A MESSAGE IN BLOOD [P]

It was quiet, too quiet for his taste. Hueco Mundo he was used to, the desert itself was desolate but the land trembled with the daily struggle of life and death, kill or be killed. Here on Olympus things were far much more quiet. . . peaceable almost. There was no stench of death, no fear to smell aside from the guards that he occasionally passed as he explored the stunning mountainous area. . . . .he hadn't been here long and already he was bored out of his mind.

His first few days here had been uneventful, coming to terms with his surroundings as well as his new alias. . . .Poseidon, the more he said to himself the more attached to the name he seemed to grow. At first he was simply content to get accustomed to his new environment; a simple feat given just how luxurious the place seemed, even the soldiers themselves seemed to have armors that shimmered dazzlingly in the majestic mountain sunlight. For all their sheen however the soldiers were still terrified of him, nor could he blame them, he was a walking 7 foot monstrosity of muscle, keen intellect and pure primal rage waiting to be unbottled at the slightest moment. In time however they grew a little more comfortable in his presence, comfortable enough not to run away when they saw him but smart enough not to interact with him unless otherwise directed.

For the most part Poseidon kept himself busy feeding the more astute and intellectual hungers of his mind with the vast wealth of knowledge Athena had procured in her vast libraries, teasing his mind with records of wars, stratagem and the destruction of civilizations. When these began to wane he turned to the sciences, specifically biology and the nature of the human anatomy, these were far more interesting as they helped him understand the capabilities and limitations of his human form.

When not reading, he trained, most of the time alone, honing the range of his telekinesis and his close range combat. The spare time afforded in between reading and training were spent bathing, something he'd seen the other soldiers do daily, his first time he was a little surprised to find the stench of blood and death had all but gone from his fur and his skin looked clean instead of smeared with stains, from then on he was a little more wary of taking baths, but something about them just seemed to temper his rage if only for a while and so gradually he'd picked it up as a sort of hobby, not daily like the soldiers he'd seen but every other week or so.

Today would be one of those days it seemed as a small squadron of soldiers marched briskly to the calidarium section of the baths, halting just before the hot water pool their captain, a man adorned with a brighter corinthian style helmet than his squad and more feathers on his helm to signify higher rank stepped forward, thumping a fist to his chest the man bowed before the pool.

Lord Poseidon, Athena requests your audience with her at the training grounds

A momentary silence would lapse as a shadowy darkness tainted the pool, like a pool of oil it sat on the water as wet golden fur began to emerge from its depths, water splashed softly as it cascaded down his body and off the loose ends of his fur into the pool. A giant shadow rose from the depths, still obscured by the light steam of the hot pool as golden circles burned piercingly into the the man standing before him, standing to its full 7 feet it dwarfed the captain by a few good inches. Even squeaky clean, Poseidon looked menacing, like an animal just returned from hunting in the depths of the ocean, his fur clung to his body making the hollow look just as feral if not slightly more than when he was dry.

The atmosphere immediately grew more tense with the emergence of the vasto lorde from the pool, the captain stiffened slightly in fear but gave away nothing, the same couldn't be said for his subordinates however the soft clink of armor could be heard as they shifted about uncomfortably. One of them inhaled sharply as a mysterious object floated past him, reaching instinctively for his sword only to halt himself when he saw it was only a large towel.

Fetch me my armor

Stepping out of the pool and into the oncoming towel, Poseidon allowed the cloth to survey every orifice of his body. Two soldiers immediately returned carrying his armor, it wasn't really armor per say more so garb to wear whilst he was here, usually he was content to walk around naked but the sideways glances and the under the cover looks were beginning to annoy him, better simply to put something on than kill a soldier for using his eyes. . . .not that he wouldn't do so regardless. For the most part it was simply some large, ninja style pants and some cuffs to protect his shoulders and greaves for his hands as well as sandals for his feet, he'd specifically requested that his upper body remain bare and exposed. . . there was such a thing as too much clothing. The soldiers remained otherwise motionless and it wasn't until he reached for his armor that he realized they were still there.

Inform Athena I will be there shortly.

The captain thumped his hand to his chest once more, standing to attention as his subordinates followed suit, the look of relief clearly evident in their eyes.

At once!

Slapping on the last cuff on his shoulder even as the they scurried out of the calidarium, he turned to gaze longingly at the pool, more so his reflection, before heading out himself. Using his telekinesis Poseidon honed in on the training grounds, the familiar smell of Athena's reiatsu ghosting his nostrils as he approached, it wouldn't be long before his eyes made out the outline of her figure in and amongst the sea of training soldiers. Her army had gotten bigger in the days he'd actually bothered to come see them train and it was still surprising even now to see the number of soldiers growing. . . .whatever carnage she had in store for the gotei was looking more and more like it might just be worth the wait.

Landing softly before her, his tail whipped about viciously, spraying the last few dregs of water in to the air behind him.

You've interrupted my bath, Athena

The low menacing grumble in his voice a few decibels from a downright roar, feigning slight irritability as he spoke but she would see past that to the eagerness and anticipation that lurked neath the surface of his golden eyes. She'd fought him before and knew that he wasn't to be trifled with, which meant that whatever reason she had summoned him for, if it meant disturbing his bath, it probably was a very good one.

You'd better have an excellent way to placate for that.

W O R D S
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He threw his gaze unamusedly at the direction of her gesture to the display of bodies locked in one manner of struggle or other against each other in mock simulation of combat, a distasteful grin marring his features. He detested soldiers for the sole reason that they were pawns that merely obstructed the carnage, he himself preferred to sweep ahead of his men clearing the frontlines and letting them clean up from behind him not to mention it was only the weak the bunched together in their defiance of the strong, the lone wolf. . . the true alpha predator brought destruction on his own, his mere presence an chilling indicator of the menace to come. Still he held a respect for carnage whatever shape it took and so he couldn't help but grin slightly at the sheer number and prowess each soldier displayed.

You will forgive me, Athena, I see greater merit in individual strength than the prowess of one's pawns, the power of a general lies in their ability to strike fear into the foe and unite the soldier of whatever calibre into the most effecient unit

Of course he saw the flaw of placing such heavy responsibility on just one being, should they die the army would be at a disarray and flee, each man need to be able to think for himself in such a likelihood as to maintain order and cohesiveness, still a true general would never abandon his men. . . .not even if the reaper came to collect his due.

In any case Athena would see he was well able to indulge in matters of combat and strategy, a tool of destruction was only as refined as their mind and his was an edge that constantly remained sharp.

Forgive me, I did not call you to simply brag about my soldiers. No, I have a little.. errand that requires a certain expertise.

A grin pulled at the hollow's cheeks as she spoke, one that told of potent carnage waiting to be unleashed that grew wider.

An errand that involves Shinigami blood.

And wider.

Interested?

And wider still until his teeth sat upon each other exposed so that the pink of his gums could be seen, at last the opportunity to wreak havoc had presented itself and he held little reserve at the thought of staining his fur with blood once more.

You need only say the location and my corpse limit as well as what I am to do with said corpses upon acquisition.

The vasto's tail coiled and whipped about viciously in anticipation and he had to fight the urge to shudder at the thought of the carnage he would unleash on this before him.

I will handle the rest.

W O R D S
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T A G
EMILIA

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