In the beginning there was the void
Devoid of all ideas and existed nothing
So too that all things came into being
By the merest thought of God
A Predator Among Us
The Hol(low)y War VII
Theater of the Mind
(Royal Remix)
"It sounds like quite the commotion outside. I wonder how they're all doing? Who is winning? Quincies, perhaps? Arrancar, maybe? Or, I wonder if no side is winning?" Gremmy spoke aloud in a calm manner, lounging back with legs sprawled out and arms lazily slopped around the armrests. "You get a different perspective when you're as secluded as I've been. Unable to see more than a handful of individuals, crazy or stupid, to not realize how easy it'd be for me to erase them from existence. Only Yhwach is able to resist my power, and even he can't decide what to do with me. I think he's scared of the monster he's created."
Another shockwave rippled around him, blowing his hair and rustling his clothes. It is a reminder he isn't alone, and the flashes of light flaring with successive impacts and discharges of force to one another.
To anyone else, it'd easily grab the attention of a passerby, but to Gremmy, it felt like a chore.
Sighing, he pulled himself upright, smiling thinly as he returned his attention ahead of himself.
"Sorry, I forgot you may have been busy," He said, raising a hand to cup around his delicate face and crowed out to the center of conflict. "Do you want me to repeat myself, or should I just continue on?"
Lilia didn't respond.
A trickle of blood slid down her cheek, dripping down her chin onto the ground in a soft pitter patter. A gash above her brow forced her left eye shut, a cut over her bruised lip stifled a response. Pock marks of bruises formed over her curvaceous chest and abdomen, showing the first signs of real damage since she awakened.
Apart from her, the force that caused injuries is a new figure that appeared out of thin air. He bore chestnut hair parted down the middle, a goatee with a finely shaved stubble around the center of his face to a strong, handsome set of cheekbones lining over an angular jawline. Green eyes stared stoically calm at her, his medium build had a set of broad shoulders and the whole of his body draped in a white cloak over a Sternritter six buttoned jacket uniform top and a pair of dress slacks leading to a pair of black dress shoes. Black gloved hands with a pair of silver pentacles on their backs on either side, brandished with an eerie glow at the palms.
"Shall I explain my powers to you, or do you need a moment longer to gather that on your own?" The Quincy asked with a smug smirk.
The Primera Espada dryly stared at him.
Leaning to the left, she disappeared from view.
He smiled, closing his eyes and placed his hands into his pockets. A few long seconds of pause became pregnant with silence, with nary even a breath being heard.
Exhaling, his eyes opened, revealing a pair of golden stars glowing behind black pupils. A shadow overtook him from behind, whipping a limb out towards his head aimed to the temple. His head leaned down, balls of his feet pivoting, and a whip of motion struck the Arrancar's chest with an explosive shockwave of vibrant bluish light bursting on contact.
Lilia gaped, her body throttled back a dozen meters on her heels. Clutching at her left set of ribs, she could feel the fist sized bruise that time, her interior burning from the spike of pain.
It's like he's anticipating every move before I even have time to land it! He has to have an ability to see me, even though I'm likely much faster…
"You're likely have figured it out by now, but I can spell it out for you," Gremmy piped in, leaning onto an upraised palm, using the other to point to his own eyes for emphasis, "Victor Alexander, has the ability of The Vision. He can see all forms of reishi, down to the most unique signatures and decipher the pattern of how they're performing. I came up with the idea when I studied one of my colleagues' powers and took my own spin on it."
"Your spin…?" Lilia asked, her good eye widening with a dawning clarity. "You mean, you gave this Quincy the ability?"
"The ability is just the cherry on the cake," Gremmy boasted, grinning ear to ear while leaning back and pressing a hand onto his chest. "I don't think I told you my ability. It's the Visionary, and this is a power I've had separate from Yhwach since I've been reborn. He just gave it a name since, as you know, once something is given a name, it has a greater yield of power. I created Victor, gave him personality, a soul, and the power he wields. And he's just the latest in a slew of proxies I've made to fight in my stead."
"So, what, does that make you a god?" Lilia snidely spoke with a stare.
"Well, the closest thing to an actual God is Yhwach and the Reio," He affirmed with a shrug, squinting with a sly smile as he emphasized in a deeper timbre. "I can control and create anything I can imagine. I think I have the right to claim godhood more than anyone else, don't you think?"
"Then why not simply just imagine my death?" She pressed, wondering how far she could stress test this avowed godly power.
"Where's the fun in that?" He asked with a snort. "And I don't want to kill you. I just want you defeated. Whether you live or die is completely up to you."
Lilia Starrk scowled.
"What's with that look?" Gremmy asked with a raised brow.
"Do you think this is a game?" Lilia asked, her voice stern in its echo within the empty throne room. "My comrades are fighting and dying, throwing everything they have to stop your people. And you come at me, the strongest Quincy, with a substitute?"
