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Unlike the hospitals you’re used to where you have to be discharged, here it’s you get to fuck off the moment you wake up. Duty calls as well at Pesci’s Pizzarea, where you now start helping out with making food on top of serving the tables. It feels like the place keeps getting more and more customers to the point that you don’t think the old boar would be able to handle all of this on his own anymore. Mal hasn’t come to the bar since your first meeting though. Weird.

Lahela keeps hanging around with the band of angry women, who now have just accepted the fact that they’re not getting rid of her. As much as your happy with her getting friends outside of the Wailing Forest, the amount of profanity she’s picking up is alarming.

Now and then you see Grimmjow going about fighting at the Colosseum, and with him learning to utilize techniques of the Espada, there’s hardly any challenge there among the low ones. There was this one very angry woman, a Privaron Espada like Dordoni who made a huge deal of herself, only to get whacked aside. Despite all the wins, you can sense that Grimmjow ain’t satisfied. There is a burning focus in him. To your surprise, he still has a scar on his chest from that point-blank kidō attack you gave him. Weird, you’d think that would’ve healed with the medicine these guys have.

Behind all this, you are still preparing for your eventual trip to Zilya’s lost domain. She kept sulking in her corner for a while first, since you kind of cockblocked her. But with enough provocation and flattery you do get her back and she tells you details about that place. The various tunnel systems, entry points, the webs everywhere, and these things she calls ‘nodes.’ Unfortunately, she refuses to tell you more about them, telling you ‘you’ll figure it out when you see it.’

Every night though, after the bar closes up, you find that the big guy himself, Kaizar, comes to do a bit of heavy drinking. Unlike how he appears in public, he looks much more tired and even depressed. Usually it’s Pesci that keeps him occupied, but tonight he had to go somewhere and left you to clean up.

And so here you are, awkwardly pouring liquor for Azulwald’s Baron.

>2/2

>”So… nice weather huh?”
>”You keep looking at that painting. What’s the story?”
>”Okay, no, I can’t stand it. What’s with the gloomy aura?”
>Just keep pouring in silence. He has to speak up eventually.
>Other?

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Welcome to a new thread of Advent Soul Quest, anniversary edition!

>What is this?
A quest based on the setting of Bleach. Deviation from canon depends on the MC’s influence, and some other additions are to be expected as well.
>Who are we?
Nakashiri Koharu, a former 10th grade (high schooler) trap, now a 3rd seat officer in Aizen’s 5th Division, under a spy mission from Urahara.
>When are we?
Currently it is Spring 1985, ~16 years prior to the events of canon.
>Dice? Challenge?
Prompted after deciding on an action. Usually 3d10, best of 3 (Bo3), against a set DC and sometimes a crit-DC. Write-ins may affect the DC as well. If a character stat (in the char sheet) is directly related to the action, it will substitute the lowest die in rolls if it is higher (will be always explained when prompted to roll).
>Updates?
Daily updates, with long voting period times. I will strive to update in my evening, leave voting on for overnight, and prompt rolls in the morning. Sometimes if I have the proper time, I may do an extra update in the morning. My timezone is UTC+3 (summer time).
>I have questions!
Ask away and I’ll do my best to answer! You can also address questions to characters, which I’ll answer in-character!
>What do?
Have fun, vote on what feels the best, roll some dice and chill.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QmTrippy
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=advent+soul+quest
Char Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DQUOuJbOgzrjIKQLjMFxdmsQh3WIKMMFJQ8fO5-biYM/edit?usp=sharing
Social Links: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HXWo1bA7rplcTIJSkE850qzEE55b-W36tuL_qtT0b00/edit?usp=sharing
Character Questions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S1RrQ6icjeWSV2MIb6EUwuZjzGx0QvuFjoxB1bN_tlU/edit?usp=sharing

>>4988079
>”You keep looking at that painting. What’s the story?”
Welcome back Trippy

>>4988079
>”You keep looking at that painting. What’s the story?”
welcome back! how's the shaman drum?

>>4988079
>>Just keep pouring in silence. He has to speak up eventually.

>>4988079
>>”You keep looking at that painting. What’s the story?”
Good to have you back Trippy

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>>4988088
>>4988236
>>4988282
>>4988303
Asking about the painting wins.
>Writing
And thanks guys, it's good to be back.

>>4988236
>how's the shaman drum?
The drum has come home safe and sound. It's beeg. It's weird, but it feels like I have a child now. And since coming back all of my senses are tingling

>>4988079
>Just keep pouring in silence. He has to speak up eventually.

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There’s a cycle of you pouring him a drink, him washing it down his throat, slamming the shot glass on the table. Rinse and repeat. And every time, without exception, his eyes linger on that painting above the counter everytime he drinks the burning alcohol.

“You keep looking at it,” you say, almost whispering as there’s a deathly quiet in the bar. Kaizar raises his eyes to stare at you, in a menacing way even. You swallow hard.

“Pray tell, what am I looking at?”

“That painting. The black flower. It’s beautiful.”

“Tulip,” he says and downs another drink. “Black tulip. Pour more, ladyboy.”

You empty the remains of the liquor into his glass, and take out another one.

“At least you’re not stingy with it.”

“I know when a man needs it,” you say, remembering the huge amount of shinigami you’ve seen trying to live through the horrors they’ve faced. The vacant eyes and trembling hands. “Though you're in the worst condition I’ve ever seen.”

“Then you’ve seen little. More.”

“So what’s the story? Of the black tulip.”

“None of your business.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“You want me to put you into a worse job?”

“Pesci wouldn’t be happy,” you sigh. “Look, I just want to understand.”

“I doubt you could.”

“Try me.”

“I ain’t gay, so no.”

You facepalm. “You know what I mean. Why do you have to be such a hardass about it?”

You feel your hair stand up though as his reiatsu flares, but behind that a great weight, a heavy burden. Not just bloodlust or rage.

Grief.

>1/3

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Fortunately he calms down once he notices what’s happening and demands you pour even more.

“You want to know? Fine. Grow up a man. Become your country’s perfect citizen and soldier. Marry and become a loving husband and father. Do everything in your life and more for them. And then lose everything. Your life, your wife, your son, your WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY!” he says through grit teeth and punches a hole through the counter. His rage turns quickly into sorrow. He pulls his military cap just a bit lower.

“She was my hopes and dreams. All I could ask for. My black tulip.”

You feel the weight of his words, enough to push your own tears out. In the end he’s a lonely and depressed man, soldiering on out of duty to his people.

“You have a new family here though, do you not?”

“Yeah. There’s Pesci. Been with me through thick and thin. Alex, poor girl. My first victim as a hollow. She was but a child.”

“Lahela tells me she always speaks highly of you.”

“She tried to kill me for a long time, after I got to this dayless wasteland. Maybe I did something right with her in the end afterall,” Kaizar sighs and drinks. “Enough that she gave me a grandchild.”

“Quite the prankster, that one.”

You feel a change in his mood, a change for the better. “Yeah. My dear grandson.”

There’s a moment of quiet. Kaizar doesn’t even demand more to drink, but things take a dreadful turn.

“Grab another glass.”

“W-Why?”

“You’re going to drink, that’s why. Punishment for making me sentimental, ladyboy.”

>2/3

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The next morning (what is even morning in Hueco Mundo?) Pesci finds you and Kaizar passed out over the counter. He’s kind enough that he gives you a day off after realizing what had happened. You’ve never felt this bad after alcohol before, and surviving the hangover is your hardest battle yet. Lizzy provides you with just enough distraction that you don’t end up puking the whole time.

“Remind me to not do that again, Lizzy, okay?”

“Kekekeke!”

“Thanks.”

Eventually you sober up and it’s back to work. But alongside that you keep your eyes peeled open, searching for strong arrancars and especially Espada to keep track of them. If what you’ve learned is correct, they will be convening rather soon again. May even be a chance to get Grimmjow to take on Septima. Getting Shinji released is still in the works, but with that night of drinking with big K it’s a step closer.

“I want to kill her myself,” Zilya’s voice rings in your mind. “As long as I can get my hands, through yours, on her, to witness her last breath in terror as she realizes it’s me, do whatever you want. If you don’t…”

“You don’t need to threaten me,” you nod. “I kind of already knew you wanted that.”

“Good,” Zilya giggles.

Now then, the question is, what to focus on before that Espada meeting?

>3/3

>Focus on training with Grimmjow. He’ll give you Septima and take her place in the Espada.
>Focus on mingling with Kaizar. Convince him to release Shinji and have him deal with Septima.
>Look into Zilya’s realm. You might find something useful there.
>Other?

>>4989381
>Look into Zilya’s realm. You might find something useful there.

>>4989381
>>Focus on training with Grimmjow. He’ll give you Septima and take her place in the Espada.

>>4989381
>Focus on training with Grimmjow. He’ll give you Septima and take her place in the Espada

>>4989381
>Look into Zilya’s realm. You might find something useful there.

>>4989381
>>Look into Zilya’s realm. You might find something useful there.

>>4989381
>>Look into Zilya’s realm. You might find something useful there.
What could possibly go wrong?

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>>4989393
>>4989581
>>4989584
>>4989696
>>4989726
>>4989802
Oh boy, time for FUN
>Writing

Lahela's gonna join but if you want to invite somebody else with you too, now would be the time to voice it, I'll be taking a bit of time to write this update

>>4990766
Could we invite one of the girls Lahela is hanging out with? I just want to actually interact with the people who are corrupting our plant girl

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>>4990783
That can be arranged, yes... smashing even.

>>4990783
>>4990814
Yeah let's meet our daughteru's friends. Mama bear protecc

>>4990766
I’m fine with Grimmjow joining, don’t want anyone we don’t know possibly snitching on us about whatever we get up to

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“You know Zil, it’s about time we gave your old realm a visit.”

There’s not much to prep for the journey, except making sure Dordoni doesn’t end up following you and making sure Pesci’s going to be okay in case you end up being away for longer than expected. Lahela’s coming with you of course, but something does come up.

“W-We’re goingss to the sscary lady’s plasse?”

“Yeah? Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,” you assure her.

“B-But if it’ss ass sscary ass her…”

“Well you have me with you!”

Lahela looks at you doubtfully.

“Okay, yeah. I do have her inside me,” you say and ruffle your own hair. “So what would you suggest yourself?”

“Oh I knowss! I’ll ask one of the bitchess!”

“The girls you keep hanging around with?” you say and pinch your nose bridge. “I swear, the words they teach you…”

Lahela just blinks innocently.

“Okay, but just one, and make sure you can really trust that person. Understood?”

As Lahela leaves to eagerly find that someone, you wonder if you should ask Grimmjow to join you. He might come in handy if push comes to shove.

The next night, you wait at the designated meeting place just outside the walls of Vanaheim, enjoying the rather peaceful sounds of the jungle, and the reflection of Hueco Mundo’s weird moon on the surface of a pond.

“Drianni sure would love this,” you think out loud.

“It’s weird. Never seen anything like it before,” Zil rings in your head.

“I, too, have not seen anything but sand and stone here before,” Cel too, responds.

“I mean, you’ve been away for what, over a thousand years? A lot can happen, even in just fifty years.”

“Kooohaaruuuu!”

Lahela drops down from the pristine white wall, and alongside her is a woman you’ve seen a few times before. Usually angry.

>1/4

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The woman standing before you is a young woman (though clearly older than you). She sports brown hair in a long ponytail behind her head, and almost cliché dog ear mask remains on the top of it.

“So this is the shinigami that thought it’d be brilliant to anger pops, huh?”

“It was that damn shitty brat! Wait, what did you sa-”

“WHAT DID YOU CALL MY SON?!” she bursts into a rage, trying to grab you, but Lahela’s keeping her restrained.

“Now, now, let’ss not ssquabble!”

“Jeez Lahela, of all the possibilities, you bring HIS daughter with you?”

“Oh wow, you really want to piss off the whole family now, do you?”

You groan. “Ah forget it. And no, I’m not trying to do that, I happen to do it just by existing apparently. I sincerely hope you’re the smartest and most sensible one.”

She stops flailing her hands and Lahela’s grip loosens, and you can swear you imagine a tail behind her start wagging.

“I-I know, right? One is a hardass dummy and the other one’s just a kid still! Of course I’m the smartest and most sensible, hehe!”

Your jaw opens wide for a split second, but you quickly pull it back up.

“Y-Yeah, of course. In any case, my name is Nakashiri Koharu.”

“Nakashiri? That’s a weird first name. Oh right, you’re asian.”

“Actually, Koharu’s my first name…”

“Right. Alexandra Seydel. Alex should suffice.”

You give her a relaxed smile now and give a court bow. “Pleased to meet you, Alex.”

She however extends her hand, and after a moment of staring at it, you shake it awkwardly.

