Chapter 33 - Kiyo
The darkness was never-ending, it swallowed everything. Hanataro and Ketu had been falling for sometime now and surprisingly Hanataro had stopped screaming.
'That's strange,' thought Ketu as he soared downwards at a quick speed, 'the spiritual pressure that I sensed should have gone up considerably, but it's only going up a bit. Hmm… but even still it's quite a significant amount of spiritual energy to be hidden out in the middle of no where.'
'Hey er… Ket, since it's a volcano. Shouldn't we have melted already?' asked Hanataro trying to do a thinking pose in mid-air.
'That is a good point. Even if a volcano is dormant it should still have substantial amounts of magma underneath it. Maybe I was wrong and this isn't a volcano.' Ketu put his hand to his chin and was deep in thought again.
'Don't look now, but I see a light down there,' said Hanataro pointing a small light beneath them that was growing larger with every second as they fell.
'Ah wonderful, so is this what people mean by delight at the end of the tunnel,' smiled a delighted Ketu.
'Delight? If we fall at this speed we're gonna go splat and go splat,' said Hanataro worriedly, 'I don't know about you but I'm getting out of here.' Then he comically tried to run upwards… and failed.
'Calm down, watch and learn.' Ketu chucked his sword up, 'Fly, Kazedoragon.' The wind dragon appeared above him and dived with him at exact speeds. The exit was coming up fast the light was getting brighter and closer.
'If you're gonna do something now's the time,' shouted Hanataro urgently. Ketu immediately reacted just as they were about to reach the light and moved his hand downwards. The dragon sped up and whipped up a whirlwind beneath them as they landed. The whirlwind cushioned their fall and slowly dropped them down.
They had arrived at a large set of double doors, which was very elegantly decorated with dragons everywhere on it. These large doors blocked the entire cave, there was only a little room behind them. The height was just right for Ketu and Hanataro to stand in. Ketu resheathed his sword.
'That spiritual pressure, it's coming from in here,' said Ketu walking up and feeling the door.
'Yeah, I can feel it as well. It's quite strong, I can barely stand up against it,' panted Hanataro.
'Maybe you should stay here then and rest up, it may be a powerful enemy up ahead and I don't want you to get hurt.'
'No it's fine, I can handle this.' Hanataro took a deep breath and started breathing normally again. 'See?'
Ketu shrugged and reached out to push the door. It was surprisingly easy to open, a light push from Ketu and the double doors swung open.
What was behind the doors was such a sight to see. It was like an old Japanese film set, the Japanese style building in the middle surrounded by beautiful forest scenery around it. The entire place was surrounded on all four sides by a huge cliff side reaching up to the skies with the sun beaming down on this place. Birds and other wild animals were happily doing what they were doing scurrying hurriedly around the place. Ketu and Hanataro walked into the 'front garden'. There were flowerbeds everywhere in this garden with all kinds of flowers. A few trees also grew in the corners of the garden. The main house was directly in front of the main entrance between it stood the garden.
'There's no water or magma here? That's strange, are we even underground?' Ketu asked himself as he surveyed the area.
'Wow, what a pretty place, I'd love to live here,' said Hanataro who was right behind Ketu as he entered, also studying the area.
Ketu then noticed that a young girl had been hiding behind a tree ever since they arrived. She was peeking out from the tree when Ketu spotted her.
'That spiritual pressure, so it was her?' thought Ketu. He walked slowly and calmly towards the tree so as to not arouse suspicion.
He got within a few feet of the tree and stopped, the girl had already disappeared behind it again.
'Hi there, don't be shy, we're not here to hurt anyone. Me and my friend here fell down through a whole in the ground and ended up here. Can you help us please?' asked Ketu as politely and gently as he could.
Hanataro also came over and stood next to Ketu. 'Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Hanataro Yamada,' he said bowing gently. When the girl didn't give a reply he continued on, 'beside me is Ketu Zakura, we are both from the Gotei thirteen in soul society. We mean no harm.'
The girl poked her head out, glanced at Ketu and came out from behind the tree. She was in her early twenties, long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a beautiful red kimono decorated with flowers on it.
She bowed courteously, 'nice to meet you both, my name is Kiyo.' She looked at Ketu and stared at him for a while. 'Are you a captain in the Gotei thirteen by any chance?' she asked Ketu.
'Indeed I am, did you tell that by the haori?' answered Ketu.
'No, I knew because I've been waiting for you,' she said elegantly.
'Waiting? For me? What do you mean?'
'I have been trapped down here for many years because of the hollows. Then one day, in a dream, a dragon came to me and said 'wait for the one named Ketu, he will free you, he is a captain of the Gotei thirteen in soul society, trust him'. I honestly couldn't believe it myself, but something deep inside me told me to trust that dragon. So I've waited here ever since, and at last you have come.'
'Wow, a dragon said that? In a dream? I don't know what to say except, sure I'll help you out, just tell me what you need,' grinned Ketu.
'Ket, we can't. Our mission is to find your eye, we need to get going and fast,' interrupted Hanataro.
'We can postpone that, I mean how can you just leave her after knowing she's in trouble? You're not that kind of a man are you?'
