65New chapter! Been a very long while (more than a year I know!) and I'm sorry for that but life gave me lemons and I'm making lemonades. Besides that! The new Bleach anime is here as well! I cannot describe how amazing watching the two episodes, so far, have been. This chapter was made in celebration of that.
Here's to the new Tite Kubo-sensei era, to the new fans and to the ever loyal readers, love you all and enjoy the read!
Disclaimer: Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo-sama
Chapter 9: Dreaded Whispers
Secrets.
Whether they were good or bad, secrets had always been one of the major causes in instigating conflicts.
Secrets were double-edged swords. Dangerously self-destructive if not handled with care and to be fair, it mattered not how much you kept them shut. Secrets had a tendency to come out.
The Shinigamis were being worn down as the current war escalated and with how the war was unravelling, the skeletons the Shinigamis had buried deep down were slowly coming out of their closets for everyone in the spirit world to see.
It was truly inevitable.
Surprising, and ironic, at the same time, the fact that the Shinigamis portrayed themselves as this one big group of heroic people who strived to keep this so-called balance of the spirit world when they themselves seemed to have produced some of the most deranged criminals and done the most perverted crimes. Crimes that they tried to bury deep. It was only a matter of time to see what the future brought for the so-called balance keepers of the spiritual realms now that it was all exposed.
Exposed for their many heinous acts of perversion in the centuries past.
The Quincy massacre.
Kuchiki Rukia's trials.
The Aizen debacle.
Former criminals as Captains.
Zanapkuto Laws.
Nobility massacres.
The various R accidents.
So many different acts of cruelty and yet unknown to the general public. The Shinigami that be serving being blind to this atrocious acts because they were never brought up or were buried deep.
"….is hilarious to think they are fighting for the sake of a creature that was the result of their own folly! Their own dark secret and the best part is that no other Shinigami in the Gotei 13 barring the older geezers and the forty-six dumb fucks know about it!..." the rant from the noble went on as Ichigo kept on listening.
Secrets.
Kurosaki Ichigo had had enough of secrets.
Facing the noble in front of him with the child that just appeared he just listened to the chattering nonsense being spout from the noble's mouth about how he was going to kill Ichigo and how he would be showing the whole dimension about the truth of the world. Ichigo hated him.
"….you came here to die. Today I, Tsunayashiro Tokinada, shall be your executioner. The cloud to your stars…"
Since the day he joined his Majesty's army, Ichigo had his priorities sorted. To know everything and anything about the world that could try and harm his loved ones. For Ichigo nothing mattered other than the safety of the people he was close with. So when he saw the rant of the noble, this Tsunayashiro Tokinada, in front of him slowly die down with a laugh and the child as well get ready to fight Ichigo had only one thing to say whilst creating a Heilig Bogen,
"You really like to hear your own voice don't you?" a reishi arrow ready in hand. "You just talk too damn much."
And as he let lose the reishi arrow he created the battle began with the child leaping in and the noble staying back, observing. Ichigo could care less. The battle would slowly bring the noble in too and right now, Ichigo promised that at least one of them would be dead by the end of this duel.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlinebreakxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sounds of dripping water gave way to the waking eyes of a short light blonde haired girl as she rubbed her eyes and adjusted to the surrounding dim brightness.
Raising her body by the help of her hands she felt someone right beside her and her eyes saw another girl with short black hair lying in front. Rubbing her eyes she looked around and being in a dimly lit unfamiliar room the girl started to shiver. She, whilst in the onset of being panicked a bit, started to wake the other girl up by shaking her.
"K-Karin! Karin, wake up!" she spoke, worry obvious in her tone, eyes darting from left to right.
After a few shakes the girl, Karin, slowly woke up to the frantic shaking of her body as she shakily rose up from her lying spot. Groaning whilst rubbing her eyes she slowly got her senses back and looked at the girl who woke her up. Throbbing headache aside, she focused on the person and asked, "Yuzu?"
"Karin!" the mentioned Yuzu suddenly hugged Karin as she whimpered into the embrace.
Karin was surprised but then took her in her arms and started soothing her back by rubbing it. "Hey, hey Yuzu. It's ok. It's ok" she said. "It's ok, I'm here." The whimpering had slowly calmed down but Yuzu still stayed inside the hug, occasionally she peeked around.
Karin after a while, for the first time, looked around where she currently was with Yuzu. The room was small, only a decorated candle lamp on a mounted spot illuminated the walls of the space and Karin saw a few items that she remembered her brother's friend Ishida Uryu had. Quincy items. Then she quickly remembered.
Some bastard quincy had kidnapped both her and her sister right from under Tessai's nose. She couldn't help but blame herself in part for getting taken. They told her to stay hidden. Her father had already warned her of the lurking danger. That it wasn't safe. But she didn't listen and now she was here, captured alongside her twin.
