The Days of Bone
Disclaimer: I don't own things like Bleach.
Chap.1: The Mourning
Seireitei, Three Months Ago, A Parallel Universe
It was almost one hundred and fifty years since it was discovered.
After the fallout of the destruction of Hueco Mundo spilled into the World of the Living, a single object was found in the emptiness. The object was dormant when the Shinigami salvage team arrived.
Almost a century and a half later, forgotten in storage in the Department of Research and Development, something triggered within it and the unidentified object was found by researchers when it began broadcasting.
The timing appeared random and the signal nearly impossible to decipher, but around the same time disruptions occurred in the Dangai and the World of the Living, bringing the object to the forefront of the mind of the Twelfth Division Captain, Kisuke Urahara, who had founded the Department one hundred and ten years ago.
The disruptions continued completely out of his hands for over three months.
Something was wrong.
Yammy, Earlier in the First Day, Bleach Universe
"Stand still, you little..." Yammy felt his blow miss as his fist obscured the two Shinigami "Bugs!" his outstretched right arm was consumed in a swarm of flickering blades and the dignified looking captain reemerged. The howling Arrancar was left with a stump, the flesh stripped away and the bone disconnecting, what was left below the elbow was flung away as he flailed in pain.
"Ah, point to you, Kuchiki." the other, rougher Shinigami yelled. "One arm to one leg, and let's call the head three points.
The Kuchiki guy shot him an annoyed glance. "Have you lost interest in a one on one fight, Zaraki?"
"Not much of a fight anyway, let's just make it a bit of a game. I'll take you on once this guy's out of the way."
"In any case, taking the head would be a kill. Any kill shot should be three points, agreed?" Captain Kuchiki replied seriously.
"Hmph, I guess. That mean you gonna play?"
"Yes, now what is the worth of the torso?"
"One for nonlethal torso hits but only if he's really hurt by it." Yachiru called from her perch.
"Thank you, Vice-captain Kusajishi."
"Stop ignoring me!" Yammy clenched his teeth so hard that he felt several crack and chip "You maggots, I'm the strongest Espada, the Cero! We're not playing!"
"Oooh, the strongest? Well, you can't fight worth shit." Zaraki flicked his sword in a dismissive way. "That Nnoitra guy was way more fun."
Yammy felt his rage boil over, he might even mutate again if they kept pissing him off. "Call this shit?" he charged another cero before his face.
A cascade of razor edges washed over his back and neck. A powerful slash ripped his chest and belly open. The cero backfired into his face and Yammy's eyes rolled back into his head. He collapsed back, destroying several structures under his massive form.
"Yep, shit."
He didn't know just how long he was out, but the mutt was yapping away when he came to, the Shinigami nowhere in sight. "Why do you keep following me, dumb dog?" It kept wailing in his face.
He felt tired, his wounds stretching open with each breath. Just a quick rest, then he would find those two bastards and...everything went dark again.
Aaroniero
"San no Mai, Shirafune." The impaled young woman still had those half dead eyes, but her broken sword reformed into an occupied space.
"Wha-?" Aaroniero managed, Kaien Shiba's face melted away to reveal the new ice blade's true victim, a tank of red liquid with two tiny floating skulls. One of the Espada's heads was skewered.
She looked slightly stronger now. Her mouth was moving, she was saying something to them. They couldn't hear, they could only hear the crowing of the man they had brought so near the surface for his face, his memories, and his abilities.
"You really shouldn't have underestimated her." Kaien Shiba cackled in their mind.
"This is impossible."
"You say that a lot, you didn't learn much from me after all, Arrancar. This was not impossible. This was karma, and I can guarantee that Sosuke is going to get his too."
They, their Ressureccion, and Rukia Kuchiki all collapsed.
No! She'd murdered them!
"Nooo, it hurts! It hurts!" the shrill voiced undamaged head desperately connected it's mind to all of Los Noches, shrieking for aid. "Save me, Lord Aizen! You promised. You said I would be freed from my suffering." it knew that Aizen, that all of the other Espada could hear it, feel it's pain. There were a few pangs of guilt from them, more often recoils of disgust or twinges of amusement. From Aizen himself there was absolutely nothing, no response. "It hurts, it hurts, no, no, no, no, nononononono, noooooo!"
"I-I can't..." the damaged head fell open, split in half. The other head's screams died after a moment as well.
