Disclaimer: This man does not own Bleach.
Quincy Craft
The realm outside of the throne room was an entirely different world. While he and Yhwach could definitely sense the battles outside, actually coming face-to-face with the empty halls, some of which were splattered with blood and littered with the bodies of the Soldat, created inner turmoil within him. He simply wanted to allow the Quincy to reside peacefully in this world, without fear of Hollows and Soul Reapers exterminating them.
It seemed, at this rate, that the Quincy were going to be responsible for the extinction of their own race. How much fighting needed to be done within this castle before the bloodshed would end?
As Haschwalth marched through the empty castle, searching for a symbol of life at the very least, he recognized that many of his own were safe, or at least seemed to be doing well. But, of course, only Ichigo would make the mistake of allowing himself to fall into a trap...
The dungeons below the Silbern was actually formed from the remnants of a collapsed prison that once held the war prisoners of the former Gotei Thirteen... When Yamamoto was still a terror, and His Majesty had just fallen asleep for a thousand years...
It is the only area that isn't actually connected to the Silbern, but is actually a part of the Soul Society itself... He hoped that Giselle would prevent Ichigo from going all out... While it was true that the area was far below the sensory range of those above the surface of the Soul Society... His Majesty planted Gina here for a reason.
He knew that Ichigo would try to save her. So he intentionally placed her in that prison, along all the other Arrancars, in the one area that is the closest to the Soul Society...Right beneath the very floors of the Muken...
Less than meters away from Sosuke Aizen.
That was why he had to reach that area quickly and be rid of the annoyance blocking his path. The old man who pretended to die that night and laid out this simplistic trap...
Jean Sanctum VII, "the Creator". The elderly priest stood high above, watching his every movement. Alongside him, he noticed that three more hooded figures stood next to him.
The old man raised his arms to the sky before speaking, almost regretfully, "You have turned your back on the word of God, Haschwalth... The sins within ye heart must be cleansed... Come here, child, and confess your heart... Not to me, but to thine fellow Stern Ritter and thy All-Father himself... Repent for your mistakes."
Haschwalth frowned at the old man before murmuring, "Sorry, but I'm not the religious type. My faith was shattered long ago."
Jean tilted his head at the words of the Stern Ritter Grandmaster before questioning, "Your faith, shattered? Nonsense, child... Allow me to...reignite your spirituality."
He watched as each of the hooded Stern Ritter leaped from their position towards him and reached over to draw his weapon.
"...The 'Question'... and the 'Fear'... That woman can make me question everything about me, and that guy can make me afraid of everything... Is that all?"
Of course, the Young Master would be overconfident. He did not recognize what he was going up against. With narrowed eyes, Gina turned to Ichigo and reprimanded, "Do not take them so lightly. If you fall prey to their abilities, then it is entirely possible for you to lose... Strength isn't everything, Young Master."
Ichigo blinked at her retort. After another blink, he repeated, "Is that all?"
Off to his side, Giselle, with her sleeves clasped over her mouth, mumbled, "And what do you mean by that? It sounds as if you're going to end them as quickly as possible."
Without missing a beat, Ichigo replied, "I am. I got who I came here for, and now, I'm getting the hell out. I probably...won't even have to use Maskieren for this one."
Where the hell was he getting such confidence from? Giselle's eyes narrowed as she thought about the most recent place Ichigo had been, which so happened to be directly above them...or below, however you decided to flip the world.
Did Aizen...change something in him...?
"Ahh, I guess it's my turn, huh?"
Ichigo looked over his shoulder at Giselle as she pretended to stretch and twist her body before walking forward and standing next to him. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and mumbled, "I'll leave As to you. I think Nike-baby would work nicely in my collection."
On the other side of the prison, Berenice smiled grimly and added, "You always were a bit of a freak, Gigi. But I don't think challenging me is a good idea... You're not the greatest of fighters, you know?"
A goofy look crossed Giselle's face as she falsely pouted and cursed, "Damn. She's right... But It's not like I'm gonna fight you alone... That wouldn't be fair, right, Espada?"
Her eyes moved to the inside of the cell where she had noticed that Grimmjow was trying to sneak out as everyone was fighting. He paused as he realized that he was spotted out, silently cursing as all eyes turned to him. A wide, frightening grin crossed Giselle's face as she darkly muttered, "You weren't planning on running after we went through all that work to save you, right?"
Grimmjow looked between the three of them and immediately began protesting, "Hey, you all came to save the girl, not me! I bet the three of your were going to release her and lock me right back in there!"
Ichigo frowned and looked away awkwardly, wondering for a moment when did Grimmjow became so insightful. He then turned back to him and said, "We broke you out, too. You're just as much a part of this as we are."
