Same day as the previous chapter
(Seireitei: Rescue and Recovery Operation)
Tier Harribel released her Resurreccion and sheathed her blade, looking over her handiwork of a large reservoir filled with fresh, clean water. The fifth one she filled out to supply the recovery efforts. The Shark Queen looked out to the operation going on around her and drank in a sight that should've been impossible. The sight of Arrancar, Quincy, and Shinigami, once natural enemies to each other, working together as sworn allies. Each side worked hand in hand to help restore the central base of their united forces. It made her reminisce about her life and the sacrifices made to achieve co-existence among the previous warring sides.
She remembered the days when she was a Vasto Lorde Hollow, only concerned with protecting herself and her friends who would become her Tres Bestias. She often clashed with the faction of the first king of Hueco Mundo, a tyrant named Barragan who ruled through power and fear but did nothing with his authority and left Hueco Mundo to drown in chaos. So long as he was the ruler, nothing else mattered.
After centuries of Barragan's uncontested rule, Sosuke Aizen appeared and usurped his position in less than an hour, becoming the second king of Hueco Mundo. A Soul Reaper who spoke honeyed words, who promised an end to the bloodshed and chaos. He brought a sense of unity by bringing them together and elevating Hollows past their primal urges and instincts as Arrancar. He also ruled through power also but offered power as well. In exchange, they would be his soldiers in his army to change the way the afterlife worked. This led to what was known as the Winter War.
Ichigo Kurosaki would infiltrate Hueco Mundo with a small team around that time and offer a new path for the Arrancar, co-existence. His side overpowered every opponent they faced and gave each one the option to join his side and end the conflict between Arrancar and Shinigami. His goal was to unite the Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy under a single banner and end the conflict.
It was Harribel's dream as well, an end to the chaos of Hueco Mundo, but it always seemed to be too far out of reach. She had sacrificed so much to protect that which was precious to her. Now here seemed to be a kindred spirit? Someone that seemed to be a protector like herself? Was it too good to be true?
"No. It wasn't," Tier spoke aloud with a smile as the reality of her present stared her back in the face. Hueco Mundo changed from a 'survival of the fittest' hell-scape to something resembling a proper civilization for the Hollows and Arrancar. Ichigo held control over Hueco Mundo as the third and current king, but necessity had him delegate control to others.
First was Gin Ichimaru, an exiled Soul Reaper who committed treason against Soul Society to aid in ending Aizen's ambition to avenge a precious friend. When said friend died in the war against the Quincy, Gin chose to follow them in death. Ichigo then appointed her, one of his two Arrancar wives to rule in his stead as he trained to become the next Captain Commander and Shogun of the supernatural side of Japan.
The facet of the relationship that most bothered Tier was the sight of her sister-wives, Neliel in particular, swell with and birth her husband's children while she has yet to bear him a child herself. It was a loss she accepted long ago because her Hollow hole was her womb. She felt her hand move to her empty core, a sense of longing tugging at her heart. Once things had settled with Ichigo's promotion, she had hoped to maybe rectify that with either Squad 12 giving her the missing organ and eggs or to have Ichigo desire it with the power of the Hogyoku. Circumstances, however, had conspired against her wishes.
She let out a sigh and looked at all the water she made, deeming it sufficient for the current needs of the medics. There was going to be another Captains meeting soon to discuss matters going forward. Improving the defenses, sending out more patrols, deeper investigations, possibly drafting and artificially strengthening more souls to restore the Shinigami ranks. Her eyes drifted over everyone working to help the wounded and clean up the debris of the attack.
"Damn those Khaos shitheads!" The Arrancar queen heard Bambietta curse out as she marched her way to her sister-wife's side.
"It's one thing to target our bases in the Living World, to make a mess in Japan, but to actually target one of the domains of the Afterlife? Did they even care about what might happen or do they just not know?" The Explode ranted, both bringing up a good point and seemingly forgetting, or ignoring, what the majority of the Quincy did ten years ago. "At least the first king had a planned course. Are they really just after chaos? The kind that would destroy the world?"
Bambietta was part of the clean up operation, either by reducing the debris to pure Reishi or blowing it up. She was mostly working with Meninas, who was currently stacking up piles of trash debris they couldn't recycle in their current condition. Liltotto was doing a similar cleanup with converting debris to Reishi while Candice was acting as a power generator. The Thunder was in a rare moment of quiet focus as she constantly generated electricity to power all of the machinery in use. The present unity on display from them with their allies was a far cry from how the Wandenreich were originally. A very welcome change for the Quincy.
"Let me get a hand on some of them." Tier and Bambietta glanced towards the Squad 10 lieutenant joining them.
"Torture may not be the most successful interrogation method, but I can still inspire fear for the lesser peons," A blush rose on Esdeath's cheeks. "Maybe I can recreate my 'Valley of Corpses' from Wakoku?" She giggled like a happy maiden, getting a side look from her two sister-wives.
The former general from the other world didn't really change much by comparison to her fellow sister-wives. She was humbled by Ichigo in her original world and agreed to submit and retrain herself as a Soul Reaper. She kept her usual ruthless sadism toward her enemies and treated her allies as family. Many in Squad 10 started referring to her as 'big sis' because of the way she conducted herself among them. Though her love of torture was still a point of concern for the rest of the Gotei.
But not now. Not after this attack on their home. The place where the Balance of Souls was vulnerable. If this attack was done knowing full well what was at stake, then the Khaos Brigade became a threat to all of Creation instead of a matter mostly for the World of the Living.
To maintain the Balance of Souls, no measure could be considered too far.
(Shortly after the attack, before Ichigo leaves for Kyoto)
"Well, this is certainly a mess," Sora Inoue said as he walked through the wreckage of the Seireitei to the medical tent where his sister was working. He was a man in a business suit with long, well groomed, dark hair that hung to his chin, walking with a gait of calm familiarity to the chaos that happened around him. Control over one's emotional state was a requirement for spirit users like himself and his sister, especially when using certain sprites.
Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka were one of the best examples of this, providing god-like miraculous healing so long as her heart remained strong, calm, and focused. She had dedicated herself to mastering that aspect during her time as a seated officer of Squad 15 after the loss of Rangiku. It was the sight of the two healing spirits of the Shun Shun Rikka, Shun'o and Ayame, performing their task of healing and revival which Sora walked in on.
Shun'o was a beautiful blonde woman with her hair tied in a top-knot ponytail wearing a Chinese style robe and had bird-like claws for feet and pale green wing-like protrusions from her lower back. Ayame was a girl that wore a heavier pink robe with her dark hair done in twin tails that hung over her shoulders with another red garment hanging over her like a shell with similar wing protrusions. The two held the power to 'reject' anything within their barriers. Mostly used to heal injuries, from cuts and burns to restoring missing limbs or even reviving the dead so long as there was enough of them to restore.
Orihime demonstrated this power by having the two split into four smaller sprites and forming two barriers. One enveloped a corpse missing half of his chest while the other went to a woman with a badly broken leg. Within seconds of the shield covering them, their injuries faded as if they never existed. The same rule breaking healing that she displayed in the Gremory/Sitri Rating Game. Sora couldn't help the proud smile coming to his face as he's reminded of just how far his little sister had come.
"Remember when you were too shy to even talk to strangers," Sora said, announcing his presence. His sister did not react, remaining focused on her task as more of the dead and dying were brought to her. She handled those requiring her special touch while others were performing work for the less critically injured. As soon as the two before her were made whole again, she shifted her attention to her brother.
"I've had plenty of help to get to this point," she said with a smile as she turned to Sora. A smile that shone like the sun with the intent of brightening up everybody's day. A smile that would have fooled anyone that was not personally familiar with Orihime Kurosaki.
"Orihime," Sora started as he closed the distance between the two of them, "how many times do I have to tell you?" The brother wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace. "You can let your guard down around your family. The kids aren't here to see you crack." Orihime stiffened in his arms before steadily returning the hug and buried her face in his chest as she let the tears spill out.
"Was it a mistake?" She finally asked through her shuddering breath. "Should we have just kept our distance? Leave them to their own devices and problems? Would it have been better to ban them from our country?" She asked, crying for every death she could not undo, sobbing out the pain inflicted upon them by the Khaos Brigade. Orihime hated herself for thinking that it would have been better had she never met any of her darling Devil students.
"No Hime," Sora said in a soothing tone, rubbing soothing circles along her back. "Don't think like that and don't think about what ifs."
