Hana looked at Kaizo with a raised eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips. [b]I see... And yes, that is where you are. Since this [i]is[/i] an extremely rare occurrence, might as well introduce myself"[/b] Clearing her throat, Hana smiled politely. [b]"Hello Kaizo, I'm Hana, one of Rio's slash Huerona's Zanpakuto spirits~ And this woman beside me is Kan, Rio's slash Huerona's other Zanpakuto spirit~ No need for you to introduce yourself, we already know alot about you~"[/b] She grinned and motioned to Kan when speaking about her, meanwhile Kan continued to look between both Rio's and Huerona's bodies... until she noticed Rio twitching in her arms. Kan's eyes silently widened a touch as she watched Rio's body continue to move until the her eyes fluttered open. This promoted to look towards Huerona's body, who too was waking up. [b]"Hana, 'getting-to-know each other' time is over. They're both waking up..."[/b] Kan gently placed Rio down onto the floor after she sat up and looked around. [b]"Thank you Kan..."[/b] She whispered while on her feet. Rubbing her eyes gently, Rio looked around, her sight landing on Kaizo before a small smile lit up her face. [b]"Kaiz-"[/b] [b]"You worthless... useless... good-for-nothing... pieces of shit!!"[/b] A voice sounded from where Huerona was, gradually growing angered. Immediately Rio's face straightened as she gritted her teeth a little. [b]"So you're still alive..."[/b] Huerona slowly picked her body off of the ground, her eyes glowing a searing red with nothing but pure rage... She flicked her head up to look at the group, before setting her eyes on Rio. [b]"And soon you won't be... I won't let invalids ruin my plan! You fucking thief!"[/b] As Huerona gathered her energy, her tails lifted off of the ground from behind her. Kan looked at Hana with a serious expression before slight confusion crossed her face... Hana was in fact smirking at Rio. [b]"Hana? What are you thinking?"[/b] The woman turned her smirk onto Kan, beginning to grin a little. [b]"Kan, I think it's time~ There's only one way I know that Rio could win this and put an end to it all~ Besides, I think she's earned it, you?"[/b] Hana asked as Kan started to catch on to what Hana was talking about. The latter then smirked a little, crossing her arms. [b]"I see. Well then, let's do it."[/b] At that moment, Kaizo would of been forced to wake up, opening his eyes to find himself in the area he once was with an unconscious Rio laying on top of him. [b]"Rio, me and Kan have a gift for you~ Use it wisely alright?"[/b] Rio's ears suddenly perked up at the sound of Hana's voice as she looked back over her shoulder at the woman. [b]"... Okay... I will"[/b] Rio agreed despite not knowing what Hana was talking about, however whatever it was would be better than nothing at the moment... [b]"Good."[/b] Kan cut in before the two spirits began smoking... Purpley-black smoke emitted off of the two before wrapping around them and both of their smirking faces. The smoke thickened as it continued to travel faster around the two individually. This, of course, caused Rio's eyes to widen, having absolutely no idea as to what the two were up to. Huerona couldn't help but watch the odd occurrence. [b]"Whatever you two are doing IT'S NOT GOING TO HELP!"[/b] She yelled but did feel a little worried... She knew not to underestimate those two... Two cords of smoke then travelled to Rio's arms; one cord from Kan's smoke tunnel that latched onto Rio's left, and one other cord from Hana's that latched onto Rio's right. Rio just let her arms drop and relax as the cords wrapped around her hands and then travel up her arms. She trusted her spirits and so she let her body be smothered by the smoke cords as they covered her before a visual boom from Rio's position caused the smoke to clear the area. A strong gust of wind burst through the world, blowing Huerona's hair and tails back. The latter quickly threw up her arms and closed her eyes to shield her face from the smoky wind. Once the area was cleared of wind and smoke, Huerona looked around frantically. Her eyes widened once she noticed that all of the tree's black leaves had been blasted off of the branches, leaving all of them completely bare. Gritting her teeth hard, she looked over to Rio's area... Both spirits had vanished, but what made Huerona's eyes widen further was Rio's look... and