The Challenge – Chap. 25
A/N: The outfits Aizen and Orihime are wearing in this story can be seen in the cover icon or in greater detail on the very talented Child of the Ashes' deviantart page, child-of-the-ashes. deviantart dot com /art/The-Empress-and-the-Magician-302051562 (remove the spaces for the link). She very kindly made that fanart for me. Amazingly, it was drawn before the last chapter was written, but it captures the spirit of the pairing in this story beautifully. Thank you so much, Child of the Ashes!
Thanks to all my reviewers, including anonymous reviewers Sachianna, Guest, Jade, QueenBlade, shelleydreadfull, boho, someone, mella and wanda lensherr for their very kind words about the last two chapters. I really appreciate the support for this work. This is not a conventional 'good guy defeats the villain' story, so support from you makes a difference to me.
(Originally posted 8/11/12.)
XxXxXxX
They stood in the skies above Karakura Town, arrayed in all their finery, Orihime and Ulquiorra flanking Aizen as Gin and Tousen once had. Below them, a bell tower began to strike noon.
In a sudden flash, Yamamoto was there, accompanied by an entourage of more than a dozen Soul Reapers, Vizards, and… Ichigo.
Orihime bit her lip at the sight of her friend. His eyes widened as he saw her at Aizen's side, and she saw him take in the richness of her clothing and settle on the hairpins visible in her diadem. He was scowling, and she could tell he was puzzled and angry.
Rukia stood stiffly, her face set not in a furious but a grieving scowl. Orihime stared at her in distress. Her grief seemed out of proportion to Orihime. Could something far worse than the potential betrayal of a friend have happened?
But then her attention was drawn back to Yamamoto as the man thumped his staff in the air and a hollow boom sounded. Beside him, Rukia lifted an elaborately filigreed metal chest about the size of a breadbox.
Orihime glanced at Aizen. His eyes were fixed on the chest, and a smirk of triumph curled his lips. She could sense the colossal power emanating from the chest, barely held in check by some type of binding spell holding the device closed.
Yamamoto took several steps forward. "Aizen!" he called, glaring under beetled brows at the other man.
Aizen merely smiled at the angry shout and said nothing. But Orihime could sense his nonverbal response; Aizen was raising his power ever so slowly. She could feel his incredibly dense reiatsu rising; she could see it buffeting the shinigami in the front row of Yamamoto's entourage. She noticed something else odd and glanced down at her own hands. To her surprise, they were glowing. She shot a quick glance at Aizen and saw that there also seemed to be radiance emanating from underneath his skin, and that Ulquiorra was giving off the same illumination.
The light was so bright now it was shining on their counterparts in Yamamoto's group. Orihime saw them beginning to squint, and a few of them turned away. Others raised a hand to their brows to shade their eyes from the brilliance.
"Aizen!" shouted Yamamoto again. "Enough!" he demanded, pounding his staff. "We are here to sign a treaty, not to engage in a pointless display of power dominance!"
Aizen was quiet and his face remained serene. But the brilliance of the light surrounding the three of them ebbed slightly. "It is only pointless, Captain-commander," he pointed out softly, "if you are the one being dominated."
Yamamoto growled, "Are you ready to sign?"
"May I inspect the King's Key?" asked Aizen, his tone flawlessly polite.
The old man made a gesture and Rukia strode forward, the chest upheld in both hands. She stopped and Yamamoto removed the binding spells with a flick of his hand. At once the lid flew open and Orihime saw that inside, nestled on a bed of red velvet, lay a small cylindrical object about the size of a blackboard eraser. With the lid open, the raw energy pouring out of the device was more pronounced. She could see that Rukia was panting under the effort of holding the container still. Aizen's reiatsu was unaffected by the power emanating from the Key; his face was abstracted as he probed the object, and then he nodded.
"Good. It is satisfactory," he stated. He inclined his head. "I am now prepared to seal a treaty of alliance with you, Captain-commander." He waved his hand and Ulquiorra stepped forward with a roll of parchment. "I trust you will find this satisfactory?"
Yamamoto glared, and Orihime could see that he had wanted to present a version of the document himself. His eyes flicked to Kyouraku, who stood at his side holding a folio that appeared to contain parchment, and then returned to Aizen. "We will read your document," he ground out, "and determine if it is satisfactory. If not, then you will sign our version."
Aizen inclined his head but said nothing as Yamamoto took the rolled-up parchment and began to read.
Everyone was silent as the old man perused the document. The only sounds were the muted noises of traffic seventy stories below them on the streets of downtown Karakura. Aizen's expression remained calm and pleasant as he waited patiently for the old man to finish reading.
