Terror on the Twisting Sands

The portal opens up about 5 miles out from a village of hollows that had been causing quite a stir. They had formed raiding parties to attack various Espada caravans and even managed to kill a few numeros that were sent as guards. It took some time for Dagon to find them initially since their operation range spanned quite a distance but eventually he was able to track them down to that village. After an investigation that involved sending in his avatar, he deduced that much of the village was in on the scheme.

As they crossed the threshold Dagon spoke to Sarai. "We are about 5 miles out from the village for reasons that will become evident shortly. I must warn you ahead of time that there are without a doubt innocents within the village but that they are all closely bound together. Have no doubt that if you leave any alive that they will try to regroup and extract their pound of flesh in any way they can."

He then pauses and waits to see what her reaction before continuing on.

"If they are stupid enough to attack then they deserve death. If you can spare the ones who are supposedly innocent, I would appreciate turning them into thralls. Others should know what their neighbors are up to." Her eyes were frigid as she stared out towards the village. HOW DARE they do such things as steal from her and hers?

She did such awful things to thieves who weren't smart enough to get away with their spoils.

"My Queen, it will not be I who they would need sparing from. My powers leave me in a weakened state so I will remain here."

Dagon then pauses for a moment before saying "there is an inherent risk involved in this procedure. Those with weak minds and weak bodies have succumbed by glimpsing at my form alone much less receiving my power. But none of that applies to you correct?"

Dagon then took several paces back and threw his robe through the gargantua before closing it. Adorning his neck was an almost forgettable silver key. "Let's begin."

Dagon places his hands around the key and says "Achtsewe. Yog-Sothoth."

They key begins to shine before vanishing. The hole on Dagon's neck then closes and all the screaming masks that make up his body become smooth and bulbous. Not a moment later his arms and legs become larger and larger, transforming into the same strange substance that his body was being comprised of. From that point multiple tentacles began to  jut out from his limbs creating a writhing mass of fleshy orbs and limbs the likes of which few had experienced. His head on the other hand had transformed into a massive lone eye that stared at Sarai through this process, unblinking and unmoving. All this time the mass that was Dagon kept growing and growing as it began to dwarf even some of the largest structures in Las Noches.

At that moment when it seemed as if the entire area might be engulfed, the limbs began to dig into the sand and Dagon, at least for the moment began to seem like he had stopped growing. The ground below them shifted and small tremors reverberated through out the region as Dagon burrowed deeper into the twisted sand. After all was said and done the only thing that remained above ground was 10 large tentacles about a story high each with a single ominous eye on the tip of one of them. It looked at Sarai and inside her mind she heard with startling clarity "We are the Gate and the Key. Through us we grant the gift of knowledge. With us we grant the gift of power. Do you accept these gifts?"

The voice that Sarai heard would be unlike any that she had head before. Dagon's voice while sealed was a mess of various voices vying for control and yet spoke with singular purpose and will. The new voice was one of distinct familiarity although hazed by something. Despite this haze, the voice was sharper as if it were a sword that was honed many times and unmarred by the echo of Dagon's usual voices.

Saraiyu gave a snort, it was unladylike but she gave one because it. She brushed her hair to the side, braiding several long ones to make sure it stayed where she wanted it to. "I get to do all the dirty work? Fine then."

An odd zanpakuto was nothing besides the change that overcame Dagon, turning him into a giant monstrosity. She stared, almost in awe at the size though it didn't last long. She began laughing maniacally, watching him grow and grow and grow. Her mind could accept this, it could accept anything. Its one of her strengths, accepting things that can't be. Imagining things that aren't... The monster that started heading underground was something she hadn't imagined, but liked all the same. Interesting, interesting, interesting.

That voice surprised her but she just spoke in return with no reaction at all, looking up at the limblike things above her. "I accept it all, Dagon. Don't disappoint."

Dagon's eye began to glow softly and the world seemed quiet at first. Initially nothing seemed to happen. All was quiet... too quiet, even for hueco mundo. Then with no warning the ground collapsed around Sarai sending her plummeting into a deep abyss where she continued to fall. Far below her Sarai would notice what looked like thousands of gray corpses coming up fast.

