Hey guys! I'm back! I know that it has been a while since I posted. I have been busy looking for a job. It has been slow going, but I think I finally found. Anyways, on to the story!
There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
Ronald Reagan
Chapter 8
Christa's POV
"You must be Miss Parks! I have heard a lot about you!" a man in a green kimono said with a wave of a green and white fan. "Oh how rude of me. I am Kisuke Urahara, owner of this fine establishment."
"Fine establishment my ass!" I heard Ichigo yell irately.
"This is probably one of the most crooked operations I have seen." Uryu added.
"Now, now, Mr. Kurosaki, Mr. Ishida, we wouldn't want Miss Parks here to get the wrong idea." Kisuke replied with a wide grin and another wave of his fan.
"Ichigo said that you trained him. This place seems to be a little small for training." I commented ignoring the earlier banter.
"Indeed I did. Though I didn't do it in here. Follow me." Kisuke said as he headed deeper into the store.
I followed him until he turned the corner. When I followed him into the next room, he was gone. I looked around out of surprise, but didn't see anything.
"Down there." Ichigo said as he pointed to a trap door that was poking out from under a rug. I sighed as I opened the door and begun the climb down.
It must have been about a hundred feet down because I was exhausted when I finally reached the bottom. I looked around the large cavern out of shock and awe. It was enormous! I could barely see the other wall. It was also very bright and the ceiling looked like an honest to goodness blue sky.
"Wow! Who knew that there was all this space under my little shop? This definitely wasn't here a week ago!" I heard Kisuke shout. I had to admit that the guys was really starting to irritate me.
"Shut up! You did the same routine to me when I first came here!" Ichigo yelled, while Uryu just shook his head.
"Mr. Urahara," I began. "Is there anyway that you you can train me here after school? I have been training with someone else, but he is a lot less friendly than you are."
"You can come and train here anytime you want Miss Parks, however, I am ill-suited to train a Quincy. I know that Mr. Ishida there can be quite the downer..." Uryu sent an arrow straight by Kisuke's head and nearly took out Kisuke's hat. "That was a close one. I see that you are regaining your powers nicely."
"So will you teach me?" I asked.
"Miss Parks, I am but a humble shop owner. I would think that someone else would be more qualified to teach than me." Kisuke replied as he waved his fan some more.
"Look, you trained Ichigo; so you must be strong." I insisted.
"Those were just little warm-up exercises. I assure you that there was nothing special about it."
"Warm-ups my ass! You tried killing me three different times!" Ichigo interrupted.
"Mr. Kurosaki, I know that you think I am a lunatic, but I promise that I would not have put through all that if I didn't think you had at least a fifty fifty shot at surviving."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ichigo demanded.
"If you are unwilling to to teach me, could I at least spar with you? I have to get stronger if I am going to save Elijah." I pleaded.
"Elijah is you brother correct?" Kisuke asked. I nodded in response. "I see! Then I don't mind in the least. Since you don't need to regain any Shinigami powers, we can skip steps one and two. Just be warned that I will not go easy on you.
"Thank you, Mr. Urahara." I replied with bow.
"Miss Parks, is this wise?" Uryu asked out of concern.
"Of course it isn't! Mr. Hat-n-Clogs nearly killed me during this training regime!" Ichigo said with a hand on his face.
"You survived so I am sure that I can as well!" I replied cheerfully.
"Now Miss Parks, your only goal is to try and knock off my hat." Kisuke said.
"That's it? This is going to be easy!" I cheered. I then saw an evil gleam in Kisuke's eyes. I instantly regretted my decision.
Kisuke drew a sword out of his cane. It was a thin blade with the cane's handle as the sword's handle as well. I blinked and he was gone. I blinked again and he reappeared, ready to hack me to pieces. I ducked just as the thin blade swung through the space my neck had been moments ago. While I ducked I snuck a look behind me. Ichigo and Uryu was nowhere to be seen.
"Don't worry Christa! We will root for you all the way back here!" Ichigo called from the other side of the cavern, I could barely make out Uryu standing next to him.
