"Is that really the best you've got, human?!"
Amelia grimaced as her sword bounced off the hardened shell that now enveloped Granz, a terrible screech filling the air as the blade deflected. Her body was soaked in sweat, a testament to her struggle for the past several minutes. But, in her mind, it had felt like an eternity. Bloodlust in her eyes and trembling hands aside, she couldn't even make a dent, even after coating the blade with her blood. "Dammit," she hissed.
"I bet you're wondering why that little trick you did with Yammy won't work on me," Granz taunted from inside his enclosure. His words were muffled, but Amelia could hear them well enough. She bared her teeth, growling a little. "You must not have listened to a word I've said," Granz continued. "I am nothing like Yammy! I am far superior!" His demented laughter echoed across the lab.
The flames on the edge of Amelia's blade disappeared slowly, receding back into the dark metal. Shit, she thought. There must be a way to get him out of there. But what exactly is that thing made of?! She took a few steps back, ripping her white jacket off. Her exposed arms glistened in the dim light, showcasing the many dark, shapeless markings that danced across her skin.
"But, I will say," Granz gloated, "I did very much enjoy watching your little sparring match with him! I gained some very valuable data!" Slowly, the engorged purple wings began to shrink, taking their place on his back once more. A terrible smile rested on Granz's face, a smug superiority oozing from every pore. "You're quite a fascinating specimen," he continued. "I look forward to dissecting your corpse."
Amelia lunged, the adrenaline that had once surged through her body slowly starting to dwindle. She needed this to end, feeling her body finally starting to crumble. Her time in Hueco Mundo had done nearly irreparable damage to her body. With a roar, she lifted her sword, prepared to pierce her now-seemingly defenseless opponent. Unable to get Ottone's screams out of her head, she couldn't stop to think, ready to tear Granz to pieces.
Quickly, Granz grabbed the blade with one hand, his lips parting for a small peal of laughter. His golden eyes turned to slits, his head tilted to the side, watching Amelia's eyes widen in shock and fear. He relished the slow descent of her power. "You're dying," he said at last, gripping the blade to the point that blood trickled down his arm. "The lack of food and connection to your physical body has wrecked you." He extended his arm, letting his now-purple fingertips touch her face. Amelia winced, frozen.
"You haven't slept once in all your time here, have you?"
Tearing away, Amelia pulled her sword back, trying to retreat, gain some ground between her and Granz. He was right, she hadn't. Her body had suffered for it. As strong as she was, she knew her body wouldn't last much longer if she kept this up. But with the terror that waited for her behind closed lids, the constant struggle for survival and the intense fear that she'd never return to the World of the Living, how could she have slept? "Fuck you," she hissed, breathing heavily. "Just shut the hell up and die."
The Octava shook his head, mock pity on his face. "You don't seem to understand," he called to her, "you will most likely die from the harm done to your body than anything I could do to you here." Raising his arms, he leaned his head upwards, the light catching his face. "But where would the fun in that be?"
In an instant, one of his wing-like appendages shot out, reaching for Amelia. Eyes wide, she raised her blade, preparing to cut it off before it could reach her. Her feet left the ground, her body flying. She was sure with such a target, it wouldn't be hard to lop off one of the wings. If she did, she figured he could no longer create the shell casing he'd made earlier.
But, to Amelia's surprise, the wing engorged, the purple appendages swelling into large fingers. Her body landed in the out stretched "hand," encased completely by it. With a slurping sound, her body disappeared, the heavy wing holding her.
"AMELIA!"
Granz turned back, seeing the overwhelmingly-distressed form of Dordoni screaming in his imprisonment. The Privaron's blue eyes were wide with fear, nearly bulging from his face. "A-Amelia…" his voice trailed off, his vocal chords exhausted by his screams. Dropping to his knees, Dordoni couldn't believe Amelia had been defeated so easily. His hopes had never been dashed so quickly before his eyes before.
Cirucci had finally turned, watching the awful scene. Her normally snarky attitude was quelled, neutral. Despite her vocal disinterest and disbelief, a part of her had believed that Amelia could, somehow, defeat Granz. She'd believed Amelia's ranking would allow her to win out against the Octava. But she hadn't realized that the human had been so close to death this whole time, the strength in her green eyes decieveing her. She had actually believed in Amelia for a few, futile moments. But she felt her hopes dashed as well, crumbling away.
