Chance Encounters

The dice were cast, two paths of purpose unknown destined to cross if only for a moment. Two souls wandering an eternally unmarked road of sand drew closer with each passing minute. The ever present moon rested above infinite darkness, casting slim rays of luminescent light over an apparently empty, but heavily populated landscape. Hueco Mundo was a place filled with life. Its vastness disguised just how many resided in its rule. Many were malicious, striving to evolve and pursue their selfish intents. A seldom few sought purpose, being indifferent to the traditional plight of their kin and searching for something entirely different. Even less than that approached a light of righteousness, going as far as to depart from their home to live in the realm of mortal men and quell the tides of chaos that resided there.

One character depicting not the story of abnormality, but the peak of the vile intentions governing the majority 9f their kin in an even more potent form. A creature resided in the flesh of its fallen brethren, feeding on not just their souls, but their emotions, experience, memory, every piece that made an entity what they were. Its purpose resonated with the call of chaos, serving as an instrument of damnation to rise to power and ensure the conflicts that plagued existence would remain and grow stronger, whiile new battles were forged to a quest with no ends to its means. Before any of that though, this malevolent soul, known not by name to any and by appearance to few searched the abyss of white sands for the building blocks to its future. Plagued by unorthodox means of survival and expansion in power, the fiend could only grow through the existence of others, be they nefarious, just, or lost.

With the guise of a being with intentions purely benevolent for whatever creature they wandered across, the malefic parasite wandered in search for those out of place; people in need of aid in some form of another in exchange for serving as an unknown piece in the works of ascension. The sands of eternity were cast through the wind, rearranging the landscape with every minute. The shifting terrain made it impossible to mark just how far one had traversed the desert and how much longer their trek would go on before eventually stumbling upon an oddity. Matched by its size, the seemingly lifeless place sheltered many things of the unorthodox, both living and nonliving. It was these out of place pieces that specifically conjured the Hollow's interest.

While searching for the unknown and certainly being one fiend taking on characteristics odd even of their kind, it appeared as mundane as any other. The corpse of flesh it bent with its will was an ordinary Hollow, an adjuhas with a humanoid-like form. Being only a lower-level creature of their evolution, its form was tainted by monstrous mutations unlike that of man. It stood on two large feet, each step's mark being covered by the shifting sands as it walked. The husk stood a towering seven and a half feet tall; well above the an average being. Their body was adorned in overly-muscular fitness, the arms especially large from the development and even resonating a moderately powerful spiritual essence around them. Its skin matched the night a midnight blue that slightly blended with the darkness around it. The traditional white mask constructed its face, deathly yellow eyes passing through it and watching through the distance for any piece of interest.

Eventually one such thing came to the edge of its eyes. The faded image of a figure far away walking without direction. Finding another crossing the sands wasn't an odd occurrence, but it was the small things that could be immediately distinguished. Their power was nothing substantial, but that wasn't a concern to the parasitic onlooker. It was their lack of affiliation. At least it seemed that way. They didn't give off an air matching one of shadow-fall..Or any sense of person at all at a glance, especially at such distance. Without any other conductor of its eye in sight, there was little else to do but approach them in a chance encounter. Without adjusting their pace, the Adjuhas puppet walked toward the vague image of the newborn Arrancar, the malefic presence of its controller masked away entirely with not a trace of unusual existence to be sensed.

Given a less-than speedy approach, the two wouldn't come to meet for some minutes, less something occur to expedite the event. Eventually it was clear that the Hollow was coming, but not at a rushed pace like a predator. Their steps were taken casually, free of any sudden threatening motions matching the average Hollows that scavenged the desert. Once they were somewhat close; around the range of thirty or so feet from one another, the brute-looking creature's jaws did part and a mellow tone projected to the human-like woman.

"I You seem a tad out of place here, wanderer. If I may ask, for what purpose do you wander the endless sands? " It really wasn't any of its business for their purpose, and in some cases this may have even spawned a more aggressive retort from some. The empty vibe her face exuded made him doubt that, instead curious to the oddity of their emotionless expression and a pathless venture. Its walk slowed down just to the smallest degree so their pace will match, its eyes watching for a reaction to a sudden and unwarranted question .