"Karin. I-I am-I am scared." Yuzu spoke in a timid voice. It wasn't a surprise that the sunshine of the Kurosaki household would be terrified right now. Kurosaki Yuzu had always been a big positive energy for the family. It was safe to say that Kurosaki Masaki's warmth was embodied by the little girl and thus it broke Karin to hear her sister so scared and terrified.
For Karin, Yuzu needed to be happy at all times. Only then would everyone be happy. "It's going to be okay Yuzu. Ichi-nii will save us. He will find us I promise you." Karin spoke with as much confidence and optimism as she could. It would not do well for her as well to fall in to the dread.
She believed it though. That her brother would definitely find them. She had the utmost belief in it.
'Ichi-nii is going to kick your ass, just watch whoever you are.'
A few moments later as Yuzu settled down, they both were seen coming out of the room where they were kept in. It surprised both of the Kurosaki sisters that their captors seemed to not mind them moving around. They both weren't tied up when they woke up. The room they were in was also not locked up. There even seemed to be no guards around their area. It didn't make sense.
Karin was suspicious the most with this turn of events. It didn't seem like they have been captured for anything specific. If they were important wouldn't they at least have had multiple guards around? Or was it that the prison they were in was big? That they were locked up in some hidden tower never to be seen again? So that is why they were given no shackles. Just the place they were in was shackle enough?
Holding the hand of Yuzu and leading her around, Karin observed the hallway they were currently walking in. It seemed to have a different, almost faint, luminescence to its surroundings. Even though the halls were dark it didn't seem too blinding. Both of them walked as carefully as they could while looking around for any sneaking up. Just then, they heard some footsteps coming from their front and both of them hid in a small crevice they had found.
As the footsteps drew closer it gave form to a young quincy that was walking in the direction of the two sisters. Karin saw it was the same boy that captured them so she signalled Yuzu to keep quiet as both of them stayed in the shadows and watched the young quincy pass them right by. Sighing in relief both of the sisters nodded and as soon as they walked out into the hallway they heard a voice right behind them.
"Oh, it's good to see you two out and about already."
Startled, the two sisters, Karin and Yuzu jumped back facing the young quincy they just saw pass them by. Karin quickly took a stance as Yuzu mustered up her courage and faced him as well. The young quincy looked at them and raised his eyebrows. Karin's eyes narrowed and she was about to make a move when the quincy spoke out,
"I apologize for any inconvenience." He bowed saying, "Albrecht Scholztra, second Prince of Wahrwelt. It is with great pleasure I welcome you to our abode."
"I don't care! Where did you bring us?! And why?!" Karin exploded with uncontrolled tenseness.
Karin still had her guard up with Yuzu behind her which Albrecht noticed and sighed. Albrecht had an idea that the Kurosaki sisters might be a bit apprehensive of them with the way he had captured the two from their safe base and brought them to a different hidden section in Wahrwelt but he wanted to start over fresh. Why? Because they were kin. They were family.
"I know you have questions." Albrecht spoke. "And I will try to answer any and all queries you have so if you would not mind following me to a room, I would greatly appreciate it." bowing, he made way, turning his back and proceeded walking.
Karin grabbed her closed fists even harder as she felt her body tremble. Looking at the boy walking away from them she gritted, "You think we would do anything you tell us to just like that?! Answe-!" She felt Yuzu reach out to her enclosed fists and try to calm her down. It did. "K-Karin." Karin turned her head to Yuzu as she said,
"Let's-Let's follow him. M-maybe we c-could get some a-an-answers. He hasn't a-attack-acked us."
Karin looked into Yuzu's eyes and she saw a sliver of bravery that Yuzu was able to produce. That was all it took for Karin to give her full faith on the prospective idea. She didn't like it. She didn't like how they were captured. She didn't like the current situation in enemy territory. Worst of all, they were going to follow and talk with the same boy who kidnapped them. Karin felt useless. She didn't like this one bit.
A mere child, someone who seemed to be around the same age as her and Yuzu, had captured them so easily while at the same time defeated the seemingly powerful man maid in that shopkeeper's shop. She didn't like the way the situation was going. She wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible and find Ichi-nii. But that would seem to be needed to be put on hold. No matter how much she hated it she knew, conversations with the boy might just give them some form of perspective over whatever was going on.
"((sigh)) Lets go then Yuzu. Stay with me. We're in this together." Karin spoke as Yuzu nodded and smiling slightly followed her as they trailed the path to the quincy boy, hands tightly gripping each other. Karin would ask about everything that was going on. She wanted to be on the know now. She's just had it with being an outsider in this conflicts and it was time for her to be a part of all this.
'And I want to know why you called us aunty.'
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlinebreakxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
BOOOOOM!
