Claiming the Throne (Hollow Meeting Thread)

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The being was still busy searching through the tangled webs of interdimensional space.  With his newfound power, it wasn't a complicated procedure to possess a garganta and he was now exploring the webs, searching for... He wasn't sure what.  But he could feel it was out there... It felt like a heartbeat, pumping his blood.  Not that he had a heart or blood...

While searching, he'd been reflecting on what to call himself.  It was a very long time ago, but he did remember that people were called things.  He stopped, at a junction of worlds.  He was what remained of Kepler.  In the small amount of time he'd had to sift through the scant fragmented memories that had come to him in his sleep, he'd found that his other self had died.  Quickly and suddenly.  He had left no missive, no directive, no messages... Just died.  He had been scanning satellites and processing data on local languages.  He was still working on it but had a working grasp on most of the planet's spoken languages.  He had discovered a word that seemed appropriate.  When someone dies, their instructions, messages and wishes, were referred to as a will or testament.  He preferred the second.

He would serve as Kepler's living Testament.  He felt particularly good about it as he happened upon it... A wall... or a shield... or something.  He placed his hand to it.  He had no idea what this was... but that wouldn't last long.  He pressed himself to it and merged into the wall.  Ah.  Of course... A barrier made in time and space itself by... his head reeled.  This made no sense.  He needed more answers.

Soon, he was through the barrier, floating in a massive interior space.  Curious....  He scanned the area.  There were 9 powerful beings here.... and 10 sources of power.  He turned his focus to the middle of the space, a mass of floating rocks.  A tenth source of power was there but there was no trace of any being.  Furthermore, he felt... traces.. of .. his other self.  He took off like a shot, descending onto what seemed like a floating continent.  There was a massive palace that held the power source.  He drew his pistol, pointing it forward and firing once.  A shot of power fired into the building, coming out the bottom of the continent before dispersing.  

He descended through the hole until he got close to the source.  He pushed through a wall or two before finding it.  It was a fountain, pulsing a sickly red.  Something was wrong....  He looked at himself.  Maybe.... He approached the fountain, before suddenly backing away.  It was hungry... for his new power... to consume him.  He walked forward again and crouched down, raising his fist up and slamming it into the fountain.  His fist disappeared in a mass of swirling darkness.  The red of the fountain slowly turned black.

He had possessed the central power source of a world.  It resisted at first but soon relinquished control of the fountain.  Whatever this world was, it had... Decided of its own accord to relinquish control to him.  He felt a rush of understanding.  The history of this world and others entered his mind.  Of course... When Kepler had died his energy should have returned here to be reborn as a new Demiurge.  But because it had come to him.. to Testament... This world had been suffering...

But now here he was... He was not produced from this world but he had connected with it... and it had accepted him... All he had to do was accept it... It may have been curiosity to what would happen next, or perhaps a sense of responsibility for robbing it of its power, but he did.  The "handshake" was complete and he drew his hand out.  A golden insignia was attached to the back of his hand.  

And he understood how to use the fountain.  This world, its origin, its purpose, the knowledge of the previous demiurge was lost, but the world, Salvaje, had shared its knowledge with him.  It was quite informative.  He looked at the fountain.  He'd need to do some... reconstruction around here... But first, there was some business in order....

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TL;DR just read this part.

The call would echo to all of Los Dios.  They all would have known when Kepler died.  Sensed it.  They would have known that there was something amiss, albeit they may not have known what.  However, it seemed they were to be left aimless and without direction when the voice spoke from their insignias.

"Attention, Dios.  This is... As near as I can tell... Your new leader, as chosen by your world...My name is.... You may call me Testament... I implore you, come to the Floating Continent.  I know you're confused.  I will do my best to explain."  Words felt... odd... He knew them, how to use them to communicate, but the experience was still... unusual.

Testament walked out of the palace and into the open air, letting his reiatsu flare so the others could find him.  He looked at the insignia.  If his existence had proceeded any differently, he might have considered all of this... not his business... But, well... what other business did he HAVE.

Merging out of the darkness, Emile walked up to the new demiurge. "Hmmm." He walked up and grabbed the man's chin, and while moving it around, examined his spaceman face. "You seem oddly similiar to Kepler, just a feeling I have. Regardless, do you know what happened to my little brother....Testament was it." Emile knew Kepler was dead. If Testament had not got here as quickly as he had, Emile would have gone to the Espada and the Seireitei to see what happened. Alas, Emile just stood there, holding Testaments face.

Testament didn't know quite how to react. For as long as it had been since he had seen a person he might as well have never seen one at all. He was more than a little surprised when the... Man, if he could be called that, took Testament by the face.

Well this was an odd greeting. He reached out and took hold of Emile's chin trying to mimic the way he had moved Testament's. "That would make sense. I am, as I have recently discovered, the "Kepler" of this timeline, though I can hardly say I am the same man." His voice was low and gravelly, sounding like it was coming through a pipe.

