Chapter 30 - Escuadra enmascaradas (Moonless Black Sun)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner spirit speech'
'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'
xxx
While in pursuit of the elusive reiatsu signature, Ichigo let go of his caution and hurried towards the wanted location as fast as he could. The spiritual energy felt feint, as if it was ready to disappear into the night and leave him with absolutely nothing but his own anxious thoughts. Far too desperate to let that happen, Ichigo growled.
Then, like crashing into a concrete wall, he reached his destination. It was the abandoned warehouse he had first seen a few weeks before and looking at it brought back some memories. However, he quickly pushed them aside and took a resolute step forward, inside the building. Almost immediately, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he assumed a defensive stance.
It felt like he just passed some invisible barrier made out of warm air and, as soon as he did that, the reiatsu signature vanished and was replaced with several other, considerably more powerful, spiritual energies he did not recognize, yet they all felt somewhat familiar.
"Took ya long enough, Ichigo."
As tense as he was, when Ichigo heard the voice, he instantly rolled away in anticipation of a strike to his body. But such thing never came.
"Don't be alarmed, we are not here to fight ya." The same voice called out to him from the darkness. Ichigo didn't feel like he could accept the sentiment. There was something strange about the male's voice, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"On the contrary, we wanna help ya."
Feeling like the voice was coming closer to him, Ichigo twitched and glanced in the direction where he thought the man to appear. There, leisurely walking forward, was a man he did not recognize. The man was wearing ordinary clothes and, on first glance, he could have almost fooled Ichigo into thinking he was just an ordinary citizen.
Almost.
Aside from the man's normal, even if a bit eccentric appearance, there was a sword in his hand and also a hollow mask on his face, pushed aside just enough for Ichigo to see his human face. There was also massive spiritual energy radiating from the man. Ichigo took a step back in shock.
"What the…?"
When the man continued to walk towards him, Ichigo quickly restored the state of his mind and raised his own sword.
"That's close enough."
The man raised one eyebrow, then chuckled.
"Well, can't say I didn't expect some skepticism. Actually, I'd be annoyed to see none. Even disappointed. On the other hand, ya came here willingly, 'cause of your own curiosity, didn't ya?"
With narrowed eyes, Ichigo rewarded the man with a long, searching gaze, until he lowered his sword just a little bit and nodded with its tip towards the shadows.
"Tell them to come out."
Forming a toothy grin, the man simply glanced to both sides and the darkness within the warehouse vanished with a flick of a switch, revealing seven other figures staring at Ichigo from all around him, effectively surrounding him. That thought made Ichigo abandon the thought of completely putting away his sword. He looked back at the man. It looked like he was the leader.
"What now?"
The man's grin widened.
"Now, we introduce ourselves. We all know who ya are, Kurosaki Ichigo, but ya know nothing about us."
"And I say we don't change that." A brazen, female voice stated from behind Ichigo, causing the teen to slightly turn his neck and glance at the owner of the voice. It seemed to be a short girl in a red tracksuit, zipped open to reveal a loose tank top and a flat chest.
"You just thought that my chest is flat, didn't you?" The girl suddenly growled with hostility in her eyes and Ichigo blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"Well you know what? I'm still developing and before long, my tits will be bigger than Lisa's!" The girl growled again, prompting another person located on Ichigo's far right to snort derisively.
"Pff, you wish."
"What about Mashiro's?"
Slowly losing himself in the conversation, Ichigo completely lowered his sword before he even realized he had done so. Confused, he looked back at the leader of the group to see him sighing.
"Guys, guys… later. See what I have to endure every single day, Ichigo? Now, to continue where I left off, I am Hirako Shinji." The man, Shinji, said while pointing at himself. After Ichigo nodded in acknowledgement, Shinji then pointed at the girl behind Ichigo.
"That's Sarugaki Hiyori. The ones bickering with her are Yadōmaru Lisa and Kuna Mashiro." He said and then continued pointing his finger at the rest of the group.
"The one with an angry scowl is Muguruma Kensei."
"That's my resting face." Kensei grunted but Shinji ignored him.
"The fat guy is Ushōda Hachigen."
"…I'm just big-boned." Hachigen muttered in a sad tone but, just as with Kensei, Shinji ignored him.
"The one reading a manga and laughing like an idiot is Aikawa Love."
