第29章: Deception

Erza went out to confront him. she marched forward, and soon she saw him standing there, waiting for her. She walked up to Aizen, standing face to face with him.

Aizen watched her approach. "Such a beautiful day." He said, as if there was nothing wrong with the world.

"Forget that." Erza said harshly, unable to keep her voice calm, aggression seeping from her tone.

"Then I assume you have something important to say?" Aizen said. "You sound so serious."

"You made Metastacia." Erza said. "You were behind the hollow attacks! You planned the dragon incident. Leiutenant Shiba and Ukitake Taichō died!!!  You've lied to me all this time."

"After all this time, all I've done for you, you would rather throw everything away. You disappoint me." Aizen said calmly.

He could see the doubt in her, the guilt and pain his words caused. He had indoctrinated her well, well enough that this was difficult for her.

"I saw it myself." Erza spat out.

"Oh?" Aizen said innocently "interesting."

"The blueprints." Erza said. "I saw them, in your office. Your notes, your plan, everything. You lied."

Aizen kept his face straight, but suppressed a bit of annoyance. The blueprints. They had lain in his desk drawer for years, hidden under a stack of paper. Nobody ever looked in the captain's desk, because of the reverent respect everyone held for such a position- he should have put an illusion on those, too. It was an oversight- but he remembered Erza is immuned to illusions.

"Then there's this." Erza said, pulling a file from her shihakusho. She threw it at Aizen, who caught it with one hand quite smoothly. He opened it, and rifled through it. It was a poor copy of his own research notes, most of them imagined.

"I don't know what you truly aim to create." Erza said harshly, crossing her arms. "I cannot trust you anymore. I am through. Enact your plans without me. I can no longer be a part of it"

"I see." Aizen said irritated- Erza certainly was not an irreplaceable pawn. "And what will you do with your knowledge of my operations?"

"I'll keep it to myself, don't you worry. Omertá" She answered trying her best to control her anger.

"Very well. Omertá" Aizen said with a sigh "I will not stop you. I wish you the best of luck for the future, Erza."

"As simple as that?" Erza said skeptically.

"No matter what you may believe of me, I am no monster." Aizen said, giving her a convincing smile. "I will not kill you for turning away. Perhaps when I change this place for the better, you will see that what I did was for the best after all. Until then… well, good night."

"…okay." Erza said. "So… we're… good?"

"Fine and dandy." Aizen said.

Not saying another word, Erza hesitantly turned around, and began to walk away. Aizen stood there for a long while, thinking. He could have sworn he had bent her will.

The next day, Erza woke up feeling relieved. A bit shocked, but relieved. It was like a band-aid ripped off quick- it hurt, but it was all better.

Exactly three hours after breakfast, when she was just about ready to head out, she was approached by captain Suì-Fēng, the tiny but frighteningly competent head of division two. She was flanked by a full team of onmitsukidou officers. Erza's heart sank. "Oh,no"

"Erza Belserion, vice-captain of division five." Suì-Fēng said sharply. "You are under arrest for treason, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to undermine the Gotei, subversion and blasphemy."

"Wait! What? No, no, no!" Erza said, desperately holding up her hands, " this is a big misunderstanding" she said as if it would appease the captain, "no, you don't understand, it's not-"

"Get down on the ground!" Suì-Fēng barked. "Get down on the ground and put your hands on your head. Failure to obey will result in forceful subjugation."

"But-" Erza said desperately. Aizen hadn't let it go.

"Obey!" Suì-Fēng insisted.

"…I can't. Please, I don't want to hurt anyone" Erza begged. Suì-Fēng was on her. She grabbed Erza's wrist in an iron grip, twisting her sword arm aside, and her other arm moved in a blur. Quicker than Erza could see, Suì-Fēng jabbed her fist into her solar plexus twice, slammed it into her throat once, and brought her palm up, slamming it into Erza's nose. Pain and nausea overwhelmed Erza, and she staggered back, only barely holding on to her sword. Not a second passed before a sweeping kick struck her in the head, once, twice, in the blink of an eye. Without quite knowing how it happened, she was thrown into the ground, and her arms were twisted behind her. Still, she struggled, trying to wrestle the little captain off her. Suì-Fēng grabbed her by the hair, and slammed Erza's head into the ground.

