| abstract
| - Standing upon the top of Mt. Fuji was a lonesome traveler. His name was Hisashī, a Reikon Kyuuban like Myst and Kain Daisuke. However; this man was different, in several ways. He wasn't a natural, but he was Turned. His most distinctive feature was the spiraling mask he wore; it was of a slight purple tint and had only two slots to allow Hisashii sight. Behind this he wore a similar colored bandanna which flew down to his back, whilst a large Gunbai wass perched onto his back, being linked to his hands via a black cord. His attire consisted of a dark blue, long-sleeved robe that went down to his knees, with a pair of black trousers underneath, and a pair of tabi and waraji to finish it off. As accessories, he wore a large light purple sash at his waist, along with a pair of complete black gloves on his hands. "So, you are here? I admire your skills, you were capable of finding me. Then again, you have Daisuke-sama by your side." Hisashii told the incoming figures, as he turned their way. "So tell me, you wanted my assistance? Oh, you have a girl with you, a Newborn I assume?" Myst stepped forward. The light bounced off off her shoulder armor. "Yes. I ask that you help train this Newborn. Kain decided that you would be the better teacher than I or himself. So please, will you do it?" It was rare that she would ever ask for assistance, especially when it was her own problem to deal with, but it couldn't be helped. Hisashii would be the better one to instruct the child. After all, the masked man knew what it was like to be Turned. "Hm? And you are?" Hisashii didn't recognize Myst, though then again, he only really reported to both Kain and Katsumi. Kain responded adequately, "Hisashii, this is our new Queen, Myst Kagekyo. She has rightfully taken the title after proving herself." Hisashii was slightly surprised, and questioned, "In what way has she proven herself? By training under you, Kain? No, this isn't enough to make me submit to her orders. She will have to test herself against me before I reveal my truth to her, as I did so with Lord Scarlet." Kain was slightly amused at the prospect, and told Myst. "Well, Myst-sama. It is your decision whether to face this man or not. And Kounaki-chan, you'll have to wait a bit. But then again, it'll be a good experience for you to see a battle with two powerful Reikon Kyuuban." "Alright, I accept your challenge. Kain, keep close to Kounaki and both of you might want to step back." Myst smiled, although if anyone knew her, that smile wasn't supposed to be taken as a friendly gesture, but one of contemplation, preperation for battle. "It's a somewhat rare occurence to have the chance to face an Elder, so I don't see why I have any reason to refuse." After a moment, she materialized a golden colored sword, her Zanpakto, Gesshoku. "Why don't you start this show?" "I see the similarities, Kain. You have chosen a good leader." Hisashii gave telepathic communication to Kain, who simply smiled at the prospect and moved to a small cave near the summit of the mountain. "Now, Kounaki, I want you to be careful. If there's any pain that you feel, immediately hide behind me, okay?" Kain asked, and Kounaki nodded at the suggestion. Returning his gaze back to Hisashii, Kain noticed that he had begun to draw his most powerful weapon. "So...it's here." He said, and Kounaki questioned, "What is?" with Kain's response being, "Hisashii's...Gunbai." Hisashii's arm reached out, and immediately drew the large Gunbai that was kept there. It was attached to a black chain on his right arm, and he was ready to fight. There was no emotion within his eyes, which were both remarkably strange and he immediately moved forward, traversing the distance between the two using sheer, raw speed. His Gunbai came upon Myst, fast and powerful with a horizontal movement, attempting to bisect her then and there with an energy coating surrounding it. Myst was taken aback by the unreal speed the masked man posessed. Even compared to her own, it was like lightning crashing down. She blocked with her sword, feeling the energy generated by the impact course up her arm. He's fast and strong. My usual tactics won't work this time. With some effort, she was able to push the Gunbai back a little, which threw Hisashii a little off balance, which would provide the opening Myst needed. With her free hand, balled into a fist, she aimed to land a punch right in the gut, a quick, disabling blow, should it land. Hisashii's reflexes picked up on the slight change in his center of gravity, and he adjusted his plan accordingly. With an immediate reaction, Hisashii used his free arm, opened up his palm and took the fist as it jabbed into his abdomen, slightly mitigating the pain. Retreating his Gunbai, Hisashii let go of Myst and immediately swiped with a downwards vertical slash. The slash cracked into Myst's already