CHAPTER 60: HERYANNA'S END, AIZEN'S PLANS

"Kamishini no Yari." Ichimaru opened his eyes, revealing his crystal blue eyes for a second and letting Heryanna see them blaze with fury.

Byakuya turned his head and smirked upon seeing Ichimaru's Bankai. He looked down at his Zanpakutou and gripped it tightly. He looked up and faced the second Heryanna, unsure if it was the real Heryanna. One way or the other, he knew that having two Heryannas around would be absolutely troublesome for them and that the two would have a rather clear distinction in terms of power. There was no way that his clone could be as powerful as the real Heryanna. Wondering if the Heryanna he was facing was the real one, he knew that there was only one way to find out. You won't be the only one getting serious here. I can swear this, on the pride of the Kuchiki Family.

"Bankai."

Byakuya dropped his blade vertically down into the ground and watched as it phased into the ground. Energy ripples appeared on the ground, before the whole area around Byakuya and Heryanna darkened and the two were surrounded by an immeasurable number of blades.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Gokei."

The blades scattered to form numerous pink petals and formed a spherical pattern around Heryanna, leaving him no room to escape or whatsoever. Heryanna could only watch helplessly as the petal-like blades headed right for him, slicing through his flesh regardless of the direction and distance. Byakuya quickly used Shunpo, dragging Rukia away with him and motioning for Ichimaru, Shinji and Kiseida to keep their distance. A scream was heard and the five of them stayed down, trying to withstand the massive shockwave. When the dust cleared, they got up slowly, only to have their eyes greet a completely-transformed Heryanna.

"So then, the one I had defeated was your clone." Byakuya muttered to himself.

"You're absolutely right! As expected of the Captain of the 6th Division!" Heryanna chuckled with a hint of malice in his voice. "You were right! There is a distinct difference in power between my clone and I... In terms of durability, that is! An attack like that would have only left the real me with a few cuts! Now then, I'll have to thank you, because I was able to completely release my Resurreccion! Are you ready to die a spectacular death?"

Kiseida raised her rifle and Rukia raised her Sode no Shirayuki. Nodding at each other, they dashed forward, beginning an all-out offense on their opponent. Throwing up her rifle and waving her arm horizontally, a huge burst of fire emerged from the mouth of her rifle, shooting out violently and enveloping Heryanna in the flames. Catching her rifle in her right hand, she watched as Rukia dashed ahead of her.

"Mae, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Her sealed Zanpakutou transformed into a slender, white blade with a white hilt and tsuba, once she turned her Zanpakutou counter-clockwise. She raised her blade, pointing it at Heryanna and holding it up right next to her head. Ice particles floated up from the four holes that she had made in the ground.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"

A huge wave of ice emerged from the very tip of her Zanpakutou's blade, rushing towards Heryanna at an incredible speed, aiming to encase him in the ice. Smirking, Heryanna broke out of the ice, unscathed, only to find Rukia standing in front of him. Ice particles gathered and reinforced her blade further.

"San no Mai, Shirafune."

With all of her strength, she pierced her blade right into Heryanna's stomach. Blood splattered from his wound and Heryanna cringed. Shinji put on his hollow mask again and grinned as he released his Shikai. The pommel of his Zanpakutou transformed into a large, circular ring and he spun it round and round. Five holes were punctured into Sakanade's blade and the length of his Zanpakutou had increased. A pink mist was formed and Heryanna closed his eyes, determined to be fooled by a little diversion. He was unable to believe his eyes once he opened them and he realised that something seemed wrong with the world. Everything looked so wrong. For some reason, all directions had been reversed. The ceiling became the floor, the floor became the ceiling. Even his opponents appeared to be standing upside-down.

"Well then, I'm sure you're smart enough to know what you've gotten yourself into." Shinji chuckled.

"An' I bet ya don't know that' ya got poison in ya!" Gin smiled.

