Hey everyone! Well, I have returned with another chapter. I also have to warn you guys that I am going to be quite slow on updating as I have quite a busy schedule going on, but I'm going to do the best I can to bring you the best chapters. Hope you enjoy this one as you will find out more about Ruby and Jade.

I also understand that things are moving quite slowly in the story, but things will start to pick up next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Aizen's Devious Vendetta

As soon as Jade arrived at the Fifth Division barracks, a couple of subordinates were waiting. They grabbed him and lead him towards the holding cell where Ruby would be waiting.

Upon arriving at the cell, they pushed him violently inside and slammed the bars shut. Jade lost his balance and forwards against the hard concrete floor. "Damn..." he cussed under his breath.

Ruby stared intently at her brother who was slowly getting up. "Jade..?" She called quietly.

"Yea..?" Jade questioned, not looking at his sister.

"How long did you think we'll be here for?"

Jade shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. That cocky son of a bitch, Renji, said we would be here for a night, but personally I don't believe it."

"Do you have to be so negative...?" Silence. "You've changed, Jade...I miss the times when you would smile. I miss the old you..."

"Why did you think I changed in the first place?" Jade snapped. "Why did you think I would be here so willingly?"

Ruby knew the answer immediately. "I wish Mom hadn't died..." She tightened her fists and gritted her teeth, trying to fight back her tears. "She was everything to us...she was all we ever had. If those horrible men hadn't killed her...then maybe things would have been better?"

Jade sighed as he sat down next to his sister. "Wasn't that the reason to become shinigami in the first place? To seek some sort of justice? And, in my case, to be stronger?"

"I guess," Ruby trailed off. Silence fell between them for a moment before she spoke again. "I wish you wouldn't have been so difficult to Kurosaki-Fukutaichou." Jade scoffed at her statement. "If you would have known the horrible feelings she's going through right now. She's guilty, Jade. She thinks everything is her fault. There was nothing she could have done. Any attack would be inflicted onto Kurosaki-Taichou because he was used as some sort of shield. Isn't this the kind of justice that we are seeking? To help someone who is struggling just as much as we did?"

"It's not the same, Ruby," Jade said. "Kurosaki-Taichou wasn't killed in front of her like our mother was to us."

"Still," Ruby contradicted. "I still think we should help her. After all, she said that she would send for us when she's ready."

"Whatever, Ruby," Jade sighed as he attempted to make himself comfortable against the cold wall. "Let's at least get some sleep."

Ruby knew that was an understatement. She knew that ever since that horrible night her brother had never gotten a decent amount of sleep. He would be having the same nightmare as he always did.

Sure enough, she heard him talking in his sleep once again, mumbling the same curses he had spoken any other night.

Her eyes softened in sympathy. Someday, She thought to herself. Someday, things will be all right again...especially for you, Ryuichi. An image of him appeared in her mind – his strong, distant figure with determination in his eyes. Smiling slightly, she lay down on the cold, cement floor and her eyes drifted closed.

Elsewhere, in Las Noches, Ichigo was being dragged towards the throne room, struggling to fight off a couple of arrancar and cursing them along the way. However, the arrancar just ignored him while they continued to handle him.

Along the way, they met Yammy and Aaronierro, who were waiting for them. "You're late!" Yammy boomed as he narrowed his eyes at the arrancar.

"We apologize, Yammy-sama," one of the arrancar said, as he twisted Ichigo's arm slightly with a jerk, causing him to hiss with slight pain. "This bastard was making it hard for us."

Yammy nodded in understanding. "Then, in that case, give him to us and we'll lead him the rest of the way."

"Why don't you tell Aizen to fuck himself?" Ichigo spat.

Aaronierro struck the captain across the face with the back of his hand. "Insolent wretch!" he spoke in his high voice from behind the mask. Then he changed into a gravelly low voice as he spoke again. "Know your place! You are just an insignificant prisoner. You're lucky that Aizen-sama wants you alive because if not for his orders, we would fucking kill you on the spot! After all, you're helpless without your zampakutou."

