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tampered2007-07-14 01:14 am
with-no-fear.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-07-14 01:14 am
Log; Complete
When; Friday, July Thirteenth, during the day
Rating; G
Characters; Aizen Sousuke![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
with_no_fear and Cirucci Thunderwitch thunderwitch
Summary; Aizen inquires as to the situation in the City.
Log;
On the top floor of the tenth building the windows seemed unable to reveal what lay inside. Though beyond the limited sight of the glass panes were expansive halls of pure white stone arching high overhead. It was nothing quite so grand as Sombre de Los Noches, but the architecture was similar and the layout much the same. Everything was centered on a two simple rooms, one containing a white throne set in the center, and the other a table with eleven seats.
It was in the first of these two rooms that Aizen waited, sitting comfortably in the uncomfortable looking white chair. Hard angles, and appearing to be made of the same stone that constructed everything around it, it was a simple yet grandiose piece. It was brightly lit here, the high overhead lights casting everything into stark relief, the white and red of his uniform hardly making a shadow with the light reflecting back up off the surrounding stone.
He had informed Cirucci Tunderwitch that he wished to speak with her, and she had responded promptly, letting him know she would be present shortly. He had no doubt that, even though she had not been here before, the construct of this place would be familiar to her. She would be able to locate him here without any trouble.
Locating him was easy. It was bringing herself to enter with that proud lilt to her head and the subservient tint to her voice that was the problem.
She was afraid. That was not uncommon, after all, Arrancar were born from the fear, served the man with none. And yet, here, now, having defected from his rule when he had last been here due to his weakness, his death, his altogether change, she was afraid to face him again. What if he had been acting all that time, and knew what she had done? What if he truly were back to his old self, the one she followed, and knew, somehow, that she had been instrumental in swaying several others to following Alturo? What if one of the Arrancar here had told him of what she'd done.
But she was a good actor, and she entered calmly, high styled hair whipping back behind her as she strode across the white halls as proudly as if she still had a five etched on her skin, approached the appropriate distance and dropped her head in a pseudo-bow, eyes to the floor for the brief moment of obeisance.
"Aizen-sama."
"Thunderwitch." A fatherly smile graced his lips as he looked down at the Arrancar. "Prompt as expected." She'd always been on time when summoned, because she knew her place, and knew what would become of her if she acted outside of that set role. Even though she was not one of his, she was a good child. Rather, she could be a good child, if it would benefit her.
"You seem comfortable in this city." It was not a question, but a statement of fact. He knew she would make herself comfortable anywhere, and use those around her to her advantage. She was crafty, and one of the more skilled at keeping herself hidden in plain sight. He'd seen her get herself in and out of more trouble in Hueco Mundo than nearly any other Arrancar.
"I am, to an extent, Aizen-sama." She had acclimated somewhat, learned that sometimes wearing human clothes could benefit her more than the fear and wariness her uniform demanded, learned to survive on human food instead of souls, how to simper and how to beg for things without meaning to, which mortals could be useful and which were to be avoided, who allied with shinigami and who did not.
"As comfortable as one can be here." Her small frame seemed so much more so against the proportions of the room, yet she couldn't stop a sense of relief from flooding her at the familiar sight, the large white rooms, the toweringly blank walls, and the stark white floors. Blinding and bright.
"Good to hear you are so well adjusted." He rested his chin on one upturned hand, elbow perched on the arm of his chair. "I've no doubt you could tell me quite a bit about this place, and the people who seem to know my name even though I have just arrived." Aizen seemed bored with what he was saying, and he was, all of this simply minor details compared to why he had asked her here. She would be questioned first, before the others, because she was the most predictable, the easiest to read.
"You must know everything about this other Aizen I've heard of. If anyone would know."
"Of course I do, Aizen-sama." Cirucci acted as casual as she usually did, idly checked the black polish on her nails, checked the fit of glove on her elbow, smoothed her skirt, adjusted a garter. Tossing the dark waves of hair behind her shoulder, she looked up with a small, indulgent smile.
"Anything you ask, Cirucci can answer." She assured, a small bow to accompany the word. Favor. Currying it, that was her forte, trying to earn back what she had possessed before and desired to possess again.
"I'm glad you are so confidant in yourself." Aizen dismissed the act she put on, showing skin just so, trying to distract the mind with her body and air of casualness. "Please, tell me, who is this Alturo Plateado you serve?" His eyes were cold and sharp, locking with hers and demanding an answer, straightforward, and without delay. "A natural born Arrancar, like yourself, is he not?"
She should have known, really. She had.
