Chapter 12: Black Petal Storm
(My deepest gratitude to Finkleisms and Sariniste for reviewing :) You guys are great! Enjoy the new chapter. Love Spunky)
"What the hell?" snapped Renji, unsheathing his sword as a thick stone door slid shut between Aizen and the rest of the group.
"Damn!" hissed Ichigo, pressing his bare hands against the stone door and finding it to be locked into place.
"Looks like we're on our own, kids," Grimmjow said sarcastically, "But I'd bet my ass we're not gonna be alone for long."
"You're probably right about that," Renji said, "So go on up the stairs and I'll see about blasting that door open."
"With what?" quipped Grimmjow, "You're not thinking of using that huge ban kai of yours in here, ne? You'll bring the whole place down! Ichigo could try a Getsuga, but even that might destabilize things too much. Remember, this place was pretty wrecked from when you assholes came here and blew half of it away looking for Orihime."
"Yeah, we remember," said Ichigo, looking around, "But I don't see another way in here...at least not one that will get us into the room any time soon. And I don't know about you, but I figure that since the king is on that side of the wall, it's going to be where the bigger bad guy's gonna be."
"Good guess," laughed Grimmjow, "I knew you were more than a pretty face and a good piece of ass, Kurosaki."
"Shut up," muttered Renji, "We've got to concentrate. So, which are we going to risk...Zabimaru or Zangetsu?"
"You guys pick. I'm going to guard the stairs. Because, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that the witch doesn't just have something planned for Aizen."
"Very good," said the witch, glowering down at them from a landing at the top of the stone steps they were on.
She gave the a sly smile.
"Why Grimmjow," she sneered, "Joined up with the shinigamis, I see. I barely recognize you without your mask and all dressed up in that handsome shihakushou. You look so civilized! And you have two shinigami boyfriends, ne? Lovely..."
"We are not his boyfriends!" yelled Renji, "Well, one of us is not, anyway. Now, back off, or we'll attack."
"Oh, he's adorable," said the witch, smirking, "I may keep him alive for a while to play with."
"Shut up!" shouted Ichigo, drawing his sword, "And back off, like he said. We just want to reach King Aizen. We have no interest in you."
"Well," hissed the witch, "I have an interest in you! And you are not going to interfere with the king's reunion with his royal whore. It should be quite the get together. I'm sure the king is just dying to see his lovely mate!"
"All right," snapped Grimmjow, "We've had enough of your shit! Now, you're gonna pay!"
He disappeared in a flash step, but reappeared a moment later as the witch extended her hand and thick, plantlike tendrils erupted from the walls and stairs and wrapped around him.
"Holy hell!" cried Renji, "Howl, Zabiamru!"
The redhead's blade extended, raking along the tendrils that held Grimmjow and tearing him free. The with cackled loudly and summoned more tendrils that left the three young men cursing and hacking at them wildly with their swords.
"Oh boys, you little fools," sneered the witch, "You won't be able to cut your way out of there...at least, not before my pretty tendrils sprout and share their splendid fruit with you."
"Oh boy," huffed Renji, watching as several glowing bulbs formed on the tendrils, "I hope to hell this isn't like Yumichika's not so secret ability with the flowers that suck out our reiatsu and kill us!"
"Ah, no, dear," the witch said, feigning gentleness, "I am afraid that this attack is a bit more, shall we say...abrupt, than that one. But don't worry. Once those bulbs open, you won't be around long enough to feel any pain."
The witch disappeared, leaving the three shinigamis struggling on the stairway.
"Damn it all to HELL!" howled Grimmjow, "We gotta get out of this shit now! Do either of you have anything that can get us loose? Preferably without killing us?
"Eh...I could try my Getsugatenshou," offered Ichigo, "but I might singe you a little."
"I might have something that will work," said Renji, "But I'll need my ban kai."
"Whoa, hold on! Wait a sec!" objected Grimmjow, "Weren't we just talking about how that wasn't a good idea because it might knock half the building on top of us? Now you say 'What the hell, let's do that?' Are you nuts?"
"Take it easy," said Ichigo, struggling a few steps forward and hacking at the tendrils holding Grimmjow, then attacking more that sought to wrap around him, "I think I know what he's thinking, but...we should get close together, ne Renji?"
"Yeah, this'll just take a sec."
The redhead took a steadying breath.
All right, you idiots. Don't fuck this up or we are all gonna get crushed under this building when it collapses.
"Ban kai! Hihio, Zabimaru!"
Grimmjow and Ichigo watched and continued to slice at the tendrils as the skeletal snake filled the area in front of the stone door at the bottom of the stairs.
"Okay now, grab the mane as he goes by and stay clear of his mouth, all right?"
"Oh yeah," Grimmjow muttered sarcastically, "Sure...that's easy."
