How about we attack a Wal-mart? Charlotte & Astrid

[Astrid Vess]

Today was a day. Or rather today was becoming a day. And you may be wondering to yourself, what kind of day was it becoming? Surely most of Astrid's days tended to be the same right? She'd be in the forest, collect a few "fruits" from the trees. Go hunt with her pack. Manage a few kills but ultimately get killed. Perhaps test out her capabilities with Samson since he'd come at her moment of need against . . . "her". Given Astrid never got a name. . . or never understood her name if she did get it. Simple right? Oh, wait but we're forgetting that Alastor has his hands in manipulating Astrid's life like it was an on-demand entertainment show. Still, he'd stopped doing that after she'd gained her new level of power right? . . . Right? Hahahaha . . . No. No instead that meant Alastor wanted to see even more of what she had become capable of. Whatever his reasons weren't spoken to Astrid. . . Or she didn't listen.



So needless to say the on demand entertainment that Alastor decided? He wanted to throw Astrid into a place where she'd without a doubt lose her fucking mind. But it wasn't because she would be feeding off the . . . degenerate clientel, no no Alastor had different plans. See he'd noticed that Astrid was gaining a vocabulary. Or at least attempting to string more words together so of course because Astrid couldn't really string together sentences well then she needed to get more experience. Specifically experience talking with people. Thus in Alastor's infinite wisdom he'd sent her to Wal-Mart. Astrid couldn't even begin to tell you what in the FUCK this place was but she could tell you that even she had to be careful about who she'd eat here. . . if she were allowed to.



Why? Because the caliber of soul here was so abhorrently . . . well shit meant that it was like breathing. She'd eat someone and get nothing out of it. Hell half the workers present seemed as they were the living dead. Like this "Wal-Mart" had found a way to suck out the souls from them or at least their spiritual energy and make them just sacks of meat. To that point Astrid was actually impressed. . . Especially considering that she wasn't certain if Hell could do the same. Then again though Astrid never truly went out and searched the circles. Frankly she just couldn't be asked if she were honest. She wasn't quite strong enough when she couldn't even beat the upper half of her own resident circle.



Thus, brings us to the present. Astrid had been forced into a gigai. And not just any gigai but one of comparable size to her that looked like she was just fresh into high school. The first several minutes of realizing what she'd been forced into were screams of damn near bloody murder in the employee restroom at the back of the store. She was still under 5 feet tall, damn near skin and bones, and frankly she could swear she felt far weaker than she wanted to admit. But to make matters worse her tree that had all her spirits and the flowers within? Yea that was again changed to a tattoo. And worse yet it was a cute and minimal detail tattoo. One that spread across the entirety of her backside. While the vines were black the flowers were bright vibrant colors such as sky blue, lavender, pink, light yellow, and so many more. Had it not been for Astrid frowning and growling from deep in her chest she would look like the perfect air headed teenager.



Instead she looked livid and was subjecting her new, far less sharpened teeth, to her wrath. Along with her well manicured nails being forcibly dug into her palms. Astrid could swear if she listened closely she could hear that bastard laughing his ass off. Oh she'd make him pay, she'd wring his fucking neck into nonexistence. She just needed an opportunity. Sadly she wasn't given the chance as her boss for the day, a far taller and far older woman called Karen walked up to her. Orders were near barked at her and Astrid had to think harder than she'd like to admit to understand exactly what she said. Though the paper in her hand and the cart full of merchandise that she given, which mind you was about a foot and some change taller than her, she eventually realized her task was to just put them in the right spots. Her anger was rising again but Astrid knew that she couldn't leave. And if she killed them all Alastor might do something. . . so she had to attempt to work.



When she looked at the paper she realized she couldn't read it. A quick mental growl and Astrid managed to find out some unfortunate soul had actually the means to read the paper and thus the wisp and several others were summoned up. Same with her reliable canine companion. Though like her, the moment it was summoned and smelled the air, it looked upset. Astrid pat it on the head knowing full well that nothing of edible value was here. In the meantime however she got it to push the cart and followed the wisp who could read the piece of paper. Apparently the first thing was . . . Arts and crafts supplies? Astrid twisted her head at the concept of "art". The hell was an "Art"? Could it be eaten? From what she saw in the cart. . . it was in her best interest to not eat it. . . Especially this. . . "Glue". It didn't settle right with Astrid by looks alone.



With her minions summoned and assisting her, the only thing left to do was follow them around and walk to where they were supposed to go. Not like she'd know; Astrid couldn't read for shit. She could barely make out the various people that talked. The worst was yet to come though as she near immediately started to get pestered. They had. . . "Questions" and wanted to know where things were. Things she'd never heard of. Needless to say she growled out at them or threatened bloody murder if they bothered her again. Some were shocked. Many just blew her off. A few were seriously considering starting a fight from the looks of it. Sadly they too just cursed her out loudly and walked away. Much to Astrid's disappointment given she really wanted an excuse to kill all the people present here. "I. . . HATE. . . here. Grrrrr.... Worthless. . .Disgusting. . Alas. . . tor. . . GRAHHHH!!!

