Evie's Point of View
Why does it feels so empty inside my head? It feels like there's something missing. But what...? Then it dawned on me. The Eyes were missing!
I gradually opened my eyes, needing to find out where I was. I stared at the familiar ceiling of my room in the Urahara Shop. When did I get here? The last thing I remember was... Yajimaru starting the ritual to swap our powers or something like that.
I lifted myself so I was sitting. I was alone in my room. I looked down at my hands and my fear was confirmed. My fingerless gloves were not there. I no longer had the Eyes.
I stood up, but a wave of dizziness overcame me, and I fell to the ground with a loud thump.
"Ouch," I moaned, lying on my stomach. Maybe I'll wait until someone comes and helps me.
I watched the door open, and saw all of my friends, except for Ichigo and Toshiro. Where were they?
Orihime kneeled down next to me. "Are you alright, Evie?" Concern laced her words.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered trying to get up. Orihime grabbed my arm and helped me into a sitting position. "I just feel... different."
Yoruichi nodded. "I'm not surprised. You no longer have the Eyes."
I looked down, distressed. I had them my whole life. What was I going to do now?
"Don't worry," Orihime broke through my thoughts. "We're trying to figure out how to get your powers back to normal."
Before I could reply, there was a crash from the other room. "That was probably Ichigo," Uryu said.
Kisuke, Chad and Uryu left to go see if Ichigo was alright.
"How did you guys find us?" I asked.
"Hanbu came," Yoruichi explained. "He showed us the way, but by the time we arrived there, we were too late. The Alchemy Ritual was finished."
"Where's Toshiro?" I asked, curious and not quite willing to think about my lose of powers.
"He went back to the Soul Society," Orihime said. "After Yajimaru became a perfect being, the lock to the Soul Society disappeared, so Toshiro went ahead to let them know not to kill Yajimaru. If he dies, we won't be able to give you guys your powers back."
"Have we... Have we completely lost our powers?" I asked, the fog in my head starting to clear away.
"No," Yoruichi shook her head. "You and Ichigo have just switched powers... kind of. You have soul reaper powers now, but Ichigo only has Michelle. We believe Yajimaru has Rachel."
I nodded, remembering what Yajimaru said.
"Do you know what he wants?" Orihime asked.
"Yeah. Apparently he wants to destroy the Soul Society."
Both their eyes widened. "Really?" Orihime asked uncertainly, like she wasn't sure whether or not to believe me.
I nodded.
"This is getting annoying!" Yoruichi yelled suddenly. "Doesn't anyone think about what'll happen if the soul reapers are destroyed? Who's going to deal with the hollows once their gone?!"
Me an Orihime looked at her shocked. Yoruichi normally stayed calm and playful.
With her rant done, Yoruichi asked, "Is there a reason to why he wants to say 'bye-bye' to the Soul Society?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. I wanted to ask him, but I never got the chance."
I stood up, feeling better, but still empty. "Have you had any luck figuring out how to get our powers back?" I asked.
"Kisuke started examining the Alchemy, and he might have an idea how to get everything back, but he needs Yajimaru in order to do so."
Kisuke chose that moment to come back. "And in order for you two to get him here, your going to have to learn to use your new powers."
He had a point. I've never used an actual sword before.
"Let's go to the basement," Kisuke continued, then walked away. We followed him.
We watched him open the trapdoor to the basement. "You guys work on training. I'm going to continue trying to reverse the Alchemy."
I nodded and went into the basement, Yoruichi and Orihime following.
When we got down, we saw Uryu, Chad and Ichigo waiting for us. I flinched when I noticed Ichigo was wearing a red fingerless glove on his right hand. I thought they were always black.
"So," I spoke up first. "What exactly are we doing?"
"Your going to learn how to use your new abilities," Yoruichi answered.
"How are we going to do that?" Ichigo read my mind.
"First, your going to enter your inner worlds so that Zangetsu and Michelle can help."
"How do we enter our inner worlds?" I asked.
Yoruichi pulled Ichigo's combat pass out of her pocket. "Try this."
"When'd you get that?" Ichigo asked, eyeing Yoruichi suspiciously.
"It was left in the Precipice World when Yajimaru kidnapped you," she said simply. Then she threw me the pass.
I caught it and pressed the pass against my body, and for the first time ever, I left my body. I watched my body fall to the ground, like it always does for Ichigo. I looked down at myself and saw I was wearing a black soul reaper kimono. I reached behind me, and grabbed the sword. It was the exact same shape as Ichigo's, but it was a smaller version of it, about half my size. "This is... weird." I said. I put my hand on my heart. "It's kind of hard to breathe."
