Chapter Text
Year: Unknown,
The beginning of all creation
During that age, all of creation was in a state of ambiguity. There was neither life nor death; progression and regression flickered to and fro. The primordial essence of the ‘universe’ existed as an infinite Void, extending endlessly in all directions. And for a long time it swayed.
Swaying and swaying slowly; this waning and waxing world waited for a hundred million years to cool down. It first cooled into a more fathomable ‘Ocean.’ in which not-quite-life-forms sprouted, solidified into existence at the ‘will’ of the ‘Universe’.
Eventually the Infinite Void-Ocean cooled down yet more and so the World came into being and so did the humans. The Humans who had a Will of their own gave rise to an Entity. The Hollows, made from their own immortal Souls. Eventually, Hollows too became a part of the circulation of souls.
But before long, Hollows began devouring humans. And so, the circulation of all Universe ceased. All those souls came together to form a gigantic Hollow, a Menos. The world became completely Still.
Soundless.
And then-
A new life came into being.
As if the world itself naturally rejected this Stillness, he destroyed the Menos and turned it into sands of reishi; which turned into Souls and thus, circulation began once again. Some speculated later that the existence of this being was the progenitor Chaos itself, to keep breaking and reforming the fabric of the Universe so it may be Transitional. Dynamic. So long as this entity would have Consciousness, the Universe would never be Still . Finite. Knowable.
It’s name was ų̶͚͕̼͈͕̬̟̔͐̆̿͐͘n̵̩͖̝͉͖͎̫̬̲͍͖̗͒̀k̷̘̞̦͔͑͆͆̕͘͝n̵̢͕̞̳̻̝̼̯͇̦̈́̉̾o̷͇͐̓͐ẃ̸̧̖̰͈͌̌ä̶͇̩̬́̊̐̌̈́͌̽͑̈́̚͜b̶̢̛͈͉̼̮͒̿̎̽͗͘̕l̴̡̮̻̻̤̩̥͉͕̗̬̊̈́͗̃̔̉̓̀̆̂͛̂̏͘e̵̟̖̥̙̿̿̆͐̽̓͝ͅͅu̷͈̮̗̭̍̒̃̐̐̑͊̑̾̀̐̕͝͝ṋ̷̩͖̖̦̰͕̼̞̤̙͈̺̳͐̓͋̒͐͑͑̃̇̾͌̈́͒͗̕̚͜ͅf̷̰̪̺͖̰̺̈́̀̈́͂̋̾͋͆͒̉̆̎̀̕̚͝ͅͅa̵̙̖͉̤͇͖͊̄̈́̌͗̐̏̕͘͝t̸̬̮͕͉̼̪̘̮̗͚͆̅͗͊́͐͊̄͒̔h̶̛̛̬̙̬̗̙̞͖̝̙̹̻̫͈̠̆̉̾̆̈́͘̕̚͜o̶̢̻̺̯͍͙͉͊̂̄́͂̓͛͘͝m̷̧̛͍͈̰̙̅̍̓̍͗̚ą̴͎̝̣̉̽b̵̨͍̰͔̥̙͖͈̺͌̇̏̄̋͐̉̔̽͑̆̆̅͘͘ĺ̴̛̰͊͐͗̂͒̒͊͂̚͘̚͠ẻ̸̢̩͇̳̙̞̞̮͔̻͕̱͍͓͎͚̒̂̈́̓̊̕͜ü̷̢͚̻͖̱̯͉̺̺̪̥̐̏͂͛̑͂̀̎͂͆͝ͅn̷̡̝͍͓̲̝͍͛̾͋̚h̷̬̫̍ḗ̴̡̬͎͈̺̣̞̘ā̷̺̍̀̍r̷̡͈͖̠͓̯̥̘̻̯͂̏͗̍̀͌̌̅̓̽̀̈́̒͝a̵̺͖̼͌̑͋͒̇̿̋̈́̾̀̄͛̕b̶̡̨̟̔̐̒̀̈́̓̊̿̄̒͑̚͘͘ļ̸̙̥̱͖͖̌̍̾͑͗̄̂̈́͂͆̒̂̕ẻ̷̤̘̬̙͇̦̻̾͐̿̎́͜͜͝ạ̵̡̱̲̠͈͎̣̰̝̻̙̦̈̓̿̆͌̏̈́̑̋̈́̏̕͘̕͜͝ͅļ̴̼͖̹̯̪̏̿̑̎m̸̬̟̘̣͍̫͎͕͚̭͎̬͚̰̂̏̽̚͘̕͠i̶̧̝͖̘͙̫͓͓̯̞̥͚͚̾̾͆̊̍͋g̵͓̞͈͖̮̫͖͍̣̘̓̇̕͠ͅh̷̨̡͙͓̫̣̥̻̙̻͖͆͝t̴͈̣͎̝̋̈́͗̏̔̈́̏͒͂̈́̈̕y̴͐̔͗̅̈́͆̀̓͘͜͝ , the Rei-o of the first era.
