Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters; Tite Kubo does. I do, however, claim ownership of my OC, Saika. Don't use him for anything without my permission, if you would be so kind.

Love Conquers All

Chapter 8: Nadir

Saika opened his eyes with a groan, his head throbbing.

I knew I had too much of that sake…

But when he tried to move his hand, Saika found his arm unresponsive.

"What the hell…?"

"Ah, good, you're awake. Gods know I've been waiting long enough."

The voice, which sounded like a rusted blade cutting through metal, froze Aron's blood cold as his eyes focused on the figure in front of him.

"Lord Mortos…"

The Baron smiled.

"Indeed. I was hoping to not have to resort to having your food drugged, but the five of you getting thrown in prison forced my hand somewhat."

Saika looked down to see himself bound on a rack, suspended a few feet above the ground.

"So… Yoshinara…"

Mortos chuckled.

"Oh, don't be so hard on the kid. After all, his sister is in the employ of my brat Callos, who could end her life at any point if he wanted to. Really, familial piety just came before loyalty to his military superiors."

Saika blinked, trying to keep the sting of sweat away from his eyes.

"Where are the others?"

"Your two dogs and those Soul Reapers, you mean? Oh, don't worry; Goroza is taking excellent care of them."

Aron's breath caught in his throat. Goroza was Mortos' chief torturer, a sadist born and bred who saw bodies as nothing more than stages on which to conduct his next symphony of pain and anguish.

"You really are a heartless monster…"

Mortos gave Saika a cryptic smile and stood up, beginning to pace the floor.

"Do you want to hear a story?" he asked, and Saika stopped straining against the ropes as they began to bite into his wrists.

"What the hell are you blabbering about?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes.' Now, where to start, where to start… I guess the beginning is as good a place as any. But first, there's someone I want you to meet." Mortos looked over towards the door.

"Enter!"

Aron's eyes swiveled towards the door and froze, waiting for whatever horror his former Lord was about to unleash upon him. When he saw a huge, black wolf with molten orange eyes pad into the room, he gasped in shock.

"Akumora?!"

Mortos laughed loudly as the wolf walked over to him and sat, growling contently as the Baron stroked it behind the ear.

"Yes, this is Akumora; your zanpakuto, your power. Or, more correctly, this is my power."

"What?"

"I see that you are confused. No matter, the explanation will come in time. Now, I will begin my tale."

"I'm impressed by you humans," Goroza crowed as he carved another line down Ichigo's back. "Usually, your kind would be screaming and begging for mercy by now."

"I'm not about to give a sick bastard like you that kind of satisfaction," Ichigo shot back, although in truth he was inches away from the breaking point.

"I see. Well, if physical pain won't do the trick, I guess I'll have to try cracking you open psychologically. I hear, Ichigo Kurosaki, that you are most enamored with the prince Callos' new bride, Rukia Kuchiki. Is that right?"

"She'll never marry that son of a bitch, not while I'm still alive."

"Give it time, Kurosaki. Death comes for us all; in your case, a bit more swiftly than normal, but I'm not going to kill you before I've had my fun. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, Rukia Kuchiki. Did you know, young Ichigo, that the prince plans on claiming his rights as her husband today?"

Ichigo's eyes shot wide open and Goroza, seeing his opening, exploited it mercilessly. The physical pain of the blade digging into his flesh, combined with the mental pain of knowing that Rukia was in grave danger and there was nothing he could do about it, brought a howl of pain and rage bursting out of his throat.

"Ahh, there it is!" Goroza said, smiling wickedly as Ichigo went lax, the strength of the rope keeping him from tumbling to the ground.

"You demon…" Renji growled, furious at seeing his friend broken so cruelly. Goroza looked over at the red-haired Soul Reaper and chuckled.

"Was that supposed to be an insult? If so, that was pathetic. Wait your turn, Abarai Renji. I'll get to you as soon as I'm done carving pieces off of these traitors."

"You'd better be sure to kill me now, you sadistic coward," Grimmjow spat like a rabid lion, "or I swear by all of the Gods I'll make you suffer agony you couldn't even dream of."

The torturer laughed manically, brandishing a hooked cleaver.

"I love the fiery ones," he said. "They always make for the most interesting music!"

