Chapter 11: Divine Deflection

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(Okay, okay, I will apologize right off the bat for the extreme cliffy in this one, but in my defense, I want to give this the most awesome, beautiful description, and it wouldn't fit properly at the end of this chapter, so it will be at the beginning of the next. Spunky promises! My gratitude, first to Janessa Wolf - Soul, who is such a wonderful supporter of this story. I am truly touched. I AM BLOWN AWAY BY THE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL PIC OF JUUSHIRO AND TETSUYA SHE MADE THAT IS NOW THE COVER PIC FOR THIS STORY! You can check out her other work on Deviantart under the name Fukuro-Senju. Please go and give her some love! Also, deep thanks to my awesome cheerleader, SesshomaruFreak, who is insanely good at getting my muse working so hard I can barely keep up! Thanks also to xxshunukixx (I love Janessa's pic too! It's actually a wedding pic for the story, so I will be including that particular moment in an upcoming scene!), Hisuiryuu (Oh, you will love the battle scene!), Aizenfan6969 (Thanks for your patience. I know you will find it worth the wait.), Lovebot1575 (New chapter is delivered! Enjoy!), Winterheart2000 (Juushiro was absolutely robbed in the manga, so I will give him a star-studded moment...maybe more than one!), Kittykins (So glad you like it!), TMP3475 (Nacht still has info on the taichous and fukutaichous, so he will have plans for overcoming them as quickly as possible, but there are a couple of things his intelligence hasn't provided...), and Ottree (I think you'll enjoy this!). I am going to get started on the next chapter! Love to all, Spunky)

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The gathered shinigamis stood within the protection of the heavy barrier, watching through wary eyes as a tall, muscular man with ruggedly cut black hair and deep midnight eyes stepped out ahead of the arriving quincies, guarded on both sides by white clad quincy archers. He stopped short of the barrier, looking up at the men who waited inside it. Anger flared in his dark orbs as he spotted Uryu stepping out ahead of the group and approaching the barrier, protected on one side by Ichigo and Byakuya, and on the other by Ukitake and a younger, black-haired man he didn't recognize. He waited as the group passed through the barrier, displaying a white flag.

"Do not attack them," the quincy ordered his troops, "Wait for my command."

He turned his attention to the group approaching and spotted the aged Kuchiki Nori behind the advance guard, as well as a white-haired man he recognized as the tenth division taicho. The group came to a stop in front of him.

"Well," the quincy leader said mockingly, "if it isn't, Ichigo, the killer of kings and the blood traitor, Ishida Uryu. Did you come to stab me in the back too, would-be king?"

"I came for the same reason that I fired the arrow that set Ywach up to die," Uryu said calmly, "I want to stop the fighting. But, you know that, don't you? You know it, but you also know that if you want to seize control, you have to secure a win against the shinigamis right away. That's why you've come here, isn't it, Nacht?"

"I came here to make the shinigamis pay for the lives they took during the war!" Nacht snapped, "For the damage they did to our homes and our lands when they switched places. There is no way that we can let them get away with what they've done!"

"With what they've done?" Uryu repeated, scowling and shaking his head, "The only thing that the shinigamis have done in this war is to defend themselves and their king against Ywach's plans to destroy the three worlds. You want to complain about our losses?"

He turned his attention to the hundreds of quincies, who waited in Nacht's wake.

"We lost hundreds, yes, but Ywach and the Sternritters took tens of thousands of shinigami lives! They destroyed buildings, but as they defended themselves against a genocide. We all know what genocide looks like, and we also know they can't be blamed for the cost of just trying to stay alive. Like it or not, we attacked them."

"If we did attack them, it was only a continuation of the atrocities they committed upon us!" Nacht roared, "You were not yet born when the shinigamis hunted down and murdered as many of us as they could find! Men, even women and children were slaughtered as they ran from those heartless monsters! The hatred of the shinigamis is a poison in the blood of all of the shinigamis. One and all, they must be purged…and we will begin here!"

Uryu stepped forward, looking squarely into Nacht's enraged eyes as he continued.