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{Gigai body}

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{"Tattoo" design}

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

"Charloooote!" A small child shouted beside her older sister, "we need some more fooooood!" Laughing softly to herself, Charlotte gently pat her younger sister on the head. Seems Serenity's antics were once again upon the world. Who'd've thought? Seemed that the two of them were going to have to make their way into the Human World once more for another stock-up run. Thankfully it'd been a while since the last time they had to, given they were now going on six-month intervals, but that interval had come to pass. Ah, well.

"All right," she said, standing up and closing her book, "can't say I've got anything pressing that needs to be tackled at the moment. Let's go get us some food, shall we?" Giving her sister a smile, Charlotte watched as Serenity found herself practically bouncing with giddy joy. If nothing else, this was the kind of stuff she lived to see. Nothing really gave her quite the same feeling as seeing her sister happy, that was certain. As she stood up, she turned to Serenity once more before speaking. "Just make sure you have everything before we get going. Don't want you forgetting anything like last time."

Nodding vigorously, Serenity smiled toward her sister. "Yay! Yay! Yay! Lemme go grab my wallet!" As Serenity ran off into a completely separate room, Charlotte opened a garganta, and awaited her sister's return. Shortly thereafter, Serenity came running out, now dressed somewhat differently. "Don't forget a Gigai~!" She said cheerfully. Charlotte simply shook her head in response. "I won't be needing one," she said, "I'm coming just to keep you company."

---

As they arrived in the World of the Living, Charlotte let out a soft sigh. Seems things were very much like the last time she'd visited. Much like Las Noches, it seemed that things just never really changed. Not that she minded, but it seemed... odd. From what she'd heard, modern humans were so focused on innovation, on change; why did things like a simple grocery store stay the same? She couldn't really figure it out. Truth be told though, she wasn't too worried about it. She could figure out why that was the case in due time, but for now, she was focused on Serenity.

[Astrid Vess]

The process of putting items on a shelf was tedious to say the least. Especially considering Astrid after the first couple, decided against it. In fact, she threw off the "uniform", aka a vest, ate the paper, and called her summons to follow her. The moment she made the decision to stop having literally ANYTHING to do with this charade of a "training session" she was noticeably less grumpy. She was admittedly disgusted with the body still, but for now she could deal with it. Especially now that she was taking the time to check the place out. Hunting was still out of the question; this place was like a void of reiatsu. Thus, anything here couldn't be worthwhile to consume. And considering her spirits were of some capability to sense things even they confirmed just how. . . unappetizing this place was.

That is until they sensed something else. Astrid was currently roaming through the "medical" section, albeit not understanding what the hell medicine was or its use. But that's when her spirits all but stopped. The canine hollow especially grew concerned. Enough that Astrid looking at didn't need it to tell it was nearly paralyzed by fear. She narrowed her eyes as she looked over her companion. Its tail was between its legs, the eyes normally hidden in the shadows of the mask were bright and franticly looking around, it was even shaking somewhat. The biggest tell though was unironically how it kept scratching the floor with it's claws. Unironically causing ever growing marks into the concrete floor. With her concern growing some she looked over to the wisps to see if they were in similar straights.

They were close enough. They weren't shaking nor were they actively showing physical distress however they were looking around more. And to that point they were making general signs to one another to ensure no one was in sight of the source. Admittedly Astrid couldn't feel much of anything. She'd never concerned herself with feeling another's energy or reading the latent energy around. Hell's reiatsu was also incredibly potent anyway and always in your face. Thus, Astrid never truly felt the need nor actively required the means to sense what was around her. This became even more apparent once she found out her spirits had the capability to do such as well. Why sense if you had pack members to do it for you?

Astrid's stomach growled. Softly, likely due to the effects of the gigai but she could feel the hunger continuing to gnaw at the back of her mind. The instinctual beast waiting for her to submit to her desires, I.E. wantonly consuming all around her. And apparently the signs of something worth a damn made that inner beast more willing than ever to try and take over. With great willpower than she would've liked to admit it having to use, pushed back to the depths of her mind. However what replaced it though was arguably more dangerous. Astrid began to get curious. What could have so much energy that her minions were concerned of? What could be so strong HERE at this . . . place of all areas. And how was it that if something was so strong that she could not sense it herself? Orobas and Alastor were potent in their own right and being near them enough did give her at least a sense of the power they held. Or maybe they were showing off. Typical Akki to swagger around the "power" they've collected. Astrid began growling to herself at the thought alone of those two, especially Alastor who was the cause of this mess.

That's when Astrid came to realize something. What did it matter whatever was present? Her spirits would be fine. They'd simply return to her. And herself? She'd be respawned into Hell, hopefully her Suicide Forest. The frown and frustration slowly melted off of her as this train of thought continued. She needed to find this individual. If only to get herself killed. It was perfect because if the person was as strong as her spirits made her out to be then she should have no time at all killing her. Especially with as, unfortunately weak, as Astrid was. Without further time wasted Astrid summoned out a horde of draconic hollow chicks. She then looked over her group. 4 hollow chicks, her trusted canine, and 5 wisps. She nodded to herself. With a loud growl she ordered them to spread throughout the store and signal out when they found the being in question.

