With a start, Ragna's eyes snapped open, his body instinctively snapping forward, causing the grim reaper to cough as he did so, "God damnit what the hell…" he muttered as soon as he stopped coughing, his gaze moving to the trees around him. Course he would wake up in yet another forest.
With a groan, Ragna rose to his feet, rubbing the side of his head as he looked around, frowning. He didn't recognize the place, that was for sure… Then again, it was unlikely that he would've learned the looks of literally every forest he woke up in. That would probably start to worry him.
For a second afterwards, Ragna sighed, beginning to walk in a seemingly random direction. He had no clue where he was, but in all likelihood he was near one of the many Hierarchical Cities. But, even with that thought, he was still worried. Not because of the fact that he had no idea where he was… But because of what his last memory was.
"GAH!" Terumi yelled as Ragna's sword inserted itself into his chest. Instantly, Terumi looked down, gasping his pain as his essence literally began to pour out of him. Then, despite himself, he forced a smile, "Huh… Finally did it, huh?" he asked, looking up at Ragna, who merely looked back at him with a glare, "Finally did the impossible and did THIS to me…" he added, forcing a small chuckle out. At that, Ragna's hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, then in one motion yanked it out of Terumi, causing the latter to gasp in pain, falling to the floor with only one hand keeping himself from falling face first, the other cupping the hole in his stomach in a vain attempt to keep the dark green mist from pouring out of him.
Looking down at Terumi, Ragna placed his sword back on his back, sighing to himself as he looked down at the man, no, thing, that had ruined his entire life up to this point. As he looked, Ragna noticed that Terumi's body, not just the hole in his stomach, was starting to disintegrate, fading away in dark green mist.
Despite this though, Terumi forced another chuckle, "Heh… I honestly didn't think I could've been beat once I got the Susano'o Unit. Yet you somehow fucking did it. You just… RIPPED me right out of that…" Terumi stated, his smile turning into a grin as he let out another small 'heh', "You continue to surprise me Ragna… Continue to surprise me…" he added, coughing out actual blood.
Ragna, on the other hand, sighed, turning away from Terumi to look up at the True Azure… The giant ball of blue and black in the sky. He didn't want to waste words on Terumi… He was going to let him finally die with the one thing he hated the most. Being ignored.
For a few seconds afterwards, silence passed between the two, the only sound being Terumi's pained gasps. Soon enough though, Terumi began to laugh again, through the pain, gasping between each laugh. At that point, something changed in the bright blue area around them. Specifically, the ground, which had suddenly turned into a bright green color.
"Wait, what the-" Ragna began, turning around sharply with his hand grabbing the hilt of his sword. Once he turned, he saw Terumi in the same position he was before when he last looked at him… Only with the hand that touched the floor surrounded by his Ouroboros chains, a small circle appearing on the ground where said hand was,
"Heh… You really think… That I'm just going to roll over and DIE, like you should've long ago Ragna?" Terumi asked, letting out a small giggle as the circle under his hand began to glow brighter and increase in size, "Let me make this clear for you Ragna… If there's ANYTHING I'm going to do about it, I'm going to make sure that you suffer…. FOR ETERNITY!" Terumi stated, now beginning to laugh fully, despite the pain he was in.
As Terumi finished his sentence, Ragna was already through pulling out his blade, quickly lifting it above his head and slashing downwards, preparing to finish the task even though Terumi was disintegrating at an even faster pace. However, just as his sword got within an inch of connecting, a flash of light erupted from the ground, blinding Ragna.
The last thing he heard before that light gave way to black was the rabid laughter of Terumi.
Back in the present, Ragna frowned. Obviously, he was still alive, so whatever the hell Terumi did it didn't kill him… Which probably wasn't the son of a bitch's plan. There had to be something more than just dropping him into some random forest.
But, he'd have to figure that part out later. The first step was finding some god damn civilization.
After a few hours of walking, enough so that the daylight had begun to fade and make way for the night, Ragna stumbled upon a small town, surrounded by walls. Honestly, the sight was much better after the scenery changed from woods to a full on swamp after only a few minutes of walking. Yet… Somehow, that was more worrying than it was comforting. But, pushing aside that worry, Ragna walked into that very town, his gaze passing between each building, his confusion only growing. He had never seen this style of building… At all. That, and how the hell was there even a town? It was almost impossible, with all the seither around. Granted, that seither was completely gone thanks to the Masked Freak, but Ragna didn't exactly think that it was possible to build an entire town in that time.
