Hello, all!! Welcome to the crazy world that exists within the boarders of my freakish mind....
And a brief back story as to how this entire little monster came to be:
One of my best friends on the face of the planet gave me, for Christmas, Hitsugaya's Zanpaku'to. I did many a fangirl scream at that time, and didn't let it leave my sight for about a week. It went everywhere with me...with the sole exception being with me to work. (I think that the customers at the local Subway woudl have made a few comments about one of the employees handling a sword to cut thier sandwiches....o.O')
Anyway, as we were exceedingly hyper one night, we decided that I needed to have my own character to cosplay with my new, shiny, awesome Hyorinmaru. So, the birth of Kootta Umi no Kootari, then the dubbing of Livia came to be, and this little child *cough-monster-cough* came to be....
Anyway, this story is set in a parallel universe...think of it kinda like the filler episodes in the anime (which I am SO EXCITED FOR THE NEW ONES IN JAPAN!! They are going to be how I edit this creature of mine...seeing as now the ***SPOILER ALERT!!!!!**** Zanpaku'to are manifested for all to see...and in their true forms, no less. ^_^
Anyway, comments, critiques, and suggestions will all be taken into account...just please don't be offended if I decide to ignore something that you have stated. ^_^ I will try to smooth over any discrepancies in this plot. (Oh, and Spell Check is my best friend on the computer, but sometimes it misses things/changes things that don't need to be changed. If this has happened, and me or one of my proofreaders have missed it, please let me know so the problem may be rectified.)
Again, thanks in advance for reading, and enjoy The King's Secret Division!
EDIT: Oh, and because, for some reason, doesn't like to put in the characters that I have for Kootta's thoughts, I'll put up a little key for everything:
"xxxxx" = spoken
'xxxxx' = Thought to self
xxxxxxx = Kootta speaking/thinking to Livia
{xxxxx} = Livia thinking/speaking to Kootta
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Livia. Livia, the time is coming. Your time is coming. Livia, wake! Livia, you are going to die! I cannot help you yet, but you must wake! Livia! LIVIA!
Olivia jumped, startled awake by a voice that her psychiatrist said was a remnant of her childhood, when she dreamed about elves and queens and mythical creatures and ghosts.
She was on a train heading towards the airport for an overseas business conference. She hadn't slept much the night before, her dreams plagued by a fierce looking elf-like woman with the longest fingers she had ever seen, flanked on either side by packs of dogs. She could see the blue-skinned woman trying to say something to her, her lips moving as if she were speaking Japanese. The hounds she could hear, and they seemed to drown out what the Elf queen was saying every time. They would howl with eerie voices, sounds that should not come from anything living.
She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memory of the recurring dream. It was late afternoon, and they were just about to JFK airport. She sighed, and laid her head against the window.
As the train suddenly shook violently, she finally recalled what the voice of ice said in her mind. And that was the last thing that she though as a living human.
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She couldn't breathe. It was so hard, and she was choking. Conking on something that was a great pressure against her chest, against what felt like her very spirit.
Suddenly, that pressure released. She took a gasping breath of air, and opened her eyes that she had squeezed shut when she woke and couldn't take in any air.
The train wreck was a disaster. It had derailed along a major road, crushing cars, semis, people. As she stood, she heard a rattling sound, but figured that it was just debris that had landed on her. There were medics working on people, and nearby three were shouting, trying to give CPR to a woman that was wearing a skirt much like her own. As Livia scooted closer, she reached out to get the attention of one of the medics. When her hand came in contact with the person, she saw who they were working on, and Livia went into a bout of hysterics. No one even turned around, for they could not see her. As she looked down at herself, she saw the remains of a chain attached to her chest. It rattled occasionally as she breathed, something that she felt so surreal about as she didn't know if the dead needed to breathe or not.
She stood there in shock for some time, like a lost soul, which in fact she was. She felt a hand, cold yet living, against her shoulder. She heard that icy, midnight voice that reminded her of the wind whishing past her windows during a blizzard.
"Livia. It will be OK. I am with you now. But we must hurry, before the Shinigami who patrols this area finds you, and sends you back. If he does that, you will not retain all of your powers that you hold in your spirit form."
Livia didn't turn around, but just nodded as the hand guided her back, away from her former body. She heard a soft whimper and felt an ice-cold nose touch her hand. When she looked down, she had to hold back a scream. It was a hound, one of the pack that she had seen in the dream with the Elf Queen. Only, seen with her waking eyes, it was a moving animal made of snow and ice. Its demon-like eyes looked up at her, and he whined.
