Chapter IV

All the knowledge he has gained through his immortality had always given him the perfect hindsight, and all victory he has won has been due to The Almighty as it had always provided him perfect foresight. He knows all that had occurred and shall occur. Where there is past, there is future. Where there is death, there is life. Where there is darkness, there is light. There is a balance, yet there is division. It is why he had undergone this holy crusade. He must destroy such balance, to lift all divisions among the worlds, to unify all races, and above them, sitting upon a pedestal, is him – a king who shall govern each and every one. However, the millennia before his creation have always been a blank spot for him. There must be a balance to destroy, yet why must there be only a single entity – the Soul King – who himself is not a balanced being without his eternal pair.

He had theorized that there must be someone, someone of equal position to the Soul King, yet all information regarding his theory all traced to one particular myth – the fabled Anti-God. Legend has it that there was once a being of unparalleled beauty and immense radiance, appropriately heralded by her title, the Morning Star or Light Bringer. Consumed by her vanity and narcissism, she led a rebellion in an attempt to take the throne for herself. However, she failed and as punishment, had been stripped of her powers and iron-branded by three six-pointed symbols. She fled from the realm and swore vengeance, hiding and agonizingly waiting for her powers to return. As a sign of her revolt against those who wronged her, she moulded her powers against natural laws. She turned her own powers as a shining mockery by twisting all races' philosophy against their creator's Divine Will.

Such an amazing tale, Yhwach sneered in disgust. Here he was, a grown man, believing in made-up stories meant to scare children to sleep. The woman being a descendant of a fabled monster seems too farfetched. However, there is truth in every tale, he acknowledged. He had always wondered why the Soul King would be so inane as to foster a being so against his very own nature. Why else would the Soul King create a creature that was to be rejected by him and the world? The answer had always eluded him until now.

The Soul King did not create the Anti-God. They are supposed to be equals. If he were to foster her, there will be an imbalance in their powers. The answer is that they were the eternal pair. No one created who. They are created together. Then why hasn't all information regarding this supposed spouse is next to being inexistent?

Yhwach had an epiphany. The Soul King himself is capable of foresight. He must have seen that his own son will lead a rebellion against him. He planned all of this. He set everything in motion, even his own death. Yhwach sensed that the fable deliberately hid facts by twisting it the other way around. There is no rebellion to begin with. There are no monsters. She did not flee the Royal Palace to exact vengeance. She did not even lose her powers. He had an inkling of a thought that it was all part of their plan. She, with her powers so opposed to him, did everything in her power to support him; even if it meant damning their love in an eternal separation because that is what balance is: it divides. He looked at the woman before him, then at Ichigo below. A woman protecting and supporting the man she so loves.

There is a pair, and only then, when the two of them have truly come together, in perfect balance, will the millenia old plot be fully realized.

Where there is death, there is life

Where there is darkness, there is light

Where there is the son, there is the daughter

And where there is a King, there is a…

A flash of light whizzed by his ear, making him dodge. He summoned a sword and sped towards her, intent to land a fatal blow, but it only met the shield. It cracked but the damage on the triangle immediately disappeared. He smirked, but the triangle immediately burst into shards in front of him as he felt pain from his abdomen. The woman shattered her own shield to buy herself some time to deal a point-blank attack. He was thrown further below. He used his cloak of darkness to heal the injury as he summoned another sword. He used Hirenkyakyu to close the distance between them and appear behind her. He brought his left down, but it quickly met one of the tips of the shield. He stabbed with his right, but the shield moved again to block him. Orihime Inoue made a palm thrust upon the shield, it moving along with her, multiplying the force and hitting him in his whole person that sent him flying several feet away. The sensation was akin to being hit by a thick wall that made Yhwach spat blood. He quickly darted his eyes at her, noticing that the woman has released all six of her sprites. The six trail of lights converged at the single six pointed symbol beneath her collar.

"Rokuten Hishun!"

A/N: I am so, so, so sorry for updating very late and very short. I've been really out of myself these past few days, and only now did I found the courage. Now, thank you very much for all those reviews. One note though. Goten Saishun is read as 五天斎盾 while Rokuten Hishun is read as 六天妃盾. I followed the usual pattern of the writing of Orihime's techniques and substituted kanji on other parts. So yeah, my translation may not be as accurate. I do apologize in advance.

Flowerylemon: Thank you, and certainly I will continue and finish this! :)

kalmaegi: I know I have said this before, but I shall say it again. Your reviews truly inspire to continue finishing this story. Furthermore, our minds are aligned. Oh my gosh! I did consider the word "mockery" when I was writing the draft eons ago. Your review just made me consider putting it again. And, wow, I also considered the statement of the Arrancar girls regarding Orihime's power because I always believed that it was the closest thing we got of a first-hand experience of resurrection power at work. With that in mind, I firmly believe that what Aizen said about her powers are actually true, and between you and I, I also think that, if Orihime did not have an emotional breakdown back when Ichigo was killed by Ulquiorra, she would be able to resurrect him. :)

seradesu: Thank you very much. It is also one of the reasons I pursued this. I mean if we can't have it on the manga, the next best thing would be fanfic, but alas, there are limited numbers. So, this one is for all of us Orihime fans. :)