I'm back, miss me all, I bet you did, as promised here is chapter 1 of my new saga, Ichigo the Inferno, enjoy, read and review people.
CHAPTER 1: BURNING HEART
The story of fire tells the tales of one of the most outstanding fire Rayearth knights of the court of the queen of Crystalia, the story is in fact part of a bigger story, the chronicles of wind, the tales of waters, the story of fire, the scroll of union, and most unknown to many, the runes of earth.
The story of fire tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a boy of roughly fifteen years, given a gift most consider a curse, living what can be called a 'normal life' on a normal world, with an odd father and two sisters, a boy with friends, a boy who basically is hard on the outside, but soft on the inside, shy with women, but not afraid to tell what he thinks, a normal teenager on his world, a world where the life and death are heavily intertwined, and the end is just a new beginning.
Is in this world, in that city, where he lives, the twenty fire Rayearth knight of the court of the Princess of Crystalia, Ichigo the Inferno, the Vizard, but before he could claim either title he was something else, something different.
He was the first human to ever become a shinigami, a substitute shinigami, a living taboo, a living representation of a broken rule of the shinigami law, a low rank shinigami with massive power, but without control, a person who was responsible for many troubles in the shinigami home world.
The boy who became something else, something different, exciting, amazing, powerful, tempered by the fires of conflict, sharpened by his resolve, strengthened by each enemy he faced, what drives him is the will to protect what he hold dear, going to any lengths to do so.
As so two men are about to find out…
The night was dark, cold, a premonition of something bad about or happening in that moment, the cold night on Karakura town, a town with odd occurrences happening daily, people dying by unknown causes, damages done by and invisible force, some even being able to see the spirits of those dead.
On a desolated street, with dark clouds on the sky, and a lamp post lighting the street, lay on the ground a boy, roughly fifteen years old, clad on dark robes that resemble samurai clothes, a massive sheath tied to his back, while in front of him lay what used to be a massive sword, the only distinguishing feature of such weapon was now the red handle, what use to be the tassel on the pummel of the handle, a rectangular crossguard with several stylish flames along it, and the remains of that used to be a massive blade, that and the fact he lay on a puddle of his own blood indicated he had fought a battle and had lost, horribly.
Ichigo Kurosaki lay on the floor, beaten and defeated easily, he had barely saw his enemy as his nerves blazed with pain, and he became familiar with the floor, he was doing good against the other one, the red haired one with the wicked looking sword, but the other one, the one Rukia had called 'brother' he had been the strongest of the two, and that was supported almost right away.
Now there he lay, on a puddle of his own blood, defeated, disarmed, unable to save the woman who had helped him first, a friend, a friend that was sacrificing herself to save him of more wounds, but he wanted none of that, he wanted to save her, being blamed by something that in his way of seeing it was no crime made him angry, and if he had to topple hell itself he would prevent Rukia's capture…
"But how?"
Ichigo slowly blinked, did he just heard a female voice on his head? Maybe it was the effects bleeding out to death…
"I assure you Ichigito…that I'm far away of being a figment of your imagination…"
Did the voice answered him and called him…Ichigito?
"Is official…I went nuts"
"Hardly, right now you are about to die, but I can help you…I can't help you save Rukia now…" he was about to protest about her answer, "But I can help you in leaving an everlasting impression on those two, and rethink you are weak, I will not tolerate MY knight being called weak by a poser of nobility and a tattooed punk who go against their believes"
That caught Ichigo's attention, "What do you mean?"
"Can't you feel it…how the flames of their hearts seem to flicker, like being put down by hurricane winds, they don't want this, but in going against their own believes they betray themselves, they become less than trash, less than the hollows they slay…and there is only one way we can help them correct their ways" the female voice said, catching Ichigo's attention, "And that is?"
"…By beating them to an inch of their lives and spitting on their false believes! Now stand up! Stand and FIGHT!"
He didn't knew why, but he felt invigorated by her voice, by the way she snarled, it fired him up completely, almost unnaturally, he felt…powerful…yet his body felt weak…
"Oh damn I forgot about that asshole who inflicted those wounds my Ichigito…but don't worry…let mama Fira deal with this…I'm going to make them rethink about considering you weak, because if they consider you weak I AM considered weak…and the fire guardian won't be called weak by insects!!"
Like feeling his body being pulled by strings, Ichigo's mind caught up with the fact he was being raised up, his gaze focusing on the two shinigami retreating on the Japanese gate that came out of thin air thanks to the red headed guy's sword.
It was in that moment that the one who had defeated him seemed to move back against him, feeling his return to the two legs, Ichigo was wide eyed as he saw how the man moved as in slow motion, but yet his body didn't showed any reaction, it was like his mind was separated of his body, and his body had other driver.
Soon the man was in front of him, sword unsheathed and ready to behead him, but that stopped when Ichigo's body moved on his own, matching the unnatural speed of the man, even surpassing it, because the man's surprise was visible, and more when the body of Ichigo pressed his hand on the man's chest, Ichigo noted then the strange white fingerless glove on his left hand, pressing against the man's chest, a strange red skull surrounded in flames, much like the one Rukia's glove had, but made in pure red crystal was place on top of the glove.
As for the man, he seemed shocked, like shocked beyond believe, he had left Ichigo nearly dead, bleeding out, then he stands up and matches his speed, even surpasses it, which is impossible, considering who he is, and the difference of rank, training, experience and above all, class between him and the soon to be corpse.
Slowly the man saw how 'Ichigo' raised his head to face him, not knowing Ichigo at all was not in control, but something else, something that would remind him of something…no one, not even him is invincible.
"Know your place…insect" were the last words Byakuya Kuchiki would hear before his world exploited in pain, lots and lots of pain, with a soft pressure, 'Ichigo' left hand let what seemed to be a massive explosion, point-blank at Byakuya's chest, with the low guard and surprise, Byakuya had no chance of defend himself, the explosion itself was small, barely a firecracker, but to Byakuya was like someone had fired the strongest Kido spell know point-blank at him, or worse he dare believe, the captain of the Gotei 13 6th division flew away towards the gate, missing Rukia by a hair, while his lieutenant looked at the flying Byakuya enter the gate, flying away and by the looks in a lot of pain, the red haired lieutenant had little time to defend himself as he pushed the shocked Rukia trough the door, just to feel a new kind of pain explode of his left shoulder, looking at his after mentioned shoulder, Renji eyes widened when a neatly made hole was visible, the wound had no blood, because it was cauterized almost instantly, he felt like screaming, but any will to scream was punched away, along with the air on his lungs when he felt a fist being rammed to his stomach, again he experienced a new kind of pain, the kind of pain experienced only if you are Kenpachi's sparring partner or you steal his lieutenant candies.
