Chapter 6: It Begins

Seven pairs of eyes looks down on the sleeping chibified form of the ex Trecera Espada.

"So this really is...." Halibel started, looking at Naoto and Sano quizzically.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, this kid is really her." Naoto confirms with a nod.

Deciding that it was too risky to just waltz through the front door with their visitors, Naoto and Sano uses the underground caverns beneath Las Noches to smuggle in the former Trecera and her fraccions and meets with Stark, Halibel and her fraccions in one of the many empty chambers there.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're telling me that this little runt is actually Nelial Tu" Apache exclaims, looking at the two masked arrancars to see if they were trying to pull a fast one on her. But their nods spoke volumes and confirms the fraccion's worst fears.

"Which means, we're pretty much screwed then then." Mila Rose summed it up bluntly as she crosses her arms and shakes her head.

"Please don't say that Mila Rose. That's by no means a certainity." Sun Sun stated quietly.

"Sun Sun is right." Sano seconded. "No matter how she looks now, this kid IS the former Trecera Espada. She somehow just lacks the means or motivation to access her powers."

"This has turned out to be quite a troublesome predicament we're in." Stark said with a sigh before looking over at the antheaded hollow and the walking tiki mask.

The two unusual looking arrancars whose names were Pesche and Dondochakka had been the former Trecera's fraccions. After convincing them that they meant no harm, the two had narrated the events which led to their self imposed exile to the deserts of Hueca Mundo and pointed to the current Quinta Espada Nnoitora Jiruga and the current Octava Espada Syazael Aporro Grantz as the masterminds.

If those two unlikely allies were willing to work together to dispose of a fellow Espada, then that made them threats to be wary of.

"Nnoitra has always been envious and resentful of Nelial Sama. He's made no secret his belief that females are inferior and therefore unworthy of becoming an Espada so when he was beaten but spared by her in a fight, he took it as an insult and has never forgiven her for it." Pesche stated.

"That's why he for Syazael's help back then. Nnoitra knew he couldn't beat Nelial Sama he teamed up with Syazael and suprised us, dontcha know?" Dondochakka adds.

"What a damned chauvinistic pig." Apache growls. "Nnoitra didn't have the cojones to do the job himself so he teamed up with that pink-haired fruitloop Syazael. Typical of that cowardly bastard."

"If he was able to do that to Nelial, then there's a chance he might pull the same stunt on Halibel Sama." Mila Rose stated. "We've gotta watch ourselves around those two pricks then."

"I don't think that Nnoitra will make an attempt on Halibel Sama though." Sun Sun said passively. "I believe that his alliance with Syazael's is a one-time deal born out of convenience and I highly doubt that Syazael would risk compromising his own position especially since Aizen has forbidden any conflicts between Espadas. If Nnoitra DOES have any plans of attacking Halibel Sama, then he will have to do it on his own and we all know that she can easily destroy him if he tries."

"Be that as it may, both Syazael and Nnoitra cannot be underestimated." Halibel stated. "They wouldn't be in the Espada if they were THAT weak."

"I agree with Halibel Sama." Naoto said. "As it is, those two don't operate on a full deck so I sure as hell ain't turning MY back on those conniving, treacherous sons of bitches anytime soon."

"Alright. Now that we've established that we've gotta keep our eyes on those two bastards, what's our next step?" Sano asks before looking at Nel and company. "I think it's pretty obvious that we can't rely on Nelial at this point so we have to make other plans."

"That's may be true Sano but we can't leave Nelial in this condition either." Stark said somberly. "She deserves better then this so we have to exhaust all means to find a way to change her back to her original form."

Before anyone can speak up, what sounded like a mournful bugle echoes throughout Las Noches indicating that there was going to be a meeting of Espadas and their fraccions. Since Sano and Naoto reported directly to Aizen, they were also technically fraccion class and attended the meetings as well.

"What a time for Aizen-Sama to call a meeting." Naoto gripes. "Now, what do we do with Nelial-Sama and her fraccions?"

"They will have to stay down here for the meantime." Halibel answered, glancing at Pesche and Dondochakka. "From what you two described, these two should be able to protect Nelial from any danger and this place is isolated enough that it will not be discovered easily. We can just provide them with whatever provisions they require."

