Lily
Running around with my aura nearly empty after all this time was incredibly uncomfortable. I knew what I’d recovered or, rather, added by devouring Voslaarum’s soul was enough that just about any of the drunkards or even the actually sober people in Dragonsreach wouldn’t be able to break it in one hit but the werewolves were a bit of a wildcard and I also just really didn’t like being weakened in the reality in which I had been damaged to such an extent.
Of course, my distaste for my weakened state only grew when I noticed who, exactly, Missy was drinking with. Sighing, I slid into a seat, “Sam Guevenne, I think you’re called?” I asked as if I didn’t know exactly who was next to me.
“That I am.” The Daedric Prince pretending to be a mortal confirmed. “I don’t suppose you’re here to join the party?”
“I’m here to end it. I’d happily take part in a more…bloody party at some later point, though.” Surely Missy couldn’t blame me for setting up some gory fun for myself to get her away from the daedra who’d send her on a fetch quest across all of Skyrim otherwise.
Soft laughter echoed in my head, Tenkuu Niwa apparently as amused as I was.
“Ah but why not have some fun now? It’s just about to get good, too?” Sanguine acted friendly but I saw in him what I saw in myself when I was having fun at the expense of others. Nothing but amusement, if perhaps less cruel than mine.
I was also not blind to how quickly things were devolving already. Sanguine was here and his mere presence seemed to intoxicate people, to make them less aware of things such as our conversation and hyper-aware of things they wanted to, things that brought them pleasure.
“I’m afraid my sister and I have somewhere to go and I need to make fun of her for getting this drunk while I was gone.” I wouldn’t have blamed her if Sanguine had been here from the start but, even with how well he could hide his presence, I didn’t even need my mystic eyes to see past his guise. Not when reality continued to show me increasingly more details as Red King Syndrome worked through the dream.
Even the effects of his presence were simply visible to me like words on a page. As was the fact that he ultimately wasn’t nearly as capable of manipulating Nirn as I’d have thought. Enough to manifest a tiny bit of his essence as an avatar but that’s it.
“Well, I suppose I’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future. And I’m looking forward to that bloody revelry you promised, Outsider. Do kindly let me peek in on that.” With that farewell and an easy smile on his lips, the mortal guise of the Daedric Prince stood up and began to walk away, though the effects of his presence lingered.
Looking at my sister slurring through a retelling of our first ever fight, I went through a mental checklist of the things I’d meant to do during this visit.
I’d already purchased Breezehome and set it up as part of my Traveling Home on top of letting Proventus know that they could reach us through that method in case Whiterun was attacked by a dragon again. I’d eaten some dragon souls…aaaaand I’d watched Missy fall flat on her face from a standing position due to how drunk she was. Really, I’d gotten more out of this than I’d meant to.
Ignoring how funny it was to see someone trained in combat stumbling for no reason like that, I did note that I’d probably have to brief Missy on the Daedric Princes and the Aedra at the very least. That glimpse of Sanguine with the script peeled back had reassured me of my own chances against a deity because those guys were apparently reality manipulators of both the passive and active variety and I could neutralize both.
The issue was that teaching Missy how to utilize my flower field would take… ‘Hm. About thirty hours?’ It was certainly surprisingly quick for a Grimoire ability. Omniglot was the only ability I could teach at a faster speed and that was because I had access to a good method for it. Then again, the path I could see for teaching my flower field so quickly was not something I would be willing to do for just anyone.
‘My flower field and Omniglot should become priorities then.’ I was always going to teach her the latter once I got her strength up to an acceptable level but I could admit to being a bit stingy with my powers. Alas, Sanguine had already shown interest and we were actively tasked with fighting reality bending dragons in this world. Not teaching Missy how to use my flower field would be downright negligent at this point.
And, speaking of my twin, it was time to get her to stop making a fool of herself. Except, much as it could very much so be fun to see how she’d act while drunk, her newly gained Thu’um only made that an even more terrible idea so, as I walked up to her, I used the lingering effects of Sanguine’s presence to cast some spells that made Missy fall asleep without anyone noticing.
I didn’t need my castle to turn into the most confusing labyrinth of all time because my drunk twin decided it’d be funny.
So, carrying Missy on my back, I considered bothering to let anyone know that we were leaving but exactly none of the people in Dragonsreach seemed sober enough to still remember it so I simply left the keep before informing a guard outside so that none had to worry about their newly found dragonborn.
After depositing Missy in her bed and getting some maids to make sure she was alright – and to get me should she wake up because I was not letting this go without getting to tease her at least – I sat down cross-legged on my own bed with Tenkuu Niwa on my lap and began to meditate, my soul reaching out for my blade.
Moments later, I found myself in a realm of which the ground looked like an endless starry expanse that looked solid beneath me due to the way some plant-shaped things were beginning to grow out of it while the sky was mostly pitch black with ‘suns’ of various colours in it. The only things that disturbed the atmosphere of this place were the six gigantic chains stretching from the ground into the sky.
“This is the garden, then? I have to say, nothing’s grown all that much yet.” I commented, turning around because I knew myself well and could guess that the spirit born from my soul would’ve shared my sense of dramatics.
