The Rogues: Grand World Express [PG13, NDE]

[RayginX]

Hard? Garrets eye widened. His eye widened with shock at the sight of his blade leaving no damage when it slammed itself into the Hollows skin. What was he dealing with? Dozens of different questions bounced around inside his noggin as to what could explain this armor like skin. Was it Hierro? Garret hadn't ever seen a Hollow with Hierro. Some sort of unique ability? Did it have to do with the strange look of the creature's skin? Garret didn't know. To many unknowns. This monsters abilities were unknown. But, regardless, Garrets plan had to go through. He had to kill the Hollow fast. Kill it before it became used to moving its new form. The swordsman ground his teeth together, pushing back against the Hollows grip on his sword. How strong was it? How physically powerful was this thing? It began to open its mouth, began to prepare a Cero that could be devastating at this distance.

The swordsman narrowed his eye, and brought one of his arms back as if it strike the Hollow. He had begun to reach into himself, began to peel away at what hid within him. He had a way to deal with the blast, a way to keep it from hurting him, but it would seem he wouldn't need to use it. He was surprised, at first, to suddenly see Kimiko before him. Her interference was surprising, just as much as the barrier that she suddenly created for him. Was she on the attack? Garret was given an opportunity to yank his sword back, the swordsman leaping back using his Strength to gain some distance from, not the Hollow, but Kimiko. If the priestess had decided to commit herself to the fight then he knew he needed to get out of the way. Her power held no alignment; it would harm him just as much as the Hollow.

It threw its tantrum, retreating into the air in preparation to unleash an attack on the humans. It had managed to avoid the freezing waters created by Kimiko during her attack. It had retreated into the sky, screaming out an accusation at the two for being Shinigami. They might have been spirits, but Shinigami were the furthest from what they were. Garret watched as the Hollow began to prepare its new Cero, one unlike any Garret had seen yet. All this time he had been under the impression that only Arrancar could use unique versions of Cero, information fed to him by one he had faced, but seeing this now shattered that belief into a thousand little pieces. The Cero was black such as the night, blotting out the light of the moon and stars. The swordsman narrowed his eye, coming to suspect that a Cero of that size could cause a sizeable explosion if it were to impact with the earth.

But he wouldn’t let it. He doubted Kimiko would allow it either. The swordsman gripped the handle of his blade, letting the power build up inside him as he prepared to swing that weapon of his with all his might. But something happened that caught him off guard. That scream. That scream he had heard, and been hit by, before suddenly filled his ears. Garret covered his left ear with same hand, quickly turning his gaze backwards at the Adjucha. Did it want to fight? Now? Had it given in to its hunger and decided to attack him? Garret was shocked to see that trail of power escaping the beasts mouth and directed not at him, but rather the airborn Vasto Lorde. What the hell was going on?

Not to be outdone, however, by a stinking Hollow the swordsman quickly turned. He clutched the bottom portion of his swords hilt with his left hand, and with his own roar swung his weapon with his full might. The very air seemed to explode as a wave of practically invisible physical force was released from the path of the swing. Similar, in fact, to Adrastos Burst Stream. Both waves of physical power would be launched at the same target: the Vasto Lorde and its Cero.

[Kento Waffles]

The Vasto Lorde roared, seeing its precious Cero Oscuras obliterated by the incoming attacks. Though it managed to swing its arms violently to create its own blast of physical energy to stave off what was coming, small parts of the enemy attacks still struck it, causing it to be sent flying from the air and back to the ground, bruised. It stood, its eye filled with hate. In a fit of rage, the creature started to shriek. "WHERE MY REIATSU?! WHEREEE MMYYY REIIIATSSUUU?!?! TELL ME WHERE!!!! DID YOU STEAL IT, SOUL REAPERS? TELLL MEEEE!!!" The monstrosity seemingly wasn't used to this weak reiatsu strength it possessed. Did that mean that normally it was stronger? This creature seemed to think that it should be.

And indeed, depending on how much they knew about Hollows, they might know that those who underwent recent transformations, such as upgrading to Vasto Lorde or Arrancar, sometimes temporarily lost power as a result. If that was the case, it was all the more reasonable to kill it now, while it was weak. It was said that at full power, the average Vasto Lorde was something that could seriously challenge even a Captain. And that was without being an Arrancar. If this was the case, then this powerful monster would go on to be even more powerful and dangerous if they didn't silence it. In its fit of rage, it hadn't redeveloped an intelligent mind either, giving more opportunity.

Uncertain of how to use its body, its mind feral and stupid, and its reiatsu strength cut, this Vasto Lorde was at the weakest it would ever be. Standing bruised, the Vasto Lorde looked around and noticed for the first time that it was facing so many. An Adjuchas, some man wielding a huge sword, and some glowing creature that could use that evil Soul Reaper magic. The Vasto Lorde's instincts as a Hollow began to kick in. While hunger was one of its primary instincts, it had been overtaken by rage here, and it was now being overtaken by fear. The sun was starting to rise, and Garret's curse was losing power over this powerful, willful creature, at least for the moment. In future, there was no telling how strong that curse would feel...

But until then? The Vasto Lorde cried out, and started to run away, using its physical strength to propel itself high into the air in huge leaps and bounds away from them, leaving large craters in the ground with each jump. It was at this point that the Vasto Lorde, seeing that it had three enemies, chose survival over anything else, and tried to run away. The question was whether any of them would allow it or if they would simply find it in them to let the monster escape. There was no telling how many people would die if it escaped, but... There was no telling what kind of damage they might take while trying to kill such a powerful beast.

[RayginX]

Whatever it was that caused it, Garret didn't care. Whether it was his own shockwave or the Adjuchas screaming force, Garret didn't care. Whether it was both of their attacks together, Garret didn't care. All that mattered was the Vasto Lordes black cero had been utterly destroyed, obliterated by the physical force that had been slammed into it. Garrets single eye narrowed venomously at the evolved Hollow as it came crashing back down into the earth and began to throw its tantrum. It screamed out about how it had lost its power, accusing those it fought against of stealing its power from it. Garret blinked. He listened to what the Hollow said as a thought slowly began to form in his head. A thought that lead to a realization that would cause him grief. But, right now, that was not what was important. Garret pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he found himself charging forward yet again with sword trailing behind him and cloak fluttering in the wind.

