Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, but Saiu belongs to me.
Note: This story is a one-shot continuation of my Bleach fiction, Devil's Smile.
DEVIL'S WAKE
Part I
For three months, he had searched. Tonight, finally, he was drawing close.
Pale mist swirled about his ankles as he drifted through the familiar landscape of darkness. Tiny crystals of ice hung in the air, shimmering softly as they eddied in slow waves. The sky stretched on endlessly, black as obsidian. The surface upon which he stepped, beneath the cloaking fog, was a darkness equally as deep.
It did not rain in his inner world.
Saiu tread the unchanging terrain deep in his soul, searching, always searching. Even for one as long-lived as he, the soul was a mysterious place, and a thousand lifetimes were not enough to explore every corner of his personal landscape. He could only imagine the difficulties of inner communion for humans, who were forever changing and adapting. He, as unchanging as the stars, knew these internal paths well.
No, he corrected himself. He was not unchanging. Change had forced itself upon him. Which is why he searched.
There were no landmarks in his inner world, but he could feel the ethereal road beneath his feet. The dark kingdom of his soul spread around him, endless, flat black sky stretching toward the endless, mist-shrouded horizon. Every angle offered an identical view, and it seemed an absurd task to search for something out of place in this realm of nothingness. Yet, that exactly was his task. Somewhere in his soul was an unwelcome remnant, a poison in his system.
Somewhere in his spirit's landscape was a fragment of pure human soul.
After three months of searching, he was finally drawing close to the foreign intrusion. He could see it in the bright glitter of ice dust where the diffuse, sourceless light within his inner world brightened unnaturally. He could feel it in the slight warming of the chilled air whispering over his skin. He could taste it in the air, the potent, irresistible tang of a pure soul.
So close. Tonight, he would find it. Tonight, he would destroy it. Eagerness quickened his steps, and he glided swiftly through the thickening mist.
A shiver ran over his skin. He paused, rubbing his fingertips across one cheek, disturbed by the feathery kiss of a warm breeze. The fog swirled, churned, condensed. The ebony sky above disappeared as a wave of mist rolled over him, teasingly revealed again as the fog eddied. He stood in the midst of the rippling mist, nerves prickling and cold anger beginning to chill him. Something wasn't right. Something was—
He spun, teeth bared and eyes blazing red.
The figure, shrouded in mist as it approached him from behind, froze in place. For a moment, the intruder was no more than a faceless silhouette. Then the fog billowed, swirled, and thinned until the interloper was revealed.
Saiu's eyes widened, his snarl of rage forgotten. His lips parted, and for a moment, he could find no words.
"Ichigo?"
The mist rolled away, offering an unobstructed view of the intruder. Orange hair stood in a spiky mess, brown eyes dark in the gloom of their surroundings. His black Shinigami garb appeared grey against the darkness of the horizon, his Zanpakutō sheathed in white against his back. His eyes were wide and stunned as they ran hastily over Saiu and back to his face.
"Saiu?" The boy sounded equally confused as he took a step closer. "What are you doing here? Where are we?"
Saiu stared for several long heartbeats, conflicting emotions roiling through him until one came to dominate. As icy rage slid through his veins, he bared his fangs again.
"Get out," he hissed, viciousness roughing the silk of his voice. "You have no right. Get out."
Ichigo jerked to a stop in mid approach, eyes going even wider. A scowl pulled at his lips as trepidation flickered in his gaze. "Whoa, what? Calm down, Saiu. What's your problem?"
"Get out!"
"I don't even know how I got here to leave!" Ichigo snapped, temper flaring into an accusing glower. "I don't even know where 'here' is!"
Saiu took a step back, teeth grinding as he smoothed away his ire. That Ichigo would raid the privacy of his inner world, where already the fragment of his soul had done so much damage, infuriated Saiu. His inner world was his private domain, his sanctuary, his deepest and most intimate self. No other belonged in this place.
But Ichigo obviously hadn't intended an invasion. The boy couldn't tell a convincing lie if the world depended on it.
"You are in my inner world," Saiu told him grudgingly, resentment over the human's presence singing his blood. "I would bid you leave now if you can, before I lose all patience with your intrusion."
