Bleach: Shattered Throne-The Last Hollow

(GRAPHIC ADVISORY)

Ichigo stood in silence as the room chilled in the air. Ocuil Mortas was sitting atop his throne, and Orihime was lying below his feet. Body parts were all around the room as Orihime was forced to heal herself over and over as Ocuil continued to torture her. Orihime saw Ichigo with one eye and spoke weakly, "I kn..ew…. Yo..u wo..ul..d come."

Ichigo felt heartbroken by this scene before him and had difficulty comprehending what had been done. Orihime was still missing one of her eyes, and blood was everywhere. "HAHAHAHAH, YOU ARE STILL JUST AS WEAK AS YOU WERE WHEN SHE WAS TAKEN!!!" Screamed the voices in his mind.

They laughed at his failure and mocked his power. He claimed to have come to save his beloved, yet how much had she already suffered in waiting? Why had he taken so long? Why was he so weak?

Ichigo's mind began to collapse, and pure and utter rage overwhelmed him. The thought of Orihime getting mercilessly beaten every single day made his blood boil.

The room went silent as Ocuil merely observed and then did the unexpected. Ocuil threw Orihime at Ichigo. Ichigo was stunned by this action and caught her instantly.

She felt cold, and he looked at him, and she was lifeless. Ichigo was incomprehensible as he thought she had just spoken. Why had this happened, and why was he weak? All this was pilling on him. The entire reason for coming here, and yet he had failed.

Orihime was confused as she watched Ichigo stand there and say nothing. Although initially happy that he had finally come to save her, she also felt sad about his appearance. She wondered why he was still staring when Ocuil said, "It seems he is witnessing the truth."

This sent chills down Orihimes spine as his "truth" vastly differed from others.

Ichigo was fighting his inner demons and voices as they continued mocking him for his weakness in failure. He saw Orihime lose hope and die; he saw his family forget about him; he saw the few hollows he ever knew die for no reason at all. The weight upon his shoulder caused him to fall to his knees until it went silent, and a single voice spoke. 

"Have you learned the truth yet?" said a voice. Ichigo looked up to see himself staring at him with yellow eyes. He was confused about what this truth was or what importance it had to anything. He became even more concerned when he realized the voices had stopped and the visions were illusions. He now didn't know if he saw reality or a world of illusion.

Ichigo then began falling into an infinite void, and the echoes of the dead began mocking once more. Ichigo's mental strength crumbled as illusions, dreams, and voices went on for what felt like forever; yet another voice spoke to him.

Ichigo was shaken awake when he heard Orihime's voice speak to him. "Ichigo, Ichigo, wake up!" she said in a heartfelt voice, tears streaming down her face. It had been over an hour since Ichigo had walked into the throne room and faced "The Truth," yet he only showed signs of waking up at this very moment.

Ichigo tried to speak, yet nothing came out as Orihime hugged him tightly. Orihime, noticing Ichigo's lack of speech ability, tried healing him, but it didn't work.

Orihime turned to see Ocuil laughing to himself. "He must have seen the truth, and since he has lost his truth, he can no longer speak."

Ocuil was obsessed with finding the truth, so he grinned widely.

Orihime and Ichigo were surprised that this "truth" could affect people's speaking ability, and that the Orihimes' healing could do nothing.

Ichigo stood up slowly as he caressed Orihimes face as he had missed her. Ichigo finally got to where he wanted to be, but something was missing. Something was gnawing at Ichigo, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.

Orihime noticed this dilemma within Ichigo, held him tightly, and kissed him. Ichigo was surprised by the gesture to a degree and reciprocated (DON" T ASK HOW IN THE WORLD THIS WORKS AS ICHIGO IS IN HIS VASTO LORDE FORM)

Ocuil spoke, " Do you guys have the room yet, or should I just let you two have it?"

Ichigo turned and stared at Ocuil with an intense rage and hunger. Ichigo gave Orihime a pat on the head and then darted towards Ocuil. Ocuil instantly caught his claw. "The Truth will never be unseen from my eyes as Oculi's eyes glowed a dark purple.

Ichigo's spiritual pressure was suffocating with the area, yet Ocuil seemed unaffected.

Orihimes healing powers, for the most part, would back, but she couldn't heal her eye as that was, for some reason, semi-permanent.

Ichigo continued to attack Ocuill. However, he either blocked or slightly dodged and made no moves to counter.

This confused and enraged Ichigo, as his opponent was not taking him seriously, even after everything he had done to Orihime.

Ichigo's rage skyrocketed as his attacks became wilder and vicious. He continued this assault for another 5 minutes before stopping.

"Why have you stopped? Did you discover the truth yet?" spoke Ocuil mockingly. This enraged Ichigo further as he charged towards Ocuil and was sent flying backward.

Ichigo then instinctively felt something call to him from within his mind. He listened, yet he could discern nothing of the words spoken. Next to him, a massive abyssal hole opened, and Ichigo felt the urge to put his hand through it.

Ichigo then felt a handle and pulled it through the abyssal hole. The hole quickly closed as if it had never opened nor existed.

Within Ichigo's hands was a sword similar to his previous blade, yet it was pure dark red, and its aura was deathly. This new sword began influencing Ichigo's, and its whispers and echoes filled his mind. The sword only wanted one thing: to DEVOUR.

This was the embodiment of his inner hollow desire to devour endlessly.

Ichigo stepped forward with a chilling smile, "I will show you that your truth is nothing but a figment of your imagination."