Scouting Gone Wrong: Sands of Despair

The Call to Action
A typical, lazy afternoon. That's all Loran had to look forward to. Her husband and daughter were out sparring behind their house, which up until a while ago, everyone referred to it as "The Hideout". Ever since Van Satonaka, Atsuya Tatsumi and Van's older brother, Shirosuke came along, the place earned it's name, providing refuge to a Demon, his Reikon Kyuuban sister, although given what she learned recently, that little number might be a lie concocted by her own father. Pretty much anyone who's met the Demon Reigai who took the nickname Ice-Man, at Van's own insistance, had at one point or another, spent at least one night in one of the many spare rooms.

While doing the dishes, Loran recieved a call from her Captain in the Gotei 13. He informed her that she had to go to Hueco Mundo and do some scouting. As one of the few Shinigami who had, for lack of a better term, a specific role to play in the Human World, she tried to refuse the task set before her, but ultimatly had no other route but to accept the job, besides, it would pay for what remained on the Hideout. Deciding to not interfere with what her family was up to, she just left a note informing Shade where she was headed.

Opening the route into the land of Hollows, she left the hardwood floors of her home and for the first time in ages stepped on the white sands of Hueco Mundo.

A lone petite girl walked through the sands of Hueco Mundo, the seas of white sand contrasted so deeply to the abyssal oceans of night sky. It was both comfort, and fear. It was good that Hollows thrived in such an environment. Short pink hair, banged in an odd manner, bouncing as she kept up a steady pace. Little came out of her presence except the small plumes of shifting sand, and the bobbing of her body as she kept moving.

She had come here on Szayel's orders, he was hoping that some residiual energy had been left over from the ruins of the 'castle' of the once great 'God King': Barragan.

But that didn't matter to her. All that mattered to her was getting to the place, scanning for any energy, drawing it in, then returning it.

"I hope we aren't much longer..." checking behind herself, speaking to no one in particular... or so it would seem. "Don't worry... I've been watching your back... we're fine..." A small white 'X' formed of bone formed out of her back, with two goggle type eyes on either side of the 'X' shape. "Trust me..."

"A-alright..." trusting her infused other half, she approached her destination. "Finally here..." all fear seemed to slowly dim away as she found solace in the company of the ruins.

The sands were as unyielding as always. The only positiever aspect was Loran had been able to somehow open the portal so that she was near the old palace of the once God-King. Even by Shinigami standards, few have been able to witness the structure, and most of the ones who had were far stronger than she. Although a typical recon mission to the sandy realm of Hollows was uneventful, this being her fourth trip, the air seemed different in a way. Almost as if there would be something happening...

Scanning the area for any sign of life, Loran almost thought about turning around and heading home, until her senses perked at the notice of a Hollow inbound, heading to the palace. Her intial fear was that she was compromised and that the Arrancar has sent out one of their kind to strike her down. She looked near the entranceway and noticed a young girl. At first, the Shinigami almost mistook her for a soul that must have been lost in the Dangai, until the feeling of Hollow energy became clearer. It felt as if there were mulitple entities, a very slight difference in the signatures informed her that what appeared to be a unassuming soul was in fact, an Arrancar.

Having little choice thanks to her mission, Loran Shunpo'ed in over to the girl, halfway between her and the doorway to the palace proper.

Igai's pupils dilated slightly as she entered the place, the energy was still in the air. The power of an Espada never seemed to simply fade away... but it was much less then it had once been. When he had just been a Hollow. Entering under the arch of the palace... she went in yet unnoticing of any spiritual signatures admist the after effects of the God King.

Extending her hand, almost like she was brushing her hand against the wafting tufts of wheat in a field. It was a maddening energy, as well as a comforting to feel so much pressure of a fellow Hollow. Sighing softly, seeming secure in this abandoned citadel. "Let's start gathering..." placing her hand directly infront of her, standing now... right infront of the throne of Barragan himself.

The energy in the air began stirring, the sand on the floor swirling around. The room vibrated, all the energy that filled it's halls was being sucked into this female's palm. Soon, Igai smiled, fidgeting slightly. "So preety... Szayel will get quite a find out of this..." the further knowledge of the true power of his fellow Espada.

Ripping, tearing, gnashing, a groteqsue sound seemed to growl out. Gyagu formed a gnarled mouth out of his host's stomach, Igai placed the orb within this new found 'container', her own very being. The toothy mouth snapped tight, making a 'gulp' sound to follow his satisfaction.

"Now where else can we find some more energy...?" there was definately more in these ruins... she had to bring back as much as she could. Gyagu chirped lightly within Igai's mind, Someone's here...

