Chapter Three
Winchester Castle
Meanwhile in the Study
'So, what do you think, Len. I believe, with all that is going on in our world. These 'hollow' creatures turning up here is not a normal occurrence. Something is at work here, it's pulling our world and this 'Soul Society' world together, which has not happened in over a millennia, since the 'doorway' was established for their king's protection. Our world has not really thought about that world for over 500 years or so. If you think about it, our family has not really done anything about that knowledge except to pass it down to every generation.' the Duke said to his daughter as she looked over the files given to her, she was quiet but it was just the way her mind worked.
She had a photographic memory and with her ability to instinctively strategize any situation quickly, it was that skill that made her a very dangerous opponent for any demon. He knew she was taking in all the information that was given to her, working out any kinks that would not benefit them and developing a plan for what needed to be done.
'Well, father. The proposal seems straight forward.' Len began as there was a knock on the door, everyone turned to watch as Dean and Sam walked into the room.
'It was nice for you boys to join us. It is not often that only mere barons would keep a duke waiting on them.' the Duke said to his nephews referring to their titles of barony given to them through their family connection.
Looking embarrassed Dean and Sam could only come forward and bowed toward their uncle, who gave them a pleased and affectionate look. 'We apologize for keeping you waiting uncle. But, we thought it was best to get ourselves cleaned up and presentable before meeting with you.' Dean answered moving towards his uncle who moved to the front of his massive desk and held out his hand to his nephews.
'Well, I am so glad to see that the etiquette training Drew spent so many years drilling into your heads hasn't been loss. I can see why all those lovely young women would almost swoon when you are both around. So different from your father.' the Duke laughed as he shook the hands of Dean and Sam.
'Yes, uncle we don't have a choice but to use those skills. Andrew would scalp us alive if we embarrassed ourselves and this house. I learned that lesson by watching what happened with Dean and that whole pig sty thing and him going to that function in the shape he was in. I will not forget the punishment we got from Andrew because of that, I still think it was unfair that I got it too when I wasn't even involved.' Sam stated looking over at Drew who smiled at him.
'Master Sam, I will remind you now as I told you then, it was because you and Master Dean are a team that you receive both praise or punishment together. It aids in your training to think as one, fight as one cohesive entity.'
'Not sure I want to thank you for that even after all these years.' Sam said looking angrily at Dean whose response was only to shrug his shoulders and smile.
'Alright boys enough of that. We have some serious things to discuss and we need to get too it. Dean, Sam say hello to your cousin and Lilybud, I would think you wouldn't need me to say anything what with both of you dressed up like fancy pansies.' John called out jokingly to his sons and gestured to the two women in the room.
Both Dean and Sam turned to the French doors and noticed their cousin and her best friend standing there smiling. Len with great affection and Lilyana with a smirk on her face. Even as Sam smiled and moved towards them, he could hear Dean moan as if in pain.
'Why. Why did Len have to bring Lily.' Dean complained quietly to Sam.
'You know Dean it has been years since you saw her, the least you could do is act like an adult.' Sam said.
'Oh and you think Lily is going to show me the same respect. When pigs fly. It seems like its her place in life to just annoy the heck out of me.' Dean replied.
'She could say the same about you, Dean.'
'She started it when she put glue in my hair when we were 7, Andy had to give me a haircut that made it look like I was a mini friar entering a religious order.' Dean reminded Sam.
'And you don't think you deserved that after you put a frog in her bag just because she wouldn't give you some chocolate.' Sam retorted.
'Her dad says she was supposed to share it. It was for all of us.' Dean defended himself.
'Dean, she did say she was going to give us some, just after dinner. Andrew told her that she couldn't have any because it would ruin our appetite.' Sam again reminded him.
'Yeah, well. I still think she wasn't going to share.' Dean shot back as they came upon the two women.
'Hey, cousins. How are you guys? I haven't seen you since New Orleans last year. I have been in several places where you guys just finished a job and I miss you guys usually by a few days.' Len said to them as she hugged them both.
'Hi Len. I'm good. We have missed you. I know. We've missed you a few times also when we find ourselves here in England.' Sam told her as he hugged her back.
'Lenny girl, come here and give your favorite cousin a hug. You know you've missed this handsome face.' Dean teased her while giving her a hard hug.
'As if…' Len laughed.
'Hey smelly, aren't you going to say something to me?' Lily laughed while she hugged Sam.
