Illusion – Chap. 26

(Originally posted 7/21/12.)

XxXxXxX

"What's more," asserted Ginjou, taking another step backwards, "he's in league with—"

Ginjou stopped, clutching his throat. An arrow had lodged in his neck and bright red blood was spurting forth. His voice turned to a gurgle as he crumpled and fell to the ground, his sword clattering harmlessly against a tree root and then abruptly shrinking. A moment later, a tiny pendant glittered on the loam.

Ichigo, his eyes torn between the dead Fullbringer in front of him and his defiant nakama behind him, bent down and scooped up the silver pendant in his fingers. He turned to look for the five-pointed badge, but Ishida had already retrieved it and put in back in his pouch. He glared mutinously at Ichigo, who stared at him for a moment.

Then he shrugged. Ishida was still his nakama after all, and god knew they were all keeping secrets from each other. He sheathed his sword. "Thanks, Ishida. I thought he was gonna take me out there."

Ishida stiffened briefly, and his eyes searched Ichigo's face. Then he relaxed. "Of course, Kurosaki," he said superciliously. "No problem."

Ichigo looked up. The violent waves of reiatsu were fading as the battle was coming to an end. Ichigo saw Yamamoto calling a retreat, even as Aizen stood before him with a faintly triumphant expression on his face. What had Aizen been doing? Why were the enemies retreating? Ichigo could see many bodies lying in the clearing, both friends and foes, and again his heart wrenched within him. Who else could he have lost, in this ongoing war?

He saw Orihime run forward and raise her healing shield over a group of several fallen bodies. Her power was as brilliant as ever; the only power, it seemed, not to have been muffled by the thick reiatsu here in the Spirit Realm. Rukia sheathed her sword and made a sharp retort to something Aizen said. Ichigo made his way over to them.

"What did you say to Yamamoto?" he asked Aizen. The man's hair was slightly tousled, but other than that he did not appear any worse for wear from the battle.

"Nothing too important," returned Aizen smoothly. "He called a retreat for no apparent reason."

Byakuya had come up beside them. He was also uninjured. "I suspect they are simply regrouping. This was likely a feint."

Aizen nodded. "Yes, a sally simply to determine our strength." He looked around the clearing. "We should expect another attack shortly."

Ichigo frowned. "Is there anything I can do now?"

Byakuya tucked in his kenseiken absently. "Healing, I think, is the most important for now. And," he nodded to Aizen, "we should set out sentries with high reiatsu sensitivity."

"Agreed," said the brown-haired man. He turned to Ichigo. "Can you detect anything odd in the ambient reiatsu?"

Ichigo concentrated. There was… an ominous, somehow empty flavor to the spirit particles around them. His eyes widened. The signature of the usurper! His heart began pounding. "It's coming," he said simply.

Aizen nodded. "We'll face it together," he told Ichigo. The two stood back-to-back in the center of the clearing, and Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate on his reiatsu-sensing abilities. As he waited, though, he sensed a fading in the odd emptiness he had come to associate with the usurper's presence. Was it a trick? He waited, extending his senses.

Gradually, the ominous presence receded and after a moment, all around the clearing, birds started chirping again. Ichigo opened his eyes and stared in puzzlement at Aizen. "What's going on?" he asked.

Aizen's head was cocked as he extended his senses as well. "Hmm. A strategic retreat from all their forces, it appears." He shrugged. "No problem; it give us a bit of a breather." Two of his Arrancar were approaching and he strode away to meet them.

Ichigo sagged, feeling suddenly exhausted. He made his way over to a gnarled old oak tree at one side of the clearing and collapsed against its bole. He pulled out his canteen and took a swig.

Ishida had come up behind him and was looking at his canteen with a suspicious glare on his face. "What's that?"

"This?" Ichigo held up the canteen, puzzled. "It's an energy drink Aizen made up for me."

"Aizen made it?" demanded Ishida, disbelief in his voice. He held his hand out for it peremptorily. "Give it to me."

Ichigo stared at him and held the canteen out of his reach. "He said it was tuned to my body chemistry, so I shouldn't give it to anyone else or it could harm them."

Ishida shook his head angrily. "Can't you sense it? That's not a stimulant; it's concentrated reishi. That's a Quincy technique, to pack reishi into a stimulant drink!" His face was deeply mistrustful. "How did Aizen learn that technique?"

Ichigo glared back. "Why don't you ask him?"

"How could he have learned it, unless he was working with Mayuri when the man tortured us and stole so many of our secrets?" Fury surged in his voice. "I don't trust Aizen!"

Ichigo scowled at his nakama. "You've not been very trustworthy yourself lately. What was going on with Ginjou? What was he going to tell me about you and the Quincy?"

Ishida shook his head in annoyance. "Don't you see, Ichigo, it doesn't make sense that he knows so much of our most secret knowledge… unless he got it by helping Mayuri torture us in his labs! Why do you trust him? You shouldn't!"

Ichigo opened his mouth but the black-haired youth pressed on. "You have to have some inkling that Aizen isn't telling you everything. Haven't you asked yourself what he's hiding? There's been enough odd experiences around here that something's not right… it reeks of Kyouka Suigetsu! What was going on with everything I was supposed to have done last week?"

Ichigo stared at him, his anger tinged by guilt. What could he say to his friend? And could it be right to lie to him some more?

Ishida continued, his fury building. "And how come there have been so many secret Quincy techniques brought out in the open? I've seen you even use a few! Is that Aizen's doing?"

Ichigo shook his head, confused. Had Aizen been teaching him Quincy powers? He had said he couldn't teach him Fullbringer powers, so why would he know about Quincy techniques? A niggling worm of doubt began to crawl in him. Could Ishida's accusations be correct? Certainly, Aizen would have had plenty of time to work with Mayuri when they were both in Soul Society. And Aizen had never shown any qualms about experimenting on other beings.

But Ichigo found that it was just too painful to think such things about Aizen. He couldn't do it right now, not on the eve of a battle. His confusion and guilt turned into anger and he fastened upon Ginjou's last words. A secret organization that was responsible for more deaths? And what was that odd badge Ishida had pulled out of his grasp? It had looked like a Quincy symbol. Could it mean that not all the Quincies were dead? What was Ishida hiding?

"First," he demanded, "you need to tell me what you know about the Quincies! What did Ginjou mean about an organization that has caused more deaths than Soul Society?"

Ishida stared at him, and then crossed his arms defiantly, tightening his lips.

The two of them glared at each other, at an impasse. Ichigo felt only angry now, his earlier guilt forgotten. How dare Ishida keep secrets from him while demanding he reveal everything? And attacking Aizen of all people? He felt rage building within him. And what had Ginjou really meant? Was there a threat here that could undermine all his efforts?

But before he could say any more harsh words, Orihime came up from behind him.

"Kurosaki-kun," she said in her soft, lilting voice. "I have a question for you. Could you come help me here?"

He allowed her to lead him away, with only a parting scowl for Ishida.

Orihime brought him to where Nelliel lay upon the ground, breathing raggedly. She was in her adult form, but her green hair was matted with blood from a large slash crossing her forehead just under her hollow mask.

"Kurosaki-kun," she said softly, "remember when she was injured in Hueco Mundo and Szayel helped me heal her?"

He nodded, his eyes on the former third Espada. He could barely sense her spiritual energy, it was so low. Seeing her, he remembered again the cute child with the huge personality who had run so unforgettably into his life. He knelt by her side and took one of her hands in his. It was cold and clammy.

"Can't you heal her, Inoue?"

"Well," Orihime said slowly, "we were able to reverse the process that was eating away at her life force, but it wasn't a complete cure."

"You mean," he said, holding his hands over Nelliel's body and trying to sense what was wrong with her, "she's still not fully healed? What happened to her?"

