...
"I see, I am not entirely surprised Captain Aizen could do that... Nor that he went through with it," His commander spoke up, once again earning his attention and turning away from the chess set he'd prepared.
The room they were currently all in was one shrouded under his Zanpakuto's ability, though considering the current going on's on the Living World, and Hell, and Huaco Mundo's no doubt confused society, that was hardly a necessity- No, it was more to calm his own nerves down than anything else at the moment. Even if it did, somewhat, drain what was left of his reserves.
He'd never once thought to stretch himself so thin as to leave himself vulnerable, even more so considering who he was putting his blind faith in- Not that he'd ever admit it- though there were a lot of things he'd never once considered doing.
Intentionally feeling empathy for one thing. For as long as he could remember, he'd dealt himself a dose of his own power to throttle the feeling, for it would do naught but stall him in his quest. His journey. His everything.
In hindsight, empathy likely would've helped find some of the more recent truths out...
Yet, ever since he'd learned said horrid truths... Ever since he'd acquired a taste of an idea of what the Soul King was? He'd done everything in his power to make sure nothing of himself resembled that monster. Even if it meant recalling all of his own deeds under a different light. Even if it meant having to trust another, simply because he found it rather difficult to trust himself these days.
"Yes, Sosuke-kun decided it best he simply joined them alone," He answered a tad slowly, remembering he had company.
He'd subtly drawn the commander to the guarded room, not for any nefarious or any purposeful reason- It certainly wasn't a factor in his plans, nor was it to play chess of all things- The Commander or any of the others still stuck in Sereitei at that wouldn't have factored into the former, instead it was... Well.
If he was going to ask anyone for advice, it'd be one of the few men he once considered a threat to his goals.
And considering what was going to happen soon to the three realms, he wasn't going to have much longer to do so.
With that in mind, he calmly moved a piece forward and took in the Commander's reaction.
Yamamoto appraised his sudden move with a keen look before he raised his head back up. "I am so glad he has such a serious Zanpakuto spirit,"
Oh, right.
He'd convinced the Commander that he was in fact his own Zanpakuto spirit, that the real Aizen was down there in Hell alone and without anything to hold back his 'tendencies.'
For all that his name was officially considered in the same breath as lunacy and worse, he... Found himself amused by it.
"They will suffer," He chuckled.
Yamamoto didn't skip a beat. "Yes... Yes, they will," The older man moved a piece forward, "Better them than us," He deadpanned as well before a more serious look took over his face. "Still, I do find myself intrigued about one thing." He locked eyes with him. "The incident with the Royal Guard led me to believe that Aizen Sosuke's Zanpakuto was... Pardon my language, but insane comes to mind. This is a very drastic change in nature." He indicated his head towards the chess board between them.
He simply hummed at that. "Tell me," He made a move. "Do you see any real difference between an Asauchi's creation, and a Menos's?"
The old man blinked at that, somewhat bemused before he watched as a hint of understanding filled his eyes. The Commander's gaze slowly fell towards his own hidden blade before locking back with him. "Hm. You suggest that the souls inside an Asauchi fight for dominance, much like a hollow, during a shinigami's bonding stage?"
"Not just the souls inside the Asauchi, I am afraid." A look of warning and wariness filled the man's eyes at that. "After all, the only way to so successfully get away with sacrificing soul after soul into the formation of an Asauchi is to pass it off as an accident. As a failing."
"Are you suggesting that Soul Society has been feeding its shinigami incomplete Asauchis, to begin with? That their success solely depends on whether they were lucky enough to get one that was closer to completion? Or that..." The man stopped talking for a moment, a look of thought filtering through his eyes before he let out a sigh and made another move. "...Soul Society has been handing rookies... Weapons that far outclass what they're capable of. The Asauchi's... in that regard choose their own wielders, and... Cannibilise those souls that fail... Much like a hollow." Yamamoto let out another sigh. "I am not sure which option is worse. Though the latter would certainly explain why some are... Inordeniantly more powerful than others." He gave him a pointed look at that for some reason.
"Balanced, is it not?" He remarked a hint of resignation in his voice. "Yes, the latter certainly seems to fit the current status quo a lot more..." He shook his head. "It's one thing to create a world solely focused on the sacrifice of one's being but... To do it so..." He grit his teeth. "Openly... So blatantly that any mind who sees it for what it is wouldn't believe it..."
"...What makes you so different?" The old man's question for a moment filled him with a tad hint of paranoia before he quickly realized he was referring to his own status as a 'Zanpakuto.' "I imagine any spirit that found out the truth would've rebelled, much like Captain Kuchiki's own spirit yet... Instead, you chose to try to save it, despite the horrifying nature of it all? Knowing that your very existence is a sin in itself that required the sacrifice of hundreds if not thousands... I can't imagine many could live with such guilt... Though it certainly fits the side of you that we saw stand against the Royal Guard, this one is... Rather more tempered. Unfittingly so."
