Sea of Souls

by Black' Victor Cachat

The Straw Hats failed and died, somehow passing over to another universe where they became 'Hollows.' Quickly bored of the endless wastes of Hueco Mundo, they try and figure out what to do next, much to the detriment of the peace and sanity of Aizen, Urahara, Soul Society, and the rest of the worlds.

10. Settling In—Nighttime

I do not own either One Piece or Bleach.

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Beta read by the wonderful lincoln time, mellra, BlantonM, and MasterQwertster. Could not have done it without you!

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Guest Review answers :-D

Nobody Styles

For Kisuke, he is indeed hampered by certain assumptions here. In fairness, 99.999999999% are cannibalistic monsters, and the strongest ones serve Aizen. Especially Arrancar. Also the Straw Hats did emerge wearing uniforms Aizen had designed.

There will indeed be fights in the future ;-)

Glad the sunshine scene went so well, and here is the night chapter in question! ;-D

I do not want to give any definite answers to the Bount and Quincy arcs just yet, if only because my plotline plans have been changing a lot recently.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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YCG

LOL yes, the Visoreds are definitely going to be going stir crazy with their "personal house arrest." Unfortunately for them, a tunnel will not work, since to make one in a reasonable period of time would require spiritual energy, which can be sensed.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Ace Kigma

Orihime's powers will be explored a bit later, but at the time both Yamamoto and Unohana were more distracted than canon. There were a lot more casualties and surprises going on at the time after all. Her abilities are hampered though by being dependent upon both her will, and the Reiryoku to use them.

Yes, I have loads of issues myself on how Orihime was portrayed in Hueco Mundo compared to her earlier stuff. Fortunately things are going AU here, and I can help with that ;-)

Also, feel free to rant. Can be surprisingly therapeutic.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)

Glad you enjoyed the omake so much! Also nice to hear so much laughter over the toilets and thoughts over the Straw Hats.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Kj12

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Lee

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Guest (please choose a name/nickname next time)

Hmm, I had honestly not considered having the Hogyoku becoming its own character. Will have to think on that some more.

Also surprised I have not seen any fics which address Rukia having any relationship with the Hogyoku.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Buz

Sorry to upset you, but felt it was better to give warning it would be a while before the next chapter. Hopefully this chapter was not too long a wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Bob

That is indeed true, but this would be a pretty major one, and early enough into my story to easily adjust.

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Evil Reviewer

Well how can you possibly hope to amount to being my self-appointed nemesis if you do not read my other fics? Honestly, this is basic Nemesis 101!

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Dotty

The Straw Hats will have scenes where they are acting like Humans, but honestly they really are not. While the Straw Hats have more control over themselves than 99.999999999999% of other Hollows, they have still been transformed into apex predators. . . . And they were not exactly regular Humans before, either :-P

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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musizlover2008

Agreed, too soon to tell if the Straw Hats will get a new member, or who. So originally I was going to keep this story on hiatus, only for a solution to be given to me :-)

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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M.C

Oh yes, I love that scene where Luffy eats the Hogyoku. Not just hilarious and in-character to write, but it gets the best reactions out of readers :-P

LOL yeah, Aizen's day just gets worse and worse! :-D

Yes, Luffy and Ichigo's interactions should be FUN! Although in this clash of protagonists, currently Luffy is vastly more powerful. And yes, plans for the Visoreds. Hmm, I had not considered that for Sanji. Especially since we never see him interacting with (and being a perfect gentleman) underage girls in canon. Just those who are perfectly of age for him to gush over. Thanks! :-D

LOL if you died from choking over your food in reaction to reading about Aizen choking to death on his food . . . well, that would be some pretty painful irony :-P Very glad that did not happen. And yes, that was a very fun scene to write! :-D

Here is the latest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Disappointed

Ah well, sorry to hear that.

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Seas of Souls

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Chapter 10: Settling In – Nighttime

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Note 1: For those unaware, I have published a side story which contains character exposition about the Straw Hats in this new universe.

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Note 2: In terms of how I have addressed the rewrite to accommodate potential new Straw Hats, I have only made some minute changes to the previous chapters to make it easier for you. Re-reading them is not essential though, as I will be sprinkling in what is necessary into future ones.

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Previously:

The Straw Hats are taking their time to explore and enjoy Karakura Town. This has been a major experience for all of them, as old memories of their past lives resurface, and they adapt to a world where there is presently no active threats to themselves. So they decide to relax, have fun, and explore.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Humans are starting to notice some strange occurrences going on . . .

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The Straw Hats were all gathered together to watch the sunset.

However, the sight of the sun dipping down over the horizon did not make them sad, for they knew it would rise again for a new day.

More importantly, the city remained lit up, showing it was still awake and alive. The majority of the Straw Hats remained just as active, ready to see what happened next.

Their adventures earlier today, and the ones to come, would be the first ripples of change across the world. Repercussions which would bring tears to gods, break armies and create new ones, inspire new forms of art and beauty, and shatter fate.

