AnimeWriterTycoonGirl: What up Bleach people? I'm back! Sorry AO fans….no sequel just yet. But I am proud to announce the beginnings of a brand new GrimmIchi story: Filótheos (The Loving God). I'm super excited to start this story; it's been floating around in my head for a while now. But first, I need to explain a few things.

First, this story is taking place in an AU in the past. Gods (yes, plural) are very much real and show themselves quite often to the human world in order to remind them never to forget they exist. It's gonna be a ton of fun explaining how, why, and what types of gods there are but it'll take too long to describe in an author's note. I do explain some of it in this chapter, so you won't have to wait long.

If anyone reading is religious (or not), I apologize if any of my reasonings offend or annoy you, it is not my intention. I came up with a god story though, and that's what we're going to be reading today.

Second, Ichigo's name is gonna be changed. The reason? He's not Japanese for the majority of the story. Instead, he's gonna be Greek. Just roll with me on this one. And his name is Isidore. It is pronounced liked S-E-Door. It's a real Greek name (trust me; I went crazy looking for male Greek names starting with I that I liked). The meaning behind it, if you don't know already (no hard feelings if you don't), will be revealed later.

Finally (and this is for your benefits as well as mine), it won't take twenty-four chapters to get to the sex scenes. It won't happen in the first chapter…but it's not gonna take three years to get these two to bump hips. I promise. That being said, I think we should get started! Enjoy everybody!

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, Background Introductions…aka a kinda boring chapter but still important for the plot.

Chapter I

…..

It was a fine day in Crete indeed. The sun was bright and warm, high up above with little clouds to hinder the view. Helios must be in an affable mood, a young olive farmer named Isidore thought with a smile. The man allowed himself to bask in the warmth of the sun's rays before returning to the task at hand.

Olives were sacred to the citizens of Kamarina, Crete. Actually, they were a major staple of all Greek diets, but especially for the island dwellers like himself. If the young farmer wanted to have a successful harvest to sell this year, he needed to treat every tree with loving care.

Especially since the lovely and powerful Athena, who blessed the world with olives (among her many gifts), was his patron goddess. Isidore remembered the first time he was graced with the lovely warrior's presence. He had been a child of only ten summers, and his family had trekked all the way to the great city of Syracuse for the first time to sell their supplies when he saw her.

Flawless rich honey colored skin that gleamed almost gold (as most god and goddesses were known to do), pure black hair as dark as night, and who could forget her stunning gray eyes she was famous for. The graceful immortal had noticed his awe-struck expression and blessed the young boy with a breathtaking smile.

Even at his youthful age, Isidore had immediately become smitten, and chose her as his personal patron for when he was old enough to announce his personal choice for a patron god.

Isidore prayed every night to the goddess, asking for her blessings and strength. It was odd for a male in his village to proclaim a goddess like Athena as his patron, leaving him to be ridiculed by many of his neighbors and even his friends, albeit to a lighter extent. Sure, Athena was the goddess patron to many of the Crete islanders, but more often than not, men chose male gods, or ones meant for war and victory for their personal patronage.

Isidore never meant to be any less masculine in his choice, he simply chose the one he admired. Still, it hadn't been a stretch to think of the young boy as feminine at the time. The young farmer was noticeably lithe and slender, unlike many of his male family, friends, and fellow neighbors.

He was also jested for his unusually bright hair. In a world full of earth, night and the rarer sun shades, Isidore was born with a startling shade of red-yellow. There was no other word to describe the odd shade, too light to be true red but too dark to be yellow*.

His unique hair had made many believe he was cursed, or held the soul of a demon. In his youth, the poor child had been subjected to cruel words and crueler touches. Isidore had never been able to participate in any games like normal children, and many adults eyed him warily despite his good heart and character. The endless teasing and abuse had hardened the young man to become mistrustful of strangers, and become somewhat of a shut-in.

Isidore breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. He was dwelling on the past again. Now was not the time; he had to prepare for the onerous task of collecting all the olives for harvest soon.

