22 Mexico (1/3).

The last month also passed without much of a hassle. In this month, he had mostly travelled to different parts of Kyoto with Inari and Kunou. They had also left Kyoto to see the different landscapes of Japan. Yasaka was of course worried, but with the reassurance of Inari, she agreed to let them go. It was the most fun he had ever since all of this started. Kunou had started to call him Ichigo-nii-sama. He had tried to get her to drop the -sama, but she was set on calling him that. When even the threat of not coming back didn't stop her, he gave up.

In the middle of the month, when they were back in Kyoto, he had told Inari about the fact that he was from a different world or most likely universe. He had never been one to lie to others, especially ones he was close to and many had also told him that he was bad at it. When he explained what happened to him, she didn't really have much of a reaction, other than to envelope him in a tight hug. She had asked him if he wanted to create a grave for them and he agreed.

After paying respect to his friends and family, everyday, straight for a week, she brought him to her room and asked him to explain. He did and she dropped the biggest bombshell he had received. She had told him that he was not in another universe. She had told him that while the physical concept was the same, a star in the middle, planets orbiting it, moons orbiting the planet and so on and so forth, the meta-physical concept was different. Humans couldn't see realms like heaven or hell and there were thousand of such realms all around them. Some close enough to travel to and some so far away that they hadn't even discovered them.

She went on to explain that Takamagahara, Asgard and all such planes where gods lived were examples of realms that were close to each other. She told him that he should be from one such realm. The humans saw the physical side of things, which was the same for every human in every realm.

That meant, he wasn't travelling from one universe to another, but from one realm to another. He told her about the different worlds or realms he had gone to before ending in this one and the similarities between them. Two of the three worlds he had gone to, before ending in this one, had Japanese as a language. While this world/realm was near identical to his own. The same countries, same continents, same languages, similar history, similar legends that happened to be real in this world.

She had told him that the only realms consistent in all the other realms were heaven and hell. Nobody had actually seen the end of either hence both were considered to be infinite. She asked him if he had seen heaven or hell from his own world and he answered that he had seen hell. According to her, heaven was a place where the souls of kind, pious, helpful and all around good people were send and they lived there happily ever after with no disease, no death and no shortage of anything.

Soul society was not like that. There were criminals in soul society and the Rokungai were filled with poverty, disease and death. Meaning soul society was not heaven. It was just another one of these realms. Heuco Mondo was probably another one of these realms. That was most likely why, Yhwach didn't mention hell when he said he wanted to combine all the worlds together to create a new one.

From her explanation of hell, the hell he went to was the lower layer that was beneath the underworld. Underworld housed a lot of supernatural species, chief among them being the devils and fallen angels. The hell he went to was the place where the sinners and the true scum of all species were punished. It was also infinite so he could be millions of km away from the part close to this world.

He had gained a new perspective on everything. It had taken him the remaining of the month to digest the information. After hearing that heaven was the same for every realm, he had some hope of finding his friends and family again. Even if they were dead and didn't remember anything, he could at least meet them one last time. Also hearing that he was in a different realm rather than different world, he tried asking Zangetsu to help him open a Garganta to Heuco Mondo. The first time they tried was unsuccessful but the drain on his power was clear.

He entered his resurreccion and tried again. This time they succeeded in opening one, but there was nothing on the other side. He couldn't feel anything. If he went in like this, he could be lost forever in the void. So he had to close it and move on.

A few days after that, they were ready to leave. He said his farewell to Yasaka and Kunou. He really didn't have a plan for what to do once in Mexico. Inari had suggested that they try some of the local foods and drinks and visit the ruins of the Aztecs. One such ruin was the same as his world. The Chichen Itza. It was one of the most iconic sights in the world. Most people in the world had seen it, even if they didn't know what it was. He agreed and they left soon after.

Arriving in Mexico via teleportation was simple and lackluster. They arrived in the capital city of Mexico, simply and aptly named, Mexico City. They booked themselves a hotel and according to Inari, it was some sort of supernatural hotel. There were different species of supernatural that lived among the humans. The most commonly known among the humans was the Chupacabra.

According to Inari It was a small experimental creature made by the vampires to increase their numbers, but they escaped their captivity and flourished in Mexico and some parts of the USA. They were mostly harmless to humans other than their livestock.

Lamias were also found here and they were one of the more intelligent creatures. Minotaur, Ogres, Trolls, Cyclops, Griffin and Sphinx were also more civilized than he thought. He met a few of them during their travels and apparently, trolls were the ones to ask if you wanted to find the best food and Sphinx for the best drinks.

