No Need to Wilt Away (Open)

[Retsu Unohana]

Her first thought was one of disappointment.

It had been a fitting end to the burden she had inflicted upon Zaraki, and the chain of destiny that had bound them together, one of mutual respect and the need for violence. There had been no other way for their story to end than in bloodshed, no other way to continue than to have him surpass her.

Her next was of resignation. She was the best healer Soul Society had, after all. They would not want to lose her skills. Someone must have fetched her and stopped the bleeding, and she was now in her room, with Isane hovering close by, anxiously waiting for her to get up -

Except Isane's spiritual pressure was entirely absent, and the bed she was supposedly laid out on was incredibly hard and cold and felt much more like the ground.

Captain Unohana opened her eyes, and beheld the sky of the human world, and frowned.

This was not at all what she had expected.

It took less than a second to get to her feet, and realize that every wound she had sustained was healed as if she had never been hurt in the first place. Minazuki was at her side, her sense of him both stinging and soothing. He too had no idea of where they were, but it was apparent enough at first glance that it was the human world, and... somewhat different than the reports had stated. She could feel foreign reiatsu, and it was everywhere, like a vague tide of energy, ebbing in some places and surging in others. And how had she come to be here in the first place?

Well, at least, going by her admittedly outdated geographical knowledge... she was still in the Japanese area, though not Karakura. With that in mind, she shunpo'd to the top of a building, and began to travel north.

First, she would need at least some of her questions answered. Surely someone here could help her with that.

[Theodora]

Of course, Theodora was using her crystal ball to search for the Wizard. She had learned that this was his world, which had only managed to make her overall mood worse... for a time. After a while, she had realized that if she were brought to his world, he could have been brought there too. So, she had enchanted a crystal and began using it as tool to search the world for the Wizard.

So far, she had found nothing. There was no trace of him, though there were strange sources of power opening and occasionally leaving people behind. Theodora never managed to find one of them fast enough to get to where the opening was and look around for magical energy. They were usually very hard to find, since they opened and closed very swiftly. Being forced to bide her time and plan things out, however, made Theodora very unhappy. She would have preferred to take action then and there. She had the magic for it, after all! Why was she forced to wait?

Suddenly, the crystal ball picked up on something. It was a rift opening up and, after a mere moment, closing. Theodora teleported to the scene before she could even realize that it had left someone behind. With a large puff of red smoke, Theodora appeared just in time to see someone disappear. The witch turned to see the same person standing on top of a building. Perhaps this person had some knowledge about the rift. Theodora immediately regretted that, in her hastiness, she had forgotten her broom.

However, she was still able to fly without it. Theodora immediately took flight and set off towards the woman. After a little bit of flying, Theodora had reached her. "You there!" Theodora shouted, pointing a finger at Unohana. "Stop!"

[hela]

For Midgard being the realm of mortals...there were a surprisingly large number of beings who simply did not fall into that category. They were not human, though many of them were things that Hela had neither seen, nor encountered in any of the Nine Realms, which intrigued her. Despite the fact that she was capable of travelling anywhere within the Nine Realms at will -- one of the...benefits to her position -- she had been spending quite a lot of time in Midgard recently. She had first been summoned here by the magic that she had since heard referred to as "the rifts," and while she had promptly returned to Hel, well...even though her time in this mortal realm had been brief, her interest had been piqued.

Enough for her to return on many occasions.

Those souls who were not human, nor elf, nor Jotun or Asgardian, not Dverg, nor descendants of Surtur...they intrigued her in a way that few things did. And so she often watched...though rarely interacted. This time, however, with so much of interest happening in such a short span of time, she decided to make an exception to the rule. Much as the green-skinned woman had before her, Hela appeared on the rooftop (albeit without the theatrics and bright red smoke), legs crossed as she levitated, sitting in mid air. Tilting her head to the side slightly, Hela looked the two women over, not taking the time to really truly look, but gleaning what she could nonetheless.

The woman with the green skin, the one shouting and pointing, and seeming overall...rather more animated than the other, she was alive. There were no questions there. It was the other woman that was more...interesting. Dead, yes, but rather unlike any of the dead within Hela's realm...or those in Valhalla for that matter. Shifting to stand properly, she stepped forward, eying the green-skinned woman as she passed, though the majority of her attention was drawn towards Unohana. How could it not be, after all?

"It is quite rare to see the dead walk this realm," she commented lightly, faintly amused and very curious. "How is it that you are...an exception to that?"