"Heh, morons. You did good, Rukia. Try not to die on us. Don't worry, I'm free for real this time."
Szayle Apporo
Let it end, please, let it end.
His brilliant mind was shattered by the centuries of pain he endured, a blade piercing his palm, slooowly reaching his chest.
A mind once teeming with ideas and calculations had given up on finding an escape after the first fifty years. After that Szayle Apporo Granz just wanted the pain to stop.
The tip of the zanpakuto reached it's target.
The pain ended.
Then he arrived in Hell.
He wished for that simple pain to come back.
Zommari
Ressureccion had been the mistake, Zommari realized. Rendering himself practically immobile in the face of a million blades, losing his head over what he had believed to be his trump card being nullified, he felt foolish over his ravings.
He'd always known about this moronic screaming fool just under the calm exterior. It was why he meditated, why he spoke so softly and carefully. Drunk on power, befitting his Aspect as Baraggan described it, but not something he was proud of.
The nameless captain moved past him. "The reason I am killing you is you pointed your sword at my pride." his own sword was beside the Arrancar's face.
Zommari knew his death was near. He pumped his arms in the air "Banzai, banzai, hail Aizen, Banzai!" not the most dignified final words, but he had pretty much thrown dignity out the window when he started screaming at the Shinigami to "Accept my Amor!"
Oh well.
Nnoitra
It wasn't right. The Shinigami had done what Nnoitra always wanted for himself. He would die fighting.
Why was it some random Shinigami, though?
He didn't care about the Shinigami captain. It was a good fight, but there was only one person he could have been satisfied with finishing him, he only realized it just now. She was also the person he himself had put in the worst position to do so, even if he could make her do it. The middle Espada stumbled and looked past his final opponent at the green haired child propped against the debris with fading eyes.
If he hadn't been such a coward, hadn't blindsided her, she would have ended him eventually, he was sure of it. Done what she should have done from their first fight, Aizen's plans for his dear Espada be damned. Too late now. Too late for regrets.
He did have regrets, though. He regretted that Nelliel hadn't done it herself.
Her eyes opened as he pitched forward.
"Nnoitra?"
Ulquiorra
Ulquiorra Cifer's bat like wing was mostly disintegrated by now, the humans looking oddly horrified at the nearing demise of their enemy. "Kill me." He was in pain but didn't, couldn't express it. He briefly wondered if that made them think he couldn't feel the pain. He could.
The boy stared at him. He really was just that clueless, wasn't he?
"Hurry, I can no longer fight. You will never get a chance to finish me if you don't"
"No."
The arrancar stared, what was that?
"I won't. This isn't how I wanted to win." He yelled. How surprising.
Stupid child, didn't he realize that he would fade into nothingness unless purified by a Shinigami zanpakuto. Ulquiorra wasn't going to beg, though, not to an enemy. "Up to the end, you never did as I thought." He turned his attention to the girl "I was just becoming interested in you humans. Are you afraid?" he reached out on a sudden impulse to touch her for... for what? Comfort? Who's? Was it... his own? There were so many questions.
Even with her Quincy friend injured, she had spared the time to watch her former captor die. Was she hurting? Would she cry? Over him? Why, what could she possibly see to relate with in him? "No, I'm not afraid."
Of course. "I see." She moved to grasp his hand but caught only a handful of dust as he finished fading.
"Now I see." It was a lie, he didn't understand her feelings, the boy's feelings. He did, however understand that it was very... human of them. They embraced their feelings, even towards him.
Perhaps, somehow, they really were better for it.
Perhaps... he was even a little sorry to go.
Ulquiorra Cifer was scattered over the desert surrounding Las Noches.
Baraggan
The King of Hueco Mundo would not die quietly. Not with a whimper. He still had enough of his body to destroy his enemy, the usurper who had pressed him into service. The other two, Harribel and Starrk, could meekly fall while still shackled to the bidding of their Shinigami overlord, but Baraggan Luisbairn would give his last breath in pursuit of what he alone desired. His head!
"You will die with me." he flung mighty Grand Ciada. The round insect who had somehow killed him recoiled in shock but the black axe soared past him at it's true target.
"You will die at my hands. You will regret giving me this power. I am a king, a god. I will not die like this. Die, Sosuke Aizen." Baraggan spat at the hateful monster.
