[BitP:R] Hueco Mundo 3

[Kuroimaken]

"Very well."

There was a moment of silence as Rouga briefly concentrated. And then, he unleashed his aura.

It was a dense, heavy thing, though it held no feeling. Though there was no way to really see it, Cuerva could feel as though it clung to her being, as if thousands of small but very stubborn shackles attempted to latch onto her and drag her down.

She could still move, of course; but it took more effort than she anticipated. Fighting a prolonged battle under these circunstances would prove a chore to pretty much any fighter. Instictively, she may realize that by flaring her Reiatsu, she can fight off the influence of the aura. But it only holds it at bay, it does not eliminate it.

[Nicklance]

"Impressive. It certainly denies fighters that rely on agility and speed their tactical advantage.Which particular area do you think needs a refinement?" Cuerva does little to deal with Rouga's Necromancia, letting her Fundamental 'consume' minute amounts of the reiatsu creating the pressure in order to lessen its impact on her by a tiny bit.

[Kuroimaken]

"This."

Rouga's pupils contract to become much like a wolf's. His eyes focus on Cuerva's.

"Walk towards me... and embrace."

She can feel his aura seeking a way into her being. Slowly slipping through the cracks, its gravity forcing itself on her will.

There's a great waste in terms of energy, however. Someone with Cuerva's mental fortitude would be the best target to train this on; if he could get her to obey however much of his command he could, he'd know there was some efficiency to his technique. However, the Primera can sense a lack of focus. His energy is almost literally everywhere, boring into her more by virtue of envelopment than from any finesse.

Still, she can see why he needs her aid. At its current stage of development, it might work once, twice if he's lucky, but no more than that.

[Nicklance]

Being the first time she has experienced compulsion Cuerva's body lurches forward several steps until she is almost an arm's length away from Rouga, particularly when she was mentally prepared to be pulled around by his gravity and did not expect any mental commands to accompany the effect.

Its rather effortless once Cuerva exerts her willpower to resist, but the effort to transit from attraction to stoppage is still there.

Her face tightens as she tries to root her feet onto the rocky ground, but her body moves her closer, until it is roughly a hand span away. This isn't good. Even if she could resist most of the effect, it would be easy to go for her neck at this distance.

"Not bad, you need to focus on individual targets within a field rather than let the field do the work. Your energies are running freely around the boundaries like a net trying to catch fish. Think of a line and a hook instead, and let your field of effect be the leash that your line extends around."

[Kuroimaken]

Rouga doesn't go for the neck, though. While Cuerva doesn't obey the last part of the command, he takes a minor step forward, looks her in the eyes and tries again. "Now hold still."

And he moves to embrace her.

There is significant improvement from this to the last. She can feel the energy wash over her mental defenses still, but this has much more focus to it. Cuerva is at least prepared for a repeat this time, though the ease with which the Privaron follows her advice, albeit not completely, might startle her just a bit.

[Nicklance]

The moment Rouga makes physical contact with Cuerva he could immediately feel tiny, almost miniscule, pecking on his tough skin. These itsy bitsy bites are as small as mosquito stings but surely they draw out reishi particles from Rouga's body as if they are dead skin cells and consume them quickly. Rouga is far too experienced to dismiss them, and knows instinctively that he really should not touch the Primera unless she wishes to, and in due time even these tiny pecks will gain momentum and gradually remove far more by the moment.

"I cannot say I did not expect this, but likewise, the weakness of focusing is that you lose the ability to affect others within the field. It would take some time to find the balance point that affords you the most threads at its most effective but never spreading too thin by using a net instead. However, if you should find yourself surrounded by weak foes, the net approach would suffice." Cuerva continues, apparently ignoring the embrace as if it is nothing to her.

But all of a sudden a fiendishly quick straight punch to the ribs hits Rouga, one backed by an equally quick blast of reiryoku that creates a shockwave similar to a thunderclap. If Rouga's control still lacks firmness, his Necromancia should be dispelled by this highly distracting blow.

[Kuroimaken]

Cuerva seemed to ignore the fact that she's dealing with one of the Arrancar with the greatest defensive power in Las Noches. Though he doesn't lose focus per se, it wavers, enough that she can break the Necromancia on her own. He does, however, have the time to give her a quick little peck on the forehead.

