ALMANACCARE [i]

The floor was cold. Cold, oh so cold. Eyes opened quickly, but the rest of the body didn’t move as they observed the smooth floor once more. He imagined this was how characters in books he’d stolen away sometimes in the Gotei to read had felt, locked away in brick or stone dungeons deep underground… except that this wasn’t any sort of stone or brick that he’d ever seen. It was smooth, like crystal, and pitch black, though slightly translucent, so that you could see shadows moving in the next room over, but couldn’t feel anything through it and couldn’t make out any details. He’d never seen anything quite like it. The man pressed open palms against the floor and brought himself up to his knees, noting little smears of blood on the floor. His, or someone else’s? He checked his cheeks, still smooth and unscathed, so probably just old blood of someone else’s. Thinking about it, he remembered the loud, aggressive Hollow throwing a few residents of the outer city down here. It wasn’t too old, otherwise it wouldn’t still be here, so it was probably theirs.

Maybe this ‘Queen’ had freed the abused prisoners before throwing him in here. It wouldn’t surprise him. There was something about her… it seemed refreshing, though her seemingly random decision to throw him in the ‘Maw’, as he later found to be a dungeon, was unsettling. Oh well, he was sure she had her reason for it. He slid back, sitting and leaning against the back wall of the cell. What had she said? She’d wanted to hear about his ambition that he’d abandoned? No, not abandoned. He’d merely set it aside. His mission wasn’t something one could do alone, even with the power he was working to attain.

No, no, overthrowing and reforming the entirety of the Gotei 13… no, it spread further than that, overthrowing the entire government of Soul Society itself… was going to take a lot more than just one Shinigami, one Vizard delving deeper into the powers of Hollows than any may have ventured before.

He remembered the day the Shinigami had brought him into the Seireitei the first time. Mere hours before, he had been sitting amongst his brothers and sisters in a Koga hideout. Word had gotten around about another raid on the main household, so the most troublesome of the clan… himself included… had been advised to use one of their lesser-known hideouts. Perhaps it was a trick to begin with, or perhaps the Shinigami had simply anticipated it that time, because at almost exactly the time that the raid was said to be happening, Shinigami had swarmed into the hideout. Before he knew it blood was on his hands, and he didn’t know if it belonged to him or the man next to him, or the Shinigami still swinging his sword with a frantic expression on his face nearby. What felt like ages passed before he realized he hadn’t been harmed, but the look on his face told of how horrified he was.

Perhaps they didn’t know of his crimes, his wrongdoings. They looked at him as an innocent child, swept into the dark pits of the world by a band of troublemakers. If they’d known… maybe he would have been put out of his misery then. But instead, they treated him as a human being, an innocent child, and brought him in. He became an assistant to a seated officer in a squad of the Gotei 13 until he became a proper age to start training to become a Shinigami himself. It had taken him a while to adjust to life there, but once he had, he’d come to realize how much of a blessing it was. Not being told to murder and steal, having the freedom to do as he pleased with his life, to do what was right. It especially pleased him when he was assigned to the Kyubantai, the protectors of the Rukongai. He’d slain or arrested many in his day that he’d once called brothers. It made him proud to spill their blood.

It had made him proud to slay the closest thing he’d ever had to kin before joining the Gotei 13? Was that how it had been? He didn’t remember ever being so bloodthirsty.

You’ve changed a lot these past few years, Hidane, a voice entered his head, still foreign. It was Kurosenkou, he knew; she was mostly the same as she had been, in terms of her personality now, though the Inner Hollow caused her to be easier to anger… not that that was particularly difficult beforehand… but her appearance and voice were so foreign now, that it would take some time to adjust. Hidane was simply happy to have his old friend and the closest thing he’d ever had to a sister back; and she was right. He’d changed a lot over the past years, towards the end of his time with the Gotei and afterwards. For the better, he hoped.

The barred door to the cell slid open, and a silhouetted figure entered. It was the taller of the three Arrancar that had followed Cybele into the great hall where they had danced so beautifully. She was out of practice, he’d noted, probably from the imprisonment she’d mentioned, but it had still been so enjoyable. It had been a while since he’d clashed blades with someone of his own level, and her blade was overflowing with determination and passion. It was absolutely splendid. The figure that entered his cell, however, said not a single word, just laying down a tray on the floor. It had a scrap of Hollow flesh on it, next to some more… human-like foods, Hidane supposed, or the closest to such that one could get with what was available in Hueco Mundo.

“So,” he spoke, “does this ‘Queen’ of yours intend to visit me herself any time soon?” The Arrancar remained silent until the barred door to the cell was closed behind her, with her outside of it. She turned her head, glaring coldly at the Visored, and for a moment he thought she wouldn’t answer.

“Her majesty Lady Prisca has far more important matters to attend to than entertaining a prisoner,” she said, her voice smooth but somehow cold with a killer’s intent. “She will visit you at her convenience alone, not yours.” Hidane grinned and nodded. She walked away without another word. Of course, playing at Queen, or maybe actually capable of successfully holding the title. Only time would tell. This castle, as mysterious as it was, was impressive, as was the rather… human… city that surrounded it. He’d never expected to find anything like this in Hueco Mundo, and when he found out something like this was the goal that that raucous Hollow had been after, he’d been too fascinated to do anything to strike down the Hollow.

Until within hours of their arrival, a new intrigue had come rushing in the door and opposing said Hollow.

Raising his left hand to his face, for nostalgia’s sake since he was in no rush, black Reiryoku swirled around half his face, partially forming his mask as black flames sparked up all over the cell, some under the tray of food and slowly pulling it along the floor towards him. His control over the flames was getting better; soon perhaps this new power he’d discovered might even become useful in combat. That would be quite a sight, surely. He snatched up the tray as soon as it was close enough, and let the mask fall away, and the black flames with it. Sinking his teeth into the Hollow flesh, he found that it didn’t taste as awful as he’d thought it would when he was first thrown down here.

Perhaps he was becoming more like the residents of this world than even he’d thought.