Amity Blight, the Soul Reaper currently stationed in Gravesfield, was sent to investigate the rapid disappearances of the Hollows. Normally this wasn't a bad thing but given that there weren't any Soul Reapers in the area during the time of those disappearances, it was cause for Soul Society to look into it. Little did she know her investigation would turn up some things that the Soul Reaper wasn't prepared to deal with.

The – possible – reincarnation of her former friend back in Soul Society, who was now human and was a "Fullbringer", a human with supernatural powers. A Quincy prodigy, that was also the son of a witch and possessed magical abilities apart from his own Quincy powers.

But certainly, by far, the most distressing discovery she made while in this town was when she met a girl named Luz Noceda. At first, she thought this girl was just a human, but soon found out that she was not. Luz was in fact an Arrancar, one of the most powerful types of Hollows ever recorded in Soul Society's history. But unlike the rest of her kind, Luz did not display any of the predatory tendencies towards humans or souls, in fact, the only time she showed such tendencies was when she actively hunted and consumed other Hollows. It was later that Amity learned, from Luz herself, that she was once human, and that she was transformed into a Hollow. Now that newly minted Arrancar protects the town she once lived in, and her loved ones. Which answered the question as to what was causing the Hollows that appeared in Gravesfield to disappear almost as soon as they appeared.

For weeks Amity had been struggling with what she should do with Luz. For those weeks, she thought Luz was plotting some evil scheme, and tricking everyone into believing she was human, but over time she found out that the Quincy, Gus, and Fullbringer, Willow, knew Luz before her transformation into a Hollow, with the former confirming that she was a wandering soul for a time before her conversion.

So many questions rang through Amity's head, and still do. Luz had told her that she didn't know how or why she was able to become a powerful Hollow, the circumstances behind her evolution and transformation were shrouded in mystery, even to Luz. But eventually, Amity decided that the best course of action was to not eliminate Luz. The Arrancar presented too much of an opportunity to study, as Soul Society had very limited knowledge when it came to them. Mostly due to the fact that not many Soul Reapers who encountered an Arrancar lived long enough to report any useful information.

"That being said, this is great opportunity for me, and for Soul Society as a whole, to learn as much as possible when comes to Arrancars such as yourself, Luz," Amity explained.

Currently, the two girls were sitting in Amity's room. Amity had brought in a whiteboard with some markers to write with, while Luz sat on the edge of Amity's bed, looking a little bored, fascinated, but still bored, and annoyed as well.

"You know, when you called me to come over, I thought were going to do something fun. Like, maybe, hang out like a couple of normal teenage girls? Well normal-ish anyway," said Luz.

"Luz, focus, this is important. Captain Dairus approved my request to change my mission from elimination to research. And if I don't make an attempt to learn more and obtain useful information, then I may not be able to keep them away. If I'm being honest, your way of life right now is hinging on whether or not my findings are enough to convince the higher ups to let you live as a specimen to be studied or captured and then studied."

Luz groaned, while she as happy that a Soul Reaper death squad wasn't going to descend on Gravesfield any time soon, it wasn't without its caveats apparently.

"Alright, alright. I get it, so, what do you want to know?" Luz asked.

"For one thing, how did you turn in an Adjucha?" Amity asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't Augustus explain the life cycle of a Hollow to you when you were just a human soul?"

Luz shook her head and answered, "He just told me about how Hollows are made, nothing beyond that. And I never questioned any further than that, not even from Eda."

Amity sighed.

The Soul Reaper grabbed some of the markers and quickly went to work on the whiteboard. Luz watched in fascination as Amity started to draw and write on the board, after about five minutes, Amity put down the markers. The Soul Reaper took a step back and then gently smacked the whiteboard.

"Listen, this is Hollow Evolution 101. As you know, Hollows are formed from souls who linger in the World of the Living for far too long. During that time, their Chain of Fate will gradually start to deteriorate, a process that can take many, many years. Once that happens, the chain will disappear, leaving a dark hole in the soul, they form a mask over their face, and take on a beastly form which varies depending on the subject. This is the standard Hollow. Of course, the other way this can occur, as you've experienced, is tearing your Chain of Fate from your body and hastening the transformation."

Amity pointed to a generic looking drawing of a Hollow.

"The second stage of Hollow evolution comes when the void in a Hollow's heart becomes so substantial that devouring human souls isn't enough anymore. They will then begin to cannibalize other Hollows. This in turn attracts other cannibal Hollows, and a mass inter-devouring occurs. Eventually, they will become a single being comprised of hundreds of other Hollows, these are classified as Menos Grande."

Luz blinked upon hearing this information and replied, "Wow…I didn't know Hollows were this complicated."

"Now, here's where things start to not make sense when it comes to your evolution," Amity pointed out. "As I said, Menos Grade are a collection of hundreds of Hollows. In this state they have two forms, the first one being this one, which we call a Gillian."

Luz looked to the next drawing, which was drawn to scale against the first Hollow drawing. From what Luz could tell, the Gillians were apparently very big, there was even a note written to the side that read "as tall as skyscrapers". The Gillans seemed to have a black sheet covering their body or possibly as part of their bodies. They had a ring of white spikes around their necks, and a bone white mask with a pointed nose.

"They're powerful, but lack any real intelligence, and follow their primal instincts. The other type, is the one you transformed into, given the classification name: Adjucha."

Next to the Gillian drawing was a smaller Hollow, but still relatively bigger than the first one. Next to it was written the note, "varies in appearance".

"These Hollows have greater intelligence on par with human intelligence or greater depending on the individual. And are far stronger than the Gillians. But here's the kicker, have you seen one commonality when it comes to their evolution?" Amity questioned.

Luz felt like she was back in school but considering the subject matter of this lesson pertained to her own being, it was more engaging than other subjects. The Arrancar started to think hard on the common trait between each evolution, and after a minute, Luz arrived at the answer.

