Look...I'm Sorry [Closed/Janus]

Janus, on the other hand.  Looked much less like a barbecued charcoal briquette than when she had gone to the hospital, and a might set less bloody.  She was wearing a scort and with a shirt that said, "Hotter than your brother." Obviously a joke, she was walking down the street talking to Johan in Italian, who was currently annoyed about how she was still couch surfing at Yuki's.    Unlike Janus, who seemed adamant about looking towards the future, Johan was a man of the past through and through.  He turned to look in the direction that Raphael was coming from and then vanished from Janus' sight.  Janus looked around for a second and really wished that she could do that.  

Her hair was longer than normal, attributed to the healing she had received, prior to the multitude of beatings from her new black-robed master.    Though Janus was not one for theatrics, she made sure to wonder over to Karakura park the moment her divination had pinged Raphael.  If anything was going to happen, she really proffered it to not be in a populated space.  She stopped for coffee cause she knew she had a few minutes till he showed up.  She grabbed him whatever he was going to ask for if he had and then sat down at one of the tables and looked up towards the cliff.  The top of which used to house the bed and breakfast and sighed, taking a sip of her drink and waiting.

Raphael on the other hand, would have felt Johan leave.  Johan was a Quincy, and not very good at hiding it at all.  The moment he had vanished from Janus' sight by way of Hirenkyaku, his reiatsu had sent probably a notice to everyone in a five mile radius that he was going.  Janus had never seen him fight, but knew he used a sword and a projectile of some kind.   As she waited she tossed her soul across the table out of a sense of growing morbid curiosity. She hopped over and sat down, taking the coffee from her brother. "Janus" looked annoyed with an air of arrogance that only seemed to get more powerful by the day.

The twins waited for Raphael and Janus waved at him from her seat, holding up the coffee, which to normal people would have been floating.  Her brother on the other hand, did not even grace Raphael with the time of day by simply looking through him.  As if he was a worthy enough being to simply be in his vision.  Janus often wondered what dead people think about, she was pretty sure her brother just thought about how much of a bad ass he was.  Which was interesting, cause she still had not ever beat anything in a fight.

"Long day?" The diviner asked Raphael as he approached.

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476

He felt another presence as Raphael approached, though it was heading in the opposite direction. Stranger still it was a quincy that was leaving the vicinity. Why would a quincy be visiting Janus of all people? It seemed slightly suspicious to him, but it wasn’t his place to judge. He was simply here for an apology. That was…all that he needed to do.

Want me to take care of things from here?
‘I’d rather you didn’t. I’m the one that needs to apologize.’
You’re no fun.
‘I can’t trust you.’

As he approached her he noticed that she had a coffee in her hand, and her brother was holding another. He nodded to her and ignored her brother in his entirety, and approached the table as a chair of rocks formed. Ever since that day that Jeremy had awoken, truly awoken, Raphael had noticed several changes, one of the biggest was that he looked younger, especially in the face. Wrinkles, and worry lines had vanished making him go from looking like he was in his late twenties, to and early twenty two. He was fresh faced again, though he looked rather tired.

“Long week, more like,” he quickly replied sitting down. “Met quite a few people…” He had made a very special note the moment that he’d seen her. She wasn’t injured anymore, and looked as though she was back to full strength. Several warning flags jumped into his mind almost immediately, but he didn’t want to start with that.

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing well. I… I had to find you cuz I wanted to talk and to…apologize for what happened.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m… I’m sorry about what happened the your bed and breakfast. Something… Came out of me, is the best way to describe it. Though, I’m sure that you know that already…” He watched her before adding, “If I can get the materials for it then I’m sure I can fix it in a week or two!”

Let me talk… I can find out who healed them.
‘NO, would you stop asking to be let out?! You know that there’s no chance in hell.’

