Enter the Dragon I [Raphael, Closed]

The Warehouse district of Karakura Town was of particular note to the Suzumei Family, it served as a vital hot spot for transporting goods between the World of the Living and Soul Society. Watari had focussed a great deal of time and effort into securing the supply lines and making sure that his staff in the living and his mortal employees understood the level of secrecy and privacy that the Suzumei Family desired from their endeavours.

It was here that Raphael Laurent came in, he was an interpreter of sorts, half budding super-powered mortal and then the other half was an honest hard worker. Watari respected that and that was why he was perfect for the job. Keep his human employees in line, be able to see the Shinigami that were picking up the packages - that sort of thing. Honest work.

The Shinigami moved a tank of gasoline and chucked it over the wooden pallets of this particular warehouse. Gleaming vials of a particular liquid lay under the cloth sheeting. There was no need for it anymore, it served its purpose and for that he was completely happy. The Warehouses he had bought would still be of use, but this particular one had served its purpose.

The Suzumei Family was now a major power in Soul Society. With that he needed to tie up some loose ends and strengthen others. Raphael in particular, despite the voices he was claiming to hear incessantly was one of those leads that Watari wanted to strengthen. The purpose was simple - the same as it had ever been.

To make an omelette. You first had to break a few eggs.

“You’re going to torture him?”

“What no, I’m going to force his latent powers”

“How?”

“Science!”

“Science?”

“Well I guess it’s never been recorded so we’ll see”

Bezaliel had been gaining more of a personality in recent days, the zanpakuto that always lay horizontally bound to his back was more logical and reasonable than the screeching it when released let on. It was almost as if it was trying to guide him at times and Watari hated that. In fact he was sure that was why Bezaliel did it.

After the gasoline had finished being poured he stood outside of the warehouse, a flame flickering on the tip of his thumb.

It hadn’t been nearly as difficult as he’d first imagined, working for Watari, especially with his area at his original job shut down for the moment. It was going to take months to rebuild that server room and that was months that the company couldn’t afford to pay him. Watari hadn’t been lying, he was paid pretty well, had a few days off, and was managing to get things done. Still… Something bothered him. The battle against the hollows when Yuki had come to rescue him was still fresh in his mind, and he looked down at his hand now and then to make sure it wasn’t crackling with energy.

Yet, he was always relieved to see that he wasn’t giving off any quasi-electric glow and that no one seemed the wiser. Things had always been strange for him and seeing Shinigami arrive to take different parcels or whatever else back to their own world had certainly been strange as well, but he’d grinned and bared it. Some of the people had asked who he’d been talking to, though most were about as informed as he was. They knew what they were doing, who they were working with, or at least had a meager idea of it. From the people he was working with, it was quite obvious that Raphael knew the most about this spirit world shit.

While in some ways he liked that, in a lot of ways he didn’t; sometimes it was better having someone older, more experienced, who knew their ways around. Raph just didn’t feel like that guy and he didn’t think anything would make him begin to feel that way. But the shift had just begun to wind down for the day and he was looking forward to going home and just relaxing for a little while. Maybe have a soda or two, watch a movie, play a videogame or two. As he stacked the last crate for the day he began to wish that he’d been better at those fighting games, then maybe he could’ve been a pro gamer, instead of a warehouse worker. Still, it could be worse. The Shinigami left him alone, at least.

But the end of the day was the end of the day and Raphael couldn’t be happier. That was, until, one of the guys came to him and said that something weird was going on. They’d found an gas can, not necessarily weird, but that they hadn’t brought any tools with them, Raphael looked around a few times, and followed the man to where the can of gas was supposed to be. Yet when they arrived they couldn’t find any gasoline on the ground. It felt so strange. Why would someone go to the trouble of getting gasoline and not pouring it out… Unless…

“Oh shit…”

“Raphael!” Watari said happily as he made eye contact with the mortal. Wow they sure were efficient at noticing the bizarre. Watari was happy that waiting for the man didn’t take very long at all. It seemed Raphael’s mortal workers had developed an inkling that something strange was going on and had immediately gone to him to report. Well that was perfect!

