The lies within the truth...

~one month earlier~
Wandering through the darkened forest Destadi continues on until coming to a clearing enclosed by trees, shrouding it with eerie shadows that dance along the ground in the soft moonlight. Dark clouds slowly creep across the sky only serving to make the area even more sinister in feeling and appearance. Looking around with a pleased look, he snickers, his blue eye glints with a malicious light and smiles showing many pointed teeth, as well as fangs. "hn hn hn......... perhaps.... now would be a good time... to return to hueco mundo... and hide away for some time...... need to rest a bit..." He looks down at the wrappings around his waist and stomach, seeing them still turn slightly red. "hn... time to go..." He raises his hand,opening a garganta. he puts his hand back down, and smiles while beginning to walk towards it.

Rushing through the forest with use of Mugetsu,released zanpakuto tightly clutched in her grip Altria focuses on the very faint spot in her minds eye,faintly shining ahead,determined look set on her tired face.'Almost there..just a little closer..don't leave..Why didn't I notice this sooner,damn it! It must be the distance...this is very far from 2nd division barracks and training grounds.. Nh..just..one more..jump..' With one more teleportation she suddenly appears in front of the garganta,blocking Destadi's access to it.Trying to catch her breath using Mugetsu after long hours of training and previous mission she spends a few minutes breathing heavily and staring at Destadi with unreadable look before speaking,"Caught you,Destadi."

Stopping short, Destadi looks at Altria with a curious but rather amused expression, he snaps his fingers closing the garganta. He smirks slyly at Altria, a malicious gleam flashing in his eyes. "hnnn hnnnnn! that you did..... Altria Mizuno..." he smiles at her slyly revealing his pointed teeth and fangs. He leans close with a look of nothing but pure evil and ill intent on his face. "hnnnnn hnnnnnnnn hnnnnnnnnnnn.... whatever could it be.... that would compel someone such as you... to wish to see me?" he smiles and circles around behind her running a finger across her jawline. "hnn.... you are scared.... and fearful.... yet you came to me... yet... are you sure this was the best coarse of action?" he smirks, "what is it you want? ..... my dear Altria?" he chuckles darkly then takes a few steps away from her, a sinister expression lingering on his face.

'...Someone such as me?.What does that mean?.' Tracking Destadi with her eyes when he circles around she quivers slightly at his touch,forcing herself to keep still and not lash out.'Bastard!!As if you don't know..grr..I want to strangle him..no,stab with his own mask..tch...gotta..stay..calm..' Breathing in and out slowly she stares at Destadi with a blank look,angry spark lighting up in her eyes. 'Best course of action?Grr..what else am I do to?So what if I'm 'fearful'..it's not him I'm afraid off..I must get Shiri's soul back..whatever means necessary!' Watching him intently,determined look settling in her eyes Altria speaks in a low,controlled voice,gripping her zanpakuto so tightly her knuckles go white,"You know perfectly well what I want.Return Shiro's soul!"

Destadi smiles slyly at Altria, his eyes lighting up with amusement, "oh.... still so determined to get it back eh?" He leans close and smiles darkly, " I thought I told you before... You can't get it back... and won't get it back..." he snickers, "that which it taken cannot be returned.... what was devoured, can never be given back.... his soul... will become part of me... and that's just the way it is..." He snickers again and backs away from Altria, "If you have nothing else to speak with me about.. then begone..... I have no time to waste on a lowly shinigami such as yourself..."

Eyes widening at Destadi's words she trembles,despair welling up in her heart. 'His soul... will become part of me' echoes in her head over and over,tilting her head down she stares at the ground,face hidden by bangs.'No!..no..a way..there's always a way..I'm not..losing him again...not again..there has to be something.. anything..I can't..give up..I can't...I...I wont!!' Gripping zanpakuto tightly,wings coming from the tsuba cutting into her hand and drawing red lines she looks up to gaze at Destadi,stubbornly determined and unbendable look shining in her eyes. "You're wrong..anything lost..can be found..returned..regained..once more...if one only searches deep enough.. tries..hard enough..and doesn't give up." Keeping her gaze on him she steps closer,mindless of the tsuba digging deeper into her hand,which began to bleed, solely focused on Destadi."Return..Shiro's...soul!!!!..You can call me what you will..lowly,weak,pathetic..but I will never give up..never leave until you return what is not yours!"