Granz relished in their despair, his golden eyes wide with mad glee.
"Keep your eyes open," he called to the forlorn Privaron, "the fun's about to begin!" With that, the large enclosure that had consumed Amelia rapidly spat her out, launching her towards the ceiling with incredible speed and strength. Whether by accident or on purpose, the strength of the launch sent Amelia's body crashing into the ceiling, a large gaping hole left in her wake.
Rubble and boulders crashed all around, shattering anything and everything in their path. Dordoni ducked, the glass shattering around him, the roar of the building falling apart around him filling his ears. Dust and debris clouded the air, filling his lungs. He began to cough, waving his hands around frantically. With his eyes closed, Dordoni choked out, "CIRUCCI?! NELIEL?!" He hoped they had made it out of their enclosures in one piece.
"STOP SCREAMING!" Cirucci called back. "YOU'RE GONNA INHALE TOO MUCH DUST!" Her coughing intermingled with her shouts, but at least Dordoni knew she was alive and close by.
"Dondochakka!" Dordoni heard Pesche call out. "Where's Nel?!"
For a moment, there was only the sound of the crashing building that filled their ears. Dordoni could feel his heart stop when he finally heard Dondochakka call back. "I DUNNO! SHE'S NOT HERE!"
"Well, check again!" Pesche shouted. "She can't have gone too far!"
The dust began to clear, the bright, brutal sunlight filtering in. Not only was Neliel missing, but footprints could be seen trailing away from the broken glass tube, winding off into the dark ruins. "Oh no," Pesche cried out, raising his hands to his head. His single glowing eye went wide, following the footsteps in a panic. "Oh SHIT!" he screamed.
Dondochakka ran along-side the foot prints, following them into the darkness. "LADY NEL!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the distance.
"IDIOT!" Cirucci called to the Arrancar, purple eyes narrowed in anger. "DON'T GET SEPARATED FROM THE GROUP!" She knew it would be dangerous if they split up in Granz's lab. Anything could happen to them, traps could be triggered, dangerous creatures around any corner…
They all watched as Dondochakka quickly disappeared, his lumbering form running into unseen obstacles as he cried out for Neliel. "I have to go after him," Pesche said, turning from the two Privaron. "I can't lose both of them!"
"Wait a minute, amigo," Dordoni said, grabbing Pesche by the shoulder. "You should not go alone either. It is too dangerous."
"Then what do you suggest!?" Pesche shouted angrily. "Let them die?"
Dordoni raised his other hand, cutting the Arrancar off. "I will accompany you," he explained. "It is better to have help if it turns out that another Espada is behind this." Turning to Cirucci, he added, "Cirucci, I leave you to help Amelia."
"WHAT?!" screamed Cirucci, her face turning red. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO WITH HIM?! WHY SHOULD I HELP AMELIA-?!"
"CIRUCCI!" Dordoni bellowed, anger filling his eyes. "This is not the time fight! Amelia needs your help, and if we want to get out of here alive, we will need her!" He pointed to the gaping hole in the building. "Amelia is fighting to get us out of here," he continued, "but she has a chance of failing! For once in your life, shut up and fight for your life as well as hers!"
Cirucci wanted so badly to fight back, tell Dordoni off, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. She didn't want to die and wished for nothing more than to flee. Swallowing her pride, she turned her back to the pair and made her way to the exit.
"Don't think you can just go ordering me around!" she shouted back to them. "I'm doing this merely for self-preservation!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Dordoni turned to Pesche. "Let us go find Dondochakka and Neliel, amigo," he said to the Arrancar.
"The sooner, the better."
The world was swimming in front of Amelia's eyes, her head spinning. She wasn't entirely sure she wasn't just hallucinating the pure blue sky overhead. "Fuck," she slurred, unable to move her body. She could feel sand beneath her fingertips and groaned again.
"Ah, thank you for the meal, my dear."
Granz's voice filled her head, swimming in the half-formed thoughts and confused emotions. Amelia blinked, looking up to see the blurred, doubled-form of Granz standing over her. "Don't worry, it won't be long now," he said. "We'll have a bit of fun in a moment."
