Chapter 37: The Spirit King II
Disclaimer: Not mine. Kubo Tite's.
A/N: Not much is left of this story… FuHahAhaHa...
Sorry, but this story has driven me to the brink of insanity… long flashback(s) in this one. It's necessary for the rather… big… explanations… coming up…
And Holy Schnevesizers. The word count… D: Oh the horror. *keels over*
…
Chapter 37
The Spirit King II
…
When Karin disappeared, the room broke out into pandemonium.
"What was that light?"
"Where did she go?"
"What happened?"
"She just disappeared! Along with Taichou!"
" – what's going on? Why were they taken?"
" – is there another enemy?"
" – can't be…"
"What the hell just happened?" This was Ichigo.
Hikifune Kirio grimly elucidated, "That was the Spirit King. No doubt about it."
That caused even more uproar.
"Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?"
"They just saved his life!"
"…He's just going to reward them, right?" Tatsuki said nervously. "After all, they did him a great service…"
"Luck-ky~" Ikkaku forced out, even though he had a feeling that it couldn't be farther from the truth.
All the while, Urahara and Yoruichi remained silent. The situation was grave indeed.
Isshin closed his eyes in horror. It had taken his daughter. Was it trying to get revenge?
Flashback
Isshin's brush briefly paused as his keen ears detected hurried footsteps from a fair distance away. Then, he looked back down at his paperwork and cursed; the ink had spread. His calligraphy hadn't been that great to begin with, but now the ink stain had rendered his handwriting positively illegible.
He resolved to ignore the hurried footsteps. So he redid the paper, tongue between his teeth in concentration. The footsteps pounded ever closer to his office, and Isshin's brush jerked as he recognized the reiatsu belonging to the person who was in such a tearing hurry. His eyes bulged when he realized that he had once again ruined his paperwork.
However, as he was determined to finish his paperwork so he could go out with his drinking buddy, Kyouraku Shunsui, Isshin grit his teeth and started anew, with a hand trembling with the effort not to spoil his handwriting this time. Unlike Shunsui, he wasn't so negligent in his duties as a captain to push all his work onto his lieutenant. No matter how tempting it sounded.
He had almost finished when there was a slamming sound as the sliding door yanked open and a harsh panting sounded.
This time, Isshin stiffened his hand just in time in order to prevent his hand from going astray again. He continued to focus on the more tedious portion of his job, and finally finished the accursed paper. Privately heaving a sigh of relief, Isshin flicked yet another piece of paper over, dipping his brush into the ink once more to write another status report. Taking a leaf from Shunsui's book started to seem more and more alluring.
"Isshin-san… I mean, Kurosaki-Taichou."
Yet his visitor demanded his attention.
Isshin didn't look up as he said irritably, "To what do I owe the honor of one of the Onmitsu Kidou Unit Commanders coming out of his shell to find me directly? If I recall correctly, it's been over half a year since you came to even greet me."
"…Isshin-san, please."
At the pleading tone of the voice addressing him, Isshin finally looked up, putting his brush down, unaware that he had placed it upon the paper he had just painstakingly finished. The man before him was drenched in cold sweat, and had an uncharacteristically frantic look in his eyes.
Isshin crossed his arms, surprised, and even voicing it. "…What's with you, Urahara? This is the first time I've seen you so agitated." He forced a grin. "Was Yoruichi flirting with Tessai again? You know she does that just to tease you because your reactions are hilarious, though even I found it kind of convincing when she first tried it…"
His feeble attempt at humor went ignored. By this time, Urahara was so agitated that he was babbling. Something was definitely wrong. Urahara was always composed, if not lackadaisical.
"Discovered… The Spirit King… Eaten long ago… I tried to harness – "
Isshin held up his hands. "Whoa wait, wait." He craned his neck and scrunched up his face in an exaggerated show of listening closely, sure that he had misheard. Come on. Harness? Harness? In the same sentence as the other words? That had to be a hearing problem. He would have to drop by the Fourth Division to have Retsu check that, as soon as he finished his regrettably large amount of paperwork.
Isshin wanted to hear Urahara's issue again, properly this time. "Come. Again?"
Urahara punctuated his words, so Isshin couldn't claim to have missed it once again. "The Spirit King. Was eaten. Long. Ago."
The implications of the sentence were so disturbing that Isshin couldn't even bother to be offended by Urahara's manner of speech, which had slowed down considerably, as if talking to a mentally stunted child.
But that the Spirit King had been devoured long ago was by no means new information to Isshin. He'd heard it, in confidence, long ago from the late head of the Shiba clan, and that was the reason that he had rejected the promotion offered to him some time ago. Of course, Commander Yamamoto had been displeased, but that disgruntled manner towards Isshin had only lasted a few decades.
