Ghost of the Past [R, DE, PvP]

[Douma]

(( OOC: This began as a social but pretty much turned into a PvP instantly, so please grade it like a PvP. Thanks! ))

Aevus received a note from a messenger early one morning. He was likely asleep in his quarters in the Omnistukido Barracks. If he was a light sleeper, he’d wake up to the knock on the door, where an unseated officer was waiting with a file containing his mission briefing. If not, he’d find that the file was slipped under the crack at the bottom of his door, waiting for him to wake up and read its contents. Regardless, he had to pack up his things. Duty called.

The Contents of the File are to Be Read By None Other Than: Aevus.

Mission Briefing: Squad 6 has come across information of a potential meeting of multiple illegal organization notorious for smuggling illicit products across Rukongai Districts. These products include artificial zanpakuto, spiritual meth, and other drugs and weapons. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the time 19:30 the building located at the attached coordinates.

Omnistukido Vice Captain Aevus is not to engage. He is to hide his presence at all costs and merely identify the individuals present. Upon doing so, he must send a Hell Butterfly to Seireitei in order to call his back-up team to eliminate the smugglers and confiscate their merchandise.

---

Aevus was familiar with District 78. He spent much time there before his days as a Shinigami. However, District 78 had changed since he first arrived. Its economy shriveled. As black market trade expanded, more criminals began residing. Men lost their jobs and gave in to Underworld trade to support their wives and children. Adults lost jobs and businesses. Families either lost their homes or fled from the constant violence. It wasn’t the same District 78 that Aevus remembered.

But he could still recognize much of it. As he came closer to the building that held the illegal meeting he was assigned to spy on, he’d realize something that made his heart nearly stop beating. That’s where he met her! Aura. She was watching the drunk old man in the corner, drinking the very wine that she stole from him as he sang…

“ ♫ What shall we do with a drunken sailor? What shall we do with a drunken sailor? What shall we do with a drunken sailor? earli in the morning ♫”

Aevus wouldn’t sense any reiatsu coming from the building. He remembered it hosting a general store in the past, but it seemed abandoned now. The front door had been barred, but there were still holes in the roof that let him peer in. When he got a glimse of the interior, he’d notice that it wasn’t quiet as empty as he expected it to be.

The building had been cleared completely. There were no more shelves of food or other goods. It was completely empty expect for three rows of folding chairs that could seat up to twenty-four people. Instead, only two individuals filled those seats. One was a tall man with long black hair and bright red eyes. He wore a red cloak that covered the rest of his face and body. The other was a short girl with black hair tied in two long pig-tails. Her ocean blue eyes looked back to acknowledge Aevus. She was clearly aware that he was here.

But there was one other individual that saw Aevus. In fact, the Shinigami had met him before. He wore a black coat and wore a bone-white mask that concealed all but his eyes. His crimson red right eye and void, white left eye both locked onto Aevus’s gaze. His heart might pound as he began to worry that he had been compromised. However, before he could react, Douma would call out to him. “Do not be scared, Aevus. We were expecting you. Now that you’re here, the ceremony can commence.”

Douma genstured with his left hand toward the empty seats. Aevus had the option of sitting beside Douma’s other guests or choosing a seat far from them. Of course, he could also run away, but that might not be the wisest thing to do. Calling for help might also anger Douma. Perhaps his safest option was listening to the criminal. When he jumped into the building, he might notice a few extra details that the dim lighting hid. First of all, Douma was standing beside what appeared to be a casket. Although it was open, from Aevus’s point of view, he wouldn’t be able to see exactly who’s body it contained.

“I gathered you three hear today to celebrate the life of a dear friend and mourn her death. Please rise in honor of faithful and powerful companion, Aura.” That might strike a chord with Aevus. Aura. Could it be the same Aura that died in his very arms? “I can tell you that Aura and I did not agree on most things. She wasn’t fond of my methods in many cases. She constantly battled me ideologically. However, in the end, I had nothing but admiration for her strength. She wanted to change the world.

"When I first met Aura, she was a broken girl with a horrible power consuming her. A power that interested me. And as I battled it on her behalf until she was strong enough to control it, I discovered how strong such a little girl could be. She grew older. She grew stronger. Soon, she began fighting me, and while I don’t fully understand or agree with her, I respect her. We all respected her. Despite the horrible end that her life came to, she was a hero.

"I am anything but a Priest, but I know of angels and devils, and there was no one more qualified to officiate her funeral. However, I did carry out all her wishes. She wanted to host the ceremony in this very building exactly at sunset. She wanted only a few named individuals to be present. And she wanted Aevus Renalds to speak a few words about the deceased.”

Douma stepped to the side, gesturing for Aevus to take the floor with his hands as he moved to the seat beside the pig-tail girl. If Aevus was willing to stand in Douma’s previous position, he’d get a clear view of the girl’s face. She wasn’t the same young Aura, for time had passed, but she was very recognizable. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, a young woman Aevus never had the opportunity to meet. If he looked out toward the seats, he’d see two things. The red-eyed man was awkwardly glaring at him before shifting his gaze down to the ground. In contrast, the pig-tail girl had tears gathered in her sapphire eyes that were trained on Aevus, waiting to soak in each word that he said.

And if Aevus paid very close attention, he’d notice something else. The room wasn’t completely empty. In the darkest shadows of the building, he might be able to make out the outline of certain objects. Large crates seemed to be stacked on top of each other all along the back walls. And between them lay an imperfect hill-shaped sillhoute. It would take Aevus’s eyes a moment to adjust if he truly focussed on the back wall, but after they did, he’d be able to make out the components of that hill. A pile of bodies, all of them in awkward, limp positions. Unmoving. A pool of crimson blood formed like a lake around them.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

Aevus didn’t understand what he was hearing. His blade hummed within it’s sheath as Lumina stood at his side. His eyes were an icy fortress as he looked around the room. Death hung in the air. The taste and smell of blood flooded the she-wolf’s senses. Her ears flickered as Aevus broke the silence. “What is this?” He held stern yet he showed his confusion. Puzzlement was painted all over his face. He was blanketed in it. The darkness of the room hid nothing as he stood simply bewildered.

“How do you know that name?” His cold eyes locked onto that masked man. Douma he called himself. The Angel of Silence. He knew he had found out his name but how in the hell did he know who Aura was? Her dreams, the hollow, and even her name. It made no sense and it infuriated the reaper to no end. She was a child. An orphan that was easily forgotten. He shouldn't have known her. It was one thing for Nathan to bring her up. He was an innocent child. A boy with a miraculous yet terrifying power. But the man before him was no child.

Lumina would bare her canines as she finally noticed the bodies. “Aevus, he’s a murderer.” Lumina managed in a snarl pivoting her head in Douma’s direction. Ears erected forward, furs bristled as she stood low to the ground glaring at the masked man. Suddenly her entire form would light up in a flash of moonlit silver as Aevus uttered that simple yet powerful phrase. “Whisper Softly... Umbra.” Erupting in a show of silvery Reiatsu the white wolf would be called forth to Aevus as he activated his Shikai. His katana sung from the scabbard as he fully unsheathed the changing blade.

A cold, dark and bleak aura would fill the entire room at that. Spreading thirty feet from his very person. The room had became his territory, his domain. Aevus could close the distance faster than they could blink. Wisps of cyanic Reiatsu drifted away from the reaper’s eyes like streams of smoke. A silver wolf head howled up the handle of that stylistic blade. A long black ribbon fell from the pommel of the now longer blade, fluttering freely behind the man.

He wasn’t taking any floor. No he was beyond that. There would be no speeches today. Only a single question. Those in the room would feel his presence. It was heavier now slightly more intimidating. “I’ll ask you again.” His voice held stern as he spoke. A flicker of black took both of his eyes as he continued. “How do you know that name?” Aevus’s glowing pair would narrow on that masked fiend. The man before him at that moment felt more hollow than spirit.

His left hand tightened on his Zanpakuto and he felt Lumina’s snarl reverberate through the very blade. He didn’t take a step but those in the room would feel his presence all around them. That dark Reiatsu flooded the room like it was a tide yet this one was not receding anytime soon. A dark sapphiric outline spread around his silhouette pulsating six times like a heartbeat before fading away. Threads of transparent pale Reiatsu flowed around the man erupting into Six replicas of his very Zanpakuto. They were echoes of what could be. Sheltering fates he could have wrought.

Two pointed at each of those three in that room. Any movement, any sudden flinch and he would lay rain down upon them. This wasn’t the mission. This wasn't his task, this wasn’t even meant to be personal. But the moment that hollow masked fiend uttered her name he became nothing but another target in his eyes. “How do you know Aura?” The growling of his blade would not cease. No it instead grew louder. He even thought he heard the giggle of that silver tongued hollow.

He welcomed it. He could feel her Reiatsu caress him. Holding itself against him. He buried himself in that black. The flicker of darkness in his eyes grew stronger. Lumina and obviously not himself let it dissuade him from taking action. He was outnumbered and outmatched yet he stood there in defiance. His aura began to take on more of a hollows presence as he allowed his gravitational pressure to bury down upon those three strangers. His glowing eyes took no mind to the casket.

He had no idea Aura was in that room. It took only her name to set him off. He was clearly not himself or maybe for once he was. If he didn’t like what he heard, he would lay waste to all three of them at once. At least he would try. The white of his eyes were nearly flooded with that darkness as he stood. His blade held to his side for the time being. He didn't hold it there because he wanted to. Part of him had to know what this was all about. He needed answers and the dead clearly couldn't tell him anything.

That sinister giggling sounded in the inner recesses of his mind. He could feel the flick of her silver tongue as she spoke. [smear:#ffd700]"Give in~"[/smear:ffe34d] Her cold breath sent shivers down his very spine and yet as before he welcomed it. [smear:#ffd700]"Give into me~"[/smear:ffe34d] Oh he wanted too. [smear:#ffd700]"Give into me so you can tear into them~" [/smear:ffe34d] His grip was so tight on the handle of his blade. That his hand began to ache from the pressure alone. [smear:#ffd700]"It'll be like slipping away~" [/smear:ffe34d] Her sultry voice echoed in his ear. [smear:#ffd700]"Easy prey~"[/smear:ffe34d]

Reiatsu: 6050/7000

Shikai - 200
Resonare {6 phantom Zanpakuto} - 600 + 150 (to keep active) = 750

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats & Skills}

Aevus

Strength - 200 (140)
Speed - 400 (600)
Spiritual Pressure - 400 (700)
Reiatsu Strength - 100 (60)
Light Aura - 50
Dark Aura - 50
Instinct - 150
Senses - 150
Energy Sensory - 0
Healing Expertise - 0

Lumina

Strength - 100 (70)
Speed - 150 (225)
Spiritual Pressure - 350
Reiatsu Strength - 50 (30)
Light Aura - 50
Dark Aura - 50
Instinct - 150
Senses - 150
Energy Sensory - 100
Healing Expertise - 0

•[Weapon: Katana] [3]
•[Stealth] [3]
•[Battle Analysis] [2]
•[Strength of Will] [2]
•[Hoho] [3]
•[Acrobatics] [1]

[Douma]

“What is this?” Douma felt it in Aevus’s spirit. He had hit a chord. The shinigami’s mind was struggling to comprehend the situation unfolding before him. But that was understandable. It wasn’t just Aura either, a girl who Aevus believed to be buried in his past. And the man who unearthed her was none other than the Angel of Silence, a rogue who invaded Soul Society on multiple occasions and killed a Gotei 13 Captain. He must have felt the gravity of the situation, but something kept him anchored. He could have run like he was ordered to do so by his superiors, but he chose to stay.

