Free at Last[Open]

"What are you doing here?" The words were hardly kind and the tone bordered on threatening. The sultry female voice was no nonsense at the moment as she looked up from a stack of papers. The demoness was short and slim, with dark hair and crimson cat eyes. It was a common enough look among the host of shape shifters. Her garments were similarly dark and of a Gothic nature. Sometimes Styn wondered about the fashion sense of a Mana dominated Shadow Fall, but it did emphasis the guard's chest nicely.

For his part Styn stood not quite six feet tall, taller then average perhaps, but not in a way that stood out. His medium build accentuated his averageness, he wasn't quite slim, but fell short of heavily muscled. Dark green hair only an inch or so in length, could possibly be a dye job. Pale violet eyes, while a questionable fashion choice, were not outside cosmetic modification. Both ears came to slight point at the apex of their arc, something easily overlooked. His teeth might be a bit sharper then normal for a human, but they retained the same basic shape and placement. The demon's nails also came to a point and were thicker then common, but were by no means long talons or claws. All and all - discounting Za Koa which was naturally suppressed in this base form - Styn would go unremarked in most locations. Shadow Fall Village was not one of those places.

The Knight of the First Circle sported a dark green business suit, almost black outside of direct light. The pale violet tie was clearly meant to bring out his eyes, which were somewhat concealed behind a pair of gunmetal gray glasses with translucent bottom rims. Black dress shoes capped out the attire, with especial detail paid so that the combat boot soles didn't look out of place. Still the effect lacked a certain something. First of all, his white button down shirt was untucked, which his unbuttoned dark green jacket didn't quite conceal. His tie was loosened at least an inch, and cocked slightly to the left. His pants looked a bit rumpled and his shoes were scuffed. In addition his eyes had heavy dark bags under them and his stare was half lidded, giving him the appearance of someone tired or sick.

Not for the first time Styn wondered if Shadow Fall should adopt some sort of uniform. Then again his would just say that he was a Knight of the First Circle. Lately, as his mind slowly settled, he had taken to flying under the radar. There were a few key positions that he could no doubt seek to fill, but for now it was simpler to act as if nothing had changed. For the most part he was left alone, requests no longer flooded his inbox. It had been weeks since he'd done anything official for the organization. Even his current task was relatively low maintenance.

In addition the guard was completely taken in by his Cloak of Shadows. His innate talent to trap every scrap of Za Koa that left his body made him appear doubly suspicious, but it wasn't really something he had conscious control over. Just like with breathing, he could choose to mimic a reiatsu signature, but it wouldn't really be his energy. Sitting here in silence wasn't going to accomplish his agenda though. The prisoner had stewed for long enough. It was time to see if anything worthwhile had resulted from Mana's tampering.

"Styn, Kinght of the First Circle," he said with his most charming smile. The guard was suitably unimpressed, but Styn maintained a positive attitude. It wasn't like a breakout was a real likelihood, and the captive was hardly what could be considered a high profile criminal. This had always been meant to be a short term situation. "Kor-Tantha's time in isolation is over. I'm the welcoming committee."

The guard grunted wordlessly, her eyes still steady on Styn. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was that she was expecting. With an exasperated sigh she tapped a small pile of papers arching a meaningful eyebrow. Enlightenment dawned as Styn's gaze tracked the motion, followed swiftly by a degree of incredulity. "You can't be serious?"

"Deadly," the guard replied.

"You don't know who I am?" Styn asked, feeling slightly hurt. He'd built up a bit of reputation, but clearly this particular guard wasn't one of those in his loose circle of associates.

"You've either got release papers or a walk back to wherever you came from," she said pushing her chair back and getting to her feet.

There were actually plenty of other options, but Styn really wasn't the violent type. With a put upon sigh the demon turned to the right and flicked a hand forward. Abruptly the space in that area ripped asunder as his Kage Chokyo-shi spun into existence with a soft whisk of sliced air. He had a small workspace in the headquarters of the First Circle and it was hardly neat. Now if he could only remember where he had put that paper.

