A Means to an End

Tai smirked as she saw what Chevalier did. He broke free from one of the abilities that she can use with her mask. This was a good sign indeed. She stayed still as he came at her and with an intent to cut her down. She didn't move nor make a sound when Chevalier started to rip his mask off. As he landed in front of her, she smiled at him happily. She removed her mask as well, moving her head a bit as if to free her hair. She winked at him as he went down on one knee and gave her a weak smile. She estimated when he would control his Vizard and she was right this time, true she could have died in the process, but she had that much confidence in her estimates. She made a chuckling motion as he had another nosebleed from her appearance before he was knocked out from all the strain he just went through mentally and physically.

She ripped off a bit of her black skirt and moved to sit down beside Chevalier. She started to wipe his blood away with the ripped material, smiling down at him with pride shining in her eyes. She moved his head so that it was on her lap before she held her hands over his body. She closed her eyes and looked as if she was concentrating. Soon, her hands started to glow green before it started to move from her hands to Chevalier's body. She was using the healing Kido that all members of the 4th Division knew about. After a few long moments, Chevalier looked good as new from the outside but he would still be a bit weak and woozy. She petted his head then his ears as she lifted his head off her lap and gently laid it back down. She moved to stand up, stumbling a bit but soon regaining her footing, she moved to go to where the others were. She made a sighing in relief motion with her face as she leaned her body against Armond. She then smiled up at him as she spoke to him mentally. "He did very well. He'll be okay in a few hours or so. That was truely fun indeed." She then looked to the two Bounts and gave them a wave as well as a warm and kind smile.

Armond's eyes snapped to the one who accompanied Ken. "I must be getting old. I don't recall asking for your voice." His voice was flat and cold. He agreed to a meeting between him and Ken, there was no such mention of his subordinates acting out of line. "This is MY land, MY home, MY safe haven. One place isn't any better than another. You will do well to remember that if I pleased, I could kill you where you stand, child. You'd do wise to pay attention to your surroundings. You are not in your homeland. You are in MY land. Surrounded by MY people. Ken, if you wish for this conversation to go without any bloodshed, then I suggest you put your dog on a tighter leash..." Armond looked to Tai and nodded, holding her close to him with his right arm. "You did wonderful, my dear. I'm proud of you. He might be out for a while...do you mind putting your healing skills to use after he wakes up?" His voice had shifted automatically from cold, harsh, and barren, to warm, sweet, kind, and gentle.

The woman from the earlier fight made her way to Armond, leaning herself against Armond before waving to both Ken and Rein before smiling warmly. Ken couldn't help but smile back before he began to sigh as he listened to the pointless squabble between Rein and Armond. "So much hostility....I was just wondering if we could relocate that way I could get something to eat while we talked, but if you feel so strongly about it we can speak here." Ken then turned his gaze to Rein. "Armond is correct though, you must be mindful to watch your mouth from now on...." He turned back and noticed Armond looking to the raven-haired woman, holding her close to him while he spoke to her. They seemed to be very close, had Armond been courting her? It would have explained why Armond seemed to have been so annoyed by Ken's admiration of her. Ken sighed some in disappointment at this revelation, but soon got back to business as he looked back to Armond.

Armond sighed and said some words in Italian under his breath. "If food is what you wished Mr. Ishimaru, then you should have said so. Beating around the bush is not my style...We'll move this to Cafe Morte. You can see a large white tower from here, yes? Cafe Morte isn't too far from there. It's hard to miss. It's one of the more...elegant Cafes in the city. Methias, please see to it that our newest member gets some rest. Tai, come with me..." Armond stood up and vanished in a shunpo.



((Just keep this topic going...I hate making new ones...))

Tai smiled happily as she heard her cousin Armond tell her that he was proud of her. She then nodded her head as she agreed to heal Chevalier once he would awaken. She nodded her head as Armond told her to go with him. She smiles in a flirtatious manner as she looked towards Ken. She gave him a wink and a wave before she vanished in a shunpo as well, following her cousin.

Hearing Armond words almost made him lose his temper while he watched the end of fight and the woman moved next to Armond dog... dog...i really would like to see he trying to hit me... vizards, if their leader is like that then we can't expect too much from them he was raising from his seat when he heard Ken talking to him "As you wish, i don't care" he answered standing there next to him reaching for some gum inside a pocket in his pants as armond and ken continued talking, before both armond and the woman used their shumpo.
"So?" he asked Ken waiting for him.

