Author Notes: This is more about Tsubaki's experience leading to his demise. I tried to write it as a tragedy of a man forced into a role that he comes to hate. Sōken was added to explain why Ryūken felt uneasy around him because while he was genuinely good natured, he did terrible things for the greater good, even if he hated himself for it.
The chapter implies Kūgo's connection to Orihime, but I'll reveal it later.
With Aizen, I'd figure he was heavily involved since Aizen's involved in everything related to Ichigo including his wife and it would explain why he was so keen about Orihime in the first place. Though in Orihime's case, it's a reminder of what an amoral person he is and that the Espada were indeed evil. It's implied that memory manipulation was involved so none of the parties outside of likely Aizen knew the whole truth until Tsubaki learned it at the time of his death.
The Chapter title is in reference to the Seven Deadly Sins motif for a certain character's fight with Ichigo and Vanity being an obscure variant of Pride that's subtly different.
Chapter 19: The Vainglorious
Tsubaki blitzed towards to Chevalier as he charged a red flame in his mouth, ready for an attack, but the white entity shot form its shoulder a combination of toad-like entities and splash of acid to cover the transformed Quincy in acidic slime and creatures that began spewing leeches from their skulls. The bat skull vibrated its tongue, causing a massive explosion. However, Tsubaki's head- the only thing that remained, began to regenerate his now naked red skinned body and he generated a pitchfork made of fire in his left hand.
Observing the restoration, the Chevalier fired purple, condensed strands of eye-beams into the forehead of Tsubaki. This caused his pupils and irises to remerge as he coughed up blood. Tsubaki was back to his senses, which was not good as the technique of his clan
My only weakness was that my brain needed to be intact. That's what old man head of the Mozashi clan said to me when I inherited the leadership. That's some advanced technology it's got there to pinpoint that flaw..., but I'm at least taking you with me to Hell. My apologies to the other guys who get caught up in this., he thought as his body became engulfed in flames. However, the arms all melded into a machine gun like weapon, which proceeded to barrage the demonic looking Quincy with countless purple bullets through his body. He then coughed up more blood ad the holes in his body spewed out galloons of blood.
He proceeded to fall to the ground as his thoughts went through his entire life.
200 Years Ago- Soul Society
It was a time of war, but unlike the war raged by Yhwach, this war wasn't nearly as equal- it was a massacre plain and simple
A younger looking Tsubaki, dressed in traditional Quincy clothes was punched by an older man with stubble on his chin. They were hiding behind a large rock as the Head Captain Yamamoto burned down Quincy...including pregnant women and babies with a look of loathing on his face as an onlooker laughed liked a madman in glee.
"That bastard! We were just helping the other kind of Quincy out! They didn't do anything wrong!," the young man argued before his mouth was clasped by the older man.
"Ssh. Wait until they're gone...," he said.
Yamamoto looked at the massive stone debris with curious eyes as he began to walk towards it, but the gaunt Central 46 member, with spiky red hair, stubbled chin and a black visor over his eyes said-
"There's nothing there. Go on to the next place. It's an order. Unless, you want HIM to come down and punish you and your men? Especially, your men as you're forced to watch."
Yamamoto cursed under his breath-
"I kill Quincy like I did 800 years ago, but this didn't feel like a duty nor like dirty business. This was an unjustified genocide and karma will strike for me for doing this one day."
He then left with the Central 46 member as Tsubaki breathed in irritation once the hand was removed.
"You needed to be quiet. You have a duty as a memebr of the Mozashi clan. The Okada have predicted that the Savior will be born in the 20th century. You need to live till then...or better yet, you'll be sent into the future with this spell-," the older man said as he pulled out Roman numerals of bluish-white Spiritual Pressure from thin air by gesturing them with his hands.
"Der Strom der Zeit, der durch die Ewigkeit hallt. Senden Sie diesen Herold, um den Schreien des Ritus des unschuldigen Chors zu helfen: Das verheißene Tor.," he chanted as the numerals formed into a vortex of bluish-white energy.
