In nome dei dannati, affido la mia anima alla follia.
Laid bare for all to see, from torn rocks and withered concrete, was the ancient amphitheatre held so dearly by human history. Within its walls and amongst its dusted trails, the patchwork of time and its relentless march glistened like an immortal tapestry of Roman grandeur. A mere shadow of its former self, Il Colosseo stood proudly nevertheless. Though braced together by the steel beams of modernity, through and through the arena retained its memories, its vivid images spanning over thousands of years born from human will and determination. The richness of it all, while easily romanticized and praised, failed, however, to fully veil the structure’s darker and more macabre antecedents.
Once upon a time inside its walls, madness run rampant... and with it, came the indulgences of human folly. Lust, narcissism, corruption, greed, barbarism. Long, long ago many perished indiscriminately for the flaws and immaturity of the mortal spirit. From spectacle gladiators to martyred Christians, blood, though dried and erased by time, forever stains the Colosseum’s beauty.
Although struck with the silence and emptiness of midnight, a faint spark ran through its shadowy corridors. For the ghosts of the Roman emperors and their subjects, one final show would come to pass. Steel would shatter and break, blood will pour like rain, and the screams of insanity will fill the air as they did a thousand years prior.
All the lions have long since vanished... save for one.
Alexia was enjoying the view. Sitting on the highest row of ‘seats’ in the Roman Coliseum, the sight was truly marvelous, and she was taking it in for long as she could.
The reason being was that the next set of hollows had been detected. She hadn’t been able to go to Italy last time, so this time she had insisted on heading to Rome. It wasn’t Florence, but Rome was still part of her nation, a part of her home.
So now here she was, with two rookies no less. The two men she had been deployed with had never been on one of these hunts before. So she knew she had to do her best to make sure they both survived this. The last two hunts had been difficult, there was no doubt about it, so she hoped the two of them were ready for the coming storm.
One thing still worried her above all, and it was the human signatures she could sense just outside of the Coliseum. Not many people visited the place anymore, its popularity as a tourist attraction had run a few years ago. However she knew of one family that still did on a regular basis.
High above on the tip of the coliseums breaking rim, stood the elderly soul reaper. Dellius had actually visited the coliseum of Rome in his past life, but even so he was always enamored by its splendor. It filled him with a strange excitement that pulsed through his old bones. The people he was to be assigned with he already knew, though not by personal interaction. He took the time to investigate his teammates before coming as he wished to better understand them. There was Zerieth Hollister, a fellow member of the Eighth Division and Alexia Felone of the Eleventh Division. The old butler could feel a reiatsu presence that matched that of a soul reaper, though he couldn't tell which one it was. From what was gathered, Alexia was the only one in their group who had actual experience with the hollow hunts. He would definitely make it a point to ask her about it.
He took in a deep breath as he watched the tourist scamper about below. While this was happening, he heard the spirit of his sword take in a sigh of elation as well.
I see you're enjoying the sights as well, eh Shuryō-sama? the old man thought.
"Can you not smell it, young cub?" the spirit said ecstatically. "The scent of blood is soaked within the very stones here. Magnificent! I can only imagine how many have died here. Just by being here, I can almost taste it."
I should've figured that was what it was. Indeed this place has seen many things over its long life. How much blood has this place drank? How much violence has it seen?
"How much violence will be seen now?" The spirit added with a growl. "With this many cattle, it's only a matter of time before they're hunted and devoured."
Dellius sucked his teeth distastefully at the spirit's inappropriate comment but he now felt a strong sense of worry as he turned his attention to the many human onlookers. He didn't wish for a repeat of the atrocities that occurred within the Coliseum to strike this city because of the hollow. He would need to end the hollow with as little innocent lives being lost as possible.
Using the spirit ribbons, he found the direction where one of his teammates was in and immediately moved out towards them. Upon reaching he found that it was the woman Alexia. The elderly giant, with one hand to his side and the other across his waist, gave a large bow.
