Graduation Chambers

This area is reserved for students that have met the requirements for graduation for the Academy. It is nothing more than an empty, dusty room, but it is forbidden for students to enter and is left guarded by Academy attendants.

A five foot eleven inches tall figure stood at the entrance to the graduation chambers. This figure was of a man leaning against a brown worn down cane. The individual in question was a veteran within the Seireitei. A Shinigami who have now devoted his time to preparing the future Shinigami for their journey as a Shinigami of the Gotei. The man had short white hair and a long white beard. An eye patch covered his left eye. The man already had a list of names containing the select few students who was chosen. The graduation ceremony will begin once they had all gathered and was present before the man. Suffice to say that wouldn't stop him proceeding should some turn up before others. This will be done on a first come first served basis. The old veteran had heard about what happened during the trip to the world of the living. The truth is, the death of the weaker students was a direct ploy by the Gotei. This was done deliberately in order to rid themselves of those less likely to survive in the everyday world.

It was cruel to think of it in such a way. Nevertheless the man waited patiently and in time the students began to gather around him. A smirk appeared on his face, before shortly releasing a sigh. Enough students was in attendance for the man to be able to begin proceedings. Walking forward, the old timer tapped his cane against the ground. A certain echo could be heard, one loud enough to command the attebtion of the students onto himself. Looking at what was before him, the old veteran paused for a moment as the students looked on in anticipation.

"I take it you all know why  you've been gathered here?". The veteran asked while looking around at the students. Confirmation was given onto him with the students acknowledging his words with a positive nod of the head. That gave the man all that he needed to be able to proceed. "Good. Your time as a student of the academy has come to an end. It is now time that you take the next step towards becoming a full fledged Shinigami. Be proud, but what you do after this is entirely up to you. Now then you see this door behind me? You should view it as destiny, after this things wont be as they were. I can only hope things will be better". The man declared while placing his free hand into his garment. From his garment came forth an rather unorthodox looking key, one that was as black as night. The man moved closer to the entrance and opened the door wide enough so that they can all view inside the dusty wooden room. The Shinigami then turn his head to look over his shoulder in order to address the students.

"By entering this currently ordinary room, you will get to experience what it means to be a Shinigami. At least you will get an idea, each one of your experiences will be unique and personalized to suit you.  Also remember this,  do not enter this room without your Asauchi present. Doing so will invite the monster in the room to devour you". The old veteran had warned the students and hopefully they would take heed to his warning. Soon thereafter the veteran Shinigami shoved the key into the keyhole. His Reiatsu flowed into the key and the keyhole and thus causing a reaction. Inside the wooden room  turned into a void of complete blackness. One could feel the powerful Reaitsu from the void ready to swallow up the students.

"Once you step beyond this threshold and into the darkness, you will come face to face with yourselves. And hopefully when you emerge you will be ready to become a member of the Gotei. I suspect this will be like rediscovering or regaining what was lost for some of you. Now then lets not waste any time dilly dalling with things. In any case I will expect you to emerge with a Zanapakuto, as opposed to just an Asauchi. Your spirit should be strong enough to invoke such a metamorphis of your Asauchi. It is a sign of the awakening of your soul.

At the same time you may come face to face with your other half but in a different form. In time you will understand what it means. Once you pass through the darkness you will come to a room of light. And inside it will be a figure dressed as a Shinigami does. This figure os without a face or a true form. I implore you to pierce said figure in the chest with your Asauchi. Why? Because its what your meant to do. Otherwise you wont get anywhere. Once this is done pour your Reiatsu into the faceless Shinigami. In his left hand your Zanapkuto should appear. It may be different for some, but ultimately you should all arrive at the same conclusion. Now then over to you? Yes yes". The man finished while setpping aside so that the students may enter the room.

Luckily enough they didnt have to wait for one person to finish. Since the room is like another dimensio  within itself. As such they will all end up somewhere different.

Not allowed in, but allowed to observe. Izanami had had the worst hand dealt to her, as it turned...A breakdown of the age for herself, combined with such over exertion? ...She'd wanted to get back to classes sooner, but...Not "mentally" ready until now. How much had she missed out on? How much had she not been able to attend? ...Her eyes stared through that mask with a dead light, fully aware that the object of her obsession had been able to keep attending without her. Who knows what -- or who -- he had acquainted himself with at the time. What he had remembered. What had become of their "relationship". The morbid thoughts only it made it that much harder for her to try and not dig her nails into the wall as she sat down by the side of the door and waited like a lost puppy for her "husband".

He's be leaving the Academy...What then? What to do then? She couldn't stop him -- no, no wife should ever hold their beloved back. But she wouldn't be able to stay by his side until she managed to get back into training and figure out how to make everything better -- learn faster. Become better. The mental state was fragile, the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. The increasing disappointment in herself made her even forget that she had best begun the training now, rather than wait here...Even with her Asauchi lightly picked at the handle with her nail, the recovered masked woman couldn't bring herself to do anything until she saw him.

Until she made sure he wasn't with another girl.

But for now, all she could do was sit here. She'd ask of his whereabouts, and they told her of the graduation. With any hope...With any hope at all, she might be able to find him...

The graduation gathering was a bit small and rather solemn after what had just happened. Hurs walked to the entrance of the dusty room with a bold strut, starting to expect the worst out of this place.

"You know, I'm beginning to believe they don't give a shit about us."

Hurs chuckled at his own redundant comment and sat down to listen to the new old fart of the week.  Hurs took a sip from a sake bottle he brought and chuckled again when he heard about a monster that would beast them just in case they didn't bring an asauchi.

What the hell? Do they want new shinigami or not? What is up with this learning curve?

