XIV-Upgrade to White

This was a very, very, very infamous room. The 'Proof of Existence' was just a fancy schmancy name for it. In all reality, it was a graveyard.

I studied the hundreds of swords that hung above my head. They symbolized all the dead Arrancar. It was, as Lord Aizen called it, his "little thank you". Once you died, there was nothing to pay respects to, so your sword was hung for your service to the cause.

A tiny problem with this thought. Even as nice as this sounded, nobody knew where the room was. Lord Aizen kept it a secret, contradicting his own point. How could you be respected if nobody could find you?

Now, I was in it.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Lord Aizen asked rhetorically, "to see all my faithful servants that have died for me, will die for me and that, in their own destiny, are dying for me."

Dragging my eyes from above, I noticed the man that had made all of this possible and the Espada standing stock still beside him. Ulquiorra Schiffer was looking as impassive as ever. My mouth went dry; I didn't know what to say.

"I should be thankful for their undying loyalty," he slipped his tea and the waved his hand to the door, "Thank you Nnoitra for finding her, you may go now."

I turned back. I had totally forgotten about him.

The other Espada frowned, "Aww…can't I stay and watch?"

"Not unless you want to join the wall," Lord Aizen serenely nodded to his side. There was a half empty rack at head height, just for the past Espada.

The Quinto Espada growled and left, slamming the door behind him. I wished he hadn't closed it. All the swords made me nervous, like the spirits in them were going to come eat me alive. I shuffled forward, staying out of current sword range. Not that it would make a difference, Lord Aizen could have a sword in my stomach in a millisecond.

"You summoned me, Lord Aizen?" I shoved my unhierroed hand in the folds in my pocket, hopefully this wasn't about that.

"Ah yes, I did," He leaned back further in chair, "I want to know, how are you doing, my little fracción?"

'How are you doing?' How was I supposed to respond to that? Oh no, just fine Lord Aizen, I just realized that I'm not an Arrancar, had a mental breakdown, questioned my loyalty, feeling queasy enough to throw up and so much more, but you know, just fine. Dandy weather, eh?

A smiled creaked across my face, "Oh, just fine, Lord Aizen. If I may ask, how are you today?"

"Perplexed," He settled his chin in his palm, "I am perplexed, Sola."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Staring at my shoes, I did sound sorry. I was sorry. I knew I had some explaining to do. I risked a glance at my real superior. Schiffer face didn't say anything, his eyes; a complete void.

"Ulquiorra here told me that you broke down and cried. Please tell me, what is distressing you so?"

I mentally groaned. Such an easy question to ask, impossibly hard to answer. I studied the seamless floor, I flipped through my options. Lie, tell the truth or avoid the question entirely, since Lord Aizen was the master of lying, he would know if I was trying to slip around the obvious. Same answer for avoiding the question, that only left one course of action. Of course, the one that he wanted.

"I am distressed, Lord Aizen," I looked up sharply and into his eyes, "I am distressed because I have reason to believe that I am not truly an Arrancar."

"What do you believe that you are?"

"I don't know...human?"

None of this surprised him, "Do you believe that?"

I shook my head, half as a commutation and the other half to keep his mind games from getting to me.

"It's true," he off handily remarked, "You are not a true Arrancar nor are you not."

"Am I human then?" I didn't care who this dude was, a straight forward answer was always the best in my book.

"No."

"A hollow?"

"No," From the glint in his eyes, I knew he was just playing with a plaything. Was that all we were to him? A game? Toys? Did the swords on the wall mean nothing to him?

"Not a shinigami, I know that," Frustration was building, I wanted the truth.

"That is correct," The laugh in his eyes did it, I broke.

"WHAT IN WORLD AM I THEN?" I screamed. Ulquiorra took a slight step back before catching himself.

Aizen set his tea on the arm of the chair and leaned forward, "You, Sola, are nothing."

"How can I be nothing? I'm here. I see. I feel. I think. I can't be nothing," I straightened, my anger was like ticked off lightening. I was zapped with it over and over again.

"True, but you see Sola, you are really not anything. You are weakness in a physical form, a broken, imperfect, misfortune."

I wanted to check my ears for earwax, I couldn't have heard correctly, "What?"

"Ulquiorra, would you care to elaborate?"

Schiffer stepped forward and talked over my head as if he was reading a phonebook, "Lord Aizen wanted to test a theory. He realized, when creating an Arrancar, he could shape the powers within. As it was his need, he always pushed the Arrancar to mirror a shinigami as it was necessary for his goal."

I looked as Aizen, he closed his eyes , took another drink of his tea and frowned.

"After his forces were built, he wished to do something different. He created an Arrancar that half mirrored a human, to see if any change in power could benefit him. It turned out that the Arrancar in question did not take on any of the powers of human race, but all the weaknesses: Emotion, feeling, illogical thinking, rashness, etc. This is Arrancar, is you, Sola Kiri."

I drew out my hand, the plain and simple human skin shined in the moonlight, "So I am half human then."

"Correct."

"Why make me a fracción if I'm so weak?"

Aizen cut in before the Espada could respond, "I wanted to see if being around a strong Espada might reawaken some of your hollow powers or human abilities."

"It didn't," I stated numbly.

"No, it didn't and now your parade is over. I am launching my plan of action on the Soul Society, I have no time for insolence or weakness," His voice hardened and he rose, "my cup is empty and so is your time."

"Ulquiorra Schiffer, I release you from all previous orders surrounding this anomaly. I believe you understand what this means."

"Yes," Ulquiorra nodded and bowed. I had a sicken feeling that my death warrant had just been signed.

"Good," the shinigami walked to the door and looked back, straight at me, "Don't swipe your blade. I want to see the blood."

"Yes, my Lord."

The door slid closed.

I turned back to face the Espada. He wasn't there. Ulquiorra flashed into sight and his sword connected with my throat. The ground crashed up to meet me. I tried to swallow. It didn't work.

I flopped over and coughed up a bucket load of blood. Ulquiorra loomed over me, Murciélago gleaming red in his hand. I couldn't help but think of the countless times before he had knocked me to the ground. This time, I suspected, he wasn't going to let me get up.

"Did…Did you ever care?" I croaked.

He blinked and calmly answered, "No. Of course not, trash."

"Should've seen that one coming," The sword positioned itself above my chest. I didn't try to move, it wasn't even worth it.

Ulquiorra lied to me.

I knew that. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made it so quick and painless.

I heard the slinch and then the world quietly faded off into white.

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