"Good Morning. You must be Miss Alexia Felone. I am Dellius Carthans of the Eighth Division and it is a pleasure to meet you."
Zerieth was late to his first hunt. Last minute preperation of the "special toys" his cousin had given him had taken mroe time than he had expected, but now he was finally here. The senkaimon appeared, and he came flying out of it as if the devil himself were chasing him away from it. "I'm here!" he called to the two soul reapers sitting at the top of the coliseum. The journeyman spell blade quickly ran up to meet his two compatriots for the coming fight.
"Sorry I'm late. Nice to meet you both, I'm Zerieth of house Holister."
A shadow prowled through the darkness, its sleek and dynamic form slithering about with such agile precision. The empty eyes which decorated its countenance bore a look born from the purest predatory instincts. It made not a single sound, not the slightest creak to give its presence known. The vile force which spewed out of its core remained checked, sealed away as to not alarm the wayward souls ‘trapped’ within its newfound lair. Salivating from the fangs, the specter kept itself reposed within a shallow crevasse among the amphitheatre’s upper levels.
With an unholy glare fixated on the patrol, a cold and ravenous sneer trailed through its features. It seemed, as luck would put it, that the shinigami were not alone. Other than the feral shadow stalking their movements, something else seemed to be closing in.
“Ehc asoc omaibba iuq? Nu onamu oigadnar? Emoc... etnetrevid.”
The elderly soul reaper gave a sideways glance at Zerieth. One thing that Dellius had always prided himself on was being on time and the fact that a member of nobility was late for a mission like this irked him a little. Still he had plenty of time to scold him about it later. Right now, it would do him better to understand how these hunts were.
"While we are here Madam, if you would be so kind as to tell us about your experience in the past hunts. I feel the more we know the better our success as a team will be." Dellius asked calmly.
The third member of the group finally arrived, stumbling out of the portal. Alexia didn’t have many high hopes for this group, but knew she’d have to keep them alive. If she returned with two corpses, it wouldn’t play out too well in the future whenever she asked to take the captaincy exam.
Barely acknowledging the rookie’s introduction, the Duelist glanced over her shoulder. She could sense that her mother and father were among the humans below.
Father...I wish you could see me. You would have been proud, she thought.
Something was off though...she could also detect a third signature with them. She was an only child, and her relatives were spread across Europe, so could that have been? Perhaps a friend of the family or something, so she brushed aside from her mind for now. The senior member of the team, in age but not rank, had inquired about these hunts. Her head turned back to look at the two men.
“Well I’ll give a quick recap for you. The first hunt I went on, in which I was no more stronger than you Zerieth, the hollow there was a titanic monster that upended a good chunk of a city. The second, in the jungles of India, my face was eaten. Doesn’t quite look that way now, but it hurt...a lot. So in summary...don’t screw up if you want to live,” she explained.
She got to her feet, scanning the wide area and the floors of the coliseum.
“Assuming our target is here already, we should get to looking for it. Pick a direction and start searching. If you encounter it, don’t be stupid and try to fight it by yourself. Be smart, stay alive,” she told the duo.
Alexia dropped down to a lower level and began to walk the perimeter.
Zerieth looked at his compatriot as his leader jumped down a several rows to begin her search, and shrugged. "Not much of a people person, is she?" he asked only half kidding. It probably wasn't easy on her to be baby sitting the small fry on what really amounted to a live training exercise. His inexperience in these sorts of matters was a liability that he could only make up for with sheer blinding tenacity, and a will to stay alive equivalent to that of a starving dog. He felt Ookami tense at the word "dog", and he smiled. Touchy, aren't we?
"Well I suppose split up means for us all to split. Shall we?" and with that he began walking along the top row, casting out with his senses to find the quarry he was searching for. As he did so he noticed a few humans near by, and gritted his teeth. Now not only would they have to kill a stronger hollow, they had to do so while protecting the humans outside the stadium, on the very likely chance the fighting spilled outside. No doubt there would be a spacial freeze implemented at some point. At least, he hoped there would be.
