The demon queen and the devourer of minds [frost]

Footsteps that echoed into the endless abyss of Mana's Manor were all that were heard at first. For a place that was so colossal, founded on it's infamy in the world and home to one of the greatest threats on Earth -- it was oddly empty and quiet. Yes, as Kor-Tatha opened the door into the Demon's Den nothing but a plume of fog eased around her. Why was this? It simply the essence of The Demon Queen drawing her further and further into the rabbit's hole. Giggles, chuckles and some full-blown laughs were then echoed when this chamber had been unveiled. It may be unnerving to many souls who dare venture into this domain, but they yielded no hostile intent -- for the time being. If one were bold or dull enough to provoke this belly of a beast -- well -- let's just say it wouldn't end well for them.

Luckily, for our dear Arrancar of Many Minds, there was a special message delivered to The Ruler of Europe on her behalf. Yes, Mana was quite aware of her plight as there had been a request to sit down with The Queen from someone who was rumored to be quite close to The Asthavon's beloved: Ashlei Clixx. That name alone was enough to make chills go down The Demoness's spine, her heart begin to flutter and feels of administration glow within her as she thought of her oh-so demented lover and fellow Queen of Hollow's. There wasn't much that dear ol' Mana wouldn't do for her significant other now that they were official -- even if it meant taking a bullet to the heart for her -- and even if that heart could simply regenerate. As, more than anything else, it's the thought that matters, right? Who cares if a little regeneration here and there helped blurred the lines between life and death.

Nevertheless, for our feisty hollow, Mana was in a playing mood and was willing to indulge with this invitation to have a sit down. Judging from the reports that Shadow Fall intel was able to gather through word-of-mouth about this visitor, there seemed to be a great deal of unsteady nature with the creature. There were numerous incidents compiled in the report that explained Kor-tatha's very psyche was on the verge of breaking. Apparently, as Mana perused this info, the fair maiden had a peculiar ability that allowed her to devour tens of thousands of psyches through death. Chuckling ever so slightly to herself, a comparison between this feat of power and The Queen's own Army of The Undead was made in Mana's mind as she could empathize with the plight the poor thing was under. Everytime The Demon Queen killed something with her bare hands or energy? That soul would then in-turn become apart of her own and she'd devour their memories, knowledge and all of their persona for her to keep. And keeping an inventory of tens of millions of spirits within her body? There were certainly some days were Mana questioned her very own sanity, existence and all that she was under the weight of this strain on her own consciousness.

Therefore, with all of these facts on the table, Mana had an idea of what she was dealing with at the very least. It was a nutcase of a woman who was on her last legs and seeking salvation through a favor from The Queen. Fortunately, for lil' ol' Kor, Mana had the remedy for her ailment in store! Dabbling in the arts of Madness, Chaos and all the power that is yielded within years of Demon Magic doesn't leave one without a few tricks up their sleeve. So as Kor-tatha ventured deeper into the lair of The Mad Witch, more childish giggles were echoed in the mist before a soft radiance of green light overtook the darkness. Numerous particles of this light spread throughout the castle and it lit the blackened hallways like a makeshift night-light in the shadows of this abysmal palace.

"Fu-fu-fu-fu, what is this? Come now darling, put the trinkets away!" In a clearly entertained voice, Mana's jovial tone of speaking was heard all throughout the manor as footsteps came from above and The Demoness was now descending on The Arrancar's location. "Didn't mother always tell you never to run around with knives in the dark?" Coming out of a burst of neon light, Mana seemed to shift through the space around them very rapidly and now her entire body was revealed. Long, flowing raven hair was one of the first things that were noted as The Vixen moved her pale hand through it. Tilting her head and inspecting the likes of The Arrancar, those emerald eyes of The Demon's scanned her very being and the gem green aura around Mana intensified for a second; as if it were giving a warning to the beast not to attack -- unless it was ready for a battle against The Embodiment of Madness.

Once this warning flare was given, the light around Mana's body began to ease and more of her clothing was seen. Wearing nothing more than a black dress that pore down to her thighs, a pair of two inch high-heels and her trusty black gauntlets known as "Black Claw Shredder", Mana seemed rather casually dressed for the evening. Although, with the way her life was, it was hard to much of anything seriously anymore. So to that end, she'd exhale and then let out a hard cackle as she was amused with how defensive the dear thing seemed to be. Taking a quick glance at the dagger in hand brought forth a snarky grin across The Queen's voice before she said this much to The Arrancar: "You might stab something...namely yourself!"

Running her hand through the flush colored hair of Kor, it didn't matter if she tried to pull away or had anything to say at this point, as Mana yearned to touch or even come close to her madness for herself. And boy -- was there was a trail of lunacy around this lass. Eyes gleaming with a brighter shade of green, Mana's own otherworldly vision allowed her to visually see ambers of red leaking from Kor's body. Flashing back to Australia, The Demoness seems to have remembered now being able to visually scan for a person or environment's frequency of insanity. Recalling her encounter with Dr.Hebi, that's how she was able to tell the volume of madness that was coming to the surface from that particular individual; or when she noted the distortions associated with The Memory Rosary of Despair's chaotic element.