Shun'o and Ayame reformed to join the embrace, hoping that their own contribution could ease the ailing heart of their friend and mistress. "Just focus on how to protect what's precious to you now."
"We'll always stand with you Orihime," Ayame promised, smiling at her contractor. "What's important to you is important to us and we'll do all we can to help you."
"We haven't had many contractors before," Shun'o added, her own smile giving the healer some comfort, "but you are also, without question, the most powerful person that we formed a contract with."
"Don't ever forget that girly," a rougher voice called out, making them look up as six black sprites flew around them before coming together to form a man in a black bodysuit with red accents. He also had bird claws for feet and wing-like protrusions, very much like his sisters. He also had spiky black hair with purple scar like marks around his eyes and wore a frayed beige scarf over his mouth.
"We're standing with you. No matter what."
The male spirit was Tsubaki. He was the offensive power of the Shun Shun Rikka and powered by Orihime's resolve to attack her opponents. The result of that, and Orihime's original timid and gentle nature, meant that he was generally the weakest of the six Shun Shun Rikka sprites. Something that took great effort on her part to overcome in the hopes of protecting what she held dear.
"The same goes for the rest of your contracted spirits," Tsubaki added as she was surrounded by multiple lights of different colors. Each one was pulsing with a gentle light that seemed to give a warm embrace to the spirit user, bringing a smile to Orihime's face. A genuine one that implied that the light and kindness in her heart would survive and spread from her like a comforting breeze. This moment was brought to an end when one of the Squad 2 messengers appeared before them.
"Lady Orihime!" The man announced as he knelt down to deliver his message. "Commander Kurosaki has reached a decision on his next course of action. He requests your presence as he goes to Kyoto to resolve the situation there." Orihime nodded before turning back to her brother and her healing spirits.
"I have to go and talk to him about this. Do you mind helping with this until I leave?" She asked, holding out her hand to her sibling and mentor. Sora smiled to his sister and took her hand, a flash of light coming from their contact as temporary command of Shun'o and Ayame went to him. The two shrank down to hand sized figures as they floated to his shoulders.
"I'll do my part to help," the brother promised, getting a nod from Orihime as she started to head back to the Squad 1 barracks.
"Okay... let's see if I remember how to do this," Sora muttered as he turned to the next person that was brought in. A man with a broken shaft of wood sticking out of his gut. He took hold of the wood and tore it out before holding a hand over the wound.
"Souten Kisshun, I reject," he cast, flinching as the power activated and the drain on his Reiryoku made itself immediately known. "Forgot how draining this is," he groaned as the barrier formed and started closing the injury. "Maybe I should focus on the 'search' part of 'search and rescue' for now," he said, releasing the spell as the hole closed up. Sora reached into his jacket and pulled out a small drawstring pouch.
"You know what to look for. Retrieve the injured and dead. Now go, Muragaru Nezumi," he calmly stated, turning over the bag and pouring out a seemingly endless swarm of white and yellow colored rats that began running about like a flowing stream of water. "You too Hebi," he said as a large white snake appeared and uncoiled itself from his body before slithering off to join the hunt. "And now, to let everyone else know about them," he muttered before walking off to the rest of Squad 4 to inform them of his contracted spirits and their actions.
(Living World Karakura Town: The Spirit Medium and the Mod Souls)
Even those lacking the sight to see beyond the mortal veil could feel the tension carried by the wind. From the office worker on the train to the stall owner hawking their wares, even the truly blind, none of them could ignore the trickle of unease down their spines.
To the spiritually aware, they were keenly aware an upheaval had taken place in the supernatural world. Which means the delicate balance of their world was about to come crashing down around them. What made it worse was the creeping idea that any effort to stem the tide was for naught.
Exiting the taxi, the man paid the driver and watched the car move away without a backward glance. The utter lack of recognition from the driver brought a slight smile. Merely wearing different glasses and tying his hair in a ponytail had sufficed to prevent people from recognizing and mobbing him.
The passing breeze sent a shiver through him, drawing his attention back to the task at hand. 'This is getting worse by the hour. What's happening in Soul Society?'
Turning to his destination, the man stared at the plain store that seemed to melt into the background. Urahara Shoten never changed.
"Welcome to our… oh! Hello Mr. Kanonji." The greeting came from a woman holding a box that was several sizes too big for her. The man was not surprised by the feat. "Apologies, but your usual order is going to have to wait."
"It's alright, Ururu. I had a feeling something was off," Don Kanonji said after giving a nod of acknowledgment to the woman born of Urahara's genius.
Ururu Tsumugiya, one of two artificial beings similar to Nemu Kurotsuchi, was made by Kisuke Urahara during his time in exile and running his shop. Clad in a lilac sundress, her hair brushed past her shoulders with a single lock streaking across her innocent features.
"C'mon Ururu!" Another voice called out from inside the shop. "Hiyori said we need to get these moving five minutes ago!" The shouting voice rounded the corner to reveal a young man with bright red hair. "Hey, Misaomaru! Heading over?"
Clad in a black muscle shirt and ripped jeans, the attire showed the young man had well defined muscles. This was Jinta Hanakiri, the other artificial being that Urahara made to help with his shop and research.
After the conflict with the Quincy ended, many realized Kisuke's shop was going to become redundant once Shadow Karakura was fully established. Some wanted to close it down or sell it, but there was notable push back from Tessai and Urahara. They did not want to see their hard work go to waste and the Visored shared that desire. Mostly Love and Lisa because it was the source of their manga and adult books.
The Fullbringer Yukio was the one that ultimately saved the shop by proposing bases across the country using the Uraha Shoten as a model. Yukio funded the project out of his own pocket, using the opportunity to expand the Gotei's presence and his company's presence across Japan. The Urahara Shoten would be staffed by Jinta, Ururu, and Hiyori Sarugaki. The latter preferred the shop over Shadow Karakura or Soul Society, for she still carried a grudge over her exile. To prevent complaints from the higher ups about work, Hiyori cobbled together a work station in a corner of the store.
"That's the idea. I've got an appointment with Yuzu to get my hair done and it's almost time for my physical. I tell you, getting old is rough," The TV exorcist bemoaned while Jinta pulled out a card and gave it to the TV star. "Still, I'd like to lend a hand. I know something must've happened in Soul Society."
Jinta surveyed the shop before going around the front desk and pushed a button beneath the counter. A barrier was erected covering the shop to separate the building from perceivable reality.
"The Khaos Brigade managed to attack the Seireitei while Ichigo was away and Uryu's precognition was down." Jinta admitted, the sentence chilling Kanonji to the bone.
He was finishing another episode of his show when he got the news of the terrorist group. It wasn't an actual haunting, just a creepy old building but it didn't matter to the kids that watched his show. After the shoot he got the call and expanded his work to include learning anything about the Khaos Brigade. He developed quite the information network of the Japanese spiritual side over the last ten years, but to hear that it failed to help when it was needed the most was a harsh blow.
"How? How did this happen?" The performing exorcist asked as he slumped onto the counter. His fists were clenching in impotent rage at something he considered to be partially his failure.
"It slipped through every defense Don," Jinta reassured as he gave the human a crate of supplies. "There was nothing anyone could do," he said as he picked up another box and led the group to a Senkaimon just as more Reigai droids and Shinigami came in. "We got this, try to enjoy your vacation," The mod soul placed a reassuring hand on the exorcist's shoulder, receiving a nod in return.
Kanonji took the card and held it up to a door in the shop, getting a quick flash of light before opening it to the Shadow Side of Karakura.
(Shadow Karakura: The Twins)
"I got you, Yuzu. We're almost home," Karin told her twin, both in Sternritter uniforms, as they made their way back home in Shadow Karakura. The Kurosaki home in Shadow Karakura held only a passing resemblance to its counterpart in the Living World. Significantly larger to accommodate the growing Kurosaki family, it also served to house Squad 15 or any who still did business in Shadow Karakura.
"I wonder if Uryu will give me some time off after this," Yuzu groaned out loud, her visage quite pale from anemia as a result of overusing her Schrift.
After the attack on Seireitei, all medical specialists were called in to assist with recovery efforts. Even Isshin came out of retirement to lend his aid. Focused on her patients,Yuzu had forgotten to keep track of her blood count, eventually stumbling over her feet and landing right within Unohana's assessing gaze. Unohana called in Karin to take her sister home to rest. No one had it in them to remind the girl to be more careful when it came to her healing ability.
