Chapter 10: The Hollow Maker

A/N: I am still working on the pairing at this time, although I have a fair idea of who it'll be. I think you'll like it, but you'll have to wait and see. :)

A/N2:For anyone who read the original version, I freely admit that Arius' previous Zanpakuto was uninspired and had a lot of holes in it. I came up with the idea for it during a posting RPG several years ago when I really had no concept of what Bleach was. Since then I have greatly expanded my knowledge-base on the anime and like to think the new one is far superior to the old. I apologize for how awful it must have been to read about it being used as the abilities were also uninspired. Heck, when I made it it didn't even have a spirit. Yes, it was that bad. It was basically just a sword with what I thought at the time were cool abilities.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you see here except for the plot and any original characters I might dream up as well as Arius'/Harry's Zanpakuto.

The Unknown Captain: The Hollow Maker

When the time finally came for the day to end, Hitsugaya sent him a note, that had only one word written on it:

Hollows.

The moment Arius read the message, he knew it what he had to do. Shunpoing to his room, he popped out of his body and left it to fall on his bed.

But what he didn't see coming was that as soon as he left his body a black blob left it as well. He watched in fascination and horror as the darkness took the form of a Hollow, but it was markedly different. For starters, it was half the size of a regular one and its mask was half-formed as well. Even the hole in the center wasn't completely, well, hollow. Its arms were three-quarters as long as they should have been and any natural weapons it might have had were either broken, half-formed, or nonexistent. All in all, it was a damn ugly thing that was really only fodder for a Shinigami with even a month's worth of training.

Arius wasted no time slicing through the mask, sending the soul-fragment on its way to hell, as its gates had opened right in front of him although how it did so in the small enclosure he had no idea.

When the doorway to hell disappeared, he shunpoed outside the castle and looked at the darkness that was surrounding him, and for a moment there was nothing. But then, a ripple of Reiatsu ran through him, forcing him back, his head shot this way and that trying to discover the source of the pulse when suddenly a giant rip appeared before him, and then a Gillian-class Menos Grande stepped out of it. Now, while they weren't a threat to a captain-level Shinigami, they were still trouble in number. And it seemed that it had buddies, as two more portals appeared disgorging two more Gillians.

Arius drew his sword at the same time Toshiro and Ichigo appeared. They had told the others that they would deal with the disturbance.

Nodding his head toward his fellow Captains, they all advanced swords drawn upon the three only to have to jump out of the way as the three fired ceros at them, blasting the earth where they had been previously into the sky, where the three Shinigami now were. They each charged at a Menos Grande and quickly cut their masks to pieces, only to realize that the portals that had opened hadn't closed, and they disgorged three more Hollows, but they were of a different nature, and ones that all three Shinigami were familiar with. They were also of similar size to the infamous Hollow Grand Fisher.

While Arius hadn't participated in the fight against Aizen, he had fought against a minor Arrancar that had made its way into Western Rukon, defeating him after a brief exchange of blows with his Zanpakuto. And it appeared that some had survived the destruction of Aizen's army, and decided to join Voldemort, as he apparently had some kind of power over them. Although why these three weren't involved in the major fights was a mystery that would have to be solved later.

The three Arrancar looked over at their adversaries with hatred gleaming in thier eyes. They each drew their Zanpakutos and charged. The three captains met them blow for blow. The Hollows, while strong, however, were still no match for a Captain, and were pushed back.

And then they released their blades.

"Light the Heavens, Llamarada!"

"Beat them blue, Esterlino!"

"Strike them dead, Asesinato!"

The advanced Hollows grew, and became something out of nightmares.

The first one was 3 stories tall and glowed like a light bulb, destroying all shadows around him and igniting the nearby greenery. Its arms were twin flamethrowers and its chest looked like a furnace. It's head was actually the most and least frightening of all its features for one simple reason: while it had the appearance of crystal, situated inside it was a single glowing eye of impossible size that swiveled as it looked from one Shinigami to another, flames licking at its edges.

The second Arrancar was markedly different, and just as terrifying. It was actually taller than the one next to it at a towering 5 stories it was all muscle. In fact, it seemed to be all there was to it. Its fists were incredibly large and were nearly double the size of Ichigo's body (As opposed to Hitsugaya's [a shiver went down everyone's spines as Toshiro felt someone was slighting him]). Its body looked like it could shrug off physical attacks without breaking a sweat or taking a single scratch. Its legs were just like its arms, showing just the muscles and no skin was to be seen anywhere. It's head was even worse with its eyes having no skin surrounding it making it even more demonic in appearance than its origin would normally suggest.

