A single kick sent the door flying off its hinges and into the room, the following high-pitched screech combined with a loud thud almost making Aracelis lose her serious expression to burst out laughing. As she walked into the room, hands on her hips, she saw the door had landed on Geero. The dazed bird struggled to crawl out from underneath the rubble, only able to pull himself along with his remaining arm. Ellzea stood to the side, hand on her sword as she stared in horror at the sudden arrival. The moth's face was still scorched, skin a raw red. Without her ally and injured, she knew her odds were poor even with her annoying resurrección.
It would take a whole of two seconds to kill them with how pathetic they looked. Without Clematis's help in plotting escape routes, the two were about as useful as any other Número- a minor distraction at most.
But she wasn't there for them; not with her time limit. She looked past them to another door on the opposite side of the room. Upon her entrance, she felt the weed spike her spiritual pressure out of fear- likely the plant concluded from the lack of presence it was Aracelis, though, so that element of surprise was lost. Didn't matter, though, considering there was nowhere to run. They were underground, the humans in one direction, Aracelis in another, and nothing but dead ends in the other directions. To her knowledge, anyway, because she wouldn't pretend she knew the layout of Las Noches. Entering through the stairway on top of the dome had proven to be a waste time- the entrance from under the fake sky had been closer to Clematis's hideout, if she remembered her path here correctly. She'd only made it to this room by blindly targeting their spiritual pressures and crashing through one or two or five walls when frustrated.
She walked through the room, ignoring the worried stares from mothy and birdy. "Interfere and you're dead," she spat when Ellzea twitched her arm to draw her sword. "Consider yourselves lucky, since I'm not here to finish what I'd started earlier."
Ellzea dropped her arm back to her side with a huff, but seemed to understand the situation. She was truly a hollow, letting an enemy kill an ally if it meant keeping her own life. Considering it was Clematis, anyone would probably sell her out for a smaller reward than living a short time longer- because she still would kill Ellzea, just at a later date.
Unlike the first door, she restrained herself and opened it like a regular person. Still slammed it behind her, since she didn't need the other two listening in.
Her first glimpse of Clematis nearly made her break her promise about not fighting. The weed had apparently calmed down in the brief time it took for her to walk into the room, a smile on her face as she laid in the couch. And not normally either. The creature had laid on the seat and had her legs draped over the back to sit essentially upside down. Why? Most likely to piss Aracelis off by acting nonchalant. As Aracelis ground her teeth together, she admitted to herself it'd worked.
"Why hello, Aracelis!" Clematis chirped, flailing her arms out to the side. "I'm so happy you've decided to visit! I thought you would be upset with me!"
Aracelis really regretted saying she wouldn't use balas or ceros… She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to contain the anger as best she could. She couldn't fall for such obvious taunts. Clematis wanted to rile her up until she had an opening to escape or attack. If this thing thought she was less of a threat without her sword or Ulquiorra at her side, she swore…
"Aww, are you angry about something? What happened, dear Aracelis?"
"Shut the hell up!" She flung her arms to the side, hands clenched into tight fists. This needed to be a quick conversation for more reasons than a time limit. If Clematis kept up the bullshit, Aracelis wouldn't be able to keep her spiritual pressure in check. "I didn't come here to listen to you babble! So, shut up!" The yelling only made Clematis smile happily. She forgot how annoying talking with this thing was. No wonder Ulquiorra hated speaking with her- and he hated very few things so completely.
Even silent, Clematis grated on her nerves. The weed aimed a wink at her before continuing to grin cheerfully.
"I don't know what the hell your issue is, but leave Ulquiorra alone," she growled. "Stop playing around with his memories, or I swear my first priority will be tearing you in half and smashing your head into the ground until its paste."
"Why so angry with me?" Clematis pouted for a moment before smiling brightly again. "I do wonder, though, why you're so upset. Did he actually tell you? Or did you guess?" She giggled, her words nearing gibberish as she jokingly asked, "Or was he crying?"
Aracelis took a threatening half-step forward. More than anything, she wanted to go punch Clematis's overly cheerful face- no one mocked Ulquiorra. However, she knew getting close enough to throttle the weed would also mean that she was within range of those stupid vines. She had a nasty feeling the damn plant had more memories she could use as a distraction.
"Although, I do doubt he told you everything. Certainly not his human memories when he's so far in denial. Now, what would he tell you?" As Clematis hummed in false thoughtfulness, Aracelis glared at the weed. He did have his human memories shown to him. The reason he'd been so depressed after Clematis had used her ability, whatever had happened in his past had been absolutely awful. The fact that Clematis played around with such painful memories made her blood boil. "That he had been devastated when he lost you maybe? It might explain why you're oh-so angry with me for repeating it for him. But, even if he did, he'd lie about the extent. He'd never tell you someth-"
"If you even think to make him relive his time in that tree one more damn time," Aracelis snapped, seeing that Clematis was just trying to make her nervous. Ulquiorra meant what he said, and it hadn't been a lie. Even if he did omit a part, what he did say had been a truth unaffected by nit-picky details.
