It me, Again.
My fourth round of covid was garbage, but I'm alive so here we gooooo
Moving through the ashes of those burned and the bones of those decaying was difficult to say the least.
The Quincy empire was repulsed for now, but who knows when they might turn up once again.
Shortly after the Quincy invasion, Squad Zero, the Soul King's guard had been on their way to assess the damage and every available captain had gathered to greet them.
Standing behind the rest of the captains, Ichigo had his arms crossed and a scowl firmly planted on his face.
His fellow captains occasionally looked towards him, but then quickly looked away once their gazes were met.
This didn't sit well with Ichigo himself, but he didn't mind that much. At-least the chill breeze was nice enough.
Head captain Yamamoto had not budged a single inch from his spot, and had suddenly looked upwards.
"Looks like they're here." Captain Kyoraku stated as he followed the head captain's gaze.
*Boom!*
The ground shook heavily, and a large rod like building was implanted into the ground.
Ichigo's brows knit together tightly as he anticipated just what kind of people would make such a grandiose entrance.
The doors opened, and five people stepped out, and one man with a horribly over-exaggerated hairdo planted a flag with four star like symbols into the ground in front of him.
One strummed an instrument in a steady rhythm, the other danced and so on.
Just the type of people Ichigo expected...
Nearly turning and disappearing in a flash-step to leave this nonsense, Ichigo was only stopped when one of the five weren't there any longer.
The long haired one with multiple mechanical arms was no longer there.
What startled him, was the fact that this was the only time he had not felt a presence disappear like that in a long while. However, it didn't last long as he expanded his Senses, and felt her flashing across the entire seireitei and converging on several locations quickly.
"I'm glad you're alright, Yamamoto." A large boisterous man with a necklace of prayer beads spoke out.
"Hmph, Like we'd fall to cowards who hide in shadows." Yamamoto scoffed.
One man with the obnoxious hair flashed to Unohana, and he said
"Yo... Have you been using those Healing techniques how I showed you?"
Unohana, without opening her eyes responded by saying "Yes I have."
"Hmph. It seems you haven't been slacking. Minimal casualties are good. But Zero casualties are better. Work on it." The man said.
"..." Unohana's eyebrows creased, and it put Ichigo off slightly.
'King, why is that man staring at you so hard?' Shiro asked, speaking for the first time in a while.
'...' Ichigo looked to see which man Shiro was speaking of, and noticed that a man with an afro, and half of his head shaved and colored green.
"..What?" Ichigo asked the man.
The man continued to grin and at this, Ichigo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Captain Ichigo, You're coming with us." The large monk like man spoke after his conversation with Yamamoto ended.
"..." Ichigo wasn't sure why he was being told this, but since he was now a captain, He'd have to comply.
"Captain Ichigo, You will go with Squad zero. There is little choice in the matter." Yamamoto said, turning to look at the hidden god among them.
"..Alright." Ichigo responded after a sigh, and stepped forward.
Shortly after Ichigo had gotten closer to these strangers, The multi-armed woman reappeared and with her were several pods. In those pods lay a horribly injured Renji, Byakuya, Rukia, and a broken Zabimaru.
"Those are my patients. What do you think you're doing?" Unohana said, stepping forward.
The man from earlier stepped with her and said "You simply cannot heal them. If they were to stay here they'd be broken forever. Healing shouldn't be one of your top priorities at the moment."
"..." Unohana's face was conflicted.
The gotei captains were pensive of the current situation, and felt uneasy standing near Unohana, minus Yamamoto.
"If that's all, We'll see you later!" The monk spoke, and Yamamoto and the rest bowed at their exit.
Leaving the same way they came, The large machine flew back up into the sky at somewhere around mach 20.
Shunsui held onto his hat, and smirked.
"What do you think they want with Ichigo?"
Yamamoto looked towards his student and said "It is not our place to wonder what they do." Yamamoto said, and began walking back towards the gate. "It is however, our place to prepare." The ancient man spoke with heat.
Shunsui sighed and the rest of the captains followed suit.
Just then, A messenger appeared before the captains looking frantic.
"What's this about?" Yamamoto asked.
"Sir! This message is to be relayed to Captain Kurosaki!" the messenger responded.
"He is...not able to receive the message at this time. I can relay it to him once he returns." Hirako stepped forwards.
"...Sir, I have received word that Captain Kurosaki's wife has gone into Labor!"
Every captain froze, and looked upwards at where squad zero had left.
"...Shit." Shunsui said, wanting to both laugh and face-palm.
Karakura town - late day
Isshin had sent a message to Urahara, who had then sent a message to Akon, who had sent the message to a messenger.
