While tyrants close the doors.
Apr. 24th, 2013 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theedgeofreason posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
spira_rpThe past few weeks had, for Aizen at least, been somewhat trying.
The publicity he had been expected to deal with following the fall of Midgar had been an inevitable chore. Due to his position in the Gotei 13, pledges had to be made to help Bancour during its time of crisis. Wholesale destruction could quite easily breed scores of Hollows and it was Aizen's sworn duty, and that of his men, to eradicate them whenever they reared their bone-masked heads. Bancour was far, far out of his jurisdiction that was true, but there was no harm in proving that the Gotei 13 recognised no borders when it came to its collective dedication to its work. At the same time, he had been obligated to sit in on meetings with Archadian political giants concerning the delicate state of peace in the aftermath. To nobody's great surprise, and certainly not to Aizen's, The Archadian Empire had been the first to come under suspicion. Accusations, both the plausible and the far-fetched, had come thick and fast in the wake of the collapse. Even weeks after the incident some tempers were still running high, but nothing could be proved until Midgar was safe to examine.
Aizen's privileged position gave him access to Midgar's status reports and, while Bancouri officials had lobbied to keep them out of Archadian hands, Aizen's insistence that he have them when he was to be sending in his own men in to a potential Necrohol to aid Captain Komamura's already thinly stretched forces eventually resulted in the necessary papers crossing his desk. That all lands in the vicinity of the inner-city were considered too heavily poisoned by high concentrations of leaked Mako was certainly encouraging.
All in all, it had been an interesting change from the curious state of limbo that had reigned ever since Nabudis had accidentally been reduced to a blasted ruin and the Greenlands around it, now known as the Deadlands, to a smoking wasteland. Even so, dealing with manpower allocation and sitting on a council made of members trying by turns to and not to affix the word 'war' to the fore of it had taken their toll. After many packed days and what felt like even more sleepless nights, Aizen had been obvious about growing weary of it all and openly yielded to exhaustion. At the first opportunity, he had taken a few days leave and bid his Lieutenant deal with his duties in his stead. With no rest for the wicked, a phrase that had turned out to be truer than he had thought possible, Aizen clandestinely returned to the Desert Palace of Clan Khamja to deal with unfinished matters there.
The atmosphere in the Palace was much as it had been when he had left. Some things remained unchanged others ... well, they were quite different. Zexion, the Ryoka Alchemist, had made a full recovery where his exhaustion was concerned, but Aizen had been informed that the boy had not said a single word since waking and had spent most of his time holed up in his quarters. He had dealt with very few matters across phonelines, but he had sent word to ensure that Zexion was not to be informed of the new faces on the side of their enemies ahead of his return. He had made it clear that any Arrancar found breaking this order would find themselves dealing with the consequences. Nnoitra had, from what he had been told, kept himself well out of the way. Aizen was glad of this -- it minimised the chances of one of his more unruly Arrancar coming face to face with the subordinates of the man he had helped murder. Grimmjow and Neliel were doing as well as could be expected, her more than him. Luppi, to nobody's great surprise, was slow to recover from the injuries he had sustained at the hands of the Ryoka Berserker. He was considered to be out of danger, but he was still currently immobile and his moments of conscious lucidity were few and brief.
What had really nettled Aizen upon his return were whispers, whispers all too soon confirmed, that another of his Arrancar had struck out at a full-member of the Clan. He would have expected such of the rash, hot-headed members of his mismatched band of underlings, people like Nnoitra, who had already proved he could, Grimmjow who had as well, the Fracción Apache who was, as far as he was concerned, only biding her time. Even Szayel, albeit in a fashion less ... traditional than those, was not above suspicion. The name he had been given was a surprise to him. It shouldn't have been, especially not given past behaviour or the current state of affairs, but it had nonetheless given him pause.
Ulquiorra had attacked L and, from what he had been told, the preceding argument had taken place entirely in Old Rozarrian -- a language none of the witnesses could profess to speak. L had recovered, for a given value of recovery, and was up and about contrary to recommendation. He maintained that the altercation was one that concerned only blood, not the Clan, and Aizen had not been brought before Illua to answer for the crimes of his subordinate. In the end, Aizen only found himself disappointed that Ulquiorra had shown mercy. He, like Nnoitra, had been unsurprisingly absent following the incident.
Aizen resolved to speak to him on the matter, but it would have to wait until more pressing affairs had been attended to. The meeting, the debriefing put off following the mission itself, was still to be conducted. All of his Arrancar were expected to attend, even those in disgrace, though Luppi was to be the notable exception. L would undoubtedly be there regardless of the inevitable friction between him and his nephew, the presence of Zexion was assured and Gin Ichimaru had said, with his characteristic smile, that he wouldn't miss it for the world. He had even gone so far as to suggest that Marluxia, one of Khamja's older Ryoka recruits, also be present. The unknowns allied with the Berserker could easily be Ryoka, Gin had pointed out. Some of the files L had recovered from Midgar had certainly suggested such. With Zexion having been deliberately kept in the dark and Marluxia not yet up to date with the situation, they were unlikely to both be able to stifle reactions as to conceal a truth, should they attempt to do so. There was wisdom in the suggestion, and so Aizen had consented to it.
