Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Negative Space ❯ The Brewing Storm ( Chapter 21 )

Fingers trailed across my lower abdomen in a tickling trail, stirring me from the dream I had been relishing in. I didn't really register much other than the fact that I wasn't ready wake up, so I rolled over and curled into the warm body that had been at my back. I snuggled close to him, burying my face against the side of his neck and the pillow. I knew it was Grimmjow that I was pressed so closely to, but it didn't really register in my mind until the musky scent of nature filled my nose. Why did he have to smell so deliciously exotic? Him smelling so stinking good wasn't fair.

"Isa," he murmured as his cheek brushed along my temple.

I grunted in response, but otherwise stayed where I was. I wanted to go back to sleep, and answering him with words would have woken me up too much. I normally wasn't this groggy, but I normally didn't sleep in the hot embrace of another body either. It made me lethargic, and so relaxed that I could have easily slipped back into the dream I had been having if he would just stop moving.

Despite my grumbling thoughts, Grimmjow moved and rolled me onto my back as he rose up to put his weight on his elbow. Greeted with the cool air of the room as it ghosted between the sheets, I blinked up at him. Even with my hazy sight, I could tell his attention was focused on something across the room.

"What are you looking at?" I mumbled as I lolled my head to the side to gaze in the same direction. Nothing looked out of place to me, but I wasn't familiar with the room.

"It's dark out," he answered me.

"It's night, of course it's darker out," I said lazily.

"It's too dark."

I stared at the wall, my attention focusing on the double doors that were mostly covered by vines. The last time I had gone through those doors, the outside light had been filtering through the vines. It had been enough to give the vegetation an ethereal sort of glow, but not enough to have been blinding from inside. Now, there was nothing. The light in the room that allowed me to see at all was from softly glowing items in the room rather than from outside.

"According to the living, what year is it?" I asked as I lifted my head from the pillow to gaze around.

"2034," he answered. "Why?"

"It's late. I had assumed it happened while I was locked away, but if it hadn't-" I stopped my words and turned my attention to him. "How long ago is your oldest memory? Have you ever seen the moon vanish like it has now?"

"The moon is gone?"

Yeah, he wasn't even a hundred years old. I was a damn cradle robber.

"Yes, it is," I said before I pulled myself away from him and slid off the bed.

My body shuddered with the loss of his heat, but I did my best to hide it as I lifted my hand and called to my zanpakuto. I didn't remember that I need to avoid the blade until after it plunged through my palm, making me swear softly as I yanked it from my flesh.

I was way too groggy for this shit.

With a push of power I healed my flesh and the bone that had been sliced through before sinking that power into the metal of my zanpakuto to make it extend. The butt rang on the stone as I used it like a staff and found the balcony door. Gently so I wouldn't damage the vines, I used to blade of to push several of the leafy vines to the side so I could gaze out across the darkness that should have been a balcony and sand.

"The moon will be back in a few minutes if this is the first time it's vanished, but it will grow progressively longer until there is no moon all night. That is when the sun will fail to overcome the night for a day, and the world will shift."

Grimmjow was behind me when he spoke, and I saw him reach around me just enough so that he could cover my hand that was holding my zanpakuto. My skin was still slick with my blood, but it didn't seem to bother him as he coaxed my hand back toward him. I let out an annoyed sigh and took my zanpakuto with my other hand so he could examine the one I had just healed.

"What do you mean by the world shifting?" he asked as he turned my hand over, inspecting it. His thumb ran over the spot where my zanpakuto had sliced into me, and somehow I knew without looking at him that he was frowning.

"You've seen some of my memories, so you must have seen the crystal that once covered this land," I said, remembering the palace that was my home so many years ago. It had been nestled in the a valley of turquoise crystal, hidden from most of the world yet glimmering like a star of pearlescent majesty. "How do you think Hueco Mundo went from a crystalline landscape, to the sand that has turned this place into a desert? How do you think Menos Forest came to be? What about the massive rocks that spot the dunes? The pillars that create Los Noches' center?"

I started to pull my hand out of his grip, but when he didn't release me, I made do and gestured to the darkness outside with my other. "This is how the land changes. The rain comes only once every hundred years or so, and with it comes change. It may be so small that you don't even notice it, or it may be something world breaking, but there is always change."

"There is no rain in Hueco Mundo," he said, challenging my words with his own small mindedness.

"Where do you think the water that you use to keep your plants flourishing comes from?" A small grin quirked the corner of my mouth. "There's a reservoir beneath Los Noches that gathered there after the pillars formed. Unable to soak into the crystal of the world and filtered by the sand it ran through, there is a massive body of crystal clear water beneath this palace. It's probably low right now, but when this land floods again with the coming rain, even if the rain isn't just rain but more, it will be overflowing."

"Once, sand was mixed so heavily in the rain that it was like mud falling from the sky. It flooded the land, but when the water drained away into the crystal -into the land- the sand remained. This is why we put a dome over Los Noches. We will be fine when the rains come, while the world outside shall drown until the water soaks through the sand to be taken in by the crystal underneath. Now, if giant rocks fall from the sky like the stars are returning to the world again, we might have to worry about the dome. Luckily, I've never seen the same thing happen twice."

"The dome was broken when Ichigo came to Hueco Mundo," Grimmjow said, making my thoughts catch.

I stared at the window, my gaze focusing on the vague outline of our bodies that the glowing items in the room made in the glass. The dome was broken. I knew that. So why had I thought for just a moment that Los Noches was whole? Most of the buildings were destroyed in some way and I knew it.

Ugh.

I shook my head and let the vines fall back into place.

"Sorry," I mumbled, apologizing even as I realized that it wasn't needed. I wasn't going to slip away into the past, but I had forgotten the present for a moment. It was a great example of my state of mind. "With the dome gone Los Noches will flood, and it will have trouble draining the water from inside the walls. It will all have to soak through the sand or pour out the doorways, and it may be days before this place is dry again."

I stepped away from the doors and around Grimmjow, but when he didn't release my hand I was forced to come to a stop. My grip on my zanpakuto tightened as I fought to keep myself from yanking my hand away. I didn't really want to be touched right now.

"How long?" He asked. Maybe he knew how I was feeling because he didn't ask the question that I knew was brewing on his tongue. He wouldn't have been so intent on my hand if he hadn't been wondering why my zanpakuto had slid into my flesh like it did. It had done it once before in front of him, and that was when I had been lost and he had ordered me to come back to myself. Did he think I was on the verge of slipping?

"A month, maybe two if this is the first time the moon has vanished. It depends on how severe the change will be. From what I have been able to tell, the longer the storm brews, the more drastic the changes. Like when the sand came, it rained that gritty mud for days but the darkness took almost four months to brew."

"Do you think this is why Arnau hasn't attacked yet?"

His question had me turning around when I had just been trying to avoid looking at him. I met his gaze with ease despite the darkness, but it was only because his eyes were faintly shining like a cat's reflected light at night. His question had caught me off guard, so it took me a moment to answer him.

"Perhaps. The darkness could be a weakness for him like it is for me, or a benefit like it is for you."

"This is a weakness for you?" he asked. His tone was amused, but the look in his eyes was confused.

I frowned at him for a moment, but quickly pulled it back. He had only been in my Negative Space twice. Once for me to kick his ass, the second to stop me from killing Luien. Even if he had only been paying attention to how it worked, it would have been hard to figure out the mechanics behind my Negative Space without being told.

"My Negative Space may be darkness, but anything with a power glows like it is basking in sun. I don't have to worry about not being able to see. This sort of darkness would give his people cover from those like me who are not gifted with the same senses you have, perhaps even allowing them to move in on Los Noches without making us aware of their presence. But like I said, if this is the first night, the darkness will fade quickly. It will only be of any use to him after several weeks, and I know this hasn't been going on for weeks."