At last the man looked up, and Orihime felt a note of suspicion muted by surprise in the Captain-commander's reiatsu.
"This is acceptable," he stated. Kyouraku handed him a pen and he signed it. The parchment duplicated itself magically and Aizen signed it as well. The two leaders bowed to each other, and then Aizen turned to Rukia. She moved as if to give him the entire chest, but he simply plucked the glowing cylinder from its velvet bed.
His eyes glittered as he finally held the object he had sought for so long. "Thank you, soutaichou, for placing the Key in my hands."
The old man's face stiffened slightly at the mocking tone of Aizen's words, but he said nothing.
"Now then," Aizen went on. "I suppose you'd like me to return to Seireitei to destroy these pesky invaders, correct?" He tilted his head as a smirk teased his lips. "As an escaped prisoner, what guarantees do I have that I can return without harm?"
Yamamoto's eyes narrowed fractionally. "It was all written out in the document we both signed, Aizen."
"I want to hear it from your lips, soutaichou," Aizen drawled lazily.
In a stilted tone, the old man said, biting off each word, "Sousuke Aizen is hereby pardoned of all crimes and offered a position as honorary captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads."
Aizen nodded and made a sweeping gesture at the crowd around them. "Ah, and before witnesses, Captain-commander. You have my thanks. I accept your gracious offer." His face stilled. "But I shall remember the words you said to me earlier, soutaichou. Never forget that." Then his expression relaxed and became amiable. "For now, I am ready to fight at your side, along with my armies."
He paused, studying each of his former opponents' faces. Then he turned his head and called, "Come, Szayel and Grimmjow."
At his words, huge gargantas cracked open the heavens, and in the dark slashes in the blue sky, the vast armies of the former Lord of Las Noches could be seen, massed and waiting.
Aizen said casually, "Szayel and other agents of mine recaptured Hueco Mundo this morning, and mobilized all my forces there and in the world of the living. We are now ready to push back the Vandenreich in Soul Society." He turned to Yamamoto. "If you will do us the honor of opening a senkaimon, sir, we shall follow you back to Seireitei."
The old man's eyes traveled over the masses of soldiers awaiting Aizen's command. He suddenly looked very old and tired. Then with a sigh he turned and cast the spell to open the senkaimon, and allow the former traitor and his minions free access to the center of Soul Society.
XxXxXxX
Orihime looked up at Aizen as they strode through the Dangai precipice corridor. His face was stern but pensive, though still lit with that unearthly radiance.
"Aizen-sama," she said, screwing up her determination, "Please don't send me away. I want to fight at your side."
"Hm?" He looked down at her, distracted, and his brows lowered. "What?"
"I want to fight at your side," she repeated. "Don't leave me behind in some 'safe location.'"
Aizen raised a brow. "Of course. Did you think I would want you anywhere else?" One corner of his mouth turned up. "I need your power, Orihime. I am not like those humans who think you are merely a fragile flower to be protected." His eyes darkened. "I have been saying from the beginning that your power is that of a god. Don't tell me you believed them and not me?"
She looked up at him, astonished. He was smiling now as his lips brushed the top of her head. "I need you, Orihime. I need you by my side."
She threw back her shoulders subtly, hearing that confidence in her that she had so rarely heard before, that belief in whatever she could accomplish. She met his eyes and gave a firm nod. "I will stay by you, Aizen-sama, and give my life to help you."
He smiled again. "That won't be necessary, my dear. We shall both stay alive. But—there is one small matter."
She looked up at him in inquiry.
"Enough of this 'Aizen-sama' from you. Call me Sousuke," he murmured.
She blushed and dropped her eyes. "All right… Sousuke."
XxXxXxX
Aizen had gone on ahead to confer with various others on military strategy against the Vandenreich, leaving Orihime walking by herself through the Dangai. She was taken aback when Rukia came up beside her. Orihime essayed a tentative smile at her friend, but was not surprised when the woman frowned at her. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, her lids swollen.
Alarmed, Orihime could not help a cry of dismay. "Rukia! What happened?"
The petite woman lowered her brows and ignored her question. "Why are you helping Aizen?" she demanded. "I understand that he kidnapped you and has some hold over you, but you should be fighting back more. It really looks like you're on his side now."
Orihime sighed. She knew she had lost a friend, maybe more, by her actions of the past few days. "I'm sorry, Rukia." She lowered her eyes. "I am on his side."
