Well, here's Chapter 11 of Key through the Soul. I know it is a little late ( I did promise I would have this up in two weeks and it has been over…two weeks) but I spent some time creating the various villains as well as their abilities. By the time I was done and moved up to the chapter outline it was almost two weeks. This chapter marks the first appearance of the soulless to Ichigo and the other characters. My first draft of this chapter didn't have them appear but I realized it would be really boring to wait several chapters and thus decided to changed the timeline by just a couple of chapters. Everything I planned out will still occur but the soulless will appear earlier.

Some of you may note the behavior of the soulless when it comes to emotions varies or contradicts each other. All I will say for the moment is that emotions affect Soulless in different ways with the more powerful soulless (who will be introduced in this chapter as well) either being totally immersed by the emotion or lacking it entirely. Both have their benefits as well as their drawbacks when it comes to power and strength. Anyway enjoy the chapter and don't forget to read and review!

NOTE: I am thinking of taking some time off from this story (yes I know I just got back to it) to write another crossover for World of Warcraft. I am considering rewriting Warcraft: Lightning Chronicles or another Bleach X WoW Crossover (with only Ichigo or another character going). Over my time on Fanfiction I have consistently increased my writing abilities as well as fight scenes. I also realized that I write MUCH better stories when I don't have to ferry the attention of my readers from character to character. Sure I may shift the perspective onto various characters but having several main characters in one story is very difficult to write effectively about. Tell me what you think in your reviews for this chapter.

NOTE 2: If you checked out my profile I updated the first several chapters of this story. You should go back and check them out to see what's changed!

Thank you to the following people for reviewing Chapter 10: anonimus, TheCrazyAnimeFan, ultima-owner, T-Biggz, Turtles, the96, Raging Berseker, the Zogg, Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, Omodor. I apologize if I was unable to answer any questions you had in your reviews with a PM.

...

The sound of a clock slowly ticking broke through the heavy silence permeating Eraqus's private office. The master sat as his desk, his hands folded beneath his chin and his forehead creased from concentration. Unable to remain sitting any longer he stood up and moved towards the large window behind his desk. Looking out over the courtyard stretching out below, he took in the shades of brown and orange of the late November landscape, "What you are saying presents a disturbing reality. For something like this to occur is unheard of."

For a moment there was silence but eventually Eraqus received a response, the tone of his guest betraying no emotion apart from a slight tinge of annoyance, "I assure you these facts are accurate. Are you questioning my integrity Eraqus?"

"You know that is not true," he shook his head as he felt a slight change in the ambient mana. It was ironic that for all her self-control she would get worked up over something like this, "It's difficult to believe something like this could have happened without any warning signs. To not only kill a master but leave no evidence behind of their presence? Hohenheim was among the best of us. For him to fall…who or what could have done such a thing?"

There was a good reason Eraqus was so concerned. Hohenheim Elric, also known as Hohenheim of Light, was perhaps one of the most powerful keyblade masters to come about in a couple of centuries. Eraqus could not recall any person that could face Hohenheim in battle and win. The man's skill with his keyblade, Philosopher's Stone, was legendary and the versatility of his magic made him nearly invincible in combat. Even if Xehanort, Jecht and himself were to fight Hohenheim together the odds of winning were slim.

When he spoke again his voice was cold and crisp, "What killed him?"

"Unfortunately I was unable to find out," his guest confessed while absentmindedly adjusting an earring, "But I am fairly certain that whoever fought Hohenheim did not leave the battle unscathed."

Eraqus turned his head slightly and looked at his guest and fellow master, Edea Kramer. Unlike most keyblade masters who's attire functioned more for versatility in combat, Edea wore a purple skin-tight dress with a feathered neckline. Despite the fact that such clothing should make it difficult for Edea to do anything more than walk, she was surprisingly nimble in combat. Due to his duties Eraqus had never actually seen her fight seriously but from what Xehanort has said Edea uses short-range teleportation and Haste to increase her speed to where she appears to be in multiple places at once.

"Even after all these years you are still the same man. I don't need to remind you that I am perhaps the master with the greatest experience in magic," Edea chuckled softly, "I took several scans of the battlefield and collected multiple residues of mana. Before Hohenheim perished he had cast several Tier V spells including Holy, Flare, and Ultima. The power he put into them was so intense that even after I arrived there were still traces of them. With the amount of power Hohenheim put into his attacks in conjunction with the devastated landscape I think it is safe to conclude that whoever he faced did not walk away with anything less than major injuries. They might even be dead."

Eraqus frowned at the news before he had an idea, "Someone this strong could not have fled unnoticed and, if you are correct, their injuries would be too severe for magic to heal. If we conduct a search of the world Hohenheim was on we might fight someone who saw his murderer."

"I thought along the same line," the intensity in Edea's eyes doubled, "But the denizens of Agrabah were quite unhelpful in my pursuit of the truth."

"Unhelpful?" That didn't sound right to Eraqus. Agrabah was amongst the friendliest of worlds. The sultan was known to let masters and their apprentices rest in the royal palace.

Edea sighed, "Let me rephrase. The denizens were not unhelpful, they were simply unable to give me any information that could be of use in determining what happened to Hohenheim."

"Were you able to find out anything?"

"My first assumption was that the Dark Master you and Xehanort discovered was involved but that notion was quickly rejected upon finding no trace of darkness on the battlefield."

"Impossible," Eraqus muttered in shock.

"That was my initial reaction," Edea explained in her usual dispassionate tone, "But I was intrigued so I decided to dig deeper into what happened. That is when I found something…odd to say the least. If the lack of any darkness was strange the overabundance of light was peculiar."

"Light?" Eraqus frowned and turned back to the window as a cloud floated in front of the sun, temporarily bathing the landscape in darkness.

With a lazy flick of her wrist Edea lit every candle in the room with a Fire spell, "Yes but there was something off about it. It was nothing but pure light but what I detected felt wrong. If I had to hazard a guess, I would call it impure light."

"Impure light…" Eraqus let the words fall off his tongue. He felt as if he should know more about this. A part of his brain recalled his master describing to him legends of various creatures that existed before the Keyblade War. At the time he thought such myths and fairy tales were beneath him but as time passed and his master died he found himself revisited those same books over and over again.

