the castle of sand and moonlight [Hanako/Magnolia]

Moon lit nights surrounded by towering, endless sand. Broken castles, standing resolutely from era’s long passed. Silence, so suffocating that it seemed to stretch into eternity--this was hueco mundo. The land of the forsaken, forever-hungry beings known as hollow. Poor unfortunate souls that more often than not would remain as mindless, heartless killers. Some had been fathers who had come back to kill everything they held dear, others were beings that had died with regrets. All were souls worthy of pity and liberation--atleast, that was what Magnolia thought.

The silence of the night was broken as a towering being burst forth from those endless sands, it’s serpent like body immense, like a behemoth out of the old legends of greece. The large mask that adorned it’s head the only thing that separated it from one of those mythical beasts. It’s grating cry was the only thing to pierce the darkness, a blast of sound in the otherwise soundless abyss.

The gleaming moon overhead illuminated an infinitely smaller figure, whose golden eyes pierced the darkness like sunlight. Her sword was a flash of mercury in the starlight, a fleeting flash that was accompanied by the head of the behemoth, serpent-like hollow which crashed into the bleach-bone white sands below. Blackened blood spattering the otherwise unmarred sands as the warrior stood forward from a sekaimon which opened up behind her, blackened amethyst butterflies fluttering past to do reconnaissance in the realm beyond.

”Magpie, I think your aims getting rusty.”

Raijin’s familiar tenor rumble was full of mirth as it rolled within her mindscape with the subtlety of an avalanche. To which Magnolia had no good response other than a soft, grumbly.

”Shove it old man, The customs here do not favor wanton shows of might when they are not called for.”

Magnolia’s golden gaze scanned the ruined spires of las noches, the broken dome which once held the dreams of a king that thought he would rule these lands for eternity, and then a being that thought he could breach the limits and become a god. The impressive shell of a once mighty regime, it awed her but.. That was not why she had come here.

”Hanako, you can come through now.”

Magnolia’s voice was soft and magnetic, and yet in these silent, wind-blown sands, it carried for miles. There was very little else to stop her voice from echoing, and yet, all that did was add to the feeling of loneliness, the feeling of desolation that pervaded this place so deeply. Maybe that was fitting though, that such lonesome, solitary sands, held beings of such supreme misfortune--and ravenous hunger.

After checking to see that Hanako had joined her, the Sekaimon that they had come through would’ve shut, closing them off within this desolate realm. Only after did magnolia take a step forward, dry rock-like twigs breaking underfoot as she made her way towards the looming structure of las noches.

Magnolia inhaled, taking in the purity of the air that lay unmarred by the pollution that she had come to expect in the soul society, and the land of the living. The simplicity of the realm before her brought back a feeling of comfort that she had not felt since crossing over from her own reality, from a much simpler time when revenge and prestige were the only things that had mattered to her.

”Magpie, do you regret it?”

Raijin’s words lacked the mirth and sardonity that usually accompanied them. Instead, they were soft, full of emotions that Magnolia could do without at this moment.

”No, I regret many things, but choosing to stay, to abandon that lonely existence is not one of them.”

Magnolia said within her mind as she swallowed back the lump that lay within the back of her throat and her husky, raw voice slipped out, so many of those emotions lingering on the tip of her tongue. Yet, it was clear those emotions were not rejected, but instead they were a part of her--and she was unafraid of hiding that hurt.

”Why do you think I brought you here Hanako?”

Magnolia’s body stopped and turned to face the woman, her golden gaze studying her faintly as her arms crossed underneath her breasts. Waiting to see what kind of answer that her student might give.

.

As soon as she stepped through the senkaimon, she felt the difference of the place. The strangeness. With her eyes closed she could have told that this was not the Soul Society. It made her skin crawl. She could feel the goosebumps on her arms, her back, her breast, legs, neck. She rubbed her own arms as if a cold wind had touched her, although she wasn’t cold at all.

