.

Had to repost this since a few people I know didn't get the notification email and I had to make sure, sorry for the false update.

Glad to see this was received better than I expected. If you know who Ulquiorra is, he isn't a character meant to be sympathized with, but it can't be denied he's an interesting character for simply seeing how he reacts to his surroundings and vice versa.

Blake And Adam, Two Vigorous People Who Want To Fight The Social Bubble; Let's Hope They're Ready For A Different Kind Of Hollow Trouble!

Chapter Two: Meeting

The girl, Blake, rubbed her eyes at the sight of his Hollow hole. When she moved for a closer look, the boy, Adam, put an arm out and stopped her, his face full of worry. "What are you?" he asked, taking a few steps back with the girl.

"As I said, I'm an Arrancar who holds the rank of Espada."

"That literally means nothing!" No, Cifer supposed it wouldn't to them. "What are you?"

The answer didn't seem to work, so why would it a second time? "While my answer was what I am, but for your terms, I suppose a ghost would be apt." It was a simple answer that didn't fully describe his nature, but it wasn't wrong.

"A ghost?" Blake voiced with clear uncertainty, still eyeing that hole below his neck. "Mister, no ghost ever was known to have a-" she audibly gulped "-have a hole that goes straight through them."

She quivered when he brought his eyes to her, though Adam's evident, protective nature immediately moved her behind him. He wouldn't be wrong to see Ulquiorra as a threat, his very reiatsu was enough to kill them both if he wasn't holding it back.

"I called myself a ghost due to it being a term you might understand," Ulquiorra said. "In truth, an Arrancar is a far more complicated version."

"I'm sure," Adam said, his eyes darting around the area. He was looking for an escape, but Ulquiorra couldn't allow that just yet. "What do you want with us, monster?"

"Adam!" Blake exclaimed.

The boy looked to her. "This thing's clearly not human or faunus, what else do you think he could be?"

As Blake struggled to respond, Ulquiorra interjected. "He is not wrong to call me so, Arrancars are indeed monsters to you." Both of them gave him their attention once more. "The way we are created is by feeding on the souls of people such as yourselves." Their reiatsu fluctuated, indicating a rise in panic. "Though I have since controlled these urges to the point to no longer feel the need to consume."

"Yeah, that's comforting," Adam said, now increasing his pace backward with the girl. His eyes widened when Ulquiorra vanished with a low boom.

"If I wanted you both dead, I'd have left you both to those humans back in the settlement." Both children turned with a shout, tripping amongst themselves onto the ground. "Your apprehensiveness is misplaced."

As the boy reached for a stick and picked himself up, Ulquiorra felt that familiar feeling from before but coming closer. It was. . . odd, familiar but not quite so.

"If you think we'll go down quietly, you've got another thing coming," the boy said as he held the stick across himself, standing between him and Blake.

"Adam, calm down!" Blake said. "He saved me, remember, he can't be all that bad." The fluctuations of the two's miniscule reiatsu seemed to attract this familiar energy he was sensing.

There was a strange hunger to it, like it was striving for the fluctuations that the two children were exuding. The closer it got- no, the closer they got, the more pronounced the hunger became.

Ulquiorra drew his hand from his pocket and formed a fist, ready to shoot a bala at whatever this interruption could be. This caught the attention of the two faunus. "Wait, mister, calm down, I'm sure Adam didn't really mean to-"

The two's sensory abilities weren't on par with his, but the way she stopped talking said even she could feel the vibrations and hear the sounds of an approaching creature. Even the boy turned his head to the source, his guard now away from Cifer.

"Adam. . ." Blake said slowly, stepping away from the trees and even closer to the Arrancar. The boy didn't answer, he just growled, moved in front of her and turned his unthreatening stick towards the source of the strange energy. Whatever this threat was, the boy deemed it a priority even with Ulquiorra's presence.

Then they walked through, three large, black bears with bone masks, and when the three set their sights on the three people in the forest, Ulquiorra sensed their. . . craving, if that's what it was, like a desire to join them, to bring the two children with them.

As the first one began to hungrily stomp its way to the children, Blake shrieked, somehow driving the bear's craving to consume her to increase. It wasn't right to say it was an urge to consume, it was more of an urge to. . . meld, perhaps? It was similar to a Hollow's obsessive desire on someone. Complicated and vague, hard to pinpoint exactly what it was.

