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Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
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Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 97
- 98
- 99
Reunion 2: My Daughter

Soi Fon watched as the Swarm scattered and withdrew. There could only be one explanation for that: Aizen was dead. Well, she supposed they might scatter if Ichigo and Grimmjow had failed and died, but she could still feel their reiatsu signatures. They were tired from the battle, but their energy was still bright and healthy, so her money was on a dead tyrant.

The movements of the battle with the bugs had drawn Barragan and Ggio away from the Kuchiki Estate and back towards the Kyoraku Manor. Eventually they ended up just outside of the manor�s open gate, fending off the Swarm. Without a Hollow in residence, the insects had left the place alone� that is until Barragan chose to make a stand at the entrance to his stolen den. She trailed the two, remaining hidden in the growing shadows as midday turned into afternoon.

She prayed that Yammy hadn�t done too much damage to Ggio, though her mate didn�t seem as if the brutal Tenth had had much of a chance to enjoy him. He was moving too easily and he wasn�t bleeding. Soi Fon had seen the aftereffects of Yammy Llargo�s �affections� on Byakuya over the last week and Ggio didn�t move as if he were in agony. She could only hope that Barragan hadn�t had a chance to force himself on her current Taichou over the lunch hour, before the Swarm invaded.

If all went well, Harribel would be joining her shortly, as would several of the others and she could put the Second out of everyone�s misery. In her opinion, the universe ought to have grown weary of the old coot by now.

If the �old coot�s� mutterings were any indication, the feeling was mutual.

�Humph! Miserable insects,� Barragan grunted as he watched the Swarm retreat. He made no attempt to chase the insects down either and lowered his double-bladed axe once he deemed it was safe. Flesh slowly returned to his skeletal frame as he let go of his released state. Ggio also dropped his Resurrección when no more insects came to plague them. Soi Fon had almost forgotten what Barragan had forced Ggio to wear. The father of her child wore nothing more than a shameful pouch that covered his genitals, held up by a few ties around his hips and his waist. Yumichika arrived a minute later, newly returned from his mission to the Rukongai and likely obeying the pull of Barragan�s Claim. He, like Soi Fon, stared at the change in garb.

Soi Fon narrowed her eyes. How, she wondered, did that peacock manage to make it through a fight without a hair out of place? Worse, one of his eyebrows rose as he looked at Ggio and his state of near-nakedness and he followed that with a noise of disapproval.

�That, I believe, is the least flattering thing I�ve seen you wear,� Yumichika declared in a vain effort to lighten the unpleasant mood that lingered around the Second Espada. Barragan hated having to get off his ass and do anything resembling real work and had a notoriously short fuse after battles. Ggio didn�t reply right away, though Yumichika�s gentle teasing brought a distinct flush to his cheeks.

�I don�t think even you could look good wearing something like this,� Ggio murmured back. Yumichika snorted indelicately.

�When you�re this good-looking, it doesn�t matter what you wear.�

�Enough! The battle is over and I desire satisfaction,� Barragan snapped as he turned and swept through the broken gates, unamused by his pets� banter. Both men�s bodies tensed, a sure sign that Barragan had clamped down on their Claims, before they followed him. This was another side effect of battle for Arrancar and the Second was no exception. He took a seat on the closest surface that looked likely to support his weight, a stone bench that had seen better days. To Soi Fon�s disgust, he bared his cock. Neither slave wasted any time sloughing off their clothing. Soon, both kneeled before their Master, their heads bobbing between the Espada�s thighs as he forced them to pleasure him with their tongues.

Soi Fon had seen this spectacle hundreds of times and Ggio�s Claim had forced her to participate, though she�d never had to service Barragan herself. The knowledge that Aizen was likely dead reduced her tolerance for such a degrading sight to a fraction of what it had been. Moreover, she no longer had a Claim preventing her from acting. With Barragan distracted with sex, she might not get a better chance.

Suzumebachi left its sheath and she silently called upon her Shikai. Using Bankai would be out of the question. Past experience had taught her that it wasn�t strong enough to kill Barragan, and would prove hazardous to Yumichika and Ggio if she fired it at him now, which would defeat the entire purpose. That and it was about as subtle as a mouthful of firecrackers. Fortunately, she had better options available.

