Cultivating the Garden JT (Lago and Santa)

[Santa Ajora]

Training for TTP

Santaja trudged through that dark forest, those glowing eyes hauntingly staring straight ahead, even as the landscape around her blackened with the flesh that grew everywhere, everything within thirty meters of her body would begin growing that disgusting slime, fresh flesh, bone, and everything in between began creeping all over the giant hollow, all four of those hooves squishing into the fleshy ground as the humanoid half stood tall, shrouded in cloak like any other gillian, save for her cervtaur anatomy. With that ridiculous height, just barely short of fifteen feet tall, she was an absolute monster.

Even as she trudged through the forest, she could see the other gillian milling about. some of them smaller than her, others a bit larger, but it didn't matter. That massive, vicious tail of hers curled, dangerously waving around her as she eyed those various lumbering behemoths. Just as one of them turned it's attention to her, that long tail of hers struck like a scorpion's, lancing out with a tremendous force as she impaled that long bony thing through the other hollow's head, eliciting a scream of pain from the dumb animal as it collapsed to the ground, Santa ripping her tail from it's skull as it flailed around, backing off. But even so, it would be the end of the gillian. Spikes of bone erupted from the ground beneath it, spearing into it's already- damaged body  and pinning through it's form.

She took a step back and narrowed her eyes as the presence of other, much weaker hollows could be sensed. She noticed a number of them struggling with that slime of hers. And for now she simply allowed her flesh and bone to grow around t hem, watching them struggle, but nto yet killing them. She was...intrigued. She was just as hungry as ever, but there was a clarity to her hunger now. It was interesting. And after all... she had something much larger to feast on first. Turning her attention to the slowly dying gillian, she did not even bother to wait for it to die.

Craning her head down, those masive jaws flashed, she did not even see the little hollow perched on the gillian's body, the opportunistic little mite had been trying to get some scraps while Santa was busy. That little thing lashed out, and Santa immediately reared her head back, surprised at the little cut to her mask, a cut which rapidly repaired as she stared down at that little hollow. She paused, before one of those massive hooves rose, and before the little monster could escape, she stomped down HARD, a sickening crunch sounding as she stomped the little hollow dead, and then peeled it from her hoof, popping it into her mouth before returning to her meal, ripping into the gillian's form as she began to chow down.

1 class 6 Hollow consumed
1 class 8 Hollow consumed

[Lagos Oscuras]

Training for SP

A mission to find Gillian with personalities within the Menos Forest. That was simple enough, and she was also to feed them and cultivate them all the unimportant trash to help their evolution. It was dirty work, but it was what was asked of her. The reason why she was chosen was because it seemed the lower level Arrancar were incompetent and were devoured at times within the forest. As she walked through this place of grandeur consumption, the mindless gillian had sensed her spiritual energy and lumbered towards her. Sometimes wild gillian were tamed and kept as pets, but seemed pointless other than for pure intimidation purposes. “Well...it seems I’m drawing all the worthless ones towards me.” She looked for any sight of ones with unique looking masks or appearances, but saw none. As some of them had charged their cero, Lagos simply flexed her spiritual power, crushing them to the ground, pinned. The adjuchas she would not bother with as of yet as if they truly want to reach the pinnacle of power to become an Arrancar, they could come to Sonken himself with their intelligence.

However, it was soon she saw an interesting sight. A gillian feasting upon another gillian. There had been a wide amount of slime visible on the floor as well as a grotesque amount of bones, flesh, and limbs by the look of it. This Gillian had a mask that was unique and even sported a unique tail. This one had potential to become useful. She decided not to restrain her spiritual pressure to allow all to sense it. The mindless gillian around the unique one would of course immediately rush for the meal with the largest pressure. She would be visible within eye contact of the Gillian. “Feeding you would prove most beneficial. I can't wait to see what you turn into.” Lagos was visible to Santa for just a moment before vanishing via Sonido right onto the mask of one of the mindless gillian. It looked at her with its red eyes before it's mouth opened in dumb confusion.

Using her hand hardened with Hierro, she had stabbed it through the Gillian’s mask making it howl before detonating a Bala inside of it. “You'll do to feed this Gillian. Now die.” There was a small contained blast which had obliterated the Hollow’s brain. The Gillian fell over for the special Gillian to devour, but before Lagos was crushed by the body of the Gillian, she had used Sonido to appear to the next Gillian’s face. It was extremely troublesome in this process, but Lagos had a job to do. Besides, perhaps she could feed the Hollow enough to force trigger an evolution. The bestial and primal instincts of Hollow were not able to resist hunger, and so she expected the Gillian to eat eagerly. Lagos did not want to waste her time and effort more than she had to in these “woods”. Everything wanted to kill her and each other and it was an extremely annoying experience. She wondered also what the slime was and where it had come from.

The next Gillian had been a bit smarter than the last as it had used its large clawed hand and attempted to slam down on Lagos. She was going to be treated like a fly by the looks of it, but the Gillian was slow. She ran along the surface of its face to its shoulder as it attacked itself. It was as mindless as it could get as soon it smacked itself as hard as it could in the face. It stumbled before falling down into the bones and slime. The Gillian howled as it then slowly attempted to stand up. Lagos had enough as she raised her right hand aimed for the monstrosity. “Cero.” A yellow force of energy had formed in her hand before blasting a hole that blew through the right side of the Gillian’s head. It screamed before dying as part of it was incinerated. Two Gillian were now fuel for the Gillian in front of her. She would keep watch over the food to make sure no scavengers dared to steal the food for her special gillian. She had suspected that this viscous slime was creation of the Gillian in front of her as a unique power.

With two gillian down however, it seemed that some of the others were interested in stealing the bounty of food. Two of them in particular had lumbered forward to try and pass Santa to steal the meal for her. Of course this was unacceptable as stealing food in Hueco Mundo was a crime that could lead to death and it often did. Lagos stood on the back of one of the two Gillian to observe what the special gillian would do when other beings were trying to steal its bounty. “How annoying these rubbish are. They horde like flies when more and bigger meals are available to them. Come special one. Protect your meal and slaughter all that oppose you.” The monstrosities were not concerned nor aware of Lagos at the moment as they were rushing to the corpses of the gillian. Perhaps she should kill them also? No...she would wait just a bit.