Douma’s eyes only glanced at the white wolf beside Aevus for a moment before dismissing it. With his level of energy sensory, he could tell how closely it was tied to his soul. It was a physical manifestation of his zanpakuto. Douma met another individual, the Vizard Zeich Yajuu, capable of coexisting along side his zanpakuto spirit as well. It was interesting, but not important. Aevus was the real subject of the meeting. “How do you know that name?”

Douma almost felt bad for him. If he had just a grain of humanity, he might have actually been guilty. He wasn’t capable of such sympathy anymore. “She told me her name,” the rogue replied calmly. He sensed the hostility in both the wolf’s soul and body language. “Aevus, he’s a murderer.” The girl with pigtails, Alice, sitting in her chair suddenly giggled, finding the wolf’s comment funny. However, she quickly silenced herself. Otherwise, Douma and the other man, Lax, did not react.

“We are all murderers.” Douma slowly began walking toward Aevus, taking a single, calculated step every few seconds. “You murder in the name of Soul Society and the world they envision. I murder for myself. We both take lives, but tell me, who is doing the killing, you, Aevus, or Soul Society? Are you a puppet or are you like me: free?” Douma took his time approaching the soul reaper. He had only come a few feet closer as he spoke, moving slowly and steadily.

“Whisper Softly...Umbra.” Douma smiled behind both masks. Not his face. No, he smiled behind his face. The dark spirit in his very heart that thirsts for blood was excited. Aevus’s reiatsu spread across the entire building, creating field that surrounded Douma and his allies. If Douma knew anything about powers within fields of influence, much like his own bakkoto, he knew that he would have to be careful. When Aevus closed his eyes, Douma knew for sure that the zone gave him a sensory ability. He made a mental note of Aevus’s extended awareness.

“I’ll ask you again. How do you know that name?” The poor man still didn’t get it, but Douma was a patient man. The longer they talked, the more he could feel that evil aura bubbling within Aevus. He could sense the demon surfacing. However, he was fighting the man, not the monster. At least not the monster yet. Douma felt the blades forming around the room with his energy sensory. He didn’t even need to look. He could feel them hovering in the air. He sensed the threads connecting the weapons to himself and his subordinates.

“How do you know Aura?” Aevus repeated. This time, Douma didn’t humor him. He ignored his persistent questioning rather than wasting his own time. "Give in~ Give into me~ Give into me so you can tear into them~ It'll be like slipping away~ Easy prey~” Douma could feel the hollow whispering in Aevus’s mind, but he couldn’t hear it. That intriguing conversation was closed to him

But another voice invaded Aevus’s consciousness. ”You’ve been hiding this demon inside you?” The female voice was giddy with excitement. “Douma might have gotten cocky. He can handle you, Aevus, but this hollow might be enough to end the Angel of Silence. Why don’t you take her for a ride?”[/font] If Aevus looked around, he’d notice the black haired girl staring right into his eyes, a sweet smile pulling on her lips. That voice had to belong to her.

But he couldn’t get distracted. The real enemy was Douma, after all. “Before you attempt to kill me, let’s move to a more suitable place for battle. It would be a shame if we accidentally bring harm to Aura’s body.” Douma gestured to the coffin beside him, and if Aevus peered into it, he’d find his beloved friend’s pale, lifeless body lying in eternal sleep.

“I intended to give her a proper burial, after all. Alice, Lax, stay by Aura. Protect her if necessary. Aevus’s battle is with me and me alone.” The Angel of Silence turned his back on the soul reaper, walking toward the exit. “Come, Aevus. We will only be walking a short distance. If you would like any questions answered, now is the time. After all, if you succeed, I will be dead at the end of our battle. I will not be able to satisfy your curiosity then.”

Douma led the two just a few hundred meters away from the building, toward an intersection between buildings. At this point, he would turn to face Aevus with just a distance of ten feet between them, prepared to meet his enemy in combat. However, Aevus always had the opportunity to attack either the moment that Douma turned his back to him in the building or during their short walk. If he chose instead to ask questions, Douma might have some answers before their duel began. The ball was in the budding Vizard’s court.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Click me}

The echoes of his Zanpakuto stirred within the air, pointing at the three in that dark lit room. Ready to strike with keen precision. Moving faintly from each breath that his enemies dared to take. He could hear Lumina’s snarl reverberate through each of the blades following that anger slowly bubbling up inside of him. A black ribbon hung down from each weapons silver pommel, swaying gently in that cold bleak blackness. The way this masked fiend spoke, his voice threaded itself on violent waters.

His words were but riddles to the man. A haze with a familiar name coming into ear shot causing him to glare at the masked fiend. He knew Aura, Somehow. But that wasn’t possible. It couldn’t have been possible. There was no way. No possible way that someone like him could have known her. Was it? It didn’t matter, not now. Aevus couldn’t think clearly and his questions seemed to only have been answered with lies. The voice that invaded his mind left him dazed for a moment.

”You’ve been hiding this demon inside you?” His eyes narrowed upon the young girl as she spoke to him, that hint of black flickering in those sapphires of his from the word ‘demon’. “Douma might have gotten cocky. He can handle you, Aevus, but this hollow might be enough to end the Angel of Silence. Why don’t you take her for a ride" A soft murmur fell from the lips of a silver tongued vixen. [smear:#ffd700]“Curious ever so curious..."[/smear:ffe34d] A melodic whisper sifted into his ear once more.

[smear:#ffd700] “...She calls me a demon, a hollow...” [/smear:ffe34d] He could feel the vixen’s darkly reiatsu begin to prey thusly, seductively burying itself against him. [smear:#ffd700]“I’m beyond such taunts but I do want to play."[/smear:ffe34d] A giggle echoed once more within his mind. Her hot breath fell down his neck like the foreign touch of a past lover. He opened his eyes to that bioluminescent dwelling. Cold as it was, he could feel the warmth of her bare breast pressing against his back as he stood in that unmovable silence.

[smear:#ffd700]“Mhm~ so why don’t you, Little Hunter?”[/smear:ffe34d] His blade shook in his left hand as she nestled her fingers over the handle of his Zanpakuto. [smear:#ffd700]“I would like to see if I could handle you and who knows~”[/smear:ffe34d] Her golden irises fell over him and yet Lumina for once didn’t pull him away or bare her fangs at her. In truth she was no where to be found. But that was to be noted. The outer dwellings of that forest hid the two far away from the prying eyes of his spirit. betwixt the light and canopy, the two were alone in that luminescent undergrowth.

The vixen caressed the runic blade gently, her pale skin brushing his own as she glided her finger up to the tip. [smear:#ffd700]“...It could be fun to let go~“[/smear:ffe34d] A speckle of bioluminescent light danced upon the blade catching golden eyes in its magnificence as she balanced her fingers against the sharp edge of his blade. [smear:#ffd700]“Yet, can you handle me?”[/smear:ffe34d] She’d move in front of Aevus, those deathly golden beacons seemingly drawing him in. Her strange beauty a foreign allure of its own.

[smear:#ffd700]“Let's find out~”[/smear:ffe34d] Her tufted tail gently brushed against his waist as she led her hands back to the reaper’s own. [smear:#ffd700]“Oh so, shall we dance upon them together?”[/smear:ffe34d] Her darkly ears perked just faintly as she turned her head questioningly. “No...” Aevus moved his hand away, glancing away from the vixen. His pulse rose with every breath he took and yet he felt the heat from the vixen fall away from him. He looked back to see two golden eyes staring back at him, her darkly silhouette now enveloped by the forest. [smear:#ffd700]“I’ll let you lead for now, mind your feet~”[/smear:ffe34d]

When he opened his eyes, there were not cold blues but a golden hue of a predator awaiting Douma. Glowing brilliantly, the snarling from his Zanpakuto spirit paraded once more in his mind. He was still there, at least partly so. That flicker of gold slowly receded revealing his eyes in their natural state. Yet they glowed in a cyanic light from the reaitsu of his Shikai. The hollow wasn’t in control not yet at least. He held his blade tightly as the masked man spoke and he said something that lit up those ever changing eyes of his.

Like a tide his emotions stirred upon that sea. That black foreboding sea of emotions drifted uncontrollably from what he was seeing. Blade clenched in hand, those words that spilled forth were like poison to his ears. He couldn’t see clearly, his eyes were playing tricks on him. An illusion, this was an illusion. It had to be, none of this was real. A trick to drive him to believe the lies spoken thusly by the fiend before him. The hollow with a human form. And yet, there she was.

Stealthy teal eyes closed to the world. She looked like she was sleeping. She was older than he remembered, a young woman but there was no way. He fell back into that sea, drowning in that black strangling world a child once threw him out of. Why was she here? It couldn’t have been her. Tighter and tighter he held his Zanpakuto. He had buried her, he had killed...her. He shook his head, his eyes clenched shut as that darkness spread over both his irises.

The blades that wavered around him hung coldly in the air. Like him they seemed shackled in a permanent slumber. Those stealthy teal irises sheltered him down this path as a Shinigami. And yet there she was, alabaster pale, lifeless but she wasn’t the Aura he knew. This wasn’t Aura. Closed eyes, his blades sung once more dancing before him, they all now aimed for Douma. A Mark of Fate appeared on the very mask of the hollow of a man. The man could easily remove it at any time but before he could he would find a voice invading the inner recesses of his mind.

“Don’t turn your back on me...” His voice trailed off echoing within the Rogue’s mind. He’d perhaps feel a new feeling towards Aevus. Intimidation, a fear perhaps bubbling up inside of him. His six blades snapped forward, like spears let lose singing through the air. Two aimed behind the knees. Two others between his shoulder blades and the last two aimed for his kidneys; all at six hundred speed. “And don’t act like you knew her!” His reiatsu flared at that and his eyes viciously glowed in the bleak dark.

Reiatsu: 5800/6050

Mark Of Fate - 100
Resonare {6 phantom Zanpakuto} (to keep active) - 150

[Douma]

Douma felt Aevus place his mark upon him the moment his shikai activated. Suddenly, Douma spoke to his companions. “Lax, Alice, run now.” But one must not mistake the order of retreat as an act of cowardice. No, the Angel of Silence did not know fear. Even the mark Aevus placed on him failed to remind him of such a cowardly sensation for more than a millisecond. The mere child’s voice rang out in Douma’s head.

“Don’t turn your back on me...” Aevus acted like some enraged God, and it was infuriating. Douma was angry that Aevus’s dellusions formed the idea of his superiority over the rogue mercenary. The Angel of Silence flexed his reiatsu with all his might, removing the mark from his body. He would have his revenge.

And he wouldn’t have to wait long to get it. Aevus was as rash and impulsive as ever, and he was quick to attack first. His blades no longer hovered motionlessly in the air. They all began to converge on Douma’s location, and it would be difficult for the rogue to evade all of the projectiles without a step technique. However, he had no intention of moving from his position. He needed to make it clear to Aevus who was in charge. More so, he needed to make it clear to Aevus’s inner hollow.

As the swords neared the masked man, Douma would suddenly crouch down, like he was doing a very low squat. Suddenly, a thunderous shriek filled the room. Instead of piercing the mercenary, Aevus’s swords were all blocked by the body of a terrifying dragon. Its tail wrapped around Douma while it hovered above him, and it was that tail that suffered blows from all six swords. The creature cried out in pain as a result, but its limited sentience bent to Douma's will. The monster belonged to him. It would die for him. It would kill for him.