No. He didn't feel disturbed by something he already knew. What he did find disturbing was that Urahara had found out in itself, as well as what he thought would have accompanied the latter content of Urahara's broken sentence. The part about the harnessing. Still wanting to believe that he had heard wrong, Isshin rapidfired questions at Urahara. "When did you find out? And how? And just what were you going to say after that? Was it really the word 'harness' that you used?"
"Nevermind how I found out now, but I've accidentally – "
The door flung open once again, interrupting their conversation. Both of the men turned as a woman dashed in, her face ashen. It was Isshin's lieutenant.
"Taichou! Come outside quickly, please!"
Isshin was stunned; his lieutenant always remained imperturbable. It must be an extreme emergency if she was this upset.
He turned back towards Urahara and shouted, "We'll resume this conversation when I'm back! Exactly where we left off! Got it?"
He didn't notice Urahara's stricken face.
Neither did he notice that his brush lay on the paper, bleeding black ink all over the place, seeming to forebode ill.
As Isshin ran down the hallway, all the lanterns suddenly extinguished. Isshin paused. That was extremely odd. Feeling that something was very, very wrong, Isshin started running again, even faster this time. Though his lieutenant stumbled, Isshin had no trouble navigating through the dark. But even though Isshin supposedly had his superior spiritual detection to help him detect reishi (spiritual particles) he didn't realize that he was outside until he felt the dirt underneath his bare feet.
He frowned at the darkness. What was going on? It was still supposed to be early evening. There were some hours left until sunset, let alone such pitch darkness. And even in the darkness, there was supposed to be a moon. But there was none.
"It's starting."
Jumping nearly out of his skin when Urahara's voice came from behind him, Isshin thought that his spiritual detection skills must be going haywire; first he couldn't tell that he had even arrived outside, next he couldn't detect Urahara?
But then he saw an eerie light in the sky.
Isshin's eyes widened in horror as he saw a huge mask looking down at the whole of Soul Society.
It thundered, "Who tried to subjugate me? Who dared to try and harness me? Me, The Spirit King?"
It opened its enormous mouth and started to suck in hapless souls who didn't have enough spiritual power to resist. Screams sounded everywhere, and even weaker shinigami directly under the mask's mouth were vacuumed in.
Aghast, Isshin turned to Urahara. "You… you tried to harness the Spirit King?"
Urahara looked miserable, and that was answer enough.
Isshin closed his eyes, hoping that anybody, anything would swoop in and pacify the King and send him back to his own dimension. Anything but forcing Isshin to use his last resort.
But when nothing happened, Isshin knew he had no choice but to use that technique. He had gone to great lengths to master it after he had discovered the truth about the 'Spirit King.' Just in case a scenario like the one currently happening occurred.
Opening his eyes, Isshin asked Urahara, "You were always a genius at Kidou. Is there anything that can… seal the King?"
Urahara looked at him bleakly. "Only if the King's attention is bound long enough."
Isshin clenched his fists, aware that every second he wasted was more souls sacrificed.
Finally firming his resolve, Isshin drew out Engetsu. He looked down at his blade and silently apologized.
'Sorry buddy. Goodbye.'
Flashback End
Kuchiki Seishou stepped forward and carefully placed a hand on Isshin's arm.
"Kurosaki-san. I shall lead you to where the King resides."
Isshin shook his head. "If it's still in its sealed form, it would be a fool to stay in the same place."
The mossy-haired man, Shakuin Senchyuu began to laugh maniacally. "Serves you right, Kurosaki Isshin! That's what you get for opposing the Spirit King!"
Swiftly, Seishou turned and pointed her sword at him. "Do you wish to lose that tongue of yours? If so, I would be more than willing to oblige." Though her voice sounded even, her face was anything but calm.
Kirio said wearily, "Seishou-san. It's pointless to get angry with Shakuin. It won't solve anything."
Sword quivering slightly, Seishou said tightly, "It would make me feel better, if that means anything." Though the Kuchiki blood running in her veins demanded her to uphold the laws, there was only so much she could take.
"Don't, Seishou-san. Shakuin is right." Isshin said quietly.
Finally, Ichigo snapped. He did the unthinkable to his father. Grabbing Isshin by his shihakusho's collar, he said furiously, "You bastard! If you hadn't helped seal the so-called 'King,' then Karin wouldn't have been taken!"
Isshin closed his eyes. In the normal way of things, he would have punched the lights out of his son, but at the present, he could muster neither the strength nor the will.
In a flash, Seishou had sheathed her zanpakutou and taken Ichigo's arm in a firm grip.
"I believe I told you that he had no choice."
Kirio turned to her successor and said, "And I believe the true cause lies somewhere else."
Urahara looked away.