But, perhaps it was best to ask around.
Just as Ragna got that idea, he stumbled upon a smaller building that, even if it was in a style he didn't recognize, automatically knew that it had to be an inn or something. Probably one of the best places to ask questions around. With that, Ragna stepped forward, opening the door to the inn and stopping.
Inside was a rather simple, large room, a classic look for an inn… Or what looked like a bar. Plenty of circular tables scattered about, with some rectangular ones to the sides. There were a few people inside, enjoying a few drinks, with only a few eyes on him before quickly losing interest in him and returning to their drinks. The only person who kept their eyes on Ragna was someone who looked like the waitress… Or, since she was the only one wearing a green and white uniform, possibly the innkeeper.
"Welcome! Take a seat, I'll get to you soon" she called out, then turned and walked over to the bar counter, walking behind it and into an adjacent room, likely to get some more drinks for someone. For a second, Ragna stood there, looking confused at first before sighing, walking over to one of the corner tables and sitting down in it… Making sure to put his sword next to his seat so he wasn't sitting on it.
Sure enough, only two minutes passed before the innkeeper had come over to him, holding a small notebook and a pen in her hand as she at Ragna, "So, what can I get you?" she asked.
In response, Ragna straightened slightly, looking up at the innkeeper, "Actually, I didn't come here to get anything" he said. When he saw the slightly confused look she gave him, he decided to elaborate, "... I'm looking for someone to ask some questions to. I'm a bit… Uh… Lost" he explained.
At that, the innkeeper seemed to understand, nodding without a seconds hesitation, "Well, business is a bit slow, I have time to answer some of your questions" she said, putting her pen back in her uniform's pocket, "... You're a Hunter, right?" she asked, stepping to the side of the table and sitting down herself, looking a bit relieved to have an excuse to sit down.
Her question, though, quickly caused Ragna's eyebrow to raise at the term, "... A what?" he asked, causing the innkeeper to roll her eyes,
"A Hunter. You know, protector of the people? Fighters of Grimm?" she replied, pointing at Ragna's sword, "I have yet to meet a person who isn't a Hunter that doesn't dress like you do or use a weapon that looks like yours" she stated.
The second part of her statement went largely ignored for Ragna, as another thing caught his attention, "Wait, Grimm?" he asked.
Instead of immediately rolling her eyes at that, the innkeeper seemed to pause, "... You don't know what Grimm are either?" she asked, watching as Ragna hesitantly nodded, "Beacon? Vale? Dust?" she asked,
"Nope, nope, and yes, if you're talking about the stuff that develops on top of things when they're left around and ignored… But I get the feeling that isn't what you're talking about" Ragna replied with a sigh, folding his arms and leaning back and folding his arms.
For a good second afterwards, the innkeeper just stared at Ragna, clearly lost for words. Then she seemed to find some, "Are you… Do you you have amnesia or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he froze.
Yeah, that was basically enough to convince Ragna that there was something up. She was acting like Ragna didn't know basic world concepts, all of which were stuff Ragna had never heard about. But… Perhaps being an amnesiac in this position would actually help him get a grip on the situation without being too suspicious,
"... Yeah. Woke up in the woods a bit away with no memories" he said with a sigh. That was enough to cause the innkeeper to nod,
"Alright. Well… If you want I can help you get a little bit of a bearing on the world. Amnesia that extreme might be a problem later down the line, especially if you ARE a Hunter" she said. When Ragna nodded for her to go ahead, she began to explain things to him, keeping things simple for him.
"And you're not bullshitting me on any of this?" Ragna asked, watching as the innkeeper nodded her head in response,
"Completely serious on all of it" she replied. The explanations had taken a good half hour, which was slightly broken up with the innkeeper moving away to get some more orders filled out, and it had left Ragna rather baffled. Basically, from what he got, he was in a world called 'Remnant', where there were only several human cities, called Kingdoms, still standing that are actually safe due to the presence of the Grimm, which was something the innkeeper seemed uncomfortable explaining but said that they were creatures that preyed on humanity. In response, there were Hunters, who fought against the Grimm and other threats to humanity, or became enemies of it. A while ago, one of the Kingdoms, named Vale, had been attacked by a Terrorist, who managed to cause a Grimm invasion and caused one of the Hunter Academies, one of the greatest of it's kind, Beacon, to become a Grimm Hive.
