Months passed. As soon as she recovered enough to return to Hueco Mundo, she did so. Only disappointment met her. She searched and searched, wandering to the far reaches of the desert wasteland. Time passed by unnoticed. The places she visited only half-registered in her mind.

Her search had brought her back to the towering Menos Forest. There were hollows in great numbers, per usual, but, strangely, a single soul reaper as well. As she combed the forest she had crossed paths with the man as he hunted down the Adjuchas that claimed ownership of the forest. He would come after her, but, having found no reason to actually fight him, she would flee. At one point she had stumbled upon the man visiting makeshift graves where his allies surely rested- how he alone remained alive in the forest was a miracle or a testament to his strength. She didn't care to find out how he came to be in Hueco Mundo. No, he didn't matter at all as he was not who she was searching for.

Later yet, she had found an immense lake, the black sky and glowing moon picturesquely reflecting across the still waters. At first she had stood on the shore in wonder, never thinking that Hueco Mundo would have a body of water of any size, let alone what stretched out in front of her as far as she could see. She had leaned down, dipping her finger into the water just to confirm her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Immediately she had retracted her hand. Her flesh had melted away from her fingertip, revealing the bone beneath in the second it had been in the water. An acid lake. The perfect representation of Hueco Mundo; what gave life in the human world was deadly in the land of hollows. A moment after healing the wound, she had turned to leave without a second glance at the lake. He wasn't there either.

Her travels had eventually taken her to a giant crystal tree so dense that she couldn't see an arm's length through the gnarled branches. Curious if anything existed inside, she had attempted to reach out and part the branches. Wicked thorns had torn through her skin, nearly reaching bone if she hadn't paused. For a time she had stood glaring at the spikes driven into her arm, wondering how a tree, of all things, could slice through her so easily. She couldn't sense anything beyond the energy the tree seemed to radiate. After a brief hesitation- she still wondered if anything could be at the center of the mass- she had decided to turn and leave. He wouldn't have done something as stupid as crawl into the tree. No, he would have seen that he would get stuck and that there was no purpose in going further in. Even she realized this, so he would have too. He had to be elsewhere, she reasoned, continuing to walk away.

And, inevitably, she ran out of places to search. No matter where she went, she couldn't find him. That's why she ended up lying down in the middle of the desert, reviewing where she'd been and where she could possibly go to next. Admittedly she had dozed of a few times, while other times she laid with her eyes closed, digging her fingers into the sand to form a decent sized hole next to her, nothing in particular running through her mind. She had no idea how long she had been in the same spot, and didn't really care. Even at half-strength, she was still stronger than most hollows wandering about. Obviously she felt safe if she could fall asleep. Not that many hollows seemed to frequent the area. Right now, for instance, none-

Aracelis shot up, clumsily stumbling to her feet as she grabbed for her sword. As she whipped around, she could hear laughter; one muted, two incredibly obnoxious, all feminine. She rolled her eyes, dropping her arm to her side now that she recognized the spiritual pressures.

"She didn't even sense us approach," the deer-like hollow cackled. "She's an idiot!"

"You were the one scared she would attack us, Apacci." The lion-like hollow with a golden mask commented off-handedly, but made sure that the other heard. "You were whining the entire time about going to meet her."

"As were you, Mila-Rose." The snake-hollow quietly joined in, violet eyes looking the opposite direction like she wasn't insulting them. "If you ask me, you were both equally-"

"Just shut it, Sung-Sun," Apacci complained, cutting the other off and earning a slight glare.

And so the bickering began. Aracelis sighed, shaking her head slightly at the sight of the hollows as they flung insults at each other. The few times she'd met them, they'd done the exact same thing. It was a wonder how Harribel put up with the boisterous, noisy bunch when she herself was relatively reserved and quiet. Speaking of her, Harribel stood back from the other three, watching them as they shouted. Compared to the Adjuchas she was with, she appeared quite small, her form almost human with her blue eyes, bright blonde hair, and the visible patch of olive skin around her eyes. It was only the white plating and pale blue skin that set her apart from a human. And, well, her spiritual pressure certainly belonged to a powerful hollow. That was obvious though. Overall, it was just strange to see another human-like hollow, which always made Aracelis feel something akin to belonging, as odd as that was.