'You know Lenny you need to really think about getting this place fumigated. Seems even here the bugs are way out of control.' Dean said trying to ignore the woman next to his brother.
'Oh, smelly. Why would you take that attitude towards me? And me being so nice.' Lily teased him. 'It seems only Sam here remembered his lessons in etiquette.'
'You know 'Lilypuss', I remember my lessons, but Andy said I only had to use them when there was a lady in the room. And I already used it on Len.' Dean mocked Lily calling her by the hated nickname he gave her.
'Don't call me that, smelly boy unless you want to take this outside. Take it back!' Lily demanded as she walked towards Dean.
'Any day, 'Lilypuss', any day, any place. I'll show you whose the man.' Dean said to her changing his stance as she approached.
'Oh you wish, you were 'the man. Only in your dreams. Come on let's take this outside or are you afraid?'
'Afraid, you wish I was.'
'Now, now kids. This is not the time nor the place for this old argument. We have more important things to discuss.' Drew stepped between them before they got into their old routine of insulting each other.
'Nice to see that though you both get older and change, some things never do.' the Duke commented as they stepped away from each other. 'Now shake hands and make up, you both don't want me to finish what you both started. I have no qualms punishing you both the way I use too.'
Both remember how he use to punish them, he would make them stand facing each other and tie them together until they both had no choice but to sincerely apologize to each other. Both cringed at the thought, neither wanted to do that again, especially since the last time it took over 4 hours before both agreed to give in.
'Got it uncle,. Best behavior.' Dean finally said.
'Not too worry, Uncle Harry. As much as I love spending time with you all, being tied to Dean is not one of my favorite things to think about.'
'Good, now let's get down to business.' the Duke suggested as he went back behind his desk and gestured for every to take a seat around the room. He was not surprised that Drew took up his usual place slightly behind and to the right of him. John and Bobbie decided to take up the positions near the fireplace, Bobbie sitting on one of the high back chairs while John leaned against the mantle. His daughter, Len of course decided to stand next to him on his left, while Lily sat on one of the seats across from him, while Sam sat on the other. He turned and wasn't surprised to see that Dean had chosen the sofa, he sat on the corner so he could stretch out his legs in comfort. 'That's Dean, the one that always found a way to relax.'
'To some extent Dean and Sam are aware of the situation at hand, though perhaps not exactly what all this means to our world. So, let's bring them up to speed, then we can move onto what is being proposed and the agreement that is being offered. Now, Dean, Sam I am sure that you have noticed that there have been incidents recently where our people have begun to not only observe, but encounter creatures that have not been seen before. Creatures that are so different in appearance, movement and character that most of our people don't know what to make of it.' the Duke began to explain to his nephews whose reaction was to straighten up and nod.
He was proud to see that despite their attitude of indifference that they understood the importance of this conversation and were taking everything in. It was because of their ability to act this way that made them the best demon hunting team their family had in this generation. Despite their young age, Dean and Sam had proven over these past 5 years why the decision to make them the lead hunting team was the right one. The family had other well-trained teams, the best in the world. But, there was something about these Winchester boys that made them stand out, made them the most feared, talked about hunting duo now. Maybe it was because they looked young, like amateurs that lured the demons in, only to learn their mistakes. And the boys were smart enough to take advantage of it.
He picked up a file and handed it over to Sam, noticing that Dean got up and moved to join his brother. Nodding his head in approval as he looked to his cousin and noticed the pride in his eyes. 'Yes, his nephews were getting the scent of a hunt. Their instinctive 'demon-hunting' Winchester genes, developed over many centuries of fighting the demon world were kicking in. Everyone could see it in their eyes and the change of tension in their bodies. There bodies were already preparing for a battle. He had seen the same thing in his daughter, Len when they were speaking to her earlier. Looking over at John, they could only nod at each other in agreement. The Winchester Heritage was in good hands.
He continued on 'In the file that I have just given you, you will find all the latest information that we have been able to ascertain through our intelligence network, research, but mostly from information given to us from an organization called 'Soul Society' in Japan. Though, calling them an organization is incorrect, since they are more than that. They are..well..more of a society and all that it entails, actually. They are of an independent civilization on its own rights. They have a population, a culture all their own which includes a social order, a class distinction that is more set-up towards following the ancient Japan feudal society in some of its customs, traditions and behavior. Which some of you (looking at Dean and Len) may find a bit restraining. But, understand that this is their way of life and it is not your place to change that. As long as you work within the parameters that you usually do when it comes to dealing with the traditions of another group, I have no problems with what you do. But, remember this will be the first contact with these people. We must give respect to receive it.'
