Chapter Eleven: Indoctrination
Frozen; Ulquiorra's limbs refused to move, as the large garganta that had torn behind Aizen swallowed all three of the traitor shinigami.
"To Orihime Inoue."
Ulquiorra's eyes widened as he turned his head towards a glowing purple crack appearing in the atmosphere, then a familiar hand tore through it with little effort.
Leisurely, Orihime walked into the palace from the clutches of the Caja Negación. She didn't even look at him as she narrowed her eyes slightly, then smiled, causing an uneasy feeling to form in the pit of his stomach.
"Ah, Grimmjow, you always were so obsessed with that orange-haired boy." she said in an uncharacteristic straight tone.
She turned to him, her smile fading off her face. After his week- month? He didn't know - stay at Las Noches, he'd grown used to the woman's bubbly, sadistic attitude. She'd always have a smile on her face.
This in itself was rather unsettling, and gave him a foreboding feeling. He never let that get to his face though, nor his demeanor. "So? Get on with it." he hissed.
Orihime raised her eyebrow, letting a small smirk leak onto her face, as she began to approach him. "I thought your stay at Las Noches would never get to you, but you're already suicidal? So much for an impenetrable shell." she said.
A silence settled over, other than the click of her Arrancar sandals slowly making their way to Ulquiorra, then finally stopped about three feet away. "Tell me, boy. Has your stay truly broken you down this far? Have you lost all the hope in your friend's that you held so close to your heart?"
He closed his eyes, sliding his hands into the pockets of his Arrancar hakama. "It is hard to lose hope when you don't have any to begin with. I was aware of my fate when crossing in the Dangai." he explained detachedly, as Orihime smiled even wider. "Is that so?"
He opened his eyes, his eyes wielding nothing but void. "I was aware of the guillotine that I wielded to my comrade's lives, and rather than sacrificing their lives for my selfish purposes, I will let them choose their own fate." he paused as she stared at him with slightly lidded eyes.
He continued, "They deserve to learn loss, and understand that the world is not a matter of protection, not giving up and relations between one and other. Rather, it's a matter of survival and knowing your place. It's hard to lose someone when you refuse to allow anyone in your 'inner circle'." he paused again.
"Or, as many others put it, the 'heart'." The room felt like it had fallen a few degrees as Ulquiorra continued on with his heartless speech. Orihime was unmoved by this display of coldness, "I have a feeling you put your trust in the wrong person." she said.
Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes. "Ah, as you might've figured out, all of the Espada have an aspect of death. Rather than being caused by someone, or done by oneself, they're all aspects that can cause death." she paused, closing her eyes. "My aspect of death is Deceit. Because sometimes you just put your beloved trust in the wrong person." she hissed the last part, as if recalling something.
Ulquiorra's posture appeared more rigid, as she reached her hand out towards him. "Tell me, who is it who betrayed you? Who promised you, only to let that trust dissolve right in front of your eyes?" She slowly put her hand on the cloth covering his chest, then slightly lidded her eyes.
"Oh, yes. It shattered you, broke you. You refuse to let anyone into your heart for the fear they may stab you in the back, much like…" she trailed off. "Your brother."
Ulquiorra's pupils narrowed into slits, "Yes, he promised you he'd look after you, didn't he? He promised he'd always be there for you, stepping you through this cruel world. Yet he abandoned you, leaving you alone."
She observed his reaction, then smiled in satisfaction. "Lord Aizen was right, you would've indeed made a nice addition to the Espada. Unfortunately, now that your shinigami friends and the Soul Society have arrived, we mustn't waste any more time." She retracted her hand, taking a step back.
Suddenly, a huge explosion blew up behind Ulquiorra, causing Orihime and him to turn their attention to the figure, basically demanding attention. "Orihime!" Ichigo bellowed out, narrowing his eyes at the Arrancar.
Orihime smiled, "Ah, so you've come. Have you come to save this sad shell excuse for a human?" she smirked, eyes narrowing. "Such naiveness. You have truly been deceived by this young boy."
Ichigo landed, the dust settling behind them, clenching Zangetsu in both his hands. "You'll have to try harder than that."