The battle was just beginning. As a result of injuring the shokan, a pink mist rushed toward Aevus at a speed of 800. If Aevus made contact, he would lose 25 reiatsu for the use of Resonare, or if he uses another technique before the pink mist hit, he would lose reiatsu equivalent to the cost of his most recent technique. Such an ability was quite useful in long battles, but Douma did not expect this fight to last long at all. He had one goal: break Aevus's Inner Hollow, but before he did, Aevus would need to hit his limit. The mercenary just needed another lie to push things in the right direction.

“I know more about her than you ever did. She came to me, and without my assistance, she would have never tamed the hollow within her.”

But Douma wasn't finished. He sacrificed another portion of his own life force once more, but this time, no dragon appeared. Instead, a man in magician's armor with a dark aura around him materialized beside the Angel of Silence. Another shokan creature, it seemed. This one, however, was Dark Sorcerer. It stood silently beside its master, watching Aevus with its cold eyes like one might observe a caged animal. But Dark Sorcerer did not act. It stood beside its wounded brother, waiting for Douma's command.

The rogue's reiatsu began to extend from his skin in a crimson aura that engulfed him and his pawns beside him. He had ordered Lax and Alice's retreat out of caution. Aevus's Inner Hollow had an unknown destructive potential, one that might be enough to eliminate a Captain of the Gotei 13. But that was only part of the reason. The other was far more selfish and terrifying.

Lord Callus had done wonders to the mercenary. The hollow human that arrived at Callus's lair had been replaced. There was nothing human about Douma. His skin was covered in a mechanical armor. His liver had been substituted with a more efficient mechanism to keep Douma functioning in all situations. He no longer had a heart either, for a machine pumped the silvery blood through his artificial mirror body. There was nothing human about Douma. Callus's therapy vanquished even the last traces of humanity in the rogue's mind, killing the last few grains of Kagami Murai.

But the robotic enhancements Douma recieved came at a cost. They pumped chemicals through his veins with the sole purpose of introducing as much pain into his system as possible. That pain was his fuel. His body was designed to turn agony into focused rage. And that pain flowed through Douma's blood as he stood quietly, facing Aevus with his murderous crimson right eye and his unimpressed bone-white right eye.

"This is your last chance. Face me with all your power or die."

Life Force Remaining: 8700/10,000 (-1,000 for Shokan: Dark Knife, -300 for Shokan: Dark Sorcerer)

Dark Knife: 1/4

Dark Sorcerer: 1/6

WoI Post Count: 3/6 (This is the point where Aevus goes on his rampage. When it hits 6 posts, he will pass out from exhaustion. The dire situation and pure rage he’s experiencing sets the tone well for a hollow takeover )

Aevus now has a 3 in Strength of Will and Pain Tolerance.

I’m too lazy/tired/recovering from surgery to paste Douma’s reserved techs, but you can find them in his point bank or profile. If you've got any questions about them, just let me know.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

“Lax, Alice, run now.”

Fleeing like the rats they were. Good, Aevus would just have to hunt them down later. He had there names now... First names but at least that was a start. One by one they’d fall just like their leader. In that moment they were all but hollows in his eyes. At least that’s what he told himself to keep his anger flowing. To let it feed and enrich his malicious intentions. His enraged blues drew forth to that Mask fiend and so the phantoms of his Zanpakuto followed suit. He had no intention of letting this monster roam freely. To let it lead him into a trap, he would deny it that right.

Aevus felt it, the breaking of his mark. He felt that disconnect immediately. But upon breaking that mark Douma would feel something. Not pain, no something more precious. A sever, a lapse of time. It would feel as if he had lost all connections to the world for merely half a second. As he had been severed from fate itself. It wasn’t a long enough time to take advantage of. But the breaking of that mark should have been enough to get his point across to this Masked Fiend. Severing yourself from ‘Fate’ has its repercussions

The phantoms of his very Zanpakuto howled through the air until snarling as they met flesh. But not the flesh of their intended victim. Aevus would mark that creature six times upon its summoning. The shriek that fell from its jaws brought pleasure to the reaper. Causing him to tap the handle of his blade with his left hand. A perk of his lips would hint at a smirk. The beast he had struck resembled a snake in many ways. Yet it hovered over the Rogue like it was something more. A dragon, a serpent of the sky. Fallen thusly to the heels of its master. How cruel to bend such a creature to your own whim.

The deadly pink mist that fell from the dragon’s wounds caused Aevus’s enflamed blues to widen in turn. it moved quickly like a plague taken form. A disease that spread across that small store. To see such a memorable place stricken with such foulness. Aevus’s heart bled from the sight. He could feel his stomach in knots and tore at him deeply. He was denying everything around him. Creating a forced delusion to rationalize what he was intending to do to this man. Aevus had no plans on being struck by that mist but words strayed him and he stood motionless in that haze.

“I know more about her than you ever did. She came to me, and without my assistance, she would have never tamed the hollow within her.”

~A nightmare etched into memory digging ever so deeply into him. He could see Aura in that alleyway. Only it wasn’t her... Something was wrong. Aevus saw it. A darkness stretching and clinging forth across her stealthy teal eyes. A foreign golden hue replaced them and they narrowed on him viscously pleading in that dim light. She was holding a rusted knife.~ That knot in his stomach grew only tighter and he felt the need to tear out his own heart. He didn’t want to fall here, to sink away into nothingness.

“Aura... what are you doing?”

"Aevus please... stop me."

~She was crying silently but he saw the pain that she was in. Tears hung on pale young cheeks. A mask fragment formed over her youthful visage. She resembled a hollow in the dim light. Barely moving bodies strung around her almost as if they were corpses. Aevus’s icy eyes were widened as he grabbed ahold of her. He tried with all his strength. Keeping her from digging that very blade into her very stomach.~ But he fell anyway. He fell into that abyss. It felt like an eternity until the cold embrace of those darkly waters finally broke his fall.

“Aura! Let go of the knife!”

“I can’t, control... myself-”

~She overpowered him and he couldn’t control her. They wrestled and Aevus felt a blade slide across his chest. A spill of crimson blood danced into light. He bit himself throwing that knife to the murky ground below. It echoed off the wall and Aura fell into him.~ Pain sunk deeply into the cracks of his very being and fear of the truth only blinded him in a sea of black. It was strangling and panicked breaths only caused him to sink ever deeper into that chasm of black. Try all he wanted, he could not swim nor reach the surface.

“...Aura.”

“Aevus please, kill me...”

~What happened next drew away all the light from his eyes. She screamed and that hollow screamed alongside her. Strangled in the back of her throat he could still hear Aura fighting. He could still see that stealthy teal eyed girl. Somewhere, somewhere... Lost in the golden eyes of a hollow.~ He could see the light. See the light from those two moons touching the surface. The light from that luminous realm almost even touched him. It was an illusion, like a sliver of hope. So close but just out of reach. It was taunting and teasing him to no end. But he couldn’t look away.

“what did I...”

“...Aevus.”

~It would begin to rain. Those golden eyes of her’s would widen returning to those stealthy teals that he knew. Somewhere along the way during that tussle, Aevus had taken that rusted knife. He had taken it so that she could not turn it on herself. But...She pulled herself into him.~ As he fell deeper and deeper into that black, his icy visage would cling to that light. It was all he could muster. All he could do to keep himself from letting the darkness around dig ever and ever deeper into him. It was unbearable and he felt himself caving in.

“Aura... no, no, no. I’ll fix this, i’ll get help, I-”

“-You’re my... hero.”

~He cradled her in his arms, her stealthy teal irises glinting from her tears and the moonlight above. Gazing up at him, her voice rang in his ear and he couldn't stand it. There were tears in his eyes, softened and full of sorrow. He wept as tears began to stroll down his cheeks. A shadow loomed, sinking into the very wound on his chest. He was in so much pain that he didn’t notice a hollow's Reiatsu envelope him. His eyes clenched shut and he fell into himself. He couldn’t even scream, his sobs were lost in the rain.~

[smear:#ffd700]“Easy prey~”[/smear:ffe34d]

The darkly waters pulled on him. As if thousands of tendrils. It drenched every inch of his darkened silhouette. Piercing his very soul and his heart. Drowning him deeper and deeper into that sea of black. He felt himself being pulled to the bottom. It was like gravity and he couldn’t fight any longer. So he'd give into it. Give into that instinct. Icy blues eclipsed as he let the current take him. Blind from the world, blind from that strangling abyss. He took a breath and would open the golden eyes of a predator to that cruel reality.

"This is your last chance. Face me with all your power or die."

SPOILER: Click to show

{To set the mood}

A devilish chuckle would leave the reaper’s lips from those words alone. “You were able to tame her...?” His fingers curled tightly around his Zanpakuto.“Prove it..." He clenched that weapon with all of his strength until his fingers felt numb. Something dark slithered into view. He didn’t try and turn it away this time. And thusly the darkness of that golden eyed hollow swiftly consumed all of the remaining light from him. He growled, a hollow's echo would sound in that dim light.

“Bankai!”

“Sever all ties, Lumina Umbra.”

That bleak darkly aura would pull itself over the land at that. Flooding and overwhelming it with the cold cruel breath of fate. It was like a sea of darkness had risen up and stretched forth. Blotting out all warmth, leaving a bioluminescent light on all surfaces in its wake. Douma would feel Aevus’s Reiatsu and his presence breathing down his neck. His energy sensory would no longer be able to keep track of him in that bleak aura. He dared to linger in his territory so he was now at his mercy.

Aevus, no something else entirely stood there gazing into that masked visage with a darkly resolve. It was a hunter, a creature of instinct with a doubled-bladed Zanpakuto in hand. Even the echoes of his Zanpakuto that were embedded into that dragon shifted to resemble his newly formed Zanpakuto. Darkly markings covered his shadowed silhouette. His once dark hairs lengthened faltering to his shoulders. They held some specks of his black hairs but they now resembled the wintry furs of his wolven spirit.

A flicker of silver glinted past those golden eyes of his. A mask partially formed as the darkness that bellowed from his form settled. It resembled a fox in some ways and two golden eyes narrowed neatly on but prey. And yet no... he tore at that mask. Tearing away the darkly fragments of that hollow from his very visage. But his eyes still held that golden shimmer and that overwhelming instinct. If Douma wanted her, he was going to have to claim her. He was going to have to survive this.

The mist that pulled on him was nothing. He ignored it, it didn’t hold enough power to affect him. Another Mark of Fate would appear on Douma’s right shoulder at that. The Mark of Fate, if it still existed would develop a red thread attaching itself to one of the marks on the dragon. With a single thought he would carve into the dragon with those blades that laid dormant inside. Forcing Douma to experience the very same wounds as they ran up the length of that snake. He would form a phantom of himself behind the Sorcerer, which would attack immediately at the same time, driving it's lengthly Zanpakuto into its back.

If he removed the mark. If he so decided to sever himself from Aevus, it would be a mistake. He would lose a second. A single second that would seal his very fate. “Secernere...” Aevus whispered and he would swing his blade with all of his might. His blade and eyes flared and bled a powerful Reiatsu. All within his sight would be cut, he'd leave nothing at the mercy of that swing. He would behead the hollow of a man and in doing so, sever him.

Reiatsu: 3750/5800

Bankai (1/10) - 400
Mark Of Fate - 250 (7 marks)
Resonare {6 phantom Zanpakuto} (to keep active) - 150 {Phantom Aevus} - 200
Fatis vinculum - 150 (1 link) 100 (to keep active)
Secernere - 800

[Douma]

Douma could feel it rising in Aevus. “Prove it..." No more chains. No more restrictions. It was nearly there. Douma sensed the darkness surfacing in Aevus’s spirit. He was losing control of himself, letting go more and more willingly as every second continued. Douma needed to do little from this point onward. No more new lies. No more egging Aevus on. He would beat down the man to unleash the beast within him

”Bankai.”

