Hello, I have been a fan of the BlazBlue series due to its complicated plotline and a wide variety of twists here and there, but most of all, the likable casts! I have been a fan of Ragna x Celica since ChronoPhantasma, and seeing there aren't much fics about them, I decided to add one more to the library, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own BlazBlue and its series. All of them are owned by Arc System Works.
It has been a few weeks since the disappearance of Ragna the Bloodedge; the one starting and ending the cataclysmic events which turned the world into the state it is today. A world of despair and anxiety; a world filled with darkness. Thousands, or even millions of people are succumbing to seithr, even though the flow of seithr has been stopped; Kushinada's Lynchpin worked, and it is still working. Despite that, people can only gaze upon the sphere of darkness floating in the sky, the Embryo, they call it. A messenger of death, a terrifying 'being' that absorbs the unfortunate ones.
They thought that everything ended the moment Ragna, Jin, and Noel defeated the Take-Mikazuchi, but the former-Imperator had more tricks up her sleeves, and those tricks were the turning point; The Embryo descended, Ragna went berserk, and the world plunged into a new stage of catastrophe. All was due to her, that single person who had been planning for the annihilation the current world, it was-
"Saya…" a calm-voice, but one that bears grudge, can be heard from behind, "I am going to kill her."
Celica turns back, abandoning the view of the clear skies which is obstructed by the sphere of darkness among them, to see Jin Kisaragi, wearing his N.O.L uniform and carrying a sheathed Yukianesa. He had been suffering a fatal wound after attempting to take on the enraged Ragna along with Noel, but their efforts were proven to be futile. Celica had been taking care of him, and just two days ago, Jin recovered completely.
"What are you saying? You just recovered!" Celica says as she approaches him, her expression filled with apparent concern.
"It is exactly because I have recovered that I am going to do this," Jin turned around and started to take small steps towards the hall, planning to exit the headquarters, "and I will kill brother too along the way."
Ragna. That name has been constantly ringing inside Celica's head since the moment he went berserk. All that she remembered was that she was unable to do anything as Ragna, Noel, and Jin fought one another. She wanted to stop the fight, she wanted to tell them off, but she couldn't. She is no longer the one capable of stopping the fights among the siblings, because they have changed, a lot. She could only watch in helplessness while several floating units shot beams of lasers while ice shards flew around the battlefield, all of those unable to affect that being, the Black Beast incarnate.
Since the disappearance of Ragna the Bloodedge, Celica has been restless. She cannot stop worrying over him; 'What is he doing now?' 'Is he still alive?' 'Will I ever see him again?' these voices keep on ringing over and over again. The fact that she had to tend over Jin was a reminder; the scars, the injuries inflicted upon him prompted the thoughts about Ragna, and every time she looks through the window, there is the dark sphere which reminds her that this is all real.
"Jin, you cannot do it," she says with certainty, and Jin responds by turning around calmly, his green eyes do not show even a tiny bit of disorientation.
"I can," he says.
"No, you cannot," Celica insists.
"If you keep on insisting, I will cut you off right here, woman," Jin says with his expression intact, and a tone of seriousness can be felt in his words.
"Go ahead," Celica attempts to challenge him, "I do not hav-"
She stops halfway without finishing her sentence, for she cannot bear to say it. She has been thinking about it, and knows that it is inevitable. Still, saying it out loud is confirming that, that she cannot have these moments for long, the moments of joy, moments of sadness, and moments of plain silliness. Even though lately, there isn't much joy to be felt, she still thinks of all the memories, even of the world in its current state, is something great. She knows she has to come at terms with that outcome, and she thought she has; until this moment, where she cannot even say it on her own.
She is now silent, and wondering of what else to be said, she looked down, staring at the concrete tiles.
There is silence between the two, and after a brief moment, Jin simply sighs, "Fine, I will just go back to my room. That cat probably locked the gates, anyway." He then walks away while Celica can only stay silent, even when the footsteps have ceased completely.
,
"Hey, Noel, baby, do you have some free time today?" the N.O.L general and the head of the Duodecim, Kagura Mutsuki, is doing something he thinks he is best at. With a supposedly soothing smile, he throws a wink at Noel Vermillion, whom has just entered his office.
A little startled, even though she has been getting this kind of treatment every few hours, Noel says, "E-eh? Umm, I just want to ask for the permission to…."
