A Hollow Queen's Dark Knight

Chapter 1: Revelation Through Revenge

The chains moved suddenly and violently, but the result was still pointless. What was left of her strength had been drained now. Her final attempt to test her restraints failed. Hung out before this court of Quincy's as their prisoner. She was to be an example to all survivors of the Winter War and all of Hueco Mundo. A point proven to show how helpless they were against this enemy.

Her injured tanned body finally giving in to fatigue and pain. Her vision became distant and fuzzy, as her eyes grew glossy. The last thing she saw was her kingdom's people being torn down and subjugated. Finally letting her eyes close and darkness consume her, Harribel's last thought turned to a desperate wish for a savior, a hero to rescue her. A young strawberry blond man's image fleetingly appeared in her mind, before she finally slipped into unconsciousness.

~18 months earlier~

-Harribel's POV-

The Tres Espada refused the role of ruler of Hueco Mundo again. Having fought against the idea since its origin shortly after the war between the Soul Reapers and Sosuke Aizen had ended. Being the last of the former Espada, and probably the strongest Arrancar left, she was being pressured by her Fraccion to take over.

"Mistress Harribel you're the strongest of us left. We need a leader please!" Apacci begged along with Mila Rose, Sung-Sun walking behind them watching silently. Harribel once again brushed off the plea, and continued down a particular hall of Los Noches. This was the castle created by and for that bastard Aizen. As much as she wanted to tear this place down now, this was a home for her and her Fraccion, and she wasn't going to give that up just yet.

"If we don't have a leader Hueco Mundo will return to the chaos it once was. Please Mistress!" Mila Rose spoke up next as she caught up to her leader blocking her advance, spoking to her face to face. Harribel sonido'd right past Mila Rose and continued on, showing no signs of changing her mind. After having time to heal themselves from the war, and finally back from the Fake Karakuri Town, all the female Arrancar wanted was a chance for vengeance on the man who betrayed her.

Sung-Sun, being the usual calm one among the Fraccion, just watched her leader and friend from a distance. She knew all too well what Tier wanted to do. They all wanted revenge, but Tier was betrayed the most by far. Sung-sun, from behind her sleeve, just silently wished to see her friend happy again. If that meant to follow her onto death's door then she would.

A short time later the giant doors to Aizen's throne room exploded inward and tumbled into the room end over end, finally smashing into the far wall. The remnants of a yellow cero dissipating into nothingness. Tier strode into the large room, dust flowing off her tall beautiful body; ready for anything. Her sword, Tiburon, was drawn and held tightly in her right hand as she eyed the room carefully.

There had been no trace of Aizen since they awoke and returned to Hueco Mundo, but that didn't mean he couldn't still be around. If she was lucky he was weakened and licking his wounds, trying to hide from the Soul Reapers. She wanted nothing more than to separate his head from his body.

To her and her subordinates' anger and disappointment there was nobody here. This was the final room in his palace too. The four Arrancar had already checked Szayelaporro's laboratory and infirmary, the control rooms, and most of Los Noches. They had found scattered, but alive Arrancars, mostly former Fraccions and Numeros, but no trace of Aizen.

A rather pissed Tier 'tched' from behind her high collar. Murder flashed in her eyes, which wasn't missed by her fraccion. Harribel, the calmest and most collected of most of the Espada, was letting her emotions control her. Tier was just about to level the room to the ground, when she heard noises coming from behind the large throne.

With all haste she sonido'd to the throne. Her Fraccion moved carefully toward her, keeping open eyes out for anything that would try to ambush them. Tier looked behind the throne, and found a door made to look like the wall itself, cracked open slightly. Vengeance fueling her movements she grabbed the door and tore it from the wall, tossing it behind her. The door crashed into the tall back of the throne and shattered the seat of power.

The contents of the room made it look very much like a miniature lab / curios shop. Many objects and devices were placed on the many shelves, while there were terminals and screens placed in various locations as well. Harribel was far from curious though, as this room may be hiding Aizen in it. Treading carefully past tables and items, she closed in on the sounds of fighting.