"There was something my master once told Xehanort and myself soon after we became his apprentices. He regaled us with tales about the endless battle between the light and darkness and the two armies that represent both sides in the eternal conflict.

"Are you perhaps referring to the legend of the soulless?"

"Yes," he nodded. While he was not overly surprised Edea knew of the soulless the fact that she preempted his saying so meant she had already thought long and hard on the matter, "I know it's a foolish notion to try and blame a myth on what happened to Hohenheim. It's just that your description of an impure light brings such fables to the forefront of my mind."

With Eraqus's attention no longer on her Edea subconsciously adjusted her dress. It was perhaps the only sign of nervousness that she ever exhibited and she was determined to make sure no one else knew, "Shall we speak hypothetically Eraqus?"

When he said nothing Edea assumed he was in agreement, "If you are correct and what killed Hohenheim was, in fact, a soulless then the future looks bleak. The legends state the soulless, unlike their antithesis, are not mindless creatures but intelligent beings with nearly full control over their faculties. The only weaknesses they were told to have were a fatal reaction to darkness and only one singular emotion that drives them."

"Sadness, anger, love, regret…" Eraqus listed off several of the emotions the soulless were supposed to represent, "I would not expect such a thing as emotion to be a weakness if I had not seen people crippled by sorrow or held back by their feelings."

"Exactly," Edea regally stood up and appeared to float across the floor until she was standing next to Eraqus, "The soulless's greatest strength as well as their most crippling weakness was their tie to emotions. This attack on Hohenheim could be a precursor of a larger plan. He was among the strongest of us and yet he fell before them. What is to stop them from simply coming after the rest of us? While I may be stronger then Hohenheim when it comes to magic I do not believe for a moment I could best him in combat."

Eraqus perked up as he remembered something, "Didn't you say earlier that Hohenheim must have seriously injured his opponent before dying?"

When Edea slightly nodded he continued, "What if you were correct and it was a soulless that he fought. The soulless are intelligent so it makes sense to believe they would not send just anyone after Hohenheim. I think they send their strongest member after him. They must have thought it would be overkill. I think Hohenheim proved stronger than anticipated and the soulless was forced to retreat back to wherever they are hiding with massive injuries, forcing their most powerful member to be out of commission for an extended period of time. While Hohenheim's death is tragic he may have forestalled any plans the soulless have for the Realm of Light for some time."

"That is an excellent point," Edea looked off to the side, her brown eyes seeming to focus on something in the distance. After a moment she refocused her attention, "If the soulless have indeed returned from legends back into reality then we need to plan a course of action. What information there is about them is scattered and perturbed by myths and legends. What do you recommend?"

Eraqus was at a loss for words, "I must confess that in all my years of being the steward of this world I thought had planned for every possible scenario. I had plans in place for attacks from armies, the heartless and even nobodies but not soulless. That being said it is going to be exceedingly difficult to change the wards and runes across the Land of Departure to account for the soulless. I initially designed them after Gilgamesh's failed assault last year to respond to incursions from beings of the darkness. If the soulless were to exist they could pass through the wards without so much as a bell going off."

"You were always gifted when it came to runes Eraqus," Edea complimented and folded her arms in front of her plunging neckline, "But if I may ask couldn't you simply readjust them to detect soulless?"

"If only it were that easy," Eraqus muttered, "The soulless are composed of nothing but light. If I were to adjust the wards to detect beings like that then the alarms would never stop. Every denizen on the world as well as anyone with a keyblade would automatically be deemed an intruder. If I could capture a soulless and take a fresh sample of their mana perhaps I could adjust the wards. The only ones that might not set it off would be Ichigo and Yoruichi…for obvious reasons of course."

"I saw the boy you call Ichigo when I first arrived," Edea watched as Eraqus walked over to a cabinet stacked with dozens of books, "He seemed like a charming young man but I could sense the inherent darkness in his heart from his origins. It was strange to see someone with that much darkness and not be corrupted."

"That is because the Realm of Darkness operates differently than the Realm of Light, as you already know," Eraqus explained as his finger traced the spines in search of what he sought, "Edea, would you believe that Ichigo's appearance was more than just luck? That his coming here was part of a grander design?"

Edea watched Eraqus carefully as he spoke, "A boy from the Realm of Darkness appears that just so happens to have a keyblade without entering the Chamber of Introspection? The series of events that coincide with Karakura's destruction by the heartless can be mere coincidence. I did not get to where I am today by ignoring my heart. There is something missing, a piece of a puzzle that can fit Karakura and the soulless together."

Eraqus stopped at a certain book and carefully removed it from the shelf. Turning around he handed it to Edea, "Take this."

"What is it?" Edea traced a gloved finger over the leather cover and leafed through the pages. She noted that each page was covered in a familiar script with several diagrams and drawings.

"This is a collection of every piece of information my master found on the soulless. He was a very strict man but he also thought the old myths and legends were true. When he gave me his journal I took it to be a joke but now I think he was on to something. If he was still alive he would be rubbing it in my face."

Edea stopped flipping through the pages, "Why are you giving me this?"

"My master highlighted several worlds of note that he believed to contain relics from the time of the soulless. He believed there was a weapon or spell that caused the soulless to retreat for all this time but he was unable to actual find it. It took some time to decipher the code he wrote in but what I found was in line with the legends. If the soulless are here then we need to start preparing for the inevitable. "

Edea looked away for a moment, looking as if she was debating whether to speak, "The others do need to be informed but I would have thought Xehanort would make a better choice."

"I'm afraid I've lost touch with Xehanort ever since he took on an apprentice," Eraqus said with a hint of annoyance, "It was surprising when I heard the news from him but I can see why he would do something like that. A master like him, who is one of the most knowledgeable people in the Realm of Light…to just pass on without someone to carry his legacy must be tantamount to the worst of evils."

"I see," Edea snapped the journal shut and tucked it away within her dress. She had never liked Xehanort. There was just something about him that put her on edge, "I cannot promise I will be able to reach all the masters. With my new responsibility my mobility and speed from world to world have been decreased."

