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Week 245: Writing On the Wall

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Adelaide. The Tenth Division Captain’s voice suddenly resonated in the mystic’s mind. This is your captain. If you can hear me, it means you’re still alive. I am standing before Raifuku at this very moment and demanding for a way to find your release. As long as I still live, I will not let you die.

She paused, taking a moment to decide on how much more to disclose.

Buryoku Gaikou has been destroyed, but we are not safe. Do not give up. Destroy anything that you can from the inside. Keep trying to break free, while we work to rescue you from outside the maze.


[105]​
 
Of course Adelaide was proven wrong about Lilith being dead by the Captain vowing to die rescuing the spellsword, This place is going to fill up, Lilith. You’re going to die. If what I’m gathering is right, the toxin from the weapon is in the water, and we know what it did to the Sine Qua Non. The second we’re touched, we’re dead. If you get out now, you can still save Yuurei and Hisoka, probably Sekka as well. She laid back down, a sigh of defeat escaping her lips, Try to save us and you die with us.

It was funny: Fukushin was there, with Lilith. And Lilith and Adelaide were linked, through Taidan. There is no endgame. His actions all have meaning. Everything he does matters. He considered the Sine Qua Non impure so he killed them. He hated where Issei drove the Central Forty-Six, so he killed him. But even those of us who didn’t survive this place, he let us survive. He had to have a reason. There’s not a game without a meaning. Even this room, this empty white world I’m in, has some meaning.

But he’s also absolutist. It doesn’t matter to him if we’re all about to die, the meaning must be fulfilled or our deaths are our own fault for not exceeding his goals. But something’s gone wrong, and the meaning has yet to express itself. Adelaide shook her head, So, if you really think there’s some way to help us, its in finding what he hopes to accomplish. There are no means to ends, there are only missions. Meaning that if there is no meaning to where I am, there was a failure in this system. Moreover, for someone with no endgame, this certainly was not the final fight, nor the grand arena. Those things simply did not exist for Fukushin. I bet if we resolve whatever purpose exists here, he has a way to save himself, and by extension, all of us. If his goal was to kill us, he wouldn’t have bothered with this game. That was all she had for Lilith. That was all she had for any of them. There was nothing else she could do, and frankly she didn’t even want that done.


375 Words
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Adelaide Pierce, you are directly disobeying orders. I specifically told you to not give up and to keep trying to break free. When we return to Seireitei, there will be consequences for your attitude and the lack of fortitude I expected from you. It has not even been two days...

The captain's voice was stern, frustrated, and disappointed.

Now act as someone worth saving.

With that, Lilith closed the connection, blocking out any more whimperings of resignation, and focused her attention on the matters immediately before her.


[87/192]​
 
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Finally, someone told him what was going on; finally, he knew why they were here.

“If you tell us we just need to sit it out, then I will do it. I don’t like to sit around and doing nothing, though.”

Sitting down, he tried to relax for a bit. All the things that happened here felt so real. The deaths, the pain and the fighting even though all of this was just a game, he could not shake the feeling off, that it still was for a greater goal.

At least it helped him to realize how weak he still was and that he blindly followed orders until now, without thinking for himself. If they made it out alive, he needed to change that. Again, I am of no help.

While those thoughts were running through his head, he tried to suppress the guilt of stopping Adelaide back on that bridge. Had he not done that, Nana would have killed her there and she would be out of this maze.

“Please, Miss Pierce, stop being this pessimistic. Just believe in your comrades, in your friends. Until this point, my friends and comrades always tried their best to save me or other people and I am from the Twelfth Division, a division spoken of as coldblooded killers without emotions and guilt. When even such people rescue their comrades, why shouldn’t other division do that as well?”

Watching Amaya, it looked like she cooled down too.

“With that said, they might be a little crumbled, but does anyone want some self-made cookies?”

While he said that, he took a small bag of cookies out of a pocket and opened it. Taking one half of a crumbled cookie, he closed the bag again before throwing it to Haresuno.