"Remember the last time I tried this? You made me swallow a Cero for my trouble." Rouga chuckles. It seems he enjoyed the teasing more than anything the gesture might actually represent.

"Ever the stern teacher. But that's one of the things I like about you."

He lets go regardless.

[Nicklance]

"Ever the rake, if you wonder why you did not ascend the ranks of Espada-hood, this is why. You should leverage on your experience and prowess as one of the oldest of our kind, yet you choose to linger on the fringe doing whatever you please. Remember the days when you think you can be so sure about yourself and the price you paid as well."

Cuerva's alabastor skin takes on a slight tinge as she speaks sternly, the severity of her tone remains tight and firm.

"And I suppose what you need to do is to fine tune your reiryoku output for this spell. Is there anything else you would want it to do or test out? If you have none, I have something to test on your famous aura of defense."

[Kuroimaken]

"Well, there IS one other thing I've developed..."

With that said, Rouga swipes his arm to the side, and what at first glance looks like a shockwave bursts from his arm, breaking down five or six Menos 'trees' in its wake.

Cuerva would be able to determine what he did: he used his 'weight' aura and projected it in front of his Hierro, then violently expanded his defensive aura to shoot it at ludicrously high speeds forward. The result is a blast with more impact than his Bala, but less cutting power.

"...but I wouldn't test it on you."

He chuckled at her comment regarding his status as a Privaron. "I don't need Espadahood. It strikes me as little more than a metaphorical genitalia measuring contest. As I am now, I may fight however I wish and take orders from no one but the man who beat me without some idiot envying my position. Why would I want the added hassle of administrative duties and every wild Hollow and their mothers going for my neck if I'm ever on the mend?"

[Nicklance]

Cuerva nods with a smile. "Too easily avoided if you use it on me, unless this is your followup with that other Necromancia. And no Espadahood will keep you on your toes, and the longer you hold that position the greater testament of vigilance and excellence."

Taking a few steps back from Rouga until she is a fair distance away, Cuerva calls out. "Project your Hierro aura to its maximum range and hold it there."

[Kuroimaken]

"I know better than to underestimate you." Rouga comments with a smile.

As promised, he projects his Hierro aura to the limit, and holds steadfast, certain that whatever she does will have tremendous impact.

[Nicklance]

Standing just at the edge of Rouga's range of aura, Cuerva raises a hand and fires her Hambre Cero.

Unlike traditional Ceros that focuses solely on energy bombardment or even precision piercing attacks, Cuerva's Cero is as dense and material as the early morning mist, except no mere mist would consume anything within its touch.

The dark shadowy beam strikes the aura without a sound, already doing its consumption of the energy that forms Rouga's barrier aura. As it consumes, it wraps itself around a significant-sized surface of the barrier, trying to inch itself inwards and around, its own dark and shadowy color showing easily on the invisible barrier.

If Cuerva's preliminary guesses are right, Rouga's Fundamental would either be ablative in nature, designed to wear and chip away in portions rather than giving way as a whole, or might actually be reactive against high-density attacks, with which her Cero would not qualify for such a reaction.

At any other time this would have been Cuerva gathering information on Rouga in order to gain intel on an enemy, but this time it would help her calculate Rouga's strengths against the upcoming battle and inform him personally on how to improve his tactics as well.

[Kuroimaken]

Cuerva would find that Rouga's defensive aura is... peculiar, to say the least.

First of all, it was layered in such a way that the response to her Cero isn't uniform. It takes longer for it to inch forward enough to actually meet resistance than it should, as though it were slowed down somehow. Then, when it DOES meet the "wall", she can feel that it resists quite a bit more than it should. Not because her Cero can't make headway, but because it seems to slowly regain energy even as it's chipped at - as though it regenerated. No wonder he called it a Hierro aura - it appears he DID, in fact project his Hierro forward, instead of projecting something with the strength of his Hierro.

When the Cero DOES eventually break through, however, it dissipates, as though it was actively rejected by an invisible force, and that force somehow pushed it away with enough power to eliminate its remaining energy.

