God Save My Soul (JT)

[Angel]

Angel upon saying goodbye to her home in Seireitei had found herself in a desert hell. Immediately she could tell that this was the forsaken land known as Hueco Mundo, the home of Hollows and the even more terrifying Arrancar. Her suspicions were correct as she realized the hole in reality she had traveled through was a Garganta. The air smelled fresh though despite this and currently, it was dark. It was a dark and cloudy sky and even upon entering, the young woman heard the howls of Hollow in the distance. This was most certainly Angel’s death sentence if there was any indication. However, the only comfort she had was that Santa or the Hollow had guaranteed her life would not be taken until the week was over. The sand was warm despite the night atmosphere, and she looked to the Hollow Santa expectantly to be lead somewhere.

She was utterly exhausted from facing the Hollows from before and mentally distressed by the constant worry of the location she was in. It seemed no Hollow had been able to sense her presence, but she could feel several very strong spiritual pressures at the location they were travelling. This was known as a location that Angel knew very little about, Menos Forest. It was a place where Hollow constantly battled each other in the constant struggle of evolution to become Adjuchas or at times Vasto Lorde. It was also a place where a large number of the beings known as Menos Grande or Gillian would mass in congregations although the reasoning why was not clear. Angel felt faint as if she was going to die here just from the looks of the Hollow in the area. The giant towering gillian were things she had never seen before.

However, she was a small fry and hardly worth the effort of consuming it seemed as the Gillian were more focused on devouring each other and the same with the Adjuchas. Why was she brought into a place like this? It was then that Angel heard it. It seems though that there were also several Hollow like Santa in this location...the bottom feeders that fed off the kills of more powerful Hollow and on each other. A manta ray like beast had flown at a fast speed to Angel with a howl “Sho!” Knocking the Hollow to the ground and diverting its momentum, it crashed before the young girl quickly drew her Katana, stabbing it through the mask of the monster. It howled before it dispersed into black nothingness. She looked out around in her in constant worry as death was at every corner.

It was then that she realized that if she wasn’t going to die from being eaten, she would die from thirst and hunger far before that. She refused to release her blade as it would be without a doubt the death of her if she were to leave it sheathed. How she wished she had the power to obliterate all of the hollows in front of her with ease. She was hating the sense of weakness she had and the uselessness she held. Why did she let herself be in this situation? Why did she have to be in this low position where she was being walked through a land of death? She saw the giant Hollow feeding amongst each other in a constant battle of consumption. One of the towering gillian she saw howled loudly as it bit into the neck of it’s tall cousin as it used it’s hands to grasp hold of it. The squish noise and loud chewing was heard as she witnessed the second gillian was being devoured at a rapid pace.

She looked closely and saw the "trees" were metal like constructs of death. This was the menos forest she imagined because Menos towered over everything like trees. Angel had bent her head as she began to chant. "Arise god of thunder. Awake mother of storms. Unleash the lightning on the sinners." Angel was paranoid and prepared to defend herself however she could. She would fight to survive seeing it was the only way she could get by in this cursed land. She would have to fight as savagely or even more savagely than the Hollows to survive. What did Santa bring her here for? Hikari stayed relatively close to Santa but not too close. The Hollow was the type to keep her word, but that didn't mean much to Angel seeing actions speak louder.

"So, what happens after the week is up? Will you send me back home?" It was an important question for Angel to ask. She wanted to know what her fate was going to be after this hard endeavor. She realized immediately that killing Santa would not be a good idea seeing if she did, there was no way back home. She also seriously doubted any Shinigami would be coming to Hueco Mundo to help get her. The little girl was a sitting duck with no real options. Sweat was dripping from the side of Angel's head from the thought of being eaten. This was all the deers fault for bringing her into this hell. Yet, Angel knew it was her fault as well for letting herself be taken. Why did she do this to herself?

Was saving three Shinigami worth it? Of course it was worth it. She was able to do her duty and saved more lives in exchange for her own. Wasn't that what she knew to begin with? It still didn't change the fact that she was afraid of the horrors in this land. It could very well be her fall as her dreams might die here. She was a young child at the tender age of 14 in a location where most grown men and women would be crying in fear. Her own moral sense of good was what was going to kill her right now, seemed legit. A cool breeze would blow a sand dune away as Angel's coal black hair would blow in the wind. Her black Shinigami robes had fluttered for a moment as she clenched her left hand around her Asauchi. She wanted to cry and weep in the aura of hopelessness that surrounded her.

She wanted to weep and cry as loud as she could, but yet she did not cry. Weakness was something that would be taken advantage of and so she wouldn't give Santa more initiative. Anyone looking at her could tell she was incredibly tense and fragile. Right now she was a little toy or experiment to Santa and to everyone else, she was an enemy or food. She wanted to be back home and more specifically, she wanted her mama. She was long gone though, so it seemed Angel was going to have to grow up and take the weight of the world coming her way. Seeing she was here, she thought about everything in class she knew about Hueco Mundo. She was trying to think about any useful information.

A slightly younger looking Hikari was sitting inside of the Shino Academy with a Shinigami Instructor lecturing about what was known of Hueco Mundo. "Hueco Mundo is a world made of ambient spiritual energy and is the home of all Hollows but also the Arrancar. This land is inhospitable and lacks any vegetation or water. In this land, everything and anything may try to kill you as this is where many powerful Hollow reside. Of these Hollow, the most common are the Gillian Menos Grande followed by the Adjuchas and then the Vasto Lorde. However, these Hollow compare nothing to the Arrancar."

She recalled notes of things such as the techniques of Bala, Cero, and also unique techniques that other Hollows had. She didn't know the difference between a normal Hollow and an Adjuchas, but she imagined it was in terms of their raw power. A Menos Grande was a creature composed of hundreds of Hollows clumped together to make a singular entity and we're generally mindless although some had odd appearances. It made them special and able to evolve further. Something brought her out of her head for a second. Hikari's stomach grumbled and it was then she realized how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten in around half a day. She didn't say anything however as it wasn't as if the deer Hollow was going to get her something to eat.

SPOILER: Click to show

Training for TP

[Angel]

As it turned out, Angel was in for some bad news for when she turned to speak to Santa...she was gone all of a sudden. Angel's eyes widened as she realized she was stuck in a hell hole with no escape now. There was no way that she was going to get home now that she was in this hell with no guardian. Where was the Hollow that promised her protection for a week? So now the situation had just gotten worse and it was truly a grim situation. She was powerless at the moment and as much as she hated to admit it, Angel had been relying on the Hollow for her own survival. She now was alone and could do very little to defend herself. This was going to be a long...long week. The Hollow were ferocious and now she was in a forest where the strong preyed on the weak. How would she rise above this twisted food chain? 

The howl of a weaker Hollow alerted the young Shinigami as it ran down at the speed of a strong athlete with both of it's arms moving rhythmically back and forth to attack her. Another one of the bottom feeders that wanted to devour her was present as it was a masked being with horns. It's body was muscled and it's whole body was white. This made it stick out in the normally dark and black Menos Forest. As it got closer, the young girl swung her blade horizontally only for it to hop backwards to avoid the slash with a hiss. "Hado#4:Byakurai!" A slightly more powerful blast of electricity had been fired and thanks to her mastery of the technique, with record time towards the beast.

