There were four huge glass pilliar tubes around them, each one emanating a light green glow while also containing one of their unconscious friends. Their bodies were still, hooked into numerous wires and tubes; and their flesh was discolored to a greyish tone. There were other empty chambers towards the back of the room, seemingly unused.
Mayuri remained back by the entrance beside Gin and Komamura, all of the captains looking on to the distraught three girls ahead of them. Small sobs could be heard as each of the girls gazed upon one of their counterparts.
A delicate hand touched one of the glass chambers, Zakuro leaned against it, pressing her forehead into the cold glass and staring down at the petite blond mew. Purin was too young to suffer such a fate, the thought of her possibly losing her life wrenched the wolf girl's stomach into an indescribably painful knot. Behind her, Mint had her face covered and she stifled her soft cries, she couldn't look at their faces and kept her head down in shock.
The cat mew stood opposite of Zakuro, she stood between Retasu and Masaya's stasis modules. Her eyes were on the young man she once loved dearly. Her heart ached with the thoughts of he and her friends suffering, but seeing his face for the first time in months felt foreign. It was like he was almost a different person. Ichigo stared at his solemn face as he floated almost motionless in the liquid of the containment system Mayuri had placed them in. Memories of the last couple times she saw him drifted through her thoughts, it felt warm and nostalgic. But something was amiss.
Mint shook her head and moved beside Zakuro, who was still focused on the youngest mew. The blue haired girl leaned into Zakuro's side, earning an arm around her shoulders while she sobbed quietly. Zakuro pulled her close into her side, holding her shorter friend tightly as she cried.
Ichigo didn't flinch or pay them any mind as the other two comforted one another; she simply stared in silence up at her former lovers face. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't let out a sound. It could only have been a few months, but in her heart, it felt like a lifetime that he had gone off to college and practically all but left her behind. He was so enthralled in his studies and new friends, she felt abandoned. A feeling she had harbored away from the world, while keeping a smiling happy face for everyone else. The redhead sighed through a clenched throat, resisting the further urge to cry.
Nearby, A heavy hand lowered onto Zakuro's left shoulder, which swiftly turned her attention up to her left. The kind face of the wolf captain met her tearful eyes, she couldn't find words. Mint tried to stifle her sobs while wrapped in Zakuro's right arm, she didn't look up and kept her face covered in her hands. Komamura spoke softly to comfort them,
"We will do whatever we can to remedy this situation. And if anyone is capable of keeping them alive, it is certainly Captain Kurotsuchi."
Ichigo nodded upon hearing his words, knowing they couldn't give up. She blinked back tears and turned to look at Mayuri, who remained near the doorway in observation of them. Gin was to his side, leaning against the large door frame. The redhead meekly spoke up,
"He took their souls. It's an ability the aliens all had, to pull your soul or essence, or something, from your body. This is how you look after they've done it."
The painted faced captain took a few steps into the room towards Ichigo, his curiosity now fully piqued,
"You don't say... What an intriguing ability. I've seen nothing like it."
Mint swallowed hard and her voice cracked as she entered the conversation, her back still to them,
"How long will they survive like this?"
He shrugged and crossed his arms, not appreciating being called out on something he had no intimate knowledge about.
"Didn't you hear me girl? I've never seen this ability, they could die here in five minutes or remain like this for an eternity."
Comforting others wasn't exactly Mayuri's strong suit. He paid no mind to how upset the girls were and continued,
"What does the individual who did this, look like?"
Zakuro remained silent with her back to Mayuri, she kept Mint pulled in close as Ichigo responded in a low tone, describing Deep Blue dredged up somber feelings,
"He's lean, pale skin, long pointed ears, and long jet black hair. If he looks the same, he's got piercing teal blue eyes."
Mint scoffed and softly pulled away from Zakuro to look back at Mayuri,
"You can't miss him, that's for sure."
...
Kurosaki raced towrads Urahara's shop, his heart pounded in his chest. So many questions ran through his mind, Aizen was freed? Who was involved? Who was the new threat? He kicked himself mentally and turned a corner, he didn't have time to think of the 'why' and he needed to focus on how to fix it. He had to get to Kyouraku and the Sereitei Captains to assist in their defense.
He darted through a dank brick alley between some old businesses and a figure was present ahead of him. Kurosaki paused upon seeing the figure, it wore a pale white cloak and was not facing him, a hood covered it's head.
The young man's heart began to pound in his chest, was it an Espada? Or was this just a civilian? No way, couldn't be a civilian, the cloak was the distinctive Espada white. Had to be related to the problem at hand, there was no way it was random. Kurosaki called out to the figure who didn't move an inch,
"Whoever you are- You're gonna get hurt if you don't get outta my way. Just a friendly warning."
The figure didn't move, it almost was too still, he couldn't even tell if it was male or female. Kurosaki clenched his teeth and summoned Zangetsu, he immediately held it out in a defensive posture. Something was wrong here, and this person had to be related. Kurosaki took a few deep breaths to slow his pounding heart, it had been a minute since he had been in an actual fight. Hopefully, this wasn't an Espada and was just a Fraccion.