"So tell me, ye' of Many Minds, what have you sought me out for?" Licking her lips and having a ravished expression ease into her face afterward, Mana appeared to be -- consuming the air around Kor. Yes, it was quite the bizarre scene, but she was literally eating the space around her. And after a blink, or two, or three -- she'd realize how strange this was! So, she'd snap her fingers and cackle once more with that heavy laugh of hers. "I can taste the depravity oozing from every orifice from your body -- and I must say you taste absolutely like strawberries!" Going in to kiss Kor's cheek, Mana would wink at her and give her these parting words to deal with:

"Therefore, you have my attention. Make a pitch, give me something to work with and tell me in your own words what your story was leading up to here. If it's good enough, and your own brand of chaos is sweet enough, I may be able to pull your soul from the edge of insanity!" Tapping her chin, she'd then shake her head and decide to take back what she said before grinning devilishly. "Well, as sane as this world will allow you to be, anyway. Hehehe."

Well -- this was rather interesting to see play out! Tilting her head to the side, there was a frozen expression across The Queen's face as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But, that look wasn't had for long. Nay, an ominous grin crept around from cheek to cheek across The Demoness's face as she showed all her rows of teeth to the now frightened Arrancar. Watching her energy fluctuate, gaze harden and body language shift to an aggressive state -- it was all a matter of time before the first blood curdling blow would be tossed from The Arrancar of Many Minds. Yes indeed, it was perceived by Mana that every fiber within Kor-Tatha's being was intent on having a little stabby-stab time with The Royal Demoness as the victim. How terrifying! How inhumane! How...AMUSING! All the screws must've been loose in this woman's head if the hollow creature believed this plan was going to go without fail. So, on some level, Mana could commend and respect this act as lunacy always drove people to do the darndest of things after all.

"Well, sweet cheeks, ya' are obviously proving 'mah point by stabbin' ya' self in the forehead like that." Talking in a tone of voice akin to a southern accent, there was much delight to be found in Mana's voice as she let out a robust laugh afterward. The smiles and giggles were never in short supply with The Mad Ruler. "But, I'll give ya brownie points for being such a bold little lass!" So she'd applaud, nod her head and give Kor-Tatha a standing ovation as she found her cojones to dare transform in such a hostile manner against The Queen of Demon's. Observing the transformation that The Arrancar underwent was quite the spectacle to be had. Piece by piece, shred by shred and morph after morph; the creature before The Asthavon had undergone a profound shift from a body that once resembled her last shackles of humanity to transcending into an outright monster.

"Dear heavens! What are you gonna do, STAB ME?!" A scratchy cackle left Mana's mouth when she uttered those words out; still having quite the fun with all the knife play going on with the exchange between the two. As the daunting waves of psychic based attacks rained down in Mana's mind -- the grin around her face only served to become larger, wider and more fearsome than before as she embraced the waves of pain and delirium crashing straight forth into her very psyche. While there was a fire indeed set forth in the landscape of Mana's brain from Kor-Tatha's psionic bombardment -- it was yet another portion of a blaze within an endless burning sun. For if what The Arrancar of Many Minds did was comparable to a river, Mana's insanity ran deeper than the darkest carvest of the ocean and it was hard to make a dent in someone's psyche who was that far gone off the deep end.

"What a amature move! You should never start with the head! The victim's head gets all blurry, fuzzy and disorientated." Holding her right hand outwards, Mana unleashed a heavy force comprised from her demonic magic around every square inch of Kor-Tatha's body that was meant to outright overpower her. The intent behind it was to have the first hundreds of thousands of waves of pain ignite the nerves within the Arrancar's body, physical or metaphysical, and make her experience a sharp deal of agony. Even if the creature lacked a conventional body, this spell would create the sense of pain for her if it were to make contact with the loveable scamp's body. From there, a stunning effect was meant to keep her in hold while Mana talked and she'd gradually let go of this grip as The Queen's hand eased off it's grip. "After all, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO FEEL THE PAIN YOU ARE TRYING TO INFLICT ON THEM! HAHAHHAHAHA!" Now letting out a witch-like laugh, Mana's jovial tone grew increasingly as she more than likely slammed and froze The Arrancar of Many Minds into the wall. It wasn't enough to kill her, or even really critically injure her, but Mana thought of it as a "love tap". There were certain boundaries you didn't cross -- and this was just a "loving" reminder not to go over them.

Once finished with her fill of fun, Mana decided to ease the smile across her lips and listen intently on what her special little guest had to say to her. From the way she spoke? There was obviously strong hints of mistrust, uneasiness and doubt in The Demon Queen's capacities and overall trustworthiness. To which The Mad Ruler could only respond with this: "Why do I get the feeling you don't...trust me? Is it the horns on my head that give it away? Trust me, they are for show....most of the time anyway." Snickering with an undertone of mocking nature, Mana patted the two black spikes coming out of her skull as if she were quite proud of them. "Besides, my sweet little Ashlei doesn't have delusions. If you are in my hands, that means she does in fact believe there is something I can do for ya!" Nodding her head to agree with this line of thought, The Demoness truly believed her own retic. Sweet Miss Clixx would never lead her astray, would she?

