Post by Ghost Fenyx on Dec 12, 2023 12:31:48 GMT -5
No!!
Ghost had screamed like a kid whose toy was broken. Tossing his basket of farm produce and tools. Yara was levitating in midair, her mouth opened with no sound coming out and. Her hands outstretched and clawing and pawing the air, trying to catch her breath.
His eyes popped to the spectacle in front of him. For one reason or the other, his legs were stuck to the ground.
"Ghost! Stay away. Don't come closer. Run for your life". Yara's voice was weaker by the minute as the ethereal apparition that looked like a cloud- a grotesque shape he couldn't place was sucking her essence till she looked like a dry , skeletal husk.
There was an evil, metallic laughter from the Hollow made him wince but determined to break himself free from the magnetic force that held his legs bound and static.
He felt the malignant eyes watching him. Yara had told him stories of wicked entities. Whose mere presence could either grass just by contact and brought an aura. Of sadness around them that the living people had their happiness and joy sucked from them.
The aura he experienced that day was twice as powerful, the darkness around was bone wrenching and he had felt his guts begin to slide out of his mouth that fateful day.
Fool! You can't see me, let alone kill me . There was another ring of harsh, demonic laughter from the entity as Yara's body crashed to the ground. Only then was he able to use his limbs again. But it had been too late. The deed had been done and the Hollow went free.
He couldn't see the true form of the malignant spirit but he knew Yara had told him once before that she could see strange things. Only he hadn't taken her more seriously. He had been an unbeliever of the unseen and the shinigami.
Now he knew... After he saw Yara's almost lifeless form falling , how could he not?
He had run to her side to help her head to his thigh. Her face and frame had been unrecognizable and lightweight. Part of her skin fell apart like burnt paper. Talking seemed like a herculean exercise for her but he had listened hard to catch every word she wanted to say . He cleaned the lone tear that fell from her eye.
"I'm here, Yara" Her hands were cold and thin.
"I cannot stay much longer. I leave a part of me with you". Ghost could barely make out the strained sentences before she felt a searing pain in his consciousness, deep within his chest that made his head snap to the back. His eyes rolled to the back and his memories were fed in by several other external images that were completely foreign and ominous.
There had been a sharp nudging on his soul, like his identity had been rebranded by a hot metal and a heft suddenly settled on his chest, too heavy to carry.
When he opened his eyes after the transfer of spiritual mana, it took him lots of time to adjust to the rush of colours flowing through his rejuvenated brain.
He was two beings in one who saw the world in different dimensions. Looking totally befuddled, he looked at the shrivelled carcass of his wife he was cradling.
"There's no time, hurry now, to schatten Bereich, in the shadow realm. The Wardenreich would tell you what to do"
But .. He had protested as his voice could carry him.
"Go now. Your path has been laid before you". Yara said as her dying hand slid off her husband's and fell apart on the ground like a scarecrow's hand. The last wind hissed out of her mouth in a slow, wispy dying breath as she stared at the world with vacant, dead eyes.
He had shared his last tear at her shallow grave. Knowing that his heart couldn't bear to see the remnants of his wife. Lying in the cold damp earth. There at the foot of the raised earth. He plotted vengeance and it added. To the weight on his chest, making him ten times taller.
Afterwards, he'd snuck out of town like the wraith who he had desired to slay.
He remembered her death vividly like it was yesterday. The memories of her death always tumble into his heart and he would bleed out. When he cut himself by way of punishment for being weak, and for being unable to save Yara his wife. Now he was treading a lonely path. His whole purpose was much clearer now, now he was a tad different from the mooks in Kurakara town.
The new power came with its own burden which was too much to bear. There was the sight that always caused him the fearsome dreams. The world became sharper and more streamlined.
He was a mere farmer turned tracker and soon to be a vicious hunter of the supernatural. He lived to hunt the Hollow who had taken his better half away from him so quickly before he could ever find out who she really was.
Three years after Yara's death had left him following a lead, hoping to get the Hollow that killed his wife and destroyed his home. Ghost was committed to his course as he traveled , he was lean and spare, affronted and conflicted and walked in a dazed, saying nothing and hearing everything with his hearing stirring the troubled waves in the pool of Renshi energy.
His physical appearance had changed over the months and he was too sombre to do anything about it. It had his advantage in scaring the frivolities from him and normal people too.
He hoped the malevolent spirits would be scared at the mere sights of him but things didn't work that way. His eyes were sunken, and the dark pupil almost bleached white . His hair and beards were silvery white and fell on to his shoulders.
All over his frame , his whalebones were almost visible through his stretched , malnourished skin. He was pale, almost bone white, looking like the sports he had sworn to kill.
Laden with nothing but his travelling and his straw hat to keep the sun away, he could smell the spiritual signature of the village he was visiting for the night. He could see the outpost that separated the village boundaries from the woods. Ghost was too tired to make out the inscription on the stane structure of the outpost.
His head turned once and he became alert as he took out his metal short blades; the only thing that tied him to his humanity. The rest of his paraphernalia in his bag were the tools of his trade as a first year Quincy.
He was yet to learn his weapons properly but he wasn't too fond of staying long in a shadow realm with the members of his kind, he wasn't used to mingling and socializing.
His Renshi manipulation wasn't up to par but he followed his guts instincts and it hadn't failed him until...
The wind shifted with the change of aura. Ghost stretched out his hands to detect the change in. The direction of Renshi and stood still, wondering if the time had stopped as well. The Quincy in him detected a slight drop in the temperature which indicated the presence of a spiritual entity. He spread his legs far apart to gain traction to the floor and to gain stamina.
Closing his eyes, he allowed his consciousness to roam free again, tapping into the spiritual energy he had sensed. When he opened his eyes again, a tall willowy Soul reaper stood before him, peering his milky, white eyes at him. The soul reaper's wore a long robe which covered a curved, chiseled Zanpakuto.