The bolt of lightning had blasted a hole within the mask of the Hollow as it howled one final time before vanishing into blackened particles. The only concern on Angel's mind at the moment was to find a safehaven or somewhere where she could hide and rest from these monsters. It was then she noticed one of the giant metal trees in the distance and had an interesting idea. She would go there, and try to carve herself a small cave or something of that like inside so that she may hide within it. Seeing she was particularly at the lowest of the low on the food chain, she would have to hide from predators and conserve her strength. It was cold and gloomy in this desert forest. How she hated to be here with every fiber of her being. 

Using the Shunpo before another monstrosity would appear to eat her, Angel made use of her mastery of the Shunpo to escape as she appeared on one of these large metal tree branches. The metal was most certainly cold, but that wasn't what Angel was wondering. She was thinking about something far different than that. Tapping her foot as hard as she could on the metal branch, she would listen to try and find a tap. Several heavy thuds were shown to Angel's dismay. Her thought was that perhaps the trees in this environment would have hollow branches in which to hide in, but that was just wishful thinking. It would be far harder to make shelter in this tree. 

Slowly, she felt a strong pressure behind her, and then steam as a warm breath had blown past her. A shadow had formed as almost instantly, Angel went pale. Slowly turning, the red eye of a Menos Grande greeted her personally with a dumb stare. A giant hand had been raised to slam down on her form, but using her quick wit, she leaped off one branch and fell nearly eight feet to land on another. She grunted but thanks to her durability and somewhat higher than average strength, she would manage. The branch above her was nearly completely destroyed and the Gillian howled angrily as it tossed the metal branch behind itself. It was hungry and wanted her...badly.

For the first time, she realized that this Gillian's mask was different than the majority of the others and if she had the time, she would be wondering what the hell that meant. However, she didn't as the Gillian shook with saliva spilling from it's mouth and it's body twisting and convulsing. It was going to try and kill her. It's size was very large but she assumed it's senses, speeds, and other aspects were slower. She needed to take every moment she could to escape before things could get any worse. However, when she looked to the Hollow again, things got worse, much worse. She was going to die if she didn't do anything.

There, the Gillian was looking down at her with it's maw opened wide and a red beam forming within it's mouth. It was the nightmare that was known as a Cero. She had looked at the energy condense, and as it fired down on her, it seemed as if she was enveloped but she narrowly made it. The branch she was just standing on was completely gone as the Hollow reared it's head to move the beam. The beam blasted through not only the branch but within a moment, the tree itself toppled and began to collapse onto the ground. With a loud crash, the tree had fallen. 

Angel had been panting, standing behind the stump when the tree fell, and as the Gillian had looked confused, Angel had clenched her blade. She was going to die, she knew. There was no hope for her anymore. She began to chant however and run out from cover to the slow witted Gillian. "Hado#4:Byakurai!" She aimed her index finger, and a small blue bolt of lightning had luckily hit the Gillian in the eye making it howl and roar in anger. "AAAAAH!" Leaping, she slammed her blade down on the foot of the Hollow only for her blade to do most nothing as a small cut was all she could make along it. 

The Hollow was now extremely angered as it had kicked her, sending her yelling and skidding against the floor. Her body was thrown like a ragdoll before she stopped to see the Gillian was now lumbering itself towards her to kill her. 'I refuse to die! I won't let myself die! Move body! MOVE!' The young child had slowly clambered onto her feet with adrenaline pumping through her veins as she began to run. Several other Gillian had turned to look in confusion at the sight of the Cero being launched before beginning to go back to eating each other. They weren't interested in her but this one particular one was. It wanted to kill her!

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her but this monster wanted to kill her and BADLY. She needed help and right now she didn't care who it was. She didn't care if it was a God, a Hollow, or anything. She just needed some help and now! She had assumed Santa must have betrayed her and left back to Soul Society while she was left to die. The young girl didn't want to die yet, not until she had done something with her short life. "Hado#4:Byakurai!" Firing yet again into the monster behind her, it was slowed down as it cried out again in anger/annoyance. How was she gonna lose this thing? 

[Santa Ajora]

Training for SP

Santa had, at first, decided to leave Angel to her own devices. As much as she would have loved to care for her, she did have things to tend to. So she took it upon herself to gain the assistance of a certain hollow she knew quite well. Subida. The holow was actually stronger than her, an adjuchas no less. So she had appealed to her fellow to ensure that nothing too...challenging would make it's way to Angel while she was away, and she trusted the woman to hold her word. As it were, female hollows were not as common, and there was a sort of subtle camaraderie she had formed with the other.

When she finally returned, she was pleased to find that Angel was still alive. Even if somewhat... under duress. When that Byakurai streaked out, aiming to slam into the pursuing gillian, that beam would hit it square in the chest, staggering the beast just as the air shredded open, darkness belching out a massive form as the whistle of bone flinging through the air was sounded. With a lash Ajora's massive tail snaked out and then swept across the Menos' chest, the force of the blow slamming the creature into the ground as the barbed bits of bone on it's length shredded into the thing, sticking out of it's body as they had hooked into it's flesh and peeled off of the tail in the attack.

Ajora had.... grown quite a bit. Almost fifteen feet tall, the gillian was a monster. No longer just a frail little deer, she was tall, shrouded in a black cloak, and sporting a centaur-like frame, though it was more a cervitaur given her stag-like qualities. The gillian hissed, roaring as it sought to get up from that attack, staggering to it's feet before claws raked out and Ajora grabbed the other hollow by it's mask-clad face. With a sudden show of strength the being was hefted up and into the air, swung upward by her strength before being slammed back down, the ground shuddering as several long spikes appeared beneath it just before it made impact, the wet crunch of impalement filling the air as those sharp spikes burst from the back of the hollow's head, as well as several points along it's torso.

As if spurned by the violence, a bird-like hollow swooped in, it's teeth already open as it intended to set it's jaws on the downed Gillian. But that tail lashed out like a whip, swatting that hollow down to the ground with a crunch, wrapping around it's body. For just a moment the little thing put up resistance, it's mouth yawning open as a cero formed between it's teeth, that light growing fierce before Ajora simply squeezed, that bright attack blasting through her shoulder, burning the flesh from it, carving a hole through that muscle and skin before the hollow's life was snuffed from it's body.

With a hiss, Ajora stuffed the thing into her mouth, crunching loudly as her primary ability finally began taking up effect. And Angel would immediately notice that it was much wider than before. Three times as large, spanning a full thirty meters in every direction as flesh grew, not only three times as wide, but three times as fast. 36 inches of the stuff forming since her arrival, that mass of viscera an immediate hamper, one that Angel would find very hard to navigate as that stuff surged up beneath her feet. Something the other hollows noticed as well, most of them backing off.