Hanako looked about her. She knew it from textbooks, from stories. But it was the first time that she herself had ever set foot in this strange land. A vast desert, endless, stretched from horizon to horizon. Nothing but sand, dead trees, ruins and a dark night sky with a pale moon above everything. And the castle that was known as Las Noches, a gigantic structure, too big to comprehend or describe with normal words. A whole city would have fitted into the walls of this one castle.
If nothing moved and nothing cried out there was an eerie silence on the land. The stillness would almost make one’s ears throb, abd Hanako would have loved Hueco Mundo for that alone. But there was something, something beyond sand and silence, that made her uneasy.

“I honestly don’t know.” said Hanako to answer Magnolia’s question.
“There is something about this place… I don’t know how to describe it.”

She spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper, as if afraid to disturb something, although there was nothing near them at the moment.

Something inside her mind began to stir, a memory and emotions, caused by the intensity of something that could nowhere be felt but here. They were still contained, still unconscious, still in the blackness where Hanako dared not look. Yet it was only a thin veil that separated these from the conscious mind, a paper screen that held them back. And the very moment Hanako’s first feet touched the sands of Hueco Mundo they were inevitably awoken. Even if she had known, there would be nothing she could have done.

"You didn't bring me here to hunt, did you?" She asked, finally turning her eyes away from the landscape and to her lieutenant. It was a bit unreal, the two women standing there in a vast nothing, seemingly the only living things, although Hanako was sure that was not so.

”Bah, did you hear her magpie, she thinks you want her to hunt!?” Raijins tenor timbre rumbled in the expanse of Magnolia’s inner world as her golden eyes flickered, studying the tall, brown-haired lass that had followed her from the sekaimon. A faint smile forming on the corners of her lips as she shook her head softly, the tiniest of chuckles escaping past her full lips.

”No, we’re not here to hunt, instead we’re here to remember. “ Magnolia said softly as she strode forth towards the hulking, empty palace that lay before them, her geta barely pressing into the sand despite the ill-suitability they had to this sort of environment. A thin veil of sparks flickered every now and again as Magnolia made her way across the sweeping dunes that lay between the two destinations. Each step transporting her several feet, almost like she was skipping upon the air.

There was a quietness that surrounded them, as if there was nothing else in the world but the two of them. With the distant silver moon that hung in the void above, it was not quite homely, but there was a serenity to it. It was like when you found yourself lost in the woods, and there was nothing but the sound of rustling in the tree’s. However there also was a haunting eeriness too, a feeling of absolute desolation that was matched by nothing else in the realms. Where nothing dared to tread, but the infinitely hungry.

”What do see when you look at the magnificence of this structure?” Magnolia’s voice was clear and strong, echoing across the vast emptiness that surrounded them, carried by the wind. There was a kind of untethered emotion about her, as if the worries of the world had simply fallen away. A kind of hushed wistfulness for something that she’d never see again.

” Because what I see is the fruit bore from hesitation. “ Magnolia’s words were laced with amusement as she finally had made it to an opening in the cavernous structure, a wall that had looked to be blown apart, perhaps by a quincies arrow? Crossing that precipice, Magnolia glanced over her shoulder to see if Hanako had managed to keep up. This was only the first destination they had to reach after all.

”It’s alarming really, how mighty things so quickly fade and degrade to mere memories. “ Magnolia finally spoke again as they made it through the castle proper to a large flickering room of light. The giant dome above was covered in the artificial sun of las noches. The only thing marring it’s skyline being the giant gaping hole in the center, where hueco-mundo’s starry sky filtered in from above. She’d stop now, turning around to face hanako before she bent over slowly, scooping up a pile of sand with her left hand, only to let it sift through her fingers. While her golden eyes watched the granules as they slipped away she asked the question that would broach upon the true reason for them coming here. The thing she wished hanako to see most.

”Tell me, If one day the soul society became like this, how would you feel?” Magnolia asked, the mirth and bemusement gone. Her golden eyes shifting from the sand to rest upon Hanako’s face, as she awaited the womans answer.