“Also…and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that you’re back to normal, but who on Earth healed you? The level of skill is… Frightening. It seems to much for even the quincy who left…”

Words: 398

Janus shrugged at the comment and tugged on her chain to pull her body back over her, leaving her obnoxious brother to wallow in the throes of his hatred of anyone that seemed to be below him.  Which was honestly a good thing cause she did not need her face burnt off again.  "Don't worry about it." She said frankly.  "If you had not have dismantled it, eventually something was going to.  Still less than what the nightmare was going to do to it.  Why fix it, seemed dam strong to me.  If it had wanted me dead, I would have been a lot worse than I was." She asked curiously.  "Plus I should be thanking you two, if he hadn't have woken up I don't think I'd ever have been able to use magic." 

Janus pointed out as a matter of general principles.  She thought about what kind of thing she could get at.  "Don't actually know who healed me.  Just got a big scary face and probably has a long sad story." Janus said laughing.  It was true, she knew little to nothing about her swordsmanship teacher.  The man would tell her about black robes and other things for days.  Feed extra information to her that she found useful, but he tended to ignore anything and everything when it came to himself.  Aside from you know, the fact she was relatively sure that if he looked at her hard enough she would get squished under his willpower alone.   Too many people, too much danger, and still no victories in her corner.  She rolled her shoulders, more as a gesture of making sure her brother had shut the hell up and then reached down to sip at her coffee.

"Congratulations on your expanding network of individuals.  I'm tempted to open an information brokerage for mages and invisibles.   Seemed like it could be fun.  Post about it online.  Disguise it as a new restaurant.  Less threatening garbage than the KSN."  She stopped for a second.  "You're a friend of the Queen, what do you know about Johan Saint and Harakita Yuki.  Apparently I've had two Quincy around me for years."   She asked, changing the subject to something less somber.

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368

He sipped on some coffee himself, listening. She spoke the truth, as she saw it, which was really all that Raphael could ever ask anyone like that. But when she talked about thanking the both of them he snickered bitterly.

"Don't thank him," he muttered. "He's already got a big enough head as it is, don't want it to get worse."

Now that's not very nice!

"Though I'm glad that we were able to do something that could help you to awaken this inner power of yours. As it is, that's the best news about this thing that I've gotten." And he pointed at his own head as if pointing with a gun.

You're a fucking asshole, you know that? Here I thought I could make you stronger and yet-!
'If you'd shut up so that I can conentrate on what I'm saying then we might be able to get to the point where you can make me stronger. As it is, you aren't the subject nor topic of conversation.'

Raphael didn't know any individuals of this description, but he had a feeling that one, he didn't want to know, and that two he was a real piece of work. He kept sipping at the coffee, not entirely sure if what he was doing was a good thing. Yet her comment made him chuckle.

"I've met more people and made a rather burgeoning, if unfortunate network." But her second comment stopped him dead. "Janus, you can handle yourself now, but I want to tell you something really important: be careful in who you trust in this new world. A lot of individuals in it will claim that they're your friend when in reality they just want to use you for everything you have. I like this idea of yours, but be very delicate in its implementation. In this world knowledge is even more powerful than you'd believe. The KSN are next to nothing compared to some of the other threats out there."

He pondered for a moment. "Well, though I'm close to the Queen of the quincy, I'm not privvy to, nor do I pry into whom she sends where or for what reason. It's entirely possible that your abilities were discovered and they were sent to watch after you. How often do they meet with you?" He'd ask about the man with the long face another time.

Words: 398

Janus shrugged and thought about Raphael's comments.  There were a few she wanted to immediately address and a few she did not.  "If there are threats, I haven't met them and to be honest I do not really care about what they do or how."  She said.  That was simply more information she would sell later.  That's the kind of person that she was, she did what she could.  Which was not much, but it was still there.  She could not handle herself though.  That was painfully obvious, the first time she had used a weapon power she had gotten royally thrashed, which basically summed up everything.  Janus was still completely worthless.

