Title: Kingdom of Darkness
Author: Eloni
Series: Bleach
Pairing: Grimmjow x Neliel
Summary: A new, young king ascends the throne to prevent a kingdom from sinking into chaos. It's a whole different thing that said king might be worse than chaos itself. Historical/Fantasy AU
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.
The massive leaves of the folding door bounced back from the marble walls with a loud bang as a tall figure pushed them open. He marched into the throne room, leaving bloody footprints behind. His cold, piercing gaze swept his surroundings.
The silence was deadly; all too contrasting to the chaos of the world outside of the palace. His eyes settled on the empty throne and he inhaled deeply, a grin tugging at his lips. His grip tightened on his sword and on the elegant crown held between his fingers, both dripping with blood.
He stepped forward, unconsciously holding his breath. This was it; he'd been waiting for this for such a long time.
His grin was widening by the moment as he was walking up the stairs leading to the throne. He stopped in front of it, gazing at it for a couple of seconds before he slowly sat down, his hands sliding forward on the armrests. He let out a long sigh. This must have been the most comfortable chair in the entire world.
Mad laughter erupted from him, shaking his whole body as his brain finally caught up and registered that it was his and his alone. With a sudden move, he threw the crown against the wall, still roaring with laughter. The fragile jewellery crushed under the heavy force, little gems and pearls flying in all directions, the blood on them smearing the carpet as they fell onto the ground.
"Your kingdom is mine, Aizen…"
***
Her eyes opened slightly at the sound of distant shouting. She wished she had remained unconscious, though. The sight of corpses all around her, some of them being her late comrades, and the smell of smoke and burnt flesh made the darkness and ignorance appealing.
"Hey, this one is still alive!"
She closed her eyes tiredly at the sound of the harsh yelling. She heard footsteps nearing her and soon a figure was blocking the rays of the sun from her eyes. An arm grabbed her shoulder and another one tore her helmet from her head, throwing it away. Oh well, it was damaged anyway, split open by a heavy broadsword after her horse had thrown her. The memory brought back the pain and her head started to pound where the sword had hit her.
"Oh, look at this, a lady knight!" the man shouted with almost childish glee. She turned her head and squinted up at him. She was met with the sight of a man looking down at her with one eye, the other, which was probably missing, was covered by his messy hair. "It's a pity that I'll have to kill such a pretty thing as you, milady, but it's not wise to leave the enemy alive." With that said, he pulled out his sword and was ready to slice her throat when a voice stopped him.
"Wait. You're being careless again," came the admonition. Seconds later, another man walked into her field of vision.
"Aw, come on Shawlong, you're always ruining my fun."
"You don't want Grimmjow to hear that. I wonder what he'd do to you if he knew that you have killed beaten, half-dead people before robbing them of their possessions?"
"Maybe he wouldn't even care."
"Maybe. Or maybe he'd gut you on the spot. You don't want to find out. Now be quiet and get away from her."
The smaller man pulled a face but stood up and disappeared from her sight. Even though the black haired man was surprisingly gentle, Neliel gasped painfully when she was turned onto her back.
"Ah, just as I suspected." The one named Shawlong murmured, his long, bony fingers trailing over the broad golden necklace that she was wearing outside of her armour. Numerous square shaped pieces were strung on three thinner chains, adorned by red gems. It hung from her shoulders, forming a perfect semicircle. "So you're the leader of the knights." Shawlong spoke up and motioned to somebody. "Then you may still be of use to us."
***
He slumped into the throne – his throne, he reminded himself mentally and realised that he might be a tad bit obsessed - as the door closed behind his retreating generals. Damn, this had been a long, tiring day and it wasn't even over yet.
Despite his exhaustion, a lazy grin spread over his lips. It seemed like they had won every essential battle and that made him swell with pride. Even though they did need Soul Society's help to win over Aizen, the final result – the bastard and most of his loyal followers biting the dust – was good enough to disregard that. With some luck, Soul Society's troops would be out of Hueco Mundo in less than a week.
He was startled as the door opened again. He was about to tell off whoever entered but when he saw the familiar faces of his comrades, he settled back down.
