My Place ж Chapter Eleven
My Place
Rating: R; language, disturbing imagery, possible adult themes.
Pairings: implied Szayel x Luke, implied Luke x Tear
Summary: Crossover with Bleach; back story for fonicfraccion. After the final confrontation and the freeing of Lorelei, the scion and his replica disappeared from the planet of Auldrant. One returned, but the other was lost in the stream of souls that surround the worlds. Where he would go and what he would become would forever alter who he was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He felt content for the first time in a long time, resting as he was on a flower covered hill. He raised a gloved hand, the light shining through his fingers and reflecting off of his glasses. A faint smile came to his face as he let his hand come to a rest over his stomach, sighing softly. A head of red hair nestled against his own, and he nuzzled closer to the individual himself, the contentment warming inside of him as he became aware of his precious experiment's presence.
"This is... peaceful," Szayel said softly. "Where are we?"
"A hill, outside of Baticul," Luke answered. "Look."
Szayel sat up, seeing the familiar city built into the mountain from the first unusual dream he had. Luke shifted up beside him, and he could feel the boy wrapping his arms around him, resting his cheek against his shoulder.
"I wish you could see this for real," he murmured.
"Perhaps someday I will discover a way to return you to your home," he replied, reaching down to grasp Luke's hand... but his fingers went right through him as the boy let out a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry, Szayel Aporro-sama... it's already too late for me..."
~.oOOo.~
Szayel blinked his eyes open slowly, finding himself staring up at the glaring sun of the inner dome of Las Noches. The first thing he noticed was that everything hurt, and everything was moving as it should, which meant that the super human drug had somehow lost its effect. He inhaled painfully, hearing people talking and moving somewhere nearby, but not really able to process it over the buzzing in his ears. He sat up, brushing dust from his hair and realizing he was back in his sealed form, before raising his head...
...and seeing Luke had fallen over beside him, the void in his chest pulsing as slow as his chest was rising and falling.
"Luke..." he began softly, and everything seemed to stop behind him as he reached a shaking hand out, gently brushing the boy’s hair with his fingers. "Why...?"
Luke's eyes fluttered open at his voice, a weak smile coming to his face. "Szayel... Aporro-sama... I'm... so sorry..."
Szayel shuffled over, picking him up carefully and resting his head on his lap. "What did you do...?"
"I couldn't... let you die," he answered, reaching up to touch Szayel's cheek. "You... gave me everything I ever wanted..."
"What are you talking about?" Szayel replied, shaking his head. "I tore you apart and reshaped you into something I wanted."
Luke laughed softly, turning his head to the side a bit so he could cough up blood. "No... no you didn't... You did those things to me... but I... in my heart... I wanted someone that would... open my eyes to something new... something that would... give me a place... a responsibility... a life... that was all my own... and was not someone else's originally..."
He paused a moment, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry... I lied to you, Szayel Aporro-sama... when you asked... if there was anything... I didn't tell you about me... I... I'm not really... Luke fon Fabre... I'm... Luke fon Fabre's replica... a clone... of the real Luke... I just kept his name... because he did not want it anymore..."
"Luke..." Szayel murmured.
The young replica gazed up at him, though it was hard to tell if he was really seeing him anymore, as his eyes had become unfocused and his breathing more labored.
"I... was not the replica... with you," he continued, struggling still to speak. "You didn't... look at me like I wasn't... real... Even with my friends... I was still... a replica first... but I was... a person first with you... and that... mattered so much to me... you... gave me a place I belonged..."
Szayel did not even know how to respond, he just shook his head, surprised to feel tears shake loose from his eyes. They fell onto Luke's face, and brought a smile to his lips as Szayel reached up to take his hand in his.
"Szayel Aporro-sama... I'm... so happy..."
"I... I am too," Szayel replied softly. "I'm right here... I'm right here... Luke..."
Luke smiled sadly as he closed his eyes, looking rather content as he breathed out a sigh... and Szayel could feel his hand growing heavy in his...
"No, no... no!" he snapped as the boy's chest slowly came to a stop. "Dammit, I sent you away so this wouldn't happen! Why would you...!?"
