Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; 'tis Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home.
Counting the Days
Chapter II
The Unraveling Veil
"I used to think that happiness could only be something that happened to somebody else. Everybody believed everybody but me."
-Christina Aguilera
"We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It's just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn't have expected."
- Ben Okri
As the helms of fate turned that very day, let us go back to the beginning, to where the trail begins, and therein lays the truth. Deception and deceit run amok on the plains of sincerity and honor. This is where the tale starts. . .
The King of Levier sat in the audience hall. He glanced across the room at his advisors and viziers. Today was such an ominous day. A feather could make a loud noise in the exceptionally quiet room. The tension was compressed into that large room. It filled their lungs, and they were scared to breathe.
However the King proved unfazed by it all. There was supposedly a meeting to be conspired between his council and the kingdom to the east.
They had failed to show, however.
Today was his daughter's seventh birthday. This was the day his darling little girl drew her first breath. He was missing such an important day to wait for an impudent King who, he believed, would never show.
Could the man read a sun dial correctly?
The King rose to leave and his subjects did the same, they all began to file out the room until a charming voice halted their steps.
"Please! Please take your seats. My apologies for running late your Majesty, please forgive my insolence. It is unforgivable of me to show up late, on this important day." The King looked at the man before him. He could not deny that this man was extremely handsome; his hair bore such a beautiful brown, his eyes yielded that same brown as well. The King was starting to take a fancy to him.
"I am Prince Sosuke Aizen of the kingdom of Hueco Mundo your Excellency. May I have this audience with you?" Aizen's voice was extraordinary. It had an alluring element to it. Nevertheless, no matter how captivating his voice was, Aizen looked like a pushover, in the King's eyes. The King sat back in his chair, and his subjects did the same. He was mistaken then; Aizen was the Prince, not the King.
"You may precede Prince." the King said with all seriousness. Aizen seemed to make the room relax under his cool gaze. Such hypnotic eyes he had.
"Thank you Sire. The Kingdom of Levier is a vast and beautiful one. As stunning and huge as it is, it is also a strong country. It is the strongest country in the entire western hemisphere. However, no matter how beautiful, immense, or sturdy this country is, it will fall. Society has made miraculous advances in technology; infrastructure is not as it was in those trying times, weapons are more enhanced as well. You are now able to kill a man efficiently, without the hassle. Civilization has been moving forward, while you are at a halt," Hushed murmurs filled the room. No one had said anything in defense either, they knew it was true. Aizen continued, "Your Majesty, I have not come to belittle your country! No, I come only wishing to see your power grow nationally and internationally for your country. The Kingdom of Hueco Mundo would like to extend our hands in coalition. My Kingdom would only be satisfied in helping yours thrive. I propose an alliance to be compromised." Aizen bowed as he finished.
The King thought about this. Aizen was no fool. He knew very well that they were stuck in the past, while the outside was moving on in society. If the King did not do anything, he would ruin everyone. The King knew what he had to do.
"I accept this alliance of yours. You may tell your citizens that we shall also extend our hand camaraderie. Although we do accept, and since this was your proposal, how would you like to seal the deal, if I may say so in such a way?" The King looked at Aizen once more, his once stoic face smiled with some form of merriment.
"I am glad you asked." Aizen said with delight.
"One, two, three! Ready or not, come find me!" the little girl giggled. One of her attendants, Shun'o, watched her as she ran around with her other attendants, Baigon, Lily and Ayame.
"Little Princess, you weren't supposed to count! And it's here I come, not come find me." Lily shouted sarcastically at the little girl. The Princess was extremely odd. There was so much more to this girl, than smiles and cheers. She said the strangest things and had oddest tastes in cuisines. Even if this added to her oddity, Orihime was welcoming, humorous, sensitive, caring, and kind. She comes off as naive and rather clueless majority of the time, but it only added to their love for the young Princess.
"Marshmallow, come play with us!" Shun'o grimaced at the name. It frustrated him that she kept calling him that, even if it was his name.
"It's Shun'o sweetie. Shun'o! Not Marshmallow!" he exclaimed as the young girl flew past. Baigon was the only one keeping up with Orihime as she ran around. Ayame and Lily had long since given up, they sat near the fountain in the middle of the courtyard fanning themselves.
"Shun'o! Shun'o! Shun'o! Sounds like marshmallow to me. Marshmallow! MARSHMALLOW! MARSH- HEY!" Orihime had stopped her rant at the appearance of her sentry; or rather she was picked up and thumped in the forehead.
Tsubaki.
