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A Guiding Arrow In The Dark (Quincy SI) Chapter 1.5
🕑 Added 2023-05-13 09:37:47 +0000 UTC-x-
Soul Society, Bleach
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A tense silence hung over the execution grounds on Sōkyoku Hill, only interrupted by footfalls of most dangerous man Ichigo had ever fought drawing closer and closer to his prone form.
Aizen Sosuke gazed down at him with an air of superiority and indifference as he approached. "Since this is the end anyway, I'll tell you one last thing. Did you know that soul reapers have four basic fighting methods? Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō and Kidō" The man said conversationally as he dragged Rukia behind him by the collar as she limply stumbled behind. "But there is a limit to how strong a soul reaper can become in any one of them. No matter which of the technique he chooses, there comes a point at which he becomes the master of his art, and all his growth will stop there - as a soul reaper, he has reached his limit. However, for some it is possible to get past that wall and exceed the limits of all four techniques. And to do that, there is only one way. A soul reaper must become a hollow."
At that, Ichigo's mind screeched to a halt. Ichigo understood what Aizen was talking about. He remembered the sheer strength he possessed when he had been consumed by the Hollow's power, and how easily he was able to overwhelm Byakuya with it.
"That, or a hollow must become like a soul reaper. Either way, what is required is the removal of the barriers between two opposing existences. That is the key to making a spirit's power even greater." And then he proceeded to casually reveal all the horrifying experiments he had done in pursuit of his goal, at which point Rukia's eyes widened as if she had just realized a terrible truth. "But... in the end, none of them worked out as I had hoped. It appears that the theory was only that, destined to never be a reality. But, Kisuke Urahara had succeeded where I, had failed. The mechanism he invented removes the barriers between soul reapers and hollows, instantly making one into the other. It defied all logic within the soul society. It is called, the Hogyoku. I knew immediately, how dangerous it was. I think Urahara felt the same way - as he tried to destroy it. But, he was unable to find a way to undo his own creation. He reluctantly sought another method, of creating a shield around it and hiding it deep within a soul." Aizen stared down at the young girl he had been dragging behind him. "You know, don't you. You know that's the reason why I want you. Because the place Urahara decided to hide the Hogyoku... is inside you." And just to rub it in, Aizen explained the extent Urahara had went to hide it - for all the good it did, because Aizen had apparently accounted for everything and led them right into his own hands.
At some point, Ichigo's mind blacked out, only to return when Sajin Komamura crashed behind Aizen, and and attempted to take a swing at the man, only for the traitor to casually catch be blade with his fingers much like he had done with his own. Aizen calmly chanted "Hado number 90; Kurohitsugi" And just like that, a black box -a coffin- enveloped the captain and dark spikes violently erupted from within. As soon as the the spell dispersed into motes of energy, the Captain fell down in a puddle of his own blood, dead or unconscious.
In the corner of his eyes, Ichigo noticed that his friends had also arrived, only to be subdued by Gin's spiritual pressure just as quickly.
"Because I knew there was a possibility that the execution might fail because of you, I had come prepared. There are only two ways to remove a foreign object planted directly into a soul. The first was to use an intense thermal disruption like the Sōkyoku which will evaporate the soul that envelops it, or by some other method that will interfere with the soul's composition and forcefully separate them. In the unlikely event that execution by Sōkyoku failed, I needed information held within the underground assembly's archives. I studied Kisuke Urahara's research - since he was the one who developed the technology to plant a foreign object into a soul in the first place." And with that, he took out a metal cylinder from his coat, and pressed it, causing it to erupt into steam.
At the sight, Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized that Aizen was about to do something to Rukia. And if his explanation was anything to go by, it wasn't anything good. Ichigo groaned as he struggled futilely on the ground, finding it impossible to even find the strength needed to stand up and fight.
He just had his confidence almost completely shattered by the newly revealed traitor of Soul Society, who had apparently been the main perpetrator responsible for killing and masquerading as the government, Central 46, and ordering Rukia'a execution. Ichigo didn't care for the former as much as the latter, because he had essentially just implied that he was here in person to finish the job. The young man grit his teeth in frustration and fear as his fingers struggled to even form a proper grip on his Zanpaktou, as even the slightest of movements set his nerves on fire and caused his mind to blank out.
