They were on a mission given to them by Lord Aizen. Their objective was to scout several hollow colonies for the search of Vasto Lorde level hollows for Aizen's army. However, their search wasn't going too well and they were constantly being attacked by hollows who felt they were intruding on their territory.

"Get out! Get out!" One of the hollows screamed. "You don't belong here!"

"We don't want any trouble, we merely wanted to ask you something." Nel tried.

"We do not care for your business." Another one retorted. "You're not welcome here!" And they once again swarmed them, attacking from all possible angles.

Fighting without drawing their swords the two Arrancar held the hordes of hollows at bay. Nel knew why she was fighting without her zanpakuto, but she didn't know why he didn't. Looking over at the boy she noticed him knocking the hollows merely unconscious, rather than killing them.

It was then when she was watching that a massive hollow came out of the shadows and attacked the teenage Arrancar's flank. There was nothing the boy, nor she, could do. Sora was hit in the ribs with tremendous force and send flying into the stone cliff. The world turned dark for the boy and he knew no more.

Feeling was slowly returning to his body as he regained consciousness, and there was a great pain in his side. Slowly opening his eyes he could see the dark sky of Hueco Mundo. Looking around he found Nel sitting next to him reading a book.

"I see you're awake." She looked down at him, smiling.

"What happened?" He asked.

"A hollow with the ability to hide in the shadows attacked you and sent you flying." Nel summarised for him. "There was nothing you or I could do."
"And so what happened to the hollows?" He sat up carefully.

"Slowly." She helped him. "Once you were down I had no other choice than to kill them. Well, most of them at least. The rest fled once it was obvious they had no chance."

"I see." He whispered. He was so preoccupied with his fights he completely missed that hollow. He could have died. Nel could have died because of him.

"Tell me, why didn't you kill them?" She was honestly curious.
"There was no point. There were weaker than us and there was no meaning to this fight." He commented offhandedly, still thinking about his failure. "A battle should have meaning."

"I see, that's a real sign of strength." She gave him a warm smile.

"But I still failed. You could have come to harm." He was furious with himself.

"Do you believe me weak?" Her tone changed.
"No, I don't." He was honest. Even if he were to become stronger than all the other Espada he doubted he could ever defeat her.
"Does it bother you that a woman is stronger than you?" Her tone was icy.
"Why would it?" He inclined his head to one side. "That is the logic of the weak and narrow-minded. Gender doesn't predetermine strength. Actually, I'd be disappointed if you weren't stronger." His face staid expressionless, but his eyes softened. "I'd be disappointed if my master wasn't stronger."
Nel was hoping for such an answer and was happy she got it. Smiling she hugged him.

It was later the same day it happened. They returned from their mission and reported to Lord Aizen of finding no trace of any Vasto Lorde. They were walking together around Las Noches when Sora was sent to their palace. It was then that Nel was ambushed. They knew they couldn't defeat them together, or when she was concentrated on the fight. No, first they brought her out of balance by attacking Pesche and Dondochakka. Then, thanks to a device made by Szayel, they tricked Nel. Nnoitora attacked from behind and killed her, splitting her head open.

The man knew he could never win in a fair fight against her and so he used dirty tricks. When Sora returned the only thing he found was devastation and blood. A lot of it. He knew immediately that it was Nel's. And it wasn't difficult to get the truth out of Szayel and later on Nnoitora himself.

He severely punished both of them himself with the blessing of Lord Aizen, who was highly displeased with the actions of the two men.

Strangely enough Sora never held a grudge against Szayel after that. He knew the man was an insane scientist who'd do anything if he could test his toys. He held no hostility towards Nel, or anybody else from them for that matter. The man was an opportunist, who regretted his actions afterwards. Sora made sure of that.

However, Nnoitora was a different story. He always hated both of them, especially Nel. And after that incident he rarely missed his opportunity to remind Sora of what he had done. Even under the risk of getting punished by him. It took all of Sora's self-control not to kill the man in a very painful manner. That and Aizen's stern warnings.

It was on that day that he felt like he truly lost everything.


Shattered shaft


Swirling his tea in it cup, but never taking a sip he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Once again he had trouble concentrating and paying attention. Good thing the meeting hadn't started yet.
"Sora." Starrk got his attention. "Try and pay attention."

"Sorry, master was lost in thought is all." He straightened up as Ai answered for him.

"Happens to the best of us." The lazy man commented.
Then Aizen entered the room and started the meeting. "As you already know intruders invaded Hueco Mundo. Today they finally made it to Las Noches."
"Finally!" Grimmjow grinned. "Some fun! I want to get them!" He stood up to leave.

