Castillo Oscuro

Little did Xavos know it was only the shock of the place, along with the natural, almost eerily so, feel of the place to Phaedra that kept her from throwing out accusations of supervillainy. "The Forest of the Menos? What about the other domains of the Espada? Are they all castles? Is it ever day time?" She had a million questions racing through her head. She knew she was different but this was another WORLD...

"Huh... I... Yeah,. I did notice that... It feels... good... better almost than the human world... So... Hollows don't need to eat people here, huh? That's... huh." She'd always just assumed they by their very nature had to kill.... she suddenly felt less bad about the ones she had had to put down.

"Yes, its a an area below the surface of the desert, normally where your average Hollow hides from us Arrancar. The other areas are varied, it is mostly up to personal taste. I prefer solitude, so my area is up on these mountains away from distractions. The only unifying part of Las Noches is the Corona's tower in the middle of it all." Xavos paused his explanation to point towards the distance. It was faint, but one could make out the tower. "Her area is where all of us meet when we are summoned."

"There is no such thing as 'daytime' here, but the moonlight is always abundant." The man continued, grinning a little bit as Phaedra found herself more at home in this realm, much to her surprise. "Yes, our kind can survive just by being here in this realm. The hollows that leave for the human world do so on their own accord, we are not responsible for them. I am sure you've possibly killed some in your time." The Espada chuckled a little bit, folding his arms in a comfortable manner, waiting for gauge her reactions again.

She nodded. It was... so much to take in.. Then again, it was a whole world.. Hrm, so these Espada sort of ruled over this land with some sort of provinces they were in charge of, even though it was mostly desert. Then there's these underground parts with all these hollows... She was almost weirded out by how much this... didn't weird her out.. It really did all sound... right to her? Like.. she wasn't looking into packing up and moving but it all just... made sense... there was an instinctual familiarity with this place.

"I've... killed when I've had to... I realized a long time ago I was... similar to a hollow. Though now I realize I AM a hollow, just one who's, or in my case one who's parent, advanced..." She opened and closed her hands. "It all makes sense... solves the mystery of the horns... though not how I can switch between this and normal so easily... but.." She sighed. "Step at a time, right? So! This is your home. What do you do here in this... Casltevania-like place? Are you dracula?" She teased, before realizing he'd never get the reference...

Well, it seemed as though Phaedra was becoming more and more accepting of the things Xavos had explained and showed to her, coming to terms with her Hollow nature and abilities. Good, he thought. It would be a shame if she had chosen to reject all of this in favor of living as a "human"...though the Espada would have understood, given the circumstances.

"Dracula? Bram Stoker's master work, I've read it countless times." The man replied, straight-faced. Yes, the reference was totally lost on him. "I don't sleep in a coffin, if that is what you are asking." He couldn't help but let out a small amused chuckle at her question. Turning to his domain, he started towards the large castle doors, which begun to open with a series of loud creeking metal gears turning and moving. He kept a skeleton crew of his men to operate the bare necessities of his castle, such as opening the doors and making food and so on.

"This is where I keep watch. My occupation in the Espada is leading the Exequias. As I told you before, we seek out invaders to our realm and purge them, as well as being the first to respond to outside threats." The Sexta explained again, in case she had forgotten given the new information he had shown her traveling to Hueco Mundo. "If you wish, I will show you around."

"Er, no no. It's a reference to a.." To a video game series? What if he didn't know what video games were? Oh man.. What if NONE of these people knew what video games were... okay... relax Fay... That's why you're not joining them in their crazy caveman world. Just visiting and making friends with them. "It's a reference to a newer work." She left off rather simply. If they aged anything like she did, which she had to assume they did, he might not have any idea about new media...

"I'd like that very much... So you're like the Espada... what... Captain of the Guard slash... head of internal affairs?" She was trying to figure out what he actually did while being as complimentary as possible. This was all so... well, cool, really. She'd always known she was different... supernatural, but she had no idea there were such crazy worlds out there...

"And how long have you been here? I guess alive is what I'm asking. Or ... a hollow or... whatever the right terminology is... You mentioned Dracula. When's the last time you bought a work of fiction?" She stopped the train of words from exiting her mouth. "Sorry, I'm... asking so many questions."

"Mm." Xavos simply hummed in affirmation as Phaedra told him about this apparently newer work staring Dracula. The humans did love their ghost stories...it wouldn't surprise him that they would create a legend out of the character. What was wrong with the book, though? He wondered...

