A/N: Hey guys. I am on le Spring Break, and as much as I'd like to say "THIS IS THE BEST SPRING BREAK EVAR!1!~1`!1~`!~!" I am quite sorry to say that it's not. The concert I was looking forward to for 2 months got canceled (on the day of the concert!) I got a fever and a cold and am still coughing up snot, (lol you're welcome,) and couldn't go on our trip because of it. So my sister and my dad got to go on an awesome trip while I'm stuck at home with my mom, who works during the day and has a bigger social life than I do. And because I'm sick, I can't do, like, anything, so I'm stuck at home writing fanfiction. This is good for you guys but not so good for me. Yesterday I was so bored I wrote a 6,880 word chapter for one of my Maximum Ride fics, and then I about killed myself from misery because my stomach muscles hurt so bad from coughing all night.
Anyway, I've complained enough :D so…Disclaimer: How many more times do I have to say it! & here you are.
(p.s. I re-read chapters 422&423 today b/c I forgot Aizen's original sentence. Oops, it was 20,000 years, not 1,000. Also.. "just what do you think those haori are?" "a pain in the ass." "cheap." "stylish? *3*" "…" kyoraku ftw :D)
Ulquiorra could only stare in surprise at the ground below them as the ice dragon - Hyorinmaru - flew higher and higher into the sky. He could actually see through the body of the creature, see its legs tucked under, its icy wings on the downstroke, its tail whiplashing back and forth. But the thing that he could see most of all was the ground, getting steadily farther and farther away the higher they got.
The sunrise made the dragon's body turn beautiful shades of crystalline orange and pink, and its ruby eyes glowed. It was about that moment that Ulquiorra realized that he was riding a freaking dragon, an ice dragon no less, and the closer they got to the sun the better chance this thing had of melting.
"U...Ulquiorra?"
Grasping the spike in front of him even tighter, Ulquiorra shifted in place to see the speaker. It was Hallie; her eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
"Yes?"
"What's going on?" she demanded.
"We're riding a freakin' DRAGON!" Grimm cheered from behind Hallie, and pumped his fist. "This is so awesome. I never thought we'd be able to do something like this! It's almost worth almost getting killed for!"
"You really think that?" Ulquiorra said. "Lilinette is dead, and you think this is worth it?"
Grimm frowned. "Of course not!" he sputtered. "It's not worth an actual death. It's worth an almost death! If I was Lilinette I don't think I'd say it was worth it either!"
"Guys…just stop," Hallie said, her voice trembling. "We need to figure out…what's going on."
"There's not a whole lot to figure out," Grimm said. "We fell, and now we're on a dragon."
"Yeah, but why…did we fall?" Hallie asked.
"Because of the fire," Ulquiorra said.
"That's why you fell," Grimm pointed out crossly. "You fell because you couldn't handle the fire. Then Hallie was jerked off because of you, and then my guy went after you guys and I fell."
"What? I sunburn easily," Ulquiorra defended himself.
"Why didn't…Nnoitra fall?" Hallie asked after a small, disbelieving pause.
Grimm shrugged. "Who knows. 'Cause he's eight and stronger?" he mused.
"Hey, look," Ulquiorra interrupted, and pointed down.
The dragon had stopped flying up and was now rapidly winging its way away from Sokyoku Hill and back towards Seireitei. The three children peered over the side of the beast down at the brown-roofed buildings and shining white tile of the ground below, seeing the small black-clad figures stopping in awe, their nondescript heads turning up at them and their fingers raised, extended at the spectacle above. From far and wide, the Soul Reapers of Seireitei watched in amazement as the Tenth Captain's awe-striking Hyorinmaru sped over them, headed for the darkest corner of their beloved city.
"Where are we going?" Grimm shouted over the suddenly loud wind. Hair whipping about his face, eyes watering as the dragon's pace picked up, it was all Ulquiorra could do to keep his hold on the icy spike in front of him, much less audibly speculate at Grimm's question, to which he did not know the answer any better than the blue-haired boy seated somewhere behind him. His fingers were going numb around the spike, and he was beginning to get worried that he would develop frostbite and never again be able to use them. Worse, the seat of his pants was now so thoroughly soaked that he was about ninety-nine percent sure that his butt was blue.
Hyorinmaru's wingspan suddenly tilted, making his body go about 30° to the right. The children yelled – Ulquiorra included – as the dragon's slippery body seemed to attempt to dump them. Hearts pounding, all of them scrambled for more spikes, wrapping their arms around them in fear until Hyorinmaru leveled again. Then, without warning, the dragon slipped to the left, making all the children throw their body weight to the right again until he was level.
"It's like a plane," Grimm explained breathlessly once the ordeal was over. "It tilts a lot for some reason just before landing. It's probably the law or something," he bragged, showing off how much he knew about planes and flying and legalities in general.