Reaching into her chest, fingers dipping past flesh in a waft of bluish reishi flames. When it dipped up to her wrist, she pulled out a red horned katana in a geyser of cobalt reiatsu-
KRAK!
-shattering the floor in its flourish, casting a line of virulent destruction from the front to the back of the whole chamber. Gremmy looked on impassively, seeming unfazed by this display of force.
Victor raised his fists, leaping forth in a streak of light to intercept Lilia. She twisted around, slashing down at him, observing as he spun on his heels to avoid her sword stroke. Striking with near invisible power, it struck Lilia across the cheek.
This time, clanging, as if striking something harder than steel. Victor's eyes widened, seeing Lilia's closed eye that had been covered in blood stare back at him.
"Your reiatsu's changed!" He gasped, backing away-
Snatch!
"I got you now," Lilia proclaimed with a snarl, her hand catching his wrist in a firm grip.
SHIIIIIIIIIIINK!
In a violent arc of blue, Victor's eyes dimmed and his mouth vomited blood. From the left shoulder to his right hip, he had been cut in two. Falling to the ground in a bloody heap, he reached out for Gremmy, as if begging to be repaired.
But Gremmy saw something broken, and raised a finger towards him.
Fear flashed across his visage, followed by a white light that eradicated him in front of Lilia. Gore, viscera, even reiatsu all had been erased without a trace. The Quincy known as Victor Alexander, Sternritter V, the Vision, is no more.
"Well, that ended quicker than I thought," Gremmy sighed, pushing himself up off the seat to his full height.
Stepping down the stairs, his feet sent echoes within the chamber, each one louder than the last. His smile maintained like a mask of a doll, placid and unwavering in confidence. The reiatsu that swirled around the air seemed to intensify, and only a transcendent being like Lilia could perceive such a change in the atmosphere.
So when the next action happened, she felt prepared for it, but still is filled with shock.
Tap
The ground beneath the Primera Espada suddenly disappeared. Gravity that she didn't feel suddenly captured her, pulling her downward, her red eyes flashing down into the pit of darkness. Seeing nothing, feeling nothing, she grit her teeth and pushed herself up with a throttle of reiatsu beneath her feet.
Looking up, she saw a downpour of water billow into her. Her own reiatsu formed a cone of protection, feeling it press down in the hundreds of tons at high speeds.
Piercing up through the torrent of liquid then came a massive hand, colliding her back into the water and the dark pit below. Pushed by enormous force, the water swept up around her, darkness filling up to compensate for the newfound well of liquid swirling around her body.
Above the darkness, the ground reformed, and to the eyes of Gremmy, he had succeeded in trapping the Arrancar below ground. Though he could definitely feel her reiatsu, like a lighthouse across a dark ocean, it grew more and more distant with every passing second.
"How boring," He mused quietly, turning dejected back to the throne to sit upon it.
Taking a step up, he wondered when he'd meet a truly strong being that could contend with his power? Perhaps Yhwach is truly the only one he could see as an equal. Maybe the Reio is stronger than them both. Yet, for some reason he didn't feel the Reio's power coming from Lilia.
Why? She could be even stronger than she is now. Or, maybe…
As he pondered this, a sudden quake shuddered the entire chamber.
"What?" He questioned. That movement, it came from below. Was it her?
VOOOOOM!
Gremmy wide-eyed stared as a blast of reishi sundered the throne, the stairs exploding beneath his feet. A blade pierced his chest, running him through, and the specter of a blue aura flared about a bestial looking woman rising from the darkness.
"If you're going to claim godhood, Gremmy," Lilia sneered down at his surprised face. "At least back up your words like Aaroniero, and fight like you mean it."
The feeling is near alien that filled the body of Gremmy. Eyes dilated, head bent down and a hand placed over the spot where she had stabbed him, right beneath his bow at the top of the blouse.
"Is this pain? It isn't how I imagined it to feel," He whispered, unsettling the Arrancar. "I forgot what it felt. Forgive me, it's been too long," he emphasized with a smile as he looked up at Lilia with a twinkle in his golden eyes, "since I wanted to hurt something!"
Even more as a disturbing warp of the air drew inward-
KOOOOOM!
-exploding outward in a virulent wave of fiery light. Escaping the outer rim of the ball of fire to the edge of the throne room, skidding across the floor by her feet, she saw the silhouette of Gremmy. Floating as a dark figure, twisting and morphing in shape, like a shadow that couldn't decide what it clung to.
VWHOOOOSH!
And from the flames emerged sliding serpent shapes, draconic heads widening mouths aflame with hollow eyes trailing bluish fire behind. Moving at swift speeds, Lilia Starrk bent, twisted and leaped around at quick juts of motion away from the lancing creatures as they crashed into the wall with explosive force behind her.
Darting across space, running along the lengths of the draconic beings, she bared her blade to cut down at the standing effeminate Sternritter.
A massive hand collided into her from the left, throttling her into the far wall with a crash. Wincing, she barely had time to bolt away as the disembodied fist rammed into where she had been a moment ago.
