Tempering [Closed/Jian]

Jian's days had changed, they had the same sort of rigid structure as they always had with his relentless hard work but now it felt hopeful. Jian was no longer playing the warrior fighting the endless unwinnable battle but now he was working towards something better.

Step by step, day by day the world could be changed, people could come together and actually make a better place for everyone. Together they would make a true Paradise.

How he had ever gone on living without that belief he didn't know, but then he never really was living and only now could he see it. He was a zombie, a bundle of neuroses trying to smash their way through life and the struggles. Him picking a fight with Tokiyo was one of the more notable attempts for him to wake up and see the direction he was going but it had been Nazomi who had succeeded in getting through to him.

Jian could blame nobody but himself for his own shitty decisions and his weakness, but it served nobody to dwell on that, simply to learn the lesson and keep going. Things like that marked the changes, he felt renewed and alive.

The river had served to be the perfect spot for him to train his new found power and he made sure to do so nearly every night. It wasn't a particularly useful gift, the manipulation of water, everything he could do with it he could accomplish with his other powers and yet he found himself drawn to practicing it. It was a different pace, the way his mind approached it was entirely separately, it forced him to rely on a power that existed outside of his own body and ever since he had shed the damn cloak that smothered his mind and insulated him against the world for good there was a real pleasure in learning to reach out into the world.

It was also nice to learn something new every once and a while for the sake of it.

So there he sat, in quiet meditation atop the waters in a quiet part of the river that ran through Karakura, a multitude of droplets hanging suspended in the air around him. The effort Jian spent was immense, each droplet individual considered and held, drifting slowly around him each moving at slightly different speeds and directions. In fact, he was so deep in concentration that even were it not for the former Primera's incredible talent Jian wouldn't have noticed him, that is until he spoke.

Jian's eyes snapped open and the droplets of water that hung preciously in the air dropped, scattering across the surface of the water creating an array of ripples that spread out in a small circle around him.

"Takua," Jian exhaled slowly, his expression mute as he stared upon the blind man, one whom despite of their short time together Jian once considered a close friend.

And still did.

"You..." Jian started to speak but stopped, climbing up such that he stood on the surface of the water. The last they had spoke Jian had been a different man, a broken child found in the wake of a tantrum near dead from the consequences of his own idiocy. Takua had been ready and willing that moment to guide Jian, to teach him and make him ready for the trials that lay ahead and Jian, in all his embarrassment, grief and anger had refused him, demanded time.

Takua had obliged him, and Jian was worried he might never see that Arrancar again and never get a chance to repay him.

Had he been well? That was a surprisingly complicated question to answer, he stayed silent for a moment, expression still mute, uncertain about what to say or how to say it.

In two of the darkest moments of his life, Takua had been there and had pulled him out of the fire, and Jian had the gall to hold bitterness towards him at one point. There weren't words to express how grateful he was, how much he owed the man who stood before him.

"Yes, so much has happened, and a lot we should talk about if you have time, but yes." Jian exhaled, and found himself beaming with an easy-going smile that belied an ease that Jian even a week ago would not have been capable of.

He quickly followed up and went on, "Listen, I...wanted to thank you, and apologize. You've been there for me more times than I can count, and worked so hard to get me to stop being such an idiot. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today, nor would I be where I am...I mean. With my powers, with my purpose, everything."

"Ah, I just wanted to say that. I regret not saying it before, after Tokiyo."

His expression grew a bit more serious as he looked over Takua, a realization dawning. For him to have not shown up, that must have meant something huge. "But you, are you well? Is everything okay? I was starting to get worried."

855/17/17 GP Total

It was a more thoughtful Jian that Takua found, a touch more contemplative. Not as ready to rush into this. Of course, that might have something to do with the near-meditative stance that Takua found him in. The trick with the water was interesting though. Jian hadn’t displayed any such ability the last time they had sparred together. But now he controlled the water that spiraled around him as though it were his own fists. If he were to read into that at all, the former Espada might be tempted to conclude that it meant that Jian himself had slowed down a touch. Water manipulation rarely went to a…shall we say, fiery personality.

There was a long moment of hesitation from the other man, and Takua wondered if he was going to be turned away. The feelings pouring from Jian were…complex. None of them were negative though, and he began to relax even before the human offered a gentle smile, quite unlike the determination that had so defined his fight with Tokiyo. The Arrancar smiled as well, a touch more sad than Jian’s though, especially at the man’s words. He’d heard similar things before…not exactly, but the vein was still close enough.

For a long moment, as he considered what might have happened too Jian to bring him to this point, Takua felt his guts clench. What had happened to him?

But then, Jian had the exact same question. And that was going to be a…story and a half, to say the least. It’d also involve him telling the human exactly what he hadn’t last time- his position in the hierarchy of Las Noches. Or, rather, what it had been. But Takua was far more at ease with telling the man that truth now. He was, after all, no longer Espada. It was no longer a source of shame, to be hidden away because he didn’t like the word attached to him.

The blind man chuckled and waved his hand at Jian’s serious expression and question. “We’ll get to that. There was some property damage, healing, attempted regicide, all that fun stuff. I’m better now than I have been though, although there’s been a few rough spots. Living on Earth too, which is a nice change of pace. If you want a set of new clothing, you can get something from my shop.” His voice filled with amusement, but for a moment Takua could only think of the night before, and of the day where he’d cut ties to Las Noches. A day he might have been able to kill Erasmus and free Las Noches from his dominion…but had been unable too. Maybe he could have, should have tried harder, but he hadn’t. Maybe because of Wishes, but maybe not. Takua couldn’t actually tell.

And then he shook his head, the smile fading back to something more wry, “I have time. Plenty of time, really. So we can talk.” Plenty of time, now that this was one of the most important things he could possibly do. Jian might not know that, but it was true. Really, he almost had to thank both Erasmus and Nazomi for reminding him of that fact. Raising the next generation of fighters, empowering others to reach for their dreams and become strong enough to defend on their own, was maybe the most important thing he could do.

It had always been that way as well. He’d recognized it with Sekai, even if he hadn’t known it. Training her how to fight because he’d known he couldn’t always defend her…and because she had wanted to herself. To defend others. That was her dream, and it had been Jian’s dream as well. But there was more to living in this world than fighting, and he could impart both to Jian here and now. “It’s okay. You know, everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes they’re big. Sometimes they can’t be recovered from, or forgiven. Sometimes you die. And sometimes they’re not so big, or so serious. And you can learn…and find a way to recover.” A faint, sad smile flickered across Takua’s face before it grew stronger again.

His feet padded across the grass again, drawing closer now that he knew he was welcome. “Thank you for that, but it’s really not necessary. You live your own life. I’m just happy to help you get to the point where you can live it the way you want to, instead of being threatened by someone else’s power.” The smile flickered again, regret prominent in his frown, “And I should have been here earlier. Not everything I can teach is related to fighting after all. I might have been able to save you that fight against Tokiyo- but you survived, you learned, and I can’t really ask for much more if that’s all that comes from it.” His smile grew sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck, “And besides. You’re talking to someone who once attacked the Captain Commander of Seireitei because he had my friend on the ropes. And I was weaker than you were when I first met you. I know all about being an idiot.” It was a sentence that might have been delivered with a wink, but all Takua could do was to shrug and gesture helplessly with both hands.

The Arrancar stopped on the bank of the river. His voice friendly but turning serious, “So today I’m here to help you with whatever you need. Knowledge, practice. Whatever you need.” He’d made mistakes. Hadn’t been around for Jian enough, and that had led, however partially, to Jian nearly dying to Tokiyo. It might have been a valuable lesson for the man, and at least he’d survived, but those close calls weren’t exactly a common affair. And especially if Nazomi targeted the man…

Jian stood as a potential bright star and shield for mankind. Takua could help him achieve that. And if he could, then he would, because there would come a day when Takua wouldn’t be there to save him from Tokiyo, or someone else. And then it would be only training and Jian himself that could keep him alive.

WC: 1025 | GP: 20 | Total: 35

Jian laughed was his serious expression was dismissed and an explanation given. "You don't disappoint, I was expecting shadow wars and world shattering consequences and, well, I suppose the real story will explain it better. I'll hold you to it, I want any details you feel you can share, respectfully of course." Jian inclined his head politely.

Takua earned a raised eyebrow by the shop comment. "Eh? What now? You running some kind of oddities shop or something?" Jian's smile broke into a wide grin. "Haha, new set of clothing huhn?" Perhaps embolized with Takua's symbol, a real Roshi type he was turning out to be. Or perhaps a Kami. He was left wondering what truth hung behind Takua's amusement.

Jian began to approach slowly, taking slow deliberate steps across the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. It was a trick he was capable of before, but done differently, instinctually. After touring an ocean this sort of thing became second nature. "I'll happily take advantage of that fact then, while I have you here."

Jian waved his hands. "I appreciate your comfort, but, it's unnecessary. I know what I did, I know it was wrong and I know it was...well, I know why I did it even if I know it wasn't okay to have done. I'm working on dealing with the consequences too." The final part hit home, lessons and recovery, because it was his life in a nutshell. The sad expression wasn't lost on Jian either. Jian wondered what it would take to erase that sad expression from his friend for good.

Jian crossed a good part of the river by the time Takua had moved closer, conversational distance now. "It is necessary, Takua," his voice was firm, "And were it anyone else you would agree too. You've been there for two of the most significant moments of my life, and it is because of you that I got to continue living past them."

"I'll not have my savior play humble, or deride that good deed, unless perhaps you don't find my life all that important?" His serious expression gave way to the easy smile once more. "A simple, you're welcome, will do."

He waved his hand dismissively and continued, "As for the rest of it, some lessons need to be learned with scars, I think we can both agree on that. Being told isn't enough sometimes, people have to make their mistakes before they can learn from them." He drew a short breath and glanced at the sky for a moment before turning back to Takua's sightless gaze. "I needed space, and you gave it to me."

Jian gave an audible chuckle as he told the story of his assault. "Bold, but seems incredibly like you, even now. Somehow great power makes the impossible seem a little more reasonable, you're still leaping into the jaws of danger to save people."

Jian bent low for a moment, gathering some pebbles from the shore near Takua. "Whatever I need huhn? Knowledge...practice." His voice trailed off for a moment as he went upright, gently flicking a stone and watching as it skipped across the water in slow graceful arcs, sinking somewhere near the otherside.

"A trade of information, my story for yours if you're willing, though I'll tell mine either way." Jian inclined his head towards Takua for a moment, skipping stones gave his hands something to do so he wasn't just standing there awkwardly.

A second stone went sailing skipping only twice before sinking. "After we parted I went in a lot of different directions, there's three people I wanted to note to you, Arrancar. The first, it's Evelynn, I think you know her? We fought once in the past...then met up and had pancakes together before sharing drinks. She told me a lot of things, her interpretation of the Arrancar race, the Incursion and well," his voice trailed off again, a look of regret passing his face.

He gave Takua a rueful smile. "Primera Espada huhn?"

He had wanted to earn the identity, he felt cheated when it just came out, and could understand why Takua might hide it from him. It was a title that inspired fear, made knees weak with terror and people to cower at the sight...probably. Jian never had that frame of reference to respect the title with, it meant that Takua was important...

To the King.

Had he never known Takua, never had him restore his broken and pulped body to proper order, never had the man train him back from the brink of surrender then he might have hated him by that title alone. To Jian, it was just a title, like clothing, to be worn and inform an impression but meant nothing of the truth of the person who lived underneath it. Barring a sudden and strange shift Takua was and would be a man who he would trust to the utmost.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to find out, ah, I feel like I cheated, and thought you should know."

Looking the very picture of shame, Jian went ahead and lobbed another pebble across the river and it sank with an audible plop. "Another was Cheshire, she's is," his brain failed him with the proper way to describe her, he looked over to Takua and shrugged. "Nice enough. I don't know if you've met her? Cat-like, interesting power." The truth that lurked behind his words suggested a much stronger attachment, he wanted to see her again, and soon if he could.

"The last was someone I'm sure you know, given your penchant for sticking up for people like me. Nazomi," Jian said the word like it carried venom in it. "He showed up caked in the gore of a person, we scrapped." Jian sighed wearily as he got to the important part. "He gave me a choice, to cut out my own heart or allow hundreds of innocent people to kill themselves at his command."

Jian undid the top few buttons of his shirt to reveal his left breast, a small spiderwork of dark pulsing veins revealed. He wasn't sure how much the visual display would matter, so he went on. "It was a trick, or lesson, or something. Something's burning inside me now. My wounds heal much quicker than they ever did on their own and I'm sure I can draw on it for greater power. After that he disappeared, seeming quite pleased with me."

"Suffice to say if I meet him again I'll destroy him. I'm not sure if he thinks he has noble intentions, or is just insane but I cannot permit him to live either way."

Jian's voice grew hard for a moment, before he turned to Takua. "Ah, sorry. In the end I unfortunately owe him a great deal. It was his actions that made it clear to me what I needed to do."

"I've been lost Takua, long before I met you and even after. I needed to figure out what my path needed to be. This world, my people, humanity, they're so fragile and lost. I shut my mind out to the true weight of the suffering this place is under and made it okay to fail, to accept losses. I stumbled through my new life, killing a Hollow here and there, saving a life or two, admirable for some I'm sure but I'm not a minor or weak power anymore. I can and should be doing so much more."

He turned back to Takua and managed a smile, erasing the seriousness and regrettable pomp that had come in. He relaxed, seemed a little bit more like Jian. "I mean, I'm not like you, not yet anyway but instead of chasing after the symptoms, I'm trying to come up with a solution. Bringing people like me together, organizing, giving us a fighting chance and then we'll see."

He shrugged, and kept his smile as he skipped a stone clear across the river. "It's not a big change, not yet anyway, from what I was doing but I feel different now. I felt like I was drowning," literally for a little while, "and I've finally surfaced."

The entirety of his arsenal expended his clapped the dust off his hand and turned to Takua. "So how about you? What's this about a regicide? Got exciting tale of daring-do and heroism to tell?"

