Part One: Rise of the Hollow King

Chapter Two: We Are Forever

We were the ones who weren't afraid
We were the broken hearted
We were the scars that wouldn't fade away
How did we let go
how did we forget that we don't have to hide
We won't believe the lies again
We won't be paralyzed

"Ellioooooot! Rise and shiiiiiine!"

A yell and a sudden weight on his side jerked the slumbering dragon into wakefulness.

Eleuterio cracked one golden eye open to glair at his excitable companion.

Nel had globbed him just between his chest and gut, knocking the breath out of him, though the large adjuches did his best not to show it.

"Nel…"

The young vasto lorde had decency enough to look sheepish beneath his glare. "He-he, uh, sorry?"

Eleuterio just rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet, knocking Nel off his side and onto her rear in the process.

The woman landed with an 'oomph'. She craned her head back to pout at the now standing Elliot. "Why'd'ya have to knock me over?" She whined.

"That's what you get for waking me up." The dragon glanced up at the ever-present moon above. "How long did I sleep anyway?"

Nel shrugged her armored shoulders. "A couple hours I guess."

Eleuterio's gaze remained on the moon. At first one would think the moon remained forever frozen in place, but the inhabitants of Hueco Mundo knew their bright satellite above did indeed move. Just very, very slowly.

Eleuterio knew that he'd been with Nel for six months, one full year since awaking in Hueco Mundo. The full moon told him so.

The placing of the small shadows on its surface told him it'd been two weeks since Nel had evolved. And it was the size of those shadows that confirmed Nel's assessment.

It took a while to master, but all who lived in Hueco Mundo could read the moon.

The dragon twisted his long neck around to look back at his friend and companion. "Ready to head out?"

Nel grinned beneath her mask, smile barely visible between the jaws of her ram skull. "Of course."

Eleuterio huffed a laugh as he lowered himself to his belly, allowing Nel to easily hop onto his back. After checking to make sure the smaller hollow was secured between his shoulders, the dragon unfurled his massive black wings. With one great thrust, the two were air born. Three more and they were gliding far above the sands.

Eleuterio closed his eyes as he enjoyed the freedom of flight.

'This, this right here is what makes my life worth living.' The thought was bittersweet. He felt Nel shift on his back. 'No, she makes it worth it too.'

A burst of spirit energy brought Eleuterio from his thoughts. His gold-on-black eyes opened, then narrowed as he searched the horizon for the hollow that the energy belonged to.

"There, a bit to your left." Nel said from his back.

Eleuterio followed her pointed finger to see a black shape far in the distance. "I see it." Wind howled against his white flesh as Eleuterio sped toward the hollow. A wide, almost sadistic grin slowly formed beneath his mask. "You ready Nel?"

The vasto lorde lounging on his back threw back her head and laughed. "Course I am! More than ready, I'm starving!"

Eleuterio's grin became even wider. A laugh of his own surged from his chest unbidden when he caught view of the hollow.

It was massive. And ugly.

From the stomach up the creature was humanoid, if overly bulbous with muscle. But where two legs should exist was instead more or less the body of a caterpillar. Long, many legged, and all around hideous.

Eleuterio almost felt bad for the hollow. Call him vain, but the dragon knew he was a very attractive creature, especially for a hollow.

His companion was nothing to scoff at either. Nel's tall, hourglass figure and long teal hair marked her as quite the beauty.

It was too bad hollows felt no form of sexual attraction.

Well, perhaps not unfortunate for the hollow beneath them. It was very unlikely it would find anyone interested in him.

Not that it really mattered, he'd be dead in a few minutes.

Eleuterio glanced at Nel from the corner of his eye. "Holding on tight?"

"Yup! Let's go."

No more encouragement was needed. Without a word,Eleuterio folded in his wings and began his dive.

He took a deep breath, then began charging a cero deep in his throat.

He carefully eyed the distance between him and the massive hollow.

Almost.

Almost.

Almost.

There!

The dragon's jaw opened wide and from it came a massive red cero. The hollow had no time to react as the attack hit him point-blank in the chest.

The earth shook as the giant hollow collapsed, blood gushing from the gaping wound in his chest.

Nel jumped from Eleuterio's back before his feet even touched the sand. Landing gracefully, he followed behind his friend to the dying hollow.