She wanted to see the potential of the gillian in front of her, and if it pleased her she would feed it more as its reward. Gillian most of the time had very simple mindsets and primal instincts. However, that was all it took for them to be domesticated by powerful Arrancar and then evoluted. She imagined that is what the spiked collars symbolized on each of the Gillian’s necks and arms. They were animals meant to be tamed as few had the capability of evolving further beyond that point. There were thousands of gillian and hundreds of Adjuchas. There were only few Vasto Lorde. Perhaps this Gillian here had the potential to become one of those few Vasto Lorde before reaching the peak of evolution. She was hoping that a strong Arrancar could be made, but perhaps she was getting too ahead of herself. She stood there with her arms crossed as she awaited an action from Santa.

The howl of Hollow rang through Menos Forest as battles and skirmishes had rang through the distance. It was a song that Lagos was well accustomed to and used to. It was music to her ears as she enjoyed the overtone of screams and the dropping of blood. She however saw a black figure behind her through the reflection of one of the metal trees. Wordlessly, she drew her sword at a rapid speed before slashing behind her. The figure was extremely malleable and had seemingly dispersed before heading through the floor and away from her. How fascinating. This seemed to be the power of one of the Adjuchas. Perhaps she could convince this being to fight her and see if he was any worth to the Arrancar.

The being had slowly reformed showing a grey skinned Hollow with the mask of a demon like being. It's teeth were incredibly sharp and jagged and looked to have the feet of some sort of bird. It had the body of a human and a devil like tail. This Hollow had seven odd like wings to use. "Fascinating appearance, but what is that power you possess. Show me. The Hollow had looked to the woman before speaking. "My power is the ability to control the malleability of anything that I touch. I simply made my body so malleable that your blade had went through me without any damage being delivered." The woman was interested so far, and so she decided to act. "Show me more then Adjuchas, but do not interfere with my mission."


The Hollow in front of her simply bowed and spoke. "My name is Arok Santos. I have no quarrel against you although I will admit I was going to try and devour some of that Gillian you were standing on. Would I have the permission to do so Arrancar?" She so far liked this being as he was polite, charming, and seemed interesting enough. "Fight with me and I shall feed you enough to evolve. I believe that I will have use for a Hollow like you, you show great promise." The being in front of her had returned back to straight posture before calling to her. "As you wish Domina. I shall show you the ability that I possess and it's usefulness." Thus the man formed a Cero within his mouth, nothing different at first but then she saw it.

The Hollow had manipulated the fluidity of the Cero to turn it not into a beam of destruction, but a twisting spiral. Using the Sonido, Lagos had dodged the attack with ease although the head of the gillian she had been standing on was sliced and carved to pieces. Having appeared on one of the metal branches of the trees of the forest, Lagos smiled brightly. "Interesting. Show me more!" The Hollow down below her had touched one of the sharp branches of the trees before forming two bladed gauntlets along his arms. Then...it had rushed at her with impressive speed to engage her in combat. Lagos had drawn her silver blade before rushing at her own speed to engage him.

[Santa Ajora]

the moment that Santa sensed that spiritual pressure, she vanished, the entirety of her spiritual being being swallowed up as no doubt to Lago's surprise,she would vanish completely. Her spiritual pressure, everything would blip out before a moment later, ridiculously slow by stepping standards, the massive gillian emerged from the valley of screams in the arrancar's face, head tilting as that massive head leaned down, a mere few feet from the arrancar's own as she inspected the arrancar. But of course, the little thing did not stay still, almost immediately Lagos was on the move, viciously attacking hollows, riling up those in the area as suddenly the air was thick with the things, crawling out of the trees, seeping up from holes in the forest floor. Lagos was certainly drawing a crowd.

Two gillian were down, destroyed by the arrancar, and of course, she bent down, munching her way into teir bodies even as those other hollows began to close in. Those dull, mindless beasts searching for the source of the trouble. And of course a means to fuel their own hunger. Ajora munched her way into the two downed gillians, and barely glanced up. She was not all that concerned with them, and rather than using any sort of cero or physical attack, she used her natural abilities.

In a sudden shrieking glimmer, a number of thick tendons and ligaments suddenly fired upward from the ground, spikes laced into them like barbed wire as Ajora adjusted the composition of the little wires, thirty square feet being produced of the stuff, creating a wall 10 meters high and 90 meters wide formed between her and the incoming hollows. Those gillian and other hollows slammed into the barrier, stopped immediately. But of course, even those ligaments also served as a platform, her flesh growing out of them in sharp bony spikes, turning those ligaments into barbed wire.

With a single curl of those clawed fingers, the wires of tendon and sinew answered her mental command and began digging into the bodies of those hollows, the shrieks getting louder as that barbed fleshy wire dug into their flesh and bodies, stringing them like puppets before she curled her hand down, and played them. With her own strength and speed outmatching the hollows, she could literally force them to do what she wanted, and as they panicked, beginning to charge ceros, she twisted her hand around, controling those strings and twisting their heads until they pointed at eachother, and the stupid beasts fired at their bretheren, several of the hulking beasts dropping from friendly fire. Another hollow she had simply twisted too far, the cero fizzling out as it's broken neck gave out and it went limp from where those wires held it up.

And of course, the moment the life left those hollows, flesh began growing over their bodies, arms, legs, and teeth began ripping them apart from the outside in, pulling them to pieces and crushing their bodies into condensed little spheres of twisted limbs and viscera. All except one of the corpses, which despite having a head, was still mostly intact. Bone was growing in armored plates all over it's body. While Santa haerself could not give herself armor, anything that grew on her own body just sloughed off. But a corpse made puppet was easy to build armor onto. Large spikes growing out of that bony white plating as she curled her hand and sent that headless puppet to charge towards the other hollows, all the while she herself began munching up those broken spheres.

