Alright, here's the next chapter for you, hope you all enjoy it.
A big shout out to Kilare T'suna, who has helped me out a great deal with all sorts of ideas and story points. Without people like him to help offer ideas and help me refine my own, I'd have been unable to get this far in the story. We worked together on a lot of stuff, and he was kind enough to help me refine the idea for Riley's Zanpakuto, using our own ideas as well as things that the rest of my readers suggested. I hold him accountable for a lot of the stuff that's coming up in the future, and it was thanks to his questions that I was able to refine a lot of my ideas as well. It was incredibly helpful and a huge benefit to have his help, when it came to spitballing ideas and talking about various plot points. So to him and everyone else that's ever offered up their own ideas, or contacted me via pm to chat about various story elements, a big thank you. Truly means the world to me.
If anyone ever wants to discuss story ideas or even inquire about story elements, I'm always free to chat, I find it fun to do and don't really mind it. I always try to answer questions when they're posted in the reviews section, so if you have any questions and really want an answer, all I ask is that you have an account I can respond to and I'll actually reply. I've read every review posted for my stories, and I'll continue to read them, so never hesitate to ask, if you require clarification or new something cleared up.
On that note, I'll also offer a shoutout to 588963-B for his idea later in this chapter, thanks for that.
Anyway, I'm happy to get this out so soon, and I'm hoping to keep up on getting these chapters out every two weeks or so, so that this story doesn't take four years to finish. Hope you enjoy, and have fun. :)
Broken Angel: Rising Demon
Chapter 12: An Angel's Task
-Malfoy Manor. Wiltshire, England. January 1st 1999-
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Cheers rang out from the ballroom of Malfoy Manor.
Toasting and celebration swept through the crowd and many celebrated the beginning of a new year.
Riley stood not far off from her best friend, as Draco and his father addressed the crowd offering their well wishes to their friends and allies, and offering their hope for a prosperous and joyful new year.
Riley raised her glass to their proclamation, offering her friend a nod of approval when his eyes passed over her.
Once the cheers settled down and the speeches were done, the party resumed with drinking, dancing, and merriment abound.
Riley proceeded to float about the room, speaking with her various friends, colleagues, and allies. She came to rest near Shisui and Itachi, both of whom were standing off to the side, admiring the festivities and formal atmosphere of the ball.
"You two seem to be having fun." Riley noted, approaching them.
"It continues to shock me more and more how mister stick-in-the-mud here, mister all-work and no-play, actually seems to enjoy the life of a lord." Shisui stated with a giggle, Itachi giving him a side glance in response and light sigh, as he sipped from his wine glass.
"I would hope he's enjoying himself. Someone in his line of work, needs to take whatever opportunity he can to have some fun. Fancy dances like this, are a good way wine and dine with potential allies and rivals. The best way to learn the dance of politics is simply to play the game and survive." Riley responded sagely, earning a nod of agreement from Itachi, while Shisui let out a playful sigh.
"Some things never change. What about you? You looking to spend your night forging political alliances and maneuver your cavalcade of houses into a better bargaining position for future power plays?" Shisui inquired.
"One would think saving the entire fucking world would earn me a lifetime pass in getting people's attention whenever I open my mouth. Than again, as the saying goes, 'eventually, no one gives a shit'. So maybe I do need to keep up with the social elites of the world, lest I be forgotten when the next so-called hero rises up to take the spotlight." Riley responded, earning a chuckle from both men.
"Well, I'll leave the both of you to the dance of politics, while you're busy with that, I'm gonna look into more intimate forms of dancing." Shisui responded, his eyes flickering over to a young woman and her friend, both of whom were glancing in their direction, eyeing Shisui and Itachi, and whispering to each other, while passing around playful smirks and giggles.
"Go get 'em tiger." Riley stated, as Shisui strolled off to go flirt.
"Given his proclivity for childishness, and foolery, I do hope he conducts himself with some manner of decency. At least enough that I don't have to worry about an avalanche of bastard Uchiha children in the near future." Itachi hummed, earning a giggle from Riley.
"Speaking of which, when are you gonna take part in your 'duty to the clan' as it were, and aid your little brother in repopulating?" Riley inquired.
"I have no aversion to such things, I have simply kept myself quite busy in recent years, with our plans, and with the war, and now with building up the Legion. If the opportunity ever presents itself, then I will seize upon it, and find a suitable matriarch of the Uchiha. For now though, I have a few too many other duties to worry about." Itachi responded.
"Well, just so you know, if that opportunity does present itself, and you do seize upon it, I just want you to understand, from the bottom of my heart, that here and now, I consent." Riley stated with a devilish smirk, earning a confused look from Itachi who turned his gaze to her.
"What?" Was how he responded.
Riley's smirk grew as she turned her gaze over towards another cluster of young women. These one's just so happened to be some of Riley's daughters. Including Elsa, her sister/mate in Anna, Eleanor, Elizabeth, and Amaru.
Itachi followed her gaze and noticed Eleanor pull her gaze away from the group and look right at him. She reacted with surprise when their eyes met and quickly looked away, an unseen blush touching at her cheeks, and earning giggles from Elsa and Anna who both caught the action.
Itachi blinked several times before turning his gaze back to Riley, whom nodded at him.
"Just remember, she's got three parents your gonna have to deal with, so be ready." Riley giggled earning a quiet sigh from Itachi, though the corners of his mouth did rise up in the beginnings of a smile, and he did let out a single chuckle as he turned away from her.
Riley gave him a pat on the back, and glanced back at her daughters. She noticed Eleanor glance over at the two of them again, eyeing Itachi from across the room, and she wasn't the only one. Elizabeth was also casting her gaze towards the Uchiha patriarch.
Riley smirked, sensing, even from across the room, their underlying attraction towards the handsome Lord-Commander.
"Careful there Itachi, you may have two of my girls yearning for your affections. Break either of their hearts and I'm gonna break something of yours." Riley thought to herself, finishing with an internal giggle as she turned to the rest of the room.
"Hey, who knows, both of them might pursue him. After all the Uchiha clan is down to what, Thirteen members? Maybe Fifteen? And your daughters do come from a family of polygamists." Kurama offered up as a possibility.
"Well, we'll just have to see. Maybe something will happen maybe it wont. Maybe he'll get with one of them, and piss off the other, triggering a sisterly feud that I'm gonna have to bust my non-existent nuts to fix, or he'll piss off both of them, and they'll enact some sort of comical bodily harm upon him, and I'll have to cheer them on, while also offering my friend an escape so as to avoid any sort of permanent damage? I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Riley responded as she made her way over to where Hashirama, Tobirama, and Kaguya were standing.
"Enjoying yourselves?" Riley inquired.
"The ball is quite lovely. It's nice seeing people so happy and celebrating." Hashirama responded with a smile.
"It is nice to unwind sometimes and enjoy the simpler things in life." Tobirama agreed, following his statement up with a drink from his wine glass.
"Where's grandfather Madara and uncle Izuna?" Riley inquired, noticing the brothers absence.
"Madara went to go and retrieve Izuna before he makes a fool out of himself. Your uncle is busy trying to court some of the young women here, and I don't Madara likes his chances." Tobirama responded.
"Speaking of making a fool out of themselves, what about that young woman you were speaking with earlier? Just making friendly conversation?" Hashirama inquired with a teasing grin, earning an irritated look from his younger brother.
Riley merely chuckled at their antics, happy to know that her family were pursuing more lighthearted endeavors. The threat of the end of the world may be looming on the horizon but that was no reason to simply cower and hide from life. Best to find what happiness they could, while there was still time.
"You've been training for a lot longer recently." Kaguya noted, earning curious looks from both Hashirama and Tobirama, and drawing Riley back to the conversation.
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Riley inquired.
"You asked Kushina to go on a week long training trip into Kamui. You two returned a few minutes later, and you told her not to say anything to your mates, since they don't like you spending so much time away from them. Kushina agreed, and then you slipped away and immediately went and asked Arturia to go train with you in Kamui." Kaguya explained, earning a sheepish look from Riley.
"How long are you up too now Riley?" Hashirama inquired with a sigh, knowing how the demoness was when it came to training.
"No more than two months a day, and I've been spacing that out to about once a week on top of my normal training. Pretty much all of it though is training with my sword. I feel it growing more alive with each passing day. I don't think it'll be long at this rate." Riley replied.
"So long as you keep it from getting too outlandish. You know how they'll react, especially since this'll be the third time you've had that argument. Two months in one day is one thing, and I know you can handle it, just remember to keep from getting too crazy alright." Hashirama stated, earning a nod from Riley.
"I will." Riley responded, with a sigh, that was quickly replaced by an accepting smile. Slowly she turned her gaze out towards the party, searching for her mates.
"And I'm telling you, if you don't pick something soon, I'm gonna be engaged and married to her before you are." Katie stated, a bit louder then she probably meant. The alcohol she'd already consumed, was starting to cause her to slur her words.
Fleur offered a nod at that, eyeing Katie with a lovely smile as the two of them discussed several personal matters.
"I know. I just wish it was not so difficult to choose. I have been dreaming of marrying her since I was fourteen. Now zat ze option is on ze table, I want it to be ze best zat it can be." Fleur responded, taking a sip from her own glass of wine, as Katie placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, the two of you have been head over heals for each other, basically from the start. I know you want this to be perfect but you know deep down that its gonna be amazing no matter when you decide to have it so just close your eyes, picture your wedding and the first season that pops into your head, you pick it, and stick with it!" Katie stated.
"You think zat will work?" Fleur inquired.
"Yes! Just picture your wedding in your mind, whatever shows up is obviously what you want most so go with that." Katie replied.
While Fleur started to look thoughtful, elsewhere in the party, Riley was busy eavesdropping on their conversation.
"You're driving her crazy you know." Kurama muttered, half asleep, and barely paying attention.
"I know, I'll put an end to this." Riley responded with a sigh.
Riley quickly made her way across the room, approaching Fleur from behind and pulling her into an embrace.
Fleur let out a startled gasp, but then smiled brightly as she recognized Riley's presence.
"Hello my love, having fun?" Fleur inquired, while Katie let out a chuckle.
"Yeah. Was busy thinking, and after seeing this fancy ball, and enjoying the festivities, I've made the decision that I'm not gonna let another year go by without making you my wife. So… I've decided, come summer time, I want to be married. You can set the date, but I'm not waiting any longer then that." Riley said to her, causing a smile to spread across Fleur's face.
"You know, I was zinking somezing along zose lines." Fleur responded, as she settled into Riley's embrace.
"Good. I hope you're as excited as I am, because I don't plan on coming back from our honeymoon until both of us are knocked up." Riley said as she kissed at Fleur's neck.
Both Fleur and Katie, blushed at that, their eyes locking. Katie mouthed 'Lucky girl', while Fleur bit her lower lip and tried to hide her smile.
"Both? You want a baby too?" Fleur inquired, her eyes still locked with Katie's both of them grinning like Cheshire cats.
"Oh yes. One with each of my ladies." Riley growled sensually into Fleur's ear.
Both Fleur and Katie started to giggle at that, as Riley released Fleur from her grasp and held her arms out for Katie. Riley kept her chin rested on Fleur's shoulder as Katie stepped up to her, allowing Riley to place her arms around her, while the two sandwiched Fleur between them, both resting their heads on either of her shoulders.
"I wonder what they're so happy about?" Daphne inquired aloud, from where she stood next to Tracy, and Pansy.
In unison, all three turned to glance at Luna nearby, whom slowly turned to meet their gaze.
She stared back innocently, while Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"You know you could always just ask them?" Luna stated.
"Yeah but that would ruin the moment." Tracy replied.
"True. I think they settled on a wedding date, and now I think Riley's being a flirt, talking about babies and whatnot." Luna stated, drinking some fruit punch.
"That'll do it." Daphne noted with a smirk.
"So Daph, any word on when you two will start the ol' family. You've been married for what now, two years?" Tracy inquired with a deviant little smirk.
"I have other important things I'm focused on right now. I'm hoping to start my own family within five years, but we'll just have to see how things play out." Daphne responded earning a giggle from Tracy.
"Always the busy body Daph. One day I'm gonna convince you to be spontaneous, and you're gonna love it!" Tracy giggled playfully.
"Hmph." Daphne snorted in amusement, while shaking her head. If only Tracy knew, every day with Riley was a day of spontaneity. Every day, a day of fun, excitement, and even pleasure. Riley did what she could to make life enjoyable, even if the best she could manage for the day was a massage and some quiet time to bask in each others presence.
