-14 Years Ago-
The end of the world.
That is what was to befall this realm if the actions of the Quincy King were permitted to continue.
"Unforgivable... It is unforgivable! If you have the blood of a Quincy, you cannot help but despise the Soul King!"
"Do you still... have any reason to fight me now?! Soon... the Soul Society will no longer exist!"
"The Soul King's... sole purpose is to keep the flow of souls in and out of the Soul Society stable! And now that he's no longer here... Everything that's linked to the Soul Society... Everything made in the Soul Society... the Dangai... Hueco Mundo... even the Present World! Everything will fall apart!"
"The Soul King..."
"...will never rise again!"
Before Yhwach, who gleefully declared his victory, the Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki, and the Gotei 13 of the Soul Society, along with the Arrancar of Hueco Mundo and the Fullbringers of the Human World, fought tooth and nail to protect their worlds. Even when they had almost lost everything, and it seemed as though all three worlds would collapse, Ichigo Kurosaki, with the combined efforts of the Espada, the Fullbringers, the Humans, and even Quincy, Yhwach was finally brought down and the Soul King's existence was preserved.
While the end of the world was prevented, it is not a falsehood that the Soul King did indeed perish on that day. A lynchpin must exist if these worlds are to endure. And so a new Soul King was created to maintain the balance of the worlds. It is important that the existence known as "Soul King" continue if this world is to endure.
But his death was unmistakable.
Not just in Japan.
-9600 km away-
-United Kingdom-
-London-
A peaceful afternoon, rent asunder by fear and panic, as humans scurried along the roads, rushing to safety and shelter. The persistent earthquakes, however subtle they started, began trembling the entirety of the European metropolis. London was in chaos. Police officers were helping however they could, guiding men, women, and children to shelters spread across the city. Buildings were crumbling, streets cracking apart, lampposts collapsing and crashing onto the roads; it seemed as though the apocalypse itself had descended, and judgement day had come for the humans.
Many had put their faith into God, even those who deemed themselves non religious, praying that they and their loved ones be spared.
But God would not hear them.
God would not answer them.
God was dead.
Even so, there were those who tasked themselves the protectors of this world, from all matters supernatural.
Wing Bind, they were called. And unbeknownst to their eastern counterparts in Japan, they were the ones known as the Soul Society's western branch.
"Seismic magnitude... 8.7..."
"Is this the work of the dragons?!"
"No... Nothing's coming up on the radar for dragon activity. The source of the quakes... Why isn't there one?"
"There is. But it's..."
"Japan?"
"No, that's impossible. An earthquake originating from Japan all the way here? That's impossible!"
"Japan, huh? What are those bastards doing over there...?!"
"Alert the 'Knights' and 'Sabres'... Tell them this is a level 1 emergency...!"
-Soul Society-
It only lasted for minutes, at most, but the effect was felt by the human world. The death of the Soul King was subverted, and later, with the Quincy King's defeat...
"The path has now closed, Ichigo...!"
"The path to a world without fear..."
"The Human World, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo... They belong together as one."
"They should have been brought together, that life and death may mingle as one."
"But now that path exists no longer... All thanks to you, Ichigo."
"How disappointing."
"Because of you, life and death will not lose their form..."
"All living things will continue to live their lives in fear of death..."
"...for all eternity."
...
"Yhwach, the world that you desired to create may indeed have been devoid of fear."
"However, in a world without the fear of death, men could not face that fear and seek out hope."
"Certainly, they could keep walking onward by merely living..."
"But that would be very different from walking onward while conquering their own fears."
"That is why we give the act of walking onward a special name."
"We call it courage."
We fear that which we cannot see.
Even if we are without form, we do not stop moving forward.
TITE KUBO
-Present Day-
London in the morning is a thing of beauty. The sun shines down on the various buildings, built in the style of old while mingling with the modern, as the entire city is illuminated in a warm glow. The birds chirp, signaling the start of the day, and with their tune, the children awake to go to school while the adults ready themselves for work. And among them, there are the 'other residents' as well, whom start their day.
A woman stood at the gates of an ordinary-looking house, holding her bag in front of her as she glared toward the day, as if awaiting something, or someone. Given the all-black appearance of her uniform, it was evident that she was a student at South Blackstone Academy. It was their dress code. And that much was true. But she held a far more important identity.
"You're late, Balgo-san." she softly spoke, yet her stern tone could not be mistaken, as a shadowy figure approached her from behind, seeking to jump her. Yet once he managed to get close, the woman's clenched fist instantly struck him into the face, propelling him into the sidewalk on his back with an indented form on his face which indicated the blow's impact.
"Quick as ever, Noel-chan..." Balgo responded, muttering through the pain as he slowly hopped himself back onto his feet.
"Hm...?" Noel remarked, blinking as she looked at him. "Is that all? Usually you've already struck the ground three or four times by now."
"It's not striking the ground if you're the one throwing me, Noel-chan..." Balgo shot back, defeated, before giving her a serious look. "Why exactly do I even need to get up this early anyways... It's supposed to be winter break. I get a better chance seeing your panties in my dreams than in real life anyways..."
