Whoops, it took a while, but here's the next chapter. A big shout out to animagirl, Nomurai, guisniperman, Undying Soul98, OrangeandSpiceTeaLover, It's Lucy's Wonderland Madness, MusicOfMadness, Kuchikiwraith, Blue Fire Lily, chaosrin, and chibianimefan26 for being so awesome and leaving a review. Also, innumerable amount of thanks to those who added this story to their alerts.

I learned the hard way to not play by the rules, but by my advantages.

There weren't many times I could abide by this; society was built upon laws and unspoken regulations that made everything run smoothly. But every once in a while someone who slyly broke these orders got away with it and ended up heavily enforcing laws for his own benefit, completely ignoring his own wrongdoing. This was how the rich got richer, how the strong got stronger.

And how the victors kept winning.

In the physical area, I was a complete mess; no zanpakutou, weakened body, and slower kido made me an easy opponent, taken care of in less than five minutes. Not only that, but I knew next to nothing about Xerten other than he was different, if his reiatsu and title were of any indication. There were no weaknesses I could exploit but he sure could eradicate me before I even thought about attacking.

The point of this fight wasn't my survival, though; I had already come to terms with my immortality and now that I was Awakened I wouldn't be able to lose these memories even if I wanted to. I had to stall him long enough for someone to come here and protect White, as disgusting as it sounded.

I narrowly avoided Xerten's version of shunpo, using my own high speed to my advantage. I could try possessing his body again, but I would be vulnerable to another attack, and this time it could be fatal. However, body possession was the only asset I had for this battle, so I had to take every single risk I could to succeed.

"Seigyoki."

The assault was so unexpected that it took Xerten completely by surprise, giving me enough time to completely possess his body. I had won without even raising my zanpakutou or getting fatally wounded, something that hadn't happened in my whole career as a shinigami.

But I should've known that it was too easy to be true.

I felt something kick me in my mind and my body started moving without me willing it to. I could move a pair of hands that weren't my own, a pair of white gloved hands. I had black hair that reached my shoulder and a male, muscular body. I had a hole in my torso that for some reason did not instantly kill me. The person standing in front of me was... well, me. But her eyes were vicious and victorious and dark.

"Oh, surprised about this, Costa Artemis?" Hearing my voice but not speaking was very weird and eery. "It's a shame you didn't know your spell well enough that Seigyoki is a two-way street. You have the advantage the first time, because you create the link, but once the link is there I have access to it, and it wasn't hard to overpower this body."

Xerten raised my right hand and used my left hand to crack the fingers one by one. Even though I couldn't feel the pain, that was still my body and my sanctuary he was injuring.

"S-Stop that! If you don't, I'll kill this body."

He raised my eyebrow. "If you kill my body while you possess it, then you will die along with it, correct?"

"So will you; Seigyoki is not a spell that lasts forever."

My body's mouth curled into a sneer; it was eery looking at my face with such a dark expression. "Then we are in a standstill, are we not? Killing you or myself will only result in both our deaths. Then again, I'm just a pawn to a bigger picture; I can afford to die."

"Hm, and you're assuming I'm some high-ranking shinigami Soul Society cannot function without."

"Touche, but you're still at the disadvantage, Artemis; the fingers in your right hand are broken and once I regain control of my body then it's game over."

I wanted to wound his body to have a more even field, but I didn't have a high enough pain tolerance and mental stability to handle self-mutilation. Even though this wasn't my body or brain, for some reason I was attached to the pain receptors in this body. It was a required part for possession to work fully and it came as part of a sacrifice of sorts.

Except I was completely unaware that my victim could also become my predator.

"I'll hold as much as I have to."

"Perhaps you're overestimating yourself."

I smirked, my pale lips twisting in this new face of mine. He was completely oblivious to the fact my soul was more resilient than most, capable of persevering through life and death. I may not know many things about my own soul, but I knew that there was no way I was going to succumb to my own body.

Xerten started running the tip of Raibaju down my arms, almost like a caress. My host's body involuntarily shivered, feeling dread growing in the back of my mind at the thought of being mutilated further, especially with my own zanpakutou. As if breaking my fingers was enough...

Where was Raibaju? This was a new situation because I had been forcefully evicted from my own body, but that was only me. Raibaju wasn't subject to Seigyoki, was he? The situation was so complicated I could barely wrap my head around the consequences and explanations. The only thing I knew was that if I let go of my hold on Xerten, then he would immediately go back to his body and attack me in my pained distraction.

"Hoh, so you are the nasty creature that killed almost all my subordinates..."

