Let me first just start off with an apology - you waited patiently for me, and I really, really took my sweet time. Well, I have a good excuse - I was too busy with my finals and stuff, but I'm up and running again (hopefully).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and don't end up being disappointed for this little thing that got out of all that waiting.

I'm just going to say that I thought about writing more in this chapter, but the following events worked much better when grouped up together in a single chapter, so I decided to prolong the "further ahead" plot stuff for a bit. :P

As usual, I apologize for any grammar mistakes or stuff that makes no sense.

CHAPTER 3: Break In?

The Palace was impossible, to say the least.

The wall surrounding its gardens was so jealously tall only birds could hope to see anything over it. And it was made of pure white stone, so that one, at the sunniest of days, could only glance at the wall, because looking at it was entirely too hurtful for the eyes. Luckily for Ichigo & Co., the Sun was setting at the time they got to their target, so the wall appeared to be orange rather than white. But that only helped to discourage them, because they could now clearly see the giant construction towering over them, making their fear of possible failure grow stronger.

And the Main Gate seemed to stretch into the setting Sun as well. Made of heavy wood, with all of its nails and hinges gilded, it was now open for the passing of the caravan of the chosen ones.

"Phew!"- sighed Ichigo – "I mean look at this place! It's much bigger from up close."

Ishida rolled his eyes.

"That's usually the case with things when you view them up close." –he lectured.

"But, what I'm more worried about are those guards at the Gate. Hopefully, they won't stop us from entering. But if they do stop us, remember (especially you, Kurosaki) – we are servants. OK?"

Everybody nodded in response.

"Great." –he said –"Just act natural."

That walk of a couple meters was probably the longest in their life by far. Ishida could feel sweat running down his back. He prayed nobody (especially Ichigo) makes a mistake.

They neared the gate. Majority of the cavalry has already entered the garden, only a couple of the warriors were falling behind. When our heroes were about to go through the door, Ishida felt a wave of relief wash over him. They're going to make it!

"Hey, you!"- one of the guards shouted. The whole team froze in the spot.

"Where do you think you're going?" –asked the guard, running over to them.

Orihime was the fastest.

"To the Palace, of course."-she beamed at the man –"We're the kitchen help."

'Nice save, Orihime!' –thought the rest of the group.

"Aha."- said the guard, slightly suspicious. –"Are you lot not feeling alright? Who ever heard of the help entering through the Main Gate?"

"Ah, sorry!"- Ichigo pitched in –"We're kinda new, so we don't really know how to get around..."

"Ah, it's OK. I understand." –said the guard sympathetically, his face relaxing a bit –"I remember when I first started. It was so bloody difficult to find your place around. I still get lost sometimes!"

Ichigo smiled nervously.

"So, umm..."-he started.

"Ah, yes. Go around to the East. You can't miss the gate."-he said pointing them to the direction.

"Oh, and, a piece of advice – try not to run into His Royal Majesty's eyeshot, or the viziers are going to punish you. Apparently, lowly servants shouldn't contaminate the air of the elite." –he grunted.

"Thanks. I'll try to remember that." – said Ichigo, as the group started towards the East.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

The Eastern Gate was smaller than the Main, of course, but it was still tall and magnificent. On this side of the building, there were considerably less people. Even the security wasn't that high. Only two men stood guarding that entrance. Though it was known as the least frequented of the gates, it still seemed a bit weird - and maybe even unprofessional – that the security was that light. On the other hand, it was so tantalizing for thieves, it really seemed like a trap.

That's the thought that briefly ran across the minds of Ichigo and his friends, but since they had no problems at the Eastern Gate, it soon left them as fast as it found them. After all, when they finally entered the Garden, they couldn't possibly think about anything else then the view in front of them.

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't hold back his wonder.

"Whoa!"- he gasped –"Amazing!"

It was a completely different world. The barren and hot sandy land suddenly turned into exuberant greenery, and the loud voices of people and the wind were replaced with the sound of water flowing and birds chirping. The colours suddenly in view came like a shock to the eyes after the dull white and tan of the desert. The palms here were greener than anywhere else, and the different shades of yellow, pink, red, blue and purple which adorned many lilacs, roses and hydrangeas across the garden were the most vivid colours Ichigo and his friends had ever seen in their lives. It seemed like the colours found in the garden were the True Colours – as if any other colour in the world was just their reflection; as if they were hiding here in this garden the whole time, from the beginning of the World.

