BLEACH, THE ETERNAL PATH – PART II

CITADEL OF ELOHÍM

A FANFIC BY KANKOKAGE

PROLOGUE – THE EVENT

I do not own Bleach, which is a copyright of Tite Kubo, bless his heart. Please don't plagiarize. Thank you.

A sliver of light passed through the slit in the red velour curtain covering the window of the loft, and the young man lying on the bed gave a heavy sigh as this light crossed his eyes. This light then reflected off his cornea as he slowly opened his eyelids, this reflection passing onto the floppy, fluffy teddy bear strapped by his arms, and the young man gave a second mournful sigh.

"I'm sorry Bear…" he whispered in a gentle tenor, his hand raising and brushing several strands of his long, unkempt brown hair out of his face. "I guess the sun wanted to wake you up too, huh?"

"Still sleeping with a teddy?" asked a scratchy, cruel voice directly above the young man on the bed, and he lazily raised his eyes to see a man dressed in a black overcoat hovering three feet above him, his body floating horizontally, parallel to the young man. Gray, silver hair hung down from the man's pale, almost grey-skinned head, partially shadowing his pointed nose and red eyes in the already minimal light of the loft.

"Reaver…" grumbled the young man, his brown eyes falling to the side as to not look into Reaver's dark, crimson eyes. "You don't think I have the guts to finish this?"

"Well, you're still lying here, aren't you Noble?" replied Reaver in a grisly tone. "The others are concerned that you, the Firstborn, are not heartless enough, that you were changed too early in life, too young…"

"Yeah, well…" muttered Noble, his eyes still turned away. "I grew up here, I know a lot of the people in this city. It's not an easy thing…"

"The Gemelos are thinking about exterminating you from the enclave because of your hesitation," interrupted Reaver. "They are beginning to regret granting you such prestige. I agree with them, frankly; the Citadel of Elohím is too important an artifact to leave to someone like…"

"Hey, I'm going to do it, all right?" retorted Noble, this time turning his eyes back and looking into Reaver's unpleasant face.

"For you sake I hope you do," replied Reaver after a moment, and just as soon as he had appeared he was gone, leaving Noble alone with Bear and the silence of the loft apartment.

"Dammit Reaver…" cursed Noble under his breath. "If you want it done so badly, then why don't you just do it yourself. I don't even care if I'm in the wake; in fact, I would like it. Then you could call yourself the Firstborn and deal with all this garbage…" Noble sat up and scratched his head mid-yawn, stood up to his feet, grabbed a leather bag with a long shoulder strap and placed Bear inside.

An hour later Noble stood slumped to one side as he stood atop a large hill amidst the cedars and firs overlooking downtown San Francisco, California. The unusually clear day was warm and sunny, only a few clouds in the otherwise spotless sky, and below the tall, bustling city seemed buzzing and full of life as Noble gazed mournfully upon the land of his youth.

"Never in a million years would I imagine myself in this situation," said Noble aloud to Bear, whose fluffy small torso and head were sticking out of his shoulder bag hanging near his waist. "I always thought I was a normal kid, Bear…at least until the Change. It felt so liberating, so wonderful to be freed from my pain, my sorrow…but when I realize that what has happened can never be undone, when I accept that what my mind now understands cannot be forgotten, I know that there is no other way."

Noble fell silent for a moment, looking down at Bear as if listening for a response, and in this state he stood for nearly a minute before giving a heavy, sorrow-laden sigh.

"So it is with all of us Phasma Peiors…" said Noble softly, a tear coming to his eyes as he spoke, rolling down his cheek as it grew. "The profane existence, but the knowledge and drive to delve deeper into reality, to find our source. Sorrow can only be shattered with truth, and that is what we seek, Bear. We seek truth."

Upon completion of his words, Noble straightened his posture and raised up his hands until they were perpendicular to his body with the palms open, facing the city below.

"Truth shall set you free," declared Noble, his brown eyes now beginning to shine with a bright violet glow, illuminating his tears as they fell. "But first the truth shall make you…" Energy began to ferociously collect upon his palms, the ground below shaking with instability.

"…suffer."

The energy on Noble's palms burst outward, leveling the trees below, carrying onward and blasting into the city. Cars, trains, buildings…everything was blasted away, crumbling with a tumultuous din of a dying, splitting world. Moments later, however, all was silent, the whole of downtown San Francisco ripped apart and swept away from the force, all of its residents destroyed, only bare, lifeless dirt in its place, smoothed out for miles and miles across the bay to the Pacific.

(break)

"NO!" cried out Alicia Anders as she woke with a start, her pillow and nightgown drenched in sweat. Beside her, Aiseki Kennomichi opened his eyes and slowly turned around only to find his wife nearly in tears. Pale moonlight lit the room with an eerie palette of blues and grays from the Soul Society night, and each bead of sweat glistened like a faint star rolling down Alicia's face.

