Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth

Chapter 18: The Mystery of Erika Island

"Erika Island?" Ichigo asked. He and his team are in the team IRYS dorm.

"Yeah, that's where the mission takes place," Ikkaku said. "There is a lighthouse there where, apparently, it's keepers went missing a week ago."

"And it's up to us to find them, right?" Ichigo guessed.

"Bingo."

Uryū gives Rangiku, Shuhei, and Renji glasses of water and pills for their headaches. "Uryū, you're an angel," Rangiku said to him.

"You shouldn't have done that. They were stupid for lettin' themselves get plastered," Ikkaku said.

"I am aware of that," Uryū said, pushing up his glasses. He puts a hand on his hip. "However, we have a mission today, correct?"

"Right," Ikkaku grumbled, getting up from the floor. "You three better sober up. We're leavin' in ten!"

They hear a knock from the door. Ichigo answers it and a man enters. He is a tall, lean-built man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond (almost pale), with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes, and he has chin stubble. He wears a dark coat, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, with a dark green shirt and pants underneath. He also wears wooden getas and a striped dark green and white bucket hat.

"Yo!" The man greeted.

"Kisuke? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"Wait? Can't a man greet his friends?" Kisuke asked. He chuckles sheepishly at everyone's deadpanned expression. "I'm also here to give team IURR a new...'toy' of sorts." He presents Ichigo a small box. The amber-haired male eyes the container suspicious. It's small enough to fit Kon in.

"Is it anything like Kon?" Ichigo inquired.

"Maaaybe," Kisuke answered, grinning like a child. Ichigo looks unimpressed. "I was going to give it to you when you come back, but I figured 'no time like the present', right?" He places in the container in Ichigo's hands.

"Yeah, thanks," Ichigo said sarcastically. He deeply prays that it isn't another Kon. One is already too much to handle.

"I'll be leaving, then," Kisuke said, tipping his hat. "I'm needed at the shop. I'll see you all again at the Vytal Festival. Oh, and before I forget. Congratulations, Team IURR." The man in green leaves.

"What does he mean by that?" Yumichika asked.

"It's nothing for now," Rukia said.

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The flight to Erika Island was uneventful. Ikkaku is asleep, snoring. Renji had his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest, resting and listening to music through wireless earbuds. Shuhei is inspecting his weapons. Rukia is reading. Rangiku is checking herself out with her Scroll. Yumichika is checking on his feather accessories. Uryū has a ball of light in his hand, flexing his hand as he controlled the brightness of the light. Ichigo stared outside the window, watching the clouds roll by. He hears a ding from his Scroll. He pulls it out of his pocket to see a message from Tatsuki.

'You weren't kiddin' about little red. You owe me.' the message said. Ichigo grins slightly. She's probably training Ruby hand-to-hand like he asked her to.

"Let's do a selfie, Rukia!" Rangiku said.

"Oh, okay," Rukia said. Rangiku throws an arm around her and does a duck face while Rukia only smiled and did a peace sign.

Ikkaku snorted awake. "We there yet?"

"We'll be there in 5 minutes," Yumichika said.

"Oh," Ikkaku said. He falls back asleep.

Uryū cancels out the light ball and looks around the cabin. "Where's Kon?" He asked Ichigo. Ichigo didn't answer him, shifting his eyes left to right and left again.

"I don't know. He could be in the back somewhere."

"Kurosaki..." Uryū narrowed his eyes. "You left him behind, didn't you?"

"What about that thing Kisuke gave us? It's not like I need him right now," Ichigo said.

"Yes. You do," Uryū emphasized. "So, where is he?"

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'Ichigo, you bastard!' Kon cursed, tears streaming from his face.

"Icchi said that I get to play with you while he's on his mission with Baldie and the others," Yachiru said. She pulls out a pair of scissors with a face far too menacing for a child. "What should we do first?"

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"Have you forgotten why Kon was given to you?!" Uryū asked.

"Have you forgotten how much of a pest he is?" Ichigo retorted.

Uryū sighs. "Honestly, Kurosaki. I knew that you are irresponsible with simple matters, but this?"

"Irresponsible?!" Ichigo repeated.

"You heard me. Please tell you've at least brought the container Mr. Urahara gave you."

"I have it right here."

"You better have." Rukia sighs to herself at the scene. She has long since been used to this sort of thing, but it's still rather tiring. Renji second the emotion as he increased the volume of music he's listening to drown out the argument.

Ikakku, having enough of the two bickering, springs from his seat. "Will you two can it already?! I was taking a nap!"

"I would have had to wake you anyways. We arrived," Yumichika said. Ikkaku growls in frustration.

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A man edging towards the age of 60 sat in his leather seat in his office, filing some papers, when there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Ichigo, Ikkaku, and the others entered. "Hello? We're here for the search and rescue mission?"

"Ah, yes. You must be the teams sent by Haven and Beacon." The man gets up from his desk. He shakes Ichigo's hand. "Welcome to Yudaki. Thank you all for coming. I am Azul Rodríguez, the mayor of this humble town. I must thank you for accepting this mission."

