Editing BlazBlue:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 1===

Suffocating greenery's stench could be smelled.

Then, dazzling light shone down on the opposite direction.

But he could only grasp that much. Everything else was vague. He felt like he was dreaming.

Where is this place? Who am I? What am I doing? Am I alive? Did I die? Do I even exist?

Not understanding anything, he felt like perhaps he was sitting on a grass.

"...kay?"

Suddenly, someone's voice could be heard.

Was that person facing to this direction? The dazzling light from before started receding.

"A... you... kay?"

It's a female's voice. The voice was pure and flowing clearly.  His dazed mind was calming down because of that clear voice.

He was thinking for a reply. But his strength left his body. His voice wouldn't come out.

He's at his limit. He could not remain conscious.

Suddenly, his body shook and felt like it was falling down. At the same time, the world around him got shrouded by darkness.

On the brink of losing consciousness, the female's voice panicky muttered something. Immediately, he could not hear anything anymore.









When his eye opened, he could see cracks on the wooden ceiling.

"..Where is this place?

A crude futon had been spread out to serve as a crude bed. Lying down on top of it, there was a figure of a white haired young man who was frowning.

It was unfamiliar scenery. His green eye was moving around to look at the surrounding. The bed was neatly tucked in. He seemed to be in a nearly collapsed simple cabin. There were very few of any household items. Almost broken chair and cracked tableware. The surrounding was just like that.

Just as expected, he did not recognize this place.

"What happened...?"

He could not think clearly as his head still dazed. Just as he was about to get up, he heard a small sound from behind.

"Ah, you're finally awake. I'm glad."

Simultaneously, a female's voice could be heard. The young man turned around.

It was a girl with tied up gentle brown hair and slender figure. She was getting inside the cabin.

The girl looked at the young man and made a delightful expression as she rushed to his side. She casually took the young man's left hand and put her fingers on his wrist as she easily took his pulse.

"Does it hurt somewhere? Do you feel anything bad?" 

"Not really. ...By the way, who the hell are you? How come I'm lying here?"

Not understanding the situation at all, the young man stared at the girl. She seemed to be in her teens. Her white skin was without any suntan and she had a refined looks.

It's very unlikely for her to live in such worn-out cabin like this.

"That's right. I've yet to introduce myself. I'm Celica A. Mercury."

The girl named Celica carelessly replied while displaying a friendly smile.

This ruined cabin became even more unsuitable for her.

"Onii-san's name is?"

"Oh yeah, my name is..."

It was such an easy question and he was about to answer it, but the young man was at loss for words.

Name. His own name. Somehow, it wasn't coming out.

It's not like he never had one. It's just that his head was in such a mess. When he tried to recall it, he felt like there's something like white haze trying to swallow his consciousness.

"...It's Ragna."

Strongly pressing his scowling head to his left hand, the white haired young man called Ragna was able to get his name from within his confused mind.

It didn't feel wrong when he spoke of it. Surely this meant that it has to be his name.

"Ragna-san, then. I got..."

"Wait, wait. Just Ragna is fine. If you put 'san' to it, it just doesn't feel right."

"Fufu, okay. Nice to meet you, Ragna."

Seeing Ragna roughly disturbing his unkempt hair, Celica let out an amused laugh.

Ragna then made an awkward look on his face. After that, once again he looked around between Celica and the cabin.

Since his body felt really heavy, moving became really troublesome.

"Hey, Celica. I totally don't have any idea how I got into this situation. Only thing I get is that I somehow slept in this beat-down house. Tell me the details of what happened."

"Ah, that's true. Well then, let me keep it short."

Celica frankly nodded and then moved to sit on the edge of Ragna's bed to face him. Her large, doll-like eyes looked straight to Ragna without hesitating.

"Ragna, you had collapsed at the entrance of the forest located behind this village... perhaps I should have said lied down. You were injured all over your body. Your unstable consciousness was also very faint, so I borrowed this cabin's bed for you to rest in."

"Did you carry me all the way here?"

"That's impossible! Ragna, you had almost no consciousness left, but you managed to walk here on your own. Of course, I lent you my shoulders to support you, too."

While saying “You were really heavy!” and laughing, Celica turned her tiny shoulders around and around.

