Hello again there dear readers, it looks like there has been some interest in this story. A shout out to AnjuSchiffer for your enthusiasm :) I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter as things are about to get a lot more. Though there will be big revelations across the whole of this part. I had a lot of thought about tying up loose ends from part one. Fingers crossed I manage it in part two. Please READ and REVIEW, this next chapter :)
When one things of the universe, they think of many worlds connected together. Most speculate a little on these matters, but real thoughts about it does not happen. Most souls cannot control the tides, most souls find themselves lead by a higher power. They make the best of whatever situation they are in. Delilah was once one of these souls. She had a fate, a grand fate, one that had yielded many positive results. Yet now things were different. Now she was the one who could see the tides of energy stringing the worlds together. Now she was the one who almost thought that she could reach out and touch those strings. That was her intention. She was still a curious specimen after all. This was not a characteristic which she had lost upon termination of childhood. Instead it had become even more intensified. And now there was a part of her which was not actually a part of her. It was a power that seemed to have it's own authority and even it's own voice. Shirūba Ōji did not like the presence. Shirūba Ōji refused to even work together with it. Thus the bickering often lead to many migraines for Delilah to deal with.
"Sōsuke, what in the...?"
The sudden spike in emotion was what had caused Delilah's concentration to break. She had learnt to channel out the voices, that was the first step. Now she was trying to hone this new power she wielded. That was not going as well as she would have liked. The presence did not seem all that forthcoming. She blamed Shirūba Ōji for that. But it seemed that day was not the day that she would make progress. Not when upon opening her eyes she saw a sight which who have painted the perfect scene of one of her nightmares. It was Sōsuke, the man who was in every way her father but by blood. Talking about blood, that was what horrified her to the very bone. It was the blood, the gashes present all over his arms, torso and even legs. Those who were not versed in the ways of battle many have assumed retching positions as a result. Delilah was not so weak willed, not yet. Her mind buzzed maddened by the sight in front of her. Who dared to hurt him would pay, but first, but first she needed to help him.
She rushed towards him, analysing ever morsel of evidence placed before her. But every time she tried to figure out who had hurt Sōsuke, her mind would come up blank. As far as she knew the royal realm was safe, the royal realm was pure. That was what her grandfather had told her when she had began her very needed training. Could she have missed something? Her handle on the power was not so good, not as good as her grandfather's had been. But still it shock her to the core that someone, someone in the royal realm could have hoodwinked the lot of them. These perpetrators were no doubt smart. They had no doubt been planning this ambush for a very long time. It could even exceed the time that Delilah had existed. It frustrated her to no end that all she had were questions and no answers. She was even using the battle tactics that Sōsuke had taught her in battle. The tactics to analyse an opponent and use their weaknesses against them. But those teachings would fall short in such a situation. Being so divided was not a good thing though, it hampered her ability to bring forth the healing kidō. Yet her efforts seemed to be in vain in the end.
Delilah still flung herself forward though desperate to steady Sōsuke on his feet. He looked so battered, he looked so tired, he looked so weak. She had never seen him like this. She did not like seeing him like this, not one bit. This was her Daddy, this was her protector, and he was dying. He was dying right in front of her and she could not do anything to stop it. The healing kidō came but it did nothing, It ignited her anger, her vision when blurry as a result. She could not think straight, she panicked, she was ready to do battle. Her kaidō came but nothing at all remained of Sōsuke's reiatsu. It was like his flame, it was like his spirit had ceased to exist. Delilah's own reiatsu was rising to the occasion, it was futile though. Delilah did not have the experience how to wield that great power. Not when such great power still seemed to control her rather than the other way around.
That meant that the next set of events were inevitable and she hated it. Her rage bubbled to the surface, her visions, her senses went haywire. She almost could not hear Sōsuke's last words with everything going on. In fact what he said sounded more like war bells then anything else:
"The traitors...the royal guard...you must..."
As Sōsuke said those words, his blood seeped into Delilah's cream robes. But that was not what made Delilah's heart feel as if it were being ripped in two. No what made her feel like dying too was the fact that the healing kidō had not worked. What made her feel like dying what that even with her superior strength, Sōsuke's body still felt like lead in her arms. He was heavy, but she wanted to hold onto him. She did not want to let him go. She wanted to hold him close as his heartbeat became slower and slower and slower. She wanted scream, she wanted to beg for him to stay with her. She wanted so many things that she did not register his last actions. The last actions that would help her in the battle to come. And when she finally lowered Sōsuke's lifeless body to the ground that was when she lost it. She no longer held the raw emotion back, as a result, she screamed. It was a scream like no other.