"Is everyone alive?" he asked off-handedly. It wasn't like he didn't care, but he certainly wouldn't shed tears for any of them.
"Yes. Il Forte is wounded pretty badly but he'll live." Shawlong replied as they stopped in front of the stairs leading to the throne. Grimmjow noticed just then that Di Roy and Edorad were carrying someone with them. "Ah yes, we brought one of the survivors with us."
The two men stepped forward, holding a woman clad in steel under her arms. From the way her knees buckled it was obvious she wouldn't have been able to hold herself upright otherwise, especially with all that metal weighting down on her.
"So what?" Grimmjow snorted. "Just put her in jail or something."
"Would you take a closer look… at this?" the older man asked and pointed at the necklace.
Grimmjow's eyes narrowed and he stood up, walking down to the others at an easy pace. He took the necklace between his fingers, smoothing down on the gems and golden links with his fingertips.
"Head knight, are you?" he snickered. "It's not often that one meets a lady knight, let alone one who is the leader of the order." He glanced up to the woman's face, waiting for some kind of reaction.
She was looking at him with slightly hazy eyes. Blood was matting her hair in places, turning it a dull brownish colour. Her cheeks were dirtied and bruised, just like probably many other parts of her body obscured by all that steel. If it weren't for the ornate breastplate and the finely wrought details all over the armour, she would have been a sorry sight to behold. However, if Grimmjow wanted to be honest to himself he – the king - looked quite poorish compared to her with his simple black and brown leather armour.
"I guess we'll have to keep you around for a little while." He said and let go of the necklace. "What's your name, knight?"
"Neliel… Tu Oderschvank." She breathed, trying not to wince as the cut on her scalp started to pound and burn again.
"Are you aware of the outcome of the war?"
She was silent for a while before she lowered her head.
"I assume we lost…" she said in a low voice before her eyes shot up at him, the haziness disappearing completely. "…to a bunch of barbaric, rebelling misfits."
Her eyes widened when the man broke down laughing like she had said the funniest thing ever. A gasp tore itself from her throat when her chin was grasped roughly and pulled forward.
"This bunch of barbaric, rebelling misfits just dethroned an usurper who conquered Hueco Mundo with deceit and controlled the real king with questionable tactics." Grimmjow snarled into her face angrily, his grip tightening further. "The war has been raging for a long time between Aizen and Soul Society. He just used Hueco Mundo as a tool to conquer other lands. Don't you understand that he didn't give a damn about us?!"
"And now that both Lord Aizen and Lord Barragan are dead, you took it upon yourself to be the king? How chivalrous of you." She said, a smirk tugging at her lips.
"I don't appreciate sarcasm." He growled and roughly turned her head to the side. "Look at that," he ordered and pointed toward the floor next to the wall. Neliel's breath hitched as she set eyes on the crown she had seen Lord Aizen wearing. It was battered, almost crumpled and many of its gems had fallen out of their settings. "That's Aizen's power, that's his kingship. Now that he is dead, it isn't worth shit. I don't need that crown to be the king. This bunch of rebelling misfits might have been the lucky third party in this war but I can assure you that we are the lesser evil here. Unless you want this country to be ruled by someone from Soul Society, be it either Aizen or anyone else, you will come to the same realisation."
"A chaotic man such as you would never be able to lead a country." Neliel answered defiantly, turning her eyes back at him.
"We will see." He grunted and tilted her head up, looking straight into her eyes. "Tell me, are you loyal to Aizen?"
Her lips parted but she hesitated for a minute before answering.
"I'm loyal to this kingdom and its people." She said definitively.
The grin that spread over his lips was distressing.
"Then welcome aboard, milady, because from now on, I am this kingdom."
A/N: OK, this was random. But chapter 371 was too inspiring and I had to write this out of myself.
I think I could have written the story taking place in Bleachverse too, but the medieval setting seemed more appealing at the time. So what, I LOVE AU fics! Guess I went for the King/Knight thing with GJ and Nel.;) Oh well, I might write another version of this what takes place in Bleachverse and turn that one into a multichaptered fic. Or should I just continue this one? Or both??DX You choose, people. Multitasking FTW!! DX