Outraged, Rukia glared at her. "What? Why? He tried to kill me, you know. He's a murdering bastard. We're in this alliance only because…" She suddenly blinked back tears to Orihime's amazement. It was not like Rukia to show this kind of emotion. "Because we're desperate," Rukia finished. "There's no need for you to willingly help him. For goodness' sake!" she cried suddenly. "You're standing in Ichimaru's place behind Aizen! You look like you've become his lieutenant."
Orihime blushed and looked down. "I'm sorry. I know what he's done to you, all the terrible things he's done to Soul Society." She looked up and met the shinigami's blazing eyes. She had to be honest with her friend. Rukia had to hear the truth from her lips and not from rumors. She took a deep breath. "But I'm not just his lieutenant. I restored his powers willingly. I'm more than just his ally… I'm his lover."
She knew she would see the stunned disbelief on Rukia's face, but she had not realized how much it would hurt. She knew that she had just lost a dear friend. The woman's face closed in shock and disgust. Shaking her head, Rukia snarled, "Then I have nothing more to say to you," and she fell back, leaving Orihime to walk alone, blinking back tears.
XxXxXxX
As they came out of the senkaimon into Soul Society, onto the raised ground overlooking the city, Orihime gasped at the devastation. Spread out before her, the Seireitei was in ruins, buildings tumbled into rubble, smoke hanging like a pall over the shattered city. Fires dotted the capital, plumes of dark smoke rose from the wreckage, and the Central 46 chambers were burning fiercely.
The air was still and hot, and the scent of putrid decay wafted to her from the ruins below. She smelled what she first thought was roasted meat, and then realized to her horror it was burning flesh. The nearer streets that were visible to her were lined with dead bodies. Rukia had not been exaggerating about the desperate situation.
Beside her, she saw Aizen lift his gaze to the far right, and there she saw the massed forces of the Vandenreich, their banners hanging limply in the acrid air. Their army was vast and imposing. Orihime's eyes went to their own forces; also a large group, but she could see they were significantly smaller in numbers than the Vandenreich. She felt her heart clench in fear.
An unseated shinigami pushed forward through the crowd to whisper in Yamamoto's ear. The commander closed his eyes briefly and sighed. Then he stumped up to a patch of raised ground and cleared his throat to address the assembled joint armies of shinigami, Arrancar, and humans.
"Before you go into battle, let me remind you not to use your bankai should you have one," he announced. "They can steal bankai." She heard various sharp intakes of breath around her. Then he sighed heavily and continued, his voice rough, "As we have learned to our dismay only recently. As I told you before I left, we had just heard that Captain Kuchiki of the Sixth Division was cut down by his own bankai this morning. He was in critical condition, and unfortunately, we have just received news that the healers were unable to save him and he has passed away."
"No!" It was Rukia, now crying angrily. She clenched her fists and then abruptly turned, pushing her way through the massed fighters. Orihime sucked in her breath. That must have been why she was teary earlier… she must have known Byakuya had been attacked. And now… for her brother to be dead… Orihime's eyes widened and she ran toward where the girl had disappeared into the crowd.
Rukia was standing beside two Sixth Division officers, her face grim and set.
"Rukia—" Orihime gasped out, "I—"
Rukia spun to face her and pushed her away angrily. "Leave me alone, you goddamn traitor! I never want to talk to you again." she cried and turned away, sprinting through the crowd.
Orihime stood staring at the spot where Rukia had disappeared for a moment, her thoughts whirling furiously. Then she turned to the other shinigami. "Take me to Byakuya Kuchiki!" she demanded imperiously. One of the men raised his eyebrows, and Orihime faltered. "I—I'm a healer," she said, pleading.
"Not much you can do to heal him, madam, as he's dead."
She shook her head. "Take me to see him anyway."
The two shinigami looked at each other, and then one of them shrugged. "I suppose it won't do any harm. Come with me."
He led her along the burned-out streets. They walked silently amidst the rubble with dogs barking in the distance. As they passed one corner, Orihime heard heartbroken wailing from behind half-tumbled walls. At last they arrived at the ruins of a great palace, marble walls half-standing, shattered windows looking like blank, dead eyes.
In a once-grand room where the grimy sunlight poured in through broken walls, upon a white marble table in the exact center of the hall, lay the body of Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Rukia was there, tears leaking out from lids squeezed tight, being embraced by a tall woman Orihime did not recognize. They were rocking together in hopeless misery, standing before the body which had not yet been cleaned or prepared.
Slowly, Orihime approached the table, steeling herself to keep her stomach from rebelling. She fell to her knees in front of the once-proud man. His body had been sliced open by thousands of tiny cuts, destroyed by his own bankai; dried blood splattered over the ruined flesh.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands grimly, called out "Souten Kisshun" and raised her shield over the man. She only hoped it wasn't too late. She had restored Menoly to life, but that had been within moments of her death. She knew there were limits to her power; when she had tried it on a couple of people who had been dead for several days, she had been unsuccessful.
