Some things should remain locked within yourself

[ibreakrules]

Who: Frau, Hitsugaya, and Hinamori
When: Starts the night of the 18th, may also include blurbs from days after until Sins plot is over
Where:  Around Sector Four, then Hitsugaya's place?
Summary: Frau's been fighting off the rather large combination of deadly sins that lead to the scythe gaining control
Warnings: Violence, almost soul consuming, maniacal laughter, simply out of your mind behavior

At first Frau had been able to control it.  The thoughts pulsing from the scythe were always there and always would be.  Usually it was easy enough to ignore them, shove them back down.  Sometimes they were stronger and required a little more force to fix, like his arm being slammed into the wall.  That had always shown the scythe who was boss once again.  While the scythe continued to eat at him from the inside and pulled on his desires to consume souls, good souls and not that disgusting ones he allowed himself, Frau rarely had an issue controlling it.  The only times it flared so much stronger was when a specifically good soul was around or right after he'd fed and allowed himself to slip up a little.

The last few days had been different though.  The urges to ignore the corrupted souls and focus only on the pure ones had grown to the point that Frau could barely control them. 

Why would you want to control them?

Because it wasn't who he was.  He hadn't lost his human soul yet.  He would not become him.

It's who you are.

No.  He isn't.

You were made from a piece of him.  You can't avoid what you are.  Forget your human soul.  You know you will never be able to hold on forever.  There is nothing wrong with this.  It's who you are.

The laughter that had echoed in Frau's head after that also slipped from his lips, filling the night sky.  A dark, maniacal laughter that was far from sane.  Frau's brilliant blue eyes now flickered with a gleaming red light and a lust that shone clearly within them.  Nails black and lengthened, teeth viciously pointed in a wide, dangerous smile proved something was off.  This wasn't Frau.  The scythe was in control, Frau's consciousness pushed so far down that he had no idea what was going on anymore. 

One quick bound and Frau had pounced onto an unsuspecting passerby.  His gloves were off in a second, Zehel's tattoo on the back of his hand looking corrupted by thick veins that nearly obscured it and trailed under Frau's sleeve where they spiraled unseen up his arm.  Without hesitation, Frau caught the man by the neck and slammed his teeth closed over his shoulder.  When the dark smoke that had erupted from the man's body cleared, he was gone.  Frau was once again standing at his full height, blood running in a single line down his chin.

"Ahhhh~  Disgusting.  Alwaysss disgusting.  They taste the way they are.  Corrupted.  Vile.  I want a more delicious soul.  A purer soul.  Yessss.  Kehehehe.  Hahahahahha!"
 

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[ibreakrules]

Frau's eyes flashed dangerously when Hinamori swooped in and took the boy away. He hissed before rocketing forward to go after Hinamori. He wasn't going to lose his meal like this. That soul belonged to him. No one was going to stand in his way. No one.

"Kill you. That soul is mine."

The words were eerily hissed, and the fact that Frau was moving at an almost blurred speed didn't help make them any clearer.

[icy_heavens]

And just as fast, Hitsugaya got between them again. Like hell he was letting anything happen to Hinamori. And this time, his sword was out, aiming to cut. Trying to hurt her had consequences, thank you.

His own eyes were flat and cold. "You'll do no such thing. And that soul does not belong to you; you're not getting it."

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori tried to react to Frau's attack, but Hitsugaya got there first. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was good, working with a partner, and, she thought selfishly, with a partner who was better than you were. She focused on continuing to heal the boy, still alert and now keeping one hand readied on her sword.

[ibreakrules]

Without warning Frau's right forearm started bubbling black ooze. It coiled out from his arm, twining and curling around itself as it extended to quickly form the shape of a massive scythe. Even once the handle was finally materialized, the scythe remained connected to Frau's arm. Usually it was just by one strand, but this time to binding nearly engulfed Frau's arm.

He hadn't slowed a second in his forward rush as the scythe materialized. When he was close enough, a quick snap of his wrist sent the weapon hurtling toward Hitsugaya.

"Mine."

The word was a high pitched hiss holding none of Frau's usual intonation or expression. If the odd changes in his appearance weren't enough, the voice alone would have said it all. This wasn't Frau. Not really.

[icy_heavens]

Hitsugaya wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks on this. He didn't often resort to so strong a measure here, but this was no time to concern himself with holding back so much.

"Bankai. Daiguren Hyourinmaru."