"The cannibalizing of other Hollows, right?" Luz asked.

"Correct. This is the key factor in Hollow evolution. Hollows who have had parts of their body devoured can no longer evolve into stronger types of Hollows. Once an Adjucha has devoured enough Hollows, they move into the next stage of evolution, the second most powerful form of a Hollow, a Vasto Lorde."

Amity then pointed to a picture of a Hollow that looked more human than the previous iterations, but still retained a version of its Hollow mask on its face, and bone armor.

"These were previously thought to be the highest evolution of the Hollows and are still some of the most dangerous types. We currently don't know how many Vasto Lorde exist in Hueco Mundo. Previous records stated that there were as many as you can count on one hand, but those records are thousands of years old."

"So…wait, you said previously thought, so you're saying that Arrancars like me are newer?" Luz inquired.

Amity pointed to the next picture, which was made to look like Luz's Arrancar form.

"In a sense, yes, but not by much. To date, only one Arrancar has ever been encountered by Soul Society, and it was through multiple battles with that Arrancar that we learned what we know about them. Many Soul Reapers sacrificed their lives for this information…" Amity sighed, taking a moment of silence for her fallen fellow Soul Reapers. "Arrancars are formed when a Hollow forcibly removes their mask, and the process grants them Soul Reaper powers, making them even stronger than before. It took many Captain level Soul Reapers to take one Arrancar down, but in the end it was done. Now do you understand why your existence is so threatening?"

Luz rubbed the back of her head, she never really thought of herself as "powerful", yeah she was strong, and thanks to Eda's training she has gotten stronger in the year she has been an Arrancar, but she didn't think her powers were beyond that of a Soul Reaper Captain.

"Sorry…Well, now it makes sense why you were freaking out so much about me being an Arrancar. I didn't really understand it, I mean, I get you said I was a 'dangerous type' of Hollow, but I didn't think I was this dangerous. Sorry I kept making light of how much you were worried about everyone," said Luz.

Amity's expression softened a little as she replied, "It's okay. You didn't know, and honestly, my own assumptions and prejudice kept me from seeing how different you were from other Hollows. I just kept wanting to believe that you were a malevolent being, that your whole human act was just that, an act."

"Well, it's not your fault either. You said yourself, you Soul Reapers don't have that much information. And the last time an Arrancar showed up, you lost a lot of Soul Reapers to it. So, I get it, I would be on guard too if something that terrifying was right in front of me."

Amity smiled a little, appreciative of Luz's understanding.

"But as I said, this is where things don't make sense when it comes to how you became an Arrancar. You were originally a human soul and were eaten by a Hollow. By your account, you removed your Chain of Fate, hastening your transformation into a Hollow. But doing so should've transformed you into a standard Hollow, but somehow you jumped all the way into the Adjucha evolution."

Amity punctuated this by using a marker to point to each picture in turn.

"And then, somehow, you became an Arrancar. Just like that."

Luz slumped her shoulders and responded, "I really wish I could tell you more about that time. I know I transformed into an that Adjucha form and burst out of the Hollow. I don't remember what happened after I pulled off my Chain of Fate, but the killing of the other Hollows I do remember. And then, like I said, there was a flash of light, and when I woke up, I was me again, but, obviously, an Arrancar version of me."

Amity wrote down what Luz said, scribbling "unknown cause of initial Adjucha transformation" and "unknown flash of light which led to Arrancar transformation".

"What did Eda say? Did you ever ask her where that flash of light came from? Or even what happened to you during that flash?" Amity asked.

"She was blinded by that same flash, too. When it was over, she said that I was lying on the ground and in my Arrancar form. Nothing more than that," Luz informed.

Amity stared at the whiteboard intently. There was a lot of missing information, but whatever caused the rapid evolution of Luz's Hollowfication, she deduced that this "flash of light" was behind it. But what caused the flash of light was the real question. Whatever this light was, it had the power to make a soul jump from one Hollow evolution to the next without needing to have the requirements met for the evolution to take place.

"Hey, Amity, is this also the reason why I can sustain myself on Hollows and reishi?" Luz asked.

"That's…another thing that puzzles me. You eating other Hollows is not the weird thing, but absorbing reishi to offset for the scarcity of Hollows to eat, is." Amity explained. "Manipulating reishi is a Quincy's specialty, and we Soul Reapers can do it to a degree as well. Your ability to do so wouldn't be out of the question given Arrancars possess Soul Reaper powers. But absorbing it as a means of sustenance? I've never heard of Hollows being able to do that, even Vasto Lorde."

Amity glanced back at Luz, she was starting to think that Luz may not be a typical Arrancar, if there was such a thing.

Maybe she's a unique variant of Arrancar? Or maybe even an advanced evolution of Arrancar? Amity thought. Passively absorbing reishi shouldn't be something they can do, but Luz can. There's also the possibility that this mysterious "flash of light" altered her very being.

"You know, Princesa, you're quite the scientist," Luz noted. "Put on some glasses, and a lab coat, and you'd look very nerd cute."

Amity rolled her eyes and replied, "My father's a Captain in the Thirteen Court Guard Squad. He's the head research scientist of the Soul Reapers, and I guess you could say I learned a few things from him when it comes to research and studying anomalies. Okay, with that being the case, could you ditch your Gigai for now? I want to examine you."

"Ooh~, okay then."

Luz took out a different item instead of her Gikon, since she wasn't out in public, she had no need to use a Mod Soul. Instead, Eda had given her a Soul Badge, an item that could be used to separate the soul from the body. Or in this case, separate Luz from her Gigai. Luz stood up from the bed and pressed the badge against her chest. Immediately, her body was pushed backwards, effectively separating her from it as her Arrancar self continued to stand as her Gigai flopped onto the bed.

While this was going on, Amity began erasing the whiteboard and preparing it for her next round of notes and observations.