"I'd have half a mind to snap your neck for that comment...but I'll show you just how kind I am by not doing that! Aren't I just the nicest thang' you ever saw?" Flicking her right wrist so casually in the air, Mana used her other hand to weave through her long, flowing black hair and move it backwards as a strong gust of wind flew over the area. Staring back into Kor-Tatha's eyes, The Queen gave her a quick wink and continued on with her jokes. "C'mon, let's put a smile on that face now! You can always trust a demon, Kor!" Pausing for a moment, Mana then snapped her fingers and decided to add on to it to inform The Arrancar of an important piece of information. "Especially one that is bangin' ye's leader in bed every night! Oh Ashlei...how you make me melt with your erotic pleasures!" Shivering for a moment, Mana hugged herself and shook her hips out of pure ecstasy recalling those sweet...sweet..memories. At least -- before The Coarse Demoness started composing herself with a hard nod and fixation back on Kor's plight -- the main reason these two were here to begin with.

Rubbing her chin, nodding her head and pretending as if she were deep thought; Mana humorously had these little movements of her body go on as Kor told her tale. It really wasn't that complicated in The Queen's mind when all was finally said and done. It sounded like The Arrancar of Many Minds was just a smaller-scaled version of The Royal Demon herself. Therefore, having dealt with this problem on a much grander level, The Asthavon had quite the remedy in store for her -- if she was willing to play nice. "Now, now. When that lovely paralyzation wears off, would ye be willin' to make a deal of sorts? If you promise not to bite, I promise to help you cure the illness that plagues ye's bein'!"

Snapping her right fingers together, Mana cheerfully hummed to herself as five flares of green fire came into view across The Demoness fingers. There was a high concentration of energy, demonic influence and -- madness -- felt within them. She was preparing something big and it would be up to The Arrancar to have the nerve to go through with it. "Ya see, everytime I kill a poor bastard with my bare hands or energy, generally their spirit will become integrated straight into mine and apart of my Damned Army." Tapping her chest, The Queen's energy fluctuated in that moment and soon a mirror into her soul was projected in front of Kor and imagery of tens of millions of spirits, battlefields, objects and even entire civilizations were seen in this image. The sheer force from this mirror may freeze Kor in place due to how much energy, lunacy and absolute insanity was had from the collective strength of all these souls being emitted into the castle.

"Lovely bunch aren't they?" Even in this moment, Mana still found the time to keep up her unending supply of jokes. "But you get the picture, do you not? I've lived a very long life, and I've had a very fruitful rule as Demon Queen. So during my time on this wanky universe, I've....consumed more than my fair share of beings into myself." Winking once more at Kor, Mana wanted to assure her that she meant business. "Thus, I'd like to think I'm not talking out of my ass when I say I have the power to help ye. The only thing remaining is: do you want the help?" Now moving her head to the side, a neutral expression transitioned into Mana's face before her left arm started to become devoured by a blackened energy.

"Or....are you going to continue to test the boundaries? Life or death: these two choices are in your hands." Motioning her head towards the door, The Queen then materialized a third option for her. "Or...perhaps...you can just leave the way you came in. But, I'm sure you didn't travel across two dimensions, ventured into Shadow Fall terrority, crept into my castle, endured my numerous jokes to hell and back and got a first hand experience on what it's like to be a raggedy-ann doll when I flung against the wall for nothing...." Letting out a content sigh, Mana hoped that she wouldn't have to raise her hand. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was stain her pretty castle in blood, but madness had a funny way of blurring the lines between sanity and rationality.

"So...let's try to make this interesting, shall we? For both our sakes!" And with that, she'd sit back and observe what actions Kor would take next. One false move, one hostile action -- and it would more than likely be over for this girl's story. Sure, Mana liked to indulge in this type of insanity, but there came a limit to how far one could push her patience -- even in this playful mood. So the ball was in Kor's court and her future would be shaped by the decisions she'd partake in. It was all quite the wonderful waltz between life and death once more -- even in such a casual setting For The Queen of Demon's!

Judging from the way the little Arrancar reacted to her "love tap", it was safe to assume that no further silly antics would be had out of this adorable creature of the darkness. Seeing those pink eyes, that coral hair and submissive state were enough to make The Wicked Ol' Witch of The West giggle out with pure glee! So perhaps, just maybe, with a little inkling of hope; the dreaded tentacle beast of Hueco Mundo was going to pick the oh-so-fun option of choosing life! Today was never intended to make a shower of death rain down on those Mana encountered. If only for the sweet love of Ashlei were she not to kill nary a soul today! The Mad Ruler was determined to plant the seeds of lunacy into the dear creature. The way it contorted around the hollow showed that she herself was a mere slave to the rhythm and not the one in control of the depravity at hand! It was awful! It was horrible! It was grotesque! Hahaha, but alas, Mana had quite the remedy to the situation and the answer to all her problems like a Satanic Genie!

