Eight Virtues (Secondary Bankai ability)

Ryouta sighed as he felt the pleasurable transition between his world and Raikou Arashi's. Surprisingly, he did not appear in the middle of the African savannah he was used to; instead he appeared in the clouds where a castle stood high. Raikou Arashi stood on the battlements- he jumped down and landed in front of Ryouta.

"My greetings," he said.

"Nice to see ya too," responded Ryouta. "Ya told me that ya'd show me your wings..."

"So I did- it will be a long and arduous journey before you see them all," said Raikou Arashi. "Each of my wings represents a virtue- eight of them. The first is Purity, or Chastity." Raikou Arashi said the words with a certain reverence. "Prepare for the test." Raikou Arashi faded from sight just as his words did.

"Wha-?" And then the world seemed to shift horribly. The sky turned black, and the clouds ceased to be clouds- they became flames that seemed to snap and crackle too loud, seemed to roar. And all of a sudden, Ryouta found himself surrounded by beautiful women- except they had demonic looking wings on their backs, and their eyes seemed to be filled with malice. Their fingernails seemed too long, and their teeth seemed to be slightly pointed. Succubae.

All of them reached toward him with perfectly sculpted hands, slim and graceful hands that caressed his bare arms and seemed to send waves of lustful fire up them. His eyes bulged and he felt the sudden urge to sweep one of them off her feet and plant a passionate kiss on her full lips. Ryouta shook his head furiously, trying to clear it; he wasn't thinking logically, and that scared him. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus. And then he felt searing pain running down his back.

His eyes opened quickly and he whirled around to see one of the succubae licking droplets of blood from one of her exquisitely formed fingers. "I can show ya a real good time, handsome," she said as she made a suggestive gesture.

Ryouta flushed, and he felt (insert obvious feeling here). "Get away from me," he said in a weak voice.

"Oh c'mon, it's easy- and I'm a good teacher," she whispered sensually in his ear as she sidled up next to him. All of the other succubae seemed to vanish. She seemed to grow more beautiful as they vanished. Ryouta's breath caught in his throat. He felt that this was wrong- but he couldn't seem to muster the concentration required to break free of her. And then he thought of Raikou Arashi, of how he said that the test was one of Purity. Ryouta knew what he had to do. He had to act quickly before his resolve vanished.

He pointed at her with a single finger. "Hado no Sanjuhachi: Cannon of the Just!" The resulting blast seemed deafening, and the roar of the fire around him seemed to disappear with all the other sound. And all of a sudden, he felt a cool breeze on his arm again. Raikou Arashi was looking at him with a pleased smile on his face.

"You are Pure," he said softly.

Raikou Arashi continued to smile at Ryouta. "The next test is one of Temperance, or more simply, Self-Control." Again, his words seemed to be accentuated, as if they carried special meaning. "Prepare yourself," Raikou Arashi said again in his deep, rumbling voice.

Ryouta blinked and found himself in an opulent room- he was sitting at the head of a long table. A man walked into the room and introduced himself as the "Chief Butler." He then told Ryouta that it was time for his meal. Ryouta was utterly perplexed; compared to the previous test, this didn't seem too bad.

A whole crowd of elegantly dressed waiters walked in, each balancing an enormous silver dish on his right hand. They each set down their plates and lifted away the covers, revealing food that looked fit for all the royalty in the world. All of a sudden, Ryouta felt very hungry. He reached forward for the nearest foodstuff and began to eat.

Ryouta ate and ate and ate until he felt full, and then pushed his plate forward, indicating he would like no more. The Chief Butler approached him and said, "But sir, you are not finished! There is still much more for you to eat- else the chef will be displeased!"

Ryouta looked at him and said, "Thanks for the meal. But I'm full. Tell the chef to realize I'm just one person- the rest of ya can dig in if ya want."

At these words, the world seemed to shimmer, and once again, Ryouta found himself among the clouds. "And so you have Temperance as well," said Raikou Arashi.

"Well, there was no point in eatin' more than my fill," said Ryouta.

"Right," said Raikou Arashi. "The next test is one of Charity, Will, Generosity." Again, the words were emphasized in an almost reverent manner. "Prepare yourself."