[smear:810541]Kill it! Kill it! Kill kill kill![/smear:F62817] Those thoughts kept rampaging throughout his mind, propelling him forward. Fueled by anger, fueled by hatred, Garret charged forward. His left arm swung itself across his body and clutched the other end of his swords hilt and once close enough to the Vasto Lorde he swung his weapon downwards. But it was not metallic flesh his sword met, but was instead the earth itself. The ground exploded, cracks spreading out from the epicenter of the impact and obscuring Garret in a blooming cloud of dust and debris. With a snarl he swung his arm, his brute strength creating a blast of wind to knock the cloud away. He watched with ground together jaws and a venomous glare as the Vasto Lorde retreated, using its own strength to leap away from the battlefield.

Garret sneered, standing up straight as he watched the Hollow fleeing for its life. He would have gone after it. He would have chased after it to make sure it was dead. He would have...if his priorities had not changed. Light began to penetrate through the darkness. The Rogue turned his head to see the sun rising. He turned to see the sun rising up above the watery horizon of the ocean. The Rogue was quiet as he watched the sun rising, heralding a new day and a end to the night. An end to the battle. But, no, the battle was not over just yet. The white haired rogue began to turn, facing back towards the carnage that the night had produces. Corpses lay strewn across the valley. Bodies of monsters slashed open with their blood flooding the earth Garret walked on. So many bodies. So many more than he usually saw. Hollows torn to pieces, frozen in prisons of ice, or devoured by one of their own.

Garrets eye settled on Adrastos. Yet another Hollow still remained. He was unsure of why Kimiko protected him earlier. He was unsure why she had chosen to use her powers to protect one of these monsters, but he didn't care. Another Hollow that needed to be cut down was all he saw. The swordsman began to make his way back towards Kimiko and Adrastos, his feet and sword causing the puddles of gathering blood to splash as he moved through them. His own injuries, his own discomforts, would wait until he was done. Until he was done killing Adrastos. What if Kimiko got in his way again? What if she stood between him and putting down a monster that would come back time and time again to kill him? Garret wondered about what he would have to do if that situation came to pass, but right now there were other things to worry about.

Earlier the Rogue had a thought, one that he had to push back out of his mind in order to remain focused. What the Vasto Lorde said earlier, about it losing its reiatsu, Garret began to wonder if his curse was responsible for that. Did his curse force the Hollow to evolve in such a way that it would have the best chance at defeating him? Could his Osen do that? Could the affliction he was plagued with truly engineer a Hollow during its evolution to best fight against him? Was his curse actively trying to kill him? It brought the Hollows to him, yes, but it never directly assisted them. It never did anything but bring them to him. It was getting stronger, this Garret knew without a doubt, and had begun to lure in thicker numbers with more power than before. How much longer did he have?

Garret found himself planting his sword into the earth and wrapping one arm around its hilt and base, leaning into it so that he could catch his breath. His guard never dropped though, and his attention remained focused on Adrastos. Was he in the condition to fight? Those steps he had been taking towards the Hollow and Failure were taxing enough on their own. His body was sour, his injuries ached in pain, and his lungs burned for air. His eyes felt heavy, his limbs were racked with tremors, and he had other signs of physical exhaustion. Garret had more stamina than most. He was someone who was forced, every night, to fight for his life from dusk until dawn. His body had become accustomed to it, used to it, it had become stronger out of necessity. But even he had limits. After eight hours of that he had no choice but to rest. But there was something more important that needed to be done first.

"Come out." Garret suddenly announced, rather loudly, but was not directed at either Kimiko or Adrastos. Only a few more miles and they'd be at the port. From there...Garret didn't know. But he needed to get her to the port before the next night came.

[Kimiko Aimi]

"No." she said. She faltered when confronted with pulsing black light that was forged before her very eyes. She faltered back. Potentially out of fear. The same fear that restricted her for the entirety of her new life as a Failure. The fear of being over taken by a fate that she had no control over. Despite being superior to the Vasto Lordes' strength she wouldn't be able to over take it. Not that she lacked the power to do so, but due to the constant fighting that she done during the night. Unlike the other two Kimiko was not a warrior. The woman's mind, body, and spirit lacked that tenacity that was only forged during times of great conflict. War, conflict, and chaos. Kimiko underwent her own trials that reformed the woman into who she was this day.

Out of breath, and limping from exhaustion, the woman cowered away from the light. At least until the joint assault of air pressure and reiatsu tore through the air towards the Vasto Lordes. From the corner of her eyes she found where the attacks originated, and grateful, the woman withdrew several feet away before the Hollow went rampant once more. Its tantrum mimicked that of a child. Frantic and confused, the beast took the time to use its own enraged state to flee from the field. The danger that its current condition posed threatened its life. The Vasto Lordes recognized that. And that reason was why it fled. It fled because it couldn't win. But, that wasn't what terrified Kimiko.

No, the thought of having a raging beast loose into the world was what frightened her. Unlike the other spirit, deemed "The Warrior," where it has its pride and a sense of honor to guide and direct it. At least, that is if it managed to break past its over possessive hunger. She knew of this hunger since she saw it before during her first mission as a Priestess. She had to cleans a human of his sins. Instead, it became a battle of a Priestess and a mourning spirit. Its dread and despair transformed its body into a creature that donned a white mask. Since then Kimiko did what she could to free them of their darkness. Not to much avail. Very few spirits managed to regain some form of consciousness from the savage nature that they adopted. And from what she knew of this Adjuchas, it had some thought beyond the hunger. It had a chance. However, the Vasto Lordes, though it was newly born into its new form it clung to its hunger. Kimiko couldn't allow that.

It was fleeing, and the Failure couldn't allow it. "NO!" she said. She couldn't. And she won't. She saw some life in Garret, almost as if he wanted to do the same. Yet he didn't. Kimiko understood, and couldn't deny his decision. As for her, she wouldn't give chase either. Instead... The light of the rising sun seemed to have been swallowed. Its very concept being taken in by the blue sphere of light that emitted a high pitch as it charged. This was what would remove its escape plan. Together with her superior Energy Sensory she was able to track it. That alone wouldn't allow the Hollow to hide. And with that, the Cero in the midst of hands erupt. It's growl unmistaken as it was released out into the woods.

Trees and some bodies of the dead Hollows would have been eradicated. The initial release had potential to swallow a vast majority of the direction she pointed. With 1500 reiatsu strength, it easily toppled over those of higher ranking Hollows, perhaps even among Arrancars. Although, the odds of avoiding it were high, but she knew she wouldn't have to worry about it. After all, Adrastos would more than likely hungry to face against one of its own. Its spirit was strong, as well as its spirit to fight. All that was needed was to direct it properly, and perhaps it could become an allie. That was wishful thinking on her part obviously since Garret's own fate seemed to have been blended wit their species.