"Oh sweet heavens! You've more than made me a happy Demon Today!" With a laugh, a cackle and a full blown dance to boot; The Lunatic-Filled Queen was more than ecstatic at her choice today! So like the darkness being absolved by the morning's light, the shadow's that once filled her left arm dissipated and mended into nothingness as she grinned ever-so slightly towards Kor-Tatha. A little too eager, but filled with the best of intents -- right? "You are correct in the fact that Ashlei leaves little to no room for the either of us to doubt one anothers motives!" Then, like a queer buzzing noise, the crafting of miniature Ashlei's were being forged all around The Queen. From her shoulder, to her head, to the very heads atop The Asthavon's skull; these chibified duplicates of her significant other were being made faster than you could shake a stick at a rattle snake!

"Yes Mana, help her through the night!" Each of the replicas that rested upon the horns of the Manic Queen spoke in unison; akin to those Creepy Twins from the movie "The Shining". Both of these clones spoke with a speech filled with a high-pitch tone that could corrode the likes of steel. Nay, you'd almost mistake the voices of these little son of gun's for as one of the members from Alvin And The Chipmunks. "Yes, yes! We'll help you through the fright!" In this go-around, all of the little devils were speaking together in a twisted harmony! Mana clapped her hands, giggled happily and licked her lips to be surrounded by so many wonderful blotches of her red love.

"Leave it to me, leave it to the wicked ways of chaos and let me guide you to the land of salivation!" In a demented synchronization of voice, The Mad Ruler and all her Hollow Queen minions spoke at once. The fits of laughter echoed all throughout the house of horrors; so much so the citizens outside of the castle were unnerved by the fluctuations of discord pulsating in the air. You could feel it, you could smell it; the wicked mistress of the night was planning to bring out the hounds of insanity once more! Thus, the mirroring images of her sweet Ashlei all started to hug and choo Mana; making her bite her teeth out of response and purr with the utmost of pleasure.

"You are gonna feel better than me, I can assure it! I'll make you feel so good you'll never want to come down again, Kor!" More than unlikely being able to back out of her decision, Kor was now on a one-track course to bliss if The Mad Queen couldn't help it! Controlling the ripples of delusion, pain and anguish that The Lone Arrancar's mind was plunged under; Mana smashed her now flaming fist into the skull of her raving patient. Equipped with the incision-making tools of God's Hysteria, The Lucid Demoness sought to force the voices inside of Kor-Tatha's head into submission. Creating a miniature core of Madness within her very brain, this nifty little tool sought to subjugate the many ego's roaring within the mind of the fragile-looking Arrancar.

How in the world was such a feat possible!? Easy! Mana ruled over the element of madness like an emperor would his kingdom. So by analyzing the attributes of Kor's aggravating condition, she made an antidote meant to redirect all the sounds of Mistress Lunacy's overwhelming call into the shell Mana injected into The Lone Arrancar's very soul! There, they would make all the noise they want until The Anti-Christ himself heard it! Yet, like a soundproof wall, Kor's mind would be spared their wild and ranting screech! In doing this, similar to a man being freed from prison, her accursed brain would finally be freed to have a singular quiet thought!

And being that this lovely little dumpling thrived on her mental prowess? There was a great chance that the heaven's, or rather, the embers of hades would bless this child with increased functionality of her powers! The chains would be lifted with the Seal Of Madness invoked upon The Hollow's very spirit! That was the very well of The Demon God's Servant in action. Dissolving the boundaries of insanity as if it were another day in the park for a slice of cake and rum! And like a cherry upon that very cake, the additional perk of this would be that the Lone Little Arrancar would more than likely see an increase in the amount of power she now wielded thanks to Mana's own energy injecting it's particles into her body and replicating like a virus meant to feed her more prowess and control over Madness.

In fact, she may even wake to find the next day that the art of Death's Energy would be well within her grasp. After all, you are dealing with The Demon God's most sinister child! And what does the Demon God specialize in? Ohohoho, I'll tell you: DEATH AND DECAY! The day was filled with so many wonderful goodies for the Arrancar that Mana could do nothing but let out a huenia-like laugh for her turn of luck -- well -- if it weren't for the fact she'd be hollering in pain! What, did you think this was some kind of free-for-all bargain at your local dollar store? Not on Mana's show will such a twist of fate go without disbalance!

In exchange for her dramatically bolstered mental powers, augmented energy supplies and nifty control of death: the body would take time to adjust to these sudden and drastic changes. Her every fiber and being would be filled to the brim with pain. It would be as if god himself was smiting Kor-Tatha with the very life-ending intensity of the sun in an infinite loop! Hell, speaking of the monstrous ball of fire, the poor little creature's skin may burn brighter than that sphere of light in the sky that grants life! The spewing of her guts all over the castle manor may also be quite the feasibility take to transpire! So to prepare for the rainstorm of yesterday's lunch, Mana pulled out an umbrella with a semi-nude picture of Ashlei Clixx on it; while all the chibified Ashlei clones whipped out their own umbrellas that showed semi-nude poses of The Mad Queen on it!

