Wing Clipping {Obsession | Closed}

Having ones throne room on the ground floor wasn't exactly impressive. Neither was the fact that it was the only room currently complete among the still-under-construction castle that was being erected around it. All the same the King made due with what he had and sat in the moonlit shadow of the throne. Even Hueco Mundo regarded him with a suspicious glare, the crescent moon peeking in through the gargantuan rectangular window, a huge angled eye watching the ruler of the realm it hung over. Above his head the ceiling ascended into a void of pitch and to his sides servants stood like statues in the shadows, each one with their backs firmly pressed against the wall and spaced with strictly precise measurements.

Silence was common place in the hall of the King, broken only when the King stood to leave, made the rare request or entertained the occasional guest. Many theories had begun to arise among the workforce of Las Noches. Was he sleeping? If he was thinking what did he spend all of that time thinking about? The King knew things. Many believed that his private moments were spent colluding with some spiritual force that allowed him to pluck information from thin air, information that he could never have attained without leaving the room. Many times he had called somebody by name without ever hearing it spoken or questioned a persons course of action despite not being privy to their goals. As a result a disturbed fear began to rise among the lower rungs of the societal ladder and that uneasy smog weighted the throne room as effectively as the King's own reiatsu. Each servant flinching when the King eyed them. Praying they would not be chosen for the next task.

It had only gotten worse in recent days. Before, looking into the King's eyes forced a feeling of discomfort to bloom within their breasts, as if there were worms crawling around beneath their rib cages. Now the feeling was constant and there was an alien sensation of evil satisfaction crawling up and down their spines.

Peeling his eyes open Erasmus could feel the ripple of unrest that flew around the room. A dozen skins crawling with anticipation. He didn't look though. Instead his gaze was fixed upon the cyclopean stone doors before him, looming in the dark distance of his personal hall.

An odd series of movements had caught his curiosity, somewhere far off in the depths of Las Noches; a blip of power flying out from the place the former Primera's tower used to be and then vanishing, only to re-appear at the tower and zip off again to follow a different path, each journey taking the blip further and further away. Like a child exploring it's neighborhood for the first time. Further and further towards the local abandoned mansion and the monster that lurked within. He watched as if watching a fly as it erratically crawled it's way across a table, the movements seemingly random, but all efforts converged upon the sole purpose of searching. Exploring. Scouting. Whoever it was had a purpose of some kind.

Voices fell in and out of focus around him as he tuned them out in favor of this strange fly inching it's way towards his throne room. Close enough now that he could feel the intense confusion of it's reiatsu. Human. Hollow. Human? Hollow? It vanished, reset it's position, and began again from Takua's tower. It took a direct, purposeful route, a confidence in the surety of it's choice of corners to turn and shortcuts to take until eventually it stopped just beyond the doors of Erasmus' little bubble. What was it thinking? Who was it? What did they want? Despite his eagerness the King refrained from invading his guest to take the answers, only grinning as the long beastly dagger-like claws pierced the gap between the doors and the stone groaned it's protest as they were pushed apart. 

Hollow.

From the split doorway emerged a woman, claws nowhere to be seen and the strength required to move such heavy blockades hidden beneath supple skin and delicate features.

Human.

"People are still throwing that old name around?" The King's voice rumbled down across the reflective marble flooring. A wave of pleasure engulfed the King's body as he relinquished his hold and probed the soul before him, moving slowly, as if the girl's core were made of glass. A wicked grin cracked the middle-aged wrinkles of his cheeks.

"Welcome to the world of monsters, Alexandria Dewis, if you were looking for the the King then you're in the right place." Rising from his seat the monarch stepped into the moonlight, bathing his striking emerald eyes and silver mane. A neatly put together ensemble of greys and blacks hung from his body. A string-up shirt. Black pants and boots. Hands tucked lazily into the pockets of the thin black duster that protected him from the drifting sands of his home.

"I trust that you had a detailed and well received tour of the castle. No doubt you'll give us a glowing review. Maybe you could bring dear old dad, have a family vacation. Bring Puck too, he can spread the word on Twitter."

[Words: 872][GP: 17][Total GP: 17]

Standing tall and firm Alexandria's resolve emerged from the depths of her soul and Erasmus studied it with a vague interest, dissecting it's source and purpose. Memories fell from the incision he made in the flesh of her will, these too he observed, lifting their limp and lonely frames from the murk of history and want. She had been here once before, in a throne room not so different from the one she saw now, but in Erasmus' place there had been another man, entirely different except for the invasive color of his eyes. It was because of that encounter and because of the fear she felt in the presence of that man that she had steeled herself in preparation for her meeting with the current King. But it was so much more. Threads of thought and feeling carried him deeper and deeper into the woman that was Alexandria Dewis and he witnessed the insecurity that she had so desperately wanted to hide, the parts of herself that she couldn't show the world because she herself didn't know where or what they were. A deep and heavy conflict. In a life of confusion and uncertainty there was a desire to be confident in something. Anything. To have something to hold on to and anchor herself to the world. That anchor was her resolve to not feel fear in front of Obsession. 