And, indeed, a tall, lithe woman looking much like the ground of this place but wearing a red kimono with purple petal patterns all over it was standing behind me. Her eyes were interesting, the left looking like a sun while the right looked like a moon. “These things take time, you know?”
“I suppose they do.” Gardening had never been my strength. In fact, I had been so terrible at taking care of plants that I’d had a cactus die on me. “Now, I have an idea of what these plants are and I suppose you won’t be so kind as to confirm it for me?”
Tenkuu Niwa smiled in response. “There’s no need to deny it when you would figure it out in a couple hours, anyways, is there? Yes, Skilled Development is part of the reason why there’s so many plants here and why so few of them have yet to be anywhere close to done with their growth.”
“Each plant is a skill then. Or an ability, be it one I simply have, one I gained or one from the Grimoire.” I’d already suspected as much because, amusingly enough, Scholomance magic had made me suspect something about just what my personal affinities were like in regards to supernatural abilities.
After all, when I’d tried to create a spell with nothing but my natural affinities, Omniglot had influenced the resulting incantation. I hadn’t wanted to do that, it had simply happened.
As far as I could tell, the Grimoire basically integrated these abilities in such a way that I could basically be said to have an extreme affinity for each of them. As such, anything that might be coloured by my affinities would be influenced by all my abilities.
It…hadn’t shown in my Semblance but I had my personal theory on what exactly had happened there, absurd though that one still seemed to me and that theory would also explain to me why something similar didn’t happen to Tenkuu Niwa.
Tenkuu Niwa nodded. “You have begun to nurture quite a few of them already. In time, this will become a magnificent garden, I’m sure.”
I ignored the flattery, interesting though it was to receive it from something that had been born from my soul. I had come here for another reason, after all. “Then how about you tell me how I can use this garden. I believe its abilities should be quite interesting, after all.”
My sword’s spirit and I both never stopped smiling throughout the entire conversation so far. It was quite amusing to both of us, it seemed. “Very well but, if you wish to learn how to use my Shikai’s abilities, you will learn while sparring with me. I will teach you the basics and then you will grow further from there. Frankly, these abilities on their own have limitless applications so it’d be futile to try and teach you how to use all of them.”
“Then teach me the method.” I replied, though I was quite certain I’d lose the coming spar. Unless I was allowed access to my full kit and Tenkuu Niwa’s abilities weren’t as versatile as she claimed, being a natural master of her own abilities would just about guarantee that.
In response, a copy of Tenkuu Niwa, the Shikai of my sword that is, appeared before each of us. Neither one of us hesitated to pick it up. “For the first step, focus on one of your skills or abilities. Pick whichever one you desire. Then, channel it into your blade alongside some reiatsu.”
It was difficult to envision channelling a skill into my sword so, instead, I picked the first ability that came to mind, Conversion.
“Now, swing your sword a little.” Tenkuu Niwa instructed and, after I did so, I saw a small purple star being left behind where the blade had originally been. “That is now a seed of Conversion. It is temporary and will soon burn out due to how little reiatsu it holds but, depending on what you want it to do, you would be able to either have it imbue something it strikes – and you can make these seeds move on their own – granting that something the ability to use Conversion until the seed runs out of power or having the seed use Conversion on the target. Meanwhile, you remain able to use Conversion.”
“The influence of Divine Gifts is at fault for the first part, I suppose.” I mused despite suspecting that the Grimoire itself was partially at fault, too. “I don’t suppose that’s it. If it were, I doubt you would have been so proud.” I meant nothing by the taunt, the smile still gracing my lips.
Tenkuu Niwa laughed a little in response. “No. This alone might be impressive by lesser standards but we both know you would never have been satisfied by this alone. The reason why there are limitless applications is very different. Lilian, try to imbue two abilities into a star you create. Envision the end result, if you can.”
I couldn’t stop myself, even as I began to work on the task I’d been given, I laughed. ‘Conversion, High Probability and reiryoku.’ I decided, pushing the three abilities into my blade together with some extra reiatsu and then having the latter shoot the resulting star into my chest.
Immediately, I could sense reiatsu in the same detail in which I could sense mana. It lasted only for a handful of seconds before the reiatsu I gave it ran out but that was enough to confirm what I wanted to know.
Conversion and Tenkuu Niwa synergized perfectly. The former would let the latter adjust my abilities to work with any supernatural energy of my choice.
“I don’t suppose there’s a way to make these abilities permanent?” I asked, curious to see if Tenkuu Niwa had maybe gotten that from the Grimoire, too.
Alas, my zanpakuto spirit shook her head. “Not through my abilities alone, at least.” Her wording was interesting and I liked the implications but she didn’t leave me much time to focus on them, entering a stance that I recognized all too well.
Battlefield Terror had made me a master of swordsmanship a while ago. Clearly, Tenkuu Niwa had gotten that benefit, too.
“Any rules?” I questioned, readying myself.