That being said, these creatures were Hollows, but not entirely as evident with the lack of a chest cavity. Seems Harribel was right, they weren't killed, they've become something else.

Adam didn't move, his reiatsu indicated an intense amount of stress at the sight of this large, black creature making its way, but he didn't move. From Ulquiorra's experience with Kurosaki, the boy felt that only he could protect the girl.

The creature began to gallop the rest of the distance towards the boy, raising its massive paw to tear him apart. And it would, why should Ulquiorra stop it? He only wanted the girl; this other trash was merely a pointless addition.

The boy didn't move out of the way, he shouted a battle cry and swing his strip of wood, a useless gesture considering the creature's large claws would rip through both. The image reminded him of his fight with Kurosaki, how he'd staunchly fight against the odds with nothing but a single weapon and willpower against Ulquiorra to save Orihime.

Though the last to laugh in that fight wasn't Ulquiorra, was it? The Kurosaki's heart wouldn't be shaken. Just like this boy's.

Just before the claw tore through both the stick and the boy, Ulquiorra stood in front of Adam, his arm stopping the bear's strike with his forearm, and ignoring the wood that struck him, likely only dirtied his clothes.

"Can you speak?" he asked the off-Hollow as it tried pushing through his arm, it didn't answer. In fact, it only looked confused. When he looked him in the eye, he'd say it even looked befuddled. "If you cannot answer, then you are of no use to me."

The bear didn't even try to stop Ulquiorra as he reared back his other fist, and punched straight through. It roared in agony, now trying harder to strike him, but it did no damage. As it began to slow and grow limp with his arm skewering it, Ulquiorra grabbed it by the head and tossed it aside. That trash would die on its own.

Looking to the two, remaining off-Hollows, they lifted themselves on their hind legs, roaring at his presence. At first, they seemed like mindless trash, but at least they knew when a predator was near.

Placing his hands back in his pockets, he walked closer, earning two loud growls. "It seems you have a semblance of understanding, but it looks like you've still yet to comprehend the consequences of confronting me."

They were Hollows, at least felt close to one, but had the mental capacity of a Gillian. Evident with how they mindlessly charged him together. Were they expecting it to double their chances of survival? Zero doubled was still zero.

He used his sonido and appeared beside one, delivering a side kick to it, knocking to the other and smashing them through a tree. "I was mistaken, you have zero sense of understanding." He drew out his hand, formed a fist and aimed at the two, dazed bears, his hand coating with red reiatsu. "Regardless, the result would've been the same." When it shot, the bala tore through both creatures' center mass and the trees behind them, both of which fell over to the ground in heaps. 'Trash.' Couldn't even last a whole minute.

As he watched the creatures die, what happened a second later supported the theory that these were indeed Hollows, or at least descended of them. As they died, the three disintegrated into ash and were blown away as if by the wind, their reishi literally disappearing. It was an interesting piece of evidence.

With the so-called threat dealt with, he had the matter of two children to answer his questions about the heart. He turned to them, a little confused they decided to stay when at least one of them was apprehensive about him.

The boy still had his feeble, wooden stick, standing in front of the girl who stuck close to him, both looked in awe at his sight. Their reiatsu wasn't as erratic as when the off-Hollows came.

"I. . . wow," Blake voiced in amazement. "Mister, I didn't know you were so strong." Against those trash? It was hardly any effort nor proof of strength. "Thanks for saving us." She looked at Adam. "I told you, he's not bad."

The boy looked less aggressive, even his pathetic weapon was lowered, though it would be foolish if he still thought it would do anything to him after that display.

"I don't know, Blake," the boy mumbled, not tearing away his eyes from the Espada. "What do you want, why would a monster save us?" he asked and ignored the girl's calling of his name for calling him a monster again.

"As I've stated, I wish to understand more so on the heart," Ulquiorra answered again. "Considering you exhibited certain qualities pretraining to it, I believe you would answer my questions and thus I need you alive."

The boy tilted his head, clear confusion on his face. "You're joking, right?"

"I feel no need to jest or 'joke' about my goals."

The boy just shook his head as though the idea was insane. "Make some sense, damn it, or I'll- Wah!" The boy fell to the ground when the Espada suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Or you'll what?" The boy didn't answer, couldn't really besides look up at him worriedly. "My skills outperform yours in every manner, threatening me is unwise as it is baseless."