Not that the Straw Hats were concerned about such trivialities. Time to go see what fun they could have next! Party 'til they drop!

. . . Well, for most of them anyways.

"You guys go have some fun," waved off Franky. "While you're all cleared out, I can get some stuff done in here. Some SUPER stuff," he grinned manically.

Interpreting that smile as only a good thing, most of the Straw Hats cheerfully took him at his word and headed off. Those who stayed, chose to remain outside of the warehouse to give him space.

Whistling, Franky shrugged off his white shirt to keep it clean, tore the legs off of his white pants, and got right down to business.

Gathering reishi in the palm of his hand, Franky began his plan for redecorating in true Straw Hat style! "Cero!" he yelled, shooting at the floor, creating a crater.

A few shots later, he belatedly realized he had company. "Thought you were heading out with the others?"

"I was puzzled by feeling you use your power like that," Halibel flatly answered, unimpressed by the sight of him blowing holes in the ground. He felt a chill in the air as she looked at the mess of dirt and rubble he had made everywhere. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "Can't be helped. Looking at the city earlier, I realized we were going all the wrong way about settling into our new pad, and unpacking. Either we move elsewhere, or we make this place bigger. Looking around would waste time though, since some of this stuff is perishable. I think."

She considered his comment, and raised her hand to fire a series of Bala's at the side of one of the craters, caving it in so they could start digging out a large underground space without the risk of bringing the 'roof' down. There were no walls or partitions though, because he knew no one was ready for any sort of physical isolation from each other, no matter how flimsy.

Except for the bathrooms of course.

"Once we get more space," Franky said into the silence, "I can steal some stuff from the nearby resources to build more stuff. Especially more gigai, since we don't have enough for everyone."

Reluctantly Halibel had to admit that made sense. They had brought a lot of bags and boxes with them, and even working together, she and Jinbe had only gotten through half of them, despite having hours available. They had kept being slowed down by how they kept finding things which really seemed useful, but it was getting too cramped to really use them all.

"This rush still seems a bit personal for you," she pointed out.

"Wellllllll, yeah," he confessed, ruefully scratching his head. "Today I found a drink called 'Cola.' I remember how much I drank it when I was alive," he said like he was in prayer. "It defined me in some ways."

He drifted off in memory until her cool if not unfriendly tone dragged him back. "Was there something wrong with it here?"

"Huh? Ah, no. No, not with it. Just, well, it tasted great, but I didn't get anything out of it."

"I see," she said with a raised eyebrow. "While you could taste it, without reishi it had nothing to fill yourself with."

"Exactly! With a gigai though, I can! Imagine all the foods we can eat!"

Halibel only froze for half a second, and her expression not covered by her scarf never changed. Despite this, he was careful not to comment, smirk, or (death sentence!) chuckle at how she was now moving noticeably faster.

Back in Hueco Mundo, they hardly ever managed to ruffle her composure, especially once she got to know them. Here there was a lot more to surprise her.

With her own immense strength, speed, and precise control of her power, they soon removed half the floor, and expanded over twice the space under the warehouse into an impromptu cave.

"Okay," smiled Franky as he inspected their work, "looks good. Let's start moving stuff on down here."

They left Sanji's impromptu kitchen, and the toilets because Franky did not want to mess around with the plumbing at this time, yet a lot of other stuff came down.

Now they had space to just spread out things from bags as they looked about.

"Aha!" gloated Franky as he finally found a particular set of machines. "Jackpot! This is what was used to make the gigai in the first place. Just like what Robin said it looked like!"

"I did tell you," a voice called down.

"Huh!?"

Franky popped out of the hole, only now noticing Robin working at one of the computers, partially hidden by some more bags, and the natural shadows. "Hah! Didn't even see you!"

"Well," she said with her mysterious smile, "that is my specialty." With a giggle, she turned back to her work.

"Heh, right," he ruefully said.

Meanwhile Halibel opened up another bag to look busy, refusing to show she had missed Robin as well. The other woman really was terrifyingly good at hiding her presence.

Franky meanwhile got to inspecting the gigai. While he had told Chopper about them a little while ago, most of that was stuff he had read up on the notes Robin had given him. He needed to test them out, and—oh! Interesting!

Scowling with concentration, Franky pressed his hand against the gigai, feeling how easy it was for him to enter it. So this is what that comment about "natural Hollow ability to remove Souls" was about. Made sense, since it would allow for regular Hollows to acquire and consume the Soul from the Living directly.

Potentially the most important feature though, was how his pesquisa was detecting absolutely no reishi even when touching the gigai. While he was hardly a master of it like Luffy was, there was no way he should be missing it like this. Which made sense, as these had apparently been made to hide spies.

Hmm, speaking of which, we've all been worried about Aizen's people coming after us, but at some point we've got to look into those records about the Shinigami . . .

With a jerk, he had it in his chest, and the next thing he knew he was within the false body. It felt functionally the same, even if some of his abilities felt locked off. Hmm, so if we really want to strut our stuff, we'll have to exit 'em.

