So this chapter has a lot of stuff you'll already know from Chapter 248 from Volume 28. I pretty much used exactly what Nnoitra and Ulquiorra say to each other. There's some commentary from Tripp throughout that converstation. I've put some of the original conversations in earlier chapters too but this one is a lot wordier. But if you think next time I should find a way around the big convos, just drop me a line, kay?

(9)

Incredible Information

There was nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. All I could do was walk among the stark white hallways. I passed windows quickly so I wouldn't be tempted to stop and listen to the pain filled cries of distant Hollows. Not when an enemy was perched just outside our doorstep.

"Another two have arrived."

I heard the quiet, breathy voice directly behind me but I wasn't afraid. The owner of the voice was oddly kind despite her ferocious appearance. I turned around and bowed to Lady Tia Halibel. "What do you mean two more have arrived?" I wondered, as I straightened back up.

"Enemies." She said sharply. Halibel wasn't much of a talker and whenever she did her words were as few as she could manage.

"Who are they?" I inquired further. She turned towards the long slit in the wall that offered a minute view of the landscape outside. Her shaggy blonde bangs hid her eyes from my view while her high-collared jacket covered the rest of her face. "Soul Reapers." She informed me.

I wondered why I hadn't felt them invade our realm. I had clearly felt the orange-haired idiot and his comrades. Maybe these new opponents were smarter, cleverer, stronger. I shook my head. No one could be stronger than that disillusioned Soul Reaper with the bright hair.

I had to admit he had much power…but it still wasn't enough to defeat us. "What should I do Lady Halibel?"

"Report." She said, looking back at me. Her icy green eyes looked over me and she nodded. "Report to your Espada."

Halibel pivoted on her heel and strolled away from me, her crisp white pants swishing back and forth around her hips. I watched her until she had turned the corner and then went to go find Lord Ulquiorra.

A tall Arrancar walked down the hall towards me and I grabbed him by his elbow. He stopped and looked at me, his face angry before he realized who I was. "Lady Gondarera. How may I help you?"

"Have you seen Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer?" I questioned him, dropping my hand from his arm. He nodded. He pointed down the hall and said, "I just saw him go into the prisoner's room."

"Thank you." I said, dipping my head in appreciation. "You are very welcome, Lady Gondarera." The Arrancar said with a quick bow.

It wasn't long before I arrived at Inoue's room. It hadn't been far from where I had questioned the Arrancar but it wasn't far from much of anything. Lord Aizen had placed Orihime Inoue's room directly in the middle of the palace so that not only could it be easily accessed from anywhere in the castle but so it would be much harder to escape.

I reached for the handle but stopped when I heard Lord Ulquiorra's voice drifting through the door. Surprised I stopped to listen to what he was saying. "Yes. But that should mean nothing to you. You are in body and spirit one of us now." Lord Ulquiorra paused. "That is what the garment you are wearing signifies Orihime Inoue."

"Yes." I barely heard Inoue's whisper. "Say it." Ulquiorra ordered. "Your body and spirit… What are they for?"

"Yes." Inoue repeated. "They are for Lord Aizen…and his heart."

I heard light footsteps coming towards the door. I backed out of the hallway quickly, skidding around the corner before Lord Ulquiorra could catch me eavesdropping.

Thin fingers wrapped around my wrist and I collided with someone's chest. "Hello again, Tripp." That slimy voice crawled it's way through my ears again. I jerked my head up and found myself looking into the cold, eyes of Nnoitra. "How have you been since our last…meeting?" He giggled coldly.

I bit my lip to keep a million words of rage inside of me. "I would love to take the time to tease you but I have another victim to bother." He said, dropping my wrist and going around the corner.

"How did it go? How's our little pet doing?" I heard Nnoitra's loud and obnoxious voice yell out. "Nnoitra." Was all Ulquiorra said in acknowledgement. I peered around the corner. Nnoitra was leaning against one of the walls, as Ulquiorra stayed where he was, in a position to walk away.

