Chapter 7 - Encuadernación Eterna

Kiptcha had been thrown into a cell roughly, and she hadn’t bothered to move from the spot she had been thrown. A collar with pieces of deathstone in it had been fastened around her neck, slowly leeching out her reiatsu.

Kiptcha looked at her left hand with the bandages wound around it tightly. Even though she was an intruder, she was permitted to have her hand bandaged by the 4th squad. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. This is just what she needed. Perfectly horrible, now she couldn’t serve Aizen, her master. Kiptcha shivered at the thought, sorrow and self-pity welling up inside her. She had failed Aizen. Again.

Isredel looked at Kiptcha from the other side of the bars, her sprawled figure unmoving. She was slowly going to make herself sick, like a caged animal. Isredel knew the feeling very well. As he looked upon Kiptcha, he realized how she must have felt that night when she had come to speak with him.

Guards were posted, and his lieutenant stood nearby. She was a young girl, with a brilliant mind. Her name was Tamara, and although somewhat young, had proved useful. She was much like the 10th squad captain, Hitsugaya-san. Her black hair wasn’t really long, but it reached past her shoulders. Her eyes were a brilliant blue that seemed to shine with an inner light. However, she was not a happy person, and she often became depressed, even at the slightest wrong word or action. She took things too seriously. And she seemed cold and unapproachable half the time.

Isredel sighed. This was turning into a nightmare. A nightmare that was all too real.

“Tamara, please take care of her. You’re to report directly to me, got it? If anything goes wrong —” Isredel said, and he cut himself off, turning and leaving in a rush.

Kiptcha listened, and she opened her eyes briefly to look at the wall. Isredel didn’t want to be around the one who attacked him, did he? Understandable . . . She was horrible. An arrancar! An arrancar and a shinigami! What was she thinking? It could never happen, ever. It was forbidden. Absolutely forbidden! She cleared her mind again, and she slowly closed her eyes. Her death was coming soon anyway.

So much for Aizen’s plan to sneak into Seiretei and kill their king silently. Now he would have to create a commotion so he could it! Damn.



Kiptcha woke up a few hours later, still in the same position. She felt his presence, and she refused to turn over and look at him. She would never look for comfort in such a place. She would die! They would get nothing from her.

It finally hit Kiptcha. If she committed suicide, she would kill Isredel, as the Encuadernación Eterna linked him to herself. It was her plan to die, but she would not kill him in the process. She knew that it was in fact a Eternal spell, that would last between them as long as they both lived. She couldn’t break it, but she had to try and find a way. However, if they tried to extract information, she would be forced to stop her own life before that could happen. All she would have to do is go inside herself and slowly flick off the switches. Then she would die.

Isredel looked at Kiptcha’s still form, anxiety somehow present. Something was wrong, but it seemed that no matter how long they pushed her, it could not be fixed. They had the 4th squad look at her, but nothing seemed to be wrong.

“Kiptcha, I was told you weren’t responding to anything, but I really need to talk to you! You’ve got to cooperate with us,” Isredel explained.

Tamara stood in the shadows, watching the girl. A slight movement! She had moved.

Kiptcha sat up, her muscles sore and her joints stiff. Blood had formed a small puddle where her hand had been, and the bandages were soaked with blood. By trying to deactivate the bond, she had reopened the wound. Her left hand was useless, dragging on the ground.

“I don’t need you lectures. You and that small girl that is obviously your subordinate will get nothing from me. You can do nothing.”

“Kiptcha!” Isredel said, shocked. He turned to the guards. “Let me in.”

The guards refused, “She dangerous, Shimazaki-sama. We will not put you in that kind of danger!”

Isredel was infuriated. “That wasn’t a request, damn you! I said let me in!”

They complied, closing the door after him. Isredel walked toward Kiptcha slowly, and hestarted to bend down to look at her hand.

“Get away from me. Just stay away!” Kiptcha yelled, trying to move away.