"Can you tell us anything more?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes. There is a lighthouse about 10 miles from here. Ordinarily, they send weekly updates to me. When the designated date arrived, neither of the keepers made contact with me," Azul told them. "I brushed it off at first, thinking that a one day delay is nothing to fret about. Then, the next day arrived with nothing from them. Then another day went by and another. It's been a week since then and still no word from them."

"How many keepers are there?" Rangiku asked.

"There are three in total," the man said, "All men." He walks back to his desk to retrieve a file of papers. He hands them to Ichigo. "Here are some transcripts of the three." Ichigo takes the folder and open it. There are photos of the three men along with some personal data. Angelo Raldo, age 37. Human, has a wife and kids. Forrest Tanner, age 50. Human, head-keeper and lived with his brother and sister. Koamaru Kiba, age 20. Faunus, wolf-tail, lived alone.

He hands the file over to Rukia after he got done skimming through the papers. His eyes lands on a painted portrait hanging on the wall behind the mayor's desk of a beautiful woman with bronze-colored skin, long wavy raven hair, and emerald green eyes. She wore an off-shoulder white blouse and a long black latin skirt with red fringes.

"Who's that?" Ichigo asked, his eyes not leaving the portrait. "Your wife?"

The mayor chuckled. "Oh, no, dear boy. That is only a dream for many of Yudaki's men. This is the island's namesake, Erika Llorona."

"She is a thing of beauty," Yumichika marveled.

"Indeed she was. It is a shame that she perished a hundred years ago," Azul bemoaned.

"Tragic," Ikkaku said monotonously.

"Hmmm. I wonder if I can do that now," Rangiku wondered curiously, looking at her own ample bosoms. Shuhei blushes and turns his head away.

"Okay, before we derail, when do we go to check out the lighthouse?" Ikkaku asked.

"Ah, yes. I'll call for a horse buggy," Azul said. "It may take a while, so please, enjoy the scenery while you wait."

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The group find themselves at the busy main street. "So, what are you guys gonna do while we wait?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm going to the local Dust shop to restock," Uryū said. "Also, my brother sent me a book that belonged to my grandfather. There's something I wanted try out."

"I need to go there too," Shuhei said, "If you don't mind the company."

"Not at all," Uryū said. The two leave.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Rukia said, running after them.

"We meet back here when the mayor calls!" Ichigo shouts to them.

"Well, I'm gonna go shopping," Rangiku said.

"Like hell you are," Ikkaku said.

"What? Why?" Rangiku asked.

"'Cause you take too damn long!"

Rangiku huffs and crosses her arms underneath her breasts. "Name one time."

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One time...

"Look at this blouse! Are there any more in different colors?" Rangiku gushed. Shuhei stood beside her, looking content as he held many bags and packages for the busty woman.

And another...

"Those shoes look so cuuute!" Rangiku squealed. Shuuhei looked pleased carrying Rangiku's stuff. Yumichika is now with them, but looks less than happy to be there, he too is carrying some things Rangiku bought.

And another...

"You know what I need?" Rangiku asked. Shuuhei looks as happy as ever, Yumichika looked disheveled, and now Ikkaku just looks ticked off. As per usual, each man is carrying mountains of shopping bags and packages. "Some more outfits!" Ikkaku and Yumichika collapsed from exhaustion.

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"I said one time," Rangiku said. "Aw, who cares what you think. I'm going to check out the boutiques." She trots off.

"Don't you dare, Matsumoto!" Ikkaku warned, going after her. Renji and Yumichika follow.

Now alone, Ichigo decides to look around. A particular item inside a store caught his attention through the glass outside. He gets a closer look at it to see what it is. It was a decorated skull with linings and jewels and such. If he remembered right, it's called a sugar skull. Funny name. He then hears something. Almost like an echoing 'shoo' sound. He looks around to find the source. To his shock, the once bustling street became barren. Not a single soul in sight. It was like everyone just vanished, leaving only him. Him and a woman just down the road in front of him. She resembled the woman from the portrait in the mayor's office. Irena? Or was it Eleanor? The only difference is that she is wearing a white mask with red markings running down from the eye holes, resembling tear tracks. The mask reminded Ichigo of the Grimm.

There is something unnerving about the woman. Unnerving and... Familiar?

Who, or what, is she?

A part of the mask started to break apart, resembling a jagged mouth, before the woman let out a deafening, inhuman scream. Ichigo covered his ears to muffle the noise. The woman/thing lunged at him. Ichigo flinches back, backing into the glass roughly. He clinched his eyes shut and crossed his arms in an 'x' form as he braces for the impact. He stayed like that until he started to hear the familiar murmuring of people. He opens his eyes to see other people stare at him quizzically, some concerned and others questioning his mental state. Ichigo rarely ever feel embarrassed so easily, especially in public. But, due to what just happened may have only been in his head and he just made a fool of himself, this is different.

Ichigo chuckled nervously. He moves to get away, almost running in to a hunching old woman in a blue dress and carrying a cane with a skull on top exiting a shop. "S-Sorry!" Ichigo apologized before running off to avoid everyone.