Green, wooden spikes erupted around Aizen and Rukia in a circle, contained lightning writhing around them like serpents, and seeing that, Ichigo's struggle intensified.
"Wait!" Ichigo screamed, but it was all for nothing.
Aizen's arm transformed into an inhuman, green claw, and plunged his entire arm into Rukia's chest. Her eyes were alarmingly empty, even as the traitor removed his hand, clutching a glowing blue orb surrounded by a crystalline shell. Thankfully, the distorted hole in her chest -her soul- seemed to close up just as quickly.
Aizen stared at the scene in curiosity. "I'm surprised." The bastard commented clinically. "The soul is unharmed. What amazing technology."
And just as Aizen was about to place the Hogyoku into his cloak, a massive spiritual pressure erupted from the distance. It was unlike anything Ichigo had ever felt before, eclipsing the combined strength of everyone he had ever seen and fought several times over. It was only this sudden outburst, that broke his tunnel vision and allowed him to see that the other captains had returned to the scene as well, likely to intercept Aizen. But they too, stopped in their tracks at this new development.
Head Captain Yamamoto immediately seemed to take a guarded stance, as if he had realized something the others had missed, as a vicious snarl had spread across his face.
"A third party? Who-" Aizen's words were interrupted as something moving far faster than Ichigo's eyes could track passed them by, leaving a beam of blinding light and sound in its wake. When he finally blinked the dots out of his eyes, the young man noticed that Aizen's hand was burnt to a crisp, and that most of his clothes had been incinerated by the heat of the projectile's passing.
Most notably though, was the fact that the Hogyoku wasn't there in his hands anymore.
Aizen stared at his burnt limb for a long, tense, moment, and for the first time ichigo had ever seen him, the man seemed genuinely confused. He just stood there with a befuddled expression on his face, as if he had difficulty comprehending the reality of the situation.
And then realization finally seemed to set in, his eyes widening in incredulity. And just as quickly, incredulity transformed into wrath as his face twisted into a rictus of rage and malice so intense, that Ichigo would have booked it even if it was on the face of a completely ordinary human. Aizen's spiritual pressure fluctuated as he lost control of himself in front of others for the first time, and then his composure shattered completely as he turned towards the direction the beam had come from with an inhuman roar bursting out of his throat. Ichigo struggled to even breathe as Aizen's full, oppressive spiritual pressure crashed down on everyone like a tsunami. Ichigo almost felt like he was drowning in it.
And just as Aizen was about to follow in pursuit, the interfering spiritual pressure disappeared completely, and Aizen paused, his eyes scanning the landscape wildly as his mind tried to come up with answers, only for more questions to rise up in its place.
But before either party could do anything, golden beams of light descended from a Garganta in the sky, enveloping Aizen and his allies, as the Menos Grande hollows and... something else recovered the traitors on time, as if it had been planned beforehand. The Captains, the Ryoka, and the traitors, all just stared at each other in silence as the beam levitated Aizen and his minions into the rift in the sky.
Though, Ichigo noted that Gin's eyes were both open as he stared at Aizen's back intently.
And then they were gone.
Ichigo tried to ignore his pain as the medics from the fourth division tried to move him, but he relaxed when he was told that Rukia was alright.
However, his eyes kept going to Uryu, who looked as if he had recently attained enlightenment. To be honest, it freaked Ichigo out a bit. "What's up with him?" he wondered.
But whatever the case, he determined that all his friends were fine, and so, he promptly passed out.
Captain Commander 'Genryusai' Shigekuni Yamamoto stared at the place from which the arrow, had come from with a frown on his face. He had already ordered his men to search the entire area and to place the entire Seireitei on high alert. He had noticed something about the the attack - its composition. It was oddly similar to that of -
"A Quincy?" Asked a man in stark black and white makeup, with golden protrusions on his ears and chin.
Head captain Yamamoto just grunted.
