A/N: Note Ichigo refers to himself in third person in this one like in royalty because I haven't done it before and why not? Also, as you probably imagine, this is another King Ichigo one.
The three of them are ushered into a high ceiled room with extravagant silk hangings and black marbled floors. Kisuke expects to see a throne at the end of the room, and for some semblance of the word, he supposes his expectations had been somewhat met. The high leather upholstered chair at the end of the long table could be considered a throne, and the orange haired figure sitting on it certainly makes the seat look like one. But it's more of a council table with smaller and simpler chairs on either side then the big over the top throne at the end of a red carpet he thought he would find.
The figure lounging on it has an amused smirk curving his lips, and the way his perched arm is used to recline his head in a way that has his long orange locks draping over the arm rest looks almost practiced.
"Well, aren't these the most peculiar of visitors." The man states, his voice deadpan but arrogant. "What has brought two Shinigami and a Visored of such esteemed nature to Our palace?"
Kisuke flicks his eyes away from the man to glance at Shinji and Shunsui standing in line with him before they bow together as formal as they can make it.
"Good day, we're sorry to have intruded without further notice." Kisuke begins, his tone as even as he can make it in the presence of this person. "My name is Urahara Kisuke and to my right are Hirako Shinji and Kyoraku Shunsui, it's a pleasure to meet you…"
"Oh." The orange head almost purrs. "You somehow found your way here and you don't know who We are. Well, that answers at least one question." He makes a gesture for the three to straighten before introducing himself. "We are one of the two Godly linchpins of the universe, Flesh King and Ruler of Hell, Ichigo is the name I go by. Now, how did you know to come here?"
Kisuke takes a deep breath at the confirmation of his theory, before answering. "My investigations into the stabilizing components of the Spirit King have shown that it is statistically impossible for one single being to keep the worlds in order."
The Ruler of Hell stretches in his seat before standing. He's shorter than Kisuke had thought, certainly not small by any means, but he's a couple inches below himself and Kisuke's impression of a second God had been tall; intimidatingly so.
"You came into Hell, on a theory." The orange head ponders, his sentence only slightly ending in a question.
Shunsui clears his throat before stepping slightly forwards, a hard glint in his eye. "With all due respect your Majesty, I believe that goes to show you how desperate of a situation we are in."
The King laughs as if it were the most humorous thing he has ever heard. The sound is almost bone chilling in its volume, but there is also something joyous that keeps the edge at bay.
"You are referring to your little squabble upstairs? How is the going?" he asks.
Kisuke finds his jaw clenching and knows the other two share similar expressions. A simultaneous war between Aizen and Ywach must seem so infantile to this immortal being. Was it even possible to reason with him?
"It's not going well Your Majesty. We're at a point where it will be any day now that either of the two will reach the Spirit Palace to take control." Shunsui answers for them in a way that belies the absolute devastation that would wreck if that were to happen.
The orange head pauses, a frown gracing his ageless features as he moves his eyes from one to the other. "You do know the Spirit King is dead, correct? All that is left in that Palace is a corpse."
"What?" Shinji hisses, verbalizing what all of them are likely thinking. "That- That doesn't make sense."
The man- The God steps away from his pseudo throne to walk down the table, and as he does, he sweeps a hand over the top of the side chairs like caressing the furniture. "Tell me, why are the worlds in such chaos, and Soul Society specifically, if there was a ruler that could interject? Why did Yamamoto Genryusai have to create the Gotei 13 more than One Thousand years ago when the worlds as we know them are over four and a half billion years old? What changed then?"
Kisuke falters at this question, and finds his eyes moving to the older two. Shinji looks confused too, but maybe slightly less than he is, while the Captain Commander has on a serious expression that has become more of a norm since the previous Captain Commander was killed thirteen years ago.
"I wasn't there," The brunet begins. "but Sensei mentioned hollows started attacking Soul Society, more unstable souls started making their way in when they should have been sorted in Hell or destroyed, and sudden bouts of earthquakes became more common. It was a very precarious time."
The orange head nods in agreement while he waves somewhat grandiosely for them to follow which the dutifully do. "Do you know why?"
Kisuke is a certified genius, he picks up pieces of information from thin air and puts puzzles together as if the picture had already been laid out for him to follow. Because he is a genius, he has no trouble at all in understanding what the King is getting at.
"But that can't be." He refutes, denial screaming in his head while theories churn around his brain, discarding and following crumbs almost faster than he can process. "If the Spirit King has been dead, for arguably a whole millennia, the worlds would have been pulled at the seams and mergers would have begun centuries ago. My hypothesis of your existence is based off of the fact that one.. God is not enough to linchpin the worlds."
The King turns back to look at them where they are following down the grandiose hallway to give the Shinigami and Visord an eyeroll. "Please, keeping the worlds working is so simple that even the corpse left behind can power one half of it for at least another four and a half billion years. The part that takes the most power and unshakable will, is keeping the universe stable and working without outside influence necessary." He paused at a pair of wooden double doors that opened by themselves and gave the three a devious smile. "Even you three put together could do what the corpse is doing right now, it's simple."
Kisuke feels he would have stumbled if they had been walking, and Shinji looks like he wants to face palm. Shunsui looks as collected as ever, but there is a smile on his face that looks like it has been frozen in place; as if he has no idea what to say next.
