Beyond Salvation [Jian/Invasion Event]

Faster. Faster! FASTER!

It was the same scene he'd played out nearly a half dozen times before and always with it was that same tense panic. Jian would feel the danger to those he cared about but being so far away from the scene the looming thread of arriving, or learning about it, too late to save them. Seryu. Munin. Melody. Cheshire. When he fought against the Hollow Iko. Now Takua. Some of them had happy endings, but they were few and far between and they didn't stick with him as deeply. Too slow, speed had never been his gift. Of course he was fast by mortal reckoning, far beyond the speed any mortal being and most of their creations could ever hope to match but that wasn't the speed that he needed.

It'd all gone pear-shaped in a single fucking moment. The inevitable outcome that'd been staring them in the face but damnit he wanted to believe it could have been different. He'd come to the Seireitei to stay clear of the main show. He'd trained not to take on the source of the disaster but to contain it, to prevent the deaths of as many as possible, to minimize the destruction while the ones who had their parts to play took center stage and played it out. He'd wanted to believe that the Captains, one of whom he had the utmost respect for, had a reason for their unfounded, gobsmacking arrogance in facing Obsession by themselves. So, he stayed away, he kept to the Rukongai where the innocents needed him most and devoted his power wholly to the cause of their salvation and watched the true conflict from a distance, thinking that it had all been handled.

It happened so fast, a twist of an inconceivable power and Jian came running. He felt the change as Obsession morphed their purpose, turned them against the man whose arrival should have heralded victory and instead brought about a fresh nightmare. This had become something far more horrifying than Jian could have ever imagined. Then Obsession had departed to the heart of the Seireitei and alone Takua stood again the two strongest Shinigami in existence. Even if he could win, could he then take Obsession?

Jian pushed himself harder and harder as he surged through the districts of the Rukongai, no matter how hard he pushed himself he'd never make it in time. Even now he could feel as Takua's power refused to bow to his command, a trick he'd experienced first hand by Tokiyo. This had gone far enough. Jian touched his hand to his Zanpakuto. It was there, lurking within the depths of his soul, the power that he needed.

It's time, he called.

No, Hogoshi refused.

The world around him receded in an instant, his body still pushed itself forward on autopilot while he drew himself into his inner world. It appeared, the brilliant field of stars each twinkling the promise of some vast cosmos that he admired but had little interest in. He stood in the void between those stars holding the sight of the world, Earth, dominantly fixed as the center-point. Hogoshi appeared before him, towering over Jian looking at once resolute and resigned.

"I'm not playing games right now Hogoshi." Jian's voice was measured. He'd come to respect Hogoshi, the value the spirit represented to Jian was incalculable. When his whole world had been ripped upside down, when he felt like he had lost himself, Hogoshi had been there to take Jian's hand and pull him to his feet. He'd been the strength Jian had needed in that crucial moment to, not only accept what was done to him, but find a strength in the incredible change. He'd been there at his side as he faced down the man, his mentor and greatest friend, Takua, to prove that he could overcome it.

But now, when he rushed to save that very same man it was Hogoshi who stood in the way. Jian respected him and trusted in that wisdom enough to hear him out.

"You've lost focus, Jian. I told you that I was always here, and I am to guide you even when you may think it unwise. This is foolish, whether or not they win or lose their game it is a game played with lives who, no matter how important to you, numbered so few compared to the good you've done here and are required to continue doing."

Jian straightened, tilted his head up and considered Hogoshi's words carefully. It was true, he'd saved countless lives, many of them Shinigami who then went on to save others with the gift of his rescue granting them a second chance. The KSN members too, each kept under close watch who he was now moving himself out of range of. If he left they would die, some of them at the very least, and those who he failed to save would be unable to save the innocent they otherwise would have as well.

"You're right, there are many lives here to save, too many to count, and many I would be choosing to let die in my absence." A cold hard fact Jian could not ignore.

"I'm gladdened to hear you say it," Hogoshi said. Jian watched as the tower of a man that was his spirit relaxed and took a moment to find his words. Jian looked down and smiled faintly. Jian had not known Hogoshi long but already his calming voice had been a welcomed presence. How many mistakes had he narrowly avoided thanks to that wisdom? It was the temperance he sorely needed.

"But I am choosing it. I am needed, Takua needs me and after all the times he has been there for me I am not going to let him down."

Hogoshi's muscles trembled with fury. "A child! You behave like a child, for the sake of your 'honor' you will save a friend over the lives of countless others!? Is the truth of your dream! To save those close to you and ignore the rest!?"

Jian didn't move. "Obsession cannot be allowed to go unchecked." He wasn't sure what his spirit was playing at, the obvious danger that stood far greater than the whole of the Hollow's present had appeared, and Jian's role was obvious.

Hogoshi broke gaze and turned from Jian.

"You saw it. Didn't you?" Jian turned his gaze towards the planet, reached out his hand so that it looked like he held it in his hand. It was starting to make sense. "You saw what would happen if I went after Obsession then, if I ignored your caution."

Hogoshi was silent, when Jian stopped speaking there was no sound save his own even breaths. "The twisting of our purpose. The last moment of true consciousness as I felt my ideals turned to his. Powerless. Everything I'd ever feared..." He closed his eyes and felt the sensation of looking down upon his world with his spiritual sentences. "All my strength wielded by a monster and it was thanks to you that it didn't come to pass. I won't ignore that," he said quietly.

If it wasn't for Hogoshi, he might have gone. The temptation to put an end to this conflict before it even began was a difficult one to ignore, how could he fault the Shinigami for giving in to that? Hogoshi had made him stronger, but it was easy to allow prudence to give way to complacency, to allow caution to to allow him to manifest his fears of weakness.

Sekai's voice rang through the distant into his mind. Jian thrust his hand outward, pointing an accusatory finger at Hogoshi. "But you are the Zanpakuto, the truest form of my dream made manifest! -I-, Jian Oreachi, am your wielder! I will not turn from this out of fear and accept the easy victory! Obsession -will- be stopped, and then I will turn and cast the Hollows back to where they belong!" Jian had cleared the distance between them in a few long strides. His right hand placed against Hogoshi's chest and fixed him with a firm gaze that the spirit returned. "I will not let the weakness of fear suffocate my heart any longer! I will always rely on your wisdom to temper my judgement, but it will forever by my hand that wields the blade, and my choice of how I will wield it."

