A/N: Hello! This is the first of a large Bleachtalia crossover that I've been planning for a while. Some things to note: All Zanpakuto names will be in the language of the nation in question (because what reason would Denmark have to speak Japanese?), and human names are most definitely used.

Human names for this chapter:

Canada: Matthew Williams

Vietnam: Lien Nguyen

The Netherlands: Klaas van Denend

This is not a story about the making of a legend. It is not a story about a post-apocalyptic future. It is not about two lovers, nor is it about a horrible monster. This is a story about the evolution of one's own being during a time of strife.

It all began in the city of Toronto, in the apartment of a young man known as Matthew Williams. He works a part-time job at a local Tim Horton's, and is a sophomore at the University of Toronto, majoring in Physics. He is exceedingly normal, in an almost heart-breaking way. There is only one exception to his normalcy.

Since the day he was born, Matthew Williams has been able to see ghosts.

Aside from the normal ghost appearances, he has noticed other strange occurrences: men and women running around in black kimonos wielding katanas, giant monsters with skulls for faces, and battles between these two. Over the past three years, the monster attacks became worse and worse, each battle getting closer to his home. No matter where he moved, they always remained nearby. He is now accustomed to looking over his shoulder on the walk from his apartment to the university. None have ever attacked him in public, but the paranoia was overwhelming. None have ever attacked him in private, for that matter, but even so fear runs rampant through his heart. Only in school does he truly feel safe. As this story opens, even this will be stripped from him.

Nothing shall ever be the same.

God, I'm so bored.

Matthew gazed into the back of his eyelids as he struggled to use his desk as a pillow. It was philosophy class, and if there was anything in the world he truly hated, it was some old man lecturing him about the meaning of life. Why on earth did I choose this class, he often wondered. Oh yeah. My cousin told me it was interesting, he would immediately remember. Never listening to her again. Thankfully, the bell rang, cutting the lecture short. The professor began to assign homework, but it was all babble to Matthew. He was already out the door before he finished his first sentence.

The world around him was a blur as he biked down the street to the next class. Boring old farts aside, he had spent all last night watching another battle between the monsters and the oddballs in the black robes. It was one hell of a battle too: the building next door to his apartment complex was destroyed after the woman kicked the monster into it and split its head down the middle with what might have been the longest axe Matthew had seen in his entire life. The next morning, the news claimed that it was a gas leak. But he knew what he saw. It rolled through his head the entire night. Before he knew it, it was time to get ready for class and he had not slept a minute that night. And so here he was: sleepless, annoyed, and bored out of his mind.

Being so distracted while riding his bike, it was no wonder that he would crash into somebody. He suddenly found himself face-first in a pair of breasts. That woke him up. He laid there in shock for a minute before he felt something grab the side of his head.

"Hey, can you not?"

Suddenly, Matthew found himself on his back, staring up at the sky. Presumably he was being chastised by the woman whose breasts he just used as a pillow. Getting up, he rubbed his eyes, regaining his bearings when his eyes locked on the woman's face. She was a youthful Asian woman, average but muscular. That wasn't what was important though.

"It's you!" he snapped.

Her face became confused and skeptical. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You- you were outside! In the black robes last night, fighting that thing!"

The woman's composure broke for a moment, allowing her to show a great amount of alarm before her face grew dark. "Listen, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I have to get to class." She picked up his calculus book and tossed it back at him. "By the way, you passed the building a block ago. I don't know if you're lost, stupid, or just a bad driver, but I would hurry up if I were you." With that, she fetched up her bookbag and bolted, leaving Matthew on the ground, looking very confused.

Matthew paid absolutely no attention to the lesson in calculus that day. Most of his attention was fixed on the woman sitting across the room.

Strange, he thought. I could have sworn she wasn't in this class for the past half of the semester. If she's a new student, then why haven't they introduced her?

After class, he walked over to a classmate that had sat next to her; she was long gone, to God knows where. Maybe to go destroy another building, he remarked.

"Hey, Klaas. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The blue-eyed man turned around to look at him. He had short blond hair, spiked up at the front, almost like a crown. "Sure, Matt. What do you need?"

"That girl who sat next to you today- is she new? I haven't seen her around here before."

Stoic as usual, Klaas raised an eyebrow. "You mean Lien Nguyen? She's been here the whole year so far. Star student. Why do you ask?"

Matthew paused, trying to think up a decent response that didn't make him sound completely insane. "Er, no reason. Just never really saw her around before."

Klaas' lips curled up slightly. "Perhaps you should get your glasses checked."

"Tch. Rude."

The taller man snorted as he stood up to leave. "Some people just don't understand the finer points of humor. See you later, kid." With that, the taller man turned to leave.

What a weird guy, Matthew thought to himself.

The day passed and Matthew could not get Lien off his mind.

Why is she here? Why is she fighting monsters on my doorstep? Why does everybody remember her when I don't?

Questions swirled around in his head as he rode back to his apartment, but it all came to an abrupt stop after a quick glance to his right. He came to a screeching halt as he watched one of those skull-faced freaks walk- no, fly into a dark alley. He couldn't take it anymore. Turning around, he rode his bike into the alley after it.

