CHAPTER 20: SHIKAI

"GAH!" cried out Alicia Anders as she flew the air, landing hard upon the grassy meadow, a plume of plant matter thrown up into the air from her impact, and her wakizashi zanpakuto flying out of her hands. Beyond her Shakuho Hitokage, his chest still wrapped in fresh bandages, glared disappointedly at her with his flamboyant, long red-handled zanpakuto in hand. Off to the left a ways off Kisuke Uruhara and Shigeryu both shook their heads depressedly.

"Not good enough!" called out Shakuho sternly. "Get back up and come at me again! I'm wounded so gravely, yet you can't even make me flinch!" Alicia tepidly arose, brushing off a small streak of blood off her lip. She then raised Elizabeth and ran at Shakuho, screaming an unfortunately humorous battle cry as she charged.

"Still not good enough…" muttered Shakuho, and seemingly without effort Alicia once again was sent flying, meeting a similar fate as before.

"W-What am I doing wrong?" whimpered Alicia, getting up to one knee but wincing as she held her right arm.

"Everything!" shouted Shakuho coldly. "You form is too rigid! Your strikes are too weak! You have no emotion behind your attacks!" Alicia felt her body tremble as she heard these words, sorrow sneaking into her soul.

"I-I'm sorry…" she started, but Shakuho wouldn't have any of it.

"In order to fight and win, one needs to dispose of the fear of hurting another," stated Shakuho, stunning Alicia and gathering her complete attention. "If you want to win, you have to let go of this fear! You cannot be afraid to hurt me! You have to attack me with the intent to kill me, nothing wavering! Unless you do this your enemies will always gain the upper hand!"

"Y-yes…" stuttered Alicia, after which she gave a quick bow, gripped her sword, and charged again at Shakuho.

"It's only been two hours…" observed Shigeryu, his wild-looking appearance somewhat sated as he watched Shakuho and Alicia battling in the distance. "But she seems to be making a lot of progress, doesn't she Kisuke? Kisuke??" Shigeryu turned to look at Kisuke, whose eyes were gazing unwavering at Alicia in the distance. In them Shigeryu could see only a deep concern, almost fear, and upon noticing this the former henchman of the Viajante gulped audibly.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed…" said Kisuke softly, almost under his breath.

"Notice what?" asked Shigeryu, but Kisuke's gaze did not change.

"Since coming to Soul Society, something has felt strange about that woman…" continued the shopkeeper. "At first I thought it was nothing, but…" Beyond Alicia gave another battle yell and slashed at Shakuho, their two swords meeting with a mighty clash of steel.

"I've though that she had a strange way of reaching a person's heart," said Shigeryu after a moment. "When she brought me here, and when she spoke to me, it felt like she was directly affecting my spirit just with her words…but I didn't think anything of it, just that she is good with empathy."

"And indeed she is," replied Kisuke. "She would have to be in order to convince a zanpakuto to blindly join and follow her…but even that is something beyond a human's sympathetic ability."

"So you're saying she isn't human?"

"No, she definitely is just a human," continued Kisuke. "But stop and feel her spirit for a moment…" Kisuke and Shakuho both closed their eyes and stood silently as Alicia continued gaining confidence in fighting against Shakuho with her wakizashi. First came a battle cry, this more confident than the others, then the clash of steel, and it was then that Shigeryu felt it.

"What is that?!" he gasped, his eyes flying open. Next to him Kisuke opened his eyes slowly and took a deep breath, his face shadowed underneath his green and white hat.

"Whenever she exerts herself emotionally it seems to leak out," said Kisuke after a moment. "I think that when she witnessed her husband dying it broke loose, which is why I didn't notice it when she first arrived at my shop."

"This reiatsu…" observed Shigeryu breathlessly. "It's like a hollow…"

"That's what I thought at first," corrected Kisuke. "But pay attention to it again. It isn't the same quality and feel as a hollow, but I'm sure that, with time, it may become that."

"But it seems so much more chaotic…" said Shigeryu, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "This is beyond even a Menos…"

"It is intense like a Vasto Lorde's reiatsu, but at the same time completely different," continued Kisuke. "While standing here, I have tried analyzing it, but it seems to be a unique phenomenon, something completely isolated to her spirit."

"But what could have created something like this inside of her?"

"That's what I would like to know," replied Kisuke. "But, it would appear that her soul is unconsciously restricting this negative nature, and possibly even feeding off from it and using it for good."