.

Yes, remember. There was something here to remember. Hanako felt it like the remainders of a dream, slipping away once one wakes and lurking just outside one’s grasp. It was an uncomfortable, disquieting feeling, like someone or something watching. It made the hairs on the back of Hanako’s neck stand.

Hanako’s thoughts were somewhat disturbed by Magnolia’s speed with which she proceeded towards Las Noches. She moved ahead several feet with each step, so even in a moderate walking pace she covered a lot of ground very quickly. At first Hanako tried to use several small flash steps, to keep up. It worked well, for a short time. Up to this point Hanako had only used single steps in a battle to maneuver around a limited area, but never many consecutive ones to actually cover larger distances. Exhaustion came quickly and there was no other choice left than to fall into a light jog. Even so Hanako had to use a small amount of energy on her feet to keep from sinking in. A part of her wondered what was beneath the sand and what would happen if she sunk into it.

When they finally reached the castle, Hanako breathed hard. She could feel the training before and walking over sand was always way more strenuous than it looked like, every child knew that. And yet this was not the only reason. It was this place, everything about it, the atmosphere itself. It felt as if there wasn’t enough oxygen for her to survive, although her lungs seemed to get along just fine.

“This structure…”

Hanako didn’t have to think long about what she thought about the infamous Las Noches.

“When I look at it I see a statement, a monument to ego and pride. You can’t miss this place, not even from far away. I doubt it’s size really serves any purpose beyond that.”

She lightly placed a hand on the edges of the opening. From what she had seen there was probably enough room for all of the Shinigami that resided in the Seireitei to live. And yet it seemed deserted. There was no one here. No one had fixed the hole in the wall and no guards prevented them from entering.

When they came to the large dome that was a desert like the outside, but with colors and light, she more than ever believed that las Noches served no practical purpose. It was something different about it.
The eerie feeling Hanako has had since they entered Hueco Mundo was even stronger here. As if the something that caused it was more concentrated in here than on the outside. That the space looked more like her home than the home of all Hollows made it even more unsettling. She followed the flowing sand with her eyes and her voice was thoughtful when she answered again.

“How old is this place?” she asked. There was a faint memory of large distances in time, but Hanako couldn’t remember it any better than she could grasp what made her so uneasy. At least with this history she knew where she could read it up once she was back home.

“I know that it was taught in the academy, but I can’t remember the details. It is strange that it is deserted. In here...outside...we haven’t met anyone. I can’t imagine that no one wants to claim this.”

She made a vague gesture at the sand and the sky. While she looked up she noticed the hole. There had been a big battle here. She could vaguely remember the involvement of some humans and a traitor from the Gotei and something of a Hollow army. But now she was fairly certain that it happened centuries ago.

“What do you mean...like this?” Hanako asked and somehow the question made a shiver run down her spine.
“Do you mean nothing more than a monument? Deserted, damaged and half forgotten?”

She imagined that in some centuries the Seireitei was a desert like this. All Shinigami either had left or died and turned to dust long ago. And then also two wanderers would come along, a sensei and a pupil, the latter trying to remember something from a history lesson, but unable to, because at the time it seemed to ancient, to unimportant.

“It would make me very sad.” she simply said and Magnolia would probably be able to tell that she meant it. Soul Society was her home. And in a way, Soul Society was her purpose.

Hanako looked at her feet and the sand. Following a sudden impulse she stooped down and touched the sand with her left hand. Seeing her hand there, outstretched, as if she wanted to hold her body up, some vague memories flashed through her mind. Memories of pain and fear, despair and terror. With a start Hanako straightened up again and her gasp could be clearly heard. With an almost hounded expression on her face she looked around her but after only a few moments she realised that there were still only Magnolia and her. Like images from a nightmare the splinters of memories began to fade. But unlike a dream there was no relief upon waking...because Hanako hadn’t been asleep.

