Author's Note : First, I owe a great deal of thanks to Simply Christian for all the support and guidance in plotting out this story, and to all the various authors in this fandom who's work served as inspiration for my own contribution.
Second, i do not know how long this story will be when all is said and done. I have several firm plot points that i want to include, but how i tie them together and where it will all end is still fuzzy. There will be very few OCs, and they will play only minor rolls for the most part. Various pairings will appear, but as the story moves on, only two are currently intended to be the focus.
I love suggestions, questions, and comments! Anything you want to say about the story, feel free to review or message me! If you sign in to review with a question, or PM me about anything, i will almost certainly respond, although i won't promise it will be immediate. I am in my last year of college, so i will be busy a lot of the time. I plan to have this story finished by graduation.
This story is officially AU as of Chapter 591 of the canon story, due to the fact that i began writing after that chapter was published. I will not make any serious effort to force my story to conform to later developments. I am sorry if this bothers anyone.
To Protect and Defend - Chapter 01
"Will he live?" Rukia asked quietly, kneeling beside the orange haired hero in the basement of Urahara's shop. The room was lit by the glow of Orihime's powers as she worked to heal the unconscious man.
"I don't know... His body is recovering, but his mind... I can't feel his spirit. I'm doing all I can..." Orihime worked diligently, ignoring the stream of tears running down her own cheeks. Her abilities had improved, but she still had limits. She just hoped he was not beyond them.
"Ichigo... Please wake up..." The short shinigami held his hand tightly as she looked around her injured friends. Chad and Renji lay a few feet away, each wrapped in bandages and breathing weakly. "We need you..."
In a sideways world filled with towers of steel and glass, two figures stood in the pouring rain, while a third lay between them.
"Ichigo. Wake up." The old man said calmly. He bent down and slid a hand under Ichigo's shoulder, shaking him gently.
"King! Get your ass moving!" The hollow howled, kicking his twin's leg, then helping the old man lift him to his feet.
Slowly, his eyes flickered open. He wavered for a moment under the support of the two manifestations, then steadied himself between them.
"Why am I here? I need to be out there fighting!"
"The battle is over, Ichigo... You lost. Soul Society is on the verge of collapse. The Quincy have won." The old man said sadly.
"No... Rukia?"
"She still lives. Your friends escaped, and Orihime is healing your body now. Renji and Chad are in poor condition, but they still breathe as well." The manifestation of his Quincy powers looked up at the sky. "The remainder of the Gotei 13 will be dead by dawn..."
"I failed..." Ichigo sat heavily on the window, head in his hands. He remembered Yhwach turning his Quincy powers back on him. He remembered his Bankai being driven into the ground as if he were a child attacking a giant. It had been useless. All his power and strength and speed, and he had not stood a chance...
"We failed." The old man agreed sadly. He had failed to protect Ichigo. That had been his reason for being since the boy's birth. His mother had passed on her desire to protect in the form of her powers, but he had been helpless before his creator. "I never meant for my powers to betray you..."
"It's not your fault... He's the sealed king of the Quincy. His powers obey him even if they do not want to. I don't blame you... It's my fault. I should have been stronger..."
"You are stronger! Yhwach may be his king, but the only king I recognize is you! You never once let me fight with you! You never once leaned on me in your battle! You never once turned to me for strength that I would have happily given!" The hollow roared at him, inches from his face as he howled with rage over the growing storm.
"I couldn't risk you taking my body and hurting those I care about!" Ichigo growled back.
"Idiot! You fool! Do you not understand yet? The old man is from your mother! He lives to protect you, no matter what the cost! I am from your father! I live to make you strong! If that means making you hate me, or fear me, or turn away from me, so be it! But neither of us can ever hurt you, King!" The hollow clenched its fists in its white hair in frustration. "How can you be so stupid?"
"The other Visored... Their hollows all tried to kill them..."
"You are not a Visored! Aizen knew that from the moment you were born! Why do you think he took interest in you? You are one of a kind. A creature beyond hollow and shinigami. Not simply one that has gained the powers of the other, but a creature born of both! The Visored had to fight against their inner hollows because they came from outside to conquer their souls. I am part of you!"
"I was a fool..." Ichigo stood and faced his hollow eye to eye. "You want to make me strong... Just like my father. You told me whatever lie you had to in order to drive me to become stronger... And I was an idiot and didn't realize the truth when it mattered most... I accepted you as a part of myself, but I didn't understand what that meant."
