CHANGE OF HEART [P]

Sui Feng's investigations had lead her this far. Her first reaction to having been stationed in the human world had been one of extreme annoyance, and the separation of duties for the second division and onmitsukido had been a serious break in tradition, the likes of which Sui Feng seldom approved. In fact, recent events had been nothing but break in tradition after break in tradition and it irritated her. Having said that... Having been able to focus on this mission had enabled much smoother runnings. In fact, without the Gotei 13 sticking their noses, and the relative freedom from the Central 46 here in the human world, things were slick and efficient, exactly how she liked them.

The cogs had turned nicely together, and her spies had given her the co-ordinates of Olympus, the base of operations for the group of the same name. The minutae of the meeting that their leader Emilia had interrupted, given to her by Kuchiki Taicho and Hirako Taicho had enabled Sui Feng to do her own bit of digging. So... This Emilia was one of hers, was she? What was it with ex-division members recently? Firstly Shiori Sasaki, former 2^nd division member and then Kidoshuu representative in the second division had been kidnapped, presumed dead. Though Sui Feng knew for a fact that she was now a Visored and living in the human world. Secondly was Vanessa Vårjen, ex-division member turned 12^th squad representative who had been killed during the holder debacle, only to re-emerge after the Soshi's failed hollow sealing experiment- the whole episode an embarrassing stain on the Kido Corps, as far as Sui Feng was concerned. And now Emilia too, also an ex second squad member, also a Visored.

Sui Feng sighed. Maybe she really was better off without a damn squad to have to worry about. Regardless, they were her messes, and it was her duty to fix them, starting with this one. She had two principal goals in this instance; the first was to discover if there had been a conflict between Olympus and the Wandenreich, and if so, which faction had come out on top. It would be terribly convenient if both factions had destroyed each other during an altercation. Too convenient. Sui Feng wasn't going to bank on it for a moment.

She'd approached Olympus from afar. It seemed... Grandiose. Ostentatious. A huge statement. It reminded her of how much she disliked her own bankai, despite its uses. Perhaps Emilia simply hadn't fit the Stealth Force's personality, if this was the type of place she were to call home. Nonetheless, Sui Feng knew that with an opponent such as this, there was no point in any type of covert espionage. She had ensured that Emilia was the only one present on the mountain, before climbing. Urahara Kisuke was on standby in case she needed any particular kind of backup. She hated that man. But he had his uses; and being monitored incase things got hairy was one of them. Sui Feng climbed the mountain, her reiatsu suppressed to nothing, easily avoiding the soldiers on the way up by using the evening shadows and her shunpo, unmatched in speed.

From what she knew of Emilia, she felt confident that as Sui Feng was here to parley, she wasn't in any immediate danger. Nonetheless, she stepped out of the shadows, and into the throne room without her flash steps, to show that she wasn't here on some kind of covert assassination mission. That wasn't why she was here... This time.

"Athena." Sui Feng greeted the visored with the moniker she had used to describe herself when she had interrupted the captain's meeting, no use antagonising her right off the bat.

Emilia hadn't instantly moved to attack. That was a hopeful initial sign. Sui Feng wasn't entirely sure of the strength of the Visored, however her underlings appeared to be ranked similarly to Espada 1-4. She remembered the battle with Barragan; she had won only with the help of Hachigen Ushoda and his kido. She was stronger since then. Indeed, Sui Feng was confident in the power of her shunko, as this would be an opponent hard to take down with her bankai... Nonetheless, not having to fight at all, and being able to retreat into the shadows once more, was the optimum solution here.

She stood opposite the throne on the other side of the dais, regarding Emilia carefully. There hadn't been an opportunity to examine her much before this, besides the photos they had on file. She was a little shorter than Sui Feng might have imagined, but nonetheless, looked fierce. She was adorned in human garments of some time long passed reminiscent of some pantheon; some God delusion, in fitting with the theme of the mountain, perhaps? It fit the stylings of Olympus.

"I'm here... To see whether you were still alive." Sui Feng told her firmly, eyes narrowing slightly. This barb was a probe as much as anything else, to gauge her reaction. She needed to know if she was dealing with a person sound of mind and level of head. "Or if the Quincy had done our job for us." she said with the smallest smirk. There was no use pretending that the thought wouldn't cross both of their minds at least once.

