Yay! I acutually got a chapter up before a whole month went by! Well I don't really have anything to say except that I hope ya'll enjoy it.
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Chapter Seven
Preparations
Karakura, Japan
Holly stood on a roof next to Yoruichi, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"We have to be sure you can at least handle the lowest-level Hollows before we let you go to Hueco Mundo," the taller woman replied.
"I understand that, but Hollow bait? Are you sure Ishida should be messing with that?" the Quincy was going to actually try to attract Hollows for this "training".
"No one is expecting you to take out every Hollow that shows up, but if you manage to destroy several of them not only will we know you can survive Hueco Mundo, but you may also improve."
Holly sighed, "What I'm mostly worried about is being seen. If I can shield using reishi I haven't figured out how yet."
Yoruichi nodded, "Think about how long Quincy have been around without attracting attention from ordinary humans. I'm sure there is a way for you to hide, but you won't need it to rescue your friend. Perhaps you can learn after. In the meantime Tessai's barrier will keep things from getting out of hand." The large man was apparently a master of "kido" the Shinigami version of magic, and was using it to block off this sparsely inhabited area as a safety precaution. The idea was to let the Hollows through, but not humans who might otherwise get caught in the crossfire.
Several dark spots appeared against the sky. Holly started firing arrows before they were close enough to see clearly. Every one hit. This was going to be easier than she had thought. Except that not all of them were flying. While she focused on the hollows in the air at least as many approached from the ground. One scaled the building and grabbed for her leg. "D'arvitt!" Holly cursed, jumping back and shooting it. They suddenly seemed to be everywhere. "How do they move so fast?" her years of training in the LEP helped her to stay relatively calm. Yoruichi was behind her fighting off any that tried to take her by surprise so she focused on the ones she could see. They were going down with one shot as long as she hit the white bone masks in place of their faces. The trick was remembering to aim for that, and that theses were supposed to be kill shots, not the stuns she was used to.
She shot down what she thought was the last one, only to have another leap at her from behind it. It threw her to the ground, breaking her concentration and causing her bow to disappear. The thing pressed it's faceless mask close to her, and she felt her claustrophobia kicking in. She reached up a hand and pushed, but it was too large for the small force she exerted to move. She closed her eyes and concentrated letting the reishi build around her hand, then released it explosively, blowing the hollow off of her. She immediately rolled to her feet already forming a new bow. It took her a few moments of looking around in confusion to realize there were no more Hollows.
She heard clapping behind her and turned to see Urahara (who was the one clapping) Yoruichi, Ishida, Tessai and Butler lined up on the edge of the roof. "Well done," Yoruichi said with a smile.
"Looks like you can handle it," Urahara added.
"As if there was ever a doubt," Butler said beaming as if he had just seen his little sister master a new technique.
"So will you open a Garganta for us now?" Ishida asked, getting straight to the point.
"Urahara nodded, "It will take a few hours so you two get some rest. The real challenge is just about to start."
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Society of the Evening Star Base
Rowan Long moved purposefully through the dim corridors. He may have been the shortest member of the Society of the Evening Star, but that had not stopped him from taking over when his predecessor had been captured by their enemies the Knights of the Dawn. If he had not stepped in the Society would probably have ceased to exist.
He came to the door of the deepest room in their fortress. For a moment he considered simply barging in, he was the leader after all, but the truth was he knew she was far more dangerous than he would ever be. This Arrancar was so dangerous she wasn't even welcome in Hueco Mundo anymore, not that the others could do much about it if she had wanted to stay after Aizen's defeat. He didn't know why she had chosen to leave her home or join the Society, he was too glad she wasn't an enemy to ask. He knocked.
"Who is there?" a deceptively pleasant voice asked.
"Rowan Long," he announced himself.
The door opened and a woman between five and six feet tall stood before him. She was dressed modestly in a black dress with red embroidery of flames around the hem and waist. It clung flatteringly to her figure as it fell almost to the floor. Her hair was red with traces of oranges, yellows and even a few strands of blue, the colors of fire. Her mask remnant was in the shape of an eastern dragon, the tip of the tail at the center of her left cheek, snakelike body curling around to the head just behind and beneath her eye with a flame shape emerging from the open jaws. Her intense coal black eyes were focused down on the elf.
"What do you want?" Kasai Hono demanded coldly.
"Three of Koboi's Arrancars seem to be a problem," he answered, keeping eye contact. "They let her prisoners escape. I want the Arrancars eliminated and the prisoners brought here."
She already knew who the prisoners were, Rowan had thought it wise to keep her in the loop regarding her home world. She only had one question, "Who are the Arrancars?"
"Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and Ulquiorra Schiffer."
She smiled, "This will be easy."
Abandoned Caves, Hueco Mundo
Orihime woke up to see Artemis sitting in the cave's entrance. She joined him, noticing that the sky looked exactly the same as when they had first entered.
Artemis noticed her upward gaze and commented, "Either we slept all day or it is always dark here." He motioned to a pile of the white, round fruit they had been eating since they arrived in this strange world, "Are you hungry? I already had some."
Orihime picked one off the top of the pile wondering where he had found them. "Thank you," she said, and took a bite.
"Don't thank me. They were there when I woke up."
Orihime swallowed and lowered the rest of the fruit, "Who…"
Artemis shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."
Orihime finished eating in silence. It seemed someone was helping them, but why didn't they want to be seen?
Once she was finished eating Artemis spoke up again. "Perhaps we should explore the other caves. We might find something useful." Orihime nodded, even if they didn't find anything it was better than sitting in the same cave all day. Besides it would be an advantage to be familiar with the area if Koboi found them here.
It was slow going. The caves were large, and there were hundreds of them. Despite the signs that they had once been inhabited, there was almost nothing left. After a few hours Orihime noticed Artemis placing a hand on his forehead as if he had a headache when he thought she wasn't looking."I wonder where whoever or whatever lived here before went," she said to distract herself from wondering what was wrong with Artemis.
"I don't know. There aren't any bodies, I haven't seen any sight of a fight, at least not with any weapons I'm familiar with. threr are a few collapsed caves of course, but that may be natural. Perhaps they are migratory and will eventually return." He winced and raised his hand again, this time not caring that she was looking right at him.
"Are you all right?"
"It's only a headache," he looked more concerned than he should be for just a headache.
"The strange thing about this place is that we haven't seen any signs of kids. No toys, no drawings on the wall, it's as if there weren't any." This had been bothering her for a while.
"If these were made by some kind of animal there might not be anything special for the young ones."
"Maybe, but I don't think it was animals."
"Why do you think that?"
"I don't know, it just doesn't feel right."
Artemis leaned against the cave wall, arms folded across his chest, that studying look on his face again. "Could this be something you knew before your memory loss?"
She shrugged, "Like you said, ever since I got here I've known things I couldn't if I hadn't been here before."
"Did that ever happen before?"
"No. my school didn't even seem familiar, but the student I.D. I had when they found me said it was the same one. I think the doctors hoped sending me back there would help me remember, but it didn't."
Artemis took a deep breath as if preparing to break bad news. "The People—you would call them fairies—have avoided being found by humans for centuries because they are technologically advanced. Part of their technology is the ability to mind wipe people. They can literally erase the memories of anyone who sees them. They usually only take a few minutes, just enough to make sure people don't know they saw them."
"They were the aliens people saw after the Techno-Crash! It affected them too!" Orihime said excitedly.
"Yes, in fact it started with them, but you are missing the point. They usually only erase a few minutes, but they can take more. They can erase a person's entire life. I think you have been here before and they or someone with similar technology did not want you to know." He was silent for a few moments to let her process his words. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Orihime nodded, suddenly afraid, "You're saying someone did this to me."
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Las Noches, Hueco Mundo
Koboi walked into Granz's lab without bothering to knock. "Is it ready?" she snapped.
"I believe so, but it is difficult to tell without a test subject," he replied, flipping his hair in irritation.
"Well then go get a test subject!"
"I don't do field work. Send one of the others."
"They haven't come back yet."
"Now there's a surprise," he muttered sarcastically. "It doesn't matter, the environment in Hueco Mundo would kill a normal human anyway."
"Then take it to Long's Society and let them test it. I'm sure he can find a few humans for you to use."
He bowed, "Of course, Koboi-sama. I shall begin preparations immediately."
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Edge of the Valley, Hueco Mundo
"What was that about not acting on your own?" Grimmjow growled at Nel.
"Well I wasn't going to let them starve! Even if she remembered she wouldn't know where to look."
"So why did you just leave it then? Why didn't you just walk in and say 'Hey kids, I'm Nel! Ya hungry'?" he demanded.
"He has a point. You might as well have been open about helping them." Grimmjow was so surprised he didn't know what to say. Schiffer was agreeing with him?
Nel was surprised too, but not speechless. "I didn't see either of you volunteering."
"That does not explain the reason for your secrecy," Ulquiorra noted.
"I'm not sure about the boy. He is a criminal to humans and fairies alike." She admitted. "I want to watch him a while longer. Until he proves his true nature one way or the other."
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That's all folks! Let me know what you think.
Thanks and prayers,
RAHbooks.