Hello everyone, here's your precious Dakan69.
Hope you enjoy my new story.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while the soundtracks and anything else copyrighted belongs each to their originator.
Vaizado no Ashido
Chapter 14: Heaven in Hell
(OPENING: Aimer – US feat. TK from Ling Tosite Sigure)
BORDER OF LAS NOCHES – HUECO MUNDO – SOMETIME IN THE PAST – ASHIDO'S POW
(Soundtrack: Bleach OST: A Requiem)
With my new red colored Shihakusho, my second gazelle hollow mask on my face, and my fur coat with a lot of different hollow masks and myZanpakuto, I realized that by the many cliffs visible around, I finally reached Las Noches, the so-called 'center of Hueco Mundo while the moon in Hueco Mundo's eternal night sky shined rather brightly.
„what do we have here. " A male voice, which I considered rather noisy, could be heard.
When I turned around I saw a frog-like-looking Adjucas coming towards me.
„you look kinda small and pathetic, but that doesn't matter, I'll still devour you anyway" the adjucas proclaimed towards me.
When I started walking away from that noisy adjucas, I soon realized that the adjucas didn't like my decision, proved by its sudden jump.
„STAY STILL" the frog-adjusts stated like he gave an order towards me, which then made me standstill.
This time, however, I put out my Zanpakuto, cutting the left arm of the noisy Adjucas, who started to cry rather loud.
„aahhhhhh my arm, how is that possi.. a-a blade? Wait, are you a Shinigami ?" the adjucas cried in fear while I came closer.
When I was near the adjucas, I remained still, only to answer:
„not anymore … " were my words before I cut the adjucas' head in half, killing him.
I again remained still, before I wanted to continue walking, but then I remembered why I came to Las Noches in the first place.
„seems I have no other choice..." I said before I put down my fake gazelle-looking hollow mask before I put my left hand in front of my face, only for my real gazelle hollow mask to appear.
At first, I looked again towards the dead Adjucas, before I came closer and started to devour it bit by bit.
After I finally devour the adjucas, I made my real hollow mask disappear before I put my second mask on, which was of course identically to my real one.
When I finally entered the cliffs of Las Noches, I encountered dozens of adjucas, only for them to be killed and devoured as well as time went by.
While doing this, I remembered the reasons for being in Las Noches in the first place. One of them was to strengthen my hollow powers. At first, I did that by devouring Gillians in the Menos forest.
But as soon as I was strong enough, the Gillians couldn't satisfy me anymore, which was the reason Oyabun permitted me to enter Las Noches, the only condition was that I should arouse as little attention as possible, which was understandable of course.
After I devoured my twelfth Adjucas in an area surrounded by two cliffs, I wanted to continue my path for my next prey, only for me to feel a rather strong reiatsu nearby.
I turned my head from the direction of the strong reiatsu.
(End of the Soundtrack)
While there were more reiatsu's I could feel, presumably of other Adjucas, the first one was clearly the strongest.
„A Vasto Lorde ?" I wondered while going out of the place I was right now.
I realized that a fight is going on there, despite the sandstorm which has appeared just a second ago.
As I came closer, the sandstorm still blocking my sight, I still realized that someone is aiming with a weapon behind me, making me put out my Zanpakuto immediately, blocking the enemy attack.
When I tried to counterattack, the enemy disappeared, possibly via speed-run.
I didn't have to think twice to realize that it was the same strong reaitsu that attacked me.
Then, when the sandstorm stopped, I saw the source of the strong reiatsu, and I couldn't believe my eyes.
In front of me stood a humanoid hollow with blond hair, and armor of skull surrounding the body, along with several fins around, what's more, a fin-like club weapon on the right hand as well, but for me, the most unexpected features were two large breasts and feet which looked rather like high heels.
While it was indeed a Vasto Lorde that stood in front of me, I couldn't believe that it was a female Vasto Lorde. What's more, despite her high-heel-like feet, her height was smaller than my height, which for some reason relieved me for a second.
I then lifted my Katana with both hands, its edge pointing towards the female Vasto Lorde, signalizing that I'm accepting the challenge, ready to continue.
The females Vasto Lorde however, seemed to press its eyes to before both of us run towards each other, our weapons clashing many times.
During our clashes, I finally saw her eyes, which beautifully were green colored.
It was at this moment that the female Vasto Lorde suddenly stooped with the clashing.
I then saw that she turned her eyes towards my right side before she teleported away.
When I saw her reappearing on my right, I saw that she's running towards the other fight going on.