“Likewise,” Alex says and pulls you a bit closer. “By the way, where in the bloody sands of Hueco Mundo did you find a hollow THAT dense?”

You bonk her on the head. “She’s pure. Don’t complain.”

>2/4

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Once Grimmjow arrives, fashionably late, you depart from Azulwald and continue onto the stretches of wastes, where dunes of sand quickly become the only things you see.

“You need to work on your punctuality,” you grumble.

“Get fucked. I’m only tagging along cuz you said there’d be fighting,” he responds in a lazy manner. You just roll your eyes.

“So um, where exactly are we even heading? Vinegirl didn’t say.”

“Lazuta Yami.”

“Funny joke. Now where are we going?”

You just stare at Alex with a blank expression, while Grimmy starts to grin.

“Jesus christ, are you mad? Why the fuck would you go near that realm? It’s full of spi-”

“I know,” you dismiss her and focus on the feeling that Zilya is providing you to guide you towards the right place. “There’s something I need to check out there.”

“Again, it’s full of MAD SPIDER HOLLOWS.”

“Koharu can deal with themss, I believe sso!”

Grimmjow snorts. “Ha, now that’s a good joke.”

“Yeah, I agree with the weirdo. No offense, but you don’t look like a fighter type.”

“Oh shut it. I’ll use a kidō spell to hide us. As long as you can behave we’ll be fine. Now quit complaining.”

You enter an area where sand actually ends and grey rock begins, with large holes that carve out into a kind of semi-open cavern, with sand on the bottom. In some places the hole-filled roof has collapsed.

“Pore valleys,” Alex introduces the place. “Used to be like the Gillian forests, but took enough holes that the roof couldn’t keep the sand up.”

You however just focus on the feeling of a long lost home that feels closer and closer. Dropping down below, you find what you’re looking for. Large spider silk threads adorn one corner, and a tunnel continues from there. Both Lahela and Alex feel on edge, but you just feel calmer and… safer? Zilya giggles in your head.

“Welcome to my realm, my little flies.”

>3/4

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The tunnel’s all surfaces are covered with sticky spider web, pristine white, though in this near pitch black it’s hard to discern them without producing your own light. Fortunately you have your sixth sense to rely on.

And boy do you sense a lot. There’s hundreds, thousands, more than you can count presences that feel almost precisely like Zilya, brooding the tunnels and caves. You come out into a deeper part that’s almost like a Gillian forest, but absolutely covered in spider web and threads, cocoons and whatnot. Those not careful enough can get ambushed from every direction.

The biggest challenge becomes keeping the two girls calm and quiet.

“Zip it! Do you want them to hear you?”

“T-T-T-THEY’RE EVERYWHERE OH GOD” Alex says through clattering teeth.

“No kidding, that’s a lot to kill,” Grimmjow smiles reluctantly.

“K-Koharu, I’m sscared…!”

“Look, you can cower in fear and alert them, or stay close and calm and nothing will happen. So calm down you idiots!”

“W-WHO ARE YOU CALLING A COWARD AND IDIOT?!”

You shake your head. Thank the Soul King you have a sturdy Kyokkō spell active, or you’d be in trouble. Aizen made sure you know it well.

A faint light catches the attention of all four of you, coming from a cocoon-like tower with a thick, spider thread coming from the bulbous cocoon part and off into further depths.

“Splendid,” Zil chuckles, “wonderful!”

“What is it?”

“Take a look and see for yourself! Don’t worry, it won’t harm you.”

You approach it and feel a very, very strange sensation. As if it’s trying to reach out to you, begging you to touch it. You almost have to resist the urge. It feels really familiar too, and not just in a way that it’s Zilya’s creation.

>4/4

>Touch it
>Leave it be
>Other?

>>4991115
>>Touch it
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
I can't think of any scenario in which this would bite us in the ass. I'm sure this is perfectly safe.

>>4991115
See if it reacts to Naimen no Daiza in Jorogumo form

>>4991115
>>Touch it

>>4991115
>Touch it

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>>4991119
>>4991162
>>4991459
>>4991909
Oh boy. This is going to be fun.
>Roll 1d100, Bo3, higher is better(?)

Not gonna lie, this one >>4991162 had me grin from ear to ear. Now THAT would've been fun.

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>4992038
I'm scared but curious

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>4992038

Rolled 100, 46, 23 = 169 (3d100)

>>4992038

>>4992069
PLEASE only that first roll

>>4992069
woops

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>>4992069
>100
Well, since it's the first d100... I can go with it, if that's what you wanna. Shit's gonna get serious though

>here we go, writan

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“W-What is that?”

“Lookss like ssome ssort of… cocoon?”

“Maybe crack it open?”

“No,” you dismiss them, “it’s something else.”

You raise your hand slowly up and move it to touch the thing. At first there’s nothing, and you feel dumbfounded, but then a sudden tug at your mind changes things. The spherical part erupts in a bright glow of purple light, like a beacon.

“I-IDIOT! WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Alex shouts before she, Grimmjow and Lahela all clutch their heads.

But you can’t hear their cries, as your focus switches to something very similar to your Hanran technique. One, two, ten, hundred, thousand…

The multitude of crude, simple minds you feel connected to feels overwhelming, like you’re lost in a sea of souls. But then you start to differentiate them. There are more of these beacons, now lit up through your action. You feel five, very distinct and complex minds, which brings Zilya joy.

But then you feel something very, very, very malevolent, deep down below. A dark hunger that almost crushes you from the inside. It stirs, and most worryingly, you’ve woken it up.

Your connection severs abruptly though as your three companions pull you back. With the cacophony of voices disappearing, you now understand why they are upset. All of the spiders that before just brooded, are now scrambling with haste, back and forth, in circles. The clattering of their mandibles and tugging at their webs creates an intimidating ambience.

But they’re not even the ones you worry about.

Two of the five presences you touched through the beacon are heading towards you, fast, with their reiatsus blazing. All four of you feel this.

“THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!” Grimmjow shouts as he grabs you by the collar, as does Alex.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?!” she screams at you, her voice almost destroying your ear drums.

Lahela meanwhile is outright gasping for air. It really does feel like you’re surrounded by Zilya’s power here, with no place to hide.

>Run
>Hide
>Confront
>Other?

>>4992110
>>Confront

>>4992038
Good thing we didn't go with then
>>4992110
>Run

>>4992110
>>Confront

>>4992110
>>Confront

>>4992110
>Confront
No fear, hopefully no pain

>>4992110
>Confront

>>4992115
>>4992149
>>4992304
>>4992323
>>4992339
>>4992341
Confronting, eh?
>Writing

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“Come on, we’ve got to run you idiots!” Alex shouts as she raises her hand, readying some sort of ability.

“We’re surrounded, dumbass,” Grimmjow grins as he reaches for his zanpakutō. “Besides, I’ve been itching for a challenge!”

Meanwhile Lahela is just trying to hide beside your leg.

“Zil, what was that?”

“Awww, you didn’t figure it out?”

“Stop being coy, I’m not in the mood for games!”

“But I am in the mood, my dear. I’ll give you a hint: If you have an army of mindless beasts, and your own reach is finite, how would you go about controlling them, hmm?”

Your eyes widen. Hanran, the reishi string that Momo-chan taught you but which was familiar, and now this.

“We’ve got to stand our ground,” you declare. “We haven’t been attacked yet.”

“Have you lost your mind shinigami?! You just got the whole shithole of spiders to come after us!”

“The brat's right. None have attacked, just scurrying around like headless chickens,” Grimmjow relaxes and retreats his hand from his hilt. “They’re no threat to us as they are right now. Shame.”

“N-No threat?” Lahela risks a peek from underneath you. You help her up and pat her on the shoulder.

“Stay calm, and just… follow my lead.”

And then the two hollows arrive.

>1/2

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They arrive with a boom, one that rattles all the spider hollows around you. Now even they take notice of you and as if following commands, surround you, their mandibles clacking in a symphony of horror.

“Well, well, well, a shinigami of all things possible, with three arrancars. This is certainly peculiar, sister.”

Her voice is disturbingly familiar, yet you know you hear it for the first time now. These two hollows, they are clearly Adjuchas, like Grimmjow before you turned him. Giant bodies of spiders with the upper half of a humanoid torso at the front, much like a centaur. Clad in white chitin and purple details here and there. The spiders surrounding you grow closer and closer, making your companions anxious and go for their weapons.

But you stay calm. You feel no danger here, just the anxiety of your friends.

“Even more peculiar, sister, is finding what wretched being defiled and tampered with our mother’s network. Though I suppose we could devour them first and ask questions later…”

“Try me, you hags!”

“I AIN’T SPIDER FOOD!”

“What foul mouths you have. At least one of you is smart to cower.”

Then their eyes focus on you.

“You show no fear. Are you delirious or just a fool, shinigami? It’s been a while since I’ve eaten your kind... yes, you'll make a nice snack.”

>2/2

>”I do not fear a place where I hold the power.”
>”Mother says hello.”
>Release Jorōgumo
>Other?

>>4994064
>Release Jorōgumo

>>4994064
>>Release Jorōgumo

>>4994064
>Release Jorōgumo

>>4994064
>Release Jorōgumo
I guess they're are our kids now? Grandkids?

>>4994064
>>Release Jorōgumo

>>4994064
>Release Jorōgumo

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>>4994068
>>4994073
>>4994315
>>4994443
>>4994465
>>4994775
Playing your cards open wins by a landslide. Oh boy
>Roll 3d10, Bo3, DC 21, crit 25, Social (7) may replace lowest die
This is to see how these two will react to this turn of events, and whether they'll believe the situation

>>4994443
>I guess they're are our kids now? Grandkids?
I mean, kind of? Or great(x?)-aunts, since there's been many generations since the first Tamaki. And with their mother stuck in your head. Shit's weird.

Rolled 4, 10, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>4994800

Rolled 7, 7, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>4994800

Rolled 4, 1, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>4994800 >>4994801
Anyone surprised we missed the crit by one?

>>4994861
Nope, it's a running joke at this point

>>4994861
Nah, I saw it and just went
>of fucking course

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Finally home. Watched Kaijuu no Kodomo (Children of the Sea) at a friend's place, really well made movie, highly recommend. Anyway, what's happening he-

>>4994801
>21(24)
>>4994811
>17(21)
>>4994829
>13(19)
Of fucking course it's off by one. Jeez. I'm both laughing and crying at this point. At least it's a pass
>Writing, I guess

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You consider talking to them. You consider namedropping too, but at the end of the day, they’re hollows of Zilya, and thus you just better show them instead.

“Mediate, Naimen no Daiza.”

Releasing your zanpakutō triggers the battle on, with the multitude of spiders attacking your little gang. They however are not content with just letting their bodies be torn to pieces.

“Entangle, Sadkheu!”
“Scream, Vendigo!”
“Grind, Pantera!”

In a burst of the three vastly different reiatsus, they make quick work of your assaulters. Strangling and grappling them with vines, tearing their limbs with claws, and making their heads explode through some weird vibrations. They butcher the first wave of spiders, giving you just enough time for your second release.

“Defile and Devour, Jorōgumo!”

Your reiatsu bursts in that familiar, distressing purple energy, and your blade turns into a blade resembling much that of a spider’s limb and mandible combined. But on top of that, you feel Zilya resonating within you very eagerly, much more present than she ever has been before. Almost like Zilya’s own visage just barely shimmers and phases on top of yours, even though you do not see it for yourself.

But its effect on those around you is very much clear.

The spider hollows for one freeze entirely, unmoving and unbudging by even an inch. Lahela trembles in fear, Grimmjow’s tense as hell, and Alex is in a mix of confusion and shock. But it’s the two half-spider half-humanoids, Zilya’s daughters, that experience all of these things at once.

“M-Mother?!”
“M-Mother?!”

>1/3

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A short silence ensues, before your companions are first to react.

“MOTHER?!”
“MOTHER?!”
“MOTHER?!”

You feel jaws of your friends dropped to the floor. They don’t have the time though to pick them up and ask you about it though.

“T-This… what is this sorcery, shinigami?!”

“EXPLAIN YOURSELF!”

“Is this how you greet your returning queen?” you say and smirk, letting Zilya turn your speech into their native language. Your voice distorts in two parts as well. “Clearly you’ve been far too long without your mother.”

You feel the cold shivers run through the spines of the two adjuchas.

“Not even apologizing, Valeska, Zlatana?”

“I-”
“We-”

“Apologies, Matj Koroleva.”
“Apologies, Matj Koroleva.”

You nod. Despite the boosted confidence from Zil, you feel your heart beating quick and hard, almost painfully so.

“Your form is not how it used to be,” the one called Valeska speaks.

“It’s so… small and frail. Is it really… you?”

“You dare question it?” you frown and at the behest of Zilya, focus Hanran on her. The connection is immediate, as if her mind was created with a backdoor into it, specifically for you. Or rather, Zilya. She screams and holds her head, squirming in pain, until you let her go.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Zilya whispers to you. “They’re the perfect subjects. Perfect children. Just one look, and I have them at my heels. Their lives at my fingertips.”

>2/3

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You close your eyes, and stop the connection, returning more to your normal form.

“I may not be her directly,” you change back to german, “but it is through me that she exists, as you just now felt. Her power is my power, and you know well what happens if you defy me.”

You focus weakly on the spiderlings around you. They heed the weakest push, and they all turn to surround the two sisters. By this point your companions are freaking out, even Grimmjow as much as he’s trying to put up a tough visage.

“Aaaah w-w-what the hell is happening? LAHELA WHAT DID YOU DRAG ME INTOOOO?!”

“I’M SSORRY I DIDN’T KNOWSS!”

“S-Shit, so this is what she was hiding all along? F-Fuck.”

Valeska and Zlatana look at each other, then at you, and do some sort of kneeling, however that works with eight legs. Despite this though, you still sense their confusion and skepticism.

“We understand, Matj Koroleva. Welcome back to your esteemed realm.”
“We understand, Matj Koroleva. Welcome back to your esteemed realm.”

>3/3

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That’s it for this part, though we’ll continue straight off tomorrow as Koharu gets deeper into the realm. Good night and until tomorrow!

This is why I voted to train Grimmjow's ass off. The option to go to this realm was basically a "Skip all Sidequests, bulldoze straight through the Main Quest" sort of option, in my opinion.

captcha: PP MHA kek

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Okay, so today a LOT happened that I've been dealing with, so the update is gonna happen tomorrow, my apologies frens.

>>4995484
No worries anon, you didn't skip them, but it's just a matter of in what order do you do stuff, the consequences of that and other events happening triggered by the npc's. Not training Grimmjow will leave him unprepared for possible Espada seat challenge, but the coming meeting will have more to think about now that the spider nest has been stirred

>>4995291
>“S-Shit, so this is what she was hiding all along? F-Fuck.”
Hahaha Grimmy, bow before your Queen!

How aroused is everyone in that room right now!

>>4996534
Speaking of Espada, I wonder if our target felt the return of Mother? I'm not sure what's better, her constantly looking over her shoulder knowing what she's done, or having it dawn on her when it's too late

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Okay, uni day over, time to write.

>>4997372
...Fuck. I totally missed that innuendo. That one's on me.

>>4997407
>I wonder if our target felt the return of Mother?
Anon, with that 100 a lot of people will know that the spider nest was stirred

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The realm of Lazura Yami is a vast maze of tunnels and caverns, thick with spider web and thread. You are led deeper into it by Valeska and Zlatana, Zilya’s flesh and blood. They are to take you deeper below to their current ruler.

Abathos the Regent.

Apparently he took charge after Zilya’s disappearance.

“Abathos.. yes, he’s a charming one. A brilliant mind, a builder at heart. It’s with his help I created my network,” Zilya explains, deep in her nostalgic thoughts. “I almost miss his ugly face.”

“So he’s like these two?”

“No, he’s a different one. Was a Gillian with a unique mask. Could create various cretins and parasites. I found him, we experimented, mixed my reiryoku into them, until I got my little baby spiders you see all around you,” she giggles. “Naturally I put one into him as well.”

You suppress your reflex to gag.

“But it seems it works… differently with Gillians, or maybe because he was still the root of the power I used. He mutated, yes, but kept his former mind.”

“So you’re saying you couldn’t control him?”

“Nonsense,” Zilya laughs. “What an insult. He just doesn’t have the same backdoor as these two sweetiees.”

You look at the two spider centaur hollows, and even feel a little bit of pity. Your attention falls to Alex however, as she comes really close with an angry, confused and scared expression on her face.

“Okay, so what the fuck is going on?” Alex angrily whispers. “What the fuck are you? Aren’t you just another shitty shinigami goon of that prick Aizen?”

You can feel that the two others, but especially Grimmjow listen in with keen interest.

>”Yes. I’m just a shitty shinigami goon.”
>”That’s Lord Aizen to you. Would you like me to forward your compliments to him?”
>”I am my own master. For now it benefits me to work under him.”
>”We share goals and ideals, but we are at odds on the methods.”
>”I share the legacy of two beings, one of which used to be the ruler of this realm.”
>Other?

>>4997565
>”I share the legacy of two beings, one of which used to be the ruler of this realm.”
a non-answer is bound to piss them off

>>4997565
>>”I share the legacy of two beings, one of which used to be the ruler of this realm.”

>>4997565
>>”I share the legacy of two beings, one of which used to be the ruler of this realm.”

>>4997565
>”I share the legacy of two beings, one of which used to be the ruler of this realm.”

I realize it has been some time now, but can someone tell me what the point of combat rolls is? I mean, it seem obvious in theory, but practice is different. Regardless of how well we roll, we either get a double KO, outright get KO'd or need to be saved. With that Chinese student, we rolled amazingly well and (I think) even critted, but we got a draw and mutual KO. When we fought our Arrancar friend and Akane, we again rolled well and ended the fight with a splendid crit... and ended up beaten into the ground by the Arrancar. Recently, we fought Grimmjow. We didn't fail a single roll and he botched (almost?) all of his, but we still got defeated, had to be saved and then had to relinguish control to keep everyone from killing each other. This was followed by dropping unconscious. The rolls seem to have absolutely no point or sense. We fail and we get smacked down. We succeed and we get at LEAST as injured as our opponent, if not more. We crit, and things get weird. Sometimes we get beaten into the ground, sometimes we beat our opponent up, and sometimes we get a draw because we get injured every time we deal an injury. It's nonsense.

All other rolls, such as social interactions and technique research, seem to work just fine. It's combat that always seems to end with a mutual KO, regardless of how well we roll. If we need to crit the entire fight to get even one solid win, then that's a massive freaking problem with this system, because crits are nearly unreachable when it counts. The fact we always seem to get one point off from the crit DC is just salt on the wound at this point.

>>4998035
we roll just to not get our asses kicked because we keep punching above our weight bracket? Koharu isn't some extreme prodigy, he just has a semblance of skill and has two squatters in his head, and we're barely Second Seat-tier

>>4997580
>>4997589
>>4997975
>>4997993
>showing our hand this hard
insanity
>>4997565
>>”Yes. I’m just a shitty shinigami goon.”

>>4998035
Well we keep making friends with the weaklings and picking fights with anyone stronger than us. I swear Koharu has a chihuahua spirit somewhere in him as well.

>>4998035
The double KO with Heizo if memory serves was being memed by some anons which might have influenced that ending. Grimmjow fight I feel was more of us never working on Koharu’s inherent lack of physical ability and as such overextended ourself against someone who canonically can go the distance endurancewise. Still a fair complaint.
>>4998464
It’s probably too late for it to matter, but I’ll switch my vote yours.

>>4998424

Lahela is weaker than us, but she was the one who beat us and Akane into the ground during that fight, even though we rolled successes and finished the fight with a solid. We fought someone who should be a tier below us, got a crit, and still got KO'd.

>>4997580
>>4997589
>>4997975
>>4998464
>>4998485
Spilling the beans wins
>Writing

>>4998035
>>4998424
>>4998464
>>4998485
>>4998512
So there's the short answer and the long answer to this. Short one: I am still a newbie QM and combat is my weakest link, but I do my best

The long answer is that in fights, I try to work out how a situation plays out depending not just on what you roll, but what the individual stats are of each combatant, what they roll (if they roll), team dynamics, etc. This pretty much means I have to play it out roughly in my head without any real system and produce a result that in my opinion matches it. Anons have already mentioned that you keep fighting those of higher caliber than you, especially physically, which means you have less stamina than them. The rolls are more about the action you're doing if it works out or not.

Regarding that fight between you, Lahela and Akane, I do admit I was struggling with it, and felt frustrated a lot. I think that was still when I did sessions (I might be wrong), so the current daily update should easen the stress I had back then with pumping out the updates in time.

I do appreciate that you've brought this up, I'll try and rectify this in the future (getting my head straight with combat for one) but also by describing the fights better so you can see these other things that I consider in combat.

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“If I were to tell you the truth, would you even believe me?”

Alex struggles to answer you.

“You’d just call me a liar or delusional. But, since you asked: I share the legacy of two beings, both quite powerful. One of them used to be the ruler of this realm. Their mother.”

“That’s asinine. That’s absolutely bonkers.”

You shrug. “I told you. But that’s the truth.”

“Is.. was she strong?” Grimmjow asks.

“Very much so,” you nod.

You are led into an underground castle made of a mix of stone and web, in a pretty bad condition. Zilya screams internally, which is almost like she’d be screaming right beside you at how her glorious seat of power has been allowed to go into this condition.

“It’s… charming. Like an old relic.”

“Without mother, the spiders are difficult to control,” Valeska says, in a very careful voice.

“We can only manage a small number,” Zlatana explains.

“How did you manage to defend the realm then? From Baraggan, or Daji Lü.”

They are quiet for a moment, thinking their answer through.

“With losses. Abathos can make the spiders concentrate in certain places, but without full control, our defenses have slowly eroded away. We rely on ourselves to keep the realm ours, us five sisters.” Valeska pauses and you swear you hear veins pop and bones creak. “Four sisters.”

“How did that happen? How was she able to desert?”

“So you know,” Zlatana hisses. “She wanted to become the next queen. Naturally we struck her for such a foolish idea. She was always the more… rebellious one.”

“Then that shinigami arrived, in a white coat. Told us that we could either join him now willingly, or be assimilated forcefully later. And that bitch defected.”

>1/2

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Deep inside the castle, situated in a pond of a weird black goo, a large hollow emerges to greet you. With a large head that doesn’t really separate from the torso, his mask covers almost the entirety of the front of his body. You see a mouth moving behind the mask, but it’s as if it’s rotated sideways. A set of teeth on the left and right, instead of upper and lower.

Near him are two other adjuchas spider women, like the two that have led you here. Mirana and Nevera, Zil whispers you their names.

“Salutations. You must be the disturbance. Yes. Her reiatsu is unmistakable. Welcome back, Matj Koroleva.”

“O-Okay?” you respond with a mix of confusion and kind of disgust. Out of the many hollows you’ve met, this one feels… especially icky. “You must be Abathos then.”

“Correct. Regent. Until her return. Here you are. Very unexpected.”

“That I’m here?”

“No. Your form. Shinigami. Hollow was expected.”

“Too bad.”

“It is irrelevant. Can always turn hollow.” His form moves closer to you, his four eyes staring intensely. “You are not her. Yet you are her. Question. What become of realm with you? Resurrection or salvation?”

You remain silent. What would you actually want of this realm? A place filled with deadly spider hollows?

“Mother’s reiryoku is clear. Maybe she can be resurrected. Maybe through dissection.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” you object, and use Hanran to drive the point home. However, for some reason it doesn’t work.

“Weak. Not sufficient. Not enough to control the army. Not enough to control Cruciforma. We may be doomed.”

“D-Doomed? Why?”

“Cruciforma. Awake and unchecked. Not long before it starts moving.” Abathos moves back towards the center of the weird pool. “What is your intention, Matj Koroleva?”

>2/2

This is the point where you may think through, discuss and vote on things you’d like to work on with the realm, its inhabitants, and especially these five. Some general plans and goals. Things to consider:
>Will you control them through Hanran or try form actual relationships and how
>Do you want to offer (or force) arrancarification
>How much are you willing to be around in the realm

This will also help me plan the quest further.

>>4998860
>Hanran for the weaklings, form bonds with Abathos and the four sisters
>Offer arrancarification after gaining and giving trust
>Whenever in Ghost Mexico, it'd be good to spend more time here than anywhere else

>>4998860
>Hanran them
We have too many things on our plate as it is trying to sway thses ones into not being the absolute monsters they have been for centuries is an extra task too many. Maybe if there was a way to remove the parasite and let them be reborn but otherwise fuck we can't therapy everyone.
>force arrancarification
need that army
>3rd thing
maybe a third of the time? We have shit to do and the world will move without us and in ways we may not like. They've been stable for a long time and only need a light touch.

>>4998971
>>4999617
>Writing

Got home pretty late yesterday and just crashed. Hopefully I can compensate with two updates today, one now and one in the evening

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You feel the intense attention directed towards you from all the hollows present in the room. It’s incredibly unnerving and you would have wanted to just hide in a corner were you not getting a confidence boost through Zilya. You think through Abathos’ question, very, very hard.

And then Lizzy appears at the top of your hair.

You don’t notice her, but everyone else’s attention snaps towards her.

“Clearly this realm needs to be rebuilt into new glory. As the new ruler, this place needs to be cleaned up and fixed up, especially with the coming of the arrancar age.”