But for now all she could was mourn over those that have died. Frozen over, the blood did not leave a single stain on the dragging cloths of light. Amidst the war torn woods she stepped down to kneel, and offered a prayer. For such lost souls to find peace with those that they've lost. To find the nirvana of peace. "Please Lord, hear my prayers... Please, let them find their way to peace in your care. Please..."


Reiatsu Remaining: 1300/2400 ; -200 Cero.

[Kento Waffles]

Nothing. No movement when Garret said to come out. Drenched in blood, he might wonder what was taking her so long. But he would not wonder for long. With the trees wiped out, he wouldn't need to search for long to see what had happened. She had overestimated herself. Or perhaps... someone else had underestimated themselves. In the ashes that were cleared as a result of Kimiko's mighty Cero, and the still burning fires around the place, Garret would be able to see that little girl and what had happened to her. Something that he hadn't thought could happen. Something Kimiko, so intent and focused on that Hollow, had completely neglected as it escaped.

The little girl's body lay there, burned into the earth, scorched even. That it hadn't been reduced to ashes was miraculous in itself, but that it was there, practically fused to the ground, was horrifying. The smell was ashen and putrid. The only reason she was identifiable was by size and face. Most of her body had blackened and dried out like a prune, and the goo of her eyes could still be seen melted out of the sockets. A look of complete terror and agony was on her face. Even if it had only been an instant or two, it had not been painless. In fact, it looked as if she may even have survived a few extra seconds afterward, and died in misery, her lungs burned and unable to even breathe.

Kimiko's Cero had struck through the trees in order to reach for the Hollow, and perhaps it was because of a tree or something else in the way that the little girl's body survived. The only body left in the clearing that was not reduced to ashes. Yet it was clearly Kimiko's Cero that had killed the little girl. It hadn't been Hollows or even Garret in the end. It hadn't been the result of some curse or anything like that. It had been an intentional attack with unintentional consequences. They had hardly said a word to one another. Hardly known each other. Yet that little girl had been a companion with whom Garret shared the concept of a curse. And for a few days, they had been together. Until...

And that wasn't the worst of it. In the midst of this tragedy Kimiko would be able to sense it too. Somehow, despite her having been on mark with her energy sensory, the reiatsu of the Vasto Lorde still surged! It was not weakened. It was as if the Cero hadn't even struck it. No, it was alive and it was well. And it was continuing to get farther away, escaping more and more, getting even to the border of Kimiko's energy sensory range. It was so close to getting away... Surrounded by the ashes that had been Hollow corpses, Garret and Kimiko were left there, as was Adrastos, with the little girl's obliterated body... And a Vasto Lorde leaving the vicinity.

And in spite of it all? That wolf that had given Garret the quest to begin with was nowhere to be found... Nowhere at all.

[RayginX]

"Come out." was what Garret had said. A simple set of words directed at the young child who had, as instructed, hidden herself away from the battlefield in hopes that she would not have been caught up in it. But rather than a vocal answer or being given the sight of a worse for wear looking child running up to him, Garret heard nothing. The swordsman raised his tired head up, his eye narrowing a bit as a look of confusion and concern became apparent on his face. Where was she? When Garret called out to her the past nights she would respond quite quickly, never being too far away to hear him when he called out for her. What had changed? Had she hidden further away then normal? With the level of fighting that had been happening that answer was entirely possible. But why did Garret have such an ominous feeling? Why did he feel that things were not right? Despite the weariness of his limbs he began to move.

But it was then that he realized something. The woods. The woods were she had fled to when the night was coming. The woods she fled to in order to hide from the Hollows. Garret had been so caught up in fighting that he hadn't noticed where the Vasto Lorde had fled. He'd been so caught up in the rage that he didn't notice where Kimiko had fired her last Cero. He'd been so distracted he didn't notice. What words could be used to describe what Garret felt when he found that body? The swordsman stood over that charred corpse. The swordsman was speechless. His single eye had opened itself wide. Confusion. Pain. Hurt. Guilt. Garret found his sword plunging itself into the earth as he himself fell down to his knees. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think.

He hadn't learned her name. Garret never asked for the childs name, and likewise had never given her his own. It had not been out of cruelty. It had not been for a reason to harm the girl. Garret never had a reason to believe the child would have survived to the end of the quest they had been put on together. Garret never once thought they would succeed. Garret never learned her name so that he didn't become attached. If he didn't get attached then it wouldn't hurt. It wouldn't hurt him when she was consumed by Hollows. Garret had every reason to believe she would have died during this task. Garret knew she could have been ripped apart by the hordes. Garret knew that he, himself, could have ended up killing her if the fighting had become too intense.

But this was not what he had expected. She wasn't killed by a Hollow. She wasn't killed by Garret. She was killed...she was killed by Kimiko. She was killed by someone Garret considered an ally. She was killed by someone who had arrived to help Garret. But even though Garret had tried to steel himself, prepare himself, for her death...what was this pit forming in him? Garret was quiet. A wind pushed itself across the valley. Garrets eye remained wide as he stared down at the corpse. She didn't die easy. She didn't die in peace. She was killed amidst agony and pain. How could Kimiko do this? Why didn't she sense the child? How could she be so thoughtless with the use of all that power?! Garret found his jaws tightening together. He found his lips pulling themselves back into a snarl, twitching back and forth between shocked nothingness and uncontrolled rage. How could someone he considered an ally do this? How could she? How could he have failed again? How could he failed to protect someone he cared about...again?

Her Energy Sensory was high enough. Kimiko would hear it. She would hear something akin to chains being snapped. She would feel something budding within the swordsmen.

People. When would Garret learn? When would he learn? When would he learn that he could not count on anybody? When would he learn that other people would only hurt him? I don't care.. When would he learn that others would only bring him disappointment. When would Garret learn that people would only bring him more pain? [smear:810541]I'll destroy it...I'll destroy everything![/smear:F62817] And what was inside him suddenly exploded into the outside world. Kimiko, and Adrastos, would see the swordsman consumed in something black. They would see that black reiatsu, that leaked with such foulness, rising up towards the sky itself like a tower. That black reiatsu was like corruption itself. It was something foul, horrible, something that shouldn't exist in the mortal world. It was something that Kimiko would recognize. The Failure would have sensed it before. This filth that was rising from the swordsman had the same feeling as the cancer that was growing on his soul.