”This place is old. Far older than modern history. It is a remnant to a glorious empire that once thrived in Hueco Mundo. “ Magnolia’s words were hushed, as she responded to Hanako’s response on the age of this place. The sand that continued to sift between her fingers having begun to make a tiny pile by her feet. As she spoke, Magnolia’s eyes had drifted from Hanako to once more rove the wide-open space before them. Taking in the ruined shell of history that lay there, contemplative of what it might have looked like in the height of it’s glory.

”Yes, Afterall, everything at one point will find it’s end Hanako.” Magnolia’s voice was somber and contemplative as her golden gaze studied the hole that lay within the sky above, roving over the contrast between true reality, and the false reality las noches had tried to build within it’s giant bleach-bone walls. The sand that had finally trickled free of Magnolia’s hand had made a tiny pile next to her left foot. After awhile, Magnolia’s gaze once more found it’s way back to Hanako, a faint smile gracing the shinigami’s lips.

When Hanako spoke of being sad at such a notion, Magnolia couldn’t help but nod as if she agree’d with such a notion. Undoubtedly Magnolia too would be sad if the place she called home was one day reduced to such a pile of rubble and desolation--yet, that was not what Magnolia wished for Hanako.

”Magpie, I doubt she’s going to understand your point unless you tell it to her. Don’t get caught up in pondering a world long since buried.” Raijin’s voice was like many rocks grinding together as it rumbled inside Magnolia’s inner world. The tenor timbre was just loud enough to break Magnolia from her revere, and mayhaps a slightly sheepish look crossed the Vice Captain Commanders features for a second as she was caught in such a state of contemplation. Still, Magnolia was not the kind of gal to remain inhibited by such embarassments, so her expression quickly recovered and she set out for one of the many walls of Las Noches.

Her steps were like the wind, drifting across the surface of the sands. Her steps only barely coming into contact with the sand beneath as she quickly made her way to her destination. When Magnolia finally pressed her palm against that rough, cracked and chipped wall she’d begin to speak again.

”I don’t want you to be sad though, Instead I show you this to teach you about strength.” Magnolia said as she let her hand roam the wall before her.

” Because when the end comes, it will be because that was the time for our current legacies to fade away. We too will eventually become remembrances for the age to come. Be it a thousand years, or a million from now, the day will inevitably come. When it does though, I show you this because I do not want you to be afraid.” Magnolia chuckled slightly as she turned around, leaning her back against the battered old wall of las noches, her arms crossed underneath her bust as she continued to speak.

” All things end, so don’t let your fears and your inhibitions stop you from living fully. That is why I brought you here. This place is a remnant of the past, but time moved on from this era, and the world still flourishes. Just like no matter your future, you too will flourish.” Magnolia spoke softly, sharing with her the mentality that had allowed her to endure so much and still remain optimistic. A genuine heart to heart that Magnolia had wished to have with the woman before her, who seemed so plagued by uncertainty and doubt.


.

...everything at one point will find it's end…

The worlds echoed through Hanako's mind. Here, in this ruin of a once great empire, it seemed more real than anywhere else.

"What...happened here? It was a war, wasn't it?" Hanako asked. She sounded a little bit as if she had trouble concentrating on the words. The vague, dream like feeling had stayed with Hanako. And it grew. It distracted her, like a wind that was blowing, growing stronger and louder by the minute. Just what was it? What was it in this place that could reach so deep inside her, with an ice cold hand, and touch a part of her she couldn't reach herself?

Magnolia set off again, towards one of the walls of Las Noches. Again she was moving fast and Hanako had trouble keeping up, even with an occasional flash step she managed to throw in. The feeling in the back of her mind, of having woken from a dream, not being sure about reality, grew stronger. It made the journey to the walls into something surreal: Hanako running, sprinting and trying to keep up with a beautiful figure in front of her, but she slipped further away with each step.

