Just A Moment Of Rest In Hell {Social, Shawn and Brutus}

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn was in a very precarious position having busted hands, no Zanpakuto, and literally strolling through Hell. The ground was excruciating, almost as if he was walking on fire which could happen as flames sprouted up from the ground randomly in large patches. To make matters worse the air seemed to feel as if it were on fire with every breath taken, that and the sky took on the appearance of fire dancing. So all in all his experience here was what you could expect from the eternally burning pits known as Hell.



It was a slow process moving in this place, between the constant pain and the continuous threat of Hellions and Hell Beasts popping up randomly, there wasn't really much choice in how fast Shawn could move. The one benefit from being here in his mind was his growing in spiritual power and learning on how to reserve some power to keep going. Not to far in the distance he spotted what looked to be a small cave no wider than a car. Taking his chances he moved toward the cave mouth as fast as his body could handle, keeping an eye out for anybody or anything following him.



Walking up to the cave entrance Shawn peered inside to make sure nothing was already there, which considering his luck he wouldn't have been surprised if there were. This time, however, the coast seem to be clear so he entered inside for a short rest. While surviving down here he found staying in one place to long could leave to death as everything on this specific layer seemed to keep moving. Nearly getting caught once from sleeping a bit to long he wasn't going to make the same mistake, planting himself with his back against the right-side wall of the cave Shawn closed his eyes. Even when his breathing slowed and his mind found rest, there was always a part of his mind that stayed awake in case he had to move quickly.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reference image for the dessert land}

Just add in that some flames are falling from the sky as described in the post.

Ahh Violence, specifically against "God", if one should truly exist. If only there weren't any sinners destined to forever burn in your brightly lit and unnaturally hot sands. Alas, mortals insist on the idea of defying "God", or whatever it is they worship, and inevitably end up here. Truly are they as inept as possible. Still at least this circle is one of the harder sections to get into. With a concept so vague and ill defined, how could it not be? Still, I ne- AGAHK!! Brutus had lost himself a little in his thoughts when a small fireball had smacked straight into his right wing. Though his skin was practically of stone and definitely heavier the fires of hell seemed to always be able to punch through it without an issue. Still by this point there was a level of suffering that Brutus was unfortunately familiar with, and this fireball wasn't truly much beyond what he experienced near daily. That didn't stop it however, from being utterly aggravating. Still unlike most if he truly cared enough, he could simply leave. He couldn't be asked currently because it would simply require too much energy and give a fucks that the man simply didn't have anymore.

Brutus dived under an arching rock and looked around to see if there might be a "quiet" place for him to reside in for a time. A cool space? Didn't exist. Complete privacy? Surprisingly unheard of, even when shit moved like it was still alive. And heaven forbid you expected to have weather that made sense. The most "understandable" of all the weather this circle had was a surprisingly low hanging ball of utter hate that mimicked the fiery ball of death in the human world. Except this one actively pointed rays of light and heat onto an individual that was in this circle. Currently however, the circle had decided it wanted ashen clouds to be in the sky. Then to keep things interesting decided that it would rain literal fire with a side of ash. So it was like having a choking cloud that was thick enough to irritate your throat and lungs but not enough to actually kill you. Oh and lets not forget, it hindered your sight immensely. The occasional gust of wind that followed this storm was also keen on making sure it got the driest and most heat intensive air it could find and almost literally slap you with it. And that was nothing to speak of the sand that felt and moved akin to liquid magma. Despite being pure gold in color and surprisingly fine to the touch you were nearly burning yourself on it all the time. And for those unfortunate enough to not have wings or some means of flight, you were fucked.

Still there was a sort of monstrous beauty to it all. Something even Brutus would begrudgingly admit to himself when he wasn't auditing his thoughts. And this was coming from a man who had seen several other dimensions. Hell was fucked. No two ways about it. But even in the midst of all the shit it was doing to ensure your eternal agony there was an order and something thoughtful about it. Or at least through provoking if you cared to try and look past the immediate torments upon you. Still Brutus had one mission today, one that needed his utmost attention. He needed to sleep, and to do that he needed a "comfortable" spot to do such. Preferably one he wouldn't hear the screams of some newly damned sinner at. Mind you finding such a place? Fucking impossible given that he was struggling to see more than 5 feet in front of him. He started grumbling obscenities to himself which rapidly devolved into raging cursing at the world around him for a solid 5 minutes. Why? Because while attempting to see around him he was hit by no less than 3 more fireballs. Slapped by two gusts of wind. Somehow managed to get hit by rock from the structure above him that wasn't big enough to injure him but enough to throw him into the burning hot sands below. And finally, the worst of all, he was starting to hear others again.

"THATS IT. I'M GOING THIS WAY. SANCTUS HELP ME IF I FIND SOMEONE SCREAMING OVER THE BURNS ON THEIR FEET OR GET PELTED WITH MORE FIREBALLS I'M GOING TO LEAVE THIS ACCURSED CIRCLE FOR ANOTHER!" Thus Brutus picked south-west to fly on nothing short of a whim and pure frustration. He was in fact, pelted by several more fireballs but as much as he wanted to fly out this circle and into another his lack of fucks to give prevented it. It also helped that the smoke cloud was nearly the same color as him and if he was close to some rocks he could get confused with them and get passed by sinners. Especially the filth that knew he could open doors out of this cesspit. Several minutes later he found it. Well the outline. A cave. Small and worn from several sandstorms and blessedly a dark grey / black in color meaning it was going to blend perfectly with the smokescreen so long as the ash clouds were present. If he were lucky he could get at least a solid hour of peaceful sleep before hearing some nearby sinner. Thank whatever nonexistent god heard my want for sleep. This has to be the one place in hell that's perfect for sleeping in. The only thing that could happen is it being inhabited or it falling on me. And I couldn't wish for a better place to sleep if the latter happens. I'll finally be left alone for a long while. Please collapse on me and let me just be buried under enough rubble to not hear others. I could, actually give less of a fuck if it is sweltering. I'll make due.