The casual display of power did what words had not been able to. "Sir?" The guard said, suddenly tentative. "That...you can't open that in this building. In fact you shouldn't be able to at all, this entire area is warded. Who did you say you were again?" The demoness was licking her lips nervously when Styn turned just head head to look at her.

Had there been some kind of resistance? He couldn't be sure, it had felt as natural as always to open a portal. Then again in the demon world he was far stronger then he normally was and opening gateways was his specialty. This deep in Shadow Fall Village, the miasma of infernal might was even more concentrated. The air was thick with the touch of hell and for a moment Styn lost himself in the sensation. The guard's anxiety only seemed to increase the longer his portal stood open.

"Styn Knight of the First Circle? You've remembered who I am?" The Demon Knight's tone was suddenly playful.

"R-right Styn, you're on the list. Go ahead and retrieve the prisoner," the guard said glancing down as if reading the paper in her hand. She avoided his gaze as she touched a button under the lip of her desk. A buzz sounded and a large sigil covered door lit up briefly with crimson brilliance. There was a dull click and the obstruction was abruptly swinging open. Styn closed his portal with another casual surge of Za Koa.

"Why thank you so much Miss, you've been quite helpful. Which of the rooms is our newly liberated guest staying in?" Styn asked.

"Um, Kor-Tatha was put all the way at the end, on the right I believe," the guard said after a moment of thought.

Not wasting any more time Styn stepped into the solitary ward. Immediately he felt an almost overpowering blood lust as the inmates roared at this new invader. Their words blended together into a fusion of hate and madness as he made his way down the hall. These were some of the most dangerous and unpredictable demons in Shadow Fall. Most of them were only good for fighting, and even then their use was generally restricted. Just standing near them would have been impossible only months ago for Styn.

As he drew closer to his destination the hoard grew more silent. The Demon Knight wondered at the oddity, but didn't dwell on it. A few moments more and he stood in front of the solid metal door of Kor-Tatha's cell. There was a closed opening at the top that he could slide open to get a look at the prisoner. At the waist level was another thinner slot for food. It was a very human looking door, discounting the tracery of demon runes that were invisible to the naked eye.

Touching one of the runes, Styn completed an unfinished incantation that allowed the door to be opened. Instead of swinging outward like the previous obstruction, this door simply faded away. The Demon Knight was on his guard. From what he knew this Arrancar had quite the temper. Supposedly she wouldn't be inclined to attack, but it was best not to take too many chances. A greater degree of new found power hadn't made Styn forget his time as a weakling. Those instincts were very much alive.

"Miss Kor-Tatha? Styn of the First Circle at your service. Your time here is at an end. Let me be the first to welcome you officially to Shadow Fall," Styn said with an infusion of cheer to his voice. Hopefully the things he had been told as facts were true, it would be a shame if she decided that she'd rather stay.

It was behind the door that the demon would find the one he had been sent to retrieve. Sitting cross legged in mid air, power emanated from the short woman. Her bubble gum pink hair fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades, her eyes closed as she concentrated on something beyond what was in front of her. It was the second that the demon stepped in to the room that a reaction would be obtained, though not one within the physical realm. Pure, vicious power slammed in to the mind of the knight of the first circle, unless the demon had some kind of defense against the mental prowess of Kor-tatha he would like be sent in to intense pain, as if his head had been grabbed and was being crushed from every direction. If he did have protection though, it would make it impossible for Kor-tatha to communicate with the man, thus the likely hood of him having any defenses being quite low. This of course was based on the assumption that he was not another practitioner of the mind arts, a psychic like she was. Slowly her eyes would open and the pain would leave the demon as swiftly as it came, only to be replaced by the voice of Kor-tatha, telepathically transmitted in to Styn’s mind.

“Don’t surprise me like that. I don’t want to have another talk with Mana, especially one about making one of her soldiers brain dead.”