Landing on all fours, she shifted her blade into its gun form, taking quick aim and firing a pearlescent beam of reishi. Gremmy swung an arm, backhanding it aside to drill a hole into the throne room's entry hall.
Seeing her disappearing with Sonído, Gremmy frowned, looking to her left; seemingly missing that the Arrancar is above, firing another alabaster bolt of light towards him. Crackling against a cone of invisible air, Lilia grimaced as the Sternritter turned his head to look at her with a smirk.
Danger spiked through her senses, causing Lilia to whirl around, defending against a massive surge of light; the light of a Heilig Pfeil, but on such a scale it may as well have been comparable to her own Cero.
Landing into the ground with another burst of fiery reishi, Lilia rolled out of the blast site, skating along the floor with the gun in hand.
Revving up within the barrel a swell of light, Lilia skirted around Gremmy's position, unleashing Cero Metralletta upon him. The Quincy stood still, the beams deflected without gesture, his gaze not even focused at where she was moving to.
That is, until Lilia Starrk ran straight into a wall that appeared out of thin air.
"Ngh!" She growled out, smashing through the barrier and rolled about upon the floor.
The sound of metal flying through the air caused the Primera to leap away in a bodily roll. Spears with crosses lined behind the blades flew by, narrowly missing her by mere inches as she evaded in an acrobatic twirl.
Landing upon the floor, she dashed forth gun transforming back into a blade in an arc of blue, thrusting at Gremmy's front. A sudden flicker and the whole of the Primera is encased in ice, halting her momentum cold.
Allowing Gremmy to raise a finger pistol up at her, a glistening light revving up within the tip of his pointer digit.
KRAK-KOOM!
Firing a hole straight through Lilia's abdomen out of her back in a bolt of blue. The ice shattered, blood splattered out of her mouth and a pained glaze came over her eyes.
Which shifted to a glare that surprised Gremmy.
SHIIIIIIIIIIINK!
An arc of metal slashes over his bow and blouse straight into his chest. A line of blood spouted out from the torn clothing, his face showing more shock than anything akin to pain.
"You are strong, but you're not proving anything by just standing there," Lilia derisively chastised, swinging her blade to the side while glaring down at the smaller effeminate Sternritter. "Show me your resolve! Give me proof that you're the strongest one here! Fight like you mean it!"
Show his resolve?
Proof?
Fight like you mean it?
Gremmy had been showing his strength this whole time. He didn't understand what Lilia meant. He had been fighting like he always has. Nothing about what he is doing is anything that different than he had handled anyone else who thought to cross him.
Yet, something inside of himself ticked. An itch that crawled all over, burning away inside of himself within every facet of his being. Something within began to fizz up like bubbles in a sealed bottle.
Fight.
Fight.
Fight.
Fight.
Fight.
The trickle soon became a roaring rapid, a torrent of emotion spilling out of the yellow eyes man, his hair wafting up with the clothes upon his body. The air twisted in color, changing to monochrome, exacerbating yellows, reds and blues as both the Espada's eyes widened with Gremmy's. The floor rippled like water, the room expanding out in a rush of motion along with the immense rise of reiatsu. The ceiling shot upwards, their platform rising up with the ascension of Gremmy's release of power.
Higher and higher, soaring till the Primera felt her throat lurch downwards.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIK!
Tearing through the roof of the Silbern came an enormous tower, piercing the darkness of the Varvhelt's empty ceiling. As it rose, so too did this monochrome effect that distorted the grim environment, drowning it with a fathomless reiatsu that shook every facet of Soul Society's shadow.
The nearby Bambi Squadron looked on in amazement, the battle damaged Grimmjow eyeing it with a lurching squint. They all felt goosebumps rose up around them, tingly sparks as if every particle of reishi reacting to the presence of the one who immersed them all in its power.
"Damn, they let Gremmy out?" Bambietta asked with a frowning grimace. "Does His Majesty want us to get atomized?"
"I wonder what's worse," Candice snorted with nervous admittance. "Getting punished for turning our back on an enemy, or getting caught in the crossfire of that lunatic."
"We got more important things to worry about!" Liltotto cut through the pair's conversation.
Right in time to see Grimmjow leaping up over the two, chopping his arms down over them. Even defending against it with a discharge of explosive and electric reishi, both crashed across the massive roof of the palace.
Firing off a pair of darts from an elbow at the two downed Sternritter, he'd see an amorphous set of teeth stretching out and caught the two speeding darts. Looking over at Liltotto, he felt Giselle's Vollstandig clad form manifesting to his opposite side - slashing him across the sky into a downward haymaker of Meninas.
An explosive laced lightning bolt struck the downward spiraling Arrancar, hitting him in a sparking ball of fire and lightning that shattered the top layers of the rooftop.
Throttling back with more burns shaving away his Hierro protected body, the wounded Espada let out a snarl and leaped back into the fray.