"Okay, I thought we could start by examining your skin, or Hierro. From old records the skin of an Arrancar is extremely durable, which I can attest to given that my Zanpakutō couldn't cut through you. Nor was my Shikai able to hurt you."

"Well, I can assure you, despite its toughness, my skin is still soft to the touch, amiga."

"Mmm-hmm, well, I'll make note of that once I – WHAT IN THE HELL, NOCEDA?!" Amity exclaimed as she turned her head away.

"What?"

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"

Indeed, Luz had stripped her body of her clothing, she even managed to dismiss the bone chest plate, leaving only the partial mask that followed the lining of her lower jaw and hooked around her ears.

"You said you wanted to exam my Hierro, you're not going to be able to do that with my clothes on," said Luz.

"I don't – what – you could've just taken off your jacket! You didn't need to get nude!" Amity retorted.

"But don't you want to know if all of me is soft to the touch? I mean my outsides are one thing, but aren't you curious about my insides?"

"UGH! Leave it to you to make what should be a simple scientific exercise into something perverted!"

"Oh, like you're not curious about what a nude Arrancar looks like?"

Amity, out of morbid curiosity, turned her head slightly in the Latina's direction. Luz's body showed considerable toned and lean muscle, honed from her training under Eda, and from her numerous battles against the Hollows that invaded Gravesfield from time to time. Her breasts were quite large, around a C, possibly D. There was nary a scar on her body, undoubtedly due to her Hierro preventing any kind of sharp object from penetrating her skin. For some reason, her heart was starting to pound in her chest, and her face was growing warmer by the second. Amity shook her head and screwed her eyes shut.

"Look, just put some damn clothes on will you!"

"Oh, but Amity," Luz struck a sexy pose as she said, "I want you to draw me like one of your science models~"

"LUZ, PLEASE!"

Luz could see that she was making Amity a little uncomfortable, at which point she sighed and relented. She summoned her chest plate back and put her underwear and pants back on.

"Okay, I'm decent."

Amity cracked open her left eye cautiously and confirmed that Luz had dressed herself.

After taking a breath, Amity said, "Hold out your arms and make a "T"."

Luz did as she was instructed, holding out her arms in a "T" pose. Amity walked over to Luz and began using her hands to feel Luz's right arm, examining it to test how it felt.

"Why do you do that?" Amity asked, her face still red. "Why do you keep messing with me like that?"

"Sorry, I guess it was a little overboard. But you kinda need to loosen up a little more, Amity. I get you have a mission and all, but you could take a minute to enjoy it here," said Luz.

"And you constantly groping me and making perverted jokes and innuendos is your way of doing so?" Amity moved on to examine the bone chest plate. "…Do you like me or something?"

Luz hesitated a little before answering, "Well, I mean, I like you. I thought we could be friends once we were able to get past that whole 'Kill the Hollow!' thing."

Amity shook her head and remarked, "That's not what I meant. Do you have…feelings…for me. Romantic ones?"

"Oh, huh…" Luz thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. I won't lie, I do find you attractive."

Amity's heart skipped a beat, why did it skip a beat?

"But I know I can be a lot. I kind of became this way after getting a new lease on life." Luz's expression fell just a bit. "After what happened to me at that camp when I was alive and human, it felt like all the hope and joy I once had was taken from me. Although they never got to do anything worse to me, just the fact that they very nearly did, changed me. I was so angry, so on edge, that every day felt like I was expecting someone to hurt me."

Amity frowned; she remembered that part of Luz's story. It made her sick when she learned about what happened to Luz when she was still human. And she wished could say that it was the first time she'd heard such a story, but it wasn't. In her line of work, Amity has had to exorcise souls from places that were connected to great trauma for that soul. Some were adults and others were children, and of course, Amity had encountered the souls of children who had met similar fates to Luz, the ones who weren't lucky enough to get away.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," said Amity.

"Don't worry about it, I've moved past that. Anyway, like I said, once I got my new lease on life, I decided to not live like that anymore. I mean, I'm stronger than I was before, nothing can really hurt me. And…I am aware that I'll outlive my friends, but until that time, I want to live my new life to its fullest, without any regrets and without holding back on who I am."

A twinge of jealousy formed in Amity's chest as she turned away and began writing some notes on the whiteboard.

To live your life how you want to…heh…that sounds nice.

"Alright, I think we need to move into more practical testing of your Hierro," said Amity.

"Okay, what does that entail?" Luz questioned.

"Well…"

"You want me to do what?" Gus asked.

Amity, Gus, and Luz had moved into Eda's secret underground training room. Although, calling it a "room" would be a gross understatement. Because the room stretched on for, what seemed like, miles and miles, and even had a blue sky above them. The room also possessed a barren, rocky terrain, with some dead trees, and rocky hills. Eda had called this a "Study Chamber", the only place durable and sturdy enough to take a beating from powerful attacks, at least to a degree. It completely nullified sound and vibrations from exiting the room, so no one above would be able to feel if an explosion went off, not even geophones or seismographs would be able to pick up even a whisper or slightest step. It was here, in this chamber, that Amity wanted to conduct her tests on Luz's Hierro. Amity was in her Soul Reaper form, a clipboard and pen in hand, and next to her was a set of binoculars that were set up on a tripod to peer into the distance,

"Like I said, I want you to shoot Luz with your arrows, Augustus," Amity reiterated.

"You called me here just to shoot my friend? I thought you were supposed to be smart," Gus remarked.

Amity growled a little as she stared down Gus, making Luz intervene.

"Hey, hey, we're all friends now. No more Soul Reapers vs. Quincies, okay? Amity just wants to test out how strong my Hierro is," said Luz.

"Didn't you figure that out when you tried to cut her, repeatedly?" Gus pointed out.

Amity cleared her throat before answering.

