Chapter 14 – Ascension

"This is unprecedented," Akon, the 3rd Seat and Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute awed.

"Marvelous," Kurotsuchi Mayuri hummed in gleeful agreement. The large monitor in front of them showed statistical data filled with equations no normal person can understand. In the middle of the screen was a tubular shape stretching vertically, the top and bottom corner of it was scattered with numbers and charts indicating a surging spike, complete with bright red 'warning!' status across the screen.

"Kurotsuchi, what's the meaning of this?"

The Twelfth Division's captain's left eye twitched at the insolent wench who dared to interrupt his train of thoughts.

They were in his lab back at the Twelfth Division's SRDI building. He had issued a reluctant notice calling for all available high-ranking personnel to be summoned after he detected an unusual, but not thoroughly unfamiliar phenomenon happening in Hueco Mundo. At least, not to him and a few... others.

"Well if you would shut your trap and open your eyes, you'll see it quite clearly, little girl," Mayuri spat in a rather venomous fashion, "it's an interdimensional bridge!"

Soi-Fon bristled at the insult. How she would show this... this clown to his place when she managed to—

"And?" Hitsugaya Toshiro interrupted calmly. The child prodigy was assessing the monitor with a frown on his boyish face. While other things managed to get into his head—such as the condition of Hinamori Momo and how it was his fault that—he retained a rather blank canvas.

As it turned out, only Soi-Fon, Hitsugaya Toshiro and Shunsui Kyoraku as a temporary replacement for the Captain-Commander were available. The rest of the captains were either busy with the rebuilding of whatever was damaged in the previous battle, finishing up on re-establishing Karakura Town back in its proper place, and other matters that required more of their attention. Some of the lieutenants were assisting in Hollow extermination team that found residual Hollows and Arrancars still lurking around Soul Society, while some others such as Lieutenant Hinamori were... indefinitely unavailable.

Mayuri snorted at the child prodigy's query. He could be as demeaning as he was to the likes of Soi Fon, but somehow the sharp, calculative gaze of the boy before him reminded him of himself, despite the lack of manic excitement. Perhaps it was the genius in him acknowledging another one like him, even though they were in completely different fields.

"It's a mean of travel between highly correlative dimensions that is otherwise nonexistent in our current timeframe," he started off, and proceeded to narrate a highly complex approach as to how a theoretical interdimensional travel could work given the current scientific understanding of the theory, and how a futuristic society would adapt to that theory given their advanced knowledge—by which Kurotsuchi growled rather enviously, to the room's occupants' confusion—and technological resources.

"And?"

After that fifteen minutes rant, Hitsugaya Toshiro's reaction was not what he expected.

"What more do you want me to say?" Kurotsuchi grounded out. He took back what he thought about his genius acknowledgment. The boy was clearly mocking him!

"Well, where does it lead?" Soi Fon intercepted impatiently. She admitted that she hadn't a clue of what Kurotsuchi just blabbered about—to be fair, it was an unnecessarily long rant filled with information that was useless to her given the circumstances—but she knew a potential threat when she saw one. And that interdimensional travel bridge as the manic captain described could bring in threats unknown.

She glanced at her right and more than noticed Shunsui Kyoraku's unusual poker face.

As usual, the guy knew something that the rest of them didn't, being a senior captain that he was.

"Why don't you find out?" Mayuri waved his hand tauntingly in front of her face, making her growl.

She was about to pound the clown's face in itself when the door to the lab opened and revealed the least expected person to come. The Captain-Commander himself had emerged from his seclusion.

"It leads to the Soul King's Palace," Yamamoto Genryuusai said, aiming his blank eyes to the general direction of the room. Somehow, Shunsui figured that the old commander was avoiding any eye contact with one of his oldest students. Shame, perhaps.

"Captain-Commander!" Soi Fon exclaimed at the commander's appearance. It had been a week since his self-inflicted exile to his tightly guarded—by Ryujin Jakka—quarters in the First Division. While she didn't know what made him go to such extreme measures, she knew it must had something to do with the abduction of Abarai Renji.

