Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 1===

A magnificent garden, adorned with deep red roses, was overseen by a pale full moon.

It was a quiet night. The air was crisp and cold, and a thick curtain of night enveloped the area as if to mark the end of the world. At the end of the garden stood a beautiful and lovely castle that looked straight out of a fairy tale. Its windows, illuminated by orange lights, seemed like countless eyes.

On a terrace overlooking the castle, beyond a hedge of red roses, a young girl sat at a small round table, elegantly sipping from a teacup. 

Her long golden hair, which shone so brightly in the moonlight that it seemed almost blinding, was tied in two braids on either side and adorned with large ribbons. She wore a lavish black dress on her petite frame, and her small hands were as white and smooth as porcelain. Even as she gazed at the tea swirling in her cup, her eyes seemed to be looking far off, towards the edge of the world, their crimson hue outshining even the roses. She possessed an elegance and grace that belied her youthful appearance.

The girl's name was Rachel Alucard.

Although she appeared to be no more than a ten-year-old girl, she was in fact a vampire who had lived for nearly a century. She was the current head of the Alucard vampire clan, which had existed for over a thousand years, and the mistress of the castle overlooking the rose garden. She was also the mistress of this eternal night, a realm dominated by the moon, the night sky, the roses, and the castle.

This was a place cut off from all other parts of the world. And yet, it was a place that connected to all points of the world. It was a realm that floated between spaces, existing in the narrow margin between worlds. It was a special dwelling place managed by the head of the Alucard family.

Returning her cup to the saucer on which a gold spoon rested, Rachel sighed wearily. The cut roses on the wrought iron table, with its intricate floral pattern, emitted a faint fragrance. 

Rachel spent much of her time on the terrace in this rose garden, in this land where daylight never came. 

She loved roses. They were beautiful and smelled good. And more than anything, they were the flowers her late father had loved.

"Isn't it magnificent tonight, Father?" Rachel murmured, giving in to a sudden wave of sentiment. She took a sip of the tea, fragrant with the roses her father had loved. In that brief moment, her heart was faintly comforted.

This castle, where the night never ends, was untouched by the flow of time. Just as the night is eternal, so too was time—endless. And Rachel's time was also eternal.

Still, boredom would come. At times like this, she would think back to days long past, sighing as if to avoid forgetting her words, much like the roses that never withered.

"Excuse me, Madam Rachel." A sharp click of leather shoes echoed on the terrace's brick tiles, followed by a hoarse voice calling her name gently. Without making her turn, the owner of the voice, an elderly man with long white hair tied at the back, approached, his steps steady. Reaching the edge of Rachel's field of vision, he placed his hand on his chest and gave a shallow bow.

Valkenhayn "R" Helsing. He had served the Alucard family since the time of Rachel's father, Clavis Alucard, and now, he was the elderly butler serving Rachel. His smile was lined with wrinkles, and his poised stance was as elegant as Rachel's. 

But he, too, was not human. He was both man and beast, neither fully one nor the other—he was a werewolf.

His physique, far stronger than one might expect from his age, was evident even through his high-quality butler suit.

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"What's wrong, Valkenhayn?" Rachel turned her red eyes to him, her white fingers playing with the rim of her teacup.

Valkenhayn bowed his head and replied simply, "Ragna the Bloodedge seems to have appeared at Kagutsuchi." 

Without wasting words, Valkenhayn delivered only the necessary information, causing Rachel to stop tracing the edge of her teacup with her finger. She hooked her finger around the small handle and lifted the nearly empty cup to her lips, taking a sip. After setting the cup back onto its saucer, Rachel finally moved her lips.

"Yes ... It's already that time." She murmured to herself.

Suddenly, two voices broke the otherwise quiet and intimate atmosphere, making it unexpectedly lively.

"Oh, Princess, isn't Ragna that white-haired punk?" 

"I remember him too, that cocky brat!" 

The first voice was a husky, cat-like purr from the chair Rachel was sitting on. Upon closer inspection, the seemingly black sofa had a pair of triangular ears and a cat's face at the top of its backrest, and it was the cat's face that was speaking.

The second voice, high-pitched and cheerful, came from a small, red, round creature that had bounced up from Rachel's feet like a rubber ball. Its body appeared soft, with small hands, feet, and tiny wings sticking out, and its large, innocent eyes and upturned mouth were just as small and adorable.