He took another swig as he heard the news about meeting their true selves. Hoo boy, he knew he had to stay relaxed for this…

Without further ado, Hurs nodded and stepped into the void. He was always the first to try out new things, despite the fact that he was far from fearless. He gripped his asauchi as the black encroached upon his presence. Once he made it through, it seemed that this was complete darkness and definitely some kind of separate dimension. He actually wasn’t unnerved at it, after all, this was the afterlife and surely shinigami had amazing secrets that one could only get to by becoming a shinigami.

As he walked steadily forwards, an ember light eventually approached him. Hurs kept walking, not sure if he was already reaching the light or if it was just the mind wandering.  It turned that that it wasn’t, but was rather an individual carrying a torch. It calmly waited for him there in the darkness, threatening at first but as Hurs took further analysis it was quite human, tapping the foot and waiting for Hurs to stop being awkward.

“And how do you do?”

Hurs asked as he stopped and folded his arms, squinting against the dim warm light. This man resembled him alright but a lot older. He nodded his head in return and silently bowed with a smile.
The man wore a toga and carried both a torch and a book in both hands. A solemn expression of sadness reached across his lined face.

“Wh-what’s the deal with you? Oh come on, there’s no way you could be my inner self. They got the wrong guy.”

The silent old man sighed and rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the torch burst into a greater intensity, and the fire reached out like a tendril and torched Hurs’ clothes.  In a panic, Hurs tried to extinguish the flames by slapping his robes, but they kept growing. He grabbed into thin air as he tried to bring the old man with him but the man had disappeared.

He tried everything, including rolling on the ground but the flames quickly consumed him. They did no physical damage but the pain was there. Suddenly, Hurs’ eyes widened as memories began to rush into his mind.

It all hit him at once, like what one experiences before they die. He saw a blackened sky over an urban city, a thinner version of himself in a captain’s robe, a glowing figure descending into the heavens, bodies everywhere, a woman dear to him being eaten in front of his own eyes, and much more. He then felt madness and despair within himself as the images became more coherent and connected. The pain was directly connected to this despair, no, it was simply an extension of it.
He wasn’t who he thought he was and he had somehow suppressed all of this information from his current mind until now.

No.

He didn’t want any of this. Something about these memories rubbed him the wrong way. The fire of revenge and anger didn’t suit him, it was too desperate and selfish. Once he realized that, the flames disappeared, and he was left standing in the darkness again.

Shaking his head, he pondered whether he should report this to anyone. Maybe this was all part of the learning process of this ordeal, but these memories of a past life rang true to him and he was pretty sure there wasn’t anything in their curriculum about experiencing past lives. In fact, he was pretty sure that almost never happened to most plus souls, especially remembering another life from the future. He had had little pieces of this in dreams, but since he subconsciously had avoided asking about the human world he never realized that the human world was in ancient times.

If he was from the future, what the heck was he doing here? He knew that if he told his tale to anyone, they’d put him in a padded cell or whatever equivalent they had for shinigami mental patients, but he had to do something about it.

Scratching his head he began walking forward in the darkness. Soon enough, there was a room of light and the creepy faceless figure just standing there. After being burned by his past Hurs sighed at what could happen next, but at this point there was no turning back. He unsheathed his asauchi and made a proper thrust into its chest.

He focused and summoned his reiatsu. The power was steady and obedient as it slowly poured through the asauchi  and into the mannequin. Hurs had never practiced creating a reiatsu blade, so it would take some time to completely use up his reiryoku. After several long minutes, he had finally finished, rather exhausted and the blade now completely shone a bright silver.

It resonated with the mannequin and for a moment, Hurs could have sworn he saw its face become his own. The moment he saw a glimpse of that he felt the blade stop pulsating and look down.

There it was, his zanpaktou.

Zanpakuto:

Hurs walked out of the room, just marveling at the beauty of the sword. He was already interested in history, culture, and old things and studying eastern medieval weaponry was a real interest to him. So now that he had his own sword… it felt like Christmas had come early (even though he was one of the few who remembered celebrating it)


I made end up being one of the crappiest shinigami ever but at least I got a beauty such as this for my troubles.

He would then head out towards the reception area to join a squad

It wasn't long before Yomotsu, back from a long training mission was escorted into the Graduation Chambers. He had been told that normally he wasn't allowed in here, but today was an exception as there were a few who were graduating. It also didn't help that he was getting a feeling that his mistress needed him at this point. It didn't take too long to find her either. Thanks to his senses, he was able to pin point her location fairly quickly in the large gathering. He moves swiftly over to her, sliding between others like a shadow. Some of the students turned around an instant too late, never catching a glimpse of his form. He halted in front of Izanami, looking at her for a few seconds before getting on his knees. He bows his head slightly, and in a low whisper, just barely heard above the noise, said this.

"I have returned once more to you my Mistress. What ails you, and what is happening today?"

Pluto was on the scene already playing the spy game when he noticed Izanami. His ears was with the old veteran geezer, and his eyes was with Izanami's figure. The white haired crimson eyed man observed the woman from a distance. Meanwhile he knew he also needed to pay attention to what was being said. The Shinigami veteran wade some rather important statements. Things that each and everyone of the graduates will have to remember. Its either that or they will fail in their quest to become a Shinigami. Then there was the notion of regaining something that was lost. That alone resonated with Pluto, since that's exactly how the man felt. There was inkling for the longest while now, something that said he didn't belong with these guys at all. Alas, Pluto wouldn't allow himself to dwell on this too much.

His eyes drifted towards the position of Izanami, only to realize that Yomotsu had finally arrived. Pluto himself moved towards the masked lady. His chosen route was to approach from behind. And so he did rather silently as he moved closer. His choice of action regarding Izanami was to grope the woman from behind. Not exactly grope, but more like a cuddle from behind, his hand wrapping around her waist, meanwhile pulling her closer to himself. A smile adorned his face, meanwhile his crimson eyes glanced down at Yomotsu. "The graduation ceremony is about to begin, that's whats happening. And whatever ails the mistress is about to go away". Pluto announced while holding on a little longer before releasing his grip.

