Chapter 26: Paradox and Purpose
When Silas arose, his vision was clouded. Everything around him looked too blurry to tell where he was. So he calmed himself by closing his eyes and relaxing his mind. Opening them again, the images gradually gained some focus.
He was in a back alley.
The modern trash cans told him he wasn't in the Soul Society. If he were, it would be far into the distant future. A time in which Soul Reapers would have advanced past the Edo period.
No one in Bleach had ever witnessed what happened to a Soul when they were devoured by the streetsweeper. For all he knew, he could be back in his home world. But when he spotted a broken mirror nearby, those orange locks flowing on his head said otherwise.
On top of confirming that he was still in the world of Bleach, he also saw that his eyes had reverted to Ichigo's natural colour. The only thing different was the Bible wasn't on his person.
Silas casually walked out, only to discover he was in a modern city. The people were no different than casual Japanese men going to and from work. There were also modern-day vehicles and bicycles. Without a doubt, he wasn't in the Soul Society.
Some people gave him curious gazes because of the clothes he was wearing. Without any shame, he asked a random bystander what city they were in. The pedestrian claimed they were in Karakura Town. But this wasn't enough. So Silas went back to the alleyway and rummaged through the trash cans.
There, a torn newspaper read, 'Politician Impeded from Office, August 12th...'
His brows furrowed when he saw the year. He had escaped back to Karakura Town, but he was six years in the past—way before the story even began!
This was bad. Unbelievably bad. Time travel wasn't a thing in Bleach.
He couldn't think of how to return to his original timeline. If he entered the precipice world again and went through the street sweeper, there was no telling where it might send him. An act like "time-hopping" until he returned was also ill-advised.
It hadn't taken long for him to compose himself. He closed his eyes to think of a new plan.
Six years ago, only one thing major happened in the story: Ichigo Kurosaki lost his mother, Masaki, to Grand Fisher. And before that, Masaki and Isshin married, eventually bearing three children. Perhaps there was a meaning behind returning all the way to this period. If it was to save Ichigo's mother, there was no chance Silas would dare attempt such a foolish thing.
Then there was Enrakyōten.
Though he couldn't sense its presence directly, a lingering awareness of the sword remained with him. He was determined to avoid summoning it unless his life hung in the balance. It seemed ironic, but first, he needed more answers to understand what was happening.
Without making haste, he propelled himself above the building and made flew to where the Kurosaki residence was. As he soared in the sky, the notion that he wasn't anywhere else other than Karakura Town became more apparent.
He finally got close to the neighbouring residence and used his sensing ability. There, he could see five low-level spiritual beings. And out of all of them, one of them was undoubtedly a Quincy. That confirmed it: Silas had indeed traveled back to the year Masaki Kurosaki was going to die.
There was no need for him to see her face personally. It was etched in his memory how the entire family interacted when they were together. Karin and Yuzu were fairly young at the time, mere infants when Masaki gave birth to them. As for young Ichigo, he was the greatest anomaly since his older body was also standing only a couple of miles from him.
'If I slay him, will I still appear in this world?' Silas thought to himself. 'What if I create a paradox? Or worse, what if I appear in a different character's body?'
All these questions rummaged through his mind until he came to one conclusion: not to interact with the main characters. Fate dictated that Silas Wren was to be transported to this world with a purpose. And since he was still alive, that purpose had yet to be fulfilled.
But there was still one thing he needed and one thing only: the Hōgyoku.
So what if he had been transported backwards in time? So what if he couldn't change his destiny by arriving in this world? As long as he was alive and kept his faith, he knew that things would work out well in the end.
As such, he turned around, hands in pockets, and departed the neighbourhood.
Although the story of Bleach wouldn't officially start until Rukia's arrival, there were so many events that had already unfolded. All of these events revolved around Sōsuke Aizen. Silas, by no means, was going to involve himself with that character again. Already having defeated him once, he would simply let his future-self do it again.
Something most people weren't aware of was that there were a group of Soul Reapers that the antagonist involved himself with almost one hundred years ago. They were known as the Visoreds, former Soul Reapers from the thirteen court guard squads. Why they were considered former was because they underwent Hollowfication, only to be rescued by Kisuke Urahara.
The latter wasn't able to reverse the experiment Aizen put them through, but with Tessai's help, he was able to transport them out of the Soul Society, freeze their time to help them control their Hollow powers, and then gave them Gigais to reside in the world of the living.
Since then, it has never been written or recorded what they all did for those one hundred years.
Silas could only speculate that they went into hiding, awaiting the moment they could face their enemy once and for all. Whatever the reason, it took one hundred years to do it because that's how long it took for Aizen to finally make his move. In truth, that's how long it took Ichigo to manifest his Soul Reaper powers and start the story.
Details aside, there were only a select few things Silas could do now before returning to the Soul Society. The first was to ensure he didn't involve himself with the likes of Kisuke or other important characters. While the second was to pay the Visoreds a visit!
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone