God Yet Lives

~At Taiyo's House~

*Venezuela is curled up at the foot of the bed, preparing to go to sleep for the night.*

~At Euryale's House~

*Euryale is sitting on her couch in her underwear, eating a strip of bacon & reading a bunch of notes.*

~At the Seireitei~

*It's the middle of the night. Lilith is sitting on top of someone's house. Every time the owner looks up, they seem to forget what they're doing & go back inside. Lilith lets out a sigh as she star-gazes.*

L"I just got back a few days ago & they already want me to try recruiting Kukaku again. And I was hoping I could visit Taiyo & Ven for a little while."

~At an Abandoned House~

*Mortal & Sab are...hanging out in an abandoned house when they realize their firewood is getting low.*

Kira stood on a balcony, presumably part of his Captain's quarters, also looking up at the moon.
He then looked down at the moonlit Sereitei. They were really beginning to make progress in the rebuilding and he was proud to be a Captain in a time like this.

"I've been so busy..." He muttered to himself, turning and walking indoors, "I haven't really gotten to know Lieutenant Hisagi so well.. at least, not as my subordinate..."
He walked into the halls of the barracks and headed for wherever he suspected Hisagi would be, wanting to talk with him.

*In her pajamas (which consists of white tiger print fleece pants with a tail and a matching loose fitting t-shirt), Taiyo scurries over to Venezuela from the other side of the bed.*

"You really don't have to sleep at the foot of the bed."

"Oh...okay."

*She crawls up to the pillow & curls up on that.*
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*Hisagi was in his office, looking over some paperwork.*

Hisagi<Good evening, Sir. I've just authorized bringing back the Seireitei Bulletin. In fact, we've already gotten suggestions for the first new issue.>

*He reaches into an inbox, flipping through some papers. Then he withdraws a photograph of Aamon Avici.*

Hisagi<Who is this?>

"Good enough."

*Taiyo climbs under the covers and covers Venezuela and herself up then cuddles up to her.*

"Nighty night, Venezuela."

"...Aamon Avici, I believe" Kira answered, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Who suggested you include him?"

Noctis, also wearing very little moves her head off of Euryale's shoulder to get a better look at what she was reading, "So, what are they notes for?" She asked casually.

--

Mortal looked at the supply of firewood and let out a small huff. "Hey, Sab, we're running a bit low on firewood."

Sab poked her head out of the kitchen window, which looked out to the backyard. "The wood in our fireplace is nearing its end. Would you mind going out to get some more while I finish up in here?"

Mortal smiled, "Not at all." She said, grabbing her Zanpakuto from the doorway that led to the backyard, and fastening it to her waist. "I'll be back soon."

Sab smiled and pulled her head back inside, and continued to clean dishes. She realized she was an arrancar, and she realized she was holed up in an abandoned house, but the past year and a half was still the happiest time of her considerable life. Sab looked around the kitchen, and let out a soft sigh as she finished the dishes and retired to the living room. She took a seat on the sofa and grabbed a small, leather bound book and began to read. As she did her mind drifted off to the house she was living in with Mortal. It had took some time to find a perfect spot like this one, far enough away from neighbors to not raise suspicion when the lights turned on, and bordered by a small forest to supply the two with fire wood, and a few other supplies. The house itself did have electricity, it ran off an external generator they kept out back. The self sufficiency helped the house stay off the radar.

As Sab quietly reminisced, Mortal went walking through the woods, looking for a dead, and dry tree to haul back to the house and chop for firewood.

*As it was dark, & Mortal went over a hill, she quickly became out-of-sight for Mortal. While searching the woods, Mortal witnesses a man completely draped in a ragged blanket stumble weakly off of the highway & collapse, coughing.*
=================================================
*Hisagi's jaw clenches at Aamon's name, but he roots around in the inbox, pulling out a sheet of paper with an empty paperclip attached.*

Hisagi<"Ghost From The Past." Says it's the full story of what happened to the Soul Society. Looks like it came from Squads 8 & 13. So, this is him? I never saw him personally. Are you sure this is accurate? It looks like he already had one foot in the grave.>
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*Venezuela nuzzles her back.*

"Goodnight, Taiyo."
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"Geology. Final exam tomorrow."