"This village is averse to your purpose. Turn back now and grant us your behind. You are not welcome here. Many would die in your presence and I, the guardian at the gate, would hardly appreciate it. ".
"I bring you no dishonour by coming here. This village stands in my way to a long search of a lead. I have to find the fool who killed my beloved."
"I have no business with the living fools but the foolish dead. I've heard stories of a vengeful wraith who leaves blood and bones in his wake. Perhaps you might be the one and I'm well prepared to take you, you and all your kind who are malevolent".
"I'm a living being , a Quincy not a wraith and you shall not stand in my way".
"Yet you bear an aura so repressively strong . This is what is sense in you. Do you not know what happens when you die? You become a distorted being , a hollow sport who torments the natural things with its love for vileness. That's how malignant spirits are formed"
'My love for revenge is purely borne of sadness. I've not allowed my emotions to consumes me. I'm only guided by my will to right the things that have gone wrong".
"When you die and become a hollow, you can be granted entrance to the soul society. I assure you that is enough compensation. The shinigami slowly unsheathed his weapon and stared furiously at Ghost. You truly are a ghost by the looks of you. I could purify you with my weapon. If you don't mind".
"That may be right, but my wife's spirit won't rest till I find her killer. I see her footprints here, the leylines lead me where the treacherous espada lives".
"Your wife's spirit? You mean she would dare spoil your mind to scale the realms to carry out such a treacherous journey?". She deserved to be purged. The shinigami swore, tapping his weapon with all vehemence.
"My wife is the purest of souls you would ever find. She would have been resting easy in the halls of the soul society by now. She wouldn't allow the vileness of this mundane world to corrupt her soul. Yara would rather die than be a hollow even if she was given another chance to live".
"Yet you go on a quest for her honour. I see the spirit around you. It is like no other".
"I have no wish to fight people of no concern to my purpose;.
If you would assist me, I will proceed further. I reckon the soul reapers take no sides. I search for the agent of evil, the one who unleashed the hollow of mist. I have seen him but once and he always eludes me. What did you know of the spirit called Penny Galloway? "
"I know the one you speak of. I know her true form but she is very rare. She is a hard find and her identity is hushed in the hollow realm because she is a level five hollow and immensely powerful. I cannot purify her with my Zanpakuto. I've known several Quincies who are vast in the bending of Reiryoky but have been vanquished. I smell you're not very adept".
"That is none of your concern, reaper. Cursed are the meddlers who obstruct justice'. Ghost said with disgust.
"Such audacity usually follows a determined soul at the verge of torment. You would live to regret this entirely".
'Regret is something I have lived with all my life. That I haven't taken the path of the Quincy for a long time , not knowing what Yara had been since five years of marriage is enough regret for me. Do not speak to me of regret".
The tall shinigami seemed to have run out of persuasive ideas and he stared at the pale figure of the Quincy who seemed too tired to talk.
"I'm afraid, your path is fraught with danger. Therein in this village lies the finger of the shadow realm where the Espada , Bartholin resides. You would do well to avoid her'.
"Very well, I shall proceed further, for I search for this espada. I hear news that she parleys with the hollow that killed my wife'
"Parleying isn't the word I would use. Bartholin has many fraccion and the hollow you seek to kill is one of them' . She is shaped like a bee.
"I have news that this espada is in this village, this place of death'.
"Yes, she is the meanest there ever was even though she's low in power for the number 30. What she loses in Reiryouku power, she makes up for wickedness. I'd be wary of her if I were you. This one wields immense power despite her rank. The ones begotten of The King, they are those who parleys with the hollows to destroy the human realms especially those in Kurukara",
Ghost found himself tightening his fist till his knuckle grew white.
He hated just anything that would take him back to the time he lost everything but his mind was made up.
"I will kill her nonetheless. She owes me nothing but her life. Her fraccion killed my wife".
"You're a rookie Quincy who looks for death at its doorstep. This isn't going to be easy I say. You cannot fight an Arrancar at your level'.
"How so?" Ghost asked while trying to stay his anger.
'This human settlement is deserted because its inhabitants are no more. If you travel on, you would see the destruction, The King and his espadas have wrecked havoc on to the realm. The Arrancar are on a killing spree".
"I'm too late then". Ghost said miserably but tried to keep his expression cool.
"The Espada waits for you for she's aware you seek her. As always, she waits at the aftermath of destruction looking for a fool to challenge her will"
"Surely you can withstand her?" Ghost cocked his head, sneering at the soul reaper.
"The 13 Gotei and the soul reapers cast around for. Stray souls before they turn into something malevolent. I'm assigned to the border to make sure no spirit escape to the plains. I cannot fight an Espada attended to by several fraccion members. It's a risk I'm not prepared to take"
Ghost nodded silently, saying no more because he'd gotten the information he needed.
He tipped his hat, adjusting it so that his blood red eyes were not visible under the hat. The shinigami parted his long robe to grant Ghost entrance to pass out from the doorway of the outpost.
A thin veil of mist hung in the air like a virtual curtain.
"A note of warning to you before you kill yourself"
'What is it?" Ghost said calmly without turning his head to look back.
"Beware Bartholin's Zanpakuto. You don't want that stuff anywhere around you. The Quincy and the soul reapers have been enemies for eons. Yet, it doesn't matter that I would cherish your death any more than others".
It took a minute for Ghost to respond after considering the advice carefully. The ethereal wind blew his long mass of hair across his face.
"Ummm" he grunted viciously and continued on his strides.
....................................... ................................ .
When Ghost stepped into a meadow of Venus flowers , he was skeptical but he didn't show it. All along, he'd thought the place was not just deserted but now was a wasteland of some sorts.
The aroma from the wild flowers almost made him sick and caused him a wave of vertigo. He wanted to lie still on the ground. To rest a little and keep his eyes from spinning.
It smelled like old people and hospital wards; it smelled like the flowers on that runway to the palace of the soul king who resided in the afterlife. They weren't ordinary flowers but spirit flowers.
He had put quite a replica of that on Yara's grave. To lead her soul to the great beyond and if a shinigami rattled her. She would present a bunch of those as a gift or token.
He stopped and looked around, squinting his eyes as he surveyed the horizon.
A child?
A little girl of not more than seven squatted on the path. Next to a flower, bringing it to her nose as she inhaled the aroma- the aroma that made him nearly puke.
"How could she do that? She wasn't ordinary then'. He thought within himself. She was the only one he could see for many miles around..
"How can you not love these flowers?" The small girl said, her small voice caught on the still wind.
"How can you be here?" Ghost asked slowly.
"My mother loved these flowers before she died. I come here because it helps me remember her".
Ghost took some time to ponder at her statement and sighed deeply. He hated to have obstacles when he was within reach of his goal.
"Step away from the flower right now or I'd run you through with my sword and I won't be sorry for it. Don't dare me"
"You can harm a little girl? I thought you were a noble traveller."
"I thought you were a human girl but I figured you shouldn't be here. You're not ordinary. Reveal yourself now."
She had a long mass of dark hair like Ghost which fell across her white , oval face. He couldn't see her eyes. ..yet. He noticed the change in the Reishi around him and he smelled red. The nature of matter was starting to change and it started with the flowers.
"You shouldn't have come where you're not invited".
"Your mistress invited me and she would get her due. You're a mere messenger. You would go deliver that while you're still in one piece or I'd hack you to pieces".
"Mummy wouldn't like it that way. I'd have to leave a souvenir". The little girl suddenly exhaled , tapping and bending the souls of the wild flowers around here. There were pulses of green energy- green life swarming in shades of green. Much more than Ghost could accommodate.
Power of fullbring
The Venus flowers changed form instantly, responding to their souls being twisted and subverted for devious use. Their petals formed large, pancer like teeth. Dripping with green poison from the depths of their bulbous bulbs underneath their stalks.
Their vines twisted and elongated, snaking and twisting in the air. As they creeped on the crowd.
Napping their dangerous teeth at him, wanting to take a chunk of Ghost's face at the Fullbringer's command.
"Ummm. I would have expected more. But I shall show no mercy." In quick motion, Ghost dispatched the cluster of vine creepers that aimed for his biceps. He twisted in the air to launch his two dagger knife at the girl. But the vines blocked his view as they kept coming at him at dangerous speeds.
Arrgh! He felt one nick him with a protruding thorn and his entire body exploded with excruciating pain. With his free hand, he hooked his hand upwards. Shearing off the offending swollen Venus, pregnant with poison. It slid from him and dried up in a burst of poison gas.
He crotched on one knee as he fumbled into his long robe.
Looking for his vial of antidote mixtures he'd taken along to that effect. While keeping an eye for the threat that looped in front of him..
"She's mad" Ghost muttered as he gulped down the colourless mixture before he felt woozy. With resigned power, he snagged off the last. Of the Venus plants and dodged a fifth with a sharp teeth and thorny tendrils. He hoped his legs wouldn't feel heavy before the antidote started its work.
To his estimation , he didn't think he wanted to waste Reishi power. By using Reishi bow and arrow. It was a waste of time and expertise and he reckoned he could kill off a middle level Fullbringer with rudimentary mundane weapons. .
"Where is she?" he gasped , turning here and there in panic. As he ran , banking to the right and leaping off a ledge full of waiting vines. In a split second, he saw her levitating high up in the air. A flair of green aura wrapped around her legs. As she manipulated the air's soul and commanded it.
"Looking for me are you?" Her voice was deathly and unnatural for a toddler. She sent a pillar of massive air to his direction and Ghost had to flimg himself into harm's way. To prevent himself from being blown to bits. The destructive air column zapped through space and tore down the earth, ripping it and leaving a deep chasm.
Ghost's eyes popped out of their sockets .
He didn't think he should go gentle anymore with the fullbringer. It was just that he wasn't sure if she would use Reishi against him.
She wasn't giving him any breathing space and it made him uncertain over her next attack.
The creepers were still not totally taken care of. They were still lurking in the semi darkness of the sun tanned wasteland.
He needed to shoot her down. Give her a quick death and proceed on his journey. Before the Espada had any idea he had beaten one of her fraccion.
Ghost glanced off to a safe place and stirred the spiritual particles of his environment. With one hand while he sloughed off the upsetting wild vibes. with the other hand of his. His face was dead set in concentration as the fullbringer threw in more air missiles at his direction.
Angered by the delay on his journey, he tried to maintain a steady breast. His heart thumped inside him. But he stilled the rush of adrenaline in preparation for crafting his weapon from the Reishi particles. The air buzzed and hummed with anticipation. The Reishi ore was plentiful in the meadow of spirit flowers-. Death and Shinigami trampled.
He knew he had to be fast and decisive. He reckoned. He didn't have to waste much movement or he would be lost. A fullbringer was no match for him but they could be feisty and dangerous.
He felt for the bow and the drawstring made of light energy. As he proceeded to draw it from the particle region. His reserve of power was fast depleting.
But he managed to craft the weapon while doging the offensive attacks . Ghost narrowly missed having his head blown off.
He stalked off to the right and took aim at the levitating apparition. Six feet away from him. He muttered his coordinates so his Quincy power could hear him.
There was one last string of air blast. That came to his direction and he let it be.
Waiting for it patiently to come before he let fly his Reishi arrow. The arrow made of light energy sailed through the rushing air and clashed through the rushing air. The magnitude of the friction send shock waves. That would have fried a mortal but Ghost was now beyond mortal.
