Chapter Seven – The Dreams of Aizen

I woke up in the night, still living in this strange sort of "twilight world" inside my head. I knew my family was dead, knew my grandfather was dead, my great aunt was dead – my entire bloodline could have been wiped out, for all I knew.

I, for now, was the last of my name…and I didn't want to believe it was real. I couldn't accept it, didn't accept it.

But it was true. They were gone. I got out of bed and started pacing the floor, trying to come to terms with the nightmare my world had become…and the nightmare my world would one day be.

For some reason, my mind went back to Chernobyl. To Pripyat…and the horrors I would go through to find my second Zanpakuto, Heiwa. I already knew the only way to get to the sword would be via slime…any Gegai would be ruined within half an hour from the extreme radiation still there. Perhaps I needed to go…

Go there and put an end to all of this torment. Inwardly, I cursed myself for wanting death, told myself I should want to live, that dying wasn't the answer to this…but I felt like I was treading water, searching for air that was no longer there.

Suddenly, as I was standing there, lost in a mental battle of life and death, a rush of wind blew through the room, lifting me off my feet and laying me flat on my back on the bed. I managed to pull myself up into a sitting position, but then the wind pushed on my chest, forcing me onto my back. I tried a second time, but the wind held me fast, not even letting me lift my head.

"Shhh…hush, little Evie," a ghostlike voice with no face or body said as the covers seemed to pull themselves over me of their own volition, and the very weight of the room pressed on me gently, like a loving embrace. "Go to sleep. The nightmare is over."

My whole body felt like lead. "Wha-?" I said, my words even having trouble coming out of my mouth. An icy feeling slid down my spine, but it was quickly replaced by warmth.

"Hush, my dear Evie, piece of my soul," the voice sang. "Your father loves you, more than you know. Though the night reigns, the dawn will soon break. And I'll be right here, right here when you wake."

I felt like I was in a trance – I couldn't move my arms, legs, head…I couldn't even bat my eyelashes, my eyes closing as though someone was pushing them shut. I wanted to yell or scream, but even that seemed impossible.

"Let me…Let…me…" I begged, desperately trying to get this warm, heavy weight off me.

"Never again," the whispery voice crooned. "I let you go once…ran you through on my own blade seven times, for all the world to see…here, let me show you…

Then, everything went black

One Hundred and Five Years Ago, Sokyoku Hill, Soul Society

Eve Aizen took off her glasses for the last time, staring at the Head Captain and the Captains of the Gotei 13 as she slid them into the pocket of her white prison uniform absentmindedly. Even though she was quite near-sighted, she didn't want to wear them today.

No…she wanted to see all of it with the eyes Father gave her. This day would be a historical one for the Gotei 13 – today, an unseated Soul Reaper would be executed on Sokyoku Hill, and would not be executed by the Sokyoku or Stealth Force.

No…simply because she was a Quasi-Hollow, she had been put to death. Central 46 couldn't even give her an official charge! The Head Captain had decried the action, and demanded that she merely be removed from the Seireiti, but Central 46 refused to budge.

"Very well, Central 46," she had said. "Since you desire that I die, I desire to select the manner in which the penalty is carried out."

Central 46 had not been pleased, but seeing as she was consenting to the execution, they let her choose between three options. The first was a private execution, in which she would be allowed to remain in barracks.

On the night of the execution, she would be sent to a private bedroom and a cup of poison would be administered, which would make her go to sleep and not wake up.

The second option was a public execution by the Sokyoku. While this was not normally administered to unseated officers, she would remain a free woman until the night before.

And the last of the three…was called Death by Seven Cuts. On the day of her execution, she would be taken to Sokyoku Hill, and an executioner of her choosing would cut into her seven times.

She choose the third option…and her father, Sosuke Aizen, would be her executioner. Evie pushed her hair, the short brown mop she wore just the way her father did, back out of her face. They always said she was her father's female doppelganger, a fact that always made her smile. To see her father in herself, to heed his orders, to execute his will both on and off the battlefield, was a supreme joy to her. He had even gone so far as to tell her he was going to help her find a husband.

At least until all this blew up. She had told Central 46 not to tell her father what was going on…to just tell him they needed him to execute a small-time criminal or something, not showing him the truth until a few days after the whole thing was over. She had wanted to keep her trial and execution quiet, knowing that Central 46 had already decided her fate. Knowing her father would suffer untold shame as a result.

And then…they failed. Just the night before in the Squad Eight prison, she had been getting ready for her final sleep…when the lone guard on her cell got chucked across the way like a watermelon.