After his first admittance of the existence of the Seika, and him at one point having received his blessing, Soi Fon already suspected that there must be some sort of relationship between him and the Seika. But to what extent of closeness, she couldn't see. His interaction with Abarai was patchy at best from what she saw. There were times that he visited the redhead when he was locked up in the Mugen, but who knew what lies behind closed doors.

But all she could see was that Abarai's abduction took a glaringly obvious toll on the ancient captain. Maybe it was their past relation but a millennium ago. Whatever it was, Soi Fon was less than impressed that it made the Captain-Commander abandoned his duties, especially in a delicate time such as this.

"I... I have no excuse, my fellow captains," Yamamoto said quietly, a shameful tone very much bizarre in his voice was used to portray his regret, "I abandoned my duties when I'm needed most."

Safe to say that it nearly stunned everyone into silence.

Not quite enough, though, because Soi Fon was just about to speak her mind when Shunsui, just in time, managed to put his words in before that happened.

"No, Yamamoto-dono," the laid back captain shook his head, a genuine understanding in his voice, "we understand," he pointedly looked at the rest of the room occupants to not say any more than that.

"I don't," Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the ever spiteful soul, quipped with a sneer. While he may not really care much about what the Captain-Commander did in his private time, his prolonged absence had made Mayuri unable to continue to work on his new toy—which he still blamed Kuchiki Byakuya for everything that he did to break in to his facility and unlawfully used his equipment, it was a miracle the device was not broken at all—and had to comply to the acting commander, Shunsui Kyoraku, and helped in the rebuilding of Seireitei and Soul Society as a whole, re-establish Karakura Town back in its proper location and help the Fourth Division in treating the injured! Or his research budget would be cut in half!

He knew it didn't make sense nor was it justifiable to blame the absent Captain-Commander on his woes since he just knew he would be working twice as hard as it was now if the old captain was in his right mind. But given his ire, he was on a warpath to basically blame anything that moves.

"It's called the Tenchūren," the weary Captain-Commander stated, "it's a transportation vehicle used by certain... individuals from the Soul King's dimension to access ours," he explained, gesturing to the tubular image on the large monitor in the lab.

"Wait," Toshiro perked up at that, "you mean this is exactly what Aizen is looking for?"

"Then it's him? He did it?"

"No," Shunsui once again shook his head, "Aizen couldn't have recreated this, even with the Hōgyoku."

He definitely knew something that the rest of the room—except for the Captain-Commander himself—didn't. Well, save for Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He looked more spiteful than surprised at that point. Perhaps because someone outdid him in creating something he couldn't, like the Tenchūren itself. And he was still rooted in deep hatred for Urahara Kisuke for the Hogyōku, no matter if the man was the one who got him out of his... darker past in the first place.

"I see no sign of him," Soi Fon argued, "or his followers. He must've gone through," she concluded.

Mayuri leered at the Second Division's captain. "Only one way to find out," he taunted, to which she finally managed to land a punch on his smug, clown face.

"Fascinating," Akon, who was quiet this whole time, mumbled, "I was just on my way to investigate it myself."

Every division has its rebels.

They emerged at sundown. It must have been hours that they spent in an interdimensional passage through the Hogyōku, with Aizen Sousuke leading the way silently, before he stopped and created an opening that ripped through the enclosed space they were in.

Aizen walked through the opening, trusting that his comrades would follow him. Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname followed next, their faces schooled in a way that conveyed nothing to the outside world, a perfect imitation of Aizen's blank expression.

Behind them, Coyote Starrk was heaved by both Lilynette and another Números, Tier Harribel and Barragan Louisenbairn lagging behind.

It was a pathetic sight. But what jarred them more was the location they were in.

"Aizen-sama, why are we here?" Tier asked her leader with a frown.

It was the Material World.

Why would Aizen lead them to it?

One glance and she knew that they were not anywhere near Karakura Town. If her memories served her right, it was a place called Kyoto. She once was shown the location by Ichimaru Gin, he said it was to expand her knowledge of the Material World so she could strategize better in battles. She didn't know why he had to explain this... Kyoto to her. As far as she knew, it wasn't nearly as reiryoku rich as Karakura, and lower-level Hollows would actually perish in it because of the lack of reiryoku to feed on.

