FINALLY!!!
IT'S BEEN FREAKIN' TWO MONTHS! UGH!
I'm so so so so so so sorry!
I'm really busy with school, but I promise to get back on schedule
Now, pt. 85
~Maddie
July
SOUL SOCIETY
Cree's Perspective
"So, how exactly should we tell Toshiro about what's been happening with Mariya?" Bianca asks.
Cree sighs, looking out over the trees from the window in her room. Though somewhat destroyed by Nekomata when they attacked the home what feels like only days ago, her bedroom was quickly rebuilt by the members of Mariya's squad, some even have the power of telekinesis. So, in a way, it makes sense that it would be much faster then normal. And what she likes is that it's completely the same, down to the last flower in the vase on her desk.
Almost the same, now that she thinks about it.
Mariya...
She looks up.
"Well, first off, we have to be sure to tell him the information carefully. We don't him to have a mini freak out over what Mariya has been doing in our world." Cree answers, "He's still a little on edge since his outburst."
"Alright, so, any ideas?" Kayla asks.
"We could just bring him to the hospital, couldn't we? Then he'd see it for himself, maybe we could even get him to connect to her soul." Virginia suggests.
Cree shakes her head.
"No, that would just make him even more worried and strained over the situation. The last time I spoke to him, he was talking about taking a unit to the World of the Living because he thinks he may know where they might be holding her." Cree replies.
The girls blink in surprise.
"The World of the Living?" Bianca repeats.
"Why would they take her there, it makes no sense." Kayla comments.
"Well, though he is a bit on edge because of the situation, Toshiro definitely is not stupid. He must of found some lead." Cree says.
"But what? What could of possibly pointed to that place?" Virginia asks.
Cree shrugs.
"Who knows, I guess we'll have to have him explain it to us once we meet up with him." Cree answers.
"Hey, now that I think about it, why are we here now? We aren't even supposed to be back in the Soul Society for at least another two days." Kayla asks.
"Cree must of thought it was best to get the information we have to Toshiro as quickly as possible, even if it means showing up before they planed we would." Bianca answers.
"She's right. Though it may be hard to tell him, we can't keep him in the dark about this. Out of all of us, Toshiro is the one working the hardest to find her, we must back him up." Cree says, "Besides, Mariya is one of our best friends, she'd do the same thing for us if one of us were to disappear. That is certain."
Virginia nods.
"I know, I saw how far she'd go to protect me before she disappeared." Virginia adds, "She seemed to be in more pain knowing I could be hurt then when I was being taken away. The look on her face...it seemed to become content in a way."
The others don't respond for a moment, and as Cree begins to think of what to say next, a knock comes at the door.
She blinks, but goes, stopping right before the door way.
"Who is it?" Cree asks.
"It's me, Aneko."
Cree grins, recognizing Aneko's warm, but gentle voice on the other side of the door. Opening the door, she's met by Aneko's warm blue eyes reflected in her glasses, and her almost shy grin.
"How'd you know we were here?" Kayla asks as she walks up behind Cree.
"I sensed your Spiritual Pressure Cree, as well as yours Miss Virginia." Aneko replies.
Virginia pouts.
"Why did you call me Miss?" she asks.
"Well, you've never told me what you want me to call you, so until then, I thought it'd be best if I treat you with respect." Aneko explains, "You four are the honored friends of my Captain, it's natural that I do so."
Virginia blinks.
"Oh...uh..." she trails.
"Just call her Virginia, Aneko, she's just like the rest of us." Bianca replies.
Aneko nods.
"Alright, I can do that." she answers with a smile.
Kayla sighs.
"Now, back to what we're talking about." Kayla says.
"Oh, sorry, should I leave you all alone?" Aneko asks.
Cree shakes her head.
"No, you're fine, you're bound to found out anyway, so we'll tell you now." Cree replies.
Aneko blinks, but pays close attention as Cree begins to explain the situation to her.