The black cat sofa was named Nago, and the red rubber ball was named Gii. They were Rachel's familiars.

"He's your favorite, isn't he, Princess? Do you like that kind of guy? You're quite the type to fall for a bad boy, aren't you!" Gii flapped his tiny wings busily and spoke cheerfully. Then, Rachel quickly reached out and pulled the creature's soft cheeks, or rather, its entire head, from side to side.

"What? I didn't catch that. Could you say it again? If you can, that is."

"I-I-I'm sorry, P-Princess! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"You really do seem like the type to get yourself into trouble with that mouth." Rachel looked down at Gii, whose face had expanded to twice its usual size, and Nago sighed in exasperation. After listening to Gii's pitiful screams for a while, Rachel finally released him. With a pop, Gii's red cheeks returned to their original round shape. Ignoring him, Rachel touched a petal of the red rose that was arranged on the table.

"If he's gotten this far, it means nearly nine hundred and ninety-nine years have passed."

"Indeed, it does." Valkenhayn responded respectfully to Rachel's almost sing-song murmuring.

"And so will the world." The faintly spoken addition didn't get a reply from Valkenhayn. He understood that Rachel wasn't seeking one. 

Instead, the old werewolf butler asked in his usual steady voice, "Madam Rachel, shall I replace your tea with a fresh brew?"

"…Perhaps you should." Though Rachel had business to attend to, she felt like wasting just a little more time here, in this seemingly pointless moment. After all…

(It doesn't look like we can expect anything good from this one either.) She muttered to herself silently, a soft sigh escaping her chest. But she quickly swallowed that breath, sharpening her gaze. Her crimson eyes were now fixed on the endless rose garden.

"Valkenhayn. It seems an uninvited guest has arrived." The wind rustled the deep green leaves. It was a wind summoned by Rachel herself, to brush away the unpleasant presence that had mixed with the intense night air. 

In the corner of the circular terrace, in front of the rose hedge, the space seemed to warp, as if a dizziness had taken hold. And then, it appeared—the shadow.

Something vaguely humanoid stood there, its body black wrapped in green. 

A green circle, looking like an eyeball from a child's drawing, floated on top of a shadow with a disturbingly slit red mouth. It looked up at Rachel, sitting in her chair, and smiled creepily. It was clearly not human, nor vampire, nor werewolf.

This was a thought. A being with only a will and no physical body. It was a man's spirit body.

"Well, well, you shitty vampire. Having a tea party with your entourage and lapdog again? You're awfully relaxed, aren't you?" The spirit, a trespasser who had entered the rose garden without permission, spoke sarcastically in a muffled voice. 

Immediately, Valkenhayn frowned, and Gii let out a pitiful scream, hiding behind his master's black dress with rubber-like agility. Rachel stared coldly at the shadow. She lightly lifted her body, and Nago, who had been serving as a chair, contorted his body and transformed into a black umbrella. Rachel stood up, holding it. Although she had a graceful smile on her lips, her crimson eyes were filled with disgust.

"To make people feel this uncomfortable just by showing yourself… In a way, that's a talent. I'm impressed, Terumi." Rachel spoke softly, like the scent of roses, yet with the sharpness of thorny vines. 

The spirit she spoke to, the shadow called Terumi, swayed as if caught in the wind. He was laughing.

"Well, that's mutual, isn't it? Looking at that disgusting face, I feel sick to my stomach."

Yuki Terumi. That was the shadow's name.

"Then you should leave quickly. This is not a place where someone like you can casually trespass." Valkenhayn stepped forward with a heavy, yet uncompromising hostility. The gentle elegance he had shown towards Rachel had vanished, and with a strong, aggressive gaze that belied his age as a white-haired old man, he glared at the swaying shadow.

Terumi twisted his red mouth in annoyance. "Ha! You're still as irritable as ever. Quit barking, you stupid dog. I'll kill you, got it?"

"It seems that the one who only knows how to bark is you. What can you possibly do to me now that you have no body?"

"Dammit... I should have killed you back then, old man."

"You should have learned your lesson ninety years ago." When Terumi spat out insults, Valkenhayn returned them with overwhelming hostility. It felt as though a deep-seated grudge was festering between them, a swamp of animosity.