1404/28/45 GP Total

Jian had an…interesting perspective on things. One that Takua couldn’t quite agree with, no matter how much the man wanted him to take responsibility for saving Jian’s life with a quiet thank you. Humility for his good deeds should define him. He’d done so much wrong, after all, and he had so much to live up to. Trying to play it up, or even to take that thanks, felt…wrong on some level. Not because he intended to downplay what he’d done, but because of what it was weighed against. For a long moment Takua only stared, expression faltering at the easy smile given to him, before he finally sighed and shook his head. “It’s not to deride what I did. And you are welcome, I would do it again in a heartbeat. But pride for my good deeds isn’t becoming of me when I have so much to make up for.” The quiet confidence in his voice that he was absolutely right was more solid than any amount of volume, and left no room for argument.

But he hesitated. Takua didn’t want to demean the life he’d saved, even as he didn’t want to take too much credit for it. Those two desires fought a short but intense battle across his face, his conflict only too evident, before he finally spoke again. “But you are welcome. And you pay me back every time you act to defend Karakura and the rest of humanity.” That was as far as he was going to be able to go, and his face finally cleared as the words faded into the babble of the stream.

How wise of Jian though, to at least accept that some lessons could only be taught through scars. But then, many people would say that. At least, out loud. It was a different thing to actually believe it and be able to follow it. Even Takua, now, had trouble actually believing it with all of his soul, even though he knew it was true. Was even ample demonstration itself that it was true. And yet…he wasn’t sure if the larger part of him believed in it, or didn’t. “You’re not wrong. Sometimes we need harsh lessons. It can be the only way we learn. Fail, stumble, be hurt.” A faint smile played around his lips, something ancient, before he continued, “You needed space. Nobody can make another person change. They change on their own accord. I couldn’t make you learn- and as you were, what I had to say would have meant nothing.”

Takua inclined his head just slightly, acknowledging the risk that it had been. Jian could have charged off again to fight Tokiyo a second time. Died fighting someone because he didn’t understand…and hadn’t wanted to understand, or hear what Takua had to say. “I honestly didn’t think of it as too much of a risk though. I had faith that you wouldn’t do anything like that again before I could speak with you.”

And then he inclined his head, acknowledging what Jian had said, even as the young man turned away. Of course, what he had to say had him raising his eyebrows. Three Arrancar? That was…interesting. The first name out of his mouth caused Takua to chuckle dryly. Starting off strong with Evelynn huh? A brief flicker of worry rolled through him though. He hadn’t told Jian his title, and…

Yep, there it was.

Takua’s lips twisted as though he’d bitten into a lemon. He didn’t like hearing that title. Liked it even less out of the mouth of a human. It reminded him too much of what Erasmus had done to Karakura. It was a symbol, a naked blade pointed at the heart of humanity and Shinigami alike. And would remain so, no matter what Erasmus did with the position- it held its own reputation.

The next name was interesting, and quietly affirmed who it was that Cheshire had run into to cause her to become curious as who Takua was like. The words and emotional attachment, however, had Takua more than slightly interested. Exactly who was Cheshire to Jian, and what power was this?

And the last caused the blind man to freeze, very carefully looking at the young human next to him.

Nazomi. Before last night’s affair, clearly, but still. Takua’s ears pricked as he caught the tone of Jian’s voice, and far more than just his hearing sharpened and put its attention on the soul before him. He couldn’t see the blackness pulsating in Jian’s veins, but he could see the thick reishi there, tendrils of reiroyku pulsing through the Mortal’s body. Nazomi’s for sure. He heard the words, but his gaze was already pushing past the surface, delving down into the structure of what lay before him- and into the link it had made with Jian’s soul. Like a viper coiled around its prey it was now locked deep into Jian. Pulsing, a dangerous presence…and yet currently inactive, or at least mostly so. Dormant, waiting.

Whispers of dark thoughts, but no more than that. A thickened Hollow power that would not corrupt the soul and turn it Hollow, but might possibly afford Jian that healing he spoke of. Was it regeneration?

It took him a minute more of gentle prying to come to the conclusion that it was. Or at least, close enough. Adapted to a Mortal body more fully at the very least. It had taken most of that time to actually understand how it was interacting with Jian’s body and soul in that regard, but Takua finally nodded.

While he was poking and prodding at the overlay of the soul, however, he came across something else. A different power, winding its song around Jian’s soul. Its power was diminished after so long away from its creator, but it still lived on inside the man. Takua’s face tightened into a frown as he probed deeper, and over a minute passed before he finally spoke. “I do know of all three of those. Evelynn and I go way back- not in a good way. Cheshire came to me after she met you- I assume because you mentioned my name, and she wanted to find out if I would interfere with someone she regarded as ‘hers’.”

Another long moment passed, and Takua’s tone turned flat. “It would be a mistake to think of Nazomi as being merely crazy. I’ve run into him twice. Just last night most recently, actually. He arrived to declare he would unmake me. Lovely chap.” And with luck, Jian would not be a target. But if he was…well, that was one of the reasons why he was here.

And how amusing. If Nazomi really had been pleased with Jian and it wasn’t another trick, that was just one more reason why Nazomi couldn’t unmake the blind man after all.

“He’s not totally crazy I don’t think. It’s true he’s not really sane. But he believes in the power of choice…and, I think, has chosen to be the lesson rather than a person who helps someone recover from the scars of that lesson.” To guess more would be dangerous, and what Takua had just said was already mostly guesswork. Gleaned from his insight and little else. His frown deepened, his sense of uncertainty bubbling up from below, “But I honestly don’t know. That said, keep an eye out. ‘Unmaking me’ includes destroying all I hold dear. You’re one of those people, but it’s not like you won’t try to kill him anyways.”

His face hardened, and his right handed pointed at the spot where Nazomi’s black reiryoku lay, “Before we get to my story though. As for that. It’s giving you something akin to Regeneration. It’s also bound into your soul…I’d be very wary of using it. I could try to burn it out of you, but I might not succeed. And it’s your choice regardless. I would, but that’s not up to me.” His hand came back down to rest at his side, but his face still seemed as hard as granite, “And Cheshire also has something inside of you. It affects your mind- I believe it lets her influence you. It’s largely weakened like this, but I imagine its more powerful when she’s around. It’d be far easier to break, if you want it removed.”

The expression held for another moment before Takua softened, shaking his head lightly and looking at the forest instead of Jian, “Funny. It’s this exact kind of thing that made me fight the King of Las Noches. He was making a powerful Quincy obsessed with an allegiance with him. I offered to free the man as much as I could.” The blind man shook his head and then looked back at Jian, a faint smile on his face, “It is your choice. No judgment.”

Takua wanted to try breaking both of those. Nazomi’s would surely be a trap in some way, no? Cheshire’s was simply manipulation and influence at its finest. But Nazomi’s was truly dangerous…potent and powerful.

And yet…Sekai’s face came to mind, and Takua pushed the desire away.

He smiled more broadly, but still gently, at Jian’s goal. It was admirable…and a reminder, in a way, that he’d done nothing. Affecting little changes without doing something huge. Like what Jian was trying to do. Maybe it wasn’t his place, or maybe he just couldn’t see how yet. “Good though. That you’re working on gathering enough of you to fight. It’s a worthy goal.” Better than anything Takua had done. Killed a Queen after Truth had defeated her, tried to kill Obsession, freed Weylin from most of his influence…

Finally he chuckled and shook his head, “If you need help training, if you need help at all, I’d love to help. But uh, as an Arrancar, I can’t do much more than point people your way and do things on my own to keep the city safe.”

Jian had declares no loss was acceptable…and in truth Takua had done the same to Obsession. How alike they were in some ways, even as Takua seemed to become oddly more and more aware of the value of lessons that could only come from pain. He didn’t like it, and he didn’t know why, but he couldn’t stop seeing it either.

And then his smile twisted just a touch, and he spoke quietly, “But you heard right. At least at the time. I was the Primera Espada. But no longer, I’m quite happy to say.” Takua grinned, barring his teeth, and a hint of laughter slipped out, “I’m afraid it’s not terribly heroic- I didn’t kill him after all. I only blew up his whole castle and cracked the dome. But I’ll catch you up on what I’ve been doing regardless.” Still…Takua had to wonder if Jian would still look at him the same way when he realized that Takua wasn’t nearly as good or hadn’t done as much as Jian thought.

Or if he, too, would think of Tak in the same way that Nazomi did. As Sekai did.

Worthless.

WC: 1852 | GP: 37 | Total: 72

Jian stared long at his friend struggling desperately to figure out if there was a set of words or a phrase that could ease a heart that carried so much guilt. What exactly did he have to make up for? He wondered only for a moment as the title of Primera gained a bit more weight. Takua could have done any number of horrible awful things, he was once Hollow after all who knew the depths of the atrocities he committed? Before him could stand the type of monster that Jian vowed to stop, to protect the world from, shouldn't it matter more what Takua's past was?

No, he decided without hesitation. It really didn't matter at all.

Takua's voice left no room for argument and Jian considered it dropped for a time. "Then I promise I will make sure to pay you back a hundredfold," he said with a smile. Now he'd made the promise to someone other than himself.

Jian nodded along with Takua as he repeated the lessons he'd already realized after his encounter with Nazomi. It held for people outside of themselves, that trials and tribulations were the gateway to true power. Overcoming the trials of the self just as if not more important than the ones of world at large. What he wanted to work for was a world where nobody would need that power, where they didn't have to keep throwing themselves to the wolves to protect the ones they loved or the things they cared about.

"Faith I didn't deserve, but faith I appreciate nonetheless," was all he had to say on that.

Jian did his best to study the expressions as he noted the first of the three arrancar and found it was pretty much what he expected. When the title of Primera was spoken to the air Jian regretted it but he was merely concerned for Takua his expression mirror that and displaying how little he cared for the title proper.

Cheshire was the one he was most curious about. In truth he knew so little about her existence outside of their few brief wonderful moments together. Thinking of her caused a slight ache. The sudden serious expression caused him a moment of panic but Takua was still wordless and Jian went on.

Nazomi was the last and it seemed of the three that one caught Takua's interest the closest, unsurprising considering his demonstration of the Bile corruption that ran through his spirit. After a brief moment of silence and intense looks of which Jian waited patiently through, Takua spoke up. He waited patiently with his questions until Takua was done. "Ah...yes. That was an error, I apologize for speaking your name so carelessly, I hope she wasn't any trouble?" Jian did his best to be without denial of her nature, of her power which he noticed first hand. The thought of being hers was equally amusing, causing Jian for but a moment to break into a stupid grin which he quickly pulled into line.

"Last night? You and him are enemies them? Why does he hate you so much?" Jian's face looked perplexed. Surely if someone like Jian measured up, but then Takua was always going on about his guilt, perhaps the two were related? He did his best to keep from puzzling it out, he owed Takua at least that much after the whole Primera thing.

"Perhaps unmaking you and the things you hold dear includes turning me from you? Or corrupting me?" Jian didn't seem to concerned. "He likes to speak in riddles after all. But yes, next we meet we won't open with a friendly chat."

Jian nodded grimly and straightened up as Takua pointed to the heart of the corruption so to speak. "I'd welcome it if not for two things, I fear a good deal of my spirit is tangled up with it now, and removing it could have drastic consequences and the second is that, perhaps more shamefully, that regenerative power seems vital. I've got a lot of battles ahead of me, and I won't always have you or," Seryu, "someone available to heal me." Jian exhaled slowly, wondering if this was the beginning of a terribly long mistake but trusting for once in himself. "If something happens, or you see it in the judgement to do otherwise I grant you full rights to rip it right from me, damn the consequences."

Ah, Cheshire. Jian wondered about something like that. "I'm familiar with it, it's how she got me to spill your name on our first meeting, again my apologies for that. I'm familiar with it now, we met a second time and," Jian trailed off for a moment, a faint blush burning his cheeks that quickly went away as Jian's expression grew serious. "We're friends, of a sort, at first I worried she was this monster but I think there's something more to it?" He was over explaining, over justifying. "You can break it if you think it would help, but I think I'm alright, aside from that I will undoubtedly meet her again and if she was so inclined we'd be back at square one? Developing an immunity so to speak." Or trying to.

"But, perhaps I can let you know if we're about to meet. I've fallen for her power once and I'm not so arrogant to think it couldn't happen again. If you see me going crazy, same policy huhn?"

He wanted to explain why, to justify what it was that made him willingly step into the Venus Flytrap, so to speak but he hadn't even begun to untangle that mess.

Jian was content to push forward, past the mess of the discussion of Cheshire. "That Quincy you mentioned, got a name? Are they okay now? I know a few Quincy, the thought of them allying with the King of freakin' Las Noches doesn't seem even in the realm of possibility. Is his power so terrifying?" He sucked in a short breath and shook his head, could he resist it if he needed to if even they couldn't? Jian stared at Takua for a moment, and discarded the thought almost immediately. He had a lot of faith in the man.

"My work is more of orientation and protection then gathering warriors, but hopefully soon. There's a lot of powers in Karakura but many of them, they aren't even close to ready for a real fight. That said, would you wouldn't mind if I sent a few of them your way? I've got my own things I can teach them, but there's a lot of things I'm not suited to teach so I think it'd be a big help."

Having Takua back him would be immensely helpful and Jian was suddenly very grateful to have him in Karakura more permanently, it would be a lot easier knowing someone like him was watching his back, more or less.

The uncomfortable topic came up, Jian shifted slightly and did his best to mask an unhappy expression. "Congratulations on the loss of your job then," Jian said with a smile. "Well I can't imagine he's a slouch if he's somehow survived a confrontation with you." The weight of that power he felt when fighting Nagisa had nearly crushed him with the pressure alone, was that the weight that the King would bear down upon him when Jian finally sought him out? What would Jian have to become to rise against beings so powerful that they could unmake worlds in their wake?

"Well, go ahead, stop teasing, spill the whole story bird man." Jian had much left to say to Takua, but it could wait.

1281/25/70 GP Total

It was fortunate, perhaps, for Takua that Jian didn’t ask the question that had thrummed through his mind. The wonder was obvious on his face, the surge of curiosity and something akin to need which rippled through his reiatsu. But there was nothing to be said that would ever break Takua of his guilt. He knew deep in his heart how bad it was, the heart he wasn’t supposed to have. The human wanted to know, wanted to find a way to free the Arrancar from that guilt. But it was embedded deep into his soul, and there would be no freeing him from that.

