Eternity. The word meant something to him and yet nothing at all. In this eternal darkness, he had forgotten almost everything of value. Every memory now only returned to his mind in twisted waking dreams. He had very nearly forgotten his own name, but that he refused to let go of that. If the darkness stole all else from him, he would remember his own name. The moment he forgot himself was the moment he would allow Ywach victory and that was the moment he might as well be dead. It had happened to some of the others, but it would not happen to him.

At first, he thought he was having another of his dreams. A faint glow began to emerge from the darkness and he turned away to finish his routine exercises. Yet another thing he would not allow Ywach to steal from him: his strength of body and will. He hadn't been successful in finding his way out of the labyrinth, but that didn't mean he had given up on the idea. In his darkest moments (pun somewhat intended), he had considered just giving up and allowing the darkness to engulf him, but some instinct always flared up inside of him and pushed him to keep trying. Telling him that every failure only brought him that much closer to success. If there was a way in, there had to be a way out.

He froze when he noticed something different. He couldn't put his finger on it right away, but as he slowly rose to his feet and turned back in the direction of the glow he realized what was different this time. This time there were voices. Not sure what to expect, he hid himself in a niche and waited for them to come to him.

"Ugh, it reeks down here! Are you sure Ywach tossed all his most important prisoners down here, Lord Aizen? Seems to me like we would have come across at least one of them by now."

Without looking back, Lord Aizen said in an even tone, "As none of us have the faintest idea just how far this maze goes, it stands to reason that it may be some time before we discover any evidence of life. We will proceed, Apacci, until the princess decides it is time to go back."

"So quit your griping already."

"I don't take orders from you, Grimmjow."

"Apacci, that's enough."

"...Yes, Lady Harribel."

In the middle of the group, the princess in question stopped and her entire entourage halted as well. Looking around her, the princess said, "Apacci is right that we really should have come across someone or at least some kind of evidence that people were down here at one time."

"If I may be so bold, Princess Orihime?" asked Lord Aizen.

With a gesture, she replied, "Please continue."

Inclining his head deferentially, Lord Aizen said, "I propose that we continue on another hour or so. If by then, we still haven't come across any significant evidence of human existence down here, then we turn around and return to the palace."

Nodding her head in agreement, Princess Orihime said, "That seems reasonable to me," before she turned and looked at her companions and asked, "Are you all fine with that solution?"

Giving a slight bow, Lady Harribel replied stoically, "As you wish, Your Highness."

Clicking his tongue and interlocking his fingers behind his neck, Grimmjow said in slight irritation, "You do know that you don't have to get our permission to do anything, right? I thought that was one of the perks of being royalty."

"Shut your mouth, Grimmjow."

Turning his head slightly, Grimmjow replied, "Why don't you make me, Rosie?"

Clenching her fists in frustration, Mila Rose all but growled, "You little-"

Lady Harribel broke in with, "Lord Aizen, are we in agreement that the next person who speaks out of turn shall be appropriately punished upon our return to the palace?"

Thinking for a moment or two, Lord Aizen replied, "I believe that sounds like a reasonable stipulation. Princess?"

Looking around her with an almost pleading expression, Princess Orihime answered with, "Yes, I would have to agree that we can't keep bickering among ourselves. We're wasting valuable time and if there is anyone down here, they desperately need our help and we are letting them down."

Without another word, the princess continued on and automatically everyone else fell into step around her. No one said a word, but when they thought their superiors weren't looking, Grimmjow, Mila Rose and Apacci threw each other sneers, glares and disgusted looks.

From their voices, he was fairly certain that it wasn't Ywach. Actually, the fact that they were bringing light with them made him absolutely positive that the tyrant was not coming. If it were Ywach, he would have walked confidently in the darkness yet without making a sound. He remembered Ywach coming down here several times after his initial imprisonment to 'talk' as Ywach called it. More like taunting.

A faint sound caught his attention and he crouched deeper in the shadows to observe this new development before deciding what action to take.

