chapter 6.
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soul society.
Ginrei Kuchiki was reading the reports that his subordinates had just given him. When he received the news that several Shinigami, who had recently joined his squadron, were killed by a Hollow, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
A single Hollow was able to eliminate more than half of a Shinigami group on its own, these Shinigami were supposed to be experienced and had even been out on the battlefield before.
He only gave a tired sigh and rubbed his eyes, according to reports, the three surviving Shinigami have shown a change in their personality, but according to the 4th Division, they are only showing post-traumatic stress.
Seeing your comrades die at the hands of a single Hollow is not easy to take, but there is also a note in their file that says they are recovering quickly, the fact that they managed to avenge their fallen comrades is a minor relief to their psyche.
Those three Shinigamis will be able to return to their duties in no time, after all, all Shinigamis know the risk involved in this job.
Ginrei massaged the bridge of his nose, he was no longer old enough to be doing all this paperwork. While it wasn't like him, he couldn't wait for his grandson to relieve him of his duties and Byakuya to take his place as the new captain of the 6th division.
While it is not his wish to leave the full weight of the Kuchiki family to his grandson, after the death of his son Sōjun, Byakuya is next in line. And he already considers himself too old, and whether he likes it or not, it is time for him to give the leadership to the new generation. But that's still a few years away.
But he was pulled out of his reflections, because someone knocked on his door.
"Come in." was his only response.
"Forgive my interruption, Captain Ginrei, but the three Shinigamis who were attacked not long ago wish to speak with you.
That intrigued him a bit, so he allowed them into his office so they could speak with him.
"Tell me, what is it that you wish to talk to me about." Ginrei said calmly.
"Captain Ginrei, my fellow Shinigami and I have come to the decision that we wish to return to our duties as assets of the sixth division." If I remembered correctly, this Shinigami's name was Aki.
He was the one who delivered the coup de grace to the Hollow that attacked them. He was certainly stronger than his other two companions.
"And why should I reassign you so quickly to your duties? You have just suffered the death of several of your fellow Shinigami, the most natural thing would be for you to take some time to recover from that trauma." Was Ginrei's reply.
"With all due respect Captain Ginrei, but while we are hiding and mourning the death of our comrades, other Shinigamis or souls may be being attacked by Hollows, and we cannot stand idly by, not after what we just suffered." Another Shinigami spoke, his name was Hiro.
"I admire your determination, but the decision does not rest with me, the captain of the 4 division is the one who must discharge you, and confirm that you are fit to return to field duty. But since I see that you will not be at ease, wait at least two weeks, if after that time Captain Unohana has not discharged you, I will talk to her to see if you can return to your duties as Shinigami." Ginrei was sorting through the paperwork on his desk when he said that.
"We understand your decision, and we would appreciate it if you would do that for us." The other Shinigami who had not spoken until a moment ago said that.
Ginrei just gave him a look, his name was Jiro.
"If that's all you wanted to discuss with me, you are dismissed, I have too much work to do yet." The three Shinigami bowed and withdrew after that.
For Ginrei it wasn't the first time he saw this, throughout his whole life, he had seen how some people change their personality after a traumatic event, but he put that aside, as he had a lot of paperwork to do.
"Why did you accept that stupid proposal?" Hiro asked.
"You know what our orders are," Jiro replied.
"That's why I asked you that, the longer we take, we won't be able to carry out our orders." replied Hiro.
"That's enough, Jiro is right, our orders are to keep a low profile, we should keep our presence insignificant, as long as the Shinigami underestimate us and don't consider us something relevants, we can accomplish our mission easier." Aki said that as he walked in the middle of his two companions.
To that the other two simply nodded and headed for the dormitories of the 6th division.
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Las Noches.
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POV Stark.
I was walking through the corridors of Las Noches, I was reflecting on what happened to Nnoitra a couple of days ago. Goeritz had told me what happened, certainly his deductions sometimes puzzled me a little, how he can get his deductions right, it's as if he can see the future somehow.
Leaving that aside, everything that happened with Nnoitra, just proved that Goeritz is a good friend, literally he was the reason I got a pack, he was the one who changed our lives for the better, this made me feel quite grateful to Goeritz.
Even he doesn't force me to follow him in this crusade against that Shinigami, the reason why I follow him, is because I knew that, if we didn't accept the deal with Aizen, we would be hunted like animals by him, or by some other threat sent by Aizen.
I have been analyzing Aizen and he is certainly the type of person who would do that to accomplish his goals, even he did not care about Nnoitra's disappearance. Someone who was supposedly among the elite of his forces disappeared, and he doesn't seem to care at all.
Instead, Goeritz always looks out for the safety of those he considers his allies, his friends. He spent almost a whole year watching Nnoitra because he felt that Nnoitra would do something against Nelliel, and he was not wrong.
He made new alliances, he created a whole plan to guard Nnoitra, all to defend Nelliel, and he confirmed that he would do the same for me, and certainly, I trust those words, I trust him, in all these decades, he has shown by his actions that he is someone completely trustworthy.
If he sees a possible threat, he will do everything in his power to try to save those he considers his allies and friends. Another proof of that, is how he reacted to Aizen when he saw that he could be a possible threat to us.
When he blocked Aizen's sword so that he could not do anything against us, and when Aizen tried to intimidate us with his absurd power, Goeritz's reaction was instantaneous and he tried to protect us with his own power, even though he was no match for Aizen, he still tried with all his power to defend Nelliel and me from the effects of Aizen's power.
Me being the strongest, I couldn't even react as fast as Goeritz did, even after Aizen's demonstration of power, he came up with a plan to be on Aizen's good side and thus use it to get more power. This gave us more time to strengthen ourselves and study the weaknesses and strengths of the three Shinigami.