Szayel trailed off, already knowing that Luke could not hear him anymore. The only thing he could do was hold onto his hand as his reiatsu slowly diminished, leaving him feeling empty inside. He sat like that for a long moment, at a loss for what to do or say, and barely even realized a shadow had fallen over him until the individual spoke.
"You did not comprehend me before, so I will say it again," Mayuri began. "You are a mediocre fool that sought out nothing more than perfection. But perfection is disgusting. After perfection there is nothing higher. There isn't even any room for creation, which means there is no room for wisdom or talent either. For scientists like us, 'perfection' is really a 'despair' deeper than the one that is destroying you now."
Szayel was silent for a long moment, before he bowed his head, clutching Luke's limp hand tighter, as if that would breathe lift back into his fragile body.
"...take what you want and leave me," he murmured. "I have no desire to fight with you anymore."
"Hmph," Mayuri replied dismissively, waving a hand. "I was going to do that regardless."
Szayel sighed faintly, running his fingers through Luke's hair again as the other scientist turned... and suddenly the very air around them seemed to vibrate, coming alive with sound. The redhead's body started to glow as everyone and everything stopped, and the glow shifted, lifting up from his body into a brilliant flame. The flame moved, shifting and reforming, until that spirit Szayel had first encountered a lifetime ago was hovering above all of them.
It seems I am incapable of reshaping the future.
He could tell the red pineapple shinigami and the human Quincy he had severely wounded before were trying to shuffle away, but had paused when they heard the voice in their heads. Even Mayuri had paused, looking up at the flaming soul with interest. Only Szayel had barely moved, gazing up at the spirit with saddened eyes.
"You are the one Luke refers to as Lorelei, aren't you?" he asked softly.
I am that which the people of Auldrant refer to as the aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon, yes.
"You knew this would happen, from the moment we met," Szayel continued. "Why did you do nothing to stop it?"
I am incapable of influencing the futures I see, Lorelei replied. Only those that wish for the future to change can change the events I see. My scion and his replica proved this true.
Lorelei's scion... and his replica; it seemed there were still a few things Luke had never told him, not that it meant much of anything anymore.
"What happens now...?" Szayel asked softly.
The spirit floated back... and as if on cue, the void came to life in Luke's chest again, pulsing dangerously fast as it began to eat away at the boy's physical body. Szayel's eyes widened, before he scrambled away, watching helplessly as the void consumed him whole, leaving itself embedded in the boy's spirit form. Luke's spirit stood up shakily, the void throbbing and pulsing where his Chain of Fate would normally be...
...which meant...
You of this world would know that better than I, Lorelei replied as Luke's body was suddenly consumed by fire, forcing Szayel away further.
The flames grew and expanded, until a set of wings shot out from the overwhelmingly hot mass. They beat down hard, pushing the mass up into the air as a head rose from the flames. The stark white bone stood out in sharp contrast from the rest of the flaming creature, and came down to a point, making it look like a bird's head.
"Your ability to rebirth yourself made you boast that you were a phoenix," Mayuri murmured behind Szayel as Luke's massive hollow form hovered over them. "Instead, you've given birth to a phoenix yourself."
~.oOOo.~
He was gazing out of the eyes of this new form he had taken, feeling detached as he watched himself strike out blindly at everything that moved. This body was hungry for souls, and the souls of those he had already consumed while he was a mere halfling were demanding food as well. He reached a hand up, tucking a long strand of hair behind his mask as his master ducked out of the way, Fornicarás drawn, but not used... not against him. It brought a sad smile to his face, and he wanted to reach out with everything he had, and assure his master he would be all right, but he could not anymore...
"Are you glad to be seeing so much destruction?"
He paused at his own voice, his masked face turning to see what it really looked like beneath the mask; a face framed with short hair instead of long. He reached up, pulling the mask away to gaze at the other him with sly, beady yellow eyes.
"My human side," he sneered. "I'm surprised you still exist."
"Of course I do," the short haired young man replied, hugging his arms to his chest. "My voice may have been lost when Szayel denied me my free will, but it doesn't mean I don't exist."
