Episode 2: A moment's respite... peaceful, beautiful days.

Serenity was sent flying back as the cold reiastu burst from Asashi. She hit the ground hard, almost 100 feet away. She felt sore, and found it hard to breath, but she managed to lift her head and look at him.

Serenity's eyes opened wide, her mouth falling open. Asashi's shikai had unlocked infront of her. She shook her head clear, and looked up through her lashes. A grin, no, a smirk danced across her pale pink lips as she pushed her body up, and then used her zanpaku-to to gain her balance and stand. She was bleeding from her back, the corner of her mouth and a cut above her eye. The blood slowly slipped down her face, and into the front of her shirt.

Serenity placed her feet shoulder width apart, and held her zanpaku-to at chest level, perfectly perpendicular, pointing straight at Asashi. "Bring it on." Anix leapt infront of Serenity, a panicked look in her feline eyes. 'Are you insane?! He is using shikai! Going up against him with merely your zanpaku-to will be suicide!' Serenity merely shrugged. Her blade held level, and she remained unmoved.

"We are only sparring Anix, so I have no worries. Besides, if I continue to run away from everything, I will never move forward!" She ran head first at Asashi, flipped over him, then slid under his legs, pulling her blade across the back of his left calf. She flipped herself back onto her feet, facing him head on.

Zero saw her movements, but couldn't quite dodge, still getting used to his new power. He backflipped away before connecting with Toketsu. 'Okay, now that I got movement down, I'd like a little info please. Obviously you're a Kido-type, so what technique did I get?' 'Actually you have four. Let's start with number one...'. Zero nodded an readied himself. He quickly dashed at Serenity, then shunpoed behind her "You're pretty feisty. Time to cool off." He said, touching her shoulder, the cold seeping into her back as Zero's reiryoku began to gather "Kori Heki (Ice Burst)!" he shouted, firing a large burst of snow right into Serenity (Think a smaller, more snow than ice version of Rukia's Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren)...

Serenity felt the cold snow spreading throughout her, slowing her body functions to a near stand-still. She looked down at her hands, which both were wrapped around the hilt of her zanpaku-to. She let out a gasp, and a puff of air could be seen by how cold her breath had gone as her eyes watched her hands go blue. Her vision blurred and darkened, and she could have sworn she saw two people, twins, walking towards her. They each took one of her hands, held her back up, and looked at her.

In perfect unison, they said: "It is time to take back what you have always walked away from, Serenity. We are here to help you." She could now see their details. One was male, the other female. Their clothes were the blue of the hottest flames, and when you looked close enough at them, you could tell his short hair, and her long hair were, in fact, fire of the most brilliant blue.

Serenity nodded her head, and as if instinctually said: "Bring Forth Your Flame, Tsumetai Enkou-tsuin (Icy Flame Twin)." When she opened her eyes again, the blade of her zanpaku-to had split perfectly into two, blue flame running from the tips of the blades, extending up her arms to her shoulders. Her eyes misted over to protect them from the intense heat. A smile played across her face as she glanced up at Asashi. "What were you saying about round two?"

(Fire?! Oh, that's cold. Hehe... Contradictions)

Zero facepalmed. He HAD to pick a fight with a fire-type. 'Relax, your arm won't melt or anything like that' 'That's nice, but what about my attacks. They're all ice-based, and fire beats ice' 'Maybe. Let's test that shall we? Try technique number 2...'.

Zero removed his hat and tossed it over by his coat, before kneeling down and placing his palm on the ground. He focused his reiryoku into the ground. Immediately a pool of ice one foot in diameter. He then stood, but as he lifted his hand from the ground, something else came with it. By the time he stood completely up, there was a perfect ice replica of Toketsu's sealed form floating there. Zero grabbed it with his left hand, holding it regularly (not backhand) and held up his right. 'And moving along to number 3...' Zero's fingernails sharpened into 1/2 inch claws. "Time to get serious" he said, coming at her from the left with his claws...

As his arm came down from the left, the flames on that side of her body flared up to meet him. When they met, it was like metal on metal, as sparks showered down. Serenity looked up, and swung around a blade from her right, aimed at his chest.

