Amaya "Severance" Kidachi

age/apparent: 98 (21 alive, 73 Hollow, 4 Arrancar) / Late teens
concept: Severance
sexual orientation: Bisexual
rank: Queen of Hueco Mundo
ethnicity: Mostly Japanese with some European traits
height: 5'6'' / 165 cm
weight: 120 lbs / 54 kg
bmi: 20
dominant hand: left<br/><br/>physical description: This is not Amaya. This is not Aya. This is not anyone you may have known before. This is someone different in not only personality but also in body. Her frame has adjusted into an even slender form and even lost a few inches, giving her a distinctly younger appearance than before, but somehow retaining a strong sense of maturity in the way her sides curl inward and her hips jut out, completing the light hourglass shape. That being said, not everything in her form has this maturity, as her chest size still lacks in development, though not extremely so. Her breasts perk out at a modest size that could easily be lost in baggy clothes, but also draw out by better fitting ones. <br/>As for her muscles, while they have changed to match her new form, she still retains the same distribution. Her shins and thighs are strong and well-defined, a clear hint towards her efforts to be faster than those around her. To match the muscles on her legs, her biceps and (less so) her forearms are toned, though much more lightly than her legs. This leaves them looking rather average while relaxed, but upon flexing her arms, the strength behind her deadly sword swings becomes apparent.<br/>Unlike the rest of her sharp, defined body, her face is rounded and seems to lack any real definition to it. Her thin, pale lips are often tugged downward in either a disapproving pout or an angered scowl. Despite this, her eyes always look the same regardless of her emotion--bland. While there is a distinct look of constant pain somewhere deep within her light pink eyes, on the surface there is nothing more than a blank abyss that draws in the gazes of those around her. <br/>And to match those uninteresting, dull pink eyes, her once raven black hair has now been consumed by the same lackluster shade of pink. Her bangs are a mess of random strings of hairs that fly off in whatever direction they please before curling out of her vision. The rest of her hair acts in a similar fashion in that she makes no effort to tame it. The long locks trail down her body before cutting off just above her bum where the split ends spring out in whatever direction suits their fancy at the moment. On occasion, she will make a weak attempt to at least control some of her hair by parting it over her shoulders and tying each side with quickly made bows, though this is usually only done if she’s anticipating conflict in the near future. <br/><br/>clothing style: Completely disregarding her rather curvey and defined body, a loose robe is usually seen draped over her body. The dark gray cloth pools around her shoulders, exposing her neck and collarbone to the world, but layering around the edges of her shoulders and forcing wrinkles down the length of it. The material itself is a familiar texture to her and the select few who had gotten close enough to strip her of her clothing in the past; the silky material is that of the scarf she used to wear so diligently. Granted, it is not an adaptation of said scarf, but perhaps a sort of revamp. It keeps the familiar and secure embrace as her scarf once did, but now it not only shelters her neck, but it shelters all of her down to her knees where it fans off from her. <br/>As a general rule of thumb, she chooses to hang the hood of her robe over her forehead, shielding her eyes from anyone who looks at her from an even stance and only giving those below her a glimpse to her peepers. And just as she hides her face, she also lets the long sleeves of it hang just over her fingertips--not so far that she risks having her hands tangled within the fabric, but not far enough back to eliminate all possibility of her holding a dagger. <br/>Some things have stayed the same through her transformation, however. She still chooses to keep her legs and feet unclothed, refusing to put on shoes unless it’s absolutely necessary. And just as she did as an Arrancar, she keeps a strap that crosses from her left shoulder and hooks across her body, often times losing itself within the folds of her coat. This strap serves to carry her weapon of choice--a hatchet. The holster of it is tilted so that the head of her hatchet pokes out over her left shoulder. As you may assume, this means that actually drawing the hand weapon can be a bit awkward, as she would have to grab the actual blade of it, but she tends to wield it with near perfect finesse despite that.<br/><br/>physical presence: She commands the spotlight the instant she walks in the room. Her shoulders always held perfectly straight and her gait that of a queen, she gives off an air of ‘get to the point’ from the very moment she catches anyone’s stare. And should anyone dare to come to her in hopes of a conversation, they’ll be quickly shut down with an acidic voice and sharp responses, often leaving the timid wishing they had never spoken to her in the first place. Granted, this can vary depending on who she’s talking to. To those who she views as her followers, she’ll be kinder and perhaps a bit more patient with their petty issues and needs for socialization. For those she considers corrupt? Well, provided she lets them live long enough for a conversation, they’ll find themselves getting bombarded with overly aggressive comments and taunts, often losing the entire point of the conversation in her hostility. <br/>But, surprisingly, despite her need for the spotlight, she would much rather the light be elsewhere. While she understands her role and knows that people looking to her can’t be avoided, she would much rather stick to the side of the room, so to speak. She has always been an introvert and will continue to be, even as a God. <br/><br/>spiritual presence: Overwhelming would be the best way to describe the aura that radiates off her. Completely unconcerned with the complaints of anyone around her, she makes no effort to conceal the sheer weight of her aura. It stretches from her body like a reverse black hole, pushing away the souls around her and threatening to rip them from their very bodies should they dare to test their limits. Of course, something as simple as her spiritual pressure couldn’t do anything that drastic, but those weaker than her can attest to the overwhelming feeling of this backward force. <br/>Ironically, her reverse black hole doesn’t have any distinct qualities other than the aforementioned ones. It has no taste, smell, not even a color. It has no texture and doesn’t give off any sort of feeling of motion. It is simply there, pushing those around her away with it’s heavy presence.

mbti: INFJ<br/>enneagram: 8w7<br/>iq: ~160

All she wants is for people to see that they are in a world of suffering and then realize that she is only there to help them. While she presents herself in a standoffish manner towards most, those who have chosen to stay by her and walk towards this perfect world will find themselves embraced by all of the warmth she can muster.

