Chapter 16

DB-20: Yeah, both Mirajane and Ultear along with anyone else will stay dead in this story. Sorry for those who like them.

ImmaNumber1- Yeah, its when you needlessly do it that I have a problem killing of characters. That and keep giving characters false death flags only for them to come back safe and sound. (Which is one of the main criticism I have with Fairy Tail.)

Wlyman2009- I mean lots of fanfic writers do it, so I don't see it as anything mind breaking.

Guest- Yes, now people will think that no one is safe from death.

Shadowedge27- Good catch, mate. I'll try to explain why the Black Beast didn't use those abilities, though how it will be received is still up to debate. As for the Seithr poisoning and healing prevention… yeah, more people are going to die next chapter.

Epsilon the Blue Ace- It'll follow some events in the broadest form, like in most of my stories, but things are going to be different, especially with the whole Tartaros arc.

MeleeSmasher- Well, I'm please to hear that you like this story over the other one. And there will be reuniting between Ragna and other Blazblue characters.

Cauldron on top of Kagutsuchi

Carl Clover

"What's taking them so long." Thought Carl in frustration as he looked at a pocket watch he carried around. Its been hours since he sent the Murakumo units to the boundary to acquire Hakumen's armor. He knew that it would potentially take a long time, perhaps even weeks, for them to find Hakumen's armor, but he was getting impatient.

His men had informed him that the NOL was readying a response team when they found out that Noel and Lambda had went to the very top of the branch, which was forbidden to all but the highest-level of authority within the NOL. They could hold off the regular soldiers and even the elite praetorian guard, but if Jin Kisaragi or Tsubaki Yayoi arrive to assist, then they were in trouble. They would have to abandon their positions and leave, thus ruining any chance for him to acquire the Susanoo unit.

He was getting so caught up in the potential failure of his plan that Nirvana placed a hand on his shoulder, which he soon pushed off of him.

"Why do you insist on comforting me, doll!" Demanded Carl as he glared at Nirvana. "You can't provide me anything aside from your fighting skills. You can't provide me comfort like my sister can. So why are you trying to do so yourself!?"

Carl didn't know why, but lately Nirvana has been acting strange. Constantly trying to touch him in a comforting manner, similar to how a caring sister or mother would do to a family member when they're down. She even tried to get him to stop his plan of saving his sister from the sickness that was ailing her. Those nearly caused him to destroy the doll, but alas, he needed her and her great power if he wanted to succeed in saving his sister. So, he had to put up with it.

But with him being so close to gaining an important piece in his plan to save his sister, he wouldn't stand Nirvana's attempt to be like his sister. He just can't.

Upon seeing the glare that Carl was giving her, Nirvana tried to get Carl to understand who she was, and what happened to his sister, but was interrupted when the Cauldron started to stir up.

Upon seeing this, Carl sighed.

"We'll deal with your attitude later." Said Carl, glancing at the doll. "For now let's go and acquire my prize." Nirvana just stayed silent as Carl went to the edges of the Cauldron. With some sadness in its movements, it followed its master, hurt that he didn't know the truth.

Looking at the pit of black and red, the two watched as the Seithr gave way to form a portal. And from that portal was the three Murakumo sisters. With them was Carl's prize. Smiling a dark smile, Carl gave them room to land as they made it out of the Cauldron.

"Excellent. Excellent." Said Carl as Noel roughly let go of Hakumen's armor while Lambda gently laid Nu on the ground, concerned for her sister and her time in the Boundary. "You've done well in finding this. This armor will serve me well. Thank you Noel, you've been a good friend." Upon hearing that, Noel glared at Carl.

"Friends don't do these things to one another. They don't kidnap their sisters and force them to go into a dangerous place to find a suit of armor." Said Noel, surprising herself with the amount of hate she put into her voice.

"They do if they want to save their own sister." Said Carl as he went over to Hakumen's armor. "You should know. You did just now." Noel glared at Carl for that, but kept quiet.

"We did our part of the bargain, now uphold yours." Said Noel as Lambda looked at Carl, who shrugged.

