The Traitor's True Face
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, only the storyline.
Summary: What if the three traitors were actually being controlled by someone with power to rival that of five captains combined? Will the spell be broken? Who is the true enemy?
'Italics' are thoughts of course.
Chapter 2: The Takeuchi Legacy
"You don't understand. I've seen those marking before. Those three, Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen, they're all being controlled."
Unohana-taichou struggled to remain in control of her emotions, "What did you say?" By now, Ichigo had managed to compose himself, and said in a more stable voice, "Those markings are the ones someone receives when they're under the control of Feardorcha. Everything those three have done, they weren't doing them of their own free will. When those beams of light showed up, that meant they were struggling to regain control of themselves," Ichigo said. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were blazing with anger. "How can you be so sure of this?" Unohana inquired, not sure of the boy's state of mind. "Look," he said lying down, "I'm going to pass out pretty soon, but if you find my sisters, Karin and Yuzu, they'll explain everything. Just find them and bring them here, and I'll get them to tell you whole story," and with that he lost consciousness.
When Unohana-taichou reported this incident to Yamamoto-soutaichou, his face was expressionless as always. "This development is crucial to the fate of the world. As such, I will send two vice-captains to the real world to escort Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu back here. In the meantime, Unohana-taichou, inform the other captains of the situation quickly and have them tell their vice-captains. We will proceed when everyone is present." "Understood. I will take my leave now," she replied with a bow.
Soon, word had spread throughout all of Seireitei. The three former captains, who had betrayed them, were being controlled by someone else, and the only people who knew the whole story were a trio of human children? Geez, what's going to happen next, the sky literally raining cats and dogs?
Karin and Yuzu both happened to be in the living room, watching TV and gorging themselves on junk food, since everyone was gone and the chores were done, for now. On screen it was just getting to the good part when two people dressed in black robes got in the way.
"Hey what do you two think you're doing?! Move out of the way!" Karin as she jumped up. "You'd better watch your mouth you brat! I'm the Sixth Squad Vice-captain, Abarai Renji, here to escort you back to Soul Society," he said with just a hint of annoyance. "Well Renji, you can't blame her. Two people in black jumping out unexpectedly isn't an everyday occurrence. I'm Matsumoto Rangiku by the way. Nice to meet you," she said with a wave. "I don't care who you old people are. Just get out of my house!" Karin yelled. "Old!" the two shinigami said simultaneously. That set off an all out argument. Yuzu just sat there watching quietly, thankful she could finally see ghosts, or she would've thought her sister had gone mad. After about fifteen minutes, though, she became annoyed, so….."Everybody quiet!!!" she yelled. The house was never quieter. "Now everyone sit, and you two start explaining," she said with an uncharacteristic glare.
(Ten minutes and a quick argument later…)
The two sisters sat there stunned. The two shinigami had given a brief explanation of Soul Society, and how they tied into it along with their brother. That's not what stunned them though. Feardorcha was back, and he'd managed so much damage this time. They needed to get to their brother, now. They left immediately.
Upon arrival, they demanded to see their brother before they did any explaining, so escorted by Matsumoto, they entered Kurosaki Ichigo's room at the Fourth Division. The twins were relieved that their brother hadn't faced Feardorcha head on, or they wouldn't be hugging him to death right now. They sat there catching up with each other, until the girls were called to the First Division. Promising to come back later, they left with uncertain expressions.
In the meeting room, all of the captains and vice-captains who were not in recovery along two human children had gathered. Yamamoto-soutaichou stepped forward and began to speak,"Just two days ago, believed traitors Aizen Souske, Tousen Kaname, and Ichimaru Gin broke through Seireitei's defenses and injured many, holding them for ransom. It was only by chance that they left without taking more than they already have. Just yesterday, an almost unbelievable discovery was made. So now, we are left with many questions, and we are fortunate to have these two girls here to answer them. Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu, from what your brother tells us, you two can answer our questions, and since there are so many, please tell us everything you know from the beginning and we will work from there," he said giving them a nod. Karin glanced at Yuzu, who had her head down, and began telling her story.