"So her soul does have a hidden power?" asked Shigeryu, but Kisuke didn't immediately respond. "Kisuke?"

"I don't know," he replied after several moments. "Let's hope nothing comes of this." Kisuke was silent from then on, instead focusing on the battle ahead.

Alicia gave another cry and slashed at Shakuho, though this time he actually had to dodge her well-timed and accurate strike. The former third seat leapt back, leaned over in discomfort from his chest wound for a moment, and placed his sword back in its hilt and smiled.

"Good," he said approvingly. "I would like to teach you proper fighting technique, obviously, but time is too short for that. Instead we will focus on the basics and hope for good luck." Alicia's shoulders dropped and her lovely face instead became annoyed.

"These guys destroyed the world, and you're just teaching me the basics?" asked Alicia. "What makes you think someone like me can handle them?! I can barely fight as it is!"

"Actually you've done quite well," countered Shakuho. "It took days for your husband, Aiseki, just to get me to step back while fighting; yet here you have done the same in a matter of two hours. Granted, I am severely weakened still, and your intent to kill could use a lot of work, but you seem born to be a warrior; it is peculiar indeed since you are just a normal human…"

"Okay, so, what's next?" asked Alicia, straightening her posture again. "What's the next step?"

"Thus far you have only been fighting with your zanpakuto in its normal or base form," declared Kisuke. "You may not know this, but Elizabeth can be released further, given additional strength, power, and other abilities not normally found within a soul. When a shinigami releases their zanpakuto, the two souls begin to mix and meld, becoming a stronger being than before. This release, Alicia, is the next step."

"Elizabeth has another state?" asked Alicia curiously, looking down at her seemingly plain, though beautiful, zanpakuto.

"Two, actually," answered Shakuho. "But for now only one is reasonable. This first release is called shikai, and usually takes a shinigami quite some time to achieve and master; that said it is our hope that you will achieve this today."

"Sure," replied Alicia nonchalantly, and it was clear that this attitude bothered Shakuho.

"No, you don't understand," he said as he wiped his forehead with his hand. "This is strenuous, deep, hard training. You shouldn't be so relaxed going…"

"How about we just do this?" interrupted Alicia. "I have just watched my husband get murdered; I don't need to be lectured, and I understand fully how bad the situation is. So rather than give me the fifth degree, lets just do this, okay?" Alicia turned away from Shakuho and didn't look back, and Shakuho hung his head.

"Yeah…" he muttered. "Kisuke, she's all yours." Without another word Shakuho walked towards Shigeryu, Kisuke already walking towards him and Alicia.

"Don't take it personally, Shakuho," said Kisuke as the two passed each other. "It has been hard on all of us."

"I know," said Shakuho quickly. "Don't hurt her, okay?"

"No promises," said Kisuke with a wry smile, soon thereafter Shakuho had joined Shigeryu on the sidelines while Kisuke faced a thoroughly focused though saddened Alicia.

"You should be easier on her," said Shigeryu softly to Shakuho as the latter approached. "She's doing well anyway; I'm sure she'll learn shikai very soon." Shakuho did not reply, however; instead he passed right by Shigeryu and walked back to the makeshift camp without a word, motion, or even acknowledgement of Shigeryu's presence.

Gee, what's his problem? thought Shigeryu as he gazed confusedly with his wild eyes and pointed face at his former foe. Back in the center of the meadow, however, Kisuke stood calmly before an anxious and ready Alicia, who held out her zanpakuto before her, ready to attack at any moment.

"I see the desire to fight within you," said Kisuke after a moment from behind a small fan held in front of his face. "But for this part of your crash-course training, there is to be no such thing."

"What?" asked Alicia, loosening her stance. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"First of all, you must listen," replied Kisuke. "Please, take a seat upon the ground and relax." Kisuke himself then sat down cross-legged upon the ground, fanning his face in the cool morning air. After an awkward second Alicia followed suit, placing Elizabeth on the ground before her.

"Okay, now what?" pressed Alicia, at which point Kisuke laughed.

"Patience, patience!" he said jovially. "One usually spends years devoted to intense training to achieve what you are about to undertake. However, due to the necessity of time, we are going to attempt to do so in a matter of hours. It will likely be deep into the night before you succeed, and even that is a long shot. You see, we need as much strength as we can get if we are to stop the Viajante, and in order to up our chances we need you to unlock some of the powers held by your zanpakuto.

