//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Dazzlings of Hueco Mundo // by Dawn Flower //------------------------------// Three months have passed since the Dazzlings had arrived in Hueco Mundo, and in that time, they had learned more about what exactly was going on with them. The first thing they learned, which was also the one that hit them the hardest, was that they died. Hueco Mundo was a world of the after-life, where Hollows dwelt. Apparently, when some people die, they can’t let go of the negativity in their souls, and they become Hollows; and the Dazzlings had a lot of negativity. This also meant that they weren’t sirens anymore – they were Hollows – evident by the holes in their chests, which they were told was where their hearts used to be. Not having a heart any more freaked Sonata out the most, but the other two managed to calm her down when they pointed out that she was still her usual peppy, fun-loving self even without it. After that, she accepted it and didn’t worry about it anymore, at least, not outwardly. They also learned that Hollows devour souls, of humans and other Hollows, in order to become stronger and attempt to fill the emptiness left by the loss of their hearts. This wasn’t anything new to the former sirens, since they fed on mortal creatures before, although, the fact that they now had to devour their actual souls instead of just their negativity, did hit them hard at first, though it was something that they quickly grew to accept. Sonata was still a bit hesitant to devour other Hollows, though Aria was more willing, and Adagio didn’t even hesitate, if it meant becoming stronger. She simply couldn’t stand being weak, and her battle with that first Hollow showed her just how weak she really was in this world. They were also told about the Soul Reapers, and about how they hunt down Hollows and destroy them in order to protect the humans. They saw this treatment as unfair, since Hollows have to devour souls in order to survive, and them killing humans was no different from humans killing animals in order to survive. After all, Hollows were superior to humans, just like humans were superior to animals, so there wasn’t anything morally wrong with devouring humans. What gave the Soul Reapers the right to decide that they were on the side of justice? What gave them the right to protect humans? To deny their own right to exist? Fortunately, Soul Reapers almost never come to Hueco Mundo, so they would be safe as long as they didn’t leave, and most Hollows were capable of surviving just fine by devouring other Hollows. It was only the more feral ones that went to the World of the Living. The smart ones knew not to put themselves in unnecessary danger. Strangely, even after becoming Hollows, they still had their old siren powers of manipulating other’s emotions through their singing. However, while they still had their old siren powers, they didn’t work on Hollows, since Hollows have no emotions left to manipulate, so it was essentially useless to them. Their powers would probably still work on humans, and maybe even Soul Reapers, but since they never left Hueco Mundo, that wasn’t an issue. Although, even if their old powers didn’t work anymore, it still made them happy knowing that they was still there, since it reminded them of what they used to be. Since their old siren powers didn’t work on Hollows, it was harder for them to survive compared to how they used to. However, while their old powers may not have worked anymore, they had gained additional powers since becoming Hollows themselves. A few weeks after arriving, and learning and training with Halibel and her team, Aria had learned how to use a Cero. Aria had always been the stronger and more aggressive of the three, allowing her to grasp combat abilities easier, and since then, she has become the team’s main fighter. Sonata on the other hand, while not so good at fighting, other than getting close to her enemies and swiping at them with her tail occasionally, instead focused on non-combat, support abilities, and has gotten a lot faster since they became Hollows, and even learned how to use Sonido several days before Aria had learned how to use her Cero. Adagio’s abilities lay somewhere between the other two. She had learned both Cero and Sonido, and was able to use both techniques effectively in battle, though hers weren’t as strong as either of the other two, who focused primarily on one. She had also learned how to use her Pesquisa almost immediately upon arriving, being able to tell a Hollow’s power by sensing it, and she was able to do so from an impressive range. This allowed her to plan out her battles accordingly and not jump into a fight that she knew she couldn’t win on her own. This meant that they never had to get close to another Hollow unless they were certain they could take it out, which helped them to survive and only go after weaker Hollows, devouring them and becoming stronger. In the new group that they had become a part of, Aria was the most social with Apacci, Sung, and Rose, getting along with them about as well as she did with her sisters. While they did talk and socialise and generally get along, this also meant that she was also arguing with the three Hollows just as much. Overall, not much had changed for Aria, or Apacci and the others in that regard. Sonata mostly either kept to herself or with her sisters, over socialising with the other four. While she was still happy with the way things were now, and she did think of Apacci, Sung, and Mila Rose as her friends, Sonata still preferred to stay close to her sisters, especially Adagio. Despite her happy, outgoing attitude, she always was the most fragile of the group, always sticking close to her sisters, and while she did try to put on a strong face, it was clear that she was still scared of the new situation that they found themselves in. Adagio, while adjusting to their situation well, gaining new abilities and becoming even stronger, there was one thing that she wasn’t very enthusiastic