She has spent years building up her notebooks, building upher confidence in her dream, and now she can finally feel sound in her beliefs. She knows that her dream is what's best and she knows just how to get to the end of her very long road. Maybe what she's saying seems obsurd to you, but that's only because you're too naive, too close minded, to understand. Don't worry, enlightenment will come sooner or later

The reason she has been granted this power is to ensure the perfect world is created. She has been blessed with not only the power to rip apart the world, but grant safety to those who take shelter under her wings, and her wings are wide enough for all that wish to hug to her sides.

Even though she is a god now, she still fears. She still lusts and cries, laughs and yells, but she doesn't let it show in the faces of those who look to her for guidence and those who raise their sword to her neck. She conceals her emotions in the faces of those around her, no longer feeling the torrent of emotions that would once pull her down so quickly.

She acts on her own accord, letting no man or woman dictate her life and motives. She acts with only the uptmost independence, for if she were to falter now, everything would come crashing down.

Something that has always stuck with her since she was a tiny little human; she never misses anything. The slightest twitch of your muscles, the quick glance your eyes made, the way your voice dipped down just slightly, she saw it all. And she will use that in any way she sees fit.

She empathesis with everyoneby default, instantly assuming they've went through horrendous tortures, both emotional and physical. And because of this empathy will always reach out her hand instead of her sword, even in teh face of someone she knows to be an enemy beyond repair.

She sees everything in existence as a black pit of despair with everyone blindly mulling through it. She wants to stop the darkness and cleanse it with the light, but she can't help but wonder if she truly will be able to save all of these people, or is she really a false prophet.

When she approaches others, she comes off as very stern, demanding your attention and tugging you closer to her. It's mostly just her way of expressing how dire the situation this world is in, but it comes off in a very standoffish way, no matter how sweetly she smiles or how soft her voice is.

She isn't tied to her past life. Any relationships, ties, or any sort of connections she had in her life as a Human, Hollow, or Arrancar no longer mean anything. The slate is clean and you now are a stranger before her. For those who fail to accept her grace will find themselves betrayed by their god and left to die in the darkness.

She may be empathetic and may feel as thought she can help everyone, but some people must be handled differently. For those more stubborn, with their eyes tightly closed, she must tailor her words and gestures to appeal to them, stretching the truth every now and then. What's a little white lie when trying to save the dimension?

Though she'll never admit it, and often just fall back on claiming her goals to be above your head, she doesn't have too much of a plan. She has the dream, the goal, but how can her powers help her get there? Whichever god that blessed her with this power must have been the god of riddles and prophecies. Maybe she needs help from someone? Maybe she must wait until the perfect moment? Maybe she should just kill them all and be done with it? She doesn't know

The past is in the past. Well... Mostly. At night, when she's alone and left to stare at the night sky, tears will fall for the man she loved, but was never loved by. The vocal point of her entire decent, this man with his wise green eyes and gentle touches still haunts her when she closes her eyes and teases her with promises of eternal happiness while she dreams. No matter how badly she tries to ignore it, that man is still the shadow behind her.

There was a time, not so long ago, that life was far simpler for me. Simpler in that I was a mortal who had been content in my misfortune even on the darkest days. There was a time, and it feels like it was just yesterday, when even my mind embraced the simplicity. I had become a Hollow so intent on filling the emptiness within me, killing without a care and doing nothing more than surviving. Those are times that I can spend hours rambling about, but they’re stories that I’ve told many times, so if you care to read the details, here’s a book on the matter. For now, all you need to know is that it’s a story of constant betrayal by anyone I let close to me. And how foolish I was to continue letting it happen.
For now, I’d like to tell you about more recent times. Maybe you’ll learn from the mistakes I made as a naive Arrancar, or maybe you’ll find this tale funny. Regardless, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with what I have to say.

