Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Orihime shivered as she stared at the scribbled note in her hand.

Aizen's troops set the fire.

The dark stone walls seemed to grow darker and more suffocating as the princess stared at flimsy in her hand and did everything in her power to push away the terrible memories of the recent fire that had killed her family. The strange rebel girl had said that Ichigo had given it to her, but that couldn't be possible. Her uncle had assured her and the rest of their family that Ichigo and his sisters and parents had all perished some years ago. Biting her lip, Orihime tried to force herself to breathe.

Someone was obviously lying, but who?

Lord Aizen was her grandfather's uncle. He was family and she had known him her own life. Though distant with his own affairs, he had always treated her family with respect and courtesy. Was she supposed to take the words of a stranger over her own uncle? But then… Orihime's mind drifted back to that moment in the throne room when her brother Sora's burnt corpse had been revealed to her. She remembered Aizen's cruelty as he blind sighted her by the grotesque horror of Sora's fate.

In her gut, the princes couldn't help the hope the kindled with the thought that her cousin might still be alive, and with the the rebels to boot.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the infirmary's wooden door suddenly burst open. Startled from the noise, Orihime had but a moment to slip the note under her sheets before Aizen himself walked in the room, closely followed by the strange doctor Szayelaporro Granz and a tall dark skinned man she had never seen before. The latter two were carrying between them the limp form of person with very pale skin and black hair.

"... still don't know who shot the arrow."

A throat cleared and the conversation died.

Trying to keep her face relaxed, Orihime felt the full gaze of her uncle as he studied her intently.

"And how is our queen today?" Aizen asked Granz softly.

"She was awake earlier when the rebels infiltrated the palace. With all the excitement I had planned to give her another sedative to help her sleep. Strange though, I don't recall giving her one before you summoned me, my lord," Granz mused as he adjusted his glasses. However, when it became clear that he intended to study Orihime more closely, Aizen raised a hand to deter him.

"Perhaps you should focus on the patient at hand," he suggested smoothly. Behind him the sound of a man grunted. The makeshift creak of the medical cot's flimsy wood frame straining under the new wait of a body followed.

"Of course," Granz stammered before making his way over to the wounded slave. Aizen watched calculatingly as Granz and and Tosen placed the pale slave face down and slowly stripped his tunic away.

"Will he live?" the dark skinned man asked.

"How strange for you to care for another person Tosen; and a stranger at that," Granz muttered as he studied the arrow protrusion. It was very deep, very nearly buried into his back.

"Can you get the arrow out without killing him?" Aizen interrupted. A pause followed.

"Perhaps," Granz answered hesitantly as he reached over to some nearby tools only to pick up a hooked blade.

"This slave saved the life Lord Aizen," Tosen somberly pointed out.

"Indeed," Aizen murmured thinking back to the pinnacle point where the pale man had grabbed the scruff of his collar. It certainly didn't feel like a loyal slave jumping in to protect his master. No it felt dark and oppressive and reminded Aizen of ancient times of war and demons. Did he imagine the talons and horns? There were many questions that would need to be answered once the slave woke up.

"I will need someone to hold him down while I take the arrow out," Granz instructed. The someone obviously being Tosen as Aizen would never be expected to lower himself to surgeries. A grunt followed as Tosen complied. The pale slave however remained unmoving as the doctor carefully began to remove the arrow.

"We'll only have moments to - would you look at that!?" Granz interrupted himself. Aizen scrutinized the wound on the man's back. There was blood to be sure but that actual damage was hard to see. Worse was, he was distracted by that sliver of a moment when a dark vacuum of an aura blinked in and out of existence within the unscous slave.

"I don't believe it! I was sure that the arrow had hit a main artery but I can't find anything! It''s almost as if it was a surface wound!" Granz cried in confusion.

"I thought he was hit directly in the chest," Tosen demanded.

"So did I but he's healing fast!" Granz shouted. The city's bell ringing drew all the men's attention away from the slave.

"Lord Aizen! The rebels have set fire to the southern city gate!" a youthful voice called. Aizen exhale borderlined between impatience and confusion as a young man with blonde hair entered the room.

