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[PM][C/10th] Week 233: Trembling Earth

The teen girl fidgeted slightly with her ruined hands, hissing as she grazed a particularly sensitive wound. The thought of being stuck amongst however many shinigami, who could be harboring who-knows-how many different ideas...from what Fukushin...Raifuku...she didn’t even know anymore! Why would she trust a word he said?

Because the idea of getting out of here without any more death is absolutely lovely? Her traitorous mind answered back, and she frowned, biting down on her lip to keep from bursting into another hysterical rant. Instead she just nodded back to the pair, shrinking in on her rifle strap and trying her best to hug it. If Ilsa was so set on this, she really didn’t have a choice. Being alone in this maze was infinitely worse than anything the shinigami would do...right?

[ 132 / 1311 ]
 
“It’ll be okay, Mouko-chan.” Ilsa reached out to take one of the girl’s hands, then froze as she saw the state they were in. “...you know what, hold still and I’ll do something about your wounds. I’ve still got most of my reiatsu.” Without waiting for an answer, she touched the least injured-looking hand with feather-light fingers, channeling energy into the raw flesh. Reiki is hardly the most efficient way to heal, but Ilsa has been conserving her reiatsu so far.

Once she finished with Mouko, Ilsa looked over at Kamenashi. “Nice illusion there, but you look like you’ve been through the wringer too. Do you want some Reiki as well? Don’t worry about the reiatsu cost, vice-captains aren’t picked out of a hat and I can fight just fine without high-powered kidou.” She twirled Hinometori in one hand. For now, at least.


143/1345​


Note
Ilsa has Tenrai Chikaku up, she can see through most illusions. ;)

GMs, if both Mouko and Yuurei accept Reiki, let me know approximately much reiatsu Ilsa will spend so I can keep track.
 
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A rather somber smile appeared on the woman's lips. What did she even expect? Of course Ilsa would notice... Yuurei was quite surprised that she noticed the woman's form under the influence of Koutaizumai so easily though. "I was able to apply Reiki on it, but I'm not really sure if it worked. Some help would be greatly appreciated."

​
 
"I'm afraid I can't really help Ilsa-tan much in that department although if I could, I would - that is if you haven't lose your wits and turned against the Gotei like some of the people I've already come across," a rather youthful voice called from out of nowhere. Upon closer inspection though, a tear in that world appeared. Coming from it was a band of shinigami, a total of five distinguishing soul reapers including himself. They all bore their own injuries, some of them being hard to discern. In his case, the blisters that he had opened up stung less, and the wrapping around both of his hands had helped alleviate a great deal of the pain. After having ventured through several rooms up to this point, he had taken note of how his reaitsu reserves seemed to replenish bit by bit. It wasn't enough to completely outweigh the amount he expended, but it was certainly a welcoming discovery.

As recognition showed through his auburn irises, the pink-haired youth smirked as his gaze fell from Ilsa to Yuurei. There was also what appeared to be a human and... wait what in the world? Tigers? Although they certainly didn't look so hostile at the moment, he was not about to push his luck, what little bit that he even had, with said creatures.

"I take it none of you guys know where the exit to this place is? I've got an appointment with that there Raifuku."​

[ 246 ]
hey gaiz​
 
"Och lovely. This place was nice and easy," Picca said. "But it's good to see ye Yuurei and vice captain Ilsa. Glad yer lasses still up and kicking."

Picca folded one arm across her chest and the other arm was raised with hand covering the right half of her face. With this many people, perhaps someone could help make sense of the strange vision she saw earlier. It was a highly suspicious and mysterious thing.

Moving her hand away from her face and looking at everyone, Picca said, "Could ye all lend me yer ear for a moment. I saw something very odd a while ago. There was a miniature model of the Twinned Punishment Hill inside a completely enclosed room full of metal panels. I dinnae ken where it is exactly or what happened but for a brief moment, IMINT could see it. I really cannae make heads or tails of the vision and wandering around, I haven't been able to see any more of it."

