[Shinkou/Seiji] Fiction Archive

[Djudge]

Hmm, so yeah, I found a song that I thought would be appropriate for the RP's Army of Masks while I was rifling through my CD collection. All in all, I'd have to say that it fits in quite well... almost too well... YSI's being poopy so it's Rapidshare this time around; you guys can also catch this song on the upcoming 3rd song file for my cast that should be released soon:

http://rapidshare.de/files/8793375/March_of_The_Masks__Come_Join_Us__Bad_Religion__.mp3.html

March of the Masks
"Come Join Us" - Bad Religion

so you say you gotta know why the world goes 'round
and you can't find the truth in the things you've found
and you're scared shitless 'cuz evil abounds
come and join us

well I heard you were looking for a place to fit in
full of adherent people with the same objective
a family to cling to and call brethren
come and join us

all we want to do is change your mind
all you need to do is close your eyes

so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us

don't you see the trouble that most people are in
and that they just want you for their own advantage
but I swear to you we're different from all of them
come and join us
I can tell you are lookin' for a way to live
where truth is determined by consensus
full of codified arbitrary directives
come and join us
all we want to have is your small mind
turn it into one of our own kind
you can go through life adrift and alone
desperate, desolate, on your own
but we're lookin' for a few more stalwart clones
so come and join us
come and join us
come and join us

we've got spite and dedication as a vehement brew
the world hates us, well we hate them too
but you're exempted of course if you
come and join us
independent, self-contented, revolutionary
intellectual, brave, strong and scholarly
if you're not one of them, you're us already so
come and join us​

 

[Winduril]

Chapter 3 - Foilage of Flame

Tasukeru gleamed as it slid forth from its scabbard, and its silver luminescence was reflected in the faceted stalagmites surrounding them. There was no pause, no break in the fluidity of the transformation: the air instantaneously grew thick with pressure once again, the ground cracking around the two...sparring partners. Kimete held Sendaikousei in front of himself vertically, and without making a sound, the sword transformed to its released form. The wino kept none of his euphoria hidden as he began to twirl the long blade overhead.

"I never got to use this when we were training did I? I think the first time you saw it was during the War, wasn't it?" Kimete called out, and Masaru, in the same quiet method that Kimete had, bypassed the liberation phrase and held a now darker Tasukeru within his grasp.

"Yeah, although I never learned the abilities. I imagine it's something frightening if it's anything stronger than Sendaikousei's 'Rikiryou Tsukuri' technique," the Commander General replied, and Kimete's grin widened.

"Ha! It would also have to be stronger...I wouldn't dream of sparring your Bankai with just Sendaikousei in Shikai...the destructive capabilities of Tasukeru far exceed any regenerative power I have. However..."

The long sword stopped twirling, and Kimete paused for a fraction of a moment, completely frozen.

"BAN...KAI." Kimete hurled the sword behind his head, in the same fashion one prepares a whip to lash....and he did just that: with a recoil lunge of his arm, he whipped Sendaikousei at Masaru.

The instant the blade had begun its lash, it had been engulfed in a scarlet light. Starting at the tip, the blade shattered into fragments, each that emitted its own crimson pulsation. The broken pieces simply hung in the air for a moment, and then a last, blinding flash of light ruptured through the cavern. A swirling cloud of dust briefly manifested, pulling Masaru's cloak towards the center. At last, the whirlwind dissipated, and Masaru found himself grinning at the sight before him.

Kimete no longer held Sendaikousei...at least, not the blade. Around his body, a brown-red armor had formed, spiked and fleshy. The 5th Resistance Commander outstretched his right hand, and the armor twitched before a fleshy mass protruded forth from the palm of the hand in question. After flailing for several moments (in the way a man's leg will violently shudder even if he is crushed in death), the flesh exploded, revealing a sword in Sendaikousei's fashion, but with the same brown-red tint.

"Go on then...I'll wait for you to get the amount you desire," Masaru said quietly, and Kimete nodded, before lopping off his own head.

The red haired and now red stained cranium lolled about on the ground, and the armored body fell to its knees. Then...the red aura enveloped the two, and the same fleshy mass that had sprouted forth to produce a sword now branched out of the severed body parts. From the body, a new head was produced...and from the severed skull, a new body grew. Now, the twin Kimete cleaved each other in half, and the process restarted.

The Commander General watched on as four, eight, sixteen Kimete were born from the brutal process. When they were finished, thirty two Kimete shyunpo'ed around Masaru, and all held out the multiple Sendaikousei. Their lips moved in unison.

"Hidora Sendaikousei," said the Kimete Gumi, and as one, all of them broke into a wide smile. Masaru's body began to darken as Kurokasai wrapped around him and Tasukeru both. The circle of Kimete's expressions changed from amusement to curiosity.

"I haven't seen this in a while myself. I still remember the beginning though...that horrific black energy spilling forth around you. And you push it to its darkest, don't you, Commander?" they said, and Masaru's pressure increased in response. The black of Kurokasai was about to swallow him up whole, its black chords expanding to engulf him, when his lips moved quickly in the shadow.

"Bankai.."

The waves of black were eradicated in a brilliant flash of golden red light, and everything within the circle of Kimete was swept into a similar tornado of dust. The contents swirled into the roof high above and vanished. As the last remnants of cloud were whipped away by the wind, all of the Kimete held out a single finger and pointed it at the emerging sight within.

"Bakudou 61 Rikujyoukourou." Over a hundred yellow pins of pressure slammed into the center of the ring, and a second cloud of dust enveloped the area. The Kimete Gumi chuckled at their handiwork.

"Weren't you supposed to always be ready for an attack like that, Commander?" As the clods of dirt rained back down to the ground, a resonant voice answered.

"I was ready," Masaru replied, and the dust was billowed away in one burst of pressure, revealing two enormous "wings" ...wings that had shielded him from each shard of the multiple binding spells. In his hand, a golden red Tasukeru flicked slightly, and the wings flapped outward, spreading to their full span and sending the Rikujyoukourou back at the Kimete who had fired them. The Kimete Gumi dodged the shards of yellow spiritual pressure, and beheld Masaru's Bankai in its full glory.

The wings were at least 30 meters from tip to tip, and their feathers glowed with a heat that seared the air around their tips. They were being created from an inflow of energy at Masaru's sides that mingled with the aura immediately surrounding his body. Tasukeru glowed with the same flame that the feathers did, but brighter and hottest of all. Masaru's ardent eyes narrowed upon the Kimete directly in front of him.

"Tsubasakakou Tasukeru," he bellowed, and swept Tasukeru in a circle. The wings followed, and hundreds of feathers rained down on the Kimete within reach, their bodies being incinerated by the high temperatures produced by the blades. Several of the 5th Resistance Commander flipped away, spacing themselves from the dangerously powerful attacks. In the center of his nigh-on-angelic zanpaku release, Masaru arched his eyebrows.

"Eh? Did you fan out the pressure given to all of them? If you had created them the same way as before, then they would've been able to withstand those attacks enough to split again..." he called out, and the Kimete Gumi laughed in unison.

"Yes, but the main weakness of this form is that unlike my Shikai, it consumes pressure in order to maintain this ridiculously powerful ability. So although its true that more branches would be created from a higher concentration of pressure, the advantages of using Hidora Sendaikousai lessen in doing so." The Commander General analyzed what his antagonists had stated, and nodded in agreement.

"That's right. I don't think I would've perceived that for several years using that Bankai. You've come a long way, Garyou," Masaru said, and out of the remaining Kimete Gumi, more Sendaikousei emerged, though these sprouted forth from other locations, such as their elbows, shoulders, and knees.

<<Note from Wind: Guys, if you have Storm Center, start playing it now. =D >>

"Compliment us after we land a hit on you, Masaru," they replied, and ten versions of the 5th Resistance Commander sprung at him from various directions. The wings remained still until they were within reach, and then sprung into action, fluidly weaving this way and that to cut a path of flame through the numerous enemies that had entered its territory. The Kimete Gumi parried with the many Sendaikousei they had grown, resembling something close to porcupines as they moved towards Masaru. As the ten or so Kimete shortened the distance between themselves and Masaru, the wings frantically moved to cut them down before they could reach the source.

A Kimete somersaulted through the air, breaking a path through the wings with a Sendaikousei that jutted from his forehead like a horn, and prepared another sword from his chest. His efforts were in vain, however, for the second wing had pierced him in a row, and in a scissor-like motion, snipped him into oblivion. Another Kimete attempted to fire a Shakkouhou into the exposed Masaru, but the wings merely flapped and send the blast back into its user. Kimete after Kimete was wiped away into a fiery holocaust, but still they attacked.

One fell, two down, three incinerated, but the wings could not cut all of them down as they charged. Twin shyunpo and two Sendaikousei were being swept at Masaru's neck from opposite sides, and the wings swept inward and coiled protectively around Masaru to block their strikes. The sweeping swords were halted successfully, but the two Kimete grinned at Masaru, who hadn't moved once since the charge began.

"With these wings locked up, are you're unable to defend, Commander?" they asked, and each grew a last sword from the side of their necks, and chopped through the gap in the wings' foliage.

The strikes were stopped once again by feathers, and the twin Kimete turned their heads in astonishment. Masaru gave them a little smirk of his own.

"This is something new you didn't know about...it's true that the wings mostly attack as one, single sweep...but I can also control the feathers individually, like this."

Two golden red blades plunged through the throats of the twin antagonists, and they were annihilated in a storm of flame. The wings lifted up once more, released from their protective state, and Masaru sighed.

"Heh...checkmate~~," Kimete sung as he came from behind, Sendaikousei lunging forward to be plunged into Masaru's very exposed back.

A quick step to the right, a golden-red enflamed arc, and the shining Tasukeru blazed a path through Sendaikousei and across Kimete's chest. The 5th Resistance Commander fell to his knees, but was simply wreathed in flame: he didn't vanish.

"Ah...so that means when it comes down to just one, that one holds the remaining pressure, eh? What a powerful Bankai...with just a little more training, it'll be practically invulnerable. Good work Garyou...you came within a hair's breadth of hitting me," Masaru praised, and Kimete let the armor crumble off. The fragments hovered in the air in front of him, being drawn together like magnets, and finally returned to the original Sendaikousei. His voice came in gasps.

"Ho...how did...you know...know that I was...I was coming then?" he asked, and Masaru let Tsubasakakou Tasukeru be blown away in an unearthly gust of wind, the feathers being broken into smaller and smaller golden red droplets before vanishing altogether. Tasukeru was sheathed back into its scabbard, and Masaru exhaled deeply, his countenance damp with sweat once again.

"That was 'Akabane no Kirikaeshi Ryuu', the personal fighting style I developed when I was training with Tasukeru. Sweeping Hizashi and letting the flame linger in the air around me...I could feel you breaking through my pressure towards me. And since you were coated in Hizashi's embers, it meant I could easily break through Sendaikousei and you," he responded, and Kimete laughed to himself.

"That'd be a pain in the *** to actually fight against, Commander," Kimete said, then, more softly, "but alas...it seems like things haven't quite changed from the days of old. I was still not able to land a single hit, despite giving nearly all of my strength. I think I haven't accomplished too much in my time gone."

"Don't be ridiculous. You've gotten exponentially stronger, and you helped me accomplish better control of this thing...I wasn't expecting to be able to use it this well after drawing it out twice consecutively in several minutes," Masaru berated, and he sat down on the charred ground. Kimete let his body fall next to the Commander's and they were silent for a time.

Then, in the quiet of the training cavern, the two men's hands clasped together in respect and acknowledgement of the other's strength.

For they had made each other stronger, and that was, after all, the purpose of their clash.

 

[Winduril]

Chapter 4 -- History So Strong

Warren was pissed off.

It was just supposed to have been an ordinary night out with the rest of his gang, just a regular evening at the club, complete with Villereal paying up front for the women. And yet, after three drinks, a smoke, and a lousy whore who wasn't willing to do anything with him, he was beginning to perceive the horribly lame night he was experiencing.

And it pissed him off.

So much, in fact, that Warren could not help but slap the ***** across the face hard when she opened her mouth to protest again. The club, which had been previously dancing, oblivious to Warren's ruined evening, now froze and watched on silently as Warren proceeded in kicking the woman until the crunching at her sides announced her broken ribs.

"You...stupid...slut! You...have...to...listen...to...what....I say!" he muttered between inebriated gasps for air. Villereal's hands came down tightly on Warren's shoulders, making the latter stop in his brutal assault.

"Whoa man...calm down Warren. It's alright dude," he whispered, but Warren violently shook loose from his grip, whirling to face him.

"No 'S not! I just want to have fun!" he snorted back, and quiet followed. The silence was broken by a cold voice from behind Warren.

"You've had enough time to have fun here. Now your time has run out."

A hand plunged through Warren's chest, holding his heart firmly within its strong grip. No time passed before the hand had clenched and a crimson rain showered the immediate area within the club. A second hand slid Warren's lifeless body off the other, where it dropped to the floor and continued to let a scarlet pool seep forth.

Kokeru Sakuban flicked his wrist, letting some of the blood drop off, then bent down and pressed two fingers to the underside of the bloodied woman's neck. The silence that had occupied the area during Warren's temper tantrum now was replaced with horror: the crowd was slowly inching away from the dark swordsman that kneeled before them.

Kokeru's eyes flickered, and he bowed his head for a moment, inclining it so that strands of his hair mingled with her own. Then he stood up once again, and stared at the terrified people with a frosty light in his eyes. His tone was harsh as his lips moved.

"She's dead. And all of you atrocious scum are just as much responsible as the carcass that lies before me. For not saving this girl's life...you lose your own," he snarled, and the club was flooded with dark blue energy. The people fell to their knees, clawing at their throats and flailing in a chaotic fashion as the energy circulated throughout the entire dance floor. Then, the people exploded simultaneously, their insides spilling out everywhere, intestines being strewn across the floor and bones heaved into the walls.

The Commander General's former Master admired his handiwork, and as the remnants of a skull rolled to a stop at the tip of his toe, he crushed it beneath his foot in a violent stomp that cracked the flooring beneath the pulp. Kokeru exited with a flap of his cloak, leaving the door open as he entered into the sunlight. Let someone else find the mess...it was no longer his problem.

He walked with dignity down the street, although his black apparel contrasted severely with the light brown surroundings. At an outside-serving restaurant, he stopped, and slid into a seat without alerting any of the hostesses to his arrival. The seat leaned back and he turned his icy eyes to the sky above.

What would you say now if you had seen that? Do you still think they're worth being saved?

A frown, and then...teeth bared, and a cruel demeanor overtook him. At his side, his hand had tightened into a fist. A nearby hostess noticed him, and headed over to his seat promptly.

"Excuse me sir, but you can't sit in here without having gone through the register inside the build-"

"Go away, girl." The hostess raised her eyebrows at him, and her face flushed in anger.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave imme-"

"Leave me be, or I will be forced to take from you the time I graciously let you have right now," he growled, and his eyes crossed her own. A wild, panic-stricken expression covered her face, and she half-yelped before dashing away. Kokeru resumed his relaxed position once again.

That woman will come back out with someone who thinks he can handle me soon...it would be problematic to stay. I should go then...I already told myself I wouldn't directly slaughter these monsters for now.

Kokeru stood up once again, and was half way through the exit when, carried by the wind, gentle and ghostly in its short-lived passing, Kokeru caught the name, "Shinkou Masaru" .

He turned in the direction of the voice, and beheld a man clothed in white in the middle of a conversation with another, much more scraggly individual at a table. With his attention being focused, Kokeru could now pick up the conversation as it was occurring, and watched with interest as the dirty, rugged individual began to speak.

"Everything I know about him? Just the same as everyone else...war hero who's currently the Commander General of the Gotei 13. Why?"

Kokeru recognized a downcast expression on the blonde haired man's visage.

"Oh...well, never mind then. I simply wondered if you perhaps knew something more than the others. But it seems that I will have to get information about him from someone else-"

"Information on Shinkou Masaru?"

Kokeru stood at the table's edge, his eyes locked dangerously on those of the white clothed man. The dirtied-up companion looked between the two and then slowly slid out of his seat.

"I'll leave you two then...I apologize for not being more help," he added, then walked away. The blonde watched as he left, then returned his attention to the dark Kokeru that still reared to full height, almost in an act of intimidation.

"And what do you know about Shinkou Masaru?" he asked, a smile spreading across his features. Kokeru returned the smile with one of his own, though the bitterness and contempt it held caused the other's to disappear.

"Everything a Master can know about his student," he responded, and the white donned man's arched a single eyebrow, and then broke into laughter. Kokeru, not expecting such a reaction, was disgruntled when the man slid out of his seat as well.

"Kokeru Sakuban! The man who utterly failed as a teacher to two students and now must reap the consequences of such a folly. A rather sad story..." Kokeru took a step back, surprised by the stranger's knowledge. Had he learned Kokeru's identity simply after revealing that he was Masaru's Master? The white clothed figure arbitrarily went into a handstand, and patted a confounded Kokeru on the top of his head with a rather nasty looking foot.

"My name is Shougo Tenchou. I'm the Strongest...and also the First of us," he said from down below, then with great athleticism, he launched himself high into the air and somersaulted until he had landed on the roof. People in the street stopped what they were doing and pointed in awe at Shougo's games, and he bent down into a pose. As Shougo went into numerous bodybuilder positions and continued to flex, Kokeru's eyes narrowed on the chuckling buffoon.

The First? There was a Shintsuuro before me? And he must've met Masaru...and with a personality like that...

Admist the murmuring crowd, Kokeru called out to the still posing Shougo above.

"Oy! Does that mean that there are actually two who are 'Light'?" he hollered, and Shougo stopped his flexing and faced Kokeru.

"You should know better than most of us that there are very different definitions of what it means to be good or evil, Kokeru Sakuban," he replied with a snicker, and Kokeru scoffed.

"I see. Well...that means that you're still an enemy of what I plan to do. So you won't be leaving unscathed, 'Strongest'," Kokeru said quietly, and he unsheathed Hayasu with dramatic flair. The same blue pressure that had wiped away the people within the club earlier began to encircle the area, causing the spectators to flee. Shougo laughed again as the pressure began to build.

"What you plan to do? That genocide will never occur for as long as the other Shintsuuro exist. Do not believe that we will clash in a method best suited to you...because if you believe this fight will be a fight in your sense, you obviously don't know me very well..."

 

[Winduril]

Chapter 5 - Resistance Broke, Resistance Dominion

"A fight in my sense? What other definition of a fight is there but to..." Kokeru trailed off, and within an instant, his body had manifested alongside the still stationary Shougo, and Hayasu was pointed dangerously at the back of the Strongest's neck.

"...but to fight with spirit and steel?" he finished, and followed through with the stab. The tip of the blade was stopped...stopped by Shougo Tenchou's tongue. The Strongest strove to speak as best he could while in the middle of his silver-tasting raspberry.

"Pfftt. Pwease. Thwis is teh powaa of Shinkwou Maharu's mastah?" Shougo placed his hand directly beneath the blade and flicked his finger into the dull side. Hayasu nearly flew out of the astounded Kokeru's hands and as he stepped back to regain his balance, Shougo took his other hand and placed the index finger on Hayasu's tip. With the same freakish athleticism as earlier, he lifted himself into the air, except this time, he balanced with his single finger atop the zanpaku.

"You're nothing! Aren't you the one who fought with Masaru over your ideals as a Shintsuuro? Aren't you the one who plans on exterminating all of Soul Society? How could you have planned such a ridiculous notion when you're just nothing!" Shougo let the full part of his palm onto the blade and curled his body into a spin, so that it appeared he was break dancing on the tip of a sword, and then his two legs barreled across Kokeru's face. The dark figure was thrown into a building across the street and out the back side, skidding to a halt at last after tearing up a large portion of the ground. Kokeru lifted his head up, and was still rather grounded by what had just happened, when blood dripped on to the floor in front of him. His hand was pressed against his forehead, where the skin had broke. His cold eyes analyzed the blood before the fist clenched tightly, the crimson running in little rivers between his knuckles.

Incredible...he must've been around for many, many years to be this powerful. Only several thousand years of being completely devoted to Light would grant someone this measure of strength. However... Kokeru stood very slowly, his black cloak shuddering gently against the ground as he straightened, and his body began to glow with the same dark blue aura as earlier.

...if our strength if based on the magnitude of our Choice, then I am the true Strongest...for there is nothing that man can feel that matches my loathing for this utterly irredeemable race! The dark blue aura flared around him, enveloping the area in its sorrowful waves of pressure. Kokeru was about to launch back in Shougo's direction when an enthusiastic voice came from behind him.

"Oh, well it would appear that your heart, at least, follows-that-dream-with-all-the-zealous-passion-it-can," Shougo said, and Kokeru had barely gotten to turn around before a hook across the face sent him reeling. As he rolled, he could hear Shougo jogging next to him, still speaking, his voice gradually beginning to speed up until the words were almost blending together.

"However-you-seem-to-be-missing-that-one-characteristic-that-makes-following-through-with-and-fulfilling-that-dream-a-reality-and-that-is," Shougo continued, and Kokeru coughed blood as a kick caught him in the side and he was sent sailing into a wall. He had barely raised his head when he saw Shougo standing above him, a golden red orb beginning to kindle within the palm of his hand. He smiled broadly at the crumpled form of Kokeru.

"Strength," he finished, and lunged straight at Kokeru with the sphere of radiant energy in hand. The darker figure's eyes dilated as the attack swept in towards his chest.

Blood temporarily stained the sky, before the world pulled it towards the brown earth once more.

Shougo's eyes had widened in astonishment, and they slowly traced their way from the base of Hayasu all the way to the front of his now split chest, where what had previously been white purity now resided the scarlet steel of Kokeru's sword.

Kokeru snickered, blood running out of his lips in a gurgling fashion, and why shouldn't it have: Shougo's hand had tore his own chest asunder, and his hand was twitching outside of Kokeru's broken back. The dark figure weakly managed to stand, his free hand holding his own sword tight, so that another mark beneath the two was stained with their blood.

"Yo...you intentionally did that?" Shougo sputtered, and Kokeru managed a laugh between gasps, although his eyes were beginning to fade.

"Yes...and now, 'Strongest', you will behold the terrifying ability of my Hayasu...Teikou Asuuru!" he spat, and dark clouds of black energy swirled into existence around Kokeru's wounds, turning into miniature twisters. The base drilled into the injuries, and slowly, black threads were pulled from the cuts. Kokeru ripped Shougo's hand out from his chest, and the small vortexes centralized and merged on the enormous upper wound. Almost instantaneously, the tornado exponentially increased in size while the wound vanished. With no more wounds to heal, the twister entwined around Hayasu and drilled into the gaping wound the blade had made on its own. Shougo flinched visibly when the attack hit, his torso being torn into mincemeat. Kokeru leaned close, an icy smile lighting his features.

"Let me tell you something. Compared to you and Masaru's ridiculous attempts to breakthrough that resistance of our hearts, my choice in Darkness has granted me power to harness the resistance, and dominate that resistance. Any resistance to me will be simply controlled and changed for my benefit. What did you say earlier about strength? I think I have strength enough!" and with that, Kokeru tore Hayasu out of Shougo's body and swept one final blow across the "Strongest". The mutilated body was merely held together by the spinal cord from upper to lower half. Kokeru resheathed Hayasu and spat on the remains before beginning to walk away, his dark cloak drifting theatrically across the blood stained floor.

"Wait just one **** minute."

Kokeru paused, turned, beheld Shougo using most of his remaining energy to lift his head and peer into his would-be killer's eyes. Kokeru's eyes narrowed, though whether they did so out of admiration or disgust could not be told.

"Going to say some things to me before dying then, the First?" he asked casually, and he watched on as Shougo began to convulse, an odd gawking sound goggling out of his throat. For a moment, Kokeru thought that the man's throat had busted, but then the sound became clearer, louder, stronger, and Kokeru felt his jaw drop.

He..he was laughing!

The carcass on the ground was laughing, and continued to laugh as he raised his undamaged left arm weakly.

"I thought I told you...I am the Strongest. You think that weak attack is Strength? Let me show what real Strength is then, brat."

The left hand inched its way down, down, down, and Kokeru's eyes watched it snail further and further, reaching, reaching for...a sword hilt.

His heart skipped in realization, and he began to step forward, but it was far too late.

The hand clasped the hilt, shaking as it slid the blade just a fraction of an inch out from the scabbard.

"Terasuite, Shinseikassou."

 

[Winduril]

Volume 36 - Nova

Chapter 1 -- Nova

"Terasuite, Shinseikassou."

A light far brighter than any Kokeru had ever witnessed from Masaru, much less from anywhere else in the wide world he had spent many years searching and passing judgment on, took his realm of vision and threw it into darkness. He clutched at his eyes, still searing with the stinging pain the release had given him, and instinctively moved back so he could put distance between him and the now revitalized Shougo that surely lay behind a cloud of dust.

Slowly, the pain died away, until his eyes could peek open, their icy gaze striving vigorously to make sense of the blurry masses that filled its vision. The trail of uprooted dirt was dissipating, and his eyes managed to get fully opened by the time the last wisps blocking his vision were blown away to reveal...

...nothing.

Shougo Tenchou was no longer there...his blood and spilt fluids remained in the soil, but his body had vanished.

Kokeru blinked several times in order to confirm what he was seeing, and then turned around in a full rotation. The "Strongest" had disappeared completely...or had he? Kokeru tilted his head up slightly, as a dog might when it catches a scent. There was no visual indication that Shougo was there...but he could feel the Shintsuuro's spiritual pressure still.

Masaru's Master closed his eyes and frowned. This didn't feel normal...the pressure was vague, and seemed to be all around him...where the hell was-

Kokeru's body convulsed sharply, then hundreds of cuts split the skin, unleashing a mist of blood into the air that promptly rained down to dye the brown soil a crimson hue. He dropped to a knee, breathing harshly...he had to keep his right eye closed because even the skin just below the eyebrow had been struck, and a scarlet river threatened to wash his eye with its undesirable contents.

Wh...what the hell just happened?! I was attacked from all sides?! But how is-

"How is that possible? It's very possible when I use Shinseikassou," came Shougo's voice, and it spoke at a whisper and a yell simultaneously, harshly and kindly, slowly and quickly. Kokeru's good eye flickered left and right to find the source.

"Where are you Tenchou?! What projectile could you possibly be using that would allow you to hit so many small points at the same time?" he snarled, and the same, untraceable voice laughed.

"Where am I? Why...I'm everywhere! Projectile? Those cuts were made from Shinseikassou's blade...they were not at the same time. It's just that when attacks come at the speed of light..." the voice trailed off, and Kokeru saw something begin to form in front of him. A glimmer, a ghost upon the rays of light coming from the sun in the east...a shape here, a flash there, and hands began to form...arms, legs, a body in what appeared to be a haori. At last the beams of sunlight shone at the top, and Shougo Tenchou's head could be seen smiling back at Kokeru's.

"...things tend to seem like they're simultaneous," he finished jovially, and held up the glimmering, ethereal form of Shinseikassou. Kokeru could not help but feel his jaw drop.

"That's...your zanpaku's ability? To change you into light?" Kokeru sputtered, and his body exploded anew, a second burst of sanguine showers staining the earth around him.

"Yes...it's very unique. I get to travel wherever I want...if light is there. Create a perpetual darkness, and I'm relatively powerless. You're Dark...right? Why don't you put up that ability of yours to mine...I'll cut a path through it with ease!" he finished, and pointed the blade at Kokeru, who stood up with an air of drama, the blood dripping from his hundreds of wounds in a theatrical fashion. The freezing glare, though being given from only one eye at this point, lost none of its vile potency.

"All of that...all of that immense power...and yet...you refrained from killing me? Why?" he asked tentatively...or had he asked with a hint of venom? Either way, the smile disappeared from Shougo's face, and the Strongest did not respond.

It seemed to be the reaction Kokeru had been looking for, because the instant he observed this, a bitter grin of his own crossed his visage.

"Ha...you can't, can you? Why? Is it because of who I am? What I believe in?" he continued, and still...Shougo's face retained its solemn demeanor. The bitter grin widened in the silence.

"Is it because...of your Reisai?" Kokeru hissed, and Shougo's eyes hardened as the last word was spoken. The Dark Shintsuuro pointed his own zanpaku at the manifestation of light before him.

"Hahaha! That makes more sense...surely there would be a price for such an outrageous amount of power for even us Shintsuuro...it simply would break the rules to be that strong without a catch. And if it's because of your Reisai...I am enjoying invulnerability, right?" he said icily, and the hundreds of wounds across his body began to vanish as dark strings peeled from them and entangled into one enormous vortex of black pressure that ran the length of Hayasu's blade. Kokeru held up his zanpaku, and the one eye shone with a frigid light.

"An advantage I will enjoy, no doubt. Teikou Asuura!" he growled, and the twister was hurled towards the phantom of golden light that was Shougo Tenchou. The Strongest could be seen sighing, though the sound was lost over the roaring of the tornado.

"What makes you think that'll hit me? All I am are spiritons in a new form. This whole region is my potential location...how would such an easy to detect attack catch winged feet on a golden bridge?"

Instantaneously, the form had ceased to be in its previous location and now "stood" next to Kokeru, who was still in mid-stride from the sword stroke. A long split in his black cloak appeared across his chest, and blood spilt anew as Kokeru stumbled forward. The Dark Shintsuuro was experienced however...he had learned long ago not to pause for pain. With a hint of a rumble, he stabbed Hayasu into the scarlet soil before him. The twister, still heading towards the spot Shougo had been, exploded violently, and a wave of dark energy swept in one behemoth ripple out from the center.

Shougo, not expecting this second part to the ability, was hit hard by the black pressure. An odd scene occurred: the ghost of light that was Shougo flinched slightly upon impact with the ripple from Kokeru's attack, and then very real blood poured from the air and splattered across the ground. Kokeru stood up, a hand running the length of his chest wound.

"I...I see I was correct. It's true that your mass was converted into spiritons when you released your sword...that explains why those wounds you endured are gone in this state...they can have no existence in a state where there is no flesh and blood," he paused, gathering more breath in his wounded condition, then continued, "but even though you've changed into spiritons of light, the basis for that transformation was the Reiki energy that is unique to us Shintsuuro and us alone. That explains why you took a visible form after that initial attack...if I managed to hit you in some fashion while your main string of particles were spread out everywhere, you would've been blown out of existence," he stopped again, and Shougo did not respond, letting his antagonist continue with his analysis.

"When your body is in that state, and the particles are bonded, you retain the strength you would have normally. Since my attacks are Reiki based as well, there was no mystery in why my attack was able to harm you," Kokeru concluded, though whether he was explaining to himself or Shougo was unclear.

Interesting...I can see why he was Masaru's Master...his strength is fearsome. I'm not sure anyone but we remaining Shintsuuro could stand up to him. I can't put him down because of my Reisai...but one of the other two are gonna have to, since his own Reisao is rather...dangerous to the population as a whole. **** it though...he was right when he said being this strong required a fairly big price to pay. And now it seems, when I have the chance to do something, I am unable to due to a vow.

Shougo watched Kokeru with a serene expression...and then broke out into the familiar smile. Kokeru at first observed with bemusement, but became startled when Shougo's form began to shine brighter and brighter. Shinseikassou burned vividly in the rays of sunlight, its ethereal form seeming to solidify.

"What, are you returning to your normal form?" Kokeru called, and as the question escaped his lips, he couldn't help noticing: the way Shougo smiled was almost exactly the same as the way Masaru did.

The Strongest, though gaining a denser appearance, continued to irradiate with more and more luminescence.

Kokeru's eyes widened in recognition, and his body recoiled as if he had been smacked with a sledgehammer.

"Oh my...it seems you recognize this. You should...it's the method Masaru used to keep you in that state of sustained weakness for all these centuries. I won't be able to put you in there for a long time, what with your large power increase...but, I can keep you there long enough for Masaru to handle these Hollow issues. G'night, Kokeru Sakuban," the Strongest hollered, and within much, much less than the blink of an eye, his blade had passed completely through Kokeru, who hadn't even had time to begin a shyunpo.

The Dark Shintsuuro's body was not cut, however; it simply crumpled on to the ground and remained unmoving. Shougo's body solidified, returning from its light-gliding form and into his original body. He stared down at Kokeru's frozen body, and perceived that the icy light that had peered forth from his eye was faded and could not be detected. Shougo grabbed the comatose body and hoisted it over his shoulder.

"Ahyaaa...this is irritating. I'll have to go put him in far Rukongai..." he sighed, and turned his head towards Seireitei, which had become a visible, white speck on the horizon. After a contemplative glance, he began marching in the opposite direction.

I'll get there eventually Masaru...I need to take out the trash first, but I'll be there soon.

 

[Winduril]

Volume 37 (Collabs) - Three Winds

(13,860)

Shinkou Masaru​

Diega Torres-Cofresi​

Kyin Fenre​

in​

Three Winds​

I think...it might be time.

It didn't hit like a cold, slap of water in the face, but rather came gently and warmly, and he perceived it's meaning as the last remnants of sleep were shaken off. He sat upright in the bed, Nesuai breathing gently at his side, and Tasukeru hung next to his bedside. He ran a hand through his hair, his brown eyes flickering softly, toying with the notion, the conception, the thought that it may be time.

The eyes fell at last on the zanpaku, its red lacquer kindling the ideas as they came to him.

He blinked, and his decision was made.

Sliding gently out from the covers, donning the red haori, sliding the sheathed blade "Save" through his obi, and emerging from his room out into the office, he glanced around at its familiar arrangements before exiting, the clothing rippling out behind him as he made way towards the front office. The secretary's keen glance fell upon him as he approached, and she straightened to attention.

"I need you to give Captain Diega Torres and Captain Kyin Fenre a message for me. Just deliver it to them through the Jigoku-cho. The message is: I need you two to meet up together as soon as possible. When you have done so, feel out my spiritual pressure and then use Charon's Road to teleport to my location. Where I am is a bit far to ask you guys to shyunpo, so I'll just ask Kyin to teleport the both of you here. That's it just send that to them."

Within an instant of his lips closing, he had vanished from the 1st Division Headquarters.

Diega was dozing peacefully, leaned up against Joaquin's side. They were partially sitting up in a wide armchair. A book rested on the arm and Joaquin's hand rested atop it, his reading glasses slipping down his nose as he too, was asleep. Diega was hanging onto his robes tightly, not wanting to release him even in sleep. They were in Joaquin's room, the oil lamp flickering when another shadow flickered discordantly with the lamplight.

The little jigoku-cho fluttered into the room, seeking its target. It's silken wings beat about Diega's head, trying to wake her up. Frowning in her sleep, Diega batted the jigoku-cho away with her hand. The cho was persistent and Diega kept batting it away with her hand in growing aggravation. Finally, she grabbed Joaquin's book and smacked the cho with it. The book pinned the hell moth to the ground.

The sudden action caused Joaquin to awaken. He straightened his askew glasses and blinked his eyes into focus. He looked down on the floor and saw the pinned cho. Diega had to have thrown it. Sighing, Joaquin shook her awake. "Mi amora, we have a message," he said," Or rather, you do."

Diega awoke, swearing softly and blinked. "Whaaaat?" Joaquin pointed at the moth and motioned for Diega to get up. When she did, he stood and helped the moth get free again.

Once free, the moth landed on Diega's outstretched finger. Rubbing her eyes with her other hand. She nodded as the moth sent the message. Finally, it flapped away.

Joaquin had to jump back into the chair, as Diega became a blur of activity. She dressed as quickly as she could in her Captain's robes and motioned for Joaquin to do so as well. Wordlessly, he got up and did the same.

Not long after, Joaquin and Diega were shyunpoing towards Kyin Fenre's apartment. Diega however, in a bit of excitement accidentally hit the gas rather than the brakes when they came upon his door and braced herself for impact.

The captain of the eighth division lied atop the structure of his apartment building, just lazing about. He had been up here for hours now, just watching the sun come up. It was something he would do when he wasn't able to sleep. It was a way for him to get some inner peace and he enjoyed it.

With his lab blown up and the Arcana still on the brain, he needed some time to think. He was glad that this place existed, since it gave him just that. Kyin was a bit surprised that more people didn't come up to enjoy the view in time, but he guessed everyone had their own little quirks.

The captain brought himself to a sitting stance as he saw the first traces of human life fill the streets. It wasn't much, mainly janitorial staff and people who had to be at their jobs before other people. Though they had disturbed his peace, he held them no ill will. Actually, he pitied them. He knew how much of a pain it could be to force yourself up when you wanted to. That was way he was glad his schedule was so lenient, or at least that he made it that way.

The shinigami turned his head as a hell moth headed his way. The moth continuing its trek towards him, he knew the message was his. It was irregular for one to fly this high, the creatures usually staying low to the ground.

"Hey, how's it going?" Kyin asked the little creature as he extended his finger, the moth humbly excepting the perch it was given. "So, what you got for me today?" the shinigami asked the creature, the creature obliging and giving him the message.

