Chapter 1: The Story Continues
*Thank you for the reviews so far. I feel so loved. :3 I will be updating every Friday if I can since this coming semester I'm taking a few more classes so I'll probably be busier. If I don't update Friday I will most defiantly update Saturday. Plus this chapter (and maybe the next few) is going to have serious spoilers for my last fic if you haven't read that yet. Just sayn'.
On another note I've been playing/ hooked on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and...uh...well...
Naoko: EmpressSaix has lost just about any functioning ability she had when it comes to writing this fanfic. Nice time to get distracted.
Seirin: I'm surprised she was able to pull this chapter together.
Me: Yeah, yeah make your jokes I get it. Anyway there are some parts of this chapter that I'm not too pleased with and no matter how much I mull them over I can't get them to work and end up becoming frustrated. So I'm leavening them as they are and you guys can deal with it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Ayame or Seirin. I just own a lot of OC's.*
It was evening by the time the plane landed in Germany and the foursome had debarked and retrieved their luggage. Uryu had arranged ahead of time for someone to pick them up and drive them to the mansion in Himmel Feld.
Yumichika leaned back in his seat and yawned, "What time is it?"
Naoko glanced at her watch that she had set to the time zone in Germany. "Almost midnight, technically here it's last night. Germany is about eleven hours behind Japan, so be aware of jet lag too."
The group arrived at the familiar grand abode and made their way inside while towing their luggage. Before they were about to ascend the staircase an elderly man approached them, it was Seiichi Matsuro a long time friend of Naoko and Uryu's grandparents.
"Mr. Matsuro I wasn't expecting you here," Uryu said with tired surprise.
The older man chuckled warmly, "Well I thought it'd be a bit of a surprise. There were a few matters I wanted to discuss with you and Miss Naoko but considering how late it is I suppose it can wait until tomorrow."
"Are you sure? My brother and I aren't that tired we'll listen." Naoko said trying to hide her exhaustion.
Seiichi waved her off, "It's alright my dear. Besides you and Uryu are going to need your rest and this...information isn't that urgent. Before I forget there was a call from an Eighth Division captain wondering if you two had arrived yet."
Naoko, Nemu and Uryu couldn't help smiling to themselves and each other. Oliver Twitterson had obviously caught wind of them coming to Germany for the summer and wherever he is his lieutenant Angelica Rosenberg is sure to follow. They were the first people any of the teens had met when they arrived in Europe.
Oliver was British with reddish brown spiky hair and a happy grin on his face most of the time. He was laid back, happy and an all around jovial person. He had spent most of his time bonding with Ichigo and Renji from all their time killing sparring matches.
Angelica was almost the complete opposite of her captain. She was as short as Rukia but with blue eyes and curly blonde hair that was usually worn in pigtails. She was of British decent as well as Oliver but she was much calmer if not a bit apathetic. But underneath that cold front was a friendly rabbit loving heart.
It would be nice to see the familiar faces of their foreign friends again. Hell it would be nice to see all the European Captains and lieutenants again. The last time they had was when Naoko and Uryu were coroneted as royalty. It was amazing how the officers from the east and west got along so well so quickly. It wasn't just bonds of friendship or kinship that were made but ones of love too.
Soi Fon started receiving small romantic parcels with addresses and some notes written in Russian. The Chinese lieutenant would always blush and stash away the gift for safekeeping. Yoruichi is having endless fun teasing her about her lieutenant's Russian lover.
Hisagi had taken a shine to cooking recipes from India. He was now experimenting with different types of curry and spices and how east and west techniques can be combined. He was also looking at how to play a sitar, probably thinking he'd have better luck playing that then a regular guitar.
"I told them to stop by if they must at around noon tomorrow. Is that a sufficient time for you all?" Seiichi asked bringing them back from their thoughts.
"Yes that's fine. Good night Mr. Matsuro," Uryu said stifling a yawn.
The Quincy Elder chuckled again before he left them, "Good night sweet prince."