It was all seen behind the eyes of a pleasantly smiling face, the information picked apart and analysed for potential exploitation.

Even as he looked into her past to see her will to not be afraid Erasmus could feel the invisible motions of her body through the vibrations of his surroundings and knew that she was failing. As she glanced around at the dozen servants surrounding her Erasmus could only guess her thoughts, despite all of the power the Sight gave him mind-reading was not one of them. But there was one thing Erasmus did know. Cold fingers crept up her spine and along her arms, whispering fear into her mind. Perhaps she thought they would attack. A silly notion. None of the men and women lining the walls were warriors for Erasmus had no need of guards, when he needed protection he defended himself.

"Children do the silliest things." He commented absently in reply to his guests candle anecdote and then, "Monsters." Repeating the main word that comprised her pets opinion of the race he ruled over Erasmus drifted off into silence. He couldn't claim that Puck was wrong in his assessment, but it was still a very narrow-minded way of thinking and the implications dripped hypocritical bigotry. Then again, perhaps Erasmus' perception was wrong, Puck was a cat after all so it was possible that his definition of monster was broader than Erasmus was used to.

Alexandria made a movement sharp enough to be too obvious and Erasmus watched with great interest as she peered down at the weapon hanging from her hip as if it had just bit her. The usefulness of the throne rooms layout was that the moonlight illuminated everything upon the audience floor while ensuring that Erasmus' expression was blackened, providing that his guests were facing the throne this ensured that Erasmus could see every last twitch of his guests and they would only feel his eyes upon them. Nothing could be hidden from the King, whether soul or mind or body. The question now, was where that movement had originated. 

At their mention Erasmus swept his gaze over the servants and a wave of discomfort followed his vision.

"As with any community we have a few bad apples, in our case it's those of us who simply cannot control themselves when an easy target presents itself. I can promise you though that about a third of the men and women in this room would have done exactly the same thing had you encountered them outside. Even now they think of you as a stress toy, something to maim and mangle to relieve their tension. The only thing keeping them from doing so is me." A flash of teeth through the smile, canines worryingly pronounced. The smarter ones among the servants saw that Dew was not a person to be trifled with alone, perhaps not even with their current numbers, but there was no need to allow Dew to find solace in that fact.

When Dew began asking questions the silence thickened and the King's grin assumed a predatory aura. Dewis believed that Erasmus had information and had exposed her flank to his jaws, he had something she wanted.

Without a word Erasmus began to descend the steps to his throne one step at a time, never looking away from the woman that willingly put herself before him with the goal of taking, never thinking about what she may have to give.

Once he reached the bottom he stopped briefly, blinked, and then kept going towards his guest. Finding the answer within her soul without alerting her to his presence would take too long, it would easier -especially since she was at a disadvantage- to have her give it to him.

"Erasmus." He introduced himself once he'd reached polite conversation distance, extending his hand for the age old understanding that was a hand shake. "I could tell you what you want to know, but as King my time is precious and I can't afford to have it wasted. What are you willing to give me in exchange for my knowledge? And, just out of curiosity, why do you want to know?"

[Words: 928][GP: 18][Total GP: 35]

She shook his hand with a ginger touch and frightened fingers.

"The silliest things." He said, though it was unclear whether his mutter was meant for the privacy of his own ears or the woman before him. Grasping her hand firmly but tenderly he returned the motion, her unwilling fingers crumpling in on themselves. With an expression that had grown drastically dull beneath the slight of her hesitation to exchange even the most basic of respects Erasmus glared at his guest, silence permeating around him like a bubble of absence. Fingers retracted. Slowly his extended hand was lowered to his side, as if it moved only by a hinge in his shoulder and the elbow lacked articulation. For a brief moment he considered striking her for her rude attitude when Erasmus had done nothing but meet her with something that was, by Las Noches' standards, grace and hospitality. Doing so, though, would get him nowhere fast. A flicker in the fire stood before him, he couldn't afford to blow the chance that had so graciously placed itself into his lap.

When she released a series of noises that were both incoherent and slightly concerning Erasmus merely waited politely for her to straighten her tongue out. He knew all too well that youths like Alexandria carried with them many inconveniences, lack of confidence being a major cause of speech impediment, shyness and more personal performance issues, among other things. When she finally found her voice she began again, her sentences much easier to understand now that she'd slowed herself down. Again, youths, always speaking faster than they can think. Despite his thoughts he listened attentively.

The truth was that Erasmus had very little knowledge about the beings Alexandria referred to that wasn't his own speculation and guess-work. He'd not discovered a lot of concrete information about them in all of his external soul-searching, but once again, the mortal did not know that and neither did she need to. All he knew for certain was that they appeared in response to the threat that was the Tova from an alternate reality. They destroyed that alternate Tova. Then they vanished. Now that Erasmus knew that one of them shared the same face as the alternate Tova he could guess that perhaps one of those beings was the Tova from their own world, or -perhaps- a Tova from another, third, reality, either way that Tova had achieved a power on par with Erasmus' own. Why would he destroy the alternate Tova, if not to reclaim his place on the throne? It could be that he saw something at the time that the rest of Las Noches did not, destruction of the Hollow at his counterparts hands maybe, and chose to protect the realm he once ruled? Still, that didn't explain his decision not to reclaim the throne. What could have been more important to him with that new-found power?