"Isidore!" the young farmer jolted and turned in the voice's direction. Ah, it was his oldest friend, Claas. Despite his imposing size, Claas was a gentle giant. The two had bonded as children for their shared traits of looking different from the others.

His darker skin betrayed an impure heritage (half of his family traveled from the far west), but his family had earned their respect and land through war and trade. Claas, however, did not go the way of his grandfather, father and brothers, and preferred to tend to animals for his keep.

The Spanish-Greek man smiled softly. "Athena has blessed you once more with a bountiful harvest, hasn't she?" he greeted, eyeing the few but vibrant trees that were full to bursting with olives.

Isidore's olive harvest was always anticipated each year, even though the young farmer only had a few dozen trees in his keep. As his olives were the purest, most delicious and worthy of sacrifice to the gods (namely Athena herself), his business flourished. Isidore was proud to say he was able to maintain himself and his family with only 40 olive trees, especially since he inherited only 12 trees at his grandfather's passing.

Said farmer looked to his trees with that same pride. "That she has. Have your goats and sheep proven fruitful as well?"

The large man nodded. "I gained many foals and kids this spring. I will be able to retire my older animals soon."

Claas extended that gentleness among men to his animals as well. He never personally slaughtered his animals for meat, even for sacrifices to the gods, instead letting them live out the rest of their natural lives as long as they could.

To avoid displeasing the higher powers, Isidore always offered his own crops to the larger man, as a token of their friendship. In retribution, Claas traded cheese and wool to his family.

Isidore plucked a damaged leaf of a nearby tree before turning back to his friend. "Oh? You're not planning on selling Herms, are you?" he asked, slightly troubled. He had always liked the grouchy but reliable old goat, but could never hope to afford to buy the animal, especially now.

Claas frowned. "Never! In fact, I was hoping to sell him to you." He insisted. "I know he was your favorite kid when he was born 13 summers ago, and he seems to like you and you alone."

The farmer's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Sell him to me? Err…as much as I would like to, I don't have a lot of Tetradrachm** at the moment." He admitted quietly.

Though his olive harvest was always profitable, he had not yet taken his wares to market, which meant he was low on funds. Additionally, his mother had grown ill, and healers always charge extraordinary fees, even knowing it could cost lives.

Claas laughed. "I would never accept your money after everything you and your family has done for mine," he corrected, shaking his head. "I cannot keep trading cheese and wool for your olives every year. I might as well give you a goat for all your generosity. I merely ask for a larger supply of olives in return."

Isidore's mouth dropped open. Such a generous trade! Certainly, enough olives and oil would be worth a goat, even an older one, but he knew his oldest friend wouldn't ask for full price.

Knowing Claas would refuse proper payment, Isidore sighed. "How many baskets would you like this year?" he asked in resignation.

The herder grinned, knowing he won the argument before it began. "Three more than usual, plus a casket of oil. I would like to use some olives for myself and my family." He proposed.

Isidore hummed. Usually, Claas was given two baskets. With five baskets and one casket of oil gone, Isidore would still have around 40 large baskets and well over 50 jars or caskets of oil left to offer at the market. He had been very successful in pressing olives into oil earlier this spring, as well as collect several fruits from his harvest. There was more than enough for this season to be profitable, so he agreed without further hesitation.

"And it would be nice to have Herms as extra help to stomp the olives into oil. Not to mention scare away pests." He reasoned even after he had already agreed to the deal.

Claas nodded. "Well said. Speaking of help, how is your mother?"

Here, Isidore's eyes dimmed. "She has not been well. The healers do not know what ails her. The sickness is not physical, and she has no fever or chills, so we cannot understand why she lies so ill." He sighed in frustration. "I plan to offer a strong prayer to Apollo to heal her after I pray for wisdom from Athena." He explained.