Heryanna's eyes were full of bewilderment. It was clear to everyone that he had not the slightest idea of what was going on. Cold beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and a dead slow pace, as he tried to understand what was going on around him. His world had been completely inverted and even a genius like him could not comprehend this phenomenon. He rubbed his eyes, confused and trying to use his logic to explain what was happening. Shinji was grinning to himself. Rukia was glaring at him with a strong resolution embedded within her violet eyes. Kiseida's rifle was burning and so were her eyes. Gin was grinning even wider than Shinji, to the extent that it was spine-chilling. Byakuya gave him the usual cold stare that never left his eyes. Kiseida raised her rifle and an endless flame erupted from the very tip of her weapon, heading right for Heryanna, all ready to engulf him. Shinji put on his Vizard mask and concentrated all of his strength into one single Cero, which headed towards him at top speed. Rukia was preparing to use Hakuren again, as ice particles surrounded her. Gin was all ready to give the command and release the sliver of poison deep inside Heryanna's body. Byakuya waved his arm, sending a massive wave of pink petals towards him. Heryanna's eyes widened as he saw the five incoming attacks heading towards him and he instantly knew that there was no possible way of escaping such a large-scale attack. For the very first time in his life, he had been defeated by such a seemingly simple battle strategy and had given up in the midst of a battle.

Well then, Aizen-sama… My deepest apologies. Even the most ingenious of the New Espada can fall to these Shinigamis. Looks like it'll be all up to you, Viquierra. Looks like you'll have to make up for all of our losses. Kiiyaa… Wolffe… Geneva… I'll be joining you three in a while.

Heryanna lay in his own pool of blood, taking in his remaining few breaths while he still had the chance to. As unsatisfied as he was about the fact that he had lost to a mere group of Shinigamis, he knew that his displeasure would not change anything. It would be better not to drown in his unhappiness now. His life would be over in a few seconds and nothing was going to change that. After his last breath, his body relaxed and became completely motionless. The five stood above Heryanna, gasping for air. The 2nd New Espada had put up a fantastic fight, exhausting them of their energy and forcing them to push themselves harder than ever. However, he had still fallen and it took the five of them to do it. Rukia began to worry. If it took five of them to take down the 2nd New Espada, what about the 1st New Espada?

Just then, all the Vizards and the Shinigami rushed into the vicinity. All of them had just finished their battles with their respective Fraccion and New Espadas and they were haggard and drained of energy.

"I suppose you've just finished your battle?" Ukitake asked the five of them.

"Yeah, we did." Shinji replied.

"It's been about seventy two hours now…" Shunsui sighed. "It seems that Tayomi Taicho, Hitsugaya Taicho and Ichigo are still not done over on their side."

"I'm rather concerned… The three of them are so alike, all refusing to give up even when they're on the brink of death." Hinamori shook her head.

"Should we check on them?" Kira asked.

Just then, a deafening explosion was heard. The whole group turned towards the source of the sound, only to see an eruption of lightning emerging from the Seijotokyorin. Lightning flashed and the sky darkened drastically, turning as black as night. Only one Captain wielded a lightning-type Zanpakutou and had the capacity to use such a large-scale attack, despite the fact that she was probably badly injured, judging by how long the battle had lasted until now.

"Tayomi…" Hisagi muttered to himself.

Without hesitation, the entire group sped towards the Seijotokyorin.

Viquierra blinked. The New Espada were almost completely wiped out. Kiiyaa's, Geneva's and Heryanna's reiatsu had faded out completely. Wolffe's reiatsu was unstable, wavering as if his lifeforce could disappear within any second

"Your army's almost done for, Viquierra." Tayomi muttered. "And so will you."

Tayomi breathed heavily, her Bankai draining her reiatsu rapidly upon releasing Inazuma Arashi. Viquierra finally sustained substantial wounds, his left wing bleeding profusely and a pool of blood forming around him. After seventy-two hours, they had finally managed to land a proper hit on him.

"That's enough, Viquierra."