He nodded slowly like he was thinking over my words, but then he raised my bloody hand that he was still holding until it was almost between us. His eyes never left mine as his grip shifted so he was cupping the back of my my hand so he could leave my palm exposed to my sight.

"Why is this happening again?"

Here we go...

"It never stopped, I was just too groggy to remember to move," I answered smoothly.

"Are you actually Isa right now?"

If he hadn't sounded so serious, I would have rolled my eyes. "Yes."

He leaned in closer to me until his nose was almost brushing mine. The predator I had seen before was in his eyes, watching me with intent. I couldn't tell what sort of emotions were in that focused gaze, but whatever it was it was strong and… possessive?

"What's my name, Isa?" His words were almost a growl.

I narrowed my eyes at him to push back against his challenge. His question had been rather surprising last night and I had rewarded him for it, but now? Was it really that difficult for him to tell Isabellia and myself apart?

"Master," I answered slowly, testing the waters.

A barely audible growl made the hair on the back of my neck rise as my instincts kicked in. Here was a predator that I was intentionally pissing off, and if I had been smarter I wouldn't have done it.

"That's not the answer I'm looking for, Isa," he said in a low voice. He stepped closer to me and I responded by taking a slightly bigger step back. Whatever I had done must have set him off because he was abruptly on me. I hadn't been prepared for his advance or I would have stopped him from knocking my zanpakuto from my hand and taking me across the room. My back should have slammed into the wall with the speed of his sonido, but instead of the jarring movement I was pressed into the leaves and vines that lined the room.

"What's my name?" He asked. I moved to push him away, but he caught my hands and pressed them back into the wall. I could have fought him harder than I was, but this wasn't a fight that I had to physically win. This was a fight that I wanted to win with words. Or name calling.

"Overbearing ass hole," I said as I rested my head back on the wall so I could glare up at him. "Or do you prefer autocratic dingleberry? One of the fakes? An egotistical false god?"

The corner of his mouth pulled up into a lopsided grin.

"You're damn lucky that you're still healing," he growled. His grip on my hands shifted and I felt him try to pull them together above my head. I resisted him then, my entire body flexing with the effort. He actually managed to lift me off my feet, but I think the sound of the snapping foliage was what actually stopped him from lifting me much higher and he let my feet rest back on the ground.

"If I wasn't healing, what would you do?" I asked, my voice coming out in a pur.

"I'd make you say it," he growled. Only his hands had been touching me, but with his words he stepped closer and used his body to press mine firmly against the vines. His mouth hovered over mine, threatening to take my lips but only teasing me with his hot breath. "One way or another."

My breath hitched in my throat when his lower body ground into mine. Gods, he was a horrible, horrible man. He knew exactly how to push the right buttons on this very human body of mine. It really didn't help that I was still only wearing the underwear I had stripped down to last night. It left nothing by the flimsy panties and his pants between us and gods was he ready. Pinned like I was to the wall, I should have been struggling more to get free from him but I was so distracted by the press of his body that I couldn't even think to feel trapped.

In fact, all I could think about was the feel of his lips on mine. Last night he had been careful with me, but I didn't want careful. I wanted the predator to devour me.

I flexed up onto the balls of my feet and captured his mouth with my own. He may have had my hands pinned to the wall, but in that moment I took charge and forcefully kissed him with an almost desperate fierceness. I had surprised him when I had moved, but it only lasted until my tongue slipped between his lips to brush between his teeth.

Like a starting engine, he came to life. His hands released mine and found my body as our kiss became a fight for dominance. He bit down on my bottom lip, driving me to rise onto the tips of my toes before he released me. It wasn't a fair fight with our height difference, so I slid my arms over his shoulders and pulled myself up even more so I could distract him with the friction between our bodies. He groaned and lost focus on what I was doing to his mouth as his hands found my ass and he lifted me higher. I wrapped my legs around his waist and clenched his hips with my thighs to help hold myself up. The new position made him grind against the most intimate parts of me and I moaned my desire into his mouth.