"I think I have a few appointments at the salon coming up. I could use the change of pace," Yuzu mumbled out, finding it difficult to stay awake.
Between her training as a Quincy and working as a member of Squad 15, eventually becoming Sternritter R, she also developed an interest in becoming a beautician. Yuzu had brought up the idea with Candice and the thunder Quincy had thrown her full support behind her sister-in-law. Eventually the two started their own beauty salon in Shadow Karakura, their services achieving great popularity amongst the officers of the Gotei.
"Make plans after dinner. Mom's cooking a feast to help you get your strength back," Karin advised as they approached their home.The front door opened to reveal Kanonji in a pink bunny apron.
"Welcome home Yuzu, Karin. Your mom let me in," he said preemptively regarding their questions about his presence.
The twins stepped into their home to find the delicious smell of roasting meat and stewed beans, grilled chicken, liver, and leafy greens washing over them. The ingredients were harvested from the Dragon Farms because they just plain tasted better than any equivalent market and had great nutritional value. Kanonji scooped Yuzu up in a princess carry and brought her to the dining room, Karin following behind. Masaki Kurosaki was blitzing about the kitchen with her Hirenkyaku.
"Karin, mind helping me set the table?" The Kurosaki matriarch called out while Kanonji helped Yuzu into a chair.
Sternritter R soon had a plate of thinly sliced grilled liver and a bowl of beans with sauteed spinach and kale. "Make sure to eat everything, Yuzu. You need to replenish the lost blood." Masaki gave her youngest daughter a quick and tense hug before moving on to cook the rest of the meal. The twins shared a glance in silent conversation before they started to eat, looking to regain their strength for the coming battles ahead.
Isshin and Masaki, along with Ryuuken and Kanae, chose to retire from the matters of the supernatural and live as normal humans. The Kurosakis kept their clinic running while the Ishidas served as a more advisory role to their son operating the Karakura Hospital. Uryu's parents also helped to lighten the load when his duties as the Quincy King became more pressing. They entrusted the future to their children while watching over and spoiling their grandchildren. One of the many privileges of the retired.
That wasn't to say that they still didn't pitch in when necessary, like now after the attack. It's just that between Ichigo and Uryu being the active protectors of the country, no one thought it was possible to attack. The smile the Kurosaki matriarch wore was like a disguised knife and her every movement was just in between launching an attack and finishing up the next task. The Kurosaki family was preparing for battle. The Khaos Brigade had revealed a gap in their home's defenses. They would eventually be paid in blood.
(Hueco Mundo Deserts)
"Come on niños! Come out of hiding!" A tall man called out to the sandy dunes of the realm of the Hollows. He wore a loose fitting open chested white shirt with fringes on the sleeves and a high collar, loose pants with frayed cuffs, and red sash belt that read 'Vientos Apasionados'. His Hollow mask was a headband covering his forehead with two horn-like protrusions, holding back his messy slicked back black hair while his face was coated in a glossy full beard and mustache.
This was Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, one of the sworn Arrancar Knights under Ichigo Kurosaki when he took control of Hueco Mundo. Eventually, he was named 'The Knight of Passion' and given the duty of keeping up the morale of the Arrancar that made up the 16th Division of the Gotei. He took great pride in his task,attempting to gather more Hollows willing to be more than just their hunger and primal instincts.
For the moment, he was just trying to gather up the Arrancar children to help in the recovery efforts of the Seireitei.
"This isn't the time to be playing Hide n' Seek, niños! Please, let's go to the Seireitei! His Majesty needs you!"
The answer was a sort of mocking laughter from dozens of child-like voices as he brought a hand to his head. "What a troublesome order you lot are," he said tiredly flashing around the dunes, still finding no trace of his quarry. "This is serious, Picaro! Don't make me call in Runuganga!"
"Abereru's supposed to be the seeker! No cheating!" One of the voices called out and Dordoni flashed to the location, only to have a set of small footprints in the sand be his prize. The knight let out a frustrated groan as the laughter around him grew. Children tended to have trouble listening to adults during playtime and Arrancar children were no different. And in the case of these children, Picaro listened to only one person, Abereru.
The Arrancar known as Picaro were both unique and tragic in their origin. In life, they were children who had lost their caretakers and died due to starvation. Their death turned them into spirits bound to the World of the Living. The children eventually turned into Hollows and ate each other to soothe their hunger. The last Hollow, one who had consumed all the souls, went through the cycle of Hollow evolution to become an Adjuchas. This brought enough clarity of thought for him to lament the absence of his friends. To soothe the pain of isolation, he discovered a way to share bits of his soul with others.
One became Legion as two hundred individual Hollows joined their souls through the original, calling themselves Picaro. While each hollow retained their individuality, they shared a singular pool of life. As long as one of them was alive, the others could be revived.. Eventually, they were found and experimented upon by Szayelapporo, the Espada taking a great deal of pleasure in using the Picaro as precious test subjects.
Finding some potential in the hollow, Aizen took the Pircaro and turned them into Espada #2, arguably freeing them from the torments of that monster. However, Aizen found them too troublesome to manage and yet, too powerful to simply discard. So, he made a new Espada #2 and banished the Picaro into a sandstorm made by Runuganga, the guardian of the deserts of Hueco Mundo.
When the Blood War started ten years ago with the invasion of Hueco Mundo, Runuganga was beaten so thoroughly that his being was dispersed throughout the sands and it took him years to properly reform. The Picaro escaped in time and went back to playing their games, unaware of the havoc they caused by chasing others and firing Ceros with reckless abandon. It took the other Arrancar Knights many sleepless months during Ichigo's time abroad in Europe to gather them all again and lock them away once more.
The King of Hueco Mundo was less than pleased when he learned about this after his training overseas had come to an end. Luckily there was an immediate solution after he returned to Las Noches as his children were now old enough to have other playmates. Thanks to some of the research notes Squad 12 recovered from Szayelapporo's lab, they found a way to replicate the bond of the Picaro and allowed them to form a bond with Abereru. They served as his playmate and knights of honor should the need arise. Thus, the Picaro were named as the Order of Innocence in the service of Abereru, the 1st Prince of Hueco Mundo.
The last order they received was to hide out in the desert and secure the area for a game of Hide n' Seek with the Prince's siblings when they would arrive later in the day. Unfortunately, the attack on the Seireitei occurred and Ichigo decided to take his children with him to Kyoto. Before he left for the city, he gave the order for all hands to help with the situation in the Seireitei. That included gathering the 200 members of Picaro to help with search and rescue where they could. This was proving to be a problem since Picaro only ever listened to Abereru these days.
"Any progress?!" Another voice called out in desperation, making Dordoni turn to see another of his fellow knights. Gantenbainne Mosqueda, an Arrancar with a fiery orange afro and dressed in an open chested shirt and black armbands and a belt holding up his pants while his Hollow mask took the form of a pair of shades on his forehead with a blue star in the center.
"No. They're moving too fast," Dordoni bemoaned as the mocking laughter continued. The laughter abruptly turned into yelps of surprise and disappointment. The two Knights turned to find Ulquiorra with three female Arrancar behind him with the motif of a deer, a lion, and a snake. The Empty Sentinel's expression was as blank and cold as ever, but his eyes conveyed a deep fury.
"Then improve yourselves," the bat instructed as he held an irritated child with sandy blonde hair with white robes and white bone-like headphones on his head. "Now move, our King calls for us," he said before opening a Garganta to the Soul Society. Out of all the Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, none were more frustrated with the current situation than Ulquiorra Cifer.
"Calm down Ulquiorra," the group heard another voice say. They turned to find another Arrancar, a tall man with blue eyes, wavy brown hair and a faded goatee with an expression that made it clear he just woke up. He wore the white uniform of the Arrancar in an unkempt style with the top of his jacket undone to show off his Hollow fragment, a bottom jaw that resembled a necklace. This was Coyote Starrk, one of the two Split Guardians of Las Noches.
"Let me handle this. I'm good with kids and I think I can get through to the Picaro," he said with confidence as he walked up to the pouting Picaro in Ulquiorra's arms. "Abereru was in Soul Society when it was attacked. He's safe, but many people are hurt and need our help." The laughter stopped and booms of static filled the air as they were surrounded by the two hundred children that made up the Picaro.
"Why didn't you say so sooner!? You buttheads!" A girl with spiky red twintails and a mask fragment in the form of a hairclip that looked like teeth yelled out to the group of 'adults'.
