A/N: Fifty chapters in... I don't really know what to say, but I never imagined I'd write something this long at such volume that's still got a lot to go. I guess it's helping me as a writer for my own original story... the pacing, storytelling, and things like that. If you don't know, I do plan to start my own graphic novel series someday ^^ It'll be better because I can use visuals instead of just words to make the story engrossing. Your feedback has been and will continue to help me develop guys! And while I do like the input (especially the critical input some give), I realize that as an author, sometimes I just have to do what I have to do and those who stay faithful will be rewarded.

So I say to you, enjoy the chapter!


flOw


Mizumi's words rang through the room suddenly, yet came as a surprise to no one who was present. Grimmjow'd had his suspicions about that almost immediately, and it was only reasonable to Ichigo that a usurper who sought kingship would so such a malicious thing. However, this was the simple surmise of the three and nothing more. There was no solid proof that Maelstro had done it.

Still, the time to act drew near. Whatever the cause of King Oki's disappearance, if he was even inside Sir Troban, they had to do something about it now.

"Mizumi, I have a plan." Ichigo said.

"What's that?" the girl asked.

"Let's split up and attack this problem head on. I'll go deal with Maelstro, Mizumi, you go with Grimmjow and see if you can get inside of Sir Troban to find your father. If all goes well, we may just save your kingdom."

"Who deals with what?" Grimmjow asked. "I'm not going into the water." He almost growled.

"Look who's scared now." Ichigo teased.

"Be quiet or I'll cut your tongue out!"

"Grimmjow, you're strong. I believe in you. Please," Ichigo started, staring at the Arrancar pleadingly, "Do this for me. For us. We can't get out of here without Mizumi's help. And we need the crystal. Sure, nothing guarantees that Minazuki-san will just hand over the crystal to us for doing this, but… we have to try! You can overcome this fear of deep water, or at least face it head on. You always assume I'll chicken out for whatever reason I don't know, but me… I believe in you and know you can do this! I never drop my faith in your battle prowess."

Mizumi got off her bed and headed over to her door. "Listen, I can do it alone." She said.

Ichigo turned to her, "What? That thing is a monster! You can't-"

"Kurosaki."

"Huh?" said man whipped back to Grimmjow.

"I'll do it."

"Haah! Really-"

"But you better not fucking fail!" Grimmjow hissed as he made his way out of the room.

"I won't! Find the king and bring him back, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, brat."

"You can't talk to me that way!" Mizumi hollered as she left her room.

"Good. Let's get this started!" Ichigo said, the last one to leave the room. He watched as Grimmjow walked down the hallway in the opposite direction he was going. Deep down, he knew he wouldn't let him down. And with Zangetsu back in his possession, he turned and mentally prepared himself for whatever would come his way in facing Maelstro.

"Ichigo."

"Huh? O—old man?"

"Yes, it's good to be with you again. I wanted to tell you more about what happened before you and I got separated… and to tell you about what's going with your Reiatsu."

"Go ahead. Any information would be great since I'm off to battle."

Zangetsu stared off at the mass of Reiatsu much further inside Ichigo's inner world before speaking again. "This was an unexpected development to say the least, but… Well, going from the beginning, I should tell you that whatever that creature was that attacked your ship is the reason your Reiatsu disappeared completely. It absorbed all that you had… I've never known for creatures of this world to be able to do that."

"Yeah, Mizumi said something about that thing acting strangely ever since he went near the continent. Maybe… Well… No, I can't simply assume that." Ichigo said as he walked through the high hallways. It was likely that he'd come into contact with Crownwell, but it was just a guess…

Zangetsu stared up at the sky as he continued speaking, "I sensed something dark inside that creature. But, you should realize that you may have sent that Arrancar off to his grave just now."

"What?!"

"Well, of course the same thing will happen again. It will steal his Reiatsu if he gets close in proximity to it."

"Shit…"

"And back to what I wanted to speak with you about…" the dark-haired spirit said as he turned his attention northward to where the unexpected development was, "As it was in the past, it seems that when your Reiatsu was drained completely, so was the reserve you had from the Arrancar."

"Really?! That's good! I'd been wondering how I could rid myself of it!" Ichigo smiled.

"However… the moment your Reiatsu returned, the other Reiatsu reappeared. I fear that… this may be a permanent adjustment you'll have to get used to."

Ichigo stopped walking completely and looked down to his lower abdomen, slowly placing his hand on it—where he knew the Reiatsu had made itself at home. Grimmjow's marking was permanent? Why was this so? And why could he not feel his Reiatsu marked on Grimmjow, since they were capable of marking each other?

