A/N: Hello again! Nope, I didn't die. My profound apologies for taking so long with this. Life has been crazy busy these last few months and when it isn't, I'm just too worried about it getting crazy again to be able to think about this story. So, again, I'm sorry for the wait. I can't promise when the next chapter will be up after this, but I do promise that I will not abandon this story. It may take a while, but I will finish it, I swear.
Thanks for sticking with me, and enjoy!
Chapter 20
As Chad and Inoue raced across the rolling, cracked ground, they soon lost sight of their friends over the hilly terrain. Chad slowed as he sensed that they had put a fair amount of distance between the other two and, by extension, the Hell's Wills.
He slid down another steep slope and then came to a stop as Inoue slid down beside him. "We should wait here," he said as he carefully lowered Urahara off of his shoulder and to the ground.
Inoue bit her lip as she glanced back in the direction they had come from, but shook off her fear and then turned her attention back to Urahara. He was still unconscious and looked quite horrible after having taken a large portion of his own Kido spell.
She knelt down and called out her healing fairies and quickly set them to work on him. Chad stood there and watched a moment before he climbed back up the slope they had just descended and stood at the top, keeping a look out for Ishida and Ichigo.
After a while, he heard a groan of pain from Urahara and he turned around and looked down at the two of them. "Are you all right, Urahara-san?" Inoue asked him through her rejection field. He blinked and winced slightly at the pain in his chest before he was able to focus on her.
He sighed and then muttered, "I've been better, but thank you, Inoue-san." He closed his eyes again and lay still as she finished healing his wounds.
"Mm," she said and focused a bit more on her healing.
Chad glanced back over his shoulder towards his missing friends, but still didn't see anything. With a shake of his head he clambered down the slope again and sat down on the ground beside Inoue and Urahara.
After a little while longer, Inoue dismissed her fairies, declaring that she had healed all of his physical wounds. "Thank you, Inoue-san," he wearily told her but didn't move to sit up yet. "I think I'll be better if I can just rest a bit longer."
"This place is really taking it out of you, isn't it?" Chad asked him.
He nodded and then said, "I really should never have attempted even such a lower level Kido when I did," he told them. "I even had to use the full incantation, which I haven't had to do for that one in longer than I can remember."
"Is Kurosaki-kun going to be all right?" Inoue asked softly.
Urahara glanced at her a moment before he sighed and replied, "I don't know. He does have more raw energy to draw on than I do, but he's also using far more at a time with those powerful moves of his. But he's with Ishida-san and that should help."
"Why is Ishida so much more powerful here?" Chad asked suddenly.
Urahara didn't respond right away. After a space of silence, he reached his hand out to Chad to help him sit up. Chad grabbed his arm with one hand and put his other hand behind the shopkeeper's back and guided him up into a sitting position. After a few breaths in his new position, Urahara spoke again. "I believe…" he said carefully, "…That this, or something like this place, is where the Quincy may have originated from."
"I don't understand," Inoue said. "I thought the Quincy were spiritually aware humans."
Urahara nodded and then said, "Yes, that is all that we really know about them. But that doesn't explain how they are able to do what they do. It is a very strange talent to develop and so opposite from what the Shinigami do that there has been some speculation that they were a created race at the beginning."
"Created?" Chad asked.
"Yes," Urahara said as he reached out and picked up his cane that was lying on the ground beside him. He laid it across his legs as he continued speaking. "You are aware that it was an experimental accident that created the Bount, correct?" he asked.
Both of them nodded. "Well, the creation of the Quincy may have been something like that, but not quite so accidental. And, because this place seems to be so easy for Ishida-san to use his power and with much greater potential, I think that this is at least a similar environment to wherever that creation took place."
"So it's a little like when I went to Hueco Mundo…" Chad said.
Urahara nodded, "Yes, something like that. Your powers fully matured there because they are, at least in part, based on hollow energy. Since you were in the birthplace of your powers, they were able to fully awaken."
Chad nodded his understanding. But Inoue still seemed a little confused. "But, Urahara-san," she said. "If Ishida-kun is where his powers originated from…"
Urahara quickly cut her off, "I don't know for sure and any more speculation would not be wise right now, Inoue-san," he said as he gave her a significant look.