Orihime smiled. "Can't you see, Kurosaki?" She yelled, "He's not one of you, he never has been. Ulquiorra Cifer has been an Arrancar since he first got involved in the Soul Society, hollows, all of it!" She smiled darkly, "You've been living in a world of blissful ignorance, looking past the similarities between him and us." she almost whispered.
"How about you shut up." he said, slowly holding up Zangetsu. He turned to Ulquiorra and smiled. "Stay behind me."
Ulquiorra had to resist rolling his eyes at Ichigo's antics, but internally, he was relieved to see the strawberry. He said nothing as he stepped away, towards one of the pillars. Orihime smiled and turned to Ichigo. "I apologize to get in the middle of your guys' romance story, but you're saving the wrong person." her smile faltered slightly, "Although, I have to admit I'm impressed you managed to reform Grimmjow."
Her hairclips formed into a golden dust, before taking the form of that same golden rope around her arm. Ichigo charged the Arrancar, quickly slamming into her hierro on her wrist. Quickly, Orihime kicked him from under his feet, before whipping the rope around his waist.
She threw him into one of the nearby pillars, causing it to collapse and the building to slowly become unstable. Ichigo quickly recovered, exiting the pile of rubble before charging Orihime again. Orihime launched a hand to her pin, and a golden sprite shot out towards Ichigo.
Ichigo quickly deflected it with little effort, before slamming into Orihime. Her eyes narrowed before jumping back a few paces, then put some of her auburn hair behind her ear. "You've gotten faster."
Ulquiorra watched the two powerful beings fight each other, as he narrowed his eyes, holding his arm up to block the wind from basically blowing him off his feet. He had to admit, he was beginning to grow severely annoyed due to his powers being sealed.
It appeared Ichigo had the upper hand slightly, although he knew the Arrancar was holding back. Ichigo appeared behind her, before finally landing a hit on her shoulder, although it only cut the uniform mostly. Orihime jumped back, before turning her eyes to the torn outfit, with some blood leading out. "Ah, you finally managed to nick me. I'm impressed," she said, as she shook the torn outfit down slightly, with her back turned from Ulquiorra. His eyes narrowed as the clear marking of a foreboding '4' was marked on the back of her left shoulder.
She was the Cuatro Espada.
Before Ulquiorra could even process the rest of the depth of this revelation, he felt two hands rip around his mouth, and one around his torso. He tried to let out a gasp, before two figures emerged from the shadows. "Hello, little cry boy." a smooth voice whispered.
Ulquiorra's pupil's turned to venomous slits as the two women came to the front of him. "Ohh, I wish I could've done this earlier. If only Grimmjow hadn't caught us in front of your cell…" she hissed, before grinning evilly. "Oh you have no clue how many Arrancar have just been talking on and on about how special and mysterious you are! Even Lord Aizen!" she barked, as a bead of sweat slid down his forehead.
Ichigo blocked Tsubaki, before turning his attention to the three figures. "Ulquiorra!" he yelled in alarm, before charging towards them. Orihime whipped the rope right in front of him, causing an explosion of dust and rubble. "We're not done here, Kurosaki!" she yelled.
Ichigo tried to get around Orihime, but she kept sonido'ing and sending a barrage of shields, blocking his way to them. "Damn you! Let me through!" He yelled frantically, as Ulquiorra was slammed into the pillar by Loly.
Orihime whipped a rope around, throwing Ichigo to a far side of the wall. Loly's smirk widened. "No use in saving the Dragon, knight!" she yelled towards Ichigo, before kicking Ulquiorra in the stomach to the ground. Melony held Ulquiorra down by both arms as he struggled, before quickly retracting her hands and hissing.
"Melony, what's wrong with you?! Hold him down! I want to stomp him to a bloody pulp!" she hissed, before Melony looked at his wrists. "He's got some kind of reishi spell on him, but it seems it can be broken…" she paused, then grabbed his arms and pointed at a point of his wrist. "Right here."
Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes as Loly smirked. "Thinking your weak spell can stop me?! Hah! Laughable!" she said before ripping out her dagger, then held it to one of his wrists. She brought her dagger down, slitting his wrist in the process, but the spell shattered. "Hah! That was too eas-" her eyes narrowed, as he disappeared in the burst of a sonido.