He was about to call for his companion, when she whirled around to stare at him on her own. Halibel peered at him intently for a moment, before she said, "I can't sense your reiatsu at all."

"Super! Just as advertised!"

After some brief experimentation, he willed the thing off, becoming pure reishi once more.

Unfortunately, while that was all good, now he had to figure out how to make more. Starting with finding the necessary material. So after carefully laying the gigai aside, he returned to searching.

"Franky, what is this?"

Surprised at the uncharacteristic confusion in Halibel's voice, he promptly ambled over to see her staring down into a white box of some sort. And inside was . . .

"Ice? Yeah, ice."

"Ice," she repeated, holding a piece up reverently, turning it around so she could look at it better. "Solid water. From being so cold."

"Definitely not something we'd have expected to find in Hueco Mundo," he nodded. He took another look at the box. "Oh yeah, I collected that. . . .It was holding, ugh, un-Super samples. Got rid of those, but it looks like this, hmm, freezer, that's it, freezer had a battery to keep things cool."

In Halibel's hand the ice burst into steam before resettling back into a perfect sphere of ice. "Fascinating," she marveled.

"Looks like you've got some new tricks to learn!" he congratulated, resisting the urge to slap her on the shoulder.

Although it also got him thinking about some other stuff he could be doing himself.

Not learning new tricks mind you. No, he was already having memories of what his body used to be like, and he figured he was overdue to start becoming more like a Super Cyborg once more!

—Seas of Souls—

It might surprise some that Luffy was one of the Straw Hats to remain behind. Because, adventure!

However, Nel had not been able to go explore earlier, so he wanted to spend time with her. Only instead of heading out, they got distracted with some other stuff.

Like watching Zoro trying to head out to explore, only to keep wandering back for them to laugh at.

It had taken an embarrassing amount of time for Zoro to get out of their base, although he knew the others were exaggerating how long it had taken.

(They were not.)

Although this was partially due to the maze of piles of stuff for him to navigate around. Halibel found it all too beneath her to get involved, while Jinbe knew trying to help Zoro with this was nothing but trouble.

Finally though, he was out and free to look at all the fun stuff in the city like his nakama. In theory.

Because even when he was literally running on air, he still kept coming back to the warehouse!

In between bouts of rolling on the ground laughing, a tickle fight started up. Nel technically won, but Luffy insisted it was cheating for her to swallow his hands so he could not use them.

(While smearing her with her own saliva, they missed when Nami came back to drag Zoro off by the ear to help her with stuff.)

Still, he was not going to contest a loss just because she had cheated —as they had never made any rules— so they played Eternal Tag as her prize. The Vasto Lorde chased her all around the warehouse, circling about several times, and then into the air where she figured out how to manipulate her Reiatsu right with just a little practice.

Have you ever tried to play tag three-dimensionally? Really puts a whole new spin on the experience.

"Ah ha ha he he hee! Mwaaah!" Nel yawned that last part, suddenly feeling tired.

Luffy caught her out of the air with ease, and carried her down. "Time for some sleep."

"Not thleepy," she lisped.

"Yes you are."

"Not."

"Yes."

"Not."

"Yes!"

"Not!"

"Yes!"

She giggled, and murmured, "Luffy thtay with Nel?"

"Sure," he grinned.

Back in the warehouse, he found a bunch of pillows piled aside, and laid down Nel, and looked for a blanket. Fortunately there were some nearby, even if they were, surprise, surprise, white. Covering her up, he then grabbed some pillows of his own, and nestled into them too. Might as well be comfortable, and it was much better than the sand dunes in Hueco Mundo. Frankly, after countless nights of the same black sky, staring up at the dingy warehouse roof was a nice change too.

"Thtill not thleepy," she defiantly mumbled.

He groaned, only for a stray thought to come to him. "What if I tell you a story?"

"Thtory?"

"Yeah, these kids I was watching had a great one! They were fighting with these spinning tops to decide the fate of the world, the Tiger Warrior versus the Sapphire Dragon, and there was a Phantom Realm, and—"

At some point she conked out, and Luffy was right behind her.

—Seas of Souls—

Off to the side were three more of those who had stayed behind. Pesche and Dondochakka were there to keep an eye on their third 'brother,' and Usopp for Luffy.

Although it was a strange sensation for Usopp, as back in Hueco Mundo it had always been Luffy who kept everyone safe. Made sure they were where they were supposed to be. Now though, he felt a strange urge that he and the others needed to keep an eye on what he was up to.

Which was a shame, since he would have liked to help Franky out. Or have more light for him to work with his new sketchbook.

Ah well, the moon was beautiful and bright, and the air much warmer and more pleasant than Hueco Mundo's eternal night. Even after Luffy went to bed, he decided to just stay outside to enjoy it.

Plus he got to brag about what he had found earlier from their stash.

"So, what are they?" Pesche asked, peering at the cubes in Usopp's hands.

"A little something we picked up that is totally awesome!" he cried out.