She seems to be quite taken back by their being in Mariya's empty mind, and shocked that Virginia was able to get ahold of her.
"What did my Captain say?" Aneko asks, passing the others to look Virginia in the eye.
Virginia doesn't respond for a moment.
"She said that she's lost at least two pints of blood over the past week, maybe more since we last talked to her." Virginia starts, "Then she asked about Toshiro, and then she cut off, and I was thrown out."
"Mariya..." Aneko trails.
"I'm sure we'll get her back, what with that entry plan Toshiro was telling us about to go to the World of the Living-" Bianca comments.
"Actually, you guys won't be going to the World of the Living." Aneko interrupts.
They blink.
"What? Why?" Virginia asks.
Aneko doesn't reply for a few moments.
"The Head Captain vetoed Captain Hitsugaya's plan."
They all gasp.
"What?!" Cree yells.
"He won't let us go find Mariya?!" Kayla asks.
Aneko nods.
"It's become a matter of the People Vs. the One." Aneko replies.
"The People Vs. the One?" Bianca repeats.
"What the Hell is that?!" Virginia asks.
"It's a principle mostly based on balanced." Aneko explains, "You see, if the Head Captain had allowed Captain Hitsugaya to continue with the plans, he would of been thinking of only Captain Yattamori's safety, and would leave a space for the Bijuu to attack the Soul Society when we would be down a good number of Soul Reapers, considering that Captain Hitsugaya would of probably asked for a few Squad Members from other Squads, and a good sum of those from his own Squad and mine. Basically, it's the People of the Soul Society Vs. Mariya in the terms of who we should protect first and foremost."
The girls just stare at her for a minute or two, before it seems Kayla cracks.
She slams her hand across, hitting the vase with such force that it shatters right where it sits, glass exploding some and the water splashes onto the floor, reminding them of the mess Toshiro left at Mariya's Squad 4 room when he discovered the key to her amnesia.
Virginia and Bianca yelp, startled, as Cree and Aneko just stare in shock at Kayla's silent outburst.
"K-Kayla!-" Cree stutters.
"This is Bull Shit!" Kayla snaps, "Mariya is a Captain of this damn place, they should be worried with finding her, they should be begging people to go and look for her! Yet they have their asses still set in place and seem to have no sense of brotherhood in this circumstance. Mariya would go and save us or anyone else no matter what, so why do they turn their backs on her when she needs them?!"
"Kayla, please, you must understand." Aneko starts.
"Understand that the leaders of this place are wimps!-" Kayla snaps.
"Kayla!"
Everyone falls silent as Bianca's voice towers over the rest of theirs, startling them. Bianca usually never speaks louder then her usual volume, so for her to be able to produce a sound that toppled over every on else's is very rare. Bianca stares for a moment, her eyes seeming to change color from their usual brown to a darker color, maybe a dark blue or even purple. It's something that Cree has only seen them do when Bianca is upset, allowing her to understand how she's feeling.
Finally, her eyes relax, returning to their usual shade as she runs her hand through her layered hair. She gives out a tired sigh.
"We can't be getting all worked up right now. We're all in a serious bind and yelling and breaking things won't help us solve anything." Bianca says calmly, gesturing to the mess now sprawled over the floor, "We must remain calm if we are to accomplish anything."
Cree and the others blink, surprised now by Bianca's thoughtful and wise words.
Words that Mariya would of copied exactly if she was here.
Kayla sighs.
"Alright, I'm sorry." she says, looking away.
Bianca grins bitter-sweetly.
"Hey, we're all pissed off about the situation, so don't worry, you just did what we were all too scared to do." Virginia comments.
Kayla blinks, and looks over at her, before giving a smile.
"Thanks..." she trails.
"Now, what do you say we go ahead and try to find Captain Hitsugaya so that we may tell him about what you four have encountered in your world." Aneko says.
Cree nods.
"That sounds like a good idea." Cree says, "Let's try his office first."
The others nod, and with that, they walk to the door and vanish, flashstepping towards their friend's quarters.
