| This article, Hunger and Greed: The Archon of Storms, is property of Kenji-Taichō. Permission is required to alter its content. Use of this page's contents is determined by the author of this page, unless otherwise specified. |
| This article, Hunger and Greed: The Archon of Storms, is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal, which continues on from the opening segments of the site's former Fanon Canon project. Use of this page's contents is determined by the author of this page, unless otherwise specified. |
This article, Hunger and Greed: The Archon of Storms, is the thirteenth chapter of the Hueco Mundo arc, which is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal. Hotaru Hiroshi serves as the POV character, with Averian as the antagonist. Furthermore, this chapter serves to reintroduce an old face to the story.
Today, I was going to prove myself a hypocrite because the very thing I had admonished Sakae for, I was now doing myself. What did that happen to be again? Have you ever heard the phrase ‘poke the bear’? Well, in this case, that bear was Averian.
Am I mad? Completely bonkers? Probably.
The last time I had been in Hueco Mundo was years before Oda Kohai and his so-called brothers exploded onto the world stage and started picking fights with me and my family. In protecting Akira, they had captured me as well, though I left that big oaf Ichihara with a lovely shining eye for his trouble. Akira and I had undergone Hollowfication here at the hands of rogue Heisekian elements loyal to Oda, who thought recreating Sosuke Aizen’s racial research was a good idea. We had been two of roughly one hundred prisoners subjected to the result. Whilst Akira and I survived -- in no small part through the intervention of our father and mother and one very peeved Van Satonaka -- countless others hadn’t. I learned later that that research had been used to empower Oda’s brothers with a more potent and stable version of whatever virus resulted in our Hollowfication.
Can’t say I’m sorry that Kentaro and his friends killed Oda’s brothers. But that was enough wallowing in the past for one day.
Outside the Forest of Menos, which existed beneath the sandy dunes, or the Howling Wastes, which were a sequence of caves to the far south, Hueco Mundo remained rather uniform. At least as far as I knew: my old man could likely tell you more about this place. Me? I just found it all boring. Sand spread out across the land as far as the eye could see in all directions, the landscape devoid of life save for a few quartz-like trees reaching for the crescent moon above with spindly, skeletal limbs. And, as usual, it was nearly pitch black, that same moon offering the sole natural light. There was barely even a breeze tonight, yet the place felt impossibly cold.
“So, this is the Negal Ruins?” I asked aloud.
This was an area I had never been to before, only having heard about it from my father. See what I mean? Kenji Hiroshi was a storyteller at heart, especially when under the influence of his favourite whiskey. The stories that man would tell.
Okay, I missed him. Don’t tell anyone.
The Negal Ruins were as the name suggested: an old ruin half-submerged in a sea of sand. That said, it was one of the few clear areas that indicated that Hueco Mundo once had something resembling civilization. I can’t imagine Hollow and Arrancar coexisting together long enough to build much of a ‘civilization’, but who am I to judge? The path beneath my feet was vaguely cobblestone, the walls surrounding me were tall and composed of thick white brick, and whilst it had either caved in, been destroyed, or merely weathered away by the passage of time, there was evidence that much of the structures here had roofs at some time or another.
And, right now, it was where Averian and his followers had gathered. Averian himself sat on a partly ruined wall surrounded by countless Hollows of varying shapes and sizes, stretching back as far as the eye could see. He made that ruined section of stone look like a throne.
I stepped out of the shadows of a crumbling wall and faced the crowd.
“Evening,”
“Another Shinigami?”
“Should we kill him, my lord?”
Of the three Adjuchas who stood before me, only two spoke. The third, who was a hulking brute, his arms more alike to tree trunks, leapt at me!
“Fool,”
My Bakkoto flashed free, I stepped forward smoothly and felt flesh and bone part before me, and sheathed the blade in one fluid move. The Adjuchas, eyes going blank, fell to either side of me. He’d died before even hitting the ground. And as this occurred, the skies of Hueco Mundo came alive! Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and for the first time in my memory, rain fell on the land of Hollows. My racing heart stilled immediately, and a calmness I hadn’t felt in years settled onto me. There was a familiarity with the storm. One straight from childhood. But he couldn’t be here. Could he?
If so, it was time to roll the dice.
“I’m not here to fight. Maybe someday, but not today.”