It didn't take him long to get to the actual cave and land at the stony entrance. He sighed and placed rough hand on the wall. It was sturdy. Far more than it had any reason to be. He frowned but ultimately accepted that he wouldn't be fortunate enough to have the place collapse on him. Still from what he could sense there was nothing of import here. Simply energy resi- Wait. His eyes narrowed dangerously. Then a small vein started to form on his stony head's exterior. THERE WAS A PERSON. And worst of all? They weren't supposed to be. And no, not because Brutus was simply claiming this cave as his own without any concern for others. THIS SOUL was still "alive". Enough to be somewhere that wasn't here. And it smelled of self-assured righteousness. In fact, upon probing, he got the sense that this specific soul was a believer of a god. One that even now they were devoted to. Brutus could feel his frustration rising. He made no attempt to hide however he did actively create several doors to line the entrance of the cave ensuring that they would block out anything barring the "light" that came in at the edges.

This took but a couple moments and once done he started walking towards the offender of his newly claimed residence. Claws clanging against the ground, wings twitching from frustration and his face sneering in utter contempt for the person who was SLEEPING WHILE HE WAS AWAKE. His tail slammed against the ground upon realizing this making a solid and reverberating sound in the cave. Eerily akin to rock smashing against rock. Should Shawn wake up at any point Brutus would be able to tell. His reiatsu was going to give away his state of consciousness by simply being more active. And "God" help him if he tried to attack or step, Brutus having his senses keenly focused on him in particular would have more than enough of a tell. Brutus had no hindrance in spawning a door in between Shawn and his would-be destination, or his attack and Brutus. Effectively knocking him on his ass mid step or easily blocking the pathetic kido he'd spawn. And in the event he tried a physical attack? Shawn would still be meeting a door he had no chance of breaking before subsequently being slammed backwards by the door opening. Regardless of what happened Brutus was more than aptly prepared. And once whatever transpired occurred he'd simply growl out a single question to his "guest". "Pray tell child, what is a fervent believer such as yourself doing in the pit of despair and suffering? Shouldn't your "God" have prevented you from coming here? I was under the impression the self righteous were never punished for anything so long as you claim it to be in your divinity's name."

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn would be sleeping somewhat peacefully, but something or someone would cause him to wake up. Peering through towards the entrance he would spot what looked to be a Gargoyle standing there staring at him. Caught of guard he would rushes to his feet while preparing to do the only thing he could think of in those moments. With a surge of reiatsu into his feet Shawn would instigate a Shunpo, aiming to go farther into the cave away from this thing.



Just as Shawn started rushing forward thanks to his Shunpo step, he suddenly hits something hard causing him to fall backwards. Now in a sitting position he tries to collect his thoughts from the jarring moment. When he finally gained some form of situational awareness again it wouldn't take him long to find out a door had appeared exactly in the path of where he was heading. That's when the Hason began to speak, Pray tell child, what is a fervent believer such as yourself doing in the pit of despair and suffering? Shouldn't your "God" have prevented you from coming here? I was under the impression the self righteous were never punished for anything so long as you claim it to be in your divinity's name."



If Shawn knew anything about sensing spiritual power it was that it was clear this creature was far more powerful than he was. "Of course I wouldn't be punished, but that doesn't mean other Hellions can't find ways to screw with peoples lives. If it wasn't for that awful plant Hason I would still be walking around the Rukongai!" He was doing his best to keep a level tone, the problem is everything was finally starting to make him boil over. True he understood this Hason could easily kill him but it was the only other sentient thing around, so his volume was raised a smidge more than he wanted it to be.



Moving his eyes to stare at the Hason, it would be clear Shawn was not in a good mood. "To make matters even better, I was tossed into Hell without my Zanpakuto and with barely usable hands! You wanna talk self righteous! Self righteous is whatever that Hason was! Blaming me for doing my job!" With that he would exhale slowly, muscles beginning to ache again after his adrenaline began to dissipate. Couldn't even find my family, now I may die before ever seeing them again.

[Brutus]

There was a lot Brutus considered a possibility. However becoming this persons therapist or at least someone they told their immediate issues to was not one of them. Mainly because Shawn wasn't a hellion and had little if any idea about who or what he was. Let alone what he was capable of. Still his reiatsu started to vibrate deeply, the energy behind it giving way to Shawns anger and frustration even if he was doing his best to hide it. Brutus's sneer shifted up a little as he took a small amount of pleasure in making Shawns life just that much worse. It grew just a bit more amusing to him once he got past the intial layer of frustration. Because under that was a forming layer of despair and guilt.

Still this put Brutus into a spot where he was forced to do something. He needed this cave and this "person" needed to leave. He could forcibly send him to another layer of hell but that would require the creation of another door. Something Brutus didn't want to waste on him, especially considering how weak he was. And not compared to him, just in general. Base level demons of even the second ring could have easily made him into meal. Shawn's only real reason for surviving this long was likely the ashen fog / storm cloud that currently resided in this circle. A small part of the hason wondered if that might be more than mere coincidence. That part was quickly beaten with a mental stick and tossed aside.

Thus brought him back to his original question. What to do with Shawn? It would be childs play to send him off outside and let him die. He likely would soon enough given the state of his arms. Yet there was something that Brutus was curious enough about. Why and how he was here? To his understanding Shinigami didn't know how to come to Hell of their own volition. Shawn clearly hadn't but didn't mean that shinigami as a whole couldn't. Which could explain why he was presently sent here given a cunning hellion would certainly do such if able. He himself was known for simply sending aggravating idiots to Hell given how simple it was. He sighed physically and mentally. Do I really care enough though to hear him out? Or more likely, to hear him complain? Ugh. . . It's tiring me to even consider this. And I was already too damn tired to begin with.