Pluto soon moved from behind Izanami and stood next to her. His eyes on the doorway having seen students going inside. The crimson eyes belonging to Pluto met those of the old veteran in charge of the ceremony. It felt as if the man was telling him to hurry and get his business sorted. A soft sigh  escaped Pluto as he looked over his shoulder at Izanami and then at Yomotsu. "I'm sure you will have things to tell me once this is all over. For now though it would appear that destiny awaits me. Wish me luck you two. A man will need it". And with that Pluto stepped forward and entered the room. The darkness called out to him and he was all too happy to answer its call. Enter the room he did allowing the darkness to consume him. There was a certain fair and equally some excitement that grabbed hold of the man.

Walk he did through the darkness until there appeared a light at the end of the tunnel. Passing through the bright light, Pluto entered an open area that first appeared to be the country side. And then it soon morphed into a place flooded with water that had Pluto submerged. Forward he swam until he found an opening that was his escape. And soon enough he found himself kneeling down in a room that was more like a dojo. The man was gasping for breath and while he knelt there, his head rose up. And there it was, the faceless figure dressed in Shinigami garments. Pluto knew he had arrived at the place now. He only had thoughts of moving forward and stabbing the thing in its chest as instructed. But before such a plan could take shape and transpire as intended. A most seductive voice spoke out. This voice was without a being, and so Pluto could not identify the person whom it belonged to. "Why are men so slow at times? I've been waiting for the longest while now. Watching you, although ya still couldn't see, let alone hear me. And even now ya can't see me. How troublesome".

But before Pluto could utter another word in response, a blade pierced through his heart from behind. Said blade manifested through his chest as a result. Being stabbed from behind wasn't what the man was expected. Pluto's eyes widened as he remained in his aforementioned position. "Let me raise ya up. After all I am your belo-v-sjshjdjnd".

"What the hell did she say? What were those last words?". Pluto thought while still in awe of this most surreal experience. The woman did raise him up showing great strength. Pluto was lifted and afterward the woman pulled the sword from him.

"I am bored to seeing ya like this my darling Pluto or is it Jin? Hehe. Nevertheless my darling, move forward and reclaim what was yours to begin with. And then we shall have even more fun". The woman declared and at this moment in time, Pluto did not think. He simply did as he was told and so he stepped forward with a new found strength. His Reiatsu flowing, rising and rising. Pluto then unsheathed his Asauchi and thrust forward into the chest of the faceless Shinigami figure. His Reiatsu flowed into it, as he soon saw what may even be the woman of whom the voice belonged to. He was certain she was smiling as a lound echo could be heard. The room shook viciously as if it was about to collapse.  But that all stopped and in the hand of the faceless being was Pluto's Zanapakuto. The eyes of the Shinigami narrowed onto it as he pluck it from the hand of the Shinigami.

Looking around the room, Pluto soon noticed that it was back to the darkness. And without even taking a step, he was back at the entrance which is now the exit. His Zanapakuto held in his left hand. But there was something different about him. The Shinigami had discovered something and one can only call it truth. He was back. And so he stepped forward with old and new experiences in tact. Izanami had a lot of explaining to do. Likewise a few other persons. The man soon decided to leave the area, while motioning for the woman to follow.

The utter depression of the already dark lady was something uncommon. Even at the sudden appearance of her Dog, she just shook her head and gently petted his own as she tried to cease making the other worry. Failure, of course. Another failure to chalk up to her own incapability. She had been able to study what she could from the hospital, snuck out now and then to try and do some training of her own whilst she had been deemed "incapable", and now...well? Now she was moments from an outburst before being tugged up by hands unknown. A flare of anger, a moment of shock, a flare of reiatsu itself before she turned her head and -- through that mask of hers -- saw who those arms holding her belonged to. Him. The one that she so desperately adored and obsessed over...Her lips couldn't find words past twisting in his grip after several moments -- after he had let go, after he was readying himself to go into the door. ...Ah, she'd come to a point of caring so much for this man, hadn't she? Her lips trembled as she held on deep for the merest of moments, a soft meander of words given to him in method thanks to his comfort.

"Be safe..."

And then, he was gone. Gone through the darkness -- darkness that she supposed she should turn from before-
"What are you waiting on? Take your turn too. You also qualify to graduate."

Her eyes widened behind her mask, confusion on her mind before being shoved straight into the room by someone impatient to get in there on a mere accident and find herself in nothing but a void. The soft whispers as hands moved upwards below her and forged into platforms of sorts for her to walk upon. Nonsensical words as she passed by, the softest breath against her neck as she moved through, and then...Ah. Light? No, no light...No light for a mind so dark. Instead, a world of the dead below, with naught but a glass platform centering a throne so magnificent for her to find herself in.

"Oh, boo hoo. Look at that. Still wearing the mask? You'll never be able to show him that true face of yours, will you?"

...?

A turn of the head, a glimpse at nothing found her mask yanked harshly to the side, forcing her head that way as well as the male voice continued to speak. Hands flashed up to take hold of the mask, only for another hand to cover the holes through which her eyes saw through with a delightful laughter from it. Who...what was this?...
"Now, now. Don't throw a fit little girl. Your "husband" might run away from you. Just like a certain someone did.~"

"SHUT UP! GET YOUR HANDS OFF!"