The long haired one snorted, rolling his eyes as he turned his attention back to the battle below. "It doesn't matter anymore anyway. Master will have to kill us... it's the only way he can stop us and he knows it."
"...does it have to be that way?" his human side asked softly, getting the other to turn around in surprise. "I don't want to die... I know you don't. And I hate you, but... I don't want to see you die either."
The other paused, only reaching up to brush his hair out of his face, before he spoke again, "What you said to master... you meant it... didn't you?"
His human side turned away, clenching his hands before him. "Auldrant is lost to us... Szayel is really the only one we know... and he's changed too, just as we have. He wouldn't have sent us away at first if he hadn't. What I said for us... is the truth."
The arrancar side turned away as well, a small smile coming to his face as he held up his mask. "I think... it's time for the two of us to go to 'sleep', and let 'Luke' decide what he wants to do from now on."
He let his arm drop, the mask falling from his hand and shattering on the floor.
~.oOOo.~
The rampaging beast that Luke had turned into was lashing out at everything, only knowing how to destroy and consume; all logic and reasoning abandoned. It did not care what it hit, and even Szayel had been forced onto the defensive, forced to work with the shinigami to keep himself from being roasted. Just as he was about to try to fight back and force some reasoning down the creature's throat, the bird-like monster suddenly calmed, hovering down until its feet touched the ground. It curled up on itself, almost like it was struggling in pain, before the mouth of the mask suddenly opened with a loud crack. A soft cry of pain came from the monster at first, before...
"Szayel Aporro-sama..." the creature intoned, and while the voice was distorted, it was clearly Luke's. "Save me..."
"Luke..." Szayel began, lowering his sword, at a loss for what to do. It seemed Luke had returned to his senses... but for how long would that last? "Luke... break your mask."
"It hurts..."
"I know it does," Szayel called up to him, "but if you don't, you will be stuck in this form, until the hunger consumes you, and you start devouring other hollows and become a mindless Gillian. And then what will you do? You'll have lost yourself, and you will be lost to me!"
The monster let out a faint sound, almost like he was considering... but considering his words, or considering attacking again; that was the question. What made things worse was that there was no guarantee that Luke would return to a normal form either; he could become a weak half hollow, half human-like creature. If that happened... well, he would just have to find a way to give Luke his normal body back. He would not give up on him, ever.
"Luke, please!"
The creature let out a soft cry, its wings coming up... before it screamed loudly as it tore away at its mask, leaving blazing trails along the bleach white bone. Luke continued to scream in pain as light engulfed his body, flames shooting up into the air. Szayel could feel his heart pounding in his chest, worrying that it was taking far too long, and that the boy might have consumed himself instead... when something suddenly shot from the flames, embedding itself into a rock beside him:
Luke's sword.
The flames died in the next moment, leaving a bruised and battered Luke behind... up in the air. Szayel scrambled over, just barely getting under him to catch him and falling over in the process. He lay there on the ground with Luke on top of him, gasping for his breath back, when he felt the boy shift, his hands coming up to cling to his shoulders tightly.
"Luke...?"
Luke lifted his head, and Szayel found himself looking back at an almost mirror image of his face, a pair of glasses like his own settled on his face. Szayel rested a hand on his back, rubbing it softly, and he could feel a depression in his back, where the void had left a hole behind straight through Luke's chest.
"Am I... really still alive, Szayel Aporro-sama?" he asked softly.
Szayel smiled softly, reaching up and threading his fingers through his hair, where the pink strands they had been hiding since they were discovered had become dislodged.
"Yes, Luke," he murmured. "You're still here with me."
Luke smiled tiredly, lying back down on top of him, nestling his head against his chest. "Thank goodness... I'm tired..."
Szayel chucked softly. "Is that all? Good, rest then."
Luke's eyes drifted happily closed, and Szayel looked past him to see the flaming soul still hovering above them. Lorelei raised its flaming arms, looking up to the sky.
The future has been decided.
With that, Lorelei shot up into the sky, leaving a blazing trail behind.