Daphne let out a chuckle and shook her head. Things were going to be interesting when a baby came around. She was certain that when that happened, she'd see a part of Riley that none of them had ever seen before, but in that curiosity, came a hidden danger, that Daphne hoped her fellow mates were thinking about whenever the idea of children came to mind. That danger was if, this was how Riley was with them, if this was how paranoid, and overprotective she was with just the potential of her mates true purpose, what would she be like when they actually started giving the demoness children?
Every book, and every dusty old tome that Daphne found within the Hellsing manner, any of them that detailed demons, would often note how one of the only traits that demons shared with living things like humans, was a 'biological' imperative. Where in humans it was reproduction, in demons in was growing their power. Sex was a powerful driving force for humans, it made then due incredible things, that more often then not crossed the line into sheer stupidity. Demons had a similar drive, that was even more powerful. Having children was a way for Riley's power to grow, and as a demon, she was bound by her own nature to indulge in whatever enhanced said power. Such a thing was obvious when the number of children they'd already found, was considered, and that idea always made Daphne a bit apprehensive, as so far she was up to three children.
Her eyes slowly drifted over her demonic mate as a tingle of excitement that she had no way of controlling, passed through her body. Eventually the courting dance would end, and Riley would start having children, while a part of Daphne was excited at the prospect of a baby, and a family, another part of her whispered in her ear to never forget. Any child born from her would be a half-demon, and because they were Riley's children, they'd be unspeakably powerful. But in the same breath, any children that Riley had, would be full demons. Only one had been found so far, and that child was a literal aspect, an Archdevil of such power that it was literally tied to all of the darkness that surrounded it, and could feed off of it all at once.
What would the next full demon look like? What powers would it command? Only time would tell, and eventually, Riley wouldn't be finding these children, she'd be creating them herself. Despite Riley's nonexistent desire to rule, a part of Daphne knew that the future of the world lay in the hands of demons. If not Riley, then her demonic brood. And that thought was both terrifying and admittedly exciting.
-The planet Oa, January 6th 1999-
"And you are certain of this?" Spoke one of the Guardians of the Universe.
Standing before them were two members of the Green Lantern Corp. One a longtime Veteran, Hal Jordan, and the other, a relatively new member, John Sterwart. After cleaning up the mess in Fairport on Earth, the two had returned to the headquarters of their organization to deliver a report on what had happened directly to their superiors, the blue skinned humanoid aliens known as the Guardians.
"Yes. Our rings were unable to get a proper reading on her, but they were able to tell us that it was definitely magic. And powerful stuff at that. Her power was heavily suppressed but the rings calculated massive energy wells within her. No idea how vast they are, only that they were huge, and nearly pitch black." Hal Jordan explained to them.
"A black magical aura could only mean one thing. A dark creature of some sort. Something from beyond the veil of reality. An invader." One of the guardians surmised.
"You spoke with this being. It seemed rational?" Another asked the two.
"The first time I spoke with it, it claimed it was just cleaning up the place, after it had murdered dozens of corrupt law enforcement officers. It was unbothered by it. Almost like it was a trivial matter. The second time though, it was far more emotional. It said it was getting revenge for what the humans had done to it's child, and grandchildren. It was angry, and sounded like it was in pain. The kind of emotional pain that comes with knowing something awful happened to someone you care for." John explained to them.
"These types of creatures are highly emotional. Despair, and anguish are in their general repertoire of emotions." One of the Guardians noted.
"If it is as powerful as they say, than why has it not yet attacked Earth? When these creatures do attack, more often than not, they hit with such overwhelming force that they drag the world away into their universe before we can stop them. This one doesn't though." Another Guardian noted.
"It does not desire Earth. It's needs are more specific. Did it give you any indication as to these desires?" Was the next questioned directed at the two humans.
"From the sounds of it, she just wanted to protect her family and her loved ones. Sounded almost like a human rationalization to me." Hal Jordan responded garnering a nod of agreement from his comrade.
"Possession perhaps?" One Guardian speculated.
"Yet the body has yet to burn out. Perhaps this has something to do with that demonic arrival felt all those years ago, that we dismissed as a false alarm. Or perhaps it's connected to the awakening the old god, the corrupted tree of life." Came another suggestion.
"We require answers. If this entity is as powerful as you claim, then we may be dealing with Prime Evil Earth." Came the statement from one of the guardians.
"Prime Evil Earth?" John Stewart whispered to his comrade.
"By my understanding, when something evil come through to our dimension and it's got the power to take a world back home with it, it's known as a prime evil. They think that thing we fought, might be Earth's Prime Evil." Hal Jordan explained.