"Now, you are gonna have to suck it up like a big girl and learn to savor the pain of life. I've made your powers infinitely better than before, but the drawback is gonna be quite the ghoulish process!" Now having a pair of rim-thick glasses on her faces, Mana raised her right index finger in the air and spoke with an essence of "regal" and "sophistication". Christ, the whole act was almost like a mocking joke in itself. "Smack a dog, the dog smacks you back. Such as your gift is awesome, the plight to bear it is terrible. So I ask that you endure this sadistic pleasure and I promise you'll come out of it wanting to kiss me at the end of the window!" Still speaking in that faux-intelligent tone, Mana snickered a bit and started chewing the very space around them; having a full-course meal on part of Kor-Tatha's agonizing tab.

Snapping her fingers as if a light bulb went off in The Queen's mind, Mana decided to lay down one more condition to their little meeting. ""Oh!~ I almost forgot to say: from now on, you are apart of Shadow Fall as apart of our deal. What, were you expecting me to just give my services for free?" Tapping her glasses, Mana snickered somewhat as the little gremlin replicas of Ashlei soon followed. ""It really doesn't matter what rank you chose, but make a decision and submit it to our office before noon -- or I'll make you regret it more than a anorexic lass eating anything more than a saltine-cracker!" With a flick of her wrist, a black paper with red ink blew in the direction of Kor-Tatha's face. ""Sign with your blood and you'll be settled in!" Going in for a hug, Mana aimed to cut The Arrancar right palm with a sudden growth of a hand popping out of The Manic Queen's flank. "I look forward to working with you...and I'm sure Ashlei would to!"

Now sounding utterly squeaky in tone, all of the ghoulish duplicates of The Hollow MIstress started yelping, hollering and shouting for praise with Kor's decision.

Man....this was gonna be a long night for all parties involved. Just another night with The Queen of Demons, eh?

The echoes of laughter seeped into the ears of The Demonic Ruler and brought with it a coy smirk as she seemed pleased to give such a performance to the young Arrancar. It was quite comforting and amusing to see an emotion other than outright angry or snarling coming out of the mouth of the hollowing before her. It was quite the shame that these noises would soon be replaced with something more -- painful -- tormenting -- and nightmarish as the sinister eve progressed onward. Soon, after the chuckles, cackles and jovial laughs ended -- The sounds of a tortured soul echoed all throughout the vicinity of The Queen's Palace. It brought a sinister smile of pleasure to creep across the lips of Mana Asthavon. Like a small child at an all you can eat candy shop, she devoured and consumed the exquisite madness spewing forth from Kor's body and mind. It tasted extravagant, divine and seemed worth the effort to extract such a profound flavor. The miniature versions of Ashlei Clixx nodded and agreed as they to could taste the complex zest behind the meal -- as they to shared portions of Mana's power within their small beings.

Inhaling and exhaling a soft breath of air, Mana twirled her umbrella around, with the pocket-sized Ashlei's following in toe. When finished with their twirls, a burst of green tendrils comprised of Mana's essence expanded and exploded to overpower and cancel out the psionic burst that were expanding out of Kor-Totatha's mind. Letting out ooo's and ah's, the gremlin-esqe Hollow Queen's were all clapping and applauding the spectacle taking place before them. Glancing on the floor below them, The Asthavon and company all noticed the floor beginning to buckle and clap. Wagging her right index finger and clicking her tongue, the summoning of Mana's energy came to be in the form of a spell. Through the art of Demon Magic, the cracks and holes in the floor were all but restored back to their former glory with a restoration trick from this sacred spell. Rolling her wrist in a whimsical fashion, it paid to have such a fundamental understanding of the demonic arts of magic.

"I aDOORed those lovely things." Making a GOD-AWFUL pun in reference to her doors being shattered to bits by The Lone Arrancar's mental burst, The Queen let out a comical sigh before patching up that little error to. In a matter of moments following their destruction? Yet another pair of doors had already taken root and had been refitted with The Demoness's power. This time they were spiritually enhanced and meant to burden the weight of a more brute force and direct attack. In fact? The entire castle came to life with Mana's own life force and became better equipped to burden the load of any sort of attack tossed its way.

Alas, though, it would be a notion that was too little too late. For as soon as this outburst began, it came to a quick conclusion with a slump to the floor by the poor little hollow. The transformation was complete and she'd soon find a new vigor and wealth of energy coming to the surface within herself. And like an injured puppy, Mana could only let out a slight "aw" sound at the sight of Kor-Tatha still going on with the tough guy routine. "You can sleep all you want.." Talking with a voice that seemed bright-eyed and bushy tailed, The Demon Queen seemed a bit -- too cherry -- for her own good. "...when you are six feet under and cuddling in a coffin with death in the 666th layer of hell." Dropping harder than any bassline out there, the coldness in The Queen's voice was thick and stabbing; like a pair of daggers aiming to pierce a persons heart. She could kill a man with those words and stare, after all.