Loosening his hold on his father, Ichigo hung his head, hating himself for being so helpless. He was being unreasonable, he knew, taking it out on his father. The true source of his anger was his inability to protect his loved ones.
He turned to the three Royal Guards present. "Where are the other Royal Guards?"
After a moment, Kirio answered, "They're far away, each engaged in battle."
"…and the Spirit King?"
Both of the female guards shook their heads.
Isshin spoke to Urahara. "I know it wants revenge against me. But tell me… is it possible to break the seal?"
There was a long silence, as if Urahara dreaded what he was going to say. Everybody awaited Urahara's answer with baited breath, hoping that his answer would be 'no.'
But out of his mouth came, "Yes. It is possible."
Murphy's law said the rest.
…
"Sorry. You've just heard something nobody's supposed to know." The 'King' lowered his hand from his face, revealing a demonic mask infinitely more grotesque than a hollow's.
Eyes of white flame flickered from behind the mask.
"You'll have to die now."
He stood up, and Karin simultaneously backed away. He raised a hand, which now dripped black fire, and examined it idly.
"Hm. Not as good as my old form, but that'll be remedied shortly. I'll soon reach my quota." Turning back towards Karin, he informed her, "But you won't be the one to help me reach my quota."
Karin asked with the barest tremor in her voice. "Quota…?"
Sitting back down, the 'King' said, "Well, I suppose I have plenty of time to enlighten you, and it won't matter, because you'll die soon." He grinned, sending shivers down Karin's spine. "And a villain – in this case, that would be me – always tells his victim – in this case, you – the reasoning behind his killing."
Even as she teetered on the verge of a psychotic breakdown, Karin still had enough scraps of her sanity to know that it wasn't a very good time to point out that those types of villains always got defeated in the end.
The King arranged himself into a comfortable position on the cushioned throne, shrinking himself a little bit to make it possible.
"And to 'quota,' I mean quota of soul energy. To release the seal. But in order to have you fulfill my quota, I'd have to consume you instead of kill you." The mask broke out into an eerie smile. "But I think your father would feel a lot more pained if he saw your cold, bloodied body, don't you think?"
'Okay. An insane sadist mask of a fake king is about to kill me. That would be a perfect way to end my day. And my life.' Karin managed a sarcastic thought with a mind dancing dangerously close to hysteria. She also managed to ask, "Soul energy? Seal?" though it sounded rather more like, "SHoul herery? Sheal?"
The mask seemed to understand her garbled question nonetheless, as he waved a hand of black flame and clarified, "I eat – that is, imprison – souls in order to suck out their soul energies." Looking at his nonexistent nails, he continued, "And I discovered that when I do this, the seal weakens. Soon enough, I'll return to my original form."
More coherently, Karin asked, "What seal?"
The King narrowed his eyes.
Flashback
The current Spirit King carried out his usual mind-numbingly boring duties, regretting having consumed his master, per usual. How had his predecessor managed to do all this? It seemed that he had underestimated the former Spirit King.
After being disillusioned from the title of 'King,' he had tried to release the former Spirit King from imprisonment. He failed; either his owner was refusing to come out, or he had buried his owner beyond the point of return.
Though he knew it was the latter, he often entertained the idea that it might be the former; even she had probably disliked the job, what with all the work. All he knew was that his master certainly wasn't dead, for he himself still remained.
He sighed and temporarily abandoned his physical form, becoming mist. Traveling out of the cold marble palace out into the depressingly fake outdoors in this formless state, he reflected on the situation for the past several centuries
After he had devoured his master, not only had the dimension transformed into one of barren darkness, but he had also felt empty. To get rid of the darkness, he had fashioned a false sun. To get rid of the barrenness, he had fashioned a marble landscape.
But the void within him refused to go away.
So in order to fill that void, he had eaten all of his master's family. But the feeling of emptiness just wouldn't go away. Was this what a hollow felt like?
Though he had considered eating all of the current Royal Guard as well, he knew it would be pointless. It wouldn't fill his emptiness, and would just increase his workload with fewer minions to carry out his jobs. Besides, they didn't even know his true identity. He had made sure to devour all of the Royal Guard who did.
Except the one who had managed to get away and return to Soul Society.
One from the Shiba clan.
That cursed Shiba had gone and shown his face among the shinigami in Soul Society again, so he couldn't even go eat the man and claim that he had died of natural causes, like he had for the other Royal Guards.
So the Spirit King had then taken precautions to make sure the Shibas' word wouldn't be trusted. And so they fell from nobility, under the pretense that they had betrayed the Spirit King by returning to Soul Society without the Spirit King's permission. The Commander of the Gotei 13 hadn't even noticed the switch in kings, the old fool.
