Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When she was finally dragged back to the realms of conscious thought, the feeling of smooth sand under her hands was the first thing she noticed. Then came the cold, as if where she was had never known sunlight upon its landscape. The third thing was the silence, and how oppressing it was, like a weighted blanket of thick wool.

She cracked her eyes open, and she saw the sand was white. Crystalline white. She saw her hand near her face, and she managed to sweep her fingers through it, leaving gentle swirls. She was lying on her stomach with her face pressed into it, and soon she became aware of a bone-aching chill that had seeped into her body as she lay unconscious.

Her eyes slid closed again. She had never felt so tired in her life.

Wait...

Was that right?

A slight frown crossed her brow, her mind starting to search for a memory of how she ended up...wherever here was.

There weren't any.

Not a single one.

Her eyes opened again and she attempted to move her body into a sitting position, but it was a struggle. Her limbs felt so heavy, her clothes felt like thick plate armor. Clothes? Oh, yeah. Thank the gods she wasn't naked. She looked down at herself, assessing the torn flowy black pants belted around her waist, and the equally torn and frayed black top tied over them. She wore a white crop top under the black one, covering her chest modestly. Her feet were clad in white stockings and woven sandals, and around her waist, strapped over everything, was a scabbard inlaid with lavender colored flowers, their vibrant green vines, and bright golden dragonflies. In that scabbard, she discovered, was a blade whose hilt was wrapped in a silky ribbon of white and lavender, the pommel adorned with a bright golden chain and a pale blue topaz dragonfly charm dangling from the end of it.

She pulled it part way out of its scabbard, and marveled at how bright and well taken care of the metal was. What she was doing with the sword, she had no idea, but apparently, it was important. She sighed, and looked to the landscape around her, hoping for some sort of landmark.

There wasn't any.

It was white sand dunes for as far as she could see, the crystalline sand reflecting the flat light coming from a crescent white moon seemingly tossed haphazardly into a blank, black sky.

There was no wind.

There were no trees.

There was no sign of life.

And...there was no sound.

She found this odd, noting the weird silence again. Surely, if this was a desert, there would be at least a rustle of wind across the sand?

But no.

She leaned forward, propping her arms up on her lap, and plopped her head into her hands.

This was certainly a debacle.

A thought occurred to her, and she set about checking herself over for injury. Aside from a couple cuts on her arms and legs that were healing, and a handful of bruises here and there, she was fine. She was in the middle of checking through her scalp, combing through her long, silvery lavender colored hair, when she heard her very first sound.

It was a low, guttural growl.

Her hands froze in her head injury assessment, and her ears quickly triangulated the sound from coming off to her left. Slowly, she forced herself to get to her feet, and she turned to assess the growl.

She frowned.

She had about three seconds to assess the threat before the lizard beast lunged for her.

Her body acted on its own; when the beast got close, she dodged and then checked her pathing, jerking out of the way when it flicked a thick, sticky tongue out at her. It growled again, louder, a pair of bright yellow and red glowing eyes trained on her movements sunk into a weird white mask-like thing on its face.

She dodged again, faster now that she was moving and warmed up, and without even thinking about it, she took the blade from its scabbard and moved in closer to it, somehow knowing to aim for its mask thing. It reared back onto its back legs and gaped its mouth, and a dozen more tongues shot out, all with sharp hooks and sticky mucous covering them.

She swore and corrected, jumping to one side and glaring at the beast.

Well, then.

She had no idea what this thing was, but she apparently knew how to fight it.

Best to follow instinct then, yes?

She readjusted her grip on the blade's hilt and dove to its side, meaning to get behind it. Four of the tongues found her, honing in on her somehow, but it didn't slow her down. She sliced through them and the beast screamed and started rubbing its mouth, blood spewing from the stumps still wriggling around in it. Giving its head a good shake, it leveled its glowing glare onto her, and then with a jerk, its front claws elongated into swords themselves, and it lunged at her again, quicker this time.

Her body took her to safety, and then she jumped into its face, kicked hard off of its snout, back flipped so she was on its shoulder, and then drove her blade deep into its forehead.

The beast screamed again, clawing at her and giving her a good swipe across her right thigh and hip, but the burning sensation that came from it was quickly pushed out of her mind when the beast suddenly flipped over onto its back and gave her a mighty kick with its back legs.

“OH!” She was sent sailing, crashing into a sand dune hard enough to rattle her entire body and clack her teeth together. The beast was wallowing in pain, still clawing at the sword now stuck in its head, blood still pouring from its mouth, and she pushed herself up out of the sand and glared at it. “You took my sword, you bastard,” she growled, surprising herself with how feminine her voice sounded. “I'm going to need that back!”

Somehow, she wasn't exactly sure how, she sort of almost 'teleported' back to where the beast was writhing, and she appeared right above its head and took hold of the sword's hilt. With a mighty heave, she pulled it free with the aid of a foot planted onto its head, and before it could attack again, she gathered her strength and brought the blade down on its mask, splitting it in two down the middle and sending a spray of ichor into the sky and across the sand.

The beast screamed one more time before finally falling silent, its body slumping into just a dead carcass, and she stood in shock when it started turning to dust and floating off into the sky until there was nothing left of it, not even the blood splattered everywhere.

Well, save for the foul smelling crap smeared all over her clothes. That seemed to stay.

She let out a tired breath and sank back to the sand to dress her wound. The damn thing tore more of her clothes, leaving very little to use as bandages, so she took her black top off and started slicing it into strips the best she could. The parts that were soaked in the creature's blood were discarded, and soon she was left with a wound dressed in enough makeshift bandages to last her for maybe half a day. Down to just her white crop top and one pant leg, she readjusted her sword belt and looked around again.

Her leg and hip were starting to really hurt, and although the bleeding stopped for now, she was still at risk for a massive infection if she didn't find help soon.

Ah, help.

Yes.

Help that probably didn't exist in...wherever this was.

Right.

She sighed and got to her feet. Well, if she was going to die, she might as well make as far away as possible from where she had fought the masked beast. Where there was one, there was likely more, and she didn't really feel like meeting its friends.

As she trudged along, trying to keep her balance in the deep sand, she thought hard to what happened before she woke up.

At first, there was nothing but a blank, empty canvas, and it frustrated her to no end. She couldn't even remember her name. The sword at her hip was important, of that she was absolutely sure. Her instincts told her as such. There was also something else, something...unsettling, that lurked in the back of her mind. It watched her as if stalking her, waiting for her to remember it was there. What it was, she didn't know, but her instincts told her it was important too.

Her feet began to grow numb, walking in almost ankle deep cold sand. She lost her footing a few times, toppling over because she misstepped, before she finally had to sit down and take a breather. There wasn't anything to make a fire with, nothing to eat, nothing to drink. Her head started to hurt a few miles back, and now that she wasn't moving, it slowly kicked up into a pounding drum line. Her thigh and hip were killing her, and the deep scratch marks were starting to ooze blood again.

A sharp, chilling wind chose then to kick up, and having no long sleeves to cover up with, all she could do was wrap her arms around herself and curl up as tightly as she could. It still swept over her, stabbing her with tiny particles of sand it stole from the dunes.

A single tear formed and slid down her cheek, and her heart dropped a thousand miles.

She really was going to die, and she didn't even know if she had a family to grieve for her.

The wind swept through her hair, and she reached to grab a handful of the long locks. It was a beautiful lavender color, and she could see tiny hints of silver here and there as highlights she was sure would catch the light...had there been light to catch. Curious, she pulled out her sword and used its polished metal as a mirror. A pair of sparkly pale blue eyes looked back at her, framed by a delicately shaped face and a pert nose. A light set of freckles sprinkled their way across her cheekbones and nose, and her ears were small and curved. She tried making faces, hoping to maybe trigger something to remember, but all she managed to do was grow more frustrated.

She smiled at her reflection as a last ditch effort, and finally, a tiny light bulb went off somewhere in her brain.

She looked like her father.

It wasn't much, but it was something to run off on.

Well...maybe, if he was still alive somewhere, he would be the one to grieve for her, maybe always fretful that she never came home, maybe always searching for his little girl, hoping that someday, she might make it back to him.

“I'm sorry, Dad,” she whispered, and it felt right. Not Father, not Daddy...just Dad.

She got back to her feet and continued her voyage, stubbornly refusing to feel the burning pain creep down her injured leg and up her side. It was getting infected. The beast's blood must have contaminated it more than she thought.

Hours later, she fell to her knees when her legs gave out from under her. She heaved for air, sweat trickling down her face despite the stiff wind always brushing against her. Her vision was starting to swim, and her heart was fluttering wildly in her chest. She felt like she was burning up; the fever of infection had been ignited, so it wouldn't be long now.

Gasping, she tried to focus on the horizon line in front of her, and she blinked hard.

What...what was that?

Buildings?

Here?

Towers. Tall, white towers.

A wall. A tall white wall.

And...what was that?

Energy? It was so heavy...it felt like it was pressing down on her, even at this distance. And there was a lot of it, seeming to come from the towers behind the wall were.

She chuckled humorlessly.

Figures she would die within sight of possible help.

Her vision swam again and she pitched forward, heaving the leftover contents of her stomach onto the sand. There wasn't a lot. Spit trickled from her mouth as she dry heaved, unaware that she was being stalked again.

This time, there was no warning growl.

Something slammed into her and sent her flying, bringing her mind back into sharp focus as she struggled to land properly. Her body was trying to help her again, but it was so tired...so sick.

She took a battle stance, squaring up to a beast that was canine in form but had the back half of some sort of monkey, wearing the same sort of white mask over its face as the lizard thing had. The monkey half's tail ended in a sharp barb that looked very unforgiving, and it seemed to be dripping a milky greenish liquid.

“I was busy dying, in case you didn't notice,” she spat, her statement coming out in a garbled series of muttered syllables. The monster had the audacity to laugh at her, and it began to circle her, its tail twitching and saliva dripping from its long muzzle full of sharp teeth.

The 'thing' that was stalking through her mind chuckled back, and she felt it...what? Her brain went fuzzy before it forced it to refocus.

You're going to have to do better than that, sweetie, it growled in her ear. The voice, -was it a voice?- was clear as day compared to the haze of the infection spreading through her. Come on now, you've done it before, you can do it again.

“Do...what, exactly?”

Release me, silly girl. I'm your sword's spirit. Speak my name before you get eaten!

“Sword's...spirit...? Name...?”

Ugh...child, if you don't do it, we're going to have an issue!

The canine monkey beast decided then was a good time to attack, and it rushed in with a howl. Her eyes widened and she barely dodged, but was unprepared for how agile it was compared to the lizard, and it very quickly corrected itself. She screamed when it locked its teeth around her legs and shook.

Her body snapped to and fro and was abruptly released high into the air. All the air left her when she realized she was now dropping down into the beast's widely gaping mouth.

Well...at least she wasn't going to die alone.

“Oi, you should let a cat show you how to play with a mouse!”

The beast squealed and yipped when it was suddenly kicked to the side hard enough to send it into a dune and bury it. She was caught before she could hit the ground, and then dropped as the beast snarled viciously and kicked itself free. Giving itself a good shake, it refocused on its new quarry, absolutely livid at the intrusion.

She took in the sight of someone standing in front of her, dressed mostly in white, the wind tangling through a mane of blue hair, and he had his hand on the hilt of a sword just like hers.

The beast made the mistake of attacking him.

In one swift motion, he drew his blade and sliced it from snout to tail, hacking the stinger off for good measure. It seemed to take a second to register it had been killed before turning to dust the same as the lizard thing had. The newcomer flicked its blood from his blade and sheathed it with a shake of his head.

“Damn thing shoulda known better to get this close to home. I wonder what's got 'em all riled up this time?”

“Um...”

He turned, and she had just enough time to see his greyish eyes widen when she fell forward and hit the sand.

Chapter Text

This time, when she woke up, she was on her back, and instead of sand, she felt a sheet under her hands.

And she was warm.

Her body hurt, but her wound wasn't burning anymore. She was covered up by a nice thick blanket, her head cradled by a fluffy pillow. She cracked her eyes open and saw she was in a small room lit by a few small lamps.

Her head didn't hurt either.

And she could breath.

She pushed the blanket down a bit so she could see where the lizard had slashed her, but was surprised to see her clothes had been changed, and now she wore simple white pants similar to her black ones, and a soft sleeveless white top. Her hip and thigh weren't bandaged, and she was shocked to see that the deep rends in her skin were almost completely healed, save for some scarring.

Girl, you got lucky.

That voice again.

“Where am I now?” she whispered.

You wouldn't know even if I told you. There's a couple things you should be made aware of, however.

“Like what?”

Feel your forehead. And look at your arms. Like, really look.

She frowned and did as she was told. What she felt on her forehead promptly put her on edge. There was a hard, but smooth, raised ridge that ran along her whole forehead, stretching from ear to ear. It felt twisted, like vines, and it curved downward to end in tapered points behind each ear. There were small points, like thorns, that rose off of it at irregular intervals. Then, she looked at her arms and, as if she had put a pair of magic glasses on, thin, curving black lines like vines and stems appeared, running down each arm from the tops of her shoulders all the way down to the backs of her hands. They curled around her elbows and wrists, and tiny flowers outlined in black appeared all along them, much like the scabbard of her sword.

Speaking of which...

Her heart pounding, she looked around frantically for her blade and found it nowhere in the room. Starting to panic over its loss, though she didn't fully understand why, she started to get out of bed.

I wouldn't. We're still healing. And I'm safe, oddly enough.

“What...”

There was a soft knock on the door then, and she squeaked, throwing the blanket back over her. It opened a crack, and a boy with long black hair and smoky hazel eyes peered into the room to check on her.

“Oh, good. You're awake. We were starting to worry. Do you mind if I come in?”

“Um...no, I guess. Who are you?”

This was not the same guy who killed the canine monkey monster.

“My apologies. I'm Allain.” He wasn't very tall, and he was built slimly, as if he was formed with speed and agility in mind. His long black hair was tied back, and his hazel eyes were curious as they flicked to the weird growth on her forehead, and then to her arms where the black lined vines entwined. “They seem to be permanent, now,” he mused. She raised a hand to her head again, tracing the new addition with her fingertips.

“Do you know what it is?”

“Certainly. It's a Hollow mask fragment.” She frowned hard at him, and he cocked his head to one side. “You don't know what a Hollow mask fragment is.”

She shook her head.

“I don't really know what anything is, actually.”

“Hm. That's interesting.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is it interesting?”

“Because it is.”

Her frown turned to a scowl as Allain stepped over to a desk on the other side of the room. He picked up a clipboard with notes written in both an odd, spidery sort of hand, followed by ones written in a much more rounded manner, indicative of a woman's handwriting. She wasn't sure how she knew that, she just did. “It looks like you were last infused with donor reiatsu around twelve hours ago.” He turned to look at her over his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, I guess. My hip and leg don't burn anymore.”

“Hm. The infection was cleared up three days ago, so that tracks.”

Her heart just about stopped.

“Three days?! How long as I out for?”

“It's been a week since Jaeger brought you here.”

“Jaeger?”

“The one who brought you here. You were probably unconscious, now that I think of it.”

“Does he have blue hair?”

“Hmhm.”

“I vaguely remember someone with blue hair killing a dog monkey monster thing that tried to eat me.”

“Hollow,” he corrected.

“Huh?”

“Hollow. It was an Adjuchas class Hollow. You didn't know that?”

“I just told you that I can't remember anything.”

“You said you didn't know what anything was.”

“UGH. Same thing!”

“Not really.” Allain turned to look at her fully. “If you can't remember anything, then that's a much bigger problem than just simply having to educate you. I would think that a Soul Reaper would at least know what a Hollow is.”

“Soul Reaper?”

“Hm. Perhaps I should go inform my father that you've awoken.” Allain went to leave, and she stopped him.

“Wait. Allain?”

“Yes?”

“Why do I have a Hollow mask?”

He gave her a thoughtful look, and then shrugged.

“I'm not sure. None of us are. However, I believe you're in the best place to get that answer, so hang tight while I go talk to my father, okay?”

“Like I have a choice,” she muttered, drawing her knees to her chest. “Hey, do you know where my sword is?”

“Your zanpakuto is safe. My mother thought it would be best to lock it away for right now. There are a few here that aren't happy about your presence in our home, so it was done as a precaution.”

“Zanpakuto?”

“Just...let me go talk to Father.”

There wasn't any way to tell time in that odd place with eternal night, at least, none that she could find. The room had no clock, and the moon that was visible from the room's only window never seemed to change position. She had no idea how long the black-haired boy was gone for, but found herself both glad and apprehensive when another knock came at her door.

“It's safe,” she called. It swung open, and an older woman with long, greying auburn hair, a face lined and creased with age, and a bright smile came in with a tray loaded with something that smelled delicious.

“Allain told me you were awake, so I figured you were going to start getting hungry soon,” the woman said cheerfully, setting the tray down on the desk across from the bed. She turned to face her, and she noticed that this woman had the same eyes as the boy did. “I'm glad you're feeling better. I was really starting to get worried you would never wake up.”

The girl felt her stomach give a sharp pang followed by a loud growling gurgle, and the woman giggled.

“See? I thought so! If you let me see what your wounds look like, I can get you set up with some dinner.”

“Um...what's your name?” the girl asked. She felt...secure, in this woman's presence, but she had no way of knowing if it was a trick she was pulling on her. So, she remained edgy as her wounds were checked over. The woman gave her another bright smile that emitted nothing but warmth.

“My name's Orihime. Allain's my son. He helps me tend to the injured that show up here at Las Noches. Usually it's just other Arrancar that come here, but I don't think you're one of them. Not completely, anyway.” Her smoky hazel eyes flicked to the twisting, bony growth that spanned across the girl's forehead. “I'm not sure exactly what happened to you, but rest assured, my husband and the others are working hard to figure it out.”

“Arrancar? Las Noches?” The girl's head swam with some sort of something that made her uneasy. She had heard those terms before, she just couldn't place them.

“Arrancar are the top evolved form of Hollows,” the woman explained gently, smoothing her blanket back over her and getting up to get the tray. “And Las Noches is sort of their capital city. You're in a place called Hueco Mundo, the world the Hollows call home.”

“I'm not sure what you mean.”

“It's okay. Like I said, we're trying to figure it out. You're hungry, so lets fix that first. Then when you're full, I can show you were the bathing chamber is so you can get cleaned up. Now that you're awake, you'll be moved to a much more accommodating room as well. Does that sound okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Good. Now, this is just a light brothy soup and some bread that I made this morning, but there's a slice of lemon crème cake if you're feeling adventurous afterwards!”

Her mouth watered at the thought, but then she frowned. “Lemon crème cake? Can lemons even grow here?”

The woman giggled again.

“They can if you do it right! Once you're feeling up to it, I'll have one of the kids give you a tour of the surrounding area so you can get your bearings before we let you loose to wander as you like. But, for right now, eat up while it's still hot!”

The girl nodded, unable to ignore her stomach pains any longer. The soup was gone in a matter of moments, the bread too, another three bowls were produced. She felt much better, much more energized, after she slurped down the last of her fourth bowl, and Orihime laughed.

“I was hoping that was going to help. The color's returned to your face finally!”

The girl moved her arms around, stretching them out until her shoulders popped, and then swung them around herself in a tight bear hug. She felt like she could run a marathon now! She gave Orihime a smile.

“I think I could take on four of those monsters now!”

“The effects of reiatsu transfusion are only temporary, but each bit helps build your own back a little quicker. Until you're back to being 100%, everything you eat or drink will have some donor reiatsu infused within it. It won't work as quickly as infusing it directly into you, but I think you'll start absorbing it from Hueco Mundo itself at some point.”

“What's reiatsu, again? I think I remember it from somewhere, but I don't remember what it is.”

“It's our spiritual pressure. It's what makes us powerful, what keeps us alive, and what makes us 'us', I guess I could say. I put a special barrier around this room so that you're shielded from most of it here, but once it comes down, you'll feel it more. That won't happen until you're more acclimated, though. Kinda like getting fish used to a new tank's water temperature. I had a charm made that you can wear until we think you'll be able to handle it on your own in the meantime.” Orihime pulled a bracelet out of a pocket that was made with a mix of clear and clouded quartz beads, and a single blue gem sat in the middle, the color almost matching the dragonfly charm on her sword. “If you're ready for a proper bath, then I can tie this around your wrist so you can carry the shield with you.”

She wasn't sure what made her trust the woman's words, but she held her left wrist out so the woman could tie the braided, breaded cord around it. It was lovely, the beads catching the lantern light beautifully, and the blue gemstone sparkling brightly. Care had gone into its creation, and the girl smiled, feeling a warm, comforting 'bubble' settle around her.

“It's very pretty. Did you make it?”

“Oh, no! I'm no good at making jewelry. No, this was made by Nelliel's daughter. She's very talented in making all sorts of things. You'll meet her soon, I think. Now, lets get you up, shall we?”

She nodded, and swung her feet over the side of the bed. There was a pair of slippers on the floor next to the bedside table, and she pulled them on thankfully, as the white stone floor was chilly. Soon, they were making their way down a long hallway made of the same white stone her little room was. There were rooms with doors and archways lining the wall on her right, and the left had tall windows that marched down it in a neat row. She paused at one, looking out across the plain white sand dunes, not seeing a single other thing.

Orihime stopped with her, turning to give her a knowing smile.

“It goes on almost for forever,” she said softly. “When I first came here, it felt so lonely without anything else to look at. I didn't know what was in store for me, either. I was scared, not knowing. But, it all worked out in the end. The Arrancar became my family, and I wouldn't have Allain if it weren't for them.”

The girl gave her a questioning look.

“What, exactly, happened?”

Orihime's eyes took on a far away look, and she shook it away.

“Lets just say, for now, that I didn't know how good of a thing it was until I almost lost everything. I'll be happy to explain more later but for right now, let's get you settled in.”

They continued down the hallway before coming to a wide archway that wasn't closed off with a door. Instead, there was a white block wall that blocked off sight of the room behind it, leaving a winding path that circled it.

“You're not an Arrancar, are you? You don't have a mask thingy on your face.”

Orihime shook her head, bemused.

“Nope! I'm human. The only one here, as a matter of fact. Allain is only half; we weren't sure if he was going to have a mask fragment or not before he was born, but he can pass for a full human as long as he keeps his reiatsu concealed. He only has a mask in his Resurrección form.”

They entered the bathing chamber to the pleasant scents of soaps and oils. The girl breathed it in deeply, eager to get clean. Orihime had informed her that she had been given a couple sponge baths while she was unconscious, (a fact that caused a blush to spread across the girl's face) but that was nothing in comparison to even the thought of sinking down into a tub of very hot, very clean water.

She was lead to a curtained enclave to one side, where a large iron tub sat ready for her, filled with hot water and a table with bottles of all colors next to it. Orihime explained the bottles held soaps, conditioners, and that the water was infused with a special oil that would help take care of the scarring.

“I would heal the scars myself, but...well, my abilities aren't the best these days,” she said apologetically. The girl gave her another questioning look, and Orihime had held her hands up. “Never mind that. I need to go tend to a few things, so I'll have someone come in with a change of clothes and a comb for your hair. There's a big vanity on the other end of the chamber that has a good sized mirror on it, and that robe is for you when you're ready to get out.” She pointed to a fluffy white robe hanging on a hook on the enclave's opposite wall, and the girl nodded. “Take all the time you want. No one wants to hurry you in your recovery. Well, most of us don't.”

“Thank you, Orihime.”

“You're welcome. I wish I knew your name. It feels weird not being to address you properly.”

“It's all right. I'm hoping the bath is going to help me remember it.”

“I hope so, too. All righty then, take care. You'll probably see me again in the morning. You'll meet everyone else then, too. I figured it would be best if you got a real night's sleep before facing them.”

“They won't try to kill me...will they?”

Orihime shook her head, but hesitated first. That made her stomach clench a little.

“No. But...we'll cross that bridge tomorrow. For now, get cleaned up. Your room is almost ready, and unless you want to go back to the isolation room, that's where you'll sleep tonight.”

“Okay.” They parted ways, Orihime closed the enclave's curtain behind her, and the girl eagerly stripped down and climbed into the tub, groaning as she sank down into the hot water.

After a few moments of relishing in the silence and deeply penetrating heat, that little voice spoke up again.

I like her.

“So do I. I wonder why she's here?”

I'm not sure, but she's genuine. I don't think the rest of them will be as wholesome, however. I get the feeling that we're not as welcomed here as she puts on.

“Hm...” she trailed off, pulling her hair over her shoulder and sinking down to her chin. Yeah, she would agree. There was a certain level of tension that vibrated in the air, and she was certain she was the cause of it. Well, best wait until tomorrow. Not that she knew what time it was now; it could very well be tomorrow now and she wouldn't know.

Time is...odd, here. But I do believe it is around what you would perceive as eight o'clock.

“Maybe? I think I usually go to bed right around now, don't I?”

The voice was quiet, contemplating.

I'm not sure. I've come to realize that my memory is gone as well. I only know that I am tied to your blade, and I am released by calling out my name, which I do not know. I feel...wrong, somehow. Like I'm not myself. Something's different since I woke up when you were facing the canine Hollow, and I cannot put my finger on it.

The girl sighed.

There was just so much to think about. At least the voice was decent company as she soaked.

Chapter Text

At some point, they had decided that the former throne room was going to be their meeting place. No one was really sure how it happened; it just felt natural. Maybe it was just habit.

The throne sat empty, dusty and chipped from disuse. None of them ever sat in it. It stood as a memento of something that had almost ended them; a constant reminder to always look over their shoulders and to never be truly comfortable.

Which was why the sudden appearance of a Soul Reaper in their midst had set off more than one alarms amongst them.

One by one, they shuffled in and took their usual places, waiting for all of them to assemble before saying anything. The last to arrive pushed her way into the room, uttering a soft apology for being late.

“It's all right, darlin',” the man with long brown hair said with a smile. Starkk was leaning against the pedestal the throne sat on, a testament to his position as their leader. “We were waiting for you.”

“How is she?” the woman who stood next to him asked. Her long blond hair was tied back, her green eyes sharp above a mask that wound around her lower jaw.

“Her wounds are healed, just a little scarred. Her reaitsu will still need to be fed for a while, though. I'm not sure she could handle the pressure around Las Noches right now, so I gave her her charm. It does exactly what I wanted it to do.”

“Oh! That's good! Nix did such a good job on it, too.” Almost always cheerful, the teal-haired woman standing on the other side of the throne's pedestal gave Orihime a big grin. “Did she make the right gemstone choices?”

Orihime nodded, pressing a hand to her chest with a slight wince.

“She liked it very much Nel, thank you. Please let Nix know that.”

“Will do!” The wince did not go unnoticed amongst those assembled. The teal-haired woman frowned, shooting a concerned look at the man who offered Orihime his hand.

Ulquiorra gave her a very slight shake of his head as he pulled his wife to him and slid an arm around her waist. She was breathing hard, but she still managed to give him a smile before she laid her head against his shoulder.

They shifted around an uncomfortable quiet settling over them. It was becoming more and more apparent that their time with their savior was short. Even Nnoitra, who had once despised her very existence, dropped his gaze to the floor beneath his feet.

Without her, he'd still be dead. Without her, Las Noches would have fallen. Without her, Hueco Mundo would have ceased to exist.

“Will you all please stop worrying over me?” she asked with a laugh. “I'm not gone yet. Cheer up, please?”

“Sure thing, princess.” Eyes shifted over to Grimmjow, who stood against the far wall with his arms crossed. He leveled a glare onto anyone who still looked sad and left his spot to stand next to her. “You heard the lady. Knock it off. Lets get this fucking meeting out of the way so we can go back to doing whatever the fuck we were doing, got it?”

“I agree. Now, considering the circumstances, I think the right course of action is to let her stay here. I don't think she's a threat, and she's not lying about not knowing who she is.”

“Are we just ignoring the fact that she's obviously Ichimaru's kid?”

Starkk shook his head, giving Grimmjow an exasperated look.

“We can't say that for sure. All we can do is wait it out and see if anything comes back to her.”

“I'm all for giving her brain a little jolt,” the pink-haired man with yellow eyes said, pushing his glasses further onto his nose.