As Aevus’s reiatsu merged into his surroundings, his body began to glow dimly. Much like before, Douma felt a sense of intimidation, like Aevus was watching him from all sides. His ability was very predatorily, and it attempted to label the Angel of Silence as its prey. Unfortunately for Aevus, that was a mistake. To do so would be for a lamb to hunt a wolf or gazelle to stalk a lion. The budding vizard had yet to realize that bitter reality.

Yet although Aevus had unleashed his bankai, hollow reiatsu tainted his energy. A bone mask formed over his face resembling a fox, but the soul reaper was quick to pull it from his face. The resistance was futile in the long run, for even without a hollow mask over his head, the fox’s eyes would witness the battle in place of Aevus’s own blue gaze. It was only a matter of time until the rest of the hollow overpowered the little will Aevus had left.

Once more, Aeuvus would mark Douma, this time on his shoulder. However, that mark was not as isolated as before. A thin red strand connected it to Douma’s own Shokan: Dark Knife. As soon as this connection formed, Douma’s entire body would be subject to six cuts, each only as wide as Aevus’s blade. However, their depth compensated the short length. Douma’s armor was the only thing that kept the wounds from bleeding profusely, and rupturing that armor could prove dangerous.

However, he did not react at all from the pain of the wounds. He did not yell or wince. In fact, Aevus might even question if his ability worked at all, since the armor coated Douma’s new cuts. Nonetheless, the attack did succeed. Unfortunately for Aevus, Douma’s heart gave him a fearful ability. All pain was translated into willpower, and that mental strength was all Douma needed to hide any signs of agony. He would not show weakness. He was the master, and soon, that hollow and the boy within it would be his slaves.

All of that pain and rage that had gathered within the bionic man would finally be unleashed.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Play This}

A black sword appeared in Douma’s hand as the parasite that fed on his life force awoke from its slumber. Just as Aevus initiated the slashing motion of his blade, the entire world around them would be engulfed in darkness. They could still see clearly, but it was all black everything. Even the bioluminescence somehow emanated black light. Douma and Aevus were but sable silhouettes, but despite their similar appearance, the power dynamic between the two was anything but parallel. The Vizard Hopeful would not be able to compete at his current stage, not without help from the hollow inside him.

Aevus’s blade had just moved an inch before the motion would end without Aevus’s control what-so-ever. His arm would be forced down abruptly, like it weighed as much as a car. And it did. That was Douma’s fearsome ability: mass shifting and absorption, and the smoke from Dark Knife on Aevus’s body was an agent of his powers. The weight was added in increments so as to avoid doing damage. Douma was cautious to prevent Aevus from transmitting more injuries to him. The unsuspecting omnitsukido vice captain simply lacked the physical strength required to hold his own arm up, so it would weigh him down like an anchor.

But that was not even the worst of it. Aevus’s head witnessed the same fate. The weight of his head would jump to one hundred and fifty pounds, forcing his entire body forward with the gravitational force of his arm and head. As his skull fell toward the ground, it would certainly bruise but no crack. Douma was cautious to avoid notable damage, and he shifted the weight in increments once more. However, the Shinigami was trapped and the hollow must take advantage of Aevus’s weakness in order to break out.

But even then, Aevus’s phantom would still continue its assault on Dark Sorcerer. Before its blade could impale the unaware shokan, Dark Sorcerer would suddenly vanish from thin air. Douma’s energy sensory detected the phantom, and so he simply turned his hand toward his spawn to reabsorb it back into himself before the attack could land. And a split-second later, the phantom would meet its end. Absorbing Dark Sorcerer allowed Douma to, when creating a glaive in his free left hand through Soul Projection, make the weapon completely invisible. Thus, the energy sensory-incapable phantom would not even see the blade of the glaive as Douma moved the weapon upward, slicing the phantom in two diagonally through its chest.

All that was left was to wait for the creature within the shinigami. Still, Douma gave the hollow a final ultimatum. He sent Dark Knife flying toward Aevus at its speed of 1100. If the hollow failed to emerge in time, the shokan would pierce Aevus’s heart with its metallic claws. The fox had only a split second to emerge before it would all be over. If it did arise, Douma’s outreached hand would absorb Dark Knife back into his own life force pool. But if not… then Aevus would be no more.

”Rise up, hollow, and know that I AM THE MONSTER.”

Reiatsu Remaining: 8025/10,000 (-300 for Bakkoto level 1, -300 reiatsu to redistribute weight of the ground to Aevus’s head and arm, -50 for Soul Projection, -25 for making the glaive invisible)

Life Force Remaining: 8600/10,000 (+500 for Dark Edge absorbing Dark Knife if the hollow takes over, -600 for getting stabbed 6 times cuz Aevus is the new Zeich :/ )

Dark Sorcerer: 2/4

Dark Knife: 2/6

Bakkoto: 1/3

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

A smirk perked his lips as he witnessed his attacks land. Yet that smile would disappear and golden eyes narrowed upon the hollow masked fiend who didn’t seem to react his technique. He didn’t shout, nor did he even flinch. What happened? Was he even in pain? What was he? How much will did this monster have? So many questions flowed through his as he stood there with his Zanpakuto in hand. The places where he had been impaled seemed to be quickly covered up by the man’s strange armor.

His armor had hidden those fresh wounds. Barely even a drop of blood dripped from him. A flicker of black shot forth from Douma’s palm. Causing Aevus’s eyes to light up, or perhaps in this case to darken. He watched in confusion as a scimitar appeared in the man’s hand. And next an ever looming darkness escaped from the man’s form. It seemed to spread, eclipsing his territory in a black shroud. Even the bioluminescent effect of his Bankai’s territory. Which now seemed to emit an errie foreign glow of darkness.

Douma’s silhouette itself was even covered in that inky black. Fully eclipsing that white mask of his in a black shroud. Aevus was wary of this foreign darkness. He knew not what power Douma possessed and he was not ready for him. He had than felt it in his arm and his blade would impale the ground below. He tried lifting his arm but it was as if something was pulling him downwards. But no that wasn’t it... He had become heavier somehow. But how? It was too late to react to that shift in weight and next he had felt his head being pulled down.

He toppled to the ground almost instantly. His forehead painfully echoed off the wooden floorboards as he landed. What was happening to him? What was this? He didn’t understand this power at all. Everything left him for a time as he shut his golden eyes from that black world. His eyes catching the fading image of his very phantom as Douma cut through it. He had soon found himself back in that bioluminescent forest. His body laid across a glowing sea of grass. Hands clenched, he would grip at the greenery. Clearly disheartened he would fall into himself.

Not from being caught off guard nor from the pain that now sung from him. But because of that darkening feeling building up in his heart. His chest tightened from the way he felt. The rush he was given when he saw the Fiend being impaled. It felt good, way too good and it felt fearfully natural. He tried to tell himself that he hated this type of bloodshed but that wasn’t true. He simply turned away from the fact that he enjoyed this. He tried to lie to himself but he couldn’t run from it any longer.

He knew the dance of the blade by heart. The feeling it wrought when he carved into his prey. Every single part of him lusted for that rush. His body, his soul and heart wanted to kill Douma. It wasn’t just because of the hollow that tiptoed within his very mind. Nor was it just because the monster had dared to try and defile Aura’s memory. He just wanted to kill him. He wanted to hunt him down. To tear off that mask and mutilate the hollow of a man beyond any form of human recognition.

He was disgusted with himself. Disgusted by those harboring feelings that spilled from him. They were the same feelings he got from hunting hollows. They came to him seemingly like instinct. And oh~ did he yearn for the chase. To succumb to that Instinct. He didn’t even know if he’d ever want to turn away from those harboring feelings ever again. Like he had on so many occasions. Maybe... maybe he wanted to do more than just play the role he had been given.

He no longer wanted to hesitate. To allow fear, guilt or even doubt to constrain him. Nor the morals of that stealthy eyed child or the Seretei to steer him. Freedom... was the desire of his Zanpakuto Spirit. Freedom... was the desire of that fox-like hollow. Freedom... was his desire. To be the master of his fate. A flicker of black would enter his blurred gaze. He would slowly stir to the sight of a bushy tail lifting his chin. [smear:#ffd700]“Curious, ever so curious."[/smear:ffe34d] He’d open those golden eyes of his to the pale naked features of a darkly beautiful Vixen.

A body much like an hourglass, she possessed a pale lithely, voluptuous form. Seductive golden lined eyes affixed to him in that bioluminescent light. Her hands were cold and yet soft to the touch. She’d caress his cheek as she sharply gazed into his eyes. [smear:#ffd700] “The Little Hunter has become but 'hearty prey' for the Masked Lamb?”[/smear:ffe34d] She mused questioningly turning her head as if in thought. Her voice echoed darkly and yet it was soothingly melodic as it crept into both his ears. This woman. No this hollow had captivated him in every sense of the word.

She reminded him of a siren. A beautiful yet dangerous creature. And just like a siren bewitching sailors to their rocky doom with song. Her voice lured him in and held the Shinigami captive. Its sultry echoes fell through him as did her Reiatsu. Penetrating him as if hundreds of squirming tendrils. She buried into him. He felt strangled and yet he breathed her in. Her scent like a foreign flower befell his senses. She nestled closer. Bringing her carnivorous and lustful lips to but an ear.

[smear:#ffd700]“Mind your feet~ I warned you had I not?”[/smear:ffe34d] Like a blade to flesh her voice threaded through him rather sharply. He would sigh in turn, his heart beat began to race as the Vixen pressed on. [smear:#ffd700] “A true hunter always watches where they step. Have you forgotten the dance? Shall I remind you?”[/smear:ffe34d] Her tufted ears pivoted as the Reaper grasped at her arm. “No...” Aevus spoke darkly, glaring into those golden eyes with his own haunting visage. “He's mine. My prey. My fight, Hollow.”

He held her arm tightly and yet that lovely inviting smile never left her. [smear:#ffd700]“Yet the Masked Lamb calls for me~ ”[/smear:ffe34d] She’d giggle not even once attempting to pull away from the Shinigami. [smear:#ffd700] “Alas he holds no interest in neither the 'Wolf' nor the 'Hunter'. But the 'Fox'?”[/smear:ffe34d] Her laughter cut away as she licked her lips hungrily. [smear:#ffd700]“He calls for 'me'. He lusts for a taste~”[/smear:ffe34d] She twisted away from his grip dancing upon the glowing grass with softly placed steps. That carnivorous smile of hers never leaving.

Rising to his sandaled feet Aevus would grimace as the Vixen fell back into the thicket. The black Markings of Fate that sheltered upon his skin began to glow faintly. Like moonlight, they illuminated and pulsed silver threads of dancing light. That light would even appear before Douma as well and it wasn’t just for show either. Even as that Dragon aimed to steal his breath away. He did not rise to his feet right away and yet his marks pulsed from that new light.

But even so his blades once again twisted violently within that snake-like creature. He’d usually only be able to mark his target from a single wound. But his Zanpakuto were still very much inside the creature and he could twist his blades to make more... He’d mark the beast from those additional wounds as he violently twisted his sharp blades. With but a single thought alone. Douma would find that he too now harbored those six additional marks. For any wound or impairment of any kind that fell upon the Dragon also fell upon him.

The red thread of fate had caused the dragon to become a double edged sword. And being marked by his Bankai was far more cruel than his Shikai. Douma’s wounds would blacken. Not from his own power but from a fate that befalls all who bear his Mark while in bankai. Death... now lingered within Douma’s body. Immediately his wounds would show signs of necrosis. Aevus’s Reiatsu would seep into those blackened wounds spreading throughout him and also that dragon.

