Post by Aura Kyuketsuki on Apr 24, 2020 0:57:37 GMT -5
More. She had to find more of them. Their numbers were growing. Few came and stumbled into Karakura by chance. Among those that were already living in the city, just four more came into town. Connections. That was all that Aura needed to spread the message out. A place to call home for the Bounts. Somewhere that they could be free, and slowly rebuild what they should of had from the very beginning. Of course they were not easy to come by. About a month or so to actually gather these four, but before that, a month to pass on the message out of Karakura. Small messengers that were sent out to places that had the slightest rumor of possible feedings. New reports came often as they usually did. Some reporting on the weather, others came in stating how wild fires and tsunamis came rushing in on the opposite end of the country. But those weren't the stories that Aura listened to. The ones that caught her interest were those who were found dead in the night.
A few Humans who had markings on their necks that were found by the locals in their respective areas. A few on the outskirts of Karakura. Those that kept a low profile and only partially fed on the souls of the living. A sign that a few of their kind were looking for a source of power to be collected onto the whole they had reserved. Across Japan, there were perhaps two or three. The Bount couldn't say for sure when the recent cases came in. Just whispers of course as many of the Humans would think it to be some sort of gothic cult that wanted to practice Vampirism. She saw it on international news at one point where teenagers were forming so called "Wolf Packs" in order to imitate the mentality of Wolves, or Werewolves. Yeah, they had the whole tail thing with an Alpha and Omega kinda of set up.
Just when she though Humans couldn't get any more weird, they decided to step it up a notch. But any who, what she found that they were actual cases of people dying. Strange markings found on the necks of few of the victims, while others showed no markings whatsoever. Immediately Aura thought it might have been a Hollow attack. Sometimes Humans were attacked in their sleep and had their souls ripped out of their physical bodies. Then, the Hollow would just go ahead and eat the soul on the spiritual plane of existence. No struggle, no wounds to see, and no signs that it was ever coming. Pretty much it would look like a heart attack out of no where, or that the person just simply lost the will to live for some reason. All Aura could think about was if the Hollows were drawn to their sorrow, some previous connection that they may have had to the person that died. Bounts weren't like that at all. They had a choice. Though, at the same time, that could be what made them worse too.
But this is what Aura did at times. Listen to the news, listen to the whispers, and send out messages to the outside world hoping that some Bounts may have heard it. Beyond the sea or even inland, it didn't matter so long as they came. Only after their presence became known in Karakura did Aura go out to bring them back in. She couldn't allow any of them to run rampant out on the city. Too many people who were innocent and didn't do a single thing wrong. Yeah sure there are a few who would make mistakes, but who hasn't? What she wanted to do was take care of the trash that hid in Karakura. She wanted the Humans, even her own friends, to be able to live a peaceful life in Karakura, and without anyone screwing it up for them. That was why if there was to be a feeding on living Human souls, then they will come to decision on who should be fed on, and who shouldn't.
The young boys and girls should be kept alive. The one's who are pregnant, who are raising a family, for those who worked hard and honestly, they should be spared. By no means should they be killed or fed upon as they were the ones who actually worked themselves near death for the scum that only wanted to use them. Those sorts of Humans Aura wanted to help advance in society, not the criminals. That was why when the Bounts were ready to move on the city, and open their business, they will gather them all. Gather all the scum and criminals, make them feel welcomed. Draw them in by the dozens and please them. Only then will they slowly tie the noose around their own necks, and hang themselves willingly. Aura had to admit to herself that there was a thrill in the hunt. Waiting patiently day by day as their targets were left naive and unaware to the danger that they willingly allowed to surround them.
That was one of the reasons why the Nightclub setting was going to be put into play. For there to be a place for the scum of the underworld to come waltzing into the den of predators willingly, to have a place to plan, outsource, and confide in, the Club would be turned into their own little playground for the others like them to come in as well. The Citadel had a lot of shadows. Each of them had eyes. Aura knew everything that came in and what came out. If some form of information was to get out, then it will because Aura allowed it. If someone got in, then it was because the Bount desired it. No one came in or out as they pleased. Always there was a reason for it. The Bounts were not allowed to eat living souls without a reason, or without some form of caution. There were always traces, roots that could be potential issues.
