Passing the torch[invite]

"Part of it, yes. Las Noches is just ahead...and the Menos Forest is beneath us." Theocelese looked back to Shiro, who now looked as though she was second guessing her decision. She questioned the usage of Seran's gateway, which garnered her an emotionless stare as his mind began to churn. Part of him wanted to lie, to tell her that it wasn't safe so that she wouldn't go through with this. "Yes...It is perfectly safe. Normally, if you were to enter or be thrown into either Hueco Mundo or the Soul Society, it would mean your immediate death, and rebirth as a spirit. My good friend Seran made these portals that..." How should he word this? "Spiritualize you, or make you immune to that happening. Though if you'd like to reconsider, I suppose I can eat all these by myself." He said, lifting up some of the boxes purchased from Caesar. "This is how I also stock my kitchen. Speaking of that...I need to know what you absolutely despise eating. I don't trust Caesar's cooking as much as I do his baking, so I'll be doing meal-preps for you....and him too, I suppose." Theocelese said this casually as he walked through the portal, keeping the boxes balanced on one arm, the other extended outwards to her.



"Come, I'll tell you what I spoke to Mr.Caero about and...while we're here, you may call me Theocelese. Mr. Rose is just the name I use when I'm in the human world so the Shinigami can't identify me by name. You'd think if they did their research, they'd figure it out sooner."

"Yes it is fine..and yes, Mr. Caero is either coming here or you will be returning home. Er...Part of his training for you may or may not involve customer service to teach you patience." Theocelese said with a little laugh, and now that Shiro was in Hueco Mundo, the portal closed. He kicked a small bit of sand her way. "Coffee isn't food, and you're too young to enjoy coffee anyways. Do you want to be a...ah...what is the word? Munchkin? For the rest of your life?" Theocelese teased, thinking of the best way to explain everything. Had he recited the entire story over again, he wasn't sure if his temper could be left in check. Caesar wasn't here, and Shiro would get to experience a heated sparring session soon enough.



"I told Caesar about an old...enemy of mine. A god, he is in that book and you will know who it is either at the beginning when the Greek forces land on Troy, or towards the end. Do you remember how I told you my wife was taken from me, many years ago?" He asked more rhetorically than anything else. "That same god has her prisoner and that is who I am hunting after. Other gods in that book, Athena, Ares and Thanatos, are helping me the best they can. One more, by the name of Nyx, also has her interests in this...maybe if you pray to them with me they may come to you." Theocelese said with a slight shrug. That was the short and sweet of it all, but not the entirety of the conversation.



"We also argued over you. We are both in agreement you are too young for this life, but if this what you wish then we can, and will help you grow stronger. What you must decide for yourself, and we are trusting you to truly learn from our lessons, is how you use the this strength. This is not a game, Shiro. Not some comic or movie. There are consequences and reactions for everything you do, and part of understanding this reality for what it really is, Shiro...This reality holds monsters. Some look like the things out of nightmares, others don the guise of men and women. They will do horrible things. People and places you have sworn to protect will die and be destroyed. Sometimes before your very eyes, sometimes not. This is how I lost my daughter, she was taken from me and I was only a few hundred yards away, but unable to do anything." Theocelese let that sink in. It was one of the hardest lessons he ever learned. "Even the best of us, like Caesar and myself, we do what we can to hold back the daemons inside us, but sometimes that is not enough. We rely on one another when we need to. This is my first lesson to teach you, Shiro, is that you should never look to be alone. Find conviction and faith in your battle brothers and sisters. They will shield you from not only your enemies, but yourself. They will pull you to your feet when you are too weak to do so, and you will do the same for them in turn. Think of it like a scale. When once side is too heavy, the other helps to ease the balance of burden." At Theocelese's fast walking pace and the flat landscape before them, they were a little over half way to Las Noches. The damage to the structure was far more visible than before. Small brownish-red stains were splattered all along the dome-like wall.



"The last thing we spoke of was this war with the Quincy. I, nor Caesar will permit you to fight in it. Not with how underdeveloped you are now--" The Arrancar cut himself off and snickered. "Strength wise..give it a few years and I'm sure you'll be fine..." Theocelese hadn't decided to make the second comment...but with how serious this conversation was getting, he figured Shiro needed the comic relief. With a smile, the Arrancar kept speaking. "This is not going to be something meant for eyes as young as yours. If something should happen to us, we will need you to help guide the future in protection of all creation. I must admit to you...this whole time I told you our baker friend would watch you until I returned, but in my heart I knew killing my enemy would in turn, kill me too. I would save my wife's soul by sacrificing my own...but he made me promise to return. And so I did, but I also promise you, Shiro Inazuma, to return to you. Caesar said what good is your gaining of power if you are alone? He is right, you know. I have made this mistake in the past, I will not make it again. Besides...I'm sure Sophia would love to meet you."