At least that order was for the wisps and 3 of the chicks. The last chick remaining and her canine companion she held close to herself. That way there would be no mistaking who summoned the spirits. Not that Astrid herself was really hiding the use of her reiatsu but with as cheap as they were. . . it really wasn't more than a blip on the radar of anyone who could sense reiatsu. With the respective orders given Astrid slowly started to strut from the medicine section to the produce on the other side of the store. A simple straight line for her with only the various check outs and other individuals between her and the produce. Astrid herself knew not where the source of this concern was but for the first time since she'd gotten here she was smiling. She'd return to her realm soon enough, all she needed was some help to get there.

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

"Charlotte," Serenity spoke, a somewhat worried tone of voice now taking hold, "I... I think there's someone nearby." Naturally, these words brought about a disgruntled sigh to the Espada. They'd only made it about halfway through the cereal isles before something like this was starting to happened. She couldn't say she was surprised, but for something to actively expose itself like that? Must've had some nerve, with her being around. "Not a problem, Serenity," she spoke matter-of-factly, "we can take care of it. Do you know where it's coming from?"

As if on queue, as soon as she finished speaking, Serenity immediately pointed her finger toward... Something. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but it looked alive. Well, more or less. More ethereal than anything else, but oh so interesting regardless. "That," Serenity spoke, "is what I've been sensing all over the store. It feels almost... everywhere. I don't like it." With that, Serenity seemed to almost cower behind her shopping cart. Looking at the state of her sister, Charlotte grew visibly upset. She wasn't about to have any of this.

"Serenity, sweetheart," she spoke, though softly this time, "would you be willing to help me find the source of these... ghosts? I promise you I won't let them bring even a lick of harm to you." Noticing her younger sister meekly nod, and start walking away from the cereal, Charlotte followed in suit. She didn't let her attention toward the whisp; frankly, she didn't care if it followed her. More than anything else, she just wanted to find whatever the source of this spiritual energy was, and have it dealt with as quick as possible.

As the two of them wandered through the store, weaving in between shopping customers, Charlotte and Serenity eventually made their way to the store's pharmacy. Not that either of them had any particular connection to the area; they more just wanted to find out just what the hell was going on. Within a few short moments of arriving, Serenity immediately pointed a few isles away. "Lottie, look!" Turning her eyes to her sister's point, Charlotte saw it; seemed like a younger girl, surrounded by some sort of spirits. None of which looked natural when compared to the Human World. This had to be the source.

"Stay here," Charlotte urged, "I'll take care of this. Just please, don't wander too far." After her younger sister nodded, Charlotte began to walk over toward the "human" girl. As she did, with each step, her reiatsu began to flare, almost forcing to crush humans around all of them; not nearly enough to even put a damper on Astrid's movement, but enough for it to be noticeable.

Approaching the girl, whether she turned around or not, Charlotte crossed her arms the moment she was upon her. "Who in the hell do you think you are," Charlotte said, "interrupting my sister's shopping trip? Did you not feel my presence originally? Do you know nothing of the Arrancar whose space you're encroaching upon?"

[Astrid Vess]

For once, things went exactly as Astrid wanted without a hitch. One of her wisps very quickly found the pair of arrancar and had let out a loud scream so that Astrid on the other side of the store could hear. Given Charlotte wasn't concerned about the wisp only Serenity was likely to catch on that the wisp originally didn't have a mouth. . . So, when it created a mouth, it wasn't a terribly pleasant experience. From its smooth and round face, wrinkles started to form but quickly the lower portion of the face ripped apart. Had the being had blood it most certainly would have bled, instead however it looked akin to shredded sinew and flesh with sharp spikes for teeth inside. As for the scream? It could only really be described as shrill and screeching, only making it far clearer that this wasn't anything normal by even hollow standards.

However, despite its grotesque mouth formation and it's concerning appearance it simply did nothing but follow the two on their way to Astrid. Albeit if Charlotte cared to look at it, she'd realize it was still incredibly tense but not aggressively. If anything, it looked poised to run at a moment's notice, namely because of her. Who was all it focused on. Astrid in the meantime had her eyes widen and smiled maliciously before starting to run towards the scream. She bumped into a few people as did her canine companion, though it did so a bit more aggressively towards those Astrid bumped into. Thus before she knew it she was before the two arrancar and smiling all the while. Finally. . . Death. . At this point the pair would easily have become surrounded by the hollow chicks and the remaining wisps, though like the first one, they all looked very concerned. Most of which towards Astrid as they all knew she had no sensory faculties.

Still when the elder of the two started to walk towards her Astrid hummed with excitement. She was very visibly upset. Likely due to Astrid's summon, though surprisingly she didn't destroy it or do anything to it. Which once Astrid got a head count admittedly had her smile get wiped off her face in a very visibly confused fashion. She had all 10 minions. Astrid should have had her wisp killed on site if she was as powerful as the spirits gave off. Astrid almost dedicated mental power to "thinking" about the why's of the situation however Charlotte had decided to speak to her and thus Astrid decided to listen and try to interpret what she was saying. Thankfully she got some pieces. Namely "Who", "Hell", "think" and then "sister", "Feel presence", and last but most importantly "Arrancar".

