Pesche picked up Nel again not being willing to take his eye off the child, after losing her in their attempt to help the Reaper it wasn't bad to err on the side of -Sun was a few steps ahead guiding the way while Apacci and Mila Rose for their part stayed behind the group, the visitors got the message, it was too late to retract and flee.
If you ignored the parts that were now in ruins the palace had not changed at all."I guess remodeling wasn't Aizen's strong suit,"the Ex Fracción made that mental note with the intention of relaxing but with little success, if anything had changed it was that the fortress that had once teemed with life, with presences both hostile and submissive flickering in every corner, was empty.
It was sad if analyzed without bias, in the end they were all the same, disposable pieces for the game of someone superior, but from a pragmatic point of view thatloneliness could be beneficial for them. He didn't like having those kinds of thoughts but they were unavoidable, so many years as a survivor makes you appreciate the times when danger decreases. Pesche made a sign of silence and Nel answered by placing both hands over her mouth, she was smiling and with that he knew she wasn't scared.
A flash of energy started to stand out between the walls and with each second it was closer, it wasn't overwhelming in any way, it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasundeniablyhuge. This power showed perfect control and calmness at the same time, like a current, but there was no doubt that with that same control it could destroy everything in its path if so desired.
Sung-Sun opened the door that led to the throne room, Pesche wasn't exactly afraid of meeting that presence, but it was very different now that he was a few steps away,that pressure seeming peaceful didn't change the fact that it was greater than his own and he couldn't help the instinct to companion who until then remained behind also stopped, Pesche looked at him and Dondochakka wanted to cheer him up, but when he remembered his hands busy with Tesla he limited himself to just raise his thumb in support.
"What's wrong with you two!? Move weirdos!" The duo screamed in surprise and rushed to the front with Mila Rose's scream ringing in their ears.
"Sorry 'bout that," Dondochakka apologized to Tesla for the shock, the Fracción was lost in his thoughts and didn't actually notice much of what happened but he still answered "Don't worry."
That scare really was the push they needed, before they knew it they were already facing a female figure standing next to what used to be Aizen's throne. Pesche was able to look at herfor an instant until the only thing he saw was the floor against his face, Nel saved herself by being alert and sneaking out of his armsto where her other brother was.
"Stop looking at her like a moron! Bow!" This time it was Apacci who took it upon herself to keep the outsiders in line. Dondochakka, who had already bowed before his friend received such a blow to the head, said worriedly "That will leave a mark."
"Bowing is not necessary." The woman's voice had a unique tone, it was soft and at the same time inspired respect.
"Master..." Apacci gave her a look of pure admiration before walking back, a complete change of personality.
Sung-Sun was about to introduce the Queen, but upon seeing her approach the group she knew that her Master preferred to do it herself.
"I am Tier Hallibel, Tercera Espada, although with Aizen's absence that title is only a memory," Pesche finished standing up and that was when he could really look at her, she was astunningly beautiful woman"Focus! Everyone depends on what you say now, don't get distracted."
"Surely you already know that part of the story thanks to my Fraccions," her jacket covered half of her face but it was easy to imagine her saying that with a discreet smile,it was obvious that she knew her subjects like her own hand.
"It is my honor, Your Majesty," he was finally able to introduce himself in a proper way, the bow and the mention of the title were spontaneous, not an attempt to gain sympathy "My name is Pesche Guatiche, and these are my companions, Dondochakka Birstanne and Nel Tu."
"Nice to meet you!" Both greeted happily when they were mentioned, the spokesperson of the group was a little doubtful whether it was a good idea to reveal their names, he hoped to be able to fulfill their mission drawing as little attention as possible, but after such a courteous introduction there was no other way than to answer in the same way"Besides, with a group as awesome as us, come on! How could we not be noticed?"
"Likewise. It's still weird to being called Majesty, that was an unexpected decision," she directed her gaze at the wounded Arrancar, she had felt the faint familiar presence since before they crossed the door "Is there anything we can assist you with, Tesla Lindocruz?"
