Chapter 5: The Opening
(A shout out to Frosteddragon, who asked for this! A little shorter chapter, but more is on the way! Love to all, Spunky)
Kisuke stared in shock at Tetsuya's sudden transformation, his words failing him as he took in the etchings of restored power in the young man's blue eyes, the bright steel sword that had manifested and the telling, dark navy uniform that had replaced his poorer clothing. He blinked and caught his breath in surprise as he studied the crest on Tetsuya's cloak.
"What is it?" Tetsuya mused, following his gaze to the crest.
"You said you know who you are now," Kisuke said in a shaken voice, "Do you know any of us? Do you know that crest?"
Tetsuya shook his head, frowning.
"It's strange," he confessed softly, "It is like there is something powerful between me and a part of my own mind. I remember my name, and that I was our leader's protector, but I don't know the leader's name, or any of you."
"It's okay," Renji said, smiling and curling an arm around him, admiring his uniform and weapon, "This is progress, right?"
He turned his head, looking down at One's unconscious form.
"You know," the redhead went on, "One's said before that he feels really close to you. And even though you are in love with me, it's clear that you're loyal to him. Do you think he is the leader you used to protect?"
Tetsuya frowned thoughtfully, moving closer and kneeling at One's side. His blue eyes studied the man's pale face and lips turned slightly downward.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I do feel that I know him, and I feel protective of him, but I can't say that I remember him. Everything is still muddled."
"Give yourself some time," Kisuke said bracingly, "You've made a big step forward. Now, if we can work out any other names. It seems the names seal the memories and power."
"But I haven't got my memory back," Tetsuya objected, "I only remember my name."
He looked down at the sword in his hand.
"If I was powerful before, I don't know what power I wielded."
"But we've got a start," Kisuke insisted, "Tetsuya, we're gonna figure this out. I promise. But right now, we have to take care of One, and we have to make sure that you, Renji and One are not found."
His grey eyes scanned the secret chamber for a moment.
"Though you might be tempted to just think we can keep hiding down here," he went on, "you have to remember that we are in constant danger of someone overcoming the protections and finding us. That means we have to be completely committed to restoring all of our memories and the powers we seem to have had."
"I think we're all committed to that," said Renji, "but what do we do? I mean, Tetsuya has his clothes and that sword."
"He has more than that," Kisuke said with certainty.
The others looked back at him curiously, making him smile as he explained.
"You see that crest," he said, pointing to Tetsuya's uniform, "That crest matches the one I found the reference to…the one leading into the deadlands."
"But we know the deadlands are too dangerous for us to explore," Tetsuya reasoned.
"Yeah," Kisuke agreed, "right now, they are. We don't have our powers."
He thought for a moment, then extended a hand and touched his fingers to Tetsuya's blue steel blade.
"We don't have our powers," he repeated, running his fingers along the flat of the blade, "but if you'll touch this blade, you'll feel it."
His eyes met Tetsuya's meaningfully and the younger man looked thoughtfully down at the blade he held.
"You feel that, right?" Kisuke inquired, watching the young man closely.
Tetsuya closed his eyes focusing his mind on the sword he held and breathing slowly.
"I do feel something," he confessed after a moment, "I feel…power. This blade feels like it holds power, and that power is connected to me. The blade is connected to me."
"Right," Kisuke said, nodding, "so it follows that there must have been a time when we had these swords, and we were able to send our power into them. Think of them as a focus. I think the blades probably focused the power somehow. There was a word that described the power we controlled. I read it in a nearly destroyed book. It was about the only thing I could salvage, so I don't know for sure. The word is reiatsu, and it seems from some pictures I've gathered, to be something that radiates in the body. We know that it can be used for healing, as Zero heals, but Tetsuya's sword is an indicator that the power could also be used for fighting. Look at this."
He moved to a cabinet and took out two books with pages marked, and a small portrait.
"These pictures all show something that looks like power, radiating around these people carrying these swords. Somehow, if we do the right thing, we can unlock that power."
He sighed softly and shook his head.
"I've been studying this for a long time, but until now, I wasn't sure what the key was to all of this. But, I think we may have it right here."
