chapter 5. changes
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Well, the reception of the previous chapter was mixed they were a tie. So the decision on whether the chapters will be longer or shorter rests with me. So I've decided to make the chapters just as long, but with a slightly slower update.
My reason is simple, I feel that with the shorter chapters I won't be able to express myself the way I want to. So I will keep making the long chapters, but it will take me a while as I will proofread them more thoroughly to try to reduce the spelling mistakes, which I am not promising anything in the short term. As I had already said, I am self-taught and no one is teaching me English. I am learning on my own.
You may also find my writing a bit different. In all this time I was analyzing the way of writing some stories on this website. so the way I write might be a little different. please tell me if I improved my writing a bit or I am still stuck at the same level. (don't be so cruel please.)
Thank you for reading this long introduction. enjoy the chapter.
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Forest Menos.
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I had left the palace of Las Noches with the excuse that I was going to train, but this time I went alone. It was not the first time that I went out alone to train, there were days when both Nelliel and Stark were not in the mood to go out to train with me.
I respected their decision, not everything in this life was about training. when I left Las Noches, I opened a Garganta and went inside, only to reopen the Garganta in the Forest Menos. in all this time I had perfected my ability to open Gargantas, so it wasn't difficult for me to be able to do that.
I put some low-level Hollows under my control, there were 4 of them, I would send them to the soul society. it had been a long time since the last time I tried to invade the soul society, so I hoped that the captains would no longer come to every Hollow invasion.
Furthermore, I had evolved my mist skill to new levels. I could now introduce my consciousness into a body temporarily, of course, it was only my consciousness, my power, and all my abilities were not transferred. it was also like trying to do two things at the same time, I could still see what my real body could see, while also seeing what the body I was controlling could see.
this ability was not good for fights, as it limited my concentration, but it was useful for infiltration missions, so my real body would be far from danger or if they destroyed the body I was controlling, nothing would happen to me.
I opened a Garganta and stayed inside while I sent my puppets to the soul society. when the Hollows came out on the other side of the Garganta, I inserted my consciousness into one of them and closed the Garganta.
The feeling of controlling this body was strange, but I left that aside, I could control this body and that was what mattered. not far away I saw a town, I made the 3 Hollows follow me, we arrived quickly at the town, but we did not make our presence known.
I did not order them to create chaos, because the village was already in chaos. and the chaos was not because of any Hollow, but because of the Shinigamis themselves. they were beating up some poor villagers outside what appeared to be a brothel.
"you should be thankful that your daughter will be with one of us. we are the ones who protect you from the monstrous Hollows, don't you think we deserve compensation for risking our lives for you? He then kicked a badly wounded man who was on the ground trying to hold the Shinigami's leg.
"you only come to vandalize our homes, you only come to intimidate us and take our women, we have had enough of all of you," one of the villagers said as he tried to hit a Shinigami. of course his attempt was futile, the Shinigami dodged him and hit him with great force.
"we're just taking our payment for our services, you're all ungrateful," another Shinigami said with some anger.
(do these fools believe their own words?) was my only thought. in total there were about 5 Shinigami. they were not very powerful, if it wasn't because I am looking at them directly, I wouldn't even notice their existence because of their low level of spiritual power.
I didn't want to listen to their pathetic voices and pitiful excuses anymore. so I decided to attack those pitiful excuses of Shinigamis, from now on they will be my puppets, it's not like the soul society lose valuable assets either, these Shinigamis are scum after all.
I quickly gave the order to my other puppets, and they began the attack. Chaos was not long in coming, the villagers began to run everywhere and the bravest went into the brothel to try to save what I assumed were their daughters and wives.
the 5 shinigami outside were petrified with fear, but they were brought out of their trance as 3 other Shinigamis came out of the brothel dragging the few villagers who went inside to try to save their relatives.
"Why the hell did they let this scum in! they interrupted me when I was just about to start the fun!" shouted a Shinigami who appeared to be their leader. despite looking a bit stronger than his companions, he was still a piece of garbage in my eyes.
but the Shinigami stopped what he was about to say, as he saw the Hollows approaching his position. to his credit, he reacted quickly and ordered his other companions to draw their katanas. but as expected from such insignificant Shinigamis, some could not even draw their Katanas in time and were hit by the Hollows.
some of them were beaten so badly, that the bones in some parts of their bodies came out. I didn't need all the Shinigami alive, just a couple. besides, it's not like I care about killing this kind of people either, in my eyes they are just scum, disgusting beings that waste oxygen, rapists don't deserve to continue to exist.
I quickly approached what seemed to be the leader, and gave him a strong blow, to my slight surprise, that guy managed to block my attack, although it wasn't that big of a deal, I was controlling this body from a distance and I could only limit myself to the physical capabilities of this body.
"die you monster!" he tried to stab me in the head. I simply deflected the attack, covering myself with my arm. his sword got stuck in my arm and with the other arm, I gave him a big blow. the guy didn't get up again.
He wasn't dead, he was just unconscious. When I turned to see how the other Hollows handled it with the Shinigami, I could see that they had already finished with them, of the 8 Shinigami that were in this town, only 3 were left. I ordered my puppets to gather the 3 surviving Shinigami and had them wake them up.
There was no one in the village anymore, they all ran away. the 3 Shinigami were on their knees trembling with fear waiting for their bitter end, but before I put them under my control, I said.
"feel honored, normally I would feel guilty for using you as my puppets, but you are just disgusting beings, feel honored that I will put your miserable lives to better use."