"Ah yes your student. Rinoa was it?"

Edea paused a moment, "She is only fourteen, just at the minimum age to be taken as an apprentice. She is an inquisitive young girl with a talent for magic that I have not yet encountered apart from myself and perhaps a few others. I was hoping she could join your students and learn a thing or two about proper casting. Rinoa's magic is so powerful she can brute force most spells and only half-listens to me when I scold her. Perhaps if she were to sit in a few lessons she might be able to learn some discipline while we're here."

"I suppose that shouldn't be a problem," Eraqus considered her request, "But may I ask why you have not done so yourself? You aren't the most lenient of masters."

Edea gave a cold smirk, "I find it repugnant to use such methods a mere child. If Rinoa were a year or two older perhaps I would but she is too young for such actions. I am afraid such disciplinary methods would scare her heart and mind. I will not do such a thing."

"It shouldn't be a problem. There are so few children on this world. I think Ichigo, Terra, and Aqua would benefit from interacting with another person their age."

"It is a shame that your duties prevent them from traveling off world and gaining knowledge firsthand," Edea turned and headed towards the door. As she passed into the hall Eraqus watched her disappear with the familiar pulse of a teleport.

He would never admit that he was a tad jealous. What he would give to be able to use spells like that left and right without falling over from exhaustion. There was a good reason that despite its simplicity, teleport was one of the most rarely known spells. The amount of mana needed to do even one short-range jump was astronomical. Even Xehanort could only do three to four jumps before exhausting all his mana.

Leaning back in his chair Eraqus closed his eyes and began to think about the events going on. First the appearance of the Dark Master and now the soulless show up. What was going on in the realms?

Key through the Soul

CHAPTER 11: Blinded by the Light

The autumn and winter months in the Land of Departure never had the brisk and biting cold that plagued many other worlds. Some thought it was because the world's balance between Light and Darkness was nearly perfect and thus reflected on the seasonal weather. Despite what the reason may be the temperature never dropped low enough to warrant the use of heavy clothing, gloves, or other accessories.

Nearly a mile away from the castle Ichigo laid on the grass with his hands folded behind his head. He found it hard to believe that he was now seventeen and it had been slightly over a year since the heartless destroyed his world and he came to the Land of Departure. Just thinking about that caused his heart to clench in anger but months training under Jecht and making friends with Terra and Aqua had helped him come to terms with what happened.

"I shouldn't be up here," he remarked with a slight frown.

Several feet away, and completely relaxed, Terra opened one eye to reply to Ichigo's unasked question, "It was either come up here with us or whatever the hell Master Jecht was planning. I could have sworn he was carrying metal spikes."

He closed his eyes again, "You got a point there. I'd rather be relaxing up here than training under that psychopathic maniac."

Ichigo would gladly admit that Jecht was a powerful master who knew dozens of techniques and skills. The problem was the man was like an unholy amalgamation of his father and Kisuke. One moment he would attempt a sneak attack on him to test his reflexes and the next he would be lying on the floor describing just how Ichigo could have taken him down faster and easier. It was utterly frustrating.

"Don't give Ichigo bad advice Terra," Aqua called out a little further away.

Terra seemed to find her reaction puzzling, "Have you ever seen Master Jecht really get angry at Ichigo for ditching training?"

Jecht and Ichigo's relationship as master and apprentice was very simple. Whenever Ichigo decided he had enough of Jecht's behavior and ditched training the scenario would play out the same. Jecht would get annoyed that Ichigo ran off and spend hours looking for him. Ichigo, whenever he felt like returning, would run into his upset master and make a witty and sly remark before grunting a half-hearted apology. Jecht would get angry and shout a few swears while comparing Ichigo to a few choice phrases like 'delinquent' and 'thug.' He would then attempt to punch Ichigo in the face, leading to a brawl between the two of them that would only stop when Eraqus, who could predict such events with a supernatural ease, stepped out of nowhere to chide them both.

"Hey, did you guys hear the news?" Aqua sat up and turned her head, "Master Xehanort took on another apprentice."

"He did?" Terra looked absolutely shocked at the news, "Isn't he like, one hundred or something?"

"Don't be dense Terra," Aqua scolded her friend "He's nowhere near that old."

"Another?" Something about the way Aqua said that bothered Ichigo. He could hear the slight hesitation in her tone, "What do you mean another?"

"Nobody knows if this is what really happened or not," Terra sat up and yawned, "But apparently a couple of decades ago Master Xehanort had a very promising apprentice. Everything he taught was soaked up like a sponge. Magic, techniques, keyblade styles, anything you can think of his apprentice could learn. It was even said they were on the track to be the most powerful master the Realm of Light had seen in centuries."

Ichigo dreaded asking his question, "I take it something happened to them?"

Terra seemed reluctant to finish his story, "Master Xehanort has never shared what exactly happened but he was separated from his apprentice for no more than an hour during an assault by the heartless. When he finally was able to break through he found his apprentice dying on the ground. Despite the evidence that he was simply overwhelmed by the heartless for years Master Xehanort believed it was a setup from an unknown enemy. He spent almost five years hunting down imaginary leads in search of the true culprit."

"It took him years to get over his apprentice's death," Aqua finished and looked out over the brown and auburn landscape. She shivered slightly as a cold breeze lazily blew through the hills, "It's really sad when you think about it. A while back I worked up the nerve to ask Master Eraqus about it. All he would say is that Master Xehanort saw his apprentice as the son he never had and took his death really hard."

Ichigo pondered Aqua statement. For some reason he couldn't figure out what was bothering him so much about it. It was as if he had forgotten an important event. That was when it hit him:

"It belonged to an acquaintance of mine that no longer needs it I'm afraid. I had originally planned to give it to an apprentice…"

At that moment Ichigo realized that Xehanort had indirectly mentioned having an apprentice. When he first met Xehanort he thought it was simply the master trying to be friendly to Ichigo or something similar to that but to find out he was not only telling the truth but also admitting something he felt terrible about was a shock to Ichigo. Closing his eyes and thinking back as far as he can Ichigo could recall the sadness on Xehanort's face when he told him that. He was in too much of a rush to make it back home that night to notice it but it was there.