The two of them were walking down the street together, while continuing their conversation, though Noel remained silent for a couple moments after being irritated by another panty comment.
"Did you forget that it was thanks to your recklessness that you're a Haunted One now? And because of that, you're our responsibility now. I can't have you attracting Dragons to innocent civilians, after all."
"Even though you praised me for my bravery that time..." Balgo responded with tears in his eyes, Noel writing it off with her stoic expression.
"Hey, you two lovebirds!" a feminine voice, not belonging to Noel, called out to the two of them, as a short blonde girl approached them, her arms crossed as she glared at the both of them. "Niiha! You were supposed to meet me at the coin gate 15 minutes ago!"
"You can blame Balgo-san for that. He was preoccupied with some cement fascination."
"Rude! And after you sent me flying!"
"After you tried looking at my panties."
"Shut it! Both of you!"
"Honestly Ninii-chan, it's too early to hear your screaming voice..." Noel answered, approaching one of the old-fashioned telephone booths that were iconic of old day London. Yet these booths possessed a secret to them, for they were the entrance to where the 'other residents' lived.
All three made their way in, and as they did, the three were stuffed into the booth, Ninii and Balgo each looking annoyed as Noel stood in the middle, both their cheeks pushing up against hers as she stared out emotionless. Once they did, the doors closed, and the telephone booth began to descend into the ground below.
Before long, it had seemed to appear in another area entirely, one that resembled London in many ways but was, in truth, its counter opposite.
Reverse London, as it was called. The home of Soul Society's western branch, and home to the Wing Bind agency.
As the three exited the booth, Balgo and Ninii toppling over as they both rushed to get out, with Noel elegantly walking out after them, they were greeted by an older-looking male with a lazy demeanor and a rustled appearance.
"Ah, Noel. Ninii. Perfect timing."
"Bald chief?! What are you doing here?!" Ninii called out in surprise.
"Banx-san. I have to agree with Ninii-chan, I thought you were with Sabres now. Aren't they off doing training drills?"
"Yes, well... The Sabres actually returned late last night after hearing of the incident with Balgo-kun."
"Eh?" spoke the two witches collectively.
"In fact, the Sabres Captain wishes to speak with you both. And Balgo-kun as well, of course."
"Ehhhh?!"
This world of dragons, witches, and much more... The universe of Bleach... is just getting started!
BURN THE WITCH
BURN tHE WITCH
BLEACH
This is where our story begins.
Author's Note: Hello everyone, it's great to be writing for you guys again. Unfortunately, my other stories haven't exactly panned out as I would have liked, and while I haven't given up on finishing them, I decided that one of my biggest issues in writing was that I was focusing too much on rewriting existing material instead of designing more original content. With the release of Kubo's one-shot, Burn the Witch, and the revelation that it takes place within the same universe as Bleach, I decided it would be great to explore a fully-expanded story for Burn the Witch, since it's unlikely that Kubo will ever get it serialized. But here's hoping!
Here is the official synopsis for this series:
BLEACH: BURN THE WITCH is a fan-written story by Silver-Haired Seireitou. It takes place immediately following the one-shot, Burn the Witch, written by Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach. It takes place within the Bleach universe, 14 years after the defeat of the Quincy King Yhwach, and is centered on the two witches, Noel Niihashi and Spangle Ninii, who serve the supernatural agency of Wing Bind that deals in the conservation and protection of Dragons, along with Balgo, a human that was infected by a Dark Dragon, and is now under the protection of Wing Bind. In the aftermath of the Soul King's death, and the events that followed, several religious cults had begun to form all throughout the world because of the earthquakes that were occurring at that time, even in Europe. With fear and propaganda circulating London in the midst of these religious cults, the threat of more Dark Dragons emerging increases by the day. Yet, in spite of that, Wing Bind soon comes to realize that the true danger may lie with the humans themselves.
For those of you unfamiliar with Burn the Witch, rest assured; I will be writing this story with the assumption that nobody is already aware of Burn the Witch's content. Wing Bind, Dragons, the West Branch, and so on, will be explored more in-depth with my next chapter; this chapter was meant to serve as a set-up for the series, so forgive me that it is short. In fact, I believe my first couple of chapters will indeed be short. I think, if I am to really get myself into working on this story on a regular basis, I will need to hit the ground running instead of spending too long on each chapter.
Because this will be an original story that stems off from Burn the Witch's one-shot, there will be PLENTY of fan-made content here. So I feel the need to clarify, from now, that if you are unsure what is canon and what is fan-made in my story, please go and read the Burn the Witch one-shot. Although I will make sure to detail the content from the one-shot in future chapters, the story itself takes place after the one-shot's events. For those who obsess over timelines, this story starts exactly 2 days after the Burn the Witch one-shot's events.
Anyways, hope that covers everything. I am actually quite excited for this story, so hopefully I manage to keep up with it, and I hope it interests you guys enough that you'll want to keep up with it too. Please read Burn the Witch as told by yours truly! Until next time!