Battle Of The Wounded Hearts

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Moving back up from the hunched over position that he was just in from his exhaustion and incredible pain Asmoskon watched as the crimson arrow that he had just shot off pierced into Hotaru. Asmoskon hadn't been expecting that first shot to actually hit Hotaru and when it did and he saw that she was bleeding from the wound something took over him. The blood that continued to leak from his eye got thinner and Asmoskon realized something was wrong with him. Moving his left hand up he put the tips of his middle and ring fingers just below his eye. Moving them out he looked and saw that the blood was far to clear and thin to actually be completely blood.

"This can't be. Why? How can this be happening after everything? HOW CAN I SHRED TEARS FOR HER!" Asmoskon looked on as Hotaru burnt the wound shut from his arrow and nodded her head outwards. Based on her expression though it wasn't meant for him it was obvious that she was communicating with her zanpakuto getting a plan going on how to actually defeat him. "You need to stop being so soft hearted. After everything that she did you still cry seeing her even wounded slightly. She is an enemy remember what father told us. All enemies must be dealt with for the better of the majority. Kill her and everything will be fine you know that once she's gone there will be no one that holds a power over you. DO IT!"

The sound of his younger self screaming at him and telling him that no matter what Hotaru was an enemy and that there was no reason to be shredding tears over her was beginning to get annoying. At first it was different then the constant onslaught of Hotaru degrading him, abusing his mentally for hours if not days without pause. Now though it was different it wasn't reassuring anymore and doubt was manifesting inside of him. He had no time to act on this doubt though as Hotaru rushed forwards against him he saw that she was beginning to move her cannon and he knew her power all too well.

Moving his right hand forwards pointing right at Hotaru Asmoskon fires off a single crimson arrow again just as Hotaru fires her liquid towards him. The purple haired firefly would watch as her the liquid of her zanpakuto clashed with the crimson arrow. Naturally Hotaru would expect to see the arrow vanish due to her power yet suddenly the liquid moved into the body of the arrow and the arrow itself seemed to be liquid now yet red like blood. It kept on course and was almost already about to strike Hotaru yet her power had done something to weaken the arrow even after being absorbed. The strength of this arrow was the weakest that Asmoskon had ever fired due to her power being that of a novice Quincy. (75)

Remaining Reiatsu: 3025/1000
Bow LvL 2: {-200}
Class 3 Arrow: {-50}

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched her liquid clash not with Asmoskon, but with one of his arrows. She knew that the power of the arrow was now weaken by hitting her liquid, but something that she didn't expect to happen occurred. The arrow was actually absorbing her liquid. She had no idea that her love's arrows could even do that. She was slightly impressed. But, the arrow kept coming towards her. So, with her sword in her right hand, she slashed at the arrow as it came towards her, completely destroying it, since it had no real strength left in it.

She continued to run towards Asmoskon. She was fighting the urge to stop, because she already knew what could happen. He had already struck her once. He didn't hesitate to hit her either. But, she noticed what happened when she was hit with his arrow. He actually shed tears for her. There was still some of his light left in the darkness of his mind. She ran as fast as she could towards him, continuing to release her liquid. She was still trying to find a way to get through to him, but she just had to admit it to herself.

It seems that the only way it would work would be a defeat. He was no longer talking to her, so she would only respond to him if he said anything to her. She ran and once she was about six feet away again, she willed a grenade to be formed in her liquid stream. Once formed, the grenade would be sent hurtling towards Asmoskon on the stream of her liquid. She hoped that this grenade could at least knock him out. She didn't want to hurt him too badly, since he was already in pretty bad shape. She needed to get him back in the right mindset.

OOC: Remaining Reiatsu: 2600/3000, -50 for grenade, Shikai 3/9

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon stood as the arrow that he had just fired off clashed with the liquid of Hotaru's shikai. Just as he had planned the liquid of her zanpakuto was absorbed into the arrow changing it from what appeared to be a standard crimson arrow of reiatsu into one that looked like flying liquid. He watched as Hotaru slashed the arrow causing it to splash apart not shatter like normal. The red liquid was like blood and strained the ground just like her own liquid was doing the same. Hotaru kept rushing right towards him and Asmoskon knowing that in his current condition close quarters combat against her would be suicide knew what he had to do.

Just as Hotaru was forming her next grenade Asmoskon would suddenly begin to move backwards and blur as he did so. Asmoskon was utilizing movement in order to increase his speed. The whole purpose of this was in order to keep the distance between himself and Hotaru. Thanks to movement Asmoskon was moving faster then she was so the only way that she would be able to get right to him would be to utilize shunpo. As she fired off her grenade Asmoskon raised the right crossbow and fired off an arrow aiming well enough even with the damage to his eye that it would clash with the grenade and lead to the same result as it had only moments ago.