"Ahem, well, yes, but at that time I wasn't in a mindset to be taking down notes for scientific purposes. This time I will be, plus, you're not the only one who will be attacking her. After we've tested the durability of her Hierro from long range attacks, I will be attacking her with my sword to test it for close range," Amity explained.

Gus glanced up at Luz and asked, "And you're sure you're okay with this?"

"Hey, it's either this or the alternative. Amity went out on a limb for me, Gus. It's only fair that I do this since she said they would approve her studying me rather than trying to kill me," Luz reminded.

Gus sighed heavily, it was better than the alternative, even if he was prepared fight off as many Soul Reapers as it took to protect his friend.

"Alright, let's do it then."

"Great!" Luz ruffled the hair of her younger friend before putting some distance between them. Once she was far enough away, Luz yelled, "GUS, SHOOT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

"What?"

"She's right, if you don't, then the test results will be meaningless otherwise," Amity affirmed.

Gus sighed again. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his Quincy cross, after focusing, the cross transformed into his energy bow. The young Quincy drew on the bowstring, creating a Spirit Arrow as he took aim at Luz in the distance.

"OH, WAIT, HOLD UP!" Luz yelled.

"WHAT IS IT?" Amity asked.

"SHOULD I BE TOTALLY NAKED FOR THIS? I MEAN, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERY PART OF MEIS INVULNERABLE, RIGHT?"

Amity blushed bright red, and Gus chuckled at the rise that got out of the Soul Reaper.

"GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER, NOCEDA! THIS IS SERIOUS RESEARCH! JUST TAKE OFF YOUR JACKET AT THE LEAST, THAT'S ALL!" Amity yelled.

"SLOWLY?"

Amity growled loudly as she glared down Luz.

"OKAY, OKAY. BEING SERIOUS NOW." Luz removed her white jacket and threw it to the ground as she held out her arms and said, "FIRE WHEN READY, GUSTABAN!"

Amity shook her head and crouched as she peered through the binoculars.

"Ready…FIRE!"

Gus narrowed his gaze as she began launching a barrage of Spirit Arrows at Luz. The blue arrows flew at her, but Luz didn't flinch. The arrows crashed against her body, one after the other, however, not a single one managed to pierce her skin. Strangely enough, her pants weren't getting damaged either, with Amity wondering if the durability somehow extended to Luz's garments at the same time or if the generated clothing was just naturally tough? Amity had Gus continue the barrage for about one minute straight before raising her hand.

"Okay, you can stop now!" Amity ordered.

Gus stopped, dismissing his bow as he put his necklace back on. Amity packed up the tripod and had the two of them walk towards Luz. Once there. Amity placed the tripod on the ground and examined Luz's body. She glanced over Luz's arms, jotting down her observations as she examined Luz's skin closely. She stared at the hands, following the length of Luz's arm to her chest, she glanced up to see if Luz's face was harmed at all, but when she did, she saw that the Arrancar was smirking at her.

"What?"

"Like what you see, Princesa?" Luz asked.

"Ugh," Amity groaned as she continued her visual inspection to the other arm. Afterwards, she went back to Luz's chest, and went down, stopping for a moment to gaze at the Hollow Hole just above Luz's navel.

"Don't stare too deep into the abyss, Amity. After all, it stares back," Luz warned, jokingly.

Amity gave another roll of her eyes as she continued further down, inspecting Luz's pelvis, and then finishing with her legs and feet. Once she was done, Amity jotted down some more notes.

"So, out of the one-hundred and thirty-eight arrows that Augustus fired, none of them managed to penetrate your Hierro." Amity glanced over at Gus and asked, "And you're sure you didn't hold back?"

"Yes, Blight, I shot at Luz with the same killing intent I would to a regular Hollow," Gus affirmed.

"Okay, and it seems that your pants have some high durability as well, otherwise they would've been shredded," said Amity.

"Darn, sorry Amity, guess you aren't going to get a show today after all," Luz teased.

"Seriously! If you're not going to let up with me, at least do so with Augustus around! He is a boy, after all, I'm sure hearing you talk like that is frustrating him on some level," said Amity.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Gus has seen me naked already. Well, half naked anyway," Luz stated.

Amity's eyes widened as she now turned her gaze onto the young Qunicy.

Gus rubbed the back of his head as he blushed a little.

The Soul Reaper returned her gaze to Luz and asked, "Okay, what did you do to him?"

"Wow, you're gonna automatically assume I did something shady?" Luz asked, a little annoyed.

"Considering who you are, yes."

"It was an accident," said Gus.

"Complete accident, and for the record, I do feel bad about it."

"What happened?" Amity asked.

Luz sighed as she said, "It happened like this…"

(2 Months After Becoming an Arrancar…)

Eda, King, Gus, and Luz were in the Study Chamber. The on-the-run Soul Reaper had been teaching Luz how to control her Spiritual Pressure so that Luz wouldn't accidentally vaporize an innocent person or soul. After using some connections that Luz and Gus weren't exactly sure of, Eda was able to acquire a shop, dubbing it the "Owl House". And with her own know-how, she built the Study Chamber underneath to keep her own skills honed, as well as to train Luz.

Currently, Luz was focusing on containing her Spiritual Pressure, bringing it down to the point that it was near undetectable. Between the instruction from Gus and Eda, Luz had managed to suppress it. She struggled at first, but she was quickly getting the hang of it.

"I'm impressed, kid. You learned that fast," said Eda.

"My power is much more impressive, but yours is right up there, Luz," King commented.

"Thanks, King, Eda," said Luz. "I do have one question though."

"What's that?" Eda asked.

"You said my skin, my 'Hierro', is like my armor now?" Luz inquired.

"Sure is." Eda swiftly drew her sword and closed the distance on Luz before slashing across the chest.

"HEY!" Luz gasped as she jumped back, feeling her chest for a cut, but found nothing.

"You're pretty much like a walking armored tank, kiddo. I bet you didn't even feel that did you?" Eda asked.

