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Charles lands with a very heavy thud that knocks the wind out of him. Slumped over where gravity unmercifully placed him, the shimigami looks up at Ophelia. "Likewise. Don't see what is so awe inspiring about you either. Though you have such a charming personality." Lost in a new world, he has nearly no chance of doing much. Compounding the problem is the medication Marco gave him. Like a serpent, it envelops his body keeping it from responding to his calls. Without anything but his face responding to the conscious demands of his will, he merely looks Ophelia up and down.

She doesn't seem the worse for wear. If anything, she appears annoyed that her orders were to gather him. Not unlike the annoyance of having to shut up about his analysis on the war. No . . . now is not the time to sympathize. Perhaps now is a good time to sleep? The seductive call of sleep still is in his mind, though he has managed to ignore it thus far. Would it be better to be in a coma? Would it be better to not see what is so obviously coming?

Horatio wants him, and to date has never raised an attack directly at Charles. The curiosity of what that particular Arrancar is up to falls far short of what he faces now. A very agitated and annoyed Arrancar that seems quite willing to have a midnight Takena Snack.

Out of the corner of his eye, a second opening to the forest both creates and dissolves. Feeling more than seeing another presence, Charles wonders how much worse this night is going to become. What surprises him is that the words stay inside his mind. Could the medicine be wearing off? The ability to move might come in very handy . . . if he can keep it under wraps. Then, into his field of vision comes some golden flakes of energy and Horatio. For a fleeting moment, Charles wonders if he is saved. Still, being alone with two Arrancars are not the safest ideas for a shimigami.

Hearing the concern in his voice, he furrows his brow. He actually is offering comfort? Best to keep his recovery to himself still . . . "Well, now that you mention it, being crumpled in a heap is not the best posture. Unfortunately, one of my 'comrades' gave me a pill to heal my wounds. So, I am no longer hurt, but quite uncomfortable. The side effect of paralysis is rather inconvenient. I was also told explicitly not to rest. Might end up in a coma. That might make this whole exercise rather moot for a while."

"Though I don't think I have the authority or right to make any inquiries given the situation . . . may I ask why you went to such lengths for just lil me? For that matter- what could you possibly want to start with an unseated member of no squad?" Unaware of who his Captain is, Charles tries to downplay his role in the Shimigami ranks, even though that is likely unnecessary. The ranks are in uproar, and who would notice a weakling lost in a battle?

Despite himself, Charles looks over at the crumpling Ophelia. He wants to be vindictive, wants to show her contempt or say something to the effect of 'see what you get' . . . but instead looks upon her and his eyes soften to concern. Nothing as demeaning as pity- but he does wonder if he could help her. A small voice in his mind begs the question if he could help her, would he?

Despite himself and his better judgment, he knows that he would.

Daring a small smirk, Charles notes the undercurrent of Horatio's comments. He doesn't care that the poor Shimigami, admittedly paralyzed, is quite uncomfortable in a heap of his own body. Never the less, there is the hope that he may survive this as the Arrancar are after a chat after all. At least, the one in charge is. "Oh, my mind is fine, and my ability to talk is equally viable. It is the rest of me that is impaired, and as useless as a blade would be to me at the moment . . . weaponless."

Perhaps this tidbit of information is going over the top, but best to put it out there. Charles needs to seem as weak as possible to keep up a sense of security in his impromptu captors. Should they turn on him, he will need every advantage he can find. Never hurts to be cautious . . .



For a moment, Charles has to remind himself not to nod. He isn't sure if he can, but just to be safe he only responds verbally. "Well, I was assigned to 12th, but as you saw there was little real effort put forth in saving me. Therefore I must conclude that either 12th is not aware of me, or does not place much value upon me. Their response would have been similar to if a member of any squad was threatened- no offense."

With a faint sigh he continues, looking at a hand that happened to flop in his field of vision when Ophelia dropped him. "As for research and theories- knowledge is where I shine. I want to know . . . everything. Going into any situation blind is not only unwise, in combat situations it is suicide. Until your companion made a move to harm me, I felt there was minimal danger if any. I would suggest that you don't place bravery upon me that is undue. If you have questions, it seems there is little choice but to answer them. In return . . . may the information sharing be two-way? That is to say, may I ask questions in return as we learn together?"

He knows this is pushing it, but he has nothing to lose by asking. Instead, it puts him on somewhat level terms. With Marco, he was enjoying the discourse. Back and forth, his ideas bloomed a bit. Oddly enough, there is the desire to try again, this time with Horatio. Could he be an unlikely scientific ally? Charles doesn't dare to hope that. Still . . .

When Horatio asks him to help his aggressive kidnapper, he unconsciously looks her over. Narrowing his eyes in thought, he almost mumbles too soft to hear. "Well, as the shimigami that did this is not present, I can only assume it is some form of kido. I didn't see a weapon strike her on the way out. For the spell to work it must have an origin, and a target. From her pain and reactions, it is a lung. There are three ways to stop it. The first is to let it run it's course, destroying the lung in a slow painful way. Obviously, this is not her choice." His mouth betrays his emotion here as a corner slides up just a little bit. She did snatch him, so a fraction of vindictive pleasure finds him.

Continuing without noticing that slip, he keeps talking as his face resumes a neutral orientation. "Secondly, we could remove the target. It might be more merciful to remove the lung quickly, if that were possible, than to let it rot inside her. The third and final option I see from here would be to remove the source. If the caster is not here, then the spell must have an origin point on her. Remove where that is attached, and the effect is broken. That would likely hurt, having your skin sheared off, but it would save the lung." This time he does not smile. Though he is not sympathetic to this Arrancar, the attack on Ophelia is almost as distasteful as the way she treated him. A degenerative kido . . . just feels cowardly and wrong.

Hroatio squinted at Ophelia and what she did, he didn't have much the stomach for gore and mutilation.
"Well now that's all done with... What can we do about you Charles to make you more physically better at any rate... What happened to your weapon anyways? I'd rather you hold onto it then leave it in our hands."

"And yes, you may ask questions aswell..." Horatio wanted to know more about himself, to hear the theories of the origin of the hollow, why some shinigami, hollow or arrancar retain their pervious life memories and others do not, why do some retain fractions of it, how are one's zapakuto abilities or shikai abilities choosen over others and the likes. "And Charles... I want honest answers... not false answers" The tone of his voice was serious and that he meant bussiness, it was more of a warning rather then a statement. "We'll talk about your release after."

Opehlia blinked owlishly and slowly sat up.

"You attacked me if you don't remember. Not a smart thing to do." She chuckled softly, breathing in lightly because her chest still hurt, though the wounds were healing at a good rate.

"Well... Charles, You can take a page from us Arrancar... while teamwork is important and a strong corner stone, you can't always rely on others the same way you can always rely on yourself. It's a cruel world out there... and even worse here, and sometimes you can't expect help..." His words seem to suggest Horatio had a rather rough 'hollow-life', there was an odd air about him that suggested aswell that while being an arrancar and once before Hollow, Horatio didn't appear to be completely corrupt like most, and that he did what he did not out of pleasure and enjoyment but for survival.

"Well... You may not be important to your squad, but when you come back, the knowledge you have will make you important" Horatio kneeled down to Charles and began to move him in a laying posture, attempting to make Charles all the more comfortable. "First question: The origin of the Hollow and Shinigami."