Chapter 2: The Secret in my Heart
"…the king's desire was to see a true king raised…and the only way for me to do that is for me to join you in rebellion."
Aizen's brown eyes registered surprise and dark curiosity as Byakuya's words echoed softly in his mind. He blinked slowly, considering, then he smiled at the quietly waiting noble.
"I see why you had me bring us here, into one of my illusions, to talk about this," he chuckled, "Even if you wouldn't be given a death sentence for saying them, I'll bet you couldn't bear to say those words out loud where anyone else could hear them. Am I right?"
"Do not treat this as some kind of joke," Byakuya warned him, "I have spoken to others of this…others who were identified by the prism as those fated to assist us in our efforts. You may be sure that none of them will impede us."
"I see," Aizen mused, reaching up to rub his chin and looking out over the lovely meadow and lake beneath the waterfall, "But, before I can answer you about whether or not I am still interested in rebellion, I need you to tell me just what kind of rebellion you have in mind. From your words, it is not me that you want on the throne. How then, can this be considered joining me."
Byakuya nodded in understanding.
"Sousuke," he said solemnly, "your own words before indicated that you did not even want to stand at the top."
"What are you talking about, Byakuya?" Aizen asked, frowning, "The whole point of my war with the shinigamis was to put me on the throne."
"No," Byakuya said firmly, "that may have been your aim, but it was not what was in your heart when you rebelled."
Aizen's lips rose into a sly smirk.
"How would someone like you know what is in anyone's heart, let alone mine?" he asked with an edge of sarcasm, "The only one who is able to read the hearts of others is a god, Byakuya. You are no god. You have no idea what is in my heart…but perhaps we should see what is inside yours!"
He was surprised that Byakuya gave no sign of fear at the words and held perfectly still, even as Aizen ended the illusion, returning them to the dark, cold cell within Muken, then plunged his bare hand into the noble's vulnerable chest, seeking his heart. His eyes rounded in shock and he watched in dismay as Byakuya's body took on an eerie blue glow and he felt intense power radiating inside the noble's ruined chest. He withdrew his hand reflexively, watching raptly as the damage to Byakuya's chest slowly undid itself. Byakuya continued to meet his eyes steadily, as though he hadn't noticed the prisoner's blatant attempt to murder him.
"Do you understand?" Byakuya asked quietly, "Only the gods know our hearts, and only the gods can answer our prayers…yours and mine, Sousuke."
"You speak as if you know what my heart wants," Aizen said skeptically, "Do you think that thing I sensed inside you is going to give either one of us what we want?"
Byakuya's dark grey eyes remained fastened on Aizen's.
"I am a noble son, who has sworn fealty to the soul king."
"The king is dead, Byakuya!" Aizen hissed furiously, "There is a rotting carcass on the throne and you want to serve that?"
"That thing on the throne is not our king," Byakuya said in a low, equally angry voice that Aizen had never heard him use before.
There are few times when you hear someone speak from the core of their being. That is what Byakuya is doing. His entire heart is bent on this! Why?
"Our king lives within the prism, as is the wish of the noble servants who have decided they do not want him back! You are angry that there is no god on the throne, so very angry that you sought to make yourself a god to take up that space. Sousuke, you didn't want to be king. And you never would have betrayed us if the noble leaders in Central 46 had not made the decision to stop his reincarnation! You betrayed us because when you looked at what we were responsible for putting and keeping on the throne, you thought there was no king. You saw a travesty! You saw a lie. I know you want an end to the lie, but do you really want to end it by taking on the crown, yourself? Weren't you, just before I arrived, thinking that immortality was a burden to you?"
The king's prism shared this with you? It sensed my thoughts?
"Sousuke…"
Aizen answered with a deadly glare, but held back from answering as Byakuya held up a staying hand and continued.
"The lie…the disappointment that you saw was not the true king. The true king is still trapped in the facets of the king's prism. There, he waits and watches. He knows our hearts, Sousuke. That is why he sent me to you!"
Aizen gave him a look of challenge.
"And what if I do not agree to this?" he asked, "What will you do then, Byakuya?"
Byakuya paused, considering his words carefully.
"If I fail in my mission to secure your help in restoring the true king, the price will be my life."
Aizen's eyes darkened.
"The king that you want to revive is going to kill you if you don't revive him?" he asked angrily, "And you say this king would be better than the rotten corpse that, at least, wouldn't take your life? It's better than me? I think you should leave. You only came here out of desperation. The king possessed you and you know the only way out is…"
"The king did not do this intending to harm me," Byakuya corrected him, "If you wish to know, I can explain."
"Well, I am a captive audience, and there doesn't seem to be another way out of here, except to wait out my sentence, so I suppose it's no bother to hear you out. I warn you, though, your reasoning had better be good, or I will just sit back and watch you die."
