[3rd/7th] Week 308: Remembrance

[Rob]

Remembrance
6620 Words
​

Rob
Alexis​

“I am torn, Maikeru-san,” the unmistakable voice of Amaterasu Nana echoed through one of the, as some might call it, overly dramatic-looking leisure rooms within the Amaterasu manor. “Torn between wanting to just throw all my problems onto your lap in regards to the Central Forty-Six...

“And letting you relax and take this moment before having to delve into more historical accounts with my sister. You have been, how should I say this, a paragon amidst a bunch of men and women who have lost their sense of self somewhere along the lines and I pray that this may never befall you.”

Lilith Maikeru, Judge Number Forty-Six, in turn smiled at the statement. She lifted her tea cup in gratitude, and with a small nod, thanked the noble. “I pray for such a thing as well.”

“Remember when we first met all those years ago?” she continued, a tinge of bittersweetness coating her words, “You were already a captain, I believe. I was still unseated at the time, and kind of looked up to you, you know. It was an odd feeling of distant admiration and rivalry that blossomed within me during that period.

“Yet, when we finally ended up getting to know each other better... well, I’m not sure it was what we both expected it to be - at least, I didn’t.”

The judge couldn’t help but chuckle as she set her tea cup back down onto the table. “That, dear Amaterasu-san, is only because I hoped to teach you a lesson in humility!” The pair shared a small chuckle, each reminiscing on their multiple counts of frictioned exchange. Then Lilith continued, “But I am glad. While my time and influence with you has been limited, I have seen you grow, and you have become more of the Captain, woman, noble that I always hoped you’d be.”

It was strange, talking to her like this. Not as two Captains bickering, but as Matriarch of an influential noble House and Judge of Seireitei’s feudal system. This was, perhaps, not the life she had initially thought she would eventually end up with but, in all honesty, it paled in comparison to what her former colleague must’ve felt.

“So much has happened in the past few months that I often wish I had invested more time into learning kidou so I could perhaps, one day, slow time down, rather than make it speed up with my footwork.

“But, tell me--” Her voice was a little hoarse from all the talking, something she hadn’t really done in a long, long time. “--are you happy? And if not, can you at least tell me that you’ve found something that can combat this?”

Lilith simply shrugged her shoulders in response. “Happiness, I believe, is all relative, Amaterasu-san.” Orchid eyes took a moment to look away and appreciate the grandiose tapestries and magnificent golden linings that decorated the opulent abode. “For some, happiness would come easily with money and riches. For others, pride, achievement, and good standing.”

She paused and brought her eyes to look back down and meet Nana’s gaze. “But for me, my purpose, my happiness, all stems from how much I care about the others around me and my ability to somehow improve their lives.” Leaning back, she crossed her orchid silk-covered arms. “And as you can imagine, I was miserable!” Then after the small expression of humor, her voice lowered and she admitted, “But truthfully, for the first few months and still on the occasional bad day, I think that I would rather return to Dunan than go back to that chamber. You know how they are... And there is no gratification in this job that is even remotely similar to the joy of watching my former subordinates grow. To be frank, my decision to leave the Gotei had little to no benefits for me.”

Nana contemplated the words of the former Mystic Captain for a bit longer than a second as her eyes drifted away towards the ceiling for a bit. “You do know you could, technically just up and leave right?”

At that very same moment a loud moan was heard from the entrance to the leisure room. “Sis! Don’t say such silly things. Of course she can’t quit, not now! Just because you are annoyed with the fact that I did not get a seat amongst the judges, doesn’t mean I am. And it doesn’t give you the right to suggest these kinds of things either!”

Sighing, Nana shrugged softly. “I don’t need the right to suggest anything, Michiko. Because it is within my right to suggest whatever I feel like, and question whatever I feel like. I was the one who suggested Maikeru-san be added to the roster, remember? The one I am annoyed about is that woman from House Faust!”