Isshin himself had begun administering painkillers to Hephaestus, as she lay back on the medical bed he had reserved for strictly labor and pregnancy related operations.
He was very thankful to Ryuuken for teaching him everything he needed to perform something such as helping a woman give birth.
Karin had fainted, but Yuzu had been hard at work making sure everything was sanitized and clean.
"Where is Ichigo?!" Hephaestus cried out as her contractions begun.
"He's...Coming. Don't worry." Isshin spoke, as he continued to walk her through the breathing processes.
'I sure hope that message com-' A phone ringing broke Isshin out of his thoughts, as he stepped away from Hephaestus as her contractions ceased for the moment.
"Hello?" Isshin answered using a headpeace he had already put on before the procedure.
"...Bad news, apparently Ichigo is in the soul king's palace." Kisuke spoke. This made Isshin's heart drop.
"shit."
"Don't worry, Mirba's on the way to help, we just arrived back from Hueco Mudo." Kisuke said, and that brought relief to Isshin's face.
"Sweet, thanks!" Isshin said, and Kisuke hung up knowing Isshin can't touch anything.
Stepping back into the room he'd left, he noticed that Hephaestus had an ethereal glow to her, as if she was wrapped in light and every color imaginable.
"H-Hey..Uh..Hephaestus." Isshin spoke as her eyes snapped to him.
Instantly feeling as if he was being stared at by something on a higher plane of existence, he lost his train of thought.
"Lady Hephaestus!" A frantic voice called out, as the door to the clinic flew open.
Seeing the goddess's aura active, she bowed before walking closer.
"Lady Hephaestus, I am here to assist you." Mirba said, her hair sticking up slightly.
"Where is Ichigo." Hephaestus asked, her voice seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere.
"He is at war in Soul society, he has repelled the enemy for now but this world's deity had called him forth." Mirba said, remembering what Kisuke had told her, as soon as he heard that her lord was conversing with another god in his palace.
In reality, Kisuke had told Mirba that Ichigo had been called to the soul king's palace, and upon asking who the soul king is, she was told that he is the person in charge of the flow of souls, the balance of life and death, and the one keeping every realm together.
She just basically summarized it in her own mind.
"I see. Then my lord will be in for a shock won't he?" Hephaestus said, and smiled.
Her aura negated this type of pain, as she is a goddess, and goddesses do not bleed. As indicated by the stopping of blood-flow.
Isshin was at a loss. He'd never helped a deity give birth before, and quite honestly, he thought he'd never have to.
Yuzu just stared with sparkles in her eyes at her sister in law.
until they remembered just what was happening.
"What now, Doctor?" Hephaestus said, her single eye glowing with the colors of fire and reality.
"..Just push, keep pushing." Isshin said, regaining his bearing.
Soul palace - unknown time
Ichigo stepped out of the machine he was previously in, and marveled at what he saw. It was no palace, but a separate dimension in and of itself. Five circular cities each the size of seireitei float underneath a large crystal shaped building where he felt a reiatsu similar to his own.
"Welcome to the king's realm." The monk spoke.
"I see..What am I here for?" Ichigo asked frankly speaking.
"Come with me. Tenjiro, you already know what to do, yeah?" The monk spoke, and the guy with an eagle's beak as a haircut looked at the both of them.
"Eh? You callin me stupid? Of course I know what to do."
He then took the three injured shinigami from Senjumaru, and flashed over to his city.
"Come then, Ichigo." The monk said and put a hand onto Ichigo's pauldron.
Suddenly, Reality blurred around Ichigo, and suddenly he was in front of a bright amber crystal housing...a torso of a man.
"Hey! Where am I?" Ichigo asked, turning around to find the monk, however the man wasn't there any longer.
"You must forgive Ichibe. He is rather...Eccentric." A smooth voice called out to him telepathically.
"Who...Wait." Ichigo asked as he turned around to look back at the crystal.
Suddenly, the memories he had been shown by Suki long ago resurfaced, he was staring at the man who had given him his powers over hell.
The Soul King.
"..It's you.." Ichigo said, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"Indeed." Said the divine entity ahead of him. "I am proud of you, Ichigo. You were thrust into circumstances normal people would have fallen to, and you had arisen higher than anyone ever could have. You are as I was. Many millennia ago." The soul king spoke.
"I..Didn't mean to." Ichigo said truthfully. His own divinity had come as a consequence of his actions in Orario.
"Be at ease, young one. There is no harm. Truthfully, I am glad there is another such as I. And it is simply astonishing, a realm full of gods from the world of the living..So that's where they all went." The soul king spoke, and then said as if he had a revelation.