"Oh…thank goodness. Does…that mean…we're landing soon?" Hallie asked, her voice relieved.
Grimm was quiet. Ulquiorra looked at the ground, pointing with a small, pale finger. "I believe so. The ground is approaching steadily."
The other two aimed their eyes at the ground as well, spying a lone shack-like building standing solitary in the middle of tile that didn't seem quite as clean and shining. When Ulquiorra's observant eyes picked out the small black box standing next to the door, he felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach with an audible splash.
"Oh, no," he groaned.
"What is it? Do you know where we are?"
Before he could speak, the dragon's icy legs extended and it landed with a thump-thump on the tiles. Folding its wings back on its sides, the large neck bent in a loop, bringing the head backwards to look directly at them with those unnerving ruby eyes. All three children recoiled, Ulquiorra almost bumping into Hallie.
The air next to the dragon head shimmered, and the short captain, Tôshirô Hitsugaya, appeared next to them. Resting one hand on the dragon's head, he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word in edgewise, Grimm jumped quickly and angrily from the back of the beast and marched right up to the white-haired captain, who was only about a foot taller than him.
"You did this to us!" Grimm accused furiously, stabbing the man in the chest with his finger with every word. "You tore us away from our lives and brought us here! You put us in a prison! You killed Lilinette!"
Hitsugaya looked around, as if to make sure they were alone, while Ulquiorra and Hallie also slid off the dragon, keeping their distance. For the first time since they had met him, a look of sincere apology washed across his face.
"I know," he said, sounding tired, stressed; as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "I know, I know. And there is nothing I will ever be able to do to repay you for what you have gone through at my hands."
Ulquiorra and Hallie glanced at each other, shocked. Grimm stumbled back, not expecting that at all. In the silence that followed, Hitsugaya pulled out his blade from its sheath. All three of them stumbled back in fear, but all he did was run his fingers across the surface. The ice dragon behind them glowed blue, and then disappeared, leaving only their frost-kissed cheeks behind. Hitsugaya sighed and re-sheathed his blade.
"Um…what?" Grimm stammered.
Hitsugaya looked around again, and Ulquiorra saw real fear flash across his eyes. "Head Captain Yamamoto has eyes everywhere," he murmured. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this, Espada. I am genuinely ashamed of my actions over the past couple of days, but there are some things that you three are just too young to understand."
"Wait. Wait. Are you saying that the Head Captain's the bad guy here?" Grimm demanded.
"What are we too young to understand?" Ulquiorra demanded of the white-haired man.
Hitsugaya turned and looked him straight in the eyes. Teal-colored eyes hooked in green ones, and for some reason Ulquiorra got the feeling that this man had seen decades' worth of bloodshed. But of course that wasn't possible; he couldn't have been more than eighteen.
"Love," Hitsugaya murmured.
He picked up the black lantern next to the door to the shack-like building and opened the door. Directly inside the doorway was stairs; leading down into the darkness. A familiar damp chill washed across Ulquiorra's body; the frozen, soaked spots on his uniform making him shiver all over.
"Why did you take us here?" he asked Hitsugaya, anger suddenly washing through him. Hitsugaya paused; pain washed across his expression, and he looked for a moment as though he would give anything to turn back and run away.
"The Captain-General's orders," he said quietly. "Please don't make this difficult. If I take too long in reporting back to him, he might…" He shuddered. "After you, Espada."
Hallie lead the way down the stairwell, seeming to want to make up for her abrupt lack of courage earlier. Ulquiorra followed behind Grimm, who was between him and Hallie. Behind them all, Hitsugaya carried the lantern, which cast their shadows on the wall with flickering, grotesque forms. As they walked, Grimm kept glancing back; the yellow light making his hair turn a nauseous shade of green.
"Where are we going?" he demanded repeatedly, but received no answer.
After a while, Ulquiorra felt a creeping tendril of warmth spread up his back, encircling him and seeming to dry off his wet uniform. He looked back at Hitsugaya to see that he had his hand out; a bright globe of seemingly magical light was emitting from his palm and was directly aimed at the children. When he aimed his gaze down at his previously frozen uniform, he saw that it was steaming slightly.
"Oh…my goodness," Hallie sighed from the front, and Ulquiorra realized that Hitsugaya was drying their uniforms from his ice dragon's remains. He turned to show Hitsugaya his face and closed his eyes in thanks.
"OH!" Hallie exclaimed a moment later as her foot hit the solid ground. She took a couple steps farther in, looking at the sight in front of her. "What…in the world…?"