After bidding each other goodnight Nemu, Naoko and Uryu took up residence in the rooms they stayed in last time while Yumichika took Ichigo's dark green forestry room. Feeling too tired to completely unpack Naoko merely grabbed her pajamas and toiletries and readied herself for bed. The fluffy mattress and crisp sheets sent Naoko on a one-way trip to slumber land.
She couldn't really discern what was real and what part of the dream was. The flashes and smudged blurs of color and images along with distorted sounds caused Naoko's heart to race. Then her mind's eye was able to clear up the distorted images into a clearer picture. But the picture made little sense.
Naoko was looking at young woman about her age dressed in a fancy layered kimono. The woman had the same deep blue eyes as her and pale skin but the woman's hair was a different shade of black. It was pulled into a few twists and buns and decorated with borderline tacky hair accessories.
She looked almost...exactly like Naoko herself.
But this woman had a self-confident arrogant sneer of a smile on her face. Her eyes were pools of blue colored poison. She seemed like a cross between a slithering viper and a cunning fox with nothing but evil and self-gain motives on her mind.
They were standing in some random hallway that had polished wood flooring and paper screen doors running along either side of the hall. One of the doors was open and sunlight spilled in and washed the area in its sunny glow.
Out of her peripheral vision Naoko caught sight of deep green and pink fabric. She was only able to turn her head slightly but even Naoko could see it was another young woman wearing an elaborate garment of green and gold. She had healthy dark hair that was pulled into a simple bun with a single blossom hairclip. She had silver eyes that held a defiant and strong yet kind and sweet glint in them.
Naoko knew this other girl...put she couldn't place her finger on a name. A name she should know very well but can't recall.
The blue-eyed woman's smirking mouth moved and only distorted fragments of what she was saying could be heard. "You should beware...people dying... all of them targets...even you...never safe..."
The woman standing next to Naoko didn't say anything but her fists clenched and her mouth twisted into a thin line. Her eyes took on an angrier look as they narrowed.
As Naoko blinked again the scene changed completely. Now she was inside someone's bedroom along with two others. The same silver eyed woman dressed in a lovely white wedding kimono and a young bespectacled man looking at her with love and warmth.
Naoko suddenly heard a whispery feminine voice, "As long as I have the right company...I will always be safe...don't worry."
Her eyes snapped open at the sound of the incessant shrill beeping of her alarm clock. She looked frantically around the room for a moment before realizing where she was. Naoko shut the alarm off and pulled herself upright in bed. Summer morning sunshine filtered into her room from the large windows on the other side of the room. The princess rubbed any remaining sleep from her eyes and stretched out her arms and back.
Naoko is a semi-believer of dreams with supernatural properties. The first she ever had was after she was bitten by Fridda, the Bount Utagawa's snake. But she just brushed the dream, nightmare really, off as being induced by the snake's poison. The princess rolled her left shoulder, acknowledging the bruise colored scar on said shoulder as it lightly tingled.
The second was a nightmare turn dream she had after James died. Naoko tiredly ran her hand through her messy locks at the bloody memory. Whenever she seemed to have visions like these it was after a traumatic event not before. Either something bad is going to happen or...She shook her head whipping away such thoughts.
The images of the dream lingered in her head. What were they? Was it some kind of dream her vivid imagination conjured or was it a rare glimpse into the past? Either Naoko ate or drank something spiked with hallucinogens or she was already on a one-way trip to madness.
Speaking of madness...
An image of an amber eyed bespectacled pink haired scientist invaded her thoughts. Naoko shudder as though touched by a wintry breeze. It had been almost six months since the Winter War began and even ended and some of those...horrors (so to call them) still lingered with Naoko. But she merely assumed that was because such traumas didn't go away easily or quickly.