“I know, sis, I know.” It was probably as good a conversation ender as any and Michiko, after laying down a bunch of books and sitting down right next to Nana on the couch, decided it was probably for the better to not go into any heated discussion with her sister right now.

Especially since it kind of filled her with pride knowing that Nana was not only ambitious for herself, but for her sister as well.

Taking a sip from her tea, Nana met Lilith’s eyes first and Michiko’s second. “I suppose there’s not much we can do about that for now. How’s the work been going?”

“Terribly,” she quipped as she glanced over at Michiko with a sardonic smirk, “and truthfully, I have thought on many occasions that I should quit. But as the days go on, the excruciation of it all comes a little less frequently. I’ve found ways to help in the adjustment process. Michiko has showed a great deal of kindness, and her recent help with navigating the counsel has boosted my efficiency and morale.” She smiled as she reached out and touched the other judge’s hand.

“And I’ve found other ways to prevent the misery of work from coming home with me. So I suppose where I am today is miles higher than where I was just a few months before.”

“That’s good to hear,” Nana responded with a smile and, for perhaps the first time in a long while, she truly felt it to be a good thing. She had never been the best of friends with Lilith, but to see her as the semi-train wreck she was now didn’t give her any form of satisfaction whatsoever.

No one deserved that kind of fate.

Or... maybe, just maybe, it was because she had a sister that was in the same position as the former Mystic. Or perhaps, despite what a lot of people would say, it was that she too was in a similar position. In a sense, she probably had the shortest end of the stick of the two shinigami.

She obviously didn’t let Lilith know that. Neither through words, nor thought. She had learned her lesson about being in the company of a mind reader.

“Can’t say the good life of a Captain has been any brighter, though.”

“Oh?” Lilith asked, slightly surprised. Though she only watched from a distance, she knew the World Tournament had been an overall success thus far, and Ishin hadn't mentioned anything new. Admittedly, she hadn’t kept in contact with Haresuno or Adelaide as much as she would have liked, but reports would suggest that daily life was complacent.

“How so? I imagine that regardless of what it is, I would still happily switch places with you.”

“Eh,” Nana responded without much thought. “I’m sure you would but, with the intrusion of the Onmitsu Kidou in our ranks, more harm being done than undone and general discord amongst the various divisions, it’s not that great really."

"Ah, them," Lilith chuckled and shrugged, quickly remembering their 'charming' presence during Adelaide's taishuu. "I can see why you feel the way you are."

“That and, especially for myself, this also includes having to deal with the Central Forty-Six on a more personal level as High Nobility. Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish I could go back to being that naive, unseated member of the Third looking up to her captain.”

"...to Ascania-taichou," she said his name with a sad sort of hesitancy. As much as Nana once looked up to the Kenpachi, Lilith was quite confident that her own affect could compare, if not exceed that admiration. After forcing a soft smile, the judge added, "I'm sure you'd concur that it's better this way... Even though it means more frustration for you.

"But let's move on to a lighter topic. We're on much more equal footing now. And with your very own sister as my closest companion on the council, I'd like to get to know you a bit better, Amaterasu-san. While I know your skills as a captain and soldier, and your... ornate... style of decoration. I hardly know anything about you. Would you humor me, perchance with a dream, a fear, a recent laugh? I'm sort of starved for conversation outside of law changes and reviews," Lilith wondered with a slightly battered chuckle.

“Why don’t you humour me with a question then?” She forced a half smile back as the thought of having to share pleasantries crossed her mind for a split second. She was never one for pleasantries. At least, not for as long as she could humanly remember - and her memories went back a long while.

“And perhaps I’ll humour you with an answer in turn.”

If there was one attribute that being amongst judges had ingrained in Lilith, it was a matter of directness. There was no time to diddle-daddle in circles among the Central Forty-Six. Even in matters of pleasantries, her approach had a quality of probing frankness.

“Will you tell me your dreams, Nana? You have so much, yet you’ve never struck me as a woman that has ever been... sated.”