Claas remained silent. Everyone knew the gods were not immediately benevolent beings. Any assistance to humans was a whimsical desire to, or out of sheer boredom. This did not apply to the more violent gods, who made a great sport out of driving mortals to war or wicked motives.

But for Apollo to hear Isidore's wish…it seemed unlikely. His personal patron god listened more to prayers of the herd or even music before his lesser but powerful methods of healing. But the larger man could never say as much to his friend, who clung to that glimmer of hope.

After a while though he cracked a weak grin. "Perhaps it would also be wise to pray to Asclepius as well. He is the son of Apollo, and thus is gifted in healing as well. He's certainly well praised for his talent in medicine." He offered gently.

Now it was Isidore's turn to present a small smile. "Perhaps I shall. I thank you for your kind consideration Claas. I'll let mother know you asked about her." He promised.

A warmer smile graced the gentle giant. "See that you do." He nodded towards the valuable trees. "When would be a good time to make our trade?" he asked. It was almost that time in the season where sacrifices will be made to the gods.

Isidore plucked an olive from a nearby branch, and popped it into his mouth. Chewing softly, he tested the ripeness of the fruit. "Very soon. Perhaps within two days."

"Good to hear. I will bring Herms with me then. After our trade, are you planning to head to the big city's market?" he asked, shifting to a causal topic.

Isidore rolled his eyes. "Of course, Claas; what good is hundreds upon hundreds of olives if they are not sold before the taste festers?" he scowled, but no annoyance actually showed in the expression.

The market the two were discussing was none other than the largest city on the island; Syracuse. Full of people and better supplies than the small coastal village of Kamarina, it would be far more profitable, even though the journey to and from took well over two days.

Isidore didn't like going to the market, despite how much success he had there. He preferred to be the one growing the olives and let his father do the exhausting task of selling the fruits, having a natural flair for socializing and bartering. Isidore's dour and mistrustful nature, along with his strange appearance, clashed with customers wanting to haggle.

Claas laughed and shook his head. "Oh, poor man … forced to socialize and endure the big city. Oh, how horrid your life is!" he joked, ruffling his smaller friend's bright hair, knowing fully well it would irritate his best friend. Claas had never been to the large city, so he loved to tease his friend for his rare privilege.

As expected, the fiery temper revealed itself and Isidore was hurling insults and shoving the larger man off of him, much to Claas' amusement and his exasperation.

"Tch…don't you have flocks or sows to tend to?" he griped, shaking his hair back to the unruly style he preferred.

The Spanish blooded man chuckled. "I suppose I do…but in all honesty Isidore…don't you think now is the time to consider starting your own family? Your family depends on you yes, but a wife would relieve the burden of taking care of your mother and sisters." He opened carefully, knowing this was a touchy subject for the youth.

Isidore sighed, and all anger left, leaving an exhausted, unmotivated man. "…I'm too poor for any woman to consider offering dowries Claas, let alone find a woman who isn't appalled by my strange colored hair or poor status.

"I'm aware of the possibility I could remain unmarried. I've resigned myself to it, actually. Even you with your mixed blood made a better suitor…and it was proved wasn't it?" he pointed out, though there was no disgust in his voice about his friend being half Greek.

Claas had met his bride a few months ago, and she was a beautiful thing too. Bronze skin and dark hair that looked well next to his own, Claas was going to wed her at the beginning of Gamelion***, hoping to gaining the powerful Hera's blessing. Isidore was happy for his friend, he truly was, but he was reminded of his unlikelihood to ever obtain a wife.

It hadn't been for a lack of trying. Isidore spoke from experience. His father had tried, arranging meetings with several fathers of unmarried girls. But both fathers and daughters were unwilling to offer a dowry for such a strange looking individual who didn't even have any land or status to make up for it.

It was a huge shame for a family to be unable to pass the heritage along to a new generation. Even with his two sisters, who stood a far better chance of marrying with their traditional Greek looks, the linage would stop at him, as the rest of his father's family bore no sons who survived childhood or had died at war without siring a child of their own.

