Chapter 14: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
Alright, all I have for you guys right now is some answers to a couple reviews, so here goes:
naruto(guest): Ichigo isn't the master of the Hogyoku just yet, as he hasn't really bothered claiming it's power, since he doesn't really care about that, seeing as that he hasn't really needed any power boost. And even if he had, Aizen being the son of the Soul King gives him special control over the Hogyoku, hence with he was able to take it from Ichigo.
Omni-creator Kami of Anime: I'm under the impression that Aizen was immortal because he wished to be, not because he was exposed to the Hogyoku for a long time, so that's what I'm working with, also, if that was the case, Rukia would be immortal too. Also, Ichigo wouldn't wish to be immortal, the prospect of being a god scares him more than anything else. And for your lat question, he probably will have some special relationships with Rangiku and Mikasa.
Alright, this guy just posted all his reviews in one sitting, so I'll answer them all here:
Guest (Chapter 2): No, Ichigo is not a self insert, I don't really know about having no personality flaws, I would think not caring about most people who are close to you would be one, but I do recognise I didn't do a great job of portraying that. Ichigo does blame Yhwach for killing his mother, as in he understands it is his fault that his mother died, but he doesn't hold any resentment towards him, with reasoning being given in the chapter. That doesn't mean he likes Yhwach, but he isn't hell-bent on killing him, vengeance isn't worth it in his eyes.
Guest (Chapter 4): Hey! I'll have you know I'm a proud respecter of women! And I don't describe all of them like that. Orihime, Tatsuki, Rukia, and basically every other women aside from Rangiku, Mikasa and Yoruichi are perfectly normal. Don't you ever dare say I don't respect woman again. Grrrr.
Guest (Chapter 5): Uuuhhhh... I'll be honest and say I don't have a fucking clue what you were trying to tell me, aside from the fact that you don't want me to simply throw other characters, like Orihime, to the side. So I'll focus on that I guess, no, I'll try not to do what Kubo did and simply discard powers like that of Orihime's, but I've said it before that this fic is gonna be more Ichigo-centric than anything, so I'm not promising shit.
Guest (Chapter 7): I 'ruined' the moment between Orihime and her brother because it wouldn't have made sense for Ichigo to simply let it happen. In Ichigo's eyes Sora was simply going to kill Orihime, and even if that wasn't the case, at that moment he couldn't have cared less whether they their 'moment' or not, so he simply killed Sora. It would have gone against Ichigo's character to sit back and let Sora maul Orihime.
Guest (Chapter 8): Character development so he can learn to love himself? I'll be honest and say I don't think that's gonna happen for a while, hell, it might never happen, at least not until the end. Half of Ichigo's character is based on self-loathing anyways.
Also, thank you for the good grammar, even though there were a lot of spelling mistakes, it didn't hurt to read.
And last but not least, what in my opinion was the best review last chapter, it was so brilliant I can remember it word for word, or maybe it's because it's only four words, 'This was absolute shit', great review! Appreciate it. Also, thank you so much for breaking the no-flame streak I was on, feelsgoodman.
Anyways, without further ado,
LEGO!
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Demon/Hollow talking"
'Demon/Hollow thinking'
"Spirit Talking"
'Spirit thinking'
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.
Chapter 14: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
Pain.
Ichigo didn't think he could feel pain in an unconscious state, but then again, he did feel pretty conscious at the moment.
Floating, he knew he wasn't moving, but it felt real, slowly sinking, small sounds of suffering, his own suffering, echoing in his ears.
He forced himself to open his eyes, it was like forcing yourself to open your eyes when you were in a bath of acid, it went against all his natural instincts, but he did it.
And all he saw was white.
A surprisingly pure white, given that this was obviously a part of his soul, he didn't think it could be represented in such a pure way.
He looked around, seeing nothing but the same thing. He couldn't feel his body, right now it felt like he was just a pair of eyes, looking around.
It also felt like he was slowly being torn apart by a meat grinder.
He knew what had happened, why he was here, why he was in such pain. Yes, having a hole the size of a soccer ball in his chest was definitely one of the reasons.
But the loss of the Hogyoku was the main one.
The hole could be healed easily with a bit of high-speed regeneration, as a matter of fact, he had no doubt that his body was completely healed at the moment, physically, at least.
But the sudden disappearance of what, over the past couple months, had asserted itself as part of his soul, wasn't as easy to heal.
