Szayel's New Experiment (part 6)

Tesla led me back to my room. I was reluctant to go, but I was getting tired and figured I should get my sleep. He smiled and opened the door for me.
“Thanks for one of my first decent nights here.” I chuckled.
“No problem. Anytime.” And he left just like that, kissing my hand and leaving my face very red.
Going into my room, I lay under the covers and cuddle with my pillow, suddenly feeling really desperate for Szayel to get back. Yawning, I fell asleep, the lingering scent of Tesla’s lips still fresh on my hand.

In the morning I heard rustling in the lab. I grabbed my sword and snuck out of the door. Surprised, I saw only Szayel.
“O-Oh, Lord Szayel. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
He was staring at his desk in what (hopefully) was mock horror. “Who did this?” he pointed at his desk.
“Well, I spent yesterday cleaning up the lab like you asked. Then after that--” I paused, my mind screaming, Don’t tell him! Don’t tell! “I just hung out.” I tried to look casual.
“Sol…Sol this is amazing! None of my other fraccion have been able to clean this place in years!” his face lit up in delight.
I blushed a deep pink. It didn’t seem like that big of a mess…I shook it off. “Well, it’s nothing much…”
Then I was being squished in a tight embrace. “Thank you for taking care of everything while I was gone.” He whispered. I blushed an even deeper shade of red.
He let go and pat my head. “Good job. Now I have to work on this experiment for Lord Aizen.” He trailed off, getting lost in his world of science.
I sat down on a warm rolling chair. I wheeled next to Szayel. “Do you need help?”
“No.” he replied, not even looking up from his paper.
I wheeled around the room, the wheels on the chair making an irritating squeaky noise as I did. I brought myself next to him again. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
He growled. “Listen, Sol,” he put his hand on my shoulder and my face reddened. “I’ll tell you if I need help. Go hang out with your friends. That’s an order.” I noted the way he said ‘friends’ like he knew Sun-sun wasn’t my only one. I bowed and ran out the room. Down the hall a door with a big black ‘5’ on it stood. I decided to visit Tesla. Knocking, Nnoitra arrived at the door and gave me a sneer.
“Tesal, that GIRL is here.” Did Nnoitra just say Tesal?
Tesla appeared next to him, looking really short compared to Nnoitra.
“It’s Tesla, sir. Thank you.” Tesla led me through Nnoitra’s room to his own. It was even more meager than mine. Just a futon with sheets and a pillow was there. We sat down. “You came.” Was all he said.
I nodded. “Yeah.” Then suddenly my stomach growled like a lion. Eyes widening, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since I came here. What did we eat, anyway? I certainly wasn’t in the mood for a McDonald’s cheeseburger or anything like that.
Tesla chuckled. “You haven’t eaten, have you?” I shook my head, then answering my unspoken question, he said, “We eat souls. But there’s not any hollows around to feed off of, so…” he thought for a second. “I’m stronger than you. Feed off of me.”
“What? How?”
“Through my neck. I’ll push you off if you start to eat too much.” He slid his collar down, revealing a pale, smooth collarbone.
“Are you sure?” I asked warily.
He brought his hand up to my neck and felt my scar. He let out a “Tsk-tsk-tsk.” And followed up by saying, “Szayel should take better care of you.” Guiding my head towards his neck, I gently bit down.
First I tasted the metallic tang of blood, then something sweeter that wasn’t physical. It was like a soft cream, but tasted like a meal. I didn’t want to stop. It was definitely better than a cheeseburger. Just when I was thinking about eating more of his soul, someone spoke.
“What are you two doing?” I recognized Szayel’s voice.
My head jerked up, blood on my lips. “L-Lord Szayel! I needed a soul,and--” he cut me off.
“Sol, let’s get back to the lab.” He grabbed my arm and I sadly waved bye to Tesla. As we left I heard Nnoitra mutter the name of a certain gardening tool at me. I cowered and walked down the hall with Szayel.
“Lord Szayel, why are you so mad? I was just feeding.” I said, breaking the silence.
He spun around to face me, his warm body not two inches from mine. “Because you deserve better, Sol.”
My face turned the reddest shade it’s ever been. He started to lean his face towards mine.
Then he turned out on his heels and walked towards his lab. I let out a deep breath, my heart pounding, sweat beaded on my forehead.
What was all that about? I ‘deserve better’? Did Lord Szayel…like me? I ran my hand through my hair and went immediately to Sun-Sun’s room.