As the bickering began to taper off, Aracelis decided to greet the group. "Harribel," she said with a slight nod before glancing at the other hollows. "Others," she mumbled in mock displeasure, almost smiling when the three all sent a glare her way in response. "Any reason for the sudden visit? Just in the area or what?"

Harribel stayed quiet, her eyes seemingly examining Aracelis for a moment. "We had been nearby," she answered. Aracelis expected her to stop there, but she continued with, "I had not sensed your presence for some time."

"I was in the human world," Aracelis quickly said, stopping Harribel there. Or at least she hoped. She wasn't keen on explaining why she'd been there for so long. No one else needed to know about that ever. The entire affair was ridiculous and pathetic by hollow standards. She would keep it to herself if possible.

"Pff," Appaci scoffed before stomping a foot down. "You were hurt, and we know you were. We're not idiots like you that can't sense spiritual pressure worth a crap."

"Whoever you were fighting had been quite powerful," Sung-Sun added, her voice somewhat muffled as she hide her face behind her tail. "More so than you, clearly."

"You must have been torn up good if it took that long to heal." Mila-Rose paused before giving a sharp-toothed grin. "I'm surprised you even lived, as weak as you are."

"Fine," Aracelis huffed while throwing her hands up. They would go on like this for hours if she didn't talk. What an annoyingly effective interrogation tactic they had. "I had been injured and stayed there to recover. So what? Is that weird or something? Hollows fight all the damn time!" She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring as the deer and lion laughed at her outburst. "I just needed some time to heal. I wasn't hiding or anything," she muttered under her breath.

"Defensive, aren't you?" Sung-Sun snickered, barely heard above the other two.

"Aracelis." At the sound of Harribel's voice, the three Adjuchas fell silent. Harribel took a few steps forward, standing in line with her group, eyes focused on Aracelis. "You had been fighting with your ally, correct?" Instead of sounding accusatory, her words came out rather gently.

"Y-yeah," Aracelis stuttered, shifting her gaze to the sand. Of course Harribel would have figured that out. Not that it had been some well-kept secret. Anyone able to sense spiritual pressures with any degree of accuracy could tell that she had been near Ulquiorra quite often, thusly making them allies or some variant of the word. Otherwise they would have killed each other the first time they met.

Aracelis glanced upwards in time to see Harribel nod once, saying "I understand." For a few seconds, silence hung in the air. Surprisingly Harribel decided to break the quiet. "You may still join us, if you wish. Working in a group is better than working alone, after all."

The only reason she'd been able to finish her statement was her offer had shocked her three followers into a brief silence. Apacci's head had jerked to the side so she could stare at Harribel in question. When no one else decided to fill the suddenly tense silence, she decided to spout out, "Really? Why? She's just-!" Words failed the deer-like hollow as she tried to explain just how opposed to the idea she was. "We don't even know her!" she settled upon.

"We didn't know you, either, Apacci," Mila-Rose said. The disgust in her tone had been aimed at Aracelis if the strong, green-eyed glare was anything to go by. "And if Harribel says she can join our group, then she can," she added begrudgingly.

If you even consider joining them, I swear… Aracelis inwardly sighed the second her instinct began its tirade against groups. Not that she needed the lecture. For once she agreed.

"Before you three get even more upset," Aracelis began, talking over the now heated debate the three Adjuchas were having, "I'll have to say no. You don't need to worry your small brains."

Before the three hollows' ire at the insult could become verbal, Harribel nodded, turning to leave. The three hesitated a second before falling into line with their leader. She paused after a few steps, glancing over her shoulder to say, "My offer still stands. Should you change your mind, seek us out. You would be welcomed among us, Aracelis."