"He claims to be the first Arrancar to ever rip of his mask." Violet eyes lowered, settling at his feet and not his eyes. "Due to events that you took part in when you were last here, you were no longer the strongest." Honesty, or, at least, a form of honesty, was the best policy. "No longer the one who deserved followers." Full lips pursed.
"You, or, the one who looked like you," She didn't quite believe that, but it was the theory he presented, so she accepted it for now. "Did several things that we, the Arrancar, did not approve of."
At least she did not deny it. "The first, he says? I think I would like to meet him then." Aizen knew of every Arrancar in Hueco Mundo when he had left Soul Society, but Alturo Plateado had not been among them. He was here though, and he had no doubt that Arrancar would know their own kind, at the very least.
"Then, what was it this other did in my name, what sort of weakness did he show to cause your loyalties to diverge so dangerously?" This was something he had heard hints of, whispers since he had arrived in this place the day before. Quite amazing how many lips he had heard his name upon in so short a time.
"He's quite..." Cirucci smirked a bit, let her more obvious intents show as a sort of excuse, to present the sexual attraction as a baser, simpler reason for her own interest in the other Arrancar male. It was easy enough for the others to believe that, considering her nature, so much more instinctual at times, seeking her own selfish hedonisms before much else. "Interesting."
At the mention of what he had done, however, a pout of a frown came to lips, and she crossed her arms under her breasts with a cock of her hip.
"Fucked a shinigami, acted foolishly, made nice with the enemy, and died." She had never been the most respectful, or tactful with words unless she had to be, and a more blunt approach was what she had now.
"I can see the need to be polite, as it will get one much further than being rude, but making nice with the enemy seems a bit extreme." Even if they could not technically die here, he saw that as not a reason to stop killing them but as a valid excuse to allow the Arrancar their fun, happy children were much more obedient. That was only one interpretation of what she might have meant. "What exactly, by playing nice, do you mean?" If he understood the Thunderwitch as well as he knew he did, it meant that there had been some sort of cease fire, for lack of a better term.
Cirucci took a breath, dropped her sweet and simpering veneer for a simple taught hold on her shoulders and an even gaze.
"Fell in love with the shinigami Matsumoto Rangiku." To say it disgusted her, that was evident in the bitterness of her tongue, the vicious and predatory glint in her eyes.
Aizen laughed, threw back his head and laughed. "Fell in love? With Matsumoto Rangiku." The very idea was absurd. He had never held any interest for any female shinigami, nor would he ever; besides, he doubted Gin would be very pleased with him under those circumstances. "That fool claimed to love Matsumoto Rangiku, and you honestly believed it was I?" He calmed himself, laughter subsiding. "That is far more than playing nice, that is playing the fool."
"Now, please, tell me about this dieing thing, I'm sure it will be just as amusing."
Cirucci prickled, brow furrowed, and lips pursed, affronted visibly at his disbelief. He had, it had happened, and it had been disgusting. But she held her tongue, bit hard to remind herself. Subservience. Obeisance. Servitude. Privaron Espada.
"... On a curse day that made you human, the creature Darth Bane killed you in revenge for you killing him earlier... for killing Matsumoto Rangiku." Her small hands had curled into tight fists, evident of her bitterness.
"Made me human? You are mistaken. I've only just arrived here." Killed for killing the woman this other was supposed to be in love with, an oddly ironic twist. A deserving fate for one who would be so stupid as to fall to such emotions. "Though, how this form could be made human without use of a gigai is something worth looking into. I can only assume it was temporary change, from what I've heard of curses before now."
"You said before that one cannot die in this city, if this is the case, how was it this other fell?" A hole in her story, something that did not add up, after all, she stood before him now. "What of Dordonii? Di Roy?" After his small moment of amusement he had settled back into his lounging position.
"One can die." Her pale fingers tangled in thick hair, played idly to distract herself from the nervousness in the pit of her stomach, settled in the hole of her torso.
"But after twenty four hours, you live again. But you're cold, you're blood doesn't pulse, you're weakened some, and you're unable to return back to your world." Cirucci shifted her weight from one leg to another. "Dordonii and Di Roy came here dead." She didn't mention she had come still alive, but was dead now. The omission was there, though, for she never could flat out lie to the man when he was like that, could only tangle the truth up in fancy words.
"Something along those lines was mentioned to me; Dordonii said that he was weakened, and a heart would no longer beat for those who had them." Aizen was interested by this, much like old stories of the living dead, but also, in a sense, like a soul inhabiting a gigai. There was no pulse, and powers were greatly restricted. This however, was a much different thing than simply inhabiting a false body.