"Another nightmare?" asked Aiseki softly, placing his hand up onto Alicia's shoulder in an effort to calm her.

"Y-Yeah…" stammered Alicia, still shaken even though several moments had passed since awaking. "They've been getting fewer in number though far more intense…but this one…" Without another word Alicia got out of bed, replaced her nightgown with her shinigami's uniform and walked towards the door of their house.

"Wait!" called out Aiseki, still in his warm, comfortable bed. "Where are you going?"

"I have to check on something," replied Alicia as she slid the door open to the side. "I'll be back soon, just go back to sleep honey." Alicia did not hesitate nor delay her steps one whit, and with that she was gone leaving Aiseki alone, and within seconds he fell back asleep despite his wishes to wait.

Outside, Alicia stepped quietly and lightly across the lawns of their yard and out into the Sereitei streets like a specter, successfully passing by several shinigami on nightly patrols without their even noticing her. For many minutes she ventured thusly, her speed increasing steadily as she briskly walked, and as she rounded a corner near the Bureau of Technological Development, a facility maintained and operated by Squad Twelve, she finally caught the attention of a guard on patrol.

"Stop! Who goes there…?" started the guard, brandishing his spear until he realized the identity of the woman approaching. "C-Captain Anders…forgive me…" The guard immediately bowed as Alicia walked silently past him, her only recognition being a slight wave of her hand as she walked by. Within seconds she was at the entrance of the Bureau, and with a deep breath she opened the door and stepped inside.

Over the last ten years since Alicia first came to Soul Society, many upgrades had been made to the Bureau, but the basics of the center – namely, the monitoring systems on the Real, or Mortal world, were largely the same. These systems came into view as Alicia stepped into the monitoring station with its usual residents – all of whom were very unusual in their appearance.

"Oh, good morning Captain Anders," said Akon, a bored-looking shinigami with three short, peculiar horns on his forehead. "What brings you to the Bureau so early? The sun isn't even up yet."

"Have there been any disasters on Earth in the last hour?" asked Alicia bluntly, stepping up without invitation to the wall of computers and screens. "San Francisco…is it still there?"

"Let me check, Captain," replied Hiyosu, the green, bulbous, non-human and bizarre-looking shinigami seated at one of the screens. Hiyosu's fingers disappeared into a blur as he typed.

"Thank you," replied Alicia kindly, and after a few seconds Hiyosu's voice spoke up.

"Other than a few little hollows near the Golden Gate bridge, everything seems to be fine," he replied. "I'll send a shinigami their way to take them out."

"Very good," replied Alicia with a smile as though she cared about the hollows, but inside she felt much relief. With a respectful bow Alicia turned around and left the Bureau, and soon she was back home in bed with her husband.

It seemed so real this time… thought Alicia as she lay in bed waiting to fall asleep again. Before it seemed like a fantasy, but this time, I was sure it was real. I just want them to stop; ten years is far too long to be having these dreams, and after this one I'm not too sure they're just coincidence.

Something bad is happening – and I'm scared.

Meanwhile, back at the Bureau, a strange white blip appeared on the screen in front of Hiyosu. It was in the eastern outskirts of San Francisco, and Hiyosu sighed as he saw it.

"Akon-san, the new software is malfunctioning again," said the strange shinigami. "Same signal strength, same color…"

"It's been happening for months now," replied Akon in a bored voice. "I've asked Captain Kurotsuchi to look at it, but he just insults me and walks away whenever I do."

"And now it's gone," declared Hiyosu unexcitedly as the white spot vanished. "I guess I should just ignore…them…" Hiyosu's voice slowed to a crawl as the map on the screen shifted to Great Britain where another white dot appeared – though five times as massive and growing.

"What the…?" started Akon, stepping up and leaning towards the screen. Below, Hiyosu began typing frantically as his eyes bugged out with excitement, and Akon gulped before speaking again.

"This can't be a malfunction…"

Next: CHAPTER ONE – UNTIMELY NEWS

BONUS! Hey there! Welcome to Citadel of Elohím! I'm so happy you are here, and I hope you enjoy my story! Just so you know, this is the sequel to The Viajante (hence the Part II…), and you REALLY need to read that one first before starting this one. Seriously, nothing will make sense unless you do.

Also, I'm going to be giving the comical bumper idea another shot in a couple chapters, and hopefully it will also make some seemingly nonsensical things make a little more sense (cough, Renji being a captain, cough).

The first full chapter will be out soon! Super exciting! Since this story takes place ten years after the end of The Viajante, I am taking considerable liberty with certain aspects of the Bleach canon. If you hate my decisions, I would still like it if you read it anyway, because I actually do think this is kind of good and worth reading…kinda. Now then, keep watching the skies!