Speaking of tired, he could feel it in his limbs and eyes. He'd been flying around and battered by insignificant but aggravating fireballs in this circle. Now he finally wasn't AND it was darker due to his "barricade" of doors. Looking back he didn't intend to open up the doors or give another an opportunity to let this one escape. He was after all furious about seeing them present and being reminded of somewhere that wasn't here. . . Even though he could leave. . . And didn't. . . Brutus let out a loud growl, mostly to himself but instead of fixing his problem simply opted to let himself lay against the opposite wall. The shinigami was in no shape to attack him afterall and would likely die soon enough anyway. Hopefully. Even still if he did what was Shawn going to do anyway kill him? Pfft, Brutus knew he wasn't so lucky.

With a side glance at Shawn and his sneer now devoled into deep tired frown he spoke out. "Glad to know you're still so fervent to a false idol. At least I know when you die and find yourself in Hell you won't be in this circle. Might get a decent amount of sleep then. Still, while you're alive you might as well spin me this tale of the hellion that brought you here. As it stands you're not going to do anything else but die quietly. Might as well go out with some sound." With his piece said he yawned and dematerialized the door that Shawn had slammed into. No need of it anymore, especially since it required some amount of energy to maintain. Now all that was left to do was to fall asleep while Shawn was telling his story. It'd be the perfect way to really send him off to a peaceful sleep given few things were better than seeing a "righteous" person fall.

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn was tired and sore but that didn't stop him from staring at the Hason with smoldering anger. "False Idol? Funny considering we're currently sitting in literal Hell which the so called false idol made and I certainly won't end up here." This thing was beyond aggravating, not only did it spew blasphemies, it even had the gal to say he would end up in Hell. The problem is he knows this thing could easily kill him if it really wanted to. In fact it even went as far as to prove Shawn couldn't even do anything to it if he tried, let alone escape.



Letting out an exhausted sigh Shawn decides to humor the Hason, after all there's nothing else he can actually do right now. "Fine, I'll tell you about that walking vine that was a Hellion. I was doing my own thing in the Rukongai when I suddenly heard screams, running over to check what it was I stumbled upon a Hellion that as mentioned before was nothing but a walking bundle of vines and roots. So of course I get into a fight with it and find out real quick that it had way more spiritual pressure than I was aware of, after all look at what the cutback did to my hands and arms." Looking down at his barely usable hands he couldn't help but grimace as the throbbing pain continued to remined him of what happened.



Continuing his story Shawn looks back up at the Hason. "The battle than went on with me dropping my Zanpakuto, after all I couldn't use it anyways. So from that point I was left with only the few Kido I learned. The biggest Issue is this things power, it started summoning things that I can only assume were things it ate. One of which near the end of our battle was a Shinigami. Putting everything into one more attack I nearly caught the thing off guard, but of course it managed to teleport out of the way leaving me with no reiatsu left and plummeting back to the ground. All I know after that was it started growling, almost like it was demanding something before the temperature changed and I felt my body being tossed into Hell."



After scooting back towards the wall behind him Shawn slumped backwards once his story was finished. "And that's how I ended up here, trying to survive with these injuries and no Zanpakuto." Shaking his head he couldn't help but feel angry, that thing didn't seem to grasp why Shinigami "Killed" Hollows. Not that it matters in the end, that thing is still roaming the Soul Society and I'm stuck in Hell. "Hope you enjoyed listening to my misery and pain."

[Brutus]

Brutus yawned loudly, having interrupted Shawn before he even started on his monologue. He chuckled as he could feel the anger radiating off of Shawn. Namely anger towards him. Pissing people off was always a favorite pass time of Brutus's. Namely because he couldn't do it enough given those, he pissed off here simply attacked and tried to kill him. Or worse. Granted death was always the end goal though everyone here knew it wouldn't matter one bit if they killed one another or not. Still as Shawn decided to weave his tale Brutus had an idea, one that required really very little effort on his part since Shawn was all but creating the picture of events with an illusion. So he simply peaked his "eyes" into Shawns headspace occasionally so that he was on the same page as him.

Not that Shawn would realize. It was nearly unperceivable to those who weren't well endowed in their capability to read energy. And Shawn had shit for energy sensing capabilities. Easy fodder. Still color Brutus curious when he looked at the end scene. While he had no idea who the hell the plant thing was, he could immediately tell it was a hason. He hummed curious at the idea of one such as them leaving, let alone beating this shinigami. Still not his problem. What WAS his problem was who the thing was working for or at least alongside given. . . it didn't look very smart. The gates of Hell open for no one that isn't A. being sent their via zanpakuto, B. An akki, or C. Brutus. Apparently rumor was that Saika had learned the means to open the doors also but that was a fresh rumor and thus until Brutus saw it for himself, put no stock into it.

Still from the way the memory came off this hason had called out to someone. . . An akki. This made Brutus narrow his eyes given there was only one Akki that came to mind about who would open doors for hason. Especially on demand. Alastor. Legatus and overconfident akki that assumed he controlled ALL the gates to Hell. That actually made Brutus open his eyes again at the Shinigami. Why on earth would Alastor be concerned with Shawn? He was beyond pathetic. Not worth Brutus's own time and energy let alone a "higher ups". Perhaps it was a matter of wrong place, wrong time. . . but still. To be sent here was . . . unusual in and of itself. There was a lot to be questioned here. A lot that would require more of Brutus's energy. He groaned to himself as he continued to think on it. For now he'd just speak as he let his thoughts ponder this event.