Noctis nodded, "Ah, I'm sure you'll do great." She said, leaning her head back onto Euryale's shoulder, and wrapping her arms around her waist.

--

Mortal looks over at the man and furls her eyebrows. This was the first time she saw someone this far out into the woods. Putting a hand on her zan, Mortal makes her way over to the man to see what was going on.

Kira stepped closer to Hisagi and held out a hand, "I would like to read through this, please. In future, any documents you come across to do with Aamon and the Arrancar should be handed in to me before published or discarded..."

Hisagi<Very well, Captain.>

*He hands it over. The author is listed as "Lilith Psyche & Shunsui Kyoraku." The dedication page is to Captain Ukitake. The first page has Lilith being asked questions such as, "Who was Aamon?" & "Why did he do it?" & answering mostly by quoting him. The rest of the document is similar interviews from various Soul Reapers, about their perspective on the event, such as Shunsui describing being under the Anti-Reitsu Poison. On the first page, one line in particular catches his eye.*

[i]Lilith says, "According to him, 'I didn't even fight in the war, but that didn't stop one of your Captains from murdering me in cold blood!'"
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*She puts the notes down, flashing Noctis a sly grin.*

E"In that case, what the Hell am I doing studying?"
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*She's distracted by a small shrub catching on fire out of the corner of her eye. In a flash, the man rears up, one hand tossing her Zanpakuto several feet away, the other gripping her throat tightly. The blanket slips off of him.*

Gevurah<Fancy meeting you here, Arrancar. I wonder if it will be our last?>

Noctis smiled as well, and pushed herself closer to Euryale, "I don't know, but I know what you could do instead of studying." She said, leaning in to kiss Euryale softly.

--

Mortal gritted her teeth, "I killed you! No, that isn't right, you killed yourself? How are you here, and how did you find me?" Mortal said, extending her hand in front of Gevurah's face and blasting him full of point blank cero.

"I don't like this line" Kira shook his head and pointed it out to Hisagi, "Even if Aamon was telling the truth, no one needs to hear his sob story. What do you think?"

Hisagi<Maybe. But don't you think there could be repercussions to falsifying the story?>
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*He grins when the smoke clears & continues strangling her.*

<Didn't hurt. Odd, you should be dead by now. I guess the Hierro is making this take longer. No matter, it'll be over soon. You'll be sorry that you ever humiliated me.>

*A Hollow like a tree-sized snake slithers out of a Garganta.*

<Ha! Don't tell me this is your rescue squad! It's just an ordinary Hollow! Wait...that Reitsu....>
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*Noctale makes God cry. Afterwards, Euryale FullBrings a blanket over them.*

E"Well, that was a lot more fun than what I was doing a moment ago."

Noctis smiled and cuddled closer to Euryale, "I'll say." She said, kissing Euryale's neck and shoulder, being a bit too lazy to push herself all the way to her Euryale's lips.

--

Mortal wrapped herself around Gevurah's arm like she was going to put him in an arm bar, then bucked her hips while pulling with her hands, digging her nails into the man's flesh. As she tried to twist her way out of the hold she hoped she would be able to rip Gevurah's arm off in the process.

"It isn't falsification if the line just disappears, is it?" Kira asked, smiling slightly, "Just downsizing the document. I have no problems with you publishing this as long as lines like this aren't included. Am I understood?"
He held out the document for Hisagi to take back, but would not let go until he heard the answer to his question.

Hisagi<Whatever you say, Captain. But if Lilith asks me about it, I'm not going to cover for you.>

*He takes it back.*
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*Mostly ignoring her, he looks at the shape emerging from the Hollow's mouth as it shrivels up.*

S"Szayel was right. That does make my hair completely unmanageable."
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E"Rock slide!"

