Editing/QC: Trolzylulzy
Oof. Bit of a longer break here than usual, sorry about that. Of course there's everything going on with Covid-19 out there which didn't exactly help, plus it's been a busy time coupled with a family funeral I had to go attend, so all that had me in a weird headspace for a while. Otherwise, hoping to get things back to normal here soon with getting back to being able to write more frequently.
No real questions in the comments this time, just a lot of readers who are ecstatic to see that I am in fact still working on this; which of course I am, and thank you for still hanging in there.
Anyways, hope you are all staying healthy and happy out there with everything 2020 is throwing at us, and as always I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 19:
"I must say, I am…disappointed."
That simple, quiet statement cut through the frigid silence in the chamber like a knife. Some of the Espada present reacted in various ways, but none dared speak. Baraggan scowled ever deeper while Nelliel's lips tightened; uncharacteristically, Grimmjow seemed supremely unconcerned, a rather satisfied smirk on his bloodied features. Following that trend the normally dispassionate Starrk's eyes were flicking to each of them in turn, more alert than anyone had seen him in recent memory. Ulquiorra was, as always, a statue...as was she.
Harribel swept her gaze around the table once more before finally meeting lord Aizen's stare. For all that his words chastised them, his handsome features were, as always, in that too-calm expression. There was no malice in those cold eyes, no anger or regret - only a vague sense of lowered expectations.
Somehow, that stung more than anything else could have.
For several long moments the dark-skinned Hollow met their rulers' eyes unflinchingly. She had nothing to be ashamed of; even if she had not defeated her primary opponent she had not suffered a defeat, while her Fraccion and the wide-ranging nature of her attacks had wiped out the vast majority of the common Soul Reaper forces with almost casual ease.
Seeing nothing to comment on in her stony gaze, lord Aizen turned to scan over the rest, and she felt a palpable weight come off of her shoulders.
"I had come to believe that the forces of the Seireitei would be outmatched," he continued smoothly, "but it appears I was mistaken."
A ripple of discontent went through the chamber and several seemed about to speak – Aizen raised one calm hand before they could, and the wave of cold power that came with his words would have killed lesser beings.
"I am not interested in excuses."
O--O--O
Harribel made her way out of the meeting at a sedate pace, trailing behind the rest as they left to their separate domains. She idly turned towards the long series of hallways that led to her own, taking the time to enjoy the relative peace after such a prolonged battle.
Quiet footsteps to the side drew her attention to see Apacci slowing as she approached, dipping her head respectfully. The Arrancar's mismatched eyes darted around at their surroundings briefly, checking for anyone else around.
"No sign of anything out of place since we were gone," she reported. "Although Sung-Sun did head off when we were on the way back, said she had to look into something." At this the black-haired woman grimaced in a familiar mix of annoyance and resignation.
Apacci fell into step without another word; in any other circumstance there might have been questions…but not here. Sung-Sun's intuition had always been eerily accurate, and both knew full well there would be a reason for her mysterious actions, no matter how much they might annoy the other two sometimes.
Speaking of…
They turned the corner to find Mila Rose waiting by the entrance to her quarters. The Amazonian woman pushed away from the wall and fell into step easily. "The Fifth Espada is still out of it," she said, "our resident mad scientist says he's stable, whatever that means."
Harribel nodded her thanks, eliciting a rare pleased smile; a small scoff from Apacci a second later instantly turned it into a ferocious glare. The Espada ignored them both with practiced ease and moved ahead, the oncoming spat dissipating before it could truly start.
"What was even the deal with him?" Apacci said, catching up easily. "I know we're kinda used to his weirdness by now, but…"
Mila Rose made a rude noise, sounding rather like Baraggan for a moment. "Whatever it is, I'm getting real tired of having to clean up his messes."
Some of the Espada might have barked out orders at this point, quieted any dissension in the 'ranks' from such talk. Harribel was not one of them. She did, however, have an opinion on the matter.
"If Ichigo was simply mad, I would agree." She said slowly, immediately gaining their attention. "But I do not believe him to be."
Harribel left the two to muse over that as they walked, finally reaching her towers after a lengthy silence. Somewhat surprisingly, Mila Rose was the first to speak. "He's too...human." She and Apacci sent the muscular woman a curious eye, receiving a grimace in return. "It's not that he's just crazy-"
"He definitely is," Apacci pointed out.
Mila Rose growled at her. "Not like that, dammit. You know what I mean."
The other woman let out a long breath, thinking. "Yeah. He's lost it before, but something was off this time. It was still him, but he was almost…"
They strode on in contemplative silence, all knowing the unspoken word: desperate.