"Uh huh," deadpanned the stag-beetle Hollow, cocking his head to show how unimpressed he was. Dondochakka just cocked his head.

Puffing his chest out, Usopp began his lecture. "The Caja Negacion Cubes capture Arrancar in a pocket universe! If they're too weak, it'll be forever even! So if we run into any more of those guys, I can shoot one into their Hollow holes to take care of 'em! Hmmm, guess I should give some to Nami too."

Pesche stiffened at that. "Seriously!? So you could even take out an Espada that way!?"

"Nah, like I said, it depends on how weak they are. An Ethpada would break out within less than a day," said Usopp, unintentionally using the term Nel had used when first describing Aizen's top slave soldiers. "For a guy like me, it'd probably take a day or two. Honestly though, even then I'd probably have to struggle pretty hard to do it, or I could be stuck in there for the rest of my life!"

Seeming to think about it for a minute, Pesche nodded. "I see, so it's useless then if they'll always keep breaking out!"

"Did you even listen to a word I said!? We can take even monsters as strong as Luffy out of the fight for a short while if we do it right! Even a few minutes could mean life or death for us. Honestly!"

"But why do you need it if we have Luffy around?" asked Dondochakka dumbly.

"Well," grunted Usopp, "I kinda have to up my game. With this low-reishi environment, I'm at more of a disadvantage than the others. I can't let my guard down."

The other two were confused by this, yet were afraid to pry. While the Straw Hats were pretty friendly, poking something that sensitive would easily make the Arrancar back in Hueco Mundo all homicidal.

—Seas of Souls—

A few dozen meters away from where Luffy and Nel had been, if just out of earshot of Usopp and his buddies, were some very confused Visoreds.

Lisa and Kensei had no idea what to make of this, and resignedly knew their comrades were going to be badgering them with all sorts of questions to try and make sense of this . . . whatever it was.

Neither of them were really paying attention to what Mashiro thought of it.

These Hollows were acting all weird, especially since they kept hanging around packs of Humans, only they could not sense any of them being devoured. Why wait?

Then there was how they had all come back to experience the sunset together, before most of them headed out again. At least they could study the ones remaining, which made things easier. Sort of.

Things had been a little tense with the digging. Hachi estimated there was only about half a meter between whatever cave had been dug, and his barrier. Honestly, them digging a bigger base was the first normal part of all this.

Then there was the green-haired one.

At first they assumed he was scouting the area around their base, and had sensed something about the Visoreds. Except the way he kept getting angry, and the way he was yelling, and the others' teasing, they were expected to believe he kept getting lost?

No one could get that lost! No. One.

Especially when he was doing it mid-air now, and somehow kept circling around!

They were expected to believe Aizen made an Arrancar as defective as that!?

Only Mashiro was still arguing their new 'neighbours' were not advanced scouts. Which was really hard to argue against when you were watching Hollows have a tickle fight!

How was this their life!?

How!?

No. No. Nooooooo . . . why!? Why would evil, soul eating monsters be having a tickle fight!? It made no sense!

"I keep telling you, they're here as tourists!" pouted Mashiro.

"They're Hollows!" shrieked Kensei as his temper gave out, missing how Lisa was frowning in consideration.

—Seas of Souls—

Away from the city and its lights, Starrk was laying down on a hill to stare up at the stars.

They had noticed them when they had first arrived here, only for them to dim when they approached the city. So he decided to come back here to relax and, ahem, study them. Choosing a hill even farther away than last time.

Sure, the others would probably make noise later about the grass stains, but honestly he doubted the lot of them would be wearing all white much longer. Certainly not with the vanity Nami had displayed even in Hueco Mundo.

"Why are the stars even up there?" asked Lilynette from beside him, uncharacteristically peaceful as she shared the view with her other half. She was huddled up against his side like they used to when it was just them alone, a habit they had continued even after finding friends. Pack. Family. "I mean, what good are they? They aren't as bright as the sun or moon."

"Who knows?" he answered back.

"Well, for one," mused Jinbe beside them both, "I can remember that when I sailed upon the waters, we used the stars to tell where we were, and where we were going."

"Hmm, that must mean that the sight of them in the night sky varies on where you are," mused Starrk.

"Yes. And people connected the stars into pictures. Constellations. This made it easier to find them. There were even stories about the different constellations."

"Huh," said Lilynette. "You're really remembering more and more of what it was like when you were alive?"

"Well, we are in the World of the Living," Starrk felt the need to point out.

"Shut it!"

He sighed, while Jinbe intervened, "Particularly having access to our elements again."

"Oh yeah, it was weird when you and Halibel flew off like that," said Lilynette.

"Sorry for startling you."

"I wasn't startled!" she snapped. "It was just weird!"

"Nami's the same," Jinbe went on. "Having access to proper weather again."

Starrk made a noncommittal grunt at that, even as he now understood the reaction he had caught from her when they first arrived here. "The wind, moisture in the air, all sorts of things we've missed out on."

"Exactly," Jinbe smiled. "Life is so much better here."

