As the stone passed into her mouth, Rukia struggled and made a noise of confusion, I pressed in until she accepted the gem from off my tongue and into her own mouth and then broke the kiss. It was an effort of will not to pant because all the while through that interminable kiss my body kept screaming at me, telling me this was Rukia, and trying to assert what it really wanted to be doing... getting the banquet instead of a taste. This whole charade was already pissing me off! I had really wanted ta do this properly, too.
It was strange and I hadn't been expecting it, but I definitely felt it when the stone left my possession. The moment my heartsblood diamond transferred into Rukia's mouth I felt a very strange, very subtle sort of not-quite-pressure. It wasn't like feeling the press of an alien or a familiar reiatsu against ones own, it was a little more like a resonance, my spirit was still separate from hers but there was a part of it suborned to hers as well. It was a little like the feeling of walking from a wide open room and into a smaller room, there are subtle differences in the air around you. In Rukia's case, it felt like someone had turned on the air-conditioning, but I guess that was to be expected considering the nature of her Zanpakutou.
She stared up at me with confusion (probably on a lot of different levels) and I kept her quiet with a look. She'd either get this next part or she wouldn't.
"Remember what I gave you, because it's the last part of me you'll get," I told her, looking hard at her and willing her to understand.
Rukia just stared blankly back at me, immobilized with surprise (or disgust, I wasn't sure which). I turned and walked to the spot that had formerly been taken up by Gin Ichimaru, the place that all Lieutenants assumed in acknowledgment of their captain's superior rank, a step behind and slightly to the right. It was a silent signal that I had given up the place at my supposedly former captain's side and chosen his. Aizen smirked a little in that way of his and summoned up a private Gate, creating his own spirit path cutting through the dark. Triumphant, he led his new acquisitions along it, Rukia of course struggled against the bonds placed around her, as did Orihime. Isana went along meekly enough, but after having traveled with her for such a time I could say that I knew her well enough to know it was an act, and that she, like the quieter of the two Kuchiki's behind me, was biding her time and waiting to act. Well good, we all were.
After what seemed and interminable journey down a long path made of Captain Aizen's ridiculously strong spiritual energy we stepped into the middle of a moving starpath and began to walk down it sedately. Of course he would have more than enough power to hold the damn thing open indefinitely. How the hell were we supposed ta fight a guy like him? His reiatsu was off the chart! Hell, it was probably making new charts all of its own and then breaking them.
:Still, if there's anyone in the world who could figure out how ta beat him, it'd be my captain,: I thought desperately hopeful.
The whole success of my plan hinged on the ability of Captain Kuchiki to be able to strategize a way out of this mess. I had the vague notion of using my freedom of movement when we got to wherever the hell Aizen's new lair was to look for the heartsblood diamond he had surely had made. Once we had that in hand, or at least knew where to find it, then we would have an advantage over him perhaps for the first time in the entire war. Kuchiki would know how to put that advantage to best use, he'd think of something because heaven knew I didn't have a clue what to do after I'd located the heartsblood diamond. Long term strategy was just not my strength. Yet another thing I'd have ta work on when i found the time (assuming I didn't end up gloriously dead trying to pull this stunt off). Short-term tactics were easy fer me, it shouldn't be too hard ta learn ta think in the long term. Maybe I'd have Kuchiki teach me how, after all this was over, he was my captain so that was sort of his job.
:First, we have ta get all this over with,: I thought and brought my mind back to business.
Knowing Aizen he'd probably lock them away in cells until figured to how best ta use them later, so they'd be safe enough for the short term. Short term was all I could think of right then. I'd know how to find Rukia, and so, presumably, the rest of the ladies, Aizen would most likely keep them together. Captain Kuchiki would probably be kept by himself, quarantined as it were, Aizen would judge him the most dangerous out of the lot of them simply because he was unarguably the cleverest. Rukia was pretty smart, but no-where near Aizen's level. The Kuchiki would be if he turned his mind to it. I was sort of counting on it taking Aizen a little time to regroup and get settled in after the massive failure of his heartsblood-diamond/Hueco Mundo venture. It'd take him at least a little bit of time to switch gears, even if he already had a back-up plan (and I didn't doubt that he did) and in that slice of time, I had to move and move quick ta find that heartstone of his, and find a way to sneak in undetected ta tell my captain what was up so he could plot a way out of this.
I saw the gate-terminus coming up and it was a few moments of a sedate walk before we stepped through it. The room we arrived in was not dusty, but the bare stone, even if it was decorated in mosaic on a Russian theme, carried an aura of something that had not been used in a very very long time. The hall we found ourselves in was all of bare stone put together in intricately locked patterns, the pillars were sheathed with painted scenes from medieval russian folktales, the walls had murals of more of them. The windows let in a murky colored light, it would have been pretty, but something about the place felt oppressive.
As soon as I had that thought, the atmosphere of the room seemed to change a bit, the light in the windows seemed to glow just a little more brightly, the tapestries around the walls seemed to loose a few layers of dust so that the colors showed through a bit more cleanly, the stone of the floor polished up and the candle-sconces attached to every set of pillars flickered into being. It felt almost as if the place were welcoming us... welcoming me. There was something about the air here, something about the very feel of the stone beneath my feet that was as familiar to me as my own breath. I knew this place. I had been here before.
