Rebirth (Final Bankai)

His dreams had been plagued by the sound of three communing voices, each familiar as his own, but separate from himself in a profound way that not even the oldest of the race understood. However, it seemed as if they were keeping something from him. The voices were faded, and garbled, whispers unable to be understood, much as it had been before he even developed his Shikai, which seemed like so long ago. He tried desperately to make sense of the mess of words, the unending whispers, but couldn't. He lay in bed, thinking over the dream he had just had, debating internally as to what to do. It was obvious, of course, but to be honest, he was a bit... afraid. His Zanpakutou and Inner Hollow never communicated, and never had they all three seemed so solemn as they were tonight. He made up his mind, thinking of the one word he had made sense of, the only one he had been able to since he began hearing them;

"Come."

Within a matter of minutes, Kaoseu had gathered his gear and his blades, and took a deep breath. He donned his Hollow Mask, opened a Garganta, and hopped through, closing it behind him instantly, all in one fluid motion. As he arrived at his destination, he removed the mask, so as not to send any disturbances off to passerby. He looked around himself at the crystalline structures of the cavern he had not visited in such a long while and smiled. He felt comfortable here. He traced his fingers along the scars he had left here, practicing to his heart's content. He felt a mental kick from inside himself, the stirrings of his inner spirits, knowing their whereabouts. He sighed, and sat down, entering Jinzen almost automatically.

However, as he made to connect with his Zanpakutou, they instead connected with him, Having felt this before, he obliged, and drew them out to the real world, realizing only too late that they had extra baggage with them. As soon as he felt the presences materializing, he was up and had a blade drawn and aimed at the throat of his color-coded opposite, only to find three more turned on him, each pressing into him at a point where it would pierce his heart. He grinned, showing no fear, though that was merely a show. Right now, each of these beings could end him without a second thought. He looked to Heiwa, who was in front of him and chuckled, lowering his blade.

"Well, this is new. What brings you all to these parts?" he said, hoping to get some answers.

Currently, he got none, and Kuromeru and Shiroi stood side by side and clasped hands, combining into Shirokuro. Kaoseu grinned, eyes narrowing, looking back and forth between what was now only two beings. Still, not another word was spoken. Kaoseu shifted his weight, blade still drawn, in a manner so that if either of them tried to attack, he was prepared.

"What's the meaning of this...?" he asked again, this time reverting back to his old self, the calloused cold coming out in his voice as his eyes narrowed naturally and slanted inwards a tad. He could feel his muscles relax a bit; it had been ages since he had let down any kind of guard. However, this seemed to get a reaction. Heiwa smiled, and tossed his blade over his shoulder.

"Ah, dat's more like it. Been a while since I seen dat pretty lil' mug of yers. So here's the deal; You need more power, an' a change. We're gonna give it to ya, but it'll cost. 'fore that happens, I got some stuff ta tell ya. Firstly, you an' me, we're not the same. I been here as long as they have, sleepin' away. Thing is, we used to be one. Now, thanks ta that damned crystal a yers, we're different, but now we can go back. So what we're gonna do is show you what we truly was, and yer gonna take us down. Den, we'll show ya what we truly together."

In the space of a mere fraction of a second, Heiwa had reached out and clasped Shirokuro's outstretched hand. Kaoseu had little time to react, because the amount of Spiritual Pressure resonating within the air from the resulting explosion was too great to withstand. The force of it literally made him slide back several feet before he found his footing, and he gritted his teeth, even struggling to mutter the word,

“Ban...k...ai...!”

When he was finally able to say it, he felt his Spiritual pressure increase, and the strength balance out a bit, at least enough so that he could stand in the steady onslaught of Reiatsu smothered air that still whipped at his clothes. He silently pulled down his Vizard mask, knowing he’d need it, and prepared himself, though not much could have prepared him for what he saw next.

