98 The First Night

(Throughout Soul Society)

The moment it started raining, everyone knew what had happened. Scathach standing among the beaten Sternritters that challenged her stared into the distance, bidding a silent farewell to her old friend. The old man known as King Hassan, surrounded by dead Quincy that he felled with his blade, began praying in Arabic for the old dragon. Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana, every last Soul Reaper knew that Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto was now dead. It was a bitter moment for the Soul Society that it should happen in the middle of the Quincy invasion, and most of the Quincy were relishing the despair and pain.

"Such a shame." Yhwach said, walking to the shaking form of Ichigo as the teen cried. "For a brief moment, I saw my old enemy once again. The ruthless monster that Yamamoto was a thousand years ago, but that monster was replaced with the weak old man he became the moment you showed up." The hybrid continued to shake but the tears had stopped, only the sound of heavy rain prevailed while Ichigo's breathing became more heated and aggressive. "But he was only delaying the inevitable. That Bankai is mine, along with all that you have stolen from me you brat." Ichigo was gone, he watched the entire thing and still couldn't see when Ichigo moved from where he was.

'Where-?' The Quincy king wondered before hearing a loud crunch, crack, and tear of flesh coming from behind. He turned and found Ichigo with claws buried in the side of one of his double's head, which was now separated from his body. Ichigo vanished again, as if he was an after-image but too solid not to be, with another cry of pain sounding with a loud crunch soon after that. He turned to his other double, light up like a signal fire from the broken blade of Ryuujin Jakka lodged in his chest while Ichigo held the crushed head of his secret bodyguard, Nianzol Weizol. The Sternritter with the ability to distort space and twist anything he could see or sense, but Yhwach was more impressed with Ichigo's ability to find the Sternritter in the first place since he was hidden within a shadow. 'The power I'll gain from you will be extraordin-'

"Die." He heard from in front of him as Ichigo prepared to cut him in two, Ryuujin Jakka manifesting a blade of fire to compensate for what it was missing. Before the hybrid could swing his blade, a hole appeared in the top of his head and through his body.

"My apologies for being so late." Lille said, teleporting to their location in a swirl in space. "I was held up by a lowly Arrancar and the squad 8 captain." Yhwach took mild note in Lille being in his Vollstandg as he looked down at Ichigo's body, which then vanished.

"You missed." Yhwach warned the Quincy before Lille let out a shocked gasp as he suddenly fell, his wings now gone. To stop himself from phasing through the ground Lille had to shut his left eye while trying to regain his wings, but the moment Lille landed Ichigo appeared and kicked the Sternritter's head so hard it turned to a red mist. The hybrid charged at Yhwach again, only to be stopped by a sword the size of a skyscraper.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Gerard Valkyrie, now a giant with feathered wings of light and a nordic helmet said to the hybrid in a massive dust cloud. "An abomination like yourself is unworthy of-" The tip of Gerard's sword flew up so suddenly that the blade snapped. Ichigo was floating at chest level to Gerard, holding the broken blade in a large spirit manifested hand, with evidence of a massive cut that already healed on his chest. Instantly the blade was lodged in Gerard's throat, stabbing through the top of his skull, and the whole body was engulfed in a pillar of flames that reduced him to ash in a few seconds. Ichigo landed a few feet away from Yhwach once again and strode toward the Quincy emperor, eyes promising death and the teen intended to deliver.

"I. Am going. To kill-" Ichigo was saying when his body suddenly and started to twist, with dozens of large left hands with eyes started rising up with something shooting from the fingertips.

"You will suffer for the pain you have brought on my-" Pernida started before noticing Ichigo using his Reiatsu to expel the Quincy's nerves from his body. 'How much Reiatsu does he have?!' It wondered in shock before a sudden blast of fire reduced them to ash.

"You." Ichigo said, finishing his previous statement before charging with Ryujin Jakka poised to impale the Quincy emperor. However, Yhwach would not be touched by that blade as Uryu once again took the blow meant for the ancient Quincy. "Uryu?" Some light returned to Ichigo's eyes as he recognized his cousin, who then grasped his shoulder and leaned in.

"And there it is," Yhwach said with disappointment in his voice, "the sentimentality that ruined the Gotei from the fearsome and powerful force they once were to the-" He stopped when Ichigo suddenly grabbed Uryu by the throat and tore the broken blade through the young Quincy's body while tossing him aside. "Hmph, maybe there's some of the original generation in you after all." Ichigo glared at Yhwach with pure hate and was about to attack the emperor again when the injury he gave Uryu was reflected back onto himself but before it could heal a sword passed through his spine and heart, paralyzing him as blood flowed from the the vital muscle.