Training for SP

In addition, Lagos may very well notice that several eyeballs had grown around her, as if the Gillian were keeping eyes on the arrancar even if her actual body was focused elsewhere. It was true that Ajora's actual eyesight was rather poor. But even so, very little escaped her notice.And several half-formed torsos grew out of the ground around her, vaguely feminine in appearance as they all let out raspy hisses, speaking as one. "You feed me readily enough. But I wonder... what is your name? I have not met many of the broken. mostly, they are just food. But you..... are too strong to eat. Why do you feed me? Do you have a name?" Came that rattling whisper.

2 class 6 Hollows supplied by Lagos in their post

3 class 6 Hollows killed and consumed

[Lagos Oscuras]

It appeared the Gillian had a mild fascination for her as it seemed to use a variation of some sort of stepping technique to come to her. It was interesting to see a Gillian even be capable of using a step technique. However, by Sonido standards, the step was incredibly slow. Lagos had drawn its attention that was certain. The intelligent beast of a Hollow in front of her had been able to find sustenance through the Gillian Lagos slaughtered. It was a most fascinating sight as she turned her attention to the odd variation of Hollow. The natural ability that Santa had shown although vulgar had fascinated Lagos. She watched as other reckless Hollow had been entangled and manipulated like puppets. Unfortunately, the Hollow standing next to Lagos herself had been hit by a Cero in the crossfire and disintegrated. What a waste it was, but it was most likely for the best. It seemed this Gillian was eating well thanks to Lagos although it seemed more than capable of hunting for itself by the look of it.

Lagos now knew the purpose and properties of the odd slime she had witnessed before. However, she did not fear such trivial ligaments and bone spears. She was a master of Sonido and was more than fast enough to avoid being captured by these versatile limbs. Other than that, she was a skilled user of Hierro who could very likely avoid harm to her body to begin with. It was most certainly interesting however to see the odd ability this Hollow possessed and even more interesting was the possibility of what this Hollow could become. Lagos would be the one to nurture that power and she would be the one to see just how far this power could grow. Standing in a clearing away from the slime, she witnessed the formation of several eyes and torsos, a way of communication. This showed that although the large Gillian itself was incapable of normal speech due to the composition of many souls, the one dominating the body used her power to communicate. It was most fascinating. She was asked what her name was.

With a light smirk, Lagos’ fox skull mask had also smiled baring its sharp fangs. “My name is Lagos Oscuras. Remember this name for I shall only say it once. I am the Fraccion of the Cuarto Espada, Shikihitsuko Isayama. If you do not remember my name, above all remember the name of my master. I feed you seeing it is my task to find Gillian with personalities and feed them, nurture them to become powerful Adjuchas and even Vasto Lorde. Broken did you say? That is rather humorous as I feel more whole than I ever had as compared to when I had my mask. My goal is to feed you and nurture you into becoming a future Arrancar.” The woman had observed the torso around her, and something rather annoying had occurred. It seemed with Lagos standing in a field of what seemed like spiritually rich flesh in the form of torsos and ears, several wild Hollow had come for scraps.

In the Menos Forest, majority of the population was the Menos Grande or Gillian as they were commonly called, the Adjuchas which were the evolved and more powerful forms of Gillian, and finally the normal Hollow. This was a breeding ground of death and destruction in exchange for greater evolution and strength to those that rise above the challenge and survive. Several Hollow beasts had run to intercept and devour the ligaments and flesh which naturally pours from Santa’s body. They would attempt to devour the form of communication between the two. Lagos herself did not interfere in any way. Her job was to feed and make the Gillian in front of her more powerful, not baby her and make her dependent on her for a meal. However, it seems that some of the Hollow had been attracted to a richer meal, Lagos. How incredibly weak and pathetic these weaker beings were...she would have no qualms of destroying any foolish enough to try and devour her.

Few Arrancar could be defeated by Hollow assuming they were competent. Arrancar were the pinnacle of evolution of Hollow and something that all Hollow should strive to become. One of the beings, a masked floating sac of putrid filth had flown to her with a howl in an attempt to devour her. Lagos had not looked amused as she used her naturally high speed to approach the beast and run it through with her bare hand. Hierro as much as a tool it was, was also a great weapon to those that wielded it as such. It amplified physical blows and made the body harder than what any human body could ever hope to fathom. She imagined it to be what a human thought as superhuman invulnerability. The sac had been impaled easily by her Hierro as it turned into a form of Shishkabob. It died instantly showing that it had lacked potential. With a flick of Lagos’ hand, she would throw it onto the viscous slime that was Santa’s dripping flesh. Flicking the blood from her fingertips, Lagos waited for any other foolish beings that would like to devour her, or rather try to devour her.

“Assuming you wish to grow strong, and gain a form of humanity back...I suggest you listen closely to every word I mention to you. I shall feed you and care for you in exchange for your loyalty. I want your affection and for you to feel protected. I shall protect you as a doe does her fawn. I shall protect you as a soldier does his nation. I will protect you as if you are flesh and blood. Allow me to care and nurture you and in exchange return equal affection for me. If you agree to this, tell me your name...share it with me.” Using the Sonido, Lagos would appear atop of the nose the Hollow possessed. She would stare into the irises of those eyes looking into her reflection. She heard a loud shriek as the shadow of an approaching Hollow had come behind her at a rapid speed with talons drawn. Pointing a single finger behind her, Lagos fired a Bala which struck the lowly hollow which would cause it to spin out of control before falling into Lagos’ sticky body. It howled a shrill yell before Lagos had looked down to the death and destruction.

Lagos had placed one of her incredibly warm hands along the mask of Santa, rubbing it lightly before awaiting a response. Lagos recalled the days when she was a lowly Adjuchas walking through the desert sands, being hunted by many Hollow for her overly rich spiritual power. Lagos had from her memories a desire to help Hollow with potential to succeed and evolve through her power. It was now her time to nurture now that she was in a position of grandeur. She was becoming stronger every passing day and now she would be able to bless the Hollow in front of her with the same protection and embrace she had felt when meeting lord Shikihitsuko. Perhaps when the Gillian she was standing on turned into a powerful Arrancar, she could bring her to Shikihitsuko. However, now was not the best time to be daydreaming such fantasies.

