Off-Season Mother's Day [Nelliel, Ninsianna]

T'was quite the pain to get in, she didn't exactly get what the soldat had meant when he muttered something about "another one" to his colleague when she had taken the steps to get into the City of Lights. Fortunately she found the whole process quite easy when you had a friend in the Vandenreich's higher ups looking after your little girl.

While she'd have loved to see how little Alex was doing and have some fun with her darling girl there were more pressing matters on her mind which had her more matured up and more serious. There was a time to be a kid and a time to be an adult, it happened to be the latter time.

The first stop was Ninsianna's home, and she'd hoped that the director was well aware of her presence in the Vandenreich after taking all the proper channels to enter the city. She'd let Alex go off with little Alex to spend some time together, Inanna had seemed a little hesitant initially but the allure of spending time with the two red-heads seemed to have won her over. Super cute but anyways!

That just left the two mums to get down to business.

Ninsianna would have rather liked it if the company she was having today was purely for the sake of a pleasant visit, but she knew all too well that this would not be something quite so simple as that. She was already fully aware of who Alex's mother was, after all, and by extension she knew that the recent matter in the City of Lights was something that would never go unaddressed.

Even so, she treated it as any other friendly meeting the two might have had. Tea was set by the window, a pleasant little view of the sea visible enough, and of course everything had been cleaned immaculately and put into its place. When their company had arrived, Ninsianna had been quite willing to let Inanna go off with her best friend, and now it was only she and Nelliel.

"I imagine that there is quite a bit you wish to speak on, given recent events. I do not wish to dictate the course of conversation, so please, ask what you wish. I will gladly answer to the best of my ability."

While Ninsianna certainly considered Nelliel someone she could trust, and very nearly a friend, she was squarely in her more professional demeanor at present. After all, this was a serious discourse to be had.

"Of course there is... Nanna's quite a bit bigger than when I last saw her."

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table as she said it. The thoughtful look briefly changing to a big childish grin as it reminded her of her problems with her form once upon a time. Her attempts to remain cheerful and make small talk were short-lived though as she tossed a glance to Gamuza, the verdant katana filling her mind at the disturbing news of Ichigo.

"They said he was an arrancar. You must be mistaken, he's a hollow shinigami."

Nelliel explained off her memories, she'd seen his fight with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra. The presence of the Cuatro had not gone unnoticed since she'd entered the city but he was another matter. Ichigo Kurosaki was a shinigami and he'd taught her that there was more to them than killers of hollows, just as she'd like to think she'd shown him the potential of a hollow.

Ninsianna would have loved nothing more than for this conversation to simply stay on her daughter, on how quickly she was growing and how happy she seemed to be these days. But that would have been foolish to expect in such a situation, that much she knew, and she took a sip of her tea as she considered how best to answer this. For most, she wouldn't have even thought about such a thing, but Ninsianna felt indebted to this woman.

"Our reports are still being fully compiled, so there may be something that we have missed. However, our sensors detected only hollow energy, and his arrival was through a garganta. We did not even know his identity immediately, only that a significantly powerful Arrancar had appeared."

She was not a fool. She understood that this was a personal matter for Nelliel, and Ninsianna wasn't the sort who cared to intrude on personal matters. But as both the Director of the Albedochiffren, and as a friend, she had little choice but to speak with her on this matter.

"I see..."

She looked down at her tea a bit solemn, lamenting the loss of a friend that she cared deeply about and all that had been lost in this attack. For what reason did he do this? She wondered if it was a fascimile. He could've died and a hollow took his form to create this meaningless slaughter, it could just be an imposter.

"And what was this arrancar's goal?"

Nelliel asked while resting her chin on a hand. Turning her gaze to look out at the skyline and look over the sea. It was a more comforting sight than what could be the destruction of the city in their gaze. Had he really become nothing but a beast, there must be a reason.