Rating: R; language, disturbing imagery, possible adult themes.
Pairings: implied Szayel x Luke, implied Luke x Tear
Summary: Crossover with Bleach; back story for fonicfraccion. After the final confrontation and the freeing of Lorelei, the scion and his replica disappeared from the planet of Auldrant. One returned, but the other was lost in the stream of souls that surround the worlds. Where he would go and what he would become would forever alter who he was.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He felt content for the first time in a long time, resting as he was on a flower covered hill. He raised a gloved hand, the light shining through his fingers and reflecting off of his glasses. A faint smile came to his face as he let his hand come to a rest over his stomach, sighing softly. A head of red hair nestled against his own, and he nuzzled closer to the individual himself, the contentment warming inside of him as he became aware of his precious experiment's presence.
"This is... peaceful," Szayel said softly. "Where are we?"
"A hill, outside of Baticul," Luke answered. "Look."
Szayel sat up, seeing the familiar city built into the mountain from the first unusual dream he had. Luke shifted up beside him, and he could feel the boy wrapping his arms around him, resting his cheek against his shoulder.
"I wish you could see this for real," he murmured.
"Perhaps someday I will discover a way to return you to your home," he replied, reaching down to grasp Luke's hand... but his fingers went right through him as the boy let out a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry, Szayel Aporro-sama... it's already too late for me..."
~.oOOo.~
Szayel blinked his eyes open slowly, finding himself staring up at the glaring sun of the inner dome of Las Noches. The first thing he noticed was that everything hurt, and everything was moving as it should, which meant that the super human drug had somehow lost its effect. He inhaled painfully, hearing people talking and moving somewhere nearby, but not really able to process it over the buzzing in his ears. He sat up, brushing dust from his hair and realizing he was back in his sealed form, before raising his head...
...and seeing Luke had fallen over beside him, the void in his chest pulsing as slow as his chest was rising and falling.
"Luke..." he began softly, and everything seemed to stop behind him as he reached a shaking hand out, gently brushing the boy’s hair with his fingers. "Why...?"
Luke's eyes fluttered open at his voice, a weak smile coming to his face. "Szayel... Aporro-sama... I'm... so sorry..."
Szayel shuffled over, picking him up carefully and resting his head on his lap. "What did you do...?"
"I couldn't... let you die," he answered, reaching up to touch Szayel's cheek. "You... gave me everything I ever wanted..."
"What are you talking about?" Szayel replied, shaking his head. "I tore you apart and reshaped you into something I wanted."
Luke laughed softly, turning his head to the side a bit so he could cough up blood. "No... no you didn't... You did those things to me... but I... in my heart... I wanted someone that would... open my eyes to something new... something that would... give me a place... a responsibility... a life... that was all my own... and was not someone else's originally..."
He paused a moment, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry... I lied to you, Szayel Aporro-sama... when you asked... if there was anything... I didn't tell you about me... I... I'm not really... Luke fon Fabre... I'm... Luke fon Fabre's replica... a clone... of the real Luke... I just kept his name... because he did not want it anymore..."
"Luke..." Szayel murmured.
The young replica gazed up at him, though it was hard to tell if he was really seeing him anymore, as his eyes had become unfocused and his breathing more labored.
"I... was not the replica... with you," he continued, struggling still to speak. "You didn't... look at me like I wasn't... real... Even with my friends... I was still... a replica first... but I was... a person first with you... and that... mattered so much to me... you... gave me a place I belonged..."
Szayel did not even know how to respond, he just shook his head, surprised to feel tears shake loose from his eyes. They fell onto Luke's face, and brought a smile to his lips as Szayel reached up to take his hand in his.
"Szayel Aporro-sama... I'm... so happy..."
"I... I am too," Szayel replied softly. "I'm right here... I'm right here... Luke..."
Luke smiled sadly as he closed his eyes, looking rather content as he breathed out a sigh... and Szayel could feel his hand growing heavy in his...
"No, no... no!" he snapped as the boy's chest slowly came to a stop. "Dammit, I sent you away so this wouldn't happen! Why would you...!?"
