Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 26

Chapter 26: Dead Things

 "Really now, is this necessary?" The dark not only muffled the sight of what lay in there, but also the sound, which prevented the notion to carry on to its' supposed receiver. "We're almost there." Kisuke said, earning him a sigh of frustration from the Quincy teen tailing behind him. "Why do we even have to wear these?" Uryu inquired, gesturing to the fluttering  cloaks that flew behind them as they continued their trek. "Besides, we can both conceal our Reiatsus just fine." Uryu continued. Kisuke suddenly stopped.

 After the little conversation the two had earlier, Kisuke (with the little Kidou known to him) managed to heal the Quincy boy. And the two made for Soul Society hastily, after of course, Kisuke had left a Portable Gigai of an injured Uryu in the hospital bed where he should be. "You know, for someone who looks calm and collected all the time, you nag just like Kurosaki-san." Kisuke said passively. Before there was room for the Quincy to protest, Kisuke turned a corner and they'd reach their destination. "We're here." He said, as the large rock cliff that housed the Maggot's Nest loomed before them.

 "You've never been here before have you, Ishida-san?" Kisuke asked. There came no reply, and so the two continued on into the dark territory of criminals. "I hope you won't find this, too disturbing Ishida-san." Kisuke said after they'd gone for a while. They were now walking through a series of iron-clad barred cells that were all-too-familiar to Kisuke. They stopped at the last one. "All right Ishida-san, I want you to be careful of what you say. And no matter what, don't listen to anything that he says." Kisuke said gravely. "What do you me-" But Uryu was cut off. "Oh.. I see you've brought me a new visitor."

 Uryu looked into the cell, and his eyes nearly exploded out from his head. There she was. Their healer. His friend. His beloved friend, alive, and not dead like Soul Society had cruelly lied about. "Inoue-san!" Uryu boistered excitedly, foolishly stepping to the bars. Thankfully, Kisuke held out a hand to stop him. "No!" He warned. "What? Why? That's Inoue-san!" Uryu demanded. "Take a closer look." Kisuke stated, his eyes closed. Uryu turned back to the cell reluctantly, where Orihime had now turned around to face them. And again, his eyes exploded out. "Ugh!! Wha-what is this?"

 The face that looked back at him, was just as impassive and stoic as it had been seconds ago. "Hmm.. That's quite the reaction there, Quincy." Orihime said. Uryu pulled back at the sound of her voice. It wasn't her at all. "What? what?" The Quincy repeated over and over. "What? What? What?" Orihime mimed, bobbing her head both sides mockingly, her face still frozen in that same expression. Seeing her the way she was now made Uryu's hairs stand up on end. It was worlds apart from when he and Ichigo retrieved her in Hueco Mundo. "You seem stronger. I can feel your Reiatsu emanating." Orihime said.

 She began to walk around in her cell, her chains clattering as she went. "So, have you only come here to ogle and stare at me? Or are you going to 'get her' back as you had said in your last visit, Shinigami?" Orihime inquired. Uryu, slowly recovering from his somewhat stupification, turned to Kisuke. "What is she talking about? What is Inoue-san-" Again, Uryu was cut off. "She is not Inoue-san." Kisuke said dryly, staring down at the girl in the cell. "This being before us, is no longer the person who healed our injuries, physical or emotional." Kisuke said further. "Isn't that right, Ulquiorra?"

 Instantly, Orihime's mismatched eyes flared up in a dark green color, and an invisible force of blasting energy suddenly boomed in the area. If it weren't for Kisuke's hold on him, Uryu would've staggered down. "Don't say that name." Orihime warned darkly, glowering at Kisuke sinisterly. "Why? Don't you want to be called by your name, Ulquiorra?" Kisuke inquired. Again, energy filled the room, making the air heavy. "A demon truly does show itself when called by the right name." Kisuke pointed out. "What.. What are you talking about? What the hell is going on?!" Uryu asked breathlessly, irritated at the fact of being kept in the dark.

 "This person... The girl whom you and Kurosaki-san thought you had saved from Hueco Mundo, was not Orihime." Kisuke started, once again stupefying Uryu. "I. I don't understand." "Yeah. And it's just so." Uryu turned to look at Orihime, or in this case, according to Kisuke, Ulquiorra. Though, her whole physical appearance was starting to prove that part true. "None of you understand.. And you never will." She said. Uryu's brows narrowed down. Slowly he began to step forward to the bars again. Kisuke held on to him still, but feeling Uryu's intention, he loosened his grip.

 Uryu stood an inch away from the bars. Had they not been there, he would've been face-to-face with Orihime already. If he wanted, he could reach through the bars and try to touch her. But everything, the entire situation prevented him from doing so. The look of confusion slowly began to dissipate from his face, as the unsaid anomaly wormed into his mind. "She's possessed." He said, almost sadly. He thought he heard Kisuke nod. "I didn't think it was possible. At first, I had thought that she had simply regressed into a horrible mental illness. But when I snuck into the 12th Division's Barracks, and saw the footages that Kurotsuchi had there of Orihime's time here, proved the opposite."

 Uryu turned back to the shady shop-keeper. "I believe that it started right there in Hueco Mundo when you retrieved her." He said. "But how? How could an Arrancar could've.." Uryu trailed off. "Arrancars are still Hollows. And like all Hollows, they have the ability to reside in human bodies. Hollows are souls. Defiled souls. And in order to survive, they require a host to sustain them." Kisuke explained carefully. "And he did it to her." Uryu now said, melancholy developing into rage as he turned back to the girl in the cell again. "You monster! How dare you do this to her!" Uryu billowed. Orihime/Ulquiorra lolled her head to Uryu, looking at him dimly. "Have you ever tried calling yourselves that?"

 Out of surprise, Uryu pulled back from the cells. "Why do you ask that?" Kisuke inquitted. "You underestimated her. No.. You saw her as a weakling. You thought of her as nothing more but a mere object to stitch you back up when you were in pieces." She said. "What did you just say?!" "You used her, abused the blessing she gave you, until you were all perfect again, and she was the one left in pieces." Orihime was speaking with a deranged smile on her face, making the two people who had come to visit her, shiver all over. "She was nothing to you. Nothing." "Stop it." Uryu warned, clutching to the bars. "She cried on and on in her cell for weeks. She clung to me for support. And I gave it." "Stop it!" Uryu repeated. 

 They were unaware that Orihime was now omitting a powerful amount of Reiatsu despite her restrictive bonds. "You threw her away, that's why it was so easy for us to take her. And she loved it there in Hueco Mundo." "STOP!" Uryu yelled. "You say that she is precious to you, but she is nothing of the sort!" Orihime now yelled. Her voice, their voice. The sound of Ulquiorra's was overcoming it. "I am alive because of her! Because she accepted me! She is whole, because I accepted her!" The dark Reiatsu was collecting itself into a light green rod in front of Orihime. "You will never get her back. I will die again, before I let her fall back into the hands of you people." Uryu and Kisuke's eyes enlarged as the green rod began to electrify with golden light. "SHE IS MINE!" Ulquiorra billowed, just as the rod exploded, destroying everything in its' wake.