He was jolted out of his reverie by a jarring sensation. He was abruptly forced back to his physical form, and he landed in a heap painfully on the marble. Trembling, he stood up on the marble.
Someone was probing him. Testing him. Seeing if he was controllable.
After the shock subsided, he flew into a terrible rage. His only master was the previous Spirit King. No one. No one else would control him.
Forcefully transforming into his full form of an enormous white mask and a cloud of darkness, he swooped back to the palace.
All of his Royal Guard had been horrified when they saw him; they had never known of the 'Spirit King's' real form. They tried in vain to pacify him, restrain him. But nothing worked. He wreaked havoc in his palace before he tore through the dimension into Soul Society, demanding to know who had tried to tame – no, enslave – him.
And before the Spirit King stood a mere shinigami, daring to challenge him. Him. The Spirit King.
The King roared at the mere soul, "Was it you? Were you the one who tried to subjugate me?"
The man met his eyes, and the King saw that they held no fear. They were only filled with determination. Without a single word, the man released his zanpakutou. Not twice, but three times.
The King's eyes of flame flared when he saw this triple release. By the third release, the shinigami's appearance had changed drastically. A shell now covered the shinigami's body and he had become one with his zanpakutou.
The King recognized this technique… and even in his current form of white and black flame, he didn't stand a chance.
There was only one thing that could defeat it, but it required that he fight alongside his master. Unfortunately, he had eaten her. And he had never taught it to her in the first place; in fact, she hadn't even known of its existence. Even if she had, he would never have allowed her to utilize it.
The King returned his focus to the shinigami. The man only had a single opportunity to take him down. Then the soul would lose all his shinigami powers.
Perhaps the blow would be avoidable; but that was unlikely.
The King knew that his only hope was to devour the man before he could even use the technique. He opened his jaws wide to suck in the shinigami, but it was too late.
"Final Getsuga Tenshou. Mugetsu."
The black light flashed through the King, slicing his mask cleanly in two, revealing the white flames behind it. Though the pain of his broken mask was excruciating, he felt another, more subtle sensation creep through him. But the feeling grew stronger and shuddered through him, compressing him into an actual spiritual form.
The King screamed, "What have you done to me?"
As the shell fell from the man, he said, "You're being sealed, 'Your Majesty.'"
Though the King was furious, his voice was now much smaller than before, keeping in proportion with his body. "Who are you to even think of challenging me?" He twisted and thrashed against the seal, which tightened with every movement of resistance.
"I am Kurosaki Isshin."
"With whose help did you dare to seal me?" The mask hissed, growing smaller and smaller, steam rising from his mouth.
Though the mask thought he saw the briefest moment of hesitation, the man called Isshin declared, "I had no help. I did this of my own volition by myself. You were taking too many lives. That's unforgivable, even if it's the Spirit King."
Writhing, the King was forced into a child's body, and forced to return to his own dimension.
The King had never been so humiliated. He'd then put a large bounty on Kurosaki Isshin's head, effectively ensuring that the man wouldn't be able to return, until he had sufficiently restored his powers, so he actually carry out his sworn revenge. By the time the King was through, he'd have Kurosaki Isshin begging forgiveness at his feet.
Flashback End
The story unfolded before Karin. So her father had helped seal this demon of a king. 'You did the right thing, Beardy. No… Dad.'
Presently, the King was pondering, "Now, should I break the seal once and for all by consuming that boy and then finish off your father, or should I bring your father here to make him be the final one to help break my seal?" He stroked his mask's chin with a fiery black hand. "I think I shall go with the second choice. He sealed me. It is quite fitting that he be the final soul to break my seal."
Then the King seemed to change his mind again. "No. I said I'd kill him slowly and painfully. Looks like I'll have to devour that boy first." Rising from his throne, the mask turned towards Toushirou, who lay on the floor, unconscious and unaware of what was going on.
Panic shot through Karin. Toushirou had already lost his spiritual power. She couldn't allow him to be eaten as well.
Karin briefly closed her eyes, and though she wasn't sure she believed in God, she sent up a prayer to any listening deity.
She then materialized Koutetsu, knowing that it would be futile even before blade had even completely formed. Leveling her sword towards the 'king,' Karin snarled with more bravado than she felt, "So exactly what are you?"
The mask let out a roar of laughter.
"I told you. I am the Spirit King."
Slowly, Karin shook her head.
"No, you're not."
The glowing slits that were the mask's eyes narrowed. "And your proof for this claim is…?"
"You said you had 'consumed your master,' right?"
The creature neither confirmed nor denied this. Just stared at her, his eyes of flame flickering.
"That means you belonged to the Spirit King."