about, and that was where she ranked in this group of theirs. Adagio always liked being the most powerful in a group and being in control, but now she wasn’t. Adagio didn’t like the idea of serving underneath someone else; she wanted to be back on top. However, while Adagio was ambitious, she wasn’t stupid. She knew very well that even though she was still the strongest of the three Dazzlings, she still didn’t even compare to Halibel. While Adagio admittedly didn’t like that she wasn’t the strongest in the group, which meant that she wasn’t the leader, she didn’t dislike the current situation all that much either. Despite Halibel being in charge, she treated them all fairly and with respect, and always came to their rescue if they were ever in trouble. Adagio enjoyed the way that Halibel treated them. This treatment wasn’t exactly foreign to her, since it was about the same way that she interacted with her sisters before, which made sense to her, since they were, well, her sisters, but she never really understood why people acted that way towards anyone else. This made Adagio think about the Rainbooms for the first time since they had come here - wanting to never think about them again if she could help it – and she wondered if this bond that she had with Halibel and her group was friendship. If it was, then maybe friendship wasn’t so bad. --- The group of female hollows were simply relaxing in their cave hideout. Aria was talking with Apacci and Rose, Sonata and Sung were outside keeping watch, while Adagio was resting. Halibel had just recently gotten back from meeting with the King of Hueco Mundo. Apparently, she had been killing a lot of the hollows in his army lately - mostly because they had attacked her first, but to him, that wasn’t really an excuse. He had recognised her strength and offered her a spot in his army, but she turned it down. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to throw her life away pointlessly, since he had admitted that he was so bored, he was considering splitting his army in two and making them fight each other to the death for his amusement; or maybe, like Adagio, she didn’t want to serve under someone else. As Adagio lay there, with her head in her hooves, her eyes suddenly perked up when she heard the sound of booming static over near the cave entrance. Lazily turning her head in that direction, she saw that Sonata had just appeared, although looking a bit worried. Lifting her up a bit more to see what exactly was going on, Halibel, Apacci, Rose, and Aria also turned to look at her as well. “We have a problem.” Sonata spoke in a worried tone. Before anyone could ask her more about this, however, there suddenly came a loud scream from the tunnel leading into the main chamber of their cave, which sounded like it was getting louder and closer with every second. In addition, the scream sounded familiar. The next second, Sung suddenly flew past Sonata’s head, impacting hard with the ground in the centre of the room. The other five of them now all looked just as worried as Sonata had; however, before anyone could speak up again, there was another loud sound, this one a crash, followed by a large chunk of the rock in the opening to the main room of their cave hideout falling down. Without thinking about it and acting on instinct, Sonata quickly used her Sonido to avoid it, and flashed in between Adagio and Aria. Adagio was now completely upright. As Sung got back up as well, all seven of them directed their attention to the entrance, as a large Hollow stormed his way in. This one looked a bit like the Hollow they had fought when they first arrived here, except this one had a much more humanoid appearance, looked specifically male, and his head looked like that of a hammerhead shark. They also noticed that his mask appeared to be cracked. With fury in her eyes after seeing what just happened, Halibel didn’t hesitate and lunged towards the Hollow, looking to end this quickly. The other six of them had all calmed down a lot now, knowing that Halibel could take out this Hollow instantly. However, after their expressions softened and they looked away, not wanting to see what Halibel would do to someone who would attack one of her underlings, they all suddenly did a double take and widened their eyes to see that this Hollow had actually grabbed on to her massive blade hand, and held on to it, holding it just inches from his neck, where she had directed her attack, looking for a quick kill. However, what seemed to confuse them most of all was just how easily this Hollow was holding back her attack; he didn’t even look like he was struggling at all. The three Dazzlings were just as confused that any Hollow could apparently be stronger than Halibel, after seeing how strong she was these past few months. Apacci, Sung, and Mila Rose, however, simply couldn’t accept that someone was stronger than their master, period. Halibel was also as confused at how strong this guy was, with only slightly widened eyes to express it. Shrugging off her shock quickly, she then started putting more force into her attack. However, no matter how hard she tried, her blade simply wouldn’t budge. Seeing her struggle and how weak she was compared to him, the hammerhead Arrancar raised his other hand and slammed a punch right into her stomach, knocking her back. Halibel was pushed back several feet, though she still managed to remain standing. Seeing her master and friend struggle, Apacci was the first one to take action and took a step towards her; however, the very second that she did so, Halibel immediately held her other arm out towards her, without turning to face her. “No, stay back!” She shouted. Apacci and the others immediately stopped in their tracks. There was a look in Halibel’s eyes that they had never seen on her before, though Adagio recognised the look because she had seen it on Sonata’s face plenty of times: fear. This Arrancar was so strong that the strongest among them actually feared for their lives right now. Halibel focused back