Bleach: Shattered Blade Novels & Stories

Collapsing to the ground, I felt the weight of defeat wash over me, my life flashing before my eyes in a blur of fear and pain. The relentless onslaught of punches and kicks continued unabated, leaving me too feeble to defend myself. My vision blurred and my senses dulled, a disorienting haze enveloping me as one of the men motioned for the others to pause, his gaze fixed intently on me. As he drew nearer, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, he grabbed hold of me, his chilling stare piercing through me. "It seems you've meddled in affairs beyond your reckoning. Our client made it explicitly clear that you must endure excruciating agony," he taunted.

Her hands reached out for the smallest yet sharpest knife and she held it in a tight grip. Tears were streaming down her eyes, thinking back to those days when she felt too vulnerable and helpless. When the crying and the taunting never stopped. When everything haunted her: her life and the world. She would cut and sit there helpless, but she always cut so far away from the Radial Artery so she knew she was not helpless but she was not ready, never ready to help herself. After a few minutes, the cut would stop bleeding but she would still have consciousness and her life. Then she would take the carpet cleaner and clean it quickly.

It's a lot different when you're in the shit. My blade started to glow blue. I was preparing for a [Raiden's Finger]. I lifted my sword into the air forming a large blue electric blade. I was going to cut down Syllia when a dwarf appeared in front of her. He had a knife in each hand, and around his feet, wind was swirling.

[Soul Cleave] Lucas also didn’t hesitate as he roared. [11th Blade] CLANGGGG! The sword and the axe collided. A shockwave was released from the point of contact, converting everything nearby into dust. Half of the mansion, which was the size of a mountain, vanished with it. The dust that has spread through the air has formed a massive cloud in the sky. Then, in the midst of it all, two figures stood motionless. “Kugh…” Lucas grinned. As the adversary's powerful aura ripped his body inside out, cracks appeared on his body.

Pulling one of the frame pieces out of the mess, I heaved it with all my strength and shattered the glass. I could get in now, but the snake could also get out. It dropped to the ground and headed for the opening, then shied back, moving slowly and gingerly. The broken glass cut at its scales. It was so desperate for food, it came at me anyway and let the glass slice it to ribbons. That gave me an idea. I picked up a particularly large shard of glass and waited.

He felt the shift in the air pressure, the sudden, violent displacement of the holographic cherry blossoms. The white blade materialized aimed directly at Dax's neck. Dax ducked, the blinding corrupted sub-ether searing the collar of his leather cut as it passed over him. He spun on his heel, driving his Phase-Knife in a brutal upward arc toward the Shogun's exposed chrome ribs. CLANG. The Shogun parried the strike with blinding speed, the clash of blue and white sub-ether sending a localized shockwave through the courtyard that cracked the obsidian floor beneath their boots.

CHAPTER 13 – THE SHATTERED ILLUSION Althea’s POV “Stop shaking,” I whispered to myself. But my hands wouldn’t listen. The photograph lay on my lap innocent, harmless, and at the same time the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. Damian. Darius. Side by side. Same face. Same eyes. Same jawline. But only one of them had the tiny, faint scar at the corner of his right eyebrow. And it wasn’t Damian.

“But the balance you fight for… it was never real. And now, you will pay for your mistake.” He raised the Blade of Annihilation, and as the sun’s light hit its edge, it cast a shadow so deep it seemed to swallow the world whole.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my parents turn away, shoulders shaking as they tried to hide their tears. We stood there in a silent standoff for a long time. In the end, I gave in. Maybe it wasn't for him, and maybe it wasn't for hope, either. Maybe… It was because I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to this world. I humbled myself before my parents' tears. I agreed to continue with the treatments, to go through radiation, and to prepare for surgery. However, radiation wore me down completely. Day after day, I just lay there on the bed, unable to move. My once beautiful black hair was shaved off, and from that moment, I refused to look in a mirror again.

She begins to shake a little and stare out into space. “Samantha.” “Samantha.” Shit. What’s happening? I get out of my seat and walk over to her. I kneel so that we are eye level. I place her hands in mine. “Samantha.” Her head lowers to look at me, and that’s when I see that she’s as pale as a ghost. Which is hard to believe considering her light caramel skin. Her eyes were in my direction, but they were looking through me. I shake Samantha’s hands while speaking her name. Finally, she begins to blink.