"A deal is a deal." Said Carl before waving his hands. His men then made created a path for Noel and her sisters to leave. "Your free to go and you will not see me again. A fair bit of warning though, the NOL has assembled a response team for your little… infiltration. Hope you have a good explanation for this." Noel glared at Carl for that, knowing that he was right.

While she and her sisters were in the boundary, they remembered what they did during their travel to the very top of the Kagutsuchi, taking down any and all NOL troops that got in their way. They didn't kill anyone, thankfully, but they did knock out quite a few that can result in them being locked up for a long time.

Even with their friends in high ranking positions in the NOL, they doubted they won't serve time, much to their disappointment as they weren't control of their actions.

Still, Noel was ready to face the consequences of her actions. She just hoped that Nu wouldn't be too lonely while she and Lambda were in jail.

"You better keep your word, Carl. Because if you don't, our past friendship will not save you from my wrath." Said Noel as she floated above the ground, not wanting to take her armor off just yet. Carl was about to speak when his men suddenly grabbed him and Nirvana. While four did this, three more pushed past Lambda and Noel and roughly grabbed Hakumen's armor.

"What is the mean of this!?" Demanded Carl as he was lifted off the ground by one of his own men. "Let me go this instant!" His men, however, didn't listen and instead began carrying the armor of Hakumen away. Noel and Lambda, shocked to see this, went to their sister to ensure that the men don't try to take her away.

As Carl was yelling at his men, telling them that they'll pay for this gravely, his men began to tie him up while those that were holding Nirvana, who was struggling to get out of their strong grip, began to draw out long swords from their persons and began stabbing her with them, damaging her enough that Carl can't summon her to help him.

Once they were certain that Nirvana will be out of commission for awhile, the men glared at Carl one last time before beginning to make their escape. One, however, stayed behind and looked at the Murakumo sisters, walking over to them.

Seeing this, Noel and Lambda braced themselves for a fight, but it never came. Instead, the man in leather armor and a pointed helmet brought out a piece of paper, rolled up into a scroll and tied with a simple string, along with a letter. He gave both items to Noel before taking off with his comrades, the two Murakumo sisters that were conscious stunned. Not too long after they took off, the doors to the room busted open and out came members of the Praetorian Guard along with some local troops. Leading them was, to her shock, Jin Kisaragi, right in the middle of the group of soldiers.

Upon seeing the scenery before him, however, Jin blinked in surprise before raising his hand, ordering everyone to stop. Huffing, he looked at Noel.

"You have some explaining to do, Noel Vermillion." Said Jin, annoyance in his voice. "Particularly why you are nearly naked." Upon hearing that, Noel blushed hard.

Later

Some office

"And that's what happened, Jin." Said Noel, now in her nun outfit, as she spoke to Jin in some private office in the Kagutsuchi branch that was reserved for visiting top officials. After finding out Noel and her sisters were not a threat, Jin had them all, including Carl and Nirvana placed under government watch, so they can figure out what was going on. Though the governor in charge of Kagutsuchi wanted the Nuns locked up, Jin wanted the whole picture first before making any arrests. And so, Jin was interrogated Noel on her side of the story. He already interrogated Carl and Lambda for their side as well and, given what he was given, it seems that the Nuns were forced to do something heinous for Carl.

"I swear on my family name that is the truth." Jin, rolling his eyes, held up his left hand before speaking.

"Relax, Vermillion, I'm not going to have you arrested for your little…"escapade" in government property. At least not yet." Said Jin, confusing Noel, forcing him to explain. "Before I began my interrogation of you all, I reviewed the footage that caught you and Lambda fighting out men. Something about the way you fought was off. You both fought too robotically. And while I can believe Lambda will fight like a robot, I seriously doubt you have the coordination to pull something like that off. Unless something took over your body." Noel pouted at the jab at her, causing Jin to roll his eyes. Even after all these years, he still can't stand Noel. Why he couldn't stand her, even he didn't know. Though he suspected it was because she reminded him too much of his sister. His dead sister.