on the hammerhead Arrancar, and moved to address her comrades. “I’ll deal with him. You six get out of her.” “But Master Halibel…” Sung retorted. “Go, now!” Halibel cut her off, not turning around to face her. She clenched her teeth hard underneath her mask. Everyone else was still speechless at Halibel actions, which was very unlike her, as she was usually so confident that she would win that she hardly showed any reaction at all. Rose was the first one to react, and after a moment of hesitation, turned to leave, though with a pained look on her face. “Come on, let’s go.” She was then followed by Sung and Apacci. Adagio turned her head to look at them as they were leaving and with a quick glance back at Halibel as she resumed her fight with the hammerhead Arrancar, silently followed after the others, with Aria and Sonata following behind her. The six of them left through a hidden entrance at the back of the cave and made their way out into the desert of Hueco Mundo. As they made their way along, Adagio couldn’t help but think about Halibel and her fight with the hammerhead Arrancar, how much she seemed to be struggling against him, and noticed that for the first time in her life, she was actually worried about someone other than herself or her sisters. As they retreated, they could hear the battle going on behind them, and it sounded like Halibel was struggling. While Adagio tried her best not to worry about it, she suddenly stopped where she was when she noticed that she had floated past Apacci and her group. Turning back to face them, she saw a determined look on all of their faces. “We need to go back,” Mila Rose said. Adagio didn’t think that she would say that, though a part of her expected it. “What?” Aria was the one to respond. “Are you insane? You saw how powerful that Hollow was. Besides, Halibel told us to leave and let her handle it.” “I don’t care!” Mila rose shouted back. “Master Halibel is in trouble and she needs our help. We’re not just going to run away and save ourselves. She’s always there for us, so now it’s our turn to be there for her.” With that, she and Sung and Apacci turned around and started running back the way they came. With them gone, Aria and Sonata then turned towards to Adagio, to figure out what the three of them would do. Adagio already knew that Mila Rose and the other two had already decided to go back to help from the start, regardless of anything they said. Their loyalty to Halibel was undying, but what about her and her sisters? Like Mila Rose’s group to Halibel, Aria and Sonata would likely go with whatever she decided, so their fate was in her hooves. If they went back to fight that Arrancar now, they would most likely die… and be consumed. If they ran for it, however, they would survive. It sounded like a no-brainer: live or die. But then, why did she feel so torn? If Halibel didn’t make it, then surviving out here would be more difficult, sure, but after everything that she had already thought them and made them all so much stronger, they would manage. If they left now, their survival wouldn’t be an issue, and if they did go back, then it almost certainly would. So then why was she even contemplating going back at all? Halibel never expected anything from them for rescuing them, so she didn’t owe her anything, and from her rescuing them in the past, she clearly wanted them to live; it’s what she expressly told them to do now. It’s true that they didn’t owe Halibel anything, but then why was this hard? After several minutes of mentally weighing the pros and cons, she finally made her decision. --- Mila Rose hit the ground hard after being casually tossed to the side by the hammerhead Arrancar. Sung then quickly flew over towards him and wrapped herself around his body to restrict his movements. “Gotcha now,” she said triumphantly. The hammerhead Arrancar merely smirked in response. “Oh, really?” He then casually flexed his muscles, and the snake Hollow went flying off of him, landing next to Mila Rose on the desert sand, in a daze. Halibel got back up on to one knee, panting hard from the battle. The three of them were throwing everything they had at him, while this guy didn’t look like he was even trying and yet he was still beating them. She was also worried about Adagio and her sisters, but as long as they were safe, that was good enough for her. She just wished the other three had done the same. While she had been touched by their devotion to her, she still would have preferred that they had lived. No world is without casualties, but that didn’t mean that she still wouldn’t sacrifice herself if it meant that her friends would live. Standing back up again, waving about on her feet as she did so, she made another lunge at the hammerhead Arrancar, but the simply waved his arm and knocked her back down again. Slowly walking over to where Halibel lay, while casually swiping at Apacci as she tried to attack him, not even sparing to look at her as he did so, he looked down at the Vasto Lorde as he loomed over her. As he sneered down at her smugly, he then reached out with his claw to grab her when he was suddenly struck head on by a purple Cero. The blast didn’t seem to damage him at all, as he wasn’t even forced back an inch, but it did cause him to look in the direction that it had come from, just in time for Aria to ram right into him with all the force she could muster. It also didn’t do any damage, but it did cause him to move back that inch. After she had rammed him, Aria then immediately used her Sonido to pull back before he even noticed her. She was then joined by Adagio next to her. The former siren tried to keep a cool expression on her face, but she was still miffed that her Cero had apparently done no damage at all. Cracking her eye open a bit, Halibel saw two of the Dazzlings hovering off to the side. “No…” she uttered in a pained breath. “Run,” was all she managed to get out, holding her hand out towards them. Before Adagio – who had heard her thanks to her enhanced hearing – could respond to