Once, Saelien had heard a grand tale of another like himself, an arrancar that had not bent the knee to the Espada but had instead chosen to build their own empire, forge their own destiny. Such news had brought a smile to his face, yet he had chosen that day, the day he first heard of this arrancar, to remain seated on his cold throne, hidden away in the darkness. Those who felt secure enough to set up their own little empires were typically those who brought Saelien's blades down upon themselves, for they lacked the protection an organisation like the Espada brought whilst shining like glorious jewels in the desert, just waiting for their souls to be reaped.

Saelien had chosen against hunting down that arrancar largely because he had heard that she was a woman, and not only a woman, but the most beautiful woman in the entirety of the Hueco Mundo. Why, such bold words had very near forced him into action, to seek her out and determine the veracity of such words with his own eyes, but contracts had taken up his time, the needs of other beings and agreements that he was bound to keep forcing him into other actions. He was not a man to discard his contracts, after all. He had a good name to keep.

By the time, then, that he was ready to visit this 'Queen', the Apocalypse had begun, and Saelien had found himself atop the highest perch he could find, watching the world burn. Much had changed since then, such as his feelings towards the Nosferatu. His name had been lost, with the Espada and Gotei Thirteen broken. No one knew of the Cold Lord after the fall the Earth, and whilst the anonymity was pleasant once, it restricted his dealings, his actions. The Cold Lord was an old legend now, as much a legend as that Queen that he had heard of. She too had vanished from public consciousness, and those that Saelien had sent to seek information on her had never returned.

That alone was enough to pique his interest again. Legends such as they rarely died. Saelien had decided to find the Queen now, to see if there remained a woman worth his time. He had departed from his home, his hidden base of Tessilith, and now he walked where another had once ruled. And the moment he had walked to that sector of the desert, reiatsu signatures had entered his pesquisa, alerting him of the presence of powerful beings. One of them, even from here, he could tell was a powerful demon. Another seemed like an Espada class arrancar, and the rest were either weak or too indistinct to tell.

Thus the Cold Lord approached the chaos with a smile. He was dressed impeccably, as always, with his cold blades at his side, his hands resting near them. In days such as these, it was wise to always be ready for combat, for one never knew when a crazed, broken spirit would seek their own destruction, or one of the pathetic zombies would rise up seeking flesh. One and all, Saelien destroyed them, and the fact that it brought him no joy sorely disappointed him, for when he lost pleasure in killing...well, that was a dark day indeed.

As he drew closer, there were some arrancar and hollows - a few lightly singed, others bearing nastier burns and some completely untouched - that were running away from the site of the battle. They all saw Saelien, and many of them did not hesitate to keep running - not one of them could sense his reiatsu, after all, as he was not actively displaying it for the world to see. It was naught but a cold aura, tightly clinging around his body, extending no further than was necessary.

But one of the arrancar stopped, eyes widening on seeing Saelien, and their compatriots stopped when they heard what the arrancar whispered in terror.

"The Living Death himself..."

The words were near silent, yet to all nearby they might as well have had the volume of a collapsing mountain. Reactions were mixed, but all were consumed by panic. Some chose to run away, heading back to the scene of battle, and others simply fell to their knees, weeping or in shock, for the fact that their whole lives had just unraveled and they had escaped with little but the skin on their back, only to come face to face with a man known for being death itself...they could not handle it.

One chose to rush at Saelien and attack. That unfortunate fool didn't even see the movement of one of Saelien's swords. To all those before him, it was as if Saelien's sword simply appeared in his hand, and the head of the offender slid off to strike the sand with a dull thud, shortly followed by the body.

Saelien's smile did not wither as he looked at the arrancar before him, and stated a single question.

"What have I missed?"

The one amongst the sad lot proved to be braver than the rest, and he responded after taking a moment to catch his breath.

"We are...we were subjects of Lord Arden, until our kingdom was beset by a demon of fire. If I might be so bold...why have you come? Did Lord Arden seek your aid?"

Saelien knew of no 'Lord Arden'. No doubt an arrancar with some small amount of strength vastly outweighed by his own ego, the kind of being that could only have dreamed of obtaining Saelien's blade. Saelien was disappointed. If these sands belonged, or rather, had belonged to this Lord Arden, then it seemed that the Queen was gone.

Still. He would ask.

"I have come searching for the one who was once Queen of these parts. Do you know if she lives?"