The vines at my back vanished as Grimmjow moved away from the wall, probably both to save his plants from being damaged by our movement and to find a more suitable place to enjoy ourselves. It forced me to cling tighter to him despite the hand he still had on my ass to keep me where I was. His other trailed up my flesh, tracing the taught, muscled lines of my back until he ran over the center of my back. Where my spine was.

I stiffened and broke our savage kiss as I waited for the pain of my broken mask to course through me. Oddly enough, it never did, but I stayed stiff with the memory of the pain that should have come.

"Did I hurt you?" Grimmjow asked in an almost breathy voice, drawing me out of my moment of panic.

"N-no," I said hesitantly. I was panting slightly despite how quickly our engagement had started and stopped. My eyes blinked open as I just now realized I had shut them and I met his azure gaze. "I just thought it would hurt."

His hand hadn't moved from the spot even with my reaction to his touch, but with my words he gently caressed over the spot that had been damaged on my mask. Not a single inch of it hurt with his touch, and the realization that I had severely over reacted had me sagging slightly with relief and embarrassment.

"That feels fine too?" He asked.

I nodded and silently shamed myself. Why had I reacted like that? Ugh. It was probably for the best, but I still regretted it.

Slowly relaxing, I let my grip on his hips ease and he helped guide me down until my toes touched the floor. I kept my face tilted down to avoid meeting his gaze as my eyes went to my zanpakuto that was carelessly lying on the floor several feet away. I needed to see what state my mask was in, and to do that I needed to release my true form. The only problem was…

"Do you have a standing mirror?" I asked.

"No, just the one in the washroom," he answered. His hand trailed all the way up my spine to trace over the part where my mask emerged from my skin to line the back of my neck making me tense and want to relax at the same time. "Even if I did, could you see with the world as dark as it is?"

Probably not, but I didn't voice that thought. "I need to go back to my rock then. I have a mirror there, and I will be light enough for me to see soon."

"Is your mask healed?"

"I don't know," I answered, my voice soft with the admission. "That's what I want to figure out. I don't like that I flinch so easily.

"You shouldn't leave if you're still injured." His voice sounded cautious as he spoke, like he was choosing his words rather than simply talking.

"Are you going to order me to stay?" I asked, keeping my own voice light so it wouldn't sound like a challenge.

"Are you going to make me?"

I stood there without answering him, waiting for some brilliant answer to come to mind. Nothing came to me, but even still I stood there. Words weren't my strong point. Explaining things, I could do, but this? I'd have preferred to just sneak off than wait for him to tell me what he wanted. Worst of all, despite my inner feelings, I didn't want to be away from him. It was stupid and it made me feel much younger than I was, but I wanted to be wrapped in his warmth. Just the thought made me want to slap myself, but it really was what I wanted.

I drew one hand down from his shoulders and held it out to my zanpakuto as I called Amechania to me. The spear came to me and the shaft met my hand instead of the blade, though if it had more distance to orient itself I was pretty sure I would have been stabbed again.

"Amechania doesn't handle the gifts that your bond has given me very well. I'd suggest refraining from trying to elicit strong emotions from me while I am in my true form," I warned him just before I tapped the butt of my zanpakuto on the ground to make the metal ring.

"Pacify, Amechania."

Power poured through me as I called my true form to life. My armor formed around me, surfacing from my skin to take shape around my flesh. Despite the transformation, Grimmjow's hands never left me but instead shifted to my hips as my girdle formed under his hands. I ignored him and turned my zanpakuto to point toward the floor as I waited the few moments it took for my armor to finish. I could have made it form instantly, but I wasn't in a hurry. Rather, I was a bit nervous, and looking casual might just fool Grimmjow into thinking I wasn't worried.

"How does it feel?"

I realized then that I had been chewing on my bottom lip and abruptly stopped. He couldn't see much of my face with my head tilted down, but it didn't stop me from acting like he knew what I was feeling. With his sensitivity to the bond, he probably knew even without seeing my expressions. He was a cheater, and I just needed to get over it.