her, however, there was then a burst of booming static, as Sonata activated her Sonido, appearing behind the Arrancar before he even noticed she was there. She then whipped her tail back to strike at him, but before her attacked connected, the Arrancar quickly turned around and grabbed her by the tail. Sneering smugly at her, he then tightened his grip, reared back, and flung the former siren back the way she came. As Sonata was thrown back, Aria ducked as she was thrown her way, and she was instead thrown into Adagio, knocking against her hard from the force of the attack, knocking them both to the ground in a daze. Letting out a gasp at the site of the two of her sisters being defeated so easily, Aria looked back at the Arrancar, with fury in her eyes, and quickly started charging up another Cero. The ball of purple energy started forming in her mouth, and just two seconds later, she released the blast in the Arrancar’s direction. As the attacked sailed through the air, despite how this had gone last time, Aria was still confident that her attack would work. However, when her Cero had almost connected, the Arrancar simply lifted his hand and swatted it away like it was nothing. Aria was completely shocked that her attack had been deflected so easily, twice even, and bit down hard. In the short time that she’s been here, her Cero was more powerful than that of her sisters, and even surpassed that of the others in their group, barring Halibel of course. To see her greatest strength nullified like it was nothing was a bruise to her ego that she certainly didn’t need. However, her shock also kept her from noticing that the Arrancar had been charging up his own Cero after he had so easily stopped hers, and she failed to notice it until she had been hit, knocking her to the ground, like her sisters had been earlier, leaving her with some nasty burns. After Aria had been defeated as well, Halibel took the opportunity to attack the Arrancar while he was distracted. However, even with her fast paced speed, when she came in close, the Arrancar simply grabbed on to her again with one hand, and then punched her to the ground with the other. As Adagio lay there on the ground, she focused intensely on the Arrancar, staring at him intensely, and also reaching out with her Pesquisa, to try and accurately gauge his power up close to try to discern a weakness. However, while she did this, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise when she noticed something odd. Her old siren powers of reading another’s emotions and manipulating them hadn’t been used since she first arrived in Hueco Mundo and became a Hollow, since Hollows have no emotions with which to manipulate, and thus, was useless to her. However, somehow she could feel that this Hollow in front of her now had those emotions. It was very faint, but it was there. She didn’t know how this was possible, but if this could possibly give them an edge in this battle, then she would take it. Adagio then started quickly formulating a plan to use this new piece of information she had discovered. If she was correct, then they just might be able to beat this guy. Putting on a strong expression, the leader of the Dazzlings – still a leader to her sisters, despite now serving under Halibel – forced strength back into her tired muscles, reared back, and quickly shot into the sky, hovering above the Arrancar, looking down at him. The Arrancar was slowly approaching Halibel, who was lying on her stomach several feet away from him, getting ready to end it. When he suddenly noticed Adagio get back to her feet, so to speak, he stopped and looked up at her. “And what’s up with you? Not get enough punishment, already?” He asked her in a sarcastic tone. Not letting his attitude get to her, Adagio didn’t let her strong expression slip. Here goes nothing. She thought to herself. Directing the energy inside of her, from the reserves of strength for her old powers that she hadn’t used since she had become a Hollow instead of a siren, she opened her mouth, letting loose a sonic attack like she had used in their battle against the Rainbooms, when they had started fighting back against their magic. Remembering the Rainbooms after all this time caused Adagio’s anger to build up inside of her, which caused her to put even more power into her current attack. She just hoped that her theory was right, or else this was all for nothing. As the sound waves crashed down against the Arrancar, he first felt a bit strange, having never fought against a power like this before. Briefly glancing around him, he wondered what was going on. “Hey,” he directed towards Adagio. “Just what are you…?” However, before he could even finish speaking, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his head, and clutched at his skull with his hand. “Aaaahhhh. Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” He screamed out in pain. Seeing that her theory was right and that she was weakening him down with her siren magic, caused Adagio’s mouth to form into a smile, even while she was still screaming towards the Arrancar. Since she now knew that it was working, she put more energy in to it. Back down on the ground, Aria and Sonata both started picking themselves up and looked up at Adagio in the air. Unlike Halibel, Sung, and the others, the two of them could see the sound waves that she was sending towards the Arrancar with her voice, and they both knew exactly what she was doing. Confused at first that it was apparently working, but glad that it did still work nonetheless, the two sisters both put on strong expressions, like their oldest sister had just done before acting. They both knew what they had to do now. Picking themselves back up, they both flew up into the air, alongside Adagio. Their leader briefly stopped in her verbal attack on the Arrancar when she saw her sister’s approach, and turned her head towards each of them as they approached her. Smiling at both of them, seeing that they were alright and ready to lend their power to hers, her