Just a legend, cold words on a page

[thatsit]

So far things had been going as well as could be expected, if not a little better. The hotel staff, well used to discretion as they were, had been adept at keeping an eye on matters. There had been some tense moments in the restaurant, if the waitstaff were to be believed, but they'd resolved themselves peacefully.

It was a good sign. Ila were the only clan to have come from outside Khamja, and their history with Skite had been less than amicable. Their inclusion was probably the biggest risk Ignis had taken with his recruiting, but when it had come down to it they needed powerful healers, and if they came accompanied by tough fighters then so be it. That they could control themselves, and that members of Khamja didn't feel the need to break into violence around them, was only a bonus.

Everyone had stayed within the hotel's confines for the day. Ignis had been glad of that. One or two had been less than pleased with the request, and some had been less pleased again regarding the issue of tags, but he was reasonably sure he'd managed to placate most of them.

He read over the notes he had for their itinerary while he waited for everyone to assemble in the conference room. He'd been up late last night trying to get a somewhat friendly member of the Kingsglaive assigned to the survivalist training, to no avail, and he'd been up early again this morning ensuring everything was in order for the swift processing and manufacture of the tags they'd require so their esteemed guests didn't have to remain confined to the hotel for too much longer. His third can of Ebony of the day sat half drunk by his chair. After so long on the lowerworld and rationing his supply to make it last he'd consumed enough in his first two days back in Insomnia to give himself the jitters, but he'd become accustomed to the caffeine once more rather quickly.

The conference room was one of the hotel's largest. A huge, oval table occupied the centre of the room, and a projector hung from the ceiling, directed to a huge blank wall where it could be used for presentations and displays. Ignis had no intention of using that, but he did prefer the table set up of the room. It would be interesting to see who chose to sit next to whom, for one.

Ignis took a drink from his can and cast his eye over his papers again. Weaponry, clothing, chocobos, food, potions, ethers, camp supplies, water, medical supplies, communication; they weren't going to be heading to Pulse quickly with a shopping list this long and involved, but at the very least the time could be useful. They needed to ensure everyone was capable of surviving in the event they became stranded with nothing.

It was just a pity they'd refused to give him Nyx for that purpose.

Comments

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi couldn't have cared less on the subject of the exploration embargo. Compared to the rest of Spira, at least what he'd experienced, the hotel was an almost pure form of decadence. Gourmet food to order and enjoy, comfortable beds, modern conveniences and, most importantly, a large bath with a nice variety of good quality products to use at his leisure. That they didn't have to pay for any of it was a bonus, really.

He'd have spent a day in, enjoying the pleasant hotel, before going out anyway. Others, he imagined, would have done so as well, but the moment they were told to stay in would have been like rabbits digging at the floor of a hutch, feeling a sudden and inexplicable sense of being trapped purely because they were told they couldn't go out, even if they wouldn't have anyway, especially without maps or money. The request from Ignis to stay put just sealed the deal for him. Luxury, how inconvenient. He wasn't sure how he'd coped for a whole day.

Even so, the meeting had come upon them quickly and he and Marluxia had endeavoured to arrive early. They didn't want to end up seated at a table with anybody they were likely to find objectionable if there were other options, but when they arrived in the room Lumi found that to be an unnecessary concern. There was only one table and it was more than half empty. Nel had seated herself two seats from the front, next to Even, to nobody's surprise. On Even's other side was Szayel. Lumi expected that the two empty chairs at the table's head end were saved for Ienzo and Ulquiorra, the quiet little duo he'd found himself half surprised to see invited in the first place.

Lumi walked to the front on the other side and sat one chair in, leaving the headmost chair to Marluxia. He himself was ambivalent towards both Saix's little group and that of Grimmjow who, looking at the number of chairs left, and a mental headcount, were the ones who were missing.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia remained a step behind Lumi as he entered the conference room. He'd hazard a guess that conferences and official meetings were the hotel's primary money spinner; the staff had certainly been very accommodating and they had to be trusted to be discreet, although the presence of so many Selkies and apparent Selkies had raised eyebrows anyway.

