31 The Depths of Hueco Mundo

"All Arrancar are permitted full use of their abilities." This line caused everyone except Orihime to go wide-eyed as this was the first time this has ever been uttered, "I Grant you all full reign."

Around the room, there was excitement as they got to show the extent of their abilities to the world. "When we arrive in the world of the Living unless you encounter a Captain the Espada will not engage. Faccion will handle all lower-ranking personnel. Honestly, that is all I have to say after reviewing these orders, our objective is known but we must first dismantle the apprehension that "he" has built towards us."

"I see, so we'll go all out to show Aizen that we are willing to die for his cause, when in fact we are just waiting for him to lower his guard," Nel said.

"Precisely, now all we do is wait."

As time went by the day that all of the Espada was waiting for arrived, what soon followed was a call to the Throne room by Lord Aizen. "Good evening my dear Espada, does everyone have a cup of tea?" His eyes darted across the room to check if every Espada had a cut of tea in front of them, "Good."

Signaling to Kaname who proceeded to walk to a control panel and bring up a display that showed three individuals running across the sand of Hueco Mundo. "These are humans that were once labeled Ryoka by the Soul Society when four of them invaded. The fourth one would be that Girl we captured before Orihime Inoue, as they did before they have come to rescue their friend. Despite this there is no need to fret, due to the efforts of Laylini, the Arrancar below the Rank of Espada are already prepared for any threat that comes our way. With that, there is no reason to do anything, just sit back, relax, and wait for the enemy to come to us."

The silver rays of the Moon broke through the dark silence of Hueco Mundo, as three Teens ran through the sand unaware that their every move was being observed. 'In the original, the three of them fell into the Menos forest. Once I became Espada Cero I neglected to head back down there, I wanted to talk to that soul reaper that has survived down there for an undetermined amount of time.' Layla tapped on the desk that was in the control room with her index finger as she looked at the Trio run through the sand.

'Aizen has started preparing for the invasion of Karakura town, Kaname has undergone the transformation into a Visored. While Gin has just been training to advance his powers to another level, and the Espada are doing their own individual training sessions. The Privarion Espada have started to strengthen the defenses of Las Noches, all in all, the orders have been passed down therefore there's nothing left for me to do.' Standing up from her chair Layla opened the door and headed out of the control room.

In the lower levels of Los Noches, there was a tunnel that leads to the Menos forest. Standing guard at the door were two Numeros standing guard, "Did you hear? Humans have invaded!" The Skull-faced Arrancar said as he stood next to his partner who was a large bear Like Arrancar.

"Yeah, Lord Aaroniero's Commands came down earlier, the overall Security of Las Noches has been increased as more Arrancar have been put on watch. It seems the Privaron Espada are taking charge of this, I've seen more and more Negative numbers walking around."

"The Negative Numbers are truly elite, only activated during wartime….I wish I had that luxury." While the duo were talking, the light tapping of footsteps entered their ears, "Who is there?!" The duo snapped alert as they challenged the unknown entity showing the fruits of their training.

As the Light Illuminated the approaching figure, the glossy Cyan hair came into view and the two Arrancar paled as they snapped to attention, "Numeros Number 981, Erythema, Good Afternoon Ma'am!" The skull-faced one acted immediately as he grew extremely nervous, "Numerous Number 983, Drakus, Good Afternoon Ma'am!" They had every reason to be nervous before them was the pinnacle of the Arrancar.

It was like if you were at work and suddenly the CEO appeared unannounced to do a routine inspection, "It seems that the Numeros are indeed well trained, Luppi has done an excellent job. Even when slacking you are alert, I'm impressed" Layla said as she looked up at the two Arrancar that towered over her with her left hand on her hip as she smiled lightly.

"Lord Luppi said that you are the key to changing the way everyone views Hollow and Arrancar! While the evil ones deserve to be purged we with intelligence and the will to grow deserve more! Maybe one day we will be able to lead lives like we had when we were humans!" The bear Arrancar lowered his body when he noticed Layla straining her neck to look at their faces, "Lady Layla should not have to put in so much effort to look at me, you work hard enough already!"

Layla smiled brightly as she pointed towards the door, "Is this the passageway that leads to the Menos Forest?" she asked.

"Yes!" The Bear like Arrancar, raised his large body and pried open the large steel door.

Wordlessly Layla walked through as the two Arrancar saluted until she was out of sight. The two Numeros felt like a castle was lifted off of their chests and they fell to their knees, "That's Espada Cero! Just standing in her presence is taxing, I understand that she was suppressing her spiritual pressure but when you looked into her eyes it was as if I was staring into the eye of a storm, calm yet terrifying."

"Yeah….I'm glad I'm not fighting against her, that would just be throwing away my life."

Unaware of the conversation that the Arrancar were having Layla found her way in the Menos forest, "It's been so long since I've been outside of Las Noches I almost forgot what this place was like." Looking around at the quartz trees that seemed to support the top layer of Hueco Mundo a sense of nostalgia rushed through Layla as she thought back to when she was an Adjucha.

Walking as her feet shuffled through the Sand, the Menos and other hollows in the area gave her a wide berth as the Number Zero on her stomach was clear for all the smarter ones to see and her presence was too much for the weaker ones. As she expanded her Pesquisa through the area she located the Soul Reaper. Using Sonido she quickly arrived at his hideout.

With the arrival of a foreign entity, Ashido drew his Zanpakuto and attacked with no hesitation. The blade cut through the air with little resistance and made contact with a slender Mocha-colored hand. His muscles bulged as he increased the amount of force he put into the blade until a crimson liquid dripped down onto the floor.

Layla's face remained stoic as she looked at the masked Soul Reaper, "You have grown powerful over the years but let's not get arrogant now, Even when I was an Adjucha you stood no chance."

Ashido inspected the Arrancar in front of him, his eyes scanned her from top to bottom when they stopped on the small bunny ears on her head. Under the mask, his eyes widened as he looked at those two nubs that overlapped with a peculiar figure for his memory. A hollow that was hunting the Hollows, harvesting their lives as if it was a sport.

Many times the two of them clashed yet he never managed to get the upper hand, "So it's you, What brings you out of your Palace?"