The princess felt more than heard the sound and came to an abrupt halt. Noiselessly, the others stopped moving and carefully fell into formation around their charge. After a minute or so, Princess Orihime looked over at Sung-Sun and gave her a subtle signal. Inclining her head ever so slightly, Sung-Sun slipped away from the group and seemed to melt into the shadows. Nothing happened for what seemed like an eternity when all of a sudden, they heard a kind of rattling growl turn into a wail. A split second later, there was the sound of running feet followed by fierce scuffling noises. Without hesitation, the princess took off in the direction of the noises while everyone else easily kept pace with her.

Sooner than they expected, the light from their torches illuminated a scene in which Sung-Sun was grappling with a severely emaciated figure of what looked like a young teenage boy. Clothes hung off him in tatters and his pure white hair was dirty and shaggy. While the boy looked as though he might snap at the slightest touch, nevertheless, he was fighting with the desperation of a wild animal who had been cornered and frightened. As soon as the light shone on him, however, the boy gave a piercing cry and curled up into a fetal position beside Sung-Sun.

Gesturing for Apacci and Mila Rose, who were carrying the torches, to step back, Princess Orihime waited until she sensed that the boy was beginning to relax before she said in a barely perceptible tone, "I'm so sorry. We didn't mean to frighten you. Everything is going to be fine, though. We've come to find you."

Stepping forward, Orihime was about to continue talking when another sound reached her ears. Before she had time to react, Sung-Sun was yanked further into the shadows by what looked like two other figures. Forcing her rising panic back down into her stomach, Orihime motioned for Apacci and Mila Rose to turn around so that their bodies would smother enough of the light to keep these prisoners calm.

Waiting until her eyes had readjusted, Princess Orihime saw in the dim light two female figures holding Sung-Sun securely between them. Her stomach lurched as she looked into their sunken eyes and saw not a trace of human intelligence or emotion reflected in their depths. Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, as if they were walking corpses. When the young boy raised his head to look at her as well, the princess saw that the same was true for him as well.

Swallowing down the rising bile and tears, the princess said in as even a tone as she could manage, "We mean you no harm. My friends and I have come to release you from this horrible place. Please, won't you let my friend go and let us help you?"

When they continued to look at her blankly, Princess Orihime asked faintly, "Can you even tell me who you are?"

Another sound from their right, caused the whole group to look around and Princess Orihime's heart sank as she saw yet another figure coming towards them. She began to wonder if she had brought them all down there on a fool's errand to try and save Ywach's helpless prisoners who would turn on them and do what Ywach himself had not been able to. Was her victory over the tyrant to be cut short by the very ones she had fought to free?

A hand on her arm startled the princess, but she controlled her cry of surprise and listened as Lord Aizen whispered to her, "Careful, my lady. This one seems different from the others."

Turning her attention back to the approaching figure, Princess Orihime realized what he meant. Unlike the others, this one was walking upright, as if his mind had not been broken. That could be a good thing for them, or it could make him ten times more dangerous than the others.

When the figure stepped into the faint ring of light, Princess Orihime saw that he was just as starved as the others, but unlike them he looked as though he had tried to take care of himself as best he could under the circumstances. His upper torso was bare and while the clothes he wore to cover from his hips down were well worn, it looked as though he had tried his best to maintain them. His hair was just as shaggy and unkempt as the others, but it looked as though he had found some source by which to at least attempt to wash it every so often. Where the others continued to look around them with flat expressions, this young man was looking at them all with clear, intelligent yet wary eyes.

Before the princess could say anything, the young man turned to look at the two women holding Sung-Sun. Nothing happened for a time, but eventually, the two released their grip and Sung-Sun carefully eased herself away from them.

Waiting until Sung-Sun was well away, Princess Orihime stepped forward, licked her lips and said in a hushed tone, "Thank you for your help."

The young man looked back at her with an unreadable expression before he nodded slowly in response.

"Can you understand me?" asked the princess and she received an affirmative nod before she asked, "Can you talk?" a longer pause proceeded yet another nod and then, "Will you talk with me?"