Renji flew away trough the door, his last vision of the world of the living was the face of Ichigo Kurosaki, and the flames on his eyes that seemed to burn like the flames of hell, such stare would haunt him for a couple of nights before the 4th division captain showed him her famous 'smile' which erased any thoughts of the fire like gaze of Ichigo.
On the other side of the door, Ichigo, or rather said his body stumbled around, Ichigo saw with impotence how the gate closed upon his eyes, now in control once again and after enjoying the whoopass his body controlled by this 'Fira' proportioned to the two shinigami, Ichigo was able to do one last thing…
Scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the scream would be only heard by those who could actually see the spirits or were sensitive enough to hear such things as dogs and cats, but Karakura town did felt a sudden rise in temperature, it barely lasted a minute, but it was more than enough, because the water droplets that were falling of the sky were vaporized instantly, and so Ichigo's puddle of blood, blood pouring of his wounds and the blood that was expelled by Renji's forehead, along with his expensive looking glasses, a heavy fog fell over Karakura town of consequence of this, while Ichigo lay on the ground, finally tired, and in a lot of pain.
The last vision he had of the living world was a pair of wooden sandals too near of him, and the obscured face of a man by a odd shaped hat, that and the feeling of sudden warm and comfort on him.
"Don't worry Ichigito, I'm gonna help ya save your girlfriend"
If he had strength, Ichigo would have snapped at Fira.
"Ugh…my head…my arm…my stomach…" Renji groaned in pain, last thing he remembered was pain, lots of pain, the fact he was nearly killed by that orange haired guy, got a hole drilled on his shoulder, scared the crap out of him…and ruined his recent pair of glasses!
"…Bastard…" he muttered, finally regaining sharpness of his sight, just to pale when he did so, because he recognized the place where he was now.
4th squad barracks/medical ward, in the care of no other but the captain of the 4th division, Retsu Unohana, regarded as the most 'normal' captain of the Gotei 13, somewhat tame and calm, mother like, which explains why she is so well liked by her division…but still doesn't explain why 11th division shinigami send to her care seem scare shitless of her, even Kenpachi, the most sadistic, blood-thirsty, warmonger, disrespectful and fearless shinigami ever was scare to a level of her, not that Renji couldn't blame him, it seems there is a universal law to watch out for those with the sweet, innocent smile and mother like aptitude to others.
"Tone Renji-san" she said in a sweet tone and with that smile, although sweet and that would make a certain blond of another world to instantly glomp at her and call her 'nee-sama' was the main reason many shinigami feared her, it was simply the prelude for a more…terrifying facet of her, one that without a doubt Mayuri would use to defeat hollows…once he finds the way to harness such power.
"…I'm sorry Unohana-taichou…but it hurts a lot…really…" Renji complained, "Is to be expected, Kuchiki-taichou presented similar symptoms of pain on his wound, I dare say that only his experience in gathering Reiryoku on his chest before the blast allowed him to lessen the damage…sadly that didn't happen to you…Abarai-san" Retsu said, her usual soft and gentle face changed slightly by a more serious one, Renji for a second swore he saw eagerness on her face, after all (unknown to him) is not every day she can treat a wound that is not neither hollow Cero made or Kidou made, or Kenpachi made.
"…that guy…I swear he got it good" Renji muttered, staring at the ceiling of the room he was in, "Do you refer to the 'shinigami' that was with Rukia-san?"She asked, "…Yeah…taichou cut his zanpakutou easily, wounded him gravely, I think he was aiming for destroying the power Rukia gave to that boy…but then something happened…" Renji said, almost worried by something.
"…he attacked you both" Retsu stated, making Renji nod slightly, "I don't know how…but he moved faster than taichou, blasted him away, I pushed Rukia inside the Senkaimon, but then…I felt that hole being made to my shoulder…then he came at me…and then I felt pain on my stomach…so much pain…I felt like Yamamoto-sotaichou had hit me with his zanpakutou…" Renji said, making Retsu raise an eyebrow.
"Regardless of that…you should rest, I was able to restore the mass on your shoulder, it will take a while but you will make full recovery…I'll discharge you in two days, so try to recover well enough" she said, slowly standing up of the chair that was placed at the side of his bed, "w-wait" Renji called, making Retsu stop and stare at him.
"What about Rukia…anything has been decided yet?" Renji asked, "…No, not yet, Kuchiki-taichou is still recovering from his wounds, tomorrow we will all gather and hear the decision of Yamamoto-so taichou regarding this affair" she informed, "…But I doubt it will be a soft punishment for her" she ended, walking away of the room, leaving Renji with his thoughts.
As for so said man, he wanted to blame the man who had put Rukia in such peril in the first place, but he simply couldn't, one because he was sure the man was dead, and second, if he somehow survived the battle (which he believes won't happen) then he will come back for Rukia, then he will have the chance to make him pay for what will happen to Rukia.
Yet he couldn't shake the thought of something bad about to happen, something big, way too big.
"Ugh…my head…my body…my butt" Ichigo moaned in pain, after all it was not every day that he was on the edge of life and death…well he has been there many times before this one, but those barely count, in the others at least he had some fighting chance, this time…he was utterly defeated.
"Oh Ichigito, my poor Ichigito, does your pride hurts?"
Ichigo heard that voice again, a female voice, taunting him, it was melodious, sweet…like poison, deadly also, a false move and he is sure the owner of that voice would end the job that asshole of Rukia's brother was unable to do.
"I assure you Ichigito, nothing you can do can anger me…I am a very patient…and hot woman"
Did the owner of the voice just told him that she is a chick? Did she read his thoughts?