I would shiver and cringe whenever I heard that voice. It was the one that brought so many bad memories, so many identity issues, that I decided I usually was better off away from Kurotsuchi. But right now, he was my savior, and I owed him my life.

Unfortunately for me, I bore the face of the enemy. He immediately launched himself at me and I sloppily dodged with Xerten's version of shunpo, but he still managed to land a nasty gash on my abdomen.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou!" I gasped, winded and wounded. "It's me, Costa Artemis!"

That made him stop, because he looked at me and back at my body curiously. "That is quite the statement to say when she's standing right there."

One moment my body was there and the next Xerten was attacking Kurotsuchi. He parried and moved away, refusing to attack because it was my body. "This is quite the unfortunate circumstance. Is there anything you can do about this, Costa?"

I tried letting go of the link, and much to my frustration Xerten's hold on my body was now stronger than ever. "He won't let go. However, he purposely broke the fingers in my right hand so he doesn't have as much dexterity."

Kurotsuchi tsked, his face suddenly annoyed. "If it I didn't need you to collect White's venom, you would be dead right now, Costa Artemis; you're too much of a pain at the moment."

"Didn't expect anything less from you, taichou."

Xerten, still in my body, continued his one-handed onslaught. Kurotsuchi had it easy, because I was physically weak and hurt at the moment, but he still had to make sure he didn't mortally wound my vessel while protecting Xerten's body because it was currently housing my soul.

So, we were in a bit of a pinch.

"How in the world did you get in this situation?"

"Failed Kido experiment, sir. These things are bound to happen."

"In a controlled setting, Costa. Now is not the time for problems to arise. I'll knock him out."

"I would prefer if you didn't do that, sir; I need him conscious if I want to return to my body. It's a hunch of sorts."

Kurotsuchi glared at me and huffed in annoyance, but he acquiesced and continued protecting me meanwhile he made sure not to damage my body.

I gritted my teeth, trying –– and failing –– to regain control of my body. Xerten must know that he was reaching his death, because his attacks became much more manic and his eyes –– my eyes glinted with desperation. His crazed behavior became the perfect opening for me, and I took the opportunity without thinking much of it.

Both our bodies stopped moving, an internal battle waging inside my body. He had spent too much time in my body and become ingrained with my reiryoku pathways, just as I had become extremely in tune with his own powers. However, I had the advantage of being the original caster of the Kido spell plus being in control of my own emotions, so with an extremely hard mental shove I pushed him away from my mind and back into his body.

The pain in my fingers were the first thing that registered in my mind. They throbbed horribly and their awkward position made me swoon slightly. I still had the gash Xerten had landed on me, as well as the exhaustion caused by all the exertion on my weak body.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou! Now!"

The Captain grinned and, now that we didn't need Xerten conscious, incapacitated him with the hilt of his sword. "He will make a perfect experiment after our torture session. I know I don't usually need a reason to torture enemies, but the mess he made of my division will sure fuel my delight."

I couldn't muster any pity for him.

The Fourth Division was full of shinigami, mostly from the Twelfth Division, and thus they couldn't keep me overnight. The fingers in my right hand were casted, which made my life extremely inconvenient and annoying. Luckily there were no major problems with healing the wound at my side, but I was still extremely sore and mentally exhausted from our battle.

However, there is no rest for the weary, and I couldn't find it within myself to complain. Although the Medio-Arrancar weren't hard to dispose of, the sheer number of them made any shinigami tired. Soul Society had suffered yet two attacks to its forces in less than a month. We had lost around four hundred shinigami, four hundred good shinigami with strong hands and strong zanpakutou. The rest of us had to pick up the slack and clean our home, and the worst part was that we weren't fully sure who exactly was our enemy. Yes, we knew Aizen, Ichimaru, Tousen, along with some four hundred shingami were traitors, but this new Sombras Ocultas and Medio-Arrancar made me wary.

In Spanish, Sombras Ocultas meant Hidden Shadows, which denoted special operations, but the weird one was Medio-Arrancar. Medio meant half, but Arrancar was a verb that meant "to rip." What was ripped, and for what? Not only that, but though I was beyond positive that Xerten was a Hollow, he didn't feel wholly Hollow. In fact, there were many similitudes between his reiatsu and Airi's, before her death.

The knock on my door interrupted me from my thoughts, and with a groan I stood up to open the door to Seishirou. He looked just as pale as I did, probably exhausted from all the paperwork and cleaning we had to do in the aftermath. He usually sought me out to fight, but our tiredness made me immediately rule out the possibility of a spar with him.

