The Road Few Travelled [Mura, Sabriel]

”I’m okay, Mum… yeah, I’m an assistant, still. The Head Master’s planning to promote me soon…”

He wasn’t being completely honest – after the incident with the electro-witch, the Head Master wanted to give Mura more time to hone his control over his Spiritual Prowess before he’d let him run the dojo in the old man’s absence. On top of that… they were low on coin. Very low. The witch hadn’t returned since that day, however, so…

They could assume that she executed the client, or found another way to run off with the money. Either way, they took the heaviest blow on that gruesome day, and yet Mura didn’t want to make his parents worry any more than they’d already did for the last 10 years.

Holding the phone closer to his ear, he’d continue responding to her: “No, Mum, please… I’m not disappearing again, I promise you. You know how out of order China can be these times, it was bound to happen – it’s not the same this time. Stadt des Lichts is more welcome than that… okay, but yes, I’ll keep contact – if anything happens… yes, Mum, I know, but- Mum…”

These times, man… how did it feel to wait for years on end, not knowing what on earth your son had gotten himself into? At one point, she started having panic attacks, not knowing if her dear Mura was even alive. It was no wonder that she couldn’t bear him leaving like this again, but he was already a grown adult who could take care of himself. Even if he JUST turned 18 the last time she saw him…

…

That was a heavy phone call to make, but his parents had a right to know where he was going. Stella’s advice on joining the Vandenreich lingered in his mind, leading his footsteps to a strange train station outside of Kyōto. It was in the middle of the foot to a mountain range, coated in short woodland and with a grassy plain crossing the flat ground ahead. It was one of Japan’s many quiet, peaceful and fauna-rich sights to see, a train station that appeared to be in the middle of the wilderness.

The train station had a mall attached to it, though it was only frequented by travelers. Today, a good 100 people checked out the place, with Mura awaiting the train upon a bench outside. 2 hours… he’d do well to grab something to kill time with, but all he could look at was his broken sword.

Harukami. Stella accidently broke it – part of the reason why she asked him to seek aid from a Daniel from the Vandenreich. Kyūken hadn’t talked to him since, which was… welcoming, but at the same time… painful.

That, the China experience, and his parents’ worry darkened Mura’s face, lowering his enthusiasm and summoning dark clouds above his weathered head. He was tired.

A rather striking figure would emerge on the platform at that point, having spent the majority of the morning having a look around the mall. It had been a fun distraction and she had a bag or two full of items to take back to her lair with her. The Arrancar, however, was not quite ready to return to Hueco Mundo just yet though and she mused about taking a train. Where? That did not matter to her, as the journey would no doubt be just as fun as the destination. If there was anything that she had learned from her encounter recently, it was exactly that.

Yet, as she stood there, the Arrancar could sense the spiritual pressure of a human nearby, pressure that seemed to be rather despondent in nature. It naturally aroused the curiosity of the dark haired woman. Her eyes turned to see a male perched on a bench, staring at what seemed to be a sword. For a moment, she thought he might have been a Shinigami but that did not seem to fit the energy he was exuding.

Approaching the man, Sabriel would ask with a small smile, motioning to the empty seat beside him. “Would you mind if I sit here?”

Ring… ring, ring… it rang in his head. A source of power was nearby, a source of spiritual energy. If it stood that clearly out from the other visitors at the station, then it had to be someone with experience in manipulating Reishi. Someone like Stella and Meninas…

It felt like rivalling Meninas’ energy. Calm, collected. It didn’t just show up, and yet only now did he pay attention to it. That was when his gaze rose to meet the source of not only that, but the silky voice asking if the seat next to him was occupied. And what his eyes met were those of a woman very starkly standing out from any other traveler present in this station. He could tell at first glance, and so would many other be able to.

“No, no…” Mura reassured her, thus simply allowing the lady to take a seat. Truth be told, she was pretty candy for the eyes, and while an attraction did pull a blush out on his face, Mura quickly lowered his gaze and returned to his dark clouds and exhaustion. He didn’t even pay attention to the similarities between her spiritual energy and Veralia’s…

…

…

C’mon, Mura. When that unhinged rōnin ghost wasn’t giving you an earful every 2 minutes for once in your life, at the very least strike up a conversation with someone else. You weren’t that lonely…

She did not have to be experienced in the art of body language to pick up on his unhappiness, feeling it rather strongly from closer range. Sabriel could not help but wonder why and that was the main reason as to why she followed through and sat beside him. The Arrancar did despise seeing people in such a state, whether she knew them or not. Since she had so much free time on her hands, she mused that it would not hurt for her to try and help him. The fact he was a handsome fellow certainly kept her interest up too.