[296/689]

yup could not resist to hand out some cookies ^^'
 
And, as far as Adelaide was concerned, Lilith was killing herself to try and save her. From the perspective on the one left behind, somehow the ‘no one left behind’ mantra seemed a lot less heroic and a lot more sentimental. Oftentimes reports that crossed her desk seemed to show that more people could die rescuing one person left behind than if that one person was simply left for dead. The attitudes expressed be her Captain and Mitsuhito were so unwise, pragmatically speaking. Were she still in command of the Tenth she would order them to leave her, to ensure the survival of at least some of their members. Why was it that no one seemed to realize that sometimes people needed sacrificing.

Sometimes even the Queen must fall to save the King; pawns always are used as sacrifices. Trying to save every single piece would be a surefire way to lose.

“They will come after us, they will try to save us;” Adelaide explained coldly and with a calm calculation. She clearly did not have hope in the success of those who attempted to save them, “They seem more than willing to throw their lives away in an attempt to rescue us. But they’re on a clock, and they don’t know how. If they had any idea how to save us, or if the cave wasn’t already flooding, they probably could manage it, but they only have a few moments before there’s no one left alive, and they have no idea how to get us out.” She looked up from her laying position to Haresuno, “Lilith’s delightful way of telling me she isn’t dead was saying that she was going to risk death to save me. If she doesn’t change her mind, we both die.” She then glanced over to Mitsuhio, “I think pessimism is called for.”
306 Words
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“Are you not a former Eight Division member, Miss Pierce?” Mitsuhito hated to give out information people did not know he knew, but this was no big info he should not know, so it was fine, he hoped.

“When I graduated from the Spiritual Arts Academy, the description of the Enchanted Blades stated to protect your comrades. Did you not learn the reasons behind it?

“People are no pawns you can replace like you want to. Each individual helps you in one way or another and every person is important. You may be right when you say that sacrifices are needed sometimes but only as a last resort and if your Captain is telling you that there is still hope then you need to believe in her.”

Why is that woman so damn pessimistic?

“What would you do if the person dear to you, the person who you talked about back in the room with the crystal clear water, were in our situation? Would you not try to save her life?”

He did not know if he could get through her pessimism, but he needed to try it. Maybe this was a way for him to be of some help and with the information of their possible rescue, his motivation only had risen.

[213/902]
 
“So she isn’t dead!” Haresuno exclaimed with a fair amount of joy. Suddenly, the smirk on his face was beginning to look a little more self-satisfied then should be allowed. Springing to his feet the captain waded over to Adelaide and squatted down on his haunches. “Miss Pierce, who else can you contact? Who are they with and what are their situations. We may not be able to do anything in here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get a grasp of the full scope of thing.

“It’s also probably a good idea to let someone know how many of us are trapped in the loser’s pit.” There was a dangerous gleam in Haresuno’s eyes. Almost infectious. “If there are losers, there are also winners. We need to know who they might be.”

Rising once more, his haori billowing out behind him like a proud banner, the captain suddenly looked a lot more comfortable in the whole unknown of things. “When you have more pieces to the puzzle, you start to understand how you can help. Even if it is nothing.” Bringing his right hand up to his chin, Haresuno began tapping his index finger in a steady rhythm, muttering, “Might be a way to shut this down.”

[2678]
 
There wasn’t a lot she could do, but it didn’t matter if she went out doing something or not. Really, she might as well let the Gardener have hope, even if she herself didn’t share it. “Because of how the link Taidan creates works, it can look like we are talking back and forth, but the process is far less like a phone and far more like those black butterflies – we are sending and receiving individual messages, just doing so at a speed that appears to allow real-time communication.” She realized this probably sounded pointlessly abstract, but she was going somewhere with it.

And that somewhere was to this problem: “I am able to contact other Mystics and those whose reiatsu’s expression I am familiar with in some meaningful way. Most of our Hueco Mundo team, for instance, or Raury Feybrand. The problem with me trying to send a message to, say, Takimoto Kago or Amaterasu Nana is that they cannot respond to me because they are not equipped to send me a message.” What that meant was although there were plenty of people Adelaide could reach out to, very few could actually communicate their situation. “Captain Maikeru is with Fukushin, one of my divisionmates appears to be alone in the chamber where our bodies are housed and another is with unnamed others attempting to find a method of evacuation. No one else in my division has responded to my messages.”