"So what now, King?"
"Now... Is it really too late?" Ichigo asked. His manifestations shared a look. Then, the hollow shook its head.
"Not quite. Their is one last hope... But you would have to trust me completely. You would have to accept all of yourself. Just like you did when you fought Aizen. Only this time, rather than striking with the entirety of your Shinigami powers, you will use my power."
"You mean... Like when I killed Ulquiorra?" Ichigo faltered. It was one of his worst memories. Not only because of the horrors it contained, but because of how it had affected his friends.
"Yes... But it will be different this time. You won't lose yourself. This time, you will be consciously using my power. Before, neither of us was in control." The hollow said. He turned to the old man. "Stop glaring at me."
"You are putting him in harms way again. Perhaps with your power he could defeat Yhwach. But you are forgetting the other hundreds of Quincy that have overrun Soul Society. If he tried to use enough power to destroy them all, he would annihilate all of Seireitei and half the Rukongai. The remaining forces of the Gotei 13 don't have the strength to back him."
"We need an army." The hollow agreed. "That's why we're going to reconquer Hueco Mundo, not Soul Society. There are still dozens of Arrancar and Menos class Hollows imprisoned there. It will be less heavily guarded as well. They won't be prepared for a sideways attack at the eleventh hour."
"I do not like this idea... But I will concede, it is a good plan. And... It is the only hope of Soul Society." The old man glared at the hollow. "He can not use us both at once. Not when either of us are fully released. He will be in your hands. Protect him."
"Of course." The hollow smirked, then turned back to Ichigo. "King... There is one thing I desire..."
"What is it? Do you want to have control of my body part of the time?" Ichigo asked defensively. The hollow shook its head.
"When everything is finished... When you come to Soul Society for good, and won't be spending all of your time in the living world... I want us to merge our souls again. Let the old man remain here in your mind to guide you. He has a lot more wisdom than I do. I will be your blade and strength..."
"Why? Why would you want that?" Ichigo was curious now. It was not the kind of request he expected of his dark side.
"Because, for that brief time when we were one, I had a heart. I wasn't hollow anymore... I was what every hollow aches for at the very core of our being... I want to feel that way again. For that, I will protect you and all those you love. For that, King, I will fight with you." The hollow extended his pale hand to his twin. After a moment, Ichigo took it and held it tightly.
"Then we will fight together. And in five years, I will graduate from college, and I will move to Soul Society where my power can do no harm to those around me. Then, we will merge again." Ichigo grinned. "So... We're going to reconquer Hueco Mundo, huh?" His twin grinned back.
Outside, in the Urahara Shop, Orihime had just finished healing Renji and moved to work on Chad. The red head came to sit next to his childhood friend and felt a twinge of jealousy as he saw her fingers intertwined with the human's. He sighed and shook his head. He would have been bitter, if he thought for one instant she had fallen for Ichigo instead of him because of his power. But he knew better. She had loved him even when he was completely powerless. She had spent weeks in the living world before he had been forced to drag her back and revoke her permit. She had slept in his closet, or occasionally on the bed next to him. She had never let Kon or his sisters tell him, but she had been there as long as she could.
"He'll pull through. I've never met a man tougher or more stubborn than him." Renji put a comforting hand on Rukia's shoulder. She smiled up at him.
"You're right about that..." She looked down at him. "But he has never been beaten this badly before... He wasn't able to protect us, and I don't know if he'll be able to handle that... Even his Zanpakuto reverted to its sealed state... It has not done that once since he released it. Not even when he lost his powers for a year and a half..." She ran her fingers over the hilt of the large sword she had not seen since she had been taken from the living world for her execution.
"He survived where no one else would have. He was at least able to drive the Quincy out of the Soul King's palace and reseal the gate. Maybe they have not broken through again yet..." He knew it was a small hope, if any at all.
"What if he doesn't recover, Renji?" Rukai tensed at her own words. Renji had no response for her. He knew, if the human died, it would destroy her. It would be worse than when Kaien had died.
They sat there for a while, even after the light from Orihime's powers winked out and Chad's breathing evened out into sleep. Rukia had almost fallen asleep when she felt the fingers between hers stir. She was up in an instant, casting a weak kidou out into the basement for light.
"Ichigo!" She all but threw herself on him as his eyes flickered open and rather than the look of despair she had been expecting, she had received his usual cocky grin.
