In the silent darkness, Sofia trotted over to the prince's bed and leaped onto it. What she saw caused her fur to stand on end; Toshiro was completely tense, looking ready for a battle, though he was definitely asleep. His eyes were shut tight with pain and he was sweating profusely. She thought the room had seemed cold and there was frost already starting to form on his bed and the nearby walls.
Acting immediately she jumped onto the prince's chest and called out for the power she and Ruala shared, spreading through his body a soft light. He began to calm down, muscles relaxing, but he still seemed frightened. He shook underneath her and she scowled. This was going too far, they needed to remove the Fear before it got any worse and drove the boy insane. She knew her master hated forcing things on people but if she didn't now they'd lose him.
She remained sitting atop him the rest of the night, preventing the nightmares from returning while she waited for Ruala. The room was warming again as his Spirit Energy returned to normal levels, though still rather chilly for which Sofia thanked her fur, just as Ruala stepped inside, quickly noticing how closely attached the Fear had become. Her Rahvain was right, this needed to end now or Kamai won without even trying.
"We don't have a choice." Sofia said sadly. "He's losing, you have to do it."
"I…I can't." Ruala frowned, standing nervously beside the sleeping prince.
"He won't last much longer, just look at him."
Ruala looked upon Toshiro's face, brows furrowed in pain and teeth clenched as some dark vision still fought through into his dreams. Her cat was right, he was losing this battle. She was sure this had been one of Kamai's master plans, if capturing Karin didn't work. To let the Fear slowly corrode the boy until he snapped on his own. Such a thing would bring great grief to the Soul King, who would have no choice but to crown the demon lord king.
She had no choice, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"I want him to at least know what's going on." She managed to argue back. Sofia nodded, understanding completely. Besides, if they told him first he might just trust them enough that Ruala won't have to force it too far. That put a strain on both her and the one it was forced upon.
Carefully, the blonde shook the boy awake. Still in the realm of nightmares he awoke with a start, Sofia tumbling off of him as he sat up in alarm, eyes wide as he looked at them. Recognition settled in and he calmed back down.
"S-something you need?" He asked shakily.
"The Fear has spread too far." Ruala replied, multi-colored eyes full of concern. "I cannot let it sit any longer."
Toshiro clutched a hand to his chest, wincing as he remembered the nightmares.
"You're going to get rid of it?" He asked, sounding more hopeful than he'd first intended.
"If you'll let me."
"Of course."
Nodding, the Ruler of Magika had him lay back down. She had one hand hovered over his chest and the other his head as he closed his eyes again.
"Sofia." Ruala called out.
The feline sat on Toshiro's other side, near his head. She leaned down and spoke softly into the boy's ear.
"You have to help her with this." She said and saw him frown. "This is why trust is so important. You must lead her to the darkness lying in your heart. It will be stressful, it will be difficult, but it is the only way to save you."
"How do I lead her?" Toshiro questioned, eyes still closed.
"Permit her into your Inner World. Hyorinmaru can aid you, follow the darkness to its center and there she will remove it."
Light flowed softly from Ruala's hands and into the body of the white-haired prince. Toshiro tensed as a presence entered his thoughts that did not belong.
"Don't fight her." Sofia hissed.
'This is uncomfortable…' Toshiro grumbled, trying to accept the foreign presence.
'I am sorry.' Ruala's voice echoed in reply.
With a little help from his dragon, the girl was pulled into his Inner World where he opened his eyes to the icy landscape. Ruala was there now as well, gazing up at the enormous Hyorinmaru with respect, even bowing to him to gain his trust. Satisfied that she understood that she was only a guest here, Hyorinmaru nodded his head to her and turned towards the lake.
"It's in the lake…the darkness…" Toshiro said.
Remembering what Sofia had said about leading her there, Toshiro started heading that way, even though he wanted anything but to go near the shadows nestling there, trying to tear away at his Inner World. His dragon followed from above, keeping an eye on the two of them and being strangely silent.
Just before they could breach the lake's surface, Hyorinmaru returned to the ground and barred Ruala's path.
"Will you tell anyone of what you see?" The dragon snarled, knowing full well the memories about to be thrown at his master as the Fear's form of defense were not ones he allowed anyone to know about except those who had been there.
"I never do." Ruala replied confidently. "It is up to the bearer to tell the memories of the heart, not I. This is why I do not like to force my power upon others."
Once more satisfied, the icy coils moved aside and the bright wings were tucked close to allow her passage. Taking a deep breath, Toshiro lead the way. The two of them leaped into the lake but were simply taken to its floor, perfectly able to breathe and move about freely as if they were not underwater.
The second they reached the shadows Toshiro was assaulted with memories of the nightmares, countless demons killing those he knew before him while he simply stood there.
Light flooded the shadows and the nightmares vanished.
"You value the lives of your friends." Ruala stated. "No demon can kill what is important to a valiant warrior."
"And yet I've lost many." Toshiro scowled, still reeling from the shock of the memory. If that was the Fear's first defense, he dreaded what was next.
"Giving up on Hope is what lets the Fear in." Ruala put a hand on his shoulder. "I cannot help you if you do not let me."
He hesitated, looking warily into the darkness. It was not like the last time he ventured into the darkness of the lake, as there had been no horrible sights set before him there. No, this darkness was out to break him, not test him. He backed away a step and Ruala frowned, remaining silent. This was his choice.
There was a rush of wind as Hyorinmaru joined them, putting his head down next to his master and giving out a reassuring purr. Ignoring Ruala's presence for the moment, Toshiro put his forehead to the dragon's frozen head and took a moment to steel his resolve with the ice dragon's support.
"Okay…Let's keep going." Determined, Hitsugaya once more set off towards the shadows, this time with Hyorinmaru behind him.
As he stepped into the shadows they latched onto him, but Ruala was there to dissolve them with her light. Still, each touch made him shudder, a memory he'd rather leave forgotten rushing to the front of his mind and causing him to wince. He looked past it, setting them aside with the knowledge that they were only memories, that they couldn't hurt him anymore.
Something shifted in the shadows and rushed towards them. Toshiro put his arm up and let a flow of ice shoot forward to stop the strange shape. In that moment, when he thought perhaps they could hurt him, the Fear latched back on and the shadow became a figure that sparked rage in the prince's heart.
Aizen grinned and slashed upwards, the same way he had before where Toshiro had nearly lost his arm. It felt like he had again as pain tore through his side. Furious, Hyorinmaru sent an icy breath at the shadow to send it back.
But attacking it only seemed to make it worse. The shadows converged on them to defend itself. Ruala panicked a little, it was far too dense here, and the prince could not focus. He was leaned against his dragon, eyes wide in shock as he held a hand to his side where the scar still lay, surprised his arm was still attached. It had felt so real. The Fear could all too easily latch onto him right now.
It was no longer time for permission.
"Vanquish the shadows, goddess of the sun. Purify the spirits before you and show Fear its end! Let Hope rise once more!" Golden light flowed softly off her body and the darkness backed away. Toshiro turned to the woman, wondering what she was doing, as well as why he felt so strange. It was an airy feeling, like there was nothing to worry about, like he should sleep. His eyes began to close. "The darkness flees within this holy light! Hope's Embrace!"
Just as the light spread outward and began to dissolve the creeping shadows, Ruala rushed over to Toshiro and cast a spell upon him.
"Do not slumber, prince." She warned as the airy feeling left him and he snapped awake. "I had hoped to avoid forcing it upon you as it can force you into a comatose state, but I had no choice."
He just nodded, mind still scrambled from everything that was going on.
"Awaken, the shadows will disperse." The scenery around him grew blurry as Ruala's spell pulled him back into the waking world.
He opened his eyes once more to his room, though this time he felt sore, limbs heavy.
"I am sorry." Ruala pulled her hands away, allowing him to sit up. Toshiro ran a hand through his hair as he tried to put his thoughts back in order. "I could not remove it all."