smile then shifted to look more sinister, and just nodded her head at each of them, which they reciprocated in kind. The three of them then turned back towards the Arrancar, who was just starting to snap out of Adagio’s last attack. Before he could recover, however, he was blasted by another attack, this time from all three of the former sirens together. The pain it felt was so intense that it took a knee and clutched at its head again, with both hands this time. This is impossible, he thought. I’m an Arrancar now. I’m even stronger than the Vasto Lorde, and I will join the strongest ranks in all of Hueco Mundo. So how… how are these weaklings doing this to me? They could already feel the Arrancar’s will getting weaker, with each passing moment. The three sisters kept up their relentless attacks, as they could feel his energy dropping, surrendering to their will. He would be weakened and defeated soon enough. She had to admit, it felt good to be back on top again after being pushed around by this thing. Although, while they were attacking, Adagio was still wondering why their old siren powers worked on this guy, when they didn’t work on any other Hollows they found in the past months, who were all weaker than him. What was the reason for this? What was the why of things? While the three of them kept him busy, Halibel slowly got back to her feet. When she looked over at the Arrancar flailing madly, she then followed her line of sight up to the Dazzlings, who were apparently using some form of attack to keep it distracted. Turning back to the Arrancar again, regardless of what exactly was going on, she decided not to let this opportunity go to waste. Getting into a sprinting position, she then dashed forward, towards the Arrancar, at high speed. As she got in close, she swung her blade hand at him with all of her remaining strength, aiming for the creature’s neck, looking to end things quickly. When she got in close to the Arrancar, the Dazzling’s attack didn’t seem to have any effect on her. With all of the remaining force that she could muster, she cut into his neck, piercing through his Hierro. As her blade slowly sunk deeper into him, she put all of her remaining power into this attack, her blade sinking deeper into his neck with every passing second, and eventually cut his head clean off. The Arrancar’s head shot up into the air from the force of the attack, with his body falling over immediately, disappearing into nothingness. His head disappeared as well before it even touched the ground. Once the battle was over, Halibel was panting hard, and she slumped down on to her knees. Around her, Apacci, Sung, and Mila Rose all started to get up as well. Up above, the Dazzlings ceased with their screeching. “We did it!” Sonata shouted out triumphantly. Adagio turned to look at her youngest sister when she said that, and couldn’t help but smile a little. Then turning her head the other way to look at her other sister, Aria had a more stern look on her face. “Adagio,” she started. “While I’m definitely not complaining about it, how the Hell did that plan even work?” Adagio wondered that as well, however, before she could even open her mouth to respond, she was suddenly cut off by the sounding of soft clapping. Looking in the direction that it was coming from, followed by her sister, and Halibel and the others, their eyes widened at the sight of the one who was making those sounds. He resembled a human from the world they were banished to when they were alive. He had smooth brown hair swept back, with a single strand hanging down the middle of his face, and had a calm and reserved expression on his face. He wore a white coat, with a black uniform underneath, and a green handle sword strapped to his side. He held one hand in place, while his other slowly clapped against it, creating the applause. There were also two other similarly dressed people on either side of him. One had dark skin and black, braided hair, with a visor covering his eyes and an orange scarf around his neck, while the other had short silver hair, with his eyes narrowed to slits and a creepy smile on his face. “Very impressive,” the middle one spoke, in a soft, emotionless tone of voice. He then placed his hands into his pockets before he continued speaking. “I watched the battle from here, and I must say, I’m impressed.” His gaze then shifted to the spot where the hammerhead Arrancar had disappeared. “I was the one who gave that Hollow Arrancar powers, but it appears I didn’t give him a brain to control them.” He then returned his gaze to the seven of them, his eyes narrowed a little. “You, however, while not at the same level of power as him, had the brains necessary to outsmart him, and the strength necessary to put him down. I must say, I’m impressed.” Adagio simply stared back at this guy as he was talking, narrowing her eyes at him. This guy was the one who gave that Hollow its power? There was something about this guy that she didn’t like. Reaching out with her siren powers, she scanned the emotions of the three men in front of her, already knowing that they weren’t Hollows themselves. The dark skinned one’s emotions were like a raging storm, carefully hidden just beneath the surface, while the one with the creepy looking smile hid his emotions so far beneath the surface that even she could barely sense them at all, though they were still there. The middle one, however; she couldn’t sense anything from him at all, like with a Hollow; like he’s completely cut himself off from his emotions. She was still sure that he wasn’t a Hollow, though. She then activated her Pesquisa and was almost immediately overwhelmed by the amount of power that he was exuding. It felt even more than Halibel had at her peak, and yet it still felt like he was holding back. This man then suddenly turned his gaze on her, and suddenly the immense pressure intensified, which almost made her feel like she was drowning. If that Hollow from earlier made her feel like a drop compared to a lake, then this guy was a whole