And the air in the garden was cooler and more refreshing, partly because of the fragrant flowers, partly because of the shade of the palms, but mostly because of the cold breeze that lifted from the rush of the water from many drinking fountains and rivulets in the garden. The sound of water seemed to work like magic on Ichigo, putting him in sort of trance, making it seem like the water was calling him towards itself. Walking after that sound, he soon wandered in a small, slightly secluded portion of the garden, where one little, but glorious drinking fountain was. A head of a panther hewn from white marble with lapis lazuli stones for its eyes stood petrified in a roar, water falling from its jaws into the marble basin below. One head from the peach coloured climbing roses providing the shade to that peaceful place floated in the basin.

Ichigo was fascinated by the panther's eyes. Animal's eyes are usually brown or black, right? Who and why would anyone give such a wild and angry muzzle such spellbinding and breathtaking eyes? Ichigo traced the lapis lazuli with his fingers. He wondered if he could somehow take out the gems and stuff them in his pocket. Then, the floating rose head caught his attention.

'Huh? This must have fallen off from above.' –he thought, and reached into the cold water to take out the rose head. With it in his hand, he looked up at the arch above him from which the roses were suspended. Twisting his body to try and see how big the arch is, he stumbled on a little, carved wooden table nearly overturning it in the process. Luckily, he reacted fast enough to stop it in time. Ichigo looked in front of himself, over the little table, and turned blue in the face. He saw a fainting couch of some sort, sheeted with indigo silk with many small cushions on top of it. But, another thing on top of the couch that was most definitely not a cushion shocked him completely. There, lounging like it's an entirely natural thing to do, lay a massive black panther giving Ichigo what seemed like a bored look. Its tail was hanging from the couch, the tip gently wagging. The panther looked sleepy and displeased with the fact that somebody came to be a bother.

'Don't make any sudden movements!' – thought Ichigo to himself. He plastered a weak smile on his face.

"H-hi, there!"-he stammered –"I-I was just leaving. You don't have to bother yourself with me."

Ichigo started backing away slowly. The panther didn't seem to be particularly interested in him, because it just started blinking sleepily when Ichigo put some distance between them, then it laid its head on one of the cushions and started purring loudly.

When the sleeping monster was out of sight, Ichigo spun on his heel and started speed walking in search of the rest of his gang.

'Freaking panther!'-he thought – 'Who in their right state of mind lets a freaking panther roam loose in the garden?! It could eat somebody!'

As the thought occurred to him, he gradually started striding until he collided with another person.

"Sorry!" – he raised his head towards the person, only to see Sado looking down at him.

"Muh." – said Sado, acknowledging the apology.

Then, Ishida's head popped from behind Sado. He frowned at Ichigo.

"Don't wonder off on your own like that. I swear, sometimes you're just like a kid..."- he whispered angrily.

Ichigo opened his mouth to start a fight with Ishida, but Orihime's voice cut him across.

"I found it!"- she shouted happily, which made Ishida cringe.

"Shh!" –he said, running up to her and putting his hand over her mouth. –"We have to be quiet."

"Have you found the secret entrance?"- said Sado walking up to the two with Ichigo in tow.

"Yes!"- Orihime exclaimed, then continued whispering after seeing Ishida's face – "It's right over there, hidden behind those rose bushes."

Ichigo peeped at the barely visible trap doors behind the thick bushes.

"Well," - he raised his eyebrows- "they did a pretty good job hiding the doors. They're practically invisible."

Sado and Ishida stood at his right and Orihime at his left.

"I knew they had to be here somewhere." –said Ishida looking up their location on the map.

"Nicely done, Orihime." –complimented Sado.

"Thank you!"

"Help me open them up." – Ichigo said to Sado, looking around to see if anybody was near. –"Ishida and Orihime, keep an eye and tell us if somebody's coming this way."

When the doors were opened, Ichigo took the rope Ishida bought earlier and tied up one end around a tree, letting the other end fall down the trap door. Then, he spoke to his friends:

"OK, then. I'll go first, to check if there's anything that could give us trouble. Orihime will go after me, and then Ishida will follow her. Sado will go last. Alright?"