"In the span of one day the corpse comes to a pseudo life, but they are trapped within this place..." He smiled down at her, almost warmly, save for the coldness in his eyes. "I wonder how it is that this other disappeared, and I arrived from the heart of Los Noches only yesterday? It was not long after you and your fellow Privaron fell in battle." He was unsure of what the Thunderwitch knew of, after her death, though she seemed to have slipped from their world to this moments before it had taken place, by the way she spoke. "The one you fell to, the Quincy, was fighting with the Octava at that time. I wonder how he faired against Szayel Aporro?"
"..." She knew what he was trying to do, felt an inkling of his intent even as she responded in a manner she usually did, defensive, shoulders squaring and violet gaze cold and hard.
"... Of course he could not win against the Octava, despite how he fared against a mere Privaron." Admitting such was a tremendous blow to her pride, but she grit it out anyway, anger evident in every thrum of how she stood, restrained, however, behind the delicate body's appearance of gentle femininity.
"It is not looking likely that he will fail, but he's always been a headstrong child. He may underestimate his opponents and fall as his brother did before him." Aizen offered offhandedly, as if he weren't really thinking about the particular topic. "Even so, there are others among the Espada more powerful than he, if he does fall." He turned his head slightly, so he was looking at her more straight on. "I forgot to mention he also faces a vice captain from Soul Society, the same that killed Il Forte. So far he is doing well."
"So, this other died here, but managed to leave, and crawled into the bed of a shinigami. I cannot say I would follow such a man, where I you, either." He brought the subject back to the point as quickly as he had changed it, allowing the barb to dig into the Privaron's side. "Currying favor with this other Arrancar might have been your best choice at the time, fear and unclear goals will only make you weak."
Her discomfort was becoming more and more obvious under his clear gaze, reading her every motion, her ever thought and interpreting it correctly. This was what Aizen Sousuke was like. This was how he was, this was part of his power, that all seeing gaze. Every weakness became magnified, taken out to view. She hated Il Forte, hated him for leaving her with that weakness that everyone saw fit to bring up once she'd managed to shove thoughts of him away from her, to separate him from her mind and longing. She did not give obvious tells, tells that a human would notice, but she knew Aizen did.
A twitch of her fingers, nails dug in to arm, a small nip at painted lip.
"... He was the better leader between the two choices."
"A decision had to be made." He conceded, offering her an understanding sort of smile. "The Arrancar will only follow the strongest, the one with no fear, no matter who he be. This other was weak, and made poor decisions. You had no choice." That was her line of reasoning, the one she planned to spoon feed him. He knew her, but more importantly he, Aizen Sousuke, knew Arrancar. "So, you've been protecting yourself, your own interests by following this first Arrancar, by feeding him honeyed words." She would have offered herself to him, the one thing she had to gain power over another even when she was physically weaker. "A smart decision any would have made after dieing once at the hands of our enemies, and finding them in the one place you should be free of them, finding them even in death."
"Who else will haunt you here, while you cower under the protection of another Arrancar? I wonder, as more shinigami arrive to challenge him, will he throw you to them for his own ends?" Self preservation was first and foremost in ever Arrancar's mind, but none more so than Cirucci Thunderwitch. "The curses may affect him as well, I would like to see what happens when an Arrancar is turned human, only to have their heart ripped away again." He paused for a moment. "Is he strong enough to face the shinigami, Thunderwitch? I must admit, I'm interested in the one you've chosen, you and the others."
"... That's happened." She mentioned, almost an offhand comment at his reference to hearts before she moved on, bitter and caustic in her voice with her frustration, her discontent, clear in body language ill disguised. Complimenting her decision, flattering her choice, while at the same time reminding her that she had fallen, that she had failed.
"I've taken steps to ensure Alturo finding my attentions more valuable than the others." She spoke calmly as she was able, willing to throw anyone aside to ensure her own safety, her own favor. "He was the first, and he had never seen another Arrancar, sealed under the shinigami Soukyouku, and he'd never seen a female of our kind, either." A small smirk did manage to make it's way back to confidant lips. "He's got that weapon's power, he can take the shinigami." Talked amazingly to, in whispers and moans, oh how it felt to crush them.