The surrounding temperature dropped considerably, and in a gust of cold air, the icy wings, tail, and claws formed around his body. Instinctively, he folded one of the wings in front of him as a shield, just in time for it to take the brunt of the scythe's assault. The ice shuddered, but held.

And he knew that Frau had an extreme weakness to the cold, but whether this new form shared it, he could not be certain. He would be prepared either way.

"So this is what happens when you lose control of it."

It was an observation, not a question. Questions would be useless now; Frau was obviously too far gone for that.

[plum_that_snaps]

The boy Frau had attacked was safe for now. But Hinamori wanted to make sure he stayed that way. His wounds closed and his mind drifted peacefully off to sleep as she laced the final moments of her healing kidou with Hakufuku. The last thing the poor man needed was to be further traumatized by the sight of what could only seem like monsters (on both sides) to him.

She used the time granted by Hitsugaya's guard to begin the incantation for the strongest kidou barrier she knew. She didn't know what kind of strength Frau had in this form (indeed, she hadn't yet recognized it was Frau at all) but she wasn't going to take chances. When she was finished protecting the boy, she would start laying kidou traps around the area of the fight to assist Hitsugaya in capturing him. But the barrier itself would take some time to set up. The stronger the spell, the more difficult the preparation.

[ibreakrules]

"Hmmm~"

Frau smiled a smile that didn't seem quite as carnivorous as the ones before. This was going to be fun. So fun and so entertaining. Death, destruction, and a soul he could consume. He snapped the scythe back again before twirling it easily in his hand. The cold may have been slowing Frau's body physically, but with the scythe in command it could hold off freezing completely.

He tipped his head up, grinning and completely unconcerned with Hitsugaya's abilities. Once again he swung the blade, this time aiming for Hitsugaya's head. At almost the same time he stretched out his other hand and whipped off a blast of zaiphon.

[icy_heavens]

He ducked under the scythe, the rush of wind over his head an uncomfortable indication of just how narrowly he managed it. Narrowly was all he needed. Why make excess movement?

He might have made a move to dodge the zaiphon, but that would leave it a clear path to Hinamori and the human they were protecting, and it didn't feel like she had a barrier up yet. Better to take the hit.

The zaiphon shattered the wing he used to block it, sending shards ice scattering into the air and smashing against the ground. The momentum sent him stumbling backward, and only many years of training allowed him to stay on his feet.

But even as off-balance as he was, he was able to fire off a cluster of icy stalagmites, surprisingly well-aimed toward Frau's midsection. And even as he did this, the broken wing regenerated, using the water particles in the surrounding air as fuel. The advantage of fighting on an island? He had a lot of water in resonable proximity for him to draw upon for his abilities.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori noticed Hitsugaya take the hit, and it broke her concentration for just a moment. Her instinctive reaction was to rush out to him, save him, but she held herself still, fingers outstretched and trembling, and forced herself to finish the incantation. Gray, semi-transparent walls of kidou rose around the unconscious boy, forming a box that would protect from the sky and underneath as wall as all four sides. Only someone with immense spiritual power (or someone as skilled at kidou as she) would be able to break it.

That done, Hinamori turned toward the other two. She took a moment to survey the scene. There was no sense in entering a fight where she was more likely to hinder Hitsugaya than hinder him. She remembered wryly that their powers didn't play well with each other, her fire against his ice. Nonetheless, they had the advantage—two against one—and there was no reason not to use it.

Kidou was her best bet, and her strongest skill anyway. But how to do it? She didn't want to use a spell that would trip Hitsugaya up as well. She thought that perhaps if she could get behind Frau, she would have a clear shot for Hōrin or Geki. The position would leave her vulnerable to attack, so she drew her sword, even as she continued analyzing. If Frau did turn for her, though, it would put Hitsugaya at his back, which was even more dangerous for him.

Either way, spreading out would give them more room to work with. Hinamori shunpoed around to the other side of the battling pair, not too close, and began preparing Hōrin.

[ibreakrules]

Frau snapped the scythe up, allowing the weapon to take the hit of the icicles. He didn't need to move. What was the point? His target was here. He was going to destroy them.

As he rushed in toward Hitsugaya, a little recklessly perhaps, he was cackling madly. The only thing on his mind was to take them down and eat their souls. Whatever they threw at him didn't matter. He snapped his scythe toward Hitsugaya once more, again sending a second wave his way. Only this one came in the form of his basically clawed hands.

[icy_heavens]

Finally. A barrier. He didn't actually begrudge the time it took for Hinamori to get it up -- stronger spells took a bit longer -- but seconds were an eternity in a battle. At least they didn't have to worry as much about the human anymore.