Chad looked between the two of them, curious what the look meant, but he simply shook his head and decided it wasn't important. He stood up again then and started to walk back towards the slope to take up his look out again.
Suddenly Ishida staggered to the top of the slope with Ichigo's arm slung over his shoulder, helping to support the exhausted Shinigami. Ishida tripped at the top and began to topple down the slope, bringing Ichigo with him. Chad ran up, catching both of them and helping them down the rest of the way without mishap.
"Ishida-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and came over to them. Chad was already taking Ichigo's other arm and took his weight off of the just about as exhausted Quincy. Inoue came over and put an arm around Ishida. "What happened?" Inoue said as she looked both of them over.
Ichigo had transformed back from his Bankai state and had a slight trickle of blood coming out of the right side of his mouth as he held onto his ribs with his free arm. Ishida had a nasty gash across his chest, but it wasn't very deep or dangerous, just painful. Both of them looked as if they were ready to collapse.
"Later, Inoue-san," Ishida gasped to her. "We have to keep moving."
Ichigo nodded, "There are still four of them after us."
Ishida frowned, "I'm sorry, but it was too dangerous for us to keep fighting them after I could no longer maintain control of our spirit threads."
Urahara used his cane to help him clamber to his feet. "It's all right," he told them. "I think that these remaining ones are just meant to make sure that we don't dawdle."
"What do you mean, Urahara-san?" Inoue asked.
Ishida nodded though and said, "Yes, they didn't seem as intent on attacking us, just driving us on."
"In that case, we need to get moving again before they catch up," Urahara said as he turned and started to lead them on. Chad, helping Ichigo, followed next and Inoue and Ishida followed close behind them.
"But should we be going where we're obviously being herded?" she asked.
"We don't really have a choice, Inoue-san," Ishida said softly to her.
She bit her lip wondering what could have happened back there to make both of these prideful boys flee towards a potential trap.
XXX
Ichigo had quickly taken out the first of the creatures after he had launched his attack on them with his mask on now. But he was nearly floored after doing so from the massive amount of power that it had taken out of him.
He staggered a bit as he spun around to face the next one. Suddenly he was launched through the air as the Hell's Will's fist collided with his chest. He collapsed on the ground some distance away and coughed up a small spurt of blood. His ribs were on fire, but he ignored it as he used his sword to help him climb back on his feet. He eyed the remaining two in front of him through his mask and then gritted his teeth.
"All right, I need to take you two out now," he said with the distorted tones that accompanied his hollow form. He took a step back and brought his thin black blade up. "Getsuga Tensho!" he cried and released a massive wave of black and red energy that flew towards the two Hell's Will.
With a strange cry, both of them tried to bring up their arms to block the blast, but they were completely engulfed in the wave. When the view was clear again, Ichigo saw that he had completely obliterated them.
Suddenly his mask shattered as he pitched forward and fell flat on his face. Weakly, he turned his head to the side to see how Ishida was fairing with his three targets.
Two of them had already been taken out, but Ishida was clearly struggling with the third. Ichigo realized that his bow was missing and he was using a Seele Schneider in one hand and trying to combat the thing close up. "Shit," Ichigo muttered as he tried to will some strength into his limbs to get up.
He managed to get partway up before he shifted and sent a rush of pain through his injured ribs, causing him to gasp in pain and his arms to buckle. He fell onto his stomach again, unable to get up.
He grimaced as he watched the bone fingers of the Hell's Will rake across Ishida's chest as the Quincy attempted to hack off the arm with his blade. He managed to twist enough so that the injury wasn't deep, but it was bleeding pretty badly.
Ishida leapt back and then glanced over towards Ichigo. He saw that Ichigo had disposed of his opponents but was now lying on the ground. He heaved a sigh and then concentrated a moment, releasing his control over Ichigo's spirit threads.
Ichigo felt something shift around him and he realized that Ishida must have broken whatever hold he had been maintaining over his spirit threads. Ichigo thought this meant that Ishida must have lost his control over his own as well.
The Shinigami struggled to get back to his feet again, fearing that Ishida was about to need his help. But he was only able to make it to a kneel as he watched Ishida launch himself into the air, summoning his bow again. He brought his Seele Schneider to the bow and released it straight down, driving it through the Hell's Will's head, all the way into the ground. The creature seemed to freeze for a moment as Ishida touched down again beside it. Suddenly it burst into dust. Ishida walked over to where the thing had been and retrieved his Seele Schneider from the ground before turning around and walking back to Ichigo.