“Dreams...” Nana let the word sink in and float through the room for a bit as she pondered on it. “My... dreams have been few and far in-between, Maikeru-san. Floating images of the past, present and future that more often than not leave me with a shallow feeling.

“There’s a lot for me to tinker on but, perhaps, that is also my greatest source of frustration. Because there is so much for me to fall back on, and to look forward to, I simply cannot. My mind will, and cannot comprehend it.”

A light flicker appeared in her eyes as she gazed softly into Lilith’s eyes.

Smiling softly, she shook her head. “I am sorry. This was obviously not what you meant. Dreams, though... I suppose there are a few, but I think only one really makes me come off not as a power hungry, sadistic bitch or something.

“I’d like to settle down, retire. I am tired. Not of living, mind you, but of my duties and responsibilities. I have lived for a long, long time and its always been the same old story for me. I’ve always lived for the sake of balance, even through the various stages of my life.

“I’d like to hand that responsibility over sometime, to someone else. To a new generation, and just settle down with a family of my own. Maybe then I’ll finally have the time to perfect my swordplay, and smithing. I haven’t had nearly enough time to do either of the two as of late.”

“...Swordplay, smithing, and perhaps a family one day?” Lilith smiled at the thought. While Nana and Lilith had always been starkly different in the ways that they carried themselves and their divisions, it was heartwarming to hear that their final goals were so similar. “Lovely ideas.

“While I am terrible with a sword,” the kidou-hakuda specialist chuckled, “I think I’d like to end up in a similar place. It would be nice to sit, enjoy my family’s company, and... paint or write poetry.” When she said those words aloud, the dark-haired woman was almost surprised to hear them from her own lips. She hadn’t actually picked up a paintbrush or began a poem since the Arcane Specialists left the Tenth Division. Even Ishin, who had seen her artwork from before, had never watched her create something new.

“It’s funny how our lives don’t allow much time for these simple pleasures, and as the years pass on, the more I realize that time won’t stop for us.” She paused and took another sip of tea. “Perhaps I should listen to those famed Horation words more often: Carpe diem.” After all, that was exactly what she had done with her recent move to a new home, and there have been no regrets.

“But in the meantime, if you ever feel up for it, I would enjoy seeing some of your smithwork.”

Normally she was hesitant when it came to showing the forge she inherited from Ittsuken Tenjo all those years ago, and improved upon as time went on but, for some reason, she didn’t particularly mind showing it to the woman in front of her.

If only to, once more, show how much the Goteijuusantai actually owed her. It was perhaps not the most known notion - though it wasn’t exactly the most well guarded secret either - but House Amaterasu was still practically the sole benefactor of the arms passed down to the various military organizations of Soul Society.

Of course, all that paled in comparison to her pride and joy, one of the techniques she had inherited from her late mentor and perfected beyond comparison, the Asauchi. Whereas her predecessor had only managed to create steel of legendary craft, she had managed to elevate it beyond even that.

She had given it a soul, a purpose.

Not many people knew this, though, and most assumed that their blades were created from their own doing. While this was a decent a truth as any, it was definitely far more complex than just that.

“Why don’t I show you right now then?” Nana quipped somewhat inconsequentially, as if it didn’t really bother her in the least. “Do you have your zanpakutou on you?”

A grin crept over Lilith’s lips at the noblewoman’s invitation. “I do,” she replied as she pat her hip.

Glancing over to Michiko, who at this point, looked a bit bored and glazed by the conversation, Lilith asked, “Will you be assisting in the tour as well?”

“I guess it has been some time since you witnessed it as well, hasn’t it?” Nana questioned with a faint smile as she stood up. “It might be a nice change of pace, don’t you think?”

“I suppose so,” Michiko responded.

“Very well then.” Moving away from the couch she sat on, she made her way to the nearest exit of the room.

Lilith smirked at the bit of sisterly bickering and followed Nana and Michiko to the exit. As they walked through the regal corridors of the stately home, the visitor asked, "How long have you been smithing? It seems like an art of discipline and endurance. On Earth, it takes decades to master how to form a human sword. But for the specific job of the Amaterasu, to create the Asauchi of Soul Society... centuries, I would imagine."