"Well…no…I didn't. But it still scared the hell out of me!" Luz exclaimed.

"Seriously, Ms. Eda, go easy on Luz, she's not used to this stuff," said Gus.

Eda shouldered her sword as she said, "Well, she's going to have to get used it pretty fast. Now that she's an Arrancar, she's effectively the most powerful Hollow. And that kind of thing is dangerous to Soul Society. If they find out she exists, they'll throw everything they have at her. So, Luz, that means you have to be combat ready in case that ever happens. And since she's no longer human, she needs to get out of that mindset."

Luz looked at Eda curiously as she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not saying you have to give up your humanity or anything. What I meant by that was, you must stop limiting your abilities based on how you were when you were human. You're a Hollow, an Arrancar. You're stronger, faster, and more powerful than any human could hope to dream of. Whatever feats of strength or speed you couldn't do before, now are possible. Things that used to hurt you, can't anymore."

Luz looked down at her chest, she had to admit, Eda had a good point. A slash like the one Eda did to her would've killed her instantly, but now there wasn't so much as a scuff on her body, and she didn't even feel any pain. She did feel the blade hit her, but even that wasn't painful.

"Heh, most of my life I was different from everyone. But now, in the most literal sense, I'm really different now. Not even human," said Luz.

Gus walked up to her and said, "You are human, Luz. You may be a Hollow, but you still have the soul of a human. Hollows are creatures who have forgotten what it was like to be human and have cast that aside. But that's due to many years of being a Hollow, and the process of becoming one. You still know what it means to be human, what it means to live, and the value of a life. So, don't ever think you're not human, Luz. You're human where it counts."

Luz sniffled a little and wiped her eyes as she said, "Thanks, Gus."

"Okay, all this touchy-feely crap is making my allergies act up. Let's call it a day and grab some grub," said Eda.

"Oh, hold on, Gus, can you check something for me?"

"What's up?"

Luz took off her jacket as she pointed at the bone armor chest plate.

"I've been trying to figure out how to take this thing off, but I don't know how."

"Is it bothering you?" Gus asked.

"I mean, not really. Half the time I don't notice it. It's surprisingly flexible despite how hard it feels. But it just feels awkward to have something that stays on me like this sometimes. I get I can't remove the Hollow mask on my chin, but I thought I could at least take this off," said Luz. "Could you see if there's like a hinge, latch, or even a zipper?"

"Sure."

Luz held up her arms as she allowed Gus to inspect the bone armor that encompassed most of her chest. While he did this, Eda smirked and nodded.

"I'm impressed," said Eda.

"Impressed with what?"

"Nah, I mean, I'm impressed that Goops there can even touch you, let alone be around you."

"Why would that be a problem?" Luz inquired.

"Oh, because Hollows are poisonous to Quincies."

"WHAT?!"

Gus had stopped his inspection when he reached the front of Luz, but when he did, Luz's bone chest plate suddenly disappeared. Eda quickly covered King's eyes, although the little Hollow didn't understand the significance of nudity to humans, she at least drilled it enough into his head not to go barging into anyone's room without permission.

Luz realized that the chest plate was gone, and scrambled to try and cover herself, but ended up tripping on her discarded jacket, making her fall forward. Both Luz and Gus screamed as the former fell on top of the latter with a "thud". Luz groaned as she propped herself up on her hands and knees, but when she looked down, she gasped in horror.

"EDA! EDA HELP! GUESS NEEDS HELP!" Luz yelled.

The Soul Reaper quickly made her way over to them, but when she arrived she deadpanned. Gus was knocked out, but his nose was bleeding.

"I KILLED HIM! I KILLED HIM DIDN'T I?! OH GOD, PLEASE, GUS WAKE UP!" Luz cried.

"Calm down, kid. Goops ain't dead."

"How do you know?!"

"Trust me, I know what a poisoned Quincy looks like. And this isn't it. No, the only thing that knocked him out where your girls there, and the sight of them. Poor kid was overstimulated," Eda chuckled.

"Aaaaaand that's how I learned that Gus is immune, so I don't have to worry about making him sick," said Luz.

"Huh, so even you can get flustered," said Amity.

"Of course, I can! I just…It's just really awkward to see someone I consider a big sister in that state of undress," Gus confessed.

"Yeah, sorry, again," Luz apologized. "But at the same time, he's built up a tolerance to my sense of humor."

Amity glanced at Gus again and said, "So long as he's not bothered, I won't bring it up. Okay, now…"

Gus was suddenly handed the clipboard and pen as Amity drew her Zanpakutō.

"You take notes, while I attack."

"Alright, Amity, take that long thing of yours and run me through."

Gus and Amity deadpanned.

For the next test, Gus, Amity, and Luz were outside. Willow was called in, but she was far away from them, as per Amity's request.

"So, remind me what this test is about?" Luz asked.

"We're going to conduct a speed test. Your Sonido, against my Flash Step, against Augustus's Hirenkyaku. We're going to first test how you are at a long distance run, then we'll follow up with high-speed agility, and reaction time to finish," Amity explained.

"Cool, so it's a race," said Gus as he got in a runner's stance. "I look forward to dusting you two."

"Tch, it'll be a cold day in hell when a Quincy outpaces me, Porter," said Amity as she got ready.

However, Luz didn't get into a runner's stance.

"Luz, why aren't you getting ready? It's almost time," said Amity.

"Oh, I thought I'd give you a head start. A little handicap," Luz taunted.

"Not much of a test if we don't start at the same time," the Soul Reaper pointed out.

"Fine, fine. Just don't whine when I smoke you two."