As if they stood in a storm the winds had picked up, all directing towards Garret himself. The two would see that, despite the night having become morning, everything was darkening around them like the night was returning. It was strengthening. So long had it fed on rage. So long had it felt on fear. When did that taint ever taste despair? A sweet nectar of negativity that never once danced along its tongue. It had been given something new to feed on. With something new in its jaws that taint found itself strengthening. The Osen that plagued Garret was feeding on the despair that he felt, sucking on it like a fat leech. He began to push himself to his feet, that towering sludge moving along with him. Kimiko would feel a nothingness within the swordsman. She would feel as if that fire he always had within him had been put out. All of that rage replaced with a black nothingness. "Your one chance.." Garret suddenly spoke.

His voice was low, as if he were whispering, but the sound of his words could be heard by both the Failure and Hollow. With a slow, delicate, movement the swordsman reached out and grasped the hilt of his sword. Upon doing so that black sludge exploded outwards. That filth lashed and swirled around him as that rage began to return to him. Garret could feel it. Oh how Garret longed for this anger to come back to him. An intensity that he had not felt since the night his wife had been torn apart before his eyes. Garrets eye never left the corpse. The corruption around him looked almost like a black inferno now. "The debt...I owed you...this is your one chance. Leave. Never stand before me again. Never let me see you again!" Garret spat at the one person who could have been considered his ally.

He turned himself towards her, and what she saw was the very same eye that he threw at every Hollow he saw. That wild eye that displayed so clearly the hatred, the anger, the fire that burned inside him. Kimiko would be hit with the same bloodlust, the same hatred, that he directed towards every Hollow he saw. Her Energy Sensory would enable her to see it as well. She would see that black shadow standing around Garret. Those red eyes narrowing at her. That mouthful of teeth opening itself up. She didn't need to hear his words. Kimiko would know that Garret would attack her. He was allowing her to leave. Garret owed her a debt. The Failure had saved his life. The Failure had tried to give him strength to survive. All of that was thrown away. The swordsman had turned his blade on her. She was no longer his ally. Nobody was. Garret couldn't count on anybody. Bonds would do nothing more than hurt him.

He was on the verge of letting the Beast out. Garret would turn away from Kimiko, reaching down towards the childs corpse and scooping it up into his one free arm. Whatever exhaustion his body had felt minutes before was gone. Every muscle, fiber, cell in his body was being fueled by the black flame of hatred inside of him. That black flame he was letting consume him, strip away the weaknesses that trusting in others had created in him. The swordsman started to walk away from them. From the Failure and Adrastos, from the battlefield, that sword of his dragging behind him. That filth continued to surround him, rotting away whatever foliage got caught up within it. He was taking the body away from here. Taking it somewhere to be buried. To seperate himself from those two. To continue existing, fighting, suffering alone. Like he always should have been.

[Kimiko Aimi]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Play}

For once, once in a long time she felt a chill. A chill that only came when knowing that you've wronged another. Someone who you never knew, or even those closest to you. The sinking chill that purged the heart and body of nearly all sense of warmth and joy that were there before. The only string that could be strummed was that of a low cord. That cord that faded into the silence. That same silence that was reflected back at her in that gaze. Her gaze. A child who would not come to see the light of the world in which she lived in. The hopes and dreams of a single child would never come to fruition. Kimiko robbed that from her.

The child that the Failure murdered in an induced rage. In the hopes of removing evil from the world she only inflicted it. Her entire life Kimiko was raised to be a perfect woman and leader. But among the Priests, she was driven to help others, to always put her own self interests to the side and give what she has to offer to those less fortunate. Two sides of her life confronted one another, striving to pull her towards their side, to define her. But, that wasn't path she saw herself walking. No. Twas a different path. Her third option. That was what the Priestess strived for.

Despite the sinking chill that enveloped her, despite Garret's growing animosity towards her, her years of experience and understanding never faltered. What she had to learn for herself, what she had to develop for a thousand years of living, was faith. That simple idea kept Kimiko from falling into the pits of despair many of times. It is the very concept that pushed her forward through times of struggle over her time span as a Failure. From when her attendant died, to those Hollow spirits that she vanquished. Kimiko kept her faith.

The chains that were bound to Garret were broken. The contempt and rage that he held within himself began to unravel, staining the land with its putrid influence. She felt something similar to this before. Much stronger, enough to choke the void that was the abyss itself. Kashmir De Mona. The voices of a thousand souls came to an end in a single night that was done in by the man. That same darkness bore semblance to what Garret kept to himself. Like the gates to hell she felt the wrath that remained bounded by his sense of honor to the woman. It snapped at her as if she were one of the beasts he claimed to destroy. And his words. Vile and prepared to lash out at her, his intent was made clear as to what his desire to be done unto her was.

There was no mistaking it, the Rogue had both incentive and the right to do such things, for the child's sake. Yet, the mistake he made was the sense of debt to her. Never, never did the woman ask for him to repay something that she never had a desire for. What she did was never meant to be owed. That idea was foreign to her. Even as his back turned from her, the Failure never faltered. "It is true of what you say Garret, but never did I ask for you to repay me. And though the child is gone, she is not lost to this world, nor to her future. There is still the end that we seek, the hope that it brings.. That is what I am striving for." she says making her way away from the battle scene towards the water.

She knew that the Hollow was making its way beyond her sights, beyond her sensory capabilities. She could pursue the beast, and rid the world of a future threat. Or, allow the Adjuchas to give chase, but in doing so he would more than likely miss the opportunity for more foes to challenge its strength. "It is your decision Hollow. To give chase to a beast that may one day resurface, or continue onward and regain what you have lost." she said parting ways from Adrastos. To what was to come next was something that she would await and face alone if need be.

[Kento Waffles]

Time would pass. The Failure named Kimiko would get some measure of distance from Garret, though both would remain within sensory range. The Hollow with Kimiko obviously had her choice to consider. Garret obviously had his emotions and the corpse of the girl to contend with. Yet for all that had happened, the air was now still... And these people in a broken and bitter world could be left to their own devices. To ponder. For Kimiko, it meant offering this Hollow a choice. It meant justifying the girl's death in some way when she spoke to Garret. An end that she sought, promises that the girl was not truly lost. Yet in a more physical realm none of that had any meaning at all, and this was only the beginning now of Garret's struggle.

A voice echoed in his head. Destroy it all... It was a familiar phrase. These were familiar words. However the voice was not familiar. It was not his own. People... sicken you... That strange voice spoke inside of his head, yet it would not feel as if it was a part of him. It would feel somehow... other. Alien. External. Beaming its thoughts into his mind. ...Beaming its thought from the insidious creature that he called a weapon. The parasite that ate life force away in exchange for making him more powerful. Something, a voice, was coming from it and speaking within Garret's mind. And that was not all. Feed... Become stronger so that you may take revenge...

