Warning: I am not an archaeologist or a tomb raider. Please excuse any inaccuracies (if there are any) in the story. Also please take into consideration that I am merely taking a creative license.

Here is the other journal entry. Ignore the number it is assigned as. (The next chapter will not be in journal entry format.)

NOTE: Please be sure to read the chapters in order of publication (meaning chapter numbers) because if you try to read the journal entry in order of the number it is assigned (meaning journal entry numbers), you'll end up reading the spoilers and the story will be messed up if you try to read it that way. So read it normally (and ignore the titles of the chapters if anything).

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Sixteenth Day of the Fourth Month, Thirteenth Year of Kunshu's Reign

I finally have the chance to write about our trip to Doku Mori in greater detail… A lot has happened since my first journal entry, but I'll do my best to recount everything. I only hope - with bountiful doubt - that we will face fewer troubles in the near future.

After we got our vaccinations and checkups done by Doctor Ishida (finally remember his name), the beginning went quite smoothly. We made sure that we packed enough and went over the safety procedures with the two bodyguards. We also established that we will go to Doku Mori first for convenience purposes… Whatever that's supposed to mean...

Strangely enough, I didn't notice this previously because I was too focused on my personal thoughts during the first meeting...but it appears Ichigo and Orihime knew each other from before. Feels a little awkward. I wonder why? Ichigo appears to be happy to see her, but Orihime seems conflicted between happy and despair. Someone once told me that females usually look that way when they either broke up with the person they are currently interacting with or when they had a one-sided crush or love with them. I wonder which one… But that's not my problem.

Anyways, where was I? Oh yes… There's already an odd dynamic going on in our group. Ulquiorra only interacts with us to a minimum, but I feel comfortable talking to him over everyone else; that seems to be the case with Orihime as well. While he isn't very talkative, he prefers to interact with the energetic Orihime and myself over the other people, which is nice. He's very knowledgeable about the environment, so that's what we mostly talked about.

Rukia and Ichigo tend to treat each other like equals as they fight one-on-one. Interestingly, Rukia has the upper hand all the time. When Ichigo feels down, she easily makes him feel better. It's a positive thing to see. But… I wonder why he has to tease Toushirou all the time. It's not like Toushirou's that short. He's actually pretty tall. In fact, Ichigo is abnormally tall, so it's quite unfair to call Toushirou short. (Although that's because I get the brunt of Toushirou's bad mood afterwards… Haha… Sad life.)

Toushirou has been in a bad mood since we got back from Doku Mori. I only hope that I can divert that annoyance towards something else… Poor tea… What has it ever done to you, Toushirou?

I think I'm a bit too tired to talk about the entire tomb exploration for today, so I'll probably summarize the parts of our journey that happened before we entered the tomb.

After we entered the small town that is near Doku Mori, we set up our base in its only hostel. It wasn't bad at all. (I shared a room with Rukia and Orihime, while Toushirou shared a room with Ichigo and Ulquiorra.) The town was very communal in that everyone knew each other. The ground was packed with soil, instead of cement. Dry tan brown colors were everywhere, contrasting with the lively green forest of Doku Mori. Water was not abundant and yet it was not scarce. A slow paced lifestyle… It was essentially the countryside. I briefly missed the normal toilets during my stay there. The squatting toilets were not very pleasant, but at least it wasn't terrible.

That being said, the hostel was homely and very cozy, despite the brown hues. The floor was also packed with soil and the beds… Well, they were clay beds, so I had an uncomfortable time sleeping. They did put a nice orange colored blanket underneath, which we used as a makeshift mattress. On the day we arrived, the weather was pulsing hot, so another blanket was unnecessary. Now that I think about it… It's quite odd. The weather in the town was burning hot and yet the weather and temperature inside the forest remained cool and warm. Must be due to the shadows of the trees...

Breakfast was simple for the next day. Soup and bread. The vegetable soup was packed with potatoes and carrots, while the bread was soft and filling.