"Yes, the Soukyouku, that weapon stood in for a long time, rumored unstoppable, unbeatable. I can see why it would be used to seal such a powerful being." The weapon he had tried to use to extract the Hogyoku from Kuchiki Rukia. Aizen knew that weapons workings well. "It was destroyed just before I came to Hueco Mundo, but not before it was stopped simply by the blade of Kurosaki Ichigo. The shinigami destroyed the Soukyuoku with little effort on their part, and just before it was so easily stopped by a boy I cut nearly in two." He recounted the events of that day to the Thunderwitch, aware that she didn't know the details of it. "I can see where the power of such a thing would be useful, especially to the one it so easily sealed. It had to be equal to, if not greater than his own to hold him, so he must have nearly doubled in power. I'm sure he would make a lovely match for any captain level now."
"His reiatsu feels like that, yes." Cirucci listened obediently, nodded at the appropriate times, and flicked idly at her nails.
"He went up against... the imposter," She almost stumbled over the change of phrasing, over saying he was not who he was, "And came out evenly matched when you were dead, with your power level suppressed somewhat."
"Evenly matched? With such powers at his disposal, I would have liked to see such a fight. It may have been entertaining. Even if, as you say, this impostor was very weak." Aizen tossed the matter aside as if it were the most unimportant thing he had heard in some time. "Though, I need remind you, I am not dead, nor are my powers suppressed." He let the crushing weight of his reiatsu bare down on her, imagining how it must feel to her small frame, demonstrating casually that it was as it had always been. Just as quickly he abated the pressure again.
"Whether you believe or not is not the issue at hand. I was more concerned with simple information. Acquiring the way out of this dimension means I need to understand this dimension, and I cannot understand it if there are fools in my way. Which reminds me, I was informed that your zanpakuto was restored by the deities of this place, do you know anything of them?" Kotobuki Ran had given him little information on them, only enough to determine that they were useless on a whole.
She had listened, quiet, could feel his reiatsu build the moment before it hit her, before she fell, struggled to stay upright, then struggled to stay on her hands and knees, lost both battles and felt her belly on the cold stone floor, white and harsh and icy against her already cold skin. She'd forgotten this, forgotten how it felt to be so weak, too weak, to be reminded how she measured up to one who could become a god. A sweat had broken out immediately, teeth grit, bit into bottom lip and suppressed an angry snarl to choke back in her throat even as the feeling left her trying to recover the breath that had knocked out of her.
"... The dei-" She swallowed hard, fisted her hands and struggled weakly back onto her knees, legs trembled enough that she couldn't risk trying to stand least she fall, had to settle on her hind end and press her palms hard into thighs, trying to shake that feeling, that worthlessness. "The deities... rule this world. They control the curses, the clock, the... weather... landscape... they grant favors to citizens in exhange for powers, or memories... they're all... different..."
"Childish." The more Aizen heard of these deities, the less he thought of them. Two sources, with no connections that he was currently aware of, had given him much the same impression. "They play games, and do not rule." They may hold power over this place, but he knew that one could always achieve the power to upset the current, after all, was that not his own goal, one he only needed a little key to reach? "What would a ruling being need of such things, or do they give no reasonings?"
"... The curses are to... bring negative emotion." She suppressed a tired pant, muffled back her weakness and hunched her shoulders, stared at the floor to prevent her furious gaze from rising to be seen by him.
"To fuel the clock... which is counting down to... the end of worlds." Cirucci didn't believe it for a second, considered it all bluff, all bark.
"I've heard tell of this Clock. Fueled by negative emotions was something I was unaware of. The Arrancar must be a wonderful treat for it." The children were always unhappy with something. "Yet, I cannot believe that such beings, who are incapable of ruling seriously, could cause such an event." Unless he had proof beyond a faint, easily pushed aside, ticking he would not believe it. Then, if it proved to be true, he would simply dispose of the deities, and continue to his own goals.
"Is there any more information on this you can give to me?"
"... Cirucci concentrated more on things she thought concerned her, not deities who play games and pretend to end the world." The Privaron finally rose back to her feet, small boots sounding, smoothing down her skirt ragged with nerves.
"So, no, Aizen-sama."
"Then you are dismissed." Aizen gave a small flick of the hand he was not resting on, signaling her out of his presence. He had the information he needed from her, and she would spread this conversation to the others. They would make their decision to stand where they thought best. He would not force them back, they would be useless to him like that, all of the Arrancar would, they had to come on their own, remember why they had served him in the first place.
Aizen said, as Cirucci reached the door at the far end of the room, almost to himself. "A pity you died."
Cirucci didn't speak anymore, bit back her retort, a retort that she had come to this City alive, had died of her own volition but he didn't need to know, ducked her head and bowed out, more like a retreat than an exit, waiting until she'd gotten out of the tenth building, gotten into her own apartment, to sink to the floor and bury her face in her hands.
She was worthless.
She'd forgotten.
