BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Destructive Black

———Log 3

Lately, Relius has been doing stuff on his own.

I knew that he was a man who did everything based on his own convenience for all this time. But recently, my inquiry for an explanation has not yet received any outright answer.

Perhaps, it's because of the snake man from the other day.

...I have an unpleasant feeling. Still, I can't keep dwelling on it if I don't want to be a failure of a scientist.

What on earth is that green haired man trying to create? To begin with, what sort of a man is he?

Based on the given documents, it seems the Original Unit was supposedly retrieved from the Alucard Family.

But in the first place, to say that the Original Unit will be provided itself is truly bizarre.

Even then, the moment it was brought up from the first division, the government immediately concealed its existence.

Is he one of the government's officials?

Once Relius get engrossed to his research, he becomes oblivious to concerning factors that should've been recognized.

If there is to be an unexpected occurrence, I should come up with some sort of a countermeasure.

Part 1

By the time they had finished searching for a vacant lodging, rent some rooms, and settling down, night came down upon the seaside port city.

They got their dinner after rushing to a nearly closed bakery. Finished with dinner, Mitsuyoshi left to gather intelligence. Meanwhile, Celica returned to her room to sleep early.

While Ragna was waiting for Mitsuyoshi's return in a room beside Celica's, his thought wandered to the views outside the window.

The hotel didn't have any food service. Although it was close to the harbor, he could not see the sea due to the room's position. What he could see were cramped rows of square buildings and the surrounding streets which were only illuminated by nothing but occasional tiny street lamps.

Although that scenery was only separated by a single layer of thin glass, it seemed so awfully far.

Perhaps he never had any knowledge about this city. It's not only what he could see, he also didn't have any memory of how the atmosphere felt like.

An unknown self within an unknown land. It was very uncertain and vague. He felt a bit tired thinking about it.

No, what he could not remember was not only this city. Perhaps the world was foreign, too. If what Celica and Mitsuyoshi said were true, then the Black Beast would still be present, although it should had been destroyed a hundred years ago according to his memory.

"...Hm?"

Suddenly, he noticed a figure from outside the window. Ragna lifted his head after resting it on his his hand earlier.

A back hidden by black mantle. Light brown hair tied up near the roots. It was Celica.

It wasn't the time for a young girl to be walking around alone. Ragna hurriedly stood up while frowning his eyebrows.

"Sheesh. That girl keeps getting my hands full!"

If he let that hopeless person who had no sense of direction wandering aimlessly in the city at night, she undoubtedly would not return back. Ragna unconsciously clicked his tongue while snatching his sword. Then, he rushed out of the room.

He stepped out and felt just what someone would expect from a seaside port city. The wind blowing westward felt damp. There was a smell of salt on it.

Rushing out from the small room, Ragna hurriedly checked around. Celica was nowhere to be found. If he was not mistaken, Celica got out of her room and she was supposedly taking the path towards the seashore.

Ragna turned his head to various directions while running along the paved streets. The stones covering all over the streets were jagged and hard, making it difficult to thread on.

Leaving the thin path to a gentle hill road, the view of dark sea spread before his eye. His field of vision expanded simultaneously as the sea breeze whirling up and blew against Ragna. It made his white hair fluttered violently.

An unknown scenery. But it wasn't clear whether if it was because he lost his memory or he never knew about it in the first place. It made the sorrow within his heart expanded.

This wasn't the time to get sentimental. Ragna slid his hair that was obstructing the view and look around the surrounding, searching for that careless girl.

There.

On the promenade protruding to the sea. Its floor tiles were lined up to imitate bricks. There was a short staircase with a semi-circular platform on its end. Two old fashioned benches were encircled within silver railings.

A familiar person was leaning on the simple vertical railing as the sea breeze played around with the figure's lengthy hair.

"...Hey."

Stepping down from the short staircase, Ragna stood next to Celica.

Celica turned around and made her ponytail swung.

"Wah! You scared me."

"Don't go wandering around by yourself. You'll get lost again."

"No way, I shouldn't get lost again. The hotel is just over there."

"If it wasn't coming from you, I'd believe it without a doubt."

Celica pointed somewhere, but it wasn’t where the hotel located. Ragna dejectedly dropped his shoulders as a response.

While glancing at Celica who still had not yet moved from the spot she was found, Ragna leaned his back to the railing and shifted his weight to it.

It was such a peaceful place. There wasn't any store or another person around.

On the opposite side of the promenade, sometimes he could see a figure passing by. But this place felt like it was in a different dimension compared to that side.

The sea wind was refreshing. If you just stood there, you would lose track of time.

"...What are you doing in a place like this?"

Ragna asked a question. Celica returned her gaze to the sea as she smiled.

"I was wondering if I can see Japan from here."

"Japan?"

Ragna also turned his sight to the sea.

Rather than sea, what he could see was unfolding darkness.

The ground lamps' reflections on the water were glimmering and flickering. As if following the lines of light, his gaze shifted to distant horizon.

The line separating sky and sea was quite blurry.

"You can see it from here?"

"Don’t know. I was thinking it'd be nice if I could."

"Ahaha," Celica let out a small laugh. From the beginning, she knew she wouldn't be able see it. However, Japan, the place where her father might be, was very close to the port town. She realized that much.

But as person who lost his memory, Ragna hardly understood that feeling.

"...Your father has been missing for more than six years, right?"

The Black Beast manifested in Japan. As a result, a nuclear strike had to be done to defeat it. Before the bombing begun, Celica's father had already been missing.

Ragna frowned.

"Sorry I say this, but... you sure he's alive?"

How much was the chance for him to survive if he was in Japan at that time?

"If you go, you might end up regretting it."

"Umm..."

Celica gave neither affirmation nor denial as an answer. She rested her arms on the railing. Then, she put her chin on top of her arms and stared at the horizon.

"...In my family, there are only my father and sister left."

Celica spoke. Her words were mixed with the night wind's whisper.

"When I was a child, Mother died of sickness. After that, Father, being a scientist, would always be holed up in his lab to do complicated researches. Onee-chan and I enrolled in some place called Magic Guild. Since she's a brilliant student, somehow, she got chosen to become a part of Ten Sages."

"Ten Sages?"

"Err. It's a group of ten extraordinary people, specially selected from within Magic Guild."

"I don't really get it, but they sound amazing."

Ragna was saying it casually as it made Celica's face brighten up.

"You got that right. They're really amazing!"

She seemed to be really proud of her sister. She was so simple-minded and Ragna couldn't help but chuckled.

In high spirits, Celica took a deep breath of the sea breeze.

"As for Father, he won many awards and gave lectures at many universities. He's a truly great scholar. When I was a child, I used to believe that Father was the most hardworking person in the world. I feel unworthy of having those wonderful persons as my family. ...Well, the relationship between them isn't exactly on best term."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. Especially Onee-chan. She reaaaaally hate Father. I don't know the reason, but she seems to dislike it when I'm talking with him."

Although she said it cheerfully, there was sadness as salty as the sea, deep within Celica's voice. However, it didn't make her voice wavered. Their conflict didn't even bother her.

"Even then, both of them are irreplaceable and important family to me."

Celica gently turned her face to Ragna. Looking straight at her big eyes, Ragna was spontaneously taken aback.

While Ragna was still confused, Celica, with the expression of a dreaming child, continued.

"Many months ago, the UN rescue team relayed news that they had found survivors in Japan. Unable to leave Japan before the nuclear strike, they had to live in ruins for six years."

Although some areas were still considered hazardous, recently Japan had been reopened for public.

Even in darkness, Ragna could see a pure hope shining within Celica's eyes.

"I believed my father was dead for a long time. But after I heard the news, I started wondering if he had survived. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Soon, I couldn't just wait patiently anymore."

"That's how you came to be here?"

She didn't have any definite clue or ground-breaking method to find her father. With such condition, Celica kept aiming to go to Japan without hesitation. She was either that determined or just a simply doing it blindly. Ragna believed she was the former.

"Your sister doesn't worry about you?"

His admiration turned to bitter smile as Ragna asked her. Celica shrugged and smiled mischievously.

"She probably does. She surely will horribly scold me when I get back."

"But you'll still search for your old man, right?"

"Of course."

Celica didn't hesitate at all. She was the type that wouldn't waver once a decision had been made.

Celica straightened herself after leaning on the railing. She lifted her chin and gazed on the horizon. She seemed to be staring at Japan itself which was on the other side.

"After all, he's my family. When you don’t know what happened, won't you worry? When I realize he might be alive, shouldn't I be searching for him?"

For some reason, Celica's serious tone got stuck on Ragna's chest.

Celica's gentle eyes didn't have the slightest worry in them. She boldly stared at Ragna.

She was just worried. That was her only reason to act... Ragna couldn't help but felt envious.

Celica smiled without a single worry.

"I love Onee-chan and Father very much."

Again. Ragna once again did his habit to press his temples.

Ragna had seen someone like this before. Someone smiled like this. When was it? And like what Celica did to her sister, he had once been called brother by...