The arrancar snickered and Yammy smirked widely. Ichigo growled as he struggled in Yammy's grip. "Fuck you, you freak."

That earned him a punch in the jaw. "Shut up!" Aaronierro shrieked with his high voice.

"Let's not waste anymore time," Yammy suggested. "Aizen-sama is waiting."

Aaronierro nodded as he followed his comrade towards the throne room door, waiting for another opportune time to strike Ichigo just in case he does not co-operate.

They entered the vast room, where Stark, Gin, and Szayel were waiting.

Aizen was at his usual place on his throne. His right arm, which was torn off by Ichigo in his hollow form, was replaced by a skeletonised mechanical arm that had enough strength to crush any form of matter. Szayel manufactured this arm shortly after their return from Soul Society, and as soon he fixed the mechanism to Aizen's shoulder, Aizen utilized it immediately, punching a clean hole within one of the walls of the laboratory. He was amazed by the sheer strength of the artificial arm and was so excited that he laughed maniacally, flexing the arm repeatedly.

His lips curled upwards towards an insane smile as he saw Ichigo before him, held tightly by Yammy while Aaronierro stood behind with his arms crossed over his chest. He was waiting for this moment – a moment where he could finally use the captain for his own good.

"Welcome Kurosaki...or should I say, Kurosaki-Taichou," Aizen's voice echoed throughout the throne room.

Ichigo said nothing. He gritted his teeth at his captor in front of him, remembering the terrible things that he had done to himself and his family. If he had his zampakutou at that moment, he would do whatever it would take to make the evil lord pay for his crimes.

"I see you still have a grudge against me," Aizen continued to say as he frowned. He tightened his hold on his throne's arms, causing the right arm to crack under the pressure caused by his artificial arm. "All I can say is touché, for I could never forget the humiliation you had caused me 15 years ago. This artificial arm is proof of that grudge."

"That is why you had me brought here?" Ichigo asked, disbelief lacing his voice. "All because of a stupid grudge? Get over it!"

Aizen sighed as he closed his eyes. "You're still an enemy whom I am going to target until you have been vanquished." Then he opened his eyes. "However, that is not why I had brought you here. I have come here to use you."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Use me? In what way?"

"Hidden deep inside you is an extremely valuable power," Aizen explained. "This power of yours enabled you to tear off my right arm with ease and had beaten me to an inch of my life. I am, of course, talking about your hollow powers. I understand that you had beaten Ogichi before. However, you have absorbed all of his powers once he was defeated, so that you can use them at any opportune time."

"So what are you implying?"

Aizen darkened his voice slightly. "I want that power, and I will do whatever it takes to take that power from you, even if it is by force."

Ichigo scoffed at his answer. "Like hell I am going to give my hollow powers up so easily, and even if you were going to take them by force, you don't have the Hougyouku anymore." He smirked. "After all, it was yours truly who destroyed it."

Aizen matched his prisoner's smirk. "That is where you're wrong."

Ichigo frowned. "What?"

Aizen motioned towards Szayel, who smirked bashfully beside him. "In case you don't know, Szayel here is a scientific genius whose smarts exceed that of even Urahara Kisuke's. With a bit of research, Szayel managed to create a duplicate of the Hougyouku."

Ichigo winced as Szayel brought out a glowing, violet orb that was identical to the Hougyouku that was created years before. He could barely find the words to say. "H-how? Wh-when...?"

Aizen's smirk grew wider. "During the 15 year period since we had last seen each other, Szayel created this as well as my mechanical arm. After all, I had mentioned to him that I had wanted to use your hollow powers for myself and he used his sheer and superior genius to create the Hougyouku. I will once again rise to the top, and as long as I have you as my weapon, nothing will stop me!"

Ichigo continued to gaze in shock. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Yes," Aizen replied. "I will use the Hougyouku to turn you against your precious friends and family. However, it's not going to be easy since you had absorbed your inner hollow's powers after defeating him. So Szayel is going to run some experiments on you to strengthen your hollow powers to the point where they out-balance your shinigami powers. And there's something else."