Nothing better to do right now, I decided to follow her, now seeing that the Vasto Lorde joined the other fight that's going on.
I realized that the female Vasto Lorde is fighting alongside three adjucas, each resembling a large lion, a deer, and a large snake, who presumably followed the female Vasto Lorde.
They were fighting against three other Adjucas.
While two of them could be easily killed, one by the three adjucas and another by the female Vasto Lorde, the third one however seemed rather hard to deal with.
At first, I didn't think to get involved into that fight, since it would be rather entertaining to look at that fight from afar, but then I remembered the beautiful eyes of the Vasto Lorde I suddenly couldn't stop thinking about.
I was really about to interfere before I saw how the female Vasto Lorde defeated the final enemy Adjucas.
„Finally... " I could hear a female voice, „ we won." the same female voice said, which I saw belonged to the deer Adjucas.
„those three jackasses were quite troublesome I admit." a second female voice could be heard, which belonged to the lion adjucas.
„not as troublesome as your both's potty mouth" a third female voice, which belonged to the large snake adjucas, has spoken.
„what did you just say ! " the deer adjucas shouted angrily for presumably being insulted.
„yeah, Sun-Sun, if someone has a potty mouth, then it's you with your way of talking like a snobby bitch." the lion adjucas added as well.
Listening to them seemed somehow entertaining if I was honest. After all, I didn't expect for menos-class like hollows to speak like that, not to mention female menos. But to be honest, it's my first time seeing female Menos-class hollows, both female Adjucas and a female Vasto Lorde.
„don't blame me for your incompetence for not being able to … " the snake adjucas wanted to explain, only for her to realize that someone, me actually, was behind her, making her and the other two adjucas to look towards the same direction.
„WHO'S THERE ! " the lioness adjucas shouted, only to see me with my gazelle-like hollow mask walk towards them.
As I came closer, the deer-adjucas leaned near the lioness-adjucas,
„hey, Sun-Sun, is it just an imagination, or is that really another Vasto Lorde in front of us ?" I heard how the deer-adjucas whispered to the snake-adjucas.
„I'm seeing him as well, Apacci, maybe he's the leader of those jackasses." I heard the snake-adjucas whispered back as well, confirming that the deer-adjucas isn't imagining at all.
„Alright … " the lioness-adjucas proclaimed while preparing for the next fight.
They saw as I came closer and closer. Even though the three adjucas were tired and that they need time to rest, they knew that they couldn't just run away, not only because of their new enemy being presumably a Vasto Lorde but because they didn't want to bring shame towards their mistress.
But as I was only inches away, I decided to do something to do which I didn't expect to work.
...
Because I didn't want to fight them, I just passed them by.
….
I guess The three Adjucas were confused for a few seconds, only for them to turn their heads, now realizing that I really just passed them by while going for their Vasto Lorde leader, which I realized made all three of them quite angry.
„HEY, STOP THERE " the lioness-adjucas shouted rather upset towards me while all three of them run, surrounding me, which made me immediately stop.
„YOU HAVE SOME NERVE … JUST TO PASS US." the snake adjucas- shouted towards me.
While the snake-adjucas and the deer-adjucas were surrounding me from the right and left, the lioness-adjucas was now right in front of me.
While I looked closely towards the three female adjucas, I saw several wounds on their bodies, most likely from the fight recently.
„move … " I spoke toward the three female adjucas rather loudly, „I have no interest in you three. And besides, you're no match for me, especially with those wounds on your bodies" I added louder for them to understand.
I then saw how the lioness-adjucas put out her claws while also growling angrily,
„WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A VASTO LORDE DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE GONNA RUN AWAY LIKE COWARDS. " the deer-adjucas shouted again.
„YEAH, DON'T EVEN THINK THAT WE'LL ALLOW YOU TO COME NEAR HARRIBEL-SAMA." the lioness-adjucas spoke. After she spoke her warning, the snake-adjucas looked closely towards me, presumably noticing my Zanpakuto and several hollow masks on my back.
„Harribel … " I repeated the snake-adjucas' last word, only for me to look towards the female Vasto Lorde who just stared towards me as well. I realized that this must be the female Vasto Lorde's name.
Despite being wounded, those three adjucas remained at their current position ready to fight against him. There was only one thing I thought about them.
'they're truly honorable, protecting their leader, even in the face of death.' I thought. After all, I never saw that kind of behavior among Menos-class class hollows, but I also never saw female menos-class Hollows either, I wonder if other female adjucas and Vasto Lorde are like this.
It was at this moment that Ashido turned around and started walking away.