"Each zanpakuto has three levels: a base form, which is just a plain katana, with no real ability or special significance; a first heightened level, or shikai; and a second heightened level, or bankai. Bankai is an ultimate form of one's zanpakuto, but seriously requires great endurance and a minimum of at least three days to learn, given, of course, the proper equipment…which I will admit we do not have with us. As this is the case, bankai training will have to be neglected; however shikai training is something with at least some possibility.

"To learn this state, one must create a dialogue between one's self and their zanpakuto. So please, if you will, take your zanpakuto into your hands lightly, and relax as deeply as you can. Listen for the whispers of your zanpakuto, and commune with it." Alicia nodded and did as requested, taking her wakizashi and resting it upon her right palm and left knee as she too sat cross-legged.

The new substitute shinigami then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her breathing becoming slow and deliberate, until slowly her muscles loosened and her heart rate slowed. In her mind a profound silence emerged, driving out all the hectic thoughts that had broken their way in, and soon she found herself sitting silently without any mental distraction.

Alicia, it's me, Elizabeth… said a voice deep within her soul so still and soft, yet penetrating to the degree where every word made her spirit shake. I know that you are in a hurry, and I know that my former master spent years learning my secrets. However, for you I am willing to help you along…but I have forgotten the names of my abilities and their declarations…

What should I do then? thought Alicia in response. I can't possibly find them…

I am a part of your soul now, replied Elizabeth. Perhaps you can redefine them for me…

Alicia suddenly felt a cool breeze upon the skin of her slender and lovely face, and the sound of high, rushing wind above her. To these she opened her eyes, only to find herself sitting atop a rocky peak set high above the clouds, a ridge of mountains and peaks extending beyond and behind her endlessly. No life, no plants, nothing but rock and snow surrounded her, and after a moment of realization she noticed that in fact she was not alone. Beyond on the first, nearest peak, rising from the same summit only a few dozen yards in front of her and to the right stood a lovely blonde woman dressed in a fine, gorgeous Celtic dress of silver with a long sapphire inlay that ran from her chest to the ground.

"Welcome to my new world, Alicia," said Elizabeth with a courteous bow and a kind smile, her long, shimmering hair blowing gently through the breeze.

"Where is this place?" gasped Alicia. "Where have you taken me?"

"Where?" asked Elizabeth with a chuckle. "This is your soul, Alicia! Don't tell me you don't recognize it…"

"My soul…?" wondered Alicia aloud, now looking around more carefully. "To be honest, I never imagined it like this…"

"Perhaps, but you cannot deny that it is yours," continued Elizabeth. "And although I've only been with you for a day, I can tell you that this is indeed the inner world of Alicia Anders. You feel so lonely in you soul, all alone without anyone besides your late husband. These peaks represent this loneliness; upon your own peak you stand, only able to look across the void at others, thinking all the while that though they are likely equidistant from even others, from your vantage they all look so close and friendly with one another. Yet there you stand, alone and cold, with no family, looking out across space with a desire to be loved again, to be held and cherished by other souls…but now, Alicia, you are not alone, nor am I. Together in your soul, we shall grow and destroy the loneliness."

"I…" started Alicia, but she felt unable to speak any more words due to the lump welling in her soul.

"But now that you are here, Alicia, I shall teach you the power that we now hold together," said Elizabeth warmly, putting peace into Alicia's soul and dissipating the emotions welling up in her heart. "Now, please stand." Alicia did as told by her zanpakuto and stood up on the rocky pinnacle.

"I am ready to listen, Elizabeth," said Alicia, to which Elizabeth smiled.

"Good," replied the zanpakuto. "As Kisuke said, a zanpakuto like me can be released to higher states of existence. Don't worry, though; it does not cause me pain, and in fact I have been most anxious to show you what my former mistress and I achieved so long ago." With those words a wakizashi appeared in Elizabeth's right hand, identical in every to the one Alicia held, from the short, polished blade, the plain-looking hand guard, even to the sapphire wrappings upon the handle. Elizabeth then held the wakizashi out, her arm extended perpendicular to her body, the blade likewise perpendicularly pointed out. For a moment she stood like this…but even after thirty seconds nothing happened.

"What…what are you doing?" asked Alicia. "Nothing is happening…"

"Of course not," replied Elizabeth. "As I said before, I am now a part of your soul, and I have been exonerated and completely removed from Kisaki Shihoin's soul. As such, I no longer remember the names of my techniques, but you, my new mistress, have the power to help me by renaming them."