She finished her coffee and sighed.  She thought about Johan and Yuki and was suddenly annoyed.  "I met Yuki when I showed up, he worked at Tokei with me, been around since I got to Japan.  Kind of a tool, uses a yo-yo and a compound bow." Janus aid explaining the younger of the two to Raphael before going on. "Johan, is different.  I've never seen his weapon, in any future I try to he kills me quicker than I think.  His family was killed, and not by hollow, by normal humans."  She said with a hint of regret in her voice.  "I met him, a year ago, he was just 'walking through' as he put it. He stayed at Tokei Aruki and comes around everyone once in a while.  Doesn't talk much and when he does he just seems somber and quiet."  Janus mentioned to Raphael, if he knew enough about the Queen he had probably heard of them.

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272

He nodded. “I can appreciate that. Too many people in this world are quick to jump to the offensive or defensive.” Then with a smile he added. “I just wanted to let you know. I didn’t get much induction into this world when I first entered it. Took a super hero, and I’m not kidding a literal super hero, till I learned some of this shit.” How he wished that he was joking on that one, lord… He still wondered what had happened to his friend… He’d healed him and then bowed out of the world

“I mean, shit, if you really wanted I could tell you all kinds of stories.” Then he chuckled. “Though I doubt you’d want to hear them.”

She explained first about Yuki, and while that didn’t ring a bell, it certainly made him curious. He’d been around since she’d gotten to Japan? That could not have been a coincidence. Either Yuki had sensed Janus’ latent power, and had decided to stay around so that she could have some protection, or something along those lines. Johan, though, from the way she described him he was dangerous.

Raph nodded, though. “Yeah, I’ve known a lot of people mortals that are dangerous, spiritually aware and not.” And ran with a few of them back in my time. But that wasn’t important anymore. It was in the past. “He sounds… I think I’ve heard of him before, but I’d have to double check with Frey. If memory serves, he’s just a tad dangerous, but who nowadays isn’t?”

He turned away from her for a second, looking at a group of people walking past the park. “I still remember when this was a nice place to come and visit. I never noticed your place atop the hill whenever I came for a visit to Karakura… Then again, I never really explored all that much. I tended to stick to downtown.”

Then he smiled at her. “I hope that you can get this new…brokerage going. It might help more people stay alive!” He was still ignoring some of the more sensitive topics.

Words: 351

Janus thought about that.  She was not going to stay alive, what made Raphael think she could do the same for others.  Janus was really in the mood to do this for leverage.  Plus it would give her an advantage which was something she sorely needed.  She would have gladly listened to his stories as that was more information she could sell and that kind of thing was normal.  Super heroes, mages, Invisibles, no matter what you called them they were all just really fricken dangerous.  That was how Janus was starting to think.  Half of them were unbalanced and some of them had power equivalent to a bomb on steroids, heroine, and crack.

That small sentiment she thought was pretty funny but things were bad no matter how it looked.  She sighed and wondered what kind of things she could do to make this more normal.   Janus thought about both a restaurant or a small office building.  She could get a cute secretary and look far more approachable than she looked.  Though that was rather easy, just be not her.  Janus looked at the park and was going to comment on Raphael's point that most people missed Tokei Aruki when it had been there.  Nothing new, Janus had picked the place to be out of the way, lot of good that had done. 

"This place is a hellhole.  Destroyed yearly by supernatural disasters caused by people who have no concept or forethought.  Keeping people alive for me, is pretty much impossible, but if I can start holding everything at ransom with information or make myself too valuable to kill, I might be better off."  Janus said in her immediate response.   "Unless there were people besides the nightmare on the same level as half the people I've come into contact with, there's no chance of it remaining alright."  She pointed out.  "But stories would be fun, that would give me more stuff to sell.   Means I'll have to gamble my way up." She said and yawned.  "Anyway.   What are you going to do in the immediate future, get engaged?" Janus said jokingly.