„THAT'S GOOD, THERE YOU GO." the deer-adjucas shouted rather proudly and mockingly.
„YEAH, AND GOODBYE FOREVER!" the lioness-adjucas shouted proudly and mockingly as well, feeling rather relieved, despite all three of them seeing the many hollow masks on his back.
LAS NOCHES – HUECO MUNDO - LATER
(Bleach OST: swan song)
After the male Vasto Lorde disappeared, Harribel and her three followers were looking out for other Adjucas before they were on their way back home.
While her followers slightly celebrated their victory, Harribel herself was in rather deep thoughts about the Vasto Lorde, because something about him was rather strange for her while she remembered how they both clashed.
While the Group could see the entrance of their cave, they were also relieved that there presumably wasn't any other dangerous menos nearby.
(End of the Soundtrack)
„WOW, can you believe that not only we've won a fight, but we really routed a Vasto Lorde out of our reach." the lioness-adjuca named Mila-Rose proclaimed.
„yeah, I knew that he would be afraid of me." Apacci announced proudly.
(Soundtrack: Bleach OST Magot's Dance)
„what are you talking about, obviously he was afraid of me and my claws, you really think someone would be afraid of a Unicorn." Mila-Rose corrected her teammate by insulting her.
„DON'T ACT SO COCKY, YOU STUPID SUNFLOWER !" Apacci shouted towards her for calling her a Unicorn by calling Mila-Rose 'Sunflower', a nickname which Mila-Rose had because of her hollow-mask's shape.
„WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME ! " Mila-Rose shouted back, not believing how Apachi just called her.
„I'm sure he only retreated because he pitied you both for your low intelligence." Sung-Sun stated her 'theory' about the 'Vasto Lorde's reason for retreat' towards them both.
„SHUT UP YOU STUPID TAPEWORM" Apachi stated angrily towards Sung-Sun
„YEAH, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN OUR SUCCESS." Mila-Rose loudly wondered.
Sung-Sun slightly laughed at her both comrade's funny reaction, even though she's been called 'Tapeworm', only for her to become serious again.
(end of the soundtrack)
„No seriously, I'm sure we'll see him again sooner or later." Sung-Sun stated with a serious voice.
„how do you mean that, Sung-Sun ?" Apacci asked her.
„think about it" Sung-Sun started explaining, „he only retreaded because we were outnumbering him, but next time this could change."
„you mean he could gather other adjucas as allies? " Mila-Rose wondered concerned.
„Obviously it wouldn't be hard for him, after all, he's a Vasto Lorde like Harribel-sama " Sung-Sun stated.
„if that's actually the case … " their Mistress suddenly spoke, making the three adjucas being attentive towards their leader, who suddenly stopped walking, making her three followers stop immediately as well.
„what do you mean, Harribel-sama ?" Mila-Rose wondered what her Mistress meant.
„didn't you see it ?" Harribel asked while now facing her followers.
„you mean the sword on him? Yeah it's quite strange if you ask me, and the many hollow-masks on his back as well." Sung-Sun stated towards her Mistress.
„Yes, he had for some reason many masks on his back, which usually makes no sense at all, what's more, he also carried a sword around his body" Harribel explained.
„a sword ?" Apacci and Mila-Rose wondered while looking towards Sung-Sun because none of them both remembered seeing a sword.
„you mean that he might not be another Vasto Lorde, but a Shinigami?" Apacci wondered.
„a Shinigami … here? " Milia-Rose wondered as well.
„It's possible, after all, there are rumors of a Shinigami haunting the Forrest of Menos, I think his name was 'Ashito' or something." Sung-Sun pointed out.
„maybe, but we're in Las Noches, where only the Strongest Hollows can survive. He has to be eighter really brave and/or really stupid if he thinks he could make some kind of 'holiday trip' around here of all places." Appaci
„well he seemed confident enough to confront two loud and indecent women, so … "Sung-sun stated mockingly again towards her two comrades, who became angry again.
„that's what I've thought at first as well, but remembering his reiatsu, he felt like both, a Shinigami AND a Hollow" Harribel stated, which made the three look again towards their leader.
„is that even possible, to be a Hollow and a Shinigami at the same time ?" Apacci wondered curiously.
„That reminds me of a story I've once heard." Mila-Rose stated.
„ What Story ?" Appacci wondered what that word means.
„Apparently, besides the three known Menos-classes, there exist a fourth class of Hollows called 'Arrancars' … " Mila-Rose explained, „a class of Hollows with cracked masks and Shinigami-like appearance. Their whole reiatsu is said to even surpass that of a Vasto Lorde, which is the reason why they're even rarer than Vasto Lordes." she added.
