Ignorance in Black [Levi]

Levi was taking one of his rare quiet moments to read a book when one of his lab assistants barged into his room, panic sprayed across his chubby face.

“Yo?” Levi asked worriedly.

“Sir, there’s, there’s a woman here!” The arrancar gasped out in between haggard breaths. There was a reason he used the guy as a lab assistant and not... anything physical at all.

“Sweet. Why are you panicking? Is she hot?” Levi teased.

“Uh, yes. Really hot. A=and naked, but that’s not the point!”

Levi raised an eyebrow nearly off of his forehead. “You just told me a beautiful naked woman walked into my house, and this isn’t the point? I’m starting to worry about you.”

“She’s heading for the chemical labs!”

“So tell her not to sniff anything! What is the problem?” An exasperated Levi snapped as he stood up.

“She’s made of fire!”

Realization finally dawned on Levi. “Oooh sh-” BOOM! The floor vibrated under Levi’s feet as his uninvited houseguest sparked something several floors below them. The second floor was probably filled with something toxic now.

“Dammit, why didn’t you start with that!?” Levi yelled at his obese underling as he dashed off to assess the damage. The castle was filled with the sound of static as Levi flew past several other arrancar all running down the stairs toward the apparent accident. When he dived down the last set of stairs he found exactly what he was expecting. The whole floor was covered in some sort of noxious purple fog formed from a mixture of several chemicals being evaporated and mixed together. Several hollows and arrancar were coughing and wheezing, crawling on the floor or stumbling around in a daze.

Luckily, Levi had taken precautions for this sort of thing. One of his phantom limbs manifested and flew down the hall and around the first corner, where it pulled an emergency lever and started the fans in the ceiling. Within a few seconds the fog was gone, the assistants were recovering, and Levi was able to walk in, assess the damage, and find the culprit.

“Ok, who’s the genius matchstick that decided to not only walk into my house uninvited, but explore my laboratory while on fire?” He wasn’t yelling as he walked through the lab, but his tone made his irritation apparent. Luckily for the intruder, it appeared that nothing except for the chemicals themselves had been seriously damaged in the explosion. They could be replaced with relative ease.

His Pesquisa fooled him for a moment, until he remembered that the chemical explosion hadn’t even started a fire, and was already taken care of. Following the fiery reiatsu, Levi set eyes on the single most unique arrancar he had ever seen. Grey skin, red eyes, and not one but two hollow holes, one in each hand. Her black hair and physique were the only average thing about her, and while Levi had seen better bodies, he had definitely seen worse. Even under the current circumstances, Levi couldn’t help but feel a little flutter in his gut at the sight.

“Well hot-damn.” He said with an obvious change in tone. “A view like this might be worth a few lost chemicals.” He made no attempt to hide his leering eyes as they wandered over every inch of the intruder’s body. Someone who walked around nude had to, at the very least, be used to this kind of attention. And if she wasn’t, he would just call it payment for his lost chemicals.

He did sober up a bit when her reiatsu hit him again though. Not only was the scent a little off-putting, but the sheer power was on par with his own. This woman was someone to take seriously. As a matter of fact, Levi was pretty sure he knew who she was.

“I’ve heard rumors about a new Tercera being appointed.” He said as he approached her and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I am Levi Grisha, Seguda Espada.”

WC: 669

Verbrennung didn’t give much thought to her actions as she shoved open the doors to the Segunda’s palace in a rather unceremonious fashion. Social grace and formalities weren’t something a creature like her had learned or felt a need to learn—such things seemed pointless. The black lady gave no time for tension or curiosity to build within the minds of her fellow Espada’s followers, nor did she stand in the doorway to let her power generate fear in their hearts. No, Verbrennung pushed those doors open just enough for her to walk through and simply kept walking at an even pace, ignoring the baffled looks of the other Arrancar.

Quickly, the Tercera was swarmed by a mixture of other Broken Masks—something which startled her at first and gave her pause as she’d never met another of her kind before. Red-on-black eyes took in the sights of panicked beings in lab coats telling her she couldn’t go that way as well as large, musclebound men and women angrily telling her to ‘get the fuck out of here’. Each one possessed a mask piece in some way and it caused her to mindlessly lift a hand to her own as a sense of kinship swelled within Verbrennung. This swell was quickly replaced with a cold sense of deflation as her eyes took in each figure, the burnt lady realizing that two distinct divides still separated her from them even amongst her own people. All of them looked so much more human than her and they all flinched away from her boiling flesh. 