"Oh, where do you think I asked you to be loyal to anything, dear? I simply want you to follow my orders until your debt is paid off. What do I look like to you, a charity case?" Transitioning back into a more preppy and enthusiastic tone, a pleasant smile came back to the Mad Vixen's face as the Ashlei clones in the background all nodded and agreed with what was said. Not too long after, they were even seen circling around Kor's head like a flock of birds and making all sorts of giggling grins, chuckles and glances at the Arrancar.

"And of course you can try to go against that, as we all have free-will in this sense of anarchic rule I've bestowed upon the world. But..." Making a shift motion to Kor-tatha's arm in at a rate of speed only a Master in Shunpo or Soindo could keep up with, The Demoness placed her hand across The Lone Arrancar's right arm and had a cruel smile spread from cheek to cheek upon that moment. "...I have also have the right to BARE ARMS and DISARM you for such mutiny against my request." In two terrible puns, the prospect of making Kor-Tatha's Armless Amy was a real probability. In one foul sweep, she sought to rip The Arrancar's arm clean off with her prowess. Given the difference in strength, speed, energy and reaction time; there was little to no chance that The Arrancar could do much against this assault, especially given her weakened and crippled state from the sealings.

In the meantime, all the little Ashlei clones could only make sounds of amazement and wonder at the sight of blood spewing forth. It didn't matter which one was bleeding, something was going to be broken between The Mad Queen and The Octopus-Like Hollow; and these little devils were going to be charmed by it. If all went as planned, Mana would be chewing on the flesh of Kor's arm like it was a piece of hamburger meat and would speak in a casual and nonchalant matter; despite the fact she was eating the flesh of one of her employees. "I'm not asking ya to like me or my organization, but for your own sake, I'd just get with the program and follow along until I release ya back to the great big wild."

Snapping her fingers brought the release of a circle of flames below Kor-Tatha's body. It would not burn her, but instead give way to a portal leading back into a chamber of confinement within one of Shadow Fall's prison cells in Demon World. "If you wanna rest, far be it from me to interrupt that. However, from this point onward, I'll expect ya to be ready at any moment to do little deeds here and there for the greater good of myself and Shadow Fall." In one swift motion, The Queen sought to flick back the little Arrancar into the abyss. If she wanted to go into slumber? That was fine by her. Although, when Mana snapped her fingers once more, she soon forgot to mention the whole "disarming" thing.

"Oh, and don't worry about the arm. I'm pretty sure you can regenerate...or we can just make you a new one. It doesn't really matter." Rubbing her nose, Mana commanded for one of the mini-sized Ashlei's to follow Kor and watch over her like a mother hen. "Now, you can try and kill my men. That's fine. Even we demon's ourselves kill our own kind on the regular bases." On the roll of a wrist, a confident tone of voice soon came over Mana as a seductive smile took over her face. "But at the same time, if too many people are missing, I'll be sure to reap your soul myself and take you to the depths of hell." Tapping Kor's head, The Mad Demon let out a jovial laugh and the little Ashlei's all joined in.

"Don't worry, I'll watch over you to make sure you don't get into TOO much trouble!" With that, the small Hollow Queen assigned to keep stead over Kor attached itself to her shoulder and ventured forth into the unknown world before her. Mana truly didn't care what happened to her soldiers as the murder-rate within Demon World was pretty high by itself. However,what she did pay attention was the principle of the matter and nobody had time to waste on the patience of an impatient kid. So either The Lone Arrancar would work as a good little edition to her group of mercenaries, or she'd just wipe the face of the dear creature off the planet. Either way, she still wins given the circumstances. In what way? Well -- that's for Mana know and others to deduce as they go along! The secrets of The Demon Queen aren't meant to be so easily unveiled, after all. So long as Kor played the game, there would be not a single thing for her to worry about!

"Oh, and your free to roam around and do whatever it is your heart desires. It's not like I'm keeping gagged and chained om a jail cell. Just don't forget who your employer is and who gave you this new lease on life! All I ask is a little friendship, a bit of your time and you'll come out of this OKAY." So with a laugh, a giggle and a howl; The Queen dismissed Kor and slither back into the shadow's of her castle to plot the course of her vast kingdom in solitude.

That was the first thought that crossed into Mana Asthavon's mind as she felt the unsteady nature of Kor's frantic mind began to overact and spark to life in the form of an unstable energy brewing within. The first jolt came in the form of the poor little thing cutting off her own arm in an act of futile defiance. With a playful giggle, Mana had the shadows around the castle morph and grow rows of monstrous teeth in response to this new meal bestowed upon them. Devouring the very flesh, bone and blood of Kor was a pleasant treat for the senses. Indeed, Mana smelled and tasted every last morsel that had become consumed and stored it away within herself for later usage. Turning her crimson gaze back to the eyes of the Lone Arrancar yielded Mana to realize something very important -- the pitiful creature seemed scared out of her wits. Like a frightened animal backed in a corner, it seems the primal instinct came out and she reduced herself to the thinking of a simplistic beast. In realizing this, a jovial laugh was had at the expense of Kor's breakdown as now Mana saw her as a pet that only needed to be trained by its new master.

