The Dragon King Falls

Parius Ryukotei walked along the estate where he lived. He was wearing a normal, black kimono, with black hakama pants. His long hair, which was normally wore down, was tied up into a ponytail, but it still allowed his bangs to frame his face. He was still recovering from his fight with Rena, which he knew was going to take a little longer to be 100%. He saw his son, Saito, practicing near where Parius was walking. Stopping, and watching him, Parius was amazed at how good Saito actually was, even if Parius would never tell him. He will be even better than i am. He thought, before walking down and yelling at Saito, "You're still a bit slow."

Saito spun around, not noticing his father's approach. "I'm still learning."He simply stated, throwing the wooden sword away from him. Saito was dressed similar to Parius, but his outfit was dark purple, and he allowed his hair to be down. Parius sighed. "Short, and straight to the point. Just like always." Saito was very different from his father. He was much more serious, and only really spoke when he needed to. Parius smiled. "Ah well, at the very least, no one is here to bother you. It's only me here. \" Which was true. Saya, and Abel were with the Gotei, helping out Jensen, no doubt. Saisei had left an hour earlier on Coalition business, and Kagura.....Well, no one knew where she had really gone. Or her "mentor" Ariel, for that matter..............

She remembered the place, and the way in. A portal ripped open into the Saito ranch, and a red head stepped out of it. She looked around, spotting parius, and his son. She remembered saving him from Sen. And now she was here to make sure Kagura stayed useful to Azazael. She followed the cero king, but she didn't do it because she wanted to. It was nice to have a home, but she only did it to protect Kagura. If Parius got to her and convinced her to come home, Ariel doubted Azazael would just let her go. Ariel decided she was going to make sure that didn't happen. She was going to kill the "Dragon king".

She didn't bother hiding, she strode towards Parius and his son. She glanced at the boy. She wouldn't be able to kill him, but if he got in the way he'd end up getting hurt. Hopefully he would leave to get help. But help wouldn't arrive in time. "Sorry about this. But you gotta die. Its for Kagura's own good." She said, barely loud enough to hear. She didn't want to do this. There would be no going back. But she had made her decision. Ariel drew her swords.

Parius felt the portal open. He looled pover, and saw Ariel walking over to them. But, something was off. Parius didn't like the way she was looking at him. She got close, and only Parius could hear what she said. "Saito, go to the Gotei, and get someone. Anyone, I don't care who. Now." Saito never really listened to his father, but his tone pretty much made Saito leave. The portal opened behind Parius, and his son left. Parius looked at Ariel. "So, this is for Kagura's own good? You wouldn't mind telling me where my daughter is holed up at, would you?" Parius said, keeping a calm face, even if he didn't have his swords yet. He was wagering if Ariel would attack him while he was defenseless, and he figured she wouldn't. However, he still activated his Eye, just in case.

(OOC:I'll post as Saito when we near the end of this little scuffle)

Ariel watched Saito leave. The relief didn't show in her face. She kept it cold, and calm. She needed to be ice. "Her own good. Either I kill you, or she does it. I'm sparing her that guilt. If she ever comes to her senses, she'll have a family to come back to." Ariel explained. There was more to it. Azazael hadn't said it, but he'd hinted that Kagura would fail to kill parius through weakness of body or mind, and she wouldn't survive that failure.. Ariel knew it was true, too. Parius was a veteran warrior. He would easily defeat his daughter. But he wouldn't so easily defeat Ariel.

Ariel shook her head. "I cant. Your probably going to die, but that doesn't mean i'll reveal anything to you, just in case. She's safe. She will always be safe as long as I am around. That is all i'll give you." She lowered her weapons slightly. "Now get your swords. Release if you want. I won't kill one of the gotei's elite warriors like a dog." She said.

