Disclaimer: Not mine

Sorry for the wait, I know where this is going to end up, it's getting there that's been the issue

Chapter 6

Fawkes lifted his head, trilling a note of worry, Albus looking over, before the immortal bird vanished in a flash of fire. The phoenix carefully traced the feather he had given so long ago for the wand now carried by the boy he had helped as much as he could. If he could frown he would be, how had the chick been taken there? He needed information and so this time he searched for a certain owl.

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Ichigo was torn, the more who went the better the chance of getting Harry and getting out alive. But if he called on his friends…not only would he be putting them in danger, but he risked them finding out what he was. If they found out about his Inner Hollow… But Harry's life was on the line, this wasn't his war, he should never have been at risk.

Urahara was busy setting up a way for them to get to Hueco Mundo, the place Hollows lived. The other Visored were standing around, waiting, while Ichigo paced, torn. The group were all ex-Captains and Lieutenants and they could kick him around…which meant they could beat the others so would they really be needed. They'd been hurt badly enough rescuing Rukia, this time he had professionals with him.

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Harry's head hurt, that was the first thing he was aware of, then the heat from his holstered wand which together meant he was in trouble. So…what had happened? He'd been training with Tatsuki…walking back…someone had been there!

"Welcome to Las Noches," a cool, unfamiliar, voice called, and Harry's heart sunk.

He opened his eyes, surprised to find he wasn't restrained so he got to his feet, looking around. He was in a big white room with a raised throne at the nearest end, a man dressed in white seated on it. He'd never even seen a picture, but it didn't take much to guess….Aizen. Around the room were some of the strangest looking 'people' he'd seen and that was saying something. He was a rather small mouse surrounded by a room full of cats. He was kind of regretting his lessons in sensing Reiatsu, their power levels…

"You know who I am?"

Harry nodded, there was no point denying it. "Aizen Sōsuke, former Captain of Soul Society."

"And you are?" the man leant lazily on one arm.

"Harry Potter of Britain." His name was so common, especially without his middle name that if they searched they would find hundreds. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I don't like lying," he shrugged. Without his glasses, things were blurry, though not as bad as most thought. The potions for malnutrition had improved his vision as well, a lack of nutrition had damaged his eyes, thankfully it had been healable. The rest was genetics, and nothing could be done about that.

He heard a slight snicker and saw a man with a grin and closed eyes a bit down from the throne, that had to be…Ichimaru Gin.

Yeah, he was in serious trouble. They'd come for him, but would it be in time? So he had to buy that time, somehow. He still had his wand, but they were all faster than him, he'd have to take them by surprise.

"And what brings you to Japan, Harry Potter?" the question was friendly enough sounding, but he didn't trust it at all.

"My health," he offered and that got a surprised look from Ichimaru and a considering frown from Aizen.

"Indeed?" he motioned with a hand and when Harry hesitated one of the men by the wall stepped towards him.

He choose to walk closer rather than be dragged, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

"Now, what could Urahara possibly…ah, I see. Very interesting." He stood and walked down the stairs, looking Harry over. "Come, walk with me," he commanded, turning away and harry stared after him, confused.

"Better run along Harry-kun, he's not a man to be crossed," Ichimaru called out and the warning in his voice was clear.

Harry took a deep breath and headed off after the man, wishing Urahara had told him more about the ex-Captain and his goals. He kept slightly behind the Shinigami as they walked, he definitely didn't want him at his back! Then again, at the speeds they could move it wouldn't really matter.

"You have a piece of someone else's soul in you boy," Aizen commented as they stepped out onto a balcony and Harry got a look at the bright white city.

"I know," he said.

"How did that happen?"

"Why do you want to know?" Harry eyed him warily.

"I am a scientist and you Harry Potter, are unique."

"Yeah…that's not in any way a comforting thought." To his surprise that got a chuckle from the Shinigami. "Why am I here?"

"When preparing for war, new combatants are always a concern."

"Except I'm not a part of your war. I've got enough troubles without that." He wouldn't survive their kind of war. With surprise on his side, he could probably take a Hollow, even a weak Shinigami, or at least restrain them till help arrived.

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Well, the boy was definitely proving interesting, though not in the way he had first assumed. There were few things he found disgusting, he had created a Hōgyoku and fed it hundreds of souls, had Hollowfied his fellow Shinigami…but to place a part of another soul into someone? Not even he would sanction that.

Obviously Urahara was attempting to separate them again but he doubted very much that it would work. The soul piece was too intertwined with the boys to be able to remove now; the only option would be to integrate it. Was his fellow ex-Captain unable to see that? He hid a smirk, he had the perfect way to deal with it and mess with their heads, always amusing.