dramatic power increase. [hider=Rio][center][img=http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y404/AbigailTenshi/RioBankai2_zpsdf97527d.jpg][/center][/hider] Rio stood with both eyes closed, holding a large Kunai with glowing red markings on the surface of the blade in her left hand while her right hand, fingers and forearm was covered by a Gauntlet which also had glowing red markings on the surface. The long part of her hair seemed to of been tied up by strips of red smoke while the end of her ponytail also began smoking with the same type of smoke. Parts of her hair pointed and curved upwards while the rest of her usually shorter hair straightened and pointed to the ground. A scarf and belt of thick red smoke wrapped around her neck and hips, along with this her clothing was torn as a large red marking was added to it on both sides. Huerona's eyes reverted to normal size as she continued to observe Rio, the latter was just standing there with her eyes closed. After a moment of silence had passed, Huerona grinned evilly, straightening herself up with confidence. [b]"Is this it? Was this all you lot had planned?! A change of appearance won't help you at all!!"[/b] The woman began chuckling, the joyous sound turning into a hearty laugh after a few minutes. [b]"HONESTLY I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD STOP ME!! HOW PITIFUL!" [/b] Huerona continued to laugh loudly and obnoxiously as she took a few steps forward, flicking her tails up and over her head to point them at Rio. After a short while the woman quietened down, leaving behind a confident grin. [b]"[i]Time to end this once and for all~[/i]"[/b] Rio's left eyelid opened slightly, leaving her looking at the floor. [b]"I concur."[/b] Her eyelid then slid completely open, revealing her plum iris. However, her right eye stayed sealed shut. She seemed calmer than ever as she turned her body to address Huerona. Her face was serious, but a relaxed seriousness, almost looking bored. Huerona only continued to grin before breaking into a run, sprinting towards Rio, yet the latter stayed still and didn't move an inch, only watched. The two clashed with a mass of dust kicked into the air before it cleared with Huerona standing behind Rio, a little space between the both of them. Huerona straightened her body before looking back over her shoulder, still grinning maniacally while chuckling a little. She watched, expecting Rio to collapse or something... but nothing, the girl hardly moved, in fact she didn't even flinch... [b]"Lower."[/b] Rio suddenly spoke, still not moving at all. Huerona's eyes drifted down, stopping at her lower right tail. At first, it looked as though it had a light scratch which made Huerona raise an eyebrow.... but then within another second, her tail shattered. Huerona gasped at this, the whole length of her lower left tail had crumbled completely. [b]"Wh-what"[/b] She let out shakily before glaring at Rio. [b]"Nice try but not going to work."[/b] As Huerona spoke, at the base of her lost tail more crystals began sprouting out of the area before the tail completely grow back, as good as new. [b]"Heh, neat trick wouldn't you say?~"[/b] Huerona chuckled once more, receiving no response from Rio... This began angering Huerona as a short growl vented from her throat. [b]"HEY I'M-!"[/b] Huerona started yelling but was stopped by her top three tails shattering abruptly. Her eyes then widened as she glanced up at the falling shards before looking back to where Rio once was... [b]"Wher-?"[/b] The girl had disappeared... but then her voice- [b]"Here."[/b] Rio answered before Huerona could even gather her thoughts to ask the obvious question. Looking to the left of her, Huerona managed to get a quick glance before her left eye was drowned in red. The woman yelled in pain as she felt the sting of a large slice down her left cheek reaching her jaw line. [b]"WHAT THE FUCK?!"[/b] Cupping her cheek, Huerona looked to her left again to find Rio had disappeared [i]again[/i]. This caused the woman to frantically look around, slowly taking steps back before finding Rio in the same spot she started in, but this time just looking at her.... She didn't speak, only stared at Huerona. This shook Huerona's confidence as a spike of sudden fear pierced through her body at that moment... Gritting her teeth once again, Huerona quickly gathered herself. [b]"I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!! I WILL KILL YOU!!"