Orihime was in shock of what he did. She was so in shock, that even when he sat her down, she was still in shock. It was apparently a lot of shock she was going through. Orihime shook herself out her stupor and tried to save face. She pulled Tsubaki's ear, and he winced at the pressure.
He pulled her cheeks and she responded by doing the same. Her attendants only stared at them, not wanting to get into the midst of it. This went on for a while until Tsubaki surrendered.
"Ha! I win! I dub thee a loser!" She picked up a stick and pretended to "knight him" like in all those stories her mother told her.
"Thank you very much your Highness. You are most kind." Tsubaki said with fake politeness. He knew he had won, he just didn't want to tell her any different. She giggled jovially. She loved playing with Tsubaki the most. He was fun and mean, but it only served to make her happier with him.
"Alright, it's time for your afternoon lessons Princess. Say goodbye to Tsubaki." Shun'o said as he stood and dusted himself off.
"Aw, can he come with us to the lessons? He is my guard after all!" she pleaded.
"No, no! He won't be needed; nothing will be attacking us at the lessons." Shun'o replied. He sighed a little; he already knew where this was headed.
"Yeah he will! What if one those ghouls come and attack us? What about the creepers and the crawlies? What about the thing that lives inside the dressers and eats-" Orihime couldn't finish the sentence. She was scaring herself.
"How about Tsubaki walks with us there, is that okay?" Shun'o asked the young girl. She nodded and ran around the courtyard again.
"Thanks Marshmallow, you're alright." Tsubaki slapped the man on his back, what he wasn't expecting was an angry aura to come from the usually calm man. Tsubaki was frightened to say the least. Tsubaki shuffled away from Shun'o and went towards the bushes.
"Hinagiku it's time to roll." Suddenly, a bald man with an eye patch jumped from inside the bushes. This was Orihime's personal doctor. To the average person, Hinagiku would look frightening, but he was extremely energetic and eager to please. He never talked often either, and when he did they were short, sweet, simple, and to the point.
Hinagiku began to follow behind the leaving troupe, while Tsubaki stayed in the middle of the courtyard. Today was the Princess's birthday. But unlike the rest of her birthdays, today just wasn't right. That feeling was eating at Tsubaki right now, and he couldn't place his finger on it at all.
"Tsubaki! We will leave you, if you do not hurry!" Lily shouted at him. The blonde haired woman waved her hand in his face. It was effective enough and it woke him from his haze. He smirked and began to walk off. She shook her head and followed him towards the rest, where Shun'o, Ayame, Baigon, Hinagiku, and Orihime waited for them.
"What took you so long," Shun'o wondered, "We were going to leave without you."
"Ah, quit your worrying Marshmallow. I was coming." Tsubaki retorted.
Shun'o's face heated up with anger and he walked ahead of the rest of the group, lumbering away from them. Ayame walked up besides Tsubaki with a concerned face.
"What is wrong with Shun'o? Is he okay?" She said with such unease. Tsubaki only shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.
"FATHER! WHERE IS MY FATHER!" The Prince stormed around the corridors. The servants looked at the Prince with frightened stares. He was unusually angry, he was habitually calm and nothing angered him, but today. . .
"Well? Where is he?" The Prince shouted at the servants who stood before him stupidly.
"In the audience chamber, Sire." They bowed their heads, and walked off to finish their duties. The Prince practically flew there. He was pissed off to say the least, and nothing would still his anger at his Father. The Prince swung the door open with a mighty strength, and the people all began to turn their heads towards him.
"What do you think you are doing boy?" One of the advisors yelled at him. The Prince ignored them all and only looked at his father.
"What were you thinking Father? You have sold your soul to a devil! How could you have decided about her future? She is only a child!" The Prince bellowed at the King. The King glanced over his carefully with a nonchalant attitude.
"As are you Sora. You are a child in my presence, and you will not speak to your King like he is one. I will have you rotting in a dungeon boy!" He knew he would never put his son in a dungeon, he was just saving face.
"My apologies your, Majesty, but is this not a little absurd," Sora looked at his Father, he saw no answer with his Father's eyes so he continued, "Orihime is a child Father. She is only seven, she has yet to live and experience life; you seek to take away her freedom. Please reconsider! Let her live a little longer before you rid her of her independence." The King looked at his son with sad eyes. He never wanted this either.
The King knew he had to choose between his daughter and his kingdom. He already knew his decision.
