"The news, Cuatra?"

"Sir. Both Decimo and Noveno have perished in the battle to capture the target. It appears that, during his leave of absence, Jaegerjaquez has become even stronger than what he was."

"I see. I expected as much. Sending Aaroniero and Yammy were merely to gauge Grimmjow's strength. I see that he is much stronger than before. We must tread carefully. You are dismissed." Bowing, the Cuatra Espada took his leave. Shortly after, another figure entered the room.

"Sir, the drug is complete. Testing has gone through marvelously. We have already started mass production, and will be ready when you give the order."

"And what of the Hogyoku?"

"The Hogyoku is also complete. It will surely expand your powers in a significant way."

"Bring the Hogyoku to me immediately. I will implant it within myself and become one with it. The time to strike is near. In the meantime, I want you to have Septima, Sexta, and Quinto get themselves ready. They are to be deployed with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez as the primary target. Should anyone interfere, dispose of them. That is all, Octava."

"Yes, sir. It shall be done."

LINE BREAK

Getting back to Grimmjow's house was very awkward for Ichigo. He was not only confused, but also slightly frightened. Who wouldn't be cautious after just viewing your close friend killing two random people in a matter of seconds? And the fact that they were after the bluenette sent shivers down his spine. It was all too weird.

"Sit down. I have quite a bit to tell ya. But before that…" Grimmjow left for about a minute, and then came back with his sister.

"Why is Nel here? Wait… Don't tell me she's a part of this whole thing?!"

"Please relax, Ichigo. Grimmy will explain everything, and I'll fill in on any details he may leave out."

"Ok, now, I just want you to promise me this: Unless for something minor or mundane, don't interrupt me or blow up over anything. Don't give any kind of reaction until I finish explaining everything."

"... Alright, fine. I guess I can do that."

Sighing, he rubbed his face and contemplated on where he should even begin. He felt a hand on his right shoulder and looked up to see Nelliel giving him a reassuring smile. Slowing his breathing, he glanced up at the redhead and locked onto his brown, deep caramel eyes.

"First off, that dream you had was not just any random dream. What you experienced last night was, in fact, real. I know this because I, too, have gone through that place. It happened when I was around seven. I won't lie to ya, I was pretty fuckin' scared myself when it happened. But when I did go through it, it was as if something deep in me opened up, and the truth came pouring out. I later learned that the place was called The Hall of Imaging Time."

"That's what you said earlier. I may have an idea already, but what exactly is that place for?"

"As its name suggests, it's literally a hallway that has a bunch of images, sorta like small video clips, that show major terrible events throughout history, as well as things that have yet to come. However, they all have one recurring theme: Two specific people are always shown in them. One, a blue haired man," he pointed at himself, "and the other a redhead" he pointed at Ichigo. "Or orange haired, pretty much the same thing, if you don't count Renji."

"Wait, you're trying to tell me that those two people are… are us?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. We have both lived countless lifetimes, going through tragedy after tragedy, all for one purpose: To save the world from utter destruction." The room was silent as Ichigo furrowed his brows in deep thought. Nelliel was looking between the two, wondering how much of this Ichigo would actually take to heart. Grimmjow continued, "This part I'm not entirely familiar with - I only know that it happened, not the full details - but many years ago, a very famous and strong prophet had given a prophecy about the world's end. This prophet told of the destruction to come, but they also told of two individuals yet to be born that would have the capabilities of preventing this future. The prophet had specifically explained that the two individuals would be born soon, but would not be alive to save the world in this era. That had cause major confusion among the followers, trying to figure out what they had meant. How could there be saviors to help the world if they wouldn't be alive to do any saving? Soon after, the prophet died, and the two were born. The two would then grow up to realize their destiny, and whenever a major calamity struck, they would do what they could to stop it. However, true to the prophet's words, they did end up dying after all…"

"Reincarnation…"

"Yeah. That's the part that no one from that time period could figure out. 'In this era' strictly meant that they would be reborn. Multiple times, if that's what it took - and it did. Throughout a large portion of history, after the prophet's time, the two would constantly be reborn in order to fulfill what they were born to do. Birth, death, birth, then death again - it was a never-ending cycle of repeat. However, all things come to an end eventually."

"And that's why the hallway in that place has an actual end to it. And that's why there are two images on the wall of that end."

"One image, which I'm sure you saw, shows the end of the world. It's a complete void of emptiness, lacking any signs of life. But the other is blank to me. I don't know how an alternative looks like."

"It's blank to you…? Then how come…" Ichigo whispered.

"Anyway, that would explain the things you saw at that hall. And in case you haven't realized it by now, we are the next reincarnation of the two saviors, destined to save the world. We may very well be the last ones too."

"Ok, real quick. How in the hell were you able to move so quickly when you fought with those two guys earlier? Last time I checked, you're just a normal person, reincarnation or not."

"Every time we reincarnate, we always retain the experience from our past lives. It just doesn't become useful until we regain our memories. For me, that happened when I was seven, like I said before. That's how I moved so quickly. You didn't even realize that I had taken a gun out hidden on my waist," he lifted his jacket to show that he did, in fact, have a gun on him. Freaky. "Everything I can do, you can do as well. The problem is that you haven't gotten your memories of your past lives yet."

How could this be real? Nothing he said sounded at all like truth. It was as if he was reading off a fantasy book. There was absolutely no basis for Ichigo to believe Grimmjow. Any right minded person would just walk away from this situation and pretend it never happened. But, for some odd reason, he felt inclined to believe him. He couldn't explain it, but he felt that, deep down, he already knew the things that the bluenette had told him. He just had to accept it all as fact. That's why…

"I believe you." Rubbing the back of his head, he kept speaking. "I honestly have no reason to do so, but I just can't help but just trust you and what you say. I honestly don't know if that makes me crazy or not," he ended with a small chuckle.

"I'm glad. I was hoping that you would remember it all on your own, but after what happened today, that just seems too far away now. I had no choice but to tell you, but I'm thankful that you actually believe me."

"Alright, so you and I are the saviors. This is more than likely our last chance, or else that's the world's death."

"Yeah," he said hesitantly, glancing away from the redhead. "That's pretty much the gist of it all." Nelliel looked at her brother with sad eyes, knowing full well that was not all Grimmjow had to tell Ichigo, but there's a time and place for that, after all.

"So," Nelliel began, "now you know of the origins, so I'll take over from here. You still have to know about the people who went after you two earlier, and how exactly they are involved in all of this."