Lumi had enjoyed the bath. Marluxia couldn't say he'd held any objection either, and although the gym hadn't appealed to him, the comfort of the hotel room made for a pleasantly gilded cage for the day that they'd been confined.

He gave Even a pointed nod as he took his seat, next to Lumi, and Ignis. The faint aroma of coffee lingered in the air and the open can near Ignis was a giveaway as to its origin. It seemed they were among the first to arrive.

"Enjoyable meal last night?" he asked, as he settled into his chair. Even had been on edge; the chilly bite of his nervousness had permeated the air, if you knew what it felt like.

[joinmyreunion]

The conference room wasn't too hard to find. The signage had all be in Jyllandi, but Kadaj had found he enjoyed the experience of not being the only illiterate person in the group, and once you figured out which letters meant 'conference room' it was easy enough to follow the arrows.

Having Apache on your team helped too.

He'd managed to read the menus last night, although some of the words had given him trouble. Still, it felt good not to have to ask Tayuya, or someone else, to explain the options, and he hadn't felt like an idiot in front of the waitress, who'd stared at him as if she'd never seen a Selkie before.

Judging by what Ignis had said, she probably hadn't. Just like she wouldn't have seen eyes like his before, either.

Kadaj could be counted among the list of people unhappy about having to have a tag, although he wasn't offended by it. He just didn't really do jewellery, and the idea of having a metal card on a chain smacking him in the face if he got into a fight seemed inconvenient. He shouldn't be getting into fights, he knew, but that wasn't really the point.

He still hadn't decided on a rank, either. A part of him, the young, stupid, egotistical part wanted to claim an A rank. He was a bankai-using zanpakuto-wielder, after all. That kind of power was rare.

The other part of him, the part he listened to because it sounded a bit like Gin, knew that if anything he'd be better off underplaying his abilities by just enough to sound realistic and keep idiots from trying it on, but also enough to give a really nasty surprise to anyone that expected him to be weaker than he really was because of it.

He saw Marluxia and Lumi disappearing into the conference room ahead of them. When he pushed the door open himself a minute later he saw Even and Nel already settled, along with Szayel, who Kadaj didn't want to sit anywhere near. That left them heading to the other side of the table, near Marluxia and Lumi.

[thatsit]

Ignis looked up from his notes as people began to really file in, and he cast a smile at the incoming group. Marluxia and Lumi had been key components of the entire venture, not that they knew as much, although Ignis wouldn't put it past Lumi to come to such conclusions regardless. The others, well... They needed the Ragnarok too, and people strong enough to face whatever they might find and in the end Grimmjow's merry band of troublemakers weren't poor company.

"Take a seat," he said, gesturing to the plethora of empty chairs around the table. "We'll begin once everyone's here."

Ila, Ienzo, and Ulquiorra were yet to arrive. Ulquiorra and Ienzo hadn't been high on Ignis's wishlist, although Ienzo had come with Even's recommendation, and Nel had conceded that Ulquiorra was one of the most powerful combatants among the Arrancar. They came as a pair, from all appearances, and when Ignis had spoke to Captain Aizen on the matter he'd seemed relatively eager to have Ulquiorra join them despite the disruption it could cause.

He did wonder about that.

[thechillyacademic]

Even didn't bother to spare Marluxia a withering look.

He'd been there for the entire thing and he really didn't appreciate his unnecessary needling on the subject. He'd managed to mostly recover from the indignity of his frosty reception where Saix and Axel had been concerned, but the reminder just made him prickle like a hedgehog, especially from him, of all people.

"Don't start," he said, wearily.

[cierva]

Apache trailed in after Kadaj, the second of Grimmjow's group to step in.

She hadn't been at a cultural or language-based disadvantage for once. She'd been able to use the menu without needing the hastily printed Ivalician edition that seemed to her only a wordsearch, maze and colouring section away from the kiddy version. She'd never been anywhere this fancy though, that was for sure. She had a certain amount of clout in her home city of Nagapur, a hair away from revolution though it might have been, but outside of it, where her family name was less well known, her Tag status kept her from fancy buildings like this one.