"Why do I have to rename them if they already have names?" asked Alicia. Beyond her Elizabeth laughed politely as though Alicia had told a joke.

"Because contrary to popular shinigami belief, a zanpakuto's techniques are not something the zanpakuto has alone, but rather they are something inherent that grows and is part of a shinigami's soul as a result of union with a zanpakuto. In other words, they aren't my techniques – they are our techniques. Now then, Alicia Anders, you, like my former mistress, both have souls that, despite their unmoving appearance like this mountain, are desirous to flow freely from feeling to feeling, from state to state, much like a river of pure, clean water. With this in mind, picture your heart becoming fluid, spreading across the land however you desired. Imagine the joy that comes with this freedom, this eternal, glorious freedom, and speak the words that come not to your mind, nor your intelligence…but from the depths of your very soul."

Alicia closed her eyes and thought of the imagery presented by Elizabeth; truly it warmed and caused her soul to be overjoyed to feel so free, so fluid, and free, unbound by any barrier of sadness or grief. In her mind's eye she felt all the beautiful earth beneath her, filling the wilderness, the mountains, the valleys, the meadows, the rivers and lakes, even the whole of beauty in the earth. In this states her soul leapt with joy, and her mouth opened, from it springing the words that her heart wished to speak.

"Flow forth from the meadows green, from the mountains high, from the rivers deep. Forge out your path despite all obstacles, and proceed onward till eternity, ever pressing, ever flowing, ever filling all of nature in its beauty and glory. Flow forth, Elizabeth."

Alicia felt a cool, misty air flow past her face, and she opened her eyes with amazement. Beyond her, Elizabeth's sword had changed; no longer was it a plain wakizashi of little desire, now instead a thing of power. In place of a blade a stream of turbulent, high-speed water shot out, dispersing after several meters and giving the appearance of a twenty-foot blade of water. Elizabeth looked upon her sword with pleasant contentment and swung it around as if testing it, the long blade of rushing water following her hands as though it were a solid piece of steel.

"A-amazing…!" gasped Alicia, to which Elizabeth smiled happily.

"Thank you, Alicia," said Elizabeth with a sparkle in her eyes. "This is my first state, my shikai, and now it has a declaration. Remember those words in your heart and mind, and soon you will be able to summon it with only a few words rather than such a long, poetic phrase. Now then, let me show you the true power of this shikai." Elizabeth gave her shikai a mighty swing off to her right, and the water which had appeared to be attached to the hand guard shot off as a grand – though somewhat terrifying – arc or razor-sharp water that pierced the rocks of the mountainous landscape, shattering them and spraying them in all directions.

"Whoa…" said Alicia subtly at this display. "That's…that's…"

"What is it?" asked Elizabeth. "Surely you know what this is called?"

"I…" started Alicia, but before she could respond negatively a thought came to her. She did know this; after all, Elizabeth's powers were a mixture of both of them, and as such this technique was part of Alicia's soul. "It is the Grand Arc of Elizabeth, the Uisge Báis…" these words seemed to leave Alicia's lips effortlessly, despite the fact that she had never before uttered them.

"Then so shall it forever be known," said Elizabeth happily. "I am so happy to have been found by you, Alicia Anders. Ours is truly a glorious shikai, as is the Grand Arc. But now that you have seen it, the difficulty begins. You must go back to reality and create this shikai in reality; I will be there for you, but keep in mind that our bond is still young, and as such the results may not be as you expect them to be at first. Now then, until our next engagement…" Elizabeth's shikai vanished, and she gave a long bow towards Alicia, after which Alicia closed her eyes once more.

"So, Alicia-san!" exclaimed Kisuke gleefully, startling Alicia and ridding her of the comfort she had just previously found herself in. "What have you learned in these last five hours?" Alicia's eyes sprung open with shock.

"Five hours?" she asked in disbelief, but true to Kisuke's words, the sun was already past noon, the air was warmer (though it did feel stale and lifeless, just as it had back in the real world for the previous three months, ever since the discovery of the loss of childbirth), and Shigeryu was sound asleep on the ground beyond them. "Was I really gone for that long?"

"Each soul is different from the other," stated Kisuke with a strange, inappropriate smile. "Those who are new shinigami, or just those who are new to reiatsu in general, may find that journeys into their own souls may go by far slower than real time. Nonetheless, I take it from your pleasant expression the last couple of hours that something good has happened?"

