(6)

Mark My Mission

"Lord Ulquiorra, is there anything you would like me to do while you are gone?" I questioned, as my eyes darted around, looking at the occupants of the room.

Yammi Rialgo, Wonderweiss Margera, and Luppi, the new Sexta Espada. I could even see the top of the number six tattooed onto his hip. It even seemed like he was flaunting it. Which was no surprise. Luppi was always on a quest for more power. His dream has always been to enter the Espada, and to be ahead of all of his comrades.

As my gaze slide over him, Luppi's steel gray eyes caught mine. My own emerald eyes turned into a slits as I glared at him, but he just smiled and winked at me.

Ulquiorra nodded curtly, following my eyes. "Orihime Inoue will need somewhere to stay. One of the Block C prison cells would be the most likely. Lord Aizen wants her to be comfortable, to not feel as if she is our prisoner. That she is…" Ulquiorra's voice hitched for just a moment. "…one of us. But we still do not want her to be wandering the halls of Las Noches."

I turned from studying the Arrancars and looked at him. He was staring down at the floor, his eyes following the paths of the gray veins in the white marble. "Yes sir. Is there anything else?"

"She will need a uniform." Ulquiorra finished, finally looking up at me. "To further the idea that this human is one of us."

"Of course, Lord Ulquiorra. Everything will be ready when you return." I reassured him, as my hand went up to the fragment of my mask on the side of my face. I begun to stroke the white bone, and then suddenly…as if something had burned me, I dropped my hand from my Hollow mask.

Why was my nervous habit flaring up now? Why should I be nervous? I shook my head, and tucked my hand into the folds of my colorless shiha-kusho.

"Good. I believe the time has come for us to leave." He informed me, motioning to the other Arrancars. Yammi nodded, a wide grin spreading across his russet face. Luppi acted nonchalant but the excitement flared out of his eyes like a raging fire. Even Wonderweiss looked unnaturally serious.

"May your mission go well, sir." I said, bowing to him before I left.

As I turned I saw Ulquiorra flick his wrist to open the Garganta, and I could feel the pressure created by the rip between the worlds pressing down on my back as I walked away. I turned the corner, thinking of who I would need to see to fulfill Lord Ulquiorra's orders when a flash of blue dashed across my field of vision. I spun around, and before I could think I called out, "Lord Grimmjow."

The blue-haired Ex-Espada stopped and I could see the angry red burns on his back where his tattoo had been seared away. He turned around slowly, and the puckered skin around the slash from the Soul Reaper's sword screamed out at me. But…those injuries were nothing to the empty space where his left arm used to be.

It took all of my self control to hold back a shiver that threatened to run through my entire body. I had no idea this was the extent of what they had done to Grimmjow. This was horrid. This way he would have to suffer through the embarrassment of being knocked down from his high rank and watch as his comrades continued to fight for Lord Aizen….while he himself could do nothing.

"Yes, Lady Gondarera?" He answered, his eyes staring blankly past me.

"What are you…" I stopped. Of course. He was no longer my superior. Our positions were changed. I was now above him in Lord Aizen's army.

"Nothing….Lord Grimmjow." I said with a sad smile. I just couldn't bring myself to think of him as anything but the Sexta Espada I had always known. "I'm sorry to bother you."

Grimmjow sneered, and walked away, his feet pounding against the floor.

I smoothed the swath of white fabric out on the table and smiled despite myself. For a creature geared for battle I had the mundane ability of being able to sew. And well if I could say so myself. "This human better appreciate these clothes." I grumbled, stretching my arms out.

It seemed I had been making Orihime Inoue's uniform for hours, from how much the pale moon had moved across the ever dark sky. I folded the shiha-kusho and sat it on top of the table for when the human arrived and turned to leave the room. "So this is where she'll stay."

I jerked back. Those peering eyes staring out from behind spectacles. That grace and ease of which he held himself, as if he owned all he saw. That bubblegum hair. Szayeal Aporro Granz. "I just can't wait for her to arrive, can you Triplatora?"

All my words caught in my throat, and fear held me in iron grip. Why did it have to be him? From the day I had been born, I had always been petrified by the Octava Espada. I didn't know what it was that made me so terrified. Maybe the serpentine like way he held himself. Maybe it was the eyes that always seemed to look at you like you were just another test subject. Or maybe it was the fact that he was intent on dissecting me one day.

I stepped back, and slammed against a marble wall. I wondered how thick it was. I would knock it down to get out there. "H-H-Hello, L-Lord S-S-Szayeal." I stuttered out past the block of fear in my throat.

"Yes, hello Triplatora. It's always a pleasure to see you." Szayeal smirked, clearly enjoying my terror. "You didn't answer my question. Aren't you excited for our new guest?"

"If it is Lord Aizen's wish for her to be here, I am delighted." I told him, my fingers clawing at the wall behind me. I had to get out of there. I would scream from the icy dread that wrapped it's sharp tendrils around my heart.

"You're quite an exceptional soldier. You would let your own emotions fall by the wayside for your master's wishes." Szayeal commented, walking slowly towards me.

"What do you mean? My own emotions have nothing to do with this." I told him sharply, feeling more confident in that second than I should have in his presence.

"Oh, you can't fool me Triplatora. You know what this means for your Espada. Never more shall he be yours and only yours. He will be consumed by his duty to watch this human. He will be hers." He said, turning his spectacled eyes toward me. I could see the pink irises just under the glare from the low lights.

I shook my head but I could feel his words resonate within my heart. They kept repeating over and over in my head. He will be hers. He will be hers. He will be hers. HE. WILL. BE. HERS. My hand flew to my chest as I felt as a searing pain spread throughout it. What was this? I was breathing heavy. Sweat was dripping from my brow. Why did I feel like I was being burned alive…from the inside?

"It's funny." Szayeal chuckled, as he watched my ordeal. "You're heart is breaking when you don't even have one." He threw back his head and laughed. A maniacal laughter that sent a shiver through me despite the fever that wracked my body.

I fell to my knees and clawed at my chest, wishing it could crack it open and pour out this scorching agony. Szayeal was still giggling as he walked up to me and crouched in front of me. "It's okay, Triplatora." Szayeal grinned evilly. "Maybe I could figure out how to stop this. Would you allow me?"

Why was giving me a choice? He didn't ask his victims if they wanted to be cut open. I felt my head shake. "No. You are not dissecting me." I sucked in a deep breath, and willed myself to stop this. There was no reason for my "heart to break" if what Lord Szayeal said was true.

Suddenly the pain subsided, slowly leaving my body as if someone had opened a faucet and it was all draining out. I wiped the sweat from my eyes, and lifted myself off the floor. "Thank you for your offer, Lord Szayeal. But I just don't think I could leave my Espada."

Szayeal looked up at me for a second and then straightened. "One day, Triplatora. One day. You'll be my test subject. I'll dissect you, and study you, and replicate what you can do. One day, I'll see why you're allowed to live." Szayeal said, as he turned to leave the room.

He reached the door, and without looking at me, he said. "By the way, you did well on the human's uniform."