Tesla's eye opened in surprise, questions were to be expectedbut that one left him off guard "No thanks, I'm fine." Hallibel didn't fail to catch the slight wince of pain when he responded.
"Please, one of you take our visitor to the Quinto's palace," those words left Mila Rose and Apacci silent, this was not the type of assignment they would fight to do, but no one was more confused than Tesla. Weren't they planning to get information from him?
Sung-Sun then decided to speak "I offer myself, My Lady."
Hallibel nodded her head in thanks, the two remaining Fraccions couldn't help but smile as they freed themselves from that order so easily, but their comrade whispered something as she passed "Let the children play." It took the girls a few seconds to grasp the mockerybut they could only growl anyway, their Master would not look kindly on them picking a fight when the priority was helping someone hurt.
Dondochakka lowered his gaze looking for Nel before leaving but she now seemed more interested in the conversation between Pesche and Hallibel. After making sure that Nel wouldn't go with him Dondochakka began to follow Sung-Sun without fear, he no longer felt danger, when the door closed he even waved his hand to say hello, the girl was not expecting it but raised one of her sleeves to return the gesture, she already knew that these strangers were atypical.
Nel looked at the Queen with curiosity, something shared with Hallibel since an Arrancar with a childish appearance is something rarely seen, it could even be defined as a phenomenon. Hallibel appreciated her with kind eyes, for reasons beyond her understanding children were capable of awakening her most human side, the little girl watched her thoughtfully until she finally decided to say something.
"She's a very plump and very sexy woman,"Hallibel raised her eyebrow but she actually found the straightforwardcomment amusing, her Fraccions on the other hand wanted to immediately execute the personresponsible for that brat's education, but they decided to hold back to avoid receiving a wake-up call that would also make their absent companion look good.
"What thing!?" Pesche's purple skin glowed red with embarrassment, the last thing he expected was Nel pointingthatout.
It was a bad idea to talk about the good views provided by female Arrancar in front of her, it was a terrible example and Nel had a very good memory. The kid seeing his reaction just continued as if nothing had happened.
"Don't you agree? But Pesche said that women..." Nel stopped mid-sentence, not even she in her naivety could not notice her brother sweating bullets "Did I say something wrong?"
Nel's sad face made him immediately change his priorities, he could never get angry after that "Not at all Nel. I'm fine," Pesche caressed her mask to reassure her. Hallibel silently appreciated being able to witness such a rare type of bond between Arrancar, and even her Fraccions felt their anger fade.
"Your Majesty, I..." He didn't see her angry and that encouraged him to continue "I apologize but I think we already fulfilled our promise, Tesla is out of danger, his wounds were treated by a couple of Reaper Ladies and just seeing him moving around with that huge gash on his chest is proof of their good work. He must feel better after a nap!
Pesche finished the last sentence with a thumbs up and a wink, with each word he regained confidence and his clownish side showed again, it couldn't remain hidden for long to the annoyance of the pair of girls not used to seeing someone address their Lady like that.
"I know it's uncomfortable but I would like you to share what you saw, we missed a lot," the Queen fixed her eyes on him "Would you do that favor for us?"
Pesche could never refuse that request but he regretted not having much to offer.
"Sorry but my friend and I, we arrived late, everything was over. We separated from Nel out of clumsiness and she was present but we don't want to force her to remember. What I can confirm is that besides Tesla, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques and Nnoitra Gilga are alive,also thanks to those Ladies."
"I understand, so there are only three of us left," Hallibel closed her eyes in respect, the Espadas were allies in name only, forced by circumstances, but there was tragedy inwitnessing so many powerful beings simply fall one after another "I knew that Nnoitra survived from the start, if he had died it wouldn't matter if Tesla's wounds were healed, nothing would restore his will to live."
Pesche nodded, their loyalties were in conflict, but he also knew very well the pain of seeing his master on the brink of death for failing their mission to protect. In this regard empathy outweighed resentment.
Hallibel continued speaking "We also owe our lives to the enemy side, especially to Orihime Inoue,the human we held prisoner."