[167]
 
“Ah, my favorite target thief! And Picca-san, good to see you!” Ilsa straightened up from healing the worst of Kamenashi’s injuries and smiled at them. “You people look like you’ve been through the wringer a time or two.” Picca, Ryoujin, Reijuu, and two shinigami she didn’t know. Well, it could be worse. Since they hadn’t killed one another, hopefully they had realized the value of teamwork and decided to give Raifuku the metaphorical finger.

She nodded toward Mouko and the tigers. “Everybody, this is Nenshou Mouko and her companions. She is a friend of mine. Fluffy and Mittens here are quite intelligent; don’t give Mouko-chan any trouble and they won’t give you any.” Turning to Mouko, Ilsa gestured to each of the newcomers in turn. “Mouko-chan, the lady with the eyepatch is Picca Lilli, one of my... coworkers, you could say. The pink-haired one is Arashi Ryoujin and the blue-haired one is Reijuu Kyuketsu.” A faint flush of color washed across her pale face. “Um, I’m afraid I don’t know the other two.”

Ilsa frowned at Picca’s statement. “I haven’t seen anything like that... very interesting. I wonder if that place is where we truly are? All these different environments have ot to be illusions.”


205/1550​
 
“Ah, right,” Setsuna piped up, edging forward and smiling at the three newcomers, “Suzuki Setsuna, Eighth. Kid here’s in the Fifth... come to think of it; I never actually got her name either.” He looked down at Yukiko to emphasise his point.

“Kirazaki Yukiko.” When she made no further statement, Setsuna returned his attention to the matter at hand. Talk of illusions filled the air and for once Setsuna had found something he had to agree with.

“Illusions... Well that makes perfect sense. So far here, I’ve walked through a city, Hueco Mundo and a jungle, plus here. And from what I’ve heard about him, Raifuku does seem like the kinda guy who’d be powerful enough to hold so many strong shinigami in an illusion.” He stopped talking and realised the other seven people were looking at him.

“Well, it’s just a guess but we all did see him when we got here right? So we were all caught by him.”

[161/161]​
 


"Well, I assume they are illusion in some sort of a wicked way. My rooms were odd enough to begin with, but I haven't encountered a place that resembles a significant area in Seireitei or in Hueco Mundo. Also, although these rooms look like illusions, the people inside the rooms were one sort of a painful illusion."

Sighing as all the information sank in, the woman looked up at Picca, a bit hopeful-- and probably frightened-- of that different place she saw. Two punishment hills? Metal cases? That seemed mighty disturbing.

"I'm kind of curious. Then if this is an illusion, will dying inside this maze be an illusion as well?" Yuurei bit her lip, quite anxious. Well, not quite, but very. She hated herself for thinking that half the roster who came would eventually be wiped out by some illusion if the death was real, but she couldn't help it.
​
 
Even if the Mystic was right, it was out of their hands. Eventually was not what Kazeoni had told him. Several from both sides of the opposition had already lost their fair share of comrades. And then that begged the question that Yuurei had posed, something that had honestly slipped his mind. If one were to get killed in this maze, what would happen? Would they find themselves out of this illusion, if it was even one as there was no way to really acertain that? Or would they truly find themselves dying a miserable death? There was of course reincarnation, but that was a very long and tedious process, and he would rather not want to have to go through that.

"You know, I'm getting pretty tired with this illusion business," the pink-haired youth began. As far as he knew, Raifuku and Prometheus may as well have been best of friends what with their interest in mind games. Sighing, he turned to Picca. "Anyways, I'm not exactly sure what exactly you might have seen, but if there were panels, then that sounds like some sort of control room. Maybe if we got there, we could shut this entire game down.

"Maybe that might even be Raifuku's inner sanctum," he concluded, stating what must have been present in some of their minds as well.

