Pray For Dawn
XXXXXXXXXX
Chapter 1: Fall into Darkness
"Welcome, Grand Councilor Nori, members of the Central 46 council," said the tall, silver haired prison official standing in front of the group, "And I see that you have engaged Captain Kuchiki as your escort?"
"Yes, Hisoka," Nori answered, "We have twelve from council, myself and Captain Kuchiki, with Rikichi of the sixth division and Tetsuya of the Kuchiki house guards attending, as was stated in the inspection dictates. After receiving word of improprieties within the lower levels of the prison, we felt it was our duty to inspect the area and make sure it is being run in a safe and humane manner. Despite the fact that we are speaking of the place that houses the most heinous criminals of Soul Society, we feel it is our duty to ensure that no one is being treated improperly."
"Of course," Hisoka said agreeably, "We on the prison staff are anxious to show just how ridiculous those charges are. You will see, when we reach Muken, that the prisoners who are incarcerated there, although necessarily being carefully contained and constantly watched, are not mistreated in any way by their handlers. But, come this way."
The group followed the prison official to a security checkpoint, then paused.
"You will need to leave any weapons here," Hisoka told them, "It is prison policy that no one entering the lowest levels may be armed, the reason being that if, perchance, there was a revolt, we would not want to give the prisoners any weapons. Naturally, since they are not allowed to carry weapons, the staff working in the area of Muken are all masters of kido and hakudo, as well as trained specifically about what to do in case of any uprising. Most assuredly, between having Captain Kuchiki along and being under our guards' protection, you need have no concern about being without weapons."
He smiled sympathetically at the looks of discontent on the faces of the councilors, but found that he was met with no resistance to the order. One by one, the councilors laid their weapons down in the holding area, then joined Hisoka on the lift.
"I don't know about you," Rikichi whispered to his fiancé, "but I don't feel very good about this. Tetsuya, are you sure you won't let me talk you into staying back here at the checkpoint? I know you don't expect to have complications so early in your pregnancy…"
"Shh," Tetsuya hushed him, taking hold of his wrist, "I haven't had a chance to tell my cousin about it yet. Don't worry, Rikichi. It will be fine."
Nori touched Byakuya's arm as the two removed their weapons and laid them down with the rest.
"I am rather glad you could be here," he said softly, "This place has always made me quite nervous."
"It is no trouble," Byakuya assured him, "You are not simply the Central 46 Grand Councilor, you are a member of the Kuchiki clan and an elder."
"But you know you could have sent just Tetsuya. He is a very powerful protector."
"Yes," Byakuya agreed, "However, Tetsuya becomes anxious in such places. After what happened within the noble prison when he was a child..."
"Ah, yes," Nori agreed, looking suddenly troubled, "That was a terrible thing. And it only underscores the importance of making sure that our prisons are both secure and humanely run."
"Yes."
The two went quiet as their identities were quickly scanned and then Hisoka led them onto the lift.
"Lead Warden Hisoka," the prison official said into a small microphone, then he waited as a scanner emerged from the wall and examined his eye and extended hand, "We use multiple measures to ensure that no unauthorized persons enter or exit the prison. Our equipment comes directly from the twelfth division, and is constantly monitored and updated by their experts."
Hisoka nodded as the lights in the lift flickered, and the lift vibrated gently for a moment.
"That power fluctuation you felt is just us passing through the protective shield that is there to prevent anyone from using an opening into the precipice world or the underground cavern leading to Hueco Mundo. It completely encompasses the lowest two levels. Prisoners housed above that level are not nearly as dangerous, so do not require those added measures."
"Huh," muttered an unhappy looking councilor, "This is all good and well, but it sounds like if there was a problem, anyone down there, prisoner or not, would be left to his own devices."
"I understand your concern," Hisoka said calmly, "Unfortunately, due to the high risk nature of the prisoners on the lowest two levels, it is a sacrifice we must make to ensure that the prisoners do not have any means of gathering weapons or escaping. But, rest assured, the staff down here is highly trained and very capable. You will be perfectly safe in their hands."
"Why am I not so confident?" a councilor standing near Byakuya said under his breath.
"Maybe because we are about to enter a pit full of our worst nightmares," whispered another.
The councilors went quiet as the lift came to a stop, then opened into the Muken holding area. They waited patiently as identities were checked again, and the group was waved on to the final checkpoint.
"The entry into Muken is through that door," said Hisoka, "Once on the other side, I will show you through one of the cellblocks, and you can see all of the measures that we have in place."
He turned and unlocked the door, motioning for the group to enter. One by one, the councilors filed through the door and into the guard station. Byakuya held back, remaining at Nori's side as they approached the door. As the last of the other councilors passed through, the clan leader felt an odd sense of disquiet and noted a strange shimmer in the doorway. Hisoka noticed that he had stopped just short of the door, and was studying it more closely.