The Shinigami who seemed to be their leader, opened his eyes in surprise to see that a Hollow could talk. But before he could say anything, I turned the 3 Hollows that came with me into my mist and they quickly entered the Shinigami's bodies.
It was the first time I controlled something other than a Hollow, but they didn't put up any resistance to my power and as expected, now those 3 were under my control. it turns out they were only low-level Shinigami, they didn't even have a Shikai.
They had recently joined Squadron 6, and they had come to this place to "celebrate" and it wasn't the first time they had come to this place. I didn't want to keep digging into their memories because they were just making me angry.
(disgusting.) was my only thought.
"you know what to do, keep a low profile, act like the rats you are, gather important information for me, and I may decide to give you a quick death," I said in a voice that showed no emotion.
As expected, they were already my puppets to twist to my will, they could not refuse my orders, even if they wanted to. my mist had merged with their flesh, their blood, their whole being no longer belonged to them.
I then had them kill my Hollow puppet so they would have proof that they were attacked by Hollows and so they could explain why more than half of their group died.
When I lost connection with my Hollow puppet, I simply opened my eyes, I was inside the Garganta without anyone disturbing me. I was a little surprised that I had accomplished my goal easily.
After so many years of trying to get Shinigami puppets and failing, the fact that this time I succeeded in my first attempt was very satisfying for me.
I found it a bit ironic that a Hollow was the one who saved those souls from the Shinigami, usually, it's always the other way around. although it wasn't my main goal, it felt good to help those poor villagers. the rukongai is not so different from Hueco Mundo, the powerful will always oppress the weakest.
I put those thoughts aside and decided it was time to return to Las Noches.
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Las Noches.
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It had been a couple of months since I made the deal with Dordoni, so far Nnoitra had not done anything against Nelliel. He only went to challenge her to fight and the result was always the same, Nelliel humiliated Nnoitra in the fights, she did not even draw her sword, which made Nnoitra even angrier.
Nnoitra's anger was such that he even released his Resurrección to attack Nelliel.
the result of that fight?
Nelliel swept the floor with Nnoitra, using only her hands, she beat him so viciously that it wasn't even funny. not even Nnoitra's vaunted ability, his Hierro, saved him from the tremendous damage he received from Nelliel. because she has been training with Stark and me, she is much more powerful than in canon. certainly, her potential is incredible.
and for many Arrancars it was a show of power on the part of Nelliel, that was the difference between the Espada number 3 with the Espada number 8, that was the difference of the Arrancars that were formerly a Vasto Lorde with the Arrancars that were formerly Adjuchas.
but just because Nnoitra hasn't done anything yet, doesn't mean he isn't up to something. Dordoni had already informed me that he had seen Nnoitra hanging around Nelliel's palace a couple of times when she wasn't there.
As expected, I told Dordoni to keep an even closer eye on Nnoitra's activities.
right now I was lying on one of the many pillows made by my feathers in the Stark palace. I was resting and hanging out with my good friend Stark.
"I can sense your concern," Stark said bored. he was lying on another pile of pillows across the room. "are you still worried about Nel? she's powerful, I see your concern unnecessary."
"you know my concern is not because I consider Nel to be weak," I said looking in his direction.
"Yeah, yeah, you don't trust Nnoitra, you think he'll use tricks so he can hurt Nel to satisfy his need to show he's someone strong, even though he's a weakling," Stark just stretched out on his pillows to better settle in. "I don't even know how you came to that conclusion."
"It's just a... feeling," I said between hums.
"Changing the subject, have you decided what your feelings for Nel are yet?" stark asked me. I just gave him a look and shrugged.
"I don't know, it's been a few months since I realized I have feelings for Nel, don't expect me to have the answer so quickly already." I had already told about my recent problem to Stark. I wanted to see if he could give me some advice, but his answer was - I don't know, you are certainly in a dilemma. -
"I say you're in love with her, you don't do all those things you're doing for someone you just want to spend a night for," Stark kept settling back into the pillows.
"I would do this for you too," was my response. but at that, stark stopped moving and weirdly looked at me. after a few seconds, he moved even further away from me and said.
"you are very kind, but I like you only as a friend."
"that's not what I meant, you idiot, "I said with a vein showing on my forehead. "what I meant, is that we've been friends for a long time, of course, I'd go to the trouble of trying to save you if I knew something bad could happen to you."
Stark had only a smile on his face.
"you know I'm not good at relationships, the only thing I can tell you from my perspective is that you have feelings for Nel."
I just kept thinking about it.
Stark didn't want to press the issue any further, and I was immersed in my reflections. after being silent for several hours, I decided I needed to get some air.
"It was good to hang out here, but I need to stretch a bit and I need to clear my mind," I said as I headed for the exit.
"don't do anything crazy," was the answer Stark gave me.
I just laughed and walked away quietly.
I was walking through the halls of Las Noches, I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn't notice someone approaching from the other hallway.
When I least expected it, I collided with someone, the impact did not move me a bit, but the other being fell to the ground, in the process she threw several things she had with her, I quickly went to her aid. she was an Arrancar woman, she is of average height, she is thin and wears a large robe that covers her entire body, her hair is black and reaches her neck, her Hollow mask is on the right side of her face, it has the shape of a skull and occupies half of it.
when she saw that everything she was carrying had fallen to the ground, she quickly began to pick it up.
"Lord Szayelaporro will punish me for this," she repeated as she lifted what appeared to be glass jars. it reminded me a bit of my chemistry set from my previous life.
"calm down, this was my fault, I will talk to him," was my response to her to try to calm her down a bit. her concern about the punishment Szayelaporro might give her was so great, that she had not realized that she had bumped into me.