"Mostly, but you're so easy to read, now stand and come to me my strawberry, we have lot's to talk, that is of course you want to waste time…time your girlfriend doesn't has in spades"
Now with strength on his body, he was able to do what he was unable to do the last night, "SHE AIN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!!"
Snap at the mysterious voice that saved his ass.
But she had a point in there, Rukia didn't had much time, whatever the reason those two shinigami had capture her was going to end badly for her if he didn't do something to help her, after all he was part responsible for her predicament.
Opening his eyes, Ichigo surveyed the area around him with great shock.
The sky, for the lack of better words was an inverted city, buildings and skyscrapers were visible on the sky, or at least some of them, the clouds prevented to see all of it.
"The damage the shinigami did to the powers Rukia gave you was irreversible, but they completed their purpose, awake the latent power in ya, the clouds covering that sky is such a representation of it, once fully awakened you will see clearly the sky, but for the moment is all foggy…like a morning hangover"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that, he knew his shinigami powers were borrowed by Rukia by what she told him once, but the fact he had latent powers of his own was new info for him, well it saved him a lot of troubles and answered the fact why he felt so weak…as weak you can feel as you're about to die of blood lost.
Slowly standing up, Ichigo noticed that he was on some sort of ashen ground, blackened rock with ash for dirt; he noticed also that he was on what seemed to be a cave entrance…near a black mountain.
Looking further, Ichigo walked towards the ledge of the area he was, much to his shock he saw where he was…a damn black floating mountain, and how he knew, simple, the odd islands that floated around it and the fact the trees looked so small made it even clearer.
"Don't be so shocked Ichigito, you were fighting creatures that feed on the living and dead people as a shinigami, a being that is supposed to be simply one, not an organization at all, trust me on this, a floating volcano is nothing"
"VOLCANO!!!!" Ichigo screamed as looking upwards to the peak of the mountain, Ichigo paled when he saw the smoke coming out of the tip of the black mountain, confirming Fira's early affirmation, he was on a volcano…a damn floating volcano.
"…This can't get worse" he muttered, it was simply impossible to thing to get worse…or weirder in fact, he had been a shinigami, killed hollows, somehow gave his friends powers that were neither shinigami nor hollow like, and also found out that Uryuu was…how he could put it simply and with tact…a shinigami hater who ended as his friend and ally.
"Well, I'm not exactly a person with tact" Ichigo thought with some mirth, he was always blunt, blunt as a hammer being jammed to the ribs or a cactus being slammed to someone's ass he didn't knew, but something in between that was for certain.
"Enough self-exploration Ichigito, we have to talk, and is not exactly how you, once a cute, shy and borderline nervous kid ended up as a brooding, cool acting and serious teenager with serious anger management problems"
"I…what the…" Ichigo stammered, now wanting to know how Fira dared to say that to him, especially without knowing him.
"I do know you Ichigito, I know all about you…you hide too much when it should be free, you should not contain so much on you, it can be bad…really bad…especially when you faced Grand Fisher…revenge is like fuel…the worse kind"
That had an effect on Ichigo, a very profound effect, "Who are you!? Show yourself!!"
"All in due time Ichigito, you want to see me…then enter my domain and confront that you fear the most…only then you will see me…and understand your role in the universe"
Wanting answers of the so called Fira, Ichigo followed her advice and entered the cave, not really sure if it was one of his best ideas ever, hell he rarely has good ideas that involve his personal welfare, but he really wanted to know, he was a curious person, and maybe this 'Fira' might have clues regarding how the hell he blasted two shinigami away with ease when they nearly killed him, that and more.
Walking into the dark tunnel, Ichigo suddenly felt a blast of heat from deep the tunnel, which basically backed the fact that he was indeed on a floating volcano, and someone resided deep within the bowels of this one.
He didn't knew how much he had been walking inside the tunnel, but he bet that was nearly fifteen minutes before he crossed paths with something, or better said someone…himself.
Why we try?
He heard, Ichigo found himself kinda freaked, more because he was facing himself, or better said a more dark side of him, he was clad on the shinigami robes, just like Ichigo, but the face was odd, it was obscured by the shadows, while he could distinctly see the hands, which were ash white, the eyes were more…prominent on the darkness, red glowing orbs with slits, that and the sudden chill Ichigo felt on the warm cave made him narrow his eyes at the construct on the cave.
Is because of us that Rukia is now dead…
"She isn't!" Ichigo snapped, glaring at the doppelganger in front of him, now he really wished that the one who looked to have a stick deep in his ass didn't destroyed his sword, he was really wanting to cut down the person in front of him.
Every person we held dear dies in front of us…
"Don't speak in plural! You're not me!"
Are you sure…?
The person in front of Ichigo said in a hiss, making Ichigo nod, "Is not my fault, I fought to save Rukia, to save Yuzu and Karin…"
Just like you fought to save mother…?
That stopped Ichigo dead on his tracks; the person in front of him was the second thing to ever refer to his mother in the lapse of a day, but while Fira seemed to refer to his mother on a more personal level, referring to her death as the catalyze of what Ichigo is nowadays, the other one referred to her in a taunting manner, like if her death was…
Your fault…yes…
It hissed with malice and glee, something Ichigo noted immediately, and hated it.
If you didn't try to save that 'girl' then mother wouldn't have died, because of that we lost mother, we made Yuzu and Karin cry, we made father bitter, and we destroyed our family…
"No, NO!" Ichigo snapped, eyes narrowing at the person that dared to say that he had killed his own mother, that he was responsible for it, he wasn't…right?
Don't deny it; we blame ourselves for it, we ran away when we saw what we did, we caused pain, we made many people sad, don't deny what is true, we killed her…
Ichigo stubbornly shook his head, he didn't want to admit it, but the thing was correct, he…he was part responsible for what happened, for what happened to his mom…
Now even we cause pain, Rukia died seeing our corpse on the street, our sisters suffer for us, our friends suffer for us, it should have been better if we have died…
Ichigo was panting in pain, the voice was right again, he was to blame, and THEY were to blame by it, how many times Yuzu and Karin have been put in danger? How many times his own friends had been put on the line? How many times…how many times…
Images of his death mother, of his crying sisters, sad people, images that still haunted him…
Right…concede, kneel, you lost, your despair is delicious, is satisfying my thirst…you should have died with your whore of a mother…Rayearth…
But even in that state of depression, Ichigo was hearing all, and he didn't like a bit what the other one said about his mom (who does?)