How long had it been since she last started walking? Minutes? Hours? Days? She hadn't stopped since then. Not for food, not for water- as if she needed either- nor for short conversation either. This place was too unpredictable to stop walking. One moment you could be walking, another you could be under attack by another one of your own kind who was feeling like he needed a slight snack. It wasn't a foreign experience to the girl. Nope. She had eaten plenty of her own kind already. But that was when she was starving. Having just eaten, she wasn't quite in the mood for any cannibalism right now. Not that she was actually capable of being in a mood due to her almost complete lack of emotion.

No, right now she was curious. Having lived in a dark void feeding off of wandering souls who got trapped and being concerned with nearly starving to death on thousands of occasions, Minerva had been too distracted to think about what she was. Now though? She had at least five masks floating around her at all times, all with seemingly different attentions and personalities. They looked out at the world, turning similarly to how a person turns their head to watch as they walked past something. In this case though, they seemed to be looking more for something to look at. This desert was empty almost all the time. There was nothing to see, nothing to look at, yet the masks desperately craved something to give attention to. They hadn't found anything in the hours, maybe days that Minerva had been walking. That is, until now.

The exact moment that the Adjuchas made his presence known, the masks all snapped around to stare at it. Minerva herself also stopped moving, and her head tilted in the Hollow's general direction. Her wide emotionless eyes looked into the massive, soul eating creature's yellow ones in a way that would make even some of the most powerful being's hearts freeze in either fear or confusion. Or both.

"You wish to know why I walk?" Asked a painfully innocent and sweet voice. One that was not befitting of a creature who feasted on the souls of the living. Minerva was wholeheartedly (speaking metaphorically) expecting this creature to seem unnerved by her demeanor. The way her voice resonated throughout people's heads was very strange. At least to them, most of the time. It didn't match up with her appearance.

"Because I am lost in a world in which I do not understand. I was not given the privilege of learning who or what I am. I merely remember my human name, and that is it." The girl answered. Her entire body and her masks were frozen stock still this entire time. No movement, no anything. There was nothing that happened between her or her masks. There was only one thing that moved that wasn't the Adjuchas.

Just behind Minerva, yet still in plain view of the other sentient being here, was the Arrancar's shadow. If it weren't for the fact it were snow white and had a pitch black, stretched out smile that would remind any human of a cartoon, there wouldn't have been any reason to notice it. And if the Adjuchas was looking at it, the shadow would do something completely unexpected. It tilted its head in an almost ninety degree angle. Only when the Hollow had looked at the shadow would its head tilt at the Adjuchas.

There were countless oddities of note with the pathless girl it approached. In perfect unity, five masks resonating with their own sense of life and  will faced the puppet's eye. In tune with their motion, her footsteps were brought to a pause. The eyes of a machine locked with the mellow gaze of the Adjuhas. Rather than being turned away by such an unorthodox emotionless presentation, it only burned its ever present interest in the unknown. The golden iris narrowed, trying to find some hint of identity in the empty eyes of the lost Arrancarl only to be met by deeper layers of void. Above even that remained the inverse shadow. Though only taking a brief look, the unique nature of the construct was too obvious to miss. The black lines a midst a blending white in the sand; as well as an almost alive presence to it. This wasn't the first time the parasite had come across such a thing, but never had it been incarnated through shadow before. 

Despite these visual traits, what also posed curiosity was the words she spoke. Her tone was free of corruption, fitting anyone better than a soul forged in the barbaric proving grounds of Hueco Mundo. The ignorance fit only a cause of amnesia..or perhaps idiocy..In either case, there remained plenty of room to benefit from just that small exchange thus far alone. It stopped its approach, pondering for only a moment how to go about the situation. It didn't know many others that were ignorant even to what they were, but nor was it an entirely isolated case. More often than not, these things originated from a point where one forced themselves to forget, or did so subconsciously at a point of extreme terror or pain. While it was very much in it power to offer those thoughts restored, they were locked for a reason. She wouldn't want them back if they were lost to begin with.

At the same time, one couldn't be left completely devoid of knowledge and expect to survive.She sought it out on her own volition as well. Perhaps learning would, in itself trigger those locked away moments and rekindle an emotional flame to be bent under the will of darkness. The giant Hollow simply cast a  benevolent smile, the malefic, diverse, and twisted nature of the master under its skin enabling a much calmer take on the normally unerving aspects of her existence. 

"I see. A worthwhile venture, both simple and complex at the same time." It paused, looking over the Arrancar and feeling out the smallest traces of spiritual energy that resonated from her. There wasn't any doubt of her origin and form after that, but the lack of an orthodox fragment replaced by multiple split masks did raise the afterthought of some other background in a foreign place. 