Clearing his mind of such depressing thoughts, Ichigo tried to piece together what his plans for the future were going to be. Jecht has praised him, in his own roundabout and screwed up way, and declared he would be ready for the Mark of Mastery in just over a year. Apparently he was a natural when it came to physical combat. It was to the point where he could almost fight his master for several minutes before losing. Jecht, of course, held back a lot of his strength but still it was a remarkable improvement.

"I wonder how I would do against Gilgamesh at my current level?" Despite everything, Ichigo's thoughts always came back to Gilgamesh. It wasn't as if he hated the man. Gilgamesh was much too insane to really hate. He was simply a benchmark to Ichigo. If he could beat Gilgamesh then he would have a shot against the Dark Master.

As he lay on the grass in quiet contemplation Ichigo began feeling as if somebody was watching him. Initially ignoring the feeling and attempting to take a nap, he found himself getting more and more annoyed as the feeling persisted. Needing to prove to himself that he was alone, apart from Terra and Aqua, he opened his eyes and saw a girl a couple of years younger than him with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes leaning over him.

"Hi there."

"Gah!" Ichigo jerked up and narrowly avoided slamming his head until the girl's chin. His outburst drew Terra and Aqua's attention as well as a series of light giggles from the girl, "Who are you?"

The girl leaned back on the soles of her feet and smiled, "I'm Rinoa. It's a pleasure to meet you all!"

When his heart stopped beating a mile a minute Ichigo took the opportunity to take in the girl's appearance. She wore a sleeveless blue sweater with matching arm warmers on top of a black tank top as well as a denim skirt and black bike shorts.

"Rinoa?" Aqua paused a moment, as she too took in Rinoa's abrupt appearance, "Aren't you Master Edea's apprentice?"

"Yup!" Rinoa nodded excitedly, "Master Edea's busy talking about boring stuff so I decided to explore. This world is awesome! With all the travelling around I never have time to have fun. Is it true that you have keyblades? Can I see them? Master Edea says I cannot have one until I'm older but I don't think she's being fair."

Terra shook his head as he tried to keep up with Rinoa's questions. It was both amazing and terrifying how she could just go from tangent to tangent on a single breath, "Your master has a point. The keyblade is not a toy.

Rinoa visibly deflated, "Master Edea said the same thing."

"Don't worry," Aqua said to cheer her up, "There are plenty of things you can do without a keyblade. Magic doesn't require a keyblade."

"I know that," Rinoa kicked a small rock, "But I can already cast dozens of spells. Just last week I cast Firaga without getting tired!"

That threw the three of them through a loop. Aqua's mouth hung slightly agape at the proclamation while Terra suddenly developed a series of hacking coughs that required him to beat his chest a few times in order to properly breathe. Ichigo's reaction was perhaps the most subdued with the only evidence of his surprise was a single raised eyebrow.

Aqua tried to speak by only managed to get out a stuttering, "W-what?"

Ignoring or unable to sense the increased tension in the air Rinoa smiled and nodded, "Yeah! When I first showed Master Edea Fira she was really surprised. She was so surprised that she asked me to do it a few more times which I thought was boring since it was so easy to do. She asked me where I learned it so I told her I learned it from watching her. She thought that was impossible because she only cast Fira once around me but once was enough!"

As Rinoa continued to speak it was quickly becoming apparent that she was some sort of magical prodigy. Aqua thought she was gifted with magic but being able to replicate a spell like Fira after only seeing it cast once was beyond her capabilities.

"How do you know you're not just making this up?" Terra said, asking the question that all three wanted to know the answer to.

Rinoa puffed her cheeks, "Humph! I'll show you that I'm not lying. Watch this!"

Turning around so that she was facing away from them, Rinoa held her hand out and began gathering her mana. In front of their eyes, a series of blue and white sparks began circling around her right arm and slowly made their way to her hand

"She's not kidding around!" Terra skirted backwards only to trip over Ichigo, who had been sitting right next to Rinoa when she had decided to demonstrate her magical prowess with a high level spell. Showing that she was good with magic was one thing but the amount of power Rinoa was gathering could seriously injure them despite them not being the target.

Aqua moved fast. One second she was sitting on the ground and the next she was sprinting past Terra and Ichigo towards Rinoa, who seemed to still be oblivious to the danger she was putting everybody in. As she dodged around a stray bolt of lightning it became clear to Aqua that while Rinoa may be a genius when it came to learning spells she did not have the proper discipline or maturity to understand the inherent dangers behind them. High-level spells like Thundaga, Firaga and other Tier III spells were taught later in an apprenticeship for a reason. When the sparks began to coalesce around Rinoa's extended fingers and increase in intensity Aqua made her move.

She gripped Rinoa's fingers with her right hand, eliciting a small gasp of pain from the girl. Holding her left hand in front of her face in the same exact orientation as Rinoa's, she threw it towards the sky as the spell left Rinoa's body and entered her own. Aqua grimaced as a fully powered Thundaga screamed from her fingers and disappeared into the clouds above. As the spell faded away and Aqua managed to catch her breath she turned on Rinoa.

"That was extremely irresponsible of you," Aqua chided the girl, who seemed to be more worried about the pain in her fingers. Sighing and reminding herself that she was still dealing with a child, Aqua knelt down until she was eye level with Rinoa, "Hasn't Master Edea would have taught you about the dangers of magic?"

"Master Edea doesn't really pay that much attention to me," Rinoa said sadly, "I'm always traveling with her across the worlds. Most of her time is spent talking with other important people than training me."

"Oh…" Aqua's eyes glazed over as she tried to think of something to say, "Would you like to practice magic with me?"

Rinoa instantly perked up, "Really?"

Aqua nodded, "Of course. Come on, I'll show you where Master Eraqus lets us train."

As Aqua led the eager Rinoa away she turned back to her friends, "If Master Eraqus needs me tell him I'll be at the training ground with Rinoa."

Terra and Ichigo simply nodded and didn't say anything. They were both still in shock after nearly being electrocuted to death by a pre-pubescent girl. As they sat there in shock Terra turned to Ichigo.