The last but certainly not least, seemed even more dangerous than the other two. It was between the two in height, standing somewhere around 4 stories tall and seemed markedly more humanoid than the other two. And what set him apart even more was the fact that he still wielded a blade, two in fact, and that his body seemed to be covered in them, with spikes jutting out of his knees, elbows, and chest, even his head, and all of them sharp enough to cleave the Shinigami in two. In fact, where its eyes should be were two metal spikes, one for each socket. Arius was concerned that it might have the ability to fire them, but until the moment came, he wouldn't be able to tell for sure.

This fight was going to take everything they had.

Toshiro was the first to move into battle, releasing his Zanpakuto as he leapt forward.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

The blade extended and the atmosphere dropped several degrees.

Ichigo was next, striding forward, although his Zanpakuto was always released, so he just held his blade in front of him.

Arius was right behind Kurosaki, his blade already drawn as he held it before himself.

"Burst forth from below, Shinkai no Gōon!"

The blade turned into water that quickly reformed into its more elaborate Shikai state, the pearls on the hilt glinting ominously as the light of the fiery Arrancar reflected off the blue blade.

Ichigo and Toshiro, having never seen it before, were shocked that he had a water-type Zanpakuto, seeing as they had only seen one before and the owner had met a violent end at the hands of Aizen's experiment.

The two sides stared each other down for what seemed an eternity before the mobile furnace stomped forward to meet Hitsugaya's charge, the ground turning black wherever it stepped. It raised its arms and shot a stream of fire right at them, the attack so wide that it went at everyone, not just Toshiro, the fire coming at such high speeds that any normal person would be unable to dodge, let alone counter. But then again, Ichigo wasn't a normal person, now was he?

But then again, neither is Arius, and he was the one who reacted the fastest. His Zanpakuto blurred into action, immediately spitting out a wave of wave of water that extinguished the halted the fires advance and forced the Arrancar to jump to avoid the attack, although it was quickly made apparent that it's ability to jump was impaired as it only went up about 2 meters before the water hit it and it roared in pain, the fires of its lower body fairing poorly against the Reiatsu-saturated water. In its anger, it sent out another burst of flames that evaporated the water on contact due to greater intensity.

This time it was Toshiro was the one to attack, leaping into the air he swung his icy blade down and tore through the attack, and then went on to attack the Hollow itself, only for the spiked Arrancar to intercept it, the attack bouncing off its bladed body.

It was then that the muscled one charged forward and pounded its fist into the ground, causing an earthquake that would later be registered as 6.0 on the Richter Scale by some mundanes in Glasgow. The move easily caught them off guard, but not for long. Ichigo, it seemed, was tired of not doing anything and so decided to charge forward, swinging his overlarge meat cleaver above his head and straight through the muscled Arrancar's arm.

Roaring in pain, the creature began flailing its arm around with Ichigo's sword still attached and said Soul Reaper still holding on, as it tried to dislodge the metal implement from itself with little success until the spiked Arrancar decided enough was enough and simply cut off the arm at the spot Ichigo had cut, letting it and the carrot-top fall to the ground, and although the skinless one roared once again, it was with wide eyes that the Shinigami watched the arm regrow.

Ichigo, deciding he was tired of wasting time, leapt backward. Then, holding his blade before him, cried, "Bankai!" Smoke covered his body as the transformation took place. His outfit changed to an open black robe with bandages around his waste and his blade turned into a daito (Japanese long sword) with a black blade.

Raising it above his head, he gathered his spiritual energy within the blade and swung down, releasing it."Enhanced Getsuga Tensho!" The blast launched right at the flaming Arrancar, taking it by surprise, and slicing it in half, each side disintegrating as the fell apart.

The remaining two, seeing their comrades demise, became inflamed (no pun intended ), and charged at the three Shinigami, forgetting one very important thing: Captains always have more than one trick up their sleeve.

Arius, after seeing the two running at them, raised his sword horizontally before him and yelled, "Bankai!"

The blade disappeared as watery-gray armor formed around his body, the liquid wings forming on his back and horned helm covering his head. He let out a feral roar, startling his comrades once again, with Hyorinmaru giving an answering roar that no one but Toshiro could hear as it responded to it's fellow dragon-spirit's cry.

All that could be heard as it faded was something only Toshiro Ichigo could hear and just barely at that, "Mizu no Kōryū." Their eyes widened at how apt the name of his Bankai was, the horns and the roar now making sense (for Ichigo at least, Toshiro's Zanpakuto's behavior was too much of a giveaway for him not to figure it out).