The Arrancar stared at them all incredulously before roaring, "Fuck you! I didn't ask for you to save me, shithead Kurosaki! I don't want any part of this Quincy bullshit!"
The female Stern Ritter suddenly turned to him, and the Espada reared his head back in disgust as blood freely dribbled down her chin, courtesy of biting her own thumb. A teeth-revealing grin crossed her face as she requested, "Oi, Dokugamine... Would you mind, for just a second?"
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and held him in a headlock. Her deadpanned expression changed as she uttered, "No problem. Just hurry up."
Weakened from the months of barely surviving the Wandenreich's imprisonment, Grimmjow struggled to fight her off as the dark-haired girl slowly made her way over to him, her red and bloodied thumb held in front of her. As she got closer, he immediately began stuttering, "H-Hey! Wait just a goddamned minute! What are you doing!?"
Right as the girl moved closer to him, she stopped with her thumb a mere inch away from his face and glanced at Ichigo, whom she noticed did not turn to face her once. She called out, "Is this alright with you, Strawberry? You usually aren't too fond of my abilities for reasons I've yet to understand."
Still not turning to face her, he waved her away and stated, "I don't care what you do to him."
She frowned before turning back to the Espada and reassuring him, "I promise to give you back when I'm done, okay? Strawberry doesn't like my abilities, so we can work together for now, hm?"
Grimmjow made a highly-questionable, high-pitched squeal as he tried to move away from her thumb, crying out, "No! Leave me alone! Lemme go! Nooooo!"
Suddenly, silence.
Ichigo's kept his eyes on As and Berenice as a pair of heavy footsteps echoed next to him, unwilling to turn and see for himself. The slumping figure of Grimmjow, eyes wide, stared blankly at the ground. Over and over again, he constantly muttered, "This bitch is fucked up... This bitch is really fucked up... You Quincies are all fucked up..."
Giselle was riding on the Espada's back, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She looked over at Ichigo's sickened gaze before revealing, "My power only works on things that are already dead, like Soul Reapers and Hollows... Because Quincies aren't dead, I have to make sure they are before I can use them... So he's still alive and well-aware of what he's doing. Aren't you proud of me now, Strawberry?"
Ichigo's face scrunched in disgust before he turned away from her and moved to combat As, causing false tears to fall from Giselle's eyes while she whined, "Why can't Strawberry love me for who I am...!?"
The dark room was lit up barely by the pale-blue glowing light of the portal ahead. The portal maintained by Haschwalth himself was probably the only way out of the Silbern other than the Gate to the Sun and Breaking through the dungeons, both which would have led to capture by either His Majesty or the Soul Reapers.
Neither of those sounded appealing to Bambietta whatsoever, so she led Neliel to this place. Both the Arrancar and Haschwalth's attendant set her down gently on one of the sofas. After finally getting herself comfortable, she turned to Neliel as the girl dusted her hands off and turned to leave.
Haschwalth's attendant glanced over at the Arrancar before asking, "Where are you going, Miss Neliel?"
With her hands on her hips, she gazed back over her shoulders and announced, "...Bambietta's safe, so I'm sure Ichigo'll be glad to hear that... But unlike you Quincies, I can't easily leave behind my people... I have to find Lady Halibel and..."
The last of her sentence slightly trailed off as her eye began twitching, and she finally finished, "And maybe Grimmjow... Anyways, as long as the two of you can escape, everything's fine, right?"
Bambietta said nothing else as the Espada turned on her heels and ran back into the fray. As the woman ran out, she laughed a little, as the Arrancar has intrigued her more today than she ever has. Without even being aware of it, she accidentally let out, "I hope...that Arrancar survives..."
The other woman stood in silence as Bambietta's expression once again turned solemn. Her head turned back to the portal, and she stared at it as if she was reaching into her own depths of her soul.
A seemingly lost gaze made its way on the former Stern Ritter's face before she said, "I think... I know where I would like to go..."
The woman glanced back at Bambietta before the invalid woman turned to her and asked, "Can you take me somewhere...? There's a place I would like to go to..."
His eyes narrowed as he was quickly surrounded by a number of hooded individuals, all of whom he recognized except one, which was the smallest of the three. Turning his attention to the largest, he immediately decided that he would end his life first for betraying his trust.
It seemed that Jacques Queran could sense Haschwalth's intentions as he was the first to leap at him after cornering him. His hood fell, revealing the bald man as he reared back to punch his former ward. The Stern Ritter Grandmaster simply brought up his blade to collide with it.
Noticing the expression on Haschwalth's face, Jacques commented, "I would rather hope that there aren't any hard feelings between us, Lord Haschwalth... But I believe that Kurosaki is going to be the downfall of the Wandenreich... Not all monsters should be allowed to roam free."