Dellius listened to the explanation and nodded as the two of them moved away. The spirit of his zanpaktou growled in anger.
"Who does that woman think she is? I can barely feel how sharp her fangs are and yet she acts so arrogantly."
"Strength is not all that accounts to a battle, Shuryō-sama. She's managed to survive both of the hunts though not unscarred and I am willing to take any advice she can give me on the matter."
The elderly giant could still feel the spirits anger fester, but it was time for him to begin searching as well. He decided to return to the highest rim where he was before. Maybe it was from Shuryō-sama's influence, but Dellius was feeling excited about this hunt. The excitement he was feeling was unlike any he had experience and it was bordering on carnal. Despite his more civilized feelings, there was a hope that the hollow would appear. A hope that it would be a strong opponent. A hope that he would destroy all it was and make it his prey.
Dellius shook his head once and the feeling had subsided, rationality and civilization returning to his core. It was then that a sudden thought had passed through his head that brought him cursing to himself. He has used the spirit ribbons to locate Alexia, but he hadn't even tried to see if he saw the hollows ribbon as well. That kind of stupidity was unlike him.
"This is no time for such carelessness when lives are on the line."
Closing his eyes, he began to focus on the spirit ribbons.
[271/823]
Wayne
Don't know if this technique will work...so rp out what he'll see
Its ears twitched, taking careful notice of the disparaging words thrown between the gathered soul reapers. The wicked grin masking its features could only grow further still, amused by the comedic nugget playing before its eyes. For warriors deemed as heralds of the afterlife, surely these cretins could do better when faced against dire opposition. Bickering and acting cold with each other would serve only to the shadow fiend’s advantage.
“...Ihccoics icitetap...”
Amusingly, for the last to arrive, it was also the giant who opted on acting first. The wraith could feel the shinigami’s aura trace around the arena, hoping to get a feel for its position. Yet, as bathed in the sanctuary of darkness, the beast simply could not allow for its home to become desecrated by some indigent patrol of unworthy soldiers.
A red luster brewed from its maw, glowing with virulent and empty rage. Within seconds, the spark evolved into a massive orb, locking and spiraling viciously for the solitary giant. In the wake of the release, a ghastly howl pierced through the skies, born and emanating from the shadows.
The old soul reaper opened his eyes immediately when he sensed the sudden pulse of the hollows reiatsu. Unfortunately, he had barely laced his hands to block as the explosion erupted around his body. Dellius was sent plummeting into the outer rim, shattering bits of it. The sounds of the sudden explosion as well as the falling bits of debris sent the human onlookers screaming and fleeing.
"Oh dear...causing a panic was the last thing we needed here." The elderly giant said shaking his head. People in panic were more likely to act irrationally and do things that they wouldn't under a calmed mind.
Dellius got himself up and brushed himself off all the while the zanpaktou spirit roared with anticipation.
"Let the hunt begin!! He's close by...I know it! Fight him! Slash him! Devour him! Let us see whose the true predator here!"
Dellius had gotten a bead from where the cero had come from but he didn't let himself be prodded into combat like that. Fighting the hollow as a team would be much more beneficial. Now wasn't the time for rashness. Shuryo-sama voice still rang within his head. The tone of his voice was ragged and excited as the thought of crushing a strong creature would satisfy him immensely...and Dellius felt himself slipping ever so slightly into his mindset.
"I believe the cero came from this direction! Be cautious!" He shouted across to his compatriots. He approached though he was far more wary now than he was before completely ignoring the screams of the humans and focusing on the task at hand.