It might not have seemed possible, but the group before Saelien appeared even more nervous than before. Saelien saw from their body language that the Queen was not dead - this was not the appropriate reaction. That meant...Saelien sheathed his sword, and resumed walking as the spokesman chimed in once more.

"She is alive, and in service of Lord Arden. But she might be dead now. Lord Arden has ordered her execution."

Saelien nodded, and his hands brushed lightly against the sheathes of his swords. In the space of a few breaths, both swords were unsheathed and the arrancar before him - those who had failed and betrayed more than one master in the past - ceased to live, becoming bloody chunks on the ground. His pesquisa sought out any remaining arrancar signatures at the battle sight...the lesser beings had all clearly retreated. There was one rapidly dwindling presence near the demon...and another two closer to him. A series of sonido carried him from where he stood to where those presences were, and before his eyes he saw a brute, and...

She was marred by torture. She looked like a shell of a being. But it was clear, even in her current state, that the female in the possession of the brute was the one formerly known as a Queen. Saelien sighed. Now here was a story he'd heard before as well - the fall from grace, and what followed. Saelien was no stranger to torture, but torture was for extracting information, rather than making a being serve. A single glance told him all he needed to know of what had happened to the great Queen, and today...today, Saelien felt like a generous man. He was also curious about the nature of the Queen, and he would see her restored to her throne.

Today, he would wield death in the name of liberation.

Saelien paid little heed to the brute before him. It would die either way, and whether it knew the fate that awaited it was an irrelevance. Instead, Saelien looked at the form of the woman on the ground, his face without much expression, his eyes cold.

"Queen of the Hueco Mundo. Miyoko Di Loterzstanna. Do you know who I am?"

There it was - it was like the flicker of a light about to go about, but it was still there, still struggling away, waning in the darkness. There was still life within the former Queen, still a shred of will remaining despite her appearances. That was what was important, even now, even as she was at deaths door, the giant arrancar beside her wishing to end her life. Saelien would have taken her life personally, right there and then, if she had gazed upon him blankly. Someone like her had to know of him, making his question seemingly pointless...but the real edge of the question rested instead in the speaking of her title, the speaking of her name.

All together, it was enough. Her delayed response was not out of thought, but out of shock. Those who had fallen from grace like this would not be accustomed to such a pleasant greeting. Saelien knew that, for he'd left more than one being that he deemed unfit for death in a fate much worse. The fact that Miyoko could process what Saelien said and respond - yet without asking for his help or his mercy - meant that there was something interesting left in the damaged arrancar. Something worth saving.

The liberation that he gave to Miyoko would not be death, but instead the freedom of her body and mind from the bonds of slavery. He smiled at the woman kindly, stabbing both of his swords into the ground beside him, now turning his gaze to the brute beside her. A casual burst of pesquisa told Saelien that her captor was nothing special, far weaker than he was, and that did not bode well for him. Cretins such as this were used to wielding their power as a club, getting into bloody and brutal fights and emerging with the satisfaction of having reduced their foes to a pulp.

It might have been more literal in the case of this one, but it was a truth shared by countless souls. Saelien didn't adopt a stance for fighting, but instead, he absorbed power from his cold aura, activating infusion, allowing his reiatsu to become visible to those gathered. It was impressive - not the most vast presence in the Hueco Mundo, but then, it did not need to be. To his side, the blazing demon arrived, aflame with equal parts fire and fury. He too was powerful, but if Saelien guessed right, he was showing off the height of his strength.

He had reduced what villains lay here to cinders, and whilst he had done it effectively, he had also acted as a beacon for any enterprising or curious spirit. Saelien did not intend to be around when others came investigating. Saelien allowed the demon to reach out with his fire, taking the moment to remove his coat with one fluid action, revealing his long sleeved black shirt that matched with his black gloves. Holding that coat in one hand, Saelien's other seized one of his blades from the sand, whipping it to his side and in that same moment, infusion powered his Dreadstep.

In a flash, Saelien was gone. It was an act of careful timing - Miyoko might not have appreciated those moments spent in pain, but Saelien had calculated his actions. Braujo's entire focus would be on the attack coming from the demon, and so he would not be at all ready for what came next. Even if Braujo was ready, Saelien very much doubted that the brute was able to see what happened, but to Miyoko and the demon, Saelien might have been a sudden blur of high speed, his sword slicing up to catch the arm of the brute that held Miyoko at the elbow. With Saelien's cold sword, a foe of this calibre would not be able to resist the attack - skin, flesh and bone would part like so much air before his blade, and Miyoko's current plight would end.