Quietly, Hollows had begun to amass near Garret. It was no longer night, and dawn had long since broken. The sun was breaking out over the area. It was quiet, with not even wind. It was cold, but not unforgivably so. In this left behind area where Garret had lost his only allies, Hollows began to gather. There were many, and Kimiko from where she was would sense them too. Yet she would also detect that they did not have any aggressive intent. What seemed to be drawing these Hollows was not necessarily Garret's curse. Their hunger was... in check. Yet now over a dozen were surrounding Garret, gazing at him. And he might feel it... He might not. Kimiko would certainly feel it.

That their emotions matched Garret's. They were all despairingly sad, irreparably angry, unimaginably empty. At that moment, Garret would find that the Hollows who had gathered to him had not been drawn by hunger from his curse, but rather by his rage and his emotions. Somehow, they could empathize with his feelings. The same thing he was experiencing in his heart at this very moment was present in their hearts. In somber solitude, he was alone with these Hollows as they raised their heads toward the sky and roared. The funeral chorus for the little girl whose name Garret had never learned was a chorus of Hollow roars into the sky. Pain-filled, desperate pleas for release from the pain.

And somehow hunger never came into the equation. Somehow. What might Garret think to do? While he was in his own situation, Kimiko too was developing one of her own. Garret would hear the sounds of automated vehicles, but it was far, over where Kimiko was, and getting farther. In the meantime, he was surrounded by passive Hollows that somehow could feel empathy for him. That somehow chose not to attack him. As for Kimiko, she would see multiple black cars and RVs drive up to where she was and stop, parking. From out of one of the cars stepped a man in a gray suit, red shirt, and dark blue tie. He was blonde, with slicked back hair and dark tinted sunglasses. He had a toothpick in his mouth.

"Now what just now was all the ruckus?" he asked with a grin. "We heard an awful lot of noise around here... Is everything alright?" There were others getting out of the cars too. Everyone wore either some form of formal suit or very outrageously bright casual wear indicating lower wealth. All of them were adult aged men. A majority of them had guns of some kind. Machine guns, basic rifles, hand guns. All of them had firearms as weapons, but no one had drawn their weapons. They did not come off as immediately hostile, though they appeared chillingly villainous. Instead, they tried to talk to Kimiko. So how might she respond now?

[RayginX]

It wasn't hard to dig the hole. His weapons length and size, combined with his own titan like strength, enabled Garret to effortlessly shovel out a hole both large and deep enough to hold the childs body. One he was certain it was deep enough, the Rogue carefully lowered her body into the earth. He didn't have anything to cover her with. No coffin, no sheets, nothing. Her bare, charred, skin would be exposed to the elements. But there was nothing wrong with that. From dust to dust as they said. Her body would be turned into nutrients that everything around her grave would benefit from. Almost poetic really. This child who bore a curse that caused death would help give life to the forest around her through her own death. Garret was quiet as he got to work covering the hole back up, choosing to use his own hands this time instead of making it easy and using his sword.

As he worked he could hear something speaking to him. He didn't know what to make of it and honestly he didn't care. He heard too many voices in his head these days to care. He very well could have long ago gone insane and hadn't even known it. The Rogue was still fumming. Despite whatever calm he seemed to have as he worked was little more than a hurricane in a bottle. Putting himself to work and focusing on this task was enabling him to keep from going on a rampage. But, even so, Garret was not well. The Rogue looked down at the unmarked grave he made for the child, his eye narrowing softly as he stared. Had he only turned her away that day she would have still been alive. Garret believed she did not enjoy her time with him. after all how could she? Garret had noticed that she was on the edge. The circumstances she had to go through with him had nearly broken her physically.

What Garret went through was not something any other person, human or Shinigami, had to go through. It was both physically, and mentally, maddening to live his life. But, even so, Garret wanted to try. He wanted to try and help her, so that she could have something like a normal life. Those that bore Osen did not live easy, happy, lives. It was a struggle for them to exist. To see a child living that hell? Well, Garret was not a monster...quite yet. He'd often wonder where he still stood on that line. Was Garret still a man or had he become a monster? He'd become well aware that in order to survive these nights, to feed his hatred, that he had to cross that line. He wouldn't still be here unless he was willing to become a monster that devoured those Hollows.

He turned his head slightly, letting his gaze drift over his shoulder and onto the collection of Hollows that had gathered around him. What were they doing? His Osen was not active. Something else drew them to him. It didn't matter what drew them here. It didn't matter why they were here. All that mattered was that they were Hollows...and that he was Garret. The anger that he was building up, the hatred that burned in him, and the grief he felt were let out and directed towards those beasts.

Fresh blood covered his sword once he was done. Each of them that had gathered was cut down. Despite being on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, despite the pain in his body, Garrets anger did not allow him to falter. He brought his foot down upon the head of one of the slain, causing it to explode in a shower of gore and dirt. He took deep breaths before closing his jaws together. I'm an idiot.. He commented. He allowed it to happen again. He allowed himself to get hurt again. He had broken his one, precious, rule and in doing so the expected happened. There was a reason Garret did what he could to not get close to people. There was a reason he gave people the cold shoulder and pushed them away. There was a reason for his bad attitude. Because Garret was hurt.

What he went through was something that no man should have ever had to suffer. What he watched happen to his wife, to what became of his life, was something that would break anyone...even Garret. The love of his life, the one light in his dark world, had been snuffed out by those monsters. All Garret had left was his hatred and quest for revenge. But Garret was weak. His heart, how badly damaged and black from the flames of hatred, still wanted companionship. Garret was human. He wanted people he could care for, he wanted people he could lean on and for people to lean on him. Garret wanted to be human. But like that...he realized it was impossible for him.

People will only hurt me..

He realized, staring down at the mess at his feet. People would only hurt him. Bonds would be shattered just as they were tonight. He couldn't count on others. He counted on Kimiko and she destroyed the child. Garret didn't even know how to feel about that. Yes, he was angry, but beyond that how was he supposed to feel? Kimiko had been his one, real, ally...and yet she not only protected the same Hollow that had been Norikos pet but had even destroyed the cursed child. Yet she saved his life, tried to teach him Kido, and had done what she could to make his nights easier. Garret didn't know what to feel besides anger. He knew he was hurting, both from the pain of what he felt as betrayal and the loss of someone he had begun to care about. He cared about both Kimiko and the child and what did he get out of that? Only more pain.

