A/N: A lot of dialog in this chapter, but then agian next xhapter will have a lot mor in terms of action. Thank you to my three reviewers and to my readers. Please enjoy chapter 2.

Chapter Two: Difference in Abilities

“You went too far, Haruka,” a boy about a year older than Hay Lin said in an annoyed tone. He wore an elaborate white outfit, while strapped to his waist was a white kantana.

“I didn’t even do anything,” Haruka said quickly.

“I think I know why the Death Gaizers spared her,” the boy said as he scratched his neck, “she doesn’t have any magical or spiritual potential.”

“What are you talking about,” Haruka said in an annoyed ton while crossing her arms, “she saw my Karas form, and from the sounds of things the Death Gaizers themselves.”

“But she didn’t see me,” the boy said, “and I was at the bottom of the staircase in plain site the whole time.”

“That’s true,” Haruka said while placing a hand on her chin, “I don’t really sense much from her either, but for now let’s let her rest.”

“Agreed,” the boy said.

--

“You knew didn’t you,” Hay Lin screamed as she stood before the council. Just hours earlier she had seen the two Death Gaizers. Hours ago her friends were mercilessly slaughtered.

“Hay Lin,” the Oracle spoke in his usual calm manner, “even if I did know about those creatures. What would you have had me do?”

“It is the Guardians who act for the council,” Luba said harshly with a growl. Hay Lin clenched her hands until her nails pierced the skin.

“That’s not good enough,” Hay Lin yelled, “you could have seen what was about to happen. You could have warned us.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” the Oracle spoke once more, “I fear that those beasts would have shown up no matter what world you were on.”

“So you’re saying,” Hay Lin growled as her anger built more and more, “that you’d rather just let us be slaughtered.”

“It isn’t like that Hay Lin,” Halinor said softly as the placed a gentle hand on the Sir Guardians shoulder. “I’m sure if we had known we would have made precautions.”

“That brings me to the next point,” the Oracle said as he walked up to Hay Lin, “Hay Lin you do have the Heart correct.” Hay Lin nodded as she untied it from her waist before holding it in her hand.

“Why?” She asked quickly.

“As a precaution,” the Oracle said sternly, “it will be safer to remove the Heart from your possession. I fear that its power is what drew those creatures to you.”

“Yeah,” Hay Lin said angrily, “that’s totally it. That’s why they ignored Elyon and tossed her aside like a rag doll. That’s why they didn’t bother to just rip open Will’s body and take it, or wait till it unmerged with her. It’s all because they wanted the Hearts power.”

“Hay Lin,” Luba said quickly, “what the Oracle is trying to say…”

“Is that he’s a coward that wants to hide behind his precious Heart,” Hay Lin said before she threw the gem to the ground, “well he can have it. It doesn’t work on those things anyway.”

“One more thing Hay Lin,” the Oracle said with what looked to be regret showing on his face. “I will also be removing your connection to the Auramere completely.”

“What,” Hay Lin asked in surprise, “you…you don’t have any right to do that.”

“Understand that it is,” Luba started to explain.

“No,” Hay Lin growled, “I need my powers if I ever hope to find those things. I won’t let you take them.”

--

Hay Lin’s eyes flashed open to reveal that she was lying in her bed. She sat up slowly as she placed her head in her hands. “How in the world did I get back here?”

The last thing Hay Lin remembered was going to meet that Haruka girl, but then…the events of the meeting flashed through her head rapidly. What was that girl? She said something like Karas, and then there was something else. Something that distorted space. Something that she couldn’t see at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’ll deal with that Haruka girl tomorrow,” she sighed as she climbed out of bed, “if she is something that has to transform. Then in human form I have at least the advantage of size.”

She stretched as she grabbed her bag and exited her room and quickly left through the restaurant below.

--

Hay Lin stopped at the iron gates that cut off the rest of the world from the cemetery. She would visit her friends graves frequently, and it helped her calm down, though as she entered the cemetery she had the strange feeling that someone or something was following her.