Ajora turned to look over her shoulder, the remains of the gillian dripping from her teeth as she had chowed into it. Those twin glowing eyes locked onto the woman as she swallowed her meal. "I'm happy to see Subida has not allowed you to die. Good. How have you been? Have you yet to eat?" She asked softly, and from the center of that chest, a wet sack of something flopped out onto the ground, govered in that black blood before Ajora knelt down, carefully undoing the several layers of cloth before showing that wealth of food. Human food. She was rather...unaware that Shinigami didn't gain much benefit from human food other than taste, frankly she hadn't even been sure if they ate. But she had brought it all the same. Then again, without food, the only thing Angel would suffer from would be fatigue and a low ammount of spiritual energy.

"I see you have been... busy." That last word echoed from everywhere, as the odd errant mouths that had formed amid the jumble of fleshy grove also spoke with her. Some of them snapping at the hollows that got too close, but ultimately none seemed too keen on exploring that deathly disgusting position. Ajora then paused, slowly turning to eye Angel, as if inspecting them. "Are you injured.......Hmm....? I forget.... what do you call yourself?" she murmured, not that she had. She remembered it being angel, but was her memory correct? It always paid off to make sure, so she had asked again, that long, ridiculously enormous tail swishing around her, an appendage that frankly was probably very new to angel. The bone that grew from it's tip was like a mace of spikes, and little needles of bone fell drom it's surface constantly.

But then, this was just one of many changes that Angel would have had to....adjust to.

1 class 5 Hollow consumed
1 class 7 Hollow consumed

[Angel]

It was then Angel’s Byakurai had been able to stun the Gillian in front of her making it step backwards. Angel’s eyes widened as nervous sweat gathered on the side of her head. She couldn’t stop this monstrous being from finishing her it seemed. Right as the Gillian was recovering and beginning to charge did a black portal open; the garganta. The young girl saw a monstrous tail slam into the chest of the Menos Grande and seemingly stick into it like a fishing hook, peeling off the flesh of the monster. As the tail peeled, Angel realized what the being in front of her was. It was the Hollow from before and it had evolved to become more powerful. It was the Hollow that promised to protect her for the passing week.

Young Angel’s mouth was agape as her Zanpakutou was dropped to the ground. This was a monster that looked completely different than the frail deer from before. This monster had far surpassed the point that the Shinigami could kill her easily. Santa if she chose to right now could kill the young Shinigami with ease, but why? Why and how had Santa transformed into a Gillian in such a short period of time? She heard that Gillian were formed when hundreds of Hollows were attempting to devour each other at the same time. Was this what happened in the brief amount of time that had happened in Hueco Mundo? Angel felt herself grow dizzy and then she fell backwards as there was a sudden shockwave of the hostile gillian’s face slamming into the ground.

As the young girl fell to the ground, she heard another cry of a hollow and brief battle, but the child didn’t bother to stand up. One of the main reasons was because she felt that mess of flesh, blood, and other mysterious liquid wrap around her. Angel had then at that moment moved her hand to grasp her Zanpakutou and stand onto her feet, using her tall blade as a walking stick for support. She watched as Santa ate that smaller Hollow with ease and the viscous mess had driven off the smaller and weaker Hollow away from the vicinity. The scene was disgusting, gory, and horrifying all at the same time. This was a nightmare that Angel was travelling through, but soon she found the Gillian had approached to the little Shinigami.

The monster showed concern for the girl going even as far ask if she had eaten. She was wondering if Santa was going to try to make her eat Hollow or something like that. If that was the case, she’d rather starve to death than experience something like that. She was silent and still in shocked fear as she looked to the abomination in front of her. The ground she sat on was wet and was slowly coating her black robes. As the layers of cloth was undone, the girl saw food. She saw particularly biscuits and what looked to be some sort of meat that she couldn’t recognize. Who cared though? It was food...human food. Angel wanted to eat, but she felt incredibly nervous in front of this creature, watching her.

As Santa had asked if she was alright and what her name was, Angel saw the many mouths around her. They were not only for communication but also for snapping at the other weak Hollows, hoping to get some food. At this moment with the monster towering over her, asking her what her name was...Angel’s eyes teared up. She was beginning to cry as she slowly grasped one of the soft biscuits in her hand. “A-Angel.” The girl then bit into the bread and chewed before swallowing. She was crying because she was scared. She was worried that she was going to die. However, she wasn’t going to cry out loud. She ate graciously but she was going to save some of this food. She would eat more of it later.

The young Angel then looked out to the Hollow at the borders as they howled and began to fight amongst each other for sustenance. They clawed and bit at each other and swallowed each other down. It was an endless struggle and the young Shinigami watching had closed her eyes before trying to quietly speak. "Kaa-San please save me." However, she knew better than anyone else that her mother wasn't coming. She's been dead for quite some time now and Angel was here alone. She thought again about if it was worth the sacrifice coming into this place. The Kuchiki child had felt her tear wells threatening to break, but with another swallow of biscuit did she feel the wall sink back down.

She felt as if she were choking or sinking into despair. However, now that Santa was here, she could ask her questions. "A-After the first week...will you take me home?" She spoke in a tone that sounded scared...insecure. She wondered if she was going to be killed at the end of this week, or perhaps even before then. Maybe the Gillian had went to the Soul Society to kill more of the civilians and that's how she grew. If that was the case, her sacrifice of leaving would have been for nothing. Why did Angel believe that Santa might have been telling the truth? With a bite of meat, the young girl looked deeper in the pile and found a small canteen of water. She drank slowly and sparingly before looking down. She didn't want to look at the deer mask staring at her...that feral look of terror.

It was now more than ever that Angel realized her own humanity. She knew that she was incredibly vulnerable and that she would be easy prey if Santa were not present to save her. 'I made mistakes. I need to learn from them now though. Stop crying and suck it up. I'll get stronger so that one day this hell won't seem hard at all. This I promise to myself. I'll be strong enough so that nothing can stand in my way. I'll be strong enough to become someone I'm proud of.' The young girl had slid her blade back into the scabbard after wiping it on the cloth. Angel seemed to be done eating because soon she retied the bag of food and then placed it over her shoulder. The young Shinigami was ready to move out.

One thing that she would always remember from this experience is that power was everything in this world. However, that applied to most other things in life as well. From watching the hollows consume each other for survival, it was the perfect example of the saying, the strong survive. Angel was thankfully being guarded right now, but there would be a time where she would have to stand on her own two feet and defend herself. Angel was a soldier of Soul Society and so she needed to progress herself not only for the benefit of her home but for herself. Angel needed to grow into something greater than what she was now.

She knew that she needed to progress her skills and one of her goals would be to unlock the power of Shikai. Perhaps she could pursue someone within her squad that could teach her if she made it back alive. Maybe Kaen Youji the Vice Captain of the squad, or perhaps she could learn from Kimiko Shihoin skills in her physical body. However, she had one person in mind to teach her the arts of her spiritual abilities. She knew of the Kido Division and it was something she was heavily interested. She also knew she had slight bloodties to the captain there. Perhaps she could beg for some training in the spiritual arts, but of course he wouldn't if he didn't see potential. She needed to grow and show him something he wanted to see. She wanted Kyomei Kuchiki. 