“WHAT?!” she screamed. I had never heard Sun-Sun so loud in my life. “He tried to…to…VIOLATE YOU!”
I chuckled nervously. “Not really. It was just…weird.” I said, thinking ‘weird’ was the least I could say.
“You know what you have to do now, don’t you?” her expression was deadly serious. My stomach felt like it had butterflies. “You have to make the first move.”
“How do I do that?”
“I dunno.”
“When do I?”
“I dunno.”
“Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime. Now I have to go clean for Lady Halibel. See ya!” I had almost forgotten that Sun-Sun was Halibel’s fraccion. I left in a hurry and returned to the lab where Szayel was in his chair, slumped over, hand on his head.
“Lord Szayel?” I asked, confused by his strange lack of interest in his work.
“Sol!” he spun around so quickly that a stack of papers fell and scattered on the ground.
I immediately bent down to pick them up. When I was getting them my hair fell over my left shoulder, revealing the scar on my neck from my untold accident. Before I could hide it he saw.
“What’s that?” he knelt down next to me.
“I…Lord Szayel…” I trailed off, then holding back tears, told him how I got it.
He wasn’t mad. He seemed…sad. His hand rested on the back of my neck, his thumb running over the rough skin. “Sol…” he started, and his face seemed so helpless, like he didn’t know what to make of me.
NOW! My brain screamed at me. NOW!! So I listened.
I put my hand on the back of his neck and leaned forward.
The world spun and time moved by frame by frame, as if in eternal slow motion.
Then his lips were on mine and everything was okay.

Szayel's New Experiment (part 5)

“Szayel, I’d like to speak with you.” Aizen’s face went serious as I left. I stood outside the door to listen.
Szayel walked up to Aizen. “Yes, Lord Aizen.” He bowed.
“Szayel, I’m worried about that girl. No normal Arrancar should be able to use that cero. How did you create her?”
“Well, like any other fraccion…” Szayel listed a long list of chemicals.
“Szayel, I want you to try and create another fraccion like her. See if the same thing happens. I think she might be able to be--” Suddenly Aizen stopped. “Who’s there?”
My face went pale. I ran as fast as I could to Szayel’s lab. My heart pounding, I sat in his chair. When I sat down I felt a little relieved. Glancing at his desk I saw a bubbling yellow jar. I picked it up. Swirling its contents around, I smelled it. It smelled like the freshest lavender. I set it back down, and a paper fluttered to the ground. I got on my knees, my soft hair falling to the right of my shoulder. As I picked the paper up, I bumped into the table. First mistake. The yellowy lavender liquid spilled all over the left side of my neck. I thought it was some sort of perfume, but I was dead wrong. It was so cold I could barely feel it, like liquid nitrogen. It bubbled and made crackling noises and burned hotter than fire. I stifled a scream just as Szayel walked in. I knew I couldn’t tell him. Second mistake.
“What are you doing?” he questioned, arms crossed.
“J-Just picking up papers, s-sir.” I replied as calmly as I could, which wasn’t calm at all.
“Oh. Alright.” He sat in his chair as I handed him the paper.
I walked over to a small chair, the burn still stinging.
“Sol, you don’t have a room, do you?”
That was the first time I had even thought about it. I hadn’t realized I didn’t have a bed. “No.”
“Come along.” He took me to a door I had seen before, but hadn’t gone inside.
I followed him into a small white room. A futon with white comforters and black sheets was in the corner. A desk sat on the opposite wall with a lamp.
“This will be your quarters.” He said. I sat on the bed, testing it out.
“Thank you, Lord Szayel!” I felt the pillow. I lay down, looking at the ceiling. When I sat back up Szayel was gone.
I yawned and pull the covers over my chin. I wonder what Aizen was going to say before he saw me? I snuggled even deeper and went to bed.
An alarm was going off, a voice repeating, “INTRUSION! WARNING! INTRUSION!” I jumped up and went into the lab. Szayel was hurriedly gathering his things.
“Sol! I need you to watch over things, everything’s in a mess, Soul Reapers have infiltrated…” he shook his head in disbelief. “Can you handle everything? What am I saying, of course you can, just--” he paused and put his hand on my shoulder. “Be careful.” He pat my back and left, leaving me standing there, blushing.
I started by picking up papers and jars (being careful of the yellow lavender stuff of course). I organized everything, putting papers in stacks and redoing the labels on chemicals. I put the jars in rainbow order, noting how nice everything looked. Then the mouthless man showed up. His eyes were wide and he pointed at the cleanliness. Running out of the room, soon enough he was followed by several other Arrancars.
“Woah!” one of them shouted. “It’s not a wreck!” All of them gasped.
“Um, yeah, Lord Szayel told me to clean up.” I rubbed the back of my neck, noticing the burn scar.
They smiled. “So you’re his new victim?”
I shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“What?! Hasn’t he done any tests on you?!”
“No, not at all.”
“Heh. So you’re the super-special Arrancar everyone’s talking about!”
“Huh?”
They didn’t have any time to answer though, because the fifth Espada, Nnoitra came and shooed them away. “Sorry ‘bout that, Solly.”
Solly? I thought.
“They’re just messin’ ‘round where they don’t belong.”he snickered. He had to be at least nine feet tall, with a hood that looked like a spoon. He had thin black hair and an eyepatch over his left eye. He stalked away.
Still distraught from his strange appearance, I sat down, bored. Let’s see: I finished cleaning, I didn’t have any other task to do, and I needed to find a way to stop my increasing boredom. Just then, after Nnoitra left, another, (shorter) guy walked by. He had scruffy blonde hair and pastel blue eyes. He was cute, in a shy sort of way. He stopped and smiled at me. “Tesla.” Was all he said before Nnoitra’s voice angrily called him. It wasn’t a name I’d forget soon.

