Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 1===

The night air was caressed by the wind. Unlike the sharp wind that whipped through the mountains, this wind was sweet and alluring. It circled around Ragna, wandering through the back alleys, and ascended to the roof of a nearby building.

A scent wafted through the air. An intoxicating fragrance of roses, the kind that shouldn't linger in such a desolate, back alley, even in an upper-class district. Following the wind and the scent, Ragna looked up and saw a small figure silhouetted against the dark sky.

The visitor, who had arrived with the wind, was again of a child's stature. But this time it was a girl, not a boy. Instead of a tall mechanical doll, she was accompanied by a strange creature resembling a red rubber ball with wings, and a large black umbrella that completely covered her head.

Looking down at the dark road from the roof, the girl played with her long golden hair in the night breeze, smiling with an unnatural allure for someone so young.

"Hello, Ragna. Still wandering around in a place like this? You're as dull as ever." She said, her voice as alluring and vibrant as her appearance. But that vibrancy was laced with a subtle barb that pricked at Ragna.

"You... Rachel." Ragna growled, his brow furrowing.

As he spoke, the red rubber ball the girl had been carrying darted across his vision, bouncing in the air and squeaking shrilly.

"Hey, you fool! Rachel-sama has come all the way here. She interrupted her tea just to check on a jerk like you! You should be more grateful, you know! Pkyatt!" 

Rachel quickly lowered her folded umbrella onto the top of the red familiar's head, which was chattering incessantly at a dizzying speed. The familiar, named Gii, let out a strange, inhuman shriek as its head dented into the shape of the umbrella, only to immediately return to normal.

Looking down at this, Nago, another familiar capable of transforming its body, opened the umbrella once again and sighed in exasperation with a unique flexibility.

“Do you really not understand why I’m doing this? If you’re doing this on purpose, I have to say, I respect your courage.”
"Fweeh, that hurts! My head’s all messed up!"

"Shut up, you’re not even listening, are you?" The black cat's face appeared on the surface of the umbrella, and Nago gave a wry smile. 

Rachel, as if she hadn't heard or done anything, maintained a cool, indifferent expression, ignoring the rubber familiar's statement.

Ragna slumped his shoulders, weary from the exchange between the girl in the black dress and her companion, whom he hadn't seen in a while. He felt his energy draining.

"Damn it, you're always so noisy... So, what brings Rachel-sama here?" He retorted sarcastically.

Rachel, sitting on the rooftop, momentarily furrowed her well-shaped brow in annoyance. She was a girl who seemed to belong to the night. She would always appear suddenly, look down on him, and make snide remarks. He disliked her constant condescending attitude. He thought it was about time he gave her a taste of her own medicine.

Smoothing out the slight wrinkle between his brows, Rachel replied as if she were dealing with something trivial, sounding slightly bored.

"It's obvious, isn't it? I've come to see your pathetic state at the end of the year. Is there anything else you need from me?" While he hadn't expected kind words, Ragna's irritation flared at her predictable response. Just when he was starting to calm down after that boy, Carl, had left.

Suppressing his displeasure, Ragna sheathed his sword at his waist.

"Well... Yeah, sure. Perfect timing. You've been watching the whole time, haven't you? What was that doll that kid was carrying? I gotta say, it gave me a really bad vibe." He figured Rachel would know, so he threw out the question that had been nagging at him for a while.

Despite her appearance, Rachel was a vampire who had lived for over a hundred years. But her transcendence went beyond just her lifespan and sense of time. She knew about countless things in the world that one couldn't learn from simply living a long life.

She knew about the Dark War, a war that had almost destroyed the world, the establishment of the NOL, and where Sector Seventh had originated. She probably knew about the construction of Kagutsuchi, about Ragna's past, and perhaps even the laws of the universe.

It was as if she had watched every phenomenon in the world alone. Ragna often thought she knew everything. And as expected, the vampire princess, with her youthful appearance and demonic aura, had an answer.

"That was a phenomenon weapon." She said.

