Origin of the World

(A/N: Some of you may have noticed that the last three paragraphs of the previous chapter had a big typo in it. The last scene was ONLY with Ryuken and Yuzu, I somehow accidently wrote Jugram toward the end a few times. Feel free to reread it so as not to get the wrong idea.

Also, this chapter contains original content that is not seen or explained by Kubo but it is my own interpretation and head canon.)

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Orihime stood by herself in the abandoned northern wing of Las Noches. After stabilizing herself from the several new egos she coopted, a portion of the Akashic Records was released from the seal. She was at the edge of a breakthrough but just lacked a big push. From the information she picked out of the sealed records, she discovered a use for hollows. This was the secret to the Soul King's authority in the three realms.

The world was originally just the living and the dead. Hell had been around longer than either Hueco Mundo or Soul Society. This is obvious in the sense that neither the Hollows nor Soul Reapers can interfere in Hell's authority. Not even the Soul King is able to free manipulate Hell. The humans of the world were once a part of their own cycle of life and death. Humans of this world contained two spiritual bodies.

Upon death, the soul would be split into two. One portion would go to Hell in order for their sins and memories to be washed away. The other portion would enter the earth and invigorate the life of the realm. The souls in Hell would eventually become pristinely white and return to earth as an infant. This all changed (when the fire nation attacked) when the first Soul King arrived.

Exerting its authority on the human realm, it was able to create two additional realms. One to store the harvested energy portion of the soul, and the other to hide its actions from Hell. This being was able to grow much more powerful while siphoning the energy that should be returning to the realm, further separating the three realms. Eventually, the concentration of spirit particles on the original world became desolate and Hell noticed.

The gates opened and a black seed was released into the world holding the soul energy. This seed took root and grew into a forest that covered the whole of the realm. It slowly warped the energy beings into what is known as the Hollow today. The corruption also made the energy of Hollows a poison to the being. However, it wouldn't give up such an easy source of power.

The being thus became the first Soul King after turning the spirits which retained memories from their human life into Soul Reapers. Their task was to directly send the energy source in souls to the Soul King utilizing the Soul Burial, a very complex ritual at the time. The being was weakened from the excursion and created a clone to watch over the World of the Living while it rested. However, this clone was born as an infant, and was unable to control his divinity. This clone became known as Yhwach.

Over the years, Soul Reapers became disgruntled at the invisible King and overthrew its position. However, it was still resting and didn't notice. The Soul King position is an empty throne, the real power is the siphoning of souls, so it would not have cared even if it noticed. Many betrayals occurred until one day, four families gathered together, realizing the Soul King position was a lie. They discovered the location of the dormant being and cut off its limbs, dug out its heart and sealed it in a natural crystal that suppressed spiritual power.

As Orihime took in all of the information, she exhaled in exasperation. Regardless of what happened in the past and how pitiful the Soul King was, she didn't care. The main thing she gained was the knowledge of accessing that energy source in Hollows. Hollows were poison to Quincy, however, through a twist of fate, when a Quincy destroys a Hollow, the energy returns to the earth. Perhaps this was a manipulation by Hell's authority.

Utilizing the hogyoku, Quincy powers, and Oetsu's Asauchi forging techniques, Orihime was confident in being able to create a set of spirit weapons for the girls. Orihime released her Reiatsu and began to remodel the area a kilometer around her. The first thing to appear was a large forge. She utilized the techniques from Oetsu's ego as well as some of the conjectures and knowledge from the shark tank in her head. A source of spiritual flames was provided using magma from the mantle under the earth. It had the property that it would not extinguish as long as there were spiritual particles around it which wasn't a problem in Hueco Mundo.

Next, a large open-air bath was created modeling some of the famous natural springs on earth. Although she did not have the abilities of Tenjiro, she could still create very spiritually concentrated water. The baths were just behind the furnace, so the heat from the magma kept the water hot. A simple system of adding cold water completed the design. Finally, she added a few Japanese style rooms and stopped manipulated the nearby spirit particles. It only took her half an hour, but changing the form of objects made from spirit particles was exhausting.

Orihime stripped and slowly entered the large bath with a satisfied sigh. Just as she relaxed, she heard a familiar voice.

"M-master, I'm coming in~"

…

The training had already reached the one-month mark and it was now September. Yuzu had spent all of her free time with Ryuken underneath the hospital. At first, she thought it would be a simple hidden room underground, but when she saw the massive underground area, she was dumbstruck. Unlike Urahara's cavern underneath his shop, the training area made by Ryuken was a lot more futuristic.

It features white pillars and floors as the base style, matching the Quincy identity. The pillars and corridors were created in a complex way that would easily leave someone trapped if they did not know their way around. This was Yuzu's training for the first two weeks. Using only her spiritual perception, she needed to find her way back to the elevator after Ryuken brought her to a random point in the underground maze.

Ryuken had told her this would take at least a month and to focus on improving so as not to get frustrated. However, after the first week she was able to find her way back. Frustrated at her genius level talent, he placed her in various other locations and even cut off her five senses on the last trial. She completed everything in half the time he expected. Not only that, but the training had developed her blut domain to five meters and lasting ten seconds. This was a major improvement compared to before.

For the last two weeks, Ryuken drilled Yuzu in catching arrows made from spirit particles with her Reiatsu. This would typically not be possible if not for her blut vene ability. By practicing the fine control of her Reiatsu and maintaining the integrity of various types of arrows Ryuken shot at her, she was able to advance by leaps and bounds. This level of growth was not even something Aizen or Orihime could compare to. However, unknown to her, a connected had been formed through her shadow. A quiet stream of Reiatsu would bolster and strengthen her powers while she slept.

"Yuzu, come here, I have something for you."

"What is it, sensei?"

"This uniform belonged to your mother. It is a specially crafted Reishi Armor used by our ancestors to battle Hollow and Soul Reaper alike."

"My mother's? Why did you have it, sensei?"

"Your mother was originally adopted into our family by my father. She was arranged to be married to me… Anyway, when she gave up her powers, she left behind all of her Quincy equipment with my family."

"Adopted!? Doesn't that mean sensei is my uncle?"

Ryuken, who was always serious, couldn't help but laugh at how naïve and innocent she was. Here he was, presenting her with a powerful set of equipment, and she was wondering about their family tree. He couldn't help but reach out and ruffle her hair. Ryuken hated the Quincy powers because of his father and grandfather. This ultimately led him to become estranged with his only son. However, something about Yuzu made him feel peaceful and happy. Perhaps this was a side effect of her blut domain, but he wouldn't be affected unless he felt close with Yuzu to begin with.

Yuzu puffed out her cheeks in resistance at having her hair messed with. Once he pulled away, she took the box and opened it. Inside was a blue and white Quincy outfit. Additionally, there was a right-handed glove, arm brace, and a Quincy cross. She took out each item and thought about her mother. She was too young to have many memories of Masaki. The gloves and armor were a bit big, but since they were made of spirit particles they quickly adjusted to her body.

Wearing the clothes that belonged to her mother and learning the past that she never knew made her feel warm inside. Her eyes glazed over and she hugged Ryuken, surprising him. However, he didn't resist and held her. She whispered 'thank you, uncle' and they stayed like that for several minutes.