Late that night, Tesla showed up at my door. Well, not my door, but Szayel’s. Anyway, he was at my door, smiling sweetly. “Wanna take a walk?”
Minutes later, we were outside. It was the first time I had gotten to see Los Noches on the outside, and it was beautiful. It was kind of barren, with soft white sand blowing under a bright crescent moon. Trees without leaves decorated the area every so often, creating an air of magic.
I gasped under my breath.
“Sun-Sun told me you hadn’t really seen the outside, so I figured why not now?” he smiled at me and guided me to a tree.
“You’re friends with Sun-Sun?” I asked, sort of surprised that she talked to anyone.
He nodded. “We came here around the same time, so naturally we became friends.”
“Oh.” Sun-sun had always seemed like sort of a loner, and I couldn’t really picture her with people.
“So how long ago did you arrive?”
I thought. “Maybe a week ago. Something like that.” Shrugging, I sat on one of the limbs of the tree.
“Oh, so you’re a newbie!” he laughed at me sarcastically.
“No! Shut up.” I laughed, jumping down and pushed him. “I’ve already had a mission!” Suddenly his face went serious.
“I wish I could have a mission. But Nnoitra just sees me as a fraccion…” he sighed.
I pat his back. “It’s okay.” Noticing the tree again, I changed the subject. “Woah, are these trees made of quartz?”
He smiled again. “Yeah, pretty nice huh?”
I rubbed the tree. “Yeah. It’s pretty beautiful.” When I looked up he was staring at me with his soft milky eyes.
“It sure is.”

Szayel's New Experiment (part 4)

Then I recognized him. He was the boy in the report I had gotten from Lord Szayel.
“Ichigo Kurosaki,” I started, narrowing my eyes and adding a growl to my voice. “You have to die.”
He smirked. “Arrancar, huh? This’ll be fun.” He popped a pill in his mouth and his human body fell to the ground. He was dressed in a shihakusho (Soul Reaper uniform) and had a knife like sword that was as tall as him. “Let’s go.”
Even though I didn’t have a sword to use, I would try to use something that could kill me—my cero. Yelling, I charged him. He ran straight up and swung his sword. I held out my arm and it only made a papercut. I instinctively knew my Hierro (Arrancar skin) was protecting me. I snickered. “You fight with no purpose. You merely fight to try and save your pride.” I thought of Sun-Sun and Lord Szayel. I was fighting for them.
“Maybe, but I know I’m stronger than you. At least I fight with a sword!” His sword clashed with my skin.
“Idiot!” I yelled, my fist nailing his cheek. He flew back and dented some lockers.
Darting back towards me, I closed my eyes as he came. Focusing on nothing but my power I gathered all of my being, my energy, into a single shot. And I fired. All I could hear was the sizzle of my burnt hands, the CRASH! As I collided into a wall, then another, then another. I ached. I was bleeding everywhere and I could hardly see. I forced myself to stand up. Struggling, I inched towards Ichigo. He was lying on his stomach, his sword way across the room. He groaned and sat up like he didn’t know how. “You…think you could…bring me…down with a…cero so weak?” My sore eyes widened. “What?” Then he was across the room, picking up his sword. He ran towards me and swung his sword, but I didn’t have enough energy to use my Hierro. It hit my arm and sent me flying back again. Grunting, I winced at the critical cut. I couldn’t fail. Sun-Sun and I were just becoming friends, and Lord Szayel…well he was Lord Szayel. I got a newfound strength. I was about to show Ichigo what and Arrancar can do when I fell—and appeared above the ocean’s churning waters and the sky’s lightning bolts.