ocean. Just who was this guy? Halibel got back to her feet and addressed him directly. “Who are you?” Focusing back on Halibel, without his expression changing in the slightest, the middle one continued speaking. “My apologies, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sōsuke Aizen, former Captain of Squad Five in the Soul Society.” Soul Society? Former Captain? These guys were Soul Reapers? Adagio thought to herself. The other two Dazzlings must have had the same thought, because Aria grit her teeth a bit, while Sonata hid behind Adagio, with a scared expression on her face, likely worried that they were here to kill them. With a quick glance to her youngest sister, Adagio focused back on Aizen again, watching him carefully for any moves he might make, though somehow, she didn’t think that was why they were here. “Soul Reaper, huh?” Mila Rose spoke up. “And just are you doing here, huh?” “Mila Rose.” Halibel quickly silenced her, though she then quickly looked back to Aizen, showing that she was just as curious as to why he was here as well. “But she has a point.” She said, stepping out ahead of the other six, standing closest to him. “Why are you here?” Aizen simply stared back at her, with a piercing gaze, which made it look more like he was staring through her than at her. “If you’re desperate to avoid casualties, then gain power,” he continued, ignoring what she just said. “What?” Halibel asked, taken aback by his forwardness. “That control is the answer to your dilemma, and if power is what you want, I’m the person who can provide it for you.” Aizen continued. He still spoke in that calm tone of voice, as if he were explaining the simplest thing in the world. “How do you know that’s what I desire?” Halibel responded calmly, echoing Adagio’s own thoughts on the matter. Aizen simply stared back at her for a moment, with that unflinching, piercing gaze that felt like it could cut threw anything. “You want to be able to protect your comrades, don’t you? You can only accomplish that by becoming stronger than your enemies, and the more powerful you are, the less casualties you’re likely to produce. Doesn’t that sound ideal to you?” Seeing her relax, his eyes narrowed. “Care to see what it looks like?” He spoke in an eerily calm tone of voice. While his words were directed at Halibel, they also struck a chord with Adagio as well. Gaining more power to be on top, and keeping her sisters safe was what she was all about. While he was speaking to Halibel, if she was observant, she could notice him making split second glances towards her, making her think that he really was speaking to her just as much as Halibel, right now. Aizen smirked. “I would really like you to come with me – all of you. I know where you want to go and I shall take you there. Rest assured, I’ll make sure you will never have to sacrifice anyone ever again.” While Halibel remained speechless for the moment, behind her, Adagio tensed up. While everything that this guy said sounded good, knowing exactly what to say to a person, and he spoke with such charisma that he could sell ice to an Eskimo, there was still something about him that she didn’t like. “And why do you need our help, exactly?” Adagio blurted out, reflexively voicing her own thoughts, almost without her control. Aizen turned his gaze towards the leader of the Dazzlings, focusing intently on her for a moment, before he cracked a confident smile. “Well, in the simplest of terms, I’m planning a change in management, and I will need all the help that I can get in order to do it. I’m building an army and I believe that you all would be a powerful addition to it, and in exchange, I can grant you all power the likes of which you would never be able to reach on your own, and you will never have to worry about sustaining casualties ever again.” He explained to her, while still remaining vague. “So, do you accept my offer?” “And just how are going to give us this power?” Adagio again blurted out a bit too quickly. She had to admit, this guy did intimidate her a bit with his casual, stoic-like look he always wore, while still keeping those vast reserves of power just underneath, though she did her best to hide it. Aizen simply smirked again. “I’ll take as a yes then, and to answer your question, with this,” he said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a tiny, orb, whose surfaced looked like it swirled with a blue flame and raw power. The sight of it had Adagio transfixed for some reason she couldn’t quite explain. “It’s called Hōgyoku,” Aizen explained, “and it’s the key to your evolution.” There was then a bright flash of light from the orb, which caused everyone, except for the Soul Reapers, to shield their eyes from the bright light; Adagio especially, as she was focusing so intently on it. Adagio could feel the light washing over her, filling her up inside... changing her, not unlike the light from the rainbow blast that sent them here. A moment later, when the light finally faded, she suddenly dropped to the ground; however, how she dropped felt strange. Instead of falling on to her underbelly, she instead felt herself drop to her… knees? Opening her eyes again slowly to properly inspect this new, yet familiar feeling, she raised her front hoof up to eye level and was surprised to see not her hoof, but something that she thought that she would never see again, and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about: a hand – her hand. Quickly looking down to inspect the rest of her body, her suspicions were confirmed when she noticed that she now looked like a human again, from her arms and legs, to her poufy orange hair. However, while she definitely looked human now, she still felt like a Hollow, with her old siren powers still tucked away at the back. Just what was going on? Looking around, she noticed that Aria and Sonata had also been returned to their human forms. The only thing different about how they looked before and how they looked now was that before where their red gems hung around their