[/b] Regenerating her three tails, Huerona jumped high into the air before diving for Rio. [b]"COCKY BITCH!"[/b] [center]~[/center] [b]"Ulgh.... huu....hu...."[/b] Huerona collapsed to her knees onto the floor, gasping and panting while Rio stood in the same spot, merely watching Huerona without a single scratch. Looking down, Huerona dug her finger into the dirt as her arms shook. [b]"How... is this.... h-happening... to m-me...."[/b] She uttered to herself, her body bruised and covered in various deep cuts... Blood from her face dripped onto the dirt, soaking into it... along with a few tears. [b]"Sh-she... stole my b-body... this isn't.... right...."[/b] Growling once again, Huerona blocked out her feelings and dragged her body to stand. Her right arm was smothered in blood as a deep cut that stretched from her shoulder to her elbow refused to stop bleeding. Lifting her head up, she looked at Rio once more, her teeth grit as hard as possible while her glare pinned to the woman... Said woman who only just stared back. [b]"ARRH! STOP LOOKING AT ME!!"[/b] Rio hadn't spoken for a while, only just watched at Huerona and waited for the latter to attack first... She wouldn't even attack when Huerona was sprouting a load of insults and death threats for everyone Rio knew and cared about... no matter what Huerona said, Rio wouldn't retaliate unless Huerona attacked first... Huerona's anger was off the charts at this point, the mere presence of Rio threw her into a vengeful rage... [b]"WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING DIE ALREADY!"[/b] Standing straight, Huerona sent the seventh set of regenerated tail at Rio all at once, the tips aiming for the right side of Rio's head since her right eye was still closed. Huerona hoped that this was a blind-spot... clearly just trying anything and everything in a bid to even just scratch Rio, or atleast get her to talk... As the tails grew closer, within a split-second of reaching Rio's face, the latter lifted her right hand. The tips of her fingers and thumb caught the tips of all five of Huerona's tails. The pressure was unbelievable, Huerona couldn't move her tails forward at all... And when she tried to pull them back, Rio only moved her hand toward her to keep hold of the tail's tips. Then, Rio started to walk, finally moving at a pace that Huerona could follow... but this made Huerona panic. Huerona pushed against Rio's gauntleted hand, but that did absolutely nothing to stop Rio's slow advancement. After a few more steps, Rio stopped suddenly, making Huerona question what she was up to until Rio closed her hand. She did it so fast that Huerona couldn't follow... before Huerona knew it, the tips of her tails were crushed by Rio's hand. The force of this echoed up each tail, making them all shatter once again. [b]"Let go Huerona..."[/b] Rio's voice surrounded Huerona's hearing, the words seemingly coming from every direction although Huerona's eyes didn't move off of Rio's body. She then gasped as Rio suddenly appeared right in front of her after being a comfortable distance away a second ago... Huerona couldn't act, she was too paralysed to move or even breathe... Her panic only escalated further as she felt Rio's right gauntleted hand travel up to cup her left cheek. [b]"Huerona... Stop this.... This isn't you..."[/b] Rio held Huerona's face firm with her right hand. [b]"... L-Let me go!"[/b] Huerona shrieked, still too paralysed with fear to do anything.... Rio looked at the girl before slowly opening her right eye. [b]"Look at me..."[/b] Once it was open, Rio's right eye gazed deeply into Huerona's. A bright flash blinded Huerona's vision abruptly before.... --------------- [b]"Mother! I passed with one of the highest scores in all of my classes! I can't believe it, soon I'll be able to join Squad Six finally!"[/b] Huerona looked up at her mother with a joyful grin, beaming with happiness. Ronda smiled down at Huerona, giving the girl a hug. [b]"I'm so proud of you honey, I knew you'd get such great marks~ You are an Umeko after all"[/b] Chuckling a little, Ronda let go of her daughter. [b]"Why don't we celebrate your graduation? This is an important occasion after all~ Oh how my little girl has grown up so well"[/b] Ronda smiled brightly at Huerona, which Huerona rolled her eyes at with a smile of her own. [b]"Oh come on mother, I'm not a little girl anymore and haven't been for a long time"[/b] Ronda chuckled a little at this. [b]"You may be right, but you'll always be my little girl, no matter how mature or old you are heh"[/b] [i][b]"Mother... I miss you so much... but I will never be able to accept what you did to me... Surely there was another way..."