Rating; G
Characters; Aizen Sousuke
with_no_fear and Cirucci Thunderwitch thunderwitchSummary; Aizen inquires as to the situation in the City.
Log;
On the top floor of the tenth building the windows seemed unable to reveal what lay inside. Though beyond the limited sight of the glass panes were expansive halls of pure white stone arching high overhead. It was nothing quite so grand as Sombre de Los Noches, but the architecture was similar and the layout much the same. Everything was centered on a two simple rooms, one containing a white throne set in the center, and the other a table with eleven seats.
It was in the first of these two rooms that Aizen waited, sitting comfortably in the uncomfortable looking white chair. Hard angles, and appearing to be made of the same stone that constructed everything around it, it was a simple yet grandiose piece. It was brightly lit here, the high overhead lights casting everything into stark relief, the white and red of his uniform hardly making a shadow with the light reflecting back up off the surrounding stone.
He had informed Cirucci Tunderwitch that he wished to speak with her, and she had responded promptly, letting him know she would be present shortly. He had no doubt that, even though she had not been here before, the construct of this place would be familiar to her. She would be able to locate him here without any trouble.
Locating him was easy. It was bringing herself to enter with that proud lilt to her head and the subservient tint to her voice that was the problem.
She was afraid. That was not uncommon, after all, Arrancar were born from the fear, served the man with none. And yet, here, now, having defected from his rule when he had last been here due to his weakness, his death, his altogether change, she was afraid to face him again. What if he had been acting all that time, and knew what she had done? What if he truly were back to his old self, the one she followed, and knew, somehow, that she had been instrumental in swaying several others to following Alturo? What if one of the Arrancar here had told him of what she'd done.
But she was a good actor, and she entered calmly, high styled hair whipping back behind her as she strode across the white halls as proudly as if she still had a five etched on her skin, approached the appropriate distance and dropped her head in a pseudo-bow, eyes to the floor for the brief moment of obeisance.
"Aizen-sama."
"Thunderwitch." A fatherly smile graced his lips as he looked down at the Arrancar. "Prompt as expected." She'd always been on time when summoned, because she knew her place, and knew what would become of her if she acted outside of that set role. Even though she was not one of his, she was a good child. Rather, she could be a good child, if it would benefit her.
"You seem comfortable in this city." It was not a question, but a statement of fact. He knew she would make herself comfortable anywhere, and use those around her to her advantage. She was crafty, and one of the more skilled at keeping herself hidden in plain sight. He'd seen her get herself in and out of more trouble in Hueco Mundo than nearly any other Arrancar.
"I am, to an extent, Aizen-sama." She had acclimated somewhat, learned that sometimes wearing human clothes could benefit her more than the fear and wariness her uniform demanded, learned to survive on human food instead of souls, how to simper and how to beg for things without meaning to, which mortals could be useful and which were to be avoided, who allied with shinigami and who did not.
"As comfortable as one can be here." Her small frame seemed so much more so against the proportions of the room, yet she couldn't stop a sense of relief from flooding her at the familiar sight, the large white rooms, the toweringly blank walls, and the stark white floors. Blinding and bright.
"Good to hear you are so well adjusted." He rested his chin on one upturned hand, elbow perched on the arm of his chair. "I've no doubt you could tell me quite a bit about this place, and the people who seem to know my name even though I have just arrived." Aizen seemed bored with what he was saying, and he was, all of this simply minor details compared to why he had asked her here. She would be questioned first, before the others, because she was the most predictable, the easiest to read.
"You must know everything about this other Aizen I've heard of. If anyone would know."
"Of course I do, Aizen-sama." Cirucci acted as casual as she usually did, idly checked the black polish on her nails, checked the fit of glove on her elbow, smoothed her skirt, adjusted a garter. Tossing the dark waves of hair behind her shoulder, she looked up with a small, indulgent smile.
"Anything you ask, Cirucci can answer." She assured, a small bow to accompany the word. Favor. Currying it, that was her forte, trying to earn back what she had possessed before and desired to possess again.
"I'm glad you are so confidant in yourself." Aizen dismissed the act she put on, showing skin just so, trying to distract the mind with her body and air of casualness. "Please, tell me, who is this Alturo Plateado you serve?" His eyes were cold and sharp, locking with hers and demanding an answer, straightforward, and without delay. "A natural born Arrancar, like yourself, is he not?"
She should have known, really. She had.
"He claims to be the first Arrancar to ever rip of his mask." Violet eyes lowered, settling at his feet and not his eyes. "Due to events that you took part in when you were last here, you were no longer the strongest." Honesty, or, at least, a form of honesty, was the best policy. "No longer the one who deserved followers." Full lips pursed.