"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked, 'That's where they all went'? What...could that mean?
"Indeed. I speak plainly here and now. Every god or goddess you've come to know in...Gekai, first came to the world of the living, creating pocket dimensions for themselves and their pantheons. They resided over every society earth harbored, from the northern nomads, to the southern tribes, the eastern empires, and the western societies. All of them at one point had their own gods to worship."
The soul king said, before pausing to see if Ichigo needed time to understand.
"The reason they left was simply. They couldn't stand the presence of hollows. Hollows twisted into demons, djinn, evil spirits, and other malevolent forms upon contact with another pantheon's reiatsu...And hollows originated from humans themselves."
Ichigo nodded and put a hand to his chin in thought.
"So..They left, created another universe for themselves, and just sit there now?" Ichigo asked.
"About the human spirit." The soul king continued, ignoring Ichigo's question.
"The 'Pluses' you've come to know as human souls were prone to corruption. It seems that when the deities left, it altered their forms greatly, and erased their memories of my realm, and in their search for comfort, re-created the human soul, without capability to corrupt."
"Why are you telling me this?" Ichigo asked as he heard the soul king's last words.
"Simple. You've bridged the gap between Original humanity, and Alternate Humanity, and in doing so, have become a god yourself."
Ichigo's brows tightened as he said "I was told that I became a god due to the humans in gekai praying to me, and the saturation of reishi in the environment."
"That is true as well."
"Then.." Ichigo tried to ask, but his questions weren't coming to mind.
"It seems, that you've run out of questions." The soul king would smile if he could. "Good, it means you can listen."
"I've peered into the depths of your divinity, and it seems that you preside over the concept of Death."
Ichigo nodded, he already knew this.
"However, you do not know just how far the scope of the word 'Death' is, do you?" The elder god spoke.
Ichigo stayed silent, and continued to listen.
"You have the power to inflict True Death. You can stop life in it's tracks, and that includes the aspect of progression. You can Kill it's progress, Kill it's function."
"What do you mean?" The younger god asked. He now knew why he was here. Who better to teach Ichigo to be a god, than another god.
"I mean, You are death itself now. Not a single person you've slain thus far will ever come back. Not through normal means of resurrection, or ability. Their soul has been completely removed from my cycle of reincarnation."
This washed Ichigo's face with ice, and it sunk down to his stomach.
"Fear not, young one." The soul king spoke, and said "Those that you have killed are now under your jurisdiction. You choose what to do with their souls."
Ichigo was stricken silent with surprise. This was all too much.
"Here. Let me show you" The soul king said, and as if stars themselves flickered into existence between them, They were now in Ichigo's inner world.
It was blanketed in mist, though the usual sky scrapers were beneath them both.
There stood the soul king, a golden aura emanating from him, and across from him was Ichigo, who had a black aura.
"This is your divine form. You've never known how to use it, and it's abilities. Your divine form is separate from your abilities to send souls to hell."
Ichigo looked down, and saw that light bent around his body and obeyed his aura, turning black as it hit him.
"My divine form..huh.." Ichigo said, noting that he looked very sinister, like a demon.
"Indeed. For your first lesson, Turn your thoughts inwards, Do you hear them?" The soul king asked.
Ichigo listened, and closed his eyes. Turning his mind into itself and observed.
"Hear..Them? Where-" At once, Ichigo heard a maelstrom of voices, and a torrential gust of crying.
"W-Who are they?" Ichigo asked.
"The ones you've killed, and stolen from the cycle of reincarnation. Yamamoto has something...similar, but not quite as primordial." The god of souls spoke.
"What do I do?" Ichigo asked, feeling panic's icy grip on his throat.
"Focus on them, and where you want them to be. flair your reiatsu during this, and they will return to the cycle of reincarnation. However, once you've done this, the evil souls have the possibility of being sent to hell immediately."
Stepping closer to the young god, Reio the soul king, put his ethereal hand on top of Ichigo's shoulder, and squeezed.
Ichigo breathed out, and did as he was instructed. Like magic, the voices ended, it was completely silent.
It was as if he was seeing through a fresh pair of eyes now. It made sense why his personality had been dampened, there was a multitude of souls injecting their own personalities into him without him even knowing.
"Now that you've done this, anyone you kill will follow the path you set for them. They will return to soul society without use of Konso, regardless the dimension you've killed them in."
"Why are you helping me?" Ichigo asked, suddenly shrugging off the king's arm.
"Why indeed? I suspect you may need it." The spirit king said, his face softening with a smile.
Ichigo's eyes were suspicious. "But we pushed back the quincies, why do you think I might need godly abilities now?"