With the attendees decided, orders in the guise of invites had been sent out.
The publicity he had been expected to deal with following the fall of Midgar had been an inevitable chore. Due to his position in the Gotei 13, pledges had to be made to help Bancour during its time of crisis. Wholesale destruction could quite easily breed scores of Hollows and it was Aizen's sworn duty, and that of his men, to eradicate them whenever they reared their bone-masked heads. Bancour was far, far out of his jurisdiction that was true, but there was no harm in proving that the Gotei 13 recognised no borders when it came to its collective dedication to its work. At the same time, he had been obligated to sit in on meetings with Archadian political giants concerning the delicate state of peace in the aftermath. To nobody's great surprise, and certainly not to Aizen's, The Archadian Empire had been the first to come under suspicion. Accusations, both the plausible and the far-fetched, had come thick and fast in the wake of the collapse. Even weeks after the incident some tempers were still running high, but nothing could be proved until Midgar was safe to examine.
Aizen's privileged position gave him access to Midgar's status reports and, while Bancouri officials had lobbied to keep them out of Archadian hands, Aizen's insistence that he have them when he was to be sending in his own men in to a potential Necrohol to aid Captain Komamura's already thinly stretched forces eventually resulted in the necessary papers crossing his desk. That all lands in the vicinity of the inner-city were considered too heavily poisoned by high concentrations of leaked Mako was certainly encouraging.
All in all, it had been an interesting change from the curious state of limbo that had reigned ever since Nabudis had accidentally been reduced to a blasted ruin and the Greenlands around it, now known as the Deadlands, to a smoking wasteland. Even so, dealing with manpower allocation and sitting on a council made of members trying by turns to and not to affix the word 'war' to the fore of it had taken their toll. After many packed days and what felt like even more sleepless nights, Aizen had been obvious about growing weary of it all and openly yielded to exhaustion. At the first opportunity, he had taken a few days leave and bid his Lieutenant deal with his duties in his stead. With no rest for the wicked, a phrase that had turned out to be truer than he had thought possible, Aizen clandestinely returned to the Desert Palace of Clan Khamja to deal with unfinished matters there.
The atmosphere in the Palace was much as it had been when he had left. Some things remained unchanged others ... well, they were quite different. Zexion, the Ryoka Alchemist, had made a full recovery where his exhaustion was concerned, but Aizen had been informed that the boy had not said a single word since waking and had spent most of his time holed up in his quarters. He had dealt with very few matters across phonelines, but he had sent word to ensure that Zexion was not to be informed of the new faces on the side of their enemies ahead of his return. He had made it clear that any Arrancar found breaking this order would find themselves dealing with the consequences. Nnoitra had, from what he had been told, kept himself well out of the way. Aizen was glad of this -- it minimised the chances of one of his more unruly Arrancar coming face to face with the subordinates of the man he had helped murder. Grimmjow and Neliel were doing as well as could be expected, her more than him. Luppi, to nobody's great surprise, was slow to recover from the injuries he had sustained at the hands of the Ryoka Berserker. He was considered to be out of danger, but he was still currently immobile and his moments of conscious lucidity were few and brief.
What had really nettled Aizen upon his return were whispers, whispers all too soon confirmed, that another of his Arrancar had struck out at a full-member of the Clan. He would have expected such of the rash, hot-headed members of his mismatched band of underlings, people like Nnoitra, who had already proved he could, Grimmjow who had as well, the Fracción Apache who was, as far as he was concerned, only biding her time. Even Szayel, albeit in a fashion less ... traditional than those, was not above suspicion. The name he had been given was a surprise to him. It shouldn't have been, especially not given past behaviour or the current state of affairs, but it had nonetheless given him pause.
Ulquiorra had attacked L and, from what he had been told, the preceding argument had taken place entirely in Old Rozarrian -- a language none of the witnesses could profess to speak. L had recovered, for a given value of recovery, and was up and about contrary to recommendation. He maintained that the altercation was one that concerned only blood, not the Clan, and Aizen had not been brought before Illua to answer for the crimes of his subordinate. In the end, Aizen only found himself disappointed that Ulquiorra had shown mercy. He, like Nnoitra, had been unsurprisingly absent following the incident.