"It is odd for one to have zero recollection of their own existence, but I believe I can fill you in on a few things..." Where to start...The life of their kind could be easily depicted, but graphically so. What it couldn't fully explain is the origin of her soul itself and the living binds cut short to bring her to this moment..At least that couldn't be done yet. 

"But how much of it do you want to know? Anything particular you're looking to find out about yourself? I can imagine it must be unerring not knowing your own background and the world you wander. I'm curious though. What do you want the truth of what you are to be? " Most of their kind retained malevolent and darker traits from their bloodletting as a Hollow, but for one such as herself that may not still be the case. With memories of past wickedness free from their perception, the void soul before him may have viewed themselves in a more benevolent light under their blank guise than the average Arrancar. That is what it wanted to know first before going in depth on their locked identity.

Who did she want to be?

This... Adjuchas, Minerva believed they were called, asked a lot of questions. More than she ever did. How much did she know about her race? Nothing. Did she know what a Hollow was in general? Hardly. If it wasn't obvious by now how clueless she was, then words couldn't do much more help. All she could do was ask more questions in return. It was all she had left at this point. Turning her entire body to properly face this creature, Minerva stared him directly in the eyes with her own empty ones and tilted her head questioningly.

"I need to know what I am before I know what I want to be." the pink-haired girl answered. "I cannot make proper decisions about my future without knowing myself." And how true this was. She wanted to be something, but she needed to know what it was that she was. Trapped in this familiar yet unfamiliar human form was she, forever wandering and wondering what she had become. In her past, she was a human. No longer could she be labeled as such. As far as Minerva was aware, she was a monster now. A creature who fed on the dead's souls. It was one of the only things she could bring herself to dislike doing, as her lack of emotion almost completely ended her ability to have likes and dislikes.

"Does a baby understand what it is or how its body works when it is first born?" Minerva questioned the Hollow, this time reaching out to grasp one of her masks with both hands. "And if that baby grew up alone, isolated in a world of black for its entire life, eating questionable foods and listening to its own shadow for advice... would it ever learn to answer its own questions?" This was all meant as a response. You didn't usually answer a question with a question, but Minerva couldn't see any other option. It was how she spoke, asking endlessly about the world and its inhabitants. There was plenty to be asked, and even more to discover.

"You seem as if you have just as many inquiries as I. In turn, I propose a deal. For every question you answer, you may ask one in turn. I will not guarantee a proper response but I will do my best to appease your curiosity." Said the girl. Her voice would only reflect mock emotions. The ones Minerva knew she was supposed to be conveying.

Even throughout her million questions and their never ending presence in her mind, the Arrancar's thoughts stayed firmly collected and well organized. She knew which questions she needed to ask and in what order from most to least important. If it weren't for her ever present apathy as well, she would be very very eager to have her questions finally given proper answers. The first thing she had to ask was the one that she asked at least a thousand times a day.

"What am I?" Minerva wondered, her eyes locked on the mask in her hands. She remembered wearing one of these in that realm of pitch black. Said realm is where she was trapped for only god knows how many years. "I understand I eat souls for sustenance, and that I am called... an Arrancar? Yes, that is what it is. What is an Arrancar? That is my question."

The Arrancar's points were valid. The Hollow hadn't thought just how degraded her mental state was bar the forgotten memory of her past. Perhaps that attributed to the emotionless way she presented herself, even if it wasn't what she desired.  It was more than enough to think on to sedate its thoughts for now, which lead to the answers she had been looking for.  It could go deeply in detail on the history of their kind and the events that lead to how things are now, but for the time being; a more simple explanation highlighting the idea and concept were more appropriate. After a moment's pause, the Adjuhas retorted once more before the length explanation ensued.

"Fair enough. I suppose I will start at the beginning. " It paused, glancing at the living shadow once more.  The woman's earlier claim about the entity and its advice pondered the question; just how much did her manifestation of power know and did it have any other origin aside her Hollow talents. It mustn't have  known much, or else the young Arrancar wouldn't be as ignorant to things as she is now. Its golden eyes flickered back to the void orbs  of Minerva.  Without further adding to her ageless wait for uncovering bits of her identity, it began the tale

"When a Human  dies, especially under less favorable circumstances, their soul can be sealed to the world of the living. If they remain there for too long, they usually either are consumed by, or become a Hollow. " Since she knew as much as to say her Human Name, it inferred that at the least her knowledge spanned the existence of humanity and the process of birth and death. Going over the life of mortality only served as useless information. Proceeding onward, it continued. Its voice remained calm and uttered at a slower pace to ensure nothing was missed by her ears.