"Isarno," he addressed the man more quietly, "Like me, you are a noble son from a respected family. You, of all people should know that it isn't the shinigamis who have most recently damaged our noble families. The one who did that was Ywach. He personally took the lives of every noble lord and thousands of their family members. More quincy lives were taken than at any time since the shinigami genocide."

Nacht shook his head firmly, brushing off the words.

"That only added him to our list of enemies," he insisted heatedly, "Now that he is gone, we can gather ourselves and push back against the shinigami tyranny!"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Uryu demanded, his fists clenching.

He turned his attention once more to the archers gathered behind the quincy Kaiser.

"Most of the shinigamis weren't even aware that there were still quincies hidden in the shadows!" he snapped furiously, "They wouldn't have killed any of us or destroyed anything if Ywach hadn't ordered the attack against us! There is no disputing that."

"I am not disputing that portion of what you are saying," Nacht replied, "It is true that Ywach killed the noble leaders and that he perpetrated the war on the shinigamis, but the war he started was only really a conclusion to the genocide from before."

"That's not true!" Uryu snapped fiercely, "I was with Ywach during the war, and he didn't give a damn about avenging the quincies killed in the genocide before! He was in it to take over everything. He wanted to recreate the worlds and fill them with souls that he could pit against each other and manipulate into fighting and killing, so that he would have an endless supply of souls to eat! The man was a monster. The shinigamis have nothing to do with the damage caused to us in this war. They were only defending themselves, and the one who caused most of the damage to us was not them, but Ywach!"

"Be that as it may," Nacht said in a low, angry voice, "you have to realize that when Ywach made his move, he alerted the shinigamis to our continued existence and our location. If we do not act now, they will certainly retaliate for his actions against them!"

Uryu started to answer, but paused as Juushiro stepped forward. His green eyes met Nacht's with a serious, but peaceful intent.

"Kaiser Nacht," he addressed the quincy leader, "my apologies for interrupting, but I may be of some assistance in addressing your concerns about the current situation. I am Ukitake Juushiro, tai-"

"I know who you are, Ukitake Juushiro," Nacht said condescendingly, "and there is nothing you can say that will stop what is about to happen to this encampment."

"Oh, come now," Juushiro said, shaking his head, "I think all of us here are aware that there is nothing for the shinigamis or the quincies to gain from an attack on this encampment. We have all just endured a very damaging war, and our focus should be on setting terms for the peaceful interaction of our nations, so that we can pick up the pieces and move on from this. You know very well that our people did not initiate this war, nor do we have any incentive now to continue it. You know as well that your own people are reeling. You've admitted that Ywach slaughtered the noble lords and most of their families and he is also responsible for the switching of our lands so that yours was damaged as badly as ours. Clearly, the best course of action for all of us involved is to broker a peace agreement. With the Seireitei in ruins and Central 46 being currently inactive, we are under martial law, giving me, as the Gotei 13's official ambassador, the responsibility to procure that peace agreement."

"You say you want peace?" Nacht answered mockingly, "You think I don't know what your idea of peace is?"

He paused, studying the others in the group in front of him.

"Most of your comrades, here, weren't around when the genocide took place," he continued more quietly, "I was but a child. Still…you were there, weren't you, Ukitake Juushiro? You, and maybe that relic of the Kuchiki family back behind you. The two of you know how the shinigamis stalked our families, how they attacked and killed us with the intent of murdering us all! You know the viciousness with which they saw to their task."

"I do remember the genocide," Juushiro admitted, "Granted, I was much younger then, and I had not the power I have now to do very much about it. I opposed the genocide, but I was in the military and we were under orders from Central 46 to kill the quincies before they upset the balance of souls and destroyed our worlds. As I recall, our leaders did try first to make an agreement with the quincies, but the quincies refused to halt their activities that were causing and exacerbating the imbalance."

"We wouldn't stop killing hollows, because they were attacking and killing us!" Nacht seethed, "Shouldn't we be allowed to fight back? Should we just let the hollows murder us?"

"That is not what I am suggesting at all," Juushiro said evenly, "And I am sure that you are aware that the hollows have also taken horrible damage in this war, setting the worlds even closer to a dangerous imbalance. We need to act right now to preserve shinigami and quincy lives and to shore up the protections that keep our worlds stable. No one benefits if the imbalance causes our worlds to crumble."

