[PM][1st/10th/Captains] Week 199: Taishuu Practical: When It's All Said and Done

[Apeiron]

It doesn’t matter what you say, getting healed doesn’t feel any better then getting hit. At least not for Haresuno. At one point in time, he could remember chiyudo being pleasant and refreshing. Now? Now it felt like somebody was pulling out rusty nails from his body and they thought doing it slowly was the best way.

At least he was breathing normally again, even if every inhale and exhale felt like a great strain of effort to maintain. Opening his eyes was not even an idea. And forget moving, that would be a joke. His muscles were practically holding on to the ground so he wouldn’t so much as squirm.

Still. He was aware, and more then just his sense of pain had returned. On instinct his reiatsu spread out through the hard earth of the Testing Grounds, spreading out over his destroyed maze and prodding at the familiar powerful signatures. At first he questioned why all the other captains of the Gotei would be so near, and then he remembered where he was. And what had happened.

His anger sparked anew but the sharp pain in his muscles diminished it quickly when he jerked suddenly. “Gah!” he cried. At least his voice was working now. He settled down after a moment and let his pain start to subside. Blood was still running down his body, if a lot slower then before.

“How’s Lilith?” his broken voice asked. He was tired and battered, as usual, but that didn’t stop him from being concerned for his friend, damn it. Cyan eyes finally cracked and flinched at the sun light baring down on him. Squinting around, his blurred vision couldn’t make out anyone, but his reiatsu senses told him who was where.

His eyes found Inuzuri. His smaller presence standing out noticeably against the waves of crashing titans who stood around. He was seated atop the high ledges of the gorge. Bitter eyes looked to the man he had regarded as a mentor. “How’re your wounds?”

[338]

 

[Beaks]

"I'd imagine the ones that are paining him the most are those you cannot see, Uchiharu." Once more the armor plated feet of the Templar Queen touched down upon the arena's floor, but not as a conqueror. Her weapon left where it lay on the upper reaches of the arena, Tsubaki sat down near the Arcanist with an unreadable mixture of thoughts upon her face.

"I stood where you now lay, Haresuno. I clenched my teeth and held my ground as Inuzuri brought the combined might of ten thousand blades against me. He stepped into this arena because he had to, which is why I moved against him and brought him to the level he needed to be." The leonine iris moved to one side, examining the girl who still lay prone on the cold stone floor. "Whatever I did not accomplish in readying him, Lillith did the rest."

"I'm sure you feel a great many things right now...hurt, betrayal, confusion." The Templar Queen leaned close to the boy, holding one hand to the side of her mouth as she spoke. "I will tell you a secret, Uchiharu. Those feelings will not go away, regardless of whether you leave this place with a Haori upon your back. These tests are as much a trial for us as they are for you. A measure to determine if we are still fit to bear the burdens we carry." The message conveyed, Tsubaki contentedly leaned back on the flat of her palm. "Sayis bears his in a way none of us ever could hope to match, and however much I disagree with him or his methods, I respect them."

"You will be healed soon, and when you are the true test will begin." Slowly but surely, Tsubaki rose to her diminutive standing height. "If you still feel betrayed when that happens, you will have a question to ask yourself." The alabaster wings spread gently from her back as she turned to walk away, to return to the upper levels of the arena where she belonged.

"Do you feel truly betrayed, or do you feel it because it's easier than facing the truth?"​

[359]

 

[swaswj]

From his perch on the edge of the gorge, Sayis listened, more than a little surprised by Tsubaki's support and insightful words. Both Lilith and Haresuno had been relatively sheltered as far as severe conflict. What injuries they had sustained were primarily against opponents that they had chosen not to fight all-out. That wasn't the same as fighting an opponent where you could throw everything you had at them only to realize it wasn't enough.

That was a feeling they needed to come to terms with before it happened for real.

"Haresuno," Sayis began heavily, "one day you may need to teach one of your subordinates a lesson... one that's cruel, one they may hate you for, but ultimately, one that will help to keep them alive. I sincerely hope that, at that time, you'll be able to make the right choice, and perhaps even understand what I had to do this day."

Shaking his head, the Soutaichou explained further, "What I did was not part of the taishuu -- it was something I elected to do on my own, because something was lacking. I didn't give you the chance to show what you were capable of, how far you could go. To do that, you two will fight in tandem with an existing captain... against an existing captain.

