Well, dudes, I don't know what happens with this website, but the comments comapred to the views and the readers it's kind of low, so, comments? Love to the poor writer? Support and a signal that you have likes this? Do you know what that is?! Then do it assholes!
Darkness surrounded him. Dense and light at the same time. Calm and final. His body felt numb, from the tip of his toes to the crown of his head, and he couldn't move nor breathe. He realized he didn't want to do it either, he was comfortable there, as if he belonged to this place of soft shadows and liquid ashes. A place without pain, without worries, simply the warm darkness rolling and caressing him, as the soft hugs from his mother.
'Ichigo' murmured a soft metallic voice between the folds of the shadows, scraping and to loud in the silent place.
He frowned. He knew the word that the voice whispered, he knew it had a meaning, and that it was important. But he couldn't understand it. Moreover, the voice had disturbed the stillness and peace of darkness, and ruined his peace. His body, still submerged in blackness, stretched lazily, turned and walked away from the voice, going deeper into the darkness.
'Ichigo,' the voice murmured again, alarmed but following him. Not disappearing. He didn't want to hear it, so he moved away even faster, with his body moving through the black smoke like on dense water.
As he went deeper, the darkness stopped being so soft and undulating, and soon it became harsh and hard, like charcoal, like obsidian diamonds. It hurt him as he passed by, as he walked over the edges and blackened knifes, as if it was urging him to run even faster.
His body suddenly screamed in agony in the darkness, the sounds escaping his mouth starting to fill the silence and turn it scary and terrible. He had made a mistake. The darkness began to drive his claws into him with glee, trying to devour and take him and make him disappear. It reached into his body finding skin, then muscle, then bone. Then it went even deeper.
'ICHIGO' the voice murmured loudly, suddenly in his ears.
Something luminous closed around his wrist, the claws and blackness under his skin quickly disappeared, driven away from the light as if scared by it. Ichigo breathed with a body ripped to shreds, his eyes closed not wanting to open. The strange voice had reached him, but, why had he been running away from it? It felt warmth, and welcoming and so full of light. The darkness had been calm, it had been peaceful, but this was...life.
And as it pulled him away and away from that place, Ichigo allowed it.
...oOo…
Ichigo opened his eyes with a sudden motion. Startled awake. He soon sat feeling his heart beating fast, too fast, anxious and panicked, as if he had been running, getting away from something horrible that was still so close to him.
He looked around feeling haunted.
The room he was into was different from anything he had ever seen. It was a room older than the world itself, more powerful and necessary than any other place in the universe. It had huge torches illuminating black obsidian walls, it had golden and emerald green hieroglyphs covering every surface. The little symbols even glowed and pulsed with a strange old magic. There were women on white cloths weeping and kneeling in sorrow, there were regal gods pained with animal heads and judging eyes, there were skulls, snakes, there was death, blood, tears, and loss.
Ichigo looked away, and his gaze moved to the ceiling. A dark mass that looked like water was suspended over his head, as pure and as black as the nightmare he had been escaping from. As he watched, a red drop of blood slid up his chin and nose, and fell into the dark pond above his head as if pulled by it. The surface undulated with a soft ripple, and then, it returned to its previous still state.
Ichigo frightened by the origin of the drop looked down at himself.
Blood gushed from every pore of his skin crating a big puddle around his figure. His clothes were soaked, his nails crusted with the dry liquid. However, the puddle seemed too big, it reached the four corners of the room and his ankles, how was he even alive after losing so much? Wait, was he alive?
"Mortal" called the metallic voice from his dream, hypnotic and dead and known.
Ichigo turned around to face the figure staring down at him. He was tall, strong, and as extravagant as the room they were in. The green mask, with the delineated black eyes and lips covered with pure gold, hid his face, but the long white tunic and the two sceptres on his hands however made him unforgettable. Ichigo's mind went blank as his lips spoke the name of the creature in front of him.
"Osiris"
The room seemed to tremble, the light of the torches shook, and the figures on the walls seemed to move and scream.
"Yes," replied the masked deity, the most adored god on all Egypt, the one who granted peace and a passage to the other life, if you completed his test " I am the god of death. I am the one who decided who lives and who ceases to exist. I am the master of all souls."