"Yeah," Aracelis mumbled, watching as Harribel continued on, the other three at her side. For a second she hesitated as she stared at their backs. They could help, maybe. They'd been in Hueco Mundo the entire time she had been in the world of the living. They might know something, which would be more than she knew currently.

"Hey," Aracelis called out, her voice laced with uncertainty. While she cursed her own wavering voice, the group came to a stop once more, each looking over their shoulders to see what Aracelis wanted. Not wanting to meet their stares, she looked to the ground, tapping her fingers against her arms in a nervous fidget. "You… You haven't seen a white bat hollow with green eyes around lately, have you? I can't seem to find him." She barely managed to speak loud enough to be heard, although the mumbling may have made her words unintelligible anyway.

Following a brief pause, she heard the snickering begin as the trio prepared to tease her again. It's why she'd been hesitant to ask- she must have sounded pathetically desperate and lonely. And weak, at least to her own standards. The group of female hollows saw the practicality of working in a group, but Aracelis's instincts always berated her for being reliant on others, even if it was just for company and not protection.

"No," Harribel answered, cutting off her companions' giggles. Once again, there was no harshness in her voice, just understanding. Aracelis both loved and hated that sympathetic tone. A hollow shouldn't show sympathy nor crave it. Perhaps it showed how evolution had changed them, how they regained some of that humanity they had lost in death and transformation into a hollow.

"I haven't sensed him for some time now," Harribel added, already assuming that Aracelis wanted to find the very hollow that had nearly killed her. "But, I also do not remember him dying in battle. He may simply be far away or hidden."

"Yeah," Aracelis muttered, knowing that probably wasn't the case. She had searched what had to be Hueco Mundo in its entirety without finding a single trace of Ulquiorra. And he wouldn't hide. He had no reason to. It was at least somewhat of a relief to hear that he had not died in a battle; although she doubted he could be defeated by any run-of-the-mill hollow anyways. One of Baraggan's court or the supposed king himself would probably be the only ones that could kill him- she doubted even Harribel could handle him.

"See you around," Aracelis mumbled as she turned around, walking the opposite direction of the group. She heard them resume walking as well. As soon as their spiritual pressure faded with the distance between them, Aracelis let herself drop down, legs folding so she could sit on the ground.

She was alone again. Joining up with Harribel's group would have fixed that, but, given how it would likely end… It was better to leave them be. It's not like she had a real problem with the women themselves; sure, Apacci and Mila-Rose were loud and Sung-Sun quite smug, but they weren't the most annoying things out there, surprisingly. Harribel seemed a good leader, very level-headed and observant, preferring to keep out of conflict rather than raise it.

The problem came with Harribel's moral code- an odd thing for a hollow to keep. She didn't want to gain power by devouring others. Her words had been more along the lines of not wishing to sacrifice others for her own gain, that what she could not do alone could be accomplished in a group. Aracelis understood the concept, but… She needed to eat other hollows. Even after becoming a Vasto Lorde she still craved the flesh and power of other hollows, more so after needing to recover from injuries, like she still was. The hunger had been so bad when she had been in the human world that she'd actually resorted to moving from the forest where she had initially landed to a city solely for the fact other hollows would show up and she could make a meal out of them. If she tried to stick around with Harribel, she'd either have to stop or risk pissing her off.

Harribel was still stronger than Aracelis. Her broken mask made sure of it. Without her original powers that she had before breaking the mask, Aracelis couldn't win a fight against other Vasto Lorde. Not unless they were absolutely pathetic. If Harribel really wanted to, she could easily rip Aracelis apart. Even if the three Adjuchas ganged up on Aracelis- at least while she was still recovering- they could probably defeat her. For once she wholly agreed with her instincts that joining up with the group of females was a horrendously terrible idea. She couldn't see it ending well.