Isredel ignored the noise, and he reached out for her left hand, slowly removing the bandages. After the final form and binding, he hadn’t seen her hand, instead it had been wrapped or inside a glove. He looked at it now, and he realized what the price she paid for such a connection was. Continual bleeding and the complete uselessness of one arm. When it wasn’t activated though . . . . it must have been normal.

Isredel looked at the myriad of cuts with distaste. “How will you be able to heal this?” he asked quietly.

“When you die,” Kiptcha replied in her usual emotionless way. The data she provided was extremely clear and to the point, with no extra conversation.

Isredel looked at the arrancar who had been responsible for his grief in the last few days. She wasn’t all bad after all, but she was an arrancar.

“Can you tell me about the Eternal binding that you used?”



Kiptcha had sat there for some time, not responding, not even turning to meet his gaze. It was somehow strange, and the silence was uncomfortable. Isredel’s hands were covered in Kiptcha’s blood, since her hand was bleeding profusely again. Kiptcha had carefully kept all the blood off her uniform though.

“Kiptcha,” Isredel whispered. “Kiptcha! Please acknowledge that I asked you a question!”

The reply came soft and short. “No. I cannot tell you anything about it.”

Isredel was a bit startled. “Yes you can. Kiptcha, you’ve got no other choice.”

Kiptcha turned slightly to look at him, her face taught with pain. Her mind felt broken and useless after trying to break the bond. Her eyes were dark and cloudy, giving them a strange appearance. Her eyes were usually a bright red, but now they weren’t. A dark violet.

Isredel was a bit concerned,, and he looked over to one of the guards. “Fetch a 4th squad member immediately!” The guard rushed out with his orders, but Tamara came up to the bars, looking at the arrancar that her captain was trying to talk to.



A week later, Kiptcha sat perfectly still in the chair that the cell contained, unresponsive to Tamara’s questioning. Isredel had already been notified about her not eating, but her reiatsu was low. She wanted to reach through the binding, and take some of Isredel’s. She wanted out of this collar.

Isredel surged into the room, and he talked quietly talked with Tamara. She looked stricken.

“You can’t!” she screamed. “She would . . . she would —!”

Isredel silenced her with a look and Tamara ran out. “Open the cell,” Isredel commanded, watching the guards jump. They did as he asked though, and stepped back.

Kiptcha raised her head briefly, looking at what was going on. She lost interest quickly, and resumed her normal appearance. She was going to die so far away from Aizen-sama! She was going to die for nothing!

“Kiptcha? Would you like to go for a walk?” Isredel asked nicely.

Kiptcha sat bolt upright. She let the bond between them open more, and she looked at him, trying to read his side of the story. “Are you inviting me to walk to my death, by chance?” she asked coldly.

Isredel looked a bit offended. “Why would I do that?!”

“You aren’t going to,” Kiptcha added, and she stood. Her steps were shaky, but she still commanded respect and even though her zampaku-to had been removed, she didn’t look defenseless. Tamara gasped as she exited the cell and walked towards Isredel.

“And what could you do if I was?” Isredel retorted.

“I wouldn’t have come out. Now, can you take off the collar as well?”

Isredel complied, much to the horror of Tamara. “Isredel-sama! What do you think you’re doing by removing the deathstone collar? She could attack you!”

“Calm down, Tamara,” Isredel reassured the girl. “It’s not like I’m going to give her zampaku-to back!”

“You don’t need to,” Kiptcha commented, slinging her sword across her back. She smiled evilly and started towards the door. One of the guards tried to stop her, but he was gently pushed out of the way by a tired Kiptcha. She looked kindly at the guard. “If I wanted to kill Isredel, I would have already done so. But that would not suit my purpose at all.”

The guards looked scared, since the arrancar that now faced him was smiling, where days ago she wouldn’t eat, sleep, or talk. Now she was perfectly at ease because she had the deathstone collar off and her zampaku-to in her possession.

Tamara took out her sword and charged at Kiptcha, intent on killing her. Kiptcha caught her blade with her bare hand, like she might an annoying fly.