"Your inner world?" Ichigo sputtered, ignoring the threat entirely. "Yours? I was supposed to be going to my inner world."
Saiu's chin came up, red eyes narrowing. "Explain."
The boy folded his arms and glared, put off by Saiu's hostility. "I wanted to ask Zangetsu about something, so I went into that . . . trance or whatever, so I could talk to him in my inner world. Except instead of ending up in my world, I woke up here." He looked around, eyebrows pulling together. "This is your inner world? This . . . ?" His gaze took in the endless darkness, the empty nothingness, and he seemed lost for words.
"I am a demon, Ichigo," Saiu said dryly. "A fact which you frequently seem to ignore. Of course my inner world would be vastly different from yours."
"Right," he agreed distractedly. He stared up at the midnight sky for a moment, then down at the trailing mist coiling about his ankles. He kicked out one foot, trying to clear the white fog to see below it. "What kind of ground is this? It feels weird."
He managed to fan a hole in the mist just as Saiu replied, "It is not ground."
The boy stared at the glassy smooth, obsidian surface upon which he stood. He shifted his weight, and tiny ripples spread out from his feet. His eyes widened for just a moment as he realized he stood not on solid ground, but upon the surface of an endless black lake—and with a sudden flailing of limbs, he dropped beneath the surface, vanishing in a splash of black water.
Saiu sprang forward in the same instant, dropping to his knees on the liquid surface and plunging both arms into the arctic water. His grasping fingers found flesh and locked like manacles around Ichigo's wrist. He heaved the boy's struggling body out of the lake. Coughing and gasping, Ichigo grabbed onto Saiu with both arms, clinging desperately as his legs dragged in the water. Saiu, feet set solidly on the surface, growled angrily.
"Only if you expect to sink, will you," he snapped. "Stop thinking about it."
"That's kind of hard to do!" Ichigo shot back, hooking one arm around Saiu's neck. "Why the hell is your inner world a huge black ocean?"
Ignoring the question, Saiu leaned his head away from Ichigo's sopping hair. Icy water spread from the boy's clothes to his, chilling his skin. "Stupid human," he snarled. "Get off me. Either stand on your own or drown."
"That's a great attitude! It's your fault I'm here in the first place!"
"My fault? In what delusion can you assign blame for your intrusion to me?"
"My intrusion?" Ichigo growled. "I didn't do a damn thing differently than I normally do, so obviously this is something you did!" He jerked back from Saiu and glared furiously.
Saiu's eyes lit with glowing red power. His claws unsheathed as he flexed his fingers. "I did nothing. You invaded my inner world. Never have you shown me proper respect. Now you dare to violate my very self where you have no right trespassing. This I will—not—allow!"
Ichigo bared his teeth and stepped almost nose to nose with Saiu. "You're so damn arrogant, Saiu. What makes you think I even want to trespass in your inner world!"
Saiu loosed a vicious snarl warning the human out of his space. Ichigo snarled back and stepped even closer, until their clothing brushed together and only inches separated their faces.
"Insolent human!"
"Arrogant demon!"
"Get out of my inner world!"
"I've love to as soon as you tell me how!"
Saiu snarled again. Ichigo growled. A quiver ran through Saiu, bloodlust stirring, the instinct to crush and dominate building and building as this weak, puny human faced him, confronted him, defied him. Challenged him. No one challenged him. Not he, not the Prince of Hell. No one dared to challenge him.
Instinct rose up in him, glazing his eyes as reiatsu spilled out from him with his waking power.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Ichigo leaned back. Abruptly, the anger dropped from his face. His eyes lit with sudden humour, and he threw back his head as he laughed.
"Damn, Saiu," he chuckled. "I've missed you, you know that?"
In the midst of his spiral into mindless, instinctual rage, Saiu froze. His eyes narrowed, breath hissing through his clenched teeth.
"We haven't seen each other for three months, and we start fighting before we even say hello," Ichigo went on with a rueful smile. He lifted his shoulders in a shrug, stepping back from Saiu in the same motion. "Typical for us, huh?"
