Chapter 2: Seventh Heaven
Ichigo groaned as he found himself laying on a hard floor as he returned to consciousness, pushing himself up, he slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by a giant white and gold room with what looked to be a throne in the center. Standing he moved to make his way to the chair only to pause as he felt a weight on his wrist, looking down he found a cross with a familiar-looking jewel in the middle, connected to his wrist with a black chain, along with the fact that he was wearing his shinigami clothes.
"What the hell?" he asked before his eyes widened and the memories of what had happened after his Final Getsuga Tenshou rushed through his mind.
"Welcome back Ichigo," said a voice that brought Ichigo to his knees, eyes shining with unshed tears as he finally noticed that he could feel a familiar presence and power.
"Tensa Zangetsu," he said a smile on his face.
"More or less," the merged being said, bringing Ichigo to a pause.
"What do you mean by more or less?" Ichigo asked, absent-mindedly fiddling with the cross on his wrist.
"While I am still Tensa Zangetsu created by the merging of your Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy powers, I now possess the knowledge of your previous incarnation, embodying his memories and emotions," he said.
"You're being more honest," Ichigo said with a hint of bitterness, a small part of him feeling betrayed by the man that had pretended to be his shinigami powers.
"Ichigo as you know from our battle in Dangai and what we conveyed through our blade, our only want was to protect you," the manifestation said, "That sentiment is shared by both of our individual forms,"
"Then why hide it from me?!" Ichigo shouted.
"Because I never wanted the shinigami life for you," he answered honestly, "It's a life that will only lead to pain and suffering….I never wanted you to have to go through that Ichigo,"
Ichigo tried to stay angry, he wanted to rage, he wanted to shout, but he could feel Tensa's sincerity so instead, he punched his palm and let out a sigh and whatever residual feelings of betrayal and rage had with a bitter smirk on his face, "We're definitely sparing after this Old Man," he said, getting a chuckle of agreement from the spirit.
"So where are we?" he asked, before poking the cross on his wrist, "and what's this?"
"We are currently on the seventh level of heaven, a level reserved for God and his system, the sacred gear system which also governs miracles, who can receive salvation, and the effectiveness of his blessings," Tensa said, "On your wrist is a Heilig Bogen, a Quincy cross that will allow you to manifest a Quincy bow,"
"And the Hogyoku?" Ichigo asked more out of reflex than conscious thought, still trying to wrap his head around the fact he was in heaven.
"If you haven't already noticed you are in a physical body," Tensa said with a small chuckle as Ichigo started to pat himself down at the information, "It is safer to allow you to adjust to you new deity-hood and Quincy powers over time, that's why the Hogyoku is part of your cross and will be till you've obtained a reasonable control over your new power. This body should also allow you full use of your abilities without the drawback of having to separate from it."
"Why do I have the feeling that there's a reason I'll need to use my powers?" Ichigo asked dryly, leaning against the throne.
"Wait!" Tensa shouted, sounding panicked as Ichigo made contact with the trone, his cross taking on a bright blue glow before the room was filled with what seemed to be the sounds of trumpets. "Quick summon your mask, but keep the energy in your hand!" the spirit demanded.
"Wha-"
"Just do it!" Tensa yelled, Ichigo quickly brought his hand down over his face summoning his hollow mask, hand still glowing black with hollow energy. "Now slash down with your fingers while keeping the energy flowing out of them,"
Following Tensa's instructions, Ichigo brought his hand down the familiar tear of a Garganta forming in front of him as he pushed more energy into it till it couldn't take anymore and the tear seemed to stabilize.
"Now what?!" Ichigo shouted over the sounds of trumpets and the new sound of someone hitting the only door to the room. Without warning the door was engulfed in a blinding light that forced Ichigo to cover his eyes.
"Jump!" Tensa ordered, Ichigo pausing for only a second his eyes adjusting seeing a shade of blonde before jumping backward through the Garganta.
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Gabriel quickly made her way to her father's room as heaven's alarms blared in her ears and mind, knowing that Michael would soon join her as he'd been a few levels down in a meeting with the other Seraphs. Pausing in front of the door placed by both her and Michael after her father's death, she reached out a sliver of energy to open it only to find that it no longer responded to her.
Without a thought, she reached into her vast reserve of light energy she created a spear that crackled with power and brought it down on the door destroying it and creating a bright flash that momentarily blinded her before her eyes adjusted, seeing what appeared to be a young man with a mask over their face looking at her before jumping into a curtain of blackness that disappeared.
