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Fear of the Dark; Unfolding Nightmares I
Topic Started: Aug 28 2014, 12:29 PM (204 Views)
Esper

Every day that Tashanu woke up, he was grateful. Grateful that his enemies had not yet found him to seek retribution, grateful that his friends had not come seeking his blood, and most of all, grateful to have at least one more breath to use to spite the Shadow. Yet every time he opened his eyes, Tashanu longed for it all to be over. Hell awaited him in the dark of sleep, and hell awaited him when he walked in the light. There was no rest and there was no peace. Sometimes...no, that was a lie. All the time, he found himself questioning that one decision that had started the chain of events that had brought him here. Could he have done any differently? He wished he had. He knew he couldn't. Fingers curled into fists in futile rage as the first wave of pain came, prompting a sharp intake of breath. Nothing unusual there, all normal, yet even as weary as Tashanu was, every morning that sharp pain brought a little bit a panic. Would it be the last one? Would he die on his back, left until one of his few companions dared to check? He brushed aside the panic, and let go of the anger. The truth of it was, the pain was still getting worse, but not as quickly as it once had. His hair was greying, but not half as fast.

Tashanu was getting used to his burden, the burden that rested in his pocket undisturbed, far lighter than it had any right to be when it weighed so heavily on his mind and soul.

Picking up his Zanpakuto - a long katana with a now dulled gold-worked sheath - Tashanu walked out of the abandoned room that he had called home for the past few weeks, out on to the streets. For one so ill he tried his best not to look it - he kept his clothes immaculate, and he ignored his affliction as if it was not there. The dark blight that covered half his face - the only visible part of the sickness to the public - might have horrified some, and it burned Tashanu worse than any flame, but he pretended it was nothing. Pretended it was normal. No sooner had Tashanu walked outside than the small group he had gathered thus far assembled around him. He knew them all well, and he wanted to trust them badly. He could not. Trust had led him down a dark path, and he wanted to see light nowadays, even if he had to squint at it. In his heart he knew one of them - the one who called himself Ferrix that must have held a tragic tale, being both an arrancar, so young and so unlike his kin - he knew that Ferrix could be trusted. Ferrix was the one who had created the shield that cut off their little base of operations from the rest of the world, stopping anyone outside from sensing them.

Tashanu had steeled himself for this day. He had come to Earth in fear and hope, wishing his story could get someone, anyone, on his side. He had met a Quincy and taken an arrow through his chest for his troubles, forced to fake his death and spend too long healing. The humans did not want to hear what he had to say, even though he wished them no harm and wanted the best for his world and his people. He should have known that. The animosity between their kind was too great, too old and deep. Tashanu had bonded with the outcasts in his current group - four arrancar, one shinigami - and they had agreed to follow him in his quest. He remembered painfully the last time others had agreed to that, and he suspected that his new companions would live shorter and much more painful lives. With their help he had become a rumour, a tale carried on the wind, and his story had spread. The tale of the Shadow. The tale of the Mawstone.

Tashanu did not know what the Shadow planned back in the Hueco Mundo, but he could suspect. And that suspicion made his blood run cold.

He was out of options, and out of time. Tashanu believed he was gaining some more control over the Mawstone, but it was ravaging him all the same and either he would master it or die...he didn't have the luxury of waiting to find out which. That was why he had his people begin collecting the past few days. Each day, in the dead of night, they dragged back a human, unconscious but not dead. They had gathered thirty so far, and that was a start. That was a start indeed.

The one Hueco Mundo now labelled traitor reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Mawstone. Light, smooth, dark as night. It looked simple, but it was a terrible artefact. Tashanu had seen firsthand the most basic of it's potential when it had grazed a hollow as he made his escape from the Maw. The hollow had collapsed in a seizure, screaming for a few seconds, yet Tashanu had caught a glimpse of it shifting and changing into a smaller, sleeker form. Evolution. He had found out the other powers of the stone later, but for now, he knew the one he needed.

"We make the first move today. We make history. Kill the captives. Make sure they feel it. Make sure they know it."