necks as necklaces, now they were imbedded into their necks, in what looked like hard bone, which, when she looked, was the same for herself. Halibel had changed as well; she had already looked humanoid before, and now she looked mostly the same, except that the bone plates covering her body had crumbled away, revealing her dark skin underneath, everywhere except for her face, which still covered up her mouth. Apacci, Sung, and Mila Rose had also changed, but they all looked unrecognisable from before now that they looked like humans. Tightening her fingers reflexively, she suddenly noticed that she was holding a sword in her grasp. The sword was a small wakizashi, with an orange hilt, inside a small sheathe, with a string tied around it for support. Quickly looking over at the others again, with this new bit of information in mind, she noticed that they all had similar swords as well. “W-what?” was all Adagio was able to stutter out, after everything that was happening. “This is the next step of your evolution,” Aizen answered her, putting the small orb away into his coat again. His sudden speaking caused her to look back at him again. “Through the power of the Hōgyoku, I have removed your Hollow masks and transformed you into Arrancars, granting you more power by breaking down the barrier between Hollow and Soul Reaper, giving one the power of the other. You still wield your former Hollow powers, bolstered even further by this transformation, in addition to gaining the Zanpakuto of a Soul Reaper.” Breaking down the barrier between Hollow and Soul Reaper? Was that even possible, what with Hollows and Soul Reapers being practically opposite existences? And what did it mean? Although, that part about becoming stronger had peaked her interest. Activating her Pesquisa, she quickly scanned the seven of them, and she noticed that the change had made them all more powerful than they were before, which did make her smile a little to herself. With a smile of his own on his face, Aizen suddenly turned his head to the two Soul Reapers at either side of him. “Gin,” he said to the silver haired Soul Reaper. “Kaname,” he said to the dark skinned Soul Reaper. “Right,” Gin nodded back at him in affirmation. He then walked over towards Adagio. “Here, you’ll need these,” the silver haired Soul Reaper said, kneeling down beside her, presenting her with a white jacket, similar to the ones that they wore, for her to take. Through the shock of what was happening, it was only now that she realised that she was naked. With the shame that she had picked up while in the World of the Living, Adagio quickly grabbed the cloak and put it on, with her face still red from embarrassment. The creepy looking guy, still with his eyes closed, simply smirked at her. Kaname handed out matching cloaks to the rest of them. When the seven girls were covered up, Aizen, still with that same expression on his face, simply turned around and started walking away. “Come,” he said. “It’s time to meet with the rest of the army.” With that, the two other Soul Reapers followed after him. The seven females all looked between themselves silently, about whether or not to follow them. Sure, he had given them more power, but technically, they hadn’t actually agreed to join him. Adagio also wasn’t sure about serving under this guy, which is certainly how it would be if they went with them. Serving under Halibel was one thing, but this guy was different. For one thing, he was a Soul Reaper, so this could all just be a trap to lure them in and kill them or experiment on them, though honestly, that theory didn’t really line up with everything that he said and did beforehand. He also sounded so calmly and resolutely when he spoke, that it was difficult to tell exactly what he wanted from them. He also acted so cool as he was leaving, like he wasn’t even worried about whether or not they would follow him. His power also worried her, as she felt as if he could have killed them all easily if he really wanted to, though she wasn’t sure how their powers compared now that she was stronger. She was also interested in this army that Aizen had mentioned he was putting together. She had to admit, it peaked her interest. After all this time, she still had her aspirations, and with this sudden power boost, those aspirations were coming back into the forefront of her mind. She still had her reservations about all of this, but for now, she would play this by ear and she how it played out. With a devilish smirk on her face, she decided to follow after them, and the others followed after her. --- After they had all agreed to follow Aizen, he lead them back to his fortress of Las Noches. When they got there, they were all lead to a room full of other Arrancar, and quickly scanning the room with her siren powers, Adagio could tell that they were all Hollows, and they all had emotions, just like the hammerhead Arrancar earlier. For most of them, it was faint, and for one or two, it was almost non-existent, but it was there. Looking around the room again quickly at all of the assembled Arrancar, Adagio then lowered her siren senses and activated her Pesquisa, and she couldn’t help but smirk to herself. Here, in this very room, was a collection of the most powerful Hollows in all of Hueco Mundo, who all had their powers increased even more, beyond their normal limits, and they were now susceptible to her powers. Ironic that in becoming stronger by gaining more power, they had also made themselves vulnerable to her power, by regaining something they had discarded: their emotions; something that all Hollows viewed as a hindrance. Adagio had to fight back the urge to laugh maniacally. She couldn’t afford to slip up and reveal her ulterior motives for joining this army now. With enough time and some careful planning, this mighty army would be all hers, and she had Aizen to thank for not only bringing them all together, but for giving her the very power that she needed to make it work. While she was smirking to herself, Aria and Sonata, who