Chapter 27
Tia Harribel, Queen of Hueco Mundo and the remaining Arrancar, sat on her stone throne in the ruins of Las Noches and looked up to the moon, losing herself within the drifting rays of light. Though she had stared into moon for many nights for over a century, tonight had an effect she hadn't felt since her time as a Vasto Lorde. She was yet again alone with her pack in these vast deserts. She had lost her many companions. And they had sacrificed everything for Aizen, ending themselves in bloodshed and gore. All for nothing.
She swirled her vanilla tea and breathed in the aroma till her airways were filled with the sweet scent. Aizen had served this tea during every Espada meeting, encouraging all to drink and relax and enjoy the company. She had brushed him off at first, for she didn't need the company of male brutes, but oh she had been so wrong. And so surprised when she first stepped into the blazing lights of Las Noches a year ago, stunned by the blue skies and bright colours cast by the fake sun.
There was Ulquiorra. He'd been the most different from the other males and Arrancar—even herself. But so, so empty and void of anything except his peculiar curiousness. He had conversed with Tia on the odd occasion, asking the dullest question. What's it like being a shark, he had asked when Aizen introduced her to the Espada. And she had blanked, then quipped a response out of instinct—we eat prey, including bats that flutter too close to our jaws. He hadn't even smirked, or threw a comeback of any sort… or even appear to understand she had spoken in jest.
And Starrk. He had been… the most human like, if she knew what that meant. Carefree, calm, loyal, and yet powerful beyond belief, contrasted by his lazy-as-hell attitude, sleeping through every sparring session Aizen had arranged to train the Arrancar. Many had doubted his power after he Aizen recruited him, including Tia. But after the day Aizen ordered a demonstration… Everyone had backed off, showing Starrk so much respect that even she had grown to admire him. The others had slunk off into the shadows whenever he woke and wandered the halls, but she kept her head high and squared her shoulders when she approached him. He wasn't as scary as anyone had thought—quite the opposite.
And now he was dead along with his other half, Lilynette—another female killed in battle. Another female Tia couldn't protect. Another meaningless sacrifice.
Bristling, she gritted her teeth as her grip tightened around the marble cup. She should have saved him and Lilynnette… She shouldn't have counted on Aizen. She shouldn't have trusted him. She shouldn't have toyed with the kid-captain and let her guard down when Aizen turned on her.
Even now, months after that battle, the sting of Aizen's blade still felt fresh across her stomach whenever she thought back to the critical moment she had underestimated his illusion. Painful beyond belief. She hadn't been wounded so badly in centuries—not once since had reached the height of Hollow evolution.
When she had awoken in the ruins of that city, she vowed vengeance on Aizen and the two Soul Reapers who followed him. She vowed to admonish herself from her failure, from how she had let down her companions and their sacrifice. Her rage had boiled the seas within her depths when she had charged back into the skies of that fake city.
But that Human girl whom had been captured by Ulquiorra called out from a rooftop, revealing Aizen had been defeated and she had healed Tia.
Just like that, her vow also became meaningless.
Her Pesquisa tingled gently, signalling the approach of an ally.
"We're almost out of tea, mistress," Sung-sun said and walked to her side from the adjoining hallway. "The caches of supplies Aizen left behind are almost empty."
"Hmph." Tia settled her cup on the marble table.
Leaning forward, Sung-sun peeked under Tia's golden bangs of hair. "Is something wrong?"
"I'll miss drinking it," she said and stood, then walked to the balcony overlooking to the deserts.
Sung-sun trailed behind, her steps not making a sound like the other remaining Arrancar. "But how do you really feel, mistress?" She giggled, muffled by her long sleeve.
The pale sands remained still as always, like a frozen ocean made of grey waters. She had wandered deserts for over many centuries before evolving, cutting down every foe, every male that dared challenge her. And they had been crafty—burying in the sand, casting illusions with their natural Hollow power, and ambushing her in gangs. She cut them to pieces and drank their fading essence. Every single one of them.
Sung-sun nudged her arm. "Hmmm?"
"Perhaps we should raid the Soul Society for some."
"You'd really do that for some tea?" she said, blinking.
"No."
"Then?" She tilted her head, the colours of her face-markings shifting in the moonlight. "Hold the next Soul Reaper that comes here as Hostage to exchange for a crate?" she said slyly.
Tia huffed. "Don't be ridiculous." She liked vanilla tea a lot, more than than she should, but she wouldn't do something so stupid over a luxury. She was a Hollow after all—not a human… She hadn't been one for several centuries.
Yet she felt closer to being a Human than ever before… ever since becoming an Arrancar.
Sung-sun waved her sleeve covered hand in her face.
"What is it?" Tia said, gently slapping her fragile hand away.
"Have you heard of the news?"
So that's why Sung-sun felt chatty today.
Tia sighed. "Did another pack of Hollows go insane? Was another blood-lusted Adjucha born?"
"Yes to the first…" she trailed off, looking into the desert for a moment. "But… that's not it. Some of the still-sane Adjuchas interrogated a few of the crazy ones who made it back alive recently…" She poked her tongue into her cheek.
"Yes?" Tia couldn't help her interest… she had become fed up over the boredom these months.
"They say they felt an incredible burst of spirit energy in the Seireitei."
Tia lifted an eyebrow. "It's not uncommon for those brutes to spar."
"They say the sky over their city turned black. Not even the head Soul Reaper can do that, you have to admit."
The old man—the fire demon who burned her pack and thousands of Hollows over the years. And someone now eclipsed him.
Tia bit down on her surprise, thanking her extra-high collar for masking much of her expression. "So what? And I doubt their Pesquisas was accurate enough to feel through those walls."
"Perhaps…"
Shrugging, Tia casually fired a Cero into the horizon, lighting up the night sky in a tinge of yellow and gold. "It doesn't matter how powerful they become. They know they can't wipe us out, or they'll disrupt the balance between the worlds. There's billions of souls scattered out there." She glanced at Sung-sun, wondering if she had an unreached potential. "And even if they do, only their strongest few captains are a match for me."
Sung-sun giggled.
"Hmph." Tia shrugged her off, and decided to divert the conversation before her irritation flared. "We could ask that shop keeper for some tea packets next time he comes visit though."
Sung-sun smirked, and for a few second, Tia expected her to not take the hint. "Alright… I'll keep a lookout for him"
"Good, I'm looking forward to it," Tia said, turning back to her throne. "I have some questions for him."
"Questions?"
"Hmmm." Tia sat down, then recalled her encounter with him, Urahara as he had introduced himself too casually, then rambled on about his life as a shopkeeper in the living world. Tia didn't know whether to execute the fool or humour him by playing the charade. Whatever he was, he hadn't appeared very strong—at first. Whatever it was, the man was more dangerous than he let on. And he was definitely a Soul Reaper—like Aizen.
"Just some questions. Like how he managed to get here."
"Does it really matter?"
"Yes, it does," Tia said, her voice hard. "Everytime time a non-Hollow comes to this world, trouble comes with them. Approach him with caution. That's an order."
"Absolutely, Mistress," Sung-sun said, dipping her head. "He seemed innocent enough though… I watched him the entire time. All he did was wander around the areas where the Hollows first started going crazy. He took a few scoops of sand and left."
"He's not to be trusted. He's a Soul Reaper," Tia said flatly. "I could feel his spirit energy, even if you couldn't."
"Hmmmmm," Sung-sun mumbled, tilting her head. "That's true I guess."
And it was true. Tia had perfected her Pesquisa for hours every night before she slept, sharpening every tingle and twinge to react to the tiniest speck of spirit energy. She trained to be more powerful, more observant than any other Hollow or Arrancar. She wouldn't be caught off-guard by a damn Soul Reaper again. She wouldn't fall prey to another one of their illusion abilities.
But one thing had lingered on her mind every night… She bit her lip and swallowed. "Tell me, what is the name of that human who defeated Aizen?"
Flinching, Sung-sun straightened and let her arm droop to her side. "Oh what's this? Orihime didn't tell you when she healed us?"
"No."
"Mmmm… It was Ichigo Kurosaki. Why do you ask?"