Everything Goeritz has done is to keep us safe and ensure our survival, he did all that while getting us comforts and a better quality of life than we had before, everything Goeritz has done is because he considers us his friends, and friends always take care of each other, is what Goeritz once said.
While it was not my style to get into fights to the death, or to enter a war just because I was ordered to, I was sure of one thing, and that was that when the time comes, I will not disappoint Goeritz's trust, that when the time comes, if necessary, I will not hesitate to unleash all my power in order to protect my friends.
Lilynette, Goeritz, Nelliel, Edrad, Pesche and Dondochaka are my pack after all, and in a pack, they all protect each other. After all, they are all doing their best so that we can all come out of all this as best we can . So, it would only be fair for me to do the same for them.
But I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard someone speak to me.
"Hey Stark, going somewhere?" When I turned to the direction of the voice, I saw Goeritz walking in my direction.
"No, I'm just stretching my legs a bit." I said as I scratched the back of my neck.
"Lilynette was bothering you again?" Goeritz said with a smile.
"You could say that, she said she would go play with Edrad if I came out of my room." Goeritz just laughed at that.
"Anyway, in a little while longer, I'll go to sleep again." I said as I gave a yawn.
"Relax, Edrad will keep her entertained for quite a while, she won't notice you're back early." He said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I hope so, and tell me, where are you going?" I said that as I analyzed Goeritz's posture, he looks a little stressed.
He just gave a sigh and said.
"I went to see Nelliel, she wanted to see me, apparently Pesche and Dondochaka told her what happened to them and how Dordoni saved them."
"She realized that you had been watching her for a while." I said with a stoic face. I had already told Goeritz that the best next step, was to warn her to keep her guard up and not withhold information from him.
He just nodded in confirmation and said.
"While she is grateful that I saved her Fracción, she is not at all happy that I kept these plans a secret from her, she thinks I consider her too weak for her to protect herself." Goeritz looked rather crestfallen at this point.
"I think it would be best for you to give her her space for a while. I'm sure she'll realize that your intentions in doing those actions were good." I told him in a comforting tone.
"I don't know my old friend, she was quite upset, she told me that, if I don't trust her enough to let her take over someone like Nnoitra, then I wouldn't trust her enough to take on some Shinigami captain when the time comes." Goeritz was looking at the ground when he said that.
It was strange to see him like that, usually he always faces problems, he is undeterred by problems and looks for a solution, but now he looks almost... Defeated.
I just gave a sigh and said.
"Look, I know the thing seems difficult now, but as I had already told you, give her some time, let her reflect on what happened, and when she has a cooler head, I'm sure they can reach an agreement, or some reconciliation. Nelliel is someone sensible and makes her decisions based on logic, she will realize that you don't consider her someone weak, that you simply acted based on your feelings you have for her and that you didn't act under the premise that she is someone weak, and that she needs to be saved." I said that as I stared at him.
"I just hope the explanation I gave her will be helpful in getting her to calm down faster." Goeritz said resignedly.
To change Goeritz's mood a bit I said.
"Tell me, what happened to the girl you rescued from Szayelaporro?" to that Goeritz gave me a confused look for a few seconds. He hadn't expected the sudden change of subject. But then he gave a slight smile and said.
"Szayel was not happy, but after a talk I had with him privately, he had no choice but to accept my terms."
"Those talks didn't include threats, did they?" I asked with some hesitation as I raised an eyebrow.
To that, Goeritz gave a broader smile and said. "I'm someone reasonable, you know that, I'm not the ruthless, barbaric and cruel Arrancar that apparently everyone in Las Noches thinks I am. You could say that Szayel and I are not the best of friends, but we are not enemies either."
"You could say that we are on neutral terms, I would not retaliate against him for his involvement in Nnoitra's plan, but in exchange for that, he would not object to Roka joining my Faction. And that if he wanted so badly to come back to be a Espada again, that I could help him with that if he agreed to my conditions, among other things I offered him as a sign that I am willing to let go of what happened with Nnoitra in the past."
I was still with my eyebrow raised when he finished saying all that, I am sure he will tell me what other things he asked from Szayelaporro and what other things he offered him to keep things peaceful, but that will be when we are not in Las Noches, in a place where we are not being watched.
(That also shows how little Aizen cares about us, he has every Las Noches under surveillance, he already knows what happened to Nnoitra, but he didn't retaliate against Goeritz. He only cares about having his entire army to use us as cannon fodder. And Goeritz gave him Nnoitra's understudy very quickly, that Dordoni, a former Espada, and who in a mysterious way, or well, in a mysterious way for the other Espada, increased his Reiatsu level enough to occupy the position of the number 7 Espada, one place higher than Nnoitra's.)
(And with that, Goeritz kept Aizen happy. Goeritz certainly knows how to handle someone as dangerous as Aizen.) but I snapped out of my thoughts and said.
"So, the girl, Roka, how is she having a good time being part of your Fracción?"
"She is assimilating that she is no longer under Szayel's command, she still has her submissive attitude, but I'm sure in time she will gain enough self-confidence to be someone more open to express her thoughts and opinions." Goeritz looked confident in his words.
But suddenly I remembered something and said something intrigued.
"Wasn't Nnoitra also supposed to have a Fracción?"
"Yes, Tesra, I offered him to join my Fracción, but as you can intuit, he did not accept my proposal. And since no other Espada offered him a place in his Fracciones, and since his only link he had with Las Noches was Nnoitra, well, he simply left Las Noches." Goeritz looked somewhat guilty about that.
Tesra was not very strong, so it was not surprising that Aizen cared very little about his departure from Las Noches.
"I believe that before he left Las Noches, he spread the rumor that you eliminated Nnoitra and this certainly caused quite a stir among the Arrancars of Las Noches. I don't know if you noticed, but the rumors about you intensified even more. They say that even the Espada must be wary of you." I told him seriously.
