Chapter 27 Secrets of The Soul part 2.

(Davian's P.O.V)

Brown eyes met purple in a clash of wills. He had me beat but I conveyed as much conviction as I could through my look. I was going to get out of here, one way or another.

"But even without the happiness, you tried to make something work. You tried the rules." His voice settled back to it's confident tone. There was an underlying edge that I sensed though.

"And then, they took something from you. A gang dressed like a bunch of clowns decided to fuck with us. That first time you let me out... hahaha!!! IT WAS GLORIOUS!"

The glee I could feel in his tone at the thought of hurting them was too much. It took me back to 'that' time. Back when I was younger and didn't know better.

And I hated it enough to begin my struggles anew. My muscles strained at the effort of trying to buckle him off. The strength he could exert unfortunately turned out to be much greater.

"Struggle and fight...it won't make a difference."

I felt claws clutch my throat.

"You were horrified by what you did. I couldn't understand it then. I wasn't equipped with what I know now. I wasn't equipped with the sentience to understand that I was a sharp tool wielded with blatant carelessness by a hurt child!"

His chest rose up and down with heavy exhales.

A trail of blood fell down my neck from the claws.

"Hahaha, oh but with the horror came this...justification. You had power and you could use it to save that rotten city."

Ok, new plan, let him talk as I heal up and when an opening arrives, I'm taking it.

He patted my head.

"But you were smart. You knew Gotham had long been a cess pool of corruption. And with your power, getting corrupted would have ensured the death of a lot of people. Naturally, I wouldn't have minded. But that's just me. I was fine with not knowing what good was."

"You see, you couldn't control me. Hell! I couldn't control myself because I knew no better! So you decided to ask for help and who better than Commissioner Gordon?"

"He was the epitome of truth and fair justice, working within the confines of a law filled with biased, greedy and corrupt law makers."

The fact that he was using Gordon as a medium, ironic as it was, added another layer of 'Fucked up' to the situation.

'Gotta keep him talking, my eyesight is getting better...'

"He provided you with the perfect foil."

He pointed a clawed finger at Gordon. "Someone who could tell you when you were too close to the edge. Someone who could do what needed to be done when it was needed."

"Someone who could...kill the Joker. Gordon was not above the savior complex." He chuckled.

"If it meant saving a population of 10 million from a mad man then surely...one pathetic life was worth it, right?"

He trailed off.

The last part made my mind buzz at the revelation.

My head was roughly shoved down as he rose up, breathing in deeply.

"So you see, I know you. I know all about the secret meeting. The mission to save Gotham from the Joker and the other genocidal maniacs running around...but it's never quite easy is it?"

He laughed lowly.

With every single word I heard, I questioned what I knew of DC. For the most part, villains were villains and heroes were heroes. Yet...if Gordon really compromised the no kill rule for the sake of the city, without Batman's knowledge then...it wasn't all black and white.

It wasn't fiction. This was their reality and now, it's mine too.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"What would Batman do if he realized that one of his best allies could fall to the darkness just as fast a regular goon? Then again, the easy way out is always the...easiest."

More laughter bubbled out of him.

"You see, I don't even need your memories, Davian." He continued.

"I have mine, I just couldn't understand what I overheard or saw back then. But everything happening around you, I stored it in some deep recess of my being. I couldn't understand any of it in the past, but now I do. Which is why I don't understand you!"

I felt a kick connect to the side of my chest, throwing me away. Breath left my body as I clipped my shoulder on another gravestone, breaking it under my form. 'Not yet.'

"I could take the scared, cold yet decisive you over this cocky, cool, moral code, know it all version. You've lost every fight you've been in because you don't understand your role. It's why I want to kill you so bad! You need to stand back and let me do the Killing. That was the deal!"

He snarled.

"But the real you seemed to die that night! That night the Joker decided to fuck with the Bat, by kidnapping a few kids from the Orphanage. You let me out...and it was...so freeing, I got a little...carried away."

He paused looking lost.

"The city shone with so much...ripe pain. It was beautiful. My mind...I could feel it increase as I understand a fundamental truth to life. I was on the cusp of something profound...And then I woke up here. And nothing was the same."

He grabbed me off the ground by my neck.

"The Cemetery. Home. I had a neighbor...tell my what you did that night."