"Oh, wow! That much, huh? Maybe he isn't a lost cause!" Clematis continued laughing at whatever she found amusing as she let her legs slide off the couch until she was laying in it like a regular person. Aracelis tensed a bit, both because Clematis would be able to stand quickly now, but also that time was ticking away. She hadn't gotten much done beyond screaming at the weed for tormenting Ulquiorra- and she hadn't even worked that fully out of her system. "Well, he still will get you killed, I'm sure. Such a terrible track record after all."
"What are you-" Aracelis cut herself off as she took a defensive step back. Clematis moved her hair out her face, the sudden movement having sent it into her eyes. She was standing, her vines still hidden under her sleeves. The weed looked as calm as could be, too, which pissed Aracelis off. Apparently, she didn't scare Clematis at all. Even the weed couldn't act like this in front of Ulquiorra. The last time Aracelis had seen them interacting, Ulquiorra had Clematis by the neck, slammed into a wall so hard the stone had cracked. It'd been a miracle Clematis had survived that.
"He's a monster only capable of causing death." The flat tone struck her as much as the words themselves. Clematis narrowed her eyes as she gave out veiled warnings. "Even if he cares about someone, he's never able to protect them, and they always inevitably die because of him. You're no exception to the rule of his existence. If he actually wanted to keep someone safe, he would remove himself from the picture. Staying with you is selfish indeed." Clematis sighed, glancing to the side before bitterly mumbling, "Honestly, it would have been better for him to die in that tree."
Before Aracelis even registered what she was doing, she used sonido. Her fist connected with Clematis's jaw with a satisfying crack. As Clematis's head snapped to the side, a billowing sleeve made Aracelis's eyes dart away from the weed's grimacing face, time seeming slowed with the adrenaline rush. The speed of the counterattack caught her off guard. Clematis had been waiting for an opening. The gleaming tip of a sword slid across her ribcage as she jumped back.
While Clematis attempted to snap her jaw back into place, her busted lip dripping blood onto the floor, Aracelis looked at the cut on her side. Or at least the slash in the fabric, as regeneration had healed the superficial wound already. That'd been a completely stupid thing for her to do. Clematis had her sword hidden under her sleeve the entire time, two words away from using her resurrección if needed. Physically attacking had been even more reckless. If she wasn't faster, if she had allowed herself to be distracted in that moment, if she had aimed to shatter her mask and not hit the side left defenseless, Clematis would have had her vines around her, oblivious to the world and at her mercy once again.
Emotion had gotten the better of her. Clematis struck a raw nerve in saying he should have died. And before that, when she called him a monster… Whatever Ulquiorra had done as a human, and what Clematis forced him to relive, she had a gut feeling that was why he asked if she feared him. In a stroke of luck, she might have said exactly what he needed to hear; that she didn't think he was a monster. At the same time, Clematis seemed to hint that a pattern of loss had plagued Ulquiorra from a human to a hollow like an unending hell. Regaining memories like that… She regretted following the mosquito into the room; he had only gotten caught to save her from being pounded into the floor, according to Orihime. Even if it hadn't been her fault, she wished she could take back that decision in hopes he hadn't had to face more suffering than he had already. She needed some of hers to recognize her actions. He didn't.
"Ow~ That really hurt Aracelis!" The weed rubbed her bruised cheek with a single vine, smearing her muddy blood around. The remainder of the bundle clutched her sword as a threat. "I was only telling the truth!"
"Quiet." Aracelis kept from raising her voice. She needed to calm down. Playing Clematis's game would only make things worse, and possibly cause her to break her promise of not fighting. The punch to the face had pushed her close enough to the line.
"Do you want to see?" Clematis's words were both teasing and serious. She already knew Aracelis's answer to that question, having had it screamed in her face the last time she asked, but the weed was wholly willing to share everything she knew. Aracelis didn't understand it. She couldn't comprehend why Clematis acted like a friend and an enemy. "I can show you every memory I showed him. If you want to understand him, this is the only way. You know he won't ever tell you. Look how long it's taken for him to even admit he missed you to the point he would rather die than live with the pain. His human past, he hates it so much because he sees he's a monster, yet also a human all the same." Just as Aracelis opened her mouth to reject the offer once more, Clematis dramatically threw her arms to her side, shouting, "And how unfair!" She had more info to spout off. The wicked grin on her face showed it. "Even the cute human got a peek at his memories! Why shouldn't you? You do love him oh-so-much after all."