"I just knew when I fought the Ryoka boy, that there are indeed more of those Quincy running around than we know of. It will nice to have more of them for my ex-"
"Captain Mayuri." the ancient soul reaper interrupted. "Your experiments can wait. First find out how a rogue Quincy infiltrated the Seireitei without notice, it is obvious that this one wasn't with the other Ryoka. Make sure it doesn't happen again." He said as he turned his back towards the amoral scientist and started moving back towards his quarters. "And give me a report of the situation before nightfall." He finished, before disappearing with a shunpo.
-x-
Kisuke Urahara felt the Hogyoku disappear, and he blinked.
The Hogyoku was gone. Kisuke had tensed when he the devices that kept track of the Hogyoku detected it resurfacing a few moments ago. But then it started to grow distant in a way he never expected to happen, until it eventually reached a threshold, a point of no return, before disappearing from his reach completely, and by extension - that of Aizen's. The signal he had placed on the Hogyoku well and truly disappeared, signalling that it had either been destroyed, which was unlikely, or that it had been taken out of range. But that couldn't be possible, since it would tell him of its relative position even cross dimensions would only happen if... its not in this universe entirely.
He had no idea what had just happened, only that the Hogyoku was no longer a factor, but with that realization, his tense posture melted away as genuine joy permeated his being. He jumped off his seat, before dragging Tessai, Jinta and Ururu into a little dance, as he laughed out without reservation, much to the confusion of his employees. But they went along with it, being accustomed to their boss's eccentricities and outbursts.
Not long after that, the Urahara shop was forced to close for the day as the owner proceeded to get drunk shitfaced very, very quickly.
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Yhwach of the Quincy hummed silently as he sensed a familiar reiatsu signature arrive at the edges of the Wandenreich. There was a spike, before the reiatsu spiked and mutated into something very familiar. And then it jumped off the cliff.
He raised an eyebrow as he tracked the signature as it disappeared into the abyss.
A few moments later, Jugram Haschwalth briskly strode into his throne room. His face was twisted in frustration and concern as he approached Yhwach's postion, but managed to compose himself before reporting. "Irene Accutrone has gone AWOL, and has potentially alerted the soul reapers to our existence far ahead of schedule while doing so. Shall I dispatch Quilge Opie to retrieve her?"
"No, If she was determined to avoid us, none of you will manage to find her. Its not as if it matters anyways, she has already escaped our grasp." Jugram gasped at that.
"My lord?"
"All is not lost. She may have rebelled against us, but she has deprived the 'special threat' known as 'Aizen' of an artifact of critical importance."
At that, Jugram's eyes widened in realization. "The Hogyoku" he whispered. "Did she consider it too dangerous to exist and escape to hide it? If that's the case, I must reconsider -"
Yhwach tuned out the conversation as he stood up and walked towards the edge where he had last sensed his wayward descendant. "...so she's finally gone and done it, that rebellious daughter of mine." He snorted.
Irene Accutrone was one of the more... interesting of all his 'children', only rivaled by the two others gallivanting around in Karakura Town.
Her very birth was an unexpected surprise, not having seen even a hint of her in any of his last predictions. In fact, Yhwach suspected that his father had interfered somehow, but he was unsure of how it could even be possible. But even more than that was the nature of her existence. Many could claim to have died multiple times - including himself, but very few could lay claim to having being twice born. He also suspected that the girl had inherited his gift of foresight, much like Haschwalth had inherited his ability to 'impart' power. It may have even been a facet of the Almighy, but he wasn't sure. The girl hid it really well, having never shown any actual proof of anything suspiscious until the very last moments - but if that was the case, it might explain how she was able to throw off his vision so thoroughly. He was still regaining his power after all.
Although, he did wonder what spooked her so much that she decided to leave with such... Enthusiasm.
Had she seen him use Auswählen? It might be a possible explanation for her erratic behavior.
He remembered the day he had inscribed the Shrift onto her soul. That day, he had seen her for what she truly was, as her soul was bared open to him completely in that critical moment, where he had taken a letter from his own soul and blood, and inscribed it onto her own.