He knew the solution though. As much as his soul had indeed bonded with the Hogyoku over the past 2 or so months, it hadn't fully combined itself with him, otherwise Aizen wouldn't have been able to rip it out of him, no matter how much being the son of Soul King gave him reign over the small orb.
And say he had been able to rip it out of him, there was no question about it, Ichigo would be dead.
But evidently, that wasn't the case. Ichigo could only guess, but the area he was in right now was probably the part of his soul the Hogyoku had inhabited before it had been torn out of him.
The reason why he was in such pain was because a part of his soul was empty, and there was only one way to remedy that, fill it back up.
He guessed that Shiro and Ossan had been occupying this area before Mikasa had barged in, so it was only right to give them their space back.
He watched as, slowly, what was before an empty, pure part of his soul, became tainted with Shiro and Ossan's presence. The area was now a mix of colors, black, red, blue, grey, all colors that represented him and his spirits.
While that was going on, he also felt his body coming back, whereas before he simply felt like he was just a pair of eyes, now he was back to normal, he had all his limbs, his chest, his head.
And he was back in his inner world.
"Pheeewww. That was kinda close, wasn't it king?" Shiro said, coming into Ichigo's view, Ossan at his side.
'Not particularly.' Ichigo said in a bored tone, 'We all knew I would be fine in the end, but that isn't the problem. The problem is that Aizen has the Hogyoku, and that I'm pretty sure we're not in Soul Society anymore.' he didn't really think Aizen being the son of the Soul King was particularly important, at least not right now.
"Indeed, from what I can feel, this area is tainted by hollow reiatsu, we aren't anywhere near Soul Society, or the living world." Ossan said, his voice serious.
'Hueco Mundo.' Ichigo recalled another one of the small amount of things that had caught his interest at the academy, 'The world of the hollows, Aizen must have thought we would die here. Sadistic fucker.' he muttered, rubbing his sore neck.
"Yeah." Shiro said bitterly, angry that they had lost, even one battle, against Aizen. Although his attention was taken back outside as he felt something approaching them, "And he's gonna be right real soon if you don't wake yourself up!" he exclaimed, "There's a hollow out there, and I'm pretty sure it's looking for you."
Ichigo grunted, annoyed at the interruption, before he disappeared, forcing his body to wake up.
He was surprised at how normal he felt, after being effectively killed, then dragged all the way to Hueco Mundo, he thought he would feel like shit, at least be tired.
But it couldn't be closer to the opposite, every breath he took reinvigorated him, pumped him with energy, made his instincts sharper, every breath he took made his hollow side feel alive, and his other sides fade away.
"It's the air." Shiro said, seemingly randomly, "The air in Hueco Mundo is filled with hollow reiatsu, making your hollow senses perk up. I'm pretty sure you'd be at your most powerful if you went into your hollow form here." he explained.
'And how am I supposed to do that?' Ichigo asked, 'And will I still maintain my consciousness?'
"It's not that hard, just focus on your hollow side, I can do the rest. And you'll remain conscious, your hollow powers will simply be in front, basically a reverse of what you are now. Normally you're a shinigami with hollow powers. Now you'll be a hollow with shinigami powers." he told him.
Ichigo internally nodded, focusing on his inner hollow, on the air he was breathing.
He felt his body change, his features morph, his instincts becoming stronger and stronger, it all felt natural as well, he doubted that it would if he wasn't at peace with what he was.
His transformation finally stopped, and he stood up. Rising a bit higher than he usually did.
He felt so powerful. Whereas before, every breath he took made him feel like a bit more alive, now, every breath he took felt like a snort of cocaine.
It was incredible.
He reached out with his senses, finding where the hollow that Shiro had alerted him to was, and, instantly, he was gone.
He moved faster than he ever had before, making it to the poor creature in the blink of an eye, and killing it instantly.
It wasn't even a challenge, the hollow never knew what happened to it, before it was disappearing in shower of spirit particles.
Ichigo was relieved, happy that he wasn't feeling inclined to eat the dead beast. But he still wasn't satisfied, that wasn't nearly enough to satisfy him.
And so for what felt like a couple days, although in truth it was probably only an hour or two, he ran across the deserted plains of Hueco Mundo, killing everything and anything he saw.
It wasn't a mindless killing spree, it wasn't a call for attention, it wasn't Ichigo trying to claim his power as a hollow, it was Ichigo having fun.
