Nine: Ok let's get this started. Valkenhayn you ok now?
Valkenhayn: Yes. That was not one of my greatest moments.
Kagura: You tore him up like paper… Damn that was rough.
Rachel: Well he is currently in the other room with Ragna and Relius making sure he doesn't do anything.
Jin: Is this really a good idea?
Tsubaki: We'll check on them after this.
Makoto: Well Saya and Noel are feeling a little better after all that so I'm glad.
Saya: Brother and Rachel were talking about something pertaining to the Black Beast but won't tell us anything else.
Rachel: It is for your own good.
Kagura: Maybe because the Black Beast they were talking about was actually Ragna's inferno d—!
Rachel: Finish that sentence and I will show you what an angered vampire REALLY looks like.
Kagura: I'll shut up now. Oh by the way… Makoto and Ragna have been a little odd to each other. Did something happen?
Makoto: Nope nothing! Nothing happened!
Tsubaki: It looks like something did happen. Are you ok Makoto?
Makoto: Yep!
Kokonoe: Suspicious…
Celica: Oh yeah. Also what's with the Master unit?
Amane: Well that will be explained as we go along, but long story short you wont be receiving an help from the master unit my dear.
Hakumen: Observer. What are you doing here?
Amane: Well I was observing this place and I thought it would be fun to join.
Kagura: The hell is the person? Looks like a total fag.
Makoto: Kagura!
Kagura: What? A fucking ass goblin. The hell did you think a meant?
Rachel: We thought you meant the term for homosexual.
Kagura: That things a guy!?
*they hear noise coming from the other room*
Saya: What's going on in there?
Relius: What is so hard Ragna the Bloodedge. Just rest your lips upon the wood and blow.
Ragna: I don't know about this…
Terumi: Look don't be a bitch and just put it in your mouth.
Ragna: I've never done this before… Feels wrong.
Terumi: It's natural. I mean I've tried it and I'm not bad. Just put you're mouth around, but don't put the whole thing in you're mouth at once. Now that's just weird.
Rachel: My word! What is going on in there!?
Jin: Brother!?
Saya: No way!
Nu: Does he swing… That way?
Jin: At least practice on me… Am I not good enough?
Kagura: What…?
Jin: What?
Ragna: This is a bit big don't you think? How the hell is this suppose to fit in my mouth?
Terumi: Everyone thinks that at first. Just blow it already before I shove it in your mouth by force. I didn't pull it out for no reason.
Ragna: Fine…
Jubei: What!? No Ragna don't go to the other side!
Amane: Oh my…
Izanami: Interesting...
Celica: I need to stop this!
*smashes the door open*
Kokonoe: Ragna no!
*Looks to see Ragna with a clarinet in his mouth*
Terumi: Huh? The hell are you all doing here?
Jin: Oh so he was just…
Saya: Oh… That's a relief…
Ragna: What?
Everyone: Nothing.
Relius: So Ragna the Bloodedge. Are you going to play or not?
Noel: We don't have time.
Ragna: Already? Alright start the chapter.
Chapter 15: Awakening the Chaos
Sector Seven was a well known organization that is led by a group of scientists trying to stomp out ars magus, claiming that science is superior to that of magic. This has caused controversy and even hatred among the NOL and Sector Seven. They've argued on multiple occasions and have even had some small skirmishes in the past. By no means is Sector Seven obsolete to the NOL. Their organization might not be as influential as the NOL, but over the years they have built themselves up, their technology and numbers on par with the NOL.
Within the walls of Sector Seven, a woman with hot pink colored hair, large breasts, dressed in a white lab coat and eyes that were a shining amber color, walked down the large halls of the base. She had a lollipop in her hands with a stack of papers in her hands. She reads the documents over in complete distance and annoyance. She bites her pop, shattering it and spitting the stick out. "This is bullshit." She groans. "If they actually expect me to sign off on this shit then their fucking dumber then I thought."
She walks to the end of the hall to a single door in front of her. She punches in some numbers on the panel at the side, the door opening as she walks in. "I guess home sweet home…" her lab was a complete mess. Chips, junk food and papers thrown all over the place. She walks over to her desk and slams the stack of papers on the table with a loud boom. "I need some coffee…" she walks over to her coffee maker and heats up some coffee for herself.
Taking up the kettle, she pours the coffee in a cup and dumps cups of sugar into it. The woman takes a sip, the moment the warm liquid touched her lips her eyes widened as she spit whatever was in her mouth out. She gags and curses. "Oh god! I'd rather eat shit and drink piss then this crap!" she throws the coffee put into the sink and just watches it drain out, a sad smile comes a cross her face. "That idiot… All he was good for was making coffee…"
The scientist walks over to her chair and leans back into it. "It's really been over seven years… Time sure does fly by quickly." She looks on her desk to see a single picture frame, a small sad smirk coming across her face. "Never really cared for crap like this…but I just can't have it in myself to toss this pile of junk out…" she picks it up and looks at it. It was a picture of her and three others, two of them was no longer with her. "Tch. Some amazing scientist I'm suppose to be…can't even save two students."
It was about nine years ago, Sector Seven retrieved something that is known as the prime field device from a run down lab on the outskirts of Kagutsuchi. It was the 11th prime field device, Lambda. They found her dead and brought her back to the Sector Seven for further inspection. To their amazement her body might've been dead, but her soul was still looming around in the boundary. With this they hatched a plan to revive her, professor Celia as the head of the project, working along side a man known as Relius Clover.
Relius Clover was a genius on par with Celia and for some strange reason he wanted to help revive her, saying how interesting it was she was still here. She didn't know why he said that and didn't really care, but working with him was the worst thing she's ever done. Just being around him made her want to throw up the soles of her shoes. He didn't feel like what she would call a "normal" human and tried her best to be as far away from him as possible as they tried to revive the lost prime field device.
But she couldn't help but acknowledge his intellect and that intellect helped her revive the lost Murakumo. "The prime field device is stable, life supports systems are back online." Celia looks at the young girl in the test tube. She had long blond hair for her age, her eyes still closed and her face was innocent. "She might be stable but she hasn't come back yet…"
"Increase the output of seither. If you stop now we shall lose her." Relius turns a dial, the seither output increasing slightly. They all watch as the girl starts to slowly open her eyes, they were a glimmering red color, but her eyes showed signs of life. One of the scientists smiles. "She's alive…! She's alive!" they all start to clap as Celia sighs in relief. "Ok phase one is complete. Now keep it up! Let's try and keep her alive! Are we understood!?"
"Understood!" Afterwards her status stabilized Celia handled the rest, taking her down to her lab and analyzing her herself. She found something interesting and hisses her teeth. "If she finds out he's alive…" her data popped up on her monitor. Some of it was corrupted, while others were missing. However, a few names popped up and one of them she herself knew and knew well. "How does this girl know Ragna? If I remember correctly Jubei busted him out of a research facility last year. Could she have been with him?"
She just stares at the data as another name comes up as she squints her eyes and reads it. "Nu? Mu? Who are they? Maybe they're her sisters? Damn it… Her memory is so fucking corrupted I can't read shit. I can't really blame her though…" she sighs. "Sorry about this Lambda…but I'm gonna have to delete this. I can't have it getting in the way." She presses a button as the whole screen turned black, she looks back at Lambda. "You can hate me all you want, but right now I need your help to bring that bastard Terumi down. First I need to properly input the Idea Engine into you."
She puts her hand on the large tube, memories coming back to her. "I helped release that bastard and because of that Wadatsumi was…" she sighs. "Not only did I cost Jubei his eye, but I go and experiment on the boys life I ruined and make my nieces cry? No wonder she hates me. I deserve it. Now I'm about to do something else that's inhumane. I really am nothing, but a mad scientist. A damn monster."
The tube opens up, Lambda slowly opening her eyes and walks out to her. Celia takes a step back to make some room for her. Lambda stops in front of her and looks up at the woman. "Identifying… Identifying… Identification complete. Master Celia, what is your orders." She clenched her fists. "I just hope I can make amends with this at least…" she looks down at the child and places a hand on her head. "Master Celia?"
"I really am sorry…" With that Lambda went under her wing, Celia adopting a few assistants of her own a few weeks later. They were both extremely talented, able to keep up with her even in the most difficult of tasks. Their names were Litchi Faye Ling and Roy Carmine. His real name wasn't Roy, they just called him that for short. About two months later Relius came back and asked her for her help.
She didn't have much of a choice since he helped her last time so she said yes and she regretted it ever since. Relius asked her to help revive a different Murakumo unit who had seemingly suffered the same fate as Lambda. For safety she told Lambda not to join her, thinking it might bring back some memories.
The two gathered a team and started to work on it immediately. Celia told Litchi and Roy not to join her, saying she had a bad feeling about what's to come. They reluctantly agreed and decided to watch over Lambda as her and Relius worked. It all worked without any hitches and her soul returned to her body. Relius smirks and turns the dial all the way to max. Her eyes widen as seither started to enter the girl at a rapid rate. "What are you doing!? Your gonna kill her!"
"This is an experiment is it not? Terumi can be quite persistent." She gasps. "Terumi? Your working with him!? You son of a—!" before she could finish all the machines around Nu started to explode, the girl screaming bloody murder as her whole body started to surround itself in darkness. "No… That's the…!"
"I think you should that spell now, unless you want us all to be consumed." She grits her teeth. "You piece of shit! That's what you were after! You wanted the Murakumo's armor and the core for it to be the Black Beast!"