"You look like crap," I declared with a smirk.

His blue eyes lightened up a bit, but there was still something heavy in his eyes. "I know, so do you. May I come in?"

I quirked an eyebrow, but got out of the way for him. My room was smaller than his, since he had a higher ranked, but our furniture and arrangement was almost exactly the same, with the futon next to a wooden window and a desk at the adjacent side next to a small wardrobe that kept our uniforms and other undergarments.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes and no. You were wounded today, I hear."

"Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about. I've been through worse."

Seishirou frowned, but it disappeared soon afterwards. "I know, I know. Your resilience is strangely astounding. I came here to tell you some news from the Captains' Meeting."

"There was one?"

"Kurotsuchi is very thorough with his interrogation attempts. I'm afraid the Hollow Xerten Portos is... well, he's neither dead nor alive."

"Comatose?"

"Driven insane from pain."

"...Oh," I offered lamely. I didn't exactly know how to react to the information. On one hand I knew Kurotsuchi was a savage at times, but Xerten hadn't exactly been gentle with me and I didn't feel bad for his demise.

"You came up in the conversation since you were the first one to figure out that the enemy wanted that Hollow the Twelfth Division kept hidden."

"Not much of a secret anymore, huh. How is Soul Society taking it?"

"I guess that we're all too distracted to care. Besides, what's one more secret thrown out in the open at this point? Anyway, I guess that the Gotei 13 is thankful that you were there to stop him from taking White, but we still lost around eighty percent of the Twelfth Division personnel."

"Eighty percent?" I exclaimed, surprised. Yes, I saw a lot of dead bodies throughout my trek, but I didn't think there were that many.

Seishirou nodded gravely. "Kurotsuchi fears the stagnation of the research. Xerten also admitted that was another one of their missions. He said Aizen knew there was a strong possibility that he would fail, so he slaughtered most of the SRDI to stop anything from happening."

I growled. "This would've never happened if Kurotsuchi hadn't been wandering around Rukongai."

"There was no way to he could've known this would happen."

I grunted and looked to the side, aware that he was right, but still not happy about it. "Anything else?"

"You were chosen to go on a mission. From what Kuchiki-taichou told me, you've had one of the highest grades in Living World Customs in the entirety of Shino History." Of course I had the highest score; I remembered being alive and none of the people in my classrooms were even aware of silverware, let alone technology and culture. "Along with a small group, you're going to Karakura to make sure nothing bad happens again."

"Again?"

"Aizen also attacked Soul Society to distract us from a crisis going on in the Living World. From the intel given to us by Urahara-san, these were also Arrancar, but their power was at or beyond that of a taichou's."

I groaned and rested my head on my palms. "Ugh, that's... Fuck."

"I've never heard you curse before," he said, his voice light and teasing, "but I guess right now is the time."

"We're going to die, aren't we? Well, maybe not you, but I certainly will."

"Stop being so dramatic, Artemis. You're not going to die."

"Aizen must hate me by now." Not to mention that I was an Awakened Transcendental and the best way to get to Al, a Dormant one. I was still unsure of what exactly he wanted to do with our power, since I didn't think there were many bonuses to my status, but I still needed to protect my brother. "I've been in his way for a while."

"We all have, don't worry. That's what Kuchiki-taichou wanted me to tell you, at any rate. Now, I personally will tell you to get some rest. You have orientation with the rest of the recruits tomorrow at ten in the office of Hitsugaya-taichou."

Much to my surprise, Seishirou ruffled my hair gently. I snapped my head up just in time to catch his teasing smile before he left the room, closing it slowly after him. I hesitantly touched my head afterwards, slightly recreating the action, feeling even more confused by it.

Still, I wasn't sure what to think about this new mission. Yes, I was probably the one who had the most experience with the Living World other than those who were currently alive, but I felt much safer in Seireitei than anywhere else, even though we had just been attacked. Besides, if I arrived in the Living World, Aizen would immediately turn his attention to us and he might find Al in all of this.

I needed to protect Al, but there was no way I could do it without revealing his location.

Knowing that thinking too much would make my head hurt, I let myself fall on top of my futon and forced myself to sleep.

I was ten minutes early to the meeting, but I could already see my teammates: Madarame Ikkaku, Third Seat of the Eleventh Division; Ayasegawa Yumichika , Fifth Seat of the Eleventh Division; Matsumoto Rangiku, Lieutenant of the Tenth Division; Hitsugaya Toshirou, Captain of the Tenth Division; Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division; Kuchiki Rukia, unseated member of the Thirteenth Division. Overall, it was a good team, and my heart felt a bit lighter at the realization.