If the son of a crime boss was killed one night, then obviously some relatives of his will come barging in looking for answers. Now that couldn't be allowed to happen as it will create a large scene. None of the Bounts could allow that to happen as it would come to affect business heavily, and more than possibly scare away the other criminals. Their main source of controlling Karakura from the shadows, their information network, would be utterly ruined. No no no noo. They had to be smarter than that. And that was another use for the criminals, their vast network of spies, paid authority figures, and resources that expanded to the outside. Her walls had a lot of ears, and they hear everything that goes on. Sometimes, even the things that they didn't want to hear, ew.
Manipulating the Humans was an easy task to do. Although Aura lacked such abilities, the other Bounts under her were definitely capable of doing so. Even before the Club opened, ring leaders and the such quickly fell prey to the bewitching effects of the female Bounts. Just some time was needed to get the Humans to see their way of thinking, or rather not thinking at all. Bending their minds with hypnotic suggestions could be triggered whenever necessary. Mainly they were needed to get more supplies to make sure that their own activities were not discovered by this Xcution group, or that of Uzaki Enterprises. From what Leon told her early on, was that they dealt with a number of cases around the world. Aura saw them more or less as a special forces group that dealt with spiritual phenomenon. If that was the case, then they didn't want to get sighted by them any time soon. What was important was not alerting the other organizations to their presence just yet.
Moving with that amount of haste was dangerous. Grow in power too quickly and it can be seen as a threat. A massing of numbers, followed by people disappearing in large quantities often spelled disaster coming, and boy was that foresight strong. It triggered a lot of red flags that always tended to make people very nervous. Those sorts of flags that Aura didn't want to be raised. No matter which organization saw those sort of flags, or any at all being raised, it only meant that they were drawing attention to their existence, and what they were doing. Overall, the Bounts would be monitored all the more harshly than that of what Taka would have been doing. Thus far the Mod Soul didn't seem to express any concern beyond that of her own people. So long as they kept her people from any harm, then there was no need for her to get involved at all. Aura respected this, and didn't want her friend to worry about what she was up to either.
For five months Aura had spent gathering assets, resources, components, people that could be used to build up upon the bunker. Its vast interior being put to use to develop a multitude of different areas that can be utilized. The obvious being the upper levels. That was where they began once they had everything to put in order. The first three floors were put to use for that of the Club. These floors consisted of a kitchen, that was primarily used for the Club and Brothel. An up stairs lounge that was reserved for the VIPs who paid a higher cost for the special treatment. Such treatment even gave them a discount to the Brothel's activities and services too, so yay for VIPs. A dance floor with the obvious bar and entertainment systems installed to view sports, with an servicing Billards and bowling alley. There was quite a lot to do here beyond that of the dancers.
Down below the first level was the second. A floor dedicated primarily for the Brothel in which led to a floor filled with women and men. Please, like only the guys get to have fun here. Ladies deserve a chance to unwind as well with sensual oil massages and of the liking. In a way, it doubled as an exotic spa that people could really get to know what skinship was all about. Each staff member who worked as a Consort here had their own private work rooms that had showers, beds, and of course a bit of flare when it came to the jacuzzis. A pain to set this all up but well worth it to milk out every cent from those that bought out such services. Of course, the Bount women here were allowed to use whatever means to really draw in customers, even using their abilities to cheat a little. The only rule against this was feeding of course, as no feeding was allowed unless permitted to do so in advance. Punishment for breaking the rules here were severe, and were dealt with by either Aura or Eris, and that would be described later on.
