Another One [closed/Ailene]

[Ailene Haschiro]

As Ailene was demonstrating her use of the incredibly finely tuned Cero, she developed a bit of a blush upon Raphael's next comment. “A cero… Fascinating. Burning reiatsu… An even more interesting prospect. But you say that it will burn me if I touch it?” She could not explain why, but it was nice to show off a little. To share the usage of abilities from two different races that were so fundamentally different yet shared a myriad of similarities. While Raphael was not necessarily praising her as much as he was praising the nature of the Cero, Ailene still chuckled a little. She was impressed with how far she had come in utilizing her own Cero.

Admittedly upon Raphael's next trailing comment, the Espada would be immediately intrigued. “The closest thing that I can think of that a fullbringer can do…” As he slowly trailed off, Ailene became curious. What other potential was he hiding? Not just that. He was considering it comparable to her own Cero? Ailene definitely had to see this. Suddenly the fullbringer would create a ball of reiatsu. It was small before becoming a spinning disc. Ailene tilted her head for a moment as she tried to analyze it to the best of her abilities. While her ability to sense various energies was severely neutered while sealed, she was intimately familiar with the sensation of hollow energies. This reeked of it. 

As he dismissed it Ailene could not help, but smile. She listened to him speak and explain himself. “I can’t rightly recall what it is, but I’m pretty sure normal hollows have the power to use it as well. Otherwise, we have spirit waves that are fairly close to this cero. But I have created something that can cause similar destruction, without a heat. Though, I do not have a thick skin to protect me, and overuse will greatly injure me.” Seems that this is what she was waiting for. The technique similar to that of her own Cero. How it would compare? The orb that Raphael would generate would seem similar in coloration to that of her Cero's. Though while hers was more dark lavender, this was a deep and dark purple. 

Ailene leaned in with bated breath as she wanted to know as much as she could about it. This was a unique opportunity to study that which she had never seen before. She could not put a pin on the type of energy it was generating, but the feeling it gave was certainly foreboding. Even for her own lack of impressive energy sensory. She would smile. She wanted to touch it so badly, but she was not sure what would happen. Thankfully she was far from reckless. Before her curiosity got the better of her, the Espada pulled away and nodded her head which essentially gave Raphael the signal that she was done analyzing it. With that he would send it off towards the pencil which was tossed away from them a few moments ago.

The Arrancar watched carefully as the orb actually seemed to subsume the pencil, creating a larger orb that would overtake the form of this pencil. With a careful and intense gaze, Ailene studied the pencil before realizing what was happening. Before her very eyes this orb was beginning to break down this pencil. Its molecules slowly peeling away and quite literally fading from existence. As the orb and the pencil fell Ailene became even more interested in this as the orb would seemingly eat away at the floor as well even if it was a rather small amount. This left a fair-sized hole in the ground with little remaining traces of the pencil which had been destroyed.

Aielen's eyes glazed over as she looked bedazzled. She turned to Raphael with excitement, her voice barely able to contain the outburst. "That...was...fantastic! Such a brilliant ability. To focus such destructive force into this ability seems to require quite the decent amount of control. I imagine that it must be taxing on you." Ailene was not intending to be patronizing. She was just curious on what using the ability meant for him. Unfortunately she felt that she had little she could offer in return. While she would love to help him perfect this ability she likely did not have the time nor the proper ability to even learn it. It would be like asking Raphael to learn and use a conventional Cero. 

She chuckled for a moment as she sighed. "I apologize, but I don't have too much more I could show you in my current state. As an Espada I hold powerful abilities, but they are locked behind using my Resurrección. The Cero I showed you earlier while finely tuned is more due to my own expertise with the fundamental Cero. I can of course manipulate the others in varying ways, but many of them require me to access my release. As one of the Espada I command two of the greatest Cero. One of which is even banned from use under the canopy of Las Noches. While my power is severely restricted like this, I would rather not cause severe damage even to the training area." 

She chuckled for a moment. "It seems that both of us do not wish to chance a fight. Which I am grateful for. After all, I do not believe that me bringing the gift basket is synonymous with wishing to pick a fight with one of the members of Uzaki Enterprises. Though I cannot show you my ability without risking you harm, I can give you a brief synopsis." She sighed as it was only fair. She was not sure whether she'd be ready to display it to Raphael. She could at least describe it to him though. "I hail from a time long since past. The Medieval times. Yet I carry a fragment of the terror that killed millions. If you describe your ability as vectors then mine could just as easily be described as pestilence. More specifically Yersinia Pestis. The Plague." Ailene would let that sink in, curious on how Raphael would look at this description to her vile ability.