"I don't know the details but he died in combat that I have a suspicion was ultimately senseless." He was tired of the face holding. He let Emile's chin go and removed his hand from his own. "I am... Sorry... I don't believe it is easy to lose family."

"No..." Emile let go of Testament , "It is not. I have not known Kepler very long, especially considering my longevity, but it hurts all the same." Emile was upset, he should have been there to help Kepler. He was aware people die, but why would he go off alone. "The others should be here shortly, for now, lets talk. What is your story Testament? You said said you are the same soul as kepler, where did you, and by proxy kepler, come from?"

This creature.... Emile... He recognized it... Not the person jt... In a way what IT had been.... If he hadn't already discovered the history of this Emile, he would have maybe even attacked him. Instead he was simply confused. "You don't know?" He had no face to emote, but his tone of voice said enough for his confusion. He remained quiet for a second. "I believe.... Salvaje has told you that it came here and defeated this... Seba creature. Kepler was a traveller of the stars that defeated Seba and in so doing became El Salvaje. In your timeline anyway. In my timeline I-... died in space.... Without ever conflicting with the Enemy. With Seba... I... Have been drifting since... Well... Suffice it to say that if Kepler was your younger brother, I would be your older one." The rolls fell off his tongue, so to speak, oddly. He did not feel a particular kinship to this hollow. Perhaps a sense of duty but what strange vestiges of memory he still had of family were not remniscent of this.

A gentle wind blew across the space where the new "Kepler" and Emile stood. Seemingly out of nowhere, Temperance appeared. Her emerald green robes billowing around her. Her face was covered with a veil, she had gone into morning since she had sensed Kepler's death. He was a good leader, and she was fond of him.

Temperance gave a small curtsy and a bow of her head to the man she knew was their new Demiurge. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked upon him. He felt similar to Kepler, but was still different. It caused a dull ace within her core.

"Hello I am Temperance. Hello, Emile."

Testament turned his attention to this new one. Temperance, she said her name was. He walked over to her and grabbed her chin, as seemed customary, turning it side to side. The strangest things, you did interacting with other people. "Greetings Temperance. My name is Testament. I thank you for your swift arrival. I-" He paused. These people had been expecting a new Demiurge anyway. Did he need to inform them of how the situation had changed? He would think on the matter. "I will explain the situation once everyone has arrived."

"Oh!"

Temperance was a little shocked when the man grabbed her chin. Why did he do that? Did he think that was normal? No no no, that just wouldn't do. Mother couldn't allow this.

"Testament, dear, when greeting people...one does not grab the other's chin. Shaking hands, is perfectly acceptable though."

Testament sort of stood there, tilting his head as she spoke. Dear... a nickname or such used for family, loved ones and the like. And her tone was condescending in a way that denoted care. Ah. "Temperance. You are not my mother. If Emile is the elder brother of the Dios and I am elder to him, you can not be my mother." He released her chin before looking down and backing up, his body language conveying the embarrassment for him. "However, you have my gratitude for clearing that up for me." He stuck his hand out to shake.

Kanu arrived next and glanced at the new leader and couldn't quite figure where he stood on the whole situation. No one has killed him so the new guy can't be that bad, but on the other hand why is there a fucking robot here. "Uhhhhh, not to be too rude buuut, like I said not being rude remember that, who in the fuck are you? Wait no, what are you? I mean I'm one to talk but you look like something off a cartoon" Kanu said as he eyeballed Testament.

"Well you see, Kepler was the soul that came to the front of the Demiurge. Before we came here, he had been Daeox, and was an entirely different person. So, I didn't know much about where you came from, because Salvaje didn't find it important enough to tell me, and it has been a very long time." Emile tried to think back. It is odd to think he new the Wild God when he was alive, and apparently he WAS Kepler, this is odd. "So, if Kepler became Salvaje, and he was brought back through the reforming of this as the Demiurge, and you're also Kepler, who is this?" He pointed at the fountain, to signify the realm of Salvaje.

As some of the others started to file in, he backed off and let them poke and prod the new demiurge, he would talk more seriously about their shared pass at later time. It was amusing to watch the younger ones deal with things like this.

"I am well aware of our lack of blood kinship. It is just a term of endearment. You will come to learn my ways soon enough."

Temperance gave a light chuckle. Testament had a lot to learn about social interactions it seemed, but that was quite alright. It could certainly always be worse.

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(need to talk to Kris before my next post. Chilling with him today. Sorry for the wait)

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Testament lowered his head a little at the comment about learning her ways. It could almost be interpreted as a frown. "I see." He shrugged off the comment. He had only just met this woman and felt no particular attachment.