A curious sight, even after the boy had seen Ulquiorra decimate those trash he couldn't even scar, he still felt the urge to stand up to the Espada. Though this wasn't heart, it was out of simple caution, a simple survival instinct against a liar.

"Wait, mister," Blake said as she stood in front of the boy, helping him up. "I'm sorry about Adam, he's not great with people."

It wasn't Cifer he was surprised at the sudden leadership, however. "What're you doing, Blake?"

She turned on her heels quickly, her face evidently upset as she pointed a finger at her fellow faunus. "Adam, he saved me from those humans, he saved us from the Grimm," she told him. "We should listen to him, we owe him at least that much."

Was this part of the heart? To ignore the threat he posed and take his actions as though altruistic. . . or maybe it was just naivety; it was hard to tell.

With only grumblings as an answer, she turned back to the Espada. "Mister, I'll help you, Adam will, too." She gave her companion a pointed look when he was about to voice resistance. He shut his mouth, and she turned back to him. "Now that we're friends, I'm Blake, Blake Belladonna." She turned to the boy again.

After a few seconds of silence, the red-haired boy sighed. "Adam Taurus."

It was a pointless venture to introduce themselves, they repeated their names to each other enough that he already confirmed their identities. Though it was always necessary at first, as when he was first created as an Arrancar.

"My name is Ulquiorra Cifer," he introduced himself.

"Ulkorra?" she failed to pronounce his name.

"Ulquiorra."

"U-Ulkee-oora?"

"Ulquiorra."

Her face scrunched. "Ool. . . Ool kee'ara."

"Ulquiorra."

". . . I think I'll just call you Mr. Cifer." It was acceptable, so he nodded.

With that settled, he looked to where the off-Hollows were, at least where they once laid, not even ash in their place. "You called those creatures Grimm; would you expand further on that?"

"The Grimm?" Adam said incredulously. "You don't know about them?" The first clue from his reaction, their existence and nature were common knowledge.

"Due to my absence, I was unaware of their existence until now."

That clearly wasn't the answer that explained to the boy. His tone was almost sarcastic, or just disbelief. "Oh yeah? How long was your absence that you don't even know about freaking Grimm?"

"Five-thousand years is my lowest estimation."

Eyes widened, breath hitched, posture as though they'd been forcefully slapped, as expected from beings that barely live past one-hundred years of age.

"F-F-Five-thousand years!?" Blake exclaimed. "How!?"

"My nature as an Arrancar multiplies my lifespan exponentially compared to yours." Though five-thousand would still show an effect on him, as it did to First Division Captain Yamamoto Genryūsai and Tres Espada Tier Harribel.

He was a special case, however.

"I don't even know what that means!" Seemed his 'ghost' explanation wasn't enough.

"As I've stated, I'm neither human nor faunus but something else entirely," he said again. "Back to the matter, the Grimm, what are they?"

"You really don't know about them, do you?" Adam asked. It would be inaccurate to say he didn't know anything about them, Ulquiorra knew their debatable origins, anything beyond that was purely hypothetical.

"My extended absence until just recently leaves me ignorant on many things in this world." He pointed to the cavity below his neck. "Furthermore, to indicated my time here, I assure you that you are the first people alive to see a creature such as me." He put his hands back in his pockets. "To the matter of these Grimm."

"Oh, right." Blake cleared her throat. "Well, we don't really know that much, only what the older people told us." It was better than nothing, he supposed. "All I remember was that papa told me they like bad thoughts, it draws them."

"Bad thoughts? Explain."

Adam took the lead. "Anger, sadness, stuff like that, Sienna said they. . . Sienna!" he shouted. "We're supposed to rendezvous with Sienna! We need to go, right now."

Sienna was the person they intended to meet, though they've gone on a tangent and pushed that back when the off-Hollows, or Grimm as they're called, appeared.

"What about Ool. . . Mr. Cifer?" Blake asked worriedly.

"What about him?" he replied uncaringly. "He's an excessively-grown man, he can handle himself. We, however, have responsibilities in the White Fang."

"But we had a deal!"

He looked at her as though she was insane. "You were serious about that? Forget about it!"