Six additional blades immediately erupted from threads of reiatsu. They danced around the Shinigami and like a shield they’d protect him from that impeding serpent of the skies. Aevus would glare at that now black mask. His Golden eyes narrowing even as he laid there seemingly pinned. A mark of fate would appear on the back of Douma’s neck. “Fall, Monster...” His voice would invade Douma’s mind. But that was not the only voice that would fall into him. He’d also hear the hollow. A voice that’d slither into and parade throughout his very mind.[smear:#ffd700]“Masked Lamb~ You've exposed your back.”[/smear:ffe34d] She’d warn.

The reaper felt rage burry itself against him. Alongside that overwhelming lust to kill. His golden eyes ravaged against that darkened mask. He’d tap his Zanpakuto before fading from view. He held nothing back as he appeared behind the man. Teleporting instantly, his Zanpakuto outstretched alongside twelve nearly invisible blades. His sandaled feet danced upon the air ground as he attempted to cut into the hollow of a man with several of his hovering weapons all at once. All around him, they would sing. Cutting through the air as he barraged Douma with all of his might and speed.

Reiatsu: 2325/4550

+ 800 for not using Secernere
Bankai (2/10)
Mark Of Fate - 250 (7 marks)
Advanced Air Ground - 25
Libatis umbraculum - 150
Resonare {12 phantom Zanpakuto} 600 - 300 (to keep active)
Fatis vinculum - 100 (to keep active)
Sigillum sortem - 800 (9 Marks just on Douma, 700 x 2.8 = 1960 Spiritual Pressure. Over 10 Marks if you keep the dragon active. Placing Aevus at 2100 Spiritual Pressure)

[Douma]

The Angel of Silence watched carefully as the markings on Aevus’s skin began to luminesce, accompanied by the multiplication of his spiritual capabilities. In a second, he had surpassed Douma in raw power. Initially, the rogue wondered whether this was the doing of the Inner Hollow, but the glow of the tattoos made it clear that the shinigami’s bankai is to blame. It seemed that the soul reaper could still fight. The hollow would have to sit out a few moments longer.

White flashes of pain stained the rogue’s vision. Between the poison flowing through his system and the injuries Aevus immediately inflicted upon him, his mechanical heart could not keep up. It could not convert all of his suffering into mental resilience, and so the masked man would roar in pain as the blades began to twist within his creature. However, his outcry only lasted a moment. Having already been prepared to retract the Shokan, Douma was able to absorb the dragon back into his body a split second after the blades began to twist. However, the damage hadn’t been mitigated. He felt Aevus’s toxic reiatsu infect his wounds, certainly intending to do serious damage. However, absorbing Dark Knife would grant him immunity to poisons. Perhaps it would negate the necrosis. Still, if Aevus managed to strip him of his armor, he’d certainly bleed to death. His situation seemed dire.

Once more, Douma felt another symbol form on his body, this one appearing on the back of his neck. Aevus was taking the offensive, that much was clear. And with his blade held before him, the masked man was prepared to repel the budding vizard’s assault. Aevus’s reiatsu began to rise in correspondence with the single mark on the nape of Douma’s neck. As the man pieced together Aevus’s strategy, a foreign voice confirmed his suspicions. “Masked Lamb~ You've exposed your back.” As Douma had expected, Aevus would create some sort of attack targeting him from behind.

The soul reaper vanished from sight, reappearing behind the rogue. However, as he directed his blades, he’d notice Douma disappear in a blur. It couldn’t have been a step technique, for the man’s feet never moved. Even with Aevus’s heightened speed, his eyes wouldn’t be able to follow the rogue’s movement at such a short distance. However, his bankai would grant him awareness of the position of his target. Aevus would realize that Douma had disappeared into the ground itself, out of his reach.

Douma didn’t dig his way under. No, he merged with the very dirt below them. Unless Aevus could muster massive destructive capabilities, Douma would be safe. But that didn’t mean Aevus was safe either. The man was in danger once more. This time, however, Aevus himself wasn’t the object of Douma’s bakkoto. Instead, all the mass of the earth within Douma’s Black Zone had been assigned to the roof of the warehouse. The entire building began to crumble, unable to support itself any longer. Before the larger chunks of the ceiling came down, little pieces of rubble descended like rain. However, because of their increased weight, each little rock would hit like a bullet, penetrating Aevus’s skin. If any hit his head, he’d be dead in an instant. His only option was to protect his skull as he cleared the building with all his speed.

Aevus had entered through the roof, so he’d need a second to locate an exit. His only option was the same door from which Douma’s associates had exited. If the soul reaper had managed to protect himself and arrive at the exit, Douma would be a several feet below the soles of Aevus’s shoes already waiting. Just as Aevus opened the door and attempted to flee the collapsing building, an invisible attack would consume him from below. It was an enormous blast of energy, larger a semi-truck. Much like a cero, upon making contact with Aevus, it’d erupt into an enormous blast with a fiery radius of 30 feet. Only by traveling further underground at a speed of 1000 could Douma avoid its damage. Aevus, however, wouldn’t be so lucky. He wouldn’t even be able to detect the beam due to his lack of energy sensory, and thanks to the ability of the shokan Dark Sorceror, Aevus’s eyes wouldn’t be of any use either. Once Douma was safe, he’d then sever all the Marks of Fate at once. He would be safe to do so, out of Aevus’s reach, and it was imperative that he did before Aevus recovered his wits or he might be able to form a red string of fate between himself and Douma.

If Aevus had managed to create an exit rather than force his way through the only door in the warehouse, he’d avoid springing Douma’s trap. However, even in that scenario, Douma’d be satisfied. The Shinigami had expended a large portion of his reiatsu in a very small amount of time, and just the act of escaping the building would drain his stamina further. If Douma pressed forward, the soul reaper would lack the energy to with combat the Angel of Silence. But if Aevus could not avoid the trap, then his body would be fried to a black crisp by the blast. He’d certainly live, but not long without medical attention. The hollow may be able to take over in that scenario, but extending the fight would not be wise. After all, Douma wanted a new soldier for his army. If the voice that spoke out in his mind did belong to the inner hollow, then he had won its favor. But if Aevus was strong enough to suppress the monster… Douma would have no choice but to execute him as another victim in his war on Soul Society.

Reiatsu Remaining: 6625/10,000 (-800 for black energy, -400 for Dark Sorceror’s ability granting invisibility to black energy, -200 for being absorbed into the ground)

Class 1 Bakkoto: 2/3

Dark Knife: 1/3

Dark Sorcerer: 1/4

SPOILER: Click to show

{Tl;dr}

-Reabsorb Dark Knife (if necrosis is considered a poison, this would negate necrosis due to Dark Knife’s ability. If not, *shrug* oh well)
-Dodged Aevus by having the earth below them absorb him
-Made roof super heavy, causing warehouse to collapse and forcing Aevus toward the only exit
-Shot invisible energy beam below Aevus’s feet, turning him into a well-done Aevus steak
-Severed all Marks of Fate to avoid that mean little red string for when Aevus recovered his wits
-Chilled underground waiting

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

Ever so swift in his attacks, Aevus expected to lay waste to the masked man in that flurry. Yet those bladed echoes of fate sought an invisible enemy. The Reaper’s golden eyes widened with disappointment as he stood atop the air ground and dug his blade into the ghost of his prey. The hollow of a man would suffer from his cowardice. For even as he escaped, Aevus’s Reiatsu had already settled throughout him. Douma had only used two hundred Reiatsu but he’d feel it...

All throughout his body that stagnant Reiatsu surged erratically like it were a ravenous animal. It wouldn’t kill him but it’d certainly injure the fleeing man. Perhaps causing some minor pain and internal bleeding. It was but another sign that fate itself was hunting him this night. That a single cut from his blade was also a sever from fate. There was no serendipity to be had for him. No moment of peace. With but a mark created from a wound, it severed both his physical and spiritual connections. Twisting him to every mortals fate... Death.

It was not poison that had ravaged his body and turned his wounds black as tar. That destroyed all of his capilaries and nerves in the areas that those ghostly glowing black wounds had appeared. No, it was a severance from fate itself, Aevus had cut the very thread of life from him. They would only worsen as time went by... For to be severed from fate, was to be marked for death. He could hear the giggling of that vulpine of a hollow.

[smear:#ffd700] “My such a furtive Masked Lamb. Rather slippery quarry is he not? Flees as if death’s very shadow looms over him.” [/smear:ffe34d] A hint of glee fell from the silver tongued hollow at that. [smear:#ffd700]"Yet you~ You’re rather predictable, attacking the place that even prey cannot see. Such a frivolous hunt you’ve found yourself in Little Hunter~"[/smear:ffe34d] She was enjoying this. Twelve Zanpakuto danced around him as the building began to crumble and fall. He moved quickly and they sung, slicing the air itself in an array of wild ferocity. He reacted swiftly and without pause as if in a trance. With his Zanpakuto in hand he protected himself and the corpse of the girl that resembled Aura.

But even so he was not perfect in his endeavor. He grunted as dust filled the icy air. His sandaled feet still nimbly stepping upon the air ground and yet he had almost lost his footing. A piece of rubble cut forth by his Zanpakuto slammed much like a boulder into his right shoulder, dislocating it from it’s very socket. He clenched tightly against the handle of his double-bladed Zanpakuto from that surging pain. It was hard to hide the pain but the dust that filled the wintery air helped him and the sound of the rubble hid his scream. It took all of his will to remain there, stagnant in that shadow of destruction.

He stood panting over Aura's body as the very ceiling snapped and plunged against the other lifeless corpses in that room. Mangling their bones and very flesh beyond any form of recognition. They were lost in that rain, entombed by the wood and glass that once sheltered them. Golden eyes stirred through that haze of dust. It filtered the air like ashes to fire. Yet that black still masked over everything. The blood that pooled beneath the rubble from those bodies, even colored itself in that dark. Shimmering bioluminescent darkness from his very territory.

He could still sense Douma even as he hid away from his preying gaze. He felt him, from those Marks. Even as he hid far beneath the ground... He could not hide nor could he run, even in this chaos. He was trapped in this duel, in this dance with the Hollow eyed Reaper. [smear:#ffd700]“Easy Prey~.”[/smear:ffe34d] Her voice slithered throughout him and her Reiatsu latched around him as he panted. He felt it even more now. Even before activating Bankai. Her golden visage had already begun taking its hold.

She wanted to take him over. That was obvious and it was becoming unbearable to keep her at bay with his wounds and the amount of Reiatsu he had used so quickly. He sharply bit his lip, drawing his own blood to focus on the pain. To keep in control. He had to keep in control. He could not let the hollow take him. Not here, not yet... Clenching his Zanpakuto the sultry whispers of that hollow would invade him once more. [smear:#ffd700]“Little Hunter~ You’re running out of time. Surly you cannot fight much longer on your own. Hungry as you are, for even a breath. Wasting yourself on foolish and desultory attempts to end a life. Breaking your very bones protecting carrion... All because he used that 'child' against you~”[/smear:ffe34d]

Even with his futile attempts, half of his face had already begun to be masked over once again. The darkly fragments of that mask began to shelter against his wounded silhouette as he panted. “This is still my fight hollow...” Aevus’s voice rang hollow and echoed as if he was one. The only thing that kept him from losing complete control was seeing that face. Even if she wasn't Aura... he couldn't become a monster in front of her, he refused too.

