The Blessed Blade [NDE, Hard]

[Deleted]

She clicked her tongue, clearly disappointed in him. The taunting smirk on her face just seemed to be etched onto her face permanently. She was mocking him. Anastasia nearly laughed. He’d said something truly amusing. It was almost like he was complaining. “Heh. Honor.” she started. It was word that meant nothing to her. What was there in honor? Death. Pointless, foolish death. "Don’t know that word too well… I just normally associate that with death.” Why die when you can do so many amazing things. Life had far too much to offer and Anastasia was never one to pass up a good deal. She’s cheated life many times as a human and twice as many as a shinigami. All her experiences were thrilling to say the least. Besides, if one died, how would they drink rum? The rum would be gone. Or… is that what they call hell?

“…You still think they’re on your side? They all knew it was unfair from the start.“ It was probably the most truthful thing she’d said all day. Or not. She actually did that quite a lot. Yet people were always surprised. Maybe it was because of her ludicrous behavior or even more ludicrous words. He was blind. Whether he was blind by ambition or his lust for power was unclear. However, it wasn’t going to change the outcome. They all came to see a show and to see someone die. He was on the chopping block and he acted as if he wasn’t. These spectators had no regard for his life or anyone else’s. All that mattered was the theatrics and the excitement of it all. It was a sport to them and they were on display like rodents.

How lovely. Way of the Sword once more. Thanks to her genius (or lack thereof), she’d seen how his blade had carved that poor defenseless candy bar she hurled at him earlier into the fight. Forget the kido! She just settled on getting out of there, her shunpo backwards still going on. Tsuzuri Raiden would happen some other time. Right now, it was much more important getting out of there and a measly little kido wasn’t worth it. She took note of his whimpers and cries. Maybe he wasn’t as tough as she thought he was originally. After all, it was just the pommel. She could feel it was the end of the line for him. It could practically be fact at this point considering Elmo moved up to the shinigami as she moved, possibly decapitating him. The human was so strong that she wasn’t sure if what she’d do if it turns out he had traitorous intentions. Still, that shinigami’s attention was mostly on her. He’d just used Way of The Sword to keep her away and then Elmo just threw him into a wall like he was some kind of rotten fruit.

Regardless of whatever was going on, Anastasia still made a point to keep her distance and out of the way of Elmo. No extra moves made. Though, if Elmo was successful, then there would be no follow up moves. Just a man with no head and no value. She honestly did want to understand him and his reasoning for being here in the first place. At the same time, what he did to Kazuko had made her angry. It made her want to strike him down with her own zanpakuto and show him much more ferocity than her human comrade did. If worse comes to worse and Elmo’s attack didn’t work AND the shinigami’s barrage came through, then Anastasia would only do one thing in preparation for any of his techniques. “Bakudo 81. Danku”. A clear, rectangular barrier would pop up, blocking all of the arrows that came her way. She was mostly banking on Elmo coming through successfully.

Anastasia's Remaining Reiatsu: 4050/4800 (+25 for cancelling Tsuzuri Raiden, -600 for pending Danku )

[Hadrian J. Ryan Ⅻ]

The bows all simultaneously fired, the brilliant light of the arrows searing trails across the courtyard, like comets in the sky. Unfortunately for the Shinigami, this was one of the last moves he would make. Pavel's punch came arcing behind him. The Shinigami realised, but unfortunately for him, not quite soon enough. "Way of the Sw-" The punch collided with his skull, and the bone began to cave under the impact. "-ord..." With his final breath, the Shinigami completed the incantation as the punch perforated his skull. Pavel's fist would continue, unstoppable due to its own momentum, and would pass through the blade the Shinigami had just summoned.

With the the force of his own punch providing the cutting power, the blade would slice easily through Pavel's hand, removing his little finger and quite a bit of the hand that held it on. Fortunately for him, the blade passed through before reaching his wrist, meaning only his hand would sustain damage. The Shinigami wouldn't get any more words out, as Pavel's arm was now emerging from his face. With his time up, the Shinigami slumped, his body supported by Pavel's arm through his head. Slowly, his own weight cracked his own skull, and he fell to the ground, his body crumpling unceremoniously onto the ground. His death was neither beautiful nor heroic. Not every Shinigami died gloriously in the field of battle, sometimes chance and circumstance led to a death like this.

