Chapter Two:

Three Roomies and a Stalker

Ulquiorra stayed behind while the other Espada left; he wanted to speak to Aizen.

"Aizen-sama."

"Yes, Ulquiorra?" Aizen replied.

"Why did you want me to go get that girl?"

"Did you miss that? She is the only one with that kind of ability, you know."

"She is too weak. And rebellious. I had to carry her here."

"Ah, well, I guess that comes with the package. But I would like to explore her powers a little further- and if all else fails, we can just get rid of her."

"What is she?"

"A tool."

"I know. But is she a shinigami or a hollow? She looks like a human, fights like a shinigami, and yet-"

"If she weren't a hollow, she would have been attacked by all the other hollows in Hueco Mundo. She must be a hollow."

"She doesn't have a mask."

"Hmm… That's true. I should investigate that further."

"Yes, Aizen-sama. I will take my leave now." Ulquiorra turned around and filed out after the others.

He didn't like how Aizen was so protective of the girl. It was strange.

She was nothing special, just unique trash.

Aizen had even sent out two Espada after her, as if expecting her to be able to fend one off. Also, he'd had to track her by reiatsu. Her trail would suddenly disappear into nothing, and then her reiatsu would blank out- it would reappear a moment later, hundreds of miles away. A space-bender.

This would be interesting, he decided.

Halibel's apartments were all plain white as the rest of the castle was, and very neat and organized. And yet it had a sense of femininity- probably the only in the castle, Seren noted- with a couple fluffy pillows and cleanliness.

Seren walked around, curious. She wandered over by a doorway, looking up at the paneling. And then she turned and ran right into-

"HEY!" yelled the girl she had run into. "What are YOU doing here?" She was rubbing her head; her mask looked like a band on top of her head with a single horn. Kind of like a unicorn. Ha. A unicorn.

"Umm… I honestly don't know." Seren scratched her head, laughing.

"WHAT?" the girl blurted.

"Ah, ah, Apache, what's the matter? You're interrupting my beauty rest!" A woman was laying down on one of the couches. Seren hadn't even noticed her.

She was dark skinned with dark, long wavy hair. She had an eye mask on, and she pulled it off one of her eyes. "Well?"

"There's a stranger in our quarters, Mila Rose!" Exclaimed the girl, who Seren guessed was Apache.

"What?" Mila Rose lifted her eye mask off all the way and walked over. "Oh my!" She said. "It's true! What is she doing here?" She hissed at Apache.

"I don't know!" Apache hissed back.

"Umm, you guys, I'm right here. I can hear you, you know." Seren droned.

"Were we talking to you?" Mila Rose demanded.

"Well, if you're talking about me-"

"She's a cheeky brat. I don't like her," decided Apache.

"Me neither." Summed Mila Rose.

"Wow. You decided that fast."

"Listen, brat, you have a lot of nerve talking to us like that with the state you're in. You look like something the cat dragged in." Mila Rose crinkled her nose in disgust.

Seren tried to be funny. Really, she did. "Um, well, actually, Ulquiorra and that Nnoitra guy dragged me in."

Apache and Mila Rose's faces were both priceless.

"WHAT?!?" They shouted.

"Umm… I'm a guest or something? That Aizen guy sure didn't explain things well." Seren scratched her head.

"THAT AIZEN GUY?" Mila Rose shrieked, scandalized.

"Do you mean Aizen-sama? He is the lord of Hueco Mundo. You should watch your words!" Apache scolded.

"And you all should watch your voices." Drawled another girl. Another Arrancar sauntered into the room. "I was sleeping… until a minute ago…"

"Did you hear everything, Sunsun?" Mile Rose asked.

"Yeah, yeah. For once you're not arguing with each other, but against someone else." The other girl yawned and rubbed her eyes with her oversized sleeve.

"Yeah well, either way, I was charged to Halibel's care or whatnot. She dropped me off here, and so here I am." Seren explained.

"What's so special about you?" Mila Rose asked. "You're pretty weak looking to me." She rudely cupped Seren's face in her hand and looked her up and down.

Seren's eyebrows twitched again. Okay. They needed to stop this.

