Embee: What's with the freakishly early update and the AN?

Legolas: This chapter is dedicated to Lady Avotil, who has been taking a lot of exams this past week.

Embee: So as a little post-test reward, we decided to post this chapter early! Don't worry, we'll still post on Sunday. Hope you did well on those exames, Lady Avotil! -Eglomps-

Beyond the Veil: Beginnings of Betrayal

Unfortunately, once the newly-dubbed 'Marauders of the Soul Society' plunged into battle, they were quickly swept up in the madness of the fight. The four were split as they tried to weave through the mob, attempting to search for any enemy trying to make his or her way to the castle.

Oszlár scowled as he slew his third Arrancar. He had quickly discovered that there were enemies of all kinds of skill levels, which made him think that Aizen had simply brought all the Arrancar from Los Noches for the sole purpose of causing mass confusion and the slow wearing-down of the opposing forces.

"Whatever his plan, it's working," Oszlár muttered, shaking the blood from his Zanpakutou. Suddenly he was pushed to the ground when something heavy crashed into him. A cero suddenly shot right where his head had been just moments before.

The redhead reacted immediately. He shoved whoever had landed on him off and leapt to his feet, his green eye darting between his two attackers.

"Oi, you're a shinigami, right?" the person who Oszlár had pushed away said, picking himself off the ground. "Then we're allies. It's bloody hard to tell, when some of these 'Arrancar' have really small bone fragments."

Oszlár risked a closer look at the speaker, as the other attacker's path was being blocked by a couple of Eleventh Divisioners.

He appeared to be roughly eighteen, and was obviously a relative of Ron Weasely's. The young man had a shock of red hair that rivalled Oszlár's, but had a mischievous look to his face that reminded the shinigami student of Lefu. He was sporting a black eye and a nasty cut across his cheek, yet still found the energy to grin.

"Weasley?" Oszlár said, turning back to watch for their oncoming attacker. Sirius had told him many stories about the Weasley family.

The young man nodded. "Fred's my name. I've got a twin named George. You'll want to watch this guy," Fred added, coming to stand beside Oszlár. "Arrogant like a Slytherin, but bloody insane. Don't let him remove his mask, he gets stronger each time he does."

Oszlár narrowed his eyes. "Duly noted."

Before he could try and gage his opponent's reiatsu level with his Hollow-scarred eye, Fred continued.

"You know, you could be a relative. A long-dead relative, I suppose. You remind me of Percy, only less of an arrogant bastard."

Ignoring the human wizard, Oszlár closed his green eye, and then nearly choked on his own spit. The reiatsu levels of all the combatants around him, plus the innate reiatsu of Hogwarts itself, was overwhelming. Oszlár quickly had to cut his power. It was nothing like when he had searched for Aizen's and Voldemort's presences. They had been near the outskirts of Hogwarts, and their reiatsu pretty much erased every else's around them.

"So I have no way of knowing how strong he is," Oszlár muttered to himself. In a louder voice he addressed Fred. "I'm Oszlár. Oszlár Bokor. Let's see what a wizard and a shinigami can do together."

Fred grinned again.

"Oh, this should be fun," came a voice, drawing both their attention back to their approaching opponent. The Arrancar had long blond hair and a white mask that covered half of his face. He was carrying a narrow Zanpakutou, and appeared as if he was simply out for an evening stroll. Behind him lay the bodies of three Eleventh Divisioners. "Mr. Fred I know, but who are you?"

"The one who's going to send you to hell," Oszlár growled, already feeling his Hollow-like impulses rise to the surface. Oh yes, he would enjoy killing this one…

The Arrancar tsked. "No es exacto. Weren't you ever taught any manners? Like this. I am Findorr Calius, loyal Fracción of his majesty, Lord Baraggan Louisenbairn."

"Hadou 4, Byakurai!" Oszlár shouted, pointing a finger and shooting a bolt of lightning at Findorr. The Arrancar scowled with distaste and used Sonído to avoid the hit.

"I'll distract him," Oszlár said quickly to Fred. "Wait for an opening and then knock him out."

Fred was given no time to answer as almost immediately Findorr appeared behind Oszlár.