As for Mitsuhito’s concerns, Adelaide ignored them. Would she risk herself to save Brooke? Of course. She loved Brooke. She’d risk the mission for Brooke. It was why she was thankful that they almost never worked together – Adelaide would compromise professionalism for the girl every time, and every time doing so would be morally unjustifiable. Just because sentiment, or emotion, or even love was motivating Lilith’s actions, it did not make those actions any less foolish.
315 Words
4860 Total
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"Lilith is alive? And you can talk to her?" Hotate asked suddenly much more animated. In her hand was a cookie she had snatched from the other shinigami. Crumbs were falling to the floor as she shifted around happily.

"Tell her Hotate said hi!" Hotate was holding out both hands with a V symbol made by the index and middle fingers. The cookie was carefully pressed into the palm by the three free fingers. Its fragile form was still crumbling from the pressure and a large chunk fell off towards the ground.

[1403] Final 3
 
If you’re still there, Adelaide’s mental tone was worn and clearly irritated by sending this message, and burning even more of her reiatsu in the process, Hotate says hello. Apparently it was important you should know.
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Hotate knew Lilith? That tidbit was filed away for later in the captain’s head. “I can more or less understand the basics of it. In essence it functions similarly to Tenteikuura but does not, in fact, function like the spell.” Half-turning to Adelaide, Haresuno’s finger went from tapping his chin to bouncing in the air, “Try contacting others again. Find out who is where. When you’ve located - rather, if you locate - the team working on getting us out, ask them for as much information as they can give.” There was nothing he could do for Lilith, not trapped in the maze, and maybe not if he was freed. He’d just have to trust her to handle herself.

“Once you’ve found them don’t waste any more effort with talking to multiple people, if you’re not already doing that. Limit yourself to the people who can help our situation. Can you do that?”

[2830]
 
Yuurei, is there anyone with you? Anyone who might know anything about these pods? Figuring she might as well get as much use out of this moment as possible, she added, also, who do you still see in these pods? Myself, Captain Uchiharu, anyone else you recognize? Maybe the white room was bigger than they could see. Mitsuhito had wandered up to them, after all.

Her next thought was directed to Hisoka; I’d like an update on your situation. Clearly we weren’t able to get ourselves out, have you established an exit route? Or does your team have any knowledge about this place we remain trapped in? And who is with you? If we can’t do anything else, I certainly can coordinate efforts thanks to Taidan and a rather relaxing environment, all things considered. Maybe she wasn’t counting on help coming, but she could gather information and disperse it to the appropriate people.

As for Lilith, she was no longer responding. Likely, Fukushin had made some action to up the ante. It was his style.

“Sent out a couple,” Adelaide announced, “we’ll see if we hear back.” She closed her eyes again and chose to turn her focus to listening for a response. The waiting was driving her mad, and the company wasn’t exactly making that any easier; coordinating what she could was a preferable use of time.

220 Words
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And Yuurei couldn't even deny that she was delighted hearing Adelaide's request. For a moment, she considered going forward to one of the corridors and find out where they led, but she was stopped by the irrational fear that she'd get lost if she went alone.

I asked Emaru-fukutaichou before, but he doesn't seem to know anything. As for the pods... wait a second, I'll take a look.

Without much ado, the petite mystic slowly stood up, muttering a word of gratitude to the healer as she did. Her wounds were pretty shallow, and she presumed herself fine enough to stand up and take a small walk. The pods lined the walls, with the people standing still on their capsules. Her steps were slow and careful so as not to hurt herself on the way.

A broken pod," she started, looking at the pod right beside her. Shrugging, she nonchalantly walked forward to the next pod. "Oh, here's a small, green-haired girl who has skull adornments in her hair. She has a skull necklace and a bag. Looks like a shinigami, but I don't think I've seen her with us on Soukyoku Hill.

One... two... three... four, five, six shattered pods... Yuurei continued walking until she reached the seventh pod where Zakki's body lay, unbelievably tranquil inside the pod. There's a teenager here. Black-haired, and dons black human clothes. No idea who this is.