[Santa Ajora]

Santa smiled as she watched the girl beginning to eat, those lips curling into a smile behind her mask as she watched so very intently. The Hollows, for the most part, seemed to be dispersing. Though there were still a few of them meandering around, a soft little chuckle escaping the gillian as she lifted a hand and flexed those sharp claws of hers thoughtfully, though in reality they were less-than-blunt hooves, little caps of chitin and spiritual bone that served as armor and weapon for the cervine.

"I am happy to see you enjoy the food. It was harder to find than I thought." She noted lightly, taking just a moment to eye the shinigami, lowering herself and smiling behind her mask, her expression hidden from the shinigami as that viscera continued to grow and drip from her body. "you're scared... and I suppose that is correct to be scared." She rasped, and slowly she would drag Angel closer, leaning down so that skull-like mask of hers stared the woman in the face, her head slowly twisting to the side as she spoke hauntingly in that rasping voice of hers. As those hooves stepped closer, sloshing into the fleshy ground.

"I will keep my promise. I will keep you safe. For one week. And then I will return you to the sereitei. Unharmed. Until we meet again. You see... normally...it is hard for me to eat.." she cackled lightly, her voice still hissing as she tilted her head, and from afar a single little hollow that had been trying to sneak nearby was suddenly snared. It's tiny little body writhing on the trap that had snapped around it's wing before a dull, wet thunk of bone piercing it's skull caused the screeching to stop, and for it's body to be pulled apart. It's ribs yanked open so that itn's insides could spill out and mix with Ajora's own little garden.

"loook at how beautiful it is... This death. normally, even Hollows have started running from me. But.... with the smell of a young, fresh shinigami. They cannot resist it. My dinner comes right to me." She noted and turned to the carcass, reaching out and plucking the grotesquely displayed corpse and popping it into her mouth, crunching loudly before swallowing the thing and turning those yellowed eyes back on Angel. "Thanks to you. I've been able to evolve. I am so much stronger now."

A single claw reached down and tapped the center of Angel's chest, right where the root of her soul was. "I have considered eating you myself. but well.. for one...that would be breaking my word. But not only this, but even eating a piece of you... I feel like it would not be a very satisfying meal. Not yet..." She grinned, gently running one of those blunted fingers along the top of the shinigami's head.

"My little angel~"

[Angel]

Angel felt the hollow continuing to stare at her as she ate, and she couldn't help but look up once. There it was...smiling down at her. It brandished those claws and she asked if Angel was enjoying the meal. It was almost as if Santa had some sort of understanding of common human manners. Angel just nodded as it almost brought memories back to her head. ‘Little children should be seen but not heard.’ Those were words her mother once said to her when she was just a little girl living in the Shihoin lands as a handmaiden in training. She was silent for a moment until she heard the voice speak yet again, announcing that Angel was scared. She could not deny as every single bit of that was true. She wasn't just scared, she was terrified. It was at this point did she pack her rations for later. Angel needed to keep her mind occupied or else she might go insane.

When the young girl felt a tug bring her closer to the Gillian Santa, she dropped her bag of food onto the floor as she yelped out. There she was, face to face with the mask of the creature that she was scared of most right now. Her breathing hitched and got slightly faster and more tense while the monstrous masked being breathed closer and it's hooves would stamp into the bloody flesh. The rasping voice was something that she wasn't comforted by. However what she was told next did give her some sense of hope and comfort. There was the promise that she would be sent home safely after the week has ended. She would be able to go home that is assuming the Saint was talking the truth. The laughter filled her ears and made her wince as the young girl didn't feel in the same mood. She simply sighed in relief before she said one thing. “Thank you.” She said that to nobody in particular as she was simply glad to hear those words even if they were lies.

Within a mere moment, Angel witnessed a small Hollow be entrapped within the bindings that was Santa’s trap. It was something that was disgusting to her eyes especially when the stomach was peeled open and the organs dripped out onto the goop that was Santa’s bloody mess. Immediately Angel had dropped the bag and ran a few steps before vomiting nearly everything she had eaten. She felt disgusted and so sick at that sight, she couldn't stomach it. She released a mix of reddish meat and white biscuit. She heaved and held at her chest as she audibly gagged at the disgusting sight. The young Shinigami gasped for air soon afterwards as she wiped her mouth. That was an absolutely horrible thing to see and now she felt exhausted again. Looking to the Hollow, she saw that corpse be devoured and it almost made Angel dry heave again. The young girl didn't have the energy to really be talking right now after what she saw.

She was told to look at how beautiful the death was...but saw horror. She was thanked for helping the hollow but felt absolute loathing for herself. Angel was disgusted at the thought she had helped this Hollow progress and get stronger, reach the next stage of power. Angel’s job should be to put this Hollow down and purify it but yet she was helpless. She was unable to defend herself and at the same token needed to rely on her mortal enemy for protection. This was certainly the most humiliating thing that's ever happened to Angel in her short history of a soul reaper and she felt horrible deep down in her soul. However, there was nothing that she could do about that, and Angel recognized that. She couldn't do anything yet to help herself simply because she was too weak. Power. She would seek that else above all else. The young Kuchiki already swore it to herself and so she would live for that. It was the most important thing as she knew for sure that she never wanted to be here again. Santa for now was stronger than Ruhe and it was going to stay that way for a little while it seemed.

The feminine Hollow began to move and soon, Angel felt one of those blunt hooves touch the center of her chest to bring her out of her disdain. She was told that Santa considered eating her and immediately Angel frowned, well not that she wasn't earlier. She was told that eating Angel wouldn't be satisfying enough...yet. This meant that right now, Angel was so weak that she wasn't even worth devouring was what she took it as. It was the truth though. She was so weak that she couldn't possibly stand up to Gillian Santa the way she was now with all of her viscous slime and what not around Angel. She could barely fend off the Gillian that was chasing her around earlier and even then her attacks did little to nothing. When she felt the hooves lightly running through her silky, smooth, black hair, she was hesitant on drawing her Zanpakutou and slice this creatures hoof. She was so disgusted with Santa, it was on a different level. However, she did have an inquiry for the Hollow in front of her. She ignored being called a little angel as she wanted to take the opportunity to learn from this experience. While she still had her head being rubbed did the girl speak up.

“I am afraid...but I'm also disgusted. Tell me Ajora Santa. What is it like being a Hollow in this hellish world that is Hueco Mundo. Based on what I've learned in my classes, it's not quite like is in the textbooks...it's so much worse than that. It's not only Hollows eating for evolution and strength but it's also because they relish that murder. Just from being here I learn about this place...but tell me something I don't know. Tell me about something I haven't seen yet.” The child tried to remain emotionless on the outside again as she wasn't sure what Santa would do if she cried again. Santa's behavior was incredibly odd but then again, she was a Hollow. Also, she was sure there were odder Shinigami in Seireitei. She knew of the towering footsoldiers, the Adjuchas, the Vasto Lorde and finally the Arrancar. She listened intently for a reply from her “caretaker” until she then spoke one other thing.

