A haunted mansion (Yama/Lazarus)

[Ken Shirogane]

The time was dusk, and the weather was cloudy. The mood around the mansion was a classic one, considering it was haunted.

It was once occupied by a family of twelve, now only a single member of the family remained. And they were haunted in more ways than one. Though the mansion itself had many spirits after an untimely demise, the last remaining survivor had been badly affected by the experience. In an act of self-defense stabbing her would-be killer to death with his own knife after a tumble down some long stairs. Even then it had been a near thing, her throat slit, leaving a scar in memory of the event. But luckily it had failed to reach her artery, or perhaps unluckily. The woman herself was unsure if she was truly happy to have survived, now left in an empty home, haunted by the memory of her dead relatives. She unlike some was not yet aware of the spirits who lingered in her home, she was not truly alone, but for someone like her who was unaware, un-attuned to the dead, it made little difference.



Yama on the other hand, was attuned to the dead ever since the day his eye was taken. In that same event it had awakened his senses, allowing him to witness the souls of the deceased with lingering regrets that tied them to the living world, and more importantly, allowed him to see the monsters that existed among those spirits. Unlike the woman he had knowledge of what would happen to souls who had sinned in life and the transformation they were bound to make.

For souls like those of the killer who had nearly wiped out the entire family, there was no redemption. Only a transformation into a spirit-devouring monster. Or at least that seemed to be a possibility assuming they did not go on an immediate one-way trip to hell.

Whatever the case, this possibility was why Yama was keeping a watch on the place. Leaning on his bike two blocks away, just focused on extending his senses, waiting to feel the familiar ache in his empty eye socket that demoted the appearance of a Hollow in the area. The living girl was his bare, the hollow he suspected existed would make her its first target. And then the other souls that haunted that house once it had consumed her. But he didn’t intend to let that happen of course.

[Lazarus Jeager]

It wasn't in his job description to look into closed cases until they reopened or new evidence was brought to light, that being said it also wasn't in his job description to be spiritually aware. Given what he knew about the spiritual realm and its inhabitants, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened to this sole survivor.

Lazarus found himself sitting outside a small coffee shop with some copies of documents related to the case of the woman in question, reading over the details of the horrific event while sipping on a blend of coffee, milk, and cream. His work attire wasn't anything too flashy, a sleek grey suit with black shoes and a white button-down under his jacket. No jewelry on his hands nor a watch on his wrist, the detective scanned over the information for what had to be the dozenth time today while mulling over what would be the best way to approach the situation.

'Given the nature of the event it's likely that the murderer is going to go hollow, if not one of the poor souls lost in the attack, the place could become dangerous for her real quick, but how do I justify going to her now...'

He mulled over the idea for a while longer until he found his coffee cup empty, setting it down with a sigh as he folded up the papers and put them in his jacket pocket. The quincy would step inside to pay for the beverage before making his way in the direction of this woman's home, having decided it would be better to deal with this issue quickly and quietly, rather than have to come to the aftermath of a hollow attack. "Time to go to work..."

[Ken Shirogane]

It wasn't long before Yama finally got the vague impression he was waiting for. It was much more subtle than usual. Normally when he detected a hollow it was the equivalent of a distant horn blaring in the form of an ache behind his eye once one made an appearance.

However this one was a subtle ache, it took him a minute to realize he was even feeling it. Perhaps this Hollow had some unique ability to contain its presence more than the usual fodder. Troubling...

This probably was not going to be the kind of brawl Yama was used to then. If the ache behind his eye gave any kind of impression, it was that this hollow was the kind that liked to stab people in the back rather than slug them in the face. It wasn't Yama's usual speed, but it didn't matter. He'd snap it like a twig, the same as the rest of them.

Making his way towards the house, he didn't bother to hide his approach, leaving his bike two blocks away before moving to hop the iron gates surrounding the mansion with one smooth leap. Clearly breaking onto the property as he looked around with his one good eye.

If anyone spotted him they were likely too surprised by his actions to consider stopping him, and then considering him they would likely not wish to deal with him. He was a tall strong man who easily fit the description one might prescribe to a thug. He looked mean, and he looked ready to break some faces. Someone with the wrong impression might even assume he was here to rob or attack the woman inside the home.