"I was only curious," she lied, not wanting to reveal how many times her thoughts had strayed to this mystery person. Since that day, she hadn't slept well every night, tossing and turning till she exhausted the overflow of her spirit energy, and fell into a sleep riddled with cold-sweat. She couldn't let it go—couldn't accept that a mere human had succeeded where she failed.
Sung-sun covered her mouth with her sleeved hand again. "Did you also know he lost his Soul Reaper powers from the fight?"
Tia's stomach flipped. "I did not," she blurted as her heart skipped several beats. "Leave me," she breathed, waving her away.
"Yes mistress," she said, strolling through the doorway. "I'll be on the lookout for the shopkeeper… for the tea."
Tia jolted from her throne and punched the Sekkiseki wall, then kept punching till her anger only simmered in her temples, throbbing in her skull and behind her eyes. She shouldn't be so emotional, but a mere human had outclassed her and took the sacrifice she should have rightfully made. It was her aspect of death—why she had protected her pack and fellow Arrancar. They sacrificed everything and she had sacrificed nothing in return. She had utterly and completely failed.
Flipping her hair, she paced back onto the balcony, her steps rugged and far from elegant. She couldn't help it—her Hollow side that she had fully controlled decades ago. Before she lost control to her rabid instinct, she closed her eyes and breathed, centering herself on her heart and rhythmic thumps throughout her body. The calming technique helped whenever she needed to reign in her mood, but it would be never the same as when she had been a human…
A human. Tia had been born as the only human-like Arrancar with a beating heart that no other Hollow possessed. It was her gift, so to speak, granting her a trait that outshone the rest. Not like Ulquiorra's regeneration or Starrk's split soul, but her own piece of humanity she could grasp onto to fill the Hollow hole within her womb. More human and more compassionate than the rest, but more vulnerable in battle. Though her heart had almost costed her existence during her time as an Adjucha, she wouldn't trade it anything. Not even for all the vanilla tea in Soul Society.
But still, a half-human had trumped her and took down that betraying rat. Perhaps Tia should thank him, owe him a debt as the humans would say, or challenge him to a battle for taking her vengeance and sacrifice. But he wouldn't even be able to see her, if he was just a human now. She growled through her throat and shot a cero into the distance, then paced till the thought of Ichigo Kurosaki was bearable.
As her pacing slowed, a pitter-patter of steps registered in her Pesquisa.
Tia flashed down onto the sand in a sluggish Sonido. "Nelliel, where are you going?"
"Gahh!" Nell blurted, tumbling backwards into the sand. "Tia scared Nel!"
Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, Tia stood for ten seconds before speaking. She had learnt to be patient with the child-Arrancar, and definitely not emotional when speaking to her. "I didn't mean to. I was just worried for your safety."
"Nel's okay!" she chirped and balanced herself on the dune, then dusted off thin sand. "What brings Tia out to the sand?"
Tia could have laughed, bemused by the childish antics and carefree demeanour much like Lilynette's. But this was serious. The Hollows had been getting worse every day. "Why are you running away from the fortress? You know the Hollows out there aren't nice."
Nel scratched her head, her stocky fingers brushing against her cracked mask. "Aaahhhh Nel forgot."
"I will wait till you remember." Tia swallowed her irritation and relaxed her stance.
"Okay!" Nell chirped at bounced on the sand. "Nel will build a sand castle!"
And so Tia sighed and looked to the horizon as Nel hurled up saliva onto the sand.
Only a minute passed till Nel spoke. "Oh I remember!" She jumped straight and pointed into the sand far into the distance. "The Menos are having a party!"
Tia spun to where she pointed, firing a pulse of her Pesquisa into the desert in all directions. Empty desert occupied most of the world's surface, a few small animal-Hollows dotted here and there. Most souls had been condensed into the packs of Menos Grande that roamed the forests beneath, attracting lesser Hollows like a beacon. Fools—that's what every newborn Hollow was, charging into the Menos blindly, thinking they found an easy meal.
Tia's Pesquisa sifted through the forests and sand, picking up a few stray Menos within a few miles, and a tiny lizard Hollow too. And true to Nel's word, hundreds— no, thousands of Menos Grande wafted towards a gathering fifty miles to the west. "Another Adjucha being born like this… Born into insanity," she mumbled and turned to Nel. "Apologies, Nelliel, I was preoccupied and didn't notice. I'll take care of—"
Her Pesquisa passed through a source of spirit energy so dense and so concentrated that her heart stuttered. She flashed into the air, throwing her gaze eastward to the where the desert had thinned out, barren of Hollows and had been so for several years now.