“Everything went according to plan. The poison you helped ferry killed countless lives, great job! Really you deserve a raise” He flicked the flame onto the oil and woosh, the flame snapped to life blazing towards the Warehouse, it wasn’t long before the entire interior of the building was lit up in flames that greedily licked the stockpile of vials and anything else inside, devouring with vigorous delight.

“Of course we have to cover up this one small loose end, but after that, oh I have grand plans” with that the head of the Suzumei took time to really enjoy the blaze of the fire that roared hungrily inside the bowls of the warehouse. Really, when you think about it, Watari was doing Raphael a service. What if some Shinigami turned up and found the very same poison that was used to kill countless nobles? Well there was only one human who was capable of negotiating with Shinigami and Mortals and that was Raphael. Wow. Watari really was a good guy, good thing Raphael had such a thoughtful employer.

“But we have issues. Tell me, how are the voices?”

It was Watari, but what the hell was he doing here? Raphael gave a wave back, but felt…oddly uneasy. What was this feeling. It felt like it was so long ago and yet, it was eerily and worrying familiar. The worst part was the way that he looked; he was smiling and seemed almost happy to see Raph. Despite the fact that the rest of the workers couldn’t see Watari, they knew that something was going on and some of them seemed to be a little jittery, knowing that it wasn’t anything good. He could hear the whispers of the some of the men, some talking about sabotage and some wondering if Raph had muscled in on Yakuza turf. Raphael was about to ask if Watari needed something when the man explained what was going on, that they’d smuggled poison that had killed many, though the crack about a raise pissed him off.

“What the hell do you mean pois-” Raphael stopped when he saw the lighter in the man’s hand and turned to try and tell his people to run, to tell them to get out, but it was too late for that. It had barely been too late for him, he’d leapt backwards just in time to watch the fire consume the area he’d been standing and spread immediately onto the boxes around him and his people. Most of the workers were immediately engulfed in the fire, as it leapt from the boxes to their clothes and oily hands. The screams that echoed into his head made him think his skull would split open.

Without a second thought, Raphael dropped to the ground, doing his best to avoid the flames that were taking hold of everything that they could. He’d been too trusting, had allowed his lack of employment to take over his senses about not trusting Shinigami. It was his fault, all of these people’s deaths were his fault. They weren’t just whispers, this time, weren’t just voices. They were screaming, begging, pleading. Some of the men wanted to just die and get it over with, some were asking for it to stop so that they could go home to their families, but Raphael knew. There was no getting out for them.

“The voices??” he shouted, his anger and headache building. “They’re goddamn screams, right now!! What the fuck do you mean voices?!” Raphael wasn’t aware of it, but Watari would be able to feel it from within the warehouse; energy was beginning to build. It wasn’t much, at first, but it was like a cascade, building quickly. He could feel the sweat dripping down his forehead.“Why the FUCK do you want to know about the screams right now?!” He'd squeezed an eye shut to block out the pain, this made no sense, why had he done this?

“Breathe it in Raphael, you taste that? You smell that? That’s freedom” Watari inhaled the smoke and the fumes, he bathed in the deaths of the mortals far more than somebody who was being better should have. But it wasn’t his fault Raphael hadn’t told them to run? Surely he could’ve put two and two together and warned them? Right? Either way, mortals were expendable, they got another run of the gauntlet and besides.

He breathed in again.

Smoke was the scent that he adored the most.

NOW TO THE KILLING.

Watari’s vision flickered a moment as battle fervor was called to guide his blade, but no, Watari was a changed man. Well sort of, he was trying to exercise control more so than ever. It had been developing you see, this carnal blood lust to just kill wantonly and Watari had been suppressing it. It was as if meeting Yuki Kameko had unlocked some sort of primal part of Watari’s brain that said being a monster was alright, it was okay. But then as equally as he now had the adrenaline rushing in his veins, he also had Yuki’s words and wishes stuck in his head.

Be better.

Watari dove forward and grabbed Raphael by the throat and flashstepped him to the safety of a nearby warehouse rooftop.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself my good man, you’ve done what most mortals couldn’t. You’ve killed gods! Well . . . aristocratic gods. But gods! You’re a hero!” Watari laughed and tilted the cringing man in his hands before dropping him. Wonderful! It was all going brilliantly to plan. The overload was working perfectly.

