In The Garden

Well, good evening Mademoiselle Roselia, Mademoiselle Gwen, it is a pleasure to meet you! Chandre said with a curtsy, lifting her red evening gown as she bowed politely. Pleasantries were so rare to enjoy these days, so she made the most of it; it didn’t hurt that she was a touch on the dramatic side most times. She stepped onto the grass, the little blades of greenery tickling the bottom of her feet as she walked over to where the women stood. She reached into the little purse that she carried around, pulling out a snake like creature with strange and numerous little spider like legs chittering around what could be described as its mouth. In all honesty, the purse was too small for the little creature to live in and she had been storing it in her arm, using the purse as a little bit of misdirection to retrieve the squirming critter. She liked to keep up appearances after all. The snake like creature wrapped around her arm as the little legs started darting in and out of its mouth, pulling strings of… something out and weaving it together quickly. It may have been hard to tell at first what was happening, but within seconds, a fully formed arm chair had been produced. It looked like it was made of fine polished cherry wood with gold inlay and red velvet seating, intricate carvings dancing up and down the body of it. Chandre placed the chair beside Roselia before taking a seat and putting the little snake ‘back in her purse’ before looking up at Gwen, her comment sort of catching Chandre off guard.

I didn’t know Shinigami gave us names actually, I try to avoid them most of the time honestly. She said, recounting the times she had run into them, and honestly one time was too many. Chandre was my name when I was living actually, I just decided to keep using it after I evolved. She said happily, considering being a hollow a definite step up from being a human. Somehow I managed to keep my individual consciousness after eating all those people and hollows and such. Memories too, and if my mortal self could see me now, she’d just die! Chandre said, and if her mask could muster a smile, at least without her shapeshifting powers anyway, she’d be grinning ear to ear. Did Shinigami give you both your names? I mean, they’re so lovely, I don’t imagine Shinigami being that poetic of mind. She cooed, leaning to one side in her chair, not sure if the more serious of the arrancar would be willing to share much of her story. The sultry plant lady on the other hand seemed much more open.

Roselia seemed a little indignant at the idea of being named by somebody else, which Chandre could understand. The shinigami didn't seem like the most inventive of people, Roselia would probably end up with something like 'flower lady' or 'Venus flytrap' which was pretty low hanging fruit. Chandre didn't doubt that her own name would be along the lines of 'candle head' or something along those lines. She would have to remember to ask the next shinigami she fought if she had any odd nom du guerre, perhaps she'd let that shinigami run home just to set the record straight and get her name right.

Subjects? She asked, curious if this was another member of some hollow royal family. Chandre had actually been to the castle of the self proclaimed monarch of her species, a grand claim to be certain, but from what she understood the arrancar queen had the power to back up the hype. She had also met the former head of Los Noches, an arrancar named Theoclese who had never made mention of himself as royalty, but could certainly fit the bill. Though to be honest, she got more of a 'soldier' vibe from him, more likely to be a reluctant leader than anything else. Chandre herself had no real desire to be queen (or king, she could swing that way if she wanted), but she enjoyed being considered a mother. My children don't call me anything generally. She said, for the first time realizing that she rarely gave her children the capacity for speech in the first place. She most often used her creations for defence, in which case a hearty roar is the limit to their vocabulary, or for manual labour, which also didn't generally necessitate them speaking at all. They were perfectly intelligent for talking, but Chandre didn't really ever consider talking to them aside from giving them their orders. Perhaps she'd have to re-evaluate that policy. What, if I may ask, is your kingdom, and who are your subjects? She asked, curiosity a constant companion to her mind.

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Chandre was actually quite impressed by how vast a network the plant like arrancar had managed to wrangle under her green thumb. An organization comprised of hollows and arrancar wasn’t particularly special, her species did tend to cluster together into ‘packs’ if a suitably powerful leader presented themselves, but Shinigami and humans? That was quite unusual. Normally Shinigami balked at the idea of even working alongside hollows, let alone being a subordinate to one. Humans could be more… pliable since there aren’t preconceptions about arrancars being psychopathic murderers by nature. Most of the time at least. Chandre herself had rather frequent and non-lethal conversations with dozens of humans, but she had the advantage of being able to walk among them unhindered by being invisible or a misshapen abomination to be used as nightmare fuel. Chandre herself didn’t have any real inclination to join Roselia’s group though, at least not at the moment. The candle work hollow tended to consider herself a rather rational minded individual, and it would be rational reasons more than anything else that would dictate her allegiances. What sort of benefits could she expect if she were to join Roselia’s harem of spiritual creatures? Did this monarchy have a long term goal of any real import, or was it solely for the Queen of Thorns’ ego that her army marched? The fact that she had sort of just come across the woman lazing about in her garden wasn’t terribly endearing if she had a kingdom to run. Still, these were all questions she would have to actually ask if she wanted to seriously consider walking the same grassy fields as the green clad arrancar.

The main benefit that Chandre would actually like would be a safe place to do her work, somewhere she wouldn’t be interrupted by some power hunger hollow or do-gooder Shinigami. From what Gwen and Roselia were saying, it wasn’t likely to be on the table as something she could provide. Heuco Mundo proved to remain dangerous even for these two arrancar, one of which was so powerful her very footsteps scorched the ground she stepped on. All that told Chandre was that the little trip into the endless dunes was pointless, she wouldn’t find her refuge here, which was disappointing. She was happy to find out now instead of two weeks from now after meandering the white sands on a pointless quest, but now she had to figure out where else to look.

While honesty isn’t usually a trait associated with our kind, I would have you know I’m a lover, not a fighter. Chandre said, hoping that neither would feel provoked by her presence. At the moment, Gwen was the clearly superior power in the area, but Chandre and Roselia’s combined might may be able to topple her. There were too many unknowns though, each other’s powers being the largest variable, though Chandre guessed that Gwen had something to do with heat and Roselia obviously commanded plants. Everything else was up in the air, and Chandre was happy to leave it there if it meant no undo violence broke out. She’d likely just end up running through the nearest garganta and get lost in the human world.

Her train of thought was interrupted when a man of some kind started tumbling down the sandy dunes near them. The first thing Chandre did was try to feel him out, get a sense of his power, if she should employ that whole ‘run and hide’ strategy she had waiting in the wings. Odd thing was though, she couldn’t feel anything. Literally, not a stitch of rietsu came off this man, it was completely foreign to her. The weakest of humans still had rietsu, and even the most powerful of arrancar still had something to their soul even if they were trying to suppress it. It was a very, very curious thing, and Chandre was all about curious things! Even if she couldn’t gauge if this man was a threat, she was inclined to stay just to find out what the hell he was! When Roselia mentioned how she would have prepared snacks, Chandre actually remembered that, well, she had snacks on her.

Hold that thought un moment. Chandre said as she once again fished into her little purse, this time going ‘elbow deep’ though again it was a sort of sleight of hand. She once again pulled out her Keratin Lattice Assembler, this time having it create a small table of similar design to the arm chair she had fashioned for herself, complete with a bowl in the centre, before pocketing the thing once again. Then she started reaching into her bag and pulling out fruits about the size of her fist, purple in hue and sporting the shadowy image of a hollow mask just below the skin. She populated the little bowl with thirteen of the pear shaped fruits before she was done and empty. I call these little fellows hollow fruits, they are a sort of ‘proto-soul’ that I make with one of my inventions. They taste delicious, and are a little more morally digestible that having to eat a hollow or human soul. She said, grabbing one of the fruits and taking a bite. She had originally brought them along so she could make her trip without having to worry about hunting everyday as well, but since her trip was cut short, she’d be alright with sharing.