"She was fighting earlier and took a heavy blow," Orihime explained. "I told her it was best for her not to fight, that she was risking her life, but she said she would rather die that stay out of the battle." She looked down at the woman lying on the ground. "Kurosaki-kun, I can't heal her. She's going to die." She gazed up at Ichigo, clasping her hands beseechingly. "I know that Aizen-sama has taught you more healing techniques, skills that involve going deep into the fundamental patterns of the structure of the world." She took a deep breath. "My sense is that there is something wrong at the core of Nel's spiritual self, but I can't seem to use my powers to fix it."

Ichigo looked at her. "I think you have powers that are in some ways similar to mine, Inoue. But you just use them intuitively." She was surprisingly powerful, Ichigo knew, but her abilities were still raw, untrained, scattered. Much like his own had been before his training.

She nodded shyly. "It seems to me that I call upon my fairies and my powers appear. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, and I'm never really sure why."

He frowned. Aizen should be tutoring her as well; her healing abilities were critical to the success of their campaign. His voice turned stern. "You should have asked Aizen to train you how to use them, back when you were in Las Noches."

She flushed. "There never seemed to be enough time," she said in her soft voice, looking away.

He frowned more deeply. He was not a good enough healer to help Nel. Yet, he could sense how disorganized Orihime's healing energy field was. Could he perhaps teach her something about the core structure of the world and thus help her direct her energies?

He looked around the small clearing. People were working and helping each other in tight groups. He could sense sentries posted all around the area. He glanced back down at Nelliel.

It looked like he really didn't have any choice. He reached over to take Orihime's hands. "All right, listen to me. I'm going to guide your perceptions down to the underlayer of the universe. Are you ready?"

At her nod, he closed his eyes and opened his senses, reaching out to her. "Activate your fairies and follow along with me."

XxXxXxX

Ichigo lay collapsed against a tree trunk, eyes shut, exhausted, but unable to sleep. He wasn't sure if he had really been able to help Orihime learn how to better use her powers, but she had been able to stabilize Nelliel after their joint session.

He heard someone coming up beside him and letting himself down with a grunt on the grass beside Ichigo. He opened one eye.

Shinji was grinning broadly at him. "Hey, Ichigo," the Vizard greeted him casually, doffing his characteristic cap and tossing it on the grass.

Ichigo managed a half-hearted wave. "Yo, Shinji. What's up?"

"Well, I was wonderin' how much you really know about the Royal Guard."

Ichigo shrugged. "They're the main military force of the Spirit Realm, and they protect the Spirit King. Both my dad and Aizen were members." He fell silent.

Shinji waited for a moment. "Is that it?" he demanded. "That can't be all you know about an enemy we're going to be facing any minute now! Didn't Aizen give you any better preparation than that?"

Ichigo squirmed. Truth be told, he hadn't thought to ask. His typical modus operandi was simply to plunge in without any foreknowledge or preparation, just assuming he'd be strong enough to defeat whatever came at him. He'd been busy learning various techniques, but he had simply assumed that Aizen would tell him whatever he needed to know.

Shinji was studying his face. "Aha. I thought so. Yer just relying on Aizen to tell you what to do." He lowered his brows.

"Shut up," burst out Ichigo. Angry now, he lashed out. "What are you trying to do, undermine my resolve? That's what my enemies do!"

The blond leaned back and considered. "There's a piece of information I think ya should have," he began, "and believe me, I am not tryin' to undermine yer resolve." He eyed Ichigo carefully.

"Well, what the—" began the orange-haired youth, but Shinji interrupted.

"You know Captain Unohana, right?"

Ichigo nodded, puzzled.

"An' you think she's trustworthy?" prodded Shinji.

"Well, she's not here, is she?" retorted Ichigo.

"She's not helpin' the usurper either," said Shinji. "She's retreated to neutral territory an' she's been there for some time. Remember, she wasn't there at that meetin' you had with Yamamoto."

Ichigo nodded slowly.

"Well," continued the blond, twirling his cap on his finger, "she examined Hinamori-chan, who's now lieutenant under me. You remember her?"

The youth frowned. "Wasn't she the lieutenant of the Fifth Division under Aizen?" he asked.