Aracelis glanced to the side. Of course, Clematis would know how she felt after digging around in her memories. She hated the fact, but there wasn't anything she could do to change it- the only way to get rid of the talkative weed would be to kill her. She already guessed that Orihime had seen something, although she didn't imagine it had been Ulquiorra's human past. Clematis was right, though. Ulquiorra never liked humans to begin with; he'd hate seeing himself as one, especially if as a human he acted similar to how he did now. It would mean he hadn't changed, that he was still a weak human even after taking pride in being a powerful hollow. Conflicting ideals, he had enough of those before Clematis took the liberty of showing him as a human.
One thing was still off. Clematis regrettably had a vast amount of information at her disposal. Yet, in every conversation, she had never directly mentioned instinct. She said things that riled it up, like offering to tell her about the scar on her shoulder. Aracelis hadn't understood Clematis's following rant at the time. She'd said something about revealing a secret related to the scar before instinct interrupted, but the weed might have been outright taunting instinct with her knowledge. She needed to get the topic off of Ulquiorra before she lashed out again, too.
"Hey," Aracelis shouted, making Clematis end the obnoxious humming she'd started. "You said you knew about the scar." She pointed to her shoulder. Clematis's face slipped from her cheerful mask to seriousness in the span of a second. "What do-"
Aracelis almost fell to her knees. She raised a hand to the side of her head, her vision blurring as her head throbbed. It felt like she had been tossed head-first through several stone walls after taking a hammer to the head. If the pain got much worse, she would be on the floor. Instinct had let out an animalistic growl, voice low and far different from her own, to cut her off with a warning. 'Don't say anything more.' She knew if she pushed the issue, it would do something. Losing control, she couldn't let that happen right now. Ulquiorra had been right to tell her not to pry for information herself if this was the result. She had pushed her luck even asking if Clematis knew something- not even specifics. No matter how curious she was, she should have listened to him. He knew how to best protect her. She could rely on him.
"I know more than Ulquiorra does," Clematis admitted, her voice sounding far away. "Not only of the scar, but of your resurrección and instinct's nature as well." Her answer easily explained why Ulquiorra had avoided killing her- he wanted to interrogate her. He… he must be desperate if sparing Clematis was the only way. That wasn't a good sign. It truly showed how precarious of a situation Aracelis found herself in. "That's all I'm going to say to her, so calm down before Ulquiorra decides to join us. I haven't forgiven him for killing Licidae; he no longer has my help. And I'm not particularly fond of the idea of being killed over you acting like a brat, mister." Aracelis imagined Clematis gave a ridiculous pout after the insult. The rest, though, had been said with uncharacteristic seriousness. Helpful yet unhelpful again. She could have easily attacked while Aracelis's vision danced with black spots, her balance horribly thrown off. Instead she told instinct to shut up. Likely to avoid Ulquiorra showing up, as she said, the fact it would help Aracelis secondary.
'Bitch,' instinct hissed, 'I will kill you the moment I have a chance. I swear it!'
The throbbing in her head eased, not disappearing entirely. Her blurred vision suddenly went clear, as though nothing had ever been wrong. Never before had it reacted so violently, not even when it had attempted to have Ulquiorra kill her. Clematis hadn't lied. She knew everything. Instinct was terrified of Clematis and Ulquiorra because the two jeopardized its existence somehow. Even if she did not understand what instinct was, she did understand its deep-seated, hollow-like fear of death. Her learning more than she already knew would make it take control before doing who-knows-what with her body. Its threat earlier did honestly bother her; she didn't want it saying anything to Ulquiorra. Being able to quiet instinct through threatening to injure her arm, it was an insignificant victory for her. Full control was as out of her reach as ever- she was just more aware of it now.
"Aww, I'd love to keep talking to you." Clematis shrugged, brushing off both her disappointment and the seriousness she formerly held. "But my oh my, how close the intruders are! I do hope they don't come this way to say hello."
For a second, Aracelis felt her eyes widen as she tried to figure out how Clematis knew she'd agreed to avoid the humans. The weed grinned knowingly, quickly turning Aracelis's shocked expression back into a hateful glare.
"The Espada have been ordered to remain in their quarters. One more transgression against Aizen in favor of helping you, and Ulquiorra will be facing punishment." Clematis tilted her head before adding, "Or at least he thinks so; Aizen is someone I can't quite read. Anyway, Ulquiorra would want to avoid having to come rescue you from the intruders; getting away with that would be a lot more difficult than him coming to save you from me. As surprising as it is, I am not in Lord Aizen's good graces at the moment." She rocked on her heels as she stared at the ground in false guilt, her pout fighting a smile. "Dear Gin had to come give me a warning after our last battle about playing Aizen's toys. He stopped that silly bull from executing me, though, so Aizen's at least enjoying the show, I suppose. The only thing I've learned about him is he likes to play games to keep himself entertained, you see."