"Hm..." Aizen said, his eyes narrowing.
He'd picked up something. I hoped it wasn't the same something that I had picked up, because if it was then he would be watching me even more closely than he was already going to be.
"If ya don't mind me askin' Aizen," I said, trying to act like my normal bumbling self. "Where the heck are we?"
"I have taken us to the private Realm of an associate of mine," he answered absently. "He has materials and tools for research that are quite valuable to me. As my original attempt to manufacture Heartsblood Diamonds was less than successful, it would behoove me to find alternate means of accomplishing the goal."
"Ah," was all I said in that usual tone I got when I had no idea what the person was talking at me about.
Aizen smirked at my ignorance, then turned to the prisoners still held in chains of shadow.
"Shades," he said, addressing the small shadows that kept them bound. "You shall escort my reluctant guests to living quarters for the moment..."
Aizen smiled, just a little maliciously.
"Put the two young ladies in the room with the Snow Queen's Mirror. That one there," he pointed to Captain Kuchiki. "Shall be kept in the west wing."
:West wing,: I made a mental note of that.
"Once you have secured them, you shall remain on guard outside of their rooms."
He turned to Isana and looked slightly amused.
"And Lady Hisana."
"My name is Isana," she corrected him with a cool poise worthy of The Kuchiki himself.
I had to give her major respect points for the fact that she neither flinched nor eased back when her captor advanced on her, instead she steeled her spine and refused to look the least bit intimidated by him. Orihime and even Rukia were both clearly afraid of Aizen, of course, they both knew enough about what he was really like to know that he was someone to be afraid of.
"I have something special for you," he continued, ignoring her correction.
"Whatever it is, I am not interested in it," she replied firmly.
The air in the room suddenly became heavy, like gravity had suddenly decided to go from the regular one-G to three-G's without warning. Even my chest felt just a little tight, Rukia and Orihime were brought to their knees, gasping. Isana staggered a bit, but shot him a defiant look and kept determinedly on her feet. I wanted to cheer for her, but I kept my face carefully blank. Aizen was already suspicious enough and I would serve no-one if I gave myself away this early in the game.
As quickly as the flare of reiatsu had come, it dissipated, and that gave me another insight into Aizen. He might be acting calm and in control, but he had just suffered a major set-back in his game of cat-and-mouse with the Seireitei. He did not have the Heartsblood Diamonds he had set out to create, his enemy was not decimated, and the Espada's were still around to rebel against him if they so chose. In short, despite the fact that he had a few hostages, things were not going well for him. Aizen wouldn't show it on the surface, but he had to be feeling very frustrated right then, frustrated enough that the least little insubordination from one of his prisoners was enough to crack that superbly cool calm of his. Useful.
"Abarai," he said abruptly. "Escort Lady Hisana to the balcony dining-hall, I will join you there shortly. The shadeling will show you the way."
A black little gremlin with flappy little wings made out of matte-black and beady little black eyes popped out of thin air at Aizen's gesture. It fluttered in front of me for a moment, then started down the hall.
"Yessir," I said, bowing properly to him.
Showing him deference and respect would be the way to go for now. Aizen was on edge already, dealing with rebellious underlings would just set him off. He might be suspicious of my display of humility, but deep down he would feel that it was his due, and that would reassure him on a subconscious level.
"This way missy," I said, taking her firmly by the elbow and leading her off.
The look she gave me could have felled pidgeons in mid-air. As soon as we were out of Aizen's earshot she hissed demandingly at me.
"Renji, what the hell are you thinking? What are you doing? Have you gone crazy?"
I knew that that little flying shadow-gremlin that Aizen had sent to act as our guide was also there to keep an eye on the interactions between us so I did the only smart thing to do and kept my mouth shut. I just pretended to ignore her, looking straight ahead of me and kept her in arms reach.
"Don't you ignore me," she said next in that tone that mothers used when their kids were acting up.
I steered her down the hallway to our left wordlessly, following the little shadow in front of us. She opened her mouth to add on to her reprimand but I squeezed her elbow. Hard. She gave a small, inarticulate gasp of pain and looked up at me in shock. In all the time we'd traveled together, no matter how she irritated me, I'd never once offered her the least bit of harm. The pain had been slight, just enough to shut her up, but it had been more the surprise that I would do so in the first place.
"Renji?" She asked, her voice betraying for the first time since she'd agreed to let herself be taken hostage, the fear and uncertainty she felt. "What's going on?"
"Shut it, woman," I said gruffly, trying to keep my mask in place.
It was hard for me to ignore the plea in her voice, but the walls had ears so far as I knew, so I had no choice but to stay in character. The trip to the place that Aizen had directed me to take her was both thankfully short and mercilessly long. It brought us to w wide open stone balcony, almost like a terrace attached tot he side of the castle that looked out over one of the castles massive sections of garden, this one was the rose garden. There was a round table spread with a white table cloth, on which was arrayed a small banquet of foods with a large raised bowl of fruit as the centerpiece. I puled out a chair for her and waited in silence. Isana seemed unusually subdued, glancing obliquely at me from the corner of her eye and clearly trying to figure out what was going on.