He could hear himself losing his edge. Nearly gone, his voice invaded Douma’s violently as he felt the masked man attempt to remove his marks. “You tried to sever yourself from me just now... didn’t you? Sadly you’d have to heal those wounds to remove all of them... I wonder where did they appear on you? The wounds? Surly not your heart, for you’d already be dead... Are your lungs filling up with blood perhaps? Did I puncture an artery? Rupture an organ? Are you bleeding out within that armor as I speak? How much longer do you expect to keep going with those festering wounds of yours?”

The Reaper preyed deeper. As his sandaled feet sheltered upon the air ground, the dust finely settled. He would replace one of those marks that Douma had removed, with a new one. Burning it upon his mask. “What sort of outcome did you expect from this 'Hollow'? Did you ever expect this one? No I doubt that... You more than likely never envisioned that I'd maim you as I have... You wouldn’t have had your rats flee otherwise... Surly you must have had a reason in luring me here though... what was it?” His voice wrung dark. More than half his face was covered by the darkly fragments of that hollow mask. The cold air sheltered his breath as he continued. "I'm 'curious'... So tell me... tell me before I 'lose control' and rip that mask off your screaming face...”

The Markings of Fate around Aevus’s eyes glinted sharply as he stood. Past those golden eyes a silver light sparked as he activated Vestige. Even with only his left arm and his deteriorating mind, he was ready for Douma. As ready as he could be in his state. He’d tap his Zanpakuto from repetition alone as he waited for the hollow of a man. The twelve echoes of his doubled-bladed Zanpakuto split from one another into twenty four separate blades. A quality he would have mirrored with the original, if his right arm had not been broken from the collapse. “Regardless of why you lured me here, this 'hunt' is nearing its end...”

Reiatsu: 1525/2325

Bankai (3/10)
Advanced Air Ground - 25
Mark of Fate - 100
Resonare {12 phantom Zanpakuto}(to keep active) - 300
Sigillum sortem (8 Marks) 1820 SpPr
Vestige (Same Path 1/3 on your post) - 350
Tracking - 25

[Douma]

A passionate rage had consumed the young soul reaper. Douma had planned to outsmart him and cut off an escape, but it was impossible to predict an agent of wrath. As the structure of the warehouse crumbled, Aevus’s athletic legs carried carried him to the body of the girl. Chunks of concrete plummeted downward, one hitting with enough force to break Aevus’s arm. Even the tiny pebbles pelted the Shinigami’s back and shoulders. Streams of blood ran down his face and body. Despite the injuries he took and the pain he suffered, Aevus stayed put. He was no longer a man but rather the shield of a corpse. Even in her death, he valued her body over his life.

Douma had once felt Aevus’s love. He once felt the other man’s commitment. He once valued another more than he valued the world. At her request, he would have died for her a million times over. But those emotions were just memories now. Douma could not sympathize with Aevus. He could not feel. The masked man could only remember what it was like to be in Aevus’s shoes – and Douma pitied him.

Nonetheless, Aevus has proven to be troublesome. Douma had activated Black Energy as he anticipated his opponent’s move, and the simple expenditure of reiatsu caused additional pain to course through his body. This wave of pain was manageable with his artificial heart, but the information it yielded was unsettling. The use of reiatsu would be accompanied with pain and internal damage. Furthermore, Aevus had just replaced the mark that Douma removed.

”I wonder where did they appear on you? The wounds? Surly not your heart, for you’d already be dead... Are your lungs filling up with blood perhaps? Did I puncture an artery? Rupture an organ? Are you bleeding out within that armor as I speak? How much longer do you expect to keep going with those festering wounds of yours?” Aevus was not wrong. Blood was seaping into crevices of his body where it doesn’t belong. Even the bottom of a lung had been punctured, causing a small crimson pool to form at the bottom. Douma had only avoided worse repercussions by limiting his physical exertion. However, the situation was clear. If he didn’t end the battle soon, he might exceed the limits of his body. It was time to bring the budding Vizard to his knees.

The Shinigami’s stamina reserves had to be low at that point. Douma could see his heavy breaths through the movements of Aevus’s reiatsu within his own body. He was exhausted. His body would definitely feel heavier than usual too, but that wasn’t just due to his fatigue. As they fought within Douma’s Black Zones, Aevus’s body had been absorbing additional weight. At first, the difference in mass wasn’t noticeable and had been masked by the heat of battle and the effects of adrenaline. Now, however, Aevus was 90 pounds heavier than usual. With the injuries he’s suffered and his human strength, that extra weight would certainly slow him down. Both parties in this battle were reaching their limits. The victor would be decided by just two elements: strategy and perseverance.

“What sort of outcome did you expect from this 'Hollow'? Did you ever expect this one? No I doubt that... You more than likely never envisioned that I'd maim you as I have... You wouldn’t have had your rats flee otherwise... Surly you must have had a reason in luring me here though... what was it? I'm 'curious'... So tell me... tell me before I 'lose control' and rip that mask off your screaming face...” Douma didn’t entertain the Shinigami. He remained quite and hidden. Dialogue was pointless. This was the climate of the battle. ”Regardless of why you lured me here, this 'hunt' is nearing its end...”

At that moment, Douma executed his final strategy. He timed it perfectly. Aevus was tired, and as he finished his brief speech, he’d have depleted his lungs. But as the man took another breath to fill his lungs, Douma had shifted the weight of the air he inhaled. The air that filled his lungs now weighed about ten pounds. No matter how hard Aevus exhaled, he wouldn’t be able to muster enough force to expel the air. It would stay in his lungs and suffocate him. But to ensure Aevus’s fate, he released 6 large cero-like beams from the ground where he resided. Each blast was still invisible. One was directed at Aevus himself while the remaining 5 formed a wide arch around him in case he tried to evade. However, due to his lack of energy sensory, he wouldn’t even be able to detect the beams.

The man would be scorched and injured to the point where he could no longer battle, even if the hollow took over. Even if Aevus attempted to move or stalled his breath, Douma'd anticipate his actions with his energy sensory, which was so keen that he could detect Aevus's intentions before the man took action. Moreso, while Aevus hid his own reiatsu signature, the smoke from Dark Knife still covered his body, allowing Douma to track Aevus's movements. In the case of Aevus attempting to outmaneuver Douma's strategy, the rogue would simply postpone his plan until Aevus repositioned himself. The end result would be the same. Douma would bring Aevus so close to death that he could peer into the endless abyss before the masked man dragged him back.

All of Douma’s attacks were invisible to the eye. Unfortunately, vestige only showed Aevus what attacks were to come. Due to his lack of energy sensory, vestige would be unable to reveal the beams that threatened him nor could it warn him of the shift in the air’s weight. He was so confident in his ability to manipulate fate that he hadn’t realized fate was not on his side. Douma’s only destiny was victory, and in turn, Aevus’s defeat was inevitable. The Shinigami was clever, strong, passionate, and dangerous. All of that was certain. However, in the end, Douma had sacrificed too much to lose. He was too powerful. Aevus was a tiny hurdle on the road to Douma’s true ambition. Even as their battle played out, the Angel of Silence could hear his voice echoing in the back of his mind. He could hear Kashmir’s taunting laughter.

He he he he he…

Reiatsu Remaining: 6325/10,000 (-300 for weight shift)

Class 1 Bakkoto: 1/3

Dark Sorcerer: 2/4

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

The words that spilled forth from the Reaper were venomous. He had invaded Douma’s mind and released all of his malice and anger without contention. All that kept him from turning at this point was Aura... He’d lay witness to events that would be. Air drove into the hollow eyed Shinigami’s lungs with such overwhelming ferocity. He couldn’t understand what he was experiencing and fear overtook him. He couldn’t breath... It was as if he was choking on the air itself. It consumed him and that wasn’t the end of it. There was an intense energy rumbling underneath his sandaled feet.

The floorboards had mostly evaporated and what was left shot skyward. Fragments of that wooden floor shot past his golden visage digging into his very skin. He didn’t understand what was happening and he felt an intense burning. All around him, everything was consumed by that invisible burning force. The chairs, the casket and even Aura. Even she was not safe from its wrath. It was a painful fate to witness and it was to be his fate. If it had not been for Vestige he would have been brought down by that attack. For even though Aevus was unable to see the attack he was still able to witness its effects.

The evaporating body of Aura burned deeply into memory as he marked her. Aevus knew that he could not escape Douma’s attack entirely. Not if he wanted to save her. The very same events began to play out. He’d even repeat himself, letting his voice invade Douma’s mind. But to Douma this would be the first time hearing it. “Regardless of why you lured me here, this 'hunt' is nearing its end.” Yet events would not play out exactly the same. He’d shoot forth one of his bladed echoes into the alleyway at six thousand speed.

He had than felt himself begin to choke once again. It tore at his throat deeply and even with those instinctual attempts to breath, he’d force himself to save her before himself. Taking her into his arms, the Reaper would shunpo as fast and as swiftly as he possibly could. The ground shook and broke beneath his sandaled feet. Regardless of seeing this fate, he could not completely escape it unscathed. He teleported to that echo of his Zanpakuto as he felt that burning blast beneath him begin to take the entirety of that room.

Slamming into a wall from the force of activating shunpo before teleporting . He’d force the very air from his lungs with the momentum. He fell to the ground at that, grunting from the newly registered pain. Laying there with Aura in his arms, he breathed deeply as he caught his breath. His golden eyes burned from the dirt and dust that still filtered through the air outside. The force from that Reiatsu dug against his skin. He could have avoided all of this... He could have escaped unscathed but he had protected her.

Even if she was just an illusion. Even if she was a ploy. Just a way to get to him. She still resembled her... She looked just like Aura. He couldn’t and wouldn’t let anyone harm her. Not even if it meant losing this fight... Not even if it meant losing an arm or a leg. Not even if it meant losing his very life. So be it, he’d do so without question. His behavior was irrational. He didn’t believe she was real but for some reason he moved regardless of that fact. He was just a fool...

He had moved on that unbridled instinct without once thinking. It was as if his aching body had moved on its own. He could barely move his right arm, let alone his body at that time and it pained him deeply. He’d force himself though. Ever so gently just to brush the dirt away from her cheek. He would sigh to himself deeply as he looked to her sleeping visage. She was so much older than he remembered her. She was certainly not a child anymore. The face of a young girl had faded. To one of a beautiful young woman.

He had always wondered what she would have looked like if she had grown older. The smile that she once carried. It was bright, gentle and real. It saw past this diseased world. Yet her lips no longer perked as they once did. That smile was now barren and lifeless. Her eyes. Those stealthy teal eyes once sheltered a sadness and a longing beyond her understanding. They were now forever shut. And yet she looked the same as she ever did when she slept. At least there was some peace in this storm.

Even so that storm raged on. He felt the strangling pull of the Hollow. There wasn’t much he could do to keep her at bay. She had been right. He had wasted himself on this fight. And his anger could only fuel him for so long. He was now at his limit. The silence of that world became deafening as he looked around his surroundings. He held Aura in his arms and a single tear would stroll down his cheek as he realized where he actually was. He was in that alley where he had met her that fateful day. And the very same alley where he had killed her that fateful night.

He had learned only after the events of that night why it had all happened the way it did. It was all because she stole for that old man. He had been beaten nearly to death when Aura found him in that alley. The men blamed him for stealing their alcohol. Aura had turned trying to protect him... Aevus could still taste the whiskey scented poison on his breath as he cried for forgiveness. “It was all a mistake. Things-things wern’t supposed to be like this... I only wanted to remember! I only asked her because I wanted to remember...” He cried. “I didn’t know the girl wanted to play hero! I didn’t know she was a monster!”

