Theda's beginning chatter is based off the lyrics from the song All Eye On Me for Alice Angel.
"I hope you understand that you will all be dying here." The lavender haired archer, Korla, spoke up once more to the assembled warriors, the main force finally reaching their exhausted comrades and ready to assist, plenty of healthy, rested soldiers prepared to put everything on the line, the dragons standing beside their partners in anticipation.
"All except the precious king… well, only until our Master becomes king." Lyrah the swordswoman added on with a soft hiss.
"If such a monster as your lord were to become Soul King these realms would surely perish." Senjumaru responded with a scoff. "The world would be a place of misery and demons, everything would be unbalanced."
"Not unless he creates a new balance." Korla chuckled, waving off her insults. "Rest assured the worlds will not perish under his rule. The souls will acclimate to the new world just fine, as they do with every Soul King."
"Can he even change the balance like that?" Byakuya wondered.
"He can." Those around the Soul King looked surprised as they turned to look at him. "But to do so, he has to erase the one already in place, return everything back to nothing but atoms so he can rearrange it how he wants. It will cost a high price from him as well, but it's not impossible to completely rewrite the world as it is."
"That's right!" Lyrah laughed. "Don't forget that, little pawns. The fate of the world as you know it now is on your shoulders! Fail, and you will be completely erased!"
"If anything, you should feel honored. You will become part of our king's new world." Kazara pulled her weapons from where they rested at her hips. "Embrace it."
She was answered with angry silence and swords at the ready.
"In that case, suffer until your final moments." Frowning at their rebellion, Kazara raised her guns. Korla created an arrow from the blackest of shadows and took aim and Lyrah readied her own demonic blade.
Just then, the air was filled with a sharp rise in energy, heavy and foreboding. Those below Captain level shuddered and cried out in shock, those above feeling goosebumps on their skin as a sense of pure fear dug into their hearts. Even the three demon sisters froze in place and held fear in their eyes, turning back towards the tunnel in surprise. A thick scent of rot and decay filled the air and for many it took all they had not to retreat in terror. A piercing laugh echoed from the tunnel, absolutely giddy with excitement and filled with absolute malice. They could all feel how excited the owner of this energy was to slaughter them all.
"She's coming." Ruala's voice was barely above a whisper, filled with terror, and yet they all seemed to hear it.
Upon being greeted by the last three Solar Sisters, they had forgotten the worst foe of them all, second to the Dark Master himself.
Death.
Ruala's twisted and undead twin now had her freedom, and she sounded very eager to take advantage of it. The Fear once only dealt with in bursts by the elites now hung in the air like a fog, sapping away their will to fight, and perhaps even to live. Having dealt with it many times now in his journey to king, Toshiro was able to hold his ground, but the nightmares still made his hands grip tighter to his blade. This was the source of all his problems back then, the terrible dreams and anxieties he was forced to overcome when he already had so much to deal with, a constant pressure. Feeling it this strongly was almost too much.
"How long has it been since I tasted real air, got to reach the souls of the living and feed on despair~" The echoing voice sent shivers up their spine, the sad remains of life in the area quickly shriveling away and turning black once more, drying to husks and leaving nothing left.
"Is she singing?" Someone questioned.
"It's just how she speaks, everything is her game." Tenjiro warned them.
"We won't make it…" Ruala shuddered.
"Yes we will, come on. We'll give you whatever you need to stop her." The tall guard patted the Elementalist on the back, knowing if Ruala gave up they would have no defense against Theda.
"Oh sister, you've had the spotlight all this time, but honey now the turn is mine~" A new figure began to creep out of the tunnel, the three Solar Sisters quickly retreating behind the hill, clearly not wanting to be anywhere on a battlefield with this monster. They would let her thin the masses and have her fun, now that she could unleash all of her rage. Before Ruala had attempted to connect with the Death user, Theda had been a sniveling mess, but somehow knowing she would be set free soon brought out a monster that terrified even the Demon Lords.
Frightened mutters and gasps went up through the army as they caught sight of the zombified look-a-like of one of their most trusted Royal Guards. The blood red stare and broken fanged grin made their blood run cold, every step she took turned the ground to dust at her feet. She paused to take a deep breath of fresh air filled with the terror of hundreds of Soul Reapers.
"Theda stop this!" Ruala pleaded, doubting it would get anything from a creature whose life was devoted to the destruction of all things living.