She plunged into it as if it were water and fell deep into the tangle of corpses that seemed to have no end themselves. Then when all things seemed loss the bodies began to writhe and wail, claw and tear at the queen. Memories of pain and anguish flooded her along with the emotions as if she were the one experiencing them. Memories of watching a family being torn to pieces by bandits and cutthroats. Memories of lost loves ripped apart because of infidelity, arranged marriages and war. Thousands upon thousands kept bombarding her.

She would invariably fight and claw her way through back to the top of the pile. Just as she reached the light at the end the bodies broke apart and flowed up and around her, their wails becoming songs. The empty abyss then felt strangely solid and allowed her to stand amongst the floating bodies. In that moment they began to move harmoniously with Sarai. Now they flooded her with different memories. Warm memories of love, family and friendship.

"Our power is yours, our memories are yours, and our mind is yours oh Queen." Simultaneously they spoke and bowed to her. The voice that spoke in her head before that seemed so hard to place was now crystal clear. The voice was her own. With order finally restored in her mind, the queen found herself back on the sands. She had in fact never left it. New power flooded through her like a calamitous river. Reiatsu burst from her body that almost threatened to overtake her a second time but that too subsided. Her body then healed at an astounding rate leaving her with power unbound and unfettered along with access to Dagon's knowledge.

Within her mind she heard her own voice as clear as ever speaking, the line where Dagon began and Sarai started blurred to an almost unrecognizable form which was as cloudy as Dagon's voice once was to her."We are one."

Dagon's proper body seemed almost to wither, his power and mind had entered Sarai leaving the rest weakened and animalistic. The rest of Dagon's body burrowed underground as Sarai came to grips with reality as she now knows it.

As she fell into that odd torrent of memories, her mind sinking down and down until she woke from whatever stupor fell over her as she had dropped. She wasn't one to fall here, they weren't one to fall here. Of course that meant heading the only other way than down, which was up. If there was one thing that was her power, it was to accept. Not to bow down and fall, that was much different than accepting.

Accepting what was, what could be, and then choosing another path to work towards. Like water. She accepted this, those memories, those thoughts and through that... herself. The core of what she was, water, could never be altered. Memories and feelings pass and go. Thoughts? Lives. Of course it would be she who spoke to herself. The power... felt amazingly warm. She looked down at her altered and yet not altered body. It was not unnerving to her, but it didn't feel as right as it normally did. What she knew now though, was that she was merged with Dagon and was Dagon for this moment. It could be ended easily, but for now it was beneficial. If she had time after to sift through this knowledge and memory... Then it would be much greater a thing than she had imagined.

"We shall head to the village in but a moment. Its... rather...interesting."

Memories were not quite such an easy thing to cope with. There was a time when Dagon described it like a flowing river with them in the middle allowing it to wash over. While one could see the individual droplets, unless they were to pick up a handful they seemed to go together as if they were just a mass. On the surface was the anxiety and newness of the fusion but with a sense of a calm due to the heigtened self awareness. Underneath it was torrential but largely unseen unless they were to poke their heads in and the sheer depth of it all was more deep ocean trench then river. One could get lost swimming in Dagon's memories and the writhing twisting nether which harbored the worst of them all.

This was even made worse so since all of the positive memories were so ripe for the plucking they could waste a lifetime day in it's bliss or spend an eternity wallowing in the misery of the negative memories. In a way, Dagon's equilibrium rested on a knife point that had been filed down by sheer will power and desire for life.

With Dagon's body resting safely underground there was only the job at hand. The village harbored a few sub-Espada level foes and their sheer numbers might make for a worthy challenge if most of them had been fighters. Nonetheless they weren't. The village itself was about 4 blocks long and wide that extended in a circle like pattern towards the center of town where a statue had been erected in honor of their last leader who had died at the hands of the Espada. If the village were to be attacked the plan was to scurry away to other villages until the could regroup. There were 2 options then. Destroy everything and everyone or spend the next few months finding and destroying the rest.

Saraiyu wasn't coping with the memories. Coping required dealing with or using them all. It couldn't be said she was in any shape or ability or even enough of Sarai at the moment to cope. Instead she did what could be done. Ignore it as much as possible, accept what she could and then just push what she couldn't. It probably wasn't the only thing she could do, time and waiting might help more but.... Sarai was Sarai. She wouldn't be herself if she didn't do it this way, what little of what is 'her' or 'it' that was left in this thing as of yet. Was she herself or not? The merge... as long as what bits were left didn't focus, it could do its job.