"Damn," she muttered, knowing without knowing. "He got me."

The cell door flew open, and Sosuke Aizen stormed in, his glasses gone and his face twisted in rage…but Evie didn't budge.

"No, Evie," he said, barely containing his venomous rage. "I will not do it."

Eve didn't react. "I want it to be you," she said. "This began as me and you, so I want it to end the same way. You were the one who made me, and I want you to destroy me."

Aizen…weirdly, started crying. "This…this can't happen like this! It can't! Appeal it…tell them they have to do it all over…JUST DON'T LAY DOWN AND DIE!"

Eve looked at the face of her crying father, desperate for something else to say, but knew what had to be said. "It's over, Daddy. It was over before the trial was called, and we both know it. You know the penalty of being a Hollow, same as I do…so let me go out with my head high, knowing I did my best."

"No," he said. "Please, butterfly-"

"You can't hurt me, Daddy," she said. "I know you'd make me feel beautiful when I die. I picked you because I know I won't feel any pain."

Aizen knew he lost…and he hated it. "I will find you again, butterfly," he said, his voice seething with rage, wiping away his rogue tears. "When you die, I will bring you back from the grave every time. When you live, I will scour the universe to find you. Wherever you are…there won't even be armies or walls big enough to keep me from you. Not even the oceans can keep you from me – even if I have to swim to the bottom!"

Eve just looked at him. She wanted to tell him to move on, let her go, but that would have been like telling a Kempachi to quit fighting.

So now, here she was, watching as her father approached the execution site, Captain Shinji Hirako standing behind him as a second executioner should he fail. His face was red and his eyes were bagged and puffy – she knew he hadn't slept. She wanted to hug him, hold him, tell him that everything would be all right, but she knew it would be useless. She looked to Shinji, and he placed his hand on his blade, as if to tell her he was ready for the job.

"Lieutenant Aizen," Head Captain Yamamoto said. "Do you consent to this task?"

Aizen's head turned to Yamamoto, his face appearing to calm. "I do." he said, his voice shaking just slightly.

"Aizen Eve, do you have any last words or requests before the sentence is carried out?"

Eve wanted to criticize the Soul Society for their mistreatment and false trial, but knew they wouldn't understand. "You kill me today," she said. "But tomorrow…I will haunt you."

She then turned to her father. "Daddy?" she whispered.

"Yes?" he whispered back.

"Good night!"

Aizen didn't react at first…his face looking like he was about to collapse into a pool of tears…but then, he tore Kyoka Suigetsu from its sheath and roared, slamming his blade directly into Eve's heart.

…

Captain Hirako had never heard Aizen give out a war cry like that. Even in the hottest battles, Aizen had never sounded that awful. He then watched as his lieutenant tore through the condemned woman's body six more times, his wrath on full display.

"Somebody help Squad Five if he ever becomes Captain." Shinji thought, suddenly terrified as Eve's body became a bloody mass on the ground. He didn't trust Aizen…not in the slightest. The only thing he knew for sure about him was his love for Eve, his "child." Now that she was gone…there was nothing left he knew for certain.

Hiyori, Squad Twelve's lieutenant, walked quietly up to the bloodied remains, bowing her head. Hiyori never liked anyone…she'd beat them as soon as look at them…but Eve had always kicked Hiyori back, refusing to let the Lieutenant get the best of her. Aizen stared at her for a long minute, then raised his hand, summoning the Stealth Force to gather her remains. He then walked away…he wondered what Aizen was thinking.

He had done the unthinkable.

Eve was dead.

…

Present Day

I was lying in my bed now, my whole body as limp as a sponge. "Now do you see that I love you?" the voice asked. "Now do you see why I can't let you go ever again?"

I tried to string words together in my head, but even that wasn't working. "I promise things will be better…you just have to hold on. Soon, I will come for you…and Chad. Soon, you will be my daughter once more, bringing my descendants into this world…

At that, I blacked out.

…

The following afternoon, I clocked in to work and sat down at the computer, desperately trying to drive everything Feather Voice told me out of my head and focus on the situation at hand.

While I was about ninety percent sure what he was saying was correct, I didn't care half so much about the things he said as the voice saying it.

It sounded like…no. If it was him…I shivered. It…

"Hey, are you okay?" Jinta said, the little redhead shaking me out of the hellish stupor I was in. "You look sick!"

"You don't know the half of it," I said. "Is Utahata here tonight?"