So as she watched all of the numerous rows of cero's begin to become forged the prowess that lay within The Arrancar, all Mana could do was laugh in delight as she knew nothing but fun and pleasure were going to be had at the expense of The Lone Girl's madness. With the current condition she was in, there wasn't much of a threat to be had. So it was something to be shrugged off in a casual manner because it was akin to a child throwing a temper tantrum against an adult. And even if this child grew into something more than she is now? Mana still felt it was nothing more than a game being set to a greater difficulty. Therefore, the more complex the task was, the more rewards she gained in her own pleasure in overcoming a challenging force as she had so many times in the past. Thus, she more than welcomed the time in the future where the Arrancar posed a bigger threat and loved, even in this moment, seeing the foul creature's potential increase.

"Darling, I'm not sure if you've paid much attention to the blast you were concocting, but that thing looks like it is about to explode." With the doubtful raise of an eyebrow coming forth, Mana's voice seemed rather skeptical to the proposal that The Arrancar's infamous "False Gran Ray Cero" was going to make as huge of impact as her adorable octopus creature believed it was. The Demon Queen had a knack for sensing all sorts of disturbances on a spiritual and energy based level. So it wasn't that difficult for her to discern that the core of this cero was ready to blow at any moment due to her strained mental state, weakened body and overall hastiness to produce such a blast. "Besides, you have my sincere apologies because I took that as defiance...not curiosity!"

Making numerous bouts of giggle-fits while speaking, Mana couldn't for this little explosion to carry out. This Arrancar was cruising for a bruising and it was going to be all the more fun for her to consume the mess left behind in its wake. Hence, in her anticipation, Mana was now humming and jumping up and down as the clock ticked down to this cero's donation. "Also, what is an arm anyway? It isn't like there is a shortage of them. Just relax...you can also regenerate or make a new one like I said. There is no need to be so bent out of shape over something so silly." Then, with the snap of her fingers, the plumes of darkness around the Demoness seeped into her foot and caused a sharp shiver to flow down her spine. In a matter of moments following that action, something was coming out of The Royal Asthavon's mouth. Making gurgling sounds, the echoes of liquid mushing about her throat and mouth bounced off the walls of the castle until Kor's fingers were coughed up by the Queen.

"After all, your subconscious mind seemed to agree with me by the fact you weren't slow on CUTTING to the chase and chopping off your own for me." Yes. The sounds of millions of children dying in the wake of that horrible pun could almost be heard. Nevertheless, she then flicked the remains of Kor's index, thumb and pinky fingers at her in a scattered mix of flesh, bone and blood dripping at The Arrancar's feet. "I must say, though, you digest pretty fast! Your entire arm is already gone." Moving her own middle finger throughout her mouth to remove the last bits of skin trapped between her teeth, Mana seemed more than pleased with herself as she gave a genuine smile at Kor. "Which means I have more than enough information at hand to replicate you a bigger, stronger and more powerful arm! Aren't I just a saint for putting up with your rebellious behavior and bestowing upon you a gift instead?"

Once finished speaking, Mana snapped her fingers and produced a dense shield of demonic energy around herself to shelter her from getting so much as a scratch or particle of dirt from besmearing her dress when the inevitable explosion rang out throughout the walls of her castle. Meanwhile, the miniature versions of Ashlei scattered about The Royal Empress's head and shoulders all started wearing sunglasses and eating small buckets of popcorn. To them -- this was nothing more than a wonderful show of fireworks to be thoroughly enjoyed! So they let out applauses, laughs and ooo's at the wonder of Kor's blunder as it was rather funny to them to observe the miserable creature only succeeding in hurting herself. As, at the same time, even the castle itself remained very much unmoved by her efforts with the reinforcement of magic within it. It was all but a painful lesson for the Arrancar to endure for the time being due to her revolting actions.

When the lights dimmed, smoke cleared and Kor's body lay on the ground in a cold lump; Mana could only wag her finger and suck her teeth at the aftermath of it all. It was quite the shame she had to be so disobedient when all The Hollow had to do was follow a few simple tasks, learn how to take instructions and then be on her merry way. Some people had rotten luck in life, but this poor creature made life so much harder on herself than it needed to be. So as The Queen walked over to the lifeless husk of Kor, The Demon kneeled over and poked her head in quite the gentle manner. "You should know, if I am a piece of shit...then what exactly does that make you? Less than shit? If you keep referring to yourself in that way, I'll treat you just like a sub-human piece of garbage. I do not want to do such a thing, so when you wake up, try to become more pleasant to be around, sugah’."

