9 CHAPTER 9: Nightmares

A/N: The character pics will be in paragraph comments.

***

Sometime earlier.

A gray snake with a white underbelly slithered across the white dunes of Hueco Mundo. The three pink dots on either side of her head and the three pearls hanging from her white oyster-like mask all but confirmed her gender.

Walking by this snake was a fierce lioness with pieces of white armor on her four legs. What set this lioness apart was a golden mask and a golden mane extending beyond it.

Both Adjuchas females followed the lead of a golden-haired woman relatively small compared to her companions.

A light blue layer of skin-tight suit covered her from neck to bottom, nearly merging with her healthy olive skin. A white, bone-like armor covered most of her body, with gills on her limbs and ribs. Sharp protrusions rose from her shoulders like pauldrons to an armor. A long tail extended from the back of her head; the tail had a shark-like fin in the middle and two joint fins at its end.

A giant white broadsword, like an elongated shark fang, was fused with her arm.

She was a powerful Vasto Lorde.

"Ara, Mila Rose, walk in front of us. We might lose sight of you in this darkness."

"Gah, this snake bitch. Why is she so damn tall?"

The snake and the lioness yelled at each other. The snake reared up, her white scales shimmering in the dark, and hissed a warning. The lioness crouched low, eyes blazing, and roared her challenge. They faced each other like they were arch-rivals.

Tier Harribel shook her head. Sitting in a cave wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, so Harribel and her two comrades went for strolls in the white ashes desert enveloping Hueco Mundo. Sometimes she stumbled upon ruins from the ancient era inhabited by Hollows. Sometimes she found empty chambers. Sometimes she met people they could trust.

The sense of a discovery on the horizon kept Harribel pushing every day.

Today too, they came out for a stroll, but her companions wouldn't stop fighting.

Cyan Sung-Sun, the snake Hollow, turned to her leader. Harribel had a habit of calmly observing the situation and then speaking her mind. Harribel's sudden grim look spoke of hidden dangers.

"Harribel-sama?"

Hearing Sung-Sun's serious voice, Franceska Mila Rose lowered her growl. "Hah! Harribel-sama, what is the matter?"

"I sense a strong Reiatsu." Harribel stopped in her path and blocked her comrades with her sword-like arm. Her golden brows knitted in a concerned frown. "A battle, perhaps."

"It doesn't concern us," said the lioness. "Leave it be, no?"

Mila Rose's tone embodied her matter-of-course, indifference to other lives. Harribel had brought her and Sung-Sun together to protect each other from other Hollows, even if Harribel did most of the heavy work. Intervening in others' battles didn't sit well with Mila Rose.

"We'll observe from a distance," Harribel addressed Mila Rose. "Follow me."

The cool and composed Vasto Lorde made a quick decision and sprinted ahead without her comrades' response.

Sung-Sun hissed. "Harribel-sama has more compassion for lives than both of us. It's about time we accept it."

Harribel always forgave the Hollows who tried to attack them, even admitting that she despised killing. She still killed the most pesky one every once in a while to let Sung-Sun and Mila Rose maintain their current Adjuchas status.

But she didn't help them devour Hollows to evolve further.

Sung-Sun and Mila Rose respected Harribel since she had the power to act on her whims. She had the power to roam Hueco Mundo with confidence. Well, except for King Barragan's court.

Mila Rose scratched the ground with her paw and leaped a great distance. "Don't talk to me like I'm ignorant. I know Harribel-sama's contempt for sacrificing others."

"But you are impulsive, like a child." Sung-Sun giggled. "Harribel-sama, wait for us!"

"I'll kill ya, bitch!"

A fierce lioness chased a snake through the white desert.

***

Harribel soon found the source of the extremely thick Reiatsu — a Hollow, roughly the same height as hers, facing a giant Adjuchas. His Reiatsu was stronger than her, not by much. Still it was rare for her to meet a strong Hollow outside the boundaries of Las Noches.

Harribel glanced at her frozen comrades, who were gripped by primal fear. They showed a similar reaction when she saved them from Hollows trying to devour her.

"Another Vast Lorde."

He was the second Vasto Lorde Harribel encountered in Hueco Mundo, the first being the ever so annoying Ruler of Hueco Mundo when she became a Vasto Lorde a few years ago. He was considerably stronger, which remained true even today.

"Harribel-sama…" Sung-Sun paused with a gulp, the Hollow's Reiatsu making her shiver despite their great distance. "We should go before he notices us."

Mila Rose shook her head and stomped the ground. "Argh, another man. He is gonna come after us. Let's ambush him while he is fighting the other Hollow."

Mila Rose regained her violent bearing once she dealt with her fears. Her suggestion contrasted Sung-Sun's peaceful approach.

"Ara?" Sung-Sun hissed. "That Hollow has long hair and their face is concealed by a mask. How do you know their gender?"

Mila Rose stopped momentarily, then scratched her head with her paw. "I don't know. I just had a feeling… Gah, look at his figure. If that's not a man, I don't know who is!"

Sung-Sun blinked her eyes. Mila Rose might be onto something, as a Hollow's instincts were like a beast. "Harribel-sama, I'd advise against engaging in a fight. We might draw more enemies to us."

She took on a composed and serious demeanor, contrary to her playful interactions with Mila Rose.

Harribel nodded and continued observing the battle. She wasn't at all surprised when the unknown Vasto Lorde one-shotted the Adjuchas with a Cero Ray.