"Bwhahaha, this main character is retarded… hm, what did you say Shinji?"
Clearly frustrated by the lack of care from his colleagues, Shinji finally pointed at the last person, an elegant looking gentleman in a black suit that had an absolutely bored expression.
"And this guy is Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō."
Then Shinji opened his arms and brought back his grin.
"As a group, we are called Vaizādo. A group of Shinigami that, just like you, are in possession of inner hollows."
There was a pause and it looked like he was expecting some sort of applause. He even remained motionless, stuck in the same pose, with his grin slowly widening. However, Ichigo just continued staring at him with narrowed eyes. Very slowly, the teen moved his eyes from side to side and looked over each member of the group. Then he tried to feel their spiritual energies. As he went over each person, his eyebrows moved towards each other until his brow looked like plowed soil. There was no way such powerful individuals could exist without Soul Society knowing about it. He was missing something.
There was a thought in the back of his mind that was stubbornly, persistently trying to find its way to the front, where it could present itself to Ichigo in its full glory. Ichigo would easily allow it but there was something odd. He could feel it, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Then a stray memory from months ago played itself like a short movie and the thoughts became complete.
"You were banished from Soul Society about a century ago… right?"
The grin on Shinji's face withered like a flower thrown into a sun. In its stead, a tasteless grimace appeared so fast, it told Ichigo everything he needed to know.
"Now why would you think so?"
Ichigo released a bit of air through his nostrils and licked his lower lip.
"I see. So that's what he meant by weakening the Gotei…hmm." The teen muttered to himself as he gradually plunged into a swirling vortex of his own thoughts. Because of the glass look on his face, the Vaizādo group looked at him with confused stares, until Shinji heard his words and decided to clear his throat, to bring Ichigo back to the real world.
"Ichigo?"
Ichigo blinked several times and then pierced Shinji with an icy cold stare.
"You want revenge on Aizen."
It wasn't a question. It was a simple statement and Ichigo didn't mean it in any other way. However, the mere mention of the former Captain of the Gotei 13 brought up a heated reaction where everyone's reiatsu shot up exponentially and their stares turned deadly serious. Even Shinji, who looked like an easy-going guy, turned somber.
"It's interesting how fast you got it without me saying anything." He said humorlessly.
"And Urahara Kisuke's suggestion to take a walk outside didn't come to him just because he's such a caring person. There is no way a guy like him wouldn't know about you."
Once again, Ichigo didn't ask and just made a comment. Still, Shinji clearly wanted to continue the conversation.
"Sounds like him, yes."
Ichigo paused for a while and simply looked Shinji in the eyes, until either of them blinked.
"I hate that guy."
That finally broke some ice and the reiatsu of Vaizādo members plummeted down. Walking around Ichigo and taking a stand next to Shinji, Hiyori snorted and elbowed the leader of the group in his hip bone.
"Finally, somebody with a similar opinion."
Shinji flinched and massaged the point of impact while giving the girl a nasty glare. After few rubs though, he looked back at Ichigo with a frown.
"I think there is no need for further introductions. You guessed it right, Ichigo. Because of a certain someone about a century ago and against our will, we gained a hollow taint and were banished from Soul Society. However, we managed to turn this disadvantage to our advantage. We gained control over our inner hollows and, since you are the guy everyone is seemingly putting hopes into, there was an idea of us helping you do the same. To gain control over your inner hollow. But first, come inside."
Twenty minutes later, after Ichigo properly greeted each and every member of the group, he and Shinji finally got to talk about the first and foremost thing they wanted to help Ichigo with.
"There is one thing I realized. You all talk about it like there is some sort of a separate entity within you that acts completely like a hollow and has barely anything to do with you." Ichigo said once he sat down on the ground and rested his backside against a wall. Looking at him strangely, Shinji blinked.
"Because it's true?"
It was Ichigo's turn to blink, causing Shinji to furrow his brow.
"You're saying it's different with you? I mean, I saw your rampage here in Karakura Town and, well, it looked quite similar to how we have it."
Rolling over the new information, Ichigo decided to ignore the disturbing comment about spying on him, and focused on developing the conversation.
"Maybe, but there is one distinct difference. The hollow part of me does not exist as a separate entity. Rather, it is fused together with my zanpakuto spirit on such a deep level, they cannot be separated."