"Or maybe we're just thinking too much about it. This game has all sorts of bizarre sceneries. Gah, I don't really know," he said, ruffling his hair out of frustration.​

[ 500 ]​
 
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In the midst of everyone’s introductions, Kyuketsu was surprisingly quiet. For a moment, he was drowned in his thoughts, his mind blocked off from the outside world as he contemplated on their situation. It was a foolish mistake on his part to lower his guard within such a place, but he couldn’t help it. Their position, although eventful in their meeting with their peers, was nowhere near its end. Indeed, they possessed the symbols necessary to enter their adversary’s quarters, but that was about it and nothing else. Where to go, how to proceed, and how long still was beyond any of their perceptions. Kyuketsu’s sense of time alone was thrown out the window ages ago. Hours or days... he didn’t know anymore, and quite frankly he didn’t care.

Patience was never one of his strong suits, and though he remained calm on the exterior, the Acting Captain was becoming more and more agitated by the second. He bore no ill will in their meeting with Lieutenant Maruyama, but the fact that it wasn’t their target area only further fueled his stacking anxiety.

Kyuketsu bowed to the newcomers amicably, bearing a forced smile that hid away his growing annoyance.

“If this is truly just one big façade,” began Kyuketsu, “then it would seem that everything we’ve done thus far was without any true repercussions or rewards. The monsters we’ve killed weren’t even alive to begin with, and the people we’ve slain to garner these symbols aren’t really dead.”

The thought of his blood-laden victory over the Twelfth’s Vice-Captain didn’t really ease Kyuketsu’s conscience. If anything, he was more angered by the fact that his win over Diega was a falsehood. “If that really is the case, then this entire mission was one big mockery courtesy of Raifuku. There has to be a way to break this spell, or at the very least, prove that this is truly just an illusion. If death here truly is the only way to break free from this dream, then that’s about as useless of a gambit as it could possibly get. However...”

Kyuketsu glanced at a few of the gathered soldiers.

“It’s a long shot, but if one would try to use Tentei Kuura on people already dead€¦ could that verify this place’s sham?”​


380​
 
Picca nodded at Kyuketsu. "It's possible but," she paused for a breath, "I dinnae ken anyone that has died in this place, unless we just try people at random." She stopped talking. It was usually her thing to give out random statistics but this one felt very grim.

She stood there with arms crossed and lower lip being bit.

"For the record, I believe that this entire place is an illusion or falsehood but I cannae say what wid happen to people that die here. Yer mind makes it real and all."

[259]
 
"I would not call any of this an illusion, per se," came an all-too-familiar voice. "It's up to you to determine what, exactly, that means."

Raifuku stood among them, a self-assured smile on his face. The dark aviator shades hid his eyes from view. The man strode toward them, long white coat nearly touching the ground. Even if the gathered 'players' wished to attack him directly, it would be to no avail -- he was merely a projection, a fact which was readily apparent to at least one of them.

Turning his head from left to right, the smile faltered a bit and Raifuku sighed. Taking a seat on the open air, he kicked a leg up across his knee. "This simply won't do. To truly conquer the challenge of Gyouga Fukai Meiro, we must begin to thin the candidates. So far along already, and yet there is only a single individual who has gathered all three kanji." Holding up one finger, Raifuku shook his head. "Ciro Martelli, the current head of Cerberus Corporation, whose endeavor is to gather even greater power to himself, such that he may stand unchallenged and unequalled.

"If someone does not step up to stop him, if someone does not reach me before him, he will attain his desires." Raising an eyebrow, he smiled again. "Consider for a moment your own desires, your own needs, your own aspirations. Are you content with your current state and the hand you have been dealt?"

Standing up once more, Raifuku put his hands nonchalantly in his pockets. "Kyuketsu-taichou has the right idea," he noted, nodding toward the acting captain. "Even Inuzuri-soutaichou has claimed a second kanji for himself.

"Therefore, I am forced to change the rules I set forth earlier. Pray I do not alter them further." Casting an arm out at the surroundings, Raifuku told them all plainly, "To leave this room, you must have at least two kanji."

As he began fading away, he added, "Now is the time to decide what is worth fighting for."

[340/340]
 
She couldn't help it. Mouko's face contorted into a brief snarl as her rifle swung around, emptying two bullets uselessly into the fading projection. His gaze persisted even as his non-existent form faded from existence. Looking about the group, she swallowed heavily.