'I can see I'm not going to win against you. Fine, but is we get in trouble you're bailing us out.'
'No problems.' Ketu turned to Kiyo, 'what exactly am I suppose to free you from anyway?'
Kiyo shivered and uttered out two words, 'the hollows.'
'Oh right, that massive mob of hollows, I see. Well, can I ask you one thing first?'
'Sure, ask away.'
'Do you know that the reason they are there is because that you have such a high spiritual pressure that is constantly leaking out. That's why the hollows were attracted here.'
'Really, so it was my fault all alone,' said Kiyo, saddened.
'But don't worry, I know a way we can get you out of here. I have a spell that can mask your spiritual pressure, and they you can quietly ride my sword out of here.'
'Ride you sword?' said a confused Kiyo.
'Yeah, my sword is a wind dragon and I can guide the wind if you stand on it and it can guide you out of here. Because you're not a spirit I can't use Konsai to get you to soul society so, as soon as we're clear of the hollows I can open a gate to soul society, get you there and you can live there in peace.'
'Great! So how do we do it?' Kiyo seemed to have cheered up a lot and is full of enthusiasm.
'We're going to have to come back to look for the eye won't we?' asked Hanataro.
'Yep, but getting Kiyo to safety is our first priority, after all I can't just leave her here. It's a soul reapers duty to protect.'
'Well you are a higher rank than I am, so I'll just follow your orders then.'
'Good. Come here Kiyo,' said Ketu gently. Kiyo stood in front of Ketu. He put his hands together and muttered some words under his breath and waved his hands above Kiyo. And he was done, an invisible cloaking shield was cast over Kiyo, and it was impossible for hollows to detect her.
'Wow, that's some kido abilities you have Ket,' praised Hanataro.
'Well, I ain't a captain for nothing.' Ketu pulled out his sword, Kiyo backed off a bit, 'You sure you want to leave this place? You've made up your mind?' he asked just to be sure.
'Yes. I have lived here for too long, I want to see the outside world,' said Kiyo reassuringly.
'Good, by the way, where does this exit go exactly?' asked Ketu looking up at the clear blue sky above them surrounded on all sides by hillsides.
'It leads to an exit south of where you dropped in, that long tunnel you dropped in through was a magic one that actually teleports you to here. The hollows shouldn't notice us if we leave quietly as they are probably faced the other way.'
'Alright, that's good. Fly Kazedoragon.' Ketu threw his sword into the sky and it vanished replaced with the shape of a dragon.
'Hey wait, that's the dragon that was in my dream!' suddenly exclaimed Kiyo.
'Really, wow, I doubt this is a coincidence. I guess it must be fate for me to save you then. All the more reason to do it I guess.' He signaled for hanataro to stand next to him. 'Hanataro, listen, if the hollows do spot us I want you to take Kiyo back to soul society. I'll hold the hollows off for as long as I can and without my sword it'll be more difficult, but it should be enough time for you to escape.'
Suddenly Kiyo ran and hugged Ketu, 'don't die for my sake,' she said with a most sincere voice.
'Don't worry, as I've said many times, I'm not a captain for nothing. Now stop worrying about me, just get to soul society, if worst come to worst leave me and I promise I'll meet you there. Understand.'
'Yes,' she said although her voice wasn't a definite one.
'Good, then let's get going.' Ketu wave his hands around them and the dragon whirled around to them easily lifting all three off them off the ground.
'Have I ever told you I get air sick?' said Hanataro shuddering as the ground left them.
'No time to worry about that now, hold tight,' shouted Ketu over the noise of the passing winds. The dragon suddenly sped up tremendously and approached the exit at high speed. Ketu stood on the head of the dragon whilst Hanataro and Kiyo were barely able to hang on.
They burst out into open seas.
'Wow, so this is what the outside world looks like,' exclaimed Kiyo.
'Don't look now but we may have company,' warned Ketu as he saw the hollows to their north had just turned around to the sudden noise of the wind. 'Damn, guess I was too fast coming up, never mind.' He directed the dragon to go the opposite way and they flew as fast as they could. But then they stopped.
'Ha ha ha, your escape attempt is futile,' sniggered the Adjuchas that suddenly appeared in front of them with a dozen or so menos grande behind him. 'Blast them with cero.' All the menos obeyed and red balls gathered in front of their mouths and each fired out one cero blast. Ketu reacted quickly and flew upwards, avoiding the attack, but then hollows appeared from no where above him and flew at him.
'Tch, I had a feeling it'd come to this, no choice then,' thought Ketu. He whipped up a sort of wind barrier in front of the dragon and bashed his way through the hollows. He jumped off as all the hollows turned to chase them. 'Hanataro, it's up to you, get her to soul society, we won't be able to escape all of these, my dragon will only take you a bit of the way away from here because it can't leave me that far, but you should be at a same distance to open a gate. I'll hold them off, and I promise I'll meet you in soul society later.'
'Wait, Ket, I can't do that, I don't leave anyone behind,' said Hanataro trying to sound brave.
'Yeah this is crazy, you can't risk your life for me, it isn't worth it,' argued Kiyo.