'Moving on, you will see that these new creatures that we have been encountering are called 'hollows' by the Soul Society. Hollows because in its simple term, this is what happens to a soul that hold on to what Soul Society calls the 'real world', which is what the entire time and space we are currently in is called. These souls are afraid or angry or for whatever reason do not cross over and hold on here. Because they are not at peace or 'hollow' inside, it is easy for dark creatures from the other side to manipulate these souls, turning them into something else. Which corrupts their true souls and turns them into these creatures that are covered in some type of white bone? They end up taking on a total different shape. I believe that its because the soul inside is ashamed of what it has become and hides within it, believing it is a totally different thing that will not cause havoc and pain to others around them. You will see photos of some of these 'hollows', not only those that our people have encountered, but also of the ones that Soul Society has battled in the past.' the Duke continued to explain as his nephews looked over the files.
'What the hell!' Dean raised his voice as he looked at photos from the file. 'And I thought I had seen some whacked out creatures in my life, but some of these things are downright fugly.'
'How are we expected to fight these things, uncle. They don't follow any shape or form that we are use too. And the sizes of some of these creatures are just ridiculous. How are we expected to fight something that may be the size of a 10 story building or more. What weapons do we use against something of that size.' Sam asked his uncle with worry.
'What, what did you say about size. You're kidding, right Sammy. There is nothing in our training that has prepared us for that. You've got to be fricking kidding me, 10 stories! The largest creature with a tangible body to fight was probably the size of a house. We almost didn't finish it off. What do we do, shoot it with a SAM, well not Sam my brother, but the weapon SAM.' Dean laughed at his little joke.
'That would be a bit useless, Dean since this file says that it may slow it down, but it won't destroy it. In fact the weapons we usually use, guns, rock salt, silver and such is not going to work. Though it does say knives might.' Looking at his uncle and glancing over to his dad. 'What does that mean exactly?'
'What, no guns. Oh come on. Guns are suppose to work. You know I need my gun, Sammy. Please tell that there is a way for me to use my gun. You know I feel naked without my baby in my jacket. It helps me feel secure, safe.' Dean complained.
'Oh please. Get over it. Not going to work, we have to find another way.' Lily sighed.
'I'm not talking to you so back off.' Dean answered back as Lily showed him tongue and moved a hand to give him a pat on his butt. 'Why, you….you just want to annoy people. Get away from me ..you…'
'Geez, Dean sometimes you are such a baby.' Lily said with a smile.
'I am not.'
'Are too'
'Am not.'
'Are too.'
'Am…'
'Enough! We are in the middle of something.' John reminded his son, who looked over at him.
'Sorry, dad. But she started it.' Dean pointed at the woman across from him who just smiled at him. 'And just so you know, am not…to infinity.'
'The reason it says a knife might. Is because the only real way to kill these hollows is with a sword.' the Duke explained.
'What do you mean a sword? Like the ones in the swashbuckling movies or maybe you mean the ones in the samurai ones. Or maybe even the ones like in those used in ancient Egypt.' Dean said mockingly.
'Exactly.' the Duke confirmed.
'I was kidding, uncle. You can't be serious! Swords!' Dean looked at his uncle with that slight disbelief in his eyes. 'Who in the world fights with those things now?! I mean wouldn't it be easier just to take out a gun and shot the damn thing in between its eyes rather than them trying to cut through them with a oversized butter knife.'
'It would be Dean if these creatures were mere demons, but in this instant they are not, they are in my opinion lost souls that are being used by the other side for their own purposes, what those are we are not sure. But, that can wait. These hollows are immune to the bullets that we usually use. According to the information that was given to us by the Soul Society, there is something in their weapons, their swords that is necessary to eliminate these things. So, until we can research and develop a way that we can adapt our guns to the current situation, we will follow their type of training, which is to use swords to fight these hollows.' the Duke stated strongly.
'Yes, uncle.' both boys answered.
'I hope that you both have not forgotten all those lessons on sword fighting that you went through.' their uncle questioned them.
'Umm, well you know uncle its not like Sam and I get a lot of reason to use those skills, so..ummm, honestly we might need to..' Dean began to explain.