"I know, I know, I already had a bad reputation in Las Noches, but after all this my reputation went even more to hell, now everyone fears me even more than before." Goeritz gave a big sigh at that. "I hate my shitty luck." I could hear Goeritz muttering.
"You should take a break, it's not good for your mind to be putting up with all this stress." I said in a soothing tone. At first I thought he was going to refuse to rest, as I saw how his face showed doubt, but after a few seconds of reflection, he shook his head and said.
"You're right, if anyone is looking for me, I'll be in my room." After saying that, Goeritz started walking towards his palace. I just stood by and watched him walk away.
When I could no longer feel his presence nearby, I continued to prowl the corridors of Las Noches.
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Palace of Nelliel.
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Without realizing it, I was standing at the entrance of Nelliel's palace, I was just walking without any direction, but I think my subconscious brought me to this place.
(Well, since I'm here.) I was about to enter the palace when suddenly I saw Pesche walking towards the exit, he was covered with some bandages. Apparently still not fully recovered, Pesche is a rather pale man, he has blond hair and his eyes are yellow, he only has a vestige of his mask in the form of a horn on the right side of his head.
"Lord Stark, to what is this sudden visit due?" Pesche said respectfully.
"I just came to see how you were doing, I heard about your incident with Nnoitra, I also came to speak with Nelliel." I unintentionally gave a yawn when I said that. Walking for so long already made me sleepy.
"We are fine, thank you for your concern, if it hadn't been for Lord Dordoni's intervention, I don't know what would have happened to us." He said that as he bowed a little.
"And as for Lady Nelliel... I don't think this is a good time to talk to her right now." Pesche looked like he was trying to apologize with his eyes.
But before I said anything else, Nelliel appeared with her Sonido in front of me and said.
"You knew that, didn't you?" she looked quite serious.
I took a step back from Nel's very sudden appearance. "Eeeehhh I don't know what you're talking about." I said looking away.
She narrowed her eyes and her spiritual pressure was starting to put pressure on me.
At that, I looked her in the eyes and gave a resigned sigh. She needs to blow off some steam, so I said.
"Come on," I turned around and started walking toward the outskirts of Las Noches. Apparently she didn't expect that answer, because she just stared at me somewhat confused as I walked away from her.
I stopped and turned my gaze to her and said.
"Don't just stare, you want answers? Follow me." To that she just started walking in my direction without saying a word.
When we came out of the nights, I opened a Garganta and we continued walking.
"Why are we here?" She folded her arms.
I looked at her and said.
"Of course I knew about Goeritz's plan. But unlike when he told me about his feelings for you, he told me to keep this plan in secret."
She uncrossed her arms and looked at me angrily.
"You think I'm too weak to let me fix my own problems on my own, don't you?" her Reiatsu was rising again.
"No, we don't think you're weak, but Goeritz didn't want you to be worrying about every little action Nnoitra did." I said trying to calm her down.
"But you guys can really go to that trouble? Don't you think that's rather hypocritical of you?" Nelliel certainly didn't look like she was going to calm down any time soon.
"You know that Goeritz's actions were guided by his feelings for you, and not by logic. He knows you are powerful enough to take down Nnoitra easily, but he didn't want you to be watching every step Nnoitra made, and no, I wasn't watching Nnoitra at any time, I had no part in Goeritz's plan."
"The whole plan was effected by Goeritz alone. besides, he was not certain that Nnoitra was really going to do something so dastardly for you to let your guard down." I said with a straight face.
"Then how did he come to that conclusion?" Nelliel asked me annoyed.
"I don't know, you know Goeritz's deductive abilities quite well, he was analyzing Nnoitra and came to the conclusion that he would at some point do something against you in a cowardly way, it's as if he could sometimes see the future... But his whole plan was based on assumptions and his intuition. Tell me, how would you react if he had told you his plan from the beginning, and he told you that his whole plan had no real foundation, that it was only based on his intuition as to distrust Nnoitra?" To that she didn't seem to know what to answer.
"I'll tell you again, he doesn't consider you weak, he just acted based on his feelings for you and didn't want to stress you out unnecessarily." She seemed to calm down a bit, but her frown still wouldn't come off.
I gave a big sigh and said.
"Fine, if you need this so badly, then let's do it." I said that while taking out my Zanpakutō.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"You need to get all that anger out of you, then fight me, consider it a... Training." That last I said rather lazily, apparently I'm not going to be able to rest anytime soon.
She stared at me for a few seconds, but then she pulled out her Zanpakutō and stretched out her arms while holding her sword in front of her and did something I didn't expect.
"Declara, Gamuza." A huge blast of pinkish colored Reiatsu was released, this caused me to cover my face and move away from her as I was quite close to her at the time of her release.
The release of our respective Resurrections are quite destructive, even Nelleil who has a better control on her Resurrection, now that she is much more powerful than when she just became Arrancar, now she too wreaks great havoc at the time of releasing her true power.
After she controlled her power, she reappeared with her Resurrection released and I said.
"You know I don't have Lilynette with me to release my Resurrection too, right?"
"Consider it retaliation on my part for not letting me know about Goeritz's plan." she didn't seem so upset now, but she certainly seemed quite uneasy about venting and hitting me.
"What is it that Goeritz always says? Oh yeah... Fucking shit luck."
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POV Nelliel.
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It had been several days since I trained with Stark, we spent a whole day training, or well, Stark spent most of the time dodging my attacks. After that, I haven't seen him in all this time, I think he was too exhausted, as he is still asleep in his palace, he always does that after a strenuous training.
After I calmed down and thought with a calm mind, I was able to realize Goeritz's intentions, while I didn't like the idea of him hiding that plan from me, he did it because he cared about me, and he just wanted to save me all that trouble, not because he considered me someone weak who needed to be rescued.