Beneath that was the third level. This was mainly used, or rather reserved for private meeting rooms, and other reserved lounges for talking. Aura planned this floor to be designated exactly for this as it had all the necessities to really help ease the mood, and still allow for important discussions to be had at the same time. Her thoughts about this were actually that of being reminded of Taka, though she had a closer eye on her establishment on the main floor. Aura made sure she had something similar to it as when it came time to operate the business she would have to be there for the sake of presence. The criminals and scumbags would be using this floor a lot as it was away from prying eyes and beneath the upper levels. An actual area that gave them room to breath in, ensuring that they would have time to prepare should any law enforcement come barging in through the front doors.
Aura actually thought of the same thing; to provide a false sense of security for them. A false sense of security being that what resided beneath the third level were the two floors that were meant to be disposed of should anything happen. And what this meant as to being disposed of, was that Aura had Leon reinforce these levels, and the frames of the shaft to survive a tremendous amount of damage for a fight. Explosives, brute force, flooding, two whole levels dedicated to be scrapped and used for a battleground. Aura wanted to be certain that if the time ever came, if the fight would even get into bunker that she would have to sacrifice some areas to fight back in. An emergency steel door was actually made to cover the shaft beyond this point. A door that was nearly airtight from these floors up. This kept anyone from the outside trying to get inside without a code. A code that wasn't really a code at all, but a small hatch that was located in two spots. These two spots required a special technique to slip through.
Two openings were made to allow some shadows to be produced from one end to the other. A Bount technique that would have to be used in order to get down into the residential areas beyond. This was what made up the lower levels. Complete residential areas linked to a wide network of tunnels that ran throughout the base of the mountain to the underground caverns used for training, and the grand hall. It was here that the Bounts could receive education to help them learn how to integrate with Human Society. An educational system that allowed the young to practice and engage in activities that better to assist their social skills and survival skills. More like the prep schools that Aura had to go through when she was pretending to be a high school student. Here the individual levels branched out into the mountain to grow crops, and raise cattle. Animals had been brought in from the outside to help raise a form of food source for those that didn't rely on Human souls to live.
Some of the Bounts didn't want to eat the souls of the dead, and desired to live out their lives as regular people. As such, Aura wanted to make for certain that there was some food that could be grown and raised that can be eaten, with Leon installing a system of mirrors to help bounce sunlight from the outside into the areas needed. This included the water system that naturally came with the mountain. What was done for this was digging into the mountain small channels that would flow into these areas, and funneled over the fields with a drip system. The plants will continue to get water regularly without having to actually have someone to water them or supervise.
Medicine was the next area. This was located in the mid section of the lower levels as research can be done here, along with tending to those that were sick. Not as grand or as big, probably more like a run down clinic that had the bare essentials. Aura could never really get her hands on antibotics, or any of the good stuff that many other clinics had. But, it was something still, and it was still a work in progress. From there the individual homes were kept. Families that could live down in the carved out homes that were made into the mountain's interior. Natural protection from the elements and that of the sunlight when needed. These levels were dug into through a series of tunnels and corridors that were later expanded upon to make them seem like open streets that would be found in any town. Aura's eyes brightened up when seeing how everything was put together by the effort of everyone, including those that they had to brain wash to help them with a majority of the work.
A lot of open space made the entire Citadel feel like it was empty despite there being people now starting to live in it. There were still very few of them occupying a lot of ground. More so when looking at the last levels, the base of the shaft that led into the underground caverns. Here was where training went on, and what also held the grand chamber that Aura would be present. Eris suggested that she should have her chamber located at the bottom as it would be the hardest to get to with all the other Bounts living there. Essentially it made her room into the last stand sort of area should all Hell break loose here. It stood adjacent to the grand chamber that could fit a hundred people well. This didn't make Aura feel comfortable at all. Despite wanting to be a Bount leader, she didn't really need a large room. Any other room on the other levels, or even one of the stone houses would have been sufficient for her. Yet, with a heavy sigh Eris wouldn't hear anything about it. Aura still had to maintain that image of being a Leader.