Livia then looked at the hand that held her, now knowing what hand it would be. The fingers were too long to be anything human, the skin too blue to be real. The nails were like daggers, curving to a point. Her eyes traveled up the arm to the magnificent dress of blues that encased the body of the impossibly tall ice queen. Her tiara looked as if it were made of silvered tree branches covered in ice, cut and grown in a form that could fit over the queen's head and her masses of purple-blue ringlets. Her eyes, also reminiscent of a demon's, were kind. The Queen spoke. "You can finally see me, Livia. I have been trying to reach you for a very long time now. But I could only talk to you through your dreams, and even then you could not hear me. But now you can. I am here to offer my name, Livia, so that when we go to the Soul Society, much like what you call Heaven, you can be one of the protectors of peace, and angel to fight the evil spirits that inhabit Hueco Mundo and attack helpless souls here in the world of the living.
"My name, Livia, is my soul. You will recognize me once we get to the soul society, and I have to take on my resting form there. My name is something that you need to remember, but I will remind you on occasion if you need me to. I am called Kootta Umi no Kootari, or the Ice Witch of the Frozen Sea as you could say in English. Now, this way."
Suddenly, the hounds hackles raised, and he jumped in front of Livia. "Shit. Hurry, Livia. The Shinigami is here, and he cannot take you!"
In two steps, Livia exited the world of the living, and entered a place that she had never dreamed existed: the Soul Society.
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Many years later…
'Kootta. Look, here you are! You are a piece of art, aren't you? Just like parts of your personality, and your heritage.' Livia looked at the sword leaning against the wall as she slipped into the shihakushou. She had just become a member of the 13 Protection squads after grueling training. Well, grueling for others. To Livia, everything seemed to come natural, even calling out the first level of Kootta's release.
There came a knock at her door, and Livia quickly shoved her arms into the coat of the black shihakushou. "Enter!" she shouted, and turned around.
The man standing behind her was big, and his sword fairly unique. The red of the grip was the color of freshly spilled blood. He stepped a little further into the small room, and said, "Are you Rei Olivia Seishin, recent graduate of the Academy?" His voice was deep, authoritive.
Livia winced as her entire name was used. It had been some perverse joke of her mother to give her a Japanese first name, Latin middle name, and to marry a man who had some ancestor who had been Japanese, so her last name was that too. "Yes, that is me. To whom do I owe the honor?"
The man raised an eyebrow, and merely said, "The unnamed division. It has come to the attention of the King that you have amazing powers. He wishes for you to serve in his secret division, the Kings Secret Protection Squad, because of your strength. However, we would have to wipe you out of the minds of the others here in the 13 protection squads. We are going to plan out your demise. However, in the meantime, we would appreciate it if you kept quiet about the squad, and get used to the thought of being in the living world for a long time."
The man bowed, turned around, and shut the door.
And a few days later, she was taken to the real world, and was "murdered" by a hollow that she later found out was the manifestation of one of the secret Division's swords, and soon to be her lieutenant.
Livia sighed, recalling the memories of the King's messengers coming to her and telling her that she was to be the Captain of the secret Division of the soul society, only answerable to herself and the King, and his messengers by proxy. And that was the reason she was currently flying from the United States, shoved between a sweaty man who must weigh 400 pounds, and an annoying old lady who kept calling her "youngin'" and telling her about her grandchildren.
She wondered how the woman would react if she told the old woman that Livia was older than her.
Her mission had changed, according to the king's messengers. As it turned out, there were some problems in Japan that needed to be settled, and the 13 protection squads couldn't handle it all. Menos had been seen several times in the vicinity, and even a captain was called out. She was going there to lessen the load.
She started to play with a watch that had been given to her by Jackie before she left. She had been in the human world again for the last 15 years or so, skipping around to different schools and jobs in her gigai of a teenager. She had gone through the last 4 years of high school at least 3 times, and now she had been ordered to become a foreign exchange student and go to Japan without the girl that had thought her about the living world today just as she taught her how to control her spiritual powers.
The overhead intercom buzzed, and they announced that they would be landing shortly. She sighed, and put her head in her hands while trying desperately to not breathe out of her nose.
She was to be living with a family whose last name was Kurosaki. There was a son who was to be in the same grade as her, and two younger girls along with their father. She didn't know what happened to the mother, but didn't really worry about it. She was a tough girl and could take care of herself.
After she got off the plane, she had to wait for the Kurosaki's for at least an hour before a tall young man with bright orange colored hair came in, holding a picture, and peering around. His expression was agitated and looked like as if he was concentrating. But it wasn't just the fact that she recognized him from the pictures that the family had sent that made her stare. The boy was practically gushing out spirit energy that she could easily feel.