The masked creature of black flame twitched at this. As she continued on, it tightened its stance as if he were a tightly coiled spring ready to unleash at any time. "You're not just a simple soul. You were the Spirit King's – "
He pounced and her vision turned black.
…
After Urahara's shocking admittance, there was a tacit agreement that everybody give a wide berth to the elephant in the room. Instead, they talked quietly amongst themselves.
Kuchiki Seishou spoke to Rukia. "I believe this is the first time we've met. You probably haven't heard of me from my nephew, but the law recognizes me as your aunt." After a moment of thought, she added, "That is, if my father didn't remove me from the family tree. Did he?"
Rukia replied quietly, "He passed away before Onii-sama granted me the Kuchiki name, but I heard that his last wish was that you be restored to the family tree."
For a moment, Rukia thought she saw a glimmer of tears. But when Seishou turned to Rukia, her gray eyes were clear. "Thank you, Rukia."
Embarrassed, Rukia looked away.
.
Exhausted, Renji leaned against a relatively whole slab of marble.
"Tired much?" Tatsuki asked.
Renji grunted, "Talk to me after you've faced a Sexta Espada bent on seducing you for over an hour."
Tatsuki snorted. "So, did she ever succeed?"
Giving her an incredulous look, Renji asked, "Would I have left her half-dead if she did?"
"You didn't kill her though." Tatsuki pointed out.
Leaning back, Renji thought of Rukia and stated, "Well, let's just say I know how she feels to want to be loved." 'But I've abandoned hopes of that long ago.'
He closed his eyes. "Besides, polite women aren't my type. I like 'em aggressive." He opened an eye and looked at Tatsuki. "Kind of like you."
Thinking he was making fun of her, Tatsuki smacked him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for, you hag?"
"What? Hag? Why you…! If you weren't injured, I'd – !"
Rangiku watched them, amused despite the gravity of the situation. That is, until Shuuhei asked her, "Rangiku-san. Do you think – ?"
"That Taichou found out about Hinamori-chan?" She tried to prop her chin on her knees, only to discover her breasts were too large to allow this. She used her curvaceous body to her advantage, and was secretly (well, not so secret, since she showed them off) proud of them. But at times like this, they annoyed her to no end. She settled for propping her elbows on her knees and chin in her hands, and murmured, "I think so. I think I feel traces of her reiatsu here."
"But where could she be?"
Mutely, Rangiku shook her head.
Meanwhile, the adults stood in utter silence; Isshin with his face buried in his hands, Yoruichi with her arms crossed, and Urahara staring at the ground.
His green and white hat sat crookedly atop his head, but Urahara didn't readjust it; he was too busy recalling where everything had started.
Flashback
(A/N: Sorry about all the flashbacks folks. This is the last one in this chapter, I promise.)
Urahara squinted at the peculiar spirit particle. It wasn't like anything he'd seen before. Its structure resembled that of a spiritual particle, but it was slightly different. More… evolved. Per usual, a hypothesis began to form in Urahara's mind. Maybe…
"What are you doing, Kisuke?"
He jumped. So lost in the idea forming in his head, Urahara hadn't even felt Yoruichi come into the room.
"Jeez, Kisuke. Your senses must be getting dull. Why, even a decade ago, you would have noticed me sneaking up on you from a mile away."
Scratching his head, Urahara laughed sheepishly and hid the sample of spirit particle from her line of sight. "Must be so. What's are you doing here, Yoruichi-san?"
Looking annoyed, Yoruichi said, "I sent a message for you, but you didn't come to my summons, or even bother to answer. Just what kind of 3rd seat are you anyways?"
Urahara winced. He had forgotten that she'd wanted him to take up the vacant captaincy due to a recent Royal Guard promotion.
"Um, Yoruichi-san. Truthfully, I don't think I want to be a captain yet."
This triggered Yoruichi's wrath. "And why in the Spirit King's name not? You can't be afraid of failing the Captaincy test! Do you just not want to shoulder the responsibility?"
Spot on.
Uncomfortably, Urahara hedged, "You see, I think being an Onmitsu Kidou Unit Commander is quite a handful already."
Seeing that he wasn't to be persuaded, Yoruichi deflated and her face expression turned from irate to sad. "I just think that your talents are being wasted…" she gestured vaguely at the cramped makeshift workshop and said flatly, "…here."
Looking faintly abashed, Urahara mumbled, "Maybe in a few years…"
Gazing at him before averting her gaze, she muttered, "You were always stubborn." She sighed and started to leave. Just before she was about to exit the doorway, she paused. "If you change your mind… though I doubt you will… let me know."
She vanished.
Staring at the spot she had just been, Urahara silently apologized and turned back to what he had been working on.
Several days later, he finally discovered what the mystery particle was.
It was a particle of the most powerful zanpakutou he had ever seen. It was more evolved, yet older than any other.