My other ‘friend’ was there. The yellow python.
“Why haven’t you tried to call me yet, Sol?” she hissed.
I laughed. “I learned.”
The snake smirked. “Time you learned.”
I looked at her, confused. “Huh?” suddenly lightning struck me like last time. Then I understood. As I woke up in the Human World, I grabbed my sword.
“Strike, KAMINARI!” I yelled, sprinting towards Ichigo. He turned in surprise. My sword got longer and turned into what looked like an iron whip. Electricity crackled around the edges. I slung it around him and he yelled in pain as he was shocked. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. I smirked. “Who doesn’t know their sword now?” Kaminari turned back into a sword and I sheathed it. I added a silent ‘Thank you’ to her and walked away from the wreckage, knowing that the humans would never know the true reason their school was destroyed.
I walked aimlessly until I found Karakura park. I fell asleep on the nearest bench, relieved to be able to rest.

I sat on the same bench, but I knew I was dreaming. The Espada were skipping, holding hands, and singing ‘Happy Birthday’. I stood up, then fell. As I looked down at my legs, they weren’t legs at all, but arms with hands instead of feet. Then Szayel came up to me, but he was a giant butterfly.
“Come along, Sol! Wake up…wake up!”

I was startled awake by none other than Szayel and Sun-Sun.
“Sol!” Sun-Sun ran up to me, grabbing my battered body and squeezing. “Sol, we thought you were dead!”
Szayel pulled Sun-Sun off of me and examined me. “How did you survive? You’re no match for Ichigo Kurosaki!”
I coughed up some blood. “C-Cero.”
His orange eyes widened. “YOU used cero?!” he examined me even more, taking time to look at my burned hands.
I nodded. I winced as he slapped me upside my head.
“You idiot! You’re not supposed to use cero! It can kill a normal Arrancar like you!”
“I’m sorry, Lord Szayel. You too, Sun-Sun. I just…I didn’t want to fail my first mission.” I tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, not wanting Lord Szayel or Sun-Sun to see me cry.
“O-Oh God…don’t cry…” Szayel looked like he was going to flip out. “Just, uh, tell us what happened.”
I recapped the whole fight for them, including the part where I learned my sword’s name.
Szayel nodded as he listened. “I’ll go see if Ichigo is still there.” He ran away as Sun-Sun sat next to me.
“Aw, Sol, it’s okay. You did great. I couldn’t even use a cero.” She whispered encouragement to me.
“Thanks, Sun-Sun.” I said, hugging her.
“He’s not there.” Szayel came back. He shrugged. “I assume one of his friends came and found him.”
“Wait,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “How did you know that I was here?”
Sun-Sun replied. “Lord Aizen was ‘keeping tabs’ on you.”
I shivered. Lord Aizen was watching my little battle? I felt a little embarrassed that he spent time just to see me.
As the sun went down and it turned a milky blue color, I was still tired. I closed my eyes and lay back down. As I fell asleep, I felt Szayel pick me up easily in his arms. I fell asleep, knowing we would make it back safely to Los Noches (the Arrancar base).

Back at Los Noches, Ulquiorra told me I had to report to Aizen and tell him what happened.
Walking in the big room again, the Espada were all sitting in random places with Aizen in his throne. Tosen and Gin stood at his flanks.
“Hello again, Sol. I’ve heard good news upon your return?” he asked it like a question, as if wondering if it were true.
I nodded. “Yes, sir. I fought Ichigo Kurosaki. He was last unconscious in Karakura High School’s hallway.”
Aizen eyes grew wide. “You defeated Ichigo Kurosaki?” he scoffed. “How did you do this?”
I told him the truth. “I-I used cero, s-sir.”
His eyes were mad, but his face showed a bit of joy. “That was irresponsible. I am glad Kurosaki is out of the way now, but…” he thought for a moment. “Nevermind. You’re dismissed. Mission clear.”
I let a smile creep across my face. “Thank you, sir.”

