Chapter 21: Diablo's Rest
Byakuya stood silently in front of the mirror in the dressing area of his room within the Kuchiki archive, watching as Torio dressed him in fresh clothing, then wrapped a thick, warm hooded cloak around him. He could see the worry in his attendant's eyes, and rather than brush the matter off as he might have been inclined to do, he met Torio's gaze and cleared his throat softly.
"Torio."
The young man froze, looking back at him questioningly.
"Sir?" he inquired respectfully.
"You seem troubled."
Torio considered for a moment, then sighed and nodded in agreement.
"I know that this is a dangerous journey, but…I wish very much that you would allow me to go with you and help to protect you. I assure you that, while it is partly an emotional decision to ask this, it is also sensible, considering that you and Master Tetsuya are with child, and may suffer from power fluctuations that could affect your ability to protect yourselves. And while I don't doubt that the others going with you will try to protect you, they also have to focus on their mission. If you take Koji and me, we can simply put our focus on you, so that everyone else can give their best to the mission."
Byakuya considered for a moment, then gave Torio a look of mild amusement.
"I notice that you carefully avoid mentioning your lack of trust for the man I am in love with," he noted.
A flush roared over Torio's face and he looked down at the floor.
"S-sorry," he stammered, "It is not my place to judge your decisions, of course. But…"
"But Sousuke Aizen is a dangerous man," Byakuya said calmly, "and even though I am in love with him, I fully understand that, to do so is to invite danger."
"Lord Byakuya!" Torio exclaimed anxiously.
"It is fine," the Kuchiki leader answered, nodding, "Have Tetsuya or Arashi conceal your presence, and remain that way unless there is a direct threat to us."
"Hai!" Torio said, bowing.
Byakuya watched as he left the room, pausing for a moment and inclining his head politely as he passed Aizen, who was entering.
"Sousuke, is it time to leave?" the noble asked.
"Yes. Everyone is waiting near the archive entrance."
"Ah," Byakuya said, starting towards the door.
"Wait," Aizen said, touching a hand to his shoulder.
Byakuya frowned and turned back to face him.
"What is it, Sousuke?"
"I want to speak with you for a moment before we leave."
Byakuya gave him a disapproving look.
"I hope you are not going to suggest I should stay behind," he said sternly.
"Oh, I know exactly how far that would get me," Aizen chuckled, "Even if that was my desire, the hogyoku has made it clear that it is our fate to see this through together. That being said, it will be important for you to allow the rest of us to protect you and Tetsuya."
He smirked at the derisive look he received from Byakuya in reply.
"Come now, you know that your condition is going to cause disruptions in the flow of your reiatsu. Should this happen while you are in battle…"
"I have already considered that," Byakuya said dismissively, "I suppose I cannot blame you for being concerned, but trust me when I tell you, I have prepared for this journey. You need to keep your focus on the hogyoku, and on the task that awaits us when we reach the ancient palace."
"I assure you, I will," Aizen replied, still smirking, "but I will be watching you closely, Byakuya. You carry our future inside you. Should we be lucky enough to escape this with our lives, I wish to embrace that future."
Byakuya relaxed, allowing Aizen's arms to curl around him, and he met his lover for a long, deep kiss. Then, the two left the bedroom and walked to where the rest of the group waited. Renji stood near the archive door, his arm around Tetsuya. Rukia and Ichigo stood with Orihime near Kisuke, and Byakuya could sense the two Kuchiki attendants hidden in the shadows. He moved forward and extended a hand, connecting his mind with the token he had left behind in Hueco Mundo. A glowing doorway opened up in front of them in response to the Kuchiki leader's action, and in twos, the group crossed over into Hueco Mundo.
Upon entering the desert, the group found the two spirit steeds waiting for them. Aizen joined Byakuya astride the noble's paint stallion, while Renji and Tetsuya climbed onto Tetsuya's Arabian. Kisuke nodded in approval.
"All right, you'll need to make sure you keep the infusions on a steady schedule. That will reduce the chances of power surges and failures, if we're forced to fight. We'll be heading northeast from here. There are some really nasty beasties here, so you'll all wanna watch your step. I've sent a signal out that will scare off the lesser hollows, but there's always the chance we'll run into a more troublesome one, so stick close together."