[/b] As the light faded, memories of Huerona's began playing... it was as if both Rio and Huerona were watching Huerona's memories.[/i] [b]"Did you enjoy you graduation sweetie?"[/b] Ronda asked as the two walked through a forest towards their house. [b]"I really did, today has definitely got to be the best day of my life! You know, we should celebrate more occasions"[/b] Huerona grinned as she spoke, following behind her mother. [b]"Just as an excuse to spoil you right?"[/b] Ronda added with a chuckle. [b]"Well, more as an excuse to do something nice together instead of train 24/7"[/b] Ronda continued to chuckle before it slowly died down. Stopping, Ronda turned around and smiled down at Huerona. [b]"That would be wonderful"[/b] Ronda continued to smile, however a tear unexpectedly left her eyes. Huerona stopped after her mother did before raising an eyebrow as her mom started crying. [b]"What's the matter mother? Are you Okay?"[/b] She asked, extremely concerned. Ronda wiped her eyes before pulling Huerona into a tight hug and whispering. [b]"Huerona Umeko... Hari... I want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you so very much.... Everything I do is for you... my only daughter... I want you to grow up strong and wise... Be the best you can ever be and never give up no matter what.... I only wish that I'll be around long enough to see you grow up.... but I know that is a wish that won't come true...."[/b] Huerona was extremely confused at this point and didn't really know what to say... Lifting her arms, she hugged her mother back. [b]"Erm... I don't know what this is all about.... but I know you love me and I love you too mom.... [i]So[/i] why are you saying all of this?"[/b] Ronda pulled back, still crying as she held her Zanpakuto hilt tightly in her hand. Huerona looked at the sword in even more confusion... [b]"You want to train now?.... Or is something happening?.... Mom, I'm confused.... What's going on?"[/b] The girl questioned. Ronda inhaled before speaking again, her tears continuing to stream down her cheeks as her face drowned in sadness. [b]"I'm... I'm sorry honey.... I promise... it shouldn't hurt..."[/b] Huerona's eyes then widened as silence fell over the area... [i][b]"She knew what would happen and planned out everything.... During that time, my only goal was revenge... I wanted revenge for the deaths of people within my clan... and for the pointless murder of my father and Kazuhiko's mother.... I wasn't stupid, I knew exactly what happened despite how I acted. I pretended to have no clue and acted as though I was lost to what really was going on... but I knew exactly. Ursula killed so many people... I wanted her dead.... I wanted to be the one to free our families... Mine, Souta's and Konome's, Patrika's, everyone's... especially Kazuhiko's.... Little did I know, my mother was planning the same thing... I don't agree with her methods... There could of been another way.... but, I wouldn't of been able to stop her none-the-less... Besides, I was the main component of her plan, the key to it being successful... or more you were...."[/b] Huerona's voice continued to echo as Rio gained access to more of her memories.[/i] [b]"M-...mot...her..."[/b] Huerona looked down to find that Ronda had stabbed her sword through the middle of her torso... [b]"Why?..."[/b] She then passed out, caught in Ronda's arms. [b]"I had to honey... to save you...."