"Fine, at the moment," I mumbled that last part as I ran my hand over my girdle. I traced the patterns in my armor around my side and to my back, but hesitated when I knew I was close to touching my spine. Apprehension filled me as I considered my mask. What if my mask wasn't done healing? Would my touch set it off? Would it cave at my touch because it wasn't ready? Gods, I didn't want to feel that pain again. Pain normally wasn't a deterrent for me because it only lasted as long as I let it, but this was out of my control. A pain I couldn't stop with a simple push of power like almost everything else in my life.

Yes, I was a control freak. Raacharg really was a saint for putting up with me sometimes.

Grimmjow gently pulled on my hips, drawing my attention to him as he coaxed me closer. I hadn't realized until then that there had been such space between us, but either he or I had stepped back while my armor had been forming.

Letting out a small sigh I closed the distance between us. I started to turn to give him my back, but he held onto my hips and guided me to step into him. I lifted a brow at him suspiciously before I pressed my chin into his shoulder.

"Don't get any ideas," I warned him as he bent his neck and his upper body so he could look down the line of my back and armor. "In my true form, Amechania rides my mind. I will get overwhelmed easier by the emotions your bond has allowed me to feel."

"That sounds like a good thing for me," he mused.

"If I get overwhelmed in this state, I get violent," I murmured, my voice a pur as I moved my zanpakuto and rested the blade on the top of his foot. I held it up so the weight of it would simply be a pressure, but my threat was clear. "You don't want me to get violent."

He let out a husky laugh and brought his mouth to my ear. "Maybe I want you to get violent. I am destruction after all."

A muscle in my cheek twitched with annoyance. He was just testing my limits. I knew it. After the reaction I had gotten out of him on the way to his bed, I couldn't blame him. I hadn't intended to invite such advances at first. I had simply wanted to sleep, and for him to guard me as I allowed myself to be so vulnerable. But that had changed once I realized how he had reacted. It was hard to sleep pressed against someone and to not realize that there was a sort of… tension in the air.

"Try me," I said as I let more of my zanpakuto's weight rest on his foot. He had to be feeling something now, but he didn't react like it hurt.

"You should have figured out by now that laying down a challenge isn't how you stop me," he murmured as his hand brushed down my exposed upper arm. His mouth came closer to my ear he nuzzled his nose across the bone feathers, making an involuntary shudder rake through my body. "I like a challenge."

I'd show him a damn challenge.

I jerked, slamming the weight of my zanpakuto into his foot until I felt the blade kiss the stone beneath. His entire body went stiff and his grip on me clenched until it was painfully tight. The scent of his blood permeated the air and heighten the edge of violence within me that made it so I almost couldn't help myself as I leaned back and gave him my best predatory glare.

"I warned you," I said flatly, my words coming out with more Amechania than I had intended. "You may be my master, but I have no qualms about hurting you, not when I know it is not permanent damage that I have done. I would advise you not to forget that I am not Isa when I am in my true form."

"You're still Isa," he disagreed, his voice deceptively soft. The predator within him was in his eyes as he stared hungrily down at me. I couldn't tell of that look was a hunger for violence, or something else, but considering what we had been doing just a few minutes ago, I had a pretty good guess. "You're just more of a challenge like this."

"And you like challenges," I said flatly as I drew my zanpakuto back. I did it slowly so I could prolong the pain of my blade as it slid through his flesh, but instead of making him weary, it was like I had made him more interested in me. Not exactly what I had been going for.

"You're the only challenge I've had in years."

I tilted my head to the side in a curious gesture as my blade left his flesh. I stood there for a moment without doing anything other than holding his gaze, but it was suddenly hard to maintain. Did I feel a bit guilty? Not really, but I had intentionally just stabbed the man I was supposed to serve. Even if he deserved it, the instinct that the bond gave me would have slapped me if I was paying more attention to it.

