Deep within the Kuchiki family estate, not even moonlight could reach.
Ancient scrolls hung along both sides of the corridor, their paper yellowed, their ink settled with age.
The air smelled of old wood mixed with faint incense-the scent that had lingered in the Kuchiki family home for centuries.
Aizen Sōsuke walked down the corridor at a leisurely pace, as though strolling through his own garden.
At the end of the corridor stood a door.
It was an ordinary door, made of pine, without a single ornament on its surface.
But intricate runes covered the frame, glowing a very faint blue in the darkness.
Three inches above the handle floated a fist-sized crystal. A compressed Kidō formation was sealed inside it; any unauthorized touch would trigger a chain of alarms.
Aizen stopped before the door.
He glanced at the runes, then at the crystal, before reaching out and gently touching its surface with his index finger.
Crack.
The crystal shattered. It broke down from within, turning into tiny motes of reishi that scattered into the air.
The runes on the doorframe dimmed for an instant, then went out completely.
Aizen pushed the door open.
There were no windows, no lamps, no source of light at all.
The darkness was as thick as impenetrable ink. He could not have seen his own hand before his face.
Aizen raised his right hand, spread his fingers, then gently closed them.
Several fist-sized flames appeared above his palm.
The flames drifted up and hovered in the room's four corners, illuminating the entire space.
The room was small, roughly the size of ten tatami mats.
The stone walls had been polished smooth, reflecting the faint light of the cold flames.
Dark tatami mats covered the floor, their edges already somewhat worn.
A coffin sat in