Aizen resolved to speak to him on the matter, but it would have to wait until more pressing affairs had been attended to. The meeting, the debriefing put off following the mission itself, was still to be conducted. All of his Arrancar were expected to attend, even those in disgrace, though Luppi was to be the notable exception. L would undoubtedly be there regardless of the inevitable friction between him and his nephew, the presence of Zexion was assured and Gin Ichimaru had said, with his characteristic smile, that he wouldn't miss it for the world. He had even gone so far as to suggest that Marluxia, one of Khamja's older Ryoka recruits, also be present. The unknowns allied with the Berserker could easily be Ryoka, Gin had pointed out. Some of the files L had recovered from Midgar had certainly suggested such. With Zexion having been deliberately kept in the dark and Marluxia not yet up to date with the situation, they were unlikely to both be able to stifle reactions as to conceal a truth, should they attempt to do so. There was wisdom in the suggestion, and so Aizen had consented to it.
With the attendees decided, orders in the guise of invites had been sent out.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-07 05:40 pm (UTC)If the girl had enough of a range of Cetra abilities, there was a very real possibility that she may be able to communicate with or at least hear the Lifestream. Should that be true, she would know that Midgar's people hadn't returned to it during the Fall. Thousands of people had died all at once, everyone knew that, but if she had the capacity to feel that happening, she'd know that all wasn't as it seemed. That was ... worrying.
Aizen decided not to address that point just yet. He had asked L to remain in order to better pinpoint her origin and movements and work out where she had been prior to meeting up with the order. Szayel was there to discuss the scientific side of things in terms of the likelihood of a Cetra still being around. Neliel was there for inside knowledge on the Cetra themselves. Aizen had learned a lot about them as a people from research -- he had taught himself to read Ancient script many years ago -- but there was nothing like true knowledge, even if it was gained from Gamuza.
"We can better ascertain who she is when you have uncovered those records," Aizen said softly, fixing L with cold eyes that would have been soft should they have belonged to anyone else. "There is no great urgency, but I would prefer the information sooner rather than later."
no subject
Date: 2013-06-07 09:37 pm (UTC)Still, L caught her attention when he said the girl had escaped Shinra once. She looked at him, listening as he spoke, and considered that possibility. She didn't know much about Hojo. The name was familiar, but she was Archadian, and Hojo had worked for Shinra, and aside from that and some scandal, and his dying in a laboratory accident years ago, she didn't know much more. He was a Bancouri Kurotsuchi, with all the horrifying implications that entailed.
The last thing that poor girl deserved now was to fall into Szayel's hands.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-07 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-07 10:00 pm (UTC)"You're in possession of all Professor Hojo's research?" He asked, sounding a little bit like a small child being told Warsend was tomorrow. Shinra had, obviously, kept it, but now everyone that worked in a position to have had access to it was dead, which meant that research was now sitting there, untouched. No one else in the world had access to it. As far as the world at large was concerned, that research was lost.
Except that it wasn't, it was right here in the building with Szayel.
He felt like a little kid at Warsend.
"That could take years to go through, you realise? You're hardly in a fit state to tackle a task of that magnitude right now. I've already told you that you shouldn't be trying to work on anything for more than a couple of hours at a time, and you need frequent, regular sleep, or you'll only hamper your own recovery." He couldn't help the slight, supercilious little smirk that crossed his face. "Someone competent should be assigned to the task. Right now, L, that is not you."
no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 10:09 pm (UTC)He was of the opinion that L only had himself to blame for what Ulquiorra had done to him. He didn't doubt that in addition to suffering ample physical discomfort, L also had a considerable amount of guilt to contend with. He would, of course, discuss the incident with Ulquiorra in due time, but the unspoken rule that bloodline feuds, be they between members, subordinates or a combination of the two, were out of Clan hands meant that he had no real need to hear Ulquiorra's justifications or apologies. Aizen felt no sympathy or pity for L. He had brought it on himself back when he made the decision to condone a mission that resulted in the deaths of his family members.
As for Nel's silent disquiet, Aizen knew that there was nothing he could say that would put her mind at ease. Should the Cetra girl end up a problem she would, indeed, be dealt with in the same way that Khamja dealt with other problems that arose. Even so, Aizen wasn't particularly concerned. There was nothing that could link the Fall of Midgar to Khamja and there was nothing to link Khamja to Aizen himself. The girl would have more to lose than gain if she took it upon herself to declare the Fall not what it seemed. She would risk exposure as a Cetra, potentially the last of her kind, at that. Scientists with Szayel's over-abundance of curiosity, lack of restraint and ethical blindness would crawl out of the woodwork all over Spira to study her and still nobody would be any the wiser as to who had caused the 'accident'. Theories would abound and accusations would fly in endless profusion just as they did today and there would still be no definitive proof.
She would certainly need to be watched, but Aizen was fairly confident that self-preservation would win out. It had in the case of the Akatsuki bomber who, in spite of Kuja's best efforts, was still as free as the clay birds he commanded.