The others' eyes followed his to the blue steel sword in Tetsuya's hand.
"Tetsuya had sporadic flickers of power before, but it didn't manifest as this sword until Tetsuya learned his name. What I'm thinking is that it may be the same with the power that flows through the sword. The person has power, but maybe to use the sword for that power requires a name for the power…you know, to activate it."
"So, you're saying that once we know the name of the power," Renji posited, "we'll be able to use our power again?"
"I have a question," Zero asked, looking from Tetsuya to Renji, then back at Kisuke, "Renji, here, knows his name, but he doesn't have a sword like that. You know, one with power. He just uses kido."
"Renji," said Kisuke, "Me, some of the guards in town, yeah, we know our names, but we don't know what those names mean."
"Huh?" Renji mused, looking back at him blankly.
"Think of it this way," Kisuke explained, "One activated Tetsuya's memory by saying his name, but it wasn't just that he said the name. When he said Tetsuya's name, he was having a moment when he fully remembered Tetsuya's identity. If we'd been able to ask him, he probably could have unlocked the full recognition of our names and maybe the names of some of our powers, if he knew them before."
"So, you're saying it's not enough to have the name, we have to know…" Renji began.
"Each of us has a soul pattern that others sense," Kisuke went on, "That's how other people recognize us. There's a reason that when we see someone we know, the first thing we think is their name. The name is connected to the soul pattern we recognize. That may be the underpinning, the key to all of us getting our power back."
"Ah," Zero said, his eyes widening slightly, "that's why you've been so focused on waking Two. You think he can tell us our names."
"And the names associated with our powers," Kisuke added, "That's the only way we'll get to the bottom of what happened a year ago and what we need to do to fix things…if they can be fixed. Someone did this to all of us…someone or a lot of someones. I don't know. I do know two things. First, we need to find answers, and second, we'll find those answers in the deadlands.
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Aizen Sousuke left the upper levels of the palace, traveling down in a lift, then passing through a hallway that seemed to come to a dead end. He extended a hand and the way opened for him. A new corridor appeared, and he followed it down a long spiral stairway, one hand touching the cold iron railing. He passed through several checkpoints, descending further, to the lowest level of the prison. He cast a mental eye into the chamber to make sure the demon slept, then entered.
A dark figure turned away from a console, meeting his eyes in the darkness.
"How is Ichigo today?" Aizen asked.
"Holding up, but barely," the jailor answered, glancing at the prisoner's heavily bound body, "The torture is finally seeming to begin to wear him down. But, he's still too strong. Every time it seems that his mind must come undone, something stops it."
"What stops it?" Aizen asked, moving to Ichigo's side and releasing the binding on his head.
Ichigo's hazy eyes opened and tried to focus on him, but closed again quickly. He groaned discomfitedly.
"You have deprived him of sleep? Given him nightmares? Allowed him only nutrients that would make him ill?"
"All of that and rounds of torture," the jailor affirmed, "My lord, I have been in this business for several hundred years and I've never seen anyone hold out like this. We'll break him down."
"I'm sure you will," Aizen agreed, turning back with him to face the console, "Has he said anything of consequence?"
The jailor shrugged.
"Just the usual. Screams at me to let him go, screams his names…mostly just screams because he hurts. But he did say another name."
Aizen's fingers clenched slightly and his dark brown orbs closed.
"Whose?"
"Byakuya."
Aizen sucked in a hissing breath and chuckled ominously.
"Ah, I see. And was this while being tortured or while having nightmares?"
"During the nightmares."
"Hmm," Aizen mused, glancing at the demon guardian, "Leave us."
The jailor nodded briefly, then bowed and left the chamber.
"During his nightmares," Aizen breathed, approaching the bound demon in slow footsteps.
Flutters of wicked power hummed in the air around him as he grew closer. He employed his illusions to mask his exact position, and to shield himself from the beast's horrid power.
"Doku," he whispered, invoking the demon's name.
A huge, red eye with a gold starburst center opened and fixed on him. Aizen breathed in deeply at the threat of dread poison and shrieking death that radiated around the monster. The beast bared sharp white teeth and growled warningly.
"You are not doing your job," Aizen accused him calmly, "You should have destroyed his mind by now. I think you deserve some punishment."