But that wasn't all… The spirit energy was mostly that of a Soul Reaper's—at least as powerful as a captain.
"Nel!" Tia snapped. "Tell Grimmjow to take care of the Adjucha!"
"But—"
"Now!"
After a few seconds, Nel jerked a nod and hurried back into the fortress.
Tia buzzed into the east, drawing her blade.
There was a glimmer in the void.
Karin dove for that last spark of light. She had drifted through the void for countless hours, swimming through eddies of indigo, black, and dark blue Reishi laced in the darkness. Only the sparks had shone rays of light into the void and revealed it's bottomless expanse. She had thought the spray of sparks were from a beacon leading to Soul Society, but she was wrong. The sparks were leaking from her soul, and as each pinpoint of light fizzled, so had a piece of her memories.
She had panicked, throwing tantrums and shouts into the darkness for none to see, for none to hear. And she had broken down and curled into a ball as she cried, watching every memory fade. There was a lovely woman, whom Karin didn't have a name or picture for—only a visage remained in her mind. There was a young boy, and a man, and a younger man, and many others whom were left as white outlines, empty and cold.
The last spark slipped through her fingers.
Just like the sparks before, catching it was an impossibility—a hope she had clinged on to for the sake of her sanity. She had kicked, clawed, and even bit down on the pieces of light falling from her soul, but her limbs only passed through, as if she wasn't there in the first place. As if she was on another plane of the dimension.
The spark fizzled and winked out of existence. She was left it darkness.
Her last memory of Yuzu disintegrated, crumbling into a million coloured cubes starting from the walls of an unrecognisable house. In a brief, pained moment, the memory was no more. Yuzu's innocent smile was no more.
"No," she cried.
She didn't know why she cried, or whom she cried for in this empty abyss. Only dim traces of people remained, burned into her mind she'd see every time she closed her eyes. The tears didn't stop flowing down her cheeks, and she lost track of how long she had cried when her eyes finally dried, leaving a dull ache in her throat and sinuses.
Time passed, clocked by the eddies of Reishi. She counted each twirl, each revolution and each tiny alteration of their eternal dance routine. She counted to the thousands—to the hundreds of thousands till the numbers became too large to think within a twirl.
And then she'd start counting all over again, doing her best to ignore the many empty silhouettes in her mind. She'd feel a spike of anguish in her chest whenever she looked over the group of empty outlines, bringing her loss to the forefront of her thoughts. The young girl stood out the most—calling to her, beckoning as if she was a best friend, or a lovely sister.
She shook her head and shoved her away. It wouldn't make a difference now, for wallowing in pain wouldn't bring those sparks back. Only the higher power, or whoever was in control of this void could, and if she ever met that person, she'd give them hell for what they had just taken from her.
In time, she grew accustomed to her loss. She probably died recently, she reasoned. They'd move on, in time, and so should she.
Except nothing in this void helped her move on. Counting the twirls of Reishi barely served as a distraction.
"Ladadee, ladadoo, ladedaa," she began singing as she counted. "Ladadoo, ladadee, ladadaa…"
At least she had the eddies for company.
"Oh gods," she said, throwing her head back. "I'm going insane."
Half chuckling, half sobbing, she continued her count to the ends of the void and beyond.
She had nothing left, nothing to lose and nothing to offer the void for guidance. She only had her count, and the Reishi that wouldn't talk back no matter how much she questioned them. They'd twirl and twirl, but never notice her existence—if she existed at all.
Shrugging, she backstroked through the void as she counted, letting the minutes and hours pass seamlessly. Though time had no meaning here.
Only when her count had died down in her head and she had settled into a mindless trance, she realised. She forgot her name.
And she didn't even care.
She didn't care she had lost her name, because without her memories and without knowing who she was, any name would be pointless. She'd be living in the body of another, living as someone whom would be recognised by friends and family unrecognisable to her. Strangers in her eyes, and worst of all, she'd break their hearts if they saw her like this.