"Hey Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me if I'm seeing things. Were we almost killed by a girl casting Thundaga without even trying?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I thought," Terra paused for a moment before continuing, "You know what Ichigo."

"What?"

"I think we should head back to the castle and take a break."

Despite the fact that would mean running into Jecht and having the same old argument again Ichigo simply agreed and nodded.

..

"You must really like to piss me off!"

Ichigo cupped his chin in his hand and groaned. He knew this would happen if he returned to the castle. Jecht may be many things but forgetful is not one of them.

"Purposely skipping out on training to go lounge around and do nothing like a mama's boy," Jecht was in full rant mode by this point and nothing Ichigo could say or do would dissuade the man. Other people found an angry Jecht to be scary and terrifying but Ichigo found him to just be annoying. Still, he needed to do something or Jecht would just continue to find things to call him. At the current rate Jecht would start making up words that sounded negative stringed along in a curse in about five minutes.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill," Ichigo leaned his head back and sighed. At times like this he wished he could kick Jecht's ass, "I'm sorry for ditching training and disregarding your wise and sage-like ways. I'm an ungrateful piece of crap who refuses to respect the fact that you, the most powerful master in the Realm of Light, are taking time out of your busy life to train me. Is that everything? I'm hungry and I want to grab some food before Terra cleans out the kitchen again."

Jecht was a loss for words. It was not that he wasn't angry. In fact, he was downright furious. No, what really bothered him was that Ichigo managed to preempt his entire speech with a summation that basically covered every point it was going to make. If this were any other time he would slap the boy on the back and congratulate him.

"At times like this I wish I didn't give up drinking."

Rolling up imaginary sleeves Jecht gave a murderous grin, "Ok Ichigo. Since you're so smart and everything I see I'm going to have to do this a different way. Yelling at you doesn't seem to work despite Eraqus saying it would. I could have told him that without even meeting you. So instead I'm going to just beat the tar out of you until you learn to respect my authority."

Giving his master a grin of his own Ichigo leapt out of the chair, "Bring it on drifter!"

Several things happened just before the fight and it all started with a light tingling in Ichigo's mind. He put the feeling down to adrenaline pumping through his veins but somehow he knew the reason wasn't that simple. Another thing that happened was a large explosion in the distance far beyond the castle. What drew both master and apprentice's attention was that the explosion was giving off a large amount of both Light and Darkness. It was as if two beings of equal and opposite alignment were fighting.

"What the hell's going on out there?" Jecht turned to the spacious window as the vibrations from the explosion shook the room. Throwing open the window he looked outside and saw guards running towards the explosion in the distance. As Jecht searched for whatever could have caused the explosion he felt something powerful appearing. Eyes widening in surprise, he turned and tackled Ichigo to the ground.

"Cover your eyes!"

Ichigo blacked out for a second as the room around he was bathed in light from the far wall exploding. Stars and flashes of light danced in front of his eyes and temporarily swam in and out of consciousness. As the smoke that filled the room stung his eyes, he coughed and asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Trouble," Jecht growled and summoned his keyblade, Blitz King. The master ran to the large hole where the window used to be and peered outside for the source of the attack while all around them sirens and alarms were going off throughout the castle. Straining his ears Ichigo could hear people shouting and screaming from down below in the courtyard. Apparently they weren't the only ones to be attacked.

Summoning his own keyblade to his hands in a flash of darkness Ichigo went to step forward when Jecht held out his arm, "Get back Ichigo. This guy is strong."

"How very odd," a deep voice echoed all around them, "It seems that I miscalculated your reaction time. I thought for sure that would kill you but no matter. I will just need to compensate for it."

Without warning Jecht kicked Ichigo back. Continuing to spin his body around he swung Blitz King like a bat and deflected an arrow of light back towards where it was fired. Coughing slightly from the hit, Ichigo watched the arrow crash into the castle rooftops.

"Go find Eraqus Ichigo!" Jecht ordered in a rare show of seriousness. Ichigo could not recall when his master had actually looked competent.

"Like hell! I'm going to stay here and fight with you."

Jecht spun around and grabbed Ichigo's shirt, "If you listen to me just one goddamn time in your life do so now! This is not time to be pissy and argue with me. Now get the hell out of here before you get yourself killed!"

"You're not going anywhere," the voice said in the same drawling tone, "As for you traitor…your speed and strength are both greater than I would have figured. It is sacrilegious that a traitor like yourself is able to tap into the Light so much."

"Yeah, well, you can go suck on it for all I care," Jecht tapped Blitz King against his shoulder, "As for being a traitor, I've done many stupid things in my life. I'm bound to have pissed off a lot of people but I've never betrayed anyone. Now are you going to be a coward and keep hiding or are you going to come out and face me?"

"Who says I'm hiding?"

Across the castle rooftops there was a shimmer of light as a hulking figure emerged from behind a shimmering veil. At first glance it seemed to be human but Ichigo quickly threw out that notion. The person, for that was the closest thing to which Ichigo thought it to be, had skin of a blinding white and orange with glowing white eyes that shone with an intensity that forced Ichigo to turn away. It stood over nine feet tall and wore bulky and intricate armor fashioned from the same colors as the rest of it. Ichigo took a step back when the thing turned its attention onto him.

"A being from the Realm of Darkness here? The stench from the corruption of your heart sickens me," the thing held its hand out as a spear of Light appeared, "You must be the one the Seraphim warned us about. Your death shall be quick. There will be no redemption for someone of the likes of you."

The being threw the spear and Ichigo could tell even from this distance that it was several times stronger than the arrows that had been fired earlier. To his shock Jecht stood fast and swung his keyblade just as the spear reached them, splitting it in two and forcing it to explode harmlessly around them.

"Bastard!" Ichigo seethed, "Just what the hell is he anyway? He doesn't look like a heartless."

"Soulless."

Ichigo looked at Jecht, who had yet to turn his eyes away from the soulless, "It's called a soulless. Think of the opposite of a heartless and composed of Light instead of Darkness. I thought they were just a myth but it appears Eraqus was right. Damn it! Now I have to buy him a drink."