"Hmm...so the old man wants to see Diega and me again. I wonder what it's about this time." Kyin stood up, "Well, if he called it must be important, I guess I shouldn't keep them..."

As the shinigami prepared to exit the roof, a loud crash rang out through the air. "What the..." he exclaimed as the roof started to shake a bit. Slipping on the shingles, Kyin let out a yelp as his body slid down the roof. His body headed towards the ground, only stopping when his cloak's end was caught in the gutter.

As his body dangled about, he was soon twirled around to see his door busted down. "Hello, Diega..." Kyin said as he saw the cause of his broken down, his body slowly twirling away from the woman moments later.

Picking splinters out of her hair, Diega had to laugh at the hanging Captain on the gutter. "Heh... Good morning, Kyin. Did you get Masaru's message?"

Not usually the chatty type, she preferred to stay blunt and direct. Joaquin dusted her off and then moved to help Kyin down from the gutter.

Kyin nodded as he came around again. "Yeah, just got it a moment around before I decided to chill out here. Wonder what the old man could want." Kyin then looked at the woman as he came around again, "So you ready to go?"

"No. I'm not. I'm waiting for the spring equinox," she replied n a playful-sarcastic tone.

"At this point, I bid you adieu," Joaquin said," Whilst you two meet with Masaru, I shall go about fixing your door, Fenre-taichou."

"Hmm... I did bowl a strike, ne?" Diega said, looking ruefully at the door," Ah well, at your leisure, Kyin."

"Oh...thanks. You know it's really hell getting construction people out here. Especially since I owe them a good amount already. I guess its because my stuff blows up a lot." Kyin grabbed the edge of the roof then flipped his body back atop the building. Slowly removing his cloth from the roof a moment later.

Jumping back down onto the level where his fellow captain was waiting, he nodded. "Alright, probably shouldn't keep him waiting any longer than we already have." The captain then found and open space, concentrating for a moment. He'd not used his technique on this location before, and since it was so far away he had to concentrate a bit.

Locking onto the set location, he expelled his spiritual energy. A swirling gate then appeared right in front of them, waiting for the two captains to enter. Kyin turned to Diega, "It's ready. You can go in first, I need to close it from behind either way."

"After me? Why thank you!" Diega said. She strode confidently into the gate and looked back, waiting for Kyin to follow her. So this is Charon's Road. I need to get a nifty tech like this.

"Well, looks as she's made it through okay..." Kyin said as he felt her presence exit through the other side of the gate. Bidding Joaquin a final farewell, the shinigami then followed in other.

Having used the technique many of times, he moved through the gate casually. He then stopped as he found the point he was searching for. Kyin reached for it, then broke the barrier as he prepared to exit onto the other side.

The two Captains were greeted by an astoundingly large grassland. The sea of green stretched out for many, many miles, and on the horizon, mountains could be vaguely be made out. Several yards away, Masaru was..
kneeling on the ground, his fingers lightly pressed against the spot where the grass grew highest. He turned to face them, though he did not stand.

"Thanks for coming you two. I'm glad you didn't bring either of your escorts Diega...this is something I just wanted to talk about with the both of you," he said quietly, and then at last lifted himself to his full height. The Commander General gestured with his right hand the landscape around them.

"This is deep Rukongai. Very deep. Far beyond the reaches of the population. This is also the spot that I trained in many years ago with Yasuo. Back then the grass hadn't begun to grow yet. The world of outer Rukongai goes through cycles, and it is currently in the middle of its luscious, vegetative season. Back then, even this spot here, with grass higher than any other, was merely a dried, cracking chunk of bedrock. But it was on this very spot I achieved Bankai for the first time."

As if to illustrate this point, he stepped into the high grass, and a passing breeze lifted his haori, transforming it into a red banner. The Commander General inhaled through closed eyes, lost in memories and then the eyes reappeared, and the breath came peacefully out. He smiled at the two of them.

"I called you out here today because I feel the need to explain some things to the both of you. A lot of stuff has been happening...Diega was accused of being a hybrid and Kyin proved it. The rogue factions are picking off parts of Rukongai, and we can't stop them due to their guerilla tactics. And finally, the Hollow Army is being rebuilt by a Hollow that I am responsible for having created..." Masaru trailed off at this last statement.

"... good job?" Diega mumbled. "Is that all? Or is there more?" she asked, completely unperturbed by what he had told her so far. In her heart, she knew this facade of peace was just that...a facade.

War had been on the horizon for a little while now, even with the Red Moon gone. "I'm guessing the reason we delayed a pre-emptive strike was because of our low numbers."

She rubbed the glowing blue collar that the Central 46 put on her. She hated wearing it in Masaru's presence. It felt... shameful and humiliating. Still, she waved her hand for him to go on. "Go on, pleassse."

Kyin nodded, "This is a troubling situation, indeed. I've seen the information myself and even though I don't like to admit it, it doesn't look all that great for our side. The hollows are amassing in great numbers, numbers that already exceed our own. Not to mention we're not one hundred percent sure how strong each of them is."

The shinigami sighed, "While staving off an attack allows us to raise our numbers, it also gives the hollow time to recruit even more too. Not to mention their supply is so much greater than ours at the moment, especially with all the lost souls roaming around. As for the rogue factions, they are idiots. To attack at such a crucial time for all of Soul Society, it's like destroying the very empire they would wish to create."

The captain contemplated on his words, "It's a shame really...with everything that is going on. Everyone and everything is currently against us shinigami, yet we're too busy with our own petty squabbling to see that.

"Maybe. I don't think so though...the petty squabbling leads to fighting, and after fighting, when stability occurs, we ultimately have stronger leaders," Masaru replied, then returned his attention to Diega who had mentioned reasoning behind waiting for the Hollows to move.

"I wasn't worried about numbers. Numbers aren't as important going to be as important here as in the last war. I needed strong people like you two. So I waited for you guys to show up, that's all," he finished softly.

Another breeze swept across the remarkably green land, and the sound of wind being cut could be heard as Tasukeru was swept out of its scabbard.

"At this point, you two are strong enough to nearly single handedly lead the Gotei on your own. I'm not quite ready to hand that over to you. And it occurred to me...I know a lot about you two...Kyin, your tangos with Arcana...Diega, your Revenant essence. But you two don't really know jack about me," Masaru said calmly, and a trickle of pressure began to flow out.

"I know you're a hippy," Diega snickered.

In the serene grassy field, Masaru laughed at Diega.

"Everyone knows that...let's get a bit more...confidential," he said warmly, and the trickle turned into a river, bolding the air and thickening it with pressure.

"You two deserve to know, I think. But...I'll reward info for hits you two land on me. It'll be great...we'll get to spar for fun and for your benefit, since it'll be training and info about your loser Commanding officer, eh?" he finished.

"Heh, while I am a firm believer in trying your best, there is a difference between something you aren't sure you can do and something you know you can do," Diega replied," and hit you? Pfft. Maybe Kyin with that nifty speed of his has a chance but I'm significantly slower. I'd have to use my revenant form to keep up and that is such a pain to shift into."

She cracked her neck as she watched Masaru cryptically. He and Kyin were both happy little hippies and she remained the pessimist of their holy trinity. Then again, such a position suited her best. An optimist, a middle grounder and a pessimist. What a perfect team.

"Granted, I think you still haven't outgrown silly games. If we are on the eve of war, then perhaps playing "smack me and win a tidbit of info" isn't the best game to play. As I understand it, all time before the zero hour is precious, each moment even more valuable than the one preceding it. Am I wrong?"

Kyin nodded a bit. While his fighting spirit had risen as of lately, Diega did have a point. Should they really be fighting on the eve of a battle that could be a second Great Hollow War? If they were to seriously injure one another during the combat then Soul Society would be in trouble. It was true that the other captains were strong, but so were their enemies.

"Well..." Kyin replied as he looked up at Masaru with his reply. He made sure that his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Diega is right, we have many strong people to fight and we'll have to be at our best to combat these people. But in this battle, we may come across people who are as strong if not stronger than Masaru. If that is the case, I would like to see how far we've come, how far I'll be able to go."

Kyin rolled his neck back a little. "I don't want to head towards the battle with any uncertainties. I've fought hard to get where I'm at, and I want to see just how much further I have to go." Kyin then smiled, "Besides, we don't want the old man getting to comfortable with himself. We'll have to show him that there are people waiting to surpass him if he's not too careful."

"Old man? I'm older than both you fools put together," Diega chuckled.

Kyin's lip balled up a bit, "Oh yeah...I forgot..."

Masaru revealed the smile that Diega and Kyin had grown very familiar with by now once again to them, holding back what he wanted to say to Diega ("You're older? It doesn't really show...").

"No...This isn't dangerous either. And it's much more than a measuring stick. This is still actual training. And you will get stronger from it. So...let's go ahead and begin...begin with this small piece of advice from me to you two," he replied, and then held Tasukeru perpendicular to the ground. The blade managed to catch glimmering rays of light from the sun in the east, illuminating its steel brilliantly.

"It's true that you can bypass shikai with bankai. But calling something by its name will change the amount of power given. So whenever you have the opportunity...release your swords with those liberation phrases," he said, and Tasukeru glowed with a light unique to itself that burned in the same shade as the rising sun.

"Tsubasa Moetsuite, Tasukeru."

The blade instantaneously transformed into its darker version, though the golden red flame could still be perceived beyond the shadowy barrier that had encompassed it and Masaru.

"Have you two seen Tasukeru since it changed into this form?" he asked, and he turned the sword ever so slightly so that the sun's beams ran the length of the single golden red line that ran along the ridge of the zanpaku.

"Heh." Diega shifted her weight to her right foot, her hips swinging to the right. Simultaneously, she gripped the hilt of Akukurochi and drew the notorious, amorphous blade. Her pressure manifested and rather than the waves of purple tipped flames, it appeared as dark, thick maroon waves dribbling from invisible cuts on her person and coursing along her body the way blood would. The sword made a wet sound as it was drawn and the grass beneath it was spattered with thick, venous blood that dripped along the length of the sheath and stained the now black blade.

"No sir, I have not seen your blade since it's transformation but I doubt you've seen mine since it changed as well," she replied.

The sword was held perfectly parallel to the ground and out from her side. In a slow motion, her left foot touched the ground ahead of her right and her left arm moved the sword back so it pointed at the ground behind her. Diega's shoulders were back and her chin high.

"Quimera has had... a significant change since his last major fight, Commander."

Kyin just looked at the two as he watched Diega transform her zanpakutou. His sword didn't really have any unique change, being the same as it'd always been. The best he could go for was the small bugs he'd learned to command over a course of the last few months. Nevertheless, he thought that he might as well change his zanpakutou too, as long as everyone else was doing it.

"Well...I haven't seen your new zanpakutou nor have I seen Diega's new form. I will say that I'm impressed either way. Kyin then raised his sword to his front. "Extinguish, Aburamushi!" Kyin commanded as his sword obeyed.

The form of the blade melted, turning to the charcoal weapon he'd come to know so well.

The Commander scratched his head as the tremendous amount of energy the three were giving off mingled in the equinox of the triangle they formed.

"Ok...so go on then. Land a hit on me, and you get training and info bit number one," he said, and the content expression was wiped from his visage in favor of a more solemn one.

"Teikou...toppa!" his resonant voice roared, and two dark blue crescents immediately swept towards his opponents.

"Brother."

A gust of wind formed of spiritual pressure swept around Diega violently, tearing at the grass and using it as a blind while Diega disappeared. Masaru would undoubtedly know where she was so she wasn't really disappearing as much as she was avoiding the crescent thrown at her. Really, his Teikutoppa was similar to Joaquin's suizangeki so it was easy to avoid. Now, for the offensive. Against Mayaguez, she really had to uncork it and go Shinno with him. However, against her Commander, she decided the best respect she could give was one hundred and ten percent of her power. He wanted to know, so she'd show him.

Just remember, Masaru, it was you who said that I was too dangerous. You had no idea how right you were.

Her former stance adopted in the same spot she was in before with the sword held behind her and her left foot ahead of her. A smile curved on her lips as she said the words that would take this beautiful land and plunge it into hell.

"Sangre en el cielo que obscurece, circunde la herida, destruya el mundo! I de la Tormenta, Cataclysm!"

The world grew still and quiet and a meandering breeze swept over the grass before wrapping around Diega in a soft caress. She inhaled, enjoying the breeze. Then the next wind turned first, erupting from across the plain from behind her back. Her clothes snapped forward, billowing and snapping fiercely in the howling wind. Their colors changed and were seemingly torn from her being, being instantly replaced with a simple white kimono. Her bound hair came loose and flowed around her, the red streaks catching the light from Masaru's sword, reflecting it beautifully. A serene smile crossed her face.

The sword she held in her hands changed and warped into a metallic ball that seemed to flow and change like liquid mercury suspended in water over Diega's left hand. This then, was Quimera's final, perfect form. A mass of liquid metal ready to shape into whatever weapon it's wielder decided and right now, Diega was feeling ambitious. At a mental command, the ball glimmered and formed itself into an 8-foot no-dachi. It flowed and appeared silvery in her hands, every inch of it.

Overhead, the clouds were gathering and the sky was turning black at a rapid pace. Thunder rumbled and in the distance, lightning rent the earth. The winds around them picked up, screaming their fury into the ears of the three Captains. Soon, the only light came from Masaru's sword and the perpetually flashing lightning around them.

Diega moved her sword so she pointed directly at Masaru.

"Bleed him dry, brother."

The howling winds became somewhat opaque as they manifested themselves as blades and as claws, heading straight for the Commander, fully intending to slash and tear.

Kyin shifted to one side as one of the blades headed his way. He rolled over in one fluid motion, rushing over to the man they were meant to battle. As he rushed in for the attack, he tried to think of a strategy in which to use against the man. He knew that Masaru wouldn't fall for any old cheap trick, but he would have to first start things off slow.

Clasping his hands together, Kyin began his chant, his basic strategy being to use his shadow kidou to confuse Masaru. As the chant completed, Kyin was thrown back almost instantly by a strong wind.

Falling onto his butt, Kyin had to fight to get his hat off his head. He looked forward to see the source of the problem. In the middle of the storm, he saw Diega. Her zanpakutou raging, the captain was left in awe as she released a power he'd never seen before.

"Hmmm...I guess she wants to end this faster than I first thought..." Kyin mumbled to himself as he tried to reconfigure his plan. With the winds at the level they were, he wouldn't be able to move freely with his shikai along. However, at the same time, he knew that if he was to release his Kyoushou he would be tired out before he managed to get more than a couple of hits in.

"I guess I have no other choice," Kyin said as he stretched his legs apart. His sword started to shake violently as his spiritual pressure started to wrap around him in a wild spiral. He flicked the blade outward, a bright flash raining out through the area. "BANKAI! ASHURA ABURAMUSHI!"

As he shouted those words, his zanpakutou broke around and his spiritual energy exploded all around him. The form of a wyrm could be seen as the pieces of his zanpakutou zoomed in towards his body and large protrusion of what seemed to be wings shot out from the back of his body. Waving one hand out, three lines formed on Kyin's left. Raising his other, three formed on his right, and bringing them down the last one formed.

His body now covered in his body armor, Kyin shot his right hand forward. The wyrms bursting apart, splitting into their tinier, greater numbers. Rather than going for Masaru, the wyrms shot right up into Diega's tornado.

They flowed the ebb of the heavy winds, their forms becoming lost within the furious winds. As his wyrms vanished, the shinigami himself launched forward, his blade ready for battle.

Masaru's eyes widened in surprise at the ferocity the two displayed, and he held up his arms crossed, trying to get a signal for them to wait, but they launched right into it. A displacement in the air approached from Diega, and Masaru yelped.

Whoa whoa whoa! Too much pressure! I need to raise up now!

Kurokasai's dark flame engulfed the Commander General completely as his pressure ruptured the earth around him and created a relatively small area of resistance against the storm around him. Around him, a thin layer of black shadow could be seen. The instant the sickle winds collided with him, the barrier wrapped in threads around the bladed air and swallowed it, squashing the attack out of existence. Masaru held one hand tightly to Tasukeru, breathing rapidly.

****...I'm already at the limit in Shikai...my pressure was just barely strong enough for that barrier of Teikoutoppa to work...next time, it won't.

A flash of movement from the side, and Masaru was nearly skewered as Kyin shot inches away from piercing him through the chest. Masaru's visage was anxious.

God! The barrier wouldn't have stopped that at all! All it succeeded in doing was slowing him down barely...I dunno if Shikai will be enough to do anything against these two with...

The Captain of the 1st shyunpo'ed forward while Kyin was behind, launching at Diega in her serene center. The winds proved to be too much however at the Eye, and the best he could do was launch another Teikoutoppa towards her.

"Perfect defense brother," Diega said serenely.

The winds of her storm were obviously more concentrated and stronger around herself in the eye of the storm. The Teikoutoppa made contact and for a few tense seconds, it appeared as though the attack would breach the eye wall. The churning, spinning winds ground against the attack but Diega remained calm. All was calm in the center of her storm. Then, the winds ground hard and the attack was deflected in Kyin's direction like a marble thrown at a fan.

"Commander... no bankai? And here I am giving you my all."

She paused and looked up at the sky, whispering words in the dead language of the Taino. The words echoed eerily in the wind and without warning, tornados began dropping rapidly from the clouds above.

Every time one touched down, the earth would rumble and the winds screamed even louder. They moved fast, whipping sideways and twisting after Masaru. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven tornadoes, all four them F4 level.

Dirt and chunks of earth were torn from the ground, the tornados tossing it all about and obscuring the vision of all.

"Woah!" Kyin shouted out as the attack was headed his way. He flew over the attack, but was slightly singed as the explosion occurred. As the bottom of his sandals melted again, he yelped a bit.

"Diega...please watch where you throw those things!" Kyin said as he shook his sandals to get rid of the flames that threatened to engulf the rest of his body. Finished with the flames, Kyin then turned his attention back to Masaru.

While the woman seemed to have Masaru other her control well enough, Kyin decided to turn the pressure up on the man himself. Sending his wyrms to follow Masaru into the hole he'd created, he commanded them to break off into the storm.

Using the turbulent winds to his advantage, he caused the wyrms to bounce wildly off the solid edges of the winds. Their speed propelled they started to shoot down at Masaru like bullets. The wind not only increasing their speed, but creating an endless attack through the wild ricochet.

As the tornadoes swarmed upon him, the Commander General decided it was time to start banking on high speed. A flurry of shyunpo brought him rather far away from the hive of twisters, and from his new vantage point he was able to discern that wyrms had been hurled his way...touchÁƒ © to Kyin, had he not moved.

That last Teikoutoppa got deflected out of the Eye like that because it stayed in just its regular, dark blue form. I need to get Hizashi's flame to explode in there...which means I'll have to consciously pay attention to it. But if I do that, I'll damage Diega and...

Completely randomly, and very arbitrarily cutting short thoughts of storks and Ms. Torres, a wyrm landed on Masaru, having been hurled sporadically in a different direction from its brethren.

The Commander frantically expelled a large amount of pressure, and the wyrm was completely incinerated, but not before a cut in his shoulder had been made.

Masaru glanced at the wound, then back to the other two, and grinned.

"Hey now...you two got one. Info time. Hmm..." he trailed off, placing a hand to his chin in deep thought amidst the mighty storm and immense pressure of his adversaries. His eyes were focused, concentrated in their search for a suitable tidbit.

Then they lit up, and a smile broke out.

"Oh ho! I got a really nice one...you two may be a bit more interested after I do this! Heh heh..." he chuckled to himself, and then he waved Tasukeru at the two of them.

"Now...I dunno if you ever noticed, but my pressure in Shikai is a bit...weird, isn't it?" he paused to snicker, then continued with, "Weirder than everyone else. If you did notice, you may have made a connection. A connection between the feeling of my pressure with this dark flame..." and once again, he trailed off to hold a hand up, and in it, the dark Kurokasai that had been flowing around him suddenly jumped swirling into a mass.

"...this dark flame and the pressure of a Hollow's."

He lifted the mass of black, higher, higher, until it was at face level.

"So...what I show you know now may make more sense now that you know that the pressure is similar...now look!"

The mass broke out, swirling and darkening as it gained shape.

"This should be...pretty familiar to you two."

The entire right half of Masaru's face was now covered...covered with a Hollow mask made from the black flames of Kurokasai.

"Yeah...this is something that I can only bring out at the peak of my powers in this state," he said cheerfully, and then he clenched his hand into a fist and the mask broke into black wisps of energy that trailed away in the winds of the hurricane.

Diega could not exactly say she was surprised. In fact, it seemed to make sense. Now I get it. Now I get why I can trust him without question, she thought, Touche, Commander. Still, they were still fighting and she had to throw the full might of the storm at him. At a thought, the lightning rumbled and flashed around them as the tornados screamed across the landscape. Then... the first drop fell from the swollen Heavens above them. A single fat drop of reddish liquid landed on a blade of grass outside the eye wall... and ate through the grass. Soon, more rain began to fall and the lush green grass was beginning to get eaten through by the acid.

It started out as a drizzling and then the Heavens opened up and poured it's scourge upon those below it. The grass was eaten away, the rocks sizzled and melted slowly, and animals with singed fur ran for cover. Amongst the raining devastation, only Diega remained unscathed within the eye wall.

Dodge this, Commander.

"So that's your secret. I'm not surprised, I thought it was something like that for quite some time. But...it's still a little weird to hear it being uttered."

It was strange. Even though Kyin had heard this, the big secret that Masaru had kept from them, he didn't even flinch. He was sure that had he been told earlier in his life, but he'd changed. He didn't know if it was his training as a shinigami, his trust in his fellow Gotei, or the fact that he himself wasn't all that normal. Either way, he would not let that little fact falter him in the least.

Turning his attentions back to the fight, Kyin waved his hand. On command all his wyrms returned to him, each of them settling in a row. He then released a set of energy, the wyrm that Masaru had just destroyed slowly reforming with the rest of them.

It seems the old man is getting serious now...but I can't go shinno just yet. I have to wait just a little longer. As he said that to himself, he saw the rain in the air start to change. Weary of the rust-colored rain, he covered his body with his wyrms until he flew off to a better situation.

As the rain began to drop, the Commander General held up Tasukeru once again. The thin film of black energy that enveloped his body sprouted somewhat, and as the droplets of rain came down, they were caught in pockets of the dark flame, and subsequently eradicated.

"It's not what it seems to be though...I'm not anything like a Vaizard, an Arrancar, any of those hybrids. That mask you saw was an echo from a dead part of myself. The Hollow no longer exists. There is simply its imprint left on this heart of mind," he called to them, and then began to twirl Tasukeru to his right, the blade gathering a dark conflagration along its radius.

This is an exercise in stupidity sister, Quimera said, If you cut it now, you can save some energy for our other form, which just might have a chance in hell of working.

I agree. I have half a mind to walk off now, she growled in her mind, This is ridiculous. Cancel it. I've had enough.

The winds started to die down and Akukurochi once again resumed its shape of a Spanish sabre. Her white kimono melted away back into her usual shinigami robes with the Captain's robe and sash. The winds died away and the clouds started to disperse overhead. Around them, the earth was destroyed.

Large chunks of it were overturned, scorched and the green grass that Masaru had been so fond of had burned away to its roots in a matter of minutes. There were a few thick rocks that had survived the onslaught but they weren't exactly very large now. Besides, now that her Kyoushou was cancelled, she felt the fatigue slam into her. Kicking a dead squirrel off a rock, she had a seat, crossed her left leg over her right and sheathed her sword.

"Your turn, Kyin," she said, yawning slightly.

Seeing that his partner had decided to take a break, Kyin sighed a bit. This wasn't going to make things easier or him, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

Absorbing the energy in the atmosphere before him, he used them to repair the damage that had been done to his wyrms from the acid rain. The shinigami then commanded the creatures to form together. They did, the creatures combining until they were two wyrms of equal size. He then commanded the wyrms into the ground, as he jumped over them.

"Bougyoudo #50, Shadow Puppet!" he shouted as he flew forward, his form splitting into three.

Masaru watched as Diega took a breather, and he felt out her spiritual pressure as best he could, given that Kyin was making his move.

The drain of Kyoshou on her had been rather large...Masaru imagined that she would need a several minute long breather if she was going to come back out with the same ferocity.

That's bad...by the time she gets that immense spiritual pressure back, I don't think Tasukeru in this state will be strong enough to use at all...

The sound of earth being broken returned the Commander General's attention to Kyin. He caught the very end of two tails before they slipped into the ground.

The Shadow Puppet was disgruntling, and he didn't feel particularly safe going up against it, especially when the wielder was Kyin.

A dark, purple line began to outline Masaru's features, and his body became slightly clouded within it. Rather than make a move, however, he simply stood and awaited for the Kyin's to attack in the manner that seemed best to them.

Diega cracked her neck as she sat on the rock. What do you think, brother? Kick some ***? Naturally. Let us heal ourselves.

"Keh."

Diega concentrated and tapped her tattoos. The tribal inscriptions wound their way up her arms, legs and body, neck, and face. Diega could feel her being changing very slightly, her awareness of every cell in her body rising. Sure enough, a white mask began to collect on the lower half of her face. The difference this time, being that Hollow bone began to wind into her hair, forming a sort of hair tie that held her hair in a rather unique style

It was funky, yet functional. To her surprise as well, a thin bone formed across her brow with a teardrop-like gem hanging from the center of it across the bridge of her nose. Her shinigami colors immediately inverted, leaving her cloaked in black and dressed in white. Smiling wickedly, she felt her reisatsu begin to rapidly recover at a frightening rate.

"Be there in a minute, Kyin."

"Alright," each Kyin replied as they headed towards their targets. Their blades ready to strike and their bodies afloat in the air they headed towards Masaru at rapid speed. Here we go... Kyin thought to himself...
as they got within a few meters of him.

Swiftly, the clones all few upward over Masaru's head. Each clone circled the other as they moved, a trial of red dust being spread out equally between them.

They all looked down at towards Masaru, each of their fingers pointed and aimed to strike. "Hadou #24, Raigen!" each of them shouted as they moved in the circle, the beams of lightning circling downward like lasers.

As Kyin performed this attack, the two wyrms he summoned erupted from the ground beneath his opponent. They moved in a spiral, quickly moving around Masaru's body in an attempt to bind him.

As Masaru became encompassed, his eyes averted to Diega, whose pressure was monstrously rejuvenating.

Ah...Revenant. I'm glad it's Diega who has that kind of power and not someone less trustworthy.

His thoughts were cut off when a vaporous trail of red crossed his face. His eyes narrowed in recognition from the dossiers...Kyin was releasing his powerful spores.

It was time to make his move.

The still purple enveloped Masaru remained stock still, even as the Kyins raised their fingers, even as the blast spell's incantation escaped their lips, and even as the lightning began to circle down as the ground at his feet ruptured to reveal Kyin's worms.

Masaru was pierced with all of the blasts, but the wyrms...went through him?

The purple, glossy afterimage faded, and Masaru's voice came from above the Kyins.

"Bougyoudo 56, Kageshyunpo," he chuckled to himself, "Very useful."

Four swings, and four Teikoutoppa hurled at the Kyins with ferocious velocity.

"I see youuuu," Diega chuckled softly to herself.

The Captain cracked her neck as the tendons in her legs finished strengthening. Combined with the shyunpo she employed, Diega shot off the rock. In her mind, she cross-referenced the point of origin in Masaru's voice with the direction the Teikoutoppa had come from and came up with an exact location hardly a second after she exploded off the rock. Her claws extended fiercely from her hand as she spun and launched herself at Masaru's backside.

She brought her claws around swiftly, fully intending to tear the Commander's backside open - but not too deeply.

Kyin's eyes widened as he heard Masaru's chilling voice appear right behind him. He knew the man was fast, but he had no idea the man could move that quickly.

On instinct, he flipped his body around. He made it in time to see the Teikoutoppa coming at all sides of him, but he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid them. His clones all being attacked at once, he wouldn't be able to switch out on it either.

"Chiyudo #26, Hanshakyou!" Kyin shouted as the attack hit. The barriers were destroyed almost instantly as the explosion occurred, the heavy blast only quickened his descent towards the ground.

As he fell, the other forms started to dissipate, leaving Kyin's lone body the only one still in the air. The Shinigami tumbled down towards the ground violently, his armor the only thing protecting him from breaking a shoulder blade.

"I see...I'll have to be more serious then this..." Kyin mumbled to himself as he looked over at his commander from his grounded position.

Kyin wasn't sure about this, this being the first time he'd ever even really tried to use this form, but he wouldn't give up just yet. He said he would fight to the best of his ability and he meant that.

"Shinno Bankai, Enma Aburamushi!" Kyin shouted out as his body started to glow with crimson reiatsu, the pressure around him breaking apart all the land within his area of influence."

When the large presence of vivid spiritual pressure manifested behind him, Masaru knew Diega had him.

He had completely underestimated her regenerative capabilities in that form. Because of that, she was about to take advantage of it, and he deserved it.

The claws tore through the red haori, the white Captain's cloak, and his exposed flesh. He gritted his teeth when they connected, and attempted to retain his thought process.

"Bougyoudo 49, Daishyunpo," he muttered, and his form vanished from its sky high location and several hundred feet away from the two Captains, at the top of an upturned pillar of rock that had become rather deformed from acid rain.

His fingers gently went to the wound, pressing against the warm blood that he could feel running down his back. He smiled, though it was not his carefree grin from earlier, but one of a more solemn nature.

He perceived Kyin's growing pressure, and recognized the release: Kyin was about to show them Ashura Aburamushi's true form.

"Hold on a second Kyin...Diega got me, so explanation number two," he called, and then held up Tasukeru perpendicular to the ground. Within the thick cloud of Kurokasai, the golden red light could still be perceived.

"That Hollow mask you saw earlier, like I said, is just an echo from a dead part of myself. I don't actually possess any Hollow within me...it's just that the part of me that was a Hollow has imprinted itself on what I am now. And what I am now is called a 'Shintsuuro'. We're different from everyone else because of the nature of how we're created. You see...I turned into a Hollow a little while after I had died. By all accounts, I should've been purified by Shinigami, but I wasn't. I just kept roaming around...I was nothing special," he said, and then he dropped Tasukeru, letting the sword dig into the ground, and began to slide the torn red haori from his shoulders.

"Then, one day, I woke up."

He tore the red haori in full from his body, holding the tattered clothing for a moment before letting it be blown away in the breeze. He now busied himself with removing the white Captain haori.

"I don't know exactly why...I always possessed an odd will. I don't know if it was even a stronger will...just an odd will. But somehow, I woke up within the Hollow of me, and I utterly rejected the monster that I was in," he continued, and a slight ripping noise crossed the expanse as the white cloak began to tear off.

"When I did that, it was the equivalent to being cut by a zanpaku...even though I hadn't. I literally purified myself," he said, an odd smirk across his visage as the last tattered remains of the cloak were heaved into the wind. Now all that remained was the plain, black gi of the Shinigami. His right hand clutched tightly at the shoulder area of the clothing, and his eyes narrowed.

"I had become a Shintsuuro. And by becoming one, I was not tied down to the majority of the laws of this realm. Because you see...since my entire form and state was a result of willpower, my power became a result of that as well. My strength became tied to my feelings, emotions, and resolve. And so I had no limits, because..."

The black gi was torn forth, released into the wind like its fellow articles of clothing, and now, only Masaru's fairly built body remained. His eyes kindled with a golden red light.

"...because the human heart doesn't have limits," he finished.

The hand tightly grasped Tasukeru, and the dark aura that had previously surrounded him turned jet black for an instant. Then...it was wiped away as a golden red fire enveloped Masaru. His smile was brimming with excitement, and perhaps a little happiness with how far his two friends had come.

"Ban...Kai."

The area was engrossed in his golden red aura, so much that it seemed the sun had risen again. Then a cyclone of dust swirled before them, gathering all of the debris around Diega and Kyin and swallowing it in its vortex.

The twister began to dissipate in the heavens above, and the final sheet of dirt was blown away by a wind of pressure.

The Commander General stood in between two enormous wings, which gently flapped their foliage of golden red feathers once more to blow away any remaining wisps of dust. In his hand, Tasukeru was covered in a thin film of golden red flame. Masaru pointed the bright blade at his two friends.

"Tsubasakakou Tasukeru. The price has just gone up for the info, you two," he said to them solemnly.

"So... you turn into a parakeet?" Diega said.

She landed beside Kyin and stretched her legs a bit. He's gone Bankai, eh? Good, good! Let's just hope he doesn't go Shinno.

She looked between them, smiling a little.

"Well, can't stay out of the trend, eh?"

A pair of loud cracks was heard as bones erupted from her back into two long, flexible spears made of a very lightweight cartilage. They stood about ten feet out above her head and then...they splintered into veins.

Rapidly, flesh began to twain itself around the bone and filling out the spaces on the wing veins. Slowly, the macabre wings took shape and form, looking ghastly and yet beautiful in the same turn.

"Kyin, why don't you run up there and kick him in the knee for me, eh? We need to get a gauge of his power right now."

Kyin sighed as his body armor became bulkier, his wings stretching out even further from under the plates which had formed. The red mist of his zanpaku lingered under the plates, the mist being forced out like steam as it spread out through the area.

"I guess not..." Kyin said he as responded to the woman's comment. He looked at the wings off the other two occupants and smiled.

"I guess wings are the thing to have this year...though Masaru's just a poser."

Done with his attempt to sound hip, Kyin nodded at the woman's comment. "Alright...I'll go." As the current battle went, Kyin would have had to attack the man head on either way.

Masaru was currently out of his attack range, and his Shinno was already starting to wear down on him a bit. He'd been in Bankai for two long and that exhaustion was carrying over already.

So, he had no time to waste. He would strike now, and hope everything worked out. Flapping off the ground, the man straightened his body as he zoomed off towards Masaru.

His speed was increased and his Reiatsu a bit more powerful as he prepared to strike. Kyin unsheathed his arm blade as he came within range of the man. The now blackened blade glimmered vindictively.

Mmm...both are a lot stronger in those forms...but compared to the amount of pressure I'm pushing out...

The Commander General watched as dirt was uprooted and thrown into the air from the fluttering of Kyin's wings as the Captain of the 8th approached. When Kyin was within the range of his enormous Bankai, he laughed enthusiastically.

"Trend? But these aren't wings!"

The right "wing" at his side quivered in anticipation, and Masaru rotated his wrist slightly with Tasukeru.

The wing swept towards Kyin with terrifying force, leaving a trail of flame in its wake.

Diega was now fully connected to her wings thought her efforts to sprout some feathers weren't quite working out. Dejected, she sat down on the ground and tugged at one of the wings angrily.

"Feathers, **** you!

Huffing, she looked back over the battle and saw that Kyin was about to get himself cleaved in half if he wasn't paying attention. Pfft, he's a big boy. He can dodge.

Hunkering down, she spread her wings out so she lay flat on the ground. Right now, she figured that defense was the best option until she could get in close to Masaru. Once she was in close, she could cut him to pieces.

Kyin swept down to the ground as the incoming attack headed his way. The Shinigami knew that Masaru would start things off...actually he was hoping for it. His body bent low to the ground, and a series of wild vines started to flail out.

The vines formed a solid wall, the tendrils all propping up to support Kyin. The shinigami still moved out of the way of the attack, knowing that such a temporary wall would not be able to stand up to the barrage.

Swooping over to the left, Kyin raised out his left hand. On command, the armor around it reformed into a series of vines itself. The vines all shot out towards Masaru, their spiked edges aiming for an attack.

Diega didn't seem exactly jumping for joy at the thought of directly antagonizing him, so Masaru could focus a bit more on Kyin. Even as he watched, the Captain of the 8th ducked under the swung storm of fire, and had readied a barricade, from which several vicious-looking vines were now lunging towards him.

Alright...I've already gotten used to this new Bankai since the incident with Utsuro...which means I'll be able to use the light fire, Hizashi, with its true ability.

Masaru swept the "wing" across the path of the incoming vines, and a subsequent explosion of fire engulfed them in a conflagration that ran the length of the vines up to the barricade. Masaru watched as the flame began to ate away at the makeshift barrier with a surprised expression.

What? Why didn't it......does Hizashi not work the same way? Or...yes. Like in Shikai, this form must've gotten weaker too. Which means the power is being thrown into a different form...probably Shinno.

The Commander General recalled the incident where Kimete had walked in when he was about to try it, and the ridiculous amount of pressure that he had nearly lost control of.

Yeah...well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Bankai will be good enough.

Oh... god****, Quimera whispered.

Diega was wide-eyed watching the events unfold around her. Kyoshou would work well against that, she thought, It seems a little unstable albeit executed properly.

No, not yet! Quimera said, Wait a little longer.

Diega felt her blood boiling from the uncanned wrath that had been released along with her hybrid form. Oh, how she wanted to leap right into the fray. Right now though, she at least had an ounce of sense and was able to fend off her instincts in favor of her intelligence.

While she waited however, her ability was still in motion. Her body was being improved, making it faster and stronger. In the end, she felt that her speed would be greatly increased though not on par with Masaru's by very much.

"Hadou #61, Ice Pike!" Kyin shouted out as he pressed his free hand against the ground. On command, large icebergs started to erupt out of the ground. The ice shot forward, completely engulfing Kyin's flaming vines.

As he looked at the blocks of ice that stood before him, he sighed. This had been the first fight in which he had to use so many powerful attacks back to back. It was truly a test of his limits.

As his armor began to drain a bit of the energy in his surroundings, Kyin ripped his tendrils off the left arm. They were no good to him as they were, burnt and frozen, so he would just have to wait for a new set to form.

If he could even last that long.

Kyin moved out of the way of the bergs that were slowly starting to melt away from the immense amount of heat Masaru was giving off. He then moved to the right again commanding another vine to sprout and attack Masaru while Diega focused on the other side.

In the corner of his mind, Masaru hadn't forgotten Diega. Her pressure was growing, and he made sure not to forget it.

I'm not going to repeat the incident earlier.

The Commander had nearly applauded the means to how Kyin had stopped the flames of Hizashi from completely encompassing him, but now another vine was approaching. The vines appeared to be fairly dense in makeup, but due to the gap in Masaru and Kyin's spiritual pressure, the Captain of the 1st was able to remain frozen as the vine entered the reach of his "wings".

The instant he could, a golden red light flashed through the air in front of him, and Tasukeru ignited the vine in a wave of energy that flowed back to the vine's base like a ripple of water.

It's hard to believe that Tasukeru could be any stronger than the other "feathers", but the pressure is so compact on the zanpaku itself that anything that gets cut by it...

Starting from the tip of the vine, the golden red flame that had been rushing towards Kyin exploded violently, and the vine was completely obliterated. As the explosion kicked up some dust, the Commander made a note not to hit his friends with Tasukeru itself.

Kyin gritted his teeth as he saw Masaru completely destroy his last attack without even flinching.

He knew that there was a huge gap between them, one that not even his Shinno could bridge. Even with his current level of power, he could feel that it wasn't even a fourth as great as Masaru's.

"But that doesn't matter," Kyin said as his red cloud started to separate from him. The spores in the cloud, now living organisms, flew as he commanded, making the cloud look like it was being guided by a swift wind.

The cloud started to slowly encompass Masaru, splitting on the left and right in a "U" type formation. Kyin knew that he couldn't attack directly: attacking like that would be suicide. He also knew that a direct long-range attack would just be flinched off without a moment's hesitation. So, as Kyin raised his hands to the sky, a mass of vines popping up all-around Masaru, he decided to give the man nowhere to run.

When the vines encircled him, Masaru knew it was time for defense.

Tasukeru was brought parellel to the ground, the blade being held at face level. Instantly, the wings coiled inward and wrapped around Masaru, similarly to how a mother bird will cover her eggs. Masaru was essentially within a protective wall of flame.

Kyin sneered as he looked at Masaru's defense move. "That won't work on me again!" Kyin shouted out as he forced his hand against the ground.

In that instant, every vine that had been barreling towards Masaru moved backwards. They bent over themselves, each of them digging down into the ground. Kyin forced more energy into them as they did, each of them moving to strike right beneath his commander.

The sheets of pressure that had been surrounding him changed directions, and the Commander General could feel the vines beginning to worm through the earth. A slight tick appeared on his irritated face within the layers of fiery feathers, and he twirled Tasukeru overhead.

"The problem isn't where you're attacking from, it's how weak your attacks are!!" Masaru roared, and he caught the spinning Tasukeru and held the sword so that the tip pointed to the ground. The wings unfolded out, sending a shockwave of heat to warm Diega and Kyin as Masaru plunged the golden red Tasukeru into the soil before him.

From the point of impact, fissures of light spliced through the ground, and then in one deafening wave of energy, the entire area around Masaru was swallowed up in a sea of flame.

The light slowly subsided, and Masaru was revealed as the dust cleared, hovering over the enormous crater by suspending his feet with a wreath of fire.

His sunrise-tinted eyes focused on the Captain of the 8th's.

"You're going to have to come at me with something a lot stronger if you want to hit me in Bankai," he said disapprovingly, and his eyes averted to Diega, who was still recovering her pressure.

Her pressure had recovered long ago but now, she was just being lazy. Quimera scolded her soundly but broke off into a purr as the heat wave hit them.

"He's giving us a tan!" Diega laughed.

She got up once she felt it was safe and took a deep breath. Again, she called forth her Kyoushou- in revenant form. She didn't think about it at all, just did it.

To her surprise, the release was almost instantaneous.

Her plain kimono returned but this time, instead of white, it returned black as night. Diega smiled as the tattoos on her skin became white and her hair was shot through with silvery streaks.

The clouds rolled in immediately and ten seconds after summoning Kyoshou again, the first bit of destructive lightning struck the ground between Masaru and Diega. The winds howled and screamed, battering away at his flames.

Her wings were pulled in tight around her body as the eye was formed around her and Akukurochi took on it's liquid metal form and remained in Diega's hand as a quivering blow.

"Wind."

Immediately, the destructive winds were hurled at the Commander. The winds seemed to be faster and strong as again, they ripped across the landscape and reduced it to devastation.

"Something a lot stronger, eh..." Kyin replied as he looked down at the broken pieces of what used to be his apart of his Shinno. He extended his hand and the pieces started to disappear.

"I've had to fight many stronger people, people who when all things considered, completely outmatch me. But even in those situations, even when the tide was against me, I still came out on top."

As Kyin said those words, the ground around him started to unsettle and a small tremor could be felt.

"I've known that determination doesn't amount to everything. No matter how determined you are, if you don't have strength, you won't...achieve anything." Kyin's armor then started to break apart, a crimson mass slowly forming around him.

"I've had that brutal truth beaten into to me just as many times as I've won on said determination. So...I've promised myself that I would get stronger no matter what. I have no other choice. If there's a wall in front of me, I've promised to destroy it. If there's a sea I can't cross, I've promised to part that sea. If there's a mountain I can't climb, I've promised to break that mountain..." Kyin was completely engulfed in the crimson wind as he starred as Masaru, his eyes milky gray.

"And if there's a foe who refuses to fall, then I will bring them to their knees. KYOUSHOU BANKAI, AKUJIN ABURAMUSHI!"

Both of his friends were bringing themselves to their maximum possible strength. If he was a less certain man, he probably would've moved to the next level. But for this, Masaru knew that Tsubasakakou Tasukeru would be enough.

His right hand, holding the fiery Tasukeru, tightened visibly.

After all...he hadn't really pushed the Bankai's limit. It would be fun to dance along that line.

When the winds began again, Masaru chuckled...the winds had gained a sharper edge from basking in the aura of Diega's renewed Revenant resolve. However...

The Commander General's small grin vanished, and his face hardened. The muscles began to tighten, and his own spiritual pressure grew monstrously large, hitting the apex he could produce in Bankai. It was enough that any remaining, half-melted dead leaves left over from the first round with Quimera's Kyoshou would be blown out of existence the moment they entered within the perimeter of the wings.

Masaru gritted his teeth, watching as Kyin's own personal scarlet wind mingled with that of Diega's and created a beautiful mixture of colors and shapes. He took an ominous step forward, the flames under his feet flaring dangerously.

"Come on you two. Which one will break through the other? Honorable Aburamushi and Majestic Quimera, or my Tasukeru?" he asked them, a hint of determination being carried to his friends by the multiple winds...the sharp wind of Diega, the thick wind of Kyin, and the blazing wind of Masaru.

Diega growled a little but perked up when Quimera filled her in about a very interesting thing in the ground below them. She smiled and directed her lightning to strategic spots, instructing the wind to dig into the ground.

Several wide holes opened up and soon they began to fill with water. The churning of the eye of the storm was enough to attract the water and forcibly extract it from the ground. She took two steps back and stood atop a rock as the water began to rapidly well out of the ground and pool around Kyin's feet. It stopped short of Masaru, being reduced to steam at least 50 paces from Masaru. The steam drifted over the
field of their battle, making visibility a bit of a chore.

Now for the actual attack. She wasn't going to waste any time as Akukurochi took the form of a pendulum. Slowly, she began to swing it in a circle...

A moment later, the Heavens above Masaru were split by a deafening roar that petered out to a groan.

The finest of my winds...

The clouds churned and a funnel cloud descended down to the ground above the Commander. This was no weak tornado either. It was the strongest type there was- an F6 tornado.

As the crimson wind blew, bolts of red lightning slamming violently against the inner regions of the swirling vortex, Kyin aimed his shot towards Masaru.

Gigantic wings of pure energy burst from his back, a giant wyrm made from that same energy slowly rising from the vortex. As it rose, Kyin's very surroundings started to disintegrate.

The earth floated into the air and broke apart into the storm, the trees were uprooted and broken down, even the very grass that Masaru had showed them had no choice but to serve as power for Kyin's attack.

As the attack raged on, even the excess flames that Masaru's attack was giving off were sucked into the vortex, making the wyrm growing larger.

Kyin then extended his right hand, the wyrm instantly darting out towards Masaru. The wyrm shot out with furious speed, the very earth behind turning brown as he moved in to devour its target.

With an enormous tornado (it was without a doubt, the largest he had ever seen) and an equally behemoth wyrm heading towards him, Masaru decided he'd deal with the wyrm first.

In his left hand, some of the golden red flame began to circulate, then swarm into a sphere of pure spiritual pressure. He held the orb up, and then clenched his hand into a fist. The sphere of flame shattered, breaking into a particularly bright aura of light around his hand.

I haven't used this in a long time...it's rather nostalgic using it. And saddening...after all, when the other Shintsuuro came back, the only one who wasn't there was Shougo.

Masaru swept forward, not bothering to stay in the path of the twister. Instead, he launched straight at the wyrm in front of him. It was being pushed by Diega's winds, but it was still about a hundred feet off. As he bore towards the enormous Kyoshou, Tasukeru flicked at his side. The two wings folded into their protective position in front of him, so that when he would collide with the wyrm, the first thing to make impact would be the fiery feathers.

At his side, his left hand shone with a light as bright, perhaps brighter, than the one that emanated forth from Tasukeru.

We'll see how things go when I use it.

"Careful Kyin!"

You walked into it, Masaru.

Two more F6 tornados dropped down around Masaru as the original closed in behind him. The left and right tornados lumbered ominously towards Masaru, the scream of their winds sounding like several locomotives screaming over to him out of the darkness. Diega closed her eyes and willed the lightning ahead of Masaru to form and a second later, the area shone brightly as lightning ripped through the clouds and closed off the area ahead of the Commander. The lightning struck in rapid succession, making a nearly solid wall of electricity. Another thing Quimera had informed her off was the iron deposits in the ground around them. Diega made full use of the iron deposits by using the water to boil them to the surface. Now, she had lightning rods on the surface keeping up the attack and maintaining its potency.

Escape that! she thought as she trapped Masaru within the walls of wind and lightning with Kyin's malicious wyrm.

The wyrm shot down at it came upon Masaru's shield of fiery feathers. Kyin didn't call off his attack on account of Masaru, actually this only pushed him to go further. He wanted to see how far it was, how far his power had come.
That was the whole reason for him agreeing to this fight.

Kyin's wyrm collided violently with Masaru's shield as Diega's lightning and wind raged about. He pressed more and more pressure into it, the wyrm slowly eating away at Masaru's shield as it tried to break through.

Kyin knew that he wouldn't be able to break the shield with force alone, knew that he had not yet reached that strength, but either way he would try. Working with all the power in himself and with Diega's power, he would break through the barrier and prove his power.

Diega, Kyin...don't you remember? The lightning...the wyrm...they're both made from your spiritual pressure...and Tsubasakakou Tasukeru's flames are made from my spiritual pressure so just which one do you think is gonna break through when they clash?!

When the lightning had started, Masaru had no intention of being caught within its bounds. The wings had moved up and over him, fanning out their feathers to block as many bolts as possible. Due to the frequency, however, there was no way he could prevent all of them from hitting. One bolt nicked his leg, and another cut his shoulder.

Well...I owe them some info, but let's finish this first.

The lightning wall was successfully broken through, leaving just the wyrm. Diega's strategy had definitely caused him to be put in an unfavorable position: the wings had to have been adjusted to prevent the bolts from hitting. The Commander General had adjusted as best he could, ramming the wings in an awkward position into the wyrm, but the adjustment couldn't be fully recovered. If he didn't do something, the wyrm would simply push him back through the lightning and into the tornadoes while drawing his pressure the entire time.

Which was why the left hand raised.

The wings flurried, spanning out so that there was nothing between Masaru and the front of the wyrm. As he hurled forward, his body spun several times from the powerful winds that were battering him, but not enough to throw him off his direct course for Akujin Aburamushi. The left hand clenched tighter, and a radiance unlike any other showered the area in golden red light.

"Houyoku no Te-no-Hira!" were the words that were carried by the gusts to Kyin and Diega both as Masaru's left hand slammed into the front of the wyrm.

The instant it did, the entire head was engulfed in a nova of flame. Within the light, Masaru's form could be perceived barely as it continued to rush forward, and the flames continued to eat away at the rest of the wyrm as he burned a path through his opponent's Kyoshou. When the remains had flailed violently and split, the insides now black and turning into cinders, Masaru reappeared, somersaulting out of the wyrm's incinerated body and with Tasukeru held overhead. The wings were spread out backwards, and his eyes, fiery and shining, were focused on Diega, her tornadoes and lightning behind him. They were close now...close enough for them to end the battle. Tsubasakakou Tasukeru grew brighter in his hands, and he hurled down towards her and her pendulum.

The wings continued to point to the sky, leaving him fairly exposed in Diega's direction.

If they were going to clash here, the Commander General desired to clash with their zanpaku, not with the wind or the flame.

Meanwhile, Kyin fell to his knees as his Kyoushou started to disappear and his zanpakutou returned to its normal form. Using the sword as a prop, Kyin took this moment to take a deep breath.

Though he hadn't succeeded in damaging his commander, he was happy. He had reached a level that he never thought he would, a level that was once unobtainable to him. In this year, he'd went from an average Shinigami to one of the strongest Captains in the Gotei. This made Kyin proud and gave him hope that he would indeed stop the Arcana. Not only that, but it gave him the hope that he would succeed in reaching his goals.

What a pitiful display...I would have gotten a lot farther than that... the one known as Tyr radiated through Kyin's mind.

Tyr... Kyin thought right back with an exasperated look on his face, Shut up.

As he received no answer from the spirit, he just looked up, his eyes watching the rest of the show.

Diega seemed to sense his intention and reformed her zanpakutou into a katana. Quimera chirped happily as he took the form of a black blade with a shot of silver through it like lightning. It was divine, beautiful and at the same time, looked divinely deadly. Diega grinned at her brother's approval and intensified the winds around the eye.

You want me that badly, you're going to have to fight your way through, Masaru.

There was a temptation to weaken the winds and let him come right through but she figured he'd interpret such an act as insulting. No holds were barred and no punches withheld as she focused the might of the cataclysmic storm around her at the very core. There was no need for the storm to be that wide so she cut down the range by ten miles and funneled the reduced energy into the katana she held poised and ready to clash with his blade.

The winds had picked up around Diega again, but the wings were able to break through them similarly to the lightning...pressure vs. pressure. Masaru ended up landing about ten feet behind Diega pitting their backs to each other. The wings continued to remain pulled back and out of the way, leaving the two facing in opposite directions quietly.

The Commander General's right hand tightened around Tasukeru, and as it did, some of the flames from the wings siphoned off around the sword, so that it shone even more brilliantly than before.

"Let's end this nice, Diega," Masaru said quietly, and then whirled twice as he closed the distance between them and swung Tasukeru horizontally at her.

Diega saw him punch through the eye wall and gritted her teeth. Knowing that Kyin could use a little peace right about now, she sapped almost all of the outside raging storm, leaving about a mile's worth of a storm and an ever raging eye of the storm. The excess energy went right into her blade as Diega knew she would need it.

Her sword came up and caught his. She knew it would not break. She was going to cut him again and bleed his information to them since he wanted to share it so badly.

Throwing a hand against the back of the blade, she pushed back, instructing her revenant ability to strengthen her arm muscles so she could fight back against him. Her wings were fanned out brilliantly around her and to someone like Kyin watching from the outside in, it was truly quite the sight to see. Diega's grey eyes narrowed in determination as she glared at him. Her breathing was even but she did not have much time with her Kyoushou left. Soon, it would dissipate and she'd be flattened by his pressure.

"Hey there, Masaru. Welcome to my sanctum."

"Sanctum? It's appropriate for you...and for our last part," he said with a smile. Diega was applying force to Tasukeru, turning it into a push-fest. A flicker from his eyes...

I'll use it then.

The Commander General slid back, relinquishing the weight and giving himself space. As he did so, he slid Tasukeru away from Quimera and rotated his whole body to Diega's left side.

Ancient stuff...but it still works nice...Akabane no Kirikaeshi Ryuu.

In one sweeping motion, Tasukeru cut Quimera in two in an upward stroke, and then swept once more, until it rested at Diega's chest, the flames just short of licking her.

"Mmm...that was an excellent job...I don't think I would ever want to fight your Revenant form if it were to be given more time than this," he said, the smile finally forming again across his features.

Though Quimera was cut in two, the severed end turned into a blob of molten liquid metal. The storm and eyewall died down around them but not because she was running out of energy. She had a minute left in her Kyoushou and she was compacting all energy into the blade into a final stab at a non-vital area. The fact that his sword was just short of impaling her did not hinder her. She stabbed for his stomach, the liquid part of the sword reattaching instantly.

She didn't care about the fiery sword at her throat. Her eyes beheld no fear of it though there was comprehension of the power of it and its wielder.

The scene was rather odd to watch unfold.

As Quimera began to move forward, it appeared that Masaru was twisting his body in preparation of the attack. But...that shouldn't have made sense, because his eyes weren't even on Quimera.

Nevertheless, Masaru managed to move his body away despite the sword not ever entering his scope of vision once. This time, when he had sidestepped, he had swung Tasukeru at the tsuba of Quimera, effectively cutting the entire blade part of the sword off, leaving only the hilt in Diega's strong hands.

Her power spent, Diega hit her knees in exhaustion. Her remaining strength was condensed in her grip on her sword, which she made clear that she was not going to let go of.

"Well this *pant* turned out *pant* exactly as expected," she breathed.

She reached for the broken sword and clutched it, hugging the piece to her chest. A lateral cut appeared on her body, running from her chin right down the middle. She immediately crossed her arms. She'd almost forgotten that if her blade was broken just after Bankai, the she herself would receive the damage as well.

Kyin folded his legs as he sat down in an Indian position. "Well...I guess it was to be expected. Though I feel pretty embarrassed having said all that stuff and then falling right afterwards. That old man is a lot tougher than I thought he would be."

Kyin sheathed his zanpakutou as he sat there. While he still had enough energy to walk and talk normally, his fighting capability had been nullified at the moment. This had taught him to be a bit more careful with his Kyoushou in the future, as he would be left helpless if it didn't work.

"Powerful weapon...though I probably won't need it against most opponents. I still have to train myself to be stronger on my own...he won't fall for one hit attacks."

Kyin had started to trail off, his mind no longer on the battle here and now he thought about his other crushing defeat a few days back.

"Don't be embarassed Kyin. You both did incredible...and Diega singed me, which means I have to let you in on another tidbit. Guess I should tell you how that last part happened..." Masaru replied, then scrunched up his face in thought.

"Basically...that fighting style was something I created with Tasukeru...I make the air around me thick with embers from Hizashi's flame...since Hizashi is tied to my pressure, I can feel the direction of the attacks even if I don't see them. This lets me counter immediately. And that's it for today I think," he finished with a nod, and the wings dissipated in a final breeze as Tasukeru returned to its sealed state. The blade slid into its scabbard with a crisp, satisfying sound.

"All that... for that?" Diega whined, falling forward on her face," You ***."

"You didn't like my other stuff? I thought the Hollow mask thing was cool. And my Bankai," Masaru replied with disappointment.

"Okay, the other stuff was cool but not that last part," she said, jamming a finger at him," That last bit sucked, and you know it! Now carry me home!"

Kyin nodded in agreement.

"I mean...we did all that work for that? What the hell!"

Masaru looked at them and scratched his head.

"Ok...how about...I tell you about this one war story of mine where this giant Hollow-"

"God no! No war stories...I mean...god****...you nearly turned me into roasted chicken just to tell me about some pretty fighting style!?"

Kyin knew that he shouldn't have been talking to his superior like this, and in any other occasion he wouldn't. But...he really didn't appreciate almost dying just to learn something of such little consequence.

Even though he wanted to test himself, knowing that was all it was for really left a sour taste in his mouth.

Masaru frowned at them, and then his eyes lit up.

"Oh! I know...okay. Lemme explain to you how my power works. Earlier, I told you that the Hollow in me left it's imprint...what exactly it did was leave a mark on this heart of mine. That mark is...Kurokasai. The dark flame that Tasukeru wields in Shikai is the left over from that melancholy in my heart. But...since I purified myself of my own accord, that means I also retain my heart's true alignment. That is Hizashi, the light fire. Better?" he asked tentatively.

Kyin shrugged, not really wanting to complain any more than he already had. "I guess..." he replied lowly.

"Yep. Now carry me home," Diega said, sitting up.

Masaru averted his eyes, and his feet turned slightly. His lips were puckered together.

"Ummm...about that....well, I-"

The Commander General vanished, the only thing remaining a wisp of dust.

Kyin looked over at the dust trial slightly confused. "How the hell are we supposed to get back? I used Charon's Road to get here...I have no idea where we are."

Kyin face faulted as his words fell on deaf ears, "...if this don't beat all."

Diega felt thin and weak. Her wings receded back into her body, her ability immediately reversing them back into energy and storing it away for use. She stood up and stumbled a little as she made her way over to Kyin.

Good thing he wasn't too far anyhow. She dropped to her knees beside him and placed her hands on his chest.

"Do you need a little energy? My ability lets me heal others to a degree."

"You won't need to heal him...he'll be getting healed in Seireitei."

Suddenly, both of them had been hoisted over Masaru's shoulders, the Commander grunting slightly at the weight.

"****...a little heavier than I thought. Oh well...back to Seireitei!" he said jovially, and this time, Masaru wasn't the only Captain who vanished with only a wisp of dust remaining...

 

[Winduril]

Volume 37
- = -
単行本三十七

[ Word Count: 10,160 ]




Unanimity Under Argent Steel
同心のアーゲント鋼​

~​

The soft flutter of a Hellmoth's wings was the only thing that could be heard inside the Commander General's office. Masaru was alone in his seat, his eyes closed as the Hellmoth in question sat on the end of his finger. After a moment or two, it flitted from its resting place and promptly flew out the nearby window. Masaru watched the creature take flight with a small smile across his visage.

Go on, little guy. Bring me Amagawa... it has been far too long, and I feel it's time at last for us to catch up.

~​

"You've been coming back here more often than you should." A stream of gray light misted through the singular window of Hinokimoto's office, who sat away from the dusty radiance at his desk, hunched over a disarrangement of documents he couldn't bring himself to look over.

"It's the only way I can pay her back for saving me." Amagawa stood at the closed entrance with his chin low. His eyes shuddered away from Machiru's unconscious, bedridden self, who slept in a plain bed opposite of the practitioner's corner. "Is there really nothing in Soul Society that can cure her?"

"I've said it once already... She is no ordinary soul. Thus, what she has is no ordinary ailment." With a dark sigh, Hinokimoto climbed out of his oaken chair and crossed past the Shinigami. He stopped at the entrance, as if to speak again, yet upon finding his words broken with uncertainty, continued to exit the dim premise.

Almost closing his lids out of frustration, the Shinigami proceeded over to the window. He dared not to glance over to her, knowing fully well she won't look back. I'll find a way...

His eyes scoured the tops of buildings below, as if to search for an answer, yet what he found was a Jigokuchou. Its velvet-black form lightly touched down at the sill near his hands, and as it rested, slightly flapped its flat wings for good measure. He gazed at its shape for a moment, and having received its terse mental message, deleted his presence from the office, though not without hesitation.

~​

The Hellmoth had been sent about half an hour before, and Masaru, though usually never one to become anxious or impatient, found his fingers drumming rather... passionately against the wooden table. The words given to the messenger had not faded from his memory:

Amagawa Sougen, I wish to speak to you informally within my office. It would please me greatly if you arrived with haste. --Shinkou Masaru

~​

Shinkou Masaru... Amagawa's steps carried him deep into the midst of First Division. Are you disturbed at the prospect of war, also? With the prospect of war lingering about the prominent atmosphere of the foremost Division, there was a noticeable lack of Shinigami bustling about the open, immaculate courtyards. His presence did not turn any heads, as most of his fellow Division members were oblivious to his existence. He nodded inwardly. It was better that way.

The last of the golden gates, embossed with meticulously crafted flaming phoenixes, unveiled before the Shinigami, yet he found no time to silently marvel at the opulent architectural detail of the towering headquarters looming ahead. Streams of sunlight failed to fully illuminate the god as he hastened into the structure's grand, oaken, scarlet entrance. Without a minute to spare, he hurried through the sunlit, cloistered halls, at last reaching his destination.

After knocking thrice at the exposed doorway, Amagawa soundlessly entered his Commander's presence. He stopped short a few paces from the corridor, and knelt down upon a single knee after removing and placing his Zanpakutou to his right. "Shinkou-taichou, I've answered your call."

~​

Still old school, eh?

Masaru quickly took Tsuyukusa and handed it back to the kneeling Amagawa.

"No need for the formality. I wanted to have a talk with you... I know we met again during the Shikai meeting, but I haven't gotten a real chance to speak with you since the day they placed the Gohyaku Noroi and exiled you. Care to join me in a drink in Rukongai?" Masaru asked.

~​

Taken back a bit by the Commander's cordiality, Amagawa raised his glance to his sheathed Zanpakutou, one that was borne within the Flame's grasp. Thoughtfully, he retrieved it. Perhaps it's better this way... that he not feel the bloodlust of this blade.

The Shinigami rose calmly, and found his shoulders tense at the Commander's mention of the words 'Gohyaku Noroi.' Had Koukan's actions been documented? Does the Shin Gotei 13 still remember those forsaken so many centuries ago? These thoughts were quickly shelved away, however, as he nodded to Shinkou's offer, though the prospect of drinking in daylight seemed a bit too informal.

"Ah." A slight rustling ensued as the dark Zanpakutou was wedged into its usual up-turned position at his obi.

~​

Masaru blinked as he examined his visitor's demeanor and expression, then grinned at him.

"Don't worry. I'm probably the only one within the current Gotei who remembers it... and very vaguely, mind you, Amagawa. It's something I wish to hear the full tale from you about, because I know you were a former supporter of actions of Yasuo and me. Now come... there is a most excellent sake bar in Area 3 that I happen to have a long standing connection towards..." the Commander General trailed off.

~​

Remaining briefly in the open quietness of the office just as the Commander departed the scene, Amagawa examined the workspace.

At least a few from the old generation were able to persist in this new age. That's good. After all, children need to be guided in the right way, and who can better parent them than Shinkou, who was able to right a wrong I failed to prevent so long ago?

'Trust' seemed to have betrayed the Shinigami, yet now he found it pure and righteous, burning humbly and vigorously within Shinkou. Concluding his thoughts, Amagawa followed his superior out of the complex. The taste of sake was forgotten by his palate, though he was more than willing to revive such a rare delight, even should it be indulged under the sun, and not the familiar moon.

~​

The two traversed the length of Seireitei before exiting its white walls to enter the much darker shaded Rukongai. The many shades of brown suited the day appropriately... despite the many cold fronts that had passed through, today was warm, and the comfortable citizens basked in the glow of the sun. Masaru could not help but hum a little as they made way to their destination.

A turn around the corner, an avoided collision with hastily moving child, and voila... the Santana Sunrise loomed before the both of them. The Commander General moved in through the hanging beads, gesturing for Amagawa to follow. When the host had come for the both of them, the red haori immediately tipped him off.

"Uh.... wh-where w-would you like to-- "

"It's all right, good Jose Manuel. You don't have to repeat this every time I come... I assure you I will not bite. Now... since it is quite a wonderful day outside, I wish for a seat upstairs. Unless my friend here disapproves?" Masaru turned to Amagawa once again and smiled at him.

~​

Waving glances all throughout the establishment, Amagawa realized that the Commander's patronization had manifested itself into a lingering popularity, one made apparent by the healthy and robust attendance of several customers.

Misfortune seemed to have developed a liking for the Shinigami, especially the type that throws one off of towers and mountains. Wishing to stay under the sky for today, and not within it, Amagawa turned his eyes toward a cornered table, one that slept just beneath wide, yet shade-cooled windows. "Actually, staying near the ground would be nice."

~​

Masaru eyed Amagawa with a gleam of interest, then nodded at the host. The two made way to the cornered table in question, which Masaru slid into with a slight exuberance. He shook both arms to allow the haori to slide down enough, and then returned his attention to Amagawa.

"So... I never completely heard the full details of what happened Amagawa, nor did I ever find out the reasoning behind it. Can you tell me how you ended up exiled as such?" he asked, still smiling warmly at his companion.

~​

Having settled his Zanpakutou against the outer brim of the old, yet polished table, Amagawa settled down and rested his arms upon the wooden planes.

Shinkou's question sparked a flaming impression all throughout the Shinigami's shoulders and countenance. A hand raised itself to his mouth's height as he turned to gaze out the window. The memories flumed most unsettlingly, and it was not until a moment later that his hand returned to its former location. Amagawa's narrowed eyes temporarily locked onto the Commander's. Everything seemed to darken.

"Koukan. Byakuya Koukan." That hated name, emboldened with silent enmity, grated out in a whisper just as a waiter entered their midst, drinks and all. With the glossy porcelain received, Amagawa reached out and took the tubby jug, proceeding to fill his Captain's cup. "I was involved in a newly revived counter-conspiracy group, the Yamigakure Tenmei, shortly after the original group was disbanded. We picked up strange readings beyond the northeastern mountain borders, and had sent some of our men to station themselves there. Years later, someone had tipped us off about an imminent Hollow ambush that would occur in that region. The evidence seemed real. We even lost communication with the men stationed in that area, but..."

Amagawa stared into his own filled cup, yet the steam of the hot beverage failed to reach his senses.

"I was Vice Captain of the Eighth at the time. If it was found that I had not acted appropriately knowing a Hollow attack was near, persecution of treason was inevitable, especially in an environment presided over by Koukan. Yet, on the other hand, if I was to launch counteractive efforts against the attack, there was a daunting chance that it all might've been a trap. We noticed, after all, that Koukan was suspicious of our existence. One of our men had managed to leak the information to my Division, and as a result, I was pressured into leading the Eighth's entire forces to meet the Hollows.

"It was an incredible force. My men died all around me as I fought. Ohara-taichou was taken back to Seireitei with orders that weren't even made apparent to me until it was too late. I was forced to lead my decimated men, and the Hollows never stopped appearing."

The former Vice Captain of the Eighth discreetly turned his eyes to his Zanpakutou. "...We lost the battle without our Captain's leadership, and the blame was placed entirely upon me. I met with the Central 46, where my sentence was handed down solely by Koukan's cunning craft, and I was exiled to Earth with this curse. The entire matter was covered up, and to the Shinigami of that time, Amagawa Sougen had died in that battle."

With spirit, he singularly gulped his sake and eyed the shallows of his white cup once more. "...And even then, I still don't think it was all that simple. You have my deepest apologies, Commander. Though I do not crave power, it is a shame that I do not have much now to serve satisfactorily under you."

~​

"Ah... so that was the craft of White Corona, eh? I do not really know which was worse... the political, backhanded corruption White Corona had used to manipulate Soul Society's supposedly invulnerable governing system, or the direct, murderous means Emptybones used to weaken the Gotei from the inside," the Commander responded before downing another shot of the slightly green tinged sake. The hand gingerly laid the cup to rest on the wood, and Masaru turned his brown eyes to the window nearby, where some of the sun's illustrious, golden rays were warming the walls. His eyes seemed to catch some of the light, for when he returned them to Amagawa's, there was a glow in them, though the Vice Captain himself may have took it for one of ardor, and not of sunlight.

"Do not derogate your current strength. Your dossiers have been the vaguest of all, but I feel a connection with you, and it goes beyond the paper and pen documents. If you fight for me, you'd have already satisfied me Amagawa, for I am grateful to have one of your prowess and determination under my wing. I only wish I could've helped you on that day... that is a punishment no one deserves to be put under, much less an innocent man," he said quietly, and he shifted slightly, his bangs lowering over the tops of his eyes.

"I was already long gone when that incident occurred... Yasuo and I had forsaken the whole of the Gotei in order to grow stronger. It is a decision I still am not certain was the correct one to this day... I often feel the pangs of guilt when I recollect the number of people who perished in the time it took us to feel..."

On the table, his hand, which had been open and relaxed, clenched into a tight fist.

"...feel confident enough to be able to do something...to change the world so to speak. Many suffered, and you were one of them... it is something the darker side of me refuses to neglect, even to this day."

The hand laxed up once again, grabbing the sake for another downing before finding its way back to the table.

"That's one reason I accepted Commandership. When Yasuo and I dealt the finishing blows to Emptybones those many years ago, I felt as if I hadn't mortally destroyed that monster... and Yasuo's eyes reflected the same. As a Commander, I felt perhaps, that if this were all to happen again, I would be able to protect people and save lives without having to sacrifice others," he concluded, and then he lifted his head slightly, revealing closed eyes in a smile that held a hint of bitterness.

"It seems I was right. But alone, I can't save the world. I need strong men that I can believe in to help. And I need friends. Otherwise, I'll have made no difference in comparison to the fools from the past," he said, his eyes opening gently and finding their way to Amagawa's, holding them with the last remains of the warmth the sunlight had kindled. Or were they from the sun? Did Masaru's eyes shine with their own sunlight? Unmistakably, no matter where the heat in his eyes originated, they still sought to warm those who they gazed upon.

~​

A shadow was cast over the Shinigami's heart as he heard of the Commander's past tribulations. The possibility of such an abominable enemy returning to haunt a peace his superior had toiled so hard to revive... Amagawa shook his head slightly at this thought, and gave out a heated breath. Strangely, though, he was not in the least bit worried, for a fire from the Commander's gaze had seemingly leapt out to burn away his apprehension.

Shinkou's clear eyes, illuminated with a noble will, escaped from the Shinigami's vision as Amagawa glimpsed back down to his cup, glistening with refilled sake. The light within the beverage danced playfully, and seemed to carry the same intensity of the Commander's reflective irises. Yet, he knew the difference, the clear-cut, black-and-white disparity between the two radiations.

"Time is running out, isn't it? I'm sure you feel the same, Commander. No matter how far we journey into the future, the past always seems to bite at our ankles like rabid wolves. And this time, it feels as though they're not just mere wolves anymore, but the murderous burden and anxiety that make the hearts of the strongest men cry and fall. The novas in your eyes, I think, do not come from the sun, nor do they shine from their own strength. It is not just mere warmth, nor any degree of inspiration they bestow that they shine off. I see it in the Shinigami of today, especially those of the First, and now believe that for as long as your eyes quietly radiate with the contractive resolve I sense blazing within you, we will have no need to fear the ravenous anxieties, nor the overbearing burdens of our past.

"Doubtless, we are at fault for the wars behind us, as well as for the one I feel is much too imminent, but I believe that this generation has something to learn from it all. Just as I was bestowed with your resolution a moment ago, if the new Shinigami of today know of your resolve to conquer this coming war, we'll have done the right thing: to teach them the value of the mistakes of the past. Perhaps then, their eyes will shine with the same tenacity, and that the voices they holler out with in the midnights of their journeys to the future... will be brave and absent of fear."

~​

Masaru could not help but smile at the nigh-on-poetic eloquence with which Amagawa spoke as he ran a hand through his hair.

"If it is such a thing, then I truly desire to eradicate those wolves you speak of... for one truly knows the past has dominated the present far too much when we are suffering for mistakes ancient ghosts made rather than our own. I would think that would be the Line, would it not? When we are not given the opportunity to learn from our own mistakes, but rather those who came before us? Either way, someone ends up having to put a stop to that cycle," he replied, and the cup went to and fro his lips before speaking again.


"Amagawa, I called you out here today because I want to know if you would be willing to let me make you my Vice-Captain. I probably have no right, considering I am partly to blame for everything that happened to you, but I wish to ask nonetheless," he finished, his sonorous voice resonating richly in the bar.

~​

'Vice Captain' flared brilliantly in Amagawa's mind, and as if born from a white-hot branding iron, the word markedly imprinted itself upon his being. Though he did not aspire to high positions, if such a title would grant him what he needed, and more importantly, what Shinkou needed in order to forge a new future for Soul Society, Amagawa couldn't back down. Yet, he hesitated at the prospect. I already failed once...