Ken laughed a bit as he listened to Armond, "Ok then we'll follow you there." As he said this Armond looked to the raven-haired beauty once more before instructing her to follow him. But there was another bit of information that he gave up in this exchange. "So her name is Tai..." As he thought this Armond disappeared in a shunpo. His gaze fell back on Tai after Armond's departure to see her smiling at him in an amorous fashion. Ken smiled back just as flirtatiously, chuckling a bit as he smiled as she gave him a wink and a wave before disappearing. He'd have to get to know her better. He soon heard Rein's voice behind him and slowly turned to address his question. "Well, we should be off to follow them and finish this meeting. Let's go." With that, Ken disappeared, following off after them.

"Well time to get going too" he said while slowly walking through the stairs and reaching the exit of the coliseum, enjoying his time observing it whole structure, most of it still preserved as it was since ancient times. They really should use it more, this place deserves more fights, more great shows like that one He thought walking out of it and reaching the streets, even saying the contrary, strangers were always observed with suspicion by some people in those streets, like it screamed asking who are them and what are them doing around there. Even after years standing that kind of thing it still bothered him a little sometimes, but he learned how to ignore that kind of people. He was on his way following the presences of both Ken and Armond when he spotted the place with Armond, Ken and the woman standing outside in front.

Armond sat in the well designed and tastefully decorated cafe. It was elegantly built to represent a more gothic era in time. The black Victorian decorations, and the dim lighting really set the mood after a good fight. This was Cafe Morte. The richest, most popular, and busiest Cafe in all of Italy. It was located a short distance from the Tore Morte, but if you looked at a map one would see it was on the border of the tower and the arena. Though in all honesty it was not planned that way. Armond simply enjoyed his time at the Cafe. Underneath though is where the true fun happens. Underground fights, a club, and other more scandalous things happen. Armond sat in a booth in the corner of the empty cafe. The rush came at night. During the day this place was considered busy if it had more than 10 customers in total.

He looked at the waitress as she made her way and he made a motion to the guest to signal he didn't want anything and to check on them. She nodded and waited the others to take their seat. Armond moved some hair out of his eyes and flashed a smile at Rein. This one interested him. He had an air of defiance around him that so few had now a days. A soldier is what he was regardless of what he or Ken thought. He would certainly have to test the waters here. "Before we begin this meeting...I must warn you that Cafe Morte has sentimental value to me. The building is quiet old, and it probably wouldn't survive a large amount of reiatsu, so if we could all lower our pressure that would be molt bene." He smiled at them all. Tai already knew this so the smile was more to the Bounts.

His ruby eyes continued to track Rein. Ken clearly had an interest in his cousin, and it seemed Tai wished to play some. He had already seen what Tai can do. So he had no reason to hide Tai from him. "You. Tell me, what is it like in District 3? I want to hear from a warrior, not a king."

Tai was now dressed in some new clothes as she sat with Armond at Café Morte, right by his side. Her Reiatsu level was lowered to that of an 5th seated member of the Gotei. She decided to change clothes so as not to have anyone stare at her as well as not make the Bounts uncomfortable in her presence. She was now wearing a dress of sorts that had a bit of a Latin flare to it. It was dark grey in color and it hugged her body very well like her previous outfit did before it was cut up into shreads in the spar with Chevalier and his Inner Hollow. The dress had a tight fitting shirred ruffle trim and cascading ruffles that went from the top trim all the way down to the bottom trim that ended at her top thigh that covered just enough so that her panties underneath wouldn’t be seen. The dress was strapless and had an open back in the upper back area, as it just had three horizontal straps to hold the dress in place on her body. At her left hip, there are a few hanging clothes from the dress that spiraled, giving it a Latin feel.

As Armond spoke to the two male Bounts, she would just smile as she looked at them in greeting and waved again. As she saw Ken, she gave him a flirtatious wink once more. She leaned back some and smiled more before she looked to Rein some as Armond asked him about District 3. She was interested in this as well. Course, she was always one to be curious.

Ken made his way through the entrance of Café Morte. This had been the place that Armond had described the rest of their meeting would be taking place. He could smell the aroma of the food being prepared in the back as he looked around, searching for where Armond could be in the Cafe. He looked and soon saw Armond seated with Tai. It seemed they had seen him as well as they began to signal him over. Armond with a wave of his hand, and Tai with a wave and a tempting wink. He waved back with a flick of his wrist and a smile, his eyes admiring Tai and her new outfit. Seemed she had some time to change from the clothes that had been shredded earlier. As he got closer he heard Armond's request to lower their spiritual pressure, to which Ken readily complied, taking a seat across from the both of them as he did so. A waitress soon made her way towards the table, "Excuse me, I'll have some water." With that order the waitress nodded and waited for Reins order. Soon though, it seemed that Armond had some questions for Rein of his own, asking him of his thoughts about District 3. Ken waited for his water while also waiting for Reins reply.