"Hmph," groused Lilynette. "The stars are neat, but I want to see more of this place."

Starrk yawned, and scratched his chest. "Of course. Let's just wait 'til morning so we can hear what everyone has found."

"Hmph," she said again, if less forcefully. "Fine, I guess."

With that, a comfortable silence fell again as they drank in the stars above.

—Seas of Souls—

"So, Apacci, what is with you turning red whenever you hang around Chopper too much?" asked Mila Rose.

On cue the face of the woman in question did just that. "Shut up!"

"It really doesn't suit you," teased Sung-Sun. After all, just because they were fighting less now, that hardly meant they could pass up on an opportunity like this. Even if it was weird. "Plus how you start stuttering, and can't get a word out straight."

"He does the same," noted Mila Rose. "Although on him, it looks cute."

A dangerous glint to her eyes, Apacci hissed, "What'd you say?"

Realizing they had somehow pushed a bit too far, Sung-Sun tried to think of something to say to defuse the situation. Preferably before Mila Rose lost her temper too.

"WHA—mph!"

The cut off scream certainly got their attention.

The three of them had been walking on air as they explored the city, enjoying all the lights. However in their distraction, they had wandered into a less well-lit part. A bit grimier even. Particularly that alleyway where seven male teens were grabbing onto and covering the mouths of two women.

"Remember," the snake icily began.

"Yeah, yeah, we know. No killing," growled Mila Rose.

"Still a lot of options," sneered Apacci.

—Seas of Souls—

"Stop fighting already!" snarled a nasty voice from behind.

Rio squirmed in fear while trying and failing to stamp on the foot of whoever was holding her from behind. She also could not get her mouth right to bite the hand over her face, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Yuna in the same way.

How could they be so stupid!? Two young ladies taking a shortcut to get home before their parents did, and look where it got them!?

The man in front of her flew into a wall with a crunching sound.

Limbs flailing, he bounced off to crash to the ground, broken nose painting his face red.

What?

A second one went spinning and collapsed as if hit by something, and things only got weirder and more disturbing from there.

The two by Yuna had their heads smashed together, yet despite their legs giving out and their eyes rolling back, they only fell a little bit as if strings were holding them mostly upright. They hung there for a few seconds, being moved about as if examined, before being dropped.

She and Yuna were as frozen as the rest of the thugs, only for one to snap out of it and draw a knife. "Who's there!?"

His knife suddenly found itself buried in his shoulder. "GAAAA—"

An impact and broken skin on his head, and he was out. Dimly Rio had the feeling whoever had stabbed him had not liked him yelling in their ear.

Pale and swearing, the last two turned and ran, only to be hoisted up several meters in the air, squirming and screaming. One was hanging from one straight leg, and being shaken up and down.

The other was being jostled about, only to suddenly go limp like he was dead.

The two friends clutched each other while whispering prayers and promises.

—Seas of Souls—

"What happened?" Mila Rose asked, holding off on playing with her prey.

"Interesting," said Sung-Sun, getting closer to the last one in Apacci's grasp. Specifically the two of him, one in each hand. "You tore out his soul."

"AAAAAAAAAH!" screamed the Plus, utterly terrified out of his mind. Moreover, in this state he could sense he was being held by his natural predator. He knew the primal fear of being consumed.

Truthfully, there was too little to his shabby Soul to interest them, even if it went that way. What was the immortal essence of life compared to the divinity that was Sanji's cooking?

"Huh," Apacci noted, ignoring the Plus' hysterics in favour of this. Sure, as Hollows they all knew about this on an instinctual level, yet seeing it was something else. "I didn't mean to yank him out."

"Better put him back, or he'll be dead after all," pointed out Mila Rose.

"Right," but before she did, she drew the teen's face to hers. "You get a free pass this time. You hurt a woman again though, and I'll know, and I'll eat you feet first. Understand?"

He nodded frantically.

"I said—"

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes pleasedon'tkillmegoddessIwanttolive!"

"Good enough." With that she slammed his Soul back into place, and he fainted dead away. When he woke up, he would have a headache and painful aches from being dropped onto the cement, and a burning urge to turn his life around.

"Hey, what's this?" Mila Rose had dropped her own guy, and was holding up some stuff which had dropped out of his pockets. One looked a bit like some of the technology they had stolen, while the other was made from some folded, brown cloth, if stiffer than what they wore, and had stuff in it. Including a picture of the owner for some reason. She went up to the trembling girls, who seemed ungratefully unhappy at being rescued, and waved it at them. "What is this?"

If anything the two only held each other tighter.

"Yes, yes!" Mila Rose snapped at her companions. "I know! They can't see us!" Trying to correct her blunder, she looked around, and then picked up one of the guys who started all this. With a little bit of effort, and possibly a broken arm by those snapping sounds, she took off his black jacket, and passed it to the girls.