“So...what am I going to do today? Surely you don't expect me to sit around all day and do nothing. Or rather night seeing it seems there is no sun. I take it you won't have me fight...but perhaps you'd be willing to set up a safe area for me to train by myself. I take it you will go and consume more souls while I act on my own volition. Then again, I could be wrong about that. I don't know if you'd have any problems watching me like a hawk either.” Angel didn't want to be here right now, but what choice did she have? Angel was not going to even try to resist the fate of this horrible situation and would instead try to analyze how Santa thought to make it easier on her. If there was one thing that Angel regretted, it was the fact that she didn't kill Santa when she had the chance. She was starting to think maybe she should have, Damm the number of Shinigami that might have been killed. She wouldn't be here now and neither would Santa. She shouldn't dwell on the past though, it was bad for her mental health.

It she was allowed to train, the only thing that might be worth of value is a small scroll Angel brought with the instructions for how to cast the spell Sokatsui. Sokatsui was an impressive destructive spell and it was useful in many ways. She could perhaps figure it out and learn it if she was clever. It would be a good skill to have when dealing with some stronger Hollows. It would certainly deal more damage than a Byakurai. Angel liked Kido. Angel liked training. She liked to work hard and gain the fruits of her labor. However, she didn't know if trying to train in an environment like that was a wise idea. More Hollow might be attracted by her releasing spiritual pressure maybe. Angel realized she needed to figure out what to do about sleep, but right now she was more interested in training. If she couldn't train her spiritual skills, she would train her skill physically through usage of her body. Her “guardian” was going to protect her so perhaps training wouldn't be so bad of an idea. It could help her seeing she was going to be here a whole entire week.

[Santa Ajora]

Ajora paused, and stared calmly at the little shinigami. And honestly, she could not help but feel...prickled. She did not enjoy the subject of her own suffering, and the layers and layers of flesh growing all around Angel would begin to move, bony fingers and teeth moving against the girl's skin, as if agitated by the question that was posed. But the truth of the matter was that it WAS a liable question. "You are strange for a shinigami. Most would prefer the experience be free of their conscious. What...exactly... do you think? Relish? Evolution? Strength? That is an individual basis. But that is not why this happens." She noted with a slow, deliberate hiss, reaching out and slowly curling those long clawed fingers around the girl's throat, slowly lifting them off of the ground by their shoulders and neck, as frankly her hand was too large to only fit around the woman's throat.

"Do you know why we enjoy killing so much? It's because it is a relief. When we are made we become so... empty... so cored out, so rooted, that it is unbearable. We odo everything we can to forget what we once were. I've seen it. The instant that they realize the hunger. The hunger that eats away at our souls from the inside. The moment we feel it, we imediately forma mask. Because we know, deep down, that we won't be able to help ourselves. Even now..." She hissed and glared down at Angel's features, narrowing her eyes as the flesh crawled over Angels's skin and slowly bound them, and the shinigami would feel teeth, fingers, eyeballs, and all manner of unpleasantries writhing along her skin. As well as that incessant drenching of black blood. As Ajora barely restrained herself from violence.

"When we kill...it is a release. Because for just a moment, we don't feel the hunger. For just an instant, the pain is gone. Which is why I have you. Which is why I haven't ripped your little ribcage open and dragged your lungs out for you to look at. Because so long as you're around.... those out there..." She hissed, and turned to the hollows that howled in the distance. Several of which had begun closing in despite the danger. Two in particular had gotten too close. One of which was caught on the spikes that were littered about, another was stuck in the actual flesh, sinking beneath a constantly growqing pile of viscera as it flailed about. There was not even a need to attack. It was all the more satisfying just to watch the struggling slowly stop.

"Because they can't resist you. They're too....hurt. Hollows fresh born are hardly stupid. They're just in so much pain that generally they are insane. It takes a while to claw your mind back together....which means I get frequent meals. and that is worth far more than your little life, shinigami. Do not think that I have any inclination toward you. I am keeping my word, and benefiting directly. Otherwise, you would be dead." She hissed, narrowing her eyes before dropping the shinigami onto the ground. Just as the noise of bodies being crunched up and mulched in the distance could be heard, and those two weak hollows were crushed up into little bite-sized tangles of bent limbs. Which Ajora ate sourly, clearly upset by the topic of conversation.

2 Class 8 Hollows consumed

[Angel]

When Angel had asked her question to the Hollow, it seemed annoyed...irritated. Perhaps she should have kept her mouth shut as suddenly, she felt the mounds of flesh below her begin to move. ‘What the hell is happening?” When the teeth and the bony like appendages began to rub against her, she shuddered with a look of disgust on her face. “S-Stop this. G-Get this filth off of me.” She began to brush all of these various bones and such off of her frame. She asked what it was like being a Hollow and said exactly what she thought...but knowing from a Hollow would be far more in depth than what any textbook could tell her about the beasts that Shinigami were so prone to hunt and slay. She explained that all of the reasons why she thought they killed was a case by case basis. However, for why she was here...that was a different reason altogether. Angel’s eyes shook lightly and then tensed as one of those fingers of Santa’s was approaching her.

It lifted up her chin and Santa might be able to see the fear that shined in Angel’s eyes. Those black orbs shaking and quivering as Angel’s breathing began to quicken. She was lifted up in those fingers like a toy and she kicked her legs back and forth in an attempt to get free. This Hollow explained that they killed because it made them feel good. She tried to imagine the emptiness of a Hollow without their hearts...or rather wearing their hearts on their faces. She explained that they had an insatiable hunger thanks to this emptiness, before stating...that she was hungry and Angel was in her grasp. The young girl shook in worry as she wouldn’t be able to defend herself now that she couldn’t move her arms. Was she going to die right now? Sweat formed at her brow and her forehead as she looked with those eyes...like a lamb about to be slaughtered.

She could feel the killing intent and when the grotesque flesh began to wrap around Angel, she couldn’t take it anymore. “AAAAH! AAAAGH! GET THIS OFF OF ME!” She began to squirm, yell, and release her emotions now that they were unrestrained. Angel couldn’t take this feeling of fear as she felt like she was going to die. She was acting shameful...like a coward. However, she couldn’t help it as she began to huff loudly with the worry of being eaten at hand. Then Santa began to speak about why she was kept alive and it made her shudder in utter despair of her situation. She was being used to fuel this monster and make it grow more powerful! She noticed the Hollows on the outskirts falling into the goop of the female Hollow Santa before she saw they feebly sank into it and then were just...gone. Angel didn’t want to die this way. She had ambitions and goals for her life...she didn’t want to cut it short.

The young girl had listened one more time to the reason why she was being kept alive...and then was dropped into the viscous slime. She quickly scrambled to her feet and then shuddered as she brushed herself constantly. A fresh new layer of tears had formed as she held her head. She didn’t want to be here anymore. This was hell...a horrible hell. This Hollow seemed adamant about keeping her word, but that didn’t mean that Angel was any less scared of it. This innocent question she asked but her in a lot of trouble...and right now she was paying for that. Angel then remained silent and looked away from Santa. She sat in the slime with her head turned away from the Gillian as she said nothing. She couldn’t say anything.