She had it on her, of course. It was in her pocket, curled up with the chain she hadn't needed to collar herself with since she'd alighted in Ivalice. Here, she didn't have to deal with having one made, she already had one, her own one, not one hastily constructed so she'd fit in with the populace. She'd looked at it, of course. She also knew the number, D/1, wouldn't be accurate to what she was capable of now, not by a long shot. She wondered if it would make sense to get it changed to better reflect her ability, or just keep it, illegal as an inaccurate Tag was, and destroy anybody who tried it on with her.

She seated herself next to Lumi, not liking him, but not minding him so much. She could look across the table at Nel, at any rate. That was never a bad thing. She was a good way to gauge things.

She looked slightly sullen, but she mostly wanted the meeting over. She didn't desire to explore the city as the others did. She knew how they'd get looked at. Their foreign appearances would get them stared at, and brightly coloured hair was hard to miss. Still, they'd be taken immediately for foreigners, she knew that much, so would only be subjected to curiosity or, at worst, mild xenophobia. It was people like herself, and Ulquiorra, even Lumi and Kadaj, if people got close enough to see their eyes in bright light, that would get the brunt of the unpleasantness. Foreigners were one thing, Tags were something else.

You could have a foreigner in polite company, but a tag? Not unless they were the help, and even then... she scowled at the front of the room.

[jawmask]

Grimmjow liked the city well enough, but he didn't much like being kept inside a hotel. He wanted to go out and explore, but he knew on a logical level that he shouldn't leave until he knew more about it. He didn't know what happened outside those doors, how everybody would be taken by the locals and it was up to him to deal with the bullshit associated with his Clan. One thing he did know, is that the locals, or at least the staff, looked at them a little too long, a little too hard. He supposed it was too much to ask that they were just taken back by how devastatingly handsome the boys were, and how pretty the girls were. It was probably their exotic hair.

Well, at least when they went out they'd look the part with the tags, where applicable. He'd been given an option. Only those who had visible mutations needed the tags. Ulquiorra would, and he doubted very much he'd appreciate it. Lumi would need one, as would Kadaj. Lea might, given that Grimmjow was pretty sure his eyes glowed and ... Even... maybe. He could go either way. He'd heard that blond people existed on Jylland without being Al Bhed, so the swirled pupils in their eyes wasn't necessary, but he supposed it depended how much the locals knew about the Lowerworld.

He sat himself a few seats from Apache. He knew Yylfordt would sit near her, so he deliberately provided a buffer between him and any potential residual animosity and Saix. He wasn't in the mood for that shit today.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia chuckled quietly at Even's response. Saix's presence was a sore spot, then. He couldn't deny that Saix's appearance last night had got his own proverbial hackles up; there was no love lost between himself and Saix or Axel, and he doubted that was going to change any time soon.

"I was as surprised as you," he said, addressing Even and then turning his attention to the front of the room as Skite took their seats nearby. "Some strange alliances have come into play to bring us together."

And on the same side, no less. At least for now.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya parked herself next to Grimmjow. As placements went it was as far away from any of the major assholes as she could really get. The ones that weren't her assholes, anyway. On the downside, it also meant she couldn't boot Szayel under the table if he started, and the look on his face suggested he was just waiting for a cue.

"You say that like we're not all sitting in some swanky hotel in a Jyllandi Kingdom we only heard of a couple of months ago," she said, slouching down in her chair and butting in on Marluxia's apparent needling of Even. "This clan's nothing but strange alliances."

[thatsit]

Ignis permitted a polite smile at Tayuya's description of Lucis. It wasn't inaccurate, to be sure, he wasn't about to deny that Lucian foreign policy had consisted primarily of staying out of people's way and under the radar, until now, but her manner of speaking was very to the point.

"I'm pleased you've found your accommodations comfortable," he commented, without lifting his eyes to her. He picked up his can of Ebony and took another drink.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith led the way to the conference room. There were already a few in there, she could sense that much; such a gathering of powerful people left a ripple in the air even though everyone was politely suppressing their reiatsu.

She looked over the faces she knew as she walked in through the doors. There was Saix's former enemy Marluxia, and his companion Lumi. Grimmjow, Yylfordt, Apache, Tayuya, and Kadaj were all making themselves comfortable. Saix's ex sat near Nel from last night, and there was a thin, pink haired man she didn't recognise next to them. Ignis, minus Gladio, sat at the head of the room.

