Small little preview for Chapter 42

A Few Days Ago

Ichigo felt as if his eyes were on fire, which was quite remarkbale considering he was essentially immune to fire and heat. Nevertheless, the strain of exerting his existence into the realm of time was taking it's toll. He could barely grasp the ever churning facets of reality as seconds bled into hours into days into eons and he could make no sense of past or future. It was one primal ooze.

Was this how Tiamat saw the world? The ever mutating and constantly shifting threads of Time?

And yet, it was the sheer thought of her that gave his sense of self something to latch onto in the cosmic chaos. Slowly, near painfully, he tried to reconstruct her image in his mind's eye using his memories. Memories? Or were they visions of their future?

The light bent, it danced gold and rippled in the dark behind his Tiamat, fading in and out of exitence. Snow fell; without a sky to hold any clouds. But... wait. Was she wearing a wedding dress? White lingerie?

Was he going to...? Were they...?

A surge of cold water pooled around him, and if he had lungs in this place without a where or when, he'd have flailed drowning. Ocean blue eyes glowed in the dark, the vision became more real. Almost as if Tiamat were really before him. He could almost touch her. He could almost taste -

Ow!

Wait... did the future Tiamat just flick him in the forehead?

His vision snorted. "Sloppy, you must focus, beloved."

There was a brief period of confusion for him, but then he realized that she had manifested in the Realm of Time as well.

"Time is not so easily divined. It bends in on itself. Forwards and backwards and in on its side. All is mercurial, even the past which you believe to be concrete. Time is always moving. You must learn to let go of the Self, and see the whole of Reality. And when you've witness the river become tree, assert yourself against the warp and weft threatening to drown you, then you shall Decree."