She was a girl with a cheerful smile. A strange laughter which wouldn't get someone to be upset. Instead of just a plain laughter, it gave off such gentle warmth. Just like being in the middle of a place where the sun was shining down softly.

(...This kind of smile... I've seen it somewhere before.)

Still could feel thick haziness within his mind, Ragna's faint memories were asserting themselves like they were being stirred. But whose smile was that? Where did he see it? Whether those were truly his memories or not... he had no confidence in them.

"Then, I treated Ragna's injuries. After that, I cleaned your dirty face and clothes, too. Just as I got back from washing the towel, you awakened."

"You keep saying I had wounds. Why can't I see any here?"

Ragna then looked down upon his own body.

Black clothes and a long red jacket. The holes on them were patched and remains of dirt could still be seen. However, there was no trace of any scar left by the treatment.

Celica seemed to be a little troubled as her eyebrows were lowered and she started to scratch one of her cheek with her fingertip.
"Ah, about that. How should I put it…"

"Just tell me already."

"...The thing is, I healed Ragna's wounds by using magic. ...So as I say, but, do you believe me?"

Her huge eyes stared at Ragna intensely as if examining him. Slight bit of uneasiness had spread on her smiling face.

Realizing it, Ragna wondered slightly.

"Oh. So you're a magician. And a healing magic user on top of it. First time I actually saw one."

"Eh?"

This time, it was Celica's turn to wonder around. Blinking with surprise, she slightly leaned her small body forward.

"That talk about magic, do you really believe me?"

"Huh? Even if I don't wanna believe it, it's not like as if it's a weird thing to be actually true."

Magic was a special kind of skill that had existed long time ago. To able to handle it was largely determined by the qualities of a person. Because of it, there weren't many of its users. But the existence and term of magic were supposedly known by most of people.

At the very least, it was the common sense according to what Ragna remembered.

(Hm? But where have I seen magic used before?)

He was sure that he had seen someone used it before, but yet again it was buried by the white haze within his mind as he tried to remember.

On front of him, Celica looked dumbfounded as she fixed her gaze at Ragna.

"Ragna... You're surely a weird person."

"The hell with that?"

"After all any ordinary person would say that magic is very unscientific and then simply dismiss it for being existed."

Ragna tilted his head as if puzzled. If he was not to believe her words, it would be that one. But Celica explained it in a serious manner of speaking. It was unlikely for her to be joking.

It was a weird feeling. It was as if the world had suddenly changed after he awakened from sleep.

While Ragna was still confused, Celica had already come to her own conclusion. It was shown by the same attractive cheerful face from the beginning that had blossomed. Then, she raised her leaned figure back up.

"But, I'm glad. Now I don't have to explain about magic and all of its details anymore."

"Seems so."

Ragna let out a bitter smile. His expression changed bit by bit.

"Ah... but still."

Suddenly, a sad look appeared within Celica's eyes. Her small hands slowly and gently touched Ragna's right arm.

"No matter what, I can't heal your right arm and right eye back to normal..."

"Seems like it."

Snapped out, Ragna noticed something ever since Celica entered the room.

Thanks to Celica's healing magic, there wasn't any single scratch left on his body.

However, his right arm and right eye were not in the same case. They were in their usual shape, but it felt like there wasn't any existence in them and neither could they be moved.

He could only twitch the arm's fingertips. The eye had lost its light perception ability.

"I don't mean to pry, but what exactly had happened?"

Slightly leaning her head, Celica glanced at Ragna while he was feeling his right arm.
Ragna started to remove the glove which covered his right hand. The hand that appeared looked similar to a solidified shadow. It was dyed pitch black. There were claws on the end of it.

Stroking it, he knew that it was a human skin, but there wasn't any sensation whatsoever when it was touched. 

It was as if a totally different person's arm had been attached to him.

"...I can't remember why."

"You mean the reason why your arm was like that?"

"Nope. Not just that."

Ragna sighed. It was about time he finally admitted it no matter what. He was well aware that his arm and eye were not like the others.

"How did I get here? Where did I come from? To begin with, what kind of person I am...?"

As he talked, his voice seemed to be more distant. He had a bad feeling about his questions.

"Except my name, I can't remember anything else."

A brief pause. It seemed Celica had finally understood what Ragna was trying to convey. Her eyes slowly but surely widened to an impressive extend in response.