The crossbow in his left hand was raised to though and Asmoskon shot off four arrows from the small gun like bow. All four of the arrows soared through the air for a moment. There was about ten feet between the both of them now and in the small amount of space Hotaru would see the difference in Asmoskon's prowess even now that he was hurt and at death's door. All four of the arrows began to curve inward towards one another spinning around clockwise as they did so until they almost touched. The four arrows were aimed to strike Hotaru in her stomach all at the same time.

"We must finish her. Without her we'll be free. Without her we won't have to deal with them. Without her there will be no more pain. We can avenge our family again. We can kill the Vandenreich. We can kill the Emperor. Our life is for our family. Our existence is nothing more then revenge. This is our path remember just like before. Before she tainted our cause and our mind. Kill her and get on the path of pure purpose." Asmoskon heard the voice of himself in his head and while he fought his reasoning was dropping.

It was starting to take ahold of him to the point that even his current knowledge and personality were being taken. The hallucination that took the form of his younger self was infecting his mind in a manner perhaps worse then the Hotaru's that he had been dealing with for months. This one was trying to take ahold of his actions and lead him through what he kept trying to deny. Asmoskon had to do something or else even his wounded heart wouldn't be able to hold back the grief and sorrow from leaving him a broken husk.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3,125/1000
Quincy Cross: {+500}
Bow LvL 2: {-200}
Arrow Class 4 (5): {-200}

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru saw that her attack wasn't going to work right when the grenade was being formed. He had caught on to her tactics and was trying something else. He was trying to keep distance between them, knowing that if he got in too close, he was done for. She just wanted this fight to be over so they could talk again. So she could talk to him and tell him everything. She could tell that he was having his own internal struggles. Maybe getting hit from an attack would help to clear his head. She just hoped that would be true.

He jumped away and then readied an arrow to make the grenade explode. Since she was shooting the grenade away from her, she didn't get caught up in the blast, but the blast was big enough that it would give her cover to do what she planned on doing next. Using the huge explosion and flames coming from the grenade being destroyed, she would use all of her speed to get behind him, running on his right side, since that's where the grenade was. She was able to skirt it and not get injured. She kept her sword to her right side dragging behind her.

Once she used her speed, she would appear immediately behind Asmoskon and right when she stopped, move both hands to his back. Her sword would be aimed to pierce his right shoulder, her cannon would be pressed to his left. The fight was getting out of hand and she hoped that this would be enough to save his sanity. Right before she stopped behind Asmoskon, however, she let her cannon start to slowly spew out liquid so when the cannon was facing his body, it would be shooting the liquid out at him. "Please love, stop this craziness! Let me talk to you and explain! Please listen to me!"

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon watched as the crimson arrow that he had just generated from his reiatsu soared through the small space of air and clashed with the liquid grenade that Hotaru had crafted from her zanpakuto ability. He knew all to well the ability that the grenade held and knew that he couldn't afford to be hit by one of them. His body was in a state of damage that was beyond what a normal individual should be able to handle and if he kept this going or even got hit he doubted that he'd be able to get back up and keep fighting.

That was when the grenade and arrow hit and the explosion occurred. Asmoskon knew there was a grand deal of purple fire in the air and it was only about five feet in front of him now. The thing he hadn't planned on was Hotaru running along the edge of the flames while closing the distance between them. He had over thought her actions in preparation believing she'd simply utilize shunpo in order to close the distance. His mind was exhausted as well as his body and as he raised his right crossbow Asmoskon heard some type of quiet sound. He couldn't figure out what it was and started to move backwards causing the heel of his right foot to hit on a rock.

Asmoskon began to fall backwards as Hotaru reached him. The purple haired Kuchiki's plan would have more then likely placed Asmoskon at a significant disadvantage instead it caused a much greater degree of harm and pain. She had planned to put her zanpakuto against his right shoulder while he was standing. So now that he began to all backwards the blade of his scimitar cut through the back of his shoulder. In the next moment his body weight was leaning on her holding him upwards and Asmoskon's skin seemed to fade to near white. Blood pouring from the wound layering over her zanpakuto as the blade protruded from the front.

Asmoskon couldn't hear what Hotaru had said everything was going dark. Everything that he fought for and his goal of avenging his family was no longer possible. He had survived time and again yet this was something he wouldn't be able to survive. The two crossbows in his hands vanished and through his vision everything was fading into a black corridor. He could hear the sound of his younger self screaming that he needed to kill Hotaru for a few moments only to then hear the sound of his own death yet from what he couldn't tell everything was getting so dark.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru had aimed her weapons so that he wouldn't get injured. She didn't noticed when he tripped on the rock that sent him flying backwards towards her. She noticed too late, because her sword was already impaled into his shoulder. She watched in horror as his blood started to slide down her sword. She immediately pulled the blade free from his body, catching him as he fell. She slowly lowered him down to the ground, grabbing her sword again to do something, but hopefully this would help him instead of hinder.

