"Mi Reina, mi dulce, wake up."

Agito's eyes opened slowly. At first, she didn't remember where she was, still thinking that she was in her inner sanctum. But no she was under a few white blankets, pressed against something warm and soft. She looked up into Coyote Starrk's eyes as he gazed down at her. Concern lined every part of his face as he swept her damp hair off to the side, delicately tracing the edge of her ear.

"You are crying, mi amiga," Starrk said, wiping away a tear, "You were crying in your sleep."

Agito wiped away the evidence and was mildly surprised to find her fingers coming away wet.

"What did you dream about?" he asked.

"I don't know," she muttered.

"Really?" he asked because Agito was a liar and he had long asked for her to tell the truth for him.

"Yes," she said, turning more on her side to cuddle up to the primera Espada, "I can't remember."

"Not a thing?"

"All I remember is...," she paused to think about it, finding words difficult to place, "Whales. I heard a whale song."

"Whales?" he asked relaxed, "What's that?"

"In the World of the Living," she said, "There are last lands of water, oceans. They hold entire worlds of animals. Some as small as a single grain of the tiniest sand and some as large as Yammy when he is in Resurrection form. Whales are the largest creatures known to the World of the Living. They sing underwater to communicate with their family. They sound like...

"They sound like angels singing with bells of sapphire. Like the voice of god is there in the ocean. Like a long lost love song. They say that God let the earth create the world but He created man and whales."

"You should have been a poet," Starrk said, "You have a way with words. What does it mean that you heard them singing and you cried?"

"I don't know. Mourning, perhaps?" Agito's mind was waking up and she snuggled her face within his neck saying, "I have something to ask of you."

"So ask," he said, wrapping her up in his arms. Cuddling with her might seem like cuddling with a shard of glass but she was warm, gave the best hugs, and always let him close.

"Would you give me part of your soul?" she asked as quietly as possible, knowing that eyes unseen were probably watching them.

"Ah," was all he said before reaching into himself and breaking off a fang. He knew how to manipulate the piece of soul up to the surface of the skin and with gentleness did Agito extract that bit to keep within. It was over and done with before a minute was up. They didn't even move.

"You want to know why I asked?"

"I don't need to," Starrk said, somehow, pulling the woman closer until she was half on top of him. "Go back to sleep."

They did and it was nice.

...

Harribel was a wise woman. She wasn't a mastermind like Aizen-sama. She wasn't as cunning as Gin. She wasn't as intelligent as Agito. She was wise.

So when she found a secret message among her collection of information about enemy combatants she knew that the tide was changing.

'Do you trust me?' read the message from la Reina and never had she ever heard anything so cryptic.

Did she trust la Reina, Agito Diabolos, the woman of fire?

No. Harribel did not.

Agito played too many games with Aizen to gain full trust from the shark hollow. She was a woman of fire, burning everything in her wake. Just by her presence, everyone could get warm but her twisting ire made standing beside her dangerous. Agito wasn't Reina because she wanted to be. Harribel knew this. It was all in that warped game she and Aizen-sama played. La Reina's position was a powerful and most dangerous role to play. Admittingly, Agito did it well, serving Aizen-sama her knowledge of battlefield tactics and training the Espada rigorously.

But Harribel wouldn't trust her. Harribel had others, her subordinates, to worry over. Aizen-sama and by extension, Agito, have proven that they believed Espada to be weapons of war and nothing else.

To them, the Espada were only pawns. Both ex-Shinigami played against each other and at one point Grimmjow became the victim to their games. Harribel still wasn't sure if la Reina felt regret for how her subordinate had fallen.

That was why she couldn't trust that woman.

But the entire situation made her curious. Why the secret message? Why the secrecy in general? What was la Reina planning?

Obviously not everyone got the same message in their Gotei Juu-san Profile. Harribel gave enough credit to la Reina's intelligence to give messages only to the Espada who could keep a secret. That included her.

Why her? Harribel wasn't loyal to la Reina. She wasn't apart of her group of Espada. Outside of training and meetings, Agito and her haven't spoken to each other. While it is true that Harribel has tried her very best to connect with every female Arrancar in Las Noches, the disconnect between la Reina and la tres Espada was due to negligence. Agito-sama did not try to connect with her and Harribel never tried to connect with she.

So the reasoning behind the secret message caused nothing but confusion.

Harribel walked down the halls of Las Noches in deep thought. She had just visited Menoly and Loly, two Arrancars serving as Aizen-sama's aids to quickly pass on the directive of later mourning for their fellow woman Arrancar, Cirucci. Her head jerked up and she glanced out the window.

