Chapter 1: Sojourn

Pandora, three months later…

Mato

I awoke to the light of the sun shining in my eyes, something I would normally get rid of by closing the blinds, but seeing as how my current living space had windows that were always open, mostly likely due to the fact it was in the equivalent of a slum, there wasn't much I could do besides get up and prepare myself for another long and trying day.

Just over three months ago, I had mysteriously returned to life. However, I did not return in the same condition as when I had passed. In my previous life, I had been one of the three women who comprised the girl known to many as Ebony. However, now I am no longer part of that fusion, and so I once again took the name of Mato Kuroi. Rukia Kuchiki, another person who had formed Ebony, was resurrected alongside me. However, it seems she has no memory of her time when we were fused. She keeps wondering how I am able to even see her, considering she's a spiritual being, and refuses to believe that we were once the same person, or that we married and had children. Rukia wanted to return to her home in the Soul Society, and despite my warnings of what she would find there, left me behind in Karakura Town. Unsure of whether I should wait for her return, I decided to head over to the house I had lived in as Ebony. Since the multiverse always seemed to be a dangerous place, I took a wooden training sword to defend myself. Not the best choice of weaponry, but for now it was better than nothing. Not longer after I left the house, Rukia returned. Just as I had feared, she was devastated after learning she was, as far as she knew, the only soul reaper left alive.

"You said before that you knew of me and the Soul Society." She said, trembling with eyes downcast.

I nodded, knowing what she was about to ask and fearing her reaction.

"Tell me…who was it that destroyed my home? Who was it that massacred my friends and family?"

"It was a dark knight by the name of Nightmare. He slaughtered the soul reapers, and so in turn you slaughtered him."

"I see, so he is dead then."

Still trembling, Rukia collapsed to her knees. I ran to her side in alarm. Horror and uncertainty filled the swordswoman's eyes to the brim, and she turned toward me in tears.

"What am I supposed to do now? I have no home, no friends, no family, no purpose. I have nothing!"

I paused for a moment, then stared straight into her eyes. "You do have a family, two beautiful girls who dearly miss their mother. I don't know where they are right now, but something tells me they need you now more than ever. Let's start with getting you back to them."

Rukia's expression softened a bit, but she still seemed unsure. Knowing she needed the comfort, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone. I'll stick with you every step of the way. We're friends, aren't we?"

It took the swordswoman a moment to register my words, but when she did I felt her return the embrace.

"Yes…I'd like that. I'm still not certain if everything you've been telling me is true, but if it gives me purpose, then I will seek out these children."

And so for the next three months we traveled across the worlds in search of Hisana and Shinzo. During our travels, I began to notice drastic changes in the multiverse. On several occasions, both Rukia and I had been forced to deal with hordes of strange creatures that seemed to be made solely from darkness. Rukia told me the reiatsu she felt from the creatures reminded her a lot of hollows, and considering the fact that they all had this strange marking on them somewhere on their body, I don't blame her. Luckily for me, when we passed through a city called Minas Tirith, I was able to get my hands on a real sword. I got it at just the right time too, because just then a whole bunch of the dark creatures showed up, along with some weird people in black cloaks. As if that wasn't enough, a swarm of demons suddenly arrived on the lower levels of the city and started to attack everything in sight, including the creatures and cloaked figures. During all the chaos, Rukia and I decided to make a run for it. Since then, attacks from both demons and the other creatures have become more frequent. It's almost as if they've taken a sudden interest in the two of us, and wanted us dead. A whole lot of running and fighting later, and we wound up taking refuge here on Pandora, in a small town called Sanctuary. Today I'm going to speak with a woman named Lilith, and hopefully I'll learn something regarding the whereabouts of my children.

"Hisana and Shinzo Takanashi?" she said.

I nodded. "Yes. Do you know anything about them?"

"Well, that depends. Can you afford to hear what I know?"

I sighed. Honestly, I should have expected she'd want something after living here for a few weeks. I reached into my travel bag and pulled out a medium sized pouch full of a valuable ore called Eridium. Lilith immediately tore the pouch from my hand and shoved it into her own bag in practically the blink of an eye.

"So, the Takanashi siblings right?"

"Yes, what do you know about them?"

"From what I heard, they're the daughters of those two chicks who saved the multiverse a while back. I'm afraid I don't know jack about Shinzo, but I've heard Hisana is a natural at spear fighting. She's supposedly a high ranking officer in the EOT."

I raised an eyebrow. "EOT?"

"The Enforcers of Truth. What, you never heard of them? They're a bigshot group of fanatics devoted to securing the Core for peacekeeping purposes. Right now they're at war with two other big factions who also want the Core. Personally, I've had enough of big godly extraterrestrial contraptions."

