^.^ This chapters episode of 'Fun in The Sanctuary~!' was suggested by Bladre MKT. You want someone to thank for the funny? All Hail Bladre!!
Also, if you'd like to suggest a 'Fun in The Sanctuary~!' episode topic, feel free to do so and I'll do my best~!
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, meaning it does not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Bleach storyline (such as Aporro [in character, not name] and Vicenta Acere) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
Aporro waited until Szayel was well asleep before she got up and snuck out of their room, padding down the stone halls with bare feet as she navigated herself along the 'scenic route' to Szayel's laboratory.
Briefly, going to check on Vaida crossed her mind, but the idea was quickly dashed before it was even finished; she hadn't left Szayel's side because she wasn't tired, she'd left it because she wanted to be alone.
The Sanctuary was quiet, and as she went from hall to hall Aporro ran into no one. The strict curfew that had been set was being taken very seriously, and the air was oppressive thanks to the recently strengthened reiryoku barriers.
When she made it to Szayel's labs, Aporro turned around as the door slid shut and pressed her hands against it, the mechanisms inside immediately registering the pressure and loosening their hold.
Aporro then slid the door the rest of the way by hand, so the sound didn't echo down the halls and disturb anyone, until it clicked shut softly.
Sighing, she ran her forefinger down a short length of a section of the door close to the doorframe, where the knob would be if there was one, and there was a series of clicks in the door, itself as it locked.
Aporro turned back to the lab behind her and looked around, slowly walking further in as she did.
Glass cylinders lined the walls, ranging from large to small but all aligned in a neat and aesthetically pleasing fashion and all filled with uniformly colored liquids according to size, though no two had the same contents.
There were countless workstations and machines of either stone or finely polished stainless steel, several of the machines humming softly and emitting dim lights from their various keypads and containment chambers.
Though the floors in the lab were made of the same stone that made up every other floor and even every other wall and ceiling in the rest of the compound, the stone in Szayel's lab was polished until it reflected like still water, and even without shoes on her feet still padded rather loudly.
Despite the fact that the floors were ice cold, Aporro continued walking slowly, making her gradual way over to Szayel's large, main computer.
Szayel's chair was inviting, and Aporro took advantage of the fact that Szayel wasn't there to draw her legs up and tuck her feet in to warm them up again; Szayel could be such a stickler about keeping feet off of furniture when they didn't belong there.
And then, utterly alone and well away from where anyone could hear her, Aporro covered her head with her arms and broke down.
If only for the others (and so Szayel would quit drugging her until she was seeing in infrared) she'd pulled herself together as soon as she'd recovered from her last drugging.
Still, everywhere she looked all she saw was the absence of her daughter, and no less than ten times a day she had to hold back sobs that came seemingly from nowhere.
Though Szayel remained oblivious, she was sure a few others (namely Stark and possibly Grimmjow) had noticed, though they hadn't said anything, blessedly.
Still, Aporro had needed to find a way to let out the sorrow that was slowly building up, and this was the only way she could think of doing it…
Actually, she'd wanted to go into Vicenta's lab and cry, but it seemed to have figured out that Vicenta was missing and had simply blacked out; not even the cameras in there were on anymore, though if one were to walk by you could still hear things running inside.
So Aporro had opted for Szayel's laboratory, instead, and this was the third night she'd locked herself in, sat down in Szayel's chair and sobbed where no one could hear her.
It was getting harder and harder to explain why she had red eyes every morning when they woke, and if she didn't think of a better excuse soon he was going to sit her down for a forced eye examination and he would find out just what was causing the bloodshot sclera.
Still, she couldn't bring herself to stop, because if she tried she'd end up breaking down somewhere else, where someone could see her, and she'd wind up drugged agin.
Aporro was so wrapped up in her crying that she didn't hear the door open, and it wasn't until someone shoved her chair back roughly a few feet that she finally noticed she wasn't alone and looked up.
Even through the watery film that covered her eyes, she could still make out the stock of shocking blue hair in the dark and she sighed, mumbling with a thick voice, "What are you doing here, Grimmjow?"