"Wait, what're you doing?! I need to stay with ya!," Tsubaki shouted as he grabbed the mantle of the older man.
However, the older man kicked him upwards into the portal, as he leaped out in order to be spotted by a Captain- a fair-skinned woman with black, braided hair that covered the center of her chest.
Why don't ya come with me?!, Tsubaki thought as the portal closed once he was fully engulfed in the void, the entry closing before he could even move. The last sight he saw was the old man charging towards the woman.
I'm sorry, Tsubaki, but you needed to be not spotted in order for this to work., the older man thought as h generated from his Spiritual Pressure- an exact copy of his son, except with a bloodied and scorched hole through his chest. Made to look like Yamamoto had killed him to avoid suspicion.
He was immediately cut down diagonally from the right due to a Zanpakuto wielded by a laughing, obscured madman with a round blue nose. As the older man fell to his knees, he was suddenly pushed back to his feet by that same man.
"Oh, nonononononononono. You need to live so I can test out your limitations on how long a Quincy can survive and withstand my blows. You're a lab-rat for my test subject you know.," he said in a melodic and deep voice before the woman mercifully shot a Hadō spell through the man's skull
"That was unnecessary...Strip your Lieutenant Badge, your barbarism in this war will be judged as war crimes too harsh for even Mūken. Expect to be executed. The Yamada clan have already produced a candidate to replace you...Ishakyōki Kurotsuchi,, elder brother of Mayuri Kurotsuchi.," the woman said.
However, he laughed back with a hollering cackle at this statement.
"I would be worried, but the Soul Emperor has seen my work and has promoted me into his highest ranks as apart of this new addition to the Shitten'nō (Four Heavenly Kings)- it's being called the Rokūten'nō (Six Heavenly Kings) as a former member of the Royal Guard is joining the ranks as well So I'm going to use all the valuable tricks you taught me in order to conduct my research in the heavens and nor worry about being executed, thank you very much..," said the blue nosed man.
The woman's eyes widened in dread and disgust.
"The original Court Guard Squads were merciless brutes, but you're a monster even worse than me at my worst. What kind of man is the Soul Emperor to see any worth in you?," she demanded.
"I've been interested in the medical arts since birth. You're just a savage beast pretending to be a motherly saint out of some sort of penance. Everything you've done and learned will meaningless and your lessons will be put to better use in someone who acknowledges himself for the brilliant doctor he is. So goodbye, you walking corpse of a long dead era.," he replied back as he vanished in a white beam of light projected downwards from the sky above.
The woman then cried silently, regretfully looking at her decision to teach Ishakyōki the true arts of the Healing Kidō with self-loathing.
32 Years Ago- World of the Living
A young Tsubaki landed in the grassy backyard of a mansion. Everything looked so odd to him, the ground away from the mansion being covered in a gray like surface, tall wooden cross like objects connected by wires and rectangular buildings with roofs, which were composed of unfamiliar material.
He looked behind to see five others, a girl with bright pink hair, a smaller girl with black hair, a towering, closed eyed man with dirty blond hair, a bald, pointy eared man with an horned eyepatch and a young man with closed eyes and a blonde ponytail.
"Who are you people?," asked the young Tsubaki before he turned to see an elderly man with graying brown hair, mustache and glasses. His eyes were deep gray and he had a bit of a beard of his chin. His skin was wrinkled with age and he had pronounced cheekbones. He wears white Quincy clothes underneath a brown tunic.
"I am Sōken Ishida. You are in the future, in the World of the Living. It was foretold that you five from the war would appear to aid the Savior in realizing their potential.," he explained.
"What's a savior? You mean the Quincy King?," Tsubaki asked.
"This involves an entirely different being Quincy's future...No, the future of the worlds in the near future.," he said with a tone of sadness and regret, with his glasses obscuring his eyes.