"It's enough." He replied quietly. "I can handle it now."
"It is not as attached." She reported, closing her eyes to focus on the scattered tendrils of Fear still inside him. "But I will not force my hand again."
"You did what you could, thank you." He sighed. "I suppose one of these days I'll be able to let you in farther."
"In your own time." She offered a tiny smile, her familiar padding over to her in silence. "That amount of trust is not easy to obtain."
He nodded in agreement. The guardian stood to leave, her job done. As she reached the door, teal eyes spotted the dragon book on his desk and he perked up.
"Wait." He called out.
Curious, the blonde stopped and turned back, Sofia jumping into her arms and also looking at him curiously. They watched as he removed himself from the bed and went to pick up the book before walking over to them.
"There's something in here that's almost completely scratched out, and anything pertaining to it is removed entirely." He explained. Sofia shifted to her master's shoulder so she could take the book and look through it. "The lines have a similar pattern to the ones you told me back in the Soul Society, two short lines."
Glancing over the scratched out prophecy, Ruala noticed he was right.
"This is what I knew." She said in a whisper. "The lines I spoke to you simply came to me; I had no knowledge of them before. Time has a way of doing that."
"One of your elements?"
"Yes." She ran a finger over the short line parts still visible. "One I cannot very well control. Time is fickle that way, it shows me things and I repeat them. Prophecies are part of that."
"So your riddles were part of a prophecy?" Toshiro raised an eyebrow. Well, Sofia had said her words meant a thousand meanings while influenced by the Time element, or at the time she had called it the Gold Eye.
"Seems so, and part of this one." The girl ran a hand over the first two lines and the scratches were removed, shifting once more back into their proper alignment. "I don't know the others so I can't replace them. Time will tell the rest of this prophecy, a prophecy that seems to be about you."
She handed the book back to a very confused prince who looked at the page again, part of the words restored now. What the rest said he had absolutely no clue. There was no logic behind prophecies, nothing he could go off of except the other lines.
"I want to know what it says." He mused aloud. "Everyone keeps saying I'm special because of my two dragons, I want to know why."
"To have two dragons is rare." Ruala replied. "The last to have two lived many thousands of years ago, near the dawning of civilization, a heavenly guardian that ruled the realms fairly and with a firm hand."
She paused as she saw the boy's eyes widen considerably at her words.
"Did you say…heavenly guardian?" Toshiro's voice shook a little and she nodded nervously. "Gin Ichimaru…he once told me I was the reincarnation of a heavenly guardian…I simply thought it was a joke, something to confuse me." He focused back on the woman before him. "How could he know something like that?"
"Perhaps he found that information somewhere and was able to connect it to you, the wielder of the ice dragon."
"You think he might have known who I was?"
"There is no guarantee of that. Perhaps he thought you knew already and was testing you to prove it, though since you yourself did not know he was most likely disappointed. It might even be why Sosuke Aizen seemed to target you more than others."
"One of the commanders said you were about to intervene in the Winter War."
"I was. I did know it was you who was the prince, and as such I could not let you die, but Ichigo Kurosaki stepped in and put the menace to his end and your life was saved. My service was not needed."
"I suppose that's a good thing, in hindsight." He set the book back down "You would have had to explain why you came to stop Aizen yourself."
"I could have done so without revealing your birthright. You were not ready for that knowledge." She glanced out the window. "You should sleep now, you need the rest."
He grimaced slightly but nodded, returning to his bed as the guardian left, Sofia leaping down only to jump onto his bed and lay next to him for the night. Hopefully now he could sleep peacefully and regain his strength. That had been too close for comfort.
Though many questions circled Toshiro's mind, Hyorinmaru refused to let him stay up all night pondering it and dragged him into sleep, a deep sleep he would not wake from until his energy was recovered. There would be time for pondering later.
A little dark for this chapter. Can talk long, got homework! Thank you for putting up with me! ^^ Enjoy!