They moved on from that quickly though when Jian didn’t ask, and Takua laughed lightly at the idea that Cheshire had given him trouble, “Hardly. She’s quite the little schemer, and has enough delusions of grandeur, but all in all she’s quite charming. She wanted to know who I was and, I imagine, if I was a threat to her relationship with you.” A lopsided grin emerged as the former Primera shook his head, “And so long as she doesn’t harm humanity, I’m not.”

A long pause came as Takua simply looked directly at Jian. The question was hardly as innocent as it might have been. But he had been honest enough about who he could be, and Jian didn’t want to believe it. Perhaps it was time that he told the man a little bit of his past and prove that he was not, in fact, as good of a soul as Jian though he was.

“We have a…mutual acquaintance. She used to be my friend.” The words were clipped and emotionless, Takua’s face blank as he spoke, “Her wife was a spirit who hasn’t passed on. I knew it, but her wife refused to pass on…even knowing the risks. And ask that I not tell my friend.” Another long moment passed as Takua stared well past Jian at a memory, and for only a moment his voice broke, “I…did as she asked. For a variety of reasons, good and bad. I’d only just met my friend, after all. I didn’t know better. Eventually, her wife became a Hollow. I found out after I had started training my friend how to fight, while she was in Las Noches. Matters…I couldn’t get her purified without running afoul of someone who would have obliterated her soul entirely. And I knew how much it would hurt my friend if she knew. So I kept quiet, hoping to find a way to purify her wife…before they met.”

A pained smile slowly crawled its way across Takua’s face, trembling for just a moment, “Didn’t work. They met. Fought. I told my friend the truth. We’re no longer friends. Apparently she went to Nazomi and hoped he’d kill her after she fell into despair. Apparently I ‘took her choice’, whatever that means.” The blind man trembled and shook his head. This was the very first time he’d told anyone this, and it had hurt as much as he’d thought it would. “Well. She’s alive still, and doing much better now. I don’t blame Nazomi for hating me- but then, he nearly killed her when they first met. So, no, we’re not exactly friends.”

Takua blew his breath out, finally looking back at Jian, “I imagine he wants to make my impact on the world into nothing at all. So, yes, corrupting you, killing you, both of those would work well.” Which, all in all, made it rather dangerous to leave that black mass inside of Jian.

And here was another person, asking him to make a choice that went against what he thought was the better idea. Funny, how another situation similar to Sakuya came up right when they’d talked about her. Being asked to make the same…well, possibly a mistake. Maybe it wasn’t. But he’d had faith in Jian before this, and if Jian was aware of the danger it represented, then….

“That’s a dangerous path,” The words finally came. He was making a decision here, and maybe one that would prove to be disastrous in the end. But he could feel that Jian understood the risks that he was taking. “But I can’t blame you for it. Should it come to that, then. Just be wary of what it might make you do.” And hopefully in the end Takua would not need to burn it out of Jian’s soul with fire and fury, or that the cost would not be too high before he did.

A knowing smirk crossed Takua’s face then, his eyebrows shooting upward as an impish smile crossed his features. Part of him was still delving inside of Jian’s soul though. He’d offered the best explanation he could, but he wasn’t happy with it. It felt…for lack of a better term, wrong. The power was there, yes. Dormant…or maybe not? The Jian in front of him was not being affected by it, that was for sure. Yet what he saw, the construction of power, should not have let him say the words he did. The…song, for lack of a better word, shouldn’t have the power to enforce the emotions that flowed through the young man. It was there…and yet…

And yet, as he dug deeper yet, he had to wonder. The soul could be marked by other people, he knew that all too well. Affected, at least in part. And the memories of such could be carried within that soul. The remnant of Cheshire’s power was so faint…was it even there at all?

“I…no, I was mistake.” Takua chuckled slightly and then shook his head, “My mistake. What’s left is an…impression. A memory, if you will. Memories are stored in the soul, you see.” His smirk faded as his head tilted, curiosity plain on his face, “I’ve known that reiatsu can be left behind in wounds. It lingers. But I’ve never seen its memory left on the soul.” They might have met recently, for Takua to be able to see it, even if only barely. He’d known what to look for, after all, suspecting that Cheshire had met Jian. Or maybe it was Cheshire’s own impact on Jian that let him see it.

He waved his hand, dismissing his own concerns, “You’re fine. I don’t need to do anything then. Just be careful when you meet her, that’s all.”

Takua chuckled then, wryly, “Weylin von Wolfenstein is quite the potent man, and is doing well last I saw him. I understand he’s quite influential.” A pause, as a slight frown developed, Takua’s hand rubbing lightly against temple, “But he’s also…rather dedicated to the idea that the Quincy need him. To survive. I believe that’s what the King exploited- made it seem like an alliance would be beneficial.”

And then he was all out of other things to talk about. The former Primera shrugged his shoulders before continuing, “The King, Erasmus, can warp your soul. Makes you obsessed with a desire. It might be your own. It might be one he creates for you. I had long suspected his goals were bad but…well, I was serving as the healer of Las Noches to find out exactly what. Then I found Weylin.” Takua’s lips curled into a snarl, one hand curling around the hilt of his sword, “So then I watched. Noted when a Shinigami came into Las Noches to be held there and tortured.” He paused, looking down at his sword, and slowly uncurled his hand from the hilt.

“Are you aware of what a Vaizard is? It is a Shinigami that had the barrier between it and Hollow broken down. A fusion, if you will, similar to what an Arrancar is but starting on the other side. If you lose to the Hollow part of you, you become a Hollow yourself. They’re not exactly well loved…and can do very bad things.” Not exactly loved by anyone indeed. They hid in Soul Society for as far as Takua knew, keeping their dark side secret for fear of discover and execution or exile.

“I found out the King had ordered Evelynn to create Vaizards. Against the will of the Shinigami involved, usually. So I went and had a chat with him about why. Long story short, he believes the ends justify the means- that terrible deeds and actions are necessary to create a utopia for his daughter. The daughter he consumed to keep ‘safe’.” Scorn and hate filled those words, Takua’s lips curling into a snarl. It was only too easy to remember that moment when he’d stood on the other side of that door, too late to save Xiaobei, even as he listened to her willingly let Erasmus devour her soul.

“I refused to accept that, or what he’d done. I resigned. He didn’t like that. Told me to take a poke through his soul and see that he really did think he was doing what had to be done to better the world.” The former Primera snorted as he cracked his right knuckles, feeling even now the anger that had stormed through him. Righteous fury at seeing what was actually inside of the man. His lips curled into a smile, teeth bared and words sharp, “And discovered the memory of him cutting up a Shinigami. For ‘her own good’, as though he hadn’t enjoyed it.”

“And I promptly proved to him that raw spiritual might is no substitute for knowing what too do with it.” He laughed darkly, shaking his head, “That let me survive. He has significantly heavier reiatsu than I do, I’m just better at fighting than him. That put us on even ground. Sadly, I wasn’t in a position to counter it when he started to strangle me- without touching me at all. Kind of hard to counter something you can’t actually affect.”

And then Takua paused, the smile disappearing as he remembered the moment of choice. He’d had one, and he’d made a decision…perhaps in part because of Wishes. He didn’t know, he no longer had that choice. “I wasn’t sure if I could overcome him before he snapped my neck- he’s very durable. Not fast though. So I blew up his entire castle, cracked the dome of Las Noches, and escaped. And then destroyed my tower- not that there was much in it anymore. I knew it was coming and had already moved everything that mattered.” And maybe, in the end, he should have stayed. Traded blow for blow, regenerating what he could, until he’d finally worn the man down. He would have done that for sure were it not for that last attack. And yet…maybe he could have tried harder.

Takua shook his head, “I think he wants to rule the worlds- small surprise. All to create a safe place for his daughter. But his methods are evil, so I’m here now- to make sure that if he tries anything here, humanity has a defender who can at least go toe to toe with him.” He finally shrugged again. Whatever his decision could have been, this was where they were now. In the future, maybe he could team up with…someone, in order to bring him down. It all depended on what he did, and when he did it.

Or maybe he’d become strong enough to do it on his own.

Finally the blind man just shrugged and smiled wryly, shrugging helplessly, “See? Not very exciting after all. Now, if I’d killed him and become King, maybe that’d be a different story. As it is? Not so much.”

WC: 1928 | GP: 38 | Total: 110

"Ahaha, that sounds like her. She's fascinating really, do all the Arrancar have one kind of delusion or another? I'm glad she wasn't too much trouble for you." Jian laughed at the last bit and the lopsided grin. "Well, you should have told her yes then. Surely if she puts me in any danger my winged savior will come down and take me away right? I'm counting on you for that," he said with a wag of his finger. "I suppose I don't feel as guilty for having led her to your doorstep then," he grinned.

Jian paused for a moment as Takua regarded him seriously. "...what do I have something on my shirt?" Sure that even without sight Takua would somehow knew, he always seemed to. "Oh..." Jian regretted his joking tone almost immediately, Takua was serious. Ah man, this was getting grim fast. A dying spouse turned Hollow. He paused for a moment and tried to find the great sin that Takua carried from it. He...kept a promise? What a bastard he mused quietly, only further solidifying Takua as having something of a guilt complex. Jian didn't dare interrupt or show it on his face but he found it hard to blame Takua. What would Jian have done?

"Wait. She went to Nazomi to die because of it?" He broke the silence with a look of incredulity and exhaled low and quiet. Wow. "Shit." Which statue belonged to her he wondered idly. That smile though, the emotion on it was written plain as day, and a tremble? Jian almost felt bad for not blaming Takua, almost certainly it was what would make him feel better. "It's good she's okay though, do you mind if I ask her name?" He had a feeling he knew. "And don't worry too much about that, unless this power somehow renders me inert to him, I'm pretty sure I can take him." Though, was that a risk? He would have gladly accepted removing it, but he feared the cost of doing so would weaken him even further. Damn it all. Another reason to put that fucking Arrancar in the ground.

"As to what happened, I know I'm basically talking to a wall, but you really need to stop beating yourself up. You're like the arrancar of self flagellation here, you made a mistake because you upheld a promise. I know it's more complicated than that but...I guess I think would have understood if the tables were flipped. Seems like you were in a pretty shitty situation."

"Sorry, I know what you want from me, but that won't do it Takua. You'll just have to acknowledge that there's a person out there who thinks you're just about the coolest dude. Tough shit," he shrugged helplessly. Jian could see it so clearly, so obsessed with his desire for redemption that he was consumed by it...maybe if he knew there was someone who would mourn him...

Jian was getting ahead of himself. Too much anime, he decided.

"I know it is, but I can't risk being taken out of commission, not now. Still, I trust your judgement and am glad you respect my wishes. If you see me go mega-hitler or something though, pull the plug." He said he would as much when Jian was fading in and out of consciousness after scrapping with Tokiyo something that he had once held as venom but realized the hard truth of. He was a loose cannon, an unaccounted variable and it was his responsible to justify his power and intent.

"A mistake?" Jian gasped, covering his mouth with shock. "Oh, I see. Hm. I thought it was so, but then I considered I might have misread her power. You're sure then? No lingering effects? It's a good thing to know since I'm sure I'll tangle with her again at some point." Jian found himself flush slightly as Takua went on, something that left an imprint on his very soul from that meeting? Ah surely it was nothing like that. He was overthinking things once more.

"Of course. I'm well known for keeping my head around dangerous women after all." Hm. Perhaps he -should- reconsider meeting her again.

"Weylin!?" Jian exclaimed suddenly. Of course it seemed obvious now who it was but still. "Ah, that...is worrisome if someone like him can be taken by Obsessions powers then, egh. Hopefully there's hope for others," Jian interjected into the pause. "Ah, so, if you have these obsessions then he can amplify them? Manipulate you through them? Goddamnit, Nazomi's black gross cancer shit, Cheshire's...whatever it is, Obsessions manipulation. You got some freaky voodoo thing that I should know about?" Jian really needed to learn how to steel his mind against that, but then he'd cast away the thing that protected him. As problematic as it was perhaps the alternatives weren't much better.

Jian listened to the rest of the story, growing more wary of that monster the more he learned. Even if Jian somehow marshalled his desires then he could just create one? "Double agent? And they never caught on? That's pretty impressive of you, reckless too." Jian flinched in the face of Takua's sudden anger and went silent, listening only to the story.

Wait? A shinigami tortured? Something clicked in his head but he wasn't sure what it meant.

"Yes, I've fought two and there's still wreckage in Karakura to commemorate the battles." Jian's fist clenched tight, not to mention the lives lost of course. "One picked the fight, another attacked someone very close to me, a terrifying Shinigami stepped in before I destroyed her, I'd never felt a power like that before." Jian shuddered with the memory and shame. The weight of Penance's power alone brought him to he knees. Weakened or no he didn't stand a chance against the spiritual weight of her presence alone. "Pitiable things, but, no more evil than the possibility of evil present in others." Present company excluded, he wanted to say. "Just a little more manifest I guess." He sighed, he had regretted trying to kill Nagisa after the blast was fired, but he wasn't sure if he could afford such leniency in the future. All things measured by circumstance.

"Wait...what?" Jian froze, Evelynn was making those things? Evelynn, the woman he had drinks with, and played pool with. Motherfucker! Why was he so fucking ignorant then! He railed against his weakness but outwardly merely sighed. "Of course." He would remedy his mistake if he ever met her again. "Sounds like a real fucking asshole," he said hotly. Annoyed now but nowhere matching the fury that dressed Takua's face. Jian grew silent and listened. Cutting up a Shinigami?

It was impossible right? They couldn't be the same. Jian's browed furrowed. He didn't interrupt, not yet. Takua moved on, telling how he survived against the terrible king, fought close but not superior than. Jian might have stared in wonder at the notion of a power greater than Takua's but for now he was busy trying to deny to likelihood of the most unlikely thing. He could even see the battle play out in his mind at the description, quietly noting the demonstrated powers for potential future conflicts. Destroyed the castle, the tower, a shame that he wouldn't have seen the tower in its prime.

Takua had made the right decision, his power ended there would have been such a damn waste. Ah a defender to go toe to toe? Takua was forgetting the wisest option, to gather a number of defenders who could. He'd have recommended it and yet? No, it couldn't possibly have been. To rule the worlds, to create a safe place. Jian would have laughed, joked that he had the same intention but...how could it be?

