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Arbutus was almost covered by the rampant vines. His eyes blazed out from the lashing greenery. The vines parted as he dodged whatever the cero was firing at him, but Axis was not in full control and several of the projectiles struck his unweildly appendages. Oddly they did not do much but cause a mild burning sensation. Axis did not care much, he did not even notice the effects, sections of the vines began to slow slightly, becoming sluggish.

Salte hopped out of Zyne's arms, "Thanks cousin." She managed, her eye was swollen and a large bruise adorned her face. "I have seen this before in lesser hollows, but I never thought I'd see it in the old man." she stood in the air, her body unconsciously coiling into a ready stance. Her instincts were kicking in overriding her fear. "Sometimes hollows repress part of themselves in order to maintain who they are. This can lead to a conflict between personalities. This often happens in Reibesta types. The ones that go all animal style instead of human." Salte bonked herself in the face with her mace and released her resereccion. She gulped as Arbutus began charging several cero from the tips of his vines. Using a combination of a sonido and a soul jump she disappeared and reappeared right under the old mans chin, planting her balled up tendrils on it with a haymaker, lifting Arbutus off the ground slightly, off balancing him before porting away as a cero was aimed at her. Multipule cero were charging and firing at the five arrancar from different points.

"The child is correct" came the other voice, "Arbutus stole our future and locked me away, but he will not find it so easy to lock me away again, I am Axis by the way." The predatory tone clashed with the mock politeness.

Salte appeared in front of the Lord Cero, planting her fingers into the sands and pointing her cap at the incoming cero. The blast struck head on, stopping in a blaze of emerald light, pushing Salte back a few feet before the beam split apart and flew off in different directions, impacting against the sands. Salte waited a moment, her cap steaming from the intense energy. She raised her head to look at her master. Her dark liquid eyes no longer afraid, but resolute.

---

With some effort Arbutus was able to free himself and gain some ground. It was difficult to damage Axis, while his blade severed the limbs, they only grew anew. He knew that he could hurt him, he knew that form. But Axis knew he knew. He was making it difficult to strike his core.

He needed to get into the central mass. His eye caught something, an almost imperceptible shift in speed of the tentacles. Blasting forward with a sonido he began ripping his foe apart like lawn mower. Thrust. slash. snip. rend. His arms flew and the shears reduced Axis limbs to kindling.

The old man was in a groove, his motion was an ode to destruction. Axis was reeling, "Where are you getting this confidence old man?!" The codger was moving like someone far younger than his years. Wait, was he moving slower? He didn't get another chance to contemplate that as Arbutus' fury caught him in the form of a hand grasping his mask and slaming him into the ground. Again and again Arbutus mercilessly introduced Axis to the ground. A flare of green light flashed from under the hand holding the mask as the remaining ceros ripped into Axis' face.

Dirt and debris flew as the ceros went off point blank. Arbutus was thrown back. His face was stone. his eyes were fire. This whelp thought he could harm his family? His rage was no where near spent. Axis was getting back up but shakily. Arbutus was concerned because Axis was laughing.

"Well Done! You are imprssive old man! Such rage, Such pityless fury!" Axis met eyes with Arbutus. his mask was shattered and his face was bloody. The face was identical to the old man's, but younger. the vines condensed into armor, one arm bearing a large wooden thorn like blade.

"Don't go soft on me now, things are just getting fun!" The two men faced off a second of silence hung int he broken forest before the two clashed, Steel clanged off wood that was just as strong.
(4/15)

| C I L L I A N__✥__F O L A M H |

Once more, Cillian was forced to retreat by a myriad of vines. They were slightly slower this time around, however, but still not as slow as he would have preferred. Over the sound of lashing vines and crumbling sand dunes, Salte's voice was a bit hard to catch, but the Cera had gotten the general gist of it. As strong as this new Arbutus was, it wouldn't do him any good if he was to degenerate into a mindless beast though this Axis fellow was quite interesting. For a brief moment, Cillian considered aiding Axis, but, if he did so, he would lose the Ternary and Salte, Salte that was powerful enough to deflect one of Axis' Ceros with her cap. Something was telling him that she was important and he reasoned that she would be key to unlocking Arbutus and the Ternary's potential so keeping her alive would be a good idea.

"That was unnecessary," Cillian said, eyes meeting those of Salte. He couldn't afford her dying while taking a blow that had been intended for him, a blow that he could have survived. "Your kind seem to prosper on feeling of kinship. I will leave it to you to maintain Arbutus mentally and emotionally strong while I occupy his counterpart. Do not die or I will ensure that your grandfather and your cousins meet a grisly end."