"Don't you worry about that," Nacht said slyly, "We have plans for that, and they don't include any need for agreements with your murderous people. You are right, Ukitake. There have been a lot of hollows killed in the war, as well as a lot of shinigamis. I think the hollows have been killed in even greater numbers than your own people. Now…isn't it true that one of your own scientists has remedied the situation by killing a certain number of innocent civilian souls? The answer, then, is simple. If we want to restore the balance, we can do that by slaughtering every man, every woman and every child in this encampment. The balance should be restored then, right?"

"That is insane," Juushiro said, his eyes darkening and his face taking on a more stern look, although his body and reiatsu remained calm, "Turn back from this. I am warning you. We are well prepared to defend ourselves if you attack us."

"Is that so?" Nacht replied, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them and glancing around him as sounds of quincy hirenyaku filled the air and the area behind the quincy Kaiser filled with even larger numbers of quincy archers, "I have brought well over a thousand quincy fighters, and this encampment most likely holds no more than half that number. Add to that, you have a lot of wounded that we know were brought here. You are outnumbered, and if you gamble, making a stand, you will only lose. But, what happens next is not in your hands. It is in ours."

"You do have the means to attack us," Juushiro said in a dead calm voice, "but you will not win. As I said, we are well prepared for a siege, and we have reinforcements on the way. We will not be outnumbered for long."

Nacht's smile widened wickedly.

"We will not need long to kill all of you," he warned the white-haired taichou, "As you see, we have plenty of firepower."

Juushiro's eyes narrowed as he studied the archers in front of him.

"Some of these people are barely more than children," he observed darkly.

"The ones over there, manning your barrier, are children," Nacht answered unrepentantly, "This is what you do when your existence is threatened."

"Your existence is not threatened by us," Juushiro persisted, "We are in no condition to begin a military campaign against you."

"So, you must be squashed while you are still weak!" Nacht said, motioning to the archers, who raised their bows threateningly, "We have done enough talking. You have thirty seconds, after which we are going to annihilate all of you!"

"Think about what you are doing," Juushiro called out as the quincy leader turned, "The past has not been kind to the quincies. Your society was devastated, first by the conflict between us, then by your own leader, and finally, by this war. The losses here could be catastrophic!"

Nacht paused for a moment, glancing back over his shoulder and glaring at the white-haired taichou.

"We are already pushed to the brink," he said in a deep, ominous rumble, "but we are about to push back. Go now, if you don't want to be killed where you stand!"

"His intentions are clear," Byakuya said sternly, "We must assume they are going to attack as they have threatened. Come, we must retreat behind the barrier!"

The group began to back away, but as they moved together, Tetsuya felt a touch on his wrist.

"Can Arashi provide us with waterforms?" Juushiro breathed in Tetsuya's ear.

Tetsuya nodded barely perceptibly.

"Have him cover us as the others pass through the barrier," the elder man directed him.

"What are you going to do?" Tetsuya whispered, continuing to move with Juushiro.

"I am going to stop children from being involved in this conflict. We have children at the barrier, and they have children in their ranks. I am not going to allow the slaughter of children, ours or theirs!"

"How can I help?" Tetsuya inquired.

"Have Arashi provide us with a waterform to conceal us. When the quincies attack the barrier, I am going to play a little trick on them."

Tetsuya's eyes widened.

"But….there are over a thousand of them?" he objected, "How are you going to stop them without hurting anyone or being killed, yourself? To attack, you must shatter the waterform and become visible!"

"Don't you worry about that," Juushiro assured him, "I have a plan. Just stay close to me and be ready to treat any wounded if something goes awry."

Tetsuya looked up into the elder man's eyes uncertainly, earning a gentle smile in reply.

"Don't worry, anata. Because of you, I am able to do something I could not before. Please trust me and stand ready. If this fails, please have Arashi pull us out of harm's way."

"I will," Tetsuya answered, pressing closer to Juushiro as they reached the barrier and the others passed through.

Juushiro came to a stop as Arashi's power activated, making his and Tetsuya's bodies fade and disappear. A moment later, Juushiro's voice sounded loudly, as though amplified and directed back at the quincies.

"This is your final warning," he announced, "If you continue in this attempt to attack us, we will be forced to incapacitate you!"