“I'm not going to let you experiment on her, Szayel,” Nel countered with a scowl. “As long as she's in my care, you will not touch one hair on her head.”

She was waved off with a huff.

“Yes, yes, yes, of course Nelliel. Whatever you say. If you let me do a scan on her, I might be able to find the source of the amnesia, is all. There could be an injury to her brain that we previously didn't pick up on. Something that's cutting off blood flow, perhaps?”

“I doubt such a thing will be necessary,” Ulquiorra said firmly. “Nelliel's saliva bomb would have made sure any internal injuries were mended as well.”

Szayel scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Fine. Have it your way. In the mean time, I do still need to at least examine that piece of mask that appeared on her forehead, as well as those odd tattoos that cover her arms. I should be able to tell if it's a real mask or not by biopsying a piece of it-”

“Stop. No one is taking a piece of that girl's mask,” Tier, the blond woman next to Starkk, said with a sigh. “It's a mask, plain as the ones we all wear. We can all see that, Granz. We should be trying to figure out how to help her deal with it.”

“We should be hunting Ichimaru down and demanding to know why his damn kid's here.”

“As I already said, there is no telling if she's Gin's daughter or not.”

“I know a way to find out real fucking quick. Hey Szayel, you can do a DNA test, right? I'll hold the brat down for ya.”

“Grimmjow, settle down. There is no need for you to fly off the handle about this.”

“Quit trying to tell me to calm the hell down, Nelliel!”

“She's practically a child, Grimmjow! Barely Jaeger's age, if not younger. Stop it!”

“Both of you, stop it!”

At Orihime's shout, the chamber instantly quieted. She had pushed away from Ulquiorra, a hard frown leveled on the two of them, and laid a gentle hand on Grimmjow's bare forearm. He gave her a scowl, which she returned just as fiercely. “I don't want you two to fight right now, okay? Save it for your bedroom. That girl needs our help. She's so lost, so confused. We need her see us as allies, not as threats. Grimm, please, settle down.”

The chamber seemed to hold its breath, and then let it out as a collective sigh of relief when Grimmjow set his mouth and yanked his arm away from Orihime's touch.

“Fine. But that kid's nothing but trouble, and you all fucking know it.” He turned from the group and stalked away, throwing the door open and pulling it shut with a loud CRACK behind him. Nelliel sighed and shook her head.

“He's still angry with Jaeger more than anything,” she said. “They haven't spoken since he returned with the girl.”

“Like father, like son,” Starkk said with a shrug. “Grimmjow was never one to take facing a mirror lightly.”

“Well, Jaeger could try not antagonizing his father so much, too.”

“Like mother, like son,” Tier said, somewhat irritated. “You and Grimmjow mix like oil and water, Nelliel. When are you going to give up on trying to make it work?”

Nel turned to level a hot glare not unlike that of her mate's onto her friend.

“It works just fine, not that that was any of your business, and as soon as I need any more outside insight on my relationship with my mate, I'll let you know. Until then, kindly butt out.” The teal-haired woman spun on her heel and followed Grimmjow out, though she didn't slam the door shut as hard as he did.

Orihime sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Fuck, do those two deserve each other,” Nnoitra grumbled. Szayel snorted from his place beside him.

“You're one to talk, Gilga. Might I remind you that you've been sleeping in MY lab for three days?”

Nnoitra growled, and turned a fist to the smirking Szayel.

“You keep your fucking nose outta my business, peacock!”

“Enough! I think we've had enough drama for the day,” Starkk growled. The two lower ranked Arrancar huffed and turned away from each other, their arms crossed. “Maybe Grimm's got something with the DNA test, I'll give him that. If we knew for sure, it would put more than just one mind at ease. Hime dear, do you think she would do it?”

The human woman nodded.

“I think so. It would help her too, I think. She's already mentioned that she thinks she looks like her father. It might help to put a face to a name.”

“All right then. In the meantime, lets try to puzzle out that mask piece. I have an inkling that we and the Visoreds weren't Aizen's only experiments.”

“It...may have been an aftershock...”

Orihime's soft voice made them all pause, and Szayel cocked his head to one side, suddenly thoughtful.

“You could very well be right, Lady Hime. If the affects of the Hyogyku's destruction spread farther than we thought, it's possible Hueco Mundo was not the only place to feel effects.”

“Or, perhaps, those who were closest to Lo...to Aizen absorbed some of the Hogyoku's power passively.”

The pink-haired scientist rubbed his chin, giving Ulquiorra a nod after a moment.

“We know Gin Ichimaru didn't ask for Hollowfication. As far as I know, he didn't ask for anything. Considering what it could do, that's a possibility as well. Starkk,” he turned to their leader, eyes flashing, “may I have permission to collect some data when I draw blood for the DNA test? If there are traces of the Hogyoku's energy in this girl, it could explain her passive transformation.”

“You know damn well that Nelliel will kill you if you hurt her.”

“I have no interest in being dead again. Once was enough for me.”

“All right, but I'm not holding a funeral in case you screw up.”

“And the girl has to agree to it first,” Tier added firmly. Szayel rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“Fine, fine.”

“So, what do we do if she IS Ichimaru's kid?” Eyes swung to Nnoitra, who, up until now, had nothing really to contribute to the discussion. He stood with his arms crossed, giving them all a hard frown. “I agree with Jaegerjaquez. She doesn't belong here.”

“Look, I do agree that it's pretty obvious she's his daughter. She looks just like him. But there's also a slight possibility that she's not, and I'd rather be sure. If she is his kid, at least we'll know where to start looking for her name. And maybe an explanation as to she suddenly has a Hollow mask across her forehead.”

“It's the strangest thing,” Orihime added. “I sense a Hollow's presence within her, but it's...this isn't like Ichigo. It's like it's new, but it belongs there, like it was missing until now.”

“Separating her from her blade didn't seem to make a difference in much of anything, either,” Starkk said. “I think you might be onto something there too, darlin'.”

“None of that answers my damn question!” Nnoitra was now outright scowling, his lip lifted in a snarl. “What the fuck do we do with her? I don't feel like playing tea party host to some Soul Reaper kid, even if she's not Ichimaru's!”

Tier sighed.

“We don't know, Gilga. Plain and simple. Until we have more answers, she'll have to stay here. Besides, considering her circumstances, shipping her back off to the Soul Society could be just as bad as her ending up here. Think about it, Nnoitra. We have no intention of experimenting on her, or keeping her prisoner; who's to say they won't?” The lanky mantis-like man snorted, and Tier doubled down on him with a hard look. “Put Nnala in her shoes, Nnoitra. If this were to happen to your daughter, you wouldn't want anything to happen to her, either.”

His chin dropped in a pout, but he finally relented.

“So, it's decided. She'll stay here for the time being where we can keep an eye on her. I say we let her explore and try to jostle her memory on her own. I'm not sure what forcing it would do anyway; I think the DNA test is going to be enough as it is. Nelliel's already agreed to host her in tower three's guest quarters; I can only hope that she keeps Grimmjow away from her.”

“I'll get the tests I need to conduct ready,” Szayel said, just glad to be allowed to do something he thought was productive. “I can have them ready as soon as tomorrow evening.”

“Good. I think that's a good stopping point for now. We can reconvene after we have whatever results we're going to get, if any. I suppose we're dismissed.”

--------------------------

She spent a long while in the tub, and almost couldn't climb out she was so relaxed. Her bones felt like jelly, and her skin tingly. When she did finally manage to pull herself up, she discovered that the scarring from the slash marks had lessened significantly, much to her happy surprise. She stepped out of the water and pulled the plug, turned and grabbed the robe. After wrapping up in it, she pushed the enclave curtain open and poked her head out.

The vanity Orihime had mentioned was where she said it would be, and on it was a pile of fresh clothes and several small crystalline bottles. She went over to investigate and discovered the bottles were filled with perfume, and she was delighted to find one that she liked. It smelled of sage and green tea, and she dabbed some on her neck like her mother had showed her when she was little and playing dress up.

She froze, her gaze meeting itself in the mirror.

Her mother. Her heart suddenly started thudding heavily, remembering that her mother also had blue eyes, and hair almost the same shade as Orihime's. There was a trace of a thought, a flash of a higher pitched feminine voice, and the girl started crying, sinking down into the cushioned chair accompanying the vanity. She had once stood in front of a vanity just like this one, wearing one of her mother's dresses, dabbing perfume on with her hair in curlers.

“Hello? Reaper girl? Is it safe to come in?”

The voice made her look up towards the wall separating the room from the entrance, recognizing Allain's soft voice.

“Um, not yet. Let me finish getting dressed, please,” she replied, her voice thick. She scrubbed the tears away with a sleeve and sniffled.

“All right. Please let me know when it's safe then.”

She pulled a fresh set of under clothes on, skipping the brazier because it was a bit too big, and then pulled a pair of white pants and a soft, long sleeved shirt that was also mostly white. She toweled her hair off, sent the comb through it properly, and quickly braided it. She tossed it over her shoulder and hesitated, debating on if she was allowed to take the bottle of perfume and comb with her to her room.

“Are you all right in there?”

“Oh, sorry! Yes, it's safe now.”

The slim, black-haired boy poked his head around the corner, just to be safe, and then gave her a smile.

“Do you feel better, now?”

“I definitely needed that, thank you,” she replied, returning his smile. It was a very lovely one; small, quiet, one that tugged on the corners of his mouth just enough to call it a smile. It suited his delicate face perfectly. “I even remembered something about my mother. I used to play dress up with her clothes, and she taught me how to apply perfume and put my hair in curlers.”

That adorable smile widened a little, and his hazel eyes lit up.

“Excellent! My father seems to think that your memory loss has something to do with the appearance of that mask fragment on your forehead. He will be very interested to hear that you've remembered more. You will meet him in the morning, along with the rest of the Arrancar counsel.”

“They're not going to eat me, are they?”

Allain gave her a shake of his head.

“Mother said you were worried about that. No harm will come to you. They would have to get past Mother and Lady Nelliel, and that is not going to happen.”

“Well, that's reassuring, I guess.”

“Hmhm. It's time to bring you to tower three, now. Is there anything that you would like to take with you?”

“Oh!” She grinned, and scooped up the bottle of perfume and the comb. “Are these okay to take?”

“Certainly. Shall we?”

They left the bathing chamber behind and started the journey to her new room. The hallways were very much all the same; it made it confusing to try and keep track of where she was and how far they had come. Allain's gait was easy to keep up with; she was a few inches taller than he was, so she had time to slow her walking speed and think.

“Allain? Where did you say you were taking me?”

“Tower three, Ms. Reaper. You are an official guest of Lady Nelliel and Lord Grimmjow.” Her feet suddenly tripped over themselves, and Allain had to steady her before she hit the cold stone floor. “Is there something wrong?”

“Grimmjow. I remember that name from somewhere. And not in a good way.” Indeed, the utterance of the name echoed through her head, and it caused her heart to speed up in a nervous way. Allain didn't seem to be affected as he helped her straighten up.

“Lord Grimmjow's name is known well amongst Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, and it is usually not without some level of fear or distrust. Perhaps you heard it at some point during your training?”

“Maybe.” She doubted it, though. Somehow, she knew that this was a far more personal knowledge than one learned about from a textbook or library scroll. “So...why are the towers numbered?”

“That is an exceedingly long story, and not one any of the counsel members are quick to elaborate on, unfortunately. I'm sure you'll get an explanation at some point, however.”

They lapsed into a companionable silence as they made their way through the winding hallways of Las Noches. The girl was astounded at the size of the place; it felt like it was the size of a city with how far she figured they had walked so far. Allain wasn't fazed whatsoever. Of course, this was his home. He probably walked through it every single day.

The hallway eventually opened up into something more of an anti-way; it was much wider, anyway. There were double doors down one side, one set open to the wider hallway. She paused, hearing sounds of combat from the other side.

“Something's happening in there!” she exclaimed, eyes wide. Allain gave her a puzzled look, but then realized that there was no way she could know what that room was.

“That's our training arena. It was made so that the strongest Arrancar can battle without fear of harming the castle or anyone outside of it. You're hearing a sparring match.”

They continued on past the open doors. Allain didn't glanced back, but she did, just once. A rumbling, growling sound shuddered through the adjoining corridor, causing dust to shake loose from the ceiling above them, and she shuddered, feeling a sickeningly powerful wave of energy hit her.

It made her stomach turn.

They made it to her new room, which turned out to be an entire apartment, complete with a private bath, a small kitchen, and a separate bedroom centralized around a well furnished living area. There was a sofa, a tall bookcase full of titles that she was sure she knew from somewhere, a thick woven rug covering the chilly floor, and a short coffee table in front of the sofa. On the table was a small plate with a large piece of lemon crème cake on it, and a fork at the ready. She gasped when she saw it; she had completely forgotten that Orihime had promised cake.

“Will this work for now?” Allain asked, amused at her delight over her hunk of cake. She turned to give him a smile, yellow crumbs stuck to her lips.

“Hmhm! This is SO good. Do you want some? I'll share!”

“My mother has to make a few when she makes that particular one,” he said with a chuckle. “It's my father's favorite, as well as Lord Grimmjow's, though he will never admit it. I have plenty at home, I assure you.”

“Suit yourself!”

“You'll find the closet in your bedroom stocked with the basics until we can get our seamstresses working on actual clothes for you. Your kitchen is stocked with pre-made meals, courtesy of Mother and Lady Nelliel. We weren't sure if you knew how to cook, so they thought it would be the easier option. They also picked out a selection of teas for you. You'll find plenty of soaps and conditioners in your bathroom as well, and extra linens are located in the bottom drawer of the dresser.”

She paused in devouring her cake to give him a smile.

“Thank you, Allain. You and your mother are amazing. Lady Nelliel too.”

He returned her smile with a nod.

“I will pass your thanks along to them. I hope you'll be comfortable here, Ms. Reaper.”

“For right now, I think this will do just fine. Any chance of getting my sword back, though?”

“Hm, no. Not yet. Perhaps after you meet with the counsel in the morning.” Something beeped, and he raised his wrist up to look at a watch-like device strapped around it. “It seems that I'm being summoned to the training arena. I will have to take my leave now, if you don't mind.”

“No, I think I'm okay. Thanks again, Allain.”

He gave her a short bow and left, leaving her to ponder her situation some more. The voice was quiet; perhaps it had gone to sleep. She decided that sleep was a good idea, and set about following suit.

Chapter Text

She stood in the middle of the throne room, nervously fidgeting with a cuff of the long sleeved white shirt she chose for the morning. She had tried her best to make herself as presentable as possible, taking extra time to comb her hair out and braid it properly, and making sure her face was clean. She had found a pair of woven sandals next to the dresser, and they didn't rub her feet too badly. She had managed to keep from pacing but, by the time her escort had turned up, her anxiety was keyed up.

Her escort had not made things any better.

She was a tall young woman with long black hair that fell to her backside in loose waves, a narrow and sharp face, and legs clad in thigh high heeled black boots, covering most of what her miniskirt didn't. Her Hollow mask was a V shape in the middle of her forehead, horns coming to small points sweeping a little ways over her head, like goat horns. They were about the same height, which made it hard for her look down her nose at her, but she managed all the same. She introduced herself as Nnala, and that was about the end of the conversation.

They had walked the path to the throne room in silence, and the girl counted her lucky stars she didn't have to work at keeping up with Nnala's demanding pace. Once they had arrived, the girl's stomach was clenched in unease, not daring to even flip flop. When one of the very large double doors was opened for her, Nnala had given her a sniff and turned on a heel, leaving her without a single word.

Now she stood in the middle of the throne room with eight pairs of eyes containing everything from curiosity and kindness, to outright outrage and disdain.

She kept her eyes on the floor at her feet, only looking up every once in a while with her instincts screaming at her to find an escape route, feeling a weight to the room that threatened to push her to her knees if she didn't stay perfectly still.

“He's late,” came a voice off to her left. Her eyes could only look so far through their corner, and she could not see the owner. It was an irritated male's voice, though.

“What did you expect? He takes after you,” came a female's retort. Her voice sounded kind, even through her own irritation.

“You can relax a little, darlin',” came a different man's voice. This one, she did look up for, and she met a pair of grey brown eyes that had a hint of a smile to them. They belonged to a man whose brown hair was tied back into a neat ponytail, wearing all white, except for the black shirt under his long coat, and a black belt buckled around his waist. “There ya go now. I'm not going to let any of them bite you.”

There was a growl from the same male voice she noted earlier, and the man shot a frown off to the owner.

The tall woman next to him, whose face was half hidden by a mask of sharp teeth, didn't exactly seem to smile, but the look she gave her wasn't unkind, either. Her green eyes were sharp. Very sharp.

Orihime, whom she had been very glad to see, came over and laid a reassuring hand on her arm, giving her a very soft smile and brushing a stray length of lavender hair behind her ear. “It will be all right, I promise.” Their height difference made the girl look down at her, but seeing the quiet sparkle in Orihime's smoky hazel eyes did finally make her relax a little. She briefly looked up to meet the intense green gaze of the man whose side Orihime stood by. He was much smaller than the other ones assembled, with a helmet-like mask covering half of his head and very pale skin, black lines running down his face from his eyes, and black hair that hung neatly to his shoulders. She could immediately see that Allain looked just like his father, but with much softer eyes like his mother.

He gave her a very shallow nod, his eyes intense but it was probably because they were so green. She had ever seen eyes that green before.

Feeling a little more emboldened, she moved her gaze to the woman standing next to him, and earned a bright, wide smile for her effort. This woman too, had hazel eyes, but they seemed to have a natural smile to them, and long teal colored hair was pulled over her shoulders in thick waves. She too, had a mask that was like a helmet, though hers sat perched on top of her head as a skull, and had serrated horns that curled tightly to either side, like a sheep's. Her energy was bouncy, enthusiastic, and the girl felt as drawn to her as she had Orihime.

The man standing on her other side, however, was the direct opposite.

Wild blue hair, broad shoulders, bare chested with a thick scar that ran from his shoulder to the opposite hip, a mask like the blond woman's, only covering the right side of his face but teeth no less sharp. His lip lifted in a sneer that bared teeth equally as sharp, and it matched the burning anger awaiting a trigger in eyes so intensely blue that she swallowed an immediate wave of fear. He smirked when she forced her gaze away, and a shudder raced down her spine when he scoffed.

She didn't get a chance to feel out the other two, though the lanky one with the stringy black hair and sharp nose gave her as heated of a gaze as the one with blue hair. The door she had come through pushed open, and someone came into the room, slamming it behind him and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

She winced at the sound, looking over her shoulder to focus on the newcomer.

Her eyes widened.

He looked like a younger version of his father, same blue hair and everything. His mask covered the left side of his forehead as the upper corner of an animal's skull, wrapping back against his head and ending in three elegantly pointed horns just behind and above his ear. His hair hung to his shoulders in spiky lengths, part of it tied up in a ponytail high on the back of his head. Piercings marched up and down his ears in various colored metals, with green, black, and blue feathers tied on a cord attached to one through his left lobe. He wore a white sleeveless shirt, the same kind of white pants she wore, and he had several bracelets around his wrists, some woven in colorful patterns, others beaded like hers.

Instead of burning blue, however, his eyes were a dark grey that shifted color in the ambient lighting. They flashed bluish green when he glanced at her curiously before taking a spot just in front of her. The man with the brown hair, obviously their leader, sighed, giving him an worn look that seemed to be well practiced.

“Jaeger, nice of you to finally join us.”

“My apologies, Lord Starkk,” the young man replied with a shrug. “I got caught up in something.”

There was another growl, certainly from the man with the dangerous blue eyes, but it was brushed off as Starkk straightened from leaning against a wide, tall pedestal behind him. She spared a glance at its top, seeing a stone throne-like chair, and it made her uneasy.

“All right, now that we're all here, we can begin. First off I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Coyote Starkk, my dear. I'm this motley crew's leader.” He carefully stepped closer to her and extended a hand, and she felt safe enough to take it. He gave her a smile and brought it to his lips to gently kiss the back of it. She blushed a little, and he straightened to gesture to the woman next to him. “This my mate, Tier Hallibel. She is also my second in command. My lieutenant, if you will.”

The woman gave her a nod, but didn't say anything.

“This is Ulquiorra,” Orihime said, turning to give the shorter man a smile. “My husband, Allain's father.”

“Ms. Reaper,” he said with another minute nod. His voice was quiet, like Allain's. She could tell instantly that Allain took after him, as well. His energy was as tightly reigned as his son's, but it was calm. Deep, perhaps as deep as Starkk's well hidden supply.

The tall woman with the teal hair and bright smile gave her a grin. “I'm Nelliel! Most everyone just calls me Nel, though. My daughter's the one who made that shield bracelet for you. You're also staying in my tower while you're here. I hope your room is comfortable. Nix and I tried to make sure all the bases were covered.”

The girl instantly liked her.

“Oh! It's very comfortable, thank you!”

“Can we cut the shit and get to the point now?” The blue-haired man growled. He jabbed a thumb to his chest. “Grimmjow.” Then, he pointed to the other two in the room. “Nnoitra, Szayelaporro. There, we're all best fucking friends now.”

The mention of that name made another wave of fear sweep through her body. There was a sigh from next to her, though, and the younger Arrancar shook his head.

“Figures he'd be all spun up,” he muttered. He turned his head to look at her properly, his eyes flashing the same blue green. They were a lot calmer than his father's, and his energy felt like a cold water river, slow and lazy, but deep. “I'm Jaeger. Glad to see you're up and about, Reaper girl.”

“You're the one who rescued me,” she said softly. He shrugged.

“I thought for sure you were going to die, actually. I only brought you home so that you wouldn't attract anymore attention. I'm glad I was wrong, though.”

Something in his voice made the tips of her ears heat up in a slight blush, but it was quickly pushed down.

“Speaking of which, that's why you're here, Jaeger,” Starkk said, turning attention onto himself. “You're going to be her warden while she's here.”

He turned to give Starkk a hiked eyebrow.

“Finders keepers, huh?”

“Hmhm. Someone has to keep an eye on her at all times, and you always seem to be the one with the most time on their hands. If you've got enough time to desert your post and go wandering off, you have time to do this.”

The Arrancar boy sighed again.

“Well, it beats being grounded again. I'll take it.”

“Oh, you're grounded too. You're not leaving tower three for a while.”

“What?!” Jaeger turned to face his mother, his very sharp teeth bared. The girl suppressed a shudder. “C'mon, Mom! We all know that was a pointless assignment! Nothing was ever going to happen in that quadrant, and you know it!”

“Had this not been the third time in a row, we wouldn't have to do it!” she countered, her hazel eyes flashing. “If we assign you a patrol, you are to stay on it until your assignment's over. Jaeger, we've been through this.”

He huffed, but relented.

“Fine.”

It was such a display of childish petulance that the girl almost giggled. He must have caught the sound of her cutting it off, because he gave her an annoyed look, but she only gave him a shake of her head. He rolled his eyes, but all traces of annoyance faded.

“Now that that's out of the way, lets get down to business. So, you obviously can't just tell us your name, so is there something you wouldn't mind being called while you're here?”

With all eyes on her now, she shifted her weight nervously, her throat a little tight.

“Um...not really. I'm not sure if I have any nicknames that I go by, or anything like that. I guess I'll be okay with whatever you all think will work.”

“Pain in the ass, scumbag Reaper it is,” the lanky man with long, stringy black hair sneered. His one beady black eye was trained on her, the other was covered by an eye patch. “I think that's a good one.”

“Knock it off, Nnoitra,” the blond woman chided, leveling a hard glare onto him. This woman's energy felt...smooth, but there was a strong current churning underneath the surface. To the girl, she said, “I think just Ms. Reaper would be fine, if that's the case. Will that be all right?” The girl nodded, surprised by how commanding Tier's voice sounded. “Good. Then we will do our best to respect that, right everyone?”

Nnoitra and Grimmjow grumbled, but Tier's words seemed to carry a substantial amount of authority, and complaints were kept to themselves.

It was the pink-haired man who spoke next, and he made to step closer to her, but stopped himself. “Ms. Reaper, may I approach you?”

“Um...sure?”

“Thank you.” He stepped closer and leaned in to examine her up and down, rubbing his chin. Orihime, who had gone back to Ulquiorra's side, watched closely, and Nel's watchful gaze was sharper yet. Even Jaeger, who moved a few feet to a side to be out of the way, watched him close. But, he never laid a single finger on her, and his exam wasn't lewd in any way. It was simple curiosity, and she could see calculations and hypotheses running through his amber colored eyes. “Hm. Could you please push your sleeves up? I'd like to see the markings on her arms.” She did as she was asked, and his eyes got narrower in deeper thought, his head cocked to one side. “Those appeared at the same time your mask fragment first did, right after Nelliel healed you with her saliva bomb. It seemed to be in reaction to it, but I couldn't be sure. They faded, and your mask disappeared, after your body healed, but now they seem to be permanent. I think the markings are part of your mask, much like the red stripe across Nelliel's nose, and Grimmjow's green smudges under his eyes. It's unusual for them to appear on your arms rather than near your mask, but then again, this is a most unusual set of circumstances regardless. Tell me child, why is it that you think you look like your father?”

“Uh...” she shifted uncomfortably under his studious gaze. “Well, I'm not exactly sure. I just know I do, more so after I remembered my mother had hair almost the same color as Orihime's. Both have blue eyes, though. I am certain of that.”

“And if I had a way for you to maybe place a name to a memory? I can run a DNA test on you; if I happen to have your father's DNA catalogued somewhere in my computer systems, I might be able to help at least that part.”

She gave him a confused frown.

“Why would my father's DNA be here?”

The pink-haired man, Szayelaporro? tapped his chin, taken aback by her question, and clearly thinking around it.

“Szayel's lab has a massive catalogue of DNA samples of all kinds,” Orihime said, coming to his rescue. “Hollows and Soul Reapers have been in off and on conflict since time began, and Szayel's a scientist. It's in his nature to collect things, and he has samples that he has never once explained how he obtained them. Chances are pretty good that he might have your father's, and maybe even your mother's.”

“Yes, thank you, Lady Hime. I was trying to figure out how to explain that without going into technicalities.” His eyes flashed with a smile that seemed to mask something. “I would also like to take a few samples of your reiastu, if you don't mind. I'd like to try to figure out how you ended up with that mask; major events tend to leave fingerprints on your spiritual pressure as telltale signs of trauma, as an example. I may be able to pinpoint what might have happened before you woke up here.”

“How would you do that? Collect my reiastu?”

“Just a few extra vials of your blood is all. I can extract all I need from those.”

The girl chewed her lip, but nodded in the end.

“All right. I'll do it.”

“Excellent! I will send someone to tower three to escort you to my lab when you're ready then, hm?” She nodded again, and the man made to return to his post, but stopped partway, as if suddenly remembering something. He turned back around, his chin in a hand. “Have you been able to communicate with your zanpakuto's spirit at all?”

She was a bit taken aback, unsure how to answer.

He means me, love. You can answer, I sense no danger.

“Yes. I think so. There's a voice that says it's tied to my sword. It says it has a name, but it can't remember what it is. It doesn't feel like itself, and it hasn't since it woke up when I almost got killed by that dog thing. Other than that, it's just as lost as I am.”

“Fascinating! Do you mind if I give your blade an examination in my lab? I believe it might help sort this puzzle further!”

She waited for the voice to whisper to her, and when it did, it was with a great deal of unease.

No. I don't like that idea. Letting him draw your blood is one thing, but I am quite another. I'm not in any shape to fight if he decides to tinker with me, and as we are linked, that could harm you as well.

“No, sorry. At least, not right now. I'd like to have it back, actually, if that's at all possible?”

“You may have it back after the meeting,” Starkk replied, giving Szayel a warning look when he started to argue her decision. “Ulquiorra has been keeping it safe for you. You may go with him to retrieve it when we're done here.”

Ah. So that's whom I've been sensing every now and then. His energy is...interesting.

“Thank you. I very much appreciate it.”

“The fact that your sword's spirit has also lost its identity is...unheard of,” Ulquiorra said, crossing his arms. A troubled look settled on his face, as if he was thinking about his own blade, strapped to his hip. “I did not think that was possible.”