“Hi, Irma,” Hay Lin said as she sat next to her best friend’s headstone. A gentle smile spread across her face from just saying the girl’s name. It was something that had become foreign to Hay Lin outside of the graveyard.

“It is her yes,” Hay Lin heard a small raspy voice.

“Is someone there,” Hay Lin asked standing. She looked around desperately to find something. The sun had started to set when she left her house, and now it was fairly dark.

“I is here, yes,” the raspy voice responded as she saw something duck behind a tombstone. Then a deathly stench filled the young girl’s nose. It was enough to make her gag, and if she hadn’t been standing over Irma’s grave she probably wouldn’t be forcing herself not to vomit.

“Who are you,” Hay Lin asked while trying to clear the stench from her mind.

“I is who I is,” the raspy voice responded as something ran to behind a headstone closer to the girl. “The question is who you are?”

“What does that have to do with anything,” Hay Lin asked as whatever it was moved to another headstone, inching its way closer.

“You is the first human to see a Death Gaizer and live,” the voice said causing Hay Lin’s eyes to widen. Was this thing like Haruka or something?

“So,” Hay Lin angrily asked readying to fight as it got closer.

“You must have power,” the raspy voice said, “and I is wanting that power.”

Suddenly, a purple colored human like thing burst from behind the tombstone to Hay Lin’s right. Its mouth was surrounded by a ring of red while a half eaten arm remained in its left hand. Hay Lin raised her arms to block the creature before a small red ball slammed into it knocking it to the ground and through four grave stones.

“Maybe you should leave the lady alone,” a boy in an elaborate white outfit with black trim said. His black hair was wild as it swayed in the breeze while piercing lime green eyes focused on the purple monstrosity. A piece of white was attached to his face just below his right eye, almost like a bandage covering a scar. What alarmed Hay Lin though was the small hole that went straight through the boy’s chest just below his sternum. “Filthy ghoul.”

“Ghoul,” Hay Lin questioned, but was unnoticed by the boy, though he did seem to slightly glance in her direction.

“Why is a Hollow here,” the ghoul hissed angrily, “this is my prey.”

“First off,” the boy said as a blue bow formed in his left hand as he pointed it at the ghoul. “I’m not your average hollow.”

He pulled back on a blue colored bow string as an arrow made of blue energy formed before he fired at his target. The ghoul quickly hopped aside before the arrow struck.

“I is no average ghoul either,” the ghoul said with a chuckle. “But I is curious to what you is Hollow.”

“Arrancar natural born,” the boy said as he drew back the bow once again. This time it turned red and seemed to grow in size. “Rencho Mapletap.”

“Arran…car…” the ghoul said in fear, “I…think we got off…” Before the creature could finish the boy fired his arrow striking it square in the chest. It was propelled into the wooded area behind the graveyard before impacting a tree and exploding.

“I take it you can see me now,” Rencho said as his gaze turned to Hay Lin. His bow disappeared as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “You aren’t going to pass out again are you?”

“What the hell are you,” Hay Lin asked angrily while glaring at him.

“As I told the ghoul,” Rencho said calmly, “I am an Arrancar. A powerful version of a spiritual being known as a hollow, but you may call me Rencho.”

“Okay,” Hay Lin said while keeping her guard up. She just had a natural distrust of strange things now. “Why are you here Rencho?”

“Not even a thank you,” Rencho sighed, “guesses that’s to be expected. To answer your question, I came here with Haruka. The Death Gaizers left you alive. Something the whole spiritual and magical world is interested in, though I think it is for different reasons than that ghoul stated.”

“And those reasons are,” Hay Lin asked wondering where this guy was going with this. What did he know about the Death Gaizers, and what exactly was a hollow.

“That you were too weak,” Rencho said bluntly, “the Death Gaizers only seek to fight beings that they see are powerful enough to attempt to challenge them. Other than that and that they don’t leave anyone they challenge alive, not much is known about them. That’s why you are important.”