What was she to say? That she’d been practicing this craft for over several thousand years? And could she even really explain that incredible period of time? Probably not.

“Try several hundreds of years,” Nana responded somewhat flatly - though without any form of malice or annoyance behind her words - as she led the trio down a series of flights of stairs, all the way to a rather ominous looking door somewhere off to the right of the main entrance hall.

It was inconspicuous to the point where if you didn’t have any prior knowledge of the door being there, you would have never found it no matter how much you tried. But, now that the Amaterasu matriarch made an active show out of it, one could see that it wasn’t like any of the other doors. It was a black, metal door with all sorts of intricate locks keeping it closed.

Placing her left hand on a device in the middle of the door, a soft click was heard. Swapping her left palm for the pointer finger on her right hand, she traced a series of cogs in a downward spiral until finally a single thud was heard and the door opened.

“Well,” the blue-eyed Captain continued as she held her hands out in invitation, “that is if you consider my rather particular craft. Ladies first.”

“Last I checked, you were a lady as well,” Lilith responded as she slipped past the noblewoman and entered. “But I suppose I can be the first to enter your massive secret work room.”

“Last I checked, you didn’t actually check at all and just assumed,” Nana joked back as she let Michiko slip past her as well before finally stepping inside what looked like a massive secret work room and closed the door behind her.

As the door slammed shut, simultaneously, Lilith’s jaw dropped open. She never knew Nana Amaterasu was so witty. And at the same time, a curious little part of her actually wanted to check. After all, she had the abilities to find out, and the noblewoman always wore many, many layers. So ‘she’ could easily be a...

Lilith shook her head and stopped her imagination from going too wild. This is proof that I have lost much of my sanity since joining the council.

Instead, the judge looked forward and followed the sounds of Nana’s foosteps as she let her senses overtake her.

There were no lights, except for two lit candles near an opening leading down. Stepping past Lilith and her sister, Nana took the lead this time and began making her descent down an almost never-ending stairway.

It was dark, but not nearly dark enough for them to not be able to traverse the trip down, or to see the many paintings of armour, blades and various apprentices Nana has had over the years - none of which had actually ever seen the inner-workings of the Amaterasu Forge.

Like Lilith’s initial sight, they had only ever seen the massive-looking secret work room. It was not Nana’s work room though, but more like a room she enjoyed the company of when she was in the mood for some tinkering.

As the ground below them began to flatten out again, it became abundantly clear why Michiko had been a bit hesitant before. As they stepped out into the blazing light, they were stood upon an overpass spanning several meters. All around them was a drop several tens of meters down below, overlooking a sea of lava.

Impressive, deadly and somewhat frightening to be sure. Not to mention the immense heat coming from practically all sides but, all of it paled in comparison to what towered before them. It was a forge that knew no equal, a work station so immense it could probably rival most noble house’s estates.

Scattered on the ground, the walls and the forge itself were the various works of Amaterasu Nana.

As the trio traversed the ‘bridge’, Nana spread her arms wide and spun around a few times - an almost uncharacteristically genuine smile on her face.

“This,” she said, “this is my pride and joy.”

Lilith grinned as she eyed the bubbling, red liquid and felt the blistering heat on her face. “So this is what the old and wealthy keep in their basements,” the judge chuckled, incredulous at the frightening yet resplendent sight before her. She felt transported. The underground lair was a harmonizing of both hell and artistry, a magnificent blending that she never imagined.

“Something like this...” she called out with an evident measure of wonder in her voice, “...It’s fitting. Given your duties, only such a glorious work room could commensurate to the value of your work.”

She reached down and picked up an unfinished sword from the stony floor. “How long does it take to make one?”

“Depends on the request,” Nana responded just as her facial expression had returned to its former glory, “or the blade in question, that is. Normal requests, ones not tied to certain guidelines, usually take me a couple of hours without any of the pre or post-gathering and heating of materials.”