"Never take your eyes off of an opponent, Miss Parks." Kisuke said as he slashed again, this time, from the right. I threw myself to my left and dodged the blade.
'I have to get away! I don't have enough time to summon my bow!' I thought as I rolled from a third blow. This one hit the ground and shattered it like glass. Kisuke, like he did with Ichigo, was trying to kill me.
Our dance lasted for several minutes. I would dodge, jump, or duck while Kisuke would slash, stab, and slice. I was getting nowhere and I was getting tired. Finally, I caught a break when I managed to kick some dirt into Kisuke's eyes.
"Very good, Miss Parks. You have effectively blinded me." he said as he jumped back a few feet.
I didn't say a word as I summoned my bow and finally retaliated. I shot a large arrow toward Kisuke. Like clockwork, he dodged the bolt with minimum difficulty. I continued my assault, firing arrow after arrow until my fingers started to hurt. Every time I fired, Kisuke would disappear from view. I knew he wasn't teleporting since I could still feel his reishi, that meant that he was moving at speeds faster than I could imagine. Hitting him was like swatting a bullet out of the air with a flyswatter.
An instant after I fired another arrow, Kisuke appeared in front of me. He swung his sword down at me which I tried to block with my bow. At first I thought that the blade would go right through. Thankfully, it did not. Kisuke was trying to force me to the ground. I gritted my teeth as my knees began to buckle. Then a thought came to me. During the struggle, I began to form another arrow. Everything happened in an instant. I released the arrow and it zoomed into the air. To my relief, the hat flew off from the sudden gush of air. Kisuke immediately eased his weight off of his blade and relaxed.
"Very good, Miss Parks. I didn't expect that you would have grown this strong so quickly." Kisuke praised behind his fan. He then walked to where his hat had landed and placed it back on his head.
"I'm pretty used to people trying to kill me." I replied thinking back to Ryuken. "Although, this is the first time I have fought someone that is as fast as you. It was luck that I managed to get that hat off."
"I wouldn't say that. You did very well for your first time fighting a Shinigami." Kisuke replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "Though quick thinking did win you this victory, You need to improve on your summoning time. It was taking far too long for you to counter my attacks. Of course I am just a simple business owner! I really don't know what I'm talking about!"
"Cut the crap! She already knows what you are!" Ichigo yelled as he and Uryu walked back up.
"Must you shout in my ear, Kurosaki?" Uryu asked irately.
"You got a problem?" Kurosaki asked, causing me to shake my head.
"If you must know, I do! Your yelling is very annoying!" Uryu barked back.
I ignored their bickering and turned back to Kisuke. "I have some questions if you don't mind me asking."
"It is no bother." Kisuke replied.
"You know about my brother, right?"
"I have heard a few things. All of it are rumors and hearsay. I can't say that I have anything concrete!" Kisuke replied almost too cheerfully.
"What's his plan? Do you know that much?"
"I can't say that I do, but I do know that some friends of mine are taking good care of him! He is perfectly fine." Kisuke replied.
"Alright, then." I sighed. "We better get going. Lord knows that I don't want to be late to training again."
"My father does take pride in making things as difficult as possible." Uryu agreed.
Third Person POV
Kisuke watched as the group left the training area. Ichigo took the lead while Christa and Uryu followed. He knew that Christa would wait for him to come up, but he waited so he could think about the situation. The former captain was deep in thought and didn't notice when the giant of a man, Tessai was standing behind him.
"Do you think the girl will be a problem, boss?" Tessai asked.
"No, not her. Her brother on the other hand..." Kisuke didn't finish his sentence.
"His is the boy that the Vizard found correct?"
"Yes, and I am beginning to wonder about that. I think we will need to keep a close eye on him and that Zanpakuto of his." Kisuke replied.
"I get the sense that something dark will happen to that girl." Tessai said as he adjusted his glasses.
"Yes, she and her brother both. However, I think she will pull through. I can't say that about her brother. He had been tainted by something far more dangerous than a Hollow."
