Chapter Six: Deadly Combination

GODRIC'S HOLLOW, ENGLAND

Lord Voldemort's snake-like red eyes glowered back at him as he stared out of the single-pane window of the cottage that he was taking residence at. The place itself appeared to be in a severe state of disrepair, and barely fit for human habitation to be considered a house in the first place, but it would have to do. There was no place to pick and choose if you were still considered to be dead. The Glass was cracked from disuse, creating a draft that was only just offset by the fire - reflecting the contrast of the torrent of cold rain falling from the sky onto the isolated grove and the warmth of the inside, the wood and tiles being adequate to provide the shelter.

The only light that came from the fire was enough to illuminate the Dark Lord's pale white skin and smooth head in the night time as he stared out of the window in thought. He had been pondering over whether his Aequalis Invenire had worked enough. Since he had not been able to find conclusive evidence over how the spell worked, he did not have anything to base his results against, but they seemed promising at the time.

He had felt a tremendous amount of energy coming of the man who had been on the other end of the spiritual connection. Two evils would join together to form an unstoppable force. He also knew that he should be careful about this man, as for someone who held as much power as the man seemed to, they would also undoubtedly share his great intellect. The Imperius curse would be too much to sustain over such a powerful individual, but in the important moments, Voldemort hoped that it would work well enough.

No sooner had he thought so, Voldemort heard an otherworldly ripping sound occur from behind him. It sounded as if someone were tearing the fabric of the world apart, opening some sort of gateway. The Dark Lord turned around, his red eyes widened to observe this strange phenomenon. He held his wand by his side, ready to defend himself if the need arose. He watched with curious intent as a thin black line opened up in the space by the wall, extending out and opening to reveal a darkness behind it. Voldemort had never known about magic such as this. It seemed like no Apparition, nor any Portkey, nor any other form of transportation known to Wizard kind before, or else he would have known about it.

What he saw next astounded him. From within this black void, he saw the forms of three man approaching him. They wore robes of pure white, outlined with black and with black shoes on. They seemed to be of Asian descent, due to the design of their slippers and the look of one of their own.

The one in the middle was tall and handsome looking, with a confident, malicious face and a healthy crop of swept black brown hair. The left was dark skinned, unsmiling, wore a grey visor over his closed eyes and had his purple hair in cornrows going back. The last one on the right was shorter than the others, and wore a loose-hanging white coat with unkempt silver hair, slitted eyes much like his own, and a grin that gave even Lord Voldemort uncomfortable chills.

All three noticed the Wizard and continued to walk forward until they stood outside of the void, which closed behind them with an ethereal resealing sound, akin to a distorted zipper. What Voldemort founded even stranger was that they all seemed to carry Katanas at their waists. What were such weapons doing on individuals like these? He asked himself, but quickly assured that he would find out answers in due time. For now, an evil smile crept onto his thin white lips and beckoned the strangers inside.

"Ah.. Welcome, welcome.. You must be… Sousuke Aizen, correct?" He asked the brown-haired middle man in a polite tone, looking over their appearances with interest.

"You are correct, Lord Voldemort." Said the man, walking through with his comrades into the dark, single-lit room. They found themselves in adequate space for four people to converse, being situated in the living room-style attic. The man with the visor and cornrows had taken an interest in the ornaments on the mantle, an homage to the previous owner of the house before Voldemort had arrived and taken his tenancy over the establishment.

"Say, Voldemort, is it?," The silver haired man said, turning to the Dark Lord, having been looking around him with a grin at the vastly different atmosphere. "Where the hell are we?" Voldemort noted that his language was a lot more coarse than the other man's.

"You are in a place known as Godric's Hollow." The Pale-skinned man explained. "It appears you aren't from this world, as I have never seen anyone from this country dress or act like you have done. I think it would be proper,"

He motioned with a swish of his wand, and several chairs were conjured into the room from thin air for the three to sit on. The dark-skinned man let out a note of intrigue and the silver-haired man let loose an "Ooh, fancy" as he bent down to examine.

"For us to have a moment to introduce ourselves and get on the same page." His tone was high and apathetic sounding, his slitted nostrils flaring occasionally as he gazed at the strange men now in his company. He sat down on the chair that he had been before.

"You make a good suggestion." Aizen said, taking Voldemort's offering of hospitality and sitting down on one of the armchairs that he had summoned. The others did the same. They were all now gathered around the fire.

"I think we shall go first, Voldemort, if you will allow." He asked, and Voldemort inclined his pale head in return. "My name, as I'm you've already well worked out, is Souske Aizen. This is Kaname Tosen." He gave a wave to the silent, cornrowed man who gave a note of acceptance and a curt nod of the head to Voldemort in politeness. The Dark Lord liked the look of this one; He seemed like someone who would be an excellent and loyal subordinate. "And the one on my right is Gin Ichimaru." Gin smiled his face-wide grin and waved back to Voldemort.

