fear clouds her eyes for a second. But was she scared of Talon, of him, or of what either was going to do to her? But then her jaw set, her eyes focused, and she started moving towards Sereg again, stopping when she was within arms reach, kneeling before him.

"I learned to survive, my lord. She taught neither of us anything but how to keep ourselves alive against all odds, and we already knew how to do that. Any Hollow can do that." Her tone was at once both submissive and combative. What was she getting at?

[Callos_DeTerran]

Genoveva

"More places den ya dink 000, ya were gone fer how long again? Dun matter, wat matters iz deres more happenin' on da sands then in da Sandbox of da old ghost. Ah know cause it was mah job ta know 'bout dem." Genoveva says flippantly, giving an idle wave of her single hand as if contemplating one matter or another until finally it turns out that she had been. "Ya know what? Yer right Hanny."

In but a moment, Genoveva's hand is leveled at Rouga as a crimson sphere of energy gathers in her palm before abruptly transforming itself into a tight beam of destructive energy fixed on Rouga's location. The air snaps and crackles as the wash of bloody energy reluctantly dissipates, leaving a furrow in the sand where it had hit as Genoveva lands nimbly back some feet from where she had started.

"Ah'm talkin' bout Las Noches in dis case though. Von Geister's sickly wittle city wid all da pampered pansies struttin' about like der pretenses of civvizliation are worth more den der own primal nature. Ah'm gonna burn da city down to da ground but meh army could use someone with yer fightin' experience Hanny. Wouldn't ya want ta lead troops into battle again against hollows and arrancar?" She says coyly, fox-eyed gaze fixed on the former prisoner rather then at where Rouga is, or rather was. Partially because those nearby would be able to feel the 'ping' of Genoveva's bizarre form of pesquia ringing off the dunes. She didn't need to be watching Rouga to know if he was there or not...

[Frozen_Feet]

Anoyed grimace crosses the man's face. "Bah." He takes a step back and spits to the ground. "Ye want me to kill yer kin? Just point me to th' right direction. But I can't be arsed to lead ****. Was bad enuf' at it th' first time 'round."

"'sides, not seeing any troops here."

[Kuroimaken]

"So I guess the time for talking you into coming back is over, huh?"

Rouga stood where he was when Genoveva aimed, his hand badly scorched. He had been somewhat expecting this, to be honest.

Which didn't make holding that Cero any easier, mind. Without the unique way he used to manipulate his Hierro, it would have píerced right through - instead it was decelerated enough that he could contain and dissipate it. But his hand still suffered considerably for it - it was one mere step removed from being scorched to the bone.