Foreword
Where does a person's story begin? Is it when they're born? Is it when they gain the knowledge necessary to think? I believe it begins when that person discovers their true purpose. That is when that person truly realizes what they're here for. For some it's a great and noble purpose. For others it's merely to live a normal life then die. Not everyone accomplishes a great feat that gets them remembered in the annals of history till the ends of time and space. I always hoped I would be one of those people, but I always shook it off like I was just daydreaming. The day everything turned around in my life was an… interesting one, to say the least, but I'll never forget it. It begins at Twilight's Peak.
Twilight's Peak
Uno: On the Other Side, There is no Green, Only Blackness
I was your average teenager, living an average life, with you're average teenage problems. You know; girls. Seventeen years old, a senior in high school and still I don't have a license. I'm not really worried about it though, not my biggest concern.
I lived my life fairly well, I had an anger problem sometimes, but I usually kept myself calm around people. Growing up in a small town has been a boring experience for me but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Everything I love is in this place, my family, my friends, everything.
Everyday I wake up, go to school and hopefully something cool happens, but usually it's pretty peaceful. But that day, that fateful day that my story began was a little different.
"Mikhail, wake up! You're such a bum sometimes." My little brother said to me that morning getting me to wake up.
With a rather wide yawn, I tried to answer him. "I am not a bum." I yawed once more. "I'm a jerk"
"Yeah, you're that too." My little brother laughed at me cause of how ridiculous I looked sprawled out on my bed, like I am every morning. He'd seen it hundreds of times before, yet everyday he delights in torturing me for it.
"Jared, get out of my room you fag!"
"Fine I'll get out of your room you ass!" Jared said through his laughter.
Now I was awake and hungry so I found my way to the kitchen downstairs and ate some food. This is the exciting part of the morning so far. I don't think I should go through the events of that morning in complete detail, so let's go on to school.
The hallowed halls of my school are so old the walls move when you push on them. At least I think that's why… maybe the place just sucks. Either way, this place has never been much to look at. But, there are good points to my school, like the people in it. My friends are what keep me coming to this God-forsaken building.
"Good morning, Mik!" my friend Nik said to me in a very hyper tone. He had an energy drink that morning apparently.
"What's so good about it, dude?" I wasn't quite awake yet at this point so I'm stuck in apathy mode. I stood there by him for a minute or two and then from down the hallway came running a small energetic black kid with the biggest afro you could ever see.
"Oh great, here comes Kenny." I smiled as I watched him run towards us.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY GUYS!" Kenny was excited about something, but what about I had no idea. He said what it was but I wasn't really interested. As he jumped around, a girl with quite the agitated look on her face kicked Kenny down the hallway.
"Calm yourself you crazy midget!" The girl yelled at him.
"Jesus, Bunny, was that really necessary? You could have killed him with that kick." I said to her with a laugh, but she didn't seem to find it too funny.
"Shut up, Justin!" She was one of the few people that called me by my real name. I didn't say anything to her about it because I was too afraid for my life to correct her.
Nik hugged her and she looked like she was calming down, but she has some issues so that may not last too long. "Mik's right, babe, you really do need to calm down."
"Now don't start with me." She was a strict girl with her boyfriend. She was never someone to be controlled. She always had to hold the strings.
But I was done with this group of people so I went to another area of the school to look for some other friends. Down at the end of the main hallway I found one of the best friends I'd ever had in my life. Kegan Vaughan. We've been through so much trouble together over the years but we've always managed to have each other's back. But right now, he's got something else on his back. His most prized possession, a black guitar that he's had for about two years now. He loves that guitar like it's his child.
"What's up guitar man?" I joked with him about it but he knows it's just jest, we mess with each other all the time.
"Nothing much, just hanging out here waiting for Terry to show up." He answered. Terry was another friend of ours. We've known him since last year. But not two seconds after he answered my question did someone appear by us, but it was an angry, evil, and just plain hurtful soul and it had fists.
"What. Is. The. Matter. With. You?!" Said the fisted soul, making every word sound like its own sentence. The next second Kegan was on the other side of the hallway, having been launched over there by the awesome might of the fists. Luckily the guitar was somehow unharmed.
"Damn Marie, what did he do this time?" I looked at her and she seemed less angry now. Guess she just needed to let out the frustration. The young blond haired sophomore gave me a look like she'd never seen me before.
"Oh, hi Mik. I didn't even see you there haha." She laughed like Kegan wasn't nearly unconscious just ten feet away. "How are you doing today?"
Me and Marie didn't get along very well last year but we decided we should try to be friends. "I'm fine, can't say the same for Kegan though." I looked over at my friend whose lights were fading fast. She looked over at him and her look changed once again and her eyes back to being full of rage.
She proceeded to walk up to him, grab him by his collar, and slapped him dead in the face repeatedly until he woke up. "Idiot! Don't ever ignore me when I'm trying to tell you something!"
"I'm sorry, it's just a really hot girl walked by and I lost focus." Kegan tried to defend himself, but I could tell this wasn't going to end well for him.
"That's a crappy excuse. And besides, you didn't just lose focus. You completely stopped paying attention to me and even just walked away like I wasn't there. What do you have to say for yourself this time?"