The remainder of the "conversation" was lost on Astrid as she actually started to feel the energy coming off of Charlotte. Namely her gravitational pressure, which again for some reason, wasn't crushing her into oblivion. This caused Astrid to frown because she genuinely wanted to be killed on site and wasn't even going to resist. . . The output however wasn't going to manage that however, much to her displeasure. This actually caused her to growl out towards Charlotte out of frustration. Which prompted her to attempt speaking, though in her gigai it was more like she was making bad animal sounds with occasional words. "Arran. . car? Who?" She shook her head pushing her curiosity away. What that meant didn't matter. What mattered was returning to Hell. Something Charlotte was keeping her waiting on. With this in mind Astrid effectively yelled out to Charlotte between growls and visible confusion on how to get the point across. Speak by this point was very clearly not her strong suit.

". . Who you. . is. . . nothing. . Hell is where. . Return me. . Do not. . . know. . but can. . . kill. . Kill me. . Spirits. . . "think" so. . Why not?" With her piece said and her defiance and confusion apparent Astrid immediately grabbed at her own throat. Speaking still sucked. It was weird. In every form, but human forms more so than others. At least her base form sounded the same as she did in her mind. A few rubs and she shook her head frustrated, and only growing more so as time went on. If this woman wasn't going to kill her she'd . . . she'd do SOMETHING. She NEEDED to leave but couldn't do so on her own. She didn't know what to do but perhaps she'd have to do something to the alternate female? Though in truth she looked pathetic enough that Astrid really wasn't all that concerned with her. Astrid visibly brushed away the idea of Serenity even mattering to her Charlotte was all she was concerned about. And she'd find a way to get herself killed if it was the last thing she did in this godsforsaken walmart.

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

As the two girls began following the spirit that had arrived for them, Serenity visibly shivered at the sight of... whatever it was that it was doing. As Astrid's summon began to sprout a mouth, Charlotte herself remained relatively unfazed, not paying it any mind, whereas Serenity was the exact opposite. Clinging to her older sister out of immediate fear, Serenity held on tight. She didn't dare say a word to whatever that... that thing was, but instead just follow. Gently placing her arm on Serenity's shoulder, the two continued to walk on until they had found the hellion girl.

Following through with her initial plan, Charlotte walked up toward Astrid, and began to assert her presence toward the girl. Serenity, on the other hand, kept back, and watched from behind the safety of a half-full shopping cart; something that would've definitely drawn onlookers to the area, if it weren't for Charlotte's spiritual presence preventing any other than the three from getting in the area. For as long as this conversation was going to last, it was just going to be the three of them - well, the three of them and whatever Astrid decided to summon. Lord only knew what other freaky things she was going to bring into the world.

"Arran. . car? Who?" Charlotte practically began to fume from Astrid's words. "Who? Did you not hear me before, you daft child? Let me show you just whom you're toying with." As her words finished, Charlotte's crushing gravitational pressure immediately took over the area at full-force; if any unfortunate humans were nearby, they very much weren't going to be shortly thereafter. "Bear witness to the might of the Primera Espada, the strongest Hollows in all of-"

"Charlotte, stop!" The younger girl cried, rushing over and gripping her older sister's side, "I don't think she knew, please! Let her be!" Staring up at her younger sister, and practically pleading, Serenity's grip on her sister tightened. And, just like that, Charlotte's gravitational pressure had dismissed itself just as quickly as it had began. With a visibly upset, and almost ashamed look in her eyes, Charlotte crossed her eyes and turned away from Astrid.

". . Who you. . is. . . nothing. . Hell is where. . Return me. . Do not. . . know. . but can. . . kill. . Kill me. . Spirits. . . "think" so. . Why not?" Charlotte still paying the girl no mind, Serenity slowly began to approach. "Hey now," she spoke softly, looking to calm the Hellion as much as she could, "nobody's going to kill anyone, I promise. You're safe." Giving Astrid a soft smile, Serenity turned toward Charlotte once more. "I don't think she's... all there," she said, a concerned tone quite evident, "do you think we could help her?"

Almost immediately, Charlotte went up in arms. "Help her? After how she disrespected the both of us?! Serenity, I don't know who you think I-" Cutting herself off, Charlotte made note of Serenity's ever-growing pout. Sighing to herself, she spoke again, defeated. "Fine, fine. I suppose we can certainly try." With that, the younger girl smiled once more, and turned back to Astrid. "Yay! So, what's your name? You said you're from... Hell?"

[Astrid Vess]

Astrid tried as best she could to wait for some sort of answer. Something to happen or be said that would give her the answer she wanted. Turns out even letting her curiosity show about what in all the circles of hell was an "arrancar" was enough to piss off Charlotte. Especially if her body language was anything to go off of. And that was nothing compared to her rapidly rising energy output. Which surprisingly was enough that even Astrid herself could feel. But in truth what it really made her feel was anger. Bristling and bubbling anger. There was so much power here. Why was she hesitating? And for fucks sake why did she keep speaking?! Astrid herself started unconsciously leaking out her own reserves of spiritual energy in response. Which if nothing else was likely surprising considering how much her reserves.