The woman inside who noticed Yama hop the fence and make his way to her front door sure seemed to think he was there to finish the job. Whether she had any reason to believe that or not.

---

Post Count: 2

[Lazarus Jeager]

It was only a handful of blocks from the coffee shop to the woman's house, Lazarus didn't want to be too far if he sensed something was wrong, so it was after rounding the corner on the fifth block that he'd open his senses to the world around him. He counted the number of homes on the street before landing on hers, focusing on the home specifically to sense what or who might be inside. What he found brought a groan to his lips, picking up the pace as he sensed the woman inside, along with a subtle touch of what felt hollow, but was overshadowed by the sense of another on the property. Picking up his pace a bit, Lazarus strode toward the home with more purpose, stopping short two houses down to turn and walk between two of them, letting the clouds pass overhead as a bit of coverage before jumping into the air and collecting reishi under his feet to stand.



Moving to the home from behind, he'd lower himself to the ground just inside the fencing, looking around to see if he'd been spotted by any neighbors. Thankfully he was quiet and quick, keeping things simple and staying out of sight was the best practice here, and while he didn't see anyone staring over a fence line it was better to get inside without being seen. The crimson-haired Quincy walked up to the back door and tried the knob quietly, both thankful and annoyed at the fact that it was locked. Keeping his hand in front of him so as to not draw too much attention, he'd gather reishi into his palm and shape it into the rough shape of a key, as he pushed the makeshift key into the lock he'd change it's shape to fit the pins of the lock. After a moment he'd turn it to hear that soft 'click' of it unlocking, nodding to himself as he dispersed the reishi in his palm, keeping silent as a mouse as he opened the door and entered the home.



Locking the door behind him again, Lazarus could sense her near the front door, it was that damned hollow that was hard to put a pin on position-wise, not to mention he could sense and even see the souls of the poor family members who'd lost their lives. Opting to pretend not to see them, he'd step carefully toward the open doorway to his left, seeing the tiles of a kitchen floor as he hugged the wall. He made no attempts to hide his spiritual energy during this B&E, hoping the hollow might take an interest in him over the grieving woman.

[Ken Shirogane]

While Lazarus was taking a quiet and stealthy approach, Yama was taking almost the exact opposite approach. The woman at the front was panicking, a strange man approaching the front of her home, tall and menacing in appearance.

The front door was locked and reinforced. The same was true for the back door, but neither the lock nor thickness of the door had been a problem for Lazarus who wasn't trying to get anyone's attention.

However, it didn't really matter how thick the door was. Yama didn't even check if the door was locked or not and didn't bother with the handle. He was on a mission and the door was in his way.

Lazarus might be surprised by the sudden noise, but the woman watching Yama approach was scared shitless as her front door was sent flying off the hinges from the powerful kick Yama delivered to it and went flipping through the house until it hit a wall where its momentum was suddenly halted.

The woman would have screamed were her vocal cords not in shambles. She was sitting at a table by the front window, she had been drinking some tea but was now standing with her back to the wall, eyes wild, breathing heavily as she eyed Yama.

Surprisingly, the woman also had a gun in hand, pointed right at Yama. It shook in her hands, she seemed more than ready to use it, fear quickly flipping to anger, shaking hands became steady as she lifted it to aim at Yama, ready to kill him.

Yama looked at her, looked at the gun, then looked away as if dismissing her to glance around her home.

The woman was baffled by the man, he looked dangerous and had broken into her home in an extremely violent way, but she hesitated to kill him since he didn't seem to focus on her. Was he not here for her then? Was he some petty thief looking to take and break her things?

"You're in danger." The man said glancing back to the woman who kept her gun pointed at him. The gun itself was some compact thing that easily fit in her hands. He didn't doubt she could kill him with it, he was a big tough man, but he wasn't immune to bullets and their killing power. But his only care or desire right now was to kill the Hollow, everything else was secondary and he feared little.

Again she seemed confused, but the words suggested he wasn't here to harm her, but to protect her. Even so, she had no reason to believe him. Maybe he was just insane. No, he was absolutely insane, who just kicked in a door like that and faced down a gun like this? She had no reason to believe him beyond the firm fact his words seemed to indicate.

She could not exactly argue with the man though. She wanted to tell him to get out, to leave, and then call the police to report the situation.