“Arrancar?” Abathos leans in. “That shinigami offered the same.”

“Yes,” you say and raise Jorōgumo. “Aizen’s methods I do not know, but I have my own way. I suspect you have thought about it however, since you learned that it is possible. A body where you do not need to fear regression. A stronger, more durable body with honed strength.”

The spider sisters exchange glances. They’ve probably had a run in with their defected sister.

“I could easily force you through it, however it works best when you are yourself willing. So I will give you the choice here, but know that there will come a time when I’ll have to do it.”

“Why?” Abathos asks.

“Because of Aizen.”

You let each of them interpret that answer on their own, and move towards the general plans. For one, with two realms already chipping off parts of Lazuta Yami, you need allies. Azulwald remains the only one still neutral, and you’re working on improving relations there already. That realm also has a lot of materials not found elsewhere, the biggest one being actual plantlife. Getting some of that in the caverns and tunnels would greatly improve this place. In return, your realm produces something quite valuable in insane quantities:

Spider silk.

It’s incredibly durable, stretchy, and sticky when raw. There’s a lot of things that can be turned into, if you’d get some actual artisans in here. Once you figure out the work needed to be done with Abathos, you prepare to leave, letting them decide until your next return whether they’re going through the process of arrancarification. Before you…

“C-Can… c-can I pet it?” Nevera dares to ask.

You blink in confusion, until you realize that Lizzy is indeed on top of your head, and move her to your palm.

“You may. Though know the consequences if you cause even a tiny amount of discomfort.”

>1/4

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Valeska and Zlatana escort you to the edge of the realm from where you entered.

“We will await your return, Matj Koroleva,” Valeska bows her head. You can sense both the doubt and fear in her and Zlatana’s minds, both related to you.

“I may not be her,” you begin, facing them, “but I know how important this realm is to her. I may not be as strong as her yet, but I also needn’t be as cruel as she was.”

“Yes, Matj Koroleva.”
“Yes, Matj Koroleva.”

You sigh and just leave them be. It’ll take quite a while before their attitudes change, but on the other hand, perhaps that isn’t necessary. Perhaps Zilya is onto something when she suggests you turn new arrancars into slaves through her. Then again, it doesn’t feel exactly right.

Maybe you’ll stick to that feeling. Maybe you’ll throw it away.

Once you’re back on the surface, you finally drop your nikai and shikai and take a moment on the ground to collect yourself, though so do Lahela and Alex.

“Did you guys get fucked in the head?” Grimmjow groans, the only one standing. “I swear, after that stunt you did, this is just pathetic.”

You just wave your hand in dismissal.

“So let me get this straight,” Alex says as she takes a deep breath. “You, Aizen’s pet shinigami squirt-”

“Flattering, but do go on.”

“-also a waitress in Uncle Pesci’s pizza bar-”

“Uhhuh.”

“-are the fucking ruler of the Fourth Realm?!”

You give her an awkward smile as you get yourself up and dust off the sand clinging to your clothes. “I’m shocked too. I knew she had a realm, but seeing it with my own eyes was a completely different thing.”

Alex just shakes her head. “Lahela, what the fuck did you get me involved in?”

“SSorry.”

>2/4

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Once you return to Vanaheim, Alex immediately bolts off. Grimmjow shrugs and leaves on his own as well.

“I expect to get a piece of those spiders and the whores.”

“What is this, are you asking me for permission?”

“Fuck you. I’ll go there when I feel like it, and beat the shit out of them.”

“Buuuuut?”

“...You better be there to witness it.”

You pat him on the back with a weary chuckle. “I’ll be there, don’t you worry.”

Now with Lahela, you two sit for a while on the white walls of Vanaheim, and look at the blue forest and the city itself.

“How are you holding up? I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’ss okay. I have to get sstronger. Mentally too. I’m ssuppossed to be your guardian, I promissed. Not a coward who hidess behind youss.”

“You’re not a coward, Lahela. You experienced Zilya’s power firsthand, and the fear it induces is the core of it.”

“Are you really going to forsse them to do thingss?”

You look deep into her eyes, and then down at your hand, and the hilt of Naimen no Daiza.

“I don’t know. I think it’s inevitable. They were born as servants, to do Zilya’s bidding unquestioningly and to the letter. If after a thousand years they still do not know how to make their realm work, I’m not very optimistic.”

Lahela’s expression reveals her conflicted feelings. You pet her back and offer a smile.

“Hey, things are going to work out. I’m sure of it.”

>3/4

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Vanaheim continues to run as before, but you notice the change in behavior. There’s a lot more fear among the general hollow populace. You don’t need to poke around for information as Dordoni instead finds you.

“Señoritas, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I was so worried you may have been kidnapped, by evil bandidos! Crying and pleading for me to rescue yo-”

You hit him on the head. “Stop making up weird fantasies. What happened? The residents are acting weird.”

“You did not feel it?” Dordoni raises his eyebrow. “A malevolent reiatsu spread throughout Hueco Mundo like an explosion. From the spider realm.”

You and Lahela exchange quick glances.

“I-Is that so? Do you know what it was?”

“No señoritas. But the Espada meeting has been called, earlier than was planned. Lord Aizen is on his way.”

“A-Aizen-taichō is coming here? Now?”

“Si, señorita. Not exactly now, but within 24 hours.”

Shit. Looks like your little stunt has more consequences than you thought.

“Please, señoritas, stay here for now and stay safe, or Lord Aizen will have my head!”

“R-Right, we’ll do just that, Dordoni-san.”

You leave him before he gets any bright ideas of hugging, or worse yet, giving kisses. You could just wait out until the meeting and go with the flow of it. On the other hand, talking with some folks might be good before that. Grimmjow might have to fight for the Espada position, so giving him a heads up and maybe planning would be useful. You probably also should find Mr. Soize and talk about what happened, considering Alex most likely went directly to him and spilled everything.

>4/4

>Just wait out and recover your own strength. You might need it.
>Find Grimmjow, figure out a strategy if it comes to fighting.
>Find Kaizar, discuss the recent events.
>Other?

>>5001074
>Find Grimmjow, figure out a strategy if it comes to fighting.
>Find Kaizar, discuss the recent events.

>>5001074
>Find Grimmjow, figure out a strategy if it comes to fighting.
Biggest concern at the moment. Hopefully our target is off her game

>>5001074
>>Find Grimmjow, figure out a strategy if it comes to fighting.
>>Find Kaizar, discuss the recent events.

>>5001302
If we can’t do both, then finding Grimmjow is my choice

>>5001074
>>Find Grimmjow, figure out a strategy if it comes to fighting.

>>5001074
could we roll to see if we get lucky and find both Kaizar and Grimmjow in the same place? cus we need to talk to both, asap

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>>5001296
>>5001300
>>5001302
>>5001305
>>5001306
>>5001381
It's one or the other in this case, but I'll let you roll to see if you can find both and have enough time for it all. Let's have it a good old coin flip.
>Roll 1d10
>1-5 you get time for Grimmy only
>6-10 you also find Big K
>Third roll considered, for suspense

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Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>5001956
I'll just get one out of the way

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>5001956
1!

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>5001956
time to fuck it up

>>5001957
I saw you

>>5001961
>>5001974
>>5001988
I was just biting on my tshirt as I saw the first two rolls. Fug.
It's gonna be just Grimbo then
>Writing
>Gonna eat the food I just made though first

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“Shit,” you curse in the little house that was given to you. “Lahela, can you do me a favor and find Kaizar for me? If you can find Alex, she will probably know where he is.”

Lahela nods. “Makess ssensse! I’ll find him, don’t you worry!”

You give her a smile, and the two of you depart on your own separate journeys.

“Now where’s Grimbo? He shouldn’t have gone anywhere in this short time…”

Fortunately he’s the easier one to find than Mr. Soize who doesn’t leave any trail behind him to follow. You find Grimmjow in an open wet grass field closer to the walls, punching around those companions of his whom you also arrancarified. It’s him versus all of them, but it’s clear they are much weaker than their leader.

“Come on, you idiots. You want some slant-eyed gook to kick your ass in one shot? This is pathetic.”

“Ehem,” you cough loudly.

“Huuuh? What do you want, shorty?”

“Hey, I’m not that short! You’re just freakishly tall.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever shorty.”

Your eyebrow twitches, but you set your frustration aside for the moment.

“The Espada meeting is happening very soon, sooner than I expected. Within a day.”

“So?” Grimmjow says as he reverts his zanpakutō.

“That means you might get your chance to become one of the top dogs. You challenged Sexta Espada, that weird fellow with the scythe, but I don’t think you can beat him, especially with that freakishly strong defense of his.”

“That sounds like what a coward would say,” he spits and walks closer and puts his hand on your head. “I’ll break him, one way or another.”

>1/2

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You show your annoyance very visibly and cross your arms. “Listen. If you aim just a bit below, say, for Septima Espada, you can very well get the job done. From there on you can bark at the other top dogs as much as you want.”

To his credit, he actually seems to consider it. Then he pushes your head backwards with a slight shove and returns his hand. “You talked about that one when I took your offer, this whole arrancar business. I snooped around, apparently she’s some kind of spider lady.”

His eyes narrow. “And now this business in that spider pit, the defected bitch and all.”

You swallow hard, recovering from the shove.

“I ain’t gonna be nobody’s tool, squirt. I do things my own way,” Grimmjow exclaims with a pretty angry look on his face.

“Look, that’s not it. I prefer to look at it as a mutual deal. You go higher on the food chain, and somebody I want to see gone is dealt with. I have other ways of getting it done, but this way you can get something out of it as well. Help me to help you.”

“And why the fuck would you want to ‘help’ me?”

“Because you won’t take anyone else but you for a king.”

You stand there firmly, looking confidently into his eyes and he returns the gesture. For a solid minute or two there’s nothing else, and Grimmy’s group of misfits start to get a little restless.

“Fine,” he gives you a small smirk. “I’ll do it. I’ll take an extra piece out of your ass though in return.”

“...What’s with your fixation?”

“The fuck you on about? I’m gonna have you bust your ass to give me a proper fight, pipsqueak.”

“...I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose anymore.”

>2/2

>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”
>”You know, I could hinder her actions. I have a direct connection to her.”
>”I could give you an edge, make you dodge when you can’t. My senses are better than yours.”
>Other?

>>5002277
>>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”

>>5002277
>>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”
I doubt Grimmjow will take the help, or even appreciate the offer.
And getting caught cheating would suck.

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So I was at uni pretty late today and got a painfully early doctor's appointment in the morning about an hour away. Gonna hit the bed early so the update will arrive tomorrow

M-maybe a few more votes will flow in as well

>>5002277
>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”
This is the only one his pride would accept

>>5002277
>>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”

>>5002277
>”Do as you please, as long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied.”
Could have sworn I voted on this earlier

>>5002283
>>5002984
>>5003196
>>5003836
>>5003977
>Writing, though can only start in about 2 hours

Whew, what a day.

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“Do as you please,” you say, waving your hand and closing your eyes. “As long as she’s out, I’ll be satisfied. Knock yourself out.”

“That I will,” he grins and turns back towards his gang. “Alright you idiots, get back to fighting! My back needs some scratching!”

You linger for a while longer, just watching this battle that shows little resemblance of training and more of just Grimmy dominating the others. But for what little it’s worth, it actually does look like he’s trying to make them learn and improve, even if his methods aren’t really effective. At the same time, you see he has become much better at the techniques he saw Nnoitra use in their match. He even protects his torso from cero blasts much better and doesn’t let any of them set off anywhere near his torso.

He’s certainly learning from his mistakes.

You leave him to it and set out to find Lahela, in hopes that she did manage to find Kaizar or at the very least Alex. However, you find Lahela sitting in a cafe, munching on… cookies and milk? While sobbing?

“L-Lahela? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Sshe’s angry at me.. *sob* *munch*”

“Who? Alex?”

Lahela nods and puts another cookie in her mouth.

“Because you asked her to join us in our little expedition?”

She nods again and gulps down the milk.

“Ugh. And here I thought I was free of school drama,” you shake your head. “Look, Lahela, you didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t even know where we were going. She came on her own volition. Besides, she got some very valuable information out of it. Don’t let her guilt trip you.”

Lahela pulls back a line of snot and bursts out crying, her arms outstretched towards you. “Waaah! Koharu, you’re sso kind!”

You give her the hug and gently pat her head. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

Once she recovers, you and Lahela try to find the Cuarta Espada. Unfortunately though, without a trace to follow, you just end up running in circles, and then you feel it. A presence quite unmistakable, yet so different from what you’re used to.

Aizen has arrived.

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So I was going to write more, but I realized I’m crashing pretty hard. So I’m gonna end this part now and write up a bigger update with the Espada meeting tomorrow with the next part and all. Stay tuned and good night, anons!

