Chapter 11: The Heart Rending
(Whew! Heart racing from so much adrenaline! Thanks going out to Guest who pleaded for update (Here it is!), Geecee (Yeah, Bya will do his best to hold on for his Sousuke), Sariniste (Sorry for the wait! I'm going to put this story on a faster track since it's moving along towards the climax), Firebirdever (Don't read this chapter alone at night! lol), MissLilly2012 (So glad you like the story! I will try to have another chapter up very soon!), and RosyDigzzz23 (DUUUUUUDE! I will try to hurry up the next post so less waiting! lol) Enjoy the chapter! Love, Spunky)
Byakuya laid, shivering in the icy coldness of the depths of Las Noches, bound to the hard, chill black floor with heavy kido chains and forced to confront the darkness of his predicament alone as he waited for the hollow witch to return. He felt already the beginnings of encroachment from the pendant that hung around his throat. And had he been able to move, he would have cast the foul thing away. But, he was aware, casting the wicked thing away was not enough to stop it.
And he had no idea what power it would take to do that.
The healers in the spirit dimension, healers with great skill, could not understand, much less undo what was happening to me. The witch crafted this pendant long ago and has spent months using it to drain me...bonding the thing to my soul...positioning it to invade and corrupt the growing reiatsu of Sousuke's and my child.
That the witch abducted me now is no coincidence. It suggests that a transitional stage has been reached. Perhaps the pendant had to fully bond with my reiatsu and the one inside me for the next part of the ritual to occur. But...is there more that has to happen, or is our child's reiatsu already corrupted? And if we are already corrupted, can it be undone?
Or is it already too late?
He heard the witch's footsteps returning and felt desperation begin to set in. Even had it not been so cold, he would have felt that same ice in his veins as the inevitability of what was happening closed in on him.
I have no powers, no means of escape, and I do not understand how the power being used to corrupt us works. She made references to my heart when I spoke of it as my last means of resisting her, and from what I understand, I think that she means for me to fully hollowfy as part of the ritual. She did say that I would lose my heart.
The witch's footsteps continued their slow, unhurried approach, echoing more loudly and making his heart race faster. Byakuya made slow, careful movements, testing the strength of his bonds and finding no weaknesses to exploit. He reached down inside himself, searching for a means to invoke his powers, but finding the seal far too firm for him to break through.
Although, if she pushes my body hard enough and I feel death closing in, there is a last, desperate well of power that we can only use as a last resort...when all else fails. But to use that power steals some of the very life out of our veins. It is the stealing away of our own life force, something very limited in quantity and painfully slow to regenerate, which is why the body safeguards it carefully, only releasing it when there is no other choice. But the witch is likely aware of this. And what if she anticipates and uses it somehow to her advantage? I must play the few cards I have cautiously.
I will try to draw her out, to keep her talking for as long as possible, tease he into explaining everything and offer what resistance I can...all to give Sousuke time to reach this place. I must endure until his arrival.
He heard the footsteps stop, and the witch dropped down to kneel at his side.
"You are cold," she observed tonelessly, her eyes devoid of emotion, "But...do not worry. For although you are about to hollowfy, you will not enter the colder regime of death. There will still be something left of you when this is over."
"Because you mean for me to serve you," Byakuya said quietly, his tone calm and not at all confrontational.
"Yes. And serve us, you will, descendant of the wicked consort, Kuchiki Hajime. You will pay in kind for the blood he spilled that day...each drop of mine and of my unborn prince's as well. I have already spilled and stolen your blood and reiatsu for the ritual, and fused them with a tiny piece of Diablo's heart...taken from the time of his death in the spirit realm, and his making over into a hollow lord. You see...there is a further story, one that I have not told you...one that I will share with you before I make you Diablo's vessel, and then his slave-concubine."
She reached down and opened his yukata, leaving him even more exposed to the cold, then laying an icier hand on his swollen belly.
"You know that demons exist in the spirit dimension. You knew this even before you became Aizen's consort..."
"Aizen-sama's consort," Byakuya corrected her solemnly, earning a stinging slap across the face.
"I told you, king's whore, that the demons of the spirit dimension do not recognize the king's sovereignty!"
"Whether or not you recognize it, my husband is the king of the three worlds, and until you have toppled him, he remains your king as well!"
"So belligerent!" hissed the witch, "You act as though you have the power to rebuke me. But you have nothing...and soon, you will not even have your child and your bastard king!"
"You speak as though you have already won," Byakuya said softly, "but I sense there is something more to this ritual. I do not think that I am yet without hope. Such a ritual as one to revive a fallen hollow king would entail careful attention to the details. I know this..."
"...because of your family's status as the king's historians. But although you are correct in your thinking, the birth and making of demons and what happens when they are made into hollows is a mystery to you. Unlike the hollows, demons still have a heart. They are, in fact, very powerful souls...powerful souls made black by their refusal to be subjugated by the king. The demons live lives of stealth and violent death. They stalk the royals and the nobles who live in the palace and they kill relentlessly. Diablo and I both have our root in that age old conflict. We were both souls of the spirit dimension...and it was in a bitter struggle with the former king that we were defeated and cast down. As we fell, Diablo tore out a piece of his heart and gave it to me, so that it would not be lost entirely when he became king of the hollows. I suspended that piece of his heart in a pendant I wore around my throat. And I promised Diablo that one day I would see him restored and made king."