“Well, considering that our blades are an extension of ourselves, it is unheard of,” Szayel replied, still frowning. “However, a Soul Reaper's blade is different. They exist separately from their wielders. This is most interesting. A precedent for certain. I must return to my lab to begin my research on this circumstance. I'll send someone along to your room in due time, Ms. Reaper. Just sent word when you're available!” And with that, the pink-haired scientist swept out of the room, rubbing his chin and already muttering to himself. The door opened and closed, and he was gone.

“Don't be fooled,” the lanky, tall man said, giving the girl a waxy smirk. “He's eager to get his hands on you so he can poke around your genetics. Szayel gets off on shit like that. He finds it...intimate.”

“Enough, Nnoitra.” This time, it was Nelliel who glared at him, and he gave her a sneer fit for a rabid fox. There was a history between them, the girl sensed, one that was as bad as it could get. The man's oily energy swam around him like a polluted lake, and it made the girl shudder in repulsion.

“I said from the start that I'm not babysitting the little shit,” he spat. He returned his attention to her, his black eye sparking in all sorts of malignant thoughts. “But I might not mind a few hours of fun. Just to see how much blood's left when Szayel's done with you.”

There were two surges of energy behind her; one from her left, and the other just to her right. One deep and cold, the other a crashing of violence. She blinked, and suddenly, Nnoitra was thrown back into the far wall so hard that he left a crater. He didn't even get a chance to shout before a blade was put to his throat, and his beady black eye, his face furious, traveled up the blade to meet the blazing blue of Grimmjow's.

Nnoitra snarled, and spat on Grimmjow's blade.

The only thing that stopped Nnoitra's death was Ulquiorra, who appeared in front of Grimmjow and took hold of his blade in one hand, a steady, deadpan look fixed on the blue-haired Arrancar. Jaeger, to her surprise, had appeared right in front of her at the same time his father sent Nnoitra flying. He had his blade drawn, and his body was tense as he waited to see what was going to happen. The other three stood frozen, ready to act but seemingly trusting their smaller comrade's actions.

Silence fell on the chamber as Ulquiorra stared the much larger man down. Nnoitra started crawling out of the hole in the stone wall, glaring and reaching for his own blade as he circled around Ulquiorra. However, when his hand fell to the blade's hilt, Ulquiorra, without letting Grimmjow's blade go, turned his head just enough to fix Nnoitra with the same steady look.

It made Nnoitra stop in his tracks, and he leveled a deep scowl on Ulquiorra as he dropped his hand.

“I shoulda known you'd side with them,” he growled, low in his throat. He turned his gaze back to Grimmjow, who was practically trembling with the effort of holding himself back. His teeth were tightly clenched, his face was a picture of rage, but he stayed still, his eyes following Nnoitra's every move as the lanky, slimy man eased away from Ulquiorra. Nnoitra clucked his tongue, pausing when he thought he was a safer distance away. “And you, Grimmjow. You surprise me. Someone's gotten soft since shacking up with that bitch.”

Another blade, this one who's hilt was wrapped in green, appeared at Nnoitra's throat, and his glower deepened, turning his head just enough to meet the dangerously gleaming hazel eyes of Nelliel, who stood firmly at his side, easily matching his power and then some.

“Have you forgotten your place, Nnoitra?” she asked quietly. Calculating. “You want to test me now, with me at full power? If you do, then by all means, try me.”

The girl knew right then and there that there that Nel was no one to trifle with. It would appear that Nnoitra understood that too, because he gave her a sneer and raised his hands up.

“I remember my place, Nelliel. I remember it well, and I remember how I got there. Don't you?”

Nelliel scowled, and raised her blade just high enough so that the edge of her sword pressed against his throat just above his Adam's apple. In front of the girl, Jaeger tensed up, shifting his weight so he was ready to spring. By the wall, Grimmjow gave Ulquiorra a snarl and yanked his blade out of the smaller man's grasp, sheathing it. Ulquiorra shook his head, and glanced down at his hand. It was bleeding, but only slightly, and it was healing quickly.

“Oh, I remember,” came Nel's soft reply. There was no reminiscence in her tone, however. “And you'll do well to know that I'll never forget it.”

“Leave the girl alone,” Ulquiorra said, looking up from his hand, fixing Nnoitra with that unsettling gaze again. “This will be our final warning. Next time, I'll let Grimmjow kill you.”

“As if that mangy house cat could touch me!” Nnoitra laughed, his voice screeching like nails on a chalkboard. “If anyone's forgotten his place, it's him!”

“On the contrary. He nearly cut my hand in two just now. I would say that had we still been numbered, he would have surpassed you a long time ago. I would watch yourself, Gilga. No one is holding his leash anymore.”

At Ulquiorra's words, Nnoitra's face got redder and redder, but he only growled and stormed out of the chamber, muttering to himself in a fit of rage.

Nelliel shook her head as she sheathed her sword.

“Well, that didn't go as well as I hoped it would. Maybe he'll get the idea now.”

“I doubt it,” Starkk said. “Nnoitra's never been the brightest. You okay, Ulquiorra?”

“I'm fine.”

Orihime let out a long breath, and went to his side, taking his hand into both of hers, examining it closely. Finding no signs of injury, she turned a frown onto Grimmjow.

“You're lucky he's not going to scar,” she said with a huff. He scowled in return, rolling his eyes.

“That's nothing. He didn't tell you about me running Pantera through his guts the other day?”

Apparently not. Orihime's eyes widened, and she gave Ulquiorra a horrified look. Ulquiorra, to his credit, only gave her a faint frown.

“Woman, I'm fine. I've endured much worse.”

“Still! Ugh, it's always something with you two, I swear.”

“He started that one.”

“I'm fairly certain you were the one who instigated that time.”

Orihime pinched the bridge of her nose.

Jaeger, who had sheathed his own blade by then, shook his head. He turned to give the girl an assessing look. “You're a tough one, aren't you?”

The girl let out a long breath, and gave him a shrug.

“I guess. Why did your father do that?”

“What? Put Nnoitra into the wall? Because he wanted to. Dad hates him with a passion. He'll take any reason to smash Nnoitra's face to pieces. You happened to be a convenient one.”

“Well, I guess I'll take it.”

“I'd almost take it as a compliment, actually. But, definitely avoid Nnoitra if you can. He can't be trusted.”

“Noted,” she said with a nod. The way the tall, skinny man leered at her had stirred up her paranoia, and she didn't have to be told that he was bad news. But, the incident was pushed aside in her mind when Starkk cleared his throat, catching the room's remaining occupants' attentions.

“Now that it's calmed down some, I think we can call it good for now. Is there anything you would like to know before Ulquiorra takes you to your blade?”

The girl's head suddenly spun with a thousand questions and she couldn't settle on a dozen, let alone one at a time. She opened her mouth to ask about her mask, when she was interrupted by the voice in her head.

Child, the arena. Ask about the training arena. Perhaps working together will help us remember our names.

“Ms. Reaper?”

“Oh! Sorry, my spirit was telling me to ask you about the training arena. It seems to think that working together might help us remember our names. My body seems to remember how to fight Hollows, so maybe I'll remember my spirit's name through letting the muscle memory work.”

“That's a good idea, girl,” Tier said in an approving tone. “You may find your release simply just out of habit. We can find a sparring partner for you, if you'd like.”

“I'll do it.”

Attention was turned to Jaeger, who shrugged it off. “I mean, if I have to keep an eye on her, I might as well spar with her too.”

“No. You're grounded to the tower.”

Jaeger turned a scowl onto his father, but Ulquiorra interrupted before another argument could start.

“I will ask Allain to do it. I believe he's close to being her level as well.”

“That's a good idea, Ulquiorra. She's already familiar with him, too.” Jaeger's scowl deepened, but he didn't say anything as Orihime went to the girl's side again. “I'll let Allain know that you have a theory you'd like to test. He'll be more than happy to help you.”

“Well, is that it then?”

The girl gave Starkk a small smile, and she nodded.

“For now, I think. I'll try to remember to write questions down as I think of them.”

“Works for me. I'll call this meeting adjourned, then. You'll go with Ulquiorra to where your sword has been stored, then back to tower three. Jaeger, I want you to go with them. See to it that she gets back to her rooms safely on your way home.”

“Yes, sir,” the young Arrancar grumbled.

“Come, Ms. Reaper. It's not a far walk from here.”

The girl, suddenly a little uneasy under such an intense gaze, paused to chew her lip, looking to Orihime. The older woman gave her a warm smile, and a reassuring pat on her arm.

“I have to go tend to a few things. You are perfectly safe with Ulki and Jaeger. If I can, I'll stop by your room tonight to see how you're settling in. All right?”

“All right.” The girl thanked her hosts, and then followed Ulquiorra out with Jaeger bringing up the rear.

She spared one look over her shoulder to see Orihime run her hands down her face, suddenly looking very tired, and then leaning into Grimmjow's chest as if out of breath. He uttered something to her and she shook her head, patting his arm as he wound it around her.

She glanced at Ulquiorra as he closed the door behind them, and there was a set to his mouth and a spark of concern in his eyes when he too, saw how worn his wife looked. He left willingly though, as he turned and started them down the hallway. Jaeger too, walked with his eyes on the floor, a slight frown across his brow.

The girl was starting to understand something, though it seemed that it wasn't something spoken about openly. It seemed, just by watching how the others differed to her and how close she seemed to be to them, that Orihime was extremely important to them. Ulquiorra trusted Grimmjow with her, which made the blue-haired Arrancar seem a little less dangerous than she previously thought. And, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized that Orihime was probably getting on in years; apparently, Arrancar didn't age as quickly as humans, so if Allain was as old as she thought he was, which was perhaps a handful of years older than her, then that meant that Orihime was approaching the end of her human lifespan.

And she was not in good health.

Pondering that jarring thought, her heart hurting for a woman that she had only just met, she walked along the hallway behind Ulquiorra, her head still reeling. And now, thinking ahead to having to see Szayel again, her stomach churned at Nnoitra's comment about him. She wished she had told him no, but...if there was even the slightest bit of a chance to remember anything, anything at all, she was going to take it.

She only hoped that it would lead to something. Anything.

Chapter Text

Her sword had been kept safe locked in a wooden box warded by a thick shield preventing it from being opened. They were in tower four, in what appeared to be a large library, with thick rugs spread on the floor between shelves and comfortable sofas positioned close to a small fireplace.

There was a wall of various objects on shelves and hooks, in display cases and on plaques, at the back of it, and it was here where the plainly carved box rested on a table, next to a stack of papers and an open sketch book.

Jaeger waited outside, leaning on the wall next to the door with his hands in his pockets, as Ulquiorra guided the girl into the room, and now she stood in front of the table, her fingers brushing along the drawings of her blade scattered across the polished surface. Her eyes widened, taking in the lifelike detail, right down to the sparkle of the dragonfly charm. There were a few done in color; the lavender matched the flowers on the sword's scabbard perfectly, and the golden dragonflies looked as if they were ready to fly right off the paper. Each of them, and there were many, were done with great care to capture all angles, and as she shifted through them, her fingers brushed one of the pommel aside to reveal a drawing of a familiar chin. She gasped a little, pulling the drawing of herself from under the pile, amazed and a little flattered at the attention paid to it as well.

“Allain has taken a liking to you.”

She blushed at Ulquiorra's quiet comment, still holding her portrait.

“Were these all drawn by him?”

“Hm. A few are mine. Most are his, including that one.”

Her likeness, including her Hollow mask fragment, looked up at her with a small, playful smile and a mischievious glint to her eyes. Her hair was done in a perfect braid, and, for whatever reason, he had drawn her wearing small wire hoop earrings adorned with small feathers. The picture wasn't in color, but she bet that they matched the feathers in Jaeger's left earring. Maybe he thought that she would look good with them?

She reached up to feel for piercing holes in her ear lobes, and found them, perfectly centered in both ears. He had thought of everything, it seemed.

“Is it okay that I saw these?” she asked, suddenly worried that these weren't meant for her to ever see them. Ulquiorra nodded, however, unlocking the box with a muttered phrase in another language. The shield vanished, and he opened it with a click of the latch.

“Allain has an eidedic memory,” he said, reaching in to lift her sword out of the padded enclosure. She waited patiently as he turned and held it out to her. She took it carefully, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet. As soon as the cool metal touched her hands, she felt a rushing warmth sweep through her, and something 'clicked' in the far corners of her mind, rendering her complete once again. Much better, the voice said in an appreciative whisper. “He draws the things he wants to remember so the memories don't take up space in his thoughts. Then, he can purge the unwanted and unnecessary ones from his mind before he goes to sleep.”

“He...what? Why would he do that?”

Green eyes flickered up to meet hers briefly before closing the box again.

“So he can continue to think clearly. He has yet to master sorting them properly so they don't have to be purged. It is a trait that he unfortunately inherited from me.” He turned to face her, hands behind his back, meeting her gaze handily again. “You are worried about Orihime.”

Oh, he's perceptive. They're good at redirecting conversation, though. Szayelaporro did it too, remember?

“Um...yes, actually. She seems so tired, though she hides it well. Is...is she okay?”

A troubled look brushed through his otherwise stoic face, and he closed his eyes in thought.

“She has given much of herself to be here. Too much. She once saved our world from being erased from existence, almost giving her life to fix the many things that had gone terribly wrong. It is only by our sheer will that she survived, but it took its toll. Her reiatsu remains permanently damaged, and her very life force is slowly fading away.”

“That's awful! Is there anything that can be done to stop it?”

“The damage is too extensive. Szayel came up with the donor reiatsu regiment for her; that's where she got the idea for yours. It has extended her life, but it is quickly losing its effectiveness. He estimates we have perhaps another year before she leaves us.”

There was an undertone of sadness under his almost monotone explanation. She frowned, not sure what to say. So, not just an important person. Perhaps the most important of all.

“I am so sorry,” she whispered. Ulquiorra shook his head, and turned to leave his library.

“What is done has been done for many years. As much as we wish it were different, there is nothing we can do.” He paused at the door way, looking back at her. “It is time to go back to the third tower, Ms. Reaper. Jaeger can take you from here.”

She tied her blade back into place, and gave him a nod.

“Thank you, Ulquiorra.”

He gave her a nod in return, and left. Jaeger appeared in the doorway, looking down the hall after the oddly emotionless Arrancar.

“She gave him a heart, you know,” he said quietly. “My dad said that before Aunt Hime came here, Ulquiorra was empty, like a machine. He had no heart, no way to express emotion. Then she came, and showed him what it was like to feel. Dad says he's a lot more tolerable now.” There was a beep, and Jaeger scowled, glancing at his wrist. He had one of those watch things too, though his had a woven band that more or less matched the rest of his bracelets. “Speaking of the damn devil, he's getting impatient. We better go before I get killed on top of getting grounded.”

They left the library behind, Jaeger closing the door firmly behind them, and headed in the direction they had come from. They walked in silence for a while as the girl tried to further process the information. There was a lot, certainly too much to completely sort out, as her and her new companion walked along the corridor back to the central courtyard where the towers joined under a dome of fake blue sky and sunshine. Allain had explained that it was an illusion, but they had figured out how to make use of the artificial warmth the sunlight gave, and grow things normally only found in the human world and Soul Society. It was here, and other parts of Las Noches with a fake sky, where Orihime grew her lemon trees, as well as a wide variety of other fruits and vegetables. Instead of water, they collected reshi from Hueco Mundo's loose, sandy soil, and while they weren't exactly the same as the produce grown in proper conditions, they managed to be close enough to be used as nourishment.

Jaeger veered from the stone paved path into a small stand of white barked trees to one side, and she waited as he bent to collect something hidden in some undergrowth. He slung a black bag marked with wide, white tiger stripes onto a shoulder, and returned with a worn, thick book tucked under his arm. He gave her a grin, his odd grey eyes flashing yellow for a second, as she gave him a wondering look.

“Why I was late,” he said, gesturing to the book. “I was reading and wanted to finish the chapter I was on.”

“Do you do that often?”

“Be late? Or read? Because I do a lot of both, and sometimes together.”

She giggled, earning her a flash of his sharp canines as his smile broadened. She found herself liking this errant Arrancar boy very much, despite the apprehensiveness about his father.

They were most of the way across the courtyard -oddly, the towers weren't in numerical order and tower three was opposite tower four- when a voice called to them from the other end of the path. Jaeger sighed, frowning, as a much older girl came walking up the path, irritation written clearly on features that matched her mother's almost perfectly.

“There you are! It's about fucking time!”

Features that matched her mother's, and a mouth that matched her father's.

“Chill, sis. Uncle Ulki just took some extra time to explain a couple things, all right?”

She was tall and curvy, dressed in a loose, button down black shirt that revealed an ample amount of cleavage. She wore white pants as well, but hers were tight, hugging her curves and legs all the way down where the cuffs disappeared inside a pair of calf high black boots that clicked on the stone pathway. Her eyes were as hazel as Nelliel's, her hair almost the same color, hanging to her shoulder blades in bouncy waves. Her makeup was perfect, playing off her naturally lightly tanned colored skin and, like her brother, her wrists were adorned with a number of bracelets. She wore earrings similar to Jaeger's, and there were long, thin feathers of green and blue tied into her teal locks like extensions. Of the three necklaces she wore, only one matched one of the bracelets, but the entire ensemble seemed to work perfectly regardless.

And as she approached the pair, she gave the girl a good up-and-down, her head cocked to one side while still managing to look irritated with her brother.

“Dad expected you to use sonido to get home, not go for a 'stroll through the fucking flowers' as he put it.”

Jaeger gestured to the backpack on his shoulder, book in hand.

“I needed to get my stuff. Besides, how's she going to know how to get back to tower three if I didn't walk her back?” He looked over at his companion. “This is Nix, by the way. She's my older sister.”

“Emphasis on 'older'. Jaeger's just a baby still.” The older female Arrancar, a narrow bit of triangular shaped bone on the side of her nose being all that was visible of her mask, gave the Soul Reaper a wink, and stuck her hand out. “Nicola Jaegerjaquez. Most call me Nix.”

The girl shook the offered hand, surprised at how stormy Nix's energy seemed compared to the now calmed look on her face, but then frowned, turning to give Jaeger a confused look.

“Wait. Jaeger Jaegerjaquez?”

Nix chuckled as Jaeger shook his head, clearly used to the questioning tone about his name.

“My dad was away on a mission when I was born, so my mother had some fun naming me. By the time he got back, it was too late to change it. I guess the look on his face when he found out what she named me was one for the record books.”

“But it fits so well, and looks so cute on you!” Nix reached over to pinch one of Jaeger's cheeks teasingly, and he swatted her hand away with an exasperated grunt.

“Only because you went along with it. Nix is like, a million years older than me, old enough to stop Mom from doing it, but she let her do it anyway.”

Jaeger's sister grinned.

“I wanted to see the look on Dad's face too, you know,” she said playfully. “Speaking of the ruffled asshole himself, we better get back. I don't want to end up as grounded as you, baby bro.”

“Not that it would affect much,” Jaeger muttered as they started back down the path.

They reached her room, Jaeger splitting off to go satiate his father's impatience by checking in personally. Nix stayed behind for a bit, lingering long enough to watch the girl move through the apartment, still getting used to where everything was.

There was...something...about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on that intrigued her.

Everything about her outward appearance screamed Soul Reaper, from the way she carried herself, clearly used to having a sword on her hip, to the way she always moved with precision. Nix was sure she didn't even realize she was doing it, so deeply ingrained the muscle memory was. This girl was someone special, someone trained from birth on how to portray a sure, solid outward demeanor.

A sure, solid, honest demeanor. Considering who they were assuming her father was, that seemed to really stick out in the young woman's mind.

But, while her mannerisms said Soul Reaper, her energy felt...Hollow. Nix was usually pretty good at reading reiatsu though, but this girl's was very odd. It was like she was a Hollow wearing a Soul Reaper's skin, and she couldn't tell where the Reaper ended and the Hollow began. Her mother had said much the same.

“How will I let Szayel know that I'm ready to go to his lab?” the girl asked, turning from the bookcase to address her directly.

“I can send a message. I would take you down myself, but I do have work to do. And Jaeger won't be grounded any more by the time you'll be allowed to wander by yourself, in case you were wondering about that too.”

“I guess I was,” the girl replied with a bit of a sheepish look, as if just realizing it. “Does he get grounded often?”

Nix chuckled, shaking her head.

“Yeah, and honestly, it's really just for show. Starkk knows it, Hallibel knows it. There isn't anything they can do to change it, either. They have the same problem with Dad. Always have.”

“Your father seems...intense.”

Nix shrugged.

“He can be. That's not for show. He's very protective of us, even it doesn't seem like it. He doesn't take threats to our safety lightly. Mom managed to convince him that you weren't one, so he should leave you alone.”

“Well, that's good, I suppose.”

“Believe me, you do not want to make an enemy of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. I've seen what he's capable of, and he's relentless on top of it.” Nix shifted her weight to her other foot, sticking her thumbs in her tight hip pockets. “Is there anything you need while I'm still here?”

“Um, no. I think I should be fine.” The girl pulled out a book from the shelf and ran her hand down the cover.

“All right then. Our family quarters are located on the floor above this one if you need anything. Take the same stairs we took to get here, just go up one more flight. Mom also told me to tell you that if you don't want to eat by yourself, that you can join us for meal time whenever. She's going to make sure she sets an extra place at the table for you.”

Nix was caught by surprise when the girl turned and gave her a smile, but with tears sliding down her face even as she tried to scrub her face dry with a sleeve of her shirt.

“Thank you,” she said softly, holding back a sniffle. “I'm sorry, I just realized that I probably ate dinner with my mother and father before whatever happened to me happened, and I don't even remember it.”

Nix knew a lie when she heard one, but she let it go. The girl had a reason.

“I get it. Ask my mother about how she lost her memories once. There's a reason that Dad despises Nnoitra's existence, and it's not just because he's a bigger asshole than he is.” She checked the communicator on her wrist and then looked back to the girl. “I have to go. I wouldn't leave the tower, but feel free to explore it if you want. I'm sure Jaeger will show back up at some point too. He's going to get bored really fast being stuck home.”

The girl gave her an appreciative nod, and then looked back down at the book in her hand.

“I think I'll be okay for now. Will you please let Szayel know that I'm ready whenever he is? I'd like to get this done as soon as possible. I...have a lot to think about for now.”

Her heart went out to her, it really did. She hoped the girl got the answers she needed. Nix nodded, pushing off of the doorjamb.

“Sure thing, girl. Come find us if you need anything, okay?”

“I will. Thank you.”

The girl gave Nix a wave before going to close the door to the apartment. She closed it with a soft click, and then leaned back against it, holding the book she had taken to her chest. She had tried very hard not to break down when she discovered it amongst the titles, but now there wasn't anything to stop her.

Her heart pounded when she again read the title and ran a hand down its cover. This edition was more beat up and dog eared than the one sitting at home next to her bed, but she ran her fingers through the pages and found where she had left off all the same. She looked up at the apartment around her, not seeing it, but seeing her bedroom, from the collection of wall art to the closet her spare shihakushos were stored. The details were fuzzy, but she remembered sunlight spilling into it from a window facing a courtyard, and a shelf full of books and odd bits and pieces of a life that she still couldn't quite recall. It was morning time, and she felt her stomach clench in nervousness for some reason.

Something isn't quite right. This is not the right setting. This is not the last thing we saw before waking up in the sand.

“No...no, you're right. This...this wasn't it. I think...I think this was right before, though. Ugh, I feel sick.”

Sit down, child. Breath.

She did as her sword's spirit said, and doubled over as her stomach decided to stir itself into a miasma of nausea. She turned and curled up around herself on the sofa, winding her arms around her knees and willing the feeling of wanting to throw up away.

She lost the battle.

She barely made it to the toilet in her bathroom before her breakfast came up. Her stomach was just starting to maybe settle a little when another memory came to her.

It came as the feeling of floating and feeling disconnected.

All at once, her eyes opened wide and she saw a laboratory, bright and sparkling clean, metal instruments and large machines. There were voices, muffled by something wound around her head, and she was sitting in a chair with her arms strapped down to either side of her. The smell of saline and disinfectant wormed its way up into her nose and it immediately made her retch again. Her arm suddenly started burning as a long shiny needle was inserted up into the vein and injected something that spread a wildfire through her body. She started bucking and jerking away from it, but something forced her to freeze and stay still as the wildfire was immediately followed by something that knocked her vision out. Darkness overtook her, but her heart was pounding and she could still feel everything that was being done to her.

It hurt. It made her sick. It made her head spin. It made her heart kick into an unsteady rhythm, but she could not move her limbs any longer.

Until something else was injected that caused the wildfire to quiet.

“Quickly now! Hurry!”

The voice stabbed her head as a spear, and it rang clear as day as a direct order to whomever touched her arm again.

There was a roar from somewhere in the back of her mind, a flash of very bright, hot light, and then lots and lots of yelling. Screaming. Shouting. Pain tore through her body, but she also managed to tear free from her restraints. As soon as the pressure of the straps disappeared from her arms, there was a strange 'tearing' sound, a woosh of cold air, and then the sense of falling forward.

Then...nothing.

It quit.

Just like that, it quit, and she was left sobbing on her bathroom floor in the apartment in Las Noches, curled up in a ball.

Warm, strong arms wound their way around her.

A very light earthy sort of scent, with just a hint of spice. Horseradish?

Cold, deep energy.

A hand brushed hair from her face.

Tense energy. Tightly reigned and wanting out.

Soft voices, two of them. Talking to her. Talking to each other.

It felt like a lifetime before she could breath properly again.

When she finally opened her eyes, her face feeling itchy and swollen, she met a smoky hazel gaze that watched her closely with an ocean of concern. Allain gave her a relieved look, and brushed some more hair from her face.

“You were screaming,” he murmured softly, “and you wouldn't respond to us.”

Us? She looked down at the arms around her, and recognized the collection of bracelets. They loosened their hold on her so she could shift around to look up at their owner, and earned an easy grin for her efforts.

“Seems like I'm in the habit of catching you,” Jaeger said, shifting so that he was sitting cross legged instead of on his haunches. “You okay now?”

Was she okay? No. Not even close. Was she better now, though? Well...yes.

Her face reddened when she realized how she must look. Not at all worthy of a seated position, let alone that of a...

She gasped, sitting up like a bolt of lightning hit her.

“I'm a lieutenant!” she shouted, eyes wide and her heart pounding.

Chapter Text

Jaeger and Allain exchanged looks as she cupped her hands to her mouth and tried to get her heart to settle down.

A lieutenant?

That didn't bode well for the Counsel's decision to let her stay. It was a good thing Jaeger had decided he was already bored and wanted to check in on their guest.

“Are you sure?” Jaeger asked with a frown, perched on her foot board with his ankles and arms crossed. They had gotten her up off the floor to her bedroom, and she now sat on the edge of her bed, the sleeves of her shirt drawn up around her hands so she could breath into the cloth to help slow her breathing. She had almost started hyperventilating.

She looked over at him, him with his upper body twisted so he could see her, and nodded.

“I remember getting my badge now. The band matches my sword's hilt ribbons, and I wore it tied to my belt. I must have lost it before I ended up here.” She looked around the room for the millionth time as if something was going to jump out and remind her of where it was, but nothing did. “I don't remember what the insignia looked like, though. Do you think you might know if someone has something with all the squad insignia's drawn on it?”

Allain, from his next to her, tapped his chin.

“Lady Nelliel probably will. She keeps track of all the things like that.”

“I can take a look,” Jaeger offered. “Mom's got all sorts of stuff like that in our library upstairs.”

“Do so carefully, though. I think we should keep this to ourselves for now.”

Jaeger and the girl nodded in agreement just as they were interrupted by a brisk knocking on the apartment door. Jaeger sighed and pushed away from his spot to answer it.

He came back with a small child with scruffy blond hair, ruby red eyes, a mask that sat perched on top of his head like a partial helmet, and an ear to ear grin that threatened to split his face in half. He stopped in the doorway of the girl's bedroom and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Hi Allain! Hi Ms. Reaper!” the boy said cheerfully.

“Hello, Yylfordt. Is your brother ready for our guest now?”