Igai's body stopped, listening.

Loran sharply inhaled upon witnessing what the girl had done. ''She's got a wierd power. Is it her Zanpakto, or worse?'' she pondered. But then her body stiffened. The girl knew she was followed, or she just caught wind of a different being. Being the pursuer, Loran had a gut feeling that she was what the Arrancar had sensed.

Rather than allow the strange being get the jump on her, Loran decided to strike. Adopting the reverse grip stance that would grant her use of Chimata, the only good thing about her father's expriments into the fusion of Shinigami and Hollow, a sword stance that held no form, and limitless power. Mentally, she felt using such a technique was beyond overkill, but the Danse Macabre in which she played a role would not be denied. Keeping her sword ready, Loran inched forward, just barely two or three feet. in a minute, the sand muffling her slow paced step.

Behind you! Gyagu yelled to his host. Igai immediately shifted, noticing the figure. "Shinigami?!" Noticing the figure, and the lack of mask, it was her first conclusion. With a lack of a blade, Gyagu took place as a katana in Igai's hand, forming in a quick burst of bubbling mass and what looked like black blood. Pointing it at her foe, she lunged forward to attack her new found enemy.

Igai's footsteps moved in a hurry, she knew that she had to return this energy as soon as could, and this girl would not waste her time here. Kill her! Gyagu yelled within the confines of his Host's mind once more. The tip of her own Zanpakuto ready to pierce her rival.

First step: Defense. Loran had to keep track of how many attacks or defensive movements she made using Chimata, lest her weakness at the art be revealed. A simple block was all it was, but in a reverse grip, such a simple trick was made more difficult. However, the block held. If I didn't have that second of warning...I'd rather not think about it. she thought, pushing the girl away and backstepping. Thankfully, by doing so, she, in effect, reset the danger of Chimata, for now. "So, they use children in their army now? I'd expect Arrancar to at least have some pride and not endanger one so young." she said, contempt for the species in her voice. Like Ukitake, she felt that even the ageless beings shouldn't send out one's who by Shinigami standards, children in flesh.

Igai kept it up, stabbing again and again, applying the pressure on to this blonde haired woman. Who was she? Why was she here? It didn't matter... she had attacked first, that made her a threat. The black blade that Igai wielded kept onward.

But a surprise was incoming.

In Igai's free hand, she held it up, perparing a powerful downward stroke. A larger blade appeared, taking the shape of a broad sword, what looked like a voracious mouth taking the form of the hilt, a wicked smile, ready to feast in battle.

Eyes forward on her enemy, she swung down with the force to crush a large truck. "You shouldn't have been here!" voice ringing throughout the empty halls.

Loran couldn't perfectly evade the blow, it was too fast. She rolled with the attack, using it's momentum to force herself to the ground. Although the strike hit her left arm, it had missed the strange mark she was branded with. Even she couldn't exactly say what it was for. ''I must have underestemated her. I won't do so again.'' she said to herself. Whoever the young-looking Arrancar was, she was a dangerous fighter. Blood soaked her tatterd sleeve, darkening the already ebony cloth. She picked herself up from the ground and returned to the offensive.

Holding her sword in a normal grip, foregoing the use of Chimata at the time, Loran closed the distance between herself and the Arrancar and slashed horizontally, right to left.

Igai bit her lip, saddened by the mistake she had made. It should have hit. Her own clothes blowing lightly with the movements that she made, form moving erraticly, with a sense of underlaying clumsiness. She didn't even bother to block the attack, taking the full brunt of the horizontal attack.

Sparks flew as the blade tried to etch through the Hierro, and once it had made it through, blood sprayed out from the wound. No pain, just a mortal body in need of mending. Igai made no reaction to the hit, but took the close quarters chance to grapple her opponent; as well as revealing a surprise.

An additional limb bursting out of her left side, more blood flew out of the wound, the sounds of bones moving around, atrocious and disgusting. This newly formed hand grasped onto her enemy's hand with a grip much tighter then something Igai should have been capable.

And with her opponent locked in, a weak smile formed. "I got you..." whispering like an innocent child, happy with joy. She brought her two blades downward to carve down her foe's shoulders and arms, momentum giving her the edge.

''What?! How could I have made the mistake of forgetting what I saw?'' Loran mentally yelled at herself for such fallacy. Unlike the Demonic man she had once been with, or a Reikon Kyuuban, she didn't have an advanced healing factor, which is how they could fight with abandon as they sometimes had. Time had run short. She had to release Shikai in order to save her life.