Zero backed up and, on a hunch, grabbed her blade with his iced right hand. Just as he thought, no damage was done. The blade stopped and before Serenity could recover, he pulled her in and came down towards her shoulder with his blade. Unfortunately, the sword shattered before he could connect. In his shock, Zero let go of her sword. Good thing, too because in the next instant his shikai shattered completely, reverting back to it's sealed form. "Wha-? I don't understand" He reached over and picked up his sword 'To-Ke? Are you okay?' 'Yeah. Just seems we can only maintain shikai for five minutes' she panted out 'That's okay, though. We should be able to increase it with practice' she reassured him. He turned toward Serenity. "Hey, I'm gonna give her a break" he said pointing to To-Ke. He then turned and placed her on a nearby rock, then went back to Serenity, pulling out Suzumegami "Now then, where were we?"...


[Meanwhile, in Zero's inner world]

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes, in regal gold robes looked up at the eternal rain, a grin on her face "So the brat thinks he can wield me sealed, without even mastering his own shikai, huh? Let's see how long this'll last" she laughed to herself, those last words marked by a fierce strike of lightning...

[And we're back]

Zero grimaced as a flash of electricity shot up his arm "Please, Megami! Not now. I want to win this fight, to prove to myself that I'm not weak. You can respect that, can't you?".

Zero turned his full attention to Serenity, ignoring the jolts from Suzumegami "Come at me anytime!"...

Alice sighed, still standing before the... whatever they were surrounded by a bright white light and lots of mist. "Tell me who you are! I don't understand why I'm here!" She yelled out to them in distress and almost breaking down into tears. Looking down, Alice shuddered to herself and held her arms in an attempt to calm herself down.

Collin woke up to the same scenery, bright white and misty. "What the..." Collin thought but abandoned all thought when he felt Alice's pain and began running into the mist looking for her. After a few minutes, Collin finally spotted his sister, kneeling and staring at the ground. "Alice!" He exclaimed joyously and ran over to her, sliding on the swirling clouds and coming to a stop beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close for a tight hug. "Your ok..." Collin whispered, mostly to himself and felt his sister chuckle at his comment.

"Of coarse I'm fine. What are you doing here? I thought you were training?" Alice queried while she playfully smacked the back of Collin's head. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

"I was but when I asked for a break I kinda... What is that!" Collin yelled as he saw the two figures. The twins stood up and held each others hands tightly. The figure on the right spoke first.

"Do you think we should..."

"Test them? I don't..."

"See why not." They finished each others sentences much like Alice and Collin used to do but learned fast that it got annoying. The figures seemed to gaze at each other and nod.

Suddenly, a mirror like glass separated the Twins but their hands still connected though the mirror and it rippled where they stayed connected. Collin glanced at the mirror and waved his hand at it and, instead of his own reflection, he saw Alice in the mirror. Alice on the other hand just stared at the mirror and then glanced around her. She was still in the same white world that she had been in for what seemed like ages. Collin, at the same time as Alice, also looked around him but saw everything completely black with red curling must around him. The figures both looked at the mirror but only saw their own reflection. They turned back to their respectful twins and spoke.

"Lets just get..."

"To the point. You must..."

"Defeat us to..."

"Escape this place."

Collin frowned as he realized he would have to let go of Alice and vice-versa. Collin stared up at his figure.

"If I must defeat you, then it's only polite that I know your name. I'm..."

"I know who you are boy and I know you are not worthy enough to know my name." The female dark voice rang out. Collin flinched and reluctantly drew his Zanpakto with one hand.

Alice nodded to Collin, knowing what had to be done she let go and drew her sword too. They both rushed at the figures but found it to be a mistake when they were both tossed around like rag dolls every time they came near the figures. after what seemed like hours of fighting, the twins, battered and exhausted both withdrew to one knee. The figures both sighed. They had fought well so they should at least commend them on their efforts and let them go.

"You did quite..."

"Well. You may leave but..."

"There is a twist to these worlds." The figures sighed as the twins slowly rose to their feet. "You can only..."

"Leave if you..."

"Connect though the mirror again."

"Do it wrong and out of sync..."

"And I will meet your brother..."

"And I will meet your sister." The twins gulped. they had to get this right. perfectly right and not only at the same time but in the same place on the mirror. They walked slowly over to the mirror, sheathing their zanpaktos in the process. Sighing, Alice gently placed her hand on the mirror and watched it ripple under her touch. Collin closed his eyes and tried to mentally connect with Alice which wasn't working as well. Following his instinct, he pressed his hand into the mirror and hopped that he was right.

Opening their eyes, Alice and Collin found themselves back in the Squad 4 station. They rose from their resting positions and laughed as they gazed at each other. Luck had got them out of... Where ever they were just now. After feeling replenished and now full of energy, the twins decided to head back to the training grounds where everyone would hopefully still be there.