Ummm" he pushed the contravening Reishi wall away from him. To make the air column go faster in the reverse direction.
There by pushing the arrow harder to its target.
Yaaaah!!!. The little girl screamed as the speeding arrow hit her. Piercing her small frame and the point of light came through the other side. Within seconds, she was starting to disintegrate. The ash blown by the wind into nothingness.
Ghost smiled grimly because he thought the battle was a waste of time . He wasn't supposed to use Reishi for a mere fullbringer.
When he could have dispatched her with his short sword.
Some people just never learn, including himself. Now he walked on a lonely path without Yara, he knew better. Experience was the father of necessity.
He hated alternate killing because it took all of his energy.
He wanted to have a choice and he wanted to be alive to have them , not at the point of death.
Now he thought the Espada would sense his signature in the reisha space and know what had happened. What a way to announce one's self.
Ghost held out his hands as his weapon faded, the strong wind blew. The remains of the little girl had had incinerated with spiritual energy and he knew where he was to go next.
................................................. ..................................................................... . ...Days later...
Since his training as a Quincy, he'd always hated the Espada with a special, uncultured hatred. Simply because they had chosen never to be cleansed and they took the form of a humanoid. The fact that they were upper caste hollows further infuriated him. As he walked wordlessly through the wasted realm. Nothing with subdued anger.
He hated how the arrogant air about them. That made them seem they were supremely above everyone else. Ghost had some misgivings about other Quincies who were first years like him. But not how he hated Espadas with insignificant flair they used to cover the corruption of their heart. He hated their sneakiness and the depravity of their hollow heart.
Heartlessness at its peak. He hadn't seen a more sour lot.
He didn't have to walk long before he saw the figure staring at a distance. As if oblivious to his presence.
It was a woman in an oversized , thick , white robe that billowed in the arcane breeze. Her back was to him.
"Our captain doesn't take lightly to coming late but The king is lenient oftentimes. But I don't intend to be with you".
The voice was soft but husky, almost tomboyish. "You're late Quincy and I despise your kind for that"
"I've never seen a being who's so hungry for death, she doesn't wish to postpone it".
He could detect she was giggling in spite of his brusque threat.
"You're the one who killed my fraccion? You're skilled for a new Quincy. I should be afraid".
"You should have been dead".
Ghost seethed between clenched teeth.
"We all should have been. Everyone of us, including the worthless shinigami. This world should empty out into the soul society and then the society reshaped in the image of my master"
"What did Yara have to do with your crazy plans. That you had to kill her so mercilessly?" Ghost was getting angry now because the Espada still backed him.
"Oh, she was a cog in the wheel I had to take care of. But she was weak- much too weak to be an opposition." I almost regretted ending it so quickly.
"Turn around and talk to me, you swine!" Venom poured out of his mouth. There were several unaltered words he wished to say.
She obliged him and smoothly did so but she whipped out her Zanpakuto from inside her robes in a fluid movement.
It was a scythe like sword of about five feet long that sliced through the air and landed an inch of where he'd just stood. Ghost was just in time to find his footing and roll in the ground in quick reflexes as he righted himself again.
Arrogante
The shinigami had warned him of the Espada's weapon and now. He saw for himself, he didn't feel lightheaded and confident anymore.
"Greetings from Arrogante. That's just to give you an introduction of who you wish to face as Yara had faced.
How you must have watched her turn a great deal lightweight and useless"
Her Zanpakuto was capable of accelerating someone's aging process enough to kill them. He had heard about it but it was in theory.
It was the same thing the hollow did with his wife when he returned from the farm to see his wife in a struggle.
"Penny sends her regards. I got the souvenir from her. So I modified my weapon to achieve Penny's power."
"I'd kill you Bartholin and I don't care what type of weapon you carry". He said frankly.
"I'd like to see you try".
She laughed out a harsh laugh and it seemed he could see her face for the first time. Like a veil had fallen off it.
She would have been pretty safe for the rings on her brows, lips , nose and at the tail of her eyes. The whites of her eyes were completely gone to be replaced with an inky , black colour , darker than midnight. Her bosom was fairly large and cut in the chestline to reveal a sliver of her cleavage.
There on her left breast, the number 30 was boldly written in black ink for Ghost to take cognizance off.
Lust had fed enough of her heart to make her an empty , malevolent spirit master.
" You shouldn't have come alone. Your colleagues aren't here to save you now".
"I walk alone..I regret alone and I've borne alone. You should have stayed away from my wife. She would have lived better and longer . You're a coward to send your goon after her. You can't take her yourself. You make a high level hollow do your bidding."
The Zanpakuto moved with deadly speed , slicing a piece of the leaf and leaving a brown , mottled part tearing after him. The scythe was the extensible type that looked like a whip if handled properly. But he knew Bartholin was stalking for time, conserving her full strength till he would tire out from dodging .
"You'd join her soon and then keep well to our side soon after, revenge would have fed off your spirit enough to be a hollow. You'd be on our side and you'd understand what powers truly means. The ones you've been fighting against would be too happy to welcome you home".
In a burst of power, he propelled himself to the air and sailed to the right side, eluding a deadly slash meant for his head. The Espada wasn't using all of her strength but the Zanpakuto moved in the direction of the smallest force of her hands.
The Quincy power in him stirred like a violent tide and he sensed the sword tip hurtling for his belly, soon it would be all over.
Ghost strummed the Reishi particles to glance off the sword's impact and in which succession, released his spirit arrows from his bow.
He closed his eyes and flicked his hands again, using that moment of distraction to summon his arrow from the Reishi because he knew the Espada would be preoccupied with the enchanted blades five in number making for her direction.
One good throw deserved another.
Let's see how she's fair with them. He muttered to himself.