Blake calmly gestured towards Ulquiorra. "Alright, tell the guy who killed three, big Grimm barehanded, I'm sure he'll take it well." What was the point of the boy telling him? He heard it all clearly from where he was standing.

Whatever the case, the boy froze and stumbled to find the right words. "I-I mean, what're we even supposed to do? We can't take him with us, they're not going to let humans get close, so they definitely won't let this thing even be a hundred meters of 'em."

Since the girl didn't have a rebuttal, it seemed that his presence was unwelcome, which was understandable since these two had an idea of his nature. However, that did not change that they had something he wanted.

"What if we didn't tell them?" she finally said. "What if we hide him?"

"He's not some stray cat you can hide in a closet!" It seemed his presence wasn't just unwanted, but also ignored for the time being as the two talked of him.

Blake didn't look deterred however, and looked to Ulquiorra once more, she shivered when she looked at the hole below his neck.

"Could you zip up your coat?" she asked of him, to which he obliged. "There, see? Now no one can tell the difference." If covering the cavity was enough, then these people were incredibly naïve.

The boy's face seemed to believe it less. "You're joking, right?" He gestured to him. "Look at him, he doesn't look normal in any way."

"He's normal if he's a Huntsman," Blake replied. From the way the boy reacted, that was another term that seemed to hold more weight than it would in his time. "You know they look weirder than normal, so Mr. Cifer blends right in."

"Yeah, hiding with less than an inch of cloth, nothing could go wrong at all." That was sarcasm, Ulquiorra recognized. "What do we tell them? We brought a human with us?"

Blake shook her head. "No, we tell them the truth. . . sort of."

Blake liked to think of herself more mature than others her age, to approach things calmly and rationally. She even read books above her age, and soon enough she'd start reading the ones in the adult section, and she couldn't help but be excited to read what adults know! That's what dad would've wanted, even if he wasn't leading the White Fang anymore.

She hated that he and mom left, just when things started being better for faunus. Sienna was a little heavy handed with the way she does things, but if things became better quicker, wasn't it worth it?

"You say these Grimm are attracted by certain emotions?" Mr. Cifer asked as the three walked through the woods. "And none know of how they're created or why strive to kill?"

Of all the situations she liked to approach rationally, she had a bit of difficulty making heads or tails of this guy. Of course, she was extremely thankful that Ulkorra- Oloqorra. . . Mr. Cifer saved her from the two humans. She'd never been so scared, the moment that branch rose up, she knew she'd be dead. Not only that, but it happened again when the three Ursa came, but he saved them then, as well.

No more books, no more talking with others in the White Fang to help make Remnant better, no more seeing mom and dad, no more hanging out with Ilia and Adam. But it didn't end up that way thanks to him, and she owed him for that.

"Exactly," she answered. "Mom told me they're mindless monsters, but I guess Huntsmen would know better about them."

"The people trained and responsible in killing these Grimm?" Blake nodded. "The same I am to pretend myself as?" She nodded again. "I see certain flaws in this plan of yours." Erk. . .

"Tell me about it," Adam mumbled.

"If you require details, I already intend to point them out." Adam didn't look thankful for that answer. "To begin with, I have little information regarding Grimm." Erk again. . . "Secondly, due to my nature, I am more of a threat to mankind than even Grimm." Triple erk!

"B-But you said it yourself, you don't eat people anymore." Oh God, what a thing to say so casually like it was a standard. "Besides, it'll be fine, Huntsmen always look unique, and you're definitely unique-looking."

His pure-white face was still set in stone, while they hadn't met long, she couldn't recall him even twitching his lips. No frowns or smiles, not even a raised brow. When he was so cold, why would he want to know about things like emotions and the heart?

Considering the hole in his chest, did he mean the heart literally? She didn't think she owed him that much.

"My image aside," Mr. Cifer said, snapping her away from more gruesome thoughts. "Thirdly, and more importantly, I have no desire nor inclination to follow through with this ruse to hide my nature." Erk central!

"If you don't intend to, then why are you coming with us?" Adam asked heatedly. "If you want to kill Sienna, then you'd have to kill me before I let you!" He stopped walking and turned towards the Arrancar, whatever the world that meant.

The ghost man stopped and turned to Adam, and her heart beat a bit too quickly. Adam was hotheaded at times, sometimes a bit too much to see reason and acted out because of it. Now? Mr. Cifer wouldn't kill them, but her friend was really barking up the wrong tree.