Unmatched. Unrivaled.
But it had no master.
It was a rogue zanpakutou.
He swallowed just thinking about the mass of possibilities before him. He could study it in secret. He could grow a culture of it. He could use the spiritual particle to invent so many outlandish products thought to be impossible before. He could even clone the spiritual particle and forge his own, more powerful zanpakutou.
But he was never one for much power. His sound rejection of Yoruichi's offer of Captaincy was proof enough for that.
No.
But what he did possess was an insatiable curiosity.
Though this curiosity had gotten him in trouble countless times, he had never taken a risk as large as this. He was the living example of 'the higher you climb, the harder you fall.'
The bigger the prank, the harsher the consequences. The larger the project, the more painful the failure.
If he succeeded in this endeavor, he would attain everything. But if he failed, he might lose everything.
He set to work.
It was an all-in.
And then everything had gone horribly wrong. Urahara had discovered a horrible truth, and the zanpakutou was indomitable. Untamable.
He had to tell someone, and he wracked his brains for somebody, anybody. Yoruichi briefly flashed through his mind before he quickly dismissed the thought. She already had her hands full with the leading the Onmitsu Kidou Corps as well as the Second Division.
He had no choice but to go to the man, to the man with whom he could trust everything.
Flashback End
It had all been a mistake. A costly one, a crashing tsunami that still caused ripples over a century later.
"So it's breakable." Isshin said hoarsely.
Nobody needed to ask what he was talking about; of course it was the seal.
Urahara soberly said, "Yes. By consuming souls and imprisoning them within him, draining their energy continuously."
He paused after he had said this. His own words had triggered something in him. "…Of course…" he breathed. "The souls don't die immediately after they're consumed. He stores them away… and drains them bit by bit."
"And that is significant because?" Yoruichi sounded impatient.
Isshin too, had come to the same realization as Urahara.
"Because that means there's a chance we can restore the original Spirit King."
…
When Karin came to, she discovered that she was floating in nothingness. There was no pain.
'I don't think this is death.' She commented, sitting up. 'I'm certainly not in Soul Society. Though I don't know if I even can get into Soul Society after I die anymore.' She mused.
'Of course you can still get into Soul Society. But you're right about not being dead.'
'Koutetsu!'
Karin spun around and spotted the familiar boy, though his hair and eyes were much darker than she remembered.
Reading her thoughts as he always did, he snorted. 'Of course they are. If you haven't noticed, my hair and eyes are the exact same color as the metal on your blades. They're me, after all.'
Slightly embarrassed, Karin hid it behind a scowl. 'I told you not to read my mind!'
Koutetsu shrugged. 'It's not like I can help it.'
Karin switched the subject. 'If I'm not dead, then what am I? Everything turned black, and then…' She trailed off.
'You're in stasis.'
Suddenly becoming world-weary, Karin sighed, 'And this is what, the thousandth time I've been stuck in a state between life and death?'
The boy corrected her, 'Actually, this is the first. The other times, you were just stuck in your own mind and soul. This time is different.'
'…Different in what way, exactly?' Karin asked flatly.
'You're… in the Spirit King, per se.'
Karin suddenly stood and looked around, alarmed. 'What? He's eaten me? But didn't he say that he was going to kill me to get revenge on my dad?' That in itself was alarming as well, she realized belatedly.
Koutetsu sighed. 'Calm down, and sit down for god's sake. He hasn't eaten you. You're… or rather, your soul... is inside the original Spirit King.'
This confused her. 'What am I doing inside the real Spirit King?'
Sighing again, Koutesu ran a hand through his hair distractedly, just as if he was thinking about how to break something big to her as delicately as possible. Karin recognized the signs. She'd seen it in Ichigo, Kyo, even she had done the very same thing countless times.
But if he was anything like her – which he would be, since he was part of her soul – he would fail at the 'delicate' part. Make a complete mess of it. Stomp all over the neat flowers in the garden that had been carefully pruned, if you will. Karin didn't have an inch of finesse with words, so neither would he.
Karin gulped.
And fail Koutetsu did. He failed to be delicate, and to make any sense whatsoever.
'I'm an extension of him.'
Karin scrunched up her face, as if that could help her comprehend his words better. Him? Who was 'him'? He couldn't mean… Her eyes widened.
'What are you talking about, Koutetsu?' Karin asked sharply.
'Just as Kyo's Kyuu was an extension of me, I'm an extension of him.'
Karin was starting to see the direction this was heading. But she wanted it desperately to be a misunderstanding.
'An extension of who?' Her breathing became shallow.
'The fake Spirit King.'
And the fake Spirit King was…
Karin's ears buzzed with the realization. She slumped back onto the ground and lay on her back, closing her eyes and hoping that it was all a dream.