Saelien had dropped his white coat to the ground as he passed by Braujo, leaving it on the sand where Miyoko would no doubt fall. It was for her - an article of clothing he was willing to part with to begin the process of mending a shattered pride. He was not quite done with Braujo, however. He didn't pause to check if his sword had severed the arm - he would have felt no resistance whether the sword cut the arm off or Braujo managed to dodge, and his blade had moved too quickly to be marred by so much as a drop of blood.

Pivoting on the spot, Saelien brought the blade down on Braujo's shoulders, aiming now for his other side and his unharmed arm. Despite the size of the arrancar, the arc of Saelien's swing was more than enough to cut the brute into two clean parts with one blow. Saelien spoke no words...for there was killing to be done, and between the slayer and the prey, scant few words were worth the breath it took to speak them.

Cole tossed away the cut and roasted remaining bits of Arrancar. He was defeated and now there was only the one problem left. For some reason, his presence irritated Cole. This new Hollow poked at an unseen nerve with the most infuriating intensity. Cole couldn't easily get over it either. It felt to Cole as if it were standing near something that he could not, and would never, be able to come to terms with; the very persona and being that was his total and complete opposite was the only thing left now.

Attacking this remaining Hollow wouldn't be the same as the others. No. There was almost a personal vendetta seemingly at stake. Almost as if Cole would be acting out perfectly by attacking that man. Honestly, it was starting to annoy Cole to not attack him. As Cole stood there watching Saelien, heated eyes full of a Demon's hatred. To burn him, to eviscerate him, to incinerate him, to decapitate him, to bleed him dry; an near impossible urge to murder this entity worked its way into Cole.

Cole felt it wasn't just because there was this chilling, dark, isolated presence to him. No. There was an unsaid evil that this man's spirit exuded. There was something about this being that made him far more unholy than the garden variety Hollow. Cole could almost taste the blood and the murder off this man. It felt like standing...Before Death itself...?

"Hah," Taking a quick breath, Cole closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Even if he hated this man, there wasn't any reason to engage in a fight to him. Especially not the sort of fight that Cole was contemplating. To fight this being with the intent to completely rip him asunder was wrong, only now. Had this being acted out different actions it was a different story. However, this Hollow did not want to be Cole's enemy. Cole could tell this.

Cole opened his eyes on Miyoko, that coat still in her hands even now as she was unconscious. Comforting. Cole had to see the positives of this creatures personality on top of the negatives. They were not like the others and they were not here for the same reasons as the others. Even if Cole wanted to fight, his spirit practically demanding it, his heart knew better. It was not right to try to take him down like the others.

Cole's flames started to dwindle before immediately being drawn into his own body. "What are you here to do...Exactly?" Cole now needed to know what the two of them were going to do now. He didn't know why this guy appeared here and now, nor his intentions. He could be here to kill her, just for the thrill, or save her all the same as Cole. Why had he come this far? Was it, from start to finish, just out of curiosity or did he have something premeditated about his decisions? In the end, he knew more about the woman than Cole could have hoped. They were both the same sort of creature and they could relate to the other far more than Cole could hope to with her. Although they were all pretty bad when it came down to good morals and honesty, if this newcomer wanted her dead he wouldn't have stepped in as he had and would have plenty of chance at her life now. So he was here for something else.

Cole wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his right hand. He felt a little tired now that he'd called back all that power. It wasn't the normal sense of tired, in that he was exhausted from all the fighting. The experience of using every once of his Demon power felt great. It was intoxicating. It saturated his mind and body with drug like euphoria. Having to leash that back in made him feel worn and deprived. It was almost depressing the large shift from his power before to what it was now. Releasing again however, or staying released, could have some dire consequences should he stay in that power. Cole hated this feeling. This feeling of being weak and small now that he'd seemingly given up all his strength. It was probably more mentally exhausting than it was anywhere near physical.

"My name is Cole, by the way," He decided to get that out of the way.

It seemed that both Saelien's attack and the attack of the demon had been successful in their intent; the brute that had been holding Miyoko moments ago was no more, mere ruined flesh on the ground of the Hueco Mundo, a feast for scavengers. Saelien looked down upon the carcass for a moment with disdain. The fool. He might have thought Miyoko to be some great prize, but Saelien had felt enough from this region to know that a stronger arrancar had already died at the hands of the demon before him. The demon alone should have been enough to make the arrancar reconsider his choices. To fail to see the danger in Saelien as well...the Cold Lord was surprised that it had taken so long for Braujo to meet such an inglorious fate.