Slowly her body lowered to the floor before she stood up, yawning softly. A sheathed blade, her zanpakto, rose up as if a force an invisible force was carrying it, floating over to Kor-tatha. Wrapping her fingers around the sheath, she slipped it in to the sash around her waist. Her time in isolation had been well spent, learning to control her new found telekinetic gift as well as expanding what she could do with her telepathic ability. Sure, telepathically speaking to ones subconscious in order to push them towards doing something was not that impressive, but it got the inmates near her to at least shut their damn mouths. Smiling softly to herself, she turned to face Styn, once again speaking telepathically to him.

“So, have an dead bodies for me to play with?”

Akuma Kyodo was an amazing racial gift. Touketsu's blessing was imprinted into the demons very genetic code. Upon birth they were released into the world fully sheathed an intricate interlacing of invisible demonic sigils that provided them with a first line of defense against a dangerous multiverse. Hollows were forged fully formed even from the spirit mass of children, creatures of instinct and death. Many newborn demons were effectively helpless, born without knowledge or instinct, much like humans. Akuma Kyodo was the main factor that allowed them to grow their teeth.

Styn had complete mastery of his demonic defenses. His Cloak of Shadows actually operated by keeping every scrap of his Za Koa surging through his body, tracing through the invisible sigils that wrapped his body. In other words at all times Styn was throwing every iota of his power dancing across the surface of his physical and spiritual structure. Since it was a circular pathway, he experienced no loss of that wellspring of force. This was the nature of passive Akuma Kyodo. Even if he might have to operate at reduced offense to maintain the Cloak of Shadows, he was never at a disadvantage defensively.

Active Akuma Kyodo was a bit different. When the swirling mass of his Za Koa came under assault it reacted immediately to repel whatever force was acting against it. While this wasn't a sentient response, it was however very well programmed. The sigils themselves carried instructions honed from millions of years of demons who had come before Styn. It was only through his recent mastery that he had begun to truly unleash its full potential. Physical deflection was only the smallest portion of his massive level of defense. Akuma Kyodo was able to take that same hardness and apply it completely across the spiritual spectrum.

Styn had no idea why his head suddenly felt like it was gripped in a powerful vice. Oh sure he knew that Kor-Tatha used psionics, but he didn't really know what that entailed specifically. The Demon Knight did not use psionics, did not have a mind capable of psionics. In the end it was just another metaphysical attack that was being met at the edge of his kingdom and turned aside. The edges of his vision grew a bit fuzzy and Styn's first step into the cell was more of as stumble. There was a dull ache behind his eyes and a deep draw on his resources as Za Koa was consumed to insulate against the mind crushing force.

Fortunately that initial strike did not preempt a volley of similar blows. As soon as the pressure faded, his Akuma Kyodo went back to its passive protective mode. The very reactive nature of the armored sigils made them especially sensitive when brushed with an outside influence. So while Kor-Tatha's mental voice did not resound within the Demon Knights skull he could still make out her muffled thought speak, as if she was talking through a closed door.

Styn had expected this style of communication from the reports he had read before making his way to the prison so wasn't particularly surprised. He took his chastisement with good grace. The Demon Knight wasn't here to pick a fight, and didn't find himself particularly offended in the first place. Kor-Tatha was setting what she felt to be some reasonable expectations. The arrancar didn't seem to like being surprised, he supposed he should have knocked.

"That was a bit rude of me Miss Kor-Tatha, you have my apologies." Styn bowed with a sweep of his right arm, curling his left against his mid section. The next question, or rather request, was certainly an odd one and the Demon Knight found himself wondering if perhaps he had misheard. "I'm sorry, but did you just ask if I had dead bodies?"

Upon hearing confirmation Styn would continue. "Well in that case, no I don't at this moment have a stash of dead bodies. We could drop by the Ninth Circle and see if they've killed anyone recently in their search for truth? Regardless I'm sure you'd like to be out of this delightful cage, if you'd care to follow me?"

Styn nodded toward the still open door at the end of the hallway. He didn't bother reactivating the barrier to Kor-Tatha's cell. The Demon Knight was sure it would be filled again soon enough. The inmates were suddenly silent as they made their way back to the reception area and Styn's eyes flicked toward the short arrancar wondering what she could have possibly done from inside her prison to have garnered so much obvious respect. There seemed to be a story there that he wouldn't mind hearing.