Yes.
A long, terrible, nightmare. All of it, starting from her hollowfication. It was all a nightmare; it had to be. Yes, there were some good parts, like the moments she had shared with Toushirou and Kyo, but the rest were terrible. They were too terrible to be true. She would wake up and find it was all a figment of her imagination.
'But you never had much of an imagination to begin with, Karin.' Koutetsu voiced what Karin had thought to herself many times before to ground herself into reality. And it grounded her to reality now. She opened her eyes.
A woman walked out of the nothingness and stood over her. Karin immediately knew that she was the Spirit King.
'Yes. Now that you've realized, it is time for you to leave.'
Karin slowly stood, and saw the Spirit King was tall for a woman; about as tall as Karin might be when she was fully grown.
Resigned, Karin felt herself ebb away from that world of nothingness, back into the dimension of her nightmares.
.
Everything was frozen. The fake Spirit King who was inches away from her, even his flames, stood completely still. It was as if time had stopped completely.
Karin exhaled, and everything flew into movement again.
But the masked 'King' couldn't touch her. His flames automatically went around her, avoiding her by millimeters. Bewildered, the mask flared his flames larger, to no avail.
Recalling what she had been about to say, Karin stated, "You're a zanpakutou, aren't you?"
The mask hissed. "So what if I am? Now I am the Spirit King!"
Ignoring this, Karin continued, "And not just any zanpakutou. The Spirit King's zanpakutou." Karin paused, and hesitated before she said the next sentence, as if she would seal her fate if she were to say it.
"My zanpakutou."
The mask stood stock still, as if shocked. Then it got even angrier, if that was even possible.
"My only. Master. Is. The Spirit King." He hissed venomously, black flames dripping from his mouth and his body, consuming what remained of his clothes. "Only she can wield me!" He howled almost sorrowfully. "And I've consumed her! I tried time and time again to undo it, but it won't work! And no one else can wield me!"
"Yes." Karin affirmed. "No one else can wield you. But I am a part of your beloved Spirit King. A partial reincarnate, if you will."
She raised Koutetsu once more, but it wasn't to attack this time. He had begun to warp, and he pulled the black flames of the mask towards him, devouring them. She knew he had transformed into something that was no longer Koutetsu, but another, larger entity.
Karin's mouth moved of its own accord.
"Yakero, Kitsuryou" (Scorch, Consuming Flame)
And the zanpakutou screamed, as he was sucked into what was once a part of him, centuries ago.
Karin looked down at the new blade in her hands. It was a painfully plain sword, without even a hilt. But the blade itself shined so brightly that it looked white, and was simultaneously so dark that it looked black. It hurt to stare at it for too long.
Then the memories of the Spirit King began to pour into Karin's mind.
A lone tear traveled down the curve of her cheek and landed on the blade.
"Do you remember, Kitsuryou? The time when we were still close?" Karin - or rather the Spirit King within her - whispered.
The blade hummed in her hands, as if to reply. The humming was not angry. It felt like loneliness.
As she gripped the blade tightly, Karin found herself wishing that she had never been born. That the Spirit King had never detached a part of herself and made that part be born as Karin, for the sole purpose of conquering Kitsuryou.
Had all of her life been leading up to this?
Was she just going to disappear?
Would she ever see her family again?
Would she ever truly be with Toushirou?
If everything would be taken away anyway, it would have been better not to have been born at all. Then she wouldn't have to go through such agony.
Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding light.
When Karin opened her eyes again, the marble palace had disappeared, replaced instead by a field of grass. She looked up, and the sun seemed different, somehow. And she looked down, and saw that she stood in front of a crimson flower.
Before her eyes, the crimson flower blossomed, grew, and formed into the woman whom Karin had seen in stasis.
"And now I finally meet you physically, Karin. Myself."
Karin looked up into the Spirit King's onyx eyes. Next she examined the Spirit King's face and saw traces of her own. But the face she stared into was endlessly more mature than Karin's could ever hope to be.
"You have done well. Even if it's a bit narcissistic of me to say so."
Karin didn't smile at this intended joke. Instead, she asked, "Will I have to merge with you?" Her voice came out scared. Plaintive. Pleading.
There was a ghost of a smile on the Spirit King's face.
"No, I would not be so cruel as to deny you your existence. After all, you are me, and I would be quite angered if I were denied my existence, like I have been for the past millennia. You may live on as your own, separate soul." She looked down at the sword in Karin's hands. "You may keep Koutetsu as well."
The sword in Karin's hands spliced itself, curling into two separate forms. Soon enough, there were two blades, one that Karin recognized distinctly as Koutetsu, and the other as Kitsuryou, albeit minimally thinner. The Spirit King took Kitsuryou from Karin, and looked down sadly at it. "Have you learned your lesson, my friend?"