"You mean attacking them while the bastards are asleep right?," asked the naive Tsubaki, but the man shook his head.
"No, it will be a greater atrocity that I fully intend to pay the price for.," he said
A Gargenta opened as three men with ten shadowy individuals appeared
The first was a dark skinned, lean-built man with purple braided hair, who appeared of seemingly African descent but was Japanese all the same. he woore a long, white robe with black tabi and white zoroi, long, black fingerless gloves, band-like visor, and an orange rope coming from his right shoulder running across his chest to under his left arm. His Zanpakuto was suspended from a string-like attachment on the left side of his robe.
The second was a man who looked to be in his early to mid twenties, being unusually thin and tall with very sharp features, giving him a skeletal appearance, and bore unusual silver hair that reached his chin. He had his eyes constantly narrowed to slits and kept his face set in a wide mocking smile. He wore a white robe over a white hakama. The hilt of his Zanpakutō was visible sticking out from under the robe through the narrow "V" shaped opening down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem, which fell about to mid-calf. His robe had long bell sleeves, into which he hid his hands. The lining of the robe and edges or layers of the under-robes appeared to be black.
And the third, was a mild-featured man with menacing eyes and brown hair swept back, with a strand hanging down his face. He wore a white, high-collar overcoat with black lining over a white outfit with black lining with a pink obi belt.
"Don't worry, this is a special Kidō barrier that obscures the flow of history from knowing the details of this event. You can speak without being suspected of anything.," said the brown haired man calmly, but he gave off a callous air.
"What're you doing with Soul Reapers?," asked Tsubaki with a loud voice.
"Sōken, does it trouble you that you align with Hollows and Soul Reapers to get your dirty work done?," asked the brown haired man to which the old man looked to the side in shame.
"We're here to kidnap a baby of some ridiculous prophecy and hide it in obscurity to be used for later. It's to get back at the creitn who ordered the genocide as well as being behind the Five Noble Houses that have been causing these crimes against existence for eons. You're just flunkies for this greater purpose. This will remain a secret to your graves.," the dark skinned man said bluntly.
"Whatcha say?!," Tsubaki said in anger.
"Now, now. Get along with your buddies you here. I mean you'll be working together for this.," said the silver haired man.
"What buddies?," Tsubaki asked.
"Don't bother asking. It's a horrific act to ensure peace.," said the bald man.
"And we're going to pay for it eventually.," said the blond haired boy.
Tsubaki's eyes widened in horror.
A Few Hours Later
An apartment was burning to the ground as a man laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He was tall and lean-built with fair skin, brown iris eyes, and shoulder-length black hair that he kept combed back, down to the nape of his neck He wore black pants and a white sleeveless shirt, over which he wore a black jacket that had a fur-covered collar. He also wore a thin chain necklace that had an X-shaped pendant attached to it.
"What're you doing here?! You're here to finish me off?!," he shouted in pain.
Several men and women had been killed in gruesome ways across the apartment. A scared brown haired boy was crouched in the corner in utter fear.
A plainly dressed woman with waist-lenghth bright orange hair was on her knees crying as a force-field kept her away from her daughter, a girl with bright orange hair, crying.
"Good job, Yammy Llargo, Aaroniero Arruruerie, Szayelaporro Granz, Zommari Rureaux, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Nnoitra Gilga, Ulquiorra Cifer, Tier Harribel, Baraggan Louisenbairn, and Coyote Starrk.," said the brown haired man as the ten obscured individuals bowed to him and the two men behind him, some more reluctantly than others.
Sōken and the other five Quincy stood away from the other group in disgust.
"This didn't feel right.," said one with the visage of a goatee as he shrugged and felt self-loathing.
"Utter whelps. Not worthy of my time.," said another who had the impression of being old.
"Lord Aizen. This was unforgivable. I hope this leads to something worth it.," said a woman with a glint of blonde hair.