"Now that we've got introductions out of the way," Continued Aizen, interlacing his fingers as he placed his elbows on his armchair, "We can get to the explanations. We are what you'd know as souls, and we come from a place called the Soul Society. There exist in Soul Society a special fighting force known as the Soul Reapers. Their job is to slay Hollows, corrupted souls that have lost their hearts and turned into mindless beasts."

This last point seemed to strike a chord with Voldemort, he exhaled loudly and then interrupted with a motion of his hand. "So… That certainly is interesting. Are these beasts which all have white masks of some description adorning their faces?" When Kaname nodded, Voldemort's eyes lit up. "Indeed? I had thought these were some kind of Dark Creature. So you people are Spirits? You are powerful spirits for sure." He did not know what to make of all this new information, but he would be master of it soon.

"Indeed we are. Gin, Kaname and I used to be Soul Reapers. The Soul Reapers are part of an organisation called the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, which is the Soul Society's military force, so to speak. We have defected from their rule, and have ascended to become beings higher than both Hollows and Soul Reapers, and will use this power to overthrow the Soul King."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at this. He had never heard of the Soul King before. He moved onto the more pressing question that he had. "It has been on my mind. You all are powerful, with you, Sosuke, being on a power level of my own. I sense an intense magic coming from you."

Aizen smiled in his devilishly handsome manner and continued: "What you understand as magic, Voldemort, is what is known as Spiritual Power. You are a wizard, a human that seems to have a very high level of Spiritual Power. This makes your kind and that of the Soul Reapers very similar. We are able to utilise our spiritual power in the form of our Zanpakuto."

At this, Aizen stood up and unsheathed the green hilted katana that he wore at his waist. Voldemort looked at its sheer majesty in wonder; such an elegant weapon, but one he had not seen used by anyone so powerful before.

"Our Zanpakuto," Aizen said, "Can be 'released' in order to achieve a higher level of power. A Soul Reaper's zanpakuto has two stages to it. Shikai and Bankai." At Voldemort's slightly sceptical look at all of this, Aizen held his zanpakuto up in front of him. "You don't seem convinced, Voldemort. I shall demonstrate to you the power of my zanpakuto."

At this mention, from behind where Aizen stood, Gin silently averted his gaze from what was being done. That was something that Voldemort didn't see, as his gaze was transfixed by the very powerful magical object that Aizen wielded.

"Shatter, Kyokasuigetsu."

With a note, Aizen dropped his zanpakuto into the ground, where it stuck and released a distorted high note when it embedded itself in the floorboards. Voldemort would then be able to see a version of his own reflection in the blade of the sword, as well as a fine mist appearing around the room. Seeing his reaction, Aizen picked the sword back up and sealed it again, stowing it away in his sheath and sat back down. The mist then faded.

"How fascinating. Your sword: It showed a mirror. Can I assume that this alludes to illusion?" Voldemort stated, fascinated at the release.

"Yes. As you could make out, my Zanpakuto has an illusion ability. It releases water-like mist that confuses the perception of my enemy. Quite a specific one, I know, but highly effective I can assure you."

"This whole world. I had never even thought that beings such as you existed. Now I am in the presence of three. I trust you understand why I have asked for your aid?" Voldemort asked, resting his wand upon his knee.

"To kill a kid?" Offered Gin with his wry smile. "Sounds like fun. When do we get started?"

Kaname gave Gin a disgusted look, but quickly shook it off and waited for the Dark Lord's reply and verdict.

"It is as you put it, Gin." Voldemort said, his red eyes alight with malice. "First however, I must make sure that we are allies for now. Please stand and place your hand around mine." His high cruel voice was accompanied with a swish of his wand as all three chairs took off from under them. The three offered no complaint.

They rose to their feet and all three placed their hands on the Dark Lord's outstretched arm. Voldemort raised his wand and tapped the join where their appendages met. A fine golden string then bound around their arms, locking them together.

"You promise that you will remain loyal to me until that task that I have requested your help with has been completed." All three consented to this, and a second gold thread wrapped around the hands.

"You promise that in order to achieve our goals we must put aside differences until we part." Another consensus and the final thread wrapped around their arms.

"And you promise that in the event that I am incapacitated or unable, that you will strike the final blow on my behalf." The final rope bound the Unbreakable Vow, and then faded. Voldemort retracted his hand and left it by his waist. "I trust that you can all see my reasoning behind this."

Kaname looked up and replied, his voice serene: "Your wariness of us is sensible, and to be expected. Do not worry, Voldemort, we may have different aims, but for now we are allies."

"Yes. Indeed we are, Kaname." Aizen responded, matching Voldemort's red eyes with his own deep black. "Now. We must prepare. Prepare for what we are out to do."

Authors Note:

Dear All, Apologies for the delay in the release of this update. I don't have much of an excuse over real life just getting in the way, and other commitments taking priority. I will try and work on more chapters, but don't expect anything massive. Thanks for sticking around.
-Lux