The world before them was sickly grey with blood red skies and the air oozing the scent of muted screams and soul reaping torment. It stretched as far as the eye could see, and stretched even wider past the limit of their senses.
One thing Itachi and Byakuya noticed was that, unlike the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, there was a certain balance that Hell lacked.
It frayed at the edges of their mind that the dimension they were in was one that was in no way natural to the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, or the World of the Living. It was a segment to something whole, but not a part of the things that made it whole — instead it was the opposite.
It felt as if Hell was intentionally different so that the other three realms could be in balance — whatever that balance was.
Death and its billowing intent was in the very air they breathed and its endless hunger threatened to eat at their very soul. Hell, as the very notion its name implied, was a dark and cruel place.
Their Reiatsu wrapped tightly over them like the cloak they wore and waded off the parasitic atmosphere they were now in.
"Welcome to Hell. It's not a pretty sight to newcomers and it never grows on you… but it's the last place we'll call home." Kokutō looked over the platform they were standing on with a cruel smirk on his face.
He directed a look at Murakumo. "So what are you going to do about him? Want him to lead you back to their little rackety hideout?" he seemed amused at the prospect as somewhat eager.
"What happens if one of you dies here?" Byakuya asked, never taking his eyes off the world in front of them.
Kokutō looked thoughtful. "The concept of death is foreign to Hell and since we are already bound to this world we'll keep on resurrecting after a short while. Don't worry, the terror sets in after your first fifty years here," he laughed with an easy air as if he was deeply amused by the thought.
"And after that… well, you'll just keep on living in this endless loop, until you become like them."
They looked down at the giant architectural maze structure below them and saw some souls just staring blankly at them.
"They feel…empty." Itachi said.
"Aye," Kokutō mumbled soberly. "Every time you die here, a piece of your soul gets burnt away into the world itself… and that pain is unimaginable for most. Die more than you can handle and your whole soul will be burnt away into an eternal torment and that is the screams you hear in the wind."
That little snippet from Kokutō dropped down any regards Byakuya had for the residents of Hell below the dead end point it once stood at.
Without saying a word, Byakuya's hand blurred and Murakumo's head slid down the rest of his body. Kokutō whistled at the display while Itachi remained thoughtful as he looked down at the world below them.
"We should start moving, Captain Itachi," Byakuya said as the last embers of interest in this world fell away as Murakumo broke into dust and spirit particles. "Do you know the way?"
"I think so. But he will lead us just in case." Itachi replied, gesturing a finger at Kokutō who shrugged nonchalantly.
"Eh, I guess I can play a guide. As long as I get my fair share of those bastards." He jumped the platform and shouted loudly as he did. "Let's hurry a bit, hmm?"
The two of them shared a silent look and jumped down into the giant maze after Kokutō. As they fell, Itachi got a closer look at the empty husks of souls that stared blankly at them as they descended into Hell.
The essence of their souls have been swallowed up into Hell and now all that they were was a prisoner to both their mind and body. It was a wretched state of being, but it was oddly fitting for the name it carried.
With this being an official mission, one specifically issued by Yamamoto, they had more information to work with, though limited, concerning the topography of Hell along with a measure of the beings of interest.
First of which was that the residents of Hell were another type of soul species, akin to how the Shinigami, Quincies and Hollows were different. They were known as Togabito — Damned Ones, Sinners.
The second thing was the Kushanāda —the guardians of Hell and wardens of the damned.
They could already see one rising through the midst of the maze — or rather phasing through it — and heading straight at them.
"Well damn, looks like they've already sent out their dogs to hunt us… well you." Kokutō said with a grimace. "We might have to shake it off our tail."
"Who's 'they'?" Itachi asked, him and Byakuya looking nonplussed despite the behemoth creator heading for them.
Kokutō snickered darkly. "How would I know? All I'm sure of is that by no means are they the highest authority down here, they are just wardens. There's a hierarchy to them, and I believe that they are at the lowest end. There's got to be a reason why there's deeper levels to Hell when there's enough space up here, right?"
The two of them said nothing to Kokutō's query, though it was less of a query and more of an informed fact.
They ran on a blue bridge that ran through different intersecting points through the maze, even as the Kushanāda hobbled near them.
"We're gonna have to lose this one somehow. The main entry point is just behind it." There was a little tremor of worry in Kokutō's words that showed his still lingering fear of these terrible wardens.
"Will it follow us down below?" Byakuya asked as the Kushanāda got worryingly close to them.
Its size dwarfed the maze structure and the Togabito that it phased through got absorbed into it in a wave of despairing screams.
Some were cognizant of the danger and hurried away from its path, while others were too far gone as hollowed husks and died to it again, not that it saved them from the soul-tearing pain they were plagued with.
"Not necessarily. If we lose it on the way down then we'll be safe for a while. As long as no one does anything to provoke them into action."
"Like what?" Itachi asked.
"Oh I don't know, maybe like causing a riot or something." Kokutō replied with a weak chuckle.
It was already a few meters away from them and they could feel the thrum of energy that emanated from every part of the Kushanāda. It was strong, that they could very well feel, and there was also something foreign about it that they were instinctively aware of. Though what it was they had no idea.
"Don't stop, keep going." Itachi said, gaining only a short look from Byakuya who simply looked back at the Kushanāda and kept running.
"Oh please tell me you have a plan." Kokutō whined with no small amount of hesitation but reluctantly followed closely behind them.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed as they came a few feet away from the towering warden but didn't stop moving, neither did Kokutō, though the latter looked so close to just calling it quits.
"We go down, right?" Itachi asked, confusing them for a moment as they watched the world bled away and revealed a deep dark abyss — the entrance to Hell.
The illusion around them faded and the Kushanāda that had been close to them in the middle of the maze was still there while they were at the end of it.
"Was that— you know what, I don't care. Let go before it figures out whatever you just did. Believe it or not, those things are scary smart." He wasted no time in jumping down into the deep dark below, leaving the two Captains behind who shared a quick look before jumping after him.
"I hate this." In a rare fashion, Byakuya grumbled out his thoughts as the darkness swallowed them up and drew them down.
As for Itachi, every wrongness he felt about Hell became magnified as soon as the darkness covered him, only for the feeling to disappear as the darkness melded around him.
'Hmm. Most curious.' Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were just as intrigued by it as he was, especially Amaterasu who seemed to have gone speculative the moment they entered Hell.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to quiz her on her speculations, which grew even more, as the darkness reluctantly spat him out to the world below.
It was a barren world with mountain-sized cratered islands and weird trees that grew from the center of these craters.
They landed on the edge of one of these craters and looked around vigilantly but found no one else in sight.
"They're not here." Byakuya said, keeping his voice flat but the warning thrum to it wasn't missed.
Kokutō frowned, "I can see that, but—"
"They are here." Itachi said and jumped down into the crater, the other two following him, until they found themselves standing in front of two clad figures.
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