Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 2===
So many walls, and so many nights.


The night came again, and the moon rose high.


Hakumen had left the Kaka Village for a rocky area outside the woods. From a distance, it just looked like rocky terrain with unstable footing — but there was debris all over the ground, leaving no room to actually step on.


There was no way to know how long ago this had happened, but this place was the wreckage of a cityscape; trampled, broken, and kicked to pieces, with some faded grass growing out of the crevices. The land would have been stable with a gentle slope to it, but now, anyone who wanted to walk through it had no choice but to walk on unstable footing.


Not far from this rocky forest of rubble, Hakumen stood alone in front of the wide field. If he looked up, he could see the moon above him. As the pale light reflected on his white mask, Hakumen remained silent until he turned to look at a shimmering presence nearby.


— “Hey... over here.”


First he saw a small white hand, then a lock of brown hair tied in a tall bun. She called out to him he pulled herself up with a jerk of her hand.


Then she noticed Hakumen's feet facing her and she looked up, like a child who'd just been caught playing a prank.


— “Ahaha.... you found me! I wanted to surprise you.”

It was Celica. Nirvana was with her, picking up Celica by the waist and placing her atop the pile of debris where Hakumen stood.

He had noticed something approaching ever since Celica left the forest with Nirvana. He wondered what was going on, since she had followed a rather unusual route, but she had just planned it that way.

Hakumen picked up Celica without a word, dangling her by the arms like a kitten.

— “Wow...! Thank you!”


Her leather-soled feet landed right next to Hakumen.

Nirvana slithered up and stood perfectly still next to Hakumen and Celica.

After a brief wait, Hakumen turned back to look at his surroundings.


— “What can I do for you?”

Taking in the cool night air, Celica's cheeks loosened into a soft smile.

— “I woke up from this weird dream... and I couldn't go back to sleep. So I went for a walk, then I saw you, Mister Hakumen!”

— “And then... you just 'saw me'?”


Letting the words sink in, Hakumen took a brief glance at Celica.

The night sky was clear, and he could clearly see the moon as a thin crescent. Its light was too dim to let anyone recognize a face from a distance. He would have understood if it was Valkenhayn or Jubei, but Celica had no additional senses and was abysmal with directions; he just did not believe that she would have “seen him” in a dark forest with poor visibility.

Celica realized she had been caught in another lie. She leaned back and gave a little awkward smile, folding her hands behind her back and looking down at her feet.

— “I kind of...” Celica answered, “...had a feeling you were here.”


Who?


Not Hakumen, surely.

— “Again?”

This was the second time Celica had a “feeling” he was nearby. It wasn't Hakumen she had been looking for, before.

— “Maybe you're looking for Ragna the Bloodedge...?”

It was funny, to hear him say that name like he shared it with someone else.


Celica’s eyebrows could only sink as she looked up at Hakumen, having heard his simple question.

— “Now that you mention it… I really don’t know. I never got to know his real name.”

— “...I believe it.”

Maybe she had heard this before — Hakumen and Celica did talk about Ragna's name in the past.
But no matter how many times Celica asked, and no matter how many times Hakumen gave her the same answer, that question was still a thorn that he could not pull out of his mind.

Who was this “Ragna” that Celica A. Mercury claimed to have met?
If the man Celica described was the same one that Hakumen knew, who was the “Ragna” he remembered?


Facing the devastated landscape before him, Hakumen plunged his hand into the muddy waters of his own memories.

Hakumen remembered Ragna melancholically.

A tall man with white hair, green eyes and a red coat.

''“He was stabbed by a red-eyed woman with a giant sword, and they both fell into the searing lava within the Cauldron.''

''And then...''

''they both transformed into a single black mass, soon a terrifying monster.”''


That monster came to exist as the “Black Beast”.

So the Black Beast was Ragna transformed — but how could another Ragna exist at the same time as the Beast?

Maybe Hakumen remembered wrong? Was it possible that he'd confused that with something else, or everything he thought he remembered was a weightless delusion?

Was Ragna, as Celica called him, truly “Ragna the Bloodedge”?

Was Hakumen in mourning for someone else...?


''(.....can't be.)''


If so, those were just the whispers of a weak and spoiled heart. His memories were terribly hazy, but with the memory of that loss lost, there was nothing false about the feelings he had.

Flowers were torn apart; his brother was taken from him. All he could do then was lose himself in rage, hatred, and revenge.


— “...Hakumen?” Celica asked, popping into Hakumen’s sight while he looked downward.

Celica looked like she could slip on the rubble and fall at any minute. Just the sight sent chills down Hakumen’s spine; so he seized her by the shoulders and put her back in the narrow space inside.

— “You’re going to fall!” Hakumen grunted.
— “Ah— thank you!”

Only then, did Celica realize where she had been standing, scratching her head with an embarrassed chuckle. Celica could only sigh; it was like taking care of a small pet.

Then Celica jumped up like a small pet, her eyes grew wide, and she stared at Hakumen. He sighed, with a tone of surprise.


— “What happened?” Hakumen did not understand. But when he asked that, Celica smiled happily for some reason.