A freak even in Hell.

These other Arrancar, they weren’t like her. Even amongst her own kind, Verbrennung saw she was a freak. It didn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, and it shouldn’t ever matter. Demons don’t need others for anything outside of what can be taken from them. Other than that, they were just ashes waiting to happen.

Verbrennung kept her signature unrestrained, keeping the majority of the Segunda's people at a wary distance outside of the few brave souls that tried to engage the Tercera. Such beings found themselves suddenly ignited with nothing but a hard stare or a flick of her wrist. She wasn't in a good mood anymore and it showed as her pace became brisk as she moved through the halls, her red gaze narrowed darkly towards any who dared to meet them. Throughout this chaos, the Raven perched silently upon her shoulder, not speaking or projecting a word to Verbrennung.

This castle was much more… furnished than her own, she noted as she passed cozy looking couches, fancy tables, and bookcases that stretched up beyond reach. All it would take was but a touch and they’d erupt into flames. It was that easy for Verbrennung to ruin… any of this. It's why she didn't bother with material things or most people.

At this point, Arrancar were fleeing in the opposite direction of the Tercera as the rooms became increasingly clinical against her hot, barefooted steps. Some tried to tell her it wasn’t safe, she had to turn back but after a few were turned into living torches—well—most decided it was best to just evacuate.

Unbeknownst to her, Verbrennung had entered the main labs. She didn’t know much about ‘science’ and was more than a little mystified by the room and its contents. Counters upon counters, all clinically kept with everything in its place with the exception of the few stations that had been in use before she’d barged in. The few Arrancar that hadn’t fled stared at her in shock and growing panic as the sight of her burning reiatsu dancing along her shoulders settled into their minds. It took only a few steps too close to an experiment to cause a chain reaction of explosions to go off, the room quickly filling with a toxic purple gas. Breathing in the fumes caused Verbrennung to protectively pull her Raven to her chest with one hand and grasp her mouth with the other—not a very useful action when you have holes in your hands but she had to at least try to keep the acidic sting out of her body. Eyes of red peeked back open once a loud whooshing noise had filled the laboratory, taking the purple fumes with it. A man spoke as Verbrennung straightened up, her Raven hopping back up to her shoulder while her regeneration worked on fixing whatever the purple fog had damaged.

The figure initially sounded irate as he ranted about who dared to invade his home and laboratory, but this agitation quickly subsided once he came into view and their eyes met. Like the majority of the Arrancar Verbrennung had just met, this figure looked almost human in comparison to her: short but wild hazelnut hair and eyes of hazel. If not for the four spikes of mask fragment set along his jaw, she’d think he was just a powerful—if quite lost—human.

Verbrennung’s expression remained neutral even as the man’s eyes slid over her form in a rather slimy fashion. She knew she was an odd looking creature and didn’t think of it much more beyond that, though a black brow did perk as he stated the view was worth the loss.

Charcoal lips pursed thinly as the figure introduced himself and held out a hand in a standard greeting. She extended her own hand, wondering if he’d actually take her searing hand.

“Verbrennung,” She murmured, black wisps escaping her lips as she did so, “Yes, I’m the ‘Tercera’. Thought I’d wander around a bit… Quite a busy place you keep, and a rather… explosive one at that.”

A pause settled between them as her red eyes seemed to scan over his facial features.

“At least I finally got to meet my own kin. I’m a bit disappointed though. You all look very… human.” The corners of her lips turned downward as she said this with even the Raven’s head tilted to one side to regard Levi.

Levi almost didn’t notice the heat in time. His pesquisa had been so drenched in the sensation of heat from her reiatsu, he had almost grabbed her hand before he realized that his palm was burning. And instinct zapped through his arm and nearly snatched his hand away. Nearly. As the last possible millisecond before he embarrassed himself with such a rude gesture, Levi took brought his hand back under control and grabbed Verbrennung’s in a firm handshake, filling it with enough Reiatsu to protect it from the searing heat of her skin.

“Verbrennung, eh?” He said calmly as he held her hand. He allowed a few seconds to tick by and made a show of feeling no pain. To flinch away from her would have not only been rude, but also a show of weakness. When meeting a new Espada, neither was acceptable. “That’s a pretty name.” With that compliment he slipped his stinging hand out of the Tercera’s grip and into his own pocket.