Walking over to one of the many other unfinished swords, she picked one up and flung it around a few times. Its blade was a dark crimson, its hilt a jet black. “This one,” she said as she held it in front of Lilith, “this little baby took me about five days just to construct, and it’s still got about three more days of acclimatizing left before I can start working on the... finer details of her.

“Asauchi are rather fragile beings.”

Not wanting to touch the more refined model in Nana’s hands, Lilith asked as she carefully observed its blood-like sheen. “And what made this one so difficult to forge?”

“Hah.” She had to chuckle lightly at the response. It wasn’t so much that this one was particularly difficult to forge, it was just that every asauchi was difficult to forge. “Like every other asauchi, she’s trying her hardest to become part of me. It’s during this period that they’re most likely to become just like the Ukiyo no Kohon, the first asauchi.”

Tossing the blade down on the ground again, it made a cackling sound for a bit before dying down again.

“When an asauchi is newly forged,” she continued, her mind going in overdrive as she began to explain the finer details of asauchi forging, “it’s in a stage of uncertainty, trying to cling itself to just about anything that lives. The only problem is that, during this stage, when the asauchi succeeds in attaching itself to something, it tries to fuse itself with what it’s resonating too, instead of becoming independently dependent on its owner.”

Showing the book attached to her hip, she smiled somewhat bitterly. “This guy right here tried that on me the very first time I attempted to create a blade with a soul. It almost succeeded, had I not been saved by my master’s quick thinking.”

“So you sealed... fused... him in that book.” Lilith looked down, intrigued at the text. She hadn’t noticed it before, Nana’s spiritual pressure was so overwhelming that it often unintentionally dominated the smaller signatures around her. The roaming spirits of the Asauchi also crowded around them, filling the dungeon with racing energies of different personalities, attitudes, intents. The book, as well, seemed to trickle and melt into Nana’s own spirit, clinging to her like its master rather than stay removed as a personal entity. But once Lilith focused, she could sense him, it, a small collection of loose souls that manifested as one volume.

She gently placed down the sword she was holding and crouched slightly to have a better view of the book. “Amaterasu-san...” she wondered as she studied the intricate details of the book’s face -- old, wizened with tinged parchment and an ornamental sword as its clasp. “May I touch it?”

“More so than touch it,” Nana began, smiling softly, “how would you like to experience it?”

Before offering a reply, the judge paused as she heard a familiar voice resonate in her mind.

...It has been a long time. I was young; I have no memories of this room. This heat, the black and red grandeur, none of it is familiar. But him... I remember Ukiyo no Kohon.

In response, Lilith carefully brought her left hand to her hip and securely wrapped her fingers around Kerushi’s hilt as she tenderly stroked the pommel with her thumb. She then drew her eyes up to meet Nana’s and answered, “Yes, we would like that very much.”

Nodding softly at Lilith’s response first and then at Michiko second, she unclipped the Ukiyo no Kohon from her hip and held it in front of her. “Where souls lay to rest,” she began and suddenly the book opened itself and began to flip through its various pages, “come to fruition, and show their worth.

“Where lives start, end and begin anew.

The book began to distort the world around the trio of shinigami as Nana recited the words, turning an eerie black.

“What was before, will become again.

“Through the eyes of the past... yield, Ukiyo no Kohon!”

The book slammed shut, and with it their perception of the world around them. At first it was a jet black, an all consuming darkness that seemed to suck at one’s very soul until, finally, a bright light enveloped them all.

The ground below them was a charred and cracked crimson-brown, the sky an eternal twilight with clouds coming and going whenever they felt fit to do so, but most noticeably of all were the hundred of thousands of zanpakutou scattered around and about the ground. Some had their souls still clinging to them, acting as some sort of barrier that kept them in place, full of purpose. Others still wandered the place without any form of purpose whatsoever, clearly lost and without a notion of self left in the world.