"Did you know that your mother was barren, Saika?"

"Barren?"

"She was physically incapable of bearing children. She never told you that, did she?"

Saika raised an eyebrow at that.

"That makes no sense, Mortos. If she was barren, how was I born?"

Mortos leaned forward, a gleam in his eye.

"That's where it gets interesting, boy! You see, dear Kasumi was so desperate for a child that she was willing to make a deal with whoever it took, be they human or… otherwise."

Aron's arms tensed reflexively, coaxing more blood from his wrists.

"No…"

Mortos clapped his hands.

"Ah, I see he's figured it out. Can you guess whom it was who approached your poor mother at the bottom of her despair, offering a way out, a helping hand gleaming in the darkness? Hmmm? I want to hear you say it, boy!"

Saika felt like a black chasm was opening at his feet, ready to swallow him as soon as he opened his mouth and spoke.

"You."

"Exactly right! But it gets better than that. You see, I offered her a child on the condition that its soul would belong to me. Foolish Kasumi was blinded by her desire and agreed, not realizing that she had just damned her beloved child to an eternity of servitude at my side. Your story doesn't end there, however. I was in need of a new Prince to lead my legions, and I had done extensive research on all possible carriers for my next scion. Your mother, as fate would have it, carried spiritual energy that was most receptive to bonding successfully with demonic energies. The only thing she was lacking was a catalyst, something that was oh-so-easy for me to provide. Which brings us, at last, to your zanpakuto: Akumora. Saika, Akumora was, and has always been, the manifestation of the powers I vested within you at conception. He is my power, as he is yours. From father, to son."

"That's not possible… my father was—"

"Ryu Aron? Don't be ridiculous. Why do you think he treated you so badly those few years he knew you? Every time he looked into those eyes, he saw someone other than him staring back and laughing. Why do you think you attained the power you did so quickly? Did you honestly think you were that gifted? What astonishing arrogance! Everything you were in the Human World, and everything you are now, is all thanks to my power. Without me, my son, you are nothing."

It was such a draining task that he nearly passed out, but Saika managed to keep his voice level as he replied.

"So what happens now, Mortos?"

The Baron laughed.

"Stubborn to the end, eh, kid? You know, I always did favor you over Callos, even though he was much older than you. You have much strength in you, and a tremendous well of anger pulsing just under the surface. Demonic strength tempered with the control of a Soul Reaper's power over raw spiritual energy… truly, you are my finest creation."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Quite right. I had such high hopes for you, Saika, and you went and stabbed me in the back for the sake of a Soul Reaper. If I had a heart, it would be bleeding right now. Fact of the matter is, I just can't let a crime like treason go unpunished, even if you are flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. But rather than send you out back to get butchered like your two dogs, I've decided to compromise. I'm going to strip you of the power I gave you, and leave you to rot here in this dungeon. Akumora, would you be so kind as to do the honors?"

The wolf bared his fangs, saliva dripping from his maw.

"Of course, my Lord."

The ropes were lowered until Saika's feet touched the ground, and Akumora paced forward, mouth opening hungrily.

"Akumora… don't do this. I command you not to strike!"

If wolves could grin, Akumora did just that.

"I don't take orders from traitors, child. Be thankful that you will yet live, and cease your meaningless pleas."

With that, the demon wolf bared his fangs and struck.

Rukia woke up feeling better than she had in quite some time, until she remembered where she was and her heart sunk.

"Why the long face, cutie?"

Expecting to be greeted by Arina's kind voice, Rukia's heart was shocked back to life by the icily venomous tone that spoke to her. Turning hesitantly, Kuchiki found herself staring into the eyes of her alleged husband-to-be, Prince Callos. Steeling herself as best she could, the princess of the Kuchiki spoke.

"What do you want, you bastard?"

"Ooh, feisty! I like that in a whore; it makes it so much more enjoyable. Tell me, are you ready to truly become my wife, Rukia Kuchiki?"

Rukia's blood froze at the implication, but she tried to stall for time. Ichigo…help…

"I don't know what you mean, demon."

Callos disappeared and was directly in front of Rukia a moment later, grabbing her neck and forcing her back down onto the bed.

"Don't play coy with me, woman," he hissed. "You know exactly what I mean."