A familiar voice rang in her ears. A voice belonging to someone she detested and hated so deeply. Tayomi clutched her right arm, which was spewing blood due to her exhaustion and her previous injuries, as Aizen walked beside Viquierra and smiled at the group of Shinigami that had just arrived at the scene.

"It wouldn't be much of a fight if you were to kill all of my Espada now."

"Or is it because you only have two left..?" Tayomi huffed.

Aizen smirked.

"Nothing of the sort, Tayomi-chan." He whispered right into her ear, his breath sending waves of disgust into her soul. "After all, if I were to send all five of my New Espada here to be killed… And have them engage in an unfair battle… It wouldn't be very nice, would it?"

Hitsugaya pulled Tayomi back, separating her from Aizen and standing in front of her, ready to protect her.

"How many times must I repeat myself, Aizen?" Hitsugaya tightened the grip on Hyourinmaru. "If you touch her, I WILL KILL YOU."

"Don't get so excited now, Hitsugaya Taicho." Aizen shrugged, giving the Captains a smug expression which never failed to irk them. "I'm just here to tell you that we're having a little… Change of plans. We'll play a nice rotational battle one month from now, at Karakura Town. The duration of the battle… Your opponents… Everything will be beyond your control."

Opening the Garganta, Aizen returned to Hueco Mundo with Viquierra following behind. Viquierra took a last glance at Ichigo, before turning his back and disappearing into the passageway.

Back in the 5th Division Barracks, Tayomi lay in her bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling as her hand ran over the bandages on her chest and the tulip marked on her arm. Rotational battle… Aizen's really getting full of himself… But if everything is randomised and fair… Any of us could face Viquierra again and this time, we'd be alone… And three people were just enough to put a few scratches on him… And I'm not even sure if the spell I'm working on can…

"Tayomi."

Tayomi turned her head, slightly taken aback by the sudden appearance of Hitsugaya by her bedside, her thoughts interrupted.

"We're returning to the real world soon… And this time all the Captains and Lieutenants will we following us to Karakura Town. We're to train there until the rotational battle with Aizen."

Tayomi stared blankly at him, before turning her head away and closing her eyes. Right now, she didn't feel like hearing anything out. She had more than enough on her mind. Once the Fake Karakura Town was constructed and switched with the real one, it would mean that it was time to fight Aizen. Time was running out.

Hitsugaya noticed her sudden aloofness, noting that she seemed noticeably frustrated and tired. Whenever she refused to speak, it was a clear sign not to disturb her thoughts and leave her be. He sighed, giving her a short kiss on her forehead before returning to his division's barracks. Once she heard him leave, Tayomi opened her eyes and looked up at the moon, her purplish-blue eyes glowing under the gentle beams from the moon. She stared hard at the tulip on her arm, the physical reminded of her crucial role in the approaching battle against Aizen.

Time was definitely running out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

HIHI EVERYONE :D
I would like to apologise for how long this chapter has been sitting around and I haven't updated this story for more than a year now :(
Things have been rather crazy for me... I'm currently in my final year of Junior College (also known as High School for some of you) and I'm about to take a national exam in about a month's time. That coupled with my commitments (I was elected to be the President of my Dance Club last year and my term ended in June) and all the stuff that's been happening at home was why I took so long to update.
GOMENASAI! T.T
So here's a chapter for all of you who are still around, I received a message from one of the readers, BentoBoxCosplay, telling me to continue my story. Really sorry for the big hiatus, I probably won't update till my exams are over (28 November!) or I'll be writing really slowly, but I thought I should just update you all on what's been going on and why I disappeared for so long T.T
Yupyup so even though Aizen is happily sealed away now, he isn't in my story UGH. Next chapter, we'll be finally taking a nice break from all the fighting and give Tayomi and the rest some time to train. We'll also receive a nice hint about what the tulip mark on her arm is for, so do stay tuned!
Please review and comment! Thanks for all your support :')