Chapter I
"Noel! Hey!" shouted Ninii towards her visibly spacing-out black-haired partner. "NOEL!"
The witch paused for half a bloody second before resuming her sashaying gait. Prissy witch. Ninii calmed herself down before she could explode from all the day's work. Three hours ago, just as she and her very cooperative partner had finished a Dragon-pacifying job, another one came. This one involves having a meeting with foreign dignitaries with the Eastern Branch of Soul Society. It was apparently quite a top secret thing. A bit fishy, if she may say. Why would important meetings involve rookies to begin with?
Well, she could care less.
She's drained. She's famished. And she's a representative who has to stint as a proper lady in front of people who may or may not understand her British accent.
Ninii kicked a pebble on the ground and watched as it went flying across the earthy ground. It stopped a few yards away. Oh, bloody hell! How much more would they walk until they reach this so-called Fifteenth Division?
She looked and surveyed the dilapidated condition of the rural-looking Japanese village. Apart from the few people looking at their group, the place is practically deserted. The few who were present were just whispering among themselves.
Snooty dead people.
"They're probably wary…" whispered Billy beside her.
"Why?" she whispered back, as Noel paced back towards them. Gossiper.
"Well, to them, we may seem as Drifters," Billy started.
"Well, Billy, we could still wait for a hundred more years before we could get the explanation. Take your time, really. No pressure," she bit back.
Billy made a face before speaking. "Drifters are souls who were not guided here by Grim Reapers. To them, we may seem as troublemakers…invaders even."
They reached the grand White Road Gate, the western gate of the Thirteen Court Guards. It is said that the walls of the court are made of Spirit Reducing Stones, a rare type of stone known to negate all spirit particles, similar to magnetic lodestones. The stone also forms an invisible spherical barrier around the city, extending above and below, stopping anything spiritual from breaching it from ground level, from the sky or from underground. The wall is usually held up, and only closes down when there is an emergency.
Billy nodded his recognition towards the gatekeeper, to which the latter returned in similar fashion. The gatekeeper was an extremely large, muscular man, who easily towers above them. His hair is tied into a pony-tail, which extends down his waist. He has long sideburns, which continue down onto his neck and long enough to be tied up in small pony-tail like tufts. He wears armor on his left shoulder and upper arm, plus a red hat with tassels. The left side of his chest is left exposed by his uniform.
Inside, Ninii saw pristine clean concrete, paved roads and skyscraper-esque buildings with ochre roof tiles.
"I assume that there has always been 13 Divisions within the Soul Society…And if there were, in fact 15, where's the 14th?" Noel quipped. Billy sighed, immediately exasperated of the explanation to follow.
"Numerically, speaking – and barring the 15th Division – there are actually 14. The first 13 is located here in Soul Society, whose general duty is to protect all Spiritual Realm, and maintain the balance of souls between the World of the Living and the Soul Society itself. The 14th is not called as such. It is much more proper to refer to them as the Zero Division. Their location is isolated from the Soul Society in a separate realm. Compared to the first 13, their sole task is to protect the Soul King," exhaled Billy. He held up a finger so as to motion for Noel and Ninii to pause their questions and wait for him to resume his explanation.
"This 15th Division we are supposed to rendezvous is actually a special case. Unlike the original 14, who had thousands of years of history, it is just established only after the Blood War…who I presume you've studied in one of your historical lectures back in Wing Bind," Billy made a pointed look at the ladies as if trying to challenge them to stop with the awful amount of queries.
"That would be a yes," answered Noel after a 5-second pause. "Anyway, Billy…Since we are on the subject of duties and responsibilities, I am just going to ask this: What is the 15th Division's duty if they were a special case?"
Ninii remembered from their History Class that, despite the fact that all Grim Reapers exist to maintain the balance of souls, there are also cases when a certain Division has a specific duty to uphold. The Second Division, for instance, is linked with Covert Operations tasked with assassinations, stealth, policing and detention.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Division is the medical and supply division. They are responsible for both treating the injured and doing most of the manual labor, such as cleaning and maintenance of the Soul Society. Although it is further subdivided into Relief Teams, all members administers emergency first aid to the injured.