A brief flare of reiatsu made Alexia turn around quickly. A cero had been fired at Dellius, and from the look of things, it had made contact. She quickly made her way back to where the cero had impacted the rim, a chunk of the coliseum missing now. She knew she had to be focused on the fight, but her senses flickered to the outside just for a moment to check on her parents. Comforted that they had started to leave with the other civilians, she turned back to the sneak attack.
“Hey Zerieth, down to the lower level,” she called out, descending down to meet up with the old man.
“You okay there, old man? You kinda...took a cero to the face,” she said, a slight tone of concern in her words.
Zerieth reacted almost immediatly to the hollows sudden burst of reiatsu. He looked over at the older man, and watched a cero hit him from the shadows. Quickly he unsheated Ookami as he ran towards the lower level were he'd seen the shot come from. As he ran his step became more graceful and fluid, in the fashion his uncle had taught him. He picked up speed, skipping the stair as he descended.
Ookami howled in his mind to be unleashed. It was a howl so full of rage that it could have frozen the blood of all in the arena if it could be voiced to the world. Zerieth knew what Ookami wanted, but he wasn't prepared to release his weapon yet. It taxed him to use it, and wanted to be certain he would need it before he activated the fuller extent of his abilities. Patience my friend, patience.
He stopped next to his senior, and was about to ask after his well being until Alexia beat him to it. Instead he pointed his weapon down towards the pits, and said nonchalantly, "I think our quarry is in there."
"I am quite fine, madam, though I wish I could say the same for this arena." Dellius said looking on sadly.
His body stung as the blowing wind seemed to bite him and the scent of burnt flesh was at his nose, but he was more concerned with the arena. It was a national landmark that had weathered the passing of time. It was far older than Dellius himself and he felt a sense of respect looking at its majesty. Now the landmark had been damaged and he felt that the damage to the coliseum would only escalate the longer they fought here. Leaving the place would do no good however as that was where civilians' were. The only good thing that occurred was that the blast had scared the majority of the civilians and tourists away from the arena. As his anger rose, the primal feelings within him began to rise with it. Shuryo-sama's voice became more pronounced.
"How long will it be? How long must I wait? Are you a fool Dellius? The creature is obviously a predator. It won't reveal itself unless we are in a position of vulnerability. Strike down one of the weaklings with you and use his carcass for bait!"
"I shall do no such thing." Dellius replied flatly. His spirit did have a point though...he couldn't just expect the hollow to emerge. But that didn't mean he had any intention of sacrificing his comrades to find it. Rationality was whittling away bit by and as he responded to Zerieth, he almost growled half-way.
"If you are sure then, let us move." Dellius replied moving towards the pits. He wanted to try and seek out the hollows ribbon again, but he would wait, until that was their only option.
Within the unwelcoming abyss, facing the blue-eyed death god, an echoing growl reverberated through the ancient walls. Its harrowing pitch sent even the stone structure to tremble in trepidation, bringing forth an eerie sense of dread to all those gathered within Il Colosseo. The shadowy pits reflected no light, no glowing eyes in which to define the undead entity inside. Instead, all that there was, was pure emptiness. Hollowness and desolation... and from those, only death.
Pouncing forward for the god of death, was the hellhound of Hueco Mundo—a scion born from the madness of swirling emptiness. Its bleak, faded eyes locked with that of Zerieth’s, its maw gaping with the abysmal chasm of the damned. It was the lion to please the ghosts of Rome, for it would devour and consume all that stood in its way.
It called itself Vuoto.
“Ereva aruao id em, ied alled etrom, ehcrep oi onos li out enoiznitse...” the frozen words left its jaws, whispering to its closest prey.
Just mere inches from the death god’s face, another crimson orb grew. And in a flash, its might was released.
763
heads up zer. also, unholy, keep double posting to a minimum, eh? and there are no civilians inside the colloseum whatsoever. not in the beginning of the collab and not now. its midnight, bro.