Oh, there's a human! That's what it looks like, at least, she transmitted to Adelaide as she passed by Ciro's pod. Dark brown hair, messy. I'm afraid I don't have anything else to say about this person.

Hm... Honokaguchi-san from the Twelfth is also here, Yuurei told Adelaide, recognizing the familiar weird-colored hair of brown and silver.

Passing by two more shattered pods, she stopped on Amaya's pod, still rummaging her brain for cognizance. This one looks familiar, but I forgot her name. She's a templar who was with my team on Hueco Mundo. Was it Amaya? Not sure with the name, but I'm pretty sure her name starts with an A.

And another guy I don't know. This new guy looks like a shinigami, with brown curly hair. Tan skin, has a light beard and a bulky body. I'm pretty sure I've seen him somewhere... her voice trailed off, still trying to think where she encountered him. Ah! He might have been with us to Hueco Mundo! Hm, another shattered pod...

Kyuketsu-fukutaichou is here... Yuurei sounded rather surprised, still looking at the man. He was with me on my last room in the maze, but for some reason, he wasn't thrown out with me and the others.

Five more shattered pods... this next one is my pod and hey, there's you on the next pod! I don't have to tell you about yourself so I'm moving on... there seemed to be so many shattered pods around us. There's uh... five more after you. She paused for a while, looking at the body encapsulated in front of her.

Here's another person I don't know. He has red hair, and I believe I saw you with him once. Um... wasn't he the one sitting beside you at the auction? Yeah... Yuurei walked to the side and examined the man, examining him for any other special features. There's a gourd, and that's that.

Four more pods and here's Uchiharu-taichou's pod. But you knew that too so I'm going forward.

Five... yeah, five pods, and here's Kyuto-san from the First. One more shattered pod then there's Mineto-san's body. He's also from the First... and oh hey, no more shattered pods from here! Goodness, I didn't realize there's so many of us here in Dunan!

Her slow footsteps resonated on the whole room, though the silence seemed deafening. There's Maruyama-fukutaichou in here too! She was with me on that other room, although I didn't really know what happened between her and her human friend. She continued on, hoping she hadn't barraged the woman with too much information yet. Her feet moved forward, yet she took a slight glimpse behind her to check if the healers were still there. Yuurei stopped in front of the pod, and she couldn't have been more surprised.

Huh?

She blinked, lips curled in a frown.

The person in the last pod appears to be...

Inuzuri-soutaichou.
​
 
While the list rattled of in Adelaide’s mind, she started to explain, “One of my divisionmates is by herself and doesn’t know much of anything about the operation of the system we’re in. She ran into the Fourth’s Vice-Captain, and sadly he didn’t either.” Where was the Ninth when you needed them? “But on a hunch I asked her if she saw anyone else in pods and she’s giving me that information now.”

Adelaide named people whose names she remembered, and gestured to people with them as they were named or described. Zakeriah, who she named with a scowl, Raury, one that might’ve been Igasho. The ones she was less familiar with she gave what information she got from Yuurei – which was fairly useful in the case of the First Division, less so for the humans.

And then came the end of the list. If Adelaide didn’t already have the quality paleness offered by English descent, she’d have lost her color. “Somewhere, in this place, is Commander Inuzuri.”
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Oh hey, what's this? Yuurei asked herself as soon as she cut off the transmission to Adelaide, pleasantly surprised by an open corridor a few steps away from the Captain Commander's pod. I haven't noticed this before...

Granite flaring up, the tattoo on her cheek glowed once more, reestablishing the connection between her and the other mystic. Adelaide, that's honestly everything I can give you about the pods and the people. For now, it looks like there's another corridor here that's in for an exploration. I'm cutting the connection for now, but I figured you probably need to know that I won't be in the room anymore. Hm, wait a second...

With small steps, the woman walked away from the opening and stood right at the center of the room. Her eyes wandered, searching for other pathways around. Huh? There's another door, but it's closed. And another one that has an iron barrage on it. The first one I saw looks fairly passable so... I'm going in.

And with those words, Yuurei finally cut the transmission and hurried towards the corridor.


