The Black Side of the Moon~ Once more into the fray
There is no turning back now. This is the end.
He likes to think that it isn't coming, but he knows that it is inevitable. It's right there on his doorstep, and he has turned a blind eye to it. All of his training, everything he has learned; it will all be put to the test soon.
It is now nightfall. He's on a hospital rooftop, his eyes shut tight. He's sitting very still, meditating on something greatly.
He will be turning eighteen soon. That will make him a man right? Hell, he's seen more than any eighteen year old he knows, that's for sure.
What determines you a man?
Is it how many girls you fuck? Or is it how many battles you survive? Is age just a misnomer? Does it even mean anything? One could live more in twenty years than someone who lived to the age of a hundred. It's all relative. It means nothing. Here he is, fighting people thousands of year's old, people who are generations beyond his years. How could he understand any of this? How could he take sides so easily and with so little thought?
His eyes open. His face is forlorn, and he carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.
This was a chance happening. A trick of fate he thinks again and again. He wanted power. He wanted to protect; but did he really want this?
His breathing was even, but his inner world was in turmoil, sunken deep into an ocean of regret. That is if he even had such a thing anymore.
He's alone. For the first time in his life, he feels completely and utterly alone.
Rukia.
She hadn't spoken to him in the morning like she said. When he went up to his room with breakfast in hand to wake her, she was gone. Was what he did really that bad? Was he deserving of such abandonment? Only time would tell.
Inoue.
She had to stay out of this. He wouldn't let her suffer too. Suffering was all that was to come.
Chad.
He would have her protect Inoue when the hell finally broke out. He would have them go somewhere far away, somewhere safe.
Ishida.
He had to kill him. His father wants him dead. At this point he wasn't sure if Ryuuken even thought of Ishida as his own son. He doubted such a thing.
The seventh day was yesterday. Ishida's father had passed down to him the title "Last of the Quincy", but was he really a Quincy? He didn't feel like one. Sure enough the powers and techniques of the Quincy came as fast and natural as the Shinigami's did, but he didn't feel deserving of such a legacy.
Ichigo stands, soft winds at his back. He is dressed in an old Quincy garb that his new master used to wear. Besides being a little snug in the shoulders, it miraculously fits him quite well. An ancient golden heirloom hangs at his wrist: A Quincy cross. He clutches it tightly, and stares up into the heavens.
Once more into the fray.
.
o o o
.
"Sternritter, kneel."
Yhwach stands behind a grand podium inside a massive war hall. Hundreds of Quincy fall swiftly to their knees before him all in perfect unison.
"This is it my friends!" Yhwach says. He raises his fist triumphantly into the air. "For the glory of the Quincy!"
A patriotic roar fills the entire fortress as the Quincy point their fists at the sky. "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Yhwach slams his hands down onto the podium. "We have prepared over the past millennia for this one, final moment. It is here that we will invade the Shinigami one last time. We have given them a moment's reprieve, but we shall crush them all the same! I am at full power, and you will dominate their forces. Follow me this one last time, and we shall crush all before us! We will enact our revenge, and take back what is ours!"
An eruption of cheers shook the ground like an earthquake. They were indeed ready for war.
"To war!" Yhwach raises both of his arms in the air, followed by the entire forces of the Quincy.
The hoard of Quincy begin their march toward the exit, and toward the destruction of their enemy.
Yhwach turns to Haschwalth who is standing undisturbed and silently behind him. He walks up to him and the two make eye contact.
"Do you hear that, my dear friend?" Yhwach holds his hand to his ear as if he is trying to hear. "That is the sound of righteousness."
"I would have to agree, Your Majesty."
"Which reminds me." Yhwach smirks at him. "I want you to command the Sternritter and all of the armed forces while I am away. I put you in full charge, Haschwalth. You have earned it."
He blinks in disbelief at Yhwach. "Why are you doing this, Your Majesty?"
"I am going to see Kurosaki Ichigo." He says. "His time to decide whether he wants to join me in our holy crusade has ended."
"What if he denies your offer, Your Majesty?"
"He won't." Yhwach says while bending over to tighten his boots. "I won't give him a choice."
Haschwalth only nods at this, and Yhwach turns his back to him.
"Meanwhile, show our new guest to his post for me and introduce him to the others. I'm sure they will get along just fine."
"Our new guest?" Haschwalth asks, he looks on as Yhwach shakes hands with a man shorter than he.
He is a figure clad in the brightest white which makes his presence as a Quincy known to all. He is wearing regular spectacles, and has hair the shade of deep blue.
"You are….." He pauses, unbelieving of who is standing in front of him.
"Ishida Uryuu." He adjusts his new uniform and pushes up his spectacles. "The son of Ishida Ryuuken."
.
o o o
.
Rukia really wishes Kiyone and Sentarou would keep their voices down.
"Kuchiki-fukutaichou!" They both say dramatically in unison. "Your legs? You can walk again!"
Rukia is happy that the two both still share their enthusiasm just as well as they did before the war began, but she really doesn't want to deal with this right now. She pushes past them both. "I'm sorry you two, but it's a long story. I must speak with Ukitake-taichou immediately."
"But Ukitake-taichou is on temporary leave, vice-captain!" Says the two.
Rukia turns around. "On leave? Why would the Captain be on leave?"
Kiyone shoves Sentarou out of the way so she can speak first. "You didn't hear? Kyouraku-soutaichou…I mean Kyouraku was labeled a traitor and he fled the seiretei. Some of the Royal Guard have taken up leadership in his stead now."
"What? How could this be?" Rukia asks the two. "There's no way Kyouraku-soutaichou would commit any form of treason. He has served the Gotei 13 for over a thousand years. That is preposterous!"
"We think so too." Kiyone says, and Sentarou nods his head in agreement.
"And the Captain has gone to look for him!" Sentarou says. "Since you are better, that means you are in charge of the division now, fukutaichou!"
"But I'm not really a Vice-Captain anymore, remember?" She says sadly. "I was removed from the ranks by request of Kyouraku-soutaichou. "
The two 3rd seats look at her with sad eyes, far from their usual fire.
It's true that she could be reinstated into the Gotei 13, but that would occur only under direct command of the Captain-Commander. Now, there is little hope for her to rejoin the ranks, rendering her title of Vice-Captain forfeit.
"If you two would excuse me, I have somewhere to go. I'm sorry."
With that, Rukia turns on her heals, quickening her pace with every step and her sights set on something important.
.
o o o
.
A shadow opens up in the sky, however it goes largely unnoticed in the dark. It begins to grow more and more, enveloping a large portion of the night sky. Out steps two men, three more, ten more, fifty more, hundreds more. They vanish into the cracks and crevices of seiretei while the unknowing Shinigami sleep soundly in their beds. Out steps a blonde haired man with fair features, and an expressionless face. He is surrounded by two other men of a rather large aura, much like his own presence. Gripping his hilt with finesse, he unsheathes his silver blade by its crossguard. He then quietly signals for the others around him to heed his words.
"Leave no one alive."