“Because I was weak and lived,” Hay Lin said as anger built inside of her, “how does that make me important.”

“You not only know what they look like,” Rencho responded, “but also what they can do slightly. Your value comes from the information that you possess. That’s really all the good a weakling like you possesses.”

“Why you,” Hay Lin screamed while throwing a punch into Rencho’s face, though the Arancarr did nothing to stop it. He didn’t even move, but his eyes did widen as if he noticed something for the first time.

“An Auramere,” he said as Hay Lin pulled back her fist with a stunned expression on her face.

“What do you know about the Aurameres,” Hay Lin asked quickly.

“I know nothing of them,” Rencho said, “I only know their concept, and what they feel like. You’ve been disconnected, more like severed from your correct.”

“Yeah,” Hay Lin said as she averted her gaze to the ground. She didn’t like the fact that her powers were taken from her.

“Took you awhile Rencho,” Haruka said as she just seemed to appear.

“So,” Rencho said calmly.

“I think I know what caught the Death Gaizers interest,” Haruka said, “remember when Soul Society and Hueco Mundo had that major earthquake.”

“That energy ripple,” Rencho said calmly, “no way could beings that rely on the hearts of worlds generate that.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Hay Lin said in an annoyed tone, “but stop leaving me out of the loop.”

“I guess it would be easier to explain to you both at the same time,” Haruka said quickly. “I did some snooping in the spiritual timeline and found something of interest. Exactly two years and four months ago a powerful burst of elemental spiritual energy rippled through all the planes. This was caused…”

“When we turned into our elemental forms to beat Cedric,” Hay Lin finished the statement as tears well up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Rencho asked, “but who is Cedric.”

“A half snake monster from Meridian,” Hay Lin said quickly while wiping the tears from her eyes. “That explains why they were disappointed.”

“Huh,” Haruka asked, “who were disappointed.”

“The Death Gaizers,” Hay Lin said quickly forming a plan in her head, “they said that they were disappointed and it was because we were weaker than our elemental forms and they tried to get us to enter them, but that was a onetime deal.”

“Is there a point to this information,” Rencho asked in an annoyed tone.

“Yes,” Hay Lin said with a smile. She didn’t need to be connected to the Auramere to lure them out. She needed the Auramere itself. “You guys can cross worlds right.”

“Yeah,” Haruka asked as blue eyes sent a puzzled glance to Rencho who just shrugged.

“And I know where the Aurameres are,” Hay Lin said quickly. “Can you take me there?”

“Why,” Rencho asked.

“Because,” Hay Lin said, “now I know how to get my powers back, and lure those monsters to me. After that I just have to kill them.”

“By monsters I assume you mean the Death Gaizers,” Haruka said with a worried giggle, “that’s suicide.”

“A bold suicide,” Rencho said as a wide grin adorned his face, “I like the sound of it.”

“I don’t,” Haruka said, “an Arrancar and a human alone are just no match for a Death Gaizer. Not to mention that all of them would be after you if you killed one.”

“Then how about,” Rencho said with a grin, “a human, an arrancar, and a karas.”

“Well that would be a little better, but…” Haruka said calmly, “Hey I never said I was going to get involved.”

“Come on,” Rencho said, “are ya scared.”

“Of course not,” Haruka said, “I’m just being cautious, but if you really want to do this. I’ll need Rencho to get us a certain something from Shishome.”

“And what would that be,” Rencho asked calmly.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Haruka said as she wrapped her arm around Hay Lin’s shoulders, “Hay Lin and I have school.”

“You have three seconds to let me go,” Hay Lin growled, “before I remove your arm.”

“Why can’t I get it while you’re in school,” Rencho asked as Haruka backed away from Hay Lin.

“Good point,” Haruka said calmly. Rencho intently listened to the whispered instructions, and after it was settled the three of them decided to meet up at the old house where Hay Lin had gone to meet Haruka earlier, and the group headed to their respective homes.