"Anything, Lord Aizen says is justified. No matter, the deed.," said a man with an silhouette of a broken horned helmet.
"My only regret is that they didn't put up a fight.," said an unusually tall one with the upper-teeth showing, twisted into a snark.
"Tch.," scoffed a man with a glint of blue hair showing in the light.
"Lord Aizen? What is the purpose of this infant?," asked a dark skinned man with yellow iris eyes showing in the dark.
"Can I turn them into Arrancar?," asked a pink haired man whose glasses obscured his eyes.
"It's good that it happened at night. Otherwise, I'd have been helpless.," said a higher pitched voice from an individual with a long mask.
"Can I eat their Souls?," asked a large brute with a long black ponytail.
"No. We will frame this on an assailant and she will believe that this was a murder of another person. The man over there is of no consequence. I hope she will be of use to me as part of our bargain.," said the brown haired man to Sōken.
"What's the difference between her and other Quincy?," asked the visor wearing, dark skinned man to the brown haired man.
"She's closer to being an actual Quincy than this old man and the Quincy King. She's worth looking into for the future.," replied the brown haired man.
"Given what I've seen from this unorthodox fellas with how they used their Quincy powers different from ours. I'm frankly startled to one day see it happen, if I live long enough to see the day.," said the silver haired man sarcastically.
Sōken turned to the five Quincy, including a disgusted Tsubaki, whose face was heavily scarred from preventing the ten from beating the other people unnecessarily to death.
"This is for the greater good. You will now use Sklaverei to take in her power's traits, pose as them and not reveal your true nature until it's time.," the old man said before the brown haired man vanished along with his followers into a Garganta.
Tsubaki grabbed Sōken by the throat prepared to kill him, but stopped when he saw the crying mother.
"W-will the girl be raised by some good folks?," asked Tsubaki.
Sōken regretfully shook his head.
Tsubaki dropped to his knees and cried.
"We will all go to hell for this.," Sōken said as he and the others left the room.
Around the Time of Uryū's Hollow Bait Incident
Tsubaki had taken over the presence of Orihime's true powers along with the other five, Baigon, Ayame, Lily, Hinagiku and Shun'nō respectively. For years, he was in a blackness, dormant with nothing to do aside from waiting.
He had waited through the years of the abusive aunt and uncle. The years in which Sora died. The time that he turned into a Hollow and attacked her. And whenever she was alone and unable to comfort her.
Then Orihime got into intense danger and they awoke, finally after all that time.
He looked at Orihime and saw himself in her eyes.
He looked so small and ridiculous now. And he felt the need to torment Orihime as a punishment for it. Yet, the one he hated the most was himself. He hated himself for playing the part of restraining her potential.
Even during times of peace where she would learn to master her powers, tolerate her bizarre antics or suffer the exhaustion of following her quick-footed son around the town. He felt this loathing.
And now he was paying the price.
Present
His eyes, blurred and barely able to see, saw that the sphere had shattered to reveal a black winged form.
You are now heading to a path where every dark corner, every shadow, every bed, every closet, every door, every building, every man, every cloud, everything...hides a monster that will spare no thought about killing you in the worst way possible. I apologize for being so vain in that I could stop it from happening yet wishing you'd grow a spine. I truly am a bad protector., He thought as his vision dimmed and it faded to black.
His form crumbled into dust.
The yellow iris eyes looked down at the Chevalier Creux, but then at the Diable heading towards her son.
She flew towards the latter group with the Chevalier going silent, having seemingly completing its task and awaiting further instructions.
Flauros was now overlooking Kazui and the others still startled by the news of other Diable coming to fight for Halthus' sake.
Suddenly, the yellow cat is palm thrusted into a wall by a black winged figure.
The figure turns to see the other Diable, who look in shock at the sudden appearance of the new yet familiar figure.
Next Chapter: The Accedia-1