"That's right."

He felt angry again. "You're going to accuse Aizen again! I thought we'd been over this! He deliberately avoided all her vital organs!"

The blond slowly shook his head. "Stabbing her in the first place was pretty cruel, even if he didn't intend to kill her."

"So what's your point?" demanded Ichigo.

"I don't want to go over that part again," Shinji said, waving his hand. "But what I want to tell you is that Unohana examined Hinamori when she was in the hospital. An' what she found is that the lieutenant had been placed under post-hypnotic suggestion."

The youth felt his heart chill. "You mean…?"

"Yeah. Aizen had her under his control the whole time after that event. We don't know exactly what for. Turned out there were three layers of hypnosis, so that if one was removed, there would be a couple of backups. He really had her deep under. Apparently she was so besotted with him while he was her captain that she allowed him to perform all sorts of spells on her that she really shouldn't have accepted. Unohana couldn't tell exactly what Hinamori was programmed to do, but she was able to break the hypnosis, so I suppose it doesn't matter." He paused and eyed Ichigo, who was beginning to look a little disturbed. "Now, as I said before, I'm not sayin' that he's doin' anything like that now. But I'd like to ask you a favor, Ichigo." He set his cap on the ground and turned to face the youth fully. "When you become king, will you allow Unohana to examine you to make sure you're not under hypnosis?"

Ichigo stared at him, brown eyes wide. Could he possibly be under Aizen's hypnotic control? Could everything he had been feeling for the man be a lie?

"Hey, Ichigo, don' look so devastated," Shinji said. "I don' really think he did anything this time. I just want to make sure, okay? 'Cause I sure don't want the three worlds to be ruled by Aizen Sousuke. I want it to be you, on yer own." He grinned again, showing all his teeth. "Not that you won't be needin' some advice from yer older and wiser friends like Captain Hirako."

For once Ichigo didn't respond to the jibe. "Yeah," he said slowly, his eyes fixed on Shinji's face. "I'll let Unohana examine me." His voice was expressionless.

Shinji suddenly clapped him hard on the shoulder so that he started and frowned at the blond. "That's great, Ichigo! Then we're all set. That's all I wanted to know." He began to get up from the patch of ground, but Ichigo held out a hand.

"Wait," he said. "There's something else I've been wanting to ask you, since you've been around Soul Society for so long."

The blond settled back down on the mossy ground and reclined on his elbows. "Sure! Ask away, anythin' you want."

Slowly, Ichigo pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. On it was a pencil sketch of the odd five-pointed flanged star he had last seen on the badge in Ishida's hands. "Have you ever seen this symbol before?"

Shinji sucked his breath in and his eyes widened. "My… it's been a long time." He glanced up at Ichigo. "Wherever did you find this?"

XxXxXxX

A few hours later, they were still bunched into a tight group with sentries defending their borders. Orihime was working her way along the lines of the wounded as they huddled in a small valley in the forest. The auburn-haired girl was pale with exhaustion and strain, but she refused to stop using her healing powers until she had helped everyone. Ichigo had tried to talk some sense into her, and even Aizen had tried to convince her to take a rest, but she had shaken her head obstinately and continued. Ichigo could see that she was stumbling from fatigue; he expected her to collapse at any minute.

Rukia sat hunched over beside him, her eyes never ceasing to scan the apparently peaceful branches waving gently all around them. Ichigo found himself reaching out automatically with his senses, only once again to feel that odd bluntedness from the ambient reishi all around them.

It was disturbing, nerve-wracking. After the earlier battle, he had asked Byakuya and Aizen why the enemy had retreated, and they had both shaken their heads. "Regrouping to fight again at a later time," had been Aizen's terse assessment.

"But when?" he wondered. They were all waiting with bated breath for the attack to come, and yet nothing happened. It was oddly still in the forest with its façade of peace.

Even the birdsong from earlier in the morning had ceased. They could no longer hear the small sounds from animals skittering in the underbrush. The sunlit forest, everything around them, now appeared to be waiting, paused expectantly for some devastating event. Ichigo could not hold back a shudder.