"Seryu Akamine," Jian said suddenly. "That was her name wasn't it? The one whom he tortured."

Jian's hand clenched and he nodded. "I thought so, you healed her too then, that's why she was a mess of scars when I found her and not dead. Thank you." His voice was quiet, controlled tightly. "He took her memories from her too, of us." After all, who else could it have been? "He took our time together from her. She remembered me in the end but..."

He exhaled, sharp and pained, a tight weight constricting his chest. It was hard to breathe. "It wasn't easy," understatement of the century, "but then once more she just forgot. Me. Everything."

"You didn't know about us did you?" Jian turned away from him for a moment and exhaled sharply. Hot anger burned through his veins, alive in his nerves. He wanted to destroy something, anything, as if it would make him feel better.

Was this anger his armor? Would his emotions every serve to be his shield? No. A weakness, always glaring, always leading him into danger. He breathed and his power died out as it had come. "You were right to choose not to keep fighting. If you died I don't think we could have possibility stood a chance, but perhaps the next time someone challenges him, we should work together." His voice carried the soft notes of anger being slowly subdued. "I don't mind taking a swing at him when the time is right."

He sighed, closing his eyes and with a bit of effort managed a smile. "King Takua, all hail. Perhaps we should get you that throne some day. I can't think of someone more suited."

1586/31/101 GP Total

“You’re actually closer than you know.  Not a delusion, but…”  Takua frowned, surprised that Jian had tripped onto that so neatly.  He was nearly right too.  They were all driven by something that had broken deep inside of them.  “We all died for a reason.  And that reason…influences us well after death.  You could even say that it runs our life, yes.  It’s called an Aspect of Death, even if most Arrancar never even realize it exists.”  And to a greater or lesser extent it didn’t so much run their lives so much as ruin them or those around them.

Jian, though, didn’t understand.  Well, of course he didn’t.  He hadn’t even known about the Aspect, and what Takua had done wasn’t…necessary what Sekai saw him as doing.  Takua had a guess as to the real reason for her anger- even more so after the events of last night.  If that were all he had done, it might have been forgivable, or at least understandable.  And now Takua sighed and held up a hand as Jian stopped…well, praising him and telling him not to be so hard on himself.  “It is more complicated than that.  Because in the past…I’ve tried to set things up so that I would have reason to die.  Subconsciously, but regardless, it was done.  She believes…right or wrong, that I used her wife to give myself a reason to die.”  There it was.  That truth out in the open.

And in the end, not even Takua could tell whether that was his real motivation or not.  It might have factored into it at one point and then faded away.  It might have never come up.  But it was damn near impossible to tell, and he doubted whether he’d ever really know the extent to which it had played a part.  Maybe he really had been honoring Sakuya’s sacrifice.  Or maybe he’d just used her to commit suicide.

He smiled faintly though, “I told you to find her once.  Her name is Fujimura Sekai.  She’s quite powerful now- the most powerful Mortal I know.”  And, as it happened, his finest student. Funny how that worked out.  A pity she might decide to use those skills he’d helped her hone to kill him some day.  A greater pity he couldn’t simply hand her his life if she came for it, but that wasn’t something he could do now either.

Jian’s…faith in him was disturbing though.  For a long moment, Takua didn’t say anything.  The words hung on the edge of his tongue, gathering strength and order as he marshaled all of hundred thousand recriminations.  “How many people live in Tokyo, Jian?  Ten million?  Eleven?  Twelve?”  His voice was soft, gentle.  But it hid a measure of steel, rebuking the attempt from Jian to cheer him up. “Kill over a tenth of that. And consolidate their souls into one person. That's me Jian. I'm over eight centuries old. I have more souls inside of me than died in Karakura twice over.”

There was reason for his self-hatred and desire for redemption, no matter what the young man wanted to think.

Takua's mouth curled up at the emotions that once again rippled through Jian's reiatsu. How amusing. He liked her. That could prove dangerous, but he could hardly council him against that. “Oh, she can effect you with it again if you meet a second time. But it hardly has a hold on you now. No lingering effects at all.” Of course, that'd hardly save him if she decided to use it on him a second time. Or third, or maybe more, who knew how many times they'd met?

Interesting though. Jian had met Weylin? The man might get around more than he'd first thought. It was good, though, that they'd have met. Jian would certainly need more allies, and the Quincy would be an excellent one. “Manipulate them. Maybe even create them from scratch.” Takua felt a lopsided grin emerge despite the seriousness of the situation. Freaky voodoo bullshit huh? Takua coughed gently into a hand and scratched the back of his head, “That depends. Do you count being able to see a soul as that?” It might count, but he doubted it.

“Hardly reckless. I was the Primera. The only person who could question me was the King.” The blind man snorted wryly and then chuckled, a bit of an edge to his voice as he continued, “Besides, it's not the first time. I've never exactly been loyal to Las Noches, so let's just say I had practice.”

His attention narrowed at Jian's words about Vaizards though. He'd fought them before. Interesting. Problematic too of course, but it was also pointed out how busy Evelynn had been. And that was worrying. He had to wonder if she would continue now...if his words to her would stay beyond the moment. But Jian's anger...and the anger that was turned toward Evelynn because of that was troubling. So too, though, was the person who had stepped in...a terrifying Shinigami, was it?

Somehow, Takua doubted that. He frowned, wondering if it was indeed the same presence he'd felt once in Seireitei. It was possible...but Takua rather thought it was something else, which would give Jian the kind of insight he needed. What he wanted was possible in theory, and he'd done something like it once before to Shun off the cuff. But he didn't want to do anything like that to Jian. “A Shinigami, you say. Mmm. Do you mind if I do something? I'd like to look at that memory.” A short, pointed silence followed that as he looked at the mortal boy, totally serious in that moment. The tinest crack of a smile followed, “Which, yes, is possible for me.” Possible...but he'd never tried finding a specific memory before.

No time like the present to try though, and if he wasn't ready for it now he probably wouldn't ever be again.

“Before you get too pissed at Evelynn though. She was controlled just as Weylin was. So, bear that in mind.” Which didn't mean she hadn't wanted to do it...but he didn't know more than that. Just guesses and insight built up over time, which wasn't the same thing.

Seryu's name, once the story was over, brought a few other things into focus. “Not the one I referred to, but she was tortured, yes.” She just wasn't Kionchi. But how did the two of them know each other? Given the emotion swirling around the young man, it seemed that she was someone rather dear to him...and that he hurt because of something that had happened. In the end, Takua shook his head, “No, I didn't know about you two. And I'm sorry. I did heal her- but I wasn't the one to save her life. Sekai did that. I did regenerate her body as much as I was able to though when I did find her- but I hadn't even known she'd been tortured until I saw it in Obsession's soul.” Which begged the question, when had Jian and Seryu met? If she had been covered in scars, it must have been before Takua found her...and in that case...

His voice came out softly, as gently as he could while still breaking the truth to his young friend, “Jian, do you know that he made her into a Vaizard?” Takua's face twisted into a grimace, shaking his head softly as he took a step forward, “Or at least on the road to being one. And there's no way off it that I know of.” Given what Jian had said before, it sounded like he didn't consider them monsters, which was good for any future they would have.

And then he was silent for a long moment. There was so much hope...daring do...maybe sheer bravery in what Jian had just said. Did he even realize what he was saying? Just how powerful the Broken were? No, undoubtedly he did not. And in that case, he was going to need to show him that. The silence stretched onward, and not even the feeble joke about him becoming King broke that silence.

He was hunting for the memory.

The Eye was something he could use on himself. It's ability not just relegated to actually looking at someone in order to use it. He could look through his own soul as well, and now he poked and prodded as he made his way through the vault of memory, through the experiences his soul had stored. And for him, for a man who had never forgotten, everything remained in as pristine a condition as possible. Not that this was all in the same place, but it'd help for when he looked through Jian's soul in search of a specific memory...

Because the vault wasn't ordered like a library. But a web, a vast array of experiences all linked together. Memories small and large as they had impacted the soul, some of them pillars of the self, others forgotten and unimportant...and others still unnoticed as they held those pillars up. It was how he'd stumbled across the memory of Seryu unintentionally- he'd followed the concept that Obsession believed that he was making the world a better place. And it had led him to a time when he thought, horribly wrongly, that he had. Now he descended inward, following that line of thought to a fresh memory. Encapsulated it...

And reached out, even as he spoke, “You should know what you're saying you face before you say that.”

The link formed a moment later. One soul to another in a bond that could not even be called a resonance. Just a pathway for a memory to be sent, part of the soul he could see...and by tying themselves together, however lightly, he could let Jian see it for himself.

The moment of choice upon the doorstep of the Castle, rendered in false-color by reishi and echolocation.

The small King, his reiatsu crushingly large in contrast.

The exchange of words, growing in heat and anger.

A moment where he could see inside of the Broken- and in turn had been seen in kind.

Anger turning into flames, the castle becoming a pyre.

One final question answered.

The wall that couldn't be surpassed in time, the moment of retreat.

A holocaust of devouring flame expanding in all directions and leaving not even reishi in its wake.

The link snapped closed, leaving only echoes to ring through the soul. Takua stood tall, his blind gaze focused on the young man so full of bravado.

“That's what you'd be facing.”

WC: 1769 | GP: 35 | Total: 145

Jian perked up, curious. He'd never had his suspicions confirmed but his numerous dealings with the Arrancar had painted an incredibly vivid picture, from the lonely night in Amsterdam to his day with the treacherous Evelynn. "They, you guys are influenced after death then? I knew it! Ah, that explains a lot." He rubbed the back of his head, aspect of death, what a chilling term. He wanted to ask what Takua's was, but it was probably a faux pas. Besides, he didn't really need to ask, dude exuded it. Guilt right? It had to be guilt! Or...self-blame, was that a way somebody could die? Hm.

Jian folded his arms, starting to feel a certain sense of frustration. Takua just could not let this go could he. "Wait, what?" Jian blinked once in surprise, he tried to arrange excuses to die? Jian made a strange face, as if he was rolling something around in his mouth. "No, I don't think so," he said obstinately. "Reminds me of someone else I knew, Colin. Colin said he thought the same of me too, the whole time, just because I was trying to help people. I don't know, people see what they want to see a lot of time, even blind people," he noted sagely. "You wouldn't do that, I don't think." Obstinate to the end. He wanted to restate that it's hard to be responsible for a situation you had nothing to do with, but decided not to, then Takua would just say something even more damning and the cycle would go on and on.

"Oh! Sekai! My god we spiritualists get around don't we," the Colin comparison was even more apt than! Projecting perhaps a bit of herself on to Takua? It made sense, an eerie amount. To Colin, Jian's desire to put himself out there had to be because of a death wish, perhaps to Sekai her grief, well, it was easy to put such pieces together but he was quick to keep his mouth shut on it. He already felt like he had pried enough, Takua was happy to divulge such things to him, but would she be as pleased?

He'd delivered his hopeful message and as predicted Takua didn't seem to take kindly to it. An eerie silence had taken over and for a moment Jian began to feel irritated again. Even after their discussion of being run by an aspect Takua would so clearly run head long into it? Was it Arrancar who were particularly thick headed or was this just people? "Thirteen million," Jian replied cooly. The soft voice hit Jian like a ton of condescending bricks, and through grit teeth and a straight line drawn with his mouth he said nothing.

"Fuck off, Takua." His voice was quiet, irritable. "Do you think I am a child? I get it, I'm young compared to your eight goddamn centuries but I can do the math. Do you think that after I learned what your kind were what that meant!?" Karakura was a hot button, Jian thought of the souls of his mother and father within Takua and then, surprising even himself, he calmed.

"As opposed to what Takua?" he began, quiet and collected. " Are they in agony within you? Is that how it works? When a soul dies, they get eaten, they turn into a monster, or they're wiped clean and start over, right? Do you know what it's like for a soul inside a Hollow? An Arrancar? I mean, if I'm missing something let me know, but common consensus is, nobody knows."

"So, yeah, maybe you have an obligation to all those lives monster you ended to redeem yourself, I'll sure as hell give you points for that, but guess what! You -are-! How many people are alive who wouldn't be because you, a veritable monster with every reason to live in denial of that fact, turned a new leaf? You want to do a little math, here's some, if your actions prevent two acts like the Incursion, does that wipe the slate?"

"Of course it doesn't! That isn't how it works, and it doesn't work the other fucking way either!" Lives as numbers, reductionist, a million deaths was more than a statistic, but what was the value of a life saved? "Without you I'd be dead, everything I do, every good deed, every life saved, every ounce of misery prevented is thanks to you. I'm not the only one either."

A silence hung for a moment, Jian frowned. "Sorry, that was..." He paused again. "I'm sorry, I just look at you and it seems like maybe there's a little more truth to that idea that you're looking for a reason to die, but it isn't like that. I'm worried you're looking for a cause worthy enough to die for. I've never seen anyone so dedicated to insisting they had to repay a debt with that kind of weight." And inside Jian could relate a little to someone who was afraid of someone who put their neck on the line for others, the unspoken reason, they didn't want to be alone.

"Ah! It drives me crazy because nobody who saved my life could be a bad guy! I'm pretty great Takua! That alone atones you, trust me, you'll see." Desperate attempt to drag the conversation back up, a force smile given the promise it might soon be genuine. He'd undoubtedly gone too far, but Jian could count on one hand the people he trusted and cared about and Takua, for all their brief interactions, had found his way on to the list. After a moment to cool down, put some distance between it they continued.

Cheshire's power, he chuckled warily, something alluring about the power to make things seem so simple. "I think I've got a better head on my shoulders for our next round," he nodded and considered the matter somewhat closed. Takua was apprised, that gave him all the comfort he needed.

"Create them from scratch, like a bizarre desire to knit sweaters? Or does it have to be feasible?" I mean, who wouldn't like to knit a sweater or something? Oh no, was that how Obsession would stop him! "Yes, I totally do actually, you can read minds, and like, show memories. That's freaky voodoo shit! Ah, the whole lot of you, terrifying." A hard attempt to bring levity where he had gotten terribly serious but he seemed earnest about the attempt at least.

"Yeah! You served as the King's right hand, 'only the King could question me' isn't that the scariest part!" Jian nodded once as Takua took to the edge in his voice, "Oh, ah I see. That's probably another long story huhn?" Jian was interested in hearing it, but content to let another opportunity for Takua to convince him of his terrible sins pass for the moment.