Their atrophying touch on a person's sanity was different for everyone. Orihime was a foil example to Naoko. The auburn haired woman's sound mind crumbled slowly then violently and in a way that almost cost Uryu and Naoko their lives. Now she was safely tucked away somewhere in the Fourth Division. Naoko was at a cross between wanting her to stay there forever and actually getting better.
Naoko shook her head and slid out of bed, enough talk about madness there were things that needed to get done for the day before she could start dwelling on the nonsensical human psyche.
After getting dressed and having breakfast downstairs with the others Naoko and Uryu were lead to one of the numerous office rooms by Seiichi after he returned during their breakfast. Nemu and Yumichika were told to use their free time as they please and that the siblings wouldn't be gone long.
The gentleman was seated behind the large desk and leaned back against the chair casually. He asked Naoko and Uryu simple small-talk questions like how school was going for them, how were their friends in the Soul Society doing and such. Finally he knitted his fingers together in front of him and his face and voice started taking a slowly serious tone.
"I don't suppose either of you know why you were both allowed to take your titles?" He asked.
Uryu thought for a moment, "Isn't because our family has blood relations with the Royal Family?"
Seiichi nodded, "You're correct. Do either of you know why being a blood relative is important?"
The siblings remained silent. They really didn't know but by the tone of his voice it was obviously something important.
"It's because the council members, me included, prefer to stretch a bloodline as far as it will go. We'd go so far as to take a third cousin six times removed if it meant that the current family could still be in power. The reason why is when one family ran out of immediate heirs the others would usurp by any means to take the throne under their control. And I mean any means.
"We almost lost the Polish and Spanish houses for good because of that. People are naturally hungry whether it is for food, love or power; we're known to have insatiable appetites. That and pride may become our downfall some point in the future. But I digress my point is we try and keep whatever current family is in power for as long as possible."
Uryu asked, "I know this sounds obvious but then why was the throne vacant for about six decades?"
"Well I believe the deceased Captain Erhard Wilter and his rouge band of Knights can answer that. Anyone who dared to even touch the throne was slaughtered. I think he wanted it for himself but he still had to deal with the Head Captain, lovely woman by the way. She is quite the friend to our kind." Seiichi explained in a contemplative tone.
Former captain of Squad Six in the European division Erhard Wilter was also the leader of specially chosen Soul Knights to, ironically, protect the Quincy Royal Family. They attacked the Family once in 1912 than in 1946 they spread out and killed any and all Family members in Germany, America and Japan. But the Royal Knights didn't count on Naoko and Uryu's grandmother slipping past them.
It wasn't until the Ishida siblings and their friends came to Germany and "dealt" with Erhard and his rouges. The Captain was way more manic and power hungry then Aizen ever was. In fact Erhard's actions to gain power made Aizen's look...benign and that was saying something.
Head Captain Victoria Aqualius really was a friend to the Quincy race in fact that's why she created the Royal Knights. But she couldn't rein them in after they went rouge because Erhard had her son under his thumb and the threat of losing him kept her away.
A thought snaked into Naoko's head, "You said there were other houses. Does that mean there are other noble class Quincies?"
"Yes there are my dear and a lot of them are eager to meet you both," The Quincy elder said with a slight wry tone. A tone that reminded the siblings a little too much of Kisuke Urahara when he was up to something.
*Hey look at that I was able to pull it together on time. :D This fanfic is going to be different then my last one because this one will have not only symbolism but themes!
*Crickets chirping in crowd*
Keep in mind guys I'm an English nerd here. So picking out symbols, themes and interpretation of meanings and such in literature is what I do for a hobby. So...
Ayame: So...you're going to make your story boring? Are you going to assign an essay too?
*Pinches bridge of nose and sighs irritably*
Naoko: Careful little sister EmpressSaix isn't really in the best of moods. She just wants to add more meaning to her story. She's pushing her limits and expanding her talents and such a step is rare for her.
Gin: So to encourage the authoress's new found vigor we encourage you all to review.
One a side note Happy Birthday to Kisuke (Dec. 31) and Yoruichi (Jan. 1).
