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“Captain!” Rangiku shouted again and tried to glomp Seraphiel, instead getting smacked to the ground with one of Seraphiel’s golden wings.
“Down girl.” She commanded, Rangiku instantly responding by standing up in attention, even if sloppily.
As usual, Rangiku was dressed rather slovenly. She was a beautiful woman, who on the surface looked like a Human with long and wavy blond hair, blue eyes, full lips, and a beauty mark located under the right side of her mouth. Rangiku had always been known among the Shinigami for her curvaceous figure, of which her most distinctive trait was her very large bust, which her sloppy shihakushō uniform showed off rather plentifully. Notably, her mostly black uniform also had a splash of color in the shape of a long pink scarf over her shoulders, something that was not standard.
“But Captaiiin!” She complained with a lazy voice that Seraphiel knew to be somewhat of a ruse. It wasn’t that Rangiku wasn’t lazy, she was, but she could be very effective and intelligent when she wanted to be, and the sloven act was mostly just that, an act. “You have wings!” She suddenly seemed to realize. She blinked a few times. “You’re an Angel! And you look younger!”
“All very accurate observations. Now what are you doing here?” Seraphiel asked with a commanding tone. Before taking a seat at the table.
Rangiku snapped into much sharper attention as if conditioned by the tone of voice. "Reporting! Ōetsu Nimaya detected an unauthorized activation of a Zanpakutō at this location. We were sent to investigate!"
“Uh, Lieutenant?” The other bewildered Shinigami asked hesitantly, clearly not understanding what was going on. The man also seemed quite uncomfortable. He didn’t seem very impressive to Seraphiel’s eye, but that might have been on purpose. From bitter experience she knew many Shinigami were rather good at hiding their nature, Aizen being the obvious example.
Rangiku glanced at the man before swatting him in the back of the head with the sheath of her blade. “Stand at attention! You’re in the presence of Captain Seraphiel. You don’t want to get on her bad side.”
“Cap- isn’t Captain-Commander Seraphiel supposed to be dead?” The man asked bewildered, while rubbing his head.
“Missing!” Rangiku snapped, smacking him again, her voice like a whip. “And now found.”
Eva interrupted things at this point. Seraphiel had been vaguely aware of her presence the whole time but had been preoccupied. "This is all very interesting, but I hope you can provide a more precise explanation." She was looking at Seraphiel. "I assume you visited them at some point.”
“Yes. It was one of my longer visits actually.” Seraphiel admitted. “Over a thousand years in fact.” Saying that, time seemed to flow a little differently to Shinigami. Centuries could pass without notable change.
“Captain, can we assume the Zanpakutō Ōetsu detected was yours?” Rangiku asked in confirmation, leaning forward eagerly.
"That's correct," Seraphiel admitted with a simple nod.
Rangiku frowned a little. “Odd. Ōetsu mentioned that the Zanpakutō felt new and recently born. Surely, he’d be able to recognize yours.” Her Zanpakutō had been rather famous at the time.
Seraphiel nodded. “That’s because it is new. I only gained the Skill recently.” Before Rangiku could ask more, she continued. “The Zanpakutō spirits depend heavily on the person. Here, I am a very different person than I was back then, so it makes sense for the spirit to change as well. Besides, I have the abilities the spirit granted even without the help of the spirit now, so it would make no sense.”
Her previous Zanpakutō had granted her access to her two favorite abilities, telekinesis and reality manipulation, back in the Soul Society. That life had been among those where she hadn’t inhabited her old body and didn’t have her old powers. Ironically, it seemed those lives seemed especially prone to coming up in this new universe. She idly wondered if that was a coincidence or not.
Rangiku tilted her head as she looked at Seraphiel. “You do seem a little different, Captain. Weaker, if you’ll allow me to be frank.” There was a strong hint of curiosity in her voice.
“That’s because I’ve had to start from zero here. I still haven’t caught up to my old self. But it comes with certain benefits as well, so it’s not all bad.” She gave in the way of explanation.