weren’t caught up on her plans yet, both looked at their older sister, wondering what she was thinking about. They would find out later, but before they could say anything to her, all of the gathered Arrancar looked ahead as Aizen made his way forward to address them. When all eyes in the room were on him, with the Arrancar right in front of him, and Gin and Kaname on both sides, the former Soul Reaper Captain stayed completely still for about ten seconds, silently surveying the room to make sure that he had everyone’s undivided attention. When he was sure that he had, he placed his hand on his Zanpakuto and withdrew it from its scabbard, slightly, but enough for them all to see it, however, he didn’t make any other move or do anything else for several seconds. The Dazzlings were confused as to why exactly he did this more than anyone else. “Why do you think he gathered us all here?” Sonata whispered to Aria, beside her. “Now I’m sure you’re all wondering why I gathered you all here.” Aizen said, addressing everyone in the room. “Ooooooohhh, he’s good.” Sonata cooed. Aria simply facepalmed at her stupidity. No one else paid any attention to her, keeping their focus on Aizen at the moment. The former Soul Reaper Captain then sheathed his Zanpakuto again and then reached inside his cloak and took out the Hōgyoku once more, holding it out, towards the assembled Arrancars. “It is now time for the next stage in your evolution.” Aizen stated. Then before anyone could say anything in response, the Hōgyoku emitted a bright flash that encompassed the entire room. Everyone had to raise their hands up to shield their eyes it was so bright, though a few of them didn’t react to it in any way at all. After about five seconds, the bright light began to dissipate, and the gathered Arrancar started looking between themselves and each other, to see if anything was different about them, given what Aizen had just said beforehand. After another five seconds, Lilynette was the first one to speak up. “Hey, Starrk. Check it out,” she said, pointing at his left hand. Arching an eyebrow at her in confusion, Starrk then turned to look at the back of his left hand, where he saw the number 1 printed on it. “What the Hell?” He said casually, in his usual laid back attitude. After Lilynette had pointed out the mark on Starrk’s hand, the other Arrancar started checking their own bodies for any markings as well. Ulquiorra casually glanced at the left side of his chest, where he saw the number 4. Harribel looked at her breast and saw the number 5. Neliel was looking all over her body very quickly, trying to spot any number. After inspecting every inch of the front side of her body, she then turned her head back towards her friends, Pesche and Dondochakka. “Hey guys. Do I have anything on my back?” “I don’t know. Let’s see.” Pesche responded before grabbing Neliel’s coat, which was the only thing that she was wearing, and lifting it up. After taking his sweet time and spending much longer than necessary to spot the huge number 3 on her back, he finally confirmed that she was number three. “Thanks.” Neliel responded with a big smile. She then suddenly spun around really fast and smacked Pesche on the head. “You certainly took your sweet time!” She screamed at him, angrily. “Can you stop being such a pervert?” Pesche, who had been knocked to the ground, simply raised his hand up a bit, extending just his index finger, and humorously retorted, “Would you ask the Sun not to rise?” Neliel, however, just continued glaring at him. Dondochakka then chuckled slightly at him. “Come on, man. Can’t you be serious for once?” He said in a deep voice. The commotion with Neliel and her friends had drawn the attention of several of the Arrancars, including Adagio. The former siren then felt a tap on her shoulder, and when she turned around, she saw Sonata. Once she had gotten her attention, the youngest Dazzling then simply said, “Uhh, Adagio,” while pointing at her shoulder. Wondering why she was pointing at her shoulder, Adagio’s eyes wandered there herself, and they widened slightly when she saw the number 9 stamped there like a tattoo. “Nine…” Adagio whispered to herself. After all of the Arrancar had checked themselves for tattoos, they turned back to face Aizen, who was getting ready to speak again. “Now then, some of you may have noticed that you now have a number marked somewhere on your bodies. The numbers range from zero to nine, in ascending order of strength. Those ten are the Espadas, and are the strongest of the Arrancar gathered here. The Espada will form the main offensive strength of this army. In addition, all Espadas get to choose whoever they want to serve as their Fracción.” He then reached into his cloak again and pulled out another small, spherical shaped object. “They will also receive a Caja Negación, to punish their subordinates should they step out line. Each Espada shall receive one of these later.” He then put the object back into his pocket. “However, while the Espada possess many benefits above the lower ranked Arrancar, there are also several rules that they must abide by. In particular, there are two things that are forbidden within the confines of Las Noches. The first is the use of a Gran Rey Cero. The second is the sword release of any Espada ranked four or higher. Both of these are so powerful, that if left uncontrolled, could threaten to destroy Las Noches. “That’s all for the moment. For now, you may return to your chambers.” He then shifted his gaze over to Adagio and her sisters. “If you wish to choose your Fracción now, you may do so.” Adagio simply gave him a light glare in response, making sure not to attract attention to herself, while also letting Aizen know how she felt. If she planned to take this army for herself someday, then the two of them would be enemies. But until that time came, she had to make sure not to act too rashly. Then she’d make Aizen regret giving her this power. “You’re dismissed.” And with that, everyone left the room. To be continued…