His hands have stopped half-fidgeting at the rims of his filled cup to raise it to his lips. The sake seemed sweeter now. He glanced out the window and pointed at the strolling civilians. "Those kids over there... Their parents, their elders, their friends... and most of all, themselves. You're saying that, if the time should come, you would entrust upon me your responsibilities? That if the time does come, that if the impossible were to happen and you fell in the blaze of battle, you would trust me to protect thousands, if not millions just like them?"

Turning back to his Commander, Amagawa reached out to pour his superior another amount, and concluded the action by filling his own cup back up. "If your heart and wisdom sees this scarred swordsman as the one fit to command in your steed, to protect and preserve everyone and everything you hold dear, then I will dedicate myself towards the fulfillment of your endeavors and ambitions."

Taking his hands from the cup, Amagawa straightened his back and grasped his koshirae Zanpakutou tenaciously for the Commander to see. "Whichever you choose, this blade, my lone weapon, will be always be swung as if it were you wielding your very own, and will taste the dying blood of your enemies."

~​

Masaru scrunched up his face with an exasperated expression.

"If? I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't one hundred percent certain you were the man I wanted at my side, Amagawa," he replied in an amused tone. The cool, green liquid vanished down his throat with one last gulp, and the Commander General leaned across the table.

"Blood of my enemies? You had me at the 'fulfillment of my endeavors', Vice Captain of the 1st, Amagawa Sougen," he concluded with a grin.

~​

Amagawa settled his Zanpakutou, smiling coolly upon hearing the title from the Commander himself. Pouring Shinkou some more, he relaxed his shoulders. "Let us drink then, Commander. Who knows if we'll run out of sake at the frontlines?" Bearing his cup slightly outward in a toast, Amagawa drank the bitter sweetness wholeheartedly.

~​

The cups emitted an odd echo, similar to the sound of bamboo tapping, and the two men downed the vivacious drink with two very different, but very similar smiles.

Here they were... two very different men, but connected through the heart and through their resolve. And though their mannerisms, personalities, and characteristics were far from the same, as the two faced each other, smiling, had a passerby chanced to look upon them, he would've been amazed by the likeness the two men shared.

Then the Commander had stood, Tasukeru's rayskin hilt catching some more glints from the sunlight.

"Come on then, Amagawa. That was all I had wished to discuss with you for right now. Let us return to Seireitei," he said cheerfully.

~​

With a nod, the new Vice Captain settled his cup and stepped up from his seat, taking up his Zanpakutou as he rose. He felt the weight of the blade dragging his arm down, and as he looked on through the openwork of the windows to briefly examine his people at peace, the sheathed weapon seemed heavier than ever.

Indeed... I'll always be ready. Just as I am prepared to die, I'll always be ready, from the moment I rise with the sun, to the instant I fall with the moon. With that thought, he wedged his blade back into his obi, letting his daibaori settle and conceal its sheathed length.

~​

The Captain and the Vice Captain of the 1st Division stepped out from the dark bar, which had served its purpose as a reminder to past failures, and back into the warmth of the new day. It felt different... why? When they had entered, had it really been this warm? Had the sunlight really been this bright? Or had the two, in their resolve to correct the mistakes of the past and write a better future, made the day something more than it had been before?

They moved with a dignity none would ever find in any corner of the world... Shinkou Masaru and Amagawa Sougen, proudly traversing through the streets of Rukongai, both men's eyes radiating the passion for the path ahead.

Then the light dimmed, and the serene sounds of the Rukongai life were interrupted. In the sky behind the two leaders, bar by bar, the air unfolded, until two dark figures had made way into the sunlight. They retracted immediately, as if noon sun had burned them, but quickly recovered their composure and hopped down.

The murmuring of the people behind them stopped the 1st Division members, and Masaru turned his light eyes to the two Arrancar that now stood in the middle of the street facing them.

The one in front was Petycon.

His face was calm, composed, hardened with detest. He betrayed no thoughts, feelings, emotions. The gargoyle-esque mask shimmered ominously in the light, its crescent eyehook giving the one dragonfly-like eye beneath its alabaster roots an odd coloring.

"I didn't expect you to come out here like that again, Shinkou Masaru. And with a fellow wanted individual, nonetheless. Amagawa Sougen? It is interesting that you both would be out here like this... did you think that because it's the middle of the day, because the army's coming from the opposite of Rukongai, and because you're the Commander General that you would not get attacked? Well, you were certainly mistaken... I even brought a friend, to play with Amagawa-san there..." Petycon drawled, and he motioned to the Arrancar at his side.

~​

Almost immediately, Amagawa raised his shoulders and thrust his arms out through the daibaori sleeves. He stepped promptly before Shinkou, his hands ready to draw out the cursed blade within an instant. "Commander, this Reiatsu... If I'm not mistaken...?"

It's been a long time...! The Vice Captain felt the familiar, blackened wash of invisible Reiatsu surge throughout the streets. Arrancar... From the tone of the foremost abomination, he sensed this was not the first time his Commander had encountered the monster. The composure, the build, the confidence to speak so condescendingly to one such as the Commander himself... I would've cut you down from whence you stand, Arrancar, had we met centuries before!

A peculiar, yet astounding figure stood obediently behind the leading Arrancar. His body rose like a dismembered tree, or perhaps more like a mantis, to which his limbs, neck, torso, and legs were sickeningly narrow and veined. Flowing, pale rags, tainted with encrusted spots of blood, covered several regions of his body, which towered over his fellow Arrancar. His hands concealed themselves behind his twigged form, and his vain, bony face stared menacingly down at the Vice Captain. A warped mask, immaculate and not unlike one common in European operas, shielded the right half of his visage from the dimming sun. A hole through his emaciated chest gaped defiantly at all the innocent civilian souls as they recoiled fearfully from the scene. Tied low at his waist was an uncovered zanbatou, which cruelly curved and scathed the ground from where it hung.

Amagawa sensed the difference of power in the two Arrancar, and concluded this giant to be his opponent. The future will not be forfeited on this morning. Today, you will fall under the Souhigekkyou! The Shinigami eased his stance and dropped his arms at his sides, maximizing his unseen, intangible Reiki into Happou Biraki as he did so.

~​

The flaring aura to his side... Amagawa knew how to handle things.

In the sunlight, the smile flashed slightly.

"It seems Amagawa knows what must occur today! If his commanding officer were any wiser, he would be doing the same... after all, I am hardly as weak as I was when we-- "

"Citizens! I know without a doubt that you recognize me. The two creatures here will not hesitate for even a fraction of a second in their pursuit to slaughter all of you! As such, I ask that you flee this area immediately and let my Vice Captain and I deal with them appropriately," Masaru's sonorous voice cut off Petycon mid-statement. Glancing from one to the other, the people slowly began to move, then broke out into a silent run. The insectile eyes fluttered lazily as they held Masaru's.

"Saving them? With the power this fight alone could produce, the entire area within ten square miles would be obliterated! What on earth did you hope to accomplish?" he asked nonchalantly.

There was a swift flurry of movement, as Masaru grabbed Amagawa by the back of his daibaori, put the Vice Captain on his back, and shyunpo'ed directly into the two Arrancar.

The world hurled by at unbelievable speeds as Masaru carried all three through buildings, obstacles, impediments of every kind until the tan colored streaks had faded into green blurs.

Then they came to a crunching halt, and the Commander hurtled both Arrancar away. They were now in a more desolate area, surrounded by a plateau of grass and completely separated from the Rukongai settlements on the horizon.

"Ok... free to use whatever you need to bring them down. For the sake of our Division, I'll stay out of your fight unless I deem it necessary... bring him down with that one-on-one prowess, Amagawa!" Masaru roared with a certain elated richness before launching at the still slightly stunned Petycon.

~​

Wiping his nose free of a tingling sensation born of Shinkou's extraordinary Shunpo, Amagawa alit from his Commander's back as his Reiki quickly restored itself.

"Let him see the sun, Commander." Patting Shinkou twice on the back, Amagawa sped away from their dueling territory with narrowed eyes locked upon the recuperating 'tree.' With a firm stamp to the cracking earth, he stopped to draw his blade. Its lethal sheen flashed silently in the approaching Arrancar's gray eyes.

"I suppose you're not the kind that willingly gives out his own name...?" The Vice Captain drew back immediately as a lusterless zanbatou shattered the furred terrain right before him. A slight mist of pebbles and diced grass fumed up, and through it, Amagawa witnessed the tsuka of the bare zanbatou held by a bony hand, which in itself was borne of an impossibly elongated arm. Hmph! He's in control of maai, the fighting distance of opponents... A difficult enemy...!

Wasting no time, Amagawa rushed forth, stepping up directly upon the Arrancar's blade. Within a second, he bounded and flew straight into the monstrosity's midst.

"Lanza, it is! Remember it well, you should!" 'Lanza' revealed his halved grin and retracted his attacking arm quickly, sending the blade reeling fast into the Vice Captain's back.

Anticipating such a counteraction from the outset, Amagawa forced his legs forth in midair, allowing his body to flip counterclockwise and narrowly evade the pursuing zanbatou arm. With quick action, he recovered and planted his soles directly upon the dull ridge of the sailing, hostile blade, and just as he came face to face with the Arrancar, vanished into the sunlight.

Lanza tilted his head in time to avoid a miscalculated thrust from his own returning blade. Grasping the zanbatou firmly, he searched all around for the Shinigami, and it was not until his bulbous eyes had settled on the ground immediately beneath him that he found his opponent, kneeling in the grass at his ankles and staring back defiantly. A vision of spurting black-red from his right deltoid obscured his downward view. He...! A straight bleeding line retraced itself down along the side of the Arrancar's entire arm. Attacked from above, he did?!

~​

Masaru stood smiling confidently at the cold Petycon, whose eyes roamed back and forth from the Commander General and the two skirmishing off to their right.

"You don't seem to be particularly concerned about him," came the drawl.

"Why would I worry about him? There are not many I have more faith in. There is nothing curious about it... in fact, my curiosity is stemming towards you, Petycon. When last we met, did you remember what I told you?"

Under the sun, the grass blades bent as two swords clashed into one another, and their wielders turned to glare at each other in the eye.

"I said 'I will be bringing you down like a hawk snatches the rodent within its talons.' Not Nesuai, nor Kimete. Me. And I'm wondering why you think that suddenly you have strength enough to combat me," the Commander's powerful voice whispered in the Arrancar's ear, and Petycon, who had kept his face an emotionless mask, suddenly leered wide, an insane smile spread wide across his features. His eyes shone with a madness that Masaru was not expecting, and he felt an unexpected amount of force suddenly be pressed into the zanpaku as his footing slid ever so gently.

"Strength enough to combat you?!! I'm no fool!! Yo soy Arrancar uno, Petyconia Sombraviajero! I have no intention of throwing my life away to the Commander General of the Gotei!" he screeched in a crazed yelp, and with massive force, followed through with the stroke of the sword, thus shoving Masaru back several feet. The zanpaku glimmered dangerously as he lifted it to point at Masaru.

"I'm just here to let you know some things!! And maybe, if things go well, take down that Vice Captain of yours in the process! But first, I've been getting stronger Shinkou Masaru! So I want to test this crackling power on you again, eheh heh heh HEH HEH HEH!!" he giggled, and then launched towards his antagonist.

A ripple that emanated so that the grass resembled a pond, and a black aura enveloped Masaru as Tasukeru released, the single golden red line that ran the length of the ridge reflecting its light from underneath the layer of black flame as best it could.

"Fine. I will teach you what happens to those who think of me as a test dummy so that when this is over, you will know never to set your sight on the sun above."

~​

Somewhat stunned by the Shinigami's sudden airborne assault, Lanza flared his eyes and pumped a measure of Reiatsu into his sword arm. Abruptly, it writhed, straightened itself, and speared directly into the Vice Captain's midst as its own blood sprayed from its new wound.

Having concealed his just-sheathed Zanpakutou from the Arrancar's view with his billowing daibaori, Amagawa drew his blade in a flashing arc, meeting the screaming zanbatou as it neared dangerously toward his chest. Their blades clashed in a hailing spiral of blue sparks, and having discerned the drastic loss of momentum in Lanza's thrust attack, the Shinigami proceeded to speak.

"Have you been taught the rules of combat before, Arrancar? Do you not realize that I am at a disadvantage?" Amagawa angled the line of his blade so as to allow Lanza's own to slide right off in cerulean brilliance. "Are you too ashamed to reveal your number?" The Vice Captain, having clashed his blade earlier with Raizansetsu Mugezoyokaze, sensed the heightening Reiatsu within his Zanpakutou surging into kinetic energy.

A toothy frown curved itself into a fanged grin. Lanza retracted his arm entirely, and goaded on by the Shinigami's words, launched himself straight into swordsman, raying out the bony claws of his left and twirling his zanbatou with his right. Their eyes met for an instant, and as if some volatile reaction had occurred, a thunderous shroud of broken grass and spraying soil instantaneously obscured the immediate area.

~​

With a wind that cut, the field of grass fell to pieces around Masaru and Petycon as they tore into each other with insurmountable force.

Petycon was a flurry of spins and wild slashes, his arms flailing about wildly as he turned into a miniature whirlwind of steel and Reiatsu-packed Hierro.

Masaru defended against each blow with Tasukeru, both flesh and sword: despite the ferocious momentum and sporadic pattern Petycon was attacking with, the Commander General was able to play his blade in line with both punches and slashes instantaneously. The marks of his dedication to Zanjutsu was showing, and even as the battle pressed on, Petycon began to recognize that he was being pushed back.

Feh, if I close in on him here... Having just touched down, the Arrancar sent a fist glowing with pressure directly at the Captain of the 1st's chest. The tip of Tasukeru stopped it, but the leer on Petycon's visage doubled in size.

Fool! The hostile zanpaku came from the side, fully intent on cleaving Masaru in two. The blade swept through... nothing? But how could that be? Tasukeru was still pressing against his fist!

A banister of red drew his eyes upward, moments before his face caved in and his body hurled several meters away. As his racing heart died down, Petycon scoffed and spat blood to the side with a sneer.

"I didn't even consider such a ridiculous technique. I had thought you were blocking my punch with Tasukeru because of the force pushing me back, but in reality, you had thrown the blade. You were already in the air, preparing to kick me when my zanpaku was coming around, weren't you?" Petycon grumbled, and, as if in response, the air grew bold and thick with the Commander General's Reiatsu. His face was solemn: the smile had vanished.

"Have your fellow Arrancar been experiencing a power growth like yours as well, Petycon? Did you come here to show me this increase, to try and defeat my Vice Captain? Or does this have to do with the report Kayla told me about? Are you really planning to rebel against Emptybones?" Masaru asked, and Petycon began to shake with an expression that stood as a testament for the insane.

"YEAH!!! I'm gathering Arrancar who don't wish to work under Emptybones, and planning on making an even better army than that idiot ******* has! I wanted to let you know so that when the time comes in this war, you'll know who's standing with who!" Petycon laughed, and the Commander General began to twirl Tasukeru, encompassing the blade with Kurokasai's flame.

"So... in reality, you're letting me know we share the same enemy? Are you afraid of me, Petycon?" he replied, and the smile flashed for an instant. Petycon's grin shrunk somewhat, but did not disappear completely.

"Heh... afraid of you? Here... let me show you something Masaru. And when I do, maybe you'll be more afraid for that Vice Captain of yours... after all, Lanza will be pushed into using it too," he chuckled coolly, and held the zanpaku so that the kissaki tip was placed to his lips like a drink.

"Derrita en la oscuridad, Sombra-AlabÁƒ ©a!"

~​

Drafts born of the intermingling of wintering air and the heat of battle ripped away the earthen smoke, uncovering both Shinigami and Arrancar. A crescent wash of deep, murky scarlet painted itself upon the jovial emerald grass, and its stench steamed off in atrocious, unseen swirls.

Amagawa stood poised with his red-stained blade gracing the caps of the terrestrial greens, gazing right back at Lanza with full zanshin. "Are you not taking me too lightly, Arrancar? It is false to die with a weapon yet un-drawn!"

"Weapon? Hah... Weapons, I do not need...!" Lanza, upon sensing his superior's Zanpaku release, frowned most grotesquely down upon the Vice Captain, paying no heed to his own dangling, halved right arm. "But impressed am I! Different is your soul from other Shinigami!" Lanza's barbed left claws wormed arbitrarily upon the grass like horned maggots, squealing with cold blood. The Arrancar brought up his fingerless left hand to his right shoulder, still unsure of what the Shinigami had just done to cleanly counter every single lunging attack he had thrown. With a woody groan, Lanza's body recoiled back, straightening itself into a tree-like posture. "Yo soy Arrancar Veinte! Ahora, inflaca y torce, Cola de Coral!"

Amagawa sped back in tandem with the rolling grasses, witnessing Lanza's entire form twist and inflate itself.

You've sent thousands of your brethren against me during my exile...

As if his neck had snapped, Lanza's face excruciatingly lurched forth and faced the sky with blank, bulging eyes. His mouth gaped open, and in the same moment, coin-sized pores perforated and gassed all throughout the wringing figure. A fetid, whorled cloud of black, coagulated spiritual energy raged from the bodily wells and was drunk through his mouth like rotten blood. An abrupt vociferation quaked the fields as Lanza's form ballooned most gruesomely.

What makes you think you're stronger than five hundred years of banishment?

The Shinigami stood his ground and lowered his stance, bringing forth the kissaki of his Zanpakutou. He examined the Arrancar's transformation closely as it concluded in a bravado of high-pitched pops. Arrows of dark-violet flame spiraled all about the field, briefly catching the air on fire. He saw the reborn Lanza glaring down upon him with a lion's body of coral plates, spiked and bladed at almost every crevice and corner.

The Arrancar came down on all fours like an enormous, mutated cheetah, and bearing his horns and fangs straight at the Shinigami, stamped both of his back legs into the earth.

Amagawa remained still, as Lanza's unholy figure, reflected in his unwavering eyes, shimmered into a lance of black lightning.

~​

Petycon had jabbed the zanpaku into his mouth, but where normally a blade would now be protruding from the back of the Arrancar's throat, the flesh remained intact.

Then the form of the sword turned pitch black, oozing into a liquid obsidian that snaked its way around Petycon's features. From his back, a singular cord of black thread caught the breeze and billowed gently. His hands tripled in size, gaining enormous claws, but the most astounding feature was an odd whirlpool at their center, where Masaru could almost see the sunlight itself being sucked in. The dripping putrescence solidified lastly on Petycon's mask, completing the circle that the alabaster crescent begun around his eye, which now glittered malevolently.

"My spiritual pressure is hard on you in that form, isn't it Shinkou Masaru? Estoy Arrancar uno, Petyconia Sombraviajero! When a true body Arrancar of top ranking class releases their zanpaku, there isn't a single Shinigami who can successfully fight back without releasing Bankai!" he chuckled, flexing the arm slightly. As the claws curled, the whirlpool began to spin faster, and the area immediately surrounding Petycon darkened. The Commander General averted his eyes momentarily in the direction of his Vice Captain, whose opponent had just released his own zanpaku. It wasn't on level with Petycon's at all... but it was a sinister boost in strength, nonetheless.

"Did you say 'single Shinigami'? Petycon, I thought you observed this in the Rukongai desert that day: I am not a Shinigami. I am a Shintsuuro! I am not bound to the conceptions of limits!" Masaru replied, and then intensified the pitch-black aura that enveloped both him and Tasukeru.

His left hand was raised to face level, and the dark flame flowed into it, then formed the abominable item: the ghost-like echo of a Hollow mask covering half of Masaru's face.

Petycon's eyes widened slightly from behind his helmet of shadow.

"A Hollow mask?! But-- "

"This is my proof to you that I don't need Bankai to bring you down. Pound this echo of a Hollow into your memory so that you may know that I am not an ordinary Shinigami!" Masaru said proudly, then swung Tasukeru in a smooth chop. From the slash, the black sword wave Teikoutoppa roared forth, plowing a path straight into the disgruntled Petycon.

~​

Without flow, there can be no power.

The Shinigami elevated his stance into Jodan no Kamae, assessing all the obscured openings of the concealed, charging behemoth.

Without timing, there can be no victory.

Tangs of hissing electricity clawed at the grasses. Amagawa tightened his grip, keeping his joints, muscles, and shoulders free of stress, yet retaining an ever-elusive determination.

Without heart, there can be no resolve!

The pastures rippled under his feet in blasts of air.

Fight with your voice! It is a thing of life!

"Umarekawarou, Tsuyukusa!!"

Lanza swept through the area as a shadowy meteor, dark and ravenous. The grasses swayed in a symphony of rustles and whistles, and as if a conductor had suddenly stopped his own orchestra, the Arrancar's thunderous stampede of onslaught ceased abruptly. A shriek that made ears burst boomed all through the plateau, once, twice, and thrice.

The atrocity of a beast found his skull and mask swept forcefully from side to side in time with the booms, as if hammered with the full might of a grand mallet. Bones crunched and flesh hissed into the trembling air over the wake of the crumbling earth, and it was not too soon that the Arrancar collapsed onto his bristling haunches, disclosed from the cackling hide of lightning it had so lusciously worn.

Amagawa reappeared atop of Lanza's stunned head, with Tsuyukusa washed with streaks of milky black and crumbs of evil marrow. Yet he did not rest, and bounded off from the Arrancar's reanimating body, discreetly satisfied at the completion of a Tenpuu no Senjoushou.

~​

Petycon, though hesitant, indeed rather fearful at this latest revelation, was not so petty a warrior that he would be unable to stop an incoming projectile, and as the Teikoutoppa came inches away from striking, the insect eyes blinked and the enormous hands were raised.

The sword attack was sucked into the whirlpool of shadow, making an odd ripping noise as it vanished into the event horizon of the hands. Masaru had never intended to hit Petycon anyway... the attack was just to scale some of the Arrancar's new abilities. With the dark flame's energy having been completely dissipated, Petycon reared to his full height. The thread of black that tossed this way and that in the wind suddenly straightened, then lashed on to a tree... no.

Masaru's eyebrows arched as he watched Petycon drag his form towards and then into the shadow of a nearby tree, lowering to wade in the shade of its branches and canopy as if it were nothing more than a pool of water.

A ruckus could be heard in Amagawa's direction, but it was cut off amidst a shriek of excruciating agony. Now, there was only silence.

"Are you not going to go check to see who it was that screamed, Shinkou Masaru?" came Petycon's drawl, though it emanated now from every area that was not being showered with the warmth of the sun. Masaru's lips curved in a grin.

"Of course not. Amagawa wouldn't make such a ridiculously pansy sound, no matter what happened."

~​

Lanza's grounded body jerked repeatedly, and perhaps in an erratic rhythm, as a wheezing, guttural chuckle scratched at the air. Though he felt no rising degree of outward pressure from the Arrancar, Amagawa stood ready a ways from the beast.

"...Strong you are, Shinigami... no..." Another panting laugh. "...Shinigami, you are not?" Still prostrate, Lanza's masked muzzle shifted against the verdant earth underneath, and faced the dark swordsman with blackened eyes. "Both of you... are no Shinigami...!"

Amagawa displayed no surprised reaction in his opponent's discovery. He wouldn't have heard those words on that very morning if not for the abnormality of his soul... no, his souls. Amagawa Sougen was alive right before the Arrancar's eyes solely because of the abnormality. An exile of five hundred years, hunted down day by sunless day and night by moon-full night by masks of white, would have killed the man otherwise. He knew. Amagawa knew, and did not deny the validity of the accusation.

"True, my soul is made up of many souls. Of course, you could see that. You are Arrancar, after all." Amagawa turned the axis of Tsuyukusa and trailed the blade diagonally down to his side, assuming the Waki Gamae stance. "But, I am still Shinigami. That will never change. The souls of the gods of death are all made up of many, and that is because we carry the weight and responsibility of all souls in existence. I am no different. The wounds you carry now come from that weight, and you suffer from them solely because you have no idea how heavy such a burden can be. My Commander and I are different from you two. We carry the weight proudly, and it strengthens us. That will never change."

"Commend you for your words, I do... yet, fall on deaf ears, they do! Hear your words, can your Commander?" Before the Shinigami could answer, Lanza lurched his throat forth, allowing a pool of acidic sludge issue forth from the depths of his gaping muzzle. The Arrancar grinned at the corners of his mouth as a new, misty light materialized within his abysmal eyeballs. The entirety of the abomination's form melted into blackness, and the bubbling sludge seeped deeper and deeper into the miring earth. Within seconds, sharp pillars of shadow erupted into the sky, and before the Shinigami could escape, a large, black rotunda formed all around the two, effectively sealing off almost half of the entire plateau.

~​

The rotunda that had swallowed up Amagawa was large enough to be seen from Masaru's now elevated vantage point, and the Commander General tightened his grip on Tasukeru.

"That thing your buddy's release?" Masaru called, and the wild brush around him shifted with the laughter of Petycon.

"Yes. I'm not entirely sure how long your friend has now... still certain you want to keep holding back?!"

From the edge of his peripheral vision, Masaru watched as the light around him began to be pulled backward. It clicked, and he rolled out of the way moments before a half 'submerged' Petycon clawed at him. The Commander didn't pause in his roll, but rather hit the ground with his spare arm as hard as he could. The ground fractured on impact and he was hoisted sky-high.

"Does that shadow-based ability work well against me when I'm airborne, Petycon?!" he called out, and launched another Teikoutoppa to the still slightly knee-deep Arrancar, who quickly vanished back into the viscous pool moments before the wave attack tore the ground asunder.

~​

A scoff escaped from under the Shinigami's open, teeth-clenched frown. Even as the forsaken darkness germinated all around the warrior in vine-like, layering silhouettes, he kept his focus upon the slightly convulsing irises of the Arrancar. He's releasing ability after ability... Have I pushed him into a corner?

The dull, pearl eyes dilated and motioned a ways forth. Undeterred by the newborn darkness, Amagawa stroked his blade up and forth from Waki Gamae, pointing Tsuyukusa's unseen kissaki right between the distant eyes. A rush of grassy air fumed against him, and in the same instant, a vivid, violet light streamed from behind the eyes. The monochrome brilliance blinked rapidly and dizzyingly, yet he kept his focus, and as he stared narrowly at the black, suspended form far in front of him, he realized that the entire dome of black was a single entity.

I'm... inside of this monster...!

A slicing scream, akin to that of a mechanical, spiraling drill, lunged forth at the Shinigami, who in turn barrel rolled off to the side. A fanged mass nicked the crown of his left deltoid as he broke away, and upon landing, the earth shuddered and cracked from whence he once stood. The blinking lights resumed, then shifted its lurid hue to that of scarlet red, and as it changed, Amagawa examined the perpetrating mass from before, finding it similarly black in form and vigorously eating into the soil. Turning his wearying vision back to the pearl eyes, he noted another, impossibly intense luminosity blazing within what seemed like an open muzzle.

Wasting as little time as he could, Amagawa dashed through the quivering grass as several more shady drills impaled the loam all about his feet and midst. As he rushed so, he fixed his attention upon the eyes, finding them eerily following his swift movements. A bellowing, deep, murderous groan reverberated all within the shadowed rotunda. Amagawa squinted his lids against the burgeoning brilliance inside the depths of Lanza's muzzle, to the point that he nearly closed his own eyes.

Outside of it all, a muffled, yet deafening roar shook the clouds as myriads of branch-like fissures webbed out from the foundation of the gloomy dome.

~​

This isn't exactly what I had in mind as a means for him to spread info to me. He wanted to test his powers, but I'm more interested in knowing what he does. And I feel more comfortable with direct combat...which means...

The red haori flapped impressively behind Masaru like a flag as he descended, gaining more and more speed until he appeared to have transformed into a flame-engrossed phantom. Tasukeru's kissaki began to collect the tongues of Kurokasai, until a cloud of black fire had taken shape.

From the shade of the smoking pit created by the previous Teikoutoppa, Petycon shot out, both of his fists extended and emitting a rather high pitched screech as he rocketed towards Masaru. The light around him faded, until his outline was nigh-on-determinable, and the tearing sound of the whirlpools caused birds to take flight from hundreds of meters away.

The two clashed in one moment, and the air seemed to bend before a jet-black wave of energy engulfed the entire plateau, shaking the foundations and blowing away the clouds high above. When the sea of abyssal darkness had dissipated enough, the red of the Commander General's haori could once again be seen in the slowly brightening field of green. Petycon stood behind him, and both had their backs facing the other. Their faces betrayed no thoughts, feelings, or emotions. The hand on Tasukeru and the fist of Sombra-AlabÁƒ ©a tightened simultaneously.

"I'm rebelling against Emptybones. I've collected the third, fourth, sixth, and eighth Arrancar into my faction. Emptybones has... an important role for me in the upcoming battle. One that helps secure his victory over you. If you are a true leader of your men, you will be wise and form an alliance with me, so that when that time comes, I will stand up to Emptybones with you and we will crush him! If you do that, I will be willing to move my group out of Seireitei and back into Hueco Mundo. However, if you disagree-- "

"It is because I am a true leader of my men that I cannot accept your offer, because that would only be for the sake of my closest friends, and I have trust enough in them that I do not need to lower myself to making alliances with the Enemy," replied Masaru with a strong intonation, and Petycon did not have to look to know the Commander General was smiling.

~​

Even as the crimson illumination flashed dazzlingly, the Shinigami discovered a new well of darkness all about his sides. A steam carrying the stench of scorched, vaporized earth offended his very senses as he kept his knelt position upon the broiled dirt, with Tsuyukusa still poised in the air, its unscathed edge glaring up at Lanza. Though the last energetic blast had been hot enough to incinerate the earth into a gaseous form, the cursed blade was not in the least bit lukewarm at having cleft through ultraviolet eruption. Even then, Amagawa panted a bit, knowing full well that his blade's anti-spiritual energetic properties were far from being that efficient. He rose as he normally did, showing the Arrancar no sign of either weakness or pain.

Alive, still?! And a scratch not without?! A voiceless Lanza, with his inhuman form suspended from the centrality of the dome's roof, leered on though his damaged mask at the weakened warrior grounded within the seething crater below. The smoldering bowl was not a perfect circle, however, and possessed an oval, irregular shape, as if his last blast had been halved in two. At once, he stopped the incessant thoughts and crunched his liquiform body together to unleash another flood of drilling, shadowed tendrils straight into the smoking basin, all the while preparing to discharge another pillar of light.

I can see your bewilderment...

With a deep, heated exhale, Amagawa sheathed Tsuyukusa and motioned through the plunging drills, concentrated more than ever even as the flashing lights shifted to an oppressing neon topaz hue.

The heart that is without calm and resolve, the mind that is clouded and impulsive... Death craves them like vultures upon decayed flesh.

Quickly, the Shinigami came within a perfect angle as the drilling tendrils swerved suddenly the bludgeon their prey.

A psychedelic fog foamed from the scarred soil in the wake of the penetrating drills. The Shinigami phased in and out of reality, reappearing just above the Arrancar's roofed form. With a final bawl, Lanza searched up, finding the god standing upside down upon the ceiling, staring boldly straight back. In a soundless whisper, they met face to face as lustrous blade and searing light intermingled with kaleidoscopic luminescence.

Therefore, rot beautifully, sleep silently, and embrace Death's veil of black feathers. ​

Swaying clouds high above, repelled by the obsidian fury of both the Flame and Shadow, witnessed the dome below perforate from two hissing, emerging columns of light. At once, the rotunda shriveled and snapped back into a single, torn form, one that fell most bloodily down to the cushioning grasses.

~​

Both eyes found themselves on the same spot as the dome of black collapsed in one last, deafening roar.

"It seems the trust in Amagawa has at least shown itself worthy today," Masaru said, and Tasukeru sang as it whirled ferociously towards Petycon, who stopped the sword with a scowling grunt. The blade slipped slightly as the Arrancar adjusted the positioning of the fist being used to block.

"My associate was taken down, and you have failed to agree to an alliance. I have no more time to spend here with you, Shinkou Masaru. I will be gathering more strength for the moment when you will regret having ever turned your face so proudly from this hand of mine that feasts with the hunger of Sombra-AlabÁƒ ©a," he said quietly, offering a last sneer before sinking once again into a pool of shadow.

With his antagonist gone, Masaru turned his gaze in the direction of Amagawa's pressure.

"Amagawa! How did it turn out?" he hollered.

~​

He rose into the familiar air again, still discreetly injured at his left arm. Though, to someone that approached from a distance, it would seem the Shinigami had not been involved in any sort of conflict at all, and perhaps, it was what 'she' had wanted all along.

Still mindful of the cleft Lanza quietly gaping motionless in the grasses behind him, Amagawa lowered his weapon down to his side and raised his chin up to the skies. As breaking sunlight renewed itself over the plateau in the absence of the Shadow, a subtle, yet intense rain of shining pinions fluttered down upon the scene, surrounding the dark Shinigami most contrastingly with their soft light.

It flashed before him, the instant just before Lanza's energy was able to blaze through his unguarded torso. White feathers had obscured his vision, and yet the weight of the Arrancar's vitiated, swarthy flesh carried through unto his unforgiving blade. A new breeze had billowed against him at that time, and he found himself upon the green, dewy grasses once again, with Lanza's muted screams shaking his very body.

Hearing his Commander's vigorous call brought the Vice Captain back from vivid recollections, and facing his superior, proceeded to approach, leaving the soundless Arrancar to vanish away in a pulpous mist.

He met Shinkou with an indiscernible mix of expressions, holding one of the white feathers in his left hand. Inhaling the fresh air tensely, he held up Tsuyukusa's blade for the Commander to see. The Arrancar blood had just begun to dry and encrust until it had seeped into the radiant, vampiric steel. As if a grand seal had been replaced over an ominous well, the Zanpakutou returned to its base state, with no distinguishable change in its appearance.

~​

Masaru admired the fine craftsmanship present in Tsuyukusa's design, noting that the beauty of the blade tended to reflect that of the wielder.

"Good job. The one I was dealing with I had encountered before. Apparently he's planning on creating a separate Hollow faction from Emptybones. Let's head on back to Seireitei," he stated solemnly, and then he closed the distance between them. His left hand clasped tightly on Amagawa's shoulder as the right finished sliding Tasukeru into the black lacquered scabbard.

"You've shown your worth. I admit, I find the fact that we were attacked today and your victory over that monster to be rather ironically perfect proof for your position. Now, let's head home so I can give you a smexy badge to put on that left shoulder," he finished with a grin.

~​

He can't see it, can he...

Even as the blood vanished right before the Commander's eyes, Amagawa could only see his superior following the waves of his Zanpakutou's notare hamon. It puzzled him greatly, and he began to wonder if anyone besides himself has ever seen blood staining the cursed blade. Focusing more on the situation at hand, he nodded to Shinkou's explanation of the coming war's condition. Hearing such details struck him rather off-guard, and in the same moment, he felt compelled to learn more of what has passed in Soul Society during his exile.

"Sounds good." The blood-lusting blade breathed back into its black-gloss saya. It stayed within the ebon confines, waiting for the moment it would taste and drink light and viscera once again. Amagawa glanced back at his former battlefield. The feathers were gone. And soon, he was gone also, trailing back to civilization with the Flame.

Even as the day seemed misfortunate with the arrival of two Arrancar, the Vice Captain felt a new dawn shining upon his back. It was a warmth he had not felt for too long.

~​

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 1 - Ah SÁƒ­, VendÁƒ­ mi Alma

Sosogu's fist, tightly clasped and shaking with frightening fury, shattered the white wall that stretched in front of it into a million pieces, showering the already ash-cloaked air with a rainfall of fragmented debris. It was apparent to anyone that the owner of the fist in question no longer was occupying that particular place of business: the emerald light of Emptybones' shone out from behind the eyes of the abominable, flesh mask that shrouded the Keigun Head's face with a veil of revolting proportions.

He hissed...he didn't really care at this point about the Vaizards finding him...the rational spectrum of thought that he had been developing for so many centuries was being blinded by the primitive equalizer: rage.

Although the flesh around his eyes had been completely mangled, it was already, like the eyes themselves, beginning to regenerate. That wasn't the problem however...the anticipated dimensional tear in question...the odds of him getting to it were bad. He had spent about a minute stumbling around in his maimed condition (which was one minute too many) and felt the blade manifested from his Arrancar half dissipate the instant that Genseikisei had been used so effectively against its wielder.

Twice...in the span of less than an hour...the subsequent underestimation of Yasuo and of the last Captain...it was costing him the victory he had felt was assured today. It didn't matter that this was only one fifth of the total force, because the Espada he had assembled were all a part of this particular battle. Using the Recombinant nature of his being in accords with his own hybridnized abilities in order to transform Hollows into Arrancar by being bathed in the aura of his energy was tiring...and the stronger the Hollow was to begin with, the more pressure that was required to complete the transformation. For this alone, he couldn't recreate a second wave of Arrancar and Espada within a reasonable time span...Soul Society would surely mount a resuscitated counter before he could create the warriors he required for combating Captains. He needed to get back to his hordes and properly seal the nail in the hole with his own direct orders.

