There was a moment of stunned silence. Zayla could feel Rukia staring at her intently. She wondered whether she done that simply to make her feel uncomfortable or if she was waiting for her to continue.
"You're kidding." Ichigo said, fidgeting on his bed. He looked up to meet Zayla's serious expression. "No, you're not."
"Care to explain?" Rukia's gaze didn't shift.
"Long ago during the Crusade the world was in despair, a crusader named Jonathan summoned the Angel Raziel and begged of a way to rid the earth of the demons who threatened mankind. The angel drew his ichor and mixed it with that of mortals in a cup. Jonathan Shadowhunter and his men became the first of the Nephilim, their children, grand-children and so on carried the blood of angels. The Clave, Council, Covenant and Consul were created to govern the Shadowhunters. Our sole duty is to protect the human race from demons. "
"When you say demons, I take it that you don't mean hollows like the one you were attacked by today?" Ichigo asked.
"Hollows? I've never seen them before today." Zayla admitted. "You can tell me later, what that thing was." Ichigo nodded before she continued. "That was a millennia ago, since then there has been much…complications. A demon plague almost wiped out my kind. A decade and a half ago, a man rebelled against the Clave in what was called the Uprising and he had would've succeeded had it not been for his wife. Many were slaughtered. But what he fought for was perhaps the most sickening. He wanted the destruction of all demon blooded creatures."
"Isn't that good though? You said your main purpose was the destroy demons." Rukia said.
"Yes our purpose was to kill all demons. But demon-blooded creatures would mean vampires, werewolves, warlocks and faeries; the Downworlders. Not all of them are evil, those that do, however, pose a threat to the Clave or humans are punished. I have Downworlder friends and they assist the Clave. After all, they are very human-like. But, this man he didn't care about their innocence. He hated all Downworlders as did his group of followers called the Circle. They were defeated and he went missing, assumed dead. But he is still alive and wants exactly what he wanted fifteen years ago."
"Who is this man you speak of?" Rukia asked, leaning her back against the wall and pulling her knees up to her chest.
"My father, Tomasz Krieger. You see, the Clave and many of the Downworlders don't trust me because of this very reason. But my father wants me for one thing; to use my Rune powers for his advantage."
"Rune? You mentioned that earlier. What is it?" Ichigo questioned.
"A Rune is something we Mark ourselves with; there are different Runes for different uses. Voyance Rune is for clear sight, it's the first Rune we get. The Healing Rune heals most of our injuries. There are many more runes, but none are stronger than the parabatai Rune, which links two souls and forms a strong bond. They are the perfect pair of warriors."
"A bond between two souls? That sounds a lot like something I've heard before…" Rukia muttered.
"Perhaps. Our worlds are more connected than we think." Zayla said.
"So how did you end up here?" Ichigo was looking thoughtful.
"Well, my friends and I were on patrol when we were attacked by my father and his followers. They told me to run because if he captured me it could very well mean the end of the Downworld. So, using my Rune powers I drew a portal, though why I ended up here…" Zayla's face brightened in recognition. "Wait, this is Karakura town? No wonder, I must've been thinking of my brothers so the portal brought me here!"
"You keep talking about your Rune powers what do you mean?" Rukia's eyes were still fixed on Zayla. She was starting to wonder if Rukia didn't trust what she said, but wouldn't that be all too familiar.
"Tomasz was Nephilim, my mother was a Faerie princess of the Seelie Court. Thus, the blue hair." She ran her fingers through her locks. "I was one of my father's experiments, he injected more angel blood into me before I was born. He then swapped his other child with me, my half-sister was killed by the faeries' once they found out she was a Shadowhunter." She looked down at her trembling hands. "Which means, unlike any other Shadowhunter, I am able to create new Runes. Tomasz wants me to design a rune to control the Nephilim who bares it; he said as much the last time we met. Now, I'm on the run, not only from my father but also the Clave and most of the Downworld. All they need to do is destroy the threat, in other words, they just need to kill me." Her voice broke at the last words, she felt tears filling up in her eyes. Dammit, she thought, I just had to go and make myself look weak in front of strangers. Oh, crap.
Warm hands took hers and squeezed tightly. Zayla lifted her gold eyes to warm brown ones. "Hey it's alright, I'll protect you. No need to worry, I won't let any of those bastards hurt you. I promise." Ichigo's voice was soft and made her want to believe every word. He grinned and it lit up his face, he truly did look handsome.
Rukia smiled at Zayla and nodded. "That's right, you can trust us on that." Zayla was taken aback, wasn't this the girl who had given her mistrustful glares?
Ichigo watched the exchange between the two girls. He would keep his promise and protect Zayla as if his life depended on it. He already felt a strong bond with her within the last few hours, it was unusual, he didn't trust people so easily but this was unlike anything else.