Destadi smirks, then smiles widely and begins to laugh at Altria, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! How naive are you? you couldn't be more optimistic if you tried!!!" he takes a step closer to Altria and stares slyly into her eyes. "You may try as much as you want... but.... the reality behind the truth.. is.... his soul will become part of me... and no matter how you pose this question to me..... the answer... shall always... be no..." He smiles gleefully revealing his sharp pointy teeth, "Sorry love..... I can't give back that which is lost.... you're outta luck...now... unless you have something else to speak to me about..." he pauses, and turns to start walking away, "this conversation.... is officially closed... sorry love..." he starts walking off.

Collapsing to her knees in devastation Altria quivers,shoulders shaking, dark despair washing over her. '...Shibu's soul..will become..part of ..Destadi??... no.. no.. no.. no,no,no,no,no,no,no....NO!' Memories of losing Shiro rise up..from the long ago human time..blurry and faded...and from more recent time..clear and in focus. Making a pained sound Altria shudders,tears gathering and falling down her cheeks.'No..no...I can't...lose Shibu..my Shibu..can't lose him..again..he'll be gone..forever....not here..anymore...I can't..I..' Feeling comforting energy she looks up,seeing moon beam shining on her shoulder.Looking up at the moon Altria suppresses a sob,gripping Tsukiyomi tighter and further tearing her hand open.'I wont!! I wont lose anymore precious people!' Gathering herself up she stands up slowly,seeing Destadi walking off Altria rushes for him.Grabbing his shoulder she pulls Destadi to a stop,turning him around.Dropping Tsukiyomi she grabs Destadi by his hakana in an iron grip,blood from her torn hand staining fabric red.Shaking him lightly she clutches Destadi tightly,a desperate,pleading look in her tear filled eyes,voice shaking and pleading," Give him back!! Please..give him back to me!! I can't..I can't lose Shibu for the third time..I can't!..Please..I'm begging you..just give him back..you don't..you don't need his soul! You're already powerful..you don't need it for strength..find something else to feed on..please!..I can't..continue on..if he's not here....." Quivering, trembling, clutching Destadi with bloodied shaking hands,Altria stares deeply into his eyes.Grief..loss..pain that wrenches your soul apart..broken heart..loneliness..despair..all reflect in the depths of her different colored eyes as tears continue to fall like rain.Quivering,she whispers in a begging voice,"Please ..please.. please...please return..my Shibu...please..I..I'll trade you..there must be..some things you want..?Something worth more then one time meal..I..I'll do anything if you just.give.him.back!!!"

Staring wide eyed at Altria, something resembling sympathy reflects in his eye. Seeming a bit pained he places his hand on Altria's shoulder and gently pushes her back. He looks down at the ground, and drops his arm back to his side. He let's out a shuddering sigh, as if to be in pain, then glances over at Altria. "..... He really means......... Truly means that much to you?" he let's out another sigh then looks up at Altria. "fine.... I will propose a trade.... in return.. I'll Give you back Shinobimaru's soul..." he stares deeply back into her eyes, showing sympathetic discord. "If I do this... you will break the seal on your neck... and give me the dark power that lurks within you...." he pauses, and then reopens a garganta behind himself. "I give you till the new moon.... meet me back in this clearing... ALONE.... and we shall make our trade..... until then... Altria..." He turns away, and heads for the garganta before pausing to glance back at Altria. "Farewell..."

Stumbling back at his gentle push she quivers,bringing her hands up to her chest and clutching them together tightly,answering his question in barest of whispers, "More then..life..itself.." Seeing sympathy showing in his eyes her own light up with hope,listening to his words intently.'Shibu..I can save Shibu..' At the mention of a seal and dark power she shivers involuntarily,eyes widening slightly."S-seal???" A quick flash of a memory flickering by Altria cringes,shaking her head,utter confusion showing on her face.But buried deeply there's also a hint of fear. Taking a step towards Destadi she calls out,"Wait! I don't..I don't understand..Seal? Dark..power?..Give it to you?"

