𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

𝟔 | 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐞

"I... see."

"What? Mom's gonna be killed?!"

I glance down at Shōri, frowning. "Well, I'm sure she did something to deserve it," I mumble, unable to help myself. Big mistake on my part.

Shōri begins to wail, tearing out of my grasp and stumbling into one of the men in front of her.

"Lady Shōri, it'll be alright," he says to her, smoothing her hair down as she weeps into his shoulder. I sigh and shake my head at myself.

Fantastic job, I praise myself in silence.

"Please, come with us," the first man says. "It is your mother's wish to be able to see you both before her execution."

Bowing down to my mother and her wishes is the last thing I ever wanted to do. In fact, I never wanted to see or hear about her ever again; dying and showing up here had been a liberating subconscious fact. Doing so would only reward her, anyway, and show her that maybe somewhere in my mind, I care.

I most definitely do not.

In all of my own selfishness, the honest truth is that the only thing I care and have ever cared about is Shōri. She's not even my child and yet, I'd proven time and time again in our time on earth that I take better care of her than our mother ever would. Now isn't a good example, of course, but then again, we're not technically on earth, are we?

I moan and groan, making any noise to let out my anger and frustration out toward my ironfisted mother.

"Fine," I relent. "I'll see her." The three men let out their own noises, of relief, and it easily bothers me. "But don't be so happy about it! If you expect me to inherit that damned woman's house, I never want to hear her name in my presence again."

"Yes, milady."

"What's mommy being esse... um..." Sniffling, Shōri puts a hand on her chin. "Why are they going to kill mommy?"

I look to the men walking ahead of us. "You heard her. Answer."

"Right." The third man takes a deep breath. While it must be painful for them to speak of, I can't find it in me to care all that much.

"Nineteen years ago, Lady Kayanara, as the captain of one of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, was asked to travel to the World of the Living to investigate the activity of the Quincy."

"What are Quincy?" Shōri pipes before he can go on.

"Quincy are humans with special powers that allow them to kill Hollows," the second man tells her. I sigh.

"And Hollows are...?"

"Do you remember the chains you once had on your chests as Pluses before you arrived in Rukongai?" the first man asks. We nod. "They are called the Chain of Fate, and, well, as terrible as it sounds, those chains will eat away at themselves until all that's left is a hole in your chest."

Shōri gasps and immediately feels for any sign of a hole. I pat her head with one hand, searching for a hole or chain of my own with my other, taking a sharp breath when I realize its absence.

"The longer a Plus remains in the World of the Living, the more your Chain of Fate will be eaten up. It doesn't take that much longer after the hole appears that you turn into a Hollow; a monster."

"A monster," I repeat. "Wait, that thing that killed us-- that big, white-faced, black-skinned creature--"

"Yes," the first man says, looking surprised. "That is a Hollow."

"Oh my goodness," I pant out, and suddenly feeling winded, I crouch down, covering my head with my hands and rocking back and forth on my heels.

"Sister?"

"Are you alright, milady?"

"I... Yes..." I take a deep breath. "I just... It's... a lot to take in."

"Our apologies," the three say in unison.

"We should have paced ourselves," the third man says. "We never expected you to remember that."

"It's alright; don't apologize," I say. "It's... a little late to worry about something like that, anyway," I laugh sadly to myself. After a moment, I push myself upright. "We're already dead. Please, continue explaining our mother's offence."

He nods. "Well, at first, it had only been because she stayed past her allotted time limit in the World of the Living. It wouldn't have warranted execution at this point. She had gathered her information on the Quincy and sent it back to the Soul Society in a report, but... never returned. The charges grew. After a few years, other Soul Reapers were sent to search for her and bring her back to face her decided sentence. But it was like she had disappeared.

"Nineteen years had passed, and Lady Kayanara returned. However, it was not with good news that she did. The lady had been pregnant several times during her stay, and her children, two daughters and a son. Perhaps, if it had been with a normal human, her charges would have been lighter..."

"Who conceived with her?" I ask.

"It had been with the very same Quincy she had been investigating when she had first arrived."

I frown. "What's so wrong with being with a Quincy?"

"It is treason!" the second man hisses, loud enough to startle me. "The Quincy have been shifting the natural balance between souls and Hollows for far too long!"

"It's getting more and more difficult to guide souls here to the Soul Society when all we find in the World of the Living are Pluses and not Hollows."

"The Quincy are... polar opposites to the Soul Reapers," the third man tries to explain. "Their powers aren't meant to exorcise Hollows. They completely destroy them, and their souls."

"Oh my..." I had no idea that someone could be so cruel. "And to think, the blood of them run through me..." I suddenly begin feeling exposed, even guilty. "So then, the ruling for these crimes is death?" I say.

"Yes. Lady Kayanara will be executed with the Sōkyoku, a blade said to contain the power of one million Zanpakutō."

Updated August 8th, 2021| 1,062 words