Chapter one
Imagine being dragged by your wrists; ropes digging into your wrists as you try to escape, not wanting to go where they wish to take you. You hear people shouting at you but the veil that draped over your face obscures your vision as you're lead through the crowd. You're grabbed by your shoulders and placed in a box; your mind grows fuzzy and your body runs cold as you hear ceremonial chanting, the beating of drums, and the bitter-sweet chime of several bells. Everything goes dark when the lid is placed on the box but becomes darker when your eyelids droop shut as your body dips into sleep however you remain aware of everything. You hear the clanking of chains as the restrain the lid. You're lifted up and carried to God knows where. They hook the chains to the mechanism and lower you down into a waterless well...I am Toriko Masami...This is where my life begins...
A year has passed and I have heard the sins of the people who put me in this place, forced to listen to every detail as they believe it will relieve them from damnation. An aching in my heart as each word slithers from their mouth. I want to cover my ears, yell at them to stop but my body does not cooperate with my mind, I remain still... But my rage will not ? Why was I, a small child, cursed with such a malicious burden?! I don't even understand what the image that paints the skin above my heart means or why it's so tainted. How will accepting sin purify me?! ANSWER ME GOD!...
Fire...Fire crackles throughout the town along with their screams and the slicing of flesh. I could smell the carnage from where I lay, I cry silently for the dead. Though no one has cried for me I will not be as cruel as they make me to be. I've become so numb to the hatred that I cannot feel it any more, my rage will not help me escape so I refuse to feel it...If anyone can hear me...Please free me, I'm not an animal to be kept locked up...Please help me from my solitude...Anyone...Please...Little did I know that it would be several years before I am saved...
*Soul Society: Captain Hitsugaya Point of View*
An emergency meeting was called, nothing was told through the Hell butterfly's message so it must be a secret. I enter the hall and stand in my position as the others follow through, Captain Yamamoto standing at the head of the room, his eyes scanning around and making sure we are all here. Whispers fill the room, curious about the topic that seems so secretive. The staff bangs on the ground and a loud crack resounds through the room; silence following it.
"Today we discuss some old documents that record something of a weapon hidden in Aoi-chie, the village that was regrettably massacred so long ago. Too many details are scratched out about what it is but it is said to create chaos. Such a weapon is too dangerous to keep out in the open so I propose a mission to retrieve it carefully so we may study it and find a way to deactivate it if active. Captain Hitsugaya, I send you and your squad to retrieve it. Leave today and be back by tomorrow, hopefully you can find it in time, we never know how much time we have until it falls into the wrong hands." He announces, his tone solemn. I take on the mission and am dismissed from the rest of the meeting to prepare. Something tells me what I find might just put everything and everyone at risk...I shake it off, the sooner I get it done the sooner Soul Society will be put out of danger. I meet up with a select few from my squad along with Rangiku and head out to the cold mountains.
We make it in no time and begin searching through the burnt rubble that was left of the town. Nothing could be salvaged but artifacts that had been become nothing but charcoal. We rested at the Shinto entrance of the temple, the sun slowly falling behind the trees and the cold winds picking up.
"Let's make camp for tonight before it gets any colder." I order; I decide to walk around, clear my mind and think of possibilities of where the weapon could be hiding.
As I passed some brush that covered a burnt Shinto gate I felt a pulse through the earth, nothing too powerful but just enough to startle me. I look past the gate and find an unkempt pathway; I follow it until I reach a small shrine, the engraving was too worn down to read other than "He who enters...Weight of sin...Lifted...Priestess of Sin...". I open the door slowly, not sure what to expect. The shrine had nothing more than a well inside of it; looking closer however I notice a pulley system attached to the rafters along with a mechanism to pull it up or down. I crank the wheel as the chains screech in protest, pulling up something heavy...A coffin...I bring it to the ground and unhook it so I can examine it better. The markings carved beautifully into the wood were ancient, seals perhaps to keep whatever was in here imprisoned...Could this be the weapon? I take out a depiction drawing of the case that concealed it from my pocket...It looked exactly the same. I pick it up and hurriedly get back to the camp, trying not to disturb the box too much. I quickly explain my findings and we rush back to the Seireitei; making our deadline a lot earlier than anticipated.
We all gather in the 12th Division, the box now on the examining table. We bring in a Kido Corps specialist, we decide to have him look at the box and allow him to open it if it is safe.
"The thing inside is resting very much on it's own, it doesn't radiate much energy. The box is a simple container, nothing complicated so we can deduce that the weapon is not fully active even if it wakes." He explains. He creates a slashing motion with his arm and the chains disperse from around the box; the paper seals burning away until nothing is left on the box. He carefully opens it but drops the lid at his feet, his form shaking. He leaves with horror stricken across his face. Unohana is the first to approach and gasps but is not as terrified as the man who opened it. She reaches in and pulls up...An arm; it wasn't rotted or deformed, it seemed perfectly preserved.
"She's ice cold...We need to-" Unohana began to mutter but is cut of by a large gasp from the box followed by choking and whimpering. A form sits up but the face is hidden behind a veil and the body is seemingly frail. We ready our weapons incase of any sudden movements but the Head Captain holds up his hand and waves it down to tell us to lower them.
"I still sense no threat from this "Weapon" hold off your attacks." He orders and people begin to sheath their zanpactou.
Unohana gingerly grabs their hand and helps them to the ground...What's happening?