He kept a thread of awareness on Hinamori's movements, but most of his focus remained on his own fight. Frau was strong this way. Not the brightest, but tenacity could make up for a lot.

He parried the scythe with Hyourinmaru, and noted out of the corner of his eye that this time the claws were coming for him. Considering what they'd seemed to do to the human, taking that hit was out of the question.

Pushing off the scythe, he spun mostly out of the way of the claws; they still managed to tear a few light gashes into his side, and broke through the tip of a wing again as he moved. Hitsugaya's teeth gritted at the burning sensation, but still brought Hyourinmaru around for another strike -- and it was possible that Frau's legs would be momentarily rooted to the ground when his tail struck him before the spin was over.

[plum_that_snaps]

The... thing they were fighting didn't seem to have reacted to Hinamori. She took it as a blessing. From her open hand, a rope of spiritual energy shot out towards Frau's body, aiming to encircle his torso. Between Hitsugaya's ice and her kidou, they should be able to catch him at least. That was what Hinamori hoped.

[ibreakrules]

Frau pushed off to go after Hitsugaya with a giggle of glee only to find out he couldn't. His legs were frozen to the ground. That much cold so close to his body wasn't something Frau could just fight off. If he didn't want to become too stiff to move, he needed to get rid of that ice.

He growled in dark irritation and swung the scythe down toward the ice, not really caring if he accidentally hurt himself in the process. Only a small portion had chipped away when Hinamori's kidou impacted. Frau screamed in annoyance. A deep roar or pure hatred. He struggled to pull his arms free, but it wasn't easy. The binding may have been shifting a little, but it would take a lot more continued effort to break it completely.

[icy_heavens]

And break it completely was not something that Hitsugaya was about to let him do. Freezing the enemy any further would interfere with Hinamori's kidou, but there were other ways to reinforce it.

There was time enough for an incantation; he could do this spell without one, but he was thinking of sheer restraining power here.

"Carraige of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six." Free hand out, point-blank range. There was no room for it to miss. "Bakudou no rokujuuichi: Rikujokoro."

Six bars of light materialized, and slammed into Frau's midsection, pinning his arms further. And this time, when he struggled, he would find out that even those parts not physically touched by the spell refused to move.

[plum_that_snaps]

That scream. It was the part of fighting that always got to Hinamori. She could try to block it out, focus, keep her mind sharp and body tight, but it hurt, deep inside her. To see a soul consumed by its own darkness, blinded by rage, pain, loneliness, fear—it wrenched her heart and made her chest burn. She had watched so many times as a Hollow's own emptiness drove it to seek the wholeness of other souls, only to find that it was never enough.

It was unbearable. She wanted to stop it, to save them, to end it all. It was her duty and honor as a shinigami to release them from their torment. She hoped she brought at least some of them to peace.

She shunpoed a touch nearer to the fight now, still far enough away to give her time to pull away if needed but close enough to allow her to strengthen her Hōrin. By the looks of it, their target wasn't going anywhere fast now. Good.

[ibreakrules]

The impact of the next spell was what did it, shook the scythe's control just a little bit. One of the beams of light had impacted Frau's right forearm directly as it pinned it to his body. Frau had always used that impact to make the scythe behave. When he was this far gone that never happened simply because he wasn't there enough to consider doing it. Hitsugaya had handled that for him.

For just an instant there was a flicker in Frau's eyes. It wasn't the dark eagerness to consume a soul. Instead, it was the light usually there in Frau. Humor and teasing amusement hiding away the deep pain and sadness he never allowed to be seen. This time the humor wasn't there though. Instead his eyes were touched by shock and fear. He'd slipped up. Badly.

No.

[icy_heavens]

It might have only lasted for an instant, but Hitsugaya saw it. Some part of Frau was still in there, but hell if he knew how to get it back. The scythe was still very much in control, and it was thirsting after something he could never allow it to have.

This couldn't go on; it had to be stopped.

He lifted his blade again, not really relishing the thought. But what had to be done had to be done.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori saw it, too. In that instant, she recognized who it was they'd been fighting. Frau. It wasn't as though they'd known each other long, but the recognition of it still shocked her. His normally smirking, even laughing, face had been contorted into dark hunger, but he was there.

And he was afraid. Whatever this was, he hadn't chosen to do it. This wasn't some savage side of him he'd hidden; this was something beyond his control. She had to save him.