Once her whispered words finished, a burst of light ignited within Mana's index finger. Since Kor was more than at the mercy of The Queen, she'd forge a mental leash to keep her new friend in line. Embedding her essence deep within the mind of Kor, a mental seal was already modeled for her by The Demoness. This seal had become encrypted with rich volumes of demon magic invested within all of its structure. Therefore, she'd be able to transfer her Danava Nature into it and begin the process of altering the mind of Kor. The difference in will between the two creatures was rather great, so the feasibility of influencing The Lone Arrancar Conscious was great.

Thus, in a mist of brainwashing, Mana implanted suggestive thoughts in her mind to throw a more favorable opinion of Shadow Fall and herself. That way, in order to better get along with her potential coworker, she wouldn't go around the place killing everything in sight. Of course the brashness of her personality wouldn't disappear, but the chance of her unstable mind betraying or otherwise proving to be defiant of Shadow Fall would fade away. At the same time, she wouldn't leave her mind without more -- personal care.


Being that she commanded The Strings of Madness like a puppet, Mana ordered the instabilities and unstable nature of Kor and her millions of minds to rip itself straight out of her psyche and into the belly of the beast that was Mana's stomach. This caused Mana to let out a wicked howl as it was one the few methods that she was able to feed and nourish her body after descending further into her Danavahood. Akin to a vampire drinking blood, she bled Kor dry of her insanity and left no trace of her mentally unsound mind. All of the collective beings within The Arrancar -- would disappear. In this way she was going to wake up and feel -- at peace -- for the first time in a long time. Her emotions would be check, mind stable and the rational side of Kor would be working to keep her sane.

So as sparks of reddened lightning danced about the palace manner, a crimson glow enveloped Mana as the sounds of cackling, screams and groans of pain roared out throughout the chambers of her castle in the wake of such a feast. This is when the atmosphere of the room darkened and all of the light began to fade away like a drifting cloud in the sky. Letting out heavy breaths of labor, Mana's hands shook and her body felt on fire as it began contorting and shifting to accelerate the rate of her transformation into the full Davana of Chaos and Discord with this meal. Indeed, the primary objective of this whole ordeal came to be by leaving her body so open to manipulation. But -- it all felt so hollow to The Empress Of Darkness.

The banquet was quite nice as the mental instability of Kor and her many minds were filling -- but it wasn’t enough. Nothing satisfied her hunger. She ate and ate and ate AND ATE -- but no matter how much she ate -- this hunger within her was never satisfied. Was this the curse of impending doom that played out within her mind during the ashes of her near-death experience? Maybe there was still more chaos to produce in the world to further feed her ravishing hunger. Glimpses of her own withdrawal started dancing within the mind of The Queen and she knew she needed to keep this diet of destruction, chaos and madness to maintain the strength that flows within her body. Yet, at the same time, there was a sense of disturbed order in Mana. While she indeed loved to induce carnage into the world, there was bizarre notion of never outright devouring the world in it.

There would be no chaos or harmony if either one of the elements overpowered each other in the universe to the point of erasing their origins. Without order, there cannot be chaos. Without chaos, there cannot be order. So in line with this logic, Mana always avoided complete world domination and left just enough hope in the world to sustain her own existence. It is along these lines that The Wicked Danava showed mercy on Kor and gave her a new lease on life. Order may very well grow within her under the shackles of madness guiding her path, but the same equal opportunity for that internal chaos and discord to grow within The Arrancar had a fair chance of maturing and taking her mind once more.

With her head now pounding with a headache, the bite-sized versions of Ashlei started to look rather depressed and Mana figured it was time to send The Arrancar back into the depths of solitary confinement to awaken with a new mindset for her to behold. Thus, she ordered the shadows around her to twist and mend themselves around Kor's unconscious body. Inputting the coordinates of Shadow Fall's base in Demon World, Kor was going on her way into an isolation room where she could recoup her senses and adjust to the new world. Once she was made to think with a steady head on her shoulders, the door holding the hollow creature back from the outside world would open and she'd move on with her life's quest. The seal within her mind was only temporary and when her debt to Mana was paid off -- so to would the destruction of the seal take place.

And with one final parting gift, the darkness that transported Kor to her new home mended itself around her stub of an arm and created a new and enhanced version of it. Being that Mana already had an understanding of the structure of Kor's body through the seal, the consumption of her arm and analyzation of her spiritual frequency; it wasn't quite the farfetch ordeal for her to shape an arm that was five times stronger than before. By stitching together the nerves through her subatomic generation, Mana patched up together a new limb for her without too much difficulty. She'd find her strength in right fist of hers would be more devastating than before and would yield the ability to affect spiritual or magical attacks with that arm of hers. The potential of punching her way through kido and magic were plausible feats with Mana's magical affinity coursing through Kor's veins at this point.

So with that, she'd leave her be and take pleasure in the gifts she'd receive with an additional copulation of souls entering into her body. Standing up on her own two feet, Mana spewed out a bit of green blood in the wake of her body attempting to repair the damage done to her when she reached the near end of her existence. Sighing, she knew that that an important decision needed to come soon to the nature of her Danava Powers and the clock was all but ticking. So with a shake of her head and a soft laugh, she descended into the castles darkness to go back to her plans and schemes. There was nothing she could now -- but rest.