It seemed that this demon at least had some manners, what with the way he apologized for entering without knocking. It was a good note in Kor-tatha’s book, and so she scratched out the option of toying with his mind until he broke in her mental list of what to do right now. He did seem a bit slow, as he then asked whether she had said what she said. Nodding in response, Kor-tatha listened to what he said and sighed. Her voice sounded a bit bored as she followed him out, speaking as she went.

“Oh it’s alright, don’t bother. I mean, even restructuring a living beings psyche to remove its free will was farfetched, if I wanted to experiment on a dead body I’d be working on creating a whole psyche like structure, and then I’d need to figure out how to latch it on to the brain to reanimate the dead body. Well, I guess a construct designed to animate the body and give it some sort of pseudo intelligence might work, but then again that’s all theory. As for leaving my cage, I don’t know if I should be happy or sad. Considering I’m a telepath within range of several inmates, it wasn’t really solitary for me. Then I also get to train up my abilities, learn to control what I’ve recently discovered, and think of new uses for my gifts. Combine that with having a free room and food, and you can see why I might find the conditions… accommodating.”

She ginned slyly, noticing how his eyes flickered towards her as they walked through pin drop silent halls. An idea came to her, and it was high time to see just how accomplished a man they had sent to retrieve her. Delving in to her telepathic connection, instead of reaching out towards the area responsible for hearing she moved to his subconscious. To his subconscious thoughts would pour from the arrancar’s mind, Kor-tatha repeated implanting the thought of scratching the palm of his right hand in to the head of her guard. Like with the inmates she had forced to be quiet, the thought would appear in their head, appearing as naturally as if it were one of his own. The question is, would the demon fall for her trap, or would he figure out the false thought before it became an action?

The technicalities of Kor-Tatha's ability weren't really something that Styn was particularly familiar with. If she claimed that dead bodies could hold an artificial personality so that she could have minions to do her bidding, Styn had no reason to doubt her. When the Demon Knight wanted cannon fodder he just crafted them from shadow stuff with Demon Magic. Still there might be a certain degree of permanence with Kor-Tatha's method.

"I'd be curious to see a finished product if you decided to pursue that line of development," Styn said simply. "I'm glad that you got something out of your stay here. I don't know that I'd enjoy this particular set of roommates myself, but then again I don't have your skill set." He also wasn't bat shit crazy and had no desire to hold conversation with insane demons.

When something is done so often that it becomes an unconscious exercise you gain an unparallelled degree of muscle memory. At the moment his passive protection allowed for subdued communication of telepathic nature. If Kor-Tatha were trying to talk at the same time as using a heavy psionic blast it might have been different, but the act of speaking to his subconscious was very similar to the way she addressed his conscious mind. As such there was no real resistance to preventing this level of subversion.

Although completely different on a physical level, demon minds were often very similar in design to human ones. For example, the fleshy grey matter trapped inside Styn's skull might not actually be needed for his mind to be intact, but on a metaphysical level his psyche functioned much like most intelligent life. Therefore the Demon Knight was just as vulnerable to subconscious suggestion as anyone else. His palm itched, there wasn't anything suspicious about that. He wasn't doing something that required him to ignore it so he brought his hands together and lightly rubbed the effected area with his left thumb.

Although Styn noticed on some level that Kor-Tatha seemed to be sizing him up, he didn't make the mental connection between her study and the itch. The Demon Knight lacked the focus to constantly separate unconscious and conscious thought. He lacked the deductive reasoning that would have taken the potential micro expressions from Kor-Tatha's face and translate them into emotions and then again into motive. While his willpower might have been up to the task of resisting implanted urges, he could hardly fight something that didn't seem to be causing any problems. This assault then became a complete victory for the small Arrancar.

The first wing of their journey was completed however. As the two of them left the solitary ward the seated guard once more pressed a finger to the trigger that controlled the door. Another buzz, a second flash of light, and the door was swinging smoothly shut once more. The demoness got to her feet, caught between discomfort and an attempt to show some small amount of respect. Styn ignored her, instead turning toward the liberated Kor-Tatha.

