I woke the next morning feeling well rested. Laid out for me nearby was a suit of clothes, familiar-looking ones for they looked nearly exactly like my Soul Reaper uniform, only they were done all in brown and green (green being the under-layer with dark brown over it) with a green sash instead of black and white. I felt more touched by that than it was really manly to admit to. I dressed and tied back my hair and a servant appeared out of no-where and showed me to an outdoor room where a table was set up with breakfast.
The old woman was already there waiting with Isana seated in a chair near her. Isana was wearing what looked like very elaborate and elegant court robes in greens and whites and gold with her hair tied up by combs. She looked like a hime-sama from out of a storybook.
I greeted them both and applied myself to breakfast.
Isana shook her head at my single-minded devotion to filling my stomach and raised her wrist to show me something. It was a gold charm bracelet with four very elaborately detailed gold charms on it. There was a flat disk that was blank and shiny on one side and on the other side had a five-pointed star drawn in intricate knotwork surrounded by a circle also done in knotwork with a green gemstone in the middle. There was a tiny little athame-shaped charm with an ornate cross-guard made of feathers and the beak of a shrieking bird at the pommel. There was a tiny chalice with a very detailed depiction of frothy ocean waves and fish, complete with tiny, tiny glittering scales and jeweled eyes studded with tiny gems on the sides. And there was a tiny rod with flames twisting around the side of it with a small multifaceted gem at the top.
"As promised," the Old Woman said. "The woman whom you are vassal to has received permission from the Courts of the Four Elements to call upon thier power and to practice a binding spell that will seal the power of even an old god."
I blinked in surprise. What was this about me being a vassal? I was no-body's vassal! I felt indignation well up in me at the implication that I was some kind of menial. However, now that I had stopped telling lies to myself honesty prompted me to remind myself that the statement wasn't really true. Back in the Seireitei I was Lieutenant to Byakuya Kuchiki and when he said fetch, I fetched. I didn't like it, but I did it. The little missy too, was also able to lead me around by that iron ring she had spelled around my throat, so technically, whether I liked it or not, I was her little Soul Reaper-Guardian until I could rescue her kid.
"Lord Genbu seems to like me," Isana said. "I played on a violin I'd borrowed for hours and sang songs and everyone seemed to love it. It was like a celebration or something. They gave me clothes and gifts... He even had one of his court scholars teach me the spell while you were away."
Oh, well I guess those books were unneccessary then. I wasn't interested in detouring back to the Katschei's Realm (now mine apparently, whether I wanted it or not) so I'd just stick them in Isana's little bag until I was done.
"It is rare that we have such a pleasant mortal come to visit our court," the old woman said, smiling beatifically over at her. "And one that is so talented too. We of the Divine Realms may be powerful, but creation and imagination is mostly a Human trait. It is increasingly rare that we are able to hear new music. It is always a cause for joy when we are given something new."
I didn't get it, but I was glad she was making friends, I supposed. I was rested now, and eager to get back to my mission. We didn't have to wait around for our permission slips or that spell so we could get right back onto the trail of that Shadow.
"There are a few things you should know about the Realm that is now yours Mortal Warrior," the old woman said, turning to me.
"What's that?" I asked politely.
I wasn't really all that interested in it, but if she wanted to tell me I didn't want to offend her by refusing to hear about it.
"Created Realms here in the Dangai exist and are held together only so long as the magic that fuels them lasts," she informed me. "In a realm like Katschei's that would be especially true, since it was created by a mortal using spells instead of by a god or powerful Nature Spirit."
"So now that I've broken Katschei's lynchpin, the place is gonna fall apart right?" I surmised.
Hopefully it wouldn't take me with it. If that was the case I had to figure out a way to get my power outta that rock before it could suck me dry to try to use me as fuel to hold that place together.
"That would normally be the case, but luckily for you, Katschei was a true miser and he hoarded more than just rare things and treasure, he also hoarded power. He has enough of it locked away in various magical cisterns to last for centuries."
"If he had all that then why did he bother taking the four of you prisoner?" I asked curiously.
"He's a miser," Old Woman replied with a shrug. "It's not enough that he would have the power stored away-"
"It's more important to him that he doesn't spend any of it," I finished for her, nodding understanding. "So I guess I don't have ta worry about that place falling apart and takin' me with it. Well, that's a relief."