Soon he would see all black and then a light. As be opened his eyes. "Still having nightmares damn it all.
Ghost had screamed like a kid whose toy was broken. Tossing his basket of farm produce and tools. Yara was levitating in midair, her mouth opened with no sound coming out and. Her hands outstretched and clawing and pawing the air, trying to catch her breath.
His eyes popped to the spectacle in front of him. For one reason or the other, his legs were stuck to the ground.
"Ghost! Stay away. Don't come closer. Run for your life". Yara's voice was weaker by the minute as the ethereal apparition that looked like a cloud- a grotesque shape he couldn't place was sucking her essence till she looked like a dry , skeletal husk.
There was an evil, metallic laughter from the Hollow made him wince but determined to break himself free from the magnetic force that held his legs bound and static.
He felt the malignant eyes watching him. Yara had told him stories of wicked entities. Whose mere presence could either grass just by contact and brought an aura. Of sadness around them that the living people had their happiness and joy sucked from them.
The aura he experienced that day was twice as powerful, the darkness around was bone wrenching and he had felt his guts begin to slide out of his mouth that fateful day.
Fool! You can't see me, let alone kill me . There was another ring of harsh, demonic laughter from the entity as Yara's body crashed to the ground. Only then was he able to use his limbs again. But it had been too late. The deed had been done and the Hollow went free.
He couldn't see the true form of the malignant spirit but he knew Yara had told him once before that she could see strange things. Only he hadn't taken her more seriously. He had been an unbeliever of the unseen and the shinigami.
Now he knew... After he saw Yara's almost lifeless form falling , how could he not?
He had run to her side to help her head to his thigh. Her face and frame had been unrecognizable and lightweight. Part of her skin fell apart like burnt paper. Talking seemed like a herculean exercise for her but he had listened hard to catch every word she wanted to say . He cleaned the lone tear that fell from her eye.
"I'm here, Yara" Her hands were cold and thin.
"I cannot stay much longer. I leave a part of me with you". Ghost could barely make out the strained sentences before she felt a searing pain in his consciousness, deep within his chest that made his head snap to the back. His eyes rolled to the back and his memories were fed in by several other external images that were completely foreign and ominous.
There had been a sharp nudging on his soul, like his identity had been rebranded by a hot metal and a heft suddenly settled on his chest, too heavy to carry.
When he opened his eyes after the transfer of spiritual mana, it took him lots of time to adjust to the rush of colours flowing through his rejuvenated brain.
He was two beings in one who saw the world in different dimensions. Looking totally befuddled, he looked at the shrivelled carcass of his wife he was cradling.
"There's no time, hurry now, to schatten Bereich, in the shadow realm. The Wardenreich would tell you what to do"
But .. He had protested as his voice could carry him.
"Go now. Your path has been laid before you". Yara said as her dying hand slid off her husband's and fell apart on the ground like a scarecrow's hand. The last wind hissed out of her mouth in a slow, wispy dying breath as she stared at the world with vacant, dead eyes.
He had shared his last tear at her shallow grave. Knowing that his heart couldn't bear to see the remnants of his wife. Lying in the cold damp earth. There at the foot of the raised earth. He plotted vengeance and it added. To the weight on his chest, making him ten times taller.
Afterwards, he'd snuck out of town like the wraith who he had desired to slay.
He remembered her death vividly like it was yesterday. The memories of her death always tumble into his heart and he would bleed out. When he cut himself by way of punishment for being weak, and for being unable to save Yara his wife. Now he was treading a lonely path. His whole purpose was much clearer now, now he was a tad different from the mooks in Kurakara town.
The new power came with its own burden which was too much to bear. There was the sight that always caused him the fearsome dreams. The world became sharper and more streamlined.
He was a mere farmer turned tracker and soon to be a vicious hunter of the supernatural. He lived to hunt the Hollow who had taken his better half away from him so quickly before he could ever find out who she really was.
Three years after Yara's death had left him following a lead, hoping to get the Hollow that killed his wife and destroyed his home. Ghost was committed to his course as he traveled , he was lean and spare, affronted and conflicted and walked in a dazed, saying nothing and hearing everything with his hearing stirring the troubled waves in the pool of Renshi energy.
His physical appearance had changed over the months and he was too sombre to do anything about it. It had his advantage in scaring the frivolities from him and normal people too.
He hoped the malevolent spirits would be scared at the mere sights of him but things didn't work that way. His eyes were sunken, and the dark pupil almost bleached white . His hair and beards were silvery white and fell on to his shoulders.
All over his frame , his whalebones were almost visible through his stretched , malnourished skin. He was pale, almost bone white, looking like the sports he had sworn to kill.
Laden with nothing but his travelling and his straw hat to keep the sun away, he could smell the spiritual signature of the village he was visiting for the night. He could see the outpost that separated the village boundaries from the woods. Ghost was too tired to make out the inscription on the stane structure of the outpost.
His head turned once and he became alert as he took out his metal short blades; the only thing that tied him to his humanity. The rest of his paraphernalia in his bag were the tools of his trade as a first year Quincy.
He was yet to learn his weapons properly but he wasn't too fond of staying long in a shadow realm with the members of his kind, he wasn't used to mingling and socializing.
His Renshi manipulation wasn't up to par but he followed his guts instincts and it hadn't failed him until...
The wind shifted with the change of aura. Ghost stretched out his hands to detect the change in. The direction of Renshi and stood still, wondering if the time had stopped as well. The Quincy in him detected a slight drop in the temperature which indicated the presence of a spiritual entity. He spread his legs far apart to gain traction to the floor and to gain stamina.
Closing his eyes, he allowed his consciousness to roam free again, tapping into the spiritual energy he had sensed. When he opened his eyes again, a tall willowy Soul reaper stood before him, peering his milky, white eyes at him. The soul reaper's wore a long robe which covered a curved, chiseled Zanpakuto.