"There is much work to do before your 'rescue' arrives," he told the teenager who eyed him warily.

"What kind of work?"

"Dealing with the foreign soul within yours," he told him, seeing his surprise. "Though I doubt you will like the method it is the only one, the shard has simply been with you too long and is too intertwined."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No more than Urahara killed Kurosaki Ichigo, the rest will be up to you. It is but a small fragment, but it will be up to you to overpower it," he told him.

It would be interesting to see if he could, if he proved too weak he would be killed. Whoever had managed such a thing would be destroyed either by young Potter or himself. He began walking again, pleased that this time he needed no encouragement to follow. The boy was stubborn, perhaps as much as Kurosaki, but it seemed he was more aware of when it was not smart to show that.

He was not as powerful as Kurosaki but there was something else about him, something vaguely familiar. Something he had not seen in centuries…it was rather frustrating; it was right there…ah! Well, that likely explained how he had ended up in his condition, magic. So young Potter was a wizard, it was doubtful that would change anything.

Aizen led him into a large, empty, room. It was the room he used when creating his Arrancar to ensure no accidents. He had no desire to have to rebuild the city after all. He watched the teenager look around; he was good at hiding his emotions for someone so young. Without warning, he knocked him out of his body, sending his soul to its knees, gasping.

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Harry looked down, saw the chain leading from his chest and he swallowed, looking over and sure enough…that was his body. The chain was connected, he was still alive. And his wand was in his holster, could he even use it in soul form? He looked up to see Aizen's impassive face watching him. The man looked him over and then went over to a pedestal, returning with something that made the hair on the back of Harry's neck stand at attention, whatever it was…it was powerful, more than even the Philosopher's Stone had been, more than the ancient Goblet of Fire…Hogwarts wards… it wasn't evil or good but it felt like it had been used for both.

"Do you know what this is?"

"No," Harry had the sinking feeling he was about to find out the hard way.

"This is the Hōgyoku, you can feel its power, can't you?"

"I think a slug could sense that," he told the man, seeing a flash of amusement at his comment.

"There is only one way to deal with the soul entangled with yours. Either your soul wins, or it does."

Harry opened his mouth to ask what he meant only to find his jaw locking, fighting back a scream of pain, as the rock glowed. He collapsed fully to the smooth ground, hands clawing at it, body thrashing.

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Aizen watched, actually impressed by the boys pain threshold, most would be screaming. The door opened and he looked up to see Gin peeking his head in.

"Oh my, that looks painful," he commented as he walked over.

"What is it Gin?"

"Szayelaporro's instruments have picked up some interesting readings."

"Faster than I expected."

The boy finally screamed, writhing on the ground and they both glanced at him.

"A new Arrancar to make them mad and break their hearts?" Gin asked cheerfully.

"No, we shall return him to Urahara when they come for him. Let them puzzle over my motives," he answered watching the boy. There was a rather strong possibility that should he survive, he would join Ichigo as a 'substitute' which could prove quite interesting. How would magic impact Shinigami powers?

"So what's all this then?" Gin asked, studying the writhing form.

"Can you not sense it? Another soul intertwined with his."

Gin whistled, eyes actually opening in shock. "Well…that's rather disgusting."

Aizen chuckled at his reaction. "Indeed."

They both leapt back as suddenly the air ignited and a strange cry filled the air. A bird unlike anything they'd ever seen appeared, hovering over the thrashing boy, a bird that seemed to be made of fire. A second blast and another bird was there, this one a snow white colour with some black markings on its wings but definitely the same species as the first, in its talons was a sword.

"I'm guessing this is not part of the plan," Gin offered, hand on Shinsō.

Aizen stared at the two avians, he had no doubt they were magical in nature. How had they appeared in his base? The fire coloured one was obviously ensuring they kept their distance and something about those flames made him wary of attempting to cross without preparation. The white bird cried out and then swooped towards young Harry, the word held point down, impaling the soul form even as the bird vanished in white flames which surrounded the boy before vanishing.

"Well, that was unexpected."

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Kisuke looked around at the sea of dunes they had arrived in. He pulled out his equipment as the others spread out to secure the area. While he had the ability to create a Gargantua, he had never actually done so, not wishing to tip his hand, so they were working with very little information. He was hoping to lock onto and track Harry's magic as it would make him unique among the Hollows that populated the place. The faster they could find him, the less time Aizen had to harm him.

TBC…

Short I know, but I've been fighting this chapter for ages so figured I should post it.