Sliding her fingers into her hakama�s pocket, she fished out a small jar. It was a gift from Yoruichi, left atop her pillow at Harribel�s place two days ago. Uncorking it, she dipped the tip of her stinger into the tar-like liquid. It was a small bit of insurance, a true assassin�s tool. She needed to kill Barragan quickly or she would have to fight all of them, and that would not end well. Maybe at her peak she would have stood a chance in a three-on-one battle, but not now. Even with Orihime�s healing, she hadn�t entirely recovered from childbirth, nor had she regained her lost muscle mass from years of living cooped up in a kennel. On top of everything else, the recent long nights spent setting everything up for the coup had drained her.

Soi Fon snuck from shadow to shadow, the small amount of rubble from the recent battle giving her plenty of hiding spaces. At the same time, the loose rock and debris underfoot made stealing into the courtyard difficult. Eventually she found a favourable position and shifted her weight to her back foot, preparing to strike�

�Oi! Now that is just fucking sick!�

A loud, familiar voice boomed its objection, the words bouncing off the remaining intact walls of the Kyoraku courtyard. Soi Fon, unprepared for the arrival of anyone other than Harribel�s pack, forced her body to relax. She also cursed inwardly, wishing she could cut off the head of the idiot who had ruined her ambush.

Barragan instantly went from �distracted� to �vigilant.� Forcing his concubines to the side, he rose and tucked himself back into his hakama as the interloper came into view. Sarugaki Hiyori, her lip curling, came to a stop near the fountain in the center of the courtyard and stared arrogantly at the three men. She carried her cleaver-like Zanpakuto and from the holes in her clothing, the blood on her jacket and the soot on her cheeks, she�d just come from a skirmish.

The woman hiding in the shadows wanted to groan. Her recollections of the last time she�d seen the angry brat weren�t positive ones. Soi Fon had no idea why the Escapee had decided to come here and prayed the snuggle-toothed girl wouldn�t get in her way. The only good thing about the situation was that at least Barragan wasn�t forcing Yumichika and Ggio to fellate him any longer.

�I do not appreciate this interruption,� Barragan growled dangerously. The girl in the singed and torn-up track suit sneered.

�I don�t give a fuck about what you want, just like I don�t give a fuck about the three Arrancar I just killed. It�s just too bad that the last one broke my phone,� she sneered back, plucking at her ripped jacket. �Guess I�ll just have to put you down all by my lonesome.�

If Barragan considered her statement relevant or intimidating, he didn�t show it.

�Be gone, you skinny little sewer-rat. I�ve no interest in dirtying my axe with your unworthy blood. Go play with your dolls.�

Hiyori hissed at the insult to her physical appearance as well as his dismissiveness, before charging recklessly at them with the clear intent to remove Barragan�s head from his shoulders. Barragan didn�t bother trying to dodge. Instead, Ggio and Yumichika, naked as jaybirds, grabbed their Zanpakuto and moved to intercept her. Her mouth spewing curses that would shame a sailor, Hiyori met their blades with hers and the sound of metal on metal rang out over the Estate.

�Perhaps this won�t be a total loss after all,� Soi Fon considered as she watched the fight between the three take to the air, the two pets driving Hiyori upwards. They left Barragan to sit irritably on his bench, angered at the delay of his post-battle pleasure. He even seemed a touch bored, though one of his hoary eyebrows went up when the mouthy little Vizard donned her mask. What mattered was that he gave the fight his full attention, and thus gave Soi Fon the opportunity she needed to strike while his guard was down.

She might not have been in prime fighting condition, but there was nothing wrong with her aim as she flung herself forward. Her jab was true; the stinger of Suzumebachi punctured Barragan�s left shoulder. She pulled it out quickly so that she could get in the second blow that would end him.

