Road to Redemption

Chapter 8: Interval

A/N: Remind me to never sign up for an advanced astronomy course ever again. It's been a month since the last update and I been buried in astronomy textbooks. I'm so sorry for the late update, but this chapter is really long so I hope that makes up for it. Thanks for your patience and your lovely comments they really motivate me. I hope you enjoy the chapter and again thanks for reading!

© Bleach and it's characters don't belong to me. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. Shizuka Fujiwara, and Anna Maria are the only characters I own.

Chapter 8: Interval

"Absolutely not!" As soon as the words left his lips he regretted them. Shizuka stepped on his foot, to keep him from saying anything else.

The woman didn't seem too bothered by his reaction. She looked like she was expecting it. "I know it's silly to do just what he wants, but I don't see any other way I could stop these nightmares."

"Orihime-chan has a point. I'm afraid all of us have to be well rested and ready for a surprise attack. Besides, this could be a chance to get more insight into Anna's plans."

"That may be true, but jeopardizing the woman's safety for hypothetical scraps of information does not seem like a convincing plan to me." He hoped they bought his half lie. The truth is he would have rather fight Kurosaki Ichigo in his hollow form than to let the woman go to Lord Aizen.

Shizuka just smirked at him. He suddenly had an urge to roll his eyes. 'Now I can begin to understand Tercera's expressions.'

The woman smiled at him. "I'm glad you're worried about me Ulquiorra, but it's not like I haven't talked to Aizen before. This time he's going to be restrained, and I won't be alone. Just trust me, I'll come back safe"

The way she said it, he couldn't turn her down. "Very well. Then we should make preparations for your departure."

***
They were only at the gate and she was already tempted to turn back. The entrance to the Underground Prison was a set of wide black doors with a single seal between them. To her they looked like the entrance to Dante's Inferno.

"Are you certain you want to do this?" Shizuka asked her before placing a strange looking tablet on the seal.

Orihime wasn't sure if she could handle it, but she needed answers. So she would not leave until she got them. "Yes. Let's go in."

Shizuka nodded. The shinigami placed the tablet in the seal and pushed it as if it was a button. The gigantic gates slowly creaked open, letting out a harsh wind from within.

"Here." Shizuka handed her a blue long-sleeved haori. "Captain Otoribashi told me to wear these for protection."

Orihime nodded and put on the haori. The girls began walking down a staircase that led to nothing but darkness. The white-haired shinigami used a kido spell to light the way, holding a blue flame in her palm that also transmitted some warmth as they kept walking down.

The cold was hostile, as they were reaching the eight level she could see puffs of air come out of her mouth. This temperature could've killed her if she had been a normal human.

"It's the haori's, they keep us safe. This level is meant to be for immortal beings, so while we could die from the cold, he would merely be inconvenienced by it." Shizuka pulled Orihime close to shield her from the wind.

'Immortal beings...So that's why they didn't kill him.' She wasn't expecting him to be dead but didn't think he'd be alive forever either. 'Another convoluted part of his plan?' she wondered.

Finally, the pair reached the eight level of the prison. There was not a single speck of light as far as Orihime could see.

"Are you ready?"