Rangiku suddenly grinned. “Oh, Yoruichi and Kenpachi are going to love this.”
“I’m sure they will. For their own reasons.” She sighed.
Yoruichi had been one of her friends, a woman who reminded her of a cat with her playful personality, while Kenpachi was just a battle maniac whom she'd trounced so thoroughly and so often, that she’d been the only thing the man had been afraid of. Both would likely want to seek her out for their own reasons. They wouldn’t be the only ones, as she’d made plenty of friends and other connections during her time at the Soul Society. Thousand years did that.
“What’s the Soul Society up to nowadays? I would imagine Hollows and taking care of souls is less pertinent in this universe with its own system of afterlife and many other parties capable of fighting monsters.” Seraphiel questioned, leaning forward.
"Soul Society North realized that almost immediately, going on a bit of a conquest spree, taking over several less protected worlds to rule over. Soul Society South took over the management of our old world, while no one knows what's going on with Souls Society West. We've mostly become a sort of problem-solving group. I hesitate to call us mercenaries, as we usually work on a larger scale, but other parties hire us to deal with problems they are not capable of dealing with. Recently we were contacted by several parties to help deal with the sudden resurgence of locust races. Hollows are one of those, but not the current main issue." Rangiku didn't seem to have any intent to hide anything, which was understandable. Seraphiel had been both her old Captain, as well as the Captain-Commander for a time.
“Did the old fart retake his position as Captain-Commander, or did he manage to pawn it off to Kyōraku or Ukitake?” The two Captains had been the most senior ones after Seraphiel at the time.
Rangiku burst into laughter. "Yamamoto wanted to get Ukitake to take the job but decided to take it himself with all the problems this universe has. According to him, the young whippersnappers don't have what it takes to get things done yet."
"So, some things haven't changed at least," Seraphiel grunted. Of the two Captains, Ukitake was the more serious one. He'd suffered from bad health for a long time, but Seraphiel had fixed that issue with her reality manipulation. Kyōraku enjoyed a quiet and lazy life almost as much as Rangiku and would rather spend his time chasing women than leading people. Yamamoto on the other hand was a crochety old man stuck in his ways, but he was extremely powerful. And effective.
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“Will you be joining us again? There would be plenty of people happy to have you back!” Rangiku declared happily.
“I haven’t entirely decided my future plans yet.” She looked towards Eva. “I think I’ll be graduating soon, and one of the teachers here suggested founding a mercenary group using my contacts, but we didn’t really settle on anything concrete yet.”
Eva lifted an eyebrow. “This is news to me in a sense, though I did feel Kaede and a couple of the others were itching to get more involved in things.”
“If you want, you’ll certainly be able to draw plenty of people from our ranks, Captain! I’d be among the first to join. Assuming my contract included mandatory rest days and company drinking parties, of course!” Rangiku promised.
“Lieutenant!” The fifth seat protested scandalized. Not by the drinking and rest days, but due to Rangiku so easily switching sides.
“What? Seraphiel here is practically part of the Soul Society. She used to be the Captain-Commander after all!” Rangiku defended herself.
“We’ll see what we can manage," Seraphiel stated carefully, not wanting to suddenly commit to anything. Many of the Shinigami were extremely powerful, and if they had managed to maintain their level, even the mooks were decent quality after all the training she’d forced on them.
Eva interjected again. “How about a little spar? I haven’t been able to see Seraphiel’s new abilities in full effect yet, and I’ve only briefly seen Shinigami fight. It would be interesting to see both.”
“How about it, Captain?" Rangiku asked happily. "It's been a while since the last time, and I'd like to be on the winning side for once."
“Bold of you to assume you’d win even with me diminished like this.” Seraphiel lifted an eyebrow but didn’t oppose the idea.
Eva clapped her hands. “Excellent. In that case, we can use one of the arrays in the school that should allow you to go all out.”
The dueling arrays were mostly located by the arena, and there were always people spectating any ongoing fights and there were almost always at least a few fights going on. They chose one of the more remote arrays to minimize attention, but even then, there were dozens of students who noticed something going on right away.