It would seem that the ninth Espada is now dead.

"Curious, isn't it?" Harribel's instincts immediately called for her to skewer the sudden presence of an intruder but a quick thought of rational calmed her reflex from drawing her blade.

Agito Diabolos, Reina de Las Noches, stood at the mouth of the hall. Her suit was clean and pressed, sharp and dangerous. The smile on her face did not match the look in her eyes. A warm, nearly elegant smile with the look of cruelty and a mind always at work behind it.

"Agito-sama," Harribel greeted.

"I never would have believed that girl to be strong enough to beat Noveno," Agito said, "Makes me wonder who else is going to die."

"Do you plan on it?" she asked, testing the waters. Agito laughed like it was a joke just between them. She didn't find it funny.

"Oh no," Agito said with a shake of her head, "I don't plan on any of your deaths. I'm Comandante of Aizen's army. Any failure on his most elite generals would only be seen as a grievous failure on my part. I can't be insulted like that. But it's a good thing Noveno managed to kill the Shinigami girl in the end. I don't think I could stand it if an unseated officer of Soul Society managed to kill one of my Espada."

"Are you truly so callous?"

"What do you think?" Questioning Agito-sama would lead to nowhere. Harribel knew that she was hopelessly outmatched in a battle of wit against la Reina. She played against Aizen. Harribel would never win.

"I was thinking about having a tea party when this mess is all done. Would you join me?" Harribel was thrown off by the different topic. Tea?

"What?"

"We never talk, Harribel," Agito-sama said, "That would be my fault but we should really talk. I trust that you would come?"

'Do you trust me?' La Reina's words echoed in her mind and she thought furiously with what was happening. Agito wasn't talking about a real tea party. The tea party represents something else. There wasn't enough information given. But the question still remained.

'Do you trust me?' she asked in ink. Harribel knew her answer.

"I won't be able to attend," Harribel said, playing along to her game of shadows, "Now if you would please excuse me."

Harribel made to pass the woman by but Agito-sama stopped her with a casual hand on her shoulder.

"That's too bad," she said, "Next time then? You're always welcome. Oh, and bring your girls too." Never had la Reina ever spoken as she had now. It scared Harribel. Thirty years ago, Agito-sama was a bit more straightforward. Like a sword you know was sharp just by glancing at the edge. But this Agito-sama was more cloak and dagger.

La Reina released Harribel and took off to who knows where. She couldn't help but watch the other woman go.

Everything about the encounter set her teeth on edge.

Harribel turned away and sonido'd directly to her chambers set on checking her girls-

-and planning for the 'tea party'.

...

Agito walked down the halls, making her way to Orihime Inoue's quarters were. She was about midway before she stopped walking and breathed in a deep sigh, letting her stiff shoulders relax.

"Ulquiorra," she said, nearly purring. Out of the shadows appeared her Espada, the bat.

"Reina," he greeted before falling quiet.

"My sweet," she said, her voice like thick molasses, "Do you tire waiting?" Not much was known about the emotionless Espada but Agito knew better. He wasn't a sociopath, he just had nihilistic views of life. He didn't seek blood like Grimmjow and he didn't simply give up on participating in life like Starrk. He just never invested his heart enough to care about anything.

Agito knew the man was bored. So very bored. The only standing orders he currently had was to feed the human girl and make sure no one came around to play. All day everyone's been feeling the spikes of reiatsu signatures of battles and blood lust was slowly simmering to a boil.

"I know they will come," Ulquiorra said, "I will wait."

"How's the girl?" Agito asked. Honestly, the human never interested her. Several times had she forgotten that the girl was even at their disposal.

"She is strange," he said.

"Strange?" It wasn't like him to be so inarticulate. When he didn't offer any explanations she approached the Espada and grabbed his hand. "Is something wrong?"

Agito was smart. She could be cunning. A lot of times, she was mean. Rarely, very rarely, was she ever cruel.

Before Ulquiorra could give a satisfactory answer, Agito pushed her reiatsu under his skin, latched onto the closest piece of soul she could find and yanked.

The effect was brutal.

Ulquiorra didn't make a sound but his green eyes dilated to his soul throbbing and screeching. Agito quickly snatched the piece of soul she managed to grab and pulled it into herself. She would have rather asked the Espada for a piece of his soul. You know, consent and all.

But eyes that were always watching were especially watching now. Agito could practically feel the eyes that watched them behind their walls and screens. She hoped Ulquiorra would forgive her.

"Go," she said, "Go take care of it."

He stared down at his Reina, unsure at what she did or was currently doing. She dropped their hands and took a step back.

"Take care of Kurosaki Ichigo."

~~~