After spending a few moments looking at the empty track in front of them, she would turn to him, a gentle smile forming across her face. “My name is Sabriel, an Arrancar who spends quite a lot of time wandering around this realm and speaking to those I meet.” Speaking was an incredibly mild way of putting what she did most days. “Are you alright? I could not help but notice just how forlorn you appear to be today. I have some free time if you would like to talk for a bit.”

There was no hint of patronising in her voice and was perfectly genuine in wanting to help the man. She guessed it would look pretty strange but Sabriel had stopped worrying about such things centuries ago. The woman was not human and had her own forms of etiquette and behaviour.

He could already feel some sort of pull, but he felt something similar when Veralia snuggled up to him. To his surprise, however, the woman not only immediately greeted and stated her name, but also stated that she too was an Arrancar. “… Wait, huh?” he lit up, brows rising as if he needed to hear that a second time, “I… haven’t met an Arrancar in a while, now. Not since Veralia, but… you probably don’t know her.”

I mean, what were the odds?

“I’m… just a little worn out. Y’know, life and all,” he explained rather simply, almost downplaying his own feelings, “… Missed out on a lot of things, lately. Uh… yeah, typical stuff like that… I hope I’m not having some sort of midlife crisis, but I definitely need a break.”

That was when he finally gazed into her eyes, and he lost track of his gathering thoughts. “… Envy… envy? No… you’re something else…” Barely clarifying that he was mumbling the aspect of Veralia – easy to remember, she liked wordplay after all – he came to remember that these Arrancar sure liked sticking to a specific characteristic. But to hell with what Sabriel’s was – with how worn he was, simply gazing into her eyes almost made him fall into a slumber as deep as the violet she adorned.

“… Oh, my bad, I was- what was I doing… *siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*”

“Veralia? Oh, I know her quite well. We have spent some time together and I consider her my friend.” The dark haired woman replied with a smile. Sabriel was awfully fond of the petite Arrancar and she hoped that they would meet up again soon. “I know that she can come off as a little brash sometimes but she means well, most of the time.” Judging from his reaction, he must have gotten along well with the feisty Arrancar of envy.

When he spoke about his weariness, Sabriel would tilt her head. He looked like a relatively young man as far as she could tell and certainly he did not appear to be middle aged. Of course, it was harder to tell these days given how more powerful humans were these days. Sighing a little, she would say after a little time. “You are too young for a mid life crisis, far too young. I have no idea what is going on in your life but it cannot be all doom and gloom. There must be a bright spark somewhere, something to grasp onto.”

At first, she was unsure as to how to respond to his mumblings about her aspect but eventually decided to indulge him. “Desire is the word you are looking for. That is my aspect and my nature is to try to satiate those of the people I meet, as well as my own.”

Wait, she actually knew Veralia? “You do? I met her in China… such a small world,” he expressed. That meant that this Sabriel wasn’t anyone to be wary of, Kyūken.

Still, she was very inviting – not naturally a troll like Veralia, but a much more… softer approach. Mura dared not imagine how old she was if she referred to him as ‘too young’ for anything such as a midlife crisis – he was nearing his 30s now… and according to Veralia, Arrancar sure lived many lifetimes.

She asked if there was something sparkling in his life, something to distract him from all the stress. His life wasn’t all doom, that was certain… he still had his parents, a place to live in. He was in great physical condition-

His sword! That was right… Harukami was still in need of a fix. He lifted up the broken blade, merely a handle and 1/3rd of the blade itself, ending in a spiky, uneven edge. That was where Stella’s axe had cut through. “My life hasn’t been that struggling… I think,” he sighed, thinking back to when times were a little simpler and he wasn’t this distraught.

“It’s just… I went to places I shouldn’t have gone to. Threw myself into events I shouldn’t have been at. And now, I’m burdened with its consequences… shit just- mfffh…” He braked in his tracks. The past couldn’t be changed, and memories couldn’t be erased. Yet it felt like he got himself close to losing everything here and there. His life felt fragile, and it was frustrating.