Stepping into the room she paused as she felt and heard a thrum from her father's throne that blocked out the alarm, its deep thrum not unlike a heartbeat that brought back memories of good times that she'd almost forgotten. She felt her heart constrict as memories of her time with Father flashed through her mind, she found herself walking up to her father's throne hand gently touching it and feeling for the first time in a long time, warmth.
"Gabriel?" Michaell asked pulling her away from her thoughts, finding herself looking into a face filled with worry and concern. Shaking her head, she realized that the alarms were no longer going off. "Did you see anyone in here?"
"When I got into the room no one was here," she said, pulling her hand back from the throne and fighting the impulse to keep feeling its warmth. She felt a hint of guilt at not mentioning the masked man, but something was telling her it wasn't the time to mention it.
"And Father's system?" her brother asked, touching the throne before quickly pulling his hand back eyes wide. "This is.." he started to speak only to fall silent as he looked at the throne with wide eyes.
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"So let me get this straight," Ichigo said as he rested against a billboard, legs hanging over the edge as he looked out at the place his Garganta had led to. "After God's death, the three factions basically went into a cold war with multiple instances of infighting and corruption among and between them. The angels and fallen have the worst of it as they cannot increase their numbers like the devils can with their….chess system?"
"Evil piece system," Tensa said, "That's not to mention ordinary humans who are preyed upon by the devils due to the sacred gears, fallen angels who hold jealousy towards them, factions of the church who have decided to use your word to do inhumane experiments in your name or other religious factions who do not hold them in as high regard as your former self."
"And you got all of this from a chair?" Ichigo asked, closing his eyes and reaching out with his reiatsu to sense his surroundings, finding some other energy sources that felt different from the kind from hollows or shinigami.
"That throne not only connects to the holy system created by God but also the many prayers made by his worshipers...or should I say your worshipers?" the spirit said with a hint of humor in his tone as Ichigo let out a sigh.
"Shouldn't I have heard them then?" Ichigo asked.
"You noticed the glow of your Quincy cross correct?" Tensa asked, Ichigo giving a small not, "As I said it will function as a means to slowly get you used to your powers, so, for now, I'm answering them in your stead,"
'What do you mean by an-" Ichigo started to ask only to gasp as a brief feeling of panic that wasn't his own filled him.
'Please my Lord and Fa-' he heard before it cut out, though he could still feel the connection he could feel it getting weaker by the second.
"Tensa!" he said, jumping to his feet, reaching out with his reiatsu, and tracking the weakening connection to its source, feeling multiple different energy signatures there.
"Devils, Fallen, priest, and a sacred gear," the spirit said, identifying each source as Ichigo jumped through the air till he was just a blur racing across the sky.
Through whatever was connecting them, he could still feel the sheer fear being felt by whoever was praying, pushing his flash step ability to its limits not even paying notice as he knocked over two female devils and their fallen opponents as he busted through the window of the church, all its windows shattering as he slammed a fist into the chest of the fallen, Tensa notifying him she was named Raynare creating a trench along the ground as he blocked some kind of energy sword from a man garbed in white with his other hand, eyes on a small blond girl who was staring at him with wide green eyes that reminded him of Yuzu as she was hung from a weird cross.
"Did the pathetic little devil brats call the cavalry?" asked Raynare seething in rage at the destruction of the sacred gear stealing device as she picked herself up with a glare, forming a lance of light in her hands.
Ignoring the fallen while slamming a fist into the solar plex man holding the energy sword, Tensa informing him was it was a priest and light sword, he grabbed the hilt as the blade extinguished, another forming that he used it to slash through the weird cross holding the girl, catching her before she hit the ground.
"Who are you?" the girl asked, her body shaking as she looked at Ichigo, her eyes fixed on the cross on his wrist.
"Let's just say," Ichigo said as Raynare threw her lances, turning his body turning to shield Asia as he brought the sword up at high speeds shattering the lances of light without much effort, "You called me here," he said leaning her against a pew as the fallen let out a yell of rage, using her wings to increase her speed as she rushed him, more lances of light forming as Ichigo's form blurred and he disappeared, causing the fallen pause as he appeared right in front of her bring the blade down only to be blasted in the side and slammed into the wall of the church with enough force to create a cloud of dust.
"Couldn't even handle two weak devils and whatever that pathetic piece of shit was," Dohnaseek said with a sneer, as he, Kalawarner, and Mittelt flew into the church, eyes fixed on Koneko, Issei, and Kiba. Though the sneer was quickly wiped away as Rias and Akeno entered the church, a smirk formed on Raynare's face.