On the other side of the barrier, Byakuya and the others skidded to a stop, staring in surprise as Juushiro's voice continued its dire warning.

"What the hell?" Ichigo hissed, his hands clenching, "What is he doing?"

"Where are they?" Nori mused, exchanging glances with Byakuya.

Byakuya gave a sharp inhale.

"A waterform!" he breathed worriedly.

"But I thought that your cousin didn't have any powers right now," Toshiro remembered, "How can he…?"

"It is not Tetsuya, actually," Byakuya explained quickly, "Arashi shares Tetsuya's ability and right now, he still has his powers. He is using them to hide Ukitake taichou and Tetsuya! However, they must avoid direct light or the waterforms will fail."

"That's insane!" Uryu said, shaking his head, "There are over a thousand fighters out there! They are going to be found and killed!"

"Hmm," Nori mused, studying the area in front of them, "It is a dangerous gamble."

"It's doesn't look to me like it's accomplishing anything either," Uryu said anxiously, "Look, the archers are preparing to fire at the barrier."

"Are you sure the barrier will hold, Byakuya?" Nori asked, moving forward.

"Let's add our strength," Byakuya suggested, "and we should hope that whatever plan Ukitake has, works."

The group moved forward, gathering their reiatsu around their hands and infusing the heavy barrier with it as the quincies outside took aim and raised their power until the area hummed with it and bright white light made the environs glow frighteningly.

"It's lighting the waterforms!" Byakuya gasped, staring.

"Oh my god!" Uryu exclaimed, his face going white.

The group at the barrier watched breathlessly as Nacht fired a single, huge arrow that blazed across the distance.

"All waves, rise now and become my shield," Ukitake's voice intoned, hissing and echoing eerily, "Lightning, strike now and become my blade."

Before the others' stunned eyes, the white-haired taichou appeared in front of them with Tetsuya at his side. Neither man moved to escape as the huge arrow closed in on them and Nacht's laughter filled the air.

But the laughter stopped a moment later as Juushiro's slender arm extended and his sword swallowed up the quincy power, then fired it back at the quincy leader with blinding speed and accuracy. Nacht and all of the quincy fighters protecting him were forced to dive out of the way as the blast sank into the ground, sending earth exploding in all directions, distorting the view for the rest of the archers.

"You made a dreadful mistake, attacking us like that," Juushiro's calm voice chided, "or didn't you remember my power?"

"You shouldn't even be alive!" Nacht snapped scathingly, "We were given reports that claimed you had died. How are you alive? How are you able to fight?"

"Well, I did come pretty close to dying," Juushiro admitted, giving Tetsuya a little wink, "but a very gifted healer was able to save me. Not only that, he enabled me to use a power I could not while my disease afflicted me."

"And what power is that, you bastard?" Nacht seethed, "Whatever it is, it isn't going to save you from the hell about to rain down on you."

Nacht raised his hand and the quincy archers took aim again.

"You may have been able to stop one giant arrow, but even you can't stop the full fury of the entire quincy army firing on you!"

"Are you so sure?" Juushiro asked calmly, "I'm warning you that I do have a power that can stop your attack. I will do my best not to make it lethal. Maybe once you see, you will understand why it is that it's better for you to leave us alone."

"You're bluffing!" Nacht accused him, "No one man can turn back all of that power. You and that Kuchiki beside you are going to die!"

Juushiro turned an eye onto Tetsuya.

"I am going to have to use a power that will drain you a bit," he warned the younger man, "But you have a divine power, so the reiatsu in your body will be sufficient to manage it."

"I cannot use my power," Tetsuya whispered back, "Juushiro-sama…!"

"You can't, but the fact that the reiatsu is there, even though you can't use it means that it can still be used. As closely as we are bonded, I believe I can access that power to attract and capture every quincy arrow!"

"You can…?"

Juushiro smiled and nodded and raised his weapon as the quincy archers loosed their arrows. An ocean of white soared across the space between them as the encampment's protectors watched in horror from within the barrier. Juushiro's voice rose up a final time, shocking shinigamis and quincies alike with his words.

"Ban kai, Kami no Yaiba, Sogyo no Kotowari!"