"Speculation isn't needed now. We really will die if you don't hurry." She looks around to see the researchers souls and bodies disappearing, all of them being absorbed by the darkness. "Damn it all!" a surge of power appears around her, a wide smile appears on his face as her power just keeps on increasing. "How interesting…" Celia started to chant something, a large magic circle appearing under the darkness. "Infinite Gravity!" she opens her palm and closes it slowly, straining herself as the large darkness starts to compress.
She closes her fist completely. Nu falling down onto the floor and a Murakumo unit stabbed into the ground at her side. Celia pants and looks to see a small black sphere floating in the middle of the room. "That's the…" With no more strength left she falls to the floor. "Damn it all…! I can't move…!"
"Very interesting indeed… That magic power you wield. You may just as powerful as Nine, maybe even stronger then her or I. Hehe…very interesting indeed. You are truly sisters, Celia A. Mercury." She grits her teeth. "Bastard…! Don't you dare lay…a finger on her you son of a bitch! If you even THINK about it… I swear to god I'll…!" she tries to get up but fall back down. "Well it seems as if everything as gone well. Ignis. Retrieve the Murakumo and the core." Her vision was blurry and about to give, but what woke her back up was slightly large footsteps. She looks to see what seemed to be an automaton walk passed her. "The hell…is that? It looks just like Nirvana…"
"I believe she should. I created her using Nirvana as a basis and implementing a soul into it." She eyes the doll and feels familiar to it. Something hits her as her expression turns into disgust. "You said Ignis… You sick fuck…! You used your own wife as the soul mediator!?" He smirks. "Yes. Her soul bonded with it so well as did my daughter." Celia gasps. "Ada… You bitch!" she tries to get up again, getting up to her knees and falling back down. "You twisted…son of a bitch! Where the hell is your son!?"
"Son? Do you mean Carl? That is a very good question. It would seem he has taken Nirvana and escaped. I am quite interested to see what he will use her for." Celia saw the pure enjoyment on his face. She grits her teeth. "You're actually enjoying this… Your just as sick as Terumi…"
"If I am sick then I would classify you as a "monster". If I am not mistaken aren't you the one that weakened the mind eater curse? People could even go so far as to blame you for the destruction of Wadatsumi." Celia stays silent as he continues. "I thank you for your assistance. If you need me I will be on my way. I bid you adieu professor Celia. Let us do this again sometime."
After that she passed out and was found by her apprentices. They looked at the damage done and all the missing scientists. Checking the cameras and looks to see what seemed to be a massive cloud of seither and two large red eyes, Celia explaining to them exactly what it was. She tells them to be carefully of the boundary and the Azure.
Litchi followed her advice, but Roy couldn't help but get a little interested about the Azure and the boundary, soon discovering the existence of the Azure grimoire. Celia demanded him to stop his research, telling him it was nothing but a fairy tale, knowing it wasn't and knowing who exactly is wielding it. The two started to argue daily, Roy asking her constantly for help and Celia just denying him.
"What the hell is this!?" Celia slams her hands, knocking some of the pens off the desk. Her face twisted with rage as she finished reading her apprentices document. "Roy! You want to explain to me just what the hell you've been doing!?"
"I've already told you, the Azure can give us the power we need to completely overpower the NOL. We may be equal, but our technology now is YEARS behind the NOL. We need to step it up Celia. Please. Help me." Celia takes a deep breath and walks over to him. He was expecting a hard slap to the face, but instead felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked to see her face filled with worry, which was strange for her since she was always upset. "Roy…you need to stop. No… I'm already too late."
"What are you talking about?" Roy asks.
"You used the cauldron didn't you? I felt something weird when I went down there earlier. It's one of the reasons I called you here." He sighs. "Yes. I used the boundary, but not for long! I promise you that I'm ok! I'm just asking you to help me with my research."
"Delving into the Azure isn't something we can do right now. Not now and not ever. It will KILL you. You can't handle the Azure, let alone the Azure grimoire." Celia says. "Then please let me have some of scientists help me out." He pleads.
"No. If we lose anymore of them we won't have enough for projects Roy. You know that." Celia says.
"Then shouldn't we tell others about the Cauldron and the boundary? I mean only a hand full of us know about it. We're all scientists so why do you keep it from us when you know we want to learn more!?" Celia sighs. "If we did then more idiots like you would pop up and misuse the cauldron. Roy, I picked you and Litchi out of the hundred and thousands of other scientists because I knew you two were trustworthy. Right now the expectations I have of you are going down the drain. Just listen to me Roy. You can't handle the boundaries power. It's too much."
"Then we'll bring the power of the boundary to us." Celia stared at him for a minute, a bit confused by what he just said. The moment she realized her face twisted back to her normal cranky expression. "Are you talking about the Black Beast!?"
"I am. If we can control it then we could research just what makes it tick and where it comes from! We saw the footage and we felt just how powerful it was, even from all the way across the base. That's the power of the Azure, we need that power." Celia sighs. "Do you know… Just where the seither comes from?" He gives her a perplexed expression. "What? Of course I do. It comes from the boundary."
"No. Where it originated from, not where it seeps into this world from." Celia says. "I don't understand professor. What do you mean?"
"I told you that day, that the fog you saw was a creature known as the Black Beast. I didn't want to tell you more since I didn't think it was necessary, but I guess I should." She continues. "That monster, the Black Beast, terrorized this world thousands of years ago. It was a rampaging beast that kill and devoured the souls of everyone in sight, it knew no friend or foe. The bastard just ate and killed."
"That doesn't make any sense. Then how was it defeated?" Roy asks.
"The beast was defeated by the six heroes. To tell you the truth, the nox nyctores that we know today, we're created in that time to fight the beast. That is when ars magus was first created and humanity used it and fought against the beast in a final battle. We won, as you can tell from us still being here, but the damage was done. That son of a bitch already killed over half the world's population." His eyes widened in disbelief. "Half!? Theirs no way!"
"It might he hard to believe, but it's true. The Black Beasts effects still live on today and those monsters you find in the forest are remnants of that monster. You can go as far to call them living proof or the beasts children." Celia explains. "Professor, why are you telling me all this?"
"I'm telling you this as a warning. The Azure is too much for any human to handle. Misusing the Azure is what created that monster in the first place. I don't think I want to see that beast up close and personal." Celia walks back to her seat and sits down. "I'm telling you Roy, stay away from the Azure and I want you to destroy all this research. It's for your own damn good. Do you understand me?"
"…Yes." He takes them all up and walks out the room. Celia watches him walk out, feeling a little bad for telling him off like that. She understood just how much a scientists would go to get results, she knew it well. Celia let's put a heavy sigh. "That damn idiot… Why won't you dumbasses just listen to what your told to do. It's for your own damn good." Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me professor Celia. Can I come in?"
"Litchi? Yeah sure come on in." the door opens as Litchi walks in. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard what you were talking about…" she bites the lollipop, shattering it and spitting out the stick into the trash next to her. She rests her elbow on the table and rests her head on her palm. "So you were ease dropping? That's not like you." Litchi bows. "I'm sorry, but I got interested. But professor, your talking as if you've actually met the Black Beast. Didn't you say that it existed thousands of years ago?" she nods. "I did. The Black Beast was killed at the hands of a group known as the six heroes. However…another Black Beast or maybe two more might appear."
"What do you mean by that professor?" Litchi asks, a bit of worry in her voice. "Nothing we need to worry about, at least nothing for you to worry about. But I need a favor from you Litchi."
"What is it?"
"Keep an eye on Roy. Keep a very close eye on him. I think his soul is slowly being absorbed into the boundary. He's becoming more obsessed with the Azure by the day. Soon he's going to start losing his humanity. We need to stop that from happening." She nods. "I understand. I'll keep Roy safe." She sighs. "Thank you." Litchi walks back out, a little stunned that she actually thanked her, genuinely at that.
Even though Celia gave him that warning, he didn't listen, it only got worse from there. Soon, his whole mind was corrupted and one day, the day he jumped into the boundary himself, he lost his humanity. Now he roams the streets as a black blob. Litchi, feeling responsible for not stopping him, heads out to find him and to try and return him to his original form.
Celia puts down the photo. "A failed Black Beast… I tell the guy to be careful and what does he do? He makes his own damn curiosity get the better of him. Like I can talk…" she sighs. "Two stupid apprentices…" she hears someone knocking on the door and groans. "Come in it's not locked." The door opens up as a tall man in a white lab coat and glasses that fell slightly off his face walked in, a few documents in his hand. Celia looks at them and curses. "You've got to be kidding me… The fuck is this? More work?"
"This is not work, we'll it is work related. I think you should read it yourself however." She growls and takes the papers away from the man. She reads them over carefully and gasps. "Are you crazy…? What the hell is this?" she throws the paper on the floor and grips the man's collar, hoisting him up slightly in the air. "You want to explain this shit to me! What the fuck is going on here!?" He stutters, trying his best to form a proper sentence, but found himself unable to as he felt like he was about to shit himself. He clears his throat and tries to calm down a little. "W-Well I don't know. I was just told to give it to you."
Seeing no real point to holding him she lets him go slowly and picks up the papers off the ground. The man dashes out the room, screaming at the top of his lungs. The door closes, Celia reading over the documents clearly. "That mother fucker!" she stomps over to her phone and quickly punches in some numbers on the dial. She taps her foot angrily, waiting as all she heard was dial tone. Once she heard someone pick up she screamed. "What the fuck did you just send me you piece of shit!?"