Ana and Pavel would not have long to celebrate their victory, however. The various hooded figures who had stood at the edge of the courtyard began to move, most turning away and leaving, disappearing into the fog. However, two remained and they stood opposite each other, staying motionless for a while, before bowing. They bowed first to each other, and then to Ana and Pavel. Pavel and Ana could start running towards the door at the end of the courtyard, but they would soon find any attempt at escape would be futile. The two hooded figures disappeared, leaving not a trace of reiatsu behind them. It was like they used Shunpo, but there was simply no sign that they had even moved.

Pavel and Ana would inevitably blink, and would then find that the figures had appeared right in front of them, one for each. Immediately, Ana and Pavel would find themselves paralysed in a manner similar to Bakudo #1, only this spell was no Kido. Any attempts to escape it would fail. Emerging from the cloaks came two hands, almost identical, both pale and almost lifeless. Each Monk raised their hand, and touched Ana and Pavel respectively on the forehead. At once, the sight of the courtyard around them disappeared, and they both lost consciousness.

[OOC: At this point your story splits for a while, you cannot interact with each other until you defeat your opponents in your respective areas.]

Pavel: Pavel would awake to find that the paralysing 'spell' that had confined him was removed. He could now move freely. As he opened his eyes, he would see that he was in a large, but mostly empty room. He was lying on some kind of mat, right in front of a blazing fireplace. Opposite this fireplace stood a table, and two high-backed chairs. On one of the chairs sat an elderly man, donned in red armour. A large shield was propped against the arm of the chair, and he was sipping at a cup of tea. "Please, sit down Pavel." Pavel would notice that a second cup of tea was placed on the table, clearly meant for him. "I suppose you have plenty of questions, and I will do my best to answer them. My name is Brother Francis, in case you were wondering."

Brother Francis' face was kind, and he smiled at Pavel as he spoke. He was almost grandfatherly, but his title showed that he was a fully fledged member of the monastery, and Pavel could take that as a hint that this man was definitely more dangerous than he seemed. But for now, he could take the time to relax, and ask the questions that had surely arisen from the brief time he had spent in the strange monastery so far.

Ana: Ana would find herself in a similar situation to Pavel, but the surface she lay on was not a mat, but grass. Looking around she would find herself in some kind of castle courtyard, the walls covered in moss and ivy. The icy edge in the air was now gone, and the air instead tasted sweet, like someone had managed to imbue it with sugar. In fact, the atmosphere was almost oppressively sweet, like the weight one feels on a humid day. As Ana looked around, she would notice that she was not alone in the courtyard. Not too far from where she was lying was a picnic blanket, and sitting on it perfectly at ease, was a man with brown hair, donned in green armour.

He held up a full wineglass towards Ana, and indicated the bottle beside him, along with a second glass full of the red liquid, before drinking the entirety of his own glass. Propping himself up a little to make room on the blanket, Ana would notice that there was a full picnic layed out, complete with an assortment of wines. "Make yourself at home, dahlin'. There's plenty here for the both of us." The offer of good food and wine would surely be tempting to the Pirate Vice-Captain, but if she noticed the bow strapped to the man's back, maybe she would be a little more wary. "The name's Brother Oliver. Now, sit and eat and we can talk about all them questions you have, right dahlin'?" He was perfectly relaxed and his tone was light and friendly. Surely Ana would have nothing to fear, even if he was a Monk at this monastery?

[OOC: Take the time to relax and ask the questions you want answered, you're going to need it for the finale! ]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Appearances}
Brother Oliver:


Brother Francis:

[Katekarin Mekatoku]

[OOC] I suppose with this being the end, and I am the only participant. John busy with school, I would like to see if this could get graded and we get rewarded for participating?

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

+400 TP to participants (half of rewards for 2 pages), none to DM unless the thread continues and completes, due to the fact that it is only 2 complete pages