My eyes blinked open and I looked around at my surroundings, not quite recognizing where I was. Not to mention, I was fairly sure I went to sleep with someone in my arms, but my head was still so hazy last night that I didn't entirely remember the minute to minute moments of going to sleep.
However, this situation also felt familiar.
I kicked off the blanket around me and stood up. Looking down, I realized I was in a clean set of clothes. I adjusted my tie slightly and felt good enough to walk out the door. What should have been Izzy's house was different and the reason was obvious.
"Good morning, Musū Tengai." I greeted my Zanpakutō spirit that was once more sitting at a quaint little table drinking a cup of tea.
He set his cup down and smiled my way. "A good morning to you as well. Would you like a cup?"
"Does it actually do anything for me?" I questioned, plopping myself down opposite of him.
"It tastes good?" He offered.
"Good enough for me." I hummed, looking at the steam wafting off of my cup and took a sip. "Is this pulled from my memories?"
"Of course." He nodded.
"Is this going to be a common occurrence?" I asked. "Pulling me from my dreams or while I'm asleep?"
"You were bound to wake up soon, I simply expedited the process and took a moment of your time. Physically, your body is still sound asleep but your subconscious was active enough that I could pull a little trick like this."
"Interesting." I wondered if this could be used in different ways. "And this house, is it a representation of my inner world?"
"A small piece." He waved his hand causing the building and everything around us to shatter like glass, reforming to another view. "Welcome to Salem's Castle." He grinned. "As long as the place holds sufficient meaning, it has a reflection in your inner world."
"Really? Anywhere?"
"Where would you like to go?" He offered.
"That old House in Kuoh." I stated.
He tilted his head and silently weaved the surroundings again. We were now standing outside of that same house that I burned down, except now, it was wholly intact. "Well, have at it."
"You know what I'm going to do?" I eyed him.
"Who do you think I am?" He shot back with an eye roll, which looked strange with the pulsing nebulas for pupils he had.
I shrugged and slowly wrote out a Runic Sentence in front of me. Once I finished what I wanted, I flicked it towards the house and a massive fireball converged and shot off towards it, immediately setting it alight.
"Done?" He asked as we watched it start burning away.
"Yup." I stretched my arms. "That was fun. How about Mom's Grave?"
"Of course." He nodded and he produced that same mirror from before and he ushered me through it. The mercury-like liquid enveloped us and the surroundings changed to the familiar resting place of my mom.
There were fresh flowers prepared as well.
"The flowers were a nice touch. Thank you." I knelt down and ran my hands along the letters of her memorial.
"They were her favorites." He said softly.
"Ah…I think I forgot about that until you mentioned it now. Did I ever ask her why they were her favorites?"
He silently shook his head and I clicked my tongue with a sigh.
"Not how I expected to spend my morning, but it's already been a fulfilling day. What did you need to have pulled me into my inner world, Musū Tengai?"
"A couple of things I wanted you to be aware of. However, let us change the location."
"Lead the way." I gestured and he produced the mirror again and it reflected Kyoto. That alone would not have elicited a response from me normally, but it was on fire.
"Is this supposed to be some kind of representation of my inner turmoil? Like some kind of hidden uncertainty or premonition?"
"No, Ddraig is just having fun." He chuckled.
"….what?"
"Fear me!!!" A loud roar resounded above the two of us and a massive red dragon flew down, spraying fire onto the city. It paused mid-city-razing and looked over at us. "Really? No heads up?" He sounded exasperated. The massive red dragon seemed to sag as its wings flapped and it fell to the ground with a loud thump crushing several buildings. "Heya brat."
"Ddraig?"
"In the flesh….relatively speaking." He corrected, voice rumbling.
"I was able to pull Ddraig's consciousness into your Inner world as the Boosted Gear also exists within your soul. The Sacred Gear still believes that Ddraig is within its grasp so it did not fight me. I was unable to undo the bindings around his soul unfortunately." Musū Tengai explained.
I walked up and touched his side, feeling the scales of the true Red Dragon Emperor, or at least how he was supposed to be. "It's good to finally meet you, Ddraig. The real you."
"Hey don't get sappy on me." He blew out a burst of air with his nostril nearly knocking me on my ass.
"Should I 'fear you' instead?"
"Bite me." The massive dragon huffed. "I've been stuck in that damn gauntlet for so long and the only freedom I've had is when I come out with that spell of yours. And I can't exactly go wild while I'm in that state."
Musū Tengai waved his hand, and an aurora-like light ran through Kyoto, fixing and returning everything back to how it was supposed to be. That same mercury-like liquid would consume and reform anything broken or burned down and readjust itself to the proper shape. "No harm is done."