When we met up for the morning meeting, I swear my heart almost flew out of my chest. Ulquiorra was always a really pale male. Don't get me wrong… But when he wore sunscreen on his skin, I thought that he was a ghost until I forced myself to remember that this was no haunted house. It was merely a hostel in a small town.

I informed the group of my preliminary knowledge of Doku Mori. Here were the main points:

1 - The forest is actually a relatively normal forest, but if you see golden leaves, it's best to leave the vicinity. Why? It's because poison is very prevalent in those areas. Anything the golden leaves touch will be tainted by poison.

2 - If you see a Jizou Statue, it means that you are close to the tomb. However, no one came back to the village after an attempted raid, except for one group. (I am speculating that the first successful group was Rukia's brother's group.)

3 - It is said that the tomb is for the Twelfth Captain of Gotei 13 named Kurotsuchi Mayuri. Mad scientist in modern terms. Experimented as much as possible on anything or anyone if allowed, including himself. Sadistic and cruel. Obsession for creating life out of nothing. Made significant contributions to the field of medicine ironically enough.

Now, there were some people (Orihime and the two bodyguards) who were unfamiliar with terms, such as Soul Society and Gotei 13… So I explained it to them in simple words.

1 - Soul Society was the name of an ancient military empire.

2 - Gotei 13 is the name of the military organization that contained thirteen different squads that you would join after graduating from their military academy.

3 - Within Gotei 13, each squad or division was led by a captain. They were usually the strongest of the division members. (Example: Twelfth Captain leads Twelfth Division, etc.)

…

So… What was the point in writing all that?

…

I don't know why I wrote that myself. Drawing up a blank here...

Anyways, when we first entered the forest, the dew on the leaves glistened in the light. I relished in the glowing beauty of the nature around me. The brown colors were not of the dry kind, but of the drenched kind. Droplets of water trickled down our surroundings. It was almost as if the dry town was just an illusion.

The wind was so gentle… The smell of the fresh air kept me content, but there was a tension in the air as if something was obviously deceiving me… It kept me on my toes and yet I felt unnaturally relaxed at the same time.

Paradox.

I felt something clench at my heart and it was getting harder to breathe.

(I'm getting chills down my spine. To think that I would get caught up in such a…)

The green trees were filled with life as usual. The bushes were of the same. The small rabbits looked soft and the sky was light blue. So what on earth was wrong?

It's not like there were any golden leaves.

I walked and walked in the silence. It was a comfortable silence. I could have relished in it. I could have ignored the warning signs.

But my stomach dropped and I stopped walking.

Unnatural silence.

Something was clearly wrong.

The silence was there.

The silence…

The silence.

When I turned around, no one was around me. My heart pounded and I inwardly panicked. Taking deep breaths was all I could do before thinking about what to do next. When I closed my eyes, I heard a soft cry.

Someone was calling my name.

Once I decided to myself that I needed to follow the source of this cry, I ran. I ran until I breathed hard. I ran until I was sweating hard.

But the sound remained far.

So far from me...

How could I have been this stupid?

It was only when someone or something whacked me in the face that I found myself lying down on the ground. Toushirou's face looked serious as always, but I could see the worry that lingered in his expression. (On that note, my cheek still hurts. I should put some cream on.. Nevermind. Seems like Toushirou is doing that for me. Thank you to whoever it is that gave me such a wonderful work partner. What would I do without him?)

Anyways, he told me that I accidentally inhaled some poison that gave me serious hallucinations and that I almost went into the area where the golden leaves were located. It wasn't until Ichigo restrained me to the ground and Toushirou whacked me in the face to get me to wake up after injecting the antidote into me. (Was it impossible to find another method to wake me up from my hallucinations? I guess I should be grateful to be alive.)

Some archaeologist I am… Seriously embarrassed myself by getting caught in something that I warned them about.

Once I was fully awake, we continued on our journey. I made sure to stand next to Toushirou. (He has more common sense and awareness than me. Can't make the same mistake again.) Ulquiorra led the front with his stoic expression, while Ichigo stood at the back, proceeding cautiously. Orihime timidly stood behind Ulquiorra and we casually stood behind her. Rukia was behind us and was being just as cautious as Ichigo. The tension had considerably risen since I was poisoned by a leaf that was tainted by the golden leaf's poison.