The spare hand wrung itself tightly around the Arrancar-Shinigami's collar as his breaths came in quick gasps: there was something wrong. For the past several weeks, he had felt his energy reservoir depleting without him releasing any...the unaccounted loss had been dismissed as him merely not being able to keep track of the enormity of the power he created, but in his current condition, having been placed at the brink of defeat by Yasuo, the large gap in strength was indescribably irritating.

His eyes, mostly recovered, lifted from the pallid tiling of Seireitei to...the dimensional gate at last.

A sneer spread across his disgusting visage. He could make it...the Senkaimon would properly whisk him away from this stench-ridden populace and back to his brothers.

"Wait wait...you came all the way here and didn't bother to say thanks to me?"

Emptybones' surroundings bolded over, becoming thick and darkened with waves of spiritual pressure that dragged his torso down towards the now cracked floor. The hybrid recovered himself, managing to straighten and turn to face the source of the blanketing spiritual energy. The walls and buildings that had been behind him were now collapsed, swallowing the area in a formidable looking cloud of dust.

The hybrid snickered as he beheld a speck of red through the dulled grey-brown of the filth-ridden air around them.

"Ahh....I wasn't aware that you knew about that...indeed, I had confiscated and kept that particular secret to myself, feeling it would be most valuable in the fight that you and I both knew was inevitable. A surprising trump card that could be detrimental to your resolve...but if you already were enlightened of your aid in my current form, then I suppose the manner that you approach me is enough to say it doesn't matter," replied Emptybones, drifting the right hand that still remained relaxed towards Genseikisei's hilt.

The Commander General swept the remnants of the dust away with a final blare of spiritual pressure, letting the haori drift back to the ground at last. His eyes still shone a golden-red; the hand at his side was stained with rivulets of crimson made from his fingers digging into his palm.

"Being responsible for you attaining this amount of power, and now having a dead Captain to add to the list of people whose demise is caused by me, I don't think there's anything particularly surprising about how much I want to kill you right this instant," Masaru responded. Sosogu's voice laughed uproariously at this, before dying away enough for Emptybones to speak.

"Knowing you, you wanted to honor that filth as some kind of hero, eh? It's too bad...there's not much left to honor," his eyes glimmered dangerously, "since his remains acted as a rather satisfying sustenance for myself. But come now! This is more interesting...because I am not entirely sure how you did it. So why don't you explain to me the reason I gained this odd state of existence?" chuckled the Arrancar, and Masaru averted his eyes to the destroyed ruins around him.

"That last blow...was dealt with the wings from Tasukeru, and not Tasukeru itself. After hearing about your Recombinant side, I'm assuming that since it wasn't an actual zanpakutou that killed you, you were able to absorb some of Hizashi's flame into yourself, which gave you the attributes you possess now."

"Ah! Well I thank you for letting me in on that important detail."

"Dead men deserve to know why they're not really living anymore."

Their bodies visibly tensed, but neither moved from their position. The green eyes managed to keep themselves locked tightly with their golden-red opposites. Emptybones drew Genseikisei with a theatrical flair, twirling the sword like a toy on all sides of his body.

"This is Sosogu's sword."

"I know."

"Do you intend to destroy this body too?"

"Of course I do. Its owner no longer resides within it."

Another laugh.

"You think so? But...Shinkou-san, Sosogu let me take this body."

The tense fervor that had cloaked his features vanished instantly at this statement, and he was visibly shaken. After a long moment, he was finally able to respond with a whisper.

"Knowing Sosogu...I'd have to say you're lying."

"Unfortunately Masaru-san, I'd have to say I know myself a lot better than you do."

The emerald light had vanished momentarily, the flesh mask had receded, and for a brief window of time, Hagane Sosogu once again was in control, staring grimly back into the eyes of his former comrade. Tasukeru nearly dropped from the weakened grip of the Commander General, whose pale disposition seemed to be the response Sosogu was looking for, because he flashed a smile of his own.

"I always wanted to see Shinkou Masaru make a face like that. It looks like I had to effectively sell my soul to the devil to see it though. I have yet to decide if it was worth it...," he said gruffly, and Masaru's disposition warped into an enraged stupor.

" What the hell are you doing?! Why are you conspiring with Emptybones on something like this?! What could you possibly have-"

"Sorry Shinkou...he's gone until we're done with this," interrupted the leering mask of Emptybones.

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 2 -- The Wheel Turned, the Fight Returned

Genseikisei hummed as it cut a path through the smoke-drenched atmosphere and straight towards Masaru's seemingly exposed chest. The Commander twitched ever so slightly as he regained his senses, snapping back to reality. The red haori billowed gently as he lowered himself towards the ground, unsheathing Tasukeru with a whisper of wind.

The two zanpakutou clashed, and the reverberation from their meeting eradicated all remaining wisps of dust as they rolled, both of their garments flapping as they whirled away from each other and brought their swords across diagonally in a second sweep. A crackling sound emanated from them as both Tasukeru and Genseikisei were released moments prior to colliding once again. This time, the ground beneath each fractured as the tiling was uprooted around them. Masaru pressed against Emptybones' blade, and then used the entangled swords to push himself up and over the Arrancar. As he flipped, his hold on Tasukeru reversed so that it now pointed backwards, which he quickly made use of by stabbing in a manner where the zanpaku whipped just past his own side. To a bystander, it would've appeared he impaled himself with his own blade, but the attack was meant to pierce the back of Emptybones (or was it Sosogu's?) chest in a critical injury.

Despite Genseikisei supposedly being on the other side of the hybrid, the sword seemed to materialize out of nowhere in order to counter, parrying Tasukeru with little more than a sliding movement and...

Masaru's eyes widened as they stared into Emptybones' own emerald pair, despite the fact Sosogu's body, or rather, the majority of Sosogu's body faced the opposite direction.

"Oh my...I seem to have forgotten to let you know that this body is not bound by its normal limitations when I reside within it."

The wide snicker begun to shine as a swarm of particles danced around the yellow-tinged mandibles of Sosogu, condensing at a center point into an orb that warmed the Commander General's very, very nearby face.

What are you doing Masaru?! Get me to use Teikoutoppa now!

The fingers tightened around Tasukeru, and rather than wait for the orb to grow to a satisfactory width, the Shintsuuro rammed his head as hard as he possibly could into Emptybones, taking care to not let any of his flesh be seared by the growing sphere of Cero. Stunned, the Arrancar was helpless to prevent Masaru from placing enough distance between them for the Kurokasai-engrossed Tasukeru to swing upward in a stroke that caused Masaru's haori to be blown off.

"Teikoutoppa!" The black crescent slammed into the still off guard Emptybones, pushing him like a freight train many meters away before flashing to a golden-red countenance and exploding violently. Sosogu's silhouette could be seen momentarily being sliced into pieces before the light engulfed him in a column of fire. Not wasting any time, the Commander General began gathering pressure for another zangeki, but the elated laughter of Emptybones caused him to stop. The smoke broke in several places, and Masaru watched on as the flesh of the hybrid regenerated on top of the nearby Senkaimon. The rebuilt Emptybones bent Sosogu's neck ever so slightly until it popped with satisfaction, before returning his attention to the Shintsuuro.

"That was different than the one you used on me before...even back when you thought you were engaging Sosogu here in Hueco Mundo a couple months ago...it wasn't like that. Is it because the blade's just one sword now? Whatever reason, it felt weaker...have you been deteriorating in strength, or am I just getting too strong?"

Masaru lifted himself to his full height, eyeing Emptybones with an analytical expression.

"So you two have been together since you came back?"

"Much longer than that. It was actually just a little while after you destroyed my corporeal form, Shinkou. I needed someone whose strength and abilities suited me...not only that, but he wanted me to use him. It was quite convenient," he hissed with glee, and Masaru, for the first time during the course of their battle, smiled softly.

"Oh? So...you're afraid of me still. Terrified. You were so horrified that you chose someone you thought I'd have problems with trying to fight, seeking any form of invulnerability you could possess. That's very amusing, my Captain," he responded, the smile still spread across his features, and Emptybones' own grin was wiped away, replaced with a very cold demeanor of silence. Genseikisei glimmered belligerently in the fading light.

"You two were my destined bane. I was always too careless with both of you...I had thought everything I wanted to do...everything White Corona, Brainfang and I sought, from the Soul Data to the annihilation of Soul Society, was assured the moment I took the 12th Division as my own...claiming that Captain position for myself was my greatest fault, for it made me far too arrogant," Emptybones murmured, and his body lurched ever so slightly as a new wave of spiritual pressure roared from Masaru, whose face was hidden below the hair that floated under the explosion of energy.

"Were? Was? We weren't your destined bane...we are your destined bane," he bellowed as he lifted the golden red eyes to Emptybones, who took a step back when Masaru's next words drifted along the wind to his ears.

"Ban Kai!"

As Tasukeru erupted with an extraordinary light, basking the area in a second sunrise, Emptybones watched on with a blank visage.

The way things stand now...not returning to the battlefield may be better. If I bring down Shinkou here and now, with the remaining four fifths of the army, I'd still be able to deal with the surviving Gotei members. The Soul Data project...a bad folly of mine, but I will always be able to eradicate the Vizards and Shunshin Yasuo after I've dealt with Shinkou and this rag tag collection of garbage he's burdened himself with.

The green, serpentine irises sparkled with an ominous glare.

Petycon should be following his orders soon...I had planned for him to accomplish his goal with Masaru returning to ruin, but the results may be more beneficial if I have him do it here while we fight...the end point was to make things easier for me to sever his throat, after all.

The sky high column of dust was eradicated in a single flap from the "wings" that now spread the length of their battlefield. Masaru hovered over a crater, his feet wreathed in flame and Tasukeru's blade having vanished, so that now only a katana of fire emerged from the top of the tsuba. The feather swords gently ruffled as the Commander General hovered up until he was at the same altitude as Emptybones, still watching from his vantage point on top of the Senkaimon with a wry grin.

"Tsubasakakou Tasukeru," Masaru declared, and Emptybones mused over the impressive display.

"Been a while since I've seen that. I still don't quite understand how it works...and that fellow with the white cloak and the same feeling of spiritual pressure as you wasn't any help. Didn't tell me anything at all," he chuckled, and Masaru stared back with a bemused countenance.

What? White cloak? Did...did he meet Shougo? But...how? Shougo went to the Outer Rukongai, never intending to come back... His thought process was abruptly cut off as Sosogu flipped Genseikisei perpendicular to the ground. The Arrancar licked its lips hungrily as Masaru's eyebrows arched skyward in recognition.

"YESSSS...I DO HAVE IT! BAN KAI!"

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 3 -- Descent into Perdition

Nesuai had done exactly as Masaru requested: stayed put quite nicely, which was an astonishing accomplishment unto itself given that she could clearly feel his spiritual pressure pushing skywards while thrashing wildly against a darker power that was at the very least, just even with the Commander General.

It was really quite logical: no matter how passionate Nesuai felt towards Masaru, her attempting to aid him in such an unpredictable clash would most likely tip the favor against both of them. After all...Kyoumou Nesuai was strong, but not so foolishly arrogant as to presume herself powerful enough to deal with the super powers that currently collided. If she got used by the enemy, the battle would be lost. As a result, even with thousands of other potential enemies to crush, she stayed put within the 1st Division office, Musebuhebu idle across her lap.

The point of purpose was for her to stay alive, which was why when the wall was obliterated, no time was wasted as the zanpakutou cleanly swiped through the dust and into the throat of the unannounced visitor.

The sword abruptly came to a complete halt the instant the edge came in contact with the flesh of the shadowed figure.

"My oh my...you're as fiery as I recall, Miss Kyoumou Nesuai," drawled the voice of Petycon, whose insect eyes came in to sharp focus through the fading filter of smoke. A wide-eyed Nesuai quickly sped back, placing some room between her and her grinning antagonist, who was snickering with a mad glee as his own zanpakutou slid forth from the black lacquered scabbard.

"Ah...the Arrancar from that day. Masaru told me he met you again the day Amagawa Sougen was given the title of Vice Captain...aren't you supposed to be performing a certain duty right about now?" Despite the genuine tone behind the question, it was apparent to both that Nesuai was fully aware of what exactly that duty was. Petycon observed this as well, for he did not bother responding with words, but rather drove up his spiritual pressure.

The entire of 1st Division headquarters was annihilated in the burst, toppling all of the structural foundations and incinerating everything nearby in a brilliant flash of pallid light. Emerging from the column of smoke that blanketed the area, Nesuai retreated upwards, claiming a position on a nearby elevated plaza as her vantage point. The smoke was eradicated with a second wave of pressure, dissipating into oblivion as Petycon reemerged from within the prison of debris. Musebuhebu growled as it was liberated through bypass, the tendrils uncurling with a menace unto themselves.

That spiritual pressure was unreal...it's much higher than my or Kimete's level...he actually feels like he's on par with Masaru and Emptybones at their current strength...what the hell was he doing between our last fight and now to gain this kind of monstrous strength?

In a flurry of movement, Petycon appeared behind her, still standing as if he hadn't bothered to move a single inch. Caught off guard, Nesuai was barely able to deflect the swift kick with a two tendrils from her zanpakutou: the remaining six latched on to various portions of Petycon's body, and exploded simultaneously with the uttered command: "Kazebaku."

The Shinigami blurred away in a quick shyunpo, gathering some breath while inverting Musebuhebu to the ground. It was obvious that the hybrid would be unscathed from an attack of that proportion, which meant...

"Ban Kai."

An aura of blue bloomed into a particularly beautiful collage of ghostly feathers that faded to reveal the shimmering Nesuai, who flipped the aqua-tinted Musebuhebu in hands and crouched into a protective stance.

"Kakyou Musebuhebu."

Petycon emerged, sweeping away the smothering cloud around him by twirling the zanpakutou like a helicopter blade.

"Oh yes...I never got to see that Bankai's exact properties in our last fight. Care to show me? Derrita en la oscuridad, Sombra-AlabÁƒ ©a!"

The zanpakutou stabbed deep within Petycon's own throat, but melted away like pitch black magma. From the Arrancar's back, a whip-like thread sprouted, billowing this way and that with an ominous disposition. His hands transformed into the enormous, claw-like paws that held a whirlpool of shadow at their core, already beginning to drain away the light around him at a frightening rate. A final swirl of the putrescent material solidified around the crescent alabaster of Petycon's mask, completing the ring with a striped ivory complexion around the dragonfly eye.

"Go on...test the strength of Uno Subidoverdad Espada, Petyconia Sombraviajero, and this Sombra-Alabea of mine," he leered, his visage scrunching up into one of a crazed euphoria. A deep roar emanated from the pool of darkness on Petycon's hands, and a sphere of complete black could be seen manifesting in his palms. Then his body coiled up, tensing majestically with the prowess of an expert, and hurled the twin spheres straight towards the waiting Nesuai.

The hybrid was a bit surprised when he saw her leap straight towards the approaching projectiles, placing herself in a no-evade situation in the air.

Musebuhebu cleaved downward to meet the two orbs, and the crystalline blue from her blade entangled with the jet black of Petycon's energy, before swirling in a maelstrom of light and sound into one unified wave of energy. The reflected blast bore down on Petycon's location, and in the wake of its path, it left thousands upon thousands of explosions, increasing in number as the blast fanned out and encompassed more of the ash-scented sky with its thunderous claps.

The storm of blasts collided with the structure Petycon was standing upon, and a final, tumultuous sea of flame rocked the sky, causing the colossus to collapse completely. Nesuai exhaled sharply, analyzing the enormous mushroom cloud that drifted lazily towards the Bloodstone barrier in the heavens above for any signs of the Arrancar.

"Wow. So your Bankai can effectively let you take out people several times stronger than you, since it uses their own energy against them...that's impressive," whispered Petycon in her ear.

The thread lashed violently around Nesuai and bound her tightly enough to drop Musebuhebu on the cracked foundations. She gritted her teeth together in frustration, trying to redirect pressure to her hands for Kidou, but...

Her hand remained idle at her waist.

Wha?! Why can't I move?! The pressure isn't flowing through my body correctly anymore...

Petycon's amused drawl continues in her ear, sending chills down her spine.

"Mmm...don't bother with that. Sombra-Alabea will halt reiatsu flow in whatever its cord entwines around," he hissed, and Nesuai seized the moment to slam the back of her head into the Arrancar's.

An odd silence set in as blood trickled from the back of her skull, mingling with the drops that stained the hard, sharp bone of Petycon's Hollow mask.

"That was a nice attempt...but I'm really the worst type of opponent for you. Not only do I not have to resort to projectile attacks like the ones you take advantage of, but Sombra-Alabea allows me to instantaneously attack from point blank. Now...let's get going...you've got quite the important role in this particular act."

With a head-butt of his own, Petycon smashed Nesuai into unconsciousness, lifting her limp form into the air above with the thread that trailed from his back and turning to face the direction of Masaru and Emptybones' spiritual pressures.

The hybrid stared...simply seeming to be absorbed with the milky grey skies, the sounds of war all around him. And then a twisted, sadistic grin lit his features, and he rocketed off in the direction of a destiny he had been awaiting for quite a while.

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 4 -- Dammerung Played Possessor Possessed

"Carronashitai Genseikisei."

There was an odd fusion in the display that had preceded these words...the Bankai had followed most traditional properties in that it exploded in a brilliant flash of light, then created a column of dust that dissipated promptly to reveal the appearance of the new Emptybones. Unlike normal Bankai, however, the sword was still transforming, even after the dust cleared...Masaru watched on wide-eyed as the disfiguring, hideous metamorphosis completed itself all to the reverberations of the crackling sound Arrancar blades made when released.

"Wha...what the hell?! What did you do?! That is not Hagane Sosogu's Bankai!" Masaru whispered at the monstrous apparition that had manifested before his own eyes. A leer, wide and malevolent, glimmered forebodingly in the fading rays of light across the visage of the demonic abomination that Emptybones had become.

"Oh...let me bestow some enlightenment! It seems that the separation of me from a corporeal form, which I take great delight in reminding you, was your own doing-

"Shut up and tell me what happened to Shitai Genseikisei...this...this atrocity is not something that Sosogu is capable of producing!"

Towering at least thirty feet off the ground, Emptybones' snicker was all the more morbid as it spread even further, revealing mandibles that dripped with a fluid that's viscosity seemed closer to goo. Sosogu's "body" was not so high as a result of a growth in leg size: on the contrary, his legs had remained their normal proportions. He had gained the mythical quality of being airborne due to the enormous tail that lifted him from the ground and to the sky above. The tail was a hideous manifestation unto itself, for it was enshrouded with many spines of ebony, all dripping with the same liquid as the wielder's fangs. The right arm had been replaced with a bulbous deformity that vaguely resembled a giant pincher...though the exterior was far more ominous, mostly because of the man size claws that had sprung from its thick hide.

The left half of the hybrid was indeed the only side that was familiar to Masaru, though even this sight had been tainted by Emptybones' presence: hundreds of lime green seeds were buried into his flesh, where emerald vines had sprouted, only to dig their pestilence-ridden buds back within the skin of their master. It was a disgruntling sight that the Commander General couldn't quite recall being so grotesque...even now, the scrunching of the plant tendrils' burrowing into Sosogu's back was wrenching to watch.

A final repugnance: a shower of blood stained the fragmented white tiling far below as an elongated, spear-like bone ruptured from the right side of the monster's back. Simultaneously, Emptybones' chest split open with a nauseating squelch, spilling some of the decrepit contents as the ribcage exposed itself...the ivory, tinted slightly with the scarlet of the bile within the carrion body, moaned in lamentations, as if to grieve of the countless that had been skewered upon the row of their sharpened tips.

"Ahh...but you didn't let me finish. You see...the Recombinant nature of my ethereal state allowed me to make several...beneficial changes. Your friend came to the conclusion that this body was convenient for me...but it would be more accurate to say that I'm convenient for this body. Do you remember what his blade did, Shinkou-san?" he said...and groaned, and giggled, and hissed, and screamed, and gargled, and wept. Masaru felt the breath leave his lungs as he listened, and the archaic terror...the ancient fear that he had not been burdened with for several centuries began to course through his veins once again.

The hand clasped around the flame wreathed Tasukeru tightened; his eyes narrowed as the golden red ardor alit within the fiery irises banished such weaknesses of heart.

"It...it fed off of his life to create a perpetual aura. As long as that aura enveloped him, his strength was exponentially greater in all categories....and the amount of strength he received..."

He trailed off, and the mixed idiolect of emotions finished the statement for him.

"Was proportionate to the amount of life he was willing to give, right? The thing is...my Arrancar soul was able to fuse together with Sosogu's zanpakutou through the power of my Recombinancy...indeed, this Bankai is an outward manifestation of Genseikisei's form, but it also exploits the releases of us Arrancar, in that it reveals my true form. And the most satisfying part is that since the sword is now a part of me, it feeds off of Sosogu's body to produce that aura you mentioned...even though this body is dead. I've provided it with a sustaining immortality, and let Sosogu swim around in the consciousness of all these tasty souls I've devoured. A perfect deal," the chorus spoke, and the body lurched forward threateningly.

From the flesh that was being mangled by the parasitic plants, a luminescent jade blade carved its way out of the left arm, tearing trace peelings from the skin as it broke loose and into the Arrancar's waiting hand. The moment the fingers wrapped around the stained hilt, the zanpakutou extended into two parts, revealing its form as a double-blade weapon.

"I've been enthusiastically awaiting the commencement of our rematch, Shinkou."

In response, the feathers flapped in a gesture of invitation as Masaru moved Tasukeru into a lethal, stabbing position: the wrists crossed in an "X" as he crouched slightly and turned his side towards the malicious antagonist. His Captain's haori, the only garment remaining over the jet black gi beneath, begin to smolder at the edges as the wings brightened visibly and the air around him grew damp with the heat of his spiritual pressure.

"This time, I'll be sure to hit that vacant spot where your heart's supposed to be with Tasukeru, and not just these wings of Tsubasakakou."

A tumultuous wave of conflicting pressure shattered any even remotely nearby structures in a colossal ripple of destruction as the two behemoths clashed.

The white foundations of Seireitei, previously only cracked and uprooted, were obliterated into a fine powder as the blazing Tasukeru and the glowing Genseikisei streaked again and again into each other, their reverberations sweeping the clouds in the sky above further away from the maelstrom of fury with each blow. The wings, meant to protect and act as a plentiful supply of blades to attack with, were never given the opportunity as they dealt with vines that would rip forth from the marred torso and attempt to entwine Masaru within their binding. The enormous claw and the spear-like branch of ebony were constantly being cleaved away by pathways of flame, left in the wake of Tasukeru's swings. This left all the combat for the vicious assaults of the warriors' actual zanpakutou, which blasted a shockwave of golden-red mingled with emerald green after each cross.

A horizontal sweep of the Captain of the 1st's steel, and Emptybones ducked under it, letting his tail contract ever so slightly to allow him a descent just under the path Masaru's cut. The double bladed Genseikisei swept with potency towards the Commander General's exposed chest, but Masaru hugged low to the floor of fire that he had created beneath his feet to keep him aloft, and whipped around for a killing blow, while Emptybones spun to parry the slash and counter with a death stroke of his own.

A last dance of elegant, deliberate precision, and the two broke away. Masaru relinquished the intense spiritual pressure when he was far enough away, turning to view his antagonist and revealing deep cuts across his chest that pulsated with a disturbing shade of green. Emptybones' revolting silhouette turned to face the Shintsuuro, and the chorus of voices resonated through the silence that had fallen upon both.

"Ukuukuukuu...wounds from this blade are marinated with my personal poison...do you remember what happened to that Colonel of yours when he got bit? I don't know whose expression was more agonizing...his, or yours watching him suffer like-"

The blade of Tasukeru ripped its way through Masaru's own chest.

He gasped audibly as he plunged the sword as deep as it could penetrate, but then his clouded eyes regained their golden red glow, and his body ceased to slump.

In an impressive display of light, the wounds flared with the golden red flame of Hizashi before closing, the sickly green ooze having been eradicated with the burst of energy. Tasukeru was slid from the Commander General's torso slowly, albeit with a painful expression, but removed with ease nonetheless.

Emptybones' mouth, previously opened in astonishment, now slowly retracted to a more composed position.

"I see...that ability must've been gained when the blade was reformed, eh Shinkou? But it exhausts energy...so how will you keep this up if we keep fighting?" spoke the crowd of various pitches and tones, and Masaru pointed Tasukeru at Emptybones right side, where a long laceration of his own had been carved: indeed, the wound appeared to have embers seeded within its bleeding container. The demented visage of Emptybones' face snickered at this gesture.

"Please Shinkou...you know such a wound won't have much effect on me."

Masaru held up his spare hand, currently closed and relaxed, then opened it with an elaborate wave of his fingers.

"Boom."

The jade irises of the Arrancar moved back to the wound just in time to witness the searing pillar of flame erupt from the junction at the shoulder. Emptybones' despicable outline was erased in the explosion of light and sound as a conflagration of golden red swallowed up the hybrid.

The Commander's haori, now fully alit at the corners, flapped like a white banister in the shockwave of the blast, but Masaru's body remained tense and ready to respond at a moment's notice. The rings of smoke were swept away by the winds of war on the horizon, illuminating the charred form of Emptybones, growling contemptuously in a choir of mumbles, snarls, and hisses.

"I'm surprised...that form is much more stable and powerful than the one you had when Yasuo and I took you down...so why are you having such a hard time bringing me down given the "weakness" you claim to see in me? Or are you being weakened too, Emptybones? Did Yasuo screw you over in Central? Did you choose to devour Saiyoisen because you wanted to, or because you needed to?"

A thunderous clap of air, and Masaru's right cheek split ever so slightly, blood beginning to seep down from the light cut. Emptybones' aura carried a belligerent wind that had sliced Masaru's skin with the killer intent behind its pressure.

The Commander General replied with the familiar smile of his, which galvanized the murderous spark in Emptybones' eyes.

"If we're both not at our full capacity, then it's reasonable to assume neither one of us holds an advantage in this fight, Shinkou. I thought you were wise at this game of hubris," spat the scores of voices, and Masaru closed his eyes as the smile widened.

"I forsook wisdom for modesty in the name of pissing off those I hate a long time ago."

The horrendous face of Emptybones snickered at this, but the Arrancar's eyes remained cold and spiteful. An analytical glance was cast towards the vines that were still digging deep into Sosogu's rotten flesh.

The boost from Genseikisei isn't too impressive...even though we are fairly even...the powers of this state can't be maximized after dueling with Yasuo in Central...and Masaru, despite being weaker than he should be, still began this fight with a full energy reservoir. I'll bring him down by depleting his endurance and deliver the coup de grace while he's fatigued. By getting him exhausted-

Your way takes too long. Let me do things my way this time.

A convulsion, several consecutive spasms, and Emptybones began to flail, his countless voices howling in anguish as the flesh mask that had melded to Sosogu's face began to ripple. Masaru instinctively stepped back, but then the experience took hold and the opportunity was revealed: this was his chance!

A shyunpo placed the Commander General over the staggering form of Emptybones, who was clutching Sosogu's skull with the enormous right arm as his choir cried out in wails. The wings extended to their full length, and the fire that engulfed the steel of Tasukeru tripled in size. The blade was swung with such force that a miniature typhoon of scorching heat burst from the impact zone...

...the impact zone being the radiantly glowing green palm of Emptybones.

The flame around Tasukeru died away instantaneously as the odd emerald pulse gained a new fervor, beating with the rhythm of an infant's heart.

The head that had been hung in the painful moaning now lifted itself up, and Masaru stared wide-eyed for the second time that day into the brown eyes of Hagane Sosogu, whose reminiscently handsome face had replaced the horrendous demon visage of Emptybones with ghost-like spontaneity.

"I put him away for a bit, Masaru-san...from this point on, I've got full responsibility for slitting that throat of yours, my friend."

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 5 -- Stagger Striven Sunrise

The voice was not a mixed fluctuation of many; there was no chorus of emotions...just Hagane Sosogu's conceited resonance.

Natural astonishment led to quite the opportunity, one that Sosogu took great advantage of: with Masaru still reeling in shock from his former comrade's reversed role as the controller rather than the controlled, he was quite easy to pierce with the sharpened ribcage that branched from the hybrid's split chest. If not for experience, the Commander General may not have managed to flash away in time, and would've simply have been skewered in the bone spikes.

Any fading bewilderment at the change in his antagonist was quickly resuscitated when Masaru looked up, expecting to see Sosogu's form shrinking as the distance between them expanded; instead, the insidious form of the porcupine-like tail encompassed his view, and an instinctual roll to the left allowed him to get away with nothing more than several scratches on his waist, though the haori was torn into rags so that now only the right sleeve kept the tattered remains from flying into the wind.

This speed was not something he was ready for, as evident by the fact that Masaru rolled straight into Sosogu's double blade. Genseikisei dug deep with a hiss, lancing straight through the Captain's left lung, less than an inch from his heart. Gasping audibly, his thoughts found focus on one objective: don't let him hurt you this badly without cutting the bastard just as bad.

Sosogu's features were brightened as six feathers of flame perforated in a gradual arc from the shoulder sprouting the sponging vines down to the ribcage that had cut Masaru earlier. The ivory was incinerated within the vaporous currents of heat that circulated around the feathers, and the plants were ignited in a slow, crackling hiss. Both combatants, the blood-stained, emerald glowing Captain and the kindled, burning Monster broke away from each other before their entanglement would end with even more dire consequences.

The Commander clutched at the gash through his torso, pulsing with the same green light from earlier. He didn't wheeze or cough, but even in the dim light that penetrated through the ash shrouded skies, his body clearly shook within the blemished haori, reduced to a few shreds of the formerly grandiose garment it had been. Sosogu, rather then wait to be prematurely cremated, wiped away the flames that licked at his torn flesh with a wave of the enormous right arm. The charred wounds began to shrink, until they had returned to their previous, uninjured state.

"The Recombinancy of Emptybones is infinitely valuable in such a spar...though it's rather detrimental to have him wielding this release. The poor Hollow has no experience with Bankai...his status as an Arrancar only kept him with his true form. Even melding that release with Genseikisei didn't give him the ability to completely control this enormous boost in power," the handsome visage soliloquized as he held the still humanoid hand up to examine it with interest, "it's quite convenient as he put it. I just-"

"What the hell are you doing ignoring me? I always knew you were egotistical, but this level of vanity is not something you ever showed you were capable of displaying."

The auburn irises fluttered to the hemorrhaging Masaru, who had just finished cauterizing the wound in his lung and was now poking Tasukeru's tip into various other lacerations.

"Yes, but that's the interesting thing Masaru...you were never aware of what I had the capacity to do, even from the beginning. A little blind pampering of that trump card of yours, a little angst ridden grief over that woman, and a little sightless ignorance in your devotion to a "friendship" with Yasuo. That kept you from realizing any real convictions towards my character...you even knew Cofresi better than I. That's most likely your greatest weakness, my friend...by choosing not to remain impartial to humanity, you threw yourself at risk for this. It's really quite nauseating...your naivetÁƒ ©. A repulsive philosophy...such trust in the hands of people you don't really know is a folly indeed!" he chuckled. Masaru gritted his teeth, partly from listening, and partly from the freezing wind that was biting into his wounds.

"That's a foolish misunderstanding Sosogu...this 'naivety' as you called it will always provide me with greater strength than you ever could delude yourself into believing was within your grasp. The only weakness is letting myself feel like there was some kind of failure in trusting someone who intended to betray me. If I never succumb to such an Achilles' heel, then being deceived and betrayed like this becomes my greatest strength," Masaru spoke, a hidden note of resolve beginning to make its way to the surface of his sonorous tone. Sosogu's eyebrows (merely disfigured flabs of skin) rose ever so slightly.

"Your nonsense, as in the days of old, eludes me. What foolish meaning do you wish for me to conceive? Betrayal is always a weakness...it corrodes the betrayed, weakens their sense of faith in others...leaves them with only remorse. If you do not feel that remorse, then what else is there to feel?"

A crack unlike any other, splitting the air with the vigor of a whiplash, reverberated for all of Seireitei to hear as Masaru shone with a prodigious light that illuminated the entirety of the Court for as far as the eye could see. The haori flashed for but a moment before searing heat incinerated it completely, so now only the customary Shinigami apparel remained. Tasukeru's steel, still wreathed in flame, began to hum as the fire from its blade enveloped the Commander General. The wings fanned out to their peak, their features becoming vague as the turbulent atmosphere around them became bent and blurred with the high temperature. Sosogu recoiled, using the tail to retract himself from the brilliant incandescence.

"Now that's the most brainless question of all. Why would I need to be feeling remorseful if I can feel infuriated instead?!" Masaru roared in reply, and Tasukeru's hum exponentially amplified in volume. Sosogu shielded his eyes with the husky claws from his right arm, curling up slightly in defense.

Channeling all that anger into spiritual pressure?! I know that sometimes rage can be advantageous in combat, but it's not supposed to actually increase a user's power! More than that...Tasukeru is changing again. Is he gathering energy for an attack? The thoughts were interrupted as the humming abruptly stopped. Sosogu peeked out enough to watch on as Masaru, still shrouded in radiance, held up Tasukeru so that the blade ran across the lower half of his countenance. The zanpakutou and his eyes, blazing with their own light, shone with more ardor than any other part of the conflagration he had lit.

"I hope you dreamed of this for a while, Sosogu...because surely you knew that those who obtain my fury have to bear punishment...punishment born of Tsubasakakou Tasukeru's true form."

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 6 -- Abaddon Approach, Moira Marked

"Tsubasakakou Tasukeru's true form? So...you're finally going to show me that Shinno Bankai you held as an ace in the hole for so long?"

Masaru didn't respond in the center of his enrage-spawned inferno: he simply lifted Tasukeru overhead so that the tip pointed to the heavens above, already beginning to paint a golden red palette across the pallid sky.

Oy, Tasukeru. Let's try and do this better than last time, eh?

A brief flash of memory took Masaru back to the 1st Division caverns, where Kimete had walked in moments before the Commander General's attempt to move into the higher release. That had ended catastrophically as his concentration was broken in the attempt to pull out of the liberation before frying his 5th Resistance Commander on the spot.

~~This is going to be very difficult though, Masaru. You haven't practiced this since long before when I unified into this single blade.~~

I'm a Shintsuuro. For having pissed me off this badly, I'll just have to deal with whatever fraction of the strength we can get.

~~But Masaru, the problem isn't the amount of power, it's the co-~~

Tasukeru, I can control myself fine. I'll be redirecting this anger into our fight, you see. So let's get started with this.

The wings flapped with inexpressibly destructive force, and in the aftermath of the awe inspiring gust that billowed through the area with a howling echo, they shattered into thousands of "feathers" : the shimmering blades of flame were momentarily illuminated against the sea of white-hot blaze that erupted from Masaru before all was alit with the light from a second sunrise. The blind effect began to dissipate to reveal, outlined in stark contrast to the ocean of fire that he had generated...

...Masaru with a sealed Tasukeru, and a dead stunned visage.

The eyes, devoid of their previous golden-red glow, focused on the unreleased zanpakutou, still pointing towards the firmament above.

****it! Why didn't it work?! I had all of the spiritual pressure necessary-

~~Obviously I'm not entirely sure Masaru, but this probably has to do with my current state. You were able to channel negative emotions like anger into strength before, when Kurokasai flowed rampart within your heart...but now that my releases are Hizashi dominated, as they were meant to be...~~

The Commander General's eyes narrowed in vexation, and he spat with a hint of viciousness and frustration to the side.

****...since Hizashi is an emotionally serene type of flame, anger would never allow me to wield it. So getting me ticked like this actually did help him out...that almost makes me more aggravated.

~~Well, now that you know what the reason is, don't be a dumbass and go make things worse like the days of old. Hurry up and calm down, then release me again.~~

The Shintsuuro was already beginning to recompose himself and gather the necessary energy when Sosogu's shadow enshrouded him. Masaru turned his head back just in time to watch as the monstrous body snatched him within the ivory prison of the ribcage, piercing him shut within its jaw-like confines. He didn't waste anytime: a quick movement of his hand, placing the index and middle fingers to the neck of the Arrancar despite having a cracked rib sticking completely through his wrist, and the Eishouhaki was released.

"Hadou 93, Karamaridaigya-."

"Apriete y aplaste, Carronashitai Genseikisei."

Before the Kidou name could escape Masaru's lips, the tail of Emptybones lashed around him, spiraling in a manner resembling an anaconda, although this particular serpent was ridden with thousands of ebony spikes that punctured through the Commander General to the sounds of his grunting in pain. The horrific main body loomed closer with its prey successfully ensnared at last, continuing to smile even as Masaru once again began to attempt a spell to escape.

