Chapter 82: 1,000 Yr. BWArc: Reunited

Minata's POV

"Complete eradication hm?" Kyoraku asks, sounding almost nonplussed despite the current situation. "No capturing us, no attempt at subjugation . . . Just a thorough annihilation of the shinigami race, is that it? Is that your game plan? Your strategy?"

"In the simplest terms, yes," The Quincy declares, his expression never changing as he kept a hand on the hilt of his sword. "We have watched from the shadows for over a thousand years, and now is our time to finally come into the light."

"Well, you and your people have certainly made your presence known," Kyoraku admits, keeping his tone light as he snuck a glance at what has become of our homeland. "It's one thing to invade an enemy's lands. It's another to convert it into what I'm likely guessing is what your home base looks like. . . Such a cold place if you ask me."

"It seems that you did not hear me the first time," The advisor says, his tone admonishing as his expression remains unchanged. "When I said that we watched from the shadows, I meant it. We never invaded the Seireitei as you said . . . We have always been here."

"A pocket dimension. . ." I say, realization dawning on my face as I took in his words. "You Quincy feed off of reishi and the Soul Society has an abundance of it. You must have used it to create your own world within our shadows, a secret space to hide in to rebuild your strength for this very moment."

"That would explain their almost meticulous efficiency in the first invasion," Nanao adds, catching on to my thinking as the men remain silent. "How they got in, the take down of our ranks, how they were able to steal bankais so successfully . . . They had a thousand years to watch how we operate in order to discern our weak points and how to act on them."

"I see that you do surround yourself with capable subordinates after all," The Quincy muses as he turns his gaze on me.

"I wouldn't be much of a Captain Commander if I didn't surround myself with capable personnel, now would I?" Kyoraku asks in return as the man starts to look around at our surroundings, as if he was searching for something. ". . . Hmm, as someone that's helping to lead the charge to kill all shinigami, I'm amazed that you've not tried to attack me yet."

"The fact that you even brought it up proves that you already have something up your sleeve if I do."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Kyoraku suggests, his tone teasing as he tipped his hat. "Would you like to test it out?"

Surprisingly, he does, unsheathing his blade and swinging it at Kyoraku's neck in one fluid motion, only to be stopped by the barrier Nanao erected before he had even entered the room.

"Despite your strengths, kido has never been known as a personal favorite of yours," The man mumbles, taking a step back to watch the barrier in full. "I believe this is the work of one of your lieutenants then, the one in the glasses perhaps?"

"I must give credit where credit is due," Kyoraku concedes as we both glance at Nanao, who was kneeling on the ground, channeling her spiritual energy into the construct. "Hakudan Keppeki, it's a recent addition to Lieutenant Ise's arsenal."

"Is that. . . Is that Quincy reiatsu I sense?" The blonde asks, his eyes widening slightly before narrowing them at Nanao. "The audacity. . ."

"After the brazen attack you and your people committed against us not too long ago, should you really be complaining about one's audacity?" Nanao dared to ask, and I couldn't help but be impressed by the withering glare she shot his way in return.

"To be fair, you and your fellow Quinices left a lot of residual reiatsu the last time you made an appearance," I say, crossing my arms against my chest. ". . . Some of the scientists were more than eager to study it."

"Others were more inclined to manipulate it," Kyoraku adds, looking over at his niece. "That Blut Vene ability that you all have is quite impressive. Who knew its properties lend itself so well to kido barriers?"

"I see. . . So that's how the barrier was able to repel me so easily," The man mumbles, not looking too put out by this development. "I'm curious to know if the rest of your people know this technique. If they do, then maybe they'll have a better chance to die fighting. . ."

All of a sudden, as if on cue, a large, loud explosion erupts somewhere behind us. Turning our heads, we see a large plume of smoke billowing out a couple miles away, just as two more explosions erupt in other parts of the Seireitei.

"And thus, the fighting begins anew. . ." I mumble, already feeling the onslaught of multiple reiatsu signatures hitting my senses.

"Though I have enjoyed this conversation, I believe this is the time that we started getting more serious," Kyoraku announces, his tone becoming more authoritative as he glanced over at me. "Ladies, I'm going to need one of you to be my eyes and ears out in the field. . . Any volunteers?"

We had long established that I would be the one to go out into the field while Nanao stayed with the Captain Commander, but I guess the man couldn't help but sound like a gentleman in the face of our enemy.

"Well, I could always go for a walk. . ." I say as I start to back away toward the window, playing along. "And since the door is currently blocked, it looks like my only way out is through the window."

"We all have to make adjustments in these troubling times," The Captain Commander tells me, his tone almost flippant, though his eyes remained serious as he turned to me. "Be careful out there."