"All right," she said. She broke away from Mila Rose. "Stop this. Just leave me a corner or something and I promise I won't bother you."

"What a cheeky brat! We really should… do something about this…" Apache smiled wickedly and winked at Mila Rose.

"Oh yes," Mila Rose smiled back. "Sunsun?"

"Definitely. It's been a while since there's been some action around here." Sunsun grinned. She started rolling up her sleeves.

Seren backed up. She might not know her way around here, but she knew when somebody did or didn't want to beat her face in. So far, it seemed that everyone here did. Fun.

She put her hands in the air. "Hey, you guys-"

Then they lunged. Seren shrieked and jumped back, grabbed Fuerda. "All right then. All bets are off!" She pulled Fuerda out and started counting.

"Ichi! Nii! San! Shi! Go! Roku!" Fuerda started buzzing with static; electricity crackled in the air.

"Ha! Look! Looks like she's an Arrancar also!" Jeered Mila Rose. "Let's bring out our swords too!" She pulled out her sword. "Devour! Leona!"

Seren swore. She wouldn't be able to handle all of them if they decided to do that. "All right," she muttered. "Let's go, roku." She rubbed her hands together, building up reiatsu and friction between them. The lightning crackled in her palms.

Apache was to the left, and it looked like she was about to release also. She had to go first. Seren clapped her hands together loudly and a spark shot out from her finger tips to hit Apache.

It hit spot on. Apache yelped and was pushed backwards. Her sword clattered down to the left of her. "Cieva!" She cried. "You witch!" She ran to get her sword and-

"Ah ah!" Seren smiled and clapped her hands again. The sword shocked Apache visciously.

"What- what the hell did you do to my sword, you bitch?" Screamed Apache. "It shocked me!"

"I just made it so you won't be releasing it on me anytime soon," Seren replied calmly. "And you-"

SMACK.

Seren was smashed into the ground by a heavy blow to the lower back. She saw a flicker, and rolled over, very narrowly avoiding being slice in two by Mila Rose's sword.

"Ha! How's that? You so cocky now, bitch?" Laughed Mila Rose.

"Shi!" Seren swiped her hands together, and blew on them. Fire flared out from her hands. Mila Rose jumped back.

"Huh, so you can do more than just lightning, huh? Good," Sunsun said. "This will be more interesting than I originally thought it would! Strangle to death, Anaconda!" She pulled out her sword, and relased. "Resurreccion!"

"Damn." Seren couldn't believe this. Three against one was so unfair! Where was Halibel when she needed her? Or justice, while she was at it? "Go!" She blew through her fingers, and an icy wind blew.

"That's not going to stop me!" Sunsun laughed and reared up. Now she had a snake tail in her relased form.

Seren knew that the fight was not going well in her favor. Her strength had already almost been sapped, and-

"Stop it."

Mila Rose, Sunsun, Apache, and Seren all stopped right in their paths. They turned and looked in the doorway. Framed in there was an unmistakable figure.

"Sunsun, Mila Rose, Apache. Release your swords. Seren, take your lightning off of Apache's sword."

Seren snapped her fingers and the shock disappeared from the sword. Sunsun separated from her sword and transformed back to normal. Apache grabbed her sword. Seren stood up.

"Ha-Halibel-sama," Apache stammered. "I'm sorry, we-"

"No explanations needed. She has been entrusted to my care, and I would prefer that you did not kill her. Aizen-sama would not be happy." The Arrancar said.

"Yes." Mila Rose, Apache, and Sunsun all relented.

"Now, I would ask that you leave her alone. Return to your rooms."

The guilty trio nodded once and then vanished to their quarters.

Seren flinched. It was her turn.

"Seren."

She looked up. "Yes, Halibel?"

"There is an empty room down two rooms to the left. You may sleep there. The first one down is my room. Do not go in there or in the other's rooms, unless you have received permission from the owner. Understood?"

"Yes." Seren felt that being lectured by Halibel was worse than actually being hit.

"That is all. You may go, and clean yourself up. You look like something the cat dragged in."

"Um… thanks." Seren turned and walked to her rooms. She felt incredibly slow because everyone else was using sonido. She'd have to ask one of the three about that… if they didn't try to kill her.