"You're would-be killer is still around. You stabbed him. And he died, but he didn't stay dead." He said his gaze once more slid away from the woman to scan the room, he stepped forward, feeling the subtle ache behind his empty eye socket, trying to detect the direction of the Hollow in the house, but his ability to detect while good wasn't that precise. In that sense, it was like a metal detector. It told him when he was close or far, hot or cold. But it was even harder to tell this time, the Hollow was making a muddle of his senses, screening its presence. He could tell it was around but lost any ability to detect it's range. How annoying.

The woman was watching Yama with an incredulous look on her face. The man wasn't just insane, he was totally batshit! Still, she stayed where she was with her gun ready if the man came close to her. However, she did also take a moment to reach into a bag nearby and pull out her phone, intending to call the police. This tall scary man clearly needed some mental help.

Lazarus on the other hand had successfully bated the Hollow in question. For the moment at least it had deemed him the most appetizing soul in the house.

The Hollow was quite the sneaky thing though, not just in it's ability to hinder other people's ability to detect it. A black mist began to fill the home. Even the woman could see it, feel it, and hesitate to finish dialing the number for the police.

It seemed that the Hollow was going to take its time. It didn't make an immediate appearance, biding its time, keeping its presence concealed, and working to fill the home with an increasing amount of the strange black mist. It would work its way up through the home, filling it from the ground up. Although the door the Yama had kicked in worked against the Hollow a bit, mist filtered out the door, leaving a small clear zone near the open door. But it would not be enough to stop the mist from filling the home. Even this mansion as large as it was, would be filled with black mist within minutes, seeming to bellow up from beneath the floorboards of the mansion. The mist was making the atmosphere thick and heavy, a little harder to breathe, but nothing dangerous made itself known yet.

---

Post Count: 3

[Lazarus Jeager]

'You gotta be kidding me...' The line crossed his mind as he heard the sound of a loud crash come from the front of the house, head falling a bit and shoulders sagging at the assumption that the noise was the front door itself. There was reckless and then there was whatever the hell this man was doing, either way, it wasn't going to be something he could take his time with from here on out. This fact was only escalated by the sight of the black mist rising up from the floorboards, it was unusual for a fresh hollow to already have some sort of ability, but then again it could just be an abnormally fast progression.

Having been robbed of the element of surprise, Lazarus took it upon himself to make himself known as well, walking through the kitchen and dining room with a pep in his step as it were, making himself known vocally before rounding the next open doorway into the room they were both in. "He isn't wrong, though this is not any way to go about saving someone's life."

He had caught most of the conversation as he strode in, his crimson hair a stark beckon against the gray of his suit, amber eyes scanning the room for anything else of note before reaching into his back pocket. Whether the woman shot at him or not mattered little to him, his Quincy abilities would be enough to lessen the blow to something akin to a splinter if she decided on it. From his back pocket, he'd hold up his badge, stepping over to the homeowner and showing it to her to give her some form of proof that at least one of the two people in her home was official. "You should get out of the home while you still can, as you can see this is above what your handgun can take care of." He'd gesture to the mist flowing freely around them, wafting away some of it with his leg as he motioned for the door.

If the large oaf of a man before him hadn't decided to literally bust the door down Lazarus might have been able to get this done without even alerting the woman, unfortunately, that option was no longer on the table, so he'd have to go with the mutual understanding that hollows are bad to solve the problem at hand.

"Well you've at the very least given me an excuse to be here now, so thanks for that, any bright ideas on the mist that don't involve breaking more doors down?" At this point he was talking to the man directly, having returned his badge to his back pocket while still sensing around the home for the location of the hollow. The spirits in the home that still lingered were definitely scared, all of them shaking or crying softly to themselves, some still confused as to what had happened to them and why nobody was responding. It gave him an idea of how to find the hollow if it didn't come out on its own, but that'd be a last-resort sort of situation.

Lazarus would let his reiatsu flare up a bit, trying to get the hollow to come and take a bite before this mist worked its insidious magic on them. With too many variables and not enough intel, he was getting real annoyed with the current state of things, though he would stop to stare at the staircase leading up to the second floor. The scene of her survival playing out in front of his eyes as he imagined the tense moments leading up to this hollows last moments alive, now staring at the spot at the bottom of the steps where his life as a human had ended. "Come on out already, I don't have all night..."