[/b] Ronda whispered. There was no wound, however Ronda's blade had disappeared, leaving behind only the hilt. [i]Rio was only able to recall waking up at Squad Six after that event had happened, meaning Ronda must of purposely blocked out that part of her memory... which begged the question of what else had Ronda made certain that Rio and Huerona would never find out?... [b]"After my mother had stabbed me, I was dragged into my inner world, straight into the lake... An effect of my mother's Zanpakuto clearly... She must not of expected me to survive what happened or more she must of counted on me being trapped in that web, whatever it is.... However, as I fell, I caught the ledge and pulled myself up immediately before stepping back away from it and sitting down... I was out of breath, panicked... alone... scared... clueless... and trapped... I didn't know what to do... all I did for however long was scream and yell for help... yelling questions that never received answers... I figured no one could hear me after a while, but I didn't stop... I attempted to leave multiple times, but the lake had a barrier.... so I couldn't do anything but yell and scream... or cry.... As this went on, my emotions were slowly changing... corrupting... soon I felt nothing but hatred, it was either that or just want to die.... You don't know what it's like to be in literal darkness with no one other than yourself for company... What it's like to be plucked from the outside world and sealed away all of a sudden.... Then to be replaced with a completely different person in the same body, living my life... You can't blame me for turning out the way I did...."[/b] The memory of Huerona being sealed away played next... the thought of it made Rio's heart drop.... She was able to feel everything Huerona did during that time... Able to feel her emotions whirling into nothing but anger. --------------- Another flash of bright light flickered through Huerona's eyes before she was brought back to her inner world. Rio immediately noticed a change in atmosphere, mainly to do with the change in Huerona's aura... All of that anger and rage had been replaced by sadness, which was displayed through Huerona's face being nearly brought to tears due to having to re-live the most painful moments of her life.... Rio stayed silent, her lips turning into a saddened frown. [b]"S-so... there you g-go... I d-don't want to be a-angry anymore.... I... I don't want to b-be anywhere...."[/b] Huerona's looked down as she accidentally let a tear drop before instantly wiping her eyes and trying to steady her shaking voice. [b]"But... I've got to.... thank you for.... letting me.... avenge my father.... free my mother... and my clan..."[/b] Huerona uttered before taking a deep breath. A short silence past before Huerona spoke up once more. [b]"... What now?... You've won... this is your body now.... so do I just disappear or?..."[/b] Huerona asked, looking to her left with her eyes on the ground... Rio thought for a moment before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Huerona. This made Huerona's eyes widen, however she didn't respond negatively to the action, instead she hugged back tightly. This made Rio faintly smile. [b]"No, this is [i]our[/i] body... You belong here just as much as I do... we are one in the same, yet have slightly different personalities.... You're not going to disappear... Besides, like mother said, never give up.... And I wouldn't of been able to defeat Ursula without you.... I knew it was your crystal power.... I thought it was our mother's at first but it didn't feel like mother..... It felt different, and now I know... it was yours.... You freed our clan"[/b] Rio's form soon began turning into smoke, drifting away from her before forming into both Hana and Kan. Huerona's tails had also reverted back into her body, showing that she had truly given up on wanting to take back her body. If anything, this felt... better Both Hana and Kan watched the two for a moment before Hana let out a relieved sigh. [b]"I'm glad that's over~"[/b] Kan nodded at the statement. [b]"However, this does pose a question... I guess now the both of you will be habiting this body, interesting"[/b] Kan looked at the two as they pulled apart and looked at the spirits. Rio smiled a little. [b]"I guess so"[/b] Huerona then took a deep breath before rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. [b]"Erm yeah... I'm sorry for everything.... Honestly, I really couldn't stop myself... eheh"[/b] Hana walked over to Huerona and instead of being mad at her like Huerona expected, she hugged her. [b]"Don't worry about it, we know~ I'm just glad no one died heh"[/b] Huerona hugged back before smiling herself, uttering. [b]"Me too"[/b] Rio then stepped back to give herself some space. [b]"I should get back to the Soul Society, no doubt Kaizo must be worried..."[/b] The three said their goodbye's before Rio woke up, returning to reality with the ordeal officially over.