As Rangiku and Seraphiel entered the array, Seraphiel activated her Paladin Skills right away to even the playing field. She was not foolish enough to think Rangiku would be unable to penetrate her defenses despite her Vitality being far above what her level should be capable of and her abilities countering what Rangiku used to be able to do. If she was wearing proper armor, she might have tried focusing her blessing just on Vitality and tanking it out, but she knew that’s not how this fight would go and her current armor was just on loan.
Both combatants started out the same, activating their [Reiatsu], while Rangiku also got tagged by [Doom]. [Reiatsu] was an odd Skill that the System had some difficulties completely dealing with. That’s because it was a Skill that relied heavily on many factors aside from just raw power. It heavily depended on the mentality of the person using it, as well as their soul. Skills, just like stats, improved what was there, and mentality and soul were hard to quantify. Soul was something that Seraphiel had no trouble with, and neither was mentality. The sheer iron will to kill your target was important for the execution of the ability, otherwise your [Reiatsu] would be dull and ineffective. That made hers a lot stronger than it perhaps should be.
Rangiku grinned almost madly as she felt Seraphiel’s [Reiatsu]. True, It was much weaker than it used to be. It was barely at the level of a Lieutenant in pure power, but there had always been a unique quality to her old Captain’s [Reiatsu] that others could only try to imitate. The sheer number of battles fought, blood spilled, and lives taken had honed Seraphiel’s Reiatsu into something completely different. The air around Rangiku felt suffocating like you were in the void of space, the air tasted like ash and death, and even her hearing was filled with an eerie buzzing that could drive someone weak crazy. Anyone familiar with Seraphiel from her time in the Soul Society would recognize that eerie feeling, like skeletal hands grazing at your neck and back, ready to pull you into an early grave. It was extremely nostalgic.
Ironically, the two had some similarities in their [Reiatsu], partly because Rangiku had been trained by Seraphiel long ago. The area around both of them seemed to turn black, as the force took on an obvious color.
“You’ve improved.” Seraphiel complimented Rangiku, making the Lieutenant feel proud.
“Growl Haineko!” Rangiku didn’t waste any time, releasing the second, or Shikai, form of her Zanpakutō. The blade of her sword suddenly turned into ash. She slightly tilted the hilt, sending the cloud of ash at Seraphiel.
Seraphiel felt the additional weight from the Shikai. The benefit of a Zanpakutō came in two forms. The first was that the Shikai, and later on Bankai, granted special abilities to the user. Her Shikai during her time in the Soul Society had granted her access to the telekinetic abilities she so loved. The Zanpakutō, when released, also directly boosted your offensive and defensive power. How much depended on the individual and their connection with the spirit within their weapon. Just the mere fact that Rangiku could use her Shikai, and she had not yet regained that ability, placed a disparity between them.
A burst of pure psionic force scattered the ash, throwing it back at Rangiku. “Surely you didn’t think that would work. I knew the abilities of Haineko even before you did. You’ve never been able to use them against me.”
The ash was dangerous. Even though it looked like scattered dust, it had the ability to tear up Rangiku's enemies, as if a cloud of a million blades. The cloud could also be used as a defensive shield, with an obvious drawback. Lightning jumped from Seraphiel's fingers, the metallic cloud of what looked like ash conducting the dangerous energy easily.
“Of course I know.” Rangiku retorted, her voice coming from Seraphiel’s flank, the cloud of ash simply being a distraction.
Rangiku's heel dropped towards her head like an axe-kick.
Seraphiel could’ve tried blocking it, but why do that when she didn’t have to? A barrier of energy intercepted the kick, shattering almost immediately. Almost. The fraction of a second it held was more than enough for Seraphiel to [Shunpo] away, even if she only shifted a couple of steps. Her own blade slashed at Rangiku’s flank, though it was quickly intercepted by a small cloud of ash.
Rangiku’s hand glowed with energy as she cast offensive Kidō at almost point-blank range. The ball of glowing energy was cut in half by the upswing of Seraphiel’s blade. “Completely chantless and instant Kidō. Not bad at all.”