Vision finally restoring, Amelia blinked, sitting upwards. She grimaced in pain, her body filled with the tingly feeling one gets when their limbs fall asleep. "What… did you do to…me?" she managed, attempting to stand. She saw her sword in the sand and lifted it gingerly. The way her body moved was worrying, and she could feel the crushing exhaustion and deterioration overcome her once more.
Amelia spied the wing that had swallowed and spat her out, one of the purple appendages swollen and growing with each passing second. A terrible feeling overcame her, knowing whatever was in that thing would spell bad news for her. "Congratulations," Granz called to her, glancing at the swollen appendage, "you will now witness the magnificence of my Fornicaras! I present you with-" reaching up to the bursting purple appendage and retrieving the small object that fell out into his palm – "Teatro de Titere!"
Horror filled Amelia's eyes as she watched Granz lift the small, dripping object into the air for her to see. It was a small, simplified doll of herself, down to the long brown hair, green eyes, white uniform and the tiny Espada numeral on the little doll's hand. "What the fuck?!" Amelia shrieked, gripping her sword tightly. "WHAT IS THAT?!"
"This," Granz said, gripping the doll a bit tightly, "is Amelia." He watched as Amelia could feel the tightening of his grip, her green eyes filled with fear and anger. She struggled a little, which prompted him to further her suffering. Gently, Granz pinched the ear of the doll, pressing tightly.
Amelia felt a sharp, terrible pain on her ear lobe, blood trickling down her face and onto her clothes. She could say nothing, analyzing her situation, trying to stifle her rising panic. If she could feel pain from that little doll, what would follow was more than likely fatal. She needed to get it from his grasp and quickly. Gritting her teeth, she ran at him, twirling her sword. She was ready to strike his arm and take the doll from his grasp.
A smug little grin crossed Granz's face. "Desperation really doesn't suit you," he said to her. Lifting the doll's head, a small set of organs appeared, each named in delicate little letters. "Ah, let's see," he mused, picking one of the smaller ones up between his fingertips. It was a small, red-orange organ labeled "laringe." A broad smile crossed his face. "This should be satisfying," he muttered before crushing the organ quickly.
Amelia had been so close, so very close to landing a blow on Granz, her sword raised over head. Her green eyes, previously furrowed and focused on her target, went wide as pain filled her body once more. Blood spluttered from her mouth, a terrible gagging sound following it. Lifting her hand to her throat, she felt her body fall to the sand once more, Granz dodging her casually. She would have screamed in pain, but she found herself unable to make a sound. Writhing in the ground, all she could manage were a few gurgles and retching sounds.
"Finally," Granz said, "I don't have to put up with your incessant screeching anymore. Who knew something as tiny as a larynx could control something so necessary as speech, eh?" Placing the head back on the doll, Granz considered his next target. "Let's take a look at what else you have for us to squish!"
Pulling the doll from the middle, several tiny organs rested, nestled against each other. "Oh, the spleen looks tempting," Granz taunted, pulling out a small blue organ, with the words "bazo" written on it. "Let's give it a go," he said, crushing the organ and watching Amelia writhe on the ground in pain, her cries stuck in her crushed larynx.
"And now that I have your time and undivided attention," Granz said, looming over Amelia, "let me explain to you the difference between myself and any of the other opponents you have faced." The look of pure pain and anguish on Amelia's face was riveting. Fondling the doll's cheeks, he began his lengthy dissertation.
"You see, my dear," he began, "I, unlike my other opponents, am not a blood-thirsty killer looking to another number to my body count. Oh no, I am a man of science, pure and simple." A tiny, light squealing laugh emitted from the Octava's throat as he said this. "I study all those who enter and exit this place, learning their powers and abilities, should they become a threat to me, or at the very least determine who could be a good guinea pig should I happen upon their corpse."
Amelia's eyes were out of focus, her face covered in blood and bile. She struggled to stand once more, but this was swiftly stopped when Granz crushed her liver, sending blinding pain through her body. "You, my dear," he continued, "were a hard one to study. For starters, your genes and DNA are unlike anything I'd ever seen! There was scarcely anything in my database that would match!" His eyes were alight, like a kid in a candy store.