"Will there be an issue if I tried to use the Gauntlet while you're like this?"
My Zanpakutō spirit and Ddraig shared a look.
"We do not believe so." Musū Tengai replied.
Ddraig also opened his massive jaw. "My essence still persists in that prison. This is merely a wisp of my consciousness that I'm focusing on."
I could more or less understand the details when explained like that.
"So this is what you wanted to show me?" I asked.
"Among other things." Musū Tengai nodded. "I mainly wanted to have a chat about how we arrived at this point and what to do about the future."
"By this point, you mean you?"
"That is correct."
"I admit I'm surprised with how fast I was able to achieve Shikai. Yoruichi told me that it usually takes months to years for a Shinigami to even hear their Zanpakutō."
"Most Shinigami who receive their Zanpakutō are still new to wielding their Reiryoku and don't understand themselves in the proper mindset to facilitate the connection so quickly." He replied. "To you, it was merely a lateral step rather than a staircase that others must climb."
"And the Hogyoku helped, I'm sure."
"Indeed." He didn't deny it. "It would have taken me much longer to form without it."
"And what exactly is the Hogyoku? Have you assimilated it?"
He hummed noncommittally for a moment before answering. "The name implies its purpose. The Hogyoku – the Breakdown Orb. The purpose is to facilitate the breakdown of boundaries between two concepts. Shinigami and Hollow was the original intent but it's obvious the creator did not anticipate you. Therefore, we're breaking new ground. I can say that it's not complete. Once I took it in, I realized that there was a lot missing about it, like it's only half of a whole. It has room to….grow."
"Was that supposed to sound ominous?"
"It has fearful potential."
"Should I be worried then?"
"It will never harm you. To be cautious is never a sin, but do not fear your own power. It is now a part of you – us."
"Well, since that's settled. I have a couple questions about your ability. I want to know the limitations. I felt the backlash by forcing certain phenomena to happen against Indra, but was I pushing the peak of what was possible or can I go beyond that?"
"I said before that there is no true limit and I meant that. The only constraint is what you can endure in bearing the changes and altering the flow of the world to fit your desire. I will warn you, however, that there is a price to pay as in all things. I will not tell you never to do it, but you should know the taboo with undoing death and creating life. To force into existence a living being that did not previously exist, or to return from death something that died. "
"You don't have to warn me about that." I reassured him. "I'm well aware of the cost of messing with the natural life and death cycle to that degree." Hell, I would sooner start practicing necromancy than touch that with a ten foot pole.
Hell, it almost knocked me off my feet to make Indra hit himself with his weapon because that was so far off the probable outcomes that I really had to dig for it. To undo someone's established death, or to create something from nothing would be so catastrophic that merely dying would probably be the best outcome.
Those abilities existed within the realms of True Magic for a reason.
"So no bullshit way to give me a new body and life?" Ddraig grumbled.
"I'm afraid not." Musū Tengai smiled wryly.
"Whatever." Ddraig huffed. "But your ability is still bullshit."
"Thanks for your input, Ddraig." I said dryly.
"You're welcome." He smiled, as much as a dragon could.
"So now, do we start Bankai Training?" I asked towards my Zanpakutō spirit.
"You just got out of a fight with Indra and you want to start doing something like that?" Ddraig looked at me like I was an idiot.
"I'm just asking." I defended myself. "And I feel a lot better now."
"To Achieve Bankai will be a long and arduous journey." Musū Tengai replied rather cryptically.
"So what you're saying is that I should cheese it like Ichigo did?"
"I only know the same details about that process that you do. From our understanding, it should force out the latent potential of the user and amplify it for a certain duration."
"Yeah, the arbitrary 'three days' at first glance was probably the longest it could last before suffering consequences for the user. Hence, if the person failed, they would lose the opportunity forever." I continued his train of thought.
Overstimulating someone's soul or potential like that was not without risks.
"An admittedly genius concept, but not applicable for the majority of those who wield Zanpakutō. I can say for certain, that if you attempted to use that same device, you would not succeed."
"Really? No faith whatsoever?" I deadpanned.
"I am being realistic. It's your choice to make."
"Nah, I'll trust you." I was mostly kidding. If he said that it wasn't a good idea, I would listen. "So the long and hard way then? How exactly do we start?"
"You're still missing a few steps to truly begin, but I can give you a taste to know what you're in for." Musū Tengai stated.
"Oh, this is gonna be good, I can feel it." Ddraig chuckled mirthfully.
"Alright, let me see where I need to start." I ignored Ddraig.
My Zanpakutō spirit obliged. He summoned the mirror again and stepped away. Curiously, I walked up to it and my reflection stared back. No…..that wasn't my reflection. It looked back at me and copied my movements, but there were differences. It wore a set of robes more indicative of a general spell caster and held the Staff of Magnus in his hand.