"That's…interesting. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Hmm, well there is this rumor going around that she's a vampire. Guess she's not such a goody two-shoes after all huh? Anyway, the last I heard of her she was on her way back to the EOT's main base in Windbloom."

I perked up at the word 'Windbloom'. "Really? Are you certain that's where she's headed? When did you hear about this?"

"Just a few days ago. Geez, calm down shorty. Why is she so important? You got a bone to pick with her or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Just an old friend wanting to get back together."

Despite the very blatant disregard of morals on this planet, I figured people would still find it odd if someone like me said they were a mother. I thanked Lilith for the info, then went back to where Rukia and I were staying. I found the soul reaper still sound asleep, snoring lightly with her arms protectively clutching a pillow to her chest. I smiled at the sight and went to make us some breakfast. Thank god they still have decent food on this crazy planet. After we ate, I told Rukia about my findings. She was a little unnerved when I mentioned the vampire part, but seemed to calm down once I explained that it was more hereditary than choice, and that Hisana was the exact opposite of a heartless killer. Once everything had been properly explained, we decided to head to Windbloom to follow up on the lead. Just as we were about to leave Sanctuary, an alarm suddenly went off. A group of figures clad in black cloaks appeared atop the town walls, each bearing different kinds of weapons. Their leader, a woman by their body shape, directed the others to attack. As the cloaked figures began to attack everything in sight, Rukia and I made a run for it. Unfortunately, the leader of the group spotted us and jumped in front of the exit.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she said in a commanding tone.

I drew my sword, and Rukia did the same.

"This isn't our fight! We don't have anything to do with you! Move aside!" I tried.

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong. Nobody is exempt from this war, not even you, Mato Kuroi. And especially not you, Rukia Kuchiki."

Rukia narrowed her eyes at the woman. "Who are you? How do you know our names?"

"The superior informed me that the two of you are to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. I do not know what you did to anger him so…"

The cloaked woman pulled down her hood, and summoned a blue halberd to her hands.

"But by my rank as No. 4, I, Akaxi will destroy you!"

I gasped at the sight of the woman's face. Beneath her hood, she had short dark hair, and orange eyes that seemed to glow with ferocity. It was the face of someone both Rukia and I knew very well.

"Queen…Kaia?" I said.

The woman shot me a look of angry confusion. "Who is Kaia? I told you, I am Akaxi! Stop playing games with me and die!"

Akaxi sprang forward at great speed, and I was barely able to stop the long blade from skewering me. Rukia came to my aid and swung at the spear wielder. Akaxi reflexively ducked under the strike and backflipped away. Readying her halberd, she charged forward and did a series of lightning fast thrusts at both me and Rukia. I could feel cuts form on my arms and sides, and found myself falling onto my back. Rukia was still standing, though injured. Holding her sword horizontally, the swordswoman began to chant.

"Dance! Sode no Shiraiyuki!" (sleeve of white snow)

At her command, Rukia's sword became a beautiful pure white, with a long white ribbon trailing from the hilt. Quickly, she stabbed four points on the ground in front of her, causing them to radiate white energy. Rukia then held her sword in a thrust position.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!" (second dance, white ripple)

A wave of ice and snow burst from her sword toward Akaxi. The spear wielder was unprepared for such an attack, and desperately held her halberd in a defensive stance. The wave collided, and when the dust settled Akaxi was frozen in place. Realizing from the loud crackling of ice that our opponent wouldn't be stuck for long, we ran out the gates of Sanctuary. Fortunately, the transporter to other worlds wasn't that far away. Just before the swarm of cloaked figures could reach us, I set the transporter to self-destruct, and jumped through with Rukia.

On the other side…

When we emerged from the portal, we were somewhere in the vast deserts of Earl. Standing up and brushing the sand off of my face, I took a look at our surroundings. We had landed on an enormous cliff face that served as the borderline between Earl and the Otherworld. Even though it had been three years, I still remembered this place well. I could still see remnants of my great battle with Nightmare in the form of craters and partially frozen pieces of giant armor. I heard a clinking of metal as I stepped forward, and looked down. Resting beneath my feet, half buried by the desert sands, was a small cluster of bullets. That's right…I had to use everything I had to beat him… I glanced over at Rukia. 'We' had to use everything to beat him. The soul reaper dusted herself before walking over to me. At seeing the armor fragments at the base of the cliff, she narrowed her eyes, not in anger, but in unsure recollection.

"This place…it feels familiar somehow…" Rukia turned toward me. "Something happened here…something important…right?"

I nodded. "This is where we confronted Nightmare. This is where we killed him."

Our reminiscing was cut short by a sudden rumbling sound coming from the base of the cliff. I ran over and looked down. Something dark with really big arms was rapidly climbing up towards us. Before either of us could make a move, the thing did a superhuman leap from its place on the cliff, over both of us, and onto the ground behind us. Turning around with our swords ready, we waited for the dust from the thing's impact to settle.