"I… uh… I got nothing." The brave warrior was defeated.
"Uh huh, that's what I thought. I'm going to let you off lightly this time, but don't do it again. Got it?!"
"Yes ma'am." He said with a slight whimper. She let him go and just stormed off.
"Well… if that was lightly then next time she's just going to kill you, man." I said to my friend as he got to his feet.
"I hear that." He said. We shared a laugh and didn't think twice about what just happened with the raging blond. As we waited for our friend Terry to show up Kegan played his guitar a little and I played a little too. I can guitar myself, I'm pretty good. Not the best, but I'm at least decent. Kegan says I'm better then him but I think we're more or less the same. There's stuff I do that he can't, and stuff he does that I can't. So yeah, basically even.
I'll never forget the chill that overcame my body moments latter. A great pressure began weighing me down. I almost fell to my knees; the strength of that pressure was too much for me. My senses seemed to be fading from me. My vision blurred and all sound grew faint to where the loudest thing sounded like a whisper. There was but one thing that I could see clearly; a man walking through the fogged crowds in the hallway. I couldn't help but feel estranged by this figure although he was the only thing that I was able to focus on. I tried moving my feet but they were like lead holding me firmly on the ground. I struggled with walking but I managed to get mobile in time to follow the vision that was this man. I wasn't sure if he noticed me following him, but I could tell that not one person in the hallway saw the way I was moving as though gravity chose to play games with me. I tried calling to the man but no sound left my mouth. He began to move faster or I was moving slower but either way I was losing sight of him. Soon even he became a blur and not even the slightest bit of sound could be heard in my ears. All the world then turned to darkness.
Light penetrated the darkness and I could feel that I was lying in a bed. Movement of my arm told me that the bed was against a wall. I opened my eyes and I saw that I was in a small room with one door through which I could see a desk with a woman sitting in it. I had been in this room before. This was the back room of the nurse's office. I pushed myself up and onto my feet and walked to the open doorway.
"You shouldn't be out of bed." The woman said to me looking down at some papers. "You seem unsure of why you're here." She looked up at me in the doorway.
"Only slightly." I answered her. I knew my reason for being here, but I wanted to know her reason.
She looked back down at her papers and wrote something down on one. "You passed out on the floor in the middle of the main hall. The students that saw you laying there swear you had been twenty feet from them only a moment before. Your friend, Mr. Vaughan confirmed this. He said that only a second before you were on the ground you had handed him his guitar after playing a few songs on it."
It had all taken place in the matter of a second. What seemed like an eternity of chasing that strange man was only mere moments? "Well, thank you for watching over me, but I feel fine." I just wanted to leave that room.
"I'd rather you not go just yet. Don't want to run the risk of you having another spell, do we?" The nurse was just doing her job, but I wasn't going to stay in there another minute.
"No, but I think I can keep my wits about me from now on." I started for the door but just as I was about to reach for the knob I paused. "One place, one moment. Another place the next?"
The nurse was silent.
I grabbed the doorknob and left the clinic.
As I walked down the hallway, I heard the band rehearsing and that told me that it was 2nd Block. I'd been lying in the nurse's office for over an hour. I kept thinking about that man that I followed for the whole of one second. What was he doing here? Why was I the only one that could see him? It all seemed so weird, I couldn't help but have a chill run down my spine. I walked toward my class until I saw a friend of mine ushering some people further down the hall.
"Alright everyone, come this way. I, Kodi Sniezko, am your guide today through this illustrious and historic place known as Twilight High School. This way, this way." He signaled everyone to go in a certain direction. I got a look at a badge that one of the people was wearing and I thought it was weird that he'd be acting like some sort of tour guide to people who are only here to inspect the kitchen.
"Hey Kodi, what's up?" I said to him.
"Oh, hey Mik. Nothing really, I'm just trying to get these people to the cafeteria. Come on, move it you bums!" I've never seen him this agitated. These must be real idiots.
He disappeared around a corner and I kept walking to my 2nd block class. When I finally got there I just walked in and dropped into a desk, put my head down, and thought more about the weird guy from earlier. Those thoughts didn't last very long though because the bell rang and everyone started leaving. I just stood up and left like I do everyday. As I walked down the hallway it was obvious to everyone that something was on my mind. One girl stopped me in the hallway.
"Mik, you ok, you look like your cat died or something." The girl said to me.
"Huh? Oh, hey Ashley. How are you today?" I was avoiding the question. But something told me she knew I was.
"Don't avoid the question! What's wrong, dude?" She always tries to act cool around me like I'm a cool guy in school.
"Didn't you hear about what happened to me this morning?" I tired hiding the whole truth with only partial truth.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that. That's scary, man. Is that what's freaking you out"
"Yeah, it was really weird." I sighed and I walked into the lunchroom with her. We got in the line with some of her friends and some of them kind of gave me a look like I was a freak show but it didn't matter, they're a bunch of stupid gangster wanna-be's. Ashley and maybe a couple of other ones were the only cool ones. As we started going through the line, a commotion came from behind the cubby holes in the lunchroom. Out of nowhere, a very familiar face went flying through the lunchroom and hit a door. The lunchroom erupted in laughter.