Tashanu did not count himself as a cruel man, far from it. What he did know was that he was a desperate one. Killing the humans quickly would serve no purpose. Killing them slowly would let them feel fear, outrage and anger in their final moments. It would shatter their soul chains on death and change them into hollows immediately. Tashanu did not watch as his companions went to work, but he heard the screams of their victims with absolute clarity. He would never forget those screams...but they were not the only screams he would not be forgetting. But when it was done, and he turned around, he saw thirty souls howling, masks forming as their bodies transformed into hollows. And with each completion, before they could so much as twitch, Tashanu was there, brushing them gently with the Mawstone.

One by one, the hollows fell, and some simply exploded in a blast of blood and flesh. One of his arrancar vomited at the sight, and Tashanu could not blame them. But...he had seen worse.

He brushed the survivors again as they began to turn into Gillians.

Of the ten that were changing, only one died this time. The river of blood that spilled forth was blocked by the timely actions of Ferrix, forced instead to spill away from Tashanu and his companions. In the end, nine Adjucas rose from where thirty humans had once stood. Terrifying. Yet on another hand, awe inspiring. An Adjucas would normally be the product of hundreds of souls, yet each of these were born of one. Tashanu pocketed the stone, not daring to try and make them take the final step. He and the others could control nine unruly Adjucas. They could not control anything greater. Tashanu waited for the inevitable, and it happened.

In unison, the Adjucas roared and leapt away, rushing into the city.

It was the hunger. Tashanu had seen that the hunger drove the hollows of the Mawstone into an utter frenzy. He intended to let them slake the hunger slightly to calm them before turning each one of them into an arrancar. He also knew that nine Adjucas roaming the city would attract all kinds of attention.

One hand remained in his pocket with the stone, and the other held his Zanpakuto. He was ready for that attention.

"Let's go, everyone."
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Baal
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Praise the Sun
To have students to train was one of the closest cries to normality that Liriel had experienced in months, and she was very pleased with the developments that had happened with the newest student that had come under her wing. Each morning for the past two weeks since he had arrived, Liriel saw fit to wake him with a hardy but easily edible breakfast, and the pair trained basic Quincy drills for the entire morning and early afternoon. It seemed that Isac's new secretary was pleasingly efficient at paperwork, so she actually had very little to do now that she had acquired skilled assistance.

It had seemed that there was only a small amount of protocol that the knight was not aware of, but as the Quincy beauty rose from a mock sleep, she decided it would be proper to visit the politburo.

The previous night had seen sleep elude her grasp once again, and Liriel was finally starting to see the strain of the continuous nights of sleep deprivation. Naturally the vast ability of the Halo made her capable of going for long periods without sleep as it healed her body so completely that she was simply unaffected normal tiredness. No, Liriel's demons were quite different from the normal hellions that plagued those called insomniacs.

Sleep provided even the most sleepless individual with time for their mind to adjust and relax, but Liriel could not see even a fitful night of sleep.

Her rest would evade her for as long as those terrible memories surfaced.

There was no sleep for her in the foreseeable future, so she saw fit to work in sleep's stead. There were unfinished compositions that she had finished in the last weeks that she had yet to play, each of them hearkening to older and more melodic composers. Her history tended to affect her music, but there was something of pride when she could hide elements in compositions that only a skilled ear would detect.

More than that, though, she wrote in her diary.

That was the sole witness to her memories of what had happened to her, those horrid days retold, naught but for her own sanity. There needed to be catharsis, and the writing seemed to be providing that in small parts, but she knew that there would be no immediate solace. No, her solace would probably be decades in the making, just as it took months for her sight to return. That fact had not been made public yet, but to those that resided with her, that fact was known.

So as she made her way towards the politburo, she felt more than saw eyes upon her, a white cloth iridescent in the sunlight, tied around her eyes. It was not truly a lie for her to say she was blind while this cloth touched her bare skin, but it was not a complete truth either. Removing it would result in her eyes slowly returning to normal over the course of an hour, but Liriel knew that this provided her with an unanticipated advantage. By being placed where it was, the Pillar provided her senses with a significant boost, even her ability to sense energy.

Such a thing was not easy to get used to, but over the long course of a week, she had adjusted.

