Sorry for the long pause! Real life interfered. I hope this is a satisfactory update to make up for the wait! Thanks to all the reviewers!

Chapter 6: Knowledge is Power

Nanao leaned over the veranda's balustrade and tapped her fingers against the railing. Rain was pelting all over Soul Society and through the black clouds she could see bursts of kidō accompanying burgeoning reiatsu. There was war going on below her. The model she had relied on so far only covered Rukongai's neighborhoods closest to Seireitei, and therefore was essentially useless in keeping track of the battle on the outskirts. Two Espada had entered, but they were nowhere to be found. This was quite worrisome. Nanao could not feel them and her patrols were merely running in circles, as they encountered nothing more than Gillian. Ordinarily, Gillian-level Hollows were certainly bad enough, but if two Espada had been detected, then that was far worse. In fact, the only thing more terrible than having two Espada enter a weakened Soul Society was to have them enter and then mysteriously disappear. Nanao did not have a battle strategy to meet this situation. She would simply have to react as obstacles arose. Unfortunately, she was locked away in this room. She needed to move around, to see for herself what was happening. However, to shunpō away from these headquarters left her vulnerable to attack at a time when the entire Shinigami population was counting on her. She had to stay put, and yet this was simply not working.

Nanao gritted her teeth and dug her fingernails into the vermillion wood railing. It was frustrating and humiliating to think she had so managed to cage herself away in the first division's office. The battle was before her, and she had no idea what was happening. What would Kyōraku-taichō do? He would probably disappear for hours on end, accidentally come across an enemy, defeat him and then somehow manage to turn the tide of the war in the process. That was just how he was. Luck and good fortune surrounded him like an aura. Nothing ever turned out poorly for him. It was extremely vexing.

"Morrigan, come forward!" she bit out tersely. She sensed a certain laziness as Morrigan eased out of her and appeared at her side.

"This is more exercise than I am used to, you know. What is it now?" The small woman complained.

"I need to know my power," Nanao stated firmly.

"Oh, so now you're complying? What was that about not having the time?"

"I most definitely do not have the time for you to be snide. I will decide on bankai later, but it is a poor leader who does not gather all pertinent information before making a decision."

Morrigan pondered her words for a moment, then shrugged and pushed herself to sit on the balustrade. The raven still sat perched on her hand, its masked head cocked as it looked upon Nanao.

"Very well," Morrigan replied, "what do you want to know?"

"You say I don't know who you are. What does that mean?"

"Well, I rather think that's pretty self-explanatory," Morrigan stated with a wry smile. Nanao folded her arms.

"And I rather think I do know who you are. One of us is incorrect, and I will allow that it may be me. So, what do you mean?"

Morrigan stared into space and thought for a moment.

"That is… that is still something I cannot tell you. Once you know, well, you will understand."

"Annoyingly cryptic and not at all informative, but I will accept it for now. My next question is, how were you able to see that the pillar had fallen?"

Morrigan set her chin stubbornly as she looked at Nanao. "I cannot tell you that either. It is an intrinsic part of my power. You have to discover that for yourself."

"Well how would you suggest that if you won't answer any questions?" Nanao demanded.

Morrigan rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the railing. "Power is meant to be experienced, not described. If you want the answers, you need to feel it for yourself, not study it."

This was going nowhere. Morrigan seemed to share Nanao's frustration. The problem seemed to be that she could only answer certain questions, and Nanao was simply not asking the right questions. As Morrigan walked past Nanao towards the inside room, Nanao caught a quick glimpse of her right hand. Something she had never thought about struck her. The raven had always unnerved Nanao, but she was not sure why. Now she had an inkling. It had nothing to do with its hollow-like mask, the way it sometimes looked at her or the strange pressure she felt from it. Without realizing it, Nanao had observed that she had never actually seen its feet. Even from this quick profile view, she should have seen a toe or a talon. The question had to be asked, but for some reason it took a monumental effort to release the words.

"Who is the bird?" she asked.