"Your confidence appears to be misplaced traitor," the soulless drawled as he formed two spears, one in each hand.

"Misplaced nothing you piece of crap," Jecht responded and turned to Ichigo. With a smirk he clamped his hand down on his shoulder, "I've come to a decision! Screw Eraqus and his traditions! You help me take down that asshole and I'll consider your Mark of Mastery over and done with! Now hold on tight. You might feel a little nauseous."

Jecht and Ichigo vanished in a flash of light just as the spears reached the room and detonated in an explosion of Light. As smoke billowed out of the increasingly ruined castle, the two keyblade wielders reappeared on the rooftop near the soulless. True to what Jecht had said Ichigo stumbled on his feet as a wave of nausea hit him.

"Damn it! Teleportation always screws with me. I think I misplaced some organs. Ok big and ugly, you ready to get your ass kicked?"

The soulless simply stared at Jecht, "How odd. Why are you not angry or enraged? I must have killed dozens of your friends and companions already. My brethren are doing the same across this world and yet you do not seem the least bit perturbed."

"Why would I be angry?" Jecht waved Blitz King at the soulless. Next to him Ichigo summoned Lost Memory and glared at the soulless with determination evident in his eyes, "Let me tell you something. My life over the last year has been utterly boring. I went from a saving the world hero to a teacher forced to teach this brat here how to properly swing the keyblade. You being here is perhaps the most exciting thing to happen to me in months!"

The soulless turned its massive body around to completely face them and clenched its hand. As a large broadsword made of Light appeared it said, "I am Anger, lieutenant of the soulless. For your crimes against the Light you will now die. Your judgment afterwards is up to the Light to decide."

...

The path leading up to the castle in the Land of Departure had once been nothing more than a dirt road. The steward at the night justified his decision to not improve it by saying since most of the denizens of the world lived in the castle and keyblade wielders could use their gliders to fly updated the road would be a waste of both time and gil. It wasn't until the next steward came to power than the road was finally changed from just dirt to cobblestones enchanted with magic to never wear and erode under both the elements and use. Nearly two centuries later those same cobblestones stood as polished as the day they were first lay down.

Eraqus hissed in pain as he bounced off the ground and back into the air. Quickly spinning around he stabbed Master Keeper into the ground, digging up a large trench of dirt and rocks as he finally arrested his movement. The force from the attack had thrown him nearly one hundred feet through the air. He was lucky that he didn't hit the castle before being able to come to a stop.

When his mind tingled with a newly familiar feeling Eraqus leapt back as a small pillar of light slammed down from the sky above. It was only when he realized it was a trap that he uttered his first explicative in years and hastily shouted, "Reflega!"

The translucent blue barrier spun into existence just as another pillar of light smashed into his location. Eraqus gritted his teeth and continued to push mana into his spell. Reflega was designed to be a one-hit shield. It was to absorb the energy from any attacks within the span of a second and they reflect them back on his opponents. It wasn't common knowledge that if one continued to push mana into the Reflega then it would shift from reflecting damage to just absorbing it. The problem was that it took up a lot of mana, which mean most people besides keyblade masters and the occasional mage and sorcerer could not attempt such a thing.

When the attack abated nearly ten seconds later Eraqus wanted to rest but was quickly forced to use his keyblade to block several spears of Light.

"You are indeed strong traitor," his opponent commended in the familiar echo that he had come to despise, "I expect nothing else from the master of this world but you cannot win. The fear that lies in your heart, the fear that you know you will die and everyone you care about will follow is almost…palpable. You cannot run nor hide. Your fear gives you away. Cower before me."

"I think not," Eraqus steeled his emotions and charged forward. He had learned that the less emotions he felt while attacking his opponent the easier it was to close the distance and land a strike. Master Keeper glowed with an intense orange light as Eraqus sprinted forward, "Ars Arcanum."

As has happened before his opponent dodged all seven strikes but Eraqus took note that he did so with a lot more effort. It was becoming apparent that for all the bravado and power his opponent had his stamina was lacking, if that was even possible.

"Now's my chance."

Breaking through his opponent's guard, Eraqus went in for the kill when he felt a deep and primal fear pierce through his body and into his heart. Despite his mind telling him that he was in no danger, his body instinctively leapt backwards and away from his opponent. Eraqus took several deep breaths as the unknown fear quickly left his body.

"I commend your bravery traitor," his opponent mocked and took a step forward, "You were able to overcome the Aura of a Seraphim with naught but your wits. That is something I cannot say I have seen before."

Eraqus circled around the Seraphim, making sure to keep the distance between them as large as possible. This Aura was exceedingly dangerous but it appeared to have a limit to its range. As long as he stayed a certain distance away from the soulless then he shouldn't be affected by the crippling fear that had plagued him throughout the fight.

"You are a soulless," he said, prompting the Seraphim to stop moving and stare at him. Hoping he hit a nerve Eraqus continued, "You were thought to have been all destroyed centuries ago. What reason could bring something like you out into the open? Do you not thing we haven't been preparing for such an event? What is it you want?"

"Ah, ah, ah," the Seraphim wagged a finger at Eraqus, "That would be telling. If you want the answers you seek so badly you will just have to figure it out. Unfortunately it appears you will not live long enough to do so. Traitors such as yourself do not deserve the mercy of the Light."

Eraqus cursed and jumped back as the Seraphim waved its arm and a column of spikes created out of Light shot up from the ground around him. Dodging and weaving around them while using Master Keeper to destroy any he could not avoid Eraqus began formulating a plan to defeat the soulless.

"I cannot get close to him without being affected by his Aura," a swipe from his keyblade destroyed several of the spikes in one swing. It was becoming apparent that the Seraphim was actively controlling where they popped up, "The only way I can think of is magic."

His mind made up Eraqus leapt straight up into the air, ascending nearly twenty feet before slowly coming to a stop. Pointing Master Keeper at the Seraphim he shouted, "Fira! Blizzara! Thundara!"

With an almost lazy effort the Seraphim proceed to dodge the Fira, deflect the Blizzara with the back of his hand, and took the Thundara to the chest without even flinching, "I'm disappointed. Did you think that would do anything to me?"