"I have no desire to kill anyone as of yet, since I don't see the need to." His answer was so cold and uncaring it had her shiver at how easily he talked about killing, to choose who to let live or die based on whim. "I want answers to my questions, and I fail to see how meeting this 'Sienna' would aid that, especially under a guise of conformity."

"Your questions about the heart, right?" Blake quickly asked. Mr. Cifer was a good man, ghost, creature thing, he had to be if he saved them, but it looked like he was an even worse people person than Adam. He just didn't understand, that's all.

"They are," he said with a nod. Again, she wondered if he meant the heart literally. "However, I do not require more than you to answer them, but I've also given consideration that Adam Taurus may answer them as well."

Adam perked his head. "That I could answer them as well? And what if I couldn't?"

"Then you wouldn't have been needed in my research."

It was a simple statement and likely didn't mean much, but a chill overcame here when he said it. "You mean kill him?" she asked worriedly. He wasn't a bad man, was he?

"No," he said, and it calmed her. "I would simply not ask him questions as he would've been an unreliable source of information, killing him would be a waste of time and effort." Now that part didn't really help things. "Back to the question, why must I hide my nature?"

Now that she knew he wasn't a murderous sociopath, more or less, it didn't feel as tense. "You want us to answer your questions, right?" He nodded. "Well, things like emotions and heart can't be answered in a day, right?" He didn't answer, merely stared for her to continue. Yeesh, he really didn't know anything about it, does he? "A-Anyway, since it's going to take time, and we have lives of our own, so you'll need to be with us."

She heard Adam grumble some more. Blake knew he wasn't happy about this agreement, but what else could she do? Mr. Cifer saved them both, they owed him, and it was kind of part of the deal ever since he got them out of Moromori.

Surprisingly, Adam answered. "Since normal people aren't going to even want you near them, Blake here wants you to pretend to be something resembling human." Maybe she should've thought things through if Adam really didn't like this. Blake knew he was helping just because Blake wanted it. "A Huntsman who saved two young faunus, Sienna would love it, and maybe even help you for it."

Adam was a good friend and was upset, but anything not faunus he had issues with. He'd understand, she knew he would, just not now.

With Adam's explanation done, the ghost nodded. "So in order to prevent conflict with this Sienna, you wish to hide my identity as to deter a violent reaction." Blake nodded, she was happy he understood her plan. "However, their fighting power is minuscule compared to mine, and judging from the power I'm sensing, they can hardly be called a threat and rationally do not require my compliance." Nevermind. . .

"It's not for you," Adam said heatedly. "It's for us." Considering Mr. Cifer didn't look angry, or anything really, it gave room for an explanation. "You want rational? Okay, you have questions, and apparently, we have answers. Going in like the monster you are will. . . stress things, to say the least. This way, no shouting and calls for pitchforks, and you have your answers quicker in a calmer manner. Rational enough for you?"

A little harsher than she'd have liked, and Adam even pointed out some things she didn't really think of. He's really trying to save the idea she made that he didn't like. It was really heartwarming that he'd do that for her, he really was a good, loyal friend.

"So if I were to learn about emotions, I must consider that of others?" Others being partly them, yes, so she nodded. The Arrancar stayed quiet, and she'd guess he was processing her answer. "I will tolerate this endeavor for the time being, but I demand answers afterward."

Blake breathed a little easier, Mr. Cifer's going to help them help him. From the way he talked, it looked like he was throwing them a bone here, and since he 'wanted to know emotions and the heart', this might actually part of helping him.

"Thank you, Mr. Cifer," Blake said. Maybe teaching him emotions won't be so hard since he's made a concession. "Should we start heading back to Sienna?"

"If that is still both your objective," he answered, then looked to Adam. "I have one more question, however, how is it that the both of your reiatsu levels increased suddenly?"

Their what-now increased?

"Due to your apparent confusion, I assume you are unaware of the increase in spiritual power within both of you." He leaned down a picked two pebbles off the ground. "If it was similar to as when that Grimm attacked, the results should be the same."

She was about to ask what he was talking about, but then looked like he was going to flick one of the rocks at a tree. And when he did, the little stone embedded into the trunk. Wow, that really was ama- and now Mr. Cifer was aiming the second stone at her!