Szayel trailed off, already knowing that Luke could not hear him anymore. The only thing he could do was hold onto his hand as his reiatsu slowly diminished, leaving him feeling empty inside. He sat like that for a long moment, at a loss for what to do or say, and barely even realized a shadow had fallen over him until the individual spoke.
"You did not comprehend me before, so I will say it again," Mayuri began. "You are a mediocre fool that sought out nothing more than perfection. But perfection is disgusting. After perfection there is nothing higher. There isn't even any room for creation, which means there is no room for wisdom or talent either. For scientists like us, 'perfection' is really a 'despair' deeper than the one that is destroying you now."
Szayel was silent for a long moment, before he bowed his head, clutching Luke's limp hand tighter, as if that would breathe lift back into his fragile body.
"...take what you want and leave me," he murmured. "I have no desire to fight with you anymore."
"Hmph," Mayuri replied dismissively, waving a hand. "I was going to do that regardless."
Szayel sighed faintly, running his fingers through Luke's hair again as the other scientist turned... and suddenly the very air around them seemed to vibrate, coming alive with sound. The redhead's body started to glow as everyone and everything stopped, and the glow shifted, lifting up from his body into a brilliant flame. The flame moved, shifting and reforming, until that spirit Szayel had first encountered a lifetime ago was hovering above all of them.
It seems I am incapable of reshaping the future.
He could tell the red pineapple shinigami and the human Quincy he had severely wounded before were trying to shuffle away, but had paused when they heard the voice in their heads. Even Mayuri had paused, looking up at the flaming soul with interest. Only Szayel had barely moved, gazing up at the spirit with saddened eyes.
"You are the one Luke refers to as Lorelei, aren't you?" he asked softly.
I am that which the people of Auldrant refer to as the aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon, yes.
"You knew this would happen, from the moment we met," Szayel continued. "Why did you do nothing to stop it?"
I am incapable of influencing the futures I see, Lorelei replied. Only those that wish for the future to change can change the events I see. My scion and his replica proved this true.
Lorelei's scion... and his replica; it seemed there were still a few things Luke had never told him, not that it meant much of anything anymore.
"What happens now...?" Szayel asked softly.
The spirit floated back... and as if on cue, the void came to life in Luke's chest again, pulsing dangerously fast as it began to eat away at the boy's physical body. Szayel's eyes widened, before he scrambled away, watching helplessly as the void consumed him whole, leaving itself embedded in the boy's spirit form. Luke's spirit stood up shakily, the void throbbing and pulsing where his Chain of Fate would normally be...
...which meant...
You of this world would know that better than I, Lorelei replied as Luke's body was suddenly consumed by fire, forcing Szayel away further.
The flames grew and expanded, until a set of wings shot out from the overwhelmingly hot mass. They beat down hard, pushing the mass up into the air as a head rose from the flames. The stark white bone stood out in sharp contrast from the rest of the flaming creature, and came down to a point, making it look like a bird's head.
"Your ability to rebirth yourself made you boast that you were a phoenix," Mayuri murmured behind Szayel as Luke's massive hollow form hovered over them. "Instead, you've given birth to a phoenix yourself."
~.oOOo.~
He was gazing out of the eyes of this new form he had taken, feeling detached as he watched himself strike out blindly at everything that moved. This body was hungry for souls, and the souls of those he had already consumed while he was a mere halfling were demanding food as well. He reached a hand up, tucking a long strand of hair behind his mask as his master ducked out of the way, Fornicarás drawn, but not used... not against him. It brought a sad smile to his face, and he wanted to reach out with everything he had, and assure his master he would be all right, but he could not anymore...
"Are you glad to be seeing so much destruction?"
He paused at his own voice, his masked face turning to see what it really looked like beneath the mask; a face framed with short hair instead of long. He reached up, pulling the mask away to gaze at the other him with sly, beady yellow eyes.
"My human side," he sneered. "I'm surprised you still exist."
"Of course I do," the short haired young man replied, hugging his arms to his chest. "My voice may have been lost when Szayel denied me my free will, but it doesn't mean I don't exist."