This truly was the Ukiyo no Riku, the Land of Transient Life, where souls came for their eternal rest whether intentionally... or because they were betrayed, left behind or otherwise discarded. Blades of all ages inhabited the place, from having their masters die too early, to not having found them at all still...

To ones that had fulfilled their destinies and had come to their nirvana.

“Welcome,” Nana said with a faint, almost bittersweet smile, “to their world.”

Beside Lilith, in a golden, tempestual mist, the silhouette of a woman shaped in its center. Her hair draped down in a long cascade, falling over her glittering, armored wear. Metal shoulder guards and a steel, fitted breastplate that was decoratively etched with golden ornaments covered her torso as a short but flowing Edwardian cape tied around her neck. She emerged from the amber cloud, a woman with delicate features and an astringent expression that mirrored the judge in height, ambiance, and mien. Slowly, she extended her right hand out to grab Lilith’s shoulder as she stood a half step behind her.

“Kerushi,” Lilith stated as she crossed her right hand over her chest to meet the newcomer’s touch. “I would like you to meet Nana Amaterasu, matriarch of the House of Amaterasu and forgers of the asauchi.”

The zanpakutou spirit gave a small nod then after the greeting, could not stop her gaze from drifting beyond the crowd of women to the ground littered with steel blades.

“This place is magnificent.”

“Indeed.”

Letting her hand fall back to her side, Lilith asked, “But while Kerushi remembers this place...” She felt her memories come alive, the sense of familiarity and the bittersweet stomach-turn of being home. “I don’t think that she even truly understands.”

And though Kerushi remained silent, the mystic watched as Kerushi’s eyes fixated on one specific spot in the ground. Though the rift of where she had once remained entrapped in the ground was fully covered over, the sharpness of Kerushi’s loneliness, the tired millennia of waiting, and the bitterness of her resentment all rang loudly in Lilith’s ears.

“How are they born? And why must souls be imprisoned for so long before they are given a keeper?”

Giving a simple, yet humble nod back in Kerushi’s direction, Nana walked over toward the spot where Kerushi had once stood chained to the ground. Though Nana did not know every zanpakutou by heart, she knew every asauchi by heart and every blade that once was remained clearly in the back of her mind.

Whereas many visitors saw only the barren wastelands, filled with blades of steel and various shapes, and a gorgeous sky, Nana only saw the scarred remains of struggling souls. They forever tore through the ground but, where normally it would be a sad thing to see, this was actually for the best.

It meant that a lot of the potential asauchi had been claimed over the past millennia.

Kneeling down to the ground, she touched the spot Kerushi had been looking at and said two simple words, “I remember.”

Turning around to face Lilith, Nana cocked her head slightly.

“How are they born, you ask? It’s... difficult to explain, but the simple gist of it lies in the release of Ukiyo no Kohon: where souls lay to rest, come to fruition and show their worth.”

Suddenly the ground began to shake around them, stirring up the very souls that had been resting for so long now.

“Where lives start, end and begin anew.”

Blades faded into complete darkness where others appeared out of the blue, and vice versa as Nana’s words rolled off her tongue.

“What was before, will become again.”

Suddenly, Nana stopped as a thundering sound overcame the two shinigami and Kerushi. Ukiyo no Kohon had materialized again, stood face to face with the Amaterasu matriarch and spoke up:

“Through the eyes of your past I yield.”

​

By instant reaction, Kerushi snapped backwards as her hand immediately swept to the hilt of her sword in preparation to attack or defend. But before she could extricate her blade from its sheathe, Lilith’s hand pressed firmly against her elbow, forcing the zanpakutou spirit to hold her position.

“Wait.”

“But he--!”

“I said, wait,” Lilith demanded with harsh rigidity. “Compose yourself, Kerushi.”

“That’s okay,” Nana responded as she stood back up. “What he said wasn’t necessarily meant as a provocation, but more of an indication as to how the asauchi become what they are. Like I said before, actually explaining it is difficult.