This made no sense, but… Thinking back to the dark scar that ran down the front of Grimmjow's torso, he gave in and accepted this. Grimmjow could not rid himself of that mark, and it appeared he could not rid himself of Grimmjow's Reiatsu. Instead of letting himself be consumed by frustration, Ichigo simply smiled. If nothing else, perhaps this Reiatsu could be useful to him.

"Old man, I… I'm okay with this." He finally said, and started walking again.

"Well that's good to hear. I'll keep my eyes on it to ensure nothing nefarious comes about because of it. But for now, since you wish to just go with the flow, I'll go with it as well."

"As for Grimmjow…"

"Yes?"

"Well, he won't die. That idiot is too consumed with power and his return to Las Noches to be killed off here. He'll survive, and we'll both get back to the surface world soon!" the orange-head said with unparalleled resolve. "Now! Let's go face this trial together!"

"Keep your wits about you!"

Taking a glance up to look out one of the high windows in the palace hallway, Ichigo marveled at the sunlight coming in through the miles of water. "I leave Mizumi and the king to you, Grimm."


"You're mean!" Mizumi snapped as she walked on ahead of Grimmjow.

"And you're annoying!" Grimmjow snapped back, his hand stuffed angrily in his pocket under his cloak. It was his best choice of action to prevent himself from ringing this child's little scaly neck.

The two of them exited the palace, where Grimmjow promptly removed any face painting from earlier. It was embarrassing to have to hide his proud Espada features behind the façade of another race.

Mizumi descended the steps that led all the way down to the beach, then went on without looking over her shoulder. Sir Troban was gone. This meant her father was probably gone, too. "No…"

"Hey, why can't that other whale friend of yours fight against the evil one?" Grimmjow asked, now that he was on the beach, as he shed his cloak on the sand below him.

"He won't because… he told me they're brothers."

"Wh- So what?"

"Would you fight your brother?"

"If I had one and if he stood in my way, then yes."

"You don't have one, so you don't understand. Something so precious is… irreplaceable. You'd never raise your hand against someone you wouldn't want to lose. They grew up together. They have a bond that can't be broken by this darkness that's enveloped Sir Troban."

"Idiotic idealism." Grimmjow scoffed.

"Do you hold nothing close to your heart?" Mizumi asked seriously. "If you had something you loved, maybe I could see your perspective as serious. But…"

"I hold something close to my heart."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and its waiting for me on the surface!"

Mizumi shook her head dismissively. Whatever this thing was Grimmjow wanted, she was sure he'd never get it. "Let's go." She said as she quickly ran her hand over his arm.

Grimmjow jumped, shocked from the quickness of the girl's action. The coating spread across his body much quicker than it had for Ichigo.

"Someday, you may understand what I mean. Someday. Maybe." Mizumi said as she hurried up to the water above.

Grimmjow did not particularly like being talked down to, but to reach his goals, he would bear it. For now.

Deep inside him, something told him to stay put, to not go into the water. But something else was telling him to go forward at the same time. Maybe he wanted to face his fear and conquer it, proving his strength to himself, if no one else. And… he also didn't want to let Kurosaki down after that "I believe in you" jazz he spouted... Too much was riding on the success of this operation. And it's not like he'd ever backed down from a challenge before.

"Everything happens once in a lifetime!" he shouted as he used a Sonído to shoot himself into the waters above.


Ichigo pushed the heavy doors out of his way and walked into the throne room of the palace. There, he saw Maelstro not sitting on the throne, but instead standing at one of the tall, stained windows, staring up at the water above.

"I knew you would come, human. Did you think I didn't know you were here?" The Oceanian said without turning his attention away from what had caught it in the window.

"Well that makes it easy for me, huh? Hope you're ready for this." Ichigo said as he threw his cloak to the floor. Interestingly enough, around the same time that Grimmjow had removed his disguise, he'd done the same. "Hope none of your guards interfere. I can't guarantee their safety if they get in my way."

Zangetsu was in-hand now. With a single strike to the unarmed king, he could put an end to this conflict.

"They're swimming to their deaths, you know."

"…!" Ichigo hurried over to the window closest to him and his eyes went wide as he saw two figures swimming about in the waters above. "How so?!"

"He won't approach from above, as they seem to be expecting."

Horror-struck, Ichigo watched as the horned figure slowly made its way up from the ocean depths to swim after Grimmjow and Mizumi. "Look out!" he cried, banging his hand on the glass helplessly.