"I know all about it. Lord Aizen put you in charge of her. How delicious." Nnoitra said, licking his slim lips. "So? How's the discipline going?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "Jackal." He snarled, breaking out of his stance and beginning to walk away.

Nnoitra disappeared in a flash and slammed into view in front of Ulquiorra, slapping his palm against the wall. I jumped out of my hiding place and fell into a fighting stance. I wasn't going to allow Nnoitra to attack my Lord. Not that Nnoitra would hurt him, he wouldn't even get the chance while I was here.

"Don't be angry." Nnoitra sighed, towered feet over Ulquiorra. "I just want to know if everything's going well. Is it?"

Lord Ulquiorra tilted his head up to glare at Nnoitra. "Are you curious or frightened?"

If it was possible Nnoitra's eyes narrowed even farther into thin slits. "What?" He hissed. "Don't worry." My Lord assured him. "The girl was in Lord Aizen's power before she ever got here." Ulquiorra walked under the idiot Espada's arm and continued down the hall.

Nnoitra watched him over his shoulder. "He used Kyôka-Suigetsu?" "Please. There was no need." Ulquiorra informed him. "When we invited her here we put her in a multi-layered psychic cage. I told her that her friends would die if she resisted in any way. Then I gave her a twelve hour furlough. I allowed her to say a silent and invisible goodbye to just one of her friends."

"That was your cage?" Nnoitra scoffed. I stepped forward angrily. Nobody mocked Lord Ulquiorra.

"By giving her a reprieve when she was in a state of terror and letting her bid farewell to a friend I led her to falsely believe that we were sympathetic to her. That weakened her will." Ulquiorra continued to explain to her. "In fact, the furlough was a deception, a way to confuse her faculties. By allowing her to choose who she would say goodbye to we created the illusion that she was acting of her own volition rather than being abducted. And by allowing her to return to the rendezvous of her own recognizance before bringing her here that illusion was deeply ingrained in her psyche. Her will to escape was destroyed." Ulquiorra finished with a deep breath.

Nnoitra looked at him, and slightly peeved expression on his face. "And when she said her secret goodbye a faint trace of her departure was left with one of her friends."

"So what?" Nnoitra growled. "Wasn't that a mistake?"

"Quite the opposite. That vestige of her departure proves that she had freedom of movement and thought until the moment of her surrender. In other words because of that trace her actions appear to her friends to be a voluntary betrayal."

Nnoitra's eyes widened as he finally began to understand. He wasn't the only one. My back became erect as I stared at the exchange in front of me. What Lord Ulquiorra had done….it was brilliant. He was even smarter than I had previously thought. He was a genius among common minds.

"I don't know if it was a complete success. But it's safe to say that the Soul Society has abandoned her." Ulquiorra told him.

"Such painstaking planning. Lord Aizen is a genius." Nnoitra smiled. I shook my head. Lord Aizen may have suggested the plan but I continued to believe that Ulquiorra was the real mastermind.

"Painstaking?" My Lord questioned. "To Lord Aizen it was just a game. If it worked, fine. If it didn't, so be it. Nonetheless right now, the girl, hasn't got the will to even attempt an escape. Or even to resent us."

Ulquiorra nodded his head and left Nnoitra behind, scratching his head as he attempted to understand everything he had just been told. As Lord Ulquiorra passed me his rested his hand on my shoulder. Warmth spread through my shoulder, into my chest, and continued down into the rest of my body. I followed after him as soon as I had recovered from the flood of emotion running through me.

"We have a lot to do." Ulquiorra told me as we traversed the curving hallways. "Yes sir." I nodded. "You heard all of that didn't you?" He questioned. "Yes sir." I repeated.

"Good. You needed to hear it. Now you understand the situation even fuller." Ulquiorra enlightened me. He stopped and looked at me. "They have no chance. Orihime has lost all of her resolve. Ichigo and his comrades have no strength to defeat us. We have won this war already."