The light shrouding his view, a mix of black and white, as if unable to meld to a shade of grey, formed the two halves of Yin and Yang in a massive sphere, still blocking off the figure from view. As if it knew Kaoseu’s eyes were now focusing on it, it flared out, dissipating when it reached several feet. Floating in the air, in a fetal position, reddened wings furled about it, as if trying to protect it, was a figure Kaoseu had never seen. Cloth bandages, bloodstained and identical to the ones Kaoseu kept wrapped around his blade hilts bound each hand, as well as broken iron chains, black as night. He marveled at the sight, and almost had the urge to approach, but that was silenced as soon as he took a breath, the being twitched, and then it burst to life, wings unfurling and launching itself forward at incomprehensible speed. Kaoseu couldn’t even react fast enough in both Bankai and with his Vizard mask simultaneously. Before he could bat an eyelash, the being had disappeared, and Kaoseu’s eyes dilated as a gash opened up on his chest, spurting blood on the ground and into the air.

Spoiler:

That’s... not possible... I didn’t even see him strike... I didn’t even see him pass me... Who... WHAT IS HE...?!?!

Kaoseu had fallen to his knees, mind having been put in overload from such blinding action that he didn’t even notice until he placed his hands on the ground in an effort to stand. He shifted to his right foot, so that he was kneeling, and turned as he stood, the gash in his chest flexing open a moment and stinging as the air tore at it. Finally, he stood and got a firsthand look at the creature before him, now holding a beautiful blade, elegant beyond belief.

It lacked a guard, for starters, being only of singularly fluid design, and was a deep purple, black in most respects. It had a curvaceous blade that rivaled even the most cosmetically altered women, and came to a wicked edge on both sides, though you could tell one was meant to be the back. Its tip was created almost like that of an arrowhead, designed to be excruciatingly painful to pull out and to tear at the flesh as it entered. In all, it was built like a true animal, and Kaoseu could do nothing but marvel. Only when it whirled in the hands of it’s owner did Kaoseu pay attention once more to the creature that had a personal, as of yet, undefined, vendetta against him.

Spoiler:

It had a sad expression on it's face as Kaoseu looked upon it, it's eyes conveying every last bit of it. Kaoseu had no measure of how intense this sadness was, as it seemed to be infinite, and he almost found himself lost in the gaze. As it were, as he was staring into the silver eyes, they disappeared from his view and then reappeared directly in front of him. Kaoseu's body reacted with preservation in mind, and his hands clasped together just in front of his heart, catching the blade as it's tip pricked into his skin just deep enough to let it cut. At this point, all it was now was a matter of how long it took for his grip to falter even the slightest, and he devoted all his concentration to that task.

"What happened to you...?" asked the being. Kaoseu could hear a Triumvirate of voices, and each one rang in his ear and resonated power, shaking him to the core. "Why did you change...?" Kaoseu's heart was pounding now, his head throbbing. It was trying to draw a reaction out of him, he knew it, but he didn't intend to let that happen, though it seemed to be starting to work. "Why did you stray from who you were... Kaoseu..." Kaoseu almost fainted. Sadness tainted the voice of the being before him, and with every syllable, that sadness weighed down on Kaoseu's shoulders. The whisper of the melodic voice was almost too much to bear. Kaoseu gritted his teeth and thrust down on the blade, at the same time, jumping sideways and giving an inwards kick with his right foot, using the blade as leverage and enforcing it with as much Reiatsu as possible. The amalgamation of his three internal spirits had it's head knocked sideways, but stayed in one place, all the while gazing deeply at Kaoseu, the deep sadness in it's features even more defined as it reached up and grabbed his ankle.

Kaoseu knew what was coming next, and braced himself for a world of pain. Repeatedly, and as if from some cheap cartoon, the ruby-winged creature slammed Kaoseu forwards and back with as much ease as if he were a pillow. The wind was knocked from his lungs on the first strike, and each succeeding one rocked his body with spasms and cracked the earth beneath him. His eyes began to glaze over, and then took on an altogether glassy appearance. It was only at this point that the creature of unerring sadness slammed Kaoseu onto his back where he lay, limp and unmoving. His mind began to re-register the world, and the first thing his eyes took in were the eyes of the beast above him. The next was the blade that seemed to be approaching his chest in slow motion. Kaoseu's body again reacted of it's own accord before his mind had time to process what was going on, and once again, he stopped the blade in the exact same position as it had been before.