I'd figure out what to do with it later, maybe I could sell it or something. Heh, there'd be an advertisement in the paper! "Former magicians lair. Massive collection of art, antiques and magical artifacts included, for sale to highest bidder."
The Old woman looked at me with a piercing look and said seriously.
"You should be more careful boy. You shouldn't leave things lying around where people can find them, especially important things. The biggest bargaining chip here in the Divine Realms is power, boy, and now you have a great deal of it. It is fortunate for you that I owe you a debt of gratitude, otherwise, I might have been tempted to take this and make use of it."
She pulled out of the pouch at her waist a stone pendant on a chain. I recognized the deep indigo colored stone that pulsed with a soft light from within steadily in time to my own heart as the Heartsblood diamond I had won the day before. It had been cut and polished from its former rough, shattered appearance and now was a true jewel; a trillion-cut stone in deep indigo, like finest tanzanite. It was put into a setting of white gold where a snake wrapped over the bottom left and top corners of the triangle and what looked like the massive forearm of a baboon held that bottom left-hand corner of the gem. The chain was thick and made of matching white-gold links.
"I took the liberty of refining your heartstone myself boy,' she informed me, handing it over. "One doesn't trust things like this to underlings. You would do well to be very careful what you do with it. That stone holds more than merely a piece of your power..."
That sounded ominous.
"Whaddaya mean?" I asked cautiously.
"If you are ever killed in mortal form, your soul itself will be called to re-join it. I wouldn't go handing it around if I were you, it would give a being complete power over you should they choose to use it."
"Thanks, I'll remember that, " said seriously as I clasped the thick chain around my neck and let the gem fall next to my heart.
I appreciated the extra effort she'd gone to for me, and the warning. I'd be careful with this, people in my life already had enough power over me without me handing over complete mastery. My heart already figuratively belonged to another, I didn't think that it would be wise, however to make it literal. Rukia got me in enough trouble most days even when I had the ability to tell her no sometimes. As for the mortal woman, that gaeas she put on me was a real pain in the ass, but my conscience nagged that she was a single mother, alone in the world with her son having been kidnapped by Aizen and she was desperate enough to try anything to get him back. Besides all that, she was Rukia's sister whether she knew it or not... in a way that made her family to me (in the rukon sense) and I had a duty to look out for her as best I could.
"Your heartstone can act as a magical keystone as well," the old woman informed me. "All you ould need to do is go over to any gate, present the keystone and concentrate your will and the setting will change. It's like that for all of we who have our own little pocket realms."
It looked like I was now a member of the country club.
I thanked the Old Woman of the Mountain for her help and Isana walked back with me up to the Court proper so that we could leave through the Gate and get back to tracking down her son. Isana insisted on saying a formal goodbye to Genbu and I had to agree that it would probably be a smart thing to do. We finished in short order an were walking down the hall from the Court proper when we were brought up short by the sight of a tiny little aqua-green furry critter with eyes that looked like multi-faceted red gemstones and a body that vagely looked like a cross between a badger and a rabbit (or maybe a ferret... perhaps a chinchilla?) came streaking out of a side passage. It was making a little squeaky-noise in terror. Then came the sound of a terrible roar, not of pain but of anger. Isana scooped the little critter up in her arms where it cowered, shivering in fear.
"Aaaww, you poor thing!" she exclaimed, taking one look at its furry, big-eyed cuteness and cuddling it.
I was reminded of Rukia; she had used to try to do that to dinner a lot when we'd been growing up. That was why the fish. Fish were in no way cute or cuddly. Every time I tried to go out and catch a rabbit, we'd get into a fight over it; I'd insist that whether it was furry or not didn;t matter, it was made of meat and so therefore belonged in our stewpot and Rukia'd just cuddle it and try to protect it... just like Isana was doing now.
There came another roar and the little critter started shaking and squeaking all over again.
"Oh, what's the matter little guy?" she asked solicitously.
Then she stared in shock.
"Renji... I think it just answered me."
"Huh?" I asked, wondering if maybe all the stress was finally getting to her.
"The little ferret-thing," she said. "I got pictures in my head. That giant ogre-bull-thing likes to push it around and bully it, and there's nothing the poor thing can do about it since the master won't interfere in squabbles between his vassals. The poor thing's being used as a kick ball."
The sound of heavy, stomping steps echoed up from down the hall and Isana turned her big brown eyes on me in a puppy-faced pleading look.
