Disclaimer: down own bleach and elfen lied

Elfen Lied: Heart within the Sword

Chapter 1: Awakening

'Awaken.'

"Who is that? Where am I?" Nyu said as she stood in a barren field, nothing was around her but a looming black of rotting trees and withered shrubs.

'I am Xaphon... remember that for I shall aid you.'

"Aid me? Just who are you? Show yourself!" Nyu exclaimed, then a rush of heat erupted around her as all over she can see the growing flames surrounding her. It was hot, and she was scared, she didn't know what was going on.

The flames then evaporated and what stood in front of her was a red dragon, its massive wings and claws were already impressive enough, but Nyu couldn't believe her eyes, that she was standing face to face with a real dragon.

'Little one, I am Xaphon' the dragon spoke, but she noticed the voice was coming from her mind, and the dragon was not speaking at all. As though reading her mind, it replied, 'do not worry, I am speaking to you telepathically.'

"But.. where am I? Why am I here?" Nyu questioned, the dragon just looked at her and chuckled.

'you will find out soon, but for now, remember my name and awaken!' with that, the dragon soon enshrouded himself with flames and disappeared and slowly Nyu's vision soon became a total blur.

"Big brother! Big brother! Look! She is finally waking up!" a voice said startling Nyu from her slumber, slowly opening her eyes she was greeted by an unfamiliar face.

"Nyu!" She exclaimed as she jumped back a few feet, she stared straight into the crimson eyes of a girl who now was staring intently back at her. Then suddenly shaking her violet hair, the girl realized she had just startled Nyu.

"OH! I'm so sorry! Did I scare you? Please allow me to introduce myself! I'm Kreme! May I also ask what is your name miss?."

"Umm, my name's Nyu, nice to meet you Kreme." Nyu shyly replied.

'Where am I? How can I still be alive... Kohta had shot and killed me, didn't he...? The last thing Nyu could remember, was Kohta aiming the gun at her slowly decaying body and pulling the trigger. After that, everything was black till now.

"Sorry about my sister," Said a voice as it approached Nyu and Kreme. The person that appeared out of the shadow was a boy around her age with navy blue hair and a very muscular build, "She is always like this when it comes to meeting new people that has just arrived to Soul Society."

"Soul... Society? What is that?" Nyu asked.

"It is where all souls go to after their death!" Kreme exclaimed.

"Thats nothing you should be proud of Kreme," Said the blue haired boy, making Kreme frown, "sorry but I was never able to introduce myself properly, my name is Bollet, it is a pleasure to meet you Nyu."

Nyu blushed as Bollet extended his hand out for a formal handshake, however Kreme interrupted them, "Shut up Bollet, stop flirting with every girl you meet!"

"N-no I'm not!" Bollet said trying to defend himself. The two then started argueing which left Nyu to contemplate by herself.

'so I'm dead now.. I guess it isn't as bad as I expected.. but.. I do wish I could still be alive..' Nyu thought to herself, however she did not notice Bollet and Kreme suddenly focusing onto her. When she looked up she had noticed they both had been staring at her which startled Nyu.

"Sorry again Nyu!" Kreme said cheerfully, "But my brother and I had decided that since it is your first day here, we will take you around! That way you can get acquainted with this place since we'll be living her together!"

Nyu just stared at her for a second trying to contemplate to herself if she should or should not, but before she could answer Kreme had already grabbed her hand and ran straight out of the door, while Bollet just followed them off from behind.

"Finally! Staying in Seireitei all the time was really tiring!" exclaimed the young lieutenant of the 11th squad, Yachiru Kusajishi. For a while now she had been stuck in Seireitei, which was the base for all soul reapers who were not on duty in soul society. Tired of doing nothing, she had decided to sneak out to play for a while, by begging her captain, Zaraki Kenpachi to let her go. It took her a good few months till he finally allowed her to leave, which made her very happy.

"I know~ Yachi – san, it has been a while since I have been out here. Boy do I sure miss this place!" Said another girl who seemed to be around the same age as Yachiru, however the only thing that was different about her was the two horns that pertruded out of her head, it was Mariko Kurama, "I wonder how long has it been since I joined the Gotei 13..."

"Mari – chan... you have barely been with us for almost a year now!" Yachiru exclaimed, "But I'm glad you were able to join our division, I was getting tired of being the only short one there, not to mention girl too."

Mariko smiled at the thought, she remembered when she first came here a voice called out to her.. telling her to awaken, at first she didn't know what it was until the day she tried to enter Seireitei, that was how she met Yachiru. She had challenged her to a fight, and Mariko had accepted, at first she thought she could win with just her vectors until she realized Yachiru can see them as well as anyone else in soul society and that they were almost useless here due to the level of Reiatsu the people of soul society contained. That was when the voice once again called to her, and almost in an instant she felt a ray of light enshrouded around her and then she found herself cloaked in a black kimono and a sword by her side. So then, that day Yachiru took her in along with Kenpachi, she was then forced to go to a Shinigami school where she learned how to become one. She only stayed there for a few months due to her fast growth, during that time she had already learned the name and Shikai of her sword. Her quick growth had impress everyone and she was proud of that.