"Oh, it's you professor Celia. I see you got the information I sent." The man on the other line said in a calm voice. "I got it alright! Now I want to know just what the hell are you thinking!? Are you trying to start a war!"
"What if we are? I think it is time for science to triumph and magic to fade into memory." She grits her teeth. "Then why are you attacking a school!? Why are you going after him!"
"Why do you care so much? Do you know that man?" she stays quiet as he continues. "Well it doesn't matter. The reason is because we were tipped off by someone that it might actually be there and in the possession of a simple highs school student at that. So one of our agents in the school looked into it and found it to be true. To think the legend was real, quiet interesting really. With that power, the boundary will be at our finger tips."
"This is terrorism!" the man groans. "Why should you care? All that matters to a scientist is that we get the results we want. I will also be taking Lambda 11 for this mission, we have already set up everything and are moving out. I need to prepare myself." Before she could retort she heard him hang up. Celia slams the phone onto it's holder and curses. "Fucking damn it!" she looks at the person they were after. The wielder of the so called Azure grimoire. "Ragna…"
Ragna sits in class, nodding off as Nine continues with her lecture, taking almost no notes. He yawns. 'Oh come on… Why can't that bell fucking ring already?' he tries his best to keep himself up, lightly pinching his cheeks to stay awake. Celica saw him and couldn't help but laugh while watching him. He turns his head to her and sees her giggling at him. He groans. "Now what the hell is so funny?"
'I guess you trying to stay awake is what's making her laugh. Maybe you should go to sleep earlier Ragna.' He sighs. 'Don't count on that…' the bell finally rings, Ragna yawning loudly and stretching his limps out. Everyone started to chat, the classroom filled with conversation as they started to pack themselves up. Jin walks over to Ragna and looks to see him half asleep. He knocks on the desk, Ragna jolting up and looking both ways while saying some random gibberish. He looks up to see Jin and yawns. "Hey Jin…what's up?"
"You need to go to sleep earlier." Jin says. "Well I just can't ok. I don't know why. My body just has to fall asleep at the latest times." Ragna stands up and stretches himself out. "Well… I guess I'll just have to try to fall asleep at least at 9:00. Hell, maybe that damn rabbit will give me some of her tea. Probably the only reason why she sleeps so easily." Before the two could say anything else they felt strange and so did the rest of the class, the whole room filled with silence. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know… Brother… I have a bad feeling about this." They look outside to see the sky darken. Nine goes to the window and looks out at the darkness. "An eclipse field? So whoever is coming in here isn't someone who wants to play nice." She looks down to see soldiers marching in. "Those are Sector Seven soldiers, but why here?" before she could think anymore they heard a large explosion. Nine looks to see they blew a massive hole right where the doors used to be.
"Holy shit! What the fuck was that!?" Kokonoe gasps. "No time for that we need to move. Now!" they hear footsteps and all move away from the door. "They're already up here!?" the door smashes down, soldiers coming in the room quickly. Nine puts up a barrier around them as their bullets emptied out of their clips. "Bastards!" Jin gasps, his eyes widened. "Jin what happened!?" Kagura asks.
"I can't use ars magus…! It's not working!" his eyes widened. "What!?"
"Son of a bitch he's right! I can't even use it either!" Nine gasps. "Are you serious!? Shit! They've actually neutralized the ars magus synchronization!?" she snaps her fingers, the soldiers engulfed in a large explosion and flew out of the room. Nine puts her barrier down. "How the hell did they get up here so fast?" Jin asks. Rachel walks towards the door and looks to see what seems to be a teleportation axis on the ground. She picks it up and sighs. "This is how. They must have set them up all over the school."
"Crap so we're defenseless!?" Kokonoe asks. "Not only that, they could appear at anytime."
"Just when we need it most!" Jin hisses his teeth.
"No, the students come first. Nine, evacuate all the students, the facility is probably either fighting or getting the students to safety. Celica go with her." Kagura says. Celica shakes her head. "I can't just leave you guys here!" they heard another explosion and more footsteps coming down the halls. "Son of a…!" Ragna and Kagura run out to see a group of soldiers running up to them. They go to intercept them. With a heavy swing they cleave through them, the soldiers all landing on the floor with a thud. "Seriously we can't stay here! If we do more of them will just come and surround us. We need to move!"
"Celica, please go with Nine. We'll make sure that theirs no more other students here." Noel says. She stays quiet for a bit and finally gives up. "Ok fine!" Ragna smiles. "I'll be counting on you Celica." They heard even more footsteps, these were definitely much more then before. It sounded like hundred of soldiers were coming down the hall, their steps were rough and loud. Their footsteps echoing through the halls. "Are you serious! Son of a bitch get them out of here now! We don't stand a chance in hell right now! Move your asses!" Kagura shouts at the class as they all get up, Nine leading them out. "I'll rejoin you guys when I can! Celica let's go!"
The class, Nine and Celica ran in the other direction, leaving them to intercept the coming soldiers. One of the soldiers spots them and yells. "There he is! The man with the grimoire!"
"They're after brother!" Saya gasps. "Let us try and divide their forces up, let us run for now." They take Rachel's advice and turns the other corner, running full speed down the hallways. They looks to see soldiers ahead. Jin running up ahead of them, drawing his blade and slicing down the first row of soldiers. "I'll handle them brother! You guys try to find any other students that might be here! Knowing them they're probably fighting without knowing the situation."
"Alright Jin. I owe you a choice of whatever food you want when we get home." They quickly turn the corner, Jin smirks. "I guess I'm eating good tonight." He heard someone run up behind him and looks to see Saya come back. "I'm not letting you show me up in front of brother."
"I'm don't need too, since I'm clearly the one he cares for most." Jin boasts. A vein pops up on her forehead. "We'll see about that!"
They could hear the ground rumbling, explosions heard all throughout the halls. They see what seemed to be a fire up ahead and made a sharp turn, the building starting to come down around them. "Oh now this is just fucking perfect!" Kokonoe curses.
"There he is!" they turn their heads and look to see more soldiers running towards them from behind. "I'll stop them here! You all continue on!" Makoto says. "I'm staying with you Makoto!" Noel says, Tsubaki nodding in agreement. The three stop to face the coming soldiers. The first row runs up to them, the three girls preparing to fight them.
A figure jumps over them and knock down the first row. "Get out of our way you damn brat!"
"What the… Kagura?" He smirks and puts his blade on his shoulder . "Sorry, but you're trying to hurt a friend of mine. It's obvious I'm gonna stand in your way."
"You should go with Ragna. You shouldn't be here, we can handle this." Tsubaki says. He smiles. "Now why would I miss the chance to be next to three stunning ladies?" Makoto groans. "You're such a fucking pervert…"
Ragna, Rachel and Kokonoe continue down the hall, looking around the classrooms on every floor to see they were all empty, but they were also in shambles, signaling small skirmishes took place within them. "I just hope theirs not any injuries students laying around here…"
"I wouldn't doubt it. I'll go check." Kokonoe says.
"It's too dangerous to go by yourself." Ragna says in worry.
"I'll be fine, for now try and find any remain students that might be on this floor. If theirs none, try and meet up with the others and help them fight, I will too." He nods. "Ok Kokonoe, be careful you hear me?" she takes off, Ragna and Rachel taking off in the opposite direction. "You think she'll be ok?"
"Kokonoe is no fool Ragna she will be fine. Besides she does not need ars magus to fight." Rachel reassures. "Oh yeah…but still…" his thought was interrupted by a scream. He rushed down the hall to see a girl running away from a couple soldiers. "Shit!"
The girl falls down and looks up to see the two soldiers standing above her, looking down at her with wide smiles on their faces. "Damn, you teenagers these days look fucking amazing. Just look at that rack." The two laugh as girl slowly crawls backwards. "Stay back…!"
"Oh a loud one huh? I like that." The soldier smirked. "They said to kill any witnesses we see, but never said we couldn't have fun before we kill them right?" the other solider shakes his head. "No they didn't. I guess we deserve a break every now and again. So…let's have fun with her. What do you say?"
"I say that's the best idea you've had all day." Their voices were sinister, their glares filled with lustful intent. "Stay back!" the woman screamed.
"Get your asses away from her!" the two turn around to see Ragna charge at them. He slashes the one on his right downwards, the man falls to the floor. The other one takes out a knife and swings it sideways to slash his face. Ragna ducks and sends a bone shattering punch to his stomach, the soldier slams into the window and falls back down with a thud. Ragna runs over to the girl and extends his hand. "Are you ok!?" she nods. "Y-Yes I'm ok… Thank you." She takes his hand and stands back up.
"You truly do not think and just act don't you?" Rachel says, irritation present in her tone. "Oh so I was just suppose to stand there? Yeah ok." He groans. "Just help her out alright."
"Very well. Do not do anything too reckless. With the school supposedly empty you should try and meet up with whoever is closest to us. That being Makoto, Noel, Tsubaki and Kagura." He runs off, heading back upstairs to where he left them. Before he could go any further however the space around him changed. It was a blue and black space, kind of like the one outside surrounding the school.
"Another eclipse field?" He feels someone behind him and turns around to see a girl in Murakumo armor standing behind him. "Another Murakumo unit…? You look just like…!" she had blond hair tied in braids that went down her back. He shakes his head and draws his sword. "Who are you!?"