Kicking the man in the gut, Haschwalth sent him flying with a quick snarl of, "It's too late to try and ask for my forgiveness. Nothing you can say will change your fate!"
Just as he said that, the other two Stern Ritter leaped towards him from behind. He ducked under the first arrow that soared by his face and slashed at the second one. Catching one of the Stern Ritter by their arms, he forcefully broke it within his grasp. What left him shocked, however, was the lack of sound emitting from them.
Surely that had to hurt?
He was interrupted by a shout of, "Those who accept the glory of God feel no pain, and no sorrow. Open your heart, child, and you too shall know its meaning."
Haschwalth tossed away the Stern Ritter and glared up at the old man, angrily murmuring, "I didn't ask for you to preach to me, old man. Pain or not, the ending will remain the same for all of you!"
The two Stern Ritter, followed by Jean as he finally stepped down from his platform, stood in front of him. He did take note that the smallest had disappeared, and knew that he needed to keep an eye on everything around him to make sure he wasn't caught off-guard by a sneak attack.
This was taking far too long for his tastes...
"...The Wandenreich is locked in a civil war?"
A sound of confirmation echoed through the phone. The woman sighed and rested her head back against the frozen wall. She was really getting tired of this. After that bastard violated her body with his power, she'd better get a break after this...
While she was thinking to herself, the voice echoed through the phone, "Make sure you're able to save the Espada... The other Arrancars are not top priority, but do not go out of your way to make sure they're saved... The Espada and Ichigo, you got that?"
The woman scoffed and mumbled, "Who do you think I am? I know exactly what I'm here to do."
The other line went silent, causing her to bring the phone closer to her ear. Suddenly a shout of, "I think you're a screw up who's always ruining everything! If you fail this time, I'm leaving you out to dry!"
She flinched away from the phone angrily before snapping it shut. With a deep sigh, she stood to her feet and dusted herself off, knowing that she was in for a potentially rough day. Lucky for her, she already knew where two of them were. But the Tercera...was most likely locked away in the confines of the throne room.
She'd have to wait for Ichigo to make his way there first.
She grabbed her nine braided pony-tails and tightened them even more before glancing around her. Right as she prepared to move, a voice called out, "You should know that those things aren't really allowed here... As a matter of fact, those shouldn't even work here."
She froze and slowly turned her head around the corner of the wall. A tall man with medium-length dark hair stared back at her. There were strange markings on his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes.
Of all the people... Askin Nakk le Vaar, the "D".
Noticing the way she had reacted to his presence, the man then turned and fully faced her, staring down with intrigued eyes. He then commented, "It's almost like... I'm the last person you wanted to see."
He was. Out of all the Stern Ritter, she had been able to discern the loyalties of each and every one of them. She even knew the key secrets behind some of the Stern Ritter and about the events that happened the other night.
It seemed that Askin was the only Stern Ritter without any connections... No one knew if he served Yhwach, or if he was with Haschwalth and Ichigo... He just seemed to drift aimlessly among the ranks of the Stern Ritter, giving no truths or hints about his character, but knowing just as much as she did about everyone else here.
She had no idea if she had ran into an ally or an enemy, and that bothered her more than it should have.
Moving away the single strand of hair that hung over his face, he narrowed his eyes as he gave her another once over. Making a quiet humming noise, Askin pointed at her and noted, "You're Bambietta's replacement, right? Eiserne Fraulou, the new 'E'..."
She cursed in her mind, wondering whether she should try and stand her ground or run... But it's definitely quite possible that he'd catch her.
The man then looked around the room before pointing, "Where's your friend? The pink-haired one?"
Eiserne narrowed her eyes and said, "We joined at the same time, but we're not friends. I have no friends."
Askin sighed and placed his hands in his pocket. With gaze of reluctance, he bemoaned, "That's too sad, little woman. If you had some friends, at least someone would've want revenge after I killed you."
Her eyes widened as he soon as he finished, and he blinked before finishing, "Surely you didn't think I could let you roam free after I'd discovered that you're an intruder?"
After he revealed the bracer on his arm, Eiserne leaped away while he was preparing to use an ability. The bracer itself began glowing until it suddenly stopped, causing her to wonder what had happened. The answer was given to her when a gust of wind blew past her, allowing her to become aware that another had made his presence known.
The Stern Ritter, Asian in appearance, slowly sauntered into the area. A large scar was on his lip, giving a sinister and cold appearance. She knew this man... Cang Du, the "I".
"Cang Du? What are you doing here?"