The mention of the Ternary reminded Cillian that he still had to deal with those three, but they had zipped past him and Salte to assault Arbutus without any prompting. It would appear that they had all agreed on a single point: Arbutus' body needed to be neutralized.

Cillian's Sonido was slower than that of the Ternary so they would reach the living tree far before him, but that was just fine for him as it would let them occupy Axis and deal as much damage as possible while he strengthened his Hierro. Armadura the technique was called and would greatly increase the Hierro strength of a selected body part, his right hand and forearm in this case. Another Gran Ray Cero would be charged in that same hand as he approached Axis. His goal was to land a hit with it as close to Axis as he could get so he kept the Cero charged in his hand and held it in front of him, ignoring the vines that would surround him. The more vines, the better as it would help focus the force of the explosion around him and close to Axis so as to reduce the amount of limbs and appendages the old tree could use as weapon. He would also be firing his Hilos as he approached Axis so that it would further slow him down to make it easier for both the Ternary and he to navigate around.

Arbutus’s vines slammed into the abdomen of the Diosa and sent her flying backwards. The Ángel del Día was trapped by the vines but, the Ángel de la Noche flew and, managed to catch the Diosa and, break their fall. It hurt but, the Diosa was injured. The silver Ángel kept one arm around the Diosa and began to charge a Cero in dusky orange with the other hand. The Cero was realeased at the vines that held the gold Ángel captive. The Cero hit its target and, the Ángel del Día snapped their wings to take to the air. The Diosa rose to her feet and, looked around. The Old Man had managed to send them towards Las Nochas. Then the Diosa saw something that made their eyes go wide. They needed to tell the Cera!

The Ángel del Día was still close enough to deliver the message and they spoke with the voice of the Trinidad, “CERA! We see a Shinigami! Here! In Hueco Mundo! All most to the gates of Las Noches. He wears a white coat that marks on as a captain! What would you have us do? Death or capture?”

Then the voice came from the Diosa but they were too far away to be heard by anyone but the Ángel de la Noche and by extension the Ángel del Día, “Perhaps we can teach him TRUTH.”

That was risky though. If they moved to teach the Shinigami Captain TRUTH they would have to leave of teaching the Cera TRUTH. Looking into themselves they knew that if they did that they would never get another chance. The Cera would be immune to their type of TRUTH. Though the eyes of the Ángel del Día they looked at Cillian. He would be a much better person if he learned a little TRUTH. Then they turned their attention to Arbutus. He needed to be reminded of the TRUTH. Salte still knew what TRUTH was. This was becoming more difficult. The Trinidad still wasn’t sure what Cillian had planned for them; though it looked like he had just wanted to awaken their power. Arbutus was losing control to a darker part of himself and, now there was an intruder. Things kept becoming more complicated.

The Ángel del Día spoke on behalf of the Trinidad, “Well Cera! We are willing to still be your Quinta if you will have us as we are. What will you have us do?”

The message was clear. It the Cera stopped trying to kill them they would still be willing to follow him. He couldn’t harm their family either. Speaking of that; the Trinidad still firmly believed that the five of them could take the Cera. They might not be able to kill them but, they could escape. They would use that if they needed to.

Axis was blown back by the cero blasts. The initial attack was bad enough, but the splintered vines fueled the fire in a fantastic firework display. The tall arrancar was blown a fair distance away, his vine like armor aflame leaving a trail of smoke. his shield technique had taken the brunt of the explosions but little remained of that now. The gran rey was not a child's toy after all.

Salte watched the battle for a bit to one side. She was intrigued by her new hat. She had never used it to deflect energy blasts before. her rubbery skin was always able to turn most blades and hits away with no damage, often rebounding the strike along her limbs and sending it back again. This was not effective with energy however. "Guess my release form can bounce the lightshows too. a bit" She winced, her cap was a mite tender at the moment, like a sunburn.


Axis took advantage of the distance to drop the vines, removing the flaming chunks of wood. He needed something better than the wrapped vegetation. Something clicked in his mind, a cross between the liquid like armor of the vines and the more durable form of traditional armor. Axis concentrated in growing a new armor. Wood began to grow, this time like bark. Gaining confidence, Axis formed a suit of armor that was sturdy, but could still move slightly to add greater protection. The bark grew on every srurface oh his body, including his face, covering the mans face in a wooden mask that mirrored the face beneath. Oddly this armor gave him another gift.