She willed the flame of her blade to burn stronger and she cauterized the wound that was on the front of his body that her sword created. She held back tears, knowing that he was probably too weak to cry out because she knew that it hurt. She had done it to herself enough times to know that it did hurt. She then quickly pulled the right side of his body towards her left side, exposing the entry wound of her sword. She cauterized that as well. Once the wound was now shut through her fire, she willed her zanpaktou to seal itself.

She knew that the battle was over. He wouldn't be able to fight her anymore and from what just happened, she didn't think she would have the will to keep fighting him. She quickly grabbed her sheathe and zanpaktou, sheathing it and retying it to her sash. She then quickly got back to her knees, sitting down close to Asmoskon, and then gently pulled him to her. She let his head rest in her lap while she looked down on him. She could tell that he was in so much pain and she had tried her best to make him feel better, to pull him out.

But, no matter what she said, his mind was so gone, he didn't believe her. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, lightly touching the eye patch that he now wore and lightly touching new scars that he didn't have before. Her Asmoskon had changed, but she hoped that he hadn't changed so much that she would have to do the one thing she promised him. The one thing that she promised him that she wasn't sure if she could ever do. This was the closest she had come to doing that, but thankfully, this wasn't a bad wound.

The problem was, it was more serious because Asmoskon was already in a bad condition. She didn't want to shake him awake or do anything to violent. He was in a fragile place right now. She wanted him to awaken to gentleness, which is why she was just running her fingers through his hair. She heard his breathing, so she knew he was still alive. She just wanted to stay here and guard him while he recovered. He needed to know how much she cared and she could think of no better way than to keep doing what she was doing now.

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

So cold everything was just getting cold. All of the warmth of the world was vanishing his sight darkening now as Hotaru rushed to try and prevent more damage to his body. She would more then likely see how much more sever he his condition was now due to the fact that when she pulled her scimitar from his body he didn't even react. The physical sensation of pain had gone numb like that of everything else. While he was being held he felt nothing not even the contact on his skin from his once beloved.

That was when Asmoskon heard the sound of his younger self gasping for air only for the gasps to stop in a manner that Asmoskon knew as death. So this was the sign that he himself was truly dying this time and he wouldn't survive. Even the horrific illusions within his head were dying right now he just hoped they wouldn't follow him into the next world. Struggling to keep his left eye open as his vision blurred so much he could only make out colors he saw . . . purple. The burning of his wound closing the wound caused no reaction from Asmoskon yet another worrisome thing. It was at the moment that his wound finally was closed that his hands touched the sand of the beach and all strength in his body seemed to leave with his death.

---

"What where am I?" Asmoskon looks around seeing the scenery of a field of flowers so many different colors all of them dazzling. How did he get here and why was he here this made no sense. That was when his expression shifted from confusion to shock as he started to look over his body and saw no signs of his fatigue or injuries it looked as if he was back in perfect condition yet that was impossible. "You're in the one place that can help you right now my little one." That voice. Asmoskon turned around and saw standing there before him was his mother.

He just starred for a few moments at her unable to form words as his eye began to tear up. In the next moment her arms were around him and he felt like so much of the hardship that he had been through just didn't matter anymore. "It's alright Asmo. Everything is going to be alright." Asmoskon even after everything he had been through and all of his growth was reduced to little more then a young child in the presence of his mother already basically crying on her shoulder.

"How can everything be alright mom I've lost everything. I've failed you and dad and grandpa. I can't succeed alone I'm not strong enough." Being pushed back slightly so his mother could look him in the face was so similar to when he was a child that Asmoskon was taken back by it just starring at her smile. "You have two choices Asmo. You can either give up and allow death to claim you. Or you can continue and fix your mistakes and take back everything that's been stolen from our family. You've already endured more then anyone your age should have too. You're my son and I'm so proud at how strong you've become, but I know there is only really one choice that my little warrior will accept."

"Mom . . how can I keep going? After everything that's happened? I just don't have the strength anymore." Asmoskon looked to the side embarrassed at everything that he had done and lost. Only to then hear the sound of his mother giggling which brought his attention back to her. "You've grown up more like your father then I would have liked. When you were a little boy you were just like me. Don't tell me you're a cry baby who only chooses the fights that suit yourself. That's not my boy that's not you Asmoskon. When something breaks you need to take the time and patience to fix it not throw it away. You're pain stems from the Vandenreich, but this pain that's overwhelming you right now is due to you acting like your father. Accept her back into your life and continue forwards. Keep our family going and gather up the others that's your mission. I love you Asmoskon now go or else I'll kill you when you're in the next world." Smiling towards him as she simply vanished Asmoskon smiled for the first time in far to long.