She had to be kidding.
"We don't even-" I protested, knowing exactly what she wanted from me.
"Pleeeease," she said.
She held the little critter out right in front of my face, just like Rukia had used to. The critter looked at me with wide, gemlike pleading eyes. I looked back at Isana and frowned.
"But we don't-" I tried again.
"It's so tiny and helpless, don;t you have a heart? Don;t you feel sorry for him?" she pressed.
I looked in the direction of the roar and sighed in resignation. There was the sound of loud, thundering tromphing steps coming up fast. I sighed in frustration as I pushed Isana behind me as the little pest burrowed into her arms. I'd just know this woman was going to be nothing but trouble for me! What a softy I was turning out to be. I couldn't help it though, she looked so much like Rukia and it was such an ingrained reflex for me to give Rukia whatever the hell she wanted. A huge beast that looked like a cross between a human and a bull came gallumphing up the hall.
"Move aside Human," it demanded when it saw the creature cowering in her arms.
"No!" Isana snapped firmly. "You're bullying this poor dear and I won't have it."
"Carbuncle is my servant, I shall treat him how I like, mortal," the bull-man said to her.
He'd just lost some respect points.
"You shall return him to me," he crossed his arms over his massive chest and loomed intimidatingly at her.
"I shall not," Isana said firmly, drawing her dignity about her.
"You cannot appeal to the emperor, for he will find in my favor. That servant belongs to me."
"He belongs to himself, he just took up service with you so he wouldn't fade away," Isana replied, that regal aura coming out again.
The bull-man, apparently fed up with philosophy tried to reach forward and take it away from her by force.
"Back off, bub," I snarled, putting a hand to Zabimaru and using my other arm to slap the offending hand away from the woman.
"My quarrel is with that Mortal that is trying to steal my servant," the bull-man said.
"If you've got a problem with the lady," I replied. "Then you've got a problem with me."
The bull man's gaze centered on me for a long moment and he pulled out a long, two-ended staff. He turned to face me, posture at the ready. I drew Zabimaru. I was all for a little light morning excersize.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" I said as my blade shikaied and the fight started. It still felt a little strange to be fighting with a long, straight piece of metal instead of with the snaketail but I found that my body remembered those old ordinary sword patterns from back in the academy before we'd gotten our zanpaktou, and the learning curve wasn't all that bad.
The clash of our blades attracted a crowd and there was the inevitable betting going on along the sidelines, most of it was against me I noted. Well that was fine... It felt good just laying some ordinary smackdown on an opponent. When our blades met, my sword told me that the bull-man was a firm and steady strength but that he had a weakness of being too rigid, and too controlling and had a tendency to think that strength was everything. He was strong, I'd give him that, every time our weapons bashed against one another I could feel the impact jar my limbs. Still, strength, while it was nice, wasn't everything. I dodged around to the side turned a flip and lopped of his horns, then while he was distracted, I met a swing of his with a full-force swing of my own and his weapon broke in half. The two blades went spinning, and he stared at me down the reflective length of Zabimaru's steel form, the tip of which I'd touched to his throat in warning.
"I yield me, Mortal Warrior," the bull-man said reluctantly.
"Yay!" Isana cheered, tossing the little furball up in the air and catching him. I rolled my eyes and sheathed my blade. There were murmurs from the spectators.
"Hey Renji, Carbuncle says he wants to join us!" I sana called.
"No-way," I said flatly.
I had had more than my fill of plucky and annoying little sidekicks running all over my missions. That brat Ichigo seemed to attract them like turds attracted flies. He had a whole zoo full of 'em, an' every time I went anywhere with him and the irritating things showed up and wouldn't go away, I always seemed to get stuck with the weirdest and most annoying one out of the bunch! The first time was bad enough with that annoying gay-ass purse-thing with the rabbit ears, but then, when we went to Hueco Mundo, I got stuck with Mr. Maskface McDoncha-know.
"Aw c'mon," she said stepping up beside me to match my pace. "He doesn't have anywhere else to go. You just humiliated his master so he can't go back there."
"Not my problem," I said flippantly.
Then there was the soft, subtle sound of a sniffle. I looked over to see Isana doing that big-eyed pathetic look, that said wordlessly "you're so cruel." Did they take women aside in the nursery and show them how to make a man feel exactly three feet tall with just a look? Was it a class? What?
