The lights of the 4th Division flickered once and went out.
Frost crawled from the infirmary floor, white veins pulsing with reishi that fractured the air like glass. Rukia Kuchiki lay motionless on the bed, her breath turning into crystals before fading away. Unohana's palms hovered over her chest; the kido's green light hissed and went out in the cold.
Unohana, muttering:
"Her reiatsu refuses to circulate, it's like she's... rejecting the movement."
Behind her, Isane tightened her right arm; the skin was already darkening where the frost had last touched it. The veins beneath faintly glowed violet-black.
Kiyone stumbled onto her feet, coughing, her skin mottled with the same spiritual rot:
"Captain- Rukia-!
Frost responded first. It jumped across the walls and ceiling, screeching like splintered glass. Kiyone stepped forward; her fingers froze mid-movement. For a second she seemed calm, her breathing suspended. Then she went completely still... a human statue of ice, preserved near the doorway.
Isane gasped but did not approach her. Her arm was shaking too much.
Then Rukia's eyes widened.
Pale violet light burst from her pupils and the walls around her howled. Fragments of spiritual energy tore through the room, freezing the ceiling and exploding the windows in a storm of white dust. Her Zanpakutō materialised beside her, uncalled, its blade encased in living ice.
Unohana, whispers:
"Sode... no Shirayuki..."
The temperature dropped again: a suffocating cold that did not sting the skin but sank into the soul. The healers' breath turned to mist; their spiritual power dimmed, slowing, freezing in their veins.
From far below, in the morgue, the sound of breaking glass could be heard.
Unohana turned to Isane with a firm voice:
"Lieutenant. Seal the lower levels. Now."
Isane bowed, clutching her blackened arm:
"Y-yes, Captain."
She ran, each step leaving a stain of frost and blood.
The Morgue - Level Three
Two Soul Reapers stood before the sealed chamber door, ice on the hinges. One struck the frost with his sword. The seal was broken... and the air inside sighed. Rows of covered bodies glowed faintly.
A whisper pierced the silence:
"It's cold... she's calling..."
The corpse sat up.
The nearest corpse sat up, its eyes glowing blue-white. Its touch froze the man's scream in his throat; he fell on his back, his mouth covered in frost. The second turned to flee but did not reach the stairs before the cold caught him too.
Back in the Infirmary
Unohana pressed her palm against Rukia's forehead. Her expression never changed, but her voice was now lower and calmer:
"You are killing them, Kuchiki. Do you understand?"
Rukia's lips moved, slow, indifferent:
"I... I hear it."
The frost pulsated again - a beat made of light. The sound echoed through the halls, through the walls, among the dead, through every soul within its reach.
Mayuri's voice came through the communications line, broken by static:
"Captain Unohana! You'll want to hear this! There's reishi activity in the morgue - bodies moving without kido signatures! Ohh... how interesting!"
Unohana's gaze never left Rukia, she mutters:
"It has begun."
Sirens sounded across the Seireitei, low, sad tones that had not sounded since Aizen's war. The 4th Division went into total lockdown.
Through the ice-blind windows, shapes moved - the frozen dead, reanimated by an invisible pulse, wandering aimlessly through the halls. Their footsteps sounded like breaking glass.
Isane staggered down the hallway, half of her arm black with corruption, carrying the last of the healers. Behind her, Kiyone's frozen form glowed faintly in the darkness.
Unohana drew her sword.
Unohana whispers:
"Minazuki, forgive me."
Her sword flashed once, reflecting the violet light from Rukia's eyes.
Outside, the frost continued to spread.