It didn't take her long what he intended to do and brought up her arms to cover her face. 'I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I don't want to die!' She felt something hit her arms, and heard something hit the ground. . . no pain, though.

"Interesting, you people are able to conjure your own spiritual barriers," she heard him say, which had her blink. She quickly brought up her forearms, half-expecting to see a hole or even some blood.

There wasn't even a bruise.

More than that, a pale, black light coated her arms before disappearing. Had she. . . had she unlocked her Aura? When? How?

"Blake, are you okay!?" Adam yelled as he ran to her, checking her for the non-existent injury, then turned to Mr. Cifer. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Partially an experiment, mostly to illustrate my earlier observation." H-He knew she unlocked Aura? "Ever since those Grimm attacked, I sensed a drastic shift in both your reiatsu, and more so, sensed you bring it forth when the claw was descending upon you. I theorized it was a type of barrier, and I had just confirmed it."

Looking at her childhood friend's face, he looked like he was just about to lunge at the ghost, but he didn't. In fact, he looked surprised, his mouth opening and closing like a fish once Mr. Cifer finished saying his part.

"Are you saying I. . . we unlocked our Aura?" So that's why he was surprised, and she knew that feeling. It was just something neither of them could've expected to happen.

"If that is what you call it, then yes, you're 'Aura' has been released. I'll reiterate, it happened when the Grimm attacked recently. Is this a normal event when your life is in mortal danger?"

Dad and mom had their Aura unlocked, and it helped when the humans started throwing rocks at them. Aura was for warriors, and no one, especially her, had expected to unlock it unless your career demanded it.

She had to admit, though, she really liked the idea of having a force field around her, especially one strong enough to stop a stone that can pierce even thick trees.

"Wait, hold on, why not just tell us?" Adam asked angrily. "Why make it look like you're about to kill Blake?"

Yeah! She almost died twice today already, a third was pretty much unprecedented for anyone in her position. First from two jerk humans, then Grimm, and now a ghost-monster thing. . . Ilya's never going to believe it. She'd be insane if she did.

"Due to it being just a theory, I only just recently concluded the best possible experiment to prove it. Using the first pebble to show the threat, and then aiming that threat towards Blake Belladonna to generate the best result. Telling you humans about spiritual abilities would only taint my theory's result."

"And if you're theory was wrong?" she asked.

"In your best-case scenario, you'd have been mortally wounded."

The way he said it without care wasn't okay at all!

"With my theory proven, I have more questions pertaining to reiatsu, or Aura as you call it." Ray-achoo? Just calling Aura was easier, and that's going on a tangent!

"Hold up!" Adam screamed. "You can't just go around almost killing us for your games!"

Like always since she first met him recently, it didn't look like he cared. "What I've done could hardly be called a game, it was merely a recreation of what I sensed. If I wanted either of you dead, there's little challenge either of you could present me, nor the need for such theatrics."

It really didn't make things better.

"So telling us would've tainted the results, and the best way to see your theory was through a life-or-death experiment, am I getting that right?" Adam asked, to which Mr. Cifer nodded. "Is this something you people normally do?"

Cifer took a few seconds of silent thoughts. "Other than the Octava Espada Szayelaporro Granz who experiments regularly, no, this is not a normal occurrence to any other Espada." That's another name she couldn't hope to pronounce. Espada names were weird.

"Please tell me that person's dead, I'd rather not find the guy who makes a career out of it." The Arrancar nodded. "Oh thank goodness." She couldn't help but agree with Adam.

"Mr. Cifer, can you please give us a heads up next time, or better yet, ask us about it before you do something that could kill us?" Just simple things, you know?

"I'll keep that in mind should a similar situation emerge," the ghost answered. That wasn't a straight answer, but considering he was so easily willing to shoot a rock at her and potentially kill her, this might actually be a compromise, and wasn't that a concerning thought? "Now that you realize you're reiatsu has been amplified, does this alter the situation?"

Their reiatsu, his word for Aura. It had to be the word people thousands of years ago used to describe it, which really reminded her of how old this person in front of her was. Though she had another thing on her mind, she had Aura!

Blake turned to Adam. "What're we supposed to do now? Tell Sienna?" She expected they'd have to train with it, it's not like having Aura wasn't without responsibilities. "Are we supposed to be Huntsmen now?"

