Chapter 7: Unexpected offer
Hueco mundo. The endless wasteland, a desert, wherever one would gaze upon. The desolate, bleak world that hollows called their home.
Since the days that Sousuke Aizen reigned that place, it was consistent of 3 layers.
The underground was one of those layers, where there was nothing but crystalline trees that were growing towards the ground of the second layer, supporting it and sometimes breaking through it.
It was also a refuge for weaker hollows, who either didn`t have the balls, or weren`t insane enough to wander in the second or even third layer. The upper two layers where under the strict rule of Tier Harribel, former Très Espada and arrancars where scattered all over the area. Only when one lived far enough away from her castle, then survival was possible up there.
It wasn' that the empress wasn't ruling the lowest layer as well, she just didn't give a damn about it, or didn't really think it would need surveillance since all the hollows living there were too weak to pose a threat to her reign.
Bainne was one of those hollows who were seeking refuge in the underground layer, or, as it was called, the forest of menos.
He was an adjuchas, a step further in hollow evolution than what was swirling around him. Gillians, as they were called, the lowest form of a menos. Their form never differentiated from each other, always being large, slender and covered by a black cloak.
They were high in numbers down here in the forest and they were strong. Not as strong as he was, not even close, but strong. However, they were miserable company, as they completely lacked any personality what so ever.
Even though he was clearly stronger than them, he was still vastly inferior to what was lurking around one floor above him.
The arrancar.
It was a form of hollow evolution that was kind of a bonus step. One could do it wether one was a Gillian, and adjuchas or a vasto lorde, which was the highest class of menos.
When a hollow became an arrancar, they discarded part of their masks to attain Shinigami powers.
That was Bainne`s goal, however he wanted to become a Vasto Lorde first. In order to to do what he planned to do, he needed as much power as somehow possible. And on that subject, he was stuck. He had devoured a great amount of hollows and he had felt his power increase, but the more he consumed, the less his power grew.
So, he started to fight and devour stronger hollows, but his last fight had almost ended deadly for him, which caused him to start thinking into a different direction. If he wanted to secure his increase in power, he needed some kind of back-up, something that would always guarantee his victory.
And that`s when he thought of an idea. Up until that point, he had always been a loner, never thinking much of his ability to control Gillians, until it had saved him in that last fight that he had won only by a dangerously small margin.
It got him thinking further, so much so until he had come to the solution to his problem. He needed an entourage, an army that would help him eradicate everything in his way.
Besides, even if he had become an Arrancar after having become a Vasto Lorde, he wasn't entirely sure if the power he would have amassed at that point would be enough.
He would be powerful no doubt, but to survive the climate he'd be going to would require more than just himself, no matter how strong he was.
That had however proven more difficult than he had thought. He did have an abundance of Gillians, but that was not enough.
He needed Adjuchas like himself, but none of the Gillians he controlled possessed the certain something so that they would distinguish themselves from others and keep evolving.
The core idea behind building himself an army was that, when they spent some time under him and working with (for) him, his subordinates would develop some kind of respect and wouldn't backstab him every time the opportunity presented itself.
That would of course have been very hollow-like, but it wasn't what he was looking for. No what he wanted was loyalty.
Even though he had only started it two weeks ago, he was already starting to think that his army idea was a dead end, since he didn't find a single person of significant individuality, until that one normal hollow had dug through the ground of the second layer.
He had not been special , but when Bainne had started pressuring him (at first for fun admittedly), he had displayed some interesting feats. After Bainne had thrown him out of the underground, he went up there himself, only to notice that the distance, which the other hollow had already built up between them, should not have been nearly this big.
Additionaly, he had only sustained mild injuries, compared to what other hollows had looked like after Bainne had thrown them like a ragdoll.
The most impressive feat however was the speed at which he had openend a Garganta. It was almost in the blink of an eye ad before Bainne could reach it it had already closed again.
Bainne had quickly opened his own Garganta and picked up his Reiatsu. He didn`t even think about where he was going until he realized it when he exited his Garganta.
The human world.
Home of the legendary Shinigami substitute Ichigo Kurosaki. Panic had quickly taken over with that realization and the only course of action was retreat.
He couldn't afford to die.
He didn`t lose the hollow however.
