I have been working on other Ulquiorra fan fics. But I've been having trouble writing the first chapters, so when I got inspired to this one, the first chapter came out pretty good, so I decided to upload it right away! So here it is, enjoy!

From Rags to Riches, From War to Peace: Chapter 1

Hueco Mundo had been once a very prosperous country. Its fields were as green as one could imagine, the harvest provided more than enough crops to sell and to keep for themselves, the people of Hueco Mundo lived quite prosperous, until their king died. King Gareth had always sought the good of his people, he made sure that the decisions he made were for the good of the country and not for his selfish reasons. All the people loved and served him well, but once he died a new king had to be chosen.

It was one of Gareth's strongest knights that was chosen as king, Sir Aizen Sosoke. At first the people thought he would prove a good king, as King Gareth, but they soon realized they were terribly mistaken. Aizen sought fame and more lands, he didn't care if his selfish desires killed numerous people or that because of his incessant wars the people had less and less. Soon Hueco Mundo had taken a drastic change. The people of middle class soon fell into poverty while the royalty turned ever richer. Hueco Mundo's government had turned corrupt thanks to Aizen.

With all his wars to gain more lands more and more men died, leaving women doing the work of the men. Hueco Mundo's once green meadows now remained nothing but dirt and rocks. Its magnificent luscious trees were now nothing but branches and figs. Its time of prosperity had fallen. Now the only thing that had retained its original beauty was the northern lands, which were home to the wealthy and Lord Aizen's castle resided there.

~*~*~

"I have to try, I can't just watch my people die" I answered in determination. Everyday more and more people added to the death count. Lord Aizen didn't care if his warriors died in the course of his ambition to gain more lands.

Neliel, my best friend since I could remember, looked at me worry in her eyes, her eyes said everything. She placed the freshly baked pie on top of an old counter and looked back up at me. "Its really dangerous, you know, so I'll go with you" she said with an encouraging smile.

I knew she cared about our people, but was afraid of what the consequences if we talked bad about our king. But I was glad that she was going to accompany me to this ball. "Thank you" I whispered and embraced her. She was like a sister to me, and I was glad that I had someone that cared about me. I could always count on her, and she could always count on me.

The ball was vital for us to attend. All warriors were going to be present, along with their wives, some even came from far away places. Though the person I was most interested in seeing who was going to attend was the king himself. If we could just let him know what was going on perhaps he might stop these useless wars of his. That all depended on us, and if his heart wasn't as cold as it seemed.

"well, we better hurry and finish all our chores" I said as I picked up a well-worn rag and began cleaning once more. Chores never seemed to get finished, but eventually we got used to them and \they didn't seem like such a huge burden.

Neliel who had already begun cooking dinner nodded and began cutting more vegetables. We had to finish all our chores before night fell so we could make it in time. It was a somewhat long journey to the Lord Aizen's palace, Las Noches, so we had to get an early start.

Night soon fell and Neliel and I rushed to our small chamber where we slept. My father had died two years ago and had left us a small cottage, it wasn't luxurious but it provided what many didn't have, shelter. My mother's dresses were in my only closet, she had beautiful dresses, and although we had to sell many of her dresses to get by I kept four. They were the most beautiful and meaningful to my mother, I felt that my mother would have liked to have kept them, if she had not died giving birth to me.

"Wow, they are so beautiful!" Neliel exclaimed in joy. Neither of us had worn such beautiful dresses our whole entire life, or would ever dream of ever wearing one, for they were very expensive. There was a sapphire colored one who was embedded with white gems, there was a dark red one with black beads which was very elegant, and there was a rose colored one with white pearls hanging from the collar, and the last was the dress my mother married my father, a pearl colored one.

Neliel chose the sapphire one, which looked magnificent on her and I chose the dark red one. My hair was down with a small brochette on the back, my curls hanged down all the way down the lower part of my back. Neliel let her hair completely down and her waves made her look so beautiful. I had always seen her greenish hair up in a messy ponytail, but now that she wore it down it looked a lot better.

Before we left we looked at a mirror that once belonged to my mom, now it was broken in some places. We looked so different, nobody would recognize us as poor villagers, we had undergone a complete transformation. We no longer wore rags for dresses, or was our hair up in a messy bun due to all our work, no we looked like royalty.

I couldn't help but see my mother on the mirror, her elegance, her beauty, she once shown so magnificently, but she decided to stay with the person she loved the most, my father, thus giving up all her riches and luxuries. I would always admire my mother, despite the fact that I never met her, but I was amazed by how strong her love was for my father. I would sit down and stare down at her picture and wonder if I would ever find that great love she had for my father.

"Well, we better be going" Neliel finally announced, worry in her voice. It was almost time, we had to walk into a palace filled with arrogant rich people, and the outcome was frightening to think about. We had absolute no idea what the king's reaction would be, yet we were on our way.

~*~*~

"We're here" Neliel announced as we both walked towards the entrance of the giant palace. It was made of a magnificent white stone and it stood powerfully in the middle of a rich area. Once we were inside we were shocked to find so many people. They all wore beautiful gowns that shone brightly with the chandelier's lights. Some couples danced while some older men stood and talked with each other, some people went to get a drink or some ate some snacks. All seemed to have a good time, talking, dancing, with people of the same class.