Right now I was in my room, I was reading one of my many books that I have, I have been thinking about how to talk to Goeritz, I had not seen him yet in all this time, he locked himself in his room and from time to time he leaves his room just to fulfill some of his duties as a Espada.
Tomorrow we are due to return to our tours of Hueco Mundo, I think that will be a good time to talk to him and apologize for the way I treated him that day. I have also thought about my feelings for him.
Although I didn't have to think about it as long as he did, since we were Vasto Lorde, I realized that he didn't fit the standards of a Vasto Lorde, he is quite kind despite his bad reputation, he cared about me when I lost control, he was always helping Dondochakka and Pesche, he helped them train and hunt.
He is someone who cares about our welfare, that was why I stayed all this time in his group, his kindness captivated me. Even when Aizen showed us his overwhelming power to intimidate us, he did not give in to it and tried to protect us, even though he knew he had no chance to win.
He always tried to protect us in his own way, that was only reaffirmed by his actions in keeping an eye on Nnoitra and preventing him from doing anything against me.
But he never showed any interest in wanting to form anything more than a friendship with me. That didn't matter to me, to tell the truth, I was fine with that, but after we became Arrancars, his behavior towards me changed, he was more attentive, whenever we were in the same room, he gave me discreet glances, that confused me at first, but little by little we kept interacting in these 20 years, each time he showed more and more interest in me.
And without realizing it, I started to feel a lot of emotions towards him, but even though it was clear that he liked me, I always felt this invisible barrier that did not allow us to move on to something more.
And after Stark explained Goeritz's situation to me, it all made sense, after being so long with some of his emotions turned off, he didn't know how to deal with them, because he hadn't realized that.
While it is clear to me that he likes me, I don't want to pressure him into anything, I am sure he will be able to work out his problem and we can move forward on whatever it is we have now.
"Lady Nelliel." Pesche knocked on the door.
"Come in." I said as I closed my book.
Pesche opened the door and said. "Edrad requests to speak with you."
That made me curious and I told pesche to let him in.
"What brings you here, Edrad?" I asked as he bowed in respect.
"Lady Nelliel, I come on behalf of Lord Goeritz." He said seriously.
I simply signaled for him to continue speaking.
"Lord Goeritz sent me to say that he will not be able to meet with you tomorrow, that he had an inconvenience and he apologizes for that." Edrad really seemed to be apologizing on behalf of Goeritz.
"Does he want to avoid me?" I said out loud without thinking.
While my question was not directed at Edrad, he spoke quickly.
"Of course not, Lady Nelliel. Apparently Lord Goeritz is about to discover something, he looks quite excited about that new discovery and hasn't left his room for several days now." Edrad seemed to be trying to justify Goeritz.
"Discovering something?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, I don't quite know the details, but he has been meditating relentlessly, at times I can feel his Reiatsu increase but he quickly suppresses his power so as not to affect anyone near him."
(Strange, does this have something to do with the mythical Segunda Etapa that Goeritz says exists?) Was my only thought.
Apparently Edrad misinterpreted my silence, as he said in a comforting tone.
"But don't worry Lady Nelliel, I have spoken to Lord Stark on behalf of Lord Goeritz to accompany you on tomorrow's patrol."
"You managed to wake Stark?" I asked somewhat surprised, waking Stark is already a great feat on its own.
"It wasn't easy, and I needed Lady Lillynette's help. But in the end we managed to wake him up and I was able to give him Lord Goeritz's message. Lord Stark was not happy but in the end he agreed to accompany you thanks to Lady Lillynette's influence."
"I see, thank you for warning me." I said in a parting tone. He just bowed a little in farewell and withdrew without another word.
I still had some doubts about what Goeritz was doing but Edrad didn't seem to know anything more than what he told me. I will have to wait until Goeritz finishes whatever he is doing to talk to him.
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The following day.
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I was standing at the entrance to Stark's palace, I was waiting for him to come out so that we could begin our search for powerful Hollows. Stark came out scratching the back of his head while Lillynette followed behind him.
"What are we supposed to do?" Stark asked with a yawn.
"Usually Goeritz uses his power to draw information from large Hollows Groups and we go where there are rumors of powerful or prominent Hollows. Then I take it upon myself to negotiate with them and explain the benefits of evolving into an Arrancar." I explained to Stark.
"But I'm not Goeritz, and I don't have his power to extract information. I think I'd better not go since I wouldn't be of any help..." But before he could speak further, Lillynette kicked him in his shin.
"You're just looking for an excuse to go back to sleep! Stop being so lazy and do something worthwhile for once in your life!" Lillynette yelled at Stark as he groaned at the kick she gave him.
It's always funny to see a girl like Lillynette scold someone like Stark.
"Well, let's not waste time, I have some leads we can follow up on, they are some leads we left unfinished in the last exploration with Goeritz." At that they stopped fighting and simply followed me out of Las Noches.
After a while Lillynette asked me.
"What kind of track are we following?"
"It's the track of a Hollow Vasto Lorde type."
"A Vasto Lorde?" Lillynette asked in surprise.
"Yes, it is said that every Hollow that has faced him has an assured death."
"As you would expect from a Vasto Lorde." Stark said as we continued walking.
"Well, yes, but remember that not all rumors are true. A clear example of that is Goeritz." I said as we kept walking.
"Well... In theory... The rumors about Goeritz aren't entirely false." Stark said scratching his head.
"What?" I asked incredulously at what Stark said.
"Don't take this the wrong way. We both know Goeritz isn't the ruthless, bloodthirsty Arrancar everyone thinks he is. But..." Stark paused dramatically.
"But?" I asked, squinting.
"The feats he's done, the amount of Hollows he took out before we met? That's all true." Stark said as he avoided my gaze.
"But we both know that was because he spent much of that time with some of his emotions turned off. His actions were not entirely rational." I said in Goeritz's defense.