Kagura gets up from his seat, "Permission? Noel, baby, you can do whatever you want. Or perhaps, you are asking for the permission for 'something else'? I am free all day!" He says as he approaches her.
"N-no, I just…"
"No need to be shy, here, let me see those beautiful eyes of yours that are able to make this gloomy world bright again," he put his hand on Noel's chin, and tries to lift it up.
Before he can do it, however, from the distance, outside of the general's office, gradually loudening footsteps can be heard, and in a flash, the general is presented with a flying uppercut, sending him crashing down onto the regal mat.
"Get your hands off Noel, you freak!" Makoto Nanaya says while Kagura can only lie down on the mat without moving an inch, "Aah, but I already did, Makoto…"
,
"So, you want the permission to go outside?" Kagura says while sitting down on his chair behind his desk, his chin bandaged up by the servant of the Mutsuki Family as well as the captain of the N.O.L, Hibiki Kohaku.
"Yes, umm, we need to….." Noel tries to explain, but she cannot find the words to justify her reasons.
Sensing this, Makoto decides to throw in assistance, "We are sick of being inside this place all the time."
"Why is that? May I know why is it boring when you have this wonderful man accompanying you every day, every night?" Kagura says with optimism.
Makoto's face is filled with disgust, and Noel can only sense the murderous aura coming from her best friend.
"It is precisely because there is you all the time, I am sick of it!"
A sound of impact can be heard, and Kokonoe, busying herself with the codes and information on her computer screen, picks up the noise, "These people, can't they get any more annoying than this?"
She takes out the light blue-colored lollipop from her mouth, savors the flavor inside, before putting it back again.
,
"So, you want the permission to go outside?" Kagura says while his left cheek is being bandaged by Hibiki, "My lord, you should really reduce your carelessness in words."
"That is exactly what we said."
Kagura chuckled in response, "No need to be so harsh, Makoto. We all need to relax ourselves every now and then," He then looks outside the window form his office, seeing the sphere of doom which hovers on top of Ibukido which is visible even in Yabiko; the sphere which reminds everyone of the dark days ahead.
"Especially in this particular situation," he added.
All the ones inside the room are quiet, suppressed by the view that disrupts all peace, a view that brings nothing other than uncertainty for the future. Kagura turns to the girls once again, trying to lighten up the atmosphere that has darkened because of his words, "So, back to you girls, why do you wish to go outside?"
"Oh..yeah, umm, I told you, we are bored of being locked inside here for so many days," Makoto answered.
"We would like to go outside to have a meal together and such," Noel added.
"To sum it up, you would like some girls' time, huh? Well, I'm actually fine with it, so go ahead."
The two are surprised by the answer given by Kagura, so Makoto inquires further, "Really? That's it?"
"Why do we ask? Anything is fine for you girls. Besides, I believe that nothing bad should happen to you unless you wander off too to unnecessary places," Kagura said while leaning back on his chair, "Which I trust you will not do, right?"
"Yes, of course!" Makoto says while brimming with happiness and Noel expresses her gratitude, "We won't. Thank you, Kagura," and she bowed.
"I will deal with Kokonoe about this in a bit, so go and have fun."
"Roger that!" Makoto salutes, "Let's go, Noellers!"
Just as the two girls turn around, Kagura called out, "Oh yeah, can you take Celica along?"
Noel and Makoto turns back to face Kagura, wondering the reason of the sudden request, "Well, sure, but, why the abrupt request?"
"After what happened, I think that she is the one who suffers the most. She needs a change of atmosphere," He says, "Moreover, she…you know."
,
"Celica, do you want to go hang out with us for a while?" Makoto knocks on the door to Celica's room. She and Noel are determined to take Celica to have fun together with them. Even if Kagura had not asked them to do so, they planned to do it nonetheless. Celica had been the one taking care of Noel after the fight with Ragna, and she was always the one providing the cheerful atmosphere for the group, always helping whenever possible, and not to mention, the one that did a lot in the fight to save the world.
Makoto has knocked several times while calling out to her, but there is no response. She tries to put her hears on the door, yet, nothing can be heard.
"Umm, Celica?" Noel tries calling out to her, only to be greeted by silence.
