Sorry for the delay; I like to get these things up within a day or so, but sometimes it takes a little while to finish. I'll start working on the fourth chapter and will hopefully have it up soon. Basically, I want to have this done before something actually starts happening in the manga that could seriously conflict with what's written here (that will happen anyway, but it's nice to at least not have to worry about trying to make it all fit, which I like to do if I can). Please tell me what you think - I like hearing feedback and suggestions :o). Thanks!

Chapter 3: It Begins

Nanao woke to find Morrigan sitting and watching her. The raven too sat unblinking and staring at her. Nanao shivered and turned her away. She was more than ready for Morrigan to get a new pet – even another bird that would at least leave her hand from time to time would be preferable. What really struck her was the frequency with which Morrigan was appearing. Three visits within a day was unheard of.

"What do you want now?" she asked with a yawn.

"You're finally doing something interesting in your dull little existence and I want to be around for as much of it as I can," Morrigan said with a shrug. "Once the geezer is back in command, you'll return to the library or your books or pretending you're not in love with your commanding officer. Most of the time you're dreadfully dull to be around, you know."

Nanao glared in response. "Get out of here. As you can see, I'm sleeping – not exactly the pinnacle of excitement."

"Well now that you're awake, let's talk strategy."

Nanao threw her head back on her pillow. "What is to discuss? I took your advice and readjusted the vice-captains. Rukongai has been alerted. Miniature militias are assembling. They know Kusajishi-san will aid them, but they are also on their own. I told Nemu to help establish security measures for them while there is still time. That is as much as can be done. I had a very serious discussion with Hinamori-san. She understands the extreme amount of trust I am placing in her and how severe her betrayal would be. I am almost finished splitting the divisions to cover the primary three locations and am devising backup schemes. I have communicated with both the head of the special forces and the imperial guard. They are aware of the situation and are prepared to hear from me with further orders. What further strategy can I come up with at this time?"

Morrigan looked pityingly at her. "Well you had better find out soon, because you are running out of time."

Nanao's brow furrowed as she sat up. "What do you mean?" she asked harshly.

"The first pillar has fallen. Karakura will soon start to return to the real world. If that does occur, the Arrancar will soon arrive to attack the palace. If the captains manage to keep the pillars on Earth intact, the Arrancar may still come to claim the town."

Nanao's eyes narrowed. "How do you know this? The command center is under strict orders to inform me the moment anything occurs. How could you know anything before I do?"

"That is something you will have to uncover for yourself."

Nanao stood angrily. "No, you will tell me now. If the first pillar has collapsed as you say, how do you know this?"

Morrigan simply looked at her with a strange sadness in her eyes. From the bird's direction Nanao felt a piercing stare. It was like the raven was summing her up and evoking its presence onto her at the same time. It was oppressive. What was the bird? For the first time, Nanao entertained the thought that the raven might be more than simply her zampakutō's pet. What, though, she did not know. The only idea that came to mind was an unpleasant one, and Nanao quickly banished it from mind. She felt the pressure from the bird elevate. As her breathing returned to normal, Nanao noticed a hell butterfly daintily float through the open window. She looked from Morrigan to the butterfly and back again.

"Is this what I think it is, then?"

"Probably."

Nanao held her hand out. The butterfly alighted and imparted its message. The first pillar had fallen. The eleventh division's third seat Madarame Ikkaku was unaccounted for.

"How did you know that?" she asked Morrigan accusatorily.

"I can't tell you, but you need to find out."

"Can you see the future?"

"No."

"Then what is it? You should not be able to go very far from my side. How did you go to the real world?"

"I did not."

"Then how? Some sort of 'hyper-vision?'"

"That is one way to describe it," Morrigan acquiesced. "And to gain it, you need to stop fighting me. I am doing you a favor, Nanao. We should not be diametrically opposed as we are now. I am willing to overlook how often you have ignored and cast me away. However, you need to really see me for who I actually am before we reach bankai together. You are running out of time. You need me."

"I see you exactly as you are," Nanao scoffed. She stood and started dressing herself. "I do not have the time to play your games right now."

"You will have far less later on."

"I will take care of it when Kyōraku-taichō has returned. I should have his advice and oversight before attempting bankai," Nanao protested distractedly.

"No. Do it before he returns. You will be distracted otherwise. Do it now."

"You're a distraction yourself. Right now I am going to the command center. We can continue this later."

"Of course we can, because you had better believe that I will keep appearing." Morrigan stated smoothly. "I will be over your shoulder every moment until you finally stop running away from me."

Nanao snapped her head around and glared at Morrigan. "You are not in charge here!"

"Neither are you," the manifested zampakutō said meaningfully. Nanao's eyebrows knitted together. She thought she almost detected a deeper layer of meaning, but Morrigan admitted nothing further.

"Do whatever you want," she told Morrigan and then left for the command center. Nanao hated it when things did not make sense, and right now nothing made sense. The fact that one of the pillars had already fallen when the best of Seireitei was fighting unsettled her. What resistance could she possibly pull together if the group in the real world failed? Despite her preparations, Nanao had never really believed that war would actually reach the white stone walls of the Shinigami home. As she scurried along the veranda through the still-dark night, she wondered just what the situation was with the captains and vice-captains in the real world. If they failed, would that mean they were dead? No… hopefully it would only mean that they would fall back to help secure and defend Soul Society. There was no Soul Society without all of them; Nanao's forces could only delay the inevitable without them. Her throat caught as she thought of them all. They would be all right. There was no other feasible option. And, if they weren't… well, chances were that she would not have long to live without them.