[Raphael Laurent]

“Taxing?” He chuckled a bit. “You have no idea. It’s like running five miles with one hundred pound weights tied to my legs. My biggest problem, though, is more that I don’t have a great deal of combat experience. I hunt hollows every now and then, at least when I can and when they’re around, but not true combat. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, mind you. But I have a feeling that I’m going to need such experience later on.” He shrugged. “I can make all the techniques that I want, but without the knowledge of using them properly it’s not helpful. And, yeah it’s taxing but more dangerous than anything else as too much would rip apart my arms.”

He gave a small shrug. “That makes sense, if it’s too powerful. I’m less inclined for ridiculous amounts of power, focusing more often on utility and ways to mess with adversaries. Though, that’s why I created the technique that I just demonstrated to you.” He stretched a bit, listening as she discussed the fact that she was extremely restricted in her power without her weapon. That made him pause for a few seconds. It was fascinating to him, that her power was so severely locked away. He wondered how many otherse had such an issue and if any shinigami had such an affliction. But what would even cause such a thing? Curious and a subject of research and philosphy.

Yet she began to describe her own ability, but why would she, if it bothered her so much? Perhaps the fact that he’d shown her his had made her want to reciprocate, with at least an explanation? Perhaps, perhaps not. Whatever the case, he was happy to be gaining an understanding of her ability. He did enjoy learning of other people’s capabilities. Luca’s was one of the only people’s that he really understood, until now anyways.

“Yersinia pestis. Bubonic plague.” His curiosity fairly piqued he nodded, scratching at his chin. “Understandable. With the fact that this would be a spiritual version of it, the normal way to fight it wouldn’t work. Being bacterial, in nature, one could easily use common antibiotics to get the normal kind taken care of. Yours, however, would be quite a different story, only because of the fact that it’s metaphysical in nature and wouldn’t work exactly the same.”

Raphael stood there for a few seconds, still scratching at his chin. “I have a proposal. From the way that you had shown off your skill with focusing your cero through a needle, I’d say that you have mastered a capacity for that technique that surpasses at least a number of your peers. We can use the space to blast the training dummies at the end.” And he pointed at a pair of training dummies down towards the far end of the training area. “You can use your cero ability and I will use Soul Dominance. This will be a nice way to test our range of control.” His word and demeanor suggested a less competitive nature so much as a scientific one. It was obvious that he was viewing this as some form of experiment.

[Ailene Haschiro]

Ailene listened to Raphael's explanation of the strain that the technique took on him. Not only was it very difficult on his body to use, but the usage of the technique itself was not applicable to battle unless he practiced with it. This actually elicited a chuckle from Ailene. The Cero of the Arrancar was so effective because of how simply and intuitive it was. Sure, Ailene could use it in various ways completely different from her peers due to her nearly unmatched expertise of the various Cero, but just about any Arrancar could use it if they focused their reiatsu. The ease of use allowed Cero to evolve over time and take shape into various different techniques. 

She she left the deep recesses of her thoughts, Ailene looked at Raphael as he seemed to comment on her hidden potential. “That makes sense, if it’s too powerful. I’m less inclined for ridiculous amounts of power, focusing more often on utility and ways to mess with adversaries. Though, that’s why I created the technique that I just demonstrated to you.” Ailene nodded as she once again could not help, but chuckle. None of this was to mock the Fullbringer. Far from it. The Espada was intrigued by this man. He also seemed humble. Not wishing for incredible distractive power, but instead desiring a different set of skills. In a way this alone was admirable. 

"Well. I dare say that your mindset is certainly commendable. Call me cynical, but I believe that there are others who seek incredible power for powers' sake and then know little what to do with it. To dominate others for other reason than amusement." Her face would become a scowl for a moment. "Such a waste of strength. Better deserved for someone with the conviction to do meaningful things with that power." The scowl suddenly shifted as it became a bright smile. "Oh well. That is neither here nor now. Your technique certainly seems like a good way to even the playing field. Though I wonder. It's consumed inanimate objects. Could it wipe out an individual?" 

She mused at the idea. The Cero could sear flesh and if strong enough, turn the opponent to ash. This was no guarantee though. The searing beam of reiatsu was hot, but killing someone outright with it would require one hell of a Cero. Naturally against an opponent who stood little chance to begin with. At least this is what Ailene had assumed. Those that she had killed with a single Cero in the past succumbed to her sealed state. That made them pitiful. Worthless. To fall to such a weak foe. Ailene knew little else that would be as repulsive. Her spirit was noticeably tainted by her alter ego as her thoughts translated into a chilling feeling though Raphael would likely not be affected by this sensation. 