“Now, Raphael screams are perfectly natural for somebody like you. It’s time to let them in. You feel all that pain? All the suffering? That’s all on you. Remember that” was Watari going a bit too deep into the role? Or was this just what he liked doing? You know between the battle fervor and getting better this was starting to look a lot like abuse.

Watari turned and looked down at the blazing warehouse down below.

“How long do you think before they all go up in flames?” Watari said with a grin.

“Freedom?!” Raphael shouted. “What kind of freedom could this possibly be?! Freeing THEM from their mortal coils?! Huh?!” Some of the men had started to run around, some trying to grab something to toss on the fire, try and put it out, but the oil had covered so much, and the fire was consuming everything else greedily. Raphael looked to the side, looked away from Watari, looking around for the foreman, Samuel. “Sam!” Raph shouted, trying to both be heard over the roar of the flames, and at the same time, not get choked by the smoke. He saw the man toss some sand they’d had onto one of the fires, trying to put it out, right before another part of it licked at his clothes. He was sweating profusely and had tried gathering the few people that hadn’t caught in the center, throwing what little they could find to put out the fire at it.

Yet, as he ran forward to try and help to push something aside so they could get out, Watari had grabbed him by the throat and dashed to the top of another warehouse building. Sure, Raph was now safe, but what about his workers? Those that he’d tried so hard with?! His hands gripped the one Watari was holding him by. Oh, he’d killed gods? Was a hero?! Why in the fuck would he be proud of any death, no matter what universe it was?! He struggled, trying to move, break free. His headache was getting worse and worse by the second and it was angering him. Dropping him to the ground, Watari explained how all of their blood was going to be on his hands. Their screams were echoing through his head and it felt like his brain would explode.

As Raphael struggled back to his feet, the metal roof beneath him caved in slightly, as more and more energy swirled around him. He wasn’t having this. He…wasn’t going to stand for this. It…wasn’t right. It was bullshit! “Why?!” Raphael shouted. The roof they were standing on seemed to cave in a little, dropping down the angrier Raphael seemed to get.

“If someone doesn’t get to them soon then only a few minutes!!” Raphael said, as he tried to force himself to stand once more. He didn’t care what Watari, or any of the Shinigami thought about humans. He was going to save them. He was going to, no matter what.

The exertion on Raphael was obvious, his powers were starting to manifest, the very rooftop was being crushed by his obvious psionic potential and he was completely ignorant to it. His spiritual flare manifesting and dissipating, it was as if his soul struggled with the sheer metamorphosis that it’s master was going under, as if his frail mortal vessel couldn’t cope with the weight it had to bear.

“Only a few minutes? They need a hero Mr Laurent” Watari sighed as he looked over his shoulder at those mortals struggling to survive. Maybe if Raphael was lucky, none of them had quite dead yet, they were still so consumed with their duty to save and protect the warehouse. Wow, his employee was a very inspiring man. Good. It would benefit him later.

Now he had a more pressing problem, how did the Demon Arts work again? He hadn’t really appreciated those classes but maybe he could remember an incantation for a pretty minor kido.

“Ryujin, o father of serpents, cradle your jewels and bind them to the ocean” Watari chanted whilst a crackling swirling mass of energy appeared around his hand and began to leap out towards Raphael, encompassing his body and binding him to not move.

“Bakudō #4. Hainawa (這縄, Crawling Rope)!”

It was a minor bakudo but it should do the job.

“It’s a shame we’re just going to stand here and watch, you really should do something about that fire before . . . “

Then the verbal screaming started.

Watari hissed under his breath.

“Oo, too slow”

The pain that Raphael was feeling had reached a point where it was blinding him and, as he squeezed his eyes shut, he could hear the maddening whispers of the alive and the panicking shouts of the dead. He didn’t envy them, they were seeing their charred corpses and the chain in their hearts; there was an adjustment period ahead for them. He reached up and wrapped his hands around his head to press on his temples, trying to force the pain down, futile as that was. He had to fight the pain, get down there somehow and hopefully help out in whatever way that he could. The shinigami was either psychotic or sociopathic, Raph wasn’t sure which was worse.

 

“I thought that shinigami were supposed to protect the souls of humans, send their souls to the Soul society, like shepherds! How can you justify what you’re doing?!” He got to his feet and walked out of the cave-in that he’d made, towards the edge of the warehouse building. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and rescue my workers!” But as he did so he heard Watari muttering something, and suddenly felt a rope of almost energy that wrapped around him. It kept him from moving as he did so, and no matter how much he struggled it wouldn’t let him go.