"Well what could i say, i don't think there would be you're kind of place, we don't have such great or elegant places and buildings like these round there, but even outside the undergrounds its a good place to live... well at least around the area of our base, other places usually have some real hard times against hollow attacks" he said answering Armond question while taking his seat, before turning for a moment to the waitress and then turn back to Armond "Nothing for now thanks. We're like a big family over there, working together and just like all the families we always have some kind of affray between us, never anything really serious you know, sorry Armond but i think i missed when you introduced your friend to us" he ended it with a small laugh after realizing his sudden change of subject and waiting for their response.

Armond smiled. "Many places strike my fancy, I can assure you. The life of luxury is nothing compared to the thrill of skin on skin in a good fight." He chuckled. His ruby eyes darted to Ken again. He held his tongue and kept from ripping him apart to keep his eyes off of his cousin. His face showed no such rage, but inside in his stomach, blades were being thrown about. He looked to Tai and idly draped his arm around her. "This is my cousin Tai. Excuse her quietness. She is a mute. A sad side effect of our...adventures." He ran his fingers through her hair and looked at the waitress as the water was placed before Ken. He smiled and paused. He would dismiss her after everyone was sure they didn't want anything.

Tai smiled and made motions as if she was chuckling along with Armond when he chuckled. She looked to the waitress when she came by and shook her head silently, telling the waitress that she was fine for the moment. She blinked her ruby red eyes as Rein spoke of how she wasn't introduced to him as well as Ken yet as she turned her attention back to them. She smiled widely as she looked to Armond and leans into him, almost like a cuddle, as his arm was draped around her. She nodded her head some to confirm the fact that she was indeed a mute.

Ken watched Armond as he listened to Rein's reply to his question. Soon though he came around to introducing both he and Rein to Tai, explaining that she was a mute. Thinking back on it now, it made sense. He hadn't heard her utter a word since he met her, albeit they had only met. "I see, well it is a pleasure to meet you, Tai." He gave her a warm smile and extended his hand to shake hers as the waitress walked by, placing his glass of water in front of him. Ken looked to the waitress and nodded, "Thank you." He took a sip from the cold glass and then looked back to Armond, this time with a serious expression. They had prolonged this meeting for long enough, it was time to get to what he had came here to discuss. "Armond, how much are you aware of what exactly has been going on in District 3 recently as far as hollow activity goes?" Ken took another sip of his water as he waited for a reply. He wanted to hear how much Armond actually knew of the situation before he began to speak on his information, not wanting to tell him anything he already knew.

after hearing those words from armond She is a mute. A sad side effect of our...adventures and seeing how the acted with each other, Rein started to think about several things those adventures could have been while laughing about it. Oh man maybe he could show and introduce us to the rest of the family, if his cousin is just like that i don't know if hes lucky or unlucky for having them as part of his family... but stopping it as he heard Ken.

Armond saw a look on Rein's face. It wasn't horrible, nor was it complimenting to his features either. It was the look of a thinker. Perfectly acceptable. Most people got that look when Armond told them about Tai. He brushed it off though, he never humored people with their family's history. It wasn't something Armond enjoyed talking about. He looked to Ken and pursed his lips for a moment. "Well...I know Hollows run about like STDs in a whore convention. I know that everyday you wake up to the sun is another day you must fight to survive. I know that it is a wasteland. The only thing that matters there is your life and the lives of those that would follow you to death, which is never very far." He shrugged. "Aside from that, I don't know anything else. Specific details are unknown to me as of this moment."

Ken nodded his head as he listened intently to Armond's reply, sipping his water all the while. He gave a pretty general description of District 3, one that didn't delve much into specifics, which he also addressed as he finished his statement. "I see..." Ken took one last slip of his water before he began to speak. "So, you wouldn't be aware of the extreme spike in hollow activity over the past couple of months. It seems this spike is in correspondence with another rarity, the presence of multiple Espada within the District as well." He took a second to pause and then continued, "My sources have informed me that the Espada that have been spotted are both the Primera and Cero..."