"Aw c'mon, we don't have anywhere ta put him," I justified.
It was bad enough that I had one civilian to keep an eye on, I had no intention of building up a menagerie of annoying mascot-sidekicks like that brat always seemed to do and that was the end of that.
"I mean it," I said firmly. "The furball stays."
"S-so meean," she whimpered, giving me puppy eyes. "How can you say no to this?"
She shoved the creature at arms length into my face. It squeaked at me and squinched its nose up cutely.
"No."
"But he's so cute!" she tried again, smiling up at me with that smile that looked so much like Rukia's I felt myself waver just a bit.
"And that's a recommendation how?" I asked, turning to continue down the hall towards the exit.
"But he's all alone..." she said sadly.
"Yer breakin' my heart here, really. I mean it."
She quickened her pace until she was beside me.
"Well I'm keeping him," she said firmly.
"Do what ya want, but the minute he gets in my way, he's gone," I said.
I wasn't going to argue with her about it either. She wanted him? She was responsible for him, I was just the hired muscle, I was not a babysitting service.
Isana stopped right there in the hall and placed her hands in a cupping motion right at her chest and summoned up a ball of reiatsu. She must be a really quick study. Took after her sister I supposed. The reiatsu flared brightly and then sunk down to her feet where it spread out into a circle followed quickly by another circle and with a knotwork of lines and strange symbols around them. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was for and the design looked too complicated to figure out easily.
"Solid Firmament, strength and peace..." she chanted. "I call upon the power of the Earth."
The charm bracelet she'd gotten (supposedly from the other four courts) glowed suddenly and one of the charms, the flat pentacle disk, detached from it. Glowing with a brilliant green light it began to expand in size from its miniature form until it was the size of a large hand mirror. The smooth surface glowed with greeen power that tasted like leaves and freshly tilled soil.
"I, Isana Rourke do offer my power and strength to enter into contract with you, oh Noble Spirit," she intoned. "Become one with my power and rest you here with me. Hear my commands and come to my aid in time of need."
The little greenish furry ferret thing seemed to hesitate for a moment, considering, then drew itself up on his haunches, bowed to Isana and hopped up into the air, tumbling end over end while a cocoon of light spun itself around it. It drifted over to the mirror and disappeared inside of it. The mirror shrunk back down to its former size and the glowing circle disappeared. Isana, seemingly suddenly very weak, sank to her knees and I had to move quickly before she hit the floor. I steadied her until her feet firmed under her.
I was about to ask about what had just happened when the Old Woman, chatting with a small knot of courtiers nearby, called over to me and said
"Your mistress has the ability now to enter into contracts with any free roaming nature spirit who may wish to leave its current situation and take up cause with her. My former sisters in captivity took the liberty of enabling the talismans she bears create a connection back to your Realm where they may wait and replenish themselves. Lady Isana may call upon them, and bring them from that realm to her side to aid her in her need."
I looked at her in surprise. I'd never heard of anything like that!
:And I really wish they'd stop calling her my mistress,: I thought to myself.
It was bad enough I had a collar on me, it was worse that everyone and thier granny seemed to knw who held the leash!
"A word of caution, however," the old woman continued, soley to Isana. "About manifesting the nature spirits who may come to your banner Lady Isana. It is your own power that calls and keeps them in a place that is not their new place of power. The time that you can summon them to your side to aid will perforce be limited, and entirely dependent upon your level of reiatsu. The more powerful the Nature Spirit you would summon, the more energy it will take from you."
I understand," Isana said, bowing formally to the Old Woman.
I followed suit, she hadn't had to but she'd done us a favor... maybe. Part of me wanted to ask what she got out of it, but I decided not to, no point in risking offending her, besides knowing the fair ones, she'd probably done it just for kicks.
A mostly ordinary mortal human who could contract with and summon Nature Spirits... Now I'd seen everything.
"As long as you don't go calling it up just to annoy me, do what you want," I grumbled, heading toward the gate.
"Right!" she said cheerfully.
We were transported right back to the world we'd left off at and I picked up the trail again. It was a little faded from when I'd last left it, but I could still follow it easily. We tracked it to a gate and I fed the thing a littel power and put Isana on my back to flash-step down the starpath to the next realm.
The hunt was on again.
I loved this chapter, it was fun to write.