"Spark, Seitikina." she whispered to the air, loud enough for her opponent to hear. Her sword faded from existance, replaced by a pair of gaunlets with three curled horn-shaped prongs on the outer sides. Electricity coursed through her body and was collected in the gauntlets for but a moment, causing lightning to shoot forth from the coils, magnatizing the iron in the desert below.

It was as if the sands were being pulled upwards by an unseen force, suspending it in the form of two defensive structured as hard as steel. Taking advantage of the walls, she wrenched herself free of the grasping hand and flashed away a short distance. When her magnetic aura left, the walls of sand fell to the ground, spraying a dust-like cloud all around.

Watching as her foe released her Shikai, the sand flying around, reacting as solid defense for her enemy. It brought surprise to her, now she had something to worry about... Igai skirted backwards, doing a backflip, landing on top of the throne, teetering on. Eyes dancing about the room, trying to find her opponent admist the dust clouds that were now present.

The sound of hissing, realligning skin and weaving together her own flesh. The regenerative properties of a Hollow worked on her wound that she had sustained, and even her Hierro was taking elements of the iron in the air, as well as her own body to repurpose it into steel flesh once more.

She was going to wait for her opponent... staying perfectly balanced. Her Shinigami prey would most likely plan, and if not... then it would be a short battle. Her own three arms moving slightly, all tensing up, on edge, waiting. "Come out... come out..."

Loran held her hands in front of herself and started gathering the iron sand into bullet shapes that hovered just behind her. "Gasu Hou" she said, the bullets speeding at her target, fired by magnetic energy. Each one was no bigger than a traditional bullet and they sped along at high speeds. In effect, Loran had become a human sized rail gun with nearly limitless amunition thanks to the sands below.

Behind us! watching as the sand took shape behind them, Gyagu wasn't going to just let them get the edge. His aid allowed Igai to look behind her. Her back shifted slightly, twirling her form around to parry the two bullets that rocketed towards her. Gritting her teeth, she was in a sea of ammunition... if her foe could control sand, then all of Hueco Mundo was against her.

Igai looked around for her opponent, eyes widening as they caught sight of the woman. Her third arm extended it's hand towards her, a mouth tearing it's way out of the palm. A single orb of energy condensing itself infront of the gaping maw. "Hn!" the Cero orb fired off, not as a beam, but as a vector arrow. Applying control over the pressure, Gyagu and Igai focused it to where they could control the speed and direction of the unique Cero.

And it was going to follow it's prey. Making a bee-line towards her Shinigami rival.

To Loran, it was a simple Cero, fired oddly and deadly powerful, but just a Cero. She had seen many, even Demons had the capacity to hurl a condensed mass of Reishi when the situation called for it, not to mention the Reikon Kyuuban technique that functioned in the same manner.

Even though the sand below would provide a momentary respite, her magnetic control would falter on impact with the Cero. She used Shunpo to evade the beam. It wasn't much, just enough to escape what most likely would have been a greavous wound.

Igai nearly giggled as her enemy simply evaded the attack. The Cero made a sharp turn, not seeming to curve in the least, so exact and percise, staying in straight lines. The vector kept on tracking onto it's pray, and it would only explode if Igai allowed it, or if it impacted something of substance.

Chuckling, "So do all Shinigami that can't fight, run? Or is this just how they all fight?" the voices in her own head whispering silent cheers, the madness calling out to her to destroy this weakling and prevail onward to devour her power.

Extending another hand, she started charging yet another vector Cero to aid in the bombardment to come.

"Oh for Bael's sakes!" Loran yelled without realizing it. Ever since Ice-Man had first said it, the Bael insults were a common place joke amongst everyone he knew. The Cero's direction had changed too quickly to be a normal beam. Adding a second to the mix made evading difficult, if not downright impossible. If the new attack functioned as the first, it would be like trying to run from a tornado, entriely foolish, even if standing still was even more so.

In order to create a defense strong enough to disable the Cero blasts would take time, and time was against her. They were coming closer by the nano-second. There was only one course of action that was possible. She recalled the Arrancar had gathered in the iron to improve her Hirro, which made her magnetic. Loran jumped straight ahead and begain pulling on the magnetic energy, she in effect flew at her opponent and readied herself to punch when she was close enough.

Igai felt a strong tug on her body as her foe reached out to her. Eyes widening, slowly realizing the serious design flaw she had done when regenerating her Hierro with the iron from the sand. "No!" The vector Ceros kept tracing onto their target as intended, following her like a heat seeking missle.

But this girl wasn't pulling her in to take the hit? Just to deliver one?

Such a delicious mistake.

Laughing as she came in, her insane cackle filled the air. Forming an additional sword in the third hand, now tri-wielding three different varients of her Zanpakuto; Gyagu. Swirling around like a whirlwind, she knew that the magnetism that Loren possessed could not be resisted.

But Igai was a close quarters fighter, and this was just an added bonus. Ready to cleave her opponent in half, and even if not. The vector Ceros would deal with her if she missed... after all, they had found the Shinigami's signature, and now it was too late to cause them to miss.

The attraction forces between the human magnet and her iron filled target grew stronger the shorter the gap became, forcing Loran to speed up. With the forces acting on her, the Gasu Ken would be lethal, in a normal battle. This fight wasn't normal in the slightest, the Arrancar could grow...weapons?

A duel front. The Ceros behind, and a spinning death trap in front. Just the perfect set up, the Cero would collide with them both at such a short range. Holding one arm to the side and using the other to shield her face, Loran was within striking range. The blades cut at her, but it was worth it. Stopping the rotation with her outstreched hand, both her and the Arrancar were held in place, both at the mercy of the Cero.

Gyagu called out once more, Divide them now!!! he was panicing, the girl had took upon a suicidal action. Igai didn't want to listen... she could survive the blast. But Gyagu knew better, he had kept her alive this long... and it wasn't time to stop believing in him mid heat of battle.

Igai focused a large portion of her concentration into dividing the vector Cero, letting them go around them both... shooting across the sand. And colliding with the castle. And what a display would follow. A concordance of destructive power disintergrated the wall where it immediately impacted, the surronding walls took the full brunt of the concentrated reishi, causing much of the place to corridor to crumble. The remaining shrapnel hit against Igai like a hail storm, pelting her, denting her Hierro, causing several wounds to form. More blood trickled out of Igai's mouth, a result of too many sustained wounds.

Gyagu howled out, his large boney maw forming out of Igai's stomach. Outstretching, the bones immediately carved into his opponent's stomach, holding them both here now. The fangs wrenching into the flesh, it wasn't going to let go.

Loran resisted the urge to howl in pain. It took all she had to prevent getting hit with the arrow-headed blasts while aiming Gassu Ken, let alone having to halt rotation of a young girl with three swords. She was soaked in blood. "If you let go of me, I won't pursue you any further. You're too injured. Besides that, you just took shrapnel in the back. Neither one of us is combat ready anymore. To draw this out would mark us as both dead soon. Ironicly, from the same cause. Blood loss."

Igai tilted her head, "I don't feel anything... and you'll bleed out way before me..." smirking, her body would regenerate much quicker then a Shinigami, she had time on her side. Gyagu kept his teeth wrenched in, occassionally applying more pressure on the chomp down to signify he wasn't going anywhere. "And plus... I can still kill you..."

"You can't bargain with me..."

Igai smirked, her fourth arm at last appearing from her right side. What looked like a small Tanto took place in it's hand, "With you dead, I'll make master happy... and the voices will finally go away!" her eyes were dilated, there was no sign of mercy or morality within thet mind.

Keeping the tanto in hand, she was going to savor her foe's death. "Szayel-sama will be most pleased with the return of another test subject... don't worry, you won't die..." Igai began to giggle, ready to sap her enemy of enough blood to subjugate her, then return her as an added bonus prize.

The pain from the biting monster was growing worse. It was adding pressure. What she was about to do was risky but it would save her life, as least for the moment. Although blood was had plenty of iron, and with it, the Arrancar was a sitting duck stuck at point-blank while the ammo Loran had was equal to rocket launchers. But it seemed cruel to force her opponent to bleed out, so she created a second strategy for survival.

Like a true magnet, the gauntlets Loran wore were capable of attraction and repulsion. It was the latter concept she wanted to use. At this range between the two fighters, the magnetic forces were beyond description. In effect, the two had become one system of force, a system which depended upon contact with each other. The electrical current that was coursing through them was minor, but the fact held that it was there, spooling in the Zanpakto that spawned it.

Lightly touching the mouth that was chewing on her, Loran focused for a second, mentally preparing for the pain that was to come. She reversed the magnetic direction her body had been using to match that of what her opponent had, creating two like poles. A sick rip was heard as Loran flew backwards, free of the nawing mouth that until then had her ensnared. Thankfully, she was able to soften the crash into the sands below by altering it with her power.

"I don't plan on dying." she said, weakly. She created a few more shells for her long range Gassu Hou and launched them at high speeds, straight for the Arrancar.