FINAL ~ 1000​
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Pale grey coalesced like fog but with a swiftness that belied any natural origin. The rolling shadow spread, widened, began to take shape behind the trapped shinigami. In the stark whiteness of the room in which they stood, the grey mist seemed like an invader, alien to this particular room or plane of existence.

It wasn't the fog itself that was important, though. As it drifted, flowing rapidly and with purpose, it settled on unseen shapes. As the mist thickened, the contours grew more recognizable: silhouettes of men.

Then, their voices called out powerfully, in unison. There were at least a dozen voices, every one of them commanding. "When you are so eager for death, you are destined only to be forgotten. Are you so lost and broken in spirit that life itself has no meaning for you? Are you, as shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen, willing to cast off not only your own lives but also the lives of those who cannot fight for themselves?

"Pitiful."

From the shifting mire of fog, one figure strode forward. As mist draped over his body, it distinctly highlighted a long flowing mantle, armor plating over one arm, a stern visage. This one's voice took precedence over the others, a voice that most would recognize. "The Gotei has no use for those whose fortitude is so fickle, no matter how helpless the situation may seem. That is the path of the coward."

Behind the familiar silhouette, the other figures became more distinct, thirteen in total. "Do you intend to fight? Or do you intend to die? If faced with your enemy right now, would you fight to your last breath to cut him down, or feebly waste your last breath upon his sword?

"Are you brave enough to risk your life or just lusting for remembrance?"

The spirits did not give any time or care for their responses. If any of them answered the accusations, they may as well have been talking to the wind.

The white room began to waver, and the thirteen voices spoke as one again. "This mockery has gone on long enough. The Redeemer carries with it the hopes and courage of those that came before, to encourage and empower those that come after. Now let him understand just what kind of power he has tampered with. Prepare yourselves!"

The imposing figure at the front turned, his mantle flaring out. Even just in silhouette, a faint shape within the mist, the 'one' on his back became visible, just for a second.

[420/420] Final
 
And even more information came in through the division technique of the Tenth Division. While Adelaide began to explain, what she heard from Yuurei, Mitsuhito closed the bag of cookies again.

He just had finished putting it away, when Adelaide told them who was still inside a pot.

“Wait, the Captain Commander is still inside of this maze?” he asked her.

So many questions shot through his head right now. While the thoughts of Sayis still being in here somehow made him happy - after all, this showed that the strongest fighter of Soul Society was still in here - he worried that Sayis was easily killable in his current state in the real world. They needed to find a way out; for Soul Society, not for themselves.

He just wanted to state something, when thirteen voices began to speak in unison.

Phew, that man knows how to motivate his men.

Standing up, Mitsuhito clenched his fists and said, “I don’t know about you but I want to get out of here!”

He did not have a plan yet, but heck this was not the first time without a plan and he still survived somehow.

[195/1097]

Wow, managed to write a turn even though i am in a hotel right now^^'. Dont know if i manage to write another turn this weekend though, just for your information.
 
“Redeemer...?” Adelaide whispered to herself.

Most of what the Captains, who Adelaide presumed to be the original Thirteen but was doubtlessly wrong about, had said to those assembled hadn't made a whole ton of sense. This place was false. This world was wrong. Dying in here let them make a difference out there, so of course the right thing to do was die, wasn’t it? But if they were illusions like Faust and that Judge had been, then they wouldn’t know any of that. But they seemed to be somewhat self-aware.

The whole mess was contradictory and confusing as hell, as far as Adelaide was concerned. They spoke of something that ‘carried hope and courage of those who came before’ or something like that. The Redeemer. That much made more sense. It made sense because to overcome the people and places she had seen, certainly the original fighters had hope and courage in far greater values than did the redhead herself. The way they talked, the Redeemer was being abused,

“Captain Uchiharu,” Adelaide cautiously asked. It seemed every idea she had, ever, around him was a bad one, but here it was, Right or wrong about what Redeemer was, Adelaide was sure what she was posing was the right course of action, which almost certainly meant it wasn’t.

“I want to follow them into that mist.”
226 Words
5410 Total​
 
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