A Quincy was approaching her, but Liriel suddenly realized that there were more important matters at hand.

Snapping to attention, Liriel felt the sudden presence of Hollow. First there were...thirty?

No, not thirty. Fifteen?

She could feel them getting stronger, and it was obvious that the Quincy that was approaching her had felt it by now. "Get to the politburo. Mobilize the first response units. Run now."

Something was amiss. There was no reason for this many hollow to suddenly appear, and Liriel had not felt the presence of a Gargantua...

That did not mean anything, for there were ways to shield such things, or an arrancar or particularly strong hollow might have been able to shield his compatriots while they slipped into the city. But that wasn't enough of an explanation for why she suddenly felt the presence of nearly a dozen Gillian. Snapping her fingers, one of her moths flew to her and then darted off, its regal wings carrying it from the city.

Ten Gillian...how was that possible? How did normal hollow signatures transform into...

They were changing again? How!?

Hypotheses screamed through Liriel's mind as she tried to come up with explanations for what was happening. Regardless, the nine signatures she could sense had stabilized.

They were all Adjuchas now...

Regardless of what was going on, Liriel knew that she had to put an end to the situation before it became any worse.
And we shall have some jolly cooperation, ahahaha!
Tibus Heth
Triel Devir
Izumi Ulmar
Liriel Barrison Del'Armgo
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Soverus
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In some cities, there existed beautiful machinery that stayed on for hours, performing its duty as expected and its function dictated. We grew expectations based on what those functions would do every day, through patterns. Machines were a fascinating thing, at that. The creation of Man, at it's finest. One could say similar things of Niklaus. He was considerably more adjusted than a machine, but his desire to press on for hours was beyond admirable, even amongst Quincy standards. Each morning he would wake around 4:00 AM and train out in the courtyard in solace. On some days, he was awake before most of the others, save for one; Liriel. Sleep eluded her like plants in a desert.

It was still early in the day and he trained tirelessly. Blood coursed through his body like flame in a forest, burning with inspiration to stay fueled. Sweat dripped from his body from the training, and increased body heat, with drops releasing from his body in rotation. Through rigorous training, he had trained his accuracy to a fearsome level, with his blade literally cutting one of his drops of sweat in half mid drop. Time seemed to slow down as his mind engaged in a trance like battle state.

The more focus he gained, the more he became shut off from the world around him. That is of course, until he felt the eerie confusion that struck Liriel not long after. Since the day he came in to her service, Niklaus has studied Liriel's reishi under different circumstances to see how the wavelength fluctuated based on her mood. After years of now being her most devoted servant, he fully understands that when it fluctuates like this, it's never anything good.

At that precise moment, he felt exactly what was going on outside. How could the evolution of Hollow proceed so rapidly? This wasn't additional reinforcements replacing the prior, this was highly adaptive evolution from an outside source. The change in their strength was simultaneous as if brought about purposely.

Without even a hinting flex from him, he vanished from the courtyard with a burst of hirenkyaku, only to appear at Liriel's side, kneeling respectfully.

"Your Highness, I feel it best if we fortify out walls first, before pressing to discover what this is. However, if you choose otherwise- please, allow me to proceed ahead. I will not risk harm to you when such a course of action is not needed."

In his heart he knew, she would deny him either course. He knew her better than that.

If I can at least find who is responsible, I can report back to her with some manner of information. Even still, this fluctuation coming from outside troubles me. I've never heard of an evolution taking place so rapidly."

His thoughts tackled him, burning him with a desire to discover the cause behind all of this.
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Ravin
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Isac had been in the middle of class when she felt the rasp of sandpaper on her skin. Rough, she winced in the middle of demonstrating an application of Hirenkyaku, almost crashing into a wall. She managed to land less then gracefully. "Class, it appears we are under attack. Please head to the shelters I know you've been shown. I need to get o the front lines. " Isac said as a few other Quincy used the God Step the appear near the class.

"Duchess Skinner.." one began.

"I know, I feel them. Get the students to safety, then head to the forward base for orders." Isac said, taking a step and vanishing toward where she felt the Hollow signature approaching. She held off her armor for now, she needed speed at the moment, and the bulk would slow her to normal running speeds. She felt a sudden soft caress and turned towards it as she raced forward on a platform of spirits.