Sui Feng narrowed her eyes a hair's breadth. Was Emilia attempting to goad her? It was only fair, Sui Feng had done the same to her. So they were on equal footing. She simply wouldn't respond to the first remark; they knew where they stood, there was no purpose in exchanging pithy barbs for the sake of it. Emilia stood, and Sui Feng didn't react at all, except to sniff delicately. She did indeed briefly examine Emilia as she pontificated, noting that she did indeed appear to be unscathed. Perhaps it was this look that prompted the visored's next remark, which Sui Feng reacted to with a look that was a combination of pity and absolute disgust. Her top lip curled back derisively, unable to help herself. Was Emilia really so lonely and depraved here with her hollow companions that she construed the first bit of... Well in all honesty it was still quite hostile communication.

"I must admit," Sui Feng said, swallowing back what she had really wanted to retort, "there was a little... Personal interest here. Shiori Sasaki, Vanessa Vårjen- were they your handiwork also?" the circumstances behind the girls' hollowfications were known to Soul Society, however the files had been redacted by the Central 46, and Sui Feng hadn't entirely trusted the Soshi's explanation, as evasive as it had been. "Or was the second division really so terrible that my subordinates routinely saw fit to turn themselves into monsters?" she asked, a biting accusation behind this statement, Sui Feng only just keeping her emotions in check.

So Vanessa and Shiori were nothing to do with Emilia... Rather, Emilia wanted her to believe that, regardless of the truth. Nonetheless, she decided to take the Visored at face value. Of course Emilia would take any opportunity that she could to rub defections in the face of Soul Society, much as she had with Arashi Byakurai during the Captain Commander and Kido Soshi's meeting with various Taicho. The next moment, Emilia displayed vulnerability. Sui Feng filed that one away under potentially useful information. If they did have to kill her, any weapons in their arsenal would be useful indeed. However, when she spoke, Sui Feng was reminded of herself. Though she'd give no indication, what Emilia described sounded somewhat akin to how Sui Feng herself felt of Yoruichi.

Then. Infected by accident? A likely story. How convenient it was that these people, all people who seek greater power, gained illegal hollow powers. And all of them seemingly against their will. Emilia didn't even seem to be trying to hide it, speaking of revelling in her power, of crushing those before her. Sui Feng's sense of collectivised justice would never allow her to entertain such thoughts. The will of the individual was weak, regardless of the power that individual possessed, relative to the wisdom of the law and its arbiters. Sui Feng was the ultimate symbol of such legal arbitration, of justice from the courts being executed in the world. She was the pointed index finger of the long arm of the law.

"You ought to have fallen on your sword." was her initial response. "That would have been the honourable thing to do." she spat. Choosing this life for herself was a mistake, in Sui Feng's books. Much better to start anew, and become born afresh. "I'm not so vain as to put my personal aspirations above the common good of the world." she said, in a measured tone. "The Gotei 13 as a whole however... Soul Society... Yes. You weren't the first one who has tried to destroy everything the noble houses and captain commander have built. And as the Wandenreich have demonstrated, you weren't the last either."

Perhaps she had gone too far. After all, there was something else that, much to her loathing, she had been instructed to do. But this was how it had unravelled, and she couldn't spare any thoughts on changing the past now.

"The Wandenreich pose an existential threat to The Gotei 13. If our highly trained and co-ordinated military is under threat, then I can't imagine your rag-tag bunch of misfits will fare any better against the 26 Sternritter." Sui Feng would really drive the point home now. "Especially not when one of them has jumped ship to our side, and another is our sleeper agent." Theocelese's defection was a recent event, and he was safely in the Seireitei, awaiting his judgement from the captains, but she was putting Arashi in extreme danger here. But it would be worth it if it worked. He'd chosen to give himself the assignment, only telling his superiors after the fact, he could accept the consequences for that.

"Pardons are being offered for rogues and ex-criminals. You could be absolved of your sins and welcomed back to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." Sui Feng said, before smirking. "Or you can stay here in your monument to vanity, and wait for both our enemies to rain destruction down upon you, turning your Olympus... Into an Atlantis." Emilia might have been arrogant, but she wasn't stupid at all. Sui Feng didn't for one moment think that she genuinely considered that she would be able to take on the Wandenreich alone.

"Think about it." With those words, Sui Feng would bow once, and vanish back into the shadows, her reiatsu barely a whisper upon the wind, as she wound her way invisibly back down the mountain, and back to her base of operations.