"Celica? I'm opening the door!" Makoto grabs the doorknob and turns it around, but it is locked, "Damn it! We will have to break in!"
"W-wait! Maybe she is just sleeping? I mean, we cannot assume things on our own," Noel says.
"We'll talk about that later on!" Makoto steps back and readies her fist in an effort to break down the door.
Usually, she wouldn't worry so much over nonresponsive door knocks, but after being reminded of Celica's state by Kagura, she couldn't help but to think about the worst case scenario that may befall upon her friend.
"Hiya!" Makoto lands a blow on the door, but it does not budge, "Tch, why must the door be so durable?!"
"Because this is my place," Kagura appeared behind the two girls, "I wondered why it is so merry here, and I think I know what is going on."
"Then do something!" Makoto growled.
"I know, I know, calm down, babe," Kagura then ushers the girls further from the door before taking a stance right in front of the door, "Now then, be sure to not get in the way."
,
Celica is walking among the crowds in the Downtown of Yabiko, seeming to be looking for someone.
"Uugh, where is he?" She looks around, but no one catches her interest. There are people bustling around the street, shops with lights being lit up, store-owners promoting their signature food and products every now and then.
She thinks that it is weird that people are still performing their daily routines with such vigor when there is a dark sphere hanging in the sky that can potentially threaten their lives, but there is something weirder.
She saw Ragna.
When she was inside the headquarters, she saw Ragna among the crowds moving around the streets of Yabiko. Though logically speaking, it might not necessarily be him due to the distance, she was sure that it was him.
She went through the gate, which, to her surprise, was being left open, and followed her intuitive paths before losing him completely.
She kept looking around, turning her head in every degree possible while rotating herself in hope that he is still somewhere around the area, but the unusual amount of crowds is just too much; they obstruct the view, and the constant waves of individuals disorient the concentration of hers.
Someone bumps into her, and she loses her balance, "Kyah!"
Her fragile self starts to fall and she has a hard time balancing herself due to the street teeming of walking pedestrians. When she thinks that she will probably fall down and get trampled on by several people before the need to use her healing magic on herself, someone catches her back.
With the additional support, she manages to get herself back up, "Thank y….ou?" but then she is petrified by the sight she sees.
"There you are," the man says with a mild grin, "Celica."
It is the man whom she has been looking for all this time, the man whom she has been thinking of all this time, and the man whom she-
"Ragna!"
All thought vanishes from her mind, and she leaps over to give him a hug, a hug that expresses her everything.
"Ouch, h-hey, not so rough," he puts his left arm on her back in an attempt to 'hug' her back.
The two stays that way for a minute, which seems to be an eternity for the Grim Reaper, "Umm, how long are you going to stay like this?"
"Forever!" she answers while burying her face on his chest, tightening her arms around him.
"People are looking, so get off me already."
But she is not going to let go, not after being unable to see him for weeks, with days after days of worries filling up her head so much that she thinks she is about to break down. She wants to savor this moment and burn this warmth that she had been unable to feel.
Ragna can feel a kind of wetness on him, and without even guessing, he knows what it is, "Oh come on, wipe those tears off your face, it is embarrassing."
Celica looks up, her eyes red with tears, but she does not look sad, not at all. Instead, she looks at Ragna, observing every detail possible; his closed left eye, his green right eye, his white-colored hair, his expression.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
She lifts up her right arm, breaking the hug, and touches the face of the most wanted man in history; feeling his rough skin, his heat, and with a smile as well as tearstains on her cheeks, she utters the words that were one of her primary sources of restlessness during these past few weeks.
"I missed you."
,
,
,
The two are sitting inside a Chinese-style restaurant, where Ragna usually takes Tao to, with several empty plates of food on the table.
"You have been staring at me this entire time, you know that?"
"Yes, I know," Celica responds happily.
"Then stop it, it's annoying."
"I can't help it! I was so worried about you!"
Celica is reminded of something the moment she said that. Normally, she would not be worrying too much over Ragna as he is not a weak person, but these past few weeks, she could not stop worrying. Her last image had been the rampaging Ragna gradually taking the shape of the Black Beast before she escaped with Jin and Noel. She was not worried that he would get annihilated by someone else, but rather, by himself.
"R-Ragna?" gloom starts to show on her face as she calls out his name.
"Yeah?"
"What…happened to you?"