Ryouta blinked and found himself in what looked like one of the poorer sections of Rukongai. He looked around and saw a ragged sort of marketplace; Ryouta entered. There wasn't much business going on- merchants just sat behind their dilapidated stalls and waited for customers to approach them. A woman approached one of the stalls selling food. She would have been very beautiful were it not for the obvious disease marring her face. She appeared to plead with the merchant for a moment, but was quickly rebuked.

Ryouta approached her and asked her her name.

"Luce," she said. "Fancy a good time?" she asked. "I'm cheap."

"Uh...sorry, no, I don't do that kind of thing," said Ryouta. "About those sores..."

"I do have a touch of illness- but I assure you it would not lessen the pleasure," she said.

"I'm fine, thanks. Ya should be inside resting if ya're sick," Ryouta said with concern in his voice.

"I can't," she said. "I have my babies to feed. Such is the life of one such as I."

Ryouta looked at her with an inscrutable expression. "Well...farewell then, Luce."

She reached out and grabbed his shoulder as he turned. "I- a working girl does not normally beg, m'Lord, but times are hard, and-"

Ryouta cut her off. "I understand." He took out his wallet and gave her every last ingot of value he had.

"My- my lord," she stammered. "This is enough to keep my babies alive once I am dead! Thank you, thank you!"

Ryouta blinked and found himself amongst the clouds once more. "And Charity is to be found within you as well," said Raikou Arashi.

Ryouta blinked and again found himself looking into Raikou Arashi's red eyes. "The next test is one of Diligence, of Persistence and Effort. Prepare yourself." Ryouta nodded enthusiastically. He blinked again and found himself beneath the surface of some truly vile water. It was so disgustingly dirty that it hurt to open his eyes. So he closed them and desperately began swimming for the surface. Ryouta started in surprise when he felt hands grabbing at him, at his limbs, his clothing, attempting to drag him down deeper into the darkness.

He struggled vociferously, first trying to shrug off the hands grabbing onto his arms and legs. Ryouta struck out wildly, augmented his strikes with reiatsu, and he felt some of the hands loosen and let go. But more seemed to take their place. Ryouta continued to struggle desperately, now feeling acutely the pain of being under the water for so long. His lungs burned with need for oxygen. He began to struggle with a briefly renewed vigor, managing to kick a couple of hands away and ascend a few feet. But this didn't last long; more hands began dragging at him.

Ryouta felt his head begin to feel woozy. Brain cells are dyin', he thought bleakly. Am I gonna fail the test of Diligence? His movements were becoming sluggish as his body struggled without oxygen. No...he thought. Diligence- is continuin' to try- even when ya think all is lost! The thought seemed to put fresh energy into him, and he struck out again, and somehow, he managed to bat away every hindrance and shoot towards the surface. As soon as his head broke the surface of the water, he was back in the clouds with Raikou Arashi, completely dry, though still feeling oxygen-deprived.

"Diligent," commented Raikou Arashi. "The next test is the one of Patience. Prepare yourself."

Ryouta closed his eyes, expecting another hellish experience. He was surprised when he opened them and saw himself in a forest. A small bird flew down to him and said, "Catch me!" then quickly flew off into the dark forest. Ryouta immediately raced after it, and found it a difficult thing to catch. Not only was it fast, but it could turn fast, and was small, therefore hard to keep track of. Not only that, but the forest seemed to be comprised mostly of plants that had thorns, and they tore at Ryouta's flesh and clothing alike. "Patience..." Ryouta muttered. "Wait..." He stood stock-still and began nursing the cuts he had received from the thorny flora.

After a couple of hours, the bird returned, and said, "Why won't you try to catch me? It's fun!"

And Ryouta responded, "Because there's no way I can...and besides, ya came back, didn't ya?"

"I guess so," said the bird, who was flapping hard to stay aloft and in one place.

"Ya can perch on me if ya'd like," said Ryouta. "Those plants are all thorny." The bird flew over and perched on him. Ryouta blinked and found himself again with Raikou Arashi.

"A bit impulsive...but with the capacity for Patience," he said with a smile.

ooc: i haven't really posted anything of great length in the past few days. this application is why

"The last test encompasses the three remaining Virtues: Kindness, Humility, and Justice," said Raikou Arashi. "Prepare yourself."