injured shoulder. sending a fresh wave of pain through her body. She gasped as that sensation registered in her mind. She dropped Gesshoku and reached up to grab the Gunbai. Out of the clear blue, she began charging the Kyūketsuki Ga Satsuei. At this range, she'd also be swallowed up in the blast, but it wouldn't be the first time her own attack backfired. Hisashii's eyes widened in shock. "This girl, she has enough determination to go this far!" He thought as the crimson blast swallowed both combatants. Hisashii was stunned as he skidded back...there was a slight crack in his mask, and he cringed at the pain that Myst's blast caused. "So, you aren't half bad, eh? Well, I want to test something. If you wouldn't mind, Kain, could you protect that little girl? I can't hold back in this form." "You're using that, Hisashii?" Kain asked him from a distance, and Hisashii affirmed it with a nod. Kain soon covered the area with his own spiritual energy as a barrier, hoping it'd stand as long as possible. "Let the ideals of the world be masked through deception. With deceit let us bear the fruit of our deeds. Let these fruit, be the death of our creed" Hisashii breathed in as his reiatsu was exerted in a strange purple aura, and he finished with, "Distorted Masquerade, Stage 2: Cloaked King of the Undead" Immediately a shroud of violet energy had enveloped Hisashii's entire figure. As it tightened, Hisashii's entire body - and mask - had dramatically changed. Hisashii was now enveloped in an entirely black cloak, which had no tattered ends and simply appeared to go down to his toes. His feet had been adorned with a pair of unexplained black shoes, possibly leather, and his mask had also changed significantly, into something reminiscent of a skeleton. Finally, as he outstretched his arm, a powerful surge of energy created a temporarily malleable black scythe in his hand, which soon solidified into a sleek black pole-arm which he kept behind his back for the time-being. "As an Elder, this is my specialty. I have mastered the Kyūketsuki Sutēji to the point where only Lord Scarlet can contend against me. What, as the new "Queen" will you do?" He projected his voice, and when melded with his spiritual energy caused a black wave to strike fear into the hearts of those around him. Myst shielded her face with her arm, letting the one that fired the KGS limply hang at her side, burns and cuts all over the exposed flesh. When the smoke cleared, she saw what Hisashii had become. "You said stage 2, right? Why did you skip stage one? Or did I mishear something?" She was visibly unnerved by the skull-theme that the transformation brought on, although it was truely a fitting theme. "If you are truly our Queen, I shouldn't need to employ Stage One. Stage One is simply put, a slight increase in my power, with an additional ability. Stage Two is where you shall face fear, and through overcoming one's fear will one become royalty." Hisashii told her, giving her the indication to face him in battle. "Then do your worst. If overcoming fear is what will make me stronger, I will force myself to overcome fear. Yes, I'm afraid, but I made a promise, that I will do whatever it took to become stronger. You hear that?" Even though the rousing speech was little more than a pep-talk disguised as a taunt, it was all Myst needed to remind herself why she was there, why she took the challenge in the first place. Myst grabbed Gesshoku and closed the small gap between herself and Hisashii. She swung the blade down, aiming to cut off the skull-masked man's arm, making the fight tilt in her favor. Hisashii's arm had indeed been cut, but it was almost as if nothing had occurred. Immediately he swung his scythe in large circles, causing several strikes to be aimed against Myst in an extremely small timeframe. All while doing so, Hisashii's other arm projected a large mass of black spiritual energy, otherwise known as the Black KGS, and fired it at Myst, from close range no less. Myst was covered in tiny cuts from the scythe, hardly anything that could slow her down. But then she noticed the black KGS and felt the blast slam into her and propel her a good few yards back. The only thing that arrested her flight was a boulder in the way. His arm...I could have sworn I cut it. She pushed herself out of the giant rock. "Maybe I should stop playing around. Being on the recieving end of a smack-down just doesn't cut it." Rose-colored spirit energy began circling around her and slowly turned crimison before exploding in overly dramatic fasion. When the smoke cleared, Myst's hair had changed to a pure white and her eyes a blood red. "This is my KS, Transcending Pawn, Coronation of a New Queen." A hail-storm of crimson arrows flew from Myst's finger, each one laced with a corrupting aura, which would, if her guess was right, strip away some of Hisashii's shadowy