"Oh, that's all right," he assured the noble, "That is just another barrier shield we pass through. Go on through."
He wasn't sure what made him feel that something was wrong, but he turned back and blocked Nori from entering.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Nori asked him.
"Ah, it is easy to become unnerved, Captain Kuchiki," Hisoka said, smiling, "But if you will look on the monitor, you can see that nothing is amiss within the chamber."
Byakuya studied the image displayed on the screen in front of him and could find no sign of trouble.
"You see, all is well," Hisoka assured them, "There are the councilors and there are the guards. Come, we must be on our way."
As if to further reassure the two, Hisoka stepped through the doorway, prompting Nori and Byakuya to follow. They passed through side-by-side and immediately found themselves at the center of a bloody, chaotic nightmare. Ahead of them, Hisoka slid to a stop and stared, unbelieving.
"What in kami's name?"
Ahead of the three, the other councilors and the guards from the guard station laid on the floor in spreading pools of blood, some still groaning and twitching in the throes of dying.
Byakuya broke away from the others, setting a shield in place around Nori and taking up a protective stance in front of him as Tetsuya and Rikichi guarded his back.
"Get the Grand Councilor out of here!" he ordered the Lead Guard, "And lock this area down!"
Immediately, he was confronted by three raggedly dressed prisoners who snarled at him and began to close in around thim. He noticed quickly that the restrictive collars that should have been on the three had been removed. A sick feeling rose in his stomach as he made a startling realization.
Hisoka!
He turned to find Nori collapsed on the floor and Hisoka fighting Tetsuya and Rikichi. Instantly, he flash stepped and attacked with a quick kido spell, followed with a blazing assault of strikes and kicks. The guard responded in kind, leading the noble and his two protectors into a chilling exchange that sent a jolt of warning through Byakuya's body.
They fended off a surprise strike by the ragged prisoners, then flash stepped again, leaving behind false images, which the enemies continued attacking. All but one, who, to Byakuya's horror, had disappeared.
He extended his senses and flash stepped back to where Nori laid on the floor. Lifting the elder, he ran back to the door they had come through with the others on his heels, only to find that the barrier shield prevented them from passing through. His heart pounding, he turned back, and the group was immediately met with a fury of kido blasts from every imaginable direction. There was no path to flash step and nowhere to escape as the spells found their target, throwing Byakuya and the unconscious Grand Councilor into the barrier, which delivered them an additional shock that sent the noble crashing into darkness. In moments, Tetsuya and Rikichi fell as well.
As soon as the four were subdued, Hisoka stepped away from the others and bent over the fallen nobles.
"Good, they are still alive. We need a few live hostages. Take the others into the freezer and keep them cold. We may need them as 'sacrifices' later."
He watched quietly as his cohorts dragged the others away, then returned to the four collapsed and unconscious men. He leaned over them and placed a restrictive collar around each man's neck, then touched the buttons to activate them. He went the further step of placing a strong kido bind on their ankles.
Yes, kido isn't the only thing we have to worry about with these men.
"Where do you want them?" an underling asked.
"Put the old man and his guards in my quarters. No one is to touch him. We need him for a bargaining chip later."
"And Captain Kuchiki?"
Hisoka laughed.
"We need to humiliate him a bit...to take down his arrogance a few notches and make him more manageable. Don't kill him. Just make him understand his place here."
A smile snaked its way across the subordinate's face.
"We'll take care of him."
XXXXXXXXXX
Byakuya woke to intense flashes of pain all over his body. He laid, bound and blindfolded on a section of stone floor, somewhere he couldn't identify. Vague memories returned to him of the beating he had taken at the hands of the prisoners, and he felt the residual stickiness of blood and semen on his skin. He was grateful that his attackers had seen fit to leave him alive, and partially dressed, from the waist down.
He listened intently and picked up the sounds of snoring and soft breathing. Moving carefully, he managed to rub his face against the floor enough to dislodge the blindfold. A careful perusal of the room yielded the information that he was in a guards' barracks, with a number of prisoners sleeping in the beds nearby. He listened to make sure they were sleeping, then struggled onto his hands and knees, ignoring the pain of putting weight on his still-bound together limbs, and crawled at an agonizingly pathetic pace to the barracks door. He heard voices outside the room and saw two guards at the end of the hall, guarding the entrance.
He knew better than to think for a moment that he would be any match for them in his current state, and knew as well that they were blocking his only escape route. But, not able to stomach returning to the room where the prisoners had beaten and sexually assaulted him, he crawled along the hallway, staying in the shadows and looking for a possibly defensible place to barricade himself inside.
But the other rooms were also peopled with enemies, so he turned his focus away from escape and crawled back to where the guards stood.
"How much longer do you think it will take?" one guard asked the other, "I'm all for getting outta this place. I didn't know summoning a demon would take so long."
