Prelude to Black. Dressed in White [Criella, Safira]

How long had it been since she'd bothered to come to this dreary realm? Too long perhaps. The first thing she had done was see the progress that was being made on the last job that she'd given to the little arrancar for some building work. As it turns out a hollow with quincy-like qualities was exceptionally useful at making a building project that might take years progress exponentionally faster.

She had greater purposes though for leaving her little piece of Earth though and that was in order to progress the situation in Africa. Who knew what was down there, what benefits could it yield to her, and so on. It was good though even if there was nothing of value in that hole since it kept the Gotei United and Vandenreich preoccupied. In its current state though she thought they had the situation a bit too under control. They needed to be put under some pressure.

Ergo, the under the guise of borrowing some blood of her latest business associate and trying her hand at developing her hierro-related abilities for the sake of going incognito. It was still a little unstable and why she was opting to trial it in this situation before jumping straight into a fight only for it to fall apart at the seams.

Why bother with all the effort? Naturally to avoid gaining a reputation from the two groups did she think that it would be much more prudent to practice some caution. She didn't need them declaring outright war on her just yet.

Standing in the empty sands, a bit away from the borders of this particular arrancar's lands. Some of the hollows had spoken of the growing power of this woman, the thing that Safira was most interested in though was the fact she had hollows to command. So she had sent an emissary in the form of one of the weaker arrancar to venture into Criella's territory and pass along a message that she wished to meet with her.

If she came here personally or sent a delegation to escort her into the woman's territory then so be it. The where did not bother her, only that she could somehow sway this icy queen to push what were ideally shared interests. People were always far more willing to cooperate if it aligned with their own interests after all.

Black feathers fell from the empty sky moments before the dark figure dropped before the woman that sat on the border of the Ice Witch's domain. Its body covered in black fabrics quivered and erratically moved, much like the ravens its form mimicked. Beady eyes then stared, the bird-like Hollow's head canted in a curious fashion.

"The Queen will now see you," It spoke, opening a gargantua beside itself, its darkness inviting. Though, stepping through it would not take Safira straight to Criella. Instead, the two would appear near the heart of the frozen kingdom, a large castle of ice and some other estranged material before the two Hollow.

The raven Hollow before Safira spared no other comment as it began crawling on its strange legs towards the steps that led into the castle's inner sanctum, a huge hall before a singular throne where the woman of the hour sat, her posture and eyes directed so that one believed she had waited for eons for Safira to finally make her presence known.

"An Arrancar of Earth, wishing to bestow me with her presence. How amusing," Criella began, dismissing the Hollow that brought Safira with a singular wave of her staff, the creature retreating out the door they came through before it shut.

"What brings the serpent to this frozen tomb?"

"That is correct, Queen Criella. I will spare you the trouble to listen to rambling for every second of a sovereign's time is worth its weight in gold, no? I come to make enlist your assistance if you will hear me out."

Safira explained from her position, she made no effort to bow or waste time with formalities. This woman was after all her lesser or, at best, her equal. The serpentine arrancar wouldn't bow her head in reverence to any except her own reflection after all. So taking a moment to let the other woman come to an understanding that she was here for aid, Safira continued as promised.

"As you may be aware, a sink hole of titanic proportions has decimated the African continent..."

To illustrate she waved her hand to create a broadcast of an aerial shot over Mogadishu. The ant-like people clamouring around the hole to defend the perimeter, beating back some hollows that were attracted or the lesser ones trying to escape.

"There are unique and interesting hollows within that hole which is why I am interested to investigate, extend an invitation to our kin beneath the surface if you will. For that to happen though, it will be necessary to break the blockade that is keeping them trapped within their cage. If it were to break I'm sure it would keep people busy for quite a while and make for some pretty good spoils if one could rule them."

She finished her explanation by adjusting her pure white locks, the borrowed guise was a little uncomfortable but nothing she couldn't refine. A few hints as to what the icy queen could get herself out of this arrangement. Didn't sound too shabby, eh?