"If that's true, then why hasn't she taken it yet?" John asked.
"That is what we need you to find out for certain. If it truly is Prime Evil Earth. Than we must know why it has not attacked it yet. What it truly wants. You said it was reacting to an assault on it's family. Pursue the idea. Perhaps there is some truth to that. We must know for certain, until we do… all of Earth is in mortal danger." The Guardians delivered their orders to the two men, earning hard looks from both of them.
-Kamui, January 7th 1999-
"Such speed..." Artoria let out a huff, holding herself up, but only barely. Her bones ached and her muscles screamed in pain.
Not far off, Zabuza Momochi was leaning heavily on Kubikiribōchō. Both of them were near to complete exhaustion. Before them a sword clash raged on that was near imperceptible to the eye.
Riley lashed out against her great-great-granduncle, with intense ferocity. The second Hokage was not the most skilled swordsman in the world, but he made up for his skill with his extreme speed. He was one of the few, other than Madara, and Hashirama that could keep up with Riley.
Speaking of those two, both men charged into the fray, their own personal blades at the ready, trading blows with demoness as she utilized her newly developed sword style to overpower their offensive.
Riley's sword style, which she had named the Red Crescent Blade Style, after her grandfather's Taijutsu style. The principle of the blade style was almost the exact same. An all-out offensive style that relied heavily on strikes, and counter-offensive maneuvers. The major difference between the two was that where the Red Crescent Assault Style, was designed to turn the Uchiha Interceptor Fist into a crowd control Taijutsu style, the Red Crescent Blade Style, was designed to be utilized either against a single foe, or multiple attackers. The principle was the utilization of overwhelming force and an unmatched number of attacks.
Riley had actually developed the style after her date with Yugito. It was Yugito bringing up the Eight Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee, and his swordsmanship, that reminded Riley of what she had heard about his Seven Sword Style. Killer Bee would hold swords in between his limbs, keeping them held in places like the crook of his arm, or under the knee. He would them perform spinning maneuvers lashing out at his target from multiply angles and heights, while also tossing some of the blades into the air and catching them in his hands to attack with as well. The whole point of Killer Bee's style from what Riley had heard about it and read about it in the Bingo Book, was that it was impossible to follow. Only Bee knew the intricacies of the movements. Only Bee could follow what was happening.
With that came inspiration for Riley, and she'd spent the time since then, developing and honing her developing sword style, utilizing similar concepts.
With Riley's speed, reflexes, strength, and ten additional limbs, she had successfully developed a sword style that her relatives admittedly had no counter for.
While consistently using her tails, to continue the offensive Riley was able to unleash and immeasurable number of blows against her opponents or opponents in this case.
Not only could she use her tails to grab hold of the blade and alter it's trajectory, increase or decrease the power behind the blow, she could also pass the blade into the grip of one of her tails, freeing up her hands, and allowing her tails to rain down blows from the blade from near any angle while Riley attacked with her fists or another weapon.
The final part of this sword style was the incorporation of Shikotsumyaku, or Dead Bone Pulse. To extend bones from certain parts of her body, as well as the ends of eight of her tails, unleashing a torrent of blade strikes that Izuna admitted not even his Sharingan could follow.
As of now the style had three levels. Level one involved Riley just using her hands, and was quite powerful for being newly developed, and honestly riddled with movement errors that would need correction under the watchful eye of a master swordsman. Level two involved the utilization of her tails, increasing the ferocity of the attack, and making it even more of a nightmare to deal with her at close range. Level three would then incorporate Dead Bone Pulse, unleashing the full nightmarish power of the style.
There was a fourth level that Riley intended to reach, but first she had to master her new style, clear it of errors, and missteps. The fourth level would involve Riley releasing the sword into the care of her tails and utilizing her now freed limbs to use the Red Crescent Assault Style, in tandem with the Red Crescent Sword Style. Theoretically creating a storm of swords and fists that would easily overwhelm any adversary at close range.
Right now though, Riley knew she wasn't there. It'd take a while to master her new sword style, and then she'd need hone her favored Taijutsu style to incorporate it's moves into an ultimate Taijutsu style.