But Byakuya had died no more than an hour or two ago; his bankai stolen by a member of the Stern Ritter. She closed her eyes and focused harder than she had ever focused before.
To her chagrin, there was nothing for her to focus on. There was a change under her shield, but it was merely cosmetic. She felt Byakuya's body returning to the state it had been in life; his skin beautiful and unmarked. But no life, no breath animated his corpse. His brain was not functioning.
She kept the shield up, feeling as though she were beating her head against a wall. Nothing was happening, but she could not bear to drop her shield. Tears began slipping down her face and dropping on her outstretched arms.
No. There was no use. She could not do it.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and another reiatsu buttressing hers. Gentle but vastly powerful, Aizen's reiatsu had a characteristic feel to it and she felt herself yearning towards him, melding with him. He had come for her.
His power brought her renewed energy and she closed her eyes and went deeper into herself, remembering the noble shinigami captain as he had been when she last saw him. "I reject!" she called out again, and this time, with Aizen supporting her, she was able to go deeper into the trance, and this time, she felt her healing powers latch onto something. She intensified the shield and poured all of herself into the effort, giving of herself without ceasing. Behind her, she felt Aizen transferring energy into her to strengthen her depleted reserves, filling her with power.
At last she opened her eyes, panting for breath, trembling and exhausted. The shield faded. Aizen took her in his arms and held her tightly, continuing to restore her power, a look of deep concern in his eyes.
The man on the table before her stirred and opened his eyes. There were gasps from all around the room.
The others hesitated, their eyes going from Aizen and Orihime to the man now sitting on the table, apparently completely healed… but their eyes were full of fear. They clung to each other, not daring to approach the one who appeared to have been brought back from the dead.
Rukia was the first to move. She strode forward, suspicion marking her face. "Who are you?" she asked, her hand on her zanpakutou. "Are you my brother, or has your body simply been reanimated?"
Byakuya sat up, his face stern as always, and frowned. His eyes scanned the ruined walls, the broken windows, the crowd including Orihime in her white robes; and finally they narrowed when they lit upon Aizen. "What is going on here?" he said in his cool, imperious voice.
"Nii-sama!" cried Rukia and rushed forward to fall upon her brother.
He returned her embrace, sitting stiffly upon the marble slab, his forehead slightly wrinkled. Then he gently removed Rukia's arms from his neck. He frowned at the crowd of astonished faces around him. "What is the problem?" he inquired coolly.
"You're alive!" cried Rukia, tears streaking her face.
"Of course," he said. Then a shadow passed over his face and he looked down at his arms and hands in wonder. "Was I—injured?"
"You were dead!" cried Rukia. "Orihime brought you back!" Rukia said. She turned to Orihime, her face working. "You brought my brother back to life." Her voice was full of wonder. "Even after I called you a traitor and renounced my friendship with you."
Orihime blushed and looked away. "That doesn't matter," she mumbled. "I still had to try to help him." Her eyes flicked to Aizen standing beside her, silent. "Aizen-sama helped too. I couldn't have done it without his power."
Rukia glanced at her former enemy and then back at Orihime as the emotions flashed across her face. Then she took Orihime in a tight embrace, burying her face in the taller woman's hair.
Behind them, on the marble slab, a Kuchiki medic was examining Byakuya. He raised his voice. "It is true!" he called out. "Lord Kuchiki has been returned to us in perfect health." There was something that sounded like awe in his voice. "He has been brought back from the grave."
There were murmurs of astonishment all around. Then a dozen or so people surged forward, crowding around Orihime, tugging at her sleeves. "My husband, you must heal my husband—" one said. "My son fell only yesterday," begged an old woman, weeping.
Orihime looked at them all, confused. Could she heal all of them? Of course she must try. "Yes," she said. "Bring me to them…"
There was a sudden bright flare of reiatsu and Aizen's hand on her arm stopped her. "No," he commanded. "She will not heal anybody else. Not now."
There was muttering all around and looks of dark anger. "Who are you to say that?"
"We were brought here to fight the Vandenreich," Aizen said calmly. "Orihime is needed at the battle front. If she does not fight there, the battle may not be won, and then many more will die." He looked around at the hostile stares of the crowd and raised his reiatsu until they all backed away. "Once we have completed the task that your own Captain-commander asked us to do, then Orihime may return. But she can only heal people who are still living, or who passed away very recently." He raised his head to look at the ranking shinigami. "I suggest you triage your wounded and dead, and prepare a location where she can work." His eyes narrowed. "And I will not have her exhausting herself."
