I looked at her blankly for a long moment, trying to process all that she had just told me, but my mind didn't like to waste time with those twisty ways of motivations and plots and plans within plans so I just filed it all away to think about later.
Nevermind for now the part about Heartsblood Diamonds and harvesting power from abandoned Realms, forget even that he planned to use them to buy off the Shadows and create himself and even more powerful army. Here was what mattered... Aizen was going to use innocent quincy kids to create the spirit/magic equivalent of a reverse atomic bomb, during the process he would destroy all of my friends (and not-so-coincidentally half of Seireitei's fighting force) when he unleashed the array in Hueco Mundo. Yoruichi, Isana and I were the only ones with both the information and the means to stop him.
"I don't know about all the rest o' that," I said, shaking my head. "But I do know that if those Quincy kids are all in Hueco Mundo, then that's where we need to be 'cause I promised the little missy here that I'd get her kid back so I can finally get this little monkey off my back."
I gestured pointedly to the collar she had bound around me.
"An' interuptin' Aizen's little evil plot sounds like a nice way ta pay him back fer inadvertently turnin' me mortal, the asshole. Besides, if I know the former fifth squad captain, he's probably already at least lured that Ishida-brat in with promises of more of his own kind there and where Quincy-boy goes, the Strawberry can't be too far behind (trouble-magnet that he is) and if he's going then Rukia will be there too since she's supposed to be keepin' an eye on him. And where those kids are the Vizards will probably show up..."
I grinned a little as an unexpectedly funny thought occurred to me.
"It's like that song! The farmer in the dell who grabs his wife who then grabs their child who grabs the dog who grabs the cow and so on until they grab the rat or whatever."
Yoruichi looked momentarily amused by my observation and the tension from the news-bomb she'd just dropped on all of us dissipated a little bit.
"So we're going to this Huko Muddy place to get my son back?" Isana asked impatiently.
"Hueco Mundo," I corrected absently."Aizen's laid his trap there, so that's where yer kid'll be."
"The array to create Heartsblood Diamonds relies on the Quincy's ability to harvest reishin particles," Yoruichi reminded her.
"I don't really get everything you just said," Isana said flatly. "All I care about is getting my son back. Whether he's in Hueco Mundo, or Hell itself, that's where we're going."
"As usual, I'm glad you're all fired up missy," I said. "But I'm not so certain it would be such a good idea for you to come along on this one. If Aizen's making his move then that means that he's going to have all of his heavy-hitters out in the feild. Last time it was the Espada and we all had a hard enough time with his initial push, if he's got his higher-level Shadows making their big debut then-"
I realized, by that determined look she got on her face, that my argument was falling on deaf ears. I knew that look. It was the same look that Hinamori had gotten on her face back during that fateful day-trip in the Academy when she decided that it was absolutely necessary that she not run away like everyone was doing and had been ordered to do, and that she should turn around and run right into danger just because it was necessary thing to do... thus dragging Kira and I right along with her instead of sensibly following orders. The little Missy was not going to listen to my sensible recommendation that she, a civilian and non-combatant, not rush headlong into danger. Oh no, she was going and I could either lead, follow, or get the hell out of her way.
I sighed and decided against wasting my breath and said
"Yer set on goin' anyway aintcha?"
She nodded with a look on her face that said 'of course I'm going, you expected otherwise?'
I sighed again, this woman was gonna be the death of me.
"You do realize that the place we'll be going will be crawling with Hollows don't you? Big, scary, mean shagnasties that like to eat human souls for dinner."
"Well you're a big, bad, tough Soul Reaper Lieutenant aren't you?" she replied. "What else do you think I keep you around for?"
"Comic relief?" Yoruichi suggested.
I replied with a glare and said
"I'm serious here. You've had it pretty easy, the Reams we've been hopscotching across have been mostly uninhabited, and you haven't had to do a lot of fighting, but if you come along to this place we'll probably have to fight our way to where your son is through a lot of nasties that want to eat you. Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"I'm going," Isana said firmly.
I will admit that a selfish part of me was a little glad she was so determined; I missed my friends and my proper life, and I wanted to be able to warn them about the Shadows and help to fight them. If I'd left them alone when I knew it was all a trap I'd have felt like I was abandoning them in the middle of a fight, and that was something I didn't think I could live with. It was just my good luck that Isana was so set on going because it meant that I was, by default, I was going to go with her.
"So what, we just make it to the array and...?" I shot a questioning look at Yoruichi, who was currently the one with all of the information about the array and Aizen's big plan.