"Oh make no mistake kid, you losing to the "weakest race" of Hell is immensely amusing. Even more so given I could watch the ass beating from your perspective. And if your current state is anything close to your standard, you're so abysmally weak I think even the saika would stand a good chance of beating you. The icing on your shit cake is made only better given how you still think yourself so in the "right" even after the beating. But that's to be expected, your kind, shinigami specifically in this case, have never considered anything about how your killing impacts others. Whether it's hollows, Mod Souls, Bount, or Quincy even. Hell, it's not unusual to hear how your kind kill the very humans you're supposed to protect. It really makes one wonder how you all get up every morning thinking your doing "Right" when your answer is to just kill what opposes you."

Brutus yawned again, though much more loudly than his first one. Still despite his growing tiredness he wasn't about to sleep when he could poke and prod Shawn. He was such an easy being to aggravate after all. "You would do well to consider what you're killing from now on. Even hollows have grown more intelligent than you give them credit for. And being killed for existing? Well last I checked Genocide is also a sin. Regardless of who or what they are. And from the ramblings of your plant friend, they were a victim of your kind committing wanton genocide. Really fills in the blanks for why it wanted your head on a platter. Take it or not, but as one who knows the races of Hell, Hason do not tend to actively engage in fights. They cannot leave Hell of their own accord and upon death are just sent right back. It should have run away from you at first sight and yet. . . given what you as a species have done it preferred being sent to Hell than letting you continue killing."

"Oh. And for what it's worth, don't try to go after them. There's only one being that would have opened the gate for it in the first place. And if you can't even fight me, you will be killed on sight by them. Since I'm feeling generous though I'll give you their name. They're called Alastor and they are a "Legatus". Le-Got-Us. Perhaps when you die and become a hellion you can actually acquire some strength and challenge him. Fun fact, if you die in Hell, regardless of "belief in god" you're bound here for eternity. So get comfy and pray to your idol that you don't get sent any lower. The blizzards and ice don't make for pleasant places to rest, even if you find an ice cavern. Hehe.~" It was at this point that Brutus was damn near certain that the other wasn't going keep speaking to him thus it was time to get some sleep. First though he'd need his "blanket" and thus released infernus.

Through a good deal of effort on his part Brutus managed to maintain his form and quickly produce the door to his goods storage. It was more a hole in reality, the size of his hand and only showed a dark space on the opposite side. It took him a moment to search for the steel silk he kept around but once he found it, he immediately pulled it out and cut off his infernus. He didn't need anyone in this circle to realize where he was hidden. Let alone that a shingami was here. It would cause an immense amount of hassle for him otherwise, still that could be dealt with later. For now he had what was effectively a bathrobe made of steel silk and was using it as a blanket. He smiled to himself, smugly so knowing his counterpart was in agony while he was in relative comfort. All things considered.

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

It was official, the Hellion sitting down across from Shawn was really striking a nerve. It actually had the gall to say he slaughters other races for what Shawn believed it meant was fun. As if he could harm another thing let alone kill it without a reason, the only beings he wanted to slay was Hellions and only because they didn't really die but get sent back to Hell. I don't even think I could willfully harm a Vandenriech Quincy without them first attempting to kill me! The only other race he might go out of his way to target is a Hollow, which he does knowing full well it ends up purifying it and releasing the souls trapped in the Hollows body back into the Soul Cycle. It's probably safe to assume that the very Hollow ceases to exist, thus freeing it from the eternal hunger and usually bestial nature that haunts Hollow's.

Shawn was fuming while he listened to this Gargoyle speak, in fact he could only listen as he felt like interrupting could lead to worse problems. Then Brutus said something that immediately caught his attention, the Hellion before him actually knew who sent that plant monster to the Soul Society and thus the one that sent him to Hell. A Legatus, I'll have to look into what that is but by the sounds of it that might be a position with some power here. Tch, I know I'm not ready to fight something like that, I don't need someone else to remind me of my shortcomings.

Yet again though Shawn was ripped from his thoughts when he heard Brutus call God and "Idol". It was clear that he was furious at this statement, however, it was also clear he couldn't argue back as he was in a dangerous position. I wish I could smack him. We're talking in LITERAL Hell and he called the one who made it an Idol. Though that's its own problem, as this monster mentioned, it won't matter what my beliefs and works would earn me if I die here. I will escape if that's the last thing I do.

 It would be at this point Shawn would watch as Brutus reached into some kind of mini portal before pulling out what he could only describe as a metallic looking blanket. It wasn't that could here, after all the weather outside screamed infernal heat with its blistering fire. Though after thinking about it some Shawn realized a blanket or the like could possibly be used to keep some of the heat away from him as well. For about an hour Shawn would use up a decent amount of reiatsu making a blanket barely big enough to cover over him while scrunched up. What did he use to make this blanket you ask? The wonderful ability called Advanced Air Arsenal: Air String. It's Class 7 variant was just tough enough not to break while covering with it. What Brutus might have found interesting is that the strings themselves had no reiatsu signature and couldn't be sensed with ES. 

Shawn could have made the blanket faster if his hands weren't in such bad shape. Thankfully the strings could be manipulated while he was making the blanket without using his hands nearly as much. The fact he had to use his hands at all was the reason he didn't make the blanket within 30 minutes. With that made he covered himself up while curling into a ball against the cave wall. Always keeping his head and eyes facing the Gargoyle. At some point I need to find out what that portal thing it did was, maybe I can use it to escape somehow?

[Brutus]

Brutus had to admit, if nothing else the shinigami he was residing around was resourceful. Using air strings, he made a blanket for himself. Likely not the most comfortable blanket, and the poor thing had to take over half an hour to make it but still. He did make it and Brutus had to admit that was something he wouldn't have thought most would have made. Still with that done and over with Brutus was now back to his current issue at hand. Not really being able to sleep. Say what you will but Brutus did not like company. Especially not in his space. Invading someone else's space was one thing and he'd do it in a heartbeat if only to aggravate someone. But Shawn was in HIS cave and was currently still being held there by Brutus. Making this entire event . . . aggravating. And surprisingly tiring now that the tirade of the other had stopped.