"What is the situation?" she asked sharply as she walked into the command center.

"We are still waiting for updates, Ise-fukutaichō," stuttered Tsubokura Rin, a nervous young man with a shock of hair standing straight on his head.

"How are the other pillars?"

"Undetermined."

"And Karakura?"

"Um… it is beginning to return to the real world." He looked up at Nanao with wide eyes. "What should we do, Ise-fukutaichō?"

Another scientist leaned in over the view the monitor and then turned to strike a few keys by another viewing screen.

"The town and remaining pillars are still relatively secure. Ah, we just received an update: Madarame is accounted for and the town's return to the real world has been halted. However, the measures taken are weak and temporary at best. The pillar removed was an important one, unfortunately. We need to increase the fortifications up here to support what has been done in the real world."

"How long would fortifications take, um… Akon, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Given the way the battle is progressing we may have less than forty-eight hours. It will be rough, but we should be able to keep the town here."

Nanao paused and thought for a moment. "Forty-eight hours, you say? Let's assume it's twenty-four. See what you can get done in that time. Tell me when you have finished. Meanwhile," she turned to the bulbous-headed chief of the research division, "Hiyosu, what you have done for fortifying Rukongai?"

"Kusajishi-fukutaichō came to me yesterday with some, um, requests. Her methods are a little, well, unorthodox, let's say."

Kyōraku's words echoed through Nanao's head: "They're prepared to meet captains, but they're not prepared to meet you. That alone is a serious advantage on our part."

"Unorthodox may be good. It's unexpected. I trust her judgment, follow her instructions to the letter."

Everyone nodded in assent and Nanao left to go to the first division with Morrigan nowhere in sight. She was more than a little wary of allowing Yachiru to have free reign over Rukongai's defenses; "unorthodox" in Yachiru's case likely meant Jacks-in-the-box and taffy tar pits. However, if it caused the enemy even a moment of bewilderment, that was a moment they desperately needed. Besides which, around this time the day before Nanao was resigned to sacrificing Rukongai to save Seireitei, the palace and Karakura. Now the inhabitants had a fighting chance, at least.

A storm broke out as soon as Nanao reached the first division. She watched lightning lace the sky as she pondered over the Soul Society model. There were thirteen divisions, each with different specializations. The fourth would be busy ferrying the wounded, so that left twelve for her to divide among the vulnerable locations. Twelve's research division was busy coming up with contraptions to help defend Rukongai, so she would send them to help Yachiru. They would then fall back to reevaluate their casualties and possibly be reassigned to another location. The eleventh she would send to defend Karakura Town. They were too antsy and hotheaded to hold back and wait for orders. Despite their strength and penchant for fighting, they were unwieldy at best. It was better to have them out of the way as soon as possible. The third and seventh were effective fighters and disciplined enough to follow orders and attack patterns; they would accompany the eleventh to defend Karakura. The thirteenth and the eighth were used to training alongside one another, so she would keep them back to defend Seireitei. They would also be the last line of defense. She would also hold the fifth back to protect Seireitei, but that was more from self-preservation than attack strategy. Karakura and the imperial palace were both vital to Aizen's plans. No one, not even the fifth themselves, knew how far Aizen's mind control had gone. It was entirely possible that in the midst of battle, he could somehow make them turn against their own comrades. Seireitei would likely be the last battle setting, and therefore Nanao would keep them out of the fight for as long as possible.

The second and the special corps with the first and ninth divisions would help the imperial guard defend the castle. The sixth and tenth would wait on reserve to go where they were needed. She ticked them off on her fingers. She'd assigned all the divisions, but considering only the fourth would be serving under its own commanding officer, this was as much a test in her ability to command factions not used to taking orders from anyone outside their own groups as it was in the Shinigami's fighting ability and strength. Doubts clouded her mind; was this too expected? Was this what Aizen would have assumed she would do? Surely by now he must have come to the conclusion that she would have been left in charge. Nanao's strategies followed logic, which made her predictable. Should she reappoint someone else to be in charge? Should she switch the division appointments around? Would it make any difference? For the first time in her life, she cursed her analytical mindset. What she lacked was craftiness and duplicity. She could not possibly match Aizen in those respects, so she would simply have to arrange the situation to utilize her intellect as best as she could. That gave her an idea.

Nanao shunpōed to the eighth division's headquarters and drew a wooden box out of her desk drawer. She was about to return when she stopped and looked at the piano set against the opposite wall. Her captain had given it to her upon learning that in her former life she had been something of a child prodigy. She had run her fingers over the ivories a few times, but had not yet ever played for him, despite how often he'd ever asked. She wondered if she ever would. She cleared the thought from her head and returned to the first division. There was a job to do. Still, the piano and the box in her hand only given her more ideas. Yamamoto had taken the best fighters with him, but he left Nanao the best kidō masters. She had thought of a way to use that to her advantage.