Till Eternal Death Do We Part
Igai looked to her foe, the mouth that had previously had a good grip on her, was pryed off, feasting on any flesh and blood that it had sank it's fangs into. Gyagu chimed, the mouth actually voicing him this time, "Quite delicious...". The shocks throughout their body was causing Igai to twitch.

The sand around Igai was also moving away from her body... the opposite polarity was notable. Igai blinked around, looking to the bullets that were reaching out. The pain was affecting her body, but Igai couldn't tell. She was losing her grasp on reality, the blood loss was draining her concious hold of what was going on around her.

She was slipping.

A crooked smile formed, her back began to bubble underneath the steel flesh, bones shifting around. And upon erupting from her body, blood splattering the walls even more then it already had been desecrated. And soon, it was revealed as to why. Gyagu formed too large leathery wings to take on the brunt of the blow, encircling his host like a protective casing.

Cackling within the caccoon that was now protecting her, absorbing the bullets, turning the sand rounds back into the particles that they once were, her Hierro growing tougher over the course of battle. Gyagu called out to his foe, "I wouldn't plan on it!" Igai just kept on laughing while he goaded for her.

"Plan on what? I have you magnatized entrely. Putting it simply, you can't even get near me. Plus, your Cero won't surprise me twice. What else could you have?" Loran taunted back. ''Two beings? What kind of creature am I dealing with?'' she asked herself, knowing that either way this fight were to end, she'd never know.

Although she meant to goad her opponent into making a rash mistake, what she had said was true. Unless she allowed it, close range combat was impossible. Panting heavily, she looked up at the winged girl. Although hard to see, there were similarities between her and Shitsuren Ryougen. Obvously, both were insane, and they had multiple beings comprising them, only this girl was by far more sane. Doesn't help when Shitsuren was the hybrid DNA of untold numbers of Shinigami and Arrancar, and had some genetic memories.

Igai looked to her, her eyes twitching disorderly. Her hands and fingers jittering in a spaz like manner, uncontrolled. She was losing her grip slowly, "Do you hear them? All the voices...?" "They're laughing at me... laughing at you..." "They're always saying they're hungry for more!" her spiritual pressure began building, Gyagu infusing his pools of energy into her.

"Do you know what that's like?!" Igai and Gyagu began speaking together now. Vanishing in an instant with Sonido, she used the brute force to collide with her enemy, battling on sheer irrationality and feral instinct. The wing snapping out so quickly, using it to whip her foe across the sand dunes. Igai had activated her defibrillator, and her speed had been extended far beyond it's limits, however, with this behaviour... her use of it seemed highly unprofessional and chaotic.

''Kill, kill, kill! Tchetchetchetche!''

''Tear her to shreds! Devour her soul! She'll be delicious! Do it or we'll eat you! Fufufufu!'' The voices rang within her mind clearly. And she wasn't going to be eaten today.

Scratch that. Shitsuren was more sane.

Loran's magnetic aura hadn't stopped the impact, the raw force overcoming the polarity barrier. ''She's faster now. Something that small, that fast, will have a great force, especially with those wings and arms adding more size.'' Letting the elecricity build in her gauntlets she discharged it in a wave of energy that meant only to seperate the two fighters. Now that she had room, it was a simple matter to create walls of sand that were as hard as steel and very compacted. The walls were about seven feet hight and had an opening at the top where anyone could enter.

Some seblance of defense gave Loran peace of mind and time to inspect the damage done so far. A single cut just under the mark on her left arm and a bite wound on her abdomen, all minor wounds. She cursed herself for not having much understanding of medical Kido, which would have been more than enough.

Igai began cackling, "Hide! Hide while you are able!" Grasping her head, her stomach began opening once more into the gaping maw, a single large orb forming at it's center. Her tone dropped down drastically, a bipolar reaction. "...or die instead."

The Cero orb grew larger and larger. The air around Igai began vibrating, and as she let out a howl, the Orb burst outward, not as a beam... but as eight vector Ceros. The arrows launched out, making a screeching sound for each one, Igai was going to savor this moment.

''You can't escape us. It won't matter if she dies. You're still too weak. Weak. Weak! WEAK!'' Igai put all her effort into the Cero's... all targeting her signature once more.

The iron sand barrier surrounding her would be able to hold out against anything short of an armada raining down from, and said, above, and Loran knew a unique Cero or two might be on its way. Her worst fears came to life when she felt eight screaming towards her location. Her sand tower would easily be able to survive a direct attack, but if any decided to come in, it would be a one shot kill, and if any more than one were to, not even an advanced healing factor could save her then.

