110 Years Later
"Ooo! What's that over there?" Rukia exclaimed in excitement, pointing across the street.
Ichigo looked over lazily. "That? A fortune teller owns that shop," he answered. "Why?"
"She tells your future?"
"Yeah, something like that. Tellers do various things."
"Come on!" she exclaimed, taking his hand and dragging him across the street. "Let's go!"
"No way am I going in there!"
"Oh come on, I want to go!"
The bell to the shop rang as the door opened and the two walked in. Gipsy beads and medallions hung from the ceiling, walls decorated with various pendulums, cards, veils, tapestries, and other gipsy ordainments. The beads that draped over the entrance to the back room jingled and they looked up, watching as a young woman walked out.
She was dressed in an off-white long sleeve, off the shoulders shirt, the sleeves poof-ing out near the wrists. A brown string criss-crossed in the front near the top. A bright orange skirt sat on her hips, reaching the ankles. The hip scarf, which was tied around her mid section, was a mixture of red and yellow, medallions sewed to the ends. Medallion earrings hung from each lobe, similar bracelets around her right ankle and left wrist. Also in the same places were golden ringed bracelets. Her dark espresso colored hair was a mess of loose curls, pulled back lightly behind her right ear, a medallion headdress circling the head twice.
"Welcome," she greeted with a warm smile. "What can I do for you?"
"She's new to this," Ichigo spoke up, pointing at Rukia. "What do you suggest for someone who's never done this before?"
"Hmm... tarot cards, crystal ball, or palm reading," the woman answered.
"Tarot cards, please," Rukia answered. "They sound interesting."
"Of course. Please have a seat." They sat on the pillows on the floor, around a table. "My name is Madame Roxanna," she introduced herself as while shuffling the cards. "What would your names be?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Rukia Kuchiki."
Roxanna froze slightly. "Kuchiki," the woman mused. "That name sounds familiar... maybe I've had a relative of yours as a customer before?"
The girl laughed. "That's very unlikely. I have a brother, Byakuya."
Roxanna smiled sweetly, placing the cards facedown on the table. "Sorry, my dear, but that does not ring a bell. Now, shall we see what the cards foretell...?" She flipped over the specific cards before her, brows furrowing. "Interesting..."
"What's interesting?"
"You've just went through a rough ordeal, but it's not over." That caught Ichigo's attention. "There will be more trials on the path ahead." Roxanna looked up, locking eyes with Rukia. "You were betrayed by someone, weren't you?" Rukia nodded slowly, shocked that the teller could see this. Roxanna's eyes went back to the cards, pointing to them as she went. "It's not over, this act of betrayal. Those close to you, they're lives will be put on the line."
"And?" Ichigo asked when Roxanna stopped.
"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "That is all I can give you. I only see what might happen, not what will."
"Then what use is a fortune teller?"
Roxanna's eyes locked with the teen. "The future is not set in stone. It is bound to change with every action that is performed, with every step that is taken. I am giving you a warning. That is usually enough for a person to understand. For them to be careful." Roxanna stood up, walking towards the back. "One moment, please." There was some shuffling from the back room before the teller came back out. "Hold out your hands," she ordered the two teens. Rukia did as she was told, Ichigo hesitating before following.
Roxanna reached down, tying bracelets around their wrists. "What's this?" Ichigo asked.
"It's a talisman," the woman answered, sitting back on her plush cushion. "Woven into the black bands is the Wiccan symbol." The two noticed the Silver Star, surrounded by a black circle, merging into the band. "It will help protect you from evil."
"Will it protect us from danger?" Ichigo asked. "Like physically?"
"Only if the attack is demonic or has threatening intentions will the seal reject the protection. However, the protective seal has its limits, so use it wisely."
Minutes later, the two left. Ichigo scoffed at the gift. "That was a load of crap," he spoke up. "I'm taking this off." However, the teen found it impossible, struggling to pull it free of his wrist. "What the heck!"
"Maybe it's a sign that it's supposed to stay on?" Rukia wondered, looking at the Wiccan symbol.
"Not you too," the boy groaned. "When I get home, it's history. I'll cut it off if I have to!"
Roxanna looked at the clock before getting up from her seated position and locking the front door. She then turned over the 'Open' sign to 'Closed' before disappearing into the back once again. The woman pulled on a shawl over her shoulders, walking out the back door and locking it.
"Shops closed!" Jinta yelled when he heard the front door open. Footsteps drew closer to the lounge area, the kid getting irritated that the person did not listen to him. "I said-!" he started to yelled, opening the door, only to see Roxanna. "Oh, it's you."
"Nice to see you too, kid. Urahara around?"