He growled out, advice grip on my neck.

"I could think, I could review, I could feel. No longer was it all mindless. Whatever happened that night, changed everything. Even you. But more than that, it showed me the difference. I need to know why I...look...like...THIS!"

He gripped the edge of his hood and tore it off completely. I inhaled in shock. Most of his face was cat like, but the other part of it, was a writhing mass of worms. The disgust on my face earned me a sharp punch to my belly.

"You have no right to stare at me like that."

He pointed at the writhing mass of worms on the side of his head.

"My real form was efficient and now... I'm changing into...this."

He trailed a sharp claw over the fur covering all of the right side of his head.

"My Home is splitting into two and while I can think, my mind is not exclusively my own."

The eyes were wide as his voice seemed to echo all around us.

It came out in a rush of information.

"Something else is taking over. Things leaking over to my mind that I am not supposed to know. They're not my memories. I don't remember ever being a Zanpakuto before, so why do I feel so strongly that that is what I am? A sword that is the manifestation of a soul reaper's powers. Instinctive knowledge that was not there before. How do you explain all that?"

He released me, stumbling back and pressing his palms onto his head.

"Why do I feel like I'm not your..."

Immediately, I called the Sheath he had dropped during this...panic attack? Over to me.

It landed in my hands and with the creation of a bubble shield around me, I slumped to the ground in relief. The shield would give me a little time to recover and plan.

More than that however, everything finally clicked into place.

He'd given me the clues.

Just as I had taken over the real Davian's body, the change seemed to be spiritual as well. His abilities...were they even Soul Reaper or Hollow powers in the first place? I don't know. Maybe they changed to accommodate me. My mind, coming up with its own interpretation to what this potent energy inside my soul was.

Even that made little sense.

But I think I understood everything now.

Parallel Davian had had a power. One that in my eyes resembled that of a hollow. After I found myself in his body, my soul had also been influenced by his Reiryoku, in turn enabling me to gain my own Reiryoku.

And with that and getting a Zanpakuto in the form of a longsword, I simply assumed that the spirit before me was 'my' Zanpakuto spirit. But what if instead of that being the case, Parallel Davian's abilities and my own would fuse as our energy signatures started vibrating at the same frequency. We were alternate versions of each other after all.

His 'Hollow' spirit and my 'zanpakuto spirit' fused into this...unholy combo.

That was why my inner world was split into two, a cemetery and now the hollow like landscape. Then the Hollow thought I was 19 when I was 25 and finally, he claimed he was changing forms from a mass of worms to adopting cat like features. I saw it as an upgrade though.

The same ones I had come to associate with my hollow powers before I even knew everything about my situation.

He wasn't my Zanpakuto.

He wasn't Davian's hollow either.

What I was seeing was an incomplete fusion. One that had come out...wrong. A merger between two similar souls.

Two Zanpakuto spirits. Mine and Parallel Davian's. It made sense why a part of him wanted to kill me and another didn't.

The only difference being parallel Davian was dead and I was the one holding the leashes.

And as I blinked the haze of pain away, I could detect through Reikaku, with the spirit being as close as it was, a phantom behind him. One of a boy with Silver hair, staring blank faced down at me.

I closed my eyes. I see.

"You never really moved on." I muttered, laying a flat palm on the shield.

I coughed, feeling the heaviness in my chest steadily reduce.

"You can't accept the truth because you have given yourself wholly to hate. Davian...your Davian, a part of him has never left your side."

His body stiffened. Only to slump as the phantom of Alternate Davian placed a hand on the Spirit's shoulder. He went silent, face looking out to the Cemetery.

I knew what I needed to do. Looking down at the Sheath in my hand then back at the phantom hanging around the spirit, it was clear that I was getting only one chance at this.

"You let me take over didn't you, Davian? You saved me from hell...you traded places...why?"

I needed to understand why anyone would do that.

The phantom of the teen, dressed the same as I would have been, blue T-shirt, black jeans and some worn out sneakers smiled a little.

That smile told me everything I needed to know.

I took a shuddering breath and released the bubble shield. With a firm grip on the Sheath, I stood behind him...no,it's 'them.'

Time to earn my keep as a Soul Reaper. Time to perform the Konso.