The Arbiter of Choice, Crossroads of Possibility. [Open]

From underneath the roningasa hat which adorned her crown, golden eyes stared out across an unfamiliar landscape. Her nose, partially obscured by the low shadowing of her hat wrinkled slightly at the acrid smell that lay before her. Looking upon the wide street before her, where shadows and ash met the low roar of guttural, inhuman voice, Magnolia found herself sitting upon a crumbling wall looking out upon it all. Her ruby lips, a slash of color upon the otherwise plain black haori drawing one into the faint frown that adorned them. The many creatures that weaved past her gave her perspective, their varying appearance drawing her back to a darker time--a time where her clothes ran slick with varying shades of blood.

To the onlooker, she’d blend right in, as if she belonged there, such was her serenity. To one with a trained eye however, her posture was too straight despite her casualty. Her hands lay too close to the swords that lay tucked behind her against the old ruined wall. Her head moving at a predetermined sweep every now again. All of it was too trained, too militaristic for the simple meandering hubbub about her. Yet, still as she brought some cooked creature with too many mouths and legs to be from the human realm to her mouth and bit a hunk from it, she remained.

For months she had pulled with the moral dilemma that lay within her. What she had done was undoubtedly right, and in the grand scheme of things had been for the greater good. Yet, the feeling of bone and flesh being wrent apart right in front of her, of hot (or sometimes cold) arterial spray against her flesh was not something she could forget. When it came to the point of Honor, and Noblesse Oblige, Magnolia had a clean conscience with what had been done, with the lives she had taken, with the one's she had saved, yet.. Morally, she still woke up at night with the sensation of blood globbing to her fingers, and she couldn’t decide if despite the rightness of her actions, if in her inaction to complete her goal, she had truly failed. Or if the slaughter of thousands had made her entirely irredeemable.

She was teetering, and to strengthen her resolve she had decided to come to the very place of the people that she had slaughtered so indiscriminately. To view, and see, and decide. Now that she was here, so far from anything she had known in a realm she was so unfamiliar with, she felt a sense of peace, and yet that was edged with adrenaline and alertness. The scents on the streets so different, the clutter and disarray a far cry from the clean feudal estates she had been used to. The varied dialect and tonation grating and guttural upon her ears. The only thing she had seen since finding her perch a few hours ago that was the same was the violence. That atleast, she could understand.

She had watched innumerable fights in the hours she had watched, over things both serious and inconsequential. She watched a few demons snatched off the streets, dragged to alleyways where they were slaughtered like sheep. Or how on the corner there was a shop that if stench had anything to do with it, had something to do with drugs.

Through that she had somewhat desensitized herself to it, and yet she still hadn’t found the answers that she was seeking. To understand, and to come to peace with herself, the goal she had came here, was further off than it had been when she stepped forth upon this path to begin with, and under it all there was still this itch, to pull her blades from her scabbards and finish the work that she had begun in america. To quell the threat that still existed, to ensure long-lasting peace. It was an itch that only slightly was allayed by the knowledge that the answers that she sought would aid her in understanding herself better. Whatever choice she came to, it would be better than this indecision, this doubt that lay within. So watch, and wait, that is what she chose to do.

”Seek with your heart Magpie, let it be your compass.”,
The tenor rumble of Raijins voice cut across the fugue of her mind. Slicing through doubt and uncertainty with it’s booming cadence. Rich and full of certainty, the voice of her most precious confidant reverberated within. It held the concern that the spirit had for her over these few months, as he had watched peace slowly rotting away at her. Watching a being that had been fighting for all her life try to live in the absence.

”What would you have me do, when my compass steers me against what I am told is right?” Magnolia responded as her voice dripped with acidity. This world was far more civilized, and it was bad to rip up the roots to ward against future unrest. Her compass was wrong. This was not the world where might makes right. The weak “supposedly” had as much say as the mighty in this reality.

In the depths of her mind, Magnolia only was brought to awareness of the bronzed adonis that strode towards her when the crowds parted. It reminded her of the sect-masters when they came down into the towns and cities. She did not miss the looks of awe and fear that lingered in the throng of unimportant passerby that had given way in the wake of his dominating presence. It did not escape her that fear, was a far more common emotion in the motley assembly of beings than respect, or reverence.

Fear was something that Magnolia had very little left to give. So beneath her Roningasa, the golden gaze leveled upon him was speculative. He could be going anywhere, yet a wriggling in her gut gave her the suspicion this encounter was anything but accidental. His gait was too purposeful, his path pre-determined. Magnolia’s eyes narrowed faintly as her right arm tensed for a moment before going slack again. What would be, would be.