The demon snarled hatefully, but his eyes betrayed a hint of uncertainty.
"But I am a benevolent ruler," the tyrant continued, "Maybe if you can help me, we will reach the point that he will become useless to me, and I will let you devour him."
The demon's long red tongue shot out of it's mouth, sliding slowly over its thick black lips. He let out a hungry whine.
"I know. It's what torments you unendingly," Aizen purred, "Inflicting pain on him, making him scream so that the little flecks of his reiatsu can feed you, but never receiving enough to make you strong enough to break free. You suffer nearly as much as he does, don't you? Still, I can offer you a little more if you will do something for me. Show me his dreams, his nightmares. I know you see them. You sense what makes him suffer the most and you show him. Now, show me."
The demon blinked slowly and gathered his power, letting it radiate in the air. Aizen breathed in slowly, taking in what the demon shared, watching the terror Ichigo had witness unfold in front of him.
"You are truly terrifying," he mused appreciatively, "Thank you, Doku."
Aizen drew a measure of Ichigo's blood and reiatsu and loosed it into the air. The demon howled and sucked the stream in, roaring with delight as the power flooded his bound body. He strained against his bonds, hissing and snarling as Aizen stood quietly, watching Ichigo's nightmares play out in front of him.
"Byakuya," Aizen whispered, "so well hidden, yet at the same time, your feelings for him were in plain sight. So…you were to be the father of the heir…perhaps the next king. And where are you now?"
He left the demon plundering the treat he had been given and walked back to Ichigo, turning his illusions so that he wore the noble's lovely form. Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw Byakuya approach, and tears came instantly to his eyes. Aizen continued forward, turning Byakuya's dark eyes onto Ichigo's and letting them fill with love and concern.
"Ichigo!" he gasped, "I've finally found you!"
He stood over the bound prisoner, looking down at him in wonder and touching a warm hand to his icy cheek.
"I've come to free you."
"I know it's not real," Ichigo sobbed softly, "It's just another cruel illusion that thing is sending…but…I love you, Byakuya. I'm gonna get free and I'm gonna find you. We're going to be together, I promise!"
Aizen nodded and bent to kiss Ichigo, making the contact slow and firm.
"God, it feels so real," Ichigo moaned, tears sliding down his cheeks, "like when we were together before we all went back to fight Ywach. You were the first person to ever touch me like that."
Aizen froze.
They have been together sexually already?
He left Ichigo looking up lovingly at Byakuya's false image and he walked back to the console, where he pored over the gathered information. His fingers moved gracefully over the keyboard and he watched new data come up on the screen.
"A full body scan was conducted upon his arrival and it found him damaged, but not badly. His reiatsu has been suppressed ever since. If he was…" Aizen whispered.
He moved back to Ichigo's side, releasing the rest of his restraints and leaving him with just the illusions holding him down. One hand slid down to touch Ichigo's slim belly and almost at once, he felt the tiny presence he had been looking for. A slow, evil smile crawled across his face and his eyes lit with demonic arousal.
The reiatsu of the child was suppressed all of this time. This is a legitimate heir! Now, it is as simple as using my bankai to employ another world reality shift. I will have more control this time. I will prepare carefully as I could not before.
One thing annoys me.
I was not able to capture Byakuya or the other taichous. Because my escape happened suddenly and I did not have time to plan, although I was able to deprive everyone of their memories, I was depleted so that I could not leave here to deal with the taichous personally. They are spread out now, some in the Rukongai and some in the Seireitei that is now the deadlands. If Byakuya is alive, I need to find him now.
I need to find him.
And I need to kill him.
That way, he can never enter the royal realm.
"Byakuya, are you gonna take me home with you?" Ichigo asked dazedly.
Aizen turned and reclaimed his place as Ichigo's vision of Byakuya. He moved down to the prisoner's feet and spread his thighs, baring his nether region as Ichigo continued to pant the noble's name longingly. He took his time preparing the younger man, bending over him to kiss him and stroke his face gently.
"You are home, my love," Aizen said in Byakuya's voice as he made his entry, "I am right here with you. And Ichigo…I am never leaving you again!"