"Anyway, closer inspection of the footage and I saw your eyes. I saw how hollow they looked. How soulless they were. It was almost like you both were possessed." Said Jin as he got up and looked out a window, looking at the beauty of Kagutsuchi. "I've seen such eyes before, during my time in the Praetorian Guard. There are various Arc Magus and technology, albeit rare and difficult to pull off, that can induce the same effect as the thing that caused you to attack the men stationed here. Whether or not, you were under mind control is up to the experts, but I believe you are innocent and forced to attack my men." Upon hearing that, Noel nodded.

"We were. I couldn't explain it, but while Lambda and I were talking to the front desk of the branch, our minds suddenly went blank. And we couldn't control out bodies. And then we watched as our bodies just moved on their own, attacking anyone that got in our way." Remembering how she hurt so many people, Noel began to tear up, causing Jin to sigh.

"If it makes you feel any better, no one was seriously injured. A few have bruised egos, but they'll live and be back to work in a few days." Explained Jin. Though she was glad that no one was seriously hurt, she still was ashamed of herself, despite the fact that she had no control over her actions. "Anyway, I still have a few questions, Miss Vermillion. First off, why did Carl's men turn on him?" Noel just shook her head, completely in the dark along with Jin.

"I don't know, Mr. Kisaragi." Said Noel. "One moment they were obeying Carl without question and the next they were turning on him. If I had to guess, they were under order of someone else. And that they were only following Carl because that person told them to do so." Jin hummed at that, agreeing with that theory.

"Its possible, but we have no evidence of such a thing." Said Jin. "And since we don't have one of these men under our custody, we may never find out. Last question, Miss Vermillion. Do you have anything that might help us in our investigations into Carl's actions? Every last bit helps." Noel bit her lip as she recalled the letter and piece of paper that those armored men gave her. She managed to hid it from Jin as his men moved to arrest her and, although she wanted to keep it to herself, she knew that it would be best if Jin knew what was going on. Like he said, it might help the NOL catch these men before something terrible happens.

"Yes, I do." Said Noel as she rummaged her nun uniform before bringing out the scroll and letter. "Before they left, one of the armored men gave me this. I don't know why, but they wanted me to have them." Raising an eyebrow, Jin took the letter and scroll, quite forcefully too. Looking at Noel, Jin starred at her for a long moment, making Noel uncomfortable before he spoke.

"If you wish, you may stay here while I open both items." Said Jin. Stunned to hear this, Noel nodded rapidly, eager to figure out what was inside. For all she knew, it could help her with her recent memory attacks about that mysterious white-haired man that has been plaguing her and Lambda for sometime.

Humming at her answer, Jin nonetheless opened the letter and took out a photo. Noel looked at the photo in confusion before Jin looked at it completely. Upon seeing the photo, Jin widened his eyes in shock as he suddenly dropped it and backed away, holding his head in pain.

"Jin!" Yelled Noel, stunned at Jin's behavior as she watched him clutch his face with one hand while the other clutched the top of his head.

"What is that cursed picture?" Asked Jin as painful memories came to light. Memories of things that haven't occurred in his life. In them were him fighting, but that was impossible. He couldn't fight. His body was too weak for such things. And he was fighting a man with a red trench coat and white spiky hair. As Jin was writhing in pain, Noel looked at the picture and gasped in shock.

"Impossible." Thought Noel as she saw that the photo was a sketch of the man that has been plaguing her dreams. And it wasn't coincidence too. The picture was an exact lookalike of the man in her dreams. And below that sketch was a name and a tittle.

Daring herself to look, Noel's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates as she saw the words on the photo. Before she could speak, painful memories also came to her. Memories that had happen, but have not in her lifetime.

As she fell to the ground in pain, Noel thought of the name and title that caused all this.

Below the sketch was the name…Ragna the Bloodedge.

That name. It was so foreign to both blonds as they writhed in pain on the ground, yet, for some reason, they somehow were familiar with it. That it belonged to a person that was dear to both of them. And that he has sacrificed himself for the betterment of all.

Eventually, the door to the office opened and out came some NOL guards, who heard Jin's struggles. As they came to help both occupants of the office, both Jin and Noel passed out from the massive influx of memories that they had no recollection of occurring or even participating, but, deep down, they both knew did happen.