He observed Ichigo's retreat, the way his body angled slightly the side, the way his gaze lowered out of that aggressive eye contact. He observed the body language that denoted surrender, and something in him relaxed. The driving instincts quieted, the rage sliding away. He rolled his shoulders, casting off the tension that had rode him hard until that very moment. Trust Ichigo to spur him into an uncharacteristic rage within minutes of their reunion.
They eyed one another, two long steps between them. Saiu's gaze flicked down to Ichigo's feet and back up, and he decided not to comment on Ichigo's renewed ability to walk on water. The foolish boy would only sink again the moment he noticed. Likewise, they were both already dry. Expectation and reality were close kin in his inner world.
The silence between them thickened, terse like bated breath, waiting for . . . something.
Finally, Ichigo spoke. "Since you left," he began hesitantly, "have you . . . been okay?"
Saiu watched the boy expressionlessly, analyzing the awkward twist of his lips and the tension in his shoulders.
"I have been well," he replied after a long pause. "You?"
Ichigo relaxed. "Yeah, I've been good. All that demony stuff in my head went away pretty fast." His gaze slid down Saiu and back up again, taking in the dark layers of formal kimono, trimmed in silver and green. "You're looking very . . . princely, by the way."
Saiu blinked, unsure how to respond to the compliment—if it was a compliment. He decided it was easiest to just ignore it.
"Like myself," he began carefully, "I would assume you don't desire a relapse into our previous . . . difficulties . . . with side effects from the possession. Therefore, I do not think contact with one another is wise, or the contamination will begin to spread again."
"Right," Ichigo agreed quickly. Something flickered in his eyes, gone before Saiu could recognize the flash of strong emotion. "So how do I leave, so I can get out of your hair?"
"You cannot leave as you normally would your own inner world?"
Ichigo looked around and shrugged. "Don't think so. Your world feels totally different. I already tried willing myself out before you came along and found me."
Saiu made a soft noise of irritation. "I will have to take us both out," he murmured, mostly to himself. His gaze swept the distant horizon. He was so close to the fragment of human soul lodged in his demonic soul. He could still feel it, so very near. Every journey through one's inner world was slightly different, and he couldn't be sure how long it would take him to find this particular spot again if he left.
No, he would complete his search. Ichigo's presence in his inner world didn't affect him as strongly as in the physical world. He could feel the slow trickle of human emotion into his system, but he was resisting it well enough. A few minutes more would make little difference.
"I would not abandon my trek quite yet. Wait here, and I will return for you shortly."
"No way," Ichigo said instantly. "I'm not letting you go anywhere without me. What if you can't find me again? I do not want to end up stuck here." He looked around the barren landscape and shuddered. "Can't we just leave now?"
"Not yet." Saiu frowned darkly. "Come if you must then, but do not interfere. This is my inner world, and I may do as I wish here."
"What makes you think I would interfere?" Ichigo asked curiously, falling into step beside him.
Saiu didn't respond, focusing instead on pinpointing the human soul within him. If Ichigo knew what Saiu intended, he would mostly likely protest. After all, it was a fragment of Ichigo's soul that Saiu intended to destroy.
They moved in perfect synchronicity, their strides matching flawlessly. All over again, after three months of dimmed memory, Saiu was startled by the seamlessness of their partnership. Ichigo moved at his side like there he had always belonged, his presence natural, comforting, essential. They didn't speak; words seemed so unnecessary. An intangible current flowed between them, a bond Saiu could neither identify nor understand even now.
Ichigo's nearness pleased him—and Saiu realized the human emotions were seeping in faster than he'd thought. He would have to hurry.
As they moved though the gradually warming air and thickening mist, Saiu felt Ichigo's eyes on him, lingering over him whenever his own gaze was elsewhere. Where the resentful chill caused by Ichigo's unintentional violation coiled, heat began to stir. Now it was his eyes that stole to the side, drifting to Ichigo's face and down his body. The pure scent of his soul tugged at Saiu, awakening another kind of hunger. The two yearnings spiraled around one another, driving both higher. He slid his tongue over his fangs, his steps slowing as he considered other ways to utilize the short time he had with Ichigo. Since he was determined to keep his distance from the human boy, who knew when they might meet again? It seemed a waste to pass over such an opportunity.
