Birds were singing in the distance, the tropical fruit scented air came and went through the Ziggurat. The exterior of the great pyramid shaped castle displayed brilliant silver, contrasted by the burning violet accents.
Within standing proud and sturdy were white walls, golden gems brought forth a royal atmosphere. The floors wore a scarlet color, the carpet trailed from the central throne room to the entrance.
Saiban shuddered, he barely recalled even a fraction of the castle, however he could feel the strain on his mind. He made his way to the throne room which resided at the center of the place. Yesterday his new master Eon had sent a servant robot to give him a tour.
He ensured he recalled everything to the letter. Snow white high heeled shoes pressed down onto the scarlet carpet, as if a snow had fallen into a river of blood.
Saiban raised his hand to the new visor over his eyes, he could feel the horizontal slit over them. Moving his head from side to side, he attempted to adjust to his latest hairstyle.
His blond and black ponytail, made his monochrome combat robes appear even more prominent.
'Here it is' Readying himself, the man threw away his hesitation. A solid white wall appeared in his mind, he could see one part of it being adjacent to the other.
In the space created there he found a configuration of colors.
Stepping forward, he placed his gloved hand on the adjacent wall. His senses were overwhelmed as he made his way into the throne room.
"I greet you master." Bowing before the mass of golden light adorned by violet feathers. Saiban turned his head a white light that shifted similar flames stood next to the golden one.
"I greet the master's concubine, Lady Koyanskya."He said.
Koyanskya nodded with a pleased smile, holding a hand to her hair ensuring her red rimmed glasses held in place.
"I think I like him master, people who are quick are a rare commodity." She said toward the man perched on his throne.
Eon's eyes flickered from behind his helmet, "I do not recall ever expressing the nature of our relationship to him." After seeing the rueful face of the woman standing next to him, the dark armor clad man waved his hand.
"It matters not." Those words brightened the Servant's mood. "Our next move is to go to Muken and secure Shinashiro Tokinada. He will be a vital piece in the round to come."
Taking away the opportunity to ask questions from Saiban, Koyanskya turned to her master.
"Please don't mind, don't mind this, little fox for asking master but what could this man do for us?" Her fox ears stood up straight as she turned her head, in Saiban's vision he simply saw two blue flames being spawned on top of her head.
He saw a change in the violet feathers that surrounded Eon before he answered, parts of the feathers becoming jet black.
The lord of the castle's voice became laced with a sadistic joy. "Honestly he serves no purpose. In the new world I will create once I ascend he has no place in the slightest to speak of."
Resting his head on his hand supported by his thrones armrest, more dark intent oozed from him like chemicals being spilt into a muddled pool.
" After all, what type of savior would I be if I allowed such a creature into my utopia?" Saiban sensed a chill run down his spine, as the cold eyes of Eon's silhouette bore down on him.
"And you Saiban will become my priest that surpasses all mortals. Koyanskya will take her seat beside me as the Queen of nature."
Behind his visor Saiban's eyes widened, the woman beside the dark armored appeared unmoved by his declaration.
"Ah, I wonder how a fox like me could ever be blessed with such a considerate master~." The fox woman placed a hand above her heart in an over the top display of shock.
Within his vision the kneeling man swore for just an instance the feathers of his master had taken on a bright shade of red. Shaking away any assumption his mind dared to form, the former member of Central Forty Six bowed even more deeply.
"It would be my honor master. To be the priest of a deity who does not stand idle in the face of injustice, one who does not change to fit the world, but changes the world to fit him! What more could I ask for?! A god of unchanging justice!" A mad fervour and passion snaked its way into Saiban's voice; his declaration sounded more akin to a religious fanatic than the logical speech of a man who sought justice.
From behind his onyx helmet Eon spoke in a genuinely pleasant tone, "Well said, now stand we move out immediately."
Standing from his throne, the time traveller and the pink haired woman next to him descended the steps towards the throne room's entrance. Saiban stood at attention with the posture of a dutiful guard, his master reached the door, in the next instance with a mere mental command the space before them twisted violently.
A purple gas seemed to spawn at the center of the door as it expanded it caused the light in that area to shift, a whirlpool of shadows and white light came into being as it expanded to be the size of a bank vault door.