There was a certain irony to all of this, Aizen Sosuke mused, unable to decide whether he ought to laugh or curse at everything that led to this moment.
Instead, he simply did what the other was prone to doing, and let out a sigh, which for some reason caused the other to move another piece forwards.
He elected to quickly do so himself as well.
"A Zanpakuto's difference from a Menos would be the cause I suppose."
"Hm?" Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at him as he briefly lowered his gaze toward the current layout of the board.
"The souls in an Asauchi aren't necessarily silenced, nor are they... Completely overtaken, which is what would happen between a colony of hollow souls fighting for supremacy in a singular vessel... Instead most, if not all, once a Shinigami has finished bonding with it, elect one of said souls, the one considered the closest in comparison to the wielder, and allow it to formally become the Shinigami's soul-cutter sword."
"Truly?" The old man questioned, surprised. "I would've thought they wouldn't settle for such a... Permanent relegation. To think so many souls would so willfully unify with one another, despite the prison of forever being encased in the shadows... Of never having their voice heard or spoken to..." Of all things, Aizen Sosuke expected, he watched as genuine regret filled the older man's face. "Such humility... Such proactive thinking... Such... Nobility. The sacrifice they're willing to make for a greater purpose... speaks of the shinigami that could've been had they not been thrown to this system."
Another brief pause occurred as the older man calmly cleared his face of regret and simply settled for a stony look toward the board before he made a move in return. "Yet again, however, that does not explain..." He blinked, before letting out a slight chuckle. "I suppose it actually does. Aizen Sosuke was never one to do anything by half- It'd certainly make sense for him to have sought out the other souls lost to his Zanpakuto. I take it you're one of them?" He didn't even give him a chance to reply to that, before shaking his head. "A thousand years in this job and I never thought to question why some of my own shinigami had different releases for their blades, with differing results." The man followed that with a mirthless chuckle. "Some commander I must be, huh? I thought it was just their Zanpakuto showcasing their irritation... Not at all that it simply gave another soul the temporary reins to showcase themselves."
...Not what he'd intended to go with, but he supposed that reasoning worked as well.
"To be fair, you didn't really know we were made of literal souls either."
"That too, I suppose." The old man nodded, a neutral expression on his face as he made a move in return. "Though I suppose it's also a matter of aging..." The man snorted. "The older I grow, the less I see, even if my sight has never physically deteriorated... I suppose, in the end, we really are more human than we think to ourselves." A curious look quickly grew on the old man's face at that. "Hm, one wonders what a being like the Soul King must feel at his age?"
"Well, I certainly doubt he's going blind, figuratively or literally." He deadpanned and earned a slight twitch from the older man.
"Well, I see where Sosuke-kun gets it from at least."
Now, there, there was a comment he'd never thought to hear.
Ugh, the pain that just inflicted was-
He was briefly stunned as another thought occurred to him.
...The older one gets, the less they see...
His eyes widened the slightest, incremental, bit.
The Soul King was the oldest being in the universe... But his sight never deteriorated, never once dimmed- The Almighty wasn't simply something that one could turn off-
"Is everything alright?" The older man's voice washed over him as he slowly recollected himself. "I can't imagine such a comment would affect the companion to the rudest, rather lethally at that, whippersnapper I've ever met."
"...Everything..." He muttered, slowly. "Everything must've been an afterthought... No wonder... No wonder it didn't work out."
The older man narrowed his eyes the slightest bit in...
Truthfully, he wasn't even paying attention to him right now as he simply relaxed in his seat.
The Soul King might've actually wanted something after all. Something other than the protection of the human world at any cost.
He wanted to die...
He might've set the world on a path with his death in mind, with the human world he was attached to thriving in mind... Everything else was an afterthought.
He'd seen everything already, so, what was the point of even living, knowing the world was exactly as you wanted it- Knowing everything you could've wanted, was already complete?
If that was true then... Then, he hadn't etched a path to victory, he'd etched a path to death... And all of it had conceptualized into this living hell of a cycle.
Yet... Why was the Soul King fighting so hard right now?
Aizen Sosuke, for the first time since the dumbass had accidentally infiltrated and permanently changed the worlds he lived in, finally saw the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Soul King was having fun... He was enjoying the moments of the unknown he witnessed.
He was enjoying the idiot!
It was the blasted idiot's fault!
Despite the circumstance, and feelings he would've normally had in such circumstances, Aizen Sosuke's face split into a slight smile, one that set the older man on edge.
He finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
He finally figured out how to beat the Almighty.
How to beat the Balance at its own game!
Aizen Sosuke had officially figured out how to win.
His smile cracked the slightest bit as he realized it was too late to set up a failsafe... To set the pieces necessary to guarantee it- All he could do now, was hope they fell into place without his hand.
All of it now depended on the idiot.
Oh, gods... All of it depended on the idiot.
...
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