A sudden sound of explosions brought her attention to the only screen that was on in the room. There on the monitor was a video of Aizen, transformed by the Hogyoku, lying on the ground defeated. Standing above him was a man cloaked in black, staring down at the traitor with crimson piercing eyes.

The being was covered almost head to toe in what seemed to be living darkness. His sword also seemed to be made of the same living darkness. His hair was long and abyssal black, and his torso up to just above his mouth was covered in gray wrappings. His left arm was the only thing free of the wrappings, and that had black marks slithering down it. Streams of darkness fell off him and into the sky. Even his visage from the screen just radiated power. He had to to have defeated Aizen. The screen showed the teen raising his blade for the final strike, just before cutting out into static.

Tier was stunned. Aizen had been defeated by this man in black. Her eyes relayed her shock, as she felt several things well up inside her all at once. Anger, at the one who betrayed her. Frustration, that she could no longer kill the demon herself. Relief, that the bastard was now gone. Finally curiosity, as to who this dark being could be, and how he could of all people could defeat Aizen.

The static on the screen vanished, replaced by another video of earlier that day. Harribel stood there watching the screen intently. She must know what happened after Aizen's betrayal of her. The video started shortly after Aizen entered the battlefield, caught by some unknown device, which followed the Ex-Captain intently.

~Hours Later~

Harribel had just finished watching the last of the files on the terminal. Most had nothing relating to the war, but she had to be sure. Several of the videos she had to watch several times to make sure what she was seeing was the truth. The man clad in darkness was in fact the young human Soul Reaper who led the invasion of Los Noches with his other human and Shinigami companions. The same strawberry blond boy who had captured her curiosity just before the war when fighting Grimmjow.

Sung-Sun entered the barely lit room with a tray balanced on a sleeved hand. Tier leaned back in the chair she'd found, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She closed her eyes to finally give them a rest. Sung-Sun moved to her leader's side, and offered her some fresh tea, and a platter of various foods. Harribel looked defeated and worn at this point when she turned to stare at the delicate cup on Sung-Sun's tray. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing, to which she looked up to the woman holding the tray. Sung-sun looked back at Tier with worry. Seeing their friend so taxed from the video's revelation, made Harribel's Fraccion scared.

She had been trampled on both physically and emotionally, on a level none of them could probably understand. Harribel had always been a strong person, never letting anything get to her, unless it was about those she truly cared for. Tier quietly thanked Sung-Sun for the tea and food, giving her a weak smile. Taking the tea cup, she gingerly sipped the warm liquid, getting some ease from its warmth.

"Mistress Harribel is it really over? Is that man really gone now?" Sung-Sun spoke up as she set the tray on a table nearby, and raised a sleeve to her mouth. The current video playing was Aizen's defeat by the young Soul Reaper. As the video neared its end, Tier pressed a button to pause the screen at the point the Shinigami raised his sword for the final strike.

"I...I don't know Sung-Sun. None of these videos show what happens after this. I must have watched them over and over again, but I just don't know." Tier let out a long breath, and her body slacked slightly. She was tired now, all the pent of tension and questions and emotions she carried with her up to this day evaporated. She'd been on edge so long it was tiring just to let it go.

"Mistress, what are we going to do now?" Sung-Sun questioned the defeated Espada.

"I'm not sure. For so long it's been about the fight, but now... That man is gone, and...I just don't know right now... Sung-Sun," She looked up at Sung-Sun through half lidded eyes, "...just let me rest for a while please."

Sung-Sun felt the pain Harribel was feeling at this point. The uncertainty about the next course of actions, the future, the present. All were questions that needed answers, but none could be answered right now. Sung-Sun hung her head slightly and closed her eyes. "Yes Mistress." Bowing she left the room and her leader.

Tier slumped slightly in the chair as she took the tea cup in both her hands, before taking another sip. Her tired eyes wandered back to the still image of the Soul Reaper boy. She felt curiosity welling up in her again. Who was this boy? How could he would fight against all odds, against insurmountable enemies, and still defeat the terror of Aizen? Why did he intrigue her so?

~ 17 Months Later~

Inside Harribel's Secret Observation Room.