"Lord Goeritz," she murmured my name. in her eyes I could see... fear?
"don't worry Lord Goeritz, you needn't bother with such petty things as me."
She seemed so submissive, I could barely hear what she was saying. What the hell is wrong with her?
to try to calm her down, I put my hand on her shoulder and said.
"calm down please, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not angry, it was my fault you threw all these things, I wasn't paying attention, let me please help you, I´ll talk to Szayelaporro, so you won't suffer any punishment."
instead of calming her down, it seemed as if he had threatened her, her body became so rigid that she looked like a statue.
"Please Lord Goeritz, I know I was to blame for this, but please don't make me your conscienceless puppet," she said almost pleadingly.
"What?" was all I could say.
(what the hell was it I said, to make her think that.) was my thought.
"Please, please, please, please, please, please let me live," she said bowing to me.
"wait, wait please, try to calm down a little, take a deep breath and tell me, why do you think I will turn you into my puppet?" I was confused by all this.
after several minutes, she calmed down a bit and said.
"the other Arrancars say we must be careful with you, that you were the Vasto Lorde known as Peacock Demon. all Arrancars know of the massacres you have caused-"
she was going to say something else, but realizing what she had said to me, she put her hands to her mouth to say no more.
I had already heard those rumors, those rumors were not limited to the Las Noches palace, they were also circulating among the Hollows that are in the Las Noches territory and its surroundings. I knew I had a bad reputation in Hueco Mundo, but I didn't expect that bad reputation and rumors about me would spread so far.
I just gave a sigh of resignation and moved a little away from her, it was clear that she was afraid of me. I didn't want her to feel intimidated because of me.
"look, I know I don't have a good reputation among my fellow Arrancars, but please, you have to believe me when I tell you I won't hurt you. I'm no longer this Vasto Lorde they say I am."
I don't know if my words worked, but before she could say anything, a voice interrupted us.
"Roka, why the hell is you taking so long, are you so useless that you can't do such a simple task!" turning into one of the corridors came walking Szayelaporro, he didn't look happy at all.
but before he could say anything else to continue scolding the woman, apparently named Roka, he stopped and stared at me in surprise.
It didn't look good for me, because Roka still seemed to be afraid of me, and she was keeping her distance from me, and all the things she brought a moment ago were scattered on the floor.
Seriously, what's up with my shitty luck?
"What happened here, Goeritz, did that incompetent one cause you trouble? " asked Szayel with a slightly threatening tone, Roka shuddered at that question.
I wasn't afraid of Szayel if I wanted to, I could kill him in the blink of an eye, but I had no intention of doing that, although according to my memories of my previous life, he was an accomplice in trying to eliminate Nel.
"no, actually, I was the one who threw all this stuff out by accident, I was focused on my thoughts that I didn't realize she was coming in the same direction. "
"I was going to personally go to your lab to clarify that the cause of this accident was my fault and not hers," I said that pointing to Roka. she seemed quite self-conscious and scared at this point.
I didn't like that, I was getting a bad feeling about all this, but suddenly she said.
"This...this was all my fault Lord Szayelaporro...I wasn't paying attention...and...and...and when I realized it, I tripped over Lord Goeritz," she almost looked like she was going to faint. she kept shaking and looked like a helpless puppy.
"I see… so it was the fault of both of you. but unfortunately, someone has to pay for the wasted material, besides, because of this incident, I lost valuable time that could have been spent on my research-" but before Szayel continued with that line of thought, I interrupted him.
"watch your words Szayel, don't forget who you are talking to. this was an accident, so it doesn't have to escalate to bigger problems," I said with a slightly threatening tone.
Szayel just stared at me for a few seconds and said.
"You're right, I might have gotten a little worked up, this doesn't have to become a problem," he said as he adjusted his glasses. "but now that this misunderstanding was resolved, I must get back to my own business. it's time to go back Roka, let's not waste Espada number 2's time anymore."
Roka flinched at that order and only followed Szayelaporro with her head bowed.
"Szayelaporro," I said in a serious tone of voice. he stopped and turned his gaze to me.
"If you harm the woman, whatever punishment you do to her, I will realize that. and believe me, when I tell you this, wasting time will be the least of your problems," I said as I released some of my Reiatsu in his direction.
Szayel couldn't help but flinch from my Reiatsu's pressure, he just rearranged his glasses and nodded in confirmation. he turned and walked quickly away from me.
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3 months later.
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It had been a while since I met Szayel, I was keeping a watchful eye on him, as I had no confidence in him, according to my memories of my previous life, he was Nnoitra's accomplice in eliminating Nelliel. I ordered Edrad to keep his distance, but to alert me of any suspicious activity he might see.
As expected, I was right, in this time Nnoitra has had a few meetings with Szayel, and Edrad informed me something strange too. Szayel has a grudge against Roka, although, in all this time he has not done anything to her for fear of my retaliation, he has burdened her with a lot of work, he does not even feed her well.
I have sent Edrad a couple of times to give her something to eat, at first she didn't accept the food, but hunger got the better of her and she started to accept the food. Szayel's grudge against Roka is incomprehensible to me, I certainly felt a little sorry for her.
I found out later that she is quite good at medicine, she can heal, I know that because Roka healed Edrad from a small injury he got when he was training with me. although Szayel doesn't let her use her abilities much.
after a long time of analyzing it, I remember how useful Orihime became in Ichigo's group, or well, a little useful, having someone who can heal you from wounds is quite useful in my consideration. while Nel has an ability with her saliva to heal others, we can't completely rely on her alone, not to mention that she is more like an attack tank than someone who functions as a simple support.