"Hollows rapidly lose their Humanity, living mostly off malicious instinct and consuming the souls of the formerly living and their own kind for power and survival. Over time this allows them to reach great leaps in strength through multiple stages. The largest jump being that of a Gillian. From that point on, they slowly regain a stable mind and revert from a mutated form to gain more Human characteristics with each stage."  It was a fight for survival that all of their kind knew very well. The earliest time in their lives served as one of the most difficult, a pain the masked parasite knew very well. Fortunately such a time of weakness did not last long in its own unique case. 

"Around the point of the last two stages, Hollows have the ability to make a permanent evolution unlike the traditional cycle. No matter what stage in power a Hollow is upon becoming a Gillian, they can ascend to becoming an Arrancar, which you stand as today. Its not an optional ability, but one driven by a sudden surge of instinct or being forced by another of great power." Despite claims of the superiority in Arrancar,  it never sought out the form. It trusted the power it retained as a Hollow, and only when it could become truly completely would it even consider making the leap in evolution.

"Arrancar gain a body almost entirely Human in form, only retaining a fragment of their former Hollow past. Arrancar traditionally gain some strength from their evolution, adding power similar to a shinigami's to their arsenal. It completes the restoration of their mind...In most cases. Though, even as a Hollow one gains a more Human mind by the they become an Adjuhas; their second-to-last stage of natural evolution.  It even makes the requirements on the consumption of souls less demanding for maintaining their own being and power. The more Hiollow aspects of their existence are locked away in some form of object; traditionally a blade-like tool called a zanpakto. They can tap into the energy of it at any time in order to reclaim the power they once had, along with their new strength to reach a level well above what they could ever achieve as a Hollow called Resurrection. " That was about everything, wasn't it? Of course there remained details on the world they resided in, the organizations and the culture. What it spoke should have sufficiently covered the question though of what an Arrancar was.

"That is the general idea of it all.  Anything you'd like me to go further in detail about ?"

Minerva listened to the Hollows words, absorbing the information diligently as it was dished out to her. She was an Arrancar, one of the final forms of a Hollow. Not only that, but she had apparently gone through two or so other forms in order to get to this point. A lot of souls must have been eaten in order to do so. Not only that but she was one of the most powerful forms of a Hollow as well? The girl didn't feel like it, that was for sure. Having seen several Hollows shooting massive beams of energy and bullet like projectiles at her, Minerva doubted she was very powerful. It seemed those two abilities were common among all forms of Hollows. Speaking of which, how did she do that? Surely as a Hollow she could do that as well? But that brought up another question as she finally learned the generalized name for what her sword was. Were those powers sealed away in her sword? The answers to her previous question only brought up more confusion. Minerva figured she would have to start asking more if she ever wanted to learn how to defend herself.

"There are certain... powers, that all Hollows seem to have, yes? I have seen many a Hollow fire massive beams of light that seem to destroy whatever is in their path. I have also seen some fire smaller, more concentrated bullet-like projectiles that seem to have more force behind them. What are those and are they related to my... what was it... Zanpakutō?" The pink-haired girl asked. As she did this, she reached out to one of her masks which immediately turned so it was facing away from the girl's hand. From the back of her mask, the hilt of a katana emerged and slipped into Minerva's grasp. Slowly, she tugged on the hilt, pulling it further and further out of her mask until it was fully exposed. The mask went back to floating around Minerva's head while the girl looked down at the sword in her hand. The blade of her Zanpakutō was snow white, much like her shadow, as was the hilt and guard. Flipping the sword over so the other half shone to the Hollow, however, the colors had flipped and turned completely black. It seemed the entire sword was comprised of two colors that switched depending on which half of the sword you were looking at. Holding the sword out to her side, she watched as the light of the dim moon reflected off of the metal. It shone in some kind of weaponized beauty in the girl's eyes. It was also very clear that she did not know how to hold a sword, as her thumb was placed on the back of the hilt and she was grabbing it far too close to the bottom.

"My Zanpakutō... Hm..." the girl mumbled, clearly lost in thought. "I wonder what it does..."