Adam shook his head, but still took his own moment of thoughtful silence. "We'll tell Sienna," he answered finally. "I think she'll have us learn how to use it." He grinned. "Honestly, I'm excited to see how we can help with the White Fang now that we have Aura."

Yeah, she knew what he meant. Sienna would have them use it for the betterment of faunus, surely. She can be a little harsh at times towards humans, but she had the future in mind, and Blake wanted to help; Adam no doubt wanted that as well.

She turned back to Mr. Cifer. "I guess we'll just continue as normal, but without you stopping to shoot rocks at me." She had enough humans doing that as is. He nodded, so that made things more comfortable. . . only slightly, though.

"A low bar," she heard Adam mumble as he took the lead through the forest, and yeah, he was right. Mr. Cifer's weird, it must've been from his thousands (thousands!) of years away from the world.

She couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to be away from home for so long. If he was a ghost, then that meant he was alive at one point. Not only that, but was he proof of an afterlife? Heaven and hell?

Oh God, she wasn't ready for such existential questions, she was only thirteen!

"So, uh, Mr. Cifer, are you really thousands of years old?" Blake asked. The more she thought on his nature, the more questions it would bring up. 'Questions that could change society as we know it.'

"That is up for debate." Okay, maybe not, and the knot in her gut loosened. "I can confirm myself being well over two-hundred years of age, but after I was killed, I returned to my dimension several thousand years later."

And things became confusing again.

"So you were killed before turning into a ghost?" And people could live to be two-hundred? Wow! "Did you haunt your killer?" Was that how he became a ghost? Unfinished business?

"No to both accounts. I was already an Arrancar when I was killed before my multi-millennia absence." The confusion continues.

Adam seemed as confused as she was. "That doesn't make sense. How could you be killed if you're already dead?" he asked the question she was just about to bring up.

"Because my soul remained." Proof that he had a soul, that they all had a soul and all the insinuations that come with it. "When one dies, one's soul either remains in the human world or goes to Soul Society. Regardless, each soul could be killed once more, what happens afterward is unknown."

Whoa, death after death? That was pretty dark.

"Is Soul Society the dimension you're from, the one you're talking about?" she asked. Was that what- err, pre-heaven is called? Soul Society, it had a nice homey ring to it. Must be a nice place.

"No, I lived in Heuco Mundo, the dimension where Hollows live, the monsters I previously mentioned who consume souls." She really shouldn't be surprised, he did say he was a monster before, but to say pre-hell was his home was a bit of weight she didn't want.

"O-Oh," Blake stammered. "Is that where all the bad people go?" It's a naïve question, even sounded far too childish for her own ears. And Hollows? An even darker name for what should probably be demons.

"No, it's where all the souls that stood too long in the human world can go after they turn into Hollows." Note to self after she dies, just move on no matter what. "Once a soul lingers, it'll become anguished, and thus the soul gets consumed by the emotion, forming a cavity in its body and transforming into a Hollow before trying to feed their endless hunger with souls and living humans."

Cavity, Hollow, soul-consuming monster, Mr. Cifer wasn't pulling any punches even though he should've. "Is that what you are?" Adam asked worriedly as he kept moving, but now slower and more hesitant. "A Hollow?"

"In a sense, but far more advanced and evolved. As stated, I no longer need to feel the need to staunch my endless hunger with other souls." If he did, there was no surviving him, two children, one thirteen, the other fourteen, neither would stand a chance. "If I were to, even though my hunger has faded, it would be out of novelty, which is useless."

So he's a monster as was by his own account, but not. . . no longer a soul-consuming one. It's hard to imagine him as a regular person when he had that hole in his chest, but if she wanted humans to look past her ears, she had to look past that characteristic of him as well.

"Then why aren't you there, in that Heuco Mundo place," Adam asked a pretty valid question. "If your friends are there, then maybe you should go back." Adam. . .

"I've never felt the need nor the inclination to have bonds with my fellow Espada, so I can hardly consider them friends. Regardless even if I did, Heuco Mundo was empty when I returned the previous day."

Oh, so he was alone? That's pretty sad, actually. "So they all died? I'm sorry," Blake said honestly. What would it have been like if she was the last faunus? She couldn't fathom it.

