Chapter 8: Twilight Town: Questions, No Answers

With the immediate danger out of the way, Toshiro left the sandlot and headed towards the station. There he moved to the railing around the edge where the land steeped into a hill and turned to the sunset. It didn't quite feel like home, but he supposed it would suffice to calm his nerves. He was trying to piece together the new information he had.

From what he could tell, his zanpaktou still seemed to purge the Nobodies the same way it purged Hollows, shown by the way they vanished in blue spirit particles. The Keyblade also purged them but it seemed to do so in a different manner. Was it different enough to be a danger to the balance of worlds? He hoped not and would have to investigate later.

As for Axel, the Organization XIII member, he was somewhat of a mystery. He obviously used fire, which meant if Toshiro ever ran into him again he'd have to avoid getting hit. His ice-type zanpaktou gave him a lower body temperature, allowing him to survive his own power, which meant he was sensitive to heat. Going up against his opposite, fire, always ended badly for him. The mysterious part was why he seemed so intent on getting Roxas back. If it was just a job, he surely wouldn't have put himself at so much risk to do so and just wait for a better time. That would have been the smart thing to do.

And then there was the Keyblade's form change. Toshiro held his hand out in front of him. All Soul Reapers had a Spiritual Pressure vent of sorts in their wrists and the Keyblade seemed to have drawn some of his Spirit Energy through that vent before using it to transform into a Keyblade form of Hyorinmaru. He didn't know how that had happened or what kind of change that would cause within him, other than a short drop in his Spirit Energy, but he was cautious about trying it again. He also wondered if the Keyblade could then use Hyorinmaru's powers as well.

So many questions and absolutely no answers. If he'd been back at the Soul Society he could have had the Department of Research and Development look into everything for him. For now, though, he was on his own.

"Are you wondering about what happened to the Keyblade?" A voice said.

Toshiro glanced briefly at the virtual Diz as it walked over to stand beside him.

"It took some of my power and changed form, of course I'm curious." Toshiro replied as he returned his gaze to the horizon.

"Your power? After looking into it I found the Keyblade's power became centered around ice and water, is that your power?"

"It is. I can give you some information on what that power is but not much."

"I'm listening."

Sighing, Toshiro unsheathed Hyorinmaru from his back and held it loosely in front of him.

"This is no ordinary blade." He began. "It's called a zanpaktou. All of the people from my world have one, some more powerful than others. My blade is called Hyorinmaru and, as I said, centers around ice and water. It is the most powerful ice-type zanpaktou in my world."

"I see. You did use water against both that Nobody and I earlier."

"Since you didn't put your real form in here I felt it was acceptable." Toshiro shrugged. "Besides, Roxas will trust me better."

"Very true." Diz chuckled. "Is there a reason it was shaped like a dragon?"

"Yes. Zanpaktous have spirits of their own that are directly connected to their masters. My spirit, Hyorinmaru, takes the form of a giant dragon made of ice and water. Roxas's Keyblade took on Hyorinmaru's shape and I could tell it had his power as well."

"Interesting." Diz mused. "When I looked into it, however, it only held that form for a minute."

"I was only touching the blade for a brief second when I felt it stealing my power." Toshiro replied, sheathing his zanpaktou. "It seems it can only use my power for a short time before it runs out of the energy it took from me."

"Well, Hitsugaya, allow me to say I'm glad you're on our side."

"I'm not on your side; I just want to go back to my world." The Captain quickly corrected before walking away.

Diz stared after the white haired child for a moment, contemplating those words.

"If you want a better view of the sunset," He called out and teal eyes turned to glance at him, "I suggest the top of the clock tower. Roxas and his friends enjoy that view."

The virtual Diz vanished. Toshiro, deciding he didn't have anything better to do, decided to check out the clock tower.

Outside, the man in black turned to Diz.

"Have you figured out what he is?" He asked.

"No, but I feel I'm getting closer." Diz replied. "He has remarkable fighting talent, remarkable enough to raise Roxas's own fighting level. I actually had to make his fight with Setzer harder in order to present a challenge thanks to Hitsugaya's training."

"That's good, right?"

"It's splendid. When Roxas returns to Sora those skills will pass on and Sora will already be stronger despite his long sleep."

"Anything else on Hitsugaya?"

"Yes…see if you can find anything to do with zanpaktous in the databases. That word sounds familiar…"

Back inside the virtual Twilight Town, Toshiro sat on the ledge at the top of the clock tower, indeed liking the view there better than on the ground.

'This is a perfect place to meditate.' Toshiro mused while unsheathing Hyorinmaru and placing him on his lap.

