Everlasting Reflections: The Moon Underwater
Arc II: Dawn of Dreams
Chapter 52: Alliance against Aizen
Urahara noticed that she was unconscious and some of her wounds were quite deep hence he immediately rushed towards Orihime without wasting any moment. He made her lie down on the ground and then covered her naked body with his coat while Orihime immediately summoned her powers in order to treat her wounds.
On the other hand, Aizen had got up by now and an immense amount of spiritual pressure was radiating from his entire being. Even though his torso was cracked from several places yet it seemed that he was in the perfect state to continue the battle.
"What's the matter? You are not done already? Are you? You'd better make your next move quickly, I will crush them one at a time, down to your last remaining one. The number of methods you contrived to defeat me is proof of your effort and strength. And at the same time, it represents the number of hopes you hold. If that is so, then what I must do is to crush each one of them. Now come at me with your next attack, all of you," Aizen spoke while slowly walking towards in the direction where Orihime was healing Yoruichi.
"Stay with Orihime no matter what," Urahara mumbled to Uryu in a serious manner. "Don't worry," he responded. On the other hand, Aizen pointed the edge of his sword towards Urahara while he was still at a significant distance away from him. The next moment, Aizen's sword sparked with dense and immensely powerful violet spiritual pressure. Urahara immediately summoned the Blood Mist Shield before he listened to a familiar voice, "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo roared as he unleashed a fierce wave of dark and red energy towards the Shinigami in Chrysalis form from the top. However, Aizen easily blocked that attack by holding his blade right above his head in a horizontal manner. Now Urahara rushed towards Aizen with his Blood Mist Shield in front of his body and he successfully started to drag him back after colliding with him.
Isshin approached Aizen from behind and attacked him with a powerful sword swing backed by his spiritual pressure. However, Aizen immediately performed a high backflip in order to parry that attack, simultaneously releasing an arc of energy towards Urahara in the process. As a result, Isshin ended up shattering Urahara's Blood Mist Shield with his attack before the deadly wave hit him from behind. Both of them got shoved away by the force of the blast caused by Aizen's energy arc. Isshin had received a large and bloody wound at his back while Urahara received only some minor bruises since he didn't come in direct contact with that arc of energy.
"Two down, now prepare for your turn, Ichigo…" Aizen said to him but before he could have swung his sword, a tight grip on his wrist stopped him. It was actually Ulquiorra's tail and now he loped on Aizen with his Lanza del Relampago. Aizen stopped that spear of energy with his bare hand but before he could have attacked the Cuatro Espada, Ichigo stabbed his back with Zangetsu's blade. "Getsuga Tensho!" He spoke with his blade penetrating Aizen's back. "Cero Oscuras!" Ulquiorra murmured with his finger placed on Aizen's chest. In the blink of an eye, all the three of them got engulfed into an immensely powerful fiery explosion of Getsuga Tensho's and Cero Oscuras' black energy. Suddenly a spark of brilliant violet energy shined through that blast before it adopted even more destructive form, covering an even larger area than before.
Both Ichigo and Ulquiorra got shoved into opposite directions by the force of that detonation. The former simply got blown away and he collided with the ground several times on his way before losing the momentum while the later remained on his feet as he was pushed backward by the force.
Aizen's torso was severely damaged revealing nothing but violet spiritual energy filled inside his body. He still got absolutely no sign of pain or discomfort as he was moving towards Ulquiorra. On the other hand, the Cuatro Espada looked behind where Orihime was healing both Yoruichi and Isshin and immediately a memory flashed in his mind in which Orihime was holding his hand. "They are right behind me… if I dodged or if I didn't face Aizen then…" Ulquiorra whispered in his mind while thinking about the consequences if he attempted to save himself. On the other hand, Urahara preferred to stay close to Orihime, Uryu, Yoruichi, and Isshin to protect them in case Aizen defeats Ulquiorra. "So, how does it feel to change the sides, Ulquiorra?... You have already died once while fighting for me, isn't it? Now, do you wish to die for them?" Aizen asked while crushing Ulquiorra's spear of energy with his bare hand. "How do you know that I died?" Ulquiorra asked while narrowing his eyes on him. "I knew this even before you started your fight against Ichigo," Aizen replied while walking towards him which utterly shocked him. "That bastard planned everything… even my birth," Ichigo said to Ulquiorra while finally getting up on his feet.
Ulquiorra had realized the extent to which Aizen manipulated everyone and now before they could have continued their battle, all of them felt a very powerful spiritual pressure. "Hey, Urahara-san! Something really powerful is heading this way," Ichigo told him upon getting startled by the feeling of that spiritual pressure. The Shinigami in sandal and hat didn't reply to him but only smiled and the next moment, Sesshomaru, Harribel, Stark, and Yang appeared in the sky right above them.
"Sesshomaru… so, you have returned to face me, very well… finally, I can test my transcended powers against someone who belongs to a race that is beyond that of the Hollows and the Soul Reapers," Aizen said to him. "I will see to it that how much your so-called transcended powers can accomplish against me," He replied while unsheathing his Bakusaiga. "Don't be so full of yourself, Aizen! Now you will feel the power of the true Lord of Hueco Mundo," Yang shouted at him while referring Orkos. "True lord of Hueco Mundo, interesting… I would have asked you more about this but currently, I lack time," He replied to her in his usual polite but cunning tone.
"Urahara, I want you to take them far away from here, "Sesshomaru said to him after carefully observing the situation all around him. "Hmm… I will be back in no time, let's go… Ichigo!" He replied to him and then called Ichigo for help. Urahara and Ichigo picked up Yoruichi and Isshin respectively while Uryu decided to take Orihime along with him. "What's going on Urahara-san? Who is he?" Ichigo asked him. "He is an old friend and don't worry, he can handle him… at least until we return here," the Shinigami in sandal and hat replied to him and then all of them left from there.
Now silence prevailed in the surroundings and the environment was heavy with the rising tensions between the warriors. Aizen was standing in the middle while Sesshomaru, Harribel, and Stark were standing high in the air. Ulquiorra was standing behind Aizen and was wondering if the three of them were only concerned about killing Aizen or they would also provide him with a helping hand.
All of a sudden Stark used the Sonido technique as he swiftly drifted in the air and started to attack Aizen with the Cero fires from his pistols. The Shinigami in Chrysalis form moved with unimaginable speed and dodged most of his Ceros while deflecting the remaining ones with his sword. Within no time he reached close to Stark but the later seemed to be disappeared from his place revealing an immense surge of water right behind him which pushed the former one down to the ground along with it. Both Stark and Harribel looked towards each other and slightly moved their faces in the mutual admiration of their successful teamwork.
On the other hand, a powerful blast of sheer pressure splattered the water all around and Aizen once again rushed towards the sky in a fierce manner but this time his advance was halted by none other but Sesshomaru as both of them clashed their blades in the midair that generated a strong shockwave. Aizen's Zanpakuto was releasing the sparks of violet energy while Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga was radiating with the flashes of green demonic energy during their clash. "Trident!" Harribel murmured as she joined Sesshomaru in the weapon deadlock, attacking Aizen with a high-pressure slash. The Shinigami in Chrysalis form managed to block even that but couldn't maintain the weapon deadlock much longer as the next Sesshomaru and Harribel shoved him away with their combined force. Aizen hit the ground hard as he landed on his one knee while it seemed that this setback had started to fill him with rage.
To be continued…
