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Opehlia's eyes widened, quickly sitting up and her jaw snapping shut. She looked at Xeion, then at the ball of yarn that was being presented to her. This couldn't be the same one. It couldn't. She had seen them throw it in the garbage disposal right in front of her.

She snatched it from his hands and rolled it around, her brow furrowed. She rolled it around in her hands, feeling it's familar texture. She held it up to her nose and took in a deep breath. The same smell from all those years ago flooded her senses. Now tears welled in her eyes and sheleaned forward, clutching the ball of yarn as if it would vanish if she didn't. She began to rock herself slowly, small wailing sounds escaping from her mouth.

Opehlia flinched, turning her shoulder to him as if to deflect a blow. She shook her head. She knew she was being horribly weak right now. She hated herself for it. But this...getting her ball of yarn back...She hadn't expected that when she'd first come here. she thought she'd just try and get a meal or two and then leave, go back to her life. But this man...he was bringing back all her painful memories. She preffered to live in the now, the present, doing things on instinct like she knew she was meant to do.

She was silent, her eyes locked onto the ball of yran. She studied it's every detail, down to the smalleststrand. She wanted to imbed this into her memory forever, even if it turned out to be fake.

Opehlia's eyes snapped open, rage and fury filling them. That was practically what the men at that place had said to her. Tell them how she felt. Tell them what she was thinking. Why...

She had escaped that life after that bang. She had come here, and she had thrived. She was begining to get tired of being angry at this man. It seemed it had no effect on his cheerful barrier. Why did he care so much. She gritted her teeth, then spoke in a roughened voice.

"Why do you care? I ate your friend. You should hate me. I would've eaten you had I been given the chance." She said. Her eyes strayed back to the ball of yarn though, but her anger remained.

Xeion simply sighed. Ophelia-san was being difficult again, but at the very least, it seemed as though she already gave up her desire to kill him. That fact itself was good. "Sure, I haven't forgotten about that, but still, it's not your fault," said Xeion. "You were simply acting upon your instincts, what you thought was right, your own belief system. The things you believed in -- or rather, were forced to believe in. I don't blame you, but that doesn't mean I'm happy with what you did. I simply want to ensure that things like that won't ever happen again -- for your sake, as well as for the sake of others."

Standing up from where he sat, Xeion turned to look at Horatio-san. He smiled and then, with an air of cheerfulness, he introduced himself. "Oh yes -- my name. Well, I am Xeion Kuchiki, Vice Captain of Squad Nine, and your host for today. It's a pleasure to meet you, Horatio-san. Sure -- what do you want to talk about?"

“Why the ravenous appetite then?” Xeion asked with a smile. Since Horatio-san seemed silent for the moment, Xeion decided to talk with Ophelia-san some more while he was waiting for Horatio-san to respond, or remember, what he wanted to talk with him about. “Why is it that you never get satisfied no matter how much you eat?” he asked. “Oh, and don’t even think of eating the other one. You may have been able to take away her sister before she had the chance to live a quiet, happy life, but I won’t let you do the same thing twice. Just remember that, Ophelia-san.”

Xeion sighed having hearing Ophelia-san’s response to his question. How was it that such a person can still push people away as if they were simply hindrances to her own self-interests? How is it that Ophelia-san can still manage -- prefer it, even -- to simply be alone and ‘eat’, as she so bluntly put it. Her line of reasoning was both simple, yet complex at the same time. He knew that it was something that was hard to crack. He should know best -- Feiy-sama was the same, in some sense. Xeion regretted not having tried hard enough to change Feiy-sama’s heart. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he would have been able to, at least, affect Feiy-sama, even if it’s just a little bit, but it’s too late now. Ophelia-san, however, wasn’t a lost cause just yet; and even if she were, Xeion would still continue with his methods. He won’t allow things to happen that way again. This time, he was determined to change Ophelia-san, no matter how long it takes. That was his will -- his volition. He won’t accept failure twice. He was stubborn that way, though it would seem that even if he were to cry tears of blood, Ophelia-san wouldn’t change her mind.

“Well, Ophelia-san, what would happen if, let’s say, you got what you wanted, but in return, you lose someone closest to you, say, Horatio-san? What then?” Xeion asked, trying to tap Ophelia-san’s feelings -- friendly or otherwise, if any at all -- for her partner.

Xeion sighed once again. He couldn't count just how many times he had already sighed. It was just that Ophelia-san's beliefs seemed too strong for him to break by using the conventional means he knew on how to help people have a change of heart and improve themselves in the near future. It was probably time for him to use a different kind of approach to Ophelia-san's case. Seriously, the situation right now was comparable to that of a person, trying to thread a needle in the dark while standing in the middle of an open field during a storm.

"I see. Well then, I shall give you what you want, Ophelia-san. Please tell me if you like it."

With a snap of his fingers, the scenery around Ophelia-san slowly faded away into nothingness, Xeion and Horatio-san included, leaving the Arrancar, Ophelia-san, all alone. Sure, the trees and other things were still there, but the atmosphere changed from bright and sunny, to dark and foggy, as if to reflect the feelings of loneliness and discontentment inside every person's heart.

As Ophelia-san was having a conversation with herself, from the looks of it, she would suddenly begin to hear the low and soft whimpering of a young girl within the sad, lonely place. If she were to walk along further through a cobblestone path which would lead her to the middle of the world she was in, she would come across a young girl, wet with warm, red blood, crying her eyes out. If one were to look closer, Ophelia-san would soon notice that the young girl...

"No! Why did I have to live this way?! Why?! Does god hate me?! I wish I were dead!!"

Was her...