Jian's eyes snapped open in the real world as he surged above the rooftops of the Rukongai. He stopped short, found his ground and pulled his Zanpakuto free. He let it go at once, watched it fall as his power surged forth, materializing around him in a raw visible aura of pure radiant light. His left hand gripped the crystal gently, focused upon its sibling and the connection as he cried out,

"BANKAI!"

And in a fury of light and power he vanished.

Hogoshi's true form served to allow Jian's greatest desire to become manifest, to protect what was most precious to him no matter what. 'I'll get myself in order. I promise,' were almost the last words he'd shared with her, far less than he wished he could have. The true promise beyond the words themselves was that when everything was going to hell, that when Sekai needed him the most, that he would be there for her. When she'd called for him there was nothing he wanted to protect more than that.

He appeared in that very same instant at her side, the semi-transparent glittering golden shield of his Bankai orbiting him slowly. His reiatsu was tightly restrained, kept controlled in a way that he'd been almost entirely unable in their last meeting but it's presence and weight was unmistakable. He turned to her and gave only the faintest of smiles as he bowed. It faded by the time he came back up, "Sekai, I'm glad to see you. I apologize for my delay." He drew a short breath, drawing the ambient spiritual energy of the conflict that raged around them to sustain himself.

He turned from her and towards the scene unfolding, a tense knot rolling in his stomach with each passing second. He wanted to charge in, but part of holding the reigns meant acknowledging the value of prudence. "I can assume we're on the same page. The Captains have miscalculated their chances at withstanding Obsession and now he's tearing off while they turn against the man who risked his own life to save them," there was no hiding the bitter hint to his voice, and no attempt made either. "I see we have two choices. We go in and take them out so you two can go after Obsession, or I step in to help while you go off and I do my best to free up the only other person who can help."

1819/1819

She was dressed for battle; the flowing sleeves of her kimono tucked into black and silver vambraces, red cord held the lapels of the kimono and its brother closed atop the silver trimmed cuirass. Her hakama, once black and tied about and tucked into her shin-guards, was a shade of red common to that of those of the miko in Shinto faith; attendants to sacred grounds and those who stood with one foot in Heaven to speak for those who resided there-- and to commune with those who remained on Earth. A naginata seemingly carved from one large piece of glowing white crystal imbued with an energy resembling her own rested, cradled, against her right shoulder. Her hair was tied back up and out of her face in a flowing tail that hit the middle of her back, out of its characteristic braid and showing a clear view of the woman who usually hid behind the vast amount of thick white waves.

A burst of golden light-- that color seemed to be more and more common nowadays. First Erasmus, then Moriya-- heralded Jian's arrival. The movement of feet and ripples of energy revealing a bow cast in her direction. He had learned something in the way of respect then, it seemed. And that of something else as well. Still bursting with impatience and the drive to go right now and hurry up, yet tempered in some way that hadn't been there before.

Perhaps he was learning from his Zanpakuto Spirit, whoever he, or she, might have been.

"You made good time; there is nothing to apologize for." Her reply as soft and distant-- distracted-- as the rest of her somehow felt. Slim if short fingers twitched slightly, shifted the thin pane of crystal at an angle to let the fellow Substitute Shinigami see what she could. Dizzying flashes and spinning images from a myriad of angles. Broken bits of audio. Fragmented conversation.

His summary of the situation shifted her expression. Rather than annoyance, as she might have felt, or anger at his presumption that they were on the same page without reading between the lines of the political dynamic-- sorrow. Deep, unrelenting sorrow mingled with frustration and the kind of patient regret that came from someone so much older than anyone with a baby face like hers had any right to feel.

She shook her head in response. "Overestimate...? No; against any other foe, they might have come out the victor even against what Obsession is now." The corner of her mouth twisted ever so slightly upward. Faded just as quickly. "They work well together; Fujikagi is a caster type who is capable of sealing off your power-- be mindful of that, I know not if he can do so with multiple people-- and that other man can do some intriguing things with that blade of his, as you very well know from experience." Disdain filtered through her voice in reference to "Captain" Minamoto.

"They lost the moment they chose to allow Minamoto to open a line of dialogue; the man has damned himself and that of Seireitei’s populace as result of hubris." Sekai's shoulders sagged as if what battles she had faced exhausted her within and without.

It would be so much easier to just hate them; say they deserve this and let them come to ruin on their own. She confessed to Amenonuhoko, feeling the spirit's comfort sweep through her. Silence stretched onward; that sense of waiting ever present against the steady tick of a clock winding down.

Free hand not toying with the angle of several 'windows' on the screen reached up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Minamoto created an opening and Obsession seized control over it-- targeted Minamoto first as the primary aggressor and as the one who was weakest against the kind of psychological assault that is his power. Fujikagi resisted, but Obsession found a way in-- and rather than set them against one another, T--" She stopped herself. Mouth drew tight and lips white against the rest of her. "Megiddo-san arrived shortly thereafter and, cornered, Obsession turned them on to him when Minamoto, again, opened his mouth and just prattled off their victory as if it were confirmed."

A period of silence, Takua staring down at his now empty hand as if he weren't absolutely certain that his blade no longer resided within. Her eyes pinned to the screen, moved over that visored face and poured over each and every single miniscule shift and change in the way his mouth and brows altered. Her hand, lightly brushing the screen as if it were a tablet's surface, betrayed the uncharacteristic calm in her voice with its trembling fingers.

Do it alone. Do it all alone. Let him go interfere and screw it up while she stopped worrying about the stupidity of others' mistakes and follies and took care of what was important.

"We have many choices at this time, Oreachi-san," she corrected. "We stay out of it and let those three settle it between them; likely with one or all three of them dead or dying by the end while we continue the evacuation and stabilization of Seireitei." The screen changed. Takua was trying to reason with Minamoto, that fool, and didn't seem to realize, or care, that the Shinigami flat out wouldn't give a damn. "we interfere, as you suggested, and potentially cause the Captain Commander, that would be Fujikagi-san, and Minamoto to turn against us, and thus Earth and her populace of spiritually powered as the result of our actions."

Words sour and hot as bile seared a line up her throat as she forced the next option out. "Or, we take what survivors that we can of the Shinigami and our forces, and evacuate them to safety on Earth-- preparing for an assault by Obsession as he promised once he was finished with Seireitei." Her breath hitched as she paused. Swallowed hard.