Luckily, nobody seemed to notice that we weren't one of them, so we didn't need to worry about that. We were happily welcomed by the waiters who stood with drinks or small delicacies. Neliel and I made our way to a balcony which was empty and once we reached it we turned and stared at the people enjoying the ball.

"Great, now what?" asked Neliel, a bit flustered by the fact that she didn't recognized Lord Aizen or anybody, for that matter. I looked at her with a small smile, I had no idea what to do next either, and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I'm sure they'll announce him, won't they?" I said with an embarrassed smile. I knew that she would definitely scold me any second. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5-

"I told you this wasn't a good idea! I shouldn't have listened to you!" Neliel scolded, just as I thought she would. Neliel started to bite her fingernails, a terrible habit that she had when she was nervous. I just kept scanning the room hoping that when I saw Lord Aizen I would somehow know.

Before I could do anymore of my scanning Neliel pulled my arm. "Come on, lets get out of here, before something bad happens" she warned, she was definitely ready to leave.

I looked at her, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I wanted to help my people, but I had no idea how. A couple of hours ago I thought I had the answer, but now I felt something different. Before I could answer Neliel or continue my thoughts a young woman walked towards us.

"Why hello! I've never seen you two before, may I ask from where you come from?" she asked in a very polite tone, she seemed friendly, but we were a bit dumbfounded, we had never discussed on what we had to say.

"Uh…from the outer part of Hueco Mundo" I answered not too sure myself, but to my great relief she believed it. She gave a sincere smile and introduced herself.

"My name is Rangiku Matsumoto" she walked closer and looked out the balcony. She seemed to be thinking about something, she almost seemed worried, but perhaps it was just me.

"My name is Elaine and this is my friend Neliel" I said in a friendly tone, perhaps she knew who Aizen was, and perhaps we could still proceed with my "plan". She came back from her thoughts and smiled at us before taking another sip of her drink.

"By any chance do you know who Lord Aizen is?" I asked trying my best to seem casual. She looked at me a bit surprised, perhaps that I didn't know, but she answered nevertheless.

"Well he's not here yet, but you see that tall man with the white hair?" she asked as she pointed towards a man just as she described but that had a very sly smile, it was almost creepy. "well, his name is Ichimaru Gin, he's one of Aizen's advisors"

"One?" I asked, I didn't know much about their subordinates, or advisors. People from the village didn't know much about the royal family, all they knew was to do as they were told, for fear of them.

"Mhm, do you see that man with the long hair and braids tied into a ponytail?" she asked as she pointed to the man she had just described. I immediately noticed him.

"He's blind, though" I commented. Rangiku chuckled at my comment as she took another sip.

"Don't let looks fool you. His name is Tosen, he's very intelligent, and is one to make well-thought-out decisions. His reputation is well-known" she informed, and to my surprise she didn't seem bothered that I had made such a stupid comment.

"Oh! And do you see that guy? The one with the dark hair and the pale skin?" she asked as she pointed to a young man. I couldn't quite see him, but when I did, I immediately noticed his beautiful emerald eyes.

"Well, that's Ulquiorra Schiffer" she said as she finished her drink. "Aizen keeps him close, his abilities aren't matched by anybody, a real gem. Aizen would have a lot of work on his hands if it wasn't for him" I looked at him, he seemed real quite as he stood far from the crowd, yet you wouldn't have thought he was so smart as Rangiku put him.

"Is that why he wears that uniform?" Neliel asked, she had been listening, but had been analyzing everybody Rangiku had spoken of. Rangiku turned to her and smiled.

"Yup! Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Gin and Tosen wear a similar uniform as Aizen's, which is all white. While Ulquiorra, and Aizen's strongest warriors wear a dark navy blue uniform." I scanned the room searching for others with the same uniform as Ulquiorra's and noticed a few.

"They are known as the 'Espadas'," Rangiku mentioned. She started walking away from us and then turned around. "Well, it was nice to meet you girls, hope you enjoy the rest of the ball, but I really must be going" she said as she walked away from where we stood.

I turned to Neliel, who was a bit confused at why she left so soon. I just smiled at her happily, thanks to Rangiku we had some information on who Aizen's men were. "Elaine?"

She asked in a shy voice.

"What is it?" I asked, curious on what she had to say now. Before she could say anything her stomach rumbled. I blinked a couple of times before bursting into laughter.

"Hey! Stop laughing! I'm haven't eaten anything!" she complained embarrassed that her stomach had rumbled with hunger so loud. I had forgotten with all my anxiety and worry, we had cooked dinner for the rich couple we worked for, but we had never eaten anything ourselves.

"okay!" I said as I finally managed to control my laughter. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment. Then the two of us walked towards the table that had some food.

To be continued…

Well, I think this chapter was quite long, so I decided to split it into two. Well, hoped you enjoyed the first chapter! Please leave reviews, I would really appreciate it! J And stay tuned, for the next chapter!! (There will be more Ulquiorra!)