She doesn't answer and puts her hand in front of her, portals opened up behind her as multiple blades shot from them. Ragna grits his teeth and dodges to the right. "Shit! Just when I need it most I can't use it!" he charges at the Murakumo, sending a bevy of sword swings at her.
The Murakumo swiftly maneuvering around his strikes. She raises her foot up to kick him, but Ragna ducks and sends a punch to her gut. He tries to follow up with a kick, but looks up to see a portal right above him. He jumps back, a massive sword came from it and stabbed right into the ground. He hisses his teeth. "This is some real bad taste…"
"Ragna be careful! You can't think about that right now!" Azure says. "I know that damn it! Still…!" a few portals open up in front of her, swords flew out of them. The swords flying through the air in rapid fire all aimed at Ragna. He puts his blade up to shield himself from the attack, some of the blade scrapping his legs and sides. The onslaught stops, Ragna managing to hold his ground. "How the hell is she still able to use ars magus?"
"I can't tell you… Maybe Sector Seven developed some kind of canceller?" He grits his teeth. "Well that's just fucking great…! I'm basically hanging on to me ass here…" the Murakumo disappeared from sight. Ragna looks around and looks to see her right above him. She summons an arched sword to strike him, Ragna quickly puts his sword up to block it.
The girl maneuvers her body around and sends a sharp kick to his face and then to his stomach, Ragna flying back and gliding on the floor. He uses his hands to stop himself and gets back up on his feet. He wipes the blood from his mouth. "Damn…" he holds his sides and grunts. "Shit… That did more then I thought it would." He gets back into a stance, trying his best to ignore the pain, looking to see the girl walking towards him.
"Alright you still wanna go? Fine then. Bring it!" the girl stops, her body starting to shake. "What's wrong having second thoughts? It's too late for that now!" Ragna charges at her, the girl still not moving and just looking at him. Her lips started to move as she finally said something. "Rag…na…" he stops his attack short, his blade right at her neck, a bit of surprise on his face. "What?"
"Ragna… Who…is that?" He saw tears running down from under her mask, she moves her hand up to wipe her face, but they just kept falling. This might be the perfect chance to knock her out, but he just couldn't find it in him to do it. She stares at him and starts to walk closer to him, Ragna taking a few steps back. She puts her hand out and rests it on his cheek. "Who…are you? Do you…know me?"
"That voice… No you couldn't be..." He moves his hand towards her mask and was about to take it off, but the girl, mysteriously jumped back. She stood their silent for a while and nods. "I understand." The girl says. The field disappears as her body started to fade. "Teleportation… Wait! Hold on a minute! How do you know me!?" she doesn't say anything, her body disappeared completely. He grits his teeth. "Damn it!" he heard footsteps and looks to see them all running towards him. "Ragna!" Noel calls to him, her voice filled with worry. "Noel, are you guys ok!?"
"We won't be soon! This place is rigged with bombs all over the floors! We've got about five minutes before they detonate!" his eyes widen. "What!? That's not enough time to escape! What about everyone else!?"
"I think theirs still students in here! But their all making a break for the exit and all of them probably made it out, I think we're the only ones here!" Kagura looks out the window. "Were all the up on the fourth floor… Damn it. Let's just run! The more time we waste the least likely w—!" before he could finish, several explain were heard down the hall and underneath them. "Are you kidding me! It hasn't even been two minutes yet! Fucking damn it!" Ragna curses. "Shit!"
Everyone from outside ran back as the large building came tumbling down, smoke and debris filled the air. They all look on in horror as the place crashes to the ground. All that was seen was debris, large rocks piled up onto each other. Celica looks around, her expression changing to horror at her realization. "Wait… Where's Ragna!? Where's everyone else!?" Kokonoe, Nine and Rachel looks around, all of them looking back to the school. "Don't tell me…!"
"Those jackasses are still in there!" Kokonoe curses.
It went silent for a while, no one moving or making a single sound. That silence was broken by what sounded like moving rocks. They look to see some rubble moving and sees a hand come out from the rubble and push it. They look to see multiple rocks moving as Ragna, Kagura and the rest if them roll out, dust and dirt all over them. Celica's face lights up in joy. "You're all ok!" Celica, Kokonoe, Nine and Rachel run over to them. Celica tackles Ragna, he hisses his teeth in pain, signaling her to let go.
"Are you guys alright? Dumb question…" Kokonoe says. "We're fine… Ars magus started working and Jin put up an ice barrier..." He holds his left arm and grunts. "I'm glad I only got out of there with a broken arm…"
"Were their anymore kids in there?" Nine asks.
"No…looks like they all got out safely. The soldiers though…" Kagura looks towards the debris. "Bastards wanted to leave no trace…"
"I see…" Jin hisses his teeth. "Just what the hell were they doing here?" Rachel sighs. "Looks like they intend to take on the Library for real." Nine groans. "If it's not one problem it's another. Still just for the Azure grimoire all this… Besides all they got out of this was the death of their soldiers. Just goes to show you how far they'd go…"
"So what now?" Saya asks.
"Um excuse me…" they all turn their heads to see a girl with long black hair and brown eyes standing behind them. Ragna walks up to her. "Aren't you that girl that the soldiers were chasing?" she nods. "Yes. I wanted to thank you for helping me. I was a little scared that you came down with the school, but I'm glad your ok." He sighs. "I wish I was… But having a broken arm is better then lying in there. Gotta thank Jin for that."
"Well I'm glad your ok." She smiles. "Oh, did they do anything to you?" she shakes her head. "No. You arrived just in time before anything happened." They look to see two girls running up behind her, one of them had short brown hair and amber eyes while the other had short blond hair, her bangs coming down on her face, her eyes a light purple. "Are you the one that helped her?"
"Y-Yeah…" she smiles. "Thank you. She told us everything about what happened. I also need to thank you too Kagura. You helped me get away from those soldiers. I owe one and I'm sorry for running away and not helping you fight." He laughs. "Don't worry about it! I am the warrior and protector of all beautiful women! It was nothing."
"Pervert…" Kokonoe groans. The two girls smile and walk towards Ragna, the one with the short brown hair nudging his arm. "She's been worried sick you know? She's been worried about you and talking about you the whole time. Maybe you should pay her back…" the girl with black haired covered their mouths. "S-Shut up! Don't give him the wrong idea!" they release themselves from her grasp and chuckle. "Sure…" they say in unison. "I think it's a bit too late since he's already with someone though. Sorry girl, but you gotta try someone else."
"I never…!" she groans and stomps away. The two girl chase after her, Ragna standing there confused. "The hell was that?" Kagura chuckles. "Young love… Speaking of love I think we could scores their numbers if we act now. That blond was checking me out and I like those eyes of hers…" he rubs his temples. "If my body didn't feel like shit I swear I'd knock you out…" Kagura smirks. "Well I guess you shouldn't do it. I mean what would Celica say if she saw that?"
"What would she say?" Celica gasps. "Kagura don't say that! Ragna! Don't listen to him ok!" he nods, Celica goes up to him and looks him dead in the eyes. "Ok!" he nods awkwardly. "Y-Yeah…" Saya pouts and walks up to him. She wraps her arms around his and stick her tongue out.
"Now this is quite the turn of events…" Ragna looks to see Izanami walking up to them. She looks over what used to be the school. "With this I believe the boundaries between them are finally broken. We can expect anything now." Ragna raises a brow. "Where were you?"
"I was checking something out to see just what Relius and Terumi were up too. Their seems to be a kind of eclipse field over the NOL that stops my interference. Then before I could delve any further I sensed something odd here. Guess I was right to come here." Izanami says. "Yeah… Sector Seven came here for my Azure grimoire. Thankfully all the students got out before the building collapsed." He looks to see a couple ambulances at the gate and sighs. "Though they didn't leave unscathed."
"Some of them are in critical condition. The rest of them got out with a few scratches thankfully." Makoto looks at them put in some of the students into the ambulances. "So what's gonna happen now? I mean the relationship between Sector Seven and the NOL isn't the best. This could spark into something a lot bigger." Nine sighs. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. If it does it could get in the way of what we need to do. Still I guess that we have plenty of free time of our hands cause we have trouble. Big trouble."
"What's wrong?" Nine looks at Rachel. "You don't feel that?" she nods. "Yes. Our world is shifting. I don't know why, but a massive fractured world just opened up. We need to dispatch it quickly." Noel gasps. "How? Is this because of Sector Seven?" Izanami shakes her head. "No. This is due to whatever is on top of the NOL base. It's causing a major shift and those waves being sent out are creating a massive crack in our world. We must hurry before the world falls apart at the seams."
"That's a lot of pressure! Ok where is it!?" Kagura asks.
"It seems to be on the outside region of Akitsu, right before you enter the forest. Get in there and get out quick. If the rift is that big up that may mean time could also be disrupted. You could he in there for five minutes and maybe days have passed here or time may be running on the same axis." Kokonoe groans. "Great… That's exactly what I needed today. I'm not a very good gambler. My luck sucks ass."
"No room for complaining. More importantly are you all healthy enough to fight?" Jin nods. "Were fine. These are just scratches, we've had worse." Tsubaki nods in agreement. "Yes we'll be fine."