Few days later

NOL infirmary

Noel groaned as she woke up. Her head felt like someone had been dancing on it for hours. As she got up, she suddenly felt a warm hand come down on her.

"Take it easy, Noel. You've been out for a couple of days." Said a voice that Noel was familiar with. Looking up, Noel smiled as she saw Makoto, looking at her in concern and happiness.

"Makoto!" Yelled Noel as she hugged her friend, happy that she was here. Makoto laughed a bit at Noel before hugging back, happy that her friend was back and well. After a few minutes of this happy reunion, the two stopped hugging and looked at each other.

"Shesh, Noel. It's only been a few days since we last met. Yet you're acting like we haven't seen each other in years." Said Makoto with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Sorry, but after what I've been through, I'm just happy to see a friendly face that aren't my sisters." Said Noel. Makoto nodded at that before adopting a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, when I heard, I went straight here, both to clear your name and to be there for my friend." Said Makoto. Upon hearing that, Noel clutched her bed sheets in worry.

"Am I in trouble, Makoto?" Asked Noel. Makoto, to her relief, just shook her head.

"Nope! I can safely say that you're off the hook, Noel." Said Makoto. "You can honestly thank Carl for that, though considering what he put you through, I would honestly be fine if you didn't." Upon seeing Noel looking confused on what Makoto meant on thanking Carl, Makoto explained. "When we interrogated the guy, he was all ballistics. Going on and on about how perfect his plan was and how he would have gotten away scot free if it wasn't for his traitorous men. That and we took his journal from his person, had his entire plan and everything on it." Makoto laughed sadly a bit. "Poor Carl. His need to take notes helped in his downfall."

Noel looked at her sheets upon hearing that. Though Carl hurt her and her sisters with his stunt, she still couldn't help but feel for him. He was once a good friend to her and Makoto back in their academy days. Shy, but a good friend, nonetheless. Closing her eyes and praying for Carl, Noel looked at Makoto.

"Will he go to jail?" Asked Noel. Makoto nodded.

"Yup." Said Makoto. "He's going to get fifteen years for kidnapping. Twenty for planning the assault of NOL personal. And about fifty-five for an attempt on going through the Boundary. No idea why he's getting so much for that one, but that's what the rules say." Noel winced upon hearing all those charges. She didn't want Carl to be put away for life. She wanted to protest, but she knew Makoto wasn't the person to talk to. She had to speak to Jin when she had the chance again.

"Thinking that Carl doesn't deserve that much?" Asked Makoto, smirking as Noel looked at her in shock. "Come on Noel, I know you. You're too…good for your own good."

"But Makoto." Started Noel as she looked at her friend. "Carl doesn't deserve all that time. He was just desperate to save his sister."

"I know, Noel. He told us." Said Makoto, remembering how they dragged Carl to his cell. As they did so, Carl suddenly broke down in sobs, saying that he failed Ada, his sister. It made Makoto sympathetic, but Carl couldn't get away with what he'd done. Though she had to admit, being put away for life was perhaps going a bit too far. "I don't know Noel. I mean, he's got to pay for what he did, but at the same time, it seems a bit too far."

"Can't you do anything?" Asked Noel, hopefully. Makoto just shook her head.

"Nope. These charges, the last one anyway, come from the top. Guess tapping the boundary is deemed something dangerous enough to warrant it." Said Makoto.

"Why? I've been to the boundary. There's nothing there that can hurt anyone." Said Noel, blurting that out, not knowing the consequences. Upon hearing that, Makoto widened her eyes in shock.

"Wait, what?! You went to the boundary, Noel!? You and your sisters!?" Asked Makoto, looking at Noel like she grew a 2nd head. Upon hearing that, Noel cursed.

In her worry, she forgot that no one can safely enter the boundary without dying. And she just revealed that she can safely enter it along with Lambda and Nu. Gulping, she nodded. Seeing the nod, Makoto grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"That's so…awesome!" Yelled Makoto. "That's make you so special Noel! Not even the toughest person I know can resist Seithr thick area for more than a minute! But you can survive going into the Boundary! The most Seithr-infested place that I know! For god knows how long! That's incredible! What's your secret!? Cause if you can tell me, then maybe we can…" Noel then raised her hand to stop Makoto's excited speech.