With practiced quickness, Toshiro closed his eyes only to open them to the icy landscape of his Inner World. It was dark with a shining full moon above, the ground beneath him hard with frost. A sharp wind began to stir and Toshiro's eyes turned upward towards the moon as a giant figure dived down from the heavens to land in front of his master.

"Hyorinmaru." Toshiro greeted the icy-blue dragon of ice and water, wings outspread in a magnificent posture.

"Toshiro." Hyorinmaru responded, crimson eyes locking with teal as he leaned his head down towards the white haired Captain. "Are you worried about what happened with the Keyblade?"

"It didn't do anything to you, did it?"

"No, I am untouched." The dragon responded, folding in his wings and curling his serpentine body around his master. "The only thing the Keyblade took was some of you Spirit Energy. Seeing as I was born from your Spirit Energy, it's only natural the Keyblade would become similar when using it. It didn't become me, it copied me."

"So it won't have a spirit?" Toshiro questioned.

"I doubt it. It can seemingly take on my powers, but its will remains its own, not mine. I felt no connection to it and I'm sure you didn't either." Hyorinmaru rumbled.

"No, I didn't. If it has no side effects on us…perhaps I can try it out again, see if it really can copy our powers."

"From what Diz says it can't hold my form for long."

"I consider that a good thing. I don't need him running around with my powers, that can cause far too much trouble. I do wonder if it can use Bankai as well."

"That we would have to test."

"Roxas probably doesn't have time for that, but I can try it with Sora when he wakes up." Toshiro paused as he heard voices. "It seems I've been found."

He closed his eyes again and the icy world vanished around him, leading him out of his consciousness where he could pick out the voices of Hayner and the others.

"Whoa, he's got a sword." Hayner exclaimed.

"I didn't take him as the fighting type." Pence added.

"Come on guys, you saw how he did in the tournament." Roxas butted in. "He's definitely strong."

"No kidding, he put me down without even trying!" Hayner growled. "He's oblivious, I'll get him up."

"Hayner, wait!" Olette panicked.

Toshiro sensed a fist coming his way and reacted swiftly, catching the offending hand before lifting Hyorinmaru and pointing it at Hayner's throat. The boy yelped and backed away quickly, not able to go very far with Toshiro's iron grip on his hand.

"I suggest you don't ever do that again." Toshiro glared, releasing the virtual teenager and sheathing Hyorinmaru and setting it next to him.

"You're scary, dude." Hayner replied with a scowl.

"I would hope so." Toshiro sighed. "I'll be leaving now."

"Oh, you don't have to." Olette said.

"I want to."

On that note he left the tower, heading out of the station and back towards his earlier place by the rails. He had noticed Roxas with the Struggle trophy in hand and decided he'd let him have his celebration with 'friends' instead of ruining the mood. His Lieutenant often complained about how he was no fun at parties.

He instinctively tensed as he sensed Roxas's Spirit Energy flux in panic, whipping around to see the blonde falling from the top of the tower.

'That klutz.' Toshiro sighed and used Flash Step towards the falling child, landing on a platform of Spirit Energy and easily catching him. However, he seemed to be out cold already. "Now what's happening?"

"Sora's memories." A voice replied from below.

Toshiro Flash Stepped to the ground in front of the man in black, setting Roxas down before facing him.

"Sora's memories?" Toshiro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. He gets like that when memories are reconnecting him to Sora."

"I see. If you were here to save him I've already done that."

"I'm here for one more thing." The man in black stepped over to Roxas and fished something out of the blonde's pocket; a shining blue crystal that Toshiro remembered seeing on the trophy.

"What could you possibly want with that?" Toshiro questioned.

"Roxas can't keep anything from this virtual world. We can't have him becoming bound to this Twilight Town."

The man in black stood and began walking away.

"If you could, please take him back to his room. He'll think this was all a dream."

"How about you give me a name first?"

The man paused and turned to look at Toshiro, catching the ice cold gaze of the Soul Reaper and shivering slightly from a cold wind.

"Ansem."

For a brief moment, Toshiro thought he had said 'Aizen' and the cold intensified, before the real name registered and he calmed down.

"Alright, Ansem." Toshiro nodded to him and picked up Roxas. "It was nice to meet you."

They both vanished, one by way of a dark portal and another with Flash Step, Roxas over his shoulder.

So mystery of the ice Keyblade solved...kind of. Expect to see more of it later ;) And now we know the man in black's name, too. Getting closer to Sora's appearance, just gotta get Roxas to the mansion. Then the real adventure begins! I know it's kind of slow paced but so was the game. Enjoy!