Parius scoffed at Ariel. "Ryukotei don't die......" Parius said, almost to himself. He did cross his arms, at Ariel's insistence that Kagura would be safer to her. "I don't agree with this course. But, I know better than to argue with people like you." Parius was actually a bit surprised when Ariel told him to go get his blades. He figured an assassin wouldn't allow this.

Parius merely turned, and walked away, as he left his blades near where they were talking. Putting both of them into each hand, Parius left the sheaths behind. Walking back to Ariel, Parius activated the shikai for each of his blade before stopping, several feet away from Ariel. "Let's see if you can do what you came here to do, Ariel."

"Everybody dies.." She responded. She shrugged. "I wont argue with that. I've resisted it all my life... But I'm a wild beast born to kill. So throw your insults if it makes this easier for you." She watched him pick up his swords and turn to her. He didn't move, basically telling her to make the first strike. Fine by her. She smiled slightly, and let her energy out. There was a powerful explosion as her energy surged outwards in all directions for 50ft with the force of a gran rey cero, creating a massive crater beneath her. If it hit, parius would be sent flying backwards from the force.

At the same time roots would surge out of the ground to catch parius where ever he landed, trying to hold him still. If they caught him, Ariel would pull on her mask and fire a cero into the mass of roots. They would burn away but unless he cut himself free first, it would be difficult to escape. She waited to see what he would do as she drew water to the surface of the crater below her, filling it like a very large bowl.

"Wasn't an insult." Parius simply said. He twitched as Ariel let her power out, and he wasn't ready for the blast that hit him, full on. Being thrown back by it, Parius landed on his feet, only to have them snared in place by roots, of some kind. Growling, Parius felt the all too familiar feeling of a Vizard putting their mask on. Looking where Ariel was, he saw a Cero coming straight at him. Parius infused his Kurayami Ryū with Rietsu, and fired off his own Cero-powered move. The two blasts met, and cancelled each other out.

Parius then swung his Kuroi Kasai Ryū at the roots, the black flames especially helping at cutting them off of his legs. He then summoned three of his Black Flame Orbs, along with three of his Dark Flares. They floated, just behind his back. The Orbs were cero powered, but would throw his black flames wherever they exploded at, and his Flares were just Cero-powered explosions. Parius moved, at the apex of his speed in Shikai, and got close to Ariel in seconds. Using one of each of the orbs, he threw two of them at her. If she was hit by them, Parius would then charge in, swinging his blades at her, looking for any opening. If they didn't hit her. Parius would back off, the now four orbs still hanging in place.

Ariel didn't move when he charged his attacks and came rushing in. Instead a stream of water rushed up to meet him from below, swirling around her to intercept his attacks as they came. One collided with the water and burst into flame, throwing up a cloud of steam in the air. The other hit water and exploded, throwing the steam and water outwards and forcing her back. Ariel was quick to recover and used newly created steam as cover and formed a poison spore pod in her hand while deflecting his blows, then as his sword came back she threw the pod and dodged away, causing it to be cut in half.

The poison cloud that would cause sickness and vomiting, and phantom pains in the chest and lungs, and possibly caughing up blood if he was unlucky enough to breath it in.
Ariel used the distraction to activate her flow like water buff, tripling her speed and allowing her more of a chance to keep up with the speedster warrior. Then she rushed him and assaulted him with a flurry of duel sword strikes that would hopefully be hard to match, and if she managed to force an opening she would attampt to thrust both swords into his gut or chest. the pool below continued to fill.

Parius felt his blade hit something, and he smelled some sort of flowery aroma. And immediately began to spit out blood. Because of this, he was put on the defensive when Ariel came at him, somehow now moving faster. He managed to block the strikes, until he coughed up more blood. Parius then aimed the coughed up blood for Ariel's eyes, hoping to blind, or, at the very least, put some room between the two. If she did back off, Parius would then growl out the word, "Bankai. Kurayami Ryujin. Kuroi Kasai Ryū Kokuō." Spiritual energy burst from Parius, and he appeared. He now had white hair, his eyes were red, both now sporting the Dragon's Eye, but in full release. He now had a blue haori, with white diamonds along the edges, which hung off of his shoulders.