Takua didn't respond to his talks of Vaizards but his face said a lot. He nodded when Takua asked to view the memory, "Of course," he said with a shrug. He had just assumed Takua was being serious but grinned, "Obviously, what can't you?"

"Was she? Was that a desire created? Or a desire manipulated, because people don't just get free passes..." still he was hopeful that his one time companion wasn't the monster he was now imagining. "Be honest, this matters, if I see her again I need my stories straight Takua. She's the one who convinced me that...ah, it doesn't matter." Arrancar deserved another chance, that Takua wasn't aberrant.

"Another," Jian said breathlessly. But it was her. He closed his eyes and tried to quantify the anger that burned inside him that he would hold until a later purpose. "Sekai, then, I owe her my thanks." Short quick quiet sentences baring little emotion to keep himself steady.

Ah, ahaha. That was kind of funny actually. She was a Vaizard. His girlfriend the Vaizard. No that wasn't the right thing to say anymore was it? "She always had a monster inside of her..." Prettiest damn monster he knew. "I know there's no cure, it's something in your soul right?" His voice was trying to be conversational but he was trembling. "Something you have to beat, or whatever." His fists were clenched tight, he swallowed once and turn away from Takua. Answers. He would get answers.

The silence was appreciated, it gave Jian time to process what he just learned, or more accurately to shut it away somewhere to deal with later. His mind flashed hot and angry, images of tearing apart a man he'd never met who had done so much to his life. This was a creature that had haunted every aspect of his existence. Had stolen his family, his friends, had stolen the very nature of his life away from him. This was a monster who had twisted the thing he had loved, ruined it and yet paraded it in front of him so that Jian could see the power that was held over him.

Jian's jaw was clenched so tight he thought his teeth might shatter. He worked his jaw once, closed his eyes and breathed. Takua spoke up once more. "I don't care, but show me." Jian said voice tense once more eager to see the man he would one day tear apart.

He saw, no he felt the moment the choice was made beholding the grand castle of Las Noches. The decision to fight where he would have safely been able to leave. The kind of man that Jian wanted to be.

At first sight the King was a pitiful thing, nothing more than a man, normal and plain but then the memory, the feeling of his choking Reiatsu hit Jian and he could no longer breath, even in the grip of a memory he could feel it as real as if it was next to him. Absolute and terrifying.

The conflict grew in intensity, ferocity, two ideals unable to coexist, of course they would fight. It was fate they would fight, inevitable as the rising of the sun if less predictable when.

Then Jian truly saw the man, saw what he was beneath the immense power, the innocuous disguise he wore as flesh. This was a monster, a monster that defied the mortal reckoning of man and spirit this was something that Jian had merely glimpsed at once before and fell gibbering in its wake. There were things trapped inside that 'man', a whole existence inside a soul but so terribly wrong. It felt as if the man were to spill over, that all would be consumed by that weight. The worst of all was the noble intentions, the reason behind it all. How had something so pure been twisted like that?

The castle burned, the intense fight began, all meaningless backdrop to what had just been witnessed: the nature of a Broken laid bare to him.

The link snapped closed, leaving Jian breathless, there were echoes of what he saw, unforgettable impressions that would no doubt cause some sleepless nights. Jian rose a sleeve to his eyes and brushed away the accumulated moisture then regarded Takua and stood upright to match him. That had been eye opening to say the least.

"Thank you, for showing me the reality."

What he wanted to do was look up, give Takua a cocksure grin and say something like, that's the difference I felt between you and me when we first met, give me a few months but he didn't.

Instead he looked up to Takua gravely and nodded. "I've reached a wall Takua. My powers for the first time since I've gotten them have stopped growing and even my abilities seem to have peaked as well. Seeing what that thing is, his power, is that what happens to those who climb to that height? Is that what I'd have to become to beat him?" How terrifying to know that there was something out there with more power than he had, even know. He'd known, ever since fighting that Vaizard, losing his love and being powerless to even stand in the wake of the power of that Shinigami that he would never have such power. Wasn't that what drove him to instead of climbing higher to find others?

Fear.

Jian exhaled, seeming weary and suddenly much older than he was. "I don't think humans are meant to climb to that kind of power. Not without losing something along the way. Perhaps not anyone."

2086/41/142 GP Total

Every time Jian expressed his faith in Takua, something panged in his heart. There was so much belief, so much...he didn't even know what to call it. This terrible idea that Takua had to be a good person, that he had to be wrong. Was this what it was like to have people believe in you when you didn't deserve it? The warm and hopeful words of someone so naive and youthful, someone who hadn't yet been...tainted by the violence inherent in the spiritual world or even normal human life itself. And that hope came through burning hot when Takua told him how many people lay within him...because he'd already considered it.

Had he? Had he really? Or had he only considered the numbers involved without an actual understanding of what they went through? The latter seemed more likely, and was proven as the young man continued. How was he going to tell Jian that Sekai was more right than he thought she was? That the pain he'd caused was, in fact, something that he had to make up for? He'd might not ever be able to, but there was nothing wrong with trying. The world could only benefit.

And then Jian hit the nail on the head in a sentence that had Takua freezing in place.

For how many centuries had he been looking for a cause to die for? Far too many. Ever since he'd come to the realization that nothing he ever did would make him feel clean again.

His spine straightened, but Takua looked down for just a moment. The last time he had told someone this...well, eventually it hadn't turned out well. He might be in a position here and now to repeat that mistake. But he wanted to get Jian to understand him just for a moment, to lose the thought of him as a hero. And to make sure, above all else, that he stopped thinking so negatively of Sekai. They were humans, and they might have to band together in the future. A negative opinion because of himself was unacceptable.

“For a long time. I wanted exactly that. A cause I could lay down my life for. Something that was worth it, something to wipe away my sin in death.” Takua paused, breathing steadily as he stood tall and stiff, voice solemn, “Not anymore though. I am an Arrancar of Sacrifice. And I nearly did get her killed before. I failed to train her. Nearly turned her into my own funeral pyre. She has every reason to think that I did the same thing to her wife. It...is wrong, but I can't blame her for it.” There was no trace of relaxing in his rigid posture as he brought his hands behind him.

“And yes, I do know how they feel. Every Arrancar, every Hollow who ever became a Gillian knows. We spend the entire time in that form clawing for dominance against other souls as the body does what it wants. In pain. And it's because of that that when you're an Adjuchas, the souls inside of you want to take over. And why you need power to stave them off. Because you never want to return to that place. You can't think, you just feel the endless darkness and struggle of souls around you.”

He wouldn't wish it on his worst enemies.

A moment or two passed, looking at Jian, and then the tension was cut. Takua sighed, looking to the side as though in defeat. Couldn't meet Jian's eyes anymore, not even when he was blind. “I've done good things, yes. I've saved people. It's not enough yet. Maybe it'll never be enough.” His face twisted into a grimace and his hands clenched. He didn't like admitting that possibility, but he couldn't deny it either. That it might not be possible for him to ever be satisfied with what he'd done. That he was toiling, forever, in vain. “But that doesn't mean I should stop trying.”

Takua smiled faintly then, holding up a single hand. He knew what Jian might say next, especially now. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, and he shook his head slightly. His words were wry and gentle, “And I know. That's my Aspect talking. A continuation of how I died. I'm not blind to that. But that doesn't make it feel any less right. And if I can get my Aspect to get me to do good instead of hurting people, then I'm happy.” At that point it wasn't even a sacrifice, there wasn't much of a price to pay.

But then he fell quiet, words failing him. Because despite the pain. Despite the sheer impossibility of someone believing in him...he felt the warmth of that belief in his chest, alongside the poisonous mixture of self-hate that came with it. It was the former that caused the next words to slip from his mouth, very nearly without his conscious thought, “Thank you, though.”

Moving on from that, Takua felt his lips twitch with some amusement at the idea that Obsession could make someone knit sweaters. “Probably, actually. I don't know the limits to his power. As for Evelynn...” He grew silent for a long moment. They had history together. Bad history. Finally he just shook his head. He perhaps knew her better than he wanted to. “I don't know. But if I had to guess...manipulated, not created.” It was just like her anyways. Always changing her form, always changing her mind depending on who she was with. The person she had been with Naoko was so different than the one she'd been when she'd first showed up at his tower. And, perhaps, when they met again next it would be different again.

Takua nodded quietly, “In essence. I've never heard of a cure. They have to control the monster, or risk becoming it.” He shrugged, but the worry on his face was plain to see as he continued, “I told her what I could about doing exactly that. But from here on out, it's up to her.”

As it was for so much in life.

While he showed Jian the memory, Takua was also rifling through Jian's own memories. Searching for an overwhelming power, and the memories of a Vaizard. It was the first time he'd ever gone searching for something specific, but the vault of memory in the soul was so similar to his own. Memories were, after all, alike...it was easy to find. Easier still to reach out to that shard of experience, so vibrant, and see inside of it. Especially as he watched a new link forming between the memory Takua had shown the young man and this one- the idea of overwhelming power and pressure bearing down on the soul.

The 'Shinigami' he had met wasn't a Shinigami at all, but a Broken.

He retreated without seeing more. He could have gone looking. Seen what had happened between him and Nazomi. It was tempting, but that was a line he wasn't going to cross. He'd asked and been given permission, and Takua wasn't going to step beyond that boundary- even if Jian couldn't stop him or even detect him if he did. But that wasn't right, so he wouldn't do that.

The connection broke, and it seemed that Jian understood well enough the true power of the Broken, because there was no bravado there. He did understand the danger...and something else aside.

What else?

The first words came, and Takua nodded silently in understanding. So. This talk then. He might have known but...no. It was important to have, and he desperately wished that someone had had this talk with him before he'd had to undergo it himself. His head shook silently, “Not like that. Not like him. I've known an Arrancar who was stronger- although he was the one who caused the Incursion. Not exactly the best example. And yet...” Takua frowned, looking down at one hand for just a moment to see the reiatsu there. The thick aura only he could see, swirling with power and promise. So much responsibility, so much potential. His head came back up, “I believe I could match him someday. Or get close enough that the difference would barely matter.”

“But you're right. You have reached a wall.”

Takua smiled faintly. The man was bright, even if he was young. Wiser than he should have been too- and more naive than he ought to be. Maybe that was part of the price for becoming aware of the spiritual world. But there was more to it than that, and it was time to tell him. “Souls usually only get to where you are now. It's a ceiling. There are few enough who do, but many more still never reach past it.” And those people were often legends in their own rights. Powerful Captains and Espada who might never go past that point, but were potent nonetheless. There was nothing horrible about being unable to break that barrier. Some people just didn't seem to be ready for it.

“No soul is meant to go beyond it. But all of them are capable of it. You're right though. It comes with a price. A price in innocence. Unique to each person.” Nazomi could not possibly have followed his path, and Sekai's own lay elsewhere. All of them different, and yet they had each evolved. “I nearly killed myself. Who I was, not just my life. Because I had taken the easy path, instead of the right one. It was only when I choose to keep living, even if it hurt, to do the right thing that I became like this.”

“Yours will be different. But you'll have one. It will hurt, but it will give you a chance to grow- and let your soul evolve.”

WC: 1638 | GP: 32 | Total: 177

Jian had known what Takua was talking about even before he began talking about it. They'd said pretty much everything he was saying but still, it was chilling to hear just the same. Takua wasn't his usual light-hearted self, or at least the way Jian imagined him to be normally. Arrancar of Sacrifice, that wasn't what Jian had guessed but it was close enough. Sekai, failed to train her, did he think he did that on purpose to give him something to die for? Ah, what a stupid man he was. Jian didn't speak up this time, the fight was over and he had no intention of dragging it out with trivialities. Sometimes you make mistakes, it doesn't have to be anything bigger than that. Jian nodded once as he stated that he wouldn't blame her for it but said nothing. Girl lost her wife, who would be fine after something like that? No, he wouldn't blame her for it, even if he thought it was dumb as all hell.

Jian folded his arms grumpily. Supposedly Takua would know and it made sense in a chilling way, but it was better than oblivion of the self wasn't it? Or...was it? Ahh, fucking moral quandaries. Jian hated that kind of shit. It did open up a worrying inquiry, could a Hollow be overtaken by one of the souls inside it? And if so, what made that happen? Chilling. He managed only a wearied sigh in return.

"And if you ever reached that point, say there was a clear line drawn where you'd made up for your past deeds? Would that be it? Would you just stop helping others? People like me? I think we both know the answer to that. And that's the difference Takua. You're so much more than sacrifice, even if you don't see it." He wouldn't keep trying, even if he had to put this as the reason why. Jian folded his arms and hoped that it was over. Ahh, he was so convinced that he was just a tool to his Aspect, Jian could only smile and feel a sense of satisfaction. If Takua couldn't be convinced, that was fine, Jian was certain and hopefully in time he'd make him see. At least now it didn't feel like there was an axe hanging over his friend's neck.

"You're welcome, anytime, welcomed or otherwise." If he ever saw Takua doubted the truth of Jian's belief in him, he'd remind him. Maybe a little less politely next time. He grinned.

He had to meet Evelynn again, he wasn't entirely sure why but that betrayal ran deeper than his concern for Nazomi. It was personal of course, she was the first one he let past his guard, that he'd felt good about trusting, about liking, well, besides the one who'd saved his life. She'd given him faith in the Arrancar and now it just felt, well, hollow. He wanted to hear her reasoning, but knew almost instantly that he wouldn't like it. "That makes sense, I guess. Thank you for your honesty," Jian said distantly. His mouth was dry. Without thinking he took a drink for a small orb of water that materialized.

"Yeah that's what I've heard. Not easy though, the further they slip the stronger they become, that's an allure all its own. Is there anyone who has ever mastered that side of themselves? I'd really like to meet them." Maybe they'd hold some insight he could use to help her, and the rest of them. It was the classic story, mastering the evil inside. Jian felt like he was doing that himself, his own little struggle. Ah, they were lucky with all the flash and personalization of their inner demons. It was Humans who got the raw deal, no excuses for their actions, no devil to blame, only them.

