With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
Xuan was quiet, which was good. Szayel was not worried about Xuan secretly plotting his demise; the poor boy was like a lost puppy, following his master in hope of dropped tidbits. In Xuan's case, this was information. The boy was already pouring through the files of a particular vizard who had escaped; he planned to bring her back some day. But there was other work to be done, and she was of low priority; she had been of low priority just before she escaped--no, was helped to escape. His former fraccion would pay dearly for that.
"This is interesting, Szayel-sama," Xuan noted, flipping through some notes. "How old are these notes?"
Szayel did not answer. The notes were old, leftover from just before he had helped Nnoitra with that Neliel woman. Obsolete, really, when Szayel had the information memorized. But Xuan wanted to know more about the construction of his traps, of his devices, and it was harmless to let a loyal fraccion know of these things.
Though Adan's betrayal was not welcomed, his silence was. Szayel quite enjoyed being able to pour over his old notes, his old data collected from the the vizard, Adan, and Stour to an extent. Even Xuan, if he wished.
Nothing, Szayel thought, would ruin this quiet.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Too bad for Szayel, that his quiet would be ruined by the rapping, the rapping at his laboratory door. It was three single, hard hits that would have echoed throughout the lab because of the quiet.
Jeanne, no longer in her release state had made her way to Szayel's lab as promised. Though the promise was not to Szayel himself, but to the package she carried for him. The young Alexei had been removed from her Halberd, taken to the healers where Abyss patched him up. Much to the silent Aybss's dismay, had stuck him back in the maiden for further torment.
Once that was done, she slowly made her way to Szayel's lab. The maiden on her back, like a backpack, and continued to go on her way. Sure, she would have loved to twist the knob on her maiden to enact the opera for her afternoon tea. Oh how she wanted to do so just for a moment, but she had already made up her mind about what to do with this boy.
So here we are, Jeanne standing outside Szayel's lab with his present. She would have entered, but that would have been rude. She still wanted to be on at least a few Espada's good sides, for future plans of course. She even made sure she was presentable, pressed dress and bonnet.
What was taking so long? The thought came as she waited. Maybe Szayel's boy wasn't doing his job properly. She would ignore that this time, after all it was a good day.
Normally, Szayel thought irately, Adan would have tripped over his own feet to reach the door quickly. He paused, wondering if Xuan would. No, Xuan was a little smarter than that. He looked to Szayel, waiting for any sort of objection, and stood when he received none.
Szayel forced his shoulders to relax from their stiffened state when his white-haired subordinate opened the door to a white-haired female. "Xuan-kun, do not make that face."
Glancing to Szayel, Xuan erased the look of contempt from his features and returned to his prior spot, leaning against the wall. He idly flipped through the notes, though Szayel deduced that the boy was done reading, and simply didn't wish to speak to the young exequias leader, which Szayel agreed to. He wasn't in the mood for this either.
"Hello Jeanne-san," he greeted coolly. He folded one arm over his chest, gesturing with his other hand. "Is there any particular reason for this...unannounced visit? I've quite a lot to do."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Oh, so the boy knew how to answer doors, so nice. The thought came to mind as the door finally opened for her. The green eyed boy Xuan looked 'ecstatic' to see her and Szayel looked even more so. She entered, ignoring Xuan for all intensive purposes.
With a curtsy, Jeanne made sure to keep the innocent act on for this. Szayel was quite the talker, able to keep a polite tone despite his obvious if not slight irritation at her visits. "I do apologize for coming without prior commitment, Szayel-sama, but I need to discuss a matter of importance with you." She raised herself up from her curtsy and smiled at Szayel.
That man was something to admire, he could scheme with the best of them. His intelligence, she hate it admit, was higher than her own. He would make for a excellent ally, certainly better to be on her side than the enemies.
Removing the iron maiden from her back, she looked for a chair to sit down upon. She looked over to Xuan, who leaned against the wall, moody. "Be a dear and fetch me a chair please." She asked sweetly despite knowing that he didn't really like her. She didn't care whether he did or not, he was just a dog to her.
She would normally carry a chair in her maiden, but something else was in it at the moment.
"I do apologize for coming without prior commitment, Szayel-sama, but I need to discuss a matter of importance with you," the girl said with a curtsy. It did not take much effort for Szayel to deduce that she wanted something, but whatever it was, he was not sure. "Be a dear and fetch me a chair, please."
Xuan furrowed his brow and glanced to Szayel, who shot him a warning look. Yes, you should take orders from her.
Placing his fists in his pockets, the boy left the room and returned a few moments later, half-heartedly dragging a chair behind him.
"Xuan, if you scuff my floors--"
"Apologies," Xuan hissed with a bitter grin, pulling the chair over his shoulders. Xuan was walking a tightwire, at this moment, and he was doing it without a net. He took three long steps and, with a mocking delicateness, set the chair on the floor. Szayel shot him the same warning look, and Xuan gave a less fake bow.