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You are Nakashiri Koharu, and you’ve just arrived at the Jardin de la Espada – A lush and well-kept garden with a long white table and nine numbered white chairs, intended for the ten members of the Espada, the strongest arrancar in Hueco Mundo.

And then there’s a large chair, one which clearly belongs to the master.

Aizen.

A high contrast to the normally humble interior of your captain’s room and public behavior. Then again, with hollows you pretty much have to assert your dominance.

Dordoni has escorted you here along with Lahela. Since this is your first formal time seeing the Espada, he gives you a rundown on them.

“Listen carefully señoritas, these are the ten most powerful arrancar. I used to sit among them, until those stronger than I filled the ranks and I became Privaron Espada.”

“Demoted?”

“Si,” Dordoni says with a pained expression. “Alas, once you meet them, you will understand.”

There’s currently four of them present already: Numbers three to five and nine. Dordoni motions to the one sitting on the ninth seat. They are rather peculiar, as there’s a mask covering a ridiculously upstretched head. It’s odd, you thought the process of becoming an arrancar would remove most of the mask.

“Starting from the Novena: Aaroniero Arruruerie. I know, the name is hard to pronounce. Exceptionally, he was a Gillian before becoming an Arrancar. Yet it is due to his powers he’s kept his seat in the Espada. He is able to adopt the powers of those he consumes. Aizen keeps him in the ninth seat due to his endless potential.”

“That’s… actually pretty scary when you think about it,” you frown.

“Señorita, it’s only going to get scarier the lower we go.”

>1/5

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“Next of those present we have the three keepers of Azulwald,” he says and nods towards the fifth through third seats.

“The green-haired one is Quinta Espada, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. While she is the kindest of them all, her fighting spirit is nothing to laugh at. She’s a capable warrior, a stout believer of good in hollows, and the face of Vanaheim.”

“She’s stronger than that Nnoitra guy?”

“Si, señorita. Let that be a testament to her strength.”

All of your eyes move to the next figure, one that has become slightly more familiar than the rest. “Kaizar Soize.”

“Si. The true ruler of Azulwald, the one who built it from the ground up. He became a Vasto Lorde before becoming an arrancar, a rare thing to witness. His ability is a versatile and quite frankly, ridiculous one: slime.”

“Slime? W-What?”

“Yes. He produces slime that works well as medicine, but also eats up and damps reiatsu.”

“So that’s why I can never sense hi- wait, medicine?” you ask and freeze. Then you almost puke when you realize what the nurse meant.

“Technically, the whole forest is ‘him.’ All of it started from one single puddle of goo where he slept fo-”

“for three nights, I remember. Please, let’s.. move on.”

“Señorita, are you okay? You look pale. Do you want to visit the medical tents?”

“MOVE. ON.”

>2/5

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Your eyes fall next upon a blonde woman with darker skin. Her outfit’s collar reaches way up to her nose, hiding half of her face. In contrast, you can see the underside of her enormous tits.

“Then as Tercera Espada, we have Tier Harribel, the calm and most stoic hollow I’ve seen. She too was a Vasto Lorde before she joined our ranks. Her power is elemental in nature, that of water. Extremely deadly. But these here are the nicest ones of the bunch.”

You do your best to mentally note everything down what Dordoni is telling you. Shit, this is really ridiculous already. You have no idea how Soul Society would fare against this already at this point, despite hearing what kind of monsters the captains are.

You swallow hard.

“Ah, and there come the next ones,” Dordoni says. Two figures come in using sonido. One is a lanky guy with pink hair and glasses, which upon looking again is actually his mask fragment. He gives you very bad vibes. Somehow similar to Captain Kurotsuchi. But it’s the silver-haired woman that takes your full attention.

“Octava Espada Szayelaporro Granz and Séptima Espada Lubina Arachina,” Dordoni introduces them to you in a whisper. “Szayelaporro is the lead scientist for Aizen and is quite formidable with his intellect and powers that he has acquired through studying hollows.”

The two converse about something with smug faces, but as they reach their seats, your eyes meet Lubina’s, and you see her freeze for a fraction of a second. She slowly seats herself, but you both keep staring at each other. You with a burning inferno of rage and bloodlust that you are doing your best to contain, and her with a mix of confusion, annoyance and a hint of fear.

“Lubina is one of the five spider princesses-”

“Was,” you correct him.

“R-Right, was, one of the five spider princesses from Lazuta Yami. She was the only one to take Aizen’s offer. Can’t blame her. The realm is slowly eroding, falling apart. Her powers revolve around spider silk string. Quite deadly if underestimated.”

The staring contest continues and you feel like Zilya’s rage is starting to power its way through to the surface, enough that Lubina’s starting to show signs of discomfort, when it’s broken by a new arrival.

“Eyo hombres, wutz this shiieet?”

>3/5

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A really large, bulky, mostly-bald man, with a long hair tail and a bushy sidebeard arrives at the scene, his arms outstretched.

“I come all the way over here and y’all looking like sad fuckers? Where’s da party?”

You can practically hear everyone rolling their eyes at the same time, but similarly, everyone’s feeling a little nervous with this guy. You don’t sense that his reiatsu is as close as strong as the three higher ones present, but his build and stature…

“Wait, i-is this..”

“The Primera?” Dordoni says, and then turns to look away from the guy. You swear he’s stifling a laugh and almost failing at it. “Dios mio, no, this is an idiot with a pea for a brain, but considerable strength. That’s Yammy Llargo, ‘Decima’ Espada. Jeez, you almost broke me with you joking like that.”

Yammy waddles with a power strut to the Primera seat, with the zero scribbled after the one with a sharpie.

“C’mon ya shits! Party like we’z kangs!”

Neliel just sighs and answers him. “Right. For kings!” she toasts with nothing while cringing hard. The rest raise their own hands with various degrees of lazy and cringe.

“Jesus, Yammy, you should go to the Colosseum more if you want to be a king,” a new voice speaks out. A familiar face, with long black hair, an eyepatch and a spoon-shaped cloth rising from his collar behind the head.

“Nnoitra Gilga, Sexta Espada. I believe no introductions are needed for this one,” Dordoni swallows and sweats a bit. “He’s in turn one of the meanest and foulest around. Be on your guard with him around.”

“Ey what you say nigga? Go fuck yourself Nnoitra!”

“Make me. Or do you need your papa to do it for you?”

“Yo take yo seat boy, if you don’t want to choke on muh dick. I know all about yo gay ass shieet.”

“Pffft,” Nnoitra dismisses him and takes his seat.

The conversation stops though once you all feel a damn strong reiatsu approach. Painfully slowly so.

>4/5

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“W-What the hell,” you whisper to Dordoni. “Who’s that?”

“That would be the Segunda Espada, señorita,” Dordoni nods with sweat running down his cheek. “Incredibly powerful as you can guess. He became an arrancar on his own, without help, to seal some of his power away so he wouldn’t kill hollows around him with his mere presence.”

You swallow really hard and wipe off a bit of sweat off of your face. Out of the blue trees, you see the man slowly strutting forward, with a little girl dragging him forward.

“Coyote Starrk, and his other half, Lilynette Gingerbuck.”

The guy casually struts towards his seat. All about him screams a cowboy, he’s just missing the hat. Once he sits down though, he immediately dozes off.

“COME ON, STARRK, YOU CAN’T JUST FALL ASLEEP YOU DIPSHIT!”

The little girl does her best to slap and punch his face around.

“But I’m already sleeping.”

“BUT YOU JUST TALKED!”

And then there’s no response.

“UGH!”

“I see all have gathered, except the expected absentee.”

The familiar voice catches everyone’s attention, as a portal opens to the Garganta through which Aizen steps through. His eyes flick to you for a moment, his expression unmoving, before he turns back to those at the table. He takes his seat, and takes his glasses off.

“Then we shall begin the meeting.”

>5/5

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Okay so I wanted to write it to a point where you'd get a prompt again, but at this point I'm too exhausted to make it work. It'll have to go to tomorrow, sorry for that folks. I hope this update is worth it though!

Just thought of something funny.
What if Septima actually is a pretty ok person, and Koharu's just been led around by rumors and autism into a homicidal frenzy.

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There’s a moment of silence as Aizen’s eyes move through each of the Espada, as well as you, before moving to Kaizar. You feel cold shivers throughout your body.

“Well then, do report on your missions.”

Kaizar coughs and adjusts his cap. “Right, Lord Aizen. Hydra’s path has been redirected towards Baraggan’s territory. It shouldn’t be a problem for us anymore, not for many years.”

You notice the green-haired one, Neliel, doesn’t seem too happy about it though.

“Very good,” Aizen speaks softly, his expression unflinching. His eyes then move to Nnoitra.

“You were correct Lord Aizen. Baraggan’s and Daji Lü’s forces have stopped engaging each other, despite some shitty skirmishes. Smells like an alliance.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Neliel interjects. “There’s no way the corpse and crone can coexist.”

“Go take a look for yourself then, goat-bitch.”

“But why would they stop faitin’?” Yammy asks, trying to look like he’s asking some very deep and serious question.

“Because we’ve become a serious threat to them, dear Yammy,” Aizen explains. You swear you see a minuscule smirk on him. Then his eyes turn directly towards you. “Now then, I understand there’s a development?”

“Si, Lord Aizen,” Dordoni bows beside you, “there’s been a great disturbance in the realm of Lazuta Yami. The network was briefly activated.”

“That is impossible,” Lubina protests, rising up from her seat. “There’s nobody that can operate it anymore.”

“It’s true,” a calm but disinterested voice speaks up, Starrk’s voice. “It’s the same as a thousand years ago.”

Lubina looks visibly shaken, and falls back down into her chair.

“Si. As señor Starrk said, the whole realm flared. T-There’s.. something worrying too.”

“Yes?” Aizen asks, still as collected and cold.

“The Calamity of Lazuta Yami, Cruciforma may have awakened…”

>1/2

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The members of the Espada begin murmuring among each other.

“Was it the work of my brother?” the pink-haired scientist guy speaks up. “As a last resort?”

“No,” Lubina shakes her head. “Even he isn’t dumb enough to wake that thing that even mother couldn’t fully control.”

There’s some audible debate among them all about all of this, yet it all just drifts into the background as you feel tense with Aizen’s eyes set on you.

He knows. He has to.

Aizen closes his eyes, giving you some breathing room. He raises his hand just a little bit, and the table goes silent.

“We have our ways to deal with it in due time. Now, I’d like to introduce you to somebody quite special. A subordinate of mine.”

The Espada all turn to look at you, and their combined attention feels like they’re about to crush and grind you into the ground.

“Dis squirt? Yo, what’s this weak ass bitch doing here even?”

“I’m well capable, thank you very much,” you say before Lahela manages to spring forth to verbally defend you.

“Nakashiri-san has a very special gift and is very dear to me. A special way of turning hollows into arrancars.”

“So it’s true?” Aaroniero speaks up, with a distorted voice that sounds like two voices speaking at the same time. “I had heard about this. There was a new batch of them recently.”

All eyes are on you.

“Yes. The leader of the pack is called Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and…”

>2/2

>”I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”
>”He still needs time before he’s anyone of note.”
>”He’s not worth anyone’s time.”
>Other?

>>5006734
>>”I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”

>>5006734
>>”I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”

>>5006734
>>”I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”
Throw the birdy from the nest

>>5006734
>>”I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”

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>>5007260
>>5007275
>>5007279
>>5007291
>Writan

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“...I believe he has what it takes to become an Espada, right now.”

You can feel the tension as you say that, with every single Espada registering your words. Then it all breaks once that spoon-collar guy speaks.

“That runt that couldn’t even put a scratch on me? You gotta be shitting me.”

“To be fair, that was a pretty one-sided match,” Kaizar speaks up.

“He has potential,” the blonde woman states and closes her eyes.

“H-He learnt a lot from his match with you,” you explain. “And if he fails here, then you’ll know he wasn’t worth it. But if he doesn’t…”

Aizen nods. “Bring him.”

You turn to Lahela and give her a nod. She disappears in a flash of sonido.

“I hope dis stupid ass bitch be worth it,” Yammy yawns and leans against the table. “Last kid was a foo’ and became mush under ma feet!”

You swallow again and literally count the seconds as you wait for Lahela to come back with your candidate. Fortunately, the Espada turned their attention away from you, exchanging some info on events around Hueco Mundo.

Then he arrives.

Hands in his pockets, Grimmjow appears with Lahela behind him, eyeing the table, gathering the attention of those sitting at it.

“Welcome, Grimmjow,” Aizen softly greets him, moving his elbow beside him onto the chair so he can lean onto his arm. “I hear you have potential.”

“Y-Yeah. I’m here to take one of your top spots.”

“Very well. Pick who you’d like to replace then,” Aizen smiles.