He couldn't count on people. He couldn't let himself become attached anymore. He couldn't do any of that. Garret already suffered enough. He was already in enough pain as it is. He couldn't let himself get hurt anymore. He had no choice but to shear off even more of his human heart, and further sink into the darkness in him to survive. No more. All that mattered to him was survival. Survival and his hatred. Survival and his revenge. All that mattered was killing these monsters. His cloak fluttered in the wind as he turned away from the mess and began to walk, wanting some distance from both the corpses and the grave. He wasn't sure how far he walked, but eventually he had to stop.

He rested his head against the back of a tree stump, using his cloak as a blanket as he finally shut his eye to rest. He needed sleep. He needed to rest and heal. His body, at this point, instinctively and unconsciously would begin to use the Vita Sollertia "Body/Soul Harmony". Normally if Garret used this ability in a fight he would need to pay some large reiatsu, and life force, cost...but what his body instead did was something more natural. Like a lizard regrowing its tail took time, Garrets body caused the technique to instead drag out from the moments it took to normally heal to hours. As Garret slept he would heal, and he would have traded the normal reiatsu and Life Force cost for time. He might wake up not as refreshed as he liked, but he would wake up healed and hungry. So he slept so that he could be ready for the next night.

[Kento Waffles]

Yet as Garret slept, he would continue to be plagued by the voice that he had ignore. Yes... They will hurt you. People cannot be trusted... There were many voices in his head sometimes, but none had ever been this direct... Or this powerful. None of them had ever been so potent before. It was something that could drown out all of his other voices, even his own voice and his own thoughts. It was an actual presence. Its power was too great to be mere insanity or Garret imagining things. Or, if he was imagining things, then he had lost far more sanity than even he could ever have suspected. But would the creation of a new being in his head really be so far fetched compared to what he had already seen?

These people, they hurt you... That curse, it hurts you... Everything in the world is meant to cause you pain. And with that voice would come a feeling of hunger in Garret's body. Yet it was not his own hunger. While he would feel it, he would also feel that it wasn't his. It was someone else's. And that hunger was bottomless, all consuming. It felt almost like the aura of a Hollow. Perhaps Garret might wonder for a second if after all of this time he had been corrupted by a Hollow after all? Perhaps he would begin to become one with them. But any further inspection to the presence would see that even the most dense of fools realize this presence was not a Hollow. It was... different. In its entirety.

But do you know why they can hurt you? the voice in his head continued to ask as he slept, every word enunciated perfectly, crisp and impossible not to comprehend or register even in a state of sleep or rest. It's because you're WEAK. Now the hunger felt even more bottomless. It was almost painful. Almost as if his soul would soon be empty. While one might say his heart was empty but for pain, the feeling of a soul having no constitution was different entirely and would be all too painful if such a thing were true. Of course his soul was not truly empty, but the feeling that such a thing could happen was what might begin to fill Garret.

You could have saved the girl, if you'd been focused enough to realize where that woman's attack was headed. If you had been fast enough to get there in time to get her out of the way, or powerful enough to deflect that spiritual energy. You could have completed the quest and given that girl a normal, meaningful life devoid of the pain that you feel every single day... If only you had the knowledge and power to conquer new threats like that Vasto as they appear, rather than be surprised by them... If only you'd been strong. If only you'd had POWER. All of this hurt could have been avoided! You wouldn't need to be subservient to your curse. You could have been MASTER of it. If only you weren't weak...

Every word spoken by the voice in Garret's head made it more powerful. More prominent. Until it resounded and echoed in his mind and its words could not be ignored any longer. Until it could create a pounding headache for him just by speaking a few sentences. This presence was a new kind of pain. It was not the pain of being alone, but the pain of never being alone, which in its own way was terrible. The inescapable reality of a prisoner who could not find solitude or rest. No moments of relaxation. Such was the dilemma for those bound by the curse of being unable to find a lonely hide. A tap on Garret's shoulder in the physical world might awaken him.

If he opened his eyes he would see a gruff looking man with a blonde beard and brown eyebrows. This man wore a strange beige hat and a tye dye shirt. "Hey man, you okay?" the random human male asked Garret. Of course, Garret was filthy and covered in mud and in blood. He wielded a huge sword too. Out here that wasn't so uncommon. He had found himself near a town that was almost entirely spiritual in its population. People wouldn't be so taken aback by a blood covered wanderer. A Rogue. Because perhaps these Rogues were more common than one might think. Yet, with this man asking Garret about himself, the voice in his head spoke. KILL THE BOYYY... KILLLLL HIMMMM... AND I WILL MAKE YOU STRONG!

[RayginX]

Sorry for the wait, I got stuck on a boat.

Be quiet.

Garrets back remained facing towards that darkness. That oppressive, invasive, darkness that made up his being. Standing ankle deep in a lake of red, dark incorporeal figures dancing around him in combat like warriors of old, Garrets single eye remained locking on the bonfire risen up from the blood on a mound of bodies both man and monster. That great flame that threatened to consume everything burned strongly. In the center stood the greatsword, resting with its tip imbedded in the corpses of the fallen. Garret remained tall, staring into the violent flames as that beast whispered to him. The smog, the corruption, in the air made it hard to breath. As if he was choking. But even so he remained tall, eye settled on that blade as the words slithered into his ear. He felt his fingers curling themselves into tight balls, nails pushing themselves through his palms flesh. Drip drop. His own blood escaped between the cracks between his fingers, adding itself to the pool beneath him.

You've forgotten what you are to me. You have forgotten your place.

Garret suddenly reached forward, casting his arm into that hate filled inferno and grasping onto the blazing blade. The flames jumped from the blade to him, consuming the swordsman in an inferno of his own making. His anger, hate, fury, pain, all of it served to remind him. To push him forward. Too empower him. His form blackened and cracked like burnt wood, he ripped that sword from its mound of flesh, swinging the blazing sword behind him. With a roar he swung that blade, letting the weight carry it behind him before stopping in the air above his right shoulder. That sword and man, incinerating themselves with those flames, threw back the darkness to reveal the hiding Beast with those flames. He who looked like a monster himself stood ready, prepared to throw himself against that black hound yet again.

You are a weapon. You are my weapon. I am the one who holds the reigns!

His eye opened itself suddenly, hearing not just the screams of the other but the sound of another. His eye drifted upwards, settling on the male for a moment before closing with a grouchy grown escaping between closed teeth. "I had just gotten to sleep too.." He complained under his breath, getting to his feet and ignoring the human male. The Rogue looked at his body, wiping away dry or half way dry blood from his wounds. The smaller, less serious, wounds had closed already thanks to Garrets healing method. His more serious wounds, however, he could not say the same for. Pink, scared, flesh covered the wounds...but Garret knew that in such states they could easily reopen if he began to exert himself. He was going to need to continue resting and healing.