Even as Gremmy reached the highest summit into the black void that is the Sunless canopy. Bluish fire wafted off the blackish-white silhouette coloring Gremmy. Only a pair of gleaming yellow eyes stared at Lilia.
That, and a smile that curled around with a deranged sense of excitement.
Leaning over like a board, Gremmy Thoumeaux blurred forth into Lilia Starrk faster than the Arrancar had seen anyone so far move. A palm thrust into her chest, crashing into her with magnitude of force right over where she was shot only a minute ago.
Gaping, she flew across the platform, driving her heels to keep herself from flying off. With her own vast amount of spirit power to call upon, she sealed up all her wounds, restoring her vitality minus the hole which she pulled her weapon from.
Yet, as her own reiatsu rose up, a counter wave of bluish light spread, returning her own color and that of the surrounding surfaces. Seeing the look on Gremmy's face brought a level of excitement inside her own blood. Reaching into the hole of her chest, she widened it further and withdrew another identical pistol.
"I see you've found your fighting spirit," Lilia said with a smile, raising both weapons to rev up whirring balls of reishi in each barrel. "That expression suits you, Gremmy."
Unleashing a storm of Cero Metralletta, the Quincy returned fire with a torrent of massively sized Heilig Pfeil. Each one exploding the myriad of Cero, casting a blinding cacophony of bluish flashes above within the sky. To the fighters below, it appeared like fireworks or twinkling stars with how many cascaded above their heads.
Leaping off the ground, Gremmy and Lilia took to the air, spinning around while rolling about in constant exchange of gunfire. Twisting around, the explosions cast a drill of azure as they continued their duel, locked in a deadly deadlock of reishi discharge.
"I don't know what you meant by expression," Gremmy said, continuing to match the slew of exhuming spirit energy. "I only know that the feeling I have is something exciting and one I never felt before. I don't simply want to prove that I am the strongest. I want to absolutely and utterly…"
A streak of motion, carrying Gremmy past the explosions, with his coat and hair flourishing around him, his fist curled around and launched a punch past a pair of firing Cero Lilia fired.
Slamming into the middle of her chest with a powerful burst of bluish light sparking in the air, bringing out a look of shock and anguish in Lilia's eyes.
"CRUSH YOU!"
VOOOOOOOM!
Lilia Starrk departed from Gremmy in a flash of light, streaking bluish fire behind herself in an instant of faster than light movement. Colliding with a distant body of land, the ground upheaved, shattered and then exploded on contact as she carved a trench across the dark skied soil.
Barren earth blew away as she was throttled further away from the Silbern, till it became a speck in the horizon. Miles upon miles became wounded by the reishi that gradually decelerated her rocketing form.
When she stopped, no movement is made. Not at first. The pain that carved itself into her body has left a star shaped wound that tore her chest open just below her Hollow hole. Blood, dust and grime covered her body, half buried beneath debris that laced her frame.
Eyes opened, a breath gasped out followed by a series of wet coughs.
The pistols in her hands rattled within her grasp, arms and legs spasming in place. Her wounds sealed, undoing the damage, painfully regenerating new tissue, vessels and bones from the damage inflicted.
Why did I have to encourage that brat? I almost died right now…She chided to herself, pulling herself back upright. Dusting herself off, she gauged her surroundings, seeing nothing but an abysmal plain and nothing beyond it.
It reminded her of home, save for the lack of sand.
"Didn't care for it, but I miss seeing it," She spoke aloud, pushing herself off her knees and staggering to her feet. Looking back the way she came, she blew a whistle, seeing the scar into the ground of the Varvhelt's environment. "Damn, how far did I fly?"
"I knocked you a thousand kilometers away from the Silbern," A voice emanated from her right, causing the Primera to whirl around with weapons raised. Gremmy simply blinked, looking at her blood covered chest, devoid of injury. "That should have killed you. I've never seen a being who isn't a Quincy shrug off damage like that. You must be like…"
"Like who?" Lilia asked.
"Doesn't matter, you'll never see him," He dismissed, his eyes glowering in memory. "Even I couldn't kill the bastard. But I taught him not to cross me."
"You got a lot of beef with your people," Lilia noted with a raised brow. "Why even stay?"
"Apart from swearing a debt of gratitude to Yhwach, where else would I go? I'd be accepted by no one," He said matter-of-fact, as if he conjured the idea already. "I even sent proxies outside of the Varvhelt to spy on the World of the Living and Soul Society. It's how we acquired intel for the last thousand years on how the worlds have changed over time."
"Clearly you never talked to a soul, given your poor social skills," Lilia spoke back.
"And what would you know?!" Gremmy spat, his eyes wide and his hand jabbing at her. "I've lived in isolation, separated and devoid of contact. I only ever experienced the outside with things I've created, never truly feeling anything. I'd give anything to have equals who could-
"-understand me," Lilia finished, bringing Gremmy's derisive words to a halt. He looked wide eyed, shocked as she looked down at herself, and the pistols in her hands. "I had to part ways with my true self, long ago, for fear of the solitude my strength brought me. I had companionship, for misery loved company; till I holed myself up for fear of repeating the cycle.