�Kuchiro, Arrogante!� Barragan declared in a cold, gravely voice. The shift from flesh to bare bone and a rush of black miasma forced her to abort the manoeuvre. She leaped away from him, using a Shunpo so fast it would have put Yoruichi�s footwork to shame. The bench behind Barragan turned to dust, as did a few nearby shrubs. Respira coiled about him like a second cloak, preventing her from getting in close. She in turn stole a few choice words from Hiyori�s toxic vocabulary. Hand-to-hand combat, her specialty, was useless against Barragan, though the mist wasn�t as thick as it normally was. The Swarm had managed to get him to burn through some of his reiatsu, Nevertheless, he still had far too much of it for her tastes.

�I don�t need to win fast. The others should be on their way here soon,� she sharply reminded herself. All she had to do was wait for real help to arrive while she stayed out of the way of Barragan�s rot.

The game of cat and mouse began, and to her dismay, she realized the poison Yoruichi had gifted her seemed to have no effect on the Espada, probably because in this form, he had no blood to circulate it. Even if he did, he would just age the poison until it broke down into harmless proteins, as he had apparently done with her first strike. The black butterfly that was her Shikai�s trademark was already gone.

Barragan finally left the ground to hunt her. It appeared that he didn�t want to do too much damage to the Estate he had conquered, though the lack of available hiding places could also have been a factor in forcing her skyward. Behind her, she could hear Hiyori liberally applying the term �dumbasses� to Yumichika and Ggio. Barragan seemed content to leave the three to battle each other. Soi Fon supposed she ought to be thankful for that, since she had no desire to face Ggio like this.

�You have been a thorn in my side for far too long!� Barragan�s deep voice complained. �I should have put you down instead of letting my traitorous fraccion Claim you.�

The black mist moved towards her like a striking serpent and she had to expend precious energy to get out of the way while she looked for weaknesses in his defences. Her eyes latched on to something interesting, and that was the fact his backside seemed to be clear of the stuff. Maybe if she could get Hiyori to hit him while he was busy with her, or vice versa, they could win this. Unfortunately, she had no way to communicate such a plan to the Vizard. The best she could do was to cripple Hiyori�s opponents long enough to take them out of the equation, and free up the former Shinigami to help her.

Barragan was powerful, but aside from Respira, he was physically much slower than she was. She turned her back on him and made for the other three at top speed. At first Barragan must have assumed she was trying to flee, because he took no action to stop her. Resealing her Zanpakuto, she chose her target carefully and by the time the Second figured out what she was up to, it was too late.

Yumichika went limp as Suzumebachi�s hilt met with the back of his head, the �crack� audible and hinting at a long rest for the blow�s recipient. Soi Fon caught him before his body met with the ground, controlling his descent. She could hear him in her head as she dumped in in a patch of grass, bitching at her about the lump and the bruises he�d have when he awakened. If all went well he would come to as a free man. More importantly, she hoped that being unconscious meant that Barragan couldn�t continue to order him to fight.

With only one opponent, Hiyori was able to hone in on Ggio and she pulled no punches, to Soi Fon�s dismay. Barragan caught up with her at that point and once again, she scampered to avoid Respira. She also had to find a way to incapacitate her daughter�s father, before Hiyori did real damage to him. Soi Fon knew he�d be able to go toe-to toe with an increasingly angry Hiyori now that he was back in his Resurrección, but she wasn�t sure what tricks the brat had up her sleeve either. At least it meant he was no longer naked. Meanwhile, she did her best to dance around Barragan�s attacks.

If she wasn�t at her best, then the Espada wasn�t exactly at the top of his game either. The longer he kept Respira in play, the slower the mist moved, enough so that Soi Fon was able to stop dodging and check on whether her reinforcements were coming. On the third of these �breaks,� she felt Toshiro�s frosty reiatsu draw closer, which meant that Harribel and her pack would be right behind him.

�Kami, it�s about time,� she thought as she began to sweat from exertion. The Third and her mate would tip the balance in her favour. Between the three of them, she�d have enough muscle to get in and purify him. All she had to do was keep him busy for a little longer.

Barragan halted and suddenly glanced towards the Palace. Soi Fon got the impression he would have had a frown on his face if he were in his normal, sealed state. To her dismay, the black-robed skeleton seemed to have put together what had happened there. The creature�s crowned skull then swivelled, sensing Toshiro and Harribel�s approach and Barragan cocked it, as if weighing his options while his bare knuckles tightened around the axe�s shaft.