The group moved forward, their eyes peering into the darkness, watching and sensing for any kind of threat.
"Ichigo, I want you to take to the air and scout a little ahead of us, so we don't get surprised by anything."
He watched as the shinigami substitute removed the flight device that Yoruichi had given him, and rose up into the air, where he began to scan the area around them.
Rukia walked alongside Orihime, the two chatting softly as they went. The group progressed without incident for several hours before being forced to find shelter in a rocky cave as a sandstorm swept through.
"How are you doing?" Renji asked Tetsuya, smirking as his husband removed some rations from his pack and began to eat, "You look like the cravings have started up again."
"Mmhmm," Tetsuya agreed.
Renji chuckled as he spotted Byakuya availing himself of his own rations.
"Looks like you're not the only one."
Aizen watched through amused eyes as Byakuya devoured the rations he had taken from his pack.
"Are you comfortable, other than being very hungry?" he asked, earning a smoky look from the noble.
"I am fine. Do not worry. I am taking care of myself."
"Of course. The hogyoku assures me that your physical state at the moment is stable."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"He also wishes for me to tell you that he is glad that my bankai was able to save you. He is working tirelessly to assist me in choosing the path that will lead to the desire you indicated to him. He…wishes to do this as a last gift before exiting my body."
Byakuya paused, drawing in and holding a breath, then exhaling slowly.
"Do you think he will speak with me?" the noble asked.
"Perhaps."
Aizen opened his shirt, exposing the orb that was still fused with his chest. Taking a steadying breath, Byakuya let his fingertips touch the crystal, and after a moment, felt his surroundings change as he was drawn into the hogyoku's inner world. The spirit sat quietly on a little hilltop, beneath a tree, looking down into a pond in front of him.
"Byakuya," he greeted the noble.
"Hogyoku," Byakuya answered, sitting down beside him and following his gaze to the water's surface.
"You didn't need to come here."
"No," Byakuya agreed, "I wanted to come here. I know your heart is still troubled. I want to be a comfort to you…a friend."
"You've already been that," the spirit assured him, "I think you can sense that, since you and I began our interactions, my understanding has grown tremendously. I have a much stronger feeling of connection with the world outside this place, and I feel a longing to be a part of it."
"Yes."
"I'm still afraid."
"Of course you are," Byakuya acknowledged, "You are a spirit who has been denied the experience of our kind of life. Your life, so far, has been dictated by the needs and desires of others, and it is only now that you begin to feel and respond to your own desires."
"There is so much danger in following those desires," the spirit mused, blinking slowly, "I have been protected in the orb for so long, carelessly playing with the volatile pieces of other spirits' lives and never really taking consequence much into mind."
"You have become much wiser since this all began."
The spirit nodded.
"I see now the mistakes of my master, and I have a path I wish to follow. I wait only for our separation now. I just hope that the answer is within the ancient palace. Everything in me says that my fate will be decided there. It is an end…and it is a beginning."
The spirit made a sound of surprise as Byakuya's slender hand slipped into his.
"Things are going to change," the noble acknowledged, "but I think you see now the potential in the future."
"I'm frightened sometimes about losing the ability to connect with the future we are heading towards, but all indications are that this part of the path is already set."
"I will see you through the separation," Byakuya promised, "I will stay close to you. I will help you, if I can."
"You already have helped me," the spirit said gratefully.
He paused to look up into the sky.
"You have helped him too."
Byakuya's head tilted slightly.
"Hmm, I am not sure how," the noble mused, smirking slightly, "I doubt that even the presence of a mate and child is going to do much in the way of taming Aizen's wicked nature."
"Ah, if you really believed that, you would not be radiating such a desire to be one with him. It is changing him, Byakuya. There is no denying that Aizen Sousuke will always be a dangerous man, but you have defied fate and found what is left of his heart. He has formed a trust with you, and that is saying something. Byakuya, you can save him. You can prevent him going back to the prison. Just do not stray from the path. Keep your focus on saving him."
Byakuya paused, letting the words sink in.
Is this just an admonition to remain focused? Or is the hogyoku spirit saying something more?
"Hogyoku…"
The spirit smiled.