"Very well," Byakuya agreed, "As you know, the soul king is a god. He is a god who had a desire to create, and in his efforts, he created our worlds and everything in them. To do this, he needed to forge a connection to something that lived. He reached out and captured a handful of radiant reiatsu. He swallowed that reiatsu to give himself a connection with the spirit particles that would make up the worlds, so that he could be a part of them. The king is, and always has been, a pure, transcendent soul, surrounded in spirit particles, a body that can interact with his creations. The science of that should inform you of the need for occasional reincarnation. The core of the soul king is always alive, but he needs a form that lets him interact with the worlds he governs. The rebirth ritual began with the very first member of the Kuchiki family…a man who he made from a sakura tree in his gardens."
Aizen smiled.
"I'd heard that old myth," he admitted, "I thought it must explain the slight scent of sakura that all of your relatives carry. I have noticed that scent appears to be stronger with you."
Byakuya nodded.
"I am in the direct line of descent from Hajime, the king's consort. He too, will be revived with the soul king's ritual."
"Hmm," Aizen mused, looking at the noble with renewed interest, "I see. The king is ever in his lover's heart, ne? You carry Hajime's legacy forward, and it is you who is meant to renew him. But, how then, do I fit into this? I see the symbolism…the king's prism embedded in the heir of Hajime, but what do you need beyond that?"
Byakuya's dark eyes gazed deeply into his.
"I need the one whose body houses the dead hopes and dreams of souls who have passed before such dreams could be realized."
Aizen's chin dipped slightly and he looked down at the crystal orb that was embedded in his chest.
"I know how the hogyoku was made," Byakuya said quietly, "and who inspired it. I know why it came to be…why you came to be!"
"Do tell me," Aizen said, shaking his head in wonder, "Are you talking about Urahara Kiuske? He did make the first hogyoku."
"Yes," Byakuya agreed, "but he only did that because he was inspired by the soul king."
Aizen's amused smile faded.
"Did you never wonder what made him take the very exact steps he took?" Byakuya asked, "What brought him to those things?"
"His journal states that he saw it in a dream he had. He theorized that the mind works at puzzles while we sleep, and his sleeping mind put the pieces together and gave him the hogyoku."
"That is what he wanted the sages of Central 46 to think," Byakuya said calmly, "Sousuke, Urahara did not have a dream. He was taken into the king's confidence. He may have thought he was dreaming when it happened, but in reality, he traveled to the royal realm and knelt in the presence of the stand-in king, who had the king's prism inside him. He was inspired by the prism to create the hogyoku…the means by which the true king could return."
Aizen gave him a wry smile.
"And I stole that from him."
"Central 46 stole it from him," Byakuya said firmly, "They did not realize what exactly he was creating, but they were unnerved enough that they ordered the information sealed and made an agreement with him not to attempt to continue with that method. But…Kisuke had been warned not to give up the hogyoku he had made. It was needed for the king's revival, so it had to be kept safe. He hid it in a number of places before placing it in Rukia's body. He told Central 46 that there was no way to destroy it…but he was lying."
"There is a way to destroy the hogyoku?" Aizen mused, "Then, why hasn't Kisuke come to me to destroy it, if indeed, he can?"
Kisuke knows that we need the true soul king," Byakuya explained, "And he knows that the only way to achieve the revival of the king, is to help you and me perform the ritual."
"Ah," Aizen mused, smirking slightly, "I suspected something like this. You did ask me if I was musing on immortality being a burden? So, this ritual will require me to sacrifice the hogyoku?"
"Your body has fused with the hogyoku, so you are transcendent. I am not. My body is tasked with carrying the king's prism. It is a transcendent artifact, and it is slowly overwhelming my body. If I am not brought into transcendence, then I will die before the ritual can be completed. This is why I need you. You will be infusing my body with your transcendent reiatsu, and the king's prism will be slowly changing my body so that I can tolerate its presence."
Aizen frowned thoughtfully, looking more closely at Byakuya.
"Why all of the effort? Why can't the prism simply cause your body to evolve?" he asked curiously.
"The king's prism houses the king's core," Byakuya informed him, "Within the hogyoku, lies the particulate matter, the lost hopes and dreams of the dead, the particles that allow the king's power to connect with his creations. Although the prism could enter my body because I was the heir to its passage, I cannot live with it inside me, not unless the bearer of the hogyoku assists me. Together, you and I can revive the rightful king."
"But, if I do not help you, then eventually, the transcendent power will cause your body to fade. But, tell me, what will happen to the king's prism then?"
Byakuya sighed.