�So, that insolent pup Aizen got himself killed. It serves the overreaching fool right!�

The old Arrancar laughed uproariously and Soi Fon could hear the satisfaction dripping from each word. He swung his weapon outward in an exultant manner, incredibly pleased with the development. It was as if he�d forgotten she and Hiyori were there at all.

�Finally, this world is mine for the taking! I am King once more, of Hueco Mundo and now, of the Soul Society!�

The corrosive mist retreated, leaving Soi Fon confused, until she heard what Aizen�s presumptive replacement had to say.

�I�ve had enough of this foolishness and I have no further use for such an unwilling pawn, when I can now Claim whomever I desire. Perhaps a new pet is in order...�

With that, Barragan extended his bony hand and sent Respira, not at Soi Fon, but after Ggio and Hiyori. Soi Fon moved faster than she thought possible, unprepared for a scenario in which he chose to kill his own follower along with his attackers. There wasn�t even time to scream out a warning before she barrelled into her lover, using her momentum to carry them both out of the way of the mist. She suffered for it; the blade attached to his left arm slashed deeply into her side, but there was no helping it. Hiyori also managed to scuttle to safety, though she hadn�t emerged unscathed. The Vizard lost some hair to the miasma, but she had enough sense to cut off the affected pigtail before the creeping rot reached her scalp.

�You dumbass!!! Do you have any idea what it takes to grow out my hair! Just for that I�m going to cut you down to soup bones and divvy you up between Jun and Tadashi!� she yelled at the skeleton.

Soi Fon couldn�t hang on to her mate, thanks to Barragan�s orders, or take him out of the fray as she�d done to Yumichika. An anguished Ggio struck at her again using the knives embedded in his forearms. This time he cut into her bicep because she�d been unable to disengage fast enough. Stepping away, she tried to staunch the bleeding from the cut to her side. The wound slowed her down, allowing him to keep up with her. His left blade shot towards her sternum and would have connected had Hiyori not tackled Ggio. The blonde�s Zanpakuto sloppily hamstrung him, although the angle and the harshness of the swing suggested she�d been trying to kill Ggio, not just wound him.

The strike allowed Soi Fon to take evasive action, though Hiyori cried out when Barragan forced Ggio�s arm around. The tiger�s blade sank into the Vizard�s back, the edge sliding between her ribs and her shoulder blade. Both of them fell, with the Arrancar pulling his weapon out of his foe just before they hit the ground. Ggio, at least, landed on his feet, like any feline. Hiyori wasn�t as lucky.

�Fucking shit!�

Blood spilled from her shoulder in a red cascade as she rolled, coming to a stop against a decorative stone lantern. She did her best to lurch to her feet, glowering at both Barragan and the tiger. Ggio�s hefty Resurrección�s form stumbled, his leg unable to bear his weight any longer and he fell to one knee, three feet from where Yumichika lay unconscious. His lungs heaved and all Soi Fon could see in his eyes was despair. Hiyori sidestepped the mist that swept towards her. It created a hole where she�d been seconds before and Soi Fon was at a loss as to what to do now. The poison wasn�t working, Ggio�s blade had hit something vital inside of her, Respira wouldn�t let her close to her quarry and she was beginning to think that not even Toshiro and Harribel could stand against the Second Espada�s unchecked entropy.

�Useless insects! Bow before your new monarch! You cannot hope to touch me with weapons such as those!� Barragan gloated, finally touching down near the fountain. �I am decay itself, you insignificant worm! Grovel and I might give you a quick ending!�

While Hiyori told the Espada what she thought of that idea, Soi Fon kept one eye on Ggio. He couldn�t speak with her, but his eyes told her to get away, to leave him and try to save herself instead.

How could she destroy Barragan if the only weapon capable of doing so was his own? Was it even possible to turn that deadly cloud against him and if so, how? She had no way of containing it and no time to figure out a strategy that would save any of them. The blood loss she�d already experienced had begun to take its toll.

Then she remembered the small jar in her pocket.

It might work, but she would surely pay for it. The little Shinigami surreptitiously pulled it from her uniform and dumped the poison it contained. Then she summoned her Shikai. Suzumebachi reformed on her hand, her middle finger protected by its stinger. Her other four fingers cradled the empty bottle.

�I have to make a hole and I have to do it fast. Respira will��

Soi Fon never had a chance to finish the thought. The seething Vizard�s terrible temper finally got the better of her. Hiyori blistered the air with enough profanity to singe the ears of anyone who heard it and in her rage, charged straight for the Second. The nearly-incoherent scream that followed rent the air and fear clutched Soi Fon�s heart.

Had the idiot lost her mind? Ggio and Yumichika were directly behind her! Respira would swallow them too! Indeed, Barragan shook his head derisively and brought two streams of corrosion, one from the left and one from the right, down upon the Vizard, who was too far gone with rage to stop.

Help wouldn�t reach them in time.

There was no time to try to drag her mate and Yumichika away and nothing she could do for the reckless Hiyori. The Vizard�s battle cry turned into a panicked screech as Respira cut off all avenue of escape and swamped the blond, who gurgled before she and her Zanpakuto succumbed. The excess flowed towards Barragan�s fallen pets�

Soi Fon couldn�t, wouldn�t let it touch them.

Heedless of the danger the remaining presented, Soi Fon used her fastest Shunpo to get behind Barragan, leaving a trail of blood and a lingering afterimage as the only evidence she�d changed position. While the Espada threw Respira at the mirage, she plunged Suzumebachi, her hand and the empty bottle right through the mist with all the force she could muster. The sharp tip of her Zanpakuto ripped through the midnight-dark robes and sank deep into the Espada�s body, well up to her wrist. Just as quickly, she let go of the bottle, which she hoped had caught some of the miasma as her hand passed through it. When she felt it disintegrate under her fingers, its payload delivered, she jumped away, her body crumpling to the bricks beneath her.

Above her, the self-styled ruler of Las Noches went into convulsions, grasping at his robes and flailing wildly with the great axe. The edge would have bitten into her skull had her arm not given way beneath her and put her on her side.

�There was no helping it,� she thought blearily, the decay taking hold wherever Respira had touched her. �No other way� sorry, Yoruichi-sama� I wasn�t fast enough��

�What have you done?� Barragan roared. His lower jaw dropped, until it hung at a gruesome angle. �What have you done to me?!?!�

�Only a� fraction� of what you� deserve.�

If Soi Fon couldn�t throw that in his bony face verbally, she could let the pompous monster read what she thought of him in her eyes. A hole had opened up at the point where she and Suzumebachi had landed their hit and it grew larger as the seconds ticked by, until she could see the wall on the far side of the manor�s main courtyard through it. Throughout it all, Barragan ranted and raved as his weapon of choice ate him alive.

Ggio struggled and she tore her eyes from Barragan�s death throes to meet his. Respira had fallen apart before it could reach either of the men and she breathed deeply. Relief helped blunt some of her pain, especially when the skeleton, his royal trappings and Gran Caida itself imploded, the black ash folding in on itself until there was nothing left of the monster.

�Worth it,� Suzumebachi declared. Her voice, echoing in Soi Fon�s mind, was weak and getting weaker by the second. The metal encasing her hand had gone black, as had the flesh and fingers beneath it. Neither would last much longer. Barragan�s death had disrupted Respira�s effects and her body was no longer subject to the decay it caused, but the rot had gone to her bones. Ggio scrambled frantically to her side, his useless leg leaving a smear of blood on the paving stones.

�How ironic� that I should have to leave just as we�ve won��

�No! Soi Fon! Don�t you dare die on me, not now!� her mate demanded as he pulled her body into his arms. �You can�t give up! I won�t let you!�

Such wishful thinking on his part. Between what Respira had done to her, the wound from his blade and the internal damage and blood loss, Soi Fon doubted even Orihime could heal her now. They had already tried to heal her throat, to no avail. As powerful as the human woman�s powers were, they couldn�t undo the �aging� that Barragan�s Resurrección caused.

�They can�t get Orihime here in time anyway and it�s better if she spends her strength on those she can fix.�

It was getting harder to breathe. Darkness seeped around the edges of her vision and her hearing grew fuzzy, until even the sound of her mate�s voice dimmed to a frantic buzzing. She knew it was her blood pressure dropping and Ggio knew it too, from the way he grasped her.

�Sorry love, but at least you and Avispona are free now.�

The fact she could touch him at all, after Barragan had forced them apart, was a small consolation. Despite the creeping numbness, her fingers of her good hand found his and tightened around it. �I�ll die as a Shinigami, not a slave� and as someone who protected those for whom I cared. I�m glad for that.�

She also wondered where she would go in the Living World, now that this incarnation was over. With luck, she�d end up with at least one parent as good as her mate would surely be for Avispona.

The sunlight�s heat dwindled, shivers she couldn�t stop set in and Soi Fon was vaguely aware of Harribel and Toshiro�s arrival. The first rushed to stand beside her, sorrow and regret in equal measures splashed across her dusky features while the second swiftly moved to check on Yumichika. The Third Espada silently rested a hand on Ggio�s shoulder. Soi Fon was grateful she uttered no worn-out platitudes to try to comfort him.

As her heart slowed, she wanted to tell him not to grieve too hard or too long� to take better care of himself and to let the peacock fuss over him on occasion. Soi Fon struggled to keep her eyes open long enough for her to convey what she could before the end of this lifetime came for her and the next one began. One last squeeze of her hand forced him to look down at her and see the movements of her lips as she mouthed her final words.

�I love you.�

Death, when it arrived, came on soft paws, curling up on her chest to listen to the last beats of her heart and to steal the last of her breath.

She fancied, at the end, that she heard it gently purr.

(POV)

Ggio couldn�t believe it, not even when he pressed his ear to her breast, praying frantically to whatever sympathetic powers might exist that he�d hear something, anything, to indicate his mate still lived.

�No� no� please� no��

His pleas went unrewarded.

Stunned at what he�d just seen happen, he could only hold her limp, cooling form to him and wail, letting the Seireitei hear the extent of his grief. She had done what he�d considered impossible. She�d killed Barragan, ending his reign over his two miserable slaves and dispelling the choking Claims on himself and Yumichika.

In doing so, she had paid the ultimate price.

It wasn�t supposed to be like this. Harribel was supposed to take her in, protect her, and yet, here was the Third Espada, her expression stricken and helpless, her eyes full of questions. She knelt next to him, as if he were one of her fraccion and gingerly laid a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, wanting to take what was left of his mate and run away. Before he could bare his teeth at her, he heard Harribel speak.

�She was not to engage him until we arrived. You saw what happened� tell me what made her attack him, despite my orders. Please, I know this is difficult, but you must tell us everything.�

Her strength and her relative status, the real regret he heard in her voice kept him from telling her to go to hell. In lieu of that, he gave a brief, halting account of what had transpired after the Swarm had boiled up out of the sewers. He found that he couldn�t go on when he reached the point where he�d watched her stab Barragan and felt his throat close. A few yards away, he thought he heard Harribel�s white-haired mate rapidly talking into what the Shinigami called �soul phones.� The longer he spoke with whoever was on the other end, the more agitated he got, until it appeared as if he wanted to throw the thing to the ground and smash it.

�Damn it all!�

�Toshiro�� his mate began, but stopped when he turned around. His face was ashen, as was the face of the man he was trying to help to his feet.

�That idiot Sarugaki� she had orders not to go after anyone alone,� he seethed as he slung one of Yumichika�s arms across his shoulders and assisted him in putting his hakama back on and limping over to where Ggio crouched. �Yoruichi told me she didn�t check in before she engaged the Second, and his story backs that up.� Toshiro indicated Ggio with gesture. �Kami, I hate to say this, but I think she forced Soi Fon-Fukutaichou�s hand.�

If it was an excuse for a plan gone horribly awry, it was a poor one. Ggio still had no idea what was going on, only that his mate had sacrificed herself to save him. Worse, he was finally free of Barragan�s Claim and she was no longer here to make his freedom worth anything.

Fabric rustled from somewhere above him and someone dropped his outer kosode over Ggio�s shoulders, giving him something to wear that covered his nudity. The cloth smelled like Yumichika and his scented soap. So did the arms that slid around him, giving him some badly needed support.

�At least she passed on beautifully, and left a marvellous legacy behind for us to embrace,� Yumichika whispered. The voice in Ggio�s ear was thick with unshed tears at her fate, but it also reminded the Arrancar that a very important obligation remained. Still in shock, he�d forgotten completely about his infant daughter.

Scrubbing at his red eyes with the back of his hand, he gently eased the body in his arms to the ground. His companion pulled off the white under-kosode and draped Soi Fon�s corpse with it, mercifully covering her face. There were other souls approaching; a few of the braver Kyoraku servants had crept from their hiding places in the Manor, intent on finding out what had occurred near the gate. Ggio would leave her body with them, to safeguard, until he could properly see to her remains. In the meantime, he needed to find his daughter and see if she was safely with Lindocruz�s mate.

�Where is Avispona?�

The response to his muttered question wasn�t what he expected. Both the Third and Toshiro looked at one another and the worried expression they shared set off immediate alarm bells in his gut.

�Rangiku and Tatsuki never made it to the 4th Division,� Harribel informed them. �They were supposed to check in for their appointments but never arrived.�

Ggio felt his already tight chest constrict again in dread.

�When were they supposed to be there?� he heard Yumichika ask.

�Nine-o-clock. Unohana-Taichou made a point to get every expecting couple that she could to go to the 4th Division today, to get them out of the way. My girls are helping her keep them there, until things settle down.�

�Would they have stayed at the Fifth�s den?� Toshiro inquired.

Ggio felt he already knew the answer to that. Tesra�s pregnant mate was conscientious to a fault. She would have pushed, pulled or dragged Nnoitra�s pet and herself to the healer�s Division if Aizen�s wife told her to do so. It meant that his daughter was out there somewhere, in the middle of this mess.

He had just lost the only woman he�d ever loved. He�d be damned if he was going to lose their child too.

�We need to find them!� he growled, shoving his overwhelming grief aside and trying to rise by using Yumichika�s shoulder as leverage. He could revisit it later, when he�d made certain Avispona was safe.

�Stay down until we can patch up your leg,� Toshiro ordered brusquely. �You�re not going to be able to put weight on it until we can get a healer to reconnect the tendons.�

The Arrancar wanted to argue with him, but Yumichika wrapped a hand around his bicep and shook his head.

�I�ll see if I can�t temporarily knit those tendons back together with Kido. Nothing too strenuous or they�ll tear again,� he cautioned. Toshiro frowned as Yumichika flexed his fingers.

�I thought the 11th Division�s officers hated using Kido for anything.�

Yumichika made a face and carefully placed his hands on Ggio�s wounded leg and began what would be a rough patch job.

�Honestly� how, exactly, did people think that we made it back to barracks after a mission? It wouldn�t really a �win� if one couldn�t limp home to brag about it, now would it?�

Toshiro made a concessionary noise at the attempt at levity. Then he tried to find a way of easing Ggio�s mind about the Fifth�s missing household.

�Look, I spent enough time searching for my former subordinate when she was shirking her paperwork to be able to ferret her out no matter where she�s hiding. Rangiku may not have made it to the 4th Division, but I can still sense her reiatsu signature. We�ll find them,� the Taichou promised.

It pained him, but Ggio remained still while Yumichika and Toshiro quickly worked on the wound Hiyori had given him. They were right. It would not be fitting to die of blood loss after the sacrifice his mate had made for him.

He would not leave her daughter an orphan and if he did nothing else for the rest of his days, he vowed to tell Avispona, every night, the story of her amazing mother�

�provided he could retrieve his child from the chaos that still gripped the Seireitei.

�This message is broadcasted to you from inside the bunker�

There was no way I was going to let the final battle go without some casualties, and Soi Fon was one of the ones to take the fall. I was surprised how many people actually like her, but I wasn�t going to change the planned outcome simply because of that. The MCD warning is in the description for a reason. Hopefully for those that are fans of her, you can at least appreciate the method of her death, and that she went out well.

Next Chapter: We switch to Kenpachi and Nnoitra�s battle.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2