"Who said they were for the quincies? Gekai...Is in grave danger, young one." The spirit king said, his face serious. His four pupils darting around...creepily.
"What? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.
"A question better answered by yourself." The elder god spoke.
"Hey! Answe-" And as if he was a puppet, Ichigo crashed down onto the skyscraper, and disappeared from his inner world.
Lingering a bit longer as the mist subsided, Reio got a great look at Ichigo's inner world and was impressed that humanity had come so far.
"..Father." the deep voice of Old man Zangetsu sounded out through the area.
The soul king looked at the Zanpakuto spirit, and smiled.
"Ah, Zangetsu. It seems that the best parts of Juha had survived through you."
The Quincy spirit walked forwards, unsure of what to say, and was quite stunned. He, Suki, and Shiro were all stunned by the presence of the spirit king. They observed his form through Ichigo's eyes, but hadn't understood what kind of presence he commanded.
"Continue to take care of the newest of my brethren, wont you?" And at that, Reio had disappeared in threads of gold.
"...Damn, he's scary." Shiro spoke, and received a backhand from Suki.
()()()())()()(())()(()())()(()())Spirit Palace - inner chambers(()()()()())(()()()()()())(())()()()()(())()()()()
Ichigo awoke with a jolt, as servants crowded his bed, all staring at him in adoration.
"..Who are all of you?" Ichigo asked, pulling off his blanket.
"We are the attendants of the soul king himself, and now you, Lord. How may we help" said the dozens of men and women around his bed.
"...Nah, Just go serve the soul king. I'm fine without your help, thank you." Ichigo said, as he stood up, and everyone bowed to him and disappeared from the room.
"...Okay?" was Ichigo's only response. The light flickered and the ground slightly trembled as he took his steps.
'Now just how the hell do I leave..' he thought while walking through the corridors after putting back on his Haori and armor, as he walked he looked out the windows and took in the mystical sights.
"Father." a whisper behind him called, causing him to turn around and look at the source.
But when he turned around there was nothing behind him, Just the gilded and fluttering fabrics that covered the walls of this palace.
Furrowing an eyebrow, Ichigo thought it was weird. It sounded like the voice was directly behind him. Close enough to tickle his neck even.
He began to feel around the area with his senses, but nothing but the soul king and his aides were popping up.
The young god decided to ignore the voice for now, and moved to leave the palace.
Ichigo's mind was clear, and completely focused. Though, he had no direction. He had arrived at the soul palace for a meeting with Reio, and that was completed. There was no training for him to undergo, no new equipment to gain, no-
'You fool. What was it that you were just told?' Old man zangetsu spoke in a lecturing tone.
'Yeah. I know, my divine powers.' Ichigo spoke, as he kept his steady and even pace down the winding stairway leading to the exit.
'Abandon your fear, Ichigo.' Old man Zangetsu told his other half, and disappeared back into the depths of Ichigo's soul.
Ichigo nodded and took a deep breath.
Ichigo then pondered the truest meanings of his powers.
If he had the ability to kill functions or stop progressions and all of that, couldn't he stop a person's powers from working or growing?
Ichigo's eyes widened, It was damn near a cheat code.
However, It was too far-fetched to actually be true.
Finally reaching the exit, Ichigo then leaped out into the air, and tore a garganta beneath him and fell into it.
Karakura town-nighttime
Sensing the reiatsu of the world of the living, the exit to the garganta opened and Ichigo flew out, Bathing the sky in black flames.
Ichigo's face contorted to confusion, and then realized he was no longer suppressing his reiatsu.
"Suki, is the seal active?" Ichigo asked aloud, and shortly after, the flames receded.
'Forgive me, the seal was actually close to bursting for ages. I had redesigned the seal and added extra layers to it. You should be able to not disintegrate the ground you touch now.' Suki said, proudly in fact.
"Right, and it seems like there is a party at the house, Hat-n-Clogs, goat-chin, Yuzu and Karin, My friends and familia are all there but who's the other two?" Ichigo asked.
The god of death flew towards his abode at mach-jesus, and touched down in front of the house.
Just then, he felt it. Just how familiar those two reiatsu signatures were, and why they felt like his own.
He burst through the door and turned a sharp left and entered the medical area, and then opened the door.
Everyone was gathered around the a bed, and on that bed was Hephaestus. Absolutely beaming with her Divine form active.
The young god's eyes began leaking, as he witnessed just what was in her arms.
Two babies, one wrapped in white cloth with blue trimming, and the other with pink trimming.
Hephaestus met Ichigo's eyes, and her own began to become tear-soaked.
"Look at our children, My lord Ichigo." Hephaestus spoke.
At this, everyone's heads snapped towards Ichigo in surprise.