Keeping still under his touch, I pushed power to the bond. I didn't flinch when my own broken one stabbed at me, but instead forced my body to relax just a little as I called on my healing and pushed the power into him through his bond and his hands that were still clasped over my upper arms. I needed physical contact to share my healing, but that didn't mean that I had to be touching him. His hands on me were more than enough contact for me to heal the wound I had given him.

I dropped his gaze then and tilted my face down, conceding to him the win of our staring contest. I felt more than saw his move to come closer to me and ducked my head further to avoid his mouth that had been aiming for mine. He clearly saw me move because instead of his mouth hitting my mantel he redirected his movement so his cheek slid along my temple. His breath tickled the feathers that tipped my ear as he took in a deep breath. I had a moment to wonder if he was taking in my scent, but my curiosity was short lived because he nuzzled my feathers in a way that was firm but still sensual. Gods, if Isabellia wasn't me I would have throttled her.

"Are you going to tell me how my spine looks, or are you going to keep pissing me off with your ill returned sexual advances?" I said quickly as I turned my head away to keep him from touching me.

I could hear that stupid grin of his as he answered me. "Ill returned? That's a lie if I ever heard one. I can smell how much you're enjoying yourself."

I flattened my glare at his shoulder and started to move my zanpakuto to stab him again, but it only made him chuckle. I would have been lying to myself if I said that I was not aroused, but I sure as hell wasn't going to admit it aloud. How could I not have been? He was more than just attractive, and I had been so tangled up in him that it was amazing I hadn't lost what little clothing I still had on. Yay to me for not losing my head when he had caught me against him. If my bond with him hadn't been fried and I hadn't jumped when he's touched my back, I might have let him take me. We had been pressed so closely together, and the feel of his mouth on mine- his teeth- his hands-

Nope. Not going there. Bad Isa, bad! No more thinking about sweat slicked skin and how good it would feel to- Gods! Bad Isa!

Oblivious unaware of the turmoil in my thoughts, Grimmjow coaxed me closer to him. I couldn't feel him touching my armor because of how tightly it was bound to my body, but I knew he was by the way his hands slid between my arms and waist and forced me to lift my arms out and away from my body. I ended up gripping his bicep with my free hand while my zanpakuto rested on the ground to steady my other hand. I braced myself, waiting for the pain of his touch on my spine despite not knowing if it was going to come. I didn't actually feel anything until his fingers brushed over the more sensitive bone and I jumped ever so slightly with the pain I was expecting to feel.

"Easy," he murmured as his touch trailed up, skimming painlessly over the segments that had been damaged by his gran rey cero.

"You take it easy," I grumbled back. "I haven't been this pathetic since that damn Soul Reaper-"

"You're not pathetic," he interrupted me. "You're trusting me to do this for you. There's a difference."

His entire hand pressed to my spine in one abrupt movement making me jump again and lean harder into him to get away from his touch as I waited for pain, but instead of the pain I had expected, I was met with the solid feeling I was used to. His hand trailed down my back, passing over my entire spine from my shoulder blades to where it vanished right where my body's actual tailbone was and my girdle ended. I thought for a second that his hand would trail further down to trail over the thin fabric of my underwear to trace over the thin fabric that covered my lady bits, but instead he drew his hand back up to the top edge of my armor where it transitioned into the sports bra I was wearing underneath it. The spine of my resurreccion had formed through the material, but he would have never known if he wasn't tracing my spine with his touch. My hair was down to allow the long waves to hide it from view.

"How does it feel?" I asked him, my voice coming out almost hesitantly.

"The damaged portion is rougher than the rest of your mask, but otherwise it feels fine," he answered.

With a small sigh of relief I let my own hand trail back to run over my spine, covering his hand until he pulled it away and allowed me to touch my mask. He was right, it felt rough like a rock's surface rather than the polished smooth that it normally was, but it was solid. Even as I tried to dig my nail into the bone and squeeze down on it's edges, it didn't hurt.