The blade glowed faintly, and then the light faded.
Karin asked tentatively, "So… so I don't have to merge with you?"
"No." The Spirit King's face became genuinely amused. "And I believe your family and friends are waiting for you." She was looking over Karin's shoulder.
Turning around, Karin saw that indeed, her family and friends stood off in the distance.
Then she remembered Toushirou.
He lay in the grass a few meters away. They both went over to him. His face was stiff and there was a slight sheen of cold sweat on his face, as if he were in pain even in unconsciousness. Karin knelt by his side and asked the Spirit King, "Is there anything you can do about his powers? He… he lost them, trying to protect you… or your zanpakutou."
The Spirit King looked sad. "His lost reiatsu will return in time. However, I can lessen his pain and shorten his period of unconsciousness."
The Spirit King bent over and touched a hand to Toushirou's forehead, and his face muscles relaxed. Straightening, the Spirit King said, "He'll wake up within a few days. A week at most."
She turned to her own subordinates, who had cautiously approached her. The green-haired man looked bewildered, and the others, including Kuchiki Seishou, looked awed. "Now, I must return to my duties and fix the mess that Kitsuryu has made of the Spirit World." She looked down sternly at the blade in her hand. It hummed indignantly, and she conceded, "Alright. I suppose I should just be thankful you didn't ruin the Spirit World completely."
Karin thought she detected just an itsy bitsy, teensy bit of sarcasm in that sentence. Nevertheless, Kitsuryou seemed appeased. The Spirit King seemed annoyed at the blade's lack of repentance."Still as stubborn as ever, I see. Even almost a millennia of shouldering the King's taxing responsibilities hasn't fixed that. And you're going to have to spit out my family and other subordinates later." The zanpakutou hummed rather sullenly in reply.
The Spirit King then spoke to Karin, "I will open the portal into the human world for you and your companions."
Reading Karin's look, she said, "You may tell them whatever you like, though if you're like me, you will tend to speak the truth." She winked. "As it's considerably easier than inventing lies."
As the King opened the gate, Karin motioned for everybody to come over.
They were bewildered as to what had taken place.
"What was – "
"How did – "
"Who is – "
Karin held up her hands and said loudly, "I'll explain later. Later. First, I need help carrying this dead weight." She indicated Toushirou. Renji and Ichigo heaved him up on both sides, Renji wincing as he did so. Tatsuki shooed him away and took his place at Toushirou's side. "Buzz off, pineapple-head. You're injured, so I'll help Ichigo."
Meanwhile, the Spirit King stepped towards Isshin and Urahara, who instinctively knew who she was.
Urahara took off his hat and bowed to her. "Forgive me, Spirit King."
"On the contrary, I should thank you for sealing my zanpakutou. Without your actions, I doubt that I'd be talking to you here and now."
She then addressed Isshin. "And I am grateful that you sacrificed your powers to seal my zanpakutou."
Isshin too, bowed to her. "No, I should thank you for sending me such a brave daughter."
That surprised the Spirit King. Regaining her composure, she remarked, "Ah. So you know already."
He gave Urahara a sidelong glance. "Well, if not for this guy, I probably wouldn't have even suspected it."
They heard Karin call over, "Hey Dad! Urahara-san! Hurry up!"
Isshin was astonished that his daughter hadn't called him 'Beardy.' She only called him 'Dad' when she was wheedling for something.
"Perhaps your daughter has finally realized what a worthy father you are." Isshin looked back at the Spirit King. She smiled – no, grinned, and Isshin thought he saw a hint of Karin in her."It is high time you leave. Perhaps we will meet again."
From her face expression, he could tell she didn't really think so. He doubted it as well.
However, Isshin saluted the Spirit King one last time before he too, turned to leave through the portal along with his companions.
Karin was the last to leave, but she didn't look back at the Spirit King. She knew that the Spirit King wasn't looking back at her either. The two had their backs to each other, as a covenant that they would never again be together.
As Karin stepped through the gate of light, it occurred to her that she hadn't asked the Spirit King for her name. The Spirit King's name hadn't come along with the memories. It was as if there were purposeful holes where the name should have been.
And then even the Spirit King's memories faded from Karin's mind. Then Karin realized that the Spirit King had never intended to merge with her from the start.
The woman behind her would remain evermore as the nameless Spirit King in Karin's memories.
…
…
A/N: Finally… the main plot is over… hm... maybe a bit anticlimactic, but this is what I had planned all along.
I actually considered ending the story here, but then I remembered the romance between Karin and Toushirou... :P There are still some loose ends to tie up between them.
So tune in next time… [for the epilogue(?)]