Ciro Martelli. The very name brought to mind so many different notions, so many conflicting ideas that even a foothold became impossible to find. Her interactions with the new Chairman had largely been through third-parties, but rumors of his ruthlessness and manipulations were legendary. Even Arano refused to cross the Italian. Now, though...

Now she was alone in a crowd. All shinigami, all of them very much allied with each other...but not her. Her tigers crowded around her and she felt herself shiver slightly. The words turned over uneasily in her mind, calling back to his first words. What was worth fighting for? Was it worth fighting so that nobody would fight?

Did that make her a hypocrite? The thoughts span in her mind like a demented pinwheel, and she felt her nausea return. One way or another, she didn’t know what lines these shinigami would draw now that they knew a human was closest to figuring out this sick game. She met Ilsa’s inquisitive gaze, then looked down.

She was nobody to decide the fate of others, not when she owed hers to so many others already.

[ 233 / 1544 ]
 
And now time was of the utmost importance.

Just when he was hoping that they had finally crossed paths with Raifuku, the opportunity had been whisked away just like that. If he hadn't already mentioned it before, he was really beginning to get tired of his enemies hiding in the shadows.

Contrary to what Raifuku might have expected though after announcing the change in his little game, Ryoujin remained unfazed. If this was a ploy to get them to turn against each other more readily, then it seemed like it would work; however, unless someone went out of their way to strike him, he wasn't about to needlessly waste his time in cutting someone down.

If anything, the only thing that Raifuku's projection had managed to garner from the Blood Templar was a very crude response.

"Fuck."​

[ 637 ]​
 
“Even the Captain Commander himself is at an impasse.” Kyuketsu’s eyes sharpened as he watched Raifuku’s image disperse. “And to make matters worse, we have this Martelli bastard to worry about.”

Damn it. We should have seen this coming. I should have acted sooner, but... does it really have to come to this...?

His hands balled up into fists. As he was left once more to his thoughts, the Acting Captain broke his sights away from all the other soldiers gathered there. With the dire progression of events thus far, he was left with no choice in the matter. Sacrifice was something his mentor Tsubaki failed to teach him, yet that didn’t halt Kyuketsu from understanding its importance and necessity. For them to achieve victory, for them to uphold their code and bring success to their mission, every option must be considered regardless of how immoral or unethical its means came to be. Whether it was his personal philosophy or just his insider point of view of the world, Kyuketsu’s conclusion ended with a simple yet brutal truth. Conscience and ethics, in times of duress though however distasteful, must ultimately be cast aside.

The haori on his shoulder slowly slipped off, dropping gracefully by his feet. He closed his eyes, and with a sigh, shook his head. “So be it.”

His vision then bounced from the First’s Vice-Captain to its other officer. “Miss Lilli, I’m sorry, but it would seem that we have no further options at this point. You warned me not to play this game of his... but things have taken a turn for the worst.”

He turned around to face Ryoujin. Slowly, yet surely, his hands slithered for his dormant sword clinging to his waist. “I think we both know what needs to be done at this point, Ryou. I know for a fact that you’ve been itching for a rematch since that day inside the cave. Well then... your wish is granted. Have a me.”​

709​
 
"Wa, wha?" Picca sputtered at Kyuketsu. She looked back and forth between the two templars. She slapped her forehead, the side with the eye patch, and left her hand there.

After just hearing that Raifuku could change the rules as he pleased, was Kyuketsu really going to go and play by the new set of rules?

Picca took a long sigh while tapping her forehead. Her head shook slowly. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Well, whatever as long as it's not me." Picca threw up both hands in a show of harmlessness and backed away. Still shaking her head, she just found no actual words capable of describing how frustrated she was fight now.

[371]
 
Despite the severity of the recent turn of events not warranting it, Ryoujin felt compelled to laugh at Picca's confusion, but even more so than that, Kyuketsu's words put him off.