Parius plunged Kuroi Kasai Ryū Kokuō into the ground, and charged his Tyrant King's Blaze Murdering Black Dragon Wave. Parius fired it at Ariel, and the blast was as powerful as Gran Rey Cero's. He then grabbed his blade again, and charged at Ariel, even faster than before, every once in a while coughing up blood. At the end of his barrage, Parius used his Circlet of the Dark Flame, spinning in place, and shooting out a wide circle of black flames.

Ariel leaped back from the blood being spat at her face, and since parius used the change to call bankai out she did the same, "Bankai, Ame Sakura!" She said. She also moved with more speed now. She formed a plant pod and kicked it over parius' attack, landing it behind him where it exploded with the force of a cero and throwing out a thick blast of steam. She was forced to block the gran rey cero powered beam with crossed swords, which forced her backwards before she managed to push herself to one side and out of its path, recieving some burns on her arms for it.

Ariel met his charge with blades ready and deflected his blows. She was forced away when he spun and launched fire in all directions, and responded in kind with a spin, throwing out a handful of reiatsu formed throwing knives. She gained some distance and started to charge a supernova cero, a massive ball of red energy that exploded with the force of two cero oscuros in a 50ft area. The massive ball of energy shot forward, easily tearing a massive crater in the ground if it missed.

Parius gritted his teeth, as the pod exploded behind him, throwing him forward a bit. He did manage to block the throwing knives, but Parius noticed that he was definitely not moving as fast as he was capable of. The fight with Rena was still weighing on him, and his body hadn't completely recovered to 100%. Growling, Parius looked at the red ball, before extending his hand. Parius absorbed the massive ball of energy, before a wing of white flames burst out of his shoulder.

Keeping his hand extended, Parius fired the ball back at Ariel, at double the damage, but with half the speed. He follows this up, whether the attack hits, or misses, by plunging his Kuroi Kasai Ryū Kokuō into the ground again, this time burning the grass, making flames appear. Parius swiped his hand up at Ariel, willing the flames to chase down the assassin repeatedly, even while Parius continued to feel more of his power siphon away. If Ariel came at him, Parius would quickly grab his blade again, adopting a more defensive stance.

Ariel sidestepped the massive ball of power and let it fly off into the distance. Somewhere, someone was about to have a very bad day if that thing found its way somewhere. She turned her attention back to Parius who stabbed the ground and attacked her with flames. She was starting to think he didn't get the memo as water surged up from below her to forma barrier and fight back the flames before they could reach her. She controlled the water with similar skill to his control of the flames, and lashed it out to extinguise anything that bypassed the barrier.

Eventually the little stalemate ended and she formed what was left into a ball and shot it at parius like a cero. But it exploded into a handful of smaller orbs of water and shot at parius at the speed and power of bala. She followed this up with a second blast of water that started to spin rapidly and would tear into anything in its path, hitting for two cero worth of damage if it landed.

While he was dealing with that she shot in close to engage, turning one sword into a vine like whip. She attempted to catch his sword arm with her weapon and pull it out of the way, slashing across his chest with her sword. Hit or miss she followed up with a kick to the chest to force him back, unlatch the whip if she caught hold in the first place, and lash it across his face if she could.

Parius expected her to dodge the rebounded attack, and merely let his flames be matched by her water. As he saw the the "water bullets" fly towards him, and Parius launched the last 4 of his Dark Flares, and Black Flame Orbs at the water orbs, meeting 4 of the orbs, and blocking them. The last two hit Parius right in the chest, knocking the air, and more blood, out of Parius's mouth. He saw the spinning water, and brought out his Black Aegis, which can block up to a Hado 66. It mostly blocked it, but Parius still got damaged by the attacked. Parius spat out more blood, but immediately got back into the fight.