Without even realizing it Astrid went as far as releasing her Infernus given she just kept being reminded of akki. Always swinging around authority and power like it was a fucking right. Astrid's eyes narrowed significantly as she let out a loud growl let out her full capacity of reiatsu. While her spirits were forced to their knee's Astrid defiantly stood and out of her back spawned forth another creature. A behemoth of one that made the others she had present actually look like jokes. It looked akin to a body horror being spawned out as first Samson's head tore through the back of her shirt and then an arm. And another arm. And another arm until his entire upper half was out on all six arms and the remainder of his lower body was still connected to her backside. Once he'd finally been completely summoned, he wrapped himself around Astrid with a set of 3 arms covering her front and his chest cavity to her backside, meanwhile his head hovered above hers by several feet and stared directly at Charlotte.

However, before anything could be done Serenity had spoken up and stopped the reiatsu match between the two. Much to Astrid's complete surprise and growing frustration. She was saying something though from how she was reacting Astrid could only guess she was. . . trying to get in the middle of them. And surprisingly . . . it worked. The other stopped and her energy became unsensible for Astrid again. Samson on the other hand didn't relax and his body posture didn't change. He did however look at Serenity and tilt his head before glancing back at Charlotte. This just left Astrid mentally running circles as she was so close to a fight. Or being killed. Whatever it would have turned out to be. She was utterly fuming on the inside, and it was very apparent that even if she'd stopped letting out her energy she wasn't in any better spot personally. Between her griding the gigai's teeth together, her incredibly tensed body, balled up fists, and the fact that her eyes were near pinpoints made it very apparent what she was feeling.

Her anger yet again though was soon to drop a couple levels. She didn't catch everything but what she did catch was enough to shock her into near paralysis. No killing. She wasn't going to die. She'd be left here, in where this place was. She would be waiting until Alastor finally decided to send her back. Or until she found someone else who'd kill her. She could feel what little bit of her mind wasn't trying to understand this situation scream out in fury. And before she knew it she was letting out a loud yell as well with angry tears coming out of her eyes. She'd even fallen to her knees and was pounding the floor again and again with her dainty hands. They were well manicured, slim, and soft. They were weak, just like her. And this weakness kept getting her way of doing anything. Literally fucking anything. Without even thinking she kept going at the floor despite her knuckles bleeding and the floor being literally unharmed in the process.

If there was ever a matter of question to Astrid's mental state or lack thereof, it was gone. She wasn't "there", she was partially present but still held onto by the ravenous beast. Her mind struggled to understand what was going on and it was reverting to just shutting down at this point. She couldn't understand them well, she couldn't get killed, and she couldn't even instigate a problem. She just kept getting reminded she was weak and having others step in between her and her goals. The spirits that were hovering around returned quickly to Astrid while Samson kept an eye on the two arrancar. The spirits obviously weren't certain what to do but they were looking at one another for ideas. However, that stopped completely when Serenity spoke up again. They all looked at her, including Astrid who could barely understand anything she said.

The words she got despite her mind having lost itself was "Name", "You", and "Hell". Astrid glared at her despite the continuing of angry tears falling down. Her spirits in the meantime moved to either side of her and Samson to let her see Serenity directly. Her words were forced, choked out, and incredibly rough in sound. "Name? . . Not. . . need. . Me . . . Hell? Yes. . Send me . . . back. . . Kill me. . Why. . not? . . . "Evil" always. . . Hollow . . . always . . "Evil". . Evil . . . raised. . me. . . Me. . "evil". ." Anything beyond this point was Astrid muttering. She was lost in her mind and her memories of her prior life. . . well fragments anyway. The pack of hollows that raised her. Moments where she was with them, eating and killing. Moments with a massive gorilla hollow that sheltered her. Until someone spoke Astrid would be swimming in her mind, lost in memories. And yet forgetting most as she experienced them. Charlotte wouldn't be likely to see it given she was ignoring her but Serenity would see Astrid just standing still with her eyes dull and her posture bent over some. Even her fists were relaxed with her fingers spread out and just hanging there. Astrid wasn't presently around in manner but physical.

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

Making immediate note of Samson quickly forming, Charlotte immediately found herself in a staring match with the monstrosity, taking quick note of Astrid's own flaring reiatsu and continuing to try and "one-up" the girl every second she could. If it weren't for her younger sister, this very well could've gone on for a short eternity, all things considered. Fortunately enough, though, Serenity was there to immediately break up the fight and calm tensions between the two of them. Continuing through as she originally planned, she pressured her older sister into calming down, before turning her attention toward Astrid to speak on the matter.

Charlotte, crossing her arms and turning her head away, allowed her mind to wander in her own little world for the time being. Just who does this child think she is?! She thought to herself, She doesn't know just how lucky she is for Serenity to be here, else she'd be a fucking stain by the time I'm through with her. As her emotions continued to fume, silently angered from the insolence of this human girl, Serenity seemed to take action in a different manner.

As Astrid fell to her knees, Serenity quickly followed thereafter, aiming to reassure the girl as quickly as possible, "Hey," she spoke softly, serenely, "everything's going to be okay, I promise~ I won't let my sister hurt you; you're perfectly safe, ok?" Gently grabbing hold of Astrid's bloodied hands, and making no indication of a threat, she gave Astrid a gentle, albeit concerned smile. Pulling the girl into a slow, but gentle embrace, Serenity gently rubbed her back in an attempt to calm the poor girl down as best she could, while also avoiding setting off her "pets". Last thing she wanted was for them to take her kindness as violence.

