Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Mar 26, 2023 19:19:01 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Mar 26, 2023 19:19:01 GMT -5
Niji offered a shrug, ”About a week before the Battle of Broken Skies, he asked to meet with me. He was charming enough, expressing sorrow over what had happened to the Quincy and stating he was now seeking peace with Fullbringers.”She shook her head, remembering what she could of the conversation, ”Of course, he also distinctly told me the meeting was not part of his duties as a ranking member of the Gotei 13.”The Fullbringer sighed, absentmindedly mending a few of the craters in the earth as she paced back and forth, ”The conversation started with him stating demons were the enemy of all beings, spiritual and mortal, and asked if he could count on my help if they invaded the realm. It was convincing enough, and I saw no reason not to offer my assistance.”She looked back to Maria, ”The conversation meandered from there, on vaguely philosophical conversations, and it happened to land on your sister. He brought her up. Ended up asking what I would do if your sister suddenly obtained the power to achieve her goal of destroying reality.”Niji let that sink in for a second before continuing, ”You told me in Las Vegas the demons were trying to obtain the hōgyoku. I think he was trying to cover his bases, wanting me to be ready to fight no matter the result of the upcoming scheme. If the experiment had been successful, the demons would have assaulted the laboratory trying to capture the newly made hōgyoku, if it failed, well…we saw the result of that.”Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Mar 28, 2023 8:23:03 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Mar 28, 2023 8:23:03 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Niji closely described her incident with the Captain - the only thing that came off slightly odd was her describing Daisho as "charming". That wouldn't have come to her mind if she had to describe him - but, on the other hand, she never really got a chance to talk to him. Perhaps behind that mask was a surprisingly smooth talker. " Yeah, that does sound like him. It might'a been some sort of game for him - leaving hints in plain sight to see whether you catch on. He seems like the type to do that," Maria answered, folding her arms. " He's got a reputation for being involved in these sort of unethical experiments. If he was there on unofficial capacity, then he probably didn't bring her with you, but back in Soul Society, he always has this... creepy gang of girls tag along with him. They're called Hibana, and pretty much everyone with a brain agrees that they've gotta be something artificial, created deep in the Research Division some time ago, but, well, it's still not confirmed. Or, rather, he hasn't owned up to it." She made a visible shrug. " I'll have to confront him about this some time when I get back. When I can find him, that is. He's always away somewhere." Beating down a Captain, though... that's definitely well past her speed right now. Only one more reason to get stronger, then. " As for the Virgil fight... I'll be able to ask around, see if there is any retribution planned for him. I'm not the only one who met him right before the events in Tendo Shoten... I tagged along with someone else, and he's a Captain now, so... at minimum, perhaps I can get him to recruit his division. He'll know it's for a good cause." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Mar 28, 2023 9:24:32 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Mar 28, 2023 9:24:32 GMT -5
Niji listened carefully to Maria’s words; while there had been an outside chance that it was a coincidence, Maria’s descriptions of how Muimina Hyakuji enjoyed manipulating people and playing mind games eliminated that possibility. The man was clearly recently dead, and to go from a new recruit to a Vice Captain so quickly; he must have been quite good at even manipulating other Shinigami. If he was even as recently dead as he claimed to be, of course. He could easily been as old as the annoying blond woman that came uninvited to Haven. Perhaps the woman had been trying to warn her about him before they had moved on to other topics. But other things she had said, some deserved follow-up; the name of the 'Hibana' was somewhat concerning, and given the man’s interest in Val, it was too much to write off as a coincidence. Niji didn’t expect any particular dramatic answer here, but it was worth a shot to try and get some answers, ”Small tangent, please bear with me for a moment. Does the name Nikolai mean anything to you? Perhaps someone from your childhood?”Hibano clearly shared some family resemblance to the twins, but not enough to be a full sibling. Had their absent father started another family elsewhere, and Muimina had made some arrangements for Val’s soul to inhabit one of them? While she was sure that Maria would ask some follow-ups about the strange aside, but there were plenty of other issues. Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Mar 28, 2023 14:07:36 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Mar 28, 2023 14:07:36 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Instead of continuing the conversation about Captain Daisho, or maybe asking anything about the Hibana clones, Niji suddenly took the conversation into an entirely different direction - it caught Maria by surprise. She asked about the name Nikolai - whether it reminded her of anything from her childhood, specifically. The Shinigami blinked a few times and stared back at her. " Uhh..." Did she? Nothing came to her mind, certainly nothing so important that she could recall it instantly. And definitely not related to her childhood - how much does an average person even remember of those years when they grow up? Aside for small memorable bits... very little. " Unless you are referring to the tsar, no, nothing comes to my mind," Maria answered, frankly. " I mean, maybe there was a guy with that name at school, but, well, I kinda stopped attending by fourth grade, so I don't really remember any of my classmates' names. It's not really a rare name, either..." It must be something related to her and her sister's life, though - there was hardly any other reason for her to drop a Russian name at her and then expect Maria to connect it to something in her childhood. So, as soon as she answered, she continued with a question: " ...Why do you ask? Is this another thing from that weird alternate timeline?" |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Mar 28, 2023 14:36:13 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Mar 28, 2023 14:36:13 GMT -5
Niji shook her head, looking mildly disappointed, ”Nothing of particular significance right now. I think I encountered one of the results of his experiments; the poor thing had lost most of his memory. He is about your age, and I have managed to determine his original name was Nikolai. But, given that man’s apparent interest in your family, I was merely wondering if the Russian name was a coincidence or someone that you might have known.”The Fullbringer sighed, no answers from Maria, but she supposed that was to be expected; if she had a secret half brother, it was unlikely she would even know about it. At least in the other life, the twins had not even known their father; and there was no point in bringing up bad memories. She waved her hand dismissively ”Just another spiritual mystery I have on the backburner. Perhaps I will tell you about it someday, but we both have more important things to deal with right now.”She glanced around, and the last few craters smoothed over at her gaze, small sprouts of grass emerging immediately, ”But back to the topic at hand, I do not think you should let him know we talked. Obviously you can not move openly against him, but at least now you know. Honestly, given what you have told me about his questionable actions, I have to wonder what possessed you to ask him for help finding Valentina in the first place.”Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Mar 29, 2023 4:20:15 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Mar 29, 2023 4:20:15 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive It was another spiritual mystery, apparently, Niji met some "Nikolai" who may have been related to the Tokarev family - and according to her judgment, it must have been another experiment, with a lost memory, that could be traced back to Daisho and Tendo. Maria merely stared at her in confusion. No idea popped to her mind as to what this could mean. Did she have any relatives named Nikolai? She didn't really know any of her relatives at all. Her father was a complete mystery, and she was never interested in finding out who he was. Her mother moved to Moscow from faraway Siberia, and since her father died in Afghanistan, she basically lost all connections with her old family. That was before she went bugnuts from the horrifying experience during her pregnancy, too. If there was a Nikolai, related to her mom, then their knowledge of one another would have to be very one-sided. Niji did not want to delve on him, but Maria certainly was going to keep the news on her mind, and ask if the Fullbringer could arrange a chance for them to meet. Instead, Niji moved on back to the Captain, ordering Maria to not confront him about their meeting, and then suddenly scolding her for working with him to find Val. That- " Wait, what?" Maria suddenly shot back, confused. " What are you talking about? I never asked Daisho to help me find my sister - I told you, he's not in my circle at all." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Mar 31, 2023 22:17:23 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Mar 31, 2023 22:17:23 GMT -5
She had fixed most of the local damage from the conflict with Val and Yael, though a few damaged trees remained. Of course, she also had no real idea how much damage had happened wherever the blasted woman had ended up after her first onslaught. It didn’t really matter, the whole reason they had selected this location was the distance from others. She looked across to the face of another mountain, was there a small crater there? It was hard to tell from this distance. Niji looked at Maria, her expression mirroring the confusion on the Shinigami's face; clearly they had been talking about two different people. ”Daisho? The Captain of the 11th Division? I mean, I understand that one is also a dangerous man, but from what Sadaharu Tendo let slip a few weeks back, he does not exactly work well with the man. Wait, so the Hibana you mentioned are his?”The Fullbringer shook her head, Hibano was a concern for another day; perhaps there was some weight behind her 'brainwashed by the shinigami' theory, ”While that might be worth investigating further, no; that was not the man asking about demons and your sister. That was the Vice Captain of the first Division, Muimina Hyakuji.”Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Apr 2, 2023 12:27:41 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Apr 2, 2023 12:27:41 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive So, as it turns out, they both were talking past one another, and it was hard to tell how long, even. Niji was thinking about someone else entirely, and she did not think that Daisho would be involved with Tendo's operation. Maria did not know what she meant by referring to something she extracted from Tendo a few weeks ago, but she answered: " He's Tendo's former vice captain, before his exile. I think it was safe for me to assume that they still maintain contact since then. The Hibana clones are his." Who could it be, if not Daisho? None of the other Captains seemed like a good fit for cooperating with secret underground experiments, at least from Maria's cursory reading of them. While she was not familiar as much with the Vice-Captains, or their higher ranking seated officers, she hadn't come across any examples among them either. Were Tensai not there, in the laboratory, risking his life to stop the monster that her sister was turned into, she might have considered him. Niji dropped the answer, immediately causing the Shinigami to stop and shoot back: " You're kidding." Well... Hyakuji asking Niji about Val's fate was not unexpected, the two of them had crossed paths before, as she had learned from him - even though the fact that Hyakuji and Niji apparently knew each other was surprising in of its own. The spiritual world seemed smaller and smaller by the minute. But Hyakuji being involved with the experiment... that didn't make sense. Before she went off at Niji, however, Maria paused, staring at Niji for a second or so while collecting her thoughts. What Niji told her was that the suspect Shinigami, which apparently was Hyakuji, confronted her a few days before the experiment and asked her questions that seemed suspiciously similar to what happened to Val afterwards. Considering a possible thread to unravel this mystery, she asked: " ...How many days before the events in Tokyo did he talk to you about this? Be specific." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Apr 3, 2023 20:18:30 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Apr 3, 2023 20:18:30 GMT -5
Niji frowned at Maria, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Given the negative reaction to the name, it was entirely possible that the Vice Captain was the ‘heroic’ individual she thought she could trust. ”No, I am not kidding.” She shook her head and continued, ”But, I will be honest, my perception of time around then is a bit rough. I imagine decades of life crammed into a few seconds would do that for anyone. But I think it was two weeks before the battle. If you think it is critical,my spiritual phone is in Haven, I could get back to you with an exact date.”The woman did her best to recall as much as she could about the conversation with the Muimina, wait; was this the person Maria said ‘was a captain now?’ That wasn’t particularly good; the Vice Captain had made it clear that he wanted to eventually take over the Gotei 13. From what Niji had discovered, he was already fairly young for a Vice Captain. If he had been made a Captain, that might very well be the quickest Captainship in history. She had expected to be long dead before he had moved up, not for it to happen within a year. Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Apr 4, 2023 11:02:28 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Apr 4, 2023 11:02:28 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Hearing Niji's answer, Maria let out a sigh. It wasn't just a sign of dissatisfaction with Niji's suspicions - the entire day was genuinely... really exhausting. The human mind, or, in this case, the mind of a dead soul, was not made to intake so much information in such a short time. " Around that time, me and Hyakuji were on an active hunt for Val. She had fought him before, and... proselytized about her dreams to him, so he knew about what she would wish for and what she would do to the world if she were able to accomplish it," Maria began to explain. " I had almost reached her, right before she teleported away and left a note. The note led us to the Red Lotus temple near Tokyo, where we both met Virgil. He never tried to stop me from investigating something that would have, had I been just a smidge more lucky, unveiled the conspiracy, he was completely unfamiliar with Virgil, and Virgil was unfamiliar with him in turn. If anything, they were likely to throw hands in the temple there, had the situation gotten more tense. That's not what you would expect from a supposed associate." Another sigh. " I won't be able to convince you to reconsider, I imagine, but this is what I know." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Apr 4, 2023 16:38:37 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Apr 4, 2023 16:38:37 GMT -5
”I am generally fairly good at reading people; and I will admit that I did not get the impression that Vice Captain Mumina had bad intentions.”Of course, she had assumed that the woman’s talk of playing games with people and manipulation was about Hyakuji, not Daisho. A man she had never had the pleasure (or interest) in meeting. It was not impossible that she had judged him correctly the first time they had met. Ambitious, a bit arrogant, thought he knew what was best for everyone, but overall generally meant well. She sat down next to Maria, the grass growing noticeably more lush around them as she joined the Shinigami, ”Despite what you may think from our limited interaction thus far, Masha, I am not stubborn on all things.”She offered a slight shrug, ”The spiritual world is shockingly tiny, and ridiculous coincidences seem commonplace. Given the events that happened so soon after our meeting, I was not going to write that off as coincidence. I am still not eager to do so, at least not entirely. Perhaps he might have continued investigating without you? How could he have possibly known, or even suspected, that Valentina was on the verge of getting enough power to accomplish her goal? Perhaps he was not involved, but he must have had some suspicion something was about to happen.”Hequita