He had almost decided to see if Ichigo had reconsidered where his interests lay since their last conversation on the topic when a sudden shift in the air caught his attention. His body went completely still, Ichigo mirroring him as he too felt the sudden press of unfamiliar power. Reiatsu thickened the air, unfamiliar and yet . . . and yet . . .
Pushing aside the strange sense of familiarity, he narrowed his eyes to observe the surrounding landscape. Triumphant elation surged up inside him. Yes!
Directly ahead, deep in the swirling white fog, something glowed. Something bright, white, pure, untouched by the darkness of this world. The fragment of soul. Eager impatience spurred him forward, and he flashed across the distance until he stood at the edge of the glowing mist, an area barely five strides across.
Ichigo flash-stepped to his side, eyebrows furrowed with confusion as he stared at the patch of light.
"What is that?" he asked.
Saiu made a slow, careful study of the area, senses probing for the source of the strange reiatsu. Unable to pick up anything specific, he set aside that mystery for later investigation.
With a slow breath, he stepped forward, cautious now. He minced through the mist until the brightest point of light hovered in front of him—yet he could see nothing but eddying mist. Frustrated, he cast his hand sideways, a silent command. Obeying his will, the mist parted, rolling away from the spot of light.
The fog drifted away to reveal beams of white light reaching up through the still surface of the lake. Lips parting in mild surprise, Saiu stepped closer and knelt, touching his fingertips to the water. The hidden fragment glowed, somewhere beneath the surface, somewhere in the bottomless, icy depths of his inner ocean.
As he stared at the glossy black water, elated by his discovery but troubled by the complications therein, he glimpsed a reflection in the glassy surface, a figure with bright orange hair slowly approaching directly ahead of him.
Annoyed that he had been so absorbed as to miss Ichigo moving out from behind him, Saiu looked up sharply—and sprang to his feet, his throat squeezing tight. He jerked backward and collided with Ichigo.
The owner of the reflection observed the human and demon with casual interest, his too-bright burgundy eyes drifting over them. His orange hair fell to his waist in shifting tendrils, silky and lightweight. As he lifted his chin and brushed his long bangs from his face, the exotic, elegant countenance was revealed, a chilling smile curving its lips.
It was a face Saiu had never seen before. A face he recognized on an instinctual level too deep for words. A face he recognized as easily as his own—and not because that face looked so much like him.
"Who—who is that?" Ichigo whispered, the hint of fear and horror in his voice suggesting he already knew.
"You do not exist," Saiu hissed at the impossible specter. "You no longer exist."
The intruder tilted his head slightly to one side, one eyebrow lifting. "Do I not?" he asked, his voice thrumming with demonic power that swirled around a light, human tone. "My presence here would suggest otherwise."
Saiu tried to take another step back and bumped into Ichigo again. Now he knew why the reaitsu he'd sensed seemed familiar. "Impossible," he ground out. "Impossible."
"Do not be so blind, Saiu," the orange-haired intruder said with cold amusement. "I know your egotism impairs your vision, but I can see with perfect clarity." A sharp smile crossed his lips. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to see as I see? It would be easy, I promise."
"Never," Saiu snapped tersely.
Behind him, Ichigo tensed. "It can't be," he breathed abruptly. "You're—you're Saichi."
The impossible creature spread his arms, inviting them to look at his lean, muscled body, clad only in black hakama. His long hair swirled about his waist, and he cocked his head to the other side, his gaze questioning, almost challenging. His eyes were too bright, burgundy lit by a hint of demonic glow. His face was finer and more exotic than Ichigo's, but falling short of the aristocratic beauty of Saiu's. Instead, a striking blend of the two.
"How can you be here?" Ichigo demanded. "When we separated, you were gone. You can't be here."
"Such denial," Saichi sighed. "You both created me. It is far easier to create than to undo. Did you really think I could be erased that easily? You both tried so hard to uncreate me, but you only succeeded in banishing me to the deepest, darkest corners of your souls."
Lips curling in a snarl, Saiu stepped away from Ichigo. "You should have continued to hide," he said softly, his voice dropping into a dangerous croon. "What is to stop me from destroying you now?"