"Ow..."

It felt like his head's contents were squeezing and causing him great pain. Ragna's face warped. Celica's expression changed and then she touched Ragna's head with the back of her hand.

"Are you okay? Shouldn't you rest, Ragna?"

"...I'm fine. It's not my body that's actually bad."

It's just when he tried to remember things, immediately he got hit by head splitting pain.

Softly nursing him, Celica brushed Ragna's hair. Her fingertips were shining and felt slightly warm. It was only a little bit, but the painful headache was subsiding.

Being treated like a little kid for his injury. Ragna felt rather awkward.

"Really... it'd be gone after a while. You don't have to use magic for thing like this."

"Don't worry. I'm doing this because I want to. Besides, it's free."

'Kay?" said Celica with a smile. It made Ragna also laughed a little.

"Said no one but you. This isn't the problem of free or not. Normally, mages won't recklessly use magic that easily, right?"

"Really? Since I'm able to use magic, wouldn't it better if I make use of it?"

Seeing Celica tilted her head to the side while touching a cheek with her fingertip, Ragna couldn't keep his cool. A conversation with her would clear any hatred and let your face loosen up.

His headache was completely gone.

"You're such a weirdo."

"Eeeeeh? I don't want to hear that from Ragna."

"Is that so? Compared to your non-existent sense of direction and over optimism, my memory loss is awfully trivial."

"That's absolutely wrong. After all, this is the first time I meet an amnesiac person."

"Well then, surely you've met someone as directional-impaired as you?"

"I have a normal sense of direction."

"Huh!?"

Ragna spontaneously raised his voice in disbelief.

It must be amusing since Celica giggled. Her gentle smile comforted Ragna.

A freezing breeze blew from the sea. Turning to face it, Celica took another glance at the sea.

"...We should get back soon."

"Yeah, you're right. If we catch a cold and end up missing the boat for tomorrow, everything will be good-for-nothing."

"Yup."

With still a bit of regret, Celica nodded.

Not wanting to force her, Ragna started to walk. His hard shoes tapped on the tiles' surface. Soon after, Celica's small footsteps followed him from behind.

After a while, Celica closed the short distance to Ragna and arrived beside him.

Compared to Ragna, the girl was a bit shorter and looked delicate. She often let her guard down and had too many openings. Her soft, thin arms didn't have the capability to fight, let alone the strength to wield weapon.

For a girl like that could keep pace with Ragna was truly a wonder. Truly, a wonder indeed.

Part 2

Before anyone knew it, the night had gone completely dark. There were even less people walking around the avenue compared to when Ragna came here. The number of houses with lights on was decreasing one by one.

The clouds made numerous stars couldn't be viewed. Under such a night sky, Ragna and Celica continued tracing the dark street back to their hotel.

The straight road branched to many side streets along the way. At the end of it, a bustled main street could be seen. The lights there were flickering.

Ragna swiftly shifted his gaze toward those lights by chance. At the same time, something unusual cut across his sight.

"...!?"

His breath became shorter. Ragna reflexively halted his feet and turned around. At the end of the road, there were many bright street lights standing side-by-side.

Now, right in the middle of them, there was a person. He got a hunch that he knew the person's face.

No, saying it just as a hunch would imply that the details were vague. When he gazed at that person, even if it was for less than a second, he certainly saw them.

Beautiful golden hair tied up to two parts. Two big ribbons served as hair decoration. A young girl wearing black dress...

"Wh-. H-hey, Ragna!?"

Before he knew it, Ragna broke into a run. He could hear Celica's voice from behind, but he couldn't afford to turn around.

That girl definitely had something to do with his memory. It just like the first time he saw Mitsuyoshi. He felt something similar as when he noticed resemblances on Mitsuyoshi that made him recalled Jubei.

Moving toward the main street, Ragna searched for the little figure he had lost sight of. On the other side of the crowd. He saw a small shadow walking away to a mild curve.

"Hey, wait! Rabbit!!"

Ragna yelled as he jumped to the crowd.

Instantly, it felt like all kinds of sound had vanished.

At the end of the rough old street, the figure Ragna was chasing before had stopped. Her long blond hair swung as she turned around. Ragna stared at her deep red eyes which were similar to a white rabbit's.

Rachel Alucard.

That name was engraved within Ragna's brain, as if it was burned in.

That's right. He remembered. She was the magic user Ragna had seen long before he saw Celica's healing magic. An old acquaintance. The girl used to be suddenly teleported near him, hurled insults and sarcasms to irritate him, and then leaving abruptly.