As he sunk down to kiss her, Rukia jacked her reiatsu up to the maximum and let loose. Callos, who wasn't expecting to be hit by a captain-level surge of energy, flew backwards off of the bed and slammed into the wall. He was back on his feet in moments, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes and an equally disturbing smile on his face.

"So that's how it's gonna be, eh, Kuchiki? In that case, I might have to bring out the big guns. You might be able to bring yourself to strike at me now, but what about…

"Now?"

Rukia gasped in shock as the figure before her changed from Callos to a much more familiar face, with a much more familiar smile.

It was Kaien Shiba.

But before she was pulled into the illusion completely, the memories of her fight against the Ninth Espada flashed through her head and she snarled, her eyes furious slits.

"I won't allow anyone to disgrace his memory ever again! Hado number 4: Byakurai!"

Instead of the normal bolt that emerged from her fingertip when she uttered the spell, this time a blast of white, searing ball lighting erupted from her hand. It arced forward with deadly precision and strength, slamming into Callos' chest and electrocuting him. As a cloud of smoke rose up from the impact, Rukia looked around fervently for her zanpakuto and saw it leaning against the table Callos had been sitting at. She flash-stepped over, grabbed it and returned to her previous position, waiting for the smoke to clear so that she could strike.

Yoruichi woke up from her nap with an ill feeling n the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Deciding to go with her best guess, she rummaged through the junk in her room until she found a very particular box, one sealed with fifteen different kido spells that she hadn't opened since the day Saika had been taken from her. After she'd taken down every seal, Yoruichi opened the chest with slightly shaking hands and looked down at the only thing occupying it, a sword encased in an elegant black sheath.

Saika Aron's zanpakuto.

As she gripped the hilt and made to pull out the sword, Yoruichi gasped and dropped the zanpakuto.

Or what was left of it, anyway.

The hilt and sheath remained, but the Shihoin princess saw with horror that the blade itself had crumbled to dust.

"Saika…."

"You… bastard…"

"Now, now, Saika. Is that any way to speak to your father?"

"Fuck you!"

"Hold your tongue, boy, or I might just tell Akumora to sever your jugular along with your demonic powers. Speaking of which, are you done yet, Akumora?"

The wolf released its clamped jaws, backing up a few paces as it licked the blood from its teeth.

"Yes, master."

"Excellent. Well, Saika, I certainly enjoyed this little chat. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you, but right now I have a few things to attend to. It seems you aren't the only traitor trying to stab me in the back right now," he finished, drawing a gleaming crystal from the folds of his robes before vanishing, along with Akumora.

"Damn you…" Saika whispered, feeling completely and utterly impotent as the darkness rushed up to carry him off.

"Is that all you got?" Grimmjow spat. "I still have all four limbs, you pansy!"

Goroza huffed, wiping the blade clean of blood and catching his breath.

"I have to admit, dog, your iron skin is quite impressive. No doubt much stronger than a typical arrancar, since I assume Saika strengthened you with demonic energies."

"Something like that," Jaegerjaques said with an animalistic grin. "You must have noticed that we no longer bear the marks of our numbers, fool. We're so far beyond the limits of the Espada it'd make your head spin, you jackass."

Goroza smirked, hefting his blade once again.

"Then let's see where your limits lie now, shall we?"

"Wake up, Prince Saika."

The orange-eyed warrior replied without even opening his eyes.

"Don't call me that, whoever you are. I'm no prince."

"But you are," the voice insisted, "and until you accept both who and what you are, you will never have the power to strike down your father and end his reign of terror."

"So then tell me, mysterious stranger," Saika said as he opened his eyes, "what am I?"

Aron found himself in Seireitei, specifically on the rooftop of the 2nd Division's headquarters under a starry sky, a full moon glowing brightly.

"Actually, scratch that. Where am I?"

"In your spirit world, Saika. It reflects the most tranquil facet of your soul, and in this case that happens to be the memories associated with this place."

Saika turned to behold the speaker, who was about the same height as him and also shared his orange eyes, but these were a few shades darker and much more volatile. His hair was black as well, but it hung down to just past his shoulders, untamed, and his canine teeth were a bit longer than normal.

"Who are you?"