"Your cap on your reiatsu is slowly getting worse the more you do this." The former Sexta grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning back against the keyboard, "Learn to save your blubbering for when you actually have the door locked behind you or Szayel's going to find out."
Unable to bring herself to snap at him, Aporro just nodded once before dropping her head into her hands, "Grimmjow… I can't live like this much longer… I need to feel her here or nearby, or I'm going to…" She trailed off, swallowing.
Aporro knew that the pain she was feeling was probably nothing like what Grimmjow was feeling; Grimmjow, who was Vicenta's life-mate.
Actually, Aporro had never felt the pain that came with being separated from one's life-mate… After she and Szayel had reestablished their relationship once she'd become a Hollow, and then an Arrancar, the former Octava had always made sure she was never far away.
Still, even if the pain they felt wasn't the same, she was sure it was occurring in similar amounts and didn't want to prod too much at either of their open sores…
"It hurts like a fucking bitch, don't it?"
Aporro blinked up at Grimmjow, shocked.
He glared at the space over her shoulder, the muscles in his arms bulging slightly as he tensed and the tendons in his neck straining as he ground his teeth.
"It's not just the absence, is it? It's the uncertainty… It feels like it's gnawing away at your gut, like it's hollowing you out. It's eating away at your essence, leaving you in pain and pissed off…"
"It's… the same way it feels when you're a Hollow…" Aporro mumbled, blinking.
"…Unless she's on a separate plane, I'm supposed to be able to feel her at all times." Grimmjow growled, his gaze turning livid, "But there's nothing there… and it pisses me off to no end." He ran a hand through his hair, hissing, "I need to kick someone's ass, but I can't fight anyone here because I'll kill 'em… And I can't go to the surface because you and your bitch have everything on lockdown." He turned his glare on Aporro, snapping, "And now I can't even sleep because I know every night you drag your ass in here and cry yourself hoarse!"
Aporro stared up at him, the corners of her eyes getting wet again, then stood slowly and walked over to him, mumbling when he snarled suspiciously, "It's alright, Grimmjow…"
The former Sexta tensed and froze in place when the smaller Arrancar wrapped her arms around him, twitching slightly when she pressed her wet face to his chest and got one side of his jacket wet, her other eye resting right on the skin and making it damp.
Still, he didn't push her away, and when her legs started to give out when she started crying again he fisted his hand into the back of her jacket to keep her from falling to his feet, holding her in place as he glared off into space and ground his teeth so hard he felt them shift and creak in protest.
"We're going to find her." Aporro rasped thickly after a moment, "We're going to find her… We have to… As soon as we get word back from the Captain-Commander, we'll know where we stand and we'll be able to start planning."
Suddenly, the screen behind Grimmjow flickered to life and the First Division Captain's gravely voice flooded the room, "If you're waiting for us, then we can start planning now."
Grimmjow took a sharp step to the side and glared over his shoulder, and Aporro looked up at the screen with red eyes, biting her lip when the Captain-Commander nodded to her seriously. And he wasn't alone; two rows of the other twelve captains stood in the First Division meeting room, and they were all looking into the screen, as well.
"Grimmjow, go wake Szayel." Aporro muttered, coughing to clear her voice and sitting back in Szayel's chair, "I'll start."
As soon as Grimmjow was gone, Yamamoto nodded, "Miss Aporro."
Aporro stood slightly and bowed at the waist before sitting back down, "Captain-Commander Yamamoto, thank you for getting back to us so quickly… I know how long these kinds of things can usually take you, especially with the Central 46 involved…"
"Hmm, yes." Yamamoto frowned, "That was quite an ordeal…"
Because the treaty with the Arrancar had been proposed while Yamamoto had stood in place for the previous Central 46 that Aizen had murdered, the new officials who filled the forty-six seats could hardly overthrow his judgment as he'd held the same power as them during his reign.
