Legacy Revealed

Silas slowly lifted up his eyes, only to find himself standing on the side windows of a skyscraper. He was dragged to his inner world by force.

Looking ahead, the manifestation was standing several yards away. Its face was expressionless, much like Silas's. "What's your answer?" it asked, holding a long blade by its side. There was no doubt about it. The manifestation was looking to kill Silas!

Yet Silas was not the least bit worried. He stretched his neck and said, "Is your pride as a Quincy that great, Yhwach?"

The manifestation's eyes widened. It couldn't decide whether to attack Silas now or wait to hear him out.

"You misunderstood my last words to you. You still owe me."

The manifestation couldn't tell what he was getting at until Silas said, "Don't you remember what I said? I came here to unlock that dormant power that's been inside me." The moment those words were uttered, a person wearing an all-white Soul Reaper uniform swooped in and snatched the weapon right from the manifestation's hand.

"What?!" it screamed in shock.

"Well, well," the all-white being said. "I'm impressed, Ichigo. You called me out all on your own."

This being was none other than Ichigo's Hollow. It looked exactly like Ichigo, except it was all white from head to toe, and it had a black sclera with yellow irises. More importantly, this was the real Zangetsu!

"Hmph," Silas scoffed. Suddenly, the manifestation formed an ethereal blade made out of its spiritual powers. Seeing this, Silas flew forward at great speed. Zangestu was surprised as the weapon it took flew out of its hands to land directly into Silas's. Silas then reeled it back and said, "Get lost." With one swing, he sliced the manifestation in two!

Its entire body slowly evaporated into black dust. The dust itself was then absorbed into the robes of Zangetsu. Silas turned around to face it. His tone was devoid of any emotion as he asked, "How does it feel to be in control… partner?"

There was a slight chuckle from Zangetsu. It chuckled again and again until it became maniacal laughter. It then lowered its head, placing its entire palm over his face, saying, "Ichigo, you're far from the pathetic person I'd thought you'd be!"

How could Zangetsu not be amazed? What Silas had done was use his sheer willpower in order to subdue the manifestation inside of it. Not only had it done that, it had also forcefully taken the Zanpakutō.

Not once had Silas wanted these things to happen. The appearance of the real Zangetsu wasn't supposed to occur for another three months in the Soul Society. It only manifested itself after Ichigo was about to lose against a captain-level Soul Reaper named Kenpachi Zaraki. Only then did the manifestation have him fight Zangetsu in order to gain him more strength.

Silas had not expected the manifestation to interfere with him trying to gain Rukia's powers. He had originally planned on using both the manifestation and Zangetsu's powers together. For the manifestation held Ichigo's Quincy powers. Silas was forced to subdue it to ensure that it could no longer get in his way.

"Zangetsu," he said in a calm tone. "There's no need for me to hide anything from you."

"Oh…! What else are ya gonna surprise me with?"

There was a slight smirk on Silas's face. He might have had a displeasure for people like Ichigo, but he found beings like Zangetsu tolerable. How could he not when the series was indirectly named after him.1

"You were originally a Hollow created from the souls of Soul Reapers. After you infected Masaki Kurosaki, you became my Zanpakutō. You're not just a Hollow; you also possess the powers of a Soul Reaper, making you one of the most dominant forces to exist. As a result of me growing stronger, you yourself grow, too. And that's all I desire to do as compared to your desires."

Zangetsu was left speechless. Those words weren't just truthful; they couldn't have been said better by any other person who knew Zangetsu's personality and its entire background. Why would Silas hide anything from one of the most domineering forces in this world? He had no reason to.

After a few seconds, it wondered what exactly he thought its own desire was. A question like that was going to determine whether or not Zangetsu would truly tolerate Silas. If he answered wrong, it may choose to fight back.

So Silas raised his weapon and rested the long blade over his opposite shoulder. Light miraculously began radiating from the sky, causing the windows on the building to reflect ever so brightly. Zangetsu could hardly see Silas's face. All it heard were his echoing words: "Your desires are to protect me, because I'm the king…"

Now Zangetsu was convinced. It was more than willing to work with Silas. After all it had seen, there was nothing doubting it. Even if it wanted to go against him, it knew it couldn't. Silas's willpower was beyond its influence. For that same willpower was grand enough to have affected the weather in his inner world!

No matter how Silas looked at things, he knew the right words to say to Zangetsu. Anyone who understood Bleach would have also known about the infamous king and his horse speech. When the king and the horse are exactly the same, how do they decide which will be the king to lead them into battle and which will be the horse to lend its strength? Zangetsu's answer was simple: a killer instinct.

And that's just what Silas had. Because Silas never hesitates!

"Ya know something, Ichigo. I've noticed that you never call your family sister or father," Zangetsu said. This was true. He hadn't even called Masaki his mother. "Just how much are you really trying to protect them?"

"Oh… Does the great Zangetsu truly care about something like that?"

"Ha… Ha… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha… You're right. I don't!"

"One thing," Silas said, interrupting its jovial mood. "I've known your name since the beginning. The least you could do is call me my true name."

Zangetsu gave a confused look, wondering what he was getting at. So Silas turned to the side, smirking lightly. The rays began to grow brighter. So much so that Zangetsu was forced to shield its eyes. Silas then turned around to walk away, uttering what his true name was, just as the scene turned white.

• • •

Back in the real world, Silas found himself in the same position. Rukia finished saying her name, stabbing him in the chest. He could feel her spiritual power being absorbed into his body. Something felt off, though. Silas could barely even feel her power because of how extraordinary Zangetsu's was. Gaining both powers at once, yet one power was clearly overshadowing the other by a great margin!

Rukia's intentions were to only give him enough to defeat Fishbone D, but just like Ichigo, Silas was going to take all of it. Controlling her spiritual power was simple, but Zangetsu's was a different matter. Silas had to try and balance both powers as he absorbed enough of Rukia's power to ensure that she couldn't use it for a while. By the time he finished, he could sense the Hollow approaching.

Fishbone D reached into the debris to grab the two, but then paused upon seeing its entire right arm had suddenly been sliced off. The debris that was formed was cleared, revealing Rukia in an all-white gown and Silas standing with a weapon in his hand. It wasn't Ichigo's original broad sword; it was an exact replica of the Buster Sword, a behemoth of a weapon with a thick and wide blade, resembling a massive cleaver. The leading edge curves slightly, adding a touch of dynamism to its imposing form.2

Holding it by its metalwork handguard, Silas split the weapon into two separate blades. He then leapt forward, spinning both blades with his fingers. Closing the distance, he swung both of them horizontally.

Shing!

By the time he landed, the Hollow's body had collapsed into three pieces, causing Rukia to be left in awe.