"Because none of you wanted to listen," Starrk casually returned. "They showed up, said we needed you, and you ran off. Didn't even bother to ask why." The visible faces of the Picaro were pouting but not refuting the points Coyote made. "Now let's get going. The sooner we get done, the sooner you can play with Prince Abereru and his siblings. Behave and I'll also get you ice cream," he told them as the Picaro made an orderly line and marched through the void between realms to get to Soul Society.
Starrk exchanged looks with the other Arrancar, all but Ulquiorra gaping at him in disbelief with the Bat merely having a curious look in his gaze. "Lilynette wasn't much different when she was in her child form," he answered before leaving through the portal. The rest merely shrugged and followed after him.
(Back in Kuoh: Squad 15 Bureau)
"I think I'll open a ramen shop," Keigo spoke aloud while he packed any excess supplies in the bureau alongside Mizuiro. They had received commands to return all spare supplies as soon as possible and the work was getting to be tedious.
"It's a good retirement plan. Or at least a decent vacation from Gotei duties until I actually die and go to Soul Society. Maybe I'll just do that instead." Picking up a couple of boxes, he turned to find Mizuiro wearing a puzzled expression. "Hey, I'm serious! I think I could make it work!"
"I'm just wondering why,"Mizuiro asked, staring at Keigo in surprise. He set down a box, packing in the majority of their extra energy boosting pills and gauze. "We're getting really nice pay and all we basically have to do is run what's essentially an inn while keeping an eye on Kuoh. Easy money."
Mizuiro picked up the last of the supplies and moved to the Senkaimon. "Yeah things have gotten crazy now, but is it any worse than the attack with the Arrancar and the Quincy?"
"Those battles were contained in separate dimensions. The Khaos Brigade made it clear that no one anywhere is safe. We're just powerless humans," Keigo pointed out as they made their way to the Senkaimon and Chizuru.
The air between the two friends grew uncomfortable while Chizuru set things up to open the gate.
"This is because you still haven't been made a Quincy or Shinigami yet, isn't it?" Mizuiro asked knowingly, causing Keigo to just let his head drop in shame. "Seriously? Aren't you still terrified of Hollows?"
"To be fair, that was a bad time for everyone Mizuiro," Chizuru said as the gate opened up. "Didn't you try to set up your sister Mizuho with Lieutenant Ikkaku for promotion brownie points? How'd that work out?" Keigo slumped with a depressed sigh.
"He got mad when he found out that she mainly liked him for being bald." A bunch of Reigai drones came through the gate. "It took a bit of prodding from me and his sister Shino to get him to agree to a second date. That one was successful though." He handed off his box to one of the drones. "Made it a double date with Shino... and she turned me down afterward because she's dating that Ryunosuke kid."
"Ouch," The other two humans winced. Keigo's love life had not improved in the past decade. "How about we hit the bar later? See if we can't get you a girl at that new hostess place?"
Keigo was silent before taking a deep breath. "Sure, why not?" He stood back up. "At this point, I'm even willing to risk one of the yokai that might eat me."
That got concerned glances from his friends who decided to help him get a girlfriend. Before the conversation could move, an alarm buzzed across the building. The three friends bolted to the monitoring room, the screens revealing five teams of unidentified Sacred Gear users.
"Might be a decent challenge for the Devils, but Chad and the others got this," Mizuiro sent out the coordinates and other stats that their scanners picked up.
(With the Kuoh Defenders)
Chad glared at the skull shaped scar on the road. Upon receiving the alert from Mizuiro, Chad and his wife had cut their evening short. The intruders were both too young and too arrogant, claiming to be members of the Hero Faction.
Chad and Jackie agreed no further words were necessary and threw the first punch. Instead of the expected challenge, Chad found the intruders to be quite weak and chose to end the fight quickly. Yet his efforts were for naught because the moment he landed a full powered punch on the intruders, each and every one vanished in a flash of light.
Even Jackie faced the same problem. The three opponents she confronted had similarly vanished in flashes of light when the damage piled up. The intruders were not illusions or familiars because their physical and spiritual presence were clearly present and had vanished along with the bodies.
"Hell of a way to have our date night interrupted, hon." Chad found his wife Jackie walking up to him, supremely annoyed with the evening.. "Got Miles to bed, got a few drinks, and then this stinking alert ruined my buzz," she groaned, pulling her husband down for a kiss.
Jackie immediately started exploring his mouth with her tongue and prompting him to hold her. "That's better," she whispered against his lips, hot breath washing over Chad.
"Did you notice anything strange?" Chad stroked her back as he tried to focus on gathering information. A task made difficult by the look on his wife because Jackie's patience was clearly waning. "I was hoping to capture one of them, but they vanish the moment they're near death."
"They vanish even if you kill them," a voice above them diverted their attention, the two Fullbringers looking up to find Grimmjow and Bazz-B.
"I cut one of them in half for annoying me and he vanished immediately after," the Arrancar looked just as annoyed as Jackie. "I tried to experiment and caught two of them by the throat. One passed out from the lack of blood and I broke the other guy's neck. Both disappeared from my grip when the light left their eyes."
"I think some of them looked a tad familiar," the fire manipulating Quincy added, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in thought. "Maybe we saw them fighting Issei and Saji earlier. I'll check the recordings to make sure. Maybe they are trying that 'brink of death' thing that Azazel mentioned."
"Then how about we make it really traumatic for them?" Grimmjow's grin was savage. "How about we start tearing off limbs to see if they all go back? Worst case scenario, we've got parts to send over to that freaking clown."
"Those Devil kids managed to hold their own, but I don't think they'll be able to assist in that experiment," Bazz-B said in faux disappointment. "Guess I'll just have to start charring people in their place," he suggested before the two started chuckling in sadistic anticipation.
Chad and Jackie looked to each other and decided that they had earned themselves another round of drinks. This time with more pleasant company.
(At the Howling Wolf Bar)
The neutral meeting ground that was usually manned by the Grigori agent, Tobio Ikuse, had a new bartender behind the counter. The man was tall and lean with long combed back black hair that reached to the back of his shoulders and wore a button up white shirt with a black vest and a thin chain necklace with an X-shaped pendant. This was Ginjō Kūgo, a powerful Fullbringer and a member of the Squad 15 scouting unit along with the more controversial aspect of Fullbringer recruitment.
The methods of that aspect involved getting women to be willfully infected with Hollow Reishi so that they'd give birth to potential Fullbringers. The main candidates have been the homeless or teenage runaways, women that wouldn't be missed by society at large. They'd get the full support necessary to start a potential family with a Fullbringer child, but first they needed to be in good health and consent to becoming mothers. Ten years and the process was slow going, much to Mayuri's annoyance regarding ethical experiments.
The fact that it was possible for any to still be born at all was considered a miracle since the Soul King remained whole. When asked for details on the how, Ichigo merely answered that his majesty willed it to be that way. Very few recognized the dull glow from the Hogyoku as he said that. Mayuri's frustrated cries about a marble was heard throughout the Soul Society. Even from his underground lab.
On the counter, a sleek card flashed with sharp actinic light, the words 'Timeless Story' briefly appearing over it. It was a special creation of Squad 12 and Yukio passed out to a select group within the Gotei at the behest of Ginjo. Yukio's Fullbring allowed him to create pocket dimensions and Squad 12 developed a set of cards using that power. Ginjo held the 'Host' card that allowed him to turn any bar he was in into a pocket dimension while others were given 'Guest' cards that allowed them access to the traveling bar he called 'Timeless Story'. A name he came up with to honor Giriko and Tsukishima, two of his best friends. 'Timeless' referred to Giriko and 'Story' was a nod to Tsukishima.
Giriko was a time manipulator who tested the limits of his Fullbring and wound up comatose before the Soul King was revived. The strain of his actions as well as the Soul King reclaiming his soul pieces from the Fullbringers took his life. Tsukishima had the power to edit memories and likewise lost his life by pushing himself to rewrite the Quincy's connection to their former emperor. Both men sacrificed themselves to the Cycle of Souls so others could live, but the world would never know their tales. The 'Timeless Story' was Ginjo's way of keeping their memory alive.
Ginjo himself would have chosen seclusion from the world, but when approached by Kisuke for the task of looking after the future of the Fullbringers, he could not bring himself to decline. To honor the sacrifice of his friends, he chose to take on the responsibility. After Ichigo came into the picture of Soul Society, the lives of Fullbringers improved by a significant margin and Ginjo would be damned if he let the Fullbringers be used as tools by anybody ever again.