After a few short moments, she gave the girl some space, and continued on speaking as she normally would've otherwise. It seemed, as she finished, Astrid followed up with a response of her own. "Name? . . Not. . . need. . Me . . . Hell? Yes. . Send me . . . back. . . Kill me. . Why. . not? . . . "Evil" always. . . Hollow . . . always . . "Evil". . Evil . . . raised. . me. . . Me. . "evil". ." Another look of sorrow quickly rose to Serenity's face. To say she felt awful for Astrid was an understatement; while she couldn't fully grasp just what she was trying to say, Serenity managed to piece together the girl's intentions rather quickly thanks to her Light Aura.

"You..." Serenity started, "you want to go back to Hell? Isn't that place like... super scary though?" That was a thought she'd touch on momentarily. For now, though, she wanted to address everything else this poor girl was saying. "Hmm... Hollows are always evil, and you were raised by evil? Does that mean you were raised by hollows?" Turning to Charlotte, Serenity looked a bit concerned. "Don't you think this is something we should probably tell somebody about?" As though she was ignored by her older sister, Serenity turned her attention back to Astrid.

"Well, if nothing else, the two of us are Hollows, actually. I can't speak for my older sister here, but I don't think I'm all too evil if you ask me!" Following with an almost bubbly laugh, Serenity gave Astrid another friendly smile. "Not only that, but you don't seem all that bad yourself! For what it's worth, if you need a place to go, we can probably make you feel nice and at home in Las Noches! If I'm understanding right, and you really were raised by hollows, would you rather live with other hollows?"

[Astrid Vess]

The spirits around took note of Serenity coming closer to Astrid and made small noises to let Astrid know. Given Astrid's mental state, she wasn't really focused on the world at hand. Thankfully while all she could do was look up; Samson decided to blockade Serenity from Astrid. Namely he kept his three arms between Astrid and Serenity. It wasn't hard for Samson to realize Serenity meant no ill will towards Astrid but that didn't mean he would allow an opening for Charlotte to have a say. He wasn't the smartest spirit Astrid had but he knew Charlotte wasn't someone to give an opening to. Now more so than ever. And without any understanding of Serenity and Charlotte's relation to one another, he wasn't going to allow the other to come closer than she had already.

Still the noise of the spirits and the movements of Samson had gotten Astrid's attention enough to focus on Serenity for the time being. And it tore Astrid up still. She didn't WANT to be "ok". Well not in the way Serenity was offering. Astrid wanted to go back to where things made sense. Where the world made sense. Where things were simple. Kill or be killed. Grow in power or become someone else's pawn. Or worse. This shielding from Charlotte by this other female was. . . infuriating. Confusing. And just outright fucking strange to Astrid. A lone thought in her head kept coming back. Just who was this smaller female? Who was she to stop the fighting and death? Her ticket to a world she understood. Who was this woman?

Astrid couldn't bring herself to say more than she already had. Head still swimming with memories. Her emotions still on high and her exhaustion growing the more she was placed under her own mental duress. And her already boiling anger was yet again dropped in cold water at what she spoke initially. Fearful of Hell? Who wasn't? Every day Astrid was killed. Every day she experienced horrors that she couldn't describe to others because of not only her lacking in speaking capability but also just what exactly she experienced. How could she be asked to describe how it is to be torn asunder by hell beasts? Or melted by acid? Or stomped into literal paste that fertilized the ground and yet still somehow conscious enough to feel it? Words couldn't describe that.

So, Astrid WAS fearful of it. Hell was NOT a friendly place nor was it a place for the weak. But that was what Astrid had gotten used to. She KNEW how Hell worked. The things to expect from its denizens and those sent there. She had an understanding of pain, torture, death, and everything in between that didn't have a way of being described. But that didn't mean it wasn't where she wanted to go. From her perspective everything that happened there made sense. Namely because everything there was out to get you in some fashion or another. THIS world, or really any OTHER world, barring maybe Hueco Mundo didn't make fucking sense. Why would she go anywhere else when she could barely understand others? When she didn't understand what was going on in them or in her brief interactions with these worlds?

Astrid wanted to scream in fury and attack Serenity. She was being so naive and incomprehensible to Astrid it was fucking astonishing. And far more importantly she was utterly infuriating. However, Astrid couldn't get a word in, all she could do was listen as her angry tears dried up and she continued looking at Serenity in angry shock. Eyes remaining like pins and promising suffering. But like the many times before she got surprised. For as dumb as Serenity seemed to be she actually managed to understand Astrid. Well specifically one thing she said. That she was raised by hollows. Astrid actually stood completely stunned that she'd understood that. No Astrid wasn't vague about it, but her speech was broken and garbled. While the other didn't seem to catch the rest of what she was saying she did catch something.

Something that actually mattered. Serenity made a motion to say something to her sibling and Astrid just looked up at Samson and then the spirits. Her body language said it all to the spirits even though nothing specifically was said. The wisps alone could only shrug while the chicks had no idea how express what their thoughts were. Samson however didn't make much motion. Only continuing to stare at Charlotte's back all the while. He wouldn't let down his guard if he could help it. When Serenity decided to talk to Astrid again, she would be met with a decidedly less overly angry Astrid. Surprised? Yes. Tense, 100%. But more willing to let Serenity say something else given she'd understood something important. If it wasn't made clear earlier though it definitely was now that Serenity was going on and on. Astrid wasn't catching nearly as much as she'd been catching prior.