Serenity took a deep breath, and charged forward. She shunpo'd in a zig zag pattern, hoping to confuse him as to her whereabouts. She slashed with both blades, leaving nicks across his chest and arms, then shunpoed back a safe distance.

Zero took the blows, knowing he couldn't possibly keep up with her shunpo. As soon as she stopped attacking though he shunpoed about 6 feet away from her 'Here goes' he thought, charging electrical reiatsu into the hilt of Suzumegami 'You remember the price of failure, don't you?' she asked him 'I guess I'll just have to not fail' he told her, planting his feet solid "Eat this, RAIGEKI!" he shouted, thrusting his zanpaku-to at Serenity, forcing the reiatsu to extend towards her, essentially doubling the length of the blade. Sadly, it dissipated before reaching her. "Uh-oh... rebound" he said, just before the remainder of the collected reiatsu shot back violently into his body. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"....

She watched the reiastu extend towards her, then stop just short of her. It backlashed back at Asashi, sending him flying twenty feet back. Serenity immediately fell out of shikai, and shunpo'd to were Asashi lay. His hair lay across his face, and she gently brush it off his face, as she set his head in her lap. Serenity was no expert in the medical field, but she knew it was not a good sign that he was bleeding from his mouth. She wasn't strong enough to carry him, or could she see anyone near enough to help. She used basic keikatsu to stop the bleeding.

Zero was barely conscious after the massive shock he recieved 'Maybe it's still too early to try the Raigeki' he thought to himself, as he felt something move across his face. 'Heh, kinda tickles' he thought feeling someone move his head into a more comfortable position. He struggled to open his eyes. Once they were he saw Serenity stop his bleeding. He could barely give her a grin of thanks "How bout I hold off on that one for a while"...

Serenity nodded somberly. That might be a plan, champ. Would you like to go back to your bunk to rest, or just stay here?" She tried to keep things simple so as not to overload him.

Zero pondered a minute "I'll just stay here. Right now there's a large amount of electricity circling my system. If I move to much I might discharge it all at once, which would be bad news for anyone in the vicinity. Besides I'll be fine in about an hour. Maybe less. Thanks though"...

Serenity smiled. "If you were to discharge it all at once, that would be a rather..... shocking experience." She giggled lightly at her corny pun, careful not jar him any.

Zero chuckled "Oh, hah hah. But don't let me stop you. You can go on and... Wait a minute..." He stopped, and waved his hand in front of his right eye "Shit! That last shock must've shorted out my right optic nerves" he grumbled. "Great, first my scars, now this. What's next, I lose my arm?"...

Serenity's face dropped. "That's really not something to joke about.... We should find someone who can help. Someone who knows more keikatsu than me..." She looked around, seeing that no one was near. She hadn't realised that their training had put them so far from the group. "HELP! Someone, HELP!" she hollered, hoping someone would hear.

Collin and Alice sighed as they walked back to the training grounds. Alice had managed to get her shihakusho on before they had left the Squad 4 station. Colin was currently struggling to get his shitagi and kosode on. Alice giggled at her brother. "Want help there champ?" She stopped and let Collin walk forward a bit as he still struggled. Finally giving up, Collin hung his head. Alice walked over to her brother and held up his shitagi. "You should've put this on first." Alice said, somewhat amused that her brother tried to do the same thing she did.
"I'm flexible and could've done it..." Collin pouted, finally having his shihakusho completed. Walking towards the training grounds again, Collin heard someone calling.

Yoruichi Fon wrote:

"HELP! Someone, HELP!"

The twins ran off toward the yelling and found Serenity and a very beaten up person lying beside her. Kneeling down in front of the boy and Serenity, they spoke up. "How can we of assistance?" The twins managed at the same time. They hadn't done anything like that for ages and were a little surprised when they heard themselves say it.

Zero sat up slowly, looking at the newcomers with his good eye "Training accident. I received a large electrical shock and unfortunatly it shorted out my right optic nerves. Essentually I'm blind in this eye" he moved the large bangs that normally hide his right eye from view, showing that not only was the eye now milky white (indicating blindness), but there was also a large 4-pointed star-shaped wound where the reiryoku from the Raigeki entered the eye...

Serenity was shaking from exhaustion and fear. She had never seen someone quite that injured. She smiled weakily at the twins, waiting for further instruction. Serenity didn't even realise she was crying.

Alice walked around the boy to comfort Serenity. Holding Serenity's forearm by wrapping both her arms around it, Alice tried to sooth the girl. "It's ok, we'll help you out. Both you you. Serenity, you just need to calm down ok?"

Collin on the other hand was thinking of a perfect way to get rid of the blindness. Hopefully that'll work. Collin thought to himself. Looking up, he began speaking as calmly as possible. "Serenity, you need to stay there and try to help us out ok? If you can't preform the keikatsu anymore, let us know so we can change places. Alice, take a seat next to his head and follow my lead." Holding his right hand over the injured boys body and his left over his chin, Collin waited for Alice and Serenity to take their places. "Serenity, when your ready, position your hands just like mine are, ok?" Collin stated calmly again. Both of the twins were actually scared. Alice was shaking slightly where as Collin was showing his through his eyes.

Alice moved by shifting herself instead of standing up. holding both of her hand over the boy's forehead, she turned to look at Serenity to see if she was ready.

Higgins decided that going through some more practice routines with his Zanpaku-to couldn't hurt.

Jin opened her eyes quickly, adrenaline still running and her senses still on overdrive from the vicious battle she had been fighting with her own zanpakutou. She hastily stood up from where she was apparently lying on her side unconscious, swung her head from left to right to detect any imminent threats, and lifted her arms to bring her weapon to bear. Except the naginata wasn’t in her hands. It wasn’t even on the ground close to her. She was about to yell out that Habagat was being unfair and how was she supposed to learn how to use the weapon if the spirit was going to hide it from her, when she realized that her zanpakutou was indeed lying on the ground, unreleased.

She furrowed her brow in confusion as she quickly picked up the kansashi and took the time to inspect her surroundings. The light was dim, which explained why it was hard to see what was around her and why she thought she was still in her mindscape; but when she looked closer and longer, she saw no barren white trees or suspended droplets or bolts of lightning. There was, however, a ring of trees surrounding the clearing, and there was the big, gnarled one that she had leaned against before entering her mindscape. Only then did she realize that Habagat had decided the last knockout would conclude the day’s training session; and Jin wondered in sadistic amusement what is was about this knockout that set it aside from the six others she’d experienced through the course of the training.

Indeed, the training had been grueling, but it was also very rewarding. In the span of a few hours, Jin learned to fire the lightning bolts from her blade at will, even though her aim and her control of the intensity needed work. Jin had also familiarized herself with naginata techniques and forms that Habagat used. They were better suited to her built, capitalizing on the extended reach the lightning kido afforded her, as well as her speed and flexibility. Although there was still much to learn before she mastered the weapon and its powers, Jin felt more comfortable with her naginata and was confident she could give the Third Seat a better fight than she had given earlier that day.

Looking again at the sky that had only grown darker as she mentally reviewed whatever she had learned that day, Jin concluded that night had fallen. Feeling quite drained from the day’s events and perhaps due to the lingering effects of her injury or the ordeals that led to the injury, she decided to make herself comfortable and sleep between the jutting main roots of the tree. She was bound to get a few muscle kinks from sleeping outside, but it wasn’t anything that her new friend couldn’t heal the next day if they met before her rematch. Now, if they didn’t meet before her second encounter with Ikkaku… Well, a few muscle kinks weren’t anything that a good thrashing wouldn’t cover up and render negligible.

Zero could sense the fear in all three. To be honest, he was a little frightened himself, but he forced himself to remain calm. "I trust you guys" he said, looking into their eyes one at a time, attempting to project his strength into them. He was shocked to se Serenity crying "Hey, hey. What's with the tears? everything will be alright" he told her comfortingly. He then looked at Alice "Just do me one favor. Don't heal the wound around my eye. I keep scars to remind myself of failures"...

Alice smiled at his comment. "Keep the scars if you wish but I'm going to try and help you see again through your right eye. Collin's never usually so calm and collected, are you Collin?" She queried to her brother. His concentration was broken at the sudden question.

"I'm always calm Alice and I like puzzles. This is like a puzzle. We're going to use keikatsu together to try and defuse the electrical current running through him. Alice will focus more on making him see again... Where are my manners. I'm Collin and this is my twin sister, Alice." Collin leaned down to Zero's ear. "It's ok to make fun of her because we do look alike." He giggled lightly and sat back up, feeling a hand make forceful contact with the back of his head. Alice glared at her brother.

"I don't wanna have to use keikatsu on you either, Collin..." She said flatly. Turning to Serenity, Alice spoke again. "Don't worry. We'll all be ok. Are you ready, Sen?" Alice asked Serenity and added 'Sen' for a nickname for Serenity.

Zero chuckled at the siblings interaction "Name's Asashi Ryu Habasaki-Suijin. But that's a mouthful so just call me Zero" he said to Collin...