Suddenly, realization bared down on Aracelis like a needed smack to the head. "Damn it!" She whipped around, heels digging into the ground before she launched herself through the door- she didn't have time to waste opening it like a civilized person. "Damn, damn, damn!" Clematis had been rambling to distract her from the fact a soul reaper had been dashing through the halls nearby towards the closest exit- the one Aracelis planned on using to quickly get back to Ulquiorra's quarters.
As she breezed by Ellzea and Geero, Clematis shouted after her, "Bye, bye, Aracelis! It's been nice talking to you! See you again soon!"
She kept mentally cursing when she sensed Nnoitra descending the tower. Cutting it close didn't even begin to explain how narrow of a gap she had to get back in time. Nothing, meaning absolutely nothing, else could happen or she would be late.
With her luck, she already realized how screwed she was. She could only try to minimize the damage now.
Nnoitra stood still, his face not masking his confusion at all. Even after painstakingly explaining the entire situation to him, the Fifth didn't understand the intricacies of Aizen's method of controlling Orihime. Not that he expected him to. Like Aracelis, Ulquiorra had decided to taunt Nnoitra for his own amusement. Unlike his vindictive Aracelis, he had been subtle. Perplexing Nnoitra to the point he could not tell if it was an insult or not was more 'fun' than outright calling him an idiot. It distracted the Fifth as well. Even then, Ulquiorra did not feel like prolonging the conversation for much longer. He wanted the Fifth gone and Aracelis back under his watch before she got in trouble.
"That sure was well thought out," Nnoitra admitted, attempting to pretend he had understood the explanation. It kept him from making further vulgar comments towards Aracelis or the woman. "I guess that's to be expected of Lord Aizen."
"Well thought out? This is a game to Lord Aizen." Like everything else he does, Ulquiorra mentally added. The soul reaper had gotten on his nerves. He would not soon forget the anger he felt when it became clear Aizen would punish Aracelis in place of him should he continue prioritizing her. "It would have been fine whether she played into it or not. Whatever the case, that woman has no strength to run away from here. She doesn't have the will or the strength to defy us." He began walking away again, leaving Nnoitra with that last insult towards not understanding the 'psychological cage' the woman had been placed in to keep her complacent. "Your concern in the matter is unnecessary," he said over his shoulder, wanting the fool gone. "I suggest you return to your quarters, as Lord Aizen requested."
When the Fifth caught the hidden threat a few moments later, he hissed out an insult Ulquiorra did not care to hear. Nonetheless, Nnoitra turned on his heel and began to stomp his way towards the stairs. He saw there would be no battle between them; Ulquiorra would just toss him out, or, if he persisted, bring him to Tousen to face disciplinary actions from a soul reaper that fought for justice- the biggest insult towards someone like Nnoitra.
Even with the nuisance dealt with, Ulquiorra's mood did not improve much.
The woman didn't fear him as much as she should. When he had entered the room, he had surprised her, yet she did not react with fear. Instead she acted embarrassed that she hadn't noticed him, that perhaps he had been there while she changed or some other ridiculous thing the girl would think up.
She pitied him for what she had seen of that human's past. He hadn't wanted that. Not because it would greatly hinder his duties as her jailer, but because he didn't want pity from a human woman. He did not need her acting with false kindness because she saw him as something broken. They were not friends. They were barely acquaintances. He should mean absolutely nothing to the girl- she reminded him of Aracelis, which also reminded him how human Aracelis was. She should not pretend to know how he felt after witnessing one pathetic memory from a human that no longer lived.
At least she had taken his words seriously. She had only hesitated for an instant when he asked to whom she belonged. She had also not flinched at the question; the girl had more resolve than he first anticipated. He wondered if this too had stemmed from her pitying him instead of fearing him.
As for Aracelis…
He sighed. Letting her run wild had been a mistake. He should not have allowed her to go confront the weed even after she promised she would not get in trouble- he had been attempting to trust her, but he had made himself worried. A few moments ago, he had sensed Clematis spike her spiritual pressure, the distortion around Aracelis growing as she drew in the excess energy. He did not know whether the plant had reacted to a physical attack by Aracelis or the mere threat of her words. He would be displeased if it had been the former, as she had taken far too much of a risk had she gotten close enough to land a blow. That being said, he had also known the probability of that happening was nearly one hundred percent given Aracelis's temper and how infuriating the weed's words could be. He could only hope she had learned something worthwhile from the plant's sputtering. Clematis had a habit of sharing information. He would have made her stay here if he believed her to be in mortal danger, or there being nothing to be gained from the interaction.
Even at the slow pace which Nnoitra walked down the stairs, he doubted Aracelis would make it back by the time the Fifth had left the tower. It frustrated him that she could not follow his orders, but if she was just late and broke no other commands, then he would only moderately scold her.