The Seraphim's glowing white eyes widened when he couldn't see Eraqus anywhere in front of him. Quickly twisting his body around he saw the master charging up a spell just outside the range of his aura.

"No I didn't," Eraqus had his keyblade pointing directly at the Seraphim's back, a large blue fireball charging on the tip, "I've learned just how far your aura extends from your body. Twenty feet. Beyond that point you are just another opponent. Firaja!"

Firaja was a spell that took years to master for even the most prodigious of casters. The problem wasn't the power nor was it the silent chant needed to cast it. The problem came from the sheer mental control needed to prevent Firaja from backfiring on the caster. Unlike Firaga, which simply shot off the flames at the opponent as soon as they were summoned, Firaja kept the flames on the keyblade to increase the intensity and the power, hence why they were now blue instead of orange-yellow. What forced Eraqus, a master who knew better than to mess with spells he could not control, to use Firaja was quite simple:

It was completely unblockable.

Spells like Firaja were unable to be blocked with Reflect or other similar defensive spells. Actually that is wrong. They can be blocked but the act of doing so would drain both the mana and stamina from anyone who attempted to do so. Blocking Firaja might work but it would leave you completely vulnerable to a following attack.

The blue fireball did not shoot off from his keyblade as much as it was launched with a loud bang. The Seraphim's glowing eyes widened as he desperately threw both of his hands up to catch the Firaja before it could reach him.

"You think something like this scares me?" the soulless seethed as his golden armored arms began buckling, "I am Barachiel, Seraphim of Fear! I fear nothing!"

"You don't need to feel fear to understand what is going on," Eraqus kept his eyes on his opponent. Assuming you have won the fight before it was over was a rookie mistake, "You just need to realize that this spell is too powerful for you to block."

Barchiel's knees buckled as he was forced back several feet along the ground by the spell. Firaja wasn't a spell that simply detonated upon hitting something. It would continue as a semi-solid mass until it's target was completely enveloped by it. The Seraphim was already starting to feel the pressure from the Firaja overwhelming his natural defenses. Blue tongues of flames were licking their way up his arms and the armor on his hands and forearms were beginning to crack and melt away.

"No!"

Barachiel's arms finally failed and he was quickly exposed to the full brunt of the Firaja. As his body was enveloped in a column of flames hot enough to melt the enchanted cobblestones he stood on Eraqus silently watched, his body ready for any attack.

"This Seraphim is not the one that took down Hohenheim," his eyes scanned the flames for any movement while he expanded his senses to search for any traces of teleportation magic, "His speed, strength and magic might have been above my own but it was not even close to Hohenheim's. He said I was the strongest on the world. Why would he mention something like that unless…"

Eraqus couldn't believe he didn't see it before. Barachiel didn't fight him here because he wanted to take him down. He brought Eraqus out here to keep him occupied. This was a trap and he fell right into it!

"Damn it!" he turned to run towards the castle, where several columns of smoke were visible. He only hoped he could make it back in time to stop whatever the soulless had planned.

"Where…do you think…you're going?"

As he blocked a spear of Light with his keyblade Eraqus saw a figure emerge from the blue flames, "Impossible."

"Not impossible…just highly improbable," Barachiel looked as if he had seen better days. Most of his armor was gone, exposing a body composed of naught but white and orange light. Eraqus could see several wounds on the Seraphim's body but instead of bleeding they simply shone with a disturbing red glow.

"I must admit I did not expect such an intense attack from a traitor," Barachiel took a step towards Eraqus. His body didn't seem to be overly affected by his wounds, "But do not expect miracles to occur more than once. You figuring out our plan occurred several minutes earlier than I anticipated and for that I must congratulate you. Unfortunately I must keep you here just a little while-"

"Thundaja."

There was a brief flash of white light that illuminated the entire landscape before a burst of lightning nearly ten feet in diameter slammed down on Barachiel. The sheer power from the spell was so intense that the pressure wave temporarily knocked Eraqus, who had to be almost forty feet away, off his feet. As he quickly recovered his balance he became aware of a new and familiar presence.

"You seem to be having some difficulty Eraqus," a regal voice remarked, "Perhaps you can use some assistance."

"Yes," with a grunt he managed to push himself off the ground. He was going on fumes at this point. The Seraphim had taken everything out of him, "Let us end this."

...

"Hmm…I wonder how I should surprise Ichigo?"

Yoruichi sat on a boulder overlooking the castle in the distance. With a sly grin she rested her head on her hand, "What would Kisuke do?"

Today was the day that she was going to return to civilization in over a year. She had originally wanted to only spend a year learning how to control the darkness in her heart but it turned out Eraqus was right. It wasn't just hard but extremely frustrating and annoying as well. Yoruichi had thought learning bankai was difficult but trying to use the darkness without having it affect her judgment, emotions, or heart was on an entirely different scale.

She hadn't gone into her isolated training expecting to fully master such a volatile and corrosive type of power. Yoruichi was over two hundred years old, she knew better than to expect power to come without a price when taking shortcuts. She had hoped for simply preventing it from interfering in her fights and that is what she got. No longer would the darkness leak out when using her abilities unless she expressively and willingly allowed it out.

"What am I doing sitting around here thinking?" Yoruichi sprung off the boulder and leapt into the air, "Just over the hill is real food and an actual bed. I could also use a shower."

Yoruichi leapt from branch to branch, pushing off with her legs and catching another with her arms. She wondered how Ichigo was doing and whether or not he was able to come to terms with the destruction of Karakura. Isshin had always been able to brush things like that off with laughter but Ichigo was nothing like his father. Yoruichi was so deep in thought that she missed the flash of light in the corner of her eye until it was too late. Faster than she could blink her body was pierced with nearly a dozen arrows of light. Her mouth open in a silent scream, her body bounced off a branch and fell to the ground below.

"That was simple."

In a shimmer of light signifying the dispelling of a Bulwark a soulless appeared on a nearby branch. Clad in the standard gold and white armor worn by all conscious soulless and wielding a crossbow made out of Light, she watched Yoruichi's perforated body fall to the ground with displeasure. She had expected such a vile creature to have noticed her presence a long time ago but her darkness made her cocky and arrogant and that cost Yoruichi her life, "Those that dwell in the Darkness shall perish to those faithful to the Light. That is a solemn law of the universe."