The door opened with a bell ringing shortly after the card flashed and Aura Michibane came in. A tired sigh escaped her lips as she walked up to the counter, Ginjo already setting up a short glass with a large ball of ice and pouring scotch over it.
"Thank you Ginjo," Aura smoothly sipped her drink, enjoying the burn. "This was such an irritating day," the principal huffed out in annoyance.
"Let me guess, the kids finally got on your nerves?" Ginjo asked as he wiped down the counter.
The card flashed again and the door opened to reveal Chad and Jackie came into the bar. The wife of the pair threw up two fingers before she and her husband took their seats. Ginjo took out two glasses and started pouring out some tequila.
"The children are as much a delight as they always are," Aura said with a smile before putting down her glass, now devoid of alcohol. Ginjo promptly poured some more for the beautiful woman.
The card flashed again and another two Fullbringers walked in. A man and a woman respectively who settled in beside the group.
"Don't get me wrong. I love being a teacher and spending time with the kids, but I still haven't found an assistant worth anything. I'm still picking up the slack for Orihime."
"You should finally get yourself a Reigai assistant," one of the new arrivals said. The young man was dressed in a black coat and beret on top of his spiky blonde hair. "Managing the game and candy companies would be a real headache if I didn't have a team of those automatons." This was Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, the one in charge of the many front companies that the Soul Society operates in Japan. He was responsible for 80% of Soul Society's profits from the Living World.
"You say that as if you don't spend most of the day still gaming while they do all the work," the other Fullbringer said.
The young woman possessed magenta hair tied in long twin braids, wearing a pink sweater dress and half-frame glasses. This was Riruka Dokugamine, head of the marketing branch of Yukio's company and a part time fashion designer working with Meninas and Candice's other business. They decided to make cute clothing since all of the uniforms were so bland most of the time and wanted to expand everybody's options.
"Just the boring stuff that I don't actually have to focus on to manage the company," Yukio shamelessly admitted as he took a seat. "Like how many supplies each bureau has. Sending any excess back to the Seireitei, don't ask for specifics." He pulled out a portable game console and started up another game. "Don't take it out on me that your date with that medic got canceled," He ducked when Riruka made a swipe for him.
Ginjo passed Yukio a beer and used his Fullbring to start mixing a colorful pink cocktail for Riruka.
"I thought I heard something crazy happened," Ginjo said as he finished Riruka's drink while pouring himself a shot of whiskey. "What went on?"
His questions got him the full story from the other Fullbringers. "Damn. How'd they manage that? Getting into the most secured sections of the Seireitei nowadays is no easy feat."
The card on the counter flashed and Hiyori threw the door open, walked in, sat at the counter, and dropped her head onto the hard surface with a resounding thud.
"Get me the strongest whiskey you got. The big bottle," Her order unnerved the group as Ginjo got her the bottle. Hiyori had a short temper, but this was something else.
"That bad?" Yukio asked.
All of the Fullbringers' attention now rested on the Visored. Hiyori ignored the stares to open the bottle and started to chug it straight. She sucked down a fourth of a liter before pulling away from it with a sharp hiss as the burning liquid made its way through her body.
"Squad 12 finally got some of their monitoring stations up and running throughout the realms. And the situation is way worse than we knew," Her answer filled the room with dread.
(Karakura Hospital: Director's Office)
Nemu looked down at the face of her husband resting on her lap. The sight filled her chest with a special warmth that hadn't existed before the Quincy started to pursue her romantically, a feeling she had come to adore.
For most of her life, her only purpose was serving the will of her master and creator, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. She was the culmination of his research into artificial life. When Urahara returned to his old position, he introduced Mayuri to the idea of adding a new variable to observe her growth, a variable called love.
Mayuri took up the new avenue of research and to progress this path, he ordered Nemu to seduce Uryu Ishida. Taking on the mission from her master, Nemu pursued the Quincy with all assets at her disposal. She eventually broke his resistance to returning her advances. But in doing so, she learned the pleasures of intimacy and the growing feelings in her heart, eventually blossoming into love. After the Blood War ended, Uryu and her discussed the possibility of conceiving a child. When Mayuri heard of this, he threw his full support behind the two. Using a special Gigai designed for the purposes of conception, Nemu and Uryu engaged in many, many sessions to conceive their daughter.
After her birth, their daughter, Ichinose Ishida, was placed under extensive observation to ensure her survival. Mayuri recounted the previous six attempts to create Nemu and wanted to avoid such complications with Ichinose. Instead of the birth defects they feared, they found an outstanding rate of cognitive development and potential as a Quincy.
Once it was concluded that her health was physically and spiritually stable after months of monitoring, they began educating the young Ishida. They discovered Ichinose's immense talent as a Quincy and her insatiable curiosity only spurred them onward. Mayuri determined Ichinose's cognitive development was triple that of a normal person's. This led to an inquisitive mind that wanted to experiment, experience, and understand everything she could.
Uryu bestowed his child with a Schrift and, together with his wife, allowed Ichinose to experiment and study after giving her a proper lecture on morality and ethical standards. They also made sure Ichinose engaged in activities purely for the sake of fun and regularly interacted with the wider family. The few times Ichinose smiled was with her cousins, especially when Jared and Rachel got her into modeling for their mom Candice.
For the moment, Nemu was happy to have Uryu to herself. A part of her missed Ninny and Noel from Wing Bind. The two witches were fun to have around but were, unfortunately, called back to London after another mishap with the 'Dragonclad' Balgo Parks demanded their presence.
Nemu directed her sight away from her husband to the room around. This was his human life and he tried to make it as autonomous as possible so that he could focus on his duties as the Quincy King. A task that required his head to be in his wife's lap as he took a leap of faith.
There were two couches off to the side facing each other, a coffee table located between them. A standard desk was the centerpiece of the room, a couple of filing cabinets placed right beside the furniture. A bookshelf on the far wall was filled to the brim with medical texts, journals and magazines. A smattering of potted plants in the corners completed the room.
Returning to her husband, Nemu prepared the medicine he needed. It was a special medicine for Uryu's eyes, but his well founded paranoia regarding anything made by Mayuri made her husband quite reluctant to accept it and always needed a bit of coaxing on Nemu's part. Mainly in the form of her holding him down while her sister administered the medicine. He trusted his sister-in-law with no indoor voice far more than his father-in-law with non-existent ethics.
Uryu breathed a hiss of discomfort as Nemuri squeezed out a few more drops of medicine into the Quincy King's eyes. The initial cool sensation of the medicine quickly shifted to a dull burn as numbness went from his milky pupils to the back of his retinas. The grip holding his head steady and eyes open went slack before gently stroking his hair. It took a lot of convincing on Nemu's part to get her husband to agree to take any medicine that Mayuri prepared. And that was after they made sure to remove all of the surveillance bacteria they knew the mad scientist put in the drugs.
"You'd think he'd give up on doing that," Uryu said as the burning relaxed and his blurry vision started to clear up a bit. "At least after the first dozen or so attempts ended with him getting his face smashed in."
Mayuri never really stopped trying to bug other members of the Gotei. He claims that the data he'd collect from it would be invaluable to developing improvements to the various facets of how their agents would operate in the future. The usual counterarguments are the reminders that they already have a system in place that's less invasive and that he's not allowed to administer anything while unsupervised ever since his attempt to use his own squad mates as bombs. No one was going to let him forget about it.
"Master Mayuri can be stubborn like that!" Nemuri shouted out as she put away the medicine she brought for her brother-in-law.
Normally the two artificial beings would be staying by Mayuri's side as his assistants. However, with the attack on the Seireitei they both left Soul Society to make sure Ichinose was safe back in the World of the Living. Nemu out of concern for her child and Nemuri because Mayuri demanded his grandchild's safety be a priority. Ichinose was currently in a white sundress, sitting in her paternal grandmother's lap while getting her hair brushed.
Kanae Ishida was a woman with long black hair with streaks of gray in her advancing age. Nonetheless, the few wrinkles on her gentle and serene expression couldn't hide that she was still so full of life. She was dressed in a white shirt with a black skirt while wearing a fond smile on her face as she recounted tales of Uryu's youth.
She had hoped to have another child, seeing how joyous the Kurosaki household was after Yuzu and Karin were born, but her husband's work schedule made that difficult and then the Nameless King's 'Holy Selection' rendered her and Masaki comatose. When she woke up again they found that both women had become barren. The Ishida matriarch made her peace with that and became a doting grandmother to Ichinose upon her birth.