Lowly Hollow would not be enough to sate the appetite of such a gillian as Santa. She would need to help Santa further before perhaps going to hunt down more powerful and delicious beings. Shinigami and Beast Clan members were all spiritually rich. Either that or perhaps they would venture out into the human world to devour a copious amount of beings. Regardless of the case, Lagos would have to make due with the food available in the Menos Forest at the moment. After closely analyzing the ability that the Hollow held, she realized it was useful especially for dealing with large groups of opponents or for a form of espionage. She imagined the gillian here to be like an ever growing mold which would only spread further and further to spread her dominance. She would eventually control all that her eyes could see and perhaps even more than that someday. It was an ability with a lot of potential to be powerful.

Removing her hand from Santa’s mask, Lagos would speak loudly for the Gillian to hear. “What do you say? Tell me your name seeing I have shared mine with you. Will you accept my offer? Consider this closely seeing I will feed you, provide for you, and care for you. All I ask is for you to follow me and return that said affection. There is nothing for you to lose and much for you to gain. Answer me now or forever hold your peace.” Lagos had made the message extremely clear for the Gillian to hear as Lagos had also clear intentions. There was no hidden meaning to this as she simply wanted all she had mentioned. She wanted a loyal follower with the same devotion to her as she had for Shikihitsuko. Loyalty is the greatest trait to find within any being and one that Lagos values above all else. What would Santa Ajora do?

Lagos had simply rested whilst looking to the other lowly Hollow down below. There were no other noticeable special Gillian. It seemed that Santa was an oddity with an even odder power. Lagos wanted to exercise power and strength but also organize the Arrancar into a fighting force that few could deny the awesomeness of. Santa was someone who could help exercise that dream and bring it into reality assuming she had the potential and the drive to. She was being fed rather well and shown affection from the voluptuous Arrancar. It was certainly an offer to consider. Lagos was also powerful as killing two gillian with ease displayed her power. Did Santa have the goal or drive to reach that level of power and gain back a form of humanity? Her next reply would tell.

[Santa Ajora]

Lagos. This was all that could be ascertained, as honestly.... Santa was horrible with names. When the Arrancar came to draw her attention once more, those massive barriers of sinew still holding the other hollows back, it was...intruiging. She honestly was a little perplexed at the strange being's mannerisms. And even more with the name of their master, a name she honestly would never remember if it were etched into her body. It was simply too complex a name.

But even so... the pretty little lady was so very strange. Those slim, feminine shoulders shifted on Ajora's fram, her neck craning forward as she peered at the strange arrancar. It really was tempting. It was a tempting offer, and she actually was interested in this woman's feasability in her ability to actually follow through. However... the woman had made one v ery big mistake. She had mentioned her lord's title. And in that very instant, MASSIVE spikes erupted from EVERY inch of her body except for her mask (which thankfully Lagos was standing on), all of that flesh growing was now hard, sharpened bone, and a number of hollows that had been trying to sneak through her net of ligaments and tendons were suddenly impaled by the maze of sharp points that ruptured outward.

"Espada..."

The word was said slowly, and with clear, visceral disdain. Those eyes slowly narrowed behind that mask, and in that next instant Ajora was gone. Lagos was suddenly standing on nothing, left in the middle of the air as she used Ulcera to distance herself from the Espada's flunkey. She already knew of Kouhai's ILK. "I will not.... be cajoled... into that filthy Shinigami's pet collection." Came that slow, vehement reesponse. And of course Lagos would probably understand. She herself hated shinigami for the most part, did she not? Surely did she not know that the espada answered (unquestionably) to a Shinigami?

"You.... ate an interesting thing. Pretty even. Were you a human, I would be eating you right now. But I cannot accept these terms. Appreciation? Certainly. But by swearing myself to you, I swear myself to your lord by extension, as you are sworn to him. And he, to that DISGUSTING Shinigami. So you see? I cannot....by extension....accept the prospect of swearing loyalty to you." Came that rasping hiss, speaking directly as those torsos vanished. She turned her attention and lashed out, grabbing a pair of hollows snared in her tendons and chomping down on them. They were very weak things, and in an instant they were gone, the little things wailing as she plucked them one by one. their bodies skewered as they nipped at her, munching tiny chunks out of her hands. But she ignored all of that, and continued to eat. Until... with her mouth still dripping with the blood of hollows, she turned to leer at Lagos.

"I am Santaja Ajora." As any respectable arrancar, Lagos would likely recognize the modified word for the term 'saint'. "I will swear no loalty to the shinigami's line. But I will express my Gratitude. Yes? I am.... amused. That you.... would choose to make a deal....with a hollow. Surely... you know our kind is not loyal? The Espada never were....never have....never are.... nor will they ever be... a true and bred loyal faction. We are creatures bred to distrust. By making eachother our only food, we were made to deceive. To Lie. To cheat. I will not offer you my word. The word of a hollows, as any hollow would know, is worthless." She noted, before that wicked, disgusting, black-blood dripping mouth suddenly twisted.

Into a slow. Smile.

"But know this....cute little thing... I will say you have sparked my interest. And My attention. I accept your offer. Though...truly....you perplex me. That you think that you will decide wether or not I become strong." She paused, and slowly reached up with a dripping claw, and tapped that long, pointy thing against the center of Lagos's chest. And her head slowly turned sideways, the slow, deep crack of her neck poppingh sounded as she spoke eerilie.
"You said you remembered....didn't you? Being a Menos? then you remember. You Have to. What it was like....when you first came to be? To be a Gillian? Do you not remember the voices? Or do you remember being the voice?" She asked in a slow, hushed tone, as that smile only widened.

"I have gone insane so very many times.... sometimes... I am in charge... other times... I am just one of so many voices...screaming for control. We voices do not need to be strong. It was never the case. What decides on which of us takes over... is simple:
Will.
Wether you feed me or not. My strength will be decided by my will. Each and every arrancar goes down the path. And you.... you did not make it did you?" She asked in that slow, hushed tone, that pointed tinger lifting up, until it pointed to that mask fragment. "No... for all of your strength. I do not think you ever knew what it was like to be a Vasto.... Never knew what it was like for the hunger to stop. For the voices to go away." she giggled and slowly her entire body shook, that massive thing making the ground tremble as she did so.