Zayla closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "There is so much more to explain, but when the time comes I'll tell you." Ichigo wanted to ask what she meant by 'when the time comes', but figured he should drop the subject for now. "Ichigo, you still owe me an explanation."
Ichigo shifted his position to face Rukia. "Ah, yes. I'm a Soul Reaper of sorts. Don't know if I have the right to be called one." Ichigo launched his explanation into how Rukia had given him her powers so he could protect his family from the Hollow that attacked. He soon became insistent on protecting others too, regularly running out of school to defeat hollows.
"Tell me, what is a hollow?" Zayla asked.
"A Hollow is a creature that consumes souls." Rukia spoke up. "Hollows start off as human souls that are unable to pass on because of regrets or longings. They rot away in misery and pain, eventually becoming hollows. These monsters devour souls to gain power."
"So, you soul reapers kill hollows to protect humans?"
"We don't kill them; we purify them which then sends their souls to the soul society." Rukia paused, and then pointed to herself. "I died long ago. This body is called a gigai, it's like a vessel for my soul." She looked at Ichigo. "Ichigo here, isn't dead nor is his body a gigai. He is an example of the consequences for defying the Gotei; a living soul with powers of the dead."
Zayla noticed Ichigo muttering something about Rukia defining him a 'consequence'. This certainly is strange, she thought, both Nephilim and Shinigami have the same duty; to protect humans. We both fight creatures that threaten mankind, yet we were completely unaware of each other's existence.
She let her mind wander back to when Alec and Isabelle clarified their purpose and world to her. They definitely hadn't mentioned Shinigami, nor did any of them come across Hollows before.
Zayla voiced her thoughts to Rukia and Ichigo, who nodded their head in agreement. "You're right, I have never heard of Nephilim in or out of the Soul Society before this day. It is unusual, but we can't let our thought linger on that forever." Rukia said.
Ichigo stood up, motioned for Zayla to get up as well. "You have anywhere to stay?"
"Yeah, I'll crash at my brothers'." Zayla stood at walked to the door. Ichigo followed her.
"I'll drop you off. You might be unstable after losing so much blood."
The pair walked out of the house and through Karakura. They passed by the river, which was glistening as the sunlight touched it. The sky was a deep orange, the colour of Ichigo's hair, and faded into a pink as the sun set. Zayla was admiring the sky, when Ichigo spoke. "Is it just me, or is your hair a paler than before?" He stared at her hair which appeared to be cobalt blue rather than navy.
"Mm? It's just you." She answered absentmindedly. As she admired the view, she thought of what her friends, back in London, must be doing. Were they looking for her? Should she send a message telling them of her whereabouts? No, because then they would have to look after her, they already had so much on their hands, she would just me another burden on their shoulders. She felt a pang of guilt as she eyed Ichigo, she wouldn't be able to take it if he or Rukia were injured in the process of trying to protect. People always got hurt trying to shield her, wouldn't just be so much easier if they had killed her?
Zayla stopped in front of her house. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her, asking, This is it?. She nodded and rang the doorbell, footsteps shuffled to the door and it swung open. Familiar deep blue eyes stared back at her. She threw her arms around his neck as her brother chuckled into her hair. "Ken." She muttered into his chest.
He pulled back, holding her to get a good look. "Hey, sis. You never said you were coming!" Ken noted Ichigo standing awkwardly, hands stuffed in his pockets watching their embrace, a few meters away. He gestured for him to come in as he led Zayla into the house. A small boy aged seven ran towards Zayla and flung his arms around her waist. "Zayla!" The boy cried in delight.
"Hey Tomi, you've grown." Zayla picked up her brother and cuddled him.
"I see you've brought a friend." Ken pointed his chin at Ichigo. Zayla nodded, introducing Ichigo to her brothers. Ken smiled warmly at Ichigo, inviting him to dinner, the orange-haired boy refused politely saying he had to get back home.
Ichigo left the house, walking back home with his usual scowl plastered in his face. He felt over-whelmed by everything that he had learnt today. He entered his room and seated himself on the chair, taking out his homework. Rukia continuously shot glances at him, until he grew irritated. "What? Why do keep giving me them looks?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"Your reiatsu is different it seems laced with that girls."
"Who? Zayla? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Yes, the Nephilim girl. I've never seen two reiastus laced, though I have heard of it. It's similar to what she said about parabatai, really."
Ichigo didn't say anything, nor did Rukia. She watched him for a while, then muttered goodnight and entered the closet to sleep. Ichigo finished his homework, distractedly before plopping himself onto his bed. He had one word echoing in his head as he fell asleep.
Parabatai.