The Day of My Awakening

Amaya was not supposed to stand back up after Tova had thrown her to the ground and practically splattered her brains out on the ground. She was supposed to die. Her mind had shattered into so many pieces that she couldn't even think. So how did she cope with this? The arise of her alter ego--Aya. While the inner voice Amaya had for the longest time is strikingly similar to Aya, Aya has no recollection of saying the things the voice said, so it's clear that they are not the same. Regardless, Aya surfaces as a more dominant figure in Amaya's psyche. She is strong, independent, and simply will not back down from the things she wants. While it's still unclear at the time, it's to be assumed that Aya is supposed to represent the Hollow portion of Amaya's soul, whereas Amaya, who has become even more emotionally distant towards everyone, is the Humanity.
One of the key events that truly starts to separate Amaya and Aya is Disquietude. This takes place a few weeks after Amaya reaching her first release, and Aya is feeling especially cocky on that fine day. The more psychotic of the personalities strolls up to Tori's tower, flaunts her new title as Tercera Espada, and purposely degrades Tori's power by pointing out how little she is compared to Tova. Just as the tensions start to arise, Tova decides to make a little appearance. Not but three sentences into the conversation, Tova works his magic and warps both of the woman's souls. Just as he begins, however, Amaya surfaces, thus she is more subjective to Tova's mind games. The ending result is a sexual and emotional bond between Tori and Amaya that links them on a very powerful level. Aya is still affected by these emotions, however she chooses to express them in a more violent manner. Amaya feels the need to protect Tori and shelter her, whereas Aya thinks Tori should stop crying about everything and actually do something.
While it's not stated in any particular thread, this is also where the true conflict between Amaya and Aya starts to begin. Aya, who is still completely devoted to Tova in every way, starts to see Amaya as a weak, pathetic child who lets the world walk all over them. According to her, this is justified by Amaya's affection towards Tori and slowly dwindling interesting Tova. Aya starts to force herself out more and more often as a sign of her dominance over Amaya. Just as Aya says, Amaya is the type to let others walk all over her, so she does little to fight back against this monster inside of her and slowly lets Aya govern more and more of her life. While this could be seen as a bad thing, in Amaya's eyes this is good. She welcomes Aya's strong personality and uses it as a crutch to keep her standing. Tova is unreliable, what with his random bloodlust, Tori is hardly around. All that leaves is Bakeneko, who also serves as her second crutch. Amaya begins to rely extremely on Aya and Bakeneko.

The Day of My Promises

As if sensing she is unstable, Garra in his new Shinigami form decides to pay her a visit in Sun-Bleached Skeletons. Amaya stupidly chooses to stay around and hear what Garra has to say to her. His (her?) request is simple: deliver a message to Tova. But, of course, this is Garra and even someone who has never met him knows that there's more to it. And oh was there more to it. It isn't long before Garra provokes a fight and even at full power Amaya can't even scratch the Wall of Las Noches. The result is a near death experience that shames her on so many levels. She is sent limping back home to pass on the message to Tova, who promptly blows a gasket at how badly she was beaten up. Not that she really pays attention because Amaya is too concerned with thinking of ways to obliterate that arrogant son of a bitch. This is the wake up call to Amaya that makes her realize that sometimes, you just have to do things yourself. Some occasions call for her to take charge and make a change.
Shortly after recovering from her humiliation, Aya sits at the top of her tower, sword in her lap, and does everything in her power to just hear some sort of voice from the sword in the thread The Place Beyond the Pillars (Ft. Shushana). If Garra could do it, why couldn't she? Naturally, nothing happens and she's interrupted by the sound of someone at her tower. A beast of a woman named Shushana becomes rather interested in Aya's sword, and after only a second of deliberation, decides that she will take Aya's sword. Laughing at that, Aya enters her release (thus fusing her sword into her body) and taunts Shushana into trying to get the sword now. The Espada easily dances around Shushana's attacks and quickly grows bored with the whole situation. Well, until Shushana gets smart. The beast of a woman attacks Bakeneko, promptly triggering out Amaya who instantly rushes to her partner's aid. Backed up by a newfound sense of protection for Bakeneko, Amaya unleashes hell upon Shushana, accidently provoking the woman into her first release. This battle ultimately creates a great deal of tension between Amaya and Shushana, even though that fight is the sole reason Shushana became an Espada. More importantly, this fight showcases just how deadly Amaya can get when she does decide to truly fight back and also emphasizes just how deeply she cares for Bakeneko. By this point in time, Amaya has made it to where she is completely dependent on Aya and Bakeneko and refuses to let anyone in for fear of her getting hurt again.
Well, until she starts making a few Alliances. Not too long after Amaya starts to rely on Aya and Bakeneko's help, she starts to think more and more about the world around her. She studies what she has learned about all the races and the conflicts that come with them. Then, like a lightbulb appearing above her head, she gets the idea to somehow create the Perfect Race. A group of beings that would replace the current Shinigami and Hollow-breeds. They would have a mix of all the best qualities. The sense of survival of a Hollow. The creation of a spiritual weapon from a Quincy. The emotional bond between said weapon from the Shinigami. And the humanity of the Humans. This would, in turn, create a world devoid of conflicts and thus, no one would ever get hurt again. She could save the worlds. But how?
While taking a stroll and pondering these things, Amaya stumbles upon a blind Arrancar who goes by the name of Takua. Amaya chooses to talk to this man and after realizing that he essentially wanted the same thing from her, she offers a place among her Faccion to him. He eagerly accepts. As the days wore on, Amaya and Takua grew to become really close friends--to the point that Amaya considers them equals on all levels and values his opinion greatly. While she doesn't use him as a crutch like she does with Bakeneko and Aya, Takua proves time and time again that he is a reliable person in her life. And he's not the only either! Enojo shows up in her life a few times, as seen here Quiet in the Western Desert and here Prowling. Both times she expresses her interest in him joining her, though he refuses both times. However, following her last meeting with him, she caught wind that he was seeking her out in order to take her up on that offer. She also met another researcher by the name of Leon during A Meeting in the Desert. While Leon refuses to devote himself to any leader, he does agree to help Amaya in exchange for her help on his own research.
However, she has no idea what she's doing. She knows that she's interested in the Zanpakuto spirit of the Shinigami the most, as it's something that she has envied for a while, but where would she even begin? In the thread Wandering Too Far, Amaya sneaks into a lower district of Rukongai and searches for a Shinigami on patrol in hopes of being able to snatch them up and take them back to her lab for some testing. However, she runs into an Academy student out doing errands for his friends. After a few well placed lies, Amaya earns the boy's trust and helps him on his little mission. All is going extremely smooth. Until he opens his mouth. After purposely mispronouncing Tova's name and talking down upon the king's actions, Aya is triggered out. Before the boy can even blink, she knocks him out and takes him to some American city. Still a little bit on the crazy side, Aya decides to just shove her sword into him and see what happens. Using a combination of Mystic Eyes and Tova's explanation on how he created Vaizards, Aya eventually finds the Academy student's spirit. From there, she forcefully rips it out and seals it away in her own sword. During a moment of mental weakness on Aya's part, Amaya brings herself forward and gives the Academy student a quick patch up so that he doesn't bleed out, then promptly turns tail.