Arius's green eyes glowed with an otherworldly light (again, no pun intended) as he gathered his Reiatsu around himself, the air around him growing thick with his presence as his eyes glowed brighter and brighter in the moonlight. The Muscle-bound Arrancar, not liking what it was seeing, decided that charging now would be a better idea than waiting for him to finish, and so with great lumbering steps across the now-torn-up lawn toward the floating captain of Squad 11. But by the time it got close enough to hit him, it was too late, as Arius was finished charging himself and rocketed his right fight forward, all the Reiatsu he had gathered following the movement and soon the watery head of a dragon could be seen barreling toward the now-close Hollow, shooting it backwards as a mist could be seen shrouding it's upper body.

Toshiro, seeing his fellow Captain's Bankai for the first time, had to say he was impressed - especially after seeing one of the abilities it has- and called out, "Bankai!" quickly so as to not be left behind.

Ice formed around him, creating wings on his back, claws on his feet and left arm, and a dragon head envelops his right hand up to the hilt of the blade.

Quickly moving into action, Toshiro charged toward the muscle-bound Hollow and when it tried to dodge, it found that it was slower then normal due to a discreet use of ice when it wasn't paying attention, and Toshiro was quickly upon the still-misted Arrancar. Trusting Ichigo and Arius to deal with the spiked one, and using the water from the mist, he had an easier time enveloping it in ice, making it an easy thing to simply pierce it and and watch it shatter to pieces.

The spiky one was all that was left, but he wasn't going down without a fight, and Arius had just the technique to use on it.

Drawing once again on his Reiatsu, which, as Ichigo and Toshiro didn't notice the first time, was actually black with green outline, reminding the Visored of another who also had that coloration, and though he still had mixed feelings about Ulquiorra he wondered what it meant for Arius. Some of the Reiatsu gathered into the form of his Shikai state, the pool in which he was drawing however seemed to keep growing, the air around him growing thick and the spiked Arrancar actually paused as it watched the display before it.

His blade was thrust forward at rapid-fire speeds, blade after blade materializing and launching at the last remaining Arrancar until 9 altogether were tearing through the air toward their intended target. When it finally responded after realizing that it was under attack, it was too late. The first blade tore broke its way through the spike in the Arrancar's mouth, although it somehow survived having a blade burst through the back of its head, the second sliced into its side and tore out itself out the Arrancar's back. The third blade went to the other side, mimicking its brethren's actions. The fourth blade rammed its way through its right leg, cutting one of the spikes in half as it did so, the fifth following suit on the left. The sixth, seventh and eighth blades each went at the chest, their points all ending up at the same spot, clearing the way for the ninth and final blade to pierce through the chest. Its eyes widened in shock as it felt its body torn apart, being able to do nothing as it reverted to spirit particles at an accelerating pace. As the last of its body turned to particles, Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief, and released his Bankai, returning his blade to his back as his outfit returned to its normal state.

It was as he was turning around that he noticed that Toshiro and Arius still had their Bankai active, although Toshiro's didn't have much longer and Arius seemed to be breathing deeply even though he hadn't taken a single hit.

Both their Zanpakuto were growling in their heads, actually allowing both Shinigami to have slightly extended times with their Bankai's as they tensed for an unseen foe. Arius actually took to sniffing the air and growling as a single scent met his enhanced nose.

What the three hadn't taken into account as they were fighting was that the portals that the Arrancar had come out of didn't close when they were emptied of their passengers, instead they were slowly drawing closer to one another to create an even bigger one. But what came out didn't appear to be a Hollow, or even a human-sized Arrancar for that matter, although it didn't bear much resemblance to humans either except for its humanoid frame, crimson red eyes peering out from beneath a black cowl illuminated by the glow of the moon and the portal behind him.

Ichigo and Toshiro, markedly less exhausted then their fellow, moved quickly to stand in front of him with their blades held before them, although Pelagios only growled with his teeth bared at the figure, knowing instantly who it was.

"Who are you and how did you summon those Hollows?" Captain Hitsugaya demanded in a strong voice.

The figure laughed harshly, a high and cold laugh that sent shivers down Ichigo's spine and raised the hair on the back of his neck. He might not know who it was, but that laugh was far too similar to Aizen's for him to let his guard down around him.

"Voldemort," he spat.

A moment passed, and they could only assume he was raising an eyebrow, or rather, Ichigo and Toshiro did, seeing as Arius knew that the man (if you could even call him that) had none.