Byakuya strode over from the other side of the clearing. "Your highness," he called, "I believe a few more minutes of rest are all we can afford; and then we need to continue onward, get out from under these trees." He looked around, and although his expression was as haughty and serene as always, Ichigo could sense the nervous edge. "This forest provides cover for our enemies, who know the terrain better than we do."

Ichigo took a deep breath and nodded. "Agreed." His glance flicked over the remaining exhausted and wounded souls at one side of the clearing, and then the newly healed in Orihime's wake, looking rested, swinging their swords and taking deep breaths of the supercharged air. "Ten minutes, then we resume the march."

Byakuya gave him a look of approval, then a crisp nod. "Very well." He moved off to issue orders.

Pushing himself up from the ground, Ichigo went to Orihime, whose healing shield was flickering over the last of her charges. As it faded and she turned away with a fatigued sigh, he gently took her hands. She stiffened and attempted to pull away. Staring deep into her grey eyes, saying nothing, he extended his power and began buttressing her reiatsu. He knew if he said anything she might refuse help. But as he fed power and reiatsu into the interstices of her soul structure, her physical body gradually relaxed, and the color began to come back into her cheeks.

He had not been able to teach her enough in the quick battlefield lesson to truly enable her to use her powers most efficiently. Still, at least he could do something for her with his own unique abilities; he felt her rejuvenating as he worked. She had been putting a terrific strain on her system, but his powers could support her.

She took a deep breath and slowly freed her hands from his, blushing shyly. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she whispered. Slowly, she got to her feet, joining everyone around them who was stirring and getting ready for the renewed march.

Everyone continued once again on the path, eyes and senses peeled for the looming danger of ambush. After about half an hour, a change began to take place around them. Gradually, the trees started to thin out, and Ichigo realized they were cresting a slight hill. Their path sloped slightly upward and Ichigo felt his breath come a little more quickly. Then they came over the crown of the hill and he halted in amazement.

Ahead of him the trees ended, breaking up into a wide expanse of grasslands, tall golden grass swaying and whispering in the light breeze. Immediately before him lay a gentle dip in the land followed by a gradual rise. His eyes followed the rise to its end and were caught in wonder and no small amount of trepidation.

In front of him, upon the hill stretching up to the sky, stood a vast castle, its white spires and minarets glittering in the clear sunlight. The castle's architecture was like nothing he had ever seen, seemingly fanciful with arches connecting towers and multiple clusters of spires soaring into the cerulean sky.

Ichigo paused to drink in the sight. The castle drew him somehow; there was a deep pull somewhere within him, a half-familiar ache that made him want to run forward, his arms spread out like a little child, shrieking with joy. He had to hold himself back, remind himself to remain still, waiting there just outside the shadow of the trees, for the others to join him. He took a deep breath and felt rejuvenated.

But then, as the remainder of their group emerged from under the sheltering branches of the forest, he heard a harsh cry from above. The sky appeared to darken. Ichigo glanced up, surprised, for he had not seen any clouds earlier. He gave a startled intake of breath and dropped back, his hand reaching for his sword.

The sky was covered with a vast array of multicolored, winged creatures, densely packed wingspan to wingspan, what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of them, swirling overhead, diving and coming closer like a swarm of locusts, blocking the sun, casting a vast dark shadow on the plain beneath them.

Aizen's face was carved in ice. "The Royal Guard," he announced.

Ichigo gave a gasp of dismay. "So many…" he murmured. "And what kind of creatures are they?"

Aizen's expression was utterly neutral. "They are in their released forms. In this form, they can manipulate the denser reishi of the Spirit Realm more easily, and their hides are impervious to most attacks." He sprang forward to face their enemy, zanpakutou upraised. "Guard yourself well, Ichigo!"

An iridescent blue-winged creature was gliding in for a landing immediately in front of Ichigo, and he could see it bore the form of a vaguely humanoid creature with huge glittering wings. The youth narrowed his eyes and raised his sword.