Break it.

For the first time, the short woman's snowy head turned, eyes nearly completing their transformation from a lurid red to a startling shade of aqua green but for that last outer ring around her irises flicking to his face and back to the screen nervously. Rejection; she expected it. Almost believed in its entirety that it was fated to be. She'd have to decide this alone.

Break. the. damned...!

"Or," her voice sounded funny, thick even in her own ears "you, as the leader of the Karakura Spiritual Network, and I, as the first Substitute Shinigami, can take precious moments necessary to come up with something, together."

Her hand fell away from the screen to her side. Shoulders steeled themselves for the worst-- and she was, as always, bracing herself for such-- as she faced the younger substitute Shinigami head on instead of how she, they, always had in past encounters with one another.

"I," don't deserve to ask you for help, unspoken words reflected clear in her gaze. "I would... I would prefer," she began again, hesitant. Uncertain. The past was always so difficult to overcome; the mistakes made time and time again always present. Looming maliciously over one's shoulder and just awaiting the moment they would repeat yet again. "...even if it were not as the leader and the first," Sekai finally pressed forward. "I, I would prefer to... to discuss, to talk about what to do and plan with someone I can... that I wish to trust to help me as an ally."

Struggled; torn between leaving it as it was and finishing it.

"...not just as an ally," she blurted out a split second later. "but as a friend." That is, her expression said loud and clear, if they were still friends after how things had gone the last couple of encounters.

And they weren't... were they?

–
WC: 1300 \\ 1904

Well, if her reply was any indication he'd made it so far, about five or ten seconds, without ruining everything. Possibly a new record with her, he thought. He simply nodded his head towards her to show that he was listening as she allowed for his arrival. It was meant to be a joke, considering the gulf of the distance he was forced to travel so quickly, but he'd made the mistake of trying to force levity in the past and let any thought of correction pass by. Look at me, he thought, learning from past mistakes.

She seemed...annoyed. She was a very patient kind of annoyed, but annoyed none the less, specifically at the binary choice he presented which was something that confused him deeply. Why had she called him here if not to take action? What decision was there to make? Tokiyo and Shun had been twisted, and if they couldn't find their strength unravel Obsessions hold on them then they'd have to either keep them busy or disable them so that one or both of the people who could actually confront the monster could do so. It was a simple problem, wasn't it?

Sekai spent agonizing moments going over information Jian was entirely aware of. Forced to watch a struggle that would decide the fate of a close friend with every fiber of his being demanding he assist. Jian didn't bother debating the arrogance of the Shinigami, a point he would stick tightly to. Sekai had told them of the power Obsession wielded there was no excuse in Jian's mind that justified it.

"I've traded blows with Fujikagi as well," he eventually added. "I'm familiar with both of their fighting styles, albeit I believe I have a better grasp on Shun's, than Tokiyo's." He trusted Tokiyo to have been holding a lot more up his sleeve back then, Jian wasn't as much a threat as he was when he faced Shun. He felt a twinge of camaraderie at her disdain towards the man.

The specific details she gave provided color to what he'd felt from a distance, but it was as much as he could have imagined on his own. The real important bits in her recount was what it told him about Sekai, a candle burning at both ends. Seeing the tremble in her fingers as she stared at the screen was what kept righteous fury from burning from the pit of his chest when she suggested that they simply leave Takua to his fate. He closed his eyes and rode the wave, he didn't need Hogoshi's voice to keep the rising bile in his throat in check.

He realized his mistake, assuming that Sekai was like him. She bore the weight of an entire universe's guilt on her shoulders, every wrong, every injustice, every mistake, Sekai had decided to own all of it. The fact she was even alive after all of that, that she could stand here and even consider pushing even further. He nearly shuddered at the realization. Didn't' she know that he would be here? Didn't she know that Takua would be fighting alongside her? How did she not know that their victory was all but certain simply because of those things? For a moment he felt the sensation of one who could not simply reach out and 'know' that all would work out in the end and he felt ashamed.

He was ashamed of every moment of hardship and struggle she had endured alone, caused by betrayal, caused by a faith in another that had been turned against her. He felt sickened and furious that she had gone through any of it. He was angry with a fate that had made him powerless to do anything but see what had come through the other side of her journey. During their last meeting he saw the price she paid confronting Obsession the first time and seeing her now he knew that she did not believe she had the strength to do it once more. He wondered, what would be left of Sekai Fujimura after she was forced to confront him again?

Then she did the most incredible thing. She showed him that she still had hope, the faintest glimmer of a thing but it was real and more incredible than even that she handed that fragile hope to him. He realized that very moment that it was not his promise to her that he'd sought to protect, that had allowed him to bring himself here to her, it was that hope.

"...of course," he answered in quiet disbelief. The very thought that right here, in the midst of all that hung in the balance that he could do anything else was unthinkable.

"I swear to you, no matter what comes, no matter what danger there is. I swear on everything that I am, on my powers, on my very purpose, on every soul in this world and the next, that you will not face what is to come alone. We may not stand side by side, but we are the guardians of Earth, Sekai. I know that it has taken me a long time to get here, to be strong enough...but I swear it. I have your back, always" He considered the matter resolved there. He didn't know if there was a future where they might be able to hang out, play video games, complain about tv shows, but no matter what he would always consider Sekai his ally.

He turned towards the direction of the conflict. "I will not leave Takua to fight them alone, he's saved my life, twice literally. Since it might be unwise for me to confront Obsession I feel my place is in that battle. I still think that there are two good options available to us and it is because I know that Obsession must be confronted to spare the Seireitei whatever scheme he's pulling and the fall out of that which may affect our home. If the Shinigami take issue with us knocking some sense into them perhaps when the invasion is over we'll find more suitably pleasant captains to replace them." It was only partially a joke and it showed. He made a quick mental effort to once more compare his thoughts to before invasion began as a countermeasure to Obsession's power and found he was in the clear. "But, then, what are your thoughts? What truly worries you about that confrontation?"

1080/2899

Jian's anger burned in the pit of his stomach-- brighter gold than the rest of him-- and she didn't blame him. He didn't have to like the option, didn't have to agree with it-- but he had to acknowledge it was an option, one they very well have to take if it meant saving everyone else in his place. That anger transformed, she couldn't tell what, but the way his attention focused, sharpened on her instead gave her hints that something-- be it her appearance or otherwise-- had set him down yet another line of thinking.