Nonetheless, she had lived far longer than Ragna. She might look innocent, but she was actually a vampire.

If it was her, then she must have known. Who he really was. Why he was in a place like this. Why his memory gone. What he should do to get his memory back.

However, Ragna felt uncomfortable at the same time.

(Is she really... that rabbit?)

Something was different. The Rachel from his memory. The black dressed girl who was facing him from a part of the port city. They were not identical. That cheeky vampire he knew was more arrogant and bewitching.

"Ah... W-wait! I freaking said wait, you damn rabbit!"

The girl who was standing on the end of the road suddenly slipped from his sight. That time, she continued walking, leaving Ragna behind.

Ragna hurriedly chased after her. Pushing through the drunken crowds, he collided with a man who was on the way home from work.

However, when he arrived at the spot where the Rachel from before stood, his feet stopped.

She was not there. The other party just walked leisurely, yet he was running at full speed. While he was not fast enough to chase her, the speed difference wasn't that big enough to lose sight of her.

"Tch... She teleported."

If that really was Rachel, it was not strange for her to vanish just like that. For better or worse, the fact that she was disappeared served as a further proof that the girl from before was indeed Rachel Alucard.

"Why the hell is she here...?"

Furthermore, to think back upon, she seemed to be unusually young. Rachel had always looked like a 12 years old. But that girl seemed to be even younger.

"Shit. The hell's going on here?!"

His mind was filled with murmurs. Frankly, it was really unpleasant.

He considered running around the whole town to look for her, but he immediately brushed it off. If she was truly Rachel, then she wouldn't be on a place where Ragna could easily reach. If she was not Rachel, then searching for her would be meaningless.

As if he was being played around, Ragna got annoyed. However, there was nothing more he could do. Ragna trampled an empty can which was rolling on the roadside in his irritation. Then, he returned to the path where he came from.

He got a feeling as if the moon behind those dark clouds was ridiculing him.

Part 3

The next morning. The sky was a bit dark, but there were few clouds left and the weather was clear.

Anchored neatly on one corner of a port, the ship departed right on time and had arrived on east archipelago carrying a few passengers it brought.

Japan. Once, it held a great number of large cities, while also had peaceful rural areas. There were mountains stretching out and forests covering them. Countless rivers were flowing alongside the archipelago. ...Now, most of them had been transformed to scorched earth. The grounds had been burned. The mountains had been leveled. The rivers had run dry. The vegetation withered.

It was like the portrait of despair itself.

"Hang on a sec. I got somethin' to tell 'im."

After they were getting down to the harbor, Mitsuyoshi called out a nearby soldier and left with him somewhere.

A while had passed and Mitsuyoshi returned. The person with him was no longer a petty soldier, instead he looked like someone with authority. Along with them, a truck was slowly getting closer from behind.

"The fella's gonna get us around this vicinity."

Mitsuyoshi nonchalantly introduced the person beside him as the one in charge of this naval base, all while wagging his tail.

"Mi-Mitsuyoshi-san, just who are you...?"

Currently, the ruins of a country formerly called Japan were in United Nations' control. Every men stationed within the site were members of United Nations forces.

Despite being dumbfounded by the extremely efficient method of procuring transportation, Celica asked a question to Mitsuyoshi.

Mitsuyoshi, unusually showing off by exhibiting a smirk, answered.

"Well, can't tell ya that one."

Currently, Ragna's group was heading eastward from the western part while being inside the back tray of the UN force's truck. They could feel the shaking as they got across the devastated lands of Japan.

The big scale of shakings they felt when inside the back tray was awfully unpleasant. However, seeing the scenery around felt much worse.

"This is... Japan?"

Grimacing, Ragna muttered while looking at the depressing scenery.

Once, people lived in this island. It was a large country. Looking at the sight before him, it was hard to imagine that such a thing would happen.

"The old Japan and the current one are completely different."

Next to Ragna, Celica whispered.

The truck seemed to have run over something as the shaking was really hard.

"Long ago, it was more like a normal country. But six years ago, a lot of nuclear missiles were fired in order to defeat the Black Beast..."

"Nuclear missiles?"

A word unknown to Ragna. Celica wondered on how she should explain it.

"Hmm. I guess... It's a weapon with an extremely hot blast that burns away anything."

It burned cities, forests, and grounds, but not its objective, the Black Beast.

"Everything was flattened. Many terrains were sinking. Now, both the water and soils were contaminated with radioactive and chemical substances. It became a place no one could live in."

