Chapter 3
Her second visitor came in the late half of the second day. Not that she knew it was the second day, she had long lost her track of time and the sky above her was a perpetual blue sky. The clacking sound of wooden sandals gave him away before the green stripped hat appeared over the edge of the hole.
"You know, you being a genius and all I would think you could come up with something more original than a clear sky 24/7." She said in a dry tone as her gaze left the monotone scene to look at towards the blonde man.
The bored expression on her face making him relax, he had been expecting a yelling session. "We have been talking about what will happen once you come out of the Shattered Shaft, but before we discuss any of that I have come to explain some things to you seeing as in the rush to turn you into a shinigami we forgot to mention a few important details." He coughed into his sleeve, a small pout in his lips the only indication he had heard her last comment.
"Forgot I wasn't Ichigo, you mean?" She asked innocently, disguising the fact that she was happy to about finally getting all the answers she had longed for. There's only so much you can overhear after all…
"How much do you know about the world you just jumped head first into?" He questioned, ignoring her once again with a practiced ease, as he settled down to prepare himself for a lengthy conversation.
"Oh, just about next to nothing." She answered nonchalantly, giving Urahara the suspicion that if her hands had been free that she would've flipped her hand over her shoulder. A sliver of petty satisfaction at her inability to properly express herself wormed into his heart making him feel like a child once more.
Stifling a sigh a sigh, the scientist collected his thoughts. "The after world is not divided between heaven or hell or something in that vein of thought. In reality the spirit world is devided into two dimensions that exist separately from this Earth.
"The first one I will explain to you is called Hueco Mundo, which means hollow world in Spanish and that is just what it is." Urahara started with his best professor voice, seeing her confused glance he paused to listen to her.
"What do you mean by Hollow? Are they failed shinigami, did they go through the same thing I am?" She asked him with a conniving expression.
At Urahara's bewildered expression she blushed at her stupidity. She already knew for a fact that she wasn't going to become a shinigami; she was going to become a vizard, something that was taboo in Soul Society.
"Hollows are monsters, for lack of a better word, that have white masks over their faces. I'm sure you've had some run-ins with some of them." He said as his eyes narrowed, when they had discussed the whole inner hollow thing she had acted as if she had known what a hollow was.
Seeing his expression she decided to elaborate. "I have, that's what I thought hollows were, but if I was wrong I'd rather be rectified by you than by someone else since you are offering free information." He could almost hear the challenge in his voice that dared him to laugh, but he appreciated the fact that she could put her pride behind for information that was useful.
"Before turning into what they are, they were normal souls which were riddled by despair and rage causing them to transform into their monstrous shape. They lose their Chain of Fate and it leaves behind a hole. It is speculated that said hole is where their hearts used to be and to fill up the emptiness inside they devour other souls, often called plus souls." He continued ignoring her fearful face at the harsh facts of reality. What he did not know was that Karin actually feared that he would soon bring a flashlight out of nowhere and point it to his face while making goofy scary faces.
She shuddered at the mental image before concentrating on his words once more. "Hueco Mundo is a place of retreat for the Hollows when Shinigami get on their trail, but it is not in any way a sanctuary. Hollows eat other Hollows to become stronger, making the whole place hunting grounds.
"It is a desert which only has a few quartz trees across the surface, but beneath the sands the Menos Forest rests. There the lowest level Hollows attempt to survive and once they grow strong enough they go to the surface to look for stronger prey." He explained patiently, his grim tone giving away his black mood towards the place.
Karin, with nothing to say, kept silent. "The Hollow race is divided by three evolution stages. The first is the Gillian class, and they consist of the weaker Hollows. They look nothing like humans and their intelligence is lacking, the most used image to describe a Gillian is that of a Menos. They are giant Hollows that have black bodies and a white mask only, they have no arms, but their most regular attack is Cero. This is a kido-like technique that only Hollows use."
"You mean they resemble Ichigo?" Karin interrupted with a cocky smirk on her lips, the image of her hands on her hips and her inability to do the action brought a satisfied light to his eyes. It was becoming obvious that he was not over the death of his fan.
He chuckled softly at the comparison. "The second class is Adjuchas and even if they are smaller, their power is greater to that of the Gillian. These present more intelligence, almost to a human degree, as a direct result of that they can learn and speak our tongue. These consist of the greater majority within Hueco Mundo, but very rarely do they come to the human world. The dirty work is left for the Gillian, which also work as foot soldiers and cannon fodder to create more powerful Hollows.