"Was that… my brother?" I was disturbed slightly.
"I can NOT believe you actually just grabbed my ASS you little freshman! Not even your brother was brave enough to do that! You've got guts to do that, but you had to pay the price." Said an all too familiar voice.
Out from behind the cubbies came a girl with quite the large… um… ego.
"Now what do you have to say, huh?" Said the girl.
"It… was… worth
it." My brother says moments before he passes out.
"Good
answer I guess." The girl said. She turned to get in the line and
saw me standing there with quite the bewildered look on my face. All
of a sudden I burst into laughter myself.
"Wow, Christina, I never thought Jared had it in him. I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed."
"Well, I guess both." She laughed. I looked down at Jared's body laying there in a heap and thought to myself that he would want the nap. No one ever bothered to move him or get him up, people just stepped over him to get by.
Skipping ahead a little bit more again. Lunch didn't have anything too special happen in it.
Once the bell rang to end lunch, I was finally able to go to the best class of the day, Yearbook Class. The only class I have with my best friend, Jeremy. Just like me though, he has a nickname that everyone calls him.
"Hey, Zethal, how are you doing today?" I asked him walking into the classroom.
"Oh, hey Mik, I'm doing pretty well. Stupid diets my mom keeps coming up with are getting annoying though." He clutched his stomach from hunger.
"Dude, your mom has been doing this for almost a year now; doesn't she think you've lost enough weight? I mean jeez you weigh less then me now!" I'm so skinny, I'm a rail.
"Really? I haven't weighed myself in awhile so I don't know how much I weigh now." He started to say something else when all of a sudden the school shook violently and screams could be heard all throughout the school. Me and Zethal looked at each other and ran out the door into the hallway to see what was going on. There was a mass panic going on in the building and people were running in our direction from front lobby and the adjoining hallways in the main hallway. Through the crowd, a lone fro stuck out over everyone's heads and we ran to go get to it.
Kenny was trying to direct people out of the building as quickly as he could, he was really taking charge. When we got to him he looked relieved.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys, now I can get out of here. See ya!" He tried to run away but I grabbed his shirt and stopped him.
"What happened, Kenny?" Zethal asked him.
"I don't know, there was that earthquake and then everyone started freaking out and people were saying something about a flash coming from the gym and then running out of the building."
"A flash coming from the gym? What kind of flash?"
"Some weird purple flash of light, I don't know what it was!"
"I'm going to the gym, Zethal, you go find Kegan. Kenny, stay here and keep directing traffic." I wanted to know if this flash had anything to do with the weird occurrences this morning. I ran one way while Zethal ran another and we just left Kenny there alone with his fro.
A few steps from the gym door, another violent quake shook the building and a purple flash resonated from the doors to the gym. I reached my hand out to grab the handle of the door but once my hand touched it an immense pressure began pushing down on my body and it felt like even my very soul was being forced from it's vessel. Somehow I still managed to open the door and inside there stood a very familiar person.
"Nik?" What was he doing in here? It's dangerous.
"Right on time, just as he said." Nik pointed at another man in the room. This man was standing before a vast void in the room. His arms outstretched as if welcoming the abyss. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was the man I chased this morning before passing out. The man turned around and I saw he had a blindfold on.
"Welcome young Mikhail. I've been expecting you. Now, Lord Aizen's dream can be fulfilled." The man was dark skinned and wore his hair in dreadlocks.
"Are… are you blind?" I strained to talk.
"Physically, yes, but my eyes do not blind me from justice, which is what shall be enforced here today. In the name of all that is righteous and justifying, I shall carry on my Lord Aizen's work here today." He turned back to the black hole behind him and drew a sword from his belt. "My the might of my blade of justice, Suzumushi, and my will to travel along the path of the least bloodshed, rid this world of it's pain and suffering and bring back the soul of my Lord Aizen. Bakudo #0 Resurrection Sanctuary."
At this point, Zethal, Kegan, Kenny, Christina, Jared, Kodi, and Ashley burst into the gym and instantly fell to the floor from what seemed to be the same pressure pushing down on me. Nik stood there without bating an eye as something began to swirl within the void. The man still stood there with his sword. In an instant, the man was struck down where he stood by a bolt of pure black energy that pierced his body and left almost his whole right side of him utterly destroyed.
The man fell to his knees, bloodied and shocked. He coughed up blood and raised his head high and screamed in rage. "Lord Aizen! Why? Lord Aizen! What about… my… justice…" he dropped to the floor lifeless. His body dispersed into the nothing and the portal that he opened began to randomly fire electricity and destroy everything around it. A small bolt went straight through Nik's throat and he collapsed on the spot.
I watched in horror as everything I knew was falling apart before my eyes. Then I saw him. A man with brown hair and a sinister smile with evil eyes walked slowly towards me as I tried to hold on to my life.
"You certainly are a strong one, young human. See you on the other side." He said to me and as he walked away, all turned to black.
Dos: His Legacy Falls, the Other One Rises Again
"Hey did you hear?"
"What?"
"The Head-Captain died this morning."
"What?!"
"Are you serious?"