The Day It Started Going Up

Now that she knows that she isn't completely insane and that her goal is actually something she can achieve, Amaya starts to dive further down into the rabbit hole. Her experiments on the various races start out as her attacking those who have history with Tova (Ayumi, Jealousy) and ends up leading her straight to a woman named Miki in a Fated Run-In. While Amaya is only going off a hunch that Tova has turned Miki into a Vaizard, that hunch turns out to be true. After being provoked one too many times, Aya finally surfaces in the conversation and judging by the look on the Vaizard's face, she sees this change. During this exchange between Miki and Aya, Aya actually forms her first real friendship outside of Tova and Amaya. With this new friendship, Aya has other people to worry about and soon starts to neglect Amaya's needs, leaving Bakeneko to be the only person helping Amaya stay strong.
Directly following this, Amaya starts to spend more alone time in her lab with the doors locked. No one is too sure what exactly she does down there, but after a few subtle hints from Aya, it can be assumed that Amaya has started to experiment on herself now. The motives behind this are unclear as of right now, but as time wears on eventually Amaya will cave in her madness and explain what she is planning.
Amaya is completely driven by her aspect of death, terrified of the thought of world that's surely about to turn on her at any moment. Driven by this fear, she has nearly reached a sort of numb insanity. She has completely calloused herself towards the world and the people within it in hopes that this will prevent her from ever getting harmed again. Well, that is until she makes her Perfect Race. Her dream is slowly coming into reality thanks to the help of her Faccion and Bakeneko. Soon she can make sure no one ever goes through the type of suffering she went through. The universe will be completely in balance with no one race tipping the scale in any way. That all being said, she has lost herself in this endeavor which means no time for relationships. She still loves Tova and definitely doesn't say no to his attention, and Tori is always a welcomed treat, but she no longer actively seeks out the attention of others. The only being she ever reaches out to is Bakeneko who continues to only prove himself as the one stable figure in her life.
Aya, on the other hand, is now driven by her selfish desires. She believes that the only reason bad things happen is because Amaya lets them happen. The world is not out to get them, they just let everyone take advantage of them. But she is equally as broken as Amaya is. Aya has no sense of emotional control, often unable to even control her expression and tone of voice, making her increasingly harder to communicate with. While Amaya is clearly the one taking the full force of the negativity, it is Aya who shows the signs of their downward slope. She does still share similarities with Amaya, however. Aya is just as diligent in their research as Amaya, stopping at nothing to create this ideal world, but not because she wants to create a balance or to save others. Hell no, that's too nice of her. All Aya wants is to make a place where her king can do whatever he wants with no consequences. She wants to create an environment in which she no longer has to fight against everyone and can just live her happy life at Tova's side.
But, as the story goes, once there's a moment of peace, chaos strikes.

The Day It All Fell Down

In the climatic thread Swords and Crowns, all shit breaks loose when a second Tova shows up and crashes the current Espada meeting. The "real" Tova laughs and acts as if he had seen this coming a mile away before promptly ordering his Espada to kill the intruder. Naturally, Amaya hesitates. Rather, she would have hesitated if Tori hadn't fallen into the fake Tova's arms. Feeling rejected while also dealing with the sudden wash of memories regarding the Tova from the past rejecting her, Amaya lashes out at the Tova from the past, prompting Erasmus (a man she secretly admires) to also join in on the fight. However, as if to throw salt in Amaya's wounds, Tori takes both of the blows for Tova and pleads that they stop their assault. This causes Amaya to pause again. Even through her pain and tears, she loves Tori and thus wants to listen to her. Just as Amaya is about to lower her sword, the intruder attacks. An attack that had originally been directed at Amaya changes course at the last second, nearly ripping off Amaya's arm, and nails Shushana to the ground. That is the last straw for Amaya. She attacks the intruder again, ignoring Tori's cries.
And then she's teleported. She only gets to see for a split second Tori's Volar Lanza blocking Erasmus' own attack before she is teleported to Tori's grey dimension. A complete emotional wreck, Amaya makes one last attempt to convert Tori to her side. While they don't exactly see eye-to-eye on the situation regarding the Tovas, they eventually agree to leave the fighting for now and deal with it later. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? Just as Amaya is about to collapse in Tori's arms, that Tova from the past shows up and just after a few sentences Amaya sees something change in Tori's eyes. The loss of love for her. Amaya refuses to accept that idea--refuses to believe that Tori would choose the man who walked out on her over someone who had been so kind and loving to her in the recent times. But despite this strong denial and a very quickly growing hatred for this new Tova, Amaya still cannot stand up against the forces that keep away her happiness.
Amaya, once again, falls to the ground and lets the world walk all over her. Only this time, Aya doesn't pick her up. Aya never makes an appearance during this event and surprisingly doesn't show up at all in the weeks following. And for this reason, Amaya finds herself trapped within this bitter loneliness and is now standing on the edge of a total breakdown.

The Day I Broke

Mere hours after the events in Swords and Crowns, Amaya collapses as an emotional mess in her tower and eventually cries herself to sleep in Solo -- Enlightenment. However, her slumber is interrupted by a new, yet somehow familiar, pressure. Curious, and still a bit too cloudy in the head to really think things through, Amaya goes to investigate. What she finds is a medium sized Hollow taking a bite out of an Arrancar. Despite the Arrancar already being dead, Amaya rushes in to slay the Hollow and prevent it from hurting another conscious being. Just as she reaches for her sword, she hears Bakeneko's voice. After the Hollow explains that he is Bakeneko and that he had killed Amaya's long time ago friend, Arianna, and the only reason he was ever around her was to keep her alive until she was ripe for the killing, Amaya falls to her knees. She refuses to accept the fact that Bakeneko would ever do something so awful. And while she's in this moment of weakness, Bakeneko advances on her, teeth bared. As her former companion closes in on her, Aya gives Amaya an aggressive pep talks and provokes Amaya into attacking Bakeneko. In a blind rage of emotion, Amaya kills Bakeneko.
The act of her killing Bakeneko is exactly what it takes to push Amaya way off the cliff. She falls to her knees and watches as Bakeneko fades away and simply cries. Aya, who has suddenly taken on a nicer personality, reassures Amaya that this was the right thing to do and will only make her stronger in the end. This does nothing but make it worse for Amaya who is now too scared to trust even Aya. After crying out and getting everything off her chest, she decides she doesn't want to go through life anymore. She believes that there is literally nothing left for her. Just like when she had tried to kill herself as an Adjuchas, Amaya grasps the Hollow fragment on her head and snaps it in half, thus sending her into a coma.