Even with amnesia or some thing mental issue, the ignorance displayed was becoming increasingly unusual. The women wasn't idiotic, or at least her mannerisms didn't hint to such a thing.. One should have still known the basics of their kind and its ability. It was essentially like a natural part of evolving, something instinctual that one does at times without even thinking. Just how far did her memory loss go? Did it only span the length of her walk a mist the endless sand? In either case, she had plenty to learn. It was likely she didn't even know of the recent ruling body of Hueco Mundo and the ranking systems of days old and new. Of course such teachings wouldn't be any of the parasites concern if not for their more nefarious intentions in every guise they played. Succeeding in that endeavor with a subject such as herself shouldn't be too difficult once some cards have been placed on the table.

"Not even familiar with the native skills of our kind? Suppose I can explain that as well. The beam you mentioned, it is called a Cero. Cero function as a generic energy projectile all Arrancar and most Hollow can use. While traditionally it only takes the form of a beam of light matching the color of the user's spiritual energy, a substantial few have made their own custom variations of the technique." The Hollow puppet extended its arm outward, an open palmed hand poised in the direction of the endless void of the desert.  Traces of red light began to accumulate, rapidly coming together and forming a single mass of energy.  The sphere started small, but quickly grew to the size of the Hollow's entire hand. Streams of crimson resonated from the focal point, lightning up the otherwise dark night in color. No needing much time to gather power, as it was simply a demonstration, he continued.

"Each person usually has a focal point they specialize in for making these blasts from. It can be the hand, mouth, fingertip, whatever suits them best. It takes some time to charge, but that can be abandoned for a weaker attack if time .is sparse. More advanced users of the art can create powerful variants in only a fraction of a second. " With that said,, the blast erupted forth from the man's palm. Ruvik hadn't charged it for long, but like he said; more advanced users could pull such feats off efficiently. The beam soared through the air, displacing the desert sand beneath it and filling up the landscape with dull red light. Eventually it clashed with an especially tall mountain of white sand. Made unstable on purpose for the showing, the beam erupted into a sea of flames and embers!  Smoke spilled out into the air and bits of displaced sand were cast in every direction for miles from the point of impact. Fire raged over ground zero, the roar of the embers filling the soundless space with noise.

"Next, the other technique you mentioned. Its called Bala,. or Bullet. It works in a similar;manner as the Cero, but with different application." The Hollow puppet closed its hand, making a fist out of it now. Its knuckles pointed at the same spot as the beam preceding it. Crimson sparks manifested, crackling like lightning around each finger.   Unlike the former, even a moment wasn't spared for the technique to charge. Pulling back its muscular arm, the Hollow punched forward at the air! At the same time, a smaller bullet of concentrated red energy shot out from his fist. It darted through the air as much as ten times faster than the cero,  creating a small sonic boom as it darted forward. The smaller blast crashed into the ground, dispersing the remaining flame from the moment of impact and create a large crater nearly eight feet deep in the desert floor. This wouldn't last long though, the wind already pushing the sand back in place and reforming from the damage done.

"It takes less time to charge, consumes less energy, and is far faster. It also has a force more connected to kinetic damage than raw explosive incineration like the cero. As all things need a trade off, the bala is substantially weaker than a cero. It can still blast a hole through a person's body without much trouble." The sparks around his hand dissipated, the Hollow's full attention returning to the Arrancar before him. Though that was all it had the power to demonstrate at the moment, there were more things to address. 

"Neither of them relate to your blade. Your zanpakto is home to your unique abilities, the ones only you had access to during your time as a Hollow. Though releasing that stage will augment your cero and bala by extension, as it serves as an overall increase in power as well. On top of that., as an Arrancar you have two more abilities even I can't access. The first being Hierro, a natural armor of sorts that is forged from your spiritual energy and offers additional protection from damage. It is a more passive piece compared to the second; sonido. Sonido is a sudden burst of speed based on surpassing the Shinigami's movement technique shunpo. By giving up a small amount of energy, it can allow one to move as fast, if not faster than sound for brief spans of time. As you can imagine, that will come in handy once you learn to apply it.  Got all that?" The Hollow paused. It tried to condense things to the best of its ability, but the explanation remained lengthy. The soul did seem to understand everything from the prior lecture, but he just wanted to be sure everything was getting through to her head.