Astrid caught her hands motioning to herself and Charlotte when she mentioned "hollows". Which made Astrid look over her entirety. Astrid knew for a fact she couldn't sense energy for shit. But she did know that even with a quick glance to Serenity that she didn't have a hollow hole on her. Never mind the fact that Astrid should have already known the reason why. She, herself was in a gigai and thus didn't look like a hason. So, it shouldn't have been that much a stretch to think Serenity was also. However, Astrid's mind was exhausted and thus didn't even consider it. Serenity couldn't be a hollow, she was too humanoid. Didn't have a mask or a hollow hole. The actual key signs of a hollow. And yet here she was thinking herself one.

Astrid just glared at her, unamused by this notion. From there Astrid understood the words "Las Noches", yet another name for something. Seems less like a person though. Most of the "names" she'd gotten were singular. Double words for a name probably weren't a person but that meant it was a thing. With another hand gesture for both Charlotte and Serenity, Astrid managed to get the idea of an invite. Although vaguely. She'd seen Alastor do something similar though his was much more forced whereas Serenity's seemed more open ended. Before Astrid even considered this "Las Noches" and her invite to it Astrid all but growled out a quick remark. "Hollow? . . No. . No hole. . No mask. . . If hollow. . . Why . . . "human"? . . Hollows . . . beast. . No . . Human. ." Astrid made motion to her chicks who even small were definitely hollows with holes in their necks and their skull like masks on their faces."No. . . go. . . not hollow. . Go hollows. . . Yes. . Go with. . . already. . many."

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

Noticing Astrid's visible frustration, Serenity backed off for a moment to give the girl some room to breathe. Truth be told? She felt pretty bad about making the girl upset. Last thing she wanted was a new friend to be sad at her, and she made no effort to hide that sadness on her face. As Astrid continued to glare daggers at her, Serenity took a few steps back and gently clung to Charlotte's side. She continued to watch Astrid nonetheless, still wanting to potentially salvage some semblance of a friendship between the two of them.

As she spoke about herself, Charlotte, and Las Noches, she once again took a moment to listen to Astrid's words once more. "Hollow? . . No. . No hole. . No mask. . . If hollow. . . Why . . . "human"? . . Hollows . . . beast. . No . . Human. ." Serenity immediately looked interested, upon hearing the girl's words. She... didn't think they were hollow? Huh. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "here, just give me oneeee second!" Turning to Charlotte, Serenity stared toward her older sister.

As though realizing what her younger sister was asking, Charlotte simply sighed, and held her hand on Serenity's shoulder. "You sure you'd like to do this?" Charlotte asked, looking down at her sister, "we'll likely have to head home shortly after if you're all right with this." Nodding vigorously, Charlotte let out another sigh, and began to channel her own reiatsu through Serenity's Gigai. As the younger girl closed her eyes, she simply waited while her older sister did her magic.

As reiatsu charged through Serenity's Gigai, it began to dissolve rather quickly, starting from the shoulder that Charlotte's hand was on and expanding outward in a quick haze of reiatsu-esque fire, despite not generating any heat and not burning. As the fire spread across the young girl's body, almost burning away the fake body she wore for their trip into the human world, more and more of her "true" form began to reveal itself in front of the Hason. Within a matter of seconds, the smoke eventually cleared, revealing Serenity in a set of robes matching her older sister's.

"I am a hollow, actually," Serenity said, placing her hands on her chest, and almost pointing her fingertips toward her now-revealed hollow hole. Up by her thumbs, Serenity similarly "pointed" to her lower jaw, making note of the mask fragment she'd kept; similar to that of a jaw-like structure, and very evidently the same chitinous material of a Hollow mask. "As am I," Charlotte spoke, doing the exact same; motioning toward the hole in her sternum, and toward the bony fragment similarly around her neck.

"We're actually the Primera Espada!" Serenity exclaimed, as she turned around and revealed the black numeral tattooed on the back of her neck. "I've one as well, in the same place." Despite saying so, Charlotte didn't move to turn around though. Instead, she crossed her arms, and once again glanced around the store. She felt as though they were being watched; a feeling she wasn't particularly fond of, all things considered.

"So, little hollow," Charlotte said, very clearly unable to read energy and not being corrected by anyone in the area, "assuming you're looking to leave behind whatever cruel soul trapped you in that body, we can offer a home for you. A home where you can be amongst other Hollows, feeding and existing separate from those awful Shinigami that look to tear us down. Free to live as we'd like!" Giving Astrid an actually serene smile - as odd as that was - both she and Serenity held out the hand to the young girl.

[Astrid Vess]

Astrid continued to watch Serenity unamused by the joke she was trying to play. As if she could do something that actually made her into a hollow in a few seconds. Acting as though she'd already been a hollow prior to the moment Astrid mentioned only being willing to follow hollows. Her eyes narrowed to near slits as she could feel her anger building up again, without the water works this time. However, her eyes drastically shifted when the girl in question decided to erupt into flames via Charlottes influence. Even the spirits looked confused as they'd never considered the idea that someone was willing to burn themselves to prove a point. Which actually managed to prompt the spirits to start deciphering what her genuine energy signature was.