"Orihime is safe! Itsugo did it!.. Everyone is safe." Nel finished the last sentence with a somewhat low voice, showing great relief, but contrasting with the pure happiness of her first words.
"It's a very long story but yes, all this is over. I still wonder why Reapers would bother to help two Espadas who no matter the course of the conflict will not listen to reason. They were not obliged to and it could even become problematic for them later on," Hallibel wasn't the least bit upset that her peers survived, she was just being realistic about the facts.
"It is very strange," Pesche crossed his arms thoughtfully "Maybe Ichigo Kurosaki asked them."
"Nel asked her," both adults focused their attention on the kid.
"Was Ichigo or any of his friends with you?"
"No, Nel was alone."
"Did you talk to an unknown Reaper? That's dangerous," he reprimanded in the tone of a worried father "This time it turned out well. But what if it hadn't?"
"The Lady offered her help, she approached Nel and they were dying, I had to say yes," she looked down trying to defend herself, her brother took a deep breath to calm his nerves, she was safe and that was all that mattered.
"Don't be angry with me Nel, you're right, you did the right thing."
"Did you get hurt too?" Hallibel asked, Nel looked at her stained little hand and then at the stains on her clothes.
"No, this blood is not Nel's, it's his," she said pointing toward the door, referring to Tesla "and Nnoitra's."
Pesche tried to hide how affected he was when he heard that name in the child's voice, but he failed.
"Why do you look so surprised? The brat must have already told you all that," Apacci questioned him without grasping the real reason for his concern.
"She's been through a lot already, we didn't want to overwhelm her. We were planning to talk with her when things calmed down."
"And you didn't interrogate that guy?" The Arrancar continued to press with her questions.
"He was in no condition to speak, it would have been too much, you saw it yourself," he paused, the way he spoke betrayed a certain sadness "Nothing would change anyway, we were only looking to help him and that's what we did."
Pesche was tense, he was straight to the point and didn't look her in the eyes, he no longer seemed like the same chatterbox from a few seconds ago and the Fraccions were beginning to get impatient. Hallibel however did notice that the visitor seemed to be relaxed until the mention of someone in particular.
"I'm sorry for putting this weight on you, as you say it would have been too much for only his body is currently weak, also his mind."
"I expected to be the one to answer any possible question, I'm used to it My Lady, don't apologize," he bowed quite elegantly, returning to his usual charisma "I could say that I'm an expert, it's my role."
The Queen looked at him, and then turned to the little girl "Nel, how about you introduce yourself?" She said pointing to her assistants.
"Yes Nel, you will have fun playing with those kind ladies," Pesche followed Hallibel's words without showing confusion.
"Why you..." Mila left her sentence halfway remembering that this was an order from Lady Hallibel, now she understood the joke of the damn Sung-Sun, she knew this would happen.
"They are not kind, they are evil and scary," Nel said with childish honesty.
"Of course they are not!" He assured animatedly with a singing voice trying to divert her attention.
"They smashed Pesche's head against the floor, they almost broke it like an egg."
"Hmm... about that..." Now he really was cornered, he can't just deny her something she saw.
"Come here kid," Apacci called her swallowing hard, the flames of that old geezer suddenly didn't seem that bad.
"Be at ease if they scare you again I will punish them."
"Okie," with that deal the girl smiled and went with the Bestias.
"The drooling brat just wants to get us in trouble," they whispered among themselves before Nel got close enough to listen. The girls knew that what their Master said about punishing them was a lie but it was still a humiliating order.
Hallibel understood that there were things that Nel should not hear, Pesche stepped forward to clarify with respect.
"The rest only has to do with us, it won't be of much use to you."
"I still want to know, if you agree."
He felt that he could trust, their personalities were different but that woman had an aura very similar to his Mistress Nelliel. Pesche began to reveal their story without any fear.
From the moment she saw him bow Hallibel knew he was no stranger to Las Noches,but she could never have predicted everything mere concept of a cracked mask causing a regression was a lot to take in, they were silent now, with only the distant noises of Nel playing with Apacci and Mila in the back of the room.