Liriel and another, whose name took her a moment to remember. Ah yes, Niklaus Solider. 'Klaus'. She smiled as she remembered how she used to tease the silent lump about being Santa Klaus, full of cheer. She was the perfect size to jump in his lap and ask for a pony for christmas. She did it on several occasions, always to disapproval. However, this was not the time for jokes. She appeared ready for war, armor donned in an instant. "Klaus, Liriel. What do we know?" She asked, though it was early enough nothing may be known.

Isac felt as the signatures changed from normal Hollows, then to Gillian, stopping at Adjuchas. Each time the signatures grew stronger, some were lost. A method for high-speed evolution? Obviously not perfected, because then there would be no deaths. Isac mentioned this aloud to Klaus and Liriel. "Obviously, this city has turned into a testing ground. " Isac stated. "We need to redirect the targets to less populated areas, if not turn them away or destroy them outright. I can serve as bait." She says, as she looks at Liriel. If permission was given she'd act immediately to distract the Adjuchas with a tempting target, full of power.
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Koko

It was a bright early morning and of course Elric was awake no thanks to a few sketchy dreams about a certain Quincy. He stood up got dressed and noticed a note , a list of chores from Liriel that he was supposed to complete. Go to the city and buy some groceries,get some of that creepy blood ice her pet 'cat' loved so much and rood for the rest of her animals. He got dressed in his usual clothing, his leather jacket and black pants with a red shirt underneath and made his way to do what his teacher asked.

It took him a good part of the morning to get there since he couldn't run anywhere near as fast as Liriel. e was tired and kind of breathless as he made it to the store and started to shop. The visit was relatively short and he had more then enough time to lounge about the city, which of course he did. though something was off...he could feel i...those things called hollows? he didn't have enough time to muse on it before he felt a sudden shift in his weight. His body came crashing to it's knees only mere moments after having felt the change and once again as it got even harder to stand. He struggled with the increased pressure he felt only grew. the sensation made his skin crawl. He struggled with it and fought and eventually got his bearings as best he could.

Off in the distance he sees a familiar figure or at least something he'd call familiar, a Quincy with a group of students though they aren't what pulls him in that direction. He saw Izumi a bit further away and called out to him doing his best to wave his arm under the crushing pressure."Hey Izumi! The fuck is going on?! My body feels like it's made of god damn lead!

He walked with a heavy step towards the only person he knew in the immediate area knowing he'd have at least a little more insight into the phenomenon then he did at the moment.
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Esper

A hollow was a destructive creature, unable to curb its hunger without the death of another being. Tashanu knew that very well, and he knew that letting the Adjucas loose meant that innocent people would die for reasons they would not understand. The grief and turmoil such death would leave in its wake was yet another burden for Tashanu to bear, and it was only the fact that he intended to keep the numbers down as low as possible that allowed him to justify his actions. He would not become a monster in order to oppose the Shadow. There was little point in that. No monster could ever compare to what Seach Taraign had become after he had died. The Adjucas had gone their separate ways, but they did not go too far - their prey was nearby and plentiful, after all.

Tashanu watched as one of them grabbed a human and crushed them in one swift action, biting into the soul that was freed without any hesitation. Silent, he descended behind the Adjucas, striking its mask mid-meal with the pommel of his blade, shattering it and beginning the process of it turning into an arrancar. The others had followed different Adjucas, and they would be doing the same thing. It would take them three rotations to transform all nine, as Ferrix was tasked with bringing the transforming, unconscious arrancar back to a safe place. Tashanu knew the Quincy would react quickly. The suffering they had gone through recently would lead them to attack any hollow presence with unmatched ferocity.