"Hahahahahahahaha!" the rousing laughter that followed through truly could be called maniacal and unhinged.
Bambietta Basterbine had her fair share of encounters with fighting junkies. The Sternritters themselves had quite a few of them and even some soldats had shown a particular trait and penchants for bloody and reckless fights. Not to mention she had a temper herself and had a sadistic streak a mile long. Bambietta was well-versed with the way fighting junkies worked.
But this one was no ordinary fighting junkie was it?
As she saw the zanpakuto, that followed through the swing, come near and picked up speed, the hand that belonged to her opponent was caught and with a face full of pink in her front, before she could do more, Bambietta saw her opponent being punched through another tower as she looked back to her companion.
"We need to end this and get out quick Meni. Fighting him is only going to waste precious time. Time we don't have right now." as soon as she spoke that some rubble got kicked up to the air and she could see the dust settle as the hulking figure of their opponent slowly came to view again.
Bambietta focused back. "I hope you sent Isaac away with the shadows."
A nod was her only reply as both of the Sternritters looked at the menacing opponent before them. Special War Power Kenpachi Zaraki. A seemingly unstoppable force of sheer bloodlust and strength. He stood there looking at the two women floating a few feet away from him.
"You two." Zaraki started. "You two are different. Stronger than those other extras I killed off."
He started to increase his reiatsu volume saturating the surrounding space as Bambietta and Meninas felt his pressure directed at them along with his maddening killing intent. No wonder he was given a special designated title in their daten.
Meninas was inwardly sighing in relief that she could convince Isaac, her baby boy, to leave the battlefield and meet up with his brother and guests. She sent him off through one of the shadow portals still available as soon as the Captain had started off the battle with a reiatsu slash. Her eyes searched for Bambietta as their gazes met and they nodded, tensed.
"Remember Meni, Ichigo told us. We can't match him in-!" Bambietta was interrupted as a massive piece of boulder sailed in the air towards her. Her eyes narrowed as she gathered reishi in her hands and let loose two reishi balls right in the boulder's path. The resulting explosion destroyed most of the debris and drew up the wind from the aftershocks as Bambietta felt a huge build-up of reiatsu charging in towards her.
Bambietta moved her body to the right as she dodged the slashing wave of yellow reiatsu barely, her cape slightly getting singed. She narrowed her eyes as she created dozens of reishi balls around her crackling with explosive properties. She sent them flying towards the bloodthirsty Captain as he seemed to just cleave through them all and not even mind the explosions left in their wake as he seemed to just bulldoze through each and every one of them.
She could see he had a few deep injuries as well but it just seemed to not affect the man in front of her. Whereas with her ability she had been able to destroy or blow off limbs with her explosions, the unhinged Captain tanked through it all and only suffered burn injuries that just seemed to not matter to him.
Gritting her teeth, Bambietta channelled Blut Arterie, encased her hands with another batch of small reishi balls, and dove in towards the bloodthirsty monster that was Gotei 13's 11th squad Captain. The Captain had a mad gleam in his face as his massive grin widened at seeing his opponent flying right towards him.
Zaraki's inner battle beast was ecstatic at seeing his opponent not cowering and trying to take him head on. He was more than welcome to oblige to the fight. But with his vision tunnelling in Zaraki didn't notice the punch coming from his right as, one, Meninas McAllon drove her fist into the seemingly unaware Captain, sending him flying right into a floating ball of reishi that exploded.
Whilst recovering from the sudden attack, Zaraki maddeningly grinned and swiped horizontally in front of him, as the smoke cleared away it showed Bambietta narrowly dodging his zanpakuto. Angling her body she landed right beside his left side as she moved quickly, driving the small reishi ball containing punch to his stomach but Zaraki dodged it as well capturing Bambietta's hand and swinging her towards one side of the destroyed battlefield.
Meninas suddenly loomed over his head with a punch but Zaraki in return just faced towards the oncoming punch with a slash of his own ready. Meninas' eyes widened as she looked at the fearless eyes of the captain but she punched the Captain anyway while narrowly dodging the slash that ripped away the shoulder pads of her uniform. The shockwave blew apart the ground beneath the Captain but he started laughing while having a slight bit of disfiguration on the left side of his face. Not to mention the few explosive scars as well that he recently received. Meninas landed as the Captain kept laughing.
"Hahahahaha! This is it!" Zaraki bellowed and proceeded to swing his zanpakuto again which was dodged by Meninas. "This is my type of fight!"
Meninas went for a punch towards his right while moving away from the motion of his slash but he dodged narrowly, simultaneously getting inside her zone, tackling her a good few meters away. Meninas' eyebrows rose as she saw the Captain move again but before he could proceed to attack her, a few reishi balls hit him from the back, exploding in contact and sending the Captain flying. Still it seemed to do nothing to the rampaging Zaraki as he just laughed and sent another slash towards Meninas in blinding speed. She gathered the reishi around her hand,
"Warnen Einfluss (Foreshadowed Impact)." channeling Blut Arterie she punched the incoming slash making it dissipate. As the shockwaves settled her eyes grew worried.