Once again, Aizen stopped in his tracks. Everyone in the group held their breath, anticipating their leader's reaction. But again, he simply continued walking ahead, as if he didn't hear her question. Tier narrowed her eyes.

Aizen was leading them to the edge of the city, into the dense woods and deeper still. All along the journey, Tier and her comrades shared one thought.

There was something that he was hiding from them.

"I'll stay behind, in case they come," a plump woman with bright, purple hair styled in an elaborate updo said as she ushered her colleagues to a brightly lit pillar that stretched to the heavens.

"We have no way of launching it back, anyway," a skinny man with a tall pompadour snorted as he peered at a large sphere containing their precious cargo. A growl from behind him made him jump and scampered closer to the pillar. Not that he was fearful, mind you, he was as fierce as the fiercest tiger, but even he knew danger when it came knocking.

"Get Kukaku Shiba," a bald man with a long, pitch-black beard nodded his head. He was clearly the leader of the miss-matched group. He gestured for the rest of his group to follow him into an empty space just beside the pillar.

"This is a pain," the pompadour man, now a safe distance away from the glowing sphere and the dangerous beast guarding it, complained, "why didn't we just use the Chokaimon?"

"Dramatic entrance, Kirinji," a beautiful woman, with headdress as glamorous as the empress of an Eastern kingdom, scoffed at the lack of elegance the pompadour man showed.

"No one's watching," Kirinji sneered mockingly.

The plump woman shook her head at the antics of her comrades and turned to face the leader of the group. "I will see you, then."

"Be careful, Hikifune."

"This is next level," Ichigo awed at the scenery before and all around him.

They were on a grand staircase that seemed to stretch to infinity, everything was white and pure and holy. There were isles floating on the sky, housing different sections of the world before him. Right in the middle was the largest island, a humongous structure stood erect and intimidating before him. To call it a castle was an understatement.

In front of him was a very silent Kuchiki Byakuya, his eyes pitch black and aimed at a large spherical device that held his most precious lieutenant, seemingly unconscious. There was at least a five feet radius between him and Renji from the rest of the group. A miffed Kiriniji Tenjiro trailed behind in a lackadaisical manner.

"That it is, Kurosaki Ichigo," a bald man leading the group said in a rather amusing manner.

"How do you—"

"I know names," the man answered vaguely before Ichigo could voice his confusion.

But then that only brought more questions to his mind. "What?"

"Forgive the late introduction, I am Hyosube Ichibe of the Zero Division," Ichibe introduced, and then gesturing to his comrades around him, "the Great Weave Guard, Shutara Senjumaru," the beautiful lady with ornate headpiece inclined her head, "God of the Swords, Nimaiya Oetsu," a silent afro nodded his head in a reminisce of a rapper, "the troublemaker, Kirinji Tenjiro," to which Kirinji exclaimed indignantly, "he is our best healer and the Hot Spring Demon."

"What about the fat lad—"

"She wouldn't like you calling her that," Ichibe laughed boisterously, "she is the Ruler of Grain, Hikifune Kirio. And you might reconsider your statement when you see her later on," he continued knowingly.

Ichibe then proceeded to explain the role of the Zero Division to the substitute shinigami, how it was their duty to protect the Royal Family and that he would have never heard of them if it was not for Byakuya who Called.

Ichigo was stupefied with the information he received. To think that it was that easy for them to enter the world that Aizen so desperately wanted. The gravity of the situation was not lost on him. If Aizen found that the pillar was still in Hueco Mundo... Well, he would have to trust Hikifune Kirio—whoever the fat lady was—to guard against him and his followers. They did seem rather... strong. From the way they act and the fact that they were the 'Zero' Division meant that they were at least stronger than the rest of the Gotei 13, right?

He went to ask about his concern on Aizen finding the Tenchūren—that was what they called it, wasn't it?—to Ichibe, but before he could voice a word, he heard some rather... disturbing noises from the one and only Kuchiki Byakuya.

It was not dissimilar with the haunting notes he had when he did the Calling, but it was a whole lot quieter and it was almost as if he was... conversing?

