"Wait!" cried Szayel, reaching out to stop her. "She wants us to follow her." Ulquiorra deduced. He jumped after her too. Szayel, though exasperated, had no choice to follow, almost letting out an unmanly squeal as he did so. The fall was not as terrifying as Szayel expected, but it was certainly not a pleasant one. Firstly, it was too long for comfort, and he had to avoid the constant onslaught of heat and ash blowing at his face. He could see the figure's white cloak billowing behind her as she fell, revealing her calves. She thin legs were barefoot, and her left leg was oddly thinner than her right and completely wrapped in bandages all the way to around her toes. Soon enough, they saw ground, solid ground coming up to meet them not too far away, and they went from freefalling to a standing position to ready for the impact when they hit the ground.
They were in quite a surprise when they landed. The area they were in was darker, with almost no light reaching there. The figure glided past the two arrancar, motioning to come with her. She walked down a narrow hallway, flanked by piles of skulls stacked high atop each other, and in front of a crater with fire softly dancing in it. She rounded the bonfire, and the two arrancar were met with sight of something very familiar. Gathered around the flames, were their fellow comrades, the other Espada. "Yo. If it ain't the mad scientist and the emo guy!" grinned a rather roughed up Nnoitra. He was sitting on the ground, and was holding his zanpakuto that had one blade broken off and the remaining one chipped. "I'm pretty surprised to see that that chick who brought you here didn't beat the shit outta ya guys." he commented. "Oh? And why would she do that, Nnoitra?" questioned Ulquiorra. "She only said she'll get us out of here." added Szayel, looking a bit confused. "Well, I did not see any reason to resist her," said the voice of Zommari. "Ugh…did somebody come…?"wafted the groggy voice of Starrk. "Perhaps she only used force on those who fought back." suggested Lilynette, who pointed to an unconscious Aaroneiro slumped in the corner. "No doubt you two children went on rampage when she came," snorted Barragan who looked completely unfazed at the situation.
"Enough talking." came the subject of their conversation. "I brought you here under orders." she stated. The Espada looked up, watching as she went over to Aaroneiro and slapped him awake. "You have no options," she said authoritatively when Aaroneiro came to. "You can either come with me to serve under Aizen Sousuke once again, or you can stay here and rot your lives away as a Togabito, where you will be chained in Hell forever to be persecuted and eaten every day."
"And if I refuse?" seethed Aaroneiro. "Fair enough." the figure nodded. She raised her hand. Ulquiorra noted that there was a shackle and a broken chain attached to her wrist.
The ground rumbled and shook as if under the influence of a minor earthquake. Suddenly, the ground near Aaroneiro cracked, and a multitude of chains snapped up from the long cracks like a thousand serpents' heads. The Esapda instinctively reeled backwards. The chains snaked through the air, dancing, and with a wave of the figure's hand, the chains came straight for Aaroneiro, wrapping around his hands, feet, body…"What is this!?" he screamed. "Let go of me at once!" he shrieked and kicked, but the chains had wrapped around him so tightly he could not even lift a finger. He struggled, trying to break free, and some of the Espada flinched when the chains tore through his clothing and closed its links into his flesh. Aaroneiro screamed in agony as he felt the chains bite deep, deeper than his flesh, sinking into the crevices of his bones. Blood seeped through his newly torn wounds and dripped onto the ground, but the chains seemed relentless as they ravaged his body. The figure, deeming that the chains have bound the writhing arrancar securely enough, snapped her fingers, and the chains jerked Aaroneiro's body upwards, until his the sight of his helpless form disappeared and his screams faded into silence.
The Espada remained silent, most too appalled for words, some analyzing the situation, weighting their options. Would they win they fought? But then again, why fight someone who offered to help them out of Hell? Starrk was the first to speak up. "If we agree to your options, will you tell us who you are and why are you helping us?" The figure stared. "My identity is not relevant at the moment. And as I said, I have come to retrieve you under Aizen-sama's wishes." she deadpanned. "So you are a subordinate of Aizen's?" asked Barragan. "…Yes."
The arrancar weighted their options. "Fine, I'll come," groaned Nnoitra, standing up from his sitting position. "I believe it is best for me to come too." coughed Szayel. "I will come." decided Ulquiorra. After all, when he gets out of hell, he will have the chance to study more about the "heart" that still interested him so much, and settle his fight with that Kurosaki Ichigo. One by one, the Espada stood and agreed to follow the figure. Finally, she nodded. She spun, and facing a clearing, murmured something softly. As she spoke, a wind started to stir. The skulls stacked nearby whirled into the air by the wind that was getting steadily stronger, and soon the clearing that she faced gained a green glow. Electricity sparked and fizzed, and seconds later, a black void appeared. Two symmetrical skeletons slowly started to emerge from the air, from the skulls to the ribs, and afterwards, two traditional but sturdy-looking red doors became visible. The doors were studded with incomprehensible symbols and round, gold plates, and looked very much like the doors of an ancient palace. The skeletons arms pulled the doors open by a fraction, the remainder locked in place by two thick ropes consisting of seals and bells.
The figure beckoned the Espada over, and slowly went through the doors. "These are…" gasped Szayel. "The doors of Hell!" Ulquiorra realized. "How did she have the power to summon them?" "Is she one of the Togabito she was talking about?" A million questions raced through the Espadas' minds, but setting them aside for fear of the doors closing on them, they followed her through the doors.
The sight that met them was very familiar.
They were back in the throne room of Las Noches. And someone was already sitting on that throne.
"Welcome back, my Espada." greeted a deep male that they recognized only too well. Also in the throne room with his arms crossed, waiting, is the blue-haired Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. "Took you long enough," he snorted. How typical of him. "I see that you've all met my little Minatsuki?" continued Aizen. The figure, presumably the "Minatsuki" Aizen was talking about, went down on one knee to greet him. "I'm back, aniue." 'Aniue…?' wondered Ulquiorra. 'Older brother?'
"From your expressions I can see that you haven't been properly introduced yet." said Aizen smoothly. He beckoned the girl over to him. "Manners, Natsuki." He reprimanded. The girl lowered her head and mumbled an apology. Then she faced the Espada, and pulled down her hood that obscured most of her face. She didn't look very ordinary. She had long, dark brown hair on the right side of her head, while her hair on the left was a silvery white. The top section was pulled back into a braid, the rest of it flowing down to her chest. The left side of her face, including her eye, was completely wrapped up in bandages so not even a bit of skin showed through, and from the right side they could see that she had rather pale skin with a slightly sickly hue. A striking feature was her right eye, which was the colour of blood, a vibrant but dark red. The liquid ruby looked cold and calculating as she scanned over all of the arrancars assembled in front of her. When she lifted her hands to pull her hood back, they could see that her left hand, and probably entire arm, was also wrapped up in bandages. Her fingers on her left hand also seemed a bit bonier and its sections were more prominent, almost like a skeleton's, although the motion was too brief for them to get a good look. "My name is Aizen Minatsuki*." she introduced tonelessly.
"My little sister." added Aizen. He smiled. "And I hope you will enjoy working with her."
*In kanji, it's 藍染 水無月. In English, it roughly translates to 'moonless water'. For those who understand Chinese, this should be no problem for you ;) Anyway, Aizen calls her Natsuki 無月 as her nickname. It's actually uncommon and a little rude to shorten someone's name like that unless you're very close with that person, but hey, you can call whoever whatever when you're Aizen Sousuke.