Sighing, the Duke just looked at his cousin. 'Well, John that is one of the first things that we need to get done. Drew we need to contact their former instructors Pavel Kolobkov and Masaaski Hatsumi. Let Pavel know that he is needed here by tomorrow he has no more than a week to get Dean, Sam and Len back to the level they were before. Also, let him know that we have Lilyana Blackthorne here as well and that she will also be joining them. Then contact Master Hatsumi and let him know the four of them will be in Japan by the end of next week and he will also have a week to get them back to the level they were at when he was training them. We cannot give these four any more time than that.' the Duke instructed his assistant.
'Whoa..whoa…Japan, what do you mean Japan?' Dean immediately interupted his uncle which he normally would not have done. But, it finally hit him exactly what was being said. 'You mean Japan, Japan. The one found in the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the planet from where we are right now? This would mean us, having to get on a plane and fly! Fly for hours!'
Everyone started to either laugh or chuckle, since they all knew of Dean's fear of flying.
'Yes, Dean unless someone has moved Japan from where it usually is, I mean the country of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, land of the rising sun, home of Mt. Fuji, the world of the samurai.' John teased his son. 'You always said that you wanted to go and see where they made the Last Samurai, to see all those places that were in the movie. I thought you would have jumped at the chance.'
'Yes, well I said I always wanted to date Angelina Jolie and that ain't ever gonna happen. So, what made you think that I would willingly put myself on a plane, which is dangerous, by the way, cause planes crash, just so I can see where Tom Cruise got to play a hero. When I am one already!' Dean said panic in his voice.
'Dean, cars get into crashes also, you know. So, you can't really just say that about airplanes.' Sam reminded his brother.
'Yes, but in a car, I am in control and will be able to see a crash coming and have some control over whether I die or just get injured. You can't do that in an airplane. And my feet are on the ground where God intended us to be, not 20,000 feet up. If he wanted us up there, he would have given us wings. But, he gave us legs and feet, which should be planted firmly on the ground.' Dean stressed showing them his legs.
'Dean, if God didn't want us exploring the sky, he wouldn't have given us the ability to invent the airplane or the skills to learn how to fly.' Sam told Dean calmly.
'Yes, well..well, he didn't give me those skills. And, and he gave us the ability to invent the wheel first, so that just means that wanted us driving, that should be first skill we should use. So, I am all up for listening to God and driving there. Whose with me?' Dean raised his hand looking around the room. 'Oh, come on. Someone here has to agree with me. Driving is a good idea!'
'Dean…there is no way that we can drive to Japan. Be serious.' Sam told him.
'Why, why can't we?! I don't see how we can't. That is what there roads and boats and more roads are for.' Dean emphatically said.
'Dean, it would take us less than half the time to fly there. There is a timeline that has to follow and driving there, which is a ridiculous idea, is out of the question.' Sam said.
'Alright, no driving. Got it. Then, I propose sailing there. Yeah, sailing there sound good. So, whose with me?' Dean looked around the room again for support, seeing that everyone just smirked at him, it was finally sinking in that no matter what argument he came up with, the decision was already made. They would be flying! His shoulders slumped in defeat and acceptance. His ass would be on a plane, whether he liked it or not. 'I still think driving or sailing would have been better. Oh, hey I just thought of a good reason why we should either drive or sail.' Dean continued a slim hope still there.
Everyone looked at him to see what he would say. 'We would have more time to practice our sword fighting!' Dean smiled in victory.
'Dean, with the abilities you all have, two weeks is more than enough time for you to recondition your skills. One here and one in Japan, when you get there. That is the end of the discussion. You will be flying to Japan by the end of next week.' the Duke stated.
The only thing that Dean could do about that decision was sigh and try and not cringe too much at the idea of him on a plane. He would have to make sure that along with his sword fighting practices coming up, that he refreshed his memory on every Metallica, AC/DC or Led Zeppelin song he knew, cause he would be humming for hours and to make sure his throat didn't get too dry.
'Yes, uncle. I understand.' Dean finally agreed. Planes, God, he felt like crying.
Snickering a bit, Lily could not help herself. 'Oh, is little Dean still afraid to fly? What you feel like crying. It's okay, Sam, Len and I will keep you safe from the big, bad plane.'
Turning to Lily Dean just glared at her. 'Shaddup, Lilypuss! Or others may find out about your idiotic fear of cats.'