Destadi stops for a third time, and turns to face altria. "you don't know?" he suddenly in front of her and leaning close with a dull and unreadable expression on his face. "that tatoo on your neck... isn't just some pretty design for looks.... Altria..." he circles around behind her and presses his index finger to the seal. "this mark... is a seal... the dark power it holds in check... is what I want....." he takes his hand away and smirks at Altria, "but... in order to obtain that darkness.... the seal must be broken... and to do that...." he leans close whispering in her ear, "that which was cast away, must be reclaimed..... in order to be able move forward, the past must first be accepted... without it... one has no future..." he takes a step away from Altria, still smiling, but slyly not evilly. his words seem to have a much deeper meaning than what they appear to have. "through the many passages and corridors of our hearts... there are memories... though we ourselves may forget.. our hearts never do... any memory that is or was... never fades... no matter how buried it is.. will always be there..." a sly look flashes across his face, "with that.. I leave you to ponder... and seek the answers you wish to find.... you have them all.... within your memories..." he smirks then turns to head for the garganta once again. "you have until the new moon.... find your answers... and awaken to yourself... and the truth of it..."

Taking a step back startled when Destadi suddenly appears in front of her, leaning in,Altria watches him warily,confused expression on her face. Eyes widening when he touches the seal she utters a soft,pained gasp,feeling something like electrifying jolt go through."Ah!" His whispered words coming in through a haze Altria shivers,feeling oddly familiar stirring deep down,a feeling of something waking,just barely.Wincing,pained,she places one hand over the seal as it glows faintly.'Urgh..it's...burning.... >< ...rghh..damn it..that..really hurts...' Shaking her head trying to focus she looks up at Desta when he takes a step away,shock and surprise showing on her face.'Passages and corridors?But that's my..my inner..world..how does he...past to be accepted...past..past Tsuki..locked away?..what did I want to forget...something..this..what is..this?..'Frowning with a concentrated look Altria tries to grasp the knowledge and memory dancing just outside her reach, stirred up from Destadi touching the seal and his words, but it slips through her fingers like water, leaving behind a burning wave of pain to wash over her and an oppressive feeling of something old and dark. Uttering a pained sound she sinks to her knees, hugging herself tightly, a curs escaping her lips."Bloody hell!" Tsukiyomi's worried voice reaches as if from somewhere far away,muted by something,'Kichoo,you must stop this at once!' Drawing in a shuddering breath and ignoring his muted,panicked voice,with stubborn persistence she reaches for the awakened slippery memory again,before it sinks away once more,tugging it closer.Image of a person and a voice,a quietly whispered unrecognizable name,flicker by.Pulling it closer Altria suddenly jolts, slamming into some kind of barrier,like a door snapping closed,while at same time being jerked back violently and away from it by Tsukiyomi.Shuddering she tries to breath,scalding waves of sharp pain rolling over in waves,a pained cry escaping as she doubles over.Clutching the seal with one hand as it feels simultaneously on fire and stabbed,a strange copper taste rises in her mouth. Struggling with strangely familiar feeling of something else rising,creeping up slowly,and waves of pain rolling through Altria rocks back on her heels to lean against a tree trunk,the world starting to slip away as edges of her vision turn red and then black. Shivering she bites her lip,struggling against pulls from two different sources,both
edging velvety darkness closer.

Watching altria, Desta smiles slightly. "let the memories flow back.... and drift back from the darkness of time........ you will find your answers...." with those final words, he turns away and walks through the garganta, leaving altria to deal with her painful thoughts..... alone...

"Nnnhh..have to..get..back..can't..pass out..here.." Shaking her head and rising slowly,quivering,she holds out her hand,calling Tsukiyomi.With a comforting solid weight of the blade appearing in her hand she stares in direction of the barracks blearily,using Mugetsu to jump.The last few jumps nothing but a hazy blur Altria appears at the window of her room,climbing inside.Sealing her blade she manages to place it on the stand near the bed before dropping down onto the bed unconscious.

~One month later~
Glancing up at the sky and uttering a sigh Altria shuffles stack of papers on her desk,setting them down.Checking to make sure everything is in order she pulls out an envelope,setting it on her desk.Looking around the office one last time she steps out,heading back for her quarters.Once there Altria walks into her room,looking up at the sky through the open window in quiet thought.

sleeping soundly on the bed, Shiro hardly stirs when Altria enters the room. he fidgets slightly in his sleep, looking a bit pained as if something were causing him discomfort. He suddenly seems to relax becoming completely still except for the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest as he breathes.