Something calming filled him as he confessed his fears to Takua. "Yeah but, he gained that power trying to break past his own limitations didn't he? It's a fate for many who try, right?" His worried eyes searched Takua's face looking for some sign of comfort, but it was vain. The confirmation of something that he was certain he already knew still hit him like a sudden anxious weight. He hit a wall, and now he knew that he could break past it some day. "A price of innocence," he whispered and closed his eyes. There was a war inside. Takua himself nearly died, Colin had lost a part of himself he considered human, Obsession had become a void in existence, Nazomi had become a twisted monster whose attempts to do great good could only be done through evil. How many others were there that he'd met in his short journeys, how many of them championed the cause of becoming strong?

He could stop here, couldn't he? "I don't have to though...do I?" For a moment Jian's shoulders slackened, he looked at Takua and on the edge of his face was a desperation. "I mean, you're strong right? And, there are others too who can take care of those monsters like Obsession. I mean, I keep feeling like I could help you but then I can feel the weight of your conviction, could feel the power there...you don't need my help for that." There were others, like Nazomi too, and perhaps Jian was not needed there either. What was the point of sacrificing himself to stop such threats if other people were lining up to handle them?

"I'm not saying I want to give up, or lose what I have but. I feel silly." he exhaled slow and a smile broke across his face, a bit forced. "All this time I've been thinking I'm the hero, the main character of this story but...the more I think about it the less sense it makes. It's like I'm trying to pretend a role some days, like I'm just play-acting in some story, the only way I can cope with this place I find myself in. For a time it felt like I had to be, like I was the only one who could hold this place together. But that's so damn arrogant isn't it? I mean, look at me, and you."

A hero didn't need to keep getting his life saved. A hero was the one who stepped into the very heart of evil and defied it, like Takua did when he renounced his position as an Espada.

"I'm not trying to run myself down or anything," it was entirely not about that. For once he could feel a heavy weight dissolving from his shoulders at the sudden understanding he felt. "I mean, it's just you're here now right? I think maybe it's enough that I just get people ready, keep people safe, maybe this world a place that's fit to call home and let someone else worry about breaking through ceilings and fighting those kinds of monsters." Surely the beasts that defied existence, and description, could be handled by the others. Maybe, if that was true, he wouldn't have to give up his humanity just to fight them. Because someone else could. He'd filled in for a time and he'd taken more than enough scars for his trouble and now the real heroes were back. Surely that was enough?

"Ahah, sorry. I'm just being silly, who knows maybe I can't ever break past that barrier huhn?" It had gotten too real just too quick, and he was filled with regret and shame in equal measure. How did he have any right to try to foist his own responsibilities on to someone else? If there was a price to be paid to help out then he would have to pay it, no matter what it was. One glimmer of hope that someone else could carry that burden and he was all but ready to dump it on them and run off.

"Anyway, it's been awhile since we've had a chance to scrap, I think you might actually have to try to keep me off this time." Jian grinned at Takua openly, letting the moment try to pass as quickly as it had come replacing forced expressions with genuine ones.

1373/27/169 GP Total

Jian’s words made sense.  Takua knew that.  But they still felt like a rotten apple, wrong all the way down.  Takua couldn’t explain to the man exactly why they felt so wrong, but they did.  The human’s certainty, his quiet faith and steadfast assurance, didn’t help Takua feel any better.  If anything, they only quickened the clammy sensation on his palm, his fingers gently and slowly rubbing against them in an effort to chase the feeling away.  He just stared straight ahead for a long moment, considering the words and how they made him feel, before he finally shook his head, “Maybe so.”  Would that he could agree.  Get rid of this strange, torn sensation that crawled near his heart, as though the words were poison.

Thankfully, Jian was not as adept at reading the emotions in reiatsu  as he was.  And, just as thankfully, Takua was suppressing his own anyways.  Not that that prevented the faint frown, or the uncertainty in his voice.  But the young man wouldn’t be able to tell the depths to which that doubt ran.

But the sour note in  Jian’s own reiatsu as Evelynn came up made Takua pause, face twisting as though he’d bitten into a particularly sour lemon.  Unable to remain still any longer, he turned away, moving a few feet toward the river and staring down into its water.  “Hollows…are rarely, very rarely, okay.”  The words came slowly, but as Takua turned his head to face Jian, not because of hesitation.  A pale hand came up to tap against the side of his mask with a hollow thunk that echoed through the clearing before he continued, strong and sure, “We are monsters.  In some way or another, we are everything humanity has to offer that has been twisted until it has broken.”

He directed his visored gaze to the water again.  A small chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head wryly, feeling the immense irony of being one of the strongest of the race, yet hating what they even stood for.  “We are selfish, manipulative, cruel, and harmful.  Not all of those at once, but if you looked across the spectrum, those traits are common.  You can find a few good ones.  But Evelynn isn’t one of them.  Don’t get me wrong, she could be.  But…”

And then his voice trailed off, staring into the water as though it could divulge the perfect words too describe how he felt.  Tucking one lip into his mouth, he bit down lightly. Takua finally just shook his head, “I've never, truly, had problem with her. Only with what she does. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but that's the only way I can explain it.” Perhaps that was only because she'd only ever shown him what he'd wanted to see. He'd considered that possibility, and it was more likely than he wanted it to be.

And that was as oblique a warning as he could possibly give about Cheshire.

There was only a minute shake of the head as he turned back to Jian. No Vaizard he ever knew had mastered that part of themselves.

But then all Takua could feel from Jian was fear. The blind man's visored gaze locked on the human, a frown forming as he listened to his words. Deepening as he felt the bone-deep terror that was prompting Jian to...run. Fleeing from his responsibilities because he was terrified of what was required to break through that barrier in his soul...and what he would lose in turn. The boy was right about one thing. He would lose something. A price in innocence often had a heavy cost, but the lessons it taught the soul could be some of the most important to ever learn.

Takua turned and walked five paces, measured and slow. Stopped and stared at the forest beyond, spine as straight as a sword.

How annoying. He understood Nazomi just a little more now.

There were some things you could never learn without opposition. The barrier to...an evolved soul was one of them. To be forced to change, forced to become more than you were before. It was not something that Takua could present to Jian, and that didn't even get into whether he should or not! It simply wasn't something he was able to do. All Takua could do was help...and mentor the young man with whatever twisted wisdom he could offer.

“Jian.”

Just one word, even and calm.

“Don't be afraid of the price.”

Takua looked down at his hands and clenched them, face tightening before he turned around. He didn't think there was anything wrong with fear, not exactly. And the price was frightening. But for reasons that were different than what Jian was saying. There were messages behind the words, hidden in reiatsu, and the old blind Arrancar couldn't turn away from them this time. He had before. And he'd paid that price in turn.

There was no laughter now, no condescension. One protector to another, serious and intent. “It's far less conscious than you imagine. You make the choice because there is no other. The price is too high if you take the easy path. I could have continued to remain blind to what my Queen was doing. I would have died. It wouldn't have been a good death, but it would have been a just one, given what I'd done for love.” That emotion could make a fool out of any soul, not just humans. His lips tightened to stop their trembling, and Takua's fist whitened as it squeezed.

“I'd chosen to close my eyes and be led. It was easier. And the cost had become too great. You lose your innocence, Jian, because you are taking more responsibility for your life- and for others. You lie to yourself less.” He didn't like this. Takua frowned just slightly, digging deeper into Jian's reiatsu. Maybe he really was too alienated from humans, now, to really understand why Jian was afraid. Almost as though he were afraid of...losing what it meant to be himself.

Or maybe, in the end, he was just afraid of the responsibility.

“Not everyone can do it. Most don't. If you don't, there's no shame in that. But don't be afraid of what lies on the other side. Don't be afraid of your own potential, Jian. Because come one day...” Takua sighed, bringing up one hand in front of his chest. A brief moment of concentration...

And the entire clearing fell utterly still and silent. Even the air itself sat waiting as power gathered, a bright bead of light growing in front of Takua's hand. The Cero roiled with flame, a miniature sun.

“I could die. I could not be there in time. You're more important than you realize. You don't have to be a hero, you just have to be you. What you decide to make yourself is up to you- and if that involves breaking in a monster's face, then so be it.” Doubt made Takua pause, looking down at the ground. What was it that Jian needed to hear? What was it that Takua was missing? A middle ground, between the sacrifice and the fleeing. That's what he needed, that's what Jian needed to hear.

The boy couldn't be crushed under the weight of the world.

“Don't sacrifice yourself because you think you have to. But don't run away from who you want to be, just because you're scared of what it means,” He spoke softly, voice more knowing than understanding. It was advice he wished he could take himself, because he knew only too well what it was like to endlessly sacrifice yourself for others...and how it could hurt you in the end.

But in the mean time.

Now Takua smiled, “But you're quite right about one thing. If you want to get to be able to defeat Nazomi without dying, I'll have to train you seriously. So here we go! The Cero of the Primera Espada!” Unleashing his Cero made him feel oddly warm- content. Like a craftsman looking at his work and knowing he'd done a good job. Or the full feeling that came when a pet bounded onto their owner's lap to sleep. He'd made the destructive energy into a part of his very being and one of the very few things he could be proud of his skill in. Once that had bothered him. Now, regardless of what it was used for, Cero was just a tool. Destructive, but a tool, and a tool could be directed as the wielder saw fit.

The last time they'd sparred, he hadn't used the Cero to attack at all.

Takua hoped that Jian understood the significance of what this meant.

The Cero blew away from him, a line of blistering power that streaked across the space between them.

WC: 1476 | GP: 29 | Total: 206

He considered the matter of Takua's nobility closed, for now. He made a mental note to revisit it at length, endlessly, until he either drove Takua to agree with him, or frustrated him to the point where he tried to kill Jian. At any rate, either outcome would put the issue to rest.

Jian agreed that Hollow's were very rarely okay. In fact he was looking at about the only one he considered truly functioning. "We're all monsters, in some way or another," he argued but the grin on his face suggested he did it almost entirely just to be a shit.

Jian listened as Tak went ahead and listed basic human qualities without an ounce of self awareness. He understood the larger point of course, those traits occurred in greater numbers, arguably, but what else could you expect from a society tied together by someone who could literally just be the definition of 'a monster'? Was it an inherent thing or a cultural one? Hah, sociologists would have a field day with questions like that.

The answer seemed pretty clear on Evelynn, but it was kind of funny that was Takua desperately argued the demerits and failings of his people he exercised a clear and honest compassion.

"Are you asking me not to kill her?" His voice took a very hard edge, an important question. Jian wasn't resolved in the act, not yet, but the potential was there. But if Takua asked him...

----

A long time ago Jian was afraid. He woke up in a sea of bodies and gore, the result of a derailed train that named him the sole survivor, thrown into a world of monsters, who could blame him for being afraid? Death was all around him, a single moment of weakness and he would lose his life, time and time again he was shown how easily people could strip his life from him.

But before that, before the ghosts and the monsters, was a much simpler fear. Jian feared to die purposeless, to have lived and gone through life meaningless, effecting and changing nothing and this fear was so great that it had suffocated him, choked the life from him so much so that nothing seemed to matter. The only way that he seemed to cope was by acting as if he didn't care, giving up before he ever really tried because trying meant he cared and caring meant failure would hurt so much more. He'd learned the lesson that if you could shed yourself of those feelings then it didn't hurt when terrible things happened.

The train was the first wake up call, nearly dying had put into perspective just how fragile and fleeting his life could be, and after a time it made brought back that old fear. To die without purpose, without impacting the world in some way.

As his powers grew, so too did that purpose clarify, what had once been decided out of desperation had been cemented by true desire after his struggle against Nazomi. He wanted to help people, he wanted to save lives. The heroic idol he had constructed from a lifetime of watching television and reading comics was a joke pressed to the point of breaking but it had provided him a taste of the truth that lies beneath it. A sincere purpose.

And he would do anything to keep it.

Don't be afraid of the price? How could he ever not fear that which could take everything he held close?

Jian closed his eyes, Takua was not giving him the easy out. Everything he said was true, everything he said resonated strongly inside him. Jian was strong, but the monsters out there were stronger, and would grow stronger. Any of them could die, especially if he sat on his laurels accepting a limitation and yet it wasn't right, it wasn't fair. Jian stared into the glowing light of the cero for a long time.

"I am not afraid to die. I do not feel the weight of my responsibilities dragging behind me. I am here by choice, by will, because this is the only thing I have ever wanted to do Takua. To help people, to protect them. Every sacrifice, every difficulty I do in the aims of that goal never feels like a burden."

"Not anymore."

Jian lightened at what seemed like a playful smile. "Hey, I think I can take him as I-" wait what?

Ah.

Jian grinned and without a moment of hesitation his power uncoiled around him filling the air with a brilliant tension. By reflex his illusion barrier had spread out across their likely battlefield to protect any of the passerby's risk of his powers sudden release.

The Cero streaked across the ground, a massive wall of destructive flaming fury. Just incredible, Jian lost precious moments in awe of the damn thing. He'd seen it before but never in true execution, least of all directed at himself. There was a lot of choices, trusting in a shield, then bracing against the remainder, it would have been absolutely necessary for his survival if it wasn't for the obvious fact that Takua was taking it easy on him.

In the end the decision was simple. As the wave of death approached him, Jian readied himself and threw a swift right hook into the heart of the Cero. A barrier was prepared but it held a greater purpose.

Jian was not undefeatable kung fu master, he didn't hold secret techniques of ancient sages. He knew how to throw a punch and keep his guard up, but the rest of it wasn't terribly important in conflicts like this. What it came down to was the fact that when Jian threw a punch it had almost nothing to do with the physical act, and almost everything to do with the spiritual one. it was a simple act of Jian's force of will against Takua's. Jian's spiritual pressure surged within him, seeking outlet as the Cero grew closer, growing in might in the wake of this daring new threat. The moment of impact was vital, Jian's spirit poured forth halting the Cero in its tracks. It pressed against his flesh, but for a moment found no purchase. It didn't last long.

Flesh blistered and boiled under the heat that steadily grew greater. Split and cracked as the flame bit deep. Jian let a scream of fury, determination and pain fueling it. Blood rolled free from the wound, he could feel it was flesh turned ashen under the incredible heat, exposing raw knuckle and further. Another terrible scream broke free but Jian held still. He hadn't expected to stop it, but he could feel its power, he needed only keep it from consuming him as his spirit pressed against the incredible power of the Cero he could feel it burning up its fuel as it scorched his hand.