"I called you Broken, because you never truly found your whole. You failed when you tried to take off the mask. When a hollow takes off her mask... the strength is determined by how whole they are underneath. And you.... were not whole. Were you? I do not care how strong I become... Arrancar of the Shinigami. All I care about... is being whole again. No matter how many broken I have to eat along the way."

1 class 8 hollow provided by Lagos
3 class 8 hollows Devoured

[Lagos Oscuras]

It seemed that the Hollow in front of her was disdained by the mention of the Espada. She wondered if the masked Gillian had something against Shikihitsuko personally, but then discovered that it was in fact just that she hated Sonken. That the Gillian refused to be part of the Shinigami pet collection so she would call it. Lagos was not intimidated by spikes of bone but it was interesting to see what she could do. Lagos personally didn't like Sonken herself, but she did find herself having utmost loyalty for Shikihitsuko only. However, she would let the lower being continue her little spiel for a while. She wanted to know exactly what Santaja was thinking. However, she has better choose her words wisely, or else she'd be dead within seconds. It seems that Santa wanted to explain her thought process of why exactly she could not swear her loyalty to Lagos, and it was a rather poor excuse in her opinion.

She said that Hollow are a race of distrust, betrayal, and lies. Obviously this doesn't apply to all Hollows. However, it seemed that Santa was implying she herself was a disloyal being that held no loyalty to anything other than herself. She was told that there would be no loyalty between Hollows and that the Arrancar would never be a true faction organized with a common goal set. She couldn't really argue with that the Los Noches was now, but yet that was one of her goals. She would organize the Arrancar and make it a group to be feared and revolutionize it. She was starting to get annoyed at the words this weak being held though. As a Gillian, she was the voice and everything was nearly quiet. She was undoubtedly the most powerful voice and mind in her body and held full control at all times. She preyed on the weak, strong, and everything inbetween as a Hollow. However, what was the point of sharing it with this Hollow. She would answer her soon enough once she finished her monologue. Lagos hated Monologues, but she could swallow her temper at the moment.

However, when she was taunted for never becoming a Vasto Lorde, her temper was not going to hold any longer. “Your insolence. Who do you think you are speaking to? You dare call me broken in that context?” No longer suppressing her spiritual energy, Santa would feel a massive weight/pressure wash over her to send her falling and crushed against the floor. Lagos’ eyes were looking down at Santa with a seething fury. “You say to me that you lack quality of loyalty yes? Keep this in mind then. Hollows are only as loyal and honorable as they choose to be. However, it seems to me that you lack such comprehension. You say that it is not up to me if you become strong or not? You seem to cease to realize...just where we are.” Landing on the side of Santa’s mask, she quickly placed her hand dangerously close as a yellow cero had formed on the tip of her finger. “Your will is what helps you become stronger? That’s a funny thought seeing I can crush your will right now if I choose so. Watch your tongue. Do not bite the hand that feeds you, or I guarantee your life will be lost in an instant.”

The cero was dangerously hot and would burn the side of Santa’s mask. “Now...what do you say? Apologize.” She would await a response from her Hollow underneath her feet. To those smaller Hollow that were still looking to get a meal, just the very presence of Lagos had killed them or pinned them to the ground now that she was getting serious. Her blue eyes at the moment were cold and uncaring. Such disrespectful language of calling Lagos a “cute little thing” or a pet to a Shinigami deserved death, but everyone deserved a second chance she heard. “Make sure that when you accept an offer or say something, that your words will hold merit and that your promises are absolute. I control how strong you become right now simply from the fact my Cero can blast through your skull right now and end your existence.” Santa would see just how powerful Lagos was in this moment as the weight pressing down on her was strong.

“Now as to clarify some things for you. I myself detest Shinigami not necessarily because of the fact they hunted me, but for the unforgivable act she had done against my master Shikihitsuko. Sonken the Shinigami you speak of is not a truly fit leader to Los Noches and I myself am building a force against him of 200 of us so called…”broken.” However, I acknowledge that he is more powerful than even my Espada. He is strong but not an Arrancar. It is degrading, humiliating to see that we Arrancar serve such a man. However, in return we gain power beyond our wildest dreams that no Hollow could reach even as a Vasto Lorde. Understand that I do not punish you for saying you will not serve under me, but for the filthy words that leave your mouth.” Slowly, she lifted her hand before firing this Cero at one of the Gillian that were in the distance, causing it to collapse onto it’s knees and then fall face down.

“Now eat Santaja. Make sure that you are conscious about your words and actions carefully. Become whole as you put it. I have gathered you easy pickings for you to devour. Evolve, change, and become powerful. Silence these so called voices of insanity as you put it and take my words to heart. You may now refer to me as your mother as I treat you as my child. I feed you now and will grow you into your maximum potential. Hopefully you will heed these words I told you before and learn from them. I will be watching...always watching, be aware of this. Even when you believe I am not, I will watch.” Lagos had finally lessened the spiritual pressure being pushed onto Santa, allowing her to stand and devour the little scraps and GIllian she had killed. She counted two small Hollow and the Gillian in the distance. She had rested on Santa’s mask before kissing it lightly. Hopefully, Lagos showed Santa just how powerful she could become.

Watching from a distance, she looked to the Gillian closely. She observed her and wondered if in time if she would be a beautiful Arrancar or not. Would Santa perhaps become a fitting companion to live with? Perhaps she would be a fitting lover or something of that sort. She would make Santa more powerful than her wildest imaginations through the rapid consumption method. Lagos had at this moment laid herself on one of the largest metal tree branches whilst keeping her eyes on Santa’s actions. She was a strong Arrancar and an impressive Fraccion. She wanted to see how much Santa Ajora was worth and witness her grow at least until an Adjuchas stage before deciding if she was worthy to continue to nurture. For now, she imagined Santa to be a baby that she had to feed. She would grow later into a beautiful Arrancar woman of death depending on how she was treated.