Unfortunately for Levi, that kind of excess body heat would make sex with the beautiful nude woman in his house almost out of the question. On the other hand, Levi did love a challenge. But no. This was an Espada. They had much more important things to discuss. For the moment.

Levi couldn’t help but grin at Verbrennung’s little pun. “Well, I do like to start things off with a bang.” Worst pun ever. Totally worth it. “Of course if you had let me know you were coming, I would have taken precautions, such as meeting you at the door and telling you where the explosive chemicals were not.” Levi did let a bit of irritation creep into his voice at that. Beautiful and nude or not, Espada or not, the fact remained that Verbrennung had just invaded, and damaged, his home. “I would prefer if you walking into my house, burning my assistants, and blowing up my labs, did NOT become a regular thing.” He said with a sickly sweet smile, and a sharp glare. “I’m sure you would agree.” And just like that, his smile was friendly again.

The fact that Levi was apparently among the first arrancar the Tercera had encountered was a bit unsettling. Espada were, in addition to being powerful, the leaders of Las Noches. While the woman definitely had the power to fill the position, the idea that she could lead a people she apparently knew nothing about was questionable. Levi knew the queen was a bit desperate at the moment, that was how he got his job after all, but he had to questions her wisdom in giving out such important positions based solely on power.

And why did she say they looked too human as if that was an insult?

“Well, we can’t all be as unique as you.” Levi said with a shrug. “After all, if we were all so unique, then you wouldn’t be able to enjoy being so unique, now would you?” He asked with a wink. The lady was starting to get on his nerves a bit, but there was no way he was going to let her know that. “Besides, being more human isn’t so bad. They may be weak little fools, but they have a knack for creativity. Have you ever been to a human party?” It was a rhetorical question, of course. No arrancar could attend a human party properly without a gigai, and there was no way she had one already. “We should arrange for you to try it sometime. I guarantee it’ll be an exhilarating experience in its own way.” On top of that, Levi was relatively certain that he could design a gigai to suppress that little skin condition of hers. Oh what fun could come from that.

WC: 632
TWC: 1,301

He didn’t seem surprised or perturbed by her boiling touch—hell, did he even notice at all? Her thoughts drew back to the Miscreation’s own hand glowing with the heat of her powers, though he hadn’t noticed due to his immense power. No—surely this Levi Grisha could feel it, a thought that preceded her black fingers tightening around her fellow Espada’s own hand.

A grunt left Verbrennung at the compliment. What a useless thing to say, she thought to herself as the man slipped his hand from their shared grip into one of his pockets. Even the Raven’s beady orange eyes had an air of unamusement about them.

“You have a strange concept of ‘pretty’, Levi Grisha.” The remark came with a disapproving click of her tongue and a crossing of her arms. She didn’t consider his name to be pretty—it was just a name. Not melodic, not disgusting; just a name. Just like hers or anyone else’s.

Verbrennung drummed her fingers along her bicep as the Segunda addressed her ‘venture’ into his abode with a clear edge of agitation. Normally this would be the point when Hollow-breeds would begin their tension-filled, aggressive posturing but Verbrennung simply took in a deep breath and let it escape out her nose along with a bit of black smoke. She couldn’t just attack these beings—her ‘people’. Besides, the dark Arrancar found herself more intrigued as to why Levi cared so much about this carved structure of rock, or the things and people within it.

Why would a Hollow-breed care about any other Hollow-breed? That just wasn’t the way of Hueco Mundo.

“If it’d make you feel better, you can come do whatever you wish to the hollowed out rock the Queen saw fit to give me. I’m not much of a…” Her voice trailed off briefly as that red-on-black gaze flitted about the labs and what they bore within them, “... material creature.” Those eyes trained back onto Levi.

“But no—I don’t plan to wander in here often. Worry not, your things are safe.” Hell, she hadn’t planned to come here in the first place. It was all just wanderings and wonderings.

Those lips of sable twitched as Levi moved on. The longer he spoke, the more profoundly did a look of sour distaste spread across Verbrennung’s face.

“Unique,” She echoed, followed sharply by a snarled, “Enjoy.”

The shawl of flames that hung about her shoulders seemed to shiver in anticipation as the Tercera took in yet another deep breath. Inhale. Close eyes. Exhale. Open eyes.