The clock that Amity had put on the roof of the Owl House counted down, and once the appropriate time had come, all three took off at the same time. There was a small sonic boom that thundered through the town from the combined take off of the three, but the people, while curious, didn't seem too bothered by it. The world around Luz, Gus, and Amity blurred as feet turned into inches. Buildings that were far in the distance a moment ago, were now beneath their feet. To anyone else, they couldn't see it. How could they? Luz, Amity, and Gus were moving at such a high rate of speed that they might as well have been invisible, well, technically, Amity and Luz were invisible to anyone who didn't have a high enough level of spiritual awareness, but Gus was still a living being, so yeah.

"C'MON, GUYS, GIVE ME A CHALLENGE! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO RACE!" Luz exclaimed, tauntingly.

"WE'RE TESTING SPEED! IT'S, TECHNICALLY, NOT A RACE!" Amity corrected.

Gus appeared on Amiy's left, his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose as he said, "What's the matter, Blight? Afraid of some competition?"

Amity furrowed her brow, and a moment later, she disappeared and reappeared several feet from where Gus was.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that I've been recorded as having the second fastest Flash Step amongst my Soul Reaper peers? Guess I forgot to, my bad," Amity taunted.

Gus growled in annoyance as he took this more seriously and dashed after her. The Quincy and Soul Reaper were now in a race between themselves, weaving and zipping about as they drew closer to their end goal. Gus and Amity were neck and neck, to the point that they were bumping their foreheads against each other and growling as they fought to pass the other. That's when Luz appeared out in front of them, in a similar relaxed pose Gus was in earlier.

"Not gonna lie, watching you two race is fun and all, but just so you know, you're kind of just racing for second place at this point," said Luz.

The two of them didn't understand what that meant, not at first. But by the time they reached the finish line miles away in the dense forest, they found Willow sitting in a chair she had molded from vines with a stopwatch in her hand.

"Willow, why aren't you keeping time?" Amity asked.

"Because Luz already beat you two here," Willow answered as she held up the stopwatch. "You told me to stop the watch when she got here, and she got here about a whole ten seconds before you two did. She actually went back to check on you two."

Amity and Gus glanced at each other, and then back at Luz who was now standing next to Willow and grinning triumphantly.

"Okay…next test."

XXX

(Later that night…)

Luz and Amity were out together on a Hollow hunt, between Luz's Pesquisa and Amity's Hollow Detector app, the pair were able to locate a Hollow for the next part of Amity's research. She explained to Luz that an Adjucha, Vasto Lorde, or Arrancar eating another Hollow was not a strange occurrence considering that Hollow evolution came from the eating of many of their fellow Hollows. But no one has seen a Vasto Lorde devour another Hollow, much less an Arrancar, up close. So, Amity decided to get an up-close look at the feeding, but before that could happen, they needed to find a Hollow for Luz to eat. And fortunately, they did find one. It had appeared in the dead of night, and thankfully in Old Gravesfield where there were fewer living souls for it to target, but still a good number of wandering souls for it to eat. Currently the pair were watching the Hollow, which looked like a werewolf, from the top of a roof. The Hollow believed it was the hunter this night, but in reality, it was the prey.

"You sure you want to see me do it?" Luz asked.

"Yes, I do."

"I can get pretty…feral when I start eating one, you saw how I was back at the psych hospital," Luz warned.

"I did, but like I said before, I wasn't exactly in a scientific mindset at the time. This time, I'm going to observe your feeding directly, and without interference. Pretend like I'm not here and go about your normal hunting method," Amity insisted.

"You make it sound like you're observing an animal out in the wild," Luz pointed out.

Amity stammered a bit as she said, "Well…I mean…I-I didn't mean to imply–!"

Luz put on a cattish grin as she got on all fours and arched her back a little.

"Do you by chance have one of those kinds of kinks, Princesa?" Luz teased.

Amity deadpanned and pointed her finger harshly at the Hollow skulking around down below, as if to say, "Just go after it already!"

Luz playfully rolled her eyes before – still on all fours – jumping off the roof and dropping down to the streets below, landing like a cat poised to pounce.

"Hey there, big guy!" Luz called out.

The Werewolf Hollow turned around and growled when he saw Luz.

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded.

Luz stood up and replied, "Oh, the one who's going to make you my dinner."

The Werewolf Hollow finally took notice of Luz's Hollow Hole, and upon further inspection, saw part of her mask. The moment he did, the Werewolf Hollow put two and two together and froze in fear.

"Y-Y-YOU, YOU'RE A VASTO LORDE?!" the Hollow gasped.

"Close, Arrancar," Luz corrected.

"ARRANCAR?!"

Amity made note that the Hollow did have the good sense to understand that he was in deep trouble right now.

"I-I-I didn't know this was your territory! I-I'll leave right now!"

"Sorry, not sorry, but the moment you entered my 'territory', you waived your right to live. And I'm not taking the chance you might show up when I'm busy and can't take care of you, so, better to take care of the problem now before it becomes one later!"

Luz used her Sonido to close the distance on the Werewolf Hollow, the poor monster didn't have a second to react as the Arrancar cocked back her right fist and delivered a powerful haymaker to the side of its face. The Hollow was thrown straight to the ground as the street rumbled from the impact. The stunned Hollow groaned, but when he looked to his left, he saw a Soul Reaper standing there with a clipboard in hand. Whether out of desperation, or insanity, the Werewolf Hollow reached out with its left claw towards Amity.

"SOUL REAPER, SAVE ME! PLEASE!" he begged.

"Oh, sorry, I'm not really here. I'm just observing. More importantly, should you really be looking at me when you have more pressing concerns?" Amity asked as she pointed her pen in the opposite direction of where he was looking.

The Werewolf Hollow turned his head, and that's when he saw Luz now standing before him. Amity noticed that Luz's eyes were now glowing bright yellow, just like before. And from what else she could observe, Luz's teeth had somehow shifted from their normal state to sharp fangs. The kind made for tearing and ripping apart one's prey. Luz then began to laugh maniacally as she flexed her fingers and readied to go for the kill.

