Listen While You Read
An enormous blade’s edge of vibrating red screeched as it rose to the sky, its immense power reverberating within the Fourth Division, and those adjacent to it. Surely, anyone worth their salt within the Seireitei would feel the spiritual energy screaming off the forbidden spell; Shinigami from all over the Seireitei stopped what they were doing, their full spiritual attention commandeered, many coming out of their Division buildings to look upon whatever had caused it. When the crimson edge dissipated, and its singing power diminished, all that accompanied the colorless, rising smoke cloud was an unforgettable stillness.
On the precipice of new beginnings, the cursor of history slid ever closer to the edge of an eerie quietness; it was a silence layered in three parts.
The first layer was one that played its empty tune to the physical senses. If one were to look up at the shaded sky, an already gloomy overcast would have seemed to have gotten darker, and stiller, as the clouds remained in place as if holding their breath. If one were to listen, they would find emptiness in the wake of the once sweet whispers of the wind. If one were to reach out to touch the world, all they would feel is a numbness beyond the pale.
The first of three.
The second layer was one that spoke its hollow words to the spiritual senses. It hid behind the physical in wait for those well-enough attuned to notice it. Where once the spiritual bands of Souls glowed inharmoniously across the Soul Society, existed a blank gray that spread for miles and miles, to the ends of the City of Wandering Souls. Everyone, it seemed, ceased to exist.
The second of three.
The third layer was one that existed on a plane beyond the conventional. A quietness so deafening, so overbearing, so empty, that its presence could only be perceived by those who, when confronted by a world devoid of stimulus, could completely relinquish their bodies, minds, and souls to absolute nothingness. Only then would they realize that time had stopped.
The third of three.
This was a rare brief lapse in time, a serene moment of quiet that preceded a storm not seen, and yet brewing for centuries. What seemed like an eternal silence came to a thundering halt as the world returned to color, waves of technicolor reverberating throughout the Soul Society like layers of film, and those who lived and breathed within it. The entirety of the Seireitei, and the Wandering City, trembled as the spiritual power of unburdened Souls twisted around one another in a battle of Reiatsu.
Listen While You Read
An enormous explosion of purple, larger than the Ittō Kasō that came before, erupted at Sōkyoku Hill; even those not initiated in Reikaku would sense the Captain Commander’s roaring Reiatsu, and in opposition, the equally magnificent spiritual pressure of the Captain of the Ninth, Hitoshi Shihaimono.
In the Northwestern Quadrant, the Reiatsu of the deadly Captain of the Second, Nobu Tsunayashiro, and that of the esteemed Captain of the Fourth, Sachiko Kuchiki, would be sensed at the ready to strike one another down.
In the Southeastern Quadrant, Captain Arisu Nakazawa’s radiant spiritual pressure could be felt clashing with that of the passionate Captain Kusumoto’s.
Lastly, within the First District of the Northern Rukongai, one Souls spiritual pressure could be felt across the entirety of the Soul Society, reaching out even beyond the known Districts, and drowning out all others; it was a spiritual signature so demonic, so filled with killing intent, that the blood of his future victims would be tasted upon the tongues of all; such a signature belonged to the Kenpachi, Kenta Murakami. Alongside him were two, that of the Twelfth’s Captain, Hatsumei Takaki, and that of the Sixth’s Captain, Etsuko Nakajima, the latter of which faded quickly…
With the Soul Society under siege by an immutable song, it was a miracle that the words that would soon ring within the minds of every Shinigami would be heard nonetheless. Those of a Kidō background would recognize the sensation belonging to Bakudō #77. Tenteikūra (天挺空羅, Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air), coursing with the spiritual signature of the First’s Third Seat. Her voice spoke clear as day, filled with shock and anger.
“This is an emergency broadcast! This is Third Seat Takenaka!
The Seireitei is under attack! I repeat, the Seireitei is under attack!
A group of Captains, led by the traitor Hitoshi Shihaimono, have declared war against the Gotei 13! The Captains of the Fourth, Eighth, and Eleventh have joined the Betrayer’s cause!
The Captain Commander’s order is that the members of these rebel Divisions stand-down; those that follow the Commander’s orders shall be pardoned for such treason; those that defy his orders, he will personally execute!
All other Divisions are to infiltrate the Divisions of the rebels, and arrest all who do not denounce their treasonous Captains; those who resist are to be eliminated!
I repeat! Those who resist are to be eliminated!“
And like that, her voice was gone, leaving the denizens of the Seireitei to decide their course of action; a crossroads had presented itself to each Shinigami, a choice that would change the course of both their lives, and that of the history of the Soul Society.
Yet, there were a handful of Shinigami who would receive an additional message, as the respective hell butterflies fluttered to land on their shoulders…