"That's what I heard…"
"Wow… can't believe it…"
There comes a time in every man's life when he must eventually pass on. No matter how invincible someone seems, death is an inevitability we all must face. I feel the way someone dies shows a lot about a person life and character. To die a calm and serene death shows that you have been content with how the years went. To die restlessly it shows stubbornness and a willingness to live. When the old man died, no soul felt joy. Sorrow spread throughout the Soul Society. Even the world of the living seemed to be darker on that day.
"Lieutenant Ulquiorra, wake up!" said a voice from outside.
"Mmhmmmm… mmm… huh?" I opened an eye to look at the door.
"Lieutenant, are you awake yet? You need to go to the Captain's room."
"Uh… ok, tell the Captain I'll be there as soon as possible." I got up out of my bed and put on my robes. I walked out my door and heaved a great sigh. It's been 60 years since that day and yet I still have dreams about it all the time. I still don't know anything about what happened that day either. I haven't told anyone about it and I'm the only one that knows about that man I saw, unless no one else has mentioned it either. I wonder… could he have been the "Lord Aizen" that blind man was referring to? Just who exactly were they?
In 60 years, a lot has changed for everyone. When we got here we were all separated, having appeared in the Soul Society in different places. Kenny and I were found in West Rukon 25th District, Zethal in East Rukon 67th District, and Kegan was unfortunate enough to be in the 79th District. Kodi and another friend of ours were the luckiest of us all though, they both were found in the estates of two noble families, the Kuchiki clan had Kodi, and the Shihoin had our friend Kendra. When most of us got here we quickly discovered our names did not fit in with everyone else's. We went by our normal names for the first few years we were here but about 5 years after we arrived in the Soul Society we all started joining the Gotei 13, or the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. We did some research on the past events in the Soul Society and I wanted to know more about Hollows, which are evil spirits that were once the souls of humans but have been warped by hatred. While studying the most powerful Hollows that ever existed, the tope ranked were known as the "Espada." The Espada were a group of ten Hollows that had their masks removed to become Arrancar, which are plainly just Hollows that have removed their masks. Descriptions of each Espada told of a man that led them against the Soul Society long ago, but the name of this man has been lost for some time.
It was in the research that I decided upon how each of us that was from Twilight was to name ourselves. We each adopted the first name of an Espada as our last name. I became Mikhail Ulquiorra, after the Cuatro Espada, or Fourth Sword, Ulquiorra Schiffer. Zethal shortened his Espada name; he adopted Grimm as his last name form the Sexta Espada, or Sixth Sword, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. We were the only ones that kept names from our lives as our names in Soul Society but we officially dropped our real names through this.
I'll give details on everyone else later, but as for now, this is all you need to know. My name is Mikhail Ulquiorra; I am the Lieutenant of the 13th Squad in the Gotei 13.
I kept walking on my way to the Captain's office when someone called my name and jumped over a railing onto the walk in front of me.
"Hey, where are you going, Mik?" said the girl in front of me.
"To Captain Ukitake's office. What do you want, Arare?"
"Oh nothing, I was just wondering what you were up to." She gave me this really innocent look like I was supposed to think something but I wasn't too interested. "Well, see ya!" She jumped back over the railing and was gone.
"Wow… that was random." I said to myself with a little laugh. But I couldn't just stand there, I had to keep going. When Captain Ukitake calls you to his office so early it has to be serious.
When I arrived at the office, I knocked on the door. A voice came from inside.
"Yes?"
"This is Lieutenant Ulquiorra; you summoned for me, Captain?" I answered.
"Ah, yes I did, come on in, Mikhail." Said the voice in reply.
I opened the door and walked into a good sized room with all sorts of books and archives in shelves. A desk sat in the back of the room where a man with long, white hair was seated. Captain Ukitake is one of the oldest and most respected of all Soul Reapers. It is quite the honor for anyone to serve under him. As I approached his desk he began to cough a little violently.
"Oh my, I'm sorry about that." He apologized. He suffers from Tuberculosis, but lately he hasn't been affected by it very much. For a long time he was unable to carry out many of the duties of a captain, so he's had his trusted officers take care of things for him.
"Why is it that you called for me, Sir?" I was very curious.
"Sit down, you might need to." He offered and held his hand out to the seat in front of the desk. I sat down, a little nervous about what he was going to tell me. "I'm not sure if you've heard yet or not, but Head-Captain Yamamoto died late last night."
"What?!" That didn't seem possible. "How could he just die?"
"Well, he was a very old man; more then 2000 years old. I know it seems unbelievable." None of this seemed like it could be happening. I remember the old man since all the way back to when I first entered the Gotei 13. He would always inspect the new recruits and try to get to know us, and he could remember people very well for an old timer.
This couldn't be all he had called me up here for. This is very big, but that's not it, I can tell.
"Is that what you called me for?"
"No, actually, it's not, that was just to tell you why I am going to tell you what I am about to tell you. I have been asked to take on the title of Head-Captain and become the new captain of Squad 1."
"Captain, that's wonderful! Are you going to accept?" This was perfect for him; he would be a great Head-Captain.