"Don't bother this time Masaru. The poison that Emptybones produced for the ribs here are of a different potency than the ones that permeate the spikes of every other pore on this decaying flesh: he crafted the thick-pressure, paralyzing venom for these ribs and these ribs alone. You won't have the chance to release...you can't even move," Sosogu chuckled.

Masaru grimaced, quickly going through as many possibilities as he could in the short period of time he would be graced with as a result of Sosogu's smugness.

"Now that you're unable to blabber more of your hypocritical nonsense, I think I'll take only one moment to savor this...because I do know you Masaru, and I won't underestimate you: give you enough time, and you'll get out. So I bid you farewell, my foolish friend. May you be blessed with more wisdom in the next life. One..."

Tasukeru, even though that poison's paralyzing, I don't need to actually move in order to release...the Shikai bypass will be enough to get you liberated to the point where you can get rid of this problem. You ready?

"Two..."

~Of course I am, hurry up and do it before he stops toying around.~

"THREE!!"

~~NOW!!!~~

The emerald green of a glimmering Genseikisei, swept from its idle position with an executioner's enthusiasm, was stopped in its path to cleave Masaru's head asunder.

The dark blue of the released Tasukeru, having incinerated all of the tail that entwined around its master in a burst of midnight colored flames, was brought to a halt from delivering the fatal cut to Sosogu's skull.

The zanpakutou of the two warriors, locked in a clash of forces so opposite that they could only be described as night and day, were both blocked against the grey palms of two formidable fists that sucked all encompassing them into whirlpools of shadow.

Between Masaru and Sosogu stood Petycon, with Nesuai's limp form held aloft behind him by the extraordinarily strong whip-thread that had wrapped about her, leering with the audacity of a guaranteed victor.

Or the madness of a psychopath.

"Whoa now you two imbeciles...let's not drop the curtain before the climax of the play."

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 7 - Midnight

I don't really know why, but to be honest, I really do love to see that expression.

There's something about the emotion captured across the lips, jaw, eyes...whether it be disbelief or anguish. I know that when I arrive, I will be making it. Making it, making it. Making it so very hard. And for eons (because I've definitely been around for longer than you), I didn't really like coming. It wasn't so much that I felt guilty about making it so hard for everyone as it was that I felt I really shouldn't enjoy looking at that expression.

Then, one day (or week, or month, or year, or century...it's all the same to me), I thought up something that gave me comfort: it's not really my fault if things get too hard. Because you see, I'm not responsible for making it all so very difficult.

You are.

I understand it's a given that you and anybody else would feel that way just from my dropping in, but I really don't give a **** anymore. Because humans always have the capacity to be of the equal and opposite side of the scale for what they are capable of.

If you are something some poor fool claims to be less than human, you also have the choice of being something more than human.

If you are able to kill that fellow, you're able to save him as well.

And if you can cry and bitch every time I come by, then you can also accept that I win, and you lose. Maybe if you all would accept that, I would be deprived of that expression I adore. But you won't...because the other dumb thing about you is that you like moaning about me. Like shedding tears about me. Being made into the victim...it satisfies you on some level. I see it with everything else...people claiming they are unable to work at their jobs when it's so very obvious that if they are able to ask for money, they are also able to ask if someone would like fries with their meal. People demanding cash from others because they were too stupid to remember that things have results, results, results, not just **** causes, and that if they do something stupid, they will inevitably be dealt back something just as stupid. And people crying their eyes out whenever I show up, asking why, why, why? Why did I do it? Why did I do it?

Stop crying. Stop asking. It doesn't matter. What's important is I came, and I win, you lose. Deal with it. If you want to defeat me, then get over me. I after all, can only hurt those who fear me. Or like me. Or hate me.

Do you...fear me? Like me? Hate me? Want to be the guy who defeats me? Gets over me? Gets back up after I've gone ahead and pushed you on the ground?

If you do beat me, then I congratulate you. In the meantime, I have others to visit...I do, after all, love seeing that expression.

Really now, you all are so...
~~~
...Awful.
And have you seen how they run out of gas?
They beat the pain, they sing in the rain.
Endless and formless, they fly to the end,
And back to the beginning again
Have you put them aside?
Your crazy thoughts and dreams.
No, they're a part of me and they all mean one thing.
The Will to Death is what keeps me alive.
It's one step away,
Step away.
Limitations are set: only then can we go all the way,
All the way.
And have you seen how the cars, when they pass, they come your way, then they're speeding away.
Coming to you and then going away, but for them nothing changed.
Nothing changed.
~~~

Nothing changed.

If there was a reason why, it would most likely be because Masaru and Sosogu were too astonished at Petycon's arrival, though it'd be a fallacious statement if it were said that Masaru was more stunned over the Arrancar's appearance than whom he so carelessly had tied to his back.

"Nesuai," he breathed, his face pale to the point that the sweat drops glistened all the more noticeably in the soft light. Her form was wilted, devoid of vitality, and her hair weakly drifted from her hung head to cover the eyes that were doubtlessly closed in slumber.

Petycon merely spared a glance at the Commander General before turning to face Sosogu's once again collected disposition, his hand tightening around the green blade with an obvious trembling.

"Ahhhh...the poor pawn that Emptybones has been using. He even let you take control for a while, eh? In any case, I think it's time to bring out the current 'Lord of All Hollows'. So why don't you just be a good puppet, and vanish for a little-"

All three figures moved into action: Sosogu's ribcage abruptly shot out from the bodily container that it had resided within, still attached to the inner flesh by thick cords of tissue. Simultaneously, Masaru attempted to seize the opportunity presented and cut cleanly through the cord that imprisoned Nesuai. Instead, Petycon used the aggressive mandibles of bone as leverage to leap over and away from both, but not without locking a powerful grip on the ribs in question, so that he dragged the monstrous frame of Sosogu with him. The three split so that Sosogu and Petycon were locked together at a great distance from Masaru, who was quickly gathering the spiritual pressure he'd need to reactivate Bankai. Petycon leaned his visage so close that the ivory crescent encircling his eye threatened to cut into the forehead of his supposed leader.

"Come on now...why are you still out here? I told you I desired to speak with Emptybones, not you, Master Marionette."

Sosogu grinned with the same, calm self-assurance that he had displayed since entering the fight.

"You are rather interesting for a weakling, Petycon. Do you not see the situation? I am clearly the one in control right now. More so, you presume yourself worthy of speaking to me in such a manner? I'll have to teach you about the true nature of this connection Emptybones and I share...and in the process, instruct you on who exactly is the puppet here," he murmured with a ripple of bloodlust, but Petycon simply leered back.

"Instruct me who the puppet is? Why would I need to be told when I can clearly see the strings for myself?" the Arrancar replied, using his spare hand to point at the side of Sosogu's face. At the edge of his peripheral vision, Sosogu could see the freakish vein and nerve deformities that signified Emptybones' mask beginning to creep forth. His eyes dilated in alarm, the left iris beginning to glow with the familiar emerald light once again.

"What?! But how? This is my zanpakutou, my Bankai! How is he-"

Petycon interrupted with the sadistic sneer.

"What a fool! Truly a testament to the idiocy of Shinigami. You asked me if I presumed myself worthy of speaking to you? I ask you, do you presume yourself capable of dominating the Lord of All Hollows?! It doesn't matter if you wield the release more effectively than Emptybones...you thought you had snatched control back? He let you, just so that he could observe how to properly make use of that zanpakutou's ability. And now, he should have all the information he needs. Farewell, Master Marionette. I do hope Emptybones does not leave you in the drawers to rot for too long."

The shaken countenance of Sosogu was given one last moment to soak in these words before the atrocious body began to convulse, this time to the lamentations of the former Keigun Head. His shrieks gained in intensity as the sarcous undulations of Emptybones corpulent visor enshrouded Sosogu's face yet again, producing a horrific squishing sound to accompany the screaming. Then the howls ceased, and the jade glimmer of Emptybones' eyes shone forth with revitalized vivacity. They focused on the still sneering figure of Petycon.

"Petycon...I don't believe I asked you to interfere with Hagane Sosogu, or this fight. The order was only to bring the woman...so why are you acting like this?" observed the chorus of voices. Petycon's trembling grew more vivid at this declaration.

"I am sorry, my Lord Emptybones. You planned this moment for me since gracing me with your infinitesimal power. I can hardly stand how well the pieces fell together, even if he..." the eyes focused on the listening Masaru, who was beginning to radiate the golden red incandescence for a second time, "had interfered more directly than we would've wished." The Commander General grinned at the two with an amused disposition.

"As funny as it is to listen to you two confirm the size of the other's ego, I'm afraid I don't need to be gossiped about right in front of my face," he called. His auburn eyes, in contrast to the confidence his voice carried, furrowed in thought.

Petycon is playing along with this loyalty bull towards Emptybones, even though he told me he never intended to stay under the *******. Should I go ahead and let Emptybones know? In the confusion, things would be easier for me to snatch Nesuai back...but if I keep it under wraps, Petycon will be set to backstab Emptybones at any opportunity. That's a wonderful asset for me. If I time it correctly, I can bring him and Emptybones down...but it'll be even more of an advantage for me if Emptybones is aware of Petycon's betrayal with Petycon being unsure of it. I'll go ahead and attempt to let him know through talking.

The smile, still anxious at the corners over Nesuai's motionless form but ultimately keeping its positive nature, spread across his countenance.

"Anyway, I think all three of us are fine with no more conversation. Especially since our fight affects so many people...and Hollows," he responded, temporarily meeting the gaze of Emptybones before returning his attention to a quiet Petycon. The former stirred with an almost deliberate blatancy.

"Don't worry about the Hollows, Shinkou. I can assure you that a dominion with me at the head will benefit all of them," the chorus replied, and Masaru scoffed as Petycon's grimace grew.

"What? Of course I'm going to worry, with the civil strife that you Hollows always have. If the Hollows are sucked into a civil war, many souls will be lost as a result of them not being purified through a zanpakutou."

Emptybones face did not betray any confusion, but he didn't respond: his eyes simply shifted to the unmoving Petycon, then back to Masaru again. The three remained silent until the whirring roar of the whirlpools on Petycon's hands exponentially increased in volume.

"I'm going to tear him apart, Lord Emptybones. You can just sit back and watch from-"

"So tell me then about what you meant earlier: how did I directly interfere with your plans?" he asked to cut off Petycon, and before the Arrancar could recover from the disruption, the ocean of various voices drawled.

"Shinkou, surely you've realized why the girl was still alive when you came into Hueco Mundo, despite being imprisoned by us. Don't dismiss it as our simply not knowing who she was...I can assure you that if we hadn't, the girl would be very dead right now."

The Commander General's pastel expression, which had begun to be replaced with color, now returned to its insipid shade.

"Oh, it seems you didn't even spare it a second thought. Sosogu was right about your naivety, Shinkou. You were too busy celebrating to comprehend that we wanted her alive. That sightless ecstasy you attained upon 'rescuing' her from our prison blinded you to the obvious reality: we had always intended for Kyoumou Nesuai to be killed in front of your eyes. You taking her back only succeeded in forcing me to spare my strongest Arrancar to get the job done...but once we succeeded, and the girl was dead, I knew you would be broken beyond a shadow of a doubt," the voices chortled sadistically in an assortment of pitches. Masaru gritted his teeth as the aura of flame flared around him.

"Broken?! What an imbecilic plan, even for you! You kill Nesuai...and I will never rest until you are as dead as she."

The choir of ghostly phantoms broke into laughter, a disturbing sound that caused even Petycon to tense up in a defensive manner.

"I know that. I want you to get angry. I want you to be filled with fury. Because Shinkou, the greatest weakness of you is not your unwavering faith in those who don't deserve it, as Sosogu believed. It's the nature of that odd strength of yours. It builds up as a result of tranquil feelings, happiness and content with your world. I know that without this girl, you can never truly attain any of those things. I know that without this girl, your strength will be but a fraction of what it could ever truly be. And I know that without this girl, you can't beat me."

~Masaru, don't do-~

Tasukeru attempted to break in before his master would fall victim to his emotions, but to no avail.

Livid, Masaru began to rush into an onslaught towards the still chuckling Emptybones with frightening velocity, but the ominous silhouette of Petycon materialized in front of him. The fist clawed away at his chest, digging deep enough to spout miniature fountains of blood that were sucked into the vacuum of the whirlpool on Petycon's hands. The Shintsuuro recoiled to place space between him and the Arrancar.

"I don't think I ever expected to see you quite this berserk, Masaru. It's to be expected though...the girl was tortured countless times to give us the information we needed in order to get you exactly the way you are now. She really was a godsend," the Espada snickered, and the still limp figure of Nesuai was lifted close enough for Petycon to lick her cheek in thanks. He ran his blood stained claws through her hair, which bred scarlet streams that dabbed at the side of Nesuai's cheek like streaks of red paint. The action incensed Masaru even more, for he launched into a wild offensive. The sword strokes held little skill and much emotion behind each swing, and Petycon evaded them all while keeping the cataleptic figure of Nesuai out in front to act as a buffer, slowing the Commander's strikes severely. Though Masaru was swinging, he didn't really seem to be attacking: his eyes were hazed, and his movements were sluggish.

His mind was entrapped in the maelstrom of memory.

"Oh...figured you'd be here."

His first thought was that the forest had taken whatever idyllic fantasies ran through his mind and manifested an incarnation of celestial beauty for his entertainment, and she was beautiful. But his senses returned in recognition of Nesuai (why did he always wonder at her presence, as if he had never seen her before?) and his gaze once again fell on the clear brook that flowed inches from his bare feet.

"Sorry about that. I just couldn't stand to stay at the Headquarters anymore...I needed fresh air," he replied gingerly, running a hand through his short hair with brevity. She was at his side now, bent over so that she had pulled her knees to her chest and staring at him with a somewhat irritated expression. He arched an eyebrow hesitatingly.

"Something wrong?" he asked, and immediately regretted it, for her gaze narrowed to one of exasperated aggravation.

"Look. I know that you have a hard time swallowing this, but not everyone else's mistakes are your fault," she growled, and he smiled sadly at her.

"Even if that were true, I'm not entitled to believing that. Or letting myself believe it."

"Why not?"

"You're too persistent."

"You're too **** pessimistic."

They sat there quietly, the only sound being the sonorous flow of the creek breaking ever so gently against the numerous rocks that were scattered along its path.

"My sister got murdered a couple years after I came to Soul Society," Masaru said hollowly. Nesuai did not turn to him: she didn't want to move even a fraction of an inch if she had him talking at last.

"Oh? What happened?"

"She was killed in an attempt to break me. Traumatize me to the point that I wouldn't want to grow up to become a Shinigami. I remember it very well."

"Ahhh...so you think that's your fault, huh?"

"Actually, it was my fault, given that I was the one who killed her."

This time, the silence was complete. The brook no longer made any sound in its coursing downhill. The leaves failed to rustle despite the breeze that passed through. All had been hushed.

"You were forced to by somebody?"

"That's the question, isn't it? He threatened me to do it, but does that mean I was forced to? I've thought about that for so many decades...and I wonder if I should've just slit my throat instead of Konai's."

The silence was broken as Nesuai's hand smacked sharply against the 12th division member's cheek, sending him face first into the vividly green grass. He lifted himself up slowly, suffering from the disbelief at the sudden slap.

"What the hell was that-"

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't know you were hopeless too."

Masaru snarled as he stood back up and began to head away from the brook's edge.

"I don't need to listen to someone that isn't even respecting me, much less the nature of who I-"

The world flipped upside down, and Masaru's head went cleanly into the ground again as Nesuai wiped her hands with a flushed countenance.

"You're not going anywhere until you've listened to how you're being stupid. For one, you can't ever change the past. The people who attempt to hide, run away from, flee-"

"I'm not running away from the past, I'm-"

His retort was cut off as a rock rebounded off his forehead, causing him to flail in pain across the ground. Nesuai sighed with an air of satisfaction.

"That felt pretty good. Anyway, no...you're not running away from it, but you're certainly not standing up to it. You have to dominate the past, and not let it dominate you. Otherwise, you become a tool of the past, and never get to have your own dreams."

Rubbing his forehead tenderly, the Shintsuuro scoffed.

"Dreams. So you think I have a right to dream too?" he asked sorely, and Nesuai blinked. Her response, unlike before, was tentative and uncertain.

"...no. I don't think so. Or at least...that's not the same thing. I don't really know about that. I don't think that someone who is responsible for others is allowed to have dreams," she whispered. Masaru jeered at this with a malevolent grin.

"Oh? So the leaders of the Gotei don't have the right to dream, eh? That's very saddening...to never be happy," he trailed off.

"I didn't say that," she snapped back, "dreams and happiness are two different things. Everyone has the ability to be happy, even people who have some duty or responsibility to keep. They just have to make other people's happiness their own. But dreams are different. Dreams are something personal, something for just us. So those who need to be in charge of protecting others can't be thinking of their own dreams when they need to be aiding others in their own."

She started when a twig snapped: Masaru had stood back up, and he was looking at her in the manner that made her uncomfortable. It wasn't because his gaze carried any belligerence; quite the contrary. His eyes were gentle, tender at the center that held her reflection, but the outside rims were burning with a passion, an ardor that she could feel if she breathed. It was almost like an aura that he gave off, and the air seemed thick with it.

"That's interesting, I think. I'll remember it Nesuai. But I don't like that part about dreams. It's too...pessimistic," he finished, and her face scrunched up.

"But...you're pessimistic," she replied, and he laughed at this, startling her again with the unexpectedness of it.

"Yeah, I am, but..." his eyes focused on her, and she felt an odd flush, different from the one earlier, flowing into her cheeks, "...I think I'm getting a bit tired of pessimism. Especially if optimism can produce wonderful young ladies like you."

And with that, he headed back out through the brush, leaving a very flustered Nesuai alone at the brook side.

As each cut whipped through the air, thoughts of a much greater speed shot through his racing mind.

Nesuai...I've got to get you back. This isn't like last time...where all I wanted to do was save you so I wouldn't fail like I did before. I don't even care about whether I am a stronger warrior with you alive and well. I don't care at all about that!

Tasukeru's blade swept just short of Petycon's neck.

I've got to get you back because I love you. Not because you take care of my faults as an automatically faulted man, not because you always came and supported me those days at the brook side when I needed someone most.

A Byakurai shot in vain past the Arrancar's right cheek, splitting some of the hybrid's skin.

I love you for who you are as a person. Your personality, your strengths, your faults, just that heart of yours.

The golden red fist of Houyoku no Te no Hira bloomed in the direction of Petycon's chest.

Your values, your sense of responsibility, your resolve. And your wisdom. I had all these philosophies that I had came to believe were completely faultless...perfect in their application, and realistic in their standards. But you showed me that being pessimistic...

The sphere of pure Hizashi was swallowed away by the black holes churning above the hybrid's palms.

...even, even if it protected me from getting hurt by never letting me feel real pain...

A Teikoutoppa roared forth from the zanpaku.

...it also prevented me from becoming content by never letting me feel real happiness either.

Petycon sneered in triumph as he placed Nesuai between the zangeki and himself, and the Commander grimaced as he was forced to prematurely will the Teikoutoppa to explode. The dark blue crescent was exchanged with the golden red of Hizashi, which was devoured by the hungry vortexes of Sombra-Alabea.

You showed me that the bad experiences in life are not for focusing on, but for reminding us to appreciate the good ones.

Emerging through the cloud wreathed in smoke, the Arrancar slashed Masaru's right shoulder as the Shintsuuro attempted to retaliate with a swift kick to the hybrid's skull.

You showed me that I'm allowed to be content with myself. Even if...

The kick was negated with a block from the left hand, and the two broke apart. Petycon was standing next to Emptybones again, still sneering playfully at his antagonist, but Masaru's breaths were coming in quick, short-lived gasps as blood continued to run out of his wounds. Throughout the entire exchange, his eyes had never left Nesuai, who still drooped from her binding, and now the haze dissipated as clear resolution reflected from the irises.

...even if I don't really deserve it. Because...

"...I think my dream is to be content. And I need you in order to be truly satisfied, Nesuai," he concluded, the smile, weakened and diluted, but ultimately still there, spreading across his features. Petycon began to float forward, and it became at last apparent at how he was staying aloft: his feet were vague and formless due to their shifting back and forth between the shadows from the clouds above and the atmosphere itself. He was using Sombra-Alabea to literally walk on darkness.

"You dream, Shinkou Masaru? You lost the right to that when you became the Commander General, I think. Or at least, in this realm of light. The only manner in which someone could properly lead while ensuring their own visions comes to life is through a tyranny, like Lord Emptybones. You can only dream en la noche de eternidad," he finished maliciously.

"Maybe. It doesn't make a difference to me right now."

The Commander flashed directly towards Petycon, Tasukeru held behind the back of his skull in the obvious precursor to a straight cut downwards. The Espada chuckled at the starkness with which Masaru charged.

Oh my...so desperate, aren't you? If you are frantic enough to blindingly rush head on into me, I'll punish you by ending this fight right here.

The vortexes of shadow bellowed as Petycon launched unswervingly at Masaru, tearing in a rabid succession of brutal strikes designed to deliver a mortal blow if the Shintsuuro attempted to evade to the sides. The moment Masaru made the one hundred percent certain evasion to avoid the onslaught from the Arrancar, he would be running into steel that would rip apart the thread of life that bound him to this world.

This petty presumption was why Petycon was stunned when Masaru never wavered in his path to the hybrid's very exposed torso, cleaving the humming Tasukeru across the Shinigaminized Hollow's chest and the hole that had replaced his heart.

...what?! He...he never intended to dodge?! He really was just going to charge so stupidly like that?!

Petycon let out a cry of vexation when the realization struck home, and his outburst was quieted when Masaru tore through the cord of Sombra-Alabea and caught Nesuai's unmoving form within his arms.

He turned to watch on as the Commander General somersaulted in triumph with his most beloved cargo, landing on the ground far below with such force that the already destroyed tiling was hurled high above the moment his feet made contact, his knees screeching in agony as they braced against the impact.

The Shintsuuro didn't even feel it: his face spoke of only euphoria as he nuzzled his cheek to hers, caressing her gorgeous body with an adoring rubbing along her arms.

"Here...I got you now," he continued to whisper as he clenched her tightly to his heart, never intending to let go in this life or the next.

Still using his tail to keep him among the clouds, Emptybones' choir of voices growled in disapproval at the scene of victory, a bitter frown spread across his features.

"You lost the girl, even with her in your possession? This makes things difficult again Petycon...with her back, Shinkou will be revitalized. I'm disappointed in you, my number one Espada," scowled the chorus, and Petycon did not lift his head to acknowledge what his "master" had said, but simply kept it hung to where its features were darkened.

"...la beatitud mÁƒ¡s grande quebrantada por la desesperaciÁƒ ³n mÁƒ¡s grande..." were the words that Emptybones caught in reply, carried by the wind.

Back on the obliterated, white plaza floor, Masaru continued to press his head to hers.

"Ahhh...I got you back...I didn't fail this time. Emptybones and Petycon...they can't stop me from saving you," he said strongly, and paused, as if to await a reply from her. The break was short lived, however, for he quickly resumed his monologue with an unnatural hastiness.

"All thanks to you...I'm able to fight those two. I needed you...you made me stand back up, when I was content to lay down forever."

His hands, tightly clasped around her silent form, sunk deeper into her soft skin so that the impressments stretched the areas of loose clothing around his fingers.

"And you know when you first started to do that? That day when you told me I had the right to be happy. Even after you found out what I had done to my sister..."

His voice wavered in its strength as he paused again, this interval being longer and more painful. The gap was broken, however, as he ploughed on, beginning to gain a hoarse rhapsody that contained compulsory enthusiasm.

"...even after you found out that I had been such a coward as to take my own sister, dear Konai's life, you told me I had the right to be happy! The stupidity...the naivety of it was heart-warming, but it was what I needed."

His hands, still pressing against her, began to shake with frailty.

"And then when you got taken from me, and told me to put others before myself, I did that. All this time while you were gone, I did that. I kept in mind what you told me about dreaming...but I dreamed anyway. I was always dreaming of having you back...of keeping you at my side..."

Far above, Petycon's lips curled in a smile as his cheeks scrunched in an effort to hold back his ecstasy.

"...maybe having a kid or two..."

Quiet in an excruciatingly agonizing silence. He spoke again, though his voice now shook with the same fragility as his hands.

"...growing old, even though we don't really grow old here in Soul Society...so just living old..."

His vision began to blur as all lines melted away at themselves, and the world peeled away into shapeless melancholy.

"...living old and together...the same way you wanted to live too..."

A flicker of dark blue flame from Tasukeru's idle form illuminated him and her momentarily as the first tear dripped from his wet chin to mingle with the drying red that still remained on her cheek.

"...because you wanted to live with me too..."

Petycon's eyes lit with a cruel jubilation as he lost his composure.

"...wasn't..."

"...because you loved me..."

"...wasn't...from..."

"...and I loved you..."

"...wasn't....from...beginning..."

"...and...dear God...Nesuai, I am so sorry..."

Petycon broke out into one wild, elated shriek.

"SHE WASN'T ALIVE FROM THE BEGINNING, SHINKOU MASARU!!"

Masaru let out a defeated sob of tribulation as he dropped Nesuai's lifeless body and crumpled over her corpse, weeping into the cold bosom of the woman he had failed to save, even after receiving his second chance.






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I'd appreciate it if people could PM me some feedback about this chappie. Thankies.

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 8 -- La MÁƒ¡scara de la ConflagraciÁƒ ³n Oscura

A requiem.

The Lord of all Hollows lowered the head of Sosogu ever so slightly.

A requiem.

The emerald eyes narrowed on the descending form of Petycon, who was gliding down to the Defeated, surely with the intention of feeding his ecstasy more anguish to rejoice over.

Petycon...that was very cruel. Far crueler than I had ever envisioned this moment...and oh, how I have envisioned it! But I have yet to decide if such a torturous strategy was beneficial to us or...

With a second breeze billowing through his red-stained hair, Emptybones' tightened his grip on Genseikisei.

The rapping of claws against the cracked tiling interrupted the weeping of the Defeated, as Petycon touched down, still beaming with elation.

"Yes! That's right! You have no idea how difficult it was for me to put up that act, but I knew it'd be worth it in the end. Just to hear the man who was so confident in his idiotic delusions be shattered like fragile glass...the sound of your crying is really so satisfying, Masaru. But the best part is that now I can take my time enjoying this."

The Defeated remained silent, still pressing his head to the serene and peaceful appearing Nesuai, whose long, dark hair shone with a glimmer that went beyond vitality.

"It was an interesting idea that didn't occur to me until after we had last clashed. Can you imagine having to wait so many days to see such a wonderful sight I knew was within my grasp?! The girl would be unconscious anyway...and Emptybones had simply wished to put you in an irrevocable depression. You don't have to worry...my sadism only goes so far: she did not suffer any pain. Just a minute or two of tight squeezing from Sombra-Alabea..." the chord flickered dangerously in the darkness, "and she was gone."

The Defeated still made no response, seemingly content with sitting in the growing pool of his own blood.

"I know that you have a hard time swallowing this, but not everyone else's mistakes are your fault."

The hand at his side remained limp, lying on top of her own.

"But really now, tell me: how are you? How are you after having those words you supposedly never go back on torn into shreds and scattered into the wind? Do you remember what you said that day we fought with the Vice Captain nearby? When I offered to not hurtle you into this perdition you lay so quietly in now?" the Arrancar asked, and the whirlpools of darkness began to twirl with the grandeur of finality.

"You're too **** pessimistic."

The hand at his side twitched ever so slightly.

"I still remember it very well...believe me, from the moment you said those words, I had wanted to shove them back down your throat: 'it is because I am a true leader of my men that I cannot accept your offer, because that would only be for the sake of my closest friends, and I have trust enough in them that I do not need to lower myself to making alliances with the Enemy.' What a joke!" Petycon spat, raising the claw overhead as he neared the unmoving Shintsuuro.

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't know you were hopeless too."

A quick intake of breath as the hand tightened into a fist.

"What, no philosophical bullshit to feed me? Not going to bother trying to paint some ridiculously optimistic mural of your failure? No longer dead set on proving that everything I stand for is morally wrong and that everything you stand for is morally right? Not intending to show me why you remain the stronger, better man even after I have destroyed the woman you treasured most without you being able to do a single thing about it? What happened, Shinkou Masaru? What happened to the "leader" in "leader of men" ? Where did the trust you held in your friends get you? What are you going to do now? Seek revenge? Keep fighting for the ideals I crushed? Or give up? The Commander General of the Gotei 13...giving up with his two greatest enemies here and with no one that must be protected? Giving up after sacrificing so many in the name of that dream of yours?" he concluded venomously, swinging the roaring Sombra-Alabea at Masaru's drooped head.

"But dreams are different. Dreams are something personal, something for just us. So those who need to be in charge of protecting others can't be thinking of their dreams when they need to be aiding others in their own."

The Defeated stood up.

The grip on Tasukeru was no longer loose: the blade sat in attention at his side.

An ominous chill rippled from him, causing Petycon to pause in his finishing assault to the Commander's head.

"Ah..." came the Defeated's voice to the shimmering of dark blue flame, "so she, like the others, died as a result of my dream. Dreaming...while being the Commander General."

The whirring of the black hole, momentarily quieted, now bellowed with more vigor.

"Si. Adios, mÁƒ¡s sabio de tontos...Commander General," hissed the Espada, and the killing blow was thrown.

The strike was negated when a conflagration of the dark flame, Kurokasai, exploded forth from the Defeated. Petycon was blown away by the tempestuous shockwave that knocked Emptybones from his comfortable vantage point and incinerated the crumbled tiling, leaving an enormous crater filled with nothing but a midnight embroidered fire. Nesuai's serene form was lifted skyward to where it would not be touched by any sword, and at the center of the storm, Shinkou Masaru slowly turned to face the subject of his maelstrom, his eyes radiating with a cold, cerulean light.

"So then...I'll dream no more."

Across his face, the obsidian-navy mask of a Hollow blazed from the edges of his personal holocaust. Even as the stunned Petycon and Emptybones watched on, he lifted his hand to clasp tightly into the mask that had seemingly transformed into a separate flare altogether.

"You spoke earlier of how you had spent days wishing to see me crumble. Well, I've spent centuries wishing to show Emptybones this face of mine. I'm afraid I'm not satisfied with just those expressions though...I long for a much greater retribution to be dealt upon both of you," he whispered. Despite the low volume, the two Arrancar heard the words very clearly.

What's the meaning of this?! First, Seiji reveals his Recombinancy, and now am I to believe that Shinkou is a Vizard?! reflected Emptybones.

"Being a Vizard would require that I have some kind of Hollow in me...I'm no Vizard: I'm a Shintsuuro," bellowed Masaru, and Emptybones recoiled in bewilderment: had the Captain of the 1st read his thoughts? The Lord of all Hollows felt a shiver run down his long spine as the mask of jet black flame twisted up in a delighted grin, quite a contrast to the normal smile he had become accustomed to seeing on the Commander's visage.

"No, Emptybones...it's just very easy to read the thoughts of someone who's terrified," he hissed, and Emptybones shrunk back on instinct, feeling true fear for the first time in several centuries. Petycon, livid with panic, hurled the same spherical orbs of dark matter that he had shot at Nesuai less than an hour before.

Masaru continued to leer as the two projectiles approached, and from the deepest chord down his throat, an ominous hum began, carrying the melody of an ancient song.

"...again...such...welcome.."

Tasukeru howled a wail of melancholy as Teikoutoppa swallowed up the twin spheres of shadow and incinerated them...without a transformation into the golden red flare. Instead of exploding from the dark blue disposition, the crescent zangeki simply kept plowing straight towards the grounded Espada. The Arrancar rolled out of the way and into...the Commander General, enveloped in heart-aching flame of grievance.

"Falling again is such a welcome end," he hummed.

"Stop spouting bull-" began Petycon with a defensive snarl as he flashed inward to heave a punch crackling with spiritual pressure straight into the mask's forehead. The two froze upon contact, mostly because the Espada couldn't believe he actually hit the Commander General so easily. And then an icy whisper floated from behind the undamaged mask of dark fire, freezing Petycon's blood.

"Can the end of today be more than tonight?"

A cry of anguish escaped Petycon's lips as Tasukeru ripped open his chest amidst a sea of Kurokasai. He immediately Sonido'ed away, attempting to place as much space between him and the crazed Masaru as possible. The instant his claws came into contact with the surface of a newly formed precipice, his eyes widened as the Shintsuuro's voice drifted from right next to his ear.

"Echoes of these far reaching sights," he murmured as his frosted eyes locked with Petycon's bewildered stare.

With a furious blur of movement, the Commander's hand clasped itself tightly against Petycon throat and slammed the Arrancar's body against the white remains of the upturned court floor, sending long fissures throughout the already broken foundations.

"Stuck with the pain of knowing you should have tried," Masaru began with his sinister grin, lifting Tasukeru overhead to deliver the coup de grace, "Give me your hands, give me your hands, and we'll never die."

The emerald steel of Genseikisei erupted from Masaru's chest as Emptybones plunged Sosogu's blade through his antagonist from behind.

"You were a bit too focused, Shinkou...even for you," the choir grumbled.

A wind of elegy swept through the silent land before Masaru shifted to face the owner of the blade that had skewered him, showering the temporarily dazed Petycon with his blood.

"I won't fall...not until I've extracted every ounce of penance for your atonement."

With dramatic finality, Tasukeru plunged completely through Emptybones' skull so that the zanpakutou's tainted tip glittered scarlet in the dead afternoon sun.

 

[Winduril]

Volume [Plot Missions] - El Hueso AmortajÁƒ ³ el Fuego
Chapter 9 -- Break Ten

A river of putrid black ooze escaped from beneath the broken skin on his forehead, dripping around the blade of Tasukeru and across the eyebrows of Sosogu, still arched high from the shock of having a slab of skewered meat across his sword turn around and stab him through the face as if the fact that his torso had been shredded to pieces didn't matter.

"That didn't hurt enough...it's too bad you lost that heart of yours long ago. Now, I won't ever be able to deal you back the pain you've given me. The only thing left to do..."

An icy light radiated from Tasukeru, and Emptybones flinched as the flesh around his wound began to bubble.

"...is to destroy you," Masaru finished. His left hand, bathing in his blood, clutched the mask of flame with a powerful snap, and the fire was crushed out of existence, broken into embers of cerulean that were lost in the wind. Simultaneously, he pushed his zanpakutou further through the Lord of Hollows' skull, beginning to carve Tasukeru down through the soft, interior flesh towards the hakusui and saketsu...

"Oh my...I was a bit surprised by that intensity, but now..."

The cord of Sombra-Alabea had entwined around Tasukeru, and pulled it hastily from Sosogu's cranium as Petycon clawed across Masaru's already disfigured back. A second attack (a jaw-rattling punch) hurled the Commander General's mangled body many meters away, where it lay motionless. The Shintsuuro's face, coincidently coming to a halt in a position that faced the two Arrancar, twitched ever so slightly as his eyes opened. The dark blue light no longer resided within them, and neither did the golden red flame: only a dead luminescence glowed from the faded irises.

"Ahh..." came the eerie choir of Emptybones, "well your timing was undeniably eloquent. I don't much care to have tested this Recombinancy against such a fatal blow in my current state. You did an excellent job for a pawn, Petycon."

The Espada did not turn to its master, but remain transfixed with the silent form of Masaru. After a moment, the cord flickered with catlike fluency.

"A pawn...who determined that? You?" he asked with a peculiar tone. The emerald eyes of Emptybones narrowed upon Petycon's still unturned form.

"Indeed I did. I make the choices from the moment I let you all bathe in my pressure. You were lucky...being the one I deemed worthy of Numero Uno," responded the chorus. An oddly delirious leer began to break out across the Espada's visage.

"Is it nice? Being able to control the destiny of so many?"

"Why? Do you want to know what it feels like yourself?"

"Of course not...but more seriously my Lord, he's still breathing. Do you not want the honor of finishing the man who hurled you down into the pits of Hell for so many years?"

The hulking mass of flesh lurched forward, and the enormous right arm cracked at his side. The tail moved with a single slither, and the abominable mass of scar tissue materialized above Masaru's paralyzed body.

"Are my bane? You look at this decrepit state you're in now. Fallen from the sky high aspirations you had so carelessly set your sights on...to this lowly trash. A tale worthy of being recorded in the annals of history so that others will not so foolishly squander their own lives in this pitiful manner you have. Farewell, Shinkou. I will pray to myself for you to have better luck and less stupidity in your next-"

A weak gasping emanated from the broken Masaru, and Emptybones hesitated when he realized that the Commander General was laughing at him. With his fading strength, he could no longer even lift his chin from the ground, but his left eye had snapped up to hold the gaze of Emptybones, and the Lord of All Hollows caught a glimmer of the golden red ardor that had temporarily evaporated.

"You're...you're n-no God, and you're...even l-less for claiming...to be. The proof...will b-be when you...fail yet a-again in a...accomplishing your ambitions...Emptybones," he responded.