"However, I did find something!" Granz said, leaning down over her. "Don't worry, I always find what I'm looking for. And it was mind-boggling, I could believe my discovery! Mind you, I had to confer with some old, nearly-forgotten texts that I had put away in my… collections." He glanced at the incapacitated Amelia, remembering their time in his messy storage room. If it wasn't clear before he still held a grudge for the goods she had stolen, it was very clear to her now. Before she could try to stand again, Granz crushed one of her kidneys, nearly sending her into a state of shock.
"According to my research," Granz continued to explain, relishing in her pain, "your ancestry is quite the goldmine. The genes I had taken from you pointed me to an ancient, long-forgotten people in what the humans once called the New World, America, whatever name you humans gave it." He waved his hand dismissively, rolling his eyes. Human history was boring and repetitive to him, bearing no real interest. "Interestingly enough, I had to use some old Quincy texts to find reference to these people that lasted longer than a footnote!"
Amelia's eyes snapped open, staring at Granz with a mix of hatred and fear. The mere mention of the Quincy had caught her attention, besides the mention of her ancestry. "Ah, so you know of the Quincy, do you?" Granz mocked. "It figures you would, considering they nearly wiped your people from the face of the Earth!"
As Amelia struggled to right herself, despite the devastation Granz had done to her body, she watched as he crushed her other kidney and gall bladder in one fell swoop. She collapsed, her eyes glassing over, her deep, guttural breathing elongating. She sounded like a fish out of water, breathing its last few gasps of oxygen before it died.
"Yes, your people were fascinating," Granz went on. "They were once the most powerful people on the western hemisphere! They held a deep, spiritual connection with the land, their bodies holding a close connection with their spirits, which created some… intriguing powers, to say the least." Reaching down to grab Amelia's blade for the second time, he observed it closely. "From what I could gather, your spirits were directly connected to your hair and blood, creating endless possibilities when it came to technological advances." He tapped the flat of the blade with his fingertips, hearing the shrill ring of the metal ring out. "This blade alone is a testament to their amazing advancements."
Amelia had long given up on trying to stand, watching Granz through her darkening vision. Her anger was not enough to keep her awake anymore, the exhaustion slowly winning out. Her damaged organs drifted in the acrid fluids that had been released, eating whatever remaining organs and bodily structures she had.
"Remind me," Granz asked in a sing-song tone, "what were your people called again?"
Spitting up some blood and other fluids, Amelia scraped together whatever strength she had left. With the terrible scraping sound of her crushed voice box, Amelia managed to spit out, "E…Eisen…blut." Her voice was awful, like a broken music box.
"Yes, that's right!" Granz exclaimed, laughing raucously. "Eisenblut! It's a ridiculous, ignorant name those brutes gave such an advanced race of people! They thought your blood was made of metal!" Laughter subsiding, Granz shook his head. "No wonder the Quincy were nearly wiped out as well!" Eyeing the doll once more, Granz tried to determine if he should continue torturing her or end her pathetic existence.
"No, your blood isn't made of metal like the book would have me believe," he explained. "Rather your blood and hair combined could form something extraordinary! Your hair alone has healing qualities that many modern physicians would kill for, my dear! Ottone was a testament to that, and thanks to him I can study its effects on the body." He could see the mention of his dead Fracćion elicited a growl of anger from the dying Espada.
"Your sword alone is a delicate balance of hair and blood," he said. "If the proportions are even a little bit off, the weapon becomes unstable and even more lethal for your opponent, allowing you to cut through nearly any material. Even Espada Hierro couldn't stand a chance!" He placed the sword next to her body, admiring the view. "Unfortunately for you, I found prepared myself for this battle, updating my Telon Balon. And since your body was already crumbling, your natural healing abilities were render useless. You were simply no match against my perfection in the state you were in!" A terrible grin crossed his face. "Ah, I'm going to have a field day when you die!"
Amelia could barely hear Granz, her vision fading. Her skin, once a rich brown, now turned into a fatal taupe. She was struggling to hold on so she could tear the Espada to bits, to find her friends and to leave this terrible place. But her soul would not listen, and her mind began to go dark…
"It's too bad you must die like this," Granz said in mock sadness. "For it's not only your Human ancestry that intrigues me. Oh, lest I forget the other half of your DNA!" His eyes lit up once more. "Would you, before you die, perhaps tell me if one of your parents was of non-Earth descent?"
