Loathsome Soul [Algos/Santa/Open]

Oh it was certainly a place of desolation: a perfect place for beings to show up without the need for destroying much anything of significant importance. And so, that sudden bleeding energy that swept out across the sands did indeed find it's intended target. In her own quiet Nook, Ajora glanced to the side, smiling a bit to herself as she recognized the energy. It was, entirely expected. However, when Algos had chosen to unleash that energy, she would find but a single person emerging from the dark veil of Garganta, standing before the woman with a calm expression. The very woman she had to thank for her .....awakening. Or perhaps, simply the suddenness in which it had occurred.

"Hello again Algos. I'm sorry to say but your visit is a bit ...ill-timed. Santa is not presently in Hueco Mundo, but in the World of the living. It will be a while before she recognizes your energy and comes here." She explained simply enough, gently letting her shoulders relax and taking a moment to look around. Already an enormous number of hollows riddled the area, drawn by Algos's power, but none of them daring to close in as close as Ajora herself had. For a moment she almost envied the woman's ability to have such tremendous influence.

"What Santa has become....however." She looked over her shoulder at Algos and smiled just ever so slightly wider. "She continues to struggle. She is ....comforted by my presence, and I can help her contextualize her surroundings. But it has done nothing to ease her suffering. The more she comes to understand the state of the worlds, the more she has come to hate it. " The air around them slowly peeled open. Not from power. But from prowess. Slowlyh, that flesh that separated any realm from that endless void between them peeled away and soon Algos would spot.....places. Garganta peeled open and concentrated, compressed until they were like screens. Showing off the wastelands and landscapes of the world of the living. The glimmering City of Light. And even some views of the Soul Society.

"But nothing has irked her more than her own powerlessness. She has grown. But some realms of strength stretch far beyond what a person is feasibly capable of. Even her own rather monstrous growth feels insignificant to her. She seeks so much. And so, she has begun seeking other venues to strength." She smiled wider, turning to face Algos entirely. "Santa genuinely wishes to improve things. Not simply her own world here, but every realm. Adorably....she wants to bring all of it..." She stepped to one of the open maws in space, and reached through it. A landscape of the outter rukongai, and then pulled her hand back. Holding a blossom peeled from the other side. "Together." She of course, had taken precautions. With the energy Algos was putting out, simply opening portals to every realm would have been an AMAZING way to get more or less EVERY faction on their asses. Which was why the technique had been mixed with Ulcera, a sort of .....semigarganta which allowed permability and vision without actually allowing energy to pass through. A ....simple hunting tactic of hollows that so many overlooked. Even reaching through into soul society, not a shred of Algos' bleeding energy spilled free. Well, none that didn't just naturally bleed through the realms.

"And what of yourself, Algos?" She gently tilted her head to the side, eyes calmly watching the woman. " I was purveying Santa's memories. And it was ....interesting to see how ....complacent you have been. The way others speak of you I would never have guessed you the type to bathe in the responsibility of leadership. But perhaps I am simply ignorant. Hollows are not born with any family after all."

It was interesting. Not only seeing the woman's responses to her own words, but also making note of the woman's ....expression. But she did not hear the words of a woman that was simply speaking plainly. No. Listening to Algos, she heard something else entirely as the woman went on to droll about evil, power, and her own influence. The things she had in mind, the self assessment that came with it. She heard....youth.

Ajora raised a brow at that and chuckled softly. Lightly. "No es exacta. I'm afraid that is incorrect." She chimed lightly enough. She made her way toward Algos and stopped a short distance away, resting her hands behind her back and watching the woman closely. "Based on what I have seen: you have shown no such behavior. You have shown restraint and tact. Additionally, you even have shown some sort of compliance around Santa of all beings. During your encounter with Mazda in the world of the living, you remained diplomatic and expressed interest in benefiting relations. I admit, the lense had been narrow. However, I have a hard time believing that you are Evil. You may, even, at this very moment, be considering using some sort of power or ability in order to adjust this opinion of mine. It is, however, simply that Evil is a matter of perspective. A rabbit considers not the starvation of the hawk or it's hatchlings. Simply because you have acted within your own interest you think that you are in some way ....different from any human that has blown up a building or shot a neighbor for the sake of greed or rage? Simply because you have the strength to expand upon these acts does not make them any different from those of the beings on the receiving end of such things." She continued to close in, stepping until she was within Algos's personal space.