To understand the answer to that, you need to understand something about the leader of the Kuchiki clan and his or her connection to the family archive. We say that, although the entrance to the archive exists in Soul Society, in the heart of the Kuchiki main residence, the archive, itself, does not exist in Soul Society. For any but a member of the royal family or the leader of the Kuchiki family to enter the archive, the leader must grant the person a token or permission. The reason that step is taken, is because…the archive is actually housed within the heart of the Kuchiki leader. Anyone entering the archive is entering my soul. Nothing can be taken out of the archive without my permission. And when I die, the archive disappears from my dead heart and is reborn inside the next leader."
"That presents a problem," Aizen realized, "If the leader who follows you does not share your interest in reviving the king…"
"That leader will die within a relatively short time…and lives will continue to be spent until, either the king is revived, or the heirs run out. If that happens, then the prism will destabilize and the force of its destruction will destroy our worlds. You need to understand, the soul king's revival ritual is a love ritual that he shared with his most dear creation. Hajime was the beloved of the king, and so Reio placed the trust for their revival in the hands of Hajime's bloodline."
"Hmm, interesting. But, may I ask, what is in all of this for me? If I should help you to avoid dying and to revive the king, are you going to do more than just send me back to my cell in Muken to die?"
Byakuya nodded.
"The infusion of my body with your reiatsu would bind our souls together. As soul bonded, you and I would be married, and you would be freed and your powers fully restored. We would need to wear limiters in Soul Society, as our reiatsu could be damaging to this world, but we could stay here. Upon our deaths, we would be invited to join the souls of past kings and consorts within the king's prism. Our voices would then advise future incarnations of the king."
Aizen's smile returned and he was quiet for a moment.
"That is quite a different future than the one in front of me right now," he commented, "But, how do you feel about being soul bonded with a demon like me? You can't be happy about such a thing, can you? I thought you hated me."
"I despise what you did," Byakuya corrected him, "and I despise what you became. But, if you do this for Reio, for me and for our worlds, I can open my heart to spending my life finding the way to thank you properly for that."
"I think I might enjoy thinking of my own ways to make you pay that debt," Aizen chuckled, "Just be warned, Byakuya. If I sense any kind of trick, any attempt to use me and then shove me back in a cell or worse…then I will find a way to destroy you, and I will happily watch the worlds disappear!"
"I will not deceive you," Byakuya promised, "I give you my word now, that as you will give up your immortality, I will dedicate my life to protecting yours. I will give you a home and a family, Sousuke. I know…"
Byakuya paused, his head dipping as he went on.
"The king's prism informed me that your own family was taken from you, and that it was agents of Central 46 that did this. I do not know the whole story about how or when that happened, but I know it is the basis for your actions. You were not born a criminal, and you do not have to remain one. There is another path, if you wish to take it."
Byakuya made a sound of surprise as Aizen began to laugh softly.
"What is this?" he asked, frowning, "What are you doing, Sousuke?"
"I am laughing at the absurdity of all of this," he said, shaking his head, "The noble sages murdered my family. They stole my childhood. The noble houses are the reason that I betrayed everyone, and they are why, Byakuya, I do not trust anyone. Yet you, the leader of the greatest of the noble families, comes to me and asks me to trust him? You must have lost your mind! There is no way that I can trust you. You will take the hogyoku and kill me, yourself! And yes, I know you are that cold-hearted!"
"I want our worlds to survive!" Byakuya insisted, "Don't you? Isn't that what you said?"
"Yes, but I am not desperate enough to just take you at your word. So, if you want me to help you, then you need to give me a way to make sure that you don't use me and stab me in the back. I think that's fair, don't you?"
Byakuya took a steadying breath.
"I suppose that is an understandable request, given the circumstances," he answered, his voice shaking slightly, "The ones within the prism anticipated this, so I have been advised to offer you the following. It is not known outside the family, but all male descendants in Hajime's direct line are able to bear children."
Aizen huffed out another skeptical laugh.
"I don't need a child."
Byakuya glared meaningfully at him.
"When a breeder male conceives a child, a spirit chamber forms in his body to hold the growing infant's reiatsu. The child remains in reiatsu form until birth, but requires constant infusions from the child's father to remain viable. I know that you do not value children, but as a member of the Kuchiki family, I am barred from allowing my offspring to die if there is a way to prevent it. I must and I will protect your life for the duration of the pregnancy, out of my respect for this law. You know that I value the law, and that I follow it, even if it is painful or difficult. I swear to you, if you help me, I will protect you, once you are vulnerable to death…and I will not be alone in that."
"Who else?" Aizen said guardedly, "Who will also be rebelling against Central 46?"
"My cousin and sister," Byakuya answered, "Renji, Urahara Kisuke…and Shiba Ichigo."
Aizen's smile widened and another laugh sounded from deep in his chest.
"I see," he said, narrowing his eyes, "Very well then. You have a deal."