"Who are you?" Tosen's voice demanded. The youthful voice wasted no time in answering,

"Wonderweiss, sir. My commanding officer, Gin sent me from the wall with the message,"

"Where is General Nnoitra Gilga? " Tosen demanded.

"I don't know sir," Wonderweiss answered.

Orihime snuck a peek through her eyelashes and her heart nearly froze in her chest at the sight of the young boy. He couldn't have been more than twelve years old, with his shaggy blond locks and big brown eyes. Orihime wasn't sure with only her glimpse to go by, but she thought the boy had freckles too. With a short and lean stature, Orihime wasn't sure what her uncle had been thinking, recruiting such a young boy into his service.

"Where is Neliel? She was supposed to be assigned to my niece's security detail. With so many threats running amok in my city, I would see to Orihime's, " Aizen stated calmly.

"Ah, when the rebels revealed themselves, she went after them," Granz explained.

"Then where has Grimmjow disappeared to?"

Even with her eyes closed and feigning sleep, Orihime could feel the tension in the room as it became apparent that most of Aizen's generals and officers were absent.

"After the initial attack, Grimmjow was sent to investigate the trajectory point near the street.I can retrieve him, sir," Wonderweiss offered.

"Go," Aizen ordered with an impatient rumble. The sound of Wonderweiss's rapidly fleeing footsteps echoed within the infirmary and straight down the corridor as the boy fled the scene.

"Rally your men at arms and meet me at the Southern gate. For every rebel they catch, they will be rewarded with one year's worth subtracted from their debts." Aizen declared. Orihime didn't understand the phrase or who he exactly her uncle was speaking to. What was he talking about years subtracted? And what debts?

"Yes Lord Aizen," Tosen acknowledged before he too left the room.

"Granz come," Aizen ordered.

"Your majesty?" the doctor asked.

"If any rebels are captured, I want them alive for an interrogation that only your methods can deliver," he ordered ominously.

"B-but the patient?" Granz sputtered. Aizen waved an impatient hand.

"I will deal with him later. See to it that he doesn't leave," he ordered distractedly before storming out of the room. Sighing at the lost opportunity of interest, Granz quickly retrieved a set of shackles and bound the prisoner to an impromptu post created from the stone wall behind him.

"Of all the times," Granz muttered under his breath before he quickly set aside his tools and quickly chased his lord out of the room.

Orihime did her best to stifle her shiver of disgust once it was clear she was alone. It had quickly become apparent that there was a dark side to her uncle that she hadn't been aware of. Closing her eyes, she thought of Sora's burnt corpse and how her uncle had taken great delight in her despair.

Opening her eyes, she glanced back down to the paper in her hand. The shock of her family's passing, especially her brother's was still hard for her to digest. The princess could hardly fathom the idea that her uncle had started the fire deliberately. They were family, no matter how distant.

Rubbing her head in confusion, Orihime slowly shifted to the side of her bed. She had been lying down too long and was quickly growing restless in distress. The rebel's visit and left her rattled and she wanted answers. Throwing off her bedding, the princess rose, only to gasp when her eyes connected with two yellow ones.

She had forgotten the man that had been brought in. Apparently he had saved her uncle and had been wounded with an arrow. Though looking at his pale shirtless form now, lying face first on a cot, she could see no discernable wound on his torso. Watching her from his turned head, the slave studied her expressionless as Orihime cautiously approached. With limp shaggy black hair and two startling streaks of thick black tattoos running down his face, he looked quite exotive to her from first glance.

He also looked quite hapless lying their with one arm stretched and chained to the wall. He was far too still and unmoving and there was an air of hopelessness around him, which didn't seem right. As far as she was concerned, the man had done a noble thing in trying to save her uncle, evil or not. So then why was he being chained? Taking pity on him, the princess decided the very least she could do was adjust his position to something more comfortable.