"Not yet, Grimmjow." Aizen stopped the panther. "Please, sit back down." One looked from the ex-captain was enough to stop the teal-haired man, although it was obvious he was angry. "There are merely two of them, and they are hardly a threat. We will leave them to the Privaron Espada. Understand?" The people around the table nodded. Aizen then looked specifically at Grimmjow and Nnoitora. "Understand?" Both nodded slowly.

"Do we know who the intruders are, Lord Aizen?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Two of them were part of the group that invaded Soul Society and the group Sora confronted to test their strength." The lord of Las Noches revealed. "They names are Ishida Uryu and Yasutora Sado. And it seems they are being helped by some strange hollows."

It was as Sora suspected, the two of them came for Orihime. But helped by strange hollows? What did that mean?

"It seems our dear Sora's report wasn't as accurate as we thought." Grimmjow took a jab at him. "Considering they made it up to here."

"Not at all, Grimmjow." Aizen defended his weapon. "Sora's report was most accurate and according to it I prepared for the situation. I expected them to come and make it this far. Although I do admit I miscalculated," he smiled at the confused looks of his subjects, "I did expect them to make it here sooner." He chuckled at his own predictions. After that he ended the meeting.

Sora decided to go to his quarters and wait for further development. However as he entered his palace his two fracción walked up to him.
"Master, the prisoner, Inoue, wishes to speak with you." Zai related the request.
"How do you know that?" He inquired.
"She told us when we brought her her meal." Ai clarified.

"I see." He sighed. "Alright." He turned around and went to where Orihime's cell was located. Stepping in he saw he sitting on her couch, waiting for him.
"Sora…." She looked nervous.
"Yes?" He had an idea what she wanted.

"I want to suggest a deal with you." She looked at her hands.

"A deal?" He leaned against the wall facing her. "To save your friends….for what?"

She looked up at him surprised. "M-myself."
He said nothing, merely continued staring at her.

"I-I'll give you myself and do anything you want." Her look was hopeful.

"You useless human." He snorted, making her flinch. "So instead of taking action yourself you once again want to rely on me and beg me to help you. You're pathetic."

She flinched again at his ice cold tone. It terrified her and made her sad at the same time. Was the Ichigo she knew truly dead?

Closing his eyes he looked for spiritual signatures. He quickly recognised both of 'his' old acquaintances. Out of the two Chad was the closer one. Sighing he ran a gloved hand through his hair. "You're so bothersome." He commented before exiting Orihime's cell, leaving a broken girl behind.

Using sonído he quickly got to Chad's location. He found the large teenager standing above a defeated Privaron Espada. Standing there silently and observing the two he waited what would happen next.

It was Gantenbainne who noticed him standing there. The Privaron looked alarmed. "Run." He whispered. "You must run, boy!"

Whirling around he found Sora, standing there with his arms crossed. "I-Ichigo?"

"Run, or he'll kill you!" The man with the large, orange afro yelled at Chad.

Chad made no move. "It's okay, he's my friend." He said at last, getting over his shock.
The Privaron shook his head. "He's not who you think he is!"

"You should listen to your new friend." Sora spoke for the first time.
"What?" The student took a step back. "What do you mean? Why are you here? And why are you wearing the same outfit the Espada do?" He was confused. "I thought you were dead." His eyes showed deep sadness for his orange-haired friend.

"My, so many questions." Sighed Sora. "To keep my answers in the same order as your questions, he is correct, I'm not who you think I am. Secondly, I'm here because I live here. And lastly, I wear this outfit because I'm an Espada. I'm a hollow now."
The dark-skinned teen was stunned. "What? How? Why?"

Sora sighed, this was getting on his nerves. "Because Urahara turned me into a hollow after I got defeated by Byakuya. I've been here ever since."

"Why didn't you come back to us? To your friends? To your family?" Chad couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Don't make me laugh, like I could." He scoffed. "And why would I anyway? That world means nothing to me."

"Ichigo…." Chad took a step forward now.
"Stop calling me that, that's not my name." It was really annoying having to explain this again and again.

"What do you…." before he could finish he was interrupted by the fallen Privaron.

"Quit this chit-chat, you have to run, or he will kill you!" The man yelled.

"My, my, are you noisy." Chad whirled around, stunned. Sora was standing behind him right above the fallen Privaron. He didn't even see him move. How fast was he?

Taking out his blade Sora stabbed the fallen warrior in the neck, then twisting it he killed the man instantaneously.

"Why….why did you do that? He was defenceless." This truly wasn't the Ichigo he knew. His friend wouldn't have murdered a fallen warrior in cold-blood. His friend wouldn't murder, period.

"It's unfortunate, but I couldn't have him speak about what's going to happen here." Sora wiped his sword on the dead man's uniform, then sheathed it.

