(Davian's P.O.V)

We know ourselves best when there is nothing to shield the truth from us. When we can't hide behind the white lies or unspoken secrets. When we have no choice.

The environment around me was blackened from burnt grass. Smoldering skeletons halfway out of the grave and others caught in the flames while attacking me laid around. The fire was dying down but the damage was extensive. One of those trees with multiple eyes kept popping as they exploded from the heat.

A dark cloud covered the sky, adding more gloom to the area. I coughed out blood, something that had steadily become a routine. The pain was yet again not as bad as it should have been. Which was great for me because of the state my body was in.

I was missing a hand, blood pooling under my body. One of my eyes was taken out along with a massive scar going down my face. The cut on my ear, having been split into two, was healing. In fact all my injuries were steadily healing.

My soul seemed to regenerate any injury in a few minutes. I suspected it was due to the fact that I was in my Inner World.

The healing far outstripped what my physical body could do. It made me wonder if I could somehow take advantage of what allowed my soul to regenerate so fast and apply it to my body. Making sure I didn't die was top on my list for this new life.

I crouched back, the small of my back leaning on a broken gravestone. Chesha Neko in its Shikai form lay next to my hand, caked with blood. The blade had changed completely.

I had thought it would change forms into a Cross blade, the same one the spirit had attacked me with earlier. But this blade was different. In its sealed state, my weapon was a simple Longsword, the most outstanding thing being the decorative symbols on the sheath.

In its Shikai form, it was bigger. A Greatsword, with a metal that glowed a deep purple sheen. It's reflective side seemed to shift light and almost meld into obscurity. Then if you turned it around again, the reflective side would bounce back light in a brief flash that could blind the enemy.

That's not to mention it's main Shikai ability.

Releasing My Shikai seemed to have dealt with most of the issues with my abilities. I had back access to my Reiryoku and wielding it felt much easier.

The negative aspect of it was somehow still there though. Even to my own Reikaku, my spirit energy felt evil. And Chesha Neko had refused to say a word even when I had called out to him. I could sense his presence. Just like I could sense my inner world much more clearly.

speaking of which, Gordon was...somewhere far to my left. About 4 miles away. My fight with the Spirit had destroyed a large part of the Cemetery. The Gravestone I sat on overlooked a crater. At the center of that crater, he lay.

A boy of 19, his chest rising up and down shallowly. My final attack had speared past the Spirit's Saketsu and with a massive explosion of power, Reiryoku had rushed out of the wound, wrecking the surroundings in a burst of purple plasm. The energy then found it's way to the sky in the shape of a wide beam, spearing past the mist and clouds.

Then I felt it, the separation between Chesha Neko and the Unnamed Zanpakuto was over.

A bright sun had momentarily shone. The energy broke apart into sparks of light, like fireworks lighting up the sky.

I could still see wisps of blue embers falling through the gloomy clouds.

"I have nothing...in this world."

I told him, looking down at his broken form. A face that was so me, it was almost disturbing.

He said nothing. Then again, with his spirit energy slowly leaking out into the surroundings...I would expect the same. I got up, the worst of my bleeding now slowed down and walked towards the crater, almost tripping at the loss of balance due to my missing limb.

A brief survey of the crater and I saw the blackened stump of flesh that was my hand, just a small distance away from the Spirit. The limb was burned to crisp.

Fuck.

I had no idea if I could regenerate a limb but given the fact that my destroyed eye could now spot blurry images of things...maybe I was worrying for nothing.

I reached him and knelt on the ground.

"No family,"

I explained, before shrugging.

"Maybe two friends. One is a hot psycho clown,"

The description was pretty obvious. Everyone in Gotham knew Harley Quinn.

"...and the other is a Goth, she's even more anti-social than I am."

I laughed thinking of Raven. She really needed to loosen up.

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His fingers trembled. A sigh escaped me.

I gently grabbed his palm in mine.

"You were never separate."

I told him.

"I can see it in your eyes. You know what I'm talking about."

His eyes remained far off. They were the same brown I saw when I looked in the mirror. What I called 'The Spirit' was basically the part of Davian that exists over the edge of Self control. The other side of the coin. The darkness that wins if we gave up.

Nick helped me stop my Darkness from winning.

This Davian hadn't had a Nick. But he had been strong enough to try to fight back. A piece of him had died. The one that remained was the Dark side.

His eyes widened.

A trail of tears fell down his cheeks. My eyes burned as well but I refused to look away from his pain.

"Goodbye Davian."

I whispered.

He gave no reaction.

Alright, it was time to finally end this. I grabbed Chesha Neko and pressed the end of the pommel onto his forehead. My eyes closed as I turned my attention inwards.

Push and pull.

Push and... pull.

Reiryoku roared in my veins as Chesha Neko's whole broad side glowed.

Nothing happened.

I tried again and the result was the same. What was I doing wrong? Or rather what was the right way to do this? I wondered, holding Chesha Neko in my hand.

"...Sheath."

He muttered, almost too low for me to hear.

Sheath? What could it have to do with...oh.

Oh! How didn't I see it before? When Batman showed me the Clip of Davian destroying an entire building, Chesha Neko had been a cross blade. Basically a huge Scissor sword.