"I shall join you. This will make the process much faster." Izanami says. "Ok, I'll look for other rifts, hurry all of you." Rachel snaps her fingers, all of them finding themselves no longer in front of the school and standing in front of the bevy of trees. Tsubaki eyes widened as she sees their whole surrounds twisting and unstable. "What the hell..."
"I don't think we need the Azure to see this…" Saya says in awe.
"No kidding. The whole forest is out of place." Noel says.
"That just shows we need to hurry up. Come on." They all run into the rift, now finding themselves at Kazumotsu. The place was in complete disarray. People running and screaming past them, a strong scent of blood in the air. Ragna's Azure started to react as he turns to see something that all he could call was a freak of nature. It had a man in it's mouth, the man screaming bloody murder as the monster bit into him and slurped him up like spaghetti. "The fuck is that!?"
"I don't know, but that's the distortion were looking for! Let's take the thing down and go! Remember we don't know if time is slowed or not!" they all get their weapons ready to face the behemoth. The monster roared, the very ground shaking and the building around them falling to the ground, some unlucky souls getting rushed by the falling debris.
They hear more footsteps and looks to see two more monsters bigger then the one in front of them walk up to him. "Are you kidding me!? So what that's mommy, daddy and son!?"
"No time to guess!" Saya and Jin charge up to them, Ragna and Kagura following close behind. "Hit them hard and fast!" the smaller beast raised it's large arm up and slams it down on the floor. Saya jumps up and runs on it's arm. She jumps up as Jin freezes it solid. Saya comes down quick, shattering it's arm, the monster screaming in agony. Kagura swings his blade with all the force he could, striking it's leg, bringing it down to their level. Makoto charges her fist and slams it right into the monsters face, knocking it down. "Ragna!"
"I got it!" he jumps up and comes back down fast, piercing the beasts chest with his large blade, destroying the black orb that was in it's chest. It screams as it starts to disappear. "Ok! Two to—!" before he could move the large beast slams it's fist into him, sending him flying into one of the destroyed buildings. "Brother! I'm coming!"
"Saya behind you!" she turns to see the beast charging at her. It swings it's claw upwards to strike her. However it didn't hit the right mark as Noel jumped in front of her and took the hit. She glides on the floor and comes to a complete stop. "Noel!" Celica cries out and runs to her. "No!" Saya turns to the beast. "You're dead!" both her blades surrounded in a bright light, the light extending to form two large blades. She charges at the beast, sending rapid strikes at it, all of her attacks hitting their marks. "Blazing Cross!" her swords up, two large waves of light that formed an X shape launched from her blades. It hits the monster, Saya jumps after it. She puts both her blades together, a bright light emanating from them both, the two blades of light combining into a massive sword. "Divine Conqueror!" she swings down, cleaving the monster in half, it's body disappearing.
"Saya! You're right!" she looks to see the other one swing it's large arm and clotheslines her back down to the ground. Three strange objects surrounded the monster. Out of those strange objects came powerful lays that shoots the beast dead in one blow. "Who the hell?" Kagura looks to see it was Izanami and shivers a little. "Ok…so she can one hit kill… Let me…stay on her good side." He hears debris moving and looks to see Ragna getting himself out of the rubble. Jin runs over to him. "Brother! Are you ok!?" He gets up and holds his side. "Y-Yeah… Damn that was heavy. So you guys did it?"
"We just finished up sleepyhead." Kagura smirks. "Shut it…" he looks to see Saya hanging on Makoto unconscious and Noel being healed by Celica. "What the hell did I miss!? Are they ok!?" Tsubaki nods. "They'll be fine. Right now we need to destroy those over there." Ragna walks over to them and makes quick work of them, slicing the two balls in half. For some odd reason they didn't see the space shifting, the same question running through all their minds. What's going on here?
Izanami sighs. "It seems as if they're are more. We are not finished just yet."
"Are you kidding me!?" they felt the ground starting to rumble and looks behind them to see a bevy of those monsters coming their way. However not all of them were big like the ones they just finished off. Most of them were about their size. Some were big and bulky, others slouchy and skinny. Their a few that were just as big as the monster they fought, but they could only count ten of them. Kagura gulps. "Ok so… I got the five hundred on the left and you get the five hundred on the right?"
"Not now…" Ragna groans.
"We need to run right now! Noel and Saya are still unconscious." Tsubaki says.
Ragna and Makoto runs over to the unconscious girls, picks them up, throws them in their backs and makes a break for it. They all followed behind, the stampede chasing them and gaining on them quickly. "This will not do. We must separate them."
"Alright everyone. Scatter!"
They all took different paths. Ragna, Izanami, Celica and Makoto ran together, Kagura and Jin ran in the same direction and Kokonoe, Tsubaki and Rachel going another way. The beasts all split up, evening the odds even if just by a little. Makoto looks behind her. "We got a shit ton of them! We need to find a safe place to put these two!"
"I shall handle that." Izanami says. The ring around her back separates, the yellow ring gone and only the three mechanisms remained. They formed a line in mid air as Ragna and Makoto put Noel and Saya on them. "Celica go with her and heal them. Hurry!"
"Ok Ragna! We'll be right back!" Ragna and Makoto stop and turns to face what was coming at them while Izanami and Celica ran onwards. "Ragna are you gonna be ok?" He nods. "Don't worry about to me right now. Let's just finish these thing off." With a yell he charges in, Makoto charging in with him as the two engage the stampede of monsters.
Ragna swings his sword upwards, a beast like head appears and cleaves through the stampede. Makoto jumps up and comes down fast, slamming her fist into one of them. A beast behind her raises it's long arm up and brings it down. Makoto maneuvers around the long arm and charges her fist, sending a powerful uppercut to its chin, following up with a powerful kick.
She looks up to see one of the massive ones lift their foot up right above her. She dashes off and tries to get out of it's range. The beast steps down, Makoto barely getting out of the way.
Ragna dashes right past her and heads for the large beast. He swings his sword with as much force as possible, making a clean slice through the beasts leg, causing the beast to fall over. He starts to run on it, his sword engraved in it's flesh, cutting him right down the middle as he ran. The beast roars in agony as it disappears, leaving a black orb in it's place. Ragna quickly slashes it and pants. "Ok good… Now the big ones gone all we got to deal with are these guys…"
"Ragna are you ok!?" He nods. "Don't worry I'll be alright. Let's finish this as quickly as we can." He runs up to one of them and swings his sword down. The beast morphs it's hand into an axe and blocks him. He tries his best to push him back, but the beast manages to hold it's ground.
He tightens the grip on his blade, the sword surrounding in seither. He swings it down completely, the beasts footing becoming unstable. Ragna quickly swings his sword side ways, cleaving it in half then brining it up and slashing it in half. The beast disappears, another one running up right behind him. Ragna turns and deflects the beasts attack, another one coming up and kicking him right in his stomach.
He coughs up blood from the strong kick, he glides on the floor and spins a few times. He comes to a complete stop and curses. "Shit…! That wound from earlier…" he feels something behind him and quickly turns his head to see one of the beasts arm transformed into an axe. He quickly rolls out of the way, avoiding the fatal blow. He charges back at the beast, his fist surrounded in a dark aura. "Hells Fang!" Ragna yells, slamming his fist into the beast and sending it into some of the other beasts.
"Shit!" he curses.
"Ragna I'm coming!" Makoto says.
"No! Makoto behind you!" she looks behind her to see one of the bulkier ones already on top of her. It rams it's fist into her side, Makoto bouncing and spinning as she glides on the floor.
"Makoto!" he gasps.
Makoto comes to a complete stop. She tries to get up, but falls back down as she coughs up some blood. She looks up to see one standing right in front of her, their red eyes glaring down at her. Makoto looked to see what seemed to be a mouth form. She looks in disgust as it opens it's mouth wider and wider, it's fangs dripping with saliva. "Shit…"
"Like hell I'll let you!" Makoto looks to see a large slab of metal drive through the beast. It yells in pain and falls limp, it's body fading away. She sighs in relief. "Ragna… Thanks for that."
"No problem." He extends a hand and helps her up. They look around to that they were surrounded. Right now it's either surrender and get eaten or fight and the answer was obvious to the both of them. "You ready?"
"Let's do it!"
They both dash off in the opposite direction. Makoto slugging down one after the other. She charges her fist and with a yell thrusts it forward. "Big Bang Smash!" a fist made of energy appears and slams into a group of them. Makoto started to pant and looks to see more of them coming.
She looks behind her to see Ragna not doing to good. The wound he received earlier still troubling him and slowing his movements down.
Makoto turns back around to see a few of them rush her. She avoids on of their punches and slams her elbow into it's head and sends a powerful kick to it's stomach. She grabs it by the arm and swings it around, letting it go and throwing the beast into the group running towards her.
"They just keep coming! Damn it!" Makoto jumps back to avoid the attack, but was met with another blow to the back. She turns around and kicks the beast right in the head. With a yell she sends a charged punch to it's face, the monster disappearing. She goes down on a knee and pants. "I don't think… I can hold out…for much longer…"
"Makoto! Watch out!" she looks behind her to see one of the bulkier beasts standing over her. "No you don't!" he throws his sword, the blade impaling the monsters head, the sword going right through and stabbing into the ground. Ragna runs over to Makoto and throws her arm over his shoulder. He quickly picks his sword up from the ground and sheaths it on his waist.