Bambietta had recovered from when she was thrown away and had sent the explosives to the Captain's back but the tenacity of the shinigami to still power through both her and Meninas' attacks had totally taken the explosion Sternritter off guard, even though she was warned about him. Ichigo had mentioned to her about the relentless way Kenpachi Zaraki fought his opponent but it just seemed to have reached a new whole new level, unlike the supposed daten information. Completely overhauled.
She knew one thing though.
Bambietta learned during the fight it would be almost impossible to get the Captain to back down now that they were completely engaged in this mess.
'We should've just retreated and fought him later. Now its unnecessary time wasted and it's all, my fault!'
She flew towards the Captain engaged in melee with Meninas as the pink haired Quincy drove a fist to Zaraki's chest. Zaraki staggered back a bit but before he could recover his wits Bambietta appeared over his slugging back and drove a punch straight to his head. Zaraki steadied himself, moving himself up he brought his bloody face up close and leered towards the steadying Bambietta as he drove a fist to her abdomen, launching her away again. Meninas flashed towards his vicinity but Zaraki knew better and turning swiftly he had kicked the girl away as well, launching her close to where Bambietta had been punched away to.
"Good. Good. Those are some good punches you girls have." Zaraki spoke grinning madly as he grasped his zanpakuto with both of his hands. Yellow reiatsu gathered in his vicinity as it slowly poured out into the surroundings.
"I think I'm gonna let loose a little more." His various wounds seemingly cauterizing themselves with the raging reiatsu around, Zaraki brought his hands over his head as he slashed down with gusto at the next moment. The action gave form to a massive slash of yellow reiatsu that engulfed the front of his vision while destroying everything in its path. Meanwhile Zaraki grinned madly.
"((cough)) ((cough)) Shit!" As Bambietta was just recovering from the punch she got to her gut Meninas came flying right next to her, kicking up the dirt again. Bambietta winced a bit as she felt a sudden flare of pain from her abdomen whilst watching Meninas remove herself from the rubble she had just crashed in to. At that moment the pressure around the area increased as she saw a bellowing reiatsu aura envelope her being. She figured Zaraki to be powering up. Looking at Meninas who gestured "Really not cool anymore Bambi" as she flashed towards the explosion Sternritter, Bambietta said with gritting teeth,
"We need to finish this now Meni! Damn it! I don't think we can match him without activating our Vollständigs and that is not what I want to do right now!"
Meninas nodded, "Same. I don't want to use it because it leaves me hungry and exhausted a lot."
"Then we need to- " anything she wanted to say was interrupted via the massive slash that tore towards them. Bambietta's eyes slightly widened but Meninas just appeared in front of the slash and she looked different. She was somewhat enveloped in a pink reishi aura. She got into a stance quickly, her muscles of the right arm enlarged as the whole arm bulged up with a big mass of spiralling reishi built up.
"Blitz Schrei (Flash Cry)!"
Pink and yellow filled the eyes of whoever watched the proceeding explosion as the grounds of the new world made by the Quincy King rumbled and quaked due to the intense clash of powers.
The spiralling dome of explosion settled down as the surrounding debris and smoke wafted away, revealing in its wake a destroyed landscape, the likes of which was comparable to that of ruinations beyond.
A sudden squelching spurt of blood instantly destroyed the settled silence in the wake of the destruction as Meninas' right hand suddenly deformed in. She screamed in silence as Bambietta, after getting her bearings, flashed towards her partner.
"Meni! Shit!" Bambietta saw the damage. Her arm was mangled. It would need immediate healing. She had seemed to burst some of her arteries due to strained usage of their Blut Arterie technique in that last clash.
"We need to get going. We can't keep this up without releasing our Vollständig! " Bambietta looked over her with worried eyes as she was also groaning from that last punch she got. Even Blut Vene couldn't mitigate the damage. She knew her Blut ability wasn't the strongest like the other Sternritters but she thought she had enough mastery over it. It was not the case it seemed, against the top hunchos of the war now.
Meninas whimpered a bit but nodded. It was looking really bad, her arm that is. She had exerted more reishi than necessary to stop that slash. She didn't expect the Captain to dish out that much power in his slash. It was completely different than the slashes he was sending her before. She looked towards an increasing reiatsu that slowly filled in again.
"Tch, what a maniac. Even that ape Driscoll wasn't this bloodthirsty of a fighter and he was given the moniker Overkill, pathetic ape!" Bambietta grinded out.