But another cry in the distance caught their attention. They both looked over and saw that the remaining four Hell's Wills were nearing. Ishida paused, staring at them for a moment before he quickly made up his mind. He switched to Hirenkyaku for just a moment to make it over to Ichigo.
"We can't take them on, Ichigo," he told the Shinigami as he reached down and wrapped his arm around him to help him stand.
"We can't just leave them to come after us," Ichigo tried to argue.
"And there's no way that either of us are going to be able to face them like this. I can't maintain my hold over the spirit threads any longer. If we were to take them on like this, they would easily catch us and eat us. Our best bet is to retreat with the others now."
Ichigo frowned but nodded. He hated to walk away from a fight like this, but he realized that, in his current condition, he wasn't going to be able to do much good against those creatures. He tried to pull away from Ishida to stand on his own. But the moment that he was just about to stand on his own, he started to pitch over.
Ishida reached out again, steadying him as best as he could given his own weakened state. "Take it easy, Shinigami," he told Ichigo and began to lead them over the cracked ground in the direction that the others were waiting for them.
"It doesn't look like those ones are in a great hurry," Ishida said with a nod towards the other Hell's Wills. They were still approaching, but not very quickly. "We should have time to get ahead of them at this rate."
XXX
The group moved as fast as they could across broken ground, up and down over the strangely rolling landscape. As the clambered up a particularly steep sloped, they paused and looked back. The Hell's Wills were not very far away at this point.
Urahara sighed and then turned and continued up the slope before the others did. When he finally crested the top he stopped and whistled at the sight in front of him. Everyone else turned their attention from the approaching beasts towards him.
"What is it, Urahara-san?" Inoue asked.
"I would assume it's where we're meant to go," Urahara said as he turned and looked down at them. "Hurry up then."
They all resumed their climb and were momentarily standing beside Urahara on the top of the hill. "What is this?" Ichigo muttered as he finally took his arm back from Chad and managed to stand on his own.
They were staring out over a vast stretch of brilliant green grass that began abruptly at the bottom of their current hill. It stretched on over a flat expanse until it ended at the base of a large, white, building. From the angle that they were looking at it, they could see two walls joining up at a point angled towards them. But it wasn't at a ninety degree angle that most buildings would have been.
"I think," Ishida said as he examined the angle and the two sides that he could see sloping away from them. "That this might be a pentagon shaped building." He released his hold on Inoue then and began to walk along the top of the hill to get a better look down one of the sides.
"You may be right, Ishida-san," Urahara said as he walked the opposite direction to look down the other side.
Inoue looked between the two of them and then turned around and saw that the Hell's Wills were very close now. "We should probably keep moving," she quickly said to them.
The two looked back and then nodded. "Whatever this is," Ishida said. "This is where those things are driving us. Maybe they won't get too close to that thing?"
"Who knows," Ichigo said as he took a step off the edge of the slope and started to make his way down the other side. "But I don't want to wait around here for those things to catch up with us just now."
Everyone seemed to agree as they all made their way down the hill to the grassy expanse below. They had crossed about halfway over the lawn when they glanced back and saw the Hell's Wills had made it to the top of that final rise. There, they paused and eyed the grass below them. They began to mill about along the edge of the dry ground, but not getting any closer to the grass.
"Looks like you were right, Ichigo," Urahara said. He glanced back at the building before them and then at Ichigo and Ishida. They were still both looking a bit exhausted, though Ichigo more so than Ishida. It seemed that Quincy was recovering his lost energy quicker than the Shinigami. But they were also both still injured.
"We should stop here a moment and let Inoue-san heal both of you," he told them.
"I don't like being so exposed," Ichigo muttered as the others nodded their agreement.
"I don't think that it really matters here," Urahara said. "It feels as if we've been under observation since the moment we arrived here. It's probably a good bet that Atsushi already knows exactly where we are and is just toying with us right now."
All of them looked at Urahara in surprise and wondered how he could announce something like that so calmly. "Seriously?" Ichigo asked.