There was a short silence and Ichigo realized the whole group was staring at him with their eyes bugged out, like he just grew a second head.
"Uhmmmm?"
Shinji managed to recover after a few seconds and he pierced Ichigo with a pointy stare.
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Y-yeah, of course. I met the guy, talked with the guy and trained with the guy. He is a zanpakuto spirit but he just has a nasty side that is hard to control. It's not like he's trying to kill me or anything. I mean… even when he does it, it's because he's trying to push me forward, so I can improve. It's just that the more power I draw from him, the stronger the hollow influence becomes and so if I don't keep my emotions in check I can lose control. Or something like that." Ichigo stammered and tried his best to explain to his best knowledge just how his power worked. Shinji's gaze lessened but he still remained deadly serious. He pinched the bridge of his nose and released a sigh.
"Well, shit. That changes things a bit."
"How so?" Ichigo asked after relaxing again. In response, Shinji scratched the top of his head and tilted his head so he was looking at the teen from a weird angle. Then he wrinkled his nose.
"Well, the thing is, we were prepared to help you by making you go through the same training we did in order to gain control over our hollows but with this, our plan may not be the best idea. What we did was to battle our inner hollow within our mindscape what, after winning, forced them to retreat deep into the core of our souls, leaving us with the ability to don our masks that we use to augment our abilities and basic stats."
Ichigo bonked the back of his head against the wall and sighed.
"Yeah, that won't work. Besides, there is no way in hell I can defeat my zanpakuto spirit. Not yet, at least. That guy is insanely strong."
'Right, Zangetsu?'
With his head turned towards the ceiling, Ichigo blinked.
'Zangetsu?'
He felt a bead of cold sweat forming on his brow.
'ZANGETSU?!'
But there was no answer. His zanpakuto spirit was nowhere to be found and Ichigo felt his breathing rapidly increasing to the point where he wasn't sure whether he wasn't actually hyperventilating.
"So, what…. Ichigo? ICHIGO?!"
…
Feeling a cold and hard surface beneath him, Ichigo's eyes suddenly popped open only to see nothing but a sky full of grey clouds. He moved his head from side to side and saw an endless field full of slowly decaying skyscrapers. A thunder resonated high above him and marked a start of a light rain that tickled his skin, chilled his bones.
He was in his mindscape.
With vigor he didn't know he possessed, Ichigo got back on his feet and frantically looked around.
"Zangetsu!" He exclaimed as loud as his vocal chords allowed him to but no response came back. Dreading the possibility, Ichigo flashed to the top of the nearest skyscraper but as soon as he landed, the structure groaned in protest and began to tremble. In the nick of the time, Ichigo managed to regain his footing and jump away, only to watch the building finally give in to the decay and tumbling down in a cloud of smoke and debris.
He knew that such a thing must have meant something important, something vital to the vitality of his own mind, but the fear of losing his zanpakuto spirit caused him to ignore that thought.
"ZANGETSU!"
Another skyscraper came crashing down, now even without him touching it. Along with it, the rain grew thicker and the water from it began to accumulate, slowly forming on ocean of regret and anxiety.
"Zangetsu… please… where are you?" What started as another yell, ended in a bleak whisper.
However, as much as he screamed, as much as he pleaded and begged, wished and desired, his zanpakuto spirit remained silent and hidden, leaving not even a trace of his very existence. The realization shocked him to the core and so he didn't even try to stop himself from falling into the ocean below him.
The water current tugged on him and dragged him into the ocean's depth, when the only thing he could feel was the pain in his eardrums as the mass of water tried to rip them open. Ichigo fought against it, he tried to pry himself out of the tight embrace of regret but it was like cutting time and rewriting the fate itself.
Impossible.
But he wasn't about to give up that easily. He had gone through too much shit to get defeated with just that much. His skin was thicker than ever and even though his mind remained as fragile as it had been years ago, it was now coated in a protective blanket that was far too durable for this event to break it open.
So, he kicked the negative emotions right into their distorted reflection and pushed forward. Yet, despite his most stubborn protest, the light slowly began to fade away and his body sank deeper and deeper. With clenched teeth, he cursed his own weakness.
"You are not weak."
His eyes snapped open when a familiar voice sounded close to him and strong hands grabbed him by his shoulder and yanked him away from the depths of gloom.