So that left Brutus with a question of what to do. And considering the other wasn't taking their gaze off of him he figured the other saw what he did. He also, given he made the blanket and actively seemed to learn, he could probably make a relatively good guess as to what he could do. An issue for certain if such information was to be spread around. Especially if it somehow got back to Him. He sighed to himself as put his claws together. I can't sleep with them around. And the longer they are around the longer we risk someone coming to find us. Especially someone whose just curious enough to try and figure out why this shinigami is here. Which means they'll try to question me. Which means a fight is likely. Which means I have to leave MY spot. What a fucking inconvenience this is. . .

So, what do I do then? I don't REALLY want to use my abilities to throw him back to where he came from. . . especially since that might require my actual capabilities. Ugh, but even still I do NOT need the inconvenience of being hassled by yet MORE beings in Hell over his and my interaction. Even if I'm not involved in his reason for being here. UGGHHHHH FINE. I'll send his ass out if only for some goddamn shut eye. However, he's not getting away scot free. Not when he's forced me to act, I'm an entity of sloth for christ's sake. IF I'm going to act, it WILL be worth my time. Better be ready because I'm going to make you pay to leave.  Brutus even having decided still made certain to take as long as possible actually getting up and putting on his steel silk for real.

It looked a little baggy on him at the moment given it was suited more for his Supremus form than his current form. Still, that just meant he had more cloth to work with in terms of protecting himself. However, standing up, clothed more so than before, and doing anything but sleeping it was time to talk to the brat. Hopefully they'll be quick to agree and just let him be. Sides. . . He was on a timer as well given he would die from his wounds alone if left to his own devices. Very few would heal him in Hell due to its nature, let alone be as nice as I'll be in my deal making. Slowly and with a bit of dragging to his movements he made his way before Shawn, though on the opposite side of the wall. So about eight-ish feet away from him. Enough to work with while not imposing.

"Alright ki-Shawn. We need to have a serious talk and I'm going to need you to put away your incredibly deep-rooted bias against me for say oh. . . three minutes. You're going to die without intervention. Divine or otherwise. Your arms are far too damaged to argue otherwise and even if they do not kill you, something else will if not the environment of the circle you're in at the time. If the fact that fireballs raining from the sky isn't a good enough indicator of that, then you truly are a hopeless sort." Brutus sighed to himself as he already regretted what he'd do.

"However, I can and am willing to help you out. Namely so I get some godforsaken shut eye. And sadly, the stink eye and your sour mood isn't helping in that endeavor. So, here's the deal, take it or leave it, there is no amending it or haggling given the circumstance. I will send you back to the Soul Society, in fact I'll plop you in the Rukongai even. This way you don't have to worry about being pestered for coming through a Hell gate. And you won't even have any hellish reiatsu on you from using the gate I'll produce. Namely due to it not being aligned with Hell in any capacity."

"However, you will agree, through a binding contract, to two terms. 1. You will tell no one of me. This includes but is not limited to. My name. My race. My location, previous, future, or present, to your best knowledge. Absolutely nothing about my powers. And finally, NEVER mention that I did help you in any shape or manner. Let alone have ever interacted with you. Effectively if it's about me you will not give any information, in any capacity, in any way, about me to another."

"2. You will give me an I.O.U. This I.O.U. allows me to ask for any one request that you cannot say no to. And no, for the record I don't want your soul. I don't want your eternal servitude. And I certainly don't care about you denouncing your idol. I'm not even going to ask you to kill someone or do some "nefarious" task. I'd make a more specific request if I wasn't so fucking tired but since I am, you'll have to deal with the vagueness of this term. In short, I can't be asked to think up a specific request at this time. Make no mistake, no harm will come to you because of whatever request I make. That much I'll guarantee. With that said do you agree or not? If so, I'll write up the contract and then I'll need a bit of your blood and reiatsu. After that you're gone and I'm going to bed. If you do not agree I will promptly go back to sleep until such time that you decide otherwise or you die, and the offer expires. Take as long as you need, and have left, to think."

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn watched as the Hason got up, wary of what the thing would do. Brutus slowly donned the Steel Silk he was using as a blanket, which sent questions through Shawn's mind as to the Hason's intentions. That's when the Gargoyle began slowly making his way over to the opposite side of the wall from Shawn. Sitting down it would take a moment before he actually opened his mouth to speak. Speak he did, Shawn listened to every cursed word he spoke.



Shivering at the concept of making a deal with a Hellion in order to escape, Shawn went over in his mind the terms this Hason laid out for him. As much as it irked him the first term was no problem, actually he would prefer to keep it quite himself that a Hellion might be the one to save him from this forsaken pit. As much as he doesn't like the idea of not being able to share any information about the Gargoyle, that was NOTHING compared to his second term.



Owing anyone an I.O.U was a big thing, but for the one he owes it to being a Hellion? That was something Shawn would struggle with. Sure it was made clear that no harm would actually befall him, but that doesn't mean it would be a good thing asked of him. Sure he understands that the Hellion making an actual contract with him means it can't just lie about his terms. So the question is, should he trust this creature enough to go along with it? It's not like Shawn was in the position to fight back after all, as the Hason so unapologetically put it, he will die if he doesn't get help soon.



This made Shawn very upset, it was admitting to himself that yet again all he was is a burden to those he wants to protect. How can he help keep people safe if they have to risk themselves to save him after all? He can't stand that thought, he had to becoming stronger no matter how physically or mentally difficult it would be. Begrudgingly he would nod his head to Brutus, knowing as much to his dislike this Hason was his only means of survival. He would train like crazy when he gets back to prevent a situation like this ever happening again, so for now he would have to give in to the terms.