"No…he's helping Rukia clean up the mess that Mod Soul Kon made," he said. "I was wondering, though…Utahata-sempai said he had something your grandpa gave you before he died. Said he had someone snatch it out of your house before the Purgers came."

I looked at the typically loud-mouthed slacker. "Okay, Jinta-kun, can I take it back?"

"Well, duh, Danielle-sempai – it's gonna be your Gegai container!" he led me to a backroom, walking me to a white box with a pink ribbon. I picked it up, surprised at how light it was. He took me back to the desk, and he let me sit down and open it.

I did…and inside sat a thirteen-year-old teddy bear, fresh-smelling and clean. The red ribbon with teddy bear faces had been swapped out for a bright red one, and a new fluffy pocket had been added. A note was attached to Mr. Snuggles's leg, and I pulled it off to see what it said.

Danielle,

I managed to meet with your mother and father before they were killed – they want you to know they sent your sister away, but they can't tell you what happened for her safety.

They want you to know they love you. Your father has forged a resistance, but they both expected to be killed in the coming days. Your grandfather and great-aunt died yesterday at his house…GOTR caught them, even though your three uncles put up a fight – I watched. Two of them are still in hospital, and the third was DOA.

Your cousins have all scattered, most likely to form resistance elsewhere.

I'm sorry to send you all of this bad news, Danielle-chan, but I want you to know the truth.

Yoruichi

I had to cackle a little – I thought Yoruichi didn't like me. Jinta looked at the letter.

"Man, those GOTR are scum!" Jinta said. "They killed your parents – and your grandpa?!"

I sighed. "The price of being a Rejected. They find one imperfection – aged family member, Jewish sister, Roma mother – and they want to either re-educate or eliminate the whole batch. I was the imperfection that got my family killed."

"That's not fair and that's not true!" Jinta yelled. "They don't know that their missing out on the craziest Soul Reaper that the world will ever see!"

"Jinta…I'm still pretty raw," I said. "Yeah, I have a lot of power, but my sword technique is rough as hell, and I've only mastered Hado Number One, never mind Bakudo. Hell, my other zanpakuto somehow made its way into one of the most poisonous places on Earth!"

"And we're gonna help with that," Utahata's voice said from the doorway as he and Tessai walked in. "I see you found your Gegai container…excellent. Your grandfather…he loved you a lot, didn't he?"

"He did," I said, snuggling the bear, trying to focus on what was ahead instead of the fact that Grandpa was now gone. "He loved others more than he loved himself – he was a terrible smoker."

Utahata nodded. "Yoruichi said the place stank. But enough of that…we need to figure out what you can do as a slime. We've re-fitted a new Gegai with a radioactive shield – should give you about thirty to forty five minutes without suffering from ARS. However, if we can help you master your slime capabilities, you'll have an hour or more."

Jinta stared. "What's ARS?"

Tessai looked down. "Acute Radiation Syndrome – radiation poisoning. Somebody wanted to keep Heiwa hidden."

Utahata took my hand, "Let's go."

…

Soul Society, Squad Five Barracks

"How did you manage to be beaten up so badly, Aizen-taichou?" Lieutenant Momo Hinamori said as she daubed Captain Aizen's eye. "Why did you let those teenagers beat you like that?"

"Momo, I was on a power trip and we both know it," he said, grunting at the sting of the medicine she was using for swelling. "GOTR went to my head, and I just about blew my cover. I needed to be humbled, for my sake and hers."

Momo felt herself getting aggravated with her Captain. How could he be acting like this? This was supposed to be a simple undercover mission, designed to gather more intelligence on GOTR so the Soul Society could bring them down. They were under orders to pull out within the next two weeks.

But then, he found the Sanderson girl a week earlier, and he went on a downward spiral. Strange old pictures of a Soul Reaper she never knew were popping up on his desk. A journal of Russian origin was by his futon. The night after his beating, he woke up screaming about a girl named Eve.

"Who is she, Captain Aizen?" Momo asked, suddenly finding a mixture of courage and rage within her. "Who is she…and what does she mean to you?"

"She is the most beautiful creature I have ever known," Aizen replied. "My masterpiece…every dream I have ever held placed in flesh. She…is everything I have ever believed made human. She is Eve Aizen, my daughter."

Momo's head spun, Aizen's words reverberating in her ears. His daughter? How could that be? How was it even possible? How could he…love someone other than her?

Momo laid down the rags, prepared to walk out of the barrack. "Don't forget, Momo – her kitty will need to be picked up from the vet tomorrow."

She paused. "Yes, Captain Aizen. I'll bring him safely home."