Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 2===

In the joint headquarters of the Orbis Librarius Norma and the Mage's Guild. The Mage's Guild, dedicated to the protection and preservation of human history's accumulated knowledge and technology, had formed a joint headquarters with the Orbis Librarius Norma, a massive organization that had originated as an alliance of various nations but that now specialized in handling beings and technologies that overturned common sense, such as the Black Beast and the Arts, by way of a special focus on Arts themselves. The two groups had established their alliance like they were moving in together, sharing the guild collaboratively and splitting the space half-and-half. The hierarchies of the respective organizations were left as-is, but they smoothly and seamlessly shared information and strategies with one another, working together to stand up against the Black Beast in any way they could.

With humanity on the verge of annihilation, what sense was there in humans butting heads with one another?

Everyone in the Joint HQ sang that mantra to the high heavens, transcending race, nationality, and religion to miraculously join hands and fight off extinction. Whether they were someone who didn't know how complicated the situation really was, someone who was fully aware, or someone who was actively making the alliance more complicated than a tangled ball of yarn, they all said the same thing. It was practically the capital of all things convoluted.

Upon seeing Nine of the Ten Sages, whom they had summoned, the people lined up in a row of seats inside the guild's largest council room found themselves admiring her lovely hair and perfect proportions. These were the people occupying the highest echelons of the Joint HQ's hierarchy. The military brass and diplomatic leadership of all the nations involved were represented, of course, but the Ten Sages of the Mage's Guild were in attendance as well.

Their harsh glares that were clearly looking for an explanation for the current situation were not directed at Nine, but rather at two others nearby. Specifically, at a man with golden hair wearing thin-rimmed glasses over his ice-blue eyes and a gaudy woman wearing a fur-trimmed dress with a deep slit on the side.

It was the Sages Seven and Eight, who had received their triangular purple hats at very young ages (though not quite so young as Nine). The former was maintaining a cool, collected, and intellectual lack of expression, while the latter was standing there with a sullen scowl on her face.

The council had just finished going over the sequence of events that led to Take-Mikazuchi falling on Ishana, why Take-Mikazuchi had not returned to its summoning circle, and how a fragment of the Black Beast had infiltrated Ishana.

"So, to sum it up, they tried to return Take-Mikazuchi to its summoning circle while it was still engaging the Black Beast, but the circle couldn't contain Take-Mikazuchi in that state, so the magic went wild as a result?"

A military official from a certain country sitting amongst the executives lined up behind a conference table went over the account with a grave tone of voice and a sullen face. Nine stood up and met the gazes of the council. Raising her chin and narrowing her eyes like she was looking down on everyone in the room, Nine's eyes flashed sharply as she answered the question in a clear voice.

"That is correct."

"Hold it! Don't act like you had nothing to do with this!"

Eight's scowl had been growing progressively more irritated as Nine gave her explanation, and having now reached the limit of her patience, she shouted at Nine like she was trying to bite her.

With a fire burning in her large eyes, she swung her gaze across the gathered officials.

"The unsummoning magic we used in that moment was imperfect because we were interrupted partway through. It's only natural for sorcery like that to go out of control if it's interrupted during the casting. Take-Mikazuchi fell on Ishana because Nine of the Ten Sages recklessly obstructed us!"

"If you don't know what you're talking about, don't run your mouth. If you had any idea what you were doing, it would have been obvious that the spell was going to malfunction if you tried to unsummon Take-Mikazuchi in that extreme situation."

Nine responded to Eight's spitfire hostility with bone-chilling composure.

Eight's cheeks blazed red with an almost audible pop.

"What did you just say to me!? That I don't know how Take-Mikazuchi works? Do you realize that I'm the one who completed it and crafted its magic circle!?"

"Then why don't you understand!?"

Faster than a blink, Nine's composure burnt to a crisp.

Eight shrank away from Nine's sudden outburst. Regaining control of her firestorm of emotions, Nine addressed everyone in the room and continued.

"If that unsummoning spell had been allowed to complete under those conditions, Take-Mikazuchi would have returned to Ishana with the entire Black Beast in tow. If we had taken a breather and held a meeting about it first, Ishana would have been obliterated. In the worst-case scenario, the Black Beast and now-out-of-control Take-Mikazuchi could have blazed a path of destruction as they started duking it out across the entire planet."

It wasn't hard to envision how the world would have ended up if that had happened. A shiver ran across the room following Nine's vivid statement, but Eight, despite flinching earlier, raised her head and continued undeterred.

"That's just your theory! What proof do you-"

"Eight, just stop already."

Seven, who had kept his mouth shut up until now, chastised Eight with a tranquil voice, but Eight and Nine both knew that his tranquility was just a facade.

Eight glared in dissatisfaction at the side of his face, but Seven kept his cold gaze fixed straight forward.

"What, now you too? at this rate, we're going to be held responsible for-"

"Seriously, shut up. How much clearer do I need to make myself?"

His ice-blue eyes, never once so much as glancing in Eight's direction, said that she wasn't even worth looking at. His voice still sounded peaceful on the surface, but he was out of patience for Eight.

Eight did agree that it would be wise to not make any more of a scene. This was the meeting place for the higher-ups of the Joint HQ. As Sages, Eight and Seven didn't need to bend the knee to this council, but picking fights wasn't going to do them any favors in the eyes of their fellow Sages. Biting back all the things she still wanted to say, Eight cast her big hazel eyes down toward the floor.

Waiting for her to do just that, Seven finally took a glance to his side, but he wasn't looking at Eight: he was looking at Nine, who was standing beyond her. Laughing faintly, he moved his chin down in a half-nod. It was easy to imagine him telling her, 'I've shut her up for you, so by all means, continue your explanation,' and Nine, much like Eight, felt some very unfavorable emotions toward the man.

"...Does anyone have any questions?"

Brushing off his relaxed eyes with a single sharp look, Nine couldn't quite keep the irritation out of her voice as she addressed her question to everyone in the room.

A single hand quietly rose above the crowd. Recognizing the hand's owner, the sharpness in Nine's eyes wavered for a moment. It was a man with white streaks running through his otherwise gray hair and a purple triangle hat sitting atop his head. He was the current head of the Ten Sages, Two.

"The Joint HQ's intelligence indicates that the Black Beast is currently heading toward Ishