Chapter 2: Beloved Servant
"Arigato, Shutara," the soul king said quietly, standing at the foot of the large, soft bed and gazing down at the man sleeping there, "But I understand there was trouble?"
"Oh," said the lady guard, smiling, "It was nothing I couldn't handle. There were two witnesses to us taking him, but they will be out for a while, and will not remember anything. They will have no idea we were even there."
"I hope not. I was hoping to avoid unnecessary attention on this particular mission," the king explained, "Leave us now. I need to speak to Byakuya alone."
"Yes, my lord."
The soul king watched as the guardswoman left, then contemplated Byakuya's sleeping form before moving closer and gently bringing him back to wakefulness. Byakuya's eyes blinked slowly, then fluttered nervously for a moment, before taking in the handsome visage of the king and catching his breath in surprise.
"M-my lord?" he breathed, staring, "Is this...real? Am I still sleeping?"
The king smiled warmly.
"You are neither asleep anymore, nor dreaming, Byakuya," he said, laying a palm on the noble's soft cheek, "I have called you to me for a special purpose...a mission of great importance. But my attendant has left us some tea to enjoy while we talk. Try some. It will help to revive you a bit."
"But, how did I get here?" the noble asked, sitting up slowly, "I was asleep at home."
He looked down at himself and frowned.
"I am still in my nightclothes."
He noticed the somewhat hungry look in the king's strange eyes and felt an odd shiver pass through him.
"If I may, why have you called me here, my lord?" Byakuya asked, taking a sip of the tea, "You said it was a special task?"
The king's smile warmed.
"Yes," the monarch answered, "It is one that you have the specific qualities to complete successfully. In fact, when I created your soul, it was in response to the actions of another soul I created...one that started out in a promising way, but then went astray. And while it is not usually so distressing when a soul chooses a dark path, this particular soul was made with a unique purpose."
He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing the man in his mind, then opened them again and looked into Byakuya's curious eyes.
"You are familiar with the criminal, Aizen Sousuke?"
"Of course," Byakuya answered, tilting his head questioningly, "Everyone in the Seireitei is aware of his motives against you. He made them quite clear when he fought against us in the battle for Karkura Town."
"Yes, he did," The king agreed, fixing the noble in place with his powerful gaze and moving in closer, "He has said that he will continue to work against me, because he does not believe that I am capable of defending myself against him. But, he is about to be proven very, very wrong."
"But," Byakuya said, shifting uncomfortably, blushing and pulling his sleeping yukata more firmly closed, "Aizen Sousuke is in the prison. Surely, it would be easy enough to accomplish whatever you want. Why do you need me?"
"Why indeed?" the king said, smiling at him in a way that made his blush deepen, "Byakuya, you are well aware of the fact that Aizen has fused his soul with that of the hougyoku, ne?"
"Yes, it was in the report given to the taichos and witnessed by Kurosaki Ichigo and Urahara Kisuke."
"It is very difficult, though not completely impossible to separate one soul from another that has fused with it. However, your soul is very specially made. And you are able to separate Aizen Sousuke from the hogyoku, as others are not, because of this. This will be your task, Byakuya. You will go to Aizen Sosuke. You will engage him sexually, and slowly, over time, the hogyoku's power will seep into your body."
Byakuya's eyes widened in distress, and the hand that held his nightclothes closed trembled softly.
"M-my lord, you want me to...!"
"I know," the king said in a soothing and sympathetic tone, sliding an arm around the noble's slender shoulders, "It is not in your nature to act so scandalously, ne?"
"N-no..."
"And to be forced to join your lovely, celestial body with that dark, malevolent spirit is, well, truly repulsive, I know."
"I don't think I can..."
"Of course you can," the king said, his embrace sending odd shivers through the noble, "As I said, I made you for this task. Everything, Byakuya, everything about you is designed for this. Your guileless face, those deep, beautiful eyes, that pleasing, sweet sakura scent and your soft skin. A great deal of artistry went into your making. And you will use that now to lure Aizen Sosuke into giving up the hogyoku to me!"
"But, will the artifact not affect me when I take its power into my body?" Byakuya asked, "And how will you remove it? And what happens then?"
"So many questions," the king purred in his ear, his breath making Byakuya's skin blush, "First things first, I must prepare your boy to receive the hogyoku."
"And that is done...?"
The king smiled in a way that made his flesh crawl, then moved forward, laying him slowly down on his back and opening his yukata.
"My lord!" Byakuya protested, "I don't know if I..."
"You belong to me, ne?" the king breathed in his ear, making his stomach quiver inside, "You are an obedient servant, and you will do exactly what I have told you to do."
Despite his misgivings, Byakuya knew better than to question his king's orders. Instead, he laid quietly in the king's embrace as the monarch's golden eyes glared down at him and the king's fingers undressed him. The king leaned over the silent, somber-faced noble, admiring the beauty of the man and smirking as he considered how well-made he was, and how quickly he would undo the devilish, unrepentant rogue shinigami.