"Do you need anything else, brother?!" Nemuri asked loudly.
"Yes. For you to leave," another, very annoyed voice, called out from the desk. "All the yelling is distracting me from- where are the forms for the finances from last week?" Ryuuken groaned out as he rubbed his eyes.
Ryuuken Ishida had white hair and a sharp angular face with narrow blue eyes. He wore a white dress shirt with beige pants and frameless glasses. He is currently at the desk and doing Uryu's paperwork while his son's eyes recover from overusing the Almighty.
The Quincy King was putting on a front, trying to focus on recovering so that he'd at least be able to see clearly again. However, his mind was currently a storm of 'if only' thoughts and self blame. If only he still had the Almighty. If only they had predicted the possibility of their security getting bypassed. Was it his fault for overusing his eyes? Was he to blame for this attack happening? Even now, all he could do was direct others from the rear and try to recover. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was more of a burden than an asset.
"Nemu? Can you dial Haschwalth for me?" Uryu asked as he slowly sat up, both his wife and sister-in-law helping him up. "I want a status report on the supply redistribution. And tell him to check on Vega."
Such thoughts had no place for him, something he had to remind himself too often lately. For now, he would focus on what he could do. When his eyes were truly open again, hell would rain on their enemies.
(Shadow Karakura: Fortress Base of Squad 15)
Marching his way down the large and imposing halls of the Silbern fortress was a man whose very being radiated the dignity and grace of a true knight. The product of a thousand years of practice, it was as natural as breathing. A holdover from a time he served as the second in command to the first Quincy Emperor. Jugram Haschwalth, Sternritter B, the Balance, the Sternritter Grandmaster, Uryu's second in command and the only other Quincy that can bear the power of the Almighty.
He was a tall man with long golden blonde hair that draped past his shoulders with crystal blue eyes that seemed to pierce everything he set his sights on. At his hip was a broadsword, the only weapon on his person. His uniform was the usual Sternritter white with blue outlines and a brass medal on his chest with the letter B on it. The medal served as the Quincy equivalent of the lieutenant armband used by Shinigami. A reminder of the role he has served for the past millennia in the service of his people.
The Sternritter Grandmaster had many sleepless nights after the war ten years ago. Ten years since the 'Nameless King' was struck down and Uryu was appointed to the throne by the decree of the Soul King. Even with the highest authority of the realms giving his order to lay down arms and join hands, actually doing so was rather difficult for the individuals of both the Shinigami and the Quincy. To this day, there were still fights among the ranks for those that refused to forget the war.
Uryu was buried in far too many administrative duties to properly combat the tensions and he was still new to his position. To begin addressing some of these issues, the new king restructured the Quincy to operate as the primary force for Squad 15 in the World of the Living while his second-in-command, Jugram, kept the peace amongst the people.
Jugram was currently moving with a purpose in a section of the Silbern that many weren't aware even existed. A wing purposefully hidden from the eyes of all but the Sternritters and other seated officers in Squad 15 and the leaders of the Gotei. Outside of Squad 15 and the captains, only Mayuri was aware of his secret wing. It was the domain of the most reclusive Quincy, Thomas Vega, the new Sternritter S, the Science.
Jugram entered a large room filled with an entire wall of computers with hardware that was two stories tall, hundreds of mechanical arms and scanners performing various tasks. An entire facility of lab equipment and experiments going on all around the lone occupant in the room. A bald man wearing nothing but black spandex shorts was running on a treadmill,a re-breather mask on his face and a large cable that was linked to the base of his skull. He was inside a glass tube that was topped with more brains attached to wires that connected to the ceiling. Jugram walked a few steps inside before a camera on an arm came down to him.
"Grandmaster Haschwalth, to what do I owe the pleasure?" An annoyed synthetic voice asked. "I believe I already submitted the reports on the Sternritter candidates, the progress on the Dragon research, the projections on His Majesty's recovery, the contingency plans on eliminating our so called allies if necessary, the experiment data on new potential hybrids, and I'm working on increasing the production of our medical supplies for the recent attack and brainstorming ideas to prevent this attack from happening again! What else do you want from me!?" It said with increasing agitation from having to delay any of its research.
The Wandenreich of old had placed greater emphasis on combat prowess and the ability to kill anyone that was considered the enemy of the Nameless King. Uryu's hope to usher in a new and more peaceful age for the Quincy was reflected in his careful selection of the current crop of Sternritters. The first was Yuzu, the Restore, who sought power for the sake of healing others. Vega, the Science, was the second who sought power for the sake of research and experimentation; all to progress the quality of life and operational capacity of Squad 15 and Shadow Karakura as a whole.
The new Sternritter S had convinced Mayuri to assist him in downloading his consciousness into a digital format and spreading it across multiple artificial brains. Each one was focused on a different field of research with one operating a Gigai with the sole purpose of keeping his health maintained. The soul still needed a flesh and blood vessel after all. The Science only wanted to learn, understand, and invent to benefit their people. The Nameless King dismissed such pacifism, but Uryu exalted it.
"We received troubling news from Squad 12." Jugram stated. "Can you check and confirm-"
"Done... and yes," Vega said with a somber tone. "The Balance of Souls has been disrupted."
(Squad 1 Meeting Hall)
Within the First Division barracks of the Court Guard Squads of the Soul Society gathered the seventeen men and women that would decide the future of how the Gotei would operate. Ichigo had long since left for Kyoto and Uryu never attended any of the meetings in person. Uryu always used video calls to attend the meetings since it was impractical to leave the World of the Living just to attend a meeting. The same practice and reasoning applied to Harribel as well, but today was a rare time for her to attend the meeting in person. The present captains lined up in order of their division number, evens on the left and odds on the right. At the head of the group, where the Head Captain was supposed to be, stood Kyoraku and Ukitake. Both coming out of retirement to offer what aid they could. In the very back, next to Uryu's monitor, stood Isshin Kurosaki.
The atmosphere of the hall was thick and heavy with tension. The grim and serious expressions on even the normally most jovial of the members in attendance lent a somber weight to the room. After ten years of relative peace and a month of essentially controlling the worst of the matters that were happening, this attack left everyone on edge. All eyes were on Retsu Unohana as she gave the latest casualty report.
"-finished recovering the last of the bodies that could be revived," the Squad 4 captain informed in a grim tone. "They will be placed in stasis until Sora can revive them. A process going much slower without Orihime unfortunately. Those we cannot revive are being accounted for and we're making steady progress in healing the survivors. As I predicted, all of the wounded will make a full recovery within the week. That doesn't change the fact we've lost too many of our people. Of all of the fatalities we've suffered, only ten percent was reversible. Squads 3, 5, and 8 will have more of their members back, but will still be operating with skeleton crews until more recruits can be properly trained." She finished before stepping back as Urahara stepped forward.
"Based on our scans we can confirm that the entire incident was a direct result of dimension manipulation magic," the man said as an image of overlapping cubes appeared with a figure within them while there was a group outside of it. "It appears that they managed to mix the principles of the Sacred Gear Dimension Lost with the control of the Hollows' standard ability to cross dimensions. Using this, each individual is provided their own set of layered sub-dimensions to hide their presence and make them untouchable and intangible until they choose to attack," he explained, showing the figure in the boxes moving about without notice and unable to be touched while killing with impunity. "A perfect infiltration and assassination method. One we are working towards neutralizing in its entirety."
"Another thing we need to keep our focus on," Kensei said, getting the attention of his fellow captains. "Frankly, I don't see the point in playing this game with the factions of the LIVING WORLD." The white haired Visored spoke, emphasizing the distance between the realms. "Our duty is the Balance of Souls, let's focus on that and ensure it stays balanced."
"Ours is a higher purpose," Iba added, taking the floor himself. "How much of this alliance served us?"
"Not much to be perfectly honest," Shinji said with a drawl before holding up a hand. "Our leader has entered into a political marriage with the Devils, but we've been giving more than we've gained. Setting the stage for removing the political rivals of the New Satan Faction, an improved production method for the Phoenix Tears, fought their civil war for them, and anything that's worth trading from them is only going to last until we innovate it. Their last great innovation was their Evil Piece system and we've spent the last ten years figuring out how to undo it without killing the target." With each item he listed, he brought a finger down.