"Do you think you can?" Saichi murmured. "I would be quite happy to destroy you instead, and claim this body and soul as my own." He was silent for a moment, his face expressionless. "I do not understand why you despise me so. I am stronger than either of you. Why don't you want to use my power?"
Saiu hesitated in the midst of summoning his Seikiteiruken.
"Survival is all I desire," the unnatural being went on. "I can accomplish that with or without you. You are a part of me, as I am a part of you now. I don't want to destroy you—but I will if you force me."
"You seem very confident you would defeat me," Saiu said, flexing his fingers against the urge to summon his weapon and strike that moment.
"Defeat us," Ichigo added abruptly. "Saiu isn't exactly alone right now."
Saichi's lips curved in a cool smile. He said nothing, letting his eyes speak for him. There was no concern or doubt reflected in his gaze. He was absolutely certain he could destroy Saiu and Ichigo both.
Saiu stepped back again, shifting until he was shoulder to shoulder with Ichigo. He glanced searchingly at the human. Ichigo looked back at him, indecision etched in his face. He didn't know what to do either.
Rash actions were never wise. Saiu needed time to think, to consider. If Saichi had been hidden inside his soul for three months already, a little longer would do no harm. He needed to consider the possible ramifications of killing the spirit within his spirit—and the possible ramifications of allowing Saichi's continued existence.
He straightened from his aggressive pose, loosing the tension from his muscles. He nodded to Saichi.
"A truce then. I will consider your words."
Saichi returned the nod before focusing on the human of the group. "You, Ichigo, should consider my words as well."
"Wait, you're inside me too?" Ichigo asked blankly.
"I exist within both of you. I am both of you."
Saiu kept his face expressionless, not revealing his confusion. He didn't understand how one spirit could exist within two souls at the same time—but he suspected it had something to do with the ties between his soul and Ichigo's soul. If separate pieces of their souls existed simultaneously within one another, it was equally as possible for Saichi to do the same.
Which reminded him of the reason for this quest into his inner world.
He stepped forward. As he approached, Saichi gracefully retreated. Like Saiu, the other being did not fully trust their temporary truce.
"I will be finished momentarily," Saiu murmured over his shoulder, "and then we will depart, Ichigo." Once again, he lowered himself to his knees and pressed his hand against the water above the white light of human soul beneath the surface. He pushed his hand into the liquid, suppressing a shudder at the burning cold embrace of water.
The sharp edge of a steel blade pressed against his throat.
Saiu went completely still. Very carefully, he turned his head to look up into Saichi's frozen stare. The mutant being held a copy of Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu to Saiu's neck, the edges of the sword shimmering with Seikiteiruken power. Saiu hadn't even sensed the other move.
"I cannot allow you to do that," Saichi said softly.
"This is my soul," Saiu replied, his voice equally quiet, equally deadly.
"If you wish to destroy that remnant of human, you will have to destroy me first. And we have already decided it's unlikely you can. I suggest you leave now."
Saiu slowly rose to his feet and stepped away from the sword. Saichi allowed him to withdraw, standing protectively over the glowing water. Saiu's lips pulled back until his pointed fangs were bared, and he lifted his right hand. His Seikiteiruken flowed into his grip, the dark power forming into a long, bladed nagamaki.
Saichi braced his feet on the smooth water and pushed his shoulders back. Aquamarine reiastu swirled about his feet.
Ichigo stepped into Saiu's line of vision, placing himself beside the demon with enough room between them to maneuver. Tensa Zangetsu was in his hand, his Shinigami uniform transformed into the garments of his Bankai. His shift into Bankai form had been so subtle as to go unnoticed, the rules of the soul different from those of the physical world.
Together, they faced Saichi. Saiu knew that Ichigo either didn't understand what Saiu was intending to do with the soul fragment, or didn't care. Either way, they would fight Saichi as allies. Saiu would not allow anyone to hold sway over his soul but him. Allowing Saichi's presence he might have considered, especially if Saichi were willing to share his unique abilities, but allowing the other being to issue ultimatums in his inner world was unacceptable. Absolutely, indisputably unacceptable.
No one ruled his soul but him.