Leaning it up against the wall, he got on his feet and looked up at the monster. It was shaped like a pterodactyl, with green skin and a tall skull. Closer now, he realized it wasn't a skull to be precise: it was a mask. In the center of its body was a large, circular hole. It clearly wasn't an injury, but from what he could fathom, it certainly wasn't a blessing either. Gathering his courage, he took a deep breath and began to yell up at the monster.

"Hey, buddy! We need to talk!"

The monster looked down at him and tilted its head in curiosity.

"Yeah! Can you tell your buddies to stop hanging around my apartment? You're keepin' me up at nigh-"

"You," croaked the creature, catching Matt off guard.

"Eh?" All the confidence in his body just left. It talked! Why can it talk?

"You're the one with the tasty-smelling reiatsu I've been smelling!"

"Pardon, the tasty what?"

His confusion went unanswered as the monster roared and took flight, diving straight towards Matthew.

Oh shit! he thought, paralyzed with fear. Not a muscle in his body could move. That was when he saw the shadow leap off the top of the building, sword in hand. A ringing shout echoed through the alley.

"Smack, Kim Loại Dữ!"

Matthew watched in amazement as the sword extended into a staff, twice the size of the wielder, and grew an axe-head at the top. He knew that pole-axe. But how could a sword be an axe? How does that make any sense? It didn't really matter to him, because a second later, Lien Nguyen, wearing a black kimono with a white badge on her left arm, dove through the creature's left wing, splattering blood and the monster's screams all over the alley. Landing on her feet, the woman stood back up and took a deep breath before turning her to Matthew.

"Eheheh…" Matt could barely form words. "Well, I… um-"

His stammering was cut short as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the alley wall.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" she barked in his face. "First, you let your reiatsu leak out so thickly that hollows approach you in droves and Soul Society has to send a goddamn lieutenant to investigate, then you actively seek out your death!? What kind of stupid are you?"

Matthew stared in confusion. "Reia- soul- what on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" she shouted, glaring angrily into his eyes. "Your spiritual pressure is too great for you to not know what you are. What squad are you in!? Just WHO the hell are you?!"

Sadly, he wasn't paying attention anymore. The monster- no, hollow as she had called it- had regenerated its wing and prepared to charge.

"Are you even listening to me-"

Her temper tantrum was cut short as Matthew threw her to the ground just as the hollow soared past them. A second too late, Matthew realized he probably should have hit the ground as well, as the hollow's wing slashed him across the chest as it passed by. Lien's alarmed and livid face became full of shock and terror as she watched Matthew drop to the ground, bleeding out. As she ran to his aid, the hollow turned around for another pass. It slashed her shoulder as it passed by, causing her to drop her axe. Matthew could barely breathe, and his comprehension was at its limits. The hollow turned around for what would assuredly be the final pass. It came roaring down the alleyway when a man in a black kimono appeared in front of them, holding a long, black broadsword. A wooden badge hung from his sash, with a skull and cross on it. A voice called out that Matthew had heard not so long ago.

"Crash, Waarheid!"

A blue beam shot out of the tip of the sword, punching directly through the hollow's mask. Screams of terror and agony echoed throughout the alley as it quickly dissolved. The tall, blond figure turned around and looked down upon them.

"If a lieutenant has trouble with a hollow of that power, then the Gotei 13 is in serious trouble." A familiar smirk filled his face.

Lien stared in shock. "You're- you're a-"

The man raised the wooden badge on his belt. "I'm Klaas van Denend, a Substitute Soul Reaper." He turned his gaze to Matthew as his the smirk fell from his face. "Looks like you've got a bit of a problem here."

Matthew groaned weakly as Lien began to stand.

"No shit, Klaas." muttered Lien. "Aren't you supposed to protect people like him from hollows? Isn't that why you got the badge?"

Klaas shook his head. "I would've hoped that a lieutenant- of Squad 11 of all places- would have done better than me here, but it seems I was mistaken. That's not the problem I was talking about, though.

Lien's eyebrows furrowed. "Really," she barked, "what is it then?"

"It seems that you owe him one." The substitute soul reaper knelt down to check out Matthew's wound. "I saw the whole thing. If he hadn't pushed you down, you would've had your head lopped right off. And wouldn't that be a bitch."

"Tch." Lien scowled and looked down at Matt. "Listen kid- I don't know why you have reiatsu this strong for a human, and I don't know why your soul feels like that of a soul reaper. But I do owe you one. You're a dead man, don't get me wrong; that wound is fatal. When you reach the other side, head to the Seireitei and look me up. I'll get you a use for that power."

Matthew gave a frail nod. Soul Reaper? Seireitei? Reiatsu? I don't know what she's talking about at all! The world began to dim. I'm going to die, he thought.

His life flashing before his eyes, his body ceased to move.

The last thought to pass through his mind?

I might just have to take you up on that offer, Miss Nguyen.

A/N: End of the prologue! Please review!