By the end of it, Rouga relaxes somewhat. Though he doesn't appear winded, or even having broken a sweat, it was noticeable that keeping his barrier up in such a fashion still tensed him quite a bit.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Genoveva - Camp

Someone had a very odd sense of humor.

The large bowl in the sands of Hueco Mundo had all the trappings and fine touches of a well organized military encampment. There were tents and pavilions set in wide rings that ascended up the bowl's sides where a make-shift stone wall had been set up as a deterrent. Here and there were flags denoting some Hollow or Menos, the most ostentatious of them closest to the very bottom of the pit, as if to signify importance.

Around the rim, where the most untamed of hollows would likely be arranged, there were even clusters of weapons, in case a hollow's natural weapons didn't prove up to the task of what was to come.

...Yet it was all empty.

The moon glared down balefully from above on the empty encampment, the only things that moved where the spirits of little animal-Hollows who had flourished without the presence of predators to cut down their numbers. A lonely breeze wails between the tents, stirring up cloth to reveal the emptiness of each tent, before rising out of the bowl and out to the inky depths of the sky.

In the center of it all is a simple table, laid out with a map of Hueco Mundo that Genoveva stands over silently, gazing down intently at it as blood dribbles slowly from her arm. That, at least, had begun to slow though it hadn't healed either which was quite odd, even for an arrancar that lacked regeneration. The ex-Primera twirls a full syringe and a vial of cancerous looking liquid in the other contemplatively..

[Frozen_Feet]

There is sole other person in the camp. He's dressed in a shihakusho he'd found lying around in one of the supply tents - it used to be white, but seemingly he decided he didn't like the color, so now it's red from the blood of few small Hollows he crushed to dye it. He's carrying a pile of weapons on his arms as he marches to the Arrancar, glaring at her. "Whazzup with this place?", he asks. "Why'd we hurry here?"

[Nicklance]

Cuerva nods as she moves back beside Rouga. "Your aura is nearly impermeable, this is good. I doubt there is little else to refine on it beyond regulating and refining your reiryoku control when you project it."

[Kuroimaken]

"This aura of mine... it's something I've had since far before I'd learned of Necromancia. So I don't really think of it as such." Rouga noted, pensive. "I too think it's at the peak of what it really can do. I probably have more to gain from perfecting this 'new' form instead of trying to get more use out of this. To be honest, I think it's not even a form of Necromancia, but a different kind of power altogether."

[Nicklance]

"Unlike Shinigami and their categorizing of Kido, our Necromancia is unique to ourselves, and outsiders would have easier time trying to pick out dirt from water in mud than labeling our abilities as just abilities or Necromancia."

Moving her shoulders a little, three pairs of wings sprout out from Cuerva's back. Flexing as if unused for a long time, the skeletal structures grow scales over the bones as reiryoku flows along and forms the necessary muscles, turning substantial and flesh-like. After a few seconds obsidian feathers begin to sprout from the wing membranes as fine fur-like feathers cover the rest of the appendages.

"These are the natural abilities of my Dark Flight, but it too can be assisted by Necromancia..." utters Cuerva as her dark dress, made purely from reiryoku formed by her Fundamental, grows along her body and up around her wings, sheathing them in the same filmy darkness that she 'wears' as both clothing and armor. Soon those feathered wings no longer appear as feathered wings, but rather wings made from some dark metal as the reiryoku settles and hardens. Able to manifest her real wings and stretch them out a little, Cuerva withdraws her Fundamental and lets her wings be reabsorbed back into her body.

"No doubt in time, you can add your new form to your aura as well, since they work on principles similar to fields and areas."

[Kuroimaken]

"I was actually referring to my 'older' abilities." Rouga clarifies. "But it's going to be a while before I realize everything I can do with it. You've known that aspect of your powers since before you were trapped. I've discovered mine only a few days ago."

Still, where'd he get the idea of forcing an order from, well, density?

"Y'know, I still owe it to ya to train that Quincy boy. But I can't really figure out why you'd like me to do it. Not that I'm complaining, but you're no slouch at teaching yourself. Would you mind telling me what's on your mind?"