Her only hope was to escape the walls of dust and metal in time to evade the Cero by leading them on a wild goose chase for the kill. Loran jumped between the walls of her mini-fort, Shunpoing all the while to climb out. Once at the top, she ran right to the Arrancar, hoping the Cero would follow.

Igai looked to her foe, a broken expression on her face, one of worry, of pride, and one of fear. She had to stop Loran... the vector Ceros broke up into seperate groups, two behind their target, with one on either side. And at last, the final four sped up past the Shinigami.

They would be used to protect their host.

The four defending vectors went ahead of Loran, and then turned back, hoping to block her path and destroy her on the way over. It was going to be an explosive display if any.

Gyagu began to hiss, We may have trouble...

Well, not what I wanted, but...One must make do I suppose. Loran thought, watching the Cero closely. If she moved too soon, death would follow, too late and who cares if she moved at all? No, her jump would have to be timed pefectly. Counting down from five, each step was one count, and once she hit zero, her whole body was airborn. Until she knew the Cero were taken down, there was no time to counterattack.

Igai flinched as her opponent did so, the two cero on either side of Loran collided, destroying one another in an explosion of flying sand, a mass of heat, and a loud scream of sound. The two behind her also met the fate of this as well, impacting two from the front.

That left the two vector Ceros at the front, each of them trailing behind her by a mere breath, like the dogs of hell on the heels of any that escape. Gyagu howled, "You can't outrun them forever!" any being was capable of being exhausted, but he had no clue of this Shinigami's limits.

That wretched monster was right. This battle was taking its toll on Loran, and it's toll was steep. The whole affair was complicated by the Ceros, not to mention that her opponent still hadn't released. The odds were climbing against her, a now apparent gap in abilities and sheer power.

Loran cast any thought of formally surrendering from her head, remembering what she had waiting for her to come home. Just knowing that her daughter was waiting, it was enough to force her to run faster, evading the hounding waves of energy. It was no longer a fight in which she had any hope of victory, but one of survival.

It was then an idea struck. The entire structure was spirit particles in the arranged like iron atoms, which turned not just a world into a weapon, but a fortress as well. Extending her magnetic aura as far as it could go, Loran gripped the iron holding the building up and started pulling pillar upon pillar out of it's wall and manufacturing a makeshift wall against the Cero. However, this had the side effect of toppling the building down around the two fighters.

Igai looked at it, eyes widening more and more. "NO!!!" shrieking out, she grasped her head, and the vector Cero did their best to catch up in time to pass the defenses that the girl was bringing up. But it was too late, the walls of the great structure served as great protection against the condensed reishi, combusting into an explosion of black and purple pressure.

Release your power... release... releaassseee us... Igai knew that is her only chance. She was near fully depleted, and this would be the only way to refill her reserves of energy. Gyagu would not be able to fight this for her...

Soon, Gyagu and Igai merging their souls as one, "Laugh, Gyagu!" the energy around her began to swirl, the air sounding of plucking violin strings, screeching nails against the chalkboard. The black and violet energy swirling around their combining form, bubbling with heat. The appearance of pressure began showing itself in the air... like static becoming visible to the world. And atlast, the voices in her head stopped.

And entered in the crumbling world around her, to be heard by all. Focusing on the fears of those within Igai's spiritual field. It would attempt to consume every mind it entered with the madness Igai once felt. Igai-Gyagu had now released and became their fullest potential.

You are going to die... You'll never see her again... Your daughter, we'll find her... And when we do... She will be devoured!

Loran pushed the debris away and faced the insane creature in front of her. "I don't care what you do to me, I don't care who you are. I swear to God...I will kill you before you harm my child." she told the monster, unaware of what was really happening. Holding out her hand, she gathered scrap metal from the fallen roof and walls and condensed them into soccer-ball sized ballistic shots, much like her bullets on a larger scale. Just as she had with the smaller rounds, she fired the balls of metal like a rail gun, only this time, she applied a pole to the shots to give them homing capabilities.

Igai-Gyagu tilted thier head in accordance. "We don't know what you're talking about... you have a daughter?" near silent giggles filled the air, bursting with sadistic joy. "We'll have to visit her..." their visor watching as the rail gun shot off it's extroidinary around.

One that it would not be able to take.

A whurr sound occured, static, the vanishing and reappearing of Igai-Gyagu out of harm's way. The air around the bouncing off their personal spiritual field. Raising their right sleeve, they aimed it towards their target, gathering the reishi in a moment's thought. "Tenkyou..." the vector Cero now fully charged to their ultimate potential, carrying with it the power of an Espada's Gran-Ray.