"I've been instructed to put myself at your disposal for the time being. Show you around Shadow Fall village if you're interested. You have quarters with the other Masked Knights of the Hollow Monarch forces for when you're here in the Demon World, so don't think that your room and board is suddenly being taken from you. I'm not sure if you're familiar with Jacob Tu Ramirezoshecka, its my understanding that you'll be working with him. I've never met the Arrancar myself."

"Of course you can also feel free to ask me for anything, I've got a small network of contacts that might be helpful to you during this adjustment period," Styn finished while adjusting his gunmetal gray glasses.

Kor-tatha was somewhat surprised that the demon next to her took interest in her pet project, though it might prove to be a good thing in later times. A smirk appeared on her face as the man followed the planted suggestion, it seemed that despite her initial thoughts he was weak minded. Walking out, the door to the prison swung close as a demoness awkwardly stood up before her. Sighing softly, the arrancar just stared at the demoness for a second before turning back to Styn. Listening to the words that he spoke, the arrancar tapped her chin lightly in thought. It was time to get on with her project, and no one was going to stop her. A fire was burning within her, Styn’s interest having pushed her to actually make this project of hers come to fruition. Her mental voice floating in to the demon’s head, it was time to get what she would need.

“Alright, I think it would be best for me to first go view my quarters, as well as seeing if there is a suitable workplace for me. Then I will need three living humans and three bodies of recently killed humans brought to wherever I end up working on this little project. I should think it might be worth meeting this Jacob individual, at least to let him know not to bother me for a while.”

A psychotic grin formed on Kor-tatha’s face as she stared in to the eyes of Styn, a cackle coming over the mental connection before she continued, her voice brimming with sadistic happiness.

“You said you would be interested to see the finished product. However, would you perhaps be interested in seeing the actual creation of my slaves? I might need some help keeping them restrained during the process after all. Now, can you show me to my quarters?”

With that she would follow Styn, smiling viciously. It was time for her plan to come to fruition, her army of mind slaves to be created. Soon she would create her first trial, and if the humans died or went insane from the procedure, what did it matter? They were only measly humans after all.

There was a brief lull as Styn delivered what he felt were the most productive of possibilities. The Demon Knight could practically feel the tension rise as sense of ambition radiated out from the petite arrancar. Styn nodded as Kor-tatha laid out what she felt to be her current priorities. Everything was doable and there was no time like the present to get moving. With an apologetic smile to the warden he ripped another hole in reality. Styn stepped smoothly through gesturing for his guest to follow.

The portal exited into an open courtyard. Various demons and hollows moved on the edges of it, going about their business. This was not one of the lower transportation chambers that descended from the main factory, and populated the twisting labyrinth that ran the length of Shadow Fall village though. Instead they stood on a blood red sigil carved into a pale grey stone. The area itself was half open air temple, half advanced defense facility. There was a simplicity to their surroundings, but there on that archway was a high powered camera turret trained at the center of the courtyard. Their arrival was not only anticipated but cautionary measures were already in place.

The ancient style of the surroundings were mired in demon culture. Items were covered in demonic script with references that would not be readily apparent to an outsider. It had a simplistic ambiance, very at one with nature, and yet with a constant reminder of master over it. The pale gray stone paving and red gold archways led to numerous buildings that expanded outward in a spiderweb of design. Here and there were tall trees that formed lined walkways. In the distance it became obvious that they were actually situated in what appeared to be the center of a dense forest.

Around a nearby building there was a wisp of white that drifted at about hip level. Shadow Fall village was thousands of miles above the mountains below, although none of that would be able to be seen from their current vantage point. The white mist was actually clouds that roamed the isle, far more prevalent in the surrounding forest, that could just barely be seen in between buildings. Although a particularly sharp eye would notice the tips of distant trees peaking over some of the shorter buildings.