And, as she usually tried to, Sekai waited with the same patience she offered to everyone else when a decision had to be made for him to think, to figure it out for himself. To decide-- and decide he did.

"Thank you." A weak smile and an over brightness in her eyes that suggested she was doing her damndest not to fall into old familiar habits. Trying; and having some degree of success this time around. Sekai wouldn't be able to promise or swear an oath to the very same; not with what loomed ahead. Followed his gaze, glad for the distraction and time to recollect herself from the brink of relief caused tears. Her expression shadowed at Takua's name again, the screen twisting, spinning with its numerous perspectives to show the conflict's progression-- or lack thereof.

"...not leaving him to Fujikagi and Minamoto is something we are in agreement on.” She replied after a long moment of deliberation.

"I know very little of Fujikagi other than what I have witnessed thus far," a nod toward the screens. "and what others have mentioned to me in the past. He is... cunning." And a man being consumed by the type of quicksand named 'fear' was very cunning and dangerous indeed.

Her brow furrowed, a window enlarging itself on the screen as she examined that fragment's limited perspective. What did the Captain Commander himself have to fear from a fellow Captain under him-- and why insinuate to Takua that the idiot Arrancar should take out Minamoto? "...these are difficult waters to navigate; Fujikagi isn't necessarily the enemy to Megiddo-san the way you may think he is." Couldn't say the same for Shun; if the man was that disliked, that dangerous-- why not have him taken out for the good of Seireitei as a whole? "He made an interesting comment to T-- Megiddo-san-- before I called to you; it..." She frowned, hand swept out to tap against another shard, listless in the background, and gestured for Jian to take the crystal still in hand and raise it to his ear to listen.

Old friend, Shun is lost to us. He will not help us now, don't you see it in his eyes? Settle your score and we'll end the King together, as it should be. Tokiyo's voice came through, clear as could be. The Captain Commander, and Takua, didn't know that she could listen at any time so long as she had one of her 'seeds' there.

"I do not know about your interpretation," Sekai spoke quietly after the audio died down. "but that sounds as if he wishes for Takua to kill that man."

Information, something she'd been direly lacking from the very beginning, had been a necessity she'd set herself to attain at just about any cost-- including going against her own sense of what was 'wrong' and 'right' in order to attain it. Spying was wrong, but when your biggest influences had been an Arrancar who loved information and learning no matter what, and an elder brother figure who worked for the intelligence department and law divisions of Seireitei? Certain exceptions to her rules had to be made.

She wouldn't apologize for it either if confronted.

"What we decide, you and I, will shape the future of not just humanity and Quincy-- but of Hollow breed and Shinigami as well." She shifted, weight from the left foot settling to the right, and worried her lower lip between her teeth. "You and I are responsible for two worlds now, Oreachi-san; Soul Society, and thus Shinigami and the duties they are supposed to uphold, and Earth, its defense, and the responsibility of making sure humanity and Quincy are protected and trained too." It couldn't be 'us' versus 'them' when one found themselves straddling the border between the two races.

A slight sigh. One hand massaged the back of a very stiff neck. "...three worlds; we have to ensure the Hollow and Arrancar don't decline so severely the balance becomes unstable." Her eyes flicked to Jian. "Do you know what the role of a, as I was told we are called, Substitute Shinigami is?" She would pass down the mantle, her orders to him as well; they would need to be united at least on that front, if nothing else.

"Obsession's hold on them can be countered; Weylin von Wolfenstein is evidence of that. He was taken by Obsession once and Megiddo-san managed to bring him out of it." There was the kernel of light in the dark moment. "If we can find the root of what the obsession is and reason them out of it, we can break his hold on them." A pause and a grim shake of her head. "Logic matters to one person currently possessed; Fujikagi."

Her expression hardened, mouth set in a grim line as the color in her eyes sparked to furious life. "Captain," the word was spat with a great deal of disdain. "Minamoto is forfeit as far as I am concerned; they both endangered Seireitei against my warning to Fujikagi of what was to come, declined to review the information that could have saved them and--" She cut herself off mid-rant. Sucked air as if she'd never had it before. Exhaled in a ragged rush.

Time and place, she reminded herself. Time and place for the anger, the accusation, the blame-- and now was not that time.

"Obsession himself will wait; he doesn't know I'm here yet... but he will, and he will make sure I find him once that realization kicks in." For a moment, that sorrow and regret in her expression turned bleak and bitter; the expression of a doomed man awaiting the final stroll to the gallows. "Unlike Tova Diablo, his goal is not wanton death, destruction, and chaos; I know this as fact." The screens dimmed for the moment, gone inactive as she dropped her hands back down to her side. They'd spring back to life again the moment a fluctuation or any true combat began instead of the psychological warfare and barbed words being cast about. Takua's weakness, of course, being another's logic laced with poisonous intent but, she'd hope the two Shinigami Captains hadn't figured that out quite yet or they'd be less able to plan and more 'fly by the seat of their pants' in terms of interference.

"...I'm sorry, by the way." she added finally. "About... about how our last encounter went. I shouldn't have acted like that and you didn't deserve to be threatened just because I was angry at myself for being too weak. It was wrong of me to do."


–
WC: 1170 // 3074
OOC: 33 words removed as direct quote from Tokiyo in Nadir.

The smile his words brought to her face was worth any amount of hardship he might have to endure to keep the promise. He let out a quiet sigh in relief and nodded. "Good, I'm really glad we're on the same page there." She worried him, he was considering that she'd let whatever personal trouble that lingered still between herself and Takua make the call. It felt good to be wrong.

He shared his familiarity on the pair. "Tokiyo's an adept caster, the greatest wielder of the Demon Arts that I've ever seen. He's not much with a sword, but he knows how to apply his spiritual prowess to his physical attacks, his own personal take on the 'Shunko' technique. He's pragmatic to a fault, but there's an emotional side of him that I don't think he's used to controlling. The greatest danger, perhaps only just exceeding his use of Hado, is his ability to seal powers. It was a trick he used on me after our conflict, I wasn't able to overcome it for a long time after. There may be much more I'm not familiar with, but that's what I have witnessed."