 

He bared his teeth as he looked back at Watari, all of his anger and pain and rage boiling to the surface. Watari was just fucking with him now, Raphael was being HELD here, not just sitting here! Why in the hell wouldn’t Watari just let him go so that he could help his people?! “Just let me go!! This is insane, why in the hell are you doing this?! Just so that you can get rid of-!” That was when he heard it, the wailing and screaming of the people down below. He could even just barely hear Sam, his voice starting to fade, even as a fire truck pulled up in front of the warehouse.

 

It was felt, then. He’d been trying to force it down, trying to keep himself from feeling it, keep the rage and fury from being released. But there was no stopping it now, the dam had burst. Once more his spirit flared up, once more the rage surfaced, exploding outwards but this time it didn’t dissipate, refused to be forced back down. His eyes opened widely, his pupils burning with a violet light. Perhaps Watari would be able to feel the energy that Raphael was emitting, perhaps not, but it was here now. The entirety of the roof that they were standing on suddenly dissolved, as though it was evaporating and Raphael gave a wave of his hand. Just as the fire truck was starting to get into putting out the fire, the roof and walls of the burning warehouse were ripped off and tossed aside, scattering the contents and sweeping a vast majority of the fire out as well. Several of the firefighters and people on the ground were pushed to the ground and others managed to remain standing. Raphael was awake.

Finally Raphael had broken whatever barriers were shackling his humanity to the mortal realm had snapped. Watari had read about this event in the Hatayama estate, the snapping of mortals. It was when their soul finally snapped into line with the piece of the soul king that inhabited their body, what part of the Soul King? It was pretty negligible, Watari simply didn’t care. He just wanted results from Raphael.

So as the ceiling disintegrated, Watari stood in the air watching the now violet-eyed glowing Raphael. Snapping from the scriptures was how Moses parted the red sea, how Arthur drew a sword from the stone and how Midas turned the world into the gold. Snapping was an apotheosis, for a few short minutes a man became a god. Laurent had lost all control, he was as omnipotent as a toddler with a stick in a mountain of ants.

“Protect their souls? This was all you Raphael, you saw the flames coming, you told them to combat it. You could’ve saved them all with a simple order and you didn’t. Now you pay, pay with your power, pay with your awakening, show them what it is to be ‘God’ ” the act of snapping a Human was apparently a crime in Soul Society and was so unknown that it’s ‘crime’ status had become as inconspicuous as knowing of the act. To snap a Human was to create an ally or enemy of the Soul Society and as a simple rule to keep the balance, human’s simply should never snap.

Raphael would rampage, he would bring karakura to his knees and then he’d slumber, but the spark had crackled, the flame was blazing and the cinders that Watari’s influence had left behind would never go out. Raphael Laurent was a changed man forever and quite possibly wouldn’t remember a moment of it.

“Save them Raphael, save them from their mortal existence”

It was overwhelming, at first, the power that he felt rushing through him threatened to destroy him at any second, but he felt as thought this was just a dam bursting and that soon it would settle. He heard Watari’s voice, though it sounded far off as if Raph had run away from the man. He had no idea where he was but he was there somewhere. He had the opportunity…he could attack him now, but no he had much more pressing matters to attend to: save his friends, at least those that were left. Was it truly his fault? Or could it have been that they could’ve run? Either way, it was everyone’s fault. Watari had caused the fire, Raphael had told them to put it out and they’d chosen to listen. The Shinigami wasn’t free of blame, though he might’ve thought that he was.

To the people below, they stood staring up at Raphael, as though he was actually some kind of god and then he was down in the warehouse with what little remained of the fire. To them, it would seem as though he’d teleported but Watari knew better. The Shinigami would’ve seen Raphael moving, as though using some kind of human shunpo, and then he was there, in the center of what was left of the inferno. Despite what had happened he still felt the heat of the flames. He held his hand out to his right, as the fire crew was once more getting their equipment ready and let out another blast of pressure, putting the flames out but knocking the truck over. Yet he didn’t even seem to notice, as he looked around the ground for anyone still alive. And that was when he saw him: Sam.