You were supposed to be my lover and consort, Aizen Sosuke! I gave you great beauty and outstanding power among the shinigamis. I made you deliciously different, fully unique, and how did you repay me? You created the hogyoku to make you strong enough to overcome me. But once Byakuya returns and I devour him and the hogyoku within him, you will never again dream of being stronger than me! I will eat you slowly and painfully. You will very much regret rejecting your king. You will die with regret in your eyes and pouring out of your mouth!
The king felt Byakuya flinch uncomfortably under his hands, and he realized that the flare of errant reiatsu around him was burning the noble's fine skin. He reined in his power, watching the look of pain drain from Byakuya's unnerved eyes, then lowered his lips to the noble's.
Byakuya held perfectly still as the king's mouth claimed his, fighting a turbulent heart, but determined to please his king. But even resolved to serve faithfully, he felt sick inside as the king's hands caressed his body possessively, as the man's invasive fingers entered him and began to prepare his body for their joining.
"Are you all right, Byakuya, dear?" the king asked sedately.
"I will be fine," the noble assured the king, his heart aching strangely and his body trembling at knowing what the monarch was about to do to him, "It is just that I have only ever been with Hisana. I have never been with a man before."
"I know," the king acknowledged, "But while I prime your body for your mission tonight, I will also educate you in exactly how to please that man. Remember, I created him. I know Aizen Sosuke in ways that no one else does. And once I have completed your preparations tonight, you will be able to anticipate him, to tease him, to lure him in. Like a lovely doll, you will give yourself into his arms and give him pleasure. And while you pleasure him, he will begin to feel the strength seep out of him. But, bound as he is, he will not be able to do anything as he is slowly and inexorably relieved of his power. You will take everything back that I gave him, and then you will return to me. For your sacrifice, I will reward you greatly upon your return, Byakuya. But lie still now. Close your eyes."
It was a relief to Byakuya that he no longer had to meet the king's powerful eyes directly, but as the monarch brushed his eyes closed and kissed him again, the noble felt a chill slice through him, a sense that something was very, very wrong with what was happening. The king, of course, had every right to demand what he wanted from the noble families, but he had always been a solemn, quiet and respectful monarch, preferring to allow his subjects to choose their own paths. He withheld his influence, except when it was needed to keep the careful balances in their worlds, never out of rages of emotions, but always with caution and foresight.
For him to, not just have me reclaim Aizen's power, but to do this in such a way, while the man is bound and unable to resist. It...suggests a much more cruel soul than I know our king to be!
Something is wrong, but having no right to resist him, I cannot stop it!
Still, I must find a way to do something.
But what?
He was distracted out of his thoughts by the feeling of sharp nails biting into his skin. He felt the king's mouth fastening on his, and the flares of his power all around them. He groaned in distress as the monarch pushed his bare thighs apart and claimed his body in a hard thrust that forced the air out of his lungs in a cry of intense pain.
He wasn't sure what he expected in response, but his concern turned to outright fear as the king's mouth devoured his cry and quivered with lust at the sound. Barely giving the noble time to suck in another breath, he began to move, gripping Byakuya tightly and panting harshly into his ear as he used the stunned noble to pleasure himself.
Why is he doing this? Did he say that this was how I would be prepared for my mission? I have never heard of anything like this...except perhaps, in the older myths, the ancient ones. There were beings of great power who did use sex to infuse and corrupt souls with their power, and send them to do horrid things against their will. But why would our king resort to such methods? Aizen is in our prisons. And certainly, he could openly send me to retrieve the hogyoku's power without all of this.
I don't understand!
"Move with me!" the king hissed in his ear, "You lie too still. You are too passive. I did not make you so beautiful to have you lie there like a mannequin. I know that you do not desire me right now, but your body will come to hunger for mine until it begins to writhe at just the thought of being touched by me!"
Again, it nagged at him that what the king described hearkened back to the ancient myths, the stories of struggles between the shingami lords and spiritual demons. And so unnerved by his worries, Byakuya let his eyes slide the slightest bit open, to view the man on top of him again. At the sight that met him, his body froze and his eyes flew open wide.
The king he remembered was gone, and Byakuya found himself in the grip of a glowing, demonic nightmare. The body on top of his was still rakishly lovely, his body perfectly sculpted, but toned in red and blazing with dangerous heat. Huge swells of power surrounded him and gathered in the area of his loins as he neared climax. His face was angular and coldly beautiful, but his golden eyes harbored the promise of deep cruelty and deadly hatred. He smiled wickedly as he realized that the noble had seen him.
"Ah, so defiant, aren't you?" he mused, sending a jolt through Byakuya that paralyzed him, "You couldn't even manage to follow the rules of the clan I gave you to lead, but defied them and married that peasant trash. You are the child of gods and kings, Byakuya! You do not belong in unworthy arms like that. And that is why I made her die."
"Y-you...?"
