Hollow Moon: A Lost Shadow

Chapter 35: The Price of Time

All the Visored's impressed faces turned to shock when they saw Silas collapse. Lisa was the first to move, sprinting to his side. When the rest arrived, they noticed he was breathing heavily.

"Hachi, what's wrong with him?" Hiyori asked, panicking.

"We can't check him out here in the open," Shinji suggested.

As Hachigen holstered Silas's body over his shoulders, Shinji scanned the area to see if anything around might have caused this. His brows furrowed after discovering something odd.

Wasting no time, the group ventured back to the hideout.

Silas was placed on the couch, with Hachigen overlooking his body. A yellow, translucent barrier was summoned around him to diagnose what was wrong. This was Hachigen's special ability. Whatever was inside his spell's range, he could alter it's time and restore things to normal—much like Orihime.

"Any clue as to what happened to the kid?" Kensei wondered.

"Ichigo went all boom-bap!" Mashiro answered.

"That's not what I meant!"

While Hachigen was surveying Silas's body, Silas's breathing began to slow down. He was falling into a coma.

"I think I know what might have happened," Shinji stated.

The group looked at him for answers. After Silas had slain that Hollow, Shinji happened to notice that one of those children he saved distinctly looked just like Ichigo. Because Silas made contact with his "younger self", it caused some sort of temporal effect.

No one, save Love, understood what Shinji was getting at. Each and every one of them began bickering back and forth, unable to comprehend time distortion and its consequences. Love tried his best to dramatically quote pages from his comic books, but it still didn't help.

"Oh dear!" Hachigen said, sweat dripping from his face. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Everyone looked at him and saw a stunned expression he's never made. His eyes were widening in disbelief.

"His... His spiritual pressure is incredible!" he said, attempting to heal Silas's body. "I was trying to restore damaged portions of his mind, but I'm being overwhelmed by his spiritual pressure."

"Is it that large that you can't do anything?" Lisa asked.

"Large isn't what I would call it," he answered. "It's like... like I'm drowning under the sea."

Everyone was in doubt when they heard that. If what Hachigen said was true, that would have meant Silas had been hiding his spiritual pressure. Perhaps he had his reason, but something gnawed at the back of all their heads: If Silas ever became their enemy, he would overpower them.

"Just what sort of battles did Ichigo face in the future?" Rose asked in interest.

• • •

After some time, Hachigen released his healing barrier. There was a saddened look on his face, indicating things hadn't gone well.

Silas was still in a comatose state. His body lay on their couch without a sign that he was breathing. Thankfully, however, he was alive.

"Well, Hachi?" Hiyori asked.

"I'm afraid that a vital part of his temporal lobe has been damaged. There's no way for me to heal them today. And even if I do, there's no telling how he'll wake up."

"What does that mean?" Lisa wondered.

"It means he might not remember who he is..."

All of them who heard the news had mixed feelings. Hachigen is well known for his healing abilities. For him to be unable to fix something properly was a big deal. What troubled them more was that Silas had a chance of recovering with amnesia. Mix that with the fact that he was from another time period, and his mission to return would be heavily obstructed.

"How long until you fix him?" Love questioned.

"It might take a month, maybe more."

"Why so long?" Shinji asked.

"It's his Zanpakutō. Whatever spirit dwells inside it, it's preventing me from thoroughly examining him."

Lisa casually sat down by Silas's side. Of all the people concerned for his safety, the tie would be between Shinji and her.

Silas had proven to be an upright individual, helping them with almost anything they asked for. It was strange to some of them at first, but they gradually came to accept him as a member from the first moment they laid eyes on him. Everything he did was in accordance with what they each liked the most. A scary thought, but he never once proved to be an evil threat.

Gradually stroking his hair, she considered all those things: him wishing to exercise with her, him cooking her favourite meals, and lastly, his little stunt with the heart-shaped leaves. So she stood up and said with a bold attitude, "Hachi, let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"I wanna help, too!" Mashiro screamed, raising her hand.

"This isn't a classroom!" Kensei yelled in defiance. "But I guess I'll help in whatever way I can."

Everyone agreed that they would aid in Silas's healing. It was apparent that they would, being that he was considered a member.

"Alright," Hachigen announced. "What I'll need from everyone is to pool in some of your spiritual pressures throughout the day."

Each of them understood what Hachigen meant by "spiritual pressures". He wasn't just referring to their Soul Reaper powers alone; he was also hinting at mixing their Hollow powers as well. Since Silas already confirmed he had a mask, using their Hollow powers would hasten his recovery time.

Shinji walked over and looked down on Silas's sleeping body. With a large grin on his face, he said, "Gotta say, Ichigo, you've been making things quite interesting around here lately."

Before he knew it, he was dropkicked by Hiyori.

"What was that for?!" he screamed in protest, rubbing his head.

She pointed menacingly at him with an annoyed look on her face, yelling, "Ya made it sound like he was gonna be stayin' on the couch for the next month, Baldy!"

Though Shinji hadn't implied that in the slightest, it was evident that Silas wasn't going to be staying in the main lodging area. So Hachigen carried him to their underground training room.

This area was similar to the secret chambers under Kisuke's shop and Sōkyoku Hill. The only alteration was that there were no painted clouds on the ceiling. Accessing it was also different. Unlike Kisuke's shop, which required one to climb down a long ladder, this one was only a few feet underground.

"I'll stay down here with him all day and night until I've finished," Hachigen said. With a nod from the others, he began working.