I had decided, I would take Roka as part of my fracción, although I will ask her first, it is up to her whether she accepts my proposal or not. because I am a sword and Szayel is not, my voice and influence are greater than his. so, if Roka were to accept my proposal, Szayel has nothing to do to refuse.
although I would do that once I returned to Las Noches, I was currently with Nel training in a Garganta.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Nel and I emerged from the smoke at high speed as we clashed our swords.
She had a completely serious and concentrated face. I was looking directly into her eyes as we moved at high speed.
my sword began to be covered in blue flames, Nel quickly noticed and kicked me in the stomach, causing her to be able to take distance from me.
"good hit," I said with a smile on my face. but as I said that I swung my sword throwing a torrent of blue flames at her.
She opened her eyes wide as she saw the huge burst of flames heading towards her, using her Sonido, she moved at great speed, managing to narrowly dodge my attack.
she stepped behind me and tried to slash me with her sword in a diagonal motion. I turned around and parried her sword with my sword, we stood in a stalemate for a few seconds, but she suddenly opened her mouth and a pink Cero shot straight into my face.
I came out of the explosion with my clothes slightly burned.
"you were able to repel my Cero's blast with your flames," Nel said with a smile on her face.
"you certainly took me by surprise with that attack," I said as I shook out my burnt clothes a bit. "but this isn't over yet."
She opened her eyes wide when she realized that endless feathers were beginning to appear in all directions.
"Jaula de Pájaros." was all I said as all the feathers swooped toward it.
she started moving at great speed trying to dodge all my feathers, she succeeded for a moment, but she could not avoid being overwhelmed by the great number of my feathers and being quickly covered by it.
but before I said anything, I heard.
"Gran Rey Cero!" I opened my eyes wide and quickly moved out of the way.
A second later a purple beam of energy passed by where I used to be. But it didn't stop with that, as I had to move even further away because a huge explosion started to cover the whole area.
When all the smoke and energy dissipated, I was standing there with my clothes even more shredded, but Nel was covered in cuts, and well, her clothes barely covered her modesty.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I said.
"I think that's enough," I sheathed my sword and gave a tired sigh. we had been fighting for 5 days non-stop in our sealed forms.
We have been doing this type of training lately, as we had realized that the more powerful we are in our sealed forms, the more power we release in our Resurrección forms.
she just breathed a sigh of relief and said to me with a smile.
"We have come a long way since we became Arrancars."
I looked at her with a smile and answered.
"you certainly have become more powerful, although lately, our progress has slowed down, the stronger we become, the harder it is to increase our power-" but before I said anything else, I noticed the state of her clothes, I didn't I could hold back from giving a glance, but I immediately averted my gaze. "Here, cover-up, don't go catching a cold or something."
I reached out my hand and created a robe with my feathers to cover her.
she realized that she was showing more than usual, just blushed a little and accepted the robe with a smile.
"And aren't you going to cover yourself too?" she asked me.
I inspected myself and it was true, half of my trench coat and the sleeveless shirt were destroyed, showing half of my naked torso.
I just smiled at him and said.
"I'm sure you're enjoying the view, so I think I'll stay that way for now."
she only averted her gaze with a somewhat flushed face.
"Oh yeah? Then let me fix those wounds of yours," she was still blushing, but she was hiding it pretty well.
I was singing in my mind -You've got a friend in me- from toy story. all to keep any kind of impure thoughts in my mind.
(damn it, stop torturing me like this.) I couldn't help but think that.
"What's wrong with you? You have a very red face," Nel said to me in a mocking tone.
"that's playing dirty, you know?" I said without looking her in the face.
I knew that, if I looked her straight in the eye, I would be the one to lose.
To my luck, she stopped and said with a smirk.
"I'm done, it's time to go back to Las Noches."
damn, we've been doing this for a while now, we're always giving each other not-so-subtle hints. and I'm still going on with my confusion about how I feel about her, no doubt I'm weak-willed when it comes to Nelliel, I need to talk this over with her.
as we were walking through the Hueco Mundo desert, I said.
"Nel, I need to tell you-" but I was interrupted. "I know, but until you have your emotions in order, I won't give you an answer that affirms or denies how I feel about you, this is something you have to figure out on your own," Nel said as we were still walking.
I looked like a fish at this moment, as I couldn't close my mouth in surprise.
"But- What? - How? - You- Who?" all I could get out were a few meaningless words.
"Stark came to tell me the same day you told him about how you feel and how you're confused."
(that bastard.) was my main thought.
"Don't be mad at him, he's just worried about you. When he realized that he couldn't help you, he did what seemed the most logical thing to do." We kept walking as she spoke.
"he went to tell you," I said with an incredulous tone.
"he said that since I was the cause of your confusion, then I could give you an answer or solution, plus he said you never told him to keep it a secret," she was looking at me out of the corner of her eye. "but as I just told you, I can't tell you what you should feel. you have to figure that out for yourself."
"I thought secrecy was implied when I went to talk to Stark," I said, throwing a little tantrum. "And how do you feel?" I couldn't help but ask.
"that's a secret until you get your feelings in order," she told me with a slight smile.
I just sighed and smiled back.
After that, we returned to Las Noches in comfortable silence. it was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, that she knew about this problem and that she was willing to give me an answer when I could finally sort out my feelings, it didn't make me feel so pressured anymore. for now.
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Las Noches.
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"Are you saying you want me to join your Fracción?" Roka said in complete disbelief.
"that's right," I said nodding my head.