"You, or, the one who looked like you," She didn't quite believe that, but it was the theory he presented, so she accepted it for now. "Did several things that we, the Arrancar, did not approve of."
At least she did not deny it. "The first, he says? I think I would like to meet him then." Aizen knew of every Arrancar in Hueco Mundo when he had left Soul Society, but Alturo Plateado had not been among them. He was here though, and he had no doubt that Arrancar would know their own kind, at the very least.
"Then, what was it this other did in my name, what sort of weakness did he show to cause your loyalties to diverge so dangerously?" This was something he had heard hints of, whispers since he had arrived in this place the day before. Quite amazing how many lips he had heard his name upon in so short a time.
"He's quite..." Cirucci smirked a bit, let her more obvious intents show as a sort of excuse, to present the sexual attraction as a baser, simpler reason for her own interest in the other Arrancar male. It was easy enough for the others to believe that, considering her nature, so much more instinctual at times, seeking her own selfish hedonisms before much else. "Interesting."
At the mention of what he had done, however, a pout of a frown came to lips, and she crossed her arms under her breasts with a cock of her hip.
"Fucked a shinigami, acted foolishly, made nice with the enemy, and died." She had never been the most respectful, or tactful with words unless she had to be, and a more blunt approach was what she had now.
"I can see the need to be polite, as it will get one much further than being rude, but making nice with the enemy seems a bit extreme." Even if they could not technically die here, he saw that as not a reason to stop killing them but as a valid excuse to allow the Arrancar their fun, happy children were much more obedient. That was only one interpretation of what she might have meant. "What exactly, by playing nice, do you mean?" If he understood the Thunderwitch as well as he knew he did, it meant that there had been some sort of cease fire, for lack of a better term.
Cirucci took a breath, dropped her sweet and simpering veneer for a simple taught hold on her shoulders and an even gaze.
"Fell in love with the shinigami Matsumoto Rangiku." To say it disgusted her, that was evident in the bitterness of her tongue, the vicious and predatory glint in her eyes.
Aizen laughed, threw back his head and laughed. "Fell in love? With Matsumoto Rangiku." The very idea was absurd. He had never held any interest for any female shinigami, nor would he ever; besides, he doubted Gin would be very pleased with him under those circumstances. "That fool claimed to love Matsumoto Rangiku, and you honestly believed it was I?" He calmed himself, laughter subsiding. "That is far more than playing nice, that is playing the fool."
"Now, please, tell me about this dieing thing, I'm sure it will be just as amusing."
Cirucci prickled, brow furrowed, and lips pursed, affronted visibly at his disbelief. He had, it had happened, and it had been disgusting. But she held her tongue, bit hard to remind herself. Subservience. Obeisance. Servitude. Privaron Espada.
"... On a curse day that made you human, the creature Darth Bane killed you in revenge for you killing him earlier... for killing Matsumoto Rangiku." Her small hands had curled into tight fists, evident of her bitterness.
"Made me human? You are mistaken. I've only just arrived here." Killed for killing the woman this other was supposed to be in love with, an oddly ironic twist. A deserving fate for one who would be so stupid as to fall to such emotions. "Though, how this form could be made human without use of a gigai is something worth looking into. I can only assume it was temporary change, from what I've heard of curses before now."
"You said before that one cannot die in this city, if this is the case, how was it this other fell?" A hole in her story, something that did not add up, after all, she stood before him now. "What of Dordonii? Di Roy?" After his small moment of amusement he had settled back into his lounging position.
"One can die." Her pale fingers tangled in thick hair, played idly to distract herself from the nervousness in the pit of her stomach, settled in the hole of her torso.
"But after twenty four hours, you live again. But you're cold, you're blood doesn't pulse, you're weakened some, and you're unable to return back to your world." Cirucci shifted her weight from one leg to another. "Dordonii and Di Roy came here dead." She didn't mention she had come still alive, but was dead now. The omission was there, though, for she never could flat out lie to the man when he was like that, could only tangle the truth up in fancy words.
"Something along those lines was mentioned to me; Dordonii said that he was weakened, and a heart would no longer beat for those who had them." Aizen was interested by this, much like old stories of the living dead, but also, in a sense, like a soul inhabiting a gigai. There was no pulse, and powers were greatly restricted. This however, was a much different thing than simply inhabiting a false body.