“This life isn’t about mimicking the humanity we’ve lost. It isn’t about partying, prettiness, uniqueness, and it is especially not about enjoyment.” Those folded arms were unfurled from her guarded posturing; held out like she was presenting something that should be painfully obvious and yet so grand in scope. Her gaze rolled to one side as she finished her piece.

“I’ll live out my sentence as Hell sees fit,” Verbrennung’s eyes slid back to Levi then, “But enough of that.”

The Tercera walked forward before beginning to encircle the Segunda like a curious beast—her attentions flitting over every detail his form had to offer. Those thoughtful steps ceased once Verbrennung’s eyes locked with the bronze dagger hanging from Levi’s belt, a black brow perking with curiosity.

“A rather ornate weapon. I can’t tell if you’re a fan of artwork or warfare,” She let a hand drift out towards the blade, her fingers aiming to run along the scales of it if Levi allowed such, “I’ll assume you carry it for the former reason.”

It seemed that the Tercera’s mind was not as beautiful as her body. It seemed that every compliment, every effort Levi made to be civil, was met with scorn. For such a unique hollow, she acted quite orthodox.

Her offer to allow him to destroy her tower was intriguing. Privately he decided to never take her up on it. Not because he did not intend on getting revenge, indeed with every word that slipped from her mouth he was more decisive that he would, but because she did not value her tower. At least not yet. No, the day would likely come when he would take a jab at her, but it would have to be something much more important to her. A fraccion’s life perhaps? That might be a bit much. He would think of something though.

Levi loosened his hold on his own reiatsu as the Tercera’s flames shivered. His arms never moved. His smile never faltered. But his reiatsu carried his message well. He could tell she was trying to reign in her temper, for some odd reason, and he intended to motivate her. It would also serve as a warning to his remaining assistants to get themselves, and more importantly the equipment, to safety. He was hoping to avoid a fight in his tower, but he was not one to be cowed.

He couldn’t quite keep his shoulders from slumping in disappointment as she spoke again. “About? Ha.” The laugh was merely a word, its tone as humorless as the rest. “This life isn’t about anything, Tercera. I’m saddened that someone as unique as you, is still chained by such an illusion. There is no greater purpose to this world, there is no law except physics and power. If you wish to live hampered by their illusions, then I will leave you to it.” His patience was running thin. He had tried to be civil, even gone out of his way for it. It was becoming painfully obvious though that he and the Tercera were not likely to be friends.

He made no move as she circled him. He didn’t even remove his hands from his pockets or turn his head to watch her. While she looked with her eyes, he observed with his Pesquisa. If she dared attack, he would counter with his bala. There was no need for the Segunda Espada to move a muscle.

And then she reached for his zanpakuto. Immediately his Manos Fantasmales manifested, and an invisible hand gripped hers in a gentle but firm hold. These hands were made of pure reiatsu. They would not burn at her mere touch, and they could not feel pain. Even so, it loosened after a single second, offering her a chance to retract her hand. She would get only one.

“Careful Tercera.” He said evenly, as his eyes wandered over to meet hers. For the first time in their meeting, his eyes were hard. “Even among hollows, even for me, a zanpakuto is sacred.” As he spoke the words, it occurred to him that the woman had no weapon on her nude body. “Speaking of which, where is yours?” As quickly as the question was spoken, the answer became obvious. He had assumed the raven was a simple pet, but as he looked at its orange eyes he realized it was supernatural, and yet not hollow. It had no mask, no hole, and yet it had reiatsu that was distinctly that of an arrancar. Not just an arrancar either. It resonated with Verbrennung’s reiatsu.

“Ah. I see.” The curious amusement returned to his voice, and the smile to his face, as if nothing had happened. In his mind of course, nothing could be further from the truth. That didn’t mean he wasn’t fascinated though. “An organic zanpakuto. Does your uniqueness have no bounds, Tercera?”

WC: 641
TWC: 1,942

“About nothing?” Verbrennung said questioningly as she encircled Levi, holding up a finger one by one as she listed off each spiritual species she knew of.

“There is a core meaning to each creature’s life depending on what it is, Levi Grisha. A Shinigami must cleanse and maintain order, a Hollow must destroy and live out its punishment for its sins, and a human must strive for Heaven—for the Soul Society.” Brief images of the poverty of the Rukongai floated through the woman’s mind as she mentioned the plane of the Shinigami. Verbrennung could easily recall just how unbelievable it was to her that Heaven—the promised paradise of the good and just—was such an… uncaring place, and how the Gotei seemed more like an escape from the bad life the Rukongai had to offer than a Heavenly defense. Die in poverty or take your chances in the battle field against demons. Such cruelty was worthy of Hell. Doubt was a weapon of Heaven, however, and she knew she must not think on such matters.