She headed to the rear of the table, nearer to Grimmjow and Kadaj. It was probably the safest place to take Saix and Lea right now, given the tension last night. Nel may have smoothed things over, but they were by no means resolved.

[innatelunacy]

The first person Saix's eyes alighted on was Marluxia. He inhaled, his eyes falling to the white haired hanger-on that seemed super-glued to Marluxia's side, and then looked over the rest of the table.

Even and Nel, sat much as they had been the previous night. He wondered how Even knew her, and why she was by his side so much.

He flashed Apache a smile when he saw her. Yylfordt might be present, but Saix didn't care. He wasn't about to be impolite just because it would get that idiot's back up.

[joinmyreunion]

"Lumi."

Kadaj's voice was soft, but sure. Lumi wasn't actually a mistant, he was a Ryoka, but his eyes had slitted pupils and that was enough to earn him a tag here on Jylland. Passing for mistant would be safer than passing for Ryoka, so he doubted any of the Ryoka cared about it much.

"He could be an S/0 really. None of us have ever seen him go full tilt."

But he'd stood in front of Murcielago and not buckled. He'd bitten through an Arrancar's hierro. He had no reiatsu that anyone could detect, and the only time Kadaj had ever heard of him wavering with it he'd given Nel problems, and that was just a wobble, not a release.

Lumi was placid, and softspoken, and terrifying.

[theschemer]

"I agree," Ienzo said, quietly.

He was feared throughout the Clan and nobody quite knew what he was capable of. All they seemed to know for the longest time was that he was the bodyguard of Marluxia, who was, like him, known to be a Ryoka, who were known to be ridiculously powerful at their particular element. Nobody thought that Marluxia would have a bodyguard less powerful than himself, but it was impossible to tell. The man was a ghost. And he didn't brag, or posture.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel looked at Kadaj when he spoke, then at Zexion when he agreed.

Lumi was Marluxia's little pet. He didn't seem particularly talkative, but he clearly wasn't opposed to opening his mouth when the need arose, so he didn't appear to require permission, since he'd openly argued against going on camping training, stating that he had things he needed to do. Not Marluxia, him. A few other nods around the table suggested that Kadaj's estimation of his abilities in spite of admitting that he couldn't do magic at all probably weren't far off.

It made him slightly more worried about Marluxia. No wonder he looked smugger than a fox in a henhouse.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel gave an amused huff. The consensus around the table seemed to be that Lumi was the strongest one there. They probably weren't wrong.

"It was my hand he bit," he pointed out. Lumi may not have been entirely in his right mind, but that was beside the point. "And I think the spiritual pressure he released when he did was only a taste. He did manage to walk right up to Ulquiorra without even being out of breath." Szayel smirked, running his fingers through his hair. "Of course, he wasn't the only one who stayed on his feet in that room."

He gave a shrug. "Given the demonstrated power, I expect it's Lumi, then Ulquiorra and Nel, the fire elemental," he pointed at Lea, and then at Saix and Grimmjow, "those two, Apache, and Kadaj, unless anybody else wants to volunteer for a tag, too?"

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra wore an expression of mild boredom, or total indifference. He listened to people's reasoning for naming Lumi the strongest, and his standing so close to Murcielago was one of them.

"Even Aizen-sama didn't come that close," he said, looking directly at Lumi across the table. It could have easily been a test on Aizen-sama's part, a way to gauge the approximate strength of the Ryoka. Marluxia had been present too, as had Gin.

But in the end, Lumi had walked up close enough to take Ienzo-san from Ulquiorra's claws and he hadn't even been breathing heavily.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya raised her hand at Szayel's question. "Me," she answered. Her cursed seal, branded onto her by Orochimaru, wasn't a mutation as such, but it was near enough, and if any idiot wanted to start on her friends, she wanted to be able to use it without getting accused of being a secret mistant.

"Guess that puts me dead bottom."

[thechillyacademic]

"He was the only on that walked to within touching distance of that," he said, giving Szayel a look.

