Chapter 9: Nightmare
Orihime fingered the white dress cascading down from her hips like water. Her feet glided over the white stone floor, her head held high, as she walked down a long hall. The end was far away, unable to be seen as of yet. The lights were all bright, though she couldn't see where the lights actually where.
"Woman."
She stopped. Her feet rooted to the ground, as she stood absolutely still.
"Woman."
She drew in a breath as slowly, the walls began to bleed a deep viridian green, the tears of color staining the walls.
"Woman."
"Where are you?" She called out, staring in fright as pools of green liquid gathered on the floor.
"Are you afraid, woman?"
"Please! I don't know where you are!" She yelled, still rooted to the spot. "I need you!" She didn't know whom she was calling out to. All she knew was that he was someone she could trust, and that he would protect her.
"Are you afraid?" His deep monotone voice echoed throughout the hall, which the walls of which were now pure green. Are you afraid, are you afraid, are you afraid…
"I… I don't know what's going on!" She yelled.
Woosh.
She blinked, and suddenly she was standing before a great white palace in the middle of a bleak desert. The white sands stirred in the wind, dead trees sticking out from the ground, reaching for the blackened sky.
"What…" She stared, confused, her white dress stirring around her legs in the breeze. "What is this place?"
"Los Noches."
She gasped, turning around in a flurry of skirts, her eyes wide. There was no one behind her, the person already having moved, a tuft of black hair disappearing in the corner of her sight.
"You do not remember this place, Onna?"
"W-who are you?"
There was a heavy pause of silence. Then she felt something on her chest, just over her heart. Her breath stilled as she slowly moved her wide eyes down.
On her chest, a terrifying hand rested just over her heart. The fingers ended in long, sharp talons, the whole hand covered in a course black fur.
"Would I see it if I ripped open your chest?"
Her eyes widened a tiny amount more, watching with quick breath as the hand rose from her chest, the owner's heat seeping into her back as he moved an inch closer. The hand covered her eyes, making her close them in a hurry, as the man behind her moved until his lips where grazing her ear.
"Would I see it if I smashed open your skull?"
"What are you talking about?" She breathed. "I don't-"
"Onna."
She stilled.
"Are you afraid?"
She thought. Here, a frightful specter held a clawed hand over her eyes, his presence as powerful as any shinigami captain's. She was sure the man behind her could crush her life as easily as he could breathe. And yet…
"No. I'm not."
Woosh.
She stood on the dome of the great palace, Los Noches. And there, in front of her, was the man. His skin was a graying white, paler than any skin she had ever seen. His legs were covered in the same fur his arms were coated in. He had wings like that of a bat, tall and proud, and a long tail that ended in a tuft of fur. Black streaks, like tears, went down his cheeks from his eyes. His eyes, too, were terrifying. The whites were green, the same color that had coated the walls of the hall she had earlier been in. His irises were striking yellow, his pupils slit like a cats. Most horrifying of all was the large hole in the center of his chest, allowing her to see strait through him. Black trailed down from the hole and disappeared into the fur at his waist. His muscles were another testament to his terrible strength, showing clearly and firm.
A lip, the top one covered in black, barely moved. "Woman."
She stared, unsure of what was happening. "I-"
A strong gust of wind blew across the dome, scattering sand on the breeze. Orihime threw her arms up to the side of her face, shielding her head from the sting of the course sand upon her skin, and tightly shut her eyes.
When she opened them again he was still there, standing, but he had changed. His arm had been reduced to a twig, one of his legs matching. His wing was shredded, blood dripping and soaking into the sand he stood upon.
She watched as his eyes and the streaks faded, until his face held two jade tear streaks, his eyes now normal but for the unreal green of them, and that eclipsed black pupil.
"I see. This. Yes. This thing in my hand is the heart." He reached his hand out to her, stretching as far as he could in attempts to reach her without moving his feet.
Tears started to course down her face, her eyes going impossibly wide. "No." She reached her hand out, trying to grasp his hand, leaning forward as far as possible.
Her hand passed right through his, now as slowly he dissolved into ash.
"No."
She reached again, her hand slipping through the empty air in vain as she tried desperately to reach him.
"NO!"
She fell to her knees, tears flying through the ash filled air. "Ulquiorra!" She screamed, throwing her head back. "ULQUIORRA!"
Painful warmth started to seep through her chest. She looked down in shock, her lips trembling. Her chest was caving in, a perfect hole forming. Blood poured down from the hole in ripples, soaking her white dress, as she screamed to the sky in agony.
"NO!"
A deep chuckle started behind her, calm despite her torture. "And here you thought you could heal anything." The laugh grew in volume.
She spun around, her choked cries rising in anger. "Aizen!"
"Hush now, girl." A chain appeared in his hand suddenly. He yanked hard on it, and without warning she was being pulled up by the hole in her chest. Blood flew through the air, ruining the white sand further.
Orihime looked down in horror to see the chain was coming from her own hollow hole, the chain passing through and wrapping all around her torso.
"Now bring him back." The man sneered, kicking ash in her face. "Bring him back!"
Her powers went forth without her consent, surrounding the ash, and then slowly bringing back the man who so closely resembled a demon. He looked up at her with fearful eyes, returned to his final release.
"Devour him!" Aizen shouted, pulling on her chain again.
"No." White bubbled up out of her chest, sliding around to the sides of her head, solidifying into bone. "No!" She was pulled forward by the chain again, her hands- now supporting gruesome nails, stabbing into the chest of the Espada kneeling before her.
"NO!"