Lagos was getting bored of all this easy slaughter of Hollow. She's fed Santa quite a bit and she has yet to see how appreciation would be shown other than a simple thanks. She expects something of equal value from Santa for the help she has lended. This little smallfry hollow in front of her was rather bold to call her a lapdog to a Shinigami, but hopefully that mistake wouldn't be made again. If she did, Lagos would make sure that Santa would be slaughtered with her bare hands. The Menos Forest still had plenty of beings to devour, so Lagos would wait and try to force upon the Gillian a metamorphosis into the Adjuchas stage. That was the stage where these so called voices are virtually gone and vanquished. Then again, Lagos never heard such voices to begin with anyways. She was always the strongest voice and the strongest pressure in the body she had. Even as a Gillian, her roars were far louder than the smaller voices that made up her body.

She thought of the good times when she used to wander with Shikihitsuko and her old comrades before they betrayed his kindness. She wondered where Ungere might be in these moments ad she would really enjoy killing him sometime. Those were the days that she and the old gang were still friendly and Shimihitsuko was their guardian and leader. Well, he was still her leader anyways. She wondered what her master might be doing at the moment anyways. Perhaps he was meditating in his quarters or doing something important for Sonken. She would be in deep thought for a while as she would allow her Hollow to eat and grow from the meals Lagos provided. She felt rather accomplished at the moment seeing she's done so much.

Anyways, Lagos was going to head back to her barracks soon. However, she knew where she could find Santa. She would always keep close eyes on her anyways. Slowly sitting up, she would look to see what the Hollow was doing now after having eaten so much food. Surely she should he close or on the brink of evolution after all this food she's eaten. Power was food for a Hollow and Vice Versa. She was fascinated by Santa and couldn't wait to see her progress in growing in strength and power. Lagos would stay for a while longer to feed the deer stag before getting ready to head off. She couldn't be with Santa 24/7 so of course she had other things to do. Perhaps she would go train herself with some harder opponents afterwards.

[Santa Ajora]

Hatred.....

HatredHatred...


HATRED HATRED HATRED HATRED!

That twisting emotion began worming it's way through Ajora's body. The instant the woman slammed that spiritual pressure down on her, for just a moment she started to fall, was about to slam into the floor. But Ajora was not THAT much weaker than Lagos. And just before seh hhit the ground, she stopped, her own spiritual pressure rising as those glowing eyes shone brighter, and by using up a little of her reiatsu, she stood up straight, those piercing eyes glaring at Lagos as the woman promptly decided to start talking....

And Touching her.

Ajora was normally an oddly weird and relaxed hollow. After all, she had even gone so far as to let several of would-be-meals live in the past, whimsically allowing them to go, for no other reason than that they interested her, or she had sinister plans for them in the future. But this.... this was different. This woman was so far up her own tailpipe that Lagos could almost not stand it. She didn't mind that for some reason, the woman thought that a hollow could never stand up to an arrancar. She didn't mind that this woman had some sort of weird boner for her espada. She didn't mind that....for some odd reason, this woman was talking about LARGE scale rebellion right infront of her.

She was an idiot. Not only for telling either a very idiodic lie or a very sensitive secret to some random hollow, but for the fact that she was audacious enough to point that cero at her face. And as she did so, the slow creep of flesh along Ajora's mask would prime two beartraps at LAgos's feet. As it were? Lagos was not overly sharp or observant. She was a fighter, and she honestly seemed to have no interest or training in avoiding being snuck up on. So there was no reason why she s hould notice those bone traps forming just around her ankles where she stood on Santa. She had an impressive spiritual power yes... but Ajora was betting to bet that she was twice, if not thrice, as strong physically as this woman. And Hierro would stop her from being bitten... but it would not stop Ajora from twisting and snapping her bones beneath that tough skin.

Nor would it stop Ajora from forcing barbed ligaments into the woman's eyes and dragging them back out of her ears, shredding that misguided brain tissue inside the arrancar's skull. An option that was sounding more and more favorable by the second. But of course even THOSE weren't what REALLY got Santa angry. No... what got her angry... was the IDEA of this pompous, snobby, daddy's-little-girl little arrancar, thinking that SHE was responsible for how strong Ajora became. And she could fucking SEE it. She could SEE herself becoming an adjuchas... a Vasto... and maybe even stronger.

And she could see this little BITCH taking credit. She could SEE her just wagging that metahphorical tail of hers and telling her master how good she was for making something so strong. She could just IMAGINE her telling Ajora that the only reason she was so strong was because of her. And that.... that more than anything else made her furious. It twisted inside of her and made her want to vomit. So when Lagos's spiritual pressure slammed all of those OTHER hollows to the ground. There was a tingle.

Lagos, of course, would be unaffected. As much as she hated to admit, this little tart WAS of a higher class of spirit. But all of the other hollows soon had a very unusual problem. and for the first time, Lagos would see the flesh growing not just from the ground and the trees, but from the hollows themselves. In the course of a few seconds, those hollows began being covered from head to toe in that flesh, their screams muffled before massive spikes of bone stabbed through them. Masks, chests, necks. All of them died, or were close to it. And Ajora would GLARE at Lagos, as that massive wall of ligaments suddenly began moving.

And Lagos would watch as twisted barbs grew along those flehsy strings, and those that were still alive screamed louder as those twisted razor-like ropes were forced into their mouths, and began twisting through their bodies. Tortuously shredding their insides, ripping out their guts and flesh as every hollow within ten meters of Ajora was tortuously murdered. Of course normally she would not have the concentration to murder so many at once. but thanks to Lagos's Indescriminant use of her spiritual pressure. She could.

And even more... a smile actually crossed her lips when those random eyes spotted something interesting. three little arrancar. Of course they were hiding, and out of sight. And they were rather good at it. Enough to escape Lagos's detection. But not Ajora's. She didn't know why they were here... maybe they disliked the woman arrancar just as much as she. Or maybe they were her fans and were stalking the woman. This didn't matter to Ajora. As soon those arrancar, who WEREN'T as firmly reslute in their class as LAgos, had flesh growing from their own skin, and suddenly they were no longer hiding.