Meninas didn't care about that even the least. The Captain though was still raging to fight and Meninas didn't know if she wanted to anymore without resorting to drastic measures. Bambietta was right in one thing. They needed to get out now.
On the other hand, Zaraki was only starting to feel pumped up. He saw they negated his slash. His dual wielded slash that annihilated that one stupid moon-shape horned Espada. His zanpakuto thrummed in delight and excitement. He could feel it through his hands.
"Yes, you want to get out right? Have some fun?" the zanpakuto seemed to rumble. "Tch, well then….partner. Let's get this done! No- !" a dozen or so glowing reishi balls shot towards Zaraki in fast speeds as he couldn't even complete his release and just jumped into the fight. The balls exploding and covering his area.
Zaraki cackled as he thought of how his enemies didn't even want him releasing his zanpakuto but that just made it even more exciting for him. Zaraki loved drawn out fights. That was why he fought. He wanted to keep enjoying this thrill that battles brought upon him. He will never forget Retsu for what she did. That woman brought him up from the dead. She was the near perfect warrior it seemed to be. She loved the battles she did. She was like him.
And when she fell in battle, he had risen again. The power he now had was truly the embodied power of his being.
For he was a Kenpachi.
But before he could continue the fight it came, the pressure. It washed over the entire region like a spreading disease and it seemed to encompass the whole dimension they were in. Nobody seemed to know where it came from, nobody had an idea but it brought the dimension to a standstill.
xElsewhere in Wahrweltx
Probably the hardest fight in his recent times, Shunshui Kyōraku flashed around the battlefield. Bleeding from his shoulders and with various small injuries littering his body, Kyōraku kept on pushing himself. His opponent couldn't have been more ruthless and annoying in his ability as the newly made Sōtaichō of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads dodged, side-stepped and outmanoeuvred his attacks.
Lille Barro he called himself. The so-called messenger of his god.
"Sheesh, talk about being on the run like this ((pheww))" came Kyōraku's monologue as he settled down to rest his back against a wall with a heavy breath. He continued,
"((haaaaahh)) That I could make it this far with these injuries of mine, damn."
He had been on the run from the seemingly 'unblockable' bullets the quincy had been shooting. Under normal circumstances, the injuries that the Captain-Commander currently had would've been fatal. A normal person would have probably been, in the worst cases, dead but Kyōraku didn't have that luxury. It was tough being 'hard to kill' yourself now that he thought about it with mirth. He couldn't pass out from his injuries, he couldn't rest well enough because 'responsibility'. Being powerful came with its downsides and Kyōraku humorously joked around himself.
'I miss Nanao-chan right now.'
It also seemed like the quincy had also probably used their own form of final release as well if the current getup that the quincy wore was any indication, coupled with the increase in his attack powers.
Just then even more shots were fired as the Captain-Commander senses the attacks coming but they don't hit him as he had quickly changed his position, lunging out of the building he was currently in. "Woahohoho, watch out there!"
Lille Barro watched as the Captain-Commander seemingly ran around dodging his shots around the new world palace of his majesty. He could see the injuries that Captain had and was mildly impressed at the fact that he was still able to move this way in this kind of situation too. No wonder he was truly the Sōtaichō, but even then, for Lille, his emperor was the only true God in this realm.
For what was an ant to an elephant in the grand scheme of things?
Lille proudly acknowledged that he was the perfect apostle of his majesty. The last of the old monarch and the first of the new to be given his schrift and blessing. He believed himself the one closest to God. While Ichigo and Jugram were the very hands of their majesty, Lille was his messenger. The one to bring the holy message to his majesty's subjects and foes alike.
Destroying another building as he chased the Captain, Lille wondered about what his opponent could do next. He disappeared from his current location and seemed to just appear in front of Kyōraku as he was running in a direction. Their eyes met as Lille spoke, "Did you really think you could escape from me?"
Creating a few more glowing reishi shots, as his body fully remade itself after teleporting, Lille continued speaking as Kyōraku got into a stance as well. "You are a stubborn man."
Kyōraku gathered reiatsu around his zanpakutos. Lille continued, "As I have been saying, there is just not a single thing you could do to hurt me."
"Oh yes, I know."
An arc of spiritual energy surrounded the Captain-Commander as he spoke while Lille kept watching with raised brows, "I can't help but try out new things. How about a Kidō blade too at that?"
Kyōraku leaned forward. "Hadō no.78 Zang- !"
Deathly silence befell the dimension at that moment as both Kyōraku and Lille's eyes suddenly widened at the spiritual pressure that engulfed them out of nowhere.
'What the hell is this reiatsu? Ichigo-kun?'
'Your Majesty, what is this power?'
Both of their eyes narrowed as they could see that this was something neither of the two had any idea about. It seemed there was something else currently going on that nobody knew about, most likely.