Giving him a dirty look. 'And whose fault is that, you jerk!'
Grinning at her. 'Hey, is it may fault that you fell into the home of a cat that just happen to have a new litter.'
'You, ass. You're the one who pushed me!'
'Well, technically it was Sam who pushed me and I accidentally pushed you. So, actually you should be mad at Sammy.'
'Well, he wouldn't have done that, if you didn't tease him about Melissa Donner. You knew he liked her and that he wouldn't like you teasing her. What were you, 10!'
'Well, actually I was when I did that.' Dean laughed.
Glowering at him Lily started to angrily reply.
'Stop both of you. We don't have time for this.' Len broke into the argument that would once again escalate them off the subject.
'Yes that is quite enough from both of you.' the Duke said. 'If you both don't mind, I would like to continue.'
'Now, John and Bobbie, prep all their weapons that will need to sent along with them on this trip. Please ensure that everything that they may need is included, it is better to be overly prepared than not at all. I trust your judgment just give them everything you think they will need to include any eventuality that may come up.' Turning once more to his assistant.
'Drew as much as the boys are grown men, they would not know the type of clothing that will be appropriate to take with them to Japan, especially going into a world that is more fifteenth century rather than twenty-first. So, please make sure they have a wardrobe that is fitting young lords from England.' the Duke finished.
'Oh, come on. You mean to tell me that I am going to have to dress like this every day while in Japan?' looking down at his clothes, horror and panic in his eyes, he turned to look at his brother and cousin who smiled and at Lily who just had glee in her eyes.
'You don't think that you can handle acting like a gentleman every day? Yeah, I agree with you that would be such a stretch for you. That is like putting an untrained monkey into a suit and asking him to have tea with the queen. That is just a disaster waiting to happen.' Lily taunted Dean.
'Hey no one asked your opinion, Lilypuss. And I am no monkey.' Dean retorted.
'Yes, the monkey probably has better manner.' Lily said.
'Shaddup, nobody was asking your opinion.' Dean angrily told her.
'Again, enough. Lily please. This is not the time to annoy him. I will not have you both acting like this while with your instructors and most especially when you are in Japan meeting with the people from the Soul Society. Your display of attitude will reflect our family, do not bring shame to the Winchester name. Is that understood.' the Duke stated formidably.
'Sorry, uncle.' said his nephew.
'I apologize, your Grace. I cannot help but tease Dean and I tend to forget where we are.' said Lily.
'I don't expect you both to stop your spirited exchange of wit, but I do expect that you both remember to act accordingly when in mixed company. I will be the first to admit that I enjoy your banter, just not when I need you both to act professionally and with class.' the Duke insisted.
Both nodded.
'Now back to business. As we were saying about what these creatures are, they are 'hollows' and because of the information that was shared by the Soul Society we are now aware of exactly what they are, the data is in those files that I expect everyone to review and learn; but we also know how to kill them.' the Duke continued on.
'Uncle, are we sure that this Soul Society is being on the up and up? I mean there is no hidden agenda on their part, I mean what are they expecting from us in exchange of their sharing their knowledge.' Sam questioned.
'Yeah, I mean do they want our next newborn child in exchange or something?' Dean mocked.
'No, Dean nothing to that extent. But, they are requesting our help in exchange. Because like us, they are encountering creatures that they have no prior knowledge of or have ever fought, we have. Mainly, demons and creatures from 'hell'. Which we are very skilled in fighting. So, in return they are requesting that we pass on what we know regarding these things. Just so you are aware boys, we have already sent them some of our data and will be sending them more. Which I will get into it in a bit.' he answered.
'Also, just so you know. This is not the first time that our people have had dealing with the Soul Society.' he informed his nephews who had a puzzled look.
'It is not a known fact among many and I must caution you both not to share this information outside this room. We have had dealing with the Soul Society before, but it was almost a millennia ago. Just a short overview of our dealings with them. You both know our family history, how our ancestor, Aedelric Merchester was charged by Edward the Elder in 889 to protect England from the demon world and it has been our duty to continue that responsibility.' he waited until both nephews nodded. 'It was several decades later, he and his army by this time already gained the reputation of being a powerful force against evil. It was around this time that he was approached by a two Japanese noblemen. Now, this was something that was extraordinary because contact with other cultures was rare. What was even more astounding to Aederlic was how the Japanese noblemen had gotten there.'