Ragna is silent for while, staring down at the rose-colored table surface before opening his mouth, "I…lost my memories for a while."
Hearing this, Celica is dismayed, "What? Memory loss?!"
"Yeah, I didn't remember who I was, what I did, basically everything." Ragna says without moving an inch, "I woke up in the middle of nowhere, and I saw that dark ball up there in the sky without any recollection of previous events."
"Are you really fine now, Ragna? I should take a look…" Celica says as she gets up from her seat.
"There's no need for that," Ragna says, "I'm fine, I remember everything now."
"But…"
"Really, it's nothing. Probably the side-effect of the Saya's shitty stunt," he gives a smile, hoping that it can ease Celica a bit, "More importantly, Celica…"
"Yes?" sensing the change of tone in Ragna's voice, she returns to her seat, knowing that he is about to say something serious.
"I cannot stay here for long," he says, "look, you will-"
"Wait, what do you mean you cannot stay here for long?" Celica panics. He says those words as if he is going to leave soon, and she does not want that. She just met him, and she does not want to lose him, not again, for the third time.
"Let me finish, damn it!" Ragna slammed the table, and he does not seem to be joking. Celica, startled by his action, goes silent.
Realizing this, Ragna lowers his tone of speaking immediately, "I-I'm sorry…it's just that…I don't really have the time to explain right now. Not that I can explain it anyways…"
Celica shakes her head and smiles in understanding. She knows that he was not angry at her. He did that for her, and she knows that he is being chased down by 'something', "No, I'm sorry…please go on."
"Okay, you guys will find me."
"We will…find you?" Celica is unable to comprehend the words, "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said. You guys will find me. I don't know where and how, but you will, and when you do…"
Ragna looks at Celica with determination, hinting that what he is going to say needs to be done, no matter what.
Celica knows that it will not be something she, along with the others, Noel, Kagura, even Kokonoe and Jin, likes to do.
"Kill me," Ragna finishes off his sentence.
"Eh?"
Then the world is gradually turning white, as if the world is being blanketed by a humongous curtain made entirely of light.
"Looks like time's up."
"A-are you going to go again?"
"Unfortunately, it seems like so," Ragna sighs and scratches his head, as if nothing bad is happening.
"Will I be able to see again?"
"I told you, you will."
The light is reaching up to them, and Celica knows that when that happens, everything will be gone. It will be as if all of this never happened.
She is afraid. Afraid that all of this is not real, that she is just delusional.
Before the light reaches them, however, Celica can see Ragna's changing expression, the one that she likes to see the most, the one with a gentle smile, the one that he had shown her before taking on the Black Beast all by himself.
A smile of farewell, but also reunion.
She wants to reach out to him, to hug him again, and this time, she will not let go no matter what.
She stands up, and just when she wants to jump over to hold Ragna as tight as possible, everything goes blank.
,
"Oh wait, I have the room key," Kagura ruffles around his pocket and takes out a bronze key.
"You ruined the tension!" Makoto shouted.
"Hahah, sorry," He says as he puts the key inside the keyhole, and turns it. The door makes a clicking sound, a sign that it has been unlocked.
"Celica!" Makoto dashes inside first, with Noel and Kagura following from behind, and inside the room, they see Celica, sitting on her bed, eyes widening in shock and she is sweating profusely, as if awakened from a nightmare.
"Celica, are you okay?" Kagura approaches her, putting his arms on her shoulders.
"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine….," She looks at Kagura, and then Makoto and Noel, "Why…are you all here?"
"We were worried that something might have happened to you, Celica," Noel answers, "We knocked on the door and called your name, but there was no response."
"Oh..I must have fallen asleep really bad, haha…sorry for worrying you guys," Celica gives an apologetic smile.
"Are you really okay? You don't look too good," Makoto asks as she notices Celica's somehow troubled expression.
"Yeah, I'm fine….I'm…..fine."
"You sure? Maybe we should take you to Kokonoe to have her check up on you," Makoto suggests.
"N-no, there's no need for that, really. I just…..had a dream."
"A dream?"
She recalls everything. Everything that seemed so real, yet they are not. Her walking on the streets, the hold of him that she had not felt in a long time, his warmth, his voice, his face. She was really happy that she managed to see him again. She thought that she could never see that smile of his ever again.