Needless to say, it was something.
Sighing, Ragna brought a hand to the side of his head, rubbing it in very slight annoyance, "Didn't think this is what I would wake up to…" he muttered, resting his other arm on the table.
At that, the innkeeper shrugged, "Well, what DID you expect to wake up to?" she asked, causing Ragna to pause, sighing after a few seconds,
"Fair enough" he replied, his hand falling from his head and falling to the table, "... Well, either way… Guess I should be heading to one of those Kingdoms" he commented.
In response, the innkeeper adopting a quick thinking look, "It is the safest bet for you. But, you can stay here for a few days. Obviously, this place is both a bar and an inn. We actually have some open rooms" she stated. Ragna had to notice how the innkeeper, despite not knowing Ragna for more than an hour, sounded relatively worried for his sake. It was at least more than what he normally got.
"I get the feeling that even if I did pay I'd be gone before morning. That…" Ragna began, reaching into his own pockets and feeling around. Sure enough, his wallet was completely gone… which was fan-freaking tastic, "... And I kinda don't have any cash on me" he stated with a sigh.
At that, the innkeeper raised an eyebrow, at first confused, only to quickly snap her fingers, "Oh wait, you mean Lien" she said.
In response, Ragna nodded, "Yeah, Lien" he said, trying to hide the fact that he had absolutely no idea what Lien was suppose to look like aside from being the form of currency in Remnant… Apparently.
After a second of silence, the innkeeper sighed, "Well, I can't go giving away money… Uh…" she began,
"I'm not asking you for any money" Ragna replied, standing from his seat, "In fact, all I'm saying here is thanks for at least taking the time to explain this stuff" he added, watching as the innkeeper herself stood up,
"It was no problem there… Just wish I can do a bit more to help…" she said, whispering the final part before shaking her head, "Well, you are a Hunter, I suppose you can get yourself back on your feet" she said.
At that, Ragna frowned, "You do realize that neither of us know if I'm actually a Hunter, right?" he asked, watching as the innkeeper shrugged as she picked up her notebook again,
"Like I said, I haven't seen anyone who wears an outfit like yours that isn't a Hunter, or has a weapon like yours" she said, just as the door opened, a small party of three men stepping into the in and waving at the innkeeper, causing her to smile, "Well, I have more work to do. Take care" she stated, then walked off to begin her work again, leaving Ragna to stand there and watch her walk off for only a second. Once that second was done, Ragna turned around, picking up his sword from the ground, putting it back on his back as he himself walked away from his table and past the new party, walking out of the inn and back onto the streets, noting how it truly was nighttime now.
For a good while, Ragna stood in the middle of the street, looking up at the sky as he thought of what he should actually do. Thanks to Terumi, he was now stuck in a completely new world ravaged by creatures who would likely want to rip his head off the second they made eye contact, and as of now, he had no idea how to return to his own world.
Eventually Ragna sighed, turning on his heel and began walking off in the direction he had been walking towards before he stopped at the inn. He wasn't going to get anything done by standing around, by just standing around… And if there was a way to here from his world there had to be a way back. Unless Terumi decided to make it a one way trip for him… Which, now that Ragna thought about it, probably was something the asshole would do.
Nevertheless, he had to at least try to find a way back, and the best bet to do so was to get to one of those Kingdoms. Specifically the one the innkeeper had said that was nearby… Mistral.
Author's Note: Well, third story I've ever started and one that I've been wanting to do for a loooooooooong time, even though it's part of the most popular crossover on the site. Still, I hope to add some form of originality to the mix.
But, well, I don't have much else to say. Read and Review, I love getting criticism of how I could improve, or just general feedback. The Updates on this story will go hand and hand with my other story that I am working on, Fire Emblem Fates: Calamity. Once I update that story, I'll move back to this story.
… Well, now that that's out of the way, enjoy your days people, and I hope you all enjoyed the beginning chapter for Blazblue: Constant Remnant.