"What the-?!" Suddenly, her head was slammed to the ground with a fist, causing the marble to shatter into a crater. "Loly!" Melony cried, before Ulquiorra held his hand up. Loly's eyes widened. "Run!"
"Cero." and with that, a massive beam shot out of his finger, as Melony barely dodged it, her arm getting caught in the cero. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as her arm was blown into ashes, as she collapsed on the marble. "Melony!" Loly yelled, before Ulquiorra sonido'd in front of her. "Foolish woman," She was kicked down again, before Ulquiorra blocked the now one armed Melony's sword with his arm.
Orihime's smile faltered, "You fools!" she yelled, before forming a shield to block a Getsuga Tensho. Ulquiorra grabbed Loly by the skull, throwing her through the walls of the tower. He grabbed Melony's arm, and stared her dead in the eyes. "You wish to lose your other arm, I see." Without hesitation, he ripped her arm off, causing another blood curdling scream from the Arrancar.
He watched as the Arrancar collapsed into a heap, as he stared down at her. "Trash."
As he turned his attention to the fight, his eyes widened as a massive explosion broke through the roof. "Orihime!" a rough voice bellowed out, causing her attention to shift to the brute that had torn through the roof. "Yammy, we already have enough to repair."
He picked his ear with his pinky, "Yeah, whatever. Care to share? I'm bored as hell, and everyone else is having all the action!" he yelled, causing Ulquiorra to flinch at the volume.
She blocked Ichigo, before rolling her eyes at the brute. "I don't need help, go fight one of the many captains." she hissed, before charging Ichigo again.
He turned his attention to Ulquiorra, before narrowing his eyes. "Oh, it's you! You were fun to play around with!" he yelled, before slowly approaching him.
'Great' Ulquiorra thought as he began to take a few steps back, before a blue arrow tore through the wall, hitting Yammy square in the shoulder. He let out a yelp of pain before turning to the direction it shot from. "Hey! Who are you?!"
Ulquiorra looked over at the hole, seeing the silhouette of Uryu, his figure being illuminated by the fake sun, and the front of his figure glowing blue from his bow. "Arrancar," he acknowledged.
He turned his attention to Ulquiorra. "I'll take care of this. Help Ichigo." he paused, before pulling something into view. "I thought you'd need this too," he said as he threw Murciélago towards Ulquiorra, who caught it.
He gave a nod, "Good luck." he said, still betraying emotion. He turned his attention to the fight, which was now slowly dwindling Ichigo down. He held up Murciélago, letting out a breath. "Orihime Inoue."
She turned her attention to the sound of her name, before just barely blocking his sword with her shield. "When the hell-" she started, before pulling up another shield to block Ichigo on the other side.
Ulquiorra jumped back from the collision, before stumbling almost into the large gaping hole where the large Espada had previously been standing. "What the-'' he looked down, before shaking his head and holding up his hand.
He shot a cero, but Orihime jumped out of the way, as Ichigo barely dodged the rogue cero. "Watch it, Ulquiorra!" he barked, before getting whipped around by Orihime's rope.
Orihime eyes narrowed, as she held her hand up to her pins. Ulquiorra tried to jump out of the way, but he suddenly felt two burning plates slam around his body, melding together, trapping him. He let out a yell of pain as they slowly enclosed around him. He quickly used a bala to break the shield, but not without clear cuts from the shards all over his body.
Ichigo used a Getsuga Tensho, before it was torn in half by a flash of yellow, as it barely skimmed his cheek, drawing blood. Ulquiorra charged at Orihime's slightly injured shoulder, then slammed into it with his zanpakuto.
Orihime let out a slight gasp of surprise as she jumped back, and blood began to gush out. "It appears I've underestimated you, Ulquiorra." she said, then a shield engulfed the injury.
Both Ichigo and Ulquiorra watched in alarm as the wound healed, as if it never existed in the first place. "I guess I shouldn't be holding back." she said, before darting out swiftly, breaking through the walls of the tower. Ichigo burst through after her, flying up.
Ulquiorra stood there dumbfounded, narrowing his eyes at the ascending figures.
Well shit.