"Shun is pretty much the opposite. His casting is nothing worth writing home about, but he's clever, and he wields a Zanpakuto better than anyone I've ever seen before, going so far as to not even need to wield it by hand. He's all about misdirection and ruses. He also never shuts up."

He wasn't sure what she was getting at with him not being the enemy the way he thought, what did she think he assumed? He also noticed that she once more narrowly skirted using the name Takua, as if trying to feign a lack of familiarity for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom. Did she correct the use of his name even in her thoughts? He put it aside for now and focused on the message that she was playing back for him.

He shook his head slowly, he didn't see it the way she had. "We can't trust anything that he says while in the grip of Obsession's power. It would be easy for him to heighten that paranoia, to make him want to strengthen his own power...still." It wasn't as if Jian couldn't see why Tokiyo might want Shun out of the picture. Jian's brief impression painted a morally flexible man with incredible ambition and no small amount of grandiose delusions.

What came next would stick with him, the truth of their responsibility. While they held no power that was vastly superior to the other agents in play they were free of the conflicts, and their decisions could very well forever shape the destiny of three worlds. Jian closed his eyes and nodded, but her saying it didn't change much for him. He'd been carrying that expectation on his back for a long time now. "I've directed the KSN's efforts towards Earth because I saw that as the place of greatest neglect, the place in the greatest need. Aside from the obvious, I didn't hold exceptions to members, regardless of who whether they be like me, a Quincy, a Shinigami, or even an Arrancar. If they can help, if I can help them, they're welcome." Jian couldn't fault someone for thinking he had a simplistic view of things, but then who could deny the results? “My responsibility has always been to all three worlds, why else would any of us be here?”

He tilted his head, curious when she mentioned the role of the 'Substitute Shinigami', a term he'd never heard before. He didn't like it. "No, I haven't, what are they?" He could already feel a resistance form against the notion of an obligation tied to a change he'd never asked for.

He nodded. "I heard of that, but I am familiar that the power can be broken," he'd felt its hold break already early on in the conflict. Obsession's hold was not absolute, not only could it be resisted, but freed of once it had taken hold. "Our immediate goal in any confrontation would be to help 'knock' them out of it so to speak." He knew the trope, as if he had anything other than an elaborate 'wake up!' strategy prepared.

"Do not allow prejudice to cloud your judgement. Shun Minamoto may be a snake, but even in his own misguided way he is our ally. While I do agree I think we'll have more luck with Tokiyo we should leave ourselves open. Strange circumstances create strange alliances. Though I admit, given his proficiency at self delusion even without Obsession's power twisting him we may have little luck."

He considered asking if she was certain that Obsession would wait for her, but the look on her face made him silent. He exhaled a deep breath and shook his head. It wasn't fair. He wanted to stand with her, every confidence that he could withstand Obsession and that side by side they could face down that evil together but what if? What if what he'd seen come to pass actually did? More reason to make sure Takua could stand alongside her in his place.

The apology came entirely out of left field. "Sekai, please you don't need to..." especially not here and now. It shouldn't have mattered but it did. Jian smiled, felt a weight melt off his shoulders. "I am sorry as well. I wanted to help shoulder that burden, I should have, but I couldn't. I needed figure some things out first. I am truly sorry you had to go through all of that alone."

He let a moment of silence linger, exhaled sharply. That was long enough for them to spend, he changed the subject and back to business they went. "So, then, what's our approach? Show up and smack some sense into them? I suppose the specifics matter, but it's kind of funny actually. I've never had the time to actually...plan an attack before. How does this even work?" He smiled sheepishly. "Quick summary I suppose. I'm no longer capable in stand up close range fights, but I think I can nearly match Tokiyo's ability with Hado. My Shikai will serve to help cover us and create openings," three shimmering barriers formed around them as demonstration. "And my Bankai you've already seen," he motioned to the shield that orbited him. "I can cover you or Takua while we engage, and if you can grant me opening I'll make the most of it."

No. That...that wasn’t it, was it? The preparation and time they had, battle strategy and tactics wasn’t its best use. “Sekai,” he began looking directly towards her now. “What is it you fear about confronting Obsession?”

1127/4026

Relief in his smile twisted the wicked blade of guilt lodged in Sekai’s gut. On the same page, he’d said, and to a degree they were: but a lie of omission was still exactly that-- a lie. Takua didn’t belong to Minamoto or Fujikagi. At worst, he had been a nuisance and had kicked the former’s delicate ego one too many times, and the latter… well, she had thought the two had been something like friends. Or, at the very least, allies who benefited one another in secret for the greater good. Neither of which were acceptable reasons to allow the two Captains to claim what she believed was rightfully hers.

His life and the moment of his death, to be precise.

”His Bankai, I believe.” Sekai added thoughtfully to Jian’s description of Fujikagi’s abilities. ”As for his cast…” Frowned. Paused with a sickening twist in her gut. If he were truly a prodigy with that Shinigami brand of magic, could… that be why she’d sensed something off about the walls? Was that…? No. Impossible. There was no way that he’d do something so stupid as to risk everything. A stupid suspicion bordering on hilariously severe paranoia. ”I do not know about his strength in Shinigami magic, but I can prepare something unpleasant as back up against that bankai of his.”

Nothing like several thousand pounds of pissed off animated stone thirsty for revenge coming out of nowhere to ruin someone’s day-- as Jian likely knew from experience. Sekai hadn’t exactly been polite in her instruction to her guardian and familiar. ”His fear is what makes him dangerous-- and he is terrified, Oreachi-san. If you focus on him, the anxiety, the terror is overwhelming the anger within him. The two drive the third and desperation is going to follow in its wake.”

Expression darkened in regards to Minamoto. ”Captain Blabbermouth, on the other hand, I am familiar with. I witnessed his battle against Penance and am familiar with his tricks-- and the psychological warfare he likes to engage in. He has a temper and can be relatively easily fooled given the right provocation.” She would have no qualms against putting him down like the out of control and rabid dog he was. Better to deliver an apology to his family than risk another Tova Diablo. ”My mind is perfectly clear in regards to that man; I spent six months in the proximity of what he will become and will not let history repeat a third time.” If she survived, that is. If not… someone else would have to eliminate him for the good of all three worlds.