"I don't want to fight you, Ichigo. I don't want to fight a friend." Chad readied himself, although he dearly hoped it wouldn't come to that. Words couldn't describe how happy he was to see his old friend, even if said friend was a hollow now. He always loved the orange-haired boy like a brother.

Sora gave him a cold stare. "You don't want to fight?" He cocked his head to the side. "Like you could." Suddenly he was in front of Chad and before the muscular teen could do anything the Espada had him by the neck. "But you're lucky…." But before he could finish he was interrupted.

"Stop! Don't do it, Sora!" Two voices came from his left. Looking over he could see two peculiar looking hollows. "Don't kill him!"
"Who are you?" He demanded from the two new arrivals. They seemed familiar somehow. And yet he couldn't put his finger on why.

"Don't you recognise us? We are your friends, don'cha know?" The large one with spots all over his body told him.
"Dondochakka….?" He breathed, letting go of Chad, recognising that catchphrase.

Looking over to the other one, who looked like a bipedal, purple bug he saw familiar blond hair. "Pesche?"

"You remember!" Pesche seemed beside himself with happiness.
"You know these two?" Chad asked his old friend, while massaging his throat.

"They are my family." Sora answered carefully.

The two gave a cheer and in a flash were upon him, hugging him. "He thinks of us as family, don'cha know?" Dondochakka cried.

"Gerroff!" The teenage Arrancar tried to free himself from them.

"Same as always." Pesche smiled as he let go.
"What happen to you two? I thought Nnoitora killed you." Demanded Sora. "I looked all over the place for you!"

"He was searching for us!" The larger of the two cried again.
"No, he didn't." Answered him Pesche. "We were badly hurt, but not dead. He crushed our masks, though, and we lost a lot of our power." He looked at his friend sadly. "That's why we look the way we do."

"I see." Sora looked down. "But I'm glad you're okay."
"Aww, you're so cute!" Pesche teased him.

"But now you must help us." Dondochakka interrupted. "Please, don't kill that one!" He pointed at Chad.
"I wasn't about to." He looked over at the dark-skinned teen, who looked up at him in surprise. So he wasn't about to kill him. Was his old friend still somewhere inside?

Sora then realised something. "Wait?" He looked at Pesche and Dondochakka. "If….If you are here, does that mean….does that mean she is here as well?" He touched his left wrist subconsciously.

His two friends gave him a smile. "Yes….Yes, she is."
He couldn't believe his ears. So his old friend was alive and well? He had to find her. "I have to see her!" He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Pesche stopped him. "Are you going to help us?" He asked hopefully.

Sighing again and running a hand through his hair he contemplated the idea. If these two were helping Chad and Uryu to save Orihime that would mean Nel was as well, for whatever reason that was. He'd have to speak to her about it. He had to find out what happened and why she was doing this.

"Orihime is held in the farthest cell in the western wing." He told the two. "Bring Chad there."
The two nodded and then Sora was gone.

Sora hurried in the direction of Uryu's reiatsu. He found him the Cirucci Sanderwicci's fighting arena. As he silently entered he found Uryu too had defeated his opponent. Deciding to let himself be known he applauded the Quincy.

Whirling around Uryu froze. "K-Kurosaki?"

"I see you defeated Cirucci." Using sonído he flashed past the Quincy and went directly to Cirucci, who looked up at him in utter terror. Quickly using his blade he stabbed her through the neck, then twisting it he broke her neck. She was dead immediately.

Uryu looked at him in shock. Why did he just do that? Shaking his head he concentrated on different matters. "I….I thought you were dead. We all did."
"So I've heard." Sora took a step towards the Quincy.

"Why are you in Hueco Mundo? And why are you d…." He didn't finish.

"Why am I dressed like an Espada?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his signature move. "That's because I am one."

"You….it was you who attacked us back then in the park, wasn't it?" He saw his old rival strike the exact same pose as the hooded figure back then.

"You're way sharper than any of the others." He nodded his approval.

"So, you're an enemy now." Back then when he learned about Kurosaki's death he was saddened by the news. They might have been rivals back then, but in reality he liked the hothead. He hesitated. He didn't want to bring out his weapon against somebody he actually wanted to see as his friend.

"That depends on how you look at things." Sora told him in his usual emotionless tone of voice.

