TEASER::: THIS IS THE PROLOGUE FOR THE SEQUEL TO CHASING HALLELUJAH! Enjoy. :)

PROLOGUE::

SCENE 1: Hueco Mundo

After the human world, Hueco Mundo seemed flat. Grimmjow sulked through the halls of Aizen's palace with his hands in his pockets. The palace was a monument to Aizen's sense of self-importance. The hallways were wide enough for a dozen Grimmjow's to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, with six more Grimmjow's climbing up the walls. Logic might suggest that it was to accommodate the hollows who tramped through the halls, but that wasn't right. No hollows came through here, only Espada.

Bastard built it just 'cuz. Cocky asshole... showing off.

Grimmjow didn't like to admit it, but it the palace was impressive. With only the force of his massive will, Aizen raised the palace from the gray sands of Hueco Mundo in three days.

I'm only here as long as your stronger than me, Grimmjow reminded the walls. Soon as I can knock ya down, I'm gone. Loyalty wasn't one of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez' resume points.

"Nice night for a stroll, eh, Grimmjow-san?"

Grimmjow glanced sideways, expertly hiding his moment's shock. Gin Ichimaru was a creature of altogether a different breed. The man could sink into a background and disappear while still being perfectly visible. He moved silently, and repressed his reiatsu so that, to a casual observer, he might be a walking statue, a thing without life force. Grimmjow didn't quite know what to think of the shinigami. He wasn't stupid enough to underestimate the creep, but he couldn't be all that spectacular with the way he followed Aizen around like a puppy.

Grimmjow didn't answer him and they walked together in silence, Ichimaru's feet barely whispering beneath the thud of Grimmjow's boots.

"How was the human world?" Ichimaru asked when they neared Aizen's aptly-named throne room.

Warm. Grimmjow shrugged one shoulder and made a non-committal noise. He pushed the giant door open with a single finger and an effortless waive of reiatsu. Ichimaru's ever-presence grim grew wider.

"Oh, so strong. It's good thing we have you, Grimm-chan, to open the doors..." He said it like he meant it, and it made the hair on the back of Grimmjow's neck stand up with the force of his irritation. Before he could decide what to do about it, Ichimaru glided past him, his peculiar snake-like swaying momentarily hypnotizing Grimmjow, who stood in the doorway and watched him.

"Back so soon, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez?"

Aizen's honey-smooth voice startled him out of his daze and he snarled at Ichimaru's back as he stalked into the room. Like the rest of the palace, the throne room was far too large. It seemed to be miles long, black and white marble, pillars on the sides, and the only thing occupying it was Aizen's raised throne. He lounged in it, filling up the room with his sheer presence. Even with miles of empty space, Grimmjow's eyes never left Aizen's pleasant, smiling face.

"Found the kids you wanted. The orange-haired one, the looney with the glasses, the others. All in the same place, nice and neatly tucked away, just waitin' to be plucked up."

Aizen's smile gained an almost seductive quality and he shifted in the cold stone throne so he was leaning forward over his knees. He steepled his fingers and set his chin the cradle to watch Grimmjow.

"The loon you said? Is he cracking already?"

Grimmjow snorted. "Already cracked. But he's got a nice ass, for a human..." He said it just to piss the other man off, but Aizen only laughed, a rich liquid sound that filled up the cavernous room rather than echoing off the walls.

"Then at least you'll have something to stare at."

Grimmjow frowned. "You sending me back?" The idea was both appealing and bothersome. He liked the human world, with all the colors, the warmth, the food – he knew he'd eaten fruit when he was alive, long ago, but he couldn't remember that time, so biting into an apple in the human world was a shockingly pleasant experience. Souls didn't have much of a variety of taste, for all that they were more satisfying than the apple. But he hated being trapped in that fake body – gigai, Szyel called it – and not being able to just munch on whatever souls he wanted. Humans weren't as tasty as a strong hollow or a shinigami, but they were plentiful and pitifully unprotected. Unable to draw attention to himself, Grimmjow was put on an interesting though ultimately empty diet of preserved souls and human food. It was miserable – the human food did not satisfy and the preserved souls were tasteless.

"Soon," Aizen murmured, his attention already elsewhere. His eyes unfocused and his smile changed again, something victorious and hungry that pulled at the base of Grimmjow's gut in an unfamiliar and not pleasant way. "You should go eat, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. I'm sure you're famished," Aizen suggested, as if reading his mind.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes and considered the shinigami who called himself their leader. He promised to make a world for hollows, to end the tyranny of the shinigami and tap the abundant food source of the human world. He proclaimed himself a liberator, and styled himself a god. Grimmjow hated that kind of shit. But Aizen was still the strongest, so Grimmjow stayed.

He shrugged his shoulders and turned to stroll casually out of the room, lifting one hand over his shoulder in a casual wave. It might be interesting, watching those humans. He didn't know what Aizen wanted them for, but it promised to be fun at least. Grimmjow felt a grin tugging at his lips and let it out to nudge against his broken mask.

Maybe I'll have some fun of my own, huh?

~I~I~

Aizen watched the Espada leave with his head cocked to one side. Of all of his Espada, Grimmjow was the most troublesome, the hardest to control, the most likely to defect. And yet he was predictable: as long as Aizen stayed stronger than him, he would stay and he would follow orders.

"It's almost sad," he commented lowly. Gin moved out of the shadows to stand at the side of the throne. They watched the Espada together, the confident swagger of his hips, the set of his shoulders. "He doesn't even realize that he's only an ant, staring at the moon through a reflection on the lake."

Gin giggled, a light sound that made Aizen smile broadly. He levered himself out of the throne and walked unhurriedly behind it. Gin followed without being ordered; Gin was good about that, always knowing what Aizen needed before he had to ask. It was one of the many things that made Gin Ichimaru precious to him.

Behind the modest throne, a floor to ceiling window looked over the dunes and desolate beauty of Hueco Mundo. He touched the frame of the window, the reason for his giant palace, the singular object that drew him to Hueco Mundo and inspired him to become a god to the witless hollows within. He felt the warmth of the frame beneath his palm and caressed it gently, his fingers following the smooth lines of what was not really a window at all, but harbinger of a new world, the doorway to his godhood.

"We can be patient yet," he told the window. Next to him, Gin reached out with one long hand and ran his fingers through Aizen's hair and down the back of his neck. He arched his neck in invitation and the other shinigami moved behind him to set both hands on his shoulders and knead at the muscles there.

"You should relax, Aizen-sama... so tense."

The man's voice was playful and Aizen found himself in the mood to play.