There, the instant the Cero's raw power was consumed and broke against Jian's resistance he was moving. From his sizzling blackened flesh exposing bone his body had already begun to repair the damage, shedding off the burnt and useless tissue, replacing skin tissue and almost immediately weaving blood vessels back into place with alarming speed. By the time Jian had closed the distance between them his hand was already good as new. The phantom pain remained, but he’d have time to deal with that later.

His usual salvo was tradition, a massive wave of force to test out his opponent, he wondered if Takua would expect it.

Jian extended the flat of his right palm forward and let a hiss of his energy as he willed a golden barrier into existence around his opponent. "You should stop holding back so much, Takua." His voice was cocky, playful, hiding the shaky edge that the exhaustion and incredible pain that blocking the Cero had given him.

The barrier took on a bright glow as energy hummed throughout it.

"You might get yourself hurt."

The barrier overloaded with energy, all of its tremendous raw potential exploding inward.

1345/26/195 GP Total

Killing Evelynn.

If Takua had wanted to do it, she would have been dead already. It wouldn't even have been particularly difficult. That had been true for as long as he'd been an Adjuchas...and then once he had broken into the territory reserved for Vasto Lordes, easy once again. And for all that he'd seen her do, maybe he should have killed her. He'd certainly killed others for less than he'd once caught her doing.

And yet...

The Arrancar sighed and shook his head, brushing his hair back from his face as he ran a hand through it. “No. Only that you think carefully about what you want to do to her.” Jian would make his own decisions, not inherit any of Takua's own bad ones. Or maybe they were the right ones after all. He wasn't sure what the reason was, but he wasn't seeking revenge for the lives that Evelynn had ruined by creating Vaizards. Although if she blew up another building, he might just take issue with that instead.

The human didn't realize it, but Takua had made sure that even if Jian simply stood there and took the hit, he wouldn't die. Only the man's hands would burn. Such a use of his power was fairly trivial- the far harder part was deciding that the virulent corruption pulsing on his chest would remain safe as well. If the blind man had dared to strike Jian without the man defending himself in any way...the Mortal boy would have been obliterated. Losing both hands might be enough to send the man into shock and kill him that way, but at least in the situation Takua would have time to act to save his life.

But then, if Jian couldn't defend himself against this, how much of a chance did he really stand against Nazomi?

As his Cero burned against the other man, Takua frowned, lips pursed just slightly as he considered the possibilities. Jian could be far stronger than he realized now. Nazomi could be weaker. Or Jian was simply betting his life on himself being strong enough to stand against the other Arrancar. For his own sake, Takua hoped that it was the first of all those possibilities.

But, his mind went on mercilessly as the Cero charred Jian's hands and spent its ferocity on turning the man's hands black, what if it was the final one?

Takua's hands clenched, desperation and determination driving him forward.

It wouldn't be by the time he was done with Jian.

The hand was burnt down to the bone by the time his Cero spent itself, and Takua tensed. To that degree? He wasn't sure whether he was proud of the man for standing his ground against the incredible pain, or be unhappy that he'd still managed to do so much damage with the most basic of Cero. For a long moment Takua found himself simply watching the regeneration taking place and understanding its place in how Jian was to fight. The man wasn't good at defense- Takua had just proven that over again as though he he needed a reminder. The corruption in his body gave him the ability to heal...

Takua's jaw clenched unhappily. Admitting that Nazomi's “gift” might serve to protect Jian's life in this way stuck in his throat, but the truth was self-evident. He was just too easily wounded. The young man didn't have the resilience Sekai had had when Takua had trained her. The bittersweet memory brought a wry smile to Takua's face, wincing just slightly at the memory that came after it. They were better times. Better days.

Days he'd torn down with his own two hands, all because he'd kept his word.

The golden barrier settled down around the blind man. Attention torn back to the human he was training, Takua forced a smirk. This wasn't the place or time to be caught up in memories of his mistakes. Not when there was a chance in front of him to learn from those mistakes and stop himself from repeating them a second time. “Oh? You think so?”

He didn't even look tense as the barrier overloaded and exploded inward in thunderous cacaphony.

He also didn't do anything.

Golden power tore through him just as his Cero had done the same to Jian. Flesh tore and Takua's teeth clamped down on any scream that could have emerged before it had a chance to be born. His lips curled back, breath expelling in a hiss, and then he looked down at his body. Charred and seared, blood seeped or sprayed from a score of cracks in his skin. Burns covered him, and the pain that flooded through his chest made him realize that a hole had been poked through to the cavity inside.

The power vanished, fading as it spent itself against him. His Heirro had done what it could, but it hadn't been able to hold itself against Jian's potent attack. But with that, Takua had a good estimate of exactly how he'd fare up against his young pupil. Relaxing legs that had locked out of sheer pain, Takua brought one horribly burned arm up-

“Not bad.”

The words were more evaluative than pained, a hint of approval contained within. But then Takua focused his will...and at a speed far better than what Jian had shown, flesh shot over the wounded areas. Bubbling up from within, rejuvenating his body in a handful of seconds. He didn't even have to get rid of dead cells anymore- they were a part of him after all. He merely returned them to life, his regenerative power returning every cell of his body to the shape it should have been in.

Eight seconds passed, and the arm held out for Jian to see was as flawless as it had been before.

Takua's smile widened.

“But I wouldn't really call this hurt, now would you? You'll have to work harder than that if you want to see my Resurreccion, Jian.” A goal, delivered with a knowing smile.

Fifty meters away from them both, though, a Cero that had been nonchalantly charging unnoticed exploded into sudden motion. Regenerating hardly took any time or effort for him, and the time in which Jian had might have expected him to be forced to block, or look after his injuries, had been better spent setting up a sneak attack. He gave a simple wave of his hand, and his knuckles shone blue for just a moment before the Bala shot away from him. But it wasn't aimed at Jian, instead blasting toward the opposite side of the young Mortal- before turning with a sharp angle and streaking straight at him.

Takua was back in his teacher persona, instructing with confidence, “Be careful if someone eats your hit though. They might have something else in mind.” Time was precious after all, and the more you could gain by not needing to counter the enemy, the more you might be able to hurt them.

WC: 1170 | GP: 23 | Total: 229

Jian let out a grin as the barrier sealed around his master. He was incredibly curious for how the Arrancar would respond, some trick of a barrier or perhaps a show of force? He'd played evasive at times during their last conflict, but Jian could tell it wasn't really his strength. He let the building energy go and readied himself for whatever came next.

He hadn't expected Takua to simply let the attack hit him, and the pit of his stomach turned over as he watched the man's flesh char under the incredible force of the explosive trap. Blood oozed from weeping cracks and sores, Jian felt ill but steeled himself. That was a choice, Jian had won nothing and every instinct in his body urged him to keep ready even as much as his sense of nobility demanded that the fight was over. Perhaps he could-

Idiot. His own sharp reprisal snapped him out of his worried daze. Takua was once the primera espada, and any injuries that he sustained at Jian's hands were by the Arrancar's choice and not an effort of Jian's. This was the nature of their battle, did not the phantom pain of a hand burnt down straight to the bone give him any indication of the nature of their conflict? This was a battle at a level Jian had rare opportunities to embrace, it meant no pulling any punches, doing whatever it took to win. Shattered bones and molten flesh were the expected trades.

Worse lay ahead, and the train had long since been progressing to its final stop, no chance to get off now. No, that wasn't true, this -was- his choice, to keep going, to keep fighting. Become stronger and stronger until finally...

Jian watched with mingled horror and fascination as Takua's flesh knit itself near instantly, much more potent than Jian's own ability to restore himself. How would anyone land a blow that mattered on an opponent like that? How could there be enough force in the universe to kill that man if he didn't want to die? Jian shuddered at the thought. This was a person who was far beyond Jian.

...until finally what? Until nothing could stand against him? Until he was truly a god, unopposed? When he could enact his will upon the entire world? Upon everyone? Did he deserve that kind of power? Did anyone? At the end of the day he knew that others were striving for it, ultimate power, and they had aims much less noble than his, not perfect but...

Jian cracked a grin at his wide smile, and further taunts. His Resurrecion, huhn? He'd heard of that before from somewhere, but held little actual information. The inclination was clear though. They all had powers similar to it, spoke with that sort of reverence. Jian wished he had a name for his, uh, whatever it was now.

...better than the alternatives? Was that truly his justification? 'Well if I have to, I guess I'll ascend to quasi 'god-hood'? No,there were others who could do that, those who had already paid the price, people more suited for that level above him. He was content as a big fish in a small pond, he could protect the things that mattered, the things that truly mattered like the people he cared about. There was that fear...

Jian had fought countless battles, he had an innate sense for the actions of his opponents. This 'sense' turned out handy, he could allow himself to trust his own judgement in detecting feints, and tricks. Knowing when a punch was going to be pulled at the last moment was almost more important than being able to throw one yourself. So he knew Takua was planning something, but what he couldn't tell, he just had to trust that he would react properly when the time came. Jian looked back briefly as the Bala launched, it was a known, he didn't need his eyes to tell him what it was doing when he could feel the incredible power that pulsed within its dense shell.

...that when he climbed that high that all the people around him wouldn't feel so important. That instead they'd feel distant and small, meaningless in some larger scale he couldn't understand, and never wanted to.

Ah the Cero, of course it was a Cero. Formed at a distant, fed energy somehow without betraying its position. Takua was the foremost master Jian know at weaving energy together, and the ability to not put together and attack that strong but keep it obscured was awe-inspiring. Jian wasn't filled with the desire to praise his opponent right now, instead he was filled with dread. He put the notion of the technique in the back of his mind. He could block both attacks, but neither completely and the resultant injuries wouldn't make for a pretty sight.

It didn't matter, hesitation spelt death. He launched towards the most pressing, the Cero, and let loose spiritual pressure. Energy wound itself tightly around his body as he attempted to give himself every edge he could find. The contact came out much the same as the attack before it. His spiritual pressure flared out in response as the Cero tried to overwhelm him, to consume him to keep it from breaking free of his contact. As dangerous as the Cero was focused it would be more dangerous for him to let it run free. Unlike last time, while flesh tore and scorched away as the blast surged forward, it didn't burn away the flesh to bone. His body held tight against the incredible power and gave way only slightly.

The cero was not the only threat, the Bala was coming in. He twisted around moments before impact, free harm swinging down like a baseball bat. The Cero had only begun to recede but it was enough that he could pull the focus of his spiritual pressure away to the other threat.

He tried to divert the blow, if it exploded on contact he would find himself with further severe wounds, but if he could absorb the impact, divert the blast away he reasoned he might be able to withstand it better. A resounding crack sounded at the moment of impact. Jian hadn't misjudged the blow, its strength or his capability. The Bala held its form long enough to bounce off the mortal's forearm streaking into the ground before detonating but the damage was done. He was sure the bone in his arm had shattered, and would be held together long enough for him to finish the fight. Instead, he could feel a fracture form, energy spent on the moment of impact as his arm dropped to his side.

The cero had burned out, leaving a scorched palm from which blood had oozed. He wasn't ready to restore the collective injuries yet, body still recovering from the last one he had managed to heal. The mortal was already pushed to the edge of his power it seemed, when he cast off his cloak he had turned away from a wicked side of his personality, but it was a side that had power, power he sorely needed now.

Use me.

A quiet voice whispered in the back of his mind, tantalizing. It wasn't dark nor twisted, simply that, writhing above his heart, waiting for permission. It demanded nothing hidden, its price to be paid upfront.

Jian felt a shiver run through his spine at how badly he wanted to let it. Then he laughed. "So what? If I'm facing an opponent who I can't hurt if they stand there and let me go all out, you think I'm going to be able to do much against them otherwise?" It was a clever trick, forming an attack out of sight. Jian considered it, leaning back a bit as he tried to marshal what energy he could. Takua was right, if someone eats a hit, they had a great opportunity. Jian had been all but forced on the defensive, the amount of time it took him to deal with those two attacks gave Takua plenty of time for the follow up. Still, already the mortal was rallying himself for the next round, and seemed ready for whatever came next.



1370/27/222 GP Total

At least the man had the good sense to realize, very swiftly, how the fight was going to play out. The sharp sense of regret thrummed through Jian, but there was no call to end the battle, even though the impulse was clear. But no, his latest student had enough sense to come to grips with it before he even regenerated himself. The fight had started with charred and burned bones, and it would end with healing. The time between the two was pain, something to learn from as the body and mind learned just a little bit more how to fight.

Not that that was enough for Jian to catch the trap before it sprung. Takua's attention sharpened as the moment of impact neared, taking note of the way he prepared himself against each of the attacks. Good, he'd chosen wisely and picked the one which could do the most damage as the one he had to defend against first. A small, fleeting smile came and went, the fractional approval of a teacher watching his student succeed.

If he would have had his way, he would have laughed and smiled far more broadly.

Was there anything else like this? To feel a young one get their wings under them and soar, flying free and growing. There was pride there, to be sure, a bit of self-congratulatory chest swelling as he watched this young man grow every time they met. But it wasn't even just the fact that it was his student. Just another soul, finding his way through life little by little. Becoming more than he'd been before, changing as the world became dark...and still working through the darkness.

For Takua, there was nothing else in the world that felt the same way. There were other pleasures to be had, but this one...stood alone from the rest.

But he put that aside as Jian finished with his two attacks, glancing over the injuries and trying to tell just how bad they were. Painful, yes, but not much more than a broken bone or two. Excellent. Stepping down the fury of his assault was going to be necessary if Jian was to stand a chance of coming close to deflecting his attacks- and sometimes, the mere knowledge that something was within your reach, if you could just reach out and grasp it...

Sometimes that was enough to do so.

Not always of course, but Takua wasn't going to be pissy of Jian never got to that stage today. It would take time. Inspiration. A lot of hard work.

The blind man smiled. “Unless they utterly outclass you, yes. Healing like that is energy intensive, even for me. I'd be far better off countering it unless I have reason to believe the extra time I gain by not is necessary to win.” His smile tightened and he brought his left arm up, reaching out toward Jian...and clenching tight enough to make veins stand out. Reiryoku surged through Takua and then surged outward, spreading through the leftover energy in the clearing...and organized it, marshaling it together. Takua winced as his ears popped, air pressure rising all around them both.