Despite the fact that the room was lit by a brightly burning torch, Hitsugaya raised the lantern higher on the form of the man in the cell. Scraggly hair reaching his shoulders, stubble lining the rough curve of his jaw, clothes going raggedy on his back; his eyes still had an amused twinkle that Ulquiorra still had a hard time accepting.
"What's this?" Sôsuke Aizen looked mildly surprised. "More visitors?"
"Please," Hitsugaya snapped, "like anyone'd willingly come visit you." He took a step forward, herding the kids toward the cell. "Take a good look, Aizen; I'm sure you know who these three are."
Aizen stood from his cot; his bare feet crunched across the hay; the shackle attached to his ankle rattled eerily. He slithered up to the bars and pressed himself against them eagerly.
"My goodness, those are some faces I haven't seen in a while," he said, smooth as silk. "Miss Halibel. Mr. Grimmjow. How are you two doing?"
Grimm stared warily at him. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" Aizen drew back, affronted. "Why, I take offense at that statement, Mr. Grimmjow. I am none other than your former master, Sôsuke Aizen."
There was a pregnant silence as Grimm contemplated this.
Hitsugaya didn't give him time to answer. "All right, kids," he said, striding up to the door of the cell and unlocking it with a large key, "in you get."
Aizen eyed the opening with interest, but made no attempt to slide through. Grimm, Hallie, and Ulquiorra all swiveled and stared at Hitsugaya in mingled shock and horror. Hitsugaya only looked at them with resignation for a moment, before turning away and avoiding their eyes.
"But why?" Hallie whispered.
"DO IT!" Hitsugaya roared. His personality change was so sudden that it sent all three kids scuttling into the cell, which he closed behind them with an ominous clang.
"I'm sorry," Hitsugaya whispered, his shoulders slumping.
Then he was gone.
Horrified, Hallie whipped her head from the locked door to Aizen to the staircase to the door again. She slowly sank to her bare knees in the cell, her eyes wide and disbelieving.
"It's all right, Miss Halibel, you shall get used to it eventually," said Aizen cheerfully.
"Tell us a story, Mr. Aizen! Please..."
Grimm rolled onto his back on the ground, laying spread-eagle and staring up at the man. Mr. Aizen looked surprised for a moment, then smiled absurdly.
"This is so bizarre..." he murmured.
"What is?" Grimm almost purred, rolling about madly in the hay like a kitty attempting to scratch its back on the stone floor. Mr. Aizen only stared in shock before bursting out laughing. As if surprised by the sound of his own amusement, he immediately stopped, a look of sincere apology coming over his face.
"You'll have to excuse me, Ulquiorra, I'm afraid these ten years of imprisonment have served only to deteriorate my mind."
"That's quite all right," Ulquiorra said stiffly, his back to the wall as far away from Mr. Aizen as possible.
They had been in the cell with the man for about an hour now. To Ulquiorra's slight surprise, Mr. Aizen had not yet attempted to kill them or torture them or anything of the kind. Instead, he was surprisingly friendly (albeit a bit mad), although his behavior had a dark underlying edge that Ulquiorra couldn't quite put his finger on. He thought it was probably one of those things he'd have to be older to figure out.
There are some things that you three are just too young to understand.
"What did he mean…?" Ulquiorra mused aloud. Fortunately for him, no one was paying him the slightest bit of attention.
"Why didn't…you just escape…the moment he opened…the door?" Hallie asked Aizen, sounding slightly cross. She was sitting on the cot, slightly behind Mr. Aizen and as far away on the narrow bed as she could get to him.
"Well, there's a force field around that door, sweet thing, and anyway I wouldn't get very far. It's only been a couple years, after all. My dear Espada. How I wish I could offer you some tea with this waste of time, yet I fear I am lacking the necessary ingredients…?" He ended his statement with a slight lift to his voice as though he was asking a question, and held out his hands as if to show that they were empty. "But Grimmy-neko-san never likes my tea, anyway. You always complain about the tea, Mr. Jeagerjaques, before you run off to slay some Numeros. Big bad Panther stepping on ants, that's what I always say, but you never listen. Ah, you have a bloodlust rivaled only by the Espada of Spoonular Proportions." Aizen giggled to himself at his own wit.
"You're out…of your mind," Hallie informed him.
"Ah, my dear, what happened to your beautiful voice? You have such a sharp tongue, usually. Did you let Szayel get after you with one or another of his potions? I really shall have to speak with him about that…Oh, look, Zommari's brought some tea! Thank you, Zommari." Aizen twisted in midair and made like he was accepting something from an imaginary waiter. "And now, Ulquiorra, would you like some tea?" Aizen raised his eyebrows at Ulquiorra and mimed pouring tea into a ceramic teacup.
"Um…no thank you." Ulquiorra edged even farther away. He's completely insane. Dangerous, even. It's not safe to be around him. And why is he talking to Espada in the present tense? Does he think we're really them, even now? Has he gone that insane in just an hour or so?