She woke up in a cell, her hands cuffed. The first thing she noticed- after the pain, and the nausea, and the woozy feeling she always got after taking a hit to the head- was her energy. She was locked down, unable to channel any reiatsu. The cuffs around her wrist were sekki-sekki, no doubt, the spiritual ore that blocked out energy completely.

She looked around. It was dark, the cell has a small window, there was some light coming from the cell's opening, through the iron bars.

"So you finally woke up."

She recognized the voice. She would recognize it anywhere.

"Aizen!" She sneered, getting herself up on her feet. She nearly fell over as soon as she had stood up, leaning herself against the wall. The world looked blurry, but she could see him there, looking so self-assured.

"It's so interesting." Aizen said. He sounded cold, calm, collected, so completely dispassionate. "I spent a lot of time trying to shape you to be a good lieutenant. You really would have made a worthy choice."

"You are a monster." Erza snarled, forcing herself to stand up properly.

"I will admit I made a few hollows for my purposes, yes," Aizen said casually. "Metastacia was imperfect. The one that killed Isshin, was a successe. What you never could see, Erza, is that true change requires sacrifice."

"I think the first thing you sacrificed was any sense of right and good." Erza growled. "You did this for yourself, all along, not for the people of the soul society."

"I will make a better world." Aizen said firmly.

"I have no idea what that means." Erza said bitterly. "All I hear is an excuse."

Aizen smiled. "I really do like you, Erza"

"Go away." Erza said bitterly. "I want nothing to do with you."

"As you please." Aizen said.

"Go away!" Erza shouted. Her anger was overflowing; she had so much to say yet no way to articulate it. She had been betrayed, by the man she had trusted more than any- he had betrayed her, her and everything she had believed in.

"Good bye, Erza." Aizen said, and walked away. "We shall see each other again."

Unknowingly, someone has been watching Erza since her arrest. He had been following Erza since her capture and was quietly observing her. He has a spiky black-colored hair. He has dark blue eyes, and his body is toned and muscular. He has a scar on his forehead above his left eye that is partially covered by his hair. He wears a grayish ripped yukata that reveals a cross-shaped scar on his lower abdomen and necklace that has a metal sword pendant with a stone in it. He has a tattoo on his right arm.

Aizen's words rock her mind, leaving it moving in foreign ways. His voice is an echo, but one with the power to tear down walls she have built high and deep. So though she needs him somehow, wants him, or maybe loves him, most likely she will have to walk away. In her world, emotions this strong are considered suspicious and she have more priorities to think about than the state of her betrayed heart and mind. Now, if that isn't conflicted, she don't know what is.

A tear fell from her eye, tracing her cheek. Then she heard a voice played in her mind "Why are you always alone? From now on I won't let you cry alone" she smiled at the memory as another scene played in her head when she overheard him saying "Erza must stay in Fairy Tail, so she would no longer shed any tears!" She looked up the small window and smiled "I missed you Gray" she whispered.

She opened her eyes, heart beating fast, curious. She fell asleep and now woke up when she felt a familiar presence, familiar magic power. It was cold yet warms her heart. She mentally shook her head whispering "no, that's impossible"

It was quiet and no signs of any commotion. Then she felt cold, she started to shiver. The air was biting her flesh, every breath showed as a plume of white steam.

"Ice make: silver" her eyes widened when she heard that same voice in her head then the whole area was covered in pinkish ice which made her every exhalation fogged the air with a drifting, ephemeral white cloud that had barely dissipated before the next warm breath condensed into another misty plume.

Then she heard that voice behind her. "Ice make: key" she opened her mouth but her voice dried out, she turned around to see a familiar smirk as the cell door swung open "hi there Erz" he greeted scratching the back of his head, his cheeks tinted red "Gray!!!" She managed to squeal.