"Rukia!" He wrapped his arms around her tightly, then looked around the room. Renji and Orihime were both looking relieved and slightly jealous. Chad was yawning and sitting up. "I have a plan."
"And its about time, too." From the stairs, Kisuke Urahara was watching them from beneath his bucket hat. "Let me guess. You want me to assemble the Visored?"
"How do you do that?" Ichigo stared in shock at his mentor. He was still not used to how well the man could seem to read his every thought.
"They're waiting upstairs." Urahara ignored the question and looked around the others inhabiting his basement. "I'm sure the rest of you will want to help as well, despite your conditions?"
"Of course!" Orihime jumped to her feet, followed immediately by the others. "We could never sit by and let Ichigo fight when we could help him!"
"I figured as much. Lets go upstairs so he only has to explain this fiasco he's cooked up once." Urahara turned and led the way into the back room of his shop, where the four Visored had gathered. Ichigo wondered if they would really follow him.
"Alright, Ichigo. Tell us your plan. We're with you." Rukia squeezed his hand once, then went to sit with the others, facing him attentively. He swallows nervously.
"Alright... Well... Since the Quincy believe they will be victorious in a total of nine days, and we are already in to the ninth morning, they will be focused solely on wiping out the last of the resistance in Soul Society, and they will have turned their attention away from Hueco Mundo. I propose that the Visored and myself launch a surprise attack on the remaining defenses in Hueco Mundo and free as many of the Arrancar and Menos class Hollows as possible. If we can convince Halibel to fight with us, the others will follow her as the ruler of Hueco Mundo. With them on our side, we may be able to turn back the Quincy invasion, even at this point. Hollows are toxic to Quincy. They only took Hueco Mundo because they attacked without warning and caught them by surprise. In a direct fight, they would not fair so well." Ichigo felt less anxious now. He saw some looks of concern, and a few looks of hope in the small group.
"What if we're too late? Have we received any news from Soul Society recently?" Love asked.
"At sunrise, we received word that many were in critical condition, but thanks to the efforts of the Fourth Division, no more captains or lieutenants have fallen since our departure. However, the casualties among the seated officers is growing by the day. They are strong enough to draw attention, but not enough to defeat their enemies. They will not last another day. They plan to make a final stand at sundown on Sokyoku hill." Urahara reported gravely.
"How will we get to Hueco Mundo? Have you made another Garganta yet?" Hachi turned to his former captain's friend as well. Urahara smirked and shook his head.
"Ichigo will take care of that."
"Ichigo? How the hell is he supposed to do that? You invented the tech to open a Garganta without a hollow! Is he supposed to whip one up with his chemistry set?" Hiyori shouted at her former captain.
"Ichigo? There's more to this plan, isn't there?" Rukia asked hesitantly. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"I will be using my Hollow side. Completely. I'll be able to open a Garganta, just like a hollow. I should have used my hollow powers before, then maybe we would not be on our last leg..." Ichigo looked away from his friends.
"You... You're going to turn into a hollow... like you did in Hueco Mundo?" Orihime asked, shaking slightly.
"Yes. I am. That's why only the Visored are coming with me. The rest of you will go with Hat-N-Clogs to Soul Society and reinforce the last resistance there. We'll come through at the top of Sokyoku hill as soon as we accomplish our mission. Just make sure we're not too late."
"You can count on us, Ichigo." Chad said calmly. He turned to Orihime. "He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him and do our part."
"I know... I know. Alright. Let go!" Orihime smiled brightly. She trusted him.
"So, will you guys follow me?" Ichigo turned to the four Visored.
"Can't let you go screwing this up, can we?" Hiyori scowled at him.
"I have yet to see you fail when you have decided to succeed. I will lend you my assistance as well." Hatch said.
"I'm in. Shinji believes in you. That's enough for me." Love added.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lisa smirked at him. "Lead the way, Ichigo."
"Alright. Lets go conquer the world of hollows!" Ichigo reached out on hand and pulled at his powers instinctively. The air tore apart before him and a black pathway appeared in front of them. He hesitated and turned back, finding Rukia's eyes. "I'll be there. Don't you dare die, Rukia. Renji! Chad! Urahara! Keep them safe for me, until I get there." With that, he flashed into the opening, followed closely by his small band of warriors.
