The Selfish Shadow

Albrecht sat very awkwardly in his chair with a dinner table in front of him. There was cutlery but no dish, however he could see what was being cooked. Although the smell which attracted him was heavenly, seeing it in person had him worried.

Random lizards in the sand, strange plants he couldn't recognise, and even dirty looking water all went into the pot. Until finally it was all done. A human looking woman placed the dish in front of him, which looked vastly different to how the ingredients looked. Was such a dish even possible?

He was very hesitant to eat it, so he tried to look away. And in that moment, he made eye contact with the chef.

"Is something wrong with it? Is it not to your taste?"

Her angry, yet calm gaze scared him. He immediately looked back at the food before quickly forcing a spoonful in his mouth. It was warm and tasty, yet surprisingly spicey. A sensation of heat tickled the back of his throat, which he had never felt before.

"It's... good?"

He wasn't sure what to make of it. It was hard to eat, but it tasted good in his mouth and was edible. The chef's gaze made a light smile as she urged him to eat more. But before he could even take another bite, the table flipped over.

Simultaneously, he then felt something bite the bottom of his right leg. He quickly defended with Blut Vene, but the damage had already been done. Nel then shouted,

"Kukkapūro!"

The Arrancar dog, immediately ran away after it bit him.

"I'm sorry about him. He's probably anxious because your a Quincy. Your kind hasn't exactly been the kindest to this place. Not that we hate you or anything, it was still a really long time ago."

Harribel quickly flipped the table back over with one hand, while he was prepared another plate of the suspicious food. Once he took another bite, it had gotten worse somehow, but he pushed through it out of fear.

"The people who cooked that food are Miss Michibane and Paramia. They help with the chores around here so make sure you thank them later. The woman who you saw earlier is Harribel, she is the leader of this place, the children look up to her a lot so try get along with them?"

Albrecht just nodded silently. He wasn't planning on staying here that long but there was nothing wrong with gathering information.

"Hueco Mundo is currently split between 3 groups. Our camp which is led by Harribel, and a kingdom which is led by another Arrancar much like us. He's way weaker, but he probably has the strongest army right now. He might end up coming here sooner or later since I kind of broke the rules?"

Nel just smiled nervously as this incident has now put the Arrancar camp in danger. She thought she could handle it by herself anyway. For the first time, Albrecht then asked a question.

"This kingdom, tell me more about."

This Kingdom could get in his way in the future.

"It's led by an Arrancar called Rudbornn. He's still loyal to the old ruler whose elsewhere right now, and is currently building an Army for him. We told him it's useless since he isn't coming back, but he's really stubborn. A couple years ago, we made a pact to split Hueco Mundo into 3 parts. As long as hollows didn't interfere with this place, they would be left alone, but Rudbornn used his to build an army. When I saved you from those hollows, I kind of broke that pact? Joaquin is probably going to complain to Rudbornn so he'll come sooner or later to settle this. Don't feel guilty though, we'll protect you no matter what.

Albrecht got up from his chair and began to prepare to leave. Everyone else was confused as to what he was doing.

"Thanks for the info, but it's time for me to go. I can't afford to stay in one place for too long, there is something that I need to do."

He still wanted to repair Yhwach's broken memories inside him. There were no other Quincy's in Hueco Mundo so staying here was useless. Although this place was interesting to him, his mission wasn't complete.

A shadow began to grow and expand in front of him, which alerted all of them. He simply waved before leaving.

"So looking like Yhwach isn't all he's about, huh.", Nel commented. "He could've at least finished his food. After all that trouble I went for him too."

Aura picked up his empty plate, before throwing the food on it away. Although she was trying to learn to cook, nothing she made was working out. The ingredients in Hueco Mundo didn't really help kept adding a horrible inconsistency.

"Another bust... how do you even manage to cook with this stuff?"

Although everyone else didn't mind his quick departure, Harribel seemed rather let down. Nel asked her what was wrong, to which she said.

"That boy, I didn't see any evil in his eyes like Yhwach, but at the same time they shared the same kind of fear. I feel that if we let him accomplish his goal, whether it was for good or bad, the consequences will be disastrous."

All of them flinched as they felt a large amount of Hollow spiritual pressure approach them. An army of hundreds of hollows was marching to the camp, all being led by a single Arrancar.

"It's too soon for them to come? Why are they here already??"

The Garganta

Albrecht was walking across the Garganta under a foothold of Reishi he stole from Hueco Mundo. While he did, he contemplated the events which had transpired thus far.

"That Quincy I fought was very annoying. How do I get around that ability of his?"

Albrecht appeared to be winning in his fight against Uryū, but the second his Schrift activated, any and all advantages he had disappeared in an instant. Perhaps beating him wasn't even possible for his current self.

"There are more across the sea... I'll just go after them instead."

He wasn't that far from Hueco Mundo, so he could feel the sudden appearance of hundreds of Hollow Spiritual Pressures, appear from out of nowhere. They were all approaching the Arrancar camp which he just left.

For a brief second, Albrecht felt hesitation to continue, and instead he wanted to turn back.

"?"

If he didn't turn around, then they would most certainly be doomed. But why should he care? It would work out in his favour if they disappeared.

With that logic in mind, he continued his journey back to the world of the living.