"You would have me risk the lives of the people in my kingdom, for the sake of my daughter's freedom? You do know what the obvious choice is, don't you? For the sake of my kingdom, I would cage my daughter. For the sake of my kingdom, I would make it so the Princess would never see the light of day again. For the sake of my kingdom, I would throw away her life. And as a Princess she must learn that there are sacrifices to be made, even at her own expense," The King noticed Sora's horrified face. He ignored the looks from his subjects and pressed onwards, "Sora, you know this as a well. You must understand that as a King I must make choices. Would you kill all of these people, just to save your sister?" The question seemed extremely stupid.
But why kill millions of people, when one could be given up to save them all? Even if it was his daughter . . . he would do the same, if it would save them all.
"Well, would you?" The King wanted to know.
"I would murder them where they stand," Sora fiery gaze set them all aflame at his response. They could hear the assurance in his voice as the words fell from his lips, "For the sake of my sister, I would commit a thousand and more sins. For the sake of my sister, I would decimate any person who seeks to disrupt the life she lives. For the sake of my sister, I would lay waste to this Kingdom." Sora walked out the audience chamber with his head held high.
"Orihime will be married to the Prince of Hueco Mundo." The King thought he had the last word.
"We shall see." He thought wrong. Sora left the room in a devastated state. The doors closed behind him and he leaned up against it. This folly act of his was going to cost him something. What a fool he was. Sora let out a sigh of relief as he thought about what he did.
He really was a fool. But for his sister, he would be the biggest idiot there was.
"FIRE! FIRE IN THE PALACE! RUN!" Men, women, and children ran amok in the corridors. There were fires throughout the castle. People began to flush out the palace like rats scurrying away from rat poison. The King sat in his chambers alone when he heard the shouts. A guard came in with a frantic look about him.
He sighed, seeing that the King was alright.
"Your Majesty, there are fires spreading throughout the palace! I must get you to safety." Before they could leave the room another guard came in. His face was hysterical. The guard patted his blue hair furiously, shaking the debris and ashes from its roots.
"Fuck! Ugh, excuse me your majesty! Excellency, the Queen was found dead. Her body was lit a fire, and burned to a crisp. Only ashes remain," The guard spoke quickly. He didn't bother looking up to see the King's face. He knew what he would see, "Here, this is her diadem, Sire." He placed the diadem in the King's hands.
The King had not said a word yet.
"We must go! Now your majesty or we shall die in this place. Here, wear this to protect your lungs against the smoke." The shorter guard handed him a handkerchief. The King placed it against his mouth and the threesome headed out.
Smoke filled the hallways from every way. The King knew not how much longer he could stand it. His eyes were burning, and he was getting tired fast.
The King withdrew the handkerchief for a second and the handkerchief was forced back over his mouth.
"You Majesty you must not remove this until we are in the clear." The King nodded his head hazily. His eyes were blurring up, he felt exceptionally sleepy. What an odd time to feel sleepy, he thought.
"We are almost there. Come, Sire." The King did not hear the last few words that were said to him. He had passed out.
The two guards lifted the body and trudged on through the smoke. The door to a room opened before them and they went inside. They dumped the body on the floor and knelt before the man that waited for them.
"You two are doing nicely. Good job. Did everyone leave the castle?" The man smiled at them softly.
"Yes! Everyone has evacuated. This castle is now yours." The shorter one answered.
"That is what I like to hear Luppi. Grimmjow, no more mishaps, I wouldn't want you catching fire just yet." Grimmjow frowned inwardly. He didn't like the sound of that. Luppi chuckled at Grimmjow's expense. He loved it when Grimmjow failed. It made him look better. A groaning sound could be heard from the King. The two boys looked at the stirring King, who lazily sat up.
"What has happened? Where am I," The King looked at his surrounding and noticed he was in the inventory. He turned and looked at the threesome, noticing the two guards, and someone else, "What is the meaning of this? Where the hell am I? Answer me!" The King was anxious; he knew not who these people were, or what they planned to do with him.
The other figure stepped out of the darkness and smiled.
"YOU! YOU!" The King was astounded at who it was. He had truly sold his soul to a devil.
"Me." A shot blared from inside the inventory. The King clutched his chest. His hand was covered with blood. He looked up at the man once more before finally closing his eyes and embracing peace. He fell back to the floor with a soft thud.
The man set the pistol back in its holster, and laughed gently.
"Luppi, Grimmjow go find the others. Afterwards, go find the rest of the family; we must give them the same treatment as we did their mother and father. Except, the Princess. I want her safe. Bring her to me unharmed." The man turned his back to them.
The pair rose to their feet.
"Yes. . . King Aizen." They bowed and left him in the room with the foul-smelling body.