“In theory, anyone can probably create an effect similar to how I forge the asauchi. It may take them several thousands of years to perfect, but it is not something only I can do. What I create are, in essence, empty shells. Containers, vessels capable of housing great power within them.

“In a sense, they are quite like a miniature version of what we perceive as ‘the balance of life’.”

Meeting Kerushi’s eyes for the first time since the two met, she smiled softly.

“Where there is a beginning, there is an end. Without chaos, there can be no order.”

“Those words you two are repeating...” Kerushi remarked tensely as she sheathed her weapon and stood up straight. “Is it so necessary?”

Lilith removed her hand off Kerushi’s elbow as she let the ivory warrior speak unbarred.

“They used to drive me mad. Even hearing them now, I find the experience embittering. I still remember how that monologue was repeated over and over, as if trying to drive a blunt nail into steel. Like a profession or a superfluous gospel... but even more redundant and barely sensical. I do not understand the point of such--”

The judge stepped in front of Kerushi, breaking the zanpakutou’s eye contact with the matriarch. While Nana and Lilith had agreed to try to mend their relationship, the wounds from before were not invulnerable to the cutting tongue of Lilith’s indignant inner spirit.

“My apologies, Amaterasu-san, we did not mean any offense.”

“Do you know why you only see broken blades, abandoned spirits or otherwise unclaimed zanpakutou scattered about?” Nana asked, and although she looked at Lilith she made it quite clear that her words were meant for Kerushi.

“Do you know why there’s a perpetual twilight above and a charred soil below? You should be able to hear it as well, the screams, the sounds of agony of those remaining restless. This is not a happy place, this is not a playground for those looking for a good time.

“The things I have to do, the torture I have to withstand everyday to create the asauchi is harrowing, but complaining can only you give you this much. What your reason for coming out is, I do not know. You may be the first, and probably the only one to have ever done so. Even Taiyou doesn’t want to come out, and she’s probably the most stubborn zanpakutou I’ve ever laid my eyes on.

“There’s a reason why this place is so desolate. It’s a graveyard.”

Looking down at the ground, she touched the place where Kerushi used to rest once more, before looking back up.

“Look, I’m sorry for what these words, this place or what my presence makes you feel like, but I cannot bring myself to care for every asauchi I create as much as my own zanpakutou. It would drive me insane, that’s why this place exists.

“I take no solace in what it does to you and your brothers and sisters, but this is why zanpakutou should never come here before their time is up. It drives them insane as much as it does me.”

Lilith looked away from the noblewoman and turned her face to the side. Behind her, she felt Kerushi breathing hard and the intensity of her curdling disgust and ambivalence twisting in her stomach. Although Lilith heard the screams, the agony, she was certain that the volumes were multiplied by thousands upon Kerushi’s ears. However, despite the antagonism the zanpakutou felt, the urges to clasp her hands over her ears and shout her resentment, the judge trusted that Kerushi would not let another outburst occur again.

“If you knew that, then why did you not give us forewarning?” the ivory warrior asked, just letting her gray eyes loom over Lilith’s shoulder.

“But I suppose the more relevant question, Amaterasu-san,” Lilith interrupted as she turned her neck to face Kerushi. Her eyes flicked over the zanpakutou’s form, evaluating for a twitch, a sneer, a flinch that demonstrated the torment she felt inside. Then, accepting Kerushi’s stoicism, she brought her attention back to Nana and continued, “...is what else do you have to show us?”

While she knew that this opportunity was a rarity for only a few privileged souls, she did not want to subject Kerushi to the any more lesions of her past. Even if Kerushi returned to her sheathe, there would be no relief in this macabre alternate world.

“What I want to show you,” Nana began as she rose fully to her feet again, “is that despite all of this, it’s not such a bad place. Kerushi. You should be able to pierce through it as well. I said that it would drive me insane, but that’s only a half truth. The old me would’ve definitely been driven mad, but once I realized what was really going on...