Urahara nodded and looked at him. "Think about it, we apparently arrived here a fair distance from this structure, but it didn't take long for a group of Hell's Wills, no doubt taken from hell by Atsushi, to find us and force us here. I think that Atsushi was using them as a way to test how strong we really are and what type of a threat we might prove to him. He still is unsure about our little group, especially after we have managed to thwart his plans in the real world a few times now."
"Then why not just try and take us out now rather than lead us right to him?" Chad asked.
Urahara glanced over at Ishida but then quickly said, "I'm not sure. He probably thinks of this as all some kind of game."
Ishida didn't miss the glance in his direction, but he didn't comment on it either. Inoue was walking over to Ichigo now and had called out her healing field over his chest. He soon began to look as if he was having less trouble breathing and in less pain.
As soon as she had finished with him, she turned to Ishida and performed the same procedure.
As she worked, Ichigo came over to them. He reached inside his uniform and pulled something out. "Here," he said as he handed a small metal rod to Ishida. "I picked this up after you shot off that thing's arm that had my spirit threads."
Ishida reached out and took the Seele Schneider from Ichigo's hand. "Thank you, Ichigo," he said and then slipped it back on its place on his belt. "I'm glad to have them all again."
Ichigo nodded and then wandered away again.
After a few more minutes Ishida said, "Thank you, Inoue-san," when she finished and her fairies popped back into her hair pins. She smiled at him and then bobbed her head before turning around.
"So what now?" she asked.
"We go see if the Lord is home," Urahara said with a smile as he turned and started walking towards the structure.
Ichigo shook his head at Urahara's levity but said, "Yeah, we came here to find him after all."
Urahara paused and looked back at the others as first Ichigo began walking towards the building and then Chad and Inoue followed suite. Ishida hung back as the others walked past Urahara. He crossed his arms and stared at Urahara a moment.
"Are you coming, Ishida-san?" Urahara asked him.
Ishida uncrossed his arms and came up to stand beside the shopkeeper. "Perhaps you would like to fill me in on what is going on here?" Ishida said to him.
"To what are you referring, Ishida-san?" Urahara asked as he began to walk again, following behind the others. But he was walking slowly so as not to catch up to them.
Ishida fell into step beside him and said, "You know something about why my powers have been behaving differently here and I think you also at least suspect that I have something to do with Atsushi's decision to not kill us right away."
Urahara walked in silence for a little while before he asked, "Are you sure you want to hear my suspicions before I know for sure what is going on, Ishida-san?"
Ishida nodded, "I think that I deserve to at least have some idea of what is going on here."
"Very well," Urahara said. He glanced up and saw that the others probably couldn't hear what he was about to tell Ishida. "Yes, I suspect that it is for your benefit that Atsushi has made a concentrated effort not to kill us yet. Though he has obviously come fairly close to doing so already."
"And why is that?" Ishida prompted.
After another brief pause, Urahara said, "I suspect that Atsushi may be quite interested in you, Ishida-san, because he was responsible for the creation of the Quincy."
Ishida stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Urahara wide eyed. The shopkeeper paused and glanced back at the Quincy. "He what?" Ishida muttered, unable to completely wrap his mind around what Urahara had just told him.
Urahara walked back the two steps to Ishida and said softly, "I'll explain what I know and guess, Ishida-san, but we should keep moving please."
Ishida blinked and then numbly began to walk again. "I didn't want to tell you this," Urahara said as he also resumed walking, "for this very reason." He glanced up at Ishida and saw that the young man was trying to get his sudden emotional response under control again.
"I… I'm sorry, Urahara-san," he said. "It's just quite hard to believe that your statement could be true."
"Well, I don't have any proof, but it is a very strong hunch. I am curious, what does your own mythos say about the creation of the Quincy?"
"Not much," Ishida said with a slight frown. "Just that there was a group that noticed that they had certain abilities to sense and destroy hollows so they banded together and made sure to keep these abilities within one clan. They trained then and sought out new ways to use their particular talents to fight against the hollows more effectively."
Urahara nodded, "Yes, that is the extent of the Shinigami knowledge of your clan as well. But it has been long suspected that there may have been someone behind the development of the first Quincy."
Ishida nodded, "I admit, it would make sense. Especially after hearing how the Bount were not naturally occurring either. But how can you believe that Atsushi is the one that was responsible?"