Ryouta groaned inwardly, but also rejoiced that it was the last test. He blinked, and found himself standing in the middle of some plains with rolling hills, under a cloudy sky. Ryouta looked around, and saw nothing, though that was unsurprising, as it was likely the hills were concealing many things. He walked down one of the hills and saw a pretty quaint looking cottage with a small-ish field next to it. An old man was leaning on a hoe next to the field.
"My greetings," he said.

The old man raised his hand. "Sorry, no time to talk, I still have to plow that field there. No furrows fer plantin', see?"

The old man laughed and said, "Unless you have a tool...I don't think so. Thanks for the offer though."

Ryouta smiled. "I don't need a tool. Hado no Ichi: Sho!" He used the spell to cause a long furrow to form in the dirt. Using this easy spell, he was able to plow the field in no time at all. The old man looked stunned.

"Wow, thanks for the help!" he said. “What can I do for you?”

“It was nothin’,” said Ryouta. “Umm…this might seem like an odd question- but do ya know of anythin’ that needs…umm…judgin’ around here? A sense of justice? I dunno, somethin’ like that?”

The old man only pointed away to an unseen place. Ryouta nodded his head. “Thanks.” He disappeared as he flash stepped off. His flash steps carried him many miles before he stood before a gray, dead-looking forest that seemed to almost have an aura of malevolence around it. Over the tops of the trees, Ryouta thought he could see a spire from some sort of building in the center of the forest. Strange…

Ryouta entered the forest, almost certain that its odd appearance signaled that it was where the real final test was about to take place. His journey through the forest was ephemeral; it was like he knew that the journey itself was many miles, and yet it seemed as if it took only a few minutes. He found himself in front of a large, rotten looking wooden gate. Ryouta pushed it open and found him staring into the eyes of a man who seemed quite mad.

“I’ve been awfully bad, it makes me ever so sad and mad, I killed their young, though unintentional, my fate is done!” The man spoke in rhyme.

“What?” Ryouta was taken aback.

“Through the town and past the gate, is where sealed was my fate, the Castle where blood was spilled, not mine, not mine, not mine! I feel ill,” the man said. And then he vanished.

Ryouta grasped one of his Zanpakuto tightly. This place was strange. He pushed open the second gate and found himself in the middle of a town built amongst the trees, shrouded in an unnatural fog. There were townspeople wandering about, but they all seemed to have a blank, dazed look in their eyes. He approached one of them, a woman.

“Excuse me-” She seemed to look right through him and speak to a man across the street.

“Dirk, did you remember to get bacon? We need some,” she said.

Utterly nonplussed, Ryouta backed away. He looked around at the nearby buildings and saw a building labeled “Mayor’s Office.” As he headed toward it, he heard the man respond. Just as he entered the building, he heard the whole conversation start again, exactly the same as it was before, as if they had no idea that they had just been doing as they were now doing.

Ryouta closed the door behind him and saw a man sitting at a desk. “Excuse me, but can ya tell me what’s wrong with the people out there?”

The man looked up, and his eyes looked haunted. “Time. Trapped.” His eyes grew wild. “The children! They went to the castle- didn’t come back! What happened?”

Ryouta wrinkled his nose in confusion, but said, “I’ll find out for ya if I can but-”

“NO! I mean, no, no, no need. Just enjoy your stay here,” the mayor said. He looked back down with the appearance of a beaten man.

More confused than ever, Ryouta exited the mayor’s office and headed straight through the town towards the ominous looking castle. There was a gate in front of it; a man stood guard in front of the gate.

“The mayor told me not to let anyone through,” said the man.

“He uh…said I could,” lied Ryouta.

The man turned around and looked at the gate. “Huh? The lock looks rusty, I should fix it,” he said in a dazed voice. He unlocked the gate and stared at the lock without doing anything.

Ryouta walked past him and through the gate cautiously, and then pushed on the door to enter the main hall of the castle. It was cold and empty, made of stone. There was a desk with something white and something shiny on it in the center of the room, and a door on each of the walls around Ryouta. Ryouta approached the desk and saw the white object was a single sheet of paper with the following written on it: True Justice has but one True path. There was an old key next to it.

Ryouta looked at the doors around him. Obviously it was a hint. Should he take the door straight ahead? Or the one on the left or right? Straight, he thought. He walked straight ahead where he stuck the old key into the lock and twisted. The door swung open, but the key broke off in the lock. Ryouta walked down a well-lit hallway until he reached a second door, and a chest. He opened it, and found a sheet of paper that merely said: The True path of Justice is straight.