"I was hoping that my first shinigami opponent this evening would be a bit more challenging," Findorr pouted.

Oszlár whirled around and gave the Arrancar a manic grin. "Maybe this will satisfy you."

Then he launched his attack, an onslaught of rapid slices and stabs that startled even Findorr. The Arrancar quickly recovered and returned Oszlár's insane look with one of his own.

"¡Exacta!" Findorr exclaimed. "That is what I am looking for!"

Findorr then promptly forgot about Fred and gave his attention to a more 'entertaining' opponent. Jumping back with an insane grin on his face, the Arrancar pointed his sword at Oszlár and said,

"Carve upon the water."

Immediately reiatsu flared up, encasing the Arrancar. Oszlár knew it would be stupid to rush forward and risk getting blinded without knowing what the Arrancar would do.

"What the hell is that?" Fred asked, shocked.

Oszlár bared his teeth in distaste. "A mockery of shinigami's Zanpakutou," he answered. "Each Arrancar can 'unleash' their powers, which basically means they revert to their previous state as a Hollow."

Before either could say more, the reiatsu cleared, and they both immediately readied their stances. Findorr reappeared from the cloud of spirit energy, vastly changed. The right half of his body appeared to be covered in scales, and his right arm had been transformed into a giant claw. A smaller claw adorned his left hand.

"Pinzaguda," Findorr finished with a smirk.

"Right, I reckon it's a good idea to avoid getting hit by that thing," Fred said.

Findorr immediately rushed forward at Oszlár. "¡Exacta!"

Oszlár quickly brought up his Zanpakutou to block it, and felt his feet dig into the ground at the force of the blow. With an easy swipe of his claw, Findorr sent the small redhead flying, but Fred was quick to stop Oszlár's momentum.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Fred shouted, whirling around so fast even Findorr was surprised. The Arrancar instinctively raised his claw to block the spell, and it harmlessly rebounded off his hardened skin.

Fred helped Oszlár to his feet. "By the way, I thought I should mention, most of my spells seem to be dampened against him, or any of the Arrancar, really."

Scowling, Oszlár nodded. "They all have Hierro, Steel Skin. They can even catch a blade bare-handed."

True to Fred's words, Findorr was still mobile even after a direct hit of the petrifying spell, although the movements of his right claw were a little slowed.

"Damn you, wizard," he growled. "I had thought you learned your lesson the first time."

Fred only grinned. "Unfortunately, you're not the first who's tried to 'teach' me."

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction Fred had provided, Oszlár Shunpo'd around Findorr and attacked him from behind. The Arrancar was forced to turn his back to Fred to block the redheaded shinigami. Fred immediately fired off two spells in rapid succession. Findorr growled and vanished, reappearing several paces away from the pair of redheaded attackers. Oszlár, however, managed to keep pace with the Arrancar, slicing his Zanpakutou across Findorr's chest while Fred cast several more curses.

"Fred, keep him occupied!" Oszlár shouted, flipping back to avoid Findorr's retaliation strike just as he was making a horizontal slice with his Zanpakutou. Fred quickly obeyed by causing some strange jelly-like substance to encase Findorr's ankles.

"Leap, Raishika!"

Bolts of yellow reiatsu flashed out from Oszlár's katana, circling around him and crackling ominously. It disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, spiralling back into the hilt.

Oszlár took an offensive stance and grinned wildly.

"Now, let's have some fun, shall we?"

OoOoOoOoO

Lefu came very close to decapitating a teammate when some bumbling Eleventh Divisioner barrelled in to him and caused him to lose sight of his three companions. Lefu quickly squashed his murderous impulses, deciding it wasn't all that big a deal.

He did, however, swear quite a bit and punch the guy into a different opponent.

It was too late to figure out where the other three had went, so Lefu decided to simply stick to the original plan and hope that he could find someone soon.

"Dammit, why didn't I think of giving them more communication devices? White and the kids are the only ones with them now," Lefu complained to himself, firing off a low-level Kidou spell to defeat his current opponent, one of the Death Eater wizards. The short woman crumpled with a cry. He had to admit, it felt weird to be fighting humans, even if those humans were wizards. Usually his enemies were Hollows, which might appear human-like on occasion, but Lefu knew that they were always monsters, despite what they looked like.