"Ok! Let's go!" Ragna sets her on his back and dashes off, gaining some distance from the group of beasts. He runs and turns into an alleyway. He runs down and jumps over a small wall and turns a corner into a back alley. He pants and sets Makoto down. He turns his head to the corner to see that they weren't following them. He starts to get his breathing under control and exhales. "Makoto… Are you ok?" He ask, still a bit winded.
"I'd like to say hell yeah…but my bodies in shambles… Shit! I didn't mean to hold you back." Makoto holds her arm and grunts. Ragna looks to see it bruised along with several other spots on her body. "You didn't. I thought I was the one holding you back. Sorry I'm a little stubborn."
"You…don't say? Still fighting with that injury you have then carrying me off. You're one…hell of a guy Ragna…" she chuckles a little and grunts again. Ragna looks her body over and moves his hand to her sides. Makoto gasps to the sudden touch. "Hey! What the hell are you doing!?"
"Just shut up for two seconds alright." He grips it tightly, earning him a slight grunt from her. "Look like the area here was heavily damaged. I think I can ease the pain a little." He starts to gently massage her side, opening and closing his hand. She bites her lip from the pain, but after a little while it started to get better, she could almost barely feel anything. She looks at him in amazement. "Wow. You're actually really good at this."
"Master taught me this little trick. I might not be as good as him, but I can at least do this. You're not healed though don't take it the wrong way, the pains only subsided for a bit. So for now just try not to move and let it heal naturally. I'll work on the other part of your body." He moves his hands up to her shoulders and starts to massage them. Makoto blushing a bit as he does it. She looks down and tries her best for him not to see her face, but he couldn't help but notice how she was acting.
"Hey Makoto, you ok?" He asks.
"Y-Yeah I am! S-So um Ragna. Do you think everybody else is ok?" He sighs. "I'm not sure. Their was a shit ton of them and we only got through half I think. I just hope they've got some better fucking luck then we do. Still, I hope Noel and Saya are alright."
"I'm sure they're ok. For now I guess let's try and make less work for them." He sighs. "Yeah… Hey Makoto. When I destroyed that larger one it had that dark ball that all the other distortions always have. I wonder if all the big ones are like that."
"So all the big ones are the distortions and the little ones are just foot soldiers? I guess that makes sense. L—Gah!" she tries to get up but hisses her teeth as she falls back down. Ragna looks to see her ankle was bruised as well. "Damn… You got roughed up pretty bad." She blushes slightly and looks away. "Y-yeah I guess so… It'll heal if I just sit here for a bit. Don't worry. Us beastkin are tough."
"Don't need to tell me." He moves behind her and starts to moves his hand up and down her back. Her cheeks turn a darker shade of red as he continues. "So you feeling any better Makoto? Just tell me where it hurts and I'll see what I can do."
"Don't push yourself… You're just as hurt as I am you know. So for now just come sit next to me and relax." Makoto says, trying her best to not make any changes in her voice or attitude. She was glad he couldn't see her face. He shrugs and sits right next to her. He sighs and leans back on the wall. "Shit… I think we need to regroup with the rest of them." He hears no answer and turns to see Makoto just staring at him. "Uh… Makoto?"
"Y-Yeah!?" she jumps.
"You're just staring at me." Ragna says.
"O-Oh I am!? S-Sorry about that Ragna!" she quickly looks away from him. 'Damn it…! I'm alone with him and now all these crazy thoughts are running through my brain! I'm on a mission I can't be thinking about him like that right now! But still…' she moves her head slowly, her eyes moving just enough to look at him. She sighs. 'Oh man… I just Tsubaki and everyone else is in a better position then I am.'
"Ok! This…is ridiculous!" Kagura pants.
"You're telling me!?" Jin and Kagura were doing their best to kill the remains beasts. The two large ones were causing a whole mess of problems, but they managed to deal with most of the little ones. Kagura pants. "So how come…we got…most of the big ones!? This is…bullshit!"
"No complaining now!" Jin charges back in and cuts a few more of them down. One of the bulkier ones come up on him and sends a powerful punch right to his stomach. He flies back a bit and uses his feet to stop himself. He was panting heavily, holding his stomach and gasping for air.
Another one runs up to him. Jin jumps up and spins his body. He slices his head clean off, the monster disappearing into a cloud of black mist. Jin turns around and looks to see Kagura having a free for all with a bevy of the smaller monsters.
A few more of them come after him. Jin stabs his sword into the ground, large ice sword rise up from the ground and impales them, their bodies falling limp and disappearing. "Damn it… We still have all of them to deal with…" he feels something behind him and looks to see one of the smaller ones snuck up behind him. "Shit!" he curses. He twists his body and puts his sword in front of him to block the beasts attack.
It raises it's arm and swings down, a Jin successfully blocking it and follows up with a clean slice down the middle. Before he could move he felt something ram into his bacn, sending him gliding face first on the concrete.
"Jin!" Kagura pushes the beast that was on him off of him and swing his sword sideways with all his strength. Tearing through a few of them, the beasts disappearing.
He runs over to him and stands in front of the downed Jin. He looks up to see Kagura. "Hey Jin! You alright!?"
"I think so…but not for long." He struggles to get up. Kagura looks to see he was a good ten seconds from passing out. He wasn't in the best shape either, his hand shaking and his arm weak. The monsters weren't tough, at least not the small ones, their were just too many of them. "Ok Jin! Let's go!"
"What!? We can't just go!" Jin says.
"Well we can't fight if we're keeling over now can we? Now let's get the fuck out of here and fast!" He grits his teeth and follows Kagura as the too dash off and away from the monsters, the beasts quickly giving chase. Jin saw this and quickly put up an ice wall, creating a barrier between them and the beasts, but it didn't last long as the larger ones just stepped on it.
They were still able to get some good distance and jumps down to the lower level. Jin creates an icy floor for them to slide down as they make their way to the lower floors. They land safely on the middle level and looks up to see that they were out of sight, but probably not for long. Kagura sighs in relief and leans against the wall. "Shit… We finally lost them…"
"Son of a bitch…" Jin holds his side and grunts pain. "That last one got me good… Shit…"
"Can you still fight?" Kagura asks.
"Hey don't worry. I just need a breather…" Jin pants.
"I think you need more then just a breather. But who the hell am I to talk? My bodies crying like a baby right now. I feel like all my bones turned to fucking mush…" Kagura grunts.
"For now I think the best plan of action is to meet up with everyone else. I'm not sure if splitting was really the best idea now. The rest of them could be in bigger danger then us." Kagura nods. "Yeah… Shit. So the bigger the rift the more distortions lay inside? This is ridiculous…"
"We need to finish this… The question is…how?" Jin wonders.
"I couldn't tell you. I've barely got the strength to stand right now." Kagura says. Jin leans off the wall and looks up. "Let's go meet up with the others. Staying in one place like this could be problematic. If more surround us were screwed."
"Ok, but we don't have any idea were the rest of them could be." Kagura says.
"Well the longer we stay here the longer it'll take to find them." He groans. "Wow… You are one hell of a leader you know that?"
"Shut up and let's go."
"Only a few more to go…" Tsubaki pants.
"Finally… The two big guys are the last ones… Hey Rachel. Is their anymore of the smaller ones?" Rachel shakes her head. "No these are it."
"Good… So let's finish this!" Tsubaki and Kokonoe run up to the two larger ones. Rachel summons a massive bolt of lightening down on one of them, the bolt continuing until the monster was completely eradicated, leaving only one more left.
Kokonoe runs up the beast and looks up to see it's foot right over her. She tuns left and runs away from the range his foot. The monster stomps but hits nobody as she manages to get out the way. It swings it's hand down to her. Kokonoe jumps as the hand slams on the ground. She runs up it's and heads for it's face. Her hand surrounds in a robotic fist. She swings her arm back and slams her fist into it's face, the beast falling down. "I ain't done yet!"
A few gadgets appeared on her back as rockets started to blast out of them, encasing the beast in an array of explosions. Kokonoe lands. "I really hope that did it…"
"Nice job Kokonoe." Tsubaki says.
"Well lets go look for the rest of them now." Rachel saw something in the smoke and gasps. "Kokonoe! Behind you!"
"What th—?" before she could fully turn around she felt something hit her side with extreme force. Her eyes widened as she let out a loud yell. The attack sent her tearing through the streets and stopping once she slammed into a destroyed building.
"Kokonoe!" Tsubaki yelled.
"Clownish Calendula!" a massive lightening bolt came and struck the beast, the beast started to disappear and was engulfed in a massive explosion. Paying it no mind Tsubaki runs over to Kokonoe. She looks to see her in pretty bad shape as she had a large gash on her arm that leaked a pool of blood on the floor along with a large gash on her side. "Kokonoe! Kokonoe!" Tsubaki tore a piece of her clothes and started to tie up the wounds, pulling them tight to keep the pressure on.
"Come on Kokonoe wake up…!" she hears groaning and smiles as she sees Kokonoe's eyes starting to open. "You're ok!"
"Not really… I feel…like shit…" she groans.
"Tsubaki. You stay here with her. I shall look for the rest of them." Rachel takes off, leaving Tsubaki and Kokonoe by themselves. "Just hang in there Kokonoe… You're gonna be just fine."
"I'll be fine Tsubaki… Just go with Rachel." She shakes her head. "And leave you here? No way. I'm staying right here, so for now get some rest." With no hesitation she closes her eyes. Tsubaki wasn't sure if that was because she told her too or just from the pain, but at least she was relaxing. She sighs. "Please everyone… Please be ok…"
"Hey Makoto, you alright now?" she nods. "Yeah I'm ok. I can fight at least."