"You are a child. Not because of your age. But because you lack experience. You do not strike me as a woman who has seen much. You literally feed of of suffering, so why shouldn't you see the world tinted by it? Not only that: but you are so incredibly...malleable. In those moments in which you spoke to Mazda, when Santa had deigned to draw you to the world of the living, you seemed intrigued. Something about her struck a chord in you, such that you went out of your way into danger, against your own interests, to chance a presence in the world of the living. And in that very same moment, after your.....conversation with Mazda. That glimmer seems to have left you." She reached up and would, if allowed, lightly touch the woman's cheek. Her body language saying nothing of the power gap between them. The way that she behaved, it was as if Algos were a child she was speaking to. Not in the manner of disrespect: but in the way that an adult gently and carefully comforted a new and inexperienced member of it's species.

"Calling yourself evil is not self awareness. It is escapism. People call you evil. People call you a monster. People speak of you as if you were the devil herself. To parrot that opinion is not introspective. It is simply easy. It is the simplest thing in the world to take what most people say as the truth. Especially when you ignore evidence to the contrary. Your genuine enjoyment of Santas' company. The way you flushed when she went so far as to pick you up. And that look in your face when she spoke of her own belief in your capacity for good. Which tells me that she isn't the only one who has seen as much. You have attempted to be good. You have behaved in a manner that did not benefit you: but those you care about. Your very attempts at diplomacy for the sake of other demons tells me as much. You are entirely capable of selflessness."

She paused, lowering her hand. "Why it matters to me? Because you are strong Algos. And contrary to what you have been told, perhaps contrary even to what you believe: That power is capable of just as much good as it is evil. You have said yourself that Santa's ambitions would mean her death. But that is only if she were to embark upon them alone. I am curious: is 'alone' how you intend to leave her?"

She was pleased to see she at the very least her words were making headway. Even if the woman's...... stubbornness was clinging to those notions. She chuckled a little in response to the woman's assertion about innocence. "Innocence does not mean you are blind. To a human, innocence is the lack of knowledge about cruelty and violence. But you are a demon. By your culture, by your family, it is perhaps the inverse. You know nothing but suffering and despair, you have lived with it bleeding from every being around you. Why else would you be so easily enchanted by the simplest of good intentions? All Santa did was show the slightest belief in good in you. And truth be told, it was not even that far of a stretch. Everyone is CAPABLE of good. And yet, you have clung to this sentiment. You are not innocent of the bad. You are innocent of the good. You have seen and experienced personally, so very little in the ways of affection that even something as simple as being picked up brings ar osy tinge to that pretty face of yours. It is an entirely different kind of innocence, but it is still innocence." She asserted, promptly chopping Algos's attempt at rebuttal, at the knees.

And of course, ten came the subject of Santa. And she was pleased when Algos acted as if it were something obvious. That she would see to it that the woman did not simply die. Ajora closed her eyes thoughtfully, rubbing at her chin for a moment before she opened her eyes and then scanned Algos. "You say that so easily. It is a little adorable." She hummed lightly, closing her eyes for a moment before she let her attention meander to the sands around them for a moment. "But the question is: How much are you willing to sacrifice for Santa's ideal? To bring the worlds together. How attached are you to who anr what you are at this very moment? Moment ago, you sounded defeated. As if there were nothing left but the role cast out for you. What if Santa and I were to offer you an alternative?" She asked calmly enough.

Ajora closed her eyes and sighed internally. Well she supposed it only made sense that the woman would only be able to bend her perception so much. All the same, she could not help but feel that honestly Algos may very well simply not be capable. She had presumed, at least, that she had felt love from her own mother. Surely Algos's inexperience couldn't be THAT total could it? However, the way in which Algos flat out just seemed to entirely miss Ajora's point made it clear that this process would be something she would simply have to work on over time.

Only made more apparent when Algos, again, attempted to simplify her own actions. That she was ...... working toward her own interests, and the benefit of those so long as it didn't inconvenience her. It......certainly was how just about every living thing with a brain functioned, and Ajora could not hide the look of sheer confusion on her face as she tried to parse whatever meaning Algos was attempting to get at. What she said didn't conflict with what she herself had said, but it also didn't seem to point in the direction of any other point. She decided simply not to comment on it. And rather, raised a hand to stop Algos once the woman expressed her curiosity. "A hypothetical. I am afraid that I am largely unaware of just how ......malleable your existence is. However, with your transformation, you seem at the very least similar to us Arrancar, in that you are able to extend past the boundaries of what make you a simple demon, as we are able to transcend what makes us simply hollows."