"All other Espada are no more, but the Hollows that resided in Heuco Mundo are not dead." He really knew how to add the important information only after she showed sympathy, doesn't he? "Evidence suggests that Hollows are now occupying the human world." The soul-consuming monsters were on Remnant. That doesn't sound good at all. "I believe they are now what you call Grimm."

"Could you tell us the important details before you stress us out!?" Adam shouted, which she really agreed with. "Grimm's been around for as long as the history books, and as far as we know, none had a hole in their chest that didn't kill them."

"While possible and this is still only a theory, a Hollow's iconic appearance is it's bone white mask, and seem to be missing from Heuco Mundo. As stated, evidence suggested these Grimm are bastardized version of Hollows due to visual similarities and circumstances. However, if you have a disproving theory, I welcome it."

Adam didn't answer, how could he? To think that Remnant used to be a world without Grimm, it must've been heaven where faunus and humans lived with each other in peace without the threat of extinction pushing them.

What's more, Grimm were actually ghosts themselves? Now that was a wild thought.

"So, these Grimm could be ghosts from Heuco Mundo," Blake repeated. "Wait, if they're ghosts, how can we see them. . . or you, should we be able to see you, even?"

"Normally no, but it was likely due to the increased density in spiritual energy in the surroundings. Somehow, living humans have tenfold the spiritual energy in them than those of my time, and are now able to visually see me and Grimm."

Huh, because people had a level of Aura now, that simple? Blake guessed those stories about mystics calling in a dead relative where only they could see and speak to was just bunch of lies, go figure.

"Alright, enough talk, we're close to the airship we came in with," Adam said. "Last thing we need is Sienna asking why we're talking about ghosts."

Blake gave a relieved sigh, she was happy to see a familiar and friendly face. What a day it's been, to protest horrific labor conditions for faunus in Moromori, get almost killed by two jerk humans, get saved by a Huntsman who turned out to be a strong ghost and knocked them out, get saved again from Grimm, get hit with a subsonic rock and live, and find out there's an afterlife. . . She could really go for a calming book and some tuna.

Adam broke through the tree line and onto a clearing with two bullheads on it. It was a bit away from Moromori and pretty well hidden, and that was the point. The last thing the White Fang needed was the humans coming here and stopping their operation.

They've been here for a week, motivating the faunus in the area to fight against oppression, and today it finally worked. The miners were pushed to their limits by their superiors and went on strike and protested for their rights. Sadly, the humans showed what they thought and now Sienna was going to push things a bit more drastic. It always worked in the end, however, so that's what mattered, right?

"Sienna," Adam called, and Blake could see the older woman and a few others around her, all who came to stop the atrocious conditions in Moromori. Beside her was Ilia, her closest friend aside from Adam. . . why did she look so worried?

"Adam. Blake," Sienna said firmly. "Both of you, come over-" She suddenly stopped talking, and Blake knew why. Mr. Cifer wasn't far behind, and there was no way Sienna wouldn't take note of him. "So it's true. . ."

The look on her face. . . Whatever it was, it was serious.

Blake gulped and took a stepped closer. She looked to Adam for comfort, but he looked apprehensive as she was, and the first thing that came to her mind was that they knew. They knew about Mr. Cifer and what he was, but it can't be right, can it?

"Sienna, what's going on?" Adam asked once the three were close enough, Mr. Cifer seeming content with the two in front to handle the situation. He looked to Ilia, but she just shook her head.

"You tell me, Adam," Sienna said, then turned to Blake. "I heard news that I refused to believe back in Moromori, but from what I see before me, I'm beginning to have doubts."

Okay, good side, it didn't look like they knew about Mr. Cifer and what he was, and this was about something else. Bad side, this something else was enough to have her doubt her own White Fang members.

"Sienna, we can honestly say we don't know what you're talking about," Blake said. Was this because of the protest? That wasn't it, surely. Afterward? Wait, that might be it! "It's because of those two human men, isn't it?" Sienna's eyes narrowed, Adam widened his eyes in realization. "Whatever it is they're saying, it's not true." Humans like those never say the truth.

Sienna Khan frowned. "It'd be difficult for them to lie considering the two humans you speak of were killed."

W-What!?

Fun fact: I was going to have Ulquiorra be introduced into Remnant starting with him killing Summer Rose after specific and unusual circumstances in a failed attempt to 'save' Blake. . . Fun fact!

Please leave a review so I can know what you think. The future of this story depends on it!