A time later, Others; with special powers, appeared, manifested from the Universe, knowing their own names, and possessing Great Power. Manako Osho, Kuchiki, Shihoin, Tsunayashiro and Others. But it is fair to say that the Rei-o stood out; his powers very close to Omnipotence and Omniscience.
As the Rei-o continued to protect the world from the Hollows by annihilating them; to prevent the world from stagnating, the world itself began to slowly sink into chaos.
However, there were those who did not find this state of affairs agreeable. There were five of them. Although not as much as the Rei-o; they were strong. They were the original founders of the Five Great Noble Houses, including the Shiba family.
Each of them had different motives.
The Tsunayashiro ancestor was afraid that this mighty power would someday be used against them.
The ancestor of the opposing clan said that it was necessary to have a world that would serve as the lid to cover up the 'pit' that would later be known as 'Hell'.
The Kuchiki ancestor believed that a new order was necessary to solidify the world more.
The Shihoin ancestor said that it was necessary to form a larger circulation to advance the world, but that the path of that Chaos should be Ordered, Defined. A controlled Chaos.
And the Shiba ancestor wanted to explore the path of purification of Hollows rather than destruction; since they too had hearts.
There would be a Reishi world, a Kishi world, and also a Sand Paradise that would be the destination of the Hollows both worlds produced. Or, alternatively, other forms of worlds might come to being, but what was most important was to have worlds with a clear distinction between life and death.
Perhaps another form of the world would be born, but the essential thing was the clear separation the world of the 'living' from the world of the 'dead'.
In order to turn this division into a reality, what was required was the power of a man who transcended everything, but his power could not be controlled, neither used by them while he retained Consciousness.
And so, a Decision was made.
Although the Shiba ancestor tried to talk the Tsunayashiro ancestor out of it, it is said that the Rei-o was tied up and sealed within the crystal. The rest of Soul Society's history was witnessed directly by Manako Osho, or as he had named himself Ichibei Hyosube.
Using, the Reio’s, powers of the Almighty as the 'keystone', the five of them created the foundation of a new world. Soul Society, the Material World, Hueco Mundo and The Gates of Hell at the very Center of the Universe from the Ocean of Primordial Essence.
The Universe remained one, however, Life and death were separated by clear barriers at this Center whose borders were Vast and Seemingly Infinite, the Worlds now Tangible. The Soul Cycle ushered in a new era.
And then, one day, the ones who managed the Soul Society, came to be known as 'Shinigami'.
The Soul Reaper who was the ancestor of the Shiba clan opposed the Tsunayashiro clan continuing to forcibly seal the Reio away. ‘We must make known far and wide the sin we have committed and entrust our judgment to the world,’ the ancestor insisted. In addition, the Shiba ancestor had been searching for a technique to make their own body into a sacrifice in place of the Reio. The Shiba ancestor did rebel against the Tsunayashiro ancestor for sealing the Rei-o by force. He tried to find a way to sacrifice himself instead of the Rei-o.
Later, as a result, the Shiba ancestor was obscured from history by the Tsunayashiro family, and the remaining descendants ended up receiving a cold reception from the Five Great Noble Clans.
Perhaps it was because he could see the far-flung future.... Maybe he could not escape his fear; or maybe he found some hope in the new world.... Or perhaps… there truly could be no separation of the World so long as He was Awake. There was only speculation, for none could fathom his reason... But the Rei-o did not resist his sealing.
But the Tsunayashiro ancestor doubted even this non-resistance.
Afraid of the Rei-o escaping from his seal by himself; he neither wanted the Rei-o to live nor did he want to kill him. Continuing this helix of contradictions, the Right Arm of 'stagnation' and the Left Arm of 'Progress' were torn off.
And yet that still wasn't enough. With the Tsunayashiro leading them, several of the ancestors spent a great deal of time carving out the Reio’s heart, whittling away his legs, scraping out all of his internal organs and removing them from his body.
Doing so, they destroyed his power; creating a king convenient for themselves.
Unable to have a voice over the governance or the economy, in a body that couldn’t so much as exhale, much less incite rebellion, he would continue to act as the lynchpin for the Soul Reapers. Though they are the ancestors of the Soul Reapers, the deeds they committed to create a puppet ‘king’ for themselves truly run deep.
The king would continue to remain the lynchpin without ever having a say in the workings of this world, while the real business is carried out by others.
This was the history of the Universe, Of Shinigami. And so this state of affairs would continue for a long time, the Ancestors assured of their own power over the Reio, would continue to live in this world built upon their Original Sin.
However, the Reio still possessed a Will of his own, and would continue to influence the Universe and what would be known as Fate would call his Liberators to him. To, once again, Rebirth the state of things, as even the New World Order was not meant to last forever. No-thing ever does.