---

It would seem out of nowhere for Hotaru more then likely yet as she held his cold body she would feel a familiar hand against her cheek. Looking up at her with his tired eye that out of nowhere seemed to be alight with inner fire again Asmoskon grinned as his reiatsu spiked to a height near his release. Hotaru was more then likely holding him and even if she wasn't she would see the crimson reiatsu of her love wrap around his body like tiny little threads. "Let's head home firefly."

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was sitting there, holding him against her lap, lightly moving her fingers through his hair. He felt cold, but with all his other injuries, she was just surprised that he was able to still function. She still blamed herself for most of his injuries and all of his pain. She was thinking about that the entire time that she held him. She didn't want to keep secrets from him, but what she thought would hurt him only a little ended up destroying the man she cared about more than anyone else. She was being quiet, trying to think of something to say.

She was sitting in this gloom when she felt something. It was something that she hadn't felt for too long. Her eyes widened in shock when she felt Asmoskon's hand against her cheek. She looked down and saw Asmoskon grinning up at her with eyes so tired from all the pain he had endured. She felt her own eyes water. She hadn't seen him like this in too long. It was then that she saw his reiatsu start to wrap around him again and then he said the words that she had wanted to hear for so long, he wanted to go home with her.

Hotaru was amazed. What had happened to him in that short amount of time that would make him change his mind so quickly? "Um...what happened? I thought that you wanted nothing to do with me anymore? I'm glad that you've changed your mind on that subject and I would love nothing more than to head home with you my love. But, you need to tell me first. What happened? I would love to know what made you rethink everything and want to work on us again." With that, she got up and helped him to his feet as well, leaving her arms out for support if needed.

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Well Asmoskon couldn't really expect Hotaru to just go along with him being perfectly fine after everything that had happened in the last half of the year. Although he was exhausted and knew that he could only maintain the reiatsu threads for at most like five minutes he still had to make sure that she got he was going to do his best to look forwards from now on and just move into the future. So when she tried to help him get up Asmoskon stood without really any type of problem. He was controlling his body with his reiatsu which meant that so long as Asmoskon was conscious he could maintain his ability to move.

Now that he was standing up on the sand Asmoskon moved his left hand up and wiped the blood from his eye. "I had a little help understanding that I should work forwards with my life and not allow the horrible things of the past to rule over my choices. I can't erase my love for you Hotaru. The only thing that I can do is accept what's happened and move forward with you. I have many other things that I still have to do, but my life is linked with you now and for the first time in awhile I'm glad that such a thing happened."

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Asmoskon stood, and Hotaru assumed that it was with the help of his reiatsu. He wiped the blood from his left eye as he started to explain his reasoning. He said that he had help to move forward with his life and to not let things in his past rule his choices. She had no idea how he was able to get help with that for the little amount of time that he was passed out, but she then thought on how he was able to get help the same way that he was seeing her everywhere. She wasn't going to say anything about it now.

He then said that he couldn't erase his love for her and she smiled at that. She couldn't erase her love for him either. He said he was going to accept what happened and move forward with her and that his life was now linked with hers and that he was glad that it happened. She smiled big at that comment and went in to hug him close, enjoying just feeling him near her again. She didn't realize how much she missed him until she actually held him and realized how much she missed his presence. She knew now that she could never do anything like this again to have them seperated. "I should probably take you to a hospital now."

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

The smile on Hotaru's face was reassuring that everything from this point forwards was going to work itself out if Asmoskon just kept trying. The embrace from her warmed his bleak heart once more yet caused a jolt of pain to rush throughout his body. Asmoskon had only a short amount of time until his mind was going to break from the exhaustion and he wouldn't be able to move on his own anymore. He had to get to a location that had some kind of medical attention. He knew his wounds however and the chances of him making it through this time were very bleak.

That wasn't the attitude that he needed right now though and he knew that. Everything was going to be fine so much as he put his effort forwards and tried his hardest. After all isn't that all anyone can really do. "Yeah that might be a wise decision." So with that Asmoskon and Hotaru made there way from the small island to the large one across the water. The other source of land Asmoskon knew had a major hospital so his chance of survival was best there for right now. He just barely had enough time to reach it though. It was time he got back on the right path.

[Zeich Yajuu]

Asmo - 760 TP
Hotaru - 780 TP + 100 for winning NDE = 880 TP