Watching as the Hollow before her let loose an example of each power Minerva had mentioned, the girl stood with eyes glued to the hand the Adjuchas used. Absorbing the information regarding how it used these powers was crucial, but... how was she to do this? It seemed whatever these attacks were made of was something that was intangible until the creature started charging the abilities themselves. All other instances of these powers looked exactly the same as when it was demonstrated to her just now. That must mean that she had access to this energy as well. Ever since she left that realm of darkness, she had felt something odd about the air around her. A familiar odd would be how the pink-haired Arrancar described it in her head. Like it was attached to her? Maybe. She could only theorize how to manipulate this energy in the form of these attacks. But first hand practice was always nice.

Nodding her head after the explanation about her Zanpakutō, Minerva turned away from the Adjuchas and held her hand out. This energy around her... It most certainly did feel familiar. It reminded the girl of herself, oddly enough. That fact alone solidified the fact that it was her energy, at least in the back of her mind. What would happen if she tried to will it to move? It seemed silly to use one's mind to force a physical object to move, but once she saw that it actually worked, her mind exploded with a million more questions. As the girl tried to do what she thought would will her energy to move, small shreds of light pink reiatsu started circling around her outstretched hand. So this was the energy she was supposed to use to use Cero and Bala?

"This... This is part of how you do all of that, correct?" Minerva asked. If the Adjuchas looked into her eyes, it would see the tiniest glimmer of intrigue. It was as if the girl was thinking about how she could use these to create her own powers. The possibilities were endless. But did she really need those powers? Yes, she needed to learn to defend herself. It was imperative to her even existing. One day, they would prove their purpose. The question was just how was she going to create these powers? First would come learning to control, then creating what would essentially be prototype powers, then eventually the full powers themselves. That would take time. Much, much time that Minerva figured she had now that she was turned into nothing but a wandering soul. But what did she do now? Find an isolated area and then start developing control. It would be a long learning experience, but the process should be relatively simple. It would be a while before she learned how to fully control her powers. That is, if she ever made it that far. Getting used to it would be the very first step she needed to take, however. But before that, she still needed to find that isolated area.

"Find isolation, develop control, practice, invent powers, and then..." Minerva mumbled to herself, staring at her hand and the pink shreds still circling it. It seemed she had temporarily forgotten she was in the presence of another being, but a quick reminder would pull her mind back to reality.

It wasn't surprising to see the signs of development already at work. After all, these techniques were natural, even done purely by instinct to a large number of their kind. to the posed question, the Hollow nodded his head, catching the faintest sign of interest in an otherwise lifeless expression. The emptiness mixed with an outlook of curiosity was an odd combination for one to have, but given such a shadowed background, it made sense. Due to its own unorthodox development, the hidden parasite couldn't recount a time in its existence where it didn't have a firm grasp of everything to some degree. Perhaps dim lit flashbacks of the stolen memory of recent subjects to a degree, but not closely enough to fully comprehend the psychology of the void. It left up the question of what brought about such a bizarre state of being. Could it perhaps correlate to her unique talents? The shadow that lingered with a mind of its own...Even it couldn't deny a slight curiosity to what power remained locked away in the woman's blade.

After a moment, the Hollow caught ear of unusual words from the ignorant soul he provided with some degree of knowledge. It appeared she had already become isolated in the realm of her own mind, completely forgetting its presence. Such a thing wasn't very healthy for one planning on getting ready to properly defend themselves. After all, its body was still Hollow, a monster of instability that could very well attack and easily consume her unknown existence in a matter of seconds. It was that kind of threat that left opportunity in its wake though. The Adjuhas addressed her once more, not sure how far her mental wandering had taken her in such a short amount of time.

"We talk for a few minutes and you're already planning on leaving? Must not be a people person." Whether that claim was valid or not, it did seem that way. It could only be due to inexperience with others that lead to such developments, but it wasn't one to try to change the unorthodox views and choices of others; less they served to benefit it in one way or another. That raised the thought again of a topic buried, nearly time to resurrect and present a potential claim. The Arrancar knew enough to know she needed power to survive here, something she surely lacked compared to the higher caliber creatures that roamed the endless desert. 

"If you want to be left alone to properly develop those hidden talents, I can go ahead and leave you be, though I think its time I pose a question of my own interest. How would you like to make a contract? " Of course such a blunt question wouldn't be worth much. The contract it spoke of went far further than any traditional legal agreement. It transcended the laws of space, breaking the grounds of spiritual bonds and bringing about the inner power of one's darkness, things that could prove beneficial to any Hollow or Arrancar that signed their soul to the mark of a nameless serpent.