The Arrancar continued calm and steadily, “An incredibly durable person who still has the kind of power to stand up to your attacks will be incredibly slow, or weak either physically or spiritually. Or, will have to expend an extraordinary amount of reiryoku to match you. All of these have counters. If nothing else, you can try to hold out and wait for their own energy to dwindle, for them to make a mistake...or you find a way to change the rules of the game. Find a way to tank their own strike without spending any time, heal it swiftly, and get back a rhythm that allows you to strike.”

Takua gritted his teeth with the strain of what he was attempting, but he was still smiling through it regardless. Blue orbs began to appear in the air all around Jian, hovering in place...held there by Takua's will. Bala. Scores upon scores of Bala in a massive hemisphere eighty meters across.

The former Primera's other hand came back, curled into a fist, and began to glow in a deep blue. The telltale streaks of Bala began to form there as he spoke, voice rough from the pressure he was under. “Or. They'll use the time to set up something elaborate. Like this.”

Takua's fist came forward just as fire erupted from his hand.

A single sphere blasted away from his hand, thick trails of fire streaming off of it. It shot forward with all of the speed of a regular Bala-

A single, deep thump radiated from it, the bass vibrating through the field of Bala all around them.

And then it exploded into a hundred different Bala shooting in all directions, shards of concussive force that streaked toward their stationary cousins. Struck- and rebounded, unable to push against a target that Takua's fire had deemed could not be destroyed. Held in place by his will, they were plenty sturdy enough to hold their positions in the sphere. A single explosion of Bala now ping-ponged their way around the arena, the path utterly chaotic. Here and there one of them exited into the sky or slammed into the earth, expelling their energy at long last.

The rest of them would find their target eventually, but Jian would have a tough time tracking each one. Fast as they were, and as much as they bounced around, he'd have his hands full.

What will you do now?”

Takua couldn't wait to see.

WC: 937 | GP: 18 | Total: 247

Jian hurt, this battle was unlike any he'd ever had before. When he fought Shinkiro, he'd taken stab wounds, explosions, being tossed through buildings. His bones had shattered, his flesh torn and rended, yet his body held all of it from affecting him. Against Nagisa it had been much the same, something had changed without him realizing it, and he was beginning to piece together just exactly what that was.

There would be nothing to hold together if Jian absorbed the brunt of these attacks. Instead of simply holding together the broken mess, his spiritual presence was actively trying to protect him instead, and even with that at his side he was already pushed to the point of breaking. It was the difference of opponent, in the end. Takua represented a greater threat than any of his other foes, even holding back, each blow held lethal power, and Takua was skilled enough to unleash that power without lethal intent, without sacrificing any of the force behind it.

He was already starting to feel fatigued, even those they'd just begun, Jian's body was shuddering under the weight of not only Takua's impressive power, but his own. A mortal frame was not meant to fight like this, people like him had no business fighting people like Takua.

"It depends on the opponent's powers I guess, but even still, it isn't like I'm fighting an unknown quantity here Takua, I may not have grasped your true power yet, but even without it I know you stand above me, and even have a good idea how far that distance is. I fight with that in mind."

Jian watched that bright smile and felt a sinking feeling develop in his gut. Whatever Takua was about to unleash upon him, he wasn't going to like it, and it was going to hurt. Jian could feel it around him, the bastard had actually begun preparing it while Jian was dealing with the last. The energy used from the last clash was being repurposed, recycled for another technique. Jian's remained unspent, his physical exertions were among the most efficient in his arsenal, repurposing his spiritual pressure for conflict left little in the wake, it was his flashier punch arts that would have provided fuel for Takua's arsenal, and that was almost entirely why he didn't bother with them with the exception of his opening salvo.

Still this was practically beyond the pale, the amount of energy that broke through the air was almost palpable, Jian could almost taste it, a sickeningly sweet smell of something that he couldn't quite recognize. Not the familiar ozone scent of the Cero, but something else. Jian felt the tremor of it run along his soul, that same sensation when Takua had first brought the mortal choking to his knees with the release of his power. Jian could breathe fine in its wake but it was still immense.

"And someone like me who is slow and frail?" He laughed, tempted to do so bitterly. Get back into a rhythm? This was almost tiresome. It reminded him of the childhood bullying of someone grabbing his arms, beating him with his own fists and insisting he stopped hitting himself.

The blue orbs winked into existence ominously, Jian out of reflex turned to behold each of them visually but soon realized how stupid that was and instead he relaxed, closed his eyes and felt the attack.

There was so much energy it was dazzling, Jian struggled to hold it all in his vision and at first it was like trying to watch a show on a static filled television, but moment by moment it began to clear up.

Oh Takua, you gigantic asshole.

Jian could only grin widely, it didn't matter how many there were, he could tell each would lack the punch of the one he dealt with prior, but still, his left arm radiated hot pain from the fracture which had still yet to heal, he wasn't exactly operating at full capacity.

Any consideration that he might be able to track the attack vanished the moment the attack began. Before it had been like observing a static image, everything appeared neat and orderly at first but the moment it all went into motion it became a blur. The first hit struck him hard, his eyes snapped open and he moved to frantically deflect the next but found that and the next few striking him. Each carried enough force to hit him, likely leaving a dark bruise of their passing but inflicting no serious wounds, that was until the several struck in succession dragging an annoyed pained sound from his lips. By eyesight alone he caught the next dozen or so in rapid succession, a testament to his impressive martial prowess, but with one blindside that struck the back of his head it quickly snowballed into a near dozen impacts striking him almost simultaneously.

Jian stumbled, dazed from the severe beating he just endured. It wasn't working, he couldn't sense them properly, and he couldn't fight them back if he couldn't perceive them. He couldn't endure them either, he was certain it would knock him unconscious at best if he tried and he couldn't defend himself against them with a barrier because there simply wouldn't be enough power.

So, that was it right? Jian had known that Takua was the superior fighter, and that was the point, Jian had hit the wall he had no intention of climbing past and that meant that there would be opponents that he simply couldn't beat. He had to...

accept...

losing...

Jian staggered forward, his breathing had become ragged, and long beads of sweat made their way down his body, dropping off him as a half dozen more bala brought themselves around soon to embrace collision with Jian from all directions.

On his last step right before impact Jian caught solid ground, his posture shifted and changed, straightening out. He became a blinding flurry of motion, each bala caught a solid blow from his palm, fist, elbow and in a fit of controlled desperation a sudden fierce headbutt.

To Takua's keen perception he would feel that energy, power akin to what he'd felt from Jian when he'd begun manifesting his power during their first meeting, a power that had wholly developed, been utilized and then discarded all within the timespan of that meeting to this one. Jian's answer to the Bankai, or the Arrancar Resurreccion, but perhaps unlike any Takua might have sensed from another mortals it was formless, power seemingly without purpose or direction, unsure of why it existed but lent to its owners direct and blunt purpose.

Raw power radiated out from Jian. He'd made the sudden realization of his folly, now that he had a moment of breathing room, he didn't need to perceive the technique as a whole, only the short distance of a few feet from his body, as each came in he could respond in turn.

But why bother?

The power Jian summoned went silent, only to moments later explode outward in an impressive nova of raw white energy. It raced across the confines of their battleground, each Bala caught in it would erupt, scattering into the distance. The force would reach Takua too, but its power was limited, unlikely to leave much of an impact, close to just enough energy to stop the diluted bala's and little else.

As the remaining force vanished Jian stood there, controlling his desperate breathing, any wisp of the strange energy seemed to vanish, possibly spent in the attack, but Takua could likely sense its echoes deep inside of Jian, waiting for when he might need it, hungering for a direction. Part of him felt more alive than he had in weeks, another gripped him with a sudden dour seriousness, what had Takua expected from him there?

"I know what you're doing Takua," his voice was calm, perhaps hinting the edge of his own fatigue. "Souls grow in crisis right? Just enough effort to push me to my upper limit, but just close enough that I can overcome it." He shook his head slightly. "This is my power, Takua." He knew he had used a desperate power there to overcome the attack, something so...tantalizingly familiar but as he tried to draw on it, he came up blank. "As it has been for a long time now." It wasn't anything knew, he was almost certain it was that same power he felt whenever he donned the twisted cloak.

"Problem is, I know I'm not in crisis. You won't really hurt me, not any worse than you could heal me, and bloody wounds and broken bones don't unnerve me anymore either. There's no real threat here..."

He frowned and sighed. Was Takua trying to push him to that next stage? It was irritating if it was so, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. "That said, how the hell am I supposed to see a hundred fucking bouncing bala's at once you prick! I'm not like you!" he shouted at the blind man. It seemed his cheer had returned. "How about you demonstrate for the class, how the hell do I learn how to see like you do? I mean, spiritually, of course. I could only track those things a few feet from my body, and while I know you weren't in control of them all, I can't help but feel you'd have been able to react to them."

1583/31/253 GP Total

He’d finally begun to bring  it out.  Fear and frustration.  A prick of a nerve as Takua had mentioned weaknesses like being slow or fragile.  Those quietly simmering  negative emotions that were masked by Jian’s boisterous enthusiasm and  youthful confidence.  Deep down, perhaps Jian really did think that he wasn’t ready for more power.  Or maybe he was wisely afraid of what it could bring- feelings of alienation or the dangers that came with having so much.  They’d been apparent much earlier than this, but at last they were given a voice.

But Takua kept quiet for the moment.  Ears pricked and attention firmly on the boy’s reiatsu.  So much  potential in the man, it was hard sometimes  to remember how young he was- how much more he had yet to grow in ways that had nothing to do with power.  Not that Takua had really been wiser, but in this case he might have some things to tell his young pupil.

His smile began to vanish, though, as he watched Jian struggle.  It was the wrong counter to what Takua had done, and Takua knew very well that the young man  had the tools to at least diminish the impact and take down a good amount of those without issue.  The correct counter to an assault you could not predict was a barrier- one which did not care where the attack came from, but only the ferocity.   There was one other, but the first was what Takua had seen already.  Was it something he could only pull out every so often?  If so, then Jian needed to learn about timing those strenuous techniques.  Perhaps he worried that there wouldn’t be enough power behind it?  Takua had to muse that over as he continued  to watch the punishment resolutely.   It was exceedingly probable, but even a barrier too weak to catch it all would have prevented a good deal of the damage and let the man catch his breath before he carried on blocking.

But then the tides of energy shifted, reiryoku bursting from the man as his power blew throughout the clearing.  Takua would have smiled, the clear and correct second answer being presented at last, but instead he found himself frowning, brow furrowed in concentration.  This was something like Resurreccion, but…

But that power was formless.  Just a cloak of power he inherited, its direction oddly nebulous.  It was enough for Jian to begin to gain the upper hand again, but along with that came a strange sense of helplessness.  Apathy he wouldn’t have expected.

Takua’s frown deepened.

His body stilled as Jian burst into a tantrum, venting  his frustration.  Happy as he was that the Mortal wasn’t holding it all in anymore, this was another matter entirely.  He’d thought the boy had known that he wasn’t playing a game, but it seemed he hadn’t quite gotten rid of all of those leftover thoughts.  His smile now thoroughly gone, the Arrancar stood and waited patiently for the boy to be done.

It was a pity too.  There was a beautiful spot for a joke here, if only the mood was different.  Something about how only the blind wouldn’t have been able to track all of those.

Instead, he stood stony faced in front of the boy who would be more.

“I’m sorry.  I thought you wanted me to take you seriously.”

The words were delivered in a bland deadpan, a deliberate slap to the face. But his face remained steely, the words just a way to force Jian to take what he had to say seriously and wake him up to what he had actually just said. His voice changed, a clear edge held within, “I took four months to train Sekai while she was a prisoner in Las Noches. Four months. She was as powerful in terms as reiatsu as you are now...and nearly a complete novice at fighting. I never took it easy on her, fighting as seriously as I could. And when we were done, she had an even chance of killing me. Not because her reiatsu was any more potent, Jian. But because she had learned how to use that power.”

The Bala all around them both shuddered and began to vanish as Takua's hand clenched down, crushing them as though with his muscles alone. The last one vanished, and he flung his hand out to encompass the field, “How do you think I survived against Obsession? Not because I was more powerful! But because I could use that power. No, you can't get any more powerful without crossing that barrier. But...” Takua grimaced, shaking his head slowly. This has irritated him more than he'd realized, the blood thumping through his veins at a steady pulse that belied the anger that lived in it.

Jian wanted to become a protector. Wanted to be a hero.

As he was right now, he was still treating this as just a game. As though things would be fair, as though he would always stand a chance of winning.

A sudden burst of fire flicked off Takua's hand and then vanished, the weight of the former Primera's stare reserved for Jian alone. “I don't expect your soul to grow. I expect you to. I'm fighting at a level you could grow to match. As you are right now. All that requires is hard work. So either tell me right now that I'm wasting my fucking time by sparring with you, or realize that you have a chance to fight against a superior foe and learn how to make the best of it without it killing you.” Life wouldn't always throw him against someone in his own weight bracket or just outside of it. Sometimes it'd throw him against a monster, like Obsession, like him, and he had to make the best of it.

But then the steel faded, and so too did the anger that had come with it.

His arms slumped back to his sides. Takua looked down at the ground, indescribably weary for a moment, and sighed. “I don't expect you to learn how in a single day. But I wouldn't be so serious about this if I thought you were incapable of it, Jian.”

Takua gritted his teeth and brought one hand back up, palm forward and facing Jian.

Eight dark Cero began to glow in a box all around Jian as streamers of fire exploded from Takua's hand and shot forward. Linking the Cero, forming a square large enough to contain the man and a few more meters to spare. Easily audible over the flames came the blind man's voice, even as the Cero began to surge in power, tired but progressing forward regardless, “Get out of this and I'll tell you how to sense a little better.”

Ah, there it was!

Takua smiled, wry and still tired, but at least he could continue to find his own brand of terrible humor in all this.

“Although frankly I don't see why you need help when even a blind man can do it.”

Nailed it.

And then space began to crack and tear as the eight Cero grew to their maximum capacity, overwhelming the space in-between in nearly the exact same manner as a Kurohitsugi. Jian had already gotten struck by something like this once. He'd have to be ready to face it again.

WC: 1232 | GP: 24 | Total: 271