"Eventually while my comrades began to fall, a part of me acted in bravery despite being weak. A friend I made taught me the value for standing up, being strong, even in the face of certain death. I had to let go of those lives, to save someone I can call a friend, so I never have to lose another while I still have strength to fight.
"So that's why," She raised her hands, pistols morphing into a pair of swords, reminiscent of the blue hilted blade Starrk used in substitute for a traditional Zanpakutō.
Brandishing them in a flourish, she dashed forth, swinging them down, Gremmy's conflicted face hardening as he formed an immaculate broadsword of golden guard with rubies engraved into the pommel. The Quincy crossed weapons against Lilia, a flare of light shining to the distant battling Quincies and Arrancar, mass gusts of wind assailing them as they continued to fight.
"I can't lose here!" Lilia finished, her blades crashing against Gremmy's, both their eyes staring hard into one another.
Kindred spirits, drawn to one another for a fierce conflict, had a mutual understanding. They both knew the pain and fear of being alone from all they could have connected to. They tried to handle their misery in various ways, none bearing fruit.
But where one found redemption, none could be found to the other.
Yet, as their blades clashed, their reiatsu imparted emotions neither could properly express in words. Centuries of existence bled into each other. Their minds receiving flashes of existence none could have known unless told. They didn't know that their weapons, despite being simulacrum to true Zanpakutō, had pieces of themselves latched upon them.
So because of this, they truly began to bond in the midst of battle.
A battle that only truly began to ignite in their hearts.
Yhwach smiled at his handiwork. The dome unraveled above his head, all thanks to the constant feed of Heilig reishi he fed into the floor. Breaking down the Kidō woven into the threads proved meddlesome, but nothing beyond his power to override. It took a mere handful of minutes to undo the dome that sealed their ascent to the Palace above.
All while Haschwalth formed the six pointed sigil along the ground, in readiness for their transportation upwards. Originally, they were going to manipulate someone with access to an Oken to destroy the barriers to allow ease of entrance. But this way works just as well, just not as fast as he prefers.
If inconveniencing me is your strategy, Reio, then you're doing a great job of annoying me, Yhwach thought with a huff.
"The way is clear, Haschwalth," He spoke, rising up to his feet, looking over to his blonde right hand man. "Let us proceed."
"Of course," He bowed his head, stepping aside as the dark cloaked man walked to join him.
Plop!
That is, till a cross eyed two tongued Nyanzel landed right between the pair in the sigil. The pair looked over, seeing an aggravated Rana with her arm restored and most of her face down her front smeared in blood.
"Your asshole had a stupid ability," The Cuatro Espada said dryly. "But he's dead now. Let's get back to fighting."
"I don't have any interest in fighting you," Yhwach professed with a smirk. "Defeating Nyanzel just shows your tenacity, not your prowess or strength."
"I'm not giving you a choice, oh high and mighty!" She exclaimed, raising her blade over her head.
"Conquer, Reina Bestia!" Rana snarled out, her body erupting in a column of enormous reiatsu that wafted over the platform. Blowing their cloaks and hair awry, the pair watched with a set of stoic expressions at the transforming shadow within the fiery pyre of scarlet spirit energy.
A bone claymore sliced away the reishi veil, revealing a bone masked visage, eyes aglow hotly within hollow slits and her hair whipping behind her wildly. Bone armor covered her arms, spiked pauldrons down her breasts to her abs and back down her thighs to a pair of three pronged clawed feet. With her cape whipping behind her, Rana proclaimed in a distorted snarl as she pointed her blade at Yhwach.
"Let's go, Quincy! You and me! Right now!"
"No," Haschwalth said, coolly speaking as he drew his sword and approached her slowly. "I'll deal with you."
"Ha! Fine then!" She scoffed, dashing forward with her massive weapon arched over her shoulder. "Your head will roll first!"
The Quincy Grandmaster met her attack head-on, his cruciform longsword swinging at her broad claymore. A burst of fiery reishi flared out, blue and red overcast the environment, a powerful gale of reiatsu borne wind blowing back their respective over coverings.
The tyrannical Arrancar ground her weapon down on the smaller weapon, sparks showering then amidst the contrasting envelopes of aura they generated. Glowing eyes stared at blue irises that stared stoically in the face of the monster baring its teeth at him.
K-KRIK!
"W-What?!" Rana gasped, feeling a sudden rush of pressure push back against her.
"It seems the scales are against you," He said with confidence, his blade digging into the bone clad material of the enormous weapon he began to push back. "Rather, I am tipping those scales in my favor."
"Grrrrr!" She growled, trying to dig her clawed feet into the platform floor to push back against this new force strengthening her enemy. Muscles strained, spirit energy rose and her reiatsu roared out even stronger than before.