"Shut up and get ready," Ichigo said, slashing at the tendrils that continued to advance.
"Hikotsu Taihou!" yelled Renji, jumping onto the snake's neck and clinging to the mane as the beast surged forward. Ichigo leapt nimbly onto the snake and Grimmjow followed, scowling and hissing furiously a moment later. The three held on tightly as the snake raked the stairs, sweeping up all of the glowing bulbs. They reached the top of the stairs and leapt off of the snake, rolling in all directions and taking cover as the snake spotted the witch watching them, and launched her own explosive bulbs back at her in addition to Zabimaru's blazing fire blast.
The witch screeched in fury, disappearing into the billowing fire, only to emerge a moment later, slightly scorched and wearing a dangerously enraged expression.
Renji recalled Zabimaru and sent the snake soaring back down the broken stone steps, taking aim on the stone door and readying another blast.
"Hikotsu Taihou!" the redhead yelled again.
The three men froze as the witch cast something dark into the stairwell ahead of the skeletal snake, and a deafening roar erupted from the area at the bottom of the stairs.
"What in kami's name?" Renji stammered as the skeletal snake screamed and broke apart, "What is that?"
"Oh," said the witch, from behind them, making Grimmjow turn to guard their backs, "That is just one of my pets. Have fun with him. I will be back."
"Bitch!" Grimmjow snarled as she disappeared, "Thinks that's going to be enough to..."
He broke off, staring as a huge, bulky canine body with three long, snakelike heads emerged from the stairwell.
"Oh my kami," panted Renji, still reeling from the destruction of his ban kai, "What the fuck is that?"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Byakuya," Aizen said, his voice exuding unexpected calm as his blade extended and blocked the noble's hands, which had grown into long, black claws.
The king gazed into the deep gray eyes, now shot through with flashes of red and gold, and gold centered. The noble's hair had grown longer, so that it hung down over his pale body, partially obscuring the areas left uncovered by his open yukata. But the swollen bump on his abdomen remained painfully exposed. And Aizen could see an odd, frightening glow that warned that something horrid was happening beneath the surface of Byakuya's white skin.
"I do not wish to hurt you," Aizen went on, "You are with child...you are having our child. Fighting will endanger our baby. You know that."
Byakuya's lips curled back, revealing razor-sharp teeth, and he let out another warning hiss. A chill went through the king at the lack of comprehension or recognition in his lover's eyes.
"Come, Byakuya, I can help you. I know that you are confused, that the hollowfication has left you tormented. But this is not the end...not for you, and not for our child. You need but take my hand and give me your trust. We will return home to the spirit dimension and..."
He was forced to flash step away as Byakuya's clawed black hand rose, and a huge red cero formed. He flash stepped again, invoking the power of his zanpakutou to hide himself from the hollowfied noble, but allowed his voice to reach out to his lover, though obscuring the direction.
"Byakuya...Byakuya, you must come with me," he went on as the noble fired his cero in a large sweep around the room, "I know that you care about the child you carry...our child. You have already the loss of one. I know that you do not ever want to experience that again."
He paused as Byakuya emitted a furious shriek, and a long, slender black blade appeared in his clawed hand.
"A dark Senbonzakura?" Aizen mused, "My love, even corrupted, the two of you are beautiful...you and your sword. Now...lay that down and come home with me. Your soul called out to mine before. I sensed that you were fighting her...fighting to keep your heart. And I will tell you that it is not too late. I can still save you! But you must stop. You must cease trying to attack me. I cannot take you back through the dimension wall like this."
He flash stepped in close to the noble and laid a hand around Byakuya's slender, black wrist.
"Come now," he whispered in the noble's ear, "Let it go."
He relaxed his powers to reveal himself and held the noble's sword aside with one hand, and caught the other clawed hand with his other hand. He gazed deeply into the hollowfied consort's widened, surprised eyes.
"Byakuya," he whispered, touching his lips to the frozen hollow's, "Aishiteru yo."
Byakuya's fireshot eyes glared back at him threateningly, and a breathless moment ensued. It ended quickly as a snarl escaped the noble, and the clawed hand that held Senbonzakura tore away from the king's, bringing the weapon up.
"Scatter," the hollowfied noble said.
Aizen watched breathlessly as Byakuya's body took on the appearance of the samurai that had been his blade's spirit. His hollow mask altered itself until it matched the mask that the noble's counterpart had worn. His sword disappeared altogether.
"So...instead of your zanpakutou lending you Senbonzakura's power to bind with your own, you have been bound together as in a resurreccion form," he mused, "What will you do now, my love?"
Byakuya emitted a grating screech and a fury of beautiful black sakura petals erupted from his hands, spinning as they swelled in the air around him, then took aim on the enchanted king.
Strangely, Aizen found himself smiling in approval.