Axis' eyes widened, what was this new power? he had tapped something quite unexpected. Things seemed to be moving slower, he could see each puff of dust blowing from the blasted terrain. Was time slower? No, more likely he was faster now. Grinning he preformed his sonido, dissolving into a set of mirage like images before exploding forward. His speed had increased substantially! He had barely any time to react, releasing right in front of Cillian already reeling back his arm. Three fists rocketed toward the Cero's face. Which was the true strike?

---

Arbutus was in trouble. he may have regained his regenerative prowess, but that was coming at a cost. Axis was hitting far faster and harder than he should have been. The wounds were healing quickly but he was not getting in a strike edge wise. Patches of white bark were growing on him from each wound once the flesh was whole. The patchwork bark was helping deflect the younger hollow's blistering assault. While the amour was nice boon, it signified something. He recalled the conversation he had with Cillian before the Naturals had attacked their party. Was this part of unlocking his segunda Etapa? He was reaching skill levels he had never had before. The battle was spurring his growth!

But half of his powers were being taken by Axis, he needed to be dealt with or this would end badly. As axis lashed forward in another attack Arbutus reacted in a flash, no thought, no reason just instinct. The old man coughed, red spattering his white tunic. Axis had managed to impale his chest again and one of his legs. He turned his head to look at his out stretched arm. Axis stood there motionless, or rather his body did. Arbutus' shears had done their work. They had snapped shut on the enraged youth's neck and removed his head. Weakly Arbutus shoved the body away ripping free the twin blades.

He sat heavily, recovering. If he had not taken the regenerative ability he would have been done then and there. But he had let the youth attack and sprung a desperate trap. He wearily watched the body of his nemesis dissolve like smoke. Inhaling deeply, Arbutus used the basic ability of hollows to soul suck the raw rieatsu from his foe, devouring it. His world went white, memories clashed and swirled in a mosaic of light and color. Emotions and feelings, fears and thousand other thoughts crashed against him. He let the flow take him. Time passed as he just listened and felt. Things began to settle into place and began making sense. This was a technique he had found quite useful. If a hollow devoured too much power and tried to fight the current it would ruin them. A line of thought began to form, an understanding of what he might accomplish with his new power. Here in his mind he could rationalize it and learn from it, but it would take great effort to do it in his physical body.

He began the long process of returning to his body. Axis was defeated, but his primal mind would be hard to remove.


(6/15)

| C I L L I A N__✥__F O L A M H |

While the Cera was distracted by the Trinidad's bout with the intruding Shinigami, Arbutus had managed to move closer with newfound vigor and speed. It caught the slower Arrancar off-guard and he could do little more than to take a step back, hardening his Hierro as what appeared to be three fists approached his face. One of the collided with his nose, breaking it with the power and wrath fitting of a fully-powered Espada and sending him reeling back some more, but not before he released another volley of his Hilos from his Reiryoku wings with the intention of disrupting Axis' flow of Reiatsu should they land. He had already landed some beforehand, but they had begun to wear off due to the large amount of Reiryoku being consumed to fuel Axis' change.

This was starting to be bothersome what with his attention diverted towards the intruder, making it hard for him to read Axis. Fortunately, his opponent had shifted into a more humanoid form. A never ending supply of growing vines was hard to read and predict even with his Hilos as Cillian was unfamiliar with the Reiryoku pathways in said vines, but a more humanoid form was a different story. Still, he felt that something was off, as though the feedback he was receiving from the Reiryoku he had injected into his target was delayed. It could be compared to how light needed eight minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth; all feedback Cillian was receiving were outdated, but it wasn't distance that was the issue, but Axis' ability to affect time.

The Cera's lithe body landed heavily in the sand, even rebounding a few times in the air despite the soft sand before he got back onto his feet just as the Angel de la Noche reached him with the results of their fight. "Interrogate him. Call forth the Exequias if he refuses to talk. How did he get past the Halls of Steel without alerting anyone," he snapped at the Quinta while wiping the blood of his face off with the back of his right hand. He did not know how the Shinigami had been subdued let alone the Trinidad's true powers. He only noticed that something had been severed between the three Naturals and he, but he did not think much of it; it was nothing tangible and no immediate danger in his eyes. "Keep an eye out for more of his comrades. Only a fool, captain or not, would set foot in enemy territory alone of their own free will."