With this information that was given from a quick dip into the torrent of memories (one it dared not repeat again), the merged being thought for only a second before it started singing. The voice was low, melodic and seemed less like it could be coming from one being's vocal chords the longer it went on. It wasn't coherent, or any language, mostly sounds that seemed to work in concert.

As it made its way to the village, its voice carried much much farther than it should. None could notice it as more than a background noise but still any who heard it would answer the call when given. They weren't strong enough to resist.

The minds of the people began to obey the Siren's Song and calmly walked towards her enthralled by the music. The very few fighters also followed except for one who seemed to have some level of mental defenses. They stirred for a time and tried to yell or scream to break them of the spell but even they began to follow. Soon the village was almost empty except for the whispering sand that laid at the bottom of it.

The merged being kept moving forward. The tight control over her ignoring the memories was fading rapidly. If it could it would eject them from its brain but it NEEDED this knowledge now. The voice called to them, but it did not break them. It merely convinced them that they should head to it.

It would make it to the center of the village, calling a few more times to make sure all were there before it would start to really speak and see what it could find.

The people began to gather and many swooned to her song as they gathered around her. They became strangely orderly except for the two or three that had some level of resistance. Their bodies kept turning as if to run but their legs kept moving forward. Finally once they have gathered the shuffling silence died and left an almost eerie silence if it weren't for the song being played. Their eyes betrayed their bodies, many stood on and looked with abject terror and wonder at this creature who had enthralled them.

This was probably all of them. Having a taste of Dagon's power, the part that was barely holding on as Saraiyu pushed at his mind. She knew what he could do now. She had a taste, a glimpse. She wanted no more of it in her head. This little bit pushed and pushed. Those memories would consume her if she let it, she wanted them out while she still held these in control of her song. Those few who were resisting would be better caught if she could think clearly in control of herself for now.

The mental cacophony slowly began to die down until they seemed still as a lake. The mental desire and mental well being finally hitting full synchronization and probably the first time since they started full clarity and serenity engulfed her. She almost hear Dagon's whispering inside, muttering something incoherent. The memories then started to ebb again but this time more evenly allowing her to experience them without it consuming her. Even greater now Dagon's power within her spiked to it's full glory making the more spiritually aware of her thralls open their mouths in astonishment and envy before the entire group fell under her complete control, utterly and completely.

Yes, this was... so much better. For now they could stay as 'they' without distractions. Their hair shifted in the wind, its heavy weight no problem and the bells jingling as they now spoke. The song would keep them held long enough to answer. They knew exactly what they needed, but still they would play a bit with the new toys.

"Who here was part of the conspiracy to attack Espada caravans? Tell the truth little dears." Whenever whoever would speak or raise their hand/appendages, they would beckon those so much closer.

The group, unable to surge forward, stepped back until it looked as if 1/3 of the group had come forward. The rest turned to each other with an air of suspicion as the enthrallment took control completely, each of them becoming even more suspicious. The group who had not moved began to chatter but it was incomprehensible. Most of it was names of those who "assisted". They'd probably would have sold out their own mothers at this point.

"Please go die so once you have found other villages and colonies, telling them what you did. Tear yourselves apart once the news has passed." Exerting a tremendous force over that 1/3 group, they broke them utterly. Even while away from them they wouldn't disobey.

The rest were a bigger problem. The part of Sarai still Sarai decided what to do now. It wasn't like she couldn't house these in her tower... "Destroy your homes, you who were not traitors may follow me. My tower is now your home."

"Yes my Queen!" They all shout in unison as they walked off into the Hueco Mundo "sunset."

The rest immediately did a heel turn and began to torch their home with whatever they could. The weaker ones grabbed weapons and the stronger ones unleashed ceros demolishing everything. The remanents of their home soon laid in a pile of broken down rubble and ash as they began to follow Sarai with blind obedience

"..." The merged being felt... not wrong perhaps. But parts of it still felt odd whenever it used this. Would the other part care? It felt like it might not.