“Yup! Just about! It's a long walk, so he sent me on ahead to collect her.” The boy looked very pleased with his assignment, and Jaeger gave him a short, playful tap on his mask.

“I'm going to have to take a rain check on our spar tonight, buddy. I can't leave the tower for a while.”

If this news dampened the boy's spirit at all, it didn't show. He turned his head to look up at the older Arrancar and gave him a grin.

“That's okay, Jaeger! I have to help Szayel in his lab anyway. He's got a pile of beakers he wants me to wash.” He then turned to the girl and walked up to her, giving her a small, shy smile. “I'm Yylfordt Granz, Ms. Reaper. I'm to take you down to my big bro's lab so he can run his tests.”

“I'll take Jaeger's place as escort for now,” Allain volunteered, rising from his place on her bed. Jaeger scowled, but shrugged it off. “She has to be accompanied wherever she goes, Yylfordt. It's for her own safety.”

The little boy had frowned, and huffed in a pout.

“I can do it by myself,” he muttered.

“Yeah, but we're older. And stronger. You'll get there, don't worry.” Jaeger's words didn't seem to brighten the boy's mood at all, and he huffed again. The blue-haired boy shook his head. “I'll go upstairs and look up that info while you guys are gone. Good luck, Ms. Reaper.”

“Thank you,” the girl replied. “Hopefully, this leads to something.”

“We hope so as well,” Allain said with a nod.

They had been walking for a long time, it seemed. The corridors and hallways were all the same in this part of the fortress, with nary a window to let the unnervingly unwavering moonlight in. Light fixtures emitting a sallow, pale glow dotting the walls every so often gave just enough light to see by, but nothing more.

The girl was currently trying to keep up with the steady stream of speech that Yylfordt was throwing at her. She nodded and smiled, and chuckled, in all the right places, and having an audience for his stories cheered the boy greatly. His young voice bounced off the walls in a muffled echo, and he seemed to be oblivious to anything else. She had also, in a way that made it seem that she had asked for it, offered to hold his hand, and the two walked hand-in-hand through the dismally lit corridor, their echoes filling the deadpan silence, Yylfordt's chest puffed out with important purpose.

Allain walked behind them, watching the darkness ahead and listening at their rear. Having been through this part of Las Noches many times before, he knew where the traps were, and what sort of creatures inhabited the dark corners. Most had been cleared out, either by the Counsel's doing or by the other higher ranked Arrancar, but there were a few that they had let live. Just in case.

He watched for these closely. The smell of a Soul Reaper was likely to get one of the bigger ones riled up, even with him with her, and he would hate to have to put it down just for being hungry.

Luckily, they arrived at the basement laboratory unscathed. Yylfordt ran over to a numbered panel on the wall by the doors and punched a code in, causing the doors to slide open so they could enter. They slid shut when all three were in, and he glanced around for Szayel, and spotted the bespectacled man at a far table, examining the screen of a computer and rubbing his chin.

“We're back, big bro!” Yylfordt exclaimed, running over to Szayel and pointing back. “Allain came too!” Szayel turned and gave the girl and Allain a smile, and gestured to his lab grandly.

“Welcome to my laboratory, Ms. Reaper!” he said brightly. “I trust that Yylfordt behaved himself?”

“He was a perfect gentleman,” the girl replied. Allain could tell she was nervous, and he couldn't blame her. Szayel wasn't the most...stable of people, and didn't bother trying to hide it. Yylfordt looked up at Szayel with a self-satisfied grin.

“See? I told you I could do it! Can I have a snack now?”

“After we're done, Yylfordt,” the man replied, giving his little brother an exasperated look.

“But I'm hungry now!”

The two shared a momentary, intense stare off, and Szayel caved with a sigh.

“Fine! Go have a snack and stay out of the way!”

“Okay!” Yylfordt grinned in triumph and ran off to a door at the far end of the room, and disappeared into the room behind it. He returned with a huge sandwich and something that looked like a giant juice box with a bendy straw as Allain was helping the girl onto a reclining exam table, and Szayel finished calibrating the computer that would read her reiatsu.

Yyflordt climbed up onto one of the nearby tables that didn't have anything on it, and was soon happily munching, watching the proceedings with big eyes. Szayel frowned at the size of the sandwich -apparently they had very different ideas of what a snack was- but shook his head.

The girl couldn't help but giggle at the look he gave him.

“He's a growing boy,” she argued, daring to give the scientist a grin.

Szayel gave her a slight frown, but then a bemused smirk.

“I tried to clone him so that he would be in his normal sized body, but alas, that proved to be a failure. I had to start completely from scratch, and I'm afraid this,” he gestured to the little blond boy, who waved at them, “was the result.”

“Clone?”

“Yyfordt was my older brother. He was killed many years ago in a senseless battle instigated by that brute Grimmjow. Luckily, I had enough DNA samples stored away that I was able to bring him back, in a sense.” Allain watched as he moved about the table, making sure everything he needed was there. The girl looked understandably confused; the idea of Fraccion hadn't been explained to her yet.

Allain kept his face neutral to avoid grimacing at Szayel's comment, which wasn't hard for him. His mother always said that he was just like her with his father's face.

“All right. I'll explain what I'm going to do so it doesn't seem like I intend to clone you,” he said cheerfully, going back to her side with a long strip of rubber band and a bottle of disinfectant. “I'm going to put an IV catheter into your arm, take six samples of your blood, and then take it back out. That's it. For the record, I need at least ten individual samples in order to create a baseline clone of you, preferably more for even a proper one.

“Then, I'm going to run each sample through this sequencer -again, it's not enough to do much with- and layer the results over themselves, creating a map of your reiatsu. Each sample will be ran to find different things, and once they've been compiled, it should give us an idea of what happened to you before you came to Hueco Mundo. Your parentage, as well as a number of other genetic markers, in case you're curious about anything, will also show up in the readings it provides. Any questions?”

“Um...lots of questions, but I'm going to choose to trust you for right this moment, and only because I don't have much else of a choice.”

Szayel blinked at her in surprise, taken aback. He actually looked rather touched.

“Well then, lets get to it before you're properly afraid of me,” he said with only a touch of sincere menace.

Allain stayed close while the samples were taken. Luckily, it was a quick process. The girl's arm was bandaged swiftly, and Szayel was quite happy with the quality of her blood. He commented on its richness, and the Reaper girl frowned.

“Why does that matter? And how can you tell?”

“Quality blood means quality results. As for how I can tell...I just can.” There was a flash of something off kilter in his face -Allain almost put a hand on his sword- but it was smoothed over quickly. The girl's frown deepened, and she hopped off the table and moved a little closer to Allain's side. If she had sensed that Szayelaporro Granz wasn't a safe person to be alone with before, she knew that for sure now.

Luckily, Allain was also a lot like his father, and Szayel knew it. The pink-haired man thanked her for her time, promising results in a handful of days, and gave Allain a scowl as the younger man waited for the girl to exit the lab before turning his back to the door sliding shut behind them.

They were halfway back to the tower before the girl spoke, her voice subdued.

“He's quite mad, isn't he?”

“Lord Szayel was created in the aspect of madness,” Allain replied. “These days he is really quite lucid, almost what you would consider normal. Being within close proximity of a Soul Reaper, however, seems to have had negative inclinations on his psyche.”

“What do you mean?”

“About what?”

“About him being 'created? They were made? Like...” She searched for the right term, “like Frankenstein's monster?”

“Now I'm not sure what you mean.”

“Never mind. Why was he created in madness?”

“Each of them were created in an aspect of death. Loneliness, sacrifice, destruction, age, despair, madness, greed, rage, ecstasy, lamentation...emptiness.” He shook his head at the last one. “There were reasons, I'm sure, but I'm not even sure they know why exactly. I've tried asking my father, but he remains very tight-lipped about it. Says it's irrelevant.”

They dropped off into companionable silence for a bit, until they came to a familiar part of the fortress she had walked through before. It was the corridor that the training arena opened to, though all the quiet at the moment. Allain paused as his charge stopped in the middle of the walkway, looking towards the doors.

“Could I take a look? I just want to see how big it is.”

She was curious when she should have been wary and frightened, Allain noted with an inward frown. Still, it was deserted, the usual occupants likely home for the rest of the evening. He nodded and turned towards it, motioning her to follow him.

The arena was something that was added fairly recently in Las Noches' history. The need to be able to train hard at maximum power, without being detected by outside forces or destroy the rest of the castle, brought about its creation. It was actually an idea given by a former Soul Reaper, who had already created such a place for his own use in the human world. He was an ally of the Counsel, a good friend of his mother's, and a genius far beyond of even Szayel's level. He had had a hand in quite a few of Las Noches' technological advances, though he kept much of it out of the Soul Society's knowledge, of course. He benefited too much from gleefully ferreting information from one side and selling it to the other to risk his involvement in Hueco Mundo being exposed.

A true chaotic neutral, as Koda would have put it.

Despite the shady dealings behind the arena's creation, it was something to be in awe of. As they stepped through the doors and into the side viewing area that ran along this side of the room, the girl's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, as if she had never seen such a huge place in her life.

Allain gave himself a mental jab. Of course she wouldn't know if she had or not.

He led her to the edge of the arena itself, where an invisible power barrier broke into a single, narrow space at the edge of the stone walkway. The stone of this part of the the fortress was reinforced anyway, but it was this power barrier that made it so that no matter how strong a person's reiatsu was, the barrier prevented it from reaching the spectators that often lingered behind its safety during matches. The interior of the arena itself was quite plain, meant to start of as neutrally as possible, with a flat dirt floor that spanned several hundred yards in either direction. This dirt floor was often destroyed by the end of a match, however, sometimes being ripped up into cliff sides that reached the ceiling, which was also several hundred yards up, or caverns several hundred yards deep. Once a match was over, and the floor needed to be smooth again, one simply had to hit the reset button, conveniently located on the wall next to the door; large, bright red, and accurately labeled 'Reset Button'.

That had been one of his mother's suggestions as it was being built. She had giggled endlessly about its addition, saying it had been just a joke and that Urahara had taken her too seriously. It was a memory that his father always carried with him, he said, when Allain was old enough to step into the arena for the first time. He smiled at that memory, how his father had tried to keep the fondness from mixing into his words, but couldn't.

Allain watched as the girl looked up and down the arena, her eyes wide and taking it all in with a steady gaze lit up with curiosity. He knew what she was feeling. He had felt the same as a small boy about to enter his first real spar.

“It's...wow...”

“It has to be very large. There are several of us that require a large amount of space for our reiatsu alone.”

She turned to give him a curious look.

“Are you one of them?”

Allain chuckled.

“I don't require as much as some, though all of us belonging to the next generation are either on par with our parents, or have surpassed them, and there are a few that don't take kindly to the idea of a Soul Reaper amongst us."

She nodded, though it seemed like it was more to herself.

“Nnala gave me that impression when she was walking me down to the counsel chamber this morning. She didn't seem interested in starting trouble, though.”

Ah. He had been curious to who had been picked to do so. He had been busy elsewhere.

“Nnala Gilga doesn't like you, no, but she is smart enough to not stir anything without backup. It will be different if you cross her when she is with her friends.”

“Noted.” She looked around one more time before turning back around, giving him a thankful smile. “Thank you for indulging me, Allain.”

“You're quite welcome. Now come, we must get you back to the tower.”

Szayel paced to and fro, glancing at the preliminary results of the girl's blood work on his sequencer's screen as it slowly scrolled across it. It would take a few days of fine tuning to get the true read out, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to narrow down to one specific point in time that might have triggered whatever it was that sent her to Hueco Mundo. As it was, he had thought that his machine had been malfunctioning, as there was no other possible explanation for the massive output of reiatsu that seemed to be pouring from her like a fountain, even though it went perfectly undetected otherwise. Alas, after calibrating it four times, he had finally given up and reserved himself to the idea that this slip of a girl might be quite the anomaly.

The idea of a new project excited him.

Chapter Text

She opened her eyes to trees surrounding a large meadow, warm sunlight filtering down onto her shoulders through a wispy veil of clouds. She stood in the middle of it, the tall grasses reaching up past her waist in shades of pale green and light yellow. Wildflowers in blue, purple, pink, yellow, and orange broke into bursts of bright color here and there, and a gentle breeze rustling through them brought their sweet, subtle scent to her nose.

Butterflies flitted amongst them while cicadas buzzed all around her, hidden amongst the tall grass stalks. As she looked around, trying to get her bearings, a large dragonfly came to rest on a lilac colored flower near her right hand, and she laughed when it bent under its weight and caused it to burst back into flight, buzzing to and fro on an irritated manner. It instead chose to land on her arm, clinging to the fabric of her shihakusho. It began to clean itself; scrubbing its eyes and face with its forelegs, running its back legs along its long, iridescent blue gold body. Its wings, the sunlight catching their translucent gleam in flashes of silver, were cleaned until they shone with a rainbow of color. She watched in fascination, feeling as though she had done this very thing before, and the dragonfly turned its head to look at her, cocking it to one side.

“But you have, child.” She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth and disturbing the dragonfly, who once again flew up in a tizzy. It found another perch, a thicker stalk of high grass, and clicked in disapproval. “Honestly.”

“I'm so sorry,” she said, recognizing the voice with a relieved sigh. “I didn't know it was you. Um...have I been here before too, then?”

“Indeed. Every Soul Reaper has an inner sanctum in which they can communicate with their zanpakuto's spirit. This is yours. You're free to move around here, but maybe avoid the forest for now. I know we've explored them before, but...there's a darkness there now that unsettles me.”

They both looked off to the trees, and starting not far off into them, the color seemed to seep little by little from them and the undergrowth. The deeper they looked, the deeper the color change got, until the farthest point they could see was nothing but flat, undefinable shadow. She shivered and rubbed her upper arms, and the dragonfly's wings twitched.

“They feel cold,” she whispered.

“They never used to,” the dragonfly replied, its voice contemplative. “Once we are ready, we must explore them again. I believe there's something hidden away in there that we need. I'm just not sure what.” The great insect turned its head to look up at her again, somehow appearing thoughtful even though its face was incapable of showing expression. “I sense changes coming, child. Immense ones; ones that has been growing for a very long time. I do not believe they will all be good, either.”

She looked down at her zanpakuto's chosen form with a frown. Then, she looked back to the woods that surrounded her meadow clearing, and her mouth thinned.

“Then we need to figure out who we are.”

“Yes. Yes we do.”

She opened her eyes, and she was back in her room in Las Noches. She sat cross legged on the floor next to her bed with her sheathed blade across her lap, and she looked down at the intricate inlay etched along the scabbard with a frown. A finger ran along its length, feeling the bright gold bits change to the smooth enamel of the lilies, and she wondered again what they meant, if anything.

They're your favorite flowers, the voice whispered to her. I remember you had said you had always hoped that your blade would have something to do with lilies.

“Why are you a dragonfly, then?”

That...I'm not sure. Dragonflies are very symbolic for many reasons. Perhaps I chose this form for a reason.

“Could...could that be your name?”

There was a stretch of quiet thought, and then a cautious hum.

You could try. Just be careful.

The girl got to her feet, ignoring the subtle chill that seeped into her backside from the stone floor, and unsheathed the sword with a slow draw. As she held it in front of her, she noticed how the light from her lamp glinted off the smooth metal, giving the entire blade an iridescent sheen, much like the dragonfly's wings. It was beautiful, and as she took a moment to admire it, something occurred to her. She sighed, and shook her head.

“Even if it was your name, I don't know the incantation to release you,” she said, re sheathing it with a frustrated growl. The spirit too, sighed.

Perhaps it pertains to things dragonflies do. Hover, hunt, fly, dart?

“That sounds like an Arrancar's release,” she replied. Jaeger had told her that their blades acted differently than a typical Soul Reaper's; their blades held a part of themselves locked within them that was released when they gave the command, and their bodies changed instead of their swords. Their blades disappeared entirely when released as well.

Perhaps not, then.

“Yeah.” She turned to set her blade down carefully on her bed and then sank to its edge, dropping her chin into her hands with a huff. “I wonder if Szayel is done running his tests yet?”

It's only been a couple days. He said it would likely take a handful.

“I know. I just...I need to know. Even if he doesn't find anything, you know?”

I understand the frustration. I truly do. I have a feeling that something like this has never happened before.

“I don't know. You're probably right.” She fell back onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling, wishing for the blue sky and warm sunlight her inner sanctum held. Now that she had experienced it, she remembered going there many times to converse with her zanpakuto's spirit. They had gotten to know each other very well, which made not remembering anything else very, very frustrating.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Once she had had the vision of her bedroom back home, more of the finite details that had been foggy in the memory had started coming back to her relatively clearly. It wasn't much, but at least she knew her favorite blanket was lilac and pink now. She had also thought hard about the lieutenant's badge that she had lost. She remembered everything about it, except the squad's insignia, and it's number. The shape, the feel, its weight...it had all come back to her, except the two identifiers that would have gave her the biggest clue. It was almost as if...

She frowned and sat up, a small chill skipping down her spine.

It was almost as if that particular part of her memory had been tampered with.

Was that what happened in that lab before she ended up in Hueco Mundo?

If so, then how was it that her blade's spirit's memory had been affected as well?

Oh, child. I don't like that implication.

“Neither do I. How would that happen do you think?”

It would have to have been something done directly to your zanpakuto. We exist as separate entities, have separate senses of self, but we rely on the blades to be our physical manifestations.

“So...I wonder if there's a mark or something that could indicate something happening to you on it.” She once again looked down at the sheathed sword in her lap, frowning. Carefully, she pulled it out again, setting the scabbard to one side so she could give the sword a thorough look over.

The iridescent sheen was perfect, coating the entire blade with flawless rainbow shine that flashed when it caught the light just right. Barely visible, even close up, were the long curved lines etched into the metal itself, imitating the veins in a dragonfly's wing. They appeared as a hint, though every once in a while they caught the light in the same way the iridescence did. Its guard was round, made of woven silver vines intricately laced together, and there was not a single nick anywhere in the beautiful metal work. The hilt was immaculate, the ribbons in good shape despite the constant use that they very likely had to endure. The gold plate on the pommel was polished, the chain connecting the dragonfly charm unbroken, and the charm itself...

Her frown deepened.

Wait a second...

The blue dragonfly charm glittered as always, but now she noticed what appeared to be a very, very fine, very tiny crack, splitting part of its head in two. It was such a tiny crack that she doubted she would have ever noticed it had she not been looking for something amiss, and she very much doubted anyone else who had examined her sword would have either. Well, maybe. She made a mental note to ask Allain. If anyone had noticed, it would have been him.

I can almost guarantee THAT was not there before, her spirit's voice drifted thoughtfully. That could very well be an indication of something. Perhaps...perhaps you should let that scientist examine it, just to be on the safe side.

“I'm not sure I'm ready to face Szayel again so soon,” she replied softly. She felt a creeping cold like the kind a thick cloud passing over the sun would produce settle over her shoulders, and she shivered. “Maybe I should show it to Orihime.”

That might be wise. Ulquiorra might have an idea as well.

“I'll go up and see if Nelliel can message them for me. Hopefully she's home.”

---------------------------

Starkk strode down the very same hallway that the Reaper girl, Allain, and little Yylfordt had just a few days prior, daydreaming and not really paying much attention. He had been there countless times before, and the creatures who lurked in the shadows knew to stay out of his way, so he had no apprehension about being alone. He stifled a yawn into his elbow when he reached the coded door; Szayel had interrupted a well deserved nap to message him about showing him something in the lab.

He punched in the code and the doors slid open. Yylfordt was standing on a tall stool at a table, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrated on placing droplets of something green and sticky carefully into a petri dish. Szayel was at the machine at the far end of the lab, bent over a stack of papers on the table and rubbing his chin. He glanced over when Starkk came in, and waved him over eagerly.

“You should see this,” he insisted without preamble, a touch of excitement in his voice. Starkk mentally prepared himself; anything that got Szayelaporro worked up tended to be...on the macabre side.

What he was presented with was a stack of printed read-outs, all wavy and lined, with dips and rises in several different colors spanning across several linked pages of paper. There were several larger jagged spikes that sometimes went right off the edges, and they were almost violent in nature, as if reading a massive earthquake that lasted for hours. Starkk frowned.

“What's all this?” he asked, picking a top sheet up, and finding that the stack it sat on was one long banner of much the same mix of wavy dips and jagged spikes.

“That is Ms. Reaper's reiatsu read-out,” Szayel stated proudly, as if it were a work of art. “This is interesting. Very interesting. I've never seen one so complicated before!”

Starkk's frown deepened as he scanned through the chart. Szayel had shown him others like it in the past, whenever the situation had called for it. He was right about the read-outs showing past traumas and roughly when they happened; he usually marked such events with a marker equipped with bright pink ink so as not to lose the timestamps. The Reaper's entire read-out, however, was devoid of such indicators.

The entire thing didn't have a single normal reading on it.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, his heart skipping a beat. “This...”

“Is very odd,” Szayel finished, handing him another one. “I ran the tests five times, Starkk. Five. I calibrated and re calibrated just as many times. Each and every time came out the same, so I decided to try to isolate the readings. There's very distinctly three of them: One here, one here, and one here.” He pointed to each line, one blue, one green, and one red. They intersected as one big jumbled mess in the first print-out Starkk had picked up, but this one, and the other two Szayel gave him as well, showed the same print out, but with each of the colored lines by themselves. These did have timestamps in pink ink on them, and it helped differentiate from the other dips and spikes. “Starkk...there should only be two.”

“One for her, and one for her zanpakuto,” Starkk said with a thoughtful nod. “So there is a possible Hollow presence within her somewhere.”

“I tried to go back as far as I could, and I got as far back as when she was perhaps a toddler. The red line didn't exist until she would have graduated from the Academy, and awakened her zanpakuto. This third presence has been with her for at least that long, though look at this.” Szayel picked up yet another stack of read-outs, only the top one in this stack looked fairly normal, if it weren't for the fact that straight through the middle of the interwoven blue and green lines was a flat line of red. It bumped a tiny bit up and down a handful of times. This continued all the way until more recently, when the bumps started becoming more frequent, and much more pronounced. The end of that read-out started the more violent spikes and jabs, and the timestamp on the very end matched the beginning of the chaotic one Starkk had looked at first.

“Is this when she came to Hueco Mundo?”

“This would have been about a year ago,” Szayel replied, his eyes flashing in excitement. “Now, I'll show you the fun part!” He rifled through the stack of pages until he came to the one he was looking for, and put the beginning of the violent red line only read-out against one from close to the bottom. Starkk's confusion grew; the red-line, regardless of what the others' looked like, was identical in its spikes, right down to how long it lasted. “This one is the one I think came before she ended up here. And I'm not done!” Szayel's voice took on an almost sing-song tone when he reached over and pulled a single sheet of paper from a folder, and dropped it right on top of the others.

The lines on it were just black, but Starkk's heart skipped another beat when he realized that this one was not related to the fresh ones below it. And yet, the lines on it were plain as day identical.

“This is what an Arrancar's reiatsu looks like when they open a garganta,” Szayel exclaimed. “Which means-”

“She opened a garganta,” Starkk whispered, eyes widening at the inclination. “But the green and blue lines-”

“Tell me that she didn't. Something else did and used her body to do it! And what's more, this wasn't the first time. From looking at the read-outs, this is her second time visiting Hueco Mundo, the first being about a year ago, hence this first bit of data. Now, as for the readings from before that...” Szayel's voice went from almost breathless to far more somber, though he didn't seem to notice. “It would take a great deal of trauma to produce results like that. If I had to hazard a guess, this girl has endured a great deal of torture for the past year. Repeatedly. I broke it down, Starkk. There wasn't a single day that she had any sort of normalcy in her life, up until here.” The pink-haired Arrancar took the last three sheets from the stack of paper, and spread them out over the rest. He tapped a spot on the graph, and shook his head. “This is after she awoke here in Hueco Mundo. These little bumps is where she fought her first Hollow here, and then the encounter with the second is here.” He tapped again, on another cluster of spikes. “Then, this is the week she was unconscious while she healed, and here,” one more tap, “is when she woke. The rest is up until she came to my lab. As you can see, it looks normal.”

“And the red line stays flat again after she appeared in Hueco Mundo.” Starkk reached up to rub the back of his neck, his head spinning with a thousand thoughts. He didn't like a single one of them. “So is any of this the influence of the Hogyoku?”

Szayel was quiet for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He then pulled out one last sheet, one with only the blue line on it, and handed it to Starkk.

“Look closer at this, and then look at the one with the green.”

The scruffy faced man did and frowned. Her zanpakuto's green line split away from her blue one most likely when she awakened it, but...until then...the two were very much the same line. Starkk looked back to Szayel, whose eyes still sparkled with the adrenaline of new knowledge. “Does this mean...”

Szayel nodded, pleased with himself.

“Unlike any other Soul Reaper I have ever studied before, this girl's zanpakuto's spirit has been active and bonded with her since birth. She very likely talked to it like an imaginary friend, and was already well acquainted with her inner sanctum well before her Academy years. She probably didn't have a clue what her 'friend' really was until it bonded to her blade, and knowing most children, especially children of extraordinary talent like she would have been, she wouldn't have said a word for fear of getting picked on for talking to something that wasn't there. I am also certain of something else.” Szayel reached over to hit a couple keys on the machine's keyboard, and the screen came to life, showing an outline of a vaguely person shaped figure in the middle. Surrounding it were another series of wavy lines in roughly circular shapes increasing in size the closer to the edge of the screen they got. “This is the amount of reiatsu a typical unseated Court Guard Squad member usually has.” He typed, and the wavy lines shrank until they hugged the figure much closer. He typed again. “This is about how much an average lieutenant has.” The lines got much bigger, until they were almost off the screen. The figure shrank, and the lines readjusted so they were all visible. “The upper Numeros, and the lower ranked Espada.” More typing, the figure shrank again, and the lines readjusted again. “Now, for the more unique cases.”

Starkk nodded, watching the images change with names, familiar with each one. Sousuke Aizen. Ichigo Kurosaki. Himself. Orihime and Ulquiorra Cifer. The list went on, and as it did, the reiatsu readings fluctuated, but stayed at a level of extraordinary power. Until Szayel finally stopped on an unnamed reading, one with levels that spread out across the entire screen and stopping just under where Aizen's had. Szayel actually brought up a side-by-side comparison of the two, and they were almost identical.

“I should think that this will answer your question, Starkk,” Szayel said, crossing his arms. “Gin Ichimaru may have asked for nothing from the Hogyoku, but that didn't stop it from influencing him just from being so close to it for so long.”

“So, she is his daughter.”

“Oh, most definitely without question. That popped up almost immediately when I first ran her blood work. If that didn't prove anything, this certainly would.” Szayel looked at the screen's information with fondness that only a scientist proving a theory would have. “This child has so much reiatsu that we can't feel it unless we really focus our pesquisa on it. What's more, is that her blade appears to be in a continual state of release, very similar to Ichigo Kurosaki's. Which means she's leaking reiatsu somehow, and I'm betting that it has something to do with how she ended up here.”

“Or something that was done to her.”

“That...is also a possibility. There is quite a bit of damage to her reiatsu, though I think it will heal itself now that the destructive influence isn't causing more harm. There will be scars, of course, but...if I may be plain, and I cannot believe I'm saying this...but I think the girl might be safer here for now. Not even I'm cruel enough to torture a child for so long.”

The two men fell into an uneasy, contemplative silence. Starkk could feel anger starting to edge up along his emotions, and he clenched his fists. Now that they had the information, what did he need to do with it?

“If I may, Starkk. Perhaps a call to your friend in the Soul Society is in order?”

Starkk glanced at Szayel's questioning look, and his mouth thinned.

“I think we should hold off before doing anything drastic, Szayelaporro. I'm not going to put us in a situation to be suspected of anything. Considering our tenuious relationship with the Soul Reapers as it is, they might just decide we kidnapped her.”

“Or it might prove our timeline.”

“Like I said, let's hold off.” Starkk looked back to the screen. “We still don't know her name, huh?”

“No. For some reason, there are no records of her existence. When her DNA results came in, it created a new entry in my database, and when I cross referenced with the known active Reapers, I came up empty. I think somebody may have not wanted anyone to stumble into what they were doing to this girl.”

