A/N: In this chapter, we get to see my favorite twist… watch out for some complex details… put your thinking cap on!

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Creatures of Myth II: Sunlit Summons

Chapter Two: Interruptions and Revelations

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"Burning desire to live and roam free

It shines in the dark and it grows within me

.

I'm dreaming in colors of getting the chance

I'm dreaming of china the perfect romance."

-Utopia, Within Temptation

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It wasn't often that it rained in Soul Society. It made the pine trees surrounding the main house give off this musty smell that the woman would normally love. She loved that smell almost as much as she loved snow. She stood beneath the roof of one of the patios, the feeling of wet and cold coating her powdered skin.

The black-haired young woman's hands fisted in the skirts of her dress.

A gentle hand rested on her shoulder, it's clammy condition emphasizing the cold of her skin. She turned, her icy blue eyes meeting a darker pair. The girl shifted to face him. "I thought you prayed to Susanoo for good weather, father," she said calmly.

Shimizu Hakyu returned her solemn expression. "I did," he said with a sigh, "It seems that something has the Kami on edge today."

Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, "An omen? Does that mean we'll have to postpone…" she trailed off as her father shook his head.

"We made a good choice allowing the Shinigami Women's Association to collaborate with Amane," he said with a slight smile, "If the outdoors setup didn't work out, they had a Plan B setup in the main hall. They even had a Plan C that would take place at the Tenth Division."

The young woman let out a soft chuckle. "That's Ise Nanao for you. So organized it's criminal," she said, turning her gaze back to the pouring rain.

Suddenly, a large-chest woman burst through the door and grabbed the young woman by the arm, "Come on, Ao-chan! We have to finish up your hair! The wedding starts in ten minutes!" Rangiku said.

Ao laughed and waved to her father, "See you in approximately ten minutes, Dad."

The clan leader chuckled and waved back. "See you, sweetheart," he called after her as the Lieutenant tugged her back into the house. The clan leader reached one hand up to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "My little girl's getting married," he blubbered quietly.

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Amaterasu stood before a dark, yet small, cloud of smoke, which moved and had eyes as if it were sentient. "Now, Haku, I have something so simple for you to do, that even you can't screw it up," she said gently, like a mother speaking to a small child, despite the insulting words. "Go to Shimizu Hakyu. Got it? Shimizu. Hakyu."

The cloud made a rumbling sound.

"Good," she said slowly. "When you find him, open the link and I'll talk through you, okay?"

Again, it rumbled.

"Now, off with you!" she commanded.

The thing gurgled and floated away at a surprisingly fast pace.

The golden-haired woman plopped ungracefully onto a cushion, and exhaled. "I dislike dealing with Enenra."

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Together, they stood at the altar. It was difficult to get Ao to cry, and it usually took a death or extreme trauma to make her do so, but by god had she gotten close. Her eyes were seconds away from filling to the brim with tears as she gazed at the man in front of her. Hitsugaya Toushirou, the boy who had saved her life, now the man she was marrying. The thought nearly made her burst into tears of happiness, but she held it back, merely allowing the smile on her face to grow even wider. He was taller than her now, if only by a few inches. He really was growing up, and this, specifically showed that.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou-taichou," Soma Chinatsu said, as she was once again acting as the priest, "Do you take Shimizu Ao-hime to be your lofty wedded wife, through sickness and through health, till death do you part?"

The enter room, even Ao, stopped breathing in anticipation for the captain's answer. There was the shortest of hesitation, small, but still, a hesitation. He cleared his throat. His was it. He was here, marrying a Tengu princess. It was probably the stupidest thing he'd ever do in the course of his lifetime. He was permanently tying himself to a society of supernatural beings, beyond him, beyond everyone. Not only did he barely know this woman… no, scratch that. He knew her better than anyone else, in spite of the short time they'd known each other, only about two months. It wasn't the prospect of being with her that was scaring him, it was the concept of being a part of her world. He could say he loved her without doubt, and she'd been there for him when he needed her. Her world might scare him, but with her by his side, he was sure they could make it through anything. "I do."

"And do you, Shimizu Ao-hime, take Hitsugaya Toushirou to be your lofty wedded husband, through sickness and through health, till death do you part?"

Ao opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, the door to the main hall burst open, a thick cloud of smoke congealing in the ceiling. "Shi…mi…zu…" it grumbled, "Ha…k…yu…"

The clan leader stood. "Hm?" a confused expression shone on his face, "A message for me?" He gestured, "Then, Enenra-san, let's hear it."

Suddenly, the cloud dropped to the ground, startling many of the guests. Slowly, it shifted into a feminine shape, a silhouette with long, flowing hair.

