'Hollowed' Ch. 12

Chapter 12

While this entire escapade was taking place, Arturo stood aside worriedly and talked offhand to
Yammy while he waited for Ulquiorra to awaken. As he and the 10th Espada conversed, though, his
spirit was lifted when he began to see the crack in his younger brother's mask slowly mend itself
together, the bone substance's particles pulling towards each other almost magnetically. After this
started to occur, he moved from his place at Yammy's side to go and sit beside his brother, waiting
anxiously for the moment he would awaken. He was glad when Ulquiorra started to stir, thinking he
was waking up, but soon became aware that he was merely starting to talk in his sleep, and slightly
chuckled when he did so. Looking over, Yammy's eyebrow raised to new heights for what Arturo was
sure was the 200th time in the past hour.

"What, he dreamin'?" the huge Espada asked, as Ulquiorra mumbled something incoherent.

"Obviously," Arutro said from his seat in the sand. "I remember now… he used to do it all the
time. Usually pretty creepy."

"Eh?" asked Yammy. "You mean he used to talk in his sleep when you and him were still alive?"

"Yes," replied Arturo.

"Weird," concluded the 10th. "I mean, I've had dreams before, but nobody ever told me I talked
when I did. Does it reflect the dream?"

"Yeah, usually," the golden-eyed Arrancar replied, glancing at the huge Espada. "I would tell him
about it when he woke up, and then he would tell me the dream." He ran his hand through his hair
thoughtfully. "It's so strange, suddenly remembering all of that. It's… it's…"

"New, yet old?" Yammy asked.

"Yeah… something like that," was the reply. The 10th merely raised both his eyebrows at the
same time, wondering what the heck both of them meant. His mind could never quite encompass
such things as double meanings, or hard-to-imagine sequences of events like this. That was his way.

However, talking in his sleep could only mean that Ulquiorra was dreaming… again. The last
dream had been riveting just on its own, depicting his brother Arturo and himself together once
again on the beach of their previous life – only this time they were both Hollows. The dream
had had something to do with escaping from something ominous… whether it was a being,
human, or simply a raw feeling, he did not know. All he knew was that it was the first time he'd
dreamt since he had become a Hollow, and that it must mean something important. At the moment,
he was having another of the vivid, colorful, and confusing visions, and it didn't appear to be a very
good one either…

***

Seemingly, he snapped awake. The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a dark, night-filled
sky, looming around him and touching the farthest reaches of the atmosphere. Empty, emotionless,
quiet… rather like him. However, a sky could only mean that he was outdoors, and the only
place that could be was the desert outside of Las Noches. Pushing himself into an upright position,
he shook his head to clear it of any dizziness he might have, and looked around.

He was not, needless to say, in the desert. Instead, he found himself in a human place…
somewhere bursting with noise, full of darkness and full light at the same time… Alternating
flashes of red and blue rotated across him and the busy, scurrying living souls that surrounded
something close by to him, cutting through the thick blackness with omnity. A loud, unsettling
screeching noise came from somewhere behind the humans, and appeared to accompany the
colorful lights. Thankfully, it retreated quickly into the distance, at amazing speeds for someone in
the world of the living.

What was this place?

Why was he here?

He also noticed, with a sort of jolt, that all of his traces as an Espada had disappeared. His helmet,
his Hollow hole, his rank tattoo… all gone. Instead, he appeared to be dressed in some sort of
gigai. If that wasn't strange enough, he realized that he still had his soul chain, and it was
connected to the base of his throat. Confused, he put his hand around it, expecting to feel it
vibrating with life, for that is what they were supposed to do – conduct life. However, his chain
appeared to be silent, loose, and empty. Figures. It mirrored his personality.

Taking another, closer look around, his eyes fell on the hive where the swarm of humans were, and
he suddenly noticed something familiar among them – a flash of turquoise. Was that…
Arturo? Why was he here? WHERE was here, to be precise? Pushing himself to a standing position,
shakily, Ulquiorra started to slowly walk towards where his brother was, almost instantly sensing
that something was wrong.

"Arturo?" he asked, coming up behind the rows of humans that were surrounding his brother. They
were trying to get the turquoise-haired Arrancar out of some sort of machine – something that
one expected to see in Szayel's laboratory – which appeared to be completely wrecked and
mangled. From the looks of it, whatever experiment the 8th had been planning had gone completely
wrong, at the cost of his brother.

But… why did something tell him he did not know Szayel yet? What was this feeling inside him
that reminded him of what the other Espada had loosely defined as "anxiety"? Was it just that?
Moving in closer to look at his brother, Ulquiorra was shocked to find huge, shocking patches of
bright red blood spattered all over Arturo, mainly where his obviously fractured ribs were, staining
the front of his human clothes beyond what measures he'd seen on Earth. What had happened
here?

"Arturo!" he called out, as the humans lifted him onto a rolling stretcher. He slipped in between the
living and came to Arturo's side with a feeling inside him that could almost be described as fear. His
hands gripped the cold, hard metal handles that were on both sides of the stretcher, and he looked
down on his dying brother with a severe determination in his eyes. He had to make sure his brother
was alright.