I put my hand to the mirror and he reached forward too.
Startled, I pulled back as I felt his touch.
He smiled and pushed through the mirror.
"Well, this is a strange feeling." My mirrored copy commented, looking at himself then around. "Ddriag? Hello there."
"Sup." Ddriag greeted my copy.
"You know your purpose." Musū Tengai said simply.
My copy nodded at him then turned to face me. "Should I introduce myself?"
"Well far be it for me to refuse another me from giving an introduction." I gestured for him to continue.
"How polite." He chuckled. "I am Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg. Spellcaster extraordinaire, delver of Mysteries, and master of Prestidigitation." He waved his staff and a plethora of magical effects actualized. A dozen doves flew out, sparks shot up to the sky and a wind suddenly flowed, bellowing his robes.
I held up my hands to keep the birds from flying into me and merely looked on at his little show.
"That's different." I commented. "So….what now?"
"Now, we have a proper duel." He leaned on his staff.
"A duel then? That doesn't seem too difficult." I went to take out Mirage, but realized my mistake. "Uh….can I have my weapons?" I turned towards Musū Tengai.
He held up his hand, and another Staff of Magnus dropped down in front of me and I caught it quickly. "This is the only weapon you are allowed."
"Ah, I get the game now." I gave the staff a little twirl.
"Do you know?" My copy tilted his head in amusement.
"A fiddle of gold against your soul that says I'm better than you." I chuckled.
"You catch on quick. Let's see who the better Mage is." He held the staff up then set it down. "Or we can just have a nice chat and talk this out."
"…..is that a valid way to duel?"
"A duel of words is still a duel?" He offered.
Musū Tengai didn't respond as I looked to him for directions.
"How would that even work? Do you want to trade insults? I think 'Your mother' won't hit quite right in this circumstance."
"You bring up a valid point. I suppose we should go back to a magical duel." He hummed. "But there's something you seem to have forgotten."
"What's that?"
"Talking isn't a free action." He tapped the staff on the ground and then they appeared.
Six massive Magical Circles appeared around me in the shape of a cube. Under my feet, above my head, and at every side. Just at a look, I could see what was woven in, Primordial Runes of every type and I looked in horror as I realized what spell this was.
"I didn't even notice." I whispered as realization set in. "The Doves, the little introduction. You set this up while I was distracted from that. But still, I didn't notice until you already actualized it. An illusion woven over the casting of the spell? No, not only that, but you hid it in a pocket of space then brought it out altogether."
The spell that Cu Chulainn taught me during the singularity, one of Odin's own spells.
"Prestidigitation." He emphasized. "ᛟᚲᚺᛞ ᛞᛖᚢᚷ ᛟᛞᛁᚾ"
The words barely sounded human as he invoked the Primordial Runes together, invoking the spell that qualified as a Noble Phantasm. And I felt myself ripped apart on every conceivable level.
[***]
Musū Tengai POV
"Well, that was interesting." Ddraig spoke up. "A surprisingly powerful spell. Even with my full strength, I would not want to be hit by that. I could barely even tell what happened."
"It's a spell that attacks one on every level of their existence. The Great God Carved Seal, tears apart space within its domain. Unravels the Axis of Time, and even attacks one's soul and spirit through an interplay of matrices." The copy of my wielder explained to Ddraig.
"Oof, the brat is going to feel that for a while."
"It is quite painful."
"You're not just a copy created by the sword over there, are you?" Ddriag inspected the mirror of his wielder.
"You figured that out, did you?" He leaned against his staff.
"What are you? Are you alive?"
"Who knows. I am someone that doesn't exist, but might exist depending on the circumstances. What is real, what is fake, it depends on your perspective. To me, this is but a dream. But to you, it's real."
"More cryptic bullshit, you're definitely the brat."
"Haha, that's one way to look at it." The copy chuckled. "Well, he should take the future fights seriously at least."
"Mmm, he took too lackadaisical approach to his Bankai Training. Thank you for your assistance." I bowed my head towards him.
I hoped he would understand that the future Bankai training will not be easy.
"Feels weird being thanked by you. I may have never wielded a Zanpakutō, but after receiving the memories needed to understand the situation, it makes it awkward." He scratched his head. "Well, since my job is done, I guess I'll head out. Feel free to call me again when he's ready for a rematch."
I bowed my head in thanks and helped him recede from my wielder's inner world.
"That was neat." Ddraig shrunk down his physical form. An easy enough maneuver seeing as he was but a wisp of consciousness within this world. "Want me to keep it a secret?"