"It's time for you to go back," he said quietly, touching Byakuya's face lightly as the noble began to fade out, "Thank you, Byakuya…and goodbye."
Byakuya opened his eyes to find himself back within the cave, and warm in his lover's embrace. Aizen observed him silently for a moment before speaking.
"His soul feels more peaceful," he commented finally, "He is grateful to you, both for all you have done for him, and also for you going back once more to see him before we reach our destination, and our fate plays out."
"Sousuke, I think that he may have seen his own death," Byakuya said anxiously, "While he did not say anything to indicate this, there is something unsettling in his behavior."
"Yes, I have felt this too," Aizen agreed, "but remember that the hogyoku has been changed by his interactions with you and me. He has grown, but in growing, he has lost some of his ability to see the future clearly. It is a natural thing as he prepares to become mortal, that he would lose that foresight in stages. So, as we move forward from here, he will have less of an ability to see. He will be more human. And is that not what you had in mind when you counseled him before?"
"Yes," Byakuya admitted, "but I did not have it in mind that just being brought to life would end immediately in his death!"
Aizen's hand squeezed Byakuya's gently.
"You don't know that it will end that way," he insisted, "I understand that your instincts are causing you to see the potential for disaster in this, but you need to trust him and you need to trust yourself."
Aizen smirked.
"I won't ask you to trust me," he added.
"But, you have," Byakuya accused him gently, "In reassuring me, you ask me to trust your vision of the future. But none of us really sees."
"When have we ever?" Aizen sighed, running his fingers through the silken lengths of his lover's dark hair, "Even when I was making my plans, it was, in fact, arrogance to think I knew how things would play out. I made my play for godhood, and I failed to achieve it."
Byakuya was quiet for a moment.
"You did not really want to be a god," he acknowledged, "What you wanted, and what you still want…perhaps what you have always wanted, is justice. And through the hogyoku, you will have that."
"You truly believe this?" Aizen asked, shaking his head, "I'm not so sure."
"Well, I am," Byakuya said firmly, "Every step I take now is taken with a firm vision of the future I desire for us. And I feel in you that I am not alone in that vision. As much as you try to pretend that you would not indulge, you do have the same dream, Sousuke."
"Ah, but I do not have the faith to let fate move on its own."
"We are not letting fate move on its own," Byakuya said with certainty, "We are playing our role…using our wants, needs and desires to make choices that will shape our future. None of us knows exactly what will be. We only have hope."
"I suppose you are right."
The two looked up, pausing in their conversation as Kisuke approached them.
"Looks like the sandstorm has passed," he informed the group, "We should move on."
The shinigamis left the cave, pausing as Kisuke and Aizen conferred about the direction. They headed out, across the sand, their eyes searching the area around them that seemed to have gone ominously quiet.
"We're getting close," Kisuke said, studying the area ahead of them, "You feel that?"
Byakuya drew in a breath, closing his eyes and extending his senses. Almost immediately, he felt a radiant throb of power that seemed to encompass the area for miles ahead of them.
"Damn, even I sense that," Ichigo pondered, looking unsettled, "What the heck?"
"It is the spirit of the ancient palace," Aizen said solemnly, "The soul of the old hollow king is at rest, but his reiatsu still radiates through the area."
"Anyone know where the door to this place is?" Renji joked, "Could be anywhere."
"The spirit of the hogyoku informs me that it is a short distance ahead," Aizen answered.
The group moved forward more slowly, all of them attending to the area all around them, wary of impending danger. But despite the almost choking reiatsu all around them, nothing moved within the radius of burgeoning power.
"Huh," Ichigo mused, shaking his head, "and all of this is coming from a dead god?"
"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, "You know, it's kind of like the situation with Ywach. Even dead, all of that gathered reiatsu has to dissipate. It's just astounding to think that this dead king's reiatsu is still this strong after a thousand years or more."
The shopkeeper slowed as he sensed a shift in the power around them. Little flashes of light flickered warningly as they proceeded forward a short distance, then Kisuke stopped them.
"It's here," he said softly.
Aizen stepped forward, opening his shirt and exposing the hogyoku, which began to glow and pulsate in response. The ground rumbled beneath the waiting group, and very slowly, the doorway opened.