by Alysstrasza Fri Aug 16, 2024 4:43 pm
Lazarus had his sword grabbed by an obviously in-pain Shinigami who had gritted his teeth, and smirked despite holding onto his weapon firmly and having the Shinigami lift the both of them into the air, declare he wanted Lazarus gone for good, and attempted to cut him into two pieces with a Shunpo. Lazarus contorted his body and flipped around, landing on the edge of the Zanpakutou being swung down where he used to be, sliding off of it and onto the ground afterward.
He cracked his neck, sighing softly. Names were probably not going to be given out, which meant he had to mentally keep referring to the bastard as "The Shinigami". Maybe he could just call him The Bastard instead. Lazarus seemed to decide to let M'runa have a turn, taking a few steps back, as he wanted to think instead. He hoped M'runa would play along and give him time.
Even if The Bastard was only here to talk to Bashira, to what end? What could another Shinigami want with Bashira? If she had a spy in their midst, it was incredibly unlikely to be someone as strong as Sano, simply because there's no way to not notice his existence. It felt like burning, but not like fire; Lazarus didn't currently understand it. But why Bashira? There were moving pieces he didn't understand on a board he couldn't see all of in a game he couldn't hope to comprehend. All he knew was that it was his current ambition to stand atop the ashes when everyone else kills each other, no matter who he has to bring down to get there. He'll serve Bashira, faithfully, until the day she shows true weakness, leaves herself exposed, or is half-killed by someone else and Lazarus thinks he could finish the job.
The Bastard was very nearly as strong as Bashira. Maybe stronger, maybe weaker, but very nearly as strong as the important part. Lazarus was distinctly not that strong yet. While M'runa and Lazarus together could possibly take him out, was it worth the inevitable effort? Maybe let him through, so he can see Bashira; maybe he lied and he's here to kill her, at which point Lazarus can decide who he's going to join the side of. Maybe M'runa had already comprehended all of this, which was why she had let Lazarus take a "turn" of testing his strength. The Bastard could very likely accomplish it.
Or, maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he is only here to talk. Maybe Bashira convinces him to join sides, outright or discretely. Maybe he could in fact see the master plan, and right now had to decide what was in the best interest of both his desires and the grand plan.
At this point, he'd picked up his previously discarded sheathe, and turned to look at M'runa and The Bastard. Had she come to the same conclusions? Were they going to let The Bastard through, were they going to try and stop him, or were they going to play a little bit longer? Either way Lazarus didn't particularly care, but he was very curious to know what M'runa was thinking about. So far she'd proven to be an enigma he couldn't fully understand.