His fists clenched tightly when he sensed a new development. On that wasn't entirely her fault he told himself as he waited for Nnoitra to leave so he could slip away to pay a visit to the monitoring room to confirm his suspicions.
These soul reapers were getting on his nerves. Gin, he'd never particularly like him, but now… If he had been playing with Aracelis on purpose…
Just as she thought, she was screwed, although in a very strange manner indeed.
She had gotten lost.
At some point, she had either gotten so turned around that she had lost all sense of direction, or the hallways were in different places. Judging that she ended up right behind a soul reaper, and that someone seemed to be funneling said soul reaper somewhere, the halls had, in fact, changed. What a stupid idea, having halls that could be manipulated. One of the lovely traps someone came up with, according to Aisslinger. She'd been complaining about the rock-in-a-hallway trap she'd triggered when going to see them, and she'd asked him if any other stupid traps were waiting to piss her off.
The soul reaper was about as imposing as she had been the first time she'd seen her. The petite woman determinedly running down the hallway, Rukia Something-or-Another, didn't really look too threatening. She hadn't noticed Aracelis following her at only a short distance. Too focused on finding Orihime she wagered. Not that she had much choice about what distance she could follow at anyway. The lack of flash step meant she was stuck running at an incredibly sluggish pace by her standards; running ahead of the soul reaper, not knowing where she was and if she'd end up trapped in a dead end as the halls changed, it kept her trailing Rukia impatiently.
She found out the hard way that whoever was playing maze master was also blocking the halls to prevent the soul reaper from turning back- and successfully cutting off the inner rooms from the entrance. Trying to find another exit might be just as dangerous for Aracelis as trailing a soul reaper so closely. If she could use ceros to blast through walls, she could have tried finding a different path. Las Noches, especially the underground sections, had many dead ends with walls thicker than she had time to punch through. With her luck, she would end up digging a hole in the sand instead of finding another hallway let alone an exit. Never mind if she accidently stumbled into another trap.
And the only other remotely nearby exit she knew about was though Szayelaporro's torture den- excuse her, lab. Like hell she would go that way. And, well, the soul reaper she didn't recognize had headed that direction. She did not envy them at all. Even if the scientist seemed to be on his way back from a meeting with Aizen, she adamantly refused to go that way. His Fracción were just as creepy as him.
She really hoped Ulquiorra wouldn't be too upset with her… He had left their quarters a little bit after Nnoitra did- although he seemed to be on the way back now after talking with Gin briefly. She had thought he had come to drag her back, but thankfully he must have had some other matter to attend to despite her getting herself into this situation. Still, he wouldn't be happy with her… Had the halls not been changing, she would have made it back just after Nnoitra had left the tower and moved away from the entrance. Late, but not horribly. Not to mention she wouldn't have ended up trapped behind the soul reaper.
A shiver ran down her spine. The next nearest building, it happened to be Aaroniero's quarters. Fish tank was waiting, presumably for the soul reaper, outside the entrance. She wondered if the Ninth had requested for Rukia to be sent his direction; manipulating halls like this ensured the meeting wouldn't be up to chance.
The dim light of the artificial sky brightened the hallway at long last. Before she sprinted ahead of the soul reaper, she decided she couldn't resist. She'd already failed avoiding the intruders, so why not?
"I won't go that way, soul reaper," she yelled, making Rukia freeze her sprint. She imagined the soul reaper's look of determination faltered when realizing she hadn't sensed anyone following her; startled, too, by the sudden screaming made louder in the stone hall. It brought a smile to her face. As Rukia whipped her head around to look over her shoulder, Aracelis used sonido to vault over the soul reaper's other shoulder, using the blind spot to escape without even a glimpse of her being seen. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she shouted mockingly, it echoing down the hall so she didn't have to remain in sight. She couldn't imagine Rukia besting even the likes of Aaroniero. Rukia having a vague sense that she could conceal her presence and how her voice sounded wouldn't be useful facts to a person charging to their demise.
If this was all the speed the group of intruders could muster, they would all die. Strength sometimes became secondary when your head rolls across the floor in a surprise decapitation. Perhaps Orihime had made the correct decision in trying to keep her friends from fighting the Espada; too bad it backfired because they felt protective of her as well, and came to save her from saving them. An unavoidable mess, really.
She never paused, able to use sonido to speed to the tower. Unfortunately, she hadn't used the exit on top of Las Noches- she thought it would be quicker to go this way, but in hindsight the other way would have at least allowed her to avoid being trapped behind an intruder. She always ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she had to walk up stairs upon stairs to get back to their room- she wouldn't dare break anything in the tower to make shortcuts. She could sense Ulquiorra waiting for her now… He'd agree most of it wasn't her fault, right? But she still felt bad, since she had failed to follow his orders even after he trusted her enough to go do something as dumb as talking with Clematis.
