Prologue

Ulquiorra Cifer, the former cuatro Espada serving in Aizen's army, sighed as he dismembered another strange hollow that had dared challenge him. He shook its blood off his katana, and again gazed at the unfamiliar landscape about him.

The dark soil made up of crushed hollow bones seemed to sneer at him, at he stared blankly at the thin, slowly flowing streams of lava decorating the ground.

'If I'm not wrong,' he thought, 'I should be in hell right now after being defeated by Kurosaki Ichigo.' As opposed to what he had thought, hollows did not lose their memory when they fell into hell. Every detail from his birth in the darkness of Hueco Mundo, to the times when he served Aizen, to the last moments where he disintegrated into ash is as lucid as he first experienced them.

He glanced at the chain that went through where he hollow hole was. 'So this is how people are prevented from escaping…?' He could move freely around, yes, but there was this uncomfortable feeling that tugged at his chest whenever he moved. Not that it affected his mobility much, though.

A sudden blast from much farther off interrupted Ulquiorra's thoughts. 'That reiatsu…it belongs to…Szayel Apporo Granz?' His emerald eyes widened slightly. He readied to speed towards that general direction, but halted himself. 'I have to make sure what he's dealing with before I get myself involved,' he countered. He made his way there stealthily, taking care to cloak his presence and hiding behind the craggy hills of the land.

Indeed, it was Szayel Apporo, fighting a seemingly stronger hollow in his Resurrecction. He seemed to be having a hard time, as he dodged an attack from the hollow with one of his wings. Ulquiorra merely watched on from behind a hill. He did not wish to interfere, although he judged that he should be able to take on the hollow.

With a yell of triumph, Szayel managed to enclose the creature in its four wings. His usual cocky smile back in place, he took the doll he created of the hollow and laughed. 'Well, you've played with me enough! Now let me break you apart and dissect you bit by bit!' He popped the doll open, and proceeded to crush the hollow's innards, hollering as he watched the hollow writhe in pain.

Ulquiorra watched calmly, as he had seen Szayel demonstrate this ability before. When the hollow fell dead, its corpse mangled, before Szayel's feet, he revealed himself from his secluded spot.

"Szayel Apporo Granz." Szayel whipped his head back at his name, and laughed when he saw Ulquiorra. "Oh so you're here too, Ulquiorra!" "Yes, now with the hollow dead perhaps we could find a way out of here."

"Don't order me around, Ulquiorra! Now we're no longer under that bastard Aizen you have no right to talk to me like that! I'll chop you up and keep you as my lab specimen!" He raised his wing, but before he could do anything Ulquiorra had drawn his katana and sliced off two of his wings.

"Don't bother trying, trash," he said coldly. "We both know the difference in our power, Octava."

Szayel clutched at his broken wings and hissed. Despite hating the way Ulquiorra spoke to him, he is no idiot. He knows he will not win against Ulquiorra. His eyes burning with fury, he agreed. "Humph. Fine."

However, unknown to them, something watched their exchange. It stirred, rattling the multitude of chains binding it.

"Aniue*. It's time."

*Aniue (兄上) is the polite form in Japanese for saying elder brother.

Hello :) I'm quite new to the fandom here, and this is my first time writing a fanfic...please treat me kindly!