The soulless made to leave when she heard a voice whisper into her ear, "What was that?"

She didn't have time to turn her head before Yoruichi's fist slammed into her cheek, rocketing her across the forest and into the ground. Pulling her body out of the crater it had caused she turned and stared at Yoruichi. The former shinigami was standing on the branch with her arms folded across her chest and not a scratch or tear on her body.

"How did you managed to avoid my attack? I witnessed your unmoving body fall to the ground."

Yoruichi didn't want to admit that if she hadn't used Utsusemi then she would most likely be dead. It was only because she felt something off in the surrounding forest that she prepped such a desperate and last-minute resort of a technique. A more pressing concern at the moment was the being staring up at her from the ground. She looked human in stature but Yoruichi felt something wrong about her.

"What are you?"

"My name is irrelevant and unimportant to the likes of you," the soulless raised her crossbow with one hand and pointed it squared at Yoruichi's chest, "But if you wish to know in your final moments of life who killed you then you may call me Joy."

"Oh joy," Yoruichi said dryly before using shunpo to avoid the barrage of arrows that shot at her. She was forced to use shunpo several more times to avoid the seemingly endless supply of ranged projectiles before they finally stopped, "You aren't exactly human and those arrows of yours are nothing but Light. I'll ask again. What are you?"

Joy shot several more barrages of arrows from her crossbow and forcing Yoruichi to dodge them, "I do not feel the need to answer a demon of the darkness but I am a soulless and I shall be your executioner."

Yoruichi felt elated at what looked to be an interesting fight. She could finally see how her work in training and controlling the darkness within her heart paid off. As the corners of her mouth turned upwards she said, "Sounds like fun."

Immediately the Light composing Joy increased in intensity and Yoruichi could make out a malicious smile on the soulless's face. Calmly and almost without effort Joy raised her crossbow at her and let loose a barrage of arrows with power that put anything she shot before to shame. Yoruichi used shunpo to avoid the arrows but found to her shock and wonder several cuts and scraps on her arms and legs. Just a moment ago the arrows weren't able to track her speed while she used shunpo but now Joy could do so with increasing accuracy.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Your corrupted brain seemed to be confused about what happened. I am called Joy because as my opponent revels in the joy of battle I become stronger and stronger."

"That's quite the useful ability," Yoruichi realized that the battle had become a lot more dangerous. If she wanted to survive she had three options. She could always attempt to flee towards the castle for help but she was unsure whether Joy's speed had increased as well. In all likelihood it had and she wasn't sure she could outrace someone like her. Another option would be to try and finish her as quickly as possible but Yoruichi threw that option away. She had no idea whether Joy's power had a limit and how fast it could increase. That only left her option number three.

Taking a deep and calming breath Yoruichi stared down at Joy with emotionless eyes, "Your power may be dangerous but it does have a single, crippling flaw that is easy to exploit."

"A flaw you say?" Joy notched nearly a dozen arrows on top of each other, each brimming with nearly twice the power they had at the start.

"Yes."

With practiced ease Yoruichi reached deep inside her heart and released a small amount of darkness. The corruptive power attempted to surge forward but her training and mental discipline quickly pushed back. As the familiar crackling of her darkness-empowered shunko surrounded her body Yoruichi tensed her legs, "The flaw in your ability is that a person with enough discipline and training can detach themselves emotionally from a fight. Fighting becomes nothing more than a series of choices and challenges. A battle just logistics and strategy. I have lived long enough to see a battle not as fun but as a necessity to survive."

In a crackle of darkness Yoruichi vanished from the branch. Joy looked around in alarm before noticed Yoruichi standing behind her with her fist cocked back and sparking with bursts of darkness. Joy knew an attack with that much darkness in it could seriously hurt her and there was not enough time to avoid it or counteract. Out of options and time she desperately attempted to block the attack with her crossbow. Darkness met Light and in a titanic clash created an explosion with enough power to be felt at the castle in the distance.

...

"Stay behind me Rinoa."

Rinoa nodded fearfully and hid behind Aqua. Looking at the fourteen year old, it was hard for Aqua to recognize her as the same girl who could throw high level spells out left and right without getting tired. It was one thing to be able to cast spells but another to do so in the heat of battle. Rinoa may be a genius but she was just a girl.

Aqua took a quick glance at the smoke rising nearby. She knew her spell didn't actually do any damage to her opponent but it gave her enough time to think, "You need to get out of here Rinoa."

The girl looked up at Aqua with terror in her eyes, "I-I can't. He'll get me."

"No he won't," Aqua reassured her despite knowing she was lying. Her opponent, a soulless he called himself, was much too strong and fast for her to do anything but slow him down and even that would only be until he got tired of playing with her. Holding Rainfell in a tight grip she said, "I won't let him kill you. I swear on my keyblade."

"Silly girl," Aqua gasped as the soulless suddenly appeared several feet in front of her. She hadn't been able to see any movement, "To a Seraphim you are but a gnat. A intelligent and determined gnat but powerless all the same."

There was a loud explosion nearby and Aqua saw a giant bolt of lightning flash across the sky and impact the ground near the castle.

"I told Barachiel to be cautious but it appears he didn't take my advice seriously. It appears he will need to learn the lesson of hubris the hard way."

Holding herself with more confidence that she had Aqua pointed Rainfell at him, "I won't let you kill her!"

"Your answer does not surprise me," The soulless held out his hand and Aqua flinched but instead of the weapon of Light he had wielded earlier he simply rotated his shoulder, "I may not have been surprised by your predictable combination of Aero and Firaga but it was still enough to give me a stiff shoulder. As for your brave statement…what makes you think we came here to kill that worthless specimen of a girl?"

Aqua's blue eyes widened, "What?"

"If I was able to be surprised by your lack of knowledge I would do so right now. All you see around this world, every battle is simply a distraction needed to keep all the traitors and beings of the darkness busy. The purpose we came here for, the reason we risked everything coming out into the open, is because of you. You are what we came here for…Aqua."