Her expression reflected the unhappiness she felt in that regard. That responsibility that should have only fallen in the gods’ hands and theirs alone; not the one who spoke for them. ”Were it me, should I become a tyrant invested in grand executions, dishonorable tactics to get someone out of the way, and ego over the good of the balance, I would wish to be put down like the rabid dog I would become rather than live with the shame of turning into the very monster I watched ruin my home.” Nothing but cold, hard truth within her words; a startlingly firm conviction behind them for one otherwise emotional as they could come.

”My orders were from the Captain Commander prior to Penance and Fujikagi-san,” Annoyance flashed visibly across her face. Temporarily transformed her features from hard and threatening to… something like an aggravated teenager being told she couldn’t go to the Hamasaki Ayumi concert and fan meeting. ”Kenshou Ine-san. Do not go near him; he’s as obnoxious as they come and his ideas of ‘helping’ are as absurd as they come.” Stupid pain in the ass Captain Commanders and their penchant for bullshit methods of ‘testing’ people. Or relieving their boredom.

She still didn’t regret stabbing him after he’d stabbed her. Twice. The bastard had it coming. ”We’re the in between; not Shinigami and not fully human, but somewhere between the two. We have the strengths and access to some of the abilities of the former and the weaknesses and strengths of the latter.” She explained, wishing so briefly that they’d had more time before this mess. ”We’ve also not been heard of or known to exist for at least eight hundred years; so they have no idea what we’re capable of or where we ‘fit’ in the grand design.”

”We perform a similar function to what you wish to do with the Spiritualist Network. We’re to be the bridge between the living and the dead; performing the duties of a Shinigami, purification, education, concealing when things go wrong, and informing the Captain Commander of imminent threats and attacks.” Her expression fell as her gaze flicked toward the conflict in the distance. ”We’re also to be a force that reminds the Shinigami of present what they have lost in the state of fear and chaos they have lived in since the betrayal of their own and the destruction wrought by Diablo three years ago.”

A brief gesture, short flick of her wrist and spread of her fingers in reference to all of Seireitei. ”They’re scared, Oreachi-san. All of them. Scared. Insecure. Traumatized and clinging to the idea of ‘if I only had more power’, ‘if I were only a better weapon and machine’... that nothing bad would ever happen ever again.” And there was so little she could do to fix that. So little to do, so precious little time left.

Hi-to… ahh, her stupid, stupid stubborn brother.

Seryu, the poor woman who believed humanity was the only one allowed to feel and be weak and strong.

Kasumi, a young Shinigami who demanded to know why she had power and was allowed to be human.

Yuichiro and Moriya hating themselves for weaknesses and being unable to do more.

”As for… hmm, strategy… I suppose it depends on how things play out in their regard.” Sekai turned, busied herself with summoning the visuals back from sleep mode on her screen. Happy to be doing something other than uncomfortable revelations and more peeks into what she’d been shouldering all alone. ”As small and fragile as I may look, I forced Obsession to retreat when he was in Karakura Town; had he not gotten a surprise attack on me, I would not have been as injured as I was. It took everything he had to dent my proverbial armor-- so I am fairly unconcerned in physical combat. Leave that to me; I can do all ranges with my abilities; shikai and, um, bankai too.” An embarrassed smile. She wasn’t used to talking about what she could do. ”The natural world is mine to command; the earth and everything it produces in particular. I can heal too.”

She flinched at his question. Shoulders automatically up about her ears as if preparing for a particularly nasty blow. Was it so obvious? ”What makes you so certain that I am afraid of confronting Obsessi-- shit!” Her shoulders dropped and she flung her hand out and focused on driving the picture clearer on the screen.

White faced, the fear and fury built higher and higher alongside a rising reiatsu from Fujikagi, Sekai watched as the man stepped forward. Hand drew out, stretched toward Takua. Contact.

One word.

Pain and betrayal accompanied by a sharp spike in Takua’s reiatsu. Sekai turned to Jian. ”Can you talk and run? We need to move and get into position. Now.”

–
WC: 1244 \\ 4318

If he'd known what ran through her mind in that moment it probably all would have ended right then and there with blood.

But he didn't, and so he simply nodded along. "I don't think Tokiyo went that far with me, but he didn't need to then." He'd been subdued by what he presumed was a Shikai, if his limited knowledge of the Bankai meant anything it suggested a much more fearsome capability than the one he witnessed. Then again, considering the snare Tokiyo placed on Takua he supposed he already knew how terrifying it was. "Good, one less thing to worry about." If Sekai could handle that, then by all means he'd let it.

"I can't sense those kind of things, not sure why, maybe it's just because I find it so distasteful." Emotions were the property of the owners, to invade those, to gleen such thoughts and feels meant to be left hidden? Jian didn't like it. "My talents lie more in long range detection of those most important to me, it's what allowed me to make it here so quick after all." Words chosen with a deliberate care not lost on him. Even still, he understood the point of what she was saying, those were Tokiyo's pivot points, things that exposed and exploited those vulnerabilities were how they'd reach the man. How they were going to do that Jian didn't have a clue but he was confident they'd think of something.

Jian shrugged apathetically when she mentioned Shun. He thought she was absolutely clouded, but he wasn't going to fight her over the fate of Shun Minamoto. "If you became such a monster, I promise that you would be," they were uncomfortable words, but the ones he felt she probably needed and above all words that were absolutely true. No exceptions to that rule, anyone beyond saving who presented a risk qualified. Had he not consigned his own parents to such an oblivion?

She then mentioned orders from a previous Captain Commander? He knew little, except that it was the same man who put all of creation at risk for whatever stupid stunt he'd cooked up. Jian's announced matched hers in that moment. "I have some choice 'words' should we meet," he said hotly, giving little inclination to her warning. Jian considered the rest and found he still felt the same. He had no intention of allowing any sort of obligation to be put upon him by those powers. The truth, as Jian saw it, was that these powers, the sword and all that he had were tools committed to the purpose of his dream and that was his only obligation. Whoever stood there to aid him, allies, whoever stood in opposition, enemy, and a whole mess of those who stood in between. She did bring up an interesting point, a reminder of what they have lost perhaps even an example. Now if that wasn't good for the ego he didn't know what was.

"They respond to the world that they live in. A world that creates fear of weakness, that encourages strength of arms and very rarely strength of spirit." The world I will change.

