The twisting of shadows made those waiting at the entrance draw their weapons in a flash, anticipating an enemy attack, either from the archer of shadows or the Dark Master himself. They were not expecting to see Captain Thane heavily injured and accompanied by a few of the remaining fighters in the maze. Kadin immediately collapsed and went unconscious while Yoruichi tried to keep him upright. Ichigo was quick to get to his sister's side while troops assisted the others over to the healers.
"You're going back in for Toshiro, right?" Karin demanded before her brother could get a word out.
"Last I heard he was with you." Ichigo replied, concerned.
"He was, but we ended up finding someone that says she's his sister."
"What? Sister? Like same parents?"
"They look really similar so I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, but how she ended up with Dethmaiyn we're not sure."
"So Toshiro's fighting this girl on his own right now?"
Karin turned to look back at the maze, noticing a lack of a blizzard in the area they had been in previously.
"When we left he seemed to be trying to talk her out of it. Maybe he succeeded." She mused aloud. "Then we got into the fortress and found Dethmaiyn torturing Captain Thane. Apparently he used to be an apprentice to the guy since they have similar powers, but fought against each other when the war began."
"Does that mean Kadin's got his memories back?" Ichigo looked surprised.
"Seems like it, but he's out cold right now so don't bug him."
"I wasn't going to…" Ichigo scowled. "In any case, we should go make sure Toshiro didn't get talked into a trap by this supposed sister."
"Are you assuming I'm as much of an idiot as you are?" A cold voice snapped.
Ichigo turned to see Toshiro stepping out of one of the corridors with an irritated expression, an unfamiliar figure riding a wolf behind him. Karin cast her a suspicious glance before hurrying over to her partner's side.
"You okay?" She asked quickly.
"I'm fine, just starting to realize a few things." Toshiro answered her before his gaze shifted to the Royal Guards walking his way. Miyuki remained still and silent atop her guardian, trying not to show the strain of being sealed under everyone's immense Spiritual Pressure. "Any of you want to tell me how I have a sister I never heard about?"
"Sister?" Senjumaru looked surprised, the others next to her stiffening in surprise. "But… she passed away before you were even born."
"I'm afraid that is not the case." Miyuki responded icily. "Is that what everyone truly believed? That I was simply dead?"
"It's what we were told, my dear, but looking at you now there is no mistaking your family ties." Ichibe responded, looking quite stunned. "How is this possible?"
"She must be lying." Senjumaru narrowed her eyes at the white-haired woman, but despite her caution she couldn't deny how similar Miyuki looked to Toshiro's deceased mother. And the fact she was blind… the baby girl she remembered had indeed been born blind.
"She has the same magic as the Greenleaf family." Toshiro stated to them. "She tells me that she was abandoned by my father and Dethmaiyn took her in."
"Absolute nonsense, your father was in grieving for years when he heard about her death." Ichibe huffed, an angry expression on his face at the accusation. "You were never told about her because it was decided it would be better not to dwell on the past and let her rest peacefully, and with the war there was already too much going on."
"Then someone is lying and I'd like to find out the truth."
"As much as I would like to research this with you, this is hardly the time, my king." Senjumaru countered, glancing back into the Precipice World. They could be tossed back into battle at any time.
"While my main goal is discovering the truth, I agree with your guard. They will be on their way quickly." Miyuki stated to her brother. "Lord Kamai will be angry that I left my quarters and disobeyed him."
"And why should WE trust you?" Karin asked her with a suspicious tone.
Miyuki held out her arm marked with the seal.
"Until your king removes this by his own will, I have no magic. He is the only one that can remove it, and until he does, I am no stronger than a regular mortal." She explained.
Karin had to shift a bit to see the mark since Miyuki didn't hold it in their direction. Toshiro wondered why she didn't use the wolf to see as she said she could do before remembering that ALL of her magic had been sealed. He felt somewhat bad about that… but this was the only way he could bring her into his army when she was loyal to Kamai. If she had a way to fight back, everyone's suspicions would get in the way of learning the truth, so for now she had to be a prisoner.
"Has everyone returned from the maze?" Toshiro switched topics, wanting an update on the situation before anything else went wrong.
"Not all willingly, but everyone is accounted for with you back." Oetsu replied quickly. "And it seems the current Kenpachi felled one of the Demon Lords, the wolf woman that attacked your group."
"Felled her?" Miyuki looked surprised. "Lady Lyrah's magic thrives off bloodshed and conflict, I never thought she would ever be bested in battle."
"I guess that means Kenpachi thrived off of it more than she did." Ichigo commented with a small amount of sarcasm. "Thought he was going to drop dead when I saw him with how much blood he'd lost but he was still smiling."
"That leaves just two of the sisters and their master, then." Toshiro noted. Behind him, Miyuki let her face fall a bit. Even if these girls potentially lied to her for her whole life, they were still the people she grew up with. They weren't exactly pleasant to her, giving her respect simply because Kamai had adopted her, but they still helped train and raise her, and she basically grew up alongside Firiat what with her being the youngest.
"It seems an assault through the maze was unsuccessful. We managed to reach the castle gates, but darkness turned us back to the entrance with little effort." Senjumaru reported, though she couldn't help glancing at Miyuki every now and then.
"At least that's all he did." Ichigo added in, a grimace on his face at the thought of something worse taking them down at the palace doors.
"We managed to sneak in. My guess is he was preoccupied with torturing Captain Thane." Karin commented.
"Torturing him? Why Thane?" Toshiro did not hear the earlier explanation about Kadin's rescue. "Also, why would you go into that place as injured as you all were? That was dangerous."
"Well, Yoruichi was just going to do some reconnaissance, but then we found Captain Thane…" Karin admitted while scratching the back of her head nervously. "Thanks to Seraphina we kept Dethmaiyn and his goons at bay and freed Captain Thane, and then he used his shadows to get us out here."
"Seraphina?" With each answer the Ice King had more questions.
"Sofia's new name. She helped protect us once I called for her, and I think she'll help you when you call for her, too."
"A familiar passed on to a new master always requires a new name." Miyuki added. "If she is a shared familiar between the two of you, she will share the name, but likely have different abilities depending on which of you call for her. Familiars will match their masters."
"How did you know she was a familiar?" Karin wondered.
"Lord Kamai told me about the Royal Guard Ruala and her elemental prowess, as well as her powerful familiar capable of a wide range of shape-shifting, Sofia. Despite being explained to me as an enemy… I aspired to have powers like her. I wanted to perhaps surpass her someday if Master would ever let me fight. However, if her familiar is now bonded to the two of you, I can only assume the previous master is gone."
"Yeah, thanks to your demon ladies and master." Karin scowled. Miyuki suppressed a flinch at the harsh tone, managing to sit tall and ignore the heated glare. The task was not too difficult since she couldn't see the glare.
"We can work out grudges later." Toshiro stepped between the two. "We need time to share information and form a new plan. Senjumaru, if you could help me return the seal over this place so that we can buy some time."
"Of course." The Kido Master nodded.
"And you need to see the healers now." Toshiro said firmly to Karin.
"I'm fine, honestly." She replied stubbornly. "It's just a little sore now."
"I'm going to agree with Toshiro on this one, even that can end really badly for you." Ichigo added.
"You're just butting in because you're my brother, you've pulled through with worse than this!"
"And he's almost died several times because of it." The king sent a knowing glance at Ichigo, the orange-haired man turning away with a stubborn mutter. "Just humor me for a bit, please?"
She held his concerned gaze for a moment before her heart couldn't take it and she groaned loudly, giving in.
"Fine." She growled.
"Thanks." Ichigo ruffled her hair. She scowled and pushed his arm away before stomping off towards the healers.
Miyuki slid off her wolf's back and stepped over to where she could sense Toshiro standing.
"Is that how siblings are supposed to act?" She wondered. The Solar Five Sisters would argue sometimes, but it tended to be more violent, and she never dared step in between any of them arguing. There was far more hostility between those sisters than there was between these two siblings.
"Mostly. They're all just stubborn." Toshiro replied.
"Speak for yourself, snowman, there's a reason you fit right in with us." Ichigo shot back with a smirk.
"At least I'm not an idiot."
"Brat."
"I'm surprised you can jest with one another in your current situation." Miyuki cut in, curious.
Ichigo and Toshiro shared a glance before the former smirked and the latter rolled his eyes.
"It helps keep us sane sometimes." Toshiro explained. He copied Ichigo's earlier behavior and reached a hand up to ruffle the top of his sister's head, her long white strands becoming a bit tangled. She blinked, surprised by the action, before a light pink spread over her cheeks. She'd never been given such a gesture before. It did indeed make her feel a bit lighter and more welcomed. Kamai would play with her hair sometimes, but it was more of a gesture of admiration than one of a family member, and it always felt somewhat melancholy when he did it. As if he was feeling nostalgic about something, some kind of old memory.
"When you're ready." Senjumaru spoke up, reminding them of their current task.
"Yes." Toshiro turned to Ichigo once again. "Ichigo, could you lead Miyuki and her wolf over to the others? I'm sure we all have some questions."
"No problem." The new guard was about to just walk off before he froze, remembering that his new charge was blind and couldn't see him. "Ah…"
"My wolf can follow you." Miyuki recognized the problem easy enough and mounted her guardian once more. The creature easily trotted behind the tall Reaper with his rider, the trio heading off towards the main force, many looking her way in curiosity.
Ichibe and Oetsu moved back a bit before standing by while Toshiro and Senjumaru prepared to replace the doorway to the Precipice World. It probably wasn't going to be as strong as the previous seal without the King of Hell to aid them, but it would give them much needed time to rest and strategize. Whatever layout Yoruichi did manage to get while they searched for Kadin would still be helpful, and figuring out how and why Kamai sent them away rather than fight them would be important to storming his stronghold the next time. There was also the mystery behind Miyuki's past and why the Dark Master would hold onto the daughter of his enemy, if that's what she truly was.
Just as Toshiro raised his hand to begin the Kido, he saw a light flash through the tunnel and tensed. A Flash Step just barely helped him dodge the strike of lightning that scorched the ground he had just been standing on.
"Oh, and just what do you think you're doing?" Korla's teasing voice put everyone on guard as she and Kazara approached the entrance with confidence. "You barge into our home, kill our pets and one of our sisters, steal another, disgrace our Master, and now you're going to lock us back in here? For a king you are the most disrespectful brat I've ever met."
"If you didn't want uninvited guests you shouldn't have tried to kill me." Toshiro shot back at her with a scowl. "You shouldn't have barged into MY home first and given me a reason to be your enemy."
"Oh don't worry, you were an enemy the day you were born. Should have just let us kill you and be done with it."
"Not when my people are at risk."
"Cease the noise, sister, and just fight." Kazara sighed, another ball of lightning in her hand ready to toss like a grenade – if grenades were able to go as fast as bullets.
"Very well." Korla drew her bow and aimed for the Royal Guards brandishing their swords at her since Kazara was already focused on the Soul King. "Should be easy enough, most of them are injured."
As Korla stated this, Toshiro had only seconds to think. She was right, most of the army was wounded and impaired, unable to fight properly. These two were the eldest and the strongest of the sisters, and after the damage caused by Firiat and Luetha when each were on their own, the destruction these two together could cause would be much worse, especially when most of their abilities were unknown. It would be too dangerous to just let them have freedom in the World of the Living. None of them were ready for this.
He only saw one option to prevent a full blown massacre.
The sisters had not yet stepped fully outside of the tunnel, so he went to them. Ordinarily getting so close to long range fighter was a terrible idea, since they had time to strike him down first and both could provide shields for themselves against close combat. But he needed to be inside with them, needed to make sure they stayed inside and far from his family.
"Hitsugaya!" Senjumaru shouted in fury as she saw her king rush into the tunnel.
With the healers, Karin watched Toshiro's actions with wide eyes, her heart sinking, her body moving on its own despite her sister's protests and racing towards him. Ichigo left Miyuki where she was and charged towards the tunnel immediately, knowing exactly what the young king was up to. He would have done the same… Rangiku shouted for Toshiro to stop, but knew there was no stopping him once he made up his mind. It was both his best strength and worst weakness.
The women paused their attack and tensed, expecting a strike as the Soul King approached them. They looked past him with wide eyes as the tunnel began to close off, the air icy cold as Toshiro used most of his energy to create the seal from the inside.
"You won't be able to leave." Korla couldn't help but look at the white-haired man in bafflement.
"That's the plan." Toshiro held her gaze with cold determination.
"Toshiro!" Karin's terrified cry caught his attention as she reached the slowly closing wall. While the physical barrier was not complete yet, a barrier of Spirit Energy fueling the new seal kept her from jumping inside with him. "Don't do this!"
He dared turn away from his opponents to look at her. Tears were threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes, a deep fear in her expression, a fear that she would lose him forever. Her hands shook as she slammed them against the barrier, screaming at him to come back out. Behind her he could see Myndrӕl take flight and rush towards the tunnel, could sense his panic through their bond. This would be the last he saw of them…
Karin's breath caught as she saw the apology in his eyes, the normally bright and confident teal full of sorrow. He didn't want to do this, but he had to. He was fully prepared to give himself up to protect them all.
"Don't you dare!" The anger in her voice was weak, overpowered by the anxiety that she couldn't save him.
"I'm sorry, Karin." His response was painful to hear, but his next words nearly shattered her. "I love you."
The wall closed on itself with a resounding echo, a deafening signal that they had been cut off from their leader, their king. The world inside was hidden once more, impenetrable and unreachable. The Soul King was at the mercy of the Demon Lords.
Said sisters were standing patiently inside. They had no need to rush anything, not anymore. Their target was right in their grasp of his own will, doing most of the work for them. This was an unexpected turn of events for them, as they never expected the oh so valuable Soul King to just hand himself over to protect his people.
"You might as well be handing us the title already." A manic smile crept on Korla's face; how ridiculously easy this had been!
"Doubtful." Holding back the lump in his throat after seeing Karin's painful tears, Toshiro held up Hyorinmaru, prepared to fight to his last breath, knowing that they wouldn't dare kill him. He was the only one who could do this, the only one who could survive being alone in the Dark Master's home. As long as he held onto his pride and name with everything he had, they could not kill him.
It wasn't exactly how he envisioned spending his days as king, but with some luck he could maybe end this war for good. Then he could go back to Karin and apologize.
Static filled the air as Kazara readied herself to fight, Korla chuckling menacingly as she brought the shadows up around her into her twisted steed of darkness, her bow half drawn. Frost crept over the walls as Toshiro matched their strength and then charged forward.
He had to give this his best.