The sensation of the unusual reiatsu had touched everyone in the dimension.
In another part of the new world palace, as Shinji and the others in his company were about to reach the base of the towering centre fort they had got into a fight with another of the so-called Elite Guard for Yhwach. With a cape and helmet, the quincy Gerard Valkyrie had challenged all of them arrogantly, not caring that he seemed to be at a severe disadvantage. Renji and Byakuya had quickly taken to battling the buffed quincy despite his insistence of fighting everyone but now, the shinigamis, they were at an advantage and were almost pushing through.
"Did you really think we'd give any form of relief to you?! Huh?!" came the shout from Renji when he shot his zanpakuto Zabimaru's (蛇尾丸, Snake Tail) elongated blades and smashed the quincy to the walls of a building. A second later Kuchiki Byakuya had already used his own zanpakuto Senbonzakura (千本桜, Thousand Cherry Blosssom) to lift the already injured quincy and just tossed him around the place.
"Go Zabimaru !" Renji called out as the quincy came flying towards him and Renji just slashed him up to toss him back to the ground, the helmeted quincy profusely bleeding all over his body. Renji kept taunting him about the fact that he shouldn't have been so bold to state he could take on the entirety of their team. Gerard merely spit a bit of blood and then smiled saying,
"Is that so?"
That three letter sentence drew the attention of all the shinigamis there. Gerard continued to speak, "If that is what you wholeheartedly believe. If I am able to defeat you from these insurmountable odds…."
Gerard lifted his bloodied head to his opponents. "….then that would be what you call a mi-!"
Then came the pressure.
It submerged them, enveloped their body as a whole.
Renji was the first to buckle a bit with Rukia following through with a shudder. The only thing they had on their minds was about the feeling they were having. 'The hell is this reiatsu?!'
Shinji brought Momo closer as she couldn't handle the vileness that spread around so suddenly out of the blue. She looked faint. Shinji gritted his teeth as sweat rolled down his face. 'What kind of creature has this kind of reiatsu?!'
Shinji glanced at Byakuya who also had a slight difficulty if his sweat filled forehead was any indication. Shinji knew that Byakuya had some burdens to shed but with this sudden pressure that just threw them off for a loop it was becoming a conundrum of whatever was going on in the war.
Ironic how his zanpakuto played with misdirection whereas currently he was the one with no direction whatsoever right now.
As quickly as it came it had gone away. As the pressure lifted off, everyone looked at each other but the most surprising expression was that of the quincy in front of the shinigamis. Gerard had gone silent as soon as he felt the reiatsu pressure. He knew that feeling. He knew it all too well.
A new king.
A new miracle.
Gerard Valkyrie knew then and there. Heathens still remained in his majesty's lands and Gerard promised that he himself shall uproot them all away.
xBack with Zaraki and Co.x
Zaraki's body trembled. He grinned maliciously. Even the other quincy girls weren't any better as they felt the reiatsu wash over but the thing that shocked them the most was the fact that it reeked of so many things at one. Bambietta's eyes roamed towards a specific direction as she gritted her teeth with a small sheen of sweat dripping down. Meninas too didn't feel comfortable with the pressure around. It was unsettling, dangerous. But it just vanished in an instant as well. The ominous reiatsu that suddenly erupted disappeared as soon as it came.
The fighters slowly got over the trip that the pressure had delivered. Zaraki was ecstatic "Seems like we got some competition. I'm gonna find this one" but Bambietta had a different scenario in her head "Shit, seems like something is very different. Ichigo I don't know what that was but I hope you can handle it"
With the pressure disappearing, the opponents focused back on each other as Zaraki grinned, "I need to find whoever released that reiatsu. Seems to be someone really powerful." He gathered reiatsu around, holding on to his zanpakuto as he spoke,
"Nome (Drink), Nozarashi (野晒, Weather Beaten-One)."
A big burst of reishi brought up the huge clouds of dusts. After a while a small pulse was fired that dispersed the clouds that had covered the battlefield and Zaraki appeared with his zanpakuto's released form. A huge War Cleaver Axe covered with a long clothe-wrapped handle and a green tassel attached at the top of the blade. Humming with yellow reiatsu and an echoing scream, all in all, with that huge weapon thrumming in his arm, Zaraki looked menacing and ready for war.
'What?! A zanpakuto release?! Didn't the daten say he didn't have any Shikai or Bankai?!'
Bambietta's mind truly couldn't comprehend whatever was going on anymore. Whoever had said plans never survives contact with the enemy was truly a genius. This war and fight was proof of all those .
Bambietta just gritted and proceeded to focus on her plan. Zaraki saw the black haired Quincy girl suddenly float up. Now the fight could start again, Zaraki pondered excited.