The Tenkyou Cero honed in on it's target, taking erratic patterns on it's way to her as to so it would not be able to simply evade it, or plan out it's behaviour as the previous Cero seemed to have functioned.

''So sad... she'll be a lovely treat... and to think... you couldn't protect her. You can't even protect yourself...''

''What? It doesn't know? I could have sworn it said...Grrr, it must be it's spiritual pressure. Don't let the words fool you.'' Loran told herself, keeping an eye on the Arrancar, watching it charge another Cero. But witnessing the abnormal way it moved threw her for a loop. It would be hard to escape this time, and harder to survive.

Unfortunately, the Arrancar had moved too fast for her spheres to keep up. But, attacking wasn't possible, unless it were something unexpected, yet simple enough to perform under duress. Magantizing a girder that was lying around in the sand, Loran prepared to attack at the least opprotune moment for her enemy. Meanwhile, she had to keep ahead of the Cero and avoid dying in the process.

Igai-Gyagu watched as the bullet came under way, vanishing again and again on the field, only to reappear in the exact same spot it had once been standing. But it wasn't Igai-Gyagu's doing, it was the madness wavelength due to the spiritual field.

A hallucination, Igai-Gyagu had not moved once since the attack had been launched.

The Tenkyou Cero seeked onto it's opponent, still acting erraticly, arcing in odd shapes and patterns, leaving behind it's wake a trail of leftover reietsu. Arcing downward, it was going to trap their foe inbetween the ground below and the ceiling above. To pin her in the explosion to come.

More laughter. ''Are you scared? Can you not protect her? Would you perfer if we let you live... just so you could witness your child's demise?! Tchetchetche!!!''

Loran resisted as much as she could. ''Kill me, huh? Nothing is more painful than losing a child...This monster doesn't know that. I've already lost her once...and my husband too. Having watched them die once was enough. I won't let this thing take them again!'' she thought, watching the Cero, and the monster keeping track of the distance of each during her fleeing. Every fiber in her body screamed in protest, begging for rest, and yet she pressed on, doing whatever it took to stay alive.

Denial, Destruction, Dementia
Igai-Gyagu tilted their head. Watching with enjoyment as their foe was tiring beyond her capabilities. And as Loran watched them, their form shifted briefly for the second eye connection was made... Igai-Gyagu's form had appeared young girl with short and wild blonde hair, shimmering green eyes, a flowing dress. Loran's daughter.

And soon it vanished.

The madness was sinking in faster and faster.

Igai-Gyagu called out, "It's over for you..." the Tenkyou Cero at last rose upward, launching itself in the blink of an eye, bee-lining towards it's victim-to-be.

You can't save me... the voices now mimicking Leathe's. To debilitate their victim for the attack.

Loran froze. Just seeing Leathe was enough to startle her. Hearing her voice pushed her to the breaking point. "I'll save you. I won't let anything hurt you." she growled, knowing the Cero was coming. At this stage, if it hit, death would be unavoidable without medical attention. What she did now was risky at best and suicidal at worst.

She just held out her hand and forced the sand to rise up as before, dead in the Cero's path. If it worked, she'd be safe, and if not, the attack was too close to dodge anymore. If I die...Shade, stay by her side...protect our child.

Madness, anarchy, upheaveal, and destruction. That was all that presided over this current stage. If time froze; these would have been the words to describe it.

Igai-Gyagu looked to their foe, only silently smirking as the insanity had tipped the scales in her favor. The Tenkyou Cero that once impeded onto their target, now impacted the wall of sand infront of it. The blast igniting the very air around it with pressure, exploding, creating a blast that far outsped the shreech that would fill the skies of Hueco Mundo.

The energy that erupted from it obliterated any chance of the toppling ruins crashing on top of them as well. Dark energy with streaks of magneta shrouded the area with it's mirth.

And as the dust settled... Igai-Gyagu nearly screamed with joy at her enemy's 'death'. Laughing manically as it all 'ended'.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Buried beneath the sands that served as her shield, Loran was alive. Only held together by resolve and a longing to go home, she was near death, the grip of the Reaper upon her neck. Her breathing was ragged, blood seeping from wounds unimaginable. She was sliced by the sand as the Cero hit the wall and couldn't overcome the force with just her own power.

Hearing the cheers of the Arrancar above told her that it hadn't been smashed to bits by the ruins themselves. Too weak to move. ''I wonder if Bael would welcome me into his group, even though I did date his worst foe for a time. Would he hear my prayer? Or is this...where I meet my Maker?'' she wondered, tears sliding down her face. She was willing to trade her nearly anything to be where she wanted, with her family.