"You realize, only now that it is too late. I was not your king, but a lone demon who survived the extermination many thousands of years ago. I laid in wait, until I saw the creation of Aizen Sosuke, and then, I changed the course of his life, turning him into the hateful, awful being that tried to destroy his own creator. Then, while the king deliberated over what to do with his wayward consort, I appeared to him and told him that I could destroy the hogyoku. He refused to entrust this to me, and so I devoured him and took his place, here. He had already made you, but I saw greater usefulness in you. And now, you will serve that greater purpose. Do not worry. I know that your noble heart could not bear the strain of this task, so you will be spared that weight. Sleep now, Byakuya! When you wake again, you will be home."
Byakuya felt the demon's body seize and felt the explosion inside him of wickedness so unbearable, he would have screamed if the ability to do so hadn't been taken. He reeled as that evil essence curled in his midsection, invading his heart and assaulting his inner core. The king read in his tormented eyes, how close he was to succumbing to the too powerful forces invading him, and invoked unconsciousness, sending his mind spinning into blackness.
"Your majesty," called a youthful, male voice from outside his door, "A messenger to see you, sir!"
The demon crawled off of Byakuya's plundered body, pausing for a moment to take a long lick at his sweat dampened flesh before letting his power swirl around him and returning his visage to that of the dead soul king. He got up from the bed and turned back to lay a blanket over the naked noble, then walked quietly to the door and opened it. He nodded to the messenger, who stood alongside his attendant.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, Lady Shutara reports that the reigai we sent to replace Kuchiki Byakuya has been discovered."
"And?" the king said sedately.
"It self destructed, as programmed," the messenger went on, "Lady Shutara is confirming that she should employ the alternate method for his return, as suspicion has been aroused."
"Tell her to go ahead with the alternate plan. I will be finished...consulting with him about his mission and have him ready to be removed from the spirit dimension in an hour."
"Very well, my lord, I will pass on the message."
"Thank you, Jun," the king said, smiling to himself as he closed the chamber door.
He turned back to the unconscious noble in his bed and sat down alongside him, admiring his pale, lovely form.
"It seems a crime to let that filth touch you," he mused, "But, do not worry. You will not suffer long before your mission is done and you will be relieved of the weight of living. But, before you go, let me infuse you with the strength you will need to see this through."
He leaned over the Kuchiki clan leader, laying a hand on his face and another over his breached heart, and let his demonic reiatsu flow into Byakuya's body for a time. He slowed the infusion gradually, stopping as the shinigami's body trembled with the strain of containing the power being sent into it. He took his time, then, bathing and dressing the noble, then laid him back in the bed and waited quietly for the royal guardswoman to arrive.
He was careful to mask his reiatsu thoroughly in her presence, and hurried her on her way, once she was in possession of the unconscious man, then he walked out onto his balcony and stood, looking into the royal gardens.
Soon.
Soon, I will have the power to overwhelm those five. I can stop pretending and use the hogyoku so that I can kill them all...the royal guard, Urahara Kisuke and Aizen Sosuke...the only ones left who can possibly oppose me.
XXXXXXXXXX
Aizen Sosuke.
Aizen stirred and sucked in a long, slow breath, bringing himself out of the heavy drowse of boredom that came with being bound and incarcerated in the bowels of Central 46.
"Hogyoku," he whispered softly, "You haven't spoken to me in a long time."
You proved to be unworthy to be my master, the hogyoku acknowledged, but that does not mean that you are wholly useless.
"I see," Aizen said, drawing another slow breath and running his one uncovered eye around the cell, "So, what is it that you wish of me? I am, as you see, unable to do much more than sit and talk. I have minimal ability to use my illusions."
I am aware, but that is not why I spoke to you.
"Oh?"
I sense danger approaching. A malevolent eye touched me and I felt the quickening of a heart more wicked than yours.
"More wicked than mine, you say?" repeated Aizen, "But, why does this matter? You and I are fused together, ne? No one knows a way to separate our souls and none can destroy us, so why do you fret?"
I have foreseen that the one who could kill us will wear an angel's face and will come to us soon. When it does, we must resist it, or it will kill us both!
"But we are immortal."
That immortality is only in this world. We are not truly immortal, it is just that only another transcendent can kill us. The one who comes, bears transcendent power.
"But," Aizen said dulcetly, his lips quirking, "It will have to remove us to the spirit dimension to claim us, ne?"
I believe so, but it would be dangerous to assume.
"Still, to be freed of this place would be a relief, and we can certainly resist whoever this is...that is, if you will work with me and lend me your power."
You are not worthy of my power, the hogyoku said mockingly.
"But you are going to need me to protect you form whatever that thing pursuing you decides to do. Think carefully before you refuse me, Hogyoku."
The spirit within the hogyoku went silent, then, leaving Aizen gazing quietly into the darkness, his heart, for the first time in a long time, hopeful.
Come then, challenge me, whoever you are.
I look forward to it.
I will annihilate you.
I will annihilate you and I will be free again!