Chapter 29
Vellena, too, was restless. With Grimmjow gone and her weapons prepared for any battles, she had nothing to do. So she followed his lead and left the apartments for the austere white halls. She too, felt it when Aaroniero died, felt Kurosaki's clashes with an unknown reiatsu and then with Ulquiorra. And then she felt Grimmjow's reiatsu surge in the vicinity of Orihime's room. Knowing that nothing good could come of whatever it was he was doing, she increased her pace. Now she had a destination.
She arrived to find the door to the girl's room gone, rubble everywhere, and two familiar looking arrancar females looking terrified.
They spotted her. "You're too late. Grimmjow's gone, and Ulquiorra's gone after him. By the time you catch up, Ulquiorra will have killed him." The black-haired one – Vellena rather thought her name was Loly, but she wasn't sure on that point – spat.
"If he hasn't killed Grimmjow, then Aizen-sama will. Aizen-sama is going to be seriously pissed off when he hears about this." The blonde said. Both girls gave Vellena baleful glares.
"I see," she said, impassively. Silently, she turned and walked away from the room. This was not good. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow – she hated to say it, but Grimmjow couldn't stand against the Cuarto.
When she felt their reiatsu burst, she broke into a run. She wasn't rationally thinking about what she might do about this – all she was thinking was that she had to get to Grimmjow, had to prevent him from making a terrible mistake. From getting himself… killed.
She traced the reiatsu, letting her feet carry her where they would. She was getting closer, she could feel it. This was certainly the right way. Close. So intent was she on her destination that she almost ran into Nnoitra.
Her swords were in her hands almost instantaneously as she skidded to a halt. The Quinto was leering at her, malice in his single eye.
"Where are you going in such a hurry, cunt?" he hissed. "Don't tell me you're rushing off to Grimmjow? Going to help him disobey Aizen? Maybe you're going back to rescue the girl yourself?"
"Fuck off, Nnoitra." She didn't have time for this.
"I'm not finished with you yet," he said, blocking the corridor with his blade. "We have a discussion we need to finish, you and I."
"If you wish to die, Nnoitra, keep this up. Otherwise, get out of my way." She snapped. He swung at her, grinning like a madman, heaving his axe around with breathtaking speed. She dodged easily, raising her swords to retaliate, blades already blazing with power. Elsewhere, she felt Grimmjow clash with Ulquiorra and Ulquiorra vanish. She couldn't be concerned with that right now.
"Not so fast." Nnoitra raised a device, pointing it at her. She eyed it uncertainly. "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere. Aizen-sama had… concerns… about your loyalty. So he had Szayel fashion this." The tall Espada grinned at her. She felt a stab of concern. That feeling intensified a whole lot when Nnoitra pressed a button, and she felt her runic power slip away, beyond her grasp. Reaching out with her reiatsu, she discovered suddenly that she had none.
Eyes wide, she stared at Nnoitra. "What have you done?" she demanded. This was really not good.
"Nice, isn't it? Something Szayel cooked up. You gave him enough material – your reiatsu, hundreds of hours of footage of you fighting Grimmjow… Really, now, bitch, what did you expect? To be returned home like a good little girl so you could go on your merry way?" His grin was positively evil. "This is just where the fun begins!"
She dodged his attacks. She couldn't back up her natural speed and agility now with sonido, but somehow she managed to avoid losing her head, or her limbs. Darting forward, she thrust her swords at his chest. He laughed maniacally, taking a few steps back to reveal himself as unharmed. She cursed. That damn hierro. Her blades alone could never touch him.
"I'm going to make you wish you were never born, you stupid bitch. You're going to beg for mercy before I'm done with you." The arrancar hissed.
She managed to avoid a few more of his lightning fast attacks before he finally connected. She went flying back, into the wall. Before she could recover, Nnoitra was there, kicking her. Fists and boots collided with her, the occasional broad-side smash with his axe. Bones cracked, her sluggish black blood oozed from cuts. With her power gone, she couldn't do much to prevent the assault. She was struggling just to keep herself whole. She focused on merely enduring, surviving.
There was an explosive rumble and two familiar reiatsus flared – Grimmjow and Kurosaki. She could feel it even with her own reiatsu gone, it was that powerful. Nnoitra paused, letting go of her collar. He turned from her; apparently certain she couldn't get away. But she could. She mustered just enough strength to roll away for a patch of shadow while his back was turned. Feeling like a coward, she used an ability she had never demonstrated, one that Szayel's fel device couldn't counter. Hueco Mundo was a land of eternal night, and she was a night elf. She vanished, fading completely into the shadows, thanking the fact that she hadn't left a blood-trail for him to track.
He turned back and did a sudden double take at seeing her gone. Suspicion gleamed in his single eye as he swung his axe against where she had been, scarring the wall deeply. It would have decapitated her if she was there. But she wasn't – she was yards away, and invisible, not even daring to breathe.
"I know you're around here, bitch!" Nnoitra snapped. Another surge of reiatsu from Grimmjow and his opponent caught his attention. He grinned. "Don't worry, cunt. I'll be back for you. You won't go very far in that state. I'll come back for you with Grimmjow's head, and then we'll really get started. Or maybe I'll let him live, and make him watch as I destroy you." He sneered, casting his voice around the corridor, eye darting from side to side as he attempted to spot her. Then he stalked off in the direction of the battle.
Vellena waited several minutes before moving, wanting to be absolutely certain he was gone. She couldn't extend her senses outside herself – she could feel the reaitsus that blazed when they brushed against her, but her own reiatsu was sluggish. It was returning, she thought, now that Nnoitra and his device were gone. But she was not recovering instantly.
Deal with the wounds first. In this state she wasn't going far indeed, and then she might as well just wait for Nnoitra to return and end it. She fumbled with her pack, finding a roll of bandages. She bound her ribs with difficulty, binding some of the cuts and slices while she was at it. She couldn't do much for her broken left arm besides putting it in a makeshift sling. She was a little surprised to find two healing potions in her bag while she was rummaging for the bandage – she quaffed one and felt a bit better. She couldn't drink the other until this one had a chance to process – too many healing potions in quick succession were known to be dangerous.
Leaving the shadows, she hoisted herself painfully to her feet. Slowly, she took a few hesitant steps down the corridor. When she didn't fall down, she kept going. She was aware that she was probably being watched – hundreds of hours of footage? She didn't know what footage was, but the implication was clear. How foolish of her to assume they had no way of monitoring, especially since she knew that the corridors, at least, were watched. Gin's fooling around had tipped her off to that.
Well, maybe he wasn't manning the monitoring device now, because she found her way to the blasted tower well enough, if slowly. Outside, she could feel the terrible pressure of Grimmjow and Kurosaki going at it.
She made her way past the rubble and out into the sands in time to see Grimmjow transform from his usual form, his sword disappearing, his body becoming more cat-like, covered in segmented armour, sprouting long, fuzzy ears and a tail, his blue hair growing really long. This must be resurrección – Grimmjow had spoken of it once or twice. She had to admit, it suited him.
She took a moment to lean against the wall and watch the fight. There was nothing she could do right now. She could not sense Nnoitra; but she knew he was lurking around somewhere. He clearly hadn't spotted her, or she'd likely be dead already.
The sound of bells approaching caught her attention, sending her long ears twitching. She turned, using the wall for support, and faced the source. Feeling the incredible reiatsu of the oncoming shinigami roll over her like the crashing of waves in an Auberdine gale, she tried to stand a little straighter. For now, she was certainly dead; facing that, she had no hope.