So she floated in the void and let the time pass for what she'd count as days through the twirls of Reishi.
Eventually, a voice called to her, nudging her out of the trance.
'All has been aligned… It is your time…'
The voice was familiar in ways—layered, ancient, emotionless, and permeated through the void in an echo.
'All has been aligned… It is your time…'
"Who are you?"
For a moment, she worried that the voice belonged to one whom she had forgotten before it spoke again. 'Look… and see…'
"Where?" She looked around and searched for the source of the voice.
Appearing suddenly, a fluttering spec of light lingered in the distance, distorted by the dancing Reishi.
Before she realised what had happened to her, she stood in a dimly lit room decorated with several lines of curtains, sluggishly hooked to the walls. Hundreds of candles burned on the floorboards in concentric circles, a dark-skinned, bald man sitting in the center, chanting in a low voice. As the muddled words echoed in the room, many bands of black and white liquid swirled in the air and occasionally peeled off towards—
What appeared to be a man without arms or legs suspended in a crystal, emotionless and blank. Creepy as hell—made worse by his four-pupil eyes.
"Hey," she said.
The dark man didn't turn around.
"Hey!"
When her call fell on deaf ears, she stomped forward, but when her foot passed through a candle as if she wasn't there, she jumped back and passed through the body of another man.
"What the hell?" she spat, tumbling to the curtained entrance. "Hey! You two!"
She stood and stormed in front of the standing man, waving her hand in his pale face and ridiculous hair. Her irritation bubbled more. "Hey Bozo!"
'They can not hear or see... while you are in the elevated plane,' the voice she heard in the void called.
She turned to where she heard the voice—to the man-crystal. "Is that you?"
'Yes… It is easier… to communicate when you are close.'
"So who are you? And why are you like that?"
"There is little time for talk…"
"what happened to my memories?!" she snapped. She'd get some answers for that if nothing else.
The man-crystal didn't respond and kept his eight-pupil gaze to the distance.
"Answer me! What happened to—"
The pale man interrupted "Do you think they'll handle it without Kurosaki?"
"It is difficult to say," the dark man replied.
"How much energy did you redirect into that animal?"
"A cupful." His tone was clipped. "Mmmm… Maybe a thousand cup fulls. Really big cups."
The pale man whistled "Oooo shit."
"Okay okay. Over three thousand bathtubs."
He whistled again. "Do we need to go down there?"
"If it gets out of hand, yes."
She blinked, jaw drooping as every sentence was exchanged. If she had her memories, she'd be sure she just heard the most vague conversation in her life. Cupfuls of energy—absolute nonsense. "What the hell are you two talking about?! What happened to my memories?!"
When they didn't respond, she huffed and looked away. Perhaps not knowing the answer would be better for her sanity. Perhaps she didn't want to know in the first place. "What assholes."
The pale man strolled a few steps forward, stopping a feet before the first line of candles. "If anyone kicks the bucket, it's on you, especially if it's the Kuchiki girl." He chuckled. "Kurosaki won't like that one bit."
"This leaking power has to go somewhere. It was either the bunny or a hundred thousand souls this time. Even if I chose the latter, they'd still have to fight off another one of those juiced up bug Hollows."
"What about the next time? We only had one of those animals to work with."
"By then… I'm counting on Kurosaki to—"
A high-pitched screech reverberated through the room, followed by a wave of purple and black light.
She spun back to the man-crystal. A crack had formed on the outer-crystal, leaking purple and black miasma. She sidestepped as the miasma crept to her body. A call of her instinct told to not touch the shimmering air.
"Do something!" she shouted.
The dark man began chanting again and the bands of white-black liquid filled in the cracks. Not before long, the crystal was perfectly repaired and the leaking substance dispersed like steam. She pulled her arm back as a stray piece fell onto her hand and singed the top layers of her skin.
'Power is fading,' the man-crystal said. 'Balance is disrupted… All may be lost…'
"What do you mean?" she asked, both worried and irritated from his perpetual vagueness. "What will be lost?"
'Everything… There is little time… You have chosen…'
"I haven't chosen anythi—" she realised he was referring to something she had forgotten about. "What did I choose?"