Criella's eyes narrowed, a lack of amusement in her gaze at the gall of the other before her. If it were any other, Criella would simply send them on their way for the lack of respect. The trivial theatrics is what made being a Queen impactful, the dance of knaves beneath her, staving off cold death by kindling her heart with their pitiful acts. However, being all business and no play, Criella knew she'd getting nothing more than what Safira wished to bargain.

"Throwing mine at an unknown conundrum, just for the chance gold is struck? Please. We are both aiming for the world at our heels, are we not? If one could rule them? I wonder who that one is."

They are equals, are they not? Equality cannot exist in a kingdom. There is the ruler and those ruled. Criella has no interest in entertaining the idea that someone sits on a throne above her own, but she's also not a fool. To believe herself above approach would only leave her another nameless beast waiting for something above her to strike her down. To defeat the Gotei, the Vandenreich, and even the Arrancar in her court, things like this are only a formality that must be addressed.

"You wish for the Hollow to be freed to wreck havoc around the world. I have thought the same, but it would require sufficient resources, some of which I admit I do not have at hand, but acquiring that much is an easy task."

Now, Criella felt the need to address the true mystery in the room, a broad question that could be answered in numerous ways, but the correct answers are far and few. If anything the next words from Safira will truly decide the relationship between the two women.

"That leaves one question though: What does the snake want?"

What does she want? Interesting question and while she could lie outright where was the fun in that? Safira didn't need to lie but Criella had lapsed in asking such a broad question. The issues of specifics you know? What did Safira wanted in the short term? What did she want in the long term? There are all these nuances to a person's goals but of course a woman fixated on control would loose sight of the more minute details as she was blinded by the grand picture.

"Well from an academic standpoint I'm interested in seeing just what these hollows are like. I assure you Queen Criella, my sights are not on Hueco Mundo. Conquer to your heart's content and rule over the sands as Barragan once did if it is your heart's desire. I'm just a humble business owner trying to make ends meet in the world of the living nowadays."

The snake explained without saying much more. She'd done the whole rule over a kingdom of hollows before prior to her ascension to arrancar. It was not as glamourous as she would like, quite bothersome actually to have the whole "subjects" dependent on her. Criella could keep all of that, Safira frankly thought the whole idea was so archaic and overdone but who was she to voice those judgments?

Criella's no fool, but she has nothing else to say to Safira on the matter. She does not wish to relate her desires for more than just Hueco Mundo at her heels. The world's will bend, all three of them, in due time. Safira will simply be another face in the masses after a while, but as long as the woman remains useful, there's no need to rush things. Criella enjoys a show, after all, and the worms beneath her do know how to squirm. Heh. That's right. The snake is nothing more than an oversized worm, waiting to be dried up and split in two. Either way, pleasantries before the genocide. That is the way for now.

"Pleasure doing business then," Criella spoke, raising her hand and making a mild gesture for another to enter, a figure dressed in armor, its face empty of any visage. It moved close to Criella, bending to hear the woman's request before nodding its head with bare movements. The Vasto Lorde moved then, making its way to the space between Criella and Safira.

"For now, use Rey to your desires. He is rather capable."

"You're most gracious, Queen Criella. I'll be sure to use him well. I just hope he won't prove dull if he's faced with the combined might of the Vandenreich and the Shinigami."

Safira spoke back, maybe a little bit of her vanity showing by calling into question his effectiveness. It was a valid concern for her though, if he could not prove useful then what good was he? At the very least she liked to think that when an individual's power was called into question it forced them to need to feel the need to prove themselves and Safira was happy to provoke this tool into sharpening itself for her aims.

"I believe that is all we need to discuss, I'm sure you'll see for yourself that the Africa situation will not be contained by their wardens so easily as they like to think very soon."

The serpent had said it now, she could not fail after she had said as much. The one thing she couldn't take was when her pride was scarred by being proven wrong. The situation could not remain contained and she hoped that those hollows would leave something interesting in their wake.