"Oi, Bya—"

"Best not disturb him, Kurosaki Ichigo," the beautiful woman—Senjumaru—shook her head, her eyes sharp, "not right now."

"What is he mumbling about?"

"He is communicating," Ichibe simply said.

Ichigo frowned at the vague explanations he had been getting from the so-called Zero Division. It was as if they didn't trust him even though they led him into their dimension. Or perhaps it wasn't their place to explain about the oddity that Kuchiki Byakuya had become?

"I'll just wait," he relented, slumping forward.

Ichibe grinned wolfishly. "Wise decision."

"Ah, it's about time."

Soi-Fon froze on the spot as she emerged from the artificial Garganta that Kurotsuchi Mayuri made right by the site of the phenomenon they saw from his lab.

She did not expect a fellow shinigami, tremendously powerful and unknown to her, to be standing right on the spot where Kurotsuchi stated his findings. And right next to a giant, glowing pillar that stretched to the heavens.

"You...!"

"I knew it," the eccentric scientist himself had an increasingly wider grin on his face, the gold of his teeth gleaming ominously. He was truly glad that annoying Shutara was not there with the plump lady. He couldn't stand her smug face, as ironic as it sounded.

The other two captains, Kyoraku Shunsui and Hitsugaya Toshiro emerged not long after, Akon trailing behind in barely contained excitement.

Shunsui whistled, checking out the pillar-like transport in an almost nostalgic way. He remembered the first time he saw it coming and blasting off everything surrounding it to smithereens. While the younger captains didn't have the opportunity seeing it first hand as it pierced and tore through the heavens, its landing an explosion of light, he was quite glad of the implication—there was no need for the pillar to show, they could handle the situation themselves.

But now.

His expression turned somber as he remembered exactly the reason why the pillar ever came down at all the last time he saw it. It was too late, and it was devastating. The conflict brewed as they fought amongst each other, blaming those who descended as cowards, and blaming those who fought for being weak.

But most of all, it was heart-wrenching to see the great Captain-Commander reduced to a wreck of depression, not unlike what he was in since a week ago, after Aizen—

Shunsui shook the thought away. It was not the time to mule over bygones. "But it's awfully arrogant of you to launch it right here," he instead said in a relaxed manner, as if to show that he was not shaken by the appearance of one Hikifune Kirio amongst them.

"You don't think I can take care of these critters myself?" Hikifune scoffed, gesturing to the decaying bodies of Hollows and Arrancars alike, some were even Números that didn't manage to follow Aizen in time.

"I'm sure you know what, or rather, who, I'm implying here," Shunsui retorted, his eyes conveying meanings that Soi Fon and Toshiro couldn't catch.

"He's not here," Hikifune narrowed her eyes, her red lips pursed at Shunsui's implied suggestion that she couldn't take on Aizen Sousuke herself. While she understood that the man was a formidable opponent, she couldn't imagine her, as one of the Zero Division, would lose to him just because he created a cheap and mortal imitation of the holy orb she had come to know from her time as a Royal Guard. Even if said orb—so dubbed Hogyōku—was still a mystery to her and her comrades as to how powerful it really was.

On the side, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and his deputy-president of the SRDI, Akon, were too busy inspecting and poking around the Tenchūren to bother joining into the conversation. While Akon might have slightly more interest in learning about the person herself that came with the scientific wonder the Tenchūren was, he didn't want to be outdone by his captain. And the fact that the device might have taken Abarai Renji to a safer location was also a boost of motivation.

It was already heavily implied that the woman wasn't the enemy, after all.

"Okay, who is—"

"I'm gonna cut to the chase," Hikifune interrupted Toshiro, "I need you to get Shiba Kukaku here to launch back the Tenchūren," she stated primly, all manners of jest gone from her plump façade and replaced with seriousness that even got Mayuri to stop his poking around to spare a glance at her.

Soi Fon bristled at the audacity of the plump woman to giver what sounded to her clearly as an order. "Preposterous, how dare you—"

"Do as she says," Yamamoto Genryuusai's voice boomed through the still open Garganta, followed by the emergence of himself.