"But... but... but... I am someone useless, in these last months you have been the first one to be nice to me, but, why would you want someone useless to join your Fracción? you are the Espada number 2, the second most powerful Espada in all of Las Noches," Roka was saying that in a rather low tone of voice, and she seemed quite self-conscious.
"Roka, please calm down," Edrad said in a calm tone. "Lord Goeritz saw great potential in you, and he knows how badly Szayelaporro is treating you, he knows you are not happy being under the command of that mad scientist."
"I... you... you... you could free me from Lord Szayelaporro?" she seemed to hope.
She was not happy about being in charge of Szayelaporro.
"I can, and I will if you accept my proposal," I said in a comforting voice.
"Yes," she said in a low tone.
"excellent, tomorrow Lord Aizen is coming to supervise Las Noches, you'd better get ready to move to my palace, Edrad will have a room prepared for you," I said while looking at Edrad, he just nodded at my order.
"Your palace?" Roka asked me in confusion.
Seriously, I'll have to teach her to speak louder, I can barely hear her.
"yes, the Fracción of an Espada lives in the same palace as the Espada," I explained to Roka. "so, you'd better get ready, I will request your transfer immediately."
to that, she bowed in thanks and quickly walked away to what I assumed was her room or something, I don't think she has a lot of stuff, but she better be prepared.
I turned around and walked down the corridors of Las Noches, Edrad was following me silently.
"Where are we going Lord Goeritz?" Edrad asked.
"I need to... I need to meditate, I'm going to my room to try to meditate a little," I said to Edrad without giving him a look. I had so many things on my mind that I needed to sort through, I was feeling a little overwhelmed.
I needed to think about the steps I would take in the future, I needed to think about how to gain the trust of some Arrancars, I needed to find a way to awaken the Segunda Etapa, I needed to find Ulquiorra, I needed to see how I could communicate with Halibel, I needed to resolve my feelings for Nelliel, and the list went on and on.
and I felt like time was running out, even I told myself that I was a fool for letting myself be overwhelmed by all these things, but I couldn't help but stop thinking about it all. How on earth does Aizen manage to plan so many things without feeling overwhelmed or pressured? I guess it's the gift of genius.
the power to plan so many things without feeling overwhelmed by the pressure that those plans may fail.
I was currently sitting in the center of my room, I was meditating, to be more precise, I was in my inner world. a couple of years ago I managed to enter this place, but unlike what I remember from my previous life, in my inner world there was no Zanpakutō spirit, it was... empty.
my inner world was made up of a series of places I had visited before in my previous life. a reminder of what I lost. I figured it was completely normal that I had no Zanpakutō spirit inside me, that this whole place was empty since well, I'm a Hollow.
the name already implies that my soul has an emptiness that I will never be able to fill. although by becoming an Arrancar I recovered a large part of my humanity, the Hollow remains in me. this means that no matter how insignificant this feeling of emptiness may be, the Hollow will always remain in my soul.
my power is supposed to come from this place, from my inner world. so, in theory, the power of the Segunda Etapa must be somewhere in this place. Stark says he's been able to sense something, but I can't sense anything at all.
I was just walking in this empty world with no direction, seeing the places I used to go as a child, as a teenager, as an adult, and seeing the places I used to go with my family.
certainly seeing all these places only made the feeling of emptiness intensify. but whether I like it or not, this is my inner world, so it has this shape for a reason, my power is in this place and greater power is hidden somewhere in this place.
(What did Ichigo do to achieve his Bankai?) was my thought.
(I remembered, he fought his Zanpakutō spirit in the real world, and I have no spirit to help me find the answers I seek.) was starting to frustrate me.
(but if I remember correctly, Ichigo had two inner spirits, his Zanpakutō spirit, and his Hollow spirit. and to master his Hollow part, he also fought against it, but in the inner world, which is another problem, I'm a Hollow, I don't have any extra spirit to fight with to discover a new power. I already mastered my Hollow form from the moment I evolved into a thinking being. )
(or have I not mastered my Hollow form?) was a random thought that crossed my mind. but as if a lightning bolt had gone through me, I thought.
(what if I'm going about this the wrong way? I've spent the last two decades thinking about how the Shinigami had managed to have two releases, how Ichigo had done it, but... I am not a shinigami, I am not Ichigo... while I have the powers of a Shinigami, the basis of my powers are those of a Hollow. I am a Hollow... I am an Arrancar, and this empty inner world is the proof of that).
(we are similar to the shinigami, but we are not the same. so our way to develop our second Resurrección, our Segunda Etapa. the true equivalent to a Bankai, is another way, is the Hollow way. and the Hollow way was always... to find power by our means, and power by force, to find our power by accepting the nature of this world, by accepting that we are... Hollow).
when I finished that line of thought, I could feel... something.
I began to look in all directions in my inner world, that feeling of something was somewhere, but I couldn't sense which direction it was coming from.
but before I could even begin to concentrate to try to find the direction where that... the call was coming from, I was pulled out of my inner world by an alert in my senses.
I quickly stood up and began to look at my surroundings, but it didn't take me a second to figure out what it was that alerted my senses.
"the feather I gave Dordoni was used," I said in disbelief.
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one hour before.
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Dordoni was carrying out the orders given to him by Goeritz without any problem. He was training in the outskirts of his house, which happened to be near Nelliel's castle.
He was implementing some of the methods Goeritz had taught him to improve his strength and speed. in all these months Goeritz taught him to meditate and concentrate his reiatsu on a single point.