It was also here that Aura wanted to have those that broke their commandments be punished. Crimes against the whole race of Bounts were to be held in a place large enough for everyone to see. To be presented in front of the others, to be made an example of, that the Bount would be beaten severely before coming to a decision to have them to be exiled from the Covenant, and that of the region. When this was first proposed, killing was made the solution. To insure that no one would think of crossing the order that they will come to establish, there could be no hesitation. Aura thought about it. There were already too few of them as it was. For Aura to kill another Bount would mean lowering their numbers than what was needed to survive. At this point in time, each of them were essential. Each of the Bounts that managed to live to this day was capable of securing their future. It didn't matter if Aura died, so long as a single one of them survived, for those who were able to give birth to the next generation of Bounts, then their future was already securd. But for that happen, each of them had to live.
Killing wasn't something that Aura couldn't commit to. She didn't allow for another one of their own to die as the Shinigami, and other races, had done to them. If such a case was necessary, then damn it to be the last resort. Aura didn't harden herself to do this to her people. She didn't train all this time for this to happen. Not at all. What her desire was for her people to grow, develop, and expand as they had in the past. For the Bounts to no longer hide in the shadows in fear of those that wanted to persecute them. This place was made to be the starting point for their people, and damn well it will be that. To best insure that was the case, escape tunnels were made here at the bottom level.
Aura had been using her training as a means to help carve out stone and rock with her bare fists. Digging with nothing more than hands and feet, the Bount carved out branching pathways that led out of the mountain to the outside. These escape routes were narrow, and sometimes tight to squeeze through. Thick patches of stone were left on purpose to prevent spirits from phasing through them in a single go. Aura had to make sure if any Shinigami were going to try to phase through this material, then they better have strong lungs to keep enough air in them to stay alive. Only Bounts had the advantage here as the shadows played to their advantage. But of course, Aura had to think about the risk of daylight. If the Bounts used their techniques to use the shadows to escape, then the light of the sun would kill them. This she had to think about before finishing these tunnels. It took some time to think about, but the best way that this could be handled was to make a pocketed room.
Each route had a single pocket room that the Bounts could use to rest, and await for the drawbacks to their powers to fade away. Yeah sure if it was night time then there wouldn't be a reason to be concerned about having to use these pocketed areas. But this was done so if the time came that escape was needed, the Bounts could wait in these expanded chambers for the day to end, or await for their Bounts to stabilize again. These were the ideas that Aura had to think about when it came to the safety of their race. Every little idea or limitation that could render them dead, a possibility that there might be a dead end, or of them being cornered in some way, Aura had to think about. Using her mind was just as important as using her body to make this work out. She had to expanded beyond what she came to believe to be normal thinking. Like really, she can't even count the number of times that a single floor layout made her head spin. Talk about pressure. Talk about migraines.
Still, the job wasn't done yet. They needed more people. Humans were the obvious choice. A very hazardous choice if there was any. Too many risks of being discovered by them, for a potential leak of information. Too many thoughts going through her head that she couldn't qork each and every one of them. But it was necessary. Human workers to help operate both the day and night shifts for both the club and the brothel. The Bounts that now resided within the Citadel operated as the main staff members, being that of Entertainers, head cooks, upper management the closer that people got to the lower levels. Of course, no one was permitted to go anywhere near, or beyond the heavy metal shaft door. Aura had to spread some rumors about what was down there was unstable mine shafts, that whole nine yard gimmick of scary stories. No way that would have scared off the hardened criminals, but fat chance of them being able to get past the door if they were not a Bount.
Same time, also meant that Aura would need some help getting down there too from the other Bounts. That was really the only way she was able to go down there, and back up. Eris and Leon made it so that there wouldn't be any trouble from the other Bounts regardless if they were there or not. Other than that, things would be flowing pretty smoothly until the hick-ups arrived. Now that would be stressful to the Bount's mind. But, if Taka was able to pull it off, the no reason why Aura shouldn't be able to.