The rush he felt each time he killed a hollow was addictive, satisfying, but all the while, Ichigo remained conscious, he would normally be panicked by behavior like this, scared that he was going insane.
But his thought process was perfectly rational.
He knew he wouldn't do something like this to a normal human soul, hell, if one of those hollows appeared to be what Urahara had described as an arrancar, a conscious hollow with it's mask ripped off. Ichigo wouldn't kill it unless it tried to kill him.
He was simply having fun.
He knew he wasn't actually killing the hollows anyways, he was simply cleansing them and sending back to the Soul Society.
He stopped after what was probably a couple hours, not because he was tired, but he had realized long ago he would never be satisfied by the weak hollows in the area.
He turned his head around, feeling a strong hollow coming towards him, a very strong hollow.
He grinned, what he was sure was a terrifying grin in his hollow form, standing up from his sitting position in the sand, and waited.
He knew the hollow was coming for him, surely it had sensed the massive reiatsu, and had come for a fight.
He was surprised however, when the hollow appeared in front of him, calm and poised, looking at Ichigo in a calculating manner.
"Aren't you here to fight me, hollow?" Ichigo asked.
Ulquiorra blinked, surprised that the hollow was able of speech, even though it had a mouth, he wasn't expecting it to be used, "No, a strong reiatsu was sensed, so I was sent to assess if it was a threat or not. And possibly recruit it."
"A threat? That depends, who are you?" Ichigo asked.
"My name is Ulquiorra Cifer, Espada in Aizen-sama's army." Ulquiorra said calmly, "You now have two options before you, hollow. You can either come back with me to Las Noches, and become a member of Aizen-sama's army, or you can decide to refuse."
'Aizen has an army of arrancar in Hueco Mundo? That's good to know.' Ichigo thought, "I feel like I can't just simply refuse, what would happen if I did decide to say no?" Ichigo asked.
Ulquiorra's expression didn't change, although it was obvious he getting annoyed of the conversation, "If you refuse," he started, reaching for his sword, Ichigo doing the same, "I will have to eliminate you. So, what is your choice?"
"I think I'll have to refuse." he said with a smirk, unsheathing his sword, shocking Ulquiorra.
"How do you already have a sword? Are you an arr-" he was cut off as Ichigo flashed towards him almost faster than his eyes could follow, striking down at him.
Ulquiorra barely had time to react as he brought his own sword up, although he was caught by surprise at the strength behind the blow, being forced to use both his hands to block, "I thought you were going to eliminate me? What does it matter if I'm an arrancar or not?" Ichigo asked, going for a kick with his left leg.
Ulquiorra jumped back, careful to approach the fight carefully this time, he knew he would have to release in order to stand a chance against the hollow, however he abstained himself, "What is your name, hollow?" he asked.
"None of your business." Ichigo said, standing still, waiting for Ulquiorra to charge, "Aren't you going to attack me?" he had already gotten a decent glimpse at Ulquiorra's fighting style from their one bout, but he could use as much information as he could get. However it was easy to tell Ulquiorra didn't seem like the type to engage in a fight, especially not when he knew he was outmatched, so after a couple seconds, Ichigo decided he would start. He could use as much information on Aizen's army as possible.
He flashed behind Ulquiorra, slashing at his neck, a move that would reveal the most twitches in muscle memory, after all, the areas you protected the most were the ones you had the most ways to protect.
The fight continued for a small bit of time, with Ulquiorra visibly being overpowered by the hollow whom he still couldn't get the name of, "Come on, I know you're not that weak, if you are, I'll just kill you." Ichigo stated in a bored tone. Truthfully, his want for a good fight had gone away when he had stopped fighting the low level hollows and settled down, right now, he was just trying to get the most information he could on these arrancar, he might even be able to get Ulquiorra's ranking in the army, which would prove helpful.
Ulquiorra knew he would have to release at some point to survive, he had simply been trying to find a flaw in the hollow's fighting he could exploit as soon as he released, so that he could end the fight quickly. However, he hadn't found any. It was unbelievable, that a hollow would have such a perfected defense, but he resigned to the fact he would have to release, and, bringing his sword up, he said, "You want to see my release? Fine. Enclose, Murcielago.".
His body lit up, a pillar or dark light that seemed to reach to the moon of Hueco Mundo forming around him.