Szayel was certainly well above the normal average on account of his being an Arrancar and he'd been present to see Ulquiorra return in that evil form, although he'd barely stayed on his feet, from what Even had heard, and he'd been short of breath.

Even suspected that Lumi had the desired effect that Marluxia was going for, anyway. Marluxia was scary enough on his own, but Even had the edge on him elementally. Few flowers could withstand frost, let alone an instant ice age. Lumi would be Even's risk and it was because of that, as well as having mellowed out of having a hairtrigger temper and instant argumentative tendencies somewhat, that kept him from giving Marluxia freezerburn for being smug.

"Being at the bottom of the list isn't the damning review it sounds like," he said, looking at Tayuya. "You, Kadaj and Apache all have abilities that don't show up on your baseline readings, but outstrip most people otherwise."

Those currently in the room notwithstanding.

A cursed seal, a Hollow mask and a Zanpakuto. All kept their real combative strengths well-covered and none of them were really mutations.

"I'm not going to volunteer for a tag," he said, looking at Szayel again. "I'm not Al Bhed and I've been told that blond-haired humes aren't unknown on this continent, even if they are a rarity elsewhere."

[thewingsoffreedom]

Levi listened to them all and got the strange feeling he was only getting half a story. Most of them apparently knew each other, because they were all able to refer to some incident or other that proved that this Lumi was the most powerful Mistant among them for a number of feats including, it seemed, biting somebody, which didn't seem all that interesting in his opinion.

He looked at the pink-haired girl complain about being last, but he agreed with the blond man who spoke after about power levels.

"That's correct on both counts," Levi said. "Blonds don't get a second look here, and our Al Bhed friend," he glanced at Yylfordt, "is more likely to get looked at for his fucked up looking eyes than you are for yours, so if you don't want a tag, nobody's going to force you." He looked back at the girl. "I don't know what your stories are, but they're probably weird, so go for what works."

He looked around the table at the others.

"Which one of you is Lumi?" He asked, he looked over as the white-haired one raised his hand just enough to get his attention. "What rank are you picking?"

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi raised his hand when asked, not being particularly surprised at being singled out by the rest of them who'd given their opinion.

His physical 'mutations', such as they appeared, were merely vertically slitted pupils and unusually long canine teeth, the latter oddity hidden. His colouring would mark him as unusual anywhere else but Spira, but white hair, yellow eyes, paler skin than most simply made him look like a Selkie here. That, while not the most common race, was not unusual in any way.

Most of the reason he'd been picked out was that they knew little about him. He had few doubts that he could take any of them in the room. Ulquiorra, at full-release and struggling to control the Hollow within him, hadn't swayed him. He vaguely remembered Szayel struggling to stay conscious, Nel struggling to even breathe and staying well away, all but the two Captains who had been present, and standing, but hadn't endeavoured to get particularly close. He hadn't been the only one still standing, though. Marluxia had, though Lumi hadn't missed his laboured breathing. Ienzo had been carried in by Ulquiorra himself. His poor state when brought into he infirmary hadn't only been down to his injury. Ulquiorra's effect on him had been profound, even if he had saved his life. He suspected he might be able to withstand the hollow in him at full health, with a small amount of difficulty, but injured... he had been lucky to survive him.

He'd also been injured himself, before then, and, in a moment where his perfect control had slipped, for a split second, he'd nearly floored more than one of the people present, according to Marluxia. Szayel would have probably been knocked unconscious had it not been the briefest of flashes and even Even had admitted to struggling to breathe. Marluxia had later described it as unpleasant.

The truth was, Lumi didn't know how powerful he was, how deep his reserves of Chakra went, though he was learning more about it every time he communed with his Zanpakuto, ridiculous as it had seemed initially. He rarely used Chakra consciously. He was no mage, and was able to use only the Ruin spell, even if that was just how his own Chakra element manifested when used in its raw form. He'd never forced his Chakra to the limit, never freed his control over his Reiatsu to its fullest, never cared to.

On a day-to-day basis, it was as though he didn't have one. A room could feel empty with him in it. Magic and all that surrounded it simply wasn't his forté. But the passive effect was that he could withstand examples of comparable and weaker reiatsu without flinching. Ulquiorra was among those examples, even fully released. Even on the brink of losing control.