They arrived in Hueco Mundo moments later, hidden behind a dune of white sand and desolate trees. Hiyori peaked over the top and then dropped back down, grinding her teeth.
"What was that you said about them turning their attention away from Hueco Mundo?! There are probably a hundred Quincy here! Las Noches is a fortress! How are we supposed to get in?!"
"I'll make an opening, then you and I will stay out front and keep them busy while Love and Lisa get Hachi in to free the Arrancar. His Kidou should be enough to undo anything the Quincy have in place to contain them." Ichigo said.
"You are going to make an opening? How?" Lisa asked. Ichigo grimaced.
"Don't worry about that. Just be ready to move when things go to hell." He extended a hand into the middle of their circle. "This seemed laughable before, but we all pulled through. Maybe there is some merit to it."
"I thought this was going out of style a century ago... My captain was one of the last to keep that tradition." Lisa smirked and added her hand. The others followed.
"Now, we prepare to enter the decisive battle. Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our resolve will not waiver. And if our paths should diverge, we share a heart of iron. Swear, that even if the ground beneath our feet should be rent asunder, we will live, and return here, together." Ichigo took a heartbeat to grin at his allies, then he was off.
He flashed over the hill and began to run across the sand toward the walls of Las Noches. Lisa shook her head.
"He's crazy... I like it."
The Quincy manning the battlements could not believe what they were seeing. A single man, Ichigo Kurosaki, no less, was running toward them. Alone. They drew their bows and began summoning reishi from the air to fuel their weapons.
As he felt the hard sand pounding against his feet, Ichigo reached for his Zanpakuto. Inside his head, he heard familiar words coming from a familiar voice, but it was not the voice that had spoken them before.
"Cast off your fear! Look forward! Go forward! Never stand still! Retreat and you will age! Hesitate and you will die! Now, shout out my name!" The doubled tones of his inner hollow called to him with the same words the old man had used so long ago. "Call for me, King! Call for me now, Ichigo!"
"Protect and defend, Zangetsu!" Ichigo shouted as he drew the blade. He felt it change, reforming from the large katana into the powerful black cleaver. He felt his riatsu surge. As he was now, he stood equal to a powerful captain. Equal to a member of the Zero Division. But it was not enough. "Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!" His power exploded around him, escalating by a factor of ten. Still not enough... He pulled a hand across his face, summoning the familiar weight of his mask. His riatsu darkened and doubled again. He now charged at them with four times the strength of the Zero Division, and they were beginning to falter.
He came to a stop halfway between the dune hiding his allies and the wall protecting his enemies. He retreated into his inner world as the first Light Arrows dissolved into his blazing riatsu. He stood on the side of a skyscraper, face to face with his hollow.
"Zangetsu... Its time." He extending his hand. To their side, the rain began to thin and the first rays of sunlight tore through the clouds. "Fight with me."
"Gladly, my king."
Many Quincy turned and ran then. Even before they saw the masked shinigami's hair growing down his back and long horns twisting toward the endless night sky. Razor sharp claws gripped the hilt of his Zanpakuto as he bent his head. Between the tips of his horns, a glowing sphere of red light began to grow.
It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had felt his riatsu skyrocket once again, ten times what it had been. His instinct sharpened and his body felt light and powerful. And this time, he was completely in control. He grinned beneath the mask. Thanks, Zangetsu. He concentrated and forced the more and more of his energy into the coalescing tempest between his horns. The ground beneath his feet was rippling under his spiritual pressure.
Behind their meager shelter, the Visored could only stare in wonder and terror at the creature standing before them. They watched as the hardened sand around him began to take on the form of ripples in a frozen pond. They felt the energy in their bones, like anticipation gone wild. On the walls of Las Noches, the Quincy who had not fled were firing arrow after arrow at him, but none made contact. As they came withing the immense aura of his power, they were broken down and forced into the ball of energy.
"What is he? I have never seen a hollow so powerful..." Hachi wondered aloud.
"Vasto Lorde... A true Vasto Lorde... This is what a hollow can become if it is allowed to consume enough powerful souls... And it is sustained by Ichigo's soul... He defeated that and kept it at bay during our training with him. He is incredible..." Lisa clutched her legs to resist the urge to run. He inner hollow, crushed and subjugated for years, was screaming in terror for her to flee.
"I'm glad he's on our side." Love whispered in awe.