"Haresuno, you will be fighting together with Theron... against Tsubaki. Lilith will be fighting with Tsubaki, against Theron. Protect your ally and defeat your enemy... can you do that?" The Soutaichou managed a confident grin. "Show me."

Despite the grin, Sayis was still mulling over the uncomfortable memories and worries that had welled up from the sight of his old captain and former lover. That was a wound that wouldn't be closing up so swiftly.

Chiyudo could only do so much.

[300/300]

Note

If you'll recall, Haresuno did something quite similar to Ilsa.

 

[Eidolon]

Though the Kenpachi had been silent since his departure from the field of battle, he was anything but idle. Each release, the taste of every combatant's reiatsu, their scent, and the sound of their heart beat steadily rising as the realization of doom reached their mind: all of these things and more he drank in and learned from. The tall ivory figure had taken in their words, as well. "Fitting," the single word came in a smooth baritone while the Captain floated down akin to a feather on a lazy spring day. As always, his body was rigid and inflexible, showing none of the inheritance the Blitzkrieg should have offered.

"You spoke of raw strength and attributed that to the Queen and I, Haresuno. This is your battle, then, let us see what you can manage with the tool at your disposal." Though Harbinger rested still in its sheath, the Kenpachi's reiatsu basked the gorge in a golden ambiance.

There was more on the Kenpachi's mind, and only one could have deciphered it. Clever test indeed. What better way to see the heart of a warrior expressed then in commanding their dragons to do battle side by side?

[198]

 

[Apeiron]

You’d have thought Haresuno was dead despite the healing he was receiving. His eyes had become the size of dish plates, while his skin drew on a pale color. His voice was trapped somewhere between a choke and a growl, and then he was hacking up what blood was left in his lungs.

Then he laughed nervously“Oh yes, very fitting,” he mocked finally. Turning to his side the Adept pushed himself up so he was sitting, and just sat there for a moment. His whole being was reeling with the idea of working next to the very captain he would rather not, and he shivered. The whole world is one great comedy isn’t it?

Theron’s reiatsu began to build, and for an instant he thought the Kenpachi was to begin fighting then and there. What drew Haresuno further down was that he did not feel as though he would be able to fight right now at full force. Not in power, but in creativity. “I suppose we should best start once we know both sides are ready.”

Finally rising to his full height, Haresuno spared a moment for the healer captain, “Thank you Captain Matsumara.” He bowed rigidly and sharply turned back to Theron. “Captain, if you would please follow me. We should give Captain Tsubaki and Lilith a little time to themselves.” And to Tsubaki, “Once you’re ready brandish your sword and we shall do like wise.” That said, the Adept walked past the gathering of captains and started for the far side of the arena.

Furthest away from others and their prying ears.

[607]

 

[Beaks]

"Predictable to the last, aren't you Inuzuri. Though I would hardly expect you to choose anyone else." Tsubaki smiled in spite of herself, once again coming to rest on the arena floor with her weapon in hand. "A thought though, before we begin. Miss Maikeru..." Her lone eye suddenly fixed itself on the girl. "...I have watched you taunt and dredge up obviously painful memories of a man I happen to esteem and respect a great deal. Obviously this would put me somewhat at odds with taking up arms to defend you in this coming match."

Letting the point of her silver weapon jam firmly into the earth, the Templar Queen gave the girl an auspicious look. "If you were me, would you defend you?"

[125/484]

 

[Divine Truth]

After pouring his being into the temporary healing of the broken candidates and repacking his tools of the trade, Makoto frowned at the scene before him. Even with the knowledge that the task undertaken in that ancient chasm was essential to rebuilding the strength of Soul Society’s fighting force, the nobleman couldn’t help but find the affair tasteless and bordering on senseless. It didn’t help matters that his and Kaede’s work was about to be undone in half the time it took to tenuously put the supplicants and the Soutaichou back together again.

But thus is the life of a healer; he’d come to accept that. As such his gripes never really made it any further than bouncing around the recesses of his mind. So as round two was poised to begin bloodshed anew, Makoto settled himself into prime observational position, ready to observe and eventually judge what was left of Haresuno and Lilith.