As the wind flies by, Cree notices that Virginia has taken a spot right beside her in the air, mimicking her actions so that they stay together.
"Virginia?-" Cree starts.
"I don't think Toshiro will just sit and take that order." Virginia interrupts, looking over at her, "Do you?"
Cree blinks, then looks away, thinking over the question.
"He's a smart guy, I don't think he'd try anything stupid that would put his title as Captain on the line-" Cree begins.
"Even if it was Mariya?-" Virginia starts to ask.
"-You didn't let me finish." Cree interrupts, "He wouldn't do anything that would risk his his title unless it was Mariya, she's his closest friend, even closer then Momo. So, because he's smart, he's probably gonna think up some loophole so that he can still go look for her."
Virginia grins.
"I hope so, cause I don't really care for that stupid the People Vs. the One rule, it's just dumb." Virginia replies.
"Well, it's not that dumb, it's just dumb in this circumstance."
They blink, looking over at Bianca.
"Huh?" Virginia asks.
"Well, if you look at it, it's a very simple rule following pretty good logic. I mean, would you save only one person from a fire, or 10?" Bianca replies.
Virginia doesn't reply, probably trying to think of a good come back of some kind.
"Cree, what do you think?"
"Well, I can definitely see both sides of the argument...though I'm still leaning all the way on finding Mariya." Cree replies.
Bianca grins.
"Good." she says.
"Alright guys, we're goin' down." Kayla says as she disappears from nearby, Aneko close behind her.
They nod, following.
Within moments, they're back on the ground, standing near the entrance of Toshiro's office. Though it's early enough, it's expected that Toshiro is around, and awake. They walk up the steps to the walk in silence, the only noise being the creaking wood walkway beneath them. Aneko is ahead now, and as she comes to the door to his room, she gestures at them to stop, probably checking before she wants all of them to intrude on the office. In response, Cree puts her arm out, signaling to the others to not go any further.
Quietly, she slides it open, looking inside. After only a moment she closes it again, and looks back at them.
"He's not here." she replies.
"Hmm....where else would he be?" Virginia asks.
"Maybe he went to talk to someone. Let's check around the other Squads and see if anyone has seen him." Cree suggests.
"That sounds like a good idea." Bianca agrees.
With a grin, the group once again are in the air, flashstepping over the building below.
"So, where do you want to go first?" Aneko asks.
"Let's check out Squad 4." Kayla comments.
"Yeah, and while we're there we can tell Captain Unohana about Mariya." Cree replies.
Nodding, they speed up to soon arrive now at the barracks of Squad 4. The sun is now out from behind the clouds, causing warmth as it's light hits their backs. Cree grins, and turns towards the others.
"C'mon, Unohana is probably in the-" she starts.
"Cree?"
She blinks, and turns to see Toshiro in the doorway of the building, his eyes wide in surprise, probably because he wasn't expecting to run into them here.
"Toshiro, there you are. We were..." Cree starts, trailing off.
The others notice.
"What is it Cree-" Kayla starts, before being cut off by the sound of footsteps.
Cree's eyes widen more, seeing something familiar reflect off the sunlight.
Mariya's bracelet.
Only a few moments pass, but it feels like an eternity as the being steps out of the shadows of the hall and into the light of sun right beside Toshiro. They seem to be weak, their skin slightly pale, and the small limp in their step two definite signs. Though, they've apparently been cleaned up, their bodies bandaged up pretty good from what she can see peaking out from under their kimono. Their clothes are fresh and clean, and any evidence of blood is gone. Their long hair is free, down, and blowing slightly in the wind around their face, their eyes....long missed hazel eyes, wide.
Cree's and the others' eyes widen too in shock.
"Cree...Virginia...guys..." they trail, their voice cracking some.
Virginia seems to loose herself as tears come to the rims of her eyes, breaking into an instant sprint towards her, as if to reveal how much she really missed her.
"MARIYA!"