The figure laughed.

"What a stupid question. I'm your inner-demon, kid."

"My… what? No, you must be joking—Mortos just drew his power out of me."

The figure smiled wolfishly.

"True, our father did strip you of an immense amount of power, but he didn't completely eradicate it."

"Why not?"

"You honestly think that he controlled every single bit of demonic power within you? All power adapts and evolves over time, becoming intertwined with the soul. He still held sway over a great deal of your power, true, but a portion of it you took and made completely your own. I am that power, Saika."

Aron shook his head.

"Forget it. I'll talk to my zanpakuto's spirit instead, thank you."

The figure laughed harshly, sending a shiver up Saika's spine.

"Your zanpakuto? You mean that treacherous bastard of a wolf? Your zanpakuto as you knew it is dust now, Saika. And before you even say it, half a soul isn't enough to manifest a pure zanpakuto, even if your Soul Reaper side is particularly strong."

"Then why are you here, and my other half isn't?"

"I beat it into submission and took its power," the figure said with another grin. Aron sighed.

"Wonderful. So, what's your name?"

The figure shook his head.

"Not so fast, kid. If I tell you that, you'll try to start ordering me around, and I'll be damned before I let someone who isn't worthy of my strength fight with it."

"But… we are damned."

The figure growled.

"That's beside the point, smartass. Now, show me your strength!"

Saika's 'evil twin,' as he chose to call him, drew a sword and pointed it at Aron. Saika reached to his waist and found a sword waiting, which he drew with a satisfying ring.

"Shall we?"

Aizen was musing over the five different ways he could possibly kill Mortos and trying to decide which one he liked the most when a deceptively calm voice broke him out of his reverie.

"If I were you, I would go with Hado number 99. None of the other plans would come even close to killing me."

Sosuke spun around to face Lord Mortos, a sweat springing up on the back of his neck.

"You pathetic humans are all the same," Mortos sneered, walking closer to Aizen. "Always thinking about the way to acquire the most power, but never accounting for every possible occurrence. Blinded by your desire, you focus solely on the end and never on the means. Did you honestly think I'd be blind to such base and obvious perfidy? That will be your last and greatest mistake, Sosuke Aizen."

Before the former captain could even react, Mortos appeared in front of him and shoved the crystal into his chest, where it began to pulse and glow with energy. Aizen tried to move but found himself paralyzed.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Relax, scum. You're not going to die, I'm simply draining all of your reiatsu into this crystal, permanently. When I'm finished, you'll be a human, nice and harmless and docile. Perfect fodder for target practice."

Yanking out the crystal and walking away with a spring in his step, Mortos began to laugh as he heard Aizen fall to his knees and scream in despair.

"Rot, traitor."

Rukia's grip on Sode no Shirayuki tensed as the smoke cleared, but what she saw almost made her drop her sword in fright. Callos had taken on Ichigo's form, which now had a bloody, smoking hole in the middle of it. Collapsing to his knees, 'Ichigo' coughed up blood.

"Rukia… how could you? I thought you loved me…"

As much as she knew that this wasn't Ichigo, Rukia couldn't help but feel pain at the sight of her beloved torn to shreds. It was irrational and she knew it, but right now her heart wasn't exactly the most rational thing in the world.

Damn it, Rukia, pull yourself together! Kill him!

Sode no Shirayuki's insistent tone shocked Rukia out of her thoughts, and she gripped her zanpakuto harder.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki! Hakuren!"

The concentrated crescent of ice cut Callos in half along a diagonal, but the demon prince wasn't about to go down that easily. Holding himself together with his arms, he boosted his reiatsu until the strength of his spiritual energy had closed up his wounds, and then he lowered it again, smiling and assuming his original shape.

"You are a piece of work, bitch," Callos said, "I'll give you that much. But no matter how much you fight, you can't beat me. I'll bend you, break you and own you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

With that he lunged forward, knocking Rukia's zanpakuto away and throwing her onto the bed, pouncing on top of her hungrily. Tracing his fingers over her neck, a grin grew on his face.

"Your blood is boiling! Excellent, truly excellent; and you're still a maiden? Well," he said, chuckling, "let's see if we can do something about that, shall we?"