[Nicklance]

"It was a knee jerk reaction, after learning that Von Geister has a mortal child in the Mortal World running about, that I am exposed to the concept of paternity. I headed down to the Pits immediately and picked out a Quincy child who seemed to have the necessary rudimentary foundation and would forever languish in mediocrity if he had not been given a fresh and more competitive environment to test his mettle in. I clapped him in Sekkiseki bangles and forced him to manifest his bow despite the environmental penalties that the bangles locked him in. I pushed him to feed on sparse and limited reishi particles in order to fuel his abilities. I forced him to refine how he spends his energy and how he should use them better. As you've said. I can teach him to ascend to heights greater than he would have on his own."

Cuerva looks into the distance, the seal she placed on Adam can give her a vague sense of where he is.

"I have a hunger for a maternal experience, but I have been nothing but a harsh mistress and a demanding instructor. That aside, the boy will get used to me and Tadzio. He learns surprisingly quick and is quick to master the almost-starvation conditions I have forced upon him. Best he meets a variety of teachers to help keep him alert and wary."

[Kuroimaken]

"I dunno why, but something in that strikes me as... wrong, somehow." Rouga notes with a puzzled expression. "I have always heard that mothers were nurturing creatures. You've been pushing him to greater heights, yes. But that's what it was: pushing. He isn't making the climb on his own. Not yet."

The Arrancar walks up to his fellow ancient and tries to look her in the eye. "When you expose someone to a teacher, you're giving that someone an authority figure. How much someone will grow under that teacher is up to the teacher's ability, but what they'll do and why they'll do it is up to them.

Teachers also have this tendency to replace familial figures given time, since like parents, they instill knowledge. But it's not something very easy to understand when you have an odd frame of reference to begin with. In other words, he might begin to see me as a father.

You know where I'm going with this."

[Nicklance]

Cuerva smiles, but her eyes hold no mirth.

"This is where he will make his choice. When the time comes and you find that his training is over, what he makes of his relationship with you will be the first real decision he is given to made. And he is free to exercise that choice. So long as he does not threaten Las Noches, he is free to do whatever he wishes."

[Terry576]

"What ever you want Cecilia-sama!<3" Kyoki meanwhile is still having a minature freakout from her close quaters encounter with Cecilia. It's not until Ragunaroku gives her a wet willie that she snaps out of it and and only temporarily. As they continue to get tea she looks into herself as she says, "It did fell amazing you know, when they gave into madness. All emotions can be supressed anger, joy, excitement, hatred, lonelyness. Madness however is different. Where as everyone has those emotions in them madness isn't something that is stored. It's spontaneous and comes from nowhere. That sudden urge to strangle your wife when she cheats on you? Yes a lot of it is hatred and anger, however that subtle undertone, that one that causes you to break your human morales and commit the ultimate sin. That little spark that causes daredevils to risk their lives for a cheap thrill. The thing that causes people to fear most criminals. Madness is in itself chaotic. That is why it is so unexpected, spontaneous. It I don't know what they see, I only know that it drives them mad." She says all of this with a flat tone, while Ragunaroku seems to be trembling with excitement.

Cecilia whistled before slapping the smaller girl on the back. "Caught cha juuust in time Crazy Girl! We're gonna have soooo much fun! The madness is brilliant, innit? S'only way I ever try an' fight. Mos'ly cause it's so damn fun! Now, see that Arrancar?"

A bored looking arrancar of an average forgettable description walked by.

"Here!" She hands Kyoki a ball. "Hit 'im with this!"

[AnimeKid]

Kyoki

Kyoki grabs the ball gingerly before looking at the passing Arrancar. "Ano, isn't this kind of thing rude?" Ragunaroku then grabs the ball and then says "Oh would you toughen up you wimp! Of course it's rude, that's the entire goddam* point!" Without further ado Ragunaroku's muscular arms start winding up for a pitch. He then throws the ball at high speeds towards the Arrancar's chest where it then impacts.

[Terry576]

Cecilia pouts. "Awwww, he didn't fall over!"

The arrancar hears her, panics, and immediately falls down. Cecilia grins.