"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T TEAR OUT MY ENTRAILS AND FEED THEM TO ME!"

"Oh, there's a thought!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH – GARAHAACK!"

Amity watched, with a little bit of horror, fascination, and horror again, at how Luz viciously, and sadistically, gutted the Hollow. She then, as he begged her not to, fed him his entrails before she started eating said entrails, and then the rest of his body. Finally, the Hollow's body started to dissolve in the first bit of mercy that creature was ever going to get. Luz held onto a piece of the Hollow in her hand, with its black blood staining her face, clothes, and hands as she used her left to wipe her mouth.

"You know, you'd probably think, after all the Hollow's I've eaten, I should feel something about killing a creature that was begging for its life. And yet, I still feel nothing."

Amity noticed a small eye twitch that just made her feel uncomfortable. Once the devouring had been done, Luz's eyes returned to normal, and when she next opened her mouth, her teeth were normal as well.

"…Okay, so, that was deeply disturbing to witness. But it was in the name of science, so, I will just have to deal with it. On that note, Luz, are you aware that your eyes glow when you start eating a Hollow?" Amity asked.

"Not really, Gus and Willow said my eyes glow, but I can never tell," said Luz.

"Any changes in your vision?"

"Nope."

"Huh…perhaps it's just an intimidation reflex? An effect to make you look more terrifying and menacing to your prey since you look more human instead of…well…like that Hollow," Amity hypothesized. "What about your teeth? Is it just your front teeth, or do all your teeth become fangs?"

"Oh, that I can tell. And yeah, they do. Bit my own tongue few times before I learned to keep it flat when I start eating Hollows. But then my teeth go back to normal after I'm done," Luz explained.

Amity wrote down what Luz said, along with her own theories.

"This is really fascinating, again, disturbing, but still fascinating."

Luz moved closer to Amity as she used her bloody left index finger to tip Amity's chin upward, making the Soul Reaper freeze as she looked into the eyes of the predator before her.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, I can 'devour' you next, Princesa," Luz offered.

Amity felt a twinge of fear when she heard Luz say that, but at the same time, she felt her face heat up for some reason.

"I'm starting to wonder if you have an abnormally high libido at this point."

"If I do, would you care to help me take care of it?"

Suddenly, Luz found herself staring down the tip of Amity's sword.

"Soooo…that a maybe?"

A couple of days later, Luz and Amity were once again back in the Study Chamber. This was due to the fact that their test was going to be a little more explosive, and destructive in nature.

"Okay, next up I want to see you use your Cero and Bala attacks," said Amity.

"Amity, can we take a break? You've been running me ragged these last few days, and not in the fun way either," Luz groaned.

"Luz, we had two days off so I could compile what I have so far. That was a break," Amity stated.

Luz sighed as she replied, "Fair. So, Ceros and Balas, right?"

"Yes, Expedition and Research Teams have documented Ceros when they're fired from a Menos Grande, and of course, we only have historical records when it comes to Vasto Lorde and Arrancars. I want to see how an Arrancar's Cero compares to a Menos," Amity explained. "You said you practiced firing them in here before, right? So that means that this place can take that level of destructive power."

"Well, yeah, it can," said Luz.

"Good, so, again, don't hold back. Fire at full power, as if you were trying to kill something strong," Amity instructed.

Luz shrugged as she raised her right arm and flexed out her right pointer finger. She drew a circle of light in the air before pointing that same finger at nothing in particular. The circle of light condensed at the tip of her finger, transforming into an orb of yellow light. The energy contained within the sphere fired off in a straight beam of light that generated a small shockwave, making Amity have to brace herself as she saw the yellow beam of light sail to the other side of the Study Chamber before it exploded against the far wall.

"Amazing," said Amity.

Luz felt a little happy to hear Amity say that about her, glad that Amity no longer saw her as a monster that needed to be killed. Well, she was being treated more like a creature to be studied, but considering how things were weeks ago, this as a big step up.

"Ready for a Bala?" Luz asked.

"Yes," Amity readied her clipboard, "whenever you are."

Luz brought up her fists as if she was going to have a fist fight. Yellow colored spirit energy coated her fists in dense orbs of light, and in the next moment, Luz punched the air out in front of her with her right fist. The orb of light was launched incredibly fast, zooming out into the distance before crashing against a rock pillar and shattering it to pieces. Some of those pieces were chunks of stone, so Luz started punching the air quickly as if she was in a shooting gallery, sniping the chunks of rock and breaking them into smaller pieces before they had time to hit the ground.

"So, that's a Bala, just like the books said. A high-speed energy blast, but instead of obliterating the opponent like a Cero does, it punches through them due to how dense it is," said Amity. "Luz, are there any other techniques you can use like Ceros? At least ones that you don't have to activate your Resurrección in order to use?"

Luz paused as she thought about it, but then she grimaced.

"What's wrong?" Amity asked.

"Well…there is one other version I could use, but…"

"But what?" Amity inquired.

"Eda told me never to use it unless it was an emergency, or if my life or someone else's was being threatened by a powerful enemy," Luz stated.

"Why, is it that powerful?"

"It's called a Gran Rey Cero. Basically, in order to use it, I have to cut my finger, mixing my blood with my Cero, and boosting its power to crazy levels. Its speed and power are way above what a normal Cero are capable of, it basically takes the best of both a Cero and a Bala, combines, them, and enhances those best parts times a hundred," Luz explained as she rubbed the back of her head. "I'm probably not explaining it right, but trust me, it's not something I want to use unless I have to."

Amity blinked as she asked, "Did you use it once already?"

"Yeah, but I had to do it far away from the town, and Eda told me to never fire it close to the ground. When I did shoot it, it was weird. The space and air around it twisted and contorted. I honestly don't know if that thing is floating out there in space somewhere, or if it just faded away after leaving the atmosphere. But after what I saw, I could tell that Eda was right, and that I should never fire it at the ground. At least not anywhere populated," Luz explained.