Angel had lost all thoughts of training for the moment as she put her head into her knees and was completely silent. She would not acknowledge that there was a giant Hollow behind her or that she was in Hueco Mundo, a death wish for any Shinigami below at least the Vice Captain class. The young girl was just sitting there for a long time and she was now acting in natural defense. She was going to block out this horrible atmosphere and just try to have her eyes see nothing but darkness. Angel was rocking back and forth slightly as she just wanted to go home. She didn’t want Santa to be angry again and perhaps kill her next time. Her Hollow watcher couldn’t be angry if she didn’t do anything.

Santa might occasionally hear the light sniffle, or the silent sob as Angel sat there. The only sounds that Angel could hear other than her own tears were the howls of other Hollow in the distance. ‘I’m not in hell right now. I’m at the barracks...sitting on my futon and getting ready for sleep. It’s been a long day and tomorrow when I wake up, I’ll go have curry at the mess hall. Afterwards, I’ll have another long day of training and then I’ll go back to sleep at the end. Nothing is wrong right now...noth-. Who am I kidding?” She stopped lying to herself and just thought of nothing. She refused to do anything but rest her poor mind. It seemed she was more scared of Santa than she knew.

[Santa Ajora]

More shivering, crying, whining. It occurred to Ajora, ESPECIALLY by how the other hollows in the area were taking so slowly to actually reel in, that this wasn't going to work as much as she liked. She needed the shinigami to USE her reiatsu. To actually begin exerting herself. If she didn't, then there was no point to all of this. She needed them to.... oh....ohhhh! An idea clicked in her head, and suddenly she actually found herself smiling behind that mask of hers. Something absolutely...delicious coming to mind. The hollow narrowed her eyes at the shinigami and snorted to herself.

"I cannot stand such whining. Subida. Watch over her while I go hunt." the woman hissed, eyes narrowing as she trumped her way off and out to the Menos forest, staying within range. Meanwhile, from the sidelines, a smiling face would meet Angel as a new being stepped out into view, their head canting to the side as they watched the shinigami. But of course, this was definitely no hollow. As she stepped out, she was dressed in... well rags. What could one expect unless one was in Las Noches? But the most prevalent point was that the woman's face was human, and smiling at that as 'Subida'(link) smiled at angel and shook her head.

"I have to admit, Ajora REALLY doesn't like you." Came a sheepish voice, a chuckle following her remark as she casually walked her way over to where the shinigami was, her head canting to the side before she knelt down and gave a tilt of her head. She eyed the girl up and down, something of a bemused look on her face before she shook her head. " Honestly, I'm surprised she even took another captive. But well..here we are." She noted with an idle shrug of her shoulders, reaching into her tattered cloak to pull out a bit of bread, that seemed to be free of any of Ajora's taint.

"Here, it's best just to eat when she's off brooding. She's... a little hard to eat near. What's your name?" Subi asked, her head tilting a little as she took a seat next to the woman, her curiosity very clear on her face. Obviously Angel did have work to do, but as it were, 'Subi' knew better than to just cut to the chase. It was better that the girl feel more comfortable first.

[Angel]

It seemed that there was a separate visitor...Subida. She didn’t care at this point or the fact that Santa was going to go hunting. When this new person came and cheerfully spoke, Angel didn’t reply. Although she did slowly raise her head, and opening her eyes. The face was a human...although the appearance was odd. She wondered if this woman in front of her was an Arrancar or something like that. If that was the case, there was definitely no chance Angel was going to try anything. Although when Subida spoke and mentioned…”another captive” that made Angel curious enough to reply. “You’ve been kidnapped too?” If that was the case...it didn’t seem so bad to be here if she had someone else to talk to. Or was this some sort of deception to let her drop her guard? Was this woman a Shinigami? She was curious indeed.

“How long have you been here with the Hollow miss?” Angel hadn’t been in the most talkative mood, but she found that if there was someone she could relate with, it would be better. When the bread was pulled from her rags and offered, Angel shook her head. “I can’t eat right now...I just am not in the mood to eat.” Angel had said that but within a moment her stomach growled. She ignored the sensation of hunger within her body. ‘Shut up stomach...I don’t need you right now.’ She didn’t want to trust anything in this desert of death. She most certainly wasn’t that comfortable right now. Although she was a bit more comfortable with this woman rather than Santa.

She turned and looked away from Subida as she slowly took out her scroll detailing the Kido she wanted to learn. She would read through it while Subida was behind her and just keep her senses sharp. She could practice it and learn it when she got home or when there was a better time to learn it. The Hollows at the borders were still around and Angel was wondering if the slimey defense that was around would continue to protect her even when Santa wasn’t in the immediate vicinity. It was then she recalled that Santa was capable of killing anyone who was caught in her slime regardless if she could see them or not.

If she tried to run, she was a metaphorical sitting duck. She would die if she did anything that Santa didn’t find favorable. The woman in front of her was not to be trusted yet...at least until Angel had found a reason to. The scroll detailed Sokatsui as a cousin Kido to Shakkaho, but instead of being a compressed ball of searing hot energy that exploded, it was a blast with a wider range and burning damage on top of that. It seemed to be useful and more destructive than the small pin point Byakurai. She would learn this Kido and add it to her arsenal later. For now, she just wanted to grasp the theory of the technique and get a feel for it later.

[Santa Ajora]

Subida simply paused, her head canting to the side when the woman declined the food, giving something of a sheepish smile at that. she couldn't actually even help but...laugh softly to herself. "No I get it. I honestly.... think I just got used to all of this. I didn't used to be this blasé about all this. I guess I've just gotten used to it." She murmured softly, sighing as she gently folded her arms, taking just a moment to look wistfully off into the distance, her mind wandering before she remembered where it was that she had been.

"Kidnapped... I guess you could call it that. Honestly, I don't even know if I want to leave anymore...." She murmured, lowering her head, well aware of how...damning her words were. At the mention of how long.. that.... was an interesting question. "Seven hundred years? Yea.... yea that seems about right." She murmured, looking down at her hand, looking at the scars running down the inside of her wrists. The bite marks.

Then again.., looking up at angel, she coldn't help but chuckle softly. "What about you? I mean.... I don't remember you arriving here, but... I admit... it's hard to keep track sometimes." She set the food aside and watched the shinigami, wondering what was going on inside of that head of theirs. She herself just... well.. it was difficult. She had actually never even thought about escape. But this woman... she seemed to be contemplating it. And she had to admit she was curious. Why hadn't Angel given up? It was a pretty silly thing to try. She was being kept alive, wasn't that enough?

"What's your name?"

[Angel]

The woman in front of Angel had seemed to understand the reason for her disgust at the moment. She apologized to the girl and that was certainly something. She seemed human but...she was wondering what his person was. Based on the lack of mask fragment, she could assume Subida wasn’t an Arrancar. She could maybe assume that Subida was a Shinigami or maybe one of those rare special humans. Hell, maybe she was a mod soul or a bount. Frankly, Angel was too busy to care about that. She was thinking about how she was going to survive in this time period. She needed to prod and poke in order to find out more information about this figure before she could say she trusted her.