[Retsu Unohana]

What was this? An unfamiliar reiatsu, one of many when she put her mind to considering her surroundings. This was not like Karakura. It had been a hub of spiritual activity, yes, but... this was not a centralized area of reiatsu. It was as if the whole world was teeming with much more spiritual energy than she had ever experienced in the mortal world.

Was that why she had healed so drastically? For every wound to leave not even a scar... except the one at her neck. That one would always remain. She didn't have too much time to consider it, though, as someone called out to her, and she stopped in mid-air, standing on it as if on solid ground. That quirk of the mortal world remained, at least.

...Even if the person addressing her had green skin. Really, given she had seen Komamura trying to contain his shedding on hot days, it wasn't that noticeable at all. "Ah, hello," she said warmly, containing her need to test that reiatsu, see how strong this woman was. Killing everyone was not a productive action.

Even if she really did want to.

And then something of even more interest - as well as the more familiar sense of a powerful shinigami nearby - appeared, and she continued to smile as she turned to observe the woman watching the pair of them.

These people did like to float, didn't they? Well, she could hardly blame them. And yes... this spiritual pressure was vast, far more than any Captain could hope to control or release. Very impressive. "We do not truly consider ourselves dead," she said, considering the question. "We form new lives and attachments in an afterlife known as the Soul Society, which... you are unfamiliar with, it seems. Ah, but that is not a good answer. I am a shinigami, guardian of the world of the living and an escort to the souls of the dead."

There, succinct and it explained a little. "Could you tell me how I came to be here?"

[Theodora]

The woman reacted with surprising calmness. Theodora had expected her to react with anger or fear {though, since she was no longer in Oz, Theodora was hardly surprised that she wasn't recognized}. The witch stopped moving as well. Now, she was simply floating there, awaiting a response beyond "hello". None came, as the two were interrupted by another woman. This woman appeared human as well, though her apparent powers made Theodora think otherwise. Not only that, but she seemed to have some knowledge about the dead. As far as Theodora knew, humans weren't able to use abilities of any sort. Then again, this world wasn't Oz - humans could have been different there.

The other two began having a conversation about death, which was beginning to grate on Theodora's nerves. She had, after all, accosted this woman to learn more about her abilities - not listen to her and someone else rant about "Soul Society" or whatever she was going on about. Theodora had no interest in this, she just wanted to learn about this woman's strange abilities and potentially use them to return to Oz. Although one thing did interest her - the woman told what she was. She was something called a "shinigami", which apparently had something to do with guarding the living world. Her first that was one of disapproval and disappointment. She wasn't exactly the guarding kind of person.

But, after thinking it over, she began to realize that, despite her seemingly heroic position, her powers weren't necessarily heroic. They could be used for... other purposes. Unfortunately, Theodora wasn't at all good at manipulating the heroic. Manipulation was Evanora's specialty - if Theodora needed information, she usually tortured it out of someone. However, she did realize that she had to be a bit more subtle when it came to dealing with heroes. Subtly was certainly not her strong point, but she would have to try. "...Yes. You were taken here by rifts in the universe." Theodora replied, trying her best to sound "good". She was trying her hardest to dig up whatever left of her old self. "I was brought here by the same rifts."

[hela]

The way the first woman -- the one clearly dead -- paused, standing in midair as though her feet were on solid ground instead, it spoke towards her being even more different from the dead that Hela was accustomed to dealing with. As if the fact that she had a particularly...strong (not exactly the right word, but she supposed it would have to suffice for now) spirit was not enough to prove it. Hela couldn't place quite what the woman struck her as being similar to. The closest she could figure at the moment was, perhaps, one of Odin's Einherjar. The souls of the honored dead who were spirited away to Valhalla.

Her entire demeanor exuded an air of...not quite serenity, but calmness, it seemed, and the warm greeting she afforded the green skinned woman brought an amused smile to Hela's lips. Like the Einherjar indeed. Though somehow she found it exceedingly difficult to picture the woman partaking in some of the...rowdier celebrations that Odin's realm had to offer...brawling and shouting and destroying mugs in an endless quest for more mead, or ale, or whatever the drink of the moment was. Though the image that the thought summoned up was certainly amusing.