That didn't mean that the new officials didn't give the Captain-Commander hell every time a proposal was sent to them concerning their Arrancar 'allies', though Aporro was just glad that the Royal Family hadn't intervened, either because they found it unnecessary or the Central 46 simply hadn't deemed the matter of 'heathen Hollow half-breeds' worth the royalty's time.
Still, she couldn't say she was too surprised concerning the speedy response; because El Sanctuario had senkaimon that linked them directly to the Soul Society, any problems that arose about a possible invasion of the Arrancar stronghold almost immediately became a problem with the Seireitei.
"While we wait for Szayel Aporro and his most recent findings," Yamamoto began in his slow, even tone, "Let us recap and bring everyone up to speed."
Aporro nodded, sitting up straight and addressing the captains as they looked at her and listened, "A few weeks ago, Vicenta started a new project to make as thorough a map as she could of Hueco Mundo, using ten gigantic camera pods. Not two days after their launch, one was attacked and taken down." She paused before going on, "Vicenta went after it to retrieve its black box, and upon retrieving it and analyzing it with Szayel, they both came to the conclusion that the pod had been attacked by a Vasto Lorde." She paused again.
"And, up until very recently, that had been the only pod attacked, correct?" Yamamoto asked.
Aporro nodded, "That's right."
Several captains frowned slightly, Hitsugaya asking, "Why just that one pod?"
"The reason, as of yet, is indeterminate." Aporro sighed, sitting back and waving her hand, "They all flew at a uniform height and at uniform speed, far higher than any Hollow we have on record has been known to fly. In fact, unless the attacker knew to look for it, it's highly unlikely any life forms would have noticed it at all. This lead Szayel to believe that there may have been some malfunction within the pod that may have irritated the Vasto Lorde that attacked it, which is feasible since apparently the pod was an old prototype that had simply been modified to keep up with the rest."
A momentary silence fell as everyone soaked in this information.
When Yamamoto nodded to her, Aporro nodded and went on, "Because Vicenta had left to recover the black box on her own, without telling us, Szayel and I decided to instigate a punishment, which was why she ended up in the Seireitei for several days, as you all know. During her absence… several more pods were destroyed, in quick succession."
"Same attacker?" Soifon asked sharply.
"Indeterminate." Aporro sighed again, "In her absence and after the first attack, Vicenta's lab shut itself and locked us out, preventing us from finding out any pertinent information."
Soifon's perpetual frown deepened, "And why wasn't Vicenta Acere brought back for an analysis?"
"Because she's a brat." Aporro sneered, flicking her wrist in irritation, "If she'd known that more of her cameras were being taken down, she would have done something stupid like gone off to exact revenge. Szayel and I decided that so long as it didn't seem the Vasto Lordes could use the pods to find us then their destruction wasn't important. Unfortunate, but not priority."
"Though that situation changed, didn't it?" Mayuri purred, already grinning.
Aporro glanced at him sharply, sneering, "Bite my ass, Kurotsuchi! You saw the data before Vicenta; you knew what was going on and you showed her anyway. If we're going to start the blame game, fault for her abduction lies with you!"
"Aporro! Captain Kurotsuchi!" Yamamoto barked.
Mayuri's wide-toothed grin flipped to a wide-toothed frown and he said in a low but very clear voice, "The Spawn's abduction was not something I wanted or would have wished, and I am no less irate about it than you are."
There were several blinks at this admission, though one of them certainly wasn't from Aporro. She was too pissed at him to care.
"As Captain Kurotsuchi pointed out," Aporro growled, looking at Yamamoto again, and rather pointedly, "The situation changed. The final pod that was taken down was rent in half and delivered right to The Sanctuary's front doorstep."
"So, your position has, indeed, been compromised…" Byakuya observed in monotone.
Aporro nodded, "Indeed, it has." She then glanced sharply at Mayuri, "Captain Kurotsuchi can take it from here."