A small laugh managed to come from Amelia's throat. Like she was in any shape to hold a conversation with this monologuing moron. Her lips formed a broken smile, her eyes losing all light.
"S…uck my… di…ck."
Sighing, Granz lifted the dolls head once more, reaching in. "Corazón," this organ read, a small tremor pulsating under Granz's fingertips. "Oh well," he mused. "You were useless to me alive, after all." Leaning down, his pink hair nearly touching Amelia's face, Granz held the tiny heart before her. "Tell Ottone I said hello," he taunted, quickly crushing the tiny organ.
"There you are, Amelia!"
Turning away from the dead Espada, Granz saw the frustrated, panting Cirucci standing a few feet away. She'd managed to find her zanpakuto, resting at her side. Purple eyes betrayed her relief at finding Amelia, glaring at Granz. "Quit laying around!" she shouted to Amelia. "We need to destroy this pink-haired bastard and catch up with Dordoni! I need to kick his ass!"
"Poor, unfortunate soul," Granz called back to Cirucci. "Your dear little Amelia has died! You were too late!" Standing up to his full height, he grabbed Amelia's corpse by her hair, the limp body swaying in the wind.
Cirucci's angry demeanor faded for a moment, her face slack in shock and disbelief. "W-what?!" she shouted. "Amelia, dammit, there's no way you could have lost this badly!" But there was no denying it, Amelia was dead. Blood, bile and various other substances spilled from her open mouth and her body seemed riddled with red splotches on her pale skin. Anger filled the Privaron once more, now determined to extract vengeance. "You disgusting pig!" she screamed to Granz. "I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
The Octava laughed wildly, leaning back with how forceful it left his body. His eye held that wild, unhinged look once more, his hands outstretched as if paying homage to an unseen deity. "Oh, another plaything!" Granz exclaimed. "Today is one of the best days I've had in a long time!" Looking to the Privaron again, he stretched out his other hand, beckoning her to come to him.
"Let's have some fun!"
"Hello again, my dear."
In the darkness, Amelia's eyes shot open, recognizing the warped, disembodied voice that echoed all around her. She was still wearing her white uniform, tattered and torn. The mask fragment around her neck felt heavy on her chest. Her hair was much shorter now, almost the same length it had been upon her arrival to Hueco Mundo. "What the hell?" she called out to her unseen companion. "Why did you drag me here? Aren't I dead?"
"The fact that you can ask that should answer your question," The Hogyoku's voice answered, its large, glowing white eyes hovering in the darkness. "You are not dead, my dear Amelia." Long, cold fingers brushed against Amelia's face, tracing her chin gently. "At least, not yet."
"What do you want?" Amelia demanded, pushing the hand away aggressively.
With a small growl, the Hogyoku's mouth appeared, sharp teeth menacing the human. "I am here to revive you, ungrateful child," the being hissed. "You cannot die just yet."
Amelia took a step back, looking around. "What do you mean, revive me?" she hissed. "Why would you do such a thing? Doesn't Aizen want me dead?"
"No," the Hogyoku snapped back. It reached out for Amelia, dragging her back, closer. "We still have plans for you, and it would not benefit us if you were dead." A terrible smile etched across the dark face of the Hogyoku. "Besides, it would be a shame to let such a... specimen go to waste before the big day."
Before Amelia could pull away again, in the space between the pair grew a large, green light, crackling and warping like a flame. Amelia's eyes went wide. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "This is-!"
"Yes, it is," the Hogyoku replied, laughing a little. "And it's been very useful, let me tell you. Thank you for letting me hold onto it." Lifting the flame into the air, the Hogyoku said one final thing, "It's time for you to have it back." Forcefully, the being shoved the flaming orb into the gaping Hollow hole on Amelia's torso.
"Hope to see you soon, Amelia."
"You call these clones?" Cirucci shouted at Granz. "They look so different from me!" She kicked away one of the mindless, eyeless clones, who bore near-exact features to the Privaron. However, each clone wore a different dress, which disgusted her. "Their fashion sense is ludicrous!"