He landed on a small skyscraper, the only one still standing strong and proud.
"Old man Yhwach…" Ichigo muttered and raised his head to see his inner spirit looking at him with a worried expression.
"I thought I told you before, Ichigo. I hate the rain."
A smile found its way on Ichigo's face. It was small, almost shy but it did exist. And its very existence brought back some of the energy Ichigo lost within the ocean.
"Yeah, I know. I just… I wasn't prepared."
"You can never be, Ichigo. But you can get strong, so when then the time for despair comes, you can endure it on your own and without any help." The spirit said and offered him a helping hand. Grateful, Ichigo took it and stood back up.
"Where is he, old man?"
His tone wasn't too earnest but it was honest enough for the spirit to briefly close his eyes.
"Do you truly not know, Ichigo? You are him as much as he is you. But if you still don't know, it is because you don't know yourself. And how else do you expect to understand him but by understanding your own soul?"
Staring at the spirit in silence, Ichigo felt his throat drying up and he gulped.
"It is because I disappointed him. Because I couldn't keep my emotions in check and turned into a complete hollow."
The spirit opened his eyes and returned his stare.
"Is it truly? Or is it because you still treat your hollow self as something you appear to have accepted, yet deep down, in the very core of your soul, you treat it like an infection you learned to live with yet never tried to truly understand?"
Flinching, Ichigo closed his eyes and snorted without any joy.
"…perhaps."
…
After Ichigo woke up from the forced visit to his mindscape, he did his best to calm Shinji and the rest of the Vaizādo group and assured them he was quite fine, that what happened to him was just a by-product of his inner spirit pulling him away from the real world. Then he decided that Vaizādo method of training, minus the beating down his inner spirit, was still his best shot at figuring things out.
The rest of the day as well as most of the following morning Ichigo spent training with each and every single member of the group. One by one, they switched, so each time Ichigo faced somebody, his opponent was fresh and rested. But because he couldn't do the most important thing of their training, his progress in figuring how to control his hollow part was practically non-existent.
Although, it would be unfair to call his hard work pointless. He did gain something. Ichigo wasn't quite sure why but the more he sparred with Vaizādo while they used their masks, the more his own hollow mask grew in size. It was just a small increase, but it was still better than nothing. Though he had yet to feel any increase in power.
When he asked Shinji, the man seemed convinced it was because their training was good for something after all. Ichigo didn't buy it.
However, even these gains stopped after the second day ended. On the third day, Ichigo decided to just rest and muse over the situation. That was also when an urgent message from Urahara reached him through one of the Vaizādo members.
"Urahara-san is asking for you, Ichigo-san. It seems there is an emergency in Soul Society." Hachigen, the largest of the group, called out to him, causing the whole building to go quiet. Ichigo's eyes narrowed to slits and he quickly, but quietly, weighed his options.
Meanwhile, Hiyori scoffed at the news and negatively shook her head.
"Screw them. What difference can one person make? This is important."
From a nearby bench, Kensei cracked his knuckles.
"For once, I agree with her."
Sitting opposite of Ichigo, Shinji remained silent and simply watched as Ichigo's brows moved in sync with his thought process. Before the others could offer their own opinions, Shinji raised his arm and slightly shook it. That stopped anyone from speaking and, together, they waited for Ichigo to make a decision. After several more seconds, the teen looked up with a frown on his face.
"I think that once I go, it will take some time before I could even think of coming back. There's no way they'll let me go without any punishment." He mused and carefully studied Shinji's reaction. But the leader of the Vaizādo group remained stoic and returned his searching gaze with one of his own.
"Most likely, yes."
"On the other hand, while I made a tiny progress with increasing the size of my mask, I got absolutely nowhere with the root of the problem." Ichigo continued and Shinji countered without any pause.
"It took us nearly a century to get where we are. Besides, completing the mask may be tied to the solution."
"Maybe but I clearly cannot stay here for that long. I think I'll have to find the solution elsewhere and on my own. Not that I'm not grateful to you lot."
Shinji's facade cracked a little at that allowing a ghost smile to play on his lips.
"Are ya just stating things, convincing yerself, asking for permission or expecting an advice?"
Ichigo's expression broke as well and he snorted.