She walked slowly towards it, a grim look on her face. In her heart, Nel hated death. She hated consuming others so she herself could survive.

But it was the reality of Hueco Mundo. If you did not feed, then you yourself were eaten.

So with no emotion, Nel gripped the hollow's massive head in her thin hands, and twisted. A loud 'snap' echoed through the empty expanse of sand. The creature died instantly, its neck snapped, silenced forever.

Eleuterio watched with a blank stare as his companion began to eat. The moment blood touched her tongue, Nel went into the feeding frenzy that all hollows were slave to. She tore into the corpse will all the mindlessness of a starved dog.

The dragon waited patiently for his friend to eat her fill. She was the one to end the hollow, so it was her right to eat first.

One fourth of the massive adjuches was gone before Nel's appetite was sated.

She took a step beck, whipping the blood from her lips with the back of her hand. Her gaze still lacking emotion, she turned to her companion and nodded.

Eleuterio tore into the carcass with vigor greater even than Nel, tearing off flesh to swallow it hole. It was a gory sight, the dragon ripping the other to shreds.

It took nearly an hour for the body to be completely consumed, so large it had been.

Eleuterio stepped away from the blood-stained sand and made to turn back to Nel, only to freeze as his body was rocked by sudden tremors.

His golden eyes widened as energy surged through his being, igniting his bones. What started as simple discomfort erupted in agonizing pain.

Eleuterio threw his head back and shrieked for all the world to hear his agony. His limbs shook, barely holding him up.

It felt as if his hide were being pealed off his bones, those bones pounded to dust, and the remain bits and pieces lit with fire.

From his chest, his soul, burst forth an energy like no other. Eleuterio collapsed under his own spirit energy, so massive and overpowering it was.

He thrashed weakly on the sands as his body was being ripped apart by the energy. He felt the thick armor that had saved his life so many times strip away, his limbs shifting, the bones cracking as they changed shape. His tail suddenly went numb, only to erupt in even more torture.

His neck was the worst, collapsing in on itself.

With one last burst of unimaginable power, the energy vanished back into his soul, burning just below the surface. With it went the pain, though an intense ache pulsed through every nerve.

Eleuterio lay limp in the sand, his breaths labored and pupils so dilated that they seemed non-existent.

Nel approached her companion slowly. She knew what he'd just gone through. The pain that came with the change.

Her dearest friend had just become a vasto lorde, the greatest of all the hollows.

Eleuterio weakly looked up at the female lorde, his eyes unfocused. "What just happened?" He croaked out. His voice was a cracked and mangled sound, but at the same time Nel could tell that beneath it was the regale tongue she'd come to enjoy the sound of. Yet, even that sounded different. Not quite as rumbling, not as deep.

Nel knelt down beside her cherished friend, a small but joyous smile on her face.

"Congratulations. You've just become a true king of hollows. A Vasto Lorde."

We can be who we are
Now we are alive
We can fight they cannot contain us
It's who we are
We are undying
We are forever

I feel so drained. So weak and racked with pain. I can feel my muscles twitch every now and then.

What the hell just happened?

Glancing up, I see Nel standing beside me. I ask her as much.

The smile that blooms on her lips brings forth a sensation that I'd never before felt. An odd, fluttering feeling in the bottom of my gut, and a tightening of my throat. As if my insides had decided that wanted to be my outsides.

"Congratulations." Nel whispers, seeming to know of my pounding headache and responds in the considerate way of hers. "You've just become a true king of hollows. A Vasto Lorde."

My mind draws a blank. What was she talking about? I'm pretty sure I just died, not transformed into a Vasto Lorde.

Yet, when I reach out my senses, I feel a soul power so overwhelming I have to pull back the moment I touch it. A few moments after, I realize that the power is my own.

How can one creature be this strong? How am Ithis strong?

I feel my strength returning, and decide I've been lying in the bloodied sand long enough. I push myself to my four feet, only to realize how utterly ridiculous the position feels.

Glancing down, I see that my legs are much longer than they once were.

Above me I hear a giggle. I look up, only to scowl at the amused face of Nel.

"You're bi-pedal now, silly. Stand up on your back legs."