He had perceived his actions while residing hueco mundo and had patiently waited for an opportunity to lure him back. He could have just gone there and grab him, but he did not want to risk him getting away. With that Bainne`s stay in the human world would have already been too long and all the residents who hunted hollows would have been alarmed.
So he waited. And waited. He waited until the ooprtunity had come, a pleasant situation where the subject of his interest was in peril once again, so blinded by fear that he didn`t even begin to think things through. He just walked straight into the Garganta that Bainne had opened for him.
And now there he was again.
Looking at him with complete and utter panic.
Bainne restrained himself not to ooze with bloodlust this time, for what he had in mind his opposite needed to be somewhat at ease.
"Well, hello again", Bainne started with a less aggressive tone.
Nothing. The hollow just stared at him.
This is gonna be a lot of work, if I really want to get this done, he sighed internally.
If he was already petrified at Bainne just being around what would he do if someone stronger showed up?
"I think we got off the wrong foot here", he continued. "Seeing as you`re not going anywhere, i`m going to take this time and tell you something about me and then i`m going to propose an offer to you."
Still no reaction. Bainne sighed. He was trying his best to appear as not threatening, or at least give a non-threatening vibe, seeing as the former was rather difficult given his outer appearance.
He was getting a bit unnerved, since he was used to things working when he wanted them to.
"In other words", he said in a bit more aggressive tone: "you can ease up, i`m not going to do anything to you
Yet, he added in thought.
And finally his opposite spoke. "Not gonna do anything? What happened to `we`re the last thing you`ll ever see`? Because i`m kinda confused. First you say you`ll kill me, then you say you won`t; I mean just pick a statement and stand by it, because right now, mind you, i simply don`t have the nerves to put up with shit like this. So to clear things up: Are you gonna kill me or not? Because if you are, get on with it already."
Hot damn. Once he picks his balls off the ground, he can actually have a pretty big mouth. Maybe this won`t be such a pain after all, Bainne thought to himself.
"Alright, the scaredy-cat can talk", he responded in a mocking tone. "You got a name big shot?"
"Setsuzo."
"Well then Setsuzo. Allow me to lay bare my intentions", Bainne said with a sweeping gesture.
"I`m not gonna stretch this out any longer than I have to. I am trying to build something for myself. What that is doesn`t really matter to you. What does matter is that after seeing you in action, i`d like you to be a part of the army that I need in order to realize my ambitions."
"Really?"
"Really."
"What`s in it for me?"
"I can train you, make you strong; you`d be one of the commanding forces of my army."
"Why would I want that?"
"Why wouldn`t you? We live in a cruel world where the strong thrive upon the weak. More power is never a mistake, nor is it something anyone should refuse if presented with it."
"And if I do refuse?"
"Do you remember how our first conversation went?", Bainne said with a joking tone.
"First you hang out `Mr. Nice Guy`, which ain`t really fooling me after our last encounter and if you don`t get what you want, you… `convince` me with an argument I can`t possibly refuse? If I were you, i`d refresh my knowledge on the whole `recruitement` thing. And change the face, because for the love of god, no one will buy your `holy saint`-act", Setsuzo said with cynical bite.
"So I can take that as a yes?", Bainne asked in a tone that did not really leave room for a `no`, overlooking the insult since, well, the kid did kind of have a point. He also didn`t want to stretch out the… "negotiations" any further, because if his opposite would mouth off some more, he would lose his temper and cut his goddamn head off his shoulders.
Setsuzo sighed. "I basically have no other choice, do I."
Author's notes:
Another one done. I do apologize for the recent lack of an update, i had some trouble with my Computer and i also had to overcome a little block to write the later chapters. Something you gotta understand is that i write 4 to 5 chapters ahead in order to be able to avoid inconsistencies. When i write something that doesn't match with something i wrote before, i can either correct it and i don't have to correct the online Version which is confusing for you People or i can go back and Change it up, because the new idea i've come up with is actually better than the one before. Also the later chapters are getting longer and longer so while the ones coming out are still between around 2000 - 3000 words, the ones i'm currently writing are around 3000 - 5000 words.
If you`ve got your own opinion, PM me, or, better yet, review the Story. I`ll always welcome constructive criticism.