"And you three couldn't take out two little bitches, what a fucking surprise," she said mockingly as she took a step towards a scared-looking Asia, who gripped her cross tightly getting a laugh out of the fallen. "Why pray to a God who doesn't lesson and won't care when I carve up that pretty little face of yours," she said, Issei trying to move towards Asia only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder as the fallen surrounded the devils.
"Are you done yet," said a distorted voice from the cloud of smoke, the devils and fallen staring as the smoke instantly cleared revealing Ichigo with his hollow mask on his face, and the room was filled with a pressure that almost brought everyone but Asia to their knees.
"What the hell!" screamed Raynare as she struggled to stand, forming a light spear only for it to shatter as Ichigo's eyes landed on her and he focused his spiritual pressure bringing her to her hands and knees as he took a step forward, the light sword in his hand as he began to walk towards the group of angels and devils.
Of the small group, only Rais and Akeno managed to stand as the feeling of his spiritual pressure increased as he neared them, the other devils and fallen on the edge of hyperventilating, with Akeno making an obscene face that sent shivers down Ichigo's spine.
'I'm almost tempted to stop projecting my spiritual pressure,' Ichigo thought, as he found himself standing in front of Raynare, her eyes glaring at him as he stood in front of her, 'Any idea on what I should do?'
"She's a fallen Ichigo," Tensa said as the fallen tried to push herself up only to fall back down, a feeling of pity forming in his gut as he watched the fallen realize just how outmatched she was. As he watched another feeling filled him, a feeling of regret coming from the manifestation of his powers.
'Tensa?"
"...she forsook herself and her father, giving in to her baser emotions and letting them control her, becoming the very thing that an angel should never be," the spirit said with a tone of melancholy and regret, "But...I can't find it within myself to hate her, to condemn her..Go...I...We did this," Tensa said his voice breaking off near the end, Ichigo sharing the mixed emotion running through him.
Looking down at the fallen with not a small amount of pity Ichigo lowered his light sword, it's blade fading along with his hollow mask, though he kept his spiritual pressure up as his brown/yellow eyes, showing that he was still using hollow energy looked into Raynare's, searching for anything resembling regret.
"W..we...well," she gasped out, as she continued to glare at him, "k..kill..me….if...yo...u...have...the….balls," she managed to say.
Closing his eyes, Ichigo slowly began to lift his spiritual pressure, the fallen and devils letting out gasps as Ichigo turned his back to them, making his way to Asia, still resting against the pew, pausing halfway to her turning to look at Raynare, raising his spiritual pressure till she slammed into the ground, hard enough to make an indent on the ground.
"I will only spare you this once," he said as reigned in his spiritual pressure again as Raynare shook on the ground, "If you return and try to hurt Asia or bring an end to the peace that's been established by the three factions…..I won't be happy," he said, both eyes becoming hollow yellow before returning to his normal brown and Ichigo started walking to Asia again.
Raynare pushed herself up eyes darting around the room, refusing to even look in Ichigo's direction as her winds spread from her back and she took off, the other fallen quickly following in terror, Ichigo not even sparing them a glance as he looked down at Asia, offering her a hand.
"You okay?" he asked, offering her a hand up.
"Get away from Asia and her amazing breast you shitty bastard!" yelled Issei, ignoring Rias telling him to stop as he took a swing at the former shinigami turned god only to be stopped with a single finger before with a finger flick to the head by Ichigo sent the perverted devil flying backward through the other pews and into a wall.
"...what did he say?" Ichigo said, doubting his hearing for a second as the other devil's shared looks of defeat, minus Akeno who started at him while rubbing her legs together, muttering under her breath about something, while her king took a step forward.
"I am Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory clan and co-owner of this territory," she said, eyes narrowing as she noticed the cross on his wrist, "What business does the church have here,"
'Uh, Tensa?' Ichigo thought as Rias's group seemed to get ready for a battle, '...a little help here,'
"Just repeat after me Ichigo," Tensa answered, his attention seemingly elsewhere.
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"So the church really wants to rescind the excommunication?" Asia asked, hopefully as she followed Ichigo as he made his way through the church after managing to find a couple of hundred dollars, one 'okay' bed, along with canned food that was moved to the least destroyed room.
