Chapter 7: A Talk with the King.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Back to where we left off….
Squad 12; Mayuri's Laboratory

The ghostly Orihime stared in shock as her own dead body spoke to her. "The…the Soul King?" she gasped. "But…but you're dead!" She remembered how Ichigo had been forced by Yhwach into cutting the Soul King in half and how the two halves of his body had been absorbed by the mad Quincy king.

The dead Orihime's eyes were no longer her natural hazel. Instead she now had the cross-shaped eyes of the Soul King. As she spoke, her voice sounded like it was coming in stereo, as if the king was just using her as a microphone. "Yes, Orihime. I am dead. What you are speaking to is merely the last remaining thread of consciousness I still have. Yhwach did not steal this from me because he had no idea that I'd done such a thing moments before my demise."

"I don't understand," Orihime said. She looked down at her floating body and then back at her real one. "Why am I like this? And why are you possessing my body. Am I alive somehow?"

Orihime/Soul King shook her head. "No, Orihime. You are not alive. You are dead. As to why your body is carrying my consciousness let me explain. During the battle you attempted to revive me, correct?"

Orihime nodded. "Yeah but…my Shun Shun Rikka didn't work. I couldn't restore your body."

"Yes. You were unable to save me, I'm afraid. But in that moment when your powers came into contact with my body there was a link between us. I used that link to transfer my consciousness into your body. My hope was that after the defeat of Yhwach, I would restore myself using both my consciousness and your powers. I had not counted on your demise, however."

"Can we still do that?" Orihime asked. "Can I come back to life?" She wanted so desperately to return to life again so she could be with Ichigo in the real world.

But Orihime/Soul King simply shook her head. "There is no way for me to return to life, Orihime. My body and soul which were absorbed by Yhwach and destroyed when he died. I can no longer assume my place as the Soul King anymore."

"Wait…" Orihime stopped her. "If you're not the Soul King anymore…then how are we still here? Osho told us that you were the lynchpin that kept the three worlds together. So if you're dead then how are the worlds existing?"

Sighing, Orihime/Soul King looked at Orihime with a sad expression. "With what will I still possess I have been maintaining the balance of the worlds together. But shortly after you died, I soon found myself realizing that this was merely delaying the inevitable. My consciousness is fading. In the near future I will cease to exist and all that you see and know shall cease to exist with me…."

Orihime's eyes widened in horror. If the Soul King's consciousness faded then all of her friends would perish as well. "Can we stop it?" she asked with hopeful eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief when Orihime/Soul King nodded but noticed that she was looking at with a forlorn expression. "What is it?"

"My will is fading. When I sensed that it was a matter of when and not if, I knew that the time had come for someone to take my place. It is for that purpose that I recalled your spirit from the cycle of rebirth. With my will fueling your body and your spirit you may take my place."

Orihime gasped, not believing what she was hearing. "You mean…you mean you want me to be…to be…."

"The new Soul Queen. Yes."

So many thoughts ran through Orihime's overly imaginative mind. She saw herself sitting on a golden throne with a crown and a scepter with Ichigo standing beside her. But then she remembered when she saw the Soul King and gasped in horror at the realization of her reality. "You mean…I have to be…encased in that crystal?"

Orihime/Soul King sadly nodded. "Yes. Unlike Yhwach, who had the strength of will to move, your body will be enshrined in a crystal in order to anchor you to the three worlds."

The ghostly teen started to breathe faster as she realized what the dead king was saying. "But…but if I do that then…I'll never get to be with Ichigo!"

Another nod was Orihime/Soul King's answer. "Yes. Your astral body will reintegrate into your real body and my will shall become a part of you. As such, your presence inside Ichigo Kurosaki's soul will cease to exist."

"No…." Orihime couldn't fight the tears as she saw the truth of things. "I can't…I can't!" she shouted. "I love Ichigo! I can't leave him alone again!" She shook her head as she floated backwards. "He was so happy when I came back to him. I can't leave him!"

"You have to," Orihime/Soul King said. "I do not have much time left, Orihime. If you do not take my place, then all you know and love will vanish. That includes your love, Ichigo."

"NO!" Orihime screamed, floating away. "I can't! I can't leave Ichigo alone! Not after he suffered my death the first time!" she cried, her hands going to her crying face. "It'll destroy him! I can't do it!"

"Orihime, this isn't about you," Orihime/Soul King chastised. "This is about to the world. Will you let all those you love die so that you may have Ichigo?"

"I…I…" Orihime choked. This was the most impossible of choices. 'No,' she thought as she shook her head. 'This isn't a choice! This is…horrible!' She turned away and started to float away from her cadaver. "No…I can't…I can't leave him…Ichigo…."

"Orihime," the dead king inside her corpse said before Orihime suddenly vanished, returning to Ichigo. "Hmm…what to do?" the Soul King pondered before lying back down, putting the sheet over her head before closing her eyes and going back to being just a dead body.

"Orihime, you need to choose who is more important to you: Ichigo? Or the world?"

As for Orihime, she found herself back in Ichigo's inner world. Dropping to her knees, she buried her face in her hands and wept, wishing that her second chance of life with Ichigo was about to come to an end….

To be continued