When the door slowly swung upon, he looked to it, shoving his hands into his pockets as he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. She stepped in timidly, closing the door quietly, hesitating a moment before turning back to look at him. Her attention flickered to his face briefly only to fall to the floor guiltily. Neither of them spoke. For her, the silent expression of irritation showed his thoughts better than words. Even if he was one to raise his voice, it would only scare her; he merely wanted to express his disappointment, not terrify her.
"Ulquiorra," she started nervously, only to bit her lip. Rather apprehensively she closed the gap between them. When she reached out, he took a half-step back despite being unsure of what effect the action would have. He did not want to comfort her since she had disobeyed simple orders meant to protect her. Had she left on time, she would have likely avoided becoming trapped behind Rukia. She lowered her hand back to her side, nodding, seeming to understand. "Can I explain what happened, Ulquiorra?"
"Will you be making excuses for yourself?"
"No," she said, copying his slightly irritated tone. "I would have probably been late no matter what happened, but not this much. And I'll admit I punched Clematis because she got on my nerves." She pointed a finger at him, adding, "I didn't use spiritual pressure, though, so I'll argue that doesn't count anyway." After grumbling to herself about the plant, she continued. "I'd gotten distracted by Clematis rambling about Aizen." She narrowed her eyes at him like she knew the thought 'This sounds like an excuse.' crossed his mind. He couldn't decide if her snippy attitude pleased him or not. On one hand, she didn't seem terrified of him despite having done something to displease him. On the other, she had been the one to break the agreed upon rules, and should not be angry with him. Then again, her attitude might be aimed at the frustrating weed still. "When I left, I ended up behind that soul reaper, Rukia. Then I had to follow her because someone decided to play with the passageways. I was lost, okay? At first, I just wanted to use that exit because I would get back here sooner, but when the halls started changing I couldn't backtrack and try a different route. I couldn't avoid the soul reaper, either. I was sort of out of options at that point, so I followed behind her. I figured whoever was manipulating the halls was directing her somewhere outside, or at least somewhere I could recognize."
He believed her obviously. The Ninth and the soul reaper appeared to be having a conversation now, as they were in the same room yet their fight remained a rather lazy game of tag. He did not know why the Ninth or Gin had chosen to have Rukia Kuchiki directed there, but he didn't particularly care either. Gin had not been intent on having Aracelis and the soul reaper meet; he could have easily trapped them in a space to cause a fight had that been his desire. No, Gin's reason did not matter at all since it had nothing to do with Aracelis. The fact she ended up a part of the plot nonetheless did irritate him, though.
"You believe me, right?"
"I do." His answer made her let out a relieved sigh. "I am still annoyed with you," he reminded her.
"I know. I still was late and pretty much tried to start a fight with plant-brain. But, I guess…" She rolled her eyes dramatically. "I guess what Clematis had said made sense. You would have been able to justify coming to save me from her while still avoiding the intruders. If I ended up fighting one of the intruders, though, you would have had to break Aizen's orders. Stupid weed used that explanation to distract me… And I won't bother the intruders, I promise, since it'll get you in trouble if you need to come help me." She had no idea how wrong her assumption was; she would be the one facing punishment. The damn weed knew as much. She had either hoped to help Aracelis avoid that fate, or cause it to upset Ulquiorra. Creature saw both as a victory.
"What had been your purpose in speaking with her?" He could find no logical explanation that Aracelis would act on. Seeking out the weed, it had been a sudden urge from what he could tell. Reactionary to what he had told her, he believed.
"I, ah… I went to yell at her." His blank stare made her smile awkwardly. "It's just… After you told me where you'd been, I figured Clematis would have used that memory against you. That really pissed me off!" She stomped her foot on the ground. Apparently, she hadn't relieved her anger after screaming at Clematis; satiating her need would have required more violence than words could supply her. "Replaying something like that is completely awful and unforgiveable!" After seething for a moment longer, she crossed her arms over her chest, huffing a final time before attempting to calm down. "I know it was reckless, but I needed to at least scream at her for it."
He blinked slowly. Impulsive and quick tempered, but he expected as much. He allowed her to leave under the assumption she would go yell her frustrations, whatever they were, to the weed- he only wished she followed the restrictions meant to protect her. Still, he hoped she learned something useful. When he took a small step forward and removed a hand from his pocket, she tilted her head curiously. He ran a finger down her ribcage, following a tear in the fabric of her shirt that had obviously been cut open. "And how did you receive this?"
"From Clematis when I punched her," she mumbled, perhaps hoping he would miss the already healed injury. She was lucky. Getting a minor cut from the weed's sword was infinity better than being caught in the creature's vines. "She riled me up. She kept saying very cruel things about you and I… I snapped. Before I even really noticed how stupid I was being in getting so close, I already had her sword in my side."
"You did this over an insult. An insult towards me, no less."