Moreover, the mission of the Ninth Division is to always be on standby for combat because it is the security force of the Thirteen Court Guards. Traditionally, Ninth Division has also overseen arts and culture, which is why they are in charge of the news magazine.
The Eleventh Division, on the other hand, is a squad full of battle-hungry barbarians, with a specialization in swords-only combat, and has forgone other methods to fight. Almost everyone in are highly skilled in fighting.
Finally, the Twelfth Division has been directly linked to the Research and Development Institute, and as such technological and scientific research has become the full measure of what the division involves itself in primarily. Members are tasked with research and collection of data and samples.
Ninii supposed that that would be the specialized duties of certain Divisions. Aside from that, others may not possess additional responsibilities. Well, there are also cases where a Division has an exclusive jurisdiction of particular areas in the World of the Living. For example, the Tenth Division and Thirteenth Division to the Japanese places of Naruki City and Karakura Town…wherever that is.
"-nii! Ninii! Hey, Ninii!" Ninii snapped back to reality.
"We're here," informed Billy.
"Anyway, Billy…Since we are on the subject of duties and responsibilities, I am just going to ask this: What is the 15th Division's duty if they were a special case?" Noel asked as she glanced from the corner of her eye that Ninii had gone silent.
"Just like I said a while, Grim Reapers maintain the balance of souls between realms, which is why they have been formerly referred to as Balancers. And in order to maintain that balance, what they actually do is to protect humans from any threat posed by Hollows and...Or…any spiritual hazards," paused Billy before continuing. "…and since humans are directly involved within the equation, the Fifteenth Division is to solely act as emissaries of the World of the Living."
"Emissaries? Then that would mean that its members are…"
"Correct. Its members are all humans," affirmed their leader. Noel's eyes widened a fraction.
"Humans?" Noel exhaled, suddenly finding herself close to chuckling. Her disbelief is beyond unreal.
"No, it would be more correct to say that its members are only four humans," Billy said with a sudden heaviness in his voice and tone.
Noel noticed that their leader is currently sweating bullets. She supposed that it's quite odd that he's suddenly nervous all of a sudden. Looking at the situation clearly, it is more logical for the Soul Society to establish a representative division for the human world. It also makes sense to assign humans, as they are the primary involved. And it is also sensible to only choose four – no matter how ludicrous the idea was – since if a large mass of living souls were to enter the Spirit World all at once, balance itself would collapse…in which case, would defeat the purpose of protecting humans.
"Why are you fidgeting, Billy?" Noel asked after finding his actions a bit worrisome.
"I see that you've been quite amused by the divisions' lack of members. I c-can assure you that it is not because of their unpopularity," Billy made a pointed look at her. A chill ran down her spine. "They lack members because they don't need it. These four are more than enough to handle any person daft enough to challenge them, seeing as they perfectly annihilated all threat to this generation's Jureichi – Karakura Town itself."
Noel remembered it. Jureichi, also known as the Important Spirit Ground, a single point in the Human World possessing the greatest amount of concentration of spiritual beings, and by extension Spirit Particles…which if she could remember attract Hollows as it is their main form of food. Four people protecting a whole town from large monsters, when she and Ninii are having a hard time defeating a single Dragon, as partners. Once again, a set of shivers ran down her spine, making her hairs stand on end.
"It's not as funny as it was before, isn't it?" chuckled Billy. So, this was the reason why he had been nervous. "Well, I hear that the Japanese are friendly…" Billy trailed off.
"There's still something that you're not telling me."
"Well…" Billy rubbed the back of his head. "I know for certain that they are quite lovely people, but whenever I remember that they are War Heroes and renowned living legends…" he trailed off again.
Noel cannot speak herself. Even she was as pressured to attend this meeting with important people. Still, she tried to lighten the mood. They were to have a peaceful meeting, not to attend their own execution. "What makes them War Heroes?"
"These four had been War Heroes since the time where they were just seniors in high school. A year older than you and Ninii, perhaps. The reason is that they had played instrumental part in any of Soul Society's victories in every war. What makes them living legends is the fact that these four were already historical figures. These four had been part of your lessons back in Wing Bind."
Another chill ran down her spine. "Y-You d-don't mean t-those four…"
"Indeed, yes. The Four Emperors."