This, somehow, made her foe push back even more powerfully back.
KRRRRAAAK!
Before her eyes, the sword dug straight up and out of her blade, splitting it in half in a powerful arc of blue.
A stroke that that slashed down her chest and over her chest. A rupture of blood fired out of her body, a fiery pain spasmed her entire being. It cut deep, far more than even the brat's Getsuga Tenshō ever had.
Yet, even as the other half of the blade hit the ground, she lunged at Haschwalth with the weapon that she still has left.
Swinging the stub around, he parried it with ease, slashing at her throat in a crimson spraying stroke. Blood spouted from her mask, her body falling to the floor with a sickening crunch as the Grandmaster looked at her with a set of cold eyes.
"It's done," He declared, swinging the blood off his sword and sheathing it back into its scabbard.
Yhwach said nothing, his eyes looking at the fallen form of Rana. Closing them, he let out a scoff before looking up at the sky above them.
And, in a single eruption of bluish-white light, they're propelled upwards into the highest of heights.
Every barrier became absconded, withering away and unraveling to show a streak of cosmic colors streaming past them as they continued their long travel up. Minutes turned to hours, their swift movement propelling them up and up, passing through every blockage left in their path as they did.
Before either one could conjure up the time spent, they both arrived at the entrance.
Paved road is the first thing either could see, trimmed with humble wood carving. Fountains pouring from a mass of lakes lied at either side, a mass of lilies and fish swimming casually about the swirling around. A fog had settled about, obscuring the pair's vision as a mass of water vapor obscured their sight.
"This is the Palace?" Haschwalth questioned aloud.
"It seems the new Reio has been busy with renovations," He surmised with narrowed eyes.
Ahead, he saw a single rowboat and a silhouette pushing it forward. Standing upright, the figure appeared above medium height, well built but not overly sticky. A fair face hidden behind a strawhat, he dressed in a white overcoat over a Shinigami's kosode and hakama with a white obi wrapped around the midcenter.
Smiling, he pushed the oar down, wading the narrow yet long boat around to strafe alongside the edge of the path, appearing to be a dock of sorts to the pair of Quincies.
"You two trying to get to the Reio, right?" He asked, his voice even yet youthful, and almost familiar.
At least, to Yhwach.
"Expecting us, is he?" Yhwach asked.
"She is," He corrected, nodding and thumbing at the boat. "I've been given instructions to ferry you over. We got time to talk as we do."
"We can manage across just fine," Haschwalth said coldly.
"I don't recommend it," The Ferryman said, his smile turning into a grim thin line. "Anyone who steps foot in these waters without permission will have their souls pulled out of their bodies, without prejudice."
"Is that so?" Haschwalth furrowed his brows with skepticism. "I don't sense anything off about the water."
"You're welcome to try," He said, gesturing out to the fog ridden water behind him. "But I am just a Ferryman. You can stay here if you wish."
"I see," Yhwach said with a smile. "Very well then, we'll board."
"Your Majesty-"
"I understand your concern, but I sense no ill will from the man," He spoke softly, looking to Haschwalth with a confidence that soothed his lieutenant. "Let us go across."
Sighing, Haschwalth bowed his head and acquiesced. The pair set foot on the rowboat, seating themselves with their coats kept beneath themselves. Seeing the passengers seated, the Ferryman pushed off the dock and began to row them into the fog ridden waters.
The quiet filled the air, sloshing liquid and bumps against the rowing of the mysterious firmament of water. What both found mysterious is that their sense of spirit energy has been rendered null, as well as their sense of direction. No one could predict which way they were going, nor how the Ferryman fathomed it all.
Haschwalth kept his guard up, suspecting some kind of foul play at work. An ambush seemed highly likely, and would be the work of this new Reio to do.
Yet, for all of his experience in warfare and the treachery of Shinigami, he didn't sense malice in his environment. It troubled him far more than the transparent animosity he felt from the death gods he had been antagonist to for nearly his whole life.
"So, Reio," Yhwach said, surprising Haschwalth at what he spoke. "What game are you playing now?"
"Game? I'm merely escorting you across," The Ferryman said, turning around to look down at the seated Quincy. Both saw the face of a sharp featured young Shinigami, his eyes bright and sharp, spiked black hair rustling beneath the hat as he looked down at the two. "And I'm not the Reio, not entirely. I am linked to her, and she sees what I see. But for all intents and purposes, I am just an escort."
"Why bother with the accommodations? You know why we are here," He asked, pressing further without relenting.
"I'm not privy to that," He admitted, winking at the King with a laugh. "You'll have to wait and see. But yeah, I know why you're both here."
"Are we not going to fight?"
"That depends on your answer," He said.
"What answer?" Yhwach inquired.
"You'll have to wait and see," He affirmed, looking away from the man as he kept rowing. "Ah, speaking of which, there's the other side."
The fog began to unfurl, and both saw what lied on the other side of the calm sea.