Angel asked if the woman was kidnapped and Subida gave her a very cryptic answer. That made her curious and that was a bit odd. What surprised Angel even more was that the woman said that she didn’t know if she wanted to leave anymore. How could this woman say such a thing? Angel’s face twisted into a look of confusion as she shut her scroll, sliding back into her sleeves. She was interested finally on how long Subida has been here with the monstrous being Santa. The answer shocked her not only from her age of appearance but from the time itself. 700 years Subida had been here. That made Subida over three times Angel’s age.

Angel noticed the scars and bite marks and Angel felt disgusted. “You’ve been here 700 years? That’s horrible...this place must be like hell to you. I don’t know how you could ever be here for so long and survive.” Angel stood and began to look for the bag of supplies from before. She would have use for it later if the supplies in there wasn’t completely ruined. Angel had looked at the woman and she was curious. She had to ask...what Subida was. “What are you miss? Are you...a human? Shinigami? Or are you something else?” Angel was very cautious about the answer she would hear seeing this could drastically change her opinion of her.

"I arrived here just today and I want to leave today as well. This place isn’t safe and I wouldn’t trust a Hollow with my life, especially one that said that the only reason why I am still alive is because she finds use for me to get more meals. It’s a horrible thought. I don’t want to be eaten and I want to be with other people...friends.” Angel partially lied on the last part. She didn’t really have many friends although she could always try to meet some later. For now, she just had to secure herself as a Shinigami that could take care of herself before making friends. This was a world where your friend could die the next day after all. She was then looked at by a look of interest by the figure in front of her. She decided to answer truthfully for she had no reason to assume this person was going to use that information against her or anything.

"My name is Hikari Nisei, although all of my friends call me Angel. I prefer to go by that name anyways." She had purposely left out her Kuchiki heritage name seeing she refused to acknowledge herself a part of that clan. She disliked all sorts of nobility and especially the Kuchiki clan. She might have been a member of this family by blood, that was all she would ever associate with this group seeing she had never grown with them and instead was raised as a handmaiden for the Shihoin family along with her mother. They had abandoned her and her mother and she would never forgive them for the acts they have done. That wasn't important right now though. What mattered was what was Subida's next intentions. Hikari then realized she had one last question.

"So...what is this Hollow going to have me do miss? Is she going to keep her promise on sending me back home safely? Or is she going to kill me at the end of the week? Depending on your answer will decide if I leave here or not. I'm going to leave when she's hunting if that's the case I would like you to cover for me if you would. I'll find out how to get back home or die trying. I'll die if I stay here anyways." She was going to survive and escape no matter what it took. However, she knew that she was no match for the Gillian Santa at her current strength. Subida didn't seem to be the combatant type and could sympathize with her. Hopefully she would take pity on her and help her. Fingers crossed.

[Santa Ajora]

She supposed she aught to be surprised, that the woman balked at such a number. How very young, but then again, how long did shinigami even persist? She supposed it would be a little unreasonable to believe that the woman have such context as to how miniscule a number the one she had described really was. But then, there was much that Angel did not yet understand. Not.....yet.
A condition that Subida hoped to remedy. She had been trapped for far too long after all. And to think that Angel too would find herself enthralled into the voracity of nothingness was simply not something she was willing to entertain.

"Survival is a relative term. Simpy because one changes forms does not mean that they cease to be. In much the way humans survive unto the realm of the dead, there is a great many ways for someone to survive. But to be clear, I am not a living human. Though in all honesty, human is such a vague term." She paused, and allowed herself something of a slow, rueful smile. The kind of smile that often graced those that had suffered pain for so long that it was now simply a distant...amusement. Hell? That in and of itself was an interesting little word. A place of 'ultimate' suffering. A concept that, frankly, Subida found as boring as it were contrived.

"It has been unpleasant. As I'm sure you've found out. Nothing about this sort of existence is pleasant. For the one responsible, nor anyone else. Hollows are as much a victim of their own cruelty as others are. If perhaps in different ways." The woman noted thoughtfully, before slowly, those bright yellow eyes came to rest squarely on Angel. And she lamented. "I'm sorry if I don't seem to be very clear or concise in answering your questions. But.... It is... frustrating. No matter what I do, there really is no way to convey to you what it is that I need you to know..." She murmured, and Angel would notice that the woman's spiritual pressure flickered, familiar, but so small and so brief that it was unrecognizable. Like a road sign meant for someone many times smaller than Angel.

"I have so much to tell you, but honestly... I don't know what to say." She sighed, and slowly shook her head, reaching up to gently run her fingers across her face, and for just a moment she paused. And for just a moment she smiled softly to herself. A slow, sad smile that seemed to carry on for several long moments as those fingers gently traced her own features. As the fleks of white began crawling along her skin.
As those bits of pale white slowly began to collect along the edge of her face, slowly swallowing up her features bit by tiny little bit. And as she shifted how she was sitting. her cloak shifted with her. And Angel would see the glimpse of that hole. The one going straight through the center of the woman's chest. "I didn't even know it was off.... I didn't even get a chance to see myself..." she spoke softly, before shaking her head and glancing back to Angel.

"I got carried away.. and now I'm out of time. I feel so stupid. I had so...much to tell you." she murmured as the mask continued to form over her features, and slowly it began to take form, and once that pointed skeleton had finished covering her features, two big, white, branching horns sprouted from either side of her head as she stared straight at the shinigamiAnd the moment that mask covered her mouth, that voice would be all too familiar.

"I was hoping to egg you into more. Get you to show me your strength." She murmured, and 'Subida' began to sigh in frustration. And even though the mouths on the ground seemed to hiss irritably, the 'puppet' did not. for just a moment, it was really as if Subida were trying to tell angel something. As if there really were someone that had been trying to get her information. But in the next moment, the body went limp, and Ajora's shadowy form peeled it's way into existence through the dark rift in the air, her ulcera bringing her before Angel. The hulking monster back, completely unaware of the little conversation Angel had been having with her puppet. The one which already was beginning to fall apart into the bones, m uscle, and flesh it had once been made of.

"I am not as good at acting as I had hoped. I suppose even if I can trick your mind, I honestly can't pretend as well as my puppets can." Ajora hissed, a little disgusted with her own ineptitude. It was infuriating. She had spaced out fairly frequently, but she WAS aware that her attempts to soothe Angel into just relaxing and getting on with her training didn't work. And she was simply far too impatient. Perhaps... she should just attack them? force them to fight? that would bring them in wouldn't it? Oh yes it would... But what about her promise? DAMN cursed promise.

What to do... what to do.....

[Angel]

Subida was not talking much sense when she mentioned that survival was relative. Something about how when something changes form, they don’t cease to be. That didn’t make much sense either. Angel at that moment imagined a rock turning into sand. The rock ceases to be but then takes upon the form of sand. It was then she thought of a Hollow eating something...that Hollow dies but lives on in the body of the one who ate it. Angel had listened to the woman say that she wasn’t a living human and then Angel wondered...was she a plus or Shinigami? Was she one of the citizens of Rukongai that was kidnapped and brought here to be Santa’s plaything? Nothing made sense at the moment.