Elijah's POV
I am just going to say it. Meditation sucks! I sat in a dark room for hours as Clint lectured me in the ways of grasping magic. The lectures lasted through most of the time we had spent.
Finally, after the sixth hour, we took a break. Clint led me to the cafeteria where I ate some lunch while Clint continued his tutoring. When I said break, I meant that I was about to break Clint in half. Every now and then I could feel myself reaching for my Zanpakuto. Oblivious to the fact that I wanted to kill him, he began discussing the history of magic from their world and the history of magic in this world.
Finally, after the boring details, he finally got to part about using magic. It basically had three steps for beginners, two steps for intermediates, and a single step for advanced users. The first step was meditation. For beginners, you had to clear all thoughts out of your mind. This was only part of the first step as you had to also find your power and pull it to the surface. Clint had yet to explain that part. The second step was reciting the enchantment that released the spell. This was pretty self explanatory you had to memorize the spell that you were using to activate it. The last step was to activate the spell, take aim, and try not to miss. Beginners had to use all three steps. Intermediates used the last two; while advanced mages used only the last one. If I were to rate myself on a scale of one to three, I would say that I would be a zero plain and simple.
"Do you have any questions?" Clint asked me as I mulled over the information.
"Yeah, where's the bathroom?" I asked absently. I thought Clint was about to choke on his glass of water.
"It's over there." he coughed.
"Thanks." I said as I got up. "And Clint? When I get back you are going to show me exactly how to pull out my magic. No gimmicks and no games, understand."
"I want another match with you using your Shinigami powers. If I beat you, you do things my way." Clint said.
"And if I win?" I asked.
"I have a few tricks that helped me master the first step pretty easily." Clint replied.
"I'm going to enjoy this." I said with a feral grin.
The match was held in the same arena we had last time. Clint and I stood on opposing sides, getting ready for the bell to ring. I breathed in and out slowly and concentrated on the upcoming fight.
The bell rang seconds after I closed my eyes to clear my head. I instantly dashed forward, my hands drawing my sword without consciously thinking about it. Clint yelled out a spell and a large hand erupted from beneath me. I jumped through the air just as the hand reached up to grab me. I performed a forward roll and used it to slice the hand with my sword, taking two fingers with me.
"Nice, but can you handle this?" Clint yelled. "Earth Sculpt: Valley of Kings!"
I continued to close in on Clint, but the ground around me seemed to shoot into the skies. Rocky crags formed all around me as if I had been transported inside of a canyon.
"What is this?" I yelled.
Clint walked to the edge of the cliff and peered down me with a smile on his face. "Earth Sculpt not only allows me to create familiars, but it also allows me create anything that I can imagine, including places. This is a replica of the Valley of Kings in Egypt. It is also the perfect place for my Golems to defeat you. Earth Sculpt: Twin Destroyers!"
Two massive men began pushing their ways out of the ground. They had me completely cut off from any escape route as I could only go forward and backward. Unlike the previous Golems, these two were brandishing weapons made from stone. The one in front held a very large sword; one that made mine look like a tooth pick. The other held what seemed to be some sort of large scythe.
The one with the sword twisted his sword and shoved it into the ground. The one with the scythe began to charge at me. He raised his scythe over his head and swung it at my legs. I jumped up and over the blade. There was a loud whoosh as the scythe passed. I floated for a few seconds before gravity decided to bring me back to the earth. Before I landed however, the scythe Golem took advantage of my helpless state. He performed a perfect back swing that sent his scythe spinning back the other direction. It would have cut me in two had I not blocked with my sword. The momentum of the swing caused me to fly into the wall. The pain from the impact shot through me causing me to gasp as I fell to the ground.
"Not bad, not bad at all." I muttered as I stood up. I held my sword tightly and prepared for the next round. I decided not to take any chances and instantly activated my partial release.
"A knife? That's a Shinigami's Shikai?" Clint asked from atop his mountain.
"Nope, not really. This is just a preview." I smirked.