When he approached, Magnolia stared on into the crowd. She wasn’t unsettled, too focused on her own quandaries to add another; of why a demon would be interested in her. The only time she acknowledged the presence beside her was to frown in annoyance at the exaggerated lip-smacking that grated in her ear. So when he inevitably spoke, asking of how sad these creatures were, and why they persisted it struck Magnolia as odd. The thought of it, of these beings with lives and purpose being sad and futile. Yet maybe, in the face of demi-god like beings they truly were insignificant.

Magnolia pondered not answering for a moment, and even pondered how she would answer. Yet in truth, her purpose here was to find the answer she had been seeking for herself. How she would fit in within this world, and how far would she let her morals warp to give herself that belonging. In this case however, a faintly concealed chill radiated from her being. While not directed at anyone, it was the kind of aura that could only be dredged by the slaying on innumerable lives. The iciness of an asura. Yet, it was also coupled with an unfettered freedom. She was unafraid of the truth, she was only tired of trying to conform to be something she was not. Peace had slowly been poisoning her.

”In truth, I'm trying to convince myself my decision to not keep pushing, slaughtering them, was the right one. I had to come here to see, because maybe then I could understand.”

Magnolia’s words held within them not the slightest shred of deception. Afterall, she didn’t care who he was, so why should she even begin to care how that sounded? The disregard for life was crystal clear in the softness of her voice.

Then another came, and this one couldn’t be more apparent that she had come expressly for Magnolia. Under the scrutiny of her golden gaze, Magnolia took in the petite figure that waltzed on up, seemingly without a single reservation. When the woman spoke of persistence, and how demons will always remain, a part of Magnolia morbidly agreed with her. There were far too many for her to kill on her own, even given an eternity to do so after all.

Yet when the woman even had the gal with her shark-tooth smile and sparkling eyes to utter that it was a pleasure to meet her? After what she had done to demon kind? Magnolia couldn’t help the slow sensual smile that pulled from her lips. The smoldering animalistic way she bared her teeth faintly from beneath those red lips however was one of amusement rather than scorn or disgust. This warlike manner was far more familiar for her than the touty elegance of the gotei.

”The pleasure, is all mine. “
Magnolia emphasized pleasure maybe a little more than necessary with the soft huskiness of her voice only loud enough to be heard amongst the three of them. Lazily she raised up a hand to the woman, her head tilting back only enough to divulge the curve of her nose from beneath the shadow of her hat as she looked up at Iota. Her hand hung, wrist slack, yet outstretched as she waited, to see how far Iota would push her hospitality, or bravery rather.

Afterwards, Magnolia sighed faintly, feeling the eyes that all were drawn to their merry group. It was hard for her to make her decision in peace with the onslaught of all these prying eyes.

”Y’know i was enjoying the anonymity, now i’ll have to find a new spot.”
With absolutely no fucks given to the potential backlash of being stranded and identified within demon world. Without the insignia of the gotei, nor the acknowledgement of whom she was, the shinigami languidly arose from her perch. Despite the casualness her stance and center of balance gave her away to being a practiced warrior.

After she fully stood up, Magnolia picked a direction and just started to walk. She was sure that if they were there for her or to watch her they would follow.

So much they had to say, so much that there had been to digest. So many misconceptions. Magnolia’s nose wrinkled in distaste at the title that had been given to her, Hero. Iota hadn’t called her as such, but she might have as well said it, in a roundabout manner. They had erected statues in her honor, and had hailed her as this great, mighty being. A saviour, a Hero. As if the view of rivers of blood pouring from mountains of bodies had not been her doing, as if it hadn’t taken an hour to uncake the blood that had dried on her body every time she had gone out during that war. Every time she heard that word, it brought her back to the battlefield. It brought the metallic stench to her nose, and the acrid taste to her tongue.

She had done what was necessary, she didn’t regret it one bit, but-- she was no hero. She was just as monstrous as the beings she had killed.

”I don’t believe in peace, only that fighting cannot sustain itself eternally. If i was here for that purpose, this city would be drenched in blood already.” Magnolia spoke, her voice carefree, as if she hadn’t spoken something that in another situation, could be a very real reality. All of them knew that it could be, she had shown what she could do to heavily militarized shadow fall bases before afterall. A city like this? It’d be child’s play for her-- and her tone left no illusions to the fact that it would be as easy as breathing for her to do it. To turn emotion off and bring to heel her enemies under the coldness of hard steel.

”It disgusts me you know.” In her own way, as they spoke, Magnolia was answering Iota’s questions. The question of the many why’s: Why she was here, Why now, Why it mattered so much, Why would she be so brash, and quite frankly stupid. The carefreeness of her tone had given way to a more thoughtful cadence, the airiness of her tone dissipating into a gruffness that was marred by not self-loathing, but distaste and maybe even the slightest traces of anger.