*Euryale leans down to kiss her.*

*After emerging, he quickly Sonidos up to Gevurah & slashes. Gevurah lets go, reappearing on top of Mortal's Zanpakuto with a slim gash on his chest.*

<Ha! Is that the best you can do? I suppose now you're going to give me that cheesy, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead" line, right?>

S"Please stop being stupid. You ARE dead."

<Wha--You must have lost your mind along with your powers!>

Noctis smiled and kissed back, "Euryale, I love you."

--

Mortal let out a small sigh, and dusted herself off. "Poison, odds are you'll be convulsing in the next few seconds." Mortal said, "Now, do me a favor and back away from my weapon, it would be a pain to push you over to get to it."

"No problem, just get her to speak with me about it if she asks questions..." Kira answered calmly, "Now, I have a question... how do you think our Division is getting by? I mean, as a Lieutenant you have a position of command like me, but you are also closer to the men than I am. How do you think we're going?"

Hisagi<We're probably doing about as well as can be expected. We had to recreate at least half of our Squad from new recruits. So, I can't really tell you much more than you already know.>
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E"I love you too, Noctis. I also love when you...."

*She whispers something risque into Noctis's ear.*
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Gevurah<With his feeble Reitsu, no poison he makes could possibly penetrate more than an inch or two into my body! And you're in the same boat! Without your Segunda Etapa, neither of you could possibly defeat me!>

*He snaps his fingers, causing a sword of flame to materialize. A spark lands on a fleck of blood on his arm & quickly moves up to his chest, which bursts into flames, & soon consumes Gevurah completely. He dissolves the sword, stumbling around blindly.*

"You're right about the difference in Reitsu, of course. So I had to improvise. Did you know that 65% of the body's muscle tissue is made of myosin, which is chemically not that different from gasoline? All it needs is to be broken down &...oh, why am I bothering with this? You can't hear me, anyway."

*Gevurah falls over & stops moving as he continues to burn.*

"I suppose. Thanks for talking with me, Lieutenant. You can go back to working now, or you could pack up for the night and get a drink with me. It's getting late." As he spoke, he turned and walked out the door.

He left his barracks and began walking through the streets with his hands behind his back, looking for a bar.

Noctis smiled, "Then allow me..." She said, ducking underneath the blankets and snaking her way "south".

--

Mortal smiled, "Ah, good, he stumbled a bit away from my Gran Lagarto before dying... again." She said, retrieving her weapon. After fastening it to her waist she looked at Senthose, "Hello Senthose, and thank you for the help. So, to what do I owe this pleasant... one second." Mortal walked towards a downed, dried tree, and hefted it over her shoulder, "We need firewood at home. So, to what do I owe this pleasant visit?"

Hisagi<Thank you, Captain. I think I'll take you up on that. It'll take a full day's work at least to print a Seireitei Bulletin, anyway.>

*He extinguishes the candle or whatever & walks out with him. They find a pub &, surprise surprise, Lilith. She is talking to an old guy.*

L"I need one of everything. To go."

<Lady, you lookin' to kill yourself?>
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"That."

*Senthose pointed to Gevurah's body. A pillar of light emerged from it, forming into the Gates of Hell. As they opened, chains seemed to materialize along his body, dragging him into the Gates, which then closed.*

"When I found out this was happening, I was almost positive that human would come back for revenge. As well as a few others."
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*There's a knock on Euryale's door.*

E"Who could that be, this late at night?"

"Hey, Lilith" Kira greeted his fellow Captain with a grin on his face, "What in the world do you need so much liquor for? Oh, and I'll take a regular bottle of sake, thanks. One for my lieutenant too."

Noctis poked her head up, only half way done with her travels north. "I'll take a peek." She said, activating her FB, and scoping out the area in front of the door from multiple angles.

--

Mortal raised an eyebrow, "How odd, do you know what is causing this to happen?" She asked, heading back home. "You should say hi to Sab, she will probably be glad to see you, we rarely get visitors."