And they screamed. Lagos would hear them scream, not the voices of hollows, but the voice of humanoids. And she'd hear the sickening KLAK as several traps that had formed from the ground beheaded two of them. But.... not all of them. The two that had died instantly were not strong enough to know Hierro. They had no protection, and like SO many low-class arrancar, they had died, probably wishing that they had been stronger.

But one of them... DID have hierro. And those eyes of Santa's could even SEE that smug look on the girl's face when the trap's teeth failed to cut off her head, even though she struggles to breathe. And for a moment, Ajora turned her head away from Lagos, and at the tree that the arrancar was hiding behind. As if to look directly at the arrancar just as that trap squeezed harder, and that smug look suddenly changed. Just as the neck snapped and the arrancar's neck broke. But hey, at least that pretty skin was left alone. As the girl's body and limbs were gripped and twisted in the rong directions, folded up, and rolled into a messy ball of twisted limbs. Normally it was not even that bad, normally when she could break the skin of her victims, they just looked like big meatballs. But sadly, this looked far worse.

Along with the bodies of those restrained hollows, all of those little spheres of twisted bodies that began being moved toward Santa, the arrancar's was the only recognizeable one. There was nothing Santa could do about that skin, so the woman simply looked like a person, twisted and broken to be mushed up into a ball. Like some yoga pose gone horribly gone. At least until Stnaja leaned down, and swallowed her whole, and began eating the others as well.

She said nothing to Lagos. She was far too furious for that, she just ate like the woman told her to. Chomping down bits of gillian, hollows, and of course the three arrancar who normally would have given her trouble. But thanks to Lagos, had been immobilized and murdered with ease. In addition to the three that Lagos had killed herself, Ajora had murdered around ten of those hollows, and of course the three arrancar. All of which went straight down into her gullet.

And with a slow, meaningful gradualness, Ajora turned to glare at Lagos. And she said nothing. She did not come up with some snappy comeback. She did not bother describing her intentions. Because frankly.....Lagos was wrong. she had noticed the arrancar from some ways away. The woman had absolutely no talent when it came to hiding. If the woman ever tried to watch Santa, the gillian would know immediately. And she was almost certain that if the situation were reversed, it would be Lagos who had no idea. Well... she would know that Ajora was around. Just probably not where she was specifically. Ajora did have to admit... her ability did make her presence obvious. But at least it wasn't the same about her exact location.

But she didn't bother speaking up about that. Instead.... the darkness swallowed her. And in the blink of an eye, she was gone. She didn't use ulcera, but had outright dug herself into the vally of screams, heading for soul society, thoroughly convinced that she did not wish to be around Lagos. At least not until she was stronger. Stronger than Lagos. THAT is what she wanted. She wanted to get strong... strong enough to rub the woman's ideas in her stupid pretty face. Strong enough that when the day came, NOBODY could take credit for her strength.

Yea... that bothered her more than she expected. It actually bothered her more than being touched. Lagos had dared to say she would be the reason for Ajora being stronger. And out of sheer pettiness, even though she actually kindof liked Lagos, even though she didn't really hate the woman, even though she had... actually...been considering ignorinf the woman's transgressions to join with them. After all, Ajora was a born subordinate. She liked to be led around, she liked not having to think for herself.

But she could not stand the idea fo anyone taking credit for her strength.
And she would never accept such a person who even implied that THEY had any say in how powerful she became. And it was for that reason that she just left. No last word. No goodbyes. She didn't even bother telling Lagos that she was going to prove them wrong. All she did was just vanish, and all at once, the flesh around Lagos would stop growing, and the number of uneaten hollows lying around would no longer be suffocated, all of them beginning to free themselves. Some of them just outright escaping, terrified, others beginning to search for Santaja, with thoughts of vengeance. Santa didn't care. She was going to go eat. Away from Lagos. Where that damned woman would not be able to steal the credit for it.

2 class 8 hollows supplied by Lagos
1 class 5 Hollow supplies by Lagos
6 class 8 hollows devoured by Ajora
2 class 6 Arrancar devoured by Ajora
1 class 4 Arrancar devoured by Ajora

[Lagos Oscuras]

Bloodlust. She could smell in the air as the Gillian in front of her had been able to resist the pressure by expelling reiatsu. So it seemed there was more fire in this Gillian than she first thought. As she touched the Gillian, she could feel the blobs of flesh move along the mask and form something underneath her feet. “How bold you are. You have to ask yourself though...who is going to die first? Will my Cero blow a hole in your head first? Or is your foolish appendages going to break through my Hierro and kill me first? Think logically you fool. Even if these little traps of yours could cripple me, which they won’t. I will kill you and feed your corpse to another Hollow. Keep in mind that even IF you are decently strong now, you do not hold a candle up to me. That is why I offer the option to nurture you.” She wasn’t negligent of her surroundings as Santa first thought. The thought that this Hollow thought she could kill Lagos interested her, and she was half hoping that she would dare to try so she could get some more murder into her day.

The Hollow then seemed to react by using her power to kill several Hollows in the area with her odd power, and Lagos raised an eyebrow. The glare had not gone unnoticed by Lagos as she walked farther onto the mask away from the sludge of flesh. “I can see what you’re thinking right now. I can understand every little petty emotion in your head. I can observe and feel every fucking follicle on your body. Keep in mind that I don't need you but yet I offer generosity. I see that filthy glare on your face as you see me as a Shinigami pet. I feed you not for my benefit. Let go of this stupidity you seem to be having and eat. As for why I am telling you so many sensitive secrets and such...I bet you’re wondering aren’t you.” She lowered her head down closer so that Santa could hear. “It is because I am so confident in my ability to kill you before you could do anything...that I can afford to share my thoughts with you right now. If you want to kill me, get stronger first...weakling. That is the way of Hueco Mundo and Los Noches.” The Arrancar giggled coldly before using her insane speed Sonido to vanish off the mask and on the tree.