"Hmm~." Koyanskya hummed in confusion; usually the other portal would act like a mirror allowing the ones who stared at it to see the other side unimpeded.
The fox servant locked eyes with her master, who picked up on her confusion and turned his head.
"There is nothing to fear,Skya. This is simply a safety measure for our comrade. Soul Reapers are trained to view the world with their 'other' eyes, and I personally do not want my priest to become a mad drooling sack now." Saiban turned his head away, the portal to him appeared to have words escaping from it. Not kanji, and not any form of written language he had ever come across, the letters were themselves third dimensional and moved in that manner as well.
Every other word seemed to vibrate and disappear to where or when, the man could not say.
Koyanskya simply shook her hand and let out a playful chuckle, "Oh, it can't be helped." She grabbed a hold of her master's hand and stepped through the portal with him in tow. Going along with his servant's antics Eon goes through followed by a slightly nerve racked blind man.
***
From the natural light of the Ziggurat to the fluorescent artificial of the milk white tiled hallway, with autumn leaf colored walls. The trio had found themselves standing before a gargantuan wall of tar coloured crystals, the gems seemed to absorb the light that came into contact with them.
Stepping closer, Koyansakya leaned closer to one jagged point, readjusting her rose rimmed glasses. She spun on her heel turning back to look at Saiban, within his vision her eyes sparkled with a golden radiance.
"Let me take a guess…hmm…these crystals were made as a way to ensure whatever you Soul Reapers threw your criminals into never came out correct?" She spoke in a matter of fact tone as if stating the obvious.
Swallowing the apparent lump in his throat, Saiban answered. "Yes, my Lady. The Muken is not just a jail, it is the corpse of a Hollow slain by the founding heads of the five great noble families. The creature could manipulate shadows and wielded power over the concept of concealment. I do not know the exact ways the creature was slain, but the end results stand before us.'' The primarily blond haired man placed a hand on the center of the hard crystal wall, his spiritual energy flowed in like a jug filling a cup. Drinking up the energy that entered it with glee the crystal wall began to lose its form, going from solid to liquid the trio saw the wall's remnants retreat into the shadows that awaited in front of them.
The trio shared a nod before they all made their way in.
An oppressive eerie atmosphere hung in the air as the combination of high heels, steel boots and combat boots sounded off filling the area and reaching the ears of the three individuals.
Violet circuits from Eon's suit lit the path forward as he marched ahead of his two companions, behind him Koyanskya manifested a blinding disc of light. Ancient and deep shadows devoured the light only allowing a small sphere of illumination to exist within their domain.
"Mister priest, mind telling me more of these…nobles? Yes, nobles, that was the word." Turning her head to the right the pink haired woman attempted to stare into the eyes of her comrade, she frowned. The fact of his lack of sight slipped her mind every now again like a useless tidbit, she crossed her arms and straightened her posture.
The annoyance displayed by his other master did not fall on deaf ears, or rather spiritual vision.
Gathering all his thoughts, Saiban began explaining, "The five noble houses were the followers of our Lord, known as the Soul King. He created the three worlds, the reincarnation cycle and divided the concepts of life and一" Eon suddenly halted, forcing his other two compatriots to direct their attention around themselves. Sadly neither detected what could possibly have made their leader stop moving, the shadows, the ground and the stagnant air all displayed no signs of change.
"I apologize, I must simply test a hypothesis." With those cryptic words uttered, the time traveller commanded his gauntlet to power down, reducing the light the circuits emitted to nothing. He reached out a hand into the void outside the circle of light, he expected the limb to be crushed, pulled from him, or whatever else the shadows could accomplish if provoked. Only the sound of bated breath and the accelerated beating of his own heart reached the man, staring down at his own unscathed hand he felt disappointment tug at his heart.
Reigniting his gauntlet Eon turned to his subordinates who both bore concerned expressions, particularly the Sun God fragment.
"I…am unharmed, we must continue to move and perhaps with more urgency." Without any more words the trio's leader began walking once more. The priest and the fox woman both shared a look before they began following behind their leader.