Rukia's eyes widened in terror and her mind screamed in rage, but she was as hopeless as a snared fox. Bracing herself for the inevitable searing pain, she closed her eyes and a tear escaped them.

Ichigo, I'm so sorry…

"Callos! Get off the Kuchiki woman and stand at attention!"

The demonic voice would have normally scared Rukia senseless, but given her current crisis Mortos' words were the sweetest things she had ever heard; minus the insult, of course. With a frustrated growl the prince got up and made himself presentable, turning to face his father.

"To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure, father?" he said, bowing.

"Stop with the formalities and shut up, brat. I have a job for you," Mortos snapped, holding out the pulsating crystal.

"What's this?"

"This gem now holds approximately one-fifth of Sosuke Aizen's reiatsu. I'm giving it to you as a weapon to use on your mission, Callos."

Taking it greedily, the prince absorbed the power and sighed.

"What happened to the other four-fifths, father?"

"I gave one each to the Four Horsemen. I didn't want you to implode under the weight of reiatsu you couldn't control, after all. As for your mission, you are to take the Four Horsemen and five legions to the Human World, and then through to Soul Society. Bring the suffering and darkness of this place to their doorstep, and prepare it for my arrival."

Callos bowed, handing the empty crystal back to his father.

"At once, my Lord." Just as he was making to leave, however, the prince glanced back and saw Rukia.

"What should I do with the harlot, father?"

Mortos looked into Rukia's eyes and shrugged.

"Kill her, I don't care. I have chosen an heir, which makes her existence pointless. Besides, it would be an act of mercy to end her life, seeing as how her lover and her other friend are certainly dead by now."

The implications of Mortos having chosen an heir flew right over Callos' head as he smiled wickedly, walking over to Rukia's zanpakuto, picking it up and swinging it around to get the feel for its weight. Rukia felt sick at the handling of Sode no Shirayuki, as if someone was reaching inside the core of her being and befouling her soul directly.

"Such a shame," Callos said as he picked Rukia up by the neck and held her against the wall with one hand.

"I could have had so much fun with you."

Without another word, the prince pierced Rukia's midsection with a single thrust, pinning her to the wall like a bug and breaking the hilt off of the blade, stranding her. Snorting in contempt, Callos flash-stepped away and left Rukia to die, with Mortos following shortly after.

As her eyes fluttered closed, the last things Rukia saw and heard were a pair of blue eyes rushing towards her, and a soft voice calling out unintelligible words.

"I get the feeling you don't like me very much, brother."

"No kidding. And stop calling me brother, you demon!"

"Takes one to know one, Saika. Just a hint, the more you deny who you are, the further you are from harnessing your true potential."

"But I'm not like you. And that piece of shit is not my father, no matter what he says," Saika shouted, letting loose with another flurry of strikes that his 'evil twin' dodged with ease.

"Search your feelings, Saika. You know it to be true."

Aron stopped fighting for a moment, their blades deadlocked.

"Did you seriously just say that?"

The 'evil twin' grinned.

"Sorry," he said, "I couldn't help myself. But I'd be more worried about you leaving yourself open, brother!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"That's not a very nice thing to say about our mother, Saika," the 'evil twin' admonished as he landed a blow to Aron's side, sending him reeling.

"We don't even have to be fighting like this, if you don't want to," the 'evil twin' said. "Just admit that I'm superior to you and let me take the driver's seat instead. I'll get us out of this crisis in a flash."

"I don't think so, brother," Saika growled as he threw himself back into the fray, striking with renewed fervor.

"Hey, I think you're finally getting it. But I don't feel like hanging by these ropes forever, so if you don't mind," the 'evil twin' spoke, readying his blade,

"I'm going to finish this off right now, in one strike!"

Saika grinned.

"Just how I like it. Come on!"

"Damn, your blades must be getting soft. I can't feel anything anymore."

"That's probably because the nerves in your skin are all sliced up, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra opined dryly as Goroza continued to try and break the former Sixth Espada, determined not to stop until he had won.

"Naw, I think this guy just isn't as hot as he thinks he is. I mean, I can still talk, for God's sake. What does that say about his skill as a purveyor of pain, I ask you?"

