I own nothing, all Bleach properties belong to Tite Kubo and the Norse Gods/Myths belong to absolutely no one.

"Ichigo, can you hear me?" a deep elderly voice echoed in Ichigo's ears as he opened his eyes to an unfamiliar place. Above him was a sky covered in gray clouds, white specks gently falling towards him. Ichigo grunted as he leaned up from his lying position, intent on taking in his surroundings. He was surrounded by a forest of coniferous trees blanketed in a thin layer of snow. Ichigo took note that it was not only the trees that were covered by the cold white substance but the ground as well.

He looked down to his left and gripped, grabbing a handful of what should have been icy cold. "Why can't I feel how cold it is? Is this really snow?" He asked himself.

"And why would something in your own inner world ever harm you, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo screamed as the same voice before appeared behind him, scrambling and turning to get away and look at the stranger. The stranger in question was a tall elderly man that stood straighter than most would expect of an elder. He wore a large gray pointed hat with dark robes to match, staff held in his right hand. A large untamed beard flowed with a non-existent wind. The stranger looked down on Ichigo's almost pathetic form with one glowing gray eye, the other, his left, was a vacant cavity.

"Who the hell are you!" Ichigo screamed, his adrenaline still rushing from the scare he had just received.

The old man tilted his head left, concern in his one eye. "Do you not recognize me Ichigo? It's me,-" whatever the old man had said was a garbled mess of static.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't understand what you said."

The man hummed in disappointment.."So you didn't. Very well, you may refer to me as . . . One-Eye. Yes, that will suffice for now. Stand Ichigo, I'm afraid we do not have much time left." One-Eye grabbed his staff with both hands now, waiting patiently for Ichigo to stand.

"What do you mean old man?

"This world is crumbling as we speak, the only way to stop it is for you to make it to my Hall and retrieve your weapon." One-Eye turned and pointed with his staff to the horizon where a building resembling that of a giant ship that had been turned upside down over walls stood on top of a mountain.

Ichigo wondered how he had not noticed it before that moment, even from here he could hear the joyous sounds of merrymaking, the sprouted curses of men and women, and the beating drums resonating with the pulling of strings and beautiful vocals of a primal language.

"You must hurry, or else you will be consumed into a true Hollow. Go, go now Ichigo!" The man shouted before turning into shadows.

"Wait, a true Hollow? What does that mean!" Ichigo shouted desperately into the vacant air. A loud rumble from behind disrupted him causing him to turn and behold the world behind him slowly being consumed by a wall of darkness.

"Shit," Ichigo said as he took a step back in fear as the wall of darkness came closer and closer to him. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" He turned and ran.

-Outside the Shattered Shaft -

"My oh my, isn't this peculiar," Urahara stated as he looked down the cavern he had placed the young Kurasoki in. "He has quite the Reiryoku doesn't he? The Reiatsu is almost suffocating even from here. What kind of being did you and Masaki create Isshin?

"Boss?" The massive man known as Tessai brought Urahara from his musings, bringing his attention to his other employees who had been crushed beneath the force of Ichigo's Reiatsu rendering them unconscious. Urahara merely brought out his fan from his sleeve and covered his mouth with it, "Whoopsie! I should have known they wouldn't be able to withstand this force. Tessai, be a dear and bring them back up to the shop, please. Thank you!"

"Yes, boss." Was the giant's simple reply, picking up the red and purple-haired children. Making his way to the ladder, Urahara called out to him again.

"On your way back grab that, will you? Something tells me Ichigo didn't quite inherit his mother's heritage."

"Right, boss."

Urahara turned back to the Shattered Shaft, his shadowed eyes looking down at the squirming teen as Hollow substance continued to consume him. Blaring red eyes glaring back up at him. "Hopefully he survives so we'll actually be able to use it."

