Chapter 14: Target: "Mommy" Orihime?!
A few days before, in Hueco Mundo…
A lumbering shadow tumbled out of a portal carved into the grayscale landscape that covered all of Hueco Mundo, the eponymous homeland of the Hollows. Covering its face was sanguine ichor, pouring downward in droves as its body flailed and limped, covering the sand in large, pounding sounds. Like medusa's snakes, its tentacle covered hair whipped about wildly, according to its own designs, spewing poison constantly, unable to control the flow in spite of all the pain rocketing through its skull. Through the pain it finally began to wail, shockwaves of dust and sand crossing throughout the borders of the realm, pushing backwards the crystalline trees, and driving tiny hollows into the shadows and sands. Staggering, and then bolting, the window hollow made towards an indeterminate origin.
After a long journey, trail of blood following behind it, the Gillian class Hollow arrived at the gates of Las Noches, arrancar guards noted its presence immediately.
"Turn back, scum, Lord Aizen's palace is no place for you!" the guard cried angrily, hand on his blade, willing to strike.
"Mmrrm grmma fyooord!" the hollow muffled in gibberish, amongst screams and desolate cries.
"I'm warning you, Gillian! Turn back now!"
"Lyoerd iziin asva meeeh!" the hollow shouted, its mutterings sounding almost like actual words. It moved not now, standing complacently at the gates, as if expecting the right to enter.
"Gillian, Las Noches is not a place for your kind, only your kin chosen by Aizen are allowed to pass!" the guard warned, hoping the hollow knew what was good for it, and would sink back below the sands, to the Menos Forest, where it belonged.
"Maiiii…..purrace….miiii prace…..my place…." The hollow murmured, its words becoming a clear mantra.
"No, this is not your place, now turn back. You were not summoned!" the guard warned once more.
"MY PLACE!" the hollow screamed, its hand coming down incredibly swift. The arrancar guard lifted his sword, but it was too late, the hand crumpled steel and boned, smashing the arrancar down in a magnificent display of raw power and injured fury.
The turncoat Arrancar who had just seen his comrade slaughtered, by a Gillian of all hollows, turned and bolted towards the gate, running back towards the compound, where stronger comrades could be summoned to deal with this rogue. The white movement and the flapping of the body were nearly unnoticed by the other hollow, which slowly approached the gate just as sonido level speed brought the gate guard to the outpost farther in.
"Sir! We have a rogue Gillian at the gates…I don't know how…but, he….he…" the scout arrancar sputtered, still not able to believe it.
"What did he do, gatekeeper!" the arrancar outpost guard demanded.
"Don't know how…but the Gillian…KILLED Zeliel…"
Both arrancar just froze as the approaching shockwaves of each footfall of the approaching monster brought the realization that this was not just an ordinary Gillian. There was a short moment of apprehension before they sent a signal to the main compound of Las Noches.
"This is West Entrance outpost, to Commander Ichimaru Gin….we have a rogue Gillian, capable of killing a gatekeeper arrancar scout, please send stronger reinforcements!" There was a moment of silence and then the radio crackled back to life. The fox-like, smooth as silk reply of Ichimaru returned.
"Oh, ho? Really? Well, I might have to inform Lord Aizen, first…."
"But, Lord Ichimaru! The hollow is…." too late, a foot collapsed the outpost roof, bringing the ceiling and an immense out of reiatsu pressure down upon the hiding arrancar inside.
Gin took sly steps, his robes moving with a grace that only a weasel could propagate. It was elegant, but fake, and he slipped into Aizen's chamber without a word of welcome, something only he seemed able to do, as anyone else would immediately garner ardor from Ulquiorra, who seemed to gravitate constantly to his lord.
"What is it, Gin?" Aizen asked, knowing the presence of his cunning colleague without so much as turning his view from the endless night sky that pervaded all of Hueco Mundo in placid, monotone darkness.
"A hollow, my liege…" Gin said with all but the most "highly" revered respect.
"That lumbering fool, expelling all that reiatsu outside?" Ulquiorra asked.
"The same…" replied Gin, a hint of interest in his voice.
"I'll have to great the prospective new member of our family…" Aizen stood, needing not another word for Gin to open his eyes in that very rare moment and grin devilishly.
"I'll return to my post then, Lord Aizen," Gin mused, his impudence as thick as sekiseki stone, and just as porous and spiritually absorbent.