A dock of granite and marble is seen on the other side with lanterns lit, hanging from poles. Standing at the dock is a line of soldiers, not Arrancar reproductions of Rudborrn's Calavera, nor Shinigami.
These beings are new, tall and broud, bearing intricately woven angular armor akin to spirals and jagged linework. The colors were a constant shifting of bright blues to deep purples and swirling blacks, the exterior almost appearing like a crystalline substance rather than metal. Their helms had a hexagonal shape, with a jagged pike running back at an angle with the slightest tuff of fabric flowing behind it. The slits forming visors showed darkness, with no sign of actual eyes let alone a face within them.
There seemed to be a hundred of them, all in order and regimented in a professional line. They held weapons of traditional make, swords, shields and spears. The material seemed to be trimmed into them, and remarkably designed.
"What are those?" Haschwalth asked.
"Her highness made foot soldiers to act autonomous from her command. They are the Reijin," The Ferryman explained, rowing the boat along the edge of the granite and marble dock. "Careful not to get too excited around them. They're very strong."
"Hmm," The Lieutenant of Yhwach hummed thoughtfully. He did sense a great deal of energy emanating from the golems, and their bodies looked more resilient than at first glance.
They almost reminded him of knights of the Licht Reich from a very long time ago.
"Where can we find the Reio?" Yhwach asked as he stood up on the boat.
The Ferryman pointed out at the dispersing fog behind the soldiers. They could see a paved road of gold, marble pillars holding up what looked to be arches and roofs over immaculately constructed buildings that filled out an entire stretch of cityscape.
Luxurious structures started off at two stories in height with a range of vast land covering, like mansions. They only grew in stature as the horizon stretched, with more and more beautiful architecture woven in pure white marble and glittering gold. Towers pierced clouds that rolled over the blue sky that once had none, capped with jewels and gonging of bells. Music seemed to be heard from the distance, a concert of movement that defied expectations.
Surprisingly, they could see people in the street. They appeared human in shape, but had emit a presence akin to souls. Numbers seemed to be in the hundreds as far as the two could feel, but it seemed there was thousands, tens of thousands of not more. They all looked like people and seemed to only pay them a slight glance before returning to their own devices.
Beyond it all, there is the objective of Yhwach's aims. A massive palace that almost blended into the sky itself. Vast in mass and almost infinite in scale, glass covered most of it, with gleaming trim of gold, with spirals of intricately woven towers that spun around each other and looked to be impossibly made. A bright Sun emitted from the highest point, being the source of an eternal reiatsu that Yhwach had felt since arriving here.
"Come," Yhwach said, stepping off the boat and onto the dock. Haschwalth followed suit, looking back at the Ferryman as he watched them with a peculiar expression.
The soldiers parted down the middle, giving room for Yhwach and Haschwalth to stride forth. Marching alongside them, they became a silent escort for the pair's journey. Passing by the people, they all had a mixture of reactions. Some looked at him with skepticism, others curiosity, and some even waved with jubilee.
"Greetings!" A woman waved with children laughing in dance by her feet. "Welcome to Heaven!"
"Wow, you're so tall!" One of the kids said, a boy with brown hair and dark eyes dressed in a flowing robe down to just above his ankles.
"Do you want to partake in the festival?" The other asked, a girl with braided hair of flowers and a pink dress.
"We're going to see the Reio," Haschwalth said to the pair, coolly eyeing them on Yhwach's behalf. "We don't have time to waste."
"But the Reio herself is at the festival now!" The boy said.
"Really?" The blonde man asked, stopping to listen.
"Yeah, that's right!" The girl said with a bright smile. "It's all to welcome the prodigal son home!"
Haschwalth furrowed his brows.
Prodigal son? Who did they mean by…
"So that's what she told them?" Yhwach said with an amused chuckle. Turning to look down at the children, he smirked at their wide eyed faces. "They're ignorant of my true intent. We must make haste, Haschwalth."
"Of course," Haschwalth affirmed turn.
Then, he felt a tug on his cloak. He stopped, hand on his sword and looked down. But instead of obstruction, he saw the boy held up something. It made his eyes widen and his mouth part.
It looked like a flower, blue petals curved with a golden inlay. He didn't know why but it reminded him of a flower he had as a child. A time he had thought had departed from his memories.
A hand reached out, taking the flower, his face shifting from coldness to something he couldn't see himself. His eyes looked to the boy, and his head nodded to him, and he left without another word.
He didn't notice Yhwach's eyes turning away from him, as his own gaze fixated at the flower he held in his grip. Walking with the soldiers, children laughing, people dancing and instruments being played soon became bustling all around them. The sounds became a roaring concert of jubilee, petals of flowers raining over their heads, filling the golden streets with a layer of freshly picked colors of pinks, reds and blues.
The Quincy King held up a hand, catching a petal between his finger. He fingered it, eyes staring down as his hand touched the soft texture. A smile played upon his lips as he he crushed the substance and tossed it aside, stepped over the rest without care.