"Shut up!" Goroza shouted, swinging his cleaver at Grimmjow's neck. The blade shattered, worn out from swing after swing. Jaegerjaques grinned.

"Jesus, this is getting pathetic."

Goroza snarled like an injured lion, throwing the useless hilt to the ground and picking up a fresh knife.

"Enough of you," the torturer said, turning his gaze to Renji. "Clearly, I need to warm up some more on human flesh."

"Who says I'm a human, bastard?" Renji said with a smirk, putting up a strong front while he steeled himself for whatever pain he might encounter. Ichigo, meanwhile, had woken back up and was trying to break free from the ropes that bound him with all of his might. Grimmjow looked over and spoke.

"Kurosaki, don't waste your strength. You keep at that and you'll bleed out for sure. Trust me, I know how tenacious your woman is, and she'd probably die before she let Callos dishonor her."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ichigo said tersely, grimacing as Goroza started working on Renji.

If you're anywhere nearby, Saika, he thought, now would be a great time to show up.

Callos reviewed the battle lines, noting the sheer number of soldiers with satisfaction. The Four Horsemen stood at the head of the group, fearsome warriors and Hell's elite soldiers. Death carried a yari, while Famine wielded a classical spear. Pestilence chose a bow, while War brandished a double-bladed sword. Together, they were an unstoppable force of carnage.

"My fellow warriors," Callos called out, "now is the time to unfurl the mighty standard of our Lord, Mortos, and march it right to the center of the Seireitei! Soul Society will burn, and from its ashes will rise a new kingdom, one remade in my father's image. So march with me now, and march onward to a new dawn!"

A massive roar erupted from the mass of demonic soldiers and each of the Horsemen took a legion, with Callos commanding the fifth as they marched through the open gate into the Human World, and from there they would enter Soul Society for the first and final time.

The two combatants stood apart from each other now, their last-ditch strikes carried through. The 'evil twin' sunk to his knees, exhausted, while Saika remained on his feet, albeit shaking like a leaf.

"Well, shit," the 'evil twin' said at length, "we're both screwed now. You won't accept my power, and now we're both too weak to break out of here on our own."

Saika walked over to his opponent and knelt, looking him right in the eyes.

"I never said I wouldn't accept your power," he replied, "I said I wouldn't let you control me. Do you yield, brother?"

The 'evil twin' smiled wearily, nodding.

"I yield, Saika. Let us be one once more."

Aron put his hand on the figure's shoulder and watched as it dissipated into spirit particles, flowing into Saika's own reiatsu and filling in the gap left there by Akumora's theft. The whole of his Spirit World pulsed with new life and energy, rejoicing at the reunion. Searching his soul, Saika found the name of his new power and smiled.

You ready? His spirit asked him, and Aron just grinned.

Shifting his attention back to the corporeal world, Saika opened his eyes and looked down and noticed with satisfaction that a sword now hung at his hip, with black hilt-wrappings and a white sheath. Even though he couldn't hold his sword, that wouldn't stop him from unleashing its power.

"Rise, Oujiscuro."

A burst of reiatsu emanated from the battered Prince, and when it faded Saika was standing on the ground, the ropes nothing but ashes. Aron's eyes had become a few shades darker and more molten and his canine teeth and gotten a touch longer, but his hair remained the same short length despite his transformation. Black robes replaced his tattered prisoner garb, offering much-needed protection. After taking a moment to revel in the power that coursed anew through his veins, Aron blew the door away with a blast of dark energy and charged through the opening, hoping that he wasn't too late to save his friends.

Rukia opened her eyes slowly, afraid that if she focused too hard the frail fantasy would shatter and she would realize she was dead.

"Please stay still, Lady Rukia," Arina insisted, keeping her in place gently but firmly. "I only just managed to staunch the bleeding, and if you move too much now you might reopen the wound."

"Arina…?"

"Yes, it's me, Lady Rukia. I managed to get in here as soon as Lord Mortos and Prince Callos left, but it took some effort to pry your zanpakuto off of the wall and then remove it from you without you dying. You have a very tough soul, Lady Rukia."

Rukia noticed that Arina's hands were bandaged and bloody, no doubt from having to extricate Sode no Shirayuki from the wall. Guilt surged through her and she apologized.

"Arina, I'm sorry you have to do all of this on my account."