She stood up, and grabbed her three wheeley-bags, and walked over to him. In Japanese, she said, "Hello. Are you Ichigo? Kurosaki Ichigo?" She put a tighter leash on her own spirit energy, not wanting him to feel what she was.
The young man frowned, and said, "Yea, that's me. I suppose that would make you Seishin Rei. My dad's waiting out front. Let's get your bags and go." He picked up one, the bigger one, and started out for the doors beyond security. Livia hurried to catch up. "I would prefer to be called by my middle name, if you don't mind. Livia. And it's a pleasure meeting you."
They finally made it outside, and Ichigo started towards one of the vehicles outside the busy airport. It was a smaller car, but big enough to carry all of her luggage and three people. Ichigo opened up the trunk to throw all of her luggage in, and opened up the passenger door after hearing a man yell at Ichigo to be courteous. He took the front seat, so Livia was stuck in the back. As she slipped in, Ishin whirled around in the driver seat, and with the biggest smile said, "WELCOME, SEISHIN REI!!!" in a shouted voice.
Livia nearly cowered in the back seat to protect her ears. She had to force herself forward, and offered her hand saying, "I would prefer it if you called me Livia. It's what everyone else back home calls me." Ishin looked at her hand for a moment before remembering the American custom. He took it and shook it vigorously.
"It shouldn't take us too long to get home," Ishin said, paying no attention to the road, which still made her nervous. "We don't have any patients right now, so it's just the family. Another girl who stays with us, Rukia, is out with a friend for the first week."
Livia nodded, and closed her eyes wishing and hoping that the car ride would be over fairly quickly without any mishaps. Miraculously, the rest of the car ride was uneventful, and Ishin was busy telling her the family's schedule, when school started, what time they woke up, when dinner was served, et cetera. Ichigo was quiet the entire time, looking out the window as if studying the landscape. Most of Livia's attention was on the young man, trying to figure out what he was, and how he could be pouring out that much spirit energy without affecting the people that he was around every day. She shrugged it off, and tried to get some sleep before she would have to go out on her first nightly patrol.
Finally the car ride ended, and Livia sighed a breath of relief. They had made it to the house in one piece, without any other catastrophes. As Ishin grabbed one of her bags, he said, "You will be rooming with my daughter Karin. She is usually a nice girl, but my younger ones do have a lights-out curfew. You, however, much like Ichigo, don't because you should be old enough to know when you are tired and should get some rest." Livia nodded, and picked up one of her bags while Ichigo picked up the other.
As they entered the house, the smells of rice and spices overwhelmed her senses. Ishin made a goofy smile, and said, "I guess Yuzu made her rice and curry tonight. Smells as delicious as ever."
As Livia came in and followed Ishin to the room she was to be sharing with Karin, she felt a familiar tug and heard a familiar voice in her mind. You know, Livia, the tall one with the strangely orange hair is kind of cute for a human.
Livia cast a look to the side, not turning her head. Kootta was walking beside her, looking around her gaze landing quite often on Ichigo. {We need to be careful with him,} Livia responded in her own mind. {Can't you feel the spirit energy that he is sending out in waves? I think that he has been in contact with Soul Reapers before.}
Kootta pouted, then said, But how could it hurt to just flirt with him a little? I mean, he is a male, and you are a female, so show some of you feminine nature and get him a little flustered!
Livia had to try very hard to keep from yelling out loud, and to keep her face expressionless. {Because, Kootta, I am to be living with this young man for about a year. It wouldn't be good for me to be the first Captain of the King's secret division to let outsiders know that we exist in the first place!}
The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful, to Livia's great relief. The rice and curry was good, even if it wasn't nearly as hot was what the cooks in the Soul Society made it, to her tongue's reprieve. However, as she tried to go out explaining that her internal clock was still screwed up despite the nap in the car, and that she wanted to look around, Ishin took it upon himself to tell Ichigo to go and show Livia around. "Oh, no that's OK. I just wanted a breath of fresh air…and to get my bearings. I know how to get here. I have a great sense of direction." 'Not to mention the fact that this house has such great amounts of spiritual pressure that I'm surprised that I didn't feel it in the states.'
Livia didn't feel the need to add the latter.
She practically ran out of the house, glad to feel the freedom of the air around her. She was to meet someone that had dealings with the local Shinigami, and that the messenger trusted to keep her identity a secret if she told him who she was. It was some guy that the messenger laughed and said, "Hat and clogs," before saying his real name was Urahara Kisuke. He was a former captain of the 13 protection squads, but that was all that she knew about him other than where he lived. She was told that she needed to see him for problems with her gigai, her Soul Page, and other little oddments. She decided that she would first stop by there before running the rooftops and seeing the sights.