The Day I Came Together

During this coma, Amaya drifts in and out of reality and during a few random scenes, it's officially explained that Aya is in fact the Hollow nature within Amaya's mind, whereas Amaya is the innocence that should have died out when she was a Hollow. It explains how Amaya's rapid growth as a Hollow (thanks to Bakeneko) caused her mind to fracture and never gave her Hollow nature the power to completely override the humanity within her. As the scenes play out, it shows just how closely Aya and Amaya are and builds up to an extremely pivotal moment for the duo.
Aya challenges Amaya to a fight. A fight to determine just who should be in charge. Which deserved to rule the body? The Hollow or the Humanity? Amaya fought hard for the first time in her entire life. For just this moment in her life, she chooses not to bow down before Aya and refuses to believe that she was weaker than Aya. But it was all in vain. Ultimately, Aya has always been the stronger of the duo, be it in mental fortitude and physical power. While the fight was close, Aya shows Amaya that she is in fact a Hollow, meaning there is no room for Humanity. They are beyond that state of mind, and need to turn their eyes forward--not backwards. As Aya towers over Amaya's broken and beaten body, she holds out a hand to her naive counterpart. Amaya doesn't want to accept this reality, but as she lays there, broken not only physically but mentally, she finally opens her eyes. She finally listens to that Hollow side of her.
She takes Aya's hand.
But she must eventually Awaken and rejoin the world of the living. However, only Aya awakes from the coma for now and rather dramatically, too! With a swift punch to Takua's unsuspecting face, Aya learns that the power she had found during her coma has transferred into her living body. Though any feeling of celebration is instantly banished by two somber thoughts: Amaya proving to be too frail to wake up just yet and Tova not being there when she had woken up. This will be a recurring theme in Aya's story and a theme that makes this ride all the more wild. Well, to be fair, Tova does in fact show up to greet her awakened partner, though he doesn’t bat an eyelash at her. For now, however, Aya shrugs it off as his confidence in her ability, but how long will she be able to keep up that mentality is the real question.
Aya truly is not the scientist Amaya is. While she has the heart and brain for the subject, she severely lacks the finesse that Amaya hsa shown in the past. In a reckless show of her dedication to their research, she enters the Rukongai in search of a subject to further their research. However, things do not go as planned and Aya finds herself having to outrun a patrolling squad of Shingami. Naturally, she outpaces them and loses them in a relatively short amount of time, though she finds herself on the edge of the urban life and wandering into a garden. A place of purePerfection in the eyes of this monster. Beautiful flowers capture her eyes and draws her in only to spark a conversation between her and the gardener, Jack. But this Jack fellow is far more than what he appears and Aya finds herself for the first time conversing with someone on a completely different level than her own. Beyond even Tova, beyond her comprehension.
With this perception changing encounter now under her belt, Aya returns home and takes a much deserved nap. However, this time it is Amaya who wakes up. Now that she has recovered and Evolved into the new powerhouse that Aya has already grown accustomed to, Amaya decides to get away from everything. Mind still hazy and feet dragging through the sands of Las Noches, she meets her third Fraccion: Barracuda. An intellectual, yet buff, man who happily accepts her offer of being his Espada. With now three brilliant minds under her belt, it seems she’s finally able to take off with her research. So now she goes forth into the Human world hoping to find more companions, or maybe someone to help her research in a more… Sacrificial way. The first she stumbles upon is the leader of the Kosa house himself, Kokuou. After establishing her Connections there, she begins to wander Karakura in the Shadows of Twilight. She happens upon a young boy who she offers to train in hopes of having yet another person on her side. However, the boy turned down her request, though Amaya wasn’t exactly heartbroken given how much effort she would have had to put into raising such an ignorant child.
Her little hiatus doesn’t end there, however. Content with her trip to the Human world, she turns her eye towards the Shinigami’s realm of existence. However, she chooses to proceed with an air of caution, sticking to the lower districts of the Rukongai. After only a few hours of searching, she stumbles upon an Academy student who appeared to have Wandered Too Far during his patrol, or whatever had sent him out. Under the alias of some researcher in the Fourth, Amaya convinces the little student to humor her for the time being. She even helps him on his little quest to clear out the bandit camp, however it all falls apart when Aya’s craziness starts to show. Completely tossing aside Amaya’s plan, Aya comes out and literally rips open the poor student’s chest, severing the bond between him and his Zanpakuto spirit. When the work is done and Aya is content with her accomplishment, she leaves Amaya to clean up the poor boy and to take the both of them back to their tower.
Despite how clumsily it had been done, this was a major step in Amaya’s research, jumping her entire project months into the future from what she had originally planned. Now knowing that manipulation of someone’s soul and the connections it even has on their Zanpakuto drives Aya and Takua full speed forward. For the first time since coming up with the crazy idea, finally there is a tiny glimmer of hope that it may see the light of day. With morals high, her and her team press forward with their research with one sighted diligence.
Well, all but Aya. With Amaya now back in action, the lesser of the two seemed far less useful than what she had been before. So, she found herself pursuing her own interests for the time being, spending her night thinking about the mystery that surrounded Tova and wondering just where this crazy train was taking her. On one particular evening, she found herself restless, fighting against her ever present insomnia, though that night she was having none of it. Instead of laying in bed, she takes a trip to Karakura to visit the park. As per usual, it simply sat by the flowers, watching their beauty and, as per usual, she was interrupted before any true relaxing could come, she was interrupted. At least this time it was a familiar face. Kachekiwa Lessa--a Shinigami Aya had fought against months ago. Definitely someone who gave her a run for her money, but that is a story that was already told. Lessa, as strict as ever, jumps straight to the point, demanding that Aya tell The Secret of the Storm. Why was she meeting with Sakamoto Miki, a growing love interest for the fun-loving Espada.
The exchange doesn’t last long, thankfully. Miki falls from the sky and with her sweet voice and caring pink eyes, talks down both Lessa and Aya before any true conflict could come of it. They soon disperse, though the look in Lessa’s eyes says she isn’t quite done yet. That being said, Aya’s eyes were doing a good job of taunting the Shinigami. Ironically, Lessa’s protectiveness towards Miki is exactly what brings the Vaizard closer to Aya. Later on, Aya would look back on this day and wonder if this was the day that Miki truly decided to take the side of the Arrancar.
Time trickled by and before any true progress on the perfect race was made, the day Tova had mentioned was upon them. The day of the Incursion, as the king had called it. The king himself, escorted by his Primera and Segunda would invade Karakura for one reason or another. Naturally, Aya asked her band of Fraccion if they would find such an event amusing. All but Leon agreed to the little day out. Five Arrancar would descend upon Karakura and by the time they would ascend back to Hueco Mundo, the town would be in ruins. Countless lives would be lost, countless more just starting to open their eyes to the true world around them. It was bloody and down right awful.

