Everlasting Reflections: The Moon Underwater

Arc I: Genesis

Chapter 10: Chasing Each Other

"Those are monsters, they wear mask and armor of bones, they got a hole in their bodies too… they came from Bone-eater's well to stole Lord Sesshomaru's Tensaiga." Jaken explained to him the in the best manner he could. "So, where is Lord Sesshomaru right now?" Royakan asked curiously. "Amm… he entered inside Bone-eater's well like two days ago." Jaken answered hesitatingly. "Well… fighting is alright but traveling to the new dimension sounds scary." Royakan replied while wondering about what kind of world the Bone-eater's well would lead them to. "Hah! Forget it, if you are scared." Jaken spoke with the disappointment. "No, I am not scared… let's go." Royakan said with confidence to pretend that he wasn't scared.

The topmost section of the Hueco Mundo, the white desert…

Sesshomaru was lying down on the ground on his belly with his consciousness clouded and his body extremely exhausted. After some time, he woke up to the noises of some small and weak Hollows fighting each other nearby him. He immediately recollected his strength, came back to his senses and got up on his feet. Now he recalled how he ended up like this, the Garganta through which he arrived in the Hueco Mundo, it began to shrink the moment he stepped inside it. Hence he had to use each and every ounce of his demonic energy in order to stop the Garganta from crushing him while pushing himself all the way to the Hueco Mundo.

As soon as he got up and began to take a look around, all those smaller Hollows got scared and ran away from there but suddenly a larger Hollow began to chase them. That portion of the white desert was rather lacking uniformity in comparison of the other portions. The gigantic rocks, deep trenches and the corridors between them with the weak and cracked ground were making it a dangerous place filled with the traps. Soon enough Sesshomaru witnessed how that bigger Hollow and all those smaller ones ended up falling in the depths due to the sudden rupture of a cracked portion of land.

Now he began to climb upwards on a giant rock and decided to move forward by jumping from one rock to another while on his way it's been several times that the rocks and the ground got crumbled by his weight but each time he saved himself from falling down by using his demonic speed. Even though he was already moving on quite a height yet there were some gigantic mountains on his way, too high to climb all the way to the top and hence he decided to move ahead through the caves and cracks inside of them.

At the end of a cave, Sesshomaru was confronted by a Hollow and it seemed that the later was filled with the intentions of attacking and consuming the former one. The next moment, Sesshomaru used his demonic speed and he seemed to disappear from his position and appear right behind that Hollow while that Hollow vanished due to the heavy damaged inflicted on his head by the quick attack of Daiyokai's claw. Now suddenly he sensed some Hollows right above him beyond the cave's ceiling and he decided to pay a surprise visit to them. He immediately jumped upward, ripped the ceiling with his claws and killed all those Hollows by beheading them with a single swing of his energy whip, without giving them even the chance to react.

Sesshomaru was thinking about to simply find the Hollow whose Mask's remnant he found in the river, instead of unnecessarily killing them on his way but he wasn't aware of the fact that he had already gained the attention of several Hollows all around him. Now he came across a dead-end in a cave and hence he decided to continue his journey through the rocks situated at the lower heights once again. However, as soon as he descended to the rocks, dozens of Hollows who were awaiting him came out of their hidings and surrounded him. It took some time to Sesshomaru in annihilating them since he wasn't aware of the fact that destroying their mask or detaching it from their bodies is an easy way to put an end to them.

He was sensing the presence of a large number of Hollows ahead and thus he decided to move ahead while flying swiftly instead of on foot in order to avoid them. On his way, even though he was noticing that the level of ground was slowly getting lower but he had no idea that he was actually getting closer to the Forest of Menos. He confronted some cavities and he didn't hesitate to enter them since they were the only ways which were leading ahead and now he was traveling through a region which was actually a blend of white desert and Forest of Menos. He even came across the rubble and remnants of structures which weren't looking natural as they were probably belonging to the very foundation of the Las Noches.

The moment he started losing hope of finding that Arrancar, suddenly he noticed a shine in the darkness of the depths right beneath his feet and when he tried to get close to it, he sensed the similar kind of spiritual pressure from it which the Mask remnant he had, was oozing. Now he swiftly made his way towards the place from where that shine was coming. He didn't hesitate to go deeper without realizing that now he had already left behind that blended area far away and entered the Forest of Menos. He was sensing an unbelievable amount of Menos Grande all around him but he didn't seem to be concerned about them, maybe because they were still weaker to him or perhaps because he was more focused on that Mask remnant. His movements had also become slightly reckless as instead of finding new ways upon coming across a blockage, he was simply breaking through the rocks and crystal-like flora of the Hueco Mundo to pave his path which was surely gaining him a lot of attention from several Gillians.

Even though it was a long path for Sesshomaru yet he didn't take much time in reaching the place from where he noticed that shine. It was a Mask remnant of a Hollow, he picked it up and when he tried to put it together with the smaller Mask fragment which he had, it became clear that both the remnants of Hollow Mask were belonging to the same entity, most probably a female Vasto Lorde just like Urahara told him after his analysis.

Sesshomaru had no idea that someone was watching him from a safe distance. She was standing right behind him and trying to figure out why he was taking so much interest in those Mask remnants. She was none other but Tia Halibel, the same female Vasto Lorde whose Mask remnants he was carrying all this time. Her Hollow Mask seemed to be shattered from her left cheek and there were several bruises all over her body as if she had a serious battle against someone or a group of Hollows.

She whispered to herself while staring at Sesshomaru, "Who is he and why is he looking for me? I have never even seen him before in the Hueco Mundo. Could it be that he is the one behind the abduction of Mila Rose and Sung-Sun?" Now Sesshomaru began to walk away and hence she began to follow him out of curiosity in order to know his intentions so that she can neutralize any possible danger coming her way. "His spiritual pressure is very different, it is so powerful and fierce and yet it doesn't seem to belong to a Shinigami or a Hollow, he is definitely none of them but he is neither Quincy nor even a human then what exactly is he?" She whispered while reading his demonic spiritual pressure but she didn't realize that she had reached too close to hide her spiritual pressure from him. As a result, Sesshomaru immediately had a slight feeling of her spiritual pressure but before he could have begun to track her down, she retreated at the right moment and saved herself.

"What was this feeling just now? I sensed as if that female Vasto Lorde is somewhere around. If her Mask remnant is here then she might not be far enough, I must continue looking for her." Sesshomaru murmured to himself and then headed in the direction from where he was sensing several Gillians.

"I have to be careful; he almost caught me this time but it seems that I managed to retreat at the right moment… however, where is he going? I can sense a large number of Gillians that way, I must pursue him." She whispered while rushing in the same direction in which Sesshomaru had left.

To be continued…