Did I ever mention how much I hated school? No? Well, let me tell you how my last week went. Test after test after test. It. Was. ANNOYING! God, I couldn't have a single moment to myself where I wasn't about to fall asleep. Idk what happened last week, cuz my senior year has been easy going so far. It's like all of my teachers decided to play this game of "let's torture our students this week". Ugh! *rant over*
Anyway, hope no one gets confused by this chapter. I finally felt it to be the right time to implement this part of the story. And yet, ironically, I was listening to The Last Journey (aka The Final Journey) on repeat from ff xiii-2's soundtrack when I typed this chapter up. Oh well, I guess it brings this chapter to life lol. Plus the piano work in that song is beautiful. And the song itself is beautiful. If anyone doesn't know about this song or ff xiii-2 (or if you do), then I say you should listen to this song on repeat while you read this chapter (if it takes you that long to repeat...). I personally think it makes it more...meaningful? Eh, something along those lines XD.
Now, back to the show!
Disclaimer: I no own anything. Just dis story and it's ideas. oke.
"Huh? Where am I? Everything's so dark. So dark, and cold. It's too cold here. What's going on?"
Floating through the darkness. An empty void. At least, that what Ichigo figured. In fact, he didn't really know where this place was. But he felt such a deep sense of loneliness that it made the temperature around him seem to drop. In truth, it wasn't the space that was cold - it was Ichigo himself that was cold. He felt like someone had dropped him off into the deepest, darkest pit in a frozen tundra, with nothing to shelter him. Everything was pitch black. A never-ending darkness that stretched as far as he could see. He could see himself, but that was about it.
Landing on what seemed to be solid ground, Ichigo started to walk the only way possible - forward. He was walking for a long time, almost like an eternity, when he suddenly started to see a small light. As he got closer, he realized that the light was actually a white door. Stretching his hand toward the door, he noticed that he felt warmer within the vicinity of it. Curious, he put his palm on the door, feeling a warmth like he has never felt before. It wasn't a searing type of heat, but rather a comforting one. It was strange, to say the least. Grasping the knob, he turned it and slowly opened it.
Walking inside was a whole new experience. There were walls that stretched down a very long hallway. On the walls were these images, almost like paintings, that were moving about. As he looked, Ichigo quickly realized that they were battle scenes playing on replay. Upon further inspection, he deduced that these were not just battle scenes, but they were in fact, major catastrophes. And, for some reason, he saw himself in each and every single one of them.
Scene after scene, battle after battle, tragedy after tragedy. He recognized a few of these, like something straight out of a history textbook. Was this some kind of timeline of Earth? What does it mean? More importantly, why do all of these show Ichigo himself in them? Suddenly, something caught his eye. A person, also in the images, was always with "him". The thing that seemed to confuse him the most was the fact that the other person had strikingly blue hair. He was always helping "him" in whatever battle or tragic event taking place. And the end of every image showed the same, common trend: The blue headed one dying right before the orange headed one, the latter seeming to scream in sorrow and agony, then also dying shortly after.
"Is that...me? And is this other person...Grimmjow?!" He started to run. He ran as fast as he could. There had to be a point where he reached his own time, right? If this was, in fact, he and Grimmjow, then what fate was there for them now? As he ran, he passed many more images of the same ending. Death, death, more death. The two people always dying in their different time periods.
He eventually reached what seemed to be an end to the hallway. That would only mean he finally reached the current era. He looked upon the remaining image on the edge, like a canvas in a museum. For some reason, this image looked broken, with many cracks and tears on it as opposed to the ones before. He walked closer to see what it contained. He could tell right away that this was the current world, with the buildings and technology all about. However, it wasn't right. There was something very off about this world.
Destruction was everywhere. Burning cities, people screaming for their lives, running from other creatures that resembled humans, but were monsters all the same. The skies were filled with red smoke, blood was on every corner, death was all around. It wasn't just in one area - the images were switching from each and every major city. New York, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Egypt, Rio, Tokyo; they all had a similar look to them. They were all gone, with their remnants nothing more than dust. Finally, the image ended with a short scene of one redhead and one bluenette, dying in an embrace, while a vile laugh filled the air from a figure, clad in white robes, standing before their dead bodies. With that, the image abruptly ended.
Ichigo didn't move. He couldn't. Not after witnessing those horrendous series of events. Ones that involved him and Grimmjow, apparently. Unable to take the pressure of gravity any longer, he let himself fall to the ground in a trance-like state. Was this how the world was going to end? All of that chaos...was there no way of changing it?
"No...this isn't possible. This is absolutely insane!" he screamed loudly above. "Is this how it all ends? How am I supposed to take this? And what about my friends, my family...Grimmjow…"
For all intents and purposes, Ichigo had no reason to believe any of this. However, something deep and innate in him was convincing him that this was, in fact, the absolute truth. This was how the world was going to end.
"Is there no way we can change this…?" he whispered, solemnly.
"There is a way, my child."
Gasping, he quickly rose to his feet, shaking his head around in search of the mysterious voice. "Who said that? Who's there?"
"Calm down, Ichigo. There is a way to change these events of the near future." The image in front of him suddenly started to repair itself, with a few cracks gone and some tears mended. "I have used the little stored power that I have kept within your subconscious to repair some of the image. It isn't much, but now you should be able to see a second outcome. Take a look again."
Hesitantly, Ichigo touched the image, with it reacting to the contact. The images he saw before replayed themselves again, with the same ending as before. However, it didn't just end like the last time. This time, there was an image of a meadow that stretched along a wide plain, with vibrant green grass and plant life, the sky a shining blue. A few feet away was a person standing with his back facing toward Ichigo, the wind blowing around smoothly.
"Grimmjow?"
Almost as if he heard, the figure turned around and faced him. His eyes were smudged out, but the blue hair was definitely a dead giveaway. With a soft, earnest smile, the other stretched a hand out, reaching towards him. "Took ya long enough. I've been waiting. We've all been waiting." Once again, the image went black.
"What the hell was that? What happened to the world being ruined?"
"That is the possible ending that will happen, should you prevent the events beforehand from leading the world into chaos. The image is not yet restored, however, so you cannot see the decisions you will have to make to prevent such a tragic end. You will have to figure them out on your own. Now go. See to it that the world is saved, along with your precious one. My presence is now fading, so I must take my leave."
"Wait, hold -"
"Goodbye, my dearest Ichigo. I will always love you."
His vision going blurry, he was being pulled back into the darkness. He felt like he was being forced into a deep sleep. Before he went out, he breathed one final statement: "That was…"