Aizen spoke not another word as the floor spiraled open and revealed the most coveted prize of all, the Orb of Distortion. He took up his arrancar-forging ball of iridescent light, and continued out of the room, leaving it in darkness that only happened when his radiance left it. Gin slinked out afterwards, and Ulquiorra last. Aizen appeared in the courtyard, where the hollow raged, screaming out as lowly arrancar battled it back futilely.
"LORD AIZEN, LORD AIZEN!" The hollow curdled, blood drenching all of its mask from the struggle with the many arrancar servants that circled it, finally having it somewhat contained.
"I am here, your master," Aizen spoke, with voice like chalk dust, something so fine it could spread the air invisibly, yet quite there. All heads turned, and their loud friend said no more.
"L-lord Aizen! We can handle this beast, please do not soil your hands!" a scout spoke, out of turn. Aizen's mere glance crippled him with humility and regret.
"I'm here to help our friend, not do away with her…" Aizen explained, aware of the hollow's gender without any connotation of it. "…and now if you would all please step away,"
Doing as they were told, the Arrancar dispersed, and alone stood the Lord of Las Noches, the and the rogue hollow. With just a flick of his hand the Orb of Distortion slipped from hiding in his robes and floated above the ground, a shaft of white stone extending directly from the sand to catch it. From the feet of the hollow now exploded a wordless seal, covering it in icy crystal, so thick that the cold caused one last scream to erupt from its mouth as crystal dived down through the throat, enveloping all. Aizen approached his mystical tool, placing his hand over it.
"You show promise…for a Gillian to kill Adjuchas level arrancar….it's almost inconceivable. Maybe you will make a fine numeros. And all you need is just a taste of the reiatsu of one whose strength is double that of a Shinigami Captain…." And that was his cue, Aizen's hand grasped the Orb of Distortion and in a blazing flash of light, rainbows shards of color filling the dreary white court.
The crystalline structure encasing the arrancar shattered, along with a thick white husk, all that was left of its monstrous size shattered upon impact with the ground, covering everything in a healthy shadow of dust. Aizen but grinned, turned around, readying to return to his throne room, and said:
"Before you go off to have your revenge…tell me, what is your name….Numeros?" A red eye lit from the dust, causing a swirl of reiatsu to collapse it around the figure. All but covered, the new arrival stood, clutching their blade. In full view, the lips, colored black, beautifully pillowy, spoke.
"I am….Desutennei, my liege…."
The female arrancar, skin painted the color of caramel, purple hair draping down to its knees, genuflected to those very knees and paid homage to Aizen, the one who'd given new birth to her. The eye that had glowed red was a hazel gold now, burning like the still flaming embers of a fire that would never quench. The eye that had not shined though, as encased slightly in bone mold of a hollow mask, formed perfectly in a circle, a slit opened for the view of an eye that didn't exist, offering a view of the white wall behind her from the hole that passed straight through her head. The body was bare, like that of all newborn arrancar, droplets of sweat and the remnants of the crystal that enclosed it dripped tirelessly from her bare flesh. Breasts, not so modestly sized, waited to be covered from the coolness of Hueco Mundo, but she dare not break the bow until commanded by her lord.
"Well then, get dressed, I believe you have some place you were so eager to be, am I right?" Aizen inquired, turning just an eye back to his new follower, whose tanned skin still showed considerable blushing to be looked upon by her lord in such a shameless state.
"Right away, m'lord!" Desutennei strode determinedly towards the castle, shoving a scout from her path, taking his jacket without speech, and hurried into Las Noches, covering herself as she did. Aizen waited a moment and looked back at his scouts.
"To your posts…" they all jumped, as fast as their bodies could muster, at Aizen's command.
Present day…
The wormhole opened, like that of a zipper, the sound of the gaping maw clawed out to those who, if spiritually powerful, could hear it. From behind the shadows stood the one who'd brazenly assaulted Las Noches, and who had gained Aizen's favor from her boldness. The fuzzy static, as though a television had been opened in space, obscured Desutennei for a moment, but not much more. She stepped past the threshold, it zipped on up, leaving her standing in the sky, looking upon Karakura town with a menacing glance.
The hem of her skirt blew in the breeze. Below she could see her image in the water, the first she'd seen of it; even dressing without getting a glimpse of the sleek and sexy body her lord had endowed her with, so graciously. The dress and frilly undergarment below it fluttered like leaves, picking up at her waist and causing the tassels at her waist to dance with the wind. Her corset fixed top, milky white like everything but the edgings of her dress and sleeves, had a low v-cut, exposing cleavage she admired for its fullness and beauty. The sleeves of her shirt ended in lace and frills, and nails dyed a deep black adorned her fingers, so well trimmed and sharpened. She was more than ready for that naughty girl who wounded her.