Either chimes or the sound of cockerels roused the residents of the soul society in the morning. Which one, well that depended on which district the souls lived in. There were no longer any poor districts. Local worship houses, schools and orphanages made sure of that. Once upon a time that was where souls lived in constant poverty and fear of the wealthy souls. The legacy of Delilah had wiped that away. Now the nobles clans treated these souls with care even partaking in the daily events. Delilah may no longer be here but that did not mean that they were not going to carry on her good work. That day though the nobles slept in. They were still waited on hand and foot so rising early was not necessary for them. The average soul did not live that much a pampered life. They had shelter, they had food. Talking about food, it was the end of the week. That was the time for all souls to bring their produce to the food market and make a little bit of a profit. They no longer shied away from doing it. Not when the nobles had ceased hunting them down for extortionate taxes.
Now things had completely turned around. Most times during the weekend market, it was the nobles who were the greatest customers. They were the ones who loved to sieve through the latest delicacies on sale. They had their own farmers, yes that was true. But even they recognised that these newer more prosperous souls were a benefit to them as well. These souls came up with all sorts of new foods and new products to sell. They were the ones contracted now to sell designer wear in the shops. If these designs were good enough then they would make their way right into the Seireitei. That was an honour that many of these creative souls strived for. Sure their princess Delilah was no longer there. Yet every soul in the soul society now felt as if they had a place in this world. They had the opportunities to survive and thrive. They gave their thanks to the royal family everyday. It had been the soul princess who had brought about this change. And they could not imagine that anyone would want to take this positive changes away from that. Yet that was when things were about to change, change for the worst. As it was then that everything began to shake.
At first the shaking was more like a low grade tremor, a vibration. It was so mild that the only signs of it happening were the electric shocks. Those electric shocks which occurred when souls collided with each other on the road. This was a more common phenomenon at the current time given the hustle and bustle of the crowds. It caused some of them to yelp, it caused others to laugh. Indeed many considered it to be a hilarious occurrence. Yet they laughed too soon, as the tremor soon turned to shaking. Shaking that made food go falling of the foot stands and souls to crash into each other. The shaking continued as the souls continued to collide with one another. Many found their produce falling onto the floor. Some souls stepped on the melons and the potatoes inevitably ruining them. So it was almost inevitable when tensions began to sore.
"You idiot I spent six months growing these babies and you and your clumsy feet had to stomp them to death"
The one with the elevated tone was one of the food sellers. The customers seemed to back away. This was too reminiscent of the times when the nobles would strike them down for petty things. But the same incident happened again and again and again. The shaking was even starting to cause some food stands to fall, fall right on top of some of the customers.
"Hey watch it, your stand almost crushed us to death"
These occurrences repeated more and more and more as tensions rose. Squabbles began to break out left, right and centre. Though it would not be long until full panic would set in, as cracks began to appear on nearby buildings.
That was when the personal squabbles transformed into screams. No longer were the sellers and the customers determined to get their best buy of the day. No now they realised that the shaking was in fact not normal. One by one food stands began to fall and as a result the customers began to run, run for their lives. Even the food sellers began to back away as many of them began trapped under the rubble. And that was when something amazing transpired. Even under their panic, even after their disagreement. All the soul present pitched in to help one another out of the rubbles. Those injured found themselves hoisted up and carried by others.
Panic was still growing amongst the masses, but in the end they all began to head inside. There they would wait to see what happened. There they huddled together as the shaking reached epic heights. They were so severe that many became ill. Many found themselves retching the contents of their breakfast. It was not a pleasant sight to see. The communal centres set to work distributing food and water. But soon they all realised the folly of their decision. The cracks that had appeared in the buildings grew wider and wider and wider with the shaking that continued to rock the whole of the soul society. Some souls even cried out:
"What's happening? What's happening? Where are they? Why haven't the soul reapers come yet? Are we at war?"
Once upon a time relations between the Seireitei and the rest of the soul society was at an all time low. Now souls looked at soul reapers like heroes, protectors, friends. They were certain that the soul reapers would bring out the reinforcements soon. There were reinforcements already in the works but they were not their allies, far from it.