His more immediate concern was silencing Szayel. The last thing he wanted now was for Szayel to push L into a defensive position that would lead him to guard the information he had saved from Midgar's archives. Too much enthusiasm on such a ... delicate subject was ill-advised at best and, besides that, Aizen simply didn't trust L not to childishly withhold the information simply because he could.
"Szayel," Aizen said, fixing his subordinate with a warning look. "Midgar's archives can wait until L is in a position to sort through them himself. Other matters require your ongoing attention."
no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 10:35 pm (UTC)"Right now," he said, quietly, "I am the only one capable. Other clan members have to keep up their public facades in light of the tragedy, and while you may be well placed to explain the contents of Hojo's work, you are a scientist and would find it difficult to focus and find the information we currently require when all of it is of interest to you." He looked directly at Szayel before saying, "If your assistance is required, it will be requested." He turned his attention back to Aizen, his head canted slightly to one side before he said, "Provided you assent to that, of course."
Hard to imagine that Aizen wouldn't. He'd probably be quite happy for Szayel to have access to the complete library of Hojo's work, although L would be rather less happy for it. On the other hand, he would reluctantly concede that Szayel may have uses to which he could be put.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-09 10:54 pm (UTC)The 'other matters' that required his 'ongoing attention' were, frankly, nowhere near as interesting as the prospect of Professor Hojo's body of work.
Being told he may be asked to assist didn't do anything to mollify him, either, because that was only a maybe, and would only involve part of the whole thing, which was not as much fun. Though the fact that Professor Hojo had, potentially, studied the Cetra, was intriguing.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 12:33 am (UTC)"Of course," Aizen said, nodding at L's question. "Should anything come up that is of interest to the Clan that would require a scientists eye, you have leave to ask for Szayel."
He looked at all three of them and decided to bring the conversation back around to the subject they were there to discuss. It was easy to get sidetracked with Szayel in the mix. He was all too eager to jump on matters that interested him, as opposed to those that were immediately relevant.
"In any case, the girl will need to be watched," he said carefully, "as will Axel. I am aware that the Ryoka usually make their base in Rabanastre," he continued, looking at L as he spoke, "so we can assume, due to the presence of Saix, that these two will likely join them. Have there been any sightings of either of them in that area?" L had eyes everywhere, that was his purpose. Aizen didn't doubt for a second that he was keeping at least a couple of them on the movements of the Ryoka, so if they had been in Rabanastre, he expected L to know of it. He couldn't help but notice that he had put forward no information on the two of them being there prior to the altercation with the Arrancar, so he surmised that they had not been there before Platefall.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 07:24 pm (UTC)"Saix makes his home in Lindblum, with the ice elemental he married," L said, softly. Rabanastre's climate seemed like as good a reason as they needed for an ice elemental to wish to live elsewhere, but Marluxia's statements about rifts presented the interesting possibility of a deep vein of distrust being at work, too.
It was possible, then, that Axel and this girl had been in Lindblum instead of Rabanastre, but he would have to check that theory against what his Lindblum contacts knew, as well as getting in touch with the ones in Rabanastre. "I'm not aware of any contact with these two individuals in Rabanastre, but I intend to check, as I shall with Lindblum." It wouldn't be a lengthy process, at least; his contacts were usually pretty good at providing answers quickly.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 07:33 pm (UTC)Gamuza had been so adamant, after seeing that limit technique put to use, and it looked as though Gamuza had been right.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-13 03:51 pm (UTC)With L on both the recovered information and the investigation into the whereabouts of the Ryoka and the Cetra girl prior to their battle, there was nothing Aizen could do but wait and he had other matters to attend to. The subject of Ulquiorra's argument with L required his attention, as did a short meeting with Illua. He needed to speak to Gin regarding what had been said during the meeting and it would be worth paying a visit to the infirmary to assess Luppi's current condition.
"Well then," he said, looking at the three of them in turn. "I think that concludes this discussion for the time being. I think it safer that this matter not be discussed with the others until we are sure of what she is. While I cannot impose such a restriction on you," he said, looked at L, "you two should consider that instruction explicit."
He stepped away from the group and opened the door himself, breaking the seal he had applied.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-14 12:03 am (UTC)She nodded her acknowledgement of the order anyway, adding, "Yes, sir," out of habit.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-14 12:12 am (UTC)Unlike Nel, he didn't acknowledge the order, instead looking grouchy as he stood and made to leave.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-14 12:25 am (UTC)His head was pounding in time to his heartbeat, and he knew he needed to go and rest, but he had work to do. Perhaps he could spare some time to rest after he'd contacted his spies in Rabanastre, and Lindblum. Then he could go back to Hojo's files.
Midgar was proving to be an extremely lengthy job for him.