At the Southern gate, the trouble was more serious then you thought. A couple of Numeros had banded together and tried to steal the Hogyoku and they probably would have laid hands on it if you had not shown up at that moment.
At the sight of you, they froze with fear, none of them could open their mouths.
"What are you doing?" you asked, clearly knowing the answer already. None replied, fortifying your point.
"Then very well, Zoe, kill them all." You ordered her out of a selfish reason, to see what kind of power she really could possess in her released form and if possible she could be of any interest to Lord Aizen.
But Zoe didn't move for a long time, her eyes held a blank stare.
"Zoe, I said kill them." you repeated, she was hesitant and looked enormously troubled.
"Were you not the one that said you would anything for me? Or were you lying?" With no hesitation, she reached for her sword and threw it into the air, it released a flash of light and Zoe wasn t standing there.
Instead was a almost celestial being with long feathered wings that almost spanned the room, she wore a white armor that covered her entire body, and her feet were talons, claws grew over her hands, but the most starling change was her eyes, normally a calm navy, was now a menacing crimson red.
And her sword now looked like it was made of a hundred arrow heads, connected together from tip to bottom.
Zoe placed her hand on the halter of her sword and ran her hand down the length of the blade "annihilate"
She extended her wings to their full length, but when she rested her wings again, there was nothing left than mere bloodstains on the ground.
She turned to you with the saddest eyes you had ever seen, the left side of your chest hurting and hurting as you looked into them.
"Well done, you have exceeded my expectations of you."
"Why would you congratulate me for taking lives of my comrades?" she asked
"Because those comrades of yours are traitors to Lord Aizen and those who oppose him need to be executed."
she used her sonido and appeared in front of you. She drew your sword out of its hilt, pressed it into your hand and brought your sword to her throat.
"If that's the case, then please kill me here." Your arm could not move, so she tried to provoke you some more.
"I rather die then you continue killing, fighting for that vile man. He wants nothing more than to disturb the balance of the world and obtain power for himself. If you don t know someone s past then why would you trust them with your future? I know not much about him except that he betrayed his own kind, and in turn he will betray us. Does that not make any sense to you?"
Your loyalty for Lord Aizen did not fade, with the truth in her words. And she could see in your eyes that were feelings were unchanged.
Her eyes faded and faded until they were their usual serene blue color, her form reverted and finally her wings folded into her back.
She dropped your arm and your sword fell to your side, safely away from Zoe.
She looked you in the eyes for a long long time, then she did the most surprising thing yet. She placed her hand on your cheek, and closed the space between you, till your bodies touched.
Her face so close to yours you could almost feel the moisture from her lips. But you sensed a disturbance in the air, an evil nearby. You placed your hand on Zoe s shoulder instead and stepped back.
She placed her hand on her forehead as if she was embarrassed, she began to take rapid steps backward.
"I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
Then she turned and disappeared. Once you were sure Zoe was gone, you turned to a large pillar several yards away from you
"You can come out now." like the snake that he was, Szayel Granz snuck out from behind the pillar, he pushed his glasses up to his face with a smirk
"You looked like you had your hands full, I sure didn't want to interrupt."
"What did you see?" He shrugged
"I didn't see much I assure you, I was just on my way back to my lab when I saw a beautiful girl dangerously close to a frightening monster, if only she knew."
You glowered at him, and he put his hands up and backed up.
"I'll leave now, I see I have caused you annoyance." He retreated, but before he disappeared from your sight, he turned around
"Ulquiorra, shes such a lovely lovely girl, isn't she?" And it was those words that rung throughout your head, and resonated.
A sharp blow to the head sent you to the floor and on eye level with the ground, you looked up to see Nelliel.
She offered a hand with a peaceful gesture "I didn't expect to take you to the ground so easily. What is on your mind Ulquiorra."
You were reluctant to answer. "You didn't have to hit me so hard." you replied.
"If I didn't you wouldn't have heard me at all. it's been a while since my favorite apprentice has had time to talk to me." she smirked
"Don't call me that, I was never your apprentice."