"So, what do you want? You are aware of the current situation. I'm sure you're not exactly free to waste time either." Though not as overt as Valkenhein's hostility, Rachel spoke in a dismissive tone.

Terumi tilted his head with a languid gesture and once again shook his indistinct form, laughing in a high-pitched, unclear manner.

"Not really~. The episode's almost over, so I thought I'd come see your pathetic faces." His voice was low and he had a gleeful smile. Rachel watched him impassively, her red eyes reflecting his image.

"You really are a persistent man." Rachel whispered, her cold voice resembling the light of an unfading moon. "No matter how many times it's repeated, the result is always the same. The world rewinds, and everything begins again, from that day, that moment."

A breeze passed between Rachel and the shadow. Amidst the smell of sake, Terumi's demonic figure was eerie and unbecoming. The wind carried the strong scent of flowers, as if reminding him that he was out of place, and he smiled deeply.

"Then I'll start again," he said in a different voice. A nasty undercurrent seemed to taint even the inviting breeze that Rachel beckoned. "As many times as it takes? Is that it? Every time, I just start over. Again and again. Even if you get bored and stop coming out of your castle, again and again... again and again."

"It's in bad taste."

"Who are you calling bad taste, shitty vampire?" Terumi sneered.

Valkenhain, who always had a deep furrow between his brows, watched with increased scrutiny. Rachel surveyed those around her, curving her lips into an elegant smile. While it was deeply displeased to agree with him, it was true that she was just as bad.

Again and again. They had this exchange here countless times. The conversations, repeated over and over across time, had become something like a rite of passage. For the next few hours, their fates would intertwine, separate, shatter, and crumble in a dizzying whirl. It was a regular event, a solemn witnessing of the outcome.

"Well, I better go and start the final preparations. I don't feel like dealing with you anymore, so just sit there and drink tea while you wait for it to end," Terumi said, taking a large step back. His figure flickered, like a shadow becoming blurred and disappearing. Beyond the black body, a faint tinge of rose red could be seen.

"See ya. Enjoy being a spectator, I guess," he spat out before disappearing soundlessly, like mist dissolving into the air.

Nothing remained. Only the garden, where the bright red roses that Rachel gazed upon daily proudly bloomed. A gentle breeze carried the sweet scent of roses, as if to erase the unpleasantness caused by Terumi.

Valkenhayn, who had been ready to leap at his throat a moment ago, quickly returned to his role as a butler. Straightening his back without a flaw, he turned to Rachel. 

"How shall we proceed, Madam Rachel?" he asked, feigning ignorance of what his master must already have in mind. Rachel opened the umbrella-shaped Nago, draped it over her shoulder like a parasol, and looked at Valkenhayn.

"Valkenhayn, let's postpone the tea for later." It was childish and simple provocation to rise to, but to turn away would be seen as weakness, which would be even more irritating. More than anything, she couldn't let that man have his way. "Nago, Gii. We're leaving."
"Yes, Princess."

"Understood!"

Nago, still stuck as an umbrella, struck a graceful pose, and Gii, who had been trembling just moments before, leapt into the air with a newfound energy.

With her two familiars in tow, Rachel reached out towards the sky. A rose-colored magic circle, glowing faintly, appeared on the brick-tiled floor beneath her feet. 

It was a teleportation spell. An ancient technique, a foundation of this world's magic system. But now, very few people could use it. It was a lost art.

Among teleportation spells, this one in particular required a tremendous amount of magical power and concentration, as well as exceptionally difficult control. That was why, throughout human history, there were only a handful of people skilled enough to be called masters of it.

Rachel, who could freely use teleportation magic, knew of only one other person who could handle this spell as well as she could.

“I'm off to Kagutsuchi. Valkenhayn, please look after the castle while I'm gone,” she said. 

“As you wish. Please take care,” Valkenhayn replied, bowing at an ideal angle as he watched his young master depart from the magical storage room.

A gentle breeze swirled, carrying the intoxicating scent of roses as Rachel stepped out of the eternal castle. Valkenhayn waited until the lingering scent of roses was absorbed by the night air before placing the tea set left on the terrace table onto a wagon and beginning to clear it away. He silently wished that something, anything, would bring comfort to his small master this time.