This was effective, since by concentrating his reiatsu in certain parts of his legs, he was able to increase his speed significantly, as well as concentrating his reiatsu in specific parts of his body, such as his arms, to increase his strength, and he was even able to increase his perception of things with his reiatsu.
although because his reiatsu was not yet comparable to a new generation Espada, those increases in speed and power would pose no problem for them in a fight. although, well, he believed he could defeat Aaroniero.
Anyway, the point was that he was surprised that something as basic as reiatsu control worked to increase his physical attributes so significantly, and it wasn't that he was a fool and didn't know how to control his reiatsu, it was just that his control was more focused on destruction, raw power and overpowering his enemies with overwhelming power.
But it is as Goerits said. -What good is an overwhelming power, if you do not know how to control it perfectly. You will never know the true limits of your power if you only dedicate yourself to unleashing it excessively, you will never know what you are capable of doing if you are just wasting large amounts of reiatsu foolishly. -
but Dordoni was snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly felt the power of Nnoitra along with another Arrancar, inside Lady Nneliel's palace.
that was not good, Lady Nelleil is not in her castle at the moment, but she soon rushed to the castle when she felt Lady Nelliel's Fracción being attacked. he knew immediately that they were attacked since Nnoitra and the other Arrancar were in the same place as Lady Nelliel's Fracción.
It only took a few seconds to reach the place thanks to its Sonido.
What he saw, he didn't like at all. he saw Nnoitra beating Lady Nelliel's Fracción.
Without wasting time, he launched a Bala in their direction, making Nnoitra move away when he felt a surprise attack. Dordoni took advantage of the distraction to take the two Fracciones that were hit and move them away from that place.
When the smoke cleared, Nnoitra saw only Dordoni standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and looking completely serious.
"you, what are you doing here?" Nnoitra asked dangerously.
Dordoni saw who the other Arrancar accompanying Nnoitra was and was surprised to see Privaron Espada 100 Szayelaporro Granz, although he did not like that title.
"attacking an Espada Fracción just because you are not strong enough to defeat the Espada itself is cowardly, Nnoitra," Dordoni said seriously.
"What was that you said, worm?" spiritual pressure was beginning to flood the room.
Dordoni was not as strong as an Espada of the new generation, but he was not as weak as a Fracción either, so he would not fall for something like this.
so Dordoni began to raise his spiritual pressure so as not to fall to Nnoitra.
"you heard me, Espada number 8, attacking the Fracción of an Espada just because you are not strong enough to defeat the Espada itself is cowardly," Dordoni said the same thing again.
"What does that matter to you? those are losers, it's their fault for not being strong. besides, let me restate something, do you think I'm weak and cowardly?" the murderous intent of Nnoitra was reaching its limits.
but before Dordoni could say anything, Szayelaporro spoke up.
"Before you eliminate him, Nnoitra. let me ask you something, who sent you? I had made sure that Nelliel was not here, so no one knew we were coming, and given the quick response you had to us, it is clear that you already knew of our intentions in this place."
"your power was not the only thing you lost, Privaron Espada 100 Szayelaporro," said Dordoni with a smile. at that Szayelaporro grimaced at being named by that title.
"But let me tell you, you are not the only one who planned things, there is someone else who already knew of what this could come to pass, so he asked me to please keep an eye on Nnoitra. and as you can see, he was not wrong," Dordoni said that making a victory pose.
that only left Szayelaporro more confused and now Nnoitra was confused too. (Who was it that ordered this clown to watch him? ) was what Nnoitra thought.
Instead, Szayelaporro was thinking about all the interactions Dordoni has had these past few months. but nothing came to mind, nor is it as if he was aware of what a former Espada does or doesn't do.
"you're going to tell me who the fool was that ordered you to watch me, and then I'll murder you like the loser you are," Nnoitra moved dangerously close to Dordoni.
"even if I told you who sent me, you are not strong enough to do anything to him, you can't defeat Lady Nelliel, much less defeat the one who sent me," Dordoni said with a smile.
With that information, Szayelaporro was finally able to decipher who it was that sent Dordoni.
"it was Espada number 2 who sent you, it was Goeritz Shen." at that Nnoitra turned to look at Szayelaporro in disbelief.
"What?" was his only question.
Dordoni was also surprised that Szayelaporro managed to guess who it was that sent him.
"The only ones above Nelliel, are the first two Espada, and Lord Aizen, but he is not in Las Noches, and the Primera Espada has been characterized as someone quite lazy, he wouldn't go to all this trouble just for a guess, which leaves Espada number 2."
"he's the only one who would go to all this trouble, besides, given the closeness he has with Nelliel, it's only natural that he would care about her, am I right? " he said all that while staring at Dordoni.
"Anyway, I'm bored of all this talk, since you've decided to meddle where it doesn't concern you, ruining our plans in the process, I think it's only fair to eliminate you, and then I'll show you how weak I am," said Nnoitra while pointing his gun at Dordoni.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Dordoni emerged from the smoke as he landed outside Nelliel's palace.
but he could not relax as he had to disappear with his Sonido again, as he saw Nnoitra's huge weapon heading in his direction.
"That surprise attack I barely felt," Nnoitra said with a smirk.
Dordoni did not hesitate twice and released his Resurrección.
"Gira, Giralda!" a tornado enveloped it, and great spiritual pressure was released throughout the area.
Nnoitra just had a big smile on his face and prepared for the fight.
from the same tornado shot out a compressed air attack, the attack hit Nnoitra directly, causing him to retreat a few meters.
That attack did nothing to Nnoitra, but it did make him angry, when he looked in front of him, he saw Dordoni with his Resurrección released, he had a kind of armor covering his body. great winds were surrounding him, and suddenly, the part of the armor that covered his calves began to take out a kind of tornadoes.
the two tornadoes generated by Dordoni created some extensions at the end of the tornado, these extensions had the shape of a bird skull.