Releasing a soft sigh, the healer reached into his pocket to extract his phone to check just how much time had passed since beginning. It was then that he was surprised to find two icons at the top left of the phone’s screen. One indicated a missed call, no, two missed calls. The second, two voicemails.

“Hmm,” the nobleman said as he accessed his voicemail inbox. “When did I become so popular?” Before the recording’s dialog reached the end of its statement, Makoto was already punching in his passcode. No point in sitting through options you already know, he told himself.

Once the code was accepted, a cool, automated female voice began to speak once again. “You have two new voice messages. Message one….”

The uneasy voice of Lucia Frey then came from the hand held device, delivering a message that caused with each passing nugget of information a ginger eyebrow to rise higher fraction by fraction of an inch. It seemed they had managed to revive the unknown shinigami… who promptly revealed disturbing news. Fake bounties? What did this mean?

But Makoto was unable to give it much thought, as by now the message had run to completion and the automated voice was again asking for input. He satisfied the recording by tapping the number four on the touch screen, indicating that he wanted the message archived for further listening. With that out of the way, the voice introduced the second, patiently waiting message. This message began with a different automated voice, instructing Makoto that the following message had been forwarded to him by the Ninth Division communications switchboard. The voice that followed this proclamation was quite unfamiliar and had the most peculiar accent. Wait, no it wasn’t unfamiliar. The nobleman had heard this voice and the accent it wielded once before. It was the creepy photographer lady from the First.

But the identity of the speaker was nowhere near as important as the message she frantically delivered. It was a distress call from the teams sent to investigate the strange readings that emanated from Hueco Mundo. The teams had met opposition….

“Espada?!” Makoto loudly exclaimed. The nobleman removed the phone from his ear and simply gawked at it, wondering if he had heard correctly. The phone was practically new and was top of the line as far as Soul Society technology went, so it couldn’t have been malfunctioning. But how could he have heard that right? The return of the Espada on top of all the other weird things that seemed to be happening all of a sudden? This was not a can of worms poised to be opened, but a whole barrel of them.

How could this be? Weren’t the Espada eliminated? Were these new, self-proclaimed Espada or did the originals somehow survive? But perhaps the best question of all, why was Makoto wasting time asking himself so many damn questions when he could be relaying the messages to their intended recipient?

“Uh, Soutaichou,” Makoto began after shaking himself. “We’ve got a problem… several of them, actually.

“I’ve received a couple of voice messages during the course of this exam. First, the man found at the Tenth has been brought around. Once he came to, he informed those helping him that the recent bounties sent to the Twelfth are fakes, innocents have been targeted. And not only that, sir, but the second message was a forwarded distress call. The scout teams sent to Hueco Mundo have encountered beings claiming to be Espada….”

[739]

 

[Beaks]

"Oh-ho." A thinly veiled chuckle came from the pit below, as the Templar Queen looked up to regard the Healer Captain. "Dibs on the Espada."

You wanna see me take my anger and frustration out on something, Inuzuri? You have no idea...

[42/526]

 

[Eidolon]

Having floated backwards, silent and otherwise still save for the natural sway of his garb, Theron retreated with his appointed ally. He made no move, no indication of his intent, instead listening to hushed words from his brother in arms. The air was quiet, calm, until Makoto's voice broke out over the canyon: "Espada!?"

Were anyone paying close attention, they might have noticed the shiver that ran through the Kenpachi's body at the word boldly pronounced. Fear, anticipation, or some other emotion might have been the reason, but the silent form of Theron Ascania would not be explaining its meaning. Instead, his eyes lifted up, moving to study the Soutaichou from behind the thick ivory veils that warded them.

[119/317]

 

[swaswj]

There really was nothing else to say. Sayis rose to his feet and pointed at the Templar Queen. "No need to wait for the word. Go, Tsubaki. Theron, Makoto, Kaede, Senesati: all of you are coming with us to Hueco Mundo!" An odd calm had embraced the Soutaichou; it wasn't that he expected anything like this to happen... but more like he believed he should have expected it. "I find it extremely difficult to believe that these are truly Espada. If they are, they couldn't possibly be on the same level as the last ones. Treat them like they are, though, and let them regret adopting the moniker!"