He shouted again in an attempt to be formidable,
"Last chance, get out of the way or I'll be forced to cut you down!"
The figure remained, stoic and silent. Kurosaki shook his head, knowing it was a fight now. He rushed forward towards the figure with a horizontal swing of Zangetsu to hopefully lob the opponent in half. In a blink, the figure disappeared in a warp of some kind. The being was entirely gone from view or reiatsu detection. A firm hand suddenly grabbed Kurosaki's shoulder from behind, an icy feeling ran through his body.
Kurosaki's vision blurred and he felt himself collapse onto his hands and knees, whoever it was, was draining him. He struggled to try to push himself back to a standing position, but kept falling to his knees. He couldn't quite place the feeling, it felt as though he was being split in two. He glanced up at the same hooded figure, he blinked a few times hard in an attempt not to pass out. It was a pale fleshed male who held a palm out towards him with a resolute and stern expression. The being had piercing, almost glowing, aqua colored eyes.
Before Kurosaki could react or garner any strength to resist, he blacked out and collapsed in the small desolate alleyway.
...
A light knocking at the door jerked Hinamori awake in a huff, the girl breathed hard upon taking in her surroundings for the second time. The bland room wasn't very comforting or familiar, and the mental reminder of how her absence was received at the Sereitei immediately gave her a sense of stress in the pit of her stomach. She rubbed her head and scooted off the bed, she had just sat down not long ago she felt, and couldn't believe she had actually fallen asleep in this strange place.
As soon as she felt she was presentable and dressed in the new clothes provided by Aizen, she trotted to the door. Her new robe had loose fitting pants similar to her shihakusho, but the top was rather form fitting, sleeveless, and had a diamond keyhole at her collarbone and chest. It made her slightly uncomfortable because it was a bit sexier than she usually dressed.
Hinamori cracked the door and observed the same deep green haired arrancar from earlier. The woman was small in stature, built similar to Rukia with slightly more hip size to her. The girl smiled kindly and stepped aside, motioning with her hand to walk a certain direction.
"Aizen-sama requests your presence."
The black haired girl felt hesitant, afraid that it wasn't Aizen himself coming to get her. However, it made sense given the lordly way in which the arrancar here treated him. He was like a god to them, it wasn't entirely a foreign concept to her with how she practically worshipped the ground he walked on.
Hinamori cautiously exited her room and walked behind the arrancar. The girl kept a steady pace and didn't utter a word as she lead her through the vast hallways of Las Noches. The shinigami couldn't keep her curiosity at bay any longer,
"How many of you are there here? This palace is huge."
The other female had a surprisingly sweet voice as she responded in a vague manner,
"Oh there are many of us here. Aizen-Sama keeps us safe. Each Espada has their own wing where they reside with their Fraccion."
Hinamori equated being a Fraccion to being a Lieutenant at the Soul Society. The thought of her division and how they felt about her instantly panged at her heart. She tried to keep distracted from the repercussions of her leaving were,
"What number Espada are you?"
The young woman chuckled and glanced back for a moment,
"Oh, I am not an Espada. I'm the Fraccion of Euryale Lede, the Hydra."
Before Hinamori could ask any further questions, she realized they were approaching a huge open style thoroughfare and it had enormous double doors, at least twice the size of the ones to her room. The floor had huge slate grey reflective tiles and the doors appeared to be made of some type of heavy wood, painted white to match the stone looking walls. The small arrancar nodded and motioned to the door as she stepped aside,
"He's expecting you."
The sheepish shinigami pushed at the massive doors as they had no handles, and they creaked open slowly. Her heart picked up pace as she cautiously entered the huge throne room. High up above her sat Aizen on a white stone throne, a hot tea in a mug beside him. Beside him was a hulking man, bigger than Kenpachi and muscular. He had a huge lower jaw bone type appendage that looked to be tusks of a boar.
Aizen wore his trademark relaxed smile,
"Welcome Hinamori. Gorm, you may take your leave."
Hinamori smiled weakly and the huge male gruffly responded to Aizen,
"Akhenaten and that thing will be back soon, just so ya know sir."
The calm brown haired man nodded ever so slightly before the huge Espada jumped down onto the floor level in front of Hinamori. He landed with a deafening slam, and then rose upright to his full height. She felt some inkling of fear as he approached her to walk passed, he towered over her with a fearsome scowl on his face. The corner of his mouth then twiched into a sneer and he eyed her up and down in what she felt was a lecherous manner.
Hinamori's breath tightened and she forced herself to look back up at the reason she was there. The huge Espada took his leave and the enormous throne doors slowly cranked to a close behind him. Aizen then casually floated down to her level and approached her,
"I apologize for his behavior, he's a rather... troubled man. You're safe with me."
Aizen's words were honey laced and so very much like his old self, Hinamori felt herself being overwhelmed with her desire to recapture the past. She was losing sight of who he had become after the betrayal. She finally piped up after swallowing the fearsome look given to her by the Espada,
"Can we talk? About everything?"