"You'll get used to it," Ichigo reassured me.
A cloud of depression hung over us. "I hope I don't have to," I sighed.
"Same," Ichigo replied.
Our friends looked at each other worriedly. "Don't worry," Orihime repeated herself. "You'll get your powers back."
Yoruichi nodded. "As soon as you learn how to use your new ones."
"Got it," Ichigo said determinedly. "Evie, how do you use your powers?"
"You just... let Michelle's power flow into you. If you can't figure that out, you should be able to talk to her through your mind."
He nodded and closed his eyes. About six, maybe seven, minutes later, his glove started unraveling and changing colour as it moved around his body. But everything was different.
Instead of wearing a ninja-like suit, he was wearing a kimono similar to a soul reaper's, except it was white. Ichigo was also wearing a hollow mask. It was white, with two red stripes coming from top of the mask, to the bottom. Ichigo also had wings. They reminded me of huge bat wings that were, put together, twice as big as Ichigo.
The only thing that looked the same was Michelle. She was still red and looked like she wanted to crawl out of Ichigo's hand.
Ichigo grabbed the mask and moved it so that it was on the side of his head.
"Woah," everyone breathed.
"You have wings, Ichigo," Uryu observed. Ichigo looked behind him, studying his new wings.
"They... They remind me of Ulquiorra," Orihime covered her mouth, her eyes glistening like she was on the verge of tears. Who was Ulquiorra?
Ichigo folded his wings, in and out, testing them. "They do," he murmured.
I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I decided to pretend that I didn't notice. "So, how do we enter our inner world?"
"Sit down, with the zanpakuto across your lap," Ichigo explained. "Close your eyes and enter your inner world."
I nodded. "Sorry, I can't help you figure it out. I've never purposely entered my inner world." I sat down, crossed legs, and placed the zanpakuto across my lap. Closing my eyes, I pictured my inner world, hoping I would get there and that Ichigo could enter his.
"You are not Ichigo," a new male voice spoke. I opened my eyes and saw a man standing across from me in the hall of my inner world.
"Are you... Zangetsu?" I asked, nearly forgetting his name.
"Yes. Who are you? We are not in Ichigo's inner world. How did I get here?"
"I'm Evie Ressello." I quickly explained how me and Ichigo switched powers. "That's why I'm in here now. I need you to help me learn how to use your powers so I can get Michelle back and Ichigo can get you back."
"I see." Zangetsu seemed to lose himself in thought, debating whether or not he really wanted to help. After a few moments, he spoke up. "You will prove that you are worthy of my help." A zanpakuto appeared in his hands and he threw it at me. I caught it, but almost cut myself. It was the same size as the one I obtained as a soul reaper.
"Who the heck passes a sword like that?" I yelled. "I could've gotten hurt."
Zangetsu ignored this and created his own sword, this one the size of Ichigo's. "We will fight. If you can beat me, I will help you. You will learn how to use Getsuga Tenshou, and possibly bankai."
Bankai? Cool...
Without warning, Zangetsu charged at me, sword raised in the air. With difficulty, I managed to block it. Barely. I wasn't used to physically holding a sword. As my hollow hunter career progressed, my sword always came directly out of my hand.
We backed away from each other a few steps. Then I charged, not wanting to give Zangetsu another chance to surprise me. He easily parried with his own. Next, I made it looked like I was aiming for his arm, but at the last second I changed course and managed to hit his leg. Zangetsu stumbled away a few steps, surprised by my move.
"Are you used to using a sword?" Zangetsu asked as he swung his sword, ready to decapitate me.
"Psychically holding one? No, I'm not. My sword normally comes out of my hand." I blocked his movement and attempted to slash his legs. I have to admit, it is pretty cool using an actual sword. Especially this one. Just like Michelle's sword, this one felt like an extension of my arm. Makes you wonder how Ichigo was able to hold his huge zanpakuto with ease.
Zangetsu stabbed me right in the shoulder. "Ahhh!" I shouted out when he pushed me into a wall. I growled and grabbed hold of his sword and pulled it out. I was going to win.
Our swords clanged against each other. At some point, both of our swords found a way in each other's stomach. We weren't bleeding as much as I thought we would, in fact there was almost no blood at all, but we were sweating from the pain. I didn't know zanpakuto could sweat.
Zangetsu started pulling his sword out of my stomach, so I decided to do the same.
"I will help you," he said.
"You will?" I asked, trying hard not to sound too relieved.