The Hollow King merely blinked, and then sent the tip of Genseikisei towards Masaru's skull.

With a sickening squelch, Petycon's hand emerged from the already split chest of Sosogu, whirring the buzz saw screech of the black holes.

"Oh look at this...a miracle for Masaru. Though I hardly think God was involved...since I freely chose to do this," snarled the sneering Arrancar, who proceeded in sending his other fist for the back of Emptybones' exposed skull...and straight through an afterimage.

The ribcage clamped down on Petycon, the tail coiled around him, and the vines twisted to ensnare him.

"It's always an admirable deed to choose the hour of your own death, Petycon," bellowed Emptybones as the countless killing utensils converged on to a single point...a single point that no longer contained anything, much less Petycon.

The Arrancar's chuckle drifted from a several meters away.

"An admirable deed? I chose an eternity of this life over death long ago, Emptybones. You used to hush me at the whisper of a threat, but now I stand with the two strongest warriors in Soul Society before me and I laugh at how ridiculously feeble they are. Both of you! Warriors of legend! And I can scoff at you now," chortled Petycon. Emptybones slowly ascended again to the sky above, using his tail as his stairway to heaven.

"I had always perceived the ignorant scheme you have been toying with since I birthed you, but I admit I didn't believe your stupidity would win out in the end."

For the second time, Emptybones was laughed at, though this time touched a nerve since the perpetrator was a former subordinate.

"You're the one who's being stupid...even more shamefully as well, for tarnishing that mythic reputation you've upheld for so long. Do you not realize what I've been doing all of this ti-"

"Gathering the other nine Arrancar that I generated through a mixture of my Recombinancy and natural Hollow powers is hardly a trump card, Petycon. Don't throw up a fallacious air of surprise: you knew that I was well aware of your plot since the beginning. Even if all ten of the Espada were to engage me simultaneously, you would not be able to win. You recruited the worse half when you gathered those nine instead of my triumphs...the Espejismo Espada."

"Oh! Well, there does seem to be a little fact to the fiction then. But you surprise me with your blind eye to my movements...did you not notice the immense power drain your body had been experiencing these past weeks?"

Emptybones collected expression finally betrayed itself to a pale complexion. Petycon read the pallid visage with relish.

"Wonderful. So you were unaware of my Subidoverdad Espada sucking away all the energy you gave off. I must thank you however...for letting us," a pause as the air around him begun to tear apart into a various assortment of bars, revealing nine other figures cloaked in white, "wallow in your spiritual pressure for so long."

In a row with Petycon at its center, the Subidoverdad Espada stood facing Emptybones. Though all of them were very different in appearance, they all shared one single trait: they're eyes all focused with detest at the speechless Emptybones. Petycon took a foreboding step forward, cracking his claws with anticipation.

"It was a euphoria unlike any to swim in such a warm current...I regret that we must exit its soothing waters at this point, but we're taking some of it with us to remember you by, my Lord."

The sky screeched in agony as a thunderous spiritual pressure erupted from all of them, blowing Emptybones backwards and sending Masaru down to the center of a crater created by the repercussions of the massive energy. In unison, the nine other Espada unsheathed their zanpakutou and pointed the tips at their former master.

****! What an utter failure...Shunshin's unexpectedly strong battle with me, and now my own Hollow brethren have stopped me from delivering the final blow to my greatest enemy. I cannot win...my spiritual pressure has been drained to within a drop of its limit, and Shinkou is dead or dying. I will retreat to the main force...it'll be painful...but I'll have to remake an Arrancar force on par with these *******s!

Emptybones lifted Genseikisei above his head, and a roar resonated from the blade. The instant the sound wave swept into the sky, the long alabaster fingers of a score of Gillian ripped open a wide hole back into Hueco Mundo. All of the Menos unleashed rays of Negation, swallowing their King up within the unbreakable escape route to their realm. As Emptybones was lifted away, Petycon spat a blood tinged glob of saliva.

"Alright guys...he's gone. Everything went perfect. Masaru is dead, and if he's not, he'll be going for Emptybones first, who'll be doing the same."

The tallest of them, towering above all with a stocky body and a rather giraffe-like neck, piqued at this.

"Hmmm? So you never intended to kill them? Only to have them kill each other?" he asked, and Petycon nodded.

"We won't be able to take control over the Hollow Army if we just kill Emptybones here. It'll have to be done differently. Come on...let's head on back to Hueco Mundo."

The bars unrolled and the tear was complete. One by one, the Subidoverdad Espada stepped back through the maw and into the black chasm that awaited them. As the dimensions resealed, Petycon sent one last snicker back at the beaten Commander General.

"I'll see ya again...Masaru."

 

[Winduril]

Healing A Titan
6.6k​

Shinkou Masaru, 1st division
~Winduril

Sayuri Chikako, 3rd Division
~Fuzakeru

Shimizu Takuya, 3rd Division
~Jei

Nifuji Jinte, 3rd Division
~Kishyotai​

"All men have need of the Gods" ~Homer​

Crusty.

Very dry, which was why they were crusty.

An equally arid tongue parted the cracked lips, attempting to wet the eroded tissue with glistening saliva.

It was a bitter melancholy that even when the tide had swept him up into its dark waters of slumber, he had not found peace within the current of unconsciousness. The ignorant bliss that would be granted upon less agonized souls evaded his lamentations, leaving him merely to try and rekindle the flame himself when he so utterly needed another to help bolster his hands to the furnace. But now the broken shell that was his body was thrusting him back to a realm he had no desire to face again. The temporarily blinding rage that had coursed through his veins had subsided, leaving only what Sosogu had assured would be the derelict remnant in its wake: remorse.

The hand that rested idly on warm white shifted ever so slightly.

An odd thing: no matter how much he withdrew within himself, he could hear the words he had so hatefully spat to Petycon resonating within the confines of his mind: "So then...I'll dream no more."

The hand lifted up from the warm white to clasp against his forehead, snatching some gnarled, soaked hair within its grasp.

That was true. I don't have what was most important to me anymore. So it's time I stop acting like the star-gazer and more like the star-walker; time for me to act like the Commander General.

A sigh so pitiful, its sonorous hush should have only been accompanied by tears, escaped through the still crusty lips.

A plain ceiling welcomed him back, and he fixated his brown eyes on the infinitely stretching pallid roof to keep himself rooted to this world, to logic, to sense, to sanity.

"Odd...I expected...Captain Kanie would be here," he murmured far too low for anyone (if there was anyone, for his peripheral revealed none) to hear. A brief relapse of memory jolted the scene of his haori being hurled into the wind, and an almost humorous scoff sounded.

Figures...nobody could recognize me, eh? Not in this chaos...so I'm just in a regular room. Something about that is very comforting...

Sayuri tapped a pen against her lips as she hurried to the room she had just moments before been instructed to. So many patients in so many rooms; people trapped helplessly in the white walls.

Her right hand reached out to touch the cool walls as she silently strolled; her body being pushed against the confining boundary as shinigami rushed by frantically, beds rolling this way and that, and even the air quickened. Even that held the stench of blood in its grasp. It was a bitter, rusty smell that attacked her senses. How long would it take to get the odor out of their hallways?

Two shinigami trialed behind her as they accompanied her to the room. The brief details she had receive for this particular patient were short and serious but the simple words spoken to her couldn't begin to describe what she found lying in front of her.

"Oh! Oh my!" Sayuri accidentally let the words dive in the middle of her gasp; her hand that had just moments before dances upon her lips falling to the floor in her surprise.

She'd need help and a lot of it. There wasn't really much time for her to even write down diagnosis to send out to the two shinigami she had in mind. If only taichou, or even fuku taichou had been here things would have been so much easier!

She twirled around and stared at the two who had followed her and gave instructions to seek our Takuya and Nifuji; being rank and description of both of them. Understand the two left in a rush.

Sayuri then kneeled and grabbed her pen and a fresh piece of paper to insert in to her clipboard. She had recently found out the Third Division seemed to specialize in having clipboards. She approached the bed; frowning at the mass amount of blood covering the patient and the sheets. His body was so torn apart, so twisted she wondered how he had even come to this point still alive.

"Hello there," Sayuri said as she successfully fought the regain the trust from the patient she might has lost had he heard her shock. She wasn't sure if he even could hear or understand her. She had to see just to what level his coherency was. "I'm Sayuri Chikako and I'm going to be helping you today, okay?"

'He's not a child,' she scolded herself. Still it was easier to deal with things if you pampered the victim.

As she spoke she studied his body, concentrating on what seemed more apparent first then exploring more thoroughly afterwards.

- Long laceration on both sides - around ribs.
- His torso torn apart - left side
- Torso shredded completely
- Dislocated right shoulder
- Tiny, deep holes all through body
- Left lung brutally damaged
- Bones . . .​

Sayuri gulped as she reached out and touched his right leg; astonished when she found the bone was not only broken but crushed beneath his battered flesh. How did this Shinigami survive? She couldn't feel a lively reiatsu from him at all. It was truly a miracle. Whatever did this to him must have felt generous when he gave up, or lost interest.

-Bones crushed beneath skin

Situation - critical

- Sayuri Chikako ​

Standing against the lavish walls, he rested his eyes. He was at the busy entrance of the Third Division, the receptionist frantically directing the patients which flooded in countless hordes. He wanted to extend his hand around, as the injured Shinigami entered the building. There were many injuries and many people, some who entered bloodied, some clean, some on stretchers, crutches, carried, rolled in or even crawled in. Almost everyone who came in vanished, returning to the ashen world to help yet another injured soul.

The siege had completed not long ago, and Takuya had awoken entering this surreal illusion, this reality. He waited by the far wall, helping some patients and looking out for others. There was one particular case which had caught his attention. A Shinigami brought in by a stretcher, bloodied to the point of disbelief, for the injured patients wounds told stories of a valiant effort and struggle and also called out for help to be treated.

He had found himself following the stretcher of the Shinigami, walking down the hallways for the first time with an adrenaline rush in his mind, the activity around him acted as a stimulant. Stepping towards the door room he saw a familiar face and with a steady amount of energy he waved at Sayuri, who he hadn't seen for a few weeks.

"Hey... we should start, It's pretty chaotic out there. More healers will come when things settle." He neared the bed with his palm nearing one of the many lacerations on the chest.

"As a breath of air, as a ray of sun, as a beam of flame, and as a bit of earth... flow within this body to wash away all that may harm it...Chiyudo #2, Amatsubu."

...the Siege... Nifuji still hadn't gotten over it. The entire predicament. Everything was colliding in the world of Seireitei, the white wall of the city now slipping in to the crimson hues of red. Tears flooded the blood stains, attempting to dilute the blood flow.

It never worked.

Nothing ever washed away the blood.

Nothing ev-

"Jinte-san?" a strong voice. Low. Focused. Very focused. Whoever it was wanted the blood to go away. This person wanted the blood to leave. Nifuji turned to see himself looking into his own eyes.

Blink.

A different person.

Blink.

That different person.

"Yes?" Nifuji asked hoarsely.

"Sayuri-san needs you."

...neesan...

"For?"

"A man is in critical condition. Sir...it's..." the man paused, "...it's easily the worst injury so far."

...the worst injury...is in your own heart...

"Yes." Nifuji nodded

...it's in all our hearts...

"Take me."

...it's in all our eyes...


The brevity with which the healer acted caught Masaru off guard, prompting another intake of breath, though this was sharper and more alert. As the vitality embedded itself back into his previously torn flesh, he gently slid himself back so that he could better view the room. His eyes first fell on the woman who had arrived at his bedside immediately, and then darted to the one within the child's frame, and lastly back to his current resuscitator, whose irises reflected the dim glow of the Chiyudo.

Ahh...that one was the 3rd Division member accompanying us. He looks to be in fairly good condition...it's impressive that he's able to heal even after the battle up at the northwest.

His eyelids fluttered as he decided he would address Takuya first.

"You...you were with the 1st Division, right? How did the battle go? Are they all alive?" he croaked weakly.

Sayuri was grateful to see Nifuji and Takuya so quickly. She was even more impressed when Takuya jumped in to the middle of the healing process without any instruction.

An even more shocking revelation - the man had spoken to Takuya. At least he was coherent enough to ask question; however, since it was directed at someone other than her Sayuri kept quiet and turned to Nifuji.

"We need to clean his system out and rid any infection that could have gotten in and we need to start . . .putting him back together so to speak," she smiled weakly at her words. It was quite similar to putting him back together; their very own Humpty Dumpty. "I'm going to start taking away the pain and begin the healing process inside his body; adding on to what Takuya did, more or less."

"This should help the pain but be strong for it will hurt quite a bit going in," Sayuri said softly to the patient under her.

Trusting Nifuji to act quickly she did the same; placing both hands over the man's chest; one opened palm beneath the other. She concentrated her reiatsu and begun. "From the night sky, among the clouds of ice, release a single snowflake of timeless beauty." Commanded by her voice and her will her reiatsu flowed from underneath her palm and began to take shape. "Chiyudo #40, Hyoukai Seppen!"

The form finalized in to a snowflake and slowly drifted like a feather. Once hitting his body it seemed to turn to water and spread out along his flesh, or what was left of it; crawling in to the openings.

Who could you be?

His eyes flickered to the man's respectfully, his eyes a well of depth and vigor as he gazed into them, his hands still on the ribcage over the bloody wound. "I was, sir and we won the battle, and they're all alive, Amagawa, Arihito, we all made it. You should rest reassured, your not all that well yourself." He joked as the light blue glow of his hand vanished

Stepping back Takuya reached behind him, grabbing the hilt of his Zanpakutou and unsheathing it. Holding it, the blade stretched horizontally, running the entire length of the injured person. "Umi no naka ni tonde, ten to keganintachi o awasero. Routatsunami." He whispered, his blade vanishing into small droplets of water, swaying across and hanging over the patient's body the cold droplets hovered like a mist, over the bloody wounds, each droplet filled with energy ready to fall like a light rain.

"This should help him and us." The droplets glowed around the patient. And as the water fell, the reiatsu was absorbed into the patient's body.

"This ability amplifies Chiyudou spells, and also increases his rate of regeneration, each drop hangs above the wounds, or unwounded areas, each falling at their own rate to stabilize the overall energy flow and regenerative rates. They'll also supply energy to your spells increasing the kidou's effectiveness.

"From this body, neutralize any evil that may harm it, banish any pain it may feel and leave it free... Chiyudo #30, Chuuwa."

He crouched across holding his hand near an open wound, watching as the light of a droplet near his hand dimmed flooding into the patient's body and vanishing.

Nifuji strode into the room quickly. He had small strides. That had been made abundantly clear as he had failed to match the taller man's stride. Growling at this impertinence, Nifuji took quicker steps.

When he saw the man's body, there was little to surmise. The man had said 'worst injury in the Siege'...but he was wrong.

It was the worst desecration in the history of Shinigami.

"I won't waste time, Sayuri." Nifuji said hastily, "I'll attempt to stabilize him."

Taking a deep breath, Nifuji nodded to himself.

"Divining grace, Unicorn's horn. Grant me the eternal elixir of life and save me from all plagues. Chiyudo #60, Mend"

The circle shot out from under his feet, but he focused all of the spell's enormous energy load into only the man's body. Nifuji almost lost concentration as he did this, but kept his focus. A steamy hiss of air filled the room as the spell's effects took place, revitalizing Chiyudo energy seeping into the man's body.

"Neesa-...." Nifuji stopped himself, "Yuri-san...how may I help him?"

...how can I help any of them?

A frost that chilled him with a numbing temperament preceded two waves of revitalization that fed the fragile, trembling heart within with a feverous surge of energy. He admitted that the ice had been rather uncomfortable, but it wasn't much in comparison to the **** he had been picked up from earlier.

He shifted again as the wounds became less distinguished, the large tuff of damp hair curled at last high enough so that he could make full eye contact with his Saviors from Styx.

"Ahh...that feels much better. I thank all three of you..." he managed to whisper this time, and his hand, slowly regaining feeling, pressed tenderly to the largest wound at his left side, which still shot thick bolts of torment through his entire body with every beat from the invigorated heart. A chalky film had formed over the raw scar tissue, and his eyebrows lowered.

Mmm...so that last attack delivered more poison from Genseikisei...Emptybones truly attempted to leave no possibility for survival. The odds are astounding that he would hit me with the venom that paralyzes spiritual pressure flow and not the toxin that kills. I truly did get lucky...although these three won't be able to eradicate it. I'll do it myself when I can move again.

Sayuri had never seen Takuya's Shi Kai before. It was so much different from hers. If your zanpakutou was a direct reflection of yourself . . .what did that say about her? Even as he explained it to them she couldn't stop thinking if she were truly an odd kind of healer. Was this really her place?

Shaking those thoughts from her she smiled at Nifuji. "We need to stop the bleeding somehow. Its amazing he can even breathe, let alone mutter words when his lung is on the verge of collapsing. I'm sure you can figure out how to do that." He didn't even have to answer her. She knew she could count on him. He had given his all every time before now and this time would be no different.

The three of them truly were their own breed of warriors. How many times had they come together on this particular battlefield and taken on the impossible?

Pointing to the shinigami who had come back with Takuya Sayuri nodded them towards the man. "I need you to aspirate his lungs quickly before we find ourselves in an even worse predicament!" Her commands were acted quickly upon as they dropped gathering other tools for the three and went to work.

Sayuri herself began concentrating her reiatsu. His bones, his body, was crush. It wouldn't do much good saving him if he walked around with his chest flapping off the rest of his body.

"Don't thank us just yet but . . .its nice to hear appreciation," Sayuri replied in a comforting voice. How often did they receive such kind words? Not lately, that was for sure. "Hold tight."

As the shinigami she had instructed earlier readied herself to begin Sayuri held her hand up. Instructing a few others to help pushing his lower body toward his upper she began another incantation; chanting as his broken bones were forced together.

"Repair what has broken and heal what has been torn asunder. Restore to me man's ideal form. Chiyudo #45, Rethread." Instead of flowing out like the last time this particular enchantment shot out in form of strings and wrapped around broken bones and torn ligaments; coiling their magic around them and slowly began mending. With a firm grip on his body she waved her hands at the others to release the pressure on his body then the woman to begin aspirating his lungs.

The other three shinigami then went on fusing over gathering a new bed to place the man on, a fresh gown, and clean bandages.

Sayuri could slightly feel the effects of using such higher level Chiyudo spells but that didn't deter her. She had one more left up her sleeve that would hopefully, in combination with what the other two were doing, would reassure a quick, successful restoration.

Nifuji's mind was silent. Stop the bleeding? This man had nothing but bleeding, it seemed. His mind ran over the hundreds of possibilities. Bandiaidification... Appakuhoutai... his mind couldn't think of anything concrete. He was no experienced healer...he had no great ideas...

"Best to do things by the letter..." Nifuji whispered to himself, Best to not be unorthodox...or else you might...

"Stop the rivers of the soul and flesh to make way for life. Chiyudo #22, Flow Stop."

Nifuji paused. Of course he was doing this by the book. Why else. How...how could he explain it to...

"Pull together world beyond. Come forth into my hand. I call upon that which is outside of the boundries, to restore that within! Gather here to heal! Chiyudo #34 Ukiyo-Tama!"

How could he explain it to the family of this man?

The people who depended on him, all of those who cared for him.

Nifuji hadn't lost a patient yet. Then again, he had been involved with a handful of them.

But this man...

...who exuded strength like the blood...

...who spoke as he was shattered...

...why was Nifuji so devoted to him?

"Yuri-san." Nifuji almost whispered. His voice was barely lifted upon the wind, slipping into the ears of Gold. The quickly tarnishing silver eyes glimmered over the patient, shaking, "...what else can I do...for this man?"

...for this leader of men?

And the droplets fell one by one, some cuts beginning to regenerate already. He glided his hand over the chest brining his other hand to his chin wondering. "Aspirate." He paused as a light bulb flashed on in his mind, with a striding step he went out the door before returning with a green scroll, on the side marked with the words

Kidou Scroll: Hadou #41: Rapture

"This should work very well." He spoke softly " Pure sight to aid the curing hand. Chiyudo #10, Healing Sight." Activating healing sight he brought his hand above the patient's chest area muttering, Kouzoushugi. He unraveled the scroll beside the bed, his glowing hand gathering droplet particles from his shikai over the lungs area.

"Move back for a moment." He paused controlling his reiatsu as he activated the scroll "Violent winds draining life, bestow thine strength upon me. Allow me to strike down my enemy, to remove every trace of life from their form and scatter it among the winds. Hadou #55, Rapture!"

Soft winds began to flow around in an arch shape picking up speed steadily but at a controlled rate, the sound of air leaving his lungs as he brought his hand and water down into the patient's chest, the energy flowing in to ensure that the internal systems weren't damaged.

He paused rolling the used scroll and placing it aside. "I hope that worked..." He sighed as the light from his healing hand dimmed.

As soothing, voluptuous ripples of regenerative vivacity streamed through him, his thoughts drifted to the earlier declaration.

Acting like a Commander General? Ha! That's just as intangible as the dream of mine. I'll never be able to be the suitable leader I need to be for these guys. Not while I'm still this...this...

The brown eyes glimmered with a cerulean shade for the briefest of moments as they focused on the hand at his side.

...this hell-bent on bringing them down. It's too personal. I can't keep the interests and lives of everyone else in mind when all that I have on my mind is vengeance. It's just like Kimete and Emptybones said: I'm too focused. My zeal for the singular prevents me from protecting the multitude like I'm supposed to. I'll have to do this now, during the reconstruction process...that way, they'll be able to get used to not having me around sooner.

The heart steadied and strengthened in rhythm as the fleshy interior of his lung pressed with renewed fervor against the cardiac flower that appeared wilted with sorrow.

In a flurry of movement, Masaru sat up completely, holding one hand above his forehead to lift the ragged curl of hair enough for his eyes to see while the other was held up to indicate no more was required.

"Alright...I'm healed more than enough now. Thank you," he murmured weakly. His legs slowly slid off the edge of the mat, clumsily slapping against the tiling barefoot. He attempted to move his toes, but the paralysis was still in effect to some degree: he would have to vanquish the venom himself after all.

The eyes, slowly frosting over to the azure tint from earlier, narrowed on Takuya.

"You...perform this last task for me, will you? I require that sword there before I go," his pupils directed a path to the blade that had been placed at rest in the corner when he was brought in, "I would appreciate it very much if you could give it to me."

Sayuri was so proud of her fellow division members. Truly warriors together they confronted this war head on.

The man started to speak then.

More encouraging words of gratefulness, eh? Well, good. They surely deserved them. Although it was truly remarkable he was able to even talking after the fatigue he must be feeling. They had just pumped three different types of reiatsu in to him quite a few times. By all mean he should be knock out on his ***. Still he spoke an -

Sayuri's mind stopped racing as she computed what he was saying. Leave? She was floored. Had he just requested to leave the same freakin' day he got there? His torso was barely sewn together with her reiatsu! Where did this idiot think he was going?!

"No," Sayuri said flat out as he requested his zanpakutou. "I don't know who you are and I don't know who you think you are but you are not stepping one foot out of this room, do you hear me?" The emphasize her words she laid her hand on his battered chest and pushed down hard where a nasty cut was slowly restoring thanks to the combination of kidou the three had used on him.

Sayuri wasn't a mean person but she had a feeling if she didn't use force with this man he'd be up on his feet doing back flips out the door then dead on his behind in ten seconds. Good Lord, they hadn't even began to bandage him up! Did he plan on surviving with only the strings of spiritual pressure keeping him together? What was he going to do once that effect wore off?

Taking a deep breath she softly added. "If you can prove to me and my colleagues that you are well enough to leave on your own without severe repercussions after we are done then I'll allow you to leave but until then lay down and shut up."

"I'm sorry sir, but I have to agree." Nifuji didn't care that the man wanted out. He did, however, want to contrast Sayuri's swift yelling. Such as tarnished silver is there to make the incorruptible gold seem that more beautiful, Nifuji was there to establish Sayuri's rule even more so.

No matter how tarnished he would have to become.

"I will ask that you sit back down onto the bed, sir." Nifuji said gently, preparing himself for another Chiyudou, "Please, sir. You're wounded..."

Subconsciously, memories of Kanie healing him flooded his mind. What would have happened if he walked out? If he had just upped and left.

"...and you're not at full strength." Nifuji continued, "If you have goals, things you need to do, or people you need to protect...then if you leave, you could very well die. I may be but a child in your eyes, sir but..."

Nifuji locked eyes with the patient.

Who was...more than a patient.

Who seemed a God in the eyes of a child.

"...but what would children say if we had just let you leave while weak?"

Nodding to himself, his Chiyudou energy properly channeled, Nifuji took a deep breath.

"Incantation: Wrap this heart in the warmth of those who wish it to heal, and protect it against the cold who wish it to fail... Chiyudo #25, Bandaidification."

Nifuji paused as the Chiyudou worked its divine magic.

"...and how would I explain it to myself?"

"Blade"

His amber eyes met those the patient, his azure eyes which seemed to hold the benevolent ocean a depth of energy which compelled him to follow the words of power which floated into the air reaching his ears. Looking back he wondered curiously his eyes dashing across the visages of Sayuri, and Nifuji in a struggle of a decision.

He stood before the corner reaching down, taking grasp of the clothed sword. As he lifted it up he felt a peculiar reiatsu emitted, something he was familiar with. He turned his eyes over, striding back to the patients bed, the sword grasped in his hands still merely asking in curiosity before making his decision whether to give this sword to the patient or not.


"May I ask, Who are you?"

Having been shoved back into the bed and unable to put up any physical resistance given that the paralysis was still under effect, he was forced into a position of submission to the three healers.

He felt the most fragile of smiles fail miserably in its attempt to lift up the edges of his lips into a grin at their resolve: it was very ironic, and he felt all the more pitiable for being unable to spare the humor a single chuckle. Instead, he lowered his chin ever so slightly, and with the dead life beginning to make its circuit throughout his withered form, he managed to summon up the very deepest timbre of his rich voice.

It was but a fraction of its former grandeur, and if any that were familiar with its sonorous resonance had been present, they would've wept at how shallow this tone was in comparison, similar to treading only across the shores of a great lake that stretched beyond one's vision.

"That blade...it is an object to display pity towards: its master has done nothing but present it with calamity after calamity. If you hand it to me, I'll be able to start making up to it. But I can't do that until you give me the blade... Shimizu Takuya," he said, and the right hand outstretched, shaking but nevertheless leaning to grasp the zanpakutou within its feeble grip.

Sayuri watched as Takuya handled the sheathed blade carefully. Was he going to hand it over to the injured patient?

She wouldn't allow such a thing! He was injured! What use would a zanpakutou have to a man who just moments ago stared death in the eye and sneered at it? He was either brave or foolhardy and she wasn't sure which when he began to speak again. Let his voice touch her she frowned; deeply conflicted.

She could understand why he'd want his soul slayer to be beside him. It was a worthy cause, she supposed but she didn't feel comfortable handing it to him that particular moment. He might leave once it touched his palm and what true power would she have to make him stay? Threats only went so far without any true action behind them.

She had to think up a way to satisfy her will to restore him and let him have his comfort; prepared for any course he'd take.

A thought hit her then. She didn't have any more energy in her to cast any more powerful Chiyudo but she could do something to prepare them and whether it was done on false assumptions of his intentions it'd still benefit them.

She smiled more gently now as she took his hand delicately between her own. "Okay, let's make a compromise then. How about you relax for just a second and I promise we'll reunite you with your zanpakutou."

She didn't wait for him to answer as she hoped he'd follow her advice; trusting her. She concentrated her reiatsu, ready to use Chiyudo #25 but she molded it differently in her mind. She not only commanded it to wrap around his wounds and begin their tender restoration but she wanted to make sure he was protected if he did vanish on them. Also, if he stood and collapsed she could directly begin pumping him full of reiatsu. She'd act as a net to catch him if he tumbled in to darkness again. She'd use that same technique that Kanie had so lovingly shown her.

"Wrap this heart in the warmth of those who wish it to heal, and protect it against the cold who with it to fail. Chiyudo #25, Bandaidification." Spiritual bandages caressed his opened wounds as she flattened out the bandages and had them stretch around his injuries.

Taking a deep breath she turned her head and looked at Nifuji and Takuya; praying they wouldn't be hostile toward her actions.

...Oneesan... Nifuji thought, ...how can you just let him leave...how can you just let him bleed...how can you just...

Nifuji sighed. Sayuri had made her move. The man's speech was powerful, true. It was moving, like the voice that attempted to move heaven and earth. Nifuji saw it in the dark eyes, the attempt at a smile.

For his family, this man would move heaven and earth.

And he wouldn't stop until he had done so.

"Sir..." Nifuji stepped forward, standing before the man, "I shouldn't do this...but..."

He rummaged through his pockets, deliberately taking his time. He acted as if he couldn't find it, while his fingers caressed it every moment. He wasn't sure. He shouldn't be doing this...but...but he knew he had to. Or, he thought he had to. This man was pleading with them. His soft features and deep wounds shouted and begged and cried and pleaded. They grabbed hold of Nifuji's ankle, not letting go until Nifuji would grant the man passing.

Nifuji held out a silver cell phone.

Suddenly, remembering of items she wanted to forget, Kanie removed several small, silver phones from the bag she had brought with her and handed them to each figure. "I want you each to take these. Each phone is connected to every other... so you'll able to call all of us, or one of us at any time."

"My Captain...Meisekimu-taichou...gave this cell phone to me..." Nifuji smiled at the man, his extended hand shaking with an unseen sadness, a hidden despair.

"...this will allow you to contact healers. Please...take it. That way...if there's anything we can do for you..."

...for your family...

"...then we'll be able to do it."

...then we'll be able to see your family smile...

...instead of cry...

Still captivated by the charismatic manner of the patient, he extended out the blade wrapped in cloth placing it into the firm grasp of its owner. He stood wondering, still with his eyes transfixed onto to the owner of the Zanpakutou. As Takuya still held the Zanpakutou in his hands he chanted, "Give from the heart! Take my strength and heal! Put my heart in the charm! Interlace! Chiyudo #21" He poured his reiatsu into the blade, allowing it to glow through the cloth which covered it with a healing energy.

"A blade to cleanse the world and a blade to cleanse yourself." He nodded to the patient, awaiting for him to reveal his identity. "And your name..." His voice trailed off as he waited.

"Name?"

There were several seconds of silence, where Masaru simply held Tasukeru in hand, an oddly weary expression on his visage as the sheathed sword pulsated with the healing energies. His eyes scanned over the thick chords of spiritual pressure that had entwined around him for safety.

"Hmmm...name. And a cell phone." The eyes suddenly shimmered with the azure light, cold and dripping with a pained melancholy, as they lifted back up to the boy healer.

The hand on Tasukeru tightened as he unsheathed the blade in a movement of horrifying speed, holding the zanpakutou parallel to the ground. A dark blue flame began to ripple forth from the silver steel, encompassing his body in its grievous waves of misery. All of the remaining wounds along his body, even those being healed, were licked by the tongues of the fire and instantaneously healed to their normal condition...or so it seemed. Though the wounds were undeniably gone, the flesh looked decrepit...pale...fragile...decaying.

A finger, enveloped in the thick river of Kurokasai, pointed at Nifuji.

"Keep your cell phone. Kanie had you in mind when she gave it to you. I have no use for it," he murmured as he slid off the bed slowly and cautiously. He had turned his attention to the woman healer, and an amused countenance was displayed, almost as if he were daring her to try and shove him back down again.

"My dear young lady...as admirable as your resolve to heal is, I ask that you not waste anymore of your time on someone like me. I will be fine from this point on thanks to you."

A final glance in the direction of he who had brought Masaru his beloved blade.

"Shimizu Takuya. Report to the Vice Captain of the 1st, Amagawa Sougen, and inform him that you are to be inducted into the 1st Division immediately. The protocol states that I must be there, but..."

A conflicted pause.

"...you may wait if you wish, though I advise that should I not return within a week, you best let yourself become a member of the 1st Division. That is all."

With his spare hand, he rummaged a stray curl out of his eye, revealing that the sapphire glow had grown.

"Thank you. If I come back, you will receive a more useful form of appreciation from me. Goodbye."

A conflagration of teal embroidered black flame erupted from where stood, but the flames stopped short in their explosion, crashing against a barrier placed in front of the three healers and the rest of the room. When the smoldering remains cleared, the cinder-shaded space was revealed to no longer contain a trace of Masaru.

The change. Oh, the change that man had made. Was it the same person who embodied that broken body before? It couldn't be! He was near death when he was rolled in here!

When he had slide his body off the bed he rose above her. She was intimidated, that much was sure, but she felt a tiny bit of annoyance that he challenged her so. His words eased that over though. He was grateful, she could tell so she'd let the matter at hand ease in to its own death.

"You're welcome," she muttered; still surprised. Her voice was so small compared to his she wondered if he had even heard her whimper a response.

More words came though not addressed to her so she tuned them out as she studied his wounds as they patched themselves up better than she could have if she had even tried. Was such power even fathomable? Had she just moments ago pushed this man down and said such abrupt things to him?

It didn't matter. If he had come in displaying that sort of power she'd have still done it. . . .wouldn't she have?

He was gone then.

Sayuri held her gaze on the nothingness that stood before her before turning to Takuya and Nifuji and laughing like an idiot. "Eh, I said he could leave if he could prove he could stand and not fall over, aye?"

Silence.

Then another sheepish chuckle.

Nifuji blinked. Again, a slow blink. He had blinked like this one thousand times...but why did this one seem so special? Why did this....why did this blink seem so...so welcome?

So needed.

So wanted.

Nifuji held the cell phone tightly in his hand, as if he would lose it. As if Kanie's grace had been given so freely, and now he couldn't do anything with it. He had so wished to give the grace as it had been given, how he had wanted the man to smile and take the cell phone. How everything would have been better if the man would just let them help. Nifuji frowned, blinking. Sayuri's words attempted to break his silence, but he couldn't laugh. He couldn't bear to show mirth. The man's words had been strong but...

...that flame had been so sad.

That purple flame which had licked his skin, replacing it with such pale...fragile skin.

"Neesan..." Nifuji said softly, "...that man...wasn't laughing."

Nifuji's voice was almost a whimper

"...he wasn't laughing..." Nifuji repeated, "He's...he's leaving his famil-"

A thought.

The man's words.

1st Division?!

"...that man was..."


...then his family is...

"...Oneesan!" Nifuji screamed, his pubescent voice cracking, fading down to the whimper as he spoke, "Oneesan! He's...he's leaving us...his family...he's leaving his family here to cry!"

Nifuji leaned into Sayuri

"...he's leaving the Gotei..."

Nifuji fell apart, dropping the cell phone.

"...Shinkou Masaru is leaving the Gotei..."

Report to the first division. These words echoed through the walls of his mind, many reverberations off the confinement of his thoughts. Report to first division? He recalled what faint memory he had left of that day, the siege in which he had participated with, defending the North Western front with those warriors, true duelists. And here he was ordered to, Report to the First Division.

He stood with the abiding wind, which lingered slightly with the departure of the Commander General. Wondering as to why he was asked to Report to the First Division He was not an eminent person, nor did he fight like a duelist. He sighed, his mind cluttered with thoughts as he sought to free himself from the confinements of the room.

"Yeah... that was the Commander General."

 

[Winduril]

[1st & 11th] Wake Up

Commander General & Captain of the 1st - Shinkou Masaru
Captain of the 11th - Diega Torres​

Wake Up​

It was technically still nighttime. Poetically, it was the moment before the first streaks of the new day would tint the horizon. The air was very cool and the sand even cooler beneath the feet of the two Captains. Joaquin wore an emerald green shirt with a pair of khaki pants. His jet black hair was tied back with a green ribbon and his shoes were by the edge of the forest. Diega wore emerald green as well, a rich, silky green kimono with silvery bamboo stalks and delicate leaves embroidered into the fabric. The obsidian sash had been moved up higher to accommidate her growing bump. Her dark brown hair appeared black in the absence of light and was left long and loose so it swept the back of her thighs. Her feet were bare too, her sandals being left by the edge of the forest beside Joaquin's.

Diega leaned back against Joaquin's chest, a hand on his chest as he whispered into her ear. Occasionally, she'd laugh and chastise him in her native language, the melodic Taino speech. Smiling, she'd turn her head and whisper back in the same language. His hands caressed her pronounced belly and never left it.

It was one of those rare moments away from the Seireitei that they took to just enjoy the natural beauty of the world and perhaps, to remember the place Diega came from with it's similar beaches and forests perfumed with exotic blooms.

Just a step or two into memory...

The pale light raining from the stars above were Masaru's lantern, showering the forest before him with as much radiance as their unobstructed twinkling could muster. A violet tide was beginning to come in across the black horizon, pressing the darkness away as the night begun to recede.

His eyes, still glimmering with their soft shade of cerulean in honor of the melancholy coursing through his heart, watched on through the foliage as the celestial ocean transformed ever slowly, sighing as he did so.