Another bloody drop fell back to the ceiling from Ichigo's forehead and it rippled again. Ichigo shuddered. The god's eyes stayed focused on him, golden on black, intent and hard.
"This is my world, mortal. Here, each soul is judged and weighted for it's worth. If it's seemed righteous, the soul would return to the living and the circle eternal of reincarnations, but if it's judged too corrupt, it would be annihilated so that it doesn't infect the world with its rot. That is the only way the balance can be kept"
And then Ichigo saw it, behind the god, a large scale of pure gold with two huge plates held by a thin rope. It was decorated with the same symbols from the walls, it glowed with power, and it made Ichigo want to cry from the beauty of it.
Then, as if mocking its greatness, in one of the magnificent golden plates there was a simple white little feather. Maat's feather, the goddess of truth. It looked so fragile and weak that it seemed even vulgar to be inside such a majestic scale.
The other plate, as the legends told, was empty.
"This is my world," Osiris repeated, placing a pale hand on the scale "and these are my rules."
Ichigo knew what was expected from him. So he stood up. Bloodied, shattered, and well, dead. He shouldn't look very worthy right now, not very 'kingly'. However, as he approached the balance, Osiris didn't move to let him step into it. Instead he stared at him, the golden eyes of the mast not revealing anything.
"What?" Ichigo asked confused.
"Why are you here?" Osiris asked him, his voice sounding annoyed, confused, sad "You, Kurosaki Ichigo, are not part of my world, nor abide by my rules. You are much more"
And suddenly, Ichigo remembered it all. His kingdom, his dad, the fight, the kisses, his death. The words spoken before a sword pierces his heath. Raising his head, he finally recognized the man he was staring at.
"Shirosaki"
"Osiris" the other corrected.
"What's happening?" he asked, realizing something had to be wrong for the other to do this.
"We can't let you die" Osiris answered slowly "One of us has to lead the mortals at all times. You died, but you left no one behind to take your place. No heir, nor relative that could stand to such power"
"My sisters?"
"Too weak. Too young"
Ichigo nodded. His father had been a strong and powerful man who had led and won several battles and done what needed to be done. Ichigo too had been trained to take such a roll. But his sisters were different. They were more like their mother had been, kind and loving. Yuzu cried when Ichigo hurt himself while training. Karin could fight, she even had a mean side that Ichigo adored, but she was no leader, she won't lead armies to cavalry. It truly left him with no one else.
"What about Grimmjow? He is a god too, he is already there" he said.
"Pffft, please" Ichigo could almost see the man rolling his eyes behind the mask "The world will end within a day with him ruling it"
"You?" he asked ignoring the comment.
"I already have a world to rule" he said shrugging and signalling to the room "It has to be you Ichigo. You, or a random guy who could stand the power of Horus inside him, and who will bring an end to your dynasty and start a new one"
"You already have a man" he said understanding.
"Yes"
"Then, why all this bullshit?" Ichigo asked frowning. Why was he stopping him from using the balance and beginning the trial for his soul.
"We are not monsters Ichigo, you are one of us, were are giving you an option" he said, approaching him and caressing his cheek briefly, his fingers coming out bloody, red drops on white skin.
"I have never felt like a god" Ichigo said lowering his head.
"That was also part of the original deal we made. When walking between mortals, you had to become a mortal. Your powers bring pace and light to the world, but you can't use them willingly, like the floor that supports civilization, or the mountains that support the sky, you will support the world and all us without even knowing it"
Ichigo nodded. Shirosaki hugged him, with a hand on his nae and the other on his waist. Tenderly, as if he had missed him. He hugged him for way too long, as drops of blood felt to the ceiling and as his white tunic got dirtied too. Ichigo, after a moment, hugged back, knowing this could be the end, the last time he saw this man. Would he take his mask away if he asked him? Would he let him kiss him again?
"You have two options" Shirosaki said after a moment, separating from him and looking fixedly at the puddle of blood.
Ichigo glanced down and saw the blood change, and images began to appear. A man very similar to him was cultivating the land among bright green mountains. At his side appeared the image of a woman with orange hair and a pure and happy smile, beautiful and kind. A small child was pulling at her hair affectionately, lovingly. The family wasn't rich, their clothes looked poor, their house was small, but they looked happy. Very happy.
"You can reincarnate again and start a new life" Shirosaki said, raising his head from the images at his feet, his tone serious and dark again. "You will be happy, and leave a peaceful life, I assure you"
Ichigo observed the images move, the woman hug the man, the man lift the child on his shoulders. It looked like the life he had always wanted. Without having to make decisions that costed lives, without a bigger more than cultivating a piece of field, with someone who loved him by his side, and a family to care for.
"The other option?"
"You can return to the life you had have before. You can be our saviour, our leader returned from dead itself. I will help you kick Grimmjow ass this time, and we could rebuild our land. You could become our greatest pharaoh in history"
"You are talking hypothetically, aren't you?" Ichigo asked, noticing the phrasing.
"...Yes" Shirosaki said, looking down at the blood too "With Grimmjow there I can't predict a future. We could also lose too, civilization could fall, we could all die too"
Ichigo understood. It was a decision between a life of happiness and no responsibility against a life of risk, hardship and probably pain. The pain was almost certain, he had already been fucking stabbed. Stupid Grimmjow. He wanted to kiss him again.
"Your answer?" Shirosaki probed, slow fingers tracing the curve of his neck.
He knew what his answer would be. He smiled sure of himself.
"The second one. To go back"
The god looked at him. Scrutinizing him in silence behind the mask, as if he just couldn't understand him. Ichigo just smiled at him more. Until Shirosaki finally sighted, took off his stupid mask, and pulled him up for a kiss.
Ichigo kissed back, his arms coming up to the god's shoulders, as the blood, the terror and the doubts finally disappearing from his mind. This was what he wanted. To protect his sisters and his people. To rule them and prove himself. To kick Grimmjow's ass until he understood and apologized for what he had done.
He kissed back and this time, Shirosaki was the one moaning against his mouth. His hands curving around his waist possessively. Their tongues tasting and wanting to make up for the lost time. Shirosaki kissed him as if he was scared, he would disappear again, as if he had been terrified himself. So Ichigo spend the following minutes chasing that fear away.
As they separated, Shirosaki was looking at him intently, almost angry. Ichigo bit his nose with a smile, and the other grumbled.
"So be it" the god finally said separating.
A warm light began to shine all over Ichigo's body, as if it was illuminated inside, the walls vanished, the balance dissolved in the air, the blood seemed to come flowing back to his body. Ichigo felt...alive, his body started to dissolve in the light, as if pulled away by a strange force.
"Shirosaki" Ichigo called to his dead guard "Do know that Grimmjow kissed me once?"
The gaze of the other suddenly turned murderous "Oh, yes"
Ichigo smirked at him evilly.
"I might want him to do it again" he confessed.
As the last part of his soul broke apart to be remade again into his own body, Ichigo saw the pale male blink and then a look of horror and wonder replace his face.
"What?"
...oOo...
Ichigo opened his eyes again into another world. The ceiling of the throne room stared back at him full of golden decorations and bright colours. All his senses hurt. His skin felt too sensitive for the air in the room, the thunder still resonating in the sky made his ears ring, his eyes hurt from the intensity of the day light, and his mouth still tasted of blood.
Wonderful.
However, the pain was gone, and he was alive. He felt nothing where a sword had stabbed him through the chest. There was no pool of blood around him, no residual fogginess on his mind. Nothing. It all looked as if he had just fallen asleep and then woke from a nightmare to continue with his life. He was kind of disappointing.
Then he noticed the man looming above his body looking confused.
His hands were still gripping a blood dripping sword, his black trousers were coated with dirt and gore, and the rest of him was as gorgeous as Ichigo remembered. Blue soft hair, tempting muscles, and deadly sky-blue eyes. The man however was tense, too tense, his breathing fast and panicked. He stared at Ichigo without blinking, as Ichigo finally stirred and sat up.
"What is this? Some kind of trick?" he said, his head whipping around to glare at Shirosaki, who was looking at them both with a confused and analysing gaze, as if he was studying a math problem.
"It's done Grimmjow" Ichigo said, his voice sounding rough but not too hoarse "you lost."
"I killed you!" the man still kneeling over him said, his eyes opening as if he was gloating and at the same time terrified by the fact.