"Just as winning a spectacle as I would expect from my beloved consort," he complimented the noble, as the incoming petal blades forced him to flash step away, "You are truly amazing, even this way. And I am sure that your powers are impressive, as always. But you must give this up. You must not drain yourself so much. You need your reiatsu to remain in balance."
He cloaked himself in illusion and flash stepped towards the noble.
"And in any case, you told me the secret to defending against your powers, Byakuya. And they will not have changed so much, even now that you have hollowfied."
He reappeared in front of the noble and touched his face to the dark samurai's mask.
"Come back to me, Byakuya," he whispered, loosing a quick jolt of kido to try to shatter the mask.
He caught his breath in surprise as something was thrust into his midsection and gasped as Byakuya then withdrew a bloodied hand from the king's shocked body. Aizen flash stepped away, quickly invoking his powers again to hide himself from the noble as Byakuya lifted his clawed hand and held it up to his nose, breathing in the scent. He gave a soft, feral whine and tasted the blood, then breathed in more deeply and scanned the room.
"Ah," Aizen said, flash stepping as his hollowfied mate sensed the blood he had drawn and used it to direct a cero at the stunned king.
But a moment later, Aizen appeared on the other side of the room, a hand over the injury on his torso, and panting softly, but with a look of determination on his face.
"I see," he said softly, dodging as Byakuya used sonido to pursue him, and sent waves of lovely black petal blades after him, "Because you have drawn my blood, you can sense it, even when I use my zanpakutou to fool your senses. Interesting..."
He flash stepped in close to the noble.
"Bakudo #63, Rikoujoukorou." Aizen said calmly, watching as the six rod prison of light snapped into place around his lover's body.
Byakuya screeched hatefully in defiance, and his reiatsu rose until the walls and ceiling of the room trembled warningly. Byakuya screamed louder, his reiatsu continuing to rise. Aizen frowned as one of the rods shattered, and the others tremored ominously.
"Bakudo #4, Hainawa."
He watched as the golden kido ropes wrapped themselves around the noble's body, wrists and ankles, making Byakuya collapse onto the stone floor.
"I am sorry, my love," Aizen said softly, "I would have like to have you choose to come back with me, but it seems that I am not able to break through to you. Be calm, now. I won't hurt you. You and our baby are going to be fine."
He moved forward, preparing to shock the noble with a careful jolt of kido. Byakuya's widened eyes glared at him as he approached, and the noble's pale lips hissed out incoherent, hateful threats. Aizen ignored them and moved closer, pausing as Byakuya's voice sounded again.
"S-sen...kei!"
Aizen inhaled sharply in surprise as a sea of black swords materialized all around them, then flew towards them with deadly intent. He managed to shield himself, repelling the blades that tried to impale him, but watching in dismay as some of the blades slashed the kido bindings on his hollowfied lover.
His powers are functioning so oddly! It is neither exactly shinigami power, nor completely hollow, but a strange mixing of the two. It only supports my belief that what has been done to him is incomplete, and we can find a way to stop it!
He dodged the black swords, and flash stepped towards the noble, altering course as more of the black swords appeared and flew at him. Byakuya grabbed one of the black swords and made the rest disappear, then launched himself at the king, slashing at him viciously, then turning and engaging him again.
His pregnancy had slowed and somewhat weakened him, but I feel no weakness in his blade now. Indeed, it seems that he has regained the reiatsu he lost before. But then, why has he hollowfied?
Aizen turned and blocked another nasty slash, then grabbed Byakuya's blade with his bare hand and forced it to the side.
"This is a useless endeavor, Byakuya," he said solemnly, "You are not going to hurt me, and you may get hurt, yourself if you persist. I see that I have no choice but to end this now..."
"Goukei," said Byakuya, moving his hands, and sending a swirl of petals that surrounded the king on all sides.
Byakuya watched with glittering eyes as the petals surrounded the king, then on his command, collapsed inward and slashed at him from every conceivable direction. He waited quietly as the dust and black petals fell away, waiting to see the king fall.
To his surprise, Aizen, though somewhat battered and cut in a few places, was still standing. Byakuya frowned and looked down at the hilt of his blade, quickly recalling its power and sealing it as Aizen walked towards him.
"You cannot defeat me," the king said softly, "Not with your body, not with your blade and not even with your considerable powers. Come now, set this aside, and do not make me become forceful with you. Am I not your king and lover, Byakuya? A man whose life you sacrificed your own to save? Has it not been your greatest concern to see to my safety?"
As he moved forward, he whispered a command to his zanpakutou to make images of their past appear in the air all around the staring, hollowfied noble. Byakuya's eyes flicked about, catching sight of pieces of their past, here and there, and loosing soft, soulful sounds of distress as his muddled mind tried to remember. One clawed black hand touched his chest and he moaned in pain.