"Um," she began only to startle badly when the pale man in sudden haste reached out and pulled her quite awkwardly to him and pressed a cold firm hand to her throat. Terrified, Orihime sat with her back to his cot and tried to cry out for help only to whimper as her vocals weakened under his squeezing grip. Instinctively her hands went up to his larger one in an attempt to free herself but the pale man was immobile.

Where is the immortal Aizen?

A suffocating voice permeated into her brain. Orihime cringed under the strain, trying to understand where the voice was coming from.

Where is the one who will end my curse?

The voice demanded again. It was so cold and detached and so very powerful. It made her feel empty.

"Uughmmm!" the princess coughed, unable to answer. The man's grip on her tightened even more and in that moment the princess realized with some incredibility that he was somehow speaking to her.

Answer me woman.

It was the sound of gnashing of teeth and disease and hideous pain. Empty and repulsive, it did not sound like a man speaking to her any more. Something long dormant and hidden in her blood thickened instinctively to the threat. The princess's heart quickened under the duress as something bright and just as powerful rose to the surface. Trembling and unable to understand what her spirit was trying to do, she shook her head in confusion.

Do not attempt to defy me.

The man's cold voice ordered and with it a strange numbing coldness settled over her and began to grow. The princess still didn't understand what she was suppose to do but between the pale man's grip and the coldness gripping her very being, she knew she was in grave danger.

'It's your soul! He's going to take your very soul!'

A small and urgent new voice cried out amidst the chaos.

'You carry the power to reject him.'

Orihime's eyes flew open as knowledge that she hadn't possessed before suddenly sprang forth and her swelled to an answering call of power. A supernova of bright light suddenly encased her form and the blazing force of it forced the pale man and his entire bed across the floor only to collide with the adjacent wall.

Shocked and exhausted, the princess barely had time to process that the man's chain had been torn away in the chaos, before her eyes rolled back into the base of her head and she collapsed.

Not long after, Ulquiorra roused himself from his heap and for the first time in ages he was quite shaken. Not only had the structural balance within him collapsed and the baser instinct of the beast taken control, but the woman had somehow overpowered him and sent the damnation and madness back. It slumbered now, as it not had since he had entered Los Noches and sensed his enemy.

Slowly gaining his feet, the ancient creature stared down at the mortal before him. No - not a mortal, that light was unmistakable.

She carries the blood of immortals in her veins.

It was only after he had opened his mouth, did he realize that actual words had escaped. Frowning, Ulquiorra kneeled down over the slip of a girl, trying to understand what she had done. The contract between his soul and the demon had changed. For the first time in ages he could speak.


"Damn you Uryu!" Rukia gritted out as she and the man in question raced down a back alley. Somewhere in the chaos after Uryu had let the arrow that had been met to free Tessai loose on Aizen, they had lost Yoruichi in the panicked crowd.

"I know. I know," Uryu lamented but despite the sorrow and self flagellation of his voice, his pace did not slow. Because of him, Aizen and his generals were now aware of the rebel movement within Los Noches itself. Their cell was no longer safe. Worse still, the rebels had lost the only chance they had to free one of it's greatest leaders. Tessai's fate had all been but sealed.

"Is he still behind us?" Rukia asked through pants of breath. Sparing a glance behind them, Uryu saw the blue haired general charge after them. Grimmjow's reputation preceded him and if the rumors of his previous battles with Ichigo were anything to go by, then in a fight he and Rukia would quickly lose to him.

As if sensing his trepidation, Grimmjow's pace grew as he chased them down a particularly darkly shaded alley just outside of the Southern Gate.

"You fools won't escape!" he growled. Already furious with Aizen's dealing with Nel and the beating that was no doubt waiting for him after that pale slave had accosted Aizen, Grimmjow was in the mood for a battle. Especially if there would be blood. The rebels had no idea of the pain he could inflict.

Snarling, the blue haired general dodged a flaming torch that his prey had snagged off the wall in desperation of their retreat. No doubt they had hoped to slow him down but his body was too agile to be hit by something slow flimsy. So caught up in his retreat, Grimmjow was oblivious to the damage the discarded torch caused in his wake.