Up ahead, amidst the dancing people, stood out various people he recognized.
Tenjiro Kirinji, dressed as he always had been in a loose white coat and baggy black pants, leaning back along the side of a marble faced building. He drank a massive jug of wine, smiling carefree as he looked their way.
"Yoooo, the Prodigal son and his child are here! Come, and drink with me!" He proffered, patting spots on the wall near himself. "This wine is simply divine. You have to drink with me!"
"No thanks," Haschwalth said for the two.
"Come now, just a taste," He insisted with a grin, holding the jug up with a smirk. "Don't be a stiff."
"We have pressing issues to take care of," He said, parting ways with the man as the company of soldiers marched with them.
"Ehhhhhh, no fun," He mused, leaning back and drinking further.
Another face came up, this one being Senjumaru Shutara. Wearing a beautiful kimono of various colors, designs reflecting the wind and stars, sat down and played a shamisen. She gave them a respectable smile and nodded at their passing.
Ouetsu Nimaiya sat within the lap of a large woman of purple skin, her body draped in robes and his own sleeveless topped person cuddling with the woman. Despite their intimate embrace, they had mind enough to wave and greet the two.
"Something is amiss," Yhwach said, his voice coming off an annoyed growl as the flood of people continued to herald his coming. "This feels too easy."
"Perhaps the Reio has some grand plan with all of this display," Haschwalth mused, still eyeing the flower in his grip. "To convince us that violence isn't the answer?"
"She's a fool to think all this petty glamor is enough to deter me," He sneered.
"Hey," A voice hauntingly called out to Yhwach. He had it permanently engraved into his mind, the fire that claimed his life nearly a thousand years ago. People parted ways, revealing a short yet statuesque man ahead. Wearing a white coat loosely over a kosode and hakama with a white obi, sword sheathed at his waist, he appeared just as he remembered him.
Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
"I figured you would come here," The Shinigami said, a stern look crossing over his face. "Did you think you could get away so easily."
Yhwach smiled, his hands opening in readiness at his sides. He is much stronger than he was in the past. Even if this reformed, younger Yamamoto were to strike him, he could easily deal with-
Then, the Shinigami moved swiftly, arms wrapped around him in a solid embrace.
"Without getting a hug from me, old friend!" Yamamoto laughed jovially, hoisting him off the ground with a bear-like embrace. Yhwach's eyes widened, stunned and an expression almost akin to horror spreading over his features. Even though it has been for a few moments, his lieutenant watched it all with a startled gaze of his own.
"What's the matter? Why so pale?" Genryusai asked with a smile, releasing Yhwach and patting him on the shoulders. "You have nothing to fear here. This is a joyous occasion. We must celebrate yourself being here!"
Yhwach grit his teeth, slapping the hands away from the Shinigami.
And then, he let out a shout, so violent and sudden, that the music all quieted as his words shook the ground around him.
"ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR DAMNED MINDS?!"
Seething with rage, Yhwach turned around, glaring at the shocked pedestrians and passerby. His arms swung around, his voice still shouting with frustration, "You're all sad pawns, playing out a game set by a Hollow who wears the trappings of God! I am not some kind son coming back home! I am an invading force, and you should all show your fear and anger at that!"
"Why?" Yamamoto laughed, further irritating Yhwach as he grinned almost smugly at him. "You've already lost. Why be afraid or angry at a loser?"
Veins throbbed angrily over Yhwach's brow. For the first time in a very long while, he felt genuine outrage.
"Enough!" He shouted, pointing at Yamamoto with gritting teeth. "Take me to the Reio, or I'll crush you!"
"There's no need to shout," A melodic voice said from behind Yamamoto. The elder Shinigami turned aside, revealing a white kimono dressed woman of short stature with light purplish hair. Lavender eyes looked up at him, a pair of white crosses brimming in them, smiling as she looked up at the angry Quincy. "I am here. Let us talk, you and I."
"About what?" He asked snidely.
"The future," She said, waving her arms out with invitation, "And how shall it change from this moment on."
A/N: Not going to lie, this chapter is one of my most ambitious ones. Not just about Gremmy finding comraderie with Lilia Starrk, two kindred souls of vast strength but also incredible isolation and loneliness, but Yhwach entering the Royal Palace.
Or, as I'd like to call it, a Biblical descriptor of what Heaven is by Revelations, loosely. I liked setting it up, seemingly a haunting space that led out to another world, only to reveal a massive ensemble of mansions, populated by what looks like normal people, and even people who probably should be dead. The most unsettling thing I could conjure that could make even Yhwach furious is them all greeting their most hated enemy as a long departed child coming home; with even allusions that Haschwalth is remembering better times from his distant past.
And his breaking point of course is Yamamoto hugging him and wishing wellness upon him. I laughed when I wrote this, knowing it must piss him off.
But yeah, who knows where this story will go from here?