"I'm not sure, being Head-Captain is a great honor, but also comes with great deal of responsibility. Plus, I can't just leave my squad. I have a duty to be a strong captain to my squad and stay by them. However, in the event that I did accept the position, I would need someone that I could count on to become to next captain. I believe that could be you, Mik. That's the other reason that I called you here."
"Captain, you can't be serious. I'm not captain material." I didn't feel ready to be a captain at all.
"Hmm, are you sure? Mikhail Ulquiorra, Lieutenant of Squad 13. Graduated from the Academy in 4 years, only because he wanted to get more training in before joining the Gotei 13, you wanted to ensure that you would acquire a seated position higher then 10 but it had already been decided that you would become Lieutenant. Also… I know that you have achieved Bankai." That's impossible; I haven't told anyone except Zethal.
"How could you know about that?"
"There's very little I don't know about my officers." He smiled.
"Well… I'm not good at controlling my Bankai. I only was just able to get it. I'm not sure I'm even ready to handle it with my spiritual pressure. It's very weak. I can only sustain it for about 2 minutes."
"Well, the
requirements for captain don't say you have to be able to do it
well, it just says to have achieved Bankai, and you've done
that."
"I can't accept being a captain right now, I'm not
cut out for it, and I haven't done anything too magnificent to
really deserve it."
"Well, right now you don't have to worry about it, as of yet I have not accepted being the Head-Captain, so I am still captain of the 13th Squad. I'll keep you updated on what becomes of the position, but right now you should go prepare for the funeral processions for Head-Captain Yamamoto. They begin at dusk."
"Yes sir. And thank you for having faith in me. I believe that you could make a great Head-Captain."
"Thank you for having faith in me. I'll be waiting for you outside the squad barracks for the funeral."
"Yes Captain." I left the room and walked back to my quarters to prepare for the funeral services. It's hard to believe that the Old Man is gone. It's going to be weird without him watching over us.
When I made it to my room I just stood there for a moment and thought over the things that the captain just told me. None of it seemed to be happening. How could he think that I could possibly be a captain yet?
The funeral was in 7 hours, that's 7 hours that can decide what's going to happen in my future. I gathered my composure and left my room again and set off for the Squad 8 building. It was time to go see Zethal and tell him what just happened. When I got to the exit of the Squad 13 building I noticed a girl standing there with a number of new recruits. I knew the girl was a seated officer but I couldn't remember what seat. I approached her and the recruits. When she noticed my presence she saluted me and the recruits did as she did.
"Lieutenant Ulquiorra, Hanami Mename, 7th Seat Officer of Squad 13, reporting, sir!" Something about her was so familiar but I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"At ease, Mename. You must not be used to things very well in this squad. In this squad we're all friends, no need for formalities like that. However, your respect is well appreciated." I chuckled at her. She had multi-colored hair that was purple, blue, blonde, and many other colors. "What are you doing with these recruits, Mename?"
"Oh please, Lieutenant, since we're not so formal, call me Hanami." She smiled at me.
"Ok then Hanami. What are you doing with the recruits?" I smiled back.
"I'm preparing them for the funeral. Also, these are the newest recruits so they need to be shown the barracks and all, and Captain Ukitake put me in charge of that."
"Ok then, go on with your duties. I am on my way somewhere so I need to get there. As you were, Hanami." I smiled and walked on past her. As I went on to the Squad 8 barracks all I could think about was what the captain spoke to me about. It was stuck on my mind. But my attention was taken away from the subject when I got to the barracks. Before I could even reach to open the entrance, Zethal stepped out from it drenched in sweat.
"Whoa, Mik, what's up man?" He was surprised to see me.
"A lot actually, I'll tell you in a minute. Why are you all covered in sweat, dude?"
"What, this? This is uh… just the usually training."
"I see. Well then, let's go to your place. You've got no idea the kind of morning I've had."
When we got to his home I told him everything about Captain Ukitake and my possible promotion.
"Wow… just… wow." He was shocked.
"I know right, this is all so sudden."
"Are you going to accept?"
"I don't know, I really don't think I'm ready."
"Don't think you're ready? You are one of the most talented and powerful Soul Reapers in all of the Gotei 13, you are one of the most respected Lieutenants, and you've achieved Bankai. What do you mean you're not ready?"
"I just don't think I have the experience that's necessary."
"Well how are you supposed to get the experience at being a captain if you're not a captain?"
"Well… I guess you have a point there."
He laid back on his bed and looked up at his roof. "Man, if I'd have been given the chance to be a captain, I'd have taken it at that instant."
"Well I guess I'm just different."
"Yeah…" There was a pause. "Well, got to start preparing for the funeral. See you there man."
"Right, see ya Zethal." I left and headed back to the Squad 13 barracks to prepare as well. Today will mark a new era in the Soul Society.
The funeral began as sun began to set in the skies of the Soul Society. Everyone was in mourning for the loss of a titan. A man that stood as a symbol of power and strength was gone. It didn't seem possible to many of those that knew him closely. Everyone amassed to the service. There were those that wept and there were those that stood strong in his wake. The Captains and their Lieutenants stood in a row before the body of the deceased legend that had ended after being written for so long. A spokesman was chosen to give a speech and it was Captain Ukitake. When he took his place before the crowd not a single person put their attention elsewhere. All eyes were fixed upon him.
