Twilight of the Gods

"Good, I don't want some gloomy human, anyway," Hector said, folding his arms.

Ginjo<I'll go with Hector.>

S"What about Euryale Lite?"

*Noting the confusion, he points at Atae.*
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*All of the Hollows are converted in short order.*

Tsukishima<That wasn't so hard.>

Hector considered Ginjo for a moment before speaking to Senthose, "Just send her with Eduj and she will be fine."

"Good. Are they strong enough for a mission outside of Las Noches, now?" Astarte asked. "I would like scouts to search for groups of Hollows."

"She isn't Euryale lite," Noct said. "Despite looking nothing like her, I don't even think she swings that way."

"I was just going to go with Noctis," Atae said.

"Oh, she looks like Euryale...at heart. In any case, it looks as though we have 3 groups, so let's go."
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Daisy<I do believe they should be.>

"I actually don't know where this park is, so I hope I get the right one," Hector said, tearing open a Garganta. "Follow me, Eduj and Ginjo."
Hector stepped through first, but Eduj waited for Ginjo to enter before himself.

"Good, I shall address them directly," Astarte said, rising from the throne and approaching the group of Hollows. "Your mission is to search the surrounding sand dunes and the Menos Forest for Hollows not under the rule of Las Noches. Do not engage them, but report their locations back to me."

The harem opens a gargata to the park and goes through it. Noct and Atae stayed with Senthose.

*Ginjo heads through. They wind up near a gazebo.*
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*The harem appears near a tree & a bench with some old people sitting on it.*
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*Senthose takes them just inside the gates & walks over to inspect Riruka's footprints.*

"She definitely encountered a male human with a long gait. It looks as though there was a fight, but not much of one."

"Eduj, you keep watch, even a human should find it a little hard to escape your senses," Hector said as he strolled up to the gazebo and hopped inside. "So, is this the place, human?"

Mortal fights her urge to scare the old couple.

--

"How can you tell how long his gait was?" Noct asked.

"How far apart the footprints are placed, obviously."
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"Hmm...not sure how to go about this. We can't very well ask people if they've seen anything strange."
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Ginjo<Yes. Although it looks like we're a bit further in than where I met Riruka. Do you see anything up there? Footprints? Clothing?>

*Sadly, it is not that easy.*

"It seems not, this gazebo is quite innocent," Hector replied. "Are you looking around out there?"

"I'd suggest looking around for spiritual pressure, but the humans don't give off anything traceable..." Mortal seemed a bit stumped.

--

"Oh, well, whatever," Noct said, "Can you tell anything helpful from it?"

"Yes, it is a tall male human with fancy dress shoes, in other words, the exact kind of person we're looking for. I also believe he was using a sword."
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Ginjo<At what? The grass?>
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*Suddenly, the old people, & everything else in a good 30 foot radius stop moving as Giriko appears from a pillar of blue flame.*

Giriko<Are you looking for something?>

"Great," Noct said, "Can you use his shoe size to figure out how to stop him?"

--

"In a general sense, I suppose so," Mortal said, drawing her sword. "I guess you count. So, you must be that Giriko guy."

"You should be looking for footprints and stuff, like I am in here," Hector replied. "Maybe even some dried blood on the ground. Whatever."
Eduj continued to watch out for enemies and sense the area for any residual Spiritual Pressure a battle may have left behind.

Giriko<My fame proceeds me.>

*He points at Mortal's sword & twists the nob on his pocketwatch with his other hand. Before he adjusts it, 6 of the numbers were taken up by blue flames. Afterwards, 7 are.*

Giriko<I wouldn't bother with your Resurrecion. I think you'll find it quite useless.>
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Ginjo<This is a park, not a war zone. I'll be lucky if I find someone who was even here 2 hours ago.>

*A woman walking her dog stops & stares at him.*

Woman<Young man, who are you talking to?>

*Ginjo smiles at her.*

Ginjo<Nobody. I was just musing to myself. You see, a friend of mine was supposed to meet me here a while ago. I...had to push back the appointment &...am not sure he got the message.>

Woman<Oh. Well, sorry to bother you, then.>

*She keeps walking. Ginjo sighs.*

Ginjo<Plus, I don't have the advantage of being invisible. I can't just dust the grounds for fingerprints, someone's liable to call the cops.>
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"Right now, we're just trying to find him. You'll never get anywhere close to killing him if you can't focus. And you should have your power activated, that way he can't sneak up on you."