“Now that's an unsettling thought.” Starkk sighed, knowing he was probably right. He felt a pang of sadness for the girl, who had no idea what had happened to her. Now a few things made sense, and a few nagging thoughts wormed their way into his brain, complicating things further. “I need to talk to Tier, Nelliel, and Orihime. I think this is a matter of unlocking her memories, and not just helping her recover them.”

“I agree, but...what if her captor wasn't the one who locked them?” Szayel's amber eyes went to the chart with the red line on it, now flat lined and calm as if nothing had ever happened. Starkk frowned again, troubled all the more.

“We'll have to be prepared if we ever meet the...whatever it is.”

“Or accidentally wake it back up in the process of trying to help.”

“That too. She's itching to get into the training arena and work some steam off, not that I blame her, after being cooped up like this. I think we should make it a point to be present for her sparring matches. Just in case.”

“I'll stop her donor reiatsu regiment as well,” Szayel added. “She obviously doesn't need it. As for that bracelet that Nelliel's daughter made for her, I think a few modifications should be made to it. I would think it would be a wise idea to be able to track her. Also, just in case.”

“I'll talk to Nel about it. In the meantime, I'm going to caution ears that need to hear it. If the Soul Society shows up looking for her, we need to be ready. Thank you, Szayel.”

But he was already being waved off, Szayel already dropping into another rabbit hole of data.

Starkk shook his head and headed out of the lab. Yylfordt, now sending a tray of petri dishes through some other big machine, turned from the screen and waved at him on his way out.

“Bye, Lord Mister Starkk!”

Starkk sent him a wave before the door closed behind him, and he turned to face the long corridor back to the central parts of the fortress with a frown. Yawning loudly, he started the long walk back to his and Tier's tower, his head buzzing with thoughts he didn't like one bit.

------------------

The girl walked up the stairs to the floor above hers with a hesitant stride, trying to stay quiet. The stairs were dark around her, with only a few lanterns here and there illuminating the way. This was the first time she had scaled them, too nervous of running into Grimmjow by herself to do it before. By the time she reached the top, a nervous chill settled across her shoulders and sent goosebumps down her arms.

The hall stretching down and around the outside of the tower was as sparsely lit as the stairs and her own hall were. Doors broke the plain white walls at very wide intervals, and she remembered that Nix had told her that these were all mostly empty servant's quarters, and most of them were unused and dusty. She swallowed a cold wave of unease and forced herself to step off the landing and into the hall, finding a spot far away on the floor to focus on and then putting her other foot in front of the first.

Six doors down on the left, six doors down on the left, she thought to herself, making a mantra out of it as she made herself move. Six doors down was the front door of the apartments that the Jaegerjaquez family called home. Until she got a communicator of her own, she just had to hope that someone was home. She also hoped that since Jaeger was still grounded, he wouldn't be too far away if no one answered the door.

So focused on her mantra and the spot on the floor she was, that she didn't hear the amused chuckle from far above her, nor feel the lazy bit of energy that came with it.


Jaeger had spotted her hesitant figure the moment she had stepped off the landing. With nothing else to do, and a death threat from his father if he even thought about leaving the tower, Jaeger had done what he always did when he was grounded; find a spot to read. Currently, that spot was a hammock hung between two sturdy spikes driven into the upper window pane of a tall hallway window. He had driven a smaller spike for his lantern above his head, and had spent the better part of the past few days lazing about with a book or two, napping when he was so inclined, and daydreaming while staring out the window at the stretch of long white sand beyond the walls of Las Noches.

This proved to be an advantageous spot to watch as the Reaper girl slowly made her way down the long hallway, her hands clenched to her chest, eyes focused sharply ahead of her, and seeming to mutter something to herself over and over. Jaeger chuckled when she got close enough for his sharp ears to pick up what she was saying. So she was heading to their home, huh? As this was the first time he had seen her leave her floor by herself, and judging from her posture, it was important, and she was worried about running into his dad.

Luckily, Jaeger knew that Grimmjow wasn't at Las Noches at the moment. He and Ulquiorra were absent from Hueco Mundo, as they were sent out to 'gather supplies', which was fancy talk for going to the World of the Living to talk to Lady Orihime's friend the shop keeper. They wouldn't be back for a while yet.

So now, he was faced with a dilemma: Jump down and scare the daylights out of her, or let her just get it over with and come looking for him. The young Arrancar tapped his chin, and shrugged, closing the book with a soft thump. As much as jumping down on her sounded like fun, he thought she might actually like him, and he didn't want to screw that up. So, he swung his legs over the side of his hammock as he sat up, looked down at her, and cleared his throat.

“Hey,” he called down.

She squeaked, damn near jumping out of her skin, and whirled around frantically, her blade drawn.

“Show yourself!” she yelled to the corridor around her, her voice echoing far, far down. Jaeger couldn't help it; he laughed, and when she finally figured out where the source of the noise was, she looked up at him with a scowl very close to the one his mother often gave him when he did something too much like his father. This only made him laugh harder, and she sheathed her blade and put her hands on her hips.

“I have half a mind to cut you down from there!” she yelled up to him. He grinned down at her.

“Can you even climb up this high?”

He meant it teasingly, but started a fresh round of laughter when she actually sized the window up before rolling the sleeves of her shirt up. From somewhere in he depths of her mind, she called out a kido command, and to surprise that cut his mirth off abruptly, spikes of glowing blue energy were thrown into the window pane, and she jumped up them in a flash. He had just enough time to register her own grin before she drew her blade and cut through the thick cloth of his hammock.

He was sent to the floor with a yelp, hitting the floor with a hard THUD. He blinked a couple times before he got his breath back, and he immediately starting laughing again when he saw her standing over him with her arms crossed, wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

“Touche, Reaper Girl,” he said breathlessly, holding his sides. Just then, the remains of his poor hammock chose to come free from their spikes, falling to the floor next to him, sliced neatly in two. They looked long and hard at the fabric, and then her own laughter started up with first a sputter, and then a full on roar, hers joining his and filling the long empty space with their cackling mirth.

It took a minute to calm down. Jaeger sat back against the wall behind him, thumping his chest, and she sat down next to him, wiping her eyes with a shirtsleeve and trying to catch her breath.

“I don't even know where that came from,” she said between heaves. “All of a sudden, I knew what to do.”

“Well, glad I could help with that at least,” he replied. “But, I'll have you know that you're 0 and 2.”

“0 and 2?”

“Yep. I've caught you twice. You very much failed to catch me.”

He laughed again when she punched his shoulder, catching the sparkle in her crystalline blue eyes that meant she was happy. His heart gave a skip and he swallowed hard, turning away so she wouldn't notice the slight blush across his nose that he felt creep up on him. He cleared his throat again, and reached over to pick his book up, which had fallen with him.

“What are you reading?” she asked, her voice sending a stone skipping along his spine.

“'Don Quixote',” he replied, handing her his book and hoping she didn't notice the now very obvious blush. He fought a war with it until it finally gave up, and he gave his face a good rub with the heels of his hands to cover up its after effects. “Have you read it?”

“I'm not sure.” She opened the tattered front cover and paged through to the beginning of the first chapter. He watched her eyes scan the first few sentences, drawn into their focused gaze, and had to give himself a shake to break the spell when she shook her head, and handed his book back. “I don't think so. That doesn't seem familiar to me.”

“Well, I could loan you my copy when I'm done if you want.”

She giggled, and the sound sent another stone skipping gleefully.

“We could start a bookclub,” she said, “maybe we could get Allain to join too.”

“Nah. He doesn't read much unless it's some sort of text book, and I'm not trading a good book for a friggin' history book.”

“What's wrong with history?”

“History's already happened, and most of it's boring,” he replied, smirking when she gave him an incredulous look. “Besides, if I wanted a history lesson, all I have to do is ask my mom a question and I get a full hour of lecture out of it.”

“I take it that's why you haven't asked her about the squad insignias yet, then?”

Jaeger shrugged, reaching up to put his arms behind his head against the cool stone.

“Yeah, sort of. I'll find them myself, don't worry. There's gotta be a book or something somewhere that has them in it. I'll comb through Uncle Ulki's library when I'm not grounded anymore.” Regaining his usual aloof composure, he glanced at her through the corner of his eye. “So what brings you to my neck of the woods anyway? It wasn't just to ruin my second favorite hammock, was it?”

“That's on you,” she chided with a sniff. “How did you even get up there in the first place?”

He smirked, and held a hand out. Very sharp claws suddenly grew from his fingernails, and then shrank back down to normal just as quickly.

“I'm a cat, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” It was her turn to blush, her scattered freckles suddenly very noticeable. Jaeger only had a second to admire them before she smoothed herself out and brought her scabbard into her lap. She scooped the dragonfly charm up and held it up into the light so he could see it. “This is why. I noticed something odd about the charm, and thought Orihime or Ulquiorra might have an idea of what it was. I don't have a communicator yet, so I came up here to see if your mom might be able to send a message to Orihime for me.”

“So...what are you talking about?”

“There, through its face. There's a tiny crack. I don't think it was there before, and my spirit says it could mean something happened to my sword.”

Jaeger leaned in, looking hard at the charm in her hand. He couldn't see anything, but he would also have to actually touch her zanpakuto if he wanted to get that close. That wasn't something he was willing to ask of someone whom he didn't know very well.

“I'm going to take your word for it,” he said, sitting back against the wall. “I can't see anything.”

“Well, it's there,” she said with a sigh. “Anyway, is your mom home?”

“Her and Nix went down to the gardens to collect some vegetables for dinner, and Ulquiorra is with my dad in the human world on an errand. I can message Aunt Hime if you want, but I think she may be having tea with Lady Tier and the Tres Bestias right now.”

“So...you're saying that I'm probably stuck hanging out with you until your mom comes back.”

He grinned.

“Well, if you want to put it that way...”

Chapter Text

He brought her to the topmost floor of tower three, where the stairs opened directly into a large, open room that he had obviously claimed for himself a long time ago. There was a pair of large mismatched bookcases with shelves alternating being stuffed with books and brickabrack of all sorts. Toys, figurines, action figures, games and game pieces; Jaeger had quite the collection of miscellaneous stuff from the human world. His black and white striped pack hung on a stake by the top of the stairs, along with a patched white jacket, and a trunk that stood guard next to a white painted bench with boots and sneakers, also from the human world, lined up underneath it in a more or less organized line. As her eyes passed over the collection of movie, anime, and gaming posters all along the walls, alternating with heavy tapestries hung to keep the cold out, she noted a hammock strung on the sill of one of the tall windows, only this one closer to the floor, a blanket hanging over its side and a pile of pillows nestled inside keeping it from falling.

That must be his favorite one, she thought with a giggle.

There was stuff strewn all over the floor, from beanbags to dirty dishes, large stuffed animals that looked like they had been beaten into submission, even a few pizza boxes. There was a large TV on the far wall perched on a rough, somewhat crooked, wooden stand with shelves stuffed with gaming systems and games, controllers, and magazines of all sorts. They were all plugged into a pair of power bars that no doubt tapped into the fortress' reishi power banks. His bed, a large thing with a scratched and worn headboard, shelves also stuffed with stuff, dominated the wall opposite the stairs, closest to the circular wood stove that warmed the whole space from its center. A rumpled dark blue comforter was piled in its center, pillows with multicolored patched cases were haphazardly strewn across it, and several empty or half-filled bottles with different colored liquids were lined up all along the floor next to it.

All in all, it was quite the typical older teenage boy's bedroom.

Still, she took all this in with a sense of wonder. Where in the world had Jaeger gotten all this?

“I traded for a lot of it,” he said cheerfully, sensing her unasked question. He took a couple figures off a nearby shelf and handed them to her with a grin. Her eyes rounded at their sight; they were of animals, one a horse and the other a crouching panther, both made of the same crystalline white gem that her bracelet was. They sparkled in the ambient overhead lights as she turned them every which way, marveling at the detail put into each one. “They're made from the quartz trees that grow here, same as the beads that Nix made your bracelet out of.”

“Did she make these too?”

He grinned widened.

“Nope. I did. My claws are hard enough to carve the quartz. Anytime I get to go the human world, I bring a few with me. I trade them for other stuff that the shop keeper sometimes ends up with. He sells them to the humans as expensive novelty souvenirs.” Jaeger's eyes flashed with bright blue. “To them they're a really rare type of quartz. To us, it's just firewood.”

“These are beautiful,” she said. “Do you have any others?”

“Well...none that are done yet. I just sent a bunch of them with Dad so I could pay for the stack of games and movies I ordered.” He wandered over to one of the tall windows, and grasped the handle of the glass door that was built into it. “This is what I really wanted to show you.” Jaeger pulled the door open and stepped out, beckoning her to follow him. She did, curious, and found herself on a balcony that stretched almost all the way around the tower. There was a chilly breeze up here, and though it didn't bring anything besides a slight rustling disturbance through her hair, it was refreshing to know at least the air wasn't dead.

The scenery around them was much like she had seen from the windows of her room -huge expanses of white sand heaped in dunes, black night sky with no stars, that same crescent moon in the same place it always was.

However, there was one thing she noticed right away that wasn't expected, and it made her gasp a little.

Stretched out below them, beyond the confines of the towers and the connecting wall surrounding the main courtyard dome, were lights. They weren't streetlights, but she could clearly see the outlines of windows and doorways, the tiny ones of lanterns bobbing to and from along stripes of roads and paths, and bigger ones on the fronts of much smaller buildings. The whole thing was laid out in a neat grid pattern, and it stretched for quite a ways around the tower dome. There were high walls surrounding it too; thick, tall white stone ones, and lanterns lined the tops of these was well. She could make out the forms of sentries at their watch posts, watching both the community below them as well as the sand dunes around them. The longer and harder she looked, the more apparent it became that there was far more to Las Noches than just the few places she had discovered.

“It's a whole city,” she whispered in wonder, leaning on the railing to soak more of the sight in. Jaeger nodded, and joined her in watching the lights.

“There was a war here in Hueco Mundo, a long time ago, before my older brother was born. An army that called themselves Quincies came and started to systematically wipe out any Hollow they came across, leaving only the strongest Arrancar to turn into their foot soldiers. Luckily, Lady Orihime was here, and she helped put a stop to it. They weren't much of a match for her; between her and the counsel, the Quincies that came here were wiped out pretty fast. That was the second time she helped save our skins.” Jaeger pointed off to his right a little. “There's a memorial in the square down there, dedicated to the lives lost in that war, and the one before it. The quartzsmith guild is building one for Lady Orihime now.”

“Wow...” She was speechless for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the information.

“Most of the remaining Arrancar decided that living here in the fortress was a better idea than wandering the wastelands alone. For the most part, they live peacefully enough, not like the lesser minded Hollows, though sometimes Lord Ulquiorra and my dad have to go down to settle disputes that break out. After Las Noches was nearly destroyed, twice, they don't want to have to rebuild for a third time.”

“Your dad I can understand, but Ulquiorra?”

“He's the counsel's enforcer. Uh...head of security and law enforcement, I suppose. Equivalent of your squad two's Captain. Dad's sort of his second in command, though there's a lot more to it than just that.”

Ah. That would explain his actions when she met the Arrancar counsel for the first time, and why the others were hesitant to step in. Ulquiorra's whole job was to keep the others in line.

Another cold breeze swept across the balcony, and it sent a wave of goosebumps up and down her arms. Jaeger saw her rub her arms and tuck her hands into her armpits, and straightened up from his spot.

“I can go get a fire started in my stove, if you want. I forgot that you're not used to the cold like we are.”

“No, it's fine. I'm not that cold.” She turned to her head to give him a smile that made him feel warm all over, and Jaeger once again found himself blushing. Damn it, he was so much like his mother. “You didn't mention you had a brother before. Is he around?”

Jaeger cleared his throat, pushing away that pesky blush, and shook his head.

“No. Not right now, anyway. Leo's off on an extended mission with Koda, his best friend. There's a handful of outpost towns that report to Las Noches here and there throughout Hueco Mundo; his job is to visit them and make sure they're well supplied and taken care of. He's not home very often, and when he is, it's really only to resupply and check in with Dad. Hueco Mundo's a big place, as you can probably tell.”

There was a note in his voice that made her cock her head to one side.

“Do you miss him?”

Jaeger smirked, though he was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

“Yeah. I was supposed to go with him when he left last time, but the timing didn't work out. I ended up on assignment with something else, so he had to leave without me. I'm going to eventually take Koda's place as his second; she has to stay here to learn her parents' jobs if she's going to take over someday. So, I have to wait until he comes back. I'll spend some time with him learning the ropes, and then I'll be able to form my own travel route. With the routes split in half, we'll both be home a lot more.”

She didn't have time to ask any more questions; there was a shout from half-way up the stairs into his room.

“Jaeger, this is your mother giving you a moment to make good choices before I barge into your bedroom!”

His face went bright red, and she couldn't help but laugh at the sour look he turned to give the stairs behind them.

“It's fine Mom,” he called, perturbed. “I'm not smoking. Or having sex, because I know that's going to be your next question!”

“Good! I was hoping you were going to say that, considering our guest is missing from her rooms and your parents weren't home.” Nelliel appeared at the top, giving them a wide smile. “Ms. Reaper, I apologize for having been dragged up here to see this mess. I've been after Jaeger for ages to bring my china back downstairs, but he listens like his father.”

Jaeger, at this point, looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die, and the girl patted him on his shoulder in commiseration. Then she returned Nelliel's smile.

“I think I've seen worse, Lady Nelliel. It's fine.”

She got waved off with a giggle.

“Just Nel. I get enough of the Lady stuff from the kids and the staff. Would you like to join us for dinner? Nix and I are making a big pot of stew.”

“I'd love to! Do you need help making it?”

“As long as you can slice vegetables, then absolutely!”

---------------------------------

The fan snapped open, and Kisuke Urahara bent his neck so his hat hooded his eyes, silent as he considered the information given to him by the stoic former Fourth. Starkk had managed to catch up with them just before they left, filled them in on what Szayel had shown him, and had asked that they see if the candy maker had any more information regarding their Reaper guest's circumstances.

Ulquiorra sipped his tea at the kitchen table, while Grimmjow leaned against the sink behind him, his hands in his pockets. Yoruichi tapped her chin in thought at the other end of the table, her tea all but forgotten in front of her.

“There was quite the disturbance in the squad ten barracks just over a year ago, come to think of it,” she said. “Let me preface this by saying that while I know of it, I wasn't personally there, and the information I have about it is by no means concrete. The entire thing was very hush hush; even I had trouble getting the details.”

“Yoruichi,” Urahara warned, his tone speaking of secrecy. He was waved off by the dark skinned woman.

“I'm not even sure it's true, Kisuke. And it might help.” She sat forward in her chair. “It involved Rangiku's daughter. I'm not sure exactly how; what few reports there are of it are not very specific or detailed, but something happened, and she killed herself by accident. It was chalked up to burn-out from overuse of her zanpakuto. While there were reports from other barracks about a massive burst of reiatsu centered around squad ten that day, nothing else was ever said about it. Now, the reports from some of the other captains are believable enough, even the one from Captain Hitsugaya, but something always didn't sit right with me about how the whole thing was handled. Kaida was a very talented girl, certainly as gifted as her father, so I have a hard time believing that she died from burn-out. She knew her limits as well as any captain knows theirs -rumor has it her blade was quite powerful- so there would be no reason for her to be testing herself without extreme caution.”

“Kaida?”

Yoruichi nodded.

“Kaida Matsumoto, that's her name. She replaced her mother after Rangiku retired to go live with Gin in his exile. Toshiro made her his lieutenant as soon as she graduated from the Academy. It was quite the ceremony.”

“So the brat's a lieutenant? Fucking great,” Grimmjow muttered, pulling his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. Ulquiorra frowned.

“What exactly can her zanpakuto do that would require such care of its use?”

Yoruichi shrugged after a moment's thought.

“I'm not sure anyone really knows, actually. All anyone was ever told was that she was very talented. She very rarely ever needed to release her blade even in battle, and when she did, she did so with such skill that whatever she found herself against didn't last very long. I don't think anyone even knows its name. Her parents might, but I'm not sure Gin would appreciate me suddenly showing up at his shop to question him about his deceased daughter.”

“I'll be happy to. I'll even drop her on his doorstep,” Grimmjow grumbled, earning a warning look from Ulquiorra. He scoffed. “Oh c'mon batsy, you know me better than that.”

“I do. That is why I am warning you.” As his grousing companion rolled his eyes, Ulquiorra turned back to Urahara. “The girl's reiatsu read-outs indicate something happening right around when Ms. Shihoin mentioned. They are quite...chaotic, after that. I can have Szayelaporro make a copy and send Allain with them if you wish, Kisuke.”

“I would very much appreciate that,” Urahara said with a nod, knowing that it would be a while before Ulquiorra and Grimmjow could visit again without Hollow warning bells going off all over the city. Allain's personal spiritual pressure blended in with human reiatsu very well, so he was often sent there on errands in between his father's trips to the shop. “I can't say that I'm surprised she's still alive. I had a feeling that the whole thing was a cover up of some kind, I just wasn't sure of what.” The fan snapped shut, and it disappeared up into one of his kimono's sleeves. “This reeks of Kurotsuchi. And if he's behind this, he's not going to take losing a valuable experiment lightly. That doesn't bode well for our situation at all.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Yoruichi said grimly. “Ulquiorra, do you think Starkk might allow us to see her?”

“That, I am not sure of. I'll have a word with him when we return to Las Noches.”

“Fair enough.” Urahara sat back in his seat. Of all the things to have to plan and worry about now... But, there were other pressing matters to cover while he had the two Arrancar there. He dreaded his next question, but he had to ask it for those who needed, or wanted, to know. “So, now that we have that out of the way, how's Orihime these days?”

His question was met with a somber silence. He still had a hard time reading Ulquiorra, but it wasn't him he was watching this time. It was Grimmjow, who dropped his gaze to the floor at his feet, face and eyes quiet of their usual cocky sarcasm. Urahara felt a stone drop into his stomach at that distant look.

He rarely spoke of his feelings towards Orihime, but then again, Grimmjow was always a man of action rather than words. He held Orihime in very high regard, and it showed in how he guarded her closely from any and all harm. Grimmjow took his promise to Ichigo to keep her safe seriously; he watched the shadows around her like a hawk, or cat, in his case, and almost always did anything she asked of him. That in itself was tell-tale of his adoration of her. For her to come up against an opponent that he couldn't physically fight for her...was humbling. And this is why Kisuke Urahara sighed sadly, and sank further back into his chair.

If Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had accepted defeat, then it was time they all accepted the inevitable.

“How long?” Yoruichi asked quietly, sensing the same.

“Maybe a year,” came Grimmjow's equally quiet reply. “If she's lucky. Szayel didn't seem that optimistic.”

“We are trying to figure out a way for her family come see her,” Ulquiorra added, voice and tone even, but they all knew it was more out of habit. He was broken inside, just had a hard time expressing it. “It would be difficult, not at all like if they were to visit the Soul Society, but I believe it would be best if Tatsuki Arisawa to have the chance to see her one last time, as well as her other human friends.”

“Why not bring her here?”

Yoruichi's suggestion was met with a scoff from Grimmjow.

“Heh, right, so the damn Reapers can accuse us of breaking the terms of her exile? That'd start a whole fucking war, cat lady.”

“She's dying, Grimmjow. I have a hard time believing Shunsui Kyoraku wouldn't have at least that small bit of compassion for her.”

“It's not him we're worried about,” the blue-haired Arrancar growled. “It's that demonic cult Central 46 that pulls all the strings. That's who we don't want to piss off. Some of us have kids to protect, kids that they don't know about, and we'd like to keep it that way.”

“He has a point,” Urahara sighed with a grim nod. “They've never been happy with how Orihime's exile was handled behind their backs. They probably would force them all to go to war against Hueco Mundo over such a little thing, even considering her condition.”

Yoruichi gave a frustrated sound at the reminder, scowling.

“And they all wonder why I decided to side with you. Stooges, all of them. Foolish stooges.”

“Well, unfortunately those foolish stooges hold all the power. Even I have to play by their rules with this one. She is a war criminal, after all.” Urahara shook his head, knowing there wasn't anything he could do about it. Oh, there were plenty of things he was willing to do, but it would mean his immediate execution, followed by Orihime's. He needed to stay alive so he had even a small chance of finding a way to help her.

Granted, he had a feeling that chance was gone a long time ago.

He pushed his untouched teacup away with a finger, and got up from the table.

“Gentlemen, I have business I need to get back to, so I fear I must take my leave. I apologize for having to cut our visit short.”

“It's quite all right, Kisuke. We must get back to Las Noches in any case. Thank you for the information, Ms. Shihoin.”

Yoruichi waved Ulquiorra's proper bow off.

“I'll try to dig some more up for you if I can. Knowing that Kaida's records have been wiped helps a lot; I know not to bother with the databases. She still exists in memories, so I just have to find out who remembers anything about her.”

“I appreciate that, thank you. Shall I tell Orihime that you send your regards?”

Urahara gave Ulquiorra a smile, and nodded.

“Yes. Please. Tell her we'll come see her soon, too. I'll bring her some of her favorite candy from the shop.”

A faint smile, enough to be called one, tugged on the corners of the former Fourth's mouth, and he gave Urahara a grateful nod.

“She would like that very much.”


After Ulquiorra and Grimmjow left with their medical supply restock, Yoruichi went to find her companion. She found him in the little back garden he and Tessai had put in after Jinta and Ururu had grown and left. He sat on the bench by his koi pond, leaning his weight on his sword cane, chin resting on the backs of his hands as he watched his fish flick back and forth under the water. They were sad, those soft grey eyes she loved so much. They didn't move from the water as she went to sit down next to him, taking a hand into hers. He shifted his arm so he could put it around her and pull her close, and she closed her eyes, breathing in his lightly sweet cedar scent as she rested her head against his chest.

“I just don't know what to do this time, I'm afraid,” he whispered.

“They'll be okay,” she whispered back, her chest tightening at the hurt in his voice. “They've all come a long ways from when Aizen left them to die.”

“She did that. She healed every single one of them in more ways than one.” He tilted his face towards the sky above them, the clouds as grey as his eyes. “Orihime Cifer is indeed one remarkable human. Which, ultimately, is the problem, isn't it?”

“Try not to dwell on it, Kisuke. She's lived a full life. She wouldn't want you to fret over her.”

“But that's the thing...” His chin dipped, and his hat shadowed his face. “What happens when she finally leaves us, and her soul goes to the Soul Society? She certainly won't be welcomed. Her only chance to not be sent straight to Hell is to stay in Hueco Mundo.”

“Hm...good point. Very, good point.”

“And part of our arrangement with the Arrancar hangs in the balance as well. Orihime's son is half Arrancar. If the Soul Society ever found out that not only does an offspring of a human and Arrancar exist, but several of the former Espada have reproduced naturally without the need of normal Hollow evolution, I'm afraid all Hell might actually break loose. It would be war, Yoruichi. A lot of lives would be at risk, ours included. We've been keeping that secret for a long time now.”

“Again, good point. Damn it, Kisuke. I was just trying to cheer you up!”

The candy store owner chuckled, despite the mood.

“I know. But, you know how my head works.”

“Well, there goes that.” The purple-haired woman sighed and pushed away from Urahara, stretching as she sat up. “I don't know about you, but now I need something stronger than tea.”

“I think you're onto to something there,” he agreed begrudgingly.

As they headed back inside, he took one more moment to look up at the dreary clouds thick with rain. When they offered no answers, Kisuke Urahara shook his head, and went to join Yoruichi for a very strong drink.

--------------------------------
Nelliel watched from the corner of her eye as her son sat at their kitchen table, slicing up a large shank of meat, watching the Reaper girl peel and slice vegetables at the counter, talking cheerfully with Nix. She didn't miss the curiosity, nor the quickly dismissed light blushes, and it made her hum knowingly with a shake of her head.

It was quite clear that her youngest son had quite the crush starting, and it seemed that there was going to have to be talk with the boy very soon. She went back to stirring her soup base, smiling to herself, knowing that the subject was going to be an absolute delight to bring up to her mate. She thought it was cute; Grimmjow would probably want to rip Las Noches apart.