"The scales are not in your favor." Ichigo heard from behind as a mountain of golden light manifested in the form of a man with a knight's helm and shoulder spikes rose up where Gerard was burned, Lille's body rose back up with a long serpentine neck rising from his torso with an owl face and his skin turning fair, and hundreds of giant hands with eyes rose up.

"Your grace, allow me to purge this blasphemous heathen here and now." Lille said as he manifested an arm from light. Ichigo fired a Gran Rey Cero from his back, blasting Jugram away, and became engulfed in his black Reiatsu. When it receded, Ichigo was in his Hollow from, gold with Hell's armor, with wings of burning black Reishi, with his Shihakusho blown off his upper body from Shunko, and Zangetsu in both of his hands while the area around him began to slowly melt and the rain stopped in their location. Never once did the hybrid look to any of the other Quincy, keeping his glare on Yhwach.

"Your majesty, we must return." Jugram said as he and Uryu appeared next to Yhwach, Jugram looking burned from taking Ichigo's Cero. "Night is falling." The emperor weighed his options, but ultimately decided to pull back. It wouldn't do him any good if the Zero Squad didn't take Ichigo to the Royal Realm.

"Go. Recover all of our allies. We're retreating for now." A portal of darkness appeared while Gerard and Lille went off to gather the lost Quincy. "Next time will be the last, my lost child." Yhwach said before he, Uryu, Jugram, and the hundreds of Pernidas left. After a literal minute, no Quincy were detected in the Seireitei and Ichigo released his form, roaring in frustration, pain, and loss at how the day went.

(Aftermath)

It was a somber tone that hung over Soul Society, for all of their preparations and still things turned out like this. Most of the Seireitei was wrecked from the fighting, thousands dead, hundreds injured, some with a few scrapes, others with crippling injuries, some are still on death's door. Half an hour after the Vandenreich departed was when Orihime finally came by along with who else remained in Hueco Mundo and Unohana immediately set her to work with the critical patients. Thanks to her, many were brought back to peak physical ability but those with Reishi based ailments were taking longer. She finished healing Zaraki, whose body almost tore itself apart from his Bankai in his fight with Gerard, Kyoraku and Starrk, who had several holes in their bodies from their fight with Lille, Hitsugaya, whose body was shattered in places where he froze himself to fight Pernida, but she was stuck with Byakuya, whose own Reiatsu was killing him. She tried not to think about who might be dead, because if she did she would lose her control of the Power of Rejection and no one there could afford that. She was kept on the people that Unohana had to consider more vital, and the captain couldn't afford to gamble on resurrecting the dead considering how long Orihime was taking with healing those damaged by the Quincy.

Those that died in battle were being gathered and transported to squad 12 for the off chance they could do something that the 4th division couldn't, but it was mostly storage for when they could be offered a proper burial. It didn't stop Mayuri from fiddling around with some of the bodies until Urahara stopped him with a more intriguing project; cybernetics with Chad as their first test subject. Somehow, the Fullbringer was keeping himself alive by using Fullbring on his own blood to keep it flowing to his brain and on the air to oxygenate it. It was a trick he learned when he met another Fullbringer by the name of Aura Michibane when he returned to Japan before going to the Shoten and it was all he could do to keep himself from dying. Kisuke and Mayuri were dead set on making sure this project succeeded with Chad because Ichigo needed some wins.

Ichigo himself carried back the bodies of Yamamoto and Chojiro, bringing both to the Squad 1 barracks where the other captains that could move had gathered, along with Scathach and King Hassan. Yoruichi took temporary command of the second division and Byakuya was still in the hospital, Unohana was only able to be there because Orihime was healing people in her place. Gin was there, but his usual smile was gone and when Ichigo saw his eyes open briefly he saw nothing, they were dead and that told Ichigo one thing. Rangiku was gone. It took everything he had not to break down, holding on to his anger as his grip tightened to the point he was breaking the bones of the former captain and lieutenant of the 1st division. The sound snapped him back to reality as he carefully laid both on funeral pyres that Tessai had the Kido corps make in the Squad 1 courtyard soon after the battle ended.

The members of the Kido corps lit Chojiro's pyre while Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana, Scathach, Hassan, and Ichigo lit Yamamoto's. They stood by watching as the old man, their leader, their teacher, father figure to some and grandfather to one, burned away to ash. Without Ryuujin Jakka, Yamamoto was vulnerable to flames once more, that power was now Ichigo's. No one said anything while Kyoraku and Ukitake placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulders, offering their support and sympathies. The only thing going through Ichigo mind, beneath the fury and sorrow, was what Uryu said to him.

"All according to plan." Ichigo knew he was away for a while and things happened without him, he knew they'd construct plans to take out the Quincy King, he knew that they took great pains to sever any connection between Yhwach and them, but what was the overall plan? He pieced together that it had something to do with Uryu being a double agent, he knew his cousin, but how did Uryu gain so much trust in so little time.