"What did you say about Kaa-Chan?"
I said you should have died with her, both of you are wastes of space, all of them are, your sisters, your fathers, your friends, your…wait…
The other being on the cave realized that Ichigo had been depressed, but not anymore it seemed, his purpose was to berate people with their darkest fears, then consume their conscious to then use them as their own, but never they had answered him, all remained catatonic after facing the 'truth' his truth, he always taunted them, they never answered, but this time it was different, way too different.
"No one…no one!" Ichigo snapped, seeing how the other being took a step back after noticing something in Ichigo's left arm.
"NO ONE INSULTS KAA-SAN!!" in a blur Ichigo had dashed at the other being in the cave, and plunged his flame engulfed hand onto the chest of the other.
AHHHHHH!!
The being screamed in pain as the flame engulfed hand impaled him right on the heart, suddenly he was consumed in flames as well, but not even ashes remained of the thing, only the taunts that were in Ichigo's mind…
"Forget them all, death, as life, is a natural cycle, yes the death of your mother was unfortunate, but don't blame yourself for it Ichigito, after all she died for you, for you alone, remember her, remember her sacrifice, and live"
For once, ever since Ichigo heard her voice, Fira seemed to bring some words of comfort to him, it was odd for someone he barely knew to tell him that was weird, but it seemed that she knew him well enough, putting those thoughts about the other being aside, he focused on his left hand, just to see that it no longer was engulfed in flames, just the white glove that somehow found its way on his hand, Ichigo tried to remove the glove, but found out that it was impossible, it was like the glove was attached to his skin.
Sighing in annoyance, he decided to continue his trek towards the cave most inner place, wanting to meet Fira in person, and why he had confronted…that, whatever it was.
It would take him five more minutes to reach the end of the cave, what he found there was both breath-taking and amazing.
A massive cavern of the size of his school auditorium, the roof was completely filled with red glowing crystals of all sizes and shapes, most of them with sharp spikes in them, the ground and the walls were of black rock, the floor having some ash in it, but what caught his attention was the lavafall in one side of the room that formed also a lava like pond, several crystal like lamps had flames on the tips, furthering illuminating the place, and he could see clearly what seemed to be a chair made of both crystallized lava and red crystals, with flames on the headboard of this one.
"So…you came, Ichigito" Ichigo eyes widened, and his mouth hang open, but not because he saw a woman with pale skin, red fiery hair that surely made it pass beyond her waist, orange eyes that seemed to burn with passion and lips as red as blood, no, and it wasn't either because she seemed to have enough curves to cause a massive car accident, neither the perfect bust of butt, no it was for two facts, one she was naked, and two, she was bathing herself on lava, LAVA!!!
The shocking fact about a woman bathing on a lava pool seemed to be overshadowed when he finally realized of the state of nudity of so said woman, and how so said woman seemed to enjoy his stare on her.
To anyone who truly knew Ichigo (which were very few) his cool and stubborn persona was replaced by a shy and demure one automatically once he sees a woman in either indecent clothes that show too much skin or a woman with no clothes at all.
Blushing a storm, Ichigo finally did a gentleman thing an averted his eyes of her, to any other person (with a normal libido) it would have been a hard thing, but to Ichigo it was easy…
"Oh you blush! What a cute and shy little kid you are, averting your eyes of the naked hot lady!" but the woman seemed dead-bent on reminding him that she was as naked as the day she was born.
"I wonder is that why Rukia liked to sleep on your closet, knowing that a cute boy that respected her as a woman would not take advantage of her, a weak, cute, one hundred and many more years old shinigami with more experience on bed than you"
"WOULD YOU STOP IT!!!?"
"And Orihime…those boobs are all natural, I think you have a hard choice, the natural, yet inexperienced Orihime or the experienced, yet petit Rukia…hard choice if you ask me…if I were you…I'll take them both"
"Would you for once ever since we meet stop talking about my life if you knew me!? I hardly know you!"
"Oh but I do know you…well enough I might add" the woman said, Ichigo eyes widened when he felt silk like fingers wrap around his chin, and more when such delicate fingers forced him to look at their owner, Ichigo thanked the higher ones when he saw that she was dressed, although in a scandalous manner.
Knee high red leather boots were visible, a scandalous black miniskirt covered her waist, barely covering what only men see on their wedding night (what a prude) a golden breastplate covered her way developed chest (if barely) showing her toned belly, the breastplate seemed heavily decorated with rune inscriptions of all kinds etched on the metal, her left hand, her fingers were completely decorated with rings with rubies in them, while her right hand, her wrist was covered by a red crystal like bracelet, a ruby bracelet he dare say, her forehead sported a slim golden tiara that had on the top a head of a bird with red eyes, while the tiara was flanked by two golden wings, oddly enough she had a cape, nothing fancy, a cape that was made of flames, considering that she was already dressed in less than a second and she was having a bath on a lava pool, nothing else could surprise him now coming out of her.
"My, my, just a handsome face…and always on a scowl, no wonder you only attract troublemaker girls" the woman said, making Ichigo scowl as usual, "But well, that scowl attracted me as well" she added, swaying her hips as she made her way towards the 'throne' on the room, making Ichigo blush, sadly she seemed aware of this and only made her giggle, "Such as prude…but I think is a rather cute trade of you" she added as she finally sat on the chair, crossing her legs and motioning Ichigo to come to her.
"Who…who are you?" Ichigo asked as he eyed the woman with suspicious, "Me? Glad you asked!" she said as she suddenly sprang out; launching herself to Ichigo, just to stop inches to his face, a grin on her face.
"I am an all mighty entity of another world, hollows quake in fear at the mere mention of my name, shinigami run away at the mere glance of my power! I am the almighty! All sexy! Everlasting powerful being of Crystalia! Fira!!" she practically screamed the last part, along with her dramatic introduction that seemed to be joined by geysers of lava sprouting out of the ground and the lava pool and flames dancing around her, yet…
"Who?" Fira seemed to face vault when she heard Ichigo mention that! Hell, even the dense as a brick ninja Anima selected as his Rayearth knew of the legend of the knights.