"Well," Urahara explained. "First there has been how much he has always been interested in you as soon as he heard you were a Quincy. Also, he seems to favor influences of the human world towards the Germanic slant. I do believe that there are a fair number of German termed items and techniques from your training as a Quincy?"
Ishida nodded, "That's why I was able to interpret that German earlier and knew about Goethe and the others. My grandfather made me study the language and some of the history."
With a nod, Urahara continued, "Yes, I believe that your clan was originally from that area and has since migrated across the globe. But that is all circumstantial evidence. The first time that I had some hard evidence was when you were the only one that could cross those lines that Goethe set up in the hospital."
Ishida was silent a moment and then said slowly, "Yes, that does seem to indicate that there is some connection between my powers and Atsushi. And he did know that because he said I would have been the only one that could have stopped him."
Urahara nodded, "Yes, and whatever that was also gave you a power boost, did it not? Much in the same way that you have gotten one since your arrival here."
Ishida had to nod again. "Now that you mention it, the feeling is quite similar." He looked at Urahara then and asked, "So what does this mean? He obviously is interested in me so how can we use this to our advantage?"
"I think," Urahara said slowly. "That we already are. I think that he hasn't yet gone all out on us because he is not testing us, but testing you. He wants to know how his creation has faired since he set the Quincy loose on the world and left them to their own devices. It has been many, many centuries since that time, after all."
"But that means that, even if he is responsible for my powers, he can't possibly know everything that I am capable of," Ishida said thoughtfully.
"Exactly. And I suggest trying to keep it that way as long at you can, Ishida-san. Don't use everything at your disposal unless you absolutely have to."
Ishida walked in silence again and noticed that they were nearly to the building now. It towered over them, casting the lawn they were now in shadow from the dim light of the sunrise behind it. The others had already reached the point where the two walls connected and now they could see that there was an entrance set into this point.
The other three were paused at this entrance and now glanced back to see that Ishida and Urahara had fallen behind. "Thank you, Urahara-san," Ishida said softly. "I am glad that you have told me all of this." He then sped up and quickly joined the others.
Ichigo eyed Ishida and Urahara as they rejoined the group, but didn't say anything. "Ok, so we're here. Now what?" he asked as he turned and looked at the large door in front of them. He had already tried to push it open, but to no avail.
Ishida glanced back at Urahara and then walked forward. He placed his hand against the cool, white stone door. He saw that there were white engravings on it of pentagons and crosses that could only really be seen from close up. This seemed like even further evidence of the connection between the Quincy and this person. Apparently the form had been engraved into the Quincy subconscious before Atsushi placed them in the human world.
As his hand connected with the door, he felt a slight tingle. He was compelled to push against the door and a soft click sound was heard before it slowly swung open.
"How'd you do that?" Ichigo asked.
Ishida shrugged, "I'm not sure," he replied before walking boldly through the door.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Ichigo snapped as he rushed in behind his friend. He nearly collided with Ishida's back once inside. The Quincy had only walked a few steps inside before pausing and looking around.
The interior was cool and dimly lit. There was no obvious source of illumination but there seemed to be a slight vaguely bluish glow emanating from the walls themselves. The space at the entrance had a high vaulted expanse above their heads, creating interesting echoes of their footsteps. But the area wasn't very large before branching off into three different corridors. One was directly across from entrance that appeared to run at an upward slope. The two to either side were flat and appeared to run along at the same odd angle as the walls outside.
"What is it with this guy and pentagons?" Ichigo asked as he looked around. Each of the passageways had a symbol etched into the stone above it of a pentagon with a star inside.
Ishida glanced over his shoulder at Ichigo but didn't say anything. He took a few more steps inside so that the others could also enter.
Inoue stepped in and then wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Burr, it sure is cold in here," she said.
Ishida looked back at her. He knew that it was significantly cooler inside the structure than it had been outside, but for some reason he felt pleasantly warm. At a quick glance to the others, they also appeared slightly chilled, though since they had more layers on, weren't as strongly affected as Inoue.