"Hey, Mari – chan look, " Yachiru suddenly said, which interrupted Mariko's train of thoughts, "look, there is another girl just like you. She has horns coming out of her head too!" She then pointed toward the direction, and Mariko's eyes widened with shock. It was Lucy.

Nyu's head was already having a hard time processing all the information Kreme and Bollet had been telling her about soul society. Basically it has two sections, one of the section is called Rukongai which is where Nyu and the others are right now, while the other section was Seireitei, where all the Shinigami's reside. The Shinigami's were an interesting aspect to this soul society in Nyu's opinion, they were the ones that help depart the souls of the dead here, which brought up another thought, were they the one that brought all those she has killed here as well? The thought suddenly saddened her, she had never intended to kill, but because of her instinct, that instinct to kill she had done things unimaginable.

However, the rest of the trip was fun, she was able to meet a bunch of new people and to her suprise they all had accepted her for who she was, a horned human. She was able to get acquanted with Kreme and Bollet as well. It seems Kreme was about 13 when she had passed away from an illness that swept into her family, she was the only one who had died by it for her immune system was weak. Bollet on the other hand, was actually in the Japanese military and was killed in action about ten years ago. Nyu found their story very interesting, but what confused her was why they still looked so young. If what Kreme said was true, her death was almost 15 years ago, and she still looked like a 13 year old when she should actually be about 28.

"That is because here in Soul Society, we age differently then in the real world, the time span here is much longer and we don't age as fast because of the enormous amount of energy around us. Think of it as a little fountain of youth that exist within the air here in Soul Society." Bollet explained.

Nyu concentrated deeply to understand exactly what he had said, but to no avail, she then decided to quit because it definitely won't work. So they then continued on walking until a voice yelled out toward Nyu.

"LUCY!!!" A voice roared, which caught the attention of the trio, looking up to see who it was, Nyu was greeted by a vector charging toward her and hitting her in the face. She flew a few feet until she finally stopped,, looking up to see who could her attacker be, she was greeted by the small form of Mariko, but this time she was dressed in a black kimono, like every other Shinigami's from what Bollet has told her.

Nyu's eyes widened in shock, 'is.. Mariko a Shinigami?' her question was never voiced when Mariko once again sent another one of her vectors at Nyu, this time however she was able to dodge out of the way.

"MARIKO! STOP! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!" Nyu yelled, but to no avail, Mariko didn't care, she was filled with anger to even think of stopping.

"Nyu! Are you ok?" Kreme yelled out, but was to scared to even interfere with the two. So she stood there watching helplessly as Nyu dodged all of Mariko's attack.

Bollet on the other hand didn't hesitate to come into the fight to defend Nyu, as a vector charged in toward Nyu, Bollet had gotten in the way and using his strength, he was somehow able to catch the vector before it came into contact, but then another came at him and smacked him away from Mariko's view. Once again, Nyu was on her own, and she didn't know what to do, 'what should I do... I don't want to fight...'

'Say my name...' A voice suddenly said inside Nyu, 'if you want to live say my name!'

Nyu new she could not win against Mariko if she is truly a Shinigami now, from what Bollet had said, they are very powerful, especially if they have already acquired their Shikai or Bankai's which are released form of their sword, so she new she had no choice but to call upon the name of that voice... She then looked at Mariko with new determination.

"Awaken..." Nyu began, which caught the attention of everyone around her, "Awaken! XAPHON!!!" She then extended out her arm as a wave of fire surrounded her entirely, everyone stared at her with disbelief and amazement as the flames continued to circle her. Finally as it disappeared from view, the Nyu that was standing there was totally different, she was now dressed in a black kimono and not only that but she held a crimson red double sided blade. At the center was the handle which had an engraving of a dragon head, and extending to each end of the blade were flames imprinted on the sword.

Nyu looked at herself in disbelief, "I... I became a Shinigami?" Her curiosity was held for later, and Mariko then began her assault once again, however this time she charged toward Nyu instead of using her vectors.

Nyu prepared herself for Mariko's assault as she steadied herself to defend the oncoming strike. As Mariko charged in she held her sword in hand and raised it up into the air, slashing down, Nyu was able to block the attack. However Mariko wasn't afraid, a smirk appeared on her face, "Just because you have unleashed your Shikai Lucy, doesn't mean your going to win... Rain.. Murasame!"

Mariko's sword then began to shift, immediately Nyu was able to dodge out of the way as her blade extended, as the transformation completed, her blade was now shaped like a scythe, completely black with a hint of blue on the blade. Smiling, Mariko then got into her fighting stance, "Now Lucy, I can finally take revenge on you."

note: Well now, I don't really know how this idea appeared on my head, but it did and yeaa I decided it would be cool XD well hopefully i'll update soon sooo thank you for reading! Reviews appreciated too =]