Glancing down at sleeping Shiro a sad look comes to her face. Stepping closer she sits down quietly on the bed near him,watching his chest rise and fall in rhythm with his breathing for a long time,thinking back over the past couple months spent together. 'From a chance meeting once again and a fight...to becoming my most precious person..funny,how things work...I hope..we get more time..all the time in the world..' Reaching with her hand to caress his cheek gently Altria leans down,whispering quietly,"I love you Shibu..hold on a little longer,I'm getting the rest of your soul back." Kissing him softly she pulls away,standing up.Looking at him for a long moment Altria turns around,getting a few last things from her dresser in preparation.

just coming back from an evening stroll around the barracks, Uri carefully and quietly opens the door and enters, closing the door behind her. She makes her way to her room then pauses upon hearing shuffling noises from Altri's room. she turns and goes to knock gently on the door to Altri's room. ".... 'neechan? ........ may I.... come in please?" she sounds timid and somewhat shy.

Turning around at the knock on the door she hurriedly pulls down fabric to cover small hand blade attached to her right arm,recognizing Uriko's soft,shy voice. Satisfied it's hidden Altria calls out quietly,as to not wake Shiro,"Of course,come in Uri."

After long gone because of a mission, shin, in a hurry, finishes his report and rush back to the barracks, excited to see everyone. On the way, he sees Uriko entering Shiro's room.

"Uriko-sa--...oh she didn't hear me.."

following her, shin goes to the room.

not noticing that Shiro is asleep as he enters the room

"Altria-san, Uriko-san, and Shiro-san...It's been awhile.."

Before uri can ask altria anything about shiro, she turns and notices Shin. "Sh-Shin-kun....?" she goes over to him a bit timidly at first, and hugs him. "sh-shin-kun....." T.T she pulls back slowly, "..... I... I was..... about to ask.... about shiro-kun.... and how... he's doing...." she stares at shin with a look that says 'a lot has happened since you've been gone'.

Returning from patrol mission and short visit to 4th division healing station Loki passes his quarters,heading for Altria's.Fresh white bandaging wrapped around his upper chest,stretching to left shoulder and arm shows through his sleeveless shihakusho top.Stopping at her door and finding it unlocked he steps inside,seeing Shin and Uriko gathered in Altria's room he walks over."Yo.Uriko-chan,how ya doing?Shin-san,haven't see you in a long time. ^^ " Looking at Shiro sleeping on the bed and then at Altri his expression darkens."Altri-chan...how is he doing? And how are you doing?You look pale...and tired." She looks like something is going on and she's trying not to show..like back in academy days..

Looking at Uriko's expression makes a lot of confusion in Shin's mind.

"Oh, okay. That's why I came to, to ask how everyone's doing but what's with your look, it's as if you're saying..."

cut off as Loki enters, shin turns back and sees Loki..

"Loki-kun, yea, I had been busy for quite a while."

hearing Loki's question to Altria, shin cut it off..

"Wait a second, what do you mean by how is he doing?? Did something big happened while I wasn't around?"

"Shin-kun...things did happen.." Thinking on how to formulate and explain everything that has happened in such short period of time she sighs,a sad tired look settling on her face."..We got lured into a trap...by Destadi..and he.."clenching her hands tightly her eyes flicker to Shiro,settling on his sleeping form,"..he..he stole Shiro's soul....but Shibu must have broken away before the process was complete..because Destadi didn't manage to steal it all...but most of it....." Tearing her eyes away from Shiro she turns back to look at Shin."..there's enough of it left to keep him alive..but..he is not himself..and he has very little strength..we have to get the part Destadi stole before he..absorbs it.." Trailing off she glances at the moon visible through the window,thoughts jumping to the impending meeting.'..I haven't found a way to break it..except..what that one passage mentioned..but at least there's a way to transfer through the bond....' Doubt and worry nagging her a clouded look comes over her face.'What if he doesn't keep his word?..He's a deceiver...but what other choice is there..'

As Tenchiru practically breaks down the door, entering the room, she wipes off some dust and quietly mutters "I'll fix that door later." She walks up to the gang and smiles at Altria. "Well, well well, you seem to have quite a dilemma on your hands, hnn?" She looks cautiously towards Shiro, then back to Altria.

Almost instantaneously, she is a mere two centimeters from her face, and whispers into her ear, "So... Kurosawa, my sword, has graciously lead me here, because of you delightfully low happiness levels, saying it may be worth my while to get back something lost, hunh, little one?" This comes out utterly ironic because of Ten's appearance as a small, childish looking 17 year old girl, and because of this she chuckles.