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Alicia happily, and she stood up and held out her wakizashi in the same manner Elizabeth had used earlier. "Flow forth from the meadows green, from the mountains high, from the rivers deep. Forge out your path despite all obstacles, and proceed onward till eternity, ever pressing, ever flowing, ever filling all of nature in its beauty and glory. Flow forth, Elizabeth!" Alicia waited for the blade to spray out like Elizabeth's, and her face was alight with excitement as she waited, but nothing happened. All that she held was her normal, unexciting wakizashi, and Kisuke chuckled beneath his fan.

"Looks like we still have some work, doesn't it?" he said, though to Alicia she couldn't tell whether he was mocking her or being serious.

"It's supposed to…" she started, but Kisuke cut her off.

"Don't be sad, Alicia-san," he said, his voice now comforting. "What we have asked of you would be looked upon as abusive and impossible by any other shinigami. However, we are all in agreement that you carry with you some great power, unseen and difficult at times, yes, but definitely present. We are counting on you and your power to help save Soul Society, but more than that, we believe wholeheartedly in you. So don't be discouraged, Alicia-san; after all, you have accomplished more in just a few hours than many shinigami do in decades. Now then, let your soul relax, and try again."

"Okay," said Alicia humbly, and she drew a breath to speak again, the afternoon now upon them, and time slowly, but surely, running out.

--

Yoruichi Shihoin appeared like a ghost on the meadow deep in the forests far west of Rukongai, her dark, deep violet hair shimmering in the afternoon sunlight as she peered around the scene. Earlier she had felt Captain Kurotsuchi's reiatsu suddenly appear and vanish from this area, but her hours of searching had yielded no positive results. This time, however, her search came to an end.

"Oh no…!" she gasped aloud as she saw Captain Kurotsuchi lying face down upon the ground in the tall grasses. She quickly ran to him, but upon arriving at his side it was painfully clear – he was already long dead, his body pierced and his arm cut cleanly off, still clutching his now-reverted zanpakuto.

"I'm too late…" she said softly to herself, glancing down at Kurotsuchi's body, but then the thought struck her – clearly he couldn't have been killed by blades alone. This was Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, whose body could be converted into liquid if emergency dictated. Yoruichi knelt down and observed the wounds in his sides more closely.

"These wounds have no poison in them, nor any unusual traces of reiatsu…" she observed out loud, gently probing the wounds with her fingers. "These couldn't have killed him…not with his messed up body…but it feels like his soul has been…" Suddenly her eyes widened in shock, and without a moment's hesitation she vanished once again, this time racing through shunpo back to camp as fast as she could.

It's starting all over again…

--

Deep in Sereitei, the court of Pure Souls, and within the barracks of Squad One of the Court Protection Squads, Captain-Commander Genryuusai Yamamoto struck the bottom of his long, curving cane hard again the floor of the shadowed, long room. He then took a deep breath and addressed the eight figures of varying shapes and sizes lined up on either side of the room before, all dressed in similar white cloaks with kanji numbers written upon their backs and diamond patterns along the hems and seams.

"Captains of the Thirteen Protection Squads!" he declared forcefully in his shaky, ancient, yet surprisingly intense and powerful voice that filled the room with a spirit pressure not often found therein. "We are at war!"

Next chapter: THE DEMON OF SEREITEI

BONUS!

"Declan! DECLAN!" called out Lucian, panting heavily as he caught up to Declan who still wore a grumpy and unpleasant look upon his face. "Declan, please forgive me! I'm sorry I lied!"

"I don't care," said Declan coldly.

"But…" pleaded Lucian, but Declan shook his head in the negative.

"I can't trust you, Lucian," said Declan. "Not after this." Lucian suddenly started fishing around his white cloak and pockets, and after a moment he pulled out several objects.

'What if I gave you this keychain heart?" he asked with a smile. "It looks just like yours, only smaller and cute!"

"No," replied Declan, turning his head and walking away.

"Or this autographed piece of parchment with Malik El-Gendy's name on it? Huh?"

"Lucian, you think I'm going to forgive you if you give me something like that?" asked Declan in an annoyed tone. "Just leave me alone…"

"What about this small, stuffed figurine?" asked Lucian, holding up the little doll in the shape of a cat-like woman. "She's all furry, see?" Declan stopped suddenly, his shoulders raised as if about to let loose a terror upon Lucian, but as he turned his eyes were far different, now looking like a puppy's.

"Furry…?" asked Declan in a meek voice.