At the sight of this shape, Hakyu's eyes widened. "No… it can't be…"

A female's voice was projected throughout the hall. "Hello? Hello? Haku? Did the connection go through? Come people, someone speak to me!" At the sound of the voice, many of the Youkai guests kneeled, excluding Ao and Hakyu, the former seeming more than a little miffed.

A crazy grin found its way to the clan leader's face. "Amaterasu-sama!" he said welcomingly, "How've you been, o blinding one?"

The thing giggled, "Blinding… I haven't heard that one before. Anyways, I've been better. You still with Shiramae?"

Hakyu's face fell. "She should be with you now, shouldn't she?"

"Oh, my goodness, she died?" the thing apparently called 'Amaterasu' said disbelievingly, "Wow, that's just too bad… Neither Takama-ga-hara nor Yomi takes Yuki-Onna. They become snow, remember?" She paused, "Anyways, I've got something for you to do, Hakyu-kun." The smoke body turned, looking amongst the guests, "You wouldn't happen to have an Ichimaru Gin here, would you?"

Ichimaru raised a hand casually, "Righ' here, ma'am."

The figure nodded approvingly, looking around the room, "Yes, it seems we have everyone we need right here!" she announced cheerfully, "By order of myself, of course, and Izanagi-no-Mikoto, Shimizu Hakyu, Shimizu Ao, Hitsugaya Toushirou, and Ichimaru Gin are hereby summoned to Takama-ga-hara immediately!"

Those mentioned stared at the thing in shock as it held out a golden glowing finger. The figure lowered her arm, and a trail of glittering gold energy followed its finger. As she finished, it tore open, a glowing rift in the universe that created a moderate vacuum effect that seemed to only effect the aforementioned people.

As soon as they were pulled through the portal, it closed with a pop.

The remaining guests just sat there, staring at once more shapeless cloud of smoke. It grumbled and floated leisurely out of the room.

Chinatsu blinked. "Well," she said, "It seems like we'll be postponing after all."

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The four plopped down in the middle of an ornate room, almost everything in the room a pristine gold or jade.

Ichimaru tilted his head. "Well shit."

Toushirou took in his surroundings. There were five thrones. To his left, a man with a scruffy black beard, and a man with long moonlight hair. To his left, a pleasantly plump woman who could give Matsumoto a run for her money, and a slender woman whose beauty seemed to rival the sun, with her long golden hair.

And in the center…

The captain's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in anger. He unsheathed Hyourinmaru and dashed towards the familiar man on the throne.

In rage, he screamed, "AIZEN!"

Before he reached the traitor, his blade was stopped by two others, the silver blade of Tsukuyomi, and the oddly green blade of Susanoo. Tsukuyomi merely nodded and a feline Youkai man jumped at Hitsugaya, snatching the Zanpakuto right from his hands. Hitsugaya looked around helplessly as both of the Tengu sat looking rather confused, and Ichimaru was actually frowning. The brown-haired man on the throne looked down at him. "I would suggest you calm down, Hitsugaya-kun," he said steadily, "My family is already on edge, and I doubt they will tolerate any assassination attempts. At least hear me out."

"BULLSHIT!" he seethed.

Ichimaru spoke up, "Wait a minute… so… ya actually did succeed, then, Sousuke-sama?"

The ex-captain sighed. "That, Gin, is not my name. It never was. "

Hitsugaya looked skeptical, enraged, but doubting.

The one previously known as Aizen Sousuke spoke, "I am Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god of creation and life," he paused, "I will continue my explanation when Hitsugaya-taichou calms himself," he nodded to the two gods, "You may release the Shinigami."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Ichimaru interjected, "So… yer a Kami? Then why the hell did ya do the things ya did?"

Izanagi shook his head, "When Hitsugaya calms down. His mind needs to be fairly open to accept my story," he looked at the others, "Shimizu-hime," he started. The woman looked up, and he continued, "Please calm your fiancé."

She crossed her arms. "No."

The god blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

She bulked, "No. I'm livid right now," she started walking towards the throne, "I don't care who the fuck you are, Aizen Sousuke or Izanagi-no-Mikoto!" She shrieked, revealing her wings and propelling herself towards the now rather disquieted god, "But you, in no way shape or form, have any goddamned right to interrupt my wedding!" she stopped right in front of him, pointing her finger at his face.

Izanagi was taken aback. "Well… um…" speechless, he threw a frantic look at the plump woman.

The goddess smiled, "Shimizu-hime," she started.

Ao turned on her, "WHAT?"

"You could always get married here."

Suddenly all traces of rage melted from her features, replaced with a dreamy, disbelieving expression. "A wedding… in… Takama-ga-hara? Th – That's… that's… every Youkai girl's dream… I – I – I…" she gasped for breath, "I – I – I need a fan!"