"I'm here," the shop owner answered, coming out of the kitchen. "What is it?" He looked up, spotting the woman. "Well, well, it's been a while... Katrien. I almost didn't recognize you with your new appearance." Slowly, the false image began to fade, Katrien's bright auburn hair coming through, dark eyes turning blue. "How long has it been? A year or so?"
"I didn't come here to talk to you about how long it's been," Katrien answered. Tessai walked in, tea in hand. He gave the cup to the woman as she sat down. "But if you must know, then it has been eleven months since my last visit."
"Why did you come by then if not to reminisce about old times?"
"You made a new Soul Reaper six months ago, didn't you?"
Kisuke chuckled. "Nothing ever gets by you, Katrien."
"Why?" she asked, ignoring him.
"Rukia Kuchiki, I'm sure you've run in with her." Katrien nodded. "She is the step-sister of Byakuya. Do you know of-?"
"His late wife? Yes, I am well aware. I saw her dead, sadly, and could not be there to save her."
"But with the Soul Society's law about us it is impossible to pass over."
"Maybe to you," Katrien said, swirling the tea in her cup. "But not to me. I, however, value my freedom, and do not wish to be studied as a subject. Back to what I was saying, why did you create another Soul Reaper?"
"Rukia Kuchiki was sentenced to death for giving her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo Kurosaki. It was an accident, but she was still going to be executed. I trained Ichigo because he asked me too."
"Oh, but you did much more, Urahara." Katrien's eyes slightly hardened, gripping the cup tighter. "You made him into one of them. Do you realize how dangerous that is, or is your memory lacking?"
"Hmm... you noticed that too, didn't you?" Kisuke asked, looking at the ex-Lieutenant from under the brim of his hat. "And at such an early stage too."
Katrien snorted, putting down the empty cup. "I'm not like you, Urahara. I'm more sensitive to these things, remember?" She stood from her seat. "Thank you for the tea. I must get going."
"Katrien," Kisuke stopped her leave. "More Soul Reapers will be coming around. Be on your toes."
"I can take care of myself, Urahara, but likewise." She then left into the night.
----------
Katrien stepped out of the front door to her apartment, looking up at the light blue sky. Her eyes were fixed on the west, feeling a strangely familiar, yet altered Spiritual Pressure. A smile twitched at the corner of the young woman's lips. "I recognize that Pressure..."
Katrien reached over to her coat rack, grabbing an orange and brown headscarf with floral and Indian designs on it. She pulled it over her head, the rest of it spilling over the shoulders. It hid the woman's hair, obscuring her face in the shadows. The two Spiritual Pressures she had been sensing the last few days had made Katrien on edge. She even consorted her tarot cards, crystal ball, smoke divination, reading tealeaves, and mapping the constellations.
They all pointed to one conclusion: powers were moving, and all descending on Karakura Town from both sides. The town was becoming the primary battleground, and the Pressures that were becoming more prominent were dominating over the weaker ones in Karakura. Katrien could also see something in the darkness of her White Magic. She was curious to explore it more, but knew of the consequences when investing in Dark or Black Magic. One who was not careful, could easy loose themselves in the Dark Arts.
She sighed in frustration, walking towards the Warehouse District, questions and thoughts stirring in her mind with unrest. Katrien then stopped mid-step, looking down a street between large warehouse buildings. The Spiritual Pressure had disappeared in the area, one she had been stalking for a while now, unable to detect where it was vanishing to.
Katrien smirked, a course set in mind. Now, she thought, was a good time to pay someone a visit.
"What the hell, Shinji!" Hyori yelled at the ex-Captain. "You were supposed to bring back Ichigo Kurosaki! What have you been doing?"
"Shut up," the blonde sighed in annoyance, sticking a finger in his ear. "You complained the whole way back, and I really don't want to hear it again."
"Maybe she should fight Kensei," Rose suggested from where he sat. "I think he's getting bored with Mashiro."
The Vizards were all sitting in the underground training room, most lounging around, two fighting physically, two verbally. Hachi chuckled from where he sat, Lisa sitting beside him. Suddenly, everything stopped.
"Did you feel that?" the woman asked, looking up from her magazine.
"Someone's broken through the barrier," Love stated, their eyes turning on the staircase.
"How could someone break through it that easily? Hachi?" Kensei asked, irritated.
"I don't know," the large man answered, slightly shocked. "But whoever they are, managed to slip through it with ease."
"A Soul Reaper?" Hyori asked.
Hachi shook his head 'no'.