"I know that. And I will never judge Goeritz for what he did, after all, all of us have done the same thing to get to where we are now." Stark defended himself.
"But what I'm trying to say, is that sometimes rumors have some truth to them. So we can't go looking for that Vasto Lorde carelessly or without a plan." Stark explained his thinking.
Understanding what Stark meant, I said with a slight smile.
"Now I see why you get along so well with Goeritz, your way of thinking is a bit like his."
"What?" both Stark and Lillynette asked in confusion. Or well, Lillynette gave more of a shout than a question.
"Stark looks like Goeritz?! You're kidding, right?! How the hell does Goeritz look like this slacker?!" Lillynette looked indignant at the comparison.
"Hey Lillynette, why the hell are you getting all indignant like that!" Stark asked offended.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH?! you're still asking, Why?! Goeritz is literally your polar opposite, he's hard working, he trains more often, he's a good leader, he does use his head to think..."
"Alright! That's enough! We get it!" Stark now said with clear annoyance.
Watching the interaction of those two, I simply started laughing.
"Stark is right, Lillynette, that's enough." I said more calmly. "But you don't have to be so hard on him. What I meant by the two of them being alike is that Goeritz also tells me that we should always have a backup plan whenever we go after a powerful Hollow."
Lillynette didn't know how to respond to that. But after a few minutes of silence, she said.
"Well... Something good must come out of Stark spending time with Goeritz. I can see he's a good influence on him after all."
Stark simply rolled his eyes in annoyance, and I laughed lightly. Lillynette is quite funny as a little girl at times.
"That sounds like something Goeritz would say." Stark said with a slight smile.
"That reminds me of when we first met Goeritz." Lillynette said with a smile.
"Yeah, how was that?" I asked curiously, when I first met them they already seemed to be good friends. But I never asked them how they met.
"Goeritz just came up to us and offered to be our friend." Lillynette summed it all up quite simply.
"Is that how it happened?" I asked Stark.
"Partly... Yes. But more happened at that meeting than Lillynette was aware of." Stark explained.
"For one thing, he didn't arrive alone. He literally came with a small army and left them some distance away in case things didn't turn out as he planned." Stark said as he looked up at the sky. Apparently he was recalling his meeting with Goeritz with nostalgia.
"And how's that?" I asked curiously.
"Just like Goeritz, we had a bad reputation... Because we couldn't control our power like now, whenever we arrived at a new place, we caused the death of all the Hollows around us because they couldn't stand our spiritual power. That only generated the rumor that we eliminated all the Hollows just for fun."
Both Lillynette and Stark looked sad at the memory.
"But apparently Goeritz thought otherwise, so he came up with a plan to get close to us and see what kind of Hollows we were." Stark paused slightly in his story as Lillynette interrupted him.
"He was the first one not to die, he just walked up to us and sat down next to us with no problem. It was really amazing to see someone not die from our spiritual pressure." Lillynette said with joy.
"I was a little wary at first, as he was a Vasto Lorde, and a Hollow doesn't get to be a Vasto Lorde by being friendly to others, not to mention that he came with a small army to the limits of where our power reached. We came to an agreement to form an alliance, but little by little he was proving that he was no ordinary Hollow, he didn't think like the other Hollows."
Stark again paused as he was interrupted by Lillynette again.
"He took care of me and played with me when I was bored. He helped us control our power and now we have a pack because of him." Lillynette said again happily.
"While he sought power, he didn't do it to dominate others, nor did he seek to subjugate others like Barragan or Aizen did. He simply wanted to gain power, to have a quiet and uncomplicated life. -If you are powerful, few beings will dare to bother you- was what he once told me ... And yes, Lillynette is right, he offered us so many things with nothing in return that it seemed unreal." Stark said with a slight smile.
"But that's what makes him so different from the other Hollows, Goeritz's nature is more benevolent than any Hollow I've ever known. And that's why we owe so much to Goeritz, he brought us out of our loneliness, he gave us a quiet life, he gave us something to protect, he gave us what we always longed for without asking for anything in return, a pack... And that is why I am in favor of the Goeritz plan, that when the time comes, we will eliminate Aizen... Because he threatened our pack, our friends, and because we are just a disposable tool for Aizen."
That last he said more seriously.
Stark was right, Goeritz never asked me for anything in return when it was just the seven of us, in fact he even helped Pesche and Dondochaka in their training and hunting without asking for anything in return. Even when I lost control in my hunger frenzy, he restrained me until I regained control and never reprimanded me for it, never told me that I was a threat to others. He just went about his business as if nothing bad had happened.
"No doubt Goeritz is a rather unusual Hollow, isn't he?" I said with a big smile.
To that both Stark and Lillynette nodded with a smile as well.
We walked around for quite a while following the clues I had gathered with Goeritz, but just like the past times, we found nothing.
"This is boring!" Lillynette said as she lay on her back in the sand.
Stark took this opportunity to sit on a nearby rock and say.
"Lillynette is right, we have been walking for hours and have found no trace of this supposed Vasto Lorde."
I just gave a sigh of resignation. Certainly this search is proving to be a failure. I was about to say to return to Las Noches, when suddenly several presences appeared not far from us, apparently they were fighting.
We approached out of curiosity in a high area to see more clearly. To our surprise, the ones fighting were two Adjuchas against 8 other Adjuchas.
Apparently the two Adjuchas are strong, as they were keeping their opponents at bay quite efficiently, judging by the tone of voice, the two of them are Adjuchas women, they control the fire element and lightning element.
Their appearances reminded me of a kind of komodo Dragon. One had red tribal markings and the other blue. They were good at fighting and had good combat speed.
They were fighting bravely and were managing to push back those Adjuchas. The attacks were coming and going non-stop, they were fast and precise, their combined attacks were making it impossible for the other Adjuchas to get close to them.