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352

Raphael shrugged. “It might be a hellhole, but people keep coming back. They rebuild. They start life again. They thrive. And you make a good point. Making yourself more important with information. Knowledge is still power in this world even more so. But… I don’t know if you’ll ever be too valuable for someone.” The face of Nazomi flashed through his mind, albeit briefly, and he shivered. Again, he shrugged. “I was just offering. You don’t have to take my offer. I’m only here to help, honestly. I’ve had to go it alone, and kept getting my ass kicked so whenever I can help another spiritualist I take it.”

Hm. She hopes to stay alive by bartering for information?
‘As useful a survival strategy as any in this world.’
You can’t really believe that.

Her question, though, caught him off guard, but he didn’t have to think at all, though he still blushed a bit. “I might not say immediate, immediate, but I am indeed planning on proposing sooner rather than later, yes.” Then blushing a bit more fiercely, he said, “And I would appreciate it that, if you know who I’m talking about, that it stays between you and I.”

Then he leaned back in thought. “Stories… Well the first and most important would probably be about Adimus, the hero of Midgard. He was one of the most powerful mortals that I ever met. He helped to train what was to become the next defenders of Earth, bit of a superhero fetish dressed up as one. He even helped in creating a group of similar humans called Vigilance.” He pointed at the tower that sat halfway used. There was talk of dismantling it, but some people were still going in and out. He didn’t go in anymore. Didn’t want someone to think that they were back. “They’ve been more or less dismantled following the departure of their leadership.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been around the world and have stories of all kinds of things, but I didn’t exactly come here to talk to you about that.” With a quick movement he took a sip of the coffee and smiled. “So, how are things going since you awakened to the rest of your abilities? Any training?” Then he smiled a little. “Wanna go a round?”

Words: 384

Janus shrugged at Raphael's point that he was indeed going to propose.  She figured after he had mind attached to her, which she really did not want to do anytime soon, though it gave her brother a boost to the energy he had which in and of itself might be worth it.  Plus, there were very few who could actually do so, and supercharge him.  Janus wondered what kind of wedding a Queen and a super-telekinetic would have.   Probably way too religious or monotonous for her tastes.  Maybe she should run for the hills before the Queen decided to make her be the royal chef for the day.  That was a joke.  Chance of that happening were definitely slim.

"Vigilance, the KSN, more useless super-humans who are convinced they know everything.  Hence why I want to be an information broker, plus, even if you make a new group.  Who will protect everyone else, from you.  Even if you are protecting them from things that are worse, how long before people become the KSN all over again.  How long until some broke mask blows Karakura or some other city up?  How long until someone too angry to understand right and wrong goes on a rampage?"  The line of questioning made sense at least to her.  She let it go at that. Maybe that was her calling, who watches the watchmen?  The question lingered at the back of her head.

"Some, not enough to do much good against someone as bad ass as you, but I'm always down for a round or two.  Remember its a little harder for me cause I have to charge the batteries.  So if you can make sure I got enough juice left if I need it later, I'm down."  That part was true, she could easily let off steam getting her ass kicked by Raphael, but if he drained her brother's battery, he would leave her weakened.   So she stood up and then relaxed, she tapped her foot a few times, to an beat that could not be heard.  Head's up! The music starting playing after she tapped her feet four times.  Each time her body grew more out of sync with her soul, like her brother had done usually.   The music, was chosen obviously for Jeremy from "Janus"

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382
Release ::
State :: Human

Raphael smiled as she spoke. How many times had he said the same thing to Adimus before he’d made the Vigilance? How many times had he continued to say it while being part of that organization? It was something that even he’d been concerned about, as there was always the possibility of it occurring, always the possibility that one of them could go mad with power.