Furthermore, the area where the missiles were dropped had its air polluted with high concentration of radioactivity around the vicinity. If there weren't any of radioactive mask and suit, or magic which served the same purpose, then just breathing would be a matter of life and death.

Ragna wasn't sure if the true cause of this disastrous scene he saw was the Black Beast or those nuclear missiles. While looking at the scenery unfolding before him, Ragna unconsciously sighed.

"With things looking like this, I'd say both Black Beast and man's weapons are the same shit. ...At the very least, I want to fight as a human being."

"...You're right. It'd be nice if it's possible."

Celica changed her posture to squatting position as she had been sitting uncomfortably inside the truck's back tray. Her butt was sore from getting hit each time the truck shook. Then again, the truck was the most comfortable ride that could be prepared back at the naval base.

"In the end, the country called Japan was lost just like that. The annihilation of Japan, is what some people called it... But I'm not that fond with the term."

"Why?"

"Because the land itself is still there. If all the waste can be cleaned up, then the beautiful land and fresh air may be able to return once more. And then, a clean rain will pour down and pure water can gather. Once the pretty grass grows, small bugs will appear. In just a hundred year, won't Japan be able to revive once again?"

"Quite a dream ya got there, young lady."

The one who interrupted was Mitsuyoshi, who had been silent until now. Unlike a cat, he tried to look cool by leaning against the canopy of the truck's back tray, all while having his short legs crossed.

Even after hearing his sarcasm, it only made Celica's eyes sparkled more as she smiled.

"But don't you feel it'd be wonderful?"

Celica replied while the truck carrying them continued to travel along the parched ground of the wasteland. Before, it was such a large and spacious road along a river. Now, one could only find road fragments and remains of burnt traffic sign if the eyes were strained. That was the actual state of the remnants of that area.

"Actually, Japan was the birthplace of my father. Father and Mother met in Japan and their marriage also took place here."

That was why she didn't want the country to just disappear, no matter what its condition was. Celica's eyes flickered as they were filled with those important moments.

Mitsuyoshi smiled bitterly as the edge of his mouth got slightly warped.

"...Japan is my hometown too, y'know? Though it may be hard, if its future will be like Celica said, that certainly ain't a bad thing."

"Right?" said Celica with a smile.

Ragna leaned on his favorite large sword while staring toward the scenery from inside the back tray.

Japan... A place so obliterated no one would set their foot inside.

Although the place where he went to was under control by that army, the fact that means of transportation were still maintained was regardless weird.

After getting down from the truck, Ragna's group walked toward a vast collapsed city within the wasteland. Six years ago, a number of people were living their ordinary life there.

But now, there were broken pieces from a highway hidden beneath the sand. Rows of houses were blown to ruins. Many steel bars from buildings were able to narrowly avoided destruction. They were planted diagonally on the wasteland as if they were growing up.

Ragna thought about something when he first stepped into Japan and thought it again while he was walking through the ruins. It looked awful.

If this was the aftereffect from the nuclear weapon that Celica had told him, then it was very powerful and brutal. Only death would await those people six years ago. But if this was caused by Black Beast instead, then the being was just that terrifying.

By the time those nuclear missiles launched, the entire city's inhabitants were already evacuated. Since there was no army or government around, only the three of them were within this abandoned building. It was absolutely quiet there.

On this vicinity, the radioactivity was thin. But just to be safe, some masks had been distributed, although protective suit was deemed unnecessary.

"...It's here."

Mitsuyoshi instructed the group to stop at an outskirt of the abandoned building.

Compared to the surrounding buildings, it could be guessed that it was a research facility which had a quite spacious area. The construction itself was partially destroyed and there were burn marks all over it.

That was where Celica's father once had worked.

"I... When I was a child, I went here once. But now, this building looks completely different."

Looking up at the black stained building, Celica seemed sad as she muttered.

Many cities were destroyed. Japan was destroyed. Even when she had heard that news, the impact felt different compared to when she saw it by her own eyes.

"Father..."

As expected, Celica's voice had uneasiness on it.

Mitsuyoshi walked over pieces of a smashed glass door toward the research facility and called out to them.

"Celica, Ragna. Both of ya come with me. We'll look fer Shuichiro Ayatsuki's lab."

Once her father's name was mentioned, Celica suddenly jerked her face. It seemed she was reminded of something terrible she didn't want to think about. Ragna tapped on her trembling shoulder.

"You come here to look for him, right?"

For that very reason, she slipped from her sister's sight and arrived here.

Celica put her hands on her chest and slowly took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Yup. Let's go!"

With a firm nod, she went after Mitsuyoshi.