"And he made you, another fallen demon, his queen?" asked Byakuya.
"Yes," the witch answered, "He made me his queen and we ruled Hueco Mundo, always with the intent of strengthening ourselves so that we would be strong enough to return and to kill the king. Prophecy turned in our favor, and we saw the signs that made us prepare to invade the spirit dimension. It was at that time that Kuchiki Hajime was send with an envoy from the king, purportedly to try to keep calm between our warring dominions. But we were wary of trusting our enemy's right hand..."
"And so Diablo killed Hajime's escort and cornered him, setting off the chain of events that led to Diablo's downfall."
The witch glowered.
"I will never forgive Kuchiki Hajime, nor the rest of that cursed family for what he did to me that day. And the pain is worse for losing my husband when he fell to the last king, and when he failed to return upon Aizen's arrival in the spirit dimension. But my pain will end here, and will be returned in kind upon you, the descendant of the last king's whore. You will lose your child to the rebirth ritual that will give me back my husband, then you will lose your husband as I lost mine. After that, Diablo and I will seize control of the spirit dimension, killing all within the palace walls and razing that place. It is there that we will reclaim what belongs to us and rule over the three worlds. And it is there that you will serve as our slave-concubine, bearing powerful heirs to maintain our dominion."
She gave Byakuya a wicked smile.
"You have gotten quiet, Kuchiki Byakuya," she observed, "Have you come to see that you are without hope?"
"I am not," Byakuya said softly, "For even though you have planned my fate out, it has not played out. There are yet, steps to be taken...critical steps in which any misplay could spell your downfall and open the pathway to my rescue."
The witch laughed.
"Is that what you really think? That your steps are not already cast in stone? That you still wield some control over your own fate and the fate of that brat in your belly?"
Her face contorted into a mask of blind hatred.
"Well, let me tell you...your hopes of rescue were shattered long ago, when first you crossed my path. That day when I returned your eyesight and gave you back your powers, I took your future. After that, nothing you did made any difference. I stalked you and slowly stole your power. I invaded your body and drained away your reiatsu. And under the nose of your precious king, I turned you down the path that will lead to the deaths of all of you! That you will serve us is a given, Kuchiki Byakuya, and that your child and your king will be destroyed is already an undeniable fact. Hope in vain, if you wish...but those are baseless hopes. You are already lost. Your baby is lost. Your king is lost. And if you want proof of that, I will be happy to give it to you!"
Byakuya flinched as the witch tore the pendant from his neck and placed it in a small silver bowl she had brought with her. She pricked her finger and let a single drop of her blood fall on the place where the piece of Diablo's heart had been sealed with Byakuya's blood and reiatsu. She held a hand over the pendant and the offering of her blood, letting her reiatsu swell around them, and whispering an echoing incantation. Byakuya watched with widened eyes as the dream that had plagued him while at home in the palace began to come to life.
Light flared, reflecting off the silver bowl and casting odd flashes all around them as she worked. Byakuya heard odd whispers and felt flares of heat, then icy chills that made his heart race wildly and left him wanting to scream. Power raged around the witch's hands, and with each flare of power, pain rocketed through Byakuya's bound body, making him close his eyes and groan, writhing within the kido chains. Even as the witch's power receded and the pain abated, he still felt the ghostly tendrils of it invading him all over like invisible snakes.
What is happening?
He remembered then how, in his dream, she had forced something down his throat, and when she approached him with something in her hand, he knew better than to lie quietly and accept his fate. Feeling the closeness of death, Byakuya's body responded with the only power he had left, the very core of his own life...his own life force. The bindings on his body shattered, and he forced himself to his feet, ignoring the awful pain as he moved after having lain bound for too long. He staggered back from her, the white light of his life force curling around him, and he looked for a way out, but the witch gave him a knowing smile and laughed at him.
"There is no escape," she told him, "I sealed them as I entered the chamber this time. You cannot slay me, not even with this last desperate use of your life force. You will only become a hollow more quickly. You have failed, Kuchiki Byakuya! Fall into despair and take the only path left to you!"
Byakuya flash stepped away as she appeared in front of him, then reeled as she followed and stuck at him, catching him with a glancing blow that took him off his feet and sent him crashing into a stone wall, which shattered under the force of his body striking it. He tore free of the debris and ran for the door he knew they had entered through, only to slide to a stop just short of it, as something struck the ceiling above it, making debris rain down and blocking his path. She continued to stalk him, stopping him and blocking each pathway he tried to take, slowly wearing him down until he was panting hard, shaking and in danger of collapse.
"You cannot continue this," the witch said solemnly, "So, accept your fate. Consume the offering and prepare to become the vessel for true king's return!"