"That?" Ragna raised an eyebrow in confusion. He didn’t know much about it, but he had heard of it.

It was a special weapon created during the Dark War, about a century ago, to fight against the Black Beast, the demonic entity that nearly destroyed the world. The Six Heroes who defeated the Black Beast had fought with it.

Rachel lightly kicked the roof she was standing on and floated towards Ragna. She held out her hand, and he caught her small body, supporting her as she gracefully landed beside him, her umbrella still open.

"Yes. It's Deus Machina: Nirvana. One of the nine created during the Dark War, the only one that can act independently." Her large crimson eyes, almost overflowing, looked up at Ragna, engulfing him in their color.

"Seriously? That kid?" Ragna found it hard to believe. It was absurd to think that a child was walking around town with a weapon of war. But that wasn't all. "Didn't they say phenomenon weapons could take over the minds of their users? Could that kid have been..."

"Just because you have a phenomenon weapon, it doesn't mean your mind will be automatically taken over. Phenomenon weapons have something like a soul, a will. Being taken over happens when the user's will is defeated and consumed by the weapon's will," Rachel explained in a tone as if she were giving a lecture, and she spun her black umbrella around. Nago, the large black cat face on the umbrella, spun around as well. "But Ragna, it doesn't matter whether or not the kid's mind has been affected, does it?"

"Huh?" Ragna looked down at Rachel, raising an eyebrow at her cryptic statement. Even though he was looking down at her, he felt like he was the one being looked down upon.

Rachel ran her white fingers along the handle of her umbrella, slowly blinking her long eyelashes, creating shadows.

"Another phenomenon weapon user is waiting for you."

"Another one?"

Rachel chuckled, but it didn't sound like she was enjoying herself. Her soft lips moved slowly as she spoke.

"Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa."

The words, sung like a melody, sent a cold shiver down Ragna's spine. Phenomenon weapons, world history, ancient wars... he had no special knowledge or interest in such things. But that name was different.

A single blade in a blue sheath. A magical sword that could manipulate ice. 

He knew that sword. He knew its owner. Well, if the owner hadn't changed recently.

"Jin... is he here?" His voice was low, almost a crawl. It had been a long time since he had spoken that name.

They had spent a lot of time together when they were young. But several years ago, they had parted ways under the worst of circumstances, and Ragna hadn't seen him since.

Jin was his younger brother.

"He's never been gone. Every time you come here, he's been waiting for you." Rachel said, as if reminiscing about a distant past. She played with the ends of her long, braided golden hair. As she wound it into a spiral, the black ribbon that stood upright in her hair swayed slightly.

It looked like an ear. With her white skin and bright red eyes, Ragna often called her by a pet name for a small animal.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about, rabbit? This is my first time here. That idiot would never wait for me, would he?" It made no sense that someone would wait for him if he had never been there before. But Rachel looked at him with a bored expression.

"Oh, he did. Many, many times. But you just don't remember."

"I don't understand. If you're going to tell me something, then say it clearly. Don't beat around the bush. It's annoying." It was always the same. She would suddenly appear, leave a cryptic message, and then disappear just as quickly. Ragna voiced his frustration. He hated being left hanging like this.

"Oh, don't misunderstand me. Why should I explain anything to a mongrel like you? Even if I did explain, you wouldn't understand. It's a waste of time, don't you think? You're really stupid, you know. It's amazing." When she looked at him as if he were something beneath contempt and rattled off insults so effortlessly, Ragna felt his temples throb with anger.

"...I’m gonna make you cry." He growled. He was surprised at his own restraint for not swinging his clenched fist.

"Oh, you're so brave," she teased. "Why don't you try it?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nag and Gii, the two familiars, taunted him.

Ragna punched them both, shouting, "Shut up!"

"Ouch..."

"Pkyuu..."

The two familiars spun around and fell silent.

Watching them as if they were playful puppies, Rachel suddenly changed her tone, her voice soft.