Soi Fon and Toshiro exclaimed. "Captain-Commander!"

Yamamoto then began to explain the situation to the two young captains who never met or knew of the Zero Division, having thought that as captains they would know everything there was to know. But clearly, the Zero Division was a tightly reined information that held secrets the senior captains didn't want them to know if they could help it.

It was right on the mark, as Yamamoto explained with a detached voice that they had come on the aftermath of the thousand-year war, after the Seika was gone and the 'evil' merely sealed away. It was heavily implied in his tone that there was a bitterness still that the senior captains held against the Zero Division, him, most of all.

A short while after his brief introduction of the Zero Division, Yamamoto deeply exhaled and looked at Hikifune in the eye.

"You have the three of them?"

"Yes."

"Then I shall acquiesce," he nodded curtly, "take good care of them."

Hikifune inclined her head in confirmation and then hesitated.

"It's time to let the past go, Yamamoto."

His silence was all the answer she needed.

As Ichibe walked from the chamber he was in, a disgruntled Senjumaru confronted him.

"Have they Ascended?"

Ichibe breathed in and sighed loudly, "they have."

It was highly stressful for him to witness the Ascension. The amount of raw energy needed to push through the thousands of layers of space and time was enormous, even for one such as himself. Just being in the presence of such power took a considerable amount of energy. It was a wonder that Senjumaru's sphere weavings weren't torn apart and drop the Seika before the pure energy lifted him off to the beyond—or perhaps it was the sentient energy holding the sphere together.

What took most of his energy was to withstand Kuchiki Byakuya's own energy footprints as it lashed across the chamber along with the pure heavenly energy. While the chamber walls were designed to withstand multiple times of what the combined energies were releasing, Ichibe, unfortunately, was not. Sometimes he wished he wasn't in charge of the Ascension chamber protection.

The black-haired woman nodded, she could feel the clash of energy and space from within the chamber as she waited for him outside, just far enough to get the full brunt of the force, but close enough that she could still keep her protective sphere from falling apart whilst the energy accumulation process was happening.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is in the Kirinden with Kirinji," she reported, "he should be good after a quick soak."

"How is the Seika?" she returned to the question she was about to ask. Ichibe grunted and gestured for Senjumaru to walk with him, "still... unconscious. But the Messenger assured that he would be under constant monitoring."

She hummed.

Kuchiki Byakuya opened a large door that led him into a sterile-looking chamber.

"Report."

"His mind is imprisoned," a healer stated, her voice indicating a frown where the stoic face didn't, "I am in the process of opening the mental lock. It is... powerful. The energy spikes feel almost vengeful."

It was a brightly lit room. It was white as snow and bright as the sun, that the Seika's dimming glow was easily lost if not for Byakuya's highly trained eyes.

The healer shrouded in white, one of her hands positioned delicately on the redhead's temple while the other supported the deity's body on a padded block. Tendrils of light hovered and laid on the Seika's head, their tips glowed brighter as the being pushed more of their energy into opening the mental lock. Aizen's power was astoundingly strong.

"I'm afraid that whatever is being done to his mind, the effect..." the healer trailed off.

Byakuya walked in closer to the person that was once his lieutenant. His face holding no hint of emotion as he inched close to the elevated pedestal the redhead was laid upon. However, as he reached out to touch the pale hand of the unconscious soul, a spike of energy passed from him unto the redhead that made him flickered his fingers in surprise.

The healer standing beside him let out a small breath. It was a hard lock to open, but it was Byakuya's energy, the small push that it took to loosen the lock and set the Seika's mind free.

Slowly, but surely, the Seika's fingers twitched. One finger, two, a shift of vermillion hair and a flutter of long red lashes, until twin chocolate orbs were exposed to the white light of the chamber.

Until they clashed with familiar slate greys and grew dark.

In repulsion. In hatred.

In fear.

Byakuya's nose flared as he clenched his fists. His normally slate eyes overtaken by pitch black once again and his reiatsu flared, barely managing to contain itself before he hurt the cowering redhead.

Aizen.

- to be continued -