He could still hear the old man’s sobs. He was pitiful and he attacked him for it. “Monster...?” He remembered the dark tone his voice fell into. “She protected you! And you call her a monster?!" He remembered screaming. He remembered the anger that had overtaken him. How he had thrown the codger against the wall with all of his strength “This is your fault... This is your fault! She wouldn’t have stolen, she wouldn’t have died, If it wasn’t for you! This is all your fault! You killed her!”

He remembered all the strength it took to stop himself from continuing as he beat him. How he slammed his fist into the wall next to the old man’s trembling drunken face. He had nearly broken his hand in the process. He wanted to hurt him. He remembered wanting to even kill him. “Aura should have let you die!” He could still remember the pain or say the absence of it. He felt nothing. He felt hollow. He had to blame someone or it would have been all his fault. But inside he knew. Inside he knew that the blame was his.

He knew that her blood was on his hands. No matter what he said. No matter how hard he tried to deny it. Or how he tried to put it in his mind. He could only blame himself for what had happened. He was the one who had taken her in. He was the one who had let her go that night. He was the one who tried to stop her. He was the one who had taken the knife. He was the one who could do nothing as she lunged herself into it. He was the one that had robbed her of her hopes and her dreams.

He wasn’t a hero, he was the monster...

The hollow was silent but he could feel her preying closer. She more than likely was enjoying the calm before the storm. After all Douma wouldn‘t be able to find him within his territory. He was hidden for now. The Reaper felt that hollow mask slowly forming against his face. It was a black mask, dark as the void. Unlike the color of bone. It was as if it had been rotten. Much like a cavity to a decaying tooth. Aevus fell into himself once more as another tear slid down his cheek.

Where there was once a Great Blaze of Rage, now there were only Dying Embers. Where there was once Tears now sheltered a Mask.Where there was once stood a Hero, now laid a Monster. Where there once stood a Shinigami, now laid a Reaper nearly Hollow. “Now I know why you did it Aura...” He would painfully chuckle to himself. Though nothing was funny about any of this. He had always asked himself why she did it. Why she had forced herself into the knife. Why she had forced him to kill her.

But now he understood. Now at the end of all things. He understood it more than ever. In the very place he had met her. The very place she had died. It was only fitting that things were to end here. “I’m sorry Aura...” A red thread formed at that, connecting Douma to him using the last mark he had placed on him. He was no longer hidden and Douma could find him now. I’m sorry Lumina... The bladed echoes of his Zanpakuto would wake from their slumber. Twenty two blades, now turned to him as he stood. But I don’t know what else to do...

His spirit was quiet as he called for her. He hadn’t heard her since that Hollow had began whispering to him. He was almost out of Reiatsu now but he had to at least see her. With the remaining Reiatsu he had, he certainly could escape. He could get away from all of this. But he couldn’t let a killer like Douma go. He had killed people. He had even killed a Captain of the Gotei 13. He had found himself stepping foot inside that bioluminescent world. The two moons shimmered brilliantly upon the ice that now covered the cyanic waters of that clearing.

There was a cold chill to the air as if winter had taken reign over that illuminated forest. A red thread of fate guided him to her. He could see Lumina’s true form silhouetted and basked under the soft glow of those two moons. She was naked and wounded as she limped to her bare feet atop the ice. The red thread woven itself around her left pinky as well as his. Her silver eyes bled of moonlight as she gazed in his direction ever forlorn. There was a sadness that overtook him just from that look. Just from that look he knew that she had heard him. She knew what he planned.

“Don’t...” Lumina whispered. She could barely muster the strength to speak let alone stand. He could see her tears glinting in that soft glow. “Don’t..." She repeated in a whimper. Varied hues of light danced across that tear stained visage. He could see the skies aurora shimmering within those moonlit eyes. It was a beautiful sight and so was she... He was always left in awe when he saw her in that form. He was silent as he looked at her. He didn’t know what to say. What could he say? This was just like him...

“Don't Aevus...” He could hear her voice slowly breaking as she spoke. And he felt it. He felt it like tiny blades digging into his skin. He winced as she spoke. “Please... don’t...” She repeated He wanted to look away from her but he couldn’t. He wanted to apologize but he didn’t know how. He wanted to make her understand why he was doing this. But he didn’t know what to say. ”You can just leave... You don’t have to fight anymore... You don’t. So why, Aevus? Why stay?” Her silver eyes burned and flashed sorrowfully from the tears that overtook her.

“He’s a killer Lumina...” Aevus would sigh but he kept his gaze from straying. “You saw it yourself. You’ve seen what he’s done, what he can do. If I left now, he’d continue hurting people. He’d kill again. And I can’t... I can’t leave knowing that.”
“You can!” Lumina’s tail would swipe at the cold air at that before hanging between her legs. “You can Aevus...”
“Who would I be Lumina?” He snapped back. “How could I live with myself? Knowing I could have saved someone from him...” His voice stemmed on hesitance.

“Than save me... ” She whined. Those wolven ears pinned back against her head.
“Lumina...”
“Shut up... You just want an excuse. A way to rationalize what you’re doing. What you plan on doing...” She stood there glaring at him, her tail flicked irritably. “Have you seen your eyes? Even now they burn brightly like a hollows" She stood there glaring. His eyes faltered to the ice below, he would wince. He could see the golden eyes of a hollow. They frightened him. But what scared him the most. What caused him to freeze, was that He didn’t recognize himself.

“I...”
“When a Zanpakuto Spirit dies, the Shinigami can live on. But when a Shinigami dies so does their Zanpakuto Spirit..." Lumina would struggle past those burning tears. She would shake her head, clenching her fists tightly shifting that red thread of fate. “If you die... You’ll be letting me die too... You’d be killing me Aevus. Don’t you understand?” Her voice broke at that. She was violently desperate as she spoke. “I don’t want to die here... I don’t want you to die here...”

Lumina would stand against the backdrop of that forest. Bloodied and weak, she breathed in deeply. “I know you’re afraid of her taking you over. This one knows...” Past those tears, were moonlit eyes that strayed away from his golden gaze. “She’s stronger now an-and I can’t stop her...” Lumina shuddered painfully as she covered what wounds she could, that red thread moved as she shifted herself. “I tried... So please... Don’t give in. Not here not yet...” She shivered in a whisper as she looked at him pleading.

“I can't fight him any longer by myself...”

“We'll fight together.”

Past that clearing two golden eyes shimmered in wait. Aevus and Lumina could feel them preying against them as they stood atop the ice. Aevus ignored her silent calls. He ignored the sultry whispers from the silver tongue of a Hollow. And yet he still felt her... None of this would matter when she took over. He had run out of time. He had reached his limit. She would take over soon. Why she waited, he didn’t know. He no longer had the strength to fight her.

Maybe it was Lumina who had always kept her at bay. He remembered that night with Ivy. How he preyed for her beneath the pines. He remembered the taste of her blood. The way it felt when he bit into her flesh and gave into that lust. Lumina was the one who had stopped him from killing her. Lumina was the one who had stopped him from fighting that Rogue in that thunderstorm. Lumina was the one who had stopped that mask from forming when Shizuyoko had caught him off guard. Lumina at the end of all things, was his will when he had none. She protected him without praise.

“Thank you Lumina...”

Aevus would open his eyes to that alleyway once more. They still shimmered like that of hollow but they had softened. You could see a silver shimmering past those golden irises. Setting down Aura against a wooden wall he would rise ever so slowly to his sandaled feet. He was almost out of Reiatsu and he could barely stand. But he would not give in nor would he give up now. Taking a deep breath he readied himself for what remained of this fight. But he wasn’t fighting alone.

That red Thread of Fate still connected Douma to him. He would realize that he was connected to Aevus in more ways than physically. Not only would he share his wounds, he would also lose reiatsu when he used a technique. Not only that but he’d also share and experience his very emotions. He’d feel that resolve, that little hope that he still held onto. But Aevus would also be under the same rules as Douma. The thread would only be a double edged sword. It was a desperate move and he knew it.

Now, he had another plan. A voice would invade Douma’s mind once more, He would hear it echo and he would also feel another Mark of Fate appear on him. “I understand you want to fight the hollow...” Only four phantoms of his Zanpakuto still pointed to him. It would seem as if he was going to end it. His voice threaded coldly through Douma as he spoke. “Sadly for you, i’m not done yet. So our fight isn’t over." He would pause letting the fact that he survived sink in.

"Now show yourself and come into the alleyway. Follow the thread if you have too. I’ll sever us when I see you. Then we can end this with our blades.” His voice darkened at that. “Yet if you don’t show yourself, or if you tamper with the thread or any of those marks in any way. You’ll just die alongside me.” He seemed serious regardless of what Lumina had said. If Douma removed the mark somehow or did not listen to him he would create another thread and impale himself with his multiple Zanpakuto before Douma could even react.

That is if he was serious. It'd potentially be non lethal but was Douma willing to call Aevus's bluff? Douma would sense Aevus's desperation after all. He would also sense that small fraction of hope that Lumina had managed to awaken. But in truth, he was running out of Reiatsu and he felt exhausted from it. His body ached all over from smashing into the wall. His right arm was practically broken. And that silver tongued vulpine of a hollow still beckoned him. Regardless if they both died from what Aevus planned or not, it'd certainly end in a draw.

Aevus would project his Zanpakuto Spirit as he spoke. She’d appear alongside him, her moonlit silvers were still red from her tears. Her gaze drifted to him but she did not utter a single word. Even upon seeing that darkly mask that was nearly formed, her resolve remained. Lumina was ready as she ever would be. She readied herself, moving to the roof top of the building that overlooked the alleyway. Stagnant in shadow, the woman would hide herself. Her pale naked and lithely form silhouetted amidst the cornering darkness. Her soft fingers wrapped around her Zanpakuto as she and Aevus lied in wait.

Reiatsu: 275/1525

OOC) Douma will lose 675 reiatsu due to Fatis Vinculum.

Bankai (4/10)
Shunpo - 50
Libatis umbraculum - 300
Mark of Fate - 125
Fatis vinculum - 150 (1 link) 100 (to keep active)
Resonare {2 phantom Zanpakuto}(to keep active) - 50 + 50 (to fire one)
Spiritual Projection (Zanpakuto Spirit 1/5) - 400
Sigillum sortem (10 Marks) 2100 SpPr
Vestige (Same Path 2/3 on your post)
Tracking - 25

[Douma]

Interesting…

Aevus had once again surprised Douma. He had evaded an invisible – undetectable – attack as though he could see it coming. And, well, Douma now knew that he could. In activating Vestige, Aevus had focused his spiritual energy into his eyes. This act had granted him some sort of special sensory capability, most probably the ability to see reiatsu with his vision. While this was not true, it was the most sensible explanation Douma could come to, and so he made that assumption. Aevus had seen the reiatsu in Black Energy despite not being able to see the technique itself.

But that wasn’t the only impressive move he executed. Once more, Aevus instinctively grabbed Aura before teleporting to his blade, the heavy air still weighing down on his lungs to prevent him from exhaling. But at the expense of his own body, he slammed into the wall of the neighboring building to force the air out of his lungs. He literally knocked the wind out of himself. The boy’s clever. He might be more useful than I expected. To suppress his inner hollow for this long… he is strong.

Douma admired the man from his position in the ground, giving Aevus the time he needed to recover from slamming into the wall. The mercenary could sense an inner conflict in Aevus’s soul, something more than just a struggle between himself and his inner hollow. There was a struggle with his zanpakuto spirit present as well. A struggle with the past. A struggle with his future. Aevus was a man at war with himself, and while he put up a surprisingly good fight, he could not win for that reason. Every battle that raged on within Aevus, Douma fought within himself. The only difference was that Douma won.

But he’s not strong enough.