She saw Hitsugaya raise his blade and knew what he was about to do. She couldn't. She couldn't let him. It wasn't right. "Hitsugaya-kun!" It was a scream. A plea, her face frozen in horror. What should she do? Should she jump in front of him, place herself between Frau and Hitsugaya's blade? Hitsugaya wouldn't strike her. She knew this. But it was dangerous there, too, that close to Frau, even bound by ice and kidou. Would Hitsugaya-kun listen to her? Would he kill Frau? She couldn't move. Someone, please, someone help me... What should she do?

[ibreakrules]

Frau grit his teeth and fought harder. There was no way in hell he was going to let the scythe win. No yet. He still had his human soul.

Knock it off! I haven't forgotten my human soul yet. I will not let you touch them!

The scythe simply growled in response, the growl audible even to those standing near Frau. It twined tighter around Frau's arm, sending fire shooting through it.

NO!

He pressed his arm harder against the binding, trying to force the scythe to comply. It wasn't over yet. He wasn't going to give up!

[icy_heavens]

It was Hinamori's scream that made him stop short, the sheer horror in her voice. He could never bear to hear such a thing.

To strike hadn't been a decision he'd made lightly. Hitsugaya would rather not kill him, in all truth. But from his standpoint, there seemed to be little else to do. How else were they supposed to stop this? How were they supposed to get him back to normal and keep him from devouring souls? Killing him was the most practical option.

But the way Hinamori screamed . . .

He faltered a little, hesitated. This was . . . different than when she'd begged him to save Aizen, right? The man she'd been pleading for then hadn't existed. It was different here; he'd seen the fear on Frau's face over what he'd been doing. He was real.

Hitsugaya didn't lower his sword, but nor did he swing it, suddenly unsure of what was the best move.

[plum_that_snaps]

That hesitation was all she needed. She shunpoed in closer, not to stand in the way, but to speak. "You can't, Hitsugaya-kun! It's Frau. We know him. And this... isn't him."

"He's fighting it; I just know it." She looked at Frau, listening to the growl of the scythe. "You hear it too, right? Please, we—we can't." She struggled for the words, to convince herself and Hitsugaya-kun that this was the right thing to do. "Gi-give him a chance to fight it. He deserves that much, doesn't he? Whatever this is, doesn't he at least deserve the chance to try? He's not a threat anymore—we can keep him safe, locked up. If—if we kill him, then... then... whatever it is that's eating at him wins."

[ibreakrules]

Well, technically if they killed him then Frau won, not the scythe. He would die with his human soul still intact. That was how Frau would prefer to go, but it wasn't his time yet. He wouldn't allow himself to give up. The only one he'd really be okay with ending his life was Teito. Until he got back to the kid, he would fight tooth and nail against the scythe. Not that he wouldn't continue doing it when he got back.

Frau gathered all of his strength and shoved the scythe down. He wouldn't be able to hold it for long, but it should be good enough for a short time.

"Can you seal it? Really strong?"

He winced and was visibly fighting to stay in control, but there was no doubt this was Frau. The real Frau and not the scythe possessed one.

[icy_heavens]

He finally lowered his sword, but he didn't sheathe it; there was still a struggle for control going on and he didn't want to be caught unarmed if it took a bad turn.

"Possibly. Though I can't be certain how long it would hold."

If they'd been from the same world, he could have given a more definitive answer. As a captain, he was able to produce strong seals, but the abilities of one world had the potential to react strangely to the abilities of another. There were no certainties here.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori looked at Frau, concern mixed with happiness that he seemed to have emerged intact and aware. "We have to try. What's the worst that could happen?" Asking that question showed just how little Hinamori had actually thought about the answer, but she continued on.

"Between the two of us, there has to be something we can do. Don't worry, Frau, we'll fix this." I'll fix this, she resolved quietly. Hinamori was still operating under the assumption that this was something bizarre and out of the ordinary, something caused by the Core or the Darkness perhaps. (Enough weird things had happened in the short time she was here that it almost didn't faze her anymore.) She didn't know that the scythe was something Frau had brought from home.

[ibreakrules]

"A few days should be fine."

He grimaced and nearly lost control again, but once more fought the scythe back down. The last time this had happened it hadn't been his fault. Something here had destroyed his control and given the scythe full access. Thanks to Fai it hadn't destroyed Frau, and within a few days he was relatively back to normal. Hopefully the same thing would happen now. But if not...

Frau locked his eyes on Hitsugaya, tuning Hinamori out of the conversation. From the little he'd seen of her, she wouldn't approve of what he was about to ask, but it had to be done.

"If it feels like they'd break or I don't come back after a week... end it."