LIGHTNOVELONLINE 66 – Revelations
Nel Tu tapped Hisashi's cheek.
"What is it Nel Tu?" he asked her.
She hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure you'll be ok?" she asked with concern.
Hisahsi smiled at her. "I'm really ok. You don't have to worry." he said.
Harribel looked at her warmly.
"We're all here now so even if he comes back with his allies we will be ok." Harribel tried to reassure her.
Nel Tu and her Fracción didn't seem too convinced though.
"But he is an Arrancar," Nel Tu said nervously.
"Arrancar?" Harribel asked.
Pesche and Dondochakka were even more nervous. Unlike Nel Tu they still remembered their time in Las Noches.
They shared a look between one another.
"So some changes happened in Las Noches. Barragan isn't the leader anymore," Pesche said.
Harribel looked shocked by the news.
"Who killed him?" she asked urgently.
"No one. Barragan is still alive," Pesche explained.
"Impossible," Harribel said in disbelief.
Dondochakka shook his head.
"No, he was defeated. A Shinigami actually sits on the throne of Las Noches now," Pesche said.
This got the attention of the Tres Bestias as well.
"No way!" the usually silent Mila Rose said.
"Yes, his name is Aizen. He brought a new way for Hollow to grow in power. By pulling off their mask they can become an Arrancar. This not only increases their power it also gives them more control over their emotions and power increasing their combat power even further. The three of us are Arrancar, that's why Nel Tu looks so human." Pesche said.
Hisashi could practically see the glimmer in Harribel's eyes spark to life when Pesche mentioned the increased control over emotions gained.
"Is this true?" Harribel asked more energetically than she usually spoke.
"Yes, but most of the ones that tried it or it was done to died," he answered hesitantly.
Harribel noticeably deflated.
"How many?" she asked.
"Too many to count," he answered.
Harribel finally knew where all the Hollow that had been rounded up had gone and it wasn't good. Despite how horrible the majority of Hollow were Harribel truly cared and felt they had the potential to be better so to hear so many had died was devastating.
Hisashi was happy he was able to bring Nel Tu and her Fracción to Harribel since he couldn't really tell what was going on in Las Noches himself despite knowing. How would he explain knowing what was going on in the most guarded place in Hueco Mundo after all.
At least now he had managed to create a situation where they could find out naturally.
Hisashi patted Harribel on the back to the best of his ability to console her.
"You can't save everyone Harribel," he said.
"I know, I gave up on that long ago. It doesn't make it easier though," she said with a deep sigh.
"That's not the most important part though," Pesche said trying to get back on track.
"What I meant to say is that Grimmjow wouldn't be one of only a few Arrancar. There are many of them in Las Noches and once he returns he might bring many more along with him," he said nervously.
"Not only that, but Aizen likes collecting powerful Hollow to turn into Arrancar. If Aizen finds out about your group that had two Vasto Lorde he will definitely be interested and Grimmjow would be the least of your worries," he said.
"We can just kick their ass again!" Apacci said aggressively.
"Grimmjow was able to match what I think might be your strongest member and he isn't even the strongest of the Arrancar in Las Noches," Pesche corrected her.
Nel Tu nodded nervously. "I don't want Hitashi to get hurt again," she said with concern.
Hisashi smiled at her. "No matter what I'll make sure we survive," he said to reassure her.
"Do you pwomise?" she asked him sincerely.
He hesitated for a moment. This wasn't something he could really guarantee yet. At his current power level though he was no longer a nobody there were still far too many powerful beings for him to be able to promise something like that.
"Yeah... I promise." he finally answered. He didn't want her to worry over something she nor any of them could currently change anyway.
"And big sis is here too. We're all in this together, so you don't have to worry," Harribel chimed in. Hisashi was still adjusting to her being so talkative, well at least compared to her usual self.
"Your big brother had already promised to protect us all after all," Sung-Sun said playfully.
"We can run too! Big brother is very good at endless chase!" Nel Tu said excitedly.
"We aren't cowards!" Mila Rose said uncharacteristically aggressive.
Nel Tu ran behind Hisashi again.
"S-sorry," Mila Rose said ashamed in a quiet voice.
"So what else can you tell us?" Harribel asked them.
Pesche and Dondochakka looked at Nel Tu for a moment.
"We don't know too much beyond that, when we were still in Las Noches we weren't part of leadership so we only know a little about everything going on there. We also haven't been in Las Noches for a few months so it's been a while too," Pesche said.
"If they have a way to get stronger and control our impulses even more should we join?" Harribel asked unsurely.
"Las Noches isn't a safe place to stay, we ended up leaving over infighting. Though some of the leaders try to crack down on the worst of it, it isn't a high priority. Most of them are still Hollow after all even after becoming Arrancar it can only change so much," Pesche elaborated.
No one seemed to know what the best course of action was.
Hisashi was unsure as to what to do. He didn't really want to get close to Aizen. Also as they were currently Nel Tu and her Fracción definitely couldn't return to Las Noches since Nnoitra would just finish the job. In canon Harribel and her Fracción should already have been part of Las Noches, but due to them meeting him that seemed to have been derailed too.
If he joined Aizen he would be closer to the Hogyoku, but he would also become known to Aizen which would be dangerous. Also he wasn't sure if he could become an Arrancar before completing the mission or would have to absolutely hold off until he got the Hogyoku or risk failing the mission and losing out on the reward. He was fairly certain they would insist on trying to make him an Arrancar if he joined which meant if the situation was the latter that would be choosing failure.