Apparently… While I was unconscious from the poison, the capable fighters of the group determined that it was best to pair up for emergency reasons, so Orihime was with Ulquiorra, Rukia was with Ichigo, and I was with Toushirou. Not really sure how the pairs were decided, but I didn't complain. Toushirou is a master swordsman, so there's nothing much to worry about, especially since he brought his special katana with him. I just needed to focus on lessening his burden in protecting me.

After a few hours of endless walking and brief breaks in between, Ulquiorra pointed out that we had reached the end of the non-golden leaf area. The moment he said that, I was horrified because that either meant that we had missed the Jizou Statue or that we were missing the bigger picture on how to find the entrance of the tomb.

The golden leaves in a nearby area glistened like the sheen of real gold, almost taunting us for our possible failure in our expedition. It almost tempted me to burn down the entire area, but that would have been foolish of me because it would only spread the poison to other areas and would most likely kill innocent people. I then sighed to myself, thinking of other possibilities and information that I must have missed in my studies and research on Soul Society. It was only after I finished discussing with Toushirou about potential hints that Rukia pulled out her brother's information booklet.

Rukia pointed out that her brother's group had also reached a dead-end when they followed the non-golden leaf pathway. While it was not said in great detail, they apparently found a hidden pathway that eventually led them to a burial site of the dead that the twelfth captain experimented on. Hundreds of skulls poked out of the ground, melted pieces of finger bones remained in the dirt, and the stench of blood permeated the air. Maggots and flesh-eating bugs lingered in the area, waiting for their next victim. Needless to say, it did not sound pleasant.

We finally decided to examine the area carefully. I, for one, checked the bushes, hoping to find a burrow or a tunnel that was made out of plants. It took almost thirty minutes before I found a dead bush. In order to take a closer look, I went on my knees to check on the roots and ground first. But that was when I felt a presence standing behind me. I assumed that it was Toushirou or one of the members until a foot kicked me in the butt really hard.

Surprised, my mind only processed that the force of the kick was abnormally too strong to be a mere prank. My hand expected to touch the dirt ground, but the moment I realized that I felt nothing, except air, I let out a scream. Particles of dust and dirt smacked me in the face, causing me to cough and close my eyes. My arms and legs tried to find proper grounding, but it only increased the speed at which I was rolling down the tunnel. When I finally landed on my back, feeling a little dizzy, I rubbed my head and checked my body's condition. (At least I didn't hit my face on the ground. I don't know how I would take that.)

But still! The landing was really painful and I curse whoever it was that kicked me in the butt! My grudge remains strong… Even now… Maybe.

The moment I opened my eyes, I was face-to-face with a short stone statue. Its unusual black and white eyes stared back at me, instilling a strange sense of fear in me.

But that's strange! After all… It's only a statue...

But… If it's supposed to be the Jizou Statue, then why is it not smiling? Why does it have eyes? It had its usual praying form, but the abnormally new red cloth that was wrapped around its neck utterly creeped me out.

I slowly backed away from it until Toushirou called out to me up above. After I assured him that all was fine, they all slid down the tunnel to meet up with me, praising my ability in finding the damn statue.

I was oddly miffed by the entire situation though, so I stopped them from praising me further.

It was enough that I had embarrassed myself earlier…

I refuse to receive praise that I clearly did not deserve.

On that note, I ended up asking everyone as we walked through the tunnel if they were the ones who kicked me…

A chilly wind brushed against me mockingly when they all answered negative.

How strange…

It was only after Rukia pointed out a tiny footprint on my butt that I was reminded of when Toushirou told me that the ghosts of young children lingered in this forest… According to him, many children used to die by getting lost in the areas of the golden leaves, never to leave the poison of silence ever again.

Somehow… I hope it's not true and yet…Somehow… I hope it's true from the bottom of my heart.

Because at the very least, the children can play together in this forest instead of being alone for the rest of their afterlife.