Nnoitra’s grinning at him like a maniac, almost begging him to choose him. Neliel, Kaizar and Harribel just sit with their eyes closed, not bothering. Starrk is just sleeping, despite Lilynette trying to subtly wake him up. The rest of the Espada though, those of lower rank are looking serious.

And then there’s Yammy.

“Oi, come on punk, choose me! I wanna wipe the floor with yo pussy ass!”

Grimmjow gives him a look that worries you, but his eyes move between Séptima and Octava.

>Let him choose
>Choose for him (who?)
>Other?

>>5007651
>>Let him choose
BeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboyBeagoodboy

>>5007651
>Let him choose

>>5007651
>Let him choose
Please anyone but Yammy, because that's like beating up the slow kid

>>5007651
>Let him choose
Going for Szayelaporro might not be pretty... but Arachina is probably strong too so I this is as good as it gets.

Just don't choose Yammy please.

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>>5007657
>>5007736
>>5007742
>>5007833
>Writing

Shit. I fell into the nostalgia pit and started rereading knights of the old republic comic series. Suddenly hours disappear from my day.

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Grimmjow raises his finger.

“I want a piece of her.”

Yammy slaps the table. “Sheiiit, what a waste.”

You feel a rise in reiatsu as his target gets up from the table.

“Is that so?” Lubina says as her own expression turns quite sinister, very reminiscent of her mother. “At least survive for long enough that I can have my fun tangling you in my web!”

Grimmy responds by raising his own reiatsu and giving his own murderous grin. “What’s one more spider to crush?”

“Take the fight outside the walls,” Kaizar growls.

Aizen nods. “Begin as soon as you cross the wall. I will be watching you keenly.”

With that, the two disappear in flashes of sonido, and the rest of the group do the same. You follow suit with Lahela, ending up at the white wall, from which you can easily see the two combatants standing on reishi pads above the blue forest. You end up beside Aizen, almost as if he kept the spot free for you. Or none of the other Espada dared to come closer.

“Place your bets,” Nnoitra grins. “I say he’s getting fucked.”

“What are you even betting?” Nelliel sighs. “Just watch, you dolt.”

The two are still sizing each other up based on reiatsu and bloodlust alone. They’re surprisingly even in terms of that unfortunately, but at least Lubina shouldn’t have an advantage then. It’s a battle of skill and ability it seems.

Grimmjow opens up with sonido and melee, moving in to kick and claw her around, though she’s quick to draw her blade to block it. Unsurprisingly, her sword’s tsuba comes in the shape of a spider net. An exchange of ceros and more melee are enough to push Lubina to release first. She lets go of her sword with the blade facing up and you swear you see reishi strings, much like those you use, keeping the sword hanging from her hand.

“Spin, Veretno!”

>1/3

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The transformation releases a lot of energy at once and Grimmjow pulls back, only to find that what he’s facing is very similar to what you met in Lazuta Yami. The body of a spider and the upper torso of a human, except now the torso isn’t covered in the white bone exoskeleton that adjuchas normally have. The clothing leaves little to the imagination, her hollow hole exposed at her abdomen, just before the spider part begins. Four smaller, additional eyes have also appeared on her forehead.

Hanging from her hands, there are ten spindles, one for each finger, hanging down by thread.

“Well then, little cat, why don’t you dance for me?” she boasts. As Grimmjow takes up on her taunt, Lubina throws the spindles around her, and they begin spinning through the air. Her spider-centaur body is surprisingly agile, as she keeps fending Grimmjow off mostly with her spider legs, keeping her human arms away.

“So this is what you’re gonna do? Make a net? Hope to tangle me up in it? What a joke,” Grimmjow scoffs and fires a cero at one of the spindles. However, instead of destroying it, it just slingshots in a new direction, spinning even faster and spreading the reishi thread.

“How unimaginative must you be?” Lubina laughs, and charges her own cero in her mouth.

You’re confused though. Why hasn’t he released yet? She has the advantage right now, he’s putting himself at risk. Unless… unless he’s actually testing her capabilities before he reveals his own cards.

Could.. could he actually be that smart?

“Let’s up the firepower then,” Grimmjow shouts as he jumps further up and draws his blade just enough to make a cut on his palm. Holding the wrist with his other hand, the cero charges and turns cyan-blue in hue instead of the classic red. With a massive kick, it blasts towards Lubina and the web that’s floating around her.

As the light disappears and dust settles from the ground collateral, you see that Lubina is unharmed. The threads formed into a proper web now and acted like a shield. There’s something yellow shimmering between the threads that promptly disappears.

“Son of a bitch,” Nnoitra laughs. “He actually learnt something.”

>2/3

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“So that’s how it is, huh?” Grimmjow squats in the air. It kind of looks funny from your vantage point.

“You suffocating in my web,” Lubina responds. “Remember, there’s no surrendering in a match for a spot in the Espada.”

“Nah. Your thread. Some of it actually melted.”

Lubina’s expression sours, and then moves the spindles back closer to her. “Very well, shithead, playtime’s over.”

The spindles pair up into five with lengthy strings connecting them, and you see bright red spheres of light form in the middle of them. They move away from Grimmjow and stretch the thread, becoming something like arrows.

“Pautinnaja Streljba!”

The cero arrows fire and new ones quickly form behind the first wave, creating a volley of pure destruction, lighting up the dark sky of Hueco Mundo.

“Grind, Panterra!”

A burst of energy now blows away many of the ceros aiming at Grimmjow, but many of them get through.

“It’s USELESS! DIE YOU FILTH!”

Grimmjow however appears some distance behind her with a quick sonido in his resurrección form. There are some scorch marks on his body, but he doesn’t really look that hurt. Before Lubina has the time to turn the spindle-bows around, Grimmy executes his own attack.

“Garra de la Pantera!”

His elbow outstretched, five dark green, crystalline, unevenly cut stone darts fire out of it and whistle towards Lubina at high speed. All five connect and explode.

“Right, time to fi-”

Grimmjow tries to move, but finds that his body is locked. Something’s keeping him in place.

“Heh, heh,” Lubina pants as the smoke clears. She has some nasty burn marks over her body now too, but her expression remains satisfied. “Finally you moved into my web. What, you thought you needed to avoid only what you can see? Pathetic.”

You switch on Senzen, and true enough, there’s very thin threads all around Lubina, and a lot more tangled around Grimmjow right now. It seems that his flash step made him tangle up in it when he got behind her.

Shit. That ain’t good.

“EAT SHIT!” Lubina shouts and laughs, as she prepares another volley of those cero arrows.

>3/3

>Trust in Grimmjow, he’ll figure out a way.
>Intervene discreetly with hanran.
>Other?

>>5008676
>>Trust in Grimmjow, he’ll figure out a way.
I doubt we would get away with cheating, at the very least Aizen is guaranteed to notice.
He might not care mind you, but everyone else would including Grimmjow so I would rather not risk it.

Cheer him on maybe? W-would that help?

>>5008676
>>Trust in Grimmjow, he’ll figure out a way.
We'll just draw the attention of the stronger ones if we try shit. Let Grimmy do his thing and hpefully it maintains our cover.

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>>5008701
>spoiler
It'd be pretty funny at the very least. A shinigami cheering on a hollow, not something you see every day

>>5008676
>Trust in Grimmjow, he’ll figure out a way.
I'm in support of the cheering idea

>>5008722
Will back cheering.
Can we manifest pompoms?

>>5008724
Probably, Kido/Reiatsu control is our strong point. If not I could see us making a quick one with that kido web trick and whatever is lying around

>>5008776
Then we should go all in
>>5008722
BP threat level if we start doing cheers?

>>5008676
>Trust in Grimmjow, he’ll figure out a way.

Rolled 4, 7, 4, 10, 1, 5 = 31 (6d10)

>>5008701
>>5008711
>>5008723
>>5009253
>Writing
With cheerleading enabled.

>>5008724
>Can we manifest pompoms?
Hell yes

>>5009222
>BP threat level if we start doing cheers?
Creeping upwards towards 7

>Rollerino

>>5009542
What does BP even mean?

>>5009614
Boy Pussy. Bussy if you will

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You bite your lower lip as you consider intervening. You think hard, very hard. What could even work right now? How could you help him, without getting busted?

Then the lightbulb lights up.

With a bit of kidō manipulation, you form two large cyan pompoms. All the Espada beside you turn to watch you just for a second, and then you start moving your arms and body.

“Go Grimbo, go Grimbo! You can do it!” you cheer him on as you flail around the pompoms.

Your little cheerleading act confuses the shit out of everyone, even Aizen by a minuscule amount. But it’s just enough distraction that Grimmjow manages to swipe his claws downwards, releasing a lot of energy.

“Desgarrón!”

Ten blue colored trails emerge from his claws, which promptly cut the invisible threads. Lubina, realizing what’s happening, releases the volley of cero arrows at him and even bits her tongue to charge a Gran Rey Cero. It discharges in a violent, purple color.

“G-Go Grimbo!” you continue.

“Jesus Christ,” Nnoitra facepalms, though Neliel seems to find it amusing, in a good way. The others just do their best to ignore it all.

“Never seen a shinigami cheer on a hollow before,” Harribel says softly to her two colleagues.

“What can you expect from a degenerate?” Kaizar shakes his head, but receives a slap on the back of his head from Nelliel.

“Hush, you geezer!”

>1/3

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The cero blasts clear away, with the air sizzling around the area where they exploded. Lubina’s starting to look exhausted, with her heavy breathing. She’s shocked however to see that Grimmjow’s still standing there, with the blue energy claws looping around to shield him.

“Is that it, shitty spider?” Grimmjow scoffs as he spits some blood out of his mouth. His technique is definitely not a defensive one, but it looks like he managed to use them to deflect most of the impact and explosions to his sides. Hierro took care of the rest, but not well enough to leave him unscratched.

“GRRR, WHY MUST YOU STAND IN MY WAY?!” Lubina screams and scratches open her arms so that they are open wounds. More spindels form and create red string from her blood.

“KROVAVAJE KOROLEVSTVO!”

“As if I’d let you, bitch!” Grimmjow shouts back and moves his claws, directing his blue reishi threads towards Lubina, cutting through the white thread. They grind against the red string, but do not cut through them fast enough as new strings form.

Your eyes widen though once new cero balls start forming between spindel pairs and bloody string. Instead of red color, they…

“T-Those are all-” you pause your cheerleading in shock.

“Gran Rey Ceros,” Szayelaporro finishes your sentence, adjusting his glasses smugly. “Quite talented, she is.”

“B-But so many at such a range, won’t the-”

“Just watch,” Nnoitra cuts you off. “And stop ruining the moment.”

You swallow hard and double down on your cheerleading, much to Nnoitra’s annoyance.

“GO GRIMMJOW! GO GRIMMJOW!”

The whole area where they fight blows up as Grimmjow hits one of the ceros before it manages to fire.

>2/3

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Once the dust starts to settle, you start to see things. Firstly, hundreds of thread, with blood dripping from them, drooping down.

Then you make out the shadows of Lubina and Grimmjow, and once the dust clears completely, you can’t help but grin.

Grimmjow stands there, with one hand on Lubina’s throat, her resurrección broken. Her arms are openly bleeding, her hair stained. Both of them are heavily burnt, but Grimmjow seems to have resisted or diverted most of the damage. Lubina, not so much.

“Game’s over, bitch.”

And so Grimmjow just releases her throat, letting her fall down into the debris of incinerated wood and exposed rock.

“Looks like you lost the bet.”

“Fuck you, goat-girl. You didn’t even bet on anything,” Nnoitra growls, though you can see he’s still grinning. Almost too giddily.

“I did. I just didn’t tell you.”

“That’s.. that’s not how gambling works, Nel…” Kaizar facepalms.

“Regardless, it seems we have a new Séptima,” Nel closes her eyes.

As Grimmjow joins you at the wall, Aizen claps his hands. Exactly three times and no more.

“Well done, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Séptima Espada,” he says, and then switches to Japanese with his eyes on you. “And well done, my dear pupil. Well done indeed.”

You feel like hell butterflies fly around in your stomach, but the moment is ruined as Grimmjow reaches you and punches you in the head. Hard.

“OW, OW, OW! WHAT’S THE DEAL?!”

“THE DEAL?!” Grimmjow shouts back, “WHAT THE FUCK’S WRONG WITH YOU? AND THESE?”

He gestures at the pompoms.

“I SWEAR I WAS ABOUT TO DIE FROM CRINGE ALONE!”

“Well YOU’RE bloody welcome, asshole!”

“You’re just ASKING for me to tear you a new one!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

And so the members of Espada change once again.

>3/3

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That's it for this session, we continue on Tuesday. I'm gonna try and work on an omake - there's one that I've had on my shoulders for god knows how long about soul society & seireitei life of Koharu, but there's also Lubina's past/flashback. So I'll let you decide which you wanna see first. Though it could be a bit meta at this point.