Speaking of the devil, she sensed him before their door opened and he walked in, wearing a thoughtful look that was completely unlike him. Their door opened into an ante way that served as a hub between their kitchen and living area, and it was here that Grimmjow paused, scowled at the scene in front of him, and then jerked his head towards the living room when he saw he had caught Nelliel's attention.

Nix and Jaeger both turned to give him a short wave, which he returned with a nod, still scowling at the Reaper girl. Nel pulled the spoon she was using out of the base with a sigh and set it down.

“I'll be right back,” she said, giving their guest a reassuring nod. “He won't bother you, I promise. Grimmjow doesn't bite unless I let him.”

The girl, who had seemed to shrink a little despite steeling her spine when he entered their quarters, gave her a grateful smile. Nel gave her shoulder a quick squeeze as she passed by, and then she left to join her mate, who had moved to their bedroom, just off the living area. She closed their door gently behind her, watching his face carefully as he ran a hand through his hair, other hand resting lightly on Pantera's hilt.

“Grimm, what's wrong?”

His bright blue eyes flickered to their door, no doubt thinking about their visitor.

“We need to talk,” he said very quietly, his voice low and serious. Nel frowned, suddenly concerned. When Grimmjow was quiet, there was something up.

“Were they able to tell you anything?”

“Cat lady did. Batsy's off reporting to Starkk and Tier now.” A brief look of unease flashed across his face. “We're going to have a problem, if we don't already.”

Nelliel sank to the edge of their bed her eyes round with worry as he explained their theory. She had been with Grimmjow when Starkk caught them before him and Ulquiorra had left on their supply mission, so she knew the same things they did, but... The idea that the culprit was likely Mayuri Kurostuchi was, while fitting, also very alarming.

“Oh, that poor girl,” she whispered. “So he might try to get her back?”

“Shopkeep seems to think so.”

She glanced at their door, and her worried expression was replaced by a determined scowl. “I'd like to see him try. I bet he's the one that broke her sword, too.”

Grimmjow gave her a questioning look.

“Huh?”

“The dragonfly charm that hangs from the grip has a crack through its face. She claims her spirit thinks that might be an indication of something happening to hurt them, or how their memories got erased. She asked me to get in touch with Orihime about it.”

“I doubt she's gonna know anything," he replied with a frown. “She's better off asking Szayel.”

“He scares her, not that I blame her.”

Grimmjow snorted, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Good. Girl's too damn bold for her own good anyway. She's gonna end up crossin' the wrong Hollow one of these days, and it ain't gonna be pretty. Anyway, there's one more thing.”

“Oh?”

He sighed irritably, knowing what was coming.

“We found out what her name is.”

Nel's heart leapt and she bounced to her feet, wrapping herself around her mate in a tight embrace. Grimmjow sighed again and shook his head, letting her do it because, well, you try telling Nelliel 'No'.

“Oh Grimmjow, that's wonderful!” She pushed away far enough to look up his face, her hazel eyes sparkling. “So, what is it?”

The little part of him that loved her enthusiastic expressions made him tolerate it before he answered.

“Kaida. Lieutenant Kaida Matsumoto, squad ten, under that white-haired ice dragon guy.”

A brief flash of surprise replaced the delighted sparkle, but it was quickly swept away by a nod. Grimmjow could see the gears in his mate's head already start turning as she let him go and started tapping her chin, pacing the length of their bedroom in thought.

“Oh, that makes sense. She seems to be very well educated, and she carries herself with such grace. That, and I caught Jaeger snooping through some books in my library the other day, looking for pictures of the Court Guards' lieutenant badges. I figured that had something to do with her. She communicates with her zanpakuto's spirit so easily too, so that would make sense as well...” Nel abruptly paused in her pacing, and turned to look at him again. “Grimm, thank you. This is going to mean the world to her.”

“Eh, whatever.”

Nel giggled, and went to thread her arms around him again, this time without the suffocating pressure, and then stood on her tiptoes long enough to catch his lips in a kiss that told him exactly how thankful she was.


When they did return to the kitchen, Nix and Jaeger gave them twin expectant looks. They were both accustomed to not having information withheld form them; it was pointless to try to lie to the younger generation about anything, as they were all an integral part of the workings of their home. The girl remained cautiously curious, and let out a surprised yelp when Nel dashed to her and swept her up into a tight, happy hug. The girl was flustered when she let her go, her face a bit red and her crystalline blue eyes confused.

“Um, what was that for?” she asked, her voice quivering a little.

“You have a name, my dear,” Nel said with her signature bright, wide smile.

Chapter Text

In celebration of discovering her name, Starkk and Tier had requested that she join them all for dinner the following day. It was to be a much more relaxed affair, just good food and (hopefully) good company; a chance to get to know them all in a much more relaxed, personable setting, with the promise that Nnoitra would be muzzled. She found herself looking forward to it as she stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, looking over her appearance, and wrapping her head around the piece of her that she had looked for so hard.

She had known she had a name.

There were times she thought she knew it, but it slipped away before she could speak it.

But now...

Now...as she again whispered it to herself, it settled over her like a veil of protection, and the more she said it, the more that armor hardened and she was sure that it was indeed correct.

“Kaida...my name is Kaida...I'm Kaida Matsumoto, Liuetenant of Squad Ten.”

“I like it. It suits you.”

She turned to give her studious companion a small smile. Allain sat in the embroidered straight back chair that stood guard in the far corner of her room, a sketch book open in his lap as he tapped his chin thoughtfully with a pencil. Jaeger nodded in agreement; he was leaning on her bedroom door jamb, hands in his pockets with an easy slouch in his shoulders. He was allowed to escort her down to the dining hall, as the kids had been encouraged to attend, and was very much looking forward to being able to leave the tower, even if it was just for a group dinner.

“You're fierce like a dragon,” the blue-haired Arrancar said with a grin.

Kaida blushed a little, turning back to her visage.

Kaida.

She was Kaida.

She gave herself a smile as she worked on finishing pinning her hair up into a tight bun.

News that her name had been discovered was quickly spread through the ranks of the counsel and the staff. She was suddenly Kaida, instead of Ms. Reaper and the like. It had been a little overwhelming at first, Allain having to curb some of the pointed addresses from the staff at times as they took their daily walk earlier that day. She had already met with Starkk and Tier to be given their congratulations on finally having a name, and she had gone to tower four to see Orihime, who had been confined to hers and Ulquiorra's bed for the past day, not having the energy to move much unassisted outside of their quarters. The ever-cheerful woman was ecstatic to hear the good news, and had to be calmed several times by her husband, who sat on the bed next to her, a hand placed gingerly on her knee.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to know what her blade's name was. The dragonfly spirit that lived within it was thrilled when she regained her identity, but quickly sobered when its own didn't return with it. That was something that they were going to work on next; Starkk, when she had gone to see him that morning with Allain, had mentioned that they were going to let her use the training arena, providing she was supervised by one or more of the counsel, both for her safety and theirs.

She mused this over while sliding the last hair pin into place, securing her silky long hair firmly into its bun. They were still jumpy around her, something that was attributed to the history between Soul Reapers and Hollows, but she wasn't given any other information beyond that. She supposed they had their reasons, but she was fairly sure that judging from their previous reactions to her, they weren't good ones. Perhaps that was something she hoped she would find out soon, though she was pretty sure she was going to have to purposefully ask about it.

Regardless, she pushed the questions away again. Today was supposed to be a fun day.

The seamstresses had set to work at Nel's and Orihime's insistance, and they hadn't disappointed. Kaida about fainted when a team of three female Arrancar showed up at her door, each carrying numerous garment bags and boxes full of a whole wardrobe's selection of clothes. A fourth, a cobbler with a towering stack of shoe boxes, had come in after them, setting his cargo onto her kitchen counter with a smile of pride.

They had all stayed for a long time as she went through what they had made for her, delighted by her reactions to receiving such an abundance of gifts. It seemed like they had listened to her answers very closely, as each had quizzed her very hard on what her tastes were as they took her measurements; what she found comfortable, what she found best to sleep in, and what she would consider casual formal versus traditional formal, and what she thought would be good to spar in. What arrived in those boxes was simply just amazing, and she had loved every single thing the seamstress team and their cobbler companion had made for her.

She had chosen a pair of black, close-fitting pants and a matching black, long sleeved shirt with the shoulders cut out. The outfit was completed with a pair of soft, black leather ankle boots that Nix obviously had some say in. They were delicate but sturdy, stitched together with tough silver colored thread with the toes encased in an inner layer of steel. They clicked softly against the white stone under her feet as she went to grab her zanpakuto leaning against the wall next to Jaeger, now accompanied by a brand new sword belt embroidered with flowers and vines that matched the ones on its sheath. Kaida buckled it firmly around her waist, and took one more look at herself in the mirror.

She turned to face her companions with a confident smile, hands on her hips.

Allain hummed in approval, giving her appearance a nod. Jaeger turned his head and cleared his throat, mumbling something about her outfit being 'acceptable'.

“All right then guys. Ready when you are.”

Tonight's dinner was to be held in the old dining hall. Jaeger took Kaida's right as Allain took her left as they walked down the long hallways, Allain only having to speed up a little to keep up with their longer strides. When they reached the tall double doors, Jaeger paused before pushing them open, giving her a grin.

“Brace yourself. When Lord Starkk says 'relaxed', he means it.”

When she nodded with a curious look, he and Allain exchanged their own looks before Jaeger pushed the doors open.

It took her a moment to register what exactly was happening.

At the head of the table, Starkk and Tier seemed to be in a rather focused and civilized discussion, ignoring the argument happening right next to them. Nnoitra and Szayelaporro were locked in a growling match over something to do with Szayel's lab and how it wasn't Nnoitra's personal crash spot whenever he needed one.

“She's YOUR daughter, Gilga! Deal with her!”

“I HAVE dealt with her! She just doesn't fuckin' LISTEN!”

“Well, it must run in the family, because neither do you! Pack your shit up and GET OUT OF MY LAB!”

“Will you two SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!” There was a younger looking girl with greenish blond hair next to Starkk, clearly fed up with having to listen to the argument. Unfortunately for the girl -Kaida remembered Starkk introducing her as Lillynette, his literal other half- she was ignored, and her voice only mixed in between Nnoitra's and Szayel's, becoming quite the racket.

Nnoitra and Szayel were sitting across from each other, which didn't make things any better. Nnala was pointedly missing with the empty chair next to Nnoitra, but Yylfordt was sitting next to his brother, happily engrossed in a large sheet of paper and several different colored pens, oblivious to the argument. A picture of a nasty, drooling Hollow was forming under the child's careful hand, drawn mostly in pink, but with a goodly amount of purple and yellow too.

Then there was Nelliel, Nix, next to Yylfordt, and Orihime, who were chatting as if the verbal argument of the century wasn't happening right beside them. Ulquiorra was sitting next to Orihime, silent, trying to ignore the fact that Grimmjow, who was across from him next to Nel, was reclining in his chair with his booted feet propped up on the table. Nel was shooting him dirty looks, frowning at said feet, which Grimmjow was artfully ignoring, picking his teeth with a fingernail.

As she watched, Ulquiorra finally rose from his chair, reached over the table, and gave his blue-haired companion's feet a good shove off of it. Grimmjow scowled and straightened up, getting out of his chair and baring his teeth at his smaller counterpart. But, his snarl was cut short when Nelliel calmly reached over, grabbed the back of his jacket, and jerked him back down into his seat. He gave her a sputtering string of curses, to which she merely held a hand up to, telling him to back off or she would have to deal with him.

He settled back into his chair with a grumble, crossing his arms and glaring at Ulquiorra, who gave Nel a nod. She returned it with a smile, and it was right back to her conversation with her daughter and Orihime, who just shook their heads at the whole thing.

Kaida covered her mouth with her hands, trying to choke the giggle off before it could escape, but failed. It caught Grimmjow's attention; he shot her a piece of that glare. He didn't say anything, but Nel probably told him to stay quiet or else. That thought made her laugh again, which caused him to huff and cross his arms, now pointedly ignoring her.

The parallels between Jaeger and his father were astonishingly close, she decided.

Starkk looked over at the trio as they approached the long white table and got to his feet, giving them a kind smile.

“Kaida, welcome. I apologize for the chaos you walked into, but we just could not bring ourselves to repeat our first meeting with you as a whole.”

“Speak for yourself,” Nnoitra grumbled. Nel reached over the empty chair and slapped him upside his head, which caused him to shoot her a deadly glare that she shrugged off with a miffed sniff. He made to raise a fist towards her, but Grimmjow, on Nel's other side, gave a low warning growl that made the lanky, slimy man scowl and drop his threat.

Kaida looked to the grey-eyed man with a smile of her own, feeling the energies surrounding her at a much more relaxed state than they were the first time. Even Nnoitra's seemed subdued, even as he sat in his chair with a deep, loathing glare fixated onto the table in front of him.

“This is more like how it usually is,” Tier offered, nodding to the motley group before her. “In case you decided that we are too much like how the captains behave.”

“I wasn't sure what to expect, but I definitely like this a lot more!”

Nnoitra rolled his eyes and Grimmjow muttered something that made Nel slap him this time, and both seemed to settle into their individual miseries after that.

“Girl, good choices,” Nix exclaimed, giving her outfit a nod of approval. “How do those boots feel?”

“Really well! They fit perfectly!”

Nix grinned, pleased.

“I told you Johann does exceptional work!”

“I'm glad you decided to join us,” Orihime said, giving her a smile of her own. Kaida couldn't help but notice how tired her eyes were, despite the woman's cheery face. It was the first time she had been out of bed in a while, though it didn't seem to dampen her mood at all. “The cooks outdid themselves. It's almost like it's someone's birthday!” Then, she gasped, as if something just occurred to her. “Oh! Do you remember when your birthday is, Kaida?”

Birthday? Kaida gave it some thought as Allain pulled the chair at the very end of the table out for her, and then took his seat next to his father. Jaeger, ears perked for her response, dropped down into the empty one next to Grimmjow. When was her birthday? Hm...

If it helps, I believe it's just after winter is over, the voice from her blade said thoughtfully. April, perhaps? Yes...when the birds return and the flowers bloom.

“In the spring, we think,” Kaida replied, giving her zanpakuto a gentle tap as she sat down. “In April, with the first flowers.”

“We'll have to keep that in mind,” Nelliel said with a wink. “Orihime insisted on celebrating our birthdays almost from the beginning of her residency here, and it's become quite the big deal!”

“Let us know if you remember the exact date,” Tier added. “We'll make sure you get a party. We may not get a proper springtime in Hueco Mundo, but we still keep track of time.”

Kaida blushed a little, and then Starkk called for dinner to be served.

She wasn't sure how such a desolate place could produce such good food, but she had been very pleasantly surprised when the dining staff brought out platter after platter of everything from roasted root vegetables and huge slices of what looked like a rich, dark venison and crispy skinned poultry. (She knew better, though, and quickly learned to not question it. The Hueco Mundo versions of 'game' animals were quite...different, than what she was used to.) Steaming pots of coffee and tea were also produced, along with large jugs of wine and water. Thick gravies for their version of mashed potatoes and parsnips, a couple big bowls that were filled with a fluffy salad tossed with slightly paler tomatoes and peppers than her 'normal', and several different types of dressings that went with it.

There was so much food that Kaida wasn't sure where to start. A friendly member of the dining staff offered to help her, but Jaeger gave him a shake of his head.

“Nah, thanks Marcone. We got it.”

“As you wish, Master Jaeger.” 'Marcone', an Arrancar with half of his face hidden by a blank mask with a single slitted eye, gave Jaeger a dip of his head and left to finish helping the rest set the table.

Between Jaeger and Allain, who were very helpful in describing everything and figuring what she was going to like, Kaida was soon laughing over their attempts to heap her plate like theirs were. Both Yylfordt and Lillynette called down to her as well, encouraging her to try their respective favorites, and Orihime was doing much the same, explaining how they managed to recreate some of her own favorite foods from the meats and veggies grown in Las Noches.

Nnoitra and Szayelaporro made it a point to avoid conversation with each other; Nnoitra scowled a lot and kept to himself, giving his plate a glower that would probably kill the slices of meat on it again if it could. Szayelaporro was trying to keep up with Yylfordt's ability to inhale food with reckless abandon, insisting the boy slow down before he made himself sick. Yylfordt, of course, seemed to only listen with half an ear, only slowing down his pace marginally while he reached for yet another spoonful of pale colored candied carrots. Nix helped the best she could, laughing at Szayel's expressions and reminding Yylfordt that there was dessert after, and that he should leave some room for cake.

This seemed to finally register, and the boy gave her a sticky, eager grin at the mention of sweets.

After much dessert was eaten, Nnoitra left with a curt nod towards Orihime, who returned it with a small smile. Kaida watched this with interest, and asked the human woman about it when Nnoitra was safely out of earshot.

“Nnoitra? Well, I'll admit, he took the longest, but I did finally crack that thick skin of his. He has a language of his own, and it's a hard one to learn. Aizen really did a number on his brain.”

That wasn't the first time Kaida had heard that name, she was sure of it.

“Who was this Aizen?”

Her question silenced the table. Grimmjow grunted after a moment, straightening up from his resumed lounging across his chair, feet back up on the table. He turned to fix her with an intense look that succeeded in sending a chill down her spine.

“Aizen was our boogyman, kiddo,” he said, his lip lifted like he bit into something bitter. “He made us like toys, and threw us away when we got broken.”

“As crude as that sounds, that is essentially it,” Szayel added quietly. “He came to Hueco Mundo once upon a time and gave us promises of whatever we wanted.”

“He was the mean guy, right big bro?” Yylfordt had returned to his drawing, but now looked up at his brother with a furrowed brow. Szayel sighed, and nodded.

“Yes, Yylfordt. The mean guy.”

“A wolf in sheep's clothing,” Tier said bitterly, crossing her arms. Starkk reached over to her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, Lillynette silent on the matter.

“We were not made as toys, but rather instruments of war.” Eyes turned to Ulquiorra, who had remained mostly quiet all throughout dinner. “We were weapons made to destroy things. Aizen twisted our very psyches into the worst versions of ourselves to suit his needs, and forced our loyalty even when he would cut us down.” His words took on a sharp edge, and Allain looked to his father with a tight, sympathetic gaze.

“He wasn't another Arrancar, was he?” She somehow already knew that answer, though.

Tsk. “Fuck no. He was a Soul Reaper. Stole the throne from our own king and built Las Noches using slave labor. Slaves he created using that fucking gem of his.” Grimmjow's growling tone was low, menacing.

Kaida felt her heart still. So...that would explain why she faced hostility from some of the Arrancar that resided in Las Noches.

A whisper came to her just then, one from a voice that immediately seemed familiar but yet, so far away.

We never shoulda done it. Understand that I never wanted to do it, and it never shoulda happened. But it did, an' now I'm payin' the price for it. It was a miracle that my life was spared; I shoulda died the day I tried to stop him. If it weren't for that human girl, I fear what woulda happened had he succeeded...

The fork she had been holding dropped to her dessert plate, and she suddenly couldn't breath.

That voice.

She knew that voice.

It belonged to...

She was small, too small to reach the top of her father's bookcase where he kept his sweets. Which was fine; she knew how to climb to get to them. She pushed his desk chair over to the towering wooden case full of books and keepsakes, remnants of a life long since passed, and clambered up into it. It squeaked a little when she stood up, her head now barely level with the bottom of the long shadow box containing a sword, hanging above a heavy cabinet with a lock on its doors. There was a lock on the box too, and a stern warning from her father to never touch it unless it was an emergency and he couldn't get to it. She took great care to not even brush against the box as she stepped over onto the top of the cabinet, careful to not knock over any of the antiques he had collected for himself that cluttered the top of it, and then slowly, oh so carefully, she worked her foot and hand over onto the front of the bookcase until she was now standing on a shelf, her heels hanging over the edge.

Testing her grip and finding it suitable, up she went.

The shelves were just close enough for her legs to reach, and as long as she was careful and took it slowly, she knew that the very top was sturdy enough to hold her weight so she could perch next to the jar full of the coveted candied, dried persimmons.

She was almost to the top when she paused her ascent, cocking her head in puzzlement when her eyes came upon pictures she had never seen before.

Her father must have done some rearranging of his shelves before her and her mother came for their monthly visit and forgot to put them away. This shelf, probably not really noticeable from the floor unless you were really tall (which she was not), was now littered with photographs of an unfamiliar place. All white walls and white...well, everything. She wrinkled her nose; how boring! No color at all! Then her eyes found one of a black sky with a crescent moon hanging over white sand dunes. The little girl found herself drawn to it, and before she knew it, she was reaching for it, but when she got a hold of it, her vision suddenly went swimmy and a wave of dizziness overcame her.

The grip of her other hand slipped.

Not a sound came from her mouth.

But, she felt her stomach jump up into her throat when she realized she was falling.

“KAIDA!”

Her breath left her when she fell into strong arms that immediately pulled her close, and hugged her tightly to a chest covered in a pale blue button up shirt. It took a moment for her to be able to register the man who caught her, as out of breath and panicked he was.

“Kaida, what are you doin'?”

She blinked, and her father's face came into focus. Guilt immediately overcame her, and she burst into tears.

“I'm sorry, Daddy! I wanted 'simmons an' I slipped! I wasn't gonna eat 'em all, I promise!”

Daddy -Mama called him by his name but she called him Daddy and that was just fine with him- glanced at the top of the bookcase and sighed, looking back down at the girl in his arms. But, he noticed that she still held the photograph in her hand, and his mouth thinned.

“Kaida, where did you get that?” he asked softly. She pointed to the shelf far above her. He looked to that shelf too, and shook his head. “I need that back, please.”

“Okay,” she said tearfully, handing it over to him. “What place has a black sky like that, Daddy?”

“Somewhere you're not ever going to have to worry about, my brave little dragon. Now lets get those persimmons, hm? We'll share and not tell Mama we ate them all. It'll be our secret.”

“O-KAY!” she exclaimed, her tears instantly gone. Her dad wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, reached up and grabbed the jar off the top of the book case, and they sat at his desk, eating dried, candied persimmons as he told her a silly story about how he once helped tame a really big cat with really big claws and blue fur, and taught it to do neat tricks for treats.

“How are her vitals?”

“Fine. Her reiatsu seems to have settled down as well. She must have had a strong memory came to her; it caused a spike in her spiritual pressure similar to the stress response on one's blood pressure. Allain mentioned something similar happening the other day as well.”

“Only this time she's not waking up right away.”

“No, but I'm starting to suspect that the third presence within her is proving my theory: That her memory loss wasn't Kurotsuchi's doing, but rather a defense mechanism.”

“How so?”

“It didn't want us to know it's there, so it's hiding itself. That's why it didn't spike on the initial read-outs I ran. It's either stronger than we are, or we are stronger than it is.”

“Considering the circumstances, I'm going to go with the former.”

“I as well. I've never encountered anything like this, Starkk! It's fascinating, don't you think?”

“Don't get too far ahead of yourself, Szayel. We don't know anything for sure yet.”

“Perhaps it is time we ask Kisuke Urahara for his interpretation. He and Yoruichi Shihoin asked to meet with our young visitor during our visit to the shop. He may see something we cannot.”

“Not a bad idea, Ulquiorra. I'll go give him a ring, an' see what he says.”

Her inner world was quiet. A sort of night had fallen; the sky was still blue, just much darker and fuzzy somehow. The sunlight was gone, replaced with a dull moonshine from behind a bank of clouds. The darkness that had hovered around the distant parts of the forest felt closer, and from it, a chilly breeze swept out into the meadow, rustling through the tops of the flowers and grasses.

Kaida stood in the middle, looking around her for her dragonfly, and unsure of how she had ended up there as she didn't remember entering meditation. A soft chorus of buzzing and chirping from the nighttime insects around her were the only signs of life. Perhaps the great insect was asleep. Before she could prepare to slip back to wakefulness, she became very aware of an odd sensation just then. It washed over her like a light caress that she felt deep within her very core as a fuzzy pulse, and with it came a chilling, biting shiver that made her skin crawl.

She gasped, her breath catching in her throat, suddenly feeling as though something was watching her. It happened again, that shivering pulse, and she whirled around to face the direction it came from.

There.

Just beyond the treeline.

The shadows were deeper there. How she knew that, she wasn't sure, but a feeling of cold dread suddenly clenched tightly in her stomach and she tasted bile even as she set her teeth and squared her shoulders. Her feet shifted to firmer footing, her body dropped into a ready stance, and she bared her teeth even as a third pulse sighed over her slim frame.

“Whatever you are, I'm sure you don't belong here,” she said, surprising herself with how steady her voice was.

The air around her suddenly vibrated and the sleepy buzzing stopped altogether, plunging the meadow into the silence of prey hiding from the predator.

“You are correct...” a barest whisper came from those deep shadows, and Kaida felt sweat break out across her forehead. The pressure of the pulses sharply increased, and she clutched her chest, feeling like her lungs were about to collapse with the weight of its reiatsu. “But everything must have a balance child, and I am yours.”

The shadows seemed to move, and a hollow whisper of sound reached her as they condensed into...something.

Her eyes widened.

And then she felt it take in a deep breath, and with it, her reiatsu. It drank it down like water, thirsty for it, craving it, inhaling it like it needed it to survive. Kaida felt it pull away from her, and she wanted to call out, to scream, to cry in fear, but she was paralyzed as this THING drank down her very essence.

It paused after a moment, and she swore its shape was a little more defined now.

She felt it regard her as she collapsed to the ground, her heart pounding and body trembling and weak.

“Now is the time to learn your end of the balance, child of fate. Now, you must claim what is yours to wield.”

…

...

“Now...you must learn how to fix what is broken.”

And suddenly, she was awake, lying in a tightly curled ball on a medical gurney.

Her heart was still pounding.

Her head felt like it was splitting apart.

The vines and flowers etched into the skin of her arms burned.

Her mask felt blazing hot, and then searing cold.

And she felt weak.

So...

Very...

Weak...

Chapter Text

Her room was dark, its only light coming from the little flickering fire in the small woodstove in the corner. It threw odd shadows across the walls and the ceiling, making them dance and battle through an elaborate story told in flashes. She paid them no mind.

Her thoughts were elsewhere.

She sipped from her tea cup and rested her forehead back against the cold glass of her bedroom window, resettling her slim frame on the hard windowsill. Her breath fogged against it slightly; Hueco Mundo's true night times were cold, much colder than its days. That's how she learned to tell the difference between the two.

Two different lines of thought were trying to dominate her mindset at the same time, and she let her mind wander between the two as fluidly as they wanted. There was no point in trying to control them, not when they seemed to be interwoven around each other like lovers.

The first one was the memory of that day in her father's office, the sound of his voice and the pictures of what she knew now were of Las Noches and Hueco Mundo's black sky. The second was what had happened in her inner world in that moment of odd fuzzy night. At first, she had assumed they were separate occurrences, but now that she had given it some thought...

Kaida sipped again, frowning at the white quartz sand dunes beyond the wall. Although she had no reason to believe so, she was starting to think that they were connected somehow.

However, her usual sounding board was silent. Her dragonfly had not been heard from since the incident. Trips to her inner world were met with the buzzing silence of a calm forest meadow; the darkness still lingered beyond the treeline as always, although the being that came to her was also missing. She wasn't sure what to make of that.

She sighed in frustration. There was a lot she wasn't sure what to make of, and it seemed that the more answers she got, the more questions popped up in their places. She was still tired after...whatever it was that happened. It wasn't really a physical tired, more of a mental weariness, and it caused it all to feel like it was all draped over her like a heavily weighted blanket.

There was a soft knock on her door, and she pushed her thoughts aside for the time being, glad for the distraction that the deep, cold energy beyond her door brought.

“It's open,” she called from her perch. The door was opened and closed with a gentle click, and Jaeger appeared in her bedroom doorway, frowning slightly at the darkness and how low her stove burned. He chose not to say anything about it, instead just leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets.

“There's a couple of visitors that would like to meet with you that just arrived,” he said quietly. “Lord Starkk asked for me to collect you, if you're willing to come down to the meeting lounge.”