He glanced from Temperance to Kanu. "Ah. Greetings... I am a hollow, like you... And if I'm understanding things correctly, I am your new leader?" He shifted uncomfortably. How was he supposed to lead a group of hollows to begin with? He glanced at Emile, but didn't know the particular answer to that question yet, so he had nothing to answer him with.

"Uhhhh... okay?" Kanu didn't really know what exactly was going on but nobody seem to be raising a ruckus and he definitely didn't care enough to potentially risk a fight. Old leader is dead, new robot thing shows up saying he's the boss? Though their whole existence is a weird thing to begin with so this wasn't quite the strangest thing to swallow.

"I have another question, what now? Every leader has to have an agenda, old boss didn't really have much. We made ourselves known aaaaand that's it. I'm assuming we're gonna talk to some people or something?"

Testament crossed his arms. An agenda? Like a goal or purpose.... For them? They were turning to him... well he supposed he was their new leader... He turned away from them, dwelling on the matter. Well... what DID he want to do? He'd been drifting through space for...well... there wasn't a good one word time descriptor for it..

What did he want? It was the first time he'd ever been AFFORDED a thought like that... Well he wouldn't mind finding the.. THING... but that didn't exactly seem like an option... could he... could he really call this home? Just settle down? Just like that..?

He had seen some of this world... It was... interesting.. there was good and bad, but far more of one then the other... maybe... Maybe if this place could be a home, it would not be so bad... maybe it just... needed some work.

"Our agenda? Our agenda will be to fix this world. To.. well... not to conquer it... or rule it or control it... just... maybe police it... lightly... so as to let the world continue doing as it may, but to gently keep it from going off a cliff... Like a parent guides a child... lightly..."

He shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't something he had given much thought to. "What are your thoughts...?"

"Hmmmm, Team Hollow:World police? Hmmm..." The dios paced a bit. He wasn't sure he could rightly call himself a being of law. Alas, if this was his demiurge's will, it was the will of Salvaje. "Sounds alright. It's all as Salvaje wills it in the end. Although, I can't promise I will be "on call" much." Emile looked at his compatriots, "What say you?"

Kanu scratched his head at the new plan, I mean he saw the merit of the idea but policing the world just seemed off especially to his idealogies. Decision decision, do I just say fuck and leave? Emile seems on board so he would be outnumbered by the two most powerful dios here. Uggggggh, I don't want rules or to be put things in balance. Kanu mused on the inside before he let out a loud sigh.

"If that's your plan, I will follow it. I would just like to voice my personal grievance about the situation one time and one time only. I am the embodiment of chaos. Think Eres, think Set, I am cut from the same cloth. I enjoy when things get unaligned, I enjoy the breakdown of society, I enjoy a world that is not structured by laws or morals but instead runs purely on one's desire. Despite my stance, I will serve the salvaje will, I will serve you, and I'll keep the world in align til the salvaje decides that this is a stupid route and believes in my path." Kanu said in a rather calm tone almost uncharacteristic of the dios.

Temperance rather liked this plan. Their new leader seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. It was very close to how she ran her zone. Guiding them with a mother's hand and keeping the peace between everyone.

"I am in your corner, and will stand with you in whatever decisions you make."

He crossed his arms. Hrm.. This was what he wanted to do, but... not if it forced his fellow hollows of all people into a path they didn't like. "Well... I am thinking of it this way. If we are to make the world a better place... what of the people who are out to do the opposite? The dictators, the madmen, etc... My memories I received from Kepler tell me there's many of these such men in the human world below."

He uncrossed his arms and walked forward, towards Kanu and Emile, but especially Kanu. "So what if keeping order still has some role for chaos? Would it make any difference to you whether the people you are devouring are good or evil?" He crossed his arms less pensively, his body language indicating contentment as he nodded. "Yeah. If you unleashed chaos on those who are threatening order... Everyone wins, right?"

Kanu listened to the new leaders point and couldn't help but agree with the man's point, truthfully Kanu didn't even think about that possibility. "Yes, that works wonderfully,I care not who falls to the chopping board. Just point out who needs to be eliminated and consider me your tool of destruction."

"But what if..."

Temperance had a thought. It was troubling to her. She didn't care much for the idea of letting Kanu go devour humans even if they were viewed as evil.

"But...who are we to decide who is good and who is evil? What if there are just reasons to less than unjust actions? Like what you're proposing. You think it's just to stamp out those who you perceive as evil. That could cause someone to perceive us as evil. Does that not make us the very same?"

"Well, I believe Salvaje's will is just. And if he's the new demi-urge, he is the executor of that will. Ipso-facto, we're the most just police." Emile shrugged. Its not a very hard decision. It wasn't very long ago he'd eat whoever he wanted. If he eats someone that wasn't quite "Evil", no skin off his nose. "Besides, we're hollows. Most of the Spiritual Society puts us in a bad light anyways. Just know that YOU are doing good work. Isn't that how good is suppose to be?"