This, however, was much different, and a little disturbing. He had already had to kill four humans so far, and two low-level Arrancar. Despite the fact that Lefu had once been arrested for less-than-legal experiments, some of which actually included humans, Lefu had sworn he wouldn't intentionally harm another human, mortal or not, again. Unfortunately, the black man found himself breaking that promise over and over again.

When a particularly nasty curse seared his head, giving him a scar that would remain for years afterward, Lefu would later completely deny the fact that he had screeched like a little girl.

Whirling around and unsheathing his Zanpakutou in a fluid motion, Lefu readied himself for a tougher fight. He figured this next opponent would have to be of some strength if he or she had managed to cast such a deadly spell without Lefu sensing it.

Of course, it would be me to get the worst luck, Lefu thought when he recognized his opponent. Wasn't she dragged off to the castle?

Bellatrix Lestrange was giving Lefu a very creepy-looking smile.

"I was hoping to take off your great head," she pouted, "but you're too tall. Oh well, I hope you won't bore me."

Lefu was never one to waste time. He immediately released his Zanpakutou.

"Awaken, Shiyari!"

Bellatrix scowled. She hated waiting for the stupid shinigami to finish 'releasing' their weapon. She had learned early on that it wasn't very smart to just charge in while the shinigami were releasing their weapons, as she had burnt herself trying to do so. A wand was so much faster.

But Lefu was ready in a surprisingly short amount of time, as his Zanpakutou simply extended. Bellatrix was only saved from losing an arm by the six-foot spear the tall man was suddenly holding when she instinctively put up a barrier. The spear's razor-sharp tip cracked the shield, but it didn't penetrate it. Suddenly it cracked further, although it didn't appear as though Lefu was exerting any more pressure. Bellatrix was forced to release her spell and jump away to avoid Lefu's weapon.

"I'll try not to bore you, because I'd hate to distress a lady," Lefu said, grinning amiably as he shouldered his spear. "Although, I had hoped my opponent would be a bit more appealing."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and pretended to fluff up her hair. "I'm so sorry to disappoint you."

Then she slashed her wand and shot a stream of green light at Lefu, which he neatly sliced through with his spear. It appeared to do nothing to the beam at first, but just as Lefu was ducking to avoid the Killing Curse it fizzled out and disappeared.

Lefu straightened and glared at his spear, shaking it as he did so.

"Wake up already, you stupid lion," he growled. "This is a matter of life and death!"

If the Zanpakutou was listening, it gave no answer.

"Talking to your weapon?" Bellatrix said in a sing-song voice. "And they call me insane!"

Lefu rolled his eyes. "This damn lion takes forever to get into battle mode. One of these days he's going to get me killed."

The curly-haired woman cackled. "I certainly hope that's not today. I want to have the pleasure of killing you first! Avada Kedavra!"

This time Lefu didn't bother trying to attack the spell itself. He quickly put up a Kidou barrier and dodged, leaving Bellatrix temporarily blinded when the shield exploded. Lefu rolled under the smoke and lashed out with his spear, tripping up the witch.

Unfortunately, it meant he got a clear view of her rather unappealing undergarments.

"Oi, couldn't you have worn something a little more sexy?" Lefu complained. "Who wears those anymore?"

Bellatrix screeched and began casting spells so rapidly her wand was a blur. Lefu began running from the insane woman, dodging the curses where he could and raising Kidou barriers if the curse came too close. Friend and foe alike was hit by her attacks, but she no longer cared who got hit.

Come on you stupid lion, Lefu thought, directing it at his Zanpakutou. I had thought being in a proper battle would wake you up a bit…but you'd sleep even through Shorty's battles.

Lefu scowled as he remembered his fist encounter with his Zanpakutou spirit. The damn creature had been asleep when Lefu arrived in his inner world, not even bothering to acknowledge his wielder. It was only when Lefu had managed to wake Shiyari up that Lefu was able to unseal his Shikai, something that was harder than it sounded because somehow the lion was able to use his powers even when asleep.