The Day I Pushed Back

It was Stupefying. It came as no surprise that Aya soon found herself in the heat of a battle against a young Quincy boy who thought himself strong enough to take down the second strongest Arrancar alive.he was put in his place quickly and striped of his Quincy power, for he was no deserving of them. Just as Aya started to flee the scene, ready to find her next victim, Takua shows up with his healing machine in hand and, in an act of true humanity, healed the broken mortal. But Aya had no time to stick around because things were about to get truly Demented when she stumbled upon a casual, arrogant Human who she later learned went by the name of Raph. Alas, her plans to carve out his soul were taken from her when a figure of Amaya’s past came to haunt them. Colin. A boy who had so idolized Amaya for her words and actions now found himself begging a Monster to help him.
Tossing her newest playtoy into a Garganta, she turned towards Colin and simply laughed. Perhaps if he had been begging Amaya, she would have helped, but he was not so lucky. Fueled by betrayal and bitter thoughts, the mortal finally stood up for himself--truly stood up for himself. It was a rather fun fight from Aya’s point of view, the both of them locked in a stalemate for what felt like an eternity before she finally broke through his annoying winds. Once that had happened, the boy fell apart. One blow--that’s all it took--one blow and he was down for the count. Aya, trapped in a moment of disassociation, left the boy before finishing the job. Perhaps she should have finished them job then because surely that boy would now want nothing more than to see her die.
So she fled the fight, eager to find someone a little less… Powerful. Ironically, the exact opposite happened. Within minutes of leaving behind Colin, she found herself beside her Primera--a friend she had fought beside more than once. Erasmus. However, this would be a fight that would not be her proudest moment. Sword raised high, and yelling “To No King We Hail!” their opponent, Adimus, was what Amaya would refer to as Superhuman. Stronger than any mortal she had laid eyes on. Deadlier than most Shinigami she had clashed swords against. He was the pinnacle of what a Human could become if put under the right situation.
Their fight was bloody, but more importantly, it was a throne in both Aya’s and Erasmus’s pride. Had it not been the Cero from Miki coming crashing between them, the fight would have ended with Adimus standing above their broken bodies. Erasmus, bandaging his own pride, slipped away in a Garganta, while Aya realized she couldn’t leave. Not until she made sure Miki was okay.
Minutes turned to hours as she jumped from building to building, eyes scanning the heavens in search of her favorite gal. Exhausted and irritated, Aya found herself now distracted by a different girl. A white hair maiden on the brink of death, mumbling about a paradise. Intrigued by the thought of a mortal wishing for something so perfectly in line with her own dreams, Aya fell to the ground behind the dazed girl. The dazed girl who she now realized was Takua’s dear friend Sekai. With hardly a few words exchanged, Aya pulled the smaller woman onto her back and opened a Garganta. She would just drop off the girl and then come back for Miki.
But then she felt unholy Hatred. A pressure of suffocating she stopped right in her tracks and looked towards the sky. It felt like she was drowning in a sea of this blind rage, fighting against a man who wanted nothing more than to see her suffer for all eternity. Staring down the former Wall of Las Noches. In that moment, the Shepherd Took the Warning and pushed forward, holding just a bit tighter on Sekai.
Aya slipped into the Garganta and never went back to Karakura.
The next few days proved to be the true test of both Amaya and Aya’s endurance both mentally and physically. Her first trial, albeit small, was the simple prep work of the cells, or rather miniature temporary houses as Amaya had called them. Putting sheets on the beds, finding and fixing a couple of radios, oiling the doors, a whole trial of events that Aya severely did not want to partake in, especially after the events of the Incursion. But her labor was not done there. From there she had to haul the mortal Human all the way from the main floor to the bottom floor and toss him on his bed—thankfully he was surprisingly light for a teenage boy. And then Aya had to repeat the process with Sekai. A couple hours later and finally she could relax on her couch and tend to her bloody knees.
Just as her bottom hit the sofa, she felt it. Miki’s pressure. Faster than lightning, summoning what little adrenaline she had left to offer, she bolted through Las Noches, a trail of fire marking her path until it came to a sudden stop where Aya had jumped off the ground and tackled Miki, spinning the smaller woman once before embracing her. It was funny mostly because Aya had never shown this level of affection towards the woman she openly flirted with, but how could she not? She had been worried sick! What if Miki got into a fall out with Garra? What if that Cero she shot off had been a cry for help? The pink haired maiden had quite the way of making the Espada. This was truly a Noteworthy Arrival
After that quick catch up, Aya finally feels the exhaustion hit her and says her goodbyes, promising the newly appointed Espada to catch up over a cup of tea on a later date. But for now, all Aya wanted was to relax, though fate would demand otherwise. As soon as she opens her door, she finds a black haired girl crying on her floor. Apparently, she had subconsciously eaten a hole through the entire tower. After a few moments of exchanges, Aya finds herself an alley in this high being—Tenko was her name, though Aya from then on referred to the girl as the Perfect Hollow.
Afterwards, Aya finally gets her break and boy does she sleep. An entire day she sleeps, leaving Amaya to take care of her own deeds for the time being.
Later into the evening, Amaya becomes restless and decides to satisfy her curiosity. Her first trip to the Tova’s castle, her intensions to see just what he had brought back that was so special, and boy was this kid special. A Fullbringer. Born of Hollow blood and raised by Human morals. A creature both pure and Impure. Truly a work of art that could be the next stage in Human evolution. Dew, as the boy introduced himself, was more than willing to humor Amaya’s crazy idea.