Realistically, he wouldn't need to fight anybody who started on him due to his wearing a tag. He could just flare his Chakra, exert a bit of magical pressure, and gain the upper hand, but that would be both flashy and require his wearing, as Kadaj said, the maximum designation, which he didn't necessarily want. He wanted it high enough to deter chancers, but not low enough to attract them.

"Either S/5 or A/0," he said, after a moment's thought. "Lower, if we're permitted to be conservative in our estimates."

S/0 was probably accurate, but it was also inviting attention he didn't want.

[declaregamuza]

Ignis had taken their selections for their tag ranks and informed them that they'd be delivered that evening, along with maps of the city, mobile phones loaded with the numbers for each other, the hotel, a reliable local taxi service, and himself, and a card that they could use to purchase food or essentials outside the hotel. The crown, he explained, was picking up the tab for their stay, but any frivolous spending, such as drinks in bars as opposed to drinks with a meal in a restaurant, would be deducted from the agreed payments for the mission.

Nel supposed it was a way of forwarding them the money without actually forwarding them the money. Since the hotel was able to provide everything they might want, including free drinks, it didn't seem unfair. She just hoped the young idiots wouldn't go out getting drunk and buying designer clothes or gadgets willy nilly because they couldn't see the money it was costing.

Then he wished them a good day, and they were dismissed. Nel had hung back to talk to Lumi, watching Ignis go with a polite nod and a smile. Lumi had said he'd explain how he'd come by a Zanpakuto, and this was definitely an explanation she wanted to hear. Zanpakuto were made by the careful infusion of one's self into the weapon, you didn't just pick one up at the local weapons dealer.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi, like Nel, waited behind.

He told Marluxia to head back to the room and that he'd be there shortly, he did sort of owe Nel and explanation for that revelation. At the same time, he was rather impressed that nobody in Clan Skite had seen fit to mention it to Nel, or any of the other higher-up Arrancar. It would, after all, have been pertinent information and, as such, he couldn't have blamed them, but it was heartening that they had kept it to themselves even if he couldn't be sure if it was out of respect or fear. Not that it mattered when the result was the same.

For once, he didn't have it on him. The meeting, while formal, wasn't set to be a particularly long affair and as far as they knew, it was mostly going to consist of Ignis briefing them on Lucian matters. As such, most of them hadn't arrived visibly armed. Fang had come without her spear, Aerith hadn't brought her staff, the ex-Nobodies were usually unarmed as a matter of course and most of the Arrancar had left their zanpakutos behind, much like Lumi had, with Ulquiora being the glaring, scowling and flat little exception.

That didn't mean Lumi was unarmed, of course. It just meant that none of his weapons were visible. A white sword adorned with a ribbon would have been very visible.

If you didn't know him, you'd take him for safe.

[declaregamuza]

Nel was glad when she saw Marluxia separating from Lumi. She didn't mind Lumi; in truth, he was fairly pleasant if you could get past his flat affect. He never raised his voice, never laughed, never smiled, but that was because Lumi was a man of subtlety.

Maybe he felt he had to be, paired off against Marluxia. They couldn't both be as fabulously flamboyant as him or they might accidentally merge and become Szayel 2.0. One of them had to be the straight man, and apparently it was Lumi.

"So," she said, relaxing a little and folding her arms as potential listeners filed away, "that was an interesting meeting."

[thesilentstorm]

"It was certainly informative," he said.

Interesting was subjective, but informative wasn't. Not only had the information from both Ignis and the horrible little Glaive been useful to learn, but some things had come up about other members of the future party, himself included, as Nel's surprise about his Zanpakuto suggested.

He was a quiet as usual, with no change to his demeanour. Had one of the others, particularly somebody like Grimmjow, and probably Saix, been singled out as probably the scariest person in the room, they might have been feeling the effects of that on their ego, and would reflect it in their behaviour, but Lumi wasn't like them.

"I'm surprised Skite hadn't told you ahead of now," he admitted, seeing little need to dance around the point. They both knew why they were there.