IIIIIIIIIIIII

It seemed that the secret hallways weren't in use for years. The spider webs were many, thick and unbroken. There were many different kinds of insects crawling everywhere and some of the stone blocks built into the walls were broken or crumbling at certain areas. The iron torch holders on those walls were rusted. Luckily, Ishida was smart enough to bring a torch of their own (which he was hiding in a bag under his brown coat), so they didn't have to worry about getting engulfed into darkness.

However, the hallways' ceiling was low, so they had to walk with their heads lowered. Poor Sado had it worst because of his height, so he walked practically bent over.

On the other hand Ishida's greatest problem was carrying the torch and simultaneously trying to read the map. The paper just wouldn't stay straight, and it kept bending over Ishida's hand, hiding away in the darkness the most important part of the map. And when Ishida tried straightening the paper with his other hand, the flames of the torch would get so dangerously close to the map Ishida would immediately pull the paper away. He repeated this dance a couple of times before Ichigo, who was watching him with increasing irritation the whole time, roughly took the torch from his hands.

"Here, let me hold that." –he said taking the torch, and putting it in a safe distance from the map, but still close enough to illuminate its contents.

Since Ichigo's action proved helpful regardless of his rudeness, Ishida chose not to say a thing about it. This time, at least. Instead, he focused on the now completely visible hallway plan in his hands. Orihime and Sado leaned in to have a look, too.

"It's a good thing we have this map."- said Ishida –"There should be a crossroad a few meters up ahead."

"Can you really say that it's a 'crossroad' when there are no roads, but hallways in here?" –Ichigo commented.

Ishida's eyebrow twitched.

"Then how are you supposed to call it? 'Crossway'? 'Crosshallway'? 'Hallwaycross'? 'Crosshall'?"-he asked.

"I don't know." –was Ichigo's wise response –"You tell me. But, it definitely can't be a 'crossroad'."

Ishida opened his mouth to start a long winded discussion, when Sado piped in:

"Does it really matter? I thought the Snow Crystal was more important."

"Right, the Snow Crystal." – exclaimed Ichigo and Ishida simultaneously.

And with that, they both placed great effort in trying not to wind each other up for the remainder of their walk through the secret hallways.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

If the secret hallways, that deep inside of the Palace, were made of rough and unattended stone, then the vast and not so vast, but still very great halls and rooms of the Palace were their opposite. Those chambers were too made of stone, but of much superior quality. Marble, polished so one could see his reflection in it, was the floor, adorned here and there with complicated and difficult-to-make mosaics of gems and precious stones. The pillars and walls at the first glance looked simple, but their tops and bases were covered with arabesques in blue shades. Some of them were a skilful play of paint, while other had jewels composed into them. Everything that could be made of pure gold and still retain some taste without turning tacky, was made of gold. Silver and platinum, and then strangely beloved copper, were in the places they fit the most.

The Palace had many windows and arches and every one of them had its own curtain – light as a breeze or heavy like the Earth; made of finest silk, batiste, velvet; with embroidery made with golden or silver threads or perhaps with some other decoration or with no decoration at all – everything as it was seen fit for the particular room. And there were huge silk or wool rugs imported from Persia or China covering the floor where it was necessary.

The light of the day that entered the many windows and arches was enough to make the Palace a fair residence, but the wise construction of the place managed to keep out the horrible heat out of the building. So, the inside was rather pleasant even to the most temperature sensitive human being.

It was a place completely different from the hallways hidden within its walls, so you can only imagine the awestruck look on our heroes' faces when they laid their eyes on the interior. But, maybe the looks on their faces gave away much more then awe (stuff like shock and disbelief, maybe?) because it is, apparently, possible to misread a map in the darkness, and end up in a completely different place then originally intended.

And so, our cartographically incapable friends, instead of gazing at mountains and valleys of gold, diamonds and other precious objects, found themselves gaping at a small group of vividly, yet scantily clad women who gave equally weird looks to those weirdoes who just popped out of a wall.

In conclusion, sneaking into the Palace and sneaking out of it might have been a much more successful mission for our heroes if they hadn't run into tonight's after dinner show – the belly dancers. Or as some of you might want to call it – way too close to the people with the power to order their execution, who were sitting in the next room.

To make it even worse for Ichigo and his friends, the show was just about to start.

You're crazy if you think stuff's just gonna blow over. XP

Also, Sultan Grimmjow has a pet panther. :P Imagine that.

I'll be really grateful to those of you who pitch a comment in. I would love to hear your theories on further events. :3