Something that had not carried over into Shikai. So Lefu was forced to wait until Shiyari was awake fully to have full use of his powers.

So I somehow have to capture this woman without getting either of us killed, and convince her to tell me what the hell the Death Eaters are planning, Lefu thought sourly. All the while I'm only at half-power. WAKE UP DAMMIT!

Lefu thought he heard a chuckle, but there was no answer from Shiyari.

If I had Bankai, I could drag that damn lion out here and force it to wake up, he thought. Then again, he might just beat me up instead.

Lefu was broken out of his thoughts when suddenly his ankles locked together and he crashed to the ground, Shiyari spinning out of reach.

Dammit!

Lefu rolled onto his back and raised his hand to attempt raise some sort of Kidou shield, but immediately found that he had lost control over his body.

"Imperio," Bellatrix said, a manic grin splitting her face. Lefu felt an odd feeling of euphoria descend on him, and he immediately forgot about the very pressing concern that he needed to get the hell out of there.

"Good," the Death Eater purred, flicking her wand and making Lefu stand. "As much as I would love to kill you, I have things to do. I saw you enter the battle with that bastard cousin of mine, now what were you planning to do?"

"We were looking for you," Lefu answered pleasantly. He had a nagging feeling that he really shouldn't be telling her that, but the voice in his head sounded so pretty…

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"To discover your plan."

The witch seemed to think about that for a moment. "Who else is working with you and Sirius Black?"

Lefu began to list all the people in their little group. "Satoki Moguru, Hermione Granger, Oszlár Bokor, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter."

Bellatrix looked a little nervous at the mention of Harry's name. "Where are they?"

"Satoki, Oszlár, and Sirius got separated from me in the battle," Lefu answered, trying to ignore the tiny, faint, annoying voice in his head that was telling him to shut the hell up, wanting to focus on the pretty voice that he was sure came from a pretty girl. "Harry and his friends were sent to the castle to catch any Death Eaters or Arrancar sneaking around there."

Smiling, Bellatrix said in a gushy voice usually reserved for toddlers, "Oh thank you so very much. Why don't we find your widdle friends? I'm sure they're very worried about you."

Lefu nodded dreamily. "Yeah…worried…"

"You don't want them getting hurt do you?" Bellatrix continued, her words dripping with honeyed concern.

Lefu shook his head, frowning.

Gasping, Bellatrix clapped her hands to her mouth and said, "Oh, this is terrible! Something dangerous is going to be happening at the castle. You should get your friends out of there, to keep them safe."

"You're right," Lefu said, looking as though he had just made an earth-shattering discovery.

"Of course I am," Bellatrix sneered, and then flicked her wand. Lefu walked over and picked up his Zanpakutou, hefting it over his shoulder.

Walk up to the castle and find Sirius Black and Harry Potter, and the rest of your party. Get them out of the castle by any means necessary. Attack no one.

Lefu nodded to the voice in his head and began walking. Bellatrix almost giggled with glee at the brilliance of her plan. She wouldn't have to worry about getting through the battle safely. A glamour charm would hide her presence from her enemies, who would only see an ally, and she could protect her puppet from her own allies by simply letting them see her. And, of course, there was the plan itself.

After being separated from that stupid meddler who had stopped her fight with Sirius, Bellatrix had entertained herself by fighting off the weakling shinigami and wizards as she made her way to the castle. She had been a little nervous to see Sirius enter the fray with three other companions, and was relieved when various fights separated them. Then her plan had begun to form.

Bellatrix had assumed that Sirius was looking for her. She knew he would want revenge for his death, but he would also want to know why she had been pulled away from their fight in the first place.

Gryffindors were always going on about bravery and loyalty to friends, so how fun would it be to see Sirius's courage fail in the face of a friend's betrayal? Bellatrix could also incapacitate the Potter boy in the ensuing confusion following the black man's 'betrayal', killing two birds with one stone.

And then, her Lord's master plan would be accomplished, if not by the Malfoy boy, then by another loyal Death Eater. The war would be won…without it ever being started.

Oh, how the Dark Lord would reward his most loyal servant when he heard of how Bellatrix aided in his victory.

See you Sunday!