Szayel's New Experiment (part 3)

The rain surrounded me once again, but harder, like the sky was angry. This time I didn’t feel so intimidated because I had been here before. The python was coiled in front of me, glaring.
“You think you can speak to me whenever you want to, Sol?” her soft voice was in my mind, smooth yet harsh.
“Isn’t that the way it works?” I asked, putting my weight on my right foot so my hip was cocked to the side.
“You fool! You cannot ask for my name, you must earn the right to use it!” she screeched, hissing.
“How do I earn the right?” I questioned, hoping to get an answer.
“Not like that!” Then she shot at me, and I expected her to become part of me, but she actually hit me this time, sending me sprawling onto the water. Then a wave consumed me and I drowned, drifting into unconsciousness.

I was back where I originally started, in the hallways facing Szayel and the two Soul Reapers. But I was on the ground and I was soaking wet.
But that’s not possible! The python…it didn’t really… I thought, rubbing my hair out of my face.
“Th-The heck?” one Soul Reaper yelled.
The other one didn’t seem so dazed. “Just attack!”
They both charged us at the same, and Szayel instantly reacted. Pulling his sword out, he swung it, cutting both of the careless men on the chest. They yelped, but continued their attack. Szayel easily fended them off, blocking their swings as if it were no feat at all. Finally, when there was an opening, he sliced his sword through their necks, beheading them. I cringed as some of their blood hit my face and ran down my cheeks. Red liquid was all over the walls, making it smell like metal. Szayel snapped his fingers and fire consumed them, making their bodies and the blood disappear. As Szayel and I walked away, we were left with the stench of rotting flesh and burning hair imprinted in our minds.
Back in his lab, I was finishing washing my face from their blood.
“Sol. I need you to do something for me.” Szayel’s eyes were serious.
I nodded. “What is it, sir?”
“We’ve been hearing reports that some Soul Reapers are causing trouble in the…” he paused, unsure of what to say.
“What, sir?” I sat down, waiting for him to respond.
“The Human World.”
The words sent shivers up my bones. I had never been there, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. It just seemed so…different. Then he scared me even more by saying:
“And we decided you should do it.”
My knees began to get wobbly. The Human World? I had got here only a day ago! I didn’t know my sword, so it wouldn’t let me use it, therefore there’s no way I could stand up to a Soul Reaper! I sighed and resorted to the words I didn’t want to say at all.
“When do I leave?”
He smiled. “Good, Sol. You leave tonight. You have time to say goodbyes,” he looked around. “Though it doesn’t seem like you’d have much of anyone to say goodbye to.” With a smirk he left me alone in the lab.