Saelien took a moment to look at his icy sword. The cut to the arrancar had been swift and clean, but the body of the brute had been big enough to leave some traces of blood on the sword. Reaching down, Saelien tore free a scrap of cloth - a fortunate small amount that wasn't burnt away - and used it to quickly wipe off the blood on the blade. Saelien had not damaged a blade in battle here, let alone lost one, and he certainly wasn't going to lose one to simple negligence. Satisfied that the sword was cleansed, Saelien sheathed it, turning his attention to the fallen Queen.

And fallen she had. His coat had clearly been accepted gratefully, but Miyoko was no longer conscious. That was not surprising, after the ordeal that she had been through. It would take some time for her to recover - not just her strength, but also her will, her mind...everything about her had been sapped away. Restoring it would probably be a task beyond Miyoko's own power - gaining strength was one thing, but Saelien knew from experience that recovering what was lost was much more difficult.

He couldn't focus entirely on the Queen and what had to be done yet, however. There was still the matter of the demon, burning brightly. Turning his gaze to that man, Saelien could visibly see the turmoil within his soul - Saelien had seen many men and women over the years that had wanted him dead, and this man had joined their ranks. But he was wise, wiser than he looked - that appearance drained away along with the flames a few moments later, the power of the demon dropping by a notable amount. Saelien would not lie - he was still fairly unfamiliar with the ways of the demons, but he knew a thing or two about them. He knew enough to kill them.

But he believed there would be no more killing today. As the demon asked him a question, Saelien responded with little hesitation, moving to Miyoko's side. He did not touch her or his coat, but instead, he merely checked if there were any wounds on the woman that needed immediate attention. It seemed not - they would have been revealed quite swiftly against the white of his coat. No, for now, the Queen needed rest.

"I came here looking for a great arrancar from long ago. 'A Queen of the Hueco Mundo', so it was said. I didn't expect to find her like this," said Saelien, a ring of truth to his words. "But now, I intend to see to it that what is rightfully hers is returned."

Saelien looked over to where the original fight had been. Where this demon had confronted the former master of the dead arrancar nearby, the master of those that Saelien had slaughtered on his way here. There were faint signatures detected by his pesquisa...far too faint to be healthy arrancar, and at any rate, all of those had long since fled the scene. Saelien had a suspicion about what they belonged to.

"To me, it looks as if the Queen and her loyal subjects were overthrown and made slaves. How it happened, and why Miyoko here could not resist if what I know is true...these things are uncertain. However, it would seem likely that there are still some captives, locked in chains. I shall free them as well."

Saelien looked back at the demon as he revealed his name was Cole, and he gently smiled.

"A shame to meet under such circumstances. I am Saelien, the Cold Lord of the Hueco Mundo. Tell me, Cole: what brings a demon to the Hueco Mundo to bring such justice to the dark?"

As Manda charged her attack with the lightning from the sky, she still kept her eye on Braujo. It was as she was doing this that another Arrancar such as herself approached. He seemed much stronger and had a cold air about him. She only hoped that the person was there to help and not on the opposite side. She knew her water attacks would not be any good against this man if his attacks centered around cold and ice. Her attention was soon returned to Braujo as he spoke to Miyoko and proceeded to attack her more. This only enraged Manda more. However, just as he was about to send out her attack she heard the hollow say something and the point a finger at her. The attack as so quick she had no way to avoid it. She soon saw everything she was looking at disappear. She looked around and realized she was not quite in Hueco Mundo any longer. This only served to make her even more mad. She shot her attack in all directions but could not make any dents, cracks, or anything else for that matter. This only served to keep enraging her.