The Segunda Espada never got to see if his blade reached the target. The last thing he saw was Aizen turn slightly to calmly observe the death of one of his deadliest assets from the corner of one eye, entirely unconcerned by the spinning projectile.
Starrk
"Black." The powerful captain called, playing the final move in the deadly game. Black? Starrk wasn't wearing any...
Starrk slashed at the white coat in front of his face and saw the other man far beneath and inside his guard an instant before his blade crossed the shadowed hole in his chest. Ah, didn't know that counted for a colored area. It wasn't really painful, his mind was already unfocused and distant from the severity of his wounds. He felt a surging sensation, like everything in his body was forcing it's way towards the wound, and began to fall.
'Am I just that stupid, to keep fighting even after I lost her? Maybe she rubbed off on me a bit after all. She'd just love that.' The Captain watched him fall and Starrk remembered that small knowing smile as he destroyed Lilynette. He had somehow known, probably by that single wolf's independence from Starrk's own obvious will, exactly what he was destroying. That Captain had known in that instant that he had won.
Perhaps dying wasn't the worst thing he could do now. He honestly didn't know if he could wake up each day knowing that Lilynette wouldn't be there. Not that he tended to wake up every day in the first place, but...
The Primera's gaze drifted towards his leader. "Sorry, Aizen. I can't repay you now." Just like with Baraggan, Aizen didn't even acknowledge his proclaimed strongest ally as he fell. Was that man worth all this?
It had bothered him for some time that Aizen's only response to the death of each Arrancar while the Shinigami took little to no losses was an unconcerned, almost satisfied smile and continued daily meetings over tea. "Don't worry about it, Primera, Grimmjow can still be of use with his remaining arm.", "Those Fraccion were of little consequence.", "Starrk, after Nnoitra falls you are to retrieve the girl and return to me. Make no move until Ichigo Kurosaki and Kenpachi Zaraki have lowered their guard."
Ah well, what was he supposed to do about it now? That was his response to everything, right? Every bit as much as the smile was Aizen's. "What am I supposed to do about it?" Lilynette was right about that.
Starrk's vision blurred "I'm not alone." He might as well be, for all the good he did anyone.
"I'm not alone." He should have done more. The others, his companions might have survived with the Primera backing them. They didn't have to like it. They would still be alive.
"I'm not alone." Lilynette, sorry. They were supposed to stay together forever, right?
"I'm not-" Darkness claimed his mind before he even landed.
Welcome, Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerback. So nice of you to join us.
Karakura, The First Day
"Starrk. Starrk! WAKE UP, DUMBASS!" a high, panicked voice shrieked.
The Arrancar gagged slightly as he woke up to a powerful smell "Ugh." It was dark. Wasn't it still daylight when he-?
"Lilynette!" Coyote Starrk jerked upright and his hand slipped on something. "You're okay?"
"...Y-yeah." She sounded shaky but unhurt in his head.
Starrk slumped a bit in relief "And me too?" Squinting in the dark, he saw that there was garbage scattered from a crushed trashcan nearby. He must have landed on it after that captain struck him down.
Oh, right. Starrk brought a hand to his chest but found only the fur collar from his Los Lobos release and his normal Hollow hole with no slash across it. What? This was defiantly Karakura but there was no damage to the surrounding buildings. He was sure he had put a cero through that one. He could also sense a lot of fairly weak reiatsu signatures. Humans?
"What the hell happened? I thought I was...and you..." the little girl's voice paused in his head "Where are we, anyway?"
"Well, it can't be the fake Karakura." he muttered "They must have switched back, and if the real town wasn't destroyed, that means we lost, huh?" Even if he did owe a debt, Starrk couldn't quite bring himself to be too upset if Aizen had lost. Their master's plans only became more unsettling the more he heard of them. But if it was...
"Who the hell saved us?" Starrk whispered.
"Um, how would I know?"
"I don't-" he cut himself off. This was no human, an Arrancar was approaching. "Quiet Lilynette."
It only took a moment before..."The Primera!" A slim male Arrancar with a long fanged helmet dropped beside the Espada. It was one of those kids from the Segunda's Fraccion. What was his name? Starrk fidgeted as he tried to remember.
"Hm? Aren't you one of Baraggan's? You're...?"
"Ggio Vega, sir." Sir? That was new.