However we had established that somehow Davian's own power had melded with mine and with the Zanpakuto spirits fused like they had been...what if the weapons had done exactly the same? Two blades. The Sheath and Chesha Neko had both been fused into the Cross blade.

That made a lot of sense actually. Still, all this was pure speculation. I could poke holes in the theory quite easily but if I was right then...

I nodded, grabbing the sheath strapped to my hip by a very thin patch of Reiryoku and placed it flat on his chest.

A green shroud covered his body, head to toe. I pressed Chesha Neko onto his forehead once more and this time, something immediately happened.

Even without coaxing, my Reiryoku roared to life, rushing through the sword. I gasped at the beauty of it all.

"Save...the kids and...Gordon."

He exhaled with a gasp.

"I can...I can see..."

The Zanpakuto spirit/Davian closed his eyes for the final time.

I clenched my jaw, staying in that position and looking on as his form slowly broke into motes of blue light.

Where would he go? The real Davian had died over weeks ago and now the piece of his soul that had remained behind, holding onto hate and the unfairness of life was released to rejoin the whole. I felt like I needed to say something to honor his memory.

In the end, I didn't. I used Chesha Neko to push myself to my feet, then the grid manifested around me, a string holding up the Sheath. I pushed the weapon in, my form falling out of Shikai.

My body was immediately hit with a feeling of dizziness. I stumbled, losing balance.

"I got you."

A voice said from behind me. Then a long furry tail wrapped around my midsection, holding me up.

"Oh dear."

A playful voice intoned from over my shoulder.

"Missing a hand, an eye; though that particular injury seems to be closing up quite beautifully, You must have ran afoul something nasty."

I took a few seconds to catch my balance before answering.

"Thanks."

I told the furry blue cat floating in the air around me.

"Where were you?"

I had called for him after the fight but he'd been silent.

Cheshire Cat phased through my body, his form from neck down disappearing to leave a head with a wide grin.

"Missed me?"

I sighed, turning to leave the crater. I needed to find Gordon so that we could see about getting out of here.

My Zanpakuto spirit appeared from a grave stone just as I reached the top. He stared at his claws.

"I wanted to give you some privacy. It looked...personal."

He answered, his tone heavy.

"Yeah well." I looked at the sky, not knowing what to follow up with that.

"I need to find Gordon."

I turned and begun walking towards the direction I knew the Police Commissioner was on.

"You know I can warp space and take us there right?"

Cheshire...no.

I stopped and looked at him in his torquoise eyes.

"Hey what do you think of the name Chase? Chesha Neko might reveal your abilities to our enemy and Cheshire Cat is..."

"Shameless Plagiarism?"

Chase asked with another wide, unnerving smile.

"Chase..."

He muttered before I could reply, flying ahead through the sky, swimming as if he was under water.

"You like it?"

I wondered as I kept on walking. This being my inner world, I could also probably appear where I wanted but...after everything that had happened, I needed a walk to clear my head. Plus, I didn't want Gordon to see me injured like this. By the time I got to him, most of my injuries would already be healed, but that was if I chose to walk.

'Can't say the same for my arm though.' I thought looking at the stump.

"Mmh Very Well, my wielder, I shall accept the name, Chase."

Cheshire Cat or rather Chase said.

"With that out of the way..."

Suddenly he was in front of me.

"You can feel it right. Your soul feels...bloated."

I rubbed my chest. He was right.

"It's nothing."

I stated, moving through his illusory body.

"You were not ready for the Shikai release, Davian. Usually a Soul reaper goes through 6 years at the Spirit Academy, then decades after before they can release their Zanpakutos."

Chase quietly explained.

I stared at him as he sat on my shoulder.

"You know about that?"

"Of course I know about that. Who do you think you're talking to?"

He snorted.

"And stop trying to change the subject."

I stopped. More gravestones marked the flat landscape, the fires hadn't reached this far. The cemetery seemed to stretch out further than the eye could see. Past the hill infront of us and we would be back where it all started.

"I'm not trying to change the subject. I already know what you're going to say." I told him.

"You want to suggest I stay here for a couple more days while my soul gets used to the higher Reiryoku I seem to have awakened?"

Chase floated.

"Wrong. I suggest you stay here for no less than 6 months as your body and soul adjusts to the Lieutenant level Reiryoku reserves you now seem to possess."

"6 months!"

I asked in surprise, grabbing him from my shoulder by the back of his neck.

"That's way too long!"

His body exploded into mist as he popped up above me, palm flat on his cheek.

"That. Was demeaning. Please never do that again or I will gouge out one of your eyes as you sleep."

He threatened with a sadistic smile.

I smiled.

"I can see it in your eyes, you would actually do it."

He exposed his claws.

"Try me."

The mood became tense then we both burst out laughing.

"Still..."

I ran a hand across my face as the laughter ended. My hair was matted with blood. I've always wondered why I was born with silver hair...

"6 months is a long time, Chase."

I told him.

He popped to my shoulder.

"Then you're in luck." I looked at him as he smiled next to my ear.

"I happen to have an idea."