"As you all know all too well, Head Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai left our world yesterday. We are all here now, at dusk the day after his passing that we gather to honor this man and not mourn his departure, but remind ourselves about what he stood for and was for all those he touched. He was a leader, a devout keeper of justice, and a father to all those that ever set foot on the hallowed grounds of the Soul Society. We shall all carry on his legacy and…" he was cut off by an alarm that sounded through the massive congregation. A figured moved quickly through the people and approached Captain Ukitake.
"Captain Ukitake, sir, there's an emergency in the Human World." The man spoke.
"What's the emergency?" The Captain asked.
"Arrancar have appeared there, fully developed, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Espada."
"Not possible." Captain Ukitake said and he looked at the captains standing there before him. "What should we do?"
Captain Kyouraku of the 8th Squad had a question. "How many arrancar are there?"
"Two as of now, however more may show up, there's no telling." The man replied.
"Well then I say we send your Lieutenant, Jushiro, and perhaps my 3rd Seat. I'd say they could handle things for now until the end to the funeral. Once things are taken care of and there's a need to send help we'll send it."
"Hmm… very well. Mik, Zethal, do you think you can handle it?" Captain Ukitake asked.
"Yes sir, we can go right now." I answered. Zethal agreed with me with a nod.
"Very well then, go."
"Sir, yes sir!" Both me and Zethal said and were gone in a flash to the Senkaimon, the gate to take us to the Human World.
Zethal and my greatest challenge was about to hit us with everything it had. The arrancar have returned. I could feel a new war was about to begin and the new era was now here.
Tres: Met Before in A Place That Never Existed
In a dimly lit room with pure white décor, a long table sat eleven people, ten of which all sat facing one figure seated at one end. The figure sat with his hands touching by the tips of his fingers as if thinking to himself. He moved to speak and the ten others present listened sharply.
"Anyone care for some tea?" The figure says as two men with trays holding cups of tea place them each in front of the each person seated along the table. "Nothing around here has changed since I… 'departed.' The company is much different now though."
One figure spoke. "Lord Aizen, how have you returned?" This man wore upon his face a monocle and had what appeared to be a military hat on his head. Aizen smirked at this sudden question and spoke.
"Zakiri, have you ever heard of the Mu Kido?" Aizen asked him.
"No sir, aren't Kido the demon arts that a Soul Reaper uses?"
"Correct. The Mu Kido are a hidden power known to very few, because very few are powerful enough to even execute them… without dieing in the process."
Another person spoke up. "Dieing? Who in their right mind would use such a power?" This one was a large man with a type of face mask on the bottom half of his face.
"Someone of great loyalty to our cause performed one of these arts to bring me back." Aizen said with a slight smile. "Now then, it took me nearly 60 years to find the Orb of Distortion once again and create you, my new Espada. I must say you may even be more powerful then the ones I had so long ago. Now I can complete my plans and take the Soul Society."
"What is it you'd have us do Lord Aizen?" a thin looking young man with a half broken helmet with a single horn coming from it grinned.
"Patience, we must take this one step at a time. In fact, you seem the prime candidate for the beginning of my plans. Does a place called Twilight's Peak hold any significance with you?"
The Human World, I've been there many times since becoming a Soul Reaper. Never, though, have I ever had to go there for something as monumental as this. Arrancar had been detected in the Human World for the first time in 80 years. They were all but extinct; until now. Perhaps the passing of the Head-Captain sparked their reemergence. I suppose even the disappearance of such a powerful spiritual pressure could be felt even in the Hollow world of Hueco Mundo.
We emerged from the Senkaimon Gate from the Soul Society in the Human World. We arrived in a place that seemed so familiar yet I had no recollection of what it might have been. It was a near barren wasteland with nothing in sight as far as the eye was able to see. Zethal and I took a few steps forward and then we felt a presence as a voice spoke in a mocking tone.
"Well, well, well! Soul Reapers! Welcome to this forsaken land." A person shouted from up above. It was an Arrancar, and he wasn't alone. He stood on the air and smiled crazily upon Zethal and myself, his half broken hollow mask clearly visible atop his head. His companion was a young female. The remnants of her mask were six thin slits that started from the sides of her nose and ran around her face to the back of her head. They both were recognized as people me and Zethal once knew long ago but we couldn't quite remember.
The male Arrancar's eyes widened with amazement. "Hmm… those faces… I know them. Can it really be? Mikhail and Zethal? It can't be possible, but it seems to be so!" He dropped to the ground on his feet and approached the two of us. We each gripped our blades in their sheaths. "Now, now, there's no need to fight an old friend, is there?" He held his hands up in a gesture of non-violence.
"I don't recall ever making friends with a Hollow." Zethal said. I nodded in agreement.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe we were friends before death?" He said and in his grin I recognized him.
"Nik?" This didn't seem real. I was overcome with memories of that day. The day we all died. I remembered him standing there with the blank expression. I remembered me on the ground, struck to the ground by a weight invisible to my eye. I now realize it was the feeling of spiritual pressure on someone not strong enough to oppose it. "Why are you here? Why are you a Hollow, and even more so, how are you an Arrancar?"