„how do you know that, Mila-Rose? " Apacci wondered.
„oh, didn't expect for you to be so intelligent, Mila-Rose, you've really surprised me" Sung-Sun stated her surprise at Mila-Rose knowing about the Arrancar.
„Shut-up, " Mila-Rose said towards her annoyingly,
„I've heard of them as well … " Harribel stated, making her followers look towards her, while she remembered,
„Before I became a Vasto Lorde, an Adjucas, I don't remember his name, told me about an ancient story of a group of 10 Arrancars who called themselves 'Espada', who, along with an army of menos-class hollows, presumably once together attacked the soul society nearly a millennia ago. It is said that even Barragan himself feard them."
„that skeleton bastard was really afraid of others? What happened to him and that other Arrancar then? " Sung-sun wondered.
„that particular Adjucas, who also claimed to have taken part in that attack, said that of those 10 Arrancars who attacked soul society, only 2 Arrancar, Termino Muerte, and Averian Diamo, survived and returned from their assault on the soul society. Both are said to rule over Hueco Mundo's 'frontier' right now " Harribel explained.
„But they've still lost the Battle right ?, I wonder what stupid reason did they had to do that in the first place ?" Apacci annoyingly commented.
„Yeah, they should've attacked that stupid Barragan instead. " Mila-Rose added.
„Finally something I agree with you both for once." Sung-sun agreed with her comrades.
„Anyway, be it a Shinigami or an Arrancar it doesn't matter, as Sung-Sun already pointed out, it's not the last time we encountered him, so be prepared ladies." Harribel stated.
„ „ „ YES HARRIBEL-SAMA" " " the three adjucas said in unison.
It didn't take too long until they've arrived at their cave's entrance.
HARRIBEL'S CAVE – LAS NOCHES – HUECO MUNDO
They've started going down the stairs down their cave, until Harrribel herself not only stopped but also lifted her right-hand-attached 'fin-club', stretching it beside her.
„Harribel-sama? " Mila-Rose wondered why her mistress suddenly stopped.
„Quiet … " Harribel whispered, „we have a visitor."
This made the three adjucas take positions again, preparing for another battle.
They continued walking down the stone-stairs of their cave until they've reached the ground.
But what they've seen there, shocked them:
the masked Vasto Lorde, if it was a Vasto Lorde in the first place, was seen in front of them again, only this time he was sitting rather than staying.
Ashido meanwhile, his mask still on his face, looked towards the arrived hollows again.
„HUUUH, IT'S YOU AGAIN ?! " Mila-Rose shouted out in disbelief before she jumped in front of Harribel, „didn't you hear me saying 'goodbye forever? " Mila-Rose spoke to him again loudly and this time with a grumpy voice.
This made Ashido stand up slowly, which in turn made Milia-Rose shrieking back slightly.
„I intended to rest here until facing you again." Ashido explained blandly while looking towards Harribel, especially towards her eyes in particular.
„then rest somewhere else, this is our cave, so get the f-" Apacci shouted this time towards Ashido until she's been stopped by her Mistress herself, who then came closer towards Ashido.
Ashido and Harribel stood face-to-face for a while until she spoke again.
„Since our clash, I've been wondering something … " Harribel started speaking towards Ashido while now looking towards his sword.
„the way how you fight with your sword is like you have a lot of experience with it. What's more, now I can feel that this sword is truly a Zanpakuto of a Shinigami." Harribel stated.
„but the way you smell, and also your reiatsu … " Harribel continued,
„you also feel like a hollow as well, I don't know what exactly you're supposed to be, but there's one thing I'm sure now … " Harribel said before she lifted her fin-club toward Ashido.
„that mask on you isn't real, isn't it? " Harribel stated while still pointing with her club towards Ashido, „who, and what are you exactly ? " she demanded from the taller man.
Ashido stayed still for a while, after all, he didn't know how exactly he has to explain this, so he chose the easy way this time.
Ashido lifted his left hand, which made the three adjucas shrink a little bit, only for his left hand to touch his mask before he took it off, revealing his red hair and peached face towards the female Vasto Lorde and her three followers.
„my name is Ashido Kano, I'm a Visored." Ashido finally introduced himself.
„Ashido, wait … " this time Sung-Sun spoke, „are you THE Ashido ?, the Shinigami of the Menos forest ?"
Ashido then looked towards the snake-adjucas, „yes" Ashido explained before he bowed in front of the hollows, who were surprised to see a male, let alone a possibly non-hollow, to bow in front of them.