"About 5,000 years ago, their was a dimension called "Paraíso sin fin", which means literally means "Endless Paradise". The monarch at that time was Shamira Anima Michiko-sama. The people of the dimension loved her very much, not only because she was a benevolent ruler, but also because she was the Balancer. The Balancer was the person who had the most purity in the entire kingdom, so it wasn't always the monarch. The Balancer's job was to go before their goddess and pray every morning for peace throughout all of the kingdom, and in exchange for that peace, if there ever was an unbalance between the forces that made up the dimension, she would absorb whatever was causing the unbalance into her own soul. Because of the sacrifices she made, almost everyone loved her except one person. Her father, Shamira Anima Zohar, was jealous of Michiko-sama's power and was enraged at how she didn't use that power to gain control of other dimensions. So at night, he would go to his study and plot to take that power away from his daughter, but Michiko-sama wasn't oblivious. She knew everything he was doing, so at night, in her own study, she practiced her magic to prepare for the battle that would surely come. It just came sooner than she thought. After only a few weeks of preparation, he attacked. It was the day of Michiko-sama's birthday and everyone's guard had dropped. Zohar cast a spell that put everyone into a deep sleep, except for Michiko-sama. She summoned a barrier around them so that her people wouldn't be injured, and the battle began. It lasted for two full days. Michiko-sama was at her limit, so using the last ounce of her power, she managed to seal Zohar away, deep in the center of "Paraíso sin fin", and she woke her people and continued to rule as monarch for many years, but it wasn't over yet.
Zohar spent years in his imprisonment plotting to take his daughter's powers for himself. After 50 years, he struck again. This time he was more powerful than ever before. He wiped out all of the dimension's people and fatally wounded Michiko-sama. Since there was no one for her to protect any longer, Michiko-sama escaped to Earth, vowing to avenge her people someday. There, she took on the name Takeuchi Michiko and lived as a human in disguise, watching Zohar's movements carefully. In the meantime, she found a husband whom she could trust her secret with and started a family, hoping to train her children in the mystic arts. The Takeuchi bloodline continued to grow larger and larger, and since Michiko-sama and her descendants aged differently than ordinary humans, each Takeuchi child was trained by Michiko-sama personally.
When the clan had reached the peak of their power, they went to the dimension that Zohar had taken over. What they saw brought Michiko-sama to tears. The once beautiful land she had ruled turned into a wasteland filled with horrible creatures, and right before their eyes, Zohar appeared. He had changed his name to Feardorcha and announced proudly that he was the one who had done so much damage to the once beautiful land. In rage, Michiko-sama attacked. An all out war was fought, the Takeuchi clan against Feardorcha and his creatures. In the end, both sides were dwindling in numbers, and both of the parties' leaders were dying, Feardorcha had just enough power to escape. His last words before he left revealed the truth. The horrible creatures they had fought were the disturbances Michiko-sama had absorbed in her time as the Balancer, and when she abandoned her duty and left, all of the darkness trapped inside her escaped and became what Feardorcha called "Hollows". He proclaimed himself ruler of the Hollows and their world "Hueco Mundo." The last of the Takeuchi clan escaped back to the human world and swore to kill him with their own hands. For generations, they continued to train and grow until this very day," Karin finished.
The room was deathly quiet. No one could believe what they were hearing. Not one person made a move to speak until…,"Ne, ne, grumpy girl, how do you know so much huh?" Kusajishi Yachiru inquired loudly. "Because our mother was Takeuchi Masaki, direct descendant of Michiko-sama. So that makes us and our brother Michiko-sama's descendants too," Yuzu said. "No wonder Kurosaki Ichigo managed to become so strong in such a short time," Ukitake-taichou muttered. "That's right. All three of us are trained specifically to oppose Feardorcha should the need ever arise," Karin explained.
"That still doesn't explain what the 'Sword of Dimensions' is and why this Feardorcha would want it," Soi Fong-taichou stated. "I can explain that," Yamamoto-soutaichou began. "The 'Sword of Dimensions' as its name suggests can cut through the boundaries of any dimension. It was created by the king of Soul Society. Its location is only known by the King to this day," he said. "That would explain it," Yuzu said. "Feardorcha cannot travel outside of Hueco Mundo because of the after effects of Michiko-sama's spell. If he gets the sword, then he'll be able to escape. So that's why he created the puppets!" Karin exclaimed. "What are you talking about now?" Omaeda-fukutaichou asked. "The puppets are what he's using to control those three men you were talking about. They infiltrate a person's soul and take control of their bodies, but not their minds. Our family has liberated many people under the puppet's influence, and every time, the person was aware of what they were doing, but couldn't stop themselves. Feardorcha created the puppets since he couldn't leave the dimension, so he had to make someone else do his dirty work," Karin explained. "How did you liberate those people?" Komamura-taichou questioned. "We had to destroy the puppets inside them. The puppets are embedded in the victim's chest, so we had no choice but to stab their chests and obliterate the puppets," Yuzu said quietly.
"So now we know how to save our comrades, but how will we get close enough to destroy the puppets?" Hisagi-fukutaichou asked. "I think you should at least see how it's done first, so let brother, Yuzu and I show you first. According to our brother we've fought people at their level before, so we can handle it. The way we see it, they'll be back, so there's no need to worry about where it'll take place," Karin said. Yamamoto-soutaichou deliberated for a moment before saying, "Very well. You will remain here until they return, and show us the methods you've been using until now, but only if you agree to take at least two captains with you as backup," he dictated. The twins looked at each other before saying together, "Agreed."