"In the span of one day the corpse comes to a pseudo life, but they are trapped within this place..." He smiled down at her, almost warmly, save for the coldness in his eyes. "I wonder how it is that this other disappeared, and I arrived from the heart of Los Noches only yesterday? It was not long after you and your fellow Privaron fell in battle." He was unsure of what the Thunderwitch knew of, after her death, though she seemed to have slipped from their world to this moments before it had taken place, by the way she spoke. "The one you fell to, the Quincy, was fighting with the Octava at that time. I wonder how he faired against Szayel Aporro?"
"..." She knew what he was trying to do, felt an inkling of his intent even as she responded in a manner she usually did, defensive, shoulders squaring and violet gaze cold and hard.
"... Of course he could not win against the Octava, despite how he fared against a mere Privaron." Admitting such was a tremendous blow to her pride, but she grit it out anyway, anger evident in every thrum of how she stood, restrained, however, behind the delicate body's appearance of gentle femininity.
"It is not looking likely that he will fail, but he's always been a headstrong child. He may underestimate his opponents and fall as his brother did before him." Aizen offered offhandedly, as if he weren't really thinking about the particular topic. "Even so, there are others among the Espada more powerful than he, if he does fall." He turned his head slightly, so he was looking at her more straight on. "I forgot to mention he also faces a vice captain from Soul Society, the same that killed Il Forte. So far he is doing well."
"So, this other died here, but managed to leave, and crawled into the bed of a shinigami. I cannot say I would follow such a man, where I you, either." He brought the subject back to the point as quickly as he had changed it, allowing the barb to dig into the Privaron's side. "Currying favor with this other Arrancar might have been your best choice at the time, fear and unclear goals will only make you weak."
Her discomfort was becoming more and more obvious under his clear gaze, reading her every motion, her ever thought and interpreting it correctly. This was what Aizen Sousuke was like. This was how he was, this was part of his power, that all seeing gaze. Every weakness became magnified, taken out to view. She hated Il Forte, hated him for leaving her with that weakness that everyone saw fit to bring up once she'd managed to shove thoughts of him away from her, to separate him from her mind and longing. She did not give obvious tells, tells that a human would notice, but she knew Aizen did.
A twitch of her fingers, nails dug in to arm, a small nip at painted lip.
"... He was the better leader between the two choices."
"A decision had to be made." He conceded, offering her an understanding sort of smile. "The Arrancar will only follow the strongest, the one with no fear, no matter who he be. This other was weak, and made poor decisions. You had no choice." That was her line of reasoning, the one she planned to spoon feed him. He knew her, but more importantly he, Aizen Sousuke, knew Arrancar. "So, you've been protecting yourself, your own interests by following this first Arrancar, by feeding him honeyed words." She would have offered herself to him, the one thing she had to gain power over another even when she was physically weaker. "A smart decision any would have made after dieing once at the hands of our enemies, and finding them in the one place you should be free of them, finding them even in death."
"Who else will haunt you here, while you cower under the protection of another Arrancar? I wonder, as more shinigami arrive to challenge him, will he throw you to them for his own ends?" Self preservation was first and foremost in ever Arrancar's mind, but none more so than Cirucci Thunderwitch. "The curses may affect him as well, I would like to see what happens when an Arrancar is turned human, only to have their heart ripped away again." He paused for a moment. "Is he strong enough to face the shinigami, Thunderwitch? I must admit, I'm interested in the one you've chosen, you and the others."
"... That's happened." She mentioned, almost an offhand comment at his reference to hearts before she moved on, bitter and caustic in her voice with her frustration, her discontent, clear in body language ill disguised. Complimenting her decision, flattering her choice, while at the same time reminding her that she had fallen, that she had failed.
"I've taken steps to ensure Alturo finding my attentions more valuable than the others." She spoke calmly as she was able, willing to throw anyone aside to ensure her own safety, her own favor. "He was the first, and he had never seen another Arrancar, sealed under the shinigami Soukyouku, and he'd never seen a female of our kind, either." A small smirk did manage to make it's way back to confidant lips. "He's got that weapon's power, he can take the shinigami." Talked amazingly to, in whispers and moans, oh how it felt to crush them.
"Yes, the Soukyouku, that weapon stood in for a long time, rumored unstoppable, unbeatable. I can see why it would be used to seal such a powerful being." The weapon he had tried to use to extract the Hogyoku from Kuchiki Rukia. Aizen knew that weapons workings well. "It was destroyed just before I came to Hueco Mundo, but not before it was stopped simply by the blade of Kurosaki Ichigo. The shinigami destroyed the Soukyuoku with little effort on their part, and just before it was so easily stopped by a boy I cut nearly in two." He recounted the events of that day to the Thunderwitch, aware that she didn't know the details of it. "I can see where the power of such a thing would be useful, especially to the one it so easily sealed. It had to be equal to, if not greater than his own to hold him, so he must have nearly doubled in power. I'm sure he would make a lovely match for any captain level now."