— “You’re sighing too…!” Celica answered.

— “What are you even talking about?”

— “Ahaha… I’ve never heard you do it before!” She gave an innocent smile and a giddy laugh.

His memory flickered. Maybe it was not a memory, but a feeling — or an emotion.


He swore he could remember hearing a girl's laugh, like Celica's. Soon he envisioned a long corridor, with a lush green view from the windows.
There was a girl named after a flower, and another friend of hers. He talked to them about something...
everything felt so warm and peaceful.


— “Hey, Mr. Hakumen!”

Soon Hakumen was called awake again, released from his trance. His chin was raised slightly, and he turned to look back at Celica. Her face was not nearly as bright as it was a moment ago, having lost her smile; her earth-colored eyes looked straight up at Hakumen.

— “What’s under the mask…?”


Her question was sincere, not teasing or innocent.

Hakumen could only ease his breath.

— “Do you want to see it?”

Why he asked, nobody knows. The words just came spilling out.

It must have been a shocking answer, regardless; Celica’s cheeks blushed a bright pink while she nodded repeatedly.

— “Yes, I do! Can I see?!”

— “No.”

— “Hey, that’s not fair! Why can’t I see it?!”


Celica pouted and furrowed her brows in dissatisfaction. She was quite expressive, much like her sister Nine. Amused and impressed, Hakumen raised a hand to his mask.

The mask could never come off. It hid myriad sins, mistakes, and stains of the past. He could hardly remember who he was, what life he led, or what he thought and felt back then. But even if the sins were forgotten, their weight would never be.

Thus, the mask would hide his sins.

Otherwise, he would never be able to fight.

Thus, the mask worked as an escape — to hide his past, while claiming to break away from it. The armor was meant to bury his past self. Only then could he become the man called Hakumen, get on his feet, and hold his sword firmly.

If the mask came off, he would no longer be Hakumen, but the man with a name long forsaken.

Hakumen let go of his mask. Celica looked up at his expressionless face, still regretful, but with unyielding interest.

What did she expect to find under that mask?

Hakumen turned his head away, so she would not see through him.


— “...even if I take this mask off, you won't see the face you want to see.”

— “Huh?” Celica's eyes widened, then narrowed softly like she was smiling. “Oh, no. I said you look alike, but I have no way of telling. It's just...”

Forgetting what was said before, Celica walked once more along the edge of the rubble and turned around to face Hakumen, who had turned away from her. Then, she looked straight up.

— “I just think... you probably look great. It'd be a shame to hide it!”

— “...”


Hakumen had no idea how to answer.

''(Is she saying I’m handsome, or…?)''

The muttered words disappeared into his bitter heart. If only he had been kind; maybe it all would have been different.

And so... unknowingly, fragments of lost memories rattle around in his head.

Hakumen languidly pondered while looking up at the sky.


A thin moon could be seen in the sky.

— ''“I don't like the moon... in fact, I hate it.”'' — so he remembered someone saying.

He could not remember who, but every time he saw the moon, he remembered those words. The feeling brought back so many memories... but he was tormented by a terrible discomfort.


— “The moon looks so beautiful!” Like clear water, the girl's voice washed Hakumen's consciousness.

The hazy memories; the unbearable weight of guilt; and the vivid sense of loss... all faded.

Just for this moment, for some reason, everything seemed calm and peaceful.


Celica turned around and stood next to Hakumen, looking at the horizon with a light stretch of her body and a long, heaving, relaxed sigh. — “This breeze... it feels nice.”

Her lackadaisical words put Hakumen on edge.

— “It does...”

But she was right. The air was clear, and the crescent moon in the sky looked much smoother than he'd previously thought.

How come he hadn't noticed it before? The air was too clear.

Hakumen looked at Celica.

He was amazed at her power — to seemingly suppress the seithr around her.

But he was still baffled. Hakumen could not believe that Celica was able to do that all by herself, and that there had to be something else in play. Even when they were at the Kaka Village, he felt the place brimming with seithr.


''(If that’s how it works, what is with this air…?)''

He looked around, behind his pale white mask. How could the air be so clear with all this rubble?

— “A… CHOO!”


Those thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sneeze.

Celica made a pitiful face as she hunched over and sneezed again.

— “Ugh... that came out of nowhere...”

— “Do you feel cold?”


It was late at night. Hakumen did not feel cold, but maybe the night air was affecting Celica.


— “Go back. Sure, you've recovered your magic, but don't overdo it. You should recover too.”

— “Yeah... what about you, Hakumen?”


Aware of the cold and her physical strain, Celica's reply came out slow, but straightforward. She tilted her head, but Hakumen did not shake his head in response. He let go of his mask with a huff.

— “I'm going to stay here a little longer.”

He needed some more time to think.

— “Okay. Good night, see you tomorrow.”


Celica gave a polite nod and a small wave, before heading back to the Kaka Village woods with Nirvana.

As Nirvana picked her up and moved, the girl quickly faded into the shadows of the forest.

Then, without even stopping to breathe, Hakumen waited for her to leave. The air around him felt heavy and uncomfortable.