Saichi's face was grim as his power swirled about him. Saiu, studying the other's tension, thought he understood Saichi's sudden shift in attitude. Saichi was born from the melding of Saiu and Ichigo into one person. All that remained of that union now was the tiny fragment of Ichigo's soul within his. Without that fragment, in all likelihood, Saichi would cease to exist in truth.
Given the choice between keeping Saichi's potential power and destroying the human within him, Saiu chose the latter without question.
Saichi met his stare, burgundy eyes burning with defiance, and lifted his left hand to hover in front of his face. Darkness and white mist spun around him with the force of his power. A black mask swept across his face, glowing red eyes glaring out from behind it. Black wings sprouted from his back, a snaking black tail whipping out behind him. His sword rippled like a Seikiteiruken, the edges glowing red with Zangetsu's power.
Saiu arched his back, chin snapped up as he called upon his true form. Reiatsu surged inside him, straining to be released—and Saiu's eyes flashed wide. The entire world around them wavered.
All three of them froze, the other two staring at him.
The landscape rippled again. No. Not right now! Saiu snarled, but it was pointless. Something in the real world was drawing him back to the physical world. Something—or someone—had disturbed his meditation, and he was being pulled irresistibly from his inner world like the tides to the moon.
Saichi's transformation reversed, the mask and wings dissolving like smoke in the wind. He brushed his hair from his eyes.
"I see we must postpone our encounter," he murmured, an unreadable gleam in his eyes. He gave them both a casual, mocking salute. "Until then, brothers." With the same suddenness of his appearance, he faded from sight, the weight of his power vanishing with him.
The black sky rippled, the water trembling beneath his feet. Saiu turned urgently, and then Ichigo was beside him, grasping his arm tightly.
"I guess this is goodbye for now," the boy said, his eyes locking onto Saiu's with a strange intensity.
"This is goodbye," Saiu agreed, adding silently that he would be quite pleased to never encounter Ichigo again.
The thought lanced him, and he gritted his teeth against the lie. He would not be pleased with eternal separation. But he would be safe—safe from human contamination, safe from the strange, irresistible effect Ichigo had on him, safe from his own weakness around the perplexing, captivating human.
"I'll see you," Ichigo told him, his grip tightening as the sky smeared into the horizon and everything began to fade, "the next time we both go to our inner worlds at the same time."
Saiu's eyes went wide at this obvious conclusion—and their time was up. His inner world dissolved. As his consciousness spun back into his physical body, he cursed himself for a fool, cursed himself for the absurd, irrepressible, outright self-destructive surge of pleasure Ichigo's words created in him. He should have killed the boy the moment their bargain was complete. When had he become so weak?
As his suite in Hell's dark palace reformed around his senses, he scowled his irritation, reluctant to acknowledge the content tolerance that welled in him. He would see Ichigo again, if the human's deduction was correct. They would meet again in his inner world or in Ichigo's, and again he would take irrational enjoyment in their encounter. He couldn't seem to help himself.
His lips curled in a silent snarl. Maybe he couldn't help it . . . but that didn't mean he had to like it.
. o : O : o .
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Welcome back to the world of Devil's Smile! A very brief visit, I'm sorry to say, but better than nothing, right? I've been missing Bleach and Ichigo and my OCs so much, I just couldn't resist throwing together a one-shot to tide myself over until I have time for a longer piece. The full sequel is still on my to-do list, but my attention is being pulled in a lot of directions right now, and I just don't feel I can make the proper commitment to a full-length story right now.
An interesting note about this little episode: I noticed with Devil's Smile that nearly all of Saiu's interactions with Ichigo were narrated from someone else's point of view—either Ichigo's or another character's, but never Saiu's. It was very interesting to get in his head for this piece. I'd originally intended to switch back and forth between Saiu and Ichigo for narration, but Saiu just really wanted to narrate the whole thing. It's his inner world, so I decided not to argue.
Hope you enjoyed!
GLOSSARY:
Seikiteiruken ("Living Blade") - The weapon of demon lords.* Similar to Shinigami Zanpakutō.
*Denotes a non-canon term/concept.
Dreams of the Soul, Truth of the Heart
All in the Silence of the Sky