I roll my eyes, but shakily push myself up. I nearly fall, being saved from the disgrace only my Nel's steady grip on my shoulder.

Steadying myself on my new legs, I look myself over. I had indeed become bi-pedal, however, my legs retain the back-bowed structure they'd had before. My toes are clawed, as are my hands (now complete with posable thumbs, handy).

Looking at my torso, I see a lean and toned body, clearly defined muscles telling of predatory grace. I'm taller than Nel by a massive amount. I think I stand well over two meters now (around eight feet). My hollow hole is now positioned in the middle of my chest. Black markings stretch out from the empty cavity, wrapping around my sides and shoulders.

Something moves behind me. I crane my head around to see I still have a tail, though it is much thinner now. I also still possess wings, just as massive as before.

I experimentally stretch them open and give a hearty beat. Sand swirls up around us in a choking cloud. I simply release a pulse of soul energy, blasting the sand away.

"You look good." Nel complements me. Her grin is wide, eyes appraising. I smile back, something that feels odd on my face. Speaking of…

"What does my face look like?" I ask.

Nel hums. "You still have the same horns, but now your mask looks like a human skull. Kinda demonic, honestly. Really sharp teeth. It's white with black markings. And you've got really long white hair."

I look behind my shoulder to see that my hair has indeed grown and bleached. Interesting.

A catch of light draws my attention to something to my left. I turn to see… something… stabbed into the sand. I step closer, Nel following behind.

The thing is long and thin, pure silvery white, and above all, deadly.

"A sword…"

I reach out, fingertips almost brushing the cloth-wrapped hilt, when Nel speaks. "Wait!"

I look over my shoulder at her. "What is it?"

She shifts nervously. "Swords like that… that's what death gods use to kill hollows with…"

I flinch away from the sword.

Death god.

The antithesis of a hollow. Our opposite, and our destroyers. Death gods hunt us with extreme prejudice, slaying us without mercy. Either they are ignorant that we aren't mindless monster, or they just don't care.

I'd heard a great many horror stories during my life in Hueco Mundo. Tales of young hollows, dying terrified and alone at the hands of death gods.

But even worse were the Quinces. While a death god would send a hollow's soul to hell, a Quincy arrow would destroy us completely.

My fist clenches as I stare at the sword. Nel's right, it does look like a death god's weapon, and yet…

My hand wraps around the sword's hilt. The moment my flesh touches it, a sensation like I'd never felt before overwhelms me, drowning Nel's screams into incomprehensible muffles.

Electricity tingles through my nerves, a strange sense of completeness fills my soul. Soft drumming, like a heartbeat, pulses in rhyme with my non-existent heart.

At the edges of my senses, I hear the softest murmurs of… someone.

Who-?

Then I'm snapped back into reality. Comprehension comes back slowly. I'm on my knees, using the sword to keep me from a mouthful of sand. Nel hovers over me.

"Elliot? Are- are you okay?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just… felt something weird." I look up at her with a confident grin. "It's not a death god sword. Not really sure what it is, but it's not a soul-stealer."

I push myself to my feet. Both our attention turns toward the sword. It's easily half as long as I am tall. Pale white metal, it doesn't even look real. The blade's tip has three wave-like protrusions, while the middle is hollowed out. The hilt is wrapped in black cloth, with a white chain hanging down from the end. The guard is shaped like a pronged cross. The design is familiar, but I can't seem to place it.

The sword is amazingly light. I give it an experimental swing. It feels so natural in my hand, like it was always meant to be with me.

"I think…. The sword might be part of my evolution…"

Nel stares at me wide-eyed. "What do you mean?"

I struggle to find the words to explain what exactly I mean, which isn't the easiest thing to do when I don't even really know what I mean.

"It's like… it's a part of me, I guess. Like, you know how we can feel each other? Feel our souls?"

Nel nods.

"It's kind of like that. But it feels like… me."

Nel hesitantly stretches out a hand, but I give her a reassuring nod, prompting her to rest her fingers on the flat of the blade. I see her green eyes grow wide beneath her mask.

"It does feel like you." Her hand draws away quickly. "I've never heard of a hollow gaining a sword…"

I smirk. "There's a fist time for everything. Guess I'm just special."

She punches me. I just laugh.