“I won’t lie to you, Janus,” he said shaking his head. “When Adimus first came to me about forming Vigilance, I was skeptical and hesitant as well. I had many of the same doubts and thoughts. I was always concerned about one of us losing ourselves to our power, about an arrancar blowing up another city. I won’t allow us to become another Karakura Spiritual Network. I won’t allow that to happen. I don’t think that the founder of the KSN wanted it to become what it is today…” There was a twinge of sadness at the end of his words. He remembered hearing about the KSN and what it truly should have been. In the end he didn’t let it bother him. He wasn’t here for that.

“Someone as bad ass as me?” he smiled and had to hold back from laughing. “I’m not all that impressive, actually. Especially not now. I used to have more raw strength about a year or so ago.” And he chuckled.

He got to his feet with her and readied himself. Only fists. Couldn’t risk damage to the city. But when the music started Raph started laughing.

Oooohohoho that little COCKSUCKER!!
‘I think its kind of funny. But you know that you aren’t coming out, right?’
I know! I know! But still…

He smiled, and shook out his limbs. “Don’t worry. If worst comes to worst I’ll just connect to your head again. Last time I did it, you seemed to gain a lot of power.” He raised his fists. “This’ll be a good way to test your training. Ok, I’m ready whenever you are!”

Words: 338

Janus started by hopping to losen up a bit, her soul dragging her body a fraction of a second behind it.  Each time she hopped to the beat or made an action it formed a small seismic shock wave.  Once she was sure she was moving to the beat and the shock waves were a bit more pronounced, Janus held her arms at her side and flexed her fists, bringing them up and shifting lightly.  She slammed the air in front of her on the beat before 'you don't know me like that' and watched the energy coalesce into a small wave of fragmented reioroyku.

Janus waited for the music to begin hitting beats, and each time it did she began throwing her soul to a different location and catching up with it.  Almost like a warm up if you had to put a phrase to what she was doing.  The moment the hard beat was about to catch at four measures, she hopped twice and then threw her soul right next to Raphael, slamming into it as she punched at his right chest.  Janus seemed to have a better grasp on how music moves my soul worked.  All the actions occurred as the music beat at the word Cadillac.   The shock wave, was far further enhanced than before.  Stacking the actions, as she now know what they were doing and how had been intentional.

Tossing her soul around was basically bread and butter for Janus at this point, she just did not like using it with people that had not seen it before.  She wondered how much different Raphael's reactions were without his hollow, or she would have but her brother was being annoying at the moment.  Something about more insults, Janus did not really care at the moment as she was currently trying to punch something.

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308

He watched her as she limbered up, hopping to a beat of music that seemed to pound a bit in his head. It was annoying Jeremy so, bonus points. She stretched and flexed a bit too, before releasing a small shockwave of energy. Raphael was impressed. She’d come much closer to mastering her abilities in a shorter time than anyone he’d ever known. Still he’d have to be careful to not use any destructive techniques.

Then she did something he didn’t expect: literally tossing her soul and then her body catching up with it. She did this to different beats, no doubt allowing this to act as something of a warm up.

‘What on Earth is this?’
This is her version of quick movement. Not as flashy or useful as mine or even yours. But it seems to get the job done.
‘A bit dangerous but, yeah…’

Despite her superior speed, he was able to keep her in his line of sight, until suddenly she tossed her soul just off to his right.

‘That really is fascinating…’
Three thirty!
‘I know, I see her. I just have to…’
Don’t think! Act!

Unbidden he suddenly pivoted forward, barely moving his arm in between her punch and its intended target, his chest. Still the shockwave kept going, hitting his arm hard and he winced in pain.

Bruised bones and some torn muscle. Don’t give an inch. This will heal.

Using the momentum from his earlier move, he turned suddenly and swung right at her with his left. He was hoping that she dodged this, but it wasn’t like he was moving all that fast. He was still cursing himself for how weak he’d gotten, though. This was inexcusable. Every second that he wasted in moving to swing, he cursed himself for and every nanosecond that his fist moved slowly through the air aggravated him. Still… He would have to suffer through this to get better. He could do it. He knew he could.

Words: 331