As the Espada led the younger woman into his home, through the large doorway which began to shut behind them with a loud thud of iron and steel, the Sexta nodded again to confirm. "You can say that, yes. I root out traitors in our ranks and am the first to respond to any sort of invader. You could say I am the guard dog of the organization." The man let out an amused short laugh. It was an apt metaphor wasn't it?

"I have been here ever since I became an Arrancar. It did not take me long to find the Corona and the Espada. In human years, that would be...one thousand, seven hundred and fourteen years." Xavos remarked in a rather straight-forward tone. If she thought that was old, wait until she found out how old Sairaiyu was. They had reached the middle of the castle after traveling through the large entrance hall, entering the garden area illuminated by the moonlight of Hueco Mundo. At her apology, the Espada simply waved his hand as if to dismiss the need for one in the first place.

"I send my subordinates to acquire new works every few weeks or so. Since you are my first...friend, I will share with you a secret. I enjoy reading literature, and I have collected a fair amount in my time here. If you'd like, I will show you them...but you must keep this between us."

She nodded as he answered her questions one by one. Huh. That was.. certainly an awesome way to put it. She wondered if all Arrancar were so larger-than-life... The giant castles, the cool job, the sword the... Jesus, almost two thousand years old.. "That's... wow... That's very... very old.." She said in wonder. "Then again, I'm two hundred years old and I haven't aged in... Jeez, like... at least a hundred years. I was hoping I would at least be old enough looking to not be carded by my age... But I guess the upper cap on our species is pretty high.." Wow.. She had... thousands of years to her life, huh... That was.. "Wow..."

She snapped out of it when he made mention of his rather secretive interest in literature. She hesitated, not fully knowing how to respond to being his first friend. It was... It was nice though. "Yeah... I'd like that very much." She said with a nod and a small smile.

"Mm...yes, you'll find that age is merely a number...or perhaps you already have, living amongst humans." Xavos remarked with a light chuckle in response. Her amazement didn't really surprise him. If she had lived all this time in the human world, she must have had minimal contact with other spiritual beings in her time, so finding someone as old as he was, it would definitely be a bit of a shock.

With that, he began to lead Phaedra down one of the hallway exits of the Garden, traveling through the Castle architecture. It was pretty medieval in a sense, no modern lights or anything, just the illumination of torches amongst the walls and large doors every so often signifying a room.
After walking for a while, the two reached a larger than normal door, the design a bit fancier than the rest. The Espada turned to the young woman.

"Welcome to my Library." He simply said, before pushing open the doors to reveal a grand haven of literature. From the top, aka the entrance balcony, one could easily see the main area down below, filled with books on every level as well as tables and places to sit. Of course, it was all illuminated by candlelight, giving it a natural and homely sort of vibe.

(Basically picture that except more gothic-y for the main section. Christ its hard to find good pics sometimes.)

"I have to... some degree. I mean... People I knew as a child had died of old age before I hit puberty so.... yeah. I guess I understand." Though she had to imagine at his age, it was even more exacerbated. She briefly thought of Riye before shaking her head, getting that thought right out. It was easy to forget the thought, taking in the ancient architecture and the staggering library.

"Jeez... This place is insane." She said, walking up to the edge of the balcony. Almost without thinking, she placed a hand on it and sort of just... slipped over the side, dropping down to the balcony below. She looked back up. "Uh... Can I... look around?" She asked, feeling like she'd already overstepped her bounds.

Taking a few steps to look over the balcony down where Phaedra had fallen, Xavos just nodded to her request. She was his friend, after all. "The only thing I ask is that you are careful with some of the older works. They are fragile and not used to being handled." He said, a bit of a chuckle in his voice as it carried through the large room.

With that, he began his walk down the stairs towards the main area, content to let the younger woman explore the place as he wondered certain things, like if she was into reading as much as he was. It was his first friend, after all...they should share some common interests, shouldn't they? How did this friendship idea work again...it was a bit tough for the Espada used to solitude.

She looked up, nodding. She'd stay away from pulling any particularly old books off the shelf, just to be safe. She walked around, picking out some interesting looking books from time to time, before leafing through it and putting it back on the shelf. There was just so much. She wanted to read some of these, but she could hardly ask to borrow such ancient texts. Her mind went back to her shabby apartment. Yes, absolutely out of the question.