Ah, the flare of anger achieved, the owner of the male voice let go and dissipated -- a form she couldn't comprehend before he disappeared from her sight -- with but another word as the sound of glass shattering began. Large clawed hands ripped through the floor, surrounding her- ...caressing her. Holding her away from her assailant as she curled up in her throne and held her head in a mess of words poured out in no way of controlling it.
"Ah, still got some fire in you, now? Keep on. Keep feeding it. Keep letting it come out. You'll eventually go crazy from it, and won't that be the greatest day? It takes many things to make a heart. But in the end, they always stop at a-"

Sentence cut off. Izanami instead had no choice but to lift her head as a single finger -- longer than her whole body -- gently motioned her chin up to where her Asauchi had been dropped in her small panic. Another hand to pick it up -- to deliver it to her hands as she slowly held them out. ...Such pain and such fear -- something eaten up by the sword with something else. Again, and again, and again, until it grew such a violent swirl of violet and black and she couldn't even make sense of it anymore.

Oh.

Like a drain, it all deeped into the hilt and crept up her arm, replacing the once normal blade and hilt with something...so..beautiful.

A Zanpakuto? Her own, to that fact?

...And there she was. The hands having stood her up, even a gentle smoothing of her hair. Smaller shades of hands to fix her mask, to rearrange her clothing-
And there was the entrance. The one she'd been pushed into. The one where she now stood, stunned and holding her Zanpakuto like she had been before. Only now, she was met by the sight of many other people, and that of Jin motioning for her to follow him. Without question, with only a lump in her throat, she bowed her head down and held tightly onto the newly formed sword as she followed him without question.

Graduation day. A decent sized group, comprised of haggard students with pale faces and senior instructors standing straight and all business, gathered around the entrance to what was probably some symbolic or ritualistic place. Hushed voices followed the short speech of some old man that Janza had never met before. The guy obviously had some seniority over the other individuals around here considering the authority he spoke with, and his smirk that was part conceited and the other part arrogant... at least in Janza's eyes. He instantly hated him.

Janza watched silently as a handful of students anxiously walked toward and stepped through the doorway into the room ahead. Why did so many people here seem so weak? That room was supposed to turn them into shinigami? If he remembered correctly, some original shinigami able to manifest their power on their own. What changed? Why was some ceremony like this necessary? Something at the back of his mind laughed. Maybe it made some people feel better or more important. Or maybe it hastened the process. Whatever it was, the action of walking through itself was probably a part of being accepted as a shinigami by the rest. With a mental shrug, Janza walked up to the door, his asauchi and bokken at his side.

Suppose I should get this over with.

"You know, I plan to find those responsible for the recent field trip." Janza's quiet voice was meant for the old man. He continued forward into the unknown.

-----------------------

This room seems booorrrrring.

There wasn't much to look at, or much to see. It all was rather ordinary. Darkness reigned supreme. Not really in a rush, or worried about what to do, Janza picked a random spot to lie down. Nobody from the outside was watching, and maybe they couldn't anyway. This was the first restful place that he had ever found at the academy. It was nice. Janza closed his eyes to the world and let his breath invigorate his body. If he thought about it, the smells around him couldn't originate from any normal room. At least, not one that he had ever seen.

Freedom! It smelled like freedom. It smelled like trees big and small. It smelled like open and clear air. It smelled like fresh land still wet from the last rain. It smelled like a campfire? Janza's eyes shot open at the realization that he wasn't indoors anymore. That couldn't be possible. This was his happy place. But why was it his happy place, and how did he get here? Then it hit him, the ritual made one look inside their self. This was inside of him, his own personal world. It all made sense now. He had always heard that a zanpaktou was linked to each shinigami on a deeply personal level. A zanpaktou was the manifestation of a shinigami's power.

Janza moved forward guided by the smell of smoke. After a minute, he came upon two occupants in a clearing sitting around a small fire. The smell of cooked fish permeated the space between the trees... perhaps from the lake close by?

Yay! It's time to move soon.

Ummm, hello?

What perso...

We are finally whole again!

Mostly I guess?

Janza sat down on the side of a next to the fire. The light dance almost happily on the faces of his two companions showing everything clearly. One was a man that looked just short of feral, and vaguely like Janza. The other seemed to change each time you looked. One moment it was a happy looking version of its counterpart, and the next it looked like a surprisingly cute wolf-woman. Wait, that one was playing with him! He was laughing at himself, or a part of him was laughing at him. That was... weird.

Finally complete... This came from the feral side.

Although it seems some parts remain a mystery. This came from the playful side.

Was I a shinigami previously? Or maybe somebody that wandered from battlefield to battlefield, from fight to fight? Maybe a little bit of both? This came from the conscious side. Janza seemed to remember being around some shinigami he called the devil, and that he was insane both in mind and power. Janza himself was relatively powerful compared to the other people that had been around him, but had he been a captain or shinigami? It didn't really matter. Many other things started to make sense, like the symbolic tattoos covering his body, the scar over his heart, and his overall disappointment his performance in the human world. But he didn't know where he came from. That came from before he was involved with the shinigami.

We repaired the inside while you repaired the outside.

Seems like... wait. You said we. That's rare.

Makes things less confusing...

Oh well. Janza shrugged with a grin on his face. It had been a long time since he had been here. It was such a long time that he was cut off from a large part of himself. Finally able to truly relax, it was like a gift.

I guess we should go back? The lake came to life.

Seems like it. The water surrounded them.

Ya... The water converged and exploded.

-----------------------

Janza found himself in a bright room with two blades in his hands piercing a lifeless dummy through the head. A moment later, an explosion of a grayish blue reiatsu, with streaks of a blackish red, filled the room. Nothing was visible BUT the reiatsu. When it settled down, Janza held two sheathed zanpaktous in his hands. One was a decent sized katana, the other a wakizashi. Both had a dark sheath with an even darker wood at the edges and slightly on the ends and sides. Janza slipped them through the sash around his waist, rearranged the scarf around his neck, and walked through the door.