Before he traveled to China… yes, that journey started it all, really. But he wouldn’t have met this idiot sword ghost if not for that journey. He wouldn’t have become… a literal burglar, stealing a museum’s object. Frankly, his life would’ve likely looked much brighter.

“Desire? Like…” Obviously, he and his simple mind went straight to the groin when she talked about ‘desire’, which made an eyebrow shiver and his face redden, “Uhm… I don’t know if… I copy. Wait, do you grant wishes? Is that possible?” She was like some sort of genie!

“Mmm. I was in Hueco Mundo one day looking for a little fun and I came across her drinking wine in the branches of a white coloured tree. In the end, we did have a fun night together and I consider myself lucky to know her. I hope that our paths cross again one day.” The Arrancar replied with a chuckle, remembering the naughtiness that they had gotten up to that night. They had both had a great time and had opened up quite a lot with each other, a conversation that Sabriel would not forget.

Listening as he spoke about his recent past, Sabriel would hum briefly before offering a response. “We all have regrets and I imagine that everyone who walks this Earth has at least one event that they would like to redo or change. There is nothing we can do about them except to learn and use them to better ourselves going forward. I do not consider making mistakes to be sinful but not learning from them? That is another story.”

When he spoke about her aspect, her face would lighten up a bit. “Well, I suppose you could say that I gain pleasure from bringing joy to others, whether it be in a physical sense or something more complex. If I meet someone unhappy such as yourself, I feel compelled to help you overcome it. If it is someone with high ambitions, I wish to help them do what is needed in order for them to fulfil what they want. I am not a Djinn but I do my best to bring happiness to those I meet.”

Sounded like a classical romance story… but uh, this was sudden. She very brazenly chronicled her intimate encounter with Veralia, letting who was basically a stranger know that they went through all the bases together. For an Arrancar like Sabriel, it was probably a non-factor to worry about… but for a human like Mura…

The dark clouds were gone. All that was left was a tomato-like face. “… Hmh…” he hummed, unable to stop his thoughts from running. The two of them fooling around was, for the lack of a better term, intriguing.

Her view on life did prove a solid plaster to his wound – sure, he had a dumbass to deal with on the go, and about 10+ years to catch up to, a dojo to save, and a new sword to get reforged, but if he could make it through all of this… then that had to be a testament to his inner strength, right? Maybe that was what Sabriel meant.

“So… if I needed help, you’d wanna help me…” he reflected, wondering if she could use some sort of Arrancar technique to fix his sword, or if she could slap some sense into that idiot ghost lurking away from them – after all, his Chain of Fate was still tied around the base of Harukami. The stubborn one wasn’t gone yet.

Happiness… he kinda felt a stronger pull now. Obviously, between her words, her welcoming aura, her appearance and her aspect, he couldn’t help but feel a little heat rise within his chest. What… did he want the most? How could she…

…

He was tired. So tired that he felt like falling asleep here and now. Maybe that was what he needed all along – just a deep, sound sleep. “Can I… lay- fuck, what am I even asking for…?” Clearing his throat to gather courage, he’d glare her straight in the eyes and try again: “If you wanna make me happy… can I lay on your lap? It feels… really, really weird to ask you all of a sudden, I know, but you’re an Arrancar – I bet you don’t think it’s weird at all… probably lived too long to care about awkward stuff like this.”

To many, what he asked would probably have sounded ridiculous if not worse but Sabriel simply smiled. It was not as if she had never provided such a service before and he spoke in such a sweet way that she would have found it difficult to say no to him anyway. If he needed someone to simply be there for him then she could provide that, thinking back to some of her previous encounters. It was curious as to how many people honestly just needed a shoulder or in this case a lap and Sabriel mused that there was simply too much loneliness in this world. She could spend every waking moment helping and it would probably never be enough but would that stop her from trying? No, it was in her nature to do so.

Placing her bags on the ground beside her, she would move into a more comfortable spot on the seat and reply. “If it will bring you some comfort then go ahead. I have nowhere that I need to be, as I stated before, I have all the time in the world.”

Assuming he would actually go through with his request and lay upon her, she would look down at him and ask. “It might also help you if you spoke a little more about what has been troubling you so much. What has been going on in your life to make you feel such misery?” Her gaze would turn to his sword. “What happened to your blade?”