The girl looked down at her patient and smiled.

"Don't worry about it, Lady Rukia," she insisted. "Keeping you safe is my job, after all. There we go, all done. I'd say you should be right as rain in about two or three days."

"It'll really take that long?"

"Well, your soul is damaged as well as your body. When neither one can help the other heal, the process takes much longer than normal, as I'm sure you can understand. Besides, Prince Callos has left on a military expedition, so he won't be bothering you for quite some time."

"A… military expedition? Where to?"

Rukia had heard where Callos was going earlier, but the combined shock of her near-assault and being stabbed by her own zanpakuto had scrambled her memory.

"Nowhere important, really," Arina lied, knowing that the last thing Rukia needed right now was to be agitated. "You just get your rest, Lady Rukia. You need it, trust me."

She smiled wearily as Rukia drifted off to sleep, noticing that her broken zanpakuto was throbbing angrily at her.

"Don't look at me like that!" she whispered harshly. "You and I both know she needs her rest, so calm down." Sode no Shirayuki stopped pulsing so insistently, but there was still a thrumming undercurrent of anger present. Rukia, on the other hand, was dreaming peacefully of a certain orange-haired Soul Reaper, and fervently hoping for his safe return to her side.

Goroza was about to start up another round on Renji when he felt a call coming from Lord Mortos himself through a reiatsu bridge, and he opened himself up to it.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I have no need for these worthless pigs, Goroza; they will not tell me anything I don't already know. Kill them now, and grind their corpses to dust."

Goroza closed the connection and smiled wide, glad that he could now finally cut to kill.

"Well, boys, the order just came down that I get to start slicing to kill. Which means that Callos has begun his invasion of Soul Society, and the information you possess is no longer needed."

"What?!" Ichigo and Renji both shouted despite their pain, stunned by the news.

"Yes, soon Soul Society and your precious Seireitei will be nothing more than a pile of rubble for Lord Mortos to use as the foundation for his next great empire! Let that image be the last that floats in your minds as you perish under my blades in the most exquisite agony!"

Just as the torturer swung his blade downwards towards Ichigo's neck, the cleaver froze in mid-arc and dropped with a clatter, while Goroza looked down in shock to see a katana piercing his chest.

"Really, Goroza," a sharp, mocking voice spoke out from behind him, "could you have said anything more clichéd?"

The blade was withdrawn from the wound in the torturer's chest and he slumped forward before falling to the ground completely, dead. Grimmjow blinked a few times, barely recognizing the warrior who stood before them now.

"Boss?" he asked, incredulous. "Is that you?"

Saika smiled and resealed his demonic half, returning to his normal appearance.

"Yeah, Grimmjow, it's me."

"But then what the hell was that thing just now?"

Aron sighed, the sudden burst of untrained power taking a toll on him. He was going to have to work on that.

"It's a long story," he said. "Let's just say that it turns out Mortos is my father and leave it at that for now."

Ulquiorra and Grimmjow were visibly surprised by the news, but Ichigo and Renji just looked confused.

"Who's this Mortos guy?"

Saika frowned; this was one conversation he didn't want to have right now.

"Look, that doesn't matter. Do you want to save Rukia or not?"

At the mention of their friend's name, Ichigo and Renji both promptly abandoned their curiosity and got into an argument over which one of them wanted to save Rukia the most. Saika groaned as he cut the two former Espada loose.

"They really are hopeless, huh?"

"When it comes to that chick," Grimmjow said, "you bet'cher ass."

A few moments later all four of the captives were cut loose, but Renji and Ichigo were in pretty rough shape. Still, they insisted they could push on to the armory and Saika saw that there was no dissuading them.

"All right, let's get going. I'll take point," Saika spoke. "Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, you two flank me. Ichigo and Renji, well… just try not to die."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I think Aron-sama is putting far too much stock in their abilities," Ulquiorra said, and Ichigo would have strangled him had he not been on their side.

"Nice one," Grimmjow said, smirking at the murderous look on the carrot-top's face.

"All right, enough screwing around. Let's go."

The five of them met with minimal resistance at the armory as well as on the way up to Callos' manor, but that changed once they actually breached the doors of the building. A group of twenty guards rushed out to stop them, and Grimmjow grinned.