Hiyori could not summon the strength to speak. This was the creature she had drawn out once before. The thing that had nearly torn her head from her shoulders. She had been a fool. She had actually antagonized this thing!
Ichigo set his feet, the claws of his feet digging into stone and anchoring him in place as he felt his riatsu reach its peak. He forced his Quincy powers to the tips of his horns, repelling his hollow energy and compressing it into a tight sphere. Then, when the ground around him was ready to give way, he released it.
The Cero obliterated the line of Quincy still standing on the walls of Las Noches. An instant later, a rapid series of Balas tore open the wall in a dozen places. Ichigo threw back his head and roared to the sky, feeling Zangetsu's power coursing through him. The hollow in his soul was laughing. Not his usual mad cackle, but true joy. Ichigo had finally risen to his potential. There was nothing that could stand in their way.
The Visored knew it was their moment to act. Hiyori ran forward and took her place next to Ichigo, giving him one look of awe and fear before focusing on the dozens of Quincy charging them, weapons in hand. A crackle of static, and Ichigo was already at their front lines. Terrified by the sudden arrival of the hollow, they scattered. Hiyori wasted no time as she charged in to them as well, cutting down anyone who came within reach.
Lisa and Love ran side by side in front of Hachi, masks already drawn over their faces. The few Quicny who still blocked their path did not stand a chance.
It took them precious minutes to navigate the maze of hallways and reach the central prison where Tier Halibel knelt, bound in chains. Hachi began a series of incantations, each one ending with a flash of light and the clatter of chains falling to the stone floor.
"Halibel, ruler of Hueco Mundo, lend us your strength and the strength of those who follow you. Come to the aid of Soul Society and help us turn back the Quincy invasion, or Shinigami and Hollow alike will be slaughtered!" Hachi pleaded as the last chains fell away and the Arrancar collapsed onto her hands and knees.
"Hollows follow strength... I am no longer the ruler of Hueco Mundo. Their is a mighty Hollow outside right now. Compared to that inferno I am nothing more than a candle." Halibel looked up and then bowed her head. "You have my thanks, though. For freeing me. The one outside... I recognize this riatsu... Who is it?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Kurosaki? The one who defeated Aizen?" Halibel's eyes widened. "Then rest assured, I will fight for him to my last breath!"
"So will we!" From the doorway, a new voice called. Hachi turned and saw no less than fifty Arrancar following Lisa out of a side passage. At her side, grinning, sword in hand, was a feral looking man with blue hair.
"I will always stand beside Ichigo!" From the other hall, following Love, was another battalion of Arrancar, led by a green haired woman.
"Nelliel. Grimmjow. Brothers and sisters... Let us lend our strength to the new lord of Hueco Mundo!" Halibel rose to her feet and turned to face the doorway the Visored had entered through. Grimmjow and Nelliel came to stand next to her, and the three powerful Arrancar fired their collective Ceros at the labyrinth of hallways and dead ends, tearing a direct path to the sands of Hueco Mundo.
In Soul Society, on Sokyoku Hill, by the light of the setting sun, a small group of Shinigami fought against the seemingly endless army of Quincy.
Kyoraku and Ukitake fought back to back, usual carefree smiles discarded for grim frowns, stained with blood. Soifon and her idol acted as relief for the weary soldiers, jumping in when they could to make sure an allies death meant the death of an enemy as well. Shinji fought alone, away from the group, the only one able to maintain his senses under the influence of his Zanpakuto's reversed world. Nevertheless, arrows tore through him frequently, as with enough numbers, luck was on the side of the Quincy.
Byakuya and Rukia fought together, the latter's icy bankai protecting them from anything that got too close, while the former's shredded anything that dared step within reach. Renji fought just outside their radius, luring his own opponents within range of the flower petals of his captain.
Kenpachi stood like a beakon, his riatsu burning up arrows of light and Nozarashi tearing through any barrier to kill the next Quincy. His laughter would ring out occasionally when an arrow from a particularly powerful Quincy would wound him, and he would race off to challenge the unlucky offender. Ikkaku and Yumichika fought side by side for once, neither caring about interfering with the others battle, so long as they could protect each other. They had only stopped fighting long enough for a healer to stop their blood loss. Yachiru followed in Kenpachi's wake, her unavoidable blade cutting down those who survived after they were defeated.
Mayuri and Nemu were using every trick they had at their disposal to neutralize the effects of the most powerful Quincy.