This back and forth attacking to try to escape eventually tired her out as she ran low on reishi. It was at that moment she dropped out of resurrection. As she stood there a few thoughts ran through her mind. One was that she was going to see the same fate as Miyoko. Another was that she would die. She did not know if the demon nor the other Arrancar could defeat that beast that held Miyoko. She sighed and patiently waited for what was to come. As she waited she calmed down, her rage leaving her to become the sweet person she normally is when not made mad. She waited for what seemed like forever before she suddenly find herself thrust back into Hueco Mundo as soon as Braujo was killed. Well, not right away. It took some time for the attack to weaken enough to allow her escape. She was not fully prepared when it happened and she just ended up falling from the air down to the ground with a thud. She picked herself up with her hands, soon standing and looking towards what was left of the monstrous beast. She then looked between the demon and Arrancar, grateful to whomever took out that beast of a monster. As soon as she felt she has enough strength she stood up, her dress returning to it’s floor length size. She dusted herself off and looked around once more. She saw that the female Arrancar was unconscious, but safe. She then turned her attention to both Cole and The Cold Lord and nodded to both of them. It was then she found her voice and spoke. ”I suppose I have one or both of you to thank for her rescue as my own. I don’t wish to fight either one of you, however. If all is fine I shall be on my way. I don’t wish to get in the way if you two wish to fight over who will take care of the young woman there. I don’t like to take sides unless it’s good versus evil.”

Excellent. Saelien would not have to swing his blades any further this day. The sudden return of one of the members of the Espada was not particularly alarming - and with the power of the demon now suppressed and Saelien's pesquisa telling him that the Espada had used a large chunk of their power, there was no real way for any skirmish to break out. Saelien was unharmed and at full capacity, after all - for either of the two here to engage him in combat would have been foolish at best. He nodded once as the Espada spoke, finding the notion of fighting the demon over the Queen an amusing one.

For the most part, he was not one to fight people over women. The women came to him freely.

"All is fine, Espada. No more blood will be shed this day, you are free to be on your way."

The demon did not take the words half as well as Saelien did. Awkward silences and even more awkward expressions made Saelien wonder several things about the demon - how old was he? How much experience did he have with the world outside his home? Saelien found the demons fascinating and he had not had nearly enough time to research them properly, to fully understand their ways and natures. He would soon enough, however. Still, Saelien still found it odd for a demon to appear so...human, in both act and actions.

He would not complain.

The threat was one that Saelien smiled at, and thought about no further. It was a pointless threat for two reasons - the first being, Saelien had no ill intentions when it came to the former Queen. The second being that whilst the demon seemed powerful, from what Saelien had sensed of him, he was not nearly powerful enough to be a real threat to Saelien. Perhaps, on the most basic of meanings, his threat held weight - there was a chance that his flames would touch Saelien and burn him, if the demon fought hard enough and with great skill - but anything beyond that was outside the realm of possibility.

"Fear not, Cole. You have made the correct decision today."

Saelien waited a moment, watching as the demon began to make the journey away, and then he lightly flexed his reiatsu. His cloaking ability was disabled, and so his power, for a brief moment, flashed through the Hueco Mundo before vanishing once more, a swift pulse. A beacon. There was a chance that powerful beings would detect it and be curious, but curiosity would not carry them as quickly as those who saw it for the sign it was would move. Saelien's reiatsu was usually impossible to detect, and so, when it was visible, those who served him knew it to be a notable event. Thus, he had long since established a means of quickly communicating with his people - a pulse of his reiatsu was a signal for them to gather at his position.

A few minutes passed, and figures dressed in black began to gather around Saelien. Their clothes obscured nearly everything about them, but Saelien knew them to be those in his service. Those who wished to serve Zemenios were obliged to allow Saelien to cut them on initiation, thus adding the spirit to the memory of Mors Anulus. It was impossible for spies to work for him without passing his checks, without being known to him first, thanks to that system, and it was completely impossible for would-be counter-assassins to think about infiltrating Zemenios and using it as a means to get close to Saelien.

"The arrancar on the ground is Miyoko, a former Queen of these lands. Nearby, there are her former servants in captivity, possibly being held by a few brave souls willing to keep defending them. Miyoko and her people are to accompany us to Tessilith. As such, those who are imprisoned must be released and any who stand in your way are to be killed without hesitation. The slaves may be unstable after their captivity; do what you must to subdue them, but be sure to inform them that their Queen is alive and well. Go."

Silently, the shadows made their way to where Cole had fought the former leader of the slavers. Saelien merely waited for his people to be done in their work, for those who were taken captive to be freed. When his people came back with the slaves in tow, all of them much like their Queen in their exhausted and relieved unconsciousness, Saelien and the other arrancar took their leave.

Only then did the scavengers begin creaping from the darkness to feast on the remains of Braujo.

[OOC: Saelien and Miyoko exit]