The Quincy was just wondering if he ought to offer her his spare mantel when suddenly Urahara pulled his cloak off in a flourish and settled it around her shoulders. She gave a slight gasp and then looked at him saying, "Oh, thank you Urahara-san. But I don't need…"
He shook his head at her saying, "I will be fine. It is rather cold in here and you are the least covered of us." He walked away then and peered into the dimness of the passageway to the right. "Now," he said, staring down the hall. "Which way are we to go?"
Ishida turned and went over to stare up the slopped hall that was directly across from the entrance. Everyone was silent for a brief moment before Urahara's voice suddenly spoke again, grabbing Ishida's attention. "What do you think, Ishida-san?" he asked.
Ishida turned and looked at Urahara and found that his elder was staring at him and he felt as if the man had been doing so for a while now. Looking around, he saw that all of them now had their attention directed at him.
"Why are you all looking at me?" he asked.
"Well," Ichigo said slowly as he stared to rub the back of his neck. "You do seem to be the most comfortable with this place and you are usually the one with the plans."
Ishida turned his head and said, "Che, I don't have any more idea about this place than any of you."
"Well in that case," Urahara said. "Maybe it would be best if we were to split up and each take a path.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Urahara-san?" Inoue asked. "If this really is where Atsushi-san is hiding, then there's no telling what we might run into."
Ichigo sighed and said, "Yeah, but splitting up will help us to locate him faster. I don't like it very much either, Inoue, but Urahara does have a point."
"Thank you, Ichigo," Urahara said to him with a smile. "Now, how should you divide?"
"'You?'" Ichigo asked. "Don't you mean 'we'? You can't expect us to let you go by yourself."
Urahara sighed and said, "That had been the idea."
Ishida shook his head as he said, "No. That may have been the most logical path before. But now you are probably the most vulnerable out of our group."
Urahara frowned but nodded, "You may be right, Ishida-san."
"Urahara and I will take the left branch," Ichigo announced as he walked over to stand beside Urahara.
"Again," Ishida spoke up. "Perhaps not the best division. You are also not at your best here, Ichigo."
Ichigo turned and scowled at him. "Then what do you suggest, Uryuu?"
He thought a moment as he cast a glance over his shoulder towards the slopped path. "I think that, given our current states, no one should be going on alone. We can leave this center path for last and split up to take the two side paths for now."
"That will take longer," Chad spoke up.
Ishida nodded, "But none of us should be out alone right now either. If my guess is correct, the two sides probably will follow all along the perimeter of the building. We can each go one way and meet up again. If there's another upward passage there, then we can all try that way, other wise we can come back here and try this one. That will at least give us an idea of what this place is like if nothing else and no one will be caught out by themselves."
Everyone exchanged a glance before Urahara nodded and said, "All right. Ichigo, Sado, come with me down the left passage. Inoue and Ishida, take the right."
They all nodded and quickly divided by Urahara's suggestion near their designated passageways. As Ishida was walking past Urahara he paused and took a hold of the ex-captain's hand as if to shake it. "I think you might be able to find these usefully, Urahara-san," he said softly to the man and then released his hand and continued to the right.
Urahara didn't look at what the Quincy had just placed in his hand, but he felt three small metal tubes pressed into his palm. He nodded to himself as he pocketed them without anyone else noticing. He had a pretty good idea what it was that the Quincy had just handed him and he was already thinking of ways that he could put such items to his own use.
"Urahara-san," Inoue said. "Do you want your cloak back?"
She started to take it off to hand back but he shook his head and raised a hand. "No, Inoue-san. You keep it for now. You can return it when we all meet up again."
She nodded once and wrapped it a little tighter around her shoulders. "I promise," she told him.
"Meet you guys on the other side," Ichigo said and then turned with a backward wave and headed down the passage. Chad and then Urahara turned and followed after him while Ishida and Inoue stood and watched them until they disappeared.
When they could no longer be seen down the dim pathway, Inoue turned to Ishida and said, "Should we get going now, Ishida-kun?"
He glanced off to the side first at the third passage that none of them had taken and then nodded, "Yes, Inoue-san. Let's go." He turned and then led them down the other side.
As the two groups faded into the darkness, another lone figure appeared coming down the third passage. He walked down the slope until he came to the crossroads. He glanced first down the left side and then the right before he said, "So, he's going to try and avoid me? That is not going to be so easy in here."
Two white orbs blinked in the dimness before he turned and walked back up the slopped passageway and faded back into the darkness.