Graven stood upon the dome of Las Noches, looking out over the wreckage caused by the recent attack. Sighing, he cursed the fact that he'd been sent away to look into whatever Wayland had intended to do. Had he been here, he could have prevented much of the destruction that had occurred. He was waiting for Ika, who had wanted to meet him when he'd returned.

Hopefully the current King could shed some light on what was happening, even as the world began to shift and change once more. Not for the first time, the first King of Hollows felt tired, wanting to join his beloved in the halls of Valhalla, yet...

He knew it wasn't his time. He had work to do.

Graven seemed to be surveying the rubble the Shinigami had left behind. What was once his home had now been reduced to a pile of death and ash, the shattered shell of Las Noches remained along with some of the building itself but the damage was, in a word, immense. Ika had half a mind not to come around, he didn't really want to come to this particular location after what he'd done in the interim. Demise's blood was still fresh on his hands and he felt like he needed a cleanse from it in a way, nonetheless that could wait. He walked up to Graven, clearly still a bit weary and tired from his own personal workings before looking out over the rubble alongside him.

"They sure know how to overreact eh?.." Ika smirked, allowing his hands to fiddle around in his pockets loosely as his eyes took in the once active battleground. "Gotta say I didn't think they'd have the balls to do this, and they sent Kokoro and all those others.. Insanity, I'm glad I was able to kill Demise when I did. I've had about enough of this shit.."

Graven turned to his old friend, snorting in amusement. "The Shinigami have always been this way, ever since they were founded. The first Captain-Commander was particularly tenacious, even after I tore his arm off. Regardless, this will take time to rebuild, and our ranks will have to be refilled. What will you do?"

That was the most pressing question. This war with the Gotei, a war of change, was Ika's brainchild. Now that it was over and, arguably, won, what was the Vizard going to do? "You've made it fairly clear that your time as Cero was simply a means to an end. Do you intend to stay?"

Graven turned to Ika with a snort, seemingly amused by everything Ika had been saying thus far in their current discussion. It was true, the Shinigami had always been this way and their tenacity while admirable was almost always geared towards being the most obnoxious and otherwise evil fucking cunts the world had yet seen. Still, that war was won and they would soon be taken over by their most reasonable leader in several centuries. For those wondering, yes it felt very weird to feel that way about Kokoro, of all fucking people. "They've always been a tenacious bunch, they're just a bit too militant for my tastes.. obviously."

Now the more pressing question, did Ika intend to stay in the Sandy hell hole known as Hueco Mundo.. Did he really want to set up what was left of his life in a desert living among Arrancar and the answer was.. Probably not. Ika sighed, surveying the landscape before turning back to Graven. "I think I'd be better off retiring in the human world and leaving this army to you.. Provided of course you think you can handle it."

Graven nodded at his old friend's words, looking up at the ever-present moon, his eyes staring through it as if deep in thought. "I ruled over these sands long before you were born, and have always come back to fix whatever my successors ruined. Perhaps it's out of some sense of atonement for my sins in life, perhaps it's because I care too much. Either way, I am grateful that you stepped in, and granted me a reprieve from this vicious cycle. I will lead the Espada once more. I hope that you find peace in the World of the Living."

Thinking for a moment longer, the Arrancar would look Ika directly in the eye. "I will ask one thing of you, however. My next goal will be to establish a method of inducing Hollowfication, whether through study of a Shinigami's Konso technique or by simply ripping out the Chain of Fate. I'd like to ask that you not interfere with this, as we Hollows cannot reproduce outside of extremely rare circumstances. With the Shinigami being...themselves, honestly, and the Quincy killing anything that moves, we need a way to reliably keep the balance on our end."

It was something that few truly thought about. Hollows were the other side of the coin, something that was needed to facilitate the flow of spirits just as much as Shinigami. One cannot have a positive without a negative, a right without a left, light without dark. It just didn't work.

Graven seemed to nod along and take things about as well as Ika could've expected him to. It was unfortunate really, despite Ika's jests about the man and his general eye rolls towards Graven's sense of self importance he had over time developed a bit of a soft spot for the man. He was surprisingly well mannered all things considered, especially as far as Arrancar went but unfortunately he couldn't rely on things to remain this way forever. Hueco Mundo was an unforgiving shit hole and he didn't want he and his daughter here when shit hit the fan. He wanted a peaceful retirement free from the worries of ever growing power and the simple fact was he wasn't going to get that here. "The pleasure was mine, and I'm sure you'll lead these men well."

Ika listened as Graven mentioned a plan he was working on to induce Hollowfication and for the first time in a while Ika was brought a bit of pause. "I won't interfere but I'll make it clear to you now that such a plan could lead to grave abuses of power by whoever winds up as your successor. Be weary."