"The last class are the Vasto Lords, they have human characteristics and are also extremely powerful. Not much is known about them except for the facts that I just gave you and also that there are only five in existence at the moment." He concluded before stopping for a breath. "They tend to be of a more hermit nature and are rarely seen."
"So guessing from the fact that their race is so animalistic and that they are ruled by their instincts, there is no hierarchy system apart from the power pyramid." She deducted from his whole explanation of the world of Hollows.
Urahara nodded in approval and agreement to her statement. "That is correct, or I should that that is how it would be, were it not for a specific Vasto Lord. He is the only known Vasto Lord that has ever attempted to govern their world. He thinks himself as a God, and the other Hollows in fear of his power follow him without complaints. The problem with this is that the other Vasto Lords refuse to have anything to do with him so it is not known if he is the most powerful Hollow alive." He elaborated at her words.
"So most Vasto Lords are antisocial except with the freak with the god complex?" She asked, hoping to clarify the fact.
"That's about right." Mused Urahara. She hummed to express her understanding.
"Now on the other side of the coin is Soul Society, where plus souls and Shinigami live. It is divided in two parts, the Rukongai and the Court of Pure Souls. The first is where normal souls live, those who have no Reiatsu, and it is divided into 80 districts.
"The further away from the walls of Seiretei, the harder life is in those districts. All plus souls go there once they are purified by Shinigami-"
"We have to kill normal, human souls?" She exclaimed in bewilderment at the fact, the denial to have anything to do with that at the tip of her tongue as Urahara plowed through her words.
"-Through Konzo, often called Soul Burial. This is performed by touching the hilt of your Zanpakutou to their foreheads." His sharp gaze caught the embarrassed blush from her assumption all the way from his position at the edge of the hole.
"The souls that were eaten and therefore reside within Hollows are freed and go to Soul Society once the original soul is cut by a Zanpakutou blade which is why Quincies were exterminated, because they arrows would completely destroy the souls within the Hollow.
"Now the Court of Pure Souls is a place where Shinigami live along with the Four Noble Houses and the government council that rule and place the laws of this dimension in the stead of the King. This is called Central 46.
"Soul Society is ruled by a king, but as I said before he commonly leaves the running of Soul Society to the Central 46 Chambers and Nobles. He lives with his family in the Royal Palace in a separate dimension in the very core of Soul Society, which is protected by the Royal Guard. The dimension can only be opened with a tri-pronged golden key fittingly named the Royal Key." At the mention of the key Karin could clearly see the contempt in his face for some reason, but before she could investigate further, he had started talking again.
"The military within Soul Society consists of trained Shinigami and it goes by the name of Gotei 13. It is split into 13 squads, as the name suggests, and each squad is lead by a captain and a lieutenant. Their rank is hard earned as they are the strongest warriors amongst the Shinigami.
"To become a Lieutenant you need to have your first sword release, called Shikai, as well as considerable knowledge of Kido, Hoho and Hakuda. The second is known as the ability to move at a greater speed and the last one is hand-to-hand combat.
"To become a Captain you need to have both sword releases, the second one is called Bankai which is a Captain's ultimate weapon, but they also need to be well versed in Kido, Hoho and Hakuda. Each squad has a specialty, but the most notable are those of Squads 2, 4, 9, 11 and 12th.
"The second squad is known for being an extension of the Omnitsukido, which in turn specializes in stealth, information gathering and assassinations. The fourth squad is the contrary to the second squad. This one specializes in healing and supplying shinigami with the necessary things for survival. The ninth squad is related to the newspapers and information spreading faction.
"The eleventh squad is specialized in warfare and fighting. Their love for fights is what often has them at the front of the battle lines and their hate for kido limits their abilities to Zanjutsu only. Any kido-type Zanpakutou wielder is not welcome in their squad. The last one, the twelfth, is specialized in science and laboratory intelligence. The Technological Development Department is also under the command of the twelfth squad Captain." He paused with a nostalgic look in his eyes.
"Let me guess, you were once the captain of squad 12." Karin deadpanned as she connected the dots. Urahara snapped from his thoughts and stared at her, his mind attempting to see how she had arrived at the right conclusion. His eyes narrowed at finding nothing.