"This village is averse to your purpose. Turn back now and grant us your behind. You are not welcome here. Many would die in your presence and I, the guardian at the gate, would hardly appreciate it. ".
"I bring you no dishonour by coming here. This village stands in my way to a long search of a lead. I have to find the fool who killed my beloved."
"I have no business with the living fools but the foolish dead. I've heard stories of a vengeful wraith who leaves blood and bones in his wake. Perhaps you might be the one and I'm well prepared to take you, you and all your kind who are malevolent".
"I'm a living being , a Quincy not a wraith and you shall not stand in my way".
"Yet you bear an aura so repressively strong . This is what is sense in you. Do you not know what happens when you die? You become a distorted being , a hollow sport who torments the natural things with its love for vileness. That's how malignant spirits are formed"
'My love for revenge is purely borne of sadness. I've not allowed my emotions to consumes me. I'm only guided by my will to right the things that have gone wrong".
"When you die and become a hollow, you can be granted entrance to the soul society. I assure you that is enough compensation. The shinigami slowly unsheathed his weapon and stared furiously at Ghost. You truly are a ghost by the looks of you. I could purify you with my weapon. If you don't mind".
"That may be right, but my wife's spirit won't rest till I find her killer. I see her footprints here, the leylines lead me where the treacherous espada lives".
"Your wife's spirit? You mean she would dare spoil your mind to scale the realms to carry out such a treacherous journey?". She deserved to be purged. The shinigami swore, tapping his weapon with all vehemence.
"My wife is the purest of souls you would ever find. She would have been resting easy in the halls of the soul society by now. She wouldn't allow the vileness of this mundane world to corrupt her soul. Yara would rather die than be a hollow even if she was given another chance to live".
"Yet you go on a quest for her honour. I see the spirit around you. It is like no other".
"I have no wish to fight people of no concern to my purpose;.
If you would assist me, I will proceed further. I reckon the soul reapers take no sides. I search for the agent of evil, the one who unleashed the hollow of mist. I have seen him but once and he always eludes me. What did you know of the spirit called Penny Galloway? "
"I know the one you speak of. I know her true form but she is very rare. She is a hard find and her identity is hushed in the hollow realm because she is a level five hollow and immensely powerful. I cannot purify her with my Zanpakuto. I've known several Quincies who are vast in the bending of Reiryoky but have been vanquished. I smell you're not very adept".
"That is none of your concern, reaper. Cursed are the meddlers who obstruct justice'. Ghost said with disgust.
"Such audacity usually follows a determined soul at the verge of torment. You would live to regret this entirely".
'Regret is something I have lived with all my life. That I haven't taken the path of the Quincy for a long time , not knowing what Yara had been since five years of marriage is enough regret for me. Do not speak to me of regret".
The tall shinigami seemed to have run out of persuasive ideas and he stared at the pale figure of the Quincy who seemed too tired to talk.
"I'm afraid, your path is fraught with danger. Therein in this village lies the finger of the shadow realm where the Espada , Bartholin resides. You would do well to avoid her'.
"Very well, I shall proceed further, for I search for this espada. I hear news that she parleys with the hollow that killed my wife'
"Parleying isn't the word I would use. Bartholin has many fraccion and the hollow you seek to kill is one of them' . She is shaped like a bee.
"I have news that this espada is in this village, this place of death'.
"Yes, she is the meanest there ever was even though she's low in power for the number 30. What she loses in Reiryouku power, she makes up for wickedness. I'd be wary of her if I were you. This one wields immense power despite her rank. The ones begotten of The King, they are those who parleys with the hollows to destroy the human realms especially those in Kurukara",
Ghost found himself tightening his fist till his knuckle grew white.
He hated just anything that would take him back to the time he lost everything but his mind was made up.
"I will kill her nonetheless. She owes me nothing but her life. Her fraccion killed my wife".
"You're a rookie Quincy who looks for death at its doorstep. This isn't going to be easy I say. You cannot fight an Arrancar at your level'.
"How so?" Ghost asked while trying to stay his anger.
'This human settlement is deserted because its inhabitants are no more. If you travel on, you would see the destruction, The King and his espadas have wrecked havoc on to the realm. The Arrancar are on a killing spree".
"I'm too late then". Ghost said miserably but tried to keep his expression cool.
"The Espada waits for you for she's aware you seek her. As always, she waits at the aftermath of destruction looking for a fool to challenge her will"
"Surely you can withstand her?" Ghost cocked his head, sneering at the soul reaper.
"The 13 Gotei and the soul reapers cast around for. Stray souls before they turn into something malevolent. I'm assigned to the border to make sure no spirit escape to the plains. I cannot fight an Espada attended to by several fraccion members. It's a risk I'm not prepared to take"
Ghost nodded silently, saying no more because he'd gotten the information he needed.
He tipped his hat, adjusting it so that his blood red eyes were not visible under the hat. The shinigami parted his long robe to grant Ghost entrance to pass out from the doorway of the outpost.
A thin veil of mist hung in the air like a virtual curtain.
"A note of warning to you before you kill yourself"
'What is it?" Ghost said calmly without turning his head to look back.
"Beware Bartholin's Zanpakuto. You don't want that stuff anywhere around you. The Quincy and the soul reapers have been enemies for eons. Yet, it doesn't matter that I would cherish your death any more than others".
It took a minute for Ghost to respond after considering the advice carefully. The ethereal wind blew his long mass of hair across his face.
"Ummm" he grunted viciously and continued on his strides.
....................................... ................................ .
When Ghost stepped into a meadow of Venus flowers , he was skeptical but he didn't show it. All along, he'd thought the place was not just deserted but now was a wasteland of some sorts.
The aroma from the wild flowers almost made him sick and caused him a wave of vertigo. He wanted to lie still on the ground. To rest a little and keep his eyes from spinning.