"You wouldn't do the same for me?"
He stared back at her instead of answering 'yes.' Technically yes, as the Fifth's words had been a threat more than an insult. All the same, he had lashed out to shut the delinquent up.
"You have?" She leaned forward, appearing excited he would defend her.
"I struck the Fifth when he dared to speak of you in a crude manner," he admitted, her imagination of Nnoitra's reaction sending her into a fit of laughter, although she added she would rather not hear what Nnoitra had said because she knew it would be disgusting. Once she stifled her merriment some, he directly asked, "Did you learn anything useful while speaking with the weed?"
Immediately she became serious. "Not much, really. I had been attempting to ask Clematis if she knew about instinct, as in a yes or no question and that's it, but instinct wasn't having any of that. Made me almost pass out too." If she hadn't added the 'yes or no' explanation, he would have interrupted. He told her not to search for answers about instinct. Perhaps he should have specified that even simple questions could get her in trouble with the ever fearful Mirro. An oversight on his part. For it to make her almost pass out while she was uninjured, it was a worrying, but useful fact. "Also pointless to ask, since you already knew that Clematis knew," she added. "Wouldn't bother keeping that thing alive if there was another option."
His attention briefly drifted away from her face. Clematis's survival was a sign of his growing desperation. Aracelis surely saw that. She said it innocently, of course. She had not intended him to take it as a jab at how pathetic it was that he might very well have to rely on the weed for help.
"That made me mad, too, because she doesn't seem scared of me at all," she complained, drawing his attention back to her. After pouting for a second she grumbled, "Why the hell does she act like this? I mean, she keeps offering information to me, but she also tries to kill me all of the time. I don't get it."
He didn't understand the weed's actions either. Last time she had claimed it as justice and revenge. Judging that she did not attack Aracelis today, she may have just been emotional over the death of the mosquito, her threat of killing Aracelis herself an empty one. In any case, Clematis held the least animosity towards Aracelis. "She claimed to be infatuated with you," he offered, that the only explanation the plant had given besides hating him and Mirro.
Aracelis's eyes went wide before she raised an eyebrow. As her genuine puzzlement came to include incoherent sputtering and mortification, he found her confusion quite… adorable, he supposed. "She shows it in a damn weird way," she settled on, her brain apparently giving up on trying to figure out how Clematis's actions showed that she liked her. They didn't, of course. The plant's views were completely abnormal, and her conflicting actions only added to her overall insanity. If there was someone devoid of all rationality, it was Clematis as she teetered between wishing death or life upon Aracelis on fleeting whims.
In the silence, she lost interest in standing around, walking around him on an obvious path to the bed. He caught her wrist before she flung herself onto the sheets, dragging her back a few steps.
"Come on, Ulquiorra, I just wanted to sit down," she whined, shaking her arm in halfhearted attempt to escape. "You can yell at me all you want while I'm sitting."
"I am still displeased with you." No matter why it happened, she had lashed out at the weed without thinking, which very well could have initiated a fight requiring him to come rescue her. She had also been late- even discounting the halls being changed, she wouldn't have made it back on time. He would not be allowing her to leave again. "Although that is not the issue currently." He took another few steps, gently pulling her behind him. "You are going to shower." The moment she had walked in, he had seen the coating of white dust clinging to her skin. Her hair even had bits of rubble in it. She was not going to lie down on their bed with how filthy she was. He would never allow for it. When he stopped in front of the bathroom door, she crashed into his back. After freeing her from his grip and glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "How much structural damage did you cause on your outing?"
"How did…" His words must have fallen into place in her mind because she looked at her arm. Her attention then shifted to the side, her face flushed with embarrassment. "Two doors, a few tiles, and, I don't know, seven-ish walls."
"As destructive as ever, I see."
"Yeah… You're not going to make me fix everything, are you?" When he pretended to debate the idea, she laughed a few times- how she managed to catch his attempts at humor was something else. Clearly, he wouldn't send her back towards the humans, even if everyone had found opponents at this point- discounting Kurosaki, who had already moved on. That was no longer his responsibility, his previous threat to keep her from destroying Las Noches now void. "Okay, I'll go rinse off before I get everything dirty. Then we can watch all of these battles with pesquisa and talk about that Ichigo kid's weird ability."
He gave a slight nod, Aracelis smiling at him before turning to go accomplish her new task. With her gone, he went to sit down in his chair to do just as she wanted. Monitoring the battles was the best course of action until he received other orders. Of course, the only one remotely interesting to him had already concluded with Dordoni's defeat. Even unobservant Aracelis found the kid odd.