"I'll keep in touch." Is all I say as I sit on the windowsill. Shooting Nanao once last nod, I let myself fall out of the room, freefalling until I was halfway down before using shunpo to land on a nearby building.

"These buildings are not only different, but they're covered in ice," I hear Mizukiri say as she slips out of her Inner World, standing right beside me as she surveys the area.

"Not only that, it's infused with reiatsu, not enough to be troublesome, but just enough to help with bringing this entire terrain to the forefront," I say as I turn my head, getting a better look at her new clothes. "I see you've changed up your style."

"I thought I was overdue for a change," She concedes, glancing down at herself. Gone were the blue and black robes, and in their place was a purple kimono-style dress with billowy sleeves that went down to her thighs, a blue obi, and black knee-high tights that stretched down into her black opened toed sandals. It was a look that allowed for more maneuverability and flexibility, and it wasn't a change that my zanpakuto took lightly. "I may not like fighting, but when there's too much on the line, we can't hold back now, now can we?"

"Not in the slightest. If the Quincies will not show mercy, all we can do is return the favor," I say, just as another explosion erupts to the south. "The Sternritters will target the captains first, especially the ones that still have their bankais, leaving their foot soldiers to wreak havoc in their wake."

"They could also go after the ones that aren't captains, but have bankai. . ." Kiri reminds me, her tone growing soft. ". . . Including us."

"It's possible, but our intel has shown that they're mainly focused on the captains, so that should buy us some time," I say as I watch her adjust her ponytail. "Besides, we have other ways to fight them besides our bankai, remember?"

"That we do," She concedes, just as a number of familiar reiatsu signatures appear on our radar. ". . . The cavalry's coming."

"And not a moment too soon," I say as a number of shinigami appear before us, the group having been specifically chosen by myself, Nanao, and Kyoraku. "Afternoon everyone! I see no one had a hard time finding their way here."

"Well, when you have a cousin that can connect all of us through our shadows, it makes navigating this place a little easier." Fourteenth Seat Todoroki admits as she gestures to my cousin, who smirks slightly at the recognition.

"I must admit. It was a shock to see the entire Seireitei change right before our eyes, but it's not something we can linger on forever," Akira says for all of us, her gaze determined as everyone in the task force - a crew of 50 men and women specifically picked from the various divisions, Onmitsukidou, and Kido Corps - stood ready and waiting for instructions. "Orders ma'am?"

"The Sternritters will be focused on taking down the captains and claiming whatever bankais they can get their hands on," I say as I place my hand on the hilt of my blade. "As a strike unit, we are tasked with traversing the Seireitei to take down any foot soldiers that we see . . . You all were picked from your respective divisions thanks to your power, skill, and efficiency, and now it's time to put them to the task. You were picked for a reason, and now it's time to prove it . . . Now let's give these Quincies hell, shall we?"

"MA'AM YES MA'AM!"


Byakuya's POV

"I see the Seireitei has gone through quite the makeover while we've been away. . . I must admit. Not a fan of all the icy architecture."

"There's no need for the sarcasm Senbonzakura," I admonish him as we continue our descent back into the Soul Society. ". . . Even if you make a fair point."

Now dressed in the garments Captain Shutara had designed and weaved for me, the robes were the only reason why I was not burning into oblivion going through the multiple levels of shielding that covered the Seireitei. It was a long descent, but after going through a large series of clouds, the Soul Society was now in my sights . . .

. . . Well, what remains of it that is. It was pretty unrecognizable from my perspective, but the Royal Guard had warned me of this before I left their dimension.

"They managed to change the entire Seireitei to their liking. Not a single building looks familiar down there. . ."

"No, but the people are. . ." I say as I spot black dots running towards a plume of smoke that had just erupted a couple miles south of us, most likely to confront the Quincies that were attacking in that area.

Slowing down my descent, I landed on a tall building located in the region that the Seventh Division usually occupied, keeping my spiritual pressure to a minimum to avoid detection from the many enemies that were undoubtedly around us.

Stretching my own senses outward, I could feel Abarai's reiatsu first, already engaged against an opponent, whose reiatsu faintly felt familiar . . .

"Because it is familiar master . . . It belongs to the mask-wearing quincy, the burly one that was partnered with the fear-inducing one that utterly thrashed us."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senbonzakura. I needed that," I grumble as Abarai's reiatsu remains stable while his opponent's continues to fluctuate. ". . . It shouldn't take Abarai long to defeat his opponent. He feels different now. . . Much calmer. Much more focused."

"I guess training in the Royal Dimension has worked wonders for his fighting style after all. . . Where do you think Rukia is around here? Do you think she is with him?"

"Possibly, but who knows?" I say as I look around at the scenery before us. "At best, she is keeping her reiatsu low so that she will not be detected by the quincies that are undoubtedly around here . . . Not until she is ready to strike them in return."