Amity jotted this down, she had never heard of a Gran Rey Cero, but apparently, it was an extremely powerful attack that was too dangerous for Luz to use on any low-level enemy. She had seen her use Balas and Ceros on low-level Hollows without hesitation, but from what Luz described, it was probably for the best that she didn't have her give a demonstration.

"That's okay, you don't have to if it's that dangerous. In that case, we could move onto your Resurrección, I'm curious how it works since it is similar to how we Soul Reapers release our Zanpakutō," said Amity.

"Hey, how about we try an experiment I thought of?" Luz suggested.

Amity immediately deadpanned as she said, "I swear, Luz, if you make this into a dirty joke, or say something suggestive–"

"No, it's nothing like that," Luz assured. "Since you said Arrancars are Hollows who have Soul Reaper powers, doesn't that mean I should be able to use the same kind of spells you do?"

Amity opened her mouth to say "no" but paused. Now that she thought about it, that was a good question. Was it possible for Luz to use Kido Spells? Arrancars were classified as that, but no one had found out how true it was. If anything, they said that because of how Arrancars could use swords like a Soul Reaper's Zanpakutō, and even perform a release like their Shikai and Bankai.

"Huh, I mean, it might be possible? Haven't you asked Eda to teach you any Kido Spells?" Amity inquired.

"Aside from how to put up and open that barrier that keeps people away from my grave? No. I was curious and got even more curious when I saw you shooting off all those spells and stuff when you were trying to kill me. So, I wondered if, maybe, you could teach me?" Luz asked.

Amity hummed as she thought for a moment, was the reason why Arrancars never used Kido Spells due to their inability to do so? Or was it because they hadn't learned any? The only other person they could learn Kido Spells from are Soul Reapers, but was that a good idea? Technically speaking, Luz was still considered an enemy to Soul Society, teaching her even a few of their Kido Spells could grant her knowledge of how their spells work in general, and allow her to counter them if other Soul Reapers had to go against her.

"Why would you want to learn Kido Spells anyway? You already have a plethora of powerful techniques and abilities. And your Resurrección pretty much makes you a magic user, or a 'witch' as you call it," said Amity.

"Because I love magic and fantasy stuff!" Lux exclaimed with wide eyes. "And, yes, when I use my Resurrección, I can perform 'magic', but I don't wanna have to transform each time to use it. And if you haven't noticed, I tend to get a little showy with my fighting when I go into that form."

"True."

"So, if I could learn Kido Spells, I could protect everyone better, and feel like a magical girl at the same time," Luz confessed as she blushed a little.

Amity regarded Luz for a moment, that look in her eyes, and the tone of her voice suggested that Luz was very excited by the idea of learning something close to magic. It was funny, Luz seemed to have an almost childlike wonder and enthusiasm for it. So, for now, she put down the clipboard and rolled up the sleeves of her kimono.

"Alright, class is in session. Let's see if you can perform Kido Spells," said Amity. "But I'm not going to go easy on you. You're going to learn the basics before we move onto actual spell casting, got it?"

"Eeeeeee! Magic Teacher Amity! Let's do it!"

Eda yawned as she made her way downstairs to the basement, once there, she headed for the secret door that led to the Study Chamber further below. The former Soul Reaper went down the flight of stairs before stopping at the final door to the Study Chamber. She had gone down to see if the girls needed anything since it had been several hours since the two had entered. They started early that morning around seven, and now it was three in the afternoon. Luz didn't normally eat since she absorbed reishi passively, but Amity still needed to eat. But when Eda checked on them, she could see that they were in the middle of something. Luz was holding out her hands as a red sphere of light floated before her, she seemed to be struggling a bit, but nonetheless was maintaining it. Amity was standing at Luz's left, arms crossed as she scrutinized Luz's work.

"It's still unstable, Luz. Concentrate, give it form," Amity instructed.

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!" Luz replied.

"Okay, better. Now, repeat the incantation like I told you."

"Right, um, how did it go? Oh, right! Ahem. Uh…Oh Lord, Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter wings, you who bears the name of Man…uh…uh…"

"Inferno and Pandemonium," Amity reminded.

"Inferno and Pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, March on to the south!"

The sphere of red light started to grow bigger and took on flaming red aura.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō (Red Flame Cannon)!" Luz exclaimed.

The red sphere of light grew bigger and bigger and then…it fizzled out into nothing.

"Damn it!" Luz cursed.

"You have to recite the incantation correctly or else the spell will collapse. You can just cast the spell without the incantation, but it'll halve the power of the spell if you do. Kind of a tradeoff," Amity explained. "Perhaps we should go incantation-less for the time being and have you concentrate on casting the spell first."

"No! I want to do this right! I'll memorize the incantation, I promise!" Luz stated as she held out her arms. "One more time, Sensei!"

Amity grinned from being called 'sensei' and replied, "In that case, we'll repeat the incantation ten times together! And then, I want you to recite ten more times without me! After, I want you to cast the spell!"

"Right!"

Eda smiled as she saw their interaction, and she was very impressed. She figured Luz could learn Kido Spells, but she wasn't sure how much she could teach her. Well, that, and her condition wouldn't allow her to use too much of her own power without that happening. Still, this was progress, a Soul Reaper and a Hollow, learning form each other, working together. Granted Luz was a different kind of Hollow, even among other Hollows. It was ironic, the kid was treated poorly because she was different from everyone else, and even when she's become something totally different, she'd even be considered different among Hollows.

I thought it was a cruel joke or curse when she became an Arrancar, but…I don't know. Maybe this all happened for a reason?

For what reason Eda couldn't fathom, but she hoped the answer would reveal itself down the road before anything major went down. Or maybe, it was because something major was going to happen that Luz's transformation into an Arrancar was needed? Eda prayed it was the former.