"Yay! You did it! Now you! Go! Throw it Kyoki! Believe in yourself! Throw the ball at one of the many arrancar walking around!"

She seems waaay too excited about this.

[AnimeKid]

Kyoki


Wha! b-but I couldn't!" Ragunaroku then pipes in, "Do it or I'll..." He then begins whispering in her ear. Her eyes then widen as she grabs the ball and throws it with a surprising amount of force. "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT!!!!!!" The ball is little more than a blur as it slams into a random Arrancar.

[Terry576]

Cecilia ignores the ball and stares at Kyoki.

"I am intrigued in what he said."

She's staring. Unblinking. With a crazed grin. Oh god what is she gonna do ahhhhh

[AnimeKid]

Kyoki looks at Cecilia a little troubled. "U-um Miss Cecilia? Why are you looking at me like that. It seems a little off. Why are you grinning at me like that now?

Miss Cecilia you kinda starting to creep me out and while I know several ways to deal with that I not sure which one is appropriate for this situation so by technicality I do not know how to deal with it."

As she says all of this she leans back a little almost as if she thinks that Cecilia's expression will go away if she does.

[Kuroimaken]

Cuerva smiles, but her eyes hold no mirth.

"This is where he will make his choice. When the time comes and you find that his training is over, what he makes of his relationship with you will be the first real decision he is given to made. And he is free to exercise that choice. So long as he does not threaten Las Noches, he is free to do whatever he wishes."

"Not the meat of my point. If you want to experience motherhood, you'll have to show him you care, eventually." Rouga noted.

"And I'm one of the worst possible influences he could have as far as being a behaved boy goes. That said, do you trust me?"

[Nicklance]

"Not the meat of my point. If you want to experience motherhood, you'll have to show him you care, eventually." Rouga noted.

"And I'm one of the worst possible influences he could have as far as being a behaved boy goes. That said, do you trust me?"

"There is nobody else that I am even familiar with enough to begin to trust. And I do not wish to let Von Geister have a direct influence on Adam. But do not worry. I can monitor him even when we are apart." Cuerva nods, as if agreeing with herself.

"There are two things that I need to tell you before you take on Adam's education for a stint of time you deem necessary. Firstly, that he is never to attempt to remove even a single one of the modified Sekkiseki bangles around his wrists and ankles. Those were meant to bring the conditions of the Pit along with him in order to protect him from sudden immersion with intensely rich reishi-concentrated environments like Las Noches or Hueco Mundo proper. It is also a means to train him to not rely on such environments as well especially in future assignments that might require him to head down to the Mortal World. Right now he has developed so quickly, that the bangles are like lungs to a human being's respiratory system: they control and regulate his reiryoku respiration. To remove them is to allow him to take in far greater amounts of reiryoku that he is accustomed to. He might die or be permanently damaged from the sudden surge. He can only remove a single bangle if the high risk of death is worth the edge to success. This is the first choice you will give him."

As for the second thing, Cuerva concentrates on her raised open right palm, and the ebony sigil of the Seal hovers above it. "I have expended considerable amount of energy normally reserved to release my Segunda Etapa and converted it into this Seal which I placed on his chest. This allows me to monitor him no matter the distance as long as we share the same world. Each of these five feathers that form the seal contains an immense amount of my own reiryoku that can only be detected when it is activated, and only by Adam when it is dormant. It will fully detonate into a Cero Oscuras if he betrays me or Las Noches, but you need not tell him that, since it is unlikely to happen yet. Another purpose is that through my own discretion or his own effort of will, he can draw on the Seal for additional energy. This is pretty much a last resort however as Quincy are not meant to directly process our Hollow reiryoku and this will be very corrosive to his body and soul, thus a lot of pain. And the expended feather will draw back the reiryoku necessary to fully recharge from Adam's body, so the price is consists of pain during usage and significant weakness for a while after."

Cuerva dismisses the floating image of the seal and resumes. "During the training, I anticipate that he will draw on the first feather on his own. I will withhold permission draw on the others. But this is the second choice: He could choose to ask you if you know about it. You are allowed to tell him what the Seal does, minus the bit about the cost of betrayal. He could also choose to find out for himself. Any questions so far?"