"Art!" Rukia called, beckoning me over. She had a concerned look on her face, and I inwardly groaned at what was coming. "How are you feeling?" she asked, eyeing my swollen fingers. I had gone early in the morning to the Fourth Division so that they could finish healing me and I was good to go, but apparently Rukia had caught wind of my injuries.

"Better than ever."

"You regained your zanpakutou?"

I frowned. "No, I haven't."

Madarame and Ayasegawa eyed me suspiciously. "Why are we taking her along if she can't even use her sword?"

Hitsugaya heard them and gave them a nasty glare. "What, are you doubting my abilities to pick someone?" I expected the two shinigami to pale at his tone of voice, but they simply shrugged nonchalantly, reinforcing their earlier statement. The Eleventh Division did raise suicidal warriors, it seems. "She's the only one here that knows how to act normally because of her high scores." Unsaid in his statement was, She remembers being alive, which none of us do.

Rukia must've immediately understood, because her eyes met mine and she nodded slowly. I had confided in Rukia simply because she knew too much already about the weird things in my life. And it had been a bit of an accident because I had let it slip and she had been persistent. Still, I didn't regret my choice and I was thankful I could confide in her.

"Now that we're all here, I'll explain the mission in more detail. Meanwhile we were dealing with our own invasion two days ago, Karakura was attacked by two Arrancar by the names of Ulquiorra and Yami. Not much is known about them except that they heavily wounded the acting shinigami. Though they haven't requested reinforcements, the taichou agreed that it would be best if we were stationed in the town to make sure nothing happens.

"You're all capable shinigami, but these are enemies that may or may not be out of your leagues. Should you come across one of them, ask yourself if the battle you're about to have is the one where you want to die in. There are always better moments to die.

"The Twelfth Division has already finished our power limit. We are under orders to not release them unless we're under heavy danger. Head down there right now, except you, Costa. A word, if you please."

The shinigami filed out without a word, hurrying to the Twelfth Division. Even if they were only working at ten percent, because the other half were in the Fourth Division, they were still efficient and prepared to help Soul Society. Their usefulness was sometimes overshadowed by the combat-focused Divisions, but I wouldn't be surprised if the soutaichou forced every graduating shinigami from Shino to join the Twelfth Division this year.

"Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

"You're wounded."

My eye twitched. "Not anymore."

"You know what I mean, Artemis."

"I'll be fine. I'm not completely useless without Raibaju."

"No shinigami is completely helpful without her zanpakutou, though."

"Then why did you recommend me?"

"I wasn't lying when I said your knowledge of the Living World would come in handy. We're also using you like a bait, in a way. We need Aizen to attack so we can gather more intel and having you there will almost force his hand."

"So you're purposely putting my life in danger?"

"... Yes, we are," he said, and I saw his jaw clench a little. "It's now or never, in a way. You need to regain your connection with Raibaju, soon. As in, in the next three days soon."

I laid my arms across my chest and leaned on my right leg. "I can't just force my reiryoku pathways to heal, taichou; this will take time."

"I spoke with Unohana-taichou about this. She said that the more effort you put into rebuilding it, the more likely you are to succeed. She said that although you gave them quite the scare with that last session, it was far more successful than any of them had anticipated. Whatever you did during your sleep helped heal your link."

That was the time I ventured by myself to the islands and my past life, Kamui, forcibly removed me from the place. I swallowed some of the water in the sea of my memories, and the emotions that had controlled me, feelings that weren't mine, had clouded my judgement. Had he done something to help me, or was my discovery of my past life better connecting me with my own reiryoku, which was not wholly my own but a mixture of thousands of past lives?

It wouldn't be a bad thing to try.

"Very well, I'll make sure to speed up the process."

"Start today, alright?"

"Yessir."

The sand in the beach was just as clear as always, and the water was calm and inviting. At Hitsugaya's prompting, I asked one of the nurses to do a healing session and was granted my request because of my impending mission. So here I was, back in my inner world, with questions that needed answering and a reiryoku pathway that needed mending.

There was no canoe or ship this time, which was a bit disconcerting because I had been counting on that to cross the sea. Now that I noticed it, my piano was nowhere in sight, and though the beach looked the same, some of the rocks were in different places and were not of the same height.

This was not my beach.

I heard rather than felt someone walking to my side and I threw a punch at the mysterious assailant, only to have it blocked with a hand before a warm chuckle reached my ears.