The rotting figure only laughed, her head leaned back as the ground rumbled beneath her. The hellish landscape glimpsed inside the tunnel seemed to leak out into the living world, wicked black spikes growing up from the ground. Tendrils of blood red flesh wormed out of the cracks these spires made, reaching for the dead not yet taken from the field.
"What is she doing?" Ichigo grimaced, not eager to get near the scene straight out of a gore fest horror movie.
"Please don't sister, they don't deserve that fate!" Ruala seemed to know what was happening, horror in her eyes but not moving to stop it. She couldn't.
"You…" The hissed word made Ruala back up a step, flinching as if struck, her twin's grin stretching from ear to ear, her voice returning to it's more sing-song tone now that she wasn't being interrupted. "You tell me what to do and what to say, I couldn't escape… you got to choose the ending of my fate, you put me astray."
"Enough singing already!" Kenpachi was first to move forward, his fight-thirsty instincts overpowering any fear.
"No wait!" Ruala was unable to hold him back.
The bodies grabbed by the fleshy tendrils suddenly sprung to life, shambling in front of the Captain with spine-chilling hisses and gargles, veins stretching over top their skin from the tendrils that controlled them, soulless puppets at Theda's mercy. The puppeteering wasn't even the worst part…
For every dead soldier that got to their feet, horrified cries of pain and terror filled the air between the hisses and choked gasps. They weren't just being pulled on fleshy string, they were indeed brought back to life, only just enough to watch themselves fight their friends and comrades.
"Once she touches their souls, they belong to her to do with as she pleases…" Ruala spoke in a shaky voice to the wide-eyed warriors around her. "They can't rest until she lets them. No matter how much pain they are in, or how torn apart their bodies become, she will keep them alive to feed on their terror."
"Monster…" Karin held a hand to her mouth in an attempt not to gag. Several others did the same, most not as successful.
Seeing their reactions, Theda held her head up proudly and continued her song with glee.
"But not anymore~ I'm in control! I have the stage, you can't turn the page, now all eyes on ME!"
As her arms lifted above her like an actor waiting for applause, her new undead army charged forth. With an immediate threat now hurtling towards them, the army finally seemed to respond. They kept back their former comrades, did their best to drown out the cries for help, the desperate begging for death.
"This is just a damn show to her." Renji scowled at the corpse woman standing in their way. How were they supposed to beat her? Her army never fell, and with each one of theirs that did her numbers grew. His scowl deepened as he saw Theda twirl where she stood with an almost child-like laughter. "Well I'm about to ruin it!"
The giant snake returned as he once more brought out his Bankai, the red beam aiming for Death herself.
Blackened wings of bone and ripped leather sprung from the woman's back in a bloody mess. With them she easily rose up out of the way, giggling in enjoyment of the battle. Her eyes did not look for who the snake belonged to, however, rather settle back onto her twin of light. Her mood seemed to shift as she locked eyes with the other, her creepily innocent attitude shifting to one of rage and bloodthirst. The air rippled with the change, the ground cracked and grew more spires as more tendrils reached for the still living spirits. Being already dead warriors, she didn't need them to die a second time to control them, one touch and they would be as good as gone. The parasite controlled soldiers became more aggressive, pushing hard against the army.
"Finally, you are mine." There was no rhyme, no singing, just a deep hiss of pure malice and hatred, the voice of someone who only wanted absolute death. It was even worse to hear than her teasing poems.
"Shit, she's getting serious, let's fall back inside for now." Korla spoke to her sisters, heading back towards the tunnel carefully. They were not safe from Death's grip either, so best to avoid attention.
"But-" Lyrah meant to argue.
"No time, we can't get caught out here." Kazara felt the same as the archer did, not wanting to be anywhere in the Living World once Death let loose. "Korla will grab the king if he's in immediate danger, he's the only one we need alive, the rest can be her toys."
They retreated inside the tunnel as the corpse woman spread her wings to head towards her twin.
"Ruala, stand back, you need to save your magic to overwhelm her." Tenjiro stepped in front of the shivering mage with his sword at the ready.
"No, please, I have to-" Whatever Ruala meant to explain was never allowed to be said.
