Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 113 - Twin-Soul Rebirth — Heartbreak

A bright moon hung in the pitch-black sky. The endless desert of Hueco Mundo had returned to silence after the three Soul Reapers departed. Merciless winds drove the sands, burying the battlefield that had once been a ruin.

One day. Two days. One year. Two years. Countless ages passed. The ravines and cliffs carved by that explosion of Reiatsu were smoothed away by wind and sand, erasing every trace of the carnage.

Then, one day above the lonely white desert, a golden halo flickered, and erupted into blazing radiance.

"My child. Wake up."

The moon wheeled through the sky. After an unknown span of time, a gentle voice sounded beneath it.

"Mm..."

Consciousness stirred. Wayne opened his eyes in a haze.

"Huh? I'm... not dead?"

What met his eyes was chaos. He tried to shift his gaze, but couldn't manage even that simple motion.

That was when he realized: his body was gone. The space around him was formless chaos, no direction, no orientation.

"What's going on?" He replayed the battle in his mind. He had definitely died at the hands of Aizen and Gin Ichimaru. So why hadn't his consciousness dispersed?

"Child. You've finally awakened."

The gentle voice came again, and with it, a wave of warmth. As a being of pure consciousness, Wayne felt it suffuse him completely.

"Dominator of Hueco Mundo?"

In that chaotic world, all he could perceive was a point of light shining on him. Warm. Soothing. But it didn't restore his ability to move. He couldn't feel his hands or feet at all.

"Yes, my child. It has been a long time."

"I'm... didn't I die? Why am I here? Where is this?" The questions poured out.

"Regrettably, my child, you were indeed killed by a Soul Reaper." The Dominator's voice carried a note of sorrow. "Such a waste of your talent."

"If I'm already dead... then what is this?" Wayne pressed on with his consciousness. Without a body, he existed only as awareness. Was he supposed to settle some kind of reckoning in this state? But he was dead. Even if this were a game, his life was over. There was no reason to still be here.

"For that, you have your talent to thank." The Dominator's tone was calm. "Do you remember, when I granted you the Spatial Law, I gave you something extra?"

"That golden light?" Wayne recalled the gift from years ago. He had never figured out what it was.

"Exactly. It was a mark I placed on you, but in truth, it was also a seed."

"A seed?"

"Yes. Because of what makes you unique, I parted with a portion of my power and gave it to you." The Dominator spoke slowly, deliberately. "That seed was a safeguard. Had you suffered a fatal wound, it would have nourished you, allowing your soul to recover over a long stretch of time. But I did not foresee you being killed by a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto. That rendered the seed unable to restore your soul."

"Then how am I..."

"Your unique constitution. When you first came before me, I recognized it immediately, you are a Dual Soul Body. Because of that, alongside your innate Concealment, I was able to grant you the Spatial Law. And now, though your body and Hollow soul were both slain, the seed I planted succeeded in protecting the other soul hidden within you. That is what has led to this."

"So... I died, but didn't completely die?"

Wayne pieced it together. He had transmigrated by accident and latched onto a Hollow's body, turning what was once a single-soul Hollow beast into a Dual Soul Body. His own consciousness had taken the lead, and he'd grown stronger, eventually earning the Dominator's favor.

Then Aizen invaded Hueco Mundo and cut down his Hollow soul. The Zanpakuto's nature made it impossible for the Dominator to revive that soul, but the seed had protected the hidden human soul within him. That was why his consciousness still existed.

"Then I still have a chance to come back?!"

Excitement surged through him. Resurrection meant a chance to start over. A chance to see his comrades again. A chance to rise once more.

"Theoretically, yes. But..." The Dominator hesitated.

"What?" Wayne's heart seized.

"I cannot restore your power."

"What do you mean?"

"Your power as a Hollow has been absorbed by that Soul Reaper into the Fragment of the Soul King, the Hōgyoku. Your Spatial Law and Concealment as well. Your physical body was slain by a Zanpakuto. The flesh of a Hollow beast cannot be reconstructed."

"What?!"

Wayne was stunned. The Hōgyoku could absorb Hollow powers, yes, but his Law and trait too? How was that possible?

"The Hōgyoku is a part of the Soul King's body, the physical manifestation of his fingernails. I myself originate from the Soul King, as do the Laws and traits. That is why the Hōgyoku could absorb them."

"So even if I'm resurrected... I'll lose everything I had?"

Ripples of unease spread through him. Would he have to start over from the bottom, clawing his way up from a low-level Hollow again? Walk that brutal path a second time, without Concealment, without the Spatial Law?

"No." The Dominator's voice was measured. "Your Hollow soul has been killed by the Zanpakuto. The soul that remains can no longer be transformed into one of my children. Because the other soul within you... belongs to a human."

"Human..."

It hit him. Of course. He had died as a human and transmigrated. He'd never undergone the transformation from human soul to Hollow beast, he had forcibly possessed the body. The soul inside him had always been human.

"A human soul, then." Wayne forced himself to calm down. "But a human soul has no power to stand against Hollow beasts or Soul Reapers. Growing strong with only human strength... that path is nearly impossible."

"Indeed. Such is the balance of the Three Worlds. A human's training and mastery of spiritual power is a mere drop in the ocean compared to what Hollow beasts and Soul Reapers command." The Dominator paused. "However, my child... you are truly fortunate."

"Fortunate?"

"Yes. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, this is the fruit of your own efforts."