And then that smile was turned upon her. She did her best to return it in earnest, noting the entire lack of the dread that had become so characteristic of her interactions with...well, with everyone since she had become the ruler of the realms of the dead. How curious. It was...refreshing. She tilted her head to the side, remaining silent and fascinated throughout the brief, albeit still rather informative, explanation. "I see," she mused, mulling the new information over. Less like the Einherjar, it seemed, and much more comparable to the Valkyries of her own realm. "You are right in thinking that I do not know of your... 'Soul Society,' but escorts to the dead, I am quite familiar with." Escorts who looked...little like this woman, but then, she did not share their title. They were likely entirely distinct.

Before she could further elaborate, or attempt to answer the woman's -- the Shinigami's -- question, the other woman spoke up, giving a much more precise and succinct answer than Hela herself would have been capable of. "Yes," she agreed, offering a faint, cool smile. "Some sort of...magic." Though no sort of magic that she was familiar with. "They...attempted to take me as well," she tacked on as almost an after thought, the beginnings of a smirk quirking upwards at the corner of her mouth. While it was true that the rifts had been what had originally brought her here, she was now in Midgard of her own choosing. "It seems to be how most people arrive in this realm."

[Retsu Unohana]

((John, since your post is unfinished, we're going to skip you but feel free to post in at a later time with something finished!))

Rifts? Dimensional holes, then. But Soul Society's dimensional system was stable, so it had to have been a very strong anomaly to somehow take her from the depths of the prison where she had died, and... bring her here.

And bring her back to life. That definitely wasn't supposed to happen.

"So these rifts bring people in quite often... that would explain this world's unnatural level of spiritual activity. And the presence of both of you as well, since you are very far from normal humans yourselves. Ah, but I am forgetting my manners." It was a minor thing, really, but a little unnerving to find herself alive and with her hair in its customary braid, when it had been loose when she had died. Did that signify anything? It was hardly more drastic than the wounds Zaraki had given her vanishing all at once, but at least she could come up with an explanation for that, given time.

She shifted the strap Minazuki was hanging from on her shoulder, and then bowed politely. "Captain Unohana of Squad Four, of the Gotei 13, or Guard Squads of Soul Society. It is truly a pleasure to meet you both, especially since you seem to know more than I."

It was a little stifling to return so quickly to compassion and kindness, when only an hour ago in her account, she had been fighting, thrilled to feel blood on her sword again, to see flashes of bone as the flesh melted away beneath her blade only to reform at her command. An hour ago, she had controlled life and death, and died to remove her shadow from Zaraki.

Well, it was irritating, but she would get over it. Holding back the urge to kill and fight was something she had managed for a thousand years, after all.

[Theodora]

More of this irritating, useless conversation! Theodora didn't have the time for trivial matters like this. She knew about the rifts and she knew what they were doing. What she wanted to know was how to magically manipulate the rifts and get back to Oz. At least one of them confirmed that the rifts were some sort of magic, not something else. If the rifts were magic, they could be manipulated. All it would take is a particularly potent spell and she, and her sister, would be back in Oz before they knew it.

It was awfully difficult for Theodora to endure this. She was far from a conversation person, especially when the conversation was so... calm. Theodora was reconsidering his decision to rush to the scene of the rift instead of asking Evanora to go. This sort of scenario was definitely Evanora's forte, considering it involved manipulation and that sort of thing. Theodora was much better at more physical matters. If she needed information, she would normally torture it out of those who had it, not talk to them about it.

Honestly, she wasn't quite sure this way was even an effective method of getting information quickly. These things took time, something that Theodora didn't seem to think she had an abundance of. After all, the more time she spent in this world, the more time the Wizard had to prepare for her next attack. "My name is Theodora." She replied, after Unohana introduced herself. Theodora would have liked to know what those titles meant, but that was something she could figure out later. For now, she needed to know more about her strange abilities. "Now, then... I must wonder what, exactly, your abilities entail..."

[hela]

She couldn't help but find it fascinating that this woman had such an acute sense of the spiritual energy in this world. Most things to do with death -- the ones that she didn't already control -- either fascinated her, or frustrated and enraged her to no end (which is where a few of the other gods of death fell on that scale...the Greeks in particular). So far, this strange woman who did not consider herself dead was in the former category. However, she was something completely new, which meant Hela had quite a bit more patience for her than she did Odin and his Valkyries...and on top of that, she was actually fairly pleasant to converse with so far.

Until she had the...unfortunate lack of foresight to compare Hela with a human, no matter how indirectly. The amused expression fell from her features, leaving a mask of perfect indifference in its place.