"Never your mother tucked you to bed with a story?" Ichigo nodded, "Then, by obligation she should have told you the legend of the Rayearth knights!"
"Eh…no, doesn't ring a bell"
"Oh come on! Any mom or dad that respects themselves has told their Childs the legend of the knights and Crystalia!!"
"Nope, nothing yet…but I think I heard something about it by Orihime…" Fira seemed to perk up at that, "But I think it was more for the food" Fira sweat dropped.
"This…is going to be hard" was all Fira muttered as she looked at Ichigo with a mischievous look on her eyes, "But no matter, we can cover that after you recover your powers, this time for good" Fira said, crossing her arms over her generous bust.
"My shinigami powers?" Ichigo questioned, "Duh! Is not like you have other powers…besides the one of a Rayearth" she said, "But nevertheless is imperative you regain them, your girlfriend's life is on the line"
"She ain't my girlfriend! And what do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked, "Tch, so easy, Soul society has very uptight rules Ichigito, one of them includes that no shinigami, under any circumstance must never give their powers to a human, namely you" she said, making Ichigo go eye wide, "Excuse me? Are you saying that Rukia broke a stupid rule, we were both going to die, and so my sisters!"
"Soul society doesn't care, all they care about is balance, and the all 'the wheel of life must turn' souls must reincarnate, yada, yada, yada, I leave the balance speech to Draconax I am more a creature of chaos, oh and hear this, the punishment for such act, like others transgressions, is death" Ichigo eyes widened more after such notice, he thought that Rukia would be incarcerated, nothing more, noting else, maybe hurt, but executed?
"Surprised eh?" Ichigo nodded, "Can't say I'm surprised either, their king has a willow tree stuck deep on his ass, nevertheless such thing can be avoided…but if you're willing to take some risks" she said, "…What risks?" Ichigo asked.
"Simple enough, to regain your powers, you must basically must lose your chain of fate" she said, "On other words, turn into a hollow" she added, "Say what?!"
"You hear me, you must lose the chain then pass a process that is called Hollowfication, simple enough is going to hurt like hell, but if you manage to fight the process of Hollowfication, you will be able to regain your powers with an extra spice in the mix"
"And how pray tell I will do that?" Ichigo asked, "Well you're stubborn by nature, so obviously you will resist the Hollowfication, that will give you the time to become a shinigami…a very special one" Fira said with a leer, making Ichigo uncomfortable.
"And then what?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't know! I'm not Draconax and the Rayearth of water to see the future! but I know this, don't falter, don't turn back, don't give up, because if you do…" she said as her hand suddenly pressed on Ichigo's forehead, much to Ichigo's shock, he was suddenly engulfed in flames, but he wasn't burning, in fact he felt…welcome in the flames.
"Injustices will be committed…and people will pay the price for that" with that, Ichigo's vision began to grow brighter, blinding him, "Remember this Ichigito…I will always be here…me and the old goat"
Ichigo slowly recovered sense of his body, the first feeling he got was oddly the sense of touch, and with it came also the feeling of being in something warm, comfortable, nice, welcoming, like the flames he was once surrounded when Fira had pressed her hand on his forehead…
"Of course you feel comfortable in the flames, is warm, is nice, is natural, flames are your allies, the fire is your ally"
And by some twisted way of life, he now could hear Fira's voice on his head, "How…long I was out?"
"Well…can't say really, time in the mind runs at a different way, I dare say five hours between the uptight asshole tried to kill ya, you entering the mindscape, defeating the leech, meeting me and then sending you to your body in that order, and I even had time to drink a whole bottle of tequila in a sit, pretty much the usual thing" Fira answered.
"Five…what the hell is a leech?"
"Nasty little bastard if you ask me, I don't know how it got into you, I dare say once again, it found its way when the uptight asshole stabbed ya, leeches don't need much time to start working once they get inside a living being, as for what they do is pretty much simple, they dig in, scan the deepest fears and insecurities of their host, then they wait to the host to reach a state of mental rest, napping or sleeping, then they confront them with that acquired knowledge, break the host will to fight, then they consume their minds, taking their place and leeching them of their life force, it usually it takes them a week to complete the life force drain, then jump to another host, and the process repeats again"
"…I see" Ichigo answered, not even feeling remorse for what he did, one thing was hollows, once humans souls that had the misfortune to not being guided by a shinigami to soul society and turned into inhuman monsters by grieve and their only way to escape that existence was to a shinigami to kill their hollow form, purifying them, but another one was that…leech, who had used his deepest feelings against him.
"The bastard got what he had coming, I mean he knew he was dealing with a Rayearth, but he had to be greedy and even taunt the Rayearth with his momma, bad move, leeches are greedy when it comes with targets with high amount of life force, and Rayearths are like all you can eat buffet to them"
"Thanks for the words of comfort, but now I want answers, what is a Rayearth? Hell why me?"
"Why the hell you? Simple, you got what it takes to be a knight, as for what is a Rayearth…let me see…think of the sun of this system for an example, now add that sun a mass of a million times its original mass, that's the power of a Rayearth put on perspective, on other terms think of asteroids as the power of normal hollows, then moons, the power of your average shinigami and a Gillian class menos, then are the planets, normal planets like this one are the power of lieutenant power shinigami like Rukia and other class of hollows, then we pass to the gas giants, other planets, think of them as the power of average class captain shinigami, then we have the suns, the power of the leader of the shinigami and then black holes, the power of another class of hollows, then is you…when you reach full maturity of both your Rayearth powers and shinigami powers, a star so big, so enormous, so bright, than not even a black hole could swallow that much energy without being affected, in Crystalia we have a name to those stars, black suns, the biggest star this universe has to offer"
"Thanks to explaining that…but why you had to put the solar system as an example of it?"
"Don't know, maybe is because Draconax mentioned that his knight has a liking to the stars, and I think is cool to explain it like that!" the cheerful way Fira exclaimed that didn't help to assure nothing to Ichigo.
"You just answered what kind of power a Rayearth has, no what they truly are!!"
"I did?"
"YES!!!"