-In Ichigo's Inner World-

Ichigo had just made it to the peak of the towering mountain, the wall of consuming darkness following close behind him. Even if that was the case, Ichigo could not help himself but look in awe at the structure before him. It was massive. There was no better way to describe it. From the miles down where he had met One-Eye, the building hadn't seemed so large but now that he was up close he could not even see the top nor see where the side turns to the back of the building. At the front of the building was a large tree with golden leaves, a silver trunk, and black ravens resting on its branches.

Ichigo turned his head behind him. The black wall was closer than it was before. "Shit." He muttered. Scrambling to make it back on his feet so he could make the last leg to the building. Reaching the large doors he pushed with all his might to make them open.

"Come on, come on, come on. Open already, will you!"

The doors budged every so slightly as Ichigo's feet started to slip against the snow. He didn't have to turn to know the black wall was mere meters from him now.

"Damn you, damn you. I won't become a Hollow!"

Closer and closer the wall came but with a final yell of anger and push the doors burst open causing the hot-headed teen to collapse inside the building. The large doors slammed behind him blocking the wall of darkness from entering.

"Ah. You made it just in time. Good, good. I'm glad to know my wielder has such resolve."

It was that same voice again. Ichigo looked up and sure enough, there was One-Eye, except it wasn't. Instead of the old man in ragged robes and a pointed hat was a powerful warrior sitting on a carved wooden throne draped in animal furs. The man wore heavy armor over chainmail, a red cape draped over his shoulders. His once wild beard was now combed down, braided on both sides of his cheeks that leads to a larger singular braid. Over his left eye was a black leather patch covering the empty socket. Taking the place of the large wooden staff was a magnificent metal spear with intricate knotworks and what looked to be glowing blue runes.

Ichigo looked behind him, expecting the darkness to have already consumed the door behind him but was shocked to see the doors remained sturdy.

"You need not worry, the Soul Suicide cannot enter here," One-Eye said.

"Where the hell is 'here' anyway old man?"

"This is my Hall, or I suppose, your Hall as well," One-Eye stood from his throne. "It has many names. The Hall of the Fallen, The Golden Hall, Valhöll just to name a few. Though I suppose the name Valhalla has become the more popular name for it. Not as poetic as I'd like."

One-Eye approached Ichigo who had slowly gotten up.

"Valhalla? You mean like, those myths from Europe?"

"You never did learn much about the Supernatural world even if you could see spirits."

"But, Valhalla is just that isn't it? A myth?"

One-Eyes eyebrows furrowed, taking Ichigo's words as an insult. He slammed his spear into the ground and a shockwave pushed Ichigo back several steps.

"Look around you boy," One-Eye's voice multiplied, sounding as if thousands of himself had spoken at once. "Does this look like a myth to you?"

Ichigo did look around, finally taking notice of the interior of the building. The support column were thousands of spears bundled up together going up, holding up a ceiling of round shields. Each shield was similar but had obvious differences, the obvious differences were the designs painted on them. Some had animals, others two or even three different colors, and more that were raw wood. There were many large tables lining the floor of the hall, each one surrounded by seats made of breastplates. In the center of the room was a massive hearth, with a crackling fire that managed to warm the entirety of the hall.

"This is Valhalla, my home, and your Innerworld boy."

"But, if this is Valhalla, then that means-"

"So you've finally put together the pieces. It has taken you much longer than I anticipated. But it is to be expected in this situation. Along with your lack of knowledge of the spiritual world, much less the supernatural."

"But how is this," Ichigo began.

"Possible? The simple answer is that I grew bored but I shall tell you the long answer another time."

One-Eye extended his right arm outward, offering his Spear to Ichigo. "Take it, Ichigo. Take your weapon and pay the debt that you owe to that supposed death god."

Ichigo looked at the weapon hesitantly, it was one he was not used to. Though he was also not used to, nor well trained with a sword but thought he did decently well with the large sword he had used before. He reached out but stalled his hand, "I," He began. "I don't even know its name."