And apparently, plenty patient Shiro was. Theocelese couldn't hold back the laugh that festered in his throat. "Maybe some time at the bakery will do you good, after all. Up on your feet, Shiro, or you can carry the rest of the gear." He nodded back to the two dufflebags brought along with them, still heavy as hell and filled to the brim. With his free hand, Theocelese reached down and grabbing the back of the girl's shirt, lifted her back up. No word or warning was given as he continued walking. They still had a few minutes before approaching the inside of the diner. "The Quincy, yes. They are...I think, an ancient order of humans. Their methods of dispatching Hollow destroy them, rather than purify them like the Shinigami do and it is because of this, they warred once upon a time. From the stories I heard, they were completely, or almost completely wiped out. Now that is not so much the case. These are the wretched fiends Caesar and I will fight against, upon my return. Do not be so easy to trust them, if you should meet one. Some are...regular people, and know their methods cause harm to the balance of creation overall and are careful not to disturb it. Never the less, keep them at arm's length." Theocelese said as he now walked along the rounded wall. As the stone gave way to the other side of the desert surrounding Las Noches, hundreds of blackened ash piles were lined up in uniform. The pyres of honor for those who had fallen. He remembered that night, and with everything happening as it did he couldn't help the redness creeping into his vision and the scowl growing on his face in its infant stage.



Sophia tempered his fury, the words she spoke and the song she sang. If it were not for these things, Theocelese might have lost himself to the only other extreme emotion he came to embrace all these years. "Do not just hope for me, girl. Pray for me and give the proper offerings to those who have delivered me the means to enact my retribution. I will show you where." By now, the stone wall disappeared, turning into sheets of viewing glass. On the other side, what looked like an style restuarant from maybe the early 20th millenium. Rustic with its furniture and brimming with a Greek overlay, the pillars, statues, pictures and paintings all looked like they'd once belonged in a museum. He stopped at the door and opened it for Shiro to enter first.



"Before we find you a room to settle in, we have to put all of your ill-gotten goods away. If Caesar knew you stole these and let them just sit out..." He tsk'd a few times, smirking.

"I do not believe so, Shiro. If your defeating of Hollow meant the extermination of their soul, the Shinigami would have a better eye on humanity. I think, in your own way, you do something similar. As for Hollow...well...they tend to devour the essence of their prey. Arrancar as well. No...before you get it in your head I have never eaten another person. The first, and only time I've done such a thing, his soul broke into a little glowing ball. That was I ate, concentrated energy it seemed." It needed to be said to keep Shiro from thinking he was some cannibalistic monster. Well, he was, but that thing, he was no longer. As he stepped in, he felt the coolness of the ventilation hitting against his lava-hot skin. It felt...wonderful. Theocelese exhaled happily, walking past a row of bolted down stools to bring the boxes behind the counter. A large glass container that looked exactly like it was suppose to house the things they brought back was opened, and he began placing the different breads and pastries inside.



"Not anymore...this used to me where I would...interview people. After my brothers and sisters reclaimed Las Noches, we decided to..spruce the place up. I wanted to cook again...and so here we stand in my own realm of escapism. New people of all types, Shinigami, Hollow, Humans, Arrancar and Vizards alike have walked through those doors and I sat them at my tables to speak with them. Know them, see if they would present a danger or not. More often than not, these people were runaways, strays or outcasts. This place used to be--and I still like to think it is a place where one can call home." Theocelese said in a more reminiscing tone than anything else. "Maybe once this is all done with, it can be the refuge it was always meant to be."

"I'm not so sure it works like that. When you take down a Hollow, or any other spiritual being, it isn't the same as a Quincy. I do not know the exact...science of it, but perhaps Caesar knows." Theocelese said with a shrug, taking aside a chocolate chip muffin for both himself and Shiro. The rest was put away, and the girl's muffin was slid over her way. From underneath the counter, two large glasses were taken out as well as a gallon of whole milk from the miniature fridge. Both glasses were filled to the brim and the milk subsequently put back away. Theocelese took a bite from his muffin and...what the hell did that man put in these? A following drink of the milk, careful not to leave behind a moustache, washed it all down and it felt like the stars aligned.



"You need a room first, Shiro. Grand tour as well... I'm not sure if I should let you explore with a map...or without one...the cockroach monsters and all..." Theocelese mused to himself the concept of that being an actual thing, but more so said it to freak the human out. "If I may be honest, the sooner the better. How about this...we finish our snack, find you a room, and then can start. Does this sound like a suitable plan?"