Mayuri sniffed and narrowed his eyes at her, but a pointed glare from the Captain-Commander got him speaking, "During her banishment from her home, the Spawn came to work with me in my lab. Attempts were made to access her computer network using mine, and when nothing worked we received outside assistance. The Spawn found out about what was happening, demanded to go home, then shanghaied one of my pseudo-Garganta. Once back in her homeland, she took off after a figure in the distance with Nemu and I in pursuit. The figure was lost, we turned to head back, and on the way she was grabbed and dragged down into the sands."
"To the Forest of Menos?!" Komamura asked sharply, looking back at Aporro with narrowed eyes.
"Presumably." Aporro sighed, leaning back in her seat, "Unfortunately, that's where my information ends. Szayel's had me doped up on muscle relaxants for the last few… however long it's been, and during that time he wouldn't tell me a thing. He's the one who knows the most about the current situation."
"Indeed, I am."
Everyone looked back, watching as Szayel stepped out of the shadows and walked forward, one hand poised to 'adjust' his glasses (as if they moved) and the other held behind his back.
"Speak, Szayel Aporro."
Szayel nodded, coming to stand beside Aporro and clasping both hands behind his back, "The other day, I captured a young Vasto Lorde by the name of Vaida; she was one of the assaulters of the pods, though not the original. In addition, she assaulted the pod under the order of yet another Vasto Lorde, though I doubt the one who ordered her to was the original, either. At the very least, this means that there are still two Vasto Lordes out there who may well want for our blood."
"Do you have names?" Jushiro asked, frowning, "If it's a Hollow we know of, we could have their information in the database, as well as information on their territory…"
Szayel glanced at him, pausing before answering, "Vaida attacked under the order of Marccia Bones."
Several captains flinched and Soifon clenched her hands at her sides tightly.
Aporro frowned, "…Who's Marccia Bones?"
"One sadistic bitch." Grimmjow suddenly emerged from the shadows, probably from having been standing there the whole time, opting to listen since he wasn't much of a 'political person'. Still, he spoke now, walking up beside Aporro and glancing down at her, "She's not as old as someone like Stark, but she's still pretty damn old, not to mention pretty damn strong."
"She's been eluding capture for the better part of one hundred years…" Shunsui drawled, sighing heavily and shaking his head, "And those are just the years we've been able to confirm that it was her…"
Aporro frowned deeply, lowering her head and pinching the bridge of her nose, "Fuu-uuuuuck…" She then glanced up at Szayel sharply, "Did you find out anything about Vicenta's location?"
Szayel nodded, reaching over his keyboard and typing in a few things that made several images appear on the screen, "Apparently, Marccia has her held in a location of the Forest of Menos known as the Grove of White Trees, in a cave at the base of the valley. That is about twenty kilometers southeast of here. It's actually just below a corner of an area I have marked down as part of Marccia's territory."
"…I see…" Attention turned back to Yamamoto as he stood, clutching his heavily gnarled staff with both hands and looking at the Arrancar on the other end of the feed seriously, "The fact that one of yours has been not only kidnapped, but kidnapped by a dangerous Vasto Lorde who knows of your location, no less, is disturbing, indeed. And the fact that Vicenta Acere was taken deliberately, not just out from underneath the watch of one of our Captains but also after the delivery of such a blatant insult constitutes a challenge of war. While this is something we would like to avoid, the retrieval of Vicenta Acere takes top priority. After that, we will wait and see how things turn out."
"'We'…" Aporro repeated, sitting up straight and smiling slightly, "So, you'll help…"
Yamamoto nodded, "We've received approval from the Central 46 and will be sending officers immediately." The old shinigami then looked around the room, "Who will volunteer to assist in the rescue mission of Vicenta Acere?"
Aporro was more than slightly shocked when the first person who stepped forward was none other than Byakuya Kuchiki.
Toshiro Hitsugaya followed suit, surprising Aporro further.
When Shunsui and Jushiro stepped forward to offer to stay at El Sanctuario to keep an eye on things, Aporro was doing her best to control her facial expressions but her chest was puffed out and she felt fit to burst, so incredibly touched she thought she would cry.