The man had been half buried under the rubble but was still alive, mostly, just was having difficulty breathing. Not too far away was Joseph, and then…yes even Harold! It was a miracle that this many were still alive, but good lord did it suck to have lost so many. He was still getting used to his power and so, instead of a hand, he just used a finger flick, knocking the boards and debris off Sam, who slowly got to his feet, watching him. His eyes showed nothing but fear as they looked at Raph. There were a few seconds where Raphael watched Sam, sadness in his eyes but Sam helped up Joseph and Harold, trying to pull them away from the building, and Raphael.

The firefighters had moved forward and were ushering Sam and the others away from Raphael, even the ghosts were doing their best to vacate the area. “I…didn’t…” Then, with a resounding blast of air, he was gone, at least from their sights. He crashed through a sign, and came to a stop on a different warehouse a ways away. Though the energy was finally dying down, he couldn’t stop the shaking that he was feeling, his whole body shuddering with every breath. “I didn’t mean it… I never wanted this to happen…”

Watari stepped down from the sky behind Raphael. You know, in a way “Snapping” was sad. It took everything from a mortal to give them something, what that something was was uncontrollable power and essentially the path to demigodhood. What they lost? Well, some would say it was worth it. Watari never really had close friends, the closest thing he was Yuki Kameko and she hated him. So here Watari was, at the edge of Raphael’s world so to speak having done what he did for the greater good.

“It was necessary. It is a sad necessity though” Watari nodded, turning back to look at the blazing warehouse in the distance. You know, he could get used to fire and smoke. There was almost a poetic justice to the way the world burned. Ah, but wasn’t he meant to be better? Yes, but slowly. Slowly he was getting better. There were still some exceptions and unfortunately sometimes to get a human to snap, you had to have some of his workers tragically die. Or had they? It seemed like Raphael had saved them, ah well, he’d find out later.

“Every hero has an origin story. Yours just starts with making a deal with the devil” Watari observed looking back at Raphael, the faint violet glow of his eyes was starting to fade as his connection to whatever the Soul King was slowly burnt out. Watari guessed his body would just be overcome with fatigue, but he’d been surprised by less.

“The point is, if I hadn’t done it now, you’d have done worse later. You’re lucky it was in a controlled environment and I’m pretty sure you saved most of your colleagues” the Shinigami turned and sat down on the edge of the rooftop watching the dying blaze afar. Much like Raph’s own power it would soon be put out by human world officials. A pity.

“Do you want a drink?”

The energy was fading from his body, he could feel the majority of it going down in bursts, but he was somehow still conscious. He felt the Shinigami as he landed nearby, walking almost out of thin air; he’d known where Raph was, after the man’s departure from the warehouse. He was a Shinigami, after all, it was practically in the man’s training. As for Raph? He just knew. It was almost like a sixth sense, a web that his consciousness extended outwards. He heard Watari going on about it being a sad but necessary sacrifice, as if, without Watari’s influence, something else would’ve provoked the change.

That was when he realized that Watari might have actually been telling the truth. Every time one of those monsters was around, Raphael could feel his headaches getting worse and worse, now and then it felt like he was dying. It was during such times that they somehow found where he was quicker and earlier, almost as if they were feeling him, though they seemed to hunt on a way that was almost more like a scent. Maybe stronger souls had a stronger scent, to the hollows, which made it easier for them to hunt humans like himself. Though that would only be possible if they were strong, and on the same plane… Which then made it much easier to understand why humans with powers weren’t more common.

“Do…do I want a drink?” he asked, looking up at Watari. “Why…would I want a drink, Watari?! Why in the hell do you think I’d want something to drink?!” Yet, as he shouted, he realized that he was thirsty. “I…” he shook his head. “I could really go for some water, maybe some juice. Probably gonna have to grab some food in a little bit too. Whatever the fuck that was, wore me out…”

“Yeah? Juice? Ya like juice Raphael? I like orange juice. It’s orangey it’s just that tang, ‘specially the one with mangoes in it. Good stuff, then they changed the branding” Watari just had to keep him talking. It would be extremely painful if he got hit by any of the psychokinetic energy so as long as he kept the mortal distracted with juice this was probably the most beneficial option for both of them in the long run.