"Ok then. Come on, let's get moving." The two stood up and stretches. "Damn it… My whole body is in fucking shambles…"
"Those mothers hit hard…" Makoto groans. "Anyway thanks for that little healing session. My body feel great."
"No problem. At least it helped." They walk out into the streets and looks both ways to see it was clear. "Ok, let's get moving."
"So um… Ragna?" He raises a brow. "Yeah?"
"I know we're doing something very important right now… And I know I'm not suppose to be thinking about things like this now. Still…I need to ask you something." He puts a hand on his hip. "Sure. Ask away." She started to fidget with her fingers. "Will you… Um…will you maybe…" she found herself not being able to finish her thought, Ragna actually starting to get a little concerned. "Hey you ok?"
"Oh I'm fine! I just want to know…if maybe…next Saturday…you and I could…" Makoto starts, her voice getting a little lower as she goes on. "Huh?"
"Ah. So this is where you were." Makoto jumps and looks to see Izanami, Noel, Saya and Celica walk to them. Saya runs over to Ragna and hugs him tightly. "Brother! I'm so glad you're ok!"
"Saya are you alright now?" she nods "Yep. Sorry it took us a while. We ran into a couple of those monsters on our way here." Saya says.
"Makoto! I'm glad you're ok." Noel smiles.
"Right back at you Noellers." She smiles. Makoto groans a little. "If I only had just ten more seconds…"
"You said something Makoto?" Noel asks.
"Nope!" Makoto laughs.
"I think we should go in search for the rest of them. Ah yes. Here you are Ragna." Izanami hands him two of the dark gaseous balls. "We dispatched two of them on our way. It would seem the larger ones are where the distortions lay."
"So you were right then Ragna." Makoto says.
"Ok that makes shit easier." Ragna says.
"Finally found you." Ragna turns around and looks to see Rachel walking towards them. "You were much harder to find then I thought. I suppose a worm is a worm after all."
"Even now you're such a little…" Rachel hands opens her hand as Ragna sees two of the black gaseous balls. "Alright Ragna you know what to do." He nods and draws his blade. He destroys the four balls and sighs. "Ok that makes five. Now we need the rest and my guess is their chasing Jin and Kagura."
"If so we must hurry. I do not believe they can fight so many at once." On queue they hear an explosion and look to see it coming from the middle level. "Well I guess that's where they are."
"Alright no time for stairs. Time for the express way!" Ragna runs and starts to slide down to the middle level. Makoto shrugs and joins him. Saya runs right behind Makoto. Celica looks down and holds her breath. She jumps too as Noel follows her lead. Izanami and Rachel descend down slowly, all of them landing safely and looks to see Jin and Kagura being chased by four of those giant beasts.
"Ok let's not waste any time." Izanami rushes one of them and jumps up to it's head, sending a powerful kick to it's would be jaw. It falls on the floor, Ragna quickly jumps up and comes back down on it, his sword finding the beasts chest and stabbing it where the dark gaseous ball was.
The beast disappears as the other three stop in their tracks. "Brother!"
"About damn time you all showed up!" Kagura says.
"Bitch later. Right now you have to tell me if only these guys were chasing you." Makoto says.
"No. We managed to dispatch one. We have the distortion, but these three are now the only ones left." Jin says.
"Good. So let's finish this already!" Ragna's blade surrounded in a dark aura as did Kagura's. Jin sheaths his sword as an ice mist surrounds him.
"Carnage Scissors!" he raises his sword as a massive cluster of seither comes up in the shape of a pair of scissors and launches towards one of the beasts.
"Supreme Dragon Inferno!" he swings his sword upwards as a wave of purple pikes launch towards the beast Ragna aimed at.
"Ice Fang!" Jin unsheathes his sword as a wave of ice appears and heads towards the beast they aimed at. All three of their attacks hit the beast hard, causing it to fall back. Noel jumps up above the beast and starts shooting at it in rapid fire. Her guns transform into a rocket liver of sorts as it shoots a rocket at the beast, the monster disappearing. Ragna quickly destroys the ball that remained and looked to see Izanami and Rachel already finished off the second one.
"Shatter!" Makoto yells and slams her fist into the beasts leg. It yelled in pain and fell down. Saya's blade emitted a bright light and began to entend, forming a crescent shaped tip. She holds it in a reverse grip and swings it upwards. "Shining Crescent!" A wave of light ripped through the ground and made it's way towards the downed beast. It cleaves him in half from the bottom up. It roars in pain and disappears. Ragna slashes the gaseous ball left behind and with that they the space finally started to shift.
They found themselves back at the forest of Akitsu. Kagura sighs in relief. "We're back… We're finally back."
"Yeah…" Makoto turns around and looks to see Tsubaki holding a heavily injured Kokonoe. She ran over to her. "Is she ok!? What happened!?"
"We got a little careless. She's resting. Celica please." She nods. "Of course!" Tsubaki sets her down so Celica can heal her. She started but stopped as she felt herself become dizzy. "Celica are you ok?" Makoto asks.
"She must've used up to much power healing us." Kagura says.
"I'm so sorry…" Noel says.
"It's ok…" they look to see Kokonoe awake and panting. "I'll be fine… Besides the injures you had you would've been in an even more dangerous situation then I am…" Ragna kneels down to her and holds her head up. "You feeling alright?"
"My bodies in shambles… Shit I got…too careless…" Kokonoe groans.
"Don't worry Kokonoe…!" Celica started to heal her again. After a few seconds the green light started to fade as Celica started to wobble. Her vison became dazed as she fell and collapsed onto the floor.
"Celica!" Noel gasped.
"Shit! Celica!" Ragna gasps. Saya looks her over and sighs in relief. "She's ok… She's just a little tired… Celica must've used more power to heal us faster. She pushed herself too far…"
"Idiot…" Ragna sighs. They hear footsteps and turns to see Nine walking towards them. She looks to see Kokonoe and Celica unconscious and ran towards the two. "Kokonoe! Celica! What happened to them!? The injuries on Kokonoe is…!"
"That fractured world…was hell itself…" Kagura grunts. Nine looks at all them. "Not just them… All of you are battered."
"Yeah…but for now… I think I'll just…" before Kagura could finish he falls forward into unconsciousness. Jin tries to stay up, but ends up falling to a knee. "Damn it…"
"He's at his limit too… So am I…" Makoto grunts and falls onto the floor and into unconsciousness. Noel and Saya help Celica and Kokonoe up as Tsubaki and Ragna help Makoto and Kagura up.
"I believe my home is more appropriate. They can rest there with no interference." Rachel snaps her fingers. In an instant they find themselves in one of Rachel's rooms. Tsubaki sets Makoto and down and decides to stay with him and keep watch over him. The next room they teleport in they lay Kagura down. The next room was Celica and the last one was Kokonoe.
The rest of them walk downstairs so that they fan have their peace and quiet. "I need to ask you... Just what happened in there?" Tsubaki sighs. "We don't know… A bunch of those black monsters we would see in the seither contaminated forests were their and their were different types. I'm just glad we're done…"
"Yeah. For now let's just head home and let them get their rest. They need it after what just happened." Jin says.
"I'll stay here just encase they need anything." Noel says. They didn't bother trying to stop her. Saya, Tsubaki and Nine stayed as well as the rest of them went home. The moment they got back Jin fell forward, Ragna catching him before he face planted with the floor. He curses and throws his arm over his shoulder.
Ragna lays him on the couch and heads upstairs to his room, leaving Rachel and Izanami downstairs. "Rachel Alucard. Did you inform Nine on the situation?"
"I did. Jubei hasn't arrived back here yet. It is a little troubling to me however." Rachel says.
"I wonder if they have run into any trouble?" Izanami questions.
"For our sake. I hope not."
"So the altar is properly tuned? Is their any hitches?" Relius asks. Terumi fixes his hat and looks up at the large altar. "No, everything's running smoothly. The altar was even able to block out Izanami and the master units interventions. The space formation though, did you handle it? If not the cauldron will fucking go haywire and I'm not gonna get blamed for another Black Beast incident." He snickers. "But I guess anything possible."
"Terumi. What about Kusanagi? Have you confirmed if it is in the girl or the boundary?" He sighs. "Oh her. Well she's in the boundary right now. Those Murakumo units, gotta hand to them are pretty tough. I could've sworn the soul was destroyed after that little experiment. I guess their "will" is stronger then I thought. But this is Kusanagi were talking about. Even incomplete she managed to survive the depths of the boundary. To be separated from the vessel for this long shouldn't be possible."
"We are speaking of the god slayer. She is not as fragile as the other Murakumo units. However, do you have a way to bring her out? If I am not mistaken the vessel goes by "Noel Vermillion" now and has acquired a completely separate existence to that of the soul of Mu 12. Their souls may no longer be as compatible as you might think."
"Don't worry about that. As long as Raggy is still around I'm sure she'll come back. Women can do some pretty freaky shit to be with the person they want most." Terumi chuckles.
"You have experience?" He asks.
"The red light district of Kagutsuchi. Once they tasted my ouroboros they couldn't get enough of it." Relius sighs. "I should not have asked." He just walked off, leaving Terumi alone. He puts his hands in his pockets and sighs. "Well I guess keeping a conversation with you is just impossible."