[Ken Shirogane]

Yama grunted at the mild condemnation as he was judged by a red haired man who had apparently been in the house and revealed himself to the woman as… Some kind of authority.

Yama didn’t care who or what the man was, though it seemed he too was aware of the Hollow in the home. He wasn’t sure his intentions to kill this Hollow would save him from getting arrested later, but whatever Lazarus thought about his methods he was at least aware that Yama meant the woman no harm.

And for the woman’s part, she was mostly bewildered, lowering her gun so as to not point it at Lazarus at least, but looking panicked when the black most began. She didn’t need much encouragement there, quickly heeding his advice and rushing outside.

Yama glanced as the woman left, but supposed the mist filling the house wasn’t effective outside and so the Hollow was unlikely to go after her out there unless it was desperate.

However this Hollow got so strong so quickly Yama had no concrete explanation either. He wasn’t an expert on Hollow but assumed it had likely eaten some souls, and perhaps even another Hollow or two. He’d recently learned that Hollow often cannibalized eachother which often lead to an evolution at some point. But that might not even be relevant here.

The Hollow however, did eventually make a move, using the mist for cover as the creature itself seeped through the floor, shifting up like a blob of tar, its mask forming once enough mass had been shifted above the floor, before a long sharp limb shot at both Yama and Lazarus, seeking to pierce them both in the chest like a pair of spears shooting out from the inky mist.

Yama was unable to dodge, the sharp tendril-like limb hitting him square in the chest, punching into him… Yet the effect was much less impressive than would have been desired. Yama reached up, taking hold of the sharp tendril limb in an immensely strong grip, holding on tight like a vice. His chest was bleeding, the sharp point digging a few inches into his body, but failing to puncture anything vital, not slipping in nearly deep enough to cause serious harm to the tall biker.

Yama was smirking, ignoring the pain of the wound as he took his grip. Not allowing the Hollow to easily escape or slip away without losing part of its limb.

[Lazarus Jeager]

It was a good thing he had his senses open the entire time, or he wouldn't have been able to notice the subtle difference in density in the hollows reiatsu as it materialized. Turning to get eyes on it, he would bring his right hand up as reishi gathered in it, rapidly forming a sword as he witnessed the spear-like appendage coming for him. Using the flat of the reishi blade to block the strike, his feet carried him a half step back as he pushed the blade forward to parry the attempted impalement. The human who had been here hadn't been so lucky, though as his eyes shifted from the hollow to the man, they'd widen at the sight before them. Lazarus was genuinely impressed by the fact that not only did this human not die, but he had taken hold of the hollow in an attempt to keep it immobile. "Damn..."

Continuing to gather and refine the reishi, the Quincy would have the edge of the blade in his hand sharpen and compress to a finer degree, becoming a more clearly defined weapon as he did so. He wasted little time in lunging toward the main body of the hollow, aiming to bring the blade up from under the limb that tried to skewer him, wanting to remove it from the monster permanently.

The spirits in the home either cowered or scattered, clearly afraid of the hollow that had likely preyed upon one or more of the souls in the home. If he was lucky he'd do enough damage for this hollow to not be able to concentrate on producing the mist and attack them at the same time, opting to either flee or focus on attacking them only. If he couldn't get it to stop producing that mist it could spell real trouble for the both of them, not a pleasant thought in the slightest. He made no move to attack the other arm being held by the human, not wanting to give the hollow an opportunity to escape from them unless she had too, the man seemed to be holding up from the attack well either way, which worked out for him in the moment.

[Ken Shirogane]

Keeping a tight grip on the Hollow limb it would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

This Hollow was slippery, and tricky, but it had clearly overestimated its chances of victory as it quickly found itself in a desperate situation.

With one attack deflected and the other attack practically ignored, that would have been frustrating enough. The man it had managed to stab felt thick, like stabbing a heavy wall of leather. And then being grabbed on top of that, unable to slip back beneath the floor and liquify its body while it was in contact with Yama.

But also unable to retract its limb back quickly enough after attacking Lazarus, its arm cut away in a steaming spray as Lazarus cut it away, leaving it short one arm. Hissing and screeching as it thrashed and writhed in pain.