They stared at her, still longing, but at the pressure of Aizen's reiatsu, they muttered and scurried away.
Byakuya rose from the table, his eyes on Aizen, his face dark with anger. "Aizen! What are you doing here?" With a single, lithe movement, he drew his sword. "Why are you not under arrest?"
Rukia tugged at his arm. "Nii-sama," she said, and pulled him down so she could whisper urgently in his ear. He stared at Aizen in rising alarm and understanding as she continued to speak. His eyes searched both Aizen's and Orihime's faces as he listened; then he nodded curtly, sheathing his sword.
Aizen locked eyes with his former colleague for a long moment. "Kuchiki-taichou," he said formally, inclining his head. "We go now to defeat the Vandenreich." Ignoring the muttering all around him, he took Orihime's hand once again and guided her to the shattered door. Once outside, they began flash-stepping along the burning, shattered streets.
XxXxXxX
There were mounds of dead bodies. Orihime steeled herself as she strode beside Aizen on the way to the battleground. All around them were smoking ruins, broken glass, pavement seared and warped by heat. The sun beat down through the acrid-smelling, thick air.
The battle had already begun, with shouts and the clanging of swords and the cries of the wounded and dying.
Then one of the enemy was upon them, and Orihime used her Shiten Koushun. She gulped and swallowed as her power cut him down, and then she firmed her lips and turned to the next enemy soldier. Aizen was standing beside her making sweeping gestures, and she could sense that he was preparing a powerful spell. Then, with a single word, he released a bolt of energy and dozens of enemy soldiers fell, the life force slashed from their bodies.
They fought on. Orihime thought she could not bear it. She was not made for war, but she kept fighting. She had resolved that she would defend her friends, and finally her loyalties were no longer divided. She was fighting on the same side as Ichigo, and Rukia, and everyone she knew. She could only push down her feelings and keep battling as she had trained.
It seemed to take hours. She was exhausted, both defending and attacking, but she grimly continued. She dodged one powerful attack after another. Several times it occurred to her that she could die here, on this hot, smoky, bloodstained battlefield that reeked of the depths of Hell, here in this alien dimension so far from her home. She was pushed away from Aizen, and fought her way back to his side.
He was powerful, but the sheer numbers of the opponents were wearing him down. Although he remained placid in the face of the attack, his robes had become torn and bloodstained. She called out 'Shiten Koushun' one more time and her fairies attacked the men facing Aizen, taking them down so she could at last return to his side. But before she could reach him, she swayed under the onslaught of a reiatsu more powerful than she had hitherto encountered. Her eyes widened as she recognized the leader of the Vandenreich from the pictures she had been shown.
A huge man stood before them, wearing a white double-breasted trench coat under a black cloak. He had shaggy black hair reaching to his shoulders and red-brown eyes glowing with an insane light. "Aizen!" he said, his voice rough and grim. "Why are you assisting these bastards? I thought you were the enemy of Soul Society."
Aizen raised one eyebrow, calm as always. "We have become allies. Your efforts are disturbing the balance of the worlds."
The man guffawed. "You never cared about the balance, Aizen! I thought you wanted to take the throne of the world for yourself!"
"Indeed," Aizen replied, "if the world is destroyed, there would be no throne for me to take."
The man scowled fiercely, giving a brutal laugh. "I despise conflict, but you thrive on it, Aizen. How did you convince these fools to take your side?"
The brown-haired shinigami smiled. "You did."
Then Orihime felt a huge clashing of power as Aizen's reiatsu rose. He had been building a wordless spell, and Orihime gasped as she saw a vast black monolith appear where the Vandenreich leader had stood. She recognized Hado 90, the Black Coffin, the spell she had seen Aizen use before so long ago on Soukyoku Hill.
This time, it was not the failure he said it had been then. The size of the black monolith was far greater than before, and as it imploded, piercing its occupant with colossal purple bolts of energy, she saw the man's body detonate into a myriad of tiny chunks of flesh. She gasped and put up her shield to protect herself and Aizen, and when she looked up again, the man's head had been torn from his body. She gasped as the decapitated, bloody appendage rolled toward them and the bleeding lips peeled back in a rictus grin.
Somehow, a voice was issuing from that grotesque, severed head. It was… laughing, a creepy, high-pitched snigger. "You fools!" it cried. "It's already too late. I've set everything up. The spell was triggered on my death. And now… the balance can no longer be maintained! You're all going to die, and the world will die with you!"