See how they fared against the combined might of the Gotei Thirteen's captains.

"Ishin, I want you to deal with the Twelfth situation. Find Mizuki and Raury and get them to fill you in on the situation."

For a moment, Sayis hesitated, looking at the two captain-hopefuls. He also felt a twinge of guilt that Makoto would be calling Charon's Road when, in truth, Sayis could take all of them straight to Hueco Mundo.

It all seemed too convenient. Right after the Central Forty-Six pushed for him to get more captains in, right when all of the current captains were involved in the taishuu practical... two different emergency situations sprang up.

"Haresuno, that Godhand of yours -- it works on sand? Come with us. Lilith, go to the Twelfth, get everything back into order. Inform me immediately if anything else is amiss!"

Charon's Gate was assembled and prepared to take them to the Third division, where they could make the jump to Hueco Mundo.

Sayis stopped abruptly as the others rushed into the gate. "Wait! Theron! Stay with me. I need to check something first. Everyone else, keep going as planned!"

If he was wrong... then he could catch up to the others in an instant. The Kenpachi was the one person who could not turn the use of Forbidden kidou against him, though Sayis was loath to reveal it to him if it wasn't necessary. More importantly, though... with the assassinations in Soul Society and the so-called Espada in Hueco Mundo...

What was happening on Earth?


[365/665]

 

[Apeiron]

Haresuno broke away from his silent meeting with the Kenpachi and moved on closer towards the Soutaichou. He was unbelievably irritated that his test was now on stopped because of this, but what were you going to do. Some things were just way more important then a rank and fancy coat.

A grave darkness was gathering around the high ranking of the Gotei, and Haresuno wasn’t about to input his ire to the mixture. When he was finally close enough to follow the Soutaichou, he informed Sayis as to the nature of his technique. "Unlike most reishi based techniques shinigami use, Godhand will work anywhere so long as there are resources to pull or create matter. It will work anywhere.

"What did you have in mind?”

[736]

 

[Beaks]

A calm smile emerged on the face of the Templar Queen. Finally, no red tape, no long lectures. Just a chance to be fighting alongside my friends, like I should have from the start. Giving the man an impromptu but brief salute, Tsubaki was off like a shot. Whatever lay waiting in the endless sea of sand would not have the luxury of sneaking up on her a second time.

My officers are there...

My friends are there...

...and together we will make these creatures regret ever being born.


[89/615 Final?]

 

[IshinOnigami]

Ishin had been watching as things played out below when he heard Makoto's exclamation. His heart skipped a beat, and inside the back of his mind three things started to blossom.

The first was fear, pure and abject terror to be more precise. If these were more of the same Espada that they had fought previously then there would be more death and destruction. More pain. At these thoughts there was a slight stirring in him as he remembered his multiple encounters with the Espada Cadena. The witch had tormented him with both pain and pleasure, and even now a piece of her was sill hiding in him, trying to convince him to go all out.

The second was suspicion. The timing was just too perfect. It was like the person or persons orchestrating the events knew that all of the captains would be busy. That presented his mind with only one possible conclusion: Somewhere within the command structure of Soul Society, there was a traitor hidden. That would cause more problems than solutions, that was for sure.

The last thing that presented itself was, to Ishin's own annoyance, pleasure of a sorts. He found himself wanting to fight, to let loose on his enemies and see their faces.

As Sayis outlined their plans, Ishin made himself refocus.

"You want me to stay behind? Seriously?"

He cursed under his breath. Of course he would have to stay. C46 would not let him out every time there was a problem just because he was a captain.

"Fine, fine. I will take care of things here."

He pulled out his own phone and dialed a number. A tired voice answered at the other end. Ishin didn't allow time for any sort of excuse for her to hang up the phone.

"Saiyuri, get ready and meet me at the division gates. We are making a trip to the Twelfth."

He hung up, not giving her a chance to cuss at him either, and turned to Sayis.

"Anything else?"

 

[Code of the Noble]

Senesati nodded in response to the Soutaichou’s orders. Without a second thought the nobleman grasped the hilt of Ouritsu Tatsujin, pivoted on his right foot, his raven locks and royal haori followed in his wake as headed for the nearest Senkaimon.

Seitaro, I hope you and the others are alright.

Don’t worry help is on the way.