A blue spark appeared at the corner of Tashanu's eye, and he swept his sheathed blade at it, striking an arrow out of existence. The Quincy had already arrived, but from what he could see, it was an unfortunate soul indeed that had found him. A young Quincy, their stance a mix of forced confidence and fear, clearly gone ahead to try and impress someone but only putting themselves directly in harms way. Tashanu frowned, positing to protect the changing arrancar at his feet from any stray arrows, one hand still in his pocket. He did not blame the Quincy for their actions, nor did he condemn them. They were following their own sense of justice, and they were correct to do so. He had told the others to protect their lives and the lives of their new allies above all else, but to try and avoid any casualties amongst the Quincy. Even if he had felt the Quincy before him was wrong in their actions, he could see that they were acting for the good of their people and city. Their soul was bright, their spirit clean.

Tashanu had swore many years ago that his blade would not be drawn except against the evil of the world. That was an oath he would not break.

"Turn around child. Join your officers. I have no quarrel with you or your people."

The boy, alas, did not do as Tashanu asked, choosing instead to draw another arrow. In a blink, Tashanu was beside him, one hand seizing the arrow and crushing it before it was fully formed, the other striking the pommel of his blade into the chest of the Quincy. He heard a crack, likely a rib or two breaking, and the Quincy collapsed immediately, but the strike was calculated. Nothing fatal, provided there was medical attention, and there certainly would be. Humans would be swarming soon in a panic, and they would be quick to notice both the wounded and the dead.

Ferrix arrived as the Quincy fell, grabbing the now fully transformed and unconscious arrancar on the ground.

"Sir Tashanu...I don't think I will be able to keep so many concealed now that the Quincy will be looking for us."

Normally, Ferrix's insistence on calling Tashanu 'Sir' would have brought a smile to his face. That was a title that brought noble connections with it. It was a title that Tashanu could aspire to fulfill. But now...this was anything but honorable work.

"I will be making sure there is no search, Ferrix. Keep following the plan for now."

Ferrix nodded and was off. Trust. The amount of trust his companions had in Tashanu was almost overwhelming. But he had not failed them or let them down in any of that trust yet, and he did not intend to start today. Tashanu stood in his place, and waited.

He had no quarrel with the Quincy, but he would let them know they were not dealing with some rabble to be eliminated.

He had not been able to protect his last group of companions. But then, he had been a fool, drunk in his power and skill.

Yet for all his changes, his old self would also have been standing where he stood, awaiting the attack of the Quincy.
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Baal
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In every instance that Liriel had ever engaged a hollow, her mind had been analytical and calculating, her spirit confident and unreserved. Now, though, as she and the other two approached a group of nine hollow that should not intimidate her, she only felt more trepedation seep into her body. It was almost like a virus, poisoning her in order to make her try to fatally err in the upcoming encounter. For perhaps the first time in a century, she felt fear encroaching as she moved to confront an enemy. There was no mystery as to why, but Liriel knew that these hollow were different than those she would typically find.

Something was amiss, but no matter how much she tried to focus, that tiny sliver of nervousness didn't seem like it would vanish.

There seemed to be nothing for it, however, so as Liriel moved forward, stepping on the spirit particles that she reflexively gathered under her feet, she shot through the air. Two people approaching somewhat assuaged her fear, and as she glanced towards the first to arrive, Liriel's senses extended and she nearly smiled. Niklaus was usually punctual, but this was an unusual situation, so a slight amount of tardiness had to be allowed. He had likely been coming from the politburo, and not midtown, so his few moments of absence did not seem out of the ordinary.

Again he called her by the royal honorific.

Liriel wanted to correct him, to tell him that she was just the same as him, a normal Quincy. That, however, would have been a lie. Even though she wished to call herself a merely normal Quincy, Liriel understood inherently that she was not. Even her childhood had been far from normal, growing up in the Barrison manor, a resplendent palace that could have put some royal duchies to shame, she knew that it was likely the truth of his statement that bothered her. For all her denials, Liriel likely was one of the last surviving ties to Quincy royalty, so she needed to act as such.

"Our walls are meaningless out here, Niklaus. We are too far from the Politburo for them to make a difference." Her tone was as always even and balanced; kind without being soft, giving the impression of a gentle correction. There was no need for overfrank analysis, so she simply stated what she believed to be necessary to the situation. "There are nine of them, but there were thirty at the start. Whatever is going on, there is no doubt a risk to the hollow involved. If I had to guess, this is an experiment." If that was the case, then there would only be a few individuals that could potentially be responsible.