Ryouta pushed open the door and saw a glowing figure clad all in white standing in the center of the room. It turned and spoke in an ephemeral voice that seemed to echo slightly. “You are the Judge. You know a terrible crime has been committed here, and in order to put the poor people outside at rest- you must Judge. Bring me the written oaths of the two suspected to me, and we will begin the trial.”

That was straightforward, thought Ryouta. Finally, a test with instructions. He walked through the only other door in the room to find himself in a small ante room that had two other doors in it. Each had a sign next to it; one read “Aito’s Chambers” and the other read “Kotaro’s Chambers.” Ryouta elected to enter the door marked “Aito’s Chambers” first.

As soon as he stepped through the doors, he was confronted by a Blank. Actually, several of them. They were everywhere. Ryouta shoved his way through them- their billowing white bodies made it hard to see, but he eventually reached the other side of the room, and a door. Ryouta opened it and saw to his surprise, the crazy man he had first met outside the gates of the town. Upon closer examination, and in the soft candlelight, he looked kindly, though there were etches of insanity across his face. “Aito?” Ryouta asked.

“Yes yes yes, that’s me, memememememe!” said Aito.

“Umm…can I ask ya about what happened here with the town’s children?” Ryouta asked.

Aito’s face went dark. “He told me that it would be for good, that help him I should, so I brought the young here, a book for them to hear, but when I read, they fell over dead!” Aito began to sob and shake; his shoulder’s shook.

“Who? Kotaro?” Ryouta asked.

“No pain, he said, no death he said, but then they bled, and I, though a kido master, found that my skills could not turn their skin back from alabaster!” said Aito tearfully.

“Umm…could ya write that all down?” asked Ryouta. Aito nodded.

“If it means I can be done, done with this evil place, I will gladly write, if only to save face!” Aito snapped his fingers and a paper appeared from nowhere. Aito handed it to Ryouta, and Ryouta saw it contained all of the things Aito had said to him.

Ryouta thanked him, fought his way back through the Blanks, and then entered Kotaro’s chambers. Here, he was confronted by Hollows. Ryouta destroyed most of them with a well-placed Byakurai, and then killed the rest with his Zanpakuto. He approached Kotaro’s room and opened it. The man in the room was not facing him, but he said, “I will not harm you, Judge. I will give my written oath, for I too wish to leave this timeless prison.”

Kotaro turned around and spoke, “I needed the children so I might perform an experiment with kido that required that their lives be snuffed out for an instant- but only an instant, and they would live once more. I would be given eternal youth, so I could aid the town as I have always done. I was told this would work…but Aito did not trust me. He tampered with my phylactery, and the children did not come back. Not only that, but I was scarred when the experiment failed.” Kotaro pulled down his high collar, revealing what looked like a broken bit of Hollow mask on his neck! “I wear this now, for his folly,” said Kotaro bitterly. He snapped his fingers, and like Aito, caused a piece of paper to materialize. He handed it to Ryouta. “Please make your Judgment swiftly,” he said, and then turned his back on Ryouta.

Ryouta exited the room thinking, Who told him it would work? He poked his head back into Kotaro’s room and asked, “Did ya have a lab?” Kotaro pointed without turning around. Ryouta thanked him and headed off in that direction. He entered a circular room with a desk, and a circular area cordoned off with braziers of open flame. Ryouta approached the desk and opened a drawer. Inside was a journal. He opened it.

The last entry read: I am extremely frustrated by this. I have tried every fire kido spell there is, and yet still, the Hellspawn does not appear. But…there is one more to be tested- surely not that though. I have been able to cast Red Fire since I was a child… Without hesitation, Ryouta turned around and pointed his finger at the center of the brazier encircled area. “Hado no Sanjuichi: Shakkaho!” There was a burst of red flame, and it seemed to grow far more than the spell should have. It seemed to implode, and then with a final burst, a fiery looking Oni appeared in front of Ryouta.

“Kotaro, you called me- oh. An unfamiliar face…who are you?” said the Oni.

“The Judge,” responded Ryouta. “What happened here?”