"You can tell them that in just a few moments when the three of you perish!" Maelstro said from right behind his intruder.


His cat-like reflexes kicking in, Grimmjow turned around quickly in the water. He saw the vile beast swimming his way, however, it was slow. He could defeat it easily with his sword no matter the size. "You're coming right to your death." He said.

Mizumi heard him and turned around, "Aiiieee! When did he get here?!"

"Take this!" Grimmjow roared, swimming at the creature with his sword pointed at it.

His electric eyes went wide when the creature stopped moving and opened its mouth.

"Ah!" Mizumi swam down quickly to try getting the piece of cloth delicately hanging on to one of Sir Troban's teeth to verify it as her father's, but a whirlpool from Sir Troban's mouth took her by surprise.

Effortlessly, she and Grimmjow were both swallowed into the darkness, their plans crushed in one fell gulp.


"Ack!" Ichigo cried out as water pierced through his thigh, having come at him from all the way across the throne room. It turned to ice and he fell over onto the ground, gripping his leg tightly. "AAAH GOD!"

"Don't underestimate my power. Your attacks are little more than child's play compared to what Oceanians can generate."

Ichigo closed his eyes tight, against his better judgment, and wondered what it was he should do. There was no way he had enough Reiatsu for that. But still, he couldn't lose here! If he did, he'd never get to see anyone again. His kingdom, his friends, his family, Grimmjow… They were all too precious and he had no desire to die full of regrets!

Maelstro started towards the trembling youth who was gripping his leg desperately. When he reached him, he stood over him with his Seasword pointed down at Ichigo's head. "You thought you could come in here and solve the problems of the princess, never realizing that she herself was just a plague upon my reign. Now that she's dead, I'll have no one who can stand between me and absolute-"

"Shut UUUUUUUP!" Ichigo exclaimed as a wing of pure energy shot out from his back and slammed Maelstro to the ground.

The force from the contact was so powerful that Maelstro spit out blood and cried out. "Y—you insolent!"

Both of them were lying on the ground and in pain that had been inflicted by the other.

"I don't *huff* give a shit about any of your selfish plans!" Ichigo said as he pushed himself off the floor with his arm. "I can't let a tyrant like you… keep doing whatever you want!"

"Release me from this hold and we'll settle this like men!"

"Nah, nah…" Ichigo shook his head and kept his wing in place, "You don't want to settle this that way. You intend to fight dirty with your underhanded tricks." Zangetsu was all the way across the room, knocked from his hand at the start of the fight. He couldn't keep Maelstro pinned like this forever, as his Reiatsu was quickly draining due to the use of his Skifenian power, but he couldn't finish him off with no sword, either. This was quite a predicament.

His auburn eyes landed on the sword that Maelstro intended to kill him with, stuck under his wing with tiny shards of ice spiking out from it. Leaning forward, he picked it up and looked it over. It was beautiful. Water in sword form and so lethal… However, he noticed something strange about it and Maelstro respectively…

With both hands, he lifted it above his head, aiming it at Maelstro's back. The cowering man beneath his wing needed punishment… however… Ichigo was not the person to kill someone so heartlessly. Even after all he'd done to Mizumi…

"Kill or be killed!" Maelstro yelled and coughed suddenly, looking up at his own sword turned against him. "I will not stop until you lie dead at my feet! This hold is weakening, and once the wing disappears, I'll finish you and mount your head on a pike!"

Ichigo glared, "Are you telling me you want no future!? That you'll only be satisfied in death!?"

"Precisely! I grew up where death was common, unlike Oki who grew up sheltered in the palace! I accepted it as my fate and decided my actions would lead me to it someday! So if not today, then you'll be the only one meeting your end while I continue down my path to unbridled magnificence!"

"…" Ichigo closed his eyes, sighed in disdain, and let the icy sword fall from his hands.


At the same time…

"Daddy!" Mizumi cried as she saw the king lying bruised and near dismembered inside the belly of Sir Troban.

Grimmjow sat quietly and watched as the princess hurried over to the king, throwing her arms around him tightly and crying like a newborn baby. This king had nurtured a future heir that seemed so utterly dependent on him… He didn't consider the fact that she was just a young child.

Still, he couldn't help but question if this was the typical relationship between parent and child. As he'd never known his parents, he could not relate. But the thought of having someone needing him came about as a fresh and new thought he'd never considered before. It wasn't like he wanted it to be that way, but just knowing that someone cared about your safety was… different from living life alone.

If he were to try relating to the two before him, he would easily say that Pantera was the one who came to him the way this girl went to her father.