"Okay, okay, cool your engines down Ichigito, I was just testing ya, if seeing if you are perceptive, guess you are"
"Just…tell me what a Rayearth is?"
"Simply put, the most powerful force ever made in this universe, not close to a god or a guardian power, but the true limit of power a mortal is allowed to wield, Rayearths are the ancient defenders of Crystalia, and therefore the defenders of the universe, because whatever happens to Crystalia affects the other worlds as a whole, this world, soul society, a world made of chocolate, it exists, if Crystalia is destroyed then the balance will be thrown away, not a nice thing if you ask me, you, and other two people of another world each were granted powers beyond mortal comprehension to fight for Crystalia sake when the land is threatened, in a way you are a one man shinigami army, stronger than any other shinigami ever born, well you are already stronger than any other shinigami know, but all that it will take time, training and beating the crap out of any fool who crosses your path"
"…Well that is explanatory, now why you set me on fire?"
"Oh that, just to awaken your dormant Rayearth powers, you have the basic powers and abilities a Rayearth of fire has in this stage, breathing fire and manipulating fire to an extent, using telekinetic abilities, supporting insane amounts of damage, oh did you know you can get a hole punched on your stomach and you will be still standing? Now if I could only make possible that you endure a hit in the family jewels without flinching…"
"Excuse me? I can do what!?"
"Breath fire, manipulate fire, Rayearth of fire, you control fire! Sheez why I didn't got the cute ninja, he has the all will of the fire thingy and looks like a cute chibi fox? Oh yeah, I lost rock paper scissors with those two cheaters"
"You…never mind, now what?"
"Now what? Now you wake up moron, last I checked you got stabbed to near death, not drunk to near death, so there is no excuse to go lazy, stand up and ask bucket head to train ya, if you're going to rescue your bunny loving and imp size girlfriend then you gotta recover your shinigami powers, it would a little fair for the opponent, I mean they will be facing you, a Rayearth, so they are practically screw so let's give them some advantage and fight with their same powers…but that doesn't mean you can't mix your Rayearth powers with any shinigami attack, ah I imagine it already, that stuck up asshole crying like a baby because you incinerated his hair, ah so beautiful"
For his part, Ichigo really wondered if he had got stuck with a guardian or with a crazy half-drunk pyromaniac living on his mind.
"Okay, I'm all for it, but one thing"
"Sure shoot hotshot"
"RUKIA AIN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!!!"
"Don't deny it Ichigito, there is love in the air, you want her, to show her how much you love her, and let's admit it, unlike other males you are not drooling for the girl with blimps attached to her chest, so you like small, spitfire girls like Rukia, why else you would try to save her?"
"Dammit I'm not that kind of guy, I respect girls!!"
"Right, let's work with that for now, oh on a serious note…" Fira began, her tone of voice changing, much to Ichigo's sudden shock, all the time he had 'spoke' with her she had this spark of mischief on her voice, but now it was all business like.
"You want to save her, that's cool, but don't use that as an excuse to die, there are people who would be greatly saddened if you died without a reason, just fight and survive, if you strive then you don't die, all is reduced to one single word…resolve, now wake up, I want to see the world also"
Not answering her deep words, Ichigo began to open his eyes, the warm on his body was still there, so there was nothing to worry about, he could feel Fira's eyes on his own, meaning she was watching as well.
As he opened his eyes, he expected his first sight to be the ceiling of his room or a hospital…
Instead he got a close-up to Tessai's face, that and the fact the man was on him, the result was expected of both Ichigo and Fira.
"GGGAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Scream like a pair of little girls who saw the devil itself, although Tessai didn't expected what happened next.
As Ichigo screamed with all his might right at Tessai face, fire erupted of his mouth, like a dragon exhaling fire onto a helpless enemy, the stream of flames hit Tessai face point-blank, anyone looking at the scene would be horrified or very amused, after all it was Ichigo who was breathing fire on Tessai's face.
As the stream of fire stopped of Ichigo's mouth, he saw the damage, or better said the lack of it on Tessai's face, it was all blackened by the fire, like if he had been rubbing his face on coal, his glasses, his mustache, his hair all was barely burned, better yet he seemed he had washed himself with coal rather with soap.
"Tenchou, Kurosaki-dono has awaken" Tessai said with his rough voice, standing up and walking away, as he did so Ichigo sat up, not even wincing for the wounds on his body, in fact he didn't felt wounded at all, he didn't felt the wounds on his body inflicted by the other shinigami, it was odd, indeed odd, that and the fact his torso was not in bandages, usually Rukia used a spell to heal him, but without her he pretty much had to recur to normal ways, bandages and antiseptic, the fact he had none of them on him meant one thing, either he has an awesome healer, or…
"I heal fast…"
"Duh! Of course you do, I mean in this beginning stage of your powers, those 'deadly' stabs to you were like love taps, in time they will feel like an itch, trust me is funny to say to an enemy if they can stab you on the back to you can cure an itch there" Fira replied, making Ichigo to grunt in approval, "Oh by the way once you're alone try to summon your Rayearth weapon"
"My what!?"
"Your Rayearth weapon my flaming strawberry, is made like a zanpakutou, out of your soul, but instead of the one you will have as a shinigami, this one will be a fusion of your soul deepest feelings, honor, courage, lust to name a few, then forged within you, creating a cool looking, sometimes ridiculous size, but overall deadly to any moron who is cut by it, you're is called Ignus"
"Ignus? Okay it doesn't work like a shinigami zanpakutou?"
"No, no flashy transformation or something like that, but it has cool skills, and as long your soul and will is strong, Ignus, like any other Rayearth weapon is indestructible"
Nodding in approval at that prospect, Ichigo saw Urahara enter the room, looking as lazy and happy looking as you can expect of him, but there was something odd about him, something that Ichigo could not place…
Maybe it was the strange red dot around Urahara, flying like an annoying fly and that most of the times surrounded the cane he held, "Maybe is his…zanpakutou, I mean he sells shinigami based items, he sell Rukia Kon and all that"
"Duh! Of course he is, you can't feel his massive spiritual energy because you basically suck at feeling it, that and most of it you leak so much of it hampers you to feel it, but nevertheless you still can see it right, that strange aura around his cane, that red orb, you can't be deceive by illusions, now you just can sense them and bypass the most basic ones, but as time pass you will not be tricked by no one…Suck on that Anima, my Rayearth can't be fooled by illusions, your Rayearth does, BOOYAAH!!!"