And just as Rukia's brother wrote down in his booklet, we found the burial site of the dead with an already buried entrance. In fact, the huge man-made hole on one side of the burial that her brother's group probably made covered all of the previously made entrances annoyingly enough.

Enough about that.

The burial's dirt glowed a light brown color and remained dry with hints of unnatural red, while bugs invaded the skulls and bones of the ancient dead.

Disgusting.

I sneezed a couple of times when we walked through the burial, forcing me to use an air filter mask to protect my sensitive nose. In that sense, it's amazing that I'm an archaeologist...

The moment we found a potential spot to dig for an entrance, Toushirou and I went straight to work, finding out how deep we needed to dig, as we instructed the two bodyguards on what to do next.

It was time to dig an entrance into the tomb site.

And so we did…

Fourteen inches of digging through blood red dirt...

The stench of death was apparent.

The remnants of human bones… The hungry plump bugs...

Orihime looked vaguely sick but handled it well. The extremely durable and miniscule cameras in her hair pins and hair tie, along with the small indestructible video camera in her choker captured the views of the burial site and entrance of the tomb properly. Rukia appeared to be completely calm as if unaffected. I was somewhere in the middle, keeping my air filter mask on.

Toushirou continued without any sense of revulsion. I almost envied that ability of his. Once we broke down the brick wall with our shovels, a sense of excitement bubbled inside of me.

This was exactly what I was waiting for: a chance to uncover the secrets of Soul Society.

The legend of the Soul King.

The Ouken...

The power of the Shinigami Soldiers, the connection of Souls with their weapons, and the lost Empire.

Previous researchers believed that the grounds in which the captains' tombs lay are the grounds of Soul Society, but I believe it to be false. While it is called Soul Society, it is not the true Soul Society...

From my own research, Seireitei is the true grounds of Soul Society and if we can find that, then we can find the lost tomb of the Soul King… A mere legend that no one ever believed to have existed.

The key to the truth.

Ulquiorra was the first to enter, making sure that it was safe to go inside. We all then pulled out our flashlights before following suit.

Goosebumps lingered on my skin. The temperature was chillier than I expected.

Even though I thought that the smell was terrible up above… The murderous scent of rotting flesh and the explosion of dark spots in the stoned chamber room hovered over us. However, that was not the only thing that bothered me. It was the fact that the others complained about the pressure that they felt on their shoulders and back - as if a heavy cloak fell over them.

A pit in my stomach. My racing heart.

None of it made sense.

Since there was nothing there…

I checked the room with my flashlight and found an open pathway, waiting to be explored. Leading the others and checking for traps, we eventually reached two large doors.

An intricately designed artwork laid on the stone doors with two corpses… Let me correct myself. With two skeletons hanging on the sides of the doors.

The terrifying face of the Twelfth Commander grinned at the visitors. A cross was carved across the center of his face, hiding everything but his nose and lower chin, which had a long attachment as if it was a beard. A frame was carved around his face and his hair looked more like horns that sloped down from the top of his head.

Orihime asked me if he was a demon, but when I told her that it was the Twelfth Commander, the color of her skin turned a shade lighter. I wondered briefly if I should have just joked around instead, but the damage was already done. I'm sorry, Orihime.

Toushirou admired the beauty of the artwork, while I searched for an opening mechanism.

Usually, the opening mechanisms are hidden inside of the statues' mouths that you would have to open with someone else at the same time, but there were only two skeletons.

I grimaced. Toushirou frowned.

I took out plastic gloves and handed one to Toushirou.

To think that I would stick my hand inside of a skull…

I apologize in advance to the dead.

And I was unfortunately right. The stone door opened easily by itself.

Orihime asked me again on how the opening mechanisms ended up inside of the skulls. I could not answer her… Not because I did not know what the answer was since I unfortunately knew the answer, but it was rather because I did not want to further traumatize her of the idea on how cruel and sadistic this bastard of a commander actually was.

To think that he would insert such a mechanism inside of someone who was still alive…

Death by starvation or pain… Both seem plausible at this point.

It was only the beginning of the end.

quod erat demonstrandum.

Megumi

Thank you to everyone who followed my story: tichnor6 and zitag.

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