Claas was silent for several moments. "Perhaps you will be surprised Isidore…there is someone for everyone. Even someone for you." He promised, even though he knew his friend wouldn't listen.

Isidore snorted, turning his back and taking extra interest in a tree that didn't need it. "I can only pray so Claas...I'll see you around." He parted for the both of them, listening as the other man begrudgingly left. The young farmer slumped forward, resting his forehead on the tree.

"Someone for everyone huh…even someone like me? A miracle from the gods would be needed for me to find a person like that." The young farmer muttered to himself, convinced he would never have a partner to spend the rest of his days.

Little did he know…a minor child god, who had been mindlessly flying over the village after granting a child's wish, had spotted him and froze. She had overheard his misery and knew just from glancing at him that he was in fact, destined for someone, and she knew exactly who that person … or rather, deity, was.

…

Meanwhile, in the heavens above resting atop the Greeks' sacred Mount Olympus (among other holy centers of the world), the gods, demigods and immortals enjoyed their days humoring themselves at the humans' expenses and their own. It truly was a utopia of technology, luxury and pleasure.

The truly powerful gods and goddesses of old enjoyed a life of glamour and luxury; while lesser gods, spirits and immortals still enjoyed the perks and spoils of immortality, they were still at the mercy of the far more powerful gods and The Fates. Of course, The Fates were even more powerful than the gods, and all feared them.

Which is why it had been a huge shock to every being, immortal or not, god or mortal when the Fates revealed themselves to the mortal world, literally the entire world, only 20,000 years ago. Assuming it had been a fickle desire, the gods gathered to see why the ancient sisters would do such a thing.

The Fates explained themselves to all, mortal and immortal, that they wanted to ensure humans knew the gods and the Fates existed, insulted by a human man's attempt to defy the gods with (considerable) mortal logic. The man accused was banished to the underworld. They demanded the gods blatantly reveal themselves to humanity to avoid such displeasures ever again.

The immortals found themselves relishing the attention gained from the humans, and made a habit of entering the mortal realm at random if they felt they were being forgotten, felt bored or believed they were not being treated with enough respect given their immeasurable powers.

This was especially important after the Fates revealed the true reason behind their grand announcement to the gods and spirits and immortals after the humans were left satisfied with the reason they were given.

Long after the creation of the universe, the ancient gods and The Fates began the arduous task of creating true life. This included animals, plants and humanity. Without realizing it, some of the mystic and ancient energy that gave the gods and immortals their powers were accidentally dispersed into the world and imbued into the fledgling creatures and humanity, and therefore, even the humans had powers, albeit weak ones.

Though there were a few humans who had harness some abilities like clairvoyance and unnatural strength, wisdom or beauty, it was only a small portion of the population. However, the power was still collected among all humans, and they unwittingly gained an unknown power that would have a horrendous effect on the gods; should enough people stop believing in the power of the gods, their existence would cease. Humans…had the power to control the existence of the gods.

The idea had been frightening to the younger gods and goddesses, who were born from either humans or the almighty monsters and gods of old. These younger gods immediately schemed to control the humans, making sure they always believed and therefore the gods would live on for eternity.

This led to a fierce and devastating power struggle between the ancient gods and their children as well as the fledgling humanity, known amongst the gods as the Power War. It was a dark time for gods and humanity, when the skies and ground below were stained a near permanent red and gold from both god and human blood.

The Fates and the ancient gods, the ones who had created universe and the gods threatening this plan, put an end to the disaster before it could get worse. It was the primordial gods who had accidentally sent the power to destroy gods among the budding humanity and other creatures, so they took responsibility.

While they would not feel the consequences – having immunity from the penalties – the ancient ones knew taking away free will would inevitably bring that end of existence the younger gods all feared.

Reluctant, but not willingly to sacrifice their lives, the gods agreed the best way to keep their powers and immortality was by gracing their presence throughout the ages. They created their own stories for the humans, to be shared as their legacies. Though few of their stories were the same for the hundreds of cultures across the world, as they changed things as they saw how certain cultures depicted them.