It's rather heart-wrenching to believe I forgot about such beauty in this area. Oh well...if I survive after all of this, I'll have plenty of time to spend alone admiring them. Not that I want to survive.

He groaned with exasperation at the irritating pessimism, but he knew he wasn't capable of fighting this battle all over again: finding the good part of the destructive tragedies he had been forced to deal with for the second time was an impossibility, especially he no longer had any hope. There wasn't any slim slice of chance that could reverse all of his misfortunes...she was dead, and that was reality.

I'm tired of this. All that's keeping me bound here is the notion that I can ruin their dreams as they have ruined mine. The idea of duty is nonexistent here.

As he begun to restart his journey to the edge of Rukongai, a warm nostalgia tingled down his spine, and the former Commander General could almost smell Diega and Joaquin. He immediately rolled behind a nearby tree and held Tasukeru's quiet form at attention.

Eh?! What are they doing out here? I didn't tell anyone that I was leaving the Gotei...so they wouldn't be out on some kind of search for me would they?

The hand that had tightly clasped around the hilt of his zanpakutou relaxed.

I'll go check up on them before I go. There will be some awkward questions in regards to my not having my haori and the fact that this outfit is still rather blood-soaked, but it'll be fine. I do want to see them before heading into Hueco Mundo.

Masaru began his trek in the direction of their pressures, mingling together to form a scent unto itself that was both and neither at the same time. It refreshed him for some reason, and he instinctively attempted to crush down the comforting waves billowing through him, for his mind was currently sunk deep within the lake of grief, and he had no desire to pick himself up again, for he knew he would fail as always.

Diega's laughter echoed across the beach, soft, and without it's usual derisiveness. It was a light-hearted laugh she reserved for Joaquin's ears alone. Soft, gentle, and uncharacteristically serene. The purple that tinged the ebon of the sky permitted a ray or two to replace the moon's glow on her skin. Her tanned flesh now seemed to glow perpetually and her smile more frequent.

"Shh, now Diega," Joaquin chuckled," We must keep it down a bit."

"Who is to hear me," she chuckled in Spanish," but you?"

Joaquin smiled to her, one hand pressing against her belly a little. Beneath the folds of silk, he felt the tiniest kick of his unborn daughter. His smile grew wider and her drew his wife into a soft kiss. Despite the sadness and ruin around them, Joaquin had never been happier. He'd finally married the one woman he wanted and soon, he'd have a daughter. He knew that right now, he fared far better than most, especially than his dear friend who lost someone dear to him in the last raid. His eyes closed and he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead to Diega's shoulder. His heart bled for Masaru but he had not had the nerve to approach his grieving friend. Such an action he felt might be taken as boast of Joaquin's good fortune. Taking a breath, he kissed Diega's neck.

"We are not quite alone, my love," he whispered.

He'd felt Masaru's pressure and quieted his voice naturally. He did let one hand fall to Reina Jacinta's hilt just in case however. The waves nearby responded, crashing loudly on the shore. Joaquin had become a shred more protective lately of his pregnant wife so when the opportunity presented itself, he had no qualms about standing between her and danger. He knew Masaru was no threat usually... but lately, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

A drummer boy's rhythm emanated forth from the edge of the forest as Masaru appeared, marching in a most robust straightforwardness. His eyes were brown again, and he bore them the shadow of a smile.

"You two are out this far? I didn't expect anything of the sort. I would settle for the colloquial 'it's a small world after all', but I won't lie: it'd only make sense that you two would be the ones the come out this far and..."

He stopped abruptly in his stride, letting the curled bangs cover up his eyes as his gaze scanned across the sands, slowly beginning to glow collectively with the sunrise as the beach was kindled into a crimson flame.

"...ahhh. It makes even more sense now...I didn't realize what beach this was."

"I think it's significance makes the moments spent here much more beautiful," Diega replied.

She gave Joaquin a glance and he let her go reluctantly. Her hand gripped Joaquin's arm for balance as she bent at the waist and dipped her head to the Commander. Her hair almost brushed the sandas she straightened herself.

"Good morning, Shinkou-sama," Diega said in hesitant Japanese. Her speech in the language was improving though it still was tinged with her islander accent.

He held up a hand to stop her from proceeding.

"It's fine Diega. I only adapted Japanese customs after being in Soul Society for so long...when I was alive, I was American. Besides...puedo hablar en espanol tambien." The dark hair was tossed asunder as a sea breeze swept through, his attention focusing on Joaquin.

"You two look great. Ripe to begin the family. Though you shouldn't try and get too distracted...Seireitei needs both of ya. The Cofresis are most important to the foundation of reconstruction," he said quietly, nodding his head at Joaquin to indicate his usual greeting.

"Oh good. I swear, Japanese is nice to hear but try to speak it? Ugh! Especially with my accent," she said in Spanish.

Joaquin nodded his head to Masaru as Diega smiled warmly at Masaru.

"What brings you out this way?" Diega asked, hands laced atop her stomach.

"Just some reflection time. The wilderness is good for solidarity...people aren't really something I can deal with at the moment, I think," he replied while brushing off some sand that had accumulated against the dark black shoulder of his gi.

"Clarity of thought is enhanced by solitude," Joaquin said, tucking Diega's hair behind her ears," just as much as it is enhanced by time spent with those you love."

Joaquin could have slapped himself for the thoughtless remark. For once, his tact had slipped and he genuinely felt bad. Diega touched Joaquin's elbow and gave him a look.

"You know, I could use some fresh juice," she said," The kind that Jean mixes. He made a batch last night."

Joaquin frowned, catching her implication. He kissed her forehead and started towards his shoes.

Masaru remained silent for several moments, staring thoughtfully at the sun that was beginning to make its venture across the sky.

"That's odd, isn't it? Clarity from being in two completely opposite scenarios. I wonder if that means that clarity is easy to obtain, or if language is just too broken to properly describe a feeling," he remarked. The eyes, once again beginning to gain an azure tinge, fell on Tasukeru's hilt at his side.

"You know, by all accounts, I had a strange desire to give Tasukeru to you for a little while. Just while I go think over things. But it feels like...it feels like this sword's all I have anymore. And a man doesn't really like letting go of what he has. So I think I'll keep it."

Diega walked carefully over to Masaru as Joaquin slipped his feet into his shoes.

"What on Earth would I do with the strongest blade from the fire family of zanpaku? And for that matter, what would Joaquin do with a blade of fire when he wields the strongest of water?" she said," The point is that Tasukeru is uniquely yours just as Akukurochi is uniquely mine and Reina Jacinta is uniquely Joaquin. Each blade is a reflection of the wielder on some level. While flattering, I don't think that either one of us could wield Tasukeru with the same conviction you do."

Joaquin approached them, thankful for his fruit juice errand. Diega faced him as he hugged her and kissed her cheek. His hand pressed her stomach again and he headed towards the edge of the wood.

The former Commander General spared Joaquin a glance as he strolled away, and then returned his view so that he could look at Diega more directly. He was beginning to notice the oddly maternal glow she was radiating.

"No no, I didn't mean to use Tasukeru...I meant to keep for a while. Until I need 'em back. Of course..."

The hand patted the butt end of the handle with an odd affection.

"...I need him now, so I'll save you the trouble."

"Need them back?" she asked, drumming her fingers a little," That would mean that you intend to go somewhere. The fact that you intended to go somewhere is not nearly as disturbing as the fact that you even considered parting from your zanpaku. If you did, I would have had to cut off your arm to prove a point."

The wind picked up a little and Diega reached into her sleeves, retrieving some beautiful hair combs. Both were decorated with mother of pearl and abalone shell hibiscus flowers attached by silver wire to the black lacquered combs. She pulled her hair back and stuck the combs in on either side of her head.

"Really, you can be so foolish sometimes."

A hollow grin spread across his face at this last line.

"Oh yes. I already got my lesson covering that exact issue, though, so no need for reiteration. Let's just stop with the agreement that I don't have my priorities straight right now, and move on to how you and the baby are feeling," he responded with a low note of amusement.

"She's beating the hell out of me constantly," Diega said, looking down at her stomach. If he wanted to change the subject, that was fine by her. She didn't want to push the issue. "She's gonna be a hell of a fighter for sure."

Mmm...already knowing the gender, eh? It's true though...not only is the child a Shinketsu, but it possesses the hybrid blood as well.

He shifted slightly in the now golden sand, straining to find appropriate words.

"I'm glad though that I stumbled across you tw...er, three. Next time though, I'm expecting the guerrera pequena to be out here, ok?"

"Next time, eh?" she said," Masaru, you will be present for the birth of your goddaughter. That's an order for me that you will not refuse no matter what. It's only proper that you be one of those to welcome her into the world."

She winced as the baby kicked her hard, the silk of her robe shifting visibly. The hidden meaning of her words she hoped was not lost on Masaru.

"She's growing fast so I dare say she'd arrive here soon."

Her words struck a note within him that he had been attempting to crush away. Any will to live was excess baggage in regards to attaining a satisfactory vengeance on Emptybones and Petycon. He had attained a point where his personal philosophies were of no meaning: they didn't explain how he could be so powerful from all of the feelings and beliefs that gave him strength, and still be incapable of saving the person most precious to him. But now, Diega's pressing, even with the underlying meaning, were pressuring him back into the vigor of doing what he had worked so tirelessly to do centuries before: find an answer.

The answer.

"What, you're doubting that I'll be back to see such a thing? I'm not going to be gone for too long-"

-after all, it doesn't take too long to find something when you know where it's at.

Diega laughed calmly.

"Foolish, young man," she said," You know **** well I wasn't doubting that. There isn't a shadow of doubt to me concerning you and you know that. Now quit trying to turn the tables back onto me because it's completely about you."

She poked the top of her stomach.

"Settle down, you," she said sharply. Her gaze went back up to Masaru.

"You are so stupid. I can see the self-doubt just rolling off you in waves. And you think all you have left is revenge, don't you? Everything that you told me and taught me is completely worth abandoning? If you even begin to think that, I shall have to start slapping sense into you."

He looked at the same face he had moments before deemed brimming with maternity, and saw that it now displayed a disapproving scorn.

The hollow smirk spread across his visage again, this time with an included bitterness.

"Diega...do not presume that you know enough about me to come to a strong conclusion of how I'm feeling, what I'm doing, and how I intend to do it. There is a long history of conflict similar to yours that has shaped who I am today. You speak of the values and ideals I preached of before. Everything I have stated a person, a Shinigami should be...all of the advice and morals I tried to teach you...they were all merely the impression to me of what a truly good individual, one who does save others, must be. I am not that individual yet. I won't lie and suggest that I am going to keep trying to be, either. Because throwing up that faÁƒ §ade for you all accomplished everything except what I desired most. And Diega...I just can't believe that people have to choose between themselves or others; have to choose between giving everything they have for the sake of people or for the sake of their self. I don't want to believe that someone can't have both. It's just not in me. The only thing that was made clear to me was what Nesuai told me, and what Petycon confirmed: as long as I have responsibility for others in my hands, I can never accomplish my own dream. And right now...all I care to dream about is vanquishing those two to the pits of Hell before they ruin more lives than my own."

"Alright. I've got all the time in the world. Explain it to me so that I can understand since I don't seem to," she said.

The former Commander General narrowed his eyes at her.

"Being a Shintsuuro means my power comes from my emotions, not that I become a slave to them, Diega. I'm not falling into this kind of argument ran by heightened feelings and adolescent level judgment. You believed me in the past, haven't you? Take content with what I'm telling you now. Getting myself to stand back up again is something that I can't focus on right now. Trust me when I say it's not an issue right now. It's long been decided: I, the real me, the Shinkou Masaru at heart, am going to finish off those two myself," he responded.

"Getting yourself to stand back up isn't a priority? In that line of thought, how can you expect to defeat both of them when you are on your knees and without preparation? Or have you made provisions I don't know about?"

A loud crack split the air, bolding the sand around him with thick currents of pressure. The vague mask of flame had reappeared over half of his countenance, and from the half not covered, he looked at Diega with exasperation.

"I told you how a Shintsuuro's made, right? There is another step past the self-purification...even after we have obliterated the Hollow within, we still have to do one more thing before we can gain this level of strength. That step...it's my provision, my safeguard. It is the only reason that I will be able to win despite wielding Kurokasai rather than the flames of Hizashi."

"I won't have to cut you to learn it, will I? My fighting ability as gone down since my belly went out," she explained, her fingers tapping the top of her belly," And in my given state, I would be unable to cut you."

"Cut me?"

The pressure died away instantly, the strumming of a grievous lamentation dissipating into the air with the dismissal of the mask.

"No. But I can't tell you what it is. It's not that I don't want to...it's that if I tell you, I will most likely be ki..."

He stopped in the middle as a sharp slap of realization swept through: he had just taken a precaution to protect himself! After he had declared moments before that he couldn't dare put his own well-being in regard. The astonishment of this insight kept him from finishing his sentiments for several seconds.

"...I have to go now Diega. My thoughts are all over the place. I can't keep pretending like this. I have to go."

~Running away?~

He bit his lip at Tasukeru's timing.

Tasukeru, you know very well that this isn't running away. If I come to another impasse with my philosophies here, there won't be any progress, regardless of it being good progress or bad. I can't afford to get tied up here with her and Joaquin. It won't help any of us.

The pressure flared up once again, and he turned back in the direction of the forest, sparing her a last glance.

"If I come back...you'll know."

Then his decrepit form had vanished back to the wilderness, leaving a weak gust of indecisiveness in its wake.

"**** you to hell!" she screamed angrily," Must you always dump your responsibility on us!?"

Diega winced as Solana kicked her hard. She was furious and could feel her body clenching in anger. She put two fingers to her neck and felt her blood pressure. Far too high. Diega tried to ease her breathing and stumbled for her shoes. She managed to get them on somehow and looped one arm around her belly.

At least he didn't punch me like last time, she thought angrily.

As she made her way to the tree line to head back to the Seireitei, she felt her entire body shudder ominously.

Something's wrong! she thought, Something's not right!

Diega grabbed a tree to steady herself.

"**** you," she whispered.

"Must you always dump your responsibility on us!?"

The words, gliding along an ocean-scented zephyr, reached his ears as he blazed away. He found himself staring at the countless roots and grass blades that he sped over.

"That's right...because when I hold the responsibility, everything I hold responsibility for crumbles," he muttered aloud as he vanished to outer Rukongai.

 

[Winduril]

Volume 48 - Antinimus

Volume 48 -- Antinimus
Chapter 1 -- The Strongest 2 [Holy]​

Rest in peace.

Because I can't.

There was little room for his flight through the trees, dashing between hundreds of branches and limbs while enveloped in the noxious fumes of the dark flame, still licking hungrily at the rotting flesh that could no longer contain the melancholy that washed through his heart.

Tasukeru, dimmed to a grey temperance that bore thousands of miniscule blue cracks along the blade, had been silent except for his weak input during the confrontation with Diega earlier that morning. Masaru's cerulean eyes fell on the blade, acknowledging the inevitable fate that his zanpakutou was rushing towards.

You won't be around for much longer, and neither will I. The entirety of this power will be swept away, just because she died. It's depressing that I'm so fragile, but I won't have to be when everything ends. It's right ahead anyway...

His form came to a halt as he braked at the edge of a cliff, revealing a vast landscape of only trees and water for as far as the eye could see. Rivers carved through the lush green wilderness, flowing to the edge of the horizon to mingle with the still flame embroidered sky and complete the canvas of ruby and sapphire. Mountains loomed proudly into the heavens, dipping into the cool and now receding waters of the night with their summits. Masaru could not help but let his breath be taken...it was truly beautiful. The idyllic tranquility was something his heart longed for before entering Hueco Mundo to complete his only and last objective: the retribution through blood of Emptybones and Petycon. But at the tip of this destiny ridden precipice, he felt the sacrificial negligence of his life and the deeply-embedded seeds of animosity shaken for the first time since regaining consciousness in the 3rd Division. His resolve to massacre without regards to himself was cracked ever so slightly by this land, and his doubt was given a second blow when his eyes locked on the destination he had so determinedly dashed to....the place.

"Ahhh...Antinimus."

There it laid, for all to see, its golden walls basking in the sunlight that rained down from the still steadily rising celestial charioteer of heat. Stretched across an elevated rock plateau that ascended above a crystalline tinged river, the archaic ruins of an era passed quietly sat for the entire world to see. Even as he watched, the monument of forgotten times darkened as a cloud passed over its grand structure, and flashes of content memories threw a veil over his aqua-tinted eyes.

It looks almost exactly the same...

Kurokasai flared in the wake of his shyunpo to the lost grounds, his form rematerializing at the base of the main citadel. At the top of an eroded pole from the center pillar, a golden red banner, torn and faded, billowed gently along the warm zephyrs passing through. Although Masaru placed his hand against the ancient stone, his eyes never left the flag that was shredded and dull, yet continued to sail along the blue expanse above.

A murmur of anguish emanated from Tasukeru, which had been loose in his relaxed hand.

~We're...here? Why?~

Masaru lowered his eyes to the ground...even Tasukeru's voice was becoming feeble.

I didn't mean to come this way. I was just heading South so that we could enter Hueco Mundo more easily.

Even while drowning away in the confusion and grief that flooded his heart, he was immediately aware of how shallow this lie was.

Er...well, actually, I did want to see this place at least one more time before leaving, since it's looking probable that we won't see it again.

~Really?~

The tone of the question caught Masaru off guard...it was so ambiguous that he couldn't decide if it was rhetorical, sarcastic, or genuinely confused. He hesitated for a moment, trying to regain his trail of thought.

...yes. Why do you ask?

No response came, and Masaru sent a withering glance at the blade before returning his attention to the primeval buildings around him. Antinimus was still divided exactly as he recalled: the main citadel, supported by five columns of which the tallest was the Syora, towered above all of the surrounding structures. The Syora bolstered the very top of the fortress, and was the anchor from which the banner and its pole elongated into the heavens. On his left, a downward slope to the east was occupied by a domed barricade. The spherical roof had been lacquered with a truly mystical material, for it still captured the glistening daylight as well as it had thousands of years before. On his right, the bedrock jutted out sharply to the west, upon which strung the long rows of what appeared to be a derelict set of living quarters. The ruins were enormous, spanning well over a mile of terrain from the furthest corner of the dome to the tip of the last stone apartment. The whole of the colossal landmark, however, paled compared to that main citadel. Masaru marveled at the rows of seats that encompassed the central point from which the Syora sprung forth, forming a stadium that worshipped the core of the entire complex.

The Syora...it was unique from all of its brethren pillars in that it was not made of stone, but rather oak. This should've meant that it was long on its path to decay, but the bark remained, like the rest of Antinimus, exactly as it had been in Masaru's memories. Indeed, the wood seemed to radiate with an even greater luminescence than in the past. His hand, hanging at his side, slowly lifted to the column. His fingers were a fraction of an inch from pressing against its smooth surface before a jolt of powerful nostalgia made him freeze.

"Do you know what that is?"

He lifted his head from the warm stew, waving his hand across the torrents of steam that covered his face enough to peer out at the white enrobed figure. They were sitting a little ways from the column as per usual, cooking dinner for another night in the sanctuary they had both come to know as home.

"What, this pillar? I always wondered why it was made of wood while the others were all stone."

Gentle auburn eyes fell on him as he replied, and a warm smile spread across the elder man's features.

"It's called the 'Syora'. It was considered holy by the people who use to live here."

"Holy? You mean they thought that it was a God or something?"

"Not exactly. When they first came to live here, it was a legendary tree that cast a shadow of unreal proportions across the entire area, cooling the settlers from the suffocating heat that blazed here in the summer. Then, one day, a foolish young man felt the need to chop down the tree, and use the tons of lumber for his own devices. There was only one problem..."

A pause here, to keep the captivated Masaru at attention.

"...the tree wouldn't fall."

Before the young Masaru could cast doubt on this claim, the elder Shintsuuro drew his zanpakutou, cut cleanly through the central pillar, and resheathed the blade with one continuous movement. The pillar slid for moment as the entire structure groaned in agony, and then began to tilt on a crash course with the ground...and Masaru, torn between rolling out of the way and spilling his soup, or staying put and getting killed. He never had to make the decision, for the column righted itself back to the correct position with no damage having been done to the stone structure that relied on the wood for its foundation. He watched on, wide-eyed, as the streak of torn bark from the sword cut melted away to reveal an even brighter surface than before.

The white robed figure laughed at the youth's reaction, running a hand through his golden hair to twirl with the single streak of red that drifted lazily across the side of his head.

"You thought I was making that up! Well now you know it's all true..." he began, but then saw the astonishment still covering Masaru's features. He lifted up his bicep to his face, inspecting it from several angles.

"Well...it does look very beautiful, but really now kid, you don't need to ogle at it this much..." he started, but a scornful look from Masaru stopped him.

"I'm not looking at the tree to help you with that superiority complex, dumbass," he grumbled, "I'm looking at the tree because I have no idea how it did that."

The older man turned his eyes from the tightly built muscle and on to Masaru with a surprised countenance.

"Eh? I already told you how: it's holy," he replied, and Masaru was about to make a second inquisition concerning the validity of this statement in regards to the pillar when the elder Shintsuuro suddenly kneeled and pointed both arms to the roof in a body builder position, flexing tight enough to put considerable strain on his clothing.

"Everything about me is holy," he chuckled as he began to bend into another position. His rippling posture was thrown off when the bowl of still steaming stew hit him dead in the face. Masaru stomped down on the flailing form of his fellow Shintsuuro, who was whimpering in agony from the burning hot sludge spread across his visage.

"Ahhgggghhh! My nofe! My nofe! Got stew ennn my nofe-"

"Shut the hell up! I wasn't talking about you or your body, retard! The tree! The TREE!" he roared, and the thrashing elder beneath Masaru's foot quieted, lowering his hands from the scalded flesh to reveal his blinking gaze.

"Oh! Well, what the hell Masaru! You need to be more specific when you're talking about 'holy' things around me from now-"

A more vicious stomp than the last silenced him with a yelp, as Masaru felt hot exhaust exit from his nostrils like a bull.

"Ok...let's try this again," he whispered with obvious self-restraint as he kneeled over the twitching form of his white clothed companion, "how did the tree do that?"

The warm eyes reappeared as the man rolled over on to his back.

"The First Triad...they fought their last battle here," he said quietly, and Masaru felt the astonishment begin to set in again.

"What? Here...here in these ruins?" the future Commander General asked, and his friend pulled off a piece of raw fish that was still clinging to his cheek and tossed it away.

"Yeah. Light won. The thing was, he had to release an unfathomable amount of power in order to beat them. A power that just isn't supposed to exist in this realm. All three of them had to raise their strength to that degree in order to win. If Dark or Chaos had been the victor, I have no idea what would have happened, but they weren't. Light was...and because of the nature of Light's power as a Shintsuuro, the godly amount of energy he released was all beneficial towards life. Which meant that he was releasing an inconceivable amount of spiritual pressure that can bend the rules of this universe all on a single point. That point was..."

Masaru's eyes followed the gaze of his elder Shintsuuro's, and fell on the pillar: Syora.

"That pillar, which was originally a tree, was also originally a mere sapling: Syora had barely sprouted its first leaf when the climatic battle occurred over it. When the infant plant was washed over in the ocean of Hizashi, it changed. It took the flame of light deep within itself and became one with it. And now, Syora still stands here, and will continue to stand forever," he finished. Masaru turned to stare back down at his companion, and saw that the grin the future Commander General had come to admire was lighting his features.

"But...weren't...weren't you the First Light?" he asked, and he felt a shiver run down his spine as he asked, already guessing at the answer.

"That's right."

"So then...you..."

"Yeah...it was me."

If Masaru hadn't known any better, he would've thought that Syora itself had resonated the most elusive of hums at this. He fell on to the ground in a cross legged position, pondering over this revelation with earnest. The white haori of his friend fluttered gently as he stood back up, watching Masaru keenly. After a minute or two, the youth exhaled coolly.

"So they worshipped something that wasn't what they thought, eh? I wonder what they would say right now if they found out that Syora wasn't-"

"Wasn't...what? Holy?" the elder said with an obviously amused disposition. Masaru became cautious at this: the two often had philosophical clashes, and although the majority of the time, Masaru was the one who would come away with learning or gaining insight into the world, he still did not like being wrong if he could help it.

"...yeah," he said tentatively, and his friend turned to him in full, his eyes beginning to glow with a golden red ardor that always left Masaru awe-struck.

"Masaru, don't simply dismiss the idea that it's not holy. What constitutes something as being holy? Is it some kind of divine aspect? If so, what's divine? You have to understand that what could be very realistic and expected to someone can be a miracle for someone else."

"But wouldn't we all want to see from the perspective of the former? Don't we all inherently try to understand something until it's expected? If that's the case, then there is a very clear line that indicates people shouldn't go out on a limb and pray to something that could have a very easily explained reason."

Masaru was surprised when the elder Shintsuuro laughed at him openly following this statement. After howling uproariously for a moment, he finally regained enough composure to point at the vast expanse of land outside.

"What do you see?" he managed to sputter between chuckles, and Masaru narrowed his eyes in detest at the ridiculing before turning to face the wilderness. He skimmed the horizon for but a second before making his response.

"Obviously, I see the area of Rukongai surrounding us."

A sharp crack caused Masaru to convulse instinctually as he regained his balance and turned back to the man enrobed in white. The man's spiritual pressure had rippled out in an unexpected burst, causing the air to fluctuate from the heat around him.

"Oh...well, I see a beautiful landscape that captures the very essence of life. The clouds dot the sky with miraculous artistry, and every individual tree contributes to painting the portrait of the forest perfectly. Rivers cut around us and through the lush mountains with a speck of divinity. The sun warms us with a spirituality that goes beyond anything we can ever produce. Isn't that holy?" he asked, and Masaru bit his lip as the elder continued.

"It all has an explanation. It all has a reason. But it doesn't mean that it's any less of a miracle because you can slap words and definitions on to it, Masaru."

A silence that was only filled with another gust of the sun-warmed breezes.

The white haori billowed out dramatically as he turned to walk to Syora. Even as Masaru looked on, his companion ran his hand along the smooth surface of the pillar, admiring the polished surface of the healthy bark.

"Masaru...I'm going to believe in this pillar. Even though I know that it wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for me, I'm still going to believe it's something extraordinary. I want to believe it's extraordinary. Because all life is a miracle. Everything that lives is worth worshipping. Everything that lives is worth protecting. Everything that lives is worth dying for."

In an act of reverence that Masaru never saw before and would never see again, his friend bowed his head to the pillar, pressing his forehead against the bright column so that his hair drifted over him in utter submission of something he had made with his own hands.

After a moment of seeing the communion unfold, Masaru managed to find his voice again.

"My...my old Master...Kokeru...he use to say the master never bows to the student. If that's true, I can't imagine how difficult it was just now for the Strongest to bow to a piece of wood."

The hair swished gently as his left eye managed to peek out from behind the golden tufts and lock on to Masaru's.

"Bowing is easy. It's standing back up again that's difficult."

The former Commander General felt it welling up once more from within as Tasukeru dropped from his grasp and clanged hollowly against the cracked floor.

His hand, which had stopped from grazing across the smooth surface of holy trunk, now pressed up against the side as his other hand did the same, clasping tightly into the shining bark.

"Sh...Shougo..."

As his forehead pressed into the wood at the very same spot his mentor had so many years before, the first tears began to run forth from the blurred azure eyes.

"Shougo...I did it, like you."

His hair, matted and dark with sweat, uncoiled across his features as the ancient stone below was dabbed with a human borne shower.

"Shougo...I held all life to be something more...held it all to be a miracle, like you."

His fingers clamped tightly into the pillar as his forehead pushed with greater and greater intensity into Syora.

"Shougo...I made sure to bow my head to life, like you."

His brow slid down the pillar as he dropped to his knees, leaving a streak of dew and warm tears across the smooth surface that glimmered under the sun.

"Shougo...I just can't seem to stand myself back up again."

"Really now? That's not something I can stand to hear."

The sobs stopped.

Bewildered, Masaru rolled over to gaze at Shougo Tenchou, standing in a beam of sunlight that rained from the broken roof above and lit his features, engrossing him in a flame of white.

He was smiling.

"I've been looking for you all over, Masaru. Now that I found you, let's get started on your problem: standing up again."

 

[Winduril]

Volume 48 -- Antinimus
Chapter 2 -- Cauterize​

"...Shougo..."

Never had such a feeling of disbelief rocked the foundation of his world as it did now.

His hands lay motionless on the rock floor, and he found the back of his head was resting against the Syora, because he no longer had the strength to hold it up on his own.

Shougo's form shifted in the sunlight, and the movement snapped Masaru back to reality, guaranteeing that the figure cloaked in white fire was genuine: Shougo Tenchou was standing before him as if not a single day had passed in over one thousand years.

"Come now. No more of this lowly state you've placed yourself in. I can't bear to read emotions from those excruciatingly sad eyes of yours. This shell you've reduced to is heart-wrenching," he commanded, and Masaru felt the long dead feeling suddenly resurrect with a flare throughout every fiber of his body: admiration.

His idle hands twitched at the command as his chin tilted forward gently, taking the dark hair from the oaken pillar behind.

The elder Shintsuuro watched Masaru's gradual revival, and his auburn eyes slowly made way from his friend's stunned expression to the many wounds still being licked by miniscule tongues of Kurokasai, and finally fell on the faded steel of Tasukeru, cracked and fragmented to the point that it did not appear the blade could still be held together.

A hum emanated from Shougo's scabbard as Shinseikassou was drawn.

"Get up! If the weak incompetent who cringes here is not quickly replaced with the determined youth I remember, then I shall have no choice but to eradicate this despicable remnant of the only man whose resolve could ever surpass my own!"

Masaru's cerulean irises flickered to their former brown as they were met with the golden red gaze of Shougo's eyes.

His right hand sluggishly crept towards Tasukeru, running his fingers the length of the hilt before grasping it tightly.

"This...this is odd," he gasped as began to use the zanpaku as a crutch to lift up, "I...didn't think you'd...act like this...after meeting for the...first time in a...millennium."

"I didn't think you'd be this miserable mutt after a millennium either, but it shows what I know," Shougo replied promptly, and Masaru's shot a look of scorn at him.

"You don't even know what-"

The tip of Shinseikassou stopped precariously short of touching the Syora as it pierced through Masaru's heart and slid out from beneath his shoulder blade.

The former Commander General coughed violently, hacking up some blood to stain the white haori that wrapped around Shougo.

"I don't even know...what? What happened? It's obvious with that pitiable face that you're reaping the consequences of making such a naive Reisai!" Shougo whispered.

Starting from the ridge of the blade, an explosion of Hizashi ruptured from Shinseikassou, enveloping Masaru within its golden red waves. The flesh that had appeared decayed was resuscitated with a healthy glow, and the putrid flames of onyx from Kurokasai were swept away like a sand castle under a tidal wave.

The zanpaku was pulled from the younger man's chest, and the last bits of remaining fire patched the wound through his heart as he nearly slid back down to his knees. A new strength stopped him an inch from the floor, his eyes wide with the vitality that had reinvigorated his body.

~Ahh...much better.~

Masaru's eyes flicked to Tasukeru, which was shining with renewed incandescence, and it occurred to him what the zanpakutou had intended even before the small dialogue from earlier.

You...you knew he'd be here?

~Shinseikassou and I are connected through the bond you two share as Hizashi users. I could feel Shougo's blade resonating clearer with every step.~

Why didn't you just tell me?

~All you've done from the moment that you felt Saiyoisen's pressure be snuffed out is succumb further and further to Kurokasai. You're falling prey to what Shougo warned you about when you made your Reisai...it's time for you to wake up.~

He scoffed at this while sheathing the blade, returning his eyes to his elder Shintsuuro, who was watching him with an analytical expression. He walked in a full circle around Masaru and the Syora, holding a hand to his chin with a pondering countenance, and when he had completed the ring, he nodded sagely to himself.

"That's better. Looks like I'm just as **** good as I thought," he chuckled, flashing into a pose that strained away at the white haori and tightened the hakama.

"Never mind what I said earlier...you're acting just as normal as ever," Masaru said as he felt beads of sweat trail down his forehead. Shougo spun into a one armed hand stand, pointing the spare index finger towards his friend.

"Normal? There isn't anything normal about a God, Masaru," he said amusingly, and the former Commander General whipped Tasukeru, while still in its scabbard, out towards the exposed side of his fellow Shintsuuro.

The blunt blow cracked throughout the arcadia of Antinimus, reverberated with an awkward sound: the sound of wood splintering against stone.

The two remained frozen, and Masaru felt his eyebrows once again arching heavenward as he saw that Shougo had not even flinched under the attack, playful or not. Indeed, Shougo himself had craned his head as best he could to inspect the validity of the strike, and when he saw that it had genuinely landed, he flipped back up to a standing position with a grim expression.

"Another disappointment Masaru...I knew all of this **** melancholy you like so much was weakening you, but I didn't know it was to such a degree that I can't even feel your blows anymore," he murmured, "How distressing! That Master of yours could hit harder..."

A pale complexion washed over Masaru's features.

"Wh...what?! You met Koke-"

"I did, and that meeting makes this one all the more frustrating. I can hardly believe that you're really the man I knew," he continued, and the former Commander General gritted his teeth at this blatant insult, but more at the truth behind it: he was well aware of just how low he had fallen over the course of a year.

"Oh?" came Shougo, watching him with intent eyes, "so you are aware of it as well? And you let yourself sink this far down? Why?"

Masaru felt his head tip forward as he lowered his eyes to hide behind dark curls of hair.

"Shougo...someone I loved...I was given a second chance to protect her, and-"

A hand clenched tightly around the collar area of his gi, and hoisted him up so that his back slammed hard into the Syora. Gasping for breath and caught completely off guard, Masaru lifted his chin to stare back into the blazing eyes of Shougo, lit with golden red ardor that would've made lesser men break on the spot.

"I didn't ask you what happened. I don't even care! I asked you how you could let yourself sink so far down a lake of defeat when it was you who claimed that you will be made the stronger for falling, and getting back up again?! When it was you who claimed that the light will shine brighter when it breaks through the shadow?! I thought you were the one who told me that you'll become stronger through your losses, become a better man through your mistakes, become better at saving lives through your failures to protect them!!"

Heaving him away as if he were no more than a rag doll, Shougo tossed Masaru off to the side with disgust. The former Commander General hit the ground with a grunt, but the pain that had jolted through him was more the result of his mentor's words rather than the hard rock tiling he had landed on. Gingerly, he rolled back over, holding Shougo's revolted gaze with as much determination he could muster. Even as they peered into each other's souls, the last strings of blue dissipated within the brown irises of Masaru.

"You were right though, Shougo. You were right when you warned me that my Reisai was a one way path to destroying myself. I just didn't listen-"

"This isn't a matter of right or wrong. Everything I told you was intended to discourage you from completing that pact. I knew that making such a dangerous promise to yourself would be hard on you, and I didn't want you to go through all of this. But now, you have long since taken the responsibilities of others into your hands...Commander General and Captain of the 1st, Shinkou Masaru! It's time for you to take some responsibility for yourself, and start living up to the words you spoke to me with such powerful passion!" Shougo roared.

Tasukeru hissed slightly as a flicker of Kurokasai drifted from its tip to temporarily shadow Masaru's features with the ghostly outline of the Hollow's echo, and Shougo displayed authentic surprise for the first time in their meeting. After the phantom of a mask had dissipated, his eyes narrowed as the golden red flame intensified within their reflection.

"I see...I should've guessed...it's killing you now, isn't it?" he said quietly, and Masaru stood up with restraint.

"Yes, but you knew that when we Shintsuuro do not live up to our Reisai, it kills us. I broke my promise the moment that I lost the one most precious to me, and now, I can't even stand up again..." Masaru trailed off, his eyes staring hard at the yellow brown of the floor.

He wasn't aware that the room was beginning to be lit up until he noticed the shadows across his fingers had vanished.

Returning his attention to his mentor, he found Shougo was now enveloped within a pillar of his own: a pillar of the golden red flame Hizashi, bursting through the roof of Antinimus and scorching the sky. The spiritual pressure that poured from him shook the foundations of the entire chamber, and caused Masaru's heart to begin racing.

"I see. You 'can't' stand back up, eh? Or is it 'I won't stand back up'?"

"I can't."

"You were the one who said you always would be able to."

"Shougo, I'm not able to recover from this. I underestimated how powerful the bond between two people can be. Now, I'm paying for my shortcoming in sight."

"Have you forgotten everything?!!" Shougo cried in fury, and Shinseikassou flashed in a single pulse. A shockwave from the zanpaku crashed into Masaru, causing him to take a knee to hold himself from being blown away. His mentor, wreathed in flame, spat to the side, and Masaru watched on as the dribble of saliva was incinerated in the conflagration that he kindled.

"Here I come, Masaru. That determination of yours was built on poor foundations. The only way to fix this problem is to tear it down, and rebuild it again, brick by brick."