“Oh please. Is that the best you can do?” Kiptcha taunted. She smiled, and she dashed out the door, her smile letting her fly free.

Isredel rushed after her, swearing. “What does she think she’s doing, running off free in Seiretei?! She’ll be killed!” He had trouble keeping her in sight though, as she was a bit faster than him. He panted heavily, but he soon realized what she was heading toward. He sped up as much as he could, seeing her start to head toward Rukongai.

“Kiptcha!” Isredel yelled.

She stopped and turned around. Her eyes were innocent and her smile untroubled. “Yes?”

It gave Isredel the chance, and he slammed into her, hugging her tightly. “I can’t let you go there.”

“Why not? I want to go there Res,” Kiptcha said softly, trying to pull away.

“No. You must stay here.”

“Isredel!” Kiptcha suddenly snarled, and he impulsively let go. “We’re enemies! You and I should care less what the other does! The only way we should regard each other is at sword point!”

“Are you lying to yourself again Kipt?” Isredel asked kindly, stepping towards her. “You never told me how the binding worked.”

“Encuadernación Eterna, Eternal binding. Allows physical harm to pass from one to the other. If the original form dies, so must all that are tied to them. I cannot be undone once cast. To try to do so would be to commit suicide.”

Isredel laughed quietly. “So that’s what you been doing all week, trying to unweave it.”

Kiptcha continued. “Multiple bonds can be forged, and each time one is activated, the designated spot for the binding blood will open and bleed. This cut will only heal when the one who it was bound by dies.”

Isredel looked at her sharply. “Quit that!. We’re going to go have fun with the rest of my squad, in a,” he paused, “friendly type of combat.”



Kiptcha let herself fly across the practice room again, upset that she had to be doing this. There were whispers going around the room about the ‘weak arrancar’. Kiptcha suddenly exploded at the nearest one, picking him by his collar. “You want to see if I’m weak, you bastard?”

“Kiptcha! Kiptcha stop it!” Isredel commanded, walking toward her.

Kiptcha dropped the shinigami and turned to Isredel. “What could you possibly do? I don’t need my zampaku-to to defeat you!” she hissed.

Some of the shinigami in the room laughed. “She can’t do that, not to Isredel-sama,” the same one commented behind her. Isredel tried to calm Kiptcha down, but she lashed out, catching his unsuspecting arm and flipping him onto his back in one graceful movement.

“Weakling shiniagmi!” Kiptcha spat, turning on the one who had just insulted her for the second time. “If I’m so easy to defeat, get out with your damn zampaku-to and show me!”

Isredel nodded to the shinigami and got up with some effort. “Kiptcha, don’t take it personally. Be nice to him.”

Kiptcha laughed and she turned away from her opponent. “Release your zampaku-to, if you can,” she said to him. She turned to Isredel, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. Sorry about that, okay? I’ll —”

“No Kiptcha,” Isredel responded, cutting off her offer to take away his damage and injury from the fall. “It’s just a loss of breath, okay?”

Kiptcha sighed and she moved directly to the left, dodging the attack sent against her. “If you say so.”



A minute later, Kiptcha sat on top of the offending shinigami, twirling his sword around her finger. “That was easier than I expected, Res. How do you train them?”

“Kiptcha, you did pick on one of the lowest seated shinigami here . . .” Isredel replied shortly.

“Then shall I challenge you, the highest?” Kiptcha asked quietly. She stood up and caught the twirling katana by the blade. She handed it back to the defeated shinigami and turned toward Isredel, crossing her arms. “Since you’re acting all high and mighty—”

Isredel cut her off by putting a finger over her lips. “No. I don’t want to fight you. It would have to be a fair fight, and you would kill me without hesitation, wouldn’t you?”

Kiptcha was a bit offended, but there was truth to what he was saying. She would do anything so she could return. Her calm expression turned into a snarl. “ Don’t screw with me, Isredel. Get out of the way.”

Isredel was shocked and he moved out of her way, allowing her to leave. Kiptcha swept past, no pausing to shut the door. Isredel came to a second later, and he ran out after her.

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