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Post by Commander Shunsui Kyoraku on Feb 8, 2023 18:37:17 GMT -6
A moment after, the commander took control, stepping forward and speaking with a chilling command. “Speak your piece and be gone, Sousuke. By the grace of the gods, you’ve been spared your rightful fate of death for too long, but if you linger in this place much longer, I might see fit to hand you over to a certain scientist to experiment on until your Father deigns to rescue you or reprimand me.”
Shunsui could have let others speak out — they all deserved to face the face of their nightmares or bitterness — but after Ryo’s bitter retreat, he saw fit to end the theatrics from their nemesis right then and there. His earlier observations served no purpose in stirring their minds and hearts if Aizen turned the whole matter on its head, and to be frank, the commander himself was more than weary of this man’s interference in their lives at this point. He couldn’t be rid of the man due to the gods themselves, but he could draw a line in the sand between the Gotei and their greatest foe. He hadn’t come back from Las Noches and Alister’s induced desolation to stay quiet on this.
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Post by Sousuke Aizen on Feb 8, 2023 19:13:55 GMT -6
"My Father no more cares what happens me, then he cares what happens to you. God's only care about two things. The balance and themselves."
Aizen turned and took few steps toward Juushiro, the room falling deathly silent. "I have come to you, my home, for refuge. I am almost certain my brother has informed you of my predicament, well, our predicament." He chuckled lightly, stopping only a few yards away from Juushiro, and turned facing Kyoraku again.
"Which I know none of you care," his eyes combed the room again. "However, I am willing to take up residence in the Rukongai so not only will I have a place to rest my head, but your worrisome bunch can keep a watchful eye on me. Or," he looked around the room once more. "You can feed me to the scientist"--his expression shifted--"but I won't go down so easily on that one."
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Post by Captain Juushiro Ukitake on Feb 8, 2023 21:03:04 GMT -6
“Do you have any right to call this place your home after the devastation you’ve committed here?” Juushiro murmured, taking a step forward, as if to shield the others behind himself.
But he didn’t get very far as Shunsui shunpo’ed in front of him and the others, his reiatsu crackling around him. Juushiro set a hand to his friend’s shoulder and pushed in front again, his own reiatsu rising as a shield to the younger captains behind them. “I’m the immortal one, not you,” he murmured. After a look to his friend, he turned back to Sousuke. He shook his head.
“You’re a fool, Sousuke Aizen. You all but destroyed the realms and the people beneath you to get close to your dark dream, and now that you’ve been put down by the very gods you hoped to dethrone, you think you can return here. I warned you when you first started on this path, but you didn’t listen. You never learned. Now, you're alone and it’s by no hand but your own. Go and never return.”
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Post by Commander Shunsui Kyoraku on Feb 8, 2023 21:19:15 GMT -6
Shunsui chuckled quietly, some of his momentary rage settled by his calm, cold speech. “You heard the best of us, Sousuke,” he responded after. “You don’t belong here. You’ve killed and harmed more than anyone else. Stripping you of your zanpakuto and power, the only things that were truly your own, aren’t near enough to answer for all that you’ve done, but it’s a start. You've said your piece and now I've said mine." He glanced behind him. "Go away, Sousuke. The gods would have sent you to the Mugen if you were to be captured today, but they did not. So I won't let you trap my own with a watch or darken Rukongai with your presence. Go wallow in the darkness from from here with only your crimes to comfort you."
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Post by Sousuke Aizen on Feb 9, 2023 16:57:01 GMT -6
Aizen chuckled looking pointedly at Kyoraku, as a familiar voice cracked the silence.
"You heard the Commander and Captain Ukitake. You're not getting shit from us, so get the fuck out and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of."
Aizen's attention turned to the baby captain. "Tsukiro Ashimitsu, the boy, that the vessel gave up her very own well-being to save." Aizen chuckled when the boy growled at him. "Kitten was always trying to save someone though." His attention turned to Juushiro. "I believe she was even more righteous than the White Knight himself."
He turned his attention back to the Commander, "Before I leave, I would like to share one last thing with you." He took a single step back from Kyoraku and Juushiro.
"I have never been, nor will I ever be. Weak... Shijū no Saimon."
With those 3 words a barrier formed that was a combination of 4 other barriers, Ryūbi no Jōmon, Kokō no Jōmon, Kigai no Jōmon, and Hōyoku no Jōmon. Creating a rectangular prison-like barrier around the 12 captains in the hall.
Aizen smirked at his captives. "Which is something you never seem to learn." Tucking his hands into his sleeves, he turned. "Our paths will cross again very soon, Gotei." He disappeared from the hall, leaving the 12 captains trapped in the barrier.
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Post by Captain Nori Mutsu on Feb 9, 2023 17:56:36 GMT -6
Nori looked around them, "Well this is a fine pickle we have gotten ourselves into." She looked up just looking at the structure of the barrier.
Her attention turned to Kyoraku and Juushiro. "No lieutenant I know can cast a barrier of this magnitude." She looked around at the older captains.
"Exactly how strong was Aizen when he was a lieutenant?"
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Post by Captain Shinji Hirako on Feb 9, 2023 21:06:57 GMT -6
“I told you,” Shinji growled, golden eyes going up and around the tall prison. “I should have drowned him as soon as I met him and gone to prison for murder. It would have been a lot less messy than this tantrum now.”
He lifted his sheathed zanpakuto over his shoulder, looking to their commander. “Did you get what you wanted from him?”
“Hmmm?” Kyoraku murmured.
“Did he follow your script?” the Visored asked, blunt.
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Post by Commander Shunsui Kyoraku on Feb 9, 2023 21:08:14 GMT -6
Shunsui chuckled and tipped his head back. “That’s a strange question. Since when do I make detailed schemes like our old friend Urahara? Especially when we just got home. Don’t I deserve a break?”