They stared at it for a long moment, before one of them palely reached over and took it. Slowly she put it on, while Mila Rose gabbed a coat for the other. That one's ribs were protesting the movement, but whatever. The point was the Human girls were now a little bit calmer, so she held up what had fallen on the ground, and waved them around again.

"Uhm, that's a cell phone, kami-dono," the first girl softly said, pointing at the electronic one. "People use it to talk to each other, even far away."

"Huh, that's handy," said Apacci.

"And that's a wallet. It holds important stuff, like money, or identification cards. Uhm, money is used to buy stuff, and the cards to tell people who you are."

Sung-Sun took a closer look, and nodded. "Yes, Nami was waving that money stuff around."

"And it's important to have," said Apacci with an evil grin. "Who wants to bet there's other guys sneaking around to prey on women tonight?"

Instantly understanding, her sisters grinned with their own deep, malicious satisfaction at dishing out some well-deserved justice. Moving quickly, they took the money from the rest of the men, stuffed into a wallet for them to keep, pressed the cell phone into the hand of one of the girls, and took to the sky.

Time to go hunting!

—Seas of Souls—

After a long while, Rio pulled her gaze down from where the wallet had shot into the sky, and took in how she was still in an alleyway surrounded by bleeding, broken men.

While she hated them, she did not especially want to see them die. Plus, she figured they probably had learnt a valuable lesson from tonight.

Numbly, and as if watching herself move from a distance, she dialed 1-1-9 on the phone for emergency medical services. She calmly said there were seven men in dire need of attention, and how they had been muggers. She gave directions, and then ignored any further questions as she placed the phone on the ground while still on, and tugged Yuna away from this.

They would take the long way home. With all the bright lights, and crowds of witnesses. And maybe by the time they got to their apartments, with their parents worried sick, she would have some idea of what had just happened to them.

—Seas of Souls—

"Tch, why do you even want me around?" demanded Zoro from atop the mall roof he shared with Nami. She was staring down through the glass roof to look at the different stores inside.

"In case I need to carry stuff of course," she snapped. "Honestly, use your head and think! We can't rely on just violence anymore!"

"Are you planning on robbing this place or not!?"

(She could bench-press a freight truck, so Zoro was honestly a bit unclear as to why she needed help carrying things.)

"Idiot! And then what happens? If we start stealing supplies a lot, then people will stop selling it! Not to mention, how'm I supposed to get any custom orders and outfits? No, what we need to steal is money itself, so we can buy stuff in our gigai. Except we're back to the same problem in that if we take away money, it might frighten people away." She tapped her head in thought, trying to think.

"Well, it sounds like you had to deal with this before, so how'd you do it?"

Her scowl deepened, and she clutched her forehead in thought.

A shrill sound made her leap in shock, and they both looked down to see some people had broken into a nearby, small store. Guys with animal masks covering their faces —which was weird for Hollows— were grabbing stuff, throwing it into a truck, and getting ready to drive off.

"Oh right," Nami snapped her fingers. "I used to rob other crooks! Not like they're going to report having their money stolen. And there's always more where they came from."

"Well then," Zoro cracked his knuckles, "let's get to it."

"No, no," sighed Nami. "These guys won't have much on them. We'll follow them back."

The truck was driving as fast as it safely could, unable to see the figures easily keeping pace while running on air just above them.

Soon it led them to a seedier part of town, and pulled into a garage. Slipping right through the roof, they looked around and found they had hit the proverbial jackpot with a safe Zoro cut open with some cash and gems.

"Let's look around some more," she said.

The rest was pretty disappointing though, with just some empty pizza boxes, other junk. They did find some packets of white powder, but Zoro found himself firing a Cero to vaporize it. Sure his aim sucked with them, except even he could not miss at this range, and he did not want to sully his swords with whatever it was. Totally reflexive really.

"Great," sighed Nami. "Now they know we're here."

He looked down at the hole in the floor, and sure enough he could hear angry voices getting closer.

A bunch of guys in their teens and early twenties barged into the room, wearing black leather jackets, and what were supposed to be intimidating expressions.

Well, they were thieves, so Zoro would not feel bad about what happened next.

Only to freeze as his fist stopped an inch from the first thug's face, shaking.

"Zoro?" asked Nami in concern.

"Tch!" he spat out, before trying again, sending the Human flying back. "I nearly killed him there."

He took a step back, and Zoro closed his eyes to reign in his Hollow nature. He had always been the most savage of the Straw Hats, yet never let his innate Hollow aggression master him. The only things to master his fate were his luck and will. Oh, and he guessed Luffy too.

Only here and now the rules were different, and he would not kill people so pathetically not a threat to him and his own.

The Humans were yelling now, and waving their firsts and knives, as they tried to figure out what was going on. Drowning out the noise, Zoro waded in with his fists, and with a sigh, Nami helped too, so this would be over with quicker.

Seconds later, their prey was a groaning heap on the ground, and she was pulling wallets out of their pockets, and stuffing the cash down her cleavage. She also took some cards which were labeled "visa," since they all had one.

(Can you imagine the feeling of someone digging your wallet out of your pocket, and you can see nothing is there? Instant therapy needed right then and there.)