"I must sound like a madman, even more if that's possible," he gave a nervous laugh, but he wasn't expecting anything, he was satisfied. "I really appreciate your kindness, even being able to tell you all this helped me to vent."
Hallibel nodded, the other Arrancar took it as a simple courtesyand saw no reason to cause her any further inconvenience "If you allow us to leave Your Majesty we will return to the desert right away."
"You don't need my permission, but it's a sudden thing to say. Are you okay?"
"We've already taken up a lot of your time, and I know it's hard to believe."
"I believe you, every word."
"Do you?! I really screwed up then..."
"Sorry if my silence confused you, I was thinking about everything you said, I was never very expressive anyway."
"Oh, no, no! It was my entire fault your Majesty! I dared to assume your opinion what a lack of respect, I beg your forgiveness." Damn how he cursed that his invisible mouth was so big, he just wanted to disappear.
"There's no reason to get worked up over something insignificant," for the first time Pesche heard her upset, he better regain that composure he kept so well at the beginning, even better than usual, he could do it again.
"No! I said yes, wait, I didn't mean no..." the attempt was an absolute failure "...I better shut up before I ruin it more."
"The reason you helped Tesla get here is because it was an order from her."
"You're right it was an order. We wouldn't have done anything to make his condition worse, but on our own we wouldn't have intervened any further."
"That explains why it affected you to hear Nel say his name."
"Geez, I made it obvious."
"Negative reactions are normal when Nnoitra is involved, you were skillful in quickly hiding what you felt, but that was what gave you away."
"Oh?" He looked up confused.
"Why would you bother hiding it if it wasn't something personal?" he couldn't stop being impressed by her insight "Do you know what happened between them before she became a child again?"
"We didn't have a chance to talk about it, everything happened so fast, from the strength of her Spiritual Pressure I know they had a confrontation, but I don't know any details, what is certain is that she isn't the person who almost killed him, the wounds on Nnoitra and his Fracción were savage, more like those of a beast than a warrior, I'll assume that man finally found someone equal to him, or even worse," the resentment could be glimpsed when pointing out the latter "but there is something we did witness. Nothing between them has changed, the Lady exchanged a few words with him and the result was what you would expect."
"It's surprising how she still wants to save him after everything he did to all of you."
"I only told the story from my point of view, I can't speak for her, I would never dare. We know very well that man feels an excessive, irrational hatred, but only the two of them know the full story. The Lady always kept us out of her conflicts,that's how it was until that day."
Hallibel noticed how the visitor's voice subtly became monotonous, trying to hide his emotions and show resilience. "You don't have to continue, I already know enough, thank you for telling me."
"Thanks to you," the Fracción said now more natural "but there's something I feel is missing. Nel, come here for a moment please!"
"I'm going!"The girl immediately came running in a peculiar way, the Bestias were competing with arm wrestling to entertain her but she didn't find it fun. Mila and Apacci could have stopped but neither was willing to let the other win.
"This will be a little embarrassing but..." Pesche brought his hand to his face, trying to think of the most appropriate way to make such a strange request "Can you show your back to Lady Hallibel?"
"What? What's wrong with Nel's back?" She blushed and squeezed the fabric of her dress, lowering her head "It's not that dirty."
"It's not that," Pesche was quick to assure her but he couldn't help but laugh a bit at Nel's comment, he found it funny "trust me it's okay."
Nel frowned trying to decide which side was less embarrassing, Pesche gave her a suggestion "Hmm, better from above."
"There is no need to prove it," said Hallibel seeing the obvious discomfort of both visitors.
"I know, but it's no longer something to hide,better to clarify everything from now."
And there she saw it, a three identical to hers, the unmistakable mark that only Aizen could grant. The Fracciones approached and were speechless, they were reluctant to anything that came from those strangers but what was in front of them left no room for doubt.
"I'll explain the details later," Halibel assured them upon seeing their impression "but as you can see, Nel was my predecessor, and Pesche and Dondochakka were her Fraccions."