"You were excommunicated for helping someone in need," Ichigo said having been filled in by a distracted sounding Tensa with a shrug as he opened another door, pausing as he found himself looking at what appeared to be some kind of dungeon, different whips and 'devices' lining the walls. Quickly slamming the door shut he ignored Asia's questioning look as he let out a sigh. "And you are probably one of the firmest believers even after every hardship you've faced," he smiled at her and said bluntly, "You're way more deserving of a place in the church than some of the highest members of the clergy,"
"N...no...w..wa..way," Asia mumbled with a blush at his statement, Ichigo let out a chuckle patting the embarrassed nun on the head, his smile turning a bit sad as she seemed to jump at the contact before leaning into it.
'We're cleaning house once I get the whole god thing down,' he thought with barely hidden bloodlust, a rumble coming from Asia's stomach pulling him from his thoughts of retribution for the young girl. Sparing a look at the canned food with mild distaste he stood up, stretching with a yawn.
"Whatcha feel like eating?" he asked, tapping his pocket where he'd put the money they'd found and looked around the room before nodding to himself before turning to her, "Your choice,"
"Anything is fine," Asia said, fiddling with her satchel while not looking him in the eyes.
"How about something we can bring back?" he asked, getting a quick nod from the blonde before they made their way out of the church, pausing as Ichigo opened the somewhat functional door only to be met by a mailman who simply handed Ichigo a parcel before walking away without a word. Looking down at the package in his hands, he looked back up to find the mailman nowhere to be seen. "That was odd," he said, getting a nod from Asia as he opened the package.
"What the…." Ichigo couldn't help but stare at the envelope with the words 'read this first' on the front of it.
"In this package are the necessary documents and Identification cards for both Ichigo Kurosaki and Asia Argento to both live in Kuoh town and attend Kouh Academy as representatives of the church. Along with that is the bank account information for funding both living expenses as well as for the upkeep of the church which is now under the jurisdiction of Exorcist Ichigo Kurosaki and the Holy Priestess Asia Argento effective immediately. I look forward to seeing how you handle such a situation. G." Ichigo read aloud, Asia's looking at him with wide eyes.
"You must be a really important member of the church if they got that here so fast," she said, with a smile, eyes shining brightly.
"Yeah," Ichigo said with a weak chuckle, a feeling of satisfaction filling him that wasn't his own. 'Tensa? Do you have something to do with this?'
"...I may or may not be in contact with someone," the manifestation said.'And they may have guessed why the Holy System is functioning better than ever and noticed our little jaunt in the Seventh Level of Heaven."
'Who and how?' Ichigo asked, eyes narrowing at the fact that Tensa had been hiding things from him before realizing that technically Tensa was part of him, giving the orange-haired teenager a headache.
"Gabriel….and it's kind of a sub-function of the prayer system? It was used by God during the Great War to organize the massive army of angels without the need for communication devices or wasting energy with spells, though it requires contact with the throne to reach every angel without making yourself a beacon of holy energy...if you were capable of utilizing that power at this point,"
'And she hasn't informed anyone?' Ichigo asked in disbelief as he looked through the papers, pausing at the transfer papers, "How and why the hell did she get us enrolled in a school?'
"She had some favors from one of the Great Maou she cashed in on and thought it would be good for relations," Tensa said explained pausing before continuing, "And while she would rather get caught up with 'years of hugs', she figures it would be better to reveal your revival during or after the peace talks that are in discussion," he said as if waiting for something.
'What?'
"Are you okay with a peace conference between the three factions?" Tensa asked, curiosity in his tone. "I mean, while I hold the memories and such of the former God you 'are' him," he said.
Ichigo stopped looking over the documents, sliding the included I.D. and credit card before handing Asia her own.
'Sounds like a good idea….I mean you've only told me so much, but from what you've told me, I think it would be a good idea to put the past behind us,' memories of Ishia's attitude when they'd first met came to mind, and a flash of a what felt like content came from the cross on his arm, causing him to glance at it before shaking his head, 'Living in the past isn't really living is it?' he offered a hand to Asia as she put the documents in her satchel, ' And didn't you once say move forwards and never stop,' he chuckled at Asia's blush and wide-eyed look as she took his hand letting herself be led, ' and no matter what, I'll never stop moving,' memories of those he left flashing through his mind, his heart aching, ' and I will only look forwards,' his eyes flashed a brief blue, unnoticed by him or Asia, though Tensa merely smiled with as he looked around Ichigo's mindscape that was putting itself back together slowly, though part of it was still flooded with the water giving off a low glow.
"Good, now I can tell you what I've learned...and what we can do to protect this place," he looked up into the sky where the Hogyoku floated wrapped in chains, each created from a mix of all three of Ichigo's powers, with a pure white chain connecting him to it with scripts covering the chain that glowed with energy.