This reflected in their appearance. Though many gods and goddesses stuck to what they considered their general design and gender, some were whimsical and decided to change their appearance into that of animal like creatures or speak from manmade items or nature, alter their general appearance drastically, or even change their gender depending on what culture was worshipping them.

In the beginning, a majority of powers that made up the universe had been born to the ancient gods. As more gods and immortals came into existence, the ancient ones blessed them with their unwanted powers, confident the responsibilities given would be better off in another's hands.

The gods born from those ancient beings drew lots about what powers they would take for themselves, and then decided how they wanted to be recognized in the mortal realm's many cultures. There were even courts designed to make the process easier and fair.

Gods gifted with many powers graciously gave credit to lesser gods as the wielder of some of those powers, since there were many lesser gods who could gain followers to avoid being wiped out of existence. Some gods didn't exist at all in some cultures, but that was fine; because they had more than enough believers in others.

Only a few gods were granted a rare lot which would allow them to be seen as 'the one true almighty god' in monotheistic cultures, but those religions held little traction compared to the hundreds of others. And of course, this was lessened in greatness whenever a human from a monotheistic religion witnessed a god from another culture, and more often than not, renounced their religion for the hundreds or even thousands of gods of another religion.

Though the primordial gods had no reason to, even they engaged in revealing themselves to the humans, as it was a decent pastime besides creating more gods and beings into the world. Over time, many of the ancient gods blended themselves among the regular gods, and though they weren't forgotten by themselves and the Fates, they had created enough of a new persona of their powers to be ignored by their children and forgotten by new gods and immortals.

The gods had many locations or hidden portals where they could slip in and out of the mortal world into their own realms. For the Greeks, it was Mount Olympus; Egyptians the Nile; Japanese the many sacred mountains; the cultures in the west, undiscovered by the eastern world, witnessed the gods as animal gods, so they took an animal form they liked and revealed themselves from that. The list went on for the hundreds of nations and cultures around the world.

So, with the world literally at their beck and call, the gods enjoyed endless entertainment. Either from their own gifts among one another or the various interactions with mortals, the immortals kept themselves busy.

Those interactions were not limited to merely showing off their greatness and powers to the mortals. Some gods had romantic liaisons with particularly beautiful humans, and lavished them with gifts or even granted them immortality and declared them their consorts. Such actions were not frowned upon by most of the gods, especially if those lovers were going to end up immortal too.

However, there were a small group of gods who sneered at the notion of romanticizing with humans. Whether through jealousy or genuine disgust at the idea, gods who did frown upon the idea existed.

There were no rules saying gods couldn't interact with the lovers of gods however, and this led to many famous tales of gods doing just that to one another, leading to heartbreak, the stealing of lovers, or even death.

Aside from personal boundaries and some courts designed to make things easier, there were few laws the gods had to abide to. There was one decree though … one that none of the gods had broken after the first and last true clash among them all, which had been the terrible Power War.

Gods…could not kill other gods before it was their time.

Intentional deicide hasn't happened since the Power War, and that had been before the rule. No one but the Fates knew what the punishment was for such a crime, and no one wanted to find out.

Gods who ruled over death of any kind did have the powerful to kill gods, yes, but they could only do so under the order of The Fates. Only The Fates knew when the death of the gods would come. Only The Fates could authorize the death of an immortal or god.

Since The Fates isolated themselves ever since first revealing themselves to the mortals, (their orders coming in the form of messages sent to the gods of the underworld) the gods could not infer when their demise would come.

However, since they were allotted such a substantial amount of life, they lived lavishly and proudly. They couldn't waste their thousands of years – potentially millions if they were lucky – in fear of a realm several of their own ruled.