armor. Hisashii's armor was indeed stripped. The poison within those arrows was deadly, and Hisashii immediately began evading the others. As he did so, Hisashii leaped to Myst's location, and employed a deadly scythe-arm as he attempted to bisect her arm entirely. "You're skilled, I grant you that." Good. I have a way to attack. Myst thought as a scythe blade crossed into her peripheral vision. She was able to redirect the incoming blade by knocking it upward with the back of her hand. She then lowered herself to the ground and attempted a sweeping kick to force Hisashii onto his back. Hisashii lept using tremendous force into the air, causing a wave of vibrations that made the ground below him shatter. He went serious, and it wasn't looking pretty. He took a brief moment in the air to regain his position before creating an extremely powerful circle of spirit energy exerting outwards from his feet, causing his momentum to increase to the point where his mask had begun to crack. "The final strike!" Hisashii announced as his scythe was held with both hands, circling spiritual energy causing it to exude an even deeper black aura. He swung it downwards, heading towards Myst's entire body, with the resolve to kill her, there and then. "Hisashii..." Kain thought in his mind, as he told Kounaki to look away while he saw the incoming...Grim Reaper. Myst saw the scythe and almost felt like running away, becoming a coward. But then she remembered why she fought in the first place, to prove that even as weak as she was, she'd be able to make her own way in the world. It didn't matter where her path ended, but how she got that end. "Three Powers, Seven Sins. Gaze and Envy at my power. Let nothing escape, and feed on your foolishness!" She was suddenly surrounded by a rose colored light, which would reflect the scythe's energy right back to where it came from. "What!? Kain!?" Hisashii exclaimed as his own power was used against him! The impact was catastrophic, causing an immense explosion on the mountain. Hisashii fell backwards while in the air, his figure dropping from the edge of the mountain. As he fell, his mask broke slightly more, and he stretched out his hand. "You...are...worthy..." Hisashii told her, as he made no effort to clutch the mountain's stone, letting himself drop down the mountainside... Myst acted quickly, jumping over the ledge to follow Hisashii. Like Hell I'm going to let you die this easily, not on my watch! The wind stung at her eyes as she fell, easily hitting terminal velocity. How far down did he fall already? A few seconds between them, nothing more, why couldn't she catch up? Then it hit her, she was barreling down to the ground at her normal rate, Hisashii was more likely to leave a bigger...impact. He had all that gear on him, adding weight. Myst grew pale. She only now realized the problem with thinking too far into things, one would tend to get scared. To save herself from smashing into the ground, she turned into a bat for a moment. When she changed back, she noticed Hisashii hadn't hit the ground, not that she could tell. Hisashii had already transformed into a bat and discarded all his equipment. He went to the summit of the mountain and whispered something to Kain's ear, and Kain responded with an affirmative nod. Immediately Kain told Kounaki, "Alright Kounaki-chan, we'll be gone for a bit. Let Myst and Hisashii finish their...negotations." Kain immediately took Kounaki away, and Hisashii gestured to the transformed Myst, asking her to follow him towards a small cottage near the top of the mountain. Myst flew up to where Hisashii was and turned back. "I swear, becoming a bat makes things easy. If it weren't for that, we'd still be trying to climb back up." She kept pace with Hisashii, dispite being worn out from the battle and still shaking from the fall. "I agree." The man's voice said as they reached the cottage. He put himself on the ground, and told Myst, "I am about to show you something only few people have seen. If you tell this to anyone, your life will be extinct." Suddenly, Hisashii reverted back to his humane form...but the truth of it, was incomprehensible to even Myst! Myst hadn't expected this, even a thousand years. One proverbial jaw-drop and blink later, she knew this wasn't some trip into the deepest nether-regions of her own mind. "You have now seen why I battled you." Hisashii told her, as he equipped his gear back on. He had almost ten copies of the same outfit lined up in his closet. "And there we have it. Now, I shall tutor the Newborn." Hisashii said, fixing his Gunbai on his back and letting himself out. Myst dry swallowed. If he could do so much just as a test, him following through on that threat, that scared her. She left the cabin and once more became a bat, leaving in search of something to eat.
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