Ichigo watched as Ulquiorra unleashed his true potential. It was truly suffocating, for a lesser being, they would probably die from the reiatsu alone, and if they didn't, the rain of acid would surely finish them off. But Ichigo wasn't a lesser being, and all he had to do was strengthen his hierro a bit to not get harmed by the rain.
"Impressive." Ichigo said simply as the energy dissipated, revealing Ulquiorra in his released state, "However, I can tell that isn't your final form." Ulquiorra widened his eyes, how could he know? "But I'll let you off the hook, all I wanted to see was your released state. Tell me, what is your ranking in Aizen's army?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't see why I would reveal that information to you. Luz de la Luna." he said in his normal emotionless tone as a green javelin appeared in his hand.
He flashed towards Ichigo, surprising the hybrid with how speed the arrancar had gained, and thrust the javelin into Ichigo's chest, aiming to finish him off quickly, but was truly shocked when Ichigo simply brought his hand up, catching the javelin in his hand.
The sound of Ulquiorra's attack hitting against Ichigo's hand made a horrible noise, almost like somebody running their nails against a chalkboard.
Ulquiorra looked at Ichigo with wide eyes, not able to comprehend how a simple hollow could have done that, evidently, his shock proved to be his downfall, as he was punched in the jaw, being thrown across the plain and landing several hundred meters away from Ichigo.
Ichigo sonidoed to Ulquiorra, standing before his downed form, "It doesn't matter how powerful your attack is, if my reiatsu is more powerful than yours, I can stop it, that's simply how it works, so unless you have anything else to show me, you've lost." he said, his tone emotionless, staring straight at Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra stared right back, feeling like he was but an adjudas again, staring into the eyes of the hollow that would eat him, the stronger hollow. He knew he could use his second release, but he also knew it would be pointless, if the hollow could overpower him so simply in his first release, he wouldn't be able to do much in second one. It was like he had said, all that mattered in the end was who's reiatsu was stronger, "What are you waiting for? Kill me. I've lost, and in Hueco Mundo, whoever loses, dies." he looked back down, closing his eyes.
"Why do you follow Aizen?" Ulquiorra looked back towards the hollow, blinking, "There must be reason why you are siding with him, do you agree with his ideals? Did he prove his strength over you?" the creature asked, it's tone still not revealing anything, although it was clear he was interested.
"I don't know why I follow him." Ulquiorra said simply, "It's what my instincts tell me to do. As a hollow, I follow my instincts."
Ichigo raised his reiatsu as black flames started to seep out of him, licking at him, dancing around his mask. He wasn't trying to make his reiatsu feel heavy, he was making it feel commanding, powerful, "And what are your instincts telling you to do now?"
Ulquiorra looked back up at the hollow, truly, he was the image of power at the moment. For all his time around Aizen, his power had always felt forced, suffocating, not like a leader, but like a dictator. The hollow however, he felt like a true King, his power simply inspired respect, admiration, not fear, "They're telling me to follow you." Ulquiorra said.
"I see." Ichigo replied. Truthfully, he didn't want to do this, but this would undoubtedly help him in long run, if only because he could have a contact in Aizen's army. He also didn't simply want to kill everybody who was considered the 'bad guys', he knew that was a flawed concept, even if the members of Aizen's army were hollows, they were conscious beings, capable of human thoughts, and human emotion, to Ichigo, that qualified as a human. "And are you going to do what they tell you to do?" he asked.
Ulquiorra stood up, "Yes." he said, bowing low.
"Don't bow."Ichigo told him quickly. "Tell me, why would you choose me over Aizen?" he questioned.
"You're different from Aizen, he is a self-proclaimed king, for all my time with him, I always felt forced to obey him. With you however, it's natural, you inspire respect and admiration, yet you don't inspire fear, for us hollows, we long for a King that can rid us of any fear, and you are that King." Ulquiorra told him.
Ichigo couldn't say he liked that, but he accepted it as an explanation. He turned around, wondering what he should do now, "How high were you in the rankings, Ulquiorra?" he asked.
"I was the cuatro espada, meaning there are three people above me in the army." he said.
"Does that count your second release?" he inquired.
"No, but how did you know about it?" he questioned, intrigued.
"I could sense it." Ichigo explained simply, "Where would you place yourself then?"
"I would say I overpower the second espada in brute force while in my second release, however, due to his powers I would still lose against him, the first espada is fully above me however." Ulquiorra told him.
'Aizen really didn't slack with his army, if he has 3 people above Ulquiorra, then Soul Society really is in for some trouble.' Ichigo thought grimly, 'But that's what I'm here for.' he continued, smirking internally, "Do you think any of the Espada would be willing to leave Aizen?" he asked.
"The first and third Espada are extremely loyal to Aizen, however I believe their loyalties could be swayed by you. The second Espada would be a problem, even if you could gain his favor, I would suggest getting rid of him, he is too power hungry. The fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth Espada are mindless idiots, weak, I'm sure they would leave Aizen in the blink of an eye, but they would be an embarrassment to you, so I would suggest leaving them alone, as they are not a particular threat to you. The eight Espada is weak, but his purpose is as a scientist, so he might prove useful to you. The seventh Espada is also loyal to Aizen, however I don't think he would be swayed as easily, it wouldn't be worth it either, as he is a lot weaker than the first and third Espada." Ulquiorra listed off.
"I see." Ichigo couldn't alert Aizen that he was still alive, and he couldn't simply stop him too early, he had to wait until he revealed himself to Soul Society, "What are Aizen's plans for the future?"
"Gin came to Las Noches today, he told us the war with Soul Society would start in 4 months." he replied.
Ichigo nodded, trying to figure out what the best course of action was.
He had to wait for Aizen to reveal himself to Soul Society, all the while he had to lay low, so that Aizen wouldn't realise he was still alive. Then there was the problem of Urahara, he didn't know what the man would do once Yoruichi told him he had 'died', and he didn't want to enter Karakura town, Aizen obviously kept a tight watch on the city, and would know if he entered it. The best course of action was to let things go naturally until Aizen decided to attack Soul Society, during that time he would try and turn some of the Espada, namely the first and third, to his side, it would give him more firepower, since he didn't know how powerful Aizen would get with the Hogyoku now in his possession, and it would rid Aizen's army of 2 more of it's most powerful solders. He might try and find a way to get in contact with Urahara in the future, but that wasn't his main problem at the moment, what he had to do was find a way to get the first and third Espada on his side.
"Go back to Las Noches and say the hollow you encountered was stronger than you had expected, and that you require back up. I trust you to find a way to get the first and third Espada to come here." Ichigo told him.
Ulquiorra nodded, "Will you still be here?" he asked.
"Yes, I'll be waiting, not like there's much else for me to do." Ichigo replied.
He felt Ulquiorra disappear in a burst of Sonido and sighed, wondering how the hell it had gotten to this point.
He didn't reflect on those thoughts however, as he started to think of a way he could get the unknown Espada to leave Aizen.
He hoped he wouldn't have to fight them, but realistically, in Hueco Mundo, all was decided by a fight, so he knew he would have to prove his strength.
He was somewhat looking forward to it, if the arrancar were stronger than Ulquiorra by one and three ranks the fight would prove fun, but at the same time he understood he wouldn't be able to have fun with the fight, the arrancar would kill him quickly if he proved to be weak, so he would have to prove his dominance.
He walked along the plains of Hueco Mundo, even though he had told Ulquiorra he wouldn't move much, he knew the arrancar would be able to find him, after all, he was just walking.
It was oddly relaxing, he might have been in the world of the hollows, what many people would consider hell, but to him, it was pleasant, it set his mind at ease.
The empty, silent desert, illuminated by the moon, the only star in the perpetual night sky.
The empty, yet somewhat full feeling being in his hollow form made gave him.
It all made him question why he was doing this.
He could easily stay like this, walking the plains of Hueco Mundo forever, his own thoughts keeping him company, it would be much easier than all he was doing right now, he didn't even know why he was fighting this battle, sure, it was fun at times, but he often times found himself questioning whether it was worth it or not. He could as easily get a good fight by going to Las Noches and challenging the arrancar there, as stupid and suicidal as it would be.
He shook his head, dissipating the thoughts. There was no point in questioning his actions, he would do it because he wanted to, there didn't need to be any deeper motives, existential questions about life involved.
All the motivations he needed to do something was want, and that was a perfectly good justification. There was no need for him to give himself headaches thinking about philosophical reasonings behind everything he was doing. He had a want, and he would satisfy that want.
That was all he needed.
*Sees something out of the corner of his eye* Oh, I didn't see you there.
What a surprise, Ichigo isn't dead. Who could have predicted that?
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I ain't got shit to say so,
Thanks for reading.