"W-What? He killed an Adjuchas in one attack?!

Mila Rose, however, didn't take his prowess lightly. She had seen Harribel cut down Adjuchas like nothing. Fighting another Hollow on the same level as Harribel gave her quite the fright.

"I told you, Mila Rose," Sung-Sun whispered. "We can't fight him willy-nilly. Let us leave before he senses us."

Sung-Sun nudged Mila Rose's mane with her head before slithering away. Mila Rose listened to Sung-Sun's request this time and followed after her.

Meanwhile, Harribel watched Kazuya stretch his hand to his companion.

Harribel had a few encounters with Apacci, but Harribel never contacted her. From Harribel's distant observations, Apacci minded her own business and never went out of her way to attack others.

This led to Harribel marking Apacci as a friend of sorts.

'I'm relieved she found someone reliable.'

Harribel gave another glance at Kazuya, who had his back turned against her, showing off his wings. Being Apacci's companion meant he wasn't like other Hollows in Hueco Mundo — devouring others wasn't his goal. Besides, devouring other souls wasn't optimal at their current level, as Gillain souls provided little to no improvements to their strength.

Sharpening their innate abilities and gathering comrades was more than enough to survive in Hueco Mundo.

She craved more strength but she never wanted it at the cost of other Hollows.

The male Vasto Lorde suddenly turned in her direction. Despite their distance, she could feel his eyes inspecting her from top to bottom.

Harribel retracted her gaze from eyes with bottomless depths and shook her head.

'There is no point in staying here.'

-x-x-x-

Hollows didn't dream.

Their mind merely cycled through the memories of their soul—their most dominant soul, to be precise.

The fabricated phantasms could also be called an artificial dream.

In her false dreams, Harribel regularly bore witness to a blurry white room, where metal screeched and sparked, blinding lights flickering everywhere.

Figures with white heads incited panic in their hypnotizing whispers.

Then an innocent cry rumbled through, shattering the reality itself until a void remained.

Waves and waves of an infant's sobs chipped away at Harribel's soul, carving out her innards and crushing her heart. A pair of white eyes welled up with moisture and oozed a trail of crimson tears until the chilling red painted her vision.

Harribel could instinctively feel the suffering behind each tear.

…

Harribel opened her eyes on a slope, with her hand on her left knee and her right knee folded. She showed no signs of discomfort, as though she forgot every experience inside her false dream.

That was precisely the case. Her oozing sympathy and regret had receded back into her soul after she woke up. She could never truly recall the experience of her past life — the experience she once had as a mother.

Harribel suddenly raised her head. Shrill screams echoed through the dreadful vistas of Hueco Mundo. It echoed as though it came from far away, bouncing off of the nearby hills.

Grains of ash-white sands moved in waves as Mila Rose and Sung-Sun woke up from their brief slumber.

"Sung Bitch, did you hear that?"

"Ara, don't be vulgar. And yes, I did. Someone probably ticked off a pack of Menos Grande."

"Could it be that male Hollow?" Mila Rose's mind immediately went to the terrifying Hollow they encountered. "S-Should we leave?"

"Why would he disturb Menos Grande? The world doesn't revolve around him." Sung-Sun squinted her eyes. "Why do you keep bringing him up? Did you, by any chance, get a crush on him?"

Mila Rose was always a worshiper of strength, her past playing a big role to make her envy the strong. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think Mila Rose would get feelings for a much stronger Hollow.

"Stop talking gibberish." Mila Rose turned her head with a harrumph. "I just thought he would be linked to this incident. He seemed like the troublesome type."

"You certainly know him more than us."

Harribel closed her eyes. Her companions hearing the howls revealed a glaring detail — the conflict was closer this time around. She also sensed Apacci's Reiatsu flaring up alongside her winged companion's Reiatsu.

'They can take care of each other.'

She ignored the howls and hung her head for another session of light sleep, as if her subconscious yearned to relive the nightmare again and again.

-x-x-x-

Just a few minutes later, Harribel got up with a jolt. A spine-chilling wail reverberated as an intense Reiatsu declared its position, rising with each moment.

The pressure was so thick it nearly choked her Adjuchas comrades. Then the pressure disappeared entirely, leaving her party in a state of confusion.

Harribel glanced at her friends. "Head back to the base. I'll go check it out."

Before Sung-Sun and Mila said a word, Harribel leaped into the air and dashed. A boom resounded as Harribel reappeared several feet away. A series of successive sonic bursts rumbled as she made a quick dash for the origin of excruciating howls.

Another shriek came and died before she reached her destination. What she saw left her petrified.

A giant bird-like Hollow screeched as he tried to cover his face with his wings. Dark Reiatsu overflowed from his entire being and pushed the ash sand around him. His Reiatsu surpassed the limits of an Adjuchas, faintly touching upon the realm of Vasto Lorde.

His Reiatsu rampaged more before slowly receding into his soul. Vasto Lorde… Adjuchas… Gillian. His Reiatsu sank rapidly then disappeared entirely. The Hollow collapsed to his knees and a gust of wind scattered his husk of a body into ashes.

***

A/N: Since most of their backstories are unknown, I have taken the liberty to change some things. One of them is Harribel being a mother who died during childbirth, essentially going through childbirth despite knowing the risks to her own life. The story meshes too well with her Aspect of Death Sacrifice and her Hollow hole positioned in her womb.

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