But her shenanigans don’t end there. Many hours later, just as the sun would start to rise on the remains of Karakura, Amaya decides to visit her nearly gathered friends. And for this particular morning, she would be Chillin’ Like a Krillin with the boy named Raph. Unsurprisingly, the mortal hardly proved to be anything worthwhile other than his ability to levitate.
But the time of calm and relaxation for Aya was only just the warning before the storm. She’s awoken by Takua saying that a Shinigami had come in search of Miki. Reckless as ever and ready to be the Champion of a Traitor, Aya doesn’t hesitate for a second before going to meet the man. Funnily, he turned out to be the Captain Commander himself. The strongest Shinigami all of the Seireitei. Not that it phased Aya any. After the Incursion, she had been granted a shiny new title as Primera, clearly outclassing Erasmus in many different angles (from her point of view, at least), so that should mean she would have no problem dealing with this push over Shinigami. Alas, that was not the case. He moved past her with ease, outpacing her as if she was nothing even while she was in her Resurreccion. His movements quicker than hers and his confidence practically suffocating her, Aya tripped. Her ego caught and her confidence collapsed. It was only thanks to Amaya forcing out the Segunda Etapa that Aya even lived. Protected by her untouchable Hierro, inspired by the great Wall himself, Amaya takes every blow the Captain can throw at her with strained ease, leaving Aya wide open to attack.
That was their first mistake for trying such a strong attack on the man provoked his own demons to show their face. This was the first time Amaya or Aya had ever seen a mask before, despite them being such close, uh, “friends” with Miki Sakamoto. How could they have possibly known how much stronger it was going to make him? How were they supposed to know how much more twisted it was going to make them? It was over before they knew it. Broken, belittled, and picking up the pieces of their psyche, they retreated, tail tucked between their legs just as they had with Adimus, though Kenshou Ine also found it fit to take his victory and call it a day.
But that was just the first push. The second one is what sent Aya crashing hard into the ground and Amaya hanging onto the edge.
Takua, finally gaining the courage to do some field work, brought to Aya a Shinigami. Apparently, he had healed the Shinigami in exchange for experimentation. A fairRepayment, Aya supposed, but one that would never be fulfilled. Before she could even open the door to her lab and familiar force beared down upon her, striking fear into every crevasse of her heart and mind. Garra had come to retrieve his fallen Shinigami. Biting back her fear, she met Garra out in the sands of Hueco Mundo.
As per usual, the former Wall of Las Noches had quite the monologue prepared, his voice sharp and threats all too real. He was after some sort of sick vengeance against her and all of her kind. He laid a trap under their feet, telling her that they must stay in Hueco Mundo where he would not pursue them, but he knew that wouldn’t last. How could it last with how reckless Aya clearly was? Both of them knew that she would one day leave the desert and then… Then it was checkmate, as he so kindly put it.
That threat was all it took. The threat of not only her life, but also Tova’s is what shattered her mind and she didn’t have the energy to pick up the pieces. She loses her grip on reality and subconsciously starts to lose her own grip on the body itself. With each day she can hear the voices of the souls within her, begging her to kill herself or those around her. Cooing her back into the darkness that was the mess of souls with Amaya. But she refuses. Aya would never back down to a bunch of faceless voices. If anything, this causes her to try even hard for control over the mind.
This is where we find them coming back to a complete circle. Aya is now the monster who snaps at those around her and the freak that only takes what she wants that she was a year ago. Amaya is now the scared girl looking for someone just to hold her up because she thinks the ground is about to cave under her feet. This is where the story circles through once more, proving that the both of them are no more than subjects to their own aspect. They were creatures no bigger than the Hollows that prowled in the night. They were nothing special.
Or were they? Could they break free of the cycle?
In a moment of clarity, Aya is invited to Erasmus’s castle, and boy was it a castle! It was then that they both confessed their Infatuation towards each other and made promises of a better tomorrow. Hushed secrets of a love that would soon blossom into something more beautiful than Aya had ever seen with Tova. But Aya was not the only one to break through and find the Power to turn her back on Tova. After her visit with Erasmus and with butterflies still floating in her tummy, she decides to spend some time with Takua, though the little event causes Aya to lose her cool and before Takua could even apologize, she leaves in a flurry of embers, forcing Amaya to come out and deal with her little Fraccion.
Just like Aya and Erasmus, Amaya and Takua find themselves embracing each other and clinging to the hope of something breath taking to evolve, though Amaya more so than anyone. This would truly be the first time she stepped on a path that Tova hadn’t lead her down. This would be the first time she made her own story and let go of Tova’s hand.
This is the start of her independence.
All she needed was the little push. That nudge that would make her just crazy enough to do the unthinkable. To break free of her ties of Tova. Between the Incursion, her meeting with Kenshou Ine, and the taunts from the embodiment of Hatred both Amaya and Aya were put on the brink of insanity, both of them suffering in the own way and from that suffering they found happiness in places they had been ignoring for months now. Perhaps this road without Tova will lead them to perfect happiness and a life worth living, or maybe it will prove to be a dead end road, but regardless, no one can deny that both of them had changed in one way or another all because they got their hands a little bloody.

Today I’m Here