Igai-Gyagu let out exhales of relief, the visor they had was shimmering with the glint of glee. "I did it... I did it! The voices have stopped... they serve me!" cackling over the triumph she had just had. But then that feeling kicked in... the feeling of killing intent.

Thump Thump!

Her heart wanted to stop. It was Szayel. Or atleast, the spiritual signature. "Igai... what have you done?" The appearance of the Octava Espada rang clear and concise. His very presence sent shivers into his servant. A sinister reminder of the power he wielded over his creation. "I don't remember sending you to destroy my dear 'friend' Barragan's once humble abode..."

Nearly spitting out the words.

Igai-Gyagu slowly turned, "M-master... I came a-across a Shinigami... she atta-..." Shink! Szayel's Zanpakuto was placed at Igai's stomach in a blink of an eye, afterimages of where he once was slowly vanishing. "You should know that you should never disobey my orders; no matter what, don't you?" looking up to his creation's visor.

Biting their lip, Igai-Gyagu fidgeted in fear. "H-hai..." the sheer lethality of Szayel's being here was enough to calm the once slipping Arrancar. Sealing their form once more... Igai-Gyagu returned to their original shared form. "I-it won't happen again S-sama..."

Szayel glared to her, then broke out into a short but sharp laugh. "Good! Good! Now that that's settled... we'll put that energy that you obtained for me to good use..." "And maybe even some of this experience you learned will be good for you... who knows what traces that Shinigami may have left on you..." his hand gently placed on her shoulder, then grasping her tightly with the vice.

"We'll just have to pry it out of you to find out, hn?" Eyes going into a closed 'u' shape in his joy at the idea of another experiment. "Let's get started..."

Their signatures vanished as Szayel returned him and his creations to Las Noches.

---

Rebirth
Something had heard the call of the dying Shinigami. And as the woman was slipping into death's embrace, it showed itself. A black formless void, shifting like smoke would fill the Inner World of Loran. The being was connecting her inner most being, letting her soul see into his dimension. The realm of true death, where beings went when no other realm would accept them...

"Hello... little one..."

The spiritual plane dubbed: Naraka.

"Where am I? What's going on?" Loran asked, confusion and panic clearly evident both in voice and in her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the Cero hitting the wall and remarking about Bael. "Are you..." she struggled to just say the name aloud a dark sense of forboding seeping into her mind. "You're not Bael, are you?" she finally had the guts to pronounce the name. A small part of her was terrified that in fact, that was exactly who she was speaking with.

The appirition focused onto the creature before him. "You seek... to live...? What would you do... to keep your life...? What would you do... in return for the rebirth... you so desire?" His pressure drowned the inner world in it's presence, so consuming, but restrained by it's own will. Diyu's form shifted, shapeless it's body stayed within relative distance of where it's center was.

"What would you do, if you were... granted this?"

"I'd give you anything short of my family. Name your price." Loran was getting desperate to be able to return to Leathe, more so now than ever. "If what you desire is within my power, I shall gladly, without question hand it to you. Just please, don't ask for them."

The void just shifted, 'motionless' in the moment. Taking in the lesser being that he now held the life of. "I do not ask for what I desire... you shall be in debt to me regardless... your family is of no worth to me..." it's face seemingly glanceing off wards another direction for a moment. It's contempt and distortion not shown in the here and now.

"I am asking...: What would you do with power, with your new life, if I granted you passage back?" eyes fixated on hers, his soul connecting with her inner most world provided him the truth he wanted. There could be no lies, her life depended on it.

"I'd protect what's important to me. That's what I'd do. If you'd only grant me a way to do so, it's all I want to do anymore. This brush with death has shown me that I'm unable to do even that. I beg of you, give me a way to protect them from whatever may come." Loran said, pleading with the being. Her thoughts were of what the voices threatened, of what they had said. Especially Leathe's voice.

The voice remained silent. '"In another time... I shall call upon you." "Return to the realm of the living, little spark..."' dubbing her for what she had shown. A spark of hope and faith. "Your rebirth is granted; power is yours... begone from my realm." a black mist began to surrond Loran... encircling her as sharks around their pray, giving silent whispers off, a feel of calm, anxiety would be quelled.

He had granted Loran more spiritual power, her strength with her Zanpakuto would be easier to control, her useage of energy would be much less then it had been.

And soon after, the mist consumed her. Expelling her from Naraka.

---

She woke in the sands of Hueco Mundo, right where she started. Rubbing the sand that clinged to her face away, she opened a portal home. First things first, she wanted to see her daughter. ''Had that been a dream of the dying? Did I just get lucky? If that thing comes back, I'll know for sure.''