"It was the fondness in your voice as you spoke of the squad. The fact that you seem to fit the crazy scientist criteria perfectly also helped me figure it out." Karin declared smugly at seeing his frustrated expression. "And I saw your sword change shape when you were fighting my brother, which means that you have at least one sword release if I am correct."
"You really are observant." Urahara said blankly. "So you reasoned that I used to be a Captain just because you saw my Shikai and because of my personality. Impressive." He added as he contemplated her connection.
Karin smirked in her trademark fashion. "I like to think that I take after my mother."
"Why not your father?" He asked in genuine curiosity to her statement.
"Because Ichigo takes after him." She deadpanned with a straight face.
And that was all that needed to be said as Urahara hid a smile at the low esteem that she had for the ex-captain of the tenth. "To continue with the subject, as your time is running short." He cleared his throat.
True to his words when she glanced down at her Chain, she whistled in surprise. "You do a great job at distracting me." She accused as her eyes narrowed, her fear hidden within the reproachful expression. "Even with their great power, Captains are not the top of the military. In reality there is another post, that of Captain Commander and it belongs to the most powerful Shinigami in all three planes of existence. It is currently being lead by Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. He has been on the post for 2000 years and he created the Shinigami Academy.
"He also wields the strongest fire-type weapon in existence and even with his extensive scars; he has never been defeated since he gained the post. Now to explain the Shinigami Academy, better known as the Spiritual Arts Academy, you must have in mind the fact that the Rukongai is the place of origin from most Shinigami. Some of them do come from the noble houses, but they being so few in comparison leaves them at a disadvantage.
"Those who prove to have high enough Reiatsu to become a shinigami are tested by a set of professors who determine if they should be welcome within the walls of Seiretei. Once chosen the students are taken into the Academy, where they will live for the 8 years of education that are required. There they will learn the main combat skills that are necessary for a shinigami to have, those are: Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho and Kido.
"Learn all of these and you will qualify as a rounded Shinigami. I will teach you Zanjutsu and Yoruichi will teach you Hakuda and Hoho." He finished with a sigh as he stood from his place at the edge of the hole.
"But how will I learn all of this in the short time that I have? I have to help Ichi-nii, but how is that going to be a possibility when I have to be there sometime this YEAR!" She exclaimed in frustration at his indifferent expression.
"That, I'm afraid, will have to wait for another time. If you get out of that hole that is, but for now your time has run out." He replied to her words as his hand gripped the cane that had rested at his side. Tessai appeared next to the fair-haired man with a severe expression.
At his words, her gaze travelled towards her Chain of Fate, but the sense of his words did not reach her when she could still clearly see five links left. A frown marred her face, outlining her relation to Ichigo, and she opened her mouth to contradict the scientist in the green and white garb.
The pain came so suddenly that she didn't even have time to breath; a small gasp of pain was all the sign the two shinigami had before the Chain's corruption kicked in and brought her to her knees. Her pain filled eyes stared at them as they watched the little mouths on the links devour themselves in a matter of seconds.
The control she had pain strikingly kept on her Reiatsu over the years shattered as the last link fell away and everything was silent for a few seconds, like the calm before the storm, before the explosion of Reiatsu slammed into both captain level Shinigami like an anvil over their heads.
Urahara actually felt his breath fade away at the unexpected strength that demonstrated her high skills in Reiatsu suppression. After the scorching spiritual energy surged past him he felt a second wave of cool Reiatsu flash past him.
"She's almost as powerful as Ichigo and she hasn't even had any of his experiences." Tessai mumbled in astonishment. Urahara felt the same detached disbelief as his friend before the Reiatsu settled into the environment. The yells of anguish that had replaced the silence made their eyes lower to her writhing form at the bottom of the Shattered Shaft.
The white mass that belonged to a Hollow mask had already started to spread across her body. The mask that gazed up at them in a scream of agony had only one horn on the right side that extended horizontally and finished with a sharp point, the left side of the mask was pure white with almost unnoticeable silver tracings while the right side had golden flame-like markings with black feathers falling amongst the blaze.
The hollow material spread from the mask and fell over her shoulders, beginning to turn into body armor. Urahara watched this in fear, hoping that as her brother, she would make it out in one piece. As the scream turned into a screech, he unsheathed his sword in regret.
Chapter three :3 there you go, just because I'm in a good mood. Thanks for all the review! :)