All of Riley's hard work, with the aide of her various trainers and led to this training session, which now saw Artoria, Zabuza, Shisui, and Izuna, out of the fight, exhausted and injured. While Kushina, Tobirama, Madara, and Hashirama, continued on the offensive.
The flurry of combat between Riley and Tobirama was utterly mesmerizing as the two traded blow after blow. Artoria herself could only watch, mesmerized as Tobirama deflected a downward slash from Riley, only for her to simply release the blade from her hand allowing it to lift into the air, one of her tails was right there waiting for it, wrapping around the handle of the blade, and delivering a second downward slash as Tobirama recovered from deflecting the first.
The second Hokage saw the slash coming and knew he had no way of blocking it, so he quickly activated the Hiraishin, teleporting out of the way to avoid the attack.
As he vanished from sight, Kushina closed in on Riley, lashing out at her with both swords. She was immediately joined by Madara, both of whom sent Riley backpedaling as she slipped out of her sword style and was forced onto the defensive.
So far that had been the only way Riley's family had found to defeat her when using her new sword style. The point of Riley's style was an unending flurry of strikes, that didn't stop until the enemy was dead. It offered no reprieve and no moment of rest, if you were caught within it, you had no choice but to flee, otherwise you'd be overwhelmed. The only other way out was to beat the demoness at her own game by overwhelming her, and thus breaking her own of the style, and forcing her onto the defensive.
Of course something like that wasn't really a counter to Riley, more so her style. As it was only due to the rules of this particular training session, that kept Riley from utilizing more then just her sword and Taijutsu abilities. In real battle, overwhelming her at close range may disrupt her sword style, but she'd simply stop using it and return to her own favored style of combat which involved the overwhelming application of spells and Ninjutsu.
As Riley continued to deflect her mother's and grandfather's assault, she caught sight of Hashirama in the background, readying his own assault on her.
A moment later, and he went on the offensive, activating his wood style, causing large tree branches to burst out of the ground and life the First Hokage high into the air. Over a dozen smaller tree branches lifted up around Hashirama, each one holding a large weapon of various designs at it's end. These weapons ranged from large swords, and windmill Shuriken, to axes and scythes, and even a naginata in one.
"Now!" Hashirama roared, causing Madara and Kushina to jump away from Riley.
Immediately following, all twelve tree limbs lashed out with their weapons, raining blow after blow down on Riley as she continued to backpedal.
Riley moved quickly as the tree limbs assaulted her, ensuring that she kept them from surrounding her and attacking her flanks or rear.
Riley watched the onslaught bear down on her almost in slow motion, she analyzed all of the oncoming attacks, blocking each one, as she waited for an opening to go on the offensive.
As she did this, she began to channel magic into the blade, filling it with her demonic power.
Her intention was to use wind magic to cut right through her great-grandfather's arsenal of weapons.
Her opening came when she spotted one of the sword wielding branches rush forward, dragging it's over-sized blade across the ground, intent on delivering and upward slash to her.
Riley deflected the blade with a defiant yell, batting it away and releasing the magic she'd gathered within.
An arcing blade of wind shot forward from her sword, slicing clean through Hashirama's own weapon. Riley had only intended to remove one of the weapons from the attack leaving further openings, however the end result was far more than she expected. The arc of wind traveled across the battlefield, straight for the towering forest beneath Hashirama's feat. By his side, Madara and Kushina had retreated, and all three saw the blade of wind pass beneath them cutting clean through the wooden structure and also severing all of Hashirama's attack tree limbs, near their base, causing his assault to cease.
All three individuals shared looks before they felt the structure begin to collapse.
They quickly jumped clear, and immediately turned their attention to Riley, whom hadn't gone on the offensive, and was instead staring down at her sword, the battle apparently forgotten.
Slowly the trio made their way over to her, the fight obviously over for now.
"What's wrong?" Kushina asked as she sheathed her swords. Her muscles were currently screaming out in pure agony. And she had to fight not to hobble. This duel had gone on for nearly five hours. Her Uzumaki endurance and vitality was the only reason she could still stand, let alone keep fighting.
Tobirama was quick to reappear approaching Riley as well.
"Somethings off." Riley answered as she ran a hand along the edges of the blade.
And something was indeed wrong. To those with sensing abilities like Tobirama, Hashirama, and Madara, they could all tell that something had changed about Riley's sword. It wasn't just the after-affects of her demonic power passing through it, this was far more potent. It almost felt like the sword was alive, and it's power was menacing indeed.