"As I said before,a zanpakto holds the unique powers one had as a Hollow. My unique ability is to forge unique contracts with others...Not very good for battle like most, so it took some..strategic application to get where I am now. " A partial truth,  the parasite functioned in a much mire strategic light for survival than most. Its functions comprised of manipulation and bending forces of will aside its own to prosper and live. That maintained its validity even today, but perhaps not to as an extreme extent as the Hell of its earlier years.

"As you are now, even once you come to understand the power .of our kind, you'll still have a long way to go before you can properly defend yourself  from the greater forces that bend the world around us. I can grant you a last gift, a portion of my own strength fused to your very soul. The only adverse side effect may be an increase in your aggression, but that may be a good thing in a world like ours. It should even help you tap into your forgotten Hollow instincts to more-easily build up control over your talents. Your body should adapt to my energy fairly easily, expediting your own growth and giving you a bit more energy to apply in your isolated practices. All-in-all, a pretty nifty thing to be able to hand out to people when need be." The entirety of that was true, perhaps downplaying a few of the more negative aspects that contributed to the developments, but true.  Of course one displaying an emotionless shell with no recollection of their identity could spell out any number of reaction to the spontaneous offer. Still, the Hollow maintained a calm and collected expression, speaking slowly and without any visual ques that could otherwise point to a fallacy.

"And to answer it ahead of time, yes. Contracts are two-sided things. I like to keep options open though, so all I usually ask for is a few favors in the future. Nothing you'd be against, surely. I could even throw in some future lessons on things once you've come to develop and regain direction in your existence. If you have anything to add, go ahead. It isn't anything I need to put on paper." A policy many took on to their life was giving a shot in the dark even when the odds were unknown. It was that lane of thought that would bring the future rise of the serpent's power to the public and begin a new era in its personal quest for completion. For now there only remained the question behind a lengthy explanation. In the end of all the complications and explanations, it entailed an offer of power for little more than a few tasks in the future. The fiend's hidden purpose for these agreements would remain as such, but the public aspirations of it were clear. It desired influence. Control over the flow of the creatures that lived alongside it in their ecosystem allowed it to survive and prosper. Now it need only wait for an answer, be it direct or indecisive. Would she accept it?

As the strange creature started talking, it would seem that Minerva had little to no interest in what it was saying. In fact, she was very distracted by the sheen of her own Zanpakutō. Having finished planning out her methods of developing control over these newly found powers, she had moved on to theorizing what her strange little katana could do. It was very oddly colored, with one half being black and the other white. Not only that, but she had just a little bit of a hunch regarding her shadow being something involved with her Zanpakutō. Maybe her shadow came to life and attacked things for her, or maybe it gave her some kind of supernatural control over some other force? A million questions sped through her mind while she looked her sword up and down. However, once the creature mentioned a contract, Minerva's interest found a completely new topic.

"A contract you say?" asked the pink haired girl, her eyes never leaving her Zanpakutō.

The following information that the Adjuchas gave to her was processed very quickly and thoroughly by the Arrancar. It could do that? There must have been a great diversity in powers from one being to another if it had that power and she likely had another one buried in the seal of her sword. That was for her to figure out at a later date, however. Right now, she stopped rotating the blade from side to side to stare into the reflection of her face. So by making the contract, she would be given power in return for several favors? A thousand more questions reeled through her mind, causing her to stare out and go into a deep silence for about a minute or so. When she came out of it, her response was one that the Adjuchas wouldn't likely expect.

"Please do."

Minerva didn't care what side-effects there were. Power was always good to have in this world, it seemed. Someone saying it would help facilitate the process of gaining such a thing was something that the emotionless girl didn't need to question. She wanted it, and she'd likely be able to void it later if she developed her powers properly. That would be nice, wouldn't it? But that would be if she didn't get herself killed in the process. The talk about being more aggressive didn't bug her. There was something abnormal about her lack of emotion. If anything, she just assumed that the increase in aggression wouldn't even happen. If it did... well, being devoid of all emotion but aggression would be a strange one, wouldn't it? That is, if aggression was even an emotion.

"As long as I am not your personal slave or toy, I see no issue." she said, looking up at the Adjuchas.

Minerva hadn't thought long, but she had thought hard about making this decision. She came to the conclusion all she had to do to nullify the effect was kill the Adjuchas who made the contract and overpower the effects of whatever consequences came with it. Maybe she could even purge it from her body. Who knew?