His focus only faltered when another of Aizen's generals crashed into the rebels from a side rout, causing the small dark haired woman to cry out and the male with glasses to lose his footing and curse.

"Aaroniero, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Grimmjow snarled as the spiky haired general with two painted skulls tattooed on each side of his face, grabbed the rebel girl by her neck and pinned her to the wall.

Not wasting any time, the rebel male with glasses found his balance and moved to free his friend only for Grimmjow to parry his attack.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm killing rebels," Aaroniero shrugged. His tone was entirely casual but when he turned his gaze to the small woman his expression became quite feral as he licked his lips.

"K-kaien?" Rukia asked as she struggled to free herself. Laughing at the name, Aaroniero leaned in closely and smiled at her.

"Hello Rukia," he purred.

"Let go of her!" Uryu shouted and swung his now arrowless bow only for Grimmjow to grab it and snap it and half with a rough laugh. It was cut short a moment later when a blade was pressed to his throat.

"What?" Grimmjow barked only to feel the cold steel nick slightly into his throat. Though only the tiniest of wounds, he began to bleed fiercely as something dark purged it's way into his blood. Agony of the likes he had never felt before and without warning, Grimmjow collapsed, unconscious.

"Urahara!" Uryu shouted in relief and greeting as the blonde haired man's cloaked hood fell from his head. Blinking in surprise at the collapsed general that he had barely scratched, Urahara frowned as he studied the sword that he had taken from Ulquiorra. Did it have some kind of strange power?

Aware of his fallen comrade, Aaroniero adjusted his grip on Rukia so that he held her with one hand and turned to face the newcomer.

"It seems your outnumbered. Surrender now and we'll let you live," Urahara commented. The spiky haired general merely laughed. Uryu tried to take that moment to sneak up on him but his movements were too obvious and he was forced to freeze when Rukia cried out in pain.

"Stay where you are or else," the general threatened darkly.

"Clearly a trade is in order," Urahara began after a moment before gesturing to Grimmjow's prone form. Aaronierro however laughed before spitting in his direction.

"You can keep that weakling. He has no favor in Los Noches and after this Aizen is likely to kill him," he sneered. Frowning, Urahara tried to think of another way to get the general to release Rukia. Time was short. In the distance, he could hear reinforcements coming. If outnumbered, they would have no choice but to surrender. The situation only escalated when Rukia tried to wiggle free herself.

"That won't work!" the general snarled before pulling out a hidden dagger and impaling Rukia in the stomach.

"No!" Uryu shouted and tried to charge Aaroniero only for Urahara to hold him back.

"The rebels are near the Southern Gate!" a distant voice called.

"It's too late for her! We have to leave now," Urahara urged as he pushed a Uryu away from Rukia who had collapsed at the general's feet.

"This way!" a new voice called out. Startled Uryu and Urahara turned as one to find a man with brown straggly hair and an eye patch calling to them. He was carrying Grimmjow over his shoulders like a large sack of flour as he turned to run.

"How did you find us?" Urahara asked calmly as he pushed Uryu into a run before chasing after them.

"I just followed the smoke," the newcomer told them. Glancing around, Uryu and Urahara became away that the entire section of the southern city was now ablaze. All around them people ran in terror as panic grew as home and stores were devoured by flames.

"Once we leave the city, we'll need to find shelter. Aizen has scouts everywhere," the brown haired man explained as he ran.

"I know of a place," Urahara murmured as he once again placed the hood up over his head. He thought of the oasis that was used as a haven for rebels. It was too far out and small to be noticed by Aizen's forces. Still, if an informant found it and notified Aizen, the rebels would have one less place to call sanctuary.

"Can we trust him?" Uryu demanded, clearly thinking the same thing. The three men fled through the southern gate amidst the panicked citizens and only slowed their pace once the crowds and thinned and quieted.

"I don't think we have a choice," Urahara finally answered as he studied the man. The eyepatch made him easily recognizable as the slave the Ulquiorra had meant to replace. As if reading his mind, the man introduced himself.

"Stark. My name is Stark."