Tobirama and Hashirama could feel the malevolence radiating out from the blade, though Madara could actually see it with his Rinnegan. To his eyes, the sword was pure blackness. The energy within the blade was so thick and dark, that to Madara it looked like Riley was holding a rod of pure darkness in her hand, instead of a katana. Around the edges of the blackness, color swam, and it was a difficult thing to truly perceive. It almost looked like the different types of chakra were flowing into the blade, and ultimately being corrupted by it.
Madara's eyes slowly drifted back to the darkness itself, he found his eyes focusing on the pure darkness that swam at it's center, and after a moment he detected something deep within the blade. His eyes almost began to zoom into the darkness peering further into the black abyss of power. Deep within he could almost see what looked like light. As his gaze focused further, the light became more distinct, revealing itself to actually be ten different orbs of light. They all sat in formation. One in the center, and the remaining nine sitting in a circular formation around the central orb.
Each light was a different color, with the central one being a grayish black. There was one that was pure black, and distinctly familiar, though Madara didn't know where he'd felt it before. One was a blinding white, that radiated purity. One was a malevolent purplish-black. One was a crimson red, similar to the Nine Tails' Chakra in color but several shades darker. One was a powerful sky blue that seemed to radiate with control and kindness, it almost reminded him of Hashirama in a way. One was pure gray, radiating incredibly power. One was a deep oceans blue that was similar to Riley's eyes in her youth. One was orange, and glowed like fire. And the last one, was a blueish green, and was far more gentle then anything Madara had ever seen in relation to Riley.
All nine surrounding orbs radiated color, which seemed to be draining into the central grayish-black orb.
"Do you see that?" Madara inquired.
"I do." Riley replied, earning curious looks from those around. By now, Artoria, Shisui, Izuna, and Zabuza had limped over to see what was going on.
"What is it?" Hashirama asked, his gaze flickering between the two of them, sensing that they both could see something that the rest of them couldn't.
"I think the sword has gained it's inner soul, but it almost looks like it's drawing power from nine different magical sources." Madara explained.
"Yeah and the weirdest part… they all feel like me." Riley replied, having seen the same thing with her eyes as Madara did.
"What do you suppose that means?" Shisui inquired, limping up next to her, his gave dancing between Riley and the sword, which definitely felt different then how it had before.
"I don't know. I need to consult the scrolls that the Shinigami gave me, and learn how I go about contacting my swords spirit." Riley responded, as her tails slowly reached out, grabbing hold of her family.
She quickly removed them all from Kamui, taking them back to the hidden village. She offered them all her thanks for the training and left them in Hashirama's capable hands to heal their injuries and get them all up and running again. She then immediately returned to her pocket dimension, unsealing the scrolls she was given by the Shinigami, where she proceeded to go over their contents and learn how one was to go about speaking with the spirit in their sword.
Once she was certain she understood what was needed Riley began her attempts at the Jinzen process. Which was the method the Shinigami had developed to speak with their Zanpakutō spirits. Riley suspected she could use other methods to speak with her sword since she had the ability to enter into other people's minds, and even knew how to cross over bonds and enter a person's mindscape. For now though she'd use their method to avoid messing anything up. According to what was written within, she by placing the sword across her lap and entering a meditative state she could gain access to the sword's spirit and enter it's personal 'world' which sounded a lot like it's mindscape to Riley. Also written within was information that hinted towards this 'inner world' actually being the wielder's own mindscape, which would make this even easier if it was true.
She also paid close attention to the warning that the Zanpakutō spirit while not aggressive outright, would most likely refuse to offer her any of it's power until she proved herself in some way. This spirit would share many similarities with Riley but it would also be unique in it's own way. She would need to speak with it, and then pass whatever tests or challenges it had for her to unlock it's abilities, but her primary objective was to learn the Zanpakutō's name, for it's name held the ability to unlock it's full power.
If her sword has finally developed into a Zanpakutō, that meant that it was now in a sealed state. By working with it, and cooperating, she could unleash Shikai which was it's unsealed state, and by learning it's name, she could achieve Bankai, unleashing the sword's full power.
So with that in mind, Riley placed the sword across her lap and slipped into quiet meditation, reaching out for the sword, and drifting into her own mind.