Ichigo groaned at that, he was now convinced that women like Fira were to be avoided like the plague, making a mental note to find a way to drown the sudden whoops of joy of Fira, Ichigo focused on the shopkeeper in front of him.
The man gave the overall goofy and lazy shopkeeper of a second-hand store with a weird staff feeling, but in his crash course on 'how to be a shinigami and not getting kill while being an average student' he had learn that all is not what it seems, just look at Rukia for instance, you would never believe a girl so small and thin as her would have a right hook as mean as a sledgehammer, or that a normal soul like one of a kid can in time, turn into a vicious, ferocious and downright evil soul consuming spirit know as hollow.
Yet that happened, and so there he was, perhaps on the house of Urahara, with his wounds fully healed, thanks to whatever mumbo jumbo Fira was talking about, without shinigami powers and to boot with the face of Tessai forever burned on his mind, now he had a new reason to lock his room on his home, his dad being one of those reasons.
"My, my, you're already awake and standing, after such wounds inflicted upon you most people would have died, and if they survived, the recovery would have been painfully long" Urahara said with that tease smile he always had, his strange hat covering his eyes, but Ichigo knew that Urahara was watching him, how he didn't know, maybe the fact that the shopkeeper seemed too cheerful for his taste, that and the fact Urahara's attention was focused on Ichigo's glove, the only article of clothing Ichigo had on his upper part of the body.
"That glove…my it seems there is always something with Ichigo here, first striking a friendship with a Quincy, having monstrous spiritual powers and even surviving a captain, true they had the limiters on but that didn't meant he was weak…but if that glove is in fact what I think then there are some turbulent times coming" Urahara thought with some apprehension, any captain worth its zanpakutou knows of it, the only power that outmatches the power of the captain-commander in spades, the only being that is believe to be able to slay an army of Vasto Lorde without any help or effort…a Rayearth knight.
"If he is a knight…then indeed dark times approach" with that last thought, Urahara approached Ichigo, fanning himself and keeping the cheerful look, while he was not like that all the time, he was cheerful and eccentric, but he kept the façade of over the top cheerful and eccentric just for fun and to fool the shinigami that come to his shop to buy, most of the times most of them didn't even knew who he truly was, and not even who Tessai was, or what power they had, and he wouldn't have it another way, he is still surprised that Yamamoto-sotaichou hasn't send any captain shinigami to bring him or Tessai to question the whereabouts of Shinji and the others.
"You…saved me?" Ichigo asked, suddenly wincing in his mind as Fira proceed to scream her lungs and explaining that it was her and his natural Rayearth skills to sustain rather obscene damage on him that saved him, not 'Geta-boshi' as Ichigo usually calls Urahara.
"Why yes…in a sense, you were already on the path of self-healing, a rather astonishing ability considering that you are no longer a shinigami, but yet I was able to seal some of your nastier wounds, there will be some scars, but nothing compared of what could have been left without your…rather advance regeneration" Urahara confessed happily, and it was not only him to be surprised by that, Tessai had been visibly shocked, while Jinta and Ururu were slightly shocked, well Jinta nearly had his eyes pop out of his sockets while Ururu…acted as Ururu should, silent and mannered, but with slight shock, is not every day you see someone be able to heal deadly wounds.
Ichigo suddenly perked up, "Oh right!! Did you also find Uryuu? How is he? Is he here too?"
"Nope" Urahara answered, "He already gone, he lost a lot of blood, but he didn't had wounds that compromised vitals, but even if I left him there laying, he wouldn't have died in at least two days" Urahara confessed, "So I treated his wounds on the spot" he added, making Ichigo nod.
"When he left…he was worried…about you…" Urahara said.
"Oh yeah baby, man/man love! Fira likes mucho!!"
"Fira!!!" and if it turned to become a running gag for the rest of his life, Fira would make rude and inappropriate comments on serious moments.
Later, way, way later he would find out that the mighty fire guardian was not the only one with such…skill.
"Thank you for tending me" Urahara began, "However I am fine" he added, "instead…please tend Ichigo" Ichigo eyes slowly began to widen, a mix between surprise and all the things Fira was saying on his head right now.
"Right now…the only one who can beat those bastards is not me…please…heal Ichigo" Urahara said, "The only one who can save Rukia…is him" Urahara finished, "that was what your friend told me" Urahara added to the thinking Ichigo.
"Only me…" Ichigo muttered, on another occasion, without any shinigami powers and without the intervention of Fira he would have asked himself that instead of murmuring that, then snort and ask himself what they expect of him? But this was a different moment, Fira had give him a piece of information that was very valuable, he can recover his shinigami powers, hell he has powers that far surpassed shinigami powers in every sense of the word, but the question still remained, how the hell he was going to reach Rukia when he is stuck on the world of the living and she is on soul society?
"How?" Ichigo asked to Urahara, "How what?" Urahara asked to the boy on the mat, "You know! How I'm suppose to rescue her when I can't reach her!" Ichigo snapped, "You really think…there is no way to reach her?" Urahara said, head bowed down and his hat covering his face, in surprise Ichigo stood up, "There is? Tell me!!"
"Of course, but with one tinny condition" Urahara said, "starting now, for ten days you will to fight properly under my care"
That was not what to tell to a boy who knows that his friend is about to die and has the days counted, especially to a volatile boy who is overprotective to his friends like Ichigo.
"Say what!! You come with that crap now, Rukia is about to be executed! I have to be there fast! Not in ten days or ten hours! Now!!"
"…You are a very exasperating person" Urahara simply said, not even looking at Ichigo, suddenly the bucket hat wearing man shot at Ichigo at blinding speed, his cane barely touching Ichigo's head, Ichigo didn't knew why, maybe it was what Fira said, that cane held something different, but Ichigo didn't want to be touched by the cane in that moment, because he felt it was like getting hit by a sword, so he went to the ground to not be hit by the cane, Urahara following his movements until Ichigo was flat on his back, Urahara hovering on top of him, cane poised right to his forehead, seeing on the base of such the same skull with flames emblem that Rukia had on her glove to separate his body of his soul and that was currently made in crystal on his newly acquired white glove.