In a voice raspy and husky from disuse, the young man replied, "A little."

Letting out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, Princess Orihime stepped forward and asked, "How long have you been down here?"

Clapping a hand over her mouth, the princess exclaimed in a horrified whisper, "I apologize for being so rude! Asking such a personal question when we haven't even been introduced yet!"

Without waiting for a response, she smoothed out her dress and gave a respectful inclination of her head as she said, "I am Princess Orihime Inoue of Las Noches. My companions are Lord Sosuke Aizen, Lady Tia Harribel, Sir Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Lady Mila Rose Franceska, Lady Apacci Emilou and Lady Sung-Sun Cyan who you just helped to free just now. They were all appointed to be my personal guard detail by my brother King Sora In-"

The young man held up a hand to halt the princess's long-winded explanation and said simply, "Ichigo Kurosaki."

Blinking in surprise, it took the princess a moment to process his words before she asked, "Oh, is that your name?" and at his nod of assent, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you...umm..."

"Ichigo."

"All right then, Ichigo," the princess said the name with a slight bit of hesitation before she went on to her former question of, "If you don't mind my asking, do you have any idea how long you've been down here?" and when Ichigo shook his head, the princess gestured to the other figures and asked, "Do you know their names at all?"

Nodding, Ichigo pointed to each one and said, "Toshiro Hitsugaya. Rangiku Matsumoto. Momo Hinamori."

"Are there any others down here?" asked the princess and when Ichigo shook his head she asked hesitantly, "Are you sure because this labyrinth seems to be fairly big?"

Again, Ichigo shook his head and said, "No. They gave up."

It took a moment for Princess Orihime to grasp the full meaning of his words. When she did, this time she couldn't stop a couple of tears from falling unheeded from her eyes. For his part, Ichigo couldn't understand why she would do such a thing when she had no idea who those people even were.

Taking a step forward, Lord Aizen cleared his throat and explained, "The princess and her brother, King Inoue, waged war against the tyrant, Ywach Jugram, and won quite decisively. After taking control of all his holdings, Princess Orihime heard disturbing rumors of an underground labyrinth where Ywach had held a number of prisoners who had once been elite members of society. She decided to come down here to investigate and to release any captives that we found or put their remains in a more suitable grave."

"So," asked the princess in a half-hopeful, half-pleading tone, "will you let us help you?"

Instead of responding, Ichigo held her gaze for a time before returning his attention to the other three figures. They hadn't moved during the entire conversation, but Ichigo noticed that Momo's frame had started to quake ever so slightly from cold. Her clothes were in even worse disrepair than any of the others.

Following Ichigo's gaze, the princess apparently saw the same thing and so turned and asked, "Apacci, would you please give me one of the blankets from your pack?"

Taking the proffered item, Princess Orihime carefully unfolded it and held it out to Ichigo and said, "Would you mind giving it to her? I don't want to frighten her again."

Ichigo took the blanket and nodded in understanding before doing as she asked. As he draped the blanket around her, Ichigo felt Momo's body go rigid, but as he backed away, he noticed her hand ever so slowly reach out and clutch the blanket closer to herself.

As Ichigo rose to his feet, he heard Princess Orihime ask again, "Will you let us help you?"

Turning back around, Ichigo saw everything go from darkness to light. She had brought light back into his world and Ichigo knew that if he didn't leave now, the darkness would swallow him up for good.

Inhaling deeply, Ichigo nodded and said, "Yes."

More tears streaked down the princess's cheeks unhindered as she said, "Thank you," before she asked, "And the others?"

"They'll follow."

Frowning in confusion, she asked, "Are you sure?" and at Ichigo's confident nod she held out her hand and said, "All right then. Let's go."

Just as she was about to pull her hand back and apologize for being so forward, Ichigo placed his hand in hers and then just stood there. Without another word, the princess turned and gently guided Ichigo out of the winding, twisting passages. Out of darkness and back into the light. After so long, he was finally free. She was leading him to freedom.