Zerieth stared into the dark pits, and tried to find their foe. He could sense the power of its spirit energy radiating from that pit. The ferocity of its power held no fear for him. In fact there was only one word he could use to describe how it made him feel. Exhilarating. Here he was standing on the front lines in a battle for life and death in order to preserve the safety of the soul society, and the world. It filled him with a certain sense of pride.
Suddenly he felt that power intensify, and a red light began to appear from within. It took him only a split second to realize what it was. "Son of a bitch," he yelled as the beam issued forth from pit, and straight for him. He could run, so he simply fell from the ledge he stood on. The beam passed over his head, exactly through the space he once occupied. Suddenly he remembered his own limitations. While not scared he resolved to be a little more cautious of were he stood. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine," he called to his companions. "But can we please kill that thing before it gets lucky?"
The growl that echoed through the Coliseum was a bit unnerving, and Alexia looked around her field of vision to try and narrow down its source when the cero suddenly blasted their way. She threw herself to the side, the cero shooting straight through the coliseum wall like a bullet. Scrambling back to her feet, she drew her blade.
“Chill to the bone, Kōri no jotei,” she called out.
The frozen dual staff formed in her hand, and she aimed one end at the horrendous beast that had emerged from the shadows. A small storm of icicles fired its way.
The cold Italian night grew with feverish chills as a newfound power emerged from the otherwise wayward band of soul reapers. Vuoto’s sights turned to the foolhardy source of the freezing downpour, its desolate stare piercing her soul with malevolent rancor. Salivating from the jaws still, the scion appeared unfazed as it stood before the approaching glacial barrage.
Vuoto’s serpentine tail, stretching twice the length of its own body, shifted to the demon’s front. From a pallid aperture running down to the tip, a substance grew and formed. The bony material which soon encompassed the extremity’s whole sharpened and scintillated with a murderous, otherworldly glow. Ashy, stale luster swirled with viscous glory, empowering the Hollowfied lion.
As the first of the icicles neared, the beast’s tail lunged forward in a cyclonic flash. Flaring madly, spinning with unabated rage, its bladed edge marred the barrage in an instant. Crystals of shattered ice rained in its wake, shining amidst a cool breeze brought from its own destruction.
“Anibmab accoics...” it began once again in its twisted, morphed tongue.
Carrying a lingering pause, Vuoto took a step to the side, ignoring the other two and instead focusing its attention solely on the young girl. The choked, growling voice it once had changed somewhat, elevating to a (slightly) more refined, more understandable verse.
“Lurida puttana,” it spoke in clear Italian. “Come si chiama?”
Dellius looked on as he saw the hollow destroy the attack. His eyes were focused on the creature’s elongated tail and its bony features. It was now only the beginning of the hunt and every trick that the hollow showed was something learned. The sword spirit was no longer speaking as the two of them were on equal thinking ground. The smaller pieces of his civilized thinking was actually worried about Alexia and the fact that she was drawing the hollow towards her like this. The primal side of him believed that she would be toyed with before being devoured, but all in all, His main focus was now the lion.
Dellius noted the creature's voice and instantly recognized it as Italian. It made him ponder for only a bit before he cast the needless thought away. Such a thing didn't matter. What was it to him what language his prey spoke? It wouldn't save him from grinding his bones into dust.
There was only a small silence before Shuryo-sama spoke once more in a calm, but serious voice.
"I want to know more of my prey...but I can no longer wait. We shall learn his tricks first hand. We hunt. NOW."
Dellius without a word finally held his sword firmly in his hand.
"Repel and negate, Shuryō juu gata."
Dellius's reiatsu suddenly flared as the sword melted away and formed metal gauntlets and boots. The brown tufts of hair adorning both blew as the wind picked up. Dellius looked at the hollow hungrily as he took a couple of steps forward.
"Sembri abbastanza fiducioso considerando che stai in inferioritÁ numerica, predatore. Consente di vedere come le tue zanne all'altezza!!"
The old butler stood there, his body steeling itself, as his eyes never stopped watching for the creature’s next move.