"The point I want to make is that you will die if you rush there in your current condition and power" Urahara said, knowing that he was stepping on dangerous grounds, the Rayearth of fire was known for setting things on fire by just looking at them, if Ichigo was indeed a Rayearth then he was in a sense as good as dead, but he had to do it, the boy had talent, and there was other motives to help him break into soul society, motives that were the reason he was currently on the world of the living.
"Do you think you can win if you fight them now?" Urahara asked.
"Damn right we can asshole!!"
"Fira enough!"
"I purposely let you fight them the previous time, I thought it would be easier for you to realize for yourself after you fought them" Urahara pointed out, his cane emitting an odd aura to anyone looking at it, to anyone but Ichigo who finally saw what it truly was.
"Is…a soul slayer…a zanpakutou…so he is a shinigami?"
"Or use to be one, the fact he is not tearing you apart means that he is not working for the morons that nearly killed ya, but the question is what he is in reality, our ally?"
"With you current skills you don't stand a chance against soul society" Urahara said, not even knowing the conversation that Ichigo and Fira were having to one another, "You are weak"
"Weak? I'll show you weak, Ichigito as soon he ends his ramble grab his cane and burn it, that will teach him to call us weak!"
"Burn it? How the hell I do that?"
"Just let the fire of your soul and heart flow through your body, let it out, and if you burn his ugly mug even better"
Not even knowing that he had touched a nerve of Fira and in extension to Ichigo as well, Urahara continued with his verbal assault, "A weakling barging into enemy territory is suicide" Urahara snapped.
"'To rescue Rukia?' stop being so childish" Urahara said, noticing a black cat at the entrance of the room, "Don't use other people as an excuse to go kill yourself" now that hit a nerve of Ichigo, of course he wasn't using other people to kill himself, Rukia was a friend of his, hell would freeze over first before he allows another one of his friends to get hurt, he let his mom paid the prize of his imprudence and doing nothing to fix it, Rukia would not die, not while he has something to say about it.
With that in mind, Ichigo's hand suddenly grabbed Urahara's cane, ignoring the sudden cry of protest that was oddly female and was not of Fira at all, and did what Fira told him to, he let the fire of his soul and heart out.
Urahara was shocked when Ichigo grabbed his cane, more when Ichigo's eyes acquired a tint only reserved to the flames of hell, a mixture of orange and red, dancing on his pupils like an inferno on its zenith of power, his shock was furthered when he heard the yelp of Benihime when Ichigo grabbed her, a yelp that was turned into screams when then sheath where Benihime was sheathed soon was engulfed on flames, the cane burned with ease, the screams of Benihime were amplified when Ichigo touched the metal of the blade, the steel soon acquiring a red tint for the temperature of the flames, especially where Ichigo was touching.
"I know that you fool, I'm not going to die for no one because simply put I will not die, I will storm soul society, I will rescue Rukia and I will not die" Ichigo said, releasing the blade, as soon that happened the flames around Benihime died out, and all Urahara could hear were the whimpers of his zanpakutou and how she wished to kill Ichigo for that.
"Good luck with that dear, he is a Rayearth, and not even Yamamoto-Sotaichou can hope to hurt him, let alone kill him" Urahara reminded to his zanpakutou, Benihime was alright, a little rough on the edges, it cost him a pain in the ass to gain her respect, and easy to anger and make enemies with, the single fact that she was touched by other person than Urahara was already a death sentence, and he was sure Benihime would beg him to release her as soon he can to gain bloody revenge for Ichigo's stun.
Taking a deep breath and seeing Ichigo sat on the mat again, Urahara continued with his rant, "Soul society usually grants a grace period of one month for the maximum penalty for a convict such as Rukia-san" Urahara said, "Ten days of training, and seven days to me to create the door that will lead you to soul society, after that you will have thirteen days to rescue Rukia-san, plenty of time to storm, fight, destroy, burn, rescue her and even get even with the one that destroyed your power" Urahara ended, seeing how Ichigo began to think.
"…Ten days…it will be enough?" Ichigo asked, there was doubt of course, Urahara was talking to regain his shinigami powers and improve, not an easy feat in any sense of the word.
"But of course…" Urahara said, "If you truly want to save Rukia like you claimed" Urahara added, "A strong will is stronger than steel, if your determination is anything less than whole-hearted then throw it away" Urahara stated with conviction.
"For a layout moron…he does have a point, if you hesitate you are practically screwed"
"I agree Fira"
"For ten days" Urahara continued, gripping his cane and bringing it to the level of his face, "Can you be seriously determined to fight?" he asked.
"…if I don't do it…no one else will…" Ichigo muttered, scratching his head, "99% possibility of failure and a horrible death on an unknown territory, facing enemies with unknown power…is like the Great War and the 'angel' invasion all over again…it brings me back"
"Hm…sure why not…let's do it then!!" Ichigo said, standing up, "Good, good, one question though…is Rukia-san your girlfriend?"
Urahara's answer would come in a loud "SHE AIN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!!" followed by a streams of flames of the angry teen that in the same fashion that hit Tessai, hit him, "…damn hormones" Urahara muttered, his whole body 'burned' in a comical way.
"I guess…the rain has stopped…again"
For the next ten days Ichigo would learn how right he was, and how hard the road was from that moment on.
and there you have it people, chapter 1 of the new fic, like it, hate it, still find hard to decide, just review and let me know about your opinion, now as usual in my stories liek this, the next chapter advance, enjoy people...
Three days...
"My ichigo, you're getting impantien, well let's work now shall we?"
In three days he will meet that which gives him power...
"...Hm...it seems...my name can't still reach your ears...how much i have to strain myself so you can hear me?"
Inside that pit of despair, either he will return a full man, or descend into madness...
"Shinigami robes...and a mask...what's with the flames in the eyes?"
In the next chapter of Rayearths Knights, Ichigo the Inferno, Will within...
"...Two swords...a rather interesting side effect"
Only when you look within yourself, you learn haw strong you truly are...
"no...that person will kill me"
till a next time my friends, Hypn0s logs out, Later!!