Resting. His eye narrowed itself slightly as he remembered what he'd been dreaming...no...seeing. He had been pulled deep within himself again so that thing within him could torment him. His right eye socket felt sore beneath the patch. Irregardless, Garret needed to get moving. He could heal along the way. Gain some distance from the battlefield, from the Vasto Lorde, from Kimiko and her pet. Thinking about her caused a mixture of emotions to well up inside the man, but he quickly snuffed them out as he began to walk...still ignoring the man who had woken him up. Too much on his mind to care about some random stranger. Power. I will find power. My own power. I won't give myself to you or anybody for it. You are my weapon.

[Kimiko Aimi]

"Hollows are human souls that have lost their way. Regardless of what form they take, they will always be human inside." The nature of Hollows have always been a mystery to the world. Yet to the Failure's knowledge, they were still human. Pained and trapped within the darkness of their hearts they lose their way, their light, brought down ever so by the weight of the world around them. She has seen it many of times, not all strange to her. Among those that felt such a weight the Failure was one too. Such a weight was unequaled. Every breath drawn made her body crumble to the Earth of whence the humans originated from. It pained her. Still, she pressed on. Kimiko pressed on because she knew that she still had purpose. What she felt that wronged this world must be fought. She had to be the inspiring hope.

Kimiko found her own path out of the darkness. Into the light of the dawn she found herself out of the woods. Across from her sights rest the lake. She could feel the Hollows to her rear. Their cries of pain echoed along her expanded senses. What remained of their humanity that is. She had to press on, hoping that the Hollow that she left behind would follow, at least for the time being. Perhaps even the wish can grant it the humanity that it so desperately required. She hoped for such. Nevertheless, Kimiko continued onward. Before leaving the woods behind she found herself greeted by humans. A small group, packing the area with their vehicles and bodies.

A first glance they appeared to be ordinary humans. But as they made their approach her radiating eyes caught on to the smaller details. Weapons; guns to be more exact. Each man dressed to match that of something in a cheap oldies movie. Something that villains would wear on regular days, such as the Mafia. Already speaking and Kimiko didn't trust the atmosphere that they brought with them. It didn't take long for the woman to browse their thoughts and aura to better identify them. Better yet, to see what was in their hearts? Her superior Energy Sensory could unveil much than what ordinary senses could, and this was what gave her the advantage against most individuals. Kimiko left nothing to chance, especially if they were able to speak to her.

Before even closing the distance, the ground had already became solid. Frozen by a thin layer of ice that only continued to expand to that of a 15 foot radius of the Failure. When crossing her, the temperature dropped dramatically, despite the warmth of the coming sun. Her veil shielded the light of her eyes, watching the men ever so closely. "Everything is fine thank you." the woman responded to the aged man gazing towards the gathering men. Even as she spoke, she still searched their hearts. Not only for their intentions but for the answer that she sought out while she questioned them. "I am on my way to the docks here, I would like to inquire if you know where I should be going, and to where would I be able to find a Ferryman?"

In the midst of the ice her aura crept. Slowly, almost that of a snail. Its sluggish trail caused the ice to form, taking in more ground around her. It merely expanded her territory, remolding the environment posing more favorable to her. The air came next. In such an environment the air begins to chill. Inhaling such air, especially when tampered with the Failure's reiatsu, dried the lungs, making breathing difficult. Nerve and responses to the body slowly become dulled, mimicking that of arthritis. Kimiko was no fool, she was more than prepared to act when the time came for it. But for now, she hoped for a more peaceful approach to the matter.

[Kento Waffles]

The young man looked at Garret as the wanderer walked away. "You're not well, are you, Garret?" And suddenly, the man transformed into a huge, savage beast with glowing red eyes and black fangs dripping a violent green ooze. Its breath smelled of decay, and in an instant it closed its mouth around him and he was engulfed in darkness. But then suddenly he wasn't. He was back where he had been sitting, trying to sleep, before he had seen the young man and started to walk away. A dream? A nightmare? It was dark in the forest now, as if he had slept through the day. He was surrounded by the trees, yet they looked taller than they had before... And they looked as if they had gnarled, old men's faces engraved into them.

There was no breeze, yet the leaves shifted. The sky began to fly at unrelenting speed as it turned red. Garret's arms began to twist into unorthodox, painful positions as they snapped at the elbows, and the little girl's face emerged from his chest to stare at him. "Why Garret... Why did I die...?" she asked him. It started to rain, but not a normal rain. A dark red one. Blood. His eyes, too, began to release tears of blood as the trees started to come to life, the faces laughing at him from everywhere around. Laughter... Everywhere... And, that same voice in his head. I am not the parasite of your sword... the voice said. I am you... I am inside of YOU...

And suddenly his mind would be filled with a fury that he could not control. Out of nowhere, emotions that he could not command. What Garret experienced was akin to a bad experience with drugs, and a total loss of control of his emotions every bit as intense as what had happened when the girl had died... And every bit as painful as a thousand nights of massacring the beasts that were drawn to him. And then, suddenly, just as instantly as it had all come, it was gone, and Garret would awake for real. It was daylight, the trees were normal, and he was still in the same spot as before. A bad dream? A nightmare, perhaps? But no, that wasn't all. Something had happened.

Something from before. Because now there was a Hollow directly in front of him. But it was a small Hollow, the size of a large dog. In fact, it also had the body and fur of a dog, and was identical but for the skeletal mask that was its face, the glowing red eyes that glimmered as it stared at Garret. Yet it was passive, sitting there and uncertain. The power level behind it wasn't weak. It was evidently an Adjuchas class. And it did not attack, despite an obvious hunger. It sat there at attention, almost obedient as it gazed at Garret half in curiosity half in something else. So it stared at him. And what was he to do about it as the voice spoke inside of him again? Embrace me...

Meanwhile, Kimiko would find that not only was she being talked to by these men, but they were very aware of her spiritual nature. "We're not looking for a fight, don't worry," the man with a grin that had first addressed her said, holding up his hands to indicate he had no weapons and meant her no harm. In fact, from evaluating them with her energy sensory, she would come to find that all of them were Fullbringers. All of them had some degree of reiatsu potential. Someone in the group was almost as strong as she was spiritually, though most of them were much weaker. Yes, they weren't ordinary at all. They were spiritual awares, just like she was.