I turned my attention back to the Golems and prepared to launch myself. To my surprise, they were no longer in sight. There was a loud rumbling and the giant sword thrust itself out of the ground. I barely blocked, but it did nothing but throw me back. Another loud rumbling started and appeared to come from the wall of the canyon. A stone scythe emerged from the cliff wall. I bent as far back as I could and watched as the scythe flew a mere centimeter above my head. I landed hard on my back.
The two Golems seemed disappointed as they reemerged from the canyon floor and wall. Both stood side by side like proud sentinels and waited for me to get up. I stood up again and placed my Zanpakuto on my shoulder.
"At least you're making this interesting." I said as I charged again. This time I had a plan.
I ran for the one with the sword and prepared to swing at it. It parried my attempted swing with easy. We were deadlocked as he and I clashed. The second Golem took the opportunity to attack my feet. At the last second, I pulled my feet up in a small jump. The scythe sung below me and continued into the legs of the first Golem. The scythe sliced clean through the legs leaving nothing but stumps. The Golem teetered backwards and fell over, unable to get back up. The second Golem stood tall then swung its scythe at me with an overhead swing. I side stepped it then ran toward the Golem. The Golem lodged its scythe deep into the earth and noticed me running at it. With more speed than I thought possible, it round kicked me away. I flew through the narrow canyon until I impacted a wall. The Golem seemed to have forgotten its scythe and picked up its comrade's sword. It came charging at me with tremendous speed. Grabbing a hand hold on the wall, I readied myself for a leap. When I was sure that I was ready, I jumped up into the sky above the Golem. I flipped my blade over aimed it directly at the rock monster's head. Unable to react in time my blade plunged deep into the stone head. The creature didn't so much as scream as it crumbled away.
The first Golem had begun crawling toward me during this. I began walking back toward it. Its hand reached out for me, but I batted it away with my knife. I walked up to its head and stabbed it. The Golem like its comrade crumbled away.
"Is that it? That wasn't so tough." I questioned as I began to bound up and out of the canyon.
"Not bad, but can you survive a fight with me?" Clint said as he held his hand out. "Earth Sculpt: Earth's Fury!"
The ground shook at the issued command and it began to crack open. Through the cracks, the hilt of a sword began to rise. Its long hilt was made from carved marble and was absolutely beautiful. As the hilt rose from the ground, the beauty continued. The guard was a jagged orb made of obsidian, its dark purple contrasted the marble nicely. Soon after the blade began to show itself. It was a double-edged sword. It was just about the length of a knight's long sword. What was special however wasn't the length but the blade's materials. One edge was made of pure diamond. The other edge was made of granite.
"Not going to lie, your sword is beautiful." I commented as I dashed forward at top speed. "To bad I have to smash it!"
"You can try, but nobody has beaten Earth's Fury!" Clint yelled back as he parried my incoming slash.
We exchanged blows for several minutes before we both jumped back. We weren't going anywhere fast so we had to come up with something new.
We jumped forward once again, probing each other's defenses. I had to admit that despite the nerd look, Clint was a good swordsman. He didn't make a single mistake in footwork and his strikes were well timed and accurate. His style was based on hours upon hours of training. On the other hand, I was no master. My style was one of instinct. I blocked when I felt it was the right time. I attacked when I felt that I had an advantage. In a way, we were canceling each other out; mastery being challenged by pure instinct.
"So, what does your Zanpakuto do?" Clint asked as he pressed harder onto my blade.
"It makes me faster!" I replied as we jumped away from each other.
"That's it? No special attacks? It just makes you faster?" Clint asked, obviously not buying it.
"Even if it did, do you think I would tell you? Besides, this isn't even a real release. You wouldn't stand a chance if I could fully release it." I bragged.
"Is that so, well at least you can't fully release, not that it would matter. Earth's Fury: First Tremor!" Clint yelled as he threw his sword up into the air.
I was shocked that he would so easily toss away his weapon. I grinned though, as I blasted toward Clint.
"Bad move." he smirked. I had my Zanpakuto pointed directly at Clint and rushed in for the finish.