Rumor had it gods who died in the Power War were not simply erased from existence, but were merely trapped in a world of their own memories as a form of penance, unable to escape or interact with anyone of their memories, living or dead, until they were at last reincarnated. There were also rumors of them having their own special death realm in the underworld. The underworld gods refused to speak a word about it, sworn to secrecy by the Fates.

This of course had only caused the rumors to begin with, but even a death like that couldn't be too frightening, going through their own lives over and over again could get monotonous, but with a large enough lifespan, they'd only watch their lives a couple of times before being erased and reborn as either a mortal or a new god.

So, life in the heavens remained carefree and whimsical.

…

It was another peaceful day in the heavens when the child goddess zipped through excitedly, eager to share her news with the one god she simply couldn't find at the moment.

Huffing, the little pink haired goddess known in Greece as Hebe – the goddess of youth – turned to some of the older gods, asking about his whereabouts and insisting it was important. The kind god of luck and opportunity told her where he last saw the god she's searching for, and with a happy grin, Hebe – or Yachiru as she liked to be called in the heavens – headed towards a sun soaked space in an even more serene part of the heavens.

Even though most gods took on names for themselves for the mortals based on cities or the mortals' pronunciation, there were names they preferred to call themselves in the heavens or underworld. Yachiru overheard her own name while tending to the wishes of children in the Far East, and loved it so much, she took the name for herself immediately after. Her original name was forgotten by most, even herself.

Flying through the beautiful multi colored forest, she finally found him.

"Grimmy! There you are! I was looking ALLLL over for you!" she pouted once she came across the – formerly – resting god.

The blue haired god, resting on the soft grass under the warmth of the sun, cracked an eye open lazily and groaned.

"Go away … I'm busy," he unashamedly lied, stretched, and turned the over way, determined to resume his nap and ignore the perpetually energetic little goddess.

Yachiru didn't like that, and began to cry loudly. "I came all this way looking for you and you won't even bother to listen to what I have to say. Grimmjow, you're so meeeaaaannn!" she cried out, little pearls falling to the ground, made from her tears.

Letting out a loud sigh, the god pulled himself up reluctantly and gently placed a palm on top of her head. "Oi, quite crying…you know tears only annoy me. What's so damn important you couldn't wait for me to finish my nap?" he sighed, fully expecting the little girl to tell him something trivial or just weird. As the goddess of youth and often associated with children, the little girl had a strange imagination.

Wiping her tears away, the girl perked up. "It's really, really important! I think I found your soulmate!" she insisted.

Grimmjow stiffened, all interest in sleep gone. "What are you talking about?" he asked, fully attentive. Gods don't throw the word soulmate around carelessly, even the children gods.

Soulmates were a truly precious thing to both mortals and gods alike, and once found; a god coveted them immediately. The problem: the god often wasn't the one to find their own soulmate, due to The Fates deciding gods had to work to find their true love like mortals did as a means of keeping them humble…somewhat.

Yachiru nodded vigorously. "I mean it! Amara told me all about how to tell how a soulmate belongs to a god, and he fits it!" she explained…poorly…as children were often capable of.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. Despite hearing very little about his supposed soulmate (a man huh? Who knew?) it was worth listening to. Amara was what the Greeks called Aphrodite; if anyone knew something about soulmates, it was the goddess of love herself.

"Well? Is that really all you're going to say? Not even where I can find my supposed mate or what he looks like?" he asked, reminding Yachiru she hadn't shared enough details.

With a small blush that comes from getting scolded, Yachiru looked at him seriously. "He's a mortal olive farmer in Kamarina of Crete. I know he was your soulmate because I could see a signature of your aura around him." She revealed.

Mortal soulmates of the gods had the signature of their intended's aura attached to them since birth, though they and other mortals could not see it. Any god could see the signatures if they looked (and were close enough to see it), but it was not their responsibility to inform the owner of that specific aura. It was an act of kindness, not obligatory.

Yachiru was an exception to the rule; her childlike mind believing everyone should be happy, and it was her duty to help bring that happiness to life.