But it all started to go wrong when two more Adjuchas sneaked up behind them and attacked them cowardly.
I didn't like that, but to my surprise, Lillynette went on the attack, cutting off the head of one of the Adjuchas with her big sword.
"Attacking from behind is cowardly!" She said angrily.
The Adjuchas reacted quickly and attacked Lillynette with several Ceros. But those attacks couldn't get close to her as Stark stood in front of her ,and with his pure Reiatsu, deflected all the attacks.
Before the Adjuchas could do anything else, Stark increased his Reiatsu all at once and made all those Adjuchas fall to the ground with the sheer pressure of his power. When it comes to protecting Lillynette, Stark doesn't hesitate to unleash his power.
The two Adjuchas women were slowly beginning to retreat, but I appeared in front of them and said in a reassuring tone.
"You are no longer in trouble".
The two Adjuchas women looked at me apprehensively. They didn't trust me and I didn't blame them for that.
"We are not going to hurt you. We're friendly." When I said that Stark and Lillynette came up beside me to check on the two Adjuchas women.
"Why did you help us?" The Adjuchas woman with the blue tribal paintings asked Stark.
He didn't expect them to ask him anything, as he just sat there for a few seconds trying to think of something.
"It was Lillynette's idea, I only protected her." He said as he pointed at Lillynette.
"I don't like it when in a fight they cheat and attack in a cowardly way. So I decided to teach them a lesson." Lillynette said as she puffed out her chest with pride.
"What are your names?" I asked them.
They looked at each other again and said after a minute of silence.
"My name is Yang." The Adjuchas woman with the red-colored tribal paintings answered.
"And my name is Ying, we are sisters." The Adjuchas woman with the blue-colored tribal paintings said next.
"You guys looked cool fighting with those cowards. You were doing -GHAAAAAAAA- with lightning and fire, and they were just doing -AAAAAAHHHHHH-" Lillynette said excitedly.
We just watched her as she made her gestures while describing the fight just now. Apparently Lillynette's attitude eased the tension in the atmosphere a bit and both Ying and Yang seemed to relax a bit.
"You are Vasto Lordes?" Yang asked with some curiosity.
"Once upon a time we were, yes." I replied politely.
"Were you?" Ying asked in confusion.
"In the past we were Vasto Lordes, but now we are Arrancars." Stark explained a bit.
"We thought that was just a legend. A myth for the more gullible Hollows who still hope to have a human form again." Ying said muttering with her sister.
"Becoming an Arrancar is complicated without help, but if you come with us, you can become Arrancars too, you will no longer be bound by hunger and instincts again." I offered them to join us.
They looked at each other again for a minute and Yang said with some suspicion.
"How will we know it's not a trap?"
Stark just looked in the direction where the Adjuchas who were still on the ground, and looked at her again. The message was clear, if we wanted to, we could kill them without them being able to do anything about it, but instead we are offering to help them.
They looked at each other understanding Stark's message, and after they muttered to each other, they agreed to go with us.
At that, Stark stopped putting pressure on the other Adjuchas and said.
"Get out, I don't feel like killing unnecessarily."
One of the Adjuchas was foolish enough to attack him again. That annoyed Stark a bit, and he put so much spiritual pressure on that Adjuchas that it literally disintegrated before it could even get close to Stark.
Stark then looked with annoyance at the other Adjuchas, daring them to do something against him as well, but they quickly escaped without looking back.
Ying and Yang were dumbfounded to see such a display of power, they looked at each other again and nodded in confirmation, as if they were reaffirming their decision to go with us.
"Well, that problem taken care of, let's go back to Las Noches." I said more calmly.
Ying and Yang started walking behind Stark as if he was their leader, apparently they were captivated by Stark's power. That's not surprising, the Hollows follow those with power, and Stark is powerful in his own right, not for nothing is he the Primera Espada.
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A few days earlier.
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POV Aizen.
"Well, what were the reasons for your actions?" I asked Shen from atop the throne.
Shen looked me straight in the eye without hesitation, he is the only one who does that, the other Swords simply duck their gaze and act cautiously or in a submissive manner.
But him? He has never demonstrated such behavior. That's certainly intriguing to some extent. The room was silent as he sorted through his thoughts to explain his actions.
"Well, don't you have anything to say before Lord Aizen?" Kaname said annoyed. Kaname's patience certainly is short.
Shen now looked at Kaname, but he didn't look at him with annoyance, he looked at him with... Pity? Shen always does that, when he sees Kaname or Yin, he always sees them with a completely different emotion than hatred or annoyance. It's as if he pities them somehow.
"The reason is simple, Lord Aizen... Nnoitra was not fit to be part of the Espadas." Goeritz said calmly.
"And for that you needed to kill Nnoitra?" Kaname asked with annoyance.
"Yes." Shen answered without a second thought.
"Insolent! Without a moral basis to justify it, killing becomes vile... Murder!" Kaname said with annoyance.
"Never mind Kaname, the truth is I'm not annoyed. I'm sure Shen will be able to explain in more detail the reasoning behind his actions, won't you?" I said calmly looking in his direction.
"As I said, Nnoitra was not fit to be part of the Espada, he was cowardly, treacherous, without honor, and he conspired against his own comrades, and consequently... He conspired against you in trying to weaken the army you are forming, Lord Aizen. Is that justification enough, Kaname?" Shen looked at Kaname in defiance.
"But your actions also weakened Lord Aizen's army. Nnoitra was still among the strongest Arrancars in The Nights regardless of his honorless actions as you say." Kaname argued pointing out the deficiency of Shen's argument.
"That is where you are wrong, Kaname." Shen quickly replied.
"What?" Kaname looked confused for a moment.