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Apr 5, 2023 12:36:34 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Apr 5, 2023 12:36:34 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive Niji was not entirely opposed to Maria's arguments, but she still held her suspicions. She sat down next to the Shinigami, but Maria did not glance over to her - instead, she continued staring into the distance, watching the landscape unfolding before the mountain. " I don't know. That is the extent of my knowledge," she merely confirmed in response to the Fullbringer's contemplation, and briefly shrugged. " But we've both entrusted one another with our lives before, so I have reason to believe that he is at least a little trustworthy." She had already explained her point of view, hadn't she? If she could not trust the members of her inner circle, she couldn't trust anyone in this world either way, so it hardly mattered much if she were backstabbed by them. It'd simply mean that it was inevitable. Maria leaned back, letting the rushing mountain wind blow past her, sending ripples through her hair and briefly leaving the eyepatch on the left side of her face fully in the open. After a few seconds lost in thought, she turned her attention towards Niji once more. " So, is there any other life shattering news you have for me left? Or should I start moving out and get to training for the inevitable hunt for Virgil?" |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Apr 5, 2023 13:18:32 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Apr 5, 2023 13:18:32 GMT -5
The Fullbringer nodded, if Maria trusted the man that much, she would do whatever no matter what she said. She remembered how the woman had reacted when she disapproved of one of her boyfriends. ”Well, in that case, I suppose you might as well ask the Vice Captain about our conversation when you have a private moment with him. I have had significant difficulty reaching him by normal means.”The quiet sounds of nature overtook the mountain for a few seconds as she thought about their conversation. The last few hours had been…a lot, she had found Maria, and if she didn’t take drastic steps, she was almost certainly going to lose her again. But, of course; she wasn’t sitting next to her Maria. She was about to speak when the woman who was not her sister asked a question. Niji didn’t look at Maria, eyes focused on something somewhere in the distance. Of course, she did have other life shattering information for Maria, but it was potentially just as dangerous to her person as going after Virgil. Hibano was too much of a wild card, and if the soul inside him had the same violent reaction to Maria that it had to her, the Shinigami wouldn’t survive it. ”Is there nothing I can to do talk you out of taking Sadharu Tendo’s offer?”Hequita |
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Player
You fool! You fell right for my trap!
Hequita
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Playback
Posted Apr 6, 2023 6:49:00 GMT -5
Post by Hequita on Apr 6, 2023 6:49:00 GMT -5
Maria Tokareva Location: Tokyo
Status: Alive For a second, Maria thought that Niji might have actually had yet another thing to share with her - she appeared very contemplative, and remained silent for a few seconds after her question. While that would certainly be... exhausting, Maria was obviously going to listen her out, and so she waited. That wasn't what came from Niji's lips. Instead, she asked her about Tendo's proposal yet again. For a second, Maria had even forgotten that the proposal to train inside of the Dangai was still on the table. She recalled it now, of course, and it was still somewhat intriguing. Niji asked her if anything would convince her to reconsider. Maria slowly turned her face to Niji, keeping up an emotionless expression. " You can accept that it is now inevitable that I will fight against Virgil. If there is no plan among the Gotei 13 to hunt him down, I will try to be the leader of one; if there is, I will follow them and fight him myself. You can't stop that, you can only make me prepared so I come out victorious." Briefly, she shrugged. " So, if you have a way how for me to get stronger faster than Tendo's method, I will consider it." |
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Player
Fullbringer
I have nothing to say.
Niji
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Playback
Posted Apr 7, 2023 22:04:04 GMT -5
Post by Niji on Apr 7, 2023 22:04:04 GMT -5
Niji began speaking to the air without looking at Maria, her voice flat and emotionless, voicing her thoughts without seeking any real answer. There was really only one way this conversation ended. ”What are you to me? We are strangers, hardly even acquaintances. The only reason I did not destroy you after you attacked me was because you reminded me of someone I cared for.”The wind stopped as she continued, turning to look at the Shinigami, her face unreadable, ”But you are not her. I lost her a lifetime ago.”The Fullbringer closed her eyes, shaking her head, ”I accept your inevitability. You have made it clear that you are going to pursue this fight even if it is suicidal.""I will not mourn you as I did my sister.”She stood up slowly, brushing a few blades of grass and specks of dirt off her dress, ”I know no zankensoki. At best I may be able to help you reach a deeper connection with Yonaka, but that could take weeks, or more. I can not give you months in minutes.”The Fullbringer sighed, offering a hand to help the woman up; it was painful for Niji, but there was a need to rip the bandage off. For her own sanity, if nothing else. Her words came out quiet, but uncompromising, ”If you decide to train with Sadharu Tendo, do not contact me again. I would not be able to trust you after you had spent years being his disciple.”Hequita |
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