Bambietta had decided that the fight was to be ended already. It wasn't prudent for her and an injured Meninas to be fighting anymore so they had come up with a plan on the fly. Bambietta looked at the Captain and she created a Heilig Bogen. She loaded up a concentrated Heilig Pfeil that she imbued with her ability 'The Explode' and quickly let it loose as she saw Zaraki grinned menacingly. This was their chance.
As the pfeil neared Zaraki slashed at the attack with Nozarashi cleaving through the whole pfeil completely but the resulting explosion shoved him back a few distance. Zaraki gripped his zanpakuto tightly as he steadied, but not for long, as a huge block of pillar came swinging upon him, forcing the Captain to bring up Nozarashi to slash at it before he could completely find his bearings.
Blade met concrete, dust kicked up and the ground rumbled but Zaraki cleaved through at last and as the pillar crumbled down around him, Zaraki settled down. He huffed, took heavy breaths and as he jumped out of the mess and was about to engage the two girls, he saw the battlefield had already turned vacant and silent. No one around anymore, as if the enemies just disappeared, as if they were never there. His eyes inspected the area. Rubbles, debris and big blocks of destroyed buildings littered the place but no one else in sight. The destroyed walls being his only witness.
Disappointment couldn't even begin to describe the feeling Zaraki felt at that moment in time.
"The heck? Where's everybody?! Stupid ass cowards, I can't even get a decent fight." His zanpakuto grumbled as well as Zaraki spoke his thoughts out loud.
"Tch, even Yachiru's disappeared." Zaraki spoke in a much more subdued manner which, if anyone else saw, would've never believed the Captain capable of such emotion. Zaraki didn't have a clue as to where his little ball of pink-haired nuisance went. He could never admit it out loud but everyone knew the bond Zaraki had with his Vice-Captain was something unexplainable. Kusajishi Yachiru was the sole person in the world whom Zaraki apparently would never harm or let harm befall. It was endearing in the eyes of the women of Seireitei but nobody dared mention about it.
After Zaraki had returned from his training/battle with Retsu and learning his zanpakuto's name he had not found Yachiru amidst the chaos that was in Seireitei. Nobody knew what had happened as only her uniform with her badge was found at her last known location.
Tossing and turning the blocks of destroyed walls around, Zaraki seemingly kept searching for anyone else besides him but he didn't find anybody around.
"Now I gotta find the other dumbasses. Where the hell are Ikkaku and Yumichika?" grumbling in annoyance he started making his way towards a different part of the new world palace seemingly unaware that a small lump of shadow had discreetly disappeared from under him.
He would be unaware of the fact that both of his 3rd and 5th seats were already casualties of war.
"And where's that creepy flower cocoon. Dumbass has weird clothes and I still can't find him."
And he would also be unaware of the fact that the criminal Captain of the 12th squad's, one Kurotsuchi Mayuri, pod had disappeared in the fight. Kenpachi Zaraki shall remain ignorant of it all as he walked towards the part that seemingly had the strongest opponent and had started to have big fights.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlinebreakxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To say that Kurosaki Karin was shocked was an understatement.
To say that Kurosaki Yuzu felt her whole being cheated was an understatement.
"You-you're saying that our mom was just like you all. This Quincy you say! And your king took her powers away?!" Karin screamed in disbelief. Yuzu just sat there beside her in silent shock. She was just trying to comprehend what it was about her family that always got into this kind of situations. So many secrets.
"His Majesty's Aushwählen is a brutal ability. I am truly sorry that the tragedy befell father and that he was robbed off grandmother so quickly."
Now the proverbial elephant in the room needed to be addressed Karin felt. So far into the conversation when they got to know about Ichigo joining the enemy she was just in disbelief. It turned even crazier when every time Albrecht referred to Ichigo he had referred to him with fondness of a child and calling him the very title as well.
'Was that why he kept calling us his aunts?'
So she just had to know and asked non-plussed, "Why?"
Albrecht blinked as Karin continued, "Why do you keep calling Ichi-nii your father? You're..-you're almost the same age as me. There's no way!" Karin gritted her teeth as she looked at Albrecht with raging eyes.
"There's no way he is a father to you!" she gritted out. She looked at Yuzu whose eyes showed even she wanted to know the answer to this questions. When Albrecht had referred to them as his aunties multiple times Yuzu wanted to ask how this was possible. Even though deep down her throbbing heart was ecstatic at being called an aunt so young she still was heavily affected by the current situation.
Albrecht smiled. "I know it is hard to believe but that brings us back to the answer I still owed you about how father was able to be with us and let nobody know about it as well. So please listen well."
So Albrecht told them about his origins of being the very first artificial quincy that were created which automatically opened up the vast unknown things in the story. This in turn led to the sisters learning about the recent incidents that had happened between the shinigamis. Karin and Yuzu's eyes widened when they learned about the clone of Ichigo being the one they were interacting with during the whole time while the real Ichigo was training in Wandenreich.