"And I came back" Ichigo retorted smiling.
Grimmjow frowned and stood up again, pointing his sword in Ichigo's direction.
"I can kill you again" he threatened. "Take the throne, be the sole ruler of this land"
Ichigo just moved his head back exposing his throat to the blade. His gaze challenging while his smirk just spread across his face.
"Would you really do it?" he challenged back.
Grimmjow flinched. He looked away, he looked back at him, violence and murder in every line of his body. He looked at Shirosaki who had not moved from his position away from them, and who was now smiling conspiratorially. He looked at Ichigo again, and then he seemed to deflate.
"...No" he finally answered, lowering his sword to his side. The weapon crashed to the floor with an empty metallic echo. Defeated. Broken. Like it's owner.
Grimmjow looked like a man who had lost a purpose, a purpose he didn't know he had hated from the beginning. He looked alone, powerful and deadly, but incredibly alone.
Ichigo stood up. He faced the man, approaching him as a man approaches a wounded beast. He rose a hand to take his hand, but the other just swatted him away, stepping back. He glared at him.
"Grimmjow" Ichigo started.
"Fuck you" the other hissed, retreating another step.
Ichigo just followed, finally grabbing a wrist and pulling him into his body to hug his waist. Grimmjow was taller than him, broader and all tensed up and aggressive. He struggled against Ichigo's embrace, like a caged beast, but the king didn't let him get off.
"It's ok Grimmjow, it's done"
"It is not okay!" the other shouted in his face, gripping his shoulders back, his fingers punishing on his skin "I am the god of chaos and destruction, if I don't bring chaos and destruction, I'm useless! What is a useless god good for? I will disappear!"
Ichigo hugged him more firmly, listening to the other ragged breath, and the rapid pulse of his heart.
"I am a god and I can't use my powers" he whispered.
Grimmjow flinched "That's not…"
"It is the same" he said, looking at the revolutionary straight in the eyes "You are not going to disappear and fade away. You don't need to keep doing this"
Grimmjow looked at him doubting, hope and incredulity mixing in his face. As if he couldn't believe Ichigo was real. Ichigo stared back, trying to look convincing and sure. He knew Grimmjow wouldn't disappear, if saddened him but the world needed chaos and destruction as much as peach and order, it was the way of the world, if was the way humanity grew.
Suddenly, Grimmjow was kissing him. Passionate and desperate and angry. Ichigo's hearth jumped with happiness, and he kissed him back, with a little moan of appreciation.
On the corner, Shirosaki groaned.
The kiss this time ended quick, the feelings and the whole situation overpassing them both. It was a lot to take in. When Grimmjow pulled back after a few seconds and instead hugged Ichigo, the king didn't complain, instead he just hugged back and smiled in victory at Shirosaki who was approaching them both.
"You are just a big soft kitty, aren't you?" Shirosaki said, joining the hug by passing an arm over Grimmjow's shoulder, and ruffling Ichigo's hair with the other.
"I will slit your throat open when you sleep and hang you from your own intestines" Grimmjow said, not moving from where he was hugging Ichigo a bit too possessively. "Asshole"
"Aww, such endearing promises" the albino said kissing Grimmjow blue bloodied hair "And here I was thinking you hated me"
"Why would you think that?" Grimmjow said also dropping into sarcasm, and glaring at the smirking Shirosaki "And stop touching him"
"Why? You jealous?" Shiro said faking surprise "I can touch you too, you know"
Grimmjow growled surprised, and tried to punch the albino as he tried to grab at his ass. Ichigo smiled stepping back, having a feeling that at least, he had done something good. His capital was destroyed, several of his people had died, Grimmjow would have to make up for the slaughter he had caused, but the main problem had been solved, it won't happen again, he had survived his first catastrophe, and could begin to rebuild from the ashes.
First of all, known that the balance ritual, where the the soul is weighted against the feather it's not exactly like this. There is another god called anubis (The one with the dog head) that participates in it and normally inclines the scales in the mortals favour.
About the smut, I know it has been promised, I know you are waiting for kinky threesome god sex or whatever, and I kindly remind you that there is still a chapter left in this story, and that comments make me happy.
See you~