Averian hadn’t even batted an eyelid. He merely leaned forward slightly, more intrigued than intimidated. And I wasn’t even annoyed that he seemed to be paying the storm more heed than me.
The remaining Adjuchas hissed collectively. Whilst Averian watched the storm clouds, his attention barely on me, his followers had eyes only for me. I had to admit, it was nice to be noticed.
The one who had called for my death was vaguely insectoid with four arms, with four pincers for hands, and a bone-like carapace. He eyed me dangerously, the wings on his back twitching with the desire to move and attack me, but given what had just happened to his colleague, he wisely refrained. The second, who had identified me as a Shinigami, was a slight female Hollow, also an Adjucha, with long red-coloured hair which, upon closer inspection, looked like slim needles. Her entire body, from the tip of her toes to the base of her chin, was covered in a bone-like carapace very similar to the body of her colleague. Her face, however, was human, with red stripes like warpaint running down both cheeks. That, coupled with her slim frame and dense reiatsu, was a dead giveaway: she was close to evolving. Perhaps even more so than her colleagues.
“Then why are you here!?” The female Hollow asked. “You say you aren’t here to fight, yet you just killed Gorky!”
“He attacked me first. If he had the sense to show restraint, he’d still be alive. But enough about that fool. I’m here to aim your boss,” I answered smartly.
“Nyx, be quiet.” The insectoid hissed.
“But, Clarion—”
Averian stood and silence descended. The storm, however, only intensified.
The Adjuchas and all the assembled Hollow were forgotten about: I only had eyes for the titan before me. Even the thunder quietened in my mind. He might be only a version of the entity my father struggled so long against, but the likeness was uncanny. From the penetrating gaze to the confident step, this was every inch the Averian I knew, only younger. He was an alpha predator, a king amongst kings, and as alike to a God, as one could find in the world. He was alike to the primordial beings who existed in the old world, who yet saw no equal today.
And I thought to aim that? Damn, maybe I was going mad?
“I suggest you turn that hungry gaze of yours to the Soul Society. A week from now, the Gotei 13 will be preoccupied moving an old artefact. One I seek personally. Since you’re going to attack anyway, maybe you’d be so kind as to delay until then? Win or lose, you’d make a very good distraction.”
My statement was met with roaring laughter! Not from Averian personally, you understand, but from the army of Hollow at his back. Averian looked… not quite annoyed, but I’d got his attention. He had finally torn his attention from the surrounding storm.
“And why should I do something like that?”
“Because even you must realize that the Gotei 13 can end you,” I answered. “Or did I imagine Yachiru and Anika defeating you before? It’s in your best interest to strike when even some Captains will be busy elsewhere. Correct?”
And now for the gambit: affront the arrogant one’s pride. Never failed.
“Or have you become immortal since then?”
That was the end of our discussion.
I donned my Hollow mask without a ripping motion and diverted Averian’s intended strike to the side, where I promptly vanished. I intended to attack from the flank, but the Adjucha called Clarion had other ideas. He sent me hurtling to the floor with a Cero and his colleague, the Adjucha called Nyx, rained needles beyond counting upon me! Or she would have, had I not thrown up a series of protective Kido barriers.
Which Averian promptly shattered. Yeah, three on one weren’t good odds at the best of times.
“At least the one who came before you offered proper sport,” Averian spat. “For all your confidence, you are very weak.”
I looked around me, even as Averian raised his scythe aloft.
“You’d better take a look around,” I answered, in a voice that was nearly a whisper. “I’m not alone.”
The moment Averian went on the offensive, the moment he took that first step forward, I saw the lightning crash to the ground! Cobblestone went flying in myriad directions, Hollow broke formation to flee, and even Averian himself went skidding backwards.
“You’ve done what you came here to do,” I heard a voice whisper to me. Not quite in the ear, because I swore it was within my head. “Leave. Now,”
I didn’t stop to argue. Why would I? You didn’t say ‘no’ to the Archon of Storms when he exerted reiatsu in the manner he was at the moment. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t care. All I knew is that Kenji Hiroshi was here in the flesh! His long black hair and long white haori sleeves billowed in the storm-swept winds, which only seemed to intensify as the man stepped forward. It was just like him riding a lightning bolt to the floor. Heh, pops always did know how to make an entrance. From the crimson-eyed gaze to the stance he favoured, this man was my father, and those winds rose to hurricane force as he drew his Zanpakuto.