It was fun all around. They visited some of the tourist spots, museums, a butterfly reserve where they found a rare species of supernatural butterfly known as hell's butterfly. That thing was so similar to the ones he knew that he thought it was one of soul society's. Mexico was an amazing place. One country that had rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, mountain caves, volcanoes, so many different ecosystems in one country all in harmony.

Due to his Sage Mode, he was in more connection with the ecosystems than many others. They traveled to different places throughout the week and slowly he felt that they had gotten closer to each other. Though he still felt like he was missing something vital, something that he really shouldn't have trouble noticing. Today they were going to visit the Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world. After that he thought that they could visit all the other wonders as well.

As they paid the entry fees and set foot through the threshold, they had a sudden feeling of being transported to another place. Ichigo quickly took Zangetsu out and started looking around. They were still in the same place but all the people around them were missing. He held Inari's hand and asked.

"Do you know what happened?"

"It... it seems like we were forcefully brought to another realm." She replied, nervously.

"The only ones capable of doing that are gods and even then only if someone trespasses on their territory." She replied, gripping his hand tighter while summoning a katana herself. She may be a goddess and one of the greater gods of Japan and she may know how to fight but currently they were not in Japan nor were they in the human world. They were in a realm with another god and said god held the home advantage over them. There was only one god left from the Aztec Pantheon, the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl.

As they were looking around, completely on guard, a sleepy yet majestic voice boomed across the realm.

"Why have you intruders set foot into these forsaken lands?"

"We did not wish to intrude on your sacred land. We were only hoping to catch a glimpse of the Aztecs a when they were in their full glory." Inari answered with a bow, putting her weapon back for now. He also lowered Zangetsu, but kept his guard up for any sudden attacks.

"Then leave, if you do not wish to remain stuck with me." the voice seemed even more sleepy and resigned.

"If I may ask Feathered Serpent. Why have you not shown yourself to the world?" Inari asked after a while

"You know of me girl? Never mind you are a goddess. It doesn't matter of you know or not. To put it simply, the phantoms of the dead gods have combined into a monstrosity that wishes death upon their killer. I myself was weakened when the phantoms came, hence I only managed to seal them rather than destroy them immediately but the monster did not want to go down alone. The moment after I successfully cast the seal, it trapped me with itself. The seal has been slowly weakening us both over the centuries. I will soon perish with the phantoms." The voice, now identified as the Feathered Serpent replied.

"Phantoms of gods?" Ichigo asked, looking at Inari.

"Ichigo, gods do not die. If you kill them, they will reform after a few years. There are very few weapons and beings that can permanently kill a god. If the gods are killed and their temples and sacred grounds completely destroyed, they return as a phantom of themselves filled with hate and blood-lust for their killers." She quickly answered him with a hushed voice.

"So, you wanted to take responsibility for your own people?" Ichigo said out loud.

"You can say that if you wish human." Quetzalcoatl replied.

Ichigo felt bad for the god. He, from his male sounding voice, had been trapped here for more than 1000 years with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Trapped with the remnants of his family, neither able to die.

"Do you want our help?" Ichigo said sincerely.

"Why do you wish to help me human?" Came a surprised answer.

"Before coming here, Inari told me about the last remaining god of the Aztecs. The Benign deity, one loved by his people due to being fair, just and merciful. If I can help you break that seal, I wish, no, I want to do it!" Ichigo replied with some force.

"Hoho, you have a good heart human. But the only way to help me is to kill the monster inside, thus rendering the seal moot and it's existence unnecessary." Quetzalcoatl replied with amusement.

"Then let me kill the thing inside." Ichigo said.

"Do you really wish to go through with this human. You may die for someone you haven't even seen." came back a gentle reminder.

"Ichigo, I will ask you the same question. Do you really want to do this?" Inari asked, concerned for her love interest.

"Inari, you should know me enough by now. If I see someone in need, someone I can help, I will not turn my back on them." Ichigo replied with a smile. He knew that about himself. He had always been like that. He had been lost during his teenage years but in the end, he was the kind of person that helped if he could.

"Okay Ichigo, but be careful. We don't know how strong the abomination in there is." Inari said, still not happy but willing to support him.

"Don't worry." She still didn't looked very happy with his choice.

"How about this, when I come out of there without a scratch, I will listen to one of your request." Ichigo replied with a teasing smile. He was opening up to her as they spent more time together.

"Fine, but don't take back your word when you can't do what I want you to do." She replied with a huff before smiling.

"I will ask you one last time human. Are you sure?" came the voice of the trapped god.

"Yes, I'm sure. You said it yourself, the thing has been sealed in there for centuries. It should have gotten a lot weaker over that time." Ichigo replied with a nod.