As Liriel was about to speak again, Isac joined them. Taking a small bag from her belt, Liriel gingerly divided the contents. There was something amiss, something she was missing. If it was in the reiatsu of the hollows, Liriel could not say, but something felt wrong. Perhaps it was simply a side effect of using the Pillar that she was not accustomed to, but there seemed to be an anomaly that she could not pin down. How on earth was this happening? Nowhere in the annals of Quincy literature had anything like this ever occurred, but so little was known of Hueco Mundo...

Was this really a common occurrence? Liriel skidded to a halt, now less than five hundred meters from the nearest hollow. "Take these. Something is bothering me, I need to scout the surroundings. First, you must corral them, then break the bait to lure them out of the city." Handing five pieces of Hollow bait to both Isac and Niklaus, Liriel disappeared in a blur of motion, trying to isolate where this feeling was coming from. If it had to be described, it felt as if something didn't want to belong. Her head perked up as Liriel noticed the reiatsu of the hollow she had moved towards had changed.

Two other muted reiatsu signatures were there as well. Arrancar. Putting as much force into the next step as she could, Liriel's speed carried her before two arrancar that seemed to be talking to each other. A body was slung in the arms of one...it was an arrancar now too. Her focus shifted then, to see the body of a human, obviously dressed with Quincy elements to his garb. Directing her attention to the first, Liriel's tone was sharp. "This experiment has run long enough for you to gather your results. Begone, now, or I will end it for you." Of course Liriel did not seem intimidating, not with a white cloth wrapped over her eyes, but all the same, she was the bearer of leadership. It was only proper for her to act as the leader would.

---

Near the politburo, the Quincy were in chaos. For the young secretary, this was most certainly the expected reaction to being invaded so suddenly, but when the doors of the Politburo slammed open, and all Quincy officers were ordered to isolate casualties and evacuate them to the politburo. Wait, what? That meant he had to go out there?

If that was the order though, Izumi knew that it was given for a good reason. Fortunately, he was assigned to follow a group with a more experienced knight, so he might even stay a little safe.

Of course, nearly as soon as Izumi left the doors of the Politburo, he sank to his knees under the pressure of the energy being emitted.

A quick order was barked at him, and Izumi struggled to obey. Focus his energy...focus...

He could nearly lift his feet, now. A little bit more was all it took, and he could nearly move normally. Feeling immensely queasy now was the main result of that reiatsu, so as he straightened up and followed the group, his stomach kept churning. Nothing like this had ever happened before, not to Izumi's knowledge anyway.

As the group ran, Izumi fell further and further behind.

Unfortunately, now he was alone in the housing district. Well, at this point, it was probably the best bet for him to go back to the politburo. Turning, he almost ran off before he heard a voice. Now that sounded familiar. Turning his head, sure enough, Elric was nearly sprawled across the ground, presumably under the reiatsu from the hollow. "Elric! Why are you out here?"

Disregarding his own question, Izumi darted up to Elric, dragging one of his friend's arms over his shoulder. "Focus as much as you can, you should be able to resist it a little. We're heading to the Politburo." When Elric responded, nearly with an objection, Izumi waited for him to finish speaking and responded in turn. "Its a group of Hollow. They're all monstrously strong, apparently. Even her Highness Liriel has gone to fight them. Their reiatsu is pushing on us, that's why its so hard to move."

That was the scariest part, really. If the hollow didn't even need to be close to Izumi or Elric, then there was no chance that even the Vicereine would be able to...no, that wasn't the case. The Viceriene was what Izumi had always pictured an angel to be, so she would be able to fight them, but how could she win? Even against one of those things, to fight it alone was suicidal. So he started to guide Elric towards the Politburo, trying to take narrow side streets in order to avoid potentially encountering the horrid things.
And we shall have some jolly cooperation, ahahaha!
Tibus Heth
Triel Devir
Izumi Ulmar
Liriel Barrison Del'Armgo
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Soverus
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Niklaus nodded to Isac as she approached. Whilst he enjoyed her company, and her incessant need to call him Santa, today was no day for play or theatrics. Was it reflexive? His innate ability to feel when Liriel's heart was faltered was more like a gift than a curse. Her words to him were clear, but he could hear the ever faint vocal of fear throb in her heart as she spoke. This was unusual for such a prominent figure as she, but these circumstances were far from usual in itself. The hearts of all Quincy present throbbed like a symphony of fear. How do you fight what cannot be explained? Thirty Hollow reduced to Nine, but excelled in to Adjuchas? This has never happened before. No one was prepared.

