Kreeth was the first of what was set to be a veritable onslaught of new people into the Palace. Nel had never been so glad of having sent Szayel and the more rambunctious Arrancar away to retrieve Aizen's children than she was at the moment she'd learned that. Szayel would have tried to cause problems with the people already there. Give him people that didn't know him to play with too and he'd have definitely started something. To say nothing of the risk of Grimmjow and company finding someone they butted heads with. They didn't need a rehash of their introduction to Kadaj.

Information on Aizen's welfare was thin on the ground, too. He was in D-District prison, and that was all anyone could say. L was trying to break through their systems to get access to their security systems and computerised information, but he wasn't currently sure if he could do it at all, and even if he could, it would take days.

It left Nel feeling like she was spinning her wheels in the Palace. The day was a long routine of waiting for more information, and hoping Grimmjow and the others weren't in a rush to return. She whiled away time in the kitchen because if she was there everyone knew where to find her.

When the Palace's doors opened she lifted her head. More visitors, inevitably, more Khamja members, were on their way in.

A few seconds later something changed, and Nel felt what she could only describe as her Hollow cowering. The two that were approaching were Dark elemental, which was enough to set her own teeth on edge although she'd learned never to judge by an elemental alignment, but that wouldn't be enough to frighten Gamuza.

Still she could feel it, that fight or flight response coming from deep within, hotwired into the back of her own spine where her instincts met the Hollow's. It was definitely pulling in the direction of flight, fighting almost vanished as an option.

Her fingers tightened around her cup, her newspaper lying forgotten on the table as she looked up at the doorway.