"His reiatsu feels like that, yes." Cirucci listened obediently, nodded at the appropriate times, and flicked idly at her nails.
"He went up against... the imposter," She almost stumbled over the change of phrasing, over saying he was not who he was, "And came out evenly matched when you were dead, with your power level suppressed somewhat."
"Evenly matched? With such powers at his disposal, I would have liked to see such a fight. It may have been entertaining. Even if, as you say, this impostor was very weak." Aizen tossed the matter aside as if it were the most unimportant thing he had heard in some time. "Though, I need remind you, I am not dead, nor are my powers suppressed." He let the crushing weight of his reiatsu bare down on her, imagining how it must feel to her small frame, demonstrating casually that it was as it had always been. Just as quickly he abated the pressure again.
"Whether you believe or not is not the issue at hand. I was more concerned with simple information. Acquiring the way out of this dimension means I need to understand this dimension, and I cannot understand it if there are fools in my way. Which reminds me, I was informed that your zanpakuto was restored by the deities of this place, do you know anything of them?" Kotobuki Ran had given him little information on them, only enough to determine that they were useless on a whole.
She had listened, quiet, could feel his reiatsu build the moment before it hit her, before she fell, struggled to stay upright, then struggled to stay on her hands and knees, lost both battles and felt her belly on the cold stone floor, white and harsh and icy against her already cold skin. She'd forgotten this, forgotten how it felt to be so weak, too weak, to be reminded how she measured up to one who could become a god. A sweat had broken out immediately, teeth grit, bit into bottom lip and suppressed an angry snarl to choke back in her throat even as the feeling left her trying to recover the breath that had knocked out of her.
"... The dei-" She swallowed hard, fisted her hands and struggled weakly back onto her knees, legs trembled enough that she couldn't risk trying to stand least she fall, had to settle on her hind end and press her palms hard into thighs, trying to shake that feeling, that worthlessness. "The deities... rule this world. They control the curses, the clock, the... weather... landscape... they grant favors to citizens in exhange for powers, or memories... they're all... different..."
"Childish." The more Aizen heard of these deities, the less he thought of them. Two sources, with no connections that he was currently aware of, had given him much the same impression. "They play games, and do not rule." They may hold power over this place, but he knew that one could always achieve the power to upset the current, after all, was that not his own goal, one he only needed a little key to reach? "What would a ruling being need of such things, or do they give no reasonings?"
"... The curses are to... bring negative emotion." She suppressed a tired pant, muffled back her weakness and hunched her shoulders, stared at the floor to prevent her furious gaze from rising to be seen by him.
"To fuel the clock... which is counting down to... the end of worlds." Cirucci didn't believe it for a second, considered it all bluff, all bark.
"I've heard tell of this Clock. Fueled by negative emotions was something I was unaware of. The Arrancar must be a wonderful treat for it." The children were always unhappy with something. "Yet, I cannot believe that such beings, who are incapable of ruling seriously, could cause such an event." Unless he had proof beyond a faint, easily pushed aside, ticking he would not believe it. Then, if it proved to be true, he would simply dispose of the deities, and continue to his own goals.
"Is there any more information on this you can give to me?"
"... Cirucci concentrated more on things she thought concerned her, not deities who play games and pretend to end the world." The Privaron finally rose back to her feet, small boots sounding, smoothing down her skirt ragged with nerves.
"So, no, Aizen-sama."
"Then you are dismissed." Aizen gave a small flick of the hand he was not resting on, signaling her out of his presence. He had the information he needed from her, and she would spread this conversation to the others. They would make their decision to stand where they thought best. He would not force them back, they would be useless to him like that, all of the Arrancar would, they had to come on their own, remember why they had served him in the first place.
Aizen said, as Cirucci reached the door at the far end of the room, almost to himself. "A pity you died."
Cirucci didn't speak anymore, bit back her retort, a retort that she had come to this City alive, had died of her own volition but he didn't need to know, ducked her head and bowed out, more like a retreat than an exit, waiting until she'd gotten out of the tenth building, gotten into her own apartment, to sink to the floor and bury her face in her hands.
She was worthless.
She'd forgotten.
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♥ Who am I kidding, I love her too.
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Ishida, of course, feels no pity whatsoever. Yep. ... Dordonii's just pleased Aizen-dono's proper, if pleased isn't quite the right word.