“An Arrancar, a Vaizard, or… other beings… I’m not so… certain...” Her words died away into a murmuring of uncertainty as she thought of not only her own people, but of Walkren, the Queen, and… the Miscreation. She allowed her train of thought to fade as she began to comment on Levi’s zanpakuto, a look of surprise crossing her dark features as that unseen limb briefly grasped her hand, preventing her from touching the serpentine blade. She wasn’t going to push the Segunda on this matter, she decided, straightening up and allowing her arm to rest at her side once more.

“Zanpakuto? My Zanpakuto?” A black brow lofted itself questioningly, though she remained quiet as he continued on in his inquiry. That curiosity-induced lift only increased as Levi seemed to answer his own question upon looking to the Raven. Her own red-on-black eyes shifted to consider the bird that was perched upon shoulder as it usually was.

“Are Zanpakuto not weapons of the Shinigami? Why would we have such things, Segunda? Though we are broken Hollow-breeds, we aren't that far gone from our species." Her gaze turned back to Levi, curiosity searching his features for answers in a silent stare.

“Organic Zanpakuto…” She echoed the phrase with some measure of testing to her tone, “Its also been called an inner spirit before, by another. That same individual also used that word you seem to love: unique.”

All throughout this, the Raven seemed to observe Verbrennung with an intense, observatory stare as if curious of her exploration of the topic—as if it knew things she did not. Those orange beady eyes shifted, if only briefly, to consider Levi. Could a raven look amused? If so, this one certainly did.

Levi’s spirits sank with every word that came from Verbrennung’s mouth. How could such a creature, an arrancar, an Espada, be chained to such a staunch world view. She sounded like she actually believed shinigami propaganda! By the end of her rebuttal, Levi had to fight very hard not to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose. Avoiding a dead-pan expression was beyond him.

She didn’t even know what a zanpakuto was? Granted, it was reasonable for her to think of hers as a pet, but how could one evolve that far, not to mention becoming an Espada, without even knowing that arrancar also had zanpakuto? Ah, but of course. She had said before that she had never met her own kind before. Levi was the first arrancar she had ever talked to, so how would she know? Levi inwardly laughed at himself as he realized his frustrations had set his mind on the same kind of biased blind-ness that he so often accused others of. It was reasonable for her not to know.

“A zanpakuto is a bit more that a weapon.” He explained casually, drawing his own to hold as an example. “A mortal’s human body keeps their soul intact like a shell. When they die, that shell is lost. Without it, the soul is susceptible to fracture or even break down. Now when a shinigami unlocks their powers, the part of themselves that they are least in tune with will break off, and form their zanpakuto. That is the source of their power. Now they do have inner spirits, which is probably what that other person was referring too. They also manifest an ‘inner world’ a sort of alternate dimension in their own mind where that spirit will live.”

“Hollows are a bit different. Their souls are in constant flux, especially as they consume more and more souls. Their souls are the most chaotic of all, and can even break down to a degree if they don’t eat. Think of it as the three stages of matter. Mortals are solid, shinigami are liquid, and hollows are gas, in constant danger of dispersing and floating away. They have no zanpakuto and no inner spirits, unless you count all of the souls they have consumed.”

“Now we arrancar and vaizards are a half-way point between the two. Vaizards are shinigami who’s souls have become more chaotic like a hollow’s. An arrancar is a hollow whose soul has solidified, more like a shinigami. When that happens, our souls fracture the same way the shinigami’s do, except the parts of us that become our zanpakuto are the most monstrous and animalistic, the most hollow parts. That is what an arrancar’s zanpakuto is. That crow on your shoulder” he continued as he pointed to the animal in question “is the animal you used to be.”

“So. Knowing that. Where do we fit into your tidy little world-view now?” He couldn’t help but sound a bit condescending as he spoke. It was bad enough hearing shinigami spout their boxed-up ideas of good and evil, of natural order and purpose, but to hear an arrancar say it? That was infuriating. “What is our purpose, Verbrennung?”

WC: 533
TWC: 2,475

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