Harribel couldn't understand what was drawing her back to this room, to these videos, to this boy. After some time she had learned what some of the devices in Aizen's secret lab were. The device Aizen used to capture his self egotistical ascent into power, had been modeled after the same principal as Ulquiorra's ability to project his memories into visible imagery. She had even found a few spares, and learned to use them.

She looked to the screen, it had a new video on the list which she delicately clicked on. A strawberry blond boy in a school uniform was walking down the street with several others. Harribel recognized Orihime Inoue, the human girl that Aizen had captured. This action had subsequently brought the Soul Reaper boy to them. She also recognized the tall curly haired boy, and the sharply dressed boy with glasses. Both had joined the Soul Reaper in their invasion of Los Noches over a year ago. Tier picked her tea cup up from the table and took a small sip, letting the warm liquid slip blissfully past her partial mask and lips.

Over the past months Hueco Mundo had gone through a change. The most prominent was that the former Tres Espada had taken over as ruler. She didn't do this without resistance however. She fought against leading the chaos as long as she could to remain out of the picture and live peaceably. Eventually though, with the combination of her Fraccions' pleas and the world around them returning to bloodshed, Harribel took the mantle of leadership, returning some peace to Hueco Mundo.

Another change was the restructuring of Los Noches. Harribel and her Fraccion dismissed any traces of the old Espada ranks, and demolished most of Los Noches. This wasn't before Harribel secretly moved most of Aizen's equipment into her palace. She left her and her Fraccion's palace intact, along with the underground tunnels and barracks, and Szayelaporro's lab and infirmary. She took a healthy interest in removing Aizen's personal palace from the face of this world.

The third was that she had become increasingly interested in the boy who freed them all. Even one of her Fraccion noticed this subtle change. While they had seen the videos for themselves, none but Sung-Sun really cared. They were more worried about helping their leader maintain this world. This interest caused Harribel to look into the spying technology that Aizen had created for his own records. She had, unknown to the rest, sent the Espionaje Ojo (Spying Eye) to find and monitor this boy in the living world.

While ruling Hueco Mundo wasn't an overly difficult job, she did have constant attempts at a coup. Most couldn't fight their way past her Fraccion members, but the few that did, she dealt with quickly. There were reports of a powerful Arrancar Class hollow in the wastelands ripping through its own enemies, but never any instance of it getting close enough to be detected and identified. Whoever it was seemed content to stay at a distance and do it's own thing for now.

Still, this left her plenty of time to learn about the young man. She realized that this was the same boy who fought and defeated Grimmjow then killed Ulquiorra. Her interest was piqued back then, but the war took her away from it. She started to feel a kind of kindred spirit with this boy. He would willingly sacrifice his life for his friends, as shown in his invasion and the battles that followed. That was something she related to deep down, as her aspect was sacrifice.

Tier slipped into her chair watching today's video. There were a few things she noticed, that made her question him. She had yet to learn why he hadn't taken his Soul Reaper form in the past year. Why, if he was so powerful, would he let his friends and other Soul Reapers fight the hollows that continued to invade the world of the living. And most curious of all was why the readings from the Espionaje Ojo were so low on his spiritual pressure.

She couldn't help feel a tug in her chest every time he looked so depressed, as he would every so often. 'What could someone with that much power be depressed about?' She thought as she saw a moment happen when he saw his friends take off to fight a Hollow. Maybe he was so powerful the Shinigami had to limit his power, and stop him from fighting hollows. It could be a similar reason to why when the dome was over Los Noches, the Espada, ranked four and up, were not allowed to use their Resurreccion while under it. That would make sense, as power enough to defeat Aizen would easily warp the World of the Living.

Losing interest as it seemed he was going to go about another normal day, Harribel decided to take a shower. Just as she was out of ear shot the readings on the monitor chimed in, as the boy returned a lost bag to an older man with a Substitute Soul Reaper Badge on him.

END CHAPTER 1

Author's Notes: Hello hello all. First thank you for reading my very first fanfic submission. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed coming up with it. Now onto business, I'd like reviews on how I have done. Constructive criticisms, ways to improve, likes, dislikes, you know all that kinda stuff. I also want to note I have an outline completed up to chapter 7, however I cannot guarantee a time frame of updates. Chapter 2 is completed and will be submitted soon though. Thanks for reading.