Douma beat the hollow. His thousands of blades pierced the Septima Espada, Myza. A puddle of blood -- her blood – collected at his feet while his cold eyes watched. She thought she understood him, and for her mistake, she fell. Douma beat the zanpakuto spirit. He shackled Mai in his inner world, beating and torturing her while taking advantage of her power in the physical realm. In the end, he put her out of her misery. Douma crimson stained her violet hair as he traded her lifeless figure for a more powerful parasite. Douma beat the past. He abandoned Kagami Murai, leaving nothing but a corpse and tombstone of the man he once was. Douma beat the future, following a path of power and influence. He would no longer be confined in his destiny by the Gods of the world, for he would one day join them in Olympus and rein terror upon them. Kashmir De-Mona would suffer the same fate he inflicted on Douma. The Angel of Silence had a free, limitless future. Aevus was still trapped by himself, his hollow, his zanpakuto, and his past – the corpse of a loved one. She was long dead, yet she still trapped him.

Pathetic.

“I understand you want to fight the hollow... Sadly for you, i’m not done yet. So our fight isn’t over. Now show yourself and come into the alleyway. Follow the thread if you have too. I’ll sever us when I see you. Then we can end this with our blades. Yet if you don’t show yourself, or if you tamper with the thread or any of those marks in any way. You’ll just die alongside me.”

Aevus was not thinking rationally. He had consistently put himself at risk to save Aura’s body. That was his weakness. Douma didn’t entertain his empty threat. Instead, he made the smarter chess move. Suddenly, Aura’s body sunk into the ground. She slipped right out of Aevus’s fingers, consumed by the Earth. Douma had her now. She was his leverage. With her body in his possession, Douma rose from the ground about 50 feet from Aevus, his cold eyes studying the Shinigami.

“Surrender and you can have her back,” he called down to Aevus from the top of a mountain of rubble. “Temporarily hand over your zanpakuto and you will have the truth about her. About why I sought you out. And afterwards, you may take your weapon and leave. Just surrender yourself. Contrary to what you believe, Aevus, I’d rather have you alive than dead.”

It was a final offer before Douma took offensive action. If Aevus did not concede… at least one of them may lose their life.

Reiatsu Remaining: 4950/10,000 (-675 from Fatis Vinculum, -200 for absorbing Aura, -200 for un-absorbing Douma, -300 cuz I forgot to pay to refersh the bakkoto last post)

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

“Surrender and you can have her back, Temporarily hand over your zanpakuto and you will have the truth about her. About why I sought you out. And afterwards, you may take your weapon and leave. Just surrender yourself. Contrary to what you believe, Aevus, I’d rather have you alive than dead.”

Golden eyes glinted hollow. He stood there in that backdrop of an illuminated darkness allowing it to drench him. It was a strangely beautiful and ominous sight. Seeing the way that bioluminescent light danced against everything within that far reaching territory. It held a semblance to the twilight of Lumina Umbra. Indigo, blue, violet, and green lights danced across his golden visage. To Aevus this territory was all to familiar. It was a bleak, cold and yet beautiful world. Ten Marks of Fate sheltered against the masked man’s blackened silhouette during the fight.

Six marks created from his Zanpakuto piercing his very flesh. Causing those unhealing injuries to shimmer brilliantly in the cold light. Two Marks had formed just from Douma being in his territory. One on his mask and the other the back of his neck. These marks glowed as well, resembling the runic marking on his and his Zanpakuto spirit’s forehead. It was a rather primitive and simple design. Appearing as a small circle with two vertical lines. The last two marks were created when he formed that red thread of fate. One sheltered inside of a wound and the last was created from the Markings of Fate that covered Aevus’s very skin.

Some differed in appearance but they were more than simple conceptional threads that tied Douma to Aevus. Fate’s shadow loomed over him. And it was now even closer to the Masked man, as if Aevus was breathing down his neck. The territory he dared to stand in was a cold, bleak and dark place. But to Douma it’d be far more severe. It’d feel as if a freezing snowstorm had blanketed the very land. He’d see his very breath, as his lungs sheltered winters burning bite.

Aevus stood there basking in that silent black, no words escaped his lips. His fingers curled ever so tightly against the handle of his Zanpakuto as he glared at Douma with those golden eyes. Golden irises that glinted past that now fully formed fox mask. The markings on his body no longer glowed as they once did. Douma would have felt it... He would have noticed that his body had became tired. As if he had lost all of his reiatsu all at once. But suddenly, that feeling would disappear... The world began to haze as if a darkly fog had suddenly paraded across the land.

A gravitational pressure followed suite, burying over those within that district. It was enough to freeze Lumina in place. Her chilled fingers shook as she held her Zanpakuto. No, this wasn’t the plan... Her silvers were wide as full moons. Aevus... She shivered as that all to familiar reiatsu fell upon her. It pierced her as deeply as the wounds on her very flesh. You knew this would happen... didn't you? She would shake violently from that cold realization. You released me because you knew... You knew i’d try to stop her if you didn't... You fool...

With but a single motion of the blade, that red thread was cut. It was sudden and it was violent, like arrows being loosened, four blades shot forth against that darkened world. At six thousand speed they flew through the air. And in an instant of their release they’d disappear, only to appear right before the Masked Man in a blinding flash of speed. As they were teleported, they aimed to strike the man's shoulders and into his knees. The momentum of the phantom blades would be more than enough to push the man backwards and pin him into the wall behind him.

Aevus... No the Hollow would mark the man as those phantom blades pierced through his flesh. If they struck, it’d be enough to render the man's arms and legs unusable. A giggle would drift through the man's mind at that. Hinting at the malicious intent behind that rotten mask. Appearing before Douma with a hidden smile, dancing upon sandaled toes. A ghostly phantom of that Hollow would cut forth diagonally across the man's chest. With the strength of a creature much fiercer and stronger than that of a wild animal and with a speed hastened by a deadly resolve.

Following that cut, the ghostly phantom would fade. Being but an echo woven by the possible actions that the Hollow could have wrought. Following its fade another would appear in its place attempting another diagonal slash creating an X. Only to be followed up by two others that would slash horizontally from the right and left across his torso. After that two more would appear attempting to dig their blades into both sides of his lower abdomen. Each phantom would mark him, with each swing of their Zanpakuto. Leaving him helpless and crippled, if they so managed to land their attacks.

All the while, the Hollow was silent sheltering a hidden smile behind that darkened mask. All except for that venomous giggle sounding within the masked man's head, she said nothing to Douma. She didn’t taunt him but she would sure play with the man. No longer was Douma fighting Aevus... He wanted the Hollow and so he had her. She was a playful silvery tongued vixen. Masked Lamb~ She had called Douma. For that is what she saw, A little Lamb hidden behind but a Mask. But prey... [smear:#ffd700]"Easy Prey~"[/smear:ffe34d]

[smear:#ffd700]Reiatsu: ∞

Bankai (5/10)
Vestige (Same Path 3/3 on your post)
Spiritual Projection (Zanpakuto Spirit 2/5)
Hollowfication 1/2[/smear:ffe34d]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats from Hollowfication}

[smear:#ffd700]Hollowfied Aevus[/smear:ffe34d]

Strength - 200 (140) [smear:#ffd700](280)[/smear:ffe34d]
Speed - 400 (600) [smear:#ffd700](1200)[/smear:ffe34d]
Spiritual Pressure - 400 (700) [smear:#ffd700](1400)[/smear:ffe34d]
Reiatsu Strength - 100 (60) [smear:#ffd700](120)[/smear:ffe34d]
Light Aura - 50
Dark Aura - 50
Instinct - 150 [smear:#ffd700](300)[/smear:ffe34d]
Senses - 150 [smear:#ffd700](300)[/smear:ffe34d]
Energy Sensory - 0
Healing Expertise - 0

[Douma]

It’s coming….

The world seemed stagnant. It was soundless and motionless, like someone had pressed pause on reality. But in truth, much was happening on Aevus’s side. Douma felt the marks across his body resonate with hollow-tainted reaitsu, not dissimilar to his own. The fight was about to escalate very quickly, and Douma couldn’t take any more chance. He had to resort to that forbidden technique. Under his breath he began mutter the incantation as Aevus battled the hollow within.

“So now it has come to this, and I am forced to give up my life to end yours.”

It’s coming and you’re not prepared.

“Tonight, things will function differently, and the world will change. Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds.”

The last hollow you faced destroyed you while you could not touch him.

“Pray to your gods…”

Don’t kill it… enslave it. Enact the first step of your revenge so one day, you may face him again. Use it to abolish Adalo De-Mona from the world.

“…for your life is over.”

ABOLISH ME!

Upon cutting the crimson string between them, Aevus had transformed the battle into a flurry of actions too fast for the eye to keep track of. It was too fast for Douma as well. If he tried to analyze every attack thrown at him, he would fall to Aevus. The mercenary did not underestimate the strength of the hollow, and the hollow would be wise not to make the same mistake. It was no longer fighting an ordinary rogue. Douma had activated UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER, and now, he was a demon.

The mercenary had already scene Aevus’s arsenal. He could teleport to a mark, spawn a phantom to inflict harm on his targets, or direct his blades at his enemies with nothing but his well. Thus, Douma assumed that Aevus wouldn’t snap the string prematurely. An attack had to be coming, and so, through UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER, Douma activated his defense. He didn’t bother anticipating Aevus’s individual 4 blades and reacting to the attack afterward. Since he instead reacted to Aevus snapping the string, swords bounced off of his skin defense with a metallic clank.

But the defense would fade after that first attack, so Douma could not rely on UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER to continue to defend him. The moment Aevus's reaitsu flared to summon the phantom's, the mercenary took measures to protect his safety. After all, his eyes wouldn’t be able to keep up such fast-paced strikes. By the time the phantoms spawned and swung at the rogue, they'd find that Douma was no longer there. Using his bakkoto ability had been absorbed into his blade at a speed of 1000, fast enough for Aevus’s eyes to see and understand where Douma was hiding. However, he was untouchable by the edge of the shinigami’s blade.

While Douma could not see while within his sword, his energy sensory allowed him to perceive the phantom's location. He’d feel their presence just a few feet from the sword as his blade swung through empty air. While they were fast, they wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid Douma’s next move. He cast one of the lower level abilities of his bakkoto, one that pulled all of the phantoms simultaneously into the tip of Douma’s blade with a force of 300. Unless they could foresee the attack and maintain their balance, the be pulled into Douma’s falling sword. Some may be cut and impaled. All would crash into one another.

That was not Douma’s only move. UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER had caused a darkness to consume his heart, making him far more aggressive than necessary. He intended to destroy the phantoms. From the blade, he fired 6 more invisible beams of Dark Energy. These, however, were as thin as a byakurai and had the explosive radii of a large beach ball. This was due to UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER’S negation of pain. Since Douma felt no pain, Dark Energy’s beams were much smaller than usual, but they still packed a punch. Each beam would target an off-balance phantom, striking them with enough explosive force to blacken parts of their body and cause heavy internal damage. Even though the attack on the phantoms did little to defeat Aevus, the vice captain still had an obstacle obstructing his path to victory: how would he defeat the masked man while he lay within the sword?

Reiatsu Remaining: 4150/10,000 (-500 for activating UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER, -200 for blade absorbing Douma, -100 for blade pulling Aevus)

Life Force Remaining: 3160/10,000 (-500 for activating UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER, -400 for UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER’S hierro-like defense, -100 from Aevus stuff, -400 for blocking the 4 swords,  -790 (20% of remaining life force) for UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER)

Class 1 Bakkoto: 3/3