Lagos made no effort to hide because simply there was no need. She watched as the Gillian ate and murdered and it made Lagos smile simply watching this Hollow grow in strength and power. How wonderful it was to see that even the Arrancar were being used to feed this Gillian. Those Arrancar surely were weak and were not worthy to be Arrancar or to serve the cause of Los Noches. Santa ate and ate, but glaring at Lagos all the time. Lagos encouraged this anger and hoped that perhaps one day, she would be killed. However, she would take comfort in knowing that she would give birth to this great power that was growing within Santa. It was about time that she was to go and file in her report now that she thought about it. She was dilly dallying with this Hollow for far too long as time was passing. It was such a bore to go back there however. She wondered what she was going to do anyways if she were to go back. Whatever the case, she would figure that out later.

It seemed Santa had the wrong impression of Lagos’ offer. Who gave a shit about if Lagos was going to take credit for the power she gave Santa or not. Not that Lagos cared for such trivial bullshittery. What mattered was that Santa would be incredibly powerful regardless. In all actuality, Lagos did help gain this Hollow power even if she refuses to believe it. Quite a few Hollow were easily killed and devoured thanks to her efforts and for Santa to ignore that or rather refuse to believe that Lagos was helping was arrogance and pride. The woman looked outward as she sensed reiatsu open into a large Garganta before she moved out. It honestly didn’t matter to Lagos at this point as she had fun. Yes, she felt wonderful as bloodshed was her pleasure. She enjoyed torturing and mutilating living beings and she being the one who did it. Before she would go to a boring day of nothingness, perhaps she would leave some fine scraps for any Hollow that would like to eat to evolve. She wanted to show just how strong Santa was going to need to get in order to kill Lagos.

“Sly Vulpecas.” Lagos’ power grew tremendously as her spiritual pressure was off the charts for a moment. The woman glew a bright red color as she rapidly changed and morphed. Suddenly, nine white tails swayed behind her as her mask grew more pronounced. It covered more of her face and was almost like a helmet protecting her head. There was a bright glow in Lagos’ eyes as she then swung all nine of her tails in varying direction. Many Gillian had been attracted to the insanely rich and pure spiritual pressure they were sensing. They wanted to eat and gain power of this woman...this Arrancar that Santa was disgusted in. Several Gillian and Adjuchas had charged as Lagos grinned. “You fools...you’re already dead.” Suddenly, the gigantic menos that had been howling and walking stopped as they were seemingly frozen for a moment. Then, suddenly gigantic slashes of wind had formed along every single one of their torsos as they all began to slide to the floor. This was the power she enjoyed having. Lagos fell into a maniacal laughter of happiness as then the weaker ones had attempted to swarm and devour her. Weaklings were fun to play with but it was more satisfying to kill the strong.

Using her tails, she wrapped them around the throats of nine of the Hollows, using the strength of her Hierro to hold them in place. Afterwards, suddenly a gigantic clout of magma had formed and cries were heard as they were burned and melted rapidly. The magma had then rapidly flew and was manipulated to fly and splatter the cannon fodder down below making them inedible for the most part. The mayhem and chaos was comforting to the woman. Then, manipulating the wind and the magma at the same time. A tornado of magma had been formed, travelling across the Menos Forest and destroying everything in it’s path. It was a beautiful creation in her mind as it began to melt down the trees, Hollows that were caught within it, and the earth itself. It scarred the landscape and it just made her feel ecstasy in this moment. She decided though to finish it off with something that would restore the earth somewhat. Her Hollow friend was already gone so no need to keep this around.

Suddenly, the lava and wind stopped as it fell to the floor. Using her tails once more, a giant tidal wave of water would wash over the area, sweeping everything and then colliding with the magma to rapidly cool it and turn it into stone. Every bit of destruction she made was something that would testify her power. It would show that she was something that would be remembered if not by others, then the land itself would recognize it. She had her fun, but now was the time for her to leave and head back to Los Noches. She would take the liberty to take another long gaze at the new landscape she created before quickly vanishing using the Sonido. She loved feeling powerful and she loved even more so the ability to make things change in the world. That was what she thought power was.

As she exited Primera Etapa once near the safety of home, she felt drained and tired...but yet also content. She sighed happily as she walked in and thought about her outing with Shikihitsuko-Sama. That was truly one of the best trips she's had as they killed several Shinigami and got to relish destruction together. She might not have gotten to use her Primera Etapa in worry of her master's safety, but she was content with getting to spend time with him. She was gaining strength and she could feel herself adjusting more and more to her Arrancar form. She felt her tail wag underneath her heavy clothes as the entered her chambers close to her own masters. She hoped they could go on another trip sometime as well. For now though, she was somewhat curious about the Hollow Santa.

She most likely went to the spiritual world of Soul Society seeing it was still within a state of chaos and dissaray. Most likely she would go there to feed, but after hers and Shikihitsuko's visit, most likely the security would be bolstered and patrols far more often. Hopefully Santa would survive and come back in a state where Lagos could be more...intimidated by the Hollow. Santa had a long way to grow and Lagos had fair reason to believe that she wouldn't become a Vasto Lorde. They say that you can count the number of Vasto Lordes that there are on the fingers of your hand. That shows how incredibly rare they are and how unlikely it would be that they would ever come into Hueco Mundo. It would take thousands of years perhaps to make such a Hollow come into existence. She was hoping that when they meet also that the Hollow would have some more common sense and not be so petty.

She felt herself slowly resting against her hammock that she had set up in her small room and closing her eyes, removed of all clothing. She had smiled brightly as she dreamed of the next day and also of some beautiful ladies to spend some time with. Before she completely fell unconscious however, she decided that soon she should increase her technique load. She was going to need some more skills in order to become a superior Arrancar that all would remember. She didn't know what she was going to learn yet but that didn't matter so much right now. She had plenty of time to consider and think about what she was going to learn. The grey haired beauty had slumbered with her tail deformity wrapping around her before she would lightly breath with her chest rising and sinking rhythmically. 

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

Graded under Kento's senior member ruling

1900 CTP from all consumptions, given to Santa

19 paragraphs. 90 TTP, given to Santa

55 paragraphs. 130 SP, given to Santa

74 paragraphs. 180 SP, given to Lagos

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Grading approved.