An Awkward Realization

Still unsure about the hole situation, I stuck a hand into the hole where my heart should have been, curious as to whether or not it was paint.

"This is either an incredibly intricate plan… Or, I'm on a serious amount of drugs right now." Reassuring myself, I stuck my hand towards the hole, hoping for there to be skin.

Unexpectedly, there was no amount of force. My finger—or claw, slid right through, now likely jotting out the other end of my body.

"What the fuck, man…"

This entire situation had, as ironic as it was, hit me like a truck. Finding myself in heaven or hell would have been less difficult, and much more appealing, than waking up in the fictional universe of Bleach.

Dreaming about something like this as a kid was entirely different to finding yourself actually standing in Hueco Mundo as a young-adult.

"At least I'm not one of the lower class hollow… That'd definitely be less appealing," I told myself, exerting a small amount of reiatsu out of my body, its lilac form brushing across the sand of the desert.

"I really do have reiatsu… What a weird feeling."

With that, I naturally also had reiryoku, both odd sensations. The power I could feel within was unlike anything I'd experienced before, akin to a constant rush of adrenaline, invigorating me with a sense of strength I'd never felt before.

"If I have all these… Does that mean…?"

As I asked myself a question, I placed my hand in front of me, reiatsu coalescing at its center as I willed, its lilac color outlined by a pure-white.

"Cero," I said hesitantly, a bright light appeared, a mixture of lilac and white began forming at the center of my palm. It soon formed a ray-like burst of energy, blasting from my hand and launching towards the dune. The cero immediately shot away, its form morphing in and out as it made its way to the mound of sand, immediately exploding as it collided.

Having scared myself, the cero's power sending shivers down my spine, I moved onto another ability that came natural to Vasto Lorde, one slightly less disastrous.

Glancing in the distance, I took a step forward, finding myself hundreds of meters away from where I previously stood. Taking another, I reappeared further in the distance, now leaning against a boulder.

"That was my sonido… I really did die and become a hollow…"

It was undeniable at this point, and as much as I had wished this was one massive practical joke, it clearly wasn't. This was most definitely my reality now.

"No dream could craft something this detailed…"

I'd previously imagined myself lying in a ditch, my body filled up on drugs and other unnatural substances, but that didn't seem to be the case. Similarly, no prank, no matter how intricate, could create something like this.

"Right… What should I do, though? Isn't Hueco Mundo essentially empty…"

My first issue. This place was barren for what might as well have amounted to infinity. I'd likely never stop walking if I continued in any one direction. Not to mention, it was only occupied by hollows, most of which weren't even self-aware, let alone willing to converse with me. The odds of finding another Vasto Lorde wandering around this wasteland were close to zero.

"I should find out what part of the story I was pulled into… I need to formulate some sort of plan… This body still feels too weird..."

While Vasto Lorde did retain a margin of human resemblance, it still wasn't good enough for me. I needed to become an Arrancar if I wanted to at least retain a fraction of my humanity. Right now, I felt like a sheep in wolf's clothing.

"Suppose I should try and find someone helpful," I sighed, glaring at the layers of bodies surrounding me, dead hollows foolish enough to step into the territory of a Vasto Lorde.

Reiatsu, if powerful enough, could evaporate someone, essentially removing them from existence. This seemed to be the current case, the corpses of the hollows around me slowly withering away, Hueco Mundo absorbing the reishi back into the sand.

"Am I powerful?"

While I was aware of my reiryoku and reiatsu, I had nothing to compare it to for a good gauge of strength. I was familiar with the characters of the series, having grown up watching it right up until the final season aired, but there was never any clear indication—a number for instance, as to how much reiatsu someone actually possessed. There wasn't even one for now, the power I felt surging through me felt natural now, as if it was always there.

This was my issue. While I did seem to have a large amount of spiritual pressure, maybe too much, it wasn't a good gauge of strength until I met someone else.

"Guess I'll head in that direction," I said, now heading towards an enormous clump of spiritual pressure in the distance.

I'll bet that's Las Noches…

Hueco Mundo, while mostly desert, did house a large complex of buildings centered around a castle, Las Noches, which was where Sōsuke Aizen had set up his base after amassing an army of Arrancar.

Depending on the timeline, there were 3 possible outcomes that could occur once I reached the castle: First, there was the chance I had been brought to this place before the events of The Fake karakura Town, thus leaving the chance for Baraggan, the God-King of Hueco Mundo to be there. Equally, there was a chance Aizen had already set his plans into motion, now inhabiting the castle before the aforementioned event.

And lastly, there was a chance I'd been brought here at some point after Sōsuke Aizen's defeat, leaving me somewhere before or during the Thousand Year Blood war.

None of these possibilities seemed enticing enough to get me excited, but the idea that I'd be meeting any character from a fiction series alone was a little interesting.

While using sonido, darting across the barren desert, I noticed a group of Gillian-class menos stumbling across the sand, following what appeared to be another Vasto Lorde.

Within two steps I appeared close, now glancing at the man before me, his red-hair disheveled and robes ruined.

"You're…"