There was a dull THOOM. A fluctuation in the reiatsu around Ajora, before a hole slowly opened up in the center of her sternum, another through her navel, and then finally one through the center of her skull. Mirroring Santa's own Hollow holes. "Self modification is something I have also cultivated. You have seen how Santa has been able to utliize our special form of regeneration." She gently pointed to the center of her chest. "This was the hole we gained as we came to become hollows." Her finger drifted down to the hole through her navel. "This was the hole we gained when we devoured our Herd. We originally did not exist like other hollows. Rather than a single entity that grew in strength, we were a herd of Deer like Menos that devoured hollows and then multiplied, growing in numbers rather then power. When I abandoned that existence, this new hole formed. And finally...." She pointed up to the hole through her head. "The hole that produced the Santa you've come to value. Sealing my true self away and producing a facsimile that would live in my stead. Until the conditions were correct for me to awaken."

And then, she reached out, and let her hand hover over the center of Algos' chest. "You have been born into ....... a narrow space. Into responsibility. Into obligations. Into a world of violence. And because of your ability to feel and feed off of suffering, it has tainted everything you know about the world. As Mazda said: There is no place for Algos." She waved a hand and the air peeled apart, showing a darkness that would seem.... strange. IT was not the roiling Dangai. Nor the endless void that was the Garganta. It was .....something else entirely. A space.... a PLACE in the darkness. A Valley of Screams. A special pocket dimension, a special type that simply...popped up in the garganta.

"Follow me please. There is something that I would like to show you."

Ajora paused and smiled gently, making note of that ....defensiveness in the woman. Not only that, but Algos seemed to be growing....impatient. She noticed that the woman was growing far less.....responsive to her words. Santa had taken great care to lay out her reasoning and arguments. But turning to look at Algos, she saw that the woman .......seemed to simply be ....unwilling to humor such things. She listened, but she was making no admissions or any notion of giving any ground. A small, sad smile formed over Ajora's lips and that path to the darkness ......closed up. Swallowed into nothing and leaving Algos and Ajora in Hueco Mundo without transitioning over. As the woman simply seemed to change her mind.

And she ....considered speaking more. But ....

"Is there a reason for this conversation?" She asked suddenly, looking very directly at Algos as she did. "You called out, looking to check up on Santa. However.... you seem to have, at most.... been humoring me this entire time. You seem, to some degree, be listening. But ....you don't seem terribly interested in what I have to say." She noted calmly, resting her hands behind her back and canting her head to the side. "You seem....remarkably sure of yourself. You seem .... remarkably sure of who and what you are. You insist that you are ambivalent to those around you. That you operate entirely upon what others might be as a benefit. You have asserted that you are evil, or at the very least a negative force. And even your concession that Good and Evil are poor terms have not stopped you from making abundantly clear that you are merely operating out of your own personal gain.Not once have you halted and considered anything I have said. Your responses have seemed quite curt and quick. Without even the notion that you have taken more than a few seconds to consider these things I have said. " She sighed and shook her head.

She considered her own transformations. Her own......evolution. And looking upon Algos, she came to realize. "I think that perhaps, there would be no point in taking you to that place. What I have to show you....what I have to say to you, what I had in mind to suggest to you. These are things and paths which require openness. Thoughtfulness. Contemplation. Evolution is an act of growth. Change. And this conversation has made it ....abundantly clear that you don't seem capable, or willing for that. You have made note of your ability to change your powers, your body. But allow me to ask: Have you, as a person changed in the slightest? Has 'Algos' ever been anything other than what you are now?"

She gently tilted her head back, looking briefly down her nose at the woman and letting her eyelids gently drift down slightly. "Even if I were to show you that realm. Even if I were to introduce you to the methods which I had used to evolve myself. I do not think you are capable of it. For all of your ability to change your powers. You, presently, seem incapable of change. Which may explain your ....brute force method of jarring me from my stasis. You SPOKE of Santa awakening her reasoning as a hollow. If I were not dormant within her, your attempt would have achieved nothing. Santa already embodies her aspect of death. Your ..... 'success' in instigating her development seems to have been entirely circumstantial." She folded her arms. And even more, she wondered if any of this would even make it through to Algos. And Ajora could not help but sigh at that.

And she waited, watching the Demon Princess. Hoping to be proven wrong.