His full attention was now directed towards Axis, but something was odd. The belligerent presence within the old Arrancar's body was receding back into the depths of Arbutus so much that Cillian couldn't feel it anymore. Was that it? Had Arbutus' inner demon been defeated or simply subdued into a state Cillian could not detect. "Are you done?" he asked what he assumed to be Arbutus, holding back any further attack until he could have a better understanding of the situation. He had never seen an inner struggle of such magnitude in a being above Gillian level so he was treading in unknown waters and being cautious by keeping his distances.

The Ángel de la Noche spoke for Trinidad, “Very well Cera!”

Across the Dunes the Diosa del Crepúsculo began to question their Seguidor de la Diosa. It was more difficult for the Trinidad then they thought it would be. It appeared that there was still some part of the Shinigami that struggled against the TRUTH. However the Cera’s suggestion that the Exequias be called out to torture the man never came into effect. The Captain accepted the truth and the Trinidad soon pried every bit of information that the Cera wanted from him. Apparently the Captain had gone after a fool of a Lieutenant though a portal in the Rukon that lead to the Dunes. The Trinidad wasn’t sure what the Captain meant by Rukon but, they understood what was meant by a portal.

The Ángel de la Noche told the Cera, “The intruder came via portal from the Soul Society that lead to what the Captain called a white desert. We assume he means the Dunes. He had his compatriots did not think the portal was natural. We have seen it in his memories; we do not think it was natural either. HE was chasing a Lieutenant. As far as we can tell the Lieutenant was a fool. The two Shinigami were separated.”

Meanwhile the Diosa was probing the Captain’s memories. The more recent ones were easy to get but, the further back the Trinidad went the harder it was to make sense of them. The Ángel del Día stood guard as the silver Ángel conveyed messages and, the Diosa probed the man’s memories without inadvertently killing them. The Trinidad smiled as they saw that Arbutus was alright. They raised their eyebrow as Salte healed the Cera.

The Ángel de la Noche spoke again, “Salte!”

The voice was a warning. Cillian was not like the Old Man or even like the Trinidad. He would take advantage of every weakness available. The only way not to lose to him was to be on guard. Being that close to the Cera was not being on guard. The Ángel de la Noche flashed a look at Arbutus. The Old Man could be Naïve a times Las Noches was not a place for naivety. The Trinidad would have to watch out for their family until theire famiy could watch out for themselves.

Arbutus stood and regained his composure. His wooden visage was stern but his heart was glad. He had not disgraced himself fully. He took notice of the local shinigami, oddly tainted with a feeling like the ternary. He stood watching the situation, his old eyes sharp as a hawks and able to see almost as well. It was taking some adjusting to get used to his new senses. It was nothing too difficult, his segunda was not an exceptional boost, but it was like wearing new glasses.

He was not worried about the other espada. He knew how to keep a solid front despite his weariness. Weakness was not tolerated in the sea of stones. Even Salte was more than she appeared, while most would see a cute and silly child, she had lived for over two centuries in the sea of stones with no spiritual abilities. She would only get stronger free of the soul sapping stone. Salte deactivated her ressurecion and saluted Cillian, "All done boss," She chirped before running back to Arbutus' side. She didn't show much care but she heard the warning from the triplets. She was faster than Cillian, she was almost sure of it, but only a fool would kill a healer before they were healed.

Arbutus bowed as Cillian departed. It would seem it was time to head to their new home. He walked slowly toward the ternary and their new subordinate. "You need not worry about me anymore my friends. I am in control now. Nor do you need to worry about me in regards to the other arrancar nor our leader. The fact that he forgave me has given me several clues. He wants his 'tools' sharp but will not discard them unless they are broken. This is not a view most leaders of this realm have adopted. Given time I will be the indomitable old tree again."

He had several things he wanted to try once he regained his strength. His armor seemed to have an odd quality to it beyond warping his personal time flow. It had an outward effect, one he did not want to try on his friends unless he knew what it would do.

"Shall we deliver our charge to this Corrona? I would like to see the capital of our world. And find a haven to recharge in." Arbutus searched for a trigger to his ability, memorizing how he felt in this form, absorbing every detail. It would not do to fail to engage in this form at another time. he did not have the strength to master it at this time. Just holding it was difficult.

"I can give ya a booster if ya need it Grandpa!" Salte piped up, "I will be fine dear, as long as we do not need to fight another espada level opponent. My regenerative abilities are quite strong." He would need to avoid a battle if one arose as soon as they arrived or things would go badly. If Axis could cause so much trouble now, the thought of another repressed personality popping up was a grim one.

(8/15)