"Some of these texts are in languages I don't even know," She said, picking up one, not even recognizing the characters on the page. "And I consider myself something of an amateur omniglot." She had to be with how much she traveled, and her line of 'work'. Needed to be able to speak the language to root out the scum.

"Literature has always interested me. You can learn about an entire era of history with just one work, and then expand upon that exponentially with others. As you can see, I have been collecting for quite some time." The Espada laughed as he reached the lower level where Phaedra was. He walked over towards the younger woman, looking over her shoulder a small bit to see what she was trying to read.

"That would be a form of ancient Farsi, spoken by the Persians of old. This particular book details the Achaemenid Empire and the rule of Cyrus the Great." The Espada explained, taking a step back so she had some room. "Perhaps I can help you along with your studies. Living so long has the advantages of being able to learn many things, such as most of the languages in here. I will even let you take a few works here home to practice on." He smiled just a bit. "Though you may wish to start with something a bit easier, like Latin."

She pursed her lips. Yes. Ancient Farsi. Not in her lexicon. Latin wasn't entirely foreign to her. "Dico ego modicum" she said, glancing over. That was to say, 'I speak a little'. "I may not be over a thousand, but I AM older than some of these books." She said, just the tiniest bit proud to say it. "When I was young, anyone who went to college HAD to learn latin. Of course, I didn't GO to college," she tried to mutter the last bit, glancing to the side as she set the book down.

"Do you have anything from the east? It's where I did a lot of my growing up. I actually saw Japan before the end of the feudal era." She glanced over with another smile, trying to suppress the pride behind it. "I'm actually fairly well versed in martial arts." She figured she would share her passions, since he was sharing his.

College? What the devil was that? Still, it was nice to hear that his newfound friend was educated. "As the Roman Cicero once said, 'Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit'." He paused, smiling just a bit. "Even if you feel a language is beyond your grasp, with dedication and practice you will achieve results. You may speak a little, but perhaps in a year you shall be able to speak a lot." Xavos nodded to the younger woman. She seemed the type to bury her nose into something that interested her, or at least from what he could gather, so he hoped his words would be taken to heart.

With that, he walked over towards another nearby section, an intense look gracing his demeanor as he pulled out select works. "There is not much from the earlier eras of note...visits from Chinese ambassadors and such, influencing early Japanese customs and lifestyle..." He hummed a bit, clearly focused on the task at hand. He finished grabbing a few works, and started his way back over towards Fay.

"These titles from the Sengoku era might be of interest to you. Many warlords from this time are still famous even today. I am sure you have heard of Nobunaga Oda for instance." He smiled just a bit as he rested them on a nearby table. She was a fighter too...perhaps they shared more things in common than he initially surmised.

"You shall spar with me someday then. I would like to see your ability for myself first hand."

Yes. As the Roman... Cicero once... whatever. She nodded, catching only vague gists of what he said. Something about practice, intelligence and skill? It was probably a motivational saying about practicing stuff, judging by what he said after it. She gave a solemn nod. She didn't know if learning Latin to its fullest was something she wanted to do, but... She could at least respect that he thought she could do it.

She started looking over the books, picking one up and flipping through it. "Of course! He's very famous, even today." They made a pokemon game about him and everything, of course she'd heard of him. She noticeably perked up at the word spar, however.

"Oh! Well, assuming it's the friendly kind of spar, I'm up for that any time, really." She HOPED most Arrancar had the same use of the word 'spar' as she did. It had been too long since she'd had a good fight.

"Of course. No weapons, just a spar for you to demonstrate your ability. I think you'll find I'm more than an adequate enough partner when it comes to martial arts." Xavos grinned just a bit. Fighting was something he always had a knack for, even if he wasn't really sure why in the first place. It was just one of those things that came natural to man.

"Well, we can use our zanpakutos if you wish to practice your swordplay, I suppose."

"Hm... Well..." She raised a hand to her mouth, thinking for a few moments. "I suppose if it's a friendly spar... and now that I know how these gargantas work I... guess I don't really need to worry about time as far as getting home... saved a few days of travel back to Japan... I could spar now... though sparring in this library is obviously right out. Far too many valuables here." She said with a slight chuckle. "But I assume you have some sort of sparring room?" He seemed like he enjoyed it enough.


She glanced at her sword at the last comment, making a small indecisive noise akin to a hum. "We could maybe do a bit of both. I try not to use my sword indiscriminately. If I can handle a threat without it, I do so... y'know?" She didn't make a habit of fighting hand to hand when it endangered her, but she did consider a sword a tool for killing.