But it hardly had time to consider its missing limb before Yama gave a sharp pull. “Get over here!” The Hollow suddenly lifted off the ground flying towards Yama who prepared a fully cocked haymaker into the face of the Hollow. Perfectly executed, and strangely precise, though the attack was basic the power behind it was immense.

The mask cracked, and the creature sent crashing back into the side of the stairs, its arm ripping off in Yama’s hand, leaving a long limb appendage dangling in his grip before he dropped the useless flesh.

The Hollow lay slumped on the ground, not quite dead, but hanging on the edge. The smog filling the home was slowly fading, and the punch that launched it had left a hole in it as well. Lazarus could see where it had landed, writhing only half vicious, with its mask cracked and weakened, missing both “arms” assuming that was what they were.

Whatever the case, Lazarus had a chance to finish the Hollow if he moved fast. The Hollow left practically defenseless, missing its primary weapons, stunned, and the black smog fading.

[Lazarus Jeager]

Although he had little time to show it, a flash of astonishment crossed Lazarus' features as he witnessed something no human should be capable of. It was true that certain humans might awaken powers and it was certainly possible, but this man had shown no evidence of that, only revealing that he could sense spirits. Lazarus wasn't even sure if the man could see the hollow, though that was beside the point as he witnessed the behemoth of a man simultaneously dismember and launch the hollow into the stairs. 'Note to self don't get on his bad side in the future...'

Not wanting to waste any of the opportunity provided to him by his new acquaintance, Lazarus rushed forward toward the hollow as it lurched against the stairs, bringing the blade down at his hip as his feet left the wooden floor under them. To anyone with a trained eye it would be obvious that this was a trained stance, Lazarus held the reishi blade down by the hip, blade just a hair from the floor as he closed the distance. The floor would creak as his feet found purchase there once more, now well within striking distance of the hollow in question as he brought the blade up with both hands. While the force wasn't enough to cause any physical disturbance in the surrounding air it was clearly well aimed, the hollow barely able to get out a weak cry of distress before its mask was bisected. Unfortunately for this hollow that wouldn't give it any freedom, as Quincy did not exorcise hollows, merely exterminate them. This would be the end of existence for this being, and for that, Lazarus did feel remorse, it wasn't something he could do anything about, but it should never feel right to remove someone from the board permanently.

"Even your crimes don't deserve this, I'm sorry it had to be me..." Pointless words for a fading soul, the hollows body merely crumbling into nothingness as Lazarus released the reishi blade from his grasp, the particles breaking down and fading into the world around him as was their nature. Glancing over to the taller man, he'd take a few steps toward him, motioning to the front door as he spoke up. "Gonna need to ask you a few questions, but we should at least let the poor woman back into her home, after all this was pretty unprompted."

[Ken Shirogane]

Yama watched as Lazarus delivered the final blow to the dazed half dead Hollow, cutting its shriek short with one well aimed cut taking it in its already weakened mask. Watching the creature's energy fade away, and taking the remaining smog with it.

Yama gave an amused little snort to the man’s parting words to the monster while lighting up a cigarette he pulled from a pack in his chest pocket. “Feel bad killing a Hollow that was probably the same killer who destroyed the woman’s family? I would have enjoyed tearing it apart more. Scum like that doesn’t get my sympathy. Don’t know where one's like that go when people like us kill it, but I hope it’s the hot place myself.” He noted simply, clearly without care or sympathy. He felt more merciful for the innocent ones turned Hollow, but that still didn’t stop him from killing them. If it was him or them, he was going to pick himself every time.

“Hm… I guess so.” He glanced at the door after taking a drag of his cigarette. “Should I offer to pay for the door? I mean, she can definitely afford a new one. Not like she needs charity.” And he did break into her home so he could protect her after all. He’d broken her door and dealt a little damage to her floor and the stairs, but what was that compared to her life? Normally he wouldn’t bother worrying about it, he’d just kill the Hollow and leave, but it was pretty obvious Lazarus was a good guy, or at least acted like one. Yama admired people like that generally, though it probably also meant Lazarus was going to be a pain in his ass, badge or no badge. Because Yama wasn’t a good guy. He was a bad guy doing good things. Which probably only put him in chaotic neutral territory at best.