"I see my reputation precedes me even in the afterlife. Well, no matter, it doesn't change anything. You will all die by my hand right now, so it matters not that you know my name. I can't have you ruining my plans for this school after all."

Raising his right hand, he revealed his wand that he flashed at the three of them snarling, "Avada Kedavra!"

The green jets of light blasted toward them, and, much to his amusement, they didn't even try to avoid it. They must know resistance is futile, he sneered mentally.

As the smoke cleared, however, he was most displeased to see them still standing.

He frowned, "Why didn't it affect you?"

Ichigo laughed, but it was Toshiro who responded, "If you don't already know, you obviously aren't as well-informed as you like to think."

Voldemort scowled at the insult, his eyes burned a maliciously as he replied, "It seems I will have to revise my plans if you intend to interfere again. Consider yourself lucky, fools, for when next we meet, things will go much differently."

And with that he sped back toward the portal and, just before he went inside, he looked back at the armored figure standing with Ichigo and Toshiro and furrowed his brows, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar, but shook his head and stepped inside the passage, the gateway dissipating shortly after.

Sighing in relief, they sheathed their swords and Toshiro's and Arius' Bankai finally released itself, leaving a winded Squad 10 and weakened Squad 11 Captain. Arius fell to his knees as the armor disappeared, his breath labored as the last ability he used took a lot out of him. Ichigo and Toshiro went over to Arius and picked him up, "Come on, Old Man, we need to get you inside for some shut-eye."

With an arm over each shoulder, he was taken back into Hogwarts and up to his room where he gave the password and they took him inside. They goggled at the sight before them. For Arius's room was exactly as he had left it, the mini-Hollow attack had made a mess of things even if it had been destroyed quickly. Shaking their heads, they took him over to his body and lowered him into it, and proceeded to place him under the sheets and tuck him in as he was too weak to move at the moment. Ichigo laughed as Arius asked for a good night kiss.

Once he was situated, Hitsugaya looked around the room surveying the damage.

"Looks like a tornado came through here."

Arius looked embarrassed at the apparent state of his chambers. "Sorry about that, a Hollow appeared in my room and it made a little mess before I could destroy it."

The two senior Captains' heads shot up and looked at him intently. It was Ichigo who asked, "How did it get in here? The wards should have prevented that."

He shook his head, "I'm not entire sure. All I can say is that as soon as I left my body it appeared as well. I can only assume it came out of my body as well. How, I don't know, but it's gone now so that's all that matters to me. Although the way it appeared was strange."

"How so?"

"It started out as a black blob before forming into a mini-Hollow thing that had less than half a mask and no natural defenses of any kind. Even its arms weren't fully formed."

Toshiro thought about that for a moment before he remembered something he read in a report. He snapped his fingers, "Of course, it was a Horcrux!"

The other two looked at him confused. "Huh?"

He looked at the two exasperated, "On the night that Arius's parents were killed and that mortal initially defeated, a portion of his soul broke off and attached itself to him. Unintentionally, I'm sure, but that's what happened. How it stayed inside his body after being dead for so long I don't know, but what I do know is that Arius is now inside his former body and that now it is basically a Gigai, as that Horcrux was the one thing keeping your body 'alive'. I'm not sure how this will work out in terms of eating and such, but there you have it."

Arius gaped at him for a moment before closing his mouth and frowning, "So, what you're saying is that Tommy basically created Hollows of himself and that I'm now officially dead. Wonderful. Now I can have a Death Day Party and invite all my dead friends to partake in the festivities."

Toshiro smacked him upside the head, "Alright, smart-ass, enough with the sarcasm. But yes, you're essentially correct. Now we know how we can destroy these things."

"I don't follow. How can we destroy them if they're inside things?" Ichigo was the one that said it this time.

Hitsugaya grinned, "Simple, we drag them out."

Translations:

Llamarada: Flare

Esterlino: Pound

Asesinato: Murder

Mizu no Kōryū: Steel Dragon of Water

Names of the abilities used by Arius in order of appearance:

Jōshō Suirō: Rising Water Dragon

Shinkai o Tenmetsu Burēdo: Flashing Blades of Deep-Sea

Sorry for the wait, I had put it aside due to some family matters and when I came back and reread it, I realized it needed even more of a touch-up then I given it previously. I also laughed as I realized I gave the Arrancar's weapons Japanese names instead of Spanish ones.

Please tell me what you think. I hope you liked it. And no flames. If you don't like what I'm doing, stop reading, it's that simple.

Thanks for reading! ^_^