"Looks like we might have some fun after all, Boss."

Saika smirked as he drew his sword, Oujiscuro crying out for blood.

"Just try not to make too big of a mess, Grimmjow."

Ichigo phased right into his bankai and proceeded to carve through the soldiers like butter, with Renji not that far behind him.

"Why do you think we're running into resistance now when almost no one was at the armory?"

"This is probably a private group of soldiers," Ichigo answered as he took down yet another one, "and my guess is that the ones guarding the armory were enlisted grunts who're mostly on their way to Soul Society."

A few frantic moments later and all of the enemies were down. Exulting in their victory for a moment, the five warriors pressed on up the stairs and spread out, trying to find Rukia as quickly as they could. As fate would have it, Ichigo happened upon her chamber, and when he saw her prone, bandaged figure he wasted no time in running over to her side.

"Rukia!"

"Shh! She's sleeping, you big oaf!" Arina hissed, but it was too late as Rukia's eyes opened slowly and she yawned.

"Who's there?" she said sleepily, before her vision cleared and she saw a pair of wonderfully familiar brown eyes looking down at her.

"Ichigo?" she asked slowly, assuming she was dreaming. Then, when she realized it was real as the feel of his fingers on her cheek shocked Rukia out of her lethargy, she smiled.

"Ichigo…" she sighed contently, before slipping back into slumber. The orange-haired Soul Reaper looked over the extent of her injury and frowned, wanting to enact terrible suffering upon the person who had scarred Rukia so badly.

"It was Prince Callos," Arina said as she changed the bandages on Rukia's wound.

"Stabbed her with her own zanpakuto. It's a nasty wound, but it should heal all right in time. It helps that her heart isn't broken anymore."

"Where is that bastard?"

"If you want revenge, he's on his way to Soul Society as we speak. But I promise you it won't be easy; he has a horde of troops at his command, not to mention the Four Horsemen."

"I don't care what he throws at me," Ichigo growled, the voice of his Hollow coming through in his rage, "I'm going to rip his head off."

"I believe you, sir," Arina said with more than a hint of fear in her voice, "but the fact of the matter is that a battlefield is no place for Rukia right now. She needs medical attention, not combat."

"Then I'll bring her to the Fourth Division," Ichigo insisted, gazing down at Rukia's sleeping face. "I'm not going to leave here without her, not after everything we've had to do to get here."

"So be it, Ichigo sir," Arina said warily, "but if her wound open up and she bleeds out on the way, don't come crying to me."

"She'll be fine," Ichigo insisted, picking up her small form and cradling it in his arms like she was made of glass. The other four warriors appeared at the door, faces frantic.

"Ichigo, we gotta get out of here!" Renji shouted. "They're sending almost every soldier they have left after us!"

Saika shared a glance with his two captains and turned to Ichigo and Renji, drawing his sword.

"I'm going to open a way for you into the Human World," he said. "The three of us will buy you time to escape. You need to get to Soul Society as quickly as you can and warn them of the invasion. Go, now! We'll come support you as soon as we can!"

The two Soul Reapers nodded to each other and ran through the rift Aron made as soon as it opened, while Grimmjow, Ulquiorra and Saika ran back out into the main courtyard to face their enemies. Drawing their swords, the three comrades readied themselves for a fight to the death.

"Did we make it?" Renji asked breathlessly as the three friends crossed through the second gate into Soul Society, thankfully without running into any Cleaners.

"Yeah," Ichigo said as he looked towards the Seireitei in the distance, "but I think we might be too late."

Renji followed Ichigo's gaze and saw with dismay that a huge host was marching closer and closer to the Seireitei, burning and looting everything in their path. They could almost hear Callos' shrill laughter ringing in their ears as they hurried towards the walled city, hoping that they could at least get Rukia to safety before the battle began.

Author's Note: Man, that took much longer to write than expected. Writer's block strikes without mercy, it seems, and revisions take longer than anticipated. Sorry if there wasn't enough action, but I figured that the weight of the plot revealed in this chapter makes up for it, along with the fact that it sets up an action-packed Chapter 9! Hope you enjoyed it, and as usual, please review, it really helps me to keep on going in the face of a torrential downpour of work.