"The Angels haven't done much yet," the Visored continued, "probably trying to do anything and everything to welcome back their heavenly father into a more welcoming and peaceful era with the Devils and Fallen. The Grigori have shared all of their Sacred Gear research but that went to every faction leadership and wasn't an exclusive arrangement with us. That said, we didn't have much to do with them either. The only one we seem even with in recent days is the Norse faction. They brought their Loki problem to Japan and gave us their most learned Runic magic master as payment. Ichigo gave Odin a death sentence and made up for it by preventing the worst of their Ragnarok."
"How discordant," stated Rojuro 'Rose' Otoribashi, the Visored captain of Squad 3 wore his captain's uniform over a frilled shirt and had long wavy blonde hair. "Things are only getting messier by the day. That said, it wouldn't do for us to cut ties with the other factions. We're already in this war and have been targeted."
"I didn't say we'd stay out of the war," Kensei objected. "Clearly that wouldn't do anyone any good. The aftermath of a century of inaction has made that perfectly clear. I'm suggesting that we focus on dealing with the problem in the most efficient manner. Destroy the Khaos Brigade ourselves, ignore the others if they inconvenience us."
"This isn't the same game we're used to everyone," Kyoraku suddenly announced, "This isn't like before when the only politics mucking everything up was those of the nobility of Soul Society and we just fought and killed anything that wasn't a normal human soul."
"Other factions meanwhile are doing their own part in keeping the world stabilized," Ukitake added, unable to hide the grim reality of the matter, "with people powerful enough to actually interfere with the Balance if they were to react in ways detrimental to us."
"It's like going from checkers to shogi," Kyoraku continued with a tired sigh, "with the occasional joker card that might change the rules midway. Ichigo might have been doing a little much in 'aiding' the other factions, but that's within his character to shoulder every burden while trying to make things work out in the best way."
"It's what won him the loyalty of so many," Tier suddenly added. "The presence of Hollows and Quincy standing in this room as allies of the Shinigami would've been unthinkable ten years ago. Ichigo's the one that united the races that should've been natural enemies."
"It is no secret he was planning to do the same with the other factions in a hope to create bonds of friendships among them," Byakuya started. "He's set into motion a desire to end the conflict permanently between the Biblical factions and move toward mutual beneficial co-existence. Due to his actions in the Greek Underworld, we now have a firmly established friendship with Olympians. His actions with the Nordic factions have brought formidable allies to our side."
"I wouldn't mind going back there," Kenpachi cut in. "Those guys understand what really matters."
"So we're still going to give more to this alliance than what we'll be getting back?" Iba was clearly irritated with that prospect.
"You could've said something sooner if it was that much of a problem," Kisuke argued,pulling up the various after action reports of their recent incidents. "Ideally, that would've been during the fight with the Old Satan Faction, but some of our number were happy to get the rust off their swords." Then the researcher's eyes narrowed as a different chart of readings showed up. "Besides, having dealt with the easy start, we can shame the others into taking more aggressive actions. Either as disposable pawns for future battlers or test subjects."
"I don't mind taking the fight to the Khaos Brigade personally," Isshin stated, his voice bearing a sharp edge to it. "Just in case you want something with plausible deniability and things get a little too messy."
"I volunteer to be the one to 'reign you in' if necessary," Lisa Yadomaru stated, the Visored captain of Squad 8. She had a custom uniform with her midriff exposed that had her long black hair in a braided pigtail and wore a pair of frame-less oval glasses.
"Please don't go too far overboard Isshin," Love Aikawa, the Visored captain of the 14th Division pleaded. He wore thick sunglasses and had a star shaped afro while wearing the standard captain's uniform. "Kukaku has had enough of losing clan members and only wants additions to the family."
"Looks like you're adjusting rather well Aikawa!" Yuushiro said with a smile. "As for this alliance stuff, just point my guys in the right direction and we'll secure any intelligence data necessary. Good blackmail is important."
"It should feel odd to so easily discuss these things," Rukia finally said, finally feeling the courage to say something. "But, we can't afford to-"
"Sorry, I need to cut this short," Kisuke suddenly said, his attention fully on the message on his phone with a sense of urgency in his voice. This bought him the attention of the entire room.
"Is everything all right Kisuke?" Toshiro asked.
"I just need to check this out more thoroughly," he answered as he swiftly rushed to the door. "Something odd going on in... looks like Romania. Uryu! I'll send a copy to Vega!" He shouted before flashing away, an uncomfortable and terrifying silence hanging in the air.
"That's never a good sign," Uryu did not need the power of the Almighty to foresee something terrible was happening.
(West Rukon: Oetsu Nimaiya's Domain)
Through the moving rocky hills and forests of the dragonoids that called this land home, a somber melody rang into the night air as a group traveled deeper into the western region of Soul Society. Not a single dragonoid dared approach them for the sense of loss hung heavy in the air. The atmosphere around the group was somber, loss and mourning hanging around each and every member.
The procession was a colorful collection of individuals. One of them was a tall and curvaceous green-furred woman with ankle-length, light mallow hair and black markings on her bangs. She wore a chained belt, one end of it connected to the collar of a small red haired boy wearing a white and yellow robe, and a long tail emerging from his backs. A Samurai in full armor walked beside a woman dressed in a pure white kimono with hair and skin the color of freshly fallen snow. A mummy with a skull-like pharaoh mask and an inverted body was followed by a tall and slender figure with a beak-shaped brass-colored mask who was playing a shakuhachi to accompany their march. In the center of the group was a woman in black robes with shoulder length pink hair and skull hair clips pulling a wagon piled high with broken katana, each one respectfully wrapped in the shrouds of fallen soldiers. At the head of the procession was the undeniable leader, a figure with a skull mask and sharp angular bull-like horns wearing a black jacket with burning black wings of Reishi, Zangetsu.
After the attack and the losses suffered by the Gotei, the Zanpakuto Spirits manifested from their wielders to gather their broken kin. In the normal course of events, they would be confined to their Inner Worlds, occasionally able to traverse the Inner Worlds of close friends or spirits of equal power. These days, the strongest of the Gotei could manifest their Zanpakuto spirits in the physical world with little effort. A feat achieved through a mixture of their own efforts, Ichigo's monstrous Reiatsu filling the Soul Society, and the advice of Oetsu's own collection of Zanpakuto on absorbing ambient Reishi to form corporeal bodies and keep their existence stable bringing about this result.
"We're almost there," Zangetsu's tone was somber, the forge of Oetsu Nimaiya coming into view. Kinshira continued playing his flute while Sakanade, Senbonzakura, and Sode no Shiraiyuki made sure Nozarashi wouldn't be disrupted while she hauled along their precious cargo as various other spirits came to mourn their kin.
"I'm glad we're giving our comrades the respect they deserve," the samurai, Sebonzakura, said as the Ho'oden came into view. "But, I despise that we are." The journey to the forge of the Blade God had taken them a few hours, the hostess club of the Galaxy Ho'oden being lifeless for the first time since the previous Zero Squad descended.
",erofeb siht od ot ,ecnahc eht dah ev'eW" the mummy, Sakanade, said in his reversed speech. ".sdlrow renni s'imaginihS ruo ot denifnoc eb llits d'ew ,deneppah s'taht gnihtyreve tuohtiW"
"Indeed," the icy woman, Sode no Shiraiyuki, said with her cold mask unable to hide her melancholy. "The first time we've ever had a chance to hold a funeral for our fellow swords. Though, I fear it won't be the last one we will suffer."
"We'll get stronger," the green-furred woman, Saru of the Zabimaru duo, promised. "So that this won't happen again."
"We will," everyone stated with conviction, a promise to grow and strengthen their partners in the hopes of preventing such tragedy from ever occurring.
Upon reaching the forge and were greeted by Nimaiya's Sword 5 assistant Zanpakuto. Each of the Sword 5 shared in the melancholy of the moment. The two groups gave each other silent nods before every Zanpakuto took up at least five broken blades in their arms.
"Thank you for this," one of the Sword 5, a redheaded tomboy, Mera Hiuchigashima, said to the group as she led the the way to the forge of Nimaiya. "The boss has been quiet ever since what happened. It... it's hard to see."
Deep inside the forge, they found the smith himself, seated at a desk and pouring over notes and blueprints with a roaring fire already burning. Oetsu took a moment to rub at his eyes, an ordinary action of relieving eye strain, but Shiraiyuki could sense the glimmer of tears on the normally jovial man. He turned to face his guests and nodded.