Starrk frowned "Yeah. I defiantly saw you die."
"Uh, yes." Vega looked like he was trying to hide his confusion and anger "I remember."
"Like, nothing left." Because Starrk was nothing if not tactful.
"Yes, Primera, I know."
"Eh, sorry. I think I was too. Is anyone else around?"
"I-I woke up just a minute ago. You're the first I've seen, sir."
Hm? Baraggan's Fraccion were usually less than polite with him, in spite of his rank. Of course, Baraggan never really seemed to like him much. This guy was freaking him out a bit with the "sir" business. Whatever.
He felt the area out with his pesquia. "Hmm. No Shinigami, that's a good start, and I'm picking up several Arrancars in all directions. Can't pick out any individuals." He also felt some unusually strong humans, though Karakura was a hotbed of spiritual activity anyway. The residents almost had to average a bit higher than normal humans to cope with it, that was apparently the entire point of invading in the first place. A few of them seemed oddly strong even for that, though, and were moving.
"Head North and circle the area East, I'll go the opposite, understand." Vega nodded "Good, signal if you find anyone above Fraccion rank, will you? Also... do you sense those strong humans? The mobile ones?"
"No. Wait, yeah I got them!" Vega's expression became predatory.
"Stay away from them as best you can."
Ggio Vega looked sharply at the Espada. "I assure you that I can handle-"
"I don't care." Starrk cut him off "We're scattered and don't have a clue what's going on. The last thing that we need is attention." He gave the younger man a piercing look "Understand? We're regrouping only."
"I...yes, Master Primera." Vega muttered, jaw twitching. He sonidoed, the paper littering the ground whirling in his wake.
Starrk sighed, glad that his partner hadn't given herself away. It was probably best that one of Baraggan's men didn't learn his and Lilynette's real connection. There was almost no doubt the old man would try to kill her and regain the top spot. He dropped out of Ressureccion and the small arrancar girl materialized before him and looked at her hand as though to ensure it wasn't fading away. Her chin started to wobble as she looked at her partner "You scared the crap outta me, you moron."
"What?"
"You were gonna give up." she really was going to cry, wasn't she? Yep, she looked at the ground and big wet tears began dripping from her cheeks and the tip of her nose. "I was gonna to die for you, asshole."
He crouched beside her "Hey, you-" she punched him in the nose, her identical reiatsu signature negating his dense hierro. Starrk fell and backward clutching his now bloody nose "Ooow." he moaned. "Feel better?"
She rubbed her uncovered eye and hiccuped "A little." She giggled unexpectedly, though she was still sniffling
"What?"
"You just ordered Vega around. I'm sooo proud of my big bad Espada."
Starrk rolled his eyes and gingerly felt his nose. "I guess I'm really not in the mood for assholes tonight." He sat up with a groan. "Anyway, lets move."
"Right away, Master Primera, sir!" she mockingly saluted him.
"Shut up." he growled but patted her head gently.
At least she alright now.
Seireitei, Twelfth Division
"Lost it."
"Again?"
"All readings have returned to normal. It stopped transmitting the new signal and we didn't get a clear trace on where it was going other than somewhere in the World of the Living." Akon said tiredly. "It's back to the old repeating signal."
Captain Kisuke Urahara frowned "This cant go on. It's been ripping holes in the universe for months now, do you know the paperwork involved in that?" he tried a lame joke, Hiyori would have hit him for it if she'd been on duty.
"Paperwork that you never do." Mayuri Kurotsuchi muttered "I have much better uses of Nemu's time than covering your reports, Captain."
Urahara rubbed his eyes "Almost fifty hours. That was the most intense burst of activity we've ever gotten from it. If we can't stop it we need to find whatever is triggering these episodes."
He glanced at the dimly glowing thing that had been seemingly randomly bursting energy for two days. He could have sworn that it was watching him too. "It's going to kill us all at this rate." What was it doing?
Asilo.
NumberofWattage- Yeah, haven't posted anything in months. Anyway, this is my new ongoing. Basically Arrancar from the Bleach Universe mysteriously show up in an alternate universe where everything went nuts about 150 years ago. I'm gonna also start posting omakes at the end of chapters starting with the next one, sort of a continuation of Arrancar Encyclopedia, that will give a bit of an examination to the alternate universe setting.