“Understandable. With the fact that this would be a spiritual version of it, the normal way to fight it wouldn’t work. Being bacterial, in nature, one could easily use common antibiotics to get the normal kind taken care of. Yours, however, would be quite a different story, only because of the fact that it’s metaphysical in nature and wouldn’t work exactly the same.” The Espada blinked and refocused on Raphael as her clear habit of zoning out would cause her to not hear the first part of the comment. For a moment she looked perplexed as if she had just been woken from a deep slumber and was afflicted with a sensation of fatigue and confusion.

As she realized what he was talking about, Ailene nodded as stood erect. "Naturally. Though still existing today in remote areas, you are correct. The natural form of Yersinia Pestis would be easily eradicated by the "wonders" of modern medicine." Ailene placed great emphasis on wonders in a rather sarcastic tone before continuing. "As you said. My own affliction would be a little more difficult to solve due to a variety of factors. Besides. If exposed long enough to my own, it would mean certain death." The Esapda chuckled briefly as she inadvertently punctuated the sinister topic with a lighthearted moment. In some ways this would seem even more chilling. 

The encounter with this Fullbringer was already incredibly rewarding. To learn so much of the capabilities of what were typically considered sheep among wolves. Yet his next comment would make this even more fascinating. “I have a proposal. From the way that you had shown off your skill with focusing your cero through a needle, I’d say that you have mastered a capacity for that technique that surpasses at least a number of your peers. We can use the space to blast the training dummies at the end. You can use your cero ability and I will use Soul Dominance. This will be a nice way to test our range of control.” He pointed at the training dummies which Ailene eyed carefully.

She giggled a little as she would reply. "Well. Your hypothesis of my mastery over Cero would not be a lie. I would like to think that I have achieved a whole new level of skill with the Cero in comparison to my peers." The Espada peered over at the dummies once. She was curious what they could handle. She focused her reiatsu into a point in front of her. There would be very little indication of movement. Raphael would simply see the ball of burning reiatsu form before her. With little warning, it would jet outward in a concentrated beam to consume the dummy. She wanted to see if it would break upon impact. As the Cero flew with little effort, Ailene darted her eyes to Raphael. "Soul Dominance? Peculiar. You may have to educate me on the concept. My knowledge on the abilities of Fullbringers is unfortunately limited." 

[Raphael Laurent]

He nodded at her questioning. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that his technique would only be capable of damaging inanimate objects, but it was more than capable of destroying organic tissue and ripping apart spiritual beings. “While it is a good question, the answer is yes. My technique can sear flesh and tear apart spiritual beings and their defenses. Despite its inherent destructive property, the entire point is defensive.” At least that had been its original intention; there were a lot of ways that it could be used in a less defensive way, though it didn’t concern him all that much. He didn’t have any plans on doing so.

He noticed the sarcasm she used when accentuating the word “modern” as though she was annoyed by medicine, or perhaps that it had come too late to save others. Perhaps herself? Did they even keep memories? Or were they like shinigami and lost their memories over time? He’d have to remember that the next time he found an agreeable shinigami. What was the point of that, though? The losing of memories seemed a little pointless. Perhaps nihilism wasn’t too far off and nothing really mattered, in the end, since you forgot everything anyways. Not worth focusing on.

The dummy exploded as the cero hit it and Raphael nodded, taking note of the energy itself. “Oh, I see. Well, all things in the living world have souls and it becomes a simple matter of pulling on the soul of whatever it is that you’re wanting to influence. It soul command allows you to control just about all things on Earth: the elements, normal weapons, the road, the trees… It’s only main issue is that you can’t take control of anything larger than yourself. But the tradeoff is the ridiculous amount of applications that it can have, or be designed to have. Other problem is the amount of stamina needed to use some of the more combat applicable variants.”

As a demonstration he held up his right hand where a ball of flame formed above his palm. “For example. The only issue is that we’re not immune to the flames or cold that we generate, as they’re not actually spiritual in nature, despite being effected by OUR wills. Thus, if I were to drop this on my foot, it would still burn and hurt. Were I to freeze the ground around me, I would still feel cold and potentially get frostbite. Electricity would still electrocute me and so forth. Though, as I’ve demonstrated, you can utilize only the unmaking abilities of fullbring to destroy things, instead of using them to remake things, though it takes a good bit more focus since remaking is the point of fullbring.” He smiled. “You can also use it to do things like moving a box or unlocking a door. The utility is amazing. I usually use fullbring when I’m at home to just do a bunch of chores at one time.”

