The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
Before I Sleep
Prologue- As Darkness Dies
I can only just remember when the war first started. Rampant noises on the television, urgent voices over the radio, Nee-san arguing with Byakuya late into the night. Running into the nearby bomb shelter as the ground shook beneath our feet.
We spent years underground. Constantly afraid that another hit would do the cavern in, or that we'd run out of food again. Nonetheless, we became a close community. I met most of my close friends there. Ichigo lived with his father and two sisters, Renji had no-one and often stayed with us, and Orihime cared for her disabled brother. After Nee-san died from her illness, I spent most of my time with them, running around with swords improvised from whatever we could get our hands on, pretending to be part of the mighty Seireitei army, battling on the surface with the forces of Hueco Mundo. When we were older, Kaien Shiba, who had come under after losing an arm to a sword, taught us how to properly fight. Not that it could have ever helped.
I was 15 when we got the message that the war was over. The radio couldn't recognise the source; of course we assumed that our side had won. Packing our meagre belongings, the community that had risen from a bomb shelter made its way to the surface. What we found was completely different from what we expected. We hadn't won at all; the Seireitei army had been annihilated by Lord- as we were forced to call him- Aizen's hollows, white suited men with terrifying masks, and huge holes under their clothes. We were led from the entrance of the cavern into a huge dome, filled with white-plastered buildings, unsullied and sterile. The war, they told us, had ended years ago, but time had to be spent making these 'bio-domes', for the land outside was too toxic and damaged to be lived on.
Our small group was split up around the dome, mingling with people arriving from other nearby shelters. The Hollows assigned us houses, gave us standard issue white clothing, and forced us to the 'town hall'. People streamed into the huge building, wondering what we had been brought here for. Suddenly, a tall, smiling man with silver hair walked out onto the small stage, and the crowd immediately hushed.
"To all of you- Welcome." His happy words conflicted with the sombre mood. "Now, the majority of you shoulda heard the result of the war by now. It was a long an' hard battle, but Lord Aizen triumphed over the corrupt forces of Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the commander of the Seireitei forces." Gasps were heard throughout the audience. The man smiled again, sending a shiver up my spine. "We have rules here. They may be different to what you know, but I assure you, there will be no leniency. No social interaction without good reason, no social gatherings unless authorised, no..." He continued reading out rules from a long list, painting a bleak picture of what life would be like. "Now... As a demonstration of what will come from violation of these rules, I bring you a man that some of you may know. He served Captain Juushiro Ukitake during the war, and killed a senior Hollow, a distinguished officer. Kaien Shiba." I felt my chest contract as my friend was pushed onto the stage, bound and bruised. Rather than saying anything, the smiling man drew the long sword that hung at his side, and ran it through Kaien's chest. Kaien coughed, spluttering blood as more ran down his chest. It was horribly red in contrast to the pale floor. Re-sheathing his sword, the man nodded. "You are all dismissed."
It's been three years since then. For a while, I could feel the need of people to revolt. They tried that once. If you look carefully, you can still see splattered blood in the corners between the wall and floor. With that, everyone resigned themselves to bleak lives, ordered around by the ruling forces, but with no choice to say no.
But, no matter how hard Lord Aizen must have tried, it could never stay like that. A year on, a black market first appeared, selling very specialised goods. Dreams. They sold small devices that could capture dreams, which could then be experienced by other people. Soon, it began to flourish. People with good imaginations were seen as close to gods, and the dreamers relished the feel of places and emotions that they would never normally be able to experience. The first dream I ever tried was exactly like this. I was riding a huge golden dragon above the clouds, looking down at the multitudes of floating islands hanging above a turquoise sea. In a society where anything and everything was sterile and regulated, you can imagine how this felt. People began to become completely immersed in dreams; they stopped working, stopped caring about anyone or anything else except the dreams. So Aizen formed Pandora.
Pandora was created to destroy dreams. A method had been perfected by Aizen's scientists, but they didn't have enough people to be able to use it effectively. So, they started recruiting people with the 'right quailities' and educated them on how to destroy dreams, giving them swords tuned specifically for each person called Zanpakutou. I joined Pandora a year ago. Ichigo and Renji were also selected, as well as many other people who I had never even met before. It was almost always an easy job, as destroying the dreams was simple. All one had to do was follow the dream until it's end, and then kill or destroy the main person or object the dream revolved around. If you didn't manage the first time, you simply started again once the dream ended. But really, it was never quite that simple.
I first found out about 'Hearts' when I wandered into the Pandora's infirmary by accident. Although it was impossible to die in a dream, any injuries sustained while inside would carry on to your actual body. Anyway, I noticed a separate room off to the side of the main one, and being curious, I looked inside. There were huge rows of beds inside, filled with people. I would have thought they were simply sleeping, apart from two things- None of them moved at all, and they were all hooked up to dream devices. Confused, I felt a presence appear behind my shoulder. Unohana, the main medical officer, quietly said to me, "They've all found their Hearts. They will never wake up." Seeing the confusion still on my face, she sighed. "Everyone has something that they want more than anything else in the world. People don't know what it is until it's too late, which is when this happens. If they manage to ever find their Heart in a dream, they become physically unable to escape, and stay like this until their body can't hold up any longer." Unohana gently pushed me out, closing the door behind her. "Finding your Heart is both a blessing and a curse, Kuchiki. Pray that yours is not in a dream."
We are Pandora. The last line of defence against the dreams rotting society. We're all that's left in the box- the hope.
I'm excited now :3 What else of the story I have planned out will be epic.
NOTE- This WILL NOT be updated until I finish at least 2 of my other stories. Think of this as a preview, rather than an actual story at the moment.
Rating will definitely change later.
I'm looking for 2-5 OC's to add into dreams later on. They won't be major characters, but important nonetheless. References to Greek mythology in characters would be wonderful.
-EternalSyzygy