Kamui was looking at me, a teasing glint in his golden eyes. "Coming into my home and attacking immediately, huh?"

I felt my cheeks heat up and I hastily retrieved my hand. Shiranui, the fire wolf, was also looking at me with an amused glance, as if he could understand what was going on.

"Sorry... I thought you wanted to attack me."

"No one will hurt you in your inner world."

"That storm certainly almost killed me."

Kamui frowned and looked forlornly at the sea. "That sea and that weather... It isn't ours."

"What do you mean? I thought this was my inner world."

He shook his head, and though his eyes had a certain sadness to them, I could see the mischievousness creeping back again. "That's a story for another time. Now, tell me, why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. This is not my beach."

"The place where you enter and the time you leave your inner world are controlled by our zanpakutou. That's why you always appear close to Raibaju and you only could leave when Raibaju was gone. And yet another good reason why you sought me out last time, because if not you would still be stuck here. Shiranui allowed you to go back, opening the exit, so you appeared close to Shiranui this time."

"I don't follow."

"Our existence is rather complicated, as you've probably noticed. Your inner world is connected to mine and many, many others. Raibaju, Shiranui, and four other wolves have been the zanpakutou of our past lives, recycling with every shinigami, because not all of us are shinigami. So, in a way, they know how to navigate our inner world the best. They make sure you don't become swallowed by the sheer intensity of living, but in exchange you must delegate some freedoms. So, whenever you enter your inner world, you enter close to where the wolf that sent you away is located. Since Shiranui sent you away, and Shiranui is here with me in my beach, you appeared in my beach."

"Then how did I get here last time? Was it luck?"

"No, Raibaju is there; you just can't see or feel him."

"Why not?

"Aizen's attack left you blind to him. Just like how a shinigami can't listen to his zanpakutou's name until he's ready, you can't see or feel Raibaju until you're ready."

I sighed, and my shoulders slumped slightly; I could already see where this was heading. "So, what do I have to do to get ready? Is there some test I must pass? Oh, and the quicker I do the better; I have a mission soon and I need him by my side."

"Nothing of that sort. You must simply sort out the mess that bastard made out of your reiryoku and you'll be more than ready. Fortunately for you, my dear, I can help you do that; my reiryoku is in perfect shape."

"I thought we shared the same reiryoku?"

"Yes, and no. For example, you have my reiryoku disposable to you, but I don't have yours, because you were born after I died. Just like how I have the reiryoku of my predecessor, but he doesn't have mine."

"So this builds on top of each other, and you can only access the reiryoku of the people before you but not the ones after you?"

"Exactly."

"But Unohana-taichou told me that all of my reiryoku was in shambles."

"Yes, I know, and she's not completely wrong. It isn't the reiryoku that is in disarray; it's your link to it. My reiryoku is just fine and dandy; if it wasn't, I wouldn't be here. I don't think you've noticed, but this body you see is not real. It's simply the manifestation of my reiryoku in your inner world. So, what I'm trying to say is that I can help you regain your link back to everyone if you can fix your link with me."

"So I just fix my link with you and everything is solved?"

"Yup. If you fix your link with me, you immediately connect back to all of the reiryoku available to you because I'm connected to everyone else. Pretty neat, right?"

I sighed in relief. For a moment I thought I had to go on a wild goose chase to find all of my past lives and individually restore my link with them. Though I didn't understand everything Kamui was telling me, I was glad that he knew what was going on and was willing to help me.

"So, what do I have to do?"

"Fight me and prove to me you deserve to have your power back."

I groaned loudly and pouted childishly. "Seriously? Couldn't you have chosen something less... I don't know, less cliché? You want me to prove myself with a fight? I don't even have Raibaju!"

"I'm not completely useless without Raibaju," he said in a high-pitched voice, obviously mocking me.

"You were watching?"

"Ever since you came here, I'm able to sometimes see and hear bits and pieces of what's going on in your life. I must say, my little grand-grand-nephew is very cute, isn't he?"

"You said something about a fight, right?"

Shiranui howled, red markings appearing on its fur and a mane of different colored fires coming to life on its back. To say he was beautiful was an understatement.

Kamui brandished his zanpakutou, which eerily looked like mine except the hilt was red compared to my golden one. He pointed it at me and I jumped back, putting more distance between us, and I got my own sword out.

"Come on, Art! Show me the power of the first Transcendental in over five hundred years!"

To chaosrin: Nope, all of these changes are not caused by her existence. This is not an AU because Artemis is here, but it is an AU because the characters took different decisions. But she and her storyline will cause some differences, but for now she has caused close to none.