He knew that they were coming. As the creator of every single Zanpakuto, he always knew where each and every one of them were located. What he had been unsure about was why they were coming. At least, he was before he heard the music from Kinshara's flute and the unmistakable song of loss and sorrow.
Oetsu had seen many of his blades live and die with their wielders, but this was unlike any of those times.
Zangetsu took the first step and carefully set out each blade he carried in front of the smith before stepping back to let the next one take over. The Sword 5 followed him with each one taking a place around the master smith. Each and every blade was carefully placed before the Blade God, the damage plain as day.
For the smith, it was like seeing corpses of soldiers who died ong before their time, laid low at too young an age. The swords were either broken into pieces that were brought together like pieces of a puzzle at best or missing almost the entire blade at worst.
One of the Sword 5, a girl wearing a face mask with long, messy, black hair, Tsumiko Tsuchimiya, pulled down her mask to rip out one of her teeth. No one reacted as she quickly reshaped it into a hammer and passed it to Oetsu. He took the shaft of the tool, his hand shaking with a weight he did not wish to bear.
"Each and every Asauchi was forged with limitless potential," Oetsu started, his voice trembling like a father laying their child to rest. "Each and every blade being a reflection of their wielder as they grow stronger. In the most desperate of cases, they can be taken up by a new potential master, but only if they have yet to fully imprint on their Shinigami partner." He paused as if to steady himself. "Each and every blade was meant to live a full life with their wielder as they grow. In the case for all of these children, they've been denied that opportunity to be the swords they were originally meant to be." He raised the hammer above his head and made ready to strike.
"The ultimate tragedy for a sword." He spoke aloud, bringing the hammer down on a broken blade piece and shattering it into smaller pieces. "Heartbreaking news to any craftsman that takes pride in their work." He shattered another piece. "Loves each piece they create." Another break. "While these blades may never know that honor," another swing, "I will not let this be their end." He said with promised and conviction to the rest of the swords before him. His mind drifted to the lists of ideas he was working on.
"How so?" The haired boy, Hebi of the Zabimaru duo, asked his creator since it simply looked like he was just breaking the swords down even further.
"I'm doing this so that I can reforge them," the smith explained to his children. "You an't just stick them together like a puzzle. You have to break them down and completely remake them into a new piece." Many Zanpakuto noted that he did not say Asuachi or Zanpakuto.
He had forged enough swords in the course of his life. Now he wanted to make something new to fix the world and he just got plenty of new material to work with. He just wished that it didn't come at the cost of so many of his precious pieces. He could still feel within each broken piece he desire of wanting to live to their full potential. A wish he will not deny them.
These Asauchi would live again.
(At a small church graveyard in Karakura Town)
In large part, the church was a simple affair. A white building large enough for fifty people to be seated in decent comfort and, perhaps, another thirty in standing, all in prayer to the Biblical God. Even those capable of piercing the illusion barriers around the property would see nothing more.
Yet the church held a secret known to but a few. Hidden beneath the parish was a fully furnished hotel suite. The windows on the walls were linked to the building above, allowing the residents of the suite to receive sunlight and look upon the grounds. This was where the Seraph Gabriel and her two Brave Saints lived while in Japan.
In the small plot beside the building were fifteen new unmarked graves. Gabriel and her girls stood before them, the Seraph offering prayers of hope, forgiveness and redemption for the poor souls laid to rest.
The fifteen were former peerage members of Diodora Astaroth. The collection of 'Holy Maidens' the Devil manipulated into being excommunicated by the Church and twisted into his pleasure slaves. During the minor rebellion crushed by the Gotei on behalf of the Devils during that one Rating Game, the entire peerage was taken in by Squad 12 to complete the research in undoing the reincarnation system of Evil Pieces and Brave Saints. They did not survive the process, a combination of their weakened state and collective wish for release from life drawing their final breath. The final words from each girl was 'Praise God, I'm finally free.'
'Heavenly Father, wherever you may be, please grant them your grace and forgiveness,' the Seraph prayed with all her heart. Ever since the Kuoh Summit and Ichigo's reveal of the possible revival of their father, the Seraphs were living with renewed hope and had doubled their efforts in trying to live in accordance with divine will. Desperately hoping to bring about a new and more peaceful age that God would approve of to facilitate his return.
'Please, a sign. Anything. Tell any of us that you will receive them!' She silently begged, hoping that something would respond. A sudden, gentle breeze and a slight tightening in her gut brought her out of her meditation with a look of surprise that soon gave way to elation. Somehow, she knew that it would be soon.
Omake
Fallen's Payback
(Hyoudou Household: Around the same time Issei walked Irazu Sando) Omake.
The Princess of Ruin found herself on the balcony of the room she shared with Issei, looking out to the distance where Kyoto resided. She raised a hand to her bare chest, feeling a throbbing pain of longing and concern that roused her from her bed. A pain that only came to her whenever she saw Issei getting pushed to the brink of death. She sent him off with a smile to enjoy one of her favorite cities in the country, he wasn't supposed to be in any situation that would put him in danger. What was happening now to cause this fear and concern in her heart now?
"Rias?" Her queen's voice called out from behind her, tired and confused at seeing her friend and lover out of her embrace. "What's wrong?"
"I... don't know Akeno," Rias answered after a moment of contemplation. "I feel as if Issei's got into another situation that's going to push him to the brink. Only," she paused as worry gnawed at her very soul, "only this time I fear that he'll no longer be the same." She felt Akeno wrap her arms around her, the half-Fallen's breasts and nipples poking into her back, the smell of sex from their earlier embrace dancing into her nose.
"I can understand Rias. But don't forget, this is OUR Issei," Akeno said, her lips tracing along the nape of Rias's neck. "He won't let anything stop him until he marries you and we all have babies together." Akeno's hands slid up Rias's stomach and drifted to the Gremory heiress's chest to gently caress and massage her breasts. "It's best if we greet him with loving smiles, happy hearts, and open legs."
Rias smiled as the pleasurable sensations of Akeno's touch coursed through her form, but the worry returned to break her from her bliss.
"Sorry Akeno. Not this time. I... I can't bring myself to want it right now," she said, turning and freeing herself from her lover's hold. "I'll make it up to you later."
"Please remember that. It's my turn to be Issei," she said, holding up a strap-on and a bottle of lube. Rias stared at the bottle before looking back up to her queen.
"Are you serious about-"
"Yes," Akeno answered, cutting off her friend. "Take responsibility for raping my ass the first time we had sex."
Side Effects
The night was supposed to be quiet and peaceful, the work in repairing the damage done by the Khaos Brigade's attack was halted for a time so that the people could rest. Only the most critical matters were still getting any attention while the rest of the entirety of Soul Society tried to get some sleep. 'Tried' being the operative word because no one could ignore the crying moans that would not stop. Some of the more innocent believe this to be a beast of some kind. Those with more amorous experiences knew better.
Zangetsu joined Sode no Shiraiyuki in Rukia's inner world, the two Zanpakuto lovers comforting each other after their take on a funeral for their kind. They sought each other's warmth and love in a time of mourning, the ice woman soon feeling the heat of desire claiming her as she kissed her beloved. That kiss steadily grew more and more heated as their loving passion and comfort was quickly replaced with Zangetsu's hungry lust for his bride. Soon the two were bare as newborns and the pristine and dignified composure of Shiraiyuki collapsed into crossed eyed open mouth cries as she was pounded from every position with hungry abandon.
The sounds rang from Rukia herself and echoed throughout the entirety of Soul Society. No one was safe from the noise. Reactions to this were... varied.
Renji: Please make it stop. Please make it stop! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!
Zabimaru (Saru covering Hebi's ears as he sleeps): I know a man and a woman have needs... BUT DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO LOUD!?
Rossweisse: OH MY! Is... is that what naughty stuff is normally like!?
Mayuri: Fascinating. I wonder what kind of experiments we can run with this.
Kyoraku: I feel a little dirty for this.
Katen Kyokotsu(Adult): Just let me enjoy the ride Shunsui~!
Ukitake: Please... stop... for the children.
Toshiro: Must... control... I doubt Karin would be happy with a visit this late.
Senbonzakura: If she gets pregnant, does that mean I'm an uncle?
Byakuya: Can she get pregnant? Let's ask Oetsu tomorrow.
Oetsu Nimaiya: I regret this with every fiber of my being.
Rukia: WHY IS MY SWORD GETTING MORE ACTION THAN I AM!?