"If you wouldn't mind."
"No problem. It's not one of those things I should interfere with, I get it." Ddriag was agreeable to my decision. "From what I understand, the brat needs to figure out things himself as part of this training."
"You're very perceptive." I smiled.
"You don't survive as long as I did without being able to read the situation." He flew around my head in a circle. "Can you make me some food?"
"I made sure that every place that would have food is properly supplied for your pleasure." It was the least I could do and took very little effort to pull the memories from my wielder.
"You're the best, sword boy!" Ddraig exclaimed, flying off towards the nearest restaurant I would presume.
I smiled wistfully and moved towards a more secluded area of Wilhelm's inner world.
The Hogyoku hung up in the air and I was not the only one present.
Two other figures sat at each corner of the room and I took the third spot. They both silently opened their eyes as if greeting me.
"Odin, Meridia." I spoke softly to two figures.
They didn't respond, but I knew that wasn't because they were unable.
I wondered if Wilhelm would ever figure out that the two blessings he received from them were a bit more than just a favor bestowed?
Meridia, perhaps he had a smidgen of knowledge about, but simply didn't mind nor care to investigate. However, the other one was a bit more surprising.
The elderly man silently sat cross legged, focusing almost entirely on the Hogyoku in front of us.
I too turned my attention to the Hogyoku and began my own work.
It was only a matter of time before we got this object to evolve to the next stage.
[***]
Wilhelm POV
Waking up for real this time was much more pleasant.
It might have something to do with the fact that my face was firmly squashed between a pair of boobs. Even the residual feeling of being utterly torn apart by my copy couldn't take away from this heavenly experience.
"These are mine." I squeezed them between my hands.
"And good morning to you too." Venelana's soft giggle reached my ears. "If that's what I think it is poking me, I think you're feeling much better."
"You make it sound as if that's a hard threshold to reach." Izzy also softly spoke next to my other ear.
I begrudgingly pulled myself out of this wonderful bosom to turn my body around and see that Izzy was laying down on my other side. "This is a surprise. I didn't expect to wake up with both of you together. Should I ask if my innocence was taken advantage of?"
"Don't talk nonsense." Izzy huffed. "And I did not intend to join you two in bed."
"You pulled on her and refused to let go while you were half asleep." Venelana explained. "It was rather cute, so she just relented and joined in the cuddling."
"Did someone take my clothes off?" I peeked under the covers. But my eyes were drawn more towards the two women at my side. I've seen Venelana naked before, and would always appreciate the sight of her in nothing but a bra and panties, but I was genuinely surprised to see Izzy the same.
"Stop staring." Izzy turned a faint rosy red and pinched my cheek.
"That's impossible." I nudged closer to her and proceeded to bury my head between her boobs as well. "This is mine too."
"Fine." She huffed again. "Let this be your reward then."
I didn't want Venelana to feel left out, so I did the mature thing and reached back, groping her legs. "What happened last night? I'm vague on the details."
"Not much." Venelana snuggled in and laid her head on my shoulder. "You were clearly very tired so after we all made sure you were okay, we had you go to sleep. Izanami was kind enough to offer her guest bed as you were already here and I promised you a warm body to hug and you know the rest."
"I need to go see Salem, I was supposed to check back in a lot sooner. She's probably worried, or angry –"
"Jinn has it covered." Izzy interrupted me. "She is with Salem at the moment, you need not worry. Everything is being handled, just rest for now." She took my other hand and moved it so it was resting on her ample rear. "You deserve a nice rest" She added a quick kiss onto my cheek.
I shifted myself so that I was staring up at the ceiling. "We haven't talked yet have we?" I asked Venelana, but it was rather rhetorical. "We've just been talking around you about certain things and you've been very polite and patient."
"Trust isn't something that can be forced. I don't deny that I want to know about many things, but I don't want you to feel pressured."
"You're an amazing woman and I'm lucky to have you." I leaned forced, kissing her softly on the lips. "I'll gladly tell you everything."
"I'll make sure he doesn't exaggerate." Izzy snorted, settling in next to me.
"I didn't expect this so soon, but I'm pleasantly surprised." Venelana smiled beautifully.
"The truth is….I'm an Alien."
Izzy pinched my cheek. "Tell her properly."
Venelana giggled so it was worth it.
"Where to begin." I breathed out, relaxing with both of them cuddling with me. "Do you understand the concept of Parallel worlds?"
"Oh dear, this is not going to be what I imagined, is it?" Venelana asked.
"Prepare yourself, even I have trouble believing half the things he talks about and I've lived a very long life." Izzy replied.
"I'll keep an open mind."
[***]
A/N Couple more chapters then off to Orleans.
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone