"What will you call yourself now?" The voice of the man claiming to be Subject's father invaded her sensitive ears. She had apparently won a real identity in his eyes by reaching the level of an Adjucha. Several others stood around; a strange tall and extremely slim man with a scythe chained to him, a wavy-haired lady, a small woman with curly pigtails wearing a dress and carrying some sort of enormous yo-yo being just a few among their ranks…

"Alutiereina." The voice was not hers. It was too hard, filled with irritation. Practically a growl. She turned her head towards the voice, 'seeing' a tall, muscled figure of a man with a hakama and open jacket on. His hair was in spikes. At the interruption, her 'father' sputtered, beginning to protest. She tilted her head, cutting him off.

"I like that…" Her voice was as strange as she felt. The man who named her had been the one to introduce himself as Grimmjow, though he'd given her permission to call him Kitty while grinning wildly. If she dared. She though that part of his introduction had been funny, because it sounded like he'd meant for her not to call him that. Perhaps that was it. So. Alutiereina. Big name, and she'd wear it as proud as the guy who gave it to her. "But…let's have Lurina as a nickname. That's Alutiereina, with a few random letters cut out."

"Fine." Szayel snapped, pivoting on his heel and walking back through the window. Retreating behind the glass, eh? Pathetic. Most of the others followed them out, until the only ones who still stood in the large chamber was her and Kitty. And yes, she'd elected to call him Kitty, even though she clearly wasn't really supposed to do any such thing. "Well, Rina, back to work. We're not done yet, you're only an Adjucha."

With a shrug of his shoulders, Kitty began to turn and walk off too. Alutiereina popped to her feet and spread her wings, circling around Grimmjow to get between him and the window. Her tail was swishing quickly back and forth, tips of her feathers brushing repeatedly against the glass that stood between her and the other on looking Arrancar who'd already stepped beyond her reach. He stepped to the side, and she mirrored him. When Grimmjow once again attempted to step around her, she hopped in front of him and kicked out a clawed hand to paw at him. She was actually feeling…playful? She realized she wasn't actually trying to hurt him, otherwise she would've angled her claws in, swung harder. But no, she was just trying to play. Odd, even to her.

He'd disappeared just as the dull side of her talons connected with him, so she barely felt the touch, reappearing above her with one foot swung out to drop kick her in the head, but she rolled out of the way before quickly popping to her feet and moving back between him and the window. She couldn't help but notice that while he could have easily crushed her skull then, he'd held back, slowed just enough from a far enough distance for her to 'see' where he was and dodge.

It was then that she had the idea that even if the blow had landed, there probably wouldn't have been much damage. Grimmjow was playing, too. The speed of her swishing tail increased with her excitement, and she leapt at him with a howl, swinging out her leg again. A backhand motion, like the first time, trying not to hit him with the sharp parts of her talons that would have eaten away at his reiryoku and began weakening the bonds between the reishi that composed his body.

Kitty dodged, and Alutiereina concentrated some energy into one of the horns protruding back from her head, creating a long golden whip. She then did a quick neck roll, swinging the whip at him. He clearly hadn't expected that, because next thing Grimmjow knew he had a long cord of golden light wrapped around him. He then did something she hadn't expected any more than he'd expected that trick, raising his reiatsu enough that any more would have floored her and effectively destroying her rope.

When it ended, she jumped up. "Hey, jerk!" She spun, swinging her tail out at him, and he let it hit him, propelling straight through the window and landing against the far wall beyond her reach. He clearly hadn't really been affected much by either the reiryoku draining feathers or the strike itself, because she hadn't heard any air rush from his lungs as her tail impacted his gut, even as his body bent around it. And, instead of sliding to the floor and moaning in agony, unable to move, he smacked against the wall, bouncing easily off and onto his feet, standing straight and crossing his arms over his chest as his bright blue eyes stared out at her. There wasn't even a crack in the wall from impact.

"Listen to your…" A look of annoyance passed his face as he clearly tried to think of what to say. "…father, Al."