"well, I see you will at least put up a slight resistance," Nnoitra said with a sadistic smile.
Dordoni sent his two tornadoes towards Nnoitra, causing him to use his huge weapon to destroy the bird-shaped skulls, but that was nothing more than a distraction, as Dordoni appeared at Nnoitra's side and gave him a powerful kick in the face.
sending Nnoitra flying into a nearby rock, but Dordoni wasted no time and made his two tornadoes hit Nnoitra several times.
when Dordoni stopped, all was quiet for a few seconds, but suddenly he heard.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If that's all you can do, let me tell you this fight is a waste of time."
From the rubble Nnoitra came out walking calmly, he had no wounds on his body, he was just covered with dust.
faster than Dordoni could react, Nnoitra's huge weapon hit his chest. the weapon managed to cut Dordoni's chest, but thanks to his armor and his Hierro, it did not cut him in two.
Dordoni flew towards Nelliel's palace and destroyed a wall on impact.
"come on, a moment ago you were quite energetic about a fight, what happened to all that energy a moment ago?" Nnoitra said in a mocking tone.
Dordoni rose from the rubble, showing clear pain on his face.
(I still won't give up, I must prove that I am worthy to be an Espada again) was Dordoni's thought.
"This... this isn't over," Dordoni said as he tried to keep his wound closed with his hand.
"Goeritz was a fool to send you to do his job. let me tell you something, you were a fool to listen to him, you're just another one of his puppets, now you're going to die, and then I'll take care of that bastard," Nnoitra was getting dangerously close to Dordoni.
"hahahahahaha" Dordoni chuckled lightly.
"Did I say something funny?" Nnoitra asked.
"of course, you said something funny, you said you will eliminate Goeritz. the mere fact that you thought you had a chance against him is funny," Dordoni said with a smile on his face.
At that Nnoitra tightened the grip of his weapon and disappeared with his Sonido.
Dordoni wasted no time and also disappeared with his Sonido, the two collided causing a shockwave, but Dordoni used one of his tornadoes to hit Nnoitra's side, this time the attack did not move Nnoitra from his place, but it did serve as a distraction for Dordoni to charge a Cero in Nnoitra's face.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! the two came out of the explosion at high speed.
"That was close," Nnoitra said as he reappeared at Dordoni's side. he noticed that Nnoitra countered his attack with another Cero.
Dordoni tried to dodge Nnoitra's attack but he was not fast enough and Nnoitra's weapon hit his side. Fortunately for him, the impact was not with the edge of the weapon, but that does not take away from the fact that the attack sent him flying, causing him to crash into the sands of Hueco Mundo.
Dordoni had a determined look on his face and stood up again. his ribs were broken, but that wasn't going to stop him.
"well, that look I like," Nnoitra had a maniacal grin.
the two disappeared again, Dordoni using one of his legs hit Nnoitra's weapon, he could feel how the weapon pierced his armor, but thanks to his Hierro, he managed to resist the attack.
"Good, good! keep it up!" Nnoitra was excited, while Dordoni was no danger to him, Dordoni was showing that he was giving his all and had a look on his face that said he would fight to the end.
that was the look he always sought in Nelliel, but instead, she viewed him with pity, as if he were an animal as if he were someone not worth killing. while this fool had made him angry in the beginning, now that he was fighting, he was showing himself to be prey worth killing.
With each impact that was generated between the two, a new wound appeared in Dordoni, but Dordoni's gaze did not desist.
When the two were about to impact again, a tornado came out of nowhere and hit Nnoitra from the ground, this took him by surprise and lifted him into the sky.
Dordoni wasted no time and appeared behind Nnoitra with a loaded Cero in his hands. Nnoitra could only watch as the Cero impacted his back causing an explosion.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Dordoni reappeared with one knee on the ground, he had accumulated too many wounds all over his body.
"That was a good attack, it tickled me," Nnoitra emerged from the smoke with only part of his clothes burned off, but he had no wounds on his body, his great endurance made him practically invulnerable.
but Nnoitra stopped as he saw Dordoni still with his defiant look, he wanted to see him break, he wanted to see him go into despair, and with a smile he said.
"I will show you the difference between the new generation of the Espada compared to the old generation. I will show you a power that you can never overcome, no matter what you do, you are no longer and will never be someone considered an equal to an Espada."
"Reza, Santa Terezaaaa!" Nnoitra shouted as she raised her weapon skyward.
a huge spiritual pressure flooded the area where they were, this power easily overshadowed Dordoni's, making him stand on guard.
when the huge explosion of power stopped, Nnoitra reappeared in his Resurrección form, he had a pair of horns on his head, also a kind of exoskeleton was covering his arms and part of his body, he had 4 arms, and in each arm, he held huge scythes.
Nnoitra expected to see the despair on Dordoni's face, but instead, he saw a big smile on his face. that confused him and he said.
"what's so funny?"
"I'm happy, happy that I managed to get you to use your Resurrección. that's proof that I'll be able to go back to being an Espada again." dordoni's smile widened even more.
Nnoitra's face had an angry scowl and he said.
"don't get confused, insect, I didn't need my Resurrección to kill you, I just wanted to see you go into despair, but I see I was wrong. anyway, feel honored to be eliminated by me, using my true power." As he finished saying that, Nnoitra lunged forward to attack.
Dordoni was pleased, he had proven he wasn't trash, the fact that he was a worthy opponent enough to make an Espada use his Resurrección was enough for him for now.