Many faces greeted him as he returned to the group. He didn't stop. He didn't look at them. He kept walking. He shouldered his meager belongings (that he left waiting for him right outside of the chamber) and walked through the gates out of the academy.

He smiled slightly when his Mistress put her hand on his head, but he also looked up when she said nothing. That made him worry a little. He saw who was behind her, saw him put his arms around her and saw her expression. He smiles slightly, knowing that her mood just became better. That made him happy. When he walked through the darkness, and came out the other side in a few more seconds, Yomotsu saw he was holding his Zanpakuto. Then came his Mistress's turn. He saw her get pushed in by someone and he let out a little flare of Reiatsu at the being, making the being back away slightly. He took note of what his mistress did when she walked in, and how she looked when she walked back out. He noticed the change in her body language, something subtle enough that anyone else might have missed it. That worried him a little. He could only guess what would happen when he made his way in. When he first came here after his training, he didn't know he was graduating, but had been told by Jin. He was rather glad he had his Zanpakuto with him, and even more so that he had fresh clean robes on.

When it was his turn to finally walk into the darkness, he slowly pulled his Zanpakuto out and held it before him in his right hand. He moved slowly into the darkness, his eyes showing nothing of what might be in his head. Unlike his Mistress, he was not pushed into it thankfully. Once inside, he experienced something he had not done in a long time. He lost all his senses. There were a few times when he would train like this, taking everything away, but it had never been so profound before. He gripped his Zanpakuto tighter as hemoved in the blackness. There was no warning when it happened. He went from pure blackness to a frozen tundra, snow slowly falling from the sky.

He blinked a few times, letting his eyes readjust to the light before a familiar smell hit his nostrils. It was Izanami's, his Mistress's scent. That's when he heard her speak the two words he always loved to hear. "Doge, Fetch" He didn't need anything else as he took off. Another scent filled his nostrils as well, one so profound that he wondered how he had missed it before. He raced along, following it until it ended abruptly, as though the owner had simply vanished. He stood there for a few moments, looking around before he heard three voices in his head.

"So, you finally noticed us?"

"Give him a break. He hasn't has a real Zanpakuto since today."

"That is no excuse. He should have known about us for a long time now."

Yomotsu growled into the air, still looking around.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

They three voices were still talking to each other before they finally just cut out completely. Yomotsu was surprised about that, but even more surprised that he was now on the other side of the darkness, looking at everyone else. Only his eyes gave it away, and even then it was only for a second before he composed himself again. He walked down the ramp and made his way back over to Izanami and Jin, looking at them for a moment before nodding.

Kaya woke out of his bed with a weird enthusiasm.  After going through his usual  morning routine he grabbed his Asauchi and ran towards the Graduation Chambers.  The whole day felt a bit surreal so far, not only was he running to what was basically his graduation ceremony he also had an Asauchi strapped to his hip.  He had received his Asauchi shortly after his return from the training exercise that had almost KILLED him.  Looking at from that perspective it was safe to say that he had deserved this and in no way would he be humble about this graduation. If anything, all of the students who had survived that exercise deserved to graduate, surviving a hollow attack that level was a miracle on it’s own.  He eventually made it to the graduation chambers just in time to hear the instructor give instructions on the ceremony and how to transform the asauchi into a legit zanpaktou.  

“Stabbing my inner self huh? This won’t be creepy at all.”  

Kaya then walked into the the darkness and scratched his head

“I don’t like the vibe of this, hopefully this doesn’t take too long…”

After making that statement he heard an ominous laugh in the distance, at that moment the room turned white which temporarily blinded Kaya. As his sight returned to him a mannequin stood there laughing like an innocent child.

“Kaya!!! Bro!!! It’s been so long man! We never get a chance to talk so this is awesome!

The mannequin ran up to Kaya and shook his hand ecstatically.

“Glad to meet you Kaya! I’m your inner-self”

Kaya felt like cringing

“A loud jackass  like you is my inner self? No way man, you’re way too energetic.”

The mannequin laughed again and slapped his knee.

“You’re too funny! C’mon man if I’m your inner self don’t you think I’d have to differ from your normal persona in some way?  This isn’t some third rate kid’s story where I’d have an edgier haircut or a deeper voice that would make me cooler than you or something! You gotta think logically man!"

Kaya sighed and shook his head.

“Logic…riiiight, like a talking mannequin is gonna talk to me about logic.”

“Hehehe I guess you’re right about that one Kaya though you should try acting cheerier from time to time! It’s liberating man!

“Shut up already and let’s get to the main point, I don’t’ exactly have a lot to do but I’d rather not listen to you for longer than I have to.”

“Awww you’re so mean , but I understand! You’re the type that doesn’t like to pay attention to his true feelings after all~.”

Kaya glared at the mannequin.

“What are you trying to say?”

The mannequin let out a bit of a dry cackle this time around which made Kaya even more nervous towards the change in the tone of the conversation.

“Oh come on, ever since THAT  little incident you changed man, and ever since then you’ve been ignoring me, you don’t have to talk with me every day but it’s just unhealthy to pretend I don’t exist anymore.”

After hearing the mannequin taunt him about his problems a bunch images from Kaya’s began flooding into Kaya’s head reminding him of the incident that the mannequin was talking about.  For a long time Kaya tried to forget but the mannequin brought it to the surface.

“You satisfied yet…?” Kaya said glaring at the mannequin, he was obviously not comfortable with what the mannequin was doing to him and this alone made the mannequin cackle once again.

“Hehe…yeah I guess that’s enough for now, I just wanted to give you a taste of what to expect for our future meetings.  I know this sounds like sarcasm but I really do like you Kaya, this is for you own good ya know.”