Grimmjow hummed and leaned forward. "Really? You're sure it's my signature? Show me what he looks like." He commanded, leaning back against a large rock, all thoughts of this being a waste of time gone. Every god and goddess dreamed of the day they would find their beloved. To think it might be his turn made his ancient heart race a bit.

As she was far below him in rank (and age), she couldn't complain about him bossing her around. Concentrating on the memory of the pretty farmer, she conjured the image in front of the older god.

Isidore was shown frozen with a relaxed look as he tended to his olive trees with obvious care. Grimmjow was surprised by his shock of auburn orange hair, which was unheard of in Greece. Sure as the sun and moon hung in the sky, there was an outline of deep blue lined with a brighter electric blue glowing around the farmer.

Grimmjow couldn't deny the sudden urge to reach out and touch the face of the young farmer, or the flames of desire igniting within him, his mouth going dry and his pulse quickening.

There was no renouncing it. This mortal was definitely his soulmate.

A wide grin stretched across his face. "Unbelievable…to think I'd get such a pretty face to call mine. How lucky am I?" he asked rhetorically, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Yachiru pouted then. "Ne…Grimmy…please be careful with him. I overheard him talking to a friend, and he's sad. His mother is sick, and he is convinced he'll be alone for the rest of his life because his appearance is so weird in his village." She warned. She knew that grin, or rather, the other owner of that grin. Grimmjow looked ready to go down and kidnap the poor farmer.

Grimmjow grunted to show he heard her, but his eyes were completely transfixed on the farmer. "What's his name?" he asked, belatedly realizing he lacked a name to match the beautiful face.

The goddess frowned, but at least he acknowledged her. "Isidore…I think. I never heard a last name." she explained.

"Isidore." He tested it out on his tongue, and chuckled. What a lovely name. "Isidore…I like it." he said with that same grin, before tearing his eyes away to ruffled Yachiru's hair. "You did well Yachi…thank you. I'll make you something nice as a show of my appreciation." He promised sincerely with a much kinder smile.

Yachiru blushed again but smiled happily, the image fading away. "Could…could you make me some sweets?" she asked shyly. The child goddess had an enormous fondness for sweets.

Grimmjow let out a booming laugh at her request. "That's not generally my specialty…but I'll see what I can do." He assured her. He should have known the pink haired girl would want candy of all things. "Go find Nellia or someone else to play with. I'm going to gain as much information as I can about my soulmate before I approach him properly." He announced.

Yachiru frowned. "Uuuuu…but I never caught his last name! You could be looking forever!" she fretted, her eyebrows pinching together.

Grimmjow let out another bark of laughter as he stood to full height and stretched. "How many people have orange hair in Crete? I doubt he'll be hard to find. Don't act worried for me and go back to the kiddie play you're used to." He flashed a grin, and teleported to the All-Knowing Library, leaving a pouting Yachiru behind.

The All-Knowing Library held the records of every human, god, or immortal who ever lived thus far. The inside of this establishment was infinite, a testament to the ever-growing population of the three realms. The Library was created as a place of records and a hall for gods to study about particular mortals who caught their interest, which could be similar to Grimmjow and Isidore's case.

The blue haired god found the Greek hall with little difficulty, and was satisfied to see Kamarina had a small population, finding his beloved's scroll within minutes.

His lip curled upon discovering his soulmate had suffered much worse than loneliness and a sick mother. Cruel beatings and forced isolation tormented his beautiful farmer. But as much as he'd like to call upon Kheth – who the Greeks knew as Ares – to destroy the worthless mortals who tortured his Isidore – and damn wasn't it a thrill to call the human his already – acting too violently could scare his mate away. There was also the risk of annoying the other gods. He had no interest in getting caught in the middle of a petty argument among his kin.

There was also the worry about coming off too strongly in front of his soulmate. A god or goddess tended to fall in love immediately the moment they came across their soulmate. That generally wasn't the case for mortals, who could be scared off by strong approaches. That was the last thing Grimmjow wanted.