For that split second, Ryoujin's eyes shot open in both disbelief and alarm. No matter what situation they were thrown in, Kyuketsu always had the solution and would have favored the side that didn't require unnecessary bloodshed. He was usually the calm strategist even if death stared them in the face, but now, now was something else entirely. The haori that had fallen to the ground explained everything that he needed to know. The futility of it all had just settled in, and if there were any protests forthcoming from the others, they fell on deaf ears. After all, no matter what ideas any of them could provide, it should have been apparent by now that it would have inevitably led to this at one point or another. And as much as he would have loved to deny it, a part of Kyuketsu's words rang true.

​

Ever since Tsubaki's departure from the Eleventh and their disagreements on the Gotei's future, there was a rift that until now had been put to the side in favor of strengthening their ranks.

“The ends truly do justify the means, and to achieve victory, we must do whatever is necessary, no matter how immoral and no matter how unethical. In times of expedience, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... and when the times comes, for the good of the many, some must die.”​

And in that next moment, the Blood Templars' speedster laughed at the irony of all of this, not the sort of laugh you'd expect from going maniacal but rather a genuine one as if someone had cracked a joke. It almost seemed like every campaign that the Gotei undertook nowadays always had them crossing swords with one another. First Hueco Mundo, and now this.

"You sensed it too. So it's really come to it, huh?"

If the adjustment to the rules were intended on producing a result such as this, then it was sure as hell effective. With the two powerhouses's spiritual pressure flaring, the very ground and earth below them seemed to rumble, as if forewarning of the heated battle to come.

"Ilsa, Yuurei, Picca, Setsuna, Yukiko, and Mouko, is it? It's going to be alright. For now, take cover," he suggested as he lowered his hand to the hilt of his zanpakutou. In one instantaneous blur, the pink-haired youth appeared next to the Acting Captain, his armor already assembled and a scorching aura tinging both Kazeoni's incoming cutting edge and his every movement.​


[ 1017 ]​

Well it's come to it, let's make this a good one, believe it or not, im really psyched. it sucks that we only have a week to write this, but ill try and get out turns as efficiently as possible.​
 


A frisson of fear crawled up her spine, and she found herself quite regretful that she had not stepped out a little earlier with Ilsa and Mouko. Well, at least, if they did, they might be facing a different predicament... at least nothing near to killing each other. There was a tight knot on her stomach, not fully knowing what to do. So now what, the two Templars are going to kill off each other? Technically though, if they don't really die, wouldn't it mean the same as freeing them?

A loud sigh escaped through her parted lips, exasperated at how things were going. Oh dear. Then, the only alternative she had was to stick with their previous decision: don't initiate, but defend if need be. Yes, that should work out fine for the small mystic.

Suddenly, Adelaide's voice tore through her thoughts like paper, auburn eyes widened.

Wait, what? What is this?

Goodness.

Seriously, if the rest of the Tenth who came perished, why was she suddenly expecting Yuurei to walk out alive?!

And here she thought there was nothing more fucked up than having to kill each other off.

1698​
 
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“Argh, will you two make up your minds!” the redheaded shinigami despaired as Ryoujin attacked, “One second you don’t want to fight this out or get new kanji, the next you’re all up for fighting and getting these kanji. You know what, screw it. I’m outta here. You’re all free to join me if ya want.” Setsuna sighed and flash-stepped away from the others then began walking.

Yukiko meanwhile watched Setsuna walking away before turning her attention to the others. For a moment she considered joining Setsuna in his departure but none of the others moved so she opted to stay behind as well, though she did decide to take cover behind a nearby boulder, just in case.

Setsuna meanwhile had made a reasonable distance between himself and the others though if he looked back he could just about see what was going on, though damned if he knew what exactly.

Oh well, each to her own. He shook his head as he jumped onto a slope leading down into the canyon and, as he reached the bottom, unsheathed Senshin. Spinning the weapon in his hand a few times, he looked left then right and finally left again. He went right.

You jackass Raifuku, changing your bloody rules like that. He shook his head again. This was starting to get ridiculous. Setsuna sheathed Senshin sat on the floor, leaning against a boulder.

Well guess I just wait for them to finish.

[241/402]​
 
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