“It’s called Snapping by the way, what just happened. Apparently Spiritually Powerful Mortals have been doing it across the ages. Moses? Midas? Maphael - sorry poor joke” the Shinigami said scratching his beard thoughtfully. Was it him or was the flames fading? Man, human society sure was organised. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the Soul Society. Watari would reach into his pocket and pull out a juice box and chuck it to Raph and then he’d pull out his own. Why did Watari have juice boxes? He was thirsty and alcohol didn’t quite click as well as orange and mango juice did - the serious reason was Titus had been placing him in his pockets for as long as he could remember and Titus was the closest thing to a father Watari had.

“I’m sorry for doing it. I really am, but there are some things the new me has to do so the old me can be put to rest” It was true, burning the warehouse? The next noble meeting? Everything with Yuki? All of those things had to be put into the ground before Watari could be better. Well, he was better. The problem was every time he got better something else came in the way. . . he had one last tragic thing to do. One last nail in the coffin. One last “solution” to the problem” but none of that involved Raphael.

“You think we’re friends Raph?” The answer was no, they weren’t friends. You just tried to kill his entire workforce to cover up your murder spree and then tried to justify it as an apotheosis whilst handing the man a juice. No, you aren’t friends Watari.

But it’d be nice.

“You’ll be able to suppress the voices soon though, or should be able to start. It’s like a tap, once you really get it running once, you can turn it on and off easily”

Raph watched, a bit confused, as Watari went on and on about orange juice that he was pretty sure was really Tang, after a few minutes of talking. He was still hearing the voices, a little, but now he was more confused than anything else, while he listened; these Shinigami were just weird. He was almost as confused as when he’d seen Yuki; crazy off on her own adventures, no real organization. Well, there was organization it just wasn’t nearly as much as some some of the others. He didn’t understand why in the world so many of these people were so different and yet could work so well with the same organization. Maybe they were more well trained than most people, though that was only the surface. What was going on underneath?

“It’s fine,” Raph muttered in reply to the joke. “It’s just…” He shook his head, watching the blaze as it was put out. “I just don’t understand. There’s… so much wrong with the world already and to find out that this…” He gestured with a hand, letting out a blast of force that rippled as it flew off into the distance at high speeds, and then pulled the hand back. “Shit… This is gonna take some practice…and some getting used to.” He shuddered a bit, pulling his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. “How in the hell does this stay so hidden?”

He looked up at Watari in disbelief. “How much blood is on your hands already?” he asked. “How many past selves have you buried? How many people have you sacrificed before my friends? Before those…aristocratic gods, as you put it?” Raphael turned his gaze back to the dying flames, shaking his head. “No… No, not friends. But, not enemies either. I…” He sighed, his breathing uneven and uncommonly heavy. “Good acquaintances…” Raphael replied at length.

He watched Watari for a few seconds. “I understand what you mean but I’m just surprised with how…readily something like this can happen.” He was silent for a few seconds. “Or perhaps how unreadily things like this happened…” He sighed. “Sorry, this is just a bit much for me to try and take in all at once. I’m…” He exhaled. “Just the fact that a human could do something like this…” He kept looking at his own hand, as if he’d never seen it before.

“It doesn’t, myths and legends are always true in my experience. Modern history is harder, maybe conspiracies and cover ups? Shinigami don’t really do much outside from maintaining the balance so at a guess I’d say it’s people like you doing it for the greater good” Watari had no doubt there were human organisations already in play maintaining the secrecy of the Spiritual World lest society destabilize and collapse. If people found out that there was an afterlife, they had no reason to not fear death anymore, in fact more people would want to die! I could have a better life! Society as they knew it would collapse.

Watari unsheathed Bezaliel as he ran his fingers along Zanpakuto's blade, it was funny, the question about how many he murdered was always a titchy one with Watari. Technically he hadn’t murdered anyone, didn’t need to. The noble murders had all been with his servants and all the Hollows he’d slain had attacked him first and then there was the matter of family . . . but even then.

“None, usually they come for me and I have to put them down. The noble party wasn’t be who applied it, so up to you if I actually did the murder or not. If a general orders the execution of a village, is it him or his men that did the crime?” you know, saying it out loud like that. Maybe Watari’s viewpoints were slightly off . . . no . . . he hadn’t done any killing. It was everybody else that had, his hands were clean.

