“A shipwrecked beach... and a valley in Hueco Mundo,” said Kyuketsu, adding to Picca’s list of locations. “For the latter, however, it was probably just an illusion to fit the scenario. Then again, the strange thing was, it still felt like I really was in the Hollow World.”
The way the maze was set up seemed awfully peculiar to the Acting Captain. From the woman’s information, it appeared as though there was no evident pattern as to how the rooms were arranged. Each landscape was different for every area, and everything else that followed came as random. With that in mind, perhaps the only true way to find Raifuku’s inner domicile was to traverse room through room and hope for the best. The journey was reliant more on luck than actual skill—a fact in itself vexed Kyuketsu a great deal.
Sensing another presence closing in on them, the Templar Leader quickly turned to its source, expecting perhaps another opponent. Instead, he picked up the aura of another soul reaper, unfamiliar and weak, but definitely a shinigami’s. Before any of them knew it, a young girl was already standing a few feet away from them.
Outright ignoring the human’s witty play from earlier, Kyuketsu placed his attention on the newcomer. “Reijuu Kyuketsu of the Eleventh.” He then gestured to the other two. “The lady’s Picca Lilli from the First and the human... we just met.”
“And unfortunately, we’re still trying to get our bearings ourselves. I can’t tell for sure where Captain Uchiharu is, let alone his condition. I”m sorry.”
"All the rooms are most likely illusions," Picca said with a shrug. "This widnae be the first time we met someone who could have control over our perception of things."
She gave a single tap to the dormant collar around her neck.
"Well, it looks like you folks have a lot more in common with each other than with me," Rafa said, visibly upset that the Shinigami were excluding him from their conversation, what with talk of Captain Uchi-whoozzits and vaguely alluding to things that happened in plot's past that Rafa would never have any knowledge of because...
Well, just because.
"So I think I'll just take my leave for now. Oh, and thanks again, for..." Rafa shot a glance to the festering, haphazard goop that was one a symmetrical monster.
"Yeah, for that. Well, be seeing you."
And, with the knowledge discerned from the idle chat they had, Rafa tried once more to leave the mirror world--with his mind firmly focused on the idea of rooms. And this time, it worked.
She was disappointed, naturally. Haresuno wasn’t anywhere nearby nor was anyone else she knew. But at least these people seemed friendly enough. And judging by what was written in the dirt in front of Picca, they seemed to be creating a map of the area. Yukiko edged closer, just as the human was walking away, and took a closer look at the map.
This place is big. And this is only the fourth room I’ve been in after all. Neither of the senior shinigami made a move to stop her, so she assumed that was the OK for her to observe.
“If... if it’s OK, may I add where I’ve been onto this?” Without waiting for an answer, she knelt down and placed her hand on the floor. A trio of circles suddenly drew themselves into the floor to the south of those present. Two were blank but the third said ‘Mountain’.
“So that’s that,” Kyuketsu muttered, staring blankly at the space where the human had vanished.
It was unfortunate that the mortal had to make his exit so abruptly. None of them even had the opportunity to protest. For what it was worth, the Acting Captain still had a few questions that only the ‘living’ side of the invaders could answer. Why the humans were there and what reason they had to confront Raifuku was still beyond the shinigami’s understanding. Regardless, what was done was done. Their only lead had made his exit, so it was now best to simply focus on other matters at hand.
Turning back to his peers, he passed is glance from Picca to Yukiko. “Alright then. We have City, Castle, Lake, Beach, Valley, and Mountain.” He paused, thinking. “I doubt there’s any legitimate pattern to focus on those six. We can try to rationalize and justify any sequences between them, but I’m still certain that the rooms are still placed at random.”
“The best we can honestly do for now is to press forward and hope that we meet the others,” continued the Templar as he shook his head. “You’re free to follow us until we find Captain Uchiharu, Miss Kirazaki. But how about you, Miss Lilli?”
"Yeah, I'll definitely follow ye. Ye can be the meatshield if we see anything unpleasant," Picca said.
Taking one final scan of the area, she was certain that there was no one else for now. It would be best to leave fast before someone else wandered through since every new person was a potential enemy.
Yukiko nodded in response to Kyuketsu’s suggestion. It was probably the most sensible thing to do right now, more so considering how much stronger than her these two people were. As she turned her head back the way she’d came, she wondered if she should mention that girl to them, though one person seemed an irrelevance compared to what seemed to have happened here.
It doesn’t matter now. She sighed and turned back to Kyuketsu, waiting for his next suggestion.
The Acting Captain advanced opposite of where the human made his exit, onwards towards the eastern bank of the lake. Despite coming in contact with fellow soul reapers, their ability to navigating through the maze remained minimal. It was only a matter of luck and happenstance as to what the next room had in store. Whether it housed more allies or bore further threats, the only way to truly know was to face it head on. With Picca and Yukiko with him, however, at least Kyuketsu didn’t have to face the unknown alone.