"...Ragna." Her voice was faint. She closed the bag containing Nag, who was floating around like scattered stars, and stood in front of him, mimicking his pose. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the sudden formal atmosphere, Ragna turned to face Rachel.

"What is it? Is there something else?"

"Why are you aiming for the cauldron?"

"Why? ...Well, you and the master said it yourself. It's dangerous, isn't it?" Ragna scratched his head roughly, not understanding the question. It was Rachel and his swordmaster, a beastkin named Jubei, who had taught him about the cauldron and the Boundary.

No matter what words they used to explain it, Ragna still couldn't fully grasp what the Boundary was. A place where all life, time, space, logic, and existence was lost, yet where all concepts were mixed. A world connected to all time and space, containing all memories and filled with all information. A soup of seithr where everything melted.

Rachel had said years ago that it was a world that humans couldn't control, a realm that was far beyond human comprehension. So there was no way he could understand it. Tired of the complicated lessons, Ragna had given up trying to understand it. All he knew was that there was this incredible place called the Boundary. That seithr flowed from it. That the cauldron was an entrance to the Boundary. And that the members of the NOL were trying to create something terrible using that cauldron.

"I'm going to destroy the cauldron that humans need to interact with the Boundary and ruin whatever they're trying to create. That's why I'm traveling the world looking for cauldrons. ...And I just don't like the people in the NOL. That's all."

It wasn't for world peace or anything like that. Ragna's motivations were always selfish. You could even call it self-hatred.

"That's all? Don't you feel anything else?" Rachel asked again, her crimson eyes fixed on Ragna's, as if trying to see into his soul. But Ragna had no idea why Rachel was asking such a thing.

“No, I don’t! What’s your problem? If you have something to say, then say it clearly, damn it!” His impatience made Ragna raise his voice. In contrast, Rachel's gaze turned dark and cold. She shook her head weakly, and her golden hair danced like a ribbon in the darkness of the back alley.

“No, it’s fine. I’ve known this all along. If what you just said is all you feel, then everything is pointless.”

"Cut it out, rabbit. If you're going to keep muttering to yourself like that, I'm leaving. I can't keep up with this forever." Ragna spat out in disgust. Standing in the street corner and having endless, meaningless conversations was not his idea of a good time.

Frustrated, he roughly wiped his sweaty cheek. Blood stained his black glove. It was a scratch from Nirvana's claw. It was only a shallow cut, but the blood wouldn't stop. Was there something special about those claws? It was creepy.

"Yes, you should go." While prodding Gii, who was pretending to be unconscious on the ground, Rachel spoke. "I can't stand this world anymore either. But... if there's one hope I can find... Ragna."

Called by her low voice, Ragna looked at Rachel. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He could imagine that his current self was far from what Rachel was looking for.

Rachel's eyes looked at Ragna's right arm. "Be careful. Don't think of that right arm as your own power. Or else, a fool like you will be eaten up by that grimoire in no time." She spoke to him as if she were lecturing a child, and then she tossed Gii into the air and opened Nago's umbrella. The vampire, who appeared under the dark night sky after hiding behind the umbrella, had the same teasing smile as always.

"Let's go, Nago, Gii."

"Alright, Princess. See you later, Ragna-chan."

"Bye-bye."

"Goodbye, Ragna. ...Until we meet again." She stroked her golden hair that fell over her shoulder, and like a phantom, she disappeared from Kagutsuchi, carrying the scent of roses and the wind. When the floral scent faded, a cold, lifeless silence returned. It was the air that Ragna loved. It was no good having someone around. He felt like his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, was like a hungry rat, seeking someone's soul.
He could faintly see a round object floating in the clouds. Apparently, it was supposed to be a full moon tonight. Whenever he saw the full moon, he would remember. His childhood, the peaceful times, the happy times, the times when he still had a family... he remembered his younger brother, who had been afraid of the full moon, saying that it would fall from the sky.

"...I guess that killed some time." Muttering to no one in particular, Ragna began walking down the back alley, where the faint purple hue of rain still lingered. His destination was the NOL branch. He was almost there.