"Holy hell when did he come in?" A very exhausted Isshin asked, in his chair filling out paperwork.
"Congratulations Kurosaki-Kun!" Orihime said, sporting bandages, same with his friends and familia.
All swarmed him with congratulations, but all except Mirba left the room to Ichigo and Hephaestus.
Ichigo walked forwards slowly with contemplating steps, and began to tremble as he reached for his children.
"You must know..I have taken liberty in naming the girl: Senna. It is because of the sad and depressing fact that only you remember this name, as well as the perilous journey to take her back to this world. Now, you may always see her again." Hephaestus said through sniffles.
Ichigo began to cry quietly and took her cheek into his hand, and caressed the tears from her eye.
"You may name the boy, as a treat." Hephaestus said, and smirked lightheartedly.
"..I-I." Ichigo croaked out through a dry throat, which he then cleared.
Hephaestus was looking like she was on cloud 9, and awaited his answer.
"Kazui. His name is Kazui." Ichigo said finally, as he caught his breath and sat down next to his wife.
"Kazui is a fine name. You did well in choosing, it seems he likes it." She said and Ichigo followed her gaze to look at Kazui, the newborn was smiling slightly.
Ichigo did his best to not cry, but failed tremendously.
Mirba behind him was a sobbing mess, and covered her tears with a sleeve from the pink sweater Orihime lent her.
Hephaestus deactivated her aura, and sank into the bed, and called for Isshin to put the babies into their little bassinets.
"Why can't I do it?" Ichigo asked.
Isshin raised an eyebrow and said "When was the last shower you had?" and finished placing the little deities down.
"he is correct, My lord. Speaking plainly, you do indeed stink. Go bathe and once you're back, we can lie down together." Hephaestus said, and laying down with his new family was the only thing he wanted to do at this moment.
Ichigo's face flushed red, and he rushed to complete this task. Reaching his room in half a second, he threw his haori onto his bed, de-materialized his armor, and grabbed a mis-matched random pair of clothing to wear and ran into the bathroom.
The water was colder than ice it felt like, but he had to finish this quickly to be with his family.
The entire ordeal took no more than six minutes, but after that a fresh and squeaky clean Ichigo had walked through the door. Already seeing Hephaestus sitting up and stretching.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" Ichigo asked as he moved to comfort his wife.
"Yes, However, my body is already healed. My aura being active during the major parts of labor had greatly enhanced my chances of healing quickly." Hephaestus said.
"Well, if you say it's alright than I'm sure it is...So.. Where are we going to sleep? We can't fit these...cribs? into my bedroom." Ichigo said, and scratched the back of his neck nervously.
"Don't worry about that. spoke of new living arrangements in a fully furnished house down the road, once used by the...um..kassimyogies?" Hephaestus said, shrugging off her blue garment, and grabbing her clothing from Mirba.
"Oh.. Them. Weird and annoying bunch. But that's fine, I saw the interior last time they were here and it should work." Ichigo said, not bothering to hide the giddiness in his voice, or the grin on his face.
"I have a question." Ichigo asked, helping Hephaestus shrug on her usual jeans which were re-made by Urahara.
"Go ahead dear." The smithing god responded.
"Will they grow as fast as they did in your stomach?"
Hephaestus blinked, then giggled sweetly.
"No, they won't, my dear strawberry. from here until their thirties, they age normally. At thirty, they will have extremely decelerated aging. They wont look forty until at-least their tenth millennia and so-on."
Ichigo nodded, not even bothering to process this information.
"So, I have received lots of new information from Reio." Ichigo said, sitting next to his wife.
"oh? How did this meeting go?"
Ichigo then told her of what happened in the soul king's palace, and of his newfound powers.
Hephaestus pondered for a while with a fist to her chin.
"sounds about right, there has been gods of death before with similar powers, though, yours seem to be primordial in nature, function, and concept. You are literal death it seems. Spoooooky." Hephaestus said, waving her arms around slightly, making light of Ichigo's nature.
Suddenly, all the trepidation, the fear, the sheer worry and anxiety of his new station disappeared.
As he looked at his wife, and in the direction of his children, he realized that with her by his side, he can never feel fear.
Then as if clockwork, both babies began crying in unison.
Yeah yeah i know it's been a while. Since I've been gone here's what's happened with me
(Items Obtained!)
Baby x1
Wife x1
Workload x3000
stress x20,040
Raising a baby is difficult. Forgive me for not being on much to inform y'all about what's been happening, but here's the chapter that's been done since the last one dropped.
I'll try to be back and write as much as i can, but my free time is severely limited.
Stay safe! See ya when I return.