Just as you would in the military, Niklaus felt it necessary to gather as much intel on the enemy as possible before engaging. "Play smart before you start the offensive, lest you dive in to a kill-box." That was his motto and one he stuck by for several years. If they were to gain any advantage over the enemy force, they would need to know what they were up against. Receiving the Hollow bait from Liriel, he acknowledged and knew what needed to be done. Before he could speak again, Liriel took off with but a whisper of her scent remaining in the air. The Quincy would have to prove themselves resilient today and any one person could be the defining difference between victory or defeat. As the past dictates, he would try to be that difference.

Just then, he looked down at the Hollow bait and had an idea. One that would certainly help in drawing a great majority of the Hollow to him. With a quick nod to Isac once again, he pressed onward with spirit particles floating beneath his feet.

His destination? Katanashi Hospital. It was relatively nearby, but close enough that the Hollow bait would be as fresh grass to the senses of these Hollow insects. They were an infestation that needed to feed. What better place to attract attention than at a hospital that houses people dying every day? Of course, he wouldn't allow any harm to the actual patients, he was much smarter than that.

Upon arrival, he set up several binding traps at the location using his Aufguss: Streich Pfeil. Was that going to stop them? No. That wasn't their purpose. They were a calculated distraction meant to actually agitate the Hollow and force them to initially expel some of their Reitsu needlessly to be released. If that didn't work, he had other plans and they weren't as playful as mere tricks.

After he finished setting up the bait, he hid himself from sight, awaiting the arrival of those who would seek to harm civilians. He hoped Liriel would have some luck on her end to keep the main group entertained, whilst wishing the same for Isac wherever she trailed to. His hope for himself was to draw as many of the Hollow to his location in a feeding frenzy, study them, and dispose of them as quickly as possible. Of course, the wonderful thing about life is, not everything always goes as planned. Let's hope this is an exception to that karma.

"Let's rock..."
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Sebby
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The morning started just like any other. Ryosuke got dressed and ready for school, ate breakfast, and walked out of his house. Recently, he didn't do much related to the Quincy since he was convinced he had to get stronger before he could. He didn't do any training aside from the meditation he was taught to do a long time ago, but although he was getting better at it, he still wasn't getting much of a result. Being a powerful Quincy still seemed like something that was a far reach for him, and he wondered if he'd ever be able to be of use. Minako had started to ask him what he'd been up to, but he'd never be able to tell her. Studying, club activities, and going out with friends were his usual excuses, but she never believed him. Still, he didn't want her to know anything about the Quincy or she might get involved.

As he walked in the residential district, Ryosuke began to wonder. Something seemed...different. Off. Maybe it was just something in his imagination? He had no idea what else it could be. Maybe it was just the stress of his everyday life taking a toll on him. It was nothing compared to what someone else might be experiencing, but for Ryosuke, trying to balance his training and schoolwork was a bit of a hassle. That, and Minako's friends opted to use their living room temporarily to practice their dancing or whatever it was they were doing. It didn't make for a quiet environment at home, at least.

Ryosuke walked the usual path he took to get into the city to his school, but he heard some kind of ruckus going on. Were they Quincy? What was going on now? Before Ryosuke could get closer to investigate, he suddenly dropped his bookbag and fell to the ground, as if something heavy was dropped on him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up, and he started to panic. What was this? Why couldn't he move? What was he supposed to do? The more he struggled, the more panicked he became, and tears slowly started to well up in his eyes. He probably looked pathetic, but he just couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. If anything bad was happening, Ryosuke would be completely defenseless. Would his barriers even be able to help him with...whatever this was? He couldn't even concentrate enough to try.
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