That day in the desert will undoubtedly live in his heart for the rest of his time in this life.

"Daddy! Speak to me! Tell me you're alive!"

"Mizu…mi."

"Haaah!" the girl gasped. "Dad, we need to take you home!"

The king opened his eyes and they glowed over as tears threatened to spill, "Mizumi… my dear child. You've been okay in my absence…?"

"Mhmm!" she cried, tears spilling over.

"I'm so… glad to hear that…"

"Can you get up?!"

"Yes… with the little energy I could recover without… it being stolen… I've been healing my wounds… It's been this way ever since I woke up in here a few weeks ago. Troban probably doesn't even know he's stealing my energy. I meant to heal myself back to health and then… get out of his belly… but that's been rather difficult."

"What happened?! Why are you so wounded?"

"Maelstro attacked me on a trip near the surface that he wanted me to join him for… He and I were friends as children, so I never expected him to turn on me like that. What power can do to a person…"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. He was different from that power hungry, usurping freakshow. His desire for power was simply because he didn't want people to look down on him as they did in the past.

"I'll help you!" Mizumi said as she placed her hands on the tears on her father's arms and began healing them.

"Who is that man?" Oki asked, referring to Grimmjow.

"He's helping us take the kingdom back!"

"I see…"

"I'm almost done!" Mizumi said. Seeing her father lying in such a condition was too much for her tiny shoulders to bear, but knew she couldn't look away. She could change the fate of the kingdom with her own hands, here and now. It was not the time to let emotions defer her goal.

"I'll cut our way out of here!" Grimmjow said as he stood and drew his sword.

"No!" King Oki shouted, "Don't kill this creature. He was once an ally of mine." Mizumi helped her father sit up when he tried. "Troban was infected with something he received from a surface world dweller. But he is still alive! And he alone saved me, fooling Maelstro into thinking I'd been killed and eaten. I owe him my life. So please…"

Grimmjow sheathed his sword and clenched his fist, "Then how do we get out of here!? I didn't intend to be an overgrown fish's lunch!"

"You don't talk to us that way!" Mizumi snipped. "Daddy, we have to hurry and do something! Ichigo is fighting for us!"

"Ichigo?" the king echoed curiously.

"He's friends with that guy over there. They're helping us take our kingdom back!"

"…Help from Earthians. I never imagined I'd live to see this day."

"Can you get us out of here?" Mizumi asked, unsure of what other way her father may have known of that didn't include tearing Sir Troban to pieces.

Oki nodded and stood up, spreading his legs and getting into a power stance. "I can." He told his daughter.


With the Seasword lying on the ground, Ichigo stood over Maelstro and contemplated how he could win this farce.

"I can feel the weight lifting!" Maelstro said with a grin. "I'm itching to freeze ever inch of that body of yours over! You realize your death will come because you stood in my way!"

As his Reiatsu left him, Ichigo fell onto his knees. Unwilling to die so easily, he slapped the sword out of the way and held Maelstro down with his own hands and body weight as his wing dispersed.

"Die you fool!" the Oceanian said as ice crept up Ichigo's hands and legs.

"Even if you freeze me, I won't die here!" Ichigo roared as the stinging ice crawled up his limbs intricately.

The next thing Ichigo knew, he heard the sound of a wall breaking and felt a hand touch his shoulder gently.

"That's enough, soldier. You've done well."

Maelstro's eyes couldn't have gone wider at the sight of the person standing over them. "O—Oki!"

"I've countered your ice with my own, Maelstro. You can't freeze this child anymore." Oki said as he not only did that, but let his ice run Maelstro's body over, freezing him solid but leaving his head untouched.

"I apologize for my daughter's having pulled you into this mess." Oki said as he picked Ichigo up bridal style and carried him to the door.

"Ichigo!" Mizumi shouted as she ran into the room. "Daddy left us in the courtyard and came here without us!"

Grimmjow came in next and he literally stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Ichigo in the arms of the king.

As he was put on the floor and his wound treated, Ichigo looked at the three questionably. "How did you guys-"

"Daddy used the water around Troban to control him! I never knew he was that strong!" Mizumi said with starstruck admiration.

Ichigo looked at the king for a moment. He looked quite powerful to say the least. He had a large, bulky frame that resembled the other Oceanians', but something about him was different. His hair was short, shorter than his own. His smile was the smile of a leader, bright, trusting, and handsome as well… If Ichigo wasn't of a different species…

"Kurosaki."

"Grimmjow, you faced your fear?!" It was that easy for him to be drawn back into the world that was his and his Arrancar's.