She tilted her head. Al? Then watched as he strode from the room, sitting back on her haunches with her back still to the window, simply turning her head to look over her shoulder. "What do you want me to do, then?" Her voice was resigned. She didn't get to play anymore.

Szayel watched as the Espada and a few normal Arrancar trickled out of the room, breathing a slow sigh of relief. Any longer, and Lord Six was about to explode with his impatience, he was sure of it. He'd been sure to send out a message to all those observing the experiment that each evolution took a greater amount of time, even with the devices he had working in their favor. Hopefully, that would buy him more time. Assuredly, Subject - ehh, Alutiereina - couldn't have evolved at a better moment.

His other project was nearly done as well, meaning Neliel's time here was quite limited. He had pulled Nnoitra aside before seeing to reintroductions with the female hollow and informed him that he could be free of the beauty with the pale green hair before the week was out if things continued to progress as they currently were. And since the lab practically monitored itself, he didn't have to worry about anything if he should excuse himself for a while in order to continue working. In fact, he thought he just might do that. Surely, the ability to force even an Espada to their knees or daze them would be quite useful in the eyes of Aizen. Useful enough to overlook the fact he was now without one. Not that he wouldn't very soon be able to replace her with ease. Hopefully.

Now, it was time to set up for Nel's defeat at Nnoi's hands. As hollows were once more fed into Alutiereina's room, he strode out of the lab, down the hall to a different chamber. This one informed him of the locations of Neliel, Pesche, and Dondochakka, through tracking dye he'd placed in tea they'd consumed some time ago. The signals were fading accordingly as they wore out of each Arrancar's system, but he still knew where they were. One, shadowing Neliel, and another was already at her palace. Most likely, the shadow was Pesche while Dondochakka was looking after their 'home'. The entire place should have been home to them, but no. They only called their personal Espada palace home. The rest of it was Las Noches within Hueco Mundo. But, he supposed it made sense. Instead of claiming every grain of sand under their feet as belonging to them, they simply claimed their own personal grounds where they could deny entrance to others if they so pleased - and if they were strong enough.

-Two Year Time Skip (I got lazy)-

Grimmjow walked briskly down the hall, hands in his pockets. It had been two years, one month, and seven days since the disappearance of Neliel. A week later, Szayel was reinstated as an Espada by Aizen himself, so impressed was he by the two experiments he'd been presented with. Aizen had also been disappointed by Al's clear disdain for him, which had not faded with the rest of her memories. A hatred that transcended the death of all memories, almost the entirety of who she was…that was commendable, even as it boded ill for her. Al, who'd become a Vasto Lorde. Al, who today had become an Arrancar. He hadn't seen her yet, but he'd heard plenty. While Aizen had found a way to break the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami, that way had slipped right out from under his nose, courtesy of one of the other Captains who also excelled in the Sciences. Though, Aizen had decimated the number of captain-level shinigami in this venture, and still managed to keep his place by pulling the wool over the eyes of the entire Seireitei. Also commendable. Though the knowledge had for some reason seemed to deepen Al's dislike of him. The menace and distrust she radiated at Sosuke was unbelievable.

Did she fear that the Arrancar, too, would be betrayed? Grimmjow shook his head. He wasn't even sure where she was being kept now. He'd stopped by the lab room where she'd spent the last two and a half years of her existence for the last week, but there was a different person in there now. She'd been moved, and he wasn't really sure where. No one mentioned her location to him. If he had to ask…

He growled. That was probably it. They wanted to see how long he could go before asking to see the results of that lengthy experiment for himself. Or maybe they just thought he'd destroy her in an attempt to have some fun. Though if they were afraid of him seeking fun, the Espada should have been hiding right now, since they were the only ones who could put up a good enough fight, at least that he knew of. Did they instead fear for little Al?

