ichigo and Orihime waited patiently for Ulquiorra to tell them exactly what was going on and Ichigo was not going to move an inch until he got hi answers. Ulquiorra sighed, he had absolutely no say in the matter did he?
Up to a year ago the Espada and many arrancars had been dead untill they were re-awakened by a bieng that only knew itsefas the Dreamer. It had no memory of the past but answered to the wishes of biengs with reiatsu. It first awoke in Huecho Mundo and was therefore thought to be made or discovered by Aizen.
The being was thought to have grown to the point to realize desolation and so awakened the spirits or conciousnesses of others in the area to find companionship of some kind. The spirits or concious minds clung o reishi in the area, reforging bodis for themselves. These beings were by all rights hollow but for many reasons were not.
That was were the Houses came in, these beings needed to feed off of the reiatsu of others like them to withstand the force of having a body. they were in a constant war untill They came. They saw them and tried to help by introducing Masters who would allow them to feed off of their reiatsu, if you dont have a master then you werent allowed to leave the house, quite simpe since Puppets without masters to feed off of were basically inhumane monsters who attacked others to feed off of their reiatsu which would always cause temporary death. The houses are run by them and monitered daily because Puppets when low on life have been known to turn into creatures which will eat your soul when filled with their natural insatiable thirst.
Ichigo and Orihime stared unbelievingly at Ulquiorra who just stared back confusedly, had he said anything unsettling?