Post by ✱Paiva "Amalia" Vollbrecht✱ on Nov 27, 2016 8:45:33 GMT -5
Ruhe's calm curiosity managed to unnerve Amalia. As Ruhe spoke, Amalia gripped the binding of a book tightly with her fingers. She gritted her teeth and stared angrily into the fireplace. She turned and stared directly at Ruhe, her expression now blank. Summoning control of her emotions, she walked past the young Quincy. Amalia's fury, while concealed, was building. Innocence and curiosity would not exonerate Ruhe from this brand of heresy and profanity. Her words dripped with the stain of ignorance and inexperience, something that would result in her death should she encounter a Shinigami.
Amalia gestured for Ruhe to follow her up the stairs. She proceeded up the stairs and through the corridors, the light slowly breaching the darkness. Ruhe patiently followed Amalia, neither sharing a single word or glance. Amalia led her to a large hill overlooking a barren ravine. "Looks lovely, doesn't it?" She said sweetly, glancing at Ruhe who peered into the ravine. She witnessed the confusion on Ruhe's face, who could clearly see the emptiness within the ravine. There was nothing particularly lovely. In fact, it was just dirt and rocks. "You don't see the same beauty I do, huh? I guess that is to be expected. After all, I am looking at it the way it appeared 500 years ago, whereas you are look at it in the present. Two completely different images, I'm afraid."
Amalia's contempt for Shinigami runs deeper than Ruhe's naivete. It was treasonous on behalf of Ruhe's Quincy identity to speak so plainly about Shinigami. It managed to summon a darkness in Amalia that few glimpse at and survive. She couldn't fathom why Ruhe would casually dismiss her ancestors' plight. She would take this opportunity to teach Ruhe a valuable lesson. A lesson in conviction. If she wants to be a Quincy, she must accept the blood coursing through her veins. The same blood gifted to her by the father of Quincy. These thoughts continued to race through her mind, fueling what she was about to do.
"This ravine was once home to hundreds of Quincy. Everything they built. Everything they were was wiped out. The battle left the land so scarred that it does not foster even the smallest of plants. It is a wasteland. A grudge, you say?" This word echoed in her mind. "Grudge. Grudge..." The word was vulgar, insinuating that the many feelings that reside in Quincy hearts are unjustified. Implying they are merely a collection of misgivings that should be forgotten and that absolution would be the higher road taken. There was something deeply invalidating resonating from Ruhe's words. A grudge does not begin to describe the intense level of hatred and malice shared between the Shinigami and Quincy. Their existences are inconsistent. They are antithetical.
And, in the same breath, she chose to utter a name of such impurity. A name possessed by a man who claims Quincy heritage but chooses to defy the word of his majesty. Who chooses to defile the title further by creating his own house, one that is disloyal to his majesty. "Such insolence..." She muttered softly under her breath. She began to walk away, Ruhe following close behind. She stopped, turning to face Ruhe. "You have yet to feel the weight of this 'grudge' you so casually refer to. The weight of a thousand years of slaughter and war. I want you to feel the gravity of these crimes committed against a people who share in your blood.
A pulse of energy surged from Amalia's body. She stared directly into Ruhe's eyes as energy began swirling from her body, surging into the sky like a pillar of light. The intensity of her spiritual pressure filled the air, crushing everything below it. Ruhe could immediately feel the weight of her spiritual pressure. She wasn't merely brought to her knees, she was thrown to the ground by the pressure alone. It weighed upon her entire body, pushing her face into the ground. She couldn't lift a single limb. The intensity of Amalia's spiritual pressure was enough to crack the ground, inflicting pain across Ruhe's body.
"I want you to hear the cries of our people across a thousand years. I want you to feel a thousand years of pain and agony. A thousand years of sacrifice. Of loss! YOU MUST FEEL IT!" She shouted loudly, her voice echoing across the ravine. Her spiritual pressure boomed, creating a strong, monotone sound that rang in Ruhe's ears. "You are connected to them through blood. Their pain is a message. It should guide you toward growth. Encourage you to become stronger. Embrace your power so that nothing like that will ever happen to any other Quincy. You cannot deny it and also be strong. You cannot pretend you are not affected when Quincy are still hunted and killed to this day. Your youth does not free you from the scope of your responsibility. Pick yourself up off the ground!"
She saw that Ruhe could not move a muscle, her spiritual pressure was enough to completely paralyze her. "Are you aware that with my spiritual pressure alone I could kill you? I could bring your life to a close by just flexing my power a bit more. This is the power you may possess if you follow me. I can teach you to be strong. To be independent. People will never disrespect you or treat you like you have been treated. You will be granted authority through power. You can then use that to protect Quincy like us. Those who wish to preserve our heritage and our people. However...continue on the path you began earlier, by denying the pain of our people and absolving the Shinigami of their sins, and I won't teach you a thing. In fact, I'll find your actions a direct danger to all Quincy and take it upon myself to resolve it. Am I clear?" As she spoke she lessened her spiritual pressure, relieving the pressure from Ruhe's body.
"Now...pick yourself up." She had lessened the pressure so much that even Ruhe could manage to lift herself up. She would be unable to stand, but she can sit upon her knees. If she could manage this then Amalia would have no reason to deny her lessons. "If you get to your knees, I will teach you how to harness such power. Only I can teach you this, someone so deeply connected to our Quincy heritage. I draw upon the blood of our people. It makes me strong. You, too, will be strong. I will see to it! Your heart will beat steadfast. You will develop beautiful abilities and I will then show you how to claim even greater strength. First, lift yourself and sit upon your knees." Amalia's eyes narrowed as she peered to her right. "Hadrian...trying to sneak around my senses. I can feel you. With this much of my spiritual pressure in the atmosphere, you think I couldn't sense the presence of another? Do enjoy the fatigue caused by the weight of my spiritual pressure." She smiled softly as she stared at Ruhe. "I want you to become strong. Show me your strength of will and we shall move on to developing your powers."