The long haired one snorted, rolling his eyes as he turned his attention back to the battle below. "It doesn't matter anymore anyway. Master will have to kill us... it's the only way he can stop us and he knows it."
"...does it have to be that way?" his human side asked softly, getting the other to turn around in surprise. "I don't want to die... I know you don't. And I hate you, but... I don't want to see you die either."
The other paused, only reaching up to brush his hair out of his face, before he spoke again, "What you said to master... you meant it... didn't you?"
His human side turned away, clenching his hands before him. "Auldrant is lost to us... Szayel is really the only one we know... and he's changed too, just as we have. He wouldn't have sent us away at first if he hadn't. What I said for us... is the truth."
The arrancar side turned away as well, a small smile coming to his face as he held up his mask. "I think... it's time for the two of us to go to 'sleep', and let 'Luke' decide what he wants to do from now on."
He let his arm drop, the mask falling from his hand and shattering on the floor.
~.oOOo.~
The rampaging beast that Luke had turned into was lashing out at everything, only knowing how to destroy and consume; all logic and reasoning abandoned. It did not care what it hit, and even Szayel had been forced onto the defensive, forced to work with the shinigami to keep himself from being roasted. Just as he was about to try to fight back and force some reasoning down the creature's throat, the bird-like monster suddenly calmed, hovering down until its feet touched the ground. It curled up on itself, almost like it was struggling in pain, before the mouth of the mask suddenly opened with a loud crack. A soft cry of pain came from the monster at first, before...
"Szayel Aporro-sama..." the creature intoned, and while the voice was distorted, it was clearly Luke's. "Save me..."
"Luke..." Szayel began, lowering his sword, at a loss for what to do. It seemed Luke had returned to his senses... but for how long would that last? "Luke... break your mask."
"It hurts..."
"I know it does," Szayel called up to him, "but if you don't, you will be stuck in this form, until the hunger consumes you, and you start devouring other hollows and become a mindless Gillian. And then what will you do? You'll have lost yourself, and you will be lost to me!"
The monster let out a faint sound, almost like he was considering... but considering his words, or considering attacking again; that was the question. What made things worse was that there was no guarantee that Luke would return to a normal form either; he could become a weak half hollow, half human-like creature. If that happened... well, he would just have to find a way to give Luke his normal body back. He would not give up on him, ever.
"Luke, please!"
The creature let out a soft cry, its wings coming up... before it screamed loudly as it tore away at its mask, leaving blazing trails along the bleach white bone. Luke continued to scream in pain as light engulfed his body, flames shooting up into the air. Szayel could feel his heart pounding in his chest, worrying that it was taking far too long, and that the boy might have consumed himself instead... when something suddenly shot from the flames, embedding itself into a rock beside him:
Luke's sword.
The flames died in the next moment, leaving a bruised and battered Luke behind... up in the air. Szayel scrambled over, just barely getting under him to catch him and falling over in the process. He lay there on the ground with Luke on top of him, gasping for his breath back, when he felt the boy shift, his hands coming up to cling to his shoulders tightly.
"Luke...?"
Luke lifted his head, and Szayel found himself looking back at an almost mirror image of his face, a pair of glasses like his own settled on his face. Szayel rested a hand on his back, rubbing it softly, and he could feel a depression in his back, where the void had left a hole behind straight through Luke's chest.
"Am I... really still alive, Szayel Aporro-sama?" he asked softly.
Szayel smiled softly, reaching up and threading his fingers through his hair, where the pink strands they had been hiding since they were discovered had become dislodged.
"Yes, Luke," he murmured. "You're still here with me."
Luke smiled tiredly, lying back down on top of him, nestling his head against his chest. "Thank goodness... I'm tired..."
Szayel chucked softly. "Is that all? Good, rest then."
Luke's eyes drifted happily closed, and Szayel looked past him to see the flaming soul still hovering above them. Lorelei raised its flaming arms, looking up to the sky.
The future has been decided.
With that, Lorelei shot up into the sky, leaving a blazing trail behind.