Morrigan froze. Nanao could feel a coldness come over her. Slowly, Morrigan turned. The two women looked on one another for a few moments before Morrigan finally removed the thumb she always held over the raven's feet. Feet, though, there were none. The raven's legs fused into Morrigan's hand. She was not simply its perch – they were united.

Nanao felt a coldness wash over her. What did this mean? The theories she had always had but never allowed herself to ponder upon overwhelmed her. She had always feared that the raven might be a part of her power, and, with that mask, perhaps it indicated hers were more akin to a Hollow's. However, she had never considered that the raven and Morrigan were one and the same. Were they one and the same? Were they two different personalities physically joined at this one spot? Were they supposed to mimic divisions in Nanao's own psyche? That idea scared her more than any other.

"Do you understand?" Morrigan finally asked.

"I… I'm not sure. I don't think so yet," Nanao breathed. "What is the difference between you?"

Morrigan huffed and turned away. Clearly it pained and irritated her to admit this.

"This is Morrigan," she finally bit out. "This is your power. I am tied to her. I speak for her and appear as her form, but… but I am nameless."

"You are not Morrigan?" Nanao's brow knit. This was hard to accept.
"I am!" she shouted angrily. "I am not independent of the raven, but she is the primary power. We are Morrigan."

Nanao shakily reached back to grab the rail.

"You were right… I did not know you for who you were."

Morrigan the woman seemed slightly mollified by this admission.

"And the Hollow mask? What does it signify?" Nanao asked urgently. "Am I akin to a Hollow?"

Morrigan shifted before answering. "Well, yes, of a sort. You know the basis of my power, you know the root."

"Death."

"That's right. That is in many ways more befitting a Hollow. Think of the shikai."

Nanao nodded and closed her eyes. She did not trust herself to speak, as even her breath was ragged. Her shikai, Morrigan's first release, had puzzled Nanao when she first saw it. This strange small sword more similar to a knife was an odd weapon for combat. But that was not what it was for. Its primarily usefulness was the ease with which it could be hidden. All at once, it had come upon the young girl. Its use was not for battle but for behind the scenes. What did that mean? Was she the type of infiltrate? To take the life of someone who had learned to trust and confide in her? Her shikai's attack was more intrusive even than that; its power flared out in a three-ribbed band of blue energy. It could strike like her captain's wind attack, but upon plunging into a foe, details of the individual's private life flowed into her. She could learn anything. For someone obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge, it should seem like the perfect skill, but Nanao bore it inside her like a curse. This was not the type of knowledge she wanted to learn. It was too cruel, too heartless. She could not use her power without being transformed by them, and she did not want that.

"You do not have to be afraid of me, you know."

Nanao's eyes flew open. The voice was low. Nanao thought maybe she had heard it once or twice before in a dream just before waking, but she had never known it was the raven's voice.

"You can talk to me?"

"If you know of me, yes." The sound reverberated within Nanao's head, but the raven's lips stayed shut.

"You know my thoughts and my fears. You know what I do not want to come," Nanao said slowly, looking into the bird's eyes. She had to trust her. There was no choice.

"Yes."

"What will bankai do?"

"What do you think?"

Nanao licked her lips. "I am afraid it is a massive death strike."

"It is not."

"Will it hurt people?"

"It can, but perhaps not the way you fear it can."

"But you are death!"

"I am knowledge," the bird corrected her. Nanao was taken aback. "Knowledge is powerful and it can be terrible. Death is the ultimate knowledge."

"I do not understand."

"Most do not. The powers I can give you can be used quite effectively in the role of an assassin, but that is not their only application. The choice will still be yours with how to use them."

"This is not the power of death, then?"

"No. You can still kill, but that is not the primary purpose. These powers can be terrible. As you have undoubtedly learned through your life, not all knowledge is worth knowing. Things once learned cannot be unlearned. Be choosey with how and what you seek to know. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

"So what not?" the woman Morrigan asked. Nanao waited and breathed. When she looked up, her indigo eyes were awash with kidō.

"Bankai."