"Unlike Nnoitra, who guided his actions out of a simple feeling of inferiority and unwarranted spite. I guide my actions in protecting the Espadas who can truly bestow strength to our ranks, or who do not hinder our progress... So I already have Nnoitra's replacement and he is justly stronger than Nnoitra himself." Shen looks confident. As was to be expected of him.
Kaname did not know how to respond to Shen's argument. So I said.
"And who would that Espada candidate be?" I asked feigning ignorance.
Shen paused to look at me again, it was clear he was analyzing my expressions. It's hilarious how Shen thinks he can decipher my expressions, or that he can even understand even a glimpse of my plans.
He created a feather in the palm of his hand, and made it begin to flicker between white and red. Apparently it was some sort of signal to Dordoni who was waiting outside the throne room.
It didn't even take 30 seconds for the door to open, and as I expected, Dordoni quickly walked in and bowed in front of me.
"I'm sure you already know Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio." Shen introduced him.
"Your candidate to replace Nnoitra is a Privaron Espada?" Kaname asked almost offended by such a comparison between a Espada and a Privaron Espada.
"Please, Lord Kaname. Let me show Lord Aizen and you my worthiness that I am worthy of becoming a Espada again." Dordoni said in his own defense.
"Your worthiness has been proven before, and that is why you are a Privaron Espada." Kaname tried to cut off Dordoni's hopes.
"As I had already told you, you are wrong, Kaname." Shen spoke on Dordoni's behalf.
Kaname was starting to get angry with Shen, as he started to raise his Reiatsu little by little.
"Then explain yourself." Kaname said with annoyance.
"Release your Reiatsu, Dordoni." Was all Shen said.
Dordoni hesitated for a second, but with a determined look, he stepped in front of me and Kaname.
"Please see my new potential." Dordoni said respectfully.
Dordoni began to release his Reiatsu causing Kaname to be surprised, as he did not expect Dordoni to release so much power. When he finished, the Reiatsu that Dordoni emanated, was superior to the power that Nnoitra had.
(So this is what you have accomplished with your experiments, Shen.) I thought curiously. I was already aware of Shen's attempts to increase the power of his companions for when the war comes. To think that he managed to increase the power of a Privaron Espada to that of a new generation Espada.
(There is no doubt that your power is really useful to me. I was not wrong in saying that you would be a great addition to my army, Shen. Your drive to protect your comrades is increasing the strength of my army, just as I planned).
"Well, as I see that your intentions were justifiable, I'll let it go for this time... And Dordoni, as I see that your power is now greater than Nnoitra's, you will take his place as sword number 7, don't waste this new opportunity." I said with a slight smile.
"Thank you Lord Aizen, I swear I will not disappoint you." Dordoni said as he knelt down.
Goeritz simply bowed a little without saying anything as a sign of thanks. Then the two of them withdrew to leave me alone with Kaname who has an annoyed expression.
"Lord Aizen, not to go against your decisions, but I think we should give Shen a punishment. There are already rumors among the Arrancars that Shen is someone ruthless even among his peers. Letting him get away with it will only cause chaos within Las Noches, even one Arrancar has already defected." Kaname bowed in petition.
"That won't happen, Kaname. In fact it is quite the opposite, Shen's presence in Las Noches brings everyone under control. No Arrancar dares to generate chaos or conflict within Las Noches for fear of attracting Shen's attention. And because Shen is under my command, no one dares to want to betray me for that very fear of Shen's retaliation." I explained how it is that Shen is a rather useful pawn.
"But Lord Aizen, giving Shen such impunity will only cause him to consider himself untouchable and could cause more trouble. We have known from the beginning that Shen's nature is chaotic, at any moment he can turn against us if he sees weakness in us." Kaname argued his reasons why he distrusts Shen.
"I know, but he won't do that." I said confidently.
"How can you be so sure, Lord Aizen?" Kaname really wants to understand my reasoning.
"Shen's motivation is to protect those he considers his allies, all the actions Shen has done were because his allies were in danger or in conflict. When he confronted me several decades ago, it was because I threatened them with my power, and he did not hesitate to confront me. In Shen's eyes, I threatened the stability they had at the time." I paused slightly to see if Kaname was understanding my explanation.
"The times he eliminated other Hollows, it was because he was looking for ways to strengthen his allies. Nnoitra and Szayelaporro made the mistake of belittling Shen's analytical skills, those two at all times were thinking that no one would know about their plans to eliminate Nelliel, but in reality, they were always playing by Shen's rules at all times."
"That's why I say we should put a limit on Shen's actions, he's not like the others Espadas, if he sees it necessary, he can even turn against us." Kaname still doesn't understand apparently.
"Kaname, I'll put it more simply, Shen's motivations are simple, he just wants to protect his allies and have an uncomplicated life, kind of like Stark. Only unlike Stark, Shen is willing to eliminate anyone who dares to threaten the livesqof his allies." I paused to see if Kaname was going to say something, but seeing that he is still listening intently to what I say, I continued speaking.
"Shen won't betray us because we are his only option to keep his allies and have a relatively peaceful life. But... Do you know who are the ones who will threaten that stability in the future?" I asked.
"The soul society." Kaname answered quickly.
"That's right, I gave him everything that Shen wanted, so that he will defend all of that and thereby strengthen our army and eliminate future rebellions there may be among the Arrancars because of Shen's reputation. And when the time comes, when the soul society threatens the lives of Shen's allies and Shen himself, he will not hesitate to eliminate the soul society." I said with a slight smile.
"But he is not loyal to us. He only sees his own interests." Apparently Kaname doesn't trust Shen at all.
"I don't need him to be loyal, I just need his power and his interests to be aligned with our plan. As long as he continues to fulfill his role, then it doesn't matter if he eliminates a low level Espada, what matters is that he is willing to strengthen my army of Arrancars. And by the time the time comes, Shen will be a good tool to stand up to the soul society." When I finished saying that, Kaname looked somewhat calmer. Apparently he finally understood that I don't trust Shen just as he doesn't trust us, and that he is just another tool in my plan.