He had yet to understand Aizen's interest in the human boy. Yes, he would admit the human had potential considering the peaks in his spiritual pressure as it fluctuated, as well as the fact the boy had appeared to have rapidly grown stronger since initially seeing him and developed a technique that made him more hollow-like, but for someone like Aizen, Ichigo Kurosaki could not possibly pose a threat. It was something else, then. Something he could not figure out. He wished to actually battle the kid just to prove his analysis right, that the boy was nothing special, or find why Aizen held such interest in him. And, well, he wanted something to take his frustrations on- Aracelis had her fun.
One thing was certain, though. Aracelis would not be leaving this tower again. She would unfortunately become a prisoner to it like the human woman. He could not be lenient with her again, not with her life at risk.
I had to go do some last minute fixes because I totally blanked Ulquiorra had spoken to Gin while the hall changing was going on. That's why Ulquiorra isn't too upset with her, making her admit she had done wrong enough for the moment. She's not very good at the whole following orders thing, obviously.
Hahaa, I have a bad memory so it's good that I can go back and look whenever I need. This covers mainly episode 150 and 151, which is their arrival to Dordoni's defeat, with 154 being the one that shows Gin playing with the halls.
Thank you everyone reading!
Thank you to mcgc26 and vanillacandy0 for following and/or favoriting!
thestormwriter123- I'm glad you're so impressed with Ulquiorra's development! I've tried really hard to keep him in character, but also develop his character more than canon could, so I'm glad to see that goal is being met! And without a single instance of being ooc? Thank you! While now I've grown pretty used to writing for him, being ooc is always a concern when it comes to taking an emotionally vacant character and making them like someone.
haipa-chan- Oh yeah, I've been waiting to finally give that 'heart to heart' between them for a while! I'm glad it was heartwarming that they finally had a moment where they could share some rather intense facts about themselves so they could see they are quite similar in the end. And Ulquiorra is totally not thrilled with Aizen- now he's in the reluctant cooperation boat Aracelis is in. Ichigo and co are there and lurking, the upcoming battles my favorites from the anime (and why I rewatched it and this story happened). There is still stuff to be done before everything can be brought back to chapter one :) And Aracelis's future battle I'm excited to type! As predicted for this chapter, talking with Clematis can never go well- just with less resulting chaos than the last 'visits.' Aracelis, Mirro, and Ulquiorra are all reaching a stalemate, but unfortunately Clematis has all the answers (as she is the author's pet indeed). Anyway, I'm glad you're excited to see all the future things I've got planned! Thank you for reviewing and leaving all of these lovely predictions for me to read!
The Shy Scorpio- Haha, Clematis's attack being beneficial was my plan! Every time Clematis does something, she's pushed them closer together as a somewhat unintended result. I find antagonists that occasionally help the protagonists to be rather entertaining, Clematis taking it to an odd, nonsensical extreme. Ulquiorra seeing his human past really has weighed on him; he doesn't want to be human because look at how 'great' it was for him. He's scared of it all repeating, the fact Aracelis is similar to the past girl making him more nervous. I'm glad that it's all come together to 'humanize' him a bit! Cornering him takes something other than physical strength after all. Aracelis needed Clematis's attack to see she didn't need to so afraid of Ulquiorra, and a nudge from Orihime so she actually talked to him about her feelings; and help him some, since he won't accept help from anyone else. Happy that came together too! And I hope Aracelis's frustrating conversation with Clematis entertained you this chapter! Ulquiorra talking with Orihime again will be next chapter, going with the canon conversation, but with some variation, and of course, Ulquiorra's exact thoughts. I'm glad everything's timing has paired well with canon, so thank you for saying so! And that first chapter has to come back around at some point, yeah? I'll keep working away until the story is done; I'm very invested in this, and I'll glad so many other people like you are too! And I figured it was your review last time because of the nice length and analysis all excitedly typed. Thank you do much for reviewing again, I really enjoy reading your thoughts since they help me see if things are on track or give me ideas!
Shelby- Wow, this is quite a long read for one sitting! I'm happy it kept you so interested that you read it all at once! And that you think so highly of it! That aren't many Ulquiorra and OC stories, really, so I wanted to make one for others to read; since he is one of my long-time favorites. It's fun but challenging developing his character, and giving more depth to his personality, so I'm glad it's working. I'm really happy that you like Aracelis as a character too, since OCs run the risk of being overpowered or uninteresting or what have you. I wanted her to stand out but still fit in with the canon world. I'm glad that Mirro hasn't totally inhibited her ability to be badass! Also, happy to hear you like the switching between POVs- I wish I would have done it at the beginning more, because it's a lot easier to keep their feelings and reactions separate this way. And, well, Ulquiorra thinks a ton more than he admits to. In a bizarre way, I'm also pleased that you cried because eliciting emotion for characters is strange goal of mine- and, well, I teared up a few times while making their pasts, especially Ulquiorra, so I wanted to get that despair they felt across in writing. Anyway, before I have another story down here, thank you for the review! It's great to hear that you've enjoyed my writing style, the characters, and the story!