It smelled like old people and hospital wards; it smelled like the flowers on that runway to the palace of the soul king who resided in the afterlife. They weren't ordinary flowers but spirit flowers.
He had put quite a replica of that on Yara's grave. To lead her soul to the great beyond and if a shinigami rattled her. She would present a bunch of those as a gift or token.
He stopped and looked around, squinting his eyes as he surveyed the horizon.
A child?
A little girl of not more than seven squatted on the path. Next to a flower, bringing it to her nose as she inhaled the aroma- the aroma that made him nearly puke.
"How could she do that? She wasn't ordinary then'. He thought within himself. She was the only one he could see for many miles around..
"How can you not love these flowers?" The small girl said, her small voice caught on the still wind.
"How can you be here?" Ghost asked slowly.
"My mother loved these flowers before she died. I come here because it helps me remember her".
Ghost took some time to ponder at her statement and sighed deeply. He hated to have obstacles when he was within reach of his goal.
"Step away from the flower right now or I'd run you through with my sword and I won't be sorry for it. Don't dare me"
"You can harm a little girl? I thought you were a noble traveller."
"I thought you were a human girl but I figured you shouldn't be here. You're not ordinary. Reveal yourself now."
She had a long mass of dark hair like Ghost which fell across her white , oval face. He couldn't see her eyes. ..yet. He noticed the change in the Reishi around him and he smelled red. The nature of matter was starting to change and it started with the flowers.
"You shouldn't have come where you're not invited".
"Your mistress invited me and she would get her due. You're a mere messenger. You would go deliver that while you're still in one piece or I'd hack you to pieces".
"Mummy wouldn't like it that way. I'd have to leave a souvenir". The little girl suddenly exhaled , tapping and bending the souls of the wild flowers around here. There were pulses of green energy- green life swarming in shades of green. Much more than Ghost could accommodate.
Power of fullbring
The Venus flowers changed form instantly, responding to their souls being twisted and subverted for devious use. Their petals formed large, pancer like teeth. Dripping with green poison from the depths of their bulbous bulbs underneath their stalks.
Their vines twisted and elongated, snaking and twisting in the air. As they creeped on the crowd.
Napping their dangerous teeth at him, wanting to take a chunk of Ghost's face at the Fullbringer's command.
"Ummm. I would have expected more. But I shall show no mercy." In quick motion, Ghost dispatched the cluster of vine creepers that aimed for his biceps. He twisted in the air to launch his two dagger knife at the girl. But the vines blocked his view as they kept coming at him at dangerous speeds.
Arrgh! He felt one nick him with a protruding thorn and his entire body exploded with excruciating pain. With his free hand, he hooked his hand upwards. Shearing off the offending swollen Venus, pregnant with poison. It slid from him and dried up in a burst of poison gas.
He crotched on one knee as he fumbled into his long robe.
Looking for his vial of antidote mixtures he'd taken along to that effect. While keeping an eye for the threat that looped in front of him..
"She's mad" Ghost muttered as he gulped down the colourless mixture before he felt woozy. With resigned power, he snagged off the last. Of the Venus plants and dodged a fifth with a sharp teeth and thorny tendrils. He hoped his legs wouldn't feel heavy before the antidote started its work.
To his estimation , he didn't think he wanted to waste Reishi power. By using Reishi bow and arrow. It was a waste of time and expertise and he reckoned he could kill off a middle level Fullbringer with rudimentary mundane weapons. .
"Where is she?" he gasped , turning here and there in panic. As he ran , banking to the right and leaping off a ledge full of waiting vines. In a split second, he saw her levitating high up in the air. A flair of green aura wrapped around her legs. As she manipulated the air's soul and commanded it.
"Looking for me are you?" Her voice was deathly and unnatural for a toddler. She sent a pillar of massive air to his direction and Ghost had to flimg himself into harm's way. To prevent himself from being blown to bits. The destructive air column zapped through space and tore down the earth, ripping it and leaving a deep chasm.
Ghost's eyes popped out of their sockets .
He didn't think he should go gentle anymore with the fullbringer. It was just that he wasn't sure if she would use Reishi against him.
She wasn't giving him any breathing space and it made him uncertain over her next attack.
The creepers were still not totally taken care of. They were still lurking in the semi darkness of the sun tanned wasteland.
He needed to shoot her down. Give her a quick death and proceed on his journey. Before the Espada had any idea he had beaten one of her fraccion.
Ghost glanced off to a safe place and stirred the spiritual particles of his environment. With one hand while he sloughed off the upsetting wild vibes. with the other hand of his. His face was dead set in concentration as the fullbringer threw in more air missiles at his direction.
Angered by the delay on his journey, he tried to maintain a steady breast. His heart thumped inside him. But he stilled the rush of adrenaline in preparation for crafting his weapon from the Reishi particles. The air buzzed and hummed with anticipation. The Reishi ore was plentiful in the meadow of spirit flowers-. Death and Shinigami trampled.
He knew he had to be fast and decisive. He reckoned. He didn't have to waste much movement or he would be lost. A fullbringer was no match for him but they could be feisty and dangerous.
He felt for the bow and the drawstring made of light energy. As he proceeded to draw it from the particle region. His reserve of power was fast depleting.
But he managed to craft the weapon while doging the offensive attacks . Ghost narrowly missed having his head blown off.
He stalked off to the right and took aim at the levitating apparition. Six feet away from him. He muttered his coordinates so his Quincy power could hear him.
There was one last string of air blast. That came to his direction and he let it be.
Waiting for it patiently to come before he let fly his Reishi arrow. The arrow made of light energy sailed through the rushing air and clashed through the rushing air. The magnitude of the friction send shock waves. That would have fried a mortal but Ghost was now beyond mortal.
