Before I Start, HAPPY SPOOPTOBER. I wish you luck in not seeing clowns. Clowns are spoopy.
The writhing mass of lions before him was... immense. There was no other way to describe it. There had to be at least three times as many lions than there were wolves. There was a ring of empty space about five meters wide around the single blonde arrancar amongst them.
Their leader was so strong the lesser hollows couldn't even approach her.
Ichigo new this would be a tough fight, but he didn't have the luxury to take his time. He called upon Zangetsu while still using Murciélago's wings and flew above the arrancar while charging a cero. He felt his mask slightly crumbling. He really was running out of time.
"Cero!"
The red-black beam Ichigo discharged hit where the arrancar was standing and everything within twenty meters, obliterating every hollow it hit. Except the arrancar. The cero had diverged around her, gouging a pit around her.
"That was rude," she said, frowning. She raised her hand at Ichigo and said, "Roar."
A second later, Ichigo's eardrums burst as a powerful sound wave knocked him out of the air. The temporarily deaf Ichigo fell to the ground as he slowly regenerated.
"Snarl," The arrancar said, blue Reiatsu forming long fangs around her canines.. Dashing forward, she snapped at Ichigo, biting down on the arm he had just raised in defense.
Releasing a massive pulse of Reiatsu, he pushed the arrancar back. "Ouch," Ichigo exclaimed as he looked at his ravaged arm. Looking up, he asked, "What's your name?"
The arrancar looked at him with a hint of condescending distaste. "Sakuya the Lion."
"Well, Sakuya, you are very strong. I'm sure beating you will weaken that white bastard." Ichigo grinned as he pushed power to his blade. "Hollow art: Kingslayer."
Sakuya watched in interest as Zangetsu erupted in red-black light before thinning to lightly coat the blade.
"Prowl," Sakuya said, and got down on all fours. Blue Reiatsu pulsed around her before condensing into bone white armor coating her whole body while she transformed. A tail grew from her tailbone and her teeth became even longer, now all coated with Reiatsu. She truly was a lion.
"Impressive. Let's hope you aren't as strong as you look," Ichigo muttered. His mask was really beginning to crumble now; he needed to make this quick. He began to run forward.
"Rip apart," Sakuya said dully, and began to rush forward as well as her hands, which had now become paws, grew claws of Reiatsu.
Ichigo and Sakuya collided, and a massive shockwave obliterated most of the remaining hollows. Ichigo looked at his Zanpakuto in horror. It was sliced clean in two. He turned around to see Sakuya standing ten feet away, looking at him with a bored expression.
"Was that all you had? And Nameless hasn't taken over yet? He must be slacking," Sakuya spat. "Well, at least now we can weed out any more resistance without you getting in the way." She turned and began to stalk towards the bound memories.
Then there was a flash of golden light, and the corruption around them evaporated just as Ichigo's mask crumbled off his face.
A strong, yet almost wispy voice rang through the air. "The reason your 'Nameless' hasn't taken over yet is because of me." A figure in a black robe drifted to the ground. "I inhibit his progress greatly. In fact, if I wasn't here, Ichigo would have fought this battle long ago."
"Who are you?" Sakuya asked, finally showing some interest.
"I've been called many things, but I think the most common is 'Fallen Angel.'"
Ichigo cut in at this. "A demon? Why is there a Demon bound to my soul?"
"I suppose that's another name I've heard. Though when I was born, I was named Arakiel. I am the voice you've heard but forgotten." Arakiel raised his hand. "Unfortunately for you, Sakuya, I've taken interest in this boy; I cannot allow him to die here. Divine creation: Hellscape."
As Arakiel spoke, all other sound faded away... until it was replaced by the agonizing screams of tortured souls. The deafening chorus of pain grew until Sakuya and Ichigo had to cover their ears. Suddenly, the screams stopped, leaving both their ears ringing, and the landscape changed. It became a fiery pit of heat, with dull moans replacing the screams.
As Ichigo looked up, he saw that Sakuya was being torn apart by hundreds of skeletons (and they were very spooky.) In all seriousness though, there was nothing funny about what Ichigo saw. Sakuya screamed as one by one, her limbs were slowly torn from her body. Finally, her screams died out and her body disintegrated into Reiatsu.
As the last particle of her remains evaporated, the landscape returned to normal, skeletons crumbling to dust. Ichigo simply looked at Arakiel in horror. It wasn't that he didn't want to say anything. It was just that no words were coming to mind. The horrible power he had just seen wiped away any coherent thought.
Suddenly, Ichigo realized that very few people had ever witnessed this power. Even fewer had remained sane afterwards.
"Too shocked for words? I understand. Let me explain some things, shall I?" Arakiel began.
"We 'Fallen Angels,' or 'Demons,' as you called us, live terribly boring lives. Upon our birth, we were given the gift of 'Creation.' Some of us, however, began to enjoy this power a little too much. While we were still angels, we resented our king. He was supposedly all powerful, and of course that inspired fear. So we created the Soul King. Originally, it was supposed to be stronger than our own king, and its only purpose was to overthrow him. We failed. The King of Angels learned of the Soul King too quickly, and immediately imprisoned him in a block of solid Reiatsu," Arakiel explained as he freed the three memories bound by the magma crater.
"The Angel King, Gabriel, then ripped off our 'wings,' and we 'fell.' The weaker of us went to rule hell, and the rest began to wander. Over time, we found humans that interested us, and tied ourselves to their souls. That's what I did with you," Arakiel finished.
Absolutely and totally understanding everything Arakiel had just said, no sarcasm at all, Ichigo asked an obvious question: "Why haven't I heard of angels before?"
Arakiel sighed. "Gabriel and his little minions are largely unconcerned with humanity. The Soul King does everything they were supposed to, so they pay next to no attention to the mortal world. A few of us demons have taken interest in you and your little girlfriend," Arakiel explained.
Ichigo suddenly collapsed to the ground, vision going black. As he felt himself returning to the material world, he heard a fading, "Looks like times up. Oh, and one last thing before you go: we have one other name. Soul Singers."
Hey friends, I hope you enjoyed! Please, if you think something is wrong with my writing, like if something doesn't make sense, let me know! I want to get better, as I'm somewhat interested in writing as a career. Till next time.