"His goal was not immediately clear to us, and we are not entirely certain that he left having achieved it. However, he left with no further incident upon taking the Grandmaster's advisor with him."

Ninsianna paused only briefly as she considered how she ought to present such information. Would Nelliel already have heard it? She doubted so, if she was asking. Unlike many of the people Ninsianna dealt with every day, Nelliel was not one for duplicity or needless politicking. If she was asking the question, she genuinely wished to know the answers.

"Orihime Inoue. We were unaware until this attack of her identity, but we consider it self-evident why he would have taken her, if his identity is to be considered legitimate."

Her tense body deflated ever so more as she sighed, it had dashed her hopes a little to hear that news. So he had attacked and came to claim Orihime but how peculiar, things did not add up to her. Why did Ichigo pursue this course of action? Why was that girl even working with the Vandenreich in the first place, discreetly no less. How this grim news left her ruminating on the matters and trying to make sense of the surreal situation.

She had her reason in the abstract at least but everything else did not align to her understanding of the man and woman she'd known in the past. People did change she supposed but even in all her grief at her missing fraccion, her missing family, she had not let herself succumb to the state of a rapid dog.

"Orihime's powers are naturally valuable. It makes sense that Ichigo would pursue her like he did a century ago but those that know her are aware that a woman that can upturn the world itself with her whim is a terrifying threat or a most valuable obstacle. Lord Aizen would not have taken her in the first place otherwise. It doesn't need much justification for someone with bad intentions to want her for a purpose."

Nelliel explained, even though she had no love lost for Sosuke Aizen she did hold a degree of respect. His reign was one of the more peaceful eras of Hueco Mundo, it wasn't the greatest margin but it was something for the short time it held for.

Nelliel's obvious displeasure at that information certainly made this situation feel all the worse for Ninsianna, even if she knew that she could hardly say anything differently. All that she could do was share as much information as she had with her friend, and make the situation any easier to parse.

"Her power is certainly tremendous. It has done far more here in the City of Lights than I would wish to speak on, but I know well that anyone would have reason to keep her in their good graces. I can only hope that she has not lost sight of the bonds she held here, whatever they might have been."

That much was true, if nothing else. For all that Ninsianna understood why this could have happened, she knew that the White Witch had been a genuine fixture in the City of Lights, if in her own detached and strange way. She could not entirely imagine such a thing simply disappearing from her thoughts.

"I cannot pretend to know what intentions Ichigo Kurosaki or Orihime Inoue have. I will naturally share all of the information we have at our disposal with you, as you are certainly a foremost expert on this matter. But I am afraid I have rather less to tell you than I would like."

Nelliel straightened back up, the situation dire on her mind and really dulling her mood. The Tercera Espada's eyes stuck on the ocean, that war really had sunk so much of the ground that people stood on and now she wondered if they were floating perilously in the water. She just felt like she'd let the people around her down that had tried to protect, was that the same as her current situation? Would she see her family disappear as well?

"If Ichigo will continue to engage in this behaviour I will stand in his way, Ninsianna."

She declared with the intent to carry it out but it didn't change the fact that it had made her heart sink a little bit and burdened with weight. The lamentation though was backed with anger and frustration about his actions.

"I imagine that is not an easy thing for you to say, Nelliel. But your resolve is welcome, and I will do whatever is necessary to assist you in that. I have sworn to protect the world, not simply the Vandenreich."

Ninsianna felt she ought to lighten the mood, even if only slightly. A topic like this was hardly pleasant to discuss, and what more could be said on the matter? She knew little beyond what she had already said, and any further information would certainly find its way to Nelliel with all possible quickness.

"I will continue to protect your daughter with my life, for as long as is necessary. But I hope that this matter is seen through quickly. Peacefully."

She, after all, did not care for conflict. She was not one to seek vengeance, except in the most dire of circumstances. And, even then, she knew that it was wrong. If this matter could be handled through simple words, that was more than sufficient for her.