When he received no response, except Juushiro at his side smiling, he turned to face his captains. “Well, it wasn’t entirely as I expected, and I did get a little panicky when he was walking closer and closer to our good White Knight. It’s too soon to see more blood on him. But if you’re inquiring whether I expected Aizen to show up to our meeting, I’ll give you an answer.” He held up both hands. “Yes and No. I didn’t expect this when I began this meeting. But that changed when Kisuke mentioned Aizen going to Karakura. It seemed like he may drop by.” He tilted his hat down over his eyes. “And yes, I did gamble a bit with that.”
“You might want to explain that for the rest of the class,” the Visored muttered.
Shunsui lifted his gaze back to them all. “Azien chewed all of us up quite a bit in this particular war, but none of us were defeated or we would never have come home.” He looked over to Ryo in particular. “And I am not talking about the Gods’ reset. I’m talking about coming home and working to put our home back together. None of you tried to step down. None of you failed here. That is what’s important.
And in a way, Aizen himself just proved that point even better than my little speeches could.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the irate captain of the Fifth Division barked.
“Well, I’lm not going to spell it out for you.”
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Post by Captain Byakuya Kuchiki on Feb 9, 2023 21:09:11 GMT -6
Captain Kuchiki released a breath. “At least this part of the commander’s lesson, and Aizen’s contribution, is simple. We’re trapped in a barrier, one of the strongest we’ve created, but it’s not a threat without an equally strong attack paired with it. A barrier with nothing else is only an act of defense.” He set a hand on his zanpakuto. “One that can be broken. Aizen didn’t have the power to complete the full assault, and he didn’t when he visited Karakura and those he tormented there.”
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Post by Commander Shunsui Kyoraku on Feb 9, 2023 21:13:14 GMT -6
Shunsui nodded at the head of the nobles. “Correct. Captains of the Gotei,” he started back down the line to his position, as if the barrier was no hindrance, “before we can start to examine how we want to proceed today, I need each of you to believe in yourselves, as I do in you.” He returned to his place and cracked a crooked grin. “As you did in me when Alister clouded my mind in a miasma of darkness. Aizen came back because he tried to win the war with us. But he did not succeed. He only won this battle. You’re still standing. You’re still a threat and you’re still the strength Soul Society and our friends need.
Each and every one of you.
Now break the barrier and set yourselves free of his ghost so you will stand tall and not look over your shoulder and point fingers at each other."
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Post by Captain Ryo Hirabayashi on Feb 10, 2023 13:15:36 GMT -6
"Quite a mighty and encouraging speech, Commander." Ryo spoke softly. "But, there is no need for such a call to action. For a Kido of this magnitude to hold its strength, the one who cast it must remain close enough." She looked to the Commander before glancing upward. "Something tells me that he did not stay." A calm filled the room as the barriers faded, releasing the Captains. "Though, if I may add, for it to have faded so quickly he may have left the realm altogether."
"Well, wherever he has gone, let us hope he stays there and causes no more harm."
"One can hope, Captain Mustu."
"Commander, forgive me if I am out of line. But, perhaps we should reconvene once you have a course of action you wish for us to follow. This meeting has not been without issues from it start. So, let us began anew once the dust has settled a bit more."
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Post by Captain Isane Kotetsu on Feb 10, 2023 17:37:55 GMT -6
"How can we be sure that he indeed left?" Isane spoke up after being silent for the entire meeting. All eyes went to her. "Last time we thought he was gone, he took up hiding in the archives under Central 46."
Her head shook. "No one was any the wiser, until Lady Unohana figured out it was an illusion." Her head still shook. "I don't like this display of his. He is up to something."
"Isane," Juushiro murmured with an understanding smile, "Sousuke will always be up to something. It is who he is, but he is gone now."
Isane's head shook again. "How can you be sure? He was so close last time. Now he's just disappeared."
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Post by Captain Juushiro Ukitake on Feb 11, 2023 4:15:15 GMT -6
Isane,” Juushiro entreated, breaking ranks and walking over. He set a hand on her shoulder. “You are right to be cautious. Any of you are. But there is a difference between caution from experience and letting a fear take away the good that remains after a trial. Trust this move towards our rest, Isane. The Soul King would not make such a maneuver if this were not to last for a substantial period of time.
“But Lady Sumi and that bastard Alister…”
“Sumi suffered with her vessel,” Juushiro responded with the ease of someone who had spent many years pondering this topic. “She could not observe and protect without some of the battle becoming personal. Then, Alister appeared to right the first imbalance, and he was taken away when the balance shifted for too long again, his mortal partner sealed away.”
He looked around the room. “I don’t know how much of our fate is written in the Soul King’s hall, even after my sacrifice in the second quincy war, but there is a purpose when they appear in our lives. It cannot be ignored, even by Sousuke. For now, the war is over."
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Post by Commander Shunsui Kyoraku on Feb 11, 2023 4:17:43 GMT -6
Shunsui chuckled and then clapped his hands. “Well then, I think I’ll adjourn the meeting here. Lady Komamura has asked if I have a plan in store for you all, and I do; however, I’m not sure our heads are clear enough yet. A couple more days and some actual rest for our minds will do us wonders. I highly recommend a jug of sake on your roofs before a nap. Just a couple orders to pass down before I let you go. Captains who are lacking lieutenants get them or I’ll come visiting with my own suggestions. Captain Ashimitsu, Captain Hitsugaya, stay behind so we can discuss temporary measures for Second, Eighth and Tenth Divisions. And Juu-chan, stay behind and be my ear, but get off your feet before everyone murders me.” It would take time, but he would get his people back on their feet. - END RP - "Still A Boy" |
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