"You will know Ichigo Kurosaki." One-Eye prompted Ichigo to grab it once again, his one grey eye staring intensely into the teenager.\

Ichigo looked back at the spear, it was longer than Chad was tall and that was saying something. Chad was the tallest person he had met and Ichigo had met many people. He took a deep breath, extending his arm once again, and grasped the spear in a firm grip. His vision became white as information flooded his mind and his skin burned with power.

-In Urahara's Training Ground-

A great weight slammed down on Urahara and Tessai, forcing both of them to their knees. Urahara's eyes were wide, "What is this with this Reiatsu? I knew he was strong but I didn't expect anything like this!"

"It, it reminds me of the Commander. It's overwhelming." Tessai struggled to say.

A sudden explosion of gray outlined with blue Reiryoku erupted from the Shattered Shaft, washing over the artificial desert, like water breaking from a dam. Urahara started to gasp for breath, the bucket hat on his head had fallen from its proper place atop his blonde hair. The pressure on top of him diminished, allowing Urahara and Tessai to catch their breath.

"What're you doing down there Hat 'n Clogs?" Ichigo's voice spoke over Urahara who looked up in shock.

Standing before him was indeed the orangette but he wasn't wearing the normal Shinigami garb of a Samurai's kimono. Instead, he wore what Urahara recognized as old Norse armor with brown leather boots that reached his knees, fur protruding out of the end. Thick padding covered by chainmail that was overlapped by a scaled breastplate protected his upper body. A long cape with brown fur covered Ichigo's shoulders, held together by a circular clasp. In his leather-covered grip was his old broken false blade.

"Well hey, there Kurosaki-san!" Urahara jumped up instantly, his fan appearing in his hand to cover his face. "Well done! You passed the second test, now unto the third one-"

"Urahara," Ichigo interrupted the older Shinigami. "Before we move on to any more of your tests, I'm going to need an Asauchi or something similar for my Zanpakuto. You see, he's been very informative."

Urahara laughed nervously; closing the shut against his palm. "Of course Kurosaki-san! Little ol' me, getting overly excited. Tessai, did you get the thing?"

"Yes, boss." The giant of a man replied, reaching behind him and bringing out a pure white katana which looked almost comically small in the man's massive hand.

"This here Kurosaki is an advanced Asauchi. Normally a Shinigami will slowly and regularly imprint their Reiryoku into the blank sword, unfortunately, we don't have the time for that. So what you're gonna want to do is imbue this blade with as much Reiryoku into it as you can." Urahara explained, a kind smile adorning his face.

"And there's no need for a weird-ass catchphrase." Ichigo deadpanned, glaring at the shopkeeper.

Urahara laughed uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head, avoiding Ichigo's hateful gaze. Ichigo merely grumbled but walked over to Tessai who held out the white sword before him. Ichigo grabbed it from the giant who immediately backed away, politely allowing Ichigo to look at the blade. It felt unbalanced, almost too heavy in his grip. He took a deep breath and exhaled, closing his eyes and focused his energy into the blade. The same grey and blue Reiryoku covered the white blade like a wildfire. The Asaushi began to morph, extending lengthwise and widening. The single-edged weapon turned into two, the boxed guard becoming a curved rectangle as the bottom of the blade morphed into a rounded pommel.

Urahara and Tessai's eyes widened at seeing the base form of a Zanpakuto drastically changing as if it were a Shikai. Ichigo's base from Zanpakuto had changed from a Katana to a Carolingian. Ichigo opened his eyes and raised the sword laterally above his head, "Hit your mark, Gungnir!" The sword once again morphed into a long metal spear with intricate knotwork spirling up to the head and glowing blue runes carved along the shaft. Ichigo slammed the butt of the spear into the ground, a shockwave following the ring of metal against earth. He turned to look at the Shopkeeper and Assistant.

"Ten days you said? I'll only need nine days and nine nights."