The next moment was just a blur. I remember watching the sword falling back to the ground. The blade dug deep into the soil. Light flooded from the ground as large cracks raced from the center of the spot the sword had landed. Soon I was tossed around like a doll. It felt as though the ground was literally angry with me. I blacked out for a few seconds, after I had fallen and hit my head on a large rock. Seconds later I woke up to the sound of Clint talking.
"...weak. That is why you will never be a mage." I heard him say.
I cracked my eyes just a peek to see the he was standing directly over me. I smiled inwardly as a plan popped into mind. Still watching the mage, I waited until he was stand directly over me.
"I guess that means I won our bet." Clint said as he turned.
I saw his sword melt back into the ground. As soon as he started walking, I jumped directly at him. I tackled him to the ground and placed my Zanpakuto on his throat.
"Don't every let your opponent keep their weapons, especially if they're Americans. We don't play fair." I stated.
Shock began to fade from his eyes as he realized his mistake. "Fine. You win."
"Clint, your overconfidence in your abilities was your downfall. If this wasn't just a friendly match, Elijah would have killed you." a feminine voice spoke from in the stands. We both looked up to see the same girl sitting in the stands.
"You're the one that was supposed to train me!" I yelped as I pointed at her.
"I'm sorry Teacher. It will not happen a second time." Clint said.
"You are correct. It will not happen again." she said with a glare. After Clint had bowed his head in shame, Morgan shifted her attention to me. "You Americans really are different. We will now officially begin your training."
"So what, that was a test?" I asked.
"Of sorts. It was to test Clint's abilities as a mage and as a teacher. Being able to teach what you know to the newer generation is just as big of a part of being a mage as defeating your adversaries. Obviously, Clint must work on both." Morgan replied, shooting another nasty glare at Clint.
"He almost had me. I didn't think he would be as strong as he was."
"It does not matter. What if he was a surgeon and he almost got a heart transplant right? What if he was a scientist and he almost had the right calculations for a rocket launch. In more realistic terms, what if he was driving and he almost missed somebody?" I stood silently for several seconds, not knowing how to respond. "In each of those scenarios, someone could die. Almost is never acceptable."
"That's not true! Almost is good for horseshoes and hand grenades!" Why I said that I had no clue.
"That is incorrect. The old adage states 'Almost is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades.'" she replied. "Almost is never good enough to me, even with horseshoes and hand grenades. You will learn that soon enough. Clint, as punishment for your failure today, you will help the cleaning crew clean every restroom in this facility. No magic is allowed. Do I make myself clear?"
"I will do as you say, Teacher." Clint said quietly.
"You, come with me. I will make you into a mage within three days." she said as an evil aura began to surround her. I gulped loudly, but followed after her.
She led me through the halls with knowledgeable steps. We passed by the doors and halls that seemed to just be winding endlessly. There were no signs or maps to tell us where we were, nor did we stop to ask anyone for directions. Finally, I just had to ask.
"How do you know where you are going?" I asked.
"You do not see them?" Morgan asked curiously.
"See what?" I asked allowing confusion to seep into my voice.
"I see that we will have to start from the absolute beginning." Morgan sighed heavily. "This facility is under a protection spell. The spell keeps those that cannot use magic from seeing any of the signs or maps that are posted throughout the base."
"Oh I see; if anyone were to attack the base, they wouldn't be able to navigate."
"Precisely." Morgan agreed. She then began to head down another hallway. "In three days, you will know exactly how to access and utilize your magical power. For you it will feel like three months."
"I have a bad feeling about this." I muttered.
"You should, the place I am about to show you will be extremely dangerous. You may not survive."
"Oh joy." I mumbled.
Christa's POV
After my little match with Kisuke, I told him everything I knew about Elijah's quest. He seemed extremely calm about the situation and didn't ask a single question, though he did seem to perk up when I told him about Elijah's transformation into a Soul Reaper. When I finished, he seemed as though he was in deep thought.