The first thing that his companion might notice was the heavy concentration of infernal energy in the air. As Za Koa was at its root an energy of death the pressure would hardly be unwelcome, although only Demon's like Styn were able to take full advantage of the ambient power. This wasn't the sterile and cold feeling of death's breath as it was manifested in Hueco Mundo. Here in the Demon World death thrived and expressed itself as an almost sentient force. While the energy would embrace the arrancar as close kin, Kor-tatha wasn't quite welcomed as a child.

The full force of this miasma wouldn't have been felt while she was in her cell. Demonic technology and magic kept the bulk of this blessing away from the crazed demons who were imprisoned. As such it might very well be the first time Kor-tatha would be exposed to the triple concentrated aura that smothered Shadow Fall Village proper. Being in the Demon World was pleasant, but this was outright bliss. Styn took a deep relaxing breath as tingles danced along his nerves.

Off to the right were two posts with skulls fixed on top. Styn led the way in that direction. "We're entering into the guest area for visiting arrancar. Many of the Shadow Espada have quarters here for when they are present here in the Demon World. While I can't promise your suite will be quite so elaborate, there shouldn't be any problems getting you a space that includes an area for you to do whatever work it is that you'd like to get started on. Queen Mana has no specific direction for you at this time and I can assure you that this is the norm."

"For the most part she allows the Circles to see to the day to day affairs. Most people forget that this is only the special forces element of the demon army. The hollows who serve as Masked Knights are given an even greater amount of freedom," Styn said with a slightly envious look toward Kor-tatha. "From my own information the Shadow Espada seem stagnant lately. No doubt they are all engaged in personal activities that a mere Knight like myself need not concern himself with. As such I think you'll find a plethora of time to advance your own personal goals."

"Would that I could also be so lucky," the Demon Knight muttered as they approached an ornate multi storied temple. Once more the ancient did battle with the modern. While the architecture resembled a Gothic style, the materials were hardly simple stone. The comforts of the modern century were all close at hand, and the insides were another thing entirely. Whatever upgrades that Las Noches had seen in recent years, Styn knew that the arrancar would be hard pressed to find a complaint with this structure.

Walking up to a nearby door he placed his hand on a panel and sent a sent a pulse of Za Koa. "I'm keying the door to you. You'll see panels like this in every room. You can set up the computer systems however you desire from that point. If you can think it up we've probably got it, I won't bore you with the details," Styn said removing his hand. "All you need to do is put your hand right there and that process at least will be complete."

"Now as far as acquiring some bodies. The best place seems to be the Ninth Circle. I'm not sure on our current count of captive humans, but between London and New York there is always someone upstart trying to make waves. It shouldn't be any problems at all to get three living and three dead specimens. We can leave right now or I could just tell you where to go if you'd like to do that later," Styn said with a shrug.

"I'm not sure how helpful I'll be in whatever it is you're trying to work out, but I would be interested in observing if you don't mind. You have a very interesting ability, I don't know that I've ever seen anything like it. Even with a few extra thousand years of memory floating around in my skull. I don't think that Demons gravitate toward Psionic arts very often, at the least none of the Demon Lords I'm intimately familiar with do."

It didn't occur to Styn that Kor-tatha might not like the fact that he had so much information on her. There were similar reports on the Demon Knight himself if she were so inclined to investigate. To Styn it was second nature to find out as much ahead of time as possible. It was far easier to take the time to plan then try to improvise on the fly, at least that's how it had always seemed to him. Some might prefer not living life in such an ordered manner.

"Your computer system should allow you full access to the massive amount of intelligence that Shadow Fall is constantly accumulating. I've always felt that its a pretty intuitive interface, although if you find yourself running into problems let me know. I've got a surprising amount of experience using the system despite my short stay so far. That's where you'll find contact info for Jacob Tu Ramirezoshecka, your fellow Masked Knight."

Styn spread his arms wide. "That's pretty much that, it can be alot to take in all at once so I would understand you'd like to take a moment to step into the residence. I can wait if you'd prefer me to stick around, or you can just contact me if you run into any problems. As I mentioned before, my primary function at the moment is to help you adjust to your stay here in the Demon World. Its also my understanding that you're free to come and go throughout the known realms without restriction," he finished and waited for her reply.