He thrust his hand in the direction of the dummy and the fireball flew quickly, hitting the dummy and exploding. The concussive force caused it to snap in places and burst into flames everywhere else. “Easiest demonstration.”
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[Ailene Haschiro]

Ailene began her typical questionnaire when something interested her. The destructive potential of a technique like the one that Raphael showed was truly impressive. Perhaps that's why Raphael was reminded of a Cero. Ailene in truth was not sure, but it was still interesting. Thankfully Raphael seemed to entertain her curiosity. After all, they were just showing off at this point. “While it is a good question, the answer is yes. My technique can sear flesh and tear apart spiritual beings and their defenses. Despite its inherent destructive property, the entire point is defensive.” The Espada nodded somewhat. Turning something like that into a defensive property actually reminded Ailene of one of her own abilities. 

By fine turning the reiatsu of her Cero to that of her own Hierro, Ailene could wear the Cero like a skintight suit. This came with a few advantages. First and foremost was the fact that she was practically a sentient Cero at that point. She could easily move around and inflict severe burns on all those that touched her. Not only that, but reiatsu-based attacks would simply burn into nothingness if they came into contact with the Cero Armor. Despite its advantages, it had several crippling weaknesses. Despite wearing the Cero, it was still a Cero at the end of the day. The heat of proximity alone would cause severe burns, but it also burned away the Hierro that she wore. While it covered her skin like a Hierro, it did not grant the defensive boons that the Hierro provided. 

In truth, Cero Armor is an ability that Ailene used very rarely. Against the right opponent, it could prove rather potent, but it needed to be just that. The right opponent. She'd return to the discussion that she was having with Rafael. After all, the Fullbringer was rather polite. Not only had he flattered her, but he also provided her an opportunity to see each other's abilities. This felt like more of a boon to Ailene. The beauty of the Cero was its simplicity. While she could manipulate to far greater effect, including its other variations, the Cero was a rather widely known ability. In comparison, Ailene knew very little about Fullbringers, but then again...perhaps this was a good opportunity for trust building.

As Rafael brought up Soul Dominance, Ailene could not help, but inquire further. She had never heard of it before. Thankfully Rafael provided a rather detailed explanation. “Oh, I see. Well, all things in the living world have souls and it becomes a simple matter of pulling on the soul of whatever it is that you’re wanting to influence. It soul command allows you to control just about all things on Earth: the elements, normal weapons, the road, the trees… It’s only main issue is that you can’t take control of anything larger than yourself. But the tradeoff is the ridiculous amount of applications that it can have, or be designed to have. Other problem is the amount of stamina needed to use some of the more combat applicable variants.”

Ailene nodded, seemingly wowed by his examples. "That would sound like it has many benefits though...the ability to control just about anything on Earth? Fascinating..." Ailene would chuckle a little as Rafael confirmed her suspicions. “You can also use it to do things like moving a box or unlocking a door. The utility is amazing. I usually use fullbring when I’m at home to just do a bunch of chores at one time.” She did not know why, but the prospect was very amusing to her. It actually reminded her a bit of her own uses of her ability. The heat of a Cero could allow her to start fires. One of the variations of Cero even allowed her to spark her own electricity. Perhaps that would be worth showing Rafael.

To drive his point home about the uses of Soul Dominance, the Fullbringer produced a flame in his hand. “For example. The only issue is that we’re not immune to the flames or cold that we generate, as they’re not actually spiritual in nature, despite being effected by OUR wills. Thus, if I were to drop this on my foot, it would still burn and hurt. Were I to freeze the ground around me, I would still feel cold and potentially get frostbite. Electricity would still electrocute me and so forth. Though, as I’ve demonstrated, you can utilize only the unmaking abilities of fullbring to destroy things, instead of using them to remake things, though it takes a good bit more focus since remaking is the point of fullbring.”

Letting the flame go, it would soar towards the dummy, roaring into a fireball as it burst on impact. Ailene chuckled and nodded in response. She began focus her reiatsu into her fingertip. Raising her hand and extending her pointer finger, she breathed out calmly as a tiny orb formed just before her fingertip. After a few moments it would grow to the size of her fingertip. She'd speak in a calm fashio, still balancing the orb of reiatsu atop her finger. "Our Cero is normally focused on the fingertip or in the palms of our hands. My familiarity with Cero has allowed me to form them rather effortlessly." This was not the whole truth. Unlike other Arrancar, Ailene could actually create Cero's with a mere thought. She did not need to channel it through anything. No reason anyone needed to know that though.