"Pansy," Hector said jokingly as he emerged from the gazebo. "But you are right, I guess. Being invisible is fun- I love to frighten all the humans by acting all ghost-like. But now is not the time."
He looked over at Eduj, who was still in the exact same pose and expression as he had been when he stopped walking, "Eduj, what do you sense?"
"Everything I sense is inconsequential... I think..." Eduj furrowed his brow and he extended his senses across the park, trying to focus on Mortal.

"Oh, true," Noct said, taking a deep breath, "I'm just... distracted. I can't think straight at all." She then let out a little giggle at the stealth pun, and blinked on her fullbring.

--

Mortal remembered Noct saying something about being knocked out instantly by his power, so she was wary to even try and see if she could use her ressureccion. Sab, on the other hand went into hers. "So tell me," Mortal said, "What is your end game here, Giriko? Why are you attacking the humans, and Hueco Mundo? What are your plans?"

Giriko<With Xcution, we're only taking back what is rightfully ours. When we realized the connection to the Hollow King, we took steps to minimize his involvement. If you were smart, you would have simply retreated to the depths of Hueco Mundo, & hid there forever.>

*He looks at Sab with his good eye.*

Giriko<That also won't do you much good, albeit for different reasons.>
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*Tsukishima is standing literally right behind her, reading a book. His bookmark is in his right hand.*

<I just love starcrossed romances, don't you?>

*Senthose jerks around to look at him. From Atae's vantage point, it's like one second everything was fine, & the next second, he was simply standing there, as though that's where he had always been.*
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*Six rods of light slam into Eduj's midsection. After that, a second one forms. A moment later, chains appear over him & he's contained in a big pyramid. Finally, Lilith appears in front of Hector & Ginjo.*

"We're going back to Hueco Mundo. Tsukishima has agreed to help you."

Sab furrowed her brow and shot a cero at Giriko. Mortal shot her own next to it.

--

Noct doesn't even turn around before making a shadow blade and stabbing behind her at Tsuki.

Atae, shocked, fumbles to draw her Zan.

"No, I really don't think I am," Hector seemed unfazed and pointed at Lilith. "How do you know whether Tsukishima 'helped' you to recognize him as a friend, or not? You can not possibly know if he is your friend or foe."
From the tip of his outstretched finger, a string fired out at Lilith and made to wrap around her primary arm.

Inside the pyramid, Eduj struggled against his restraints with all of his might.

*Lilith slashes it aside, like a boss. She emits a small version of the tornado Kido around it to keep him from doing anything fancy with it. With her other hand, she lobs a Haien at him.*

"Enough of your deranged ramblings."

*Inside the pyramid, one of the rods on one of the light prisons cracks.*

<Cross of Scaffold!>

*Ginjo grabs his necklace, which transforms into a big honkin' sword.*
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*Giriko raises his watch which emits a spherical shield Bringer Light to block the Ceros. Once they're blocked, the hands begin ticking backwards, & the Ceros fire back at them. Aroma slides out to the side using Sonido & tries to snatch the watch with silk, but Giriko glances at it & it bursts into blue flame.*
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*Tsukishima quickly reappears in a tree, the bookmark turning into a sword.*

Tsukishima<You may be her lover, but you are no longer the most important person to her. I helped her discover her FullBring, I was the one who bonded with her over her missing parents, I even slew the Hollow.>

*He spreads his arms wide.*

Tsukishima<You see, my Book of the End inserts my presence-->

S"Into your target's past. We already figured it out."

Tsukishima<Then why continue this senseless struggle? It's not like I'm going to kill you. You want to be reunited with your loved ones, do you not? Come on, it will only hurt for a second, & then we'll be like one big, happy family.>

S"Interesting choice of words."

Hector released the strings and sidestepped the Haien so that it only seared the outside of his cloak. He waved his left hand at Lilith as he sidestepped her attack and five more strings shot out at her, one of them glowing red.
"Tsukishima's power inserts itself into his target's past," He continued. "Perhaps you have seen it take effect? Did it not strike you as odd that so many could believe so many things about the one human? Why would a Soul Reaper Captain teach a Hollow to hunt Pluses or turn a Hollow into an Arrancar?"

Eduj continued to struggle, trying hardest to reach his blade.

Noctis tried to yell something biting and snarky back at him, but her voice hitched, and all she could do was throw a lanza at him while screaming.

Atae dropped into her shikai, and boosted both Senthose, and Noct's strength by 50% each, leaving Atae at half strength.

--

Sab teleported Mortal and herself out of the way, and both fired ceros again, then repeated the teleportation, and tried again.