Stark turns to the the ex Trecera and her fraccions and asks. "Is that acceptable to you?"

The one called Pesche bows his head gratefully. "Yes it is. We're grateful that you've provided us and Nelial Sama sanctuary despite the danger to yourselves."

"Nelial is a valued comrade. There is nothing to thank us for because we are simply righting a wrong." Halibel stated before turning to her fellow Espada. "We should probably get going. Someone will get suspicious if we take too long."

"Troublesome. But I guess you're right. I'll go on ahead and pick up Lilinette for the meeting" Stark said with a sigh before using Sonido to disappear.

"We will leave for the meeting as well." Halibel said, nodding towards her fraccions before they too disappear via Sonido.

"We'll drop by from time to time to check on you so be sure to keep Nelial Sama safe, ok?" Sano said to Pesche and Dondochakka.

"Of course. We are willing o give our very lives for Nelial Sama if necessary, dontcha' know?" Dondochakka declared, thumping a fist to his chest.

"Mah mah. Let's hope it doesn't come down to that." Naoto said before getting down on a knee in front of the sleeping Nelial. "Our apologies for scaring you before Nelial Sama. But like we said, we mean you no harm. We will do everything we can to help you get your real form back. Believe it."

Naoto gets back up to his feet and nods at Sano before both blurs away via Sonido.

"You think we can trust them Pesche?" Dondochakka asks his longtime friend and comrade.

"They've had plenty of opportunity to dispose of us and yet they didn't." Pesche said. "I believe they are being sincere and we should be thankful that we are given this opportunity to redeem ourselves. We owe that much to Nelial Sama....." Pesche stated before his visible eye flashed dangerously. "....And to Nnoitra and Syazael."

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Sano woke up with a start in his quarters. His skin beaded in sweat from the nightmare he had.

And who can blame him? Aizen's master plan was enough to give any sane person bad dreams.

The traitorous shinigami had revealed that he was close to acquiring an artifact called the Hougokyu which had the ability to break the bounderies between Hollows and Shinigamis and would be used to create new and more powerful arrancars. And both he and Naoto were told that they would be going with Aizen to Soul Society and assist him in acquiring the Hogokyu.

He also revealed his plan of invading the realm of the Spirit King in order to overthrow him and take his place. But in order to do that, he needed the artifact called the King's Key.

Aizen had discovered a method for recreating the artifact but for that, he needed a reishi rich stretch of land and the sacrifice of over a hundred thousand souls. Of course, Aizen had the perfect sacrifice.

The entire town of Karakura.

"You are still worried about Aizen's plan." A voice besides Sano stated rather then asked. The masked arrancar looks over and sees the concerned, pale, purple eyes of Sun Sun looking back at him as she sat up and used the blanket to cover her otherwise, naked body.

Sano had to smile at the long haired fraccion of Halibel.

Their affair only started about a few months before but their relationship was born more out of needs rather then love and therefore held no commitments.

Even still, their mutual attraction to each other kept drawing them together during the cold nights of Hueco Mundo.

"Of course I'm worried." Sano grated, his words sounding more harsh then he actually intended. "Aizen wants both me and Naoto to help him steal something which will be used to create more powerful arrancars who are almost guaranteed to be loyal to him which would in turn, make our job that much harder. Add the fact that he plans to annahilate an entire town to create an artificial King's Key. We're talking about a hundred thousand lives here. Even it's supposedly for the good of Hollows, what Aizen's suggesting is genocide and I can't be a part of that."

"No sane person would want to commit wholesale murder. But then again, I never said Aizen was ever in his right mind to begin with now, did I?" Sun Sun said as she wrapped her arms around Sano and pressed herself to his broad back. "It's not like you to worry this way Sano. I am confident that you and Naoto will be able to play your parts well You know we will be watching Aizen's every move and once he makes a mistake, we will use the opportunity to strike and that will be the end of that."

Sano quirked an eyebrow as he looks at Sun Sun. "You know something? That simplistic way of thinking makes you more like Apache and Mila Rose then you'd care to admit."