After he lifted his body again, he looked towards the adjucas, asking: „may I ask for your names if possible ?" Ashido politely asked before his gaze has been directed towards Harribel's green eyes.
Harribel remained silent at first, not intending to answer him, but seeing his obvious polite demeanor, she somehow knew that he has no intentions to damage them in any way, at least right now.
„I'm Tier Harribel" she introduced herself towards Ashido before pointing out with her left hand behind her, „and this are my loyal followers …" she added, signalizing the three adjucas to introduce themselves.
„I am Emiliou Appaci" the deer-adjucas introduced herself first.
„and I am Franceska Milia-Rose. " the lioness-adjucas introduced herself next.
„and my name is Cyan Sung-Sun" the snake-adjucas introduced herself the last, but compare to her two companions, she 'bowed' as well towards Ashido as he realized, „it's quite an honor to meet the legendary 'Shinigami of the Menos forrest' in person." Sung-Sun stated before she lifted her head up again.
Ashido was surprised again, this time however by their courtesy. During his long time in the menos forest, the adjucas, it were all males as he remembered, none of them behaved closely to that of what he considers 'polite', but these female menos-class hollows here, they were without a doubt different, even the grumpy lioness and the deer-adjucas were quite likable for Ashido.
„you've referred to yourself as a 'Visored'… " Harribel started speaking again, „could you explain what that is. " Harribel asked curiously, despite already somehow guessing what that term could mean.
Ashido hesitated at first, but then he guessed that there's no harm in telling them a bit, of course, he knew that he has to be careful not to reveal everything: „we Visoreds are Shinigamis who, at some point in their lives, became partly hollows themselves." Ashido started, „and for that, we're prohibited for entering our previous home, the soul society … " he added, „and because we don't wish any harm towards mortal souls as well, one of the only few places we can stay without causing too much trouble, is Hueco Mundo itself."
„and what are you doing here, in Las Noches I mean, even for someone as experienced as yourself it's suicide to enter a place like this alone, isn't it ?" Harribel asked while getting slightly concerned about the possible answer.
„compare to our well-developed Shinigami powers, our hollow powers are, after our 'Creation', very unstable. Our 'hollow's strength' is comparable to that of a simple hollow, which means that we can lose control over them if we are not careful enough" Ashido explained, „But then we realized that, after consuming other hollows, that our powers started not only to grow but also to stabilize as well. " Ashido explained while Harribel, as well as Apacci, Milia-Rose, and Sung-Sun listened closely,
„it's the same as with a hollow's evolution: when a hollow is born, they're mostly running on a rampage, but after they develop into a Menos-Class, like all of you, they start to gain control over themselves, and by becoming an adjucas, they gain enough strength and intelligence to control their own abilities and behavior as well, am I right ?" Ashido stated before looking towards the female adjucas.
„well, I sometimes wonder about the 'intelligence'-part TBH " Sung-Sun stated while her comrades, who started to growl because of the indirect insult Sung-Sun gave again towards them while she herself giggled quietly.
„At this moment, my hollow powers are approximately on the stage of an adjucas. But since I'm about to become a 'team-leader' among the likes of me, my superior approved of me entering Las Noches so that I could increase my hollow-powers into that of a Vasto Lorde." Ashido stated, „However, right now I seek a place to rest."
„I was quite relieved at first when I discovered this cave, but now that I see that this cave seems to belong to you indeed, I wish for your permission to stay here, at least for one sleep please." Ashido said before he bowed again in front of Harribel, who now was silent for a moment before she gave an answer:
„I approve" Harribel answered, which shocked her fellow adjucas, „but if you try any 'funny act', then it's over, am I clear ?" Harribel proclaimed rather strictly.
„Thank you very much for your hospitality." Ashido stated before he bowed again.
After Ashido lifted himself up again, Harribel saw how he suddenly took out his Zanpakuto, his scabbard included.
„and one more thing."Ashido said before he threw Zanpakuto towards Harribel, who could catch it with her left hand.
After Harribel inspected the weapon for a moment, she looked again towards Ashido, expecting an explanation.
„Among us Visoreds, when we enter someone else's home, we always leave our Zanpakutos to the home's owner " Ashido stated, „ it's a gesture to show that we not only mean no harm but also that we respect the Owner's hospitality" Ashido added before he stared towards Harribel's chest and her hips unwittingly for a few seconds, something which has been noticed only by Sung-sun.
After Harribel showed him his place to sleep, she and her fellow adjucas also went to sleep as well.
(ENDING: The Anix – Fight the Future)