Kaida swallowed, closing her eyes. When she had been released from the infirmary, she had been told that friends of Orihime and the counsel had been sent for. She hadn't been sure she would be ready for more questions a couple days ago, but a lump formed in her chest, and she knew she wasn't. These people knew her father, knew her mother, knew things about her that she didn't even know, and as much as she wanted to know more, her head was already buzzing with how much it was filled with, and the thought of stuffing more into it was...

She shook her head, clutching her cup closer to her chest.

“Not right now,” she whispered.

Jaeger nodded, but didn't move from his spot. He had expected as much. Really, they all had, so it wasn't any surprise that Kaida just wanted to be left alone for now. The shopkeeper and his mate had made arrangements to stay in Hueco Mundo for as long as they needed to, knowing this.

His grey eyes moved around the room again, his mouth drawn. That protective part of him that was made up of both his parents tugged at him until he finally sighed, giving into it. He moved into the room to the stove, kneeling to open it and poke at the tiny fire in it. Kaida turned her head to watch him start to build it back up, smiling a little for the first time in a few days.

“It's not that cold in here,” she murmured as he stuffed another chunk of firewood into it. Jaeger smirked, and shook his head.

“I just want to make sure it stays warm. Even under a bunch of blankets, the cold can creep in if you let it. It's hard to get out once it's here.” Once the stove's fire was once again blazing, and the air around it was starting to warm up nicely, he stood and turned to her, once again stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I'm off of grounding tomorrow. Dad's finally tired of me lazing around the tower, so he's letting me go early. Wanna take your morning walk with me?”

His question made the tips of her ears heat a little, but she gave him a hiked eyebrow, a smirk playing across her lips.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

Bingo. His response was exactly what she was going for. Jaeger's face jumped four shades of red, and he immediately started sputtering an off-handed reply.

“I, uh, no, not really, um, you've had a rough couple days and you and Allain haven't gone out, and...um...”

She laughed, and slid down from her windowsill perch. He was still sputtering over his words when she patted his arm on her way out of her room to her kitchen with her cup.

“I'd love to take a walk with you, Jaeger.”

He stopped abruptly, and swallowed hard, turning to follow her.

“Oh, um...cool! I mean, uh...” He reached up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes flashing green and blue, sometimes purple, in her kitchen light. Something occurred to her just then, and Kaida gasped a little. She quickly set her cup down in the sink and went to stand in front of him, looking the inch of height difference up into his eyes.

Jaeger cut off his line of garbled words and looked at her in surprise, deeply confused as she reached up and placed a hand against his cheek, gently holding his face still as she watched the light play in the odd grey depths. A smile spread across her lips as the memory came clearer to her, even as Jeager started to frown a little at her gesture.

“What's wrong?” he whispered.

“Labradorite,” she replied. His frown deepened with his confusion.

“Labra what?”

“Labradorite. It's a stone, found in the World of the Living. My father gave me a collection of stones that came into his shop a long time ago when I was a little girl, and one of them was a plain grey color with black speckles. When you told it to light, there's a whole rainbow hidden in it, but you wouldn't know it unless you knew how to bring it out. He told me each piece is different, and special, and I should keep it safe. I was fifteen when I lost it. I still don't know where it went. It was my favorite one, too.”

He cocked his head to one side.

“What's that got to do with me?”

“Your eyes remind me of it,” she replied, giggling as her answer dawned on him, and his confusion was replaced by a silly blush that reached his ears easily.

“Is...that a good thing?”

Kaida bit her lip at what his tone implicated. That was something else that had been nibbling at the edge of her thoughts, though she had been trying to keep it at bay while she sorted out the rest of her existence. Not willing to explore it further, not with as overwhelmed as she already was, she only gave him a smile.

“It might be. I'm not sure yet.”

He gave her a lopsided grin in return, satisfied with her answer.

“I'll let Lord Starkk know you're not ready. He did tell me to tell you to try to not take too long, though. He doesn't want to be pushy, but he also said something about it being best if you met with Mr. Urahara sooner than later.”

She nodded.

“I agree. I just...my head's full, you know? It feels like...like someone poured a bunch of soup ingredients into it and left it without stirring. All the potatoes are sitting at the bottom and the celery is just floating. And none of it is seasoned properly.”

Jaeger burst into laughter at the thought, his blush forgotten. Kaida started laughing with him; his laugh was infectious, a two-toned thing not yet finished being honed by adulthood, though he had a few years on her. Arrancar matured a little slower.

When he left, it was with a promise to come get her after breakfast. Jaeger was still grinning to himself at the thought, oblivious to much of his surroundings, so it came as a surprise when he almost walked right into the imposing figure of his father, who stood halfway up the stairs with his arms crossed, wearing a look that could flatten mountains.

Jaeger kept himself from recoiling, knowing not to back down from the older cat, but did drop his eyes and school the grin from his face. He swallowed hard when Grimmjow growled softly, clucking his tongue.

“I don't think I need to tell you what not to do, do I?”

Jaeger cringed, just a little. He knew that tone well; his father was not to be argued with.

“No, Dad. I know. I just-”

“Just. What?”

“Just...” His head spun, and his fight instincts chose to kick in when he knew he should have just backed down. He raised his chin, and met the electric blue heat right on, his stance set and brain screaming at him to not to do it.

Jaeger listened like his father, unfortunately.

Before he could open his mouth and really get in trouble, a voice came from behind him, calling his name. Jaeger turned to see Kaida jogging down the hallway, slowing when she caught sight of his father. She didn't stop though, not until she reached his side and held something out to him.

“You dropped this,” she said, handing him a length of dark brown cord with several green beads tied in it. It was one of his bracelets. “It must have came untied when you pulled your hand out of your pockets.”

“Oh, thanks Kaida,” Jaeger replied in a carefully neutral tone, taking it and slipping it into a pocket.

“You're welcome.” Jaeger watched her eyes, noticing how she kept a steady gaze trained on Grimmjow, who stood silently watching the exchange with a close, studious look. Kaida squared her shoulders and gave him a respectful bow of her head, which he hiked an eyebrow at. “Thank you, Lord Grimmjow. For letting me stay here, and for defending me from Nnoitra, even though that probably wasn't your intent. I appreciate it all the same.”

Jaeger felt his chest tighten -goddammit, she was practically begging to be thrown into a wall!- and his hand made to grasp the hilt of his sword out of instinct. Before he could shift onto the balls of his feet though, his father scoffed, and loosened his stance, just a little.

“Drop the 'Lord' shit. An' I did it 'cause I hate the smarmy bastard.”

Kaida nodded, her crystalline blue briefly meeting the electric.

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes, turning away. Before he headed back up the stairs, he glanced over his shoulder at her, his face guarded. “Quit the 'sir' shit too. Just do me a favor an' keep your fuckin' nose outta trouble, got it?”

Kaida smirked, and nodded again. Grimmjow shook his head, gave Jaeger a stern, heated look, and headed back up the stairs. Jaeger let out a long, relieved breath before he gave her a toothy grin.

“See you in the morning!”

Her own relief was very apparent when she smiled widely, her face flushed.

“See ya!”

He was practically humming as he ventured up the stairs behind his dad, unable to keep the grin this time. Before he could continue his journey up to his room, he was stopped by a firm grip on his forearm, forcing him to face Grimmjow's scowl.

“This wasn't a blessing, Jaeger,” Grimmjow growled. “You better fuckin' watch yourself.”

“I will, Dad,” Jaeger said with a huff, yanking his arm away. He sensed it was okay now; Grimmjow wasn't going to be angry with him, just irritated. He was pretty good at not crossing that line, despite the momentary stab of panic when he was about to get skewered on his dad's zanpakuto for running his mouth.

“You sure 'bout that? 'Cause from my point of view, you're starting to get too fuckin' cozy. Don't think I haven't seen it, son.”

“So what? Why is she any different, Dad? Just because she's a Soul Reaper?”

Grimmjow met his son's tone with a hard frown, half a snarl lifting his lip so the dim lighting could glint off a canine. Jaeger's gaze didn't waver this time. Grimmjow met the challenge with a deep breath, letting it out in a slow measure. Of his three offspring, Jaeger was the one who made sure he was practiced in keeping his temper in check the most.

“Because of who she is,” was his father's quiet reply, before he turned around and headed back down the hall to their quarters. Jaeger sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anymore of an answer, and continued up the stairs to his room. His grin returned on its own halfway up, and he was humming by the time he got to his room.

True to her observations, the morning didn't so much dawn as it just warmed up a little. The biting winds died down, too; the nights were when the wind stirred up and cut though the landscape with a merciless determination. Kaida had stretched and gotten dressed, her mind still pondering over details of her experiences. She was still tired; sleep hadn't been coming easily, and her dreams were vivid when it did finally settle. She remembered none of them, only that she had awoken with the sense that she was close to discovering something, but had no idea what.

By the time Jaeger appeared on her doorstep again, her head was already buzzing and full, and she gave him a tired smile when she finished strapping her sword belt on.

“We can take it slow,” he said when she told him she hadn't slept.

She gave him a thankful nod.

The dome that provided the fake sunshine also mimicked its normal day and night cycle. The 'sky' was just starting to lose its tinges of pink and orange sunrise when they reached the tower courtyard. It was chilly, of course, but Kaida had remembered to grab her jacket, and she stopped long enough to zip it up, her breath steaming slightly.

By now, she knew the paths through the courtyard and surrounding buildings fairly well. Allain had made sure she at least knew how to get from one to another, and the more important rooms in them all. She knew how to get to the dining hall, the throne room, the kitchen, the hallway to the training arena, and she thought she remembered the beginning of the winding passageway down to Szayelaporro's lab.

As Allain was a creature of ingrained habit, they always started their morning walk heading off to their left from tower three's ground floor archways, and so it was to her left that Kaida started, stopping after a few feet when she realized her companion wasn't next to her. She turned to look over her shoulder at a grinning Jaeger, who was waiting for her with his hands in his pockets.

Kaida blinked, pushing back an embarrassed blush, and quickly turned to catch up with him.

“Sorry,” she said, “Allain usually veers us left.”

“Well, Allain's a stick in the mud,” Jaeger chuckled. “I thought I'd take you to one of my favorite spots in Las Noches instead. If you're interested, that is.”

“I suppose. As long as it's not going to get you in trouble.”

“Nah. It's just a spot that I used to hang out with my brother a lot. You'll see.”

The winding path took them far across the courtyard, to the ruins of a once-numbered tower. Kaida had seen it before -there were a few others that were also in ruins- and had been given a brief history of what had happened to cause them to crumble. This one was missing the majority of its upper half, though the debris from its destruction had been cleared away long ago.

She gave him a curious look as Jaeger led her through the ground floor archways and into the main ante way. It spread out much like the rest of the towers: Huge, circular, open, with windows that stretched to the ceiling along the far wall, showing black sky from beyond the courtyard wall where the dome cut off. It was mostly empty, bits of rubble here and there, some broken furniture. There wasn't much to see at all.

“Here. It's just a couple floors up.” There was a set of the same sort of wide stairs that started a winding climb up the outside wall of the tower just like the others. By the time they reached the first floor up, the light from the open room below had faded, and Jaeger stopped and lit the wall sconces one by one as they climbed to the second floor. The first floor landing opening out into the first level of rooms and apartments was dark, as was the long hallway beyond it, and she hurried past it, sensing that there might be something in the shadows stalking her. The feeling was much too akin to the odd darkness in her inner world's forest, and it sent a wave of unease down her spine.

The second floor was identical to the first floor, except that Jaeger stepped off the landing and started lighting the sconces here. With every burst of reiatsu, a little more dark got chased away, until they reached a door that was less dusty than the rest.

“The third floor has no ceiling, and most of its all leveled anyway, so there's no point in going any higher unless you want to be weirded out by how the dome cuts off around the towers.” The door opened easily, and they stepped into a wide open room with not a lot in it -a huge worn out sectional sofa encircled a low, heavy, round table in the middle. A huge fireplace dominated the wall next to it, its chimney vented out the wall. Like in Jaeger's room, and hers and the rooms in the others' living quarters, various tapestries hung along the otherwise bare walls to keep the chill out. These were old and thick with dust, undisturbed for quite some time and unimportant to whatever visitors used the room. They also dampened the sound of their footsteps, and shushed the echoes of their voices as Jaeger lit the wall sconces next to the door. “A long time ago, this was my dad's tower. Leo and Nix kinda took it over for themselves when they were kids; they were the only ones for a while before Koda was born. She's the next oldest. They used to hang out here a lot, before they all grew up and got assigned their jobs. Dad used to tell me stories here, too, when I was little. He never said anything, but I think he was really upset when the rest of his tower got destroyed during the whole Quincy thing. He used to live here with his Fraccion, and there's a lot of memories that got erased when it came down.”

Kaida turned from surveying the room and gave him a surprised look.

“That doesn't sound like your dad,” she commented, skeptical.

“His Fraccion were the closest thing to a family he had back then, though. They had been with him a long, long time. Mom says that losing tower six was really hard on him.” Jaeger was looking through the mishmash of objects on the fireplace mantle, and found a framed picture that was not as covered in dust. He brought it over and handed it to her with a grin. “Anyway, in case you were wondering what Leo looks like, this is him next to Nix.”

She took it with a curious frown, and smiled when she recognized Jaeger as a much younger child, perhaps five or six. He had his face scrunched up in a sour scowl while Nix was tousling his hair with a grin. The young man who stood next to Nix could have passed for his father, had it not been for his long, straight teal hair, pulled back into a ponytail over one shoulder. The eyes were the same though; a piercing electric blue that almost sparked, though Leo's face was frozen in mirth as he was obviously laughing at his little brother's dour look. He wasn't built as heavily as Grimmjow and Jaeger were, either; slimmer and leaner, though he was still very well toned. His mask was a V shape with the point starting just above the bridge of his nose, curving up over his forehead and splitting off into a pair of elegantly curved, serrated horns that ended in gentle curls just behind his ears. He wore a sleeveless shirt that showed off the intricately beaded bands around his upper arms, and the tattoos that decorated both of his lower arms.

“Are they twins?” she asked, seeing that he and his sister looked to be the same age. Jaeger chuckled.

“Technically, no. So, I get teased a lot because Leo and Nix are seventeen years older than me, so I'm literally the baby of the family and everyone treats me like it. What they won't tell you is that they're technically the same age. Leo was only two weeks old when Nix was conceived, so he's only like nine or ten months older than her.”

Kaida covered her mouth with a hand, stifling a laugh.

“Your poor dad! How did he take that news?”

“Legend has it that he drank the liquor vault dry the day Mom told him, and slept for like four days until the shock wore off.”

“Is that why you're so much younger? To avoid that from happening again?”

“I wasn't actually supposed to exist.” Jaeger rubbed the back of his neck, giving her a partial shrug. “Mom suffered a really bad uterine tear with Nix, and she wasn't supposed to be able to have any more kids. Well, surprise!” He gestured to himself, the light glinting off of his bracelets and earrings. “Imagine my dad's reaction to that! I was even two months early just for extra flavor!”

As Jaeger talked more about his family, Kaida had settled onto the sofa, not minding the light layer of dust from lack of recent use, laughing at how excited he got when he launched into a story about how he and his mother's Fraccion (who were traveling with Leo and Koda at the moment) got lost somewhere in the Menos Forest and had to wait for Grimmjow to find them and get them home.

“Dad was so mad,” the young Arrancar said with a laugh. “He tore Uncle Peche up one side and down the other and made Uncle Dondochaka cry. Peche argued that it was just part of my 'survival training 101' and we were supposed to get lost. According to my mom though, Peche's sense of direction is terrible, so that didn't fly well with Dad at all.”

He was just finishing with how they got back -Grimmjow had used sonido to get him and Jaeger home, leaving Peche and Dondochaka to figure out how to get back by themselves- when the communicator on his wrist beeped. Jaeger glanced at it and sighed with a frown. “I gotta report to the arena. Apparently, there's a fight I have to break up.”

Kaida cocked her head to one side.

“So early?”

“Nnala likes to claim it early in the mornings to get her training out of the way sometimes, and that sometimes causes problems with Allain's self-imposed tight ass schedule. Those two argue so much that I'm surprised they're both still alive. I've tried telling them both to drop it, but that's like talking to a frickin' wall.”

“And why do you have to have to be the one to break the fight up...?”

“'Cause at some point, I got elected as the peacekeeper.” Jaeger's tone was one of frustration, and he ran his hands through his hair with a frustrated growl. “I don't suppose you would mind a quick side quest to the arena, would you?”

Kaida grinned, and was on her feet in a heartbeat.

“Lead on!”

Chapter Text

By the time they got to the arena, whatever argument Jaeger had been called on to break up had blown up into a fully fledged fight. They felt the surges in power from the hallway, and he cursed when they reached the open doors of the training arena.

“Goddamnit Allain. You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?” he growled, stalking through the wide double doors. Kaida followed, frowning.

Some of the power surges felt like the same ones she felt the first time she was this close. Her stomach clenched in the same way, and she grit her teeth against the nausea.

There were just two others in the spectator's area near the door, and they cackled as a huge spray of reiatsu sparks erupted from towards the ceiling inside the energy walled arena. Kaida frowned again, and pulled her gaze to something falling, no...plummeting...to the floor from where the sparks had flown, and gasped when it smashed hard into the dirt, sending rock and dust high up into the air around it. Jaeger swore again, and dashed to where it had fallen, and Kaida's eyes widened when she realized that what had fallen wasn't a what...it was a who, and his energy felt very, very low.

“Allain!” She followed Jaeger down into the crater, ignoring the renewed taunting laughter from the other two. “Allain! Jaeger, is he okay?”

The center of the crater was deep, and the black-haired boy with the kind hazel eyes lay in the middle of it, curled up on his side and his eyes squeezed shut. Jeager was already down and at his side, trying to get him to sit up while being as gentle as he could be. Blood trickled from a corner of his mouth, and he his arms clenched around his midsection. Kaida skidded down the side of the crater and fell to her knees, pressing a hand against his chest as Jaeger finally got him up. His breathing was ragged and labored, and he couldn't get a good enough breath in to fill his lungs.

“He must have taken a hit to his solar plexus,” she said, pulling her jacket off. “He's starting to hyperventilate.”

“Dude, you gotta just stop sometimes,” Jaeger said, shaking his head as Kaida handed her balled up jacket to Allain. He took it with a shaky nod, pressing it to his nose and mouth in an attempt to force himself to breath deeper. His shoulders started to relax, and Jeager started pounding his back firmly when he started to cough.

“The dumb little bird won't, though,” came a snide voice. Kaida and Jaeger looked up from Allain to see Nnala, nary a scratch on her, setting down at the edge of the crater, a sneer smeared across her red-painted lips. “I tried to warn him. I wanted the arena, so I took it.”

“You didn't have to beat the shit out of him, Nnala,” Jaeger growled, leaving Allain to Kaida as he got to his feet.

“I did no such thing. He's still alive and...well, mostly unharmed, isn't he?” Nnala shook her head, holding her empty hand up. The other held a zanpakuto with a hilt wrapped in red and black. “It's the least I could do, seeing as the punk started it.”

“I doubt that.” Jaeger spat, glaring at her.

“Jaeger, it's not worth it,” Allain croaked as Kaida helped him to his feet. “Just drop it, okay?”

Nnala's smirk widened and took on a menacing gleam.

“Yeah, little kitty cat. Be a good pet and let the adult have this one, m'kay?”

There was another loud burst of cackling from the other two Arrancar on the sidelines. Kaida, having gotten Allain to the lip of the crater and through the barrier, gave them both a scowl. They were both probably around Nnala's age; one male, one female, with dark brown hair and dark colored eyes, obviously twins. Both were rough, their teeth were sharp, and the female had nails that were more like claws painted black. Like most of the other Arrancar, they both wore white, though the male wore an open jacket with no shirt and ripped pants, the female wore almost nothing. Kaida guessed that these were the 'friends' that Allain had warned her about. She heard Jaeger growl again, low in his chest, and she turned to see him cross his arms, a canine bared.

“I'll let it go for right now Nnala, but don't expect me to next time. I don't want to have to go to war with you to prove a point.” Kaida watched as he turned and started walking back to the edge of the arena. Nnala gave him an incredulous look, and then her shoulders started shaking, and soon she was laughing along with her 'friends'.

“Fucking hell baby cat, are you pathetic. Your girlfriend ask you to turn your balls in, or did you voluntarily hand 'em over?”

Jaeger snarled silently, but schooled his face into a stern expression that mirrored one of his mother's before turning back around to face the older Arrancar.

“Drop it, Nnala.”

She cocked her head to one side and spat at his feet with a snarl of her own.

Kaida's eyes widened as she felt Jaeger's control start to slide. The energy he emitted still felt slow and lazy, but now there was the beginning of a roar behind it, one that sounded like blood rushing in her ears.

“Hard to believe that the 'great' Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez produced such a weak-willed little kitten. Well, maybe not. Look who he took as a mate.”

Jaeger's face started turning red, but he still managed to keep a hold of himself.

Until Nnala continued, and ran her mouth too far.

“Why are you even next in line to take her place, anyway?”

“Enough, Nnala,” Allain called over, his voice harsh.

She glanced over, a delighted spark in her eyes igniting a wildfire.

“I mean, c'mon, Jaeger. Who do you think you are?” Nnala made the deliberate mistake of stepping right up next to Jaeger, who was now visibly trying to keep himself in control. His grip was slipping, though. She smirked again, leaning in so that her nose was almost touching his. “Who died and made you Leo, anyway?”

A rumbling snarl rose up out of Jaeger's chest, and his hand fell to the hilt of the zanpakuto on his hip.

“Get my brother's name out of your fucking nasty mouth, Nnala.”

“Or what, baby cat? You gonna bite me? Run off and hide behind your mommy? Leo would have the guts to face me; you're nothin' but his shadow.”

Jaeger gripped his sword and drew it, and Nnala stepped back with a triumphant crow.

“Oh, you DO have your balls still! I was wondering if you'd been neutered!”

From next to Kaida, Allain groaned.

“This is not going to end well,” he whispered, and sank down to the ground in a wrecking coughing fit.

“Who's stronger?” Kaida whispered back, suddenly very concerned for Jaeger's safety.

“He is,” Allain replied after he caught his breath. “But it'll be close.”

“How close?”

A deafening clang rang through the arena, and they turned to see Nnala grinning maniacally as Jaeger pressed his blade down on hers, his sharp teeth bared in a feral snarl. As they watched, the combatants broke apart, and immediately flew into a eye-burning whirlwind of movement and loud clashes, the fight becoming much too fast paced to ordinary eyes to keep up. There was a brief pause when the blurs broke apart and Jaeger was whipped into the energy shield with a cratering thud, spit flying out of his mouth when his head impacted. Nnala laughed and went to run her blade through him, but was forced to dance backward when Jaeger quickly recovered and parried her strike, and once again they became blurs whizzing around the arena.

“Close.” Allain held his wrist up, but groaned again. “Damn it, she broke my communicator. We need Father.”

“Is it really going to be that bad?”

“They almost killed each other the last time they fought for real.” Allain winced when an explosion of bright red reiatsu sparks ripped the darkness near the ceiling of the arena apart, and they could hear Nnala's excited scream from where they sat. “This isn't some sparring match. Jaeger's holding back, but Nnala's in it to win it.”

“Why would he hold back?”

“Because if he hurt Nnala, he would have to face the counsel. Nnala, even as she is, is an extremely important part of the Arrancar hierarchy. They both were warned action would be taken the last time this happened, and Nnala's been goading him into another match since. She can't stand the thought of him being ranked above her, and she would love to see him de-masked and demoted.”

Kaida's blood ran cold, and a roar echoed across the wide arena, followed by a shrill shriek of pain.

“Would that mean...?”

“It's exactly what it sounds.”

“Kitty's in trouble now!” They turned to see the male twin giving them a sick, sneering grin, his arms crossed and eyes wild. “Master Nnala's gonna get 'im good, this time!”

“He's not gonna have his balls for sure after this,” the female cackled, pointing with a long, black nail.

Allain frowned, caught off-guard as they both dashed into the arena...and closed the opening in the energy wall. Allain gasped, getting to his feet despite his injuries, and ran to where it was supposed to be open, hissing when his pounding fists were met with sparks and jolts of sharp energy.

“ROXY! ROXY, pull it down NOW! That's an ORDER!”

“Sorry little bird, no can do! Master's orders over yours!”

“DAMN it!” Allain growled in frustration, his breathing hitching in pain. He sank to the ground holding his midsection. Kaida rushed to his side, but was pushed off with a pained grunt. “I'll be fine. I don't heal as fast as my dad, but I do heal fast. It still hurts is all.”

That did nothing to quell Kaida's worry over her friend, but having no other choice, she had to trust him. She turned to try and see where Jaeger was, but now the arena was...darker. There was a heavy sort of darkness that was, for the lack of a better word, 'pulled' into the space, and she saw the male twin standing a little ways towards the middle, his arms out stretched, his fingers cupped around balls of twisting...nothing.

Kaida swallowed. The energy coming from them felt horrible, and empty, and sickening all at the same time, and her stomach gave a hard lurch to expel its breakfast. Allain saw it too, and he hissed in anger.

“Rex is using his shroud ability,” he growled, his hands balling into fists again.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that Jaeger's fighting almost blind now. Rex can shroud anyone he wants with it, shielding their reiatsu from being tracked at the same time making it very hard to see. And Roxy,” he nodded towards the female, who turned and gave them a toothy smirk when she heard her name, “can manipulate energy and mess with sensory receptors. Goddamnit, this is a fucking coup!” Again, he smashed a fist against the energy field, and it sent smoldering sparks spraying across his crouched form like a spew of fireworks.

From the other side of the shield, Roxy snapped.

“Serves Leo right,” she spat. “You didn't get the news yet, did ya bird boy? Leo finally took a mate, and Nnala ain't it.”

Allain's eyes widened in disbelief.

“And she has to take it out on his baby brother?!”

“Next best thing!” The arena was now completely dark, and Kaida couldn't see much past the energy shield. Roxy smirked again and turned around to waltz into it, disappearing entirely from view. The sounds of combat still rang sharp as ever, and she bit her lip, her brain trying to force its gears to turn faster.

There was something...

Something that should have been there...

...but it felt out of reach, like a lifeline tossed into a fast moving current.

What was it? What was she reaching for?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jaeger was again thrown into the shield. This time, he slid to the ground and slumped over, pressing a hand against a bright red smear across the side of his white shirt. He was heaving for breath, and he had his eyes squeezed shut hard. His hair was streaked with dark, dirty purple on one side with blood trickling down his face from his hairline. Allain choked back another round of cursing, moving to get as close to his comrade as he could.

“Jaeger, you need to release!”

The younger Arrancar cracked an eye open, focusing on Allain with a strained look before shaking his head.

“I'll be okay,” he whispered, managing a grin. “She didn't hit anything vital yet.”

This earned a frustrated growl from Allain.

“You're not your dad, you idiot. Quit screwing around and release your zanpakuto! Nnala's not playing around; neither should you!”

“Geeze, pushy much? They went to so much trouble to make it fun, the least I can do is stay and play for a bit.”

“You are insufferable, and deserve this,” Allain spat, dropping from his crouch to his backside. “You had us worried, you moron!”

“Aw, you do care. Love you too, Al.”

Kaida didn't know what to think, having been just as blind sighted as Allain. Jaeger chuckled and pushed himself up off the ground to his feet, going so far as to dust himself off, wincing when his hand grazed his wounded side. Allain sputtered several more curses at him as Jaeger pulled his shirt up to reveal a decent sized gash carved into his torso. Kaida rose from her knee, giving it a concerned look.

“That looks bad,” she said with a frown.

“Nothing some spit can't fix.” She watched, almost horrified, as he spat into his hand and then pressed it against the wound. He glanced up at her reaction and grinned. “Nix can do it too. Leo missed out on this one, though.” When he pulled his hand away, the wound was considerably smaller, and he pulled his now torn shirt back down.

Then the energy in the arena shifted, and got heavier. SO much heavier. Almost like the air itself became a weight, and Jaeger frowned, looking over his shoulder.