'I already have,' said Ketu, he waved his hand and the dragon shot off into the distance.
The hollows was going to chase but the Adjuchas stopped them, 'stop, there's no need to go after two people with little spiritual pressure, this one has the most, all hollows attack him.
'Looks like my cloaking spell worked,' thought Ketu. Then all at once every single hollow that was there attacked him. The only thing he could do was use kido spells, but one man can't face an army. He was completely overwhelmed and within a second he disappeared under a pile of hollows.
Already a few hundred metres away Ketu's dragon had disappeared leaving Hanataro and Kiyo in enough space to escape to soul society.
'We've got to go back,' pleaded Kiyo. 'He could die out there.'
'B-but he told us to escape, he promised to meet us and anyway, I'm no good at fighting,' muttered Hanataro. Out of no where Kiyo turned around and slapped him.
'Are you a man or women? You're a soul reaper, you duty is to help and protect and there's a man out there who need our help. I may only be a normal girl but I know when action needs to be taken. So snap out of it and let's go!' snapped Kiyo.
'That was an inspiring speech. And you know what, you're right. I'm always not able to anything, but this time I'll be the one doing the saving.'
'That's the spirit, now let's go.'
They quickly turned around and head back.
'So. What's the plan?' asked Kiyo.
'First, we need to check if he really does need our help. If he does then the plan is, go in grab Ket, and run the other way,' said Hanataro trying to sound calm but he was shaking all over.
'Sounds good to me.' When they arrived back to where the hollows were all they saw was a pile of hollows altogether in one area.
'Oh my god, don't tell me.' Kiyo shuddered, face full of fear and worry.
'Damn you hollows, give me back my friend,' shouted Hanataro and foolishly charging into the group of hollows.
'Wait, don't act so hastily,' warned Kiyo but it was too late Hanataro was already three quarters of the way there.
'If I can't even help a friend then what use am I. I'll show them all that I can do something,' Hanataro thought to himself giving himself determination and confidence. He pulled out his sword, the red gauge on it was surprisingly near full. 'Gathering up all the wounds of the people back in Venice was a great idea. After years of training I should be able to control how much of the gauge I use in one shot, so I can fire off many shots.' He got ready to attack.
'You're just a weakling, get lost,' laughed the Adjuchas who stepped in his way.
'No, you get lost from my friend! Fulfil, Hisagomaru,' he shouted and used up just less than half the gauge. The sword turned to a scalpel and blasted a wave of green energy powerful enough to make the Adjuchas fly away and blast the hollows in the pile apart.
The next scene wasn't pretty, Ketu was hanging in mid-air, missing parts of his body, probably been eaten by the hollows. Completely covered from head to toe with blood, his left arm was gone, parts of his face were missing, and half of his left leg was gone as well. Blood still dripped from each wound, a truly sickening sight.
Hanataro was momentarily distracted by the horrendous scene but soon gained back his momentum, rushed over and grabbed Ketu. Hollows gathered in his path again, but surprisingly his zanpakuto has turned back to its normal form with half the gauge filled. Hanataro acted exceedingly quick (for his standards) and drove his sword in Ketu's chest. Some of Ketu's wounds instantly closed up and the red gauge of Hisaomaru filled up completely.
Hanataro removed the blade and swung at the hollows blocking his way. The much bigger blast of energy came from the scalpel and removed the obstacle in his way. He threw Ketu at Kiyo shouting, 'run with him.'
Kiyo caught him and hugged him closely tears forming in her eyes. Hanataro speedily flash stepped next to them.
'Come on, we need to go,' he said urgently.
They were about to move when suddenly another Adjuchas hollow appeared in front of them.
'My friend called me over to block some soul reapers. Looks like I made it just in time,' said the hollow giving a devilish grin. And soon Hanataro, Kiyo and Ketu were surrounded by hollows again.
'Now what,' thought Hanatarou who waas starting to go back to his old timid self.
Kiyo was crying holding Ketu close to her, 'I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to cause anyone harm,' she sobbed.
Ketu slowly opened his eyes, it's a miracle that he was still alive. 'There's no need to cry,' he whispered, 'we'll get out of this alive, don't worry.'
Kiyo wiped her tears, 'I'm sorry.' A tear dropped from onto Ketu's necklace, and she started to glow.
Hanataro turned round to the light, 'what the?' Kiyo shined even brighter the light intensity heightened and the hollows screamed.
You could here the Adjuchas screaming, 'it burns, it burns,' before completely disintegrating.
Kiyo's body blasted out waves of light energy, obliterating all hollows that were within a three mile radius. Soon there were no hollows at all in the area, it at last has become clam. Kiyo was still glowing but much less.
'Thank you for helping me, you showed me true benevolence' she said with a sweet voice, 'and now I can repay you.' One more bright flash and she turned into an eye. Ketu was still unconscious, the eye floated gently into Ketu's necklace giving off another bright flash. A second later, Ketu's injuries were all slowly healing themselves, his arm, leg and face were all growing back, and all his other wounds closed.
Hanataro smiled. After Ketu was back to normal, he hoisted him onto his shoulder, opened a gate to soul society and went back together.