"Well, it didn't help that Captain Kuchiki's cousin isn't as innocent as Hisoka thought. They need a virgin to sacrifice. And none of those councilors or Captain Kuchiki were virgins, so I guess they have to find one somewhere before they can finish the preparations."
"Damn it! I hate this. All of this waiting. Every minute it takes is one more minute where someone could figure out what we're doing!"
"Pipe down! We've got Hisoka on our side. He knows more about this place than anyone who tries to storm this place would. And Master Yuudai is really powerful, now that his powers have been released. We'll be fine. And as soon as the demon is summoned, we'll be free."
"Why doesn't Hisoka just let us out?"
"You forget the special shield on the two lowest levels. Even Hisoka can't get around that. That's what the demon is for. It will shatter the last barrier to our freedom, then kill anyone who comes to try to stop us from escaping. Just keep your cool. We'll be outta here soon. Go take a shower...or maybe go give Captain Kuchiki some more 'attention.' I was in there earlier and had some myself. He was already unconscious, but it was damned good anyway. Smells a lot better than the scum down here, y'know? And that skin's like silk. Hisoka was damned generous to give him to us. I thought he might want the guy for himself."
"He still might," the guard laughed.
"All right, I'm going back to have a look at him."
"Just remember, Hisoka said to leave him alive. We've got that councilor, but Kuchiki is a clan leader. He's going to be worth something too, as a bargaining chip."
"All right, all right, I'll be back."
Byakuya waited until the remaining guard was turned away, watching his colleague head down the hall, then he slipped past and cast about swiftly, looking for anywhere to conceal himself.
"Byakuya!" hissed a soft voice.
He turned to find Nori, bound as he was, though not quite as battered, and crawling towards him with Tetsuya and Rikichi on either side of him.
"This way!"
He followed the old man closely, biting at his lips nervously, waiting for the alarm to go up behind them. He heard raised voices as the ones behind them realized that Byakuya was gone and started to search the barracks area for him.
"Come on! Hisoka's going to have our heads if he finds out the guy just crawled away! We shoulda tied him to something."
"Do you know of somewhere we can defend?" Byakuya asked softly.
"Only one place," Nori whispered back, "Aizen's cell is close to where we are now. I can access the door, but none of the guards down here can without council leave, not even that man, Hisoka! They won't be able to reach us, and although there are no communications with the outside, we can sound the alarm to lock down the prison and enclose and guard the area so that the prisoners cannot escape."
"Well, we have a larger problem," Byakuya informed him, "The prisoners are being led by a prisoner named Yuudai. You may remember him."
"A vicious mass murderer and student of dark arts," Nori affirmed, "And if he says he is planning to summon a demon, then he has the know-how to do it."
"But he does not have a virgin sacrifice."
"Ah."
"My cousin was originally asked by Hisoka to come, and I assume that means he did not realize until Tetsuya arrived, that he is in a relationship…and no longer innocent," Byakuya said, making Rikichi blush.
"That is one very good turn of fortune," Nori sighed, "But hurry now. We are running out of time!"
The four abandoned stealth as one of their enemies called out, announcing that he had found a blood trail. They turned down the corridor that held Aizen's cell and crawled madly for the door, panting harshly at the effort it took. They reached the door as a prisoner appeared at the end of the corridor and called out to the others.
"Come back here!" the prisoner roared, racing towards them as Nori touched his hand to the door, and it slowly opened. They rolled inside as the man reached them, and Byakuya kicked the door hard, slamming it into their pursuer and making him scream in pain as the door closed, removing one of his reaching hands. Nori touched the door again to seal it, then dragged himself to his feet and touched the alarm.
The alarms shrieked loudly, all around them, and the four heard raised voices and a flurry of movement outside the door. Several times, the door was hit, first with bodies, then with kido attacks. They breathed a sigh of relief as their pursuers seemed to give up.
"They're not going anywhere. Stay here and watch. If they come out, Kill Byakuya and the guards, and capture the old man."
The cell went quiet, then, except for the sounds of their panting breaths.
"Are you all right, my boy?" Nori asked, moving closer to Byakuya and noting his wounds.
"I will be fine," the clan leader assured him.
Nori's eyes took in Byakuya's bloodied and disgraced body and shook his head sadly.
"I am sorry that I could not be of more use. That they dared do this to our head of household..."
"It is all right," Byakuya said, shaking his head and leaning heavily against the wall, "They did nothing that cannot be healed. I will be all right."
But he wasn't so sure as the buzzing in his head slowly increased, and he slowly collapsed next to the elder noble.
"Byakuya!" Nori cried, leaning over him and managing only a small flicker of healing power under the seal on his reiatsu.
Byakuya remained still and quiet as Nori worked desperately to bolster him. He was nearly at his wits end, when a calm voice spoke out from the darkness on the other side of the room.
"Do you want Byakuya Kuchiki to live?" Aizen asked him sedately, "Because, if you do, then you must release me from my bonds."