'Your sacrifice.' The top-right pupil in each of his eyes started glowing a brilliant scarlet, shinning brighter till the light flooded through the candles and blue sky leaking through the curtains.
She backed away a couple of steps to the entrance, and debated whether to run out while the two men remained oblivious.
'Stay…' His glowing pupils floated out of his crystal and shot into her eyes. She slapped her hands onto her eyes, expecting an intense pain as every muscle constricted. But there was no pain when she looked again.
'My passing will soon come… you will play a pivotal role when that time arrives…'
"And you're not going to explain what that means?"
'It is uncertain… the lines of fate are dispersed.'
She thought to retort, to raise the questions of her memories and his maimed form again, but bit her tongue and restrained herself. She had an incline that he was the dark and mysterious type—no matter how much she'd question, she'd only receive half answers or none at all. "Fine," she mumbled, shoving away the thoughts of the blank silhouette left by her memories.
"Look," the pale man said. "He only has three per eye now."
The dark man nodded, as if he could see what had been happening the entire time.
"Does that mean he's about to roll over?"
The dark man shook his head. "We still have time… unless Kurosaki does something again and draws energy, it should be stable for a week or two. And that should be enough for him." He took a breath and rushed a few mouthfuls of his strange chant in between sentences. "I don't know when, and I don't know how, but he'll be—"
The air rippled, and no more sound came from the dark man's mouth despite his moving lips.
'It is time!' the man-crystal roared, his layered voice tearing through the room like a drum. 'Take your place within the begging of the new world!'
"New world?" She gasped, jolting straight as a torrent of red spirit energy erupted around her, cascading towards her from all directions and spinning around her body in a vortex.
The energy collapsed into her chest, punching through her heart and filling her being with such emptiness, sorrow, and anger that a feral scream escaped her throat. Never had she felt such base emotion, despite not having any of her memories, and this certainly couldn't be human emotion. This was something very different.
She clawed at her chest, where the emptiness concentrated, but her fingers passed through air.
"What the hell?" she whispered, looking down to her chest.
A hole had formed where her heart at been, but the gaping wound didn't bleed or sting or pain her at all. Just pure emptiness and raging emotion, and it was taking over her mind. Anguish. Sorrow. Her lost memories.
She collapsed to her knees. "What the hell did you do to me?"
The air ripple again, then the scene and her body shattered as if made of ice, yet she could still somehow see the bits of her skin and bones breaking off and clunking into the void. And when her limbs disintegrated, she felt as if she hadn't had limbs her entire life. As if it was natural to be without a body.
When the pieces disintegrated, she was suddenly looking up to a crescent moon and bathing within it's gentle rays. The light shone into her empty depths, resonating with her myriad of emotions. And there was hunger too… Hunger for power, for battle, for blood and agony of any foe that'd cross her.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAA" She whipped her tail and slashed her claw through the air, releasing a wave of red energy by instinct. The sands she stood on glassed when the wave glided through. Where did this body come from? She didn't care.
"Tch, I came all this way for a weakling," a male voice said.
She spun around, sweeping her tail through the sand. She flickered her gaze back and forth within the flat crater, and almost missed a blue-haired humanoid figure, half her size. Was he a human? She would have thought so, but he had a hole his abdomen much like her own.
And he apparently wanted to fight.
Oh, she'd give him one and sink her teeth into his flesh.
A/N
A/N: The tone and feel of the fic has definitely changed, especially with this chapter. Ichigo's interaction with his harem will continue to be humorous and light though. This chapter also introduces the final POV character of this fic—Tier Harribel.
The karin scene was difficult to write—for many reasons. I just couldn't get it right for a long time, and even now it's still quite off. It's quite rushed with a lot happening, partly because I wanted to get these events out of the way to move the plot forward, but mostly because I didn't want a 10-15k word section of the fic dedicated to karin's journey to becoming a Hollow. Basically, the Soul King forcibly reincarnated her as an adjucha while one was being born from a thousand Menos Grande, if you're not following.
So what next is pretty obvious. Harribel meets Ichigo, who just arrived in hueco mundo, and karin fights grimmjow. But next chapter will cut back to soul society, and continue with whatever is happening there.