Grimmjow shook his head. No, that wasn't it. His eyes fixed on a reiatsu signature ahead of him, which felt familiar even though he was positive he'd never seen the person before. She had on a white shift that lightly hugged her figure, a black strap of leather sat on her hips and held up a sword. The sword itself appeared to be a saber, the metal a polished, shimmering silver and the saya it rested in being black. Rising through that black was a winged dragon. She had eyes like pale rubies, wide and almost worried-looking. A small nose, pouting lips…she looked calm, yet at the same time on the verge of tears. An oval shaped face. Pale wavy locks of snow cascaded over her right shoulder, the tips a faint blue, and flowers were threaded into the hair. She had a tall, lithe dancer's body. Reaching almost the whole way up her arms were gloves that ended in V's to her middle finger on either hand. Feathers extended from her arms, making them almost wing-like, and the gloves allowed for it, thin strings simply connecting both sides of the glove by reaching tediously between each feather. Horns extended from her head.

Before he could react to her presence, since he'd barely felt her at all - that's how low the girl had her reiatsu - the girl strode quickly up to Grimmjow, running her fingers through his hair and patting him on the head, grinning. He smacked at her, but she twirled and danced just out of reach, giggling. "Good kitty!"

Grimmjow frowned. Good kitty? Oh, really? Then he noticed something. "You're barefoot."

"Well, yeah. I couldn't figure out how to put those shoe thingies on." She smiled awkwardly, that I'm-about-to-cry look never fading from her face, and rubbed the back of her neck. She then frowned down at her small feet, and he could have sworn he saw her eyes watering. How could anyone look so sad? She glanced up at him and tilted her head to the side. "It's me. Alutiereina."

Figured as much. "Of course. No one else calls me Kitty. But I am not a good kitty, as you'll learn soon enough." Grimmjow started walking, and still facing him, Al began walking as well. Backwards. She wobbled, but managed to stay upright. Went up on her tiptoes even, holding her arms out to either side of her, and started bouncing with each step. Spun once, stumbling and nearly falling. His hand latched onto her in order to steady Al, and then he quickly strode past her. "Learn how to walk, woman."

"Learn how to talk, boy." He scowled, listening to her giggles behind him. He heard her faint footfalls behind him, slightly louder and quicker before abruptly stopping, and then something soft and light slammed into his back, arms wrapping around his neck. The giggling was in his ears now. He growled lowly, and the giggles faded, ending in a sigh. The arms came out from around his neck, and the warm pressure moved away from him. The young woman spoke again, the boredom - and sorrow that matched what he'd seen in her eyes - filling her voice. A voice that was full of the pout that he couldn't see on her face. "You're no fun, Kitty…"

"Fun?" He smiled back at her, watching her eyes widen at his expression, seeing the shiver that overtook her body. That was a normal response, he knew. Every Arrancar in Las Noches had looked at Grimmjow in that way. He slowly turned on his heels and walked towards her, but slowed a little as her expression changed.

Alutiereina's pale red eyes had narrowed, lips pressing together into a thin line as she stepped forward, raising her hand and slapping him across the face. He allowed the strike, distracted by the fluid grace of her movements and the simple fact that she had dared to strike him. Before he could respond, she'd disappeared into a sonido, and he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Any of the other Espada would have probably chased her down and punished her for the behavior. Hell, he would've taken it as a challenge and been on her heels in the next instant. Grimmjow realized he didn't care. He tapped his cheek where the quickly fading sting was and walked off, wiping the girl from his mind. She is just proof of a successful experiment. Weak, unworthy of my time or effort. I have to leave her for Aizen to decide whether we can use her or not.

Stupid women… He stood for a second, tilting his head back with his eyes closed, simply breathing. Sensed a garganta opening, but didn't sense Aizen, Gin, or Tousen, and therefore disregarded it. Sensed Nnoitra wandering the sands within Las Noches. Szayel pacing within a room, clearly upset. A few other presences, but he knew for sure that Nnoitra would give him what he wanted at that particular moment. Placing his hand on the pommel of his Pantera, he sauntered down the hall, eyes narrowing. He was already more than prepared for a fight. As he ran his tongue across his teeth, he burst into a sonido, zeroing in on his fellow espada.