"Now, where are you….where are you, Inoue Orihime?" came Desutennei, literally sitting in the sky now, pensively stretching out her senses over the city, looking for the one that had wounded her. She could not immediately find a reiatsu signature. How could it be that someone strong enough to wound her could effectively silence her reiatsu nearly entirely? Or more accurately, it might have been that Desutennei's newfound powers were not honed enough yet to find Orihime when she was not actively using her powers. That's when it hit her.
"I poisoned a smaller opponent too, that day, if my powers have been retained, I can track her by the poison's scent…."
A quick sniff of the air flooded the hollow's nose with many scents from all around her, none stood out as one that was uniquely her own, the smell of her poison used to infect Hinamori. She took a deeper breath, loud and audibly, causing a slight tremor of energy.
At the Inoue residence, Orihime's eyes clenched a little in sleep, feeling the small wave of temple energy, but ignoring it. She opened one eye gently, to look around the room, focusing on Hinamori for a moment. Her breathing was steady and healthy, and that was enough for Orihime to close her eyes and try to get back to sleep. And just then the scent caught Desutennei's nose.
"There you are, my little prey…if Inoue Orihime is not with you….I can use you to find her…" she concluded, standing and walking above the city, steadily homing in on the scent of her poison, still coursing weakly, and in very much smaller amounts, in Hinamori's spiritual system.
The trail lead around the town, seemed that she'd appeared on the totally opposite side of her quarry, but no loss, she'd have time to focus on getting her revenge for being wounded, and then she could return victorious to Aizen. Focused now, Desutennei could not keep a meandering pace, and found her wings on the wind, bulleting throughout the town, carelessly sending out shockwaves of energy, triggering senses of even the dullest of spiritual powers. At least she arrived, the scent was powerful, she could not tell which house below it came from, but it was there.
Already inside the Inoue residence, all three senses had been considerably perked, the effect close to being drenched with cold water, or hot coffee, whilst asleep. Three heads rose immediately, the feeling of reiatsu scraped at them, causing shivers and ebbs in the air about them.
"What is THAT?" Rukia exclaimed, her eyes widening a bit, not having felt the signature of an Arrancar this close since Grimmjow impaled her.
"I've felt this reiatsu before, but last time…it was much weaker," Orihime warned, standing up.
Hinamori too had risen. "But….how?" she asked, having too felt that signature before. "How could it have gotten that strong, and recovered that quickly?"
"Because the hollow that attacked you didn't recover, Hinamori, it became an Arrancar…" Rukia said forebodingly.
"A-an….arrancar?" Hinamori's voice was rapt with fear "Is it looking for us?"
"Probably," Inoue said with an air of protectiveness. "Rukia and I will take care of this arrancar, Hinamori you don't have to get involved in your condition…." Orihime said with a mother's caution.
It took a moment to summon the courage, but when it did it raced through Hinamori violently, she sat up instantly, and her hand threw back the hair in front of her face. She looked up at Orihime, who looked surprised by the mere display. Momo smiled brightly.
"I will do no such thing, Inoue; we should fight this arrancar….together."
"She's right, some arrancar are not particularly strong, but just by the sheer force of this one….it will take all of us to defeat it. And with the chaos of all the meetings in soul society, it will be a little bit before they can send anyone to help…" Rukia conjectured, already popping in a soul candy and exploding forth from her body, holding her zanpakuto close.
"All right then, get ready and out of your gigai, Hinamori, sweetie. We'll send this arrancar back for good!" Orihime exclaimed confidently.
All three nodded and, Hinamori found her soul candy amongst the pile of her effects from the first day she was brought over, and took her pill. Coming out of her body, she stood wobbly on her feet, not totally good as new, but feeling a lot more spry in her soul form than in her gigai. Orihime stood warily at the door, and in a flash, threw it open, Hinamori and Rukia flash stepped from the entrance into the street, and Orihime jumped off the railing and landed beside them.
Immediately, Desutennei looked down, the magnitude of the poison scent had increased, and the bearer was apparent. Hinamori, Orihime, and Rukia stood firmly, looking up at their opponent whose lips were licked voraciously, as if dinner had conveniently just arrive and was ready to eat. Descending, landed Desutennei on the street, a sparse couple of yards from the three of them.