Ichigo swallowed a large lump in his throat as he cautiously asked, "what now?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure that hollow powers are genetic; they are passed from one generation to the next."

Ichigo gasped again. He knew precisely what Aizen was saying. When Ryuichi was born, he knew that his hollow powers would be passed on to him. However, he never told his son any of this, for fear of what it would do to him. He also needed to protect him as well. He knew that he was making the same mistake as his dad, but he knew that it was for his son's own good. Ryuichi's hollow powers had never been awakened yet, but if he were captured and suffered the same fate, then things would be even worse. Ichigo realized that this was the last thing he wanted to happen, but he also knew that his son had the same fighting spirit and stubbornness as he did. So he knew that Ryuichi would stop at nothing to get his father back.

"Judging from the expression on your face," Aizen said, "you know what I am trying to say. You know that your precious son has hollow powers that had been passed on from you."

"Don't you ever touch my son again!" Ichigo hissed under his breath threateningly.

"That would be easier said than done, I'm afraid," Aizen said, "for I know that your son would stop at nothing to get his father back. So therefore, I am going to let him come. After all, it would be the perfect trap for him, don't you think?"

Ichigo could not take it anymore. "YOU BASTARD! DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY SON!"

"Take him away and prepare him for experimenting," Aizen ordered.

Yammy nodded as he dragged a thrashing Ichigo out of the throne room.

"DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH MY SON, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Ichigo screamed again, trying so hard to fight off his handler's grip but to no avail.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Aizen said silently as he watched his successor being taken from the throne room. "After all, you and your son have always been mine from the very beginning. There's nothing you can do about it."

He watched Szayel walk down the stairs, but the scientist turned to face his master. "Thank you for the lovely opportunity, Aizen-sama."

"Yes, after all, it was all I could do for what you had done for me."

Szayel nodded as he continued to walk down the stairs, and Aizen chuckled as he imagined how his plans would turn out.

"Soul Society is going to fall in my hands, and I will be the supreme ruler of all the heavens. After all, Kurosaki has potential so terrible that once he's under my control, he would cause destruction of any dimension within seconds. I don't know about Ryuichi, but I'm sure that once his powers have been awakened, he too will be a destructive force. There is nothing anyone can do to stop me." He chuckled more darkly, tightening his right-hand grip on his throne arm so much that the stone-like material crumbled to dust.

The night spent in Ruby and Jade's holding cell was not a very comfortable one, as both siblings were very restless and could not get much sleep. However, when they heard the bars slide open, they were very much alert.

Ruby raised her head to see Hinamori standing in front of the bars with a serious expression on her face. Ruby could tell that she was troubled, as though she was remembering something. However, little did she know that her superior spent some time in a holding cell for acting out the same way as she did.

"Kurosaki-Fukutaichou requests to see you two," Hinamori said almost monotone-like.

Both Ruby and Jade stood up from their respective spots and followed their mentor out of the prison area.

On the way to Rukia's office, Ruby noticed Ryuichi walking towards the door. Summing up all her courage, she waved with a slight smile, "Good morning, Ryuichi."

"Piss off," Ryuichi snapped harshly without looking at her. He pushed the door open and walked right through.

Ruby frowned and lowered her eyes in guilt. She knew that he would be angry with her for what she and her brother had done a couple days ago, so Ryuichi's actions were not surprising, but they still broke her heart slightly. She also knew that the young man was angry at Aizen for having his father torn away from him...again, not so surprising.

They stopped in front of Rukia's office and Hinamori knocked on the door.

"Yea?" Rukia called from inside with an occupied tone in her voice.

Hinamori opened the door quietly, and Ruby and Jade slipped through. "Here are Ruby and Jade," she said from behind them.

Rukia put the paperwork she was working on aside and looked up to see the Carlisle siblings in front of her. "You two, get a chair and sit in front of me."