She moved too fast. With one beat of her impractical wings, Theda had jumped past all lines of defense, one could have blinked and missed it. Tenjiro hadn't blinked, yet he was still shocked at how close that sinister grin was to his face, mere inches, the smell of decay invading his nose like a truck hitting a wall. He didn't even register pain despite the arm run through his chest all the way up to her elbow, a still beating organ clenched between long, claw-like fingernails now soaked red.
"No!" Ruala cried out in shock, her terrified voice bringing attention to the scene.
"Useless." The demonic whisper was the last the healer ever heard as he was tossed aside, the heart still in her hands now going still, blood still spilling from the separated tubes.
"Ruala!" Toshiro made to hurry to the mage's side and help her, but this time it was Karin and Ichigo that held him back, not wanting him to get anywhere near that monster, while Senjumaru casted a powerful Kido spell at Theda to back her off.
The spell hit, the blue flames taking off the arm holding the dead heart, leaving a cauterized stump at the shoulder. Theda didn't seem to register any pain, looking at the injury in curiosity before turning to look at the one who burned it off with an eye of blood red. Senjumaru's normally composed expression faltered under that stare; she had interrupted a hunter chasing its prey.
Ruala couldn't let her twin leave now, couldn't let her get to anyone else. Though her legs shook and her breath came short with fear, she cast a barrier around her and Theda, letting it expand slowly to clear a field for just the two of them while making sure the corpse woman couldn't get out to any others. Intrigued, Theda returned her gaze to her sister.
"You have what you want… stop your army." Ruala demanded. The cries of those lost to the plague of death still rang in her ears, weakening her resolve, but she knew what she had to do.
The condescending laugh gave her little hope that Theda would respond to such a demand.
"And let them give you their hopes and dreams?" Her piercing voice contained only malice as she approached her sister, flesh rippling on her stump of an arm and creating new shape, regrowing bone and muscle as they watched. "No more games, chosen one of light, it's time you suffered for helping those annoying kings lock me away."
"I wasn't even there." Ruala stepped back from the approaching corpse woman.
"But you ratted me out! You and your cozy little life as the child blessed by nature while I had to be the one stuck with this power, hated and cast out! If you hadn't cast your little spell on me then I would have never been sealed!"
"I did not make you the monster that you are, you chose to embrace death, to seek it out!"
"What's wrong with having a little fun!?" Theda lashed out with the hand she still had, the other still only bones and waiting for flesh to be woven back over it.
"It's wrong when it makes others suffer!" Ruala dodged away from the attack but did not counter. After all, the twin of death was regrowing an entire arm, there was no point attacking her, no point wasting energy to do any damage if she was just going to replace it.
"Oh sister, as if life doesn't make them suffer even more." Theda sneered back before striking out once more.
Outside the barrier, soldiers fought against the dead as best they could. The best solution was to dismember the creatures, ignore the screaming and begging, and cut off the parasitic tendrils holding onto the corpse. The dragons had an easier time of this, some of them having elements that made it even easier. Once separated, the undead could return to being dead until they were latched onto again, but at least once dismembered they were little threat. The burden of having to sever your former comrades into multiple pieces left a sour taste in the mouths of many, but if they wanted to avoid losing more they needed to immobilize what was already there and avoid the tendrils trying to grab onto fresh, living souls. Grendir defended the area where most of the dead lay, if only so his former partner wouldn't be touched, and Unohana's dragon helped fend off the enemy from the gravely wounded where her partner worked to heal. Elemental powers came in handy for stopping the delicate parasites, as well as any long range techniques and Kido. The strength of the undead and the parasites were nothing to worry about, only their numbers and durability. Until the 'queen' was taken care of, the swarm would not end, and regular demons were beginning to emerge from within the other realm to continue adding to the enemy's numbers. Fortunately, demons burned to ash upon death, leaving no corpses, but the fact there were so many still caused problems.
"Senjumaru, can Ruala win?" Toshiro asked his guard through gritted teeth as he watched the twin sisters fight. Or rather, Theda tried her best to tear apart her twin while Ruala tried to talk her down and avoid getting hit.
"With the amount of chaos her sister is causing, it's doubtful Ruala can outlast her in terms of magic stamina. Theda will likely be stronger…" The woman replied tersely, using Kido to keep back any corpses.
"And what happens when she loses?"
No response. Senjumaru didn't know, only that it wasn't good.
"Ichigo." Toshiro turned his attention to the other guard next to him, both the one called and his sister still standing next to them giving him curious looks. "You and I need to get on the frontlines."