When the Scythe was about to hit Dordoni's neck, he took out the feather that Goeritz had given him and activated it.
A burst of red energy and mist-covered a huge area of the fighting area.
The attack was so sudden that Nnoitra didn't have time to process what had happened. he didn't realize until it was too late, Nnoitra had been completely covered by the mist.
The mist entered through every pore of his body, through his eyes, through his nose, through his mouth. Nnoitra could feel how his body was starting to fail him, he could feel how the influence of the mist was affecting him.
trying to react to this new attack, he tried to raise his power to the maximum, he was trying to suppress the effects of the mist in his system. but it was all in vain, a power superior to his own was exerting its will on him.
Nnoitra was starting to panic, he could not suppress the effects of this haze and be felt like she was losing control over her body.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nnoitra gave a great shout as he desperately tried to raise her reiatsu, to try to suppress the effects of the mist.
but faster than he could react, something hit him so hard in the stomach that it sent him flying out of range of the mist.
When he tried to stand up, he couldn't, his body no longer responded, he could only move his neck, only to see a hole in his stomach.
something had managed to break through his Hierro.
"I see you are still conscious. " Nnoitra heard.
When he turned his gaze in the direction where the voice was coming from, he could only open his eyes in surprise.
"Goeritz," Nnoitra said with contempt.
"I knew you would do something as cowardly as this," I said calmly.
"coward? the only coward here is you! you always send others to do the dirty work! you hide behind others and then take credit for things! I bet you're a weakling who can't do anything on your own, since, if you were really strong, you'd be the one attacking head-on, instead of your stupid puppets!" Nnoitra said angrily.
"don't mistake my caution for lack of power, just because you're an airhead running straight at the enemy, doesn't mean all the rest of us to have to do the same. but you're right, I should have taken care of you. for, If I had, none of all this destruction would have been necessary." when I finished saying that, I appeared in front of Nnoitra and held him by the neck preventing him from being able to breathe.
Nnoitra tried to fight, he tried to move his body, but I said.
"don't even try, my mist is all over your nervous system, in your bloodstream, in every fiber of your muscles, now your body no longer belongs to you," I said without showing any emotion on my face.
"Nelliel told me that you were like a rabid beast that can't reason, and I see that she was right, but there's something I don't agree with her, she says she didn't kill you because she can't see you as a warrior, that you're like a mere beast to her, but do you know what you do to a rabid beast that can't be controlled?"
Nnoitra was panicking as he saw that he was completely helpless.
"rabid beasts are slaughtered." when I finished saying that, I began to concentrate all my mist that was in the area, on Nnoitra's body.
Nnoitra began to convulse when all my mist was introduced into his body, but this was not over yet, once I fused my mist with every cell of his body, I began to twist him, to compress him, his flesh stopped being flesh, his bones stopped being bones, instead, all of that I turned into Reishi, and Nnoitra's whole body became a sphere of concentrated Reishi energy the size of a baseball.
all the power of the Espada number 8 was in the palm of my hand.
I just gave a sigh and went back to Dordoni, he was a mess, I was surprised that he was still conscious.
"How are you feeling?" I asked Dordoni.
"like crap," he said to me with a smile. "although I'm surprised at how easily you handled Nnoitra, I see there's a big difference between you and me after all."
I stared at him for a few seconds, and then turned my gaze to my hand, the one holding the energy sphere. then I looked back at Dordoni.
(we are Hollows.) that thought crossed my mind for a second. (Hollows eat other Hollows to get stronger.) was my next line of thought. (What if?)
"Dordoni," I caught his attention. he just looked at me curiously.
"I promised to help you increase your power, I promised you that you would return to the Espada." He just nodded at that.
"eat this," I extended the concentrated Reishi energy sphere to him.
"What?" was his only response.
"eat this," I said the same thing again.
"but-"I interrupted him. "I prefer to give this power to you, this will give you the boost you need to reach the level of an Espada, you will put this power to better use than Nnoitra. "
Dordoni held the Reishi sphere in his hands with some hesitation.
"don't feel bad, it's nothing you haven't done in the past, after all, you ate other Hollows in the past to evolve," I put a hand on his shoulder to try to dispel his doubts.
to try to dispel their doubts even more I said.
"Nnoitra disappeared, only its power remains, now it is only a cumulus of concentrated Reishi, by doing the conversion of my mist to Reishi, it makes my mist lose any effect it could generate before. this technique I developed as an experiment to see if it could increase the power of my allies. although it is effective, it is not of much help to us, because for it to create an effect, it would need a huge amount of Reishi." I said that while pointing to the ball of Reishi energy.
"It would take the Reishi energy of a sword for the increase in power to be noticeable in you," Dordoni said as he looked me in the eyes. I just nodded at that.
and I wasn't lying, when I created this technique, I was happy that it could increase our powers faster, but the result was disappointing. no matter how many Hollows I turned into these Reishi energy balls, it was like throwing a drop of water into an ocean. the change was so insignificant, that we increased our power faster when we trained than when we ate the Reishi energy balls.
Dordoni stared at the reishi energy ball for a few seconds, and without further hesitation, took a big bite of the concentrated reishi energy ball.
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Well, thank you for reading the whole chapter to the end. please leave a review, that's all I ask. I appreciate it. Your reviews inspire me to keep writing this story.
And just to clarify one thing, I have already thought of the fractions, and they will not be so numerous, there will only be 4.
I would also like to ask you something, the next chapter will have a POV. and I would like to know who's POV you would like to see. I will be reading it. thanks for making it to the end.