Seeing one of Ariel's swords turn into a whip, Parius figured what she was trying to do. He kept out of the way of the whip, and inadvertently dodged her slash as well. Parius went for his Roar of the Black Flame Dragon, and Ariel kindly helped him out, by kicking him in the chest. Parius blasted fire at Ariel out of his mouth, up to 25 feet in front of him, and the power of a Gran Rey. Whether it hit, or miss, Parius would go on the attack, taking a shallow cut on his right cheek for moving forward. He aimed straight for face, trying to slice Ariel's eyes out, and Parius got progressively more vicious. He started to aim for any opening to brutally wound her, as he felt a darker side pull at him. Something he hadn't felt for quite some time.

Ariel dropped backwards out of the path of the fireblast, fallowing down towards the pool of water and landing just on it's surface. Parius came in close, slashing at her eyes. She parried it aside with her sword and lashed the whip at his crotch, trying to catch him somewhere nasty. Two could play viciously. During his little outlash, she led him back to the rim of the crator, and her toes touched the surface of the pool of water. Suddenly she was gone, turned to water in an instant and rising up on the opposite side of him. Ariel fired an over powered cero at his back.

Hit or miss, she started to climb upwards, watching him closely. "Is that all you've got to offer, shinigami? i was told you were powerful, as dangerous as Jensen Reinhart. I'm disappointed really. I've killed stronger captains in the past." She said, goading him, a wicked grin  on her face. She lashed at him from below with a whip of water and from above with the whip in her hand. She wanted to make him mad, knowing he would make mistakes. "Whatever. When I'm done here, your wife is next!" Though she had no intention of harming anyone else.

Parius dodged the whip. aimed somewhere nasty. However, she disappeared, and he was blasted in the back by an overpowered cero. As Ariel spoke to him, Parius just stood up. As she whipped him, Parius grabbed the whip in her hand. Then, Ariel said she would kill him, and then Saya next. Parius spoke, but his voice had lost all the mercy in it. "Fine. Then I better make sure to kill you, here and now. Toukai, Shin Ryusenshi." An explosion of Spiritual Energy blasted out from Parius, as his Toukai released. He pulled the whip towards him, either bringing Ariel to him, or forcing her to let go of it. He would then begin to pull in the darkness of the area around him, before manipulating it, in large spikes to try and puncture his enemy. If Ariel got close, Parius would begin an extreme offense, slicing at her, in a multitude of ways, all random, as fast as he could.

Meanwhile.....
Saito landed in the Soul Society, shocking a lower class Shinigami. He looked at them, fury, and fear in his eyes. "Get me the nearest Captain. I don't care who it is. just get someone. And let them know that Parius Ryukotei is under attack." The Shinigami just stood there for a second. Now!" Saito ordered The Shinigami jumped, and ran away, looking for the first Captain he came across..

Ariel smiled as he entered Toukai. He'd taken her bait. Now she had a challange, and had him fighting for more than his life. She had no intention of actually hurting Saiya or anyone else in his family. Parius caught her whip and pulled, dragging her forward. She countered with an attempted kick to the face, turning the whip back to a sword as she did so he couldn't use it to throw her off course.

He pulled on the darkness in the area and she was forced to dodge as he lashed out with spikes of darkness, getting in close to him. He began a flurry of attacks and she faught back, but he was faster and stronger and though she blocked him blow for blow for a while, her guard slipped and his sword cut straight across her midsection, rending her open. The pain was unbearable, and blood splattered the ground and his face as she staggered back. Her vision blurred. And then the wound began to leak a differant substance.

Energy surged and exploded, enough to force Parius to back away from her if he hadn't already. Ariel had only entered this state a few times, but as the thing inside her took the reigns, she felt peace in knowing that she would not have to watch as Parius died. The hollow inside surged forth from the depths of Ariel's soul, and roared.