He nodded. "I will." Then he started explaining to me how to use Getsuga Tenshou. Maybe soon I'll learn bankai.
Ichigo's Point of View
Evie grimaced every once in a while. Was she fighting Zangetsu in her inner world?
"Alright, Ichigo," Yoruichi said. "It's time for you to enter your world."
"Should I do the same as Evie, minus the zanpakuto? She's never willingly entered her inner world."
"That would be my guess," Yoruichi nodded. "There aren't any half-beings close by to help you, and it would take awhile before you woke up if one did decide to help."
I sat down and placed my hands on my knees while closing my eyes. I hope this works.
"You're Ichigo, right?" A familiar voice, one that I haven't heard in a long time, spoke.
I opened my eyes and almost did a double take. Standing in front of me was an Evie doppelgänger. Well, almost. Her looks were the same. The only thing that was different was her white soul reaper kimono, red hair and red eyes.
"Michelle?" I asked, wanting to be certain, although I'm not sure who else would be here.
She crossed her arm and glared at me.
"Of course I'm Michelle," she snapped. "Who else would be here?"
I wish Evie warned me that Michelle got angered easily. I put my hands up in a surrender gesture. "Sorry! I just wanted to make sure."
She sighed. "I know. I just want to go back to Evie."
"Then will you help me?"
"Yes, if I think your strong enough to use me." She created a sword similar to Evie's normal one, except that it was black. She looked at it confused. "What the? Oh, wait. It probably has something to do with your spirit energy." She looked up at me. "Well? Create your own sword! We're going to fight!"
"Uh..." I looked at her dumbfounded. "How do I do that?"
She face palmed herself. "This guy is hopeless," she mumbled to herself. Then to me, "Collect your spiritual pressure into the sphere in your hand. Since my soul is in there, it should work. Outside of your inner world, you would have to collect reishi."
I pictured my spirit energy going into the sphere and a sword formed. Again, it looked like Evie's, but it was a bigger version of it and it was black.
Michelle charged at me. I moved to block, but I guess I wasn't paying attention with my new sword because she cut my arm.
I moved my arm away from Michelle and shot it at her, cutting her face. She wiped away the blood with her left hand and tried to swipe at me, but this time I blocked successfully.
"You catch on quick," Michelle remarked.
I nodded at her compliment. Then I jumped as she tried to kick my legs.
"I never thought I would have to do this," Michelle said, bringing her hands up in an all-too-familiar gesture. When she pulled her hand away, a hollow mask appeared. It was white, with what looked like blood trickling down in no particular pattern. Her eyes through the mask was black, except for the cornea, which was yellow. When I hollowfied, did my eyes look like that? I was able to feel them change, but how was beyond me.
I copied the gesture, wondering if it would work for me, too.
It did.
Michelle's changed eyes looked surprised. "Have you dealt with an inner hollow or something before?" She asked as she charged at me.
I parried. "Yeah, before I lost my soul reaper powers against Aizen."
She nodded and tried to cut off my sword arm, but I moved out of the way on time. Then I attempted to stab her in the stomach but she danced out of the way.
Michelle tried to swing at the side of my head, but I ducked and stabbed her right leg.
"Ahhh!" she cried out as she fell to the ground.
Michelle moved her hand up and made the mask disappear. Then her sword started fading away too. I decided to do the same.
"Yea, I'll help you," she said as I sat down. Then Michelle started explaining to me how to use attack zaiphion.
• • •
I opened my eyes to see that I was in the Urahara Shop basement.
"How did it go?" Yoruichi asked.
"I think it went pretty good," I answered. "Michelle chose to help, so now I can use zaiphion and a couple of other things."
Yoruichi nodded. "That's good. The sooner you two are ready, the better."
"Where's Orihime, Uryu and Chad?" I asked, realizing that they were gone.
"They headed home. They'll come back tomorrow," Evie answered.
I looked at her and saw that she was awake. "How did it go with you and Zangetsu?" I asked as I started standing.
"Good. He taught me how to use Getsuga Tenshou, and thinks I might be able to use bankai."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"Let's find out," Yoruichi said. "For the next two days, you two will fight each other to get used to using your powers in the real world."
"But we can't wait that long!" Me and Evie shouted together.
"You will, because you don't have a choice. Kisuke and I will not let you go to the Soul Society without any training."
I sighed, knowing I didn't have a choice. "Alright, Evie." I turned to her. "Let's get started."
She grabbed her zanpakuto as I created a sword. This time it was red.
We charged at each other.