"A bit of everything." He said and grabbed his sword while standing up. Wordlessly, with just simple nods, he said his goodbyes to the members of the group and then, with a zanpakuto in his hand, he walked towards the entrance of the warehouse. Before he reached it though, he heard somebody clearing his throat.
"Well, Ichigo, it's been nice knowing ya but before ya leave, there is one more thing ya should know."
Seeing Shinji with one of his more serious expressions, Ichigo gave him a nod.
"I think I know it already. Even after a century, you are still living behind a barrier, so you don't want to be found or don't want anyone to know you are alive. Especially the one who shall not be named."
Shinji stared at him for a few seconds before releasing a sharp snort.
"Clever bastard."
Ichigo chuckled and then waved his hand at the man.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on exposing you. There is nothing I'd gain from that. Besides, you are not that bad."
"…get out of here ya bastard."
Chuckling again, Ichigo turned away from the group and walked through the large doors. Once he was out, the entrance closed and he lost his positivity. Leaning backwards, he stared at the sunny sky and sighed heavily.
"Some sort of emergency, huh? Sure, let me just rush to Soul Society without knowing anything else." He muttered and brought his head back down, to stare at the road ahead of him.
"I hate his vague bullshit."
With another sigh, he discarded the simple option of just opening the Senkaimon on his own and aimed his steps towards Urahara's shop, in hopes of gaining some additional information about the situation. While walking, he heard the only remaining inner spirit clear his throat.
'What is it, old man?'
There was a brief pause.
'It feels like you didn't really enjoy your stay with these Vaizādo. You said you did, but that wasn't complete truth.'
Not expecting such a statement, Ichigo almost tripped and fell, regaining his footing only in the last moment. Continuing like nothing happened, he took a deep breath.
'I… I don't know. They seem nice enough but it was like they were missing something. Some part that I could connect with. Despite having a part of hollow in them, they never seemed to act differently with or without the mask. Maybe they are used to it but… I felt no connection. Maybe it's because I'm also a part Quincy and they are not. I don't know.' He mentally stated, while carefully watching his steps as he maneuvered around a large mass of people that appeared once he got to a busy part of the town. His inner spirit reacted to his words and thoughts only once he reached a quiet street and had time to relax.
'Or maybe you couldn't connect because they never seemed to truly look at you?'
'Huh? What do you mean?'
But he was already standing in front of Urahara's shop and his inner spirit quickly receded into the deeper parts of his soul, from where the teen couldn't hear him, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
"Urahara."
Ichigo didn't even raise his voice to call out to the scientist. He was sure that the man was already expecting him and that he had already felt him approaching. He was proven right only a moment later when the said man opened the doors and invited him inside with a simple wave of a hand.
"I see you listened to my advice and took quite the stroll."
When he walked past the scientist, Ichigo gave him a nasty look but managed to keep his patience and didn't lash out.
'Hehe-hihi… bastard.' He thought and clenched his jaw, refusing to say anything until he reached the underground area where he was planning on opening Senkaimon. To his surprise, Urahara didn't seem to have any problems with the silence and the two of them walked through the shop in silence. It was when his feet touched the ground of the underground area that Ichigo looked at Urahara with serious gaze.
"So, what exactly is this emergency? Are we under attack or is it something else?"
Urahara met his eyes and slightly shook his head.
"Hard to say what exactly happened. However, it seems that every student in the Academy that used to be a regular in Aizen's calligraphy class vanished. That's the extent of my information, I'm afraid. I'm sure that thanks to Captain Kurotsuchi the Gotei has the specifics, so you'll have to ask them."
Ichigo tried to listen to him with a cool head and so he kept his composure all the way to the end. When the man finished talking, he raised his right hand and rubbed the tip of his chin.
"While that is indeed not a good thing, it certainly doesn't sound that urgent."
Narrowing his eyes just a tiny bit, Urahara's stare seemed to change and Ichigo felt something in the man's mood shifted.
"You used to be a regular in his class as well, Kurosaki-san. I'm sure you get the implications."
At first, Ichigo just blinked, but then the realization hit him and caused him to slap himself on the forehead without even trying to lessen the impact. The slap left a pink mark on his skin but he couldn't care less. He sighed in resignation and released a little groan at the end.