The man stopped only a few steps behind her, and it wasn't until then that she had noticed the Reishi claw on his wrist. She was definitely screwed now... There was no way she'd be able to escape!
Askin's eyes narrowed as he murmured, "Would you...fight against me as well, Cang Du? Are you also with Haschwalth?"
Cang Du blinked dully as he stared ahead and simply replied, "No."
The other Stern Ritter frowned and said, "But you have raised arms against me, Cang Du. If not Haschwalth...then Ichigo Kurosaki, no?"
The Asian Stern Ritter's response was to manifest his claws on his opposite hand as well, causing Askin to throw his hands in the air, much to Eiserne's confusion. With a loud, annoyed sigh, the Stern Ritter placed his hands in his pocket and turned on his heel.
Blinking once as she tried to understand what had happened, Eiserne protested, "He-Hey! Where are you going!? I thought you were trying to stop me!?"
The man waved his hand over his shoulder as he continued walking and called out, "It would take way too much to take down you and Cang Du. I don't like fights that drag out for way too long, so see ya!"
She stared in disbelief as the man walked away, wondering if he would perhaps have gotten in trouble with Yhwach for letting her leave. Letting out a small, relieved sigh, she turned towards Cang Du just as the man was walking away. She gaped in response before shouting, "You're just gonna help me and then leave!? Here I was, just about to thank you!"
The man stared at her from over his shoulder, simply blinking. He then turned away and continued walking. She quickly hurried to catch to him before stopping directly at his heel as he stopped.
"What do you want?"
With her hands on her hips, Eiserne stared up at him with confusion and stated, "I wanna know why you helped me. You don't know whether I'm with Ichigo or not."
He blinked down at her and said, "But I do. And so does his Majesty. Did you think that you could make your way inside of this place completely unknown? It's not a coincidence that you've been given the letter 'E'... The 'Exterior'... You've also picked a dumb name, little girl."
She snarled slightly as she thought about it herself... She didn't pick this name, damnit...
"If I were you, I'd escape from here immediately. Go back where you came from. Unless you plan on fighting along with us, don't waste another second standing upon such sacred grounds, Verrater."
Eiserne's eyes widened as Cang Du continued walking forward, closer and closer to the throne room.
"It seems you don't have much left, Jean."
Wiping the blood from his blade, Haschwalth appeared menacing to the old man as he crawled away from him. The other three Stern Ritter that fought alongside him were now dead, and it looked as if the Stern Ritter Grandmaster was going to add him to the list as well.
His entire face trembled as the blonde stepped closer. Suddenly, he shouted out, "Does this not affect you, Haschwalth!? Turning your back on your fellow race!? How low have you fallen to fight against this world that raised you!?"
The man's outburst caused Haschwalth to stop for a moment. In response, he replied, "It's what's necessary to save this race. In the end, I will justify the means."
He noticed that the old man's gaze was lost on him, as if he was looking past him. His face had paled and he begun sweating more than before.
As if he was afraid of something. That fact was confirmed when he mumbled, "No... Master... Are you sure...my time is done?"
An echoing sound of "Yes." reverberated around the room, causing Haschwalth to turn and look around the entire room. Who was that?
His attention turned back to the old man as he murmured, "...I'm sorry... I tried that night, I really did..."
The voice spoke again, "It's too bad. I think...you were probably one of my greatest creations. Guess I'll have to find a new set of toys to replace."
Haschwalth's eyes widened as the man suddenly began disintegrating in front of him, his Reishi remains floating towards the sky. He looked up as another hooded figure stood ahead, a lot smaller than the others.
Bright eyes peeked out from beneath the hood as he joyously announced, "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Haschwalth. We've not had the chance to ever meet before... But that's because I knew what you were planning, and I didn't want you to find me."
Haschwalth gripped his blade with both of his hands and glared at the newcomer before asking, "Who the hell are you!?"
Was he a Stern Ritter? The youngest Stern Ritter was Liltotto, and then Ichigo, Bambietta, and Giselle right after. What other children were a part of the Wandenreich!?
A deep smile etched itself on the face of the Stern Ritter as he announced, "Me...? You can call me Gremmy Thoumeaux... I am...the 'C'... The 'Creator'."
Trivia:
-As stated, Gremmy has a new letter, "C". His powers are essentially the same.
-I also like the fact that Gremmy gives me a Get-Out-of-Jail free card with getting rid of a few of my OC's. Thank you, Based God Gremmy.
-Eiserne means "Iron Maiden" in German, and Fraulou sounds similar to Fraulein. This is why her name sounds stupid to Cang Du.
Fun Fact:
-Jean Sanctum was originally called the C - "Clone". During his attack against Ichigo and Nel, the other Stern Ritters that died were meant to be his clones.