Ruby and Jade pulled up a chair each and sat in front of their lieutenant, noticing the cold expression within her eyes.

"Hinamori, you're dismissed," Rukia said while still glaring at the siblings.

Hinamori nodded and closed the office door.

Rukia folded her hands in front of her on the desk and pursed her lips for a moment. "You two know why I had you locked up?"

"We were fighting with released zampakutou, ma'am," Ruby replied.

"Yes," Rukia said. "I strongly advise you never to do that again under any pretence. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ruby and Jade replied in unison.

Even though she was satisfied with their answer, the cold expression never faded. "The reason why I had you come here is because of a simple request. Although, it may sound simple, but it's more dangerous than simple."

Ruby and Jade continued to listen.

Rukia continued. "I want you two to accompany me, Renji, Hinamori, and Tatsuki to Hueco Mundo to get Ichigo back from the enemy's clutches."

"You're not taking Ryu-" Ruby was about to ask, but Rukia cut her off.

"He is not ready to go on a dangerous mission, even though he is going to train today to get his shikai taken care of. Renji, Hinamori, and I had discussed this. Besides, he was taken from us before and I do not want the same thing to happen again."

"But that was a long time ago," Ruby said. "Besides, he's grown up and..."

"I happen to know that!" Rukia snapped, slamming her hands against the desk. "But he is not coming on this mission! He isn't ready! Enough said!"

Ruby sighed. She had definitely never seen this cold side to her lieutenant before, this overprotective side. Ichigo's capture definitely affected her a whole lot – more than it had affected anyone else.

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows. "Now then, are there any questions?" She averted her eyes towards the siblings with a glare.

"When are we leaving?" Jade asked.

"In a couple days," Rukia answered. "As you might know, Renji is training Ryuichi today and the next day. That should be plenty of time for any of us to train to prepare for the enemy. Any other questions?"

"Why us?" Ruby inquired. "We aren't seated officers and we were recruited at the same time as Ryuichi, who has been made fifth seat."

Rukia sighed. "I chose you two to come with us because of your skills. Although Ichigo and I are proud of Ryuichi and want him to try his best at what he has done, you have surpassed him and have shown me, Renji, and Hinamori what you were capable of even though both of you lost it and got in trouble in the end. In other words, we want to see how you can manage against the enemy. After all, you are here because you want to spread more justice to Soul Society; isn't that correct, Ruby?

"Yes, ma'am," Ruby replied.

"And you are here because you want to be stronger to protect your sister; is that correct, Jade?" Rukia questioned.

"Yes, ma'am," Jade grunted softly.

"Then this will be a test of your abilities," Rukia continued. "Is there any more questions?"

Ruby and Jade looked at each other for a moment before turning back to their superior. "No, ma'am," they said in unison.

"Then you are free to go," Rukia said. "Train hard because we are leaving first thing in a couple days. You're dismissed."

Without another word, Ruby and Jade got up from their chairs and left the office, understanding every word that their lieutenant had told them. This was going to be the greatest test of their lives, and when the time comes for them to leave, they will be ready to take it on.

Next time on Inherited Nightmares...

Renji sighed as Ryuichi hit the ground. "You're not concentrating, Ryuichi," he said with disappointment. "You need to have thorough concentration when you converse with your zampakutou's spirit."

Ryuichi gritted his teeth as he stood up from the ground. "You think I don't know that? I'm trying as fucking hard as I can, but you keep coming at me!"

"Exactly," Renji agreed. "What if a hollow or any other kind of enemy comes when you are trying to talk to your zampakutou's spirit? They won't wait for you." He got into a fighting stance. "Now let's go again."

The past couple of chapters haven't had Ryuichi in them very much, so next chapter will make up for that as it will be the one in which Ryuichi finds out the name of his zampakutou! :D I am definitely looking forward to writing it, and I'm pretty sure you guys are looking forward to it as well.

In the meantime, however, let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Take care!