"Is this it? Where the hell are the other three!?" Zaraki growled after Ikkaku and Renji entered the room. Yachiru, Marai, Yumichika, and the tenth seat, Makizo, had already been there. This left seats nine, seven, and six missing.
"Ninth seat Romaka died last week, and the seventh and sixth are still in the recovery ward after you... ah..." Makizo's voice drowned off as he tried to think of none offensive words to describe what Zaraki had done to those two during a training exercise.
Makizo wasn't the kind of guy most people would expect to find in a place like Squad 11. He wasn't all that tall, or all that brave, or all that good with a sword, or all that stupid. In fact, he only had the seat do to seniority.
He had been a drunk who fell into debt and had decided that joining if he joined Squad 11, then he would at least be able to drink all he wanted before he died. That was ruffly sixty years ago, and the man had proven to have the devil's luck if not much power or skill. He could run through a war zone in nothing but his underwear and still make it out the other side in one piece.
"Oh, right. Forgot about that." Zaraki said disinterestedly. "Guess I still need to find a new ninth seat. Fuck it, it can wait."
"So why exactly did you call us here, Captain?" Ikkaku asked as he passed the Captain one of the bottle's of saki he had brought from the bar.
"The squad has been given a mission to flush out some damn wizard who's gone into hiding in England." Zaraki said as he pulled off the wax seal on the bottle and started to drink.
"A wizard? What a waste of time." Marai scoffed, Ikkaku nodded in agreement.
"Since when are stake outs our problem? That's Squad 10 business, not ours." Yumichika asked, raising his unusual eyebrow.
"Because of the target's past. Some prick with a stupid name, Volrdark or something, doesn't matter." Zaraki said his lip curling in annoyance. "He is our problem because it is the way of Squad 11 to finish our fights. The bastard is the one who killed Marai's parents and tried to kill her as a baby." The members of the squad froze, Marai blinked in surprise. "This is Marai's fight. Whether it is our usual duties or not."
Marai nodded. It was the way of Squad 11. It didn't matter if she didn't know this wizard guy and didn't care about him, it was her job to finish it. "I understand. I'll make sure to kill him quickly and return as soon as possible." She said, the small girl looking up at her adoptive father who gave her a nod of approval.
"I want to go too!" Yachiru shouted as she pulled on Zaraki's Captain's uniform. "I want to see the World of the Living with Sis! Can I go too, please Kenny!?" The small pink haired girl begged.
"Fine, whatever." Zaraki said before looking over the table. "Abarai!"
"Yes Captain!" Renji said, standing up at attention, making several members roll their eyes at the Academy Boy.
"You'll be going with them." Zaraki said. Renji paled and his eyes widened in panic. Being stuck on a mission for an unknown amount of time with Yachiru and Marai. That was scary.
"Ca...Captain I..." Renji stuttered, but Zaraki cut him off.
"You'll be in charge of coordinating the mission. That a good enough feather in your cap?" Zaraki said, glaring at Renji who's mouth shut. Being in charge of a long term field mission would be good for his record. It would place him one big step closer to becoming a lieutenant.
"What!? But we out rank him. Why should that idiot be in charge?" Marai objected as she throw Renji a glare. The red haired man glared right back at her.
"Because the sooner he gets his 'experience', the sooner he can get his ass out of my squad. I'm tired of this love sick kid causing trouble around barracks." Zaraki said. Renji flushed, did everyone know about that? "Besides, this mean's the paperwork is his problem." Zaraki leaned back in his chair. "You'll be leaving tomorrow with that snake faced bastard, Ichimaru. He'll probably explain the details. Now get out of here. I'm already missing my afternoon nap."
They all left in a hurry. Renji and Marai still glaring at each other as they left. Zaraki leaned back and closed his eyes.
The real reason he had placed Renji in charge was so that Marai and Yachiru wouldn't be bound to the mission. If it was going to take more that a few days, he didn't want his daughters to be stuck on Earth until it was done.
He wanted for them to always have the option to come home.
Dumbledore had gathered all the members of the Order of the Phoenix that he could in the Great Hall. Some of them couldn't make it, and for some it would have been too dangerous.
Sirus was still a wanted man, and so was held up in the Black Family house, no matter how much he wanted to leave. Hagrid was off trying to convince the giant's not to side with Voldemort. Shacklebolt was held up at the Ministry keeping guard while the others were away.
Other than that, everyone was there, waiting for the arrival of their 'new allies'.
"I don't like this one bit." Alistair Moody grumbled as he took a small drink for his personal bottle. He was a paranoid wreck as always, but the ex-Auror was even more nervous than usual. His large magic eye was spinning so fast in its socket that some thought they could smell smoke coming from it. He had whipped his head around so much that his graying hair was a even more scattered that usual. "The Soul Reapers never done anything that doesn't serve their own purposes. Never have, never will. So why now? Voldemort is a threat, but not to those creatures."
"Calm down Mad-Eye, we already know that the Death Eaters are trying to gather Hollows. Is it so hard to believe that the Soul Eaters are angry about that?" Tonks said to her elder. She was young, really young, only around twenty and fresh out of the Auror's training institution. Her hair was short and bright pink at the moment, but that was irrelevant, since it had a tendency to change at a moments notice. "I say we don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Carelessness will get you killed." Moody growled at the girl. "Nothing good ever comes of dealing with Death Gods. All the stories say so. They bring destruction, war, and death wherever they go."