Everything started that day as it usually did. Everyone from soul captains to the lowliest soul went about their usual business. Yes that was true. But there was something foul afoot. There were those who had been plotting and planning for centuries if not thousands of years. They had waited and watched their adversaries all whilst planning. They planned, they had planned to an overthrow, yes that was true. But they had meet obstacles and delays until now. Now they had a glimmer of hope that they would succeed, succeed and gain the ultimate power. Their operations began in the royal realm. All the while their armies amassed right underneath everyone's feet.
How was this possible you may ask? Well it was all thanks to the long underground tunnels they had been carving out inch by inch for many years. This was not something they rushed in, no that would have given their plans away. And there had been certain times in the soul society's history. Such as when Delilah was present that these enemy forces did not want their presence known. Indeed they may not have penetrated the thirteen court guard squads or the noble clans so the speak. But they had partitioned a part of a Seireitei's power of which they held control over. This was something that they had done at a snail's crawl so as not to cause alarm.
But now, now they no longer had to restrain themselves. Now they could gather together all the soul reapers they had acquired over the years. Some of them they had trained. Whilst others they had plucked from the noble clans they served and even the thirteen court guard squads. There was no doubt that the Maggot's Nest had been a very useful loophole for them. When souls went missing from there, well most did not look twice. It was true that the Maggot's Nest had declined to nothing since Delilah's reforms. But before her arrival, they had taken full advantage of it. After all, it was one of the honey pots to find dissatisfied souls thrown away by the Seireitei.
So they amassed, marched even in the tunnels made especially for them. They had the training, they knew the mantra. They knew that that was the day that they would carry out the plans of their masters. But it was as they began to come together, that they too felt it. They too felt the tremors and the shaking. At first this was something that they thought that their bosses had thrown in to give them an edge. But when the shaking began uncontrollable, knocking them over. They realised, they realised that this was something else. Some of them could even feel the denseness in the air. Some of them could almost make out the screaming. And to those who recognised who it was. It at first terrified them how much power she had. But then she also seemed to be losing control from her extreme anguish. This was something they hoped would make her disenfranchised to fight all together.
Once they realised that she was the source of this shaking, they began to resist the tremors. They grasped onto each other, pulling each other to their feet. They used their zanpakutōs to steady themselves. Yes it was true, they were not going to let something like this hinder their attack plans. They had trained to face all sorts of adversary over the centuries, even soul reaper captains. The only one they would not be able to face was the soul king. And most of their intel suggested that he no longer held that title anymore. They did not know how that possible given how not even the soul society knew of these changes.
Once they became steady on their feet, some other souls began to appear. At first they readied themselves to attack. But then they realised that their garb was not the soul reaper uniform. It was the grey suits they all wore. It bound them together in their hatred of everything the soul society was. It bound them together in their mission to trample down everything that existed now. They did not know what the new world would look like. But they knew that at the end of the day they would each get their revenge. Or at the very least cause a little bit of havoc before they perished for the cause.
These new member of their flock came with large sacks. They contained paperwork. Yes that was a bane that even these enemy forces seemed to groan about. But nonetheless they still distributed round the paper. Once they all have copies they realised that what they held in their possession were maps. These maps were very detailed. These maps held notes of all the secret pathways between divisions. This was all information that most of them knew. But it rekindled their battle strategy. It made them remember the new way of battle. The one that they had learnt from the time that the arrancar had lain siege upon the soul society. Yes it was true that they would spread out and attack in small pockets. It was a strategy devised by the Seireitei and now it would be the strategy that destroyed them.
So they internalised this idea, they made it their raison de être and then they began to march. They marched and marched, as the shaking continued. Soon they divided into smaller groups and then smaller and then smaller. And it was not long after that they broke through to the surface. Once there the shaking began more intense. Yes it seemed that being underground had shielded them somewhat. This time they had to wait, they observed, they planned. They were certain that the shaking would stop in time. And by that time they knew that they will have all been in position. In the perfect positions to commence their full on assault. And no one had been able to see them coming.
So I posted Chapter two earlier then anticipated, but I figured out a posting schedule now. I will try to stick to posting every Friday. I know it's not a daily update but hey, they are longer chapters and I am currently studying for my postgraduate degree at the moment. Also this story will have a omniscient narrator as it will be quite long and cover a range of characters.
As for the next chapter, secrets from the past will start to surface. Until next Friday!