She was in the bath, surprised that it was so luxurious. There was a steady supply of soap and shampoo, which surprised her. After all, this was Hueco Mundo. Oh well. She supposed Las Noches could grow on you after a while.

She sighed and relaxed deeply into her bath. The bubbles tickled her nose. Although she couldn't remember having done this… it did feel nice. It felt like… home. Which she was probably never going to see again…

She sighed. Sometimes things just seemed better in the morning…

Oh well. She'd had one heck of a day, and she had absolutely no energy to ponder it. For one thing she was shocked that she had been defeated so easily; second, that there were apparently many people who could do that. Fun.

About an hour later, she climbed out of the bathroom in a bathrobe and climbed into her own bed. It was foreign. Although it was soft and warm, it was nothing like her home. Her home was a cave hidden away in Hueco Mundo, cold and dark. But, she found, once you were used to the dark, it was welcoming. It was like a shield that protected you from seeing what you didn't want to, and shielding you from the harsh light.

She was running. Her lungs sucked for air, her legs ached, and her arms sawed back and forth, pushing her on. The lonely sands of the hills of Hueco Mundo blew and sifted, uncaring to her plight. She tried running, faster and faster and faster! Her throat was burning, her muscles were on fire. She felt like her whole body had been dipped in acid, melting away everything it touched. Her heart throbbed frantically, harshly; she could feel it starting to crack her ribs.

She tripped and fell, sprawling in the sands. She tumbled downhill, ears, eyes, and mouth full of white sand. When she hit the bottom, she was winded and helpless. And yet, cresting over the next hill, she could see what she'd been hiding from. She pulled out Fuerda- only to find that it wasn't there. She turned around, and saw that Ulquiorra was holding it. His mute, cruel eyes revealed nothing to her. She turned around and saw what was chasing her.

She braced for a fight, fists tight, knowing she didn't stand a chance without Fuerda. The figure rushed up, coming over the top of the hill and racing towards her. And yet, she could only find that the figure was… herself.

She was an Arrancar, with horns on her head and a white robe. And there was a hole in her solar plexus, where her heart should be.

She screamed.

Seren woke with a start. Her heart was pumping against her ribs, and her blood pulsed furiously in her veins. Seren sighed. She took a minute to calm her heart that was still racing from her dream. Putting a hand to her chest, she tried to force it to slow. Eventually her panting slowed.

She rolled out of bed. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep, not after that. Straightening herself out, she fixed her nightgown pajamas and looked out the window. The moon was still in the top of the sky. It was the middle of the night.

That was strange, she thought. Hueco Mundo does not have night and day. And yet, it does here, in Las Noches. How peculiar.

She shook her head. She shouldn't worry about trivialities. Maybe if she walked around, she would feel better.

She stepped outside her room in bare feet, and looked down the hall. All the doors were closed; everyone in Halibel's quarters were still sleeping.

Good, Seren thought. She didn't want to deal with anyone right now.

She walked slowly, luxuriantly along the hallways of Hueco Mundo. The windows, bare of any glass, blew in fresh night air. Seren enjoyed it.

To her, the night was ten times as good as any day. The night smelled fresh, cool, and full of possibilities. It was energizing and exhilarating to be alone at night. The trill of danger and beckoning of adventure whispered from the shadows.

She trailed her fingers on the smooth ivory walls. There was spare decorating on the walls, but she didn't care. It was like walking down a hall of dreams. So peaceful.

Seren sighed and was very happy she had woken up from her dream.

It was a while before she realized she was being followed. She felt a slight tweak of reiatsu behind her. At first he heart stopped. Then she kept walking. She wanted to know who it was, and to do that, she should just keep walking and catch them off guard, before they realized she was onto them.

But it was ridiculous. The other always stayed just out of sight, and no matter how fast or slow she walked, or if she stopped, Seren did not see her strange follower. Finally, annoyed, she turned around.

"Who's there?!" She demanded, putting her hands on hips. She was braced for a fight- then she remembered she had left Fuerda behind in her room.

Well, that was stupid.

No answer. The halls echoed her question, as if mocking her. But they revealed no answer.

Huh, Seren thought. Damn.