But, what else did she have to do? Honestly, she was out of ideas. In the span of time she had searched for Ulquiorra, she hadn't sensed even a faint trace of his spiritual pressure. He was gone. As simple as that. On the incredible off-chance she had miraculously missed him at every point in her search, it was obvious something had happened to him and he was likely dead, as disappointing as that was. Actually, the emotion was a bit more than merely disappointed. She was… sad? Was that it? Sadness? A hollow shouldn't feel sad about anything, let alone death when they are death incarnate. She couldn't think of what else to call the emotion, though. Sure, mixed into that melancholy, she felt upset over the fact he was dead. She didn't want to believe that to the point she was prepared to come up with so many irrational scenarios with zero chances of being true. No, she would rather fall into denial and hope than face the truth of the situation.

Or maybe she was angry with herself because she had to debate such a ridiculous thing as sadness with herself rather than moving on like a regular hollow. Actually, it was ridiculous that she ended up in this situation to begin with. Loneliness wasn't something a hollow should feel either, but her damn feelings lead to this point where she had to debate why she felt the way she did over another hollow's death.

Her thoughts could spin around like this forever. But, again, what else did she have to do? She had nothing else to occupy herself with. It's not like she had recovered enough to go pick fights with hollows that might entertain her- she had to stick to the safe, weak, boring ones. She had been assumedly everywhere in Hueco Mundo. On top of that Ulquiorra had been the only reason she had come back to the hollow world. Finding another companion seemed like a bad idea considering how well it'd turned out the last time, as well as tiring because Aracelis would rather not go through the emotions all over again with how she was dealing with them now. No matter what she did, she was doing it alone like she had before she had decided to find company.

She could just fall back on her original interest: humans. At the moment she had nothing else. Humans were still interesting, with their weird customs and behaviors. Maybe if she watched them long enough she could sort out her emotions because humans clearly had a bit more experience with them. And, seeing as how she still wasn't one hundred percent recovered –spiritual energy wise, anyway- the human world remained a tiny bit safer. She could hunt area hollows while there, like she had been doing before returning to Hueco Mundo.

Aracelis stood up, brushing some of the sand from her legs before straightening her back. She'd made her decision. If even for only a little while, she would go back to the human world and hope she found something to keep her from her thoughts. In one practiced movement, she tore open a Garganta, the black void her pathway to distraction. She walked through, once more leaving the white sands of Hueco Mundo behind for the colorful World of the Living.


A/N- The guy in the Menos Forest, I believe, is just a character from filler episode in the anime, but I liked the idea of a lone soul reaper being trapped in Hueco Mundo, killing hollows, so I decided just to mention him as curiosity. And the lake, to my knowledge, is something that I completely made up for the sake of describing another location of interest in Hueco Mundo. As for the tree… Poor Aracelis was wrong about Ulquiorra not being there.

Aracelis actually interacted with other hollows for once. I've mentioned that Aracelis had known Harribel, but it was nice to show them interacting instead of passively mentioning her. I think that Harribel would have wanted other women to join her little group, Aracelis included, just because she wants a group rather than killing for power- that's why she has Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun. I hope everyone enjoyed Harribel and her future fraccion making an appearance.

Thank you all for reading!

Thank you to Aku Tora, AmandAlsxox, Mari Clair Roemajji Celts for favoriting and/or following!

Special thanks to Mari Clair Roemajji Celts and Krystalana for reviewing!

Krystalana- I'm glad you think that Ulquiorra has been in character and Aracelis not being a Mary Sue (these are just things that make me nervous, especially at the beginning of stories). And your English was great, no need to apologize (I can only speak English, so I'm always amazed by people who know multiple languages). Thank you so much for reviewing!

Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Just thank you again for all the encouragement! I really needed that because I just get sort of nervous at the beginning of stories. Knowing that people like it and are reading helps keep me motivated!

-AwkwardBlackCat