Post Count: 6

[Lazarus Jeager]

Lazarus stopped himself from saying something overtly rude to the other man, knowing it could likely cause more harm than it was worth in the moment, seeing that this man clearly didn't care much about the aftermath of his involvement. Walking past him, the crimson-haired Quincy would step through the threshold of the home and into the cool air of the outside world. The sun had all but clocked out of the evening as the last of the blues and purples faded on the horizon, amber eyes finding their target as the woman seemed to be across the street. Making his way over to her, Lazarus would pull that same wallet with the badge from his back pocket, plucking a card from inside it and holding it out to her with a small bow. "I apologize for the commotion this evening, if you ever need anything please feel free to phone me at the number on this card, and I'll make sure you're compensated for any damages done to the home this evening. I ask that you keep this matter private, you're free to enter the home now, and everything is taken care of."

Lazarus would right himself before turning his head back to the home, or more accurately back to the man who had been in the home with him. If he had followed then the look he'd find from Lazarus was one of expectance, after all, it was his fault that the door was now no longer on the hinges. If the man hadn't made his way out then the Quincy would have to bark out an order to exit the premises in a less than respectful tone, either way, he'd be standing opposite the home on the sidewalk with the homeowner. The questions could come after this woman got back inside, it wasn't like he was going to ask too many or anything of personal relevance outside of name and such things.

[Ken Shirogane]

The woman appreciated the card and the care that Lazarus seemed to give her. Frankly she had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but voicing them all right now was rather out of the question. She’d just write to the address on the card at a later time and get whatever answers he could give her then. With her throat injured as it was she could barely breathe out a “Thank you.” To the two strange men. The situation was strange, but she was at least convinced she had just survived some sort of monster attack. So she took the card, gave her thanks, and walked back into her home for now. She was going to need to get her door fixed quickly anyway.

Yama had followed Lazarus out, which was good, because had he still been inside with Lazarus trying to bark orders at him it would have seriously miffed him. He did not take kindly to being ordered around by anyone, much less an actual authority figure.

Yama wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the look that Lazarus was giving him. Obviously expecting something but what? Yama wasn’t a mind reader. So unsure what Lazarus wanted he pulled out his wallet and offered his ID. He half expected to be arrested and questioned, but he wasn’t sure. Maybe fined? Either way the ID would give Lazarus his name, even if it wasn’t quite in the fashion he’d intended to learn it.

Post Count: 7

[Lazarus Jeager]

Lazarus wasted little time plucking the ID from the taller man's hand, scanning over it with narrowed eyes to ensure it wasn't a fake. Once he was sure it wasn't, he'd commit the information to memory and log it in his mind with the events of the evening, he had a good memory to begin with so it wouldn't be hard to recall it if he encountered this man again.

"Masamune, My name is Lazarus Jeager, I'm a detective working in this city. As you can probably guess my day job doesn't really allow for me getting involved in situations like the one that took place this evening, but I'm not one to sit idly by and just let some poor woman die after she fought for survival the first time." He'd offer a similar card to him as he had to the homeowner before, though the information on this card was slightly different. the number was different and it had only his name on the front of it, a mailing address was under the phone number which matched the office address on the first card.

"So first things first, how did you know that there was a hollow in that woman's home, from what I can tell you're just a normal human, and most normal humans don't even know about spirits that pass them by every day." He held no note pad nor did he offer up any kind of recorder, these were questions he wanted for his own sake, there was no way he'd document the events of tonight to any authorities. It was hard enough to convince the spiritually aware that monsters existed, let alone the people back at the precinct he worked at.

[Ken Shirogane]

Well his ID was taken and checked at least, so that was a good sign he supposed. He wasn’t sure if that was what the other man had wanted, but it seemed like it was good enough.

“Huh, well what exactly do you consider being a “normal” human. I’ve been hunting Hollow for several years now. Though I only learned they were called Hollow recently.” He noted with a shrug. “Before that I just thought of them as ghost monsters since it seemed like most people could not see those anymore than they could see ghosts. I seen my first Hollow the same day I lost my eye,” he tapped his eye patch. “And opened my third eye to start seeing spirits. Fighting an enemy I could not see was a pain in the ass, but as soon as I could see what I was dealing with it wasn’t much of a problem for me. Hollow are stronger than most humans, but most Hollow are still weaker than me.” He noted with a confidant chuckle, and he had reason to be having taken down many Hollow in the past several years with little aside from brute force.