"I'm comfortable wherever in a fight, don't be afraid of letting me get the attention," he noted tactically. "If there's one thing I've learned to do, it's take a punch." He might not be as physically minded these days, but his soul was forged in close quarters.

Then, she reacted to his, admittedly blunt, question as if he'd struck her. No time to expand upon it, he let out a simple hiss. He'd felt it too, annoyed that he'd waited so long that he'd wasted his opportunity to help her. "The distance is no matter to me. I can be there now if need be, better we make our show together however. We'll consider this to be continued."

651/4677

Asgard burst forth from the ground, sabre toothed and flashing claws unsheathed as Sekai vaulted up in an alarmingly smooth and practiced manner to land neatly on the golem’s back. She offered her hand to the brown haired youth to help him up. ”Rein in your strength and spiritual pressure as tightly as you can; I want them to believe we’re being delayed or have chosen to....” A pause. Thoughtful expression.

Sekai smiled ever so slowly. A miniature version of Asgard down to the smallest detail, manifested. Her expression focused. The light within the small crystalline feline hybrid changing. Altering little by little until it resembled Jian’s own energy color and signature. She sent it running away from their current position and headed, in a roundabout way, for Obsession. ”When you practice knowing and sensing other people, you can learn to replicate their signature-- and even send it away as a decoy.” She watched it run with the smile fading as quickly as the glimmering presence was from their sight-- but not their senses.

”Fujikagi and Minamoto will not be able to sense us if we suppress our reiatsu. Let’s go.”

--

She had time to think as they raced along. Asgard choosing a path mapped out and communicated through their link. To converse, just a little to keep that churning in her gut off her mind for a bit more.

”They find emotions, their own and that of others, distasteful too.” Sekai replied quietly; almost too softly for Jian to pick up on. ”A tool has no need to feel or have attachments, sentiments to tie them down. All they need to do is fall in line when the orders come and do their duties no matter what the price may be. Just… be a blank blade; empty and waiting to be utilized.” For someone who was all about feeling and being in tune with her own emotional state of being-- the one who wore her heart upon her sleeve with no protection whatsoever-- such an idea was truly horrific. Blasphemous even when compared to what she valued the most in other people.

She shook her head. Hand lifted to rub at the tension aching in her neck with fingers that dug a little harder than necessary into her skin. ”If you can’t understand how and why someone feels a certain way, how else are you going to help change them for the better and find the source of their plight? By beating them into the ground? Calling upon and throwing their failures and faults into their faces and expect shame to do the job?” Bitterness in the rhetorical questions and examples. ”Their mindset is what hurts them; the belief that they must choose and seek power alone-- to be nothing more than just another blade wielding soldier with no heart or desires of their own is destroying the Shinigami and is increasing the number of Vaizard.”

Nearly solid green eyes met Jian’s own as she glanced over her shoulder, the bright aqua color marred by the ring of red about the outer iris. ”It comes from within, Oreachi-san.That split. That moment where something they cannot bear takes a new life of its own and drags them down to destruction, that is what makes someone a Vaizard-- and they don’t even understand why it happens until it does.” The moment where duty and desire conflicts so strongly that one is sacrificed and repressed to the point it becomes a seed ready to bloom into self-destruction.

”Think, Oreachi-san, what is it that makes us strong and persevere?” She dropped her hand to her heart. Lifted it to tap two fingers to her skull. ”Logic and responsibility, sentiment and desire; combining the two opposites together in order to pave the way to a brighter future.” A wane smile, troubled and distant, distracted cast his direction. ”That’d be what our purpose is as the bridge between; to show and teach them that they don’t have to lose their feelings, to bury them and their fears, anxieties, and positive emotions-- their desire to love and connect and feel-- in order to be a ‘good’ soldier for the Seireitei.”

To help Seireitei recover the heart they’d left behind after Tova Diablo’s assault and Miki Sakamoto’s betrayal ripped them apart.

Her smile vanished. ”I hope you can fulfill such a promise should I become anything like Tova Diablo.” She answered gently, sadly, and with a steel beneath it all that suggested she knew just a little of what that future might look should she fall. Her heart pounded steadily. Sour bile hot in her throat and mouth. Help. Hate. Ignore. Leave. Stay. Forgive. Forget. Stay. Go. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to move forward?

Was she even meant to-- was it even possible to move on after all he had done?

”Failing.” She broke the silence and whatever Jian may have been mulling over in his own mind and heart at the time. Looked at him over her shoulder again with the same brittle and self-deprecating look of helplessness and embarrassment that she’d worn so often around him.

Failing him.

Failing Seireitei.

Failing Earth.

Failing those she loved and wished to protect.

Failing Kenshou.

Failing Obsession.

Failing herself and all that she had worked so hard to overcome only to have it come to naught in the end.

Failure and the consequences that would result.

”That’s what I’m afraid of; failing.”

Such a complex set of fears summarized in a single, simple word.


–
WC: 924 \\ 5227

Jian held on for dear life at first, sure that Asgard had chosen the path in particular to make it the most difficult and painful but soon the joke wore itself out and he settled in. Sekai was angry at the Shinigami, she'd seen far too much of the bad to feel any other way. Jian didn't think the issue was the Shinigami, but their direction, but he was content to let her get it off her chest much the same. At her command his power was wrapped tightly around himself and concealed, if there was one talent that he had learned it was in obscuring his reiatsu, keeping it from harming the people around him. After what Takua had taught him it was simple enough to for all intents and purposes vanish admist the battlefield. He remarked on what an interesting ruse she'd conjured up.

"I don't need to reach into their aura and mind to read their emotions," he said in reply to what he felt was a rather stupid question. He actually felt a hint of annoyance at her, were those directed at him? Had reading emotions ever helped her in dealing with him? Responsibility for perfection in these interactions was always seemingly laid at his feet. "It's one thing to see how they feel by reading it directly, it's another to find the root of that pain. I suppose I just feel if they aren't opening up to me enough to share how they feel, by displaying it in some way, how could I ever possibly help them anyway?" Some people didn't want to be helped. "Their mindset isn't alone in this world, it isn't just Shinigami who feel the same, the rank and file stuff maybe but..."

He cut himself off when she looked towards him. He didn't really get what she was saying about Vaizards. A fracture, sure, but then a willingness to fall somewhere inside. He had a feeling almost everyone held that weakness somewhere in their hearts.