"Come on Ichigo." Kyoraku started, pulling Ichigo out of his thoughts. "The old man wanted us to read his will. Everyone else, return to your divisions and get ready for the next fight." The captain ordered, taking over Yamamoto's position as the fires burned down to embers and the remaining members of the first division gathered Yamamoto's ashes. "Before the Quincy attacked, Yamamoto gave us his will. I'm taking over as Captain Commander of the Gotei for the foreseeable future until you can prove your capability as a captain."

'That's fair.' Ichigo admitted, seeing as he wasn't a leader in the other world so much as did everything himself. He'd need more time to become a proper leader.

"But before you can become a captain, you'll be training under us." Scathach told him, pointing to herself and Hassan. "My name is Scathach and he's called King Hassan. We're old friends of Yama and he asked us to teach you our skills."

"To become as strong as you can to achieve that goal to protect everyone you can." Hassan continued. "To ensure the future of the Shinigami is in capable hands. But should you fail our training, you will die."

"Yama did give us permission to be as rough with you as we want." The Shadow Queen smiled viciously at Ichigo.

"Bring it. I look forward to your lessons." The hybrid returned, showing no fear and earning her approval.

"One more thing Ichigo." Kyoraku said as he pulled something out. "Read this." He handed a letter to Ichigo, who proceeded to unfold it while everyone left the room with the exception of Unohana.

"Ichigo, my student, if you're reading this then I have finally met my end. In my life I had done many things that I regret. The original Quincy massacre, allowing the Central 46 to interfere with my school, not preventing crimes that you've had to take the burden of, but only three regrets stand out the most to me as I write this. The first of which is that you once again must clean up after an old fool and finish this war. To aid you, Uryu has infiltrated the Vandenreich under the guise of a double agent that returned to them after spying on us. This was accomplish with Tsukishima's specific Fullbring attaining a new form that allows him to rewrite memories en masse and theoretically even rewrite how powers work, though that remains untested due to the strain it had just giving Uryu his cover."

"That explains what Uryu was doing." Ichigo muttered out loud as Unohana reached into her Shihakusho to pull out a few sheets of paper.

"Here's some of the intelligence he managed to send us. Read it over when you've finished with Yamamoto's letter." Ichigo nodded as the captain left to return to her division and he kept reading.

My second great regret is that I will not be passing you my Haori personally, to see you inherit my mantle as the ultimate culmination of our efforts in your training. But alas, it is a sight I will never see. All I can give you is my Zanpakuto and the power that comes with it. If I'm right, the Zero Squad will come down to bring you back to the Royal Realm to do any final preparations. Which leads to my final regret, that my last words to you are an order, but know that I'm proud of you. A most magnificent Soul Reaper. Your final mission from me; undo the Original Sin of Soul Society.

'Original Sin?' Ichigo thought in confusion before finding a Kido spell that hid a second sheet of paper behind Yamamoto's message. Ichigo began to read it and felt himself become sick to his core.

(Time passes)

'Okay... let's see if we can figure this out.' Ichigo thought to himself as he made his way to where the Zero Squad would be making their landing. 'How am I going to revive the Soul King?'

"A good first step would probably be to return his heart." Zangetsu spoke up. "That report from Uryu said that the heart and left arm were with Yhwach as part of his elite guard. Though you'd probably have better luck if that Gerard fellow wasn't a titan of a being when you put him back in the Soul King's chest." The information Jugram gave Unohana was a list of rebelling Sternritters and the Schrifts that every other Quincy had, as well as the hidden secrets of Gerard being the Soul King's heart and Pernida being his left hand.

'Haven't heard from you in a while Zangetsu. How're things in there?' Ichigo asked, genuinely curious due to the absence of Ryuujin Jakka's voice.

"Ryuujin Jakka is comatose and dying but Kyoka is doing what she can to keep him stabilized. A broken Bankai is a serious wound Ichigo and his was broken before it was absorbed by you. I'm able to fix myself because of all the Asuachi I've devoured and Kyoka doesn't have a physical form in her Bankai, but Ryuujin used the last of his strength to help you fight for that small amount of time. You need to get to Oetsu and soon if you want his power."

'I didn't want it. Not at the cost of his life. But I will accept it if only to kill Yhwach with it.' He said as he finally reached the other captains as they waited for the Tenchuuren to land, walking next to Kyoraku who was now wearing the Squad 1 Haori. "How much of it did you know?" The hybrid asked his fellow student of the old dragon.

"Enough. Chances were that if Yhwach succeeded in killing the Soul King, we'd have to do the same thing to you." Kyoraku admitted to the teen. "But I bet it wouldn't play out that way because you'd probably sacrifice yourself instead to be the linchpin."