"Yeah, I know where that is... It's in the town we're from, not that far from here. Just an hour drive. If you'd like a ride, we can escort you," the man said to her. Then, nodding at her body to indicate awareness of how unstable a Failure was, he continued, "No worries. We're all safe drivers. Not the first time we've driven a Failure." Failure... That word that rang and spelled out what Kimiko was. A being with such vast power in reiatsu that she couldn't control it herself. She had failed to become a perfect individual, like so many before her... A tainted, broken spirit. But, she had an offer now. Would she be taking it?

[RayginX]

Was he going crazy? Was everything that was happening to him finally starting to crack at his mind? Was he not already crazy? If a crazy person goes crazy do they become normal? What was Garret supposed to think? He wasn't able to react to the stranger suddenly transforming and swallowing him, opening his eye to find himself right where he had been standing. But nothing was quite right. Why was it dark? Why were the trees taller? What was happening? Why did Garret feel anxious? He could feel his heart beat quickening. The trees were more than just taller. The bark was molded, shapped into what looked to be a face. Garret blinked. What was happening??

He suddenly shouted out, tossed forward as his arms were pulled back behind him. His jaws crushing themselves against each other the swordsman snarled like an animal as he pulled with his titan like strength to try and free himself from whatever force had him bound. Despite his efforts, however, it all proved to be in vain as he heard the snap, followed by the explosion of pain. But his struggling suddenly stopped when he saw her crawling out of his chest. The cursed swordsman's eye widened. It widened with a mixture of sick emotions. Why did she die? Why did she die? She died because of Kimiko. She died because that bitch couldn't control her power. No. No Garret knew that wasn't true. He wanted to blame it on her. He wanted to blame Kimiko. He wanted to blame someone else. He didn't want to tell himself he was responsible. He didn't want to be the reason someone else had died.

She died because of Garret. Because Garret didn't pay attention. She died because Garret became too consumed with his fighting, with his vengeance. With his hate. Blood rained down from the heavens. Blood flowed from his eye, from the eyes of the tree, pooling into the earth beneath him as he stared at the face emerging from his chest. It almost sounded like a whimper at first. A small whimper that suddenly exploded into a scream. A scream escaped from his throat filled with malice, pain, agony, and guilt. He tried to drown out the laughter as his scream evolved into pain as his arms continued to twist and snap. But no matter how loud he roared he couldn't drown it out.

But suddenly something familiar replaced that despair. An emotion that Garret latched onto, fed off of, burned himself with, arose from out of him. Fury that he rarely ever experienced. Fury amounting to what he the image of Cassandra being ripped apart was seared into his right eyes last memory. Flames. Garret saw flames. Garret felt their tongues licking at his skin. He could feel himself burning. The hatred inside him, burning at his heart and soul, now burned at his flesh. The laughter, the pain, the rage, Garret felt that he was about to break. Break. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. Garret felt he was about to shatter.

And it ended. Garret awoke to find himself back in the real world. Even though it had been some sort of dream, the Rogue was still panicked. He was breathing heavily, like a exhausted animal, with cold sweat pouring down a burning face. He couldn't even see straight. He saw red. It all looked blurry. Garret felt ready to rip something apart. He felt ready to kill. It was in that moment he realized he wasn't alone. The Rogue raised his head to find a Hollow, small in size and canine in appearance just...sitting there. Rising to his feet, the oversized man quickly grabbed onto his sword. "Was it you...was it you who made me see those things?" Garret questioned, directed to a creature that very well could have been intelligent. His lip curling upwards, Garret snarled as he lifted that sword overhead and roared "What do you want with me!?" before he heard that voice again in his head.

His eye shivered for a second, looking at the Hollow before he noticed something. Why was his sword so heavy? Garrets arms lowered the sword, the four hundred pounds of spiritual steels tip slamming into the earth as Garret just couldn't muster the strength to kill the Hollow. A small chuckle escaped his mouth as he thought back on what was said to him. The parasite or his inner self...he didn't really care. All Garret knew was that he was tired. A crunch in the grass was heardas Garret collapsed back onto his rump, as if he were suddenly hit with the combined exhaustion of all his nights. He just couldn't stop laughing. But there was no humor or enjoyment in his laugh. It was the laugh someone had when they were on the verge of tears. In one night he had lost the last two things he had in this world. Even if it had been short he had come close to the child. He had cared about her to an extent. And Kimiko was someone he had been much closer to. Someone had fought alongside of. Someone he trusted. And he had looked at her like she was no different than a Hollow. He'd turned his back on her. He was all alone now.

And the weight of that was heavier than his sword ever was.

[Kimiko Aimi]

More people were willing to help, more people involving themselves with her, more people who will come to harmed by what she is. The image of the child remains firm in the core of the Failure's mind. If she could help it, she wouldn't involve others into her mission. This was between Garret and herself now, and for her to bring others into the fray would only mean further sacrifices. Such sacrifices that Kimiko would limit to what she could, and for that reason, "I do thank you for your offer, and for the information. But I must decline." The Failure didn't want further deaths, none in which if she could help it. For that reason she would want to part ways, using the information she extracted from their minds to direct her to the town in which she must go.

As any traditional Japanese woman the Failure kept to her ways with a steadfast bow before departing, leaving in her wake the frozen surface of Earth that she passed by. The men were unsettling. Their nature seemed to be hospitable, but she knew better. Kimiko spent a thousand years to study humans and their behaviors. Should she have gone with them, considering that she wasn't the first of her kind that they have met, surely would spell trouble. In light of such precaution the Failure took her leave, and yet, that wasn't the only reason she felt a tinge of anxiety. What kept her on edge seemed to be the allies that she left behind. The ancient warrior of the past, and the lone Wanderer. Both of their natures were unsettling, unpredictable. She could only hope that the ancient one would follow in peace, and as for the Wanderer, she could only hope that his own fight against himself would revel in some good.

The two of them had spent much time together. Both knew of the feeling that isolation and solitude could bring. With his curse keeping him away from connecting, and her ever growing power that continued to escape her control. Both of them had some form of ailment that forbid them in living a life of comfort. Even now she could feel Garret, his struggle. And as much as it pained her to stay at a distance from him, she knew that it was something that he had to face on his own. Though their time traveling with each other was short, it still meant something. As little as it was, there was light within the darkness, and the hope that remained in her words. The words that she left with him before taking heed of his words.

This was a battle in which she couldn't interfere with. A battle between souls was something that Kimiko knew little about, but not one that she was unfamiliar with. Kimiko will keep to her promise to Garret, and thus made her way to the town in which they must arrive. There, she will wait and see what was to come. But before that, she must seek the man that she needed in order to travel.