"I simply fixed their appearances to match my tastes," Granz jabbed, watching as Cirucci struggled. "You fashion taste is far too trashy for someone of my standing, I simply won't stand for it."
"YOU BASTARD!" Cirucci retorted, destroying a handful of clones. "First you kill Amelia, and then you dare to look down on my superior fashion choices?!" She retrieved the end of the whip, gripping the circular blade. "I shall rip you to shreds for such iniquities!"
Behind the shouting Cirucci, many of the clones had begun to rise, breaking apart and multiplying. Catching them from the corner of her eye, Cirucci turned her attention back to the them, letting loose a terrible roar as she crushed the once again in one blow. She needed to finish this quickly and inform Dordoni of Amelia's defeat. He knew he'd be crushed, but they'd need to regroup and figure out their next move.
However, in an instant, the ground beneath the Espadas' feet began to tremble and shake, slowly at first then growing, the air filled with the sound of shifting sand and a dull roar. Granz's eyes widened a bit, turning his head back to the fallen corpse of Amelia. Cirucci did the same, and their eyes began to widen even further.
Amelia's wrecked corpse rose from the ground, floating in the air, a green glow hanging over her from the mid-torso. "ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Cirucci screamed, trying to steady herself. Her purple eyes stared accusatorily at Granz.
Granz said nothing, never taking his eyes off the hovering body of Amelia. The concentration of the spiritual pressure in the area had doubled significantly in the past few seconds, the air becoming hard to breathe. "What?" he muttered to himself. "There's no way she could do this without her physical body!" His amber eyes narrowed, an arm up to shield himself from the shifting sand. "Unless…" he trailed off, thinking harder.
Just as quickly as the dull roar came, it suddenly faded, a terrible silence filling the desert. Amelia's head leaned back a bit, blood hovering over her, glistening in the green light for mere seconds. That is, before the sharp, fast explosion that shook the very environment.
Instantly, the blast knocked anything within a mile radius back by several feet. Dunes were decimated, buildings shifted and cracking. Any living thing was knocked off its feet, including Cirucci and Granz, who found themselves facing a large wave of white sand washing over them. Even the dome above sustained damage, the fake blue sky cracking under the pressure.
From there, only silence followed. Amelia's body touched the ground once more, but this time she stood upright. Her skin was no longer pale, her body no longer painfully thin and boney. Her Hollow hole had completely vanished, replaced by a black patch of skin. Her clothes were the same as the ones she entered Hueco Mundo in, dusty black, with her shirt now torn from her Hollowfication several weeks ago. Her mask fragment was gone as well, and hair was short now as well, buffeting slightly in the breeze.
Rising from the sand, Granz and Cirucci stared in amazement. "I thought you said she was dead, dumbass!" Cirucci shouted at Granz. "She doesn't look very dead to me!" A smug look crossed her face, but also a small bit of relief welled up inside of her. Amelia was back, and there was still a chance they could leave.
Granz turned to her, hissing in rage. "I HAD KILLED HER, YOU FILTH!" he shouted. "I WATCHED THE LIGHT DRAIN FROM HER EYES! I DESTROYED NEARLY EVERY ORGAN IN HER BODY!" Spittle flew as his rage grew. Turning back to Amelia, he began to charge the human. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE UP!?"
He was several feet away from Amelia when the air suddenly became excruciatingly heavy, paralyzing the Octava. He nearly fell to his knees the spiritual pressure was so high. It felt like it had been trapped inside of Amelia all this time, only to be released in a torrent. Her spiritual pressure was at least twice as potent as it was the first time he'd witnessed. Both Cirucci and Granz struggled beneath her oppressive spiritual pressure.
Amelia's eyes were opened now, bright green irises staring down Granz. A smirk crossed her face as she checked her body, making sure she wasn't dreaming. In fact, she had her physical body restored to her, sword on her back, and Hollow hole gone. The only thing that remained, to her dismay, was the black number 6 on her right palm.
"Well then," she said at last, staring Granz down. The spiritual pressure lessened, retreating to her body and vanishing all together.
"I suppose this calls for round two."
A/N: I did not intend to have this chapter done already, but my god here we are. I hope you guys are still enjoying, I appreciate your support. It looks like we got a little more development on Amelia, which excites me greatly. Oh what ever shall happen next? See you next time :)