"I know," Aizen said sympathetically, "It is painful to have lost that part of yourself. But I told you. I can help you regain what you have lost. Come with me, Byakuya. Return home to the spirit dimension with me and I promise you that we will find a way to restore you. Will you trust me?"
He stopped several steps away, extending a hand.
Byakuya took a shuddering breath and groaned as the samurai mask that had appeared on his face while using his zanpakutou reverted to the white with pink and silver swirls that it had been when Aizen had entered the room. He moved closer to Aizen, one clawed hand reaching out to touch the king's offered hand. Aizen smiled warmly, slipping his arms around the noble and offering his softly shaking mate a gentle kiss of welcome.
As their lips met, the viciousness returned suddenly to Byakuya's red, golden and gray eyes, and he tore one clawed hand free and thrust it at the king's midsection. He gasped in surprise as a strong hand caught his, stopping it just short of doing damage, and slipped a silver band around his wrist, sealing his powers. A quickly breathed kido spell made golden ropes wrap around his wrists, binding them in front of him.
"There now," Aizen said calmly, "You know now that you have no means of fighting, ne?"
He slipped an arm around the defeated looking hollow and led him back towards the place where he had entered the room. He reached the locked stone door and listened for a moment to the sounds of a fierce battle still raging on the other side.
"Stay behind me," Aizen warned Byakuya, "I am not sure what situation we will find the others in when I break through."
He raised his reiatsu and prepared to blast his way through, but stopped as the witch's laughter sounded, and the walls and ceiling began to quake ominously. Aizen grabbed Byakuya and flash stepped away as a mountain of rock tumbled down and completely blocked the way out. He gave Byakuya an affectionate kiss on the cheek, then raised a protective barrier around him.
"Stay here," he warned his lover, "You will be safe while I see to her."
"Well, isn't that touching," sneered the witch, turning her head slightly to give Byakuya a derisive glare, "I should have known that you would be too weak to do the job, but ah well...I am not above spilling his blood and forcing it into you to complete the ritual."
The witch stepped forward, her footsteps echoing ominously as she moved. She paused, facing Aizen and smiling.
"Aizen Sousuke," she said quietly.
"Yumejaaka," the king said, acknowledging her.
"You know my name."
"Yes, Yumejaaka, the hollow king's consort...and before that you were both demons of the spirit dimension, ne?"
"You have studied our history," commented the witch, "Why? You knew Diablo was dead, and you did not know that it was me who stalked your consort."
"No, I did not know that it was you," Aizen admitted, "But when I was made king, I was made aware of the history of demons in the spirit dimension, as well as the story of the fall of Diablo, his tenure as king of the hollow world, then his death at the hands of the former king. And it was there that I encountered your history, Yumejaaka."
"Then, you know that Kuchiki Hajime..."
"...struck you when you sought to attack him with stealth," finished Aizen.
"I never attacked him!" snarled the witch, "He struck at my husband and clumsily hit me!"
"I am sure that is the lie that you have been spewing at my beloved to try to wear him down," Aizen said, maintaining his calm demeanor, "However, remember that I was infused with the king's prism upon my ascension, and I remember everything that my forebears saw and did. The king was watching through Hajime's eyes and he witnessed how you moved to attack and the king's consort only sought to defend himself. It was you who made up that fabrication, which set Diablo on the path to directly attacking the king and dying. In short, you brought everything on yourself. You cannot place the blame on Byakuya and his ancestors."
"LIAR!" the witch screamed, That monster murdered my child in my belly! You should be happy that all I am doing is using your child's soul to bring about my husband's rebirth! I even plan to let your consort live and continue to bear children for my husband and I when we return to the spirit dimension. The only one who needs to die, now, is you!"
"It isn't going to happen," Aizen said quietly, "You are going to die, and I am going to see that Byakuya is restored."
"Fool!" hissed the witch, "He is already a hollow! You can see that!"
"He has hollowfied," Aizen agreed, "However, analyzing his attacks, I would say that he has not passed over completely. Rather, I think that you planned that the completion of this ritual to raise your husband will complete Byakuya's transition from transcendent to hollow."
"Think what you will, but your royal whore belongs to us now!" the witch proclaimed, "Now...we shall do what we came here to do."
She let one eye fall on the bound noble.
"Come, Byakuya," the witch said calmly, extending a hand.
"No," said Aizen, strengthening the barrier around the noble, "He is not going to be involved in this fight. As one who depends on him for your ritual, I would think that you would spare him."
The witch laughed loudly and loosed a huge blast that shattered the protective barrier around the noble and released him from the bonds on his body and his powers.
"Byakuya," Aizen called, his lips tightening in fury as the noble disappeared and reappeared alongside the witch.
A moment later, the dark Senbonzakura formed in his hand.
The witch laughed louder until her voice rebounded off the walls all around them.
"Now," she said, smiling, "We are going to kill you, Aizen Sousuke."