"Alastair, while I can agree that we must be careful, I believe your comments are a little short sighted." Dumbledore said in his usual teacher's voice. "After all, they do not bring destruction, they are drawl to it by their own needs. If my house is attacked, and an Auror comes to look at it, I do not blame the Auror for bringing tragedy to my home. Surely an old fighter like you can understand that?"
Moody frowned, but nodded. "Sorry Dumbledore, but I don't like facing the unknown, and I don't know thing about these people."
"Yes, people are not afraid of the dark, but the not knowing what is in it. I am no exception to this. I have my fears." Dumbledore admitted. "But unless we venture in and turn on the lights, it shall forever remain in darkness."
"Well, they didn't so us any favors by not telling us 'exactly' when they were going to arrive." Severus Snape grumbled. The potions master's body language hardly told anything, his robs hid most of his shifting about and his mate of greasy black hair would stay in place even if he shook his head back and forth. "We have been here for three hours sitting on our hands. They clearly care nothing for our time."
"I would assume that Time doesn't mean as much to them as it does to us." Ramus Lupin commented. He was much calmer than the rest of them, since it was the new moon that night. He was even excited at the chance of seeing beings from beyond the other veil of death. It would be a chance for him to ask if the legends about Werewolves' souls being damned to hell for their nature were true. Not to mention all the other questions that only someone like them could answer. "They live far longer than we do. I would guess that they would laugh at the idea of three hours when they have all eternity."
"Regardless of how long you live, three hours of sitting on your hands is three hours of sitting on your hands." Mr. Weasley said, as he shifted around in his seat, trying to keep the feeling in his legs. The red haired middle aged man was starting to show signs of a receding hair line, but otherwise he looked the picture of health, and extremely anxious. "Reminds me of when we used to make the twins wait to hear what their punishment would be in order to make them think about what they had done." His wife nodded in agreement from the seat next to him.
Dumbledore looked over the assembled witches and wizards. He couldn't blame them for being worried. The Gods of Death were beings from their ghost stories. Tales that they would tell their children before going to bed to keep them from forgetting their place in the world. To reinforce the fact that regardless their powers, wizards were not gods. The war between the Soul Reapers and the Quincy was the equivalent of Ragnarok in their culture. Two warring races whose power completely dwarfed theirs fighting to the bitter end for the fate of the world.
The Headmaster had to admit, he himself was uneasy about the idea of depending of the benevolence of these spirits. But he also understood that they had little choice in the matter. This was war, and if they lost, they would all be killed.
"Dumbledore." Mcgonagall whispered as she pointed towards a point in the air before the Head Table. Everyone froze as they saw a vertical line starting to appear in the air before a decretive paper door appeared. The door slid open and Gin Ichimaru stepped out, the same cocky grin he had on his face the last time Dumbledore had seen him was still there, a black and red butterfly was circling around him. The look was making the already uncomfortable people even more uncomfortable.
"Hello again, Dumbledore-san." Gin said, tilting his entire body to the side and giving a sort of wave. The man was clearly mad... as in crazy. "I'm glad to see so many faces here today. I managed to get you a team to help you. I think you will all be very surprised."
Stepping aside, Gin held his hand out to the door and the witches and wizards held their breath, waiting to see what kind of warrior would appear.
"WEEEE!" Jaws dropped as a tiny pink haired girl cartwheeled out of the door before bouncing up into the air and don't a triple back flip before landing on the table right in front of Dumbledore on the table, her pink eyes looking straight into his surprised blue. "Hello Mister Wizard. Do you have any candy?" She asked him as she tilted her head and gave the headmaster a huge smile. She looked as if she was only three year old, and was dressed in a black robe like outfit. Dumbledore's eyes found the sword she held at her side in a bright pink sheath. This girl... was one of the dreaded Soul Reapers? He almost burst into tears he laughed so hard.
"I believe we can find some for..." Dumbledore started, but was cut off.
"Don't do it!" A young man with crimson hair rushed out of the portal. He seemed to be gasping for breath. "Lieutenant Kusajishi! Please control yourself! We are on a mission!"
The man looked like he was around sixteen and was dressed in the same kind of uniform as the girl. His sword was at his side, tied to a white belt, and his body was covered in tattoos. He looked like a punk.
The pink haired girl glared at the young red haired man as he approached her. "Don't be a kill joy, Aka-pain(red pine, as in pineapple or porcupine)!" The girl said angrily before spitting straight into the guy's face.
"Ah! You little brat!" The young man growled before lunging at the girl, only for her to jump over the lung, kick him on the back of the head so that he fell face first into the ground before she spun through the air and landed in front of the portal.
"Please tell me this isn't happening." Snape groaned. Despite being a teach, he hated children.
"So much for the mysterious lords of death." Lupin said, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Just let her do what she wants, Abarai. It isn't like you can stop her." A third voice said, coming from the portal. The gathered people watched in growing astonishment as a small girl, one who looked only eight years old if even stepped out through the gate. She gave a half smile at the red haired man. "Face down on the ground again, huh Akademiboi(academy-boy)?" She said with a smug smile.
"I don't believe it, she can't be." Mcgonagall whispered to herself. It seemed as if everyone was thinking the same thing.
She was dressed in the same uniform as the other two, her sword at her side. Her green eyes looked annoyed as she stared back at the wizards. Her messy black hair was shoulder length but did nothing to hide the lightning bolt scar in the center of her forehead. A scar that everyone in the wizarding England has hurried of.
"The girl who lived, lives again." Dumbledore mumbled as the red haired man shouted insults back in rapid Japanese. This had not been what any of them had been expecting.
Poor Renji. Hopefully he will survive.