Yoruichi sketched a ten-sided polygon on the ground and put a circle of five stones at each of the ten major points and a larger stone in the center of the diagram, with lines of power leading out to each point.
Isana and I both leaned down and studied the diagram intently as she placed a small stick in the center of each of the five stones at the ten points and said
"The array looks roughly like this. The stone in the center is an actual Heartsblood Diamond, think of it like a master copy, a blueprint piece for what all of the other manufacted stones are going to look like."
She pointed to the ten points around the perimeter (each of which circled by five pebbles.
"Each of these points represents one Quincy, the five pebbles are the stones they'll be used to create. Each child will be taking in the power that will be released from the center stone, that's most of the power that the Shadows have been harvesting from different worlds stored in it, and then channeling it into the spell that will turn an ordinary diamond into a heartsblood diamond. The spell to do so will kill them, by the way."
Isana gasped and shot to her feet, I grabbed her arm and sat her back down.
"Shut up and listen," I told her.
Yoruichi turned back to the diagram.
"Once the power is released and the spells are anchored in the stones, the gateways in the manufacted stones will be flung wide open. When that happens they will begin collecting energy from anything nearby that has it, much the same way that a Quincy with his powers fully unleashed can collect and channel reishin. It will be the spiritual equivalent of a nuclear explosion, a wave of negative force will blow outward from the circle like a hot wind, sucking in all available spiritual energy like a massive black hole, Soul Reapers, Arrancars, humans, perhaps even Hueco Mundo itself if it is destabilized enough by the presence of the spell."
"In other words, everyone in the area dies," I said.
"To put it bluntly," Yoruichi replied. "The stones require an initial tithe of power in order for the spell array to transform them into Heartsblood Diamonds. That tithe of power in this case will be taken from the spiritual powers of every being present in that world when the spell goes off."
I looked at the basic spell array laid out before me. Everything seemed like it focused around that master-copy diamond in the center, so the answer for what to do seemed simple enough for me.
"So we just gotta smash that stone right?" I said, cracking my knuckles.
"Fool," Yoruichi replied flatly. "Even if you turned the master stone to dust, the spell that maintains it exists in every part of it."
"Meaning?" I demanded.
"Meaning you could grind the stone to powder but the spell itself would remain!" Yoruichi snapped in exasperation. "What we must do is contain that spell so that it cannot be released to make copies of itself and kill the Quincy children."
Yoruichi looked pointedly at Isana.
"That's where this one comes in. Isana can use that handy little spell of hers to seal the stone, the energy that will fuel the destructive spell will not be released to trigger the spell-array, and, provided we can get all of the children out from under the Shadows alive, everyone goes home happy... except Aizen and the Shadows of course."
"Hm," I nodded.
It sounded simple enough.
"Sound simple," I said.
"It is simple... except that, if my information is correct, and it is,"Yoruichi replied. "Aizen is going to have the whole of Hueco Mundo stirred up like a piranha-tank on feeding frenzy. Not only will there be the regular Hollows out, but all of the left over exequias, the few arrancars that have managed to keep from being destroyed, whatever Vasto Lordes he can throw out on the lines as well as the cannon-fodder Hollows and... he'll be pulling up the Menos Forest from under the ground. It's going to be a slaughter house. And if that isn't enough fun for you, the array itself will be guarded by five of the strongest Shadows he's managed to recruit to his cause so far."
I blinked, picturing it.
"Nii-ice," I said approvingly, my wide, sharp Eleventh-squad smile stretching its pleased way across my face.
I would have been so terribly disappointed to miss out on all of the fun.
"I'm not big on fancy strategies," I said.
"Isn't that the truth," Yoruichi replied with saccharine sweetness.
"Basic idea is that we just smash our way through the Hollows to the Array, have the missy seal up the stone, get all the kids out, an' we're home free, right?"
"Provided nothing goes wrong, of course," Yoruichi's tone betrayed the fact that she thought that particular scenario wasn't very likely.
"We're not getting any more prepared just sitting here," I said. "Time's a'wasting. Everyone here's on board fer this one. We have our mission and our marching orders, let's get this show on the road. Yoruchi you do whatever is is you do to prep for battle, missy you get over here so I can make sure you're armor's on right and tight."