"Fine, I'll agree to this, but only because the more time I get to actively try getting stronger the better." Shawn would displeasingly say after he gave it a moment of thought, though it wasn't hard to see this is the only way. Waiting for Brutus to create this contract he would just sit there, waiting for this to be done and over with so he no longer has to think about the deal being made.

[Brutus]

Brutus chuckled to himself as he for the first time since the two had met, smiled. It wasn’t some sort of twisted and evil smile. Sure, it was a bit demeaning as the glimmer in his eye was effectively the smug knowledge that Brutus had forced Shawn to play his game. Though in truth, it was more Brutus capitalizing on the circumstances than anything. It’s not like he had the energy or will to actually conduct such a long game just to ensure a single shinigami was within the palm of his hand. Still, he smiled nevertheless just glad he could actually progress things in the direction he wanted, namely to a reality where he could sleep for an hour or two. “Good choice. It’ll be a moment.”


Brutus then decided to forgo his current form. He was going to need the items in his pocket dimension, several of which were going to be taken out, only to be replaced moments later. Besides the cave had the space and Shawn would be unable to give any information about him. Willing or not. Which meant that even if the Soul Society had pesky individuals who were proficient at sensing energy, they’d never realize anything about him or the influence he had on Shawn. Still to be safe, mainly for the cave’s sake, Brutus got up and walked toward the blockaded entrance. From there he gave off a pulse of reiatsu, a bit more intense than his previous pulse since he wasn’t resisting the physical transformation.


From what Shawn could see, and thankfully there was a good bit of it hidden, the transformation would look unpleasant. The saving grace being that it was quick, at least as far as the sounds that came from it could be heard. Brutus’s body started to grow larger in every capacity. Starting with his height, his legs, arms, torso, and even head grew to be more in line with a creature that was over five tall, significant given Brutus was about three foot something in his base form. His body extended and yet the muscle mass did not grow alongside it. Instead, it looked like the bones and skin would continue to stretch until it’d rip and yet it never did. Though the sounds of joints popping and Brutus grunting some as his body shifted did make it seem like it was as unnatural as possible. The arguably worst part was that Brutus’s backside shunted out a tail that looked more like his spinal cord had just continued to grow until it had to leave his torso.


It didn’t help that the tailbone of his spine became a stinger shortly after the tail was done growing to three feet in length. Then came the upper portion of his back, where three sets of insectile wings erupted from. It was quick and looked like it should have just torn flesh asunder and yet no harm was present. Then, a surprising change occurred, Brutus’s skin tone changed drastically from stone gray to pale white, with the ends of his horns and spikes, hands, and his stinger as a whole, becoming crimson red. Shawn would have a far easier time seeing him even in the dark now, because of this drastic skin tone change. Still the scary thing about this transformation? It all happened in seconds. Even in terms of “unnatural” transformations they should have taken a couple minutes, but this was far faster than even unnatural forms had any right to be. But once it was all said and done Brutus took a deep breath and it was clear just from breathing a sigh of relief that his voice was several octaves deeper and undoubtedly had some level of suave charm to it. A shame given Brutus didn’t mince words.


With one red iris side glancing Shawn he’d take a moment to see what his reaction was. Likely there would be underlying fear, possibly due to the idea of a double crossing but Brutus wasn’t so crude. They’d agreed to a deal. He would fulfill it as per the terms. Speaking of the deal though he had to get started on making the contract. Thus, he opened a small portal akin to a tear in space like a garganta. Sliding his hand in, the space grew larger as he pulled his elongated fingers back. With them came a surprisingly large book, akin to a leather-bound phone book. Clearly though it was a grimoire of sorts and it evidently had seen some use if the face of the pages were flayed, torn, and even stained. Though surprisingly not stained with blood, it looked more akin to water damage of all things.


The cover was definitely well kept though but it was a leather-bound tome stitched together by threads of some king. The book then hovered before Brutus and opened itself as he began to reach back into the pocket space and grab more items. An ink quill, an ink vial, a small but clearly sharpened letter opener. It was thin, had a specially made wooden handle, and was engraved with flourishing vines. But there was no mistaking that edge, even in the dark it glinted across the entire blade and especially at the tip. Brutus smiled at the floating knife as it stayed next to his ink, quill, and tome. The portal he grabbed everything from then closed itself as Brutus waved it off and he began to write the terms of the deal. A thought crossed his mind to try and write some extra clause in some form of invisible ink or use flowery language to bulk it up and make it harder to understand. And it was tempting, if only to annoy Shawn, but he couldn’t seriously justify it.


Especially not when he was allowing his energy to be flared. Which did bring a thought to him, one of special curiosity. I would have expected that we would be dealing with more idiots by now. . . where are they? Typically, violence, especially against god, had raving and roaming souls let alone hell beasts. We could be lucky and in a remote section for the time being. It has happened before, albeit rarely. But even still. . . Whatever, I’m wasting time that’s needed by us both. Might as well get to writing. I certainly hope he’s not like the newer souls who cannot read cursive. I will NOT be rewriting it just so he can be inept at reading. The next several minutes he spent writing out the terms and clauses, the page for some reason never seeming to be filled despite Brutus continuously writing for those several minutes. With the exception of grabbing more ink for his quill.


Once finished however he took a moment to inspect it. No stray marks, clear distinctions between words, and even though his particular penmanship was on the smaller font size it wasn’t unable to be read. He nodded to himself and walked back over to Shawn, making the finishing touch of a line where Shawn would write his name, complete and specific, and another line for Brutus underneath. “Alright Shawn, the contract is written up. Take a moment to read it over, this should be the language you are most familiar with. If need be, I will read it over for you, assuming you're so uneducated that you cannot read in cursive, however the terms are what we discussed. And no, there is not a hidden clause. If you don’t believe me, here’s the trick to figuring out if there is a hidden clause. Given most hellions use reiatsu to cover it up or hide it, you simply have to flood the contract with reiatsu. You may not “see” it if you’re incapable of sensing reiatsu but you will find the text and symbols you can see distort where hidden text is.”