(Also a possible sign it is time to reform. Yeah, urban legends like Batman might put you in the hospital, and left you for a corrupt judicial system, but at least he never robbed you too.)

Nami and Zoro went downstairs to see if they missed anything, only to find treasure!

Sake!

Beautiful, glorious, sake!

With a cheer, they grabbed a bottle each, popped the lids, clinked the drinks in a silent toast of victory, and drank it down.

Then another.

It was after their fourth bottle they realized they were feeling none of the 'buzz' that was supposed to be there.

"What's wrong with this alcohol!?" she yelled, ready to stomp back upstairs to shake those thugs for buying the subpar stuff.

With a curse, it all clicked together for Zoro. "It's like Franky with his cola. We're not in the right bodies."

The redhead blinked, and then her eyes lit on fire. "Let's go make sure he's still on track with those gigai."

"Lets."

They took the rest of the alcohol with them.

(Batman also never takes your alcohol with him.)

—Seas of Souls—

Despite his usually loud attitude, Keigo felt weirdly withdrawn as he took a walk hoping the fresh air would snap him back to his old self.

It was not just that none of his vacation plans were working out either. He had been . . . on edge all day. He could not put his finger on what it was, yet he could not ignore how nervous he was feeling. Was someone stalking him!?

He whirled around to look for any signs of the Yakuza out to get him as a hostage against Ichigo and Chad, only to find an empty street.

"Phew," he sighed, wiping his forehead. "Just my imagination. Man, I need to relax. I'm seeing enough weird stuff lately as it is. I don't believe in ghosts, but it's creepy."

Like those monsters he saw the afro-guy fighting a few days ago.

Shaking it off, he got walking again. Best get home before it was too late. He had a busy day of video games tomorrow, since all his friends went and deserted him during Summer Break..

He saw two guys coming from the other way, one of them had blonde hair and a cigarette in his mouth, and a brunette one who was short and 'cute' like Mizuiro. They really stood out with the weird white outfits they were wearing, and those fake horns on their heads. Some sort of cosplay?

"Hey," he said cheerfully, since he was a friendly guy.

They seemed surprised —there were just not enough manners in the world these days— but nodded, and smiled back.

"Hello!"

"Yo."

It was not until Keigo turned the corner that it dawned on him how those two had been walking a meter above the ground!

Without further thought he ran home and threw himself into his bed. A good night's sleep would make it all better in the morning.

—Seas of Souls—

Brook hummed to himself as he ambled down the street, drinking in the sights.

Originally he had been with Sanji and Chopper, but he said he would catch up. Something seemed to be drawing him this way.

A faint memory of something in cities like this, one he could not voice. So he wandered around on his own as he searched, sparing his friends from having to follow him when he himself did not know where he was going.

All around he seemed to go, until he found himself in a larger building full of many stores.

"Well," he mused aloud, "this looks like a good start. Oh! And what's this? A directory? How polite of them."

So he scrolled through the list, one long, thin finger moving down, until he froze.

Directions.

Sonido.

His sword-cane flashed from its sheath to make three quick strokes through the glass of a specific storefront, and he reached in for his prize.

A guitar.

Unfortunately that set off a loud sound he realized was some sort of alarm.

Making haste, he headed for the roof—

—only for the guitar to bounce off the solid surface and fall down.

Quickly he retreated and snatched it up.

With a huff, he cut open a hole for it in the glass ceiling, and slipped it through. With that drama out of the way, he began to delicately tune it to perfection.

His fingers hesitated on the strings, but then the song found him once more.

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

He sang it loud and clear across the night sky. Off he went as he danced through the air under the stars, playing his heart out for the first time in far, far too long.

Oops! He did not have a heart! Hollow joke!

~Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.~

~Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.~

~O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.~

~Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by.~

~Bid farewell to weaver's town, say so long to port renowned.~

~Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off.~

~Cross the gold and silver seas, a salty spray puts us at ease,~

~Day and night, to our delight, the voyage never ends.~

~Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.~

~Pirates, we eternally are challenging the sea.~

~With the waves to rest our heads, ship beneath us as our beds,~

~Hoisted high upon the mast, our jolly roger flies.~

~Somewhere in the endless sky, stormy winds are blowing by,~

~Waves are dancing, evening comes, it's time to sound the drums.~

~But steady men, and never fear, tomorrow's skies are always clear.~

~So pound your feet and clap your hands 'til sunny days return.~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.~

~Wave goodbye, but don't you cry, our memories remain.~

~Our days are but a passing dream, everlasting though they seem.~

~Beneath the moon we'll meet again, the wind's our lullaby.~

~Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.~

~Sing a song, and play along for all the oceans wide.~

~After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton,~

~So spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon these foamy seas.~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

~Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~

Once more the ancient and proud song of pirates sang across the city, even if no one but Hollows could hear it.

. . . Well, some other people could. And a slowly growing number of other people stopped to wonder if they had heard something . . .