“And I forgot that annoying ability you have to cut through spells.” Rangiku mock-complained.
“While interesting, this can’t be all that you’ve learned since I’ve been gone. Get to it.” Seraphiel ordered with a commanding tone.
“As you wish.” The ash gathered back to Rangiku’s sword. “Bankai! World of Devastation.”
As soon as Rangiku chanted the activation phrase, the whole array was filled with ash. The ground below Seraphiel’s feet seemed to turn dry and devastated, cracking with every move. She could also sense Rangiku’s presence in several places around her. The pressure from Rangiku’s [Reiatsu] also slammed into her, clearly overwhelming her own. Her Vitality became useful as she could withstand the pressure, though she knew her own attacks would be much diminished. Suppressed. Only her telekinetic abilities were keeping the ash at bay, and away from her, forming a rotating clear area around her.
Suddenly Kidō spells rushed at her from a dozen directions at once. “Bakudō #81. Dankū.” Seraphiel muttered, and a transparent box of energy surrounded her, invalidating the attack spells. While the spells Rangiku had used were more numerous, her defensive spell simply outranked them by a large enough margin to render them irrelevant. It also ate what would’ve been a huge chunk of her old powers. Now her new efficiency Skill and improved power reserves allowed her to take the loss much more easily. She could already see how the efficiency Skill would make things better in the future when it was higher level. It had gained some levels already from sparring with Kaede and just living.
Feeling that was the case, she pinpointed what she thought of as the real Rangiku inside the ash and chanted another spell. Instead of targeting just the one though, she targeted her and nine of the fakes. “Hadō #91. Senju Kōten Taihō.” Ten black points of energy appeared around her before shooting off at the targets she’d chosen. Each resulted in a devastating explosion of energy, scattering much of the ash in the air. This one took a lot more out of her, as the Kidō spells scaled in power and cost almost exponentially.
After the shockwaves from the explosions disappeared, there seemed to be no other effect as even the scattered ash seemed to be reforming. "So, none of them is the real you," Seraphiel said out loud, realizing the issue.
“Could be.” Rangiku’s amused voice came through the dense ash. “Your Kidō abilities are impressive as always. Wasn’t that one developed by Urahara for his personal use? Should’ve known you could use it.”
At the same time, the ash started to push in from all sides, grinding against her telekinetic protections, slowly wearing them down. “I think I can see now. Despite the appearance, this is a Bankai meant to outlast your opponent. Grind them down while you remain safe.”
"Learned from you," Rangiku stated, not really confirming her words.
"Well, let's make this interesting," Seraphiel stated and gathered all her psionic might and threw it to create an [Eldritch storm] over the area. The ash could conduct the power of the psionic lightning, spreading it everywhere as bolts of lightning filled the area.
At the same time, she maximized the defensive aspects of her Paladin Skills and removed her telekinetic defenses, allowing the ash to finally strike at her, at the same time triggering the retributive aspect of her new Skills.
A sudden cry of pain sounded through the ash storm all around her, confirming her suspicion. Seraphiel's effective Vitality was completely abnormal, and she was betting it would carry her through this, especially when combined with her ability to heal herself, something that Rangiku didn't possess.
She felt her powers rapidly plummeting as she channeled both the storm and the healing, and she fell on her hands and knees before blacking out for an instant.
As she came to, both of them were lying on the ground, breathing heavily. "That was mean, Captain," Rangiku complained before moaning at the phantom pain she was still remembering.
“So was your Bankai.” She retorted.
“Who won though?” Rangiku asked, rolling to rest on her hands and knees.
"I believe that was a tie," Eva commented from the stands. "Theoretically Seraphiel fainted first, but in a real situation both of you would've died, so I'd call it a tie."
“I won!” Rangiku cheered.
"Tie," Seraphiel grunted.
"I won!" Rangiku repeated, and Seraphiel decided to let her have the small victory. Her old student and friend had earned it.