'Now, Aederlic had seen many amazing things, some good, some evil in the years that he had been doing his duty, so it was not as difficult for him to believe them, especially after he had shown Aederlic the powers that they had, it was something that he had never seen in his world, but he also trusted his instincts that said they meant no harm to our world, that their powers were not of an evil nature. They explained to our ancestor that they had come from a land beyond the known world he knew to ask for his aid. Aederlic was told how their world, this Soul Society had learned their ruler's realm, which is on another dimension from theirs, had a vulnerable point that could cause enemies to enter the ruler's world and cause chaos or worse destroy it, which would in turn trigger the Soul Society to fall and that could not be allow. It was determined after many years of research and exploration, that this weak point, this 'doorway' was connected to the area directly above and around Aederlic's territory. Because of this, they were sent by the Soul Society, with approval of their ruler or 'king' to ask our aid in ensuring that this 'doorway' was sealed and protected from attack. Aederlic was told by the two Japanese noblemen that they came from two of the five noble families of their world. The first was named Masanori Kuchiki and the other was Hiroshi Ukitake. Both were the eldest sons of their families and two of the best warriors from their world at the time. These two were entrusted with the duty to meet with Aederlic, explain the reason for their coming to him and to negotiate a way to have him help them. Not only seal the 'doorway' found within his realm, but also ask that he be the keeper of the door, to ensure that it would be protected from those who would use it to breach their 'king's world' and place it in jeopardy. After many weeks of talking and research, it was determined where the actual door existed and what needed to be done to seal it. Not to get into too many details, the doorway was found, after much preparation it was sealed and its protection was given over to Aederlic. Not many know that though he refused, the Soul Society rewarded him with a vast treasury, not seen by many of Aederlic's time. The wealth that he received from Soul Society was the foundation of the fortune we now have. There is more to this story, but there is no reason for you to know of it now. Suffice it to say, that there is a deep-seated connection to Soul Society. We must help them as they must help us, like that time long ago.' the Duke finished telling his nephews.
'Now, because both our worlds seem to be colliding in a way that we are encountering the creatures that should only be isolated to the individual areas, both sides agree that something is going on that is not normal. Why after almost a millennia of no contact with between our worlds, that them seem to be linked in such a way that endangers both sides. That is why there is a proposal from Soul Society asking that we form an alliance to find out what exactly is happening; to aid each other in fighting both hollows and demons; and most importantly to stop whatever is going on. We believe that the agreement is fair, why don't you both look it over, while Len will summarize it and we can go from there.' the Duke gestured to his daughter to continue.
'As I was saying earlier, they ask for full disclosure by both parties on what exactly each world will be encountering, this is to include all written history records (though it will not include confidential/classified information that will put that world in jeopardy) on all creatures, etc.; a trade on full training of all personnel on both sides, this is to include any and all spells, etc., learning appropriate languages and such; full training on the physical side and all weapons needed; a cross research by both parties in developing new weapons and other aspects to fight both world's enemies; the housing of all exchange personnel and the protection of them while they are in their care; also to keep all lines of communication open so if necessary expand the agreement.' Len briefly explained. 'I agree with everyone here, there seems to be no hidden agenda on their part, they seem to only want our help to ensure the continuance of their world. Just like we want the same. We can agree to the initial group to go to Japan will be no more than 6. I will say that once the agreement is signed that we should increase the number of training personnel to at least 40, if we can push for more we should do so, at least on our part. Since their forces are much larger than ours, we will need to ensure we have more trainers available to complete our training as quickly as possible. Our group is only a little bit smaller than theirs, so I think we can have their trainers' just increase to at least 20.' She finished.
Nodding at the clear strategy that his daughter had worked out, he glanced around the room looking for a consensus.
'Fine, we are agreed. Len will be leaving for Japan by the end of next week. Lily will be going with her. Len will need an assistant; Dean and Sam will be accompanying her as her bodyguards. If there are no changes to the agreement, Len will be instructed to sign on our behalf and the four of you will stay to begin the preparation for the exchange training. If necessary, you four will start training some of the personnel of Soul Society. Initial equipment will be going with you. Now, I believe we are done for the moment, with the exception of minor details. Just a reminder that Pavel will be here by tomorrow. Your training will start 5AM sharp, do not keep him waiting.' Len's father concluded, dismissing everyone.