She walked over and stood beside me while I checked the elven armor I'd got for her with business-like efficiency, making sure each peice was whole and fitted to her properly. Yoruichi transformed from her usual cat form and put on the full rig-out of ninja gear instead of just usual black jumper and steel-web reinforced top. The places and means she found to store and hide weapons of various sorts was... worth noting. She should have been bristling like a porcupine but it seemed that her usual sleek outline never changed despite the fact that she had two forearm holders with stars and knives and another set on upper arm bands, two short katanas crossed on her back, three long knives going down her thighs, garotes, explosives, and a pouch full of special caltrops belted at her waist and yet more weapons tucked into the tops of her boots.
"Where's your Zanpaktou?" I asked her, partly joking.
She had been a Soul Reaper once, and a captain at that, so she had to have one. You couldn't be a Soul Reaper without one.
Yoruichi just smiled her mysterious Mona Lisa smile (the one that all women seemed to have) back at me and said nothing.
"Fine don't answer me," I grumbled half-heartedly.
Even though i was now mortal and collared to serve the little missy, I was already ready for battle. Even if I didn't have my Shihakushou, I had Zabimaru and that was all I needed.
'Alright, yer armors on right. Put yer cloak on too, yer enemies'll have a harder time finding you if you should get knocked off Tanners back if you have something cloaking your reiatsu."
I turned to Isana, she looked anxious and afraid now. Good, she should be. I gave her standard rookie advice for before a battle.
"Keep your head low and your eyes sharp. I'll be protecting your flanks, all you have to do is keep moving forward as fast as you can. If you get knocked off Tanner's back you summon one of your Guardian Spirits, Djin or Shivna-vatu preferably, to help you fight, and keep moving. No matter what happens to me or anyone else around you, you're the key to beating this thing so don't hesitate even for a moment. Tear your way through the enemies if you have to."
"But... I'm scared," she said quietly.
It was finally starting to sink in that this wasn't going to be a leisurely stroll through a dead Realm, she was going to be entering an active battle zone.
"Well, you probably should be," I said frankly. "But don't let your fear stop you, use it to help you keep going forward. Don't worry, I'm going to be with you the whole way, keeping anything from getting too close to you."
"What if you get hurt?" she asked anxiously.
I heard the unspoken, 'who's going to protect me then?' I double-checked Tanner's saddle to make certain it was secure and that everything was stable and good to go. I lifted her up into it and handed her the helmet she so despised. She gave me an anxiously pouting look to try to break the tension before she put it on (without arguing with me for five minutes about it for once).
"That's what you have those Guardian Spirits and your own magic for. Use them and keep moving." I gave her a reassuring smile, the same one i gave to all of my rookies before I sent them out into the field. "You want to save your son right?"
She nodded.
"Then concentrate on that and don't think about anything else. Don't be so quick to give up on me yet when the battle hasn't even started," I said, injecting my voice with its usual boasting confidence. "I am a lieutenant after all."
"Excuse me, mister Lieutenant," she said with a wan sort of humor in her voice.
Pulled out Zabimaru and asked if he was ready to go.
::Snaketail will enter the battle in this case,:: Babs told me. ::We should keep my form in reserve. Besides, it will be easier to protect her on all sides with the greater reach of the snaketail. Use his enhanced speed. Bankai when you must.::
:Let's do this.: I said, nodding firmly.
"While you accompany Isana to the array, I will go and inform the Captain's in the field of the real situation," Yoruichi said.
"Make sure you tell the Brat Pack too, since they'll no doubt be there," I added. "You can't keep that boy out of trouble."
"I was going to anyway," Yoruichi said dryly. "I am the fastest at flash-step so running information and messenger duty is the logical first step for me. i know you'll both do your best. Renji, try not to do anything too stupid, Isana you have courage and strength, don't let them fail you. Your son is counting on you... as are we all."
"No pressure," she muttered.
"Let's get it started," I said brightly.
Alright, final interim chapter before IMHO one of the best chapters in the whole damn fic. Coming up on endgame, exciting stuff. Charging toward victory, lots of fighting. As usual I'd like to thank all of The Usual Suspects, my loyal reveiwers for all of their wonderful support. War 90 (whom I suspect must check his inbox every five minutes, watching like a hawk for a new chapter). Bloody roses (who is always so very enthusiastic at every good milestone and a wonderful reveiwer). Arienya (who manages to keep up on chapters despite crappy internet service poor dear and leaves such wonderful reveiws) AngelIre (I miss you...) tellie, .red., Oceanee (always delighted to hear from you). As for the lurkers/moochers you have these guys to thank for timely updates because I'm basically a lazy procrastinator. I hope to hear shout-outs from loyalists and lurkers alike on the next chapter, because it'll be intense.. like Dead Space.