"And who do you think taught you to use that Cero Obscuros? And who taught you to use that sword of yours?" It was all Nelliel, not only did you always respect her as a friend, but as a warrior too.
"So tell me, what is bothering you?"
"The one and only person in Hueco Mundo who does not obey Lord Aizen, that is who s bothering me. I have never met anyone so rebellious and difficult."
"Or someone you cared so much for." Nelliel added.
"How could you say that?" you asked her.
"If you didn't like her so much why have you not killed her for treason against Lord Aizen? Why have you kept her around for so long? The longest time you've ever had a Fraccion was, well half a day at best."
"Those explanations mean nothing." Nelliel was determined to give you a hard time, she looked at you for a long time then she shrugged "If you don't care, then I guess you won't mind it if I killed her" she shouted over her shoulders as she raced down the hallway towards your palace.
You had no idea which times when she was kidding and which times she wasn't, but either way, you sprinted after her in a state of emergency.
The doors of the palace were kicked open, and sword marks marred the doors. There was a scream from the inside and your heart dropped, ready for the worst.
There was sound of struggle, you drew your sword and barged into your own palace, there on the couch Nelliel had pinned Zoe down, holding her wrists over her head. Nelliel smiled and kissed Zoe on the forehead
Your master loves you very much, don t cause him anymore troubles, he worries about you.
When Nelliel left, you sheathed your sword "If she scared you she didn't mean to. If I did as well, I apologize. You may resume what you were doing, I'll see you in the morning." you said as you shut the doors to her room and leaned against them, feeling your heart beating vigorously against your chest.
Early the next morning, you were called to an emergency meeting with Lord Aizen and all the Espada over the whole situation last night when Zoe took out the traitors.
Everyone said they felt a strong spiritual presence but you merely said it was you to cover up Zoe, you knew she wouldn t like the extra attention if Lord Aizen knew there was an individual so strong who could be an Espada at this moment. The meeting ended quickly and you left in a hurry.
Zoe saw you and ran to you as always, beaming with happiness. "Master Ulquiorra!"
"You always act like you haven't seen me for days or something, the meeting was an hour, tell me you did something useful in that time."
"Useful?" She laughed "I hardly know the meaning of that word."
Something like that should have made you mad instantly, uselessness, wasting time, idleness, were all things you sought to eliminate in Las Noches.
"It seems that my heart is soft to this one" you thought to yourself. "Wait, my heart. How strange to think that I should still possess one or were ever born with one."
And all this time you talked to yourself in your head, Zoe placed her hand over your chest
I feel your heart beating from over here. "You must be thinking of something pretty pleasant, Master Ulquiorra. I only wish it was of me."
She tilted her head and smiled, she did that sometimes only when she was very happy.
You had not seen quiet enough of that smile, and it was gone in an instance.
Grimmjow burst forth from the meeting room and the first person he laid his eyes on were Zoe.
He smirked, and charged over, Zoe regarded him coldly but he couldn't take the hint.
He grabbed her wrist "Hey, I think you owe me something you."
"I owe you nothing, if anything you should owe me an apology for being so rude to me on so many occasions."
This time, he didn't find Zoe so amusing and you could see him bending her wrist "Give me a kiss."
"That's the last thing I'll do." she retorted.
"I can arrange that for you, you can do what I say now or I can just kill you."
With her free hand, she lashed out and slapped him across the face.
He roared in anger and crushed Zoe's wrist, but her face remained defiant and unafraid.
"You won't kiss me but you'll kiss that damn Ulquiorra as if he were better than me! If you won t kiss me than I ll make sure you won t kiss anyone else!"
You would have stepped in yourself and personally killed Grimmjow for laying hands on another Espada s property, but instead Szayel Granz was the one to stop him.
"Grimmjow, my friend, have peace. Let the girl be for now, afterall she is Ulquiorra's."
Grimmjow and Szayel exchanged a look of understanding between them and Grimmjow backed off, he retreated almost peacefully and Szayel followed, an intrigued eye on Zoe.