One thing he did know; nobody had seen them after the fake Tova had been toppled. If they were still active then Erasmus had to guess that they would only appear again in a similar situation. Though what that situation was he couldn't say. Mad monarch? They would have emerged to take Amaya Kidachi down if that were the case. Threat to Las Noches? They would have prevented Kyousuke from annexing the castle. Too powerful and therefore dangerous? They'd have been on Erasmus' doorstep in a heartbeat.

Snapping her fingers Alexandria produced a hazy recreation of the pair she was referring to and a pulse of recognition that he hadn't expected shot through his mind. The reaction surfaced visibly through the simple arch of his brows and the way his gaze lingered on the man standing beside Tova. 

The King's cunning grin bloomed again.

He'd already learned a considerable amount of information from Alexandria and he hadn't even had to give any up in exchange yet. So far the deal was going well for him.

"Come now." He crooned as she droned on about what she wouldn't give and what he might want from her. Nowhere, he noted, did she tell him what she was willing to give up. "You're acting like I'm asking you to sign a soul-binding contract, Alexandria. I'm not the devil, you know." Though he certainly smiled like Lucifer as he walked around the projection of the pair of men he knew, one well, the other only in passing. 

"It's not like I want this to be difficult, as much as you might doubt me, I want to help, you know." Completing his circuit of the projection he once again came face to face with his guest and inquisitively inclined his head down towards her. "So I'll be frank with you, I don't know everything there is to know, just almost everything, and you've filled in a few of the gaps in my knowledge already. Small ones, mind you, nothing major, but still enough to satisfy me." He pointed sharply at the men in the projection, finger hovering directly over the tiny tennis ball sized head of the nameless one.

"Mitsutaka is the other mans name, a shinigami when I last saw him, something else when I last heard of him. I heard he retired and tends to a garden in Rukongai." The King was only aware of Mitsutaka through third-party accounts of what the man was like and the odd glimpse here and there, he'd never spoken to or worked with the man directly back when his name began with an A and his zanpakuto still held life. "All I know is that these two," He wiggled his finger between the two miniatures. "Had a purpose, and they turned up to fulfill that purpose and haven't been seen since. My guess is that they won't be back until a similar situation in which they feel they are needed arises. What that situation is, I dunno, but the last time they were here it involved something being in this world that didn't belong here."

[Words: 1003][GP: 20][Total GP: 55]

As swiftly as they had been summoned the toy-sized figures of Tova and Mitsutaka vanished, blinked out like the power to a television that had been suddenly cut. Erasmus stared at the air where they had been for a few moments longer, conflict brewing behind the bright emerald eyes before clarity surfaced and the King turned on his heel. Finally Alexandria had come up with something that she was willing to give up for the information she had received, but there were so many limitations, not all of her time, and she wouldn't spend the time doing certain things. It was a good thing that her offer had come to late or Erasmus would have been offended under all of the conditions Alexandria was placing on what was supposed to be a fair trade.

Like an old man contemplating the horizon Erasmus observed his guest with a knowing grin and then he jumped into motion, clapping his hands to conclude their business and closing the gap between them ever so slightly. Even as he spoke the echo of his clap was still reaching it's peak.

"I've changed my mind." He told her out of the blue, unclasping his fingers and holding his hands out in genuine appeal, fingers snapping shut over his palms. Five of them found their way softly to Alexandria's shoulder while the other five tucked themselves away into the King's pocket, unneeded.  "I know exactly what it is that you can do for me."

With a gentle nudge in the right direction Erasmus urged the woman to walk with him as they approached the humongous stone doors of his throne room, his hand retracting from her body before the length of time that it was present could be considered concerning. He wasn't going to get anywhere if he forced her to do what he wanted, it had to come of her own accord, just as it must with all mortals. That was the key to any happy and healthy relationship; trust and willingness. 

"You can do," He raised his eyebrows and glanced at her. "Nothing. Take the information I've given you and go home, do whatever it is you're going to do with it. My only request -and it is a request, I assure you- is that you do not forget. Always remember that I helped and am willing to help, that goes for the rest of the mortals too. Yes, an odd thing for the King of monsters to say, I know, but that's the black and white of it. Can I ask you just one more thing before we finish up here, though?"

Stopping briefly in his tracks Erasmus centered himself and squarely faced his guest, eyes a slightly squinted portrayal of genuine interest, mouth a thin line bordering on a smile.

"What are you thinking right this second?"

Such a simple question, and yet there was a weight to the words that hung in the air causing the atmosphere to grow thick with meaning. Erasmus had his predictions, either they would be confirmed or Alexandria, like so many mortals before her, would surprise him.

[Words: 520][GP: 10][Total GP: 10]
[GP reset due to claim]