"Oh so this is where you were." He turns around and looks to see a mature young woman with a large purple pointy hat and purple cloak on, her large cleave out and looking like it was ready to bust out of her top. "Oh it's just you. Perfect timing actually did number 13 come back yet?" she nods. "Yeah she came back and brought a few people with her. I guess it went well."
"Damn she works fast. I also here the imperator herself is coming here. Guess she can't wait to see Raggy again. Women these days…always pursuing…" the woman chuckles. "Really? I think I should burn you for that. Anyway is the altar ready? It was giving off a strange wave earlier." He shrugs. "No clue. Guess a side effect of connecting with the boundary. But who cares am I right? The more destruction and chaos the better for me." A green aura surrounds him, he opens his eyes, his venomous glare fixed onto the altar. "I can feel "myself" coming back together. I can feel "our" existences starting to separate. Hehe… Man this is one hell of a vessel!"
"Relius did create it. I think you should expect no less from him." The green aura vanishes as he closes his eyes back again. "Well, this body just needs to last until I can completely retain my existence. Tagamagahara isn't making this any easier you know."
"Whatever. Just don't mess up. The imperator will have your head if you do." He waves his hands dismissively, his voice feigning fear. "Oh I'm so scared… Yeah, yeah I get it don't, fuck up. Don't worry I won't. Besides…" he smirks. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve just incase." He walks passed her and snickers. "I plan on making sure I shatter the master units hopes and "dreams". Or I guess I should say, Amaterasu's "dream"."
"So they really are…" the woman smiles and started to laugh. "I see… Haha… They really are…" Terumi turns to her and smirks. "So you gonna help me out? You seem to be having fun." She smirks. "Oh hell yes. Now knowing this, there is no way I'm missing out on this. But I guess you would know better then anyone wouldn't you?" He sends a hard glare at her, his eyes turning to menacing slits. "Man you are the worst brother ever. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Nope. I don't really care either. As long as in the end I get my "freedom" I don't give a shit what you people tell me. Like hell I'm going to "obey" that little bitch. But I guess I could say the same to you. You would be the worst big sister ever, wouldn't you? Akahana Mercury." She shrugs. "Oh well. I look at myself as the model sister." He starts to walk again, leaving Akahana by herself. "So he's suppose to be Susano'o… Weird that I've basically been working with god, but I guess theirs no real sides when it comes to family." She smirks. "But that little outburst… I wonder if he really is Susano'o… Or is he just some fake. Guess I'm gonna have to stick around to find out.
She turns to the altar. "I think it's about time I put an end to this "dream" or I guess this should be called a "nightmare" if anything else. I wonder who will find out about the truth of this world first and who are the real "villains" here. Just thinking about it I can't help but feel excited about the story that's about to unfold." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a withered picture. It was crumpled slightly, but the photo was still viewable.
"We fight for the Azure, but even if you get it all that awaits you is not the "dream", but the "nightmare". Nothing will change and the cycle for the Azure will just continue. Over…and over…and over….and over again…! I'm sick of it!" she closes her fist. "Since when is god suppose to be the one that dictates the future? Leading our lives, leaving us with no choice of our own and no "possibility" of salvation. If that's it, to hell with this world."
Her face started to twitch in rage, her fists clenching even more as they started to bleed. "I can never, EVER forgive "god". To hell with god and what it wants. I'll destroy them all. This pitiful, wretched, disgusting world will come to an end." She opens her palm and looks at the picture, her eyes filled with determination.
"Nine… Celia… I'll save you. I swear it."
Ragna lays down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. A thought was running through his head as he laid there. "First Nu…and now her. That couldn't be Lambda could it? If I remember correctly her and Mu were the only ones that… Does that…" he shakes his head. "No that doesn't make any sense. But if Nu is alive that could mean that Lambda and Mu was the same way." He groans. "Shit! This doesn't many fucking sense!"
He sits up. "I need a shower. No. A nice bath! Too much shit happened today." He gets his clothes and throws them over his shoulder. Ragna walks to the bathroom and removes all his clothes. He throws them to the side and turns the water on, putting it up too hot. He looks to see the steam rise up from the water up into the air. He fills it up to the brim and steps inside of the water, a sigh of relief exits his lips as he submerges himself inside of the hot water. "Now this is what I'm talking about! But damn my body still feels sluggish though…" he stretches his arms. "But damn does this hit the spot."
"Ah yes. It is quite refreshing." He nods. "I know right. Maybe I should take a bath more often, thought I was too old for that, but fuck that now."
"I do not really take baths, given the fact that my body does not decay like you human bodies do." He raises a brow. "So what your telling me you don't take baths Izanami?"
"I have never really felt a need too, but now I think I have missed out on some of life pleasantries. I thought bathing was unnecessary, now I believe I shall do this more often." She continues. "Ragna. Do you mind washing my back? I can not reach very well."
"Sure." He grabs some soap and starts to wash her back, moving his hands up and down. "Is that good?" she nods. "Yes that is fine. Do you mind if I turn to waters heat up a bit?" he just shrugs as she turns to water on, the bath heating up a little more. He winces a bit. "Don't you think that's a bit much?"
"Not really. This is quite relaxing I must say. I wouldn't mind it a bit hotter." He puts his hands on the bathtub edge and leans against the tub. "So you don't need to take baths? Well that's sure as hell convenient. But maybe you should just take it for the hell of it. Has to be the greatest thing I could ever do on a hard ass day like this."
"It is only going to get harder Ragna." He sighs. "Yeah I know… Hey you mind passing the soap over?" she hands him the soap. "Thanks Izanami." He started to scrub himself down and then stopped. "Wait… Izanami?" he wasn't really paying attention, his body and mind to worn out to really care, but now thinking about it and processing the conversation he had, he slowly turns his head to see Izanami sitting right next to him.
The moment that came full circle he jumped up and screamed, his voice sounded like that of a schoolgirls. "What the hell!? Izanami!? What are you doing in here!?" she looks at him. "What is the matter? Also, I believe you should cover yourself up." He looks to see what she was talking about and gasps as his entire body was out in the opened. He covers himself up and quickly sits back down in the tub. "Why are you in here?"
"Why are you asking me now?" she asks.
"I wasn't paying attention! When did you even get in here!?" Ragna asks.
"I arrived in here and saw you soaking in the bath. I have never taken a bath so I decided to join you. You did not seem to mind earlier, so what is the problem now?" he groans. "The reason I didn't say anything was because I wasn't really paying attention to you! My brain was on auto pilot!" he hears the door swing open as Saya runs in. "Brother are you ok!? I heard you scream and—!" she stops and looks to see Izanami bathing with him, her eye starting to twitch. "Brother… What's going on?"
"Wait a minute Saya! I promise you that nothing happened alright!" Saya started to walk over to them. "Seriously Saya just keep a calm, cool head and I don't have to die today ok?" she stops in front of the tub and glares at Ragna, a sweat dropped down his face. "I'm so dead."
"I do not see what the big problem is? We are just taking a bath. Is this really so problematic?" she asks. Saya started to throw off all her clothes and before Ragna could say anything she jumped in a clings herself to him. "Then if she can be in here so can I!" she pouts. "Wait a minute I told you I didn't know she was here! I wasn't thinking straight and then before I knew it she was here!"
"You washed my back did you not? Don't you need have a clear conscious to do that and hold a conversation with me? I suppose humans truly are odd creatures." Saya glares at him. "You washed her!?"
"W-Well…" he couldn't really say he didn't, since he did and didn't have anything to try and lie his way out of it. Saya grabs one of the soaps and hands it to him. "Wash my back!" he just sighs and starts to wash her back for her, Saya telling him to wash her hair as well. To avoid any other problems he does just that. "Is that it Saya?"
"No it isn't. You're gonna stay in here until I have to get out!" Saya says. "I see no problem Ragna. Once we get out we just go to bed." She looks at Izanami. "We!? What do you mean we? You have your room!"
"Well I must watch over him. So I shall just accommodate his room when it is time to sleep." She groans. "Fine then! I'm sleeping in there too! I won't take no for an answer!" he tries to calm her down, but it doesn't work as he had no choice but to just except it. After Saya finally decided it was time to get out Ragna waits until they got changed and stepped out until he decided to get his clothes. He gets ready for bed, Saya doing the same and Izanami getting one of Saya's pajamas. Saya clings to him and falls asleep. He sighs. "This… This is just ridiculous…"
Well that's the end of this chapter, getting properly introduced to a few characters and some of their background. In all honesty I'm not a real fan of OC characters, but I feel like some is gonna be needed here. I wont be adding like an entire roster of OC characters, now that's just crazy. I know their are some people, just like me, who aren't real fans of OC characters. But the OC's won't really be needed as protagonists, but mainly antagonists. Well anyway hope you all enjoyed this, even though this one was hella long. The next chapter is more of a… I guess a filler chapter? Not really much story progression going on next. Not sure what else I can call it. Anyway here's the preview for the next chapter:
Ragna: So that's why she's…!
Valkenhayn: It was the very last gift she ever received from her.
Rachel: What!?
Kokonoe: Hey… It's been a while…
Kagura: Thinking that you planned this doesn't fit right.
Celica: I really am glad... That I met him..
Izanami: If they succeed, it will be their victory.
Hakumen: A great number of souls have vanished. Terumi… What are you plotting.
Terumi: It's time I bring this disgusting little "dream" to an end.
Next Chapter 16: Beginning a new year