“This is not, however, foolproof. Older and more cunning contract writers will have an additional step or two depending on their nature and sin. But as far as you and I are concerned, this will give you the means to ensure I’m not lying to you. Namely given I am a creature of sloth. And doing this much is already aggravating enough. However, when you are done, and you find that there is no treachery or trickery within the contract take my letter opener.” Brutus would then bring the letter opener near Shawns right hand, handle pointed towards him. “You then need to produce a small injury to yourself. A poke on your finger, a cut on the hand. Something to draw a bit of blood. Drop the blood, as best you can, on the quill and then write your name. Complete name. If you’re the unfortunate sort that has fifteen different last names, get comfortable because you need to write your complete and full name. Once you’ve completed that I’ll do the same. Your line is the first one, I will be signing on the bottom line.”



Brutus would then step back a foot or so, to make sure he was not hovering over him. Shawn had already agreed after all. And he had a change of heart? So be it. It wasn’t going to harm Brutus in any way. So, he’d simply wait quietly. Give Shawn his time to read over the contract, test out what he’d said about infernal contracts and finding loopholes, extra clauses, etc. And ultimately attempt to use the knife and sign on the line. Should Shawn find himself unable to do either, Brutus would assist him as necessary, but only if asked. Once the signature was made Brutus would then do the same. Poking a claw with the knife, drawing out dark black-red blood onto the quill. Then signing his name shortly thereafter. Now came for the part that Shawn. . . was not going to enjoy. And thankfully Brutus did not need to ask as, per the written and now signed contract, Shawn had to give some of his reiatsu to seal it. Thus, Brutus would walk closer, waving the inkwell, quill, and knife into the pocket space again.


From there once he was in fact, hovering over Shawn he then used a single claw to tap his chest. His chest cavity as a whole would open up like a cabinet door. Much to Shawns, likely horror and immense concern. And yet his flesh was unharmed, his organs and the like continued doing their best to process his current injuries like the fact his chest was now a door was nothing new. Brutus chuckled and would glance with a sly smile to Shawn before speaking as he reached his claw inside Shawn again. “As you cannot speak to others of me in any capacity allow me to ease your concerns. 1. I am contractually obligated to ensure your safety while grabbing the reiatsu I require. 2. My power does not inherently harm any individual whose body I open up. 3. You, may, feel a minor ache and loss of stamina, but I will be opening your body up to your soul. From there I will be collecting a sliver of energy to place within your signature. Make no mistake, you will not notice it and it’s not because of how much I’m taking. It’s because your reiatsu is constantly being recreated by your soul. What I am taking is a pure and unfiltered portion to ensure that you are bound to the contract. Trust me when I say, this could be far more painful depending on who you make dealings with.”



The next couple moments were, likely horrifying to Shawn, but otherwise as Brutus said, surprisingly painless. When Brutus finally got to his core and took only the smallest wisp of his core’s radiating energy he would, at most, feel a bit of stamina leave him. Pain however was unlikely, unless his mind conjured it up due to stress. From there Brutus willed all the “doors” he’d made from Shawn’s body to close and within a matter of seconds he was back to how he was prior. With no means of opening the “doors” again. Brutus would then take the wisp and allow it to be absorbed into Shawns signature. It would glow and then quickly fade back to black. Meanwhile Brutus started doing the exact same thing, though given he knew the process it took a matter of moments before he collected a yellow-gold wisp and placed it within his own signature. From there the text of the contract glowed brightly and changed in font to age old Germanic text.


Brutus nodded and slammed the book closed and replaced it within his pocket dimension. Then glanced back at Shawn and spoke. “Alright Shawn we’re done. Name the district and direction of the Rukongai district you desire to be taken to. If you have an even more specific location, I will open the door for you there. Otherwise, I will place you on the border between the district you named and its companion that’s closer to the Seireitei. Once there I hope you will know how to get to the Seireitei. Heh. Also pay attention to your surroundings. I will return to you at a later date with my request.” Brutus would then wait for Shawn to name his destination. Making the destination once named would be nothing short of a snap of Brutus’s fingers.


The door he’d made was a shoddy one, akin to the door of an average Rukongai shack. Granted the district he named would determine how deteriorated or well-kept the door was. From there the door would open for him and Brutus would simply watch as Shawn walked through. Once he had, Shawn would realize he was exactly where he’d requested to be. And the door behind him wouldn’t be present. There was only one issue. . . The Rukongai was in chaos. Hellions were pouring out of Hell gates, the very air itself was charged with hell’s latent reiatsu and the screams of those dying and fighting were immediately heard by Shawn.


Unbeknownst to Shawn however, Brutus would very quickly realize this fact as well given the request he’d make was already well known to him. Brutus once Shawn had left would release his Supremus and then open a door, very specific to Shawn, given Brutus had his energy signature on lockdown now. And opened a door, quietly, and without a tell, to his inner world. His energy sensing capabilities however informed him upon arriving inside Shawn’s realm why the two hadn’t met resistance. “This would explain it. And here I thought we had more time before the invasion. . . Still, I figured that was just a rumor. . . Damn you Alastor.”

SPOILER: Click to show

{Pictures of the items Brutus brought forth}
Grimoire:




Letter Opener:

[Shawn Rabuburēdo]

Shawn was not liking his current situation at all, the fact he had to make this deal is hard for him to swallow. At this point though it's done, so he might as well get this over with so he can get back to the Soul Society. At this point he notices the Hason moving over to the cave entrance, almost as if he was trying to hid the horror that was about to happen. Those would be some of the longest few seconds in his life as he watched tis creature grow and morph.