After finally reaching their communal living area, Apacci tossed herself into a seat with a huff. "Whatever," she scoffed, "Doesn't mean it should be our friggin' problem."
At a small window looking out over the desert, Mila Rose nodded brusquely.
"Were we so different?"
The two looked back at her in surprise at the words, trading a glance after meeting her questioning gaze and lapsing into silence. Despite the supposed nonchalance she saw their expressions turn dark, unpleasant memories from their respective pasts coming to mind.
Harribel repressed a weary sigh; they were all exhausted, regardless of their spiritual nature. Such questions could wait.
She left the two to their thoughts and soon entered her small personal room. Her followers had once called it depressingly barren for such a high-ranking member of their strange society, but she found a unique comfort in it; a wide and simple bed, a dresser next to it for clothing and a small pronged stand atop it, on which she placed her sheathed Zanpakuto after removing it from her back with an agile twist. She sat on the edge of the bed slowly, noting the strangely satisfying soreness in her body with an idle thought. For several minutes she remained like that, taking solace in the quiet and letting her mind settle before she sank back into the soft bedding. Her gaze found the single window high in the ceiling, a sliver of moonlight barely finding its way in and leaving a splash of brilliance down one wall. The urge to turn away and rest her weary eyes came, but Tier couldn't seem to tear herself away from the sight for what seemed like an eternity, trapped in that vivid moment.
Eventually exhaustion took over and she drifted off, dreaming of different times.
O--O--O
"Wait here, please."
Harribel nodded her assent, the male Arrancar bowing slightly before leaving her and Apacci in a small antechamber.
"Real fancy operation they got here," her Fracción grumbled, mismatched eyes scanning their surroundings dutifully.
Certainly, the followers of the Second Espada bordered on the excessively formal, but Harribel considered it was somewhat warranted considering the man had once been the sole king of Hueco Mundo. Apacci clearly didn't agree, if her crossed arms and impatiently tapping feet were any indication. The Espada sent her a patient look that quieted the tapping shortly before the doors reopened and they were ushered out.
A short walk later and their attendant, a blond man with a half-mask still covering much of his face, led them through a set of massive doorways into what they could only describe as a throne room; a massive arched ceiling rose above, smooth black pillars on either side leading from where they stood to a raised section at the furthest wall, dominated both by a huge expanse of glass windows overlooking the desert outside and the back of a large, roughly-hewn stone seat. Another one of the man's Fracción stood to the side, a young-looking Arrancar who eyed them distrustfully.
They stopped a respectful distance away until the occupant of the chair raised one burly and scarred arm into sight, gesturing impatiently. Harribel motioned for Apacci to stay – something she didn't seem terribly pleased with – ascending the stairs and stepping to the right of the throne.
Baraggan's lone eye swiveled to her as she came into sight, seeming to examine her for a brief moment.
"Ggio," he graveled without looking away, "leave us."
The young man, two large fangs from the remains of his mask framing his face, adopted a sour expression before obeying. He padded down the stairs to join Apacci, the two immediately trading hostile looks.
The two Espada spent a minute in silence, Baraggan staring out at the desert, Harribel content with remaining silent so as not to offend the aged man - it was never wise to test a being that had lasted so long.
"It must be some sort of bad joke," the man eventually rumbled, "that only the women of this place have been taking any action, and none of the men."
Harribel felt her brow raise in mild surprise. She most often abstained from judging anyone's character until she knew them personally, but it was well known that in the multitudes of Hollows under Baraggan Louisenbairn's command, there were precious few that were female. Or…otherwise, Harribel thought with some amusement, faintly recalling one Arrancar in particular who was still in service to the Second Espada - a heavy musculature and disturbingly feminine tendencies came to mind. And while Baraggan sounded rather annoyed when he spoke the words, it didn't seem to be directed at her at all.
"Women," she repeated slowly before coming to a realization. "Did Nelliel visit as well?"
She received a grunt of affirmation, nodding to herself in admiration. To act so quickly, even without her information, was truly impressive.
"In that case, I assume you know why I came as well," Harribel asked calmly.
Another affirming noise.
She withheld any reaction. She knew very well that at this point she could easily consult Nelliel about the matter instead of bargaining with the ancient Espada – but leaving now would be an insult. Instead, she heeded a piece of advice about the man before her that Nelliel had offered in the past: When in doubt, feed his ego.
The question was, how to do it? Harribel had never been terribly interested in such things as court intrigue or anything of the like in either of her lives, so she was at a loss for a brief moment – until yet another piece of advice came to mind.