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Virginia's Perspective
Mariya's eyes are wide as she pounces at her, taken back by her abrupt behavior.
"V-Virginia!" Mariya stutters as Virginia takes a tight hold of her.
"Y-You damn idiot! Don't ever do that again!" Virginia wails, her tears soaking the front of Mariya's haori, "Next time you'd better think twice about making some guy take me away!"
Mariya's brow furrows some in guilt, then she chuckles.
"So I didn't even get a thank you for then?" Mariya asks.
Virginia snaps her head up to look at her.
"Stupid! Why would I thank you?!-" she starts, stopped as she connects her eyes with Mariya.
Mariya grins.
"I'm sorry, but hey, I'm here now, so that's all that matters, right?" she asks.
Virginia doesn't reply, taken over as the others attack them, squeezing them tight in a group hug.
"Captain! I was so worried about you!" Aneko says, fighting tears from forming as she is the only one that holds Mariya gently.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Mariya starts.
"Well, ya did anyway!" Kayla snaps, holding her tight, "We thought that you were dead for too long!"
"But I'm not-" she starts.
"We know, but still, it scared us!" Bianca interrupts.
Mariya chuckles.
"Man, you guys, I'm sorry." she says, "But now you guys won't have to worry anymore, so please, don't. I'm fine, can't you see?"
"Mariya, I hate to break it to you, but you don't seem to be as fine as you want us to believe." Cree comments as Kayla and Bianca back off some.
Mariya blinks.
"Huh?" she asks.
"Mariya, you're still not at full strength, we all can see that. Whatever happened must of really sapped most of your strength." Cree continues.
Her eyes seem to widen slightly as she seems to remember, then she shrinks some, taken a small step closer to Toshiro for what Virginia guesses is comfort of some kind.
Her actions take him by surprise.
"Yattamori?" he asks.
"It was dark..." Mariya trails.
They all blink in surprise, noticing a change in the atmosphere.
"Mariya..." Virginia trails.
"They came down once or twice a day...I still don't why, or how it happened, but somehow I would find myself coughing up blood, covered in it to the point that I was almost soaked..." Mariya continues, shuttering.
Virginia feels a lump in her throat beginning to form.
"Captain...?" Aneko trails.
Mariya breaks from the weird state she was in, looking up at Aneko.
"Yes?" Mariya replies.
"How....How are you here?" Aneko asks.
Mariya falls silent, before she sighs. She turns.
"Follow me, I'll tell all of you." Mariya replies.
Virginia blinks with the others, looking around as Mariya walks away, before she joins the others follow her. The hall seems dank and somewhat eerie in a way as it seems that Mariya has been put in a wing all by herself, probably as a way to easily monitor her. The hallway is somewhat dark, only every other light on as they walk farther into the building. Though, the Sun seems to reenter the space as Mariya opens the door to her room. Walking inside, the light dances all over the walls, warming the tan walls to almost look like a dull yellow. Flowers sit beside her bed, brightening the room even more, giving it a nice vibe. Though, it falls some as Mariya shuts the door behind them, walking passed so to sit on her bed. She sighs, and looks up at them, accidentally locking eyes with Virginia again.
In response, Virginia turns away, which Mariya ignores.
"Well, I'm going to tell you all what I remember." Mariya starts, "They had just weakened me, I was again covered in blood and could barely sit up, or stand up for that matter. They had a quarrel in front of me for a moment before they opened the door, and I remember locking eyes with who was probably the youngest of the Bijuu. She seemed to shrink as she looked at me, and moved to stand behind another. Shukaku came in and picked me up and put me on my feet, telling me to walk. When I asked what they were doing with me, he showed up."
"Who is 'he'?" Toshiro asks.
Mariya takes a moment.
"Kenta."
Virginia suddenly feels a cold jolt run up her spine, her body trying to fight the urge to arch her shoulders up in response to the electric sensation. Luckily, she is triumphant, but it seems that Mariya has noticed, again looking at her, but only for a moment before she looks back to the others.