"Ooh! Me wants some!" Grimm sat up eagerly, perching on his knees and folding his bottom neatly on his feet before wiggling with excitement. He held out his small hands eagerly and Aizen's eyes lit up with delight before moving carefully over to Grimm and placing a pretend cup inside them. Grimm lifted his hands to his face and pursed his lips, extending his pinky finger and waving it about gently like a flag while he "sipped his tea."
"Hits the spot, that does," Grimm said breathily, lowering his hands; "have more, do you?"
"But of course, my dear Sexta." Aizen turned back and pretended to fill his teapot yet again. Despite himself, Ulquiorra felt curiosity bubbling within him, and he hesitantly crawled to join Grimm on the floor. The two boys were soon joined by Hallie, who by feminine nature couldn't stay out of a tea party even if she wanted to.
"Ah-! All three of you are joining. Excellent, excellent," Aizen said pleasantly, pouring some more tea and handing it carefully out to the three of them. Ulquiorra accepted his "cup" carefully, bringing it delicately to his chest and cradling it between his palms.
"Now, Ulquiorra, what have I told you about nursing your tea; it'll get cold, and then we shall have to pour it out," Aizen scolded. "Drink it down; that's my boy."
Ulquiorra obediently lifted his hands to his mouth and tipped his head back, swallowing air. His imagination provided the warmth spreading through his chest like tree roots, although some part of his mind suspected that this was just a lingering effect of Hitsugaya's warming spell. Lingering tastes of chamomile echoed in his mouth.
"Now that we've all had our tea, shall we discuss battle plans?" Aizen asked pleasantly.
"Battle plans? Ooh, who're we fighting? Bring it on!" Grimm cheered, setting down his cup so hard it rattled.
"Why, Soul Society, of course!" Aizen said, sounding surprised that Grimm couldn't have guessed it earlier. He lifted the ornate hand-painted teapot and poured himself another thin stream of tea, before setting the pot once more on the straw. "They did take out our dear Lilinette, as you recall. We can't let them escape with their lives."
Ulquiorra lifted his glass to his lips again. They had filled in Aizen-sama on all the details from earlier and were now caught up to speed. "I agree," he murmured against the cool green ceramic of the teacup. "Lilinette's death shall not go unpunished."
"Ulquiorra, it's not like you to take the vengeful road," Hallie murmured, her low voice unbreaking as she picked up her cup.
"Lilinette is a special case," Ulquiorra murmured before parting his black and white lips to let the warm tea slip by and race down his throat.
"Ah, I see," Aizen-sama said, smiling; "so, our first course of action is to get out of this cell, ne?"
"But the force-field…"
"I can break it, it is simply a matter of strength," Aizen-sama said, waving his hand carelessly at whoever had asked the question. Grimm reached out eagerly, taking the teacup in a rugged hand and splashing some more into his cup. A soft hissing noise began to sound in the corner of Ulquiorra's hearing, but he ignored it. A plate of scones materialized, and he took one.
"Scones, anyone?" he offered.
"So when does our plan go into action?" Hallie said.
"Yeah, the more destruction, the better! As soon as possible, yo!" Grimm cheered some more, picking up a scone and stuffing the entire thing into his mouth. "Let's get started right away!" he cried, spewing crumbs everywhere.
Ulquiorra indignantly picked a couple of flakes of scone from his now lukewarm tea and then drained the rest of it. The hissing was growing louder, and becoming harder to ignore.
Aizen's face drained of color.
"What, Aizen-sama?" Hallie asked. Ulquiorra followed the man's gaze to the corner, where a small tube-like thing in the ceiling was beginning to emit a light, rose-colored smoke or a gas of some kind.
"I forgot about that damned microphone," Aizen muttered. "Hey! Wait! It was a joke!" he cried, but it was too late. The smell of the pink smoke hit Ulquiorra's nose, and his eyes rolled back and he collapsed, the now-empty teacup in his hand shattering as it hit the floor.
I can tell I'm going to get a lot of questions about this, so I'll explain what happened.
Ulquiorra finally let his imagination run away with him~! Yay! So, he was not actually drinking tea or eating scones, but he was having that conversation with Aizen & co. And since the Soul Society had a microphone down there in order to hear everything Aizen said, they heard it and thought they were being serious, 'cos they're paranoid, remember? So…they gassed 'em! Just to knock them out, gais, our heroes aren't dead yet. So, next chap…are they just giving a warning or planning something else now?
Gah, you all have no idea how hard it is to write this Hitsugaya mystery-subplot from the point of view of a character who has 0% deductive reasoning ability. –sigh- Review, for some luffly tea? XD