Harribel brought a hand up to cup her chin thoughtfully, the other folding under her bust to support the raised elbow, adopting a pensive expression on what was visible of her face. "I will admit, I am surprised that I am only the second to do so," she murmured reflectively.
She would have thought Baraggan too experienced from his old age to not see through her at this point, but with a sense of satisfaction she saw the grizzled man's mustache twitch on one side. Unsure of whether he was simply amused at her for the farce or truly hadn't realized, he finally turned to look at her once more.
"You do show promise over many of these upstarts," Baraggan replied grumpily while still sounding somewhat pleased. "To answer your question: yes, the Seireitei must have known of our existence before our attacks. I see no other way those insects could have been so prepared beforehand, and their strength was much higher than we had been led to expect."
The confirmation of her thoughts sobered her once more. One last thing, and she would be on her way.
"Do you have any idea how they could have known?"
At this, Baraggan's wrinkled brow furrowed in displeasure. "No."
She nodded again, taking a moment to deliberate the repercussions of what she was about to say. "I…have information for you as well."
Her tone had the aged Arrancar narrowing his one eye sharply, and he remained silent.
Bracing herself, Harribel went on. "During the battle, Lord Aizen was…absent."
The other Espada's silence seemed to prompt her forwards.
"By that, I mean that not even his two accomplices could locate him in any known dimension."
Finally, a reaction: his eye widened as he mulled over the news.
"How reliable is your source?" he asked, his gaze moving away.
"Indisputable."
Baraggan let out an amused noise. "Is that where she's been all this time?"
Harribel remained silent, which seemed to be enough of a confirmation for the grizzled Arrancar. He finally rolled one large shoulder and relaxed back into his seat, sending her one last look as he spoke. "I will send a messenger if I receive any more information."
With that his gaze once again went to the endless desert outside, and with a polite inclining of her head Tier stepped away. She passed Apacci and Ggio, interrupting their impromptu staring contest as the ebon-haired woman broke away with a sneer pointed back, and they were out of Baraggan's palace within a minute.
"So…" Apacci ventured after a minute, sending her a curious look. "Did you get what you need out of the old man?"
A quick nod had her mismatched eyes widening in surprise. "What, just like that?"
"Just like that."
She received another long, searching stare. "…Yeah, I'm not buying that."
Harribel kept her eyes resolutely forwards as Apacci continued to mull things over. After another long pause the woman fixed a surprisingly suspicious smirk her way. "You did something, didn't you?"
"I…may have played to his weakness some, yes."
"What, did you use some feminine charm to win him over or something?"
Her first instinct was to protest – that is, until she glanced back and saw the ear-splitting grin that Apacci was sporting. She chose to ignore her Fracción's snickering and walk on, rather thankful that her mask still covered her lips twitching upwards in amusement.
O--O--O
Harribel sat along the very edge of the highest tower in her domain, finding a modicum of calm in the eternal nighttime quiet of the desert. The oddly flat light from the moon above had always lent the air a certain kind of pensive stillness, but tonight it seemed amplified; her thoughts kept drifting to old memories, things she had thought long forgotten – or repressed. One hand drifted towards her lower stomach, towards the unnatural hole there, and despite herself the echo of past loss sent a shiver through her body for a painful moment.
A quiet noise from behind had her glancing back to see Sung-Sun alighting on the rounded rooftop just as she had some hours ago. The slender woman stepped closer, slight shadows underneath her lavender eyes still apparent even after sleeping most of the day. She waited a respectful moment for Harribel to nod her way before gingerly taking a seat of her own. It was only after a quiet few minutes that Sung-Sun finally spoke, sounding pensive. "It sounds as though your meeting with Barragan was fruitful, yes?"
Harribel raised one eyebrow in mild surprise. The other woman followed the unspoken question and rolled her eyes in amusement. "The other two were still laughing about your little deception after I awoke."
"…There was no lie involved in the first place."
"Of course, my lady."
There was no hint of sarcasm in the words – she was too well disciplined for that – but Harribel picked up on it regardless.
In truth, she was thankful of that characteristic from the slender Arrancar sitting next to her; Apacci and Mila Rose had relaxed in their mannerisms around her in recent times, but still regarded her with something approaching reverence. Due to that, they were often reluctant to express their own opinions if they contradicted hers in the slightest of ways. Sung-Sun only affected the same approach when she was around those two, so as not to cause more trouble that it was worth. In the last few months, however, she had taken to being much more direct when they spoke alone, quite possibly after her regular talks with the strangely efficient Pesche Guatiche.
"Sung-Sun," Harribel began, her tone even, "if you can manage it, we need to talk."