"We meet again, Inoue Orihime, Hinamori Momo…and unknown shinigami…"
"Too soon to see something like you again," Orihime retorted angrily, her blood boiling, coursing to look upon the one who'd hurt Hinamori.
"Now, now, you don't have to be so rude, I've just come to thank you in my own special way….because frankly you're like my mother…."
"I am nothing like that to you!" Orihime replied coldly, angrily.
"Oh, but you are! See, if you hadn't blinded me so egregiously in this eye, I'd never haven wandered to Aizen's Palace, never staggered into the courtyard, and never would have become an Arrancar. So I only have you to thank….."mommy"," Desutennei teased, grinning a toothy, sharp fanged grin through her black covered lips.
Hinamori clenched her teeth, offended at the idea of this arrancar calling Orihime "mommy." She tightened her grip on the bindings of the sword and tore it out of its sheath.
"Don't speak such vile lies, fiend!" Hinamori shouted with ardor, her hand cusped over the blade of her sword. "Snap! Tobiume!"
Consumed in pink fire that burned at her exploding reiatsu, Hinamori released her zanpakuto, and pointed the jitte-pronged tip at Desutennei's chest.
"My, my, someone is ready to fight, aren't they? Recovered from my poison, have you? You must be stronger than you look, little baby shinigami,"
"You'll eat those words, you…you…monster!"
"Come and feed them to me, little one," an insult was thrown back.
Enraged, Hinamori could not control herself, as Rukia and Orihime watched she reacted by taking a couple of brazen steps forward. She stumbled closer, closing the gap to a few feet, an act that Desutennei accepted, letting the sword move all the way until it was perched between her bosom, nearly pricking her lovely brazed cream hued flesh. She nodded to Hinamori.
"Come now….pierce me….do it," she coaxed.
Hinamori's eyes went wide with fury. The end of Tobiume glowed a fierce reddish pink and exploded outward, she sent flying a kido ball of immense power, and stabbed through it at the same time. She felt her blade completely stop. The blast glanced off the chest and shoulders of the enemy, a pink cloud evaporating, the force sending tresses, and locks of pure violet backward for a moment, but otherwise proving useless. The tip of Tobiume stood pressed against the iron-strength skin of the Arrancar, causing neither dimpling of said flesh, or a cut.
"How?" Hinamori exclaimed, fear growing in her chest, pushing the blade with all her might, so hard the reiatsu from her feet crushed at the pavement, sending impacts of her footfalls into it. "How, how, how?!"
Desutennei let her head fall back in laughter as a hand quickly came and swatted Tobiume away with amazing strength. Rukia wasted not another moment; this was an opportunity to strike. As Hinamori moved to the side with her blade, Rukia unsheathed hers.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki! Now, White Ripple!" from the tip of her blade, in a slashing arc, flew towards the enemy a flash of white, ice freezing everything in it's path, skewering and slashing what it would not freeze. It consumed the enemy in white, then glassy ice. Success! Desutennei was frozen solid.
"Is that all? I should have worn a jacket!" a voice echoed from the ice.
Only able to now look on in shock, Orihime, Rukia, and Hinamori watched the ice as it cracked right through and Desutennei's hands blasted from the thick block. Freeing the rest of her being with a twist a kick she sent snow and shards of ice back at Rukia who shielded herself with the sleeve of her hakama. Rukia pulled back a few steps, as Hinamori did the same.
"Are you two playing with me, or are you just babies?" Desutennei asked, throwing her hands up in the air, frustrated with their lack of spirit. "If you're not going to be serious, maybe you should let our mommy, over there, fight…." There was a glance directly at Orihime.
"No!" both said at the same time, Orihime now blocked and guarded quite effectively by Rukia and Hinamori, who slightly resembled sisters, their weapons drawn and pointed at the enemy.
"You'll get no such satisfaction," Rukia snarled.
"You aren't worth Orihime soiling her hands on you!" Hinamori added with venom.
A visible, dark, and torrid blush streaked Orihime's face; she couldn't help but smile, even though they were obviously facing quite a powerful foe. Her hands went up to cover both blush and grin, so the enemy could not see her jubilation. Inoue was glad that she'd been the type of mother figure that these two lovely girls would want to defend. Just having Desutennei mention Orihime made Rukia and Orihime respond with such fearsome desire to protect and make proud. It was an interesting feeling deep inside Orihime's heart. Mommy was being protected by her babies, an odd turn of events indeed, but one that made Orihime feel as though she'd definitely done a good job over the past week, to warrant such emotion towards her.