“Shit. Think she might be mad at me?”

“Harden, Caparazón!”

“Yep. She's mad.”

A nauseating swirl of energy exploded from somewhere within the darkness, and Kaida suddenly couldn't breath. She tried to suck in as much air as she could, but her lungs suddenly felt deflated and compressed. In fact, her whole body felt like it had been thrown into a pressure chamber, and the pressure was very quickly building to the point of making her pop. She pressed a hand against her chest, and Allain reached over and placed a hand against her leg. Somehow, the pressure lifted enough for her to breath easier. She gave him a grateful look, and he gestured to her wrist, where her bracelet glinted in the visible lights outside of the energy wall.

“Nnala's release gives out a lot of pressure,” he explained. “It's apparently high enough to overcome your bracelet's shield, so I reinforced it with my own reiatsu.”

“Rex and Roxy have me pretty blind,” Jaeger said, glancing at the blade in his hand. “I don't want to do this, but...” He turned to face Kaida and Allain, a wan smirk on his lips. “Tell your dad that I really tried to not do it, 'eh?”

Allain scowled, but nodded.

“Take Rex out first, then Roxy.”

“Duh. Let's pretend that my dad didn't teach me everything he knows, right?”

“Dammit Jaeger!”

Jaeger didn't get a chance to retort. A massive ball of sheer pressurized power came hurtling at him from somewhere in the arena, and he barely had a chance to sonido to one side before Nnala came crashing into the energy wall where he had been standing.

She only got to see her for a just for a brief second before she snarled and chased after Jaeger, but Kaida gasped, shocked by the changes in her appearance. She caught a glimpse of an shiny, elongated, red shell-like covering attached to her shoulders that was covered in black spots, her arms and legs had grown a sort of shiny white-dotted black armor, and her mask had stretched from a simple V shape on her forehead to a set of long, slender, black antenna. She had a small set of black mandibles framing her mouth from the sides of her head, and the whole front of her body was also covered in the same shiny black armor her limbs were, interlocked in neatly arranged plates that protected all her vital organs. Before she took off, the red shell split open, and translucent wings sprang from underneath, fluttering blindingly fast when Nnala pushed off the wall and back into the darkness after her prey.

Kaida was left dumbstruck, both horrified and fascinated.

“That's...that's an Arrancar's release?” she asked.

“It's her Resurreccion form, yes,” Allain replied, getting to his feet. “I have to go get my father. I don't have a choice now. Nnala's released, which means Jaeger could get seriously hurt if he doesn't stop screwing around and release too. No mitigation between them could leave them both dead.”

“What about you?”

Allain gave her a strained look.

“My own Resurreccion form requires a lot of reiatsu to maintain. Nnala's good at bleeding someone dry of their energy if they're not careful, and I wasn't careful enough. I'm too low on reiatsu.” He looked from the arena to Kaida and back again, his brow drawn in a tight, worried frown, and she could sense that he was starting to get overwhelmed, unsure if he should leave at all.

“What the hell is going on now?” Allain, instantly relieved, turned to face a very stormy Nix as she strode in through the arena door, her stride purposeful and angry. “What the fuck does he think he's doing?!”

“Something about Leo taking a mate?” he said simply, as if it explained everything. Which, apparently, it did.

“Oh for fuck's sake,” Nix spat, stopping the barrier and pressing a hand to the spot the opening was supposed to be. “I'm gonna kill Nnala if Jaeger doesn't first. Roxy you bitch, open up!"

“My communicator's broken, too.” Allain held his wrist out so the older Arrancar could see the shattered unit. “Nnala got me before she got him.”

“You are not a fucking bulldog, Allain,” she added irritably. “You should know better.” Allian nodded, his eyes dropping to the floor with the admonishment. Nix looked over at Kaida, looking her up and down. “At least you didn't get caught in it. You okay?”

“Yes. Jaeger's got a pretty nasty wound in his side, though.”

Nix waved it off with a shake of her head.

“He's fine. He's been beaten half to death plenty of times before. He'll live as long as he takes the fight seriously.”

As if that was supposed to make her feel any better.

Then...the energy changed again. The three of them went still as the entire arena went silent, and the energy suddenly got a whole lot colder, clinging to them like a chilly blanket. All sound seemed to be dampened, then their every motion and movement seemed to slow down to a crawl, Nix's hiss through her teeth coming out like a snake's. Allain let out a breath that was a mix of relief, concern, and irritation all at once, all of them playing out across his face in slow motion.

Then, after several very long seconds that felt like minutes, it all came to a mercilessly noisy head, as if all the noise and movement suddenly caught up as the tsunami crashed, and the result was an abrupt eruption of sound. All three spectators outside of the ring clamped their hands over their ears, grimacing at the cacophony, Allain falling to his knees with his eyes squeezed shut.

After the eruption seemed to calm down, Nix uncovered her ears with her teeth ground together. “And that's him finally taking it seriously. Fucking idiot. Stay here, I'll go get Dad and Ulquiorra.”

As she took off, using sonido to make a very fast exit, Allain got back to his feet, rubbing his ears with a wince. Kaida tried to shake the ringing out of hers and slowly won the fight, but she froze again when she came to a chilling realization: There was a distinct underlying rumble in the air now, as if a great beast was growling in warning. There was also something else, something that made her mouth go dry.

The slow, methodical flow of energy she learned to associate with Jaeger had changed. It carried the same identity, but now it was...awake.

Awake...and angry.

The growl grew louder, and suddenly a roar tore through the air that made her eyes go wide in fear that surprised the hell out of her. It was unmistakably Jaeger, and she understood that this was the real tsunami. It was this that warned his prey that it was too late to run.

The quirky, caring person she called a friend was now a predator on the hunt.

And then...the shroud started tearing apart and dissolving, and through the haze, Kaida caught sight of something truly terrifying as Rex was forced to his knees, bent over and bleeding heavily from a shoulder.

And then, as she was adjusting to the sight, there was an angry screech.

The air changed again.

It got heavier...

And the monster covered in blue on black striped fur pulled his claws out of Rex's shoulder with a wild snarl as the other monster with the glossy red shell and chitinous black armor hurtled straight at him, screaming in sheer unchecked rage.

And called out the words, through clenched teeth and said seething rage, “Siete Alegrías!”

And then Kaida wasn't sure what exactly happened, because Allain threw his arms around her and pulled her down to the ground, barely dodging the sonic wave of power that washed over them even though the barrier.

Chapter Text

When his blade first crossed Nnala's after her release, Jaeger immediately became aware of a few things.

Number one, she was stronger. Somehow, he wasn't sure, but she had gotten stronger. Had she finally reached the same level as him?

Number two, Rex and Roxy had also gotten stronger. How the fuck was THAT possible? They were just Fraccion grunts; they had no business being as strong as they were.

And number three...he was not winning this in his normal state, which meant that Allain was right, and that really sucked.

He dodged and parried again, Nnala disappearing back into Rex's shroud with a high pitched cackle. The wound in his side stung, but it was already closed over. His saliva didn't heal nearly as fast as his mother's did, but it worked fast enough.

Child.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, launching himself to the side when Nnala came streaking right at him, her eyes wide and mad with the fight.

That was one thing they had in common, he supposed. Both of them lived for a good fight.

CUB.

“I KNOW!” He flung himself to the other side, but Nnala swung her arm blades into his torso and sent him flying across the arena. His midsection immediately lit aflame, and he braved a glance down to see his shirt now fully red, with blood running down and soaking his loose white pants. His mouth started watering in response, but he was slammed into from behind before he could spit into his hands again, and he was sent into the dirt floor with ground eating force.

Damn it.

“You're distracted, Jaeger!” Nnala's screech sliced through the haze in a taunting whine, and Jaeger grunted and got back to his feet, trying to keep his pain level hidden. She stood just feet away, her face gleaming with sweat but not even out of breath. Fuck, how was she maintaining her reiatsu so well? With Rex and Roxy manipulating the atmosphere, it was difficult to tell exactly what was what.

“So what's your secret this time, Nnala?” he called over, dropping down into a ready stance, brushing the pain spreading from his torso aside. “Did you get a hold of some of Szayel's steroids again? Is that the only way you can keep up with me?”

“It's all just me, little kitty. One hundred percent me.” Nnala's voice dropped into something far more sinister, and her armor clinked as she shifted her weight into her own stance. Her wings twitched under her shell-like back armor, and a sneer painted her lips with menace. “Unlike the bitch your brother chose over me. Nothing about her is real except how fake she is.”

Jaeger frowned.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Nnala. Leo hasn't chosen anybody yet.”

Her dark eyes glittered with disdain, but there was hurt underneath too.

“I overheard Lord Starkk talking with Lady Halibel last night. He's chosen Koda. They're coming home so Leo can formally give her his name. She sent word that she's...she's pregnant.”

Shock drenched Jaeger to his bones, and it made him drop his guard for a split nanosecond. Nnala was watching, and she pounced on him faster than lightning.

So...that's what this was about.

She hit him with all she had, renewed with the fury that her words carried.

He clenched his teeth, realizing that hot tears were now streaming down Nnala's face, and she really was trying to kill him, because if she killed him, then it would hurt Leo just as badly. He hadn't been baited into just any revenge fight, he had been pulled into the wholehearted fury of an ex-girlfriend scorned in the worst way possible.

Fuck.

Release me, insolent brat!

Jaeger was pushed backward with a high-pitched scream, and he finally had to admit that he was in trouble.

Fuck. Again.

Nnala leapt up into the air way above him, meaning to meteor her way into him, and he took the opportunity to straighten into a ruler straight stance and raise his blade in front of him, shifting it so he held it close to his chest, balanced on his fingertips like an offering.

The air around him immediately stilled.

The sounds muted themselves.

Time slowed down...and he felt the familiar embrace of the slow, cold energy wrap around him in a lazy, hungry circle. The temperature in the arena plunged.

He closed his eyes, and saw golden eyes give him a slow blink.

She's coming!

Then, as if the world was waiting in tense, straining silence, he sent a whisper out into it.

“Focus. Tigresa.”

The blade across his fingertips vanished, and a roar replaced it.

A frigid tidal wave of sound rose and rushed out from him, and when he opened his eyes next, they were golden and sharp.

Claws, long and black, replaced his fingernails in cruel blades. His feet became those of a maliciously efficient predator.

Black fur covered his arms and legs, slashed through with electric blue stripes that damn near glowed with their intense color. A thick mane of blue and black hugged his shoulders and covered his chest, and it bristled with sparks of electric, cold power.

Tufted, black furred ears stretched to points, their piercings still well in place, and a thick, lashing black tail snapped to and fro behind him as his wounds quickly stitched themselves together, sped up now that his tiger was out .

His mask now partially framed those focused golden eyes, and it swept to both sides above his ears and ended in curving spikes tipped with black. His hair went from blue to black and blue, long enough now to brush his tail, and as Nnala came down into her plunging attack, Jaeger's lips curled into a snarl around canines that became sabers, and he simply side-stepped and appeared in front of Rex.

Time lent him a great many tricks, like being able to slow things down enough to really focus .

Before time could catch up and Rex could react, Jaeger made a spear of his arm and claws and plunged it into Rex's shoulder. The older Arrancar cried out in surprise and pain, falling to his knees as blood started pouring from the wound and drenching his front. It did the trick without killing him -without the use of both of his arms and the ability to concentrate, he let the shroud dissipate- and Jaeger breathed a sigh of relief with at least part of his senses being returned to him.

There was an enraged screech from just beyond his peripheral vision; Nnala had caught up and was moving with normal speed now. Jaeger had just enough time to turn and meet her with a wild snarl before her hands started glowing, and she screamed words that made him swear.

“Siete Alegrías!”

Fuck, for the third time.

Nnala commanded compact energy capable of being manipulated into punishing weapons. It was only held back by the fact that she only got seven shots at using it on her opponent before she ran out of reiatsu, and each shot was countered with the Siete Penas, the price of using the Alegrías. Each use of her Alegrías sapped her reiatsu greatly, and if she used all seven, it left her weak and unable to fight for lack of reiatsu. Once an opponent figured that out, as the effects were fairly visible, all they had to do was run the clock and keep her from hitting them.

Well, in theory anyway.

They also had to be fast enough to not get hit, and there weren't many capable of keeping up with Nnala that weren't ranked at his level or above.

She chose to unleash the first in a wave of pounding, dense, sonic fast energy, meaning to sweep into him and turn him into vapor. Jaeger gathered up his strength and jumped straight up over it, fast enough that Nnala didn't see him do it. Then he came down, and plowed into her so hard she was sent flying across the arena with a strangled, surprised cry.

Roxy was still messing with his energy perception, but he had finally spotted her hiding behind a large rock face created when Allain had hit the floor. Her eyes widened, her haughty expression changed, when she realized Jaeger had seen her, and the color washed out of her face when he started advancing on her.

“Drop it and get out of here, Roxy!” he yelled. “Grab your brother and get out before you both get killed!”

Command over another's Fraccion didn't happen often; it required a Hollow with vastly more spiritual pressure than their master to override the servant bond's programming. It also depended on their relationship with the person they were bonded to, and how strong it was. In this case Rex and Roxy were more than just Nnala's Fracciones, they were her close friends, and their loyalty normally granted them resistance to having to submit to other Hollows by force no matter how strong they were.

In this case however, he could see the fear loud and clear in Roxy's eyes. They hadn't planned on him fighting back this hard, likely counting on him heeding the warning set forth by the Council when this happened the last time.

Well...he had tried.

Roxy sprinted over to where Rex was crouched and pulled him to his feet. He groaned and shot a glare at Jaeger before glancing towards where Nnala was recovering from the impact. Then they vacated the arena, with Roxy finally leaving the energy field open. Jaeger looked over to see Allain getting Kaida to her feet, and he breathed another sigh of relief. Nnala's first blast had been dampened enough by the energy shield to keep them safe.

And then he felt a blade stab into his guts just below his Hollow hole.

Pain lit up like lightning, and he looked down to see another wavering blade shaped spear of energy pulling out and readying to stab him again. He roared, his voice tearing the air apart, and funneled power down into his claws, causing them to glow a frosty white as he whirled around and met Nnala's hateful glare again.

“Garra Helada!”

Time slowed just a moment like it did before he issued any attack, and he saw the hate deepen as he brought his hand up and took a swipe at Nnala's arm. A hiss rushed through her teeth the moment she felt the impact catch up, and she cried out when she abruptly stumbled backward with her injured arm, sliced into right through her armor, hanging uselessly at her side. The nerves in it were deadened, and it was numb, but feeling would come back eventually and she would regain use of it. It would buy Jaeger some time to heal.

“You little fucking bastard!” she roared, absolutely seething as he spat up enough saliva to cover the front of the puncture wound through his upper abdomen. Had she stabbed through just a little more north, she would have gone right through his solar plexus where his Hollow hole was.

“Par for the course, Nnala,” he said through gritted teeth, enduring the pain of his wound stitching itself back together. “You know I can do a whole lot more than that, so why are you even doing this?”

“Are you too scared to go on the offensive? You're just standing there!”

He rolled his eyes.

“I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't drop this.”

“Fucking stupid, tame cat,” she spat. Her eyes narrowed, and her good hand dropped away from the nerve deadened arm. “I fucking hate you.”

Then she raised her hand, set a fingertip against her chest, and her lip lifted into another red painted sneer.

“Caparazón! Segunda Etapa!”

Fuck number four.

Nnala's second release took Kaida's breath away in its ferocity. She became heavily armored, and dangerously fast, a second pair of arms now protruding from her sides equipped with long, mantis-like blades instead of hands. Razor sharp mandibles framed her lower face, her head became encased in a black, chitinous helmet speckled with white, and blade-like grieves made of the same shiny armor encircled her lower legs, their tops rising up over her knees and sticking up to form blades there, too. Her clothes were mostly gone, becoming one with her armor, and the joints clicked when she moved, reminding Kaida of metal tapping on metal.

Jaeger didn't even have time to swear. Nnala went for him immediately, bypassing dramatics and insulting banter, and in one swing of her second set of arms he was sent into the darkness beyond the closest reaching light from the arena walls. She was gone in a flash after him, and Allain let out a long breath.

“Oh, this is not good,” he said, swallowing hard. “She went from having to have all seven charges to release a second time, down to four.”

“What the hell even happened?!”

“Segunda Etapa, a technique my father taught himself long ago, and then taught to everyone else, including us kids. We aren't born with the ability to hear our blades; they're the manifestation of our sealed power. Instead, they grow with us, and if we become bonded closely enough with the parts of ourselves they're keeping sealed, they awaken as their own self, and then we hear their voices so we can learn how to unlock our most inner power. Sort of like learning Bankai. Segunda is our Bankai.”

Kaida's eyes widened and her mouth went dry, and she whipped her head back to the arena, searching for Jaeger. But there was only darkness, and a whole lot of screaming and sounds of combat.

“Can Jaeger do it too?”

“Of course. Whether or not he will, though...” Allain gritted his teeth. “It depends on if he gets the chance to.”

Kaida...

She gasped at the whisper. It was soft, it was tired, but it echoed from the back of her mind like it had before. Relief flooded her system, but it was short lived. A spike of Jaeger's reiatsu was quickly followed by a much more powerful one from Nnala, and an explosion ripped through the arena right after. The entire building shook to its foundation; cracks formed along the walls behind them and chunks of rock and dust fell down on them in a crushing rain.

And then Jaeger's reiatsu abruptly disappeared.

“JAEGER!”

“DAMN it!” Allain growled, his hands up and fisted. An aura of orange flickered with yellow suddenly appeared around him, and his lips drew back in a snarl that was unsettling on the young man's soft face. He grabbed his zanpakuto, with its grip wrapped in tan and white, from its sheath at his hip, and he held it at face level straight out, its blade pointing outward and balanced on his fingertips. “Quick, Colibrí!”

A mask that looked like a hummingbird's skull appeared over his eyes, its beak long and sharp, his eyes burning with anger behind it. His body was clad in a black gi with a white scarf wrapped around his neck. Its ends flowed over his shoulders and became iridescent wings of powder soft, blade-edged feathers. His release may not have been as ornamental as Jaeger's or Nnala's, but Kaida sensed that with it, Allain became an efficiently faster weapon than either of them.

“What about your reiatsu?” she asked, and Allain shook his head.

“I regenerated enough!” And then he was gone too.

Kaida...the rain.

“R-rain?”

Rain...rain...

There was a soft breath, like her dragonfly was fading into unconsciousness, but then she caught a glimpse of her inner world through its eyes, and froze.

The grasses were on fire, the blaze was well out of hand and beginning to lick at the trees.

There was not a single drop of water anywhere.

It was so hot.

The dragonfly spirit felt fire start to stab at its armored body as it clung to the top of a stone.

Kaida...call for rain.

“What does that even mean?!” she cried. Her eyes stung with tears, her heart ached, anxiety and fear and panic and sorrow...

Rain. How the hell did she call for rain?!

And then, there was something that tickled a memory, and then she felt like something clicked back into place.

And she remembered.

“Rain on a wildfire,” she whispered, forcing herself still, concentrating hard on the words and making sure they felt right. It wasn't the whole thing. Not by a long shot. But...it would be enough. The words formed again, and a weight settled on her shoulders with a reassuring embrace, and she took a deep breath in, her hand going to the hilt of her sword. “I seek rain on a wildfire...I seek...” She pulled it out, and brought it blade down, the tip resting on the ground before her with both hands grasping the hilt, the dragonfly charm glinting brightly. “Yuri no Tonbo, I seek a miracle!”

Nothing happened.

No swirls of a sudden wind.

No sounds of a sudden...whatever might make any sound.

No fancy magical girl transformation into a glittery outfit.

Just a faint whiff of smoke.

And now she was seriously confused.

“GRIND! PANTERAAAA!”

Kaida barely had a second to register a blur of blue and white before Grimmjow wasted no time taking on a much sleeker, feline-like form and shooting like lightning into the arena. Ulquiorra appeared at her side as well, his face its usual picture of calm, but there was a worried glint in his green eyes.

“Is Allain all right?” he asked, after giving her a quick assessment. Kaida looked down at her blade with a frown and re-sheathed it with a dismal head shake.

“He's low on reiatsu already, and he just released!”

His father's mouth tightened a little, and he looked off into the arena.

“He will not be able to hold it for very long. Damn it.”

Ulquiorra didn't draw the blade at his hip, but he was gone in a flash of sonido so fast that she didn't even register he was gone at first.

“Kaida! Are you all right?!” Nix came up right next to her, her hazel eyes sparking with concern and holding several bottles of a clear, slimy liquid.

“I am, but Allain's low on energy, and Jaeger's-”

“Yeah, I felt it.” She held up a bottle so the dim lighting glinted off the quartz glass. “This is a super concentrate of my mother's healing saliva. Let's...let's just hope...”

As if on cue, Nnala came hurtling out of nowhere. She slammed into the hard energy barrier with a defeated screech, her Segunda form suddenly vanishing, and her first fading as she slid to the ground. Allain appeared, his own blade sealed again, and he stood heaving for breath with Colibrí leveled at her throat. Caparazón fell to floor next to Nnala in a quiet metallic clatter after her release was sealed again, and she folded up on herself, her arms around her legs and shoulders shaking. Nix sighed, and went to wave Allain off a ways.

Kaida didn't hear the words exchanged, only watched as the teal-haired young woman sat down next to the black-haired one, and offer a hand on her knee. Movement on the edge of the light caught her eye, and her heart stopped.

Ulquiorra appeared first. He went to his son's side, and Allain let him give him a once over, too tired to argue about the exam. Right behind him was Grimmjow, still in his own release, covered in blood that was not his own.

He had Jaeger draped over a shoulder, an arm anchored around his waist and his other holding Jaeger's arm in place over the other shoulder. The boy's feet didn't move, and Kaida couldn't sense any of his energy under the furiously churning electric of his father's. It almost made her sick it was so angry. Nnala glanced up just once, her dark eyes still glaring and sparking, and Grimmjow gave her a chilling snarl, his lips revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

“Get the fuck out before I rip in you in two,” he spat, his reiatsu spiking high enough feel like a sucker punch to the gut. Nnala didn't say anything but she got to her feet. She grabbed her zanpakuto with a huff and turned on a heel...but she stumbled, ruining her exit. Nnala steadied herself and stalked out, disappearing to go lick her wounds and hopefully not be seen again for a while.

Kaida's attention was on Jaeger. There was no movement. She couldn't tell if he was breathing. Her feet moved on their own accord, but Grimmjow turned his burning blue gaze on her and froze her in her tracks.

“He's alive. Barely, and it's a fucking miracle he is. Nicola, get him stabilized.”

Nix got up and uncorked one of the bottles, waiting as Grimmjow gently laid the young Arrancar out on his back. Jaeger had released at some point; there was no more fur, his hair was back to its normal length, teeth shorter again. Ulquiorra had been carrying Tigresa, and he set the blade down next to her master with a respectful nod.

There was so much blood, Kaida wasn't sure where he was hurt, and as Nix pulled what was left of his shirt off, she saw that there was a gaping hole through the left side of his chest, just to the side of his sternum.

“Dad, this is bad,” she whispered, pouring the whole bottle of liquid onto...well, into...the wound. Kaida bit her lip, uncertain if it wasn't just pooling on the ground under it.

Grimmjow's feline form faded with a puff of energy driven wind, and he sheathed Pantera with a low growl. Allain dropped to a knee next to him, eyes searching up and down Jaeger's chest. His eyes came across the half-healed wound in his abdomen, and he gently prodded it with his fingertips, shaking his head.

“She's right, Uncle Grimm. He's alive, but whatever Nnala did to him is still working.” He looked up at Ulquiorra, who was watching to one side with a guarded look. “Father...Mother might be able to-”

“No.”

“But, Father-”

“She cannot withstand the reiatsu requirements.” Ulquiorra's tone spoke of a firm answer, one not be argued with.

“I'm not sure we have a choice,” Nix whispered as she poured another bottle over the abdomen wound. After it was empty, she looked at her brother's face, ashen and grimy, and reached to run a hand through his blood matted hair. “Jaeger, you idiot.” But her tone was concerned and sick, worried over her baby brother.

“I'll get him to Szayel,” Grimmjow said, his own tone that of an angry father. “And then I'm murdering Nnala.”

“You will do no such thing, Grimmjow.” The former Sixth sneered, raising a fist to argue with Ulquiorra, but was given a shake of the shorter man's head. “It will accomplish nothing. Keep your energy for saving your son's life.”

Grimmjow didn't retort, but his face spoke of agreeable reproach. Nix poured one last bottle of healing saliva over the wound through Jaeger's chest before their father knelt and scooped the boy up. Then, he was gone in a sonido, leaving just a cloud of dust behind. Kaida went to follow, but Nix took a gentle hold on her arm.

“Don't. You'll be in Dad's way. He's blind right now, and he'll hurt you even if he doesn't mean to. Let him take care of Jaeger first.”

Allain set a light hand on her shoulder, his face drawn and exhausted.

“Jaeger's tough, like his parents,” he said, his voice back to being quiet and gentle. “Lord Sayelaporro will help him. Give it time.”

“Well, well, well, looks like we missed the fireworks, huh? That's a shame!”

They all turned to see a man wearing a ridiculous green and white striped hat, green shihakusho-like clothes and a black mock up of a captain's haori standing just inside the arena doorway. A dark-skinned woman with long dark violet hair stood next to him, and Kaida met an amber gaze studying her. The woman made an effort to give her a friendly enough smile, but she still felt a bit of unease from that golden gaze.

Her energy felt sort of like Grimmjow's, just more refined and focused. The man's was both lazy and chaotic, and felt like it was on purpose.

Ulquiorra had given them a slight frown as they made their way to the arena, and made to stand in front of Kaida even though he was several inches shorter than her. Nix and Allain took up points to either side of her as well, Nix keeping a wary look on both of them.

“Kisuke, Miss Shihoin,” Ulquiorra said in greeting, making it very clear that they were not go come any closer. They were in his territory, and they heeded his quiet warning by stopping just inside the open space in the energy field. “I was not aware you had left the meeting lounge after Grimmjow and I.”

“Oh, sorry about that! My curiosity got the better of me again.” The man grinned, but Kaida saw a sharpness in his grey eyes that rivaled that of Tier's. Another one to be careful around. “I thought I might be of some healing assistance. I am an expert in all forms of kido, after all!”

“Jaeger's hurt, however, Grimmjow brought him to Szayelaporro's lab already. You'll have to go there to be of use.”

A fan appeared out of nowhere in the man's hand, and he gave it a few flicks, feigning fluster. There were buttons being pushed, and judging from how tense Nix suddenly was, they were good sized ones.

“Well, all right then. I suppose we'll mosey on down there to see if we can help at all. Apologies for intruding, Master Cifer!” The two of them left with a wave, but even after they were gone, Ulquiorra remained tense.

“Is that this Urahara that wanted to meet with me?” Kaida asked. Ulquiorra nodded.

“Kisuke Urahara has been an ally of Las Noches for many years now, however, he is not to be trusted any farther than necessary. His idea of 'help' often comes with overstepped boundaries.”

Kaida glanced at the doorway as they exited the shielded arena. Allain, looking drained and empty, dragged himself over to the big red button and hit it. With a massively loud crunching sound, the arena fixed itself; from the craters in the floor, to the cracks in the ceiling and walls, it pulled itself back together and in just a moment it was whole again right before their eyes. Kaida would have been more in awe if her brain hadn't been buzzing with other things.

Her dragonfly had a name now, even if it was too tired to say anything else.

Kaida realized she was still holding her sword, and she re-sheathed it before leaving the arena behind with Ulquiorra, Nix, and Allain. Ulquiorra turned to steer them back towards tower three.

Kaida glanced down at the loosely swinging charm on the end of the pommel every now and then, feeling a bit more complete, but now there were more questions.

Rain on a wildfire...

But what was the next part?

-------------------------------------------

Yoruichi and Kisuke exchanged looks after they were out of earshot of the arena occupants, and he hummed thoughtfully with a nod. Yoruichi cocked her head to one side.

“Does this change anything?”

“I'm not sure. But, one thing is certain, if that blade is what I think it is, then this just got much more complicated.”