Thank the gods…

"I'm sure it will be smooth again in a day or two," I said as I dropped my hand. I had intended to step away from him, but his hands were still resting on my hips and I couldn't seem to will myself to break the contact.

"Would you call my mask healed?" I asked, my voice low.

"Is that your way of asking for permission to leave?" He challenged.

I didn't want to leave, not right now. Being in his intoxicating presence had poisoned my mind to him. I didn't exactly crave him like an addiction, but as I turned my head slightly so my nose brushed the column of his neck, I wasn't sure that was the truth. I liked his scent. It was one of my favorite parts about being so close to him. Well, his body was nice too, but that scent was uniquely his- that I couldn't get anywhere else.

"I don't need your permission unless you order me. I'm simply ensuring that you have no qualms about me leaving," I murmured. "Having my freedom of will to do what I please is normal for me."

"Does it really bother you so much to know that I could bend you to my will?" He asked as he moved and his mask brushed my mantel.

"Yes." The answer was simple, but far more honest than I had ever intended it to be. "The last time someone had this level of control over me was… a very long time ago."

"The God Maker?" His question came with a soft nudge, and I let my head tilt to the side so his mask could brush my cheek. The sharp teeth scraped along my skin, which was something I would never admit to him that I enjoyed. Amechania was a bit sadistic in that aspect. We'd take pleasure with pain if I'd allow it.

"Before our bond was wed, yes, but once the bond is wed there is no more master. You are equals," I explained, trying my best to ignore his actions. It was another reason why the easiest option wasn't the best option. If I fixed my bond with him by wedding it, he might not be able to pull me from my memories like he had up until now. But of course, I didn't tell him that. The less he knew in regards to this, the better.

"Speaking of the bond," I started as I backed up. The movement was reluctant, but I didn't want to linger because, well, I did want to linger. I wanted to stay in that very spot until he couldn't stand it anymore and did something more. I wanted to tempt him until he took me and I had no other option than to let him.

My Human body was a terrible beast.

"My mask shouldn't have healed as quickly as it did."

"How so?" He asked.

"It should have taken weeks to get to this point, not a single week. Or, I feel like it should have. It might have even gone faster if I hadn't woken up at all."

"And you think that was because of the bond?"

I nodded. "Some features change with the bond, like my being able to feel more emotions and you… well, I'm still not sure what you got from me. But, I think my bond with you has also improved my healing."

"Would it have anything to do with the power I shared?"

I was pretty sure he was referencing the moment we had on the balcony, so I shook my head. "That wouldn't have changed how fast my mask is healing, just the fuel my body needed to do it. This is something different, and I want to test it."

"How?" He asked.

"I want you to-"

Power flowed over my skin. The sensation of it was so foreign that I turned toward the source without knowing where it was actually coming from and searched the vines on the wall with my eyes like I would have found the perpetrator standing there. It felt like fur tickling my skin as my own spiritual pressure raised to fend it off. I felt Grimmjow do the same, but he wasn't what I was worried about.

"Where's the wall from here?" I asked as I turned to Grimmjow and started for the hallway that would lead to the other room. The spiritual pressure that was pushing against my own was drowning out my senses for anything else, but I still had the bond and I used it to track Raacharg to the lounger he had been placed on by Grimmjow before. As I walked, my gait changed to accommodate my bare feet and I walked more with the balls of my feet to take the impact that my shoes normally would have.

"And I thought your senses were sub-par," Grimmjow said. He hadn't followed me, but my hearing wasn't impacted by the foreign spiritual pressure.

"So they are on the wall?" I asked over my shoulder. I hadn't actually known they were there, but if we were being targeted and they wanted us to know it, it only made sense to go for the main entrance into this place.

"Yeah," he answered.

I stopped when I was looming over Raacharg, only now realizing that something was wrong. Raacharg was way more sensitive to spiritual pressures than I was. This level of power should have startled him out of his skin, yet here he was, sleeping heavier than I had ever seen him. He was always so alert, acting as my awareness to compensate for my own weaknesses.