Everyone got ready, hands up on their foreheads ready to pull down their masks, the other hand by their zanpakuto. Footsteps sounded in the shadows of the upper part of the staircase. First a foot, covered in black slippers shoes, came into view then brown Indian pants, and a dark red veil wrapped and tied around a slim waist. The Vizards masks began to form over their foreheads, zanpakuto's becoming visible. A toned stomach with a beige colored, flowing tank top came next.
"Identify yourself, intruder," Kensei ordered, his grip tightening on the hilt, glaring.
A light chuckle came from what remained of the shadows on the person's body as they continued to descend. "I'm hurt, Kensei, you would call me that. I used to always be welcomed."
Everyone's eyes widened at the voice, recognizing it as the veiled head came into view. They pulled back the cover, letting it fall onto their shoulders. "Katrien?" Shinji asked in shock.
"Katrien!" Mashiro exclaimed at the smiling woman, catching her in a tight hug. She laughed, stumbling slightly, but hugging back.
"It's nice to see you too, Mashiro."
"It's been ages! Where have you been?"
"Here and there," Katrien answered. "I move around a lot."
Kensei came forward next, catching the ex-Lieutenant around the neck, and pulling her into his muscular chest. "We've been worried," he said. The father-daughter relationship they had many years ago had not gone away and Katrien was happy about that, returning the jesture. "Urahara said you had disappeared as well, but didn't give us much to go on."
The two pulled away, Katrien facing him. "Because I didn't give him much to go on," she laughed. "Seriously, I left the Society, managed to find Kisuke, tell him why I left, and then disappeared myself without a word."
"What did happen?"
Katrien explained, the group walking back up the stairs and lounging around the kitchen and living room. The Vizards also told her what they had been doing in the last hundred years and about conquering their inner Hollows. "What was that like?"
"Exhilarating," Rose answered with a smile.
"But terrifying," Shinji added in. "It was quite a challenge. We couldn't step outside of the barrier for nearly twenty years for fear that we would lose control and be found out," Hachi said. "Still, you surprise me, Katrien, how you entered through the barrier so easily."
All eyes turned on her. Katrien sighed, scratching the back of her head, sitting Indian style. "I guess the jig is up, huh? Not many people know about what I'm about to tell you. I kept it a huge secret from everyone, even from my sisters for a time." The Vizards were listening intently.
"I am different from my sisters, not only in appearance. They look remotely close to each other, but I have slightly different features. That's because I was born from a different father from them. He practiced in the Dark Arts before the Soul Reapers killed him. At an early age, my mother saw I too was following in his footsteps in practicing witchcraft, but I turned towards White Magic. I became fascinated with herbs and medicine, finding I could do more good with my special potions and brews.
"As we got older, Isane and Kiyone began to develop Spiritual Pressure, while I had yet to do so. Still I entered the Academy after approaching the Head Master. I wanted to be a Soul Reaper and improve my skills as a healer. Healing wasn't the only talent I acquired. Soon I was accidentally setting fires in our hearth, flying on broomsticks, and performing magical phenomenon's wherever I went. My mother knew how dangerous it was for my father when he practiced Dark Magic. If the Soul Society knew of his daughter practicing White Magic, they would start to think I would eventually follow in his footsteps."
"Did you?" Mashiro asked, clearly interested.
"Dark Magic, is too dangerous to practice, especially for a White Witch. Dark Magic slowly eats away at your soul and drives you into insanity. That's what it did to my father. He was a very famous Wizard until his magic got out of hand and he started harming others. That's when the Soul Society hunted down and killed him. My mother hid me from their search and I was never found. She made sure I would never touch the Dark Arts for fear I would suffer the same fate. The Soul Society doesn't like things that are dangerous."
"Yes, we know all too well," Kensei answered, rolling his eyes.
"So you hid in plain sight," Lisa pointed out.
Katrien smirked in response. "No one would even think twice for a 'Soul Reaper' practicing in witchcraft would try hiding in the very Society that wanted to kill them."
"So... you're a Witch," Hyori pointed out, arms crossed over her chest.
"A Wiccan to be exact, but yes, I am a Witch."
"That's how you got out of the Soul Society without a proper gate," Love said.
"And why your healing methods never failed," Shinji remembered, balancing his zanpakuto on his pointer finger.
"And how you were able to pass through my barrier," Hachi pointed out.
Katrien nodded. "I have no Spiritual Pressure whatsoever."
"Those attacks you sent at Aizen?" Shinji asked.
"The Kidou I chanted were only cover ups of my true Wiccan power. I couldn't just have them appear... However... I think Aizen has discovered what I am when I tried to save Shinji. I had to chant a healing spell, and he caught on."
"Anyone else?" Kensei asked. The less people who knew of Katrien's power were an ace in their hole.