"We don't need four captains there." Yamamoto grumbled, "But if you two are worried, Jushiro, you can go." He glanced at Shunsui sharply, "You, however, are behind on your paperwork."
Shunsui laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, glancing at Aporro and shrugging, "Sorry, looks like I'm stuck here."
"That's a shame." Aporro snickered, throwing a grin at the Eleventh Division Captain, "But I'm surprised you didn't jump at the opportunity to join in, Kenpachi."
Kenpachi snorted, his visible eye rolling as he grumbled, "'Rescue mission' implies being careful, and if I'm gonna go to Hueco Mundo I want to be able to go all out. Still…" The gruff captain glanced at Hitsugaya and barked, "Hitsugaya! Take Ikkaku, Yumichika and Kurosaki with you! They've been bitching about getting out and it's grating on my nerves…"
Hitsugaya twitched, then sneered, "Fine. But make sure you tell them ahead of time that they are to follow my every order."
Kenpachi rolled his eye.
Yamamoto sighed, then addressed all present once again, "Very well, then. Captain Kuchiki, Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Ukitake, return to your divisions immediately and prepare for departure. Captain Zaraki, inform those of your men who are going of their duties. All involved in this mission will depart in three hours." The captain then lifted his staff and brought it back down, the butt slamming solidly into the ground like a gavel and signaling the end of the meeting.
And as the transmission ended, Aporro clasped her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes.
Things were finally starting to go right.
Vicenta's head throbbed and she groaned, mixed blood and spit pouring out of her mouth.
Too weak to shiver like she had been doing, the cold of the cave seeped into her body and dried her throat, and soon the air she was breathing tickled her throat unpleasantly and she coughed.
It started small, but it quickly grew until the muscles in her stomach and sides were convulsing, her back curving as air rattled out of her lungs. Her throat burned and the taste of blood in her mouth was freshened…
And then, even though her throat still itched, she didn't have the energy to cough anymore and simply lay there, breathing strained and harsh.
She wasn't sure how much later it was, but suddenly someone grabbed her by her hair and hoisted her up, her still tied legs dangling and her toes barely scraping the floor as a burst of someone's hot breath hit the side of her face.
"Let's go," Murmured the voice of Marccia Bones, "Daramos is dying to meet you…"
Despite it all, Vicenta refused to let herself tremble…
…Though never before, in her life, had she wanted her mother more.
Fun in The Sacntuary~!
Szayel Likes the Booty…?
Sometimes, Vicenta is utterly amazed at how blatantly oblivious her parents can be about the double standards they hold her and Grimmjow and themselves to when it comes to 'decency'.
For example, when Vicenta and Aporro go to the human world and bring back skimpy outfits, while Grimmjow is whistling appreciatively and eating Vicenta with his eyes as if he were ravenous, Szayel just takes one look at his daughter in her backless halter top and short shorts and sneers.
"Honestly, Vicenta, has becoming this boy's mate caused you to lose every last ounce of decency you possess?! Get back in your room and get a coat on, young lady."
Grimmjow rolls his eyes, hugging Vicenta close and grumbling, "Fuckin' prude."
Vicenta just sighs and shakes her head, then glances at the bathroom door in her parent's room and grins, watching as her mother walks out in her white, super short, cut-off-just-below-the-chest spaghetti strap tank top with her white, tight-as-fuck miniskirt.
Vicenta then nearly bursts out laughing when her father takes one look at his mate and lets his jaw drop, his eyes widening until his lashes can actually be seen above and below the rims of his glasses.
Aporro looks at her mate and smirks, quirking a brow, then spins until her back is facing him and grabs her hips, glancing back over her shoulder with a pout, "Szayel, does this make my butt look big?"
"…Vicenta, Grimmjow, out."
Vicenta exaggerates a pout, "But Daaaaddyyy—"
"Out, out, out!"
Vicenta squeaks and drags Grimmjow out as ceros chase them to the door, laughing loudly as the door shuts behind them and there's a bang, a muffled thump, and the sound of Aporro yelping Szayel's name back in the room.
Vicenta had never really thought of her father as an ass man…