"Oh, I'm not just an Arrancar; I'm a new breed of Espada!" He exclaimed overjoyed with his status.
"An Espada, how can that be? The Espada are gone." Zethal of course knew this as much as anyone.
"As I said, I'm a new breed of Espada; a whole new line. Lord Aizen has promised us the world in exchanged for giving us the power to crush any and all that stand in his way."
"Lord Aizen?" I queried.
"You don't know who Lord Aizen is? How can you be a Soul Reaper and have no knowledge of the man that nearly 80 years ago almost completely took over all of known existence, let alone a former Captain of the Gotei 13?"
"A former Captain of the Gotei 13? Never have I heard of a Captain by the name of Aizen." I was confused.
He was just as confused about this as I was it seemed. "Sosuke Aizen, former Captain of the 5th Squad, a brilliant man, a most revered Soul Reaper, betrayed the Soul Society in the hopes of ascending to the throne of Heaven and taking his rightful place as ruler of all known existence. He challenged the Soul Society and took control of Hueco Mundo and the Hollows and with his power, along with the aid of two other Captains from the Soul Society, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen, and the Hōgyokū, The Orb of Distortion, created an army of powerful Arrancar and chose ten of his most powerful as his Espada. From the look on your faces I will assume that even Ichimaru and Tousen are beyond your knowledge. They were Captains of the 3rd and 9th Squads, respectively, and chosen by Lord Aizen at young ages to join his cause."
"This is all very interesting but I just remembered you never answered one of my questions. Why are you here, Nik? What does this 'Lord Aizen' of yours need you in a barren wasteland like this one for?"
"Do you not recognize this place? I suppose it is a mere shadow of its past. We are standing on the very spot that once bore a mountain we all knew and loved." He smiled as he held his hand out as though reaching for the sun in the sky.
It struck Zethal and me that we were standing on the very ruins of our long lost home.
"Yes, Mik, Twilight's Peak once loomed over this land but now has been reduced to nothing. But now, Lord Aizen has instructed me to prepare this land for its rebirth."
"I see…" I drew my Zanpakutō and readied myself for a battle with an old friend. Nik was surprised. Zethal saw my blade and placed his hand on his own weapon.
"Why the sudden hostility, Mikhail?" Nik grinned.
"You said that you were instructed to crush anyone that got in your Lord Aizen's way. Well, if he wants to recreate Twilight's Peak it must be for his purposes so, logically, I'm going to have to play the role of an immovable object."
"Well then." He looked down at the ground, his hair and half-helmet shadowing his face. "I guess I get to play an unstoppable force." He raised his head with a crazed smile and eyes full of excitement."
I moved my blade not even an inch and out of nowhere the girl that was with Nik appeared and tried to strike me down without a hint of emotion, but in the same blink of the eye that she moved Zethal had drawn his Zanpakutō and held her at bay in between Nik and myself. At that moment I recognized her.
"Bunny, it's been a long time, unfortunately not long enough in my opinion." Zethal said; their blades still interlocked.
"Oh, how true Zethal, still you succeed in being the biggest thorn in my side."
"Well what fun would it be for me if I wasn't?"
"I'll leave him to you, Bunny; leave Mik to me." Nik still had the widest, craziest grin smeared across his face. In a flash, they had vanished to their battle, while Nik and I stared each other down. "It's been a long time since I've had a decent fight. Please don't disappoint me, Mik, old friend."
"I apologize, but you won't have enough time to have any fun because this will be over all too soon."
Just when I thought that his face couldn't look any more psychotic, he let out the most prominent crazy laugh I had ever heard and pointed at me. "Now we're talking!"
I made my move at him and just as my blade near hit his cackling face he was gone without even looking at me. I looked and saw him standing a little ways away, still laughing in that shrill tone. "No, no, you'll never defeat me with an unreleased Zanpakutō. Come on, release your sword! Show me your strength Mikhail! Don't you hold back on me!"
"Very well, but first… tell me your rank as an Espada."
"Huh? My rank?" He proceeded to unravel a bandage on his left arm. Underneath it, a number was tattooed clear as day. "I am Nik Schiffer, Cuatro Espada! Now what about you Mik?"
"Number four, huh? Schiffer… you took your name from the same person I did. I am Mikhail Ulquiorra, name chosen to replace my living name from the former Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, and I am the Lieutenant of the 13th Squad under the honorable Jushiro Ukitake." I then threw my Zanpakutō into the air. "Very well then… Shatter, Kurokongouseki…" At that moment, the blade shattered into nothing and as it fell remade itself as a large sword with a blade that could only be seen in just the right light. "Kurokongouseki is the name of my Zanpakutō. It means Black Diamond, and this you see now is a blade made of the purest glass. No one has ever broken this sword, perhaps you might be the first."
He seemed to be quite pleased with what he saw. "As always Mik you fail to disappoint me." He drew his own sword, a strange thing. A small sword that was bent from the hilt to the side, down, and then back up at a curve. "My Zanpakutō, Masquerade. Let us begin." He bowed. The next moment he was behind me, still bowed but facing away from me. He thrust his weapon at me as I just placed mine behind my back and blocked his. He flipped around me and attacked again and just as quickly I kept him from getting to me. "I'm most impressed." He praised me.