The change in her mood didn't stop her from giving a nod in return as the woman bowed. Her titles made her seem like a warrior of some sort, and the sword strapped to her shoulder did nothing to dispel the notion. A captain, though, that was a position of some degree of power, was it not? "I am Hela. Goddess of Death, and Queen of Hel and Niffleheim." Her tone was pleasant enough, but she did not return the woman's pleasantries. The fact that she was conversing with them was honor enough, as she rarely wasted her time on such trivial matters.

The green woman -- Theodora -- seemed to be quietly agitated. As much a fan of conversation as Hela herself, it would appear. Though given the fact that she was rather unlike anyone Hela had seen within the Nine Realms, perhaps her unease was simply borne of a desire to return to her home. She had the same sort of presence as some of the spell casters of Jötunheim...though perhaps to a lesser degree, as her mortality was easily felt. How curious. Cocking her head to the side slightly, her gaze shifted between the two women, interested to hear Unohana's answer. After all, she was quite eager to know more about this...type of being. Shinigami.

[Retsu Unohana]

No title for Theodora, but Hela had one fitting her reiatsu, and it did not seem to be an exaggeration. That was... new.

There were self-styled gods. Flash Goddess Yoruichi for her skill at shunpo, and the Espada Barragan had called himself the God of Hueco Mundo due to his power and abilities. But there had never been real gods.

And yet, what could Unohana say to this undeniable proof? Hela's reiatsu wasn't just monstrous, but incomprehensible, with some contained energy that she had never encountered before. She bowed again, a bit deeper to indicate her respect. "I have not met a goddess before, let alone one that shares the domain it is my duty to guard. It is an honour," she said sincerely. Well, now she could disregard the initial urge to fight them. Hela, at least, was beyond even her reach. No shinigami, no individual, could compare to someone like this.

There were limits to all things, no matter what Aizen preached in his delusions.

But Theodora's question remained unanswered and she smiled at the woman, undeterred by her green skin. Really, considering who she had seen in her two thousand years of life... green skin wasn't that strange. "It would take a while to describe everything in proper detail. My squad, Squad Four, is the healing and medical squad. We use kidou, also known as demon arts - spiritual power concentrated into a specific task and coordinated with a chant - to bind and heal wounds. Of course, I also know how to use Minazuki -" at that she laid a hand on his hilt, to make it clear who she meant "- and as a Captain I am required to know hand to hand combat, offensive kidou, swordsmanship and techniques to increase my mobility."

There was no need to say anything further. There was a reason she had not been allowed on the frontlines despite the ongoing war. It was very easy to fall back into the impulsive need for more violence, and with such opponents... but that was distracting her. She could wait.

[Theodora]

A Goddess and a Queen, hmm? Theodora wasn't one for positions of power, but she knew a powerful title when she saw one. While "Queen" meant nothing as far as abilities go, "Goddess" was... different. Although Theodora had never really been a religious person, she knew what a God was. They were all powerful beings with abilities beyond understanding. Unfortunately, that meant that her abilities couldn't be used by Theodora - unless she managed to persuade her over to her side. That could be difficult, considering that Gods were usually more clever than mortals, not to mention that Theodora knew that she wasn't exactly an expert manipulator.

Ah, but the other woman's powers... Those could be useful. Although Theodora couldn't take other people's powers, she did think that she could learn such abilities. After all, she already did have magical powers - in a world like this, why couldn't she learn more? Of course, she was totally uninterested in her healing abilities. The last thing Theodora wanted to do was heal people. What did interest her was "offensive kidou". Although not described, such powers could likely have destructive capabilities. "I see..." Theodora replied simply, thinking over what to do next. She wasn't great with plans, but she wasn't totally inept. She was certain that if she acted nice enough, she could get this woman to teach her some of those abilities.

"I have a certain sort magic myself..." Theodora replied. Hopefully, that would be enough to interest her in conversing about their abilities. Theodora was already quite mad that her magic couldn't steal other people's powers. She certainly didn't want to spend the day talking thing over - she preferred a more direct approach to things. But, if this is what it took to get to Oz, so be it.

[hela]

The second bow, this sudden show of respect...it had been unexpected, but far from unwelcome. It was enough to bring a slight smile to her features once more as she nodded in response to the gesture, bowing her head in a lesser gesture of mutual respect. "Few people have," she commented lightly, "it is not often we visit the mortal realms." A generalization, perhaps, but one that had virtually no exceptions...other than Thor. The so called god of thunder. From the little news she heard -- be it through souls that came to her realms after death, or from the words of living Asgardians themselves -- he had taken quite a liking to Midgard. Perhaps she would have to pay him a visit here before returning home. He would certainly be far easier to kill in the mortal realms than in Asgard.