The biggest part of her mind still knew that it was all just an illusion, some weird daydream her mind had cooked up, for reasons unknown to her. But already the seed of doubt was sown there: Was it really nothing?

When they finally reached the wall and Magnolia revealed why she had brought Hanako here, the younger woman wasn't sure what she should feel. It was a blatant contrast to her life goal she had only changed recently. When she began her training as a Shinigami her goal was to achieve strength, power and greatness, to be remembered and have at least a future, if she couldn't have a past. The perspective of being forgotten one day was...sobering.
But on the other hand it was freeing as well. If it didn't matter in the end, maybe it was as Magnolia said: the world moves on, despite remnants and ruins of the past. And it would do so in the future. So why worrying about it, why not concentrating on the present instead? The here and now.

'Do I really worry so much? Do I really fear so much?' Hanako asked herself in her mind. It was a hard question to ask, and an even harder question to answer. Did she really worry so much about her past and her future that she forgot to live here and now?

She took a deep breath, smelled the air, felt the energies of the homeworld of all Hollows.

Strength...past...future...the words kept floating through her mind.
Yes...she shouldn't let fears keep her from living. Everything ended in some way, but that wasn't the end to all. After all...she had died before and was still living, wasn't she.

Hanako's gaze glazed over. To her it was suddenly as if she looked over a great distance. Her body felt light and her head spun. This feeling...this stench...the stench of Hollows. Claws and teeth, tearing, ripping. Blood, pain, screams, fire. Death. So much death.

Hanako flinched as if someone had whipped her. With a hounded expression she looked around herself, before she came to her senses once more.

"I…" she stammered. "Sorry...I just feel...a bit dizzy...all of a sudden."

And indeed the ground beneath her feet seemed to move as if the endless waves of sand were in motion. Like an ocean made of ground bones and despair.

...but the sand didn't move, it was Hanako who swayed.

When one’s ideal’s come into question-- the very things that define a person, make them even-- seldom did one come out of such moments completely unshaken. Magnolia’s golden eyes could see that immutable fact within Hanako. The way her eyes glazed over, the way her core gave way to not doubt, but indecision. The indecision which stemmed from having the driving force of one's essence ripped away by a cruel truth of the realms. Hanako was faltering, it was clear to the Shinigami. How could it not be? When she was familiar with the feeling herself.

”Magpie--”Raijin began.
”I know, I will not let her fall into despair.” Magnolia cut raijin off, her tone within the mindscape warm yet somber as she addressed the concerns of her companion.

In the realm beyond her mind however, Magnolia’s lithe frame lifted away from the broken, craggy rock that lay behind it, her Haori fluttering in the faint wind as she crossed the meager space between them as if she had simply blinked across existence--by using a flash step. At Hanako’s side, slightly behind her and to the right, Magnolia lay a steadying hand upon her, so that if she did give way, she would not fall.

”Easy, just breathe, and listen to my voice.” Magnolia’s tone was like the embers in the hearth after a fire on a cold winter's night. Warm, but not too hot that it might be scorching, instead it was a comforting thing, and yet behind it lay firmness, as if she was unmoving, like a mountain. Magnolia tried projecting strength into her voice, so that Hanako could draw from it, to help quell the painfully obvious emotional turmoil that lay within her bosom.

”Filter it all out. Just listen to me talk, and count your breaths. You are not alone.” Magnolia’s voice kept it’s steady cadence, as she gently squeezed the younger woman's shoulder. She tried to project these emotions, even if she was not the best at showing them. For far too long she had been a warlike existence, so she was unfamiliar with such things, she was not a leader after all. Abalia certainly would be far better at this than she was.

”Do not try to process the futility of what I have told you. The yawning weight of the world is not yet for you to bare, at least not alone.” Magnolia spoke softly, gently guiding her young student until she was sitting upon the ground. Magnolia sitting before her, her posture still indicative of her own rigorous upbringing as a warrior. Knee’s tucked neatly beneath herself. The warrior would capture an errant lock of curly yellow hair, tucking the minor annoyance behind her ear before she spoke once more, picking her words carefully.