"Makoto! Stop!" Yelled Noel, causing Makoto to stop. "Can we please stay on topic on Carl? I rather not focus on me." Makoto pouted at that.

"Come on, Noel! You got an amazing ability that no one, aside from your sisters, have. Why focus on Carl. Aside from, you know, his punishment." Said Makoto.

"That's exactly what I want to focus on. That and I don't want to talk about my…power. At least not yet." Said Noel. Makoto sighed at that.

"Sheesh, Noel. You know how to suck the fun out of something." Said Makoto, sighing again before speaking. "Okay, maybe we can convince Jin to give Carl a lighter sentence, but I doubt he'll be released until he's an old man."

"That's not good enough, Makoto." Said Noel. "If we put him in jail for that long, there's no telling what will happen to him. We need to heal and help him, Makoto. Not lock him up with nothing but his thoughts." Makoto rubbed her head at that.

"Man, you're really into that Nun stuff, Noel." Said Makoto. "Well, anyway, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, get some rest. You've had a rough time. Its best if you get some rest." Noel nodded at that, finally feeling just how tired she was. She was about to lie down and relax when she suddenly remembered something. Widening her eyes in shock, she looked at Makoto and stopped her before she could leave.

"Makoto, wait! I remember something. Jin and I were looking into a letter and we both got knocked out from it. It had a name and a picture of a white-haired man. He was called Ragna the Bloodedge. Does that name ring a bell to you?" Makoto, remembering the situation with Jin and Noel, pursed her lips.

"Well, not really. I mean, I know there's a legend about a warrior named Bloodedge, but that's all I got. I'll look into it for you and Jin. And before you ask, Jin is fine. He's being looked over by his fiancé, Tsubaki, who will come over to check up on you soon." Said Makoto before leaving. Noel, satisfied for now, sighed and thought about this Ragna person.

Just thinking about that name hurt her brain, but for some reason, it brought sadness. Sadness and happiness.

Tears in her eyes, she wondered who this Ragna was and why he was causing so much pain to her, despite her not recalling a single memory of her meeting him.

Meanwhile

Somewhere

"Excellent." Said a masked man as his men gave him the news that Noel had gotten the letter. "Soon she and her sisters will come here. Looking for Ragna. And once they do, we'll have all the pieces we need to finally bring both worlds under our control. That is, if Ragna and that fool Zeref doesn't try to impede our attempts to create the perfect world." The masked man then put a hand on his mask. "Hmm…perhaps that would…yes. Yes, that might work. Get Hazama. Once he's healed fully, tell him that we have a plan that requires his expertise."

Meanwhile

Jin

"That name. Ragna the Bloodedge." Thought Jin as he looked at ceiling of his private hospital room. His close friend and now fiancé, Tsubaki, was sleeping on his bed, having never left his side once she arrived in Kagutsuchi. Though happy at her devotion and care, Jin couldn't help but think about this Ragna person. And how it brought back painful, but also happy memories. Memories that have never occurred in his life.

For one thing, he never had a brother. All he had was a sister. One that he recalled hated for hogging the attention of the nun that took care of them. Now she was dead, and he hated himself for despising his sister, having never reconcile with her before a fire killed her and the nun.

And yet, he was recalling memories of a blond-haired boy that looked disturbingly like the man in the picture that he saw before passing out, just younger.

Frowning, Jin looked at the other piece of paper that was given to Noel, now unrolled. Though he didn't read it, he had a nurse read it to him once he recovered enough to understand and react to his surroundings.

According to the nurse, it spoke of someone named Rachel Alucard and that if he wanted to know more about this Ragna the Bloodedge, he needed to seek her out. Along with that, it said, in order to seek her out, to find Jubei, one of the Six heroes that stopped the Black Beast.

Humming, Jin pondered if he should do such a thing or not. And if he should bring those three nuns with him.