Hueco Mundo. The Hollow World. The world of black and white. Black sky, white desert sand, and dead bone-like trees. The world where Las Noches was built. The home to the mighty Espada.
Ulquiorra Schiffer, Cuatro Espada.
I made my way to the pinnacle of Las Noches. I had a habit of returning to this place every day. It was a place that appeared in my recurring dream. It was the place where I almost lost my life to a mere soul reaper by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki. The damage from the fiery battle had been left untouched. Collapsed wall lay on the ground cracked and broken into micro-sized pieces. I walked towards the everlasting mess. This place…it was a frightening place. The memory of being maimed flashed through my mind. I opened my emerald eyes beholding the war ground. I stood where a dry, red puddle was. My blood. The place where I had been hit point-blank with a cero. I put my gray-skinned hand on my gut. The organs that were crushed and ruined would never return to me. I would be forever without them. A sigh escaped my black lips. I was not so upset about losing a majority of my innards, neither was I upset that I had allowed Kurosaki to do such a thing. I was upset that I had lost my will to fight. Of course, I could not blame myself. It was my nature. That, and I could not explain the phenomena that occurred that day. Still on my knee, I touched the dry pool of blood. Another sigh, one of deep thought. I picked myself up walking around more. Oh, here it was. Here the lasting item that caught my eye every time I brought myself here. It was the body of Kurosaki Ichigo. His rotting, decaying body. Next to his right shoulder was one of the woman's hair clips. I picked it up. I analyzed and deduced that this must have been the source of that woman's power. How strange. She possessed quite a strange ability. An ability that allowed her to reject the events that had taken place. I continued to examine the blue clip with its six flower petals. I thought of how I had to kill the woman before she tried to heal Kurosaki. I thought about how she cried for him. She pled for him to wake up. She tried to heal him, do the impossible yet again, and bring him back to life. I never wanted to kill her. Truthfully, I had started to get attached to her, but I was put in charge of Las Noches. It was my job to protect it from any threats, and after Kurosaki was killed, she became the threat. I remembered how she tried to defend herself with a weak projectile. I remembered the look in her eyes before I fired my cero at her. I remembered the splash of blood on the ground. I remember it all. Every detail, every move, every word. I crushed the fragile, little clip in my hand, released it, and let the pieces blow away never to be seen again. I looked at the bleak sky. It looked the same as the day I was almost killed. Then again, it always looked like this. I closed my eyes. They flashed open when I stepped on something hard yet soft. I looked down. Oh yes, how could I forget. My arm was cut off and thrown at me. I picked up the fragment. Funny, holding my own, severed arm. I looked at the claws on the hand. I had no need for this arm anymore. I dropped the arm and destroyed it with my cero. The scene felt different knowing the arm was no longer lying there. Even so, a premonition of death filled me like it would be my time soon enough. I dug my hands deep into my pockets. It was time to go. I had seen enough. I would another day to this place. This place that now seemed a part of me. A place that completed me. A place that had named the empty space in my heart home. A place that both frightened and exhilarated me. The place where I almost lost my life.