Good night and if you have any comments or questions at this point, I'll do my best to answer them! Hope you enjoyed the fight scene too!

>>5009677
Well we just got her demoted, so we might as well see her backstory before we make her life worse

>>5009677
+1 for lubina

>>5009677
Yeah sure lets learn about the bug we just had squashed.

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OMAKE: The Blood-Stained Rose

Defilement. Devourment.

Those are the first things I felt since my inception. Thousands of souls, screaming inside another’s body, and I feasted on them. I turned their screams into mine, bit by bit, until it was time.

“Welcome, my child,” I heard. A voice - a voice both so loving to me, and so hopelessly terrifying. I saw the corpse from which I had been born around me, like shells of an egg.

And I consumed the remains.

“You are special among my children, my dear,” she spoke. “You are my daughter, my unconditionally loyal subject, isn’t it so?”

I saw her eyes, and they pierced my very being. Everything I was she could see and touch. And in those eyes I saw: My existence could end at her whim. I would never, ever be able to disobey or escape her.

I feasted, I grew stronger, I did her bidding with my four sisters, all older than me. They were kind, gave me specks of solace from eternal servitude to my mother.

Yet she was their mother too, and they were unconditionally loyal.

I never dared question her in front of them again. Their fear turned to wrath, all directed at me.

“We are her daughters, you ungrateful brat. There is no higher honor than that.”

Yet my uncertainty remained. In years it was ground into rage, and ever more so into suffering. The many colonies I conquered, the thousands of hollows whom I fed my mother’s parasites, and thousands more that I tortured, bled them to death.

And I loved it.

My power. My wrath.

Mother would finally see that I am much more than a subject to rule.

>1/3

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“Excellent, Lubina. My realm grows more and more, and those two husks on the surface can’t do anything.”

I was excited. She was pleased. I had done what she wanted and more.

“Such a dear daughter, so diligent.”

I was at my brightest.

“Now go. Your mother has important things to do.”

And then there was confusion.

“Mother, I-”

“Are you deaf?” she scowled.

“I DO EVERYTHING YOU ASK OF ME, AND MORE! ALL FOR YOU! UNQUESTIONINGLY! WHY? Why…?” I grit my teeth. I could not even cry with this cursed mask.

“Why won’t you acknowledge me?”

Her eyes flared, everything around me turned dark. Never have I felt such despair before, like I was being strangled by a rope. Her eyes… and those of my sisters. All looking at me.

“Insolent child. You forget your place. You are MY subject, at MY will brought to this world. As easily as I made you I WILL discard you if I will it. I have no need for weak minded trash for children. Remember your place, daughter. Lest you lose it and become the host for my next child.”

Mother’s eyes darkened and I felt like I was stabbed by daggers. Was it hours? Days? I do not remember. Once I grew numb to the agony, I was stuck in the void.

>2/3

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“Mother’s gone.”

I could not believe those words. It couldn’t be true. But they were.

“S-So we’re free now, right? We’re… WE’RE FINALLY FREE!”

It was foolish of me to share my joy, but I could not stop it. A plug was pulled, and everything flushed out. But my sisters did not understand.

“Insolent child,” all four of them spoke and forced me into submission. “We are our queen mother’s children. This realm is still her's, it is our duty to protect it until her return. Remember your place.”

In that moment I finally understood that my sisters never would understand. It wasn’t fear, but blind, unquestioning loyalty. Mother is everything to them, and they would not let go of her. Ever.

But not me.

Anything but her. I would take anything.

“My name is Aizen. Become arrancar, regain your humanity and serve my interests.”

Those were the words the shinigami told us five and old Abathos. Of course, nobody was interested in his offer.

Nobody except me.

At last, a way out of this hellhole, out of my prison. My sisters tried to stop me, but Lord Aizen protected me. Later they will submit to him. But I went willingly, and will step above them.

I will become the queen, and they will serve me instead.

He gave me my freedom. He is a true father to me, he recognizes me, he acknowledges me.

“GRRR, WHY MUST YOU STAND IN MY WAY?!”

This rookie, this vile trash stands in my way, brought by this insolent shinigami brat. Why does she terrify me so? Why was I chosen? Why do I feel like I’m being put down again?

No, I will show them. I will show Aizen how strong I am, and that this punk has nothing on me.

“KROVAVAJE KOROLEVSTVO!”

It hurts. It hurts so much. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Lord Aizen let this happen?

Why?

At the very least I can spend my last moments in peace, on my own, from my own failure, knowing the thing that called me her daughter won’t touch me.

Unbound.

>3/3

>She actually wasn’t that bad and just wanted to be free
WELP
Koharu’s kind of a bitch now.

>>5011028
>She actually wasn’t that bad
She still really loved torture.

>>5011028
It sucks, but considering her (ironically) strong loyalty to Aizen we would have come to blows either way. But a desire for freedom is something Koharu can relate to, just have to learn that fact in-universe

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You are Nakashiri Koharu, and you’ve just witnessed the rise of a new member of the Espada. With an end to this match, the situation begins to dissolve.

“Your duties remain the same. Continue to monitor the realms and find suitable arrancar candidates. Meeting concluded.”

With that proclamation from Aizen, the Espada begin to leave, one by one.

“Am I to expect a rematch?” Nnoitra says and grins to Grimmjow.

“Damn straight.”

“Don’t disappoint me kiddo.”

And he leaves.

Yammy, Aaroniero, Nelliel and Harribel simply leave without a word, while Szayelaporro lets out a simple “Tsch” while adjusting his glasses as he does so. Lillynette drags the sleeping Starrk away with a lot of cursing.

Aizen gives you a subtle smug smile, before vanishing himself.

“Congratulationss on my behalf too, Grimmjow.”

He ignores her though and focuses on you. “I did your dirty work, don’t forget you owe me now.”

“Right. I won’t. Don’t forget your manners though.”

“What?”

You make a small jump and grab him by his hair, pulling him down into a bow towards Lahela. “What do we say?”

“Fuck you!”

You kick his groin. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?”

“THANK YOU, OKAY?! YOU PIECE O-”

And he collapses on the ground.

“Maybe I overdid it,” you wonder, while looking down at his body with Lahela. “He did get a lot of injuries...”

>1/2

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Your attention turns to Kaizar though, who didn’t leave. With his invisibility in reiatsu it’s incredibly unnerving that you forgot about him completely.

“Step aside.”

“W-What are you doing?”

He holds out a hand above him, and a blue goop starts to secrete from his palm and down onto Grimmjow. It looks… suspiciously familiar.

“It’ll help him.”

As you try to keep yourself from vomiting again, Kaizar drops down the wall and walks towards Lubina, watching her bloodied body.

“Still alive.”

You and Lahela join him down there. The area here is ruined from the battle and every step you take raises a mix of ash and dust.

“Now I don’t know what this whole business here is, ladyboy, but as long as you keep it out of Vanaheim I don’t care,” he says and turns to face you. He seems kind of pissed off. “What I need to know is whether I need to prepare for war on a third front now too with your shitty intervention.”

“So Alex told you, huh?” you smile awkwardly.

“She said some interesting things, yes. Things that give me enough reason to kill you right here and now,” he says and grabs you by your throat. Lahela tries to do something, but he just shoves her head away as you struggle. “Hueco Mundo needs no more barons, especially not one with an army of mindless murder machines.”

He lets go of you, leaving you to cough and catch your breath on the ground. The ash and dust don’t help, though Lahela comes to help you up.

“Unfortunately if one of the Calamities has woken up, I can’t just indulge in my urges to murder degenerates. So start talking. Why are you here? What are you trying to achieve?”

>2/2

>Be open with him, explain your situation as a double agent and searching for agency.
>Be vague, tell him you’re just looking for power and influence where you can get it.
>Refuse to answer him.
>Other?

Extra options
>Ask about a possible alliance of realms
>Tell him Cruciforma can be controlled
>Ask him to heal Lubina

>>5011407
>Be vague, tell him you’re just looking for power and influence where you can get it.
Our goals align us with Aizen and we aren’t planning on causing hollow major problems simple enough.
>Ask him to heal Lubina
He probably sees us as too weak for an alliance, might as well show we really do care about his kind.

>>5011407
>Be vague, tell him you’re just looking for power and influence where you can get it.
We have no reason to spill the beans to Kaizar, but we should make it clear we don't want to cause trouble, and that Vanaheim is cool.

>Ask about a possible alliance of realms
Test the waters on how welcome a bunch of ex-crazy spiders would be... you know theoretically haha

>>5011407
>Be vague, tell him you’re just looking for power and influence where you can get it.
>And yes, offing me because my presence offends you wouldn't be in your interest, as I may be the only person who can stabilize the situation with the calamity without widespread devastation.
>And do you plan on healing the former Septima? I don't care all that much either way, but I'd like to know in advance if I should expect her swearing vengeance and plotting against me.
>Oh, I'd also like to ransom that Shinigami you've got working the mills, including his zanpakuto. Could you set the price in alcohol? I believe that should suffice as reparation.

>>5011407
>Be Open with him
>Ask about an alliance

>>5011679
Whoops, meant to pick be vague

>>5011407
>>Be vague, tell him you’re just looking for power and influence where you can get it.
>Ask about a possible alliance of realms

>>5011479
>>5011494
>>5011582
>>5011681
>>5012020
Being vague wins, as well as asking about alliance.
>Roll 3d10, Bo3, DC 17, crit 23, Social (7) may replace lowest die
Let's see how convincing you are

Rolled 9, 4, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>5012056

Rolled 7, 2, 4 = 13 (3d10)

>>5012056

Rolled 2, 2, 1 = 5 (3d10)

>>5012056

>>5012061
CRIT, FUCKING FINALLY

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>>5012087

>>5012087
>>5012088
You’re so lucky we don’t have crit fails

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>>5012061
>21(24)
>>5012063
>13(18)
>>5012087
>5(11)
And it is indeed a crit, a single point over even.
>Writing

>>5012091
>You’re so lucky we don’t have crit fails
Should we? :^)

>>5012101
>spoiler
God PLEASE no
Could make for some nice dramatic moments, but it could just as easily make them very unsatisfying. Best leave it as it is I say

>>5012111
Yeah no worries there anon, I definitely don't want them in my quest. From my experience they more often shit up a quest than make those dramatic moments. I ain't gonna risk it

>>5012125
But what if
BUT WHAT IF THO
What if every roll was a 1, from all three voters?

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>>5012142
Then it's fate. Anyway, updoot time!

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“Power and influence, that’s my agenda right now. After that, change. Right now my goals align me with Aizen.”

Kaizar stares at you uncomfortably long in silence, but then the tension evaporates, his posture relaxes through a sigh.

“Power, influence and change, huh? I would punch you for being vague if I didn’t have a similar situation at hand.”

“B-But you have so much-”

“Not enough. Not nearly enough for things to truly change, much less control the change. Especially with your meddling.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” you say and strengthen your resolve. “I know my presence offends you and you’d be happy to get me off the list of things to worry about, but as it stands, I may be the only person capable of stabilizing Lazuta Yami. It is my domain now, afterall.”

“So it’s true? You can operate the web?”

You nod. “I don’t know how exactly yet, but I believe I can learn and master it.”

“And then what? With an army and a calamity at your command, what then?”

“I…” you begin, but stop to think on the question. You glance at Lahela, then up at the black, starless sky. “I’d defend my realm from those that would seek to exploit it, I don’t know what else I could do. I admit, this is all very new to me. A few years ago I was nothing but a simple human being, albeit half a cripple. Now I’m stuck in a game I’m not sure how to play.”

“That, at least, I can respect,” Kaizar says and nods. Then he looks at you with some confusion. “Wait… how old are you?”

“Uhhhh,” you try to remember. The passage of time feels so different as a soul. “I did celebrate my 19th birthday in the living realm a while ago. I got spirited away at 15.”

“Jesus Christ.”

>1/3

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“What I’m trying to tell you, Soize-san, is that I’m not looking to become an enemy of you, your friends or Vanaheim. I don’t think either of us needs that. If anything, I am more in need of allies.”

“Allies, huh?” Kaizar sighs heavily. “It’s rather ridiculous that any baron of Hueco Mundo would ally themselves with anyone, yet here we have Baraggan allying himself with Daji Lü.”

“Aren’t you allied with Aizen-taichō?”

His expression sours. So he’s not content with that, that’s… that’s pretty big.

“By circumstance, perhaps,” he explains in a roundabout way, “we are more vassals to him than allies. I do not believe Aizen sees anyone as his equal.”

“Then an actual ally wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

“Define ally.”

“Like Japan. Not like Italy.”

“...Right.”