"You know, there are nicer ways to say hello than pointing a sword at someone." said a kind and familiar voice.

I lowered my weapon as a pair of luminescent amber eyes emerged through the dust. "No way...could it be...Strength?"

A friendly smile attached to a tan young face with a head of short snow white hair was my response. "It's been a long time, Mato."

Strength fully emerged from the dust cloud, clad in her usual black hoodie and knee high boots, with her vertebrae like tail still swishing back and forth from her waist. Her gargantuan arms were as intimidating as ever, considering that they were the size of her entire body. Putting away my sword, I rushed forward and hugged the short girl. Being as gentle as possible with her large arms, my friend returned the embrace. Rukia stared at the two of us in confusion, unsure whether or not to sheathe her weapon.

"Ah, that's right. You may not remember her, Rukia, but this is our old friend Strength." I explained.

"N-nice to meet you." the soul reaper answered, still confused.

"Huh? She doesn't remember me?" inquired Strength.

"No, it seems that somehow when we were brought back, we split apart again. I remember everything from when we were Ebony, but Rukia seems to have a bad case of amnesia. She can't recall anything that happened past fighting hollows with Ichigo."

"I see..."

"That aside, what are you doing here? Didn't you leave when Yuu passed on?"

"I did, but like you, something has brought us back to life. Well, initially it was Yuu who returned, but something happened recently that caused her heart great pain. Therefore, I have been resurrected as well."

A feeling of worry went through me at this as I recalled what happened the last time Strength's other half had undergone immense emotional trauma.

"Oh no...don't tell me she's gone back to being Fury?"

Strength shook her head. "I'm not sure. When I came back, I was about a mile away from here, in some random corner of the Otherworld. Before I could try to understand what was going on, this huge monster showed up out of nowhere and attacked me. It chased me all the way to this cliff, and I managed to give ti the slip by climbing up."

"Hold on, the monster chased you here? Then, that rumbling we heard earlier-"

I was cut short by a loud hiss from the cliff edge. We all turned to see first one, then two, and then four humongous snake heads clad in shimmering white scales rise over the edge, followed by a long tail. The source of the rumbling had not been Strength, instead it was a giant four headed Hydra. The hydra let out a crescendo of roars as we readied our weapons. It tried to bite me with one head. I barely dodged the giant snake's fangs, and swung at the side of its head. To my surprise, my sword bounced straight off its scales. I jumped back as a second head went for me, and watched Strength fire a burst of gunfire at the hydra. Like with my sword, the metal projectiles bounced harmlessly off the hydra. Rukia sent her sword into shikai form and prepared to launch a wave of ice and snow.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"

At her command, the cold torrent was unleashed on the hydra. At first we thought the attack had carried the same effect it had when it was used on Akaxi, as the multi-headed snake remained still under a coat of ice after being struck. We couldn't have been more wrong. Moments after being frozen, the hydra broke free from its icy bonds and renewed its lashing and biting. Strength managed to pummel one head to a pulp, only to have it regrow almost immediately after. At this rate, it would only be a manner of time before we were exhausted and wound up snake food. Just as the hydra was reeling back for another strike, a pair of flaming spiked chakrams suddenly flew past us, severing all four heads and burning the stumps that remained.

"Now, before it can regenerate!" a man's voice suddenly called out.

Before I could turn to investigate the sound, something, or rather someone jumped over me and my allies. I couldn't see their face, but whoever it was had dark hair that trailed down to the small of their back in two long curls, and was wearing a suit of white and teal battle armor and brandishing a pure white naginata. The mysterious fighter pointed their weapon towards the hydra.

"Tengoku tsume mai!" (heavenly talon dance) they shouted.

All of a sudden, I became deaf to the sounds of the world around me. I didn't hear the hydra's cries of pain as the spear fighter began to swing their weapon in dance like movements, calling down arcs of light to strike the beast at the point where all of the heads intersected. I didn't hear the cheers of the tall red haired man who caught the flaming chakrams upon entering my line of sight, and nor did I hear the explosion of hellfire that signified the hydra's death. I heard none of this, because I was too overjoyed to care. Because the voice of the fighter, who now gazed upon me with shining violet eyes as she finished her attack, was none other than my youngest daughter.

"Hisana..."

A/N: Sorry if this feels a little rushed. I'm going on a two week trip to Mt. Rushmore as of Friday, so I wanted to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I promise that the next chapter will tell you what the bloody hell is going on with the multiverse after the three month time skip. I ask that you continue to read as this finale gets underway, and don't forget to review! Till next time! DarkNovelist out. *flies away on a dragon with cerberus heads*