"How were these idiots Fraccions? They're weaklings," Apacci said in a tone more of affirmation than question, by far for her that was the hardest part to believe. Pesche genuinely laughed listening to her.
"Are we? I will say that we are more clever than we seem, most of the time, I think..." after mentally counting his list of successful ideas he continued to answer her with good humor "And being powerful was never really a requirement to be a Fracción, you only need the approval of the Espada."
That guy was incomprehensible, one moment he was a joke and the next he explained things as if he were an old man. To top it off he didn't even say it in an arrogant manner or anything else that would justify attacking him, she remained silent because she couldn't question him, that idiot.
"If it's okay I think now it's time for us to leave," he already felt that everything had been said, doing a good deed by forgetting the past for a moment and finally being able to talk without keeping secrets was something liberating, he needed it more than he thought, but now they had to meet with Dondochakka and think about their next path.
"You are completely free to go, but Las Noches is open to you in case you want to stay," the offercaught everyone off guard.
"It is a great honor but we cannot accept Lady Hallibel. It wouldn't be right to drag our problems here."
"Don't be confused, I do not intend to get involved in other people's business, but they are not on equal terms, she is in every sense an innocent child and I will not allow an atrocity to happen in front of me. This palace is huge and after your tragedy it is only fair that you take back some of what belongs to you, it will be good for everyone to see a change, you can be part of that."
"I've already said it a thousand times today but thank you so much," he wanted to believe, maybe it really was the beginning of something different.
"Thank you Lady!" Nel was excited but noticed that Pesche was acting a bit strange "Is Pesche crying?"
"Of course not, I have some sand in my eye. I should cover it like the other one, don't you think?"
"But we are not in the desert..." The door opened again and Nel's focus changed, Sung-Sun had returned.
"My Lady your orders have already been carried out, the visitor and I personally left Tesla Lindocruz in his chambers, he didn't seem to need anything more than rest to fully recover. I took the liberty of conditioning a room, Dondochakka Birstanne is there waiting for his companions."
"I appreciate it," the Fraction bowed respectfully in response "that location is temporary, we still have work to do, the surviving Arrancar are scattered and restless without understanding what happened."
"Just a roof would be more than enough for us My Lady!" Pesche declared unable to contain his emotion.
"Enjoy your return," Halibel wished them while caressing Nel's head, her story awakened empathy in the Queen but she only smiled oblivious to everything that was behind that crack on her forehead.
Sung-Sun was ready to guide them to the room but Pesche assured her that it was not necessary, upon hearing him the Fracción tried to explain which way to go and with just a few instructions was enough to the girl's surprise.
"If we are going to live here now, does that mean we can explore?" Nel asked while Pesche lifted her onto his shoulders.
"There will be time for that, we better meet with Dondochakka, damn if we leave him alone for too long he will flood the place with his tears, I don't want to start my life here mopping..." The duo walked away and their voices were no longer audible, when they were alone Mila Rose didn't miss the opportunity to point out a certain detail.
"You went beyond your orders Sung-Sun."
"The Lady leaving a child unprotected? Unbelievable that after so many years you still don't know her well," the tension raised and Apacci didn't want to be left behind.
"You missed a lot she's not even a real child," it was something said in the heat of the moment without thinking but it merited an intervention from the Espada.
"You saw it yourself, she is."
The argument that seemed to be about to explode was forgotten, without needing to involve the desire to have the approval of their Espada both girls completely agreed.
Some information used in the chapter that was taken from other Bleach materials aside from the main story:
-Hallibel and the Tres Bestias being helped by Orihime is mentioned in "Nestle to Night", a story within the third databook. Hallibel referring to being Queen as an unexpected decision is also inspired from there.
-Child Nel calling Hallibel plump and sexy is a reference to a story in the game Bleach Brave Souls where she calls Hallibel dressed as Santa Claus plump and sexy XD
In these chapters Pesche took more relevance than I imagined hehe, but from the next one we will begin to give greater presence to our protagonists. Thank you very much to everyone who comes to read 3