I leaned down and ran a hand over his fur, something that would have normally startled him. He just kept breathing slowly with sleep. No shift, no change that would have signaled his stirring.

"Raacharg," I called to him. When he still didn't respond, I pushed my will into him through the bond and forced him to stir. Even as he moved it was as if in a restless sleep and he did not wake. I could feel the resistance that was coming from him. It was something that wasn't his own, like a hand was keeping his head down and fight me to keep him that way.

A low growl wafted through the air and for a moment I thought it was Raacharg. Then I realized it was coming from me. Who would dare to try and control what is mine? Only an idiot, someone who didn't know what I was capable of. Someone who wasn't afraid to pick a fight with me when they should have been.

"Are your people being forced to sleep like this?" My words were directed at Grimmjow even though I didn't turn to look at him. I clenched my hand in Raacharg's fur and slapped him with power. He jerked like it was a physical hit and I felt the presence that had been lingering on his mind fall away. Golden eyes blinked up at me, but he was still half asleep. I had to fix that.

"I need you in your other form, Raacharg."

He took one glance at my true form and nodded. He slipped from the couch and stumbled as his paws hit the ground. He kept his feet only because when he started to fall, he fell into my legs. I stayed still as he worked to orient himself, but once he had his balance I turned away from him to look at Grimmjow as he entered the room. He'd dressed in the mere moments that I had been paying attention to Raacharg. He was back in a similar outfit as he had been last night, all black with that ratty Espada jacket that he seemed to favor. Just how many pairs of the same clothes did he have?

"Who have you bound to you?" I asked.

He lifted a quizzical brow. "I thought you knew. I felt you rifling through the bond yesterday."

"I saw the bonds, but not who they belonged to," I said quickly, then repeated my question.

"Loly, Rudbornn and Tesra," he finally answered.

"Are they as asleep as Raacharg was?" I asked. Like speaking his name was a trigger, I felt him draw on our bond and the heat of flames lick across my backside as he called on his other form.

"How am I supposed to know that?"

I almost rolled my eyes, but managed to hold the urge back. Remember Isa, I reminded myself, he was a child when it came to the old ways. Like a giant man child with a body that screamed sin and enough power that even me, a former god, had no choice but to give into him.

A loud boom shook the tower just before an equally startling thud resonated from the entrance way. Had they blown open the doors?

"We don't have time for this," I said sharply as I shifted my grip on my zanpakuto. My shield formed on my back with a push of power and I started for the secret door that lead to Grimmjow's rooms. "You need to ensure that your people are awake and stay that way. Raacharg, can your suppress yourself like that?"

"Yes," he answered as his spiritual pressure vanished, leaving me with only the bond to sense him by.

"I'm not leaving you to fight alone," Grimmjow said, the edge of anger in his voice.

"I will be fine, but your people may not be." When his expression didn't change I let out a rough sigh and shook my head. "If they are asleep, and someone else is moving through the tower that we are unaware of, they can be killed without any resistance. You need to wake them, and while you do that I will confront the power that has them and stop it."

I felt Grimmjow's anger rise even before he spoke, so I cut him off before he could form his first word.

"I am nothingness, Grimmjow. Fighting is one of the things I'm good at, so let me do it. Go to your children, take Raacharg you if you are unsure of how to do it. He knows how to manipulate the bond better than I can explain it. Ensure they wake and then you come fight. It's the best option, so just do it."

I probably shouldn't have told him what to do, but I was distracted by the sensation of the spiritual pressure that was lapping against my own like a rising tide. I knew what to do, but explaining shit was wasting time.

"Raacharg, open this stupid magic door," I said as I gestured vaguely in its direction. He didn't hesitate to obey and passed me. He'd sudbued his flames so he was just a warmth passing by, and I was again surprised by his excellent control. It was a fleeting thought though, because I was abruptly distracted as the tower shook with the force of another impact. The hidden doorway cracked open and without a second glance back at Grimmjow, I started through it.