So I have already contemplated that even if Shen is not loyal to us, he will continue with our plan to confront the soul society, since we are his only option to survive for whatever is coming in the future.
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POV third person.
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Nelliel was sitting quietly reading her book, it had been a week since she had gone exploring with Stark. In all that time she hadn't been able to see Goeritz, he hadn't left his room. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't want to be a bother and interrupt whatever Goeritz was doing.
So she decided for the moment to be patient and wait until Goeritz finishes his project.
But she was snapped out of her thoughts when the feather Goeritz gave her started flashing red and white, Goeritz was supposed to have given them that feather only to be activated for emergency meetings.
She didn't hesitate twice and headed for the place the three of them had set as a reference point to open a Garganta.
"Pesche, Dondochaka, I have something to do, take care of the palace and stay out of trouble." Was all she said before disappearing with a Sound.
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Stark was lying among a pile of pillows as he tried to rest. But he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, and when he raised his head, he saw two women watching him from the doorway of his room.
One of them had blue hair and the other had red hair. They were the Adjuchas they saved just last week, since the two of them became Arrancars, they haven't left him alone.
Apparently they made the decision to appoint themselves Stark's Fracciones. Of course he refused to accept them as his Fracción, but Lillynette made the decision that they would be good companions, and ignoring Stark's decision, Lillynette accepted them and since then they have been living in the palace.
This is nothing more than an inconvenience, since they don't leave him alone for a minute. That wouldn't be a problem, except that Lillynette got it into their heads that I shouldn't be lying down for so long.
between the three of them, they are nothing but a headache that won't let him sleep for more than 2 days. When he exceeds that time, Lillynette, Ying and Yang come and don't leave him alone until Stark goes for a walk or does something other than sleep.
(How the hell does Goeritz or Nelliel control their Fracciones?) That was all Stark could think of.
"Lord Stark, please, it's not a good thing for Espada Number 1 to lie around all day, please go out and get some exercise." Yang said respectfully.
Stark gave a tired sigh and sank back into his pillows.
"Stark, it's time to do something other than sleep!" Lillynette came out of nowhere and yelled in his ear.
"Leave me alone, Lillynette. I don't feel like going out today." Stark said lazily.
"So that's what you want to do huh? You leave me no choice. You know what to do." As Lillynette finished saying that, a blue-haired girl came out from between the pillows and said.
"I'm sorry, Lord Stark, but this is for your sake." She held Stark with her Zanpaku-tō/whip, and she gave him an electric shock to lift him up for good.
"AAAAHHHHHH! Lillynette! What the hell have you been teaching them!" Stark said annoyed, in pain and irritated that they won't let him sleep peacefully.
"I just taught them what to do when you don't want to get up." Lillynette said with a shrug.
But Stark was interrupted from what he was about to say, when he felt something activate. He quickly held up the feather Goeritz gave him and saw how it was flashing red and white.
Lillynette saw that too and the countenance of both of them changed.
"Ying, Yang, we have to retreat, stay and guard the palace." Stark said in a serious tone.
"Please Lord Stark, let us come with you, we promise not to be a bother." Yang said as she knelt down in petition.
"I'm sorry, but this is something we have to do on our own." Lillynette said just as earnestly as Stark.
The feather is only supposed to be activated in times of emergency, whatever happened, it's important enough for Goeritz to call them in so suddenly.
"This is not up for discussion, we stand down." Was all Stark said before disappearing with a Sonido along with Lillynette. Ying and Yang couldn't do anything in the face of that, as they can't keep up with Stark's overwhelming speed, so reluctantly they were left to guard the palace.
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Both Stark and Nelliel arrived almost at the same time at the agreed place.
"So . Do you know what's going on?" Stark asked somewhat confused.
"I don't know, but it has to be important for Goeritz to call us so suddenly." Nelliel said seriously.
"Hey, I think we should go in there." Lillynette pointed to a Garganta not far from them.
Both Stark and Nelliel saw the Garganta and did not hesitate to enter. Inside was Goeritz sitting in a meditative pose.
After they entered, the Garganta closed without warning.
"Has something happened, Goeritz?" Nelliel asked as he approached Goeritz.
Goeritz opened his eyes, and said with a smile.
"Are you ready to learn the Segunda Etapa?"
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End of chapter.
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Well, I know it's been a long time... A lot of things happened, I no longer have a laptop, work absorbed me, I had a lot of personal and financial problems, etc. Etc.
Not to mention the huge writer's block I got, when I technically lost all my notes on this story when my laptop stopped working, so I had to write this chapter from scratch and the truth with very little desire to write.
So my mind started to wander and think of new stories to distract me, that without realizing I already had new versions of this story, that's why I asked you, my readers, for your opinion.
Your kind words encouraged me and I went back to writing this story, you have no idea how good it is to read your reviews and see that our stories are really appreciated.
That's why I insisted on writing this somewhat long chapter. I also decided to follow my original thoughts and not to rewrite this story, I will only try to correct as best I can the spelling mistakes and I will add some new scenes to the previous chapters, they won't be big changes, they will only be small details that I think will enrich a little more the story of our MC.
This chapter was a bit quiet, but it was also focused on how other characters see Goeritz, their motivations to follow Goeritz's plan and the power play going on in Las Noches. I hope you liked it as I did because of the information that was given and how our MC is seen in the eyes of others.
And with respect to our MC's motivations, they're going to be going along as the story progresses and he'll start to rethink what he really wants.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to reading your reviews, reviews are food for the soul of a Fanfiction writer.
See you in the next update, a little spoiler, I think there is only one more chapter left to get to canon.