Kaya gripped his Asauchi and stabbed  the mannequin.

“Yeah yeah just shut the hell up for now, I’m tired of hearing and looking at you”

At that moment the world went black again and his asauchi began glowing and it even changed its shape a bit as it finally became a Zanpaktou.  Kaya walked out of the darkness wiping sweat off of his forehead.  He wasn’t looking forward to the future meetings with his inner self but for now he would take pride in the fact that he finally became a Shinigami.  Kaya stared at his Zanpaktou with a weird sense of endearment, rather than the dull looking sword he had before it actually looked kind of pretty although the soul inside of it most likely wouldn’t be.

Kaya's Zanpaktou:

“Whelp, guess it’s time to go sign up for a squad.”

Kaya strapped his brand new Zanpaktou to his hip and walked off.

"Um so is it really ok for me to be graduating so soon?" Arekusa stood at the door way and spoke to the shinigami at the entrance.  He had only just mastered the orb and begun his Zanjutsu training but now he stood at the graduation entrance.

"Arekusandaa Ohcin? If that's you it says you're ready. Reiatsu level is ready and your pressure is steady. Yep, here is your blade, please follow the instructions on this scroll." The man handed him a dull sword and a scroll before gesturing to the room.

Opening the door Arekusa walked into the room and read the scroll. "Stab my inner self?" Flowing some Reiatsu into the sword like the orb he stabbed it into the chest of the dummy and then stood back as the blade started to vibrate in the cut.

Suddenly the doll took a shaking foot forward but then stopped and collapsed to he floor. Slowly it began to glow a blue so bright it turned yellow and then white in layers that blinded Arekusa, shutting his eyes it made no difference as it penetrated his lids.

"Can this one survive" The circles on Arekusan's body began to burn and he collapsed to the floor. Opening his eyes in a knee jerk reaction he could see in the light a faint golden outline of a large four legged animal. "He can almost see us."

"I feel sorry for him, accepting broken Zanpakutou like us."
"We are his only choice no other would have him."
"So we the fallen will become less."
"Less but one. For him, for them... for us."

Arekusan blinked the outline just was there, he heard nothing but the light didn't frighten him. It was just there, he felt like it was staring at him but what was the warm feeling? "Who are you?"

"He wants to know us? He cannot hear us."
"Child feel us. We are you, we are what you called but where unable to come. We are the remains made whole to fill your soul."
"He will fight and be broken many times."
"You will always have us, we are now you." There was something. Was it speaking? The light filled his senses. Drowning him, up, down sound and sight was all light. Even his smell was like a tingling feeling that no words could describe.

Suddenly he was on the floor gasping for breath his senses had overloaded and the light was palpable for a moment before his panic subsided like a bad dream you wake up from only to wake up and wake up again. "What..." The dummy lay smouldering on the floor as if it was burned by the light. The sword remained stabbed into it only now it seemed to have four tassels tied on the bottom.

Walking over he gently felt it to see if it was hot but as he touched the smooth wooden handle it was nothing more than cool. Pulling it seemed to be jammed. In the end he had to kick at the dummy several times to beak the wood away and reveal the weapon.

Holding it up he felt a strange sense of confusion, were all Zanpakutou like this? The blade seemed to be the combination of four swords some what hap haphazardly reformed into one. From the hilt up it appeared a brass hoop for a pommel clasped over a white pine handled grip. It was smooth, lacking any kind of binding but the distance between pummel and guard was just one hand making it fit snuggly with little room for moving up and down. The guard was a plain thick oval of brass more befitting a Kopis.

The blade was short starting wide and straight at the base but then stopping as if that blade had been broken. Melded into this wide single edge blade was a thinner slightly curved blade like a normal katana. This was broken again quickly and another Katana like blade fused to it only this one with more curve. The final piece was a piece of sword slightly wider than the last two and at a forty degree angle which had been what was stuck in the doll. This piece ended at a point having been the tip of a previous sword.

In total the weapon was the length from the tip of his finger to the end of his elbow due to the shape and curb. "What... a strange weapon." The blade was dull and normal, simply looking like a bunch of broken swords fused in a mess together. On the pommel was four ribbons, two white, one yellow and one blue. Using the ribbons he tied the sword to his belt and walked from the room. Seemed no one was there to congratulate him.

"Guess I will go to a division."

Hana was tossing and turning in her sleep. Her breathe was ragged and she was breaking out into a sweat. Clouding her dreams was a nightmare, one that was based off the incident that occurred the other night. Within her dream, she was being attacked and chased violently by the Shinigami automaton, who was originally an ally, but has suddenly become an enemy. Hana was about to be stabbed in the heart with a zanpakuto when she gasped and her eyes flashed open in a fright.

Realizing that it was all a dream, Hana sighed a heavy and shaky sigh before observing her surroundings. It was slightly after dawn, and it was obvious that she couldn’t go back to sleep. She glanced over at her asuchi leaning against her wall. After another shuddering breathe, Hana sat up from her futon and tucked her knees to her chest before dabbing the light accumulation of sweat on her face and neck with a cool rag which was sitting in a bowl of water near her futon. After calming down completely, Hana got up, put on a pot of tea, brushed her teeth, and brushed her long hair before she pulled it up into her usual ponytail with one of her favorite hair accessories before dressing into her academy robes and drinking her tea.

Before she left to head to the Graduation Hall, she attached her asuchi to her hip. When she arrived, there was only a few people there. Hana had a habit of always showing up early. She had a guilty conscious, Hana knew for a fact that she was not yet ready for graduating. She entered the academy later than the rest, and was behind on her studies, and struggled to find herself. Hana knew that even though she may receive her zanpakuto today, she will not be able to use it properly, and will have to practice all her basics until she is up to par. However, all of those who survived the other night’s events were given the opportunity to graduate early. It was obviously a way for them to shut up, a bribe in a sense.

