Chapter 6: Enter! Lair of the giant snake!

"Zooi!" a voice hissed. "Zooi, wake up!" I opened my eyes to a bright blue light. As my eyes adjusted I noticed that nobody was there – not Zaraki, Yachiru…or Miss Unohana. A rattling sound echoed around me and I sat up, alert. I then noticed that I was looking at the sky and that I was lying on…on water?! I yelped, but something slithered towards me under the water and stopped before me.

"Hello Zooi. Long-time no see." The voice was clearer and less echoey. Suddenly, the thing under water rose up to the surface and crashed through the top. As water rose and crashed all around me, I gulped and stared at the rising mountain of water. As the water calmed down, the thing became clearer but…hold on…it was a giant snake! It hissed so loudly it was enough to make a human's ears bleed! Quickly standing up, I realised that the snake seemed familiar. As I stared at it, the snake appeared to have a dreadful aura surrounding it. Water was dripping off the snake but never seemed to splash onto the water I was standing on. I could not look into the snake's eyes – its presence seemed to freeze me.

"Zooi, look at me." There it was again – that spine-tingling voice. I looked around me looking for the source, but again, there was nobody there…apart from the giant snake. Sudden realisation hit me – was it the snake talking?! In horror I glanced at the snake expecting to talk again.

"Yes Zooi, it is I who talks." The snake's voice was cold and seemingly expressionless and resonated round me.

"Who are you, no, what are you?! Snakes shouldn't talk!" I whispered. Suddenly, a deafening hiss filled the air.

"Ha ha ha! I am no ordinary snake Zooi. Do you still not recognise me? I know it has been many a year, but to not recognise someone only you could know saddens me. A sudden rush of wind rushed through my hair and appeared to be coming from the snake itself. I watched avidly as the snake's form was growing smaller…and melting?! The silvery water that came from the snake crashed to the surface and sprayed everywhere. However this was not ordinary water; it felt like needles scraping your skin off and piercing the skin. Although when I looked at my skin there was no visible cut. Once the water settled, I stole a glance at where the snake was but found that there was no giant snake, but rather, a mirror image of me only this person had snake like eyes and a blue-grey tinge to her skin. Her mouth didn't seem quite human and her hands gracefully poised by her side. Also, her hair was longer but still in a messy style and slightly darker – her plaits were more black/blue than white/blue. Who was she? Was she the snake?

After several minutes, the wind died down and the water around us stopped rippling. The look-alike smiled coldly and hissed.

"Do you not recognise me now? This is you." She laughed emotionlessly and blinked.

"That's not me. I look nothing like you – for a start I don't have those creepy eyes." I spat. The girl cocked her head to one side and blinked again.

"Hm. I thought you would have recognised this form. Oh well, no point in dwelling is there." I noticed that the formal manner that the snake used was non-existent in this case. The girl raised her left arm and the water below feet began bubbling and rose upwards towards her arm and somehow she managed to form something with it. There was a terrible cracking and creaking sound, like when ice forms and breaks and then the water splashed back to the ground. In her hand, the girl was holding a zanpaku-tō…hold on, my zanpaku-tō! As sudden realisation daunted upon me, a stream of memories came back to me – when I first held my zanpaku-tō, when I first fought with it and then the last time I used it…a growl escaped my mouth and my body shook after I remembered what the girl in front of me is and what she did to me and others.

"Ha ha ha, I think you're beginning to remember girly. Hee hee!" her laughter was like the ice – cold and slippery as though it's fooling me.

"That's enough." Another voice boomed. The girl opposite me immediately stopped laughing and looked around as well.

"Zooi, please enter the waterfall behind you." The voice this time was kind and soft; it warmed my heart greatly.

I hadn't noticed the waterfall behind me – there was no sound coming from it and I was concentrating on the look-alike the whole time. Just as I took a step, the water rose again and out came a giant snake just like the one I saw earlier and slithered quickly into the cave mouth. I quickly followed, running and tripping as I went. The look-alike figure snarled and bared her teeth, no, her fangs! I reached the cave mouth in time, but all I could see was a mirror – was this really where the snake had gone? As I touched the mirror, the surface shimmered and rippled like water, but I soon realised that I must step through before the look-alike reached me. She was using Shunpō (Flash Step) to reach me quicker. I panicked and stumbled back into the mirror. Everything was sucked into a whirlpool and became distorted, but then it all returned back to normal and I was sitting on the floor facing the mirror. The snake secretly slithered behind me and looked through the mirror as well. The look-alike girl was seemingly trapped on the other side.

"Phew! That was close!" the snake rattled kindly in my ear. I yelped and jumped back in shock. "She's a feisty one, you'll need help controlling her for now." The snake was all shades of blue – turquoise, aqua, sky blue; every blue possible. Its scales glittered in the ever-lasting sunlight and reflected her beautiful blue eyes. I was dazzled by this glittering lights show, I completely forgot about the look-alike on the other side of the mirror.

"Um, where am I? I don't remember this when I first heard you." I stated, puzzled.

"Yes, I know. Things changed a lot when you were put into prison; you can blame that." The snake nodded towards the mirror.

"But, who is she, and are you…my zanpaku-tō?" I stared into her watery eyes and felt calm and composed.

"I am indeed the spirit of your zanpaku-tō *****, and this is my world, my lair if you wish." As she spoke, her eyes burned golden and blue: I became mesmerized by her eyes and felt so much at ease it was wonderful and was like being in the same room as Zaraki.

"Hm? What did you say your name was?" I realised that the words became muddled and lost their way to my ears.

"*****." She sighed when she saw my face. "Oh dear, it appears as though you've lost my name. How sad; I was looking forward to fighting Miss Unohana with you." My eyes widened as a loud crash resonated and shook my body. Blood spilled from my face and shoulder wound as I was slumped against the rocks in the world where I was fighting Miss Unohana. "Looks like you need to go back and fast. I'm sure you'll come to know my name soon…and when you do I'll tell you who the thing behind the mirror is. For now though, I must go. Goodbye." And with that, her voice tinkled off and the world came rashing down all around me.