We won't hide our faces from the light

Eliminate the space between us

It's who we are

We are forever

It's who we are

Eleuterio found that he could use the chain on his sword to sheath it on his back (minus an actual sheath).

The two hollows continued their life much as they had before, wandering the desert, searching for their next meal.

It was a depressing existence, made bearable only from the other's company.

They continued to travel in an unknown direction, drawn south but having no idea why. As they neared their mysterious destination, the pair came across more hollows than they'd ever before. Most were mid-level adjuches, though there were a handful of stronger.

The weaker hollows were always devoured, however, the stronger were not touched. It wasn't because the pair couldn't overpower them.

Rather, it was a sign of respect, that these few hollows could build their strength to near that of a Lorde.

It was a month after Eleuterio evolved into a Vasto Lorde that he appeared.

We were the tears that passion cried

We were the sacrifice

We were the flame that wouldn't die inside

How did we go wrong

We will not forget

We will not be left behind

We won't give up the fight again

We won't be denied

I am resting against a rock when I feel it.

A spirit energy nearly as powerful as my own. I tense, feeling Nel do the same beside me. We glance at each other, then as one turn toward the source of the energy.

It starts out as a small spot in the night sky, but as the creature nears, I can see a mirror of myself.

Powerful, horned, and winged, this new hollow touches down a distance away, close enough that I can see him clearly, but far enough to be out of range for immediate attack.

The new hollow is much thinner than me, but not quite as tall. His bat-wings are large and just as black as my own, his skin just as pale.

His mask is mouthless, wide green eyes set beneath a pair of twisting white horns and a mess of ebony hair.

He has claws and a long thin tail tipped with black fur.

This here, is a fellow Vasto Lorde…

His head tilts in curiosity. I find myself doing the same.

"Who are you?" I rumble.

The bat-like Lorde remains silent.

My eyes narrow. "Well? Can't you talk?"

He shakes his head 'no'. I stare at him in surprise. Cannot speak?

The hollow takes a step forward, causing Nel and myself to tense. He freezes, then raises his hands in a sign of surrender.

I nod the slightest bit, and the bat walks forward slowly. He stops a few meters away from us, then kneels.

We watch as he carves something in the sand with his wicked claws. A few symbols later, he pulls his hand back and looks at us expectantly.

I step forward.

Written in the sand are words of flawless Spanish, the native language of hollows.

'No, I cannot speak. My name is Ulquiorra. What is the both of yours?'

"I am Eleuterio, and this is Nelliel."

Ulquiorra nods, then begins to write again. 'A pleasure to meet you.'

Nel grins at him. "What are you doing here?"

'Looking for you.'

My head tilts. "Looking for us? Why?"

'You are strong, fellow Vasto Lorde…"

"You're lonely." Nel finishes. Ulquiorra nods slowly.

He pauses for a moment before writing once more. 'Why are you going to Los Noches?'

We will never die

We will never die

We will not deny

Now we are alive

A.N.

Yup, I killed Yammy. I never liked that caterpillar bastard.

A few things,

First, I've decided to make this an Ichigo/Nel story. Sorry if any of you were hoping for different, but I feel like plot/character-wise, it's the most realistic pairing. I'm not going to focus so much on romance, it's just going to more or less be there.

I have some other pairings in mind, but first I'd like to hear if you guys have anyone you want to see together.

Second, this is going to be a big story. And I mean BIG. Not sure chapter/word wise, but I'm guessing at least 50+ chapters. I have at least five arcs planned out, with the plot spanning over of fifteen years. Like I said, big.

It's also going to be a war story. That means character deaths. I already have some deaths planned, but I'd like to get your input. Who do you want to survive the whole story? Who would you be okay seeing dead? Anyone you want dead?

We'll be going over the Substitute Shinigami arc, The Winter War, an arc of my own creation covering the aftermath of the war, and the Thousand Year Blood War. I plan for this arc to have around ten or so chapters left.

I'll be posting art on my DeviantArt later. Warning, some of them will have spoilers.

Also, OCs. Sorry for those who don't like OCs, but the plot calls for them. Again, big story, big world-building, lots of characters.

Hopefully you'll like my OCs.

Till next time! R&R!

Song: 'We Are' by RED

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or the song.