Chapter 5: Disapperance in the Material World?
Six months have passed since the incident in Rukongai and there have been a number of changes in peoples attitude towards Lloyd. Many now fully support him after seeing his skill in taking down a Menos single handedly, while on the other hand, many are condemning him for going to attack innocent bystanders. Only the Captains and Lieutenants were told about Lloyd's condition, that he has two souls. The rest was played off as being unable to fully control his Bankai, which in a way is true.
Marina is part of the first group, and has began to open up more, not only to Lloyd, but to her whole squad. One day, she enters Lloyd's office to find him looking at a picture all too familiar to her.
It was a hand painted portrait of a man with fiery red hair and a goatee. He had a single scar below his right eye, which was stitched up. He looked to be very happy in the picture.
"…Is this Captain Akuma?" asked Lloyd. Damon Akuma was the former Captain of Squad 7, who went missing on a mission in the Material World along with the 2nd and 8th Squad Lieutenants.
"…Yes…That's the Captain…" said Marina, frowning as she looked at the painting, as it only reminded her of painful memories of his disappearance.
"…Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up" said Lloyd, turning away from the painting and returning to his desk.
"No…No, it's fine" she said, shaking her head to make herself look away from the picture
"Anyway" said Lloyd, looking to change the subject "There have been several incidents of lesser Shinigami going missing in the material world while carrying out their dutes. I want you to go and investigate the cause of this"
"Sir, Are you sure?" she asked "I mean…What if I go missing? It's not that I'm scared, I just-" she started, before Lloyd interrupted her
"Marina…I have faith in you" he said " When you come back, be sure to compile a full report" he said as he gathered papers and began to work again
"…Yes sir…" she said, bowing to him to hide her blush. She hadn't really noticed it before, but the Captain was ready to put his full faith in her, despite only having been working with her for half a year. That made her happy. She left his office in high spirits to go and prepare.
Once she had made all necessary preparations for travelling between worlds, she stepped up to the Senkaimon. She decided to go alone, and take only a Hell Butterfly to guide her through the Gate and the Material World. The massive double doors opened to reveal a blinding white light, which Marina stepped into. When the light faded, she found herself in the Precipice world, the space between Soul Society and the Material World. She began to walk down the strange corridor. The walls and floor looked as though they were the insides of some giant, grotesque monster.
Not long afterwards, Marina entered another gate at the end of the path. This time, she found herself standing on the air high above a human city. This was the closest coordinates to the place where the last Shinigami went missing.
She descended into the bustling streets below to look for the last known location of the missing Shinigami. She came to an alleyway where the man was supposed to have gone missing. At first, there seemed to be nothing strange about the alley, but on closer inspection, there were traces of other Shinigami's reishi. Marina suddenly froze in her tracks. There were four different mixes of reishi. One belonged to the missing Shinigami, but the other three were all familiar to her. Frantically, she went to all the other spots where Shinigami had went missing.
At every other spot, there was the exact same evidence. Three familiar traces of Reishi. By the time she reached the last spot, an alleyway on the edge of the city, night had fallen on the city. She stood up after finding the same evidence for the umpteenth time, only to find a hooded man in a black coat at the entrance to the alley. She wasn't wearing a gigai, so humans couldn't see her. However, the man in question wasn't just looking in her direction, he was looking right at her. He wore a mask, so she couldn't see his face. She began to slowly back off and head for another exit of the alley, only to find another man, wearing the exact same but with a different mask, looking at her too. She turned around only to see that the other man had caught up and was standing at a turn. Shje was trapped in a narrow alleyway, facing an enemy on either side. The only other help she had was a Hell Butterfly. She considered recording a message of help, but remembered what Lloyd had told her
"Marina…I have faith in you." His words rung in her ears as she gripped her sword, ready to fight against these two unknown foes.
"Reap all life! Karite!" said the first man as he drew a sword, a Zanpakutou! It was clear now that these two men were Shinigami. The first Shinigami's sword transformed into a massive scythe, at least the height of it's wielder. Suddenly, Marina had the feeling that she had seen that Zanpakutou somewhere before.
"Silence! Nokogiri!" said the second masked Shinigami as he drew his sword. It grew in length and gained serrated blades. Upon finishing it's transformation, it looked somewhat like a chainsaw. Marina was certain that she had also seen that Zanpakutou before as well.
The second Shinigami was the first to attack, running at her surprisingly quickly and attempted to cut her. She lept up, using his blade as a platform and jumped over him. While in the air, she turned around and aimed her hand at him
"Hado 33: Shakkahou!" she called as she fired a ball of red energy at the man. However, a translucent, purple snake-like create floated out of the first Shinigami's back and ate the Kido spell. Three more snake-creatures grew after it. She was now certain! She knew who these two were. It was just a matter of removing their masks to be certain. The first Shinigami sent his snakes after her next, rushing at her through the narrow alley, making it difficult to dodge. Regardless, Marina attempted to avoid the snake creatures. She dashed between them, aiming for the first Shinigami's mask. However, her path was cut off by the Second Shinigami lashing out a second time. She was forced to dodge, but in ding so she threw herself into the path of one of the snake creatures. However, the snakes stopped dead in their tracks,a s did the two Shinigami. Upon landing, Marina grabbed her sword, but stopped when she noticed the appearance of a third masked man, wearing exactly the same as the first two.
"…My my…I never thought I'd see you again…" he said in a deep voice, which was muffled by the mask, making it difficult to distinguish "And here of all places, Hahaha!" he laughed.
"Who…Who are you…" she asked, her hands shaking as she held the blade of her sheathed sword. Suddenly, the third Shinigami rushed at her, not even drawing his blade. He grabbed her by the throat and held her up against a wall. She kicked at him and tried to make him let go, but it was to no avail. The man chuckled as he reached a hand up to his mask and removed it. Marina's eyes widened in shock.
"You…You're!" she said, uunable to form words as she tried to take in the impossible sight before her.
To Be Continued…
Zanpakutou Translations:
Karite - Reaper
Hokogiri - Saw