Subida spoke more nonsense before apologizing for not being able to answer very clearly what Angel was asking. “You aren’t making any sense miss. You’re avoiding what I’m asking you it seems like.” It was then that the woman looked rather sorrowful as white little pieces of something gathered on her face. Something wasn’t right and in that moment Angel drew her Zanpakutou from it’s scabbard with her left hand as she looked out in confusion and slight horror at what was happening in front of her. There was some sort of metamorphosis happening to Subida, but she didn’t know what. Angel could sense the sorrow but for what purpose was this happening?

As the cloak shifted, Angel could see the Hollow hole...and immediately she backed up a few steps. Subida was a Hollow this whole entire time. She was deceived apparently and that look of shock on her face as ‘Subida’ said that she had so much she wanted to tell Angel. Then...the mask manifested as Angel immediately recognized who the figure was. It was the form of the first time she met the Hollow Santa. It was the monster that was holding her here, but yet how?! How did it change it’s appearance like this?! Something wasn’t right here...Santa was a Gillian wasn’t she?!

Within a moment Santa’s voice said that she was hoping to get Angel to show and display her power. Then...there it was, the rip in space as the Gillian appeared. The mouths on the ground were irritated and nipped rapidly. It was then that she realized that the body was falling apart into muscle, skin, and other various parts. Angel had been agape and she clenched her blade tightly with her left hand as she looked at the monster in front of her. The monster had deceived Angel and she wasted her time. She was distracted by a mere puppet that was placed to make her waste her time. It was madness and it was something horrible to see.

“So...you wanted to see my power did you Hollow?” Angel’s head was lowered and her eyes foreshadowed as suddenly her spiritual pressure and power began to grow larger and fluctuate. “Arise god of thunder. Awake mother of storms. Unleash lightning upon the sinners! Hado#4:Byakurai!” Angel at that moment had charged the most powerful and concentrated beam of electricity in her fingers that she had ever cast. At this moment, the Hollows howled loudly and due to the hunger that they had...the aching pain that Santa mentioned, they charged with reckless abandon across the thick and viscous slime that was Santa’s flesh. This was not what was intended for Angel.

She was planning on firing this blast of electricity at Santa herself, but it seemed the circumstances had changed rapidly within a few moments. She had quickly turned her hand out to one of the Hollows before firing the long bolt of electricity from her fingertips. A Hollow with a dorsal fin like mask had howled as it’s face was pierced through and yet the lightning did not stop there. It had passed through it’s mask passing through a second Hollow’s torso and a third Hollow’s chest. Immediately all three of those masked beings vanished out of existence as Angel saw that they were all charging with reckless abandon like a horde thanks to Angel. They wanted her flesh.

‘Damn it! They want me so bad that they are going to kill themselves for me?!’ Ajora must have been pleased because at this moment where was a large number of Hollows that were charging after Angel. Angel in the meantime stood there with her blade clenched in hand as she was angry. She hated Hueco Mundo, she hated hollows, and she hated Santa Ajora. She would let herself die to these Hollows and leave Santa with nothing. It would be the best thing she could do to benefit Soul Society and to end this torment of this existence here. One such Hollow had leaped head first to devour Angel. She did not dodge, attempt to block, or anything. She feared not death right now...at least not her own. Her eyes were cold as she simply held her blade tightly...awaiting.

This was her final act as a Shinigami she was sure. Her own death would prevent another Hollow from becoming stronger in her mind. She refused to allow herself to be used as a tool for evolution to make this Hollow stronger. All she was doing was allowing it to gain more power to kill others more easily. If she died and prevented it from getting stronger, maybe she would be able to do Soul Society a service by leaving this Hollow weak. She would be proud to say that she was able to do something in death and made it worth while than be a slave to the captor holding her here. 'I am prepared to say goodbye to this world. The Hollows may devour me but I shall not end here.'

[Santa Ajora]

Those eyes narrowed, and slowly... Saint Ajora smiled. (music link)

Training for Mermer Bala

"Kheeeehhhheheheheheheh... Ahaha...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Both Ajora, and those countless mouths around the field joined into a chorus of laughter as the shinigami unleashed that byakurai technique and obliterated three of the hollows, she altered the ground growing beneath them, so that when they fell to the ground, bony spikes were there to meet them, sinking with a wet squish into their flesh as their bodies were then brought to ajora. She watched and ate the deceased hollows as Angel faced down those hollows down. She did note that something was interestingly similar to shinigami and hollows. Just like a hollow, the girl focused her spiritual energy whilst preparing to fire her kido. And in much the same way, she saw that the hollows before them also had a similar means of charging up to a cero.

She opened her hand and narrowed her eyes, she watched carefully, and she modified the way her own reiatsu was morphing along her hands. She did recall hearing about a special technique that disrupted these sorts of techniques. Hailing from the land of Las Noches. She was disgusted with using a technique from sucha place, but it was necessary, she watched as up ahead, the hollows had begun to stir, those beasts groaning and hissing as they all turned their attention to Angel as they prepard to attack and mail the girl.

Before her very eyes, those mouths yawned open, and no less than ten of the hollows halted, their mouths glowing brightly as they all began charging cero, all too similar to the ability that she had used on them just before. The low hum of building reiatsu was enough to urge Ajora on, and as they charged, she raised her hand, and suddenly arms sprouted from her body, focusing the growth of flesh on her body as two new arms folded from her sides along her centaur form, anchored to her body as those hand then opened up, and on those fingertips there was a brief crackle before the air was suddenly bombarded.

There was a sudden crackle, and it was not all perfect, some of the bala simply slammed into the faces of those hollows, blowing their heads clean off, but for others, those bala managed to work properly. They plowed into the bodies and dispersed the reiatsu being charged up, and in that moment those cero were dispersed, the hollows being caught off guard when the second volley of bala blew them away, puncturing their chests and faces. Those that had been accidentally hit with real balas the first time fired prematurely, and the cero was just let off, streaking across the landscape, but thankfully not too close to Angel or Santa as they fell to the ground. Most of them were still alive, but at least three were dead, their bodies being pulled in to be consumed.

Memer Bala Profficiented, 5 extra TTP generated

Back to SP training

Ajora hissed softly and smiled slowly, those new arms gently sloughing off of her body as they lost their usefulness, dripping to the floor as she cackled softly, turning her attention to Angel as soon, the ground began to rise up, focusing that growth as soon, massive walls of flesh were growing up, creating a large enclosed space, protected from the outside as she isolated herself from angel. "You seem to be confused shinigami. You never HAD any freedoms when you beczame my pet." She hissed, grinning insanely down at the shinigami as she reached out and grabbed the girl by her face, lifting them off the ground and smirking as flesh fdripped against the girl's face and front.

"You belong to me for now~ Consider yourself on lease~ It has been two days my little Angel. This is what you wanted, is it not? Look at how powerful I have become. Do you truly believe that any of your run-of-the-mill shinigami can take me now? If you wish~ I will take you back now~ And Go right back to feeding from the rukongai~ After all, they are so much easier to eat than other hollows~ I can just eat them by the crowds. And they have even more energy to give than hollows. So tell me...Angel~ Would you like to go home?"

3 class 7 hollows provided by Angel
3 class 7 hollows Devoured by Ajora