Remaining silent a moment longer, she chose her words carefully before speaking once more. "There are those who claim the souls of the dead, and escort them to their resting place in my realm as well...though I have never seen a being quite like yourself." She paused, casting a glance back at Theodora at her question, before nodding. "I would be quite interested to hear more about what you are as well."

The description of her abilities was...interesting, to say the least. Nothing at all like what one would expect from a being tied so closely to death. The name, Shinigami, well, it was clearly neither Norse nor Greek in origin, so it wasn't likely that the Greek Pantheon would know any more than she did. Although perhaps it was worth asking, considering the fact that the Greeks did tend to take on a much more... hands on (at times quite literally) role in the mortal world.

Theodora's reaction to her title and...position as it could be loosely called, was just as interesting if not more so than Unohana's. She was alive, and very much mortal, if the feel of her soul was any indication, and yet she showed no fear when faced by a living incarnation of Death itself. Either her pride was so strong that she believed herself to be above death and mortality, or she felt as though she had nothing to lose. Regardless of which, her reaction -- or lack thereof -- was quite interesting.

At her comment, however, Hela turned to the mortal (...could she be called a sorceress, perhaps?), giving a cool smile. "Yes, I can tell." Likely not the reaction she had sought to receive, but accurate nonetheless. "And what exactly are you, then?" she questioned dryly, not quite disinterested, but certainly not nearly so intrigued as she had been by Unohana. "Certainly not human, at the least."

[Retsu Unohana]

"Magic? So you are capable of spells as well. Perhaps we'll have to compare our techniques at some point," she said smoothly. Really, such knowledge was a secondary priority. Knowing what potential threats she could encounter here so she could plan around them... that was important, yes, but first - answers.

"I do have a rather important question. Considering our present company... it's quite fortunate I've met the both of you, since you seem to know far more than I do.

"I'll put it simply. The last thing I can remember is being killed in battle, and yet I am here, quite clearly alive and with every wound I sustained having been healed without any drain on my own powers. It's quite a puzzling dilemma, as you might have guessed. I know the wounds were fatal and I know I was dying, and I was nowhere near any sort of dimensional gate to begin with. Nor would travelling between the world of the dead and the living offer any sort of healing." Well, that had been a bit more than she had originally intended to say - the issue was troubling. She didn't like being ignorant of anything pressing, especially when it related to her.

That had been her fight, her death. She had chosen it, and now it was gone.

It was irritating, to say the least.

[Byakko Fuyuichiro]

After traveling through Japan, Korea and parts of China, Byakko was heading back to Tokyo, and he was not traveling using his shunpo, but was traveling by high speed train. Byakko was using his Gigai and was able to blend in easier than without it, and he was glad. He got to see many things and hear just as much as he traveled on the rails. Once the train had reached Tokyo, Byakko gathered his belongings and left the train, heading out into the city, with a hope at finding a way home to Soul Society.

However, something was different today than other days; besides the ever changing reiatsu that was present, but something new had been added, and it was something that Byakko knew all too well. Blinking, Byakko looked around and headed for down the street, half jogging/walking and slowed as he looked around, looking back and forth and not seeing what he was feeling, but thought about it and decided to find a place to get out of his Gigai. Finding the spot, Byakko pulled out his Soul Candy and popped one into his mouth. The next instance, he was free of his Gigai, and he turned to it and spoke. "Do nothing stupid, as we are not in our home. And try to not chase after any ladies," and with that he used shunpo and disappeared as his Gigai looked and blinked. "Talk about taking all the fun," it said as it began to follow the same feeling as Byakko.

Byakko arrived on top of a building, and looked around, using his eyes to see what he was feeling and he knew the the reiatsu and who it belonged too. Moving off, Byakko went form building to building, till he found the spot he was looking for and spotted three people, Hela and Theodora he did not know, but saw them in the sky as well. This was odd, and his hand went to his Zanpakutō, but he decided to remove his hand from its hilt and keep them at his sides. Looking at the third person, Retsu Unohana, Byakko knew of, and that respect and honor was required and needed. Using shunpo, he appeared behind her and bowed deeply to her. "Konnichi wa," he says to her.