The young man with emotionless, bright green eyes and ink black hair squinted against the blinding white light. His white shirt sleeves billowed like the war flag flying high above the recently conquered castle underneath his battle worn armor. A young woman wearing a pearl white dress embedded with what looked like a thousand diamonds the size of grains of sand, midnight blue eyes, and hair brighter than starlight was staring down at him as he stood in a pool of the slaughtered king's blood.
"Ulquiorra Shiffer," the maiden announced in a tone that made the most melodic bells envious, "today your cruel and heartless life as a merciless mercenary will be renounced, and you will spend the rest of your days in a fate worse than death."
"What hell can be worse than the life of a mercenary?" Ulquiorra asked the woman in an emotionless tone. "Anything you do to me now will only be freeing me from this hell."
The starry haired maiden drew a golden staff from the sheath at her hip and pointed it at Ulquiorra. "Then you shall choose your own fate," she explained. "I curse you with the cruel fate of immortality until you learn to indulge yourself in self sacrifice for someone precious to you."
Ulquiorra rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I am a mercenary. We are taught at a young age to risk our lives in order to complete our mission. Any love and compassion we may have learned from our mothers has been thoroughly stripped from us. We are nothing more than killing machines who destroy for profit. Living for an eternity the way I am, will do absolutely nothing."
"I never said that you would be living it as you are," the woman informed.
Ulquiorra showed about as much emotion as a mercenary of his status could afford to reveal and slightly raised an eyebrow. He never said a word, but he did not need to. The glowing maiden floating listlessly in the sky read his slight action clearly. She spun the staff in her right hand until it was spinning like the wheel of a runaway cart and recited an incantation no one on the crimson stained battleground had ever heard, or ever will hear in their lives again.
"Merciless man of cruelty and hate, repent for your heartless ways and learn to love and sacrifice yourself for another, or live forever in your cursed fate." The staff ceased its rotation and the woman stabbed it into the air. It stopped abruptly and chimed as if she were standing on a stone floor.
The heavenly ringing filled Ulquiorra's ears and he doubled over in pain. His internal organs felt as if they were being minced beneath a white hot iron, and the flesh of his back was crying out in agony as he felt it rip like the toughened fabric it was. He collapsed to his knees as his feet extended and grew talons, a black, cord-like tail ripped through the back of his pants, and a pain like no other coursed through his head as two, bone white horns protruded from his skull. His clothes shredded, revealing black furred legs, feet, forearms, and hands and a pale,well chizled chest, as his hands grew long black claws. But all of that was nothing more than a tender sunburn compared to the agonizing pain that erupted in his chest as an unseen force dissolved his flesh and bone; leaving a gaping hole running straight through his body.
"Remember it is up to you whether or not you live like this for all eternity. You will only turn back into your normal self when you are willing to sacrifice yourself for someone you love," the woman said, and was engulfed in a brilliant, white light.
Ulquiorra slowly stood up and heard the remaining mercenaries around him begin to yell as an arrow plunged into his shoulder. "A demon," some yelled. "He's devoured our captain!" another man cried. "Kill it!"
Another arrow sliced through Ulquiorra's hair and grazed his cheek. "No, I am not a demon," he shouted in anger as another arrow flew towards his face. There was a mob of nineteen mercenaries rushing at him with their swords at the ready. He held up his hand to catch the oncoming arrow, but instead a blinding black and green light exploded from his fingertip; burning the arrow and reducing the assailants to ash.
For the second time in Ulquiorra's life, he revealed just enough emotion to allow his eyes to widen as he stared down in horror at his black furred hand. He did not know where that power had come from, but he did not care. He had to retreat to a safer area before reinforcements came. The beautiful, destructive light that had emitted from his right pointer finger would have definitely been spotted.
There was a dull beating noise as he suddenly launched into the air. He looked behind him and gazed in terror at the two great, black wings slicing through the air; taking him high above the trees towards only God knows where.