"Sounds like a tactic straight out of the Second Division, and speaking of something out of the Second Division . . . Where do you think Mina is around here?"

"That is another mystery that I hope will not remain a mystery for long," I say, unable to hold back the concern I had for her in my voice. "It doesn't help that she could make her reiatsu signature almost nonexistent, even to me . . . I would be hard pressed to find her in all of this. It's more likely that she'll find me before I can find her."

"Well, we would only be doing the Quincies a favor if we remain in this one spot forever like a sitting duck . . . We should move."

"Sound advice Senbonzakura. I couldn't have thought of that without you."

"Ah, good to see that your sarcastic wit is still there," He bites back in return as I jump to another rooftop. "Anyway, I believe it's best if we do the same as what Rukia is doing. Keep our reiatsu low and jump in when we see the chance. It's not the most honorable of strategies, but. . ."

"When it comes to honor, the Quincies aren't worth the effort," I say in return, keeping my senses on high alert so that I wouldn't be caught unaware. "They want to put us on the path to extinction. It's only fair to return the sentiment in kind. . . We can't afford to be merciful now."

"It wouldn't do us any good anyway, not with how militaristic the Quincies are now compared to how they were a thousand years ago . . ."

"Agreed. . ." Was all I allowed myself to say as I jumped down to the street below.

Traversing the unrecognizable thoroughfares was a grim affair. While some streets were empty of any life, other streets were battle ravaged, with damaged buildings and dead bodies lying within their confines. More quinices lay dead on the streets than shinigami, but the number of shinigami casualties that I had the unfortunate chance of seeing was still too high for my liking.

Eventually, I come across a small plaza that was left a smoldering ruin. Bodies were lying across much of the area, and while most were quincy in origin, there were a couple of black robed figures mixed in with the dead. Taking a closer look at the remains, the bodies of the shinigami were all littered by visible puncture wounds, undoubtedly from the quincies' arrows, but the quincies themselves were not covered in sword slashes as I expected.

In fact, they looked partially dissolved, like they had been eaten away by something acidic. . .

. . . Wait a minute, acidic?

"The wounds . . . They're tinged with Mina's reiatsu," IhearSenbonzakura say as I continue to take in the scene, now noticing that most of the enemies' bodies were covered in the same kind of wounds. "She was here. . . But where could she be now?"

"I do not know, but with how recent all this damage is, she must not have gotten f-"

I felt the new hostile presence on my left, but before I could pull Senbonzakura out of his sheath, the presence's hostile reiatsu started to rapidly decline, as if it was being quickly snuffed out by the wind.

At the sound of an echoing thump coming from the same direction, I turn to see a quincy that I had not seen before laid out on the ground about thirty feet away, his bow dissipating as the blade of a jumonji yari stuck out from the man's neck, letting out a light gray cloud that started to eat away at his skin.

Wait a minute . . . A jumonji yari?

I only know one person in the entire Seireitei whose shikai is a jumonji yari capable of acidic attacks.

". . . Mina!" I say, my voice louder than I expected as I tried to lock in on her reiatsu, only to be surprised when I felt her presence suddenly appear right behind me.

"You called?"

Her voice was almost like a whisper, the familiar teasing lilt a well-welcomed shock to my heart as I took in the feel of her reiatsu. It felt stronger, freer than how it was in the past, a calming balm against my own as I felt her eyes on me. I could feel them boring into the back of my skull unflinchingly, as if she was making sure every detail was still there, as she remembered it.

. . . It was her way of making sure I really was alive, despite the fact that I stood before her, right in front of her very eyes.

Eyes that I wanted to see more than anything else at this very moment.

"Mina, have I passed your inspection?" I asked, playing along as I listened to her footsteps move behind me, to the side of me, and then finally in front of me, standing squarely in front of me.

It was my turn to examine her. and aside from the bandage wrapped around her left shoulder and her shihakusho being slightly ripped in some spots, she was visibly okay, but once I looked up at her face, my gaze stopped on her eyes. . .

. . . They were brimming with tears.

"Mina, your eye-"

She cut me off before I could finish my question. One moment I was looking at her, the next, she was in my arms, her arms wrapped firmly around my neck, her head against mine. I almost collapsed under her weight, the relief palpable between the both of us as I held her close, and in this very moment, I never wanted to let her go.

"Can you blame me for crying right now?" Came her tear-filled voice, heavy with emotion that she likely didn't allow herself to feel until now. "The last time I saw you, you were lying in the Fourth Division barracks with almost no chance for survival . . . and now you're here."

"And now I'm here," I repeat after her, closing my eyes as I let her cry into my shoulder. ". . . And I have no plans on leaving you like that again."

A/N: Please review!