"Go on." Kayla says.
"Well, Kenta replied by saying they were taking me to meet their Master, and that she was finally going to put the real plan in motion." Mariya continues.
"Real plan?" Cree repeats.
"What is the real plan?" Aneko asks.
"I don't know, I got away before I found out." Mariya replies.
"And how did you do that?" Virginia asks.
"Well, as they were walking me, I saw an exit, but tried to keep the fact that I had seen it secret." Mariya says, "Then, with what strength I had left, I attacked Kenta and the girl Bijuu when they least expected it. With them no longer conscious or guarding my back, I ripped the remaining chains off of me, and flashstepped as fast as I could away from that place back towards the Soul Society before the guards that were left could contain me again."
"How were you able to muster so much strength?" Aneko asks.
"Who knows. I assume it was probably the adrenaline giving me a boost, but other then that, I really have no idea what to tell you." she replies, "Sorry."
"Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for." Toshiro comments.
Mariya doesn't reply for a minute.
"Not even for scaring you?" Mariya asks, looking over at him.
He blinks.
"Huh?" he asks.
"I know what you did, the outburst you had." she replies.
His eyes widen.
"H-How could you know about-" he starts.
"The Bijuu liked to mock me. You were brought up a lot, as were most of the rest of you." Mariya interrupts, looking up at everyone, "They told me that, and followed with all the different ways they may kill you..."
Toshiro tries his best to keep his composure, but Virginia notices as his weight shifts, a single flash of worry sparking in his eyes before he hides it in his usual cold manner.
"So, where were you?" Bianca asks.
Mariya blinks.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
"Where were you? In the World of the Living?" Kayla asks.
Mariya doesn't reply for a moment.
"Well, I-I can't...remember...." she trails.
Virginia looks away.
"Oh, well, you'll probably remember eventually." Aneko says.
"Hey, let's allow her to get some rest, she needs all she can get." Toshiro says, walking towards the door.
Mariya watches him, before nodding.
"Thanks." she replies.
"C'mon guys, lets go." Cree says, gesturing towards the door as she takes Kayla's wrist, pulling her away from Mariya.
Mariya grins, waving.
"I'll see you guys later, alright?" she says.
"Bye Mariya." Cree says.
"See ya." Kayla says.
"Feel better." Bianca says.
"I'll come check on you later, Captain." Aneko says as she's the first to walk out.
Toshiro watches, and catches as Virginia begins to walk off.
"Virginia." Toshiro says.
"Hmm?" Virginia says, no longer thinking.
"Aren't you gonna say bye?" he asks.
"Oh, uh-" Virginia starts.
"It's alright, you seem to have something on your mind. It's alright." Mariya says with a smile.
Virginia watches her for a moment, before she replies with a grin.
"Bye Mari." Virginia says, before turning, walking quickly from the room, leaving both Toshiro and Mariya blinking in surprise.
Virginia sighs, and as she exists the building, she blinks, finding the others all staring at her.
"What?" she asks.
"What's wrong with you?" Cree asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Why were you acting like that?" Kayla asks.
Virginia doesn't reply for a moment, before she starts walking again.
"Virginia!" Cree calls after her.
"Something doesn't feel right." Virginia replies.
Cree and the others stare at her, their eyes widening in surprise.
"What?" Bianca asks.
"I don't know, but...something is just...off about her." Virginia explains.
"She's shaken up, so she probably won't be completely the same for a few more days, if not weeks-" Aneko says.
"No, not that kind of thing is what's bothering me." Virginia interrupts.
No one replies for a moment.
"Then...what?" Cree asks.
Virginia doesn't reply, her answer being the cracking of the sticks beneath her feet as she walks into the entrance of a tree-lined trail.
To tell the truth, even she doesn't really know what is bugging her. Though, she does know one thing.
When she looked into Mariya's eyes...something...just seemed to be missing. Like all the life, all the warmth...all her power...it was gone...and replaced with just a murky distance in her stare....