Uryu looked at him in confusion. Was this guy for real? "Ichigo….help us. Help us and let us go home together. Your father never gave up on you. He still believes you're alive!" He tried to appeal to the orange-haired teen. "Even after he cried over your body at your funeral he told me he was certain that you were alive! I didn't want to burst his bubble and hurt him at the time, but now I can see he was right." He took a step towards him. "Ichigo….Every night he is waiting for you in your room. Hoping that you'll come through the window like you used to." He could see the other teen go stiff. "I don't think he'll ever stop waiting for you, hoping. Hoping for his to return home one night." The Quincy licked his lips. "And your sisters, Ichigo. I have never seen them so sad. They miss you deeply. They have been crushed after they learned the news from your father. They haven't been the same ever since, no matter how much we tried to help them." He tried to appeal to the orange-haired teenager. However, his friends reaction wasn't what he was hoping for.

"Shut up!" Sora growled at the Quincy. The mention of his father made him furious. His hands at his sides now, balled into fists. "That bastard lied to me. My whole life was a lie!"
"What are you talking about?" Uryu was confused. What did he mean by that?

"His father lied to him about who he was, about who Sora was, even who his mother was and how she died." Came a voice from behind Uryu.

Looking up Sora could see a familiar flock of green hair. She was dressed in nothing but rags, but it was her alright. Nel.

"Nel." He breathed. "Nel!" He hurried forward and hugged his old friend.

Nel would have lied if she said she wasn't surprised. Never did she think she'd actually be hugged by him, but it made her happy. Happy that he was here, that he was alive. "Sora!" She hugged him happily back.

"I'm so glad….I thought you were dead." The young Espada breathed. "I never found a trace of you apart from blood."
"I nearly did die." She held him tightly. "Nnoitora cracked my mask and for a time I lost my memory. But I'm back now." She smiled and patted his back. "You know, I feared you were dead, Sora. Neither of us knew what he did to you. You weren't with us. We had no idea what had happened."

Letting go of his old friend he looked at her with happy gleam in his eyes, although his face stayed impassive as usual. She smiled at him kindly. "He never did anything to me. But I nearly killed him several times."
"Only nearly? That's good." She nodded. "Don't lower yourself to his level, Sora."

"Sora? Who's Sora? Why do you keep calling him that?" The dark-haired teen inquired.

"It's my name." The Arrancar teen clarified.
"No, your name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Did Aizen meddle with your mind?" Uryu insisted.
"No, Uryu, his name is Sora. Sorarin Tu Odelschwanck. He discarded his old name and took up a new one." She explained to the Quincy.

Uryu frowned but said nothing to that. "You know each other?"

"Of course! Sora used to be my fracción." Nel answered good-naturedly.

"Nel, are you really helping them to free Orihime?" Sora got back to the matter at hand.

"Yes, I am." She gave him a resolute nod.

"But why?" He demanded. "You used to be loyal."
"Yes, I used to. But that was before I found out the truth." Her look was grave.

"The truth?"
"The truth." Her look dead serious. "After what happened to me, and after I lost all my memory for a long time things changed for me. I changed, as did my views. I don't want to continue what I was doing for that man. It wrong." She told him. "And then I met Uryu and Chad here, and from them I learned Aizen's real goals. He wants to make the Oken, or King's Key, a key to the royal house where the Soul King resides."

"Okay? So? And who is this Soul King?" He was confused.
"The Soul King keeps the three worlds of Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living in balance. Without him everything collapses. And Aizen wants to kill him. Possibly to take his place." Clarified Nel. "And he'll wipe out the entire town of Karakura to create the key to get to the Soul King."

"So Aizen wants to replace the Soul King. Alright. And?" He wasn't exactly bothered by that. He knew Aizen's goals were high reaching, so this didn't surprise him exactly.
"What do you mean 'and?!'" Snapped Uryu. Didn't he care for the thousands of people at all? "He'll destroy Karakura Town. All your friends and family will die!"

"Sora," Nel interrupted before the young Arrancar could respond, "he wants to rule alone. Once he gets what he wants he will kill all Arrancar. He'll betray you!"

Sora knew that there was a lot of falseness surrounding Aizen. The man was a born manipulator, but would he really go this far just to achieve his goals? And if so what about the others?

"I'm not sure I can do this." He sighed again.
"But you already were." She smiled. "I know you were. Don't let him control you. You are his subject only as long as you let him rule you."

"So, you are helping them rescue Orihime." He decided to change the subject.
"Yes, and you should too." She insisted with a grin.

"And then what? What are you going to do after that?" He demanded.

"We are going to keep her safe there and oppose Aizen however we can." Revealed Nel.

"What a plan." Sora replied sarcastically. "Damn you, Nel."
Nel grinned wide. "Thank you, Sora." She knew he couldn't deny her. His loyalty always lay with her first.

"I already told Pesche and Dondochakka where to take Chad." He growled, making both Nel and Uryu smile. Maybe the hot-tempered teen he used to know was still there.