He returned her smile at the hopeful message. Strength wasn't just in power, it was in their righteous use of it, that sort of thing that drew others to him. This message was in the very heart of the KSN, the real strength of unity that had brought them here today to lend their strength to the Shinigami, to put an end to Obsession. It might not have been how he put it, but as he thought of Takua he knew that they would have to show the Shinigami another way.

"You're rather focused on the possibility of that reality Sekai. I don't get it." He shook his head. "If you don't wish to become a monster, then choose not to. No matter what happens please do not forget that doing the right thing, doing the wrong thing, it's always a choice. No matter what you feel compels you one way or the other." He sighed loudly, not irritated but resigned. "I will. I would in a heartbeat, do not fear that." He'd promised that to her three times now.

The silence lingered for a time, Jian focused his mind elsewhere like on the approach and the consequences of a decision he'd already made. Her voice broke that silence, although only barely. She was near silent but he heard it just the same. Failure, he actually smiled although hopefully for reasons she wouldn't take offense to. Wasn't that always the fear? The same one she'd helped him conquer, she herself fell victim to.

"Does this fear serve as your armor?" he asked, continuing on. "Do you feel it strengthens you or keeps you focused to the things that matter? The people that matter?" He waved his hand to suggest it wasn't something he intended to be answered, his point should have been self-evident. "At a certain point you have to decide whether or not this is a thing that must be done, and if you've resigned yourself to its inevitability, shrug off the things that weaken you, ignore everything that runs counter to that purpose and commit yourself to what must be done."

"I should be truly terrified, but I'm not and it isn't because I am ignorant. Everything that hangs in the balance, all these lives, all the people I might have been able to save had we done things one way or the other. It is a crushing weight, if I chose to bear it, I would be paralyzed by that weight, powerless. I cannot allow to bear that weight now. In time, when all is settled there will be a time to feel that fear, to grieve and mourn my failings and learn the lessons that are weighting for me, but it isn't now."

"Don't worry about what might happen, don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Do what you know is right, commit yourself to that wholly, and if you do that then no matter the outcome you couldn't possibly have failed."

He turned towards her. "I believe in you Sekai, no matter what happens know that among everything else I will be there cheering you on." He smiled and turned away. "I've got your back, from here on out, always."

"Besides, what kind of story would this be if the good guys didn't win?"

884/5561

The annoyance was understandable, but, then again... Jian was someone who took the majority of things as they appeared before him. The finer nuances hidden behind the words, the intentions that lay behind a smile and good natured overture of 'friendship'."Learning to find what lies beneath a smile, or scowl, is the difference between being slain in your own bed by someone you loved and trusted, and buying yourself precious seconds necessary to come up with a way to stay that blade long enough to get away." Sekai returned. That future was a bleak one, and she wished... she so dearly wished that Jian would never have to encounter the kind of two faced double-speak that would be so very common from this point forward in his life. Especially when dealing with the Shinigami.

"If you genuinely wish for change and to help them, how are you to do so when you don't wish to look past the surface of the water's reflection to see what lies beneath?"

Fleetingly, she thought of Hi-to, again, of Tokiyo and the front, the mask he clung to, of herself and Takua and Obsession. Of so many more. Seryu... Nazomi... how many people had she met that were inherently struggling, torn between what they wanted and what they were forced to believe, to accept was their lot in life? "Sometimes, Oreachi-san, you have to take the initiative to help when the other person doesn't even realize they're in dire need of it-- or worse; they feel they're unworthy and unable to ask." Ahh, was that not the bitterest pill to have to swallow and acknowledge? How many times, she wondered, had he ever run into a situation where he'd wanted to reach out and something prevented him? Some insidious whisper in the back of his mind that said he wasn't allowed to ask for help. That he wasn't deserving and would only get in someone else's way and burden them if he spoke up, reached out?

Or, worse; what if he just dragged those people down with him?

"The wrong decision will turn me down the same path even though I believed that choice is the right one; and that will just--." She countered. Frustration, helplessness at being unable to convey just what it was that had led those who'd Broken up to that point into words. A feeling, a decision so incredibly strong and yet so deceptively simple that would alter their very existence and mind. "He, Obsession that is, faced that decision. It wasn't... I can't put it into words; I just know there is a moment and can barely grasp its impact even thought I see and experience it through his eyes." And it was coming for her. Farther away than she thought. Sooner than she would ever know.

"If there were time, I would show you, let you experience for yourself why I... what the hell is that?!" She cut herself off. Asgard roared, claws digging furrows into the ground as he skidded to a jerking, halting stop. Dust kicked up in a pale brown cloud behind them, sediment settling beneath their feet as Sekai turned her eyes toward the monstrous swell of black-and-amethyst energy stretching onward, higher and higher and higher toward the heavens. Horror filled her expression as she threw her senses open, honed them to a razor's keen edge in sharpness, and flung them toward the energy.

Destruction. Death. Anger. Hate. Disgust. Fury and resolve and regret. Lives, barely flickering and so very dim compared to the overwhelming suns, vanished with a scream of protest so very like those in Karakura. Consumed in the swell of power. Offered and fueled as the black monolith began to sway. That was an abomination.

A second swell of power, ragged and desperate, pierced through and battled-- laced with black and dark red-- for dominance as it pierced through the skies above.

Takua.

His life was flickering. Will to live rapidly fading. Broken. Defeated. Still standing until the next cascade of words and attacks would tear him to pieces he wouldn't recover from.

"Jian." Her hands rested upon the golem's curved shoulders as she urged him forward. Faster. Faster as the world blurred to speed around them. A stomach lurching heave of pressure and gravity protesting the sudden move from ground to rooftops. "Go. Now." Tiles shattered beneath the golem's weight as he flung himself headlong at full speed toward the smoldering remnants of the battlefield. To where The End would truly begin for some, if not all of them. Swallowed hard against a throat thick with terror and anger and so many more complicated emotions even her own sense of self-awareness couldn't begin to name them all swirling about as they where.

Her gaze was steady as she nodded to him over her shoulder. One look. A multitude of words. Pleading to save and protect their mutual instructor from those who had no right to kill him. The ashen color of her face gave away the anxiety in her decision to let him go on ahead even for a mere few precious seconds.

"I'm only one step behind."

–
WC: 859 \\ 6086
Total WC: 6086
GP Earned: 121