“Both of us only get to use the basic abilities of the Shikai for now. The hollow and quincy abilities we both know I left aside for the time being, I won’t touch and, in exchange, you won’t use any of your abilities or skills unless it is through my blade.” Tenkuu Niwa instructed and, a moment later, a burst of light blue stars erupted from her blade.
She jumped on top off the first star and that was the moment I realized exactly what she had sent out. I didn’t need to see her racing forwards at extreme speeds to know that she’d only prepare such a formation of stars while using Shunpo.
Alas, realizing it didn’t save me. I had a sword to the neck less than two seconds after the ‘spar’ had begun.
“Again.” Tenkuu Niwa ordered, still smiling. “And, for simplicity’s sake, any hit counts as a loss.”
Smiling back, I nodded and, when the next spar started, I was ready with some Shunpo of my own. However, rather than only using those, I also prepared some Glintstone Pebbles as trap in her paths. Except, Tenkuu Niwa merely countered those with her own and the fight once again ended with a sword poking my flesh – soul flesh? Whatever it was that I was inhabiting in this place.
Kidou, spells, Shunpo, swordsmanship, even the Thu’um and the flower field – Tenkuu Niwa and I made use of just about all my abilities within the next couple hours but I didn’t win a single spar. At one point, she’d even mixed a Shunpo with a Glintstone Pebble in such a way that activating the former sent the latter at me.
“One more before I leave, alright?” I decided, wanting to pull for a new power and continuing to train but also wanting to give this one more shot.
“Very well.” Tenkuu Niwa agreed easily. “I suppose I might as well show you something you neglected to consider so far.”
I knew I was probably going to lose again but I was having fun. There were no stakes, no one would ever know of my repeated losses aside from my zanpakuto and I was learning with every defeat.
It started like most of our fights so far with us turning the battlefield into a minefield of spell and Shunpo stars, each one either an instant defeat or a tool to use to escape. Then, rather than entering the field, Tenkuu Niwa let me get close and, by the time I was there, I got to understand why as familiar hallways began to form around me before beginning to twist and turn in all directions as maids began to just materialize out of thin air.
‘Bloody Friday and Glen of Fairies.’ It obviously wasn’t just Bloody Friday and we’d done plenty of bending space in our spars so far and none of that had messed with my ability to sense space in such a disturbing manner. Glen of Fairies, however, probably would when it didn’t recognize me as its owner.
I could guess what Tenkuu Niwa’s next step was, too, and didn’t hesitate to send out stars of Glintstone Pebbles to counter the barrage of stars racing through the hallways to empower the maids.
It didn’t matter when Tenkuu Niwa was, for the time being, still better at this than I was. Admittedly, even when empowered, mere maids couldn’t really do much to me but I was pretty sure Tenkuu Niwa could’ve made them stronger because I knew how I could’ve made them strong enough to have made them outright deadly to me due to the terms of the spar.
Still, long before I managed to finish off the endless tide of maids, Tenkuu Niwa showed up behind me and put her sword to my neck.
“So manifesting Domains through your Shikai is possible?” I questioned, finding the idea to be somewhat curious. I’d have expected such a thing to at least consume a lot of reiatsu but what I’d sensed through the reiatsu-focused High Probability I’d kept reapplying for these spars had made it seem fairly cost-effective.
My zanpakuto spirit nodded, both our blades disappearing as the combination Domain did. “It is easier if you apply it to a defined area and plant the seed in the ground, though. You can also root it in a target if you want but, the larger the Domain, the higher the cost. Of course, you can increase the efficiency of that if you work on it and your current reiatsu efficiency is already decent so it should be a useful trick to use if you need it. If nothing else, Glen of Fairies might let you hide should you be facing defeat.”
I nodded in response, still happy to have done this. Then, I decided to have fun. “Alright then. Time to see what new seed will be added to this garden.” I told her, rubbing my hands together with a grin on my lips as I pulled for a new power from the Grimoire.
Destruction: Human Meal Preparation; 400 CP, 900 CP left
A cruel power, capable of instant death with the right aim, inherited from one of the greatest of all Japanese monsters. The deboning art lets the user remove bones from within the body of another creature, without spilling any blood. Your hands pass through their skin, meat and organs as if they did not exist, tearing out bones like removing the pieces of a puzzle. The smallest piece removed can cause the whole body to collapse in agony or death. While bones are the most elegant choice in the mind of the original creator of this technique, it can be used to remove the internals of any living thing with enough focus on the desired kind of target, perhaps even remade to work on non-living objects as well. It is a special ability, rather than pure magic, and thus lets your grasping hands bypass magical resistances and armor that might normally block it, though wards to stop contact might help your poor targets.
“Oooh!” I exclaimed, buying it immediately and watching as a new plant began to grow in the garden. “That sounds like fun!”
“Remember that you’re not an oni and Missy certainly is not. Shuten-Douji might get away with using this as she pleases but you will have to restrain yourself to combat.” Tenkuu Niwa told me but she seemed just as intrigued as I was.
“Sure, sure. Anyways, I have to go and talk to my teacher.” I told Tenkuu Niwa, getting ready to leave and resisting the urge to find something fun to debone.
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