Standing in front of the door of the only person I could think to say goodbye to, I slowly knocked on the door with a thunk, thunk, thunk. Then the door opened and Sun-Sun stared at me in surprise.
“Um, are you lost?” is all she said.
“No.” I replied. I explained my situation to her, and how I wanted to say goodbye to at least one person.
Sun-Sun blushed. “Oh. Well, I’m sorta flattered that you chose me.” A half-smile crawled across her lips.
“Bye, I guess.” I said awkwardly.
Then I was the one that was surprised when she hugged me. “Bye, Sol.” I walked away and went straight back to the lab.
“I’m ready.” I muttered to Szayel, who was standing with his arms crossed. He ran his hand across the air, opening a black hole that looked like wooden boards sliding across from each other.
“Just go in here and you’ll be in the Human World. And remember,” he said as I stepped through the portal. “Don’t die!” Smiling, he waved me off into my worst nightmare.
At first it was okay. You know, blue skies, puffy clouds of that sort. But the second I tried to be normal, things went downhill. When I appeared through the portal, I was standing on thin air, and was instantly mauled by a flock of ravens. They pecked at me and fluttering their wings at me, made me lose my footing and fall onto the nearest rooftop. “AIIIEEE!!!” I heard myself let out a girly scream as I fell. Hitting the rooftop, I lay on my back, writhing in pain. The only reason I could bear this was because I was an Arrancar. Then some wrinkly old lady came up to me.
“Oh, my! Annabeth, is that you?” she ran up and hugged with a force that could’ve broken Espada number one’s bones. “My, I’ve missed you! You still have your lovely green hair.” I didn’t know who this ‘Annabeth’ girl was, but I figured I’d milk the situation for all it’s worth.
“Oh, hi Grammy! I’ve, uh, missed you too!” I hugged back.
“Come inside, dearie, have some tea.”
“Oh, no, I really have to get to school.” I lied, right after I had her give me some normal clothes. I wasn’t sure what people wore here, but I didn’t think it involved paisley dresses and zebra bellbottoms. I left and walked down the street in the dress and pants ‘Grammy’ gave me. I came across two girls smoking. They had pink spiked hair, piercings all over their pale faces, and mad expressions. The second I walked by they grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey, watcha think you’re doin in those totally freak clothes?” one asked, and I shrugged.
“Yeah, it’s TOTALLY cool how you don’t, like, care that you’re wearing lame-o clothes.” The second one smiled, like she actually thought it was cool. “What school do you go to?”
I squinted to see the sign that was far away. “Kar…ak…ura…” I muttered. “Karakura!” I repeated.
They nodded. “Us too. See ya.” Randomly, they walked away. I walked towards the school, hoping to find the Soul Reaper I was looking for. The school had a decent sized courtyard, lots of classrooms, and it looked like lunch because everyone was outside, enjoying themselves. As soon as the first person saw me, they started laughing, and soon everyone was laughing. I felt rage bubble up inside me and make me feel uncomfortable. “Shut up!” I screamed, and they did, but a few snickers could be heard. Rushing inside the building, I found the administration office quickly (as I was a master of finding my way through hallways now) and asked to register.
“Scuse me, hon. You got a pass to be wanderin’ the halls?” some old lady was chewing fruity gum and wore WAY too much lipstick.
“No…ma’am…” I forced myself to add the ‘ma-am’. I still wasn’t in a very good mood. “I’m here to register…ma’am…”
“Awight, hon.” She handed me a stack of papers. “Initial here, here, here, sign here, initial here, and done.”
I did as she said. “Thank you…ma’am.” She handed me a gray and red uniform.
As I left I heard her mutter, “Nice hair, hon.” In a sarcastic tone. I held myself back from punching her and ran to the nearest ‘bath-room’ which was odd because it didn’t have a bath. Changing, I ditched Grammy’s old clothes and ran out just as a shrill bell rang. Everyone pushed and shoved past me to get to their next class. One kid caught my eyes though. He had bright, bright orange hair and an angry expression. When he saw me he stood deathly still all the way down the hall. Another bell rang and all the kids were gone. All except for me and the carrot-top.

Szayel's New Experiment (part 2)