"I'd rather be sitting on a throne instead of being trapped in a crystal, but yeah. Probably would."

"How are you going to do it?"

"Probably with the Hogyoku." Ichigo could still feel it, sleeping and awaiting his summons. "It can practically grant any wish for its master." The Tenchuuren fell and the two silently agreed to drop the conversation while Ichigo stepped to the front as the pillar opened. "Hello to the most useless squad of the Soul Society!" The hybrid loudly and proudly yelled at, instantly stopping any fanfare the five members of the Zero Squad were planning. "How was it just sitting on your lazy asses while we did all the fighting?" Tenjiro Kirinji, a man with a large hooked pompadour, black hakama pants, sandals, and an open jacket stepped up to Ichigo.

"You'd best watch your mouth brat-" He was interrupted by the teen spitting in his face.

"You're the last person I want to hear anything from Tenjiro." The hybrid growled. "Of all the Zero Squad, your 'contribution' to Soul Society is the most useless." Tenjiro calmly wiped his face, but he was seething at Ichigo. "What was it again? Oh right, so called 'healing springs' that require the person bathing in it to have a captain level Reiatsu or they'd be killed by the healing process. The only one that's actually detrimental to its intended purpose. When was the less time you actually healed anyone without those puddles." The Zero Squad member immediately punched Ichigo in the face faster than anyone else could see and grabbed the hybrid by the throat.

"Listen brat, I was willing to give you a pass from your earlier visit," Ichigo calmly stepped back and showed Tenjiro his severed hand, "but I... will... not."

"You're also slow." Ichigo returned as the healer looked to his left arm, cut off in the middle of his forearm. "You didn't even noticed that you failed to hit me." Ichigo tossed the hand back and Tenjiro attempted to catch it, only to yell out in agony as he discovered just how mangled his right arm was. It'd be easier to pick out what wasn't twisted or broken. "I don't care what you have to say." The hybrid continued as he marched right up to Ichibe. "I'm going back up to the Royal Palace, Oetsu is going to fix my sword, I'm going to thank him for being one of the more useful members of your crappy little club, and then I'm going to do your jobs and kill Yhwach. Understand?" Ichigo growled as his eyes glowed golden with heat radiating off him.

"That is why we came down. To help." Ichibe agreed, bringing a friendly hand down on Ichigo's shoulder only for the hybrid to swat it away.

"Don't touch me." Ichigo growled before walking away. "Come on! Prove you assholes are actually useful!"

(Silbern)

"Jerome, Gremmy, Pepe, Mask, Askin, As Nodt, Nanana, Arjuna, Quilge, BG10, Discroll, Royd, Loyd, Nianzol," Bazz-B listed off as he lounged about in a room with Jugram, Bambietta, Liltotto, Meninas, Candice, and an older looking man with light brown hair, thick mustache, shallow cheeks, and glasses named Robert Accutrone, "that's fourteen of the Sternritters that died in that assault. A little over half."

"And they all went on to fuel his majesty, because that's all we are to him." Robert added. "Fuel to expand his lifespan." He took another look around the room. "Is this really all we can prevent from dying pointlessly?"

"The members of the Schutzstaffel are devoted to his majesty," Jugram answered, "Bernice might make us doubt ourselves with her Schrift making her a liability, and from what I've heard from Uryu, Cang Du is going to die. Either by Ichigo's hand or Gin Ichimaru's."

"Giselle is still alive. Are you not including her?" Robert asked, noting the one Sternritter that was still unmentioned.

"No, she's crazy." All the women immediately stated.

"Aww, that's mean you guys." The women froze in horror before looking at the door to see Giselle. "I'm just really passionate about keeping the people I like close to me." She was immediately surrounded by the rest of the Sternritters, with bows, swords, and a gun ready to strike her down. "I was just wondering if I could join this club?"

"Why?" Bambietta demanded, not trusting the Zombie for a moment.

"Well, pretty much all the surviving Sternritter plan to betray his majesty. Might as well be on the winning side. If even Jugram is against him, that tells me enough. But, you should probably get moving and spy on Uryu. If no one finds it suspicious that his majesty named him the successor to his throne, he might catch on to us." Giselle warned, seeing as the majority of remaining Sternritters were now in that one location. Realizing the folly, they timed their departures with Bazz-B taking the first watch of the new heir apparent of the Quincy.

(Silbern Throne Room: Earlier)

'They really think I don't know?' The emperor thought to himself as Uryu departed from the throne room, having just been crowned the prince to the relatively mild surprise of the remaining Sternritters. 'No matter. They're simply meant to distract the Shinigami until I can ascend to the Royal Realm. However... since I am now lacking some proper shields, I should replenish them.' "Pernida." The Quincy king called to the living hand. "I have a mission for you. Bring me the twins. Alive."