“Consider it at least,” you say and give him a bow. “I hope Lazuta Yami can become more hospitable in the future. There’s got to be some things we can trade, and avoiding unnecessary skirmishes between our realms would be good I think.”

“For goodness sake boy, raise your head, we’re not in Japan,” Kaizar grunts and straightens you. “I’ll consider it. I need a few bottles first. What do you want with this one?”

He pokes Lubina’s body with his foot.

“As much as I’m not in the mood for a revenge-seeking psycho… please heal her.”

He splashes her with his blue goop. Fortunately, your stomach holds out. Kaizar just turns around and leaves, giving you a short wave.

You sigh in relief.

“He’ss weird. I don’t like itss when he hurtss you.”

“He’s a military hardass. Give him time.”

>2/3

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Now all alone, you look at Lubina’s body. Without any need to keep your composure, your piled up bloodlust comes finally out, scaring even Lahela.

“Good idea, Koharu… this way we can torture her fresh. Excellent.”

“I’m tired of you pushing your emotions on me, Zil. Can you tone the bloodlust down even a little? As much as I’d love to tear her to shreds right now, this is probably your doing.”

“Awww, I’ve been found out? I won’t deny it… but you’re wrong if you think it’s just mine.”

“W-What?”

“I am a part of you, my sweet summer child. I’m not a separate entity, but an essential part of you.”

“But this hate towards her, this is clearly yours!”

“Is it? It is, but is it only mine? You were quite willing to take on the mantle of queen mother. I did not hear you complain, did I?”

“I didn’t have a choice! I would’ve been torn to pieces if I did not take control!”

“Yes, but you did not refute it afterwards,” Zilya laughs, the sound echoing inside your head. “In fact, I’d say you’re more and more embracing it.”

“Tsch,” you wince.

“Now, let’s take ‘care’ of her, shall we? Oh how excited I am! It’s been time since I’ve tortured anyone!”

“K-Koharu? Y-You look sscary again..”

>3/3

>Go with Zilya’s plans. Appease her this time, this is her business afterall.
>Make Lubina realize what’s happening, but then it’s a mercy kill. No torture.
>Disregard Zilya’s will, but imprison her.
>Reject Zilya completely, let her live and leave her here.
>Other?

If you choose to do something then:
>Do it here, now. Get it over with.
>Take her to Lazuta Yami, before her sisters.
>Other?

>>5012172
>Disregard Zilya’s will, but imprison her.
>Take her to Lazuta Yami, before her sisters.

I think killing her sets a bad precedent.
What is she guilty of that would deserve her getting killed? She didn't want to live as Zilya's tool? Well Zilya is kind of a bitch, so I can't really blame her for that.
And what, are we supposed to kill everyone who refuses to serve us? I'd rather not go down that road, and there is no reason to make an exception here apart from satisfying Zilya's anger.
Accepting that Zilya is part of us is fine and dandy, but she is also clearly her own person with her own memories and ego, and that person should be told to fuck off when appropriate.
That being said, I recall Lubina being a bit of a bitch herself so letting her go free is probably not smart.

>>5012172
>Disregard Zilya’s will, but imprison her.

Her only crime is wanting freedom. That, she can't have, because of her connection to the hive. She's a backdoor to the web, she can't run around while we're trying to rebuild Lazuta Yami.

>>5012172
>Disregard Zilya’s will, but imprison her.
She’s too dangerous to our goals to let run around, but we have no personal beef with her. Also we could ask her some questions about what’s happening in the last thousand+ years.

Unrelated note, but would it be possible to work on our physicality with Kaizar? A soldier has to know something about being in shape and having someone who can heal us would make things go faster.

>>5012227
This sounds good to me

I came up with a few minor tweaks to make it more "dramatic" (and probably troll Zilya) if anyone's interested.
First we stall on the answer and say something along the lines of "Take care of her? Out here? No, there is a far more appropriate location for that." and then take her to the spooder area. We can tell Lahela to go kill some time elsewhere to add tension,
Once we get Lubina there and the containment system set up we wake her up and do a little interrogation on her motives "Guess who's BAAAACK! What were you thinking you foolish girl?!" type stuff.
Then once we figure out her motivation we ask if she wants to beg for forgiveness and based on her reaction yoink Zilya's reiatsu back and comfort her. If she crumbles and begs we can pat her on the head and say there's nothing to forgive, if she stands firm and asks for death before humiliation we can compliment her strength of will and back off. We still keep her locked up for a while but assure her it's out of practical necessity and not malice, and also tell the others not to mistreat her.
I think that would be a nice way to get back at Zilya for the bullshit she's gotten us into from time to time.

Regardless, once we're settled we need to get as much information on Cruciforma as possible since that's a priority-1 problem.

>>5012172
>>Go with Zilya’s plans. Appease her this time, this is her business afterall.
We agreed to do it for her, and by extension agreed to do it for our self. No need to cause this kind of inner turmoil.
>Other?
Ask her if there's anywhere she'd like to see before she dies and take her there first.

>>5012227
>>5012230
>>5012347
>>5012681
>>5012911
Oh she gon be pissed.
>Writing
>Turkish neighbour invited me over for dinner since I gave him some of my food last time, so update will come late
>Wish me luck

>>5012347
>would it be possible to work on our physicality with Kaizar?
Definitely

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“Take care of her? Out here? I swear, you have no sense of subtlety. No, there is a far more appropriate location for that.”

You snap out of it and turn to Lahela, who looks quite worried.

“It’ss her again, issn’t it?”

You sigh and nod. “How about you go back to the city? Take Grimmjow to the medics while you’re at it. I need to deal with this one.”

“But-”

“No buts, Lahela. At least not yet. Just trust me.”

She nods and fills herself with determination, and goes off to do as you asked of her.

“Now then,” you say, exhale, and pick Lubina up on your back. Shit, she’s heavy. “Heave ho!”

And so you leave towards Lazuta Yami.

“What shall it be? Skinning alive? Pulling out her teeth? Removal of guts?”

“You’re not gonna likes this, Zil, but… no torture.”

You feel the sudden calm in your mind, before the expected storm of rage hits.

“YOU INSOLENT BRAT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”

“Jeez, don’t scream into my ear. As much as you are a part of me, THAT side is yours to keep and I desire to part in it. You have your own memories and ego that I do not share, I don’t see why I should partake in such barbaric acts.”

“WHY YOU LI-”

Her voice cuts out as erratic screaming fades away to the back of your head. You can feel Cel’s presence going with her, you’ll have to thank him and apologize for the ruckus. You do sense a hint of approval from him.

>1/3

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With Lubina on your back it takes a bit longer to get to your realm. You’re out of breath already, as you can’t exactly continuously use reiryoku to boost your strength. No, this won’t do.

“Note… *pant* to self… work out.”

The spider hollows of this realm feel absolutely friendly to you now, even when you haven’t released, much to your relief. Perhaps using the hanran network affirmed your status as the ruler to them, at the very least they’re not making your life difficult. In fact, it seems like they’re… tidying up the caverns, tunnels and nests.

Once you return to the citadel deep below, your daughter is- your new hollow servant, Valeska is there to greet you. She is quite surprised to see you carrying her defected sister in.

“Welcome home, Matj Koroleva. This… is quite a surprise.”

“Thanks. Is there a proper prison here? Also, take her zanpakutō and keep it away from her,” you hand her the weapon.

“There are some old cells downstairs. I’ll get the workers to fix it up.”

It is interesting seeing your own ability being used by another. Valeska’s eyes shine bright in Zil’s signature magenta color, and you can feel a dozen or so spiders beginning to move at her command.

“It shouldn’t take long. If I may ask, Matj Koroleva… what shall be her fate?”

She doesn’t display open malice, despite you feeling anger behind her calm words. But there’s other feelings behind even that… pity.

“At the price of giving myself a massive headache… no torture. Just keep her imprisoned. Once she wakes up, I’ll have a talk with her.”

Despite trying to hide it, Valeska’s surprised. “With all due respect, Matj Koroleva, is that wise? Should you not… make an example of her? She did betray you.”

“Valeska, despite inheriting her legacy, I am not Zilya, nor will I indulge her with such barbaric practices. I don’t have the stomach for it. It’s time to be more.. civilized.”

It’s hard to read her further with the hollow mask, but she’s clearly confused. But perhaps not in a bad way.

>2/3

File: waterdemon.jpg (97 KB, 736x869)

97 KB JPG

You put Lubina in a prison cell almost at the bottom of the citadel. The stone deep down here is very strong apparently, and the silk has been hardened to work as proper bars. But the biggest threat here apparently is… water.

“She will be secure here, Matj Koroleva. Though knowing her, she will try to do something regardless of the circumstances.”

“Right. Uhm.. a question.”

“Yes?”

“So, uh, what’s with the water? I know I shouldn’t get near it, but why is every hollow in Hueco Mundo deathly afraid of it?”

Valeska looks at you as if you asked the dumbest question ever. “Right. You are shinigami afterall. It’s easier to show.”

She shoots what looks like a bullet made of silk thread from her palm and into the water that’s going along the walls inside the cells. Your eyes widen as the water starts to shape and move, as if on its own. You can sense some sort of presence from it, hollow for sure, but it’s very different.

“Water demons,” Valeska explains. “Microbial hollows, they react to sudden changes in the water. Work together and can morph the water they inhabit to a certain degree, depending on how many of them there are.”

“At least, that is what Abathos learned.”

You swallow hard. It isn’t hard to understand why microbial hollows are bad news.

“Duly noted.”

You return back up to the ‘ball room’ if you’d have to name it somehow. There’s at least breathing room here and it’s clear of unkempt spider webs. Valeska tells you how they’ve been organizing the spiders to clean and fix up the realm, and their patrols. The three others are apparently busy keeping some of Baraggan’s forces out.

>3/3

>”I saw how you looked at Lubina. Have you considered my offer? To become an arrancar.”
>”Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network, if the workers need to be rallied. I want you to accompany me.”
>”If the realm’s under attack, I will go and help. It’s my realm, and mine too to defend.”
>Other?

Oh god I didn't realize this was running again. I had plans! Plans to bring trains and turn Koharu into the eventual savior of Hueco Mundo by revitalizing spider bitch's old territory under Drianni!

I'll be back once I've caught up...

I thought I missed a couple sessions in the archive. I'm glad I was wrong.

>>5013204
>>”Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network, if the workers need to be rallied. I want you to accompany me.”
It's already been mentioned that the spiders haven't been fully under control since Zilya left, and who knows if the assault by Baraggan's forces aren't partly a feint to open up weaknesses elsewhere. The spiders will help us determine that.

Also, flexing our Hanran muscles will be necessary to deal with the Cruciforma later.

>>5013204
>Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network, if the workers need to be rallied. I want you to accompany me.”

>>5013204
>”I saw how you looked at Lubina. Have you considered my offer? To become an arrancar.”
”Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network, if the workers need to be rallied. I want you to accompany me.

>>5013204
>”Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network, if the workers need to be rallied. I want you to accompany me.”

>>5013204
>>”I saw how you looked at Lubina. Have you considered my offer? To become an arrancar.”

No updoot tonight as I'm being dragged into a bar crawl, sorry anons!

>>5013367
Welcome back aboard trainanon!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5013367
>>5013485
>>5013571
>>5013631
>>5013645
Since it seems to be a 2.5 vs 2.5 vote, I'll let dice decide
>1: arrancar time
>2: network time

>Writing
>Don't know how long it'll take with this headache

>>5014716
It was actually 3.5 v 1.5

Network
>>5013367
>>5013485
>>5013631
>>5013571 (0.5)

Arrancar
>>5013645
>>5013571 (0.5)

>>5014723
Oh fuck me, you're right. My eyes are playing tricks on me

File: SpiderCitadelInterior.jpg (99 KB, 1115x717)

99 KB JPG

“Perhaps this is a good time to properly get used to the network,” you muse and nod to yourself. “See how it works and rally the workers.”

“That would help tremendously, Matj Koroleva.”

“I’d like you to accompany me. You’ve used it, right?”

“Well,” Valeska begins and shifts her posture, “we tried. Alone and together. When all five of us were still together, we could somewhat operate it.”

She leads you upstairs, past Abathos’ chamber and up towards a tower.

“But after Lubina deserted, we couldn’t use it anymore.”

“Not enough power?”

“We thought so. But Vizir Abathos denied it.”

“We can try to find out, then. Your experience will be of help.”

Just as you're about to enter the top chamber, Valeska stops.

“Valeska?”

“Matj Koroleva, I… I am confused. You ask us about things, talk like… we matter somehow. Ask for our ‘help’ even though we are technically yours to command, use and discard. Even Lubina, I do not understand how she still exists.”

You stare at her.

“Despite feeling like her… you are very unlike her.”

She feels incredibly tense right now. You wager it took her quite a lot of thinking and confidence to voice this, or perhaps all four of them discussed this.

>1/2