A garganta opened into The Corona's tower, and it waved them through. They weren't broken...yet. But any new ones would be screened. Its not like they could escape the mazes of her spiraling tower if they wanted. No one would hear their screams.

Turning, it headed back to the spot where the body had been left. It pushed on the other memories and mind thing that it was part of, hoping it would flow back to its own body.

As Sarai pushes Dagon's mind back into his body the memories flow outward. Most leave in peace as if they were merely the air at the end of a long exhale. But one was vicious. It latched on with tiger like claws and stared her down.

Sarai finds herself at the end of a precipice looking down upon a tangle of organic matter miles and miles long and across. Such an unseemly creature had by no rights a reason to exist. It wiggled and writhed and in its wake left devestaion across the land.

Next to her a figure in yellow appeared. It was obviously the cloak that Dragon wore but when it took of its hood the figure was unrecognizable to Sarai. He was just a man, no different from any other. He turned to Sarai but could not see her and then stares upward that looked like a meteor shower was starting. The world then falls to darkness and an unknown aura washes over her and for a moment she felt as if someone was right next to her. When she came to she was standing next to Dragon in his familiar sealed state and the strange presence faded.

Predicting her next question he says, "Relax, your Witt's will return shortly. I'll admit now that the problems faced will not happen again. I needed you to experience that. Mere words are not nearly sufficient. Please accept my apologies"

Saraiyu felt something stay and as she was staring off into a being that was huge but awful. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted for the worlds. She felt a deep abiding anger growing inside her at this wanton loss. Whoever was next to her was not Dagon, but could be... she turned that anger towards the figure but was thrown into the dark as she landed in the sand. Or had been standing in it the whole time. She didn't like this disorientation, she didn't like how she felt somewhat... as if something was wrong in her head. She hadn't liked that odd presence.

Feeling like she should have a headache, Saraiyu turned a cold gaze on Dagon. "...I understand how words wouldn't describe it. Good. Those problems are a hassle, and I accept your apology for now. If there ever is a next time... You will not survive it."

"I do not predict that it will be necessary for our minds to fuse often and the next time will go smoother, the process with such a strong being such as yourself ended up being more taxing than I anticipated. There are more pressing matters at hand though." Dagon says and as if on cue he buckles underneath some new pain. He takes a knee and clutches his abdomen. From under the mask blood begins to leak out from under his chin.

"That memory... is vital..." he says between wheezes before regaining some modest amount of composure. He looks up to her from his kneeling position. "I told you that I joined to protect our race... now you have an idea from what."

"You should rest." Saraiyu threw her hair over her shoulder as she leaned down to take a look at her Segunda. She might have been worried, but her face was calm as she stared down at him. "If you need me to carry you back, I am willing."

Her eyebrow cocked as she continued to look down at the semifallen Espada. He really seemed to be not okay. Should she carry him? "I appreciate the forewarning. But now we need to get you back before you collapse.

"Your concern is flattering but I'll be fine. It's just growing pains" Dagon says dismissively. His hand extends to open a portal and the tentacles melt away leaving him one limb short of a full set.

"Hmm... interesting" He says looking at the stump at an arm with an almost scientific level inquiry and the portal closes. "You might want to step back. This is going to get messy."

Sarai merely tapped the bell on the chain from her nose and stepped back a bit. It was the only sign of her feelings, whatever they were, as she watched Dagon carefully. What did he even mean by growing pains? What kind of messy?

She'd wait, rather impatiently.

The silver key on Dagon's neck shimmered and broke apart. He takes a step and his leg turns to sludge. When the rest of his body hits the ground it falls apart into a thick blood like liquid and spreads out. Just before it touches Sarai's feet it stops.

A large mouth appears and give an audible deep moan before it breaks apart. Large fierce eyes Appeared and then quickly disappeared. Large tentacles then shot out quickly and randomly before the chaotic liquid grew still.

At last it started to bubble and receded into an almost solid mass of circling chaos before settling on a humanoid shape. It then fully took A solid shape as Dragon.

He looks at Sarai as if nothing had happened of note. "Arrancarization is a complicated process. I halted mine in the middle of the process but the stress of our minds meeting forced it. It was unanticipated but not unwelcome or unneeded."