Ah, but any advances he made would be immediately scrutinized after so many years of being harassed and rejected. He reconsidered the notion of punishing the cattle who dared to harass what was his. Oh…how tempting it was…but he couldn't frighten poor Isidore away. Bless that Yachiru for warning him ahead of time.

The god took a deep breath to recollect himself. He needed to go about this rationally. Unlike his twin brother (who would need to be alerted to the news as well), he wasn't someone who rushed headstrong into something.

He'd need to find a reason to interact with Isidore. Perhaps arrive as a traveler from another region of the island. Maybe as a merchant who would be interested in his olives.

He needed a new name too. Grimmjow was the name he gave himself, taking an interest in the Germanic tribes, but it would make little sense in Greece. To resolve this, he poured over common names for the area. It wasn't easy; he needed something that fit him, something he could utilize without giving away his immortality.

It took longer than he would have liked, but finally, the stubborn god found a relatively normal name, and one he wouldn't mind being called. Unlike most gods, he didn't go down to Greece often, and had forgotten the names he had used before. And after a few moments of thinking it over, he really didn't remember the appearance he used there either.

Grimmjow sighed. If his soulmate didn't recognize the efforts he was putting into this later, once he revealed himself fully, he'd be insulted. It also reminded him just how little effort he's put into this particular culture, which is a shame since his role was still important in any culture…at least the ones he chose to be a major part of.

But he didn't even come close to being the laziest god out there, leaving him only put out at the effort he'd have to do in order to remind the mortals in Greece of his presence. Which would only get in the way of time he'd want to spend with his beloved soulmate.

With a self-suffering groan, the god left the Library with a drafted plan in mind, one that involved getting his soulmate to notice him, fall in love, and resume his status as a god in the Greek culture.

Damn…sometimes it really sucked being the ancient god of light.

…

AN: I think this is a pretty good place to stop right? I introduced both main characters, the plot is set (kinda…there's middle parts I wanna work on) and information was given. I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to come up with some of the information without relying too much on the internet.

Like how I incorporated Bleach characters into the story? In case it wasn't obvious, the kind god of luck and opportunity I designated to Jushiro Ukitake. It doesn't take much to figure out some characters are going to fit their roles…REALLY well. My best friend and I spent an afternoon thinking up who would be who in my Greek Bleach fic. Some came easily (virtual cookie to anyone who can guess who Ares' character is played by), and others were a bit harder (like the blacksmith god who I am totally too lazy to look up his name right now).

I also wanted to stay away from making it too obvious who the characters are. So only a handful (and I mean a really small handful) of characters are going to keep their names from the show. Yachiru kept hers because I really didn't know what type of cute name would work for her, and Grimmjow's name is just too awesome to not use.

And while I promised sex would happen much sooner in this story, it's still going to be at least a few chapters. Grimmjow fell head over heels due to the excitement of finding his soulmate, but Isidore is not going to be swept off his feet right away, especially since he's still so insecure.

By the way, I did an extraordinary amount of research into ancient Greek life, and though I'm planning on attempting to be as accurate as possible, there are some aspects I will ignore (such as tiny dicks being attractive…because seriously: What. The. Fuck.) If anyone reading is a professional in this field and I made some careless mistakes, please don't hesitate to message me.

I won't lie; getting chapters out is going to be hard. I really, really don't know when I'll have time to write up more chapters. Please don't be discouraged, I just don't want people checking for updates often…since I know I likely won't be able to.

But, in the meantime, please tell me what you think of this new story. I'm always open to new suggestions. Have a great day!

Ciao~!

P.S.

* The color orange does not exist yet in BCE. In fact, the color itself wasn't established until the late 15th century/early 16th century. Grimmjow knows what orange is because I'm pretty sure gods are more advanced than humans and I'm also sure they'd be able to see more colors than humans can anyways.

** Tetradrachm is money from that time period (I think)

***Gamelion takes place during the modern month of January.