Ummm" he pushed the contravening Reishi wall away from him. To make the air column go faster in the reverse direction.
There by pushing the arrow harder to its target.
Yaaaah!!!. The little girl screamed as the speeding arrow hit her. Piercing her small frame and the point of light came through the other side. Within seconds, she was starting to disintegrate. The ash blown by the wind into nothingness.
Ghost smiled grimly because he thought the battle was a waste of time . He wasn't supposed to use Reishi for a mere fullbringer.
When he could have dispatched her with his short sword.
Some people just never learn, including himself. Now he walked on a lonely path without Yara, he knew better. Experience was the father of necessity.
He hated alternate killing because it took all of his energy.
He wanted to have a choice and he wanted to be alive to have them , not at the point of death.
Now he thought the Espada would sense his signature in the reisha space and know what had happened. What a way to announce one's self.
Ghost held out his hands as his weapon faded, the strong wind blew. The remains of the little girl had had incinerated with spiritual energy and he knew where he was to go next.
................................................. ..................................................................... . ...Days later...
Since his training as a Quincy, he'd always hated the Espada with a special, uncultured hatred. Simply because they had chosen never to be cleansed and they took the form of a humanoid. The fact that they were upper caste hollows further infuriated him. As he walked wordlessly through the wasted realm. Nothing with subdued anger.
He hated how the arrogant air about them. That made them seem they were supremely above everyone else. Ghost had some misgivings about other Quincies who were first years like him. But not how he hated Espadas with insignificant flair they used to cover the corruption of their heart. He hated their sneakiness and the depravity of their hollow heart.
Heartlessness at its peak. He hadn't seen a more sour lot.
He didn't have to walk long before he saw the figure staring at a distance. As if oblivious to his presence.
It was a woman in an oversized , thick , white robe that billowed in the arcane breeze. Her back was to him.
"Our captain doesn't take lightly to coming late but The king is lenient oftentimes. But I don't intend to be with you".
The voice was soft but husky, almost tomboyish. "You're late Quincy and I despise your kind for that"
"I've never seen a being who's so hungry for death, she doesn't wish to postpone it".
He could detect she was giggling in spite of his brusque threat.
"You're the one who killed my fraccion? You're skilled for a new Quincy. I should be afraid".
"You should have been dead".
Ghost seethed between clenched teeth.
"We all should have been. Everyone of us, including the worthless shinigami. This world should empty out into the soul society and then the society reshaped in the image of my master"
"What did Yara have to do with your crazy plans. That you had to kill her so mercilessly?" Ghost was getting angry now because the Espada still backed him.
"Oh, she was a cog in the wheel I had to take care of. But she was weak- much too weak to be an opposition." I almost regretted ending it so quickly.
"Turn around and talk to me, you swine!" Venom poured out of his mouth. There were several unaltered words he wished to say.
She obliged him and smoothly did so but she whipped out her Zanpakuto from inside her robes in a fluid movement.
It was a scythe like sword of about five feet long that sliced through the air and landed an inch of where he'd just stood. Ghost was just in time to find his footing and roll in the ground in quick reflexes as he righted himself again.
Arrogante
The shinigami had warned him of the Espada's weapon and now. He saw for himself, he didn't feel lightheaded and confident anymore.
"Greetings from Arrogante. That's just to give you an introduction of who you wish to face as Yara had faced.
How you must have watched her turn a great deal lightweight and useless"
Her Zanpakuto was capable of accelerating someone's aging process enough to kill them. He had heard about it but it was in theory.
It was the same thing the hollow did with his wife when he returned from the farm to see his wife in a struggle.
"Penny sends her regards. I got the souvenir from her. So I modified my weapon to achieve Penny's power."
"I'd kill you Bartholin and I don't care what type of weapon you carry". He said frankly.
"I'd like to see you try".
She laughed out a harsh laugh and it seemed he could see her face for the first time. Like a veil had fallen off it.
She would have been pretty safe for the rings on her brows, lips , nose and at the tail of her eyes. The whites of her eyes were completely gone to be replaced with an inky , black colour , darker than midnight. Her bosom was fairly large and cut in the chestline to reveal a sliver of her cleavage.
There on her left breast, the number 30 was boldly written in black ink for Ghost to take cognizance off.
Lust had fed enough of her heart to make her an empty , malevolent spirit master.
" You shouldn't have come alone. Your colleagues aren't here to save you now".
"I walk alone..I regret alone and I've borne alone. You should have stayed away from my wife. She would have lived better and longer . You're a coward to send your goon after her. You can't take her yourself. You make a high level hollow do your bidding."
The Zanpakuto moved with deadly speed , slicing a piece of the leaf and leaving a brown , mottled part tearing after him. The scythe was the extensible type that looked like a whip if handled properly. But he knew Bartholin was stalking for time, conserving her full strength till he would tire out from dodging .
"You'd join her soon and then keep well to our side soon after, revenge would have fed off your spirit enough to be a hollow. You'd be on our side and you'd understand what powers truly means. The ones you've been fighting against would be too happy to welcome you home".
In a burst of power, he propelled himself to the air and sailed to the right side, eluding a deadly slash meant for his head. The Espada wasn't using all of her strength but the Zanpakuto moved in the direction of the smallest force of her hands.
The Quincy power in him stirred like a violent tide and he sensed the sword tip hurtling for his belly, soon it would be all over.
Ghost strummed the Reishi particles to glance off the sword's impact and in which succession, released his spirit arrows from his bow.
He closed his eyes and flicked his hands again, using that moment of distraction to summon his arrow from the Reishi because he knew the Espada would be preoccupied with the enchanted blades five in number making for her direction.
One good throw deserved another.
Let's see how she's fair with them. He muttered to himself.
Soon he would see all black and then a light. As be opened his eyes. "Still having nightmares damn it all.