Once majority of the graduates were present, it was time to start the process of obtaining a zanpakuto. When the man described the door as their ‘destiny,’ Hana had to fight the urge to scoff at how cliché the statement was, however, she maintained her poised, respectful, and graceful stance. The key that the man pulled out of his robes made Hana slightly nervous. It was giving off an ominous aura, and the fact that it was as black as night didn’t convince Hana otherwise. She took a shuddering breathe to try and calm herself. She felt as if something was going to go wrong, but she shook it off, convincing herself that it was just guilt and her nerves that caused her uneasiness.

Hana was pulling off her calm and elegant façade all throughout the “ceremony,” that was, until the veteran placed the key and opened the door. For one, the ridiculous amount of reaitsu flowing from the semi-menacing void. When the portal opened up, Hana’s eyes shot wide open, and a sense of panic overcame her entire soul. It was as if the unknown darkness was a siren calling out to all of the graduates, whether they liked it or not. Hana had to really try and not get pulled by the strength from the void’s reaitsu.

After the old man’s directions and lecture, Hana watched as her peers passed her, one by one, into the unknown. However, she was not as excited as some of her peers, nor as confident in facing her other self. What if she lost against her other self? What if she couldn’t handle it? What happens if she can’t successfully impale the figure with her sword? A million things were running through her mind, and she was frozen in place. Could you blame her?

At this point, Hana was doubting herself, more than she had ever before. Thugs who tried to kidnap her? Please. That’s nothing compared to this, and the reality of her soul being eaten by a hollow, which means death. Compared to some of the others, this is not her second life…. This is her first. She was born in the world of the dead, not the world of the living… So what happens if she dies? Will she get a second chance like the others or will that be it? Would she turn into a hollow instead?

Suddenly, a stern voice snapped her out of her train of stress and overthinking. It was one of her upperclassmen, telling her to hurry on along, and to not waste their time. Hana politely bowed, apologizing for her tardiness. Hesitantly, she made her way to the bitch black void. Taking a deep breathe, and passed through the black threshold.

Hana was expecting meeting her other self almost immediately after she walked through the threshold, however that was not the case. She was blindly walking in the black darkness. After a few minutes, she somewhat lost her sense of direction. Hana was about to start externally panicking when she suddenly felt a shudder crawl up her back. She slowly turned around and was face to face with a snow leopard. Hana froze in place as her eyes grew as wide as saucers.

The leopard was stunning, its light gray fur was spotted with dark gray unsymmetrical shapes. Usually leopards had hazel eyes, or dark brown eyes, however this one had golden eyes. Hana was awe-stricken by its beauty, but suddenly that dazed feeling was replaced by anxiety, and fear as the creature began to slowly advance on Hana. She slowly began to back up as soon as there was only about 6 feet between them. At this point she was so confused. The animal was not attacking, nor receding. Out of her nerves and franticness, Hana clumsily tripped over her robes and fell back unceremoniously onto her butt.

Hana winced in pain, and when she finally came to, the leopard was right in front of her, practically in her face. Instinctively she brought her arms up to cover her face, and shut her eyes tightly out of fear.

“Child, why are you so pitiful?” A voice rang out. Hana gasped and removed her arms, placing them behind her to prop herself up. She was still nervous about the small proximity between her and the snow leopard. “Hana. You’re not mute. Answer me.” A commanding female voice rang through Hana’s ears, however she did not see anyone else around.

“Did you just talk?” She asked hesitantly. Hana could’ve sworn she saw the creature’s eyes roll.

“Theoretically, yes.” The leopard replied. “Do you know who I am?”

“My other self.” Hana whispered gently.

“Ah. There you go, see, you aren’t as pitiful as you seem.” The leopard sat back and it looked like she had a small smile on her face. “Sit up child, that is not how a noble should be sitting, much less behaving.” Hana did as she was told and sat up quietly. “Again, I ask, why are you so pitiful?”

Hana had no words, she just avoided eye contact. “I’m so behind other that are in my class….” She whispered softly. “I’m not cut out for this. Mum and Dad were right… and so were my older siblings.” She then could feel the tension of someone’s annoyance. Hana finally looked up and made eye contact with the leopard. Indeed she had a face of annoyance.

The leopard suddenly jumped on Hana, pressing its paws into her shoulders, pushing her back getting really close to Hana’s face. “This is not how you should be acting, nor reacting.” She said sternly, her eyes squinting softly. “You are nothing but a coward. You have potential, but you are too scared to try and even reach, or even go above your potential.” She lectured. “You wouldn’t be able to be in here, nor survive that night if you were not capable to become a Shinigami.” Afterwards, the graceful creature got off and returned to her resting state.

“And stop with the cool and overly graceful façade. You and I both know you can be a bit ditzy and clumsy at times, and it irritates the sh*t out of me when you pretend like nothing is bothering you.” Hana continued to stay in her position. “Get a grip on reality, work hard to make your parents proud, and try not to get killed on the field. Understand hardship and hard work, you aren’t living in the cozy bubble of your old life anymore.” Hana only stared at her lap, after sitting up, feeling slightly overwhelmed and stressed. The leopard noticed this and groaned before placing a paw gently under her chin.

“Hana, look at me,” her voice softened slightly, “You are stronger than this, and you’ll make it. Stop being such a scaredy-cat.” She again, stated sternly. “This is not the last you will see of me, but remember, if you do not stay true to who you really are, things will only get harder from here.” The leopard began to walk away. “Oh. And next time, try hard to not irritate the crap out of me.” She said glaring softly before she began to walk away.