The Goddess tossed the frantic girl a fan, which she promptly unfolded and proceed to fan herself, hyperventilating.

Aizen smiled, "Thank you, Uzume."

Ame-no-Uzume nodded, "No problem, milord," she looked back to the panicking Tengu princess, "I'll get working on the wedding plans as soon as possible. And I'll even call in a few favors and have Inari attend the wedding."

Apparently, it was just too much for the Tengu, because Ao fainted. Hitsugaya barely caught her before she hit the ground and hefted her into his arms bridal-style. She awoke moments later and began squealing like a fan-girl. She was just besides herself with manic joy. "Did you hear that Toushirou? We're getting married in Takama-ga-hara! Takama-ga-hara!" she giggled and kissed him, his eyes widening momentarily in shock, but he automatically kissed back. Of course, seeing as that his fiancée was still acting insane, he had to pull away and set her down. She then proceeded to hum to herself while twirling around the throne room, her multi-petticoat skirt flared around her in a graceful fashion.

Toushirou sighed and faced the man on the throne once more, his eyes narrowing in rekindled anger, which he had to give a conscious effort to reign in. "You have five minutes, Aizen."

"You 'eard him, Shirou-chan. His name is Izanagi-no-Mikoto," Ichimaru piped in, likely just to be a smartass.

The captain waved a hand dismissively at the grinning man.

Aizen, Izanagi, whatever his name was, began, "My entire goal wasn't to take over the world, it was to get the world back. You see, my ex-wife," Tsukuyomi snickered, to which Izanagi snapped, "Quiet, Tsuku!" he composed himself and continued, "My ex-wife, Izanami, escaped from Yomi and used underhanded tactics to dethrone me, and trapped me in the lower spiritual planes by sealing the passageways that led to Takama-ga-hara. I spent five hundred years evading the Shikome, disguising myself by wearing glasses and changing the style of my hair, even my general reiatsu signature. Kyouka Suigetsu, in fact, was never mine. I stole it. I'm not proud of that fact, but it was a necessary evil. Kyouka realized who I was and allowed us to enter a pact of sorts, she'd give me power over her Shikai abilities if I were to wield her, but never Bankai. In order to keep Izanami or the Shikome from taking notice of me, I made my public intentions ones that would never, ever realistically come to fruition. However, I indeed did underestimate Kurosaki Ichigo's power. I had never believed that a human or Shinigami, even in my weakened state, could defeat me. It threw quite the metaphorical wrench into my plans. Once Nazo Nanami approached me in Avici, I realized my sheer luck. The Daughters of Fujin were an elusive group, and I had been confidant that I would never have been able to locate them in time, which was what had led me to such… drastic measures in the first place."

Hitsugaya tilted his head upwards, "That doesn't excuse what you did to Hinamori, and everyone else."

Izanagi closed his eyes. "Hitsugaya-taichou, I never intended to kill Hinamori Momo in the first place. When you found me at the Immaculate Tower Grove, I said what I had to in order to satisfy the Shikome that was watching from the shadows. My ex-wife did this for vengeance and entertainment. The reason Izanami made it so difficult for me to return was that she wanted to see me do her job for her. To create the Oken, I would've had to kill. That's supposed to be her duty, and the irony of such a situation seemed to amuse her. I created the Espada with the sole purpose of keeping the Shikome at bay, for the Shinigami alone would neither be strong enough nor take orders from me."

Gin looked confused, "But what about all the plans ya told me 'bout?"

"I had no idea who was or was not an Agent of Izanami, so no Shinigami or Humans could know of my identity."

Hitsugaya crossed his arms, "That's a lot to swallow," he said steadily.

The one with the beard turned to Tsukuyomi, "Hey, Tsuks, guess what?"

"Hn?"

"That's what she said."

Amaterasu suddenly preformed a movement similar to Shunpo, placing herself directly in front of the bearded god, and landing a wicked backhand. "PIG!"

The god growled in anger, "What was that, Amaterasu?"

"You're a pig, Susanoo!" she snapped.

"Yes. And you're a swine."

She slapped him again before returning to her seat to grumble to herself.

The plump goddess laughed. "That was pleasant."

Susanoo and Amaterasu both said, "SHUT UP, UZUME!"

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A/N: And you have now met the being I like to call "Aizanagi." You can see it now, can't you? If you re-read chapter one… he fits, character-wise. I realize he's a bit too humble and not eloquent enough here, but hey, he's been pretending to be a bad guy for a long time. He just wanted to get home. :D

As you can tell, I LOVE Aizen. And this works. If I didn't explain the concept well enough for you, though, I'm sorry.

Please review.