She disappeared again, reappearing in front of him before he could move, cruelly taking her time, backing him into a corner, then binding him again. She loosed a small cero, dropping him where he stood, then dragged him back to the center of the room and bound him again.
"This is the end for you," she whispered, producing the odd looking seedlike thing he remembered from his nightmares, and forcing it into his mouth then down his throat as he choked and gasped, no longer able to resist, "Now, take our form, Kuchiki Byakuya. Fall as we did and yield up your heart."
Her icy hands touched his abdomen again, and her laughter filled Byakuya's ears as she stared down into the noble's senseless eyes and whispered the final invocation. Power exploded around them, dust and debris billowing outward from them and obscuring the inside of the chamber as Byakuya's breached body loosed a terrified howl that rang off the walls and grew louder by the moment, rising until it shook the very foundation on which he rested.
The witch retreated then, watching with narrowed eyes as the air around them cleared and the encroachment began. Byakuya's cries of pain began to echo about the chamber, and his body writhed in agony as white bone swirled around him and began to form a mask over his face.
I will not give in!
Despite everything, I will...
Harsh, stinging pain erupted in his chest, making his thoughts freeze.
Oh no!
No, not this!
He watched in horrified fascination as a hole began to open in his chest. The witch's evil laughter blended deafeningly in his ears with his terrified screams as the hole widened, and the noble felt his very heart begin to disappear.
How could this happen?
How could I fail them this?
My unborn child...and the man I love...how could I fail them so?
Sousuke...I have done all I can.
Sousuke...
Sousuke...
"SOUSUKE!" he screamed as the last of his heart disappeared and his mind went blank.
His final scream echoed around the witch and the newly made hollow, then slowly faded away, leaving the witch gazing down at him with peaceful satisfied eyes. She returned to his side and knelt beside him, her hand once again seeking his pregnant abdomen. She examined the swell of reiatsu beneath it and laughed again more softly.
"I will leave you for him to find now," she whispered, "When he comes, you will kill him. And...when his blood is spilled and added to the offering, Diablo will be born!"
She slipped away then, into the darkness, leaving the hollow lying on the floor, his white body and swollen abdomen exposed...
But no longer feeling the cold.
XXXXXXXXXX
"We're finally here," panted Grimmjow, wiping the sweat from his brow and looking around him.
Aizen followed a step behind, sheathing his blade and following the former Espada's gaze.
"Something is wrong," Ichigo said, moving to join them.
"Yeah," Renji agreed, "We were having to fight like hell every step of the way here, but all of a sudden, there's no one here? Something's real fishy about this!"
"Stay close to me," Aizen said tersely, leading them through the deserted courtyard and into the ruins of Las Noches.
"Do you feel that?" asked Grimmjow, "It's like his reiatsu, but..."
"I feel it too," said Ichigo.
"Me also," agreed Renji.
"The witch is not trying to hide where he is," Aizen said with certainty, "She expects that she is strong enough to brace all of us here. She thinks that she can win. She would not think this unless her abilities or traps she has set for us are formidible. Move carefully. I will not be able to give attention to rescuing you if you endanger yourselves recklessly."
"Yeah, thanks for the words of encouragement," muttered Renji, shaking his head.
"He sure hasn't changed much," sighed Ichigo.
"No, not much at all," agreed Grimmjow, "Once a bastard, always a bastard, even if you are the rightful king."
"Be quiet," Aizen hissed softly, "Come this way."
He led them down a long stairway, moving closer to where he sensed Byakuya was. He reached out with his mind, but felt no connection with the noble, only a chilling silence and vague sense of detachment. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Aizen stopped them.
"I will enter first," he told them quietly, "Remain here, and do not enter until I call for you."
The three younger men nodded and took up defensive positions on the wide stairway, waiting as Aizen tried the door. To their surprise, the door opened easily.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," whispered Grimmjow, staring.
Aizen stepped into the room, turning in surprise as the door suddenly slammed shut between the others and him. He heard alarmed voices, then several explosions, and the sound of the witch cackling as she attacked the others.
And yet, she let me reach him so easily...
He spotted Byakuya's bared body in the middle of the floor, his flesh looking pale and ghostly in the darkness, and his head turned away. All around him laid a set of shattered chains.
He is unbound, but he does not move from that spot.
He moved closer.
"Byakuya," he whispered, his eyes widening as the noble's head turned.
He saw then what he had not before...A hollow mask covering the upper half of the noble's handsome face and the left side...white with delicate swirls of pink and silver. And in the place where his heart should be, a wide, empty space.
"Byakuya," he whispered again, staring at his lover's pregnant abdomen, "What has she done to you?"
The hollow's golden eyes blinked slowly, as though trying to understand, then focused on him again.
"Byakuya, watashi no koi..."
"S...s...sou.s-s-ske?" the hollow hissed uncertainly.
"I am here," he said softly, "And help is coming."
He started to say more, but was forced to retreat as the hollow turned and surged to his feet, attacking in a blaze of swirling red and golden fire.