From Central Seireitei
A Garganta opens up in the Las Noches throne room; out of it falls Valiosa who jogs away from the portal and looks back at it as it closes. Two more open up and Gallieno and Cazador step out. Gallieno seems confused about what was happening, why they were recalled and why Valiosa seems so panicked. Antonio comes running over to his sister, wanting to know the news.
”D-did you do it?! Did w-we win?”
”No, A… A stalemate occurred. I need more time to reign in control of these eyes…”
She seems shell shocked and fearful and she begins looking around the Throne room, wondering why a curled up Cordelia is just sleeping in the throne room. She looks at everyone and frowns at them, anger taking hold over her.
”We need to train. We need to become stronger so that this doesn’t happen again, ever.”
Gallieno sighs and rubs the back of his head. He doesn’t know what to say but he is most certainly frustrated that they will have to go back into hiding again. Their time above the sands has once more come to an end. Due to his mask Cazador’s expression is unknown to everyone in the room, given how frustrated he became during his fight it is understandable as to why he is silent. Antonio approaches Valiosa and holds out his hand.
”I’ll take the other eye now, th-that way y-you can ease y-your strain…”
”That won't be necessary.”
Adonai’s Theme
The voice comes from behind them, a dark skinned man with orange hair sits upon the Throne of Las Noches, his fingers intertwined and forearms resting on his knees. Everyone turns to look at the man and Valiosa is the only one who is stunned and shocked. She wants to run away but for some reason this man’s mere presence has her frozen in place.
”Gallieno!”
”On it!”
The bald Arrancar dashes towards the man seated upon the throne, his smile growing wide.
”The heart is pounding wildly! You will deliver the greatest miracle unto me yet!!”
The man raises his hand and a hole is blown through Gallieno’s chest. He reaches into the chest cavity and tears out the Heart of the Soul King. Darkness envelops the heart like a Shadow and it vanishes from sight.
”No, there will be no more miracles for sinners like you. Any of you.”
He walks down the steps from the throne to Cordelia, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her from the ground. She opens her eyes only to be greeted with a most grim sight.
”What is locked - can be opened.”
A strange monochrome flame engulfs Cordelia and she begins screaming as if something was being burned away from her.
”What is hidden - can be found.”
Her mask fragment begins burning away, her hollow hole closing and her Estigma fades from her body. It is like everything that makes her a Hollow is being
taken from her and replaced with something else entirely. Antonio and Valiosa watch on in horror as this man turns Cordelia from Arrancar to human.
”What is yours - can be mine.”
Cordelia is then pushed into a Shadow much like what he did with the Heart. Cazador watches on quizzically, as he is very intrigued by what he is watching. He has never seen someone turn an Arrancar into a human, it is unprecedented. In the human world this would be considered a resurrection through and through. A soul returned to the corporeal realm, body and all. He begins speaking, being a most delightful gentleman as always. However he stops when he realizes his hat has fallen off and that he cannot bend down to pick it up. He is puzzled as he is then forced to look at the man of great interest right now. He notes how Reishi dissolves from the man’s right hand and gasps with a eureka type tone upon realizing what just happened. He was decapitated.
The man drops the head to the floor only for it to sink into the Shadow alongside the body. The blood will be drained from it later. Antonio looks to his sister, sees fear on her face for the first time ever and so he acts, he does what he must to protect her. With his regeneration restored he can fight with confidence and so he dashes towards the invader, his Zanpakuto in hand only for him to slash at a now empty location. He hears Valiosa gag behind him and he whips his head around to see the man lifting her by the throat.
”SISTER!!!
Antonio shouts and charges at the man, however, with the swipe of a hand a construct of Reishi is formed, what seems like a giant spear is in fact just a giant arrow. It is used to send Antonio flying back to and through the throne. It continues on until exploding down a corridor. The man tightens his grip on Valiosa’s throat, frustration and anger etched onto his face with eyes that are reminiscent of The Almighty.
”Your kind have desecrated the body of my father. Using what is left of him like tools for gains of power. Mishandling the power that is meant to create and guide life in the Three Worlds, not destroy. He cannot right these wrongs, but I can.”
”Wh-who are you?!”
Valiosa struggles to speak with veins popping out on forehead and neck.
”I am Adonai.”
The same strange conversion process that started to turn Cordelia into a human now began to happen to Valiosa as well. She screams out in pain as if her soul is being cleaved and rendered asunder. Adonai just watches silently as he judges this sinner as well. An abhorrent scream is heard from the hole made by Antonio’s sudden departure and Adonai casually tosses the girl into a Shadow, it's too late for her. Adonai turns around to face the wrath of this screaming Arrancar, his eyes are now back to normal as Antonio comes flying out the hole, Cero in hand that fires and sends Adonai flying backwards through multiple walls until finally exploding out in the central dome area of Las Noches where an artificial sun exists.
”ARRANCAR!!! THIS IS YOUR CERO ESPADA!! ATTACK THE INTRUDER NOW!!!”
A horde of Arrancar, left behind as reserves, come rushing out to the central dome of Las Noches, taking their ready stances to strike down the invader. But they are met with a new sight…
”YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME INTO OUR HOME, KILL OUR PEOPLE AND GET AWAY WITH IT?! GIVE MY SISTER BACK! WHO… Who do you people… Think… You are…”
Quincy Anthem
Antonio looks left and sees a host of figures clad in white with masks and a few individuals standing in the sky. He looks to the right and sees even more. Where did they come from all of a sudden? It was only Adonai and now he has a whole army backing him? Adonai rises to his feet, standing front and center of everyone, his expression unchanged and uncaring. Sparks of blue Reishi emit across the central dome, funneling out into the rest of Las Noches. Reishi was also rapidly climbing straight up into the sky for some reason or another. Antonio looks back at Adonai who raises his hand as if giving a ready to fire order.
”What are you people?”
Antonio asks as he hears the sound of a whip crack, the shuffling of cards, the crank of a lever action rifle, a group of five masked individuals gathering around a single charging cannon, the pulling of a charging handle, the sight of a single spear duplicating into many, and above all these sounds was a shared chorus of bow strings being pulled taught, the blue Reishi humming with power as this army took aim at the Arrancar.
”We are…”
Adonai drops his arm, signalling for his army to fire at the enemy.
”Quincy.”
A tidal wave of Reishi attacks are unleashed and Antonio turns on his heels and uses Sonido to run away as fast as he can. The army of Arrancar are shredded, being gunned down by a much more fierce firing squad than theirs. They scatter into Las Noches but it matters very little. The Quincy faded into their Shadows, leaving Hueco Mundo just as suddenly as they had arrived. Some lingering arrancar halted their retreat, thinking it was safe when the roof of the central dome collapsed and a gigantic arrow head, tipped with roaring blue flames, came crashing through and into the depths of Las Noches. It lands with a vicious impact, igniting the sparks of Reishi that Adonai had scattered in the air. The blue flames of Reishi hollow out Las Noches of all things that didn’t escape. Hearing the impact Antonio turns around to see a most disheartening sight…
Antonio now realizes that he must go into hiding, even deeper hiding than they originally intended. He is the sole survivor of the old order and he must wrestle with all he has seen and experienced. What is a Quincy and what sort of wrath have he and his sister released on their kind?
The massive cross embedded in Las Noches vanishes back into ambient Reishi. Shinigami scanners would only detect mass death in Hueco Mundo which can only be theorized as mass infighting. This world does not know what a Quincy is and thus their scanners do not detect them. It will be quite some time before the Quincy make their official debut before the Shinigami, because like these Arrancar they too have sinned against Adonai.