"Isane, Kiyone, but only slightly, Unohana, Tessai, and Kisuke. Those guys found out on their own."
He nodded. "Can you show us?" Lisa asked. "Some of your power?"
Katrien smiled widely. "I thought you'd never ask."
The group walked down into the underground training room again and Katrien started stretching out her tight muscles. "It's been a while since I performed any high level fighting spells."
"I thought you were in the Fourth Division," Hyori said, sitting on a rock. "You guys aren't supposed to be violent."
Katrien gave her a toothy grin. "Occasionally I would have to rough up a few people here and there. I mean, you don't think that I let those Eleventh Division members get away with their rough housing in my Division, now did you? I made most of them scream like little girls and pee in their pants."
Shinji, Hyori, Mashiro, Kensei, and Lisa broke out laughing. "Oh, I remember," Lisa chuckled, having encounter the commotion outside the ER doors once.
"I won't go easy on you," Shinji said, stepping forward.
"Wouldn't ask you too. I've been dying to see your powers as a Vizard." The ex-Captain pulled down the mask, making Katrien's eyes widen in awe and amazement. "Whoa..."
"You haven't seen anything yet," he answered in a slightly different voice before rushing forward. An invisible force threw him backwards, making the Vizard stumble to catch his footing.
"Right back at'cha," the woman answered with a smirk, lightning sparks coming to her fingers.
Shinji's eyes widened as the roar of lightning barreled towards him at a frightening speed. The man barely moved out of the way in time before the attack hit. It ripped through a boulder, reducing it to nearly nothing. Everyone looked at the now smoking remains of the used to be boulder in shock before turning their eyes back on Katrien.
"What?" she asked, seeing the looks they were giving her.
"Katrien... just how powerful are you?" Love asked.
"Care to find out?"
It was nighttime when everyone called it quits after the hard training they had had. However, Katrien decided to not head back to her apartment. Instead she stayed at the warehouse after they turned in, sitting on the roof, looking up at the moon.
"It's late," a voice said, coming up from behind her. "What are you still doing here? I thought you left hours ago."
A small smile came to her lips, but she did not look away from the moon. "What are you doing out here, Kensei?"
The man sat down next her, looking up at the moon as well. "Can't an old friend check up on another? What's on your mind?"
"Everything. I've been talking to Urahara a lot these past few days... maybe more than I should..."
Kensei chuckled in response. "About what?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
"You know Shinji is trying to recruit him."
"Of course. I knew he was a Vizard the moment I met him. He's dangerous..."
Kensei looked away from the sky and at the side of Katrien's face. "You've changed," he noted, making her chuckle lightly.
"A hundred years will do that to an eighteen-year-old."
"Did you ever hear from the Soul Society?"
"I tried to stay as hidden as possible, always moving around."
"So why are you still here?"
"I don't know... Something in the back of my mind is telling me not to move too far."
"Aizen?" She didn't answer. "You know he's moving."
"I know. I've been looking through tarot cards, my crystal ball, as well as other various Wiccan spells and incantations, and they all say the same thing. Something is hiding in the darkness, and I can't fully see it. And I don't dare try Black Magic to look for it. I'm not desperate."
"You still think its Aizen though."
"Of course it is. I know he left the Soul Society a few months ago to ally himself with the Hollows."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Lay low for the time being and not attract attention to myself. I don't need the Soul Society breathing down my neck."
"You know, you're always welcomed here."
Katrien smiled at her father-like figure. "I know, and thank you. I think I'm going to keep snooping around though, and I'll let you know what I find."
"You better, or I'll hunt you down."
The ex-Lieutenant laughed, standing. "I'll see you later, Kensei..." She started walking away, fixing her headscarf tightly around her face and head.
"Katrien," Kensei stopped her, seconds later. He stood, looking at her back. She didn't turn around. "What of that Kuchiki kid? Byakuya?"
The woman was quiet for a good minute, thinking of her friend. "I haven't spoken to him since I left the Society," Katrien spoke lightly.
"Haven't you ever thought that he could help you?"
"I have done much for the Kuchiki Clan, but never would I put them in a position that would jeopardize their status to help someone who was wrongly convicted."
"He treasured you, you know. More than just a friend."
"We were young, Kensei. Teens. A hundred years have passed, and I already know he was married."
"Was?"
"She died of a sickness... if I was still in the Soul Society I would've saved her if I could."
"Do you have feelings for the Kuchiki?"
"If I did, it was only a teenage crush. Why do you ask, Kensei?"
He smirked lightly. "I couldn't help but wonder. I never did get to ask you all those years ago what your relationship was with Byakuya."
Katrien looked over her shoulder at the ex-Captain, rolling her eyes in response.