"Don't tell me you needed saving again." Grimmjow said accusingly.

"It was quite the opposite." The king interjected, "That's a sharp mind you have there, orange-haired human."

"Huh?" Mizumi said.

"This boy was willing to stop Maelstro from winning at any cost. Look." Oki continued, pointing to the trail of ice leading to the sword Maelstro had formed. "Had he frozen this human, Maelstro himself would have frozen as well." Looking down, he shook his head at Maelstro, "You were so eager to win that you lost sight of your surroundings. Didn't we learn better than that as children?"

"You lost to me because that's what you did!" Maelstro returned angrily.

"No, I lost because I trusted you as a comrade and you stabbed me in the back."

"Rgh!" Maelstro squinted up at Ichigo, "How could you have known!?"

Ichigo looked rather calm as he replied, "I noticed how your power and your sword acted separately from each other when we were fighting. Your sword seems to act of its own volition. I saw that when you were trapped under my wing and it was still producing ice, so I reacted on a chance. That chance being that when you activated your ice to freeze me, it would eventually join with your sword and we'd both be frozen together."

"Then… you were expecting to die as well!?"

"I told you, didn't I? I wouldn't die even if I were frozen over." Ichigo said, and then pointed at Grimmjow, "I had faith in him. I knew he would bring the king back, and then I would be unfrozen. But still, even if the king or Mizumi couldn't do undo your attack, I knew Grimmjow would keep going on to find Inoue and she could unfreeze me. When you have comrades, you can take big risks like that."

Maelstro's anger boiled over, "I can't believe this! Simply can't believe it! Outwitted by a human brat!"

"Believe it, jerk!" Mizumi said, "Daddy, what are you going to do with him?"

Looking around at the destroyed throne room, then at the troopers who caused his return, Oki sighed, "I don't know. There's a lot going on and I'm just returning… The kingdom is probably in shambles, knowing this one." He said, looking directly at Maelstro, "The palace is a wreck, my soldiers' loyalty will need to be returned to my side, and then there's still the matter of what to do with Troban…"

A silence filled the room as everyone let the chaotic situation sink in. There were many actions to take, moving forward, but with time and good effort, things could be righted again. Oceania would recover without a doubt.


"Well…" Mizumi breathed out in relief as she looked up at the water from the sandy plains she knew as the beach, "I guess you'll want to get going now, huh?"

"Why are you talking like we can just go so easily? How would we even get back to the surface?" Ichigo asked as he looked at the princess.

Grimmjow stood silently behind them, watching as Ichigo and Mizumi talked under the sunlight once more.

"We've already arranged for your safe arrival on land."

Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo questioned that, "Really? How?"

"Just go with the flow is all I can say. And…" pulling out the necklace she'd been keeping hidden from everyone, Mizumi stared down at it briefly before she handed it to Ichigo, "This necklace is important to me. I know you wanted it for your trip… so take care of it, okay?"

"You had the crystal all along?!"

Grimmjow was just as shocked as Ichigo was and watched as it was given to him from a smiling young princess.

"That's right. And I'm giving you permission to take it. Temporarily, of course. It will come back to me when you're done, so I've heard. If it doesn't though, you better bring it back to me and put it in my hands!"

"Mizumi-"

"Thank you both for all of your help. Daddy's already hard at work putting our kingdom in order, but he did tell me to say he's grateful to you both. It's all thanks to you that we got through that mess."

"He thanked us already at least a dozen times before we left." Ichigo sweatdropped, "We get that he's thankful."

Mizumi held her hands behind her back and looked up, "You don't realize how thankful... You saved an entire race. Be proud! I hate that we had to depend on you Earthians, but I guess you're not so bad. Come see us again someday, yeah? Maybe we can go play with the jellies together again!"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"'Cuz your ride's here."

"Huh—GYAAAAAAH!" Ichigo shouted in surprise and fear as Sir Juban came down through the forcefield with his mouth open wide to collect him and Grimmjow.

"Take care! And remember to go with the flow wherever you go!" Mizumi said with a bright warm smile as Sir Juban started the long swim to the surface with his cargo. Placing her hand on her chest, she felt the strong thumping. "If you come back here one day, Ichigo, I'm going to marry you. The orange-haired man who, along with his testy friend, saved our people… and stole my heart."

She hid her feelings well.


I apologize that this chappie was a bit choppy. It just wound up being that way since there was quite a lot I wanted to get out in this one. This trial has been longer than I wanted it to be xD

Also, the next chapter may not come for the next two weeks or so.