Whatever the hell happened to the world, that's what Ichigo wanted to find out, when he went up to the Sokyoku, at least what was left of it. Ichigo could vaguely recall the voice of Rukia, from the conversation they had just had.
They say that they trapped something beneath the hill. Beneath the Sokyoku. If we want to beat him, Ichigo, then we might need what's below there. Ichigo remembered that while she had said it, Ukitake had been watching him carefully. The old captain had taken a keen interest in the operations of Rukia and Ichigo, for some obscure reason. Ichigo remembered Rukia's last words to him before he had left. Be careful, Ichigo. Please.
Ichigo could see the ruins of the Sokyoku now. He remembered, not too long ago, the battles that had been fought there. To save Rukia. To fight Aizen. To defeat Arturo. It was strange, but in all those hard fought battles, Ichigo couldn't have thought that potentially, a powerful weapon had been just a few feet away, ready to help them if need be. He walked to the foot of the Sokyoku, the old wooden beams now decaying a little, having stood without purpose since Rukia had been freed. He stood there, staring up at them, wondering how he could access whatever was beneath the hill.
He stared down. Now, if he thought like Uryu, he'd come up with a clever plan to use some kind of spirit ribbon detection to find it. But he didn't think like Uryu. He thought more along the lines of Renji and Chad. He drew up Zangetsu, still in it's shikai form, and he cut straight down, firing a Getsuga Tensho at the ground, cutting a wide swathe through the earth. As the dust rose up, and the fragments of earth fell back down, he knew he had cut a fair distance down into the hill. He waited until the rock dust had settled before he made a move to jump down the hole he had just made.
He could see it. A door, marked with symbols, that read, upon inspection, The Heart Of The Dead. Ichigo had no idea what that meant, but he didn't care. He flourished Zangetsu again, and slashed at the door with another Tensho attack, but it didn't even leave a mark. Two more Tensho attacks didn't leave a mark. Ichigo examined the door. He could touch it, but he couldn't mark it. It only appeared to be made of stone. Whatever was protecting it was strong.
He laid his hand on the symbols. They glowed red upon his touch, and the door started to rumble and shake. Within moments, it was shattered, falling into pieces on the ground, leaving Ichigo to stare in amazement at the dark chamber within. He considered calling for help from someone. Even Byakuya would do at this point. He sucked in his fear, however, and stepped inside.
He was stood in a dark chamber, the walls of which he could barely see. In the centre of the room was a pedestal, on which rested a long cylinder, that seemed to radiate darkness. Ichigo approached it, but thought better of getting any closer. He circled it instead, examining the pedestal, seeing if it bore markings or symbols which he could read and get any idea of what the cylinder contained, but it was blank. The entire chamber was unadorned. He sighed and walked forwards quickly, laying a hand on the long leather tube.
Something happened behind him. He felt a presence, and he shot around, wielding Zangetsu, but it wasn't necessary. Not even Zangetsu could have held back that attack. Something hit his chest, sending the cylinder flying through the air, and smashing Ichigo into the stone. He rose quickly, shrugging off the rock chippings and dust he had collected from his collision. He had no idea what he was looking at, but it scared the hell out of him, even more so then his fight with Ulquiorra.
A man, made of darkness, and not shadow, but a black and purple kind of misty and liquid, was moving across the chamber, towards the cylinder, which had fallen to the other side of the room. Ichigo didn't need telling twice. This always happened. He was always unleashing some ancient evil. He muttered the words that sent him into Bankai form, and slashed with his black sword. Something stopped him. The man had drawn a sword out of the long leather tube, and Ichigo realised that it must have been a Zanpakuto, sealed away underneath the Sokyoku.
He was pushed away, but not too far. The man was now changing. What had been darkness was turning into something else. He began to look just like a normal Shinigami. His hair was black, messy and long, and his skin was pale. His eyes where red, and had deep bags beneath them. There was a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose, and one just to the left of his nose, leaving a cross across his face. He wore a black jacket and a white tee shirt, and a pair of baggy black jeans, despite which had a Shinigami seal attached to the leg. He held the sword, a long bladed Nodachi with an S shaped hilt, in his right hand, resting across his shoulders. His hands where gloved with white and black striped fingerless gloves. He didn't look any older then Ichigo.
He turned to Ichigo, who gripped Zangetsu tightly, preparing for an attack. Then the man yawned, stretched and laughed, smiling brightly, even doing a little dance as he shook feeling into his limbs. He turned to Ichigo and gave him a look of disappointment.
"Thank gods," he said, and his voice sounded young and lively, despite his very tired appearance. "Do you know how long I've been waiting, Kurosaki?"