"Ul…Ulqui…orra…" choked the Arrancar, who also appeared to be missing his
hollow hole and mask. The addressee placed his hand on top of his brother's.

"I am here, Arturo," he said reassuringly. His brother did not seem to register it though; his eyes
wandering listlessly back towards the crushed machine. There was such a deep… sorrow in his
eyes that the 4th could not even hope to comprehend it. It was as if the golden-eyed warrior had
lost everything that he had – everything – including his own will to live. Whoever had
caused him this pain was going to pay.

"I… can't… believe…" Arturo started to say, but was interrupted when he gave a
hacking cough, fresh blood spilling from his mouth and splashing onto Ulquiorra's hand. His breath
quickening, the emerald-eyed 4th Espada quickly moved his hand from his brother's to Arturo's
chest, placing it over the place where his Hollow hole should be. He felt part of the rib sticking out in
a way it shouldn't have been, and resisted the urge to draw it back swiftly. Instead, he applied
pressure to the wound, stemming the blood flow enough to keep his brother from bleeding to death.

Not noticing, Arturo continued.

"Can't… believe… I let you… die…" he whispered, his voice strained and pain-
filled. His eyes suddenly glazed over and he lost consciousness, but Ulquiorra could somehow tell,
with a sigh of relief, that he would live… for now. What bothered him, though, was his
brother's last comment about letting someone else die. His brother had never let anything bad
happen to anyone… why would be admitting to a lie? Looking down, he saw that Arturo had
been staring at the wrecked machine before he went unconscious, and curious, he directed his gaze
there too as the white-clothed humans around him took his brother away, although he could tell
they had good intentions.

It was an odd-looking contraption before him, mangled beyond any type of recognition, and it
sported glass on all four sides around it, which he thought would be completely defeating the
purpose if it was any type of safety device. It looked just the opposite. Behind the glass was
darkness, and he could somehow sense that there was something bad about it. Something was in
there, in that darkness, something he didn't want to see.

But… if he didn't want to see it, why was he moving towards it? Why did he suddenly have no
control over his own actions? Everything inside of him, down to the last nerve, was savagely
screaming at him to turn around and run, to follow Arturo to wherever they were taking him, but
somehow none of that seemed to effect his mind, and he continued to walk slowly towards the dark
box-like contrivance. Maybe he didn't like because it reminded him of Aizen's Hado #90.

Because it reminded him of a coffin.

Trying desperately to tear himself away from his current path but not succeeding, Ulquiorra took one
step after another, closing the distance between himself and the coffin significantly. His foot gently
collided with something that rattled, and when he looked down, he saw his trailing Hollow chain,
leading from his throat to the inside of the dark machine. His eyes widened slightly as he looked up,
following the line that the chain drew leading from him, cutting through one of the glass sheets in
the contraption, into the side of the box that had a spear of ragged metal sticking straight through
it. Was that bad?

Probably.

Before he knew it, the emerald-eyed warrior was standing beside the shattered glass, staring
apprehensively into the darkness within. He would have to lean down a little to see inside, see to
where his chain led. Did he want to? Would he?

The latter question answered itself when he did so, lowering himself down slowly and coming to eye
level with whatever was inside. His line of sight still following his chain, Ulquiorra was surprised
when it suddenly came to a stop, having broken off so close to its origin. Leaving the broken, ragged
links of the chain, his line of sight started to travel up. There was someone actually inside the coffin.
They were covered in blood – more blood than Arturo had been covered in – although
he could see no injuries. His eyes traveled upwards, moving closer to what he did not want to see.
Only a few more inches… only one more second before he saw exactly who this was. It
was…

Him.

***

Back in the quiet deserts of Hueco Mundo, Arturo and Yammy sat, listening to Ulquiorra utter strange
things in his subconscious state, and making comments about it as he did. It had started off normal
enough, but then things got a little less ordinary and a little more disturbing. As Arturo had said
earlier, it started to get 'creepy.'

"That was… odd," said Yammy, sitting Indian-style beside his new, turquoise-haired friend as
Ulquiorra finished saying something ominous. They had both moved back up to the base of a huge
hill of sand.

"Yes… we'll have to ask him what was in his dream that included 'blood'," he said quietly,
sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, leaning on the sand dune behind him.

"A…Arturo…" Ulquiorra continued. Both of the listener's eyes widened and there was a
slight pause.

"Oh boy," stated the golden-eyed warrior. "Blood and myself in the same dream. Now that can't be
good."

"I'll say," stated the 10th.

"Arturo!" the 4th suddenly shouted through the mist of his sleep. The two in his audience jumped a
little, eyeing the slim Espada with a little suspicion.

"Why's he yelling at me?" Arturo asked.

"Maybe you're making him mad?" offered Yammy.

"I doubt it," replied the Arrancar. "We never fought in the world of the living. I don't think he'd have
a dream about something that never happened."

"Oh," said Yammy. "Then why IS he yelling at you?"