“My best work,” said the devil. “I tricked Kotaro into thinking that the children were necessary, and he tricked Aito into helping him. Children’s souls taste so sweet- but they were not worth this eternal prison! Here is my written oath!” There was a flash of fire, and a paper appeared in front of Ryouta. He snatched it out of the air and glared at the Oni.

“How could you?” he asked, a quiet rage in his voice.

“I’m an Oni- that’s what we do!” laughed the devil. And with another flash of fire, he was gone.

Ryouta practically flew back to the room with the glowing white figure. He walked up to it and said, “I have the three oaths.”

The figure said, “Then I will start the trial. Aito…Kotaro…it is time for the Trial. Are you ready?”

There were two flashes of light, and Aito and Kotaro appeared on either side of the figure. “I am ready, Guardian and Judge,” said Kotaro.

“Here we all stand with faces dour, ready to face the Judgment Hour!” shouted Aito.

“Good,” said the Guardian. “We are here to find who is responsible for the deaths of the town’s children. After receiving testimony from both defendants- who does the Judge find responsible?”

Ryouta spoke without hesitation. “Neither is guilty.”

The Guardian looked startled. “What evidence do you have to suggest this verdict?”

“The oath of a certain Oni,” said Ryouta, holding out the paper.

“Then I call to the stand, En-Nai,” said the Guardian. There was a flash of fire, and the Oni appeared behind the Guardian.

“You require my infernal services, Guardian?” asked the Oni.

“You are here to be Judged, as are the two brothers,” said the Guardian. “Judge! All that has transpired here focuses on the phylactery that Kotaro created- En-Nai tricked him into using it- and Aito tampered with it. What is its fate?”

“If I choose to destroy it…” started Ryouta.

“Then Kotaro would be guilty,” said the Guardian.

“And if I choose to let Kotaro keep it?” Ryouta asked.

“Then it would be Aito who was at fault,” said the Guardian.

Ryouta thought about it for a few more moments. “What if…I choose to leave the phylactery as it is? Or if I choose to take the phylactery?”

The Guardian paused. “Then…all would be as it has been. And for your second question, they would all be free.”

“Then I will take the phylactery,” said Ryouta.

En-Nai laughed. “Your Judge is a fool, Guardian! In choosing as he has, he has set even me free!”

“Go,” said the Guardian. “Be at peace,” he/she said to the two Shinigami. “And you, return to Hell!” En-Nai disappeared in a flash of fire, the two Shinigami seemed to fade away. “Let me ask you; what prompted your Judgment?”

Ryouta thought about this question for a while, and then said, “Kotaro and Aito were both influenced by En-Nai’s actions- but there was no verdict I could make that would punish him without punishing the innocent. Besides…everyone must be free, even if it is to do evil.”

The Guardian nodded. “Your point has merit; and you have proven yourself to be a worthy Judge.”

Ryouta nodded his head in thanks, and then everything seemed to fade and he was standing once more in front of the castle in the clouds, with Raikou Arashi. Strangely, he was still holding the phylactery.

“You pass,” said Raikou Arashi. “Now, break the phylactery, and I will show you my wings!”

Ryouta broke the phylactery without hesitation. There was a flash of blinding blue light, and when it vanished, Raikou Arashi stood majestically. From his back sprouted eight long, powerful, flexible wings, which he beat the air with, lifting himself into the air. “One wing for each Virtue,” said Raikou Arashi.

And all of a sudden, Ryouta felt closer in terms of body, spirit, and mind to Raikou Arashi than he had ever felt before. And he knew and understood what this new power would be, what its name was, everything. “Thank you,” he said simply.



Ability 2: Hachihane Shugotenshi no Raikou Arashi (8-Winged Guardian Angel of the Lightning Storm) and Isei no Hachisei Shintoku (Power of the 8 Sacred Divine Virtues).

Description of ability: The first name merely refers to the eight wings of blue reiatsu that sprout from the blue trim around the neck of Ryouta’s armor. The wings are about 10 feet long each, and are very flexible and powerful. They grant him a small +3 bonus to speed. The second name refers to the technique that the wings can employ. The kanji symbol for each of the eight Divine Virtues appears on the end of each wing, and from the end of each wing a beam of light comes out and meets the other seven lines. From their point of intersection, a truly massive blast of energy erupts forth.


ooc: please approve this ASAP thanks

very nice, sorry for my recent lack of activity i'm actually still working on two essays as i type xP
anywho,
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