Shawn was actually nodding to himself slightly rather than being mortified, this felt more like a Hellion to him now. Not to say the appearance before didn't give off Hellion vibes, just now it felt like what Shawn would picture the more beastly to look like. After this change the Brutus would only take a moment before creating some kind of dimensional hole in front of him, in which he would stick his hand into. After waiting a second the Hason began bringing out different items such as a large leather cover book, an ink quill, an ink bottle, and finally a sharpened letter opener.



Watching the grimoire float in front of Brutus as he reached in for the rest of those things certainly unnerved Shawn. He wasn't surprised at someone or something being able to do that, but when it came to Hellions it just felt more creepy. The portal would then close as the Hason waved it away, beginning to write the terms of their agreement into the grimoire. Why does it have to be an evil looking book, couldn't it have just been a contract by words? Though I guess this is better, I would have kept to my agreement but there's no saying if this Hellion would have.



Shawn was just thinking away as Brutus was finishing up writing the words to the agreement. The Shinigami would refocus on reality when Brutus began speaking to him, “Alright Shawn, the contract is written up. Take a moment to read it over, this should be the language you are most familiar with. If need be, I will read it over for you, assuming you're so uneducated that you cannot read in cursive, however the terms are what we discussed. And no, there is not a hidden clause. If you don’t believe me, here’s the trick to figuring out if there is a hidden clause. Given most hellions use reiatsu to cover it up or hide it, you simply have to flood the contract with reiatsu. You may not “see” it if you’re incapable of sensing reiatsu but you will find the text and symbols you can see distort where hidden text is.” That wasn't what he wanted to hear, a Hellion telling him it's easy to check for hidden clauses no matter if the Hason was saying there was none.



Shawn was certainly not comforted by the next words of Brutus, but he needed to get back so at this point he reluctantly had to trust the Hason.“This is not, however, foolproof. Older and more cunning contract writers will have an additional step or two depending on their nature and sin. But as far as you and I are concerned, this will give you the means to ensure I’m not lying to you. Namely given I am a creature of sloth. And doing this much is already aggravating enough. However, when you are done, and you find that there is no treachery or trickery within the contract take my letter opener.” This is what he was waiting for, the seal this with your blood moment that he read all too much in books depicting of devil deals. “You then need to produce a small injury to yourself. A poke on your finger, a cut on the hand. Something to draw a bit of blood. Drop the blood, as best you can, on the quill and then write your name. Complete name. If you’re the unfortunate sort that has fifteen different last names, get comfortable because you need to write your complete and full name. Once you’ve completed that I’ll do the same. Your line is the first one, I will be signing on the bottom line.”



Obliging Shawn will slowly take the dagger like letter opener, using it he will cut into his left hands middle index finger. With the ink pen he will gather some of his own blood and sign his name in cursive. To say it's been ages sense he's last used cursive would not be incorrect, the last time he needed to write in it was as a teen just before moving to Japan for the rest of his mortal life. With that done he would hand everything back to Brutus, watching as the Hellion just as easily completed what he thought was everything. If only it was everything he probably would have been much happier, but no, there was one more step that needed to be complete apparently.



Suddenly Shawn would find a LITERAL door opening up on his chest, leading to his inner soul. Horrified at this he could only listen and watch in horror as Brutus talked to him and reached into his chest. “As you cannot speak to others of me in any capacity allow me to ease your concerns. 1. I am contractually obligated to ensure your safety while grabbing the reiatsu I require. 2. My power does not inherently harm any individual whose body I open up. 3. You, may, feel a minor ache and loss of stamina, but I will be opening your body up to your soul. From there I will be collecting a sliver of energy to place within your signature. Make no mistake, you will not notice it and it’s not because of how much I’m taking. It’s because your reiatsu is constantly being recreated by your soul. What I am taking is a pure and unfiltered portion to ensure that you are bound to the contract. Trust me when I say, this could be far more painful depending on who you make dealings with.” Nothing about what was happening actually caused pain, well it certainly caused mental pain, as the last thing Shawn wanted was a Hellion sticking their arm into and messing with his soul.



Cold sweats would be pouring out of Shawn's face as he watched Brutus finally take what he needed out of him. The door would close followed by a moment of exhaustion, both mental and physical. That was nothing new for this Hellion apparently, as he immediately does the same thing to himself but faster it seemed. He better not have purposefully took longer on me just to freak me out. Regardless of his thoughts there was nothing Shawn could actually do if the Hason did indeed do that to him.



Once everything was complete Brutus would slam the grimmiore shut and put it away before turning to Shawn. “Alright Shawn we’re done. Name the district and direction of the Rukongai district you desire to be taken to. If you have an even more specific location, I will open the door for you there. Otherwise, I will place you on the border between the district you named and its companion that’s closer to the Seireitei. Once there I hope you will know how to get to the Seireitei. Heh. Also pay attention to your surroundings. I will return to you at a later date with my request.” Shawn had to think about that for a second, after all it would look highly suspicious if he just appeared inside of his barracks walking through a portal. That was something he certainly didn't want to explain to his uppers.



Finally Shawn knew where he should go, "A slight distance away from the south gate, if it's far enough away no one will notice me stepping out of a portal. That and I'm to hurt and tired to walk more than I absolutely have to." With that Brutus would quickly conjure up a door leading to the destination Shawn described, and he couldn't be happier to be gone from this place and from this guy. Stepping through the doorway on the other hand showed the exact opposite of what he wanted or expected.

[Deleted]

31 paragraphs for Shawn, meaning that's a 30% bonus for your next thread with Ryouzen~

41 paragraphs for Ryouzen, meaning that's a 40% bonus for your next thread with Shawn~