"Maybe he's yelling FOR me?" the turquoise-haired warrior said, his brow creasing in sudden
worry. "I hope he's not having a nightmare."

"Nah," said the 10th, waving his hand dismissively. "That emotionless shell wouldn't let anything like
that bother him."

"Of course…" Arturo agreed, suddenly becoming silent. He wondered why, indeed, his brother
had become what he was now.

"Whose…coffin…?" Ulquiorra asked himself in his sleep. The pair remained silent for a
moment, and this time, Arturo got up and walked over to his younger brother, leaning down to
shake him awake, only to have a huge hand pull him backwards.

"No, don't wake him up," said Yammy. "I wanna see how it ends."

"What, do the words 'blood', 'Arturo', and 'coffin' seem like an appealing story to you!?" was the
snappy reply, as the warrior eyed the Espada suspiciously.

"Yep," he replied, smiling wanly. Arturo rolled his eyes.

"Figures." He looked down upon the relatively young Espada, and suddenly frowned as his brother's
breaths began to quicken. He raised his eyebrow and wondered what sort of dream he could be
having. Yammy raised his eyebrow too (again), and left it where it was, studying the scene with it as
that.

"Wh…what?" Ulquiorra asked nobody, breathlessly. His breathing sped up another notch and
his fingers clawed desperately at the sand around him, clawing for something solid to grab. Arturo
rose to his feet.

"Alright, I'm waking him up," he said firmly, taking steps towards his brother determinedly. Before
Yammy could reach out and stop him, he made it to Ulquiorra's side and crouched down beside him,
reaching for his shoulder to shake him awake. However, right before he did, the 4th did so on his
own, jerking himself into reality with a huge intake of breath, gasping loudly and grabbing Arturo's
wrist with a jolting suddenty. This jerking of himself into the state of awareness was accompanied
by a loud cry of utter distress – something neither of them had ever expected to come out of
the 4th Espada. Surprised, to say the least, both of them nearly jumped right out of their skin.

"Ul-Ulquiorra?" Arturo asked, looking down upon his brother with a worried expression. For a
moment, all he saw was the horrified look in his brother's deep green eyes, frantically searching
nothing for anything other than what his mind had just forced him to experience. Those very eyes
fell on Arturo's face, and all of the fear melted away instantly. It was replaced by sheer relief.

However, instead of reaching up and making physical contact with his brother in the way Arturo had
done to him after his vision when Aizen mind probed him, he sat up stiffly and quickly averted his
eyes to another part of the desert.

"Are you alright, Ulquiorra?" Arturo asked as his brother put his hand up to the side of his hollow
mask, feeling for the break that had been there before. Much to both of their relief, it was completely
gone, having 'healed over' within hours of it breaking.

"Yes," was the emotionless reply. However, Arturo could see beyond what his brother was saying,
and knew that he had been plagued by a nightmare… probably one in which he – Arturo
– had died, judging from the content of his comments. But… why? There was a slight
pause as he put his arm around his brother's shoulders, and Ulquiorra released his wrist
apologetically.

"So, shorty, what'd ya dream about?" Yammy's loud voice asked as it cut through the silence.
Ulquiorra nearly jumped out of his soul form, and, eyes wide, quickly snapped his head in Yammy's
direction.

"You're… here?" he asked, a little surprised. Yammy chuckled.

"Yes, I brought you both here, remember?" he asked, cracking his knuckles like he was about to get
started talking. "I was walking through Las Noches, wondering why everyone was suddenly
releasing their spiritual pressures so recently, when suddenly I came across you both all huddled in
the middle of the hallway like you were scared to death. (which would be weird) but anyway! I
realized then that it had been YOU guys everyone was after, and at first I was gonna turn you in,
but then I realized that you," he pointed at Ulquiorra. "Were all folded over HIM," he pointed at
Arturo "Like you were about to be murdered. You just looked… different."

Arturo glanced at his brother in a strange way. He thought Ulquiorra had turned into a warrior who
had forgotten his emotions? From the stories Yammy had just recently been telling him, he could
conclude that the 4th hadn't felt anything in a long time. Had letting Ulquiorra use escudo on him let
the emerald-eyed Espada see into their past life as well? Did that mean… he remembered too?
Looking at Ulquiorra, who was trying his very hardest to pull himself together again and not look
disturbed, it wasn't hard to believe.

"Alright, now that you're awake…" the 10th said, lifting his huge self up and standing, looking
down upon the disheveled two with a small sense of authority. "You can finish explaining to me this
plan of yours. So far as I know, it includes saving Szayel and Grimmjow, but I can sense there's
something else behind it.

"Something else?" Arturo asked as innocently as he could, looking up at Yammy slightly
apprehensively.

"Yes," said the 10th, crossing his arms. "Something to do with Aizen?"
Ulquiorra and Arturo spared each other a glance. Letting Yammy in on the plan may or may not be a
wise idea. There was only one way to find out…

"Yeah…" Arturo said, rubbing the back of his head. "I was kind of planning to kill him."