They are Captain Class Shinigami, very obviously some of the best Shinigami to have come from the Gotei 13 and this God is saying the three of them put together could do the job a dead God was doing -a job that he clarified was the easy part.
The orange head walks into the room without even a glance backwards and heads to a very nice sitting area. There is a man smiling already there, his back straight and bearing a tray full of cups and a pot. The God merely gives this new individual a quirk of the lips before dropping into the only one-person furniture piece of what looks like an antique sofa set.
"Sit." He drawls in command, the heavy words making the three automatically follow the demand. "So that should answer your questions. Even if Aizen Sosuke or Ywach make their way to the palace and take up a position of King, it would be in name only. The corpse, unable to be destroyed will be put in some corner to be forgotten but will continue it's job; there is nothing to worry yourself over."
It's concerning to head a scenario where the two found their way into the Spirit Palace, but at least it assuaged his fears over the worlds crumbling down like paper mâché. Still, this was not a situation they wanted to be in.
"Your Majesty," Kisuke began hesitantly, his gaze moving away from the tea that was being set in front of him exactly to his liking without ever having to say a word. "why is the Spirit King dead?"
This smile puts every single one they have been given to shame. It's cruel, malicious, and utterly merciless. "Now you're asking the real questions. What could have possibly killed a God?"
In absence of speech, the sounds of the tea being prepared sound loud and ominous. Kisuke wonders, if only for half a second, why they are still here playing this game of a hundred questions when people could be dying back on the battlefield.
Taking three powerful figures away from the front was a risk, but they had calculated it and agreed it would be worth it. Kisuke really didn't want to leave empty handed.
"A God." Shinji answers the rhetorical question they had all known the answer to. "A God can kill another God. But why did you kill 'em?"
"See here," said God leans in, his eyes alight with a headstrong determination that looks at odds with his ethereal appearance. "that's where the confusion occurs. We didn't kill the Spirit King; We couldn't even if We wanted to. He killed himself."
Shinji quirks an eyebrow at this as he picks up his tea. "How?"
"Not how, but why." The orange head corrects. "The two of us have always been at odds with how to govern and control the worlds. The Spirit King wanted to have a hands-off approach, let everyone fend for themselves and if civilization destroyed itself, then so be it; the natural cycle of the universe he called it. We on the other hand, wanted a more direct approach. We wanted to have worlds where prayers could be made, heard and granted if the request was a worthwhile endeavor. A place where divine intervention did occur if it was for the best of the future. Just think back to all those tales in the past of human worshiping Gods, why is it all disappearing so rapidly?"
"There is no God to answer." Shunsui answers for them. "If what you say is true, that means you were active in the past." His serious brown eyes are steadily looking into the orange haired God's eyes and Kisuke is honestly impressed. "You're trapped."
The King quirks a sardonic smile that looks just the tad bit bitter. "What could a being of immense power need to do that used up all his divinity if not to trap another God?"
"Our power used to reign across the worlds." The man almost gushed. "Our people could use that power to grant minor miracles and favors which made them deities in the human's eyes. Sure, the occasional demon slipped the leash and tried to do the same but with nefarious consequences, but We always caught them shortly after."
Kisuke hums in thought as he processes this and tries to find holes in the story. It could all be true, but there was also the possibility they were being tricked. "Pardon my rudeness Your Majesty, but I thought the Ruler of Hell was an evil being." He pointed out to sate his curiosity.
The other two gave him startled eyed expressions that made it obvious they were not happy with the way Kisuke was poking at the hornet's nest, but the blonde merely ignored them.
The orange head rolled his eyes before answering. "Just call me Ichigo, the title is getting repetitively annoying. To answer your question, why would an evil being keep the most vicious of souls enclosed instead of letting them reign chaos?"
Well, that made perfect sense in a way Kisuke never really wanted to ever have to analyze.
"Back on topic." Shinji interjected before they could derail from the original reason for their visit. "Since you're trapped here, you can't help?"
Ichigo-sama took a sip of his tea calmly and almost elegantly. He looked completely and utterly unbothered by his imprisonment.
"If We wanted to, We could have destroyed the seal ages ago, but it would have caused scars on the world like when the Spirit King sealed Us so We haven't. Yes, We can't help while trapped, but it would simple for you to set Us free." He explained.
This seemed ominous. Kisuke was once again reminded of the previous mentions of demons and the myths in the human world of people making deals with the devil and coming out on the losing side.
"And how do we do that?" Shinji drawled with a raised brow; his posture apprehensive too.
One of the two Godly linchpins of the universe, Flesh King and Ruler of Hell, quirked a sardonic smile that sent chills down their spine.
"Invite Us in."
Not to be continued…?
This chapter is based off of the folklore trope about creatures (mostly demons, vampires and some others) not being able to enter a person's home without being invited inside by the owner. In this one-shot, the spirit King put a spell on Ichigo that banishes him to Hell and makes people forget there are two Gods. The clause is the Spirit King can lift the spell -but he's dead so won't- or a 'light dweller' can invite him out -which they won't because Ichigo's existence was 'erased'. Guess the Spirit King didn't factor in Kisuke's scientific ways hahaha