Aizen Sosuke stood before me in my barrack. At his feet was my twin sister Rue and my protege Tristan.

He had brown eyes creased with smile marks and shielded behind thick framed glasses. But now, his soft smiling expression was just about as reliable as the beautiful colors of a venomous snake. f it were not for my loved ones at his feet, tied down and clearly hostages, I would have believed this to be a friendly visit. Even now he was smiling.

Even now he looked kind despite my sister's terror and Tristan's rocking back and forth, eyes darting everywhere in distress.

"What is this about Aizen?" I asked. His soft smile turned amused, but I bet he would smile in amusement watching animals drown.

"You, my dear, it's all about you," he says cryptically but then continues, "You see, I knew you'd figure it out. When I heard that it was you who was leading a investigating patrol to the scene of the crime I knew I had to make a move. And now I'm here." I narrowed my eyes and rested a hand on my zanpakuto.

"Get to the point Aizen. I didn't take you as a man who would ramble aimlessly." He chuckled.

"You're right. You always are. You see, I've been watching your progress for a while now. Ever since I heard of twins being appraised by the great Kuchiki-sama, I had to look into it. Needless to say, I was disappointed with your sister but you ... you are a treasure. I stayed in the shadows for a while and I was well pleased when you proved to be just as interesting as I predicted you to be.

"In three years you graduated from the Academy with outstanding marks. Your unacceptably uncontrolled behavior turned in your favor. Your zanpakuto is a thing of wonders. You've proven yourself an outstanding leader with a gift of strategy. Every person you've ever met has been irrevocably changed for better or for worse. You are a catalyst, my dear, and I will have you."

"Have me?" I nearly snarled but kept my rage tightly leashed. My sister and my protege were being held hostage. I can't release my shikai as I want to. I can't Smite him. I said, "What's an accomplice of Urahara-taichou doing gathering allied forces? Are you looking to continue his work?"

"You insult me Agito. I'm not the accomplice. But the mastermind. I was the one who hollowfied all those not so innocent souls and I must say, I'm well pleased in the result. Unahara and that pathetic Captain have served as wonderful scapegoats. Perfect actually since Unahara can't deny anything with so much evidence against him. I'm planning a universal domination. Think about it, all that power, all that control one has when you have all three worlds as the foot stool to your thrown."

"Not my thrown. Yours," I stated.

"Not just mine though," he stated, trying to convince me but really, what would you expect from a power hungry lunatic?

"Together, we will conquer the worlds, the Living, Hollow, and Shinigami world will know and fear our name. And it'll all start by defeating the Soul King" I couldn't help but hiss in a breath. The Soul King? How the hell does he plan to do that? I believed the Soul King to be more myth than reality. Is he chasing fairy tails?

"That won't be possible Aizen," I stated before unsheathing Michael, "You have yet to convince me on your race to power and I will not hesitate to gut you where you stand."

"Oh? And hurt the ones you love?" Aizen purred before lifting Rue's head up, a hand grasping tight at her hair and draggin her up from her knelt position. I stilled for a second, waiting for him to explain. A small refined snicker escaped him.

"Smart girl," he mused, a sick gleam of pride in his eye as if he were pleased with how cleaver a pet was, "You see, I knew that you will be difficult to convince, so I took the liberty to give myself some leverage. I injected Rue and Tristan with a very special concoction of chemicals that is made to bring pain from the inside out. If you agree to my cause peacefully, I don't have to kill your twin sister and protege. If you don't agree ... well I'm sure you can guess.

"Don't do it Agito!" Rue pleaded, her tear tracked face glistening slightly from the moonlight. Aizen shushed her while petting her hair.

"Make your decision now Agito, my patience wears thin." I gripped Michael tighter.

Was he lying?

How do I know if he's telling the truth? This choice might lead to either my betrayal against Seireitei, or the suffering and possibly death of two of my closest relations. Rue whimpered, snapping me out of my inner thoughts. I looked at Rue, seeing her having a slight panic attack. I glanced at Tristan. What I found was surprising. Tristan was staring right at me. No fear, no hesitation. There was no lie in Tristan's eyes.

"Don't, Lady," he said. Instantly, I made my decision and lunged at Aizen. He jumped away from Rue and I trapped him into a corner, pressing the tip of my blade directly into his adam's apple. Before I could give Michael the order to fry him alive, Aizen stated, "Activate."

Like a sleeper kido. One of the most forbidden forms of kido in the spirit world.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Rue screamed as she crumbled down to the floor. I turned around quick enough to see Tristan tilting like a dying flower. I rushed to Rue's and Tristan's side, seeing them withering on the ground in pain. Their skin was blotched with red spots and their fingertips were turning blue. It was like their blood was tearing them apart from the inside out.

"What did you do to them?!" I asked in outrage. This wasn't supposed to happen! How am I supposed to stop this?!

"What did I do? The question is what did you do?" Aizen said with a smile on his face. Rue let out a shrill scream that was like a stab to the gut.

"Stop this Aizen! This is between you and me! Don't get them involved!"

"So sorry but they're already a part of it. If you hurry up and agree, I'll end their suffering." I looked back at Rue and Tristan. Tristan's nose and ears were bleeding and Rue had trouble breathing.

"Okay! I'll join your side! Now end their suffering! Please!"

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted to rip apart every cell in his body and soak it in lye soap water. I wanted to cut off his genitals, make it into a smoothie, and force him to drink it. I wanted to rip out every nail, pluck every hair before shaving every layer of skin he had before soaking him in gasoline and roasting him on the spit and serving him to hyenas.

I wanted to kill him a thousand different ways, all more gory and gruesome than the last.

"Swear to my cause Agito Diabolos. Swear!"

"I swear that on my life and theirs that I will obey all reasonable orders within my ability you give me until the day I gut you alive and boil you in a vat of your grandmothers skin oil you son of a motherfucking bitch!!!" I scream at him. His smile finally turns wicked.

"Release," he stated. Rue gasped in relief and I cradled both Rue's and Tristan's body to myself. He chuckled as dark as Satan before taking his leave.

"Before I forget. Make sure you three keep quiet. The moment one of you try to squeal, the other two will suffer. Don't think that Agito is immune to the kido that sleeps within you. She will suffer the most." The door shut with a soft click.

Rue and Tristan were still trying to regain their breathing.

What have I done? What have I done? What the fucking hell did I do to deserve this? What could have been done to avoid this? What did I do to risk the lives of 2 people that I love? It's all my fault huh? It's all my god damn fault! Why the fuck did I have to make so much god damn attention for myself! If I was some motherfucking genius I would have stayed below the radar and not make my name a curse to both Mammon and God.

"Agito? Why are you crying?" I opened my eyes and looked down into Rue's eyes. On her face were drops of clear liquid and I watched as more droplets fell from my eyes.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I'm sorry," I wept. If only they weren't apart of this. If only I could have seen it sooner.

"Agito, listen to me. This is not your fault. It's Aizen's. He was the one that threatened us. He was the one that forced you to swear. It's all his fault. All we did was live and breathe," Rue stated.

"But if I-"

"No 'buts', 'ifs', or 'shut ups' about it. We're the victim this time, not the sinner." Rue slowly sat up and wrapped me in a hug. I returned it gratefully.

"I'm tired of being the victim Rue," I whispered.

"I know Agito. I know."

~~~