Hana watched slowly, and towards the direction the snow leopard was heading, a room full of light was in the distance. She sighed and slowly made her way to it. Like her other self said, this is reality now, and it was already too late to turn back the moment she stepped through those gates into the human world. As she passed through the white threshold, like the old man said, there was a faceless Shinigami in the midst of the room.

She took a shuddering sigh again before shakily unsheathing her asuchi. Hana then approached the ‘dummy’ and closed her eyes tightly before gently, yet firmly pressed the blade through the chest. After this agonizing process, only because she felt as if she was stabbing a real person, she concentrated deeply and tried poured her reiatsu into the Shinigami. After a few failed attempts, she took a frustrated breath before closing her eyes and tried even harder, squeezing the hilt of her asuchi tightly, at the same time.

When she was done, she took a relieved breath when she saw her Zanpakuto in the left hand of the dummy. Her Zanpakuto was fairly different and unique. On one end there was beautiful katana with a traditional black hilt. The hilt was adorned and accented in gold, the same gold as the eyes of the snow leopard. The thing that surprised her the most was the golden chain attached at the end of the hilt, and at the end of the chain was a golden cuff, or bracelet.

Hana placed the cuff on her right wrist, and as she reached over to grab her zanpakuto, she noticed small extensions off of her chain. It turns out that throughout her chain, there were miniscule, millimeter spikes that didn’t hurt when she touched it.

After receiving her things, she was finally able to leave the hell hole. She did not wish to go back in there again. When she was finished, she found herself back inside of the graduation chambers, slightly confused and a little disorientated.
It was now time to join a division, but it wasn’t that hard to think about which one to join. She had already declared herself as a part of the sixth division and that was what she was planning to do.

[exit.]

Takezo made his way toward the open door towards the room devoid of any light, even the light from beyond its threshold was denied entrance, ending abruptly upon its transom.

Takezo had survived the ordeal in the human world with the aid of Takara, a young woman who would follow him soon enough. He had been partly protected by the debris of the building then dragged away with her by some unnamed shinigami. Things had been more hectic for the other students, but he had his moment as well.

Takezo walked into the room, the darkness surrounding him as the door closed behind him. His asauchi was held aloft in his sword hand, ready to defend himself when necessary as the attendant mentioned the presence of a monster. IF this was true, then it seemed the academy was a much more brutal place than he had imagined.

Takezo stopped after a few more paces, unsure if it would be prudent to proceed or wait for what would come. His answer came quickly.

A dull roar boomed above him, and light blindingly appeared streaking across the sky. Which was odd, as he had been in doors, not outside. This continued for several moments, becoming clear what Takezo was seeing was a storm.

Lightening struck before him, knocking him off his feet and onto the soft earth behind him. Thunder roared so loudly he thought his eardrums would burst. Such intense pressure surrounded him, and static sparked through the air as he lay dazed on the ground.

As he raised himself from the ground, two beings appeared where the sound and light had culminated before him, both shrouded in blue and white auras of energy. They stood beside each other, each carrying a sword in their hands as well as on their waists. Both beings wore masks, both demonic in nature though the human face could barely be seen beneath them through the gaps where the eyes and mouth were. They both appeared to be men, but vastly different in stature.

The man on the right was shrouded in blue energy, his mask was red with a mouth upturned in a gruesome grin. He wore white and blue robes, that hung loosely from his body. His hair was black and tied neatly in a ponytail that trailed behind him in the wind. He was of an average build, nothing stood out completely but he had an air of experience about him that came across as intimidating.

The second being was much larger, and much different. His mask was blue, and shared the same look as the other beings, but the mouth as turned down in a frown, giving the mask a feeling of rage. He was well muscled, and stood easily a two feet taller than his partner. Instead of robes, he wore ornamental armor, across his waist, legs and arms, while wearing a leather tunic that partly covered his chest. Its coloration was Yellow and black.

The two stepped forward and stabbed the blades in their hands into the ground before Takezo, then took a step back.

"These swords are now yours." The smaller man said, motioning for Takezo to stand and retrieve the blades. Takezo followed suite, but he did not take the swords in hand.

"Whats the matter with ye, take de damn blades and be done with it." The large man said, taking a step forwards. Aggressive in his demeanor, rather than calm like his counterpart.

"Who are you two?" Takezo asked, not being intimidated by the large ones presence now that he could easily see them in the backdrop of energy that lit the two men.

"Take the blades, and you will know us in time. The one on the right said again, turning and walking away.

"More like he'll know us when we damn well feel like it." The man on the right said, turning as well.

"The introduction has been made, now leave us." The man on the right said, turning and waiting for his companion.

"When we deem you ready, you will see us again."

With a flash of light and boom of thunder, the two disappeared and the darkness dissipated. Leaving Takezo in a well lit chamber with two zanpaktou stabbed into the floor before him.

The entire situation had been weird, but it seems he had passed whatever test it was that the two had left for him. All that was left to do was to take the zanpaktou.

The blades were identical in length and appearance, though one's hilt was wrapped in blue, the other in red. Regardless, he took hold of both blades and pulled them free.
______________________________________________________________________________________

An explosion of reiatsu washed through the academy and surrounding areas, Shinigami winced as the wave of pressure washed over them, as strong as any captain that had released their weapon with soul society to date. Students collapsed into unconciousness while many others winced as the pressure caught them unawares.

Such a release of power had not gone unnoticed, and now several other powers approached the academy from the rest of the Seireitei.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Leo exited the room, both blades attached to his belt as he held a hand to his head, A ghost pain in his mind, but something was weird. This wasn't the Soul Society he remembered, but they would have to quickly adapt to new circumstances. His release of power had attracted attention, but he would need to find Jin/pluto Hurs and Janza.

Stepping away from he door, and the collapsed adjutant, he made his way towards the men he would need to see.