"Good. You're finished...and so am I." He said, finishing the last of his muffin. He'd remember later to covet and hoard the tasty little snacks when they started to run low, or maybe he'd sent Shiro back to Caesar's for more. With the two bags picked up once again, Theocelese motioned for the human to follow him again. Through the far end of the room and past a set of bathrooms, Theocelese took Shiro to a stairwell that led up and down. He ascended the steps, three at a time until two more corridors later, he walked into a large hallway. The barracks, or what this area was supposed to be anyways. This portion was bland as the outside, save for the battle damage scarring the outside of Las Noches. The halls did not have any paintings, colors or vibrance to them like the hall in which the Arrancar's own chambers remained. It was the first room immediately to the left that he chose, opening up the archaic looking wood and steel door. Like at the door to the diner, he held the room open and...to no one's surprise, it wasn't exactly decorated, but did look like someone came in to dust, change the sheets, and take general care of the room. Most of the time, and especially these days, it was Theocelese himself who did a majority of this kind of labor. Not because he had to, not because no one else wanted to do it, but because it kept his mind focused and his hands busy. The bed's foundation looked to made of the same stone as the fortress itself, though it sported large drawers. To the left, cabinetry made of oak was lined against the wall. One dresser, one desk, and one chair. Mounted on the wall facing the bed, an actually nice looking television. Theocelese pointed to the right. "There is the bathroom. If you run out of anything there is a supply closet to your left out of here, four doors down. It is labeled."



The bag filled primarily with training gear was set beside the bed, and the one containing mostly what Shiro brought with was placed on the bed itself. He dug around in the former, pulling out the uniform gathered from the old armory and laid them over the bed's edge. A shirt of burnished chainmail, as well as forearm guards and greaves were placed on the bed. These were the weighted sets of gear. For training purposes, yes they would offer a great deal of protection but that was due in part to the reinforced plating.



"Remote for the television is in the desk drawer. Haven't updated our list of movies or shows in a little while but...there is a great collection of westerns, science fiction and horror movies. If you like art, there is a painting show there too." Theocelese figured he'd point that out. "Suit up, and call down when you are ready." Now he pointed to the curtain covered window, and then walked out closing the door behind him.

In the meanwhile, Theocelese went to ready himself for the training to come. If Shiro would be in the garb of his old order...then as the once "Grand Master", as Jeremy had so jokingly put it, he would do the same. His attire worn looked exactly like hers. From the chainmail, to the weighted bracers and greaves and the tabard with the gold cross stitched in the center. What he reckoned Shiro didn't understand was that the massive load out of weight wasn't just for training purposes or even looks (And, Shiro would have looked like a total badass), but for her own protection. While he would hold back quite considerably, pain was a must. It was one of the best teachers. You didn't block correctly and your shoulder is burning in pain? Strengthen your defense better next time, or be more nimble. He'd gathered a few training weapons as well, a small bag of both wooden and blunt steel swords and different shields. One thing he did forget to dig out of the bags were the gloves. By the time he got outside and set all of the equipment to the side, she was incessantly yelling...but not outside as he directed her to. A single static buzz brought him to the window, to which he knocked on.



"If you're decent, let's go. Grab the gloves in the bag too, you're going to need them." What he referred to were the elbow-length leather ones that would unfortunately need to go under the bracers. Once the window opened and the curtain pushed aside, just as on the balcony in the human world, Theocelese held his hand out. "No sharp weapons today, kid. I know you have training already but I need to know what your skill is like."

"Our time is limited at the moment, Shiro. Get your head out of your ass and focus." He commanded, not asked. Sonido was used to get them back to the ground and next to the training weapons. One amongst them would have stood out, a simple wooden katana much like the one she'd brought with. He'd picked up a wooden sword as well, this one much shorter than the katana. The weapon, a Xiphos, one carried by the ancient Greeks themselves. He took fifteen paces away from where the gear happened to be settled, and with the sword resting flush with his body, he watched the human. Violence radiated through his eyes.



"Pick it up, and show me what you know, little girl." He'd said this almost in a demeaning fashion. He'd wear her body out with the training armour, and with his words he'd grind away at her soul. When he was done with today's lesson, he'd extrapolate on why all of this was done, but for the time being...Theocelese would have the demeanor of a drill instructor. "You have ten seconds to swing at me, or I'm going to start swinging at you." Add a little bit of a threat in the mix to get adrenaline going..and maybe he'd be impressed with the results.