"My king you must-" Senjumaru was about to argue but was cut off by an authoritative tone.
"If Theda feeds on fear, then our soldiers need something to give them hope. Saving my energy will be pointless if Death wins, we need to at least let Ruala fight on equal grounds."
"He's got a point." Ichigo turned to his fellow Royal Guard with a shrug. "Seeing their king enter the fight will be a big morale boost. I'll back him up, no worries."
"You better, that's your job now." Senjumaru responded with a huff.
"Even if it wasn't, I'm not about to see another friend fall in battle." Ichigo reassured her.
This seemed to appease the Kido Master for now and she returned to keeping an eye on Ruala, feeling a little more hopeful herself and ready to continue fighting.
The air grew cold as Toshiro was finally allowed to step forward and enter the fight, Hyorinmaru in his hand and humming eagerly for battle. Karin and Ichigo stood with him, ready to defend him, and the soldiers close by saw their confidence and found some of their own. A serpentine form made with ice curled up into the air before launching forward with open jaws, consuming multiple corpses and destroying their parasites, leaving the bodies unable to be touched further as the tendrils would not approach the cold, the bodies allowed to remain intact. Fire blazed forth as tendrils were removed from soldiers still living and trying to fight off the curse of death. As the two with elemental powers dealt their damage from afar, Ichigo darted forth with Bankai speeds and tore through the demons approaching from the hidden realm. With their push forward, the other Captains renewed their own attacks. Kenpachi was finally allowed to return as the poison was distilled from his body and he fought with new ferocity they had not seen before, a berserker fueled by rage at how his men were disrespected in their deaths. For a warrior, this battle was insulting, especially if they fell in battle only to be forced to rise again, forced to have their bodies torn apart. Byakuya did not scoff at his fellow Captain's brutal attacks, as he too felt this was disgraceful to his men.
Theda paused in her attempts to impale Ruala on her nails to look around, sensing something was off. Her attacks felt somewhat weaker, her speed not as buffed as a moment ago. Sure enough, as she observed the fight around the barrier she was trapped in, she could see confidence rising among the ranks of the soldiers, rallying behind the small white-haired figure currently rendering her parasites useless.
"Your new king certainly has charisma to make such a stand, but that won't save you from meeting your end by my hand." With a scowl Theda returned her attention back to her twin, the return of her rhyming signifying that she was a little more in control of her emotions.
"You always liked to say you'll kill me, but you never could." Ruala replied, keeping a good distance from those claws. "Even though you are stronger than me, because you take strength from everyone else, here I will always stand. And as long as I do, I will protect the line of kings."
"I care not for your vows to defend balance to your last breath, only that I get to see it fall to fire and death." Theda grinned, clicking her nails together menacingly as she approached her other half.
"It is not time for this world to end. Is that why you allied with the Dark Master? To help him end it?"
The corpse twin scoffed.
"He's just another power-hungry soul that wanted my powers." Theda dropped her rhymes once more as her tone dripped with disgust. "He promised I could escape that prison and do whatever I wanted if I let him have the Fear, and it was driving me INSANE, so I did it. All I want now is to see you suffer, sister, you never deserved to be the blessed child that everyone loved."
"And you deserve it? For all the blood you spilled, you think you deserve the light?"
"I DID THE JOB NO ONE WANTED!"
"You slaughtered those who still had time to live."
"What's the point in LIVING when it all just ENDS? There is no suffering in death, I only give the favor of permanent sleep to those that deserve it and watch the rest squirm and beg for such mercy."
Ruala frowned, giving no response. Theda saw nothing wrong in what she was doing, saw no evil in manipulating souls to suffer life when they should be dead and kill those that deserve to live. Her world was a hell for the living and peace for the dead with no consideration to what those two states of being were supposed to be. The screams of those begging to be returned to death tore at her heart… this was not what these warriors protecting their home deserved. Theda wanted to destroy everything, she was a risk even to Kamai's new world… why would he want to let her free? Why force them to unleash the harbinger of an apocalypse that would just as likely kill off his world as she would the one already in place?
The ground shook as something else began to rise from the earth. With the parasites useless and overwhelmed and the demons held back by the Captains, their master seemed to be trying a new tactic.
They dreaded whatever new monster was snarling at them from the cracks in the earth.
I kind of hate that I only get inspiration to write during class, haha.