*screams infinitely* I am so, so, sorry for not updating this for so long everyone! I hope you guys are still interested in the story and I will try my very best to update more regularly. Thank you all for being so patient!

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I hummed a tune to myself as I felt the light wind dance through my hair gently. I glanced up at the gleaming face of the moon and noticed that it was a lot bigger than usual as it illuminated the white surfaces of the palace of Las Noches perfectly. 

I had been alive for 2 months exactly. Already in that short amount of time, I had learned how to fight and how to control my power accordingly. I often asked myself if there was any more to my life than just combat and power, but then I was always reminded not to think about that when Grimmjow, Aizen or Szayel sent me to do yet more training. 

The only peace I found was when I immersed myself in my inner world and spent time with Kaminari: the only person who truly understood me.

"I thought I might find you up here," Grimmjow's voice made me nearly jump out of my skin in fright. 

"What do you want?" I sighed deeply.

"Is that any way to speak to your superior? You ought to have more respect," he scolded.

"I'll have more respect for you when you finally start appreciating me as your subordinate," I shot back. "What do you want?"

"We're going to the World of the Living," he suddenly decided.

"Did Lord Aizen want us to go there?" I asked.

"No, and under no circumstances are you to tell him that we've gone," he commanded, not meeting my gaze.

"We shouldn't be going, Grimmjow. Lord Aizen won't be pleased if we do something without his say so," I told him worriedly.

"You have no choice in the matter. Come with me or I'll kick you out into the desert," he growled.

I sighed before standing up and turning to face him.

"Alright I'll come. But don't come crying to me when Lord Aizen beats you half to death for acting without his permission," I said seriously.

"You make it sound as if I'm terrified of him! I'll admit he's strong, but he doesn't scare me," Grimmjow brushed off confidently.

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you Mr Over-confident," I sighed with a small smirk. "So why did you suddenly want to go?"

"That Ulquiorra is soft. He was given specific orders from Lord Aizen to kill that Soul Reaper kid, yet he and Yammy came back without a drop of his blood on their hands," Grimmjow said with a scowl.

"So, what, this is you wanting to go and prove to yourself that you're better than him?" I scoffed. "All this over a petty feud between you and Ulquiorra. You're pathetic,"

"What did you just say to me?"

I looked up at Grimmjow and saw his blue eyes flickering aggressively and with such malicious intent that I began to regret my words.

In the blink of an eye he had grabbed my hair in his hands and pulled me up off the floor. Each and every strand of my black locks that he had a grip on pulled against my scalp painfully and so a small whimper of pain escaped my mouth.

He held me over the edge of the roof so beneath my feet was a huge drop down onto the hard, sandy floor outside the palace.

Fear electrified my body as I shot a pleading look at my Master.

"If you ever say something like that to me again, you won't live long enough to regret it," he whispered. "Do you hear me?! Learn your place, you damn wench!"

He brought me back onto the roof and dropped me roughly onto the ground.

I landed on my knees and spent a moment thanking every star above me that was still alive.

"My deepest apologies, Master Grimmjow," I murmured, placing my forehead on the cold slabs of the roof so that I was bowing before him.

"That's more like it," he laughed.

I got to my feet before facing him once more.

"What are your orders, sir?"

"You and I will travel ahead of the others to the World of the Living and wait for the other Fraccion to arrive," he said.

"Understood,"

Grimmjow turned to face the desert spread out before us before closing his eyes.

The very air in front of us began to break into black squares that slowly opened to reveal a black portal.

Without so much as a word, Grimmjow stepped straight into the black abyss, expecting me to follow him.

I cautiously followed after him, taking tentative baby steps into the ominous blackness.

Once I was fully inside, I took in my surroundings with wide eyes and an open mouth.

It felt as though we were in a black thunder cloud. The air was thick and the area around us was pitch black with an occasional streak of grey.

The opening from which we had came through snapped shut behind us, but Grimmjow appeared to be opening another one right in front of us.

I watched in child-like amazement as the same black squares appeared once more, tearing a hole in the air again.

It opened to its full extent and so Grimmjow stepped out confidently. I scampered after him but as soon as I jumped out of the portal, I began to fall to the ground.

Grimmjow's hand grabbed my own and I found myself dangling above a huge drop once more, only this time I was not in fear of death.

"You idiot," Grimmjow sighed in annoyance.

I realised we had stepped out of the portal into thin air, and I had forgotten to use one of the Arrancar's most basic of skills.

I laughed weakly as I stood on the air and released my hand from Grimmjow's grip.

We walked over to the roof of a nearby building and I looked out at my surroundings.

This was my very first trip to the World of the Living and the sheer vastness and diversity I saw before me sent a shiver of admiration up my spine.

The desert of Hueco Mundo offered little to look at, but here, there were building of different sizes, each with its own distinct shape or design. The entire town was illuminated with lights in the street or simply by the lights in buildings in houses.

All my senses were alive with sounds, smells and even the taste of various things that were carried along with the breeze. I could feel the presence of every living person around me and wonder struck me like a bolt of lightening.

"It's beautiful..." I whispered out loud.

"Pitiful more like... Look at all those insignificant insects scuttling about. Hardly worth looking at, let alone marvel at in my opinion," Grimmjow sniffed.

I wasn't listening, instead I was watching a few humans walk around the town.

And so we waited. Grimmjow seemed to grow bored as he let out a sigh of annoyance every five minutes, but I was still mesmerised by the sight before me.

"You really do like it, don't you?" Grimmjow commented.

"Uh-huh," I responded. 

"You're a strange one, Mika..." he said.

"Uh-huh," 

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Uh-huh,"

"Say 'Uh-huh' if you're an idiot,"

"Uh-huh if you're an idiot,"

I smirked at the annoyed growl Grimmjow shot at me.

All of a sudden, I saw the squares open up above us and the rest of Grimmjow's Fraccion stepped out.

"Nice of you to join us!" Grimmjow said with a satisfied tone. "Nobody saw you?"

"No, Master Grimmjow," Shawlong responded.

Grimmjow's mouth spread into a malicious toothed smile as we hopped into the air to join them.

"Did you really have to bring the wench?" Di Roy cackled.

I shot him a look of hot hatred which he returned with an arrogant smirk.

"Can it, Di Roy. She's stronger than you could ever hope to be and you know it," Grimmjow silenced.

"How come she's gotta stay with you all the time then? Can't be that strong if she's gotta be guarded by you 24/7,"

"She's unstable. She has to stay near to me in case she does anything stupid. In case you forgot, she's only a couple of months old,"

"She has a name you know," I muttered.

"Anyway, let's get down to business. You all know what we're doing here?" Grimmjow said, to which we all nodded.

"Anything with even the slightest trace of spiritual pressure is to be annihilated. Leave no survivors, hold nothing back and show no mercy," 

The word mercy triggered something at the back of my mind.

Mercy was an act of compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within that person's power to punish or harm. This is what I had been told during my training, but it was something I was taught to hate.

Mercy triggered a sense of anger within me and I could feel a burning will to fight flare up within me. Mercy was a sign of weakness. Mercy was feeble. Mercy was what cowards showed to their enemies. I had to prove to everyone I wasn't a coward, nor would I back down in the face of the enemy.

"Get going," Grimmjow ordered and all of the Fraccion darted off into different directions.

"Ready?" he asked me.

I withdrew Kaminari from her sheath and spun her around in my hand skillfully.

"When you are, sir,"