To her credit the other Arrancar only looked rather tired instead of surprised, straightening herself slightly and focusing for a brief moment. "Muda," she said, her voice laced with power, and she split. With a quiet sound her silhouette separated in two and ballooned out, forming a rough sphere around the two of them rapidly and finally settling into a small barrier – which they could, surprisingly, still see out of.
Sung-Sun appeared apologetic. "With my use of the same technique most of yesterday, I'm afraid that this is all I can manage at the moment. Any sound or reiatsu will be hidden as per normal."
Harribel nodded her thanks, taking a moment to gather her thoughts for what was next. "I…am wondering if I made a mistake."
"With the information I gave you?" the other Arrancar queried, another quiet nod the only response. She took several minutes to mull it over, and when she finally spoke Harribel was reminded of exactly why she confided in the slender woman. "With the information I accrued from spying on the two other Shinigami under the command of Lord Aizen for an extended period, I learned primarily that he was, somehow, unreachable for the vast majority of the time during our battles with the Seireitei. From what I could gather, the methods they were using to try and contact him should have worked even in Hell itself. Which means one of…two things, possibly three; he was intentionally out of reach, or he was kept from receiving such contact."
Harribel leaned back onto the arm propping her up slightly more, eyes looking out towards the desert but remaining unfocused. "I cannot imagine anyone or anything managing to obstruct that man in the slightest."
"My thoughts as well."
"And the third?"
"…That he was in a place uniquely cut off from the rest of existence."
The Espada released a long breath. "Baraggan will come to the same conclusion."
"In turn, that will drive him further against Lord Aizen. He will see it as deliberate no matter what the case may be, and his hatred for the man is well known." Sung-Sun let the corner of a wry smile past her sleeve. "Even with how patient he may be, it will take but the slightest of nudges for him to turn now."
Harribel hummed in agreement. "And how is our 'nudge' doing?"
The other woman went quiet, eyeing her in surprise. It wasn't that Sung-Sun knew exactly who she was talking about, it was that the question was posed to her specifically.
"…Ichigo is recovering well."
"Good."
There was a long pause, heavy with words that they both knew probably shouldn't be spoken even as isolated as they were.
"Are you sure about this, my lady?" Sung-Sun ventured when the silence became unbearable, "If we set out on this path, we may not emerge unscathed."
Harribel considered the question for a moment, noticing interestedly that she felt far too detached for the seriousness of the discussion. "Have you realized why we all seem to gravitate to Ichigo?"
Sung-Sun blinked at her quizzically, caught off guard for once. Before she could respond Harribel went on thoughtfully. "I had thought it was simply the way he pushes through any obstacle in his way, that the sheer stubbornness in him was so radical to us that we couldn't help but be swept up in his wake." She frowned. "But if that was all, it would have ended two days ago when he lost control. He's becoming far too large of a threat for any one of us to handle him without considering elimination…and yet, I don't believe the thought even crossed our minds before we were working to save him."
Here the Espada laid back onto the cool stone, fingers intertwined over her stomach as she gazed up at the moon.
"Part of me wondered if it is because we see something in the way he continues to rise in strength so quickly. We are Hollows, after all," she said softly, but shook her head almost as if admonishing herself. "In the end, I think-"
"He treats us as if we were perfectly normal." The tone implied the notion was absurd, but Sung-Sun had turned away to hide her face.
"What a simple thing," Harribel mused, " to cause such a change in perspective."
"I doubt the man even realizes he's doing it."
"No. But that's why it matters."
She found herself smiling again as Sung-Sun let out a groan. "…What a pair of fools we make."
The line was so unexpected that a shocked laugh slipped out of her, echoing inside the barrier like the chime of a bell. When it had petered out and she opened her eyes she found Sung-Sun looking at her oddly.
"What is it?"
"I think that may be the first I've ever heard you laugh."
Tier found she couldn't say otherwise, the surprise of which must have showed because Sung-Sun grew a smile of her own. "So we are decided then," she said softly, resting back onto the cold stone.
"Yes."
Her follower's expression darkened, any traces of humor wiped away. "We are not prepared for this."
"Not yet," Harribel said softly. Sung-Sun stared in disbelief.
"It will not be enough! You cannot be thinking that anyone but Ichigo, Nelliel, and maybe Baraggan will turn against Aizen as things stand," she protested – only to be startled into silence by the look in her master's eyes.
"…I wonder about that."
Harribel quickly rolled to her feet, casting one lingering glance at the moon shining overhead as the barrier dissipated."Sung-Sun, what are we?"
The woman stood, casting a curious look her way.
Harribel briefly reveled in the sensation of another laugh rising. "Tonight, I feel particularly…human."