“Why, hello there,” he exclaimed.
Averian looked like the foodie who’d just been shown to the buffet table. It spoke to his arrogance that Averian didn’t know when he was outmatched. My father’s presence was out of this world. The power he possessed was the kind that went beyond common sense and stopped at the ridiculous end of the spectrum.
“I’m only going to say this once, so I suggest you listen, Arrancar. That’s my son, and lately, I don’t need much of an excuse to kick anything called ‘Averian’ in lumps. Walk away. Now.”
There was zero chance of that happening. But I also knew that my father wasn’t bluffing. Kenji Hiroshi didn’t get to be feared the world over by backing down when he bares his teeth. I took a cautionary step back, threw up even more protective barriers, and knew that wasn’t enough by half. Hell, if my old man wanted, he could level this entire ruin and everything and everyone around it by blinking!
I stepped back.
Averian stepped forward.
… And the Sword Saint smiled.
“... So be it. But remember something, Arrancar. When I offered you a chance, you stepped forward, not back. Now you’ll pay for it. Illuminate the Far Heavens, Raijin!”
If a bolt of lightning suddenly struck your old man right before your eyes, you’d probably panic. Not me. Kenji and lightning went hand-in-hand. If I was being honest? Nothing calmed me more than a good old storm, because it reminded me of home.
Raijin was the strongest lightning-type Zanpakuto ever seen in our world, and I wasn’t aware of anything in this world matching it, either. So, when I said that the storm grew ‘violent’, it’s only because I can’t properly convey how much more fierce that storm became. Before, the damage was indiscriminate. A bolt of lightning here, a roar of thunder there. Now? Lightning fell in precision strikes with explosive results, Hollow screaming and dying with every flash, the storm an extension of my father’s will. Thunder roared overhead, and the rain cut like glass. Hollow skin was shredded from bone, and soon the sands ran red.
And in the middle of all that, without even moving, was Kenji Hiroshi. I needn’t have bothered with my barriers or even the backwards step. He controlled the storm so flawlessly, with such precision, that nary a drop of rain fell on me.
“Still here, son?” The tone was fatherly and reminded me of the old days. “I haven’t a lot of time, unfortunately, what with the limits of world-hopping and all that. Meian was nothing if not thorough. But we’ll talk later. As for right now, schools in session.”
“He’s strong, dad,” I answered. I hadn’t even realized I’d drawn my own Zanpakuto. Suddenly I was very fearful, like a scared child. “Let me help you.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” he said, looking at me over his shoulder. “I’m stronger, by far. And the only way I’d let you fight him at all is with Akira at your side.”
“Impudent—”
Averian had moved to my back, far too quickly for me to react, his scythe raised aloft. He concluded that I was the sideshow, one best removed before turning his attention on the real threat. But the blow never connected. Kenji shimmered, I felt myself being gently pulled back, and suddenly steel sang! And like a great rooted tree, he weathered the blow, never once looking put out. The earth shattered around us, except where he and I were standing. None of that terrible force so much as sent a tremble up my leg. And, from when he pulled me back earlier, I found an unfamiliar weight dangling from my neck.
It was a jewel, green, cut by what I could only determine to be a master. And why I was overcome by the sudden feeling of familiar fondness, like an uncle or elder sibling watching over a child, I couldn’t quite describe. And, with so many things my father did, I never got to ask him for an explanation.
He was already scolding Averian.
“That was a mistake,”
My father was feared the realms over as the Sword Saint and Archon of Storms. In truth, he was closer to Takemikazuchi: a god of thunder and swords in mythology. I caught a glimpse of his red eyes and saw a growing surge of anger rising, and my blood turned to ice. I bugged out of Hueco Mundo like the spectre of Death himself was hot on my heels! For I had no desire to see my father cut loose. The last time I witnessed it was when he saved Akira and me from those Hollowfication experiments, with Van at his side. Suffice to say, the lab where said experiments took place could no longer be found on a map. Hell, that portion of Hueco Mundo had been rendered unto a glass floor!
The wind lent speed to my steps, but for me, that wind wasn’t violent. I found only encouragement there.
“Now, Hotaru said a week, eh? I can check you that long. Your move,”
Averian’s fighting spirit hadn’t been diminished at all. If anything, he was more excited than ever to fight!
“... I never say this enough, pops, but damn do I love you.”