Beyond the Beyond

Prologue

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What is there after death?

I'm sure this is a question everyone had asked themselves at least once. Some believe that they'd be reincarnated again; some believe that they'd be in either heaven or hell; some simply wait for the time to come.

I'm open to every choice.

Though, if I were to be reincarnated again, I'd wish to be together with everyone I know again but seeing as we'd probably have our memories wiped out, I'd never know what I'd missed.

My friend said that I shouldn't expect much, we'd face it when the time comes. She was the only one out of our group of friends willing to tolerate my talk about the afterlife and whatever will be there after death.

I listened to her because, well, she's the smartest. She always had an answer to everything—doesn't mean all answers are right though—and she was always well-prepared for anything.

I wished she had told me how to prepare myself for this.

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Sharp, tiny pebbles pressing into my cheek—the tortured spot of skin flaring in pain—was what I woke up to.

It was an extremely uncomfortable position to wake up from. I groaned softly; my first reaction was to push myself away from my source of discomfort. I was sleeping too comfortably to wake up now.

I rolled away, brushing away the tiny pebbles that had stuck onto my right cheek. It only resulted in more pain as I rolled right into a boulder.

At least, I assumed it's a boulder judging from the size.

"Ow!" I cried, flinching away. This time, instant of rolling about to be in a more comfortable position, I was pushing myself into a sitting position.

This was unnatural. Why wasn't I in my room?

How did I end up here?

I cracked my eyes open, taking a few moments to process what I was seeing. Why on earth was I on a dusty plain? There was absolutely nothing in sight. All I saw were just the dusty earth and a few dead trees, dried branches and a lot of stones of all sizes.

I grabbed the boulder and heaved myself up to my feet, stumbling as my vision spun.

The sun was glaring down at me harshly. I turned my back from the source of the light, frown on my face as I tried to comprehend my situation.

Maybe this was a dream? There was no such area in my hometown. I pinched myself but to no avail—when I opened my eyes, I was still standing in the middle of nowhere.

"Is this a joke?" I wondered out loud. "Because this isn't funny. I'm not enjoying myself at all."

I clenched my fists, pissed off. No answer came—what had I expected? For my friends to spring out of nowhere and start laughing? Even they wouldn't go this far when they're playing pranks.

And trust me, they would do a lot to prank someone. I had been a victim of the less-vicious ones and I had partaken in the pranking before.

I turned 360-degrees to get a better look at the place. I saw no sign of civilization but I did notice something.

My hair, my jaw-length hair had elongated in my sleep. No way. Now that I was more aware of myself, I finally noticed how odd this situation was.

My pitch-black hair had lightened a few shades—or maybe it was just the light changing its color—but that wasn't the problem, it was the length. It went past my waist. And my body.

I glanced down. "Why am I so small?" I cried. "And what are these clothes?"

I had gone to sleep in my pajamas, not this… one-piece clothing. Looks like a tattered kimono. And it was pink with plum swirls—how girly was that? What a monstrosity. I have to change as soon as my eyes managed to catch sight of a wardrobe.

And I was way taller than this. I could not have shrunk so much! I knew I wasn't the tall type, but to be this small? Really?

What do I do?

Where am I?

It was with these questions plaguing me that prompted me to start moving. I had to find someone and ask for help. I dunno how they'd be able to help me if they're also trapped in this world. But the company of others always helped to lighten the situation, right?

There's safety in numbers, right?

That's what I believed in anyway. But it was my only hope. My only light in this darkness—never mind that the sun was glaring onto my back, you get the point.

I didn't know how long I walked and ran—with a few stops in between—trying to find an end to this.

And I didn't notice this before—but what the fuck is this shitty joke? It's going too far!—I started moving and the clinking sound alerted me of its presence: chains. Around my wrists and ankles. My arms and legs were chained together. There was a considerable distance, so I could still move but it was still troublesome if I wanted to run like lightning.

I was tired, angry, sweating and ready to punch whoever placed me here. "It's not funny anymore," I groaned. "I'm very hungry." On cue, my stomach growled loudly. "Whatever I did to offend you guys, man, I'm sorry. I've repented, can we please go home now?"

My hopefulness was starting to dwindle. I had ran a long ways after all. If my friends had played a prank on me, they would've followed. Do I have to go back there?

No, I'm sure they'd follow. But then—I glanced around—where are they?

Did I lose them? Or did I have a camera on my back, recording my every move and words? I groped my body, but found nothing. But I did notice one thing.

I didn't have breasts, which was weird for a seventeen year old and —

Huh?

I turned, seeing nothing. Huh, I thought I heard a sound reminiscence of a zipper being pulled. Was it my imagination?

Great. I was being desperate enough to hallucinate. Good thing this place wasn't a desert or I would've died long ago, thirsty and hungry.

I quickened my pace.

I can't explain the feeling but—I think it's women's sixth sense—I have a feeling that I should start running for my life.

I tripped and stumbled, unaccustomed to running within this chained state.

I ran for it anyway—just as I heard it:

A tremendous roar that shook the earth and raised the hairs on my arms.

I didn't see the blow—but I sure felt it. How could I not when it resulted in my blood being spilled and large gashes tearing into my back?

A cry of pain escaped my lips as I fell forward, feeling as if my back was on fire. The chains clinked together, making the situation worse for me. Bound, chained and under attack—if this was a dream, then this was the worst fucking nightmare of my life.

A shadow loomed over me and by instinct's bid, I rolled away. I scrambled to my feet—or tried to anyway. I only managed to pull myself into a crouch, it didn't matter if I was in no state to run.

Even if I could, I had been frozen by the sight that greeted my eyes: a monster stood over where I had fallen earlier.

It was a masked monster, a gaping hole in its green chest, its tail was swishing in air, the tip glinting in the sunlight. It turned its head, its empty eyes looked on in confusion at the crater it'd made; it pulled its arms back, one of its claws were bloodied—by my blood.

I didn't dare make a sound, didn't dare breathe or move. I ended up choking, coughing as necessity forced me to breathe in air.

The slightest of sound alerted the monster of my presence.

When it lunged again, bringing its claw down, I took the opportunity to free myself. Well, it was a valiant attempt. Stretched to its limits, the chain was straight and brittle—but it did not shatter, only held the monster where it was.

Belatedly, I realized it was a good thing or I would've been split in half.

Idiot, I berated myself. Did I forget that I was only breathing now because the chain stopped the attack?

Maybe it was useful for something after all.

My arms trembled, I couldn't hold on forever. Already, I was losing this battle of strengths. And—shit! I cussed mentally, how could I forget its pointed tail?

As if reading my mind, the monster's tail appeared within line of sight, shooting straight at me, about to lance my head.

I'm going to die—

The chains shattered and—in an instant—light was everywhere.

I closed my eyes tightly—and let go.

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything of which you recognize.

Author's Note; I wrote this on a whim after reading the 'Red Warrior' by Silver Glory—or whatever she's changed her penname into now. I like how she wrote it, she sparked the old fan of Bleach in me and I decided to write this since I'm on a SI-spree. I'm not sure if I'd continue this since I'm not up to date with the manga.

You can use this as a prologue to your Bleach SI if you want, or you can base your prologue off this and tweak it, just ask for permission and give me the link when you started the story!

If there's popular demand, maybe I'd update a second chapter. Maybe.

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