“As for past selves? Just two. My childhood and my old self. I’ve been told I need to be better, that poisoning nobles to achieve results isn’t good enough but apparently running them through with a sword is” at this he sighed and resheathed Bezaliel. By now the flames in the distance were all but twinkling stars on a city line. The proper authorities having dealt with them, there would be nothing left, but there didn’t have to be anything left.

“At his peak Moses parted an entire sea. Midas turned everyone he knew to gold. It stands to reason that myth would be reality, there’s something about this city Raphael, it’s ‘waking’ and it’s weaving its own tapestry of fate. Tell me, over the last month how many Shinigami have you met? Hollow? Other humans?”

‘Greater good’? That was such bullshit, there was no such thing as a greater good. People worked for their own personal benefit and anything after that they considered was a ‘good deed’. Too many espoused the greater good adage like it was going out of style, but Raphael really wasn’t that concerned with that at the time being. He was still a bit too busy trying to reckon over everything that had happened over the last hour and a half. Yet every time that he looked up at Watari, he couldn’t help but shake his head, knowing how dumb he was for even considering what was going on to be something special. It was just another bump in the road that was his life. Besides these powers, or magic, whatever it was, would probably fade away given enough time.

“Wonder how long it’s really been goin’ on… How long have people with powers hidden shit like this from one another? I doubt that it’s been going on for so long. Like you said, though, modern history I’d say it’s easier for them to hide shit like that happening nowadays. Hell there’s probably a section in each nation’s government specifically for dealing with shit like this.” He sighed, shaking his head. That was the last thing that he needed. “Oh well… Worst comes to worse I’ll just give the normal explanation…” He sighed. “Make sure that I’ve got my story straight on what happened…” He scratched his chin for a few seconds. “Gas explosion… Nah, too basic.” He stopped for a second. “Attacked during a gang war.” Then he looked back up at Watari. “Hm… In the end I guess it doesn’t really matter how you kill someone, just that you had the nerve to do so. But I’m not a big fan of killing people, kinda frowned on, if you know what I mean.”

He watched the man for a few seconds. “Shinigami?” he scratched his chin. “Hmm… Difficult to say, but… Counting you, two. Hollows? None that I’ve talked to, though two that kept calling me Cicero, for whatever reason. As for humans… I’d say, special humans, two as well, though one of them an additional time.” He stretched his arms a few times, trying to figure out exactly why Watari had done what he had, though. What if Raphael had despised Shinigami? Had attacked Watari shortly thereafter? While he was certain that Watari could’ve handled himself, the risks involved with what the man had done were far too great. “Why do you ask?”

“Because it’s this city Raphael. There’s something about it, regular humans shouldn’t encounter two Shinigami, a few hollows and then meet two of their own kind. It’s not natural. It’s like no matter where you turn all roads lead back to here” Watari sighed as he looked out at the city, was it just him or were the currents of reiatsu that flowed through here, the ebbs and flows of spiritual pressure, did they all flow a certain way? As if there was some underlying pull to the world that made the spiritual energies flow just right.

He dusted himself and stood up, reaching out a hand and a butterfly unfurled flying into the open air and landing on empty space, slowly a door began to materialize glowing in the middle of the air. “If you want to lose all contact with me just send that butterfly I gave you back. I’ll stop contacting you for the odd jobs - if you do want to stay in contact then you’ll receive messages the usual way” the Head of the Suzumei stretched his arms above his head and leant sideways as he approached the glowing Senkaimon that would take him back to the Soul Society. Was there any more left to say? Perhaps some words of wisdom? To be fair he had none left, he’d achieved what he’d wanted to achieve - Watari had prepared Raphael for whatever was coming that made his bones itch, there wasn’t a lot more he could do.

“Oh and Raphael, if you do break contact, leave Karakura. All of your problems up to now are because you didn’t listen to that voice in your head saying “I should really leave this place” because now you’re in too deep and something - I don’t know what it is - is coming” With that Watari saluted and vanished through the doorway, the glowing senkaimon vanishing behind him. As he retreated down the glowing walkways he did wonder if what he’d done was the right thing and if Yuki would understand, but sometimes he figured, you had to do an awful thing to make sure somebody ended up alright.
/EXIT