“I’m not so sure anymore. The question is, can you hear it, Kerushi? Those sounds of pain, those screams of agony, they are but a facade of what lies beneath the surface. A defense mechanism, if you may. We do not belong here, and that is why, at first, we cannot hear the harmony that exists within these boundaries.”

Looking back at Lilith and her companion, Nana smiled.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come out at first,” Nana continued, pointing out the obvious flaw in her initial plan, “but now that you did... I hope you can hear their words of praise too.”

“...Praise?” Kerushi repeated, the thought sounding impossible. The spirit looked at her owner, gray eyes filled with a mix of sorrow, regret, and the tender flickerings of hope. “I don’t...”

Lilith reached forward, brushed a loose strand of hair over the ivory warrior’s shoulder, and then rested her hand upon her shoulder guard. “It doesn’t have to be today, Kerushi. I can barely hear anything over the pain -- pain which doesn’t haunt me in the same way it affects you.”

The spirit looked up and nodded. She glanced at the matriarch. “Perhaps another day, Amaterasu-san,” Kerushi stated as she brought her opposite hand across her chest and pressed it against Lilith’s grasp. The sounds were still too loud, and they scraped against her ears and the sides of her scalp, digging shrieking claws into her skull. Somewhere, hidden beneath the maddening screams, perhaps she could sense encouragement and praise trickling like a free, divergent tributary.

But now, no. It was still too much, too soon. All of it was too overwhelming to ignore and focus on the positive aspects alone. Even the great Nana Amaterasu would have been driven mad by this chaotic abyss. To think that an unknowing and naive zanpakutou could weather the violent storms of her past unfazed was a naive perspective.

“Thank you... While I would like to return someday, and perhaps develop my endurance to this land, I feel that now, rest would be most appropriate.”

“That does seem appropriate given the circumstances,” Nana responded with a faint smile as she opened her book open again. Flipping through its pages, she let the world fall into debris around them, and back into Soul Society.

Facing Lilith, she gazed into the woman’s eyes for a moment as she sealed her book shut again.

“I have kept you for too long,” she said, “But, I do not regret taking your time like this. I feel like I’ve learned a thing or two about you and about who you carry with you.”

Looking at Kerushi she smiled genuinely.

“As for you,” she continued, “come find me when you’re ready. I’m sure they’ll love to show you around properly sometime.”

“You have been incredibly generous, Amaterasu-san. Thank you...”

There was more she wanted to say, felt that she should say. The feelings swept through Kerushi’s abdomen, spinning in a wild tourbillion that fluttered and refused to descend. But she felt disoriented and unable to grasp her own sensations enough to express herself in any organized manner.

“I hope to see you again soon.” With those words, the golden tempest collected at the ivory knight’s feet, spinning as it lifted and wrapped around Kerushi. The zanpakutou smiled, her eyes focused on the matriarch’s gaze, and in that moment, she disappeared and returned to the blade at Lilith’s hip.

The dark-haired woman’s hand dropped to her side as her fingers securely covered the sworilt. She looked up to Nana and appreciatively described, “This was an honor, Amaterasu-san... For both of us.”

“And from me, specifically, it’s encouraging to see that truly great things are happening in Soul Society. It’s easy to get discouraged as a member of the Central Forty-Six. I’m sure your sister had told you all about that. But this...” She took another look around the grandiose room, appreciating the worn walls, the scars of hard work and endless toils, the blazing heat that left the Amaterasu signature on every sword when each blade was treated as an individual trophy.

“This has been the most rewarding experience since my transfer to the council.”

“Well,” Nana began, a faint chuckle accompanying her words, “I would hope so. It is not something I show so readily to just about anyone. It is, after all, the only legacy I still have that dates back to before my father disowned me. It is the one thing he couldn’t remove from my firm grasp, because he knew I was the only one that could create the Asauchi.

“But,” she continued, leading Lilith back outside, “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to get back to. How about I save a seat for you at the Amaterasu manor for next week?”

The judge smiled and gave a gracious nod as she walked behind Nana. “I would like that very much.”