His response wasn't surprising to her, he was respectful but direct in his wording. The man paced slowly up within a few feet of her.
"Everything is quite an expansive concept, we would be here for hours. I feel I'm not adequately prepared to explain that broad of a topic, and I certainly don't have hours to do so. However, I can tell you the abridged version of my reasoning was, for what you percieve as a betrayal. Would that be a good start?"
Hinamori felt his answer was somewhat evasive, but she needed to get any kind of answer she could. The fact he hadn't killed her was already a huge accomplishment, so any answers she could garner from him was a win in her mind. She had come this whole way and was certainly going to lose her rank over her coming to Hueco Mundo. The young woman rocked her weight a bit and looked up at him in a pleading manner,
"I guess so."
Aizen's smile widened ever so slightly and he slid his hands into his pockets as he responded,
"I understand this may be an unusual concept to you, but The Soul King is the true enemy of Shinigami. He vastly limits power levels and implements rules to hinder the functionality of the Soul Society. He unjustly limits action taken by Shinigami in the world of the living, limiting the release of their powers and forbidding the melding of shinigami and hollow. He self righteously punishes Shinigami via the Central 46 and unequally disseminates the laws. I've sat back for years and seen these limitations and watched as the Sereitei barely scrapes by to control even basic hollows and Gillians. I will take his place, and implement fair and impartial rule."
The barrage of information practically made her head spin. Hinamori sat for a moment and took in what he was saying, it wasn't overtly nefarious in appearance. Perhaps he was telling the truth. She let out a sigh and looked down for only a few moments before responding,
"Are you going to kill the Gotei 13 to get there?"
He didn't waver in his gaze, he appeared genuine via his facial expression,
"They may join me in my new world, or perish if they insist on remaining in their old one. We must all adapt and overcome adversity, and I believe we can come together to achieve a common goal."
His words were eloquent but confused her somewhat, it was a lot to take in. The Soul King certainly did limit them, but it was for the safety of all realms involved, not just to limit them for the sake of doing so, at least that's what she was trained to believe. Hinamori opened her mouth to ask a question and Aizen cooly interrupted her,
"I apologize Hinamori, I have another matter to attend to shortly. Would you mind if we spoke again later? I'm afraid it's of the utmost importance."
...
A curtain of rich orange hair whipped behind her as she darted around her bedroom gathering her personal affects. Orhime hummed nervously in her throat as she threw a few pairs of undergarments and outfits in a backpack. She tingled with nervous energy at the news she had received from Kurosaki. It seemed urgent to the point he hadn't been answering her responses to his text, nor her calls. He had told her to meet him at Urahara's shop and that it was an emergency, and that was it.
Although she was supposed to go to her college classes later in the day, she knew if Kurosaki had said it was an emergency, that it was of the utmost importance. She had immediately begun packing her clothes and texted Urahara that she was on the way. Orihime felt her stomach drop and a chill run up her spine at a sudden faint grainy whistling type noise. The young woman paused in her frantic packing to listen to find the source of the noise, it sounded like it was downstairs.
Orhime trotted over to her bedroom doorway,
"Kurosaki? ...That you?"
After calling out their names, she kept quiet to hear if there was a response. The faint sound of rustling sand began to grow louder, and with it, her heart rate picked up. She could feel her heart pounding into her chest as the unusual rustling seemed to be getting closer, she swallowed hard and took a few steps to the top of the staircase to look downstairs.
Orihime stared down the stairs and yelped in shock when she saw what appeared to be a sandstorm billowing up the staircase towards her. She turned to run back into her bedroom and the shattering of her bedroom window caused her to scream and fall back onto her rear end. Before she could speak, a harsh breeze wrapped around her with sand practically blinding her. It felt as though a huge snake was taking hold of her and she winced and let out another shriek as she was suddenly surrounded by what appeared to be swirling dense sand.
The broken window ahead of her yielded a towering tan skinned man with an arabic style headdress. He had to bend in half to step through her bedroom window into the room, he faintly reminded her of Nnoitra in build and height. His narrow piercing gold eyes looked down at her without expression, his accent was of an unplaceable arabic descent as he spoke,
"You must come with us, girl."
Orihime was trembling in the grips of what appeared to be living sand that enveloped her body up to her ribcage and elbows. Her arms were sucked down by her sides into the sand and she was facing the tall white clad male. She gingerly spoke,
"Why? Who are you?"
The male was quiet for a few moments and Orihime took a second to absorb what he was wearing. The robe was akin to what she remembered seeing the Espada wearing, only he had a red sash type wrap around his waist to hold his katana. She swallowed hard and fought the urge to burst into tears as the poker faced arrancar calmly responded,
"Aizen-Sama requires an audience with you."
...
I hope those of you reading this fic are enjoying it! ^^ I know it's not super romantic, but it'll have it's moments... Thanks for reading!
MewMid/BladeKat