"I can't say that I know what is happening Miss Christa. I wish I could be of service." the man said almost too cheerfully. In a sense, I wasn't buying a word of it.
"If there is anything you can tell me, please! It could help me get my brother back!" I said.
Needless to say, Kisuke was absolutely no help. He danced around my questions like a professional dancer. Eventually I gave up and headed back to the estate.
The disappointment I felt was apparently self-evident as Uryu tried several times to speak to me about the events. I didn't want to talk about it because of the irritation I felt from the shopkeeper. Obviously, he knew more about what was going on, and his evasion was really irritating.
"Where have you been?" Ryuken asked from the top of the stairs as we entered the mansion.
"Exploring the moon." I said sarcastically. It really wasn't my best idea, but I was feeling especially aggravated today.
"I see that you have a lot of sass." a new voice said as a man walked from a shadow to stand next to Ryuken. Being at the top of the stairs made the two men look like giants as they glared at us. "I hate sass."
The man before me was about the average height for a Japanese man. He had black hair and was clearly oriental. He had a scar running from the upper left of his forehead to the right side of his right eye. Aside from his scar, the only other dominate feature he had was the way his face seemed to always be contorted into an angry glower. He wore a crisp black suit with a white shirt and a red tie.
"W-who are you?" I asked, feeling suddenly guilty for my earlier sarcasm.
"I am Fujikawa Takamasa." the man growled. His attitude made mine look like I had just come from Disney World.
"I-it's nice to meet you Mr. Takamasa, Sir." I stammered.
The man's eyes narrowed. "You foolish child! How dare you mock me by using my first name. Have you no respect?"
"I'm sorry, sir! I meant no disrespect!" I yelped with a bow.
The man's glare hardened even more. "This is the daughter of Conrad? He is just as pathetic now as he was back then. Not a single ounce of respect anywhere in this girl's voice."
Anger started to well up inside of me at the insult to my family, but it was quickly quenched the moment the man glared at me. It was almost as if he could see my soul and manipulate it. I lost all my anger to fear of this man.
"Fujikawa-sensei will be taking over your training. He knows more about your type of bow than anyone else I know. You would be wise to listen to his instruction." Ryuken said sternly.
"In my presence, you will refer to me as Sensei. You will not call me by my first name; only my last. You will continue with your studies at school, but at the end of the week you will be moving from this manor to a place that I will deem to be your new home. In essences, I am going to make your life a living hell until you can become a true Seelentoter Quincy."
"Is it alright if I ask a question?" I asked quietly. Fujikawa gave me a curt nod. "Do you have a Seelentoter like I do?"
"No, I do not." the man replied.
"Then how can you help me train?" I asked a little too boldly.
The man gave off an angry sigh, then glared down on me. "I studied them. I would dissect them and learn all I could about their powers. That was two questions, not one. I will not answer anymore."
The man began to walk down the stairs toward the front door. He passed by without so much as a look. Yoritomo politely held the door open for him. Fujikawa walked out of the house giving the head butler no notice.
"I really don't like that man." I muttered as Yoritomo shut the door.
"Not many do. He is a very difficult man to get along with." Yoritomo replied with a slight sigh.
"Neither of you have any right to judge Fujikawa-sensei. He is an honorable man despite his brusque nature." Ryuken snapped. I jumped a little at his anger, while Yoritomo bowed to his master.
"Why are you sending me to him?" I asked.
"He is the only man that can teach you about your abilities. Meanwhile I will devote the remainder of my time to Uryu's training." Ryuken said as he turned and walked deeper into the mansion.
"Well, today just sucks." I sighed.
We are finally getting out of the Discovery arc and into the next arc. I am pretty excited about the next few chapters as Elijah and Christa will both be exploring their powers deeper. Anyways, if y'all have anything to say, be sure to leave a comment or pm me. If you are enjoying the story so far, be sure to smash that favorite/follow button! Also check out my YouTube Channel: Rougeliger. I do videos over several different games including Fallout 4, Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and Call of Duty World War II! This is shieldliger001 signing off!