"Perhaps you should leave," the espada warned his fraccion. "Return in twenty minutes or so, this shan't take long."
Xuan sonidoed away without a word.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Jeanne watched as Xuan looked eager to bring her a chair, smiling all the entire time. The joy it was to see Szayel threaten him in a subtle way at the floors. They were shiny, that much was evident, but their was a small piece of dirt.
"Thank you." She said as she placed herself on the chair presented to her. It wasn't all that comfortable, not really her taste, but it will do.
"Perhaps you should leave," the Espada warned his fraccion. "Return in twenty minutes or so, this shan't take long."
Jeanne crossed her legs under her dress. She couldn't help but think that it was hard to find good help as Xuan left. "Now that that's out of the way, we can get down to business." Jeanne stated taking this more seriously now that the boy was gone. Adults should converse amongst other adults.
She looked at Szayel for a moment, wishing she had tea to make this better. "I understand that a valuable test subject was recently released from your control." She of course was talking about Kaki with certain subordinates under his control. It must be shameful for him to have so little control over them that they betrayed him so readily.
"Without your test subject, your research must have suffered. That is a shame." She was probably poking the bear right now, but it will be worth it when he gets his present. The boy was still not making a peep, so the surprise will surely make her day.
"Now that that's out of the way, we can get down to business."
Szayel merely perked a brow, tapping his forefinger against his chin. Business, was it? It seemed a lot of people wanted things from him, and Szayel wondered what she might have to offer him in return for his services. He didn't even know what service he was providing yet.
"I understand," Jeane continued after a moment, "that a valuable test subject was recently released from your control."
Lips turned down at the corners as Szayel folded his arms against his chest. While he hadn't exactly taken great measures in keeping that subject's escape a secret--especially not from Jeane--he didn't appreciate her insinuating that he had made a mistake in his choice of fraccion. Which he did, very much so. But he wouldn't let her insinuate as much.
"Without your test subject, your research must have suffered. That is a shame."
"Quite. Is that all?" Szayel knew there was more. It was a more subtle way of saying, 'Cut to the chase.' But he could put on a mask of ignorance and remove it at will. He now started to wonder what might be in the enormous hunk of metal behind her. Was it the escaped vizard? No. It was something, someone else.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Alexei's eyes opened. He didn't know where he was; it was dark. It was also quite stuffy in here. Alexei wasn't one for claustrophobia but this was a little cramped. He tried to wiggle about and found that he could, with some difficulty. He could hear people talking outside, although he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. However, there was Jeanne's voice. Was he in some kind of cramped closet? Interesting.
With a slight motion he knocked on the surface of whatever he was in and decided to speak up about his situation. He was going to be polite and to the point, even to that evil bipolar bitch.
She eyed him as he made his subtle hint at her. Some people need to to learn some patience, but she would never tell him that directly. "Let me just get to my point. I have a gift for you." Closing her eyes and giving him a sweet smile of false innocence. He was smart enough to see through this, but that wasn't the point. She was here with the prospect of a better working relationship.
As if on cue, her gift made himself know with his question. The boy was lucky she hadn't strapped him in with bolts and spikes. "It seems he is awake. Pardon me for just a moment." She lifted herself from the chair and moved toward her maiden. She looked in the eye holes to spy that Alexei was indeed awake.
She looked a bit niffed at this, seeing that she would have preferred him to remain quiet until she was ready to present him. Just another reason to despise the boy, but he shall receive his reward for his annoyance.
Unlatching the maiden one by one, Jeanne smiled again as she looked toward Szayel. When the last latch was open, she picked up the maiden, and poured Alexei from it. "I know he isn't much to look at but I hope this vizard will be a suitable replacement for the one that escaped." The thought of what Alexei will be going through would certainly be something to watch. The joy it would bring her to listen to him scream, but she would have to enjoy someone else's screams.
She reached in the maiden to retrieve Alexei's zanpakuto. The sealed katana was not very unique, but it was needed for Szayel to complete his research.
The white-haired girl took the hint. "Let me just get to my point." Good. Szayel smirked at her false smile, then looked to the maiden as muffled sound emerged. A boy was speaking, asking...politely...for Jeane to release him. A snicker passed Szayel's lips. "It seems he is awake. Pardon me for a just a moment."
As Jeane opened the maiden, and the boy fell out, Szayel couldn't help but smirk. He was also young, but much taller and bulkier than the last two, or that Satsu boy. Placing his hands on his hips, Szayel listened to Jeane. "I know he's not much to look at, but I hope this vizard will be a suitable replacement for the one that escaped."
"That's rather generous of you," Szayel drawled, scanning the boy. Once again, he was hinting that she had another motive and did this because she wanted a favor. He watched the girl retrieve his zanpakuto--keeping it with the boy, that was sloppy. Szayel wouldn't afford him such a luxury. "I don't suppose he'll be much of a threat, if you left him with his zanpakuto."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.