” I often forget that the truth is just as poisonous as it is uplifting. I may be unmatched by all but a very few people, but I seem to be terrible when it comes to imparting knowledge to the younger generation. I Should not have dropped such a harsh truth upon you, at least not as I did.” Magnolia was not afraid to allow Hanako to know her faults. Much as she wished to teach, she also had to learn how to teach. However her inclination towards the harshest of methods would not serve her well, and she was beginning to realize that.

”What I told you of, that could be still thousands, if not tens of thousands of years away. Even if it happens eventually, it is not something you need to worry about in the present. Still, do you wish to talk about how that made you feel? It’s quite obvious my words have caused you to be shaken, greatly so. “ Magnolia asked, but did not force Hanako to answer just yet. She was perfectly comfortable with allowing silence to reign until the woman had gotten enough control over herself both to consider the request--and regain her composure. Until then, Magnolia’s eyes stared upon that endless night sky, marveling at it’s loneliness, and endless expanse.


.

When Hanako felt Magnolia’s hand, she calmed down a bit. She let the steadying presence of the powerful woman seep through her and help her calm her thoughts. She reached up with one of her hands and laid her hand on Magnolia’s, as if she wanted to say ‘don’t let go’. The contact was soothing...but not soothing enough.

She tried to count her breaths, tried to concentrate on Magnolia’s voice, but her thoughts kept slipping. She just couldn’t focus. There was more than just the overwhelming weight of history. There was more than one truth that was unfolding herself in front of Hanako.

When Magnolia guided Hanako towards the ground, she allowed it, and thankfully so. The world seemed to stop dancing around her, when she kneeled in the soft sand. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was easier this way. She was used to meditate in this position, to feel her body and her breath consciously, limiting her thoughts to a certain image. Habits kicked in and together with the consoling presence next to her, reality once again began to look a little bit more...real.

“I...ah….I can’t really say….how I feel. It is a lot...hm...a lot to process. I feel like I am….in a waking dream...sort of.” she said slowly, pausing again and again as if she had forgotten what she wanted to say. She stared at the sand on which the two woman sat.

“There...is...more.” she whispered and took a handful of this sand. A small pile of sand, pale and dry, lay on the palm of her hand. She raised it towards her face. It didn’t feel like it had a temperature. It had no smell. Yet to her it was like a fire in her hand, reeking of burned flesh and wood. Slowly she let it trickle through her fingers, then she looked up at Magnolia.

“There is more...more than just...I mean…It’s not just what you said...but where we are.”

She paused, seemed to gather her thoughts, while in reality she tried to fight of there horrible feelings of being caught in a nightmare, despite being awake.

“Hollow...everything here is Hollow. I feel it...I smell it. It is pressing down on me...gripping me, clawing at me.”

Her gaze became somewhat imploring, as if she feared Magnolia wouldn’t believe her.

“I...felt...this...be...fore.”

Every word, no, every syllable was accentuated with naked horror of realisation.

“Hollows….many of them...all around me...killing me...tearing me apart...something’s burning...it’s all still hazy, I can’t really take a hold of it. It’s like a dream...a damned nightmare….you wake up and it starts to slip away. Only this time it’s no dream...I didn’t wake up. It’s real...it’s a memory...but I can’t...I just can’t…”

Hanako gasped in horror and dismay. All her life -the term encompassing less than a decade for her being part of it- she had felt the horror of not knowing her own past. It had always been there, like an icy claw deep inside her, scratching the walls of its prison. But now...this was even more terrifying. She felt there was something, something so close beneath the surface she could see its shadow. She knew it was Hollows. She knew it was horrible. Everything here, the whole of Hueco Mundo, struck something inside her and made it vibrate like a string. But when she tried to reach out for it it just slipped away again. Why? Why couldn’t she just remember? Why, in the Soul King’s name, couldn’t she just remember her own cursed past?