The scrolls had warned that at first the Zanpakutō spirit would be hard to hear, and may only manifest in dreams, but given the uniqueness of Riley's situation, she didn't know what to expect.
When she opened her eyes, she found the vastness of her mindscape laid out before her. Nothing about it had changed, though she was in a place she rarely traveled to. She stood atop one of the towering mountains within her mind. Snow covered the nearby area in a pure white blanket that was dyed orange by the obscured setting sun in the distance.
Riley felt a presence nearby, turned her gaze, she found herself staring at an eerily familiar sight.
It looked almost like a dementor, hovering a few inches above the ground. A black shade, in a tattered black cloak. A hood pulled up, obscuring it's face, leaving nothing but a blackened void. From it's back, two black wings emerged, the wings were oily and disheveled, fire danced within the each feather. This thing was a mirrored image of Riley angelic persona, the Angel of Carnage, Ralael.
Riley blinked once, then again.
"I know you." Riley stated to the shade.
"You know yourself quite well." Came a deep, radiating response that rattled the bones. Even it's voice, matched the one she had used for her disguise.
"You took the form of the Angel of Carnage. You became Ralael? Why?" Riley inquired with genuine curiosity.
"I am a part of you. You know this already. This is what your soul cries out for. What you deny yourself to often. I am death given form. Carnage, given shape. I am the end of life, for this world, and all those to come. You ask me why I am Ralael, I ask you, why aren't you?" The Angelic presence responded.
Riley stared back blinking a few times.
"Ralael was a face. A disguise to hide myself, so that I could distract the world from my true intentions." Riley responded.
"And yet, you never used it as such. When you created Ralael, you intended it for a cover. Instead, you used it to indulge in slaughter, and revenge. You used it as an excuse to satiate your desires. Under the guise of judgment, you could slaughter to your heart's content. Yet… in the end you cast it aside. But nothing has changed. Your heart still calls out for bloodshed. Your desires, center around Carnage." The Angel questioned her. Despite it's face being obscured from sight, Riley could almost feel it's judgmental gaze piercing through her.
"A good question. Things change. What you want, and what happens are two entirely different things. You aren't wrong. I still want to kill. I still do, when the mood strikes me. And I do miss the nightly slaughters. Blood and death are in my nature, I've never denied that. You ask me why I put it aside? The answer is obvious. For the same reason I spare this world. For them." Riley answered honestly.
"Yes. Them. Your heart and soul." The Angel replied.
"So… what happens now? Do we fight? Do we talk? The Shinigami was quite vague about a lot of things, but I caught the hint that you were probably going to be different from other Zanpakutō spirits. So… what now?" Riley asked, slowly raising her sword and leveling it at the angel.
"Our battles will come. But not now. You must earn the right to challenge me. In order to do so… you must first begin down the path. I have much to teach you, by the end of my lessons you will know what my true power is. Only with that knowledge will you be able to learn my true name." The angel answered, drifting closer to her as it did.
"Alright, how do I go about learning your power?" Riley asked, lowering her sword.
"I will show you, parts of it. It is up to you though, to understand what it truly is. You have come here now, so I will give you your first test. You must appease all nine lights, for my name to hold any value. I am alone now, but when I am made whole, my power will be absolute. You have a long and arduous journey ahead, one you will never complete if you do not know my power. So… walk forward with an open mind, and embrace eternity!" The Angel slowly drifted towards her as it spoke, raising a hand to her. It was just now that Riley noticed one difference between this angel and her past disguise, it's hand was skeletal, revealing gray bony fingers.
As it finished it's proclamation, a white light erupted out of it's palm consuming Riley and causing her to fall backwards. The actions seemed to take an eternity, but in reality must have passed in only a few moments, as her eyes snapped into focus and she realized that her surroundings had changed.
-?-
She was no longer within her mindscape, nor was she in Kamui. Instead she stood atop a small mountain, surrounded by thick forests below. Something about the view was incredibly familiar to her. A moment passed as she felt her senses finally focus and she took in the feeling of thousands of powerful magicals nearby.
Turning her gaze, her jaw fell open as her eyes beheld a ghostly sight.
Below her, surrounded by high stone walls, and thick forests, was the village Hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure no Sato.
"What in the fuck..." Riley muttered in disbelief.
-To Be Continued-
Alright here's the first half of this arc, next one is up at the same time, hope you all enjoy. See you in part II, Ja Ne!