Her possible knowledge of the future explained why she was so skittish around him, but he didn't say anything in order to not spook her. He couldn't help it; it was just so fascinating, the idea that a soul could remain intact even after reincarnation. What made her so special when everyone else was scrubbed clean by reality itself? But in the end, it was curiosity that had stayed his hand.
He had inscribed the letter N, representing the concept of Navigation in its entirity. Yhwach had recognised that critical obsession that that was a common factor amongst all those who he had chosen for his Sternritters - and actualised it. She was ever-seeking, ever-yearning, for something that was eternally beyond reach. And yet, she paradoxically knew exactly where it was at all times and the exact steps she needed to take to get there. This was the core around which Irene had built herself around, and as such, he had engraved the letter that had resonated with the her the most - Navigation; that which allowed her to always find her destination, one way or the other.
Like all Sternritters, she embodied her Schrift, and like everone else, she too was still ruled by it, defined by it, consumed by it. It was an ability born of a miniscule fragment of his own soul. And as such, she should have never been able to surpass him using it. And yet she did. Ironically, she managed to circumvent him completely by grasping hold of the very thing she had been searching for her entire life.
"I'm disappointed, really. You would have been immensely useful during the invasion." he spoke "You have rejected both my goal and your purpose. As such, you have no place at my side anymore. Normally, I would punish you for such impudence, but I can't help but respect someone who managed to escape my grasp so thoroughly. In the end... I hope you find whatever it is you're searching for." He uttered, and with that, he swiftly turned around and headed towards the meeting room. They were not ready to be discovered so soon.
All their plans needed to be redrawn.
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Irene's Inner World, The Soul
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Yhwach - The Quincy, had been with her the moment she was born. He had been with her for every waking moment, seen her every triumph, her every defeat. He had kept her company in those harsh, frigid moments where she was isolated by her own friends and family - by her own parents, and consoled her when she had suffered from grief and misfortune. He had been with her for her joys, her sorrows, the ups, the downs, and everything in between.
Yhwach, the Quincy, had been with his 'daughter' every step of the way. He was the core of her power and the blood that flowed through her veins.
And as such, he was also aware of the more... eccentric side of her past where he wasn't a part of her. It was odd... seeing a complete, distorted vision of a future he had seen ages ago, only from a perspective wholly different from his own this time. And it was due to this context, that he realised the entire scope of Irene's plan - a plan to thwart fate itself that had been concocted at the wee age of eleven.
Despite what others might expect,Ywhach wholeheartedly supported her decision to leave. Much like the shard of himself that was in Ichigo, he too didn't want harm to befall Irene either, and fighting against his original self would have been exactly that; suicide, even with the Hogyoku at her disposal.
Speaking of which, Ywhach noticed the edges of his robe breaking into motes of light. He also noticed an uncomfortable tingling in his fingers, even as he forced himself to relax on a bench within her inner world. It was awfully sunny outside today, but that was fine; it was infinitely better than the rain.
As he noticed his extremities breaking down, he reflected on the root cause of his... predicament. The Hogyoku was called the breakdown sphere for a reason. And the void between worlds was distinctly unsuitable for conventional life in any way, shape or form. As Irene's body was continuously destroyed and rebuilt stronger than before, over and over and over again by the Hogyoku, so too did it break down the barrier between the shard of the entity known as 'Yhwach' and the host soul that was 'Irene'. It was slowly but surely, transforming Irene into something... more. And much like how Ichigo Kurosaki had merged with the Zanpaktou Spirit and his other self to birth Mugetsu, so too was Irene merging with himself. By the time she wakes up, the transformation would be complete, and they would become a singular, transcendant being. Yhwach was sad that Irene wouldn't be able to recognize her own face when she next stared at the mirror, but then again, it didn't seem like she was all that attached to it in the first place.
There were many things he could have said or done to change the situation he was facing, he did nothing but stay still and let it happen. Because, in those final moments, the only thing Yhwach felt was pride in the girl he considered his daughter.
And then they were one.
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A/N: Hogyoku essentially evolves her into pinnacle Quincy; genderbent Yhwach lite. Further evolutions may depend on circumstance and environment.
What do you think? I'd like to hear your honest thoughts.