Astrid glanced up at them realizing how the chicks and wisps were all intensely focused on Serenity in that moment. She had to admit, she was a bit proud that they decided to do this without her ordering it. Seems they were getting smarter about how to handle odd situations. Once the surprise fire show was dealt with Astrid listened as Serenity yet again tried to tell her she was a hollow. And to her credit she did now have a hollow hole as well as part of a mask fragment. The hollow hole was enough to definitely make someone a hollow. No other beings had it and the hole regardless of the form always looked the same. Clean, cylindrical hole with black around its insides. The mask fragment had Astrid confused though. It looked eerily similar to a real mask, but it was broken. Small.

Astrid looked back at her hollow chicks and could easily tell the masks they had and the fragment the siblings had were similar, but it still confused her. Didn't breaking their mask kill them? Shinigami certainly did so when they were cut cleanly in half. The hollows she had now as spirits were ever concerned about their mask even knowing it wouldn't matter if they died. So how were they here and with a fragmented mask? That's when Astrids eyes widened considerably. Charlotte had mentioned earlier an "arrancar" but never expanded upon it. Was that another type of hollow? Is that why they looked so. . . human? It'd certainly explain a lot if so, but Astrid still didn't quite buy it. Mind you she also couldn't really make sure in any capacity but that's where the chicks came in. A questioning glance at them and the chicks responded with a chirp.

She looked back at Serenity and then her chicks and grabbed it by the head. She then pointed at the siblings and then at another chick. Her face would ironically be rather comedic given how utterly serious she was at trying to understand how these humanoids were hollows. The chick in question though just squealed and kept chirping at them. All the while wriggling to try and get away so it wouldn't have something happen to it. Astrid growled at the chick before letting it go. No use doing anything to it when they wouldn't lie to her. As far as the chick was concerned, they were hollows. And with the hollow hole and the mask, even if fragmented they looked to be truthful on that. If nothing else, they were certainly descended from hollows if nothing else. With a frown though she had to accept that even if they were tricking her, she couldn't know better. She was going to have to take their claims as hollows at face value until they did something that showed otherwise.

Astrid in the meantime managed to catch the word "Espada" but had next to no idea what that could even mean. It was definitely unique compared to what she'd heard up to this point. But that didn't mean much to her. Words were strange after all. However, she was brought out of her confusion at the few words she got from Charlotte of all people. "Hollow" directed at herself, "leave", "body", "home", "free" and "feeding". She admittedly was completely caught off guard at Charlotte even attempting to tell her she was a hollow. More than anything she was stunned; she definitely would like to be a hollow, but she couldn't claim she was one. Similar though she may be for several reasons. But the remainder of what was said did make her curious.

It looked like Charlotte had motioned to her as well when mentioning body so she might actually be able to get her out of this pathetic excuse of a form. Which also admittedly excited her. She'd take her monstrous form over this weak thing. But better yet was the idea of a place to eat and do what she wanted. That however got twinged with. . . distrust inherently. She was never given a good deal. Especially one that allowed her to do what she wanted. So there had to be a string attached to it. Still . . . would it be better to be attached to this woman and her smaller companion? Or would she prefer Hell with Alastor and Orobas. She knew almost immediately what she'd prefer. The further away she was from Orobas, at least until she was stronger, the better. Which considering she was being offered the means to consume others. . . might prove good.

They both were willing to give her the opportunity. Surprisingly so. Charlotte didn't even seem to hold malice against her at this point. If anything, she seemed oddly pleased. Astrid tilted her head some at her expression and body language but then took a breath. This whole experience was strange. Frustrating and honestly unexpected in every way. If this was how she was going to get out of this body and get out of this concrete Hell, then that's what she needed to do. Especially considering she was starting to grow in her own ways. She just needed more time before she could start her dictating her life more active. Another breath and she motioned the spirits as well as Samson to open the path for her towards the two. They did so with Samson doing such begrudgingly. Though even he was very visibly confused by Charlottes current body language.

Eventually he moved his arms enough that Astrid could walk through. From there she walked until she made Charlottes hand go onto her shoulder. She had some distrust in her still as she was noticeably tense, but she wasn't displaying outright aggression towards the two. She'd then look Charlotte in the eye and speak towards her. "Burn. . . Me. . . Follow. . . you. . ." Then she motioned towards the spirits and Samson who was watching the entire affair with a large degree of concern. She'd then speak up again. "Small. . . ones. . . spirits. . . big. . . Samson. . . Me. . . Astrid. . . Ser. . . eni. . .ty?. . Cha. . .ro. . . lot. . .te?"

She'd look at Serenity and Charlotte though already mixed the two up as she tilted her head and spoke the names to the wrong individual. In truth the only reason she even knew the "names" were that both had previously been said repeatedly. Given they were strange but direct she assumed that they're these were "names" for a person as opposed to a thing. She was obviously still confused though the concept wasn't cemented in her mind, but she was making the effort if nothing else.

[Jeff Franklin]

I count 41 paragraphs from Astrid giving a 40% bonus and 39 paragraphs from Charlotte giving a 30% bonus!