Seven horses galloped through the silent forest. Their hooves pounded against the dirt in a harmonious tune. The horses moved at a blinding speed. Dodging trees and holes, they made it safely to a temple deep within the forest. The riders got off carefully; the little girl had injured herself during the evacuation, so they had to be careful with her.
"Go inside. I must go back to see what has become of the Kingdom."
"No Prince Sora, it is too dangerous! Let me go back." Tsubaki said.
"No. Orihime needs you." Sora replied.
"Are you saying she does not need you then? You are more important than I am. Let me return instead Prince." Tsubaki angrily replied. The Prince was stubborn.
"NO! That is an order. The six of you are to stay with Orihime. Don't come back to Levier for anything, not even me. If I don't come back, keep the Princess safe and hidden." Sora looked at Orihime but she refused to look at him. She held her head down. Sora knelt beside her and kissed her on her forehead.
"Happy birthday Orihime. I wish you many more, and may you have a long fulfilling life," Sora slid a blue hibiscus pin in her short orange colored hair. He knew he wouldn't be coming back, so he wanted her to remember him by this. Sora gestured to Tsubaki. Tsubaki followed the Prince to the edge of the woods. "Keep her safe. It is important that the Princess lives on. She must inherit the Levier," Tsubaki nodded and began to walk away, but Sora caught his arm, "Aizen is not to be trusted. He speaks with a forked tongue, whatever he says is a lie."
"Yes your majesty! Be safe and come back to us." Tsubaki said.
"Will do. Orihime," She looked up at her brother as he jumped on the horse, "We are royalty! Remove that pitiful look from that face! Hold that head up high. Smile for me!" Orihime did. She gave him one of the biggest, brightest smiles she ever gave anyone. She watched her brother gallop off towards the forest again. In her heart she felt a sense of foreboding.
He wasn't coming back.
The group headed up towards the Hidden Temple. Hidden because it was especially hard to find, and only those given the secret to its location could find it. They knocked on the temple's doors and waited for an answer.
"Maybe they're not home." Baigon said slowly. The larger man was probably right. Suddenly, the door opened; a man with a green and white hat stepped outside. His attire was strange and his flipped blonde hair was even stranger. The fan in his hand waved slightly before he clasped it in his hands.
"I have been expecting you. I'm Kisuke Urahara. That back there is Yoruichi Shihoin and Tessai Tsukabishi. We welcome you to our humble abode." He pointed back there to a dark skinned woman with purple hair and a huge man with a funny looking mustache. They smiled at the group gently.
"Now, Miss Orihime we'll begin your training as a maiden tomorrow." Urahara said nonchalantly, while grinning. Orihime gave a little frown, but she was happy at least for now. For now. . . Orihime only dreamt of peace. A childish dream, but it was a childish dream she believe in. Ever since her birth happiness seemed almost unachievable, she could never be whole with her family again. What would life be without them here? How could she ever survive?
Shun'o and Tsubaki put their hand on her shoulders. They gave her a light smile, reassuring her. Maybe happiness was there somewhere. She could be happy here. She just had to believe. Right? Her dream would be real.
And so they stepped into a new life. One they would be living for years to come.
Sora had finally made it back to the castle. But there waiting for him was someone he had hoped would be long gone by now.
"Welcome back Prince, I missed you." Sora looked at Aizen and gave him a nasty look.
"My betrothed is not with you. How disappointing." Aizen was not happy about that at all.
"Ha! She's long gone! You'll never find her." Sora declared. He would make it so.
"We shall see. Luppi! Come deal with this." Aizen looked at Luppi as he moved around happily. Luppi and Sora were almost ready to fight when two shots blared out.
Before the pair could do anything, Aizen had shot them both dead. Sora was killed instantly, while Luppi still lingered on a bit.
"Why your Excellency?" Luppi sputtered out, his death was close.
"I said deal with it," Luppi narrowed his eyes at the man, "Grimmjow will become my sixth commander. You were just a lap dog to be used doing this whole escapade. I knew my choice before we left Hueco Mundo. I had no use for you after this, I have many dogs, I did not need another one." Aizen shot at him again, finally killing him off.
"Let us leave this place Commander. I believe our work here is done." Aizen began to walk off, while Grimmjow only stared at his back. This man was evil. A snake in the grass, he was treacherous and sneaky and he got things done. Aizen was something to behold. Grimmjow followed after the man. Sticking with Aizen just might be an interesting, he thought. He wanted to see how the whole thing would play out in the end. Aizen may have been confident now, but sooner or later he was going to meet his match. Well he hoped so.
But for now, let him be a King.
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. . .