Urahara and Tessai fired high level Kidou spells as fast as they could recite the full incantations, while Ururu and Jinta took care of anything in between.
They had formed a rough ring around the remains of what had once been the alter for ritual executions. Now it stood as two dark pillars, their tops reaching in vain for each other. Forever split in two by an orange haired hero who stormed the gates of heaven and fought through the armies of hell to save an innocent girl.
Yhwach observed the field from a suspended platform of reishi, Uryu at his side. As soon as these last troublesome pests were dealt with, he would return his attention to the Soul King.
"The fools... They plan to die fighting, defending a meaningless symbol. There are far more sensible places to make a last stand. Pathetic that soldiers would sacrifice the potential for lighter casualties for the sake of sentimentality." He narrowed his eyes as he watched Chad's fist send a Quincy hurtling over the heads of the ring and back in to the crowd. He and Orihime were efficiently rejecting anyone who made it past the ring... Was it to keep their allies safe from being stabbed in the back, or was it something more? "Pull back and regroup! Everyone, regroup!" They had been spread too thin... If the Shinigami had one last card to play...
His army only had time to receive his command and falter in their assault before the air was torn open. One hundred Arrancar and four Visored poured out onto the field, rushing between the ranks of the ring of Shinigami and crashing into the front line of Quincy with incredible ferocity. Behind them, stepping through the closing garganta and immediately fixing its eyes on Yhwach, came an orange haired Vasto Lorde.
"Uryu! Kill him!" The words had barely left the Sealed King's mouth when a crackle of static caused him to turn. A clawed hand closed around his throat as the other shattered the blade he had yet to raise in his defense.
Uryu stumbled back as the memories of being tossed around like a helpless kitten by the very same creature came flooding back with all the vividness of the world around him.
"So... My gamble did not pay off... I was certain you would die before you used your hollow powers willingly... At least I shall die at the hands of the most powerful being in all of Soul Society..." Yhwach smirked as he felt the claws digging into his neck. It would be a trivial matter for the monster to tear his head from his shoulders. Instead, he felt a stinging pain just under his left shoulder blade. Then, his chest erupted in agony. He threw his head back and screamed.
"You deserve no such honor. You will die at the hands of a Quincy like yourself. My grandfather left me this Selee Shneider. It is special. Fueled only by the reishi of Hollow masks. You will not awaken in nine hundred years, nor nine thousand. A hundred million life times may pass in this world, but you will never live again. You will suffer the very worst fate any soul can suffer." Uryu stood behind him, teeth clenched as the toxic riatsu of his friend and his own weapon began taking its toll on his body.
"Traitor!" Yhwach howled.
"Traitor? Loyalty is required before one can betray someone. You were surely not foolish enough to believe, that even with your grip on my mind and soul, that I would ever be loyal to the man who caused my mother's death? If so, then you are not even worthy of dying by my hand. You are nothing but a fool." Uryu withdrew the paper thin blade of spirit particles and tossed it aside, wincing at the burn it had created on his palm.
Ichigo reached up and gripped one of his horns, then tore his mask in a swift motion. It dissolved into reishi as his hair melted back to its normal length. His claws retracted and his skin tanned as the gaping hole in his chest closed.
"I could have devoured your soul, but you would have just been reincarnated when I finally died. I will pass a far worse judgment on you." Ichigo lifted his Zanpakuto and pressed the hilt to the panicked man's forehead. "Konsou."
Uryu understood just in time to leap to the side as the world around them became silent. Then they could hear screams. Tortured, agonized, wails of desperation and remorse. The air before them cracked, and the gates of hell swung open. A monstrous hand extended and closed as Ichigo's opened. Yhwach clawed at the air weakly as he was dragged, body and soul, into the inferno of eternal torment.
"I hoped I would never see that side of you again, Kurosaki." Uryu straightened his glasses, forcing himself not allow his horror or elation show on his face. "I... I am sorry for my part in what he did... I did not realize how tight his grip on me would become once I allowed him to mark me as his successor..."
"I know. It's alright." Ichigo extended his hand to his friend, smiling calmly. Uryu took it, then turned to the scattered remnants of the Quincy army.
"Stop! Yhwach is dead, and I am your king! I order you all, every Quincy that stands, fight no more! The war is over!" Uryu shouted. At first there was no reaction, then bows and blades began to fall as less than two hundred remaining Quincy lifted their empty hands to the sky.