Extending her finger towards one of the dummies, she'd let expel the reiatsu. The Cero then grew to about the size of a car, roaring towards the dummy. As it impacted, it almost completely subsumed the dummy, torching some of it and charring the rest. Ailene grinned a little at how her Cero affected the dummy. She then focused some reiatsu again onto her fingertip. This time as she let the Cero fly, it was more like a thin narrow beam. While it did encompass the entire dummy, it instead pierced and ran it through. With that, she'd let the Cero dispel as she waved her hand somewhat. "Many Arrancar believe a large Cero is needed. Leave no trace of your opponent. I, however, like to sometimes trade size for precision." She'd wink a little.

As she looked at the sets of dummies, she grinned as a precise hole was burned through one of them. The Espada simply ran her finger along her cheek as she sighed. "The beauty of Cero is in its simplicity. It's a ferocious technique, able to char others to ash with no trace leftover. It is this simplicity, however, that allows us to change it at times. For example, the Cero I've shown thus far is a burning beam of reiatsu. It can, however, be so much more." With that, Ailene formed yet another Cero, but this time in the palm of her hand. This would not be an orb of burning reiatsu, however. What started out as an orb of reaitsu suddenly began to change.

Remaining a purple, the Cero instead of humming, began to crackle. This crackling would grow louder and louder until it sounded like a small rolling thunderstorm. Ailene grinned for a moment as she held it just above her hand. "The Cero Lightning. One of many variations. I do not recommend touching it though. Not only is it numbing, but just a touch can send an electric shock running through your entire system. It can be very painful though that's part of its beauty. It can crumble even the most physically durable and char those that face it until there is nothing left, but ash." Waving her hand, Ailene would release the Cero Lightning. As quickly as Raphael blinked, so quickly would the Cero Lightning suddenly arc towards one of the dummies. In a flash, it'd sear the dummy just like usual though instead of penetrating it, it'd leave a blackened burn as part of the dummy began to deteriorate. If Raphael was paying attention to Ailene's hand, he'd likely see that the skin was beginning to blister somewhat. It was also beginning to take on a reddish coloration. 

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael listened as Ailene explained the purpose of the cero, firing one off and destroying the poor dummy, burning it and charring it. It had grown to about the size of a car, and he couldn’t help but ponder as to the damage that such a thing would do. What kind of fascinating power hollows held, yet at the same time it was largely destructive in nature. He wondered if their powers could be used for any kind of a barrier, or other uses. What kind of abilities could one manipulate this orb of energy into? There were so many things that Raphael still desired to learn and yet he still felt like he was so far away from the truth.

She winked at him, firing a smaller cero that, instead of destroying, simply burned a hole through the dummy, not creating any additional burns. The almost surgical level of power astounded him further. What strength, what control did she have to have to produce something as powerful as the first beam, but smaller and much more precise. He was incredibly impressed and studied it much more intently. But then she did something that absolutely fascinated him. It was a cero he’d never heard of and had never really thought was possible, given all the hollows that he’d seen.

The orb of energy that floated above her finger no longer hummed, in fact it seemed more to chitter, almost like birds. And that was when he realized that it was crackling, not just crackling…it was literally like lightning and no longer like a normal cero. Then it crescendo’d into a small thunderstorm, the thunder even cracking like she was holding a literal storm on her finger. Then she let it fly. It struck the dummy, and the poor training implement immediately exploded, the clap startling him. Where it had been hit there was black charr that was immediately beginning to break apart. The dummy being destroyed by the strike of lightning that had hit it.

“That’s… terrifyingly impressive, emphasis on terrifying. I didn’t know that a cero could be manipulated to such a degree. Though I’m a fullbringer, I do know a little bit of something similar.” He laughs. “Though it’s not nearly as impressive as that one.” He smiled and turned to the other dummy, obviously more than willing to give a demonstration and concentrated. He held out his hand, similarly to how she’d done, and a small bit of energy began to form in his right hand, though this one, Ailene would be able to tell, was much more hollow in nature. To the point that, even without incredible senses, she would be able to tell that no only was the technique hollow in nature, but it seemed to change his very essence and he would feel almost entirely like a hollow. In his hand, the energy would coalesce faster and spun extremely fast, until it very nearly had become a casual orb, similar to how her ceros appeared. Yet when he threw it, it spun and slammed into the last dummy before exploding outwards, sending spiritual shrapnel in every direction. Yet as it finally dissipated, Raphael couldn’t get himself to calm down. There was an odd sense of euphoria and anger and rush; though he managed to calm himself down a bit. As he did, his energy would slowly return to feeling more like a normal human. Ailene might’ve even been able to see that at the sides of his mouth, wasn’t saliva, but almost like the secretions demi-hollows have before the mask formed.

“S-Sorry.” He spat to the side and it dissipated. “I dunno what came over me.”

[Kitai Yoru]

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