"So if this Soul King was the reason for everything to exist, then where is he right now?" Koyanskya's golden eyes were locked onto Eon's back as she asked her question, Saiban from the perspective of his spiritual vision saw the section of the woman's body that would be her tail sway with uneven movements.
After coughing into his gloved fist the blond haired man answered, "Ah, yes, well legends say the Soul King after his act of creation fused with the worlds becoming everything and nothing at the same time. The nobles were blessed with more spiritual energy as a gift from the Soul King for their service to him, those who are born with high spiritual energy are revered as his chosen people. This is the reason for Soul Reapers also being referred to as Gods of Death."
"Useless deity." A contemptuous tone filled Eon's distorted voice, "He created a world suffering and allowed his benefactors to rule over it, that is not the actions of a god it is the will of greed filled mortals."
Before Saiban could speak the trio saw…a light?
Koyanskya tilted her head, her right hand to her glasses to ensure they did not fall to the way side. Her gaze was directed to Eon, who turned around and nodded.
"There lies our goal." Before moving forward Eon inspected his surroundings once more, nothing. The shadows and the light emitted by his technology and Koyanskya's sun disc remained unchanged, after noticing this he chuckled.
It was not a normal chuckle of joy or excitement, no.
His laugh carried a palpable hatred to it, coughing overtook his body in the next instance. The distinct taste of metal made its presence known, he willed his suit and body to not show any indications of weakness. Thanks to the distortion the coughing fit could be shrugged off as a quirk, the time traveller was not concerned about his latest subordinate in that regard.
However…
Koyanskya's golden eyes met his own, Eon saw his reflection in her glasses he appeared as he normally did, and the woman did not visibly change neither, but he knew she could sense his emotions thanks to their bond as master and servant.
Facing the light ahead of them, he cast away all those thoughts as matters for later.
"The light seems faint, more like a speck than anything truly revolutionary. How long do you think it will take us to get there?" Koyanskya looked towards her master with a mischievous smirk, and said master responded by grasping her hand tightly.
Feeling her face rise in temperature she turned away staring off into the darkness, Eon then placed a hand to Saiban's back. In the next moment the field of vision for everyone present became blanketed by motes purple light. The time traveller took a half step, in the next instance the purple motes disappeared leaving the trio to bask in the glow of a tower made of what seemed like pure golden light.
After releasing his hold on the both of them Eon attempted to reach out towards the luminous structureーonly to be stopped by a gloved hand, the hand belonged to the blond haired man to his right.
"Allow me to master." With those words Saiban took confident steps towards the light, he raised a hand, reciting the name of the Hado spell within his head. In the next moment black miasmah escaped his hand, with the same limb the blond haired man placed it on the face of the light wall.
A mechanical groan reverberated outwards, the wall lost its radiance turning a sickly green before crumbling away into dust. Taking measured steps to the side, Saiban bowed and gestured for his two masters to enter, after receiving a nod from the time traveller and a pat on the head from the fox he entered as well.
Their search for their man was not long, as soon as they walked into the tower the trio found themselves within a sprawling library on multiple levels that stacked on top of one another like a house of cards. And sitting at the center of the massive book shelf lined space with a book in hand was a man with green eyes and even darker unkempt green hair, dressed in a baggy iteration of the standard black and white Soul Reaper outfit.
Without even uttering a word he noticed the trio, a friendly smile crossed his face.
"Oh, my, Mr. Justice seeker Saiban it's always a pleasure. Who might your friends be?" Tokinada slammed his book closed, not even bothering to add a book mark of any kind or memorize the page number.
Responding to his question was not Saiban but instead Eon.
"You can think of us as like-minded individuals, Lord Tsunayashiro." Tokinada tilted his head but kept his friendly smile.
"Ahh, I see you must be looking for the head of my clan. Sorry to mention this to you, but I have next to zero idea about his whereabouts. As you can see I am currently not in much contact with my family at the moment." Tokinada shook his head helplessly.
Eon's voice took on a darker tone, "Oh, no I believe the head of that noble clan is standing right before me…" Tokinada diverted his attention back onto the circuit patterned man. "After all with everyone dead you're next in for the title."