Sun Sun scoffs at this. "Oh please. I am NOTHING like those two. I simply prefer to eliminate the root of the problem and not just flail around uselessly like them." Sun Sun the smiles as she pushes Sano back down to the bed. "Besides, can those two do the things I do to you?"

A searing kiss later, Sano decides that three fraccion of Halibel might not be so alike after all.

He briefly wondered how his friend was coping before giving in to Sun Sun's skillful ministrations.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........................................................................................................

Cirucci Thunderwitch has been called a lot of things in her lifetime. But patient was NOT one of them.

As a matter of fact, her violent temper was relatively well known and many unfortunate arrancars can attest to that fact were they were still alive.

Only a few beings has survived her tantrums so far.

And one of them was the current target of her ire.

"Zzzzzzzz......."

A vein appears on Cirucci's forehead as shook Naoto. "Naoto, wake up."

"Zzzzzzzz......"

The vein in Cirucci's forehead grew larger as she shook Naruto harder. "Oi! Wake up I said."

"Zzzzzzzzz....."

"Naoto, I know you're faking." Cirucci warned. "I swear, if you don't wake up right now, I'll....."

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ............."

The vein on Cirucci's forehead grew gigantic as she retrieved her zanpaktou by the bedside. "Rip Off, Gol....."

"Alright alright!! I'm awake Cirucci." Naoto sat up abruptly with a laugh, his arms in front of him for defense. "Geez, no need to bust out your ressurecion on me."

Cirucci huffed in annoyance as she looks away. The Tricera Espada Halibel was the one who recruited her for the secret campaign against Aizen. Cirucci was only too eager to accept since Aizen was the reason why she was demoted to a Privaron Espada in the first place.

And it was through Halibel that she met the enigmatic Namejin Naoto.

At first, Cirucci hated the blonde masked Arrancar. Naoto's casual, flippant nature irritated her and his kind, sincere ways seemed too good to be true. And yet in the end, these were the traits which endeared him to the Privaron which ultimately made her decide to take him as her lover.

It also helped that Naoto could please her like no other and had lots of stamina to spare for a lowly Numero which led her to believe that he was much stronger then he was letting on. Maybe even stronger then her.

"So exactly what are you gonna do about this new wrinkle Aizen threw your way?" Cirucci asks as she rested her head on her lover's chest. "The way I see things, it seems like that bastard has something on you and Sano."

"I agree." Naoto said, stroking Cirucci's hair absently. "He's obviously trying to test our loyalty coz he doesn't really like the idea of having Arrancar of our caliber who's not TOTALLY under his thumb. We'll have continue playing the role of his obedient subordinates a while longer and hopefully undermine some his efforts in the process."

Naoto then looks at Cirucci as his tone becomes serious. "I AM worried about you and the other Privaron though. I mean you ARE former Espadas who's looking to get back your position of power by whatever mens necessary so if anything goes wrong, you'd most likely take the blame."

"Don't worry about me and the others lover boy. We can take care of ourselves just fine." Cirucci said. "Besides, thanks to you and Sano, we've also found a way to access our real powers and not just the pathetic Privaron abilities we were saddled with when we were demoted by Aizen just in case things go bad."

"Hopefully, things WON'T go bad if all goes according to plan." Naoto said. "But on the other hand, some small part of me wants things to go wrong so we'll have every excuse in the world to take out Aizen now."

Cirucci swats the back of Naruto's head. "Idiot. While it's obvious that you and Sano much stronger then any Numero or Fraccion I know, you two are still not good enough to beat someone like Aizen. Hell, I doubt you're even good to beat ME."

"Is that a challenge I hear Cirucci Thunderwitch?" Naoto asks with a grin.

"You can take it however you want." Cirucci answers with a seductive little smile.

"Well that's a challenge I'll be more then glad to take up." Naoto said with a wide smile, rolling on top of Cirucci and making the Privaron shriek in delight. A few moments later, all that was heard from the two were moans and groans.

Tonight, they would make love.

But tomorow, their war would finally begin.

Author's Notes: Ahhh.... Sorry for the relatively late update guys. Not really sure how I did in this chapter so my apologies in advance just in case you don't like it. As always, R&R plesse.