"Father had sent that clone with a near perfect copy of himself embedded in it. Sir Gremmy was truly a divine being able to breathe life into it and us as well."
They learned about the quincies. They learned about how Ichigo came around to joining them. They learned about Albrecht's two other siblings, one brother and sister as well as about their mothers. When asked about his sister's mother, Albrecht just smiled and spoke,
"She will be brought here after father finishes off one last job."
He had refused to speak on the matter but knowing two Sternritters were the mother to the three "children" of Ichigo. It still was such a weird and shocking thing to keep in mind. Ichigo was a father. If this was any other situation, Yuzu would've been ecstatic, Karin would've made the joke of Ichigo needing to change homes if their father, Isshin, knew about it.
'Goat-chin would've never let him live it down peacefully.' She thought blissfully.
"So that was almost everything I told you besides our current plan. Father would be back and he would be telling everything else to you as well so it doesn't really matter. Is there anything else you would like to know?" Albrecht spoke up from his place.
Karin was about to ask when a head popped out of the wall beside Albrecht. Looking around the head saw his brother first but when his eyes fell on the other two residents of the room he gave a wide smile. Yuzu shrieked and moved back clutching at Karin while Karin backed away in surprise but stood in front of Yuzu.
Albrecht meanwhile sighed and spoke, "Please Isaak. Can't you normally enter sometimes? The door is right there." He pointed right by the head's side. Truly there was a door right next to the head.
Isaak grinned and emerged completely from the wall as he said, "No fun without some sneak and run." He quickly turned towards the Karin and Yuzu as he approached them and bowed aggressively saying,
"It is very nice to meet you Karin-obaa, Yuzu-obaa!"
Yuzu felt faint at the convincing tone Isaak had used to address her as Karin just shifted uncomfortably. Isaak noticing that the two sisters were a bit uncomfortable had backed down.
"Sorry if I came on a bit strong but I was just so excited to meet you two!" he turned to Albrecht and said, "I met Mama by the way. Your mom was there as well. They sent me off." Isaak again turned towards the sisters and he sat down in front of them saying something they never expected him to,
"So, tell me more about your and Papa's family."
Karin and Yuzu blinked. Apprehension written on their faces as they sceptically looked at Isaak. He had come out of nowhere. Albrecht had already told them about the boy, his brother. Albrecht told them that about his jovial attitude. Isaak just loved interacting and having fun.
Karin was just about to respond when a massive reiatsu enveloped the whole room as Yuzu fainted immediately while she saw the brothers' eyes widen in shock and look around. Whatever it was it felt evil and vile and Karin could do nothing but lose consciousness as the feeling took over her. The only thing she remembered were the worried looks on both the brothers' faces and silent hope of her brother returning.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlinebreakxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It had a name once.
The funny priest had buried its name.
It didn't know what to do now. It had once dreamed of devouring the heavens.
It couldn't remember if it was successful or not but it did remember one thing and that was it had been denied of its name.
Now, it was a shadow of what it was.
Bound to a slab of iron turned blade, it had nowhere to go now but wait for someone. Someone who could let it out without being devoured by itself. It couldn't help it. It needed strong wielders.
So when it found one such being, it had hitched on. This thing that wielded it now was interesting. This wielder had traces of that heaven. This traces of spiritual fragments, heavenly fragments, made it grow more interested in its new wielder. It saw them having difficulty fighting their opponent. This wielder was different and tasty. Something was still buried in the wielder's soul. A powerful fragment, it could sense it but it could not approach the place.
When it felt its wielder pick it up for the first time and not fall it was ecstatic for a short while. They had come up to its abode to ask for aid but unlike previous encounters it wasn't successful in devouring them fully, so it just let them go. It had other plans with its wielder. It seemed that the first fight of its wielder was tough.
So it shall help.
No one shall stop it. Still a bit weak in its current state, it wanted to fight. It had devoured the small reiatsu fragments of its wielder and had grown a bit more stronger. It shall fight. It was an unstoppable force. It was a calamity. It was the devastation.
"Call the release." It whispered to its wielder and its wielder, entranced, had a smile on their face as they nodded and whispered in unison with it.
"*Yoru Yobidasu (Invoke the Night), Ikomikidomoe (已己巳己巴, Ikomikidomoe)!"
And for a moment, Wahrwelt stood still.
A/N: * The release call "Yoru Yobidasu" is self-made. It is exactly what it means. This is Hikone before CFYOW so I just wanted him to use a different release call initially.
Not much to say except thank you for the readers who are still sticking around. This story will stay and be often updated until and unless the site itself self-destructs or my account does, so if you still stick around and get to read new chapters, more power to you. Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Still got a long way to go.
Ja Ne.