"Kids these days. Always in a hurry," the old woman grumbled, her robotic eyes/goggles squinting.

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"The price for the Dust is starting to get more ridiculous," Uryū complained as he, Shuhei, and Rukia left the store. "Not like I need any more reason to despise Jacques Schnee."

"Isn't there a lot of Dust robberies going on over in Vale?" Shuhei asked.

"That's no excuse to raise it here in Anima," Uryū argued. "When Nicolas Schnee was still around, he made sure that everyone can afford it, whether they may be for Huntsmen usage or common household appliances. Now, Jacques is merely exploiting them just to fill up his pockets."

"You really don't like Mr. Schnee," Shuhei observed.

"You don't even know the half of it," Uryū said to him, thinking about Weiss' predicament. Uryū was never fond of Jacques, even at a young age, due to his callous and cold nature. Perhaps, that was part of the reason the relationship between Uryū and his own father was strained because Uryū saw a bit of Jacques in Ryuken. Now, Uryū saw the vast differences between the two men.

"Makes you miss the Sangrias Dust Emporium," Rukia commented.

Uryū sighs. "Anyways, with how the prices just keep climbing like this, we're better off excavating from natural sources." A pair of arms emerges from a nearby narrow alley, grabbing the three and dragging them in. "Kurosaki? What are you doing?" Uryū asked. "And why are you hiding here?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Ichigo said. "When are we leaving?"

"Actually, I just got a message from the mayor." Uryū said. "A horse buggy large enough for all eight of us is ready. He is said we could set out at any time."

"You still haven't told us why you're hiding here," Rukia said with a raised brow. "What's going on?"

Ichigo blinked. "Nothing."

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"If we had the privilege to come here at any time, then how come I couldn't continue my shopping?" Rangiku asked.

"'Cause you'll take all damn day," Ikkaku snapped.

They have long since left Yudaki and are now riding through the Morikai swamp. Ichigo looks around the area, watching for any signs of Grimm. As he did, he noticed a stream of blue light flowing among the trees. Is that a...

He then hears the same sound from Yudaki's main street. Behind a mangrove, Ichigo sees the masked woman from before, watching them. Ichigo narrowed his eyes. He's got to get to the bottom of this. He moves to the coachman and taps his shoulder.

"Hey, uh, what's the story behind the lady this island is named after? Elena? Irene?" Ichigo asked. Uryū shakes his head at Ichigo's slowness.

"Are you talking about Erika Llorona?" the coachman asked. "It's a tragic story, really. As old as the lighthouse. During the Great War, the lighthouse was created as a means for civilians to have safe refuge from the battles and sail to this island. Among them was Erika Llorona. Upon arriving, she fell in love with the lighthouse's first keeper. The two eventually married and had a child. But, the child supposedly died about a month later, after it was born."

"Poor thing..." Rukia muttered sadly.

"My thoughts exactly," the coachman agreed, adjusting the reins. "Not long after the infant's funeral, a number of newborns on the island started to die. Soon, people began to believe that Erika was a witch and is sacrificing the babies to revive her own. Some claimed they saw her commune with the Creatures of Grimm. Even her husband was having questions. After seeing what he thought was Erika summoning a Grimm, her husband gathered a mob and had Erika burned at the stake."

"Jeez, isn't that a bit much?" Renji wondered.

"Tensions rise during war times," Uryū said, closing a book he was reading. "Some would even fall into the practice of superstition. SIDS wasn't fully understood during that era, so some would think the causes were demons, faeries, or witchcraft. Some had pointed fingers at the Quincys as being the cause, but after they left whatever village they were in, the deaths still continued."

"Were you present during the Battle of Kusajishi Hill?" the coachman asked out of curiosity. "I've heard that Quincys can live for a long time."

"No, I wasn't," Uryū said, pushing up his glasses. "I'm the same age as my teammates. However, my grandfather and father were field doctors for a Quincy army against the Grimm during that battle."

The coachman's eyes widen. "Are you by any chance related to Souken Ishida and Ryuken Ishida?"

"Indeed, I am. I'm Ryuken's second son," Uryū said, his voice hinting at rare pride.

The coachman chuckled. "Well, it's an honor."

"Thank you."

"So, what happened after Erika got torched?" Ichigo asked, trying to not sound desperate.

"As legend put it, Erika shouted at the mob that she will exact vengeance upon those who betrayed her, even her husband. Now, they say her ghost haunts the island, passing judgment on those who betrays. Her husband had claims that she was haunting him up until the day he died and now he's haunting the grounds, warning others."

"What a load of crap," Ikkaku said.

"Ikkaku!" Yumichika chided.

"What?"

"No, no. It's fine. To be honest, I find the whole thing far-fetched myself," the coachman said.

Ichigo grew silently, thinking about everything that was said. He's not much of a believer of ghosts himself, but...he can't deny what he had seen. But, even if that's true, why is she haunting him? Ichigo would rather die than hurt any of his friends, let alone betray them. Maybe...maybe the ghost of Erika can see into the future? Did she saw him betray his friends or something?

Maybe...Just maybe...

Next Chapter: Deeper In