When I woke up the man was gone. I wasn’t completely sure if what had just happened was a dream or if it really happened. My mind was foggy, like a cloud was over it. I tried to stretch my limbs and found that they were sore. I stood up with wobbly knees and went over to the nearest mirror for the first time.
I had short bangs covering my right eye and long hair that reached my mid-back. The man was right—I did have strange yellow eyes. And I also had…green hair? It was a strange color (no stranger than pink, though), but I guess it looked okay on me. I combed out my messy hair with my fingers and straightened out my clothes. My Hollow bone piece looked like three blades put together and then used to pull the hair on my left behind my ear. Two pink claw-like marks came down from my forehead on the left. After being pleased with my appearance, I turned around only to find none other than the pink haired man at the door across the room.
“Well, you’re awake, I see.” He smirked and examined me.
“What do you want?” I retorted, crossing my arms. Suddenly his spiritual pressure flared, causing me to flinch, fall back on the mirror and break it. I gasped as a shard of glass cut my back. I felt warm, oozy blood drip down and hit the floor. Then he was right next to me, his sword unsheathed.
“Don’t you DARE talk to me like that, you insufferable little--” he paused, thinking. He then sheathed his sword and I felt his power go down. “Nevermind. Come here, take off your shirt.” I did as I was told and sat on the same chilly table I had slept on. I took off my shirt and set it next to me. Then a fat little man in a lab coat with no mouth came by and…put my shirt in his nose?! Next thing I knew there was a long whirring noise and a click. My shirt came back out of his nose, no blood or anything. I was amazed.
“Um, thank you?” I said, shaking his hand.
“Uh wehum!” His eyes lit up and he scurried away. I could only assume he said “You’re welcome!”
“This will sting,” The man said, paying no attention to the mouthless Arrancar. He rubbed a scalding liquid on my back. I stifled a scream and clenched my fists. “There.” He said. I felt my back. All that was left was a little scar and some dried blood. This man is amazing! I thought. I put my shirt back on and smiled.
“Thank you.” I said gratefully. Then I turned my head to the side. “Who are you?”
He chuckled, and his spiritual pressure swelled in pride. “I am Espada eight, Szayel Aporro Granz. I am your master.” He smirked and nudged me off of the table.
“My master? I never agreed to that.” I said, pulling my lip out in a pout.
“Yes you did. In exchange for Lord Aizen giving you your life back, you are now under our control, and Lord Aizen has made you my fraccion.”
I sighed. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“Just petty tasks. Fighting for me, protecting me in a your-life-is-worth-more-than-mine sort of way.”
“But that’s so boring!” I complained.
“Too bad! Now come along so I can introduce you to the other Espada.” I followed him obediently, suddenly realizing that I had to—or he would blast my head off.
After the long hallways, we came to a room with a huge table in the middle with eleven tall chairs, five on each side and one at the head. Nine of those chairs were filled, and I was taken down by their incredible spiritual pressure again. I was about to meet nine people that could crush me with their fingers.
“In order of strongest to weakest, there’s Stark,” Szayel pointed to a lazy, brown haired man. “Halibel, Barragan, Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Zommari, me, Aaroneiro, and Yammy.” They were all so weird. They were scary, too, with their serious faces and intimidating glances. I stared at the ground and hid behind Szayel. He laughed. “Are you scared?” he whispered to me in a voice that gave me chills. All I could do was nod. He laughed again. “How innocently sweet. Well, if you tick one of them off, you’ll be a lot more scared.” He winked and guided me out of the room, and I was once again relieved of their power. I didn’t understand Szayel at all. One minute he was nice, the next he was trying to decapitate me.
Then I noticed something I hadn’t before. A yellow sword was at my waist. I didn’t know when it got there, or how. All I knew was that the second I touched it, I was in another world.

It was raining incredibly hard. As in, cars get into fifty wrecks hard. I could barely stand against the wind, rain, and thunder booming at me. I reached for my sword on instinct, but it wasn’t there. It was raining icy daggers and there was no sign that it would stop. When I looked down, I saw that I was standing on the ocean. Strangely, it was completely calm. It just rose and fell over again. Then a lightning bolt hit the water, electrocuting me. But it didn’t hurt. The energy ran through my bones, giving me something more powerful, more exhilarating then adrenaline. The rain stopped and I looked where the lightning had struck, but there was a snake. A twenty-foot-long yellow and white python, staring at me, poised to attack. Its pink tongue flicked out of its mouth. It slithered towards me, slowly, then picked up speed. Suddenly it flew at me, right at my stomach. Instead of hitting me, it went right through me. I heard a female voice in my mind.
“Sol.” It said.
“W-What?” I whispered back.
“Do you know who I am?”
I shook my head.
“Maybe this will help.”
I couldn’t see. The only thing I could were visions of strong female warriors, fighting with the same yellow sword I had. Defeating Hollows, even men. My eyes burned, then glowed white. I opened my mouth to scream and a white light shone out there, too. I was being consumed by this snake’s spirit.

I opened my eyes and gasped. I was sitting on the floor with Szayel standing above me.
“Did you see your sword?” he asked, his arms crossed.
Something registered in my brain. The reason I couldn’t find my sword was because the snake was my sword! It all made sense. But I still didn’t know her name.
“Yes.”
“What’s it’s name?” he asked. It was odd, he seemed genuinely curious.
I shrugged and described the vision. He nodded like he understood.
A huge CRASH! made us both jump. A hole in the ceiling ripped open and two men in black uniforms jumped through with swords.
“We are from squad eleven of the Soul Society! We are here to take you down and will complete our mission!” one of them spoke.
“Soul Reapers.” Szayel growled unhappily. “Sol,” he began. I stared at his orange eyes framed by glasses. “I think it’s time you learned your sword’s name.”
I nodded and stood behind him. I closed my eyes and prepared to learn my sword’s true name.