A few moments later a goblet appeared on the table from out of thin air. It filled itself with a strange liquid, mostly clear but it had an opalescent quality to it not unlike the shifting sheen on a soap bubble when the light played through it. The air, filled with the heady scent of rose blossoms, was thickened further by the presence of the former Captain Sosuke Aizen moments later as he appeared in the balcony doorway.
"My apologies for the delay, Miss Isana," he said in that silky smooth tone of his. "There were other matters to attend to before I could meet with you properly. Please, eat your fill and make yourself comfortable. I wish that you should consider yourself my guest here for the duration of your stay."
"A guest who cannot leave," she replied in a serene tone, but with a slight edge to her words.
"Just so," he agreed, smiling slightly to acknowledge her sally.
"Where is my son?" she demanded. "You gave your word that if I came along quietly with you, I would be reunited with him."
"He is safe and well cared for, you will see him quite shortly, that I can assure you of," Aizen said. "However, before I allow your reunion there is one tiny little trifle I wish from you first."
He gestured to the goblet filled with the mysterious opalescent fluid before her.
"You must drink it's contents. All of it."
I looked at the drink as dubiously as Isana did. I was pretty sure it wasn't poison, Aizen wouldn't have bothered bringing her all this way just to kill her off when it would be vastly more useful to keep her as a hostage against Kuchiki's good behavior. But it didn't have to be lethal to be dangerous. It could have some other sort of effect, and with the strange resources Aizen no doubt had to draw upon, there was no telling what those effects might be.
"What is it?"Isana sensibly asked next, eying the liquid with wary caution.
"It is a potion made from the waters of Lethe. You are aware of the River Lethe, are you not?"
"It's from Ancient Greek myth, one of the many rivers that flow through the Underworld," Isana replied. "It's the river that all souls cross when they go into their next life, the Water of Forgetfulness erases all of their memories of ones previous life."
"Very good," Aizen said pleasantly, sounding pleased. "It's so hard to tell these days what the modern education system considers useful knowledge. Once upon a time, a background in classical greek and latin was considered essential, but now it all seems to be about what is needful to survive rather than knowledge for it's own sake. I tell you, it is a sad world you have come to live in, Mortal."
He shook his head, smiling softly with that trustworthy smile of his, the one that had won my friend Momo over so easily.
"But I digress. The potion you see before you will not make you forget anything. Rather, it is a potion of remembrance. I wish to restore to you some of what was lost when your own soul crossed the river Lethe."
Isana looked at him with justifiable suspicion and mistrust.
"And why would you want to do that?"
"Call it simple generosity," Aizen said with another of his inscrutable smiles.
When the look of suspicion hardened and grew, Aizen stopped playing around.
"Drink and you will see your son, don't drink..."
He left the sentence hanging, playing hardball. For a moment it looked like the little missy was sizing him up for a fight but apparently thought better of it. Good, at least she was willing to take some advice still. She snatched up the crystal-and-gold goblet and downed the contents in a single gulp. Isana's eyes widened and she gasped in what looked like horror. She stared off into something only she could see as her body tensed up in what seemed to be pain. I checked an instinctive movement to make sure she was alright and stayed where I was. The little woman stared off into space for a long moment and then slumped over, unconscious. Aizen looked satisfied.
"She'll wake in due time. Renji, deposit her in the guest quarters with the other females and then return here to me, I have something for you as well."
I nodded once, not trusting myself to speak and picked Isana up to follow the little shadow-gremlin to the room she would be held in. I felt guilty for getting her involved in this mess. If I had only been stronger in my resolve to make her stay in the mortal realm, she would never have attracted Aizen's attention. She would also never have traipsed across countless Realms in the Dangai, gotten the permission of the Elemental Courts to bind and command Elementals in battle, faced down a Shadow or tested her resolve. It had probably been good for her spirit in the long run, but I worried about what this would do to her right then. I worried about what Aizen might have been planning in making her drink that lethe-potion. Rukia and Captain getting caught up in this was one thing, they were warriors same as I was, and they were prepared to risk everything for a victory... Isana was a civilian and a Mortal at that; the war in the spirit world shouldn't be any of her concern.
:It is what it is,: I said to myself. :Whether we like it or not we're here. We'll just have to make the best of a bad situation and pray it doesn't get any worse.:
I am so, so sorry for dropping off the face of the earth for well over a month. The really really sad thing is I have no real excuse for not posting. I was just lazy. I'd get a day off and think, 'okay I'll edit and post that next chapter, but first let me check my email...' and then five hours later... 'hey, do you want to watch a movie?' Well, to make amends for my inexcusable tardiness in getting your next fix out I have a two-part one-shot with Rukia and Renji in it that I'm posting. I hope you will enjoy it. It is called "Tooth and Claw". If you have the free time, please leave a note in the box telling me what you thought of this (incredibly late) chapter. Until next time!