But there he was, holding her, talking with her, shouting at her, assuring her.
She wished that the moment would last forever.
It did not.
"I…..saw Ragna."
"Huh? You mean, you dreamed of him?" Kagura asks for confirmation.
"No…umm, maybe yes…but, I saw him. I know I did. It did not feel like a dream, but, but-"
"Woah, calm down, Celica. Tell us what happened, slowly."
,
"So…we need to kill him, huh?" Kagura says as he stares at the ceiling of the room, "That bastard…."
Silence fills the room. The ones inside are unable to comprehend what happened. Kagura stands up, "I'm going to have to report this to Kokonoe, maybe she knows something. You two, stay here and keep Celica company, will you?"
"Yes, we will," Noel obliges, afterwards, Kagura steps outside the room.
"You don't have to do this, Noel, Makoto…I'm perfectly fine."
"We know you are…we just want to make you feel even finer," Makoto says with confidence.
The three are quiet, but Celica knows that they are waiting for her. Her face probably says anything but okay, and despite her efforts to conceal the pain inside her, she failed miserably.
"I…am afraid."
"MmHm," nodded Makoto.
"I am afraid that…I won't be able to…to see him anymore," She decides to open up. She thinks that she has to do this; she just cannot take it anymore, not without showing grief on her expressions every time.
"I finally got to see him, but..but he…" drops of tears start to emerge and stream down her cheeks, "he was gone…again."
Noel and Makoto gets closer to her, and the two sits on her side, each putting their arm on her shoulders.
"I am terrified of the fact that…." she starts to sob while trying to rub off her tears in her eyes, "I will simply…vanish before I can see him again."
"He said that we will find him, didn't he? Then you should believe him," Noel says.
"I-I know..it's just that….I want to see him more."
Celica wipes her tears away for a few seconds, before continuing, "Sorry."
"It's fine," this time, Makoto gives the words of comfort.
"I don't have…much time left," Celica stares at the floor, parts of it illuminated by the sunlight, "I just want to see him again before then, as much as...possible."
Just when she thinks that she is now okay, streams of tears start to fall from her eyes again. She tries to wipe them off, but they just don't stop flowing.
She thinks that she is pathetic. She probably looks like a huge crybaby now, and she doesn't really like it. Still, she is no longer in control of herself.
"Say, Celica, how do you feel about Ragna?" Makoto asks.
That is the question that she figured out the answer of long ago; a hundred years ago during the war with the Black Beast. The moment he took her hand, preventing her to activate the Lynchpin, she already had the answer.
"I…I….." She tries to say it, but the sobs are getting in the way. Regardless of that, she gathers up everything she has, and pours out her entire feelings for him, "I…..I love him!"
"Then, we will definitely find him, whatever it takes," Makoto says as she hugs Celica, and Noel soon follows, "We will deal with you, too, so that you can be with him for a long time."
She does not know if that is possible or not, but she is too messed up to think. She can only weep between the two friends of hers, and believes that everything will be fine in the end. Sadness and regret overwhelms her, but inside the room and deep within herself, she still holds on to the glimmer of hope, left by the Grim Reaper who asks to be killed.
,
"So, you sure you are getting a sign of him?" Kagura asks Kokonoe.
"Yeah, do you doubt me?" Kokonoe says as she types.
"Of course not, just wanted a sort of confirmation from the great Kokonoe."
"I-I'm going too!" Celica goes inside the room, her eyes filled with resolve. When she heard of the news about Ragna's whereabouts, she knew that she had to be there, to come face to face with her complication.
Kagura grins, "I know that you will say so."
"Wait, are you really planning to let her go?" Kokonoe gives a sign of disapproval.
"Hey, she was the one informed about the phenomenon, right?" Kagura says, "Which means she needs to come along."
"Tch, oh well, at least there is Minerva."
"Okay then, let's go, Celica," Kagura seizes his Zweihander and walks towards the door exiting his office.
"Roger that!" Celica follows from behind with Minerva tagging along. She has a lot of thoughts on her mind, and a lot of things to be said to him, but first and foremost, she is going to meet him.
"Wait for me, Ragna…"
She is going to get him back, and this time, for real.
There it is! I tried to keep it as 'logical' as possible and to make it happen in the same universe where the game left off. Hopefully, it was a satisfying read, and please leave a review :D