—Seas of Souls—

Oda Eiichiro rolled on his side in bed, trying to get comfortable. He would have another long day tomorrow.

With his career as a manga artist in the gutter, he managed to get work from his uncle. Unfortunately, said uncle was afraid to seem like he was showing nepotism, so placed frankly unreasonable expectations on his nephew. In Eiichiro's opinion at least.

The next few days would see him driving all over the city to inspect various properties the man owned, and make detailed assessments of their condition.

—Seas of Souls—

After making sure Luffy was also covered up, Robin turned her attention back to her research.

Particularly on Nel.

She did not want to pry with the little girl, respecting her privacy, but there were a few mysteries she felt she should still explore. If she found any concerns, she would raise them with Pesche and Dondo, who were obviously keeping secrets about their 'brother.'

The most obvious concern Robin had for Nel, was how the little girl was leaking absurd amounts of reishi from that break in her skull, and that scar. It had been harder to notice in Hueco Mundo with the reishi rich air, yet here in the World of the Living, it was very obvious.

Plus, there was how genuinely childish the little girl was. Oh, Lilynette and Chopper had younger bodies as well, and Luffy was now free to indulge in his own goofy nature again, yet underneath all that they still had a layer of maturity. The part that was an adult who had survived the vicious world of Hueco Mundo, and risen to the top of the hierarchy of predators. All Hollows, all surviving ones at least, were like that. Nel, quite frankly, behaved like a regular kid.

Given the obvious head wound and power behind it, and that she was an Arrancar, Robin was starting to suspect that Nel had been badly injured in the past, and somehow regressed to a child.

If so, this was something she could at least see if there were any records on the computers they had stolen from Las Noches. It was also a credit for Pesche and Dondo to keep protecting her if they knew her from her previous life.

There were two other mysteries though. When giving Nel that bath earlier that morning, Robin had noticed how for some reason there was a '3' on her back. It could be a natural part of her Hollow form, except she had a suspicion it had been drawn on somehow. Given how the trio were all Arrancar, just like the ones in Las Noches, and given Pesche and Dondo's familiarity with the place despite their attempts to hide it, she suspected it had something to do with Aizen.

Lastly, and most puzzling of all, the one which was driving Robin to investigate this, was how Nel had no Hollow Hole.

None.

Something supposed to be impossible for a Hollow. The whole point to their birth and existence was how they had lost their hearts!

In the early days of when Halibel and her daughters had come to join them, Robin, Nami, and Lilynette had noticed how the blonde had appeared to have none, with the younger, brasher girl blurting that out. Stiffly, Halibel had explained her Hole was internal, within her womb. Obviously something related to how the dominant Soul within the being which had named herself 'Tier Halibel,' had died. Even Lilynette had known to drop the topic.

Later though, Robin had reached out with her pesquisa, and subtly confirmed that yes there was something resembling a Hole within Halibel's inner torso. Perplexing, yet as was their want, Vasto Lordes tended to be rather unusual in several ways.

Nel was no Vasto Lorde, and Robin had made a similar probe, and had not found anything similar.

So what made Nel so much different? What made her unique among Hollows?

Hopefully there are some records unrelated to her available, because she really does not want to pry into that too deeply.

After all, she enjoyed seeing the 'children' of their crew running around having fun, basking in their warmth. Robin did not want to unintentionally offend the little girl.

Humming to herself, she worked her way through computer file after computer file, only occasionally getting distracted.

For instance, the ex-owner of the lab they had pilfered, one Szayelaporro Grantz, had cut open a living Hollow to inject them with a variety of toxins to observe what the combined reaction would be. Honestly, she found it quite entertaining. Well, aside from all the self-indulgent praise Grantz had infested his notes with. Honestly! Clearly robbing him of everything he valued, and trimming his overblown ego down, did the world —worlds now— a favour.

Truthfully, she knew the others would be less amused by a comprehensive report on the prolonged and torturous death of someone. Robin was not ashamed of her interests though, and it was a regular Hollow suffering! All of them, including her precious nakama, were literally soul-eating monsters, capable of committing only pain and misery. As Grantz was proof of, even becoming an Arrancar did not magically liberate a Hollow from the sins of Humanity. The odds favoured his involuntary test subject deserving it.

As far as they knew, the Straw Hats were the sole existing Hollows who managed to overcome their mindless urge to endlessly devour whatever crossed their paths.

Robin's fingers stilled over the keypad. Of course.

Digits flying now, she entered new search parameters, taking advantage of how meticulously Grantz had labeled everything. Specifically she filtered for any signs of lacking regular Hollow aggression, as well when the location of a Hollow's Hole was unknown.

A name popped up along with a strangely familiar profile picture.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck? Well, this explains a few things.

—Seas of Souls—

Author Notes:

Yes, the obvious answer to the question of Nel's Hollow Hole is that the remains of her shirt had covered it up, or it is internal like Halibel's. However, I have different plans, and ones which will influence the plot as well ;-)

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Next Chapter: "Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck"

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!