"I see, so the event itself isn't the emergency. Me being out of harm's way just at the right time is. Great. I'm so not looking forward to this." He muttered to himself. Then he nodded to Urahara and grabbed his zanpakuto, only to thrust it into the air in front of him, forcing a Senkaimon to appear in a flash.
"Goodbye, Kurosaki-san."
…
Ichigo knew something was wrong the very first second his feet touched the ground of Seireitei and he didn't see anyone in his vicinity. It was not like he expected somebody to greet him; Shinigami used Senkaimon all the time. However, the fact that not even the Senkaimon usual guards, members of the Kidō Corps, were present worried him greatly. There wasn't even any sound or noise coming from the usually busy center of the Seireitei. Suddenly feeling extremely exposed, Ichigo sharpened his senses and took few quick steps.
He managed to take only three before something incredibly fast flashed behind him and his nose hit the ground before he could react.
"Ow, ah, I give! Whatever it is, I'll go peacefully!" His muffled protests were halted when he felt something cold and sharp pressed against the back of his neck. A voice then came from such close distance to his ear, it made him shudder.
"Be quiet, Kurosaki."
He blinked in surprise.
"Captain Sui-Fēng? What-?"
"I said be quiet!" The Captain of the 2nd Division hissed and pushed his face further into the ground, instantly preventing him from speaking any further. Then she loosened the grip, but only slightly. Ichigo was still unable to move and so he remained still and silent. Sui-Fēng lowered herself and he could feel her mouth almost touching his ear.
"Good. We don't have much time so listen to me very carefully. You screwed up big time, Kurosaki. Your life is on the line here but, fortunately for you, I have a solution that will benefit everyone, maybe even you."
When she paused to take a breath, Ichigo forcefully scratched his face across the ground to free his mouth and then looked her in the eye.
"Is-is this a revenge for Yoruichi Shihōin?"
Sui-Fēng's gaze darkened a bit and he could almost see the inner conflict happening within her mind. However, the Captain quickly got rid of her thoughts and narrowed her eyes at him.
"I can still make it so, if you want. But no. Before I am a person, I am the Captain of the Gotei 13 and it's my job to make hard decisions. This is one of these decisions. Kurosaki…" She trailed off and closed on him even more, shortening the distance between their eyes until it was barely an inch.
"…I'm giving you a chance to make things right. I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself. Above everything else, I'm putting all of my trust into you, because Yoruichi-sama thinks you are worth it. Do not make me regret it."
Ichigo felt his breath stuck and, in the face of Sui-Fēng's intense stare, he could only gulp. Then, as much as he could move, he nodded. Sui-Fēng's expression changed and she nodded as well.
"Now, listen closely…"
End of Chapter 30.
Escuadra enmascaradas- masked squad in Spanish
This chapter is a bit shorter in word count, though it is quite packed with content. I kind of ran through Ichigo's meeting with Vaizado group but that is only because I don't think I will be focusing on them in this story. However, they are a necessity that will play its part in giving the story and its characters a different flavor.
There's not much I want to address in this chapter, instead, I'll give you info on further development of this story. I am using the bit of free time during holidays to do a research about different religions and mythology contained in them so, aside from the obvious ones already implemented in this story (chapter titles), I will most likely use more elements from them in the future.
To answer reviews:
Six_Foot_Assassin - well, could you specify a bit? Hard to learn from a simple comment like that.
MugetsuIchigo - ye shall wait, ye shall receive.
Takei Daloui - yes and no. The ending of Bleach hit me but frankly did not give me many ideas. But that's because I always had a rough sketch of the plot. Though the new novels written by Narita did give me something to think about.
Dinner - thank you. I try to watch out for awkward sentences but it seems they still elude me.
blarg7865 - well, one horsemen already appeared, heh. About Vandenreich reactions - not sure right now. Negar ruins and yes, they are important. I'm still thinking about how I want to portray Yhwach and his abilities. I may make some references about Beast Realm but will not write much about it. Ichigo visiting other places - Not sure yet but it's more probable than not. Other Bankai - hmm, definitely some of them.
Darkness in shadowland - I very much appreciate that, thank you.
Scarease and Daddys little crazy bitch (nice name btw) - thank you.
Well, that's all for now. Next chapter should arrive 18/19th January.
It will be Chapter 31 - Prelude to Lucifer's Deception (Lunar Maria).