"Likewise."
We began to go through a series of flurries that seemed to last for the longest times. Each strike made by each of us easily countered by the other. I then dropped back a distance from him and took my sword tightly in one hand and threw it at him. It flew towards him at a great speed, spinning rapidly. He saw it coming for him and brought his blade up and the two swords met each other once again, but Nik just knocked it away as though it was nothing. He looked at me as though he had just separated me from my weapon and left me defenseless. But without a moment's hesitation, my Zanpakutō was coming back for him. He tried to block it again but he was too late. He moved just enough for it to nearly take off his right arm. He was breathing heavily from the attack and as he looked up at me, my Zanpakutō returned to my hand. I had expected to see him look up at me in astonishment, but to my disbelief he was smiling just as wide as ever. His grin was enough to make my bones chill to their very core. He cried out in pure joy and jubilation. He took his own Zanpakutō in his left hand and slid the edge through his wound and let his blood drip all down it. He then took the weapon back in his right hand and held his now free hand over the wound. From the cut a handle began to emerge. He took it and out of his arm came a blade, an exact replica of his Zanpakutō.
"An interesting thing about my Zanpakutō; it loves blood. Especially my own, but it's picky, it only likes blood caused from the blade of an opponent. It loves blood so much that by touching the weapon to a wound, it will literally 'mate' or 'breed' with the blood and create a 'child.' This child only lives for a limited time, depending on how much blood it took to make it. This one took a relatively small amount. I would estimate… that it will live around five, maybe six minutes." He was a bizarre person, maybe even more so then he was all those years ago. I flash stepped to him and swung to decapitate him. He easily stopped my attack with the "child" sword. He then thrust his blade at me. I back away in time and lunged once again; again he also blocked and attacked. We began the flurry of attacks towards each other. We exchanged countless blows, always so near a fatal strike on the other. Three minutes passed and I sliced his leg, gave him a small cut. He took his opportunity to swipe his blade through the blood and produced another "child." He then looked like some kind of sideshow circus clown, standing on one leg as he held the new sword with the same leg it spawned from. "Two minutes, I'd say for this one." He began a new assault, switching up to a whole new style of attack that was so acrobatic that it seemed to be too impossible to be conceived. He was so close to overwhelming my when a Hell Butterfly fluttered between Nik and me. It bore a message.
"Mik, this is Arare Sayo, I have word from The Soul Society. Jushiro Ukitake has been named the new Head-Captain of the Gotei 13. It has also been decided that you have been chosen to be the new Captain of the 13th Squad. Congratulations Captain. Also, help is now on its way. ETA: one minute, twenty-three seconds and counting."
"Well, well, well. Captain Mikhail Ulquiorra? I do know one thing about Captains; they must have attained Bankai to be given that position. You've been holding back on me. I'm disappointed. Show me your Bankai now, or I promise you I will not hesitate to make your Captaincy the shortest known to all of the Soul Society!"
"Very well… I shall honor your death wish." I held my Zanpakutō out, blade toward the ground. "Ban" but I was cut off by the emergence of a young man from a hole ripped into the sky. He wore on his head a top hat that was broken with only one half of it remaining. This was another Espada, I could easily tell by the level of his spiritual pressure.
He looked at me and then to Nik. "Nik, Lord Aizen has summoned you back to Las Noches. Who is this? He seems promising." The Espada spoke as he gazed upon me.
"Casii, this is an old friend of mine from my days of living; Captain of the 13th Squad, Mikhail Ulquiorra."
"Interesting, truly interesting. We shall keep a close eye on you." This Casii person seemed even more demented then Nik did.
"Bunny!" Nik called out for her and in no more then a moment she had arrived at his side with a few wounds from the battle. Zethal appeared next to me with near the same damage done to him. "Time to go. I'll see ya around, Mik. Good luck… Captain." They stepped through the hole in the sky and as it closed I could see Nik turn around and grin goodbye.
Zethal looked over at me. "Captain?"
Just as he said this a gate opened and Arare and a number of Squad 8 and 13 members came through. The beginning of the War of Twilight's Peak had quite possibly have begun that day.
Cuatro: Ends to Beginnings, Starting at the Finish
Now we step back in time 30 years. Never had there been such a generation of inductees into the Soul Reaper Academy as this one. Their strength, skill, and spirit were above almost any that ever walked the hallowed grounds of the Soul Society. Here we look back upon their beginnings to greatness.
"Name?!" A pushy trainer standing in front of the young blue-haired man looked down upon him with a sense of authority.
"Zethal Grimm." Zethal stood there looking up at the large man.
The trainer got very angry as Zethal spoke. "You refer to me as 'sir!' Got it?!"
Zethal just gave a smirk. "I guess so… 'Sir.' But if I might ask, who are you?"
The man looked at him in disbelief that Zethal didn't know who he was, but no one else in the room knew who he was either. He gave out a monstrous laugh and gave his name with pride. "I am the great Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Lieutenant of Squad 2! And you, little man, are just a little wimp that may not even make it into the Gotei 13!" It was easy to tell this man was not the brightest guy who ever lived.