Perfidiōsus: A Soul King Aizen fanfic

♚ Part 2 :: (Exploitation & Allegory)

He had passed out –– a sensation that was utterly alien to him having never been without his faculties before. Slowly, sluggishly, his mind roused itself to consciousness and he was instantly bewildered by the lack of control he had over his body. He couldn't move.

"I see you are awake, your majesty," a familiar, jocular voice touched his mind and brought everything flooding back: Mugetsu, Zero Squad, his detention, his supposed identity as the Soul King's psyche... the plot to install him as the new Soul King...

He trained his eyes, vision hazy, on the lump of irksome meat before him, teeth clenched and lips drawn back to display the ivory grimace; his facial features contorted similarly. In that instant he understood everything and nothing: The entire universe. He was omnipotent and omniscience, and utterly impotent with it. Gradually he managed to rein his thoughts in and block out that which he did not wish to hear or know.

"How impressive," Ichibei remarked with a hearty laugh, "You've already figured out how to filter the din of the universe! I wonder if that's some latent memory or simply because it's you, Sōsuke?" fingers rasped over a bearded chin as the monk mused.

"Ichibei..." he hissed, through vocal cords that were still tight from fatigue. That told him he had not been unconscious all that long if his body had yet to recover. There was a profound resonance to his voice now –– was he speaking at all? Or was this simply the power of his mind? Surely he had to be his own voice... "What have you done to me?"

"Hmmmm but you already know the answer..." and Aizen did know, but he would have the sinner confess to his sins. The throne room shuddered, "Now, now, there's no need for tantrums. If you want me to speak those words, then I shall –– I have completed the transfusion of soul and matter. You have formally replaced the Soul King... consider today the day of your coronation, your majesty."

". . ." and he felt that divinity: burning deeply in his veins like the core of a star but with all the nebulous fury of a black hole. He could swallow everything with this power and yet it didn't matter for the Shinigami had found a way to weave his own power into crystal and neutralise him with it. Like two magnets of the same pole, pressing on one another and refusing to merge.

He was at odds with himself now.

"I see," he rumbled, eyes locked on the man before him, "So you've seen fit to displace your former king... It would appear you are as far from integrity as I though you were."

"I don't think you're one to speak of integrity, given how you betrayed Soul Society and the Arrancar," the monk seemed disaffected by the accusations against his character, if anything he looked even more amused.

Ichibei continued, "I must say it's been a while since I was able to have a conversation with the God of this world. In recent years the Soul King had fallen mute. A sign of his fraying existence. At first I had thought of simply using your power to bolster him, but then it seemed sensible to subsume his power into you. That way we might stand a better chance against what is to come."

"What is to come..." and instantly the deity's mind was filled with visions of what lay ahead: the jet black Quincy and his cohorts, their desire to return everything to the beginning and usurp the throne that he now found himself bound to, "Ah."

"No doubt you see it," there was a seriousness to both the monk's face and voice as he spoke, "The Quincy are intending to lay siege to this place, and I did not have any faith that the former Soul King would be capable or even interested in resisting their attack. But you, I know you will fight them."

"Will I now..." Aizen sneered, annoyed by the certainty in Ichibei's voice, "I have no interest in protecting Soul Society or Zero Squad or this palace."

"No... but you do have a very keen desire to protect your own interests. I'll make no qualms about it, your majesty, I intend to use to you to protect Soul Society and to maintain the order of this world. And you need not like the idea, but you will abide because you have no choice."

"No... choice?" that had been a running theme of late: Zero Squad had given him the illusion of choice when he staged his betrayal and set to awakening the Hōgyoku; they'd given him the pretense of victory by failing to act until the very last moment. But all the while they had orchestrated his path toward one irresistible outcome.

Did he truly lack any autonomy in all this?

Was he truly going to end up no better than the thing he despised most in all the world?

The idea made him seethe, caused his power to flare up around him in a violent rush. Aizen roared with all the anger and frustration of caged beast, tortured by its captivity and incapable of stopping it. The very floor bled black with his divinity.

"Enough."

Ichibei spoke the word and clapped his hands together, instantly the God's power was forced back into himself and his mind reeled from the sheer force. It took all his focus not to pass out again. He settled his furious gaze on the monk once more, "I think you've had enough excitement for one day, your majesty. I shall return in due course to check on you..."

He turned and started to leave the throne room, stopping just as he reached the door, "Oh... but there is one thing I should advise you of: if you cause us too much trouble, I'll be left with no choice but to start severing your limbs. Just... think on that for a while, would you?"

And then the monk was gone and Aizen was left alone in the throne room.

Outrage shivered through him; until something inside him started to regain control. A cool, calming feeling that had fallen by the wayside when he began to cross blades with Ichigo. His level head was starting to seep back into his consciousness:

There was no no need for these outbursts, not when he still had the power to think.

His body was compromised, his mind was not.

He was not truly subjugated...

~end (of part 2).