”I am not a Hero, my solution was to run rivers of blood across thousands of miles. Not that I feel a shred of guilt.” It was clear in her tone that she’d do it again if it had been required of her. Afterall, it hadn’t been a personal vendetta, it had been done because that was the only solution that there had been.

”I can respect your resolve. I understand.” Magnolia wasn’t someone who looked at the world through emotional lenses. She was pragmatic. Iota being here was because it was the logical thing to do, she was too big a threat to just leave unchecked after all. By now they turned a corner into a less populated street, the throng of nosy passerby thinning from a rush to just a trickle. The housing seemed more dilapidated as they climbed, the dusty, broken scene before them ringed by the cityscape that fell away beneath them.

Finally, an old gnarled tree came into view. It loomed at the peak of this cliffed outcropping. Easily over a hundred feet in height, the outermost branches hung low, lichen and rott wafting out with it’s sickly sweet odor. Further up, a few skeletons hung from ropes. Maybe one or two of them had a bit of meat left on their bones, whatever hadn’t been picked away by the endemic wildlife. Magnolia’s eyes seemed to peer at one of those dangling bodies, as if she could empathize with it’s desiccated husk. When Matt spoke of her already knowing the answers she sought, he got the smallest of chuckles from the woman. Not one of those dainty little giggles girls thought were cute--but a deep, melodious noise that was full and throaty. It whispered past her lips as she shook her head faintly.

” My answer doesn’t fit the world I live in. It is one that is far more Warlike than this society could stomach. “

The faintest trace of bloodlust that leaked from her spoke to that far more than the mild words that had left her mouth. She was positively drenched in the lives of others after all. A most accomplished killer, no matter for what cause she killed for. Beneath her Roningasa, her golden eyes closed as she sighed for a moment.

”That is why I must learn, and why I must know-- because while I could perish with my own choice, I live for more than myself now.“ Simple, unadulterated truth. In a way it was the answer to the statement Mat had made earlier of how choices never were clear-cut and simple, of how it was the choice you could live by, or die by, rather than the correct one.

Magnolia’s gaze turned to Iota, and the hardness that remained softened a bit. From Iota’s perspective, she could see the whisper of a smile that blossomed upon her full lips as she said softly.

”I will not harm your people today. I too am far from Innocent.” Without beating around the bush, Magnolia had finally given Iota a definite answer to her hope. She deserved that much for being willing to come out here on the off chance that that wasn’t the case. Magnolia’s head tilted down as she spoke those words, glancing at her hands, as if she could envision the blood that had been congealed there, squishing around the handle of her weapons after so much of it had bathed her than it couldn’t run off fast enough, instead starting to congeal.

The man had finally spoken his name, and Magnolia shook her head faintly. She did not give her name, after all, for all intents and purposes she was never supposed to be here to begin with.

”You’ll have to forgive me, but I cannot give you my name.” Magnolia said softly, that phantom of a smile growing a little bit more as she leaned back against the sturdy trunk behind her, sitting against it as she felt the bark dig into her back.

”But it is indeed.. Interesting to meet both of you.” Magnolia’s gaze ranged out across the city, and after awhile after that statement she’d speak again.

”I’ll admit, this isn’t what I expected this place to look like.”

Once more, the silence that Magnolia had so craved initially had been regained. It seemed both of the demons who had been drawn to her presence finally had left, and once more she was left with the good company of her thoughts.

”Magpie, I think you’re overthinking this.” Raijin said softly, his words searching as he tried to pull his queen from her darker thoughts.

” How so Raijin?” Without the foil of verbal exchange, or decorum, the flatness of the tone within Magnolia’s mind was a far truer glimpse into the blackened sludge that lay within. The weight of this reality had wore on her, and the differences in expectation had made her begin to doubt the iron resolve that had allowed her to wade through legions of men and reduce them into corpseflesh. It had dulled her blade.

”Does it really matter what others think of you? When have you cared? What Changed?” Raijin’s tone became more firm, as he spoke of the unwavering devotion he had seen cultivated within her. If this was the her of old, these thoughts wouldn’t even begin to encroach upon her conscience, she would have simply written them off and moved on. So what has changed?

”I wanted to fit in, I wanted to understand.” Magnolia said candidly as she looked out over the city of demons. There wasn’t much difference here, beyond the physical sense, they were not much different. Yet because they came from different places, they had warred so violently.

” Then understand, but Magpie.. You’re never going to fit in. You aren’t the same as them, accept that.” Raijin said softly, trying to coax her to the answer.

”There’s one more place I wish to see.” Magnolia said faintly, not entertaining her answer that response. Afterwards, Magnolia vanished from her seated position with a flash of static, leaving the capital of demon world far, far behind.