A single tear, mimicking the shade of blade, traced it's way down the high, pale cheek of his oppressor, and Kaoseu's stomach wrenched as it fell upon his own cheek. He was breathless, unable to fix the sadness within those feral eyes, infinitely deep. "What happened to you...?" he asked again, the aching in his voice two times as strong. Kaoseu couldn't help it, and shouted out a response, tears building up in his eyes as he lay there. "I CHANGED!" "Why did you change...?" cried out the tri-vocal voice, a tinge of anger built behind the words that wracked Kaoseu's soul to the core. "TO STRAY FROM WHO I WAS!" he sobbed, the tears flowing down his face now, arms shaking as he struggled to keep himself somewhat composed. "Why did you stray from who you were... KAOSEU...?!" the trembling voice of his captor rang out through the cavern, and Kaoseu broke inside, his heartache at this profound sadness unable to take it any longer. "To change... to have... a Rebirth..." he sobbed, a groan tearing his words to shreds with his own sadness. He cried, undisturbed, until his throat was raw and his eyes were swollen. Long ago had his Hollow mask faded to dust as he lay there, sobbing, until he managed to, once again, gaze upon the face filled with sadness that could never cured. "The only true path of Rebirth, Kaoseu..." it began. As these words were spoken, a smile so sad that the last of Kaoseu's sanity crumbled played at the lips of the creature of perfection that was looking down on him. Kaoseu finished the rest of the sentence, his heart knowing the next words. "...Is death..." Without a word, nor hesitation, Kaoseu let his hands fall to his sides and the blade plunged down, sliding easily through his ribs and into his heart, where it stayed, embedded.

"It's time you learned my true name... Kaoseu... The name of our Honshitsu- True Essence... We are... Sosei..."

Kaoseu's eyes went dark as these last words were spoken. He could not be certain whether he was alive or dead. He could not determine how much time was passing, or if time even was passing. He could feel nothing. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. Every one of his senses was dark. Then, with as much immediacy as a camera flash in a pitch black room, light burst to life before his eyes, searing his retinas.

As his pupils rapidly contracted and dilated, trying to refocus themselves, and image came to life before him. He was standing, and looking directly at the creature- Sosei- that was in front of him. His eyes regained their ability to see in color, and everything refocused. Sosei was floating in the air, cross-legged, and chin resting lightly on his palm as he watched Kaoseu.

"Welcome back... I won't explain anything to you... you probably already know, now... But I'll at least tell you what will happen... You will lose everything... It will be stripped from you... It will truly be a Rebirth... We will not be the same, that will never occur, save for this final form and this final ability... This is your own path to travel down... Whether you decide to, is up to you..." As he was speaking, Sosei had taken to the ground, not making a noise as he approached Kaoseu. Without any further explanation, he picked up Kaoseu's blade hand, placing the tip directly over his heart, and gazed into his eyes one last time. "I bid thee well..." Without another breath, he thrust himself onto the blade, and Kaoseu gasped at the amount of power that screamed into the air. Sosei seemed to explode into light, all of which began to surge into Kaoseu's blade, down the hilt, and into his arm, taking refuge in his body. Never had he felt so much power before, and stores of which he never knew existed opened up within him. His blade shone with light, and then became an amorphous mass, taking the final shape of the identical blade used by Sosei. There was no other alternative. Kaoseu knew what he wanted, and knew what needed to be done. He sank to his knees in a traditional sitting stance, and held the blade in a reverse grip. He then placed it just over his heart, and took a deep breath. All doubts free of his body and mind, he thrust towards himself quickly, and the world shattered before him...
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Bankai Ability 2

Ability 2: Sosei (Rebirth)

Kaoseu speaks the true name of his blades, along with an incantation, "Show your True Essence... Sosei..." and it changes in his hands. He then plunges the blade into his own heart, and blacks out, and both his Zanpakutou dematerialize. At this point, Kaoseu is left weaponless and incapacitated. He no longer has a Shikai, nor any of it's abilities, nor a first level Bankai. Basically at this point, A completely new Zanpakutou, blades, Shikai, and First Bankai ability, can be created from scratch. This ability will ALWAYS be Kaoseu's second Bankai ability, but he cannot use it without having first relearned all previous Shikai and Bankai ability. For each one, the application for said ability must be double the length of what it would initially be. Furthermore, this ability can only be used once within a 6 month time period in real time.