As the words fell, a spatial rift tore open at the edge of Wayne's consciousness. A moment later, a Zanpakuto dropped through.

"This is... a Zanpakuto? Suzumushi?"

Wayne stared, then remembered. During his battle against Aizen and the other two, he had sealed Tōsen's Zanpakuto. Now the Dominator had retrieved it.

"My power is nearly spent. Locating your Innate Space with the Spatial Law and retrieving this blade has left me even weaker. I may need to enter another long slumber."

"You're going to... perform a Konsō on me? Make me a part of Soul Society?" Wayne was stunned. "Then I'd no longer be a Hollow. I'd be..."

"You are not wrong. After this, you may no longer be one of my children. But even if you are not part of Hueco Mundo in the future, I will not hold it against you." The Dominator's voice deepened. "I only hope that one day, you can help me reclaim the Law power sealed within the Hōgyoku. Without the balance of the Law, I will eventually fade, my path extinguished. I hold no attachment to the concept of life itself, but the balance of the Three Worlds cannot be destroyed because of it. My child, whatever the future holds, I hope you will help me preserve that balance. Only then will the world remain whole. Only then can I continue to exist."

Silence.

Wayne was quiet for a long moment before he spoke.

"I don't know what the future will bring. But if I have the strength, Aizen, I will kill him without fail. As for the Law power inside the Hōgyoku, once Aizen is dead, I'll find a way to release it. The balance of the Three Worlds... I have no grand ambitions there. I just want to live freely, without chains. With my companions. With my friends."

"Those words are enough. I can rest easy now."

The Dominator's voice remained gentle as ever. A flash of golden light swept through, and Wayne felt his consciousness begin to blur.

His awareness, suffused with a milky-white glow, began to coalesce as golden specks of light gathered around it. Slowly, a human form took shape. Limbs emerged. Sensation returned. This time, his body was entirely human in appearance, though still a soul, without flesh.

"There. Your soul has been reassembled. But after this Konsō... we may never see each other again."

"Whatever happens... Dominator of Hueco Mundo — thank you."

Regaining his soul-form meant regaining his voice.

"No thanks are necessary. Perhaps I am the one who should thank you."

The Dominator's radiance lifted Suzumushi, its hilt aimed directly at Wayne's forehead.

"Will we truly never meet again?"

Wayne felt a pang of reluctance.

"If one day you grow powerful enough — powerful enough to shake the Soul King — then perhaps we may meet again. Provided, of course, that I still exist in this world. Strive, my child. I look forward to the day we truly see each other once more."

The base of Suzumushi's hilt pressed against Wayne's forehead. A wash of blue floral light swept over him, and his soul began to dissolve into Reishi. Guided by a Hell Butterfly, it passed through space, flying toward Soul Society.

The Dominator's light dimmed. Suzumushi fell to the sands of Hueco Mundo, and soon, the wind and sand buried it.

Time flowed on. The world that had lost Wayne continued to turn. The Hell Butterfly carried him through the barriers of space, and Wayne, now Reishi, lost consciousness under its guidance.

When awareness returned, what he saw was a blue sky.

Blue sky. White clouds. The occasional chirp of birds.

Sight and hearing restored, Wayne drew a deep breath on instinct. The scent of earth filled his lungs. In that moment, he felt truly alive again.

"Oh! He's awake! He's awake!"

A crisp voice rang out beside him, then trailed off into the distance, someone running away. A girl's voice. Sweet and soft.

"Am I back?"

Wayne didn't look toward the girl. He just lay there on the ground, staring up at the sky. Two or three white clouds drifted overhead. His heart was pounding.

Dead. Alive. Dead again. Alive again. Alive...

"Heh. Heh heh. Hahahahahahaha!"

The laughter burst out of him, wild and unrestrained. How many times could a person die and come back in one lifetime? Every time Wayne returned, he lived a different life.

"Alive is enough. Alive is enough!"

Tears welled in his eyes. He wiped them away quickly.

"This should be Soul Society, right?"

He looked around. Not far from where he'd awakened, several dilapidated buildings in a Japanese style came into view. Nothing grand about them.

"The Rukongai?"

He took in the scene. What year was it? Where did the timeline sit? If the Dominator's information was right, reassembling his soul had taken a very long time. If he'd missed the window...

Wayne pulled himself out of his emotions. He confirmed his location was safe, then immediately began working through the timeline, trying to pin down the era and what lay ahead.

"Shiro-chan! Shiro-chan, look! It's him! He's awake!"

Not far away, a black-haired girl, fourteen or fifteen, by the look of her, was dragging a white-haired boy who couldn't have been older than ten. They were running straight toward him.

"Hm?"

Wayne turned his head. Two kids, charging at him with bright faces. Their appearances made his mind go blank for a split second.

"You just went through Konsō, right?" The girl was beaming at him, eyes full of excitement, like she was looking at family.

Wayne said nothing. He just watched the two children.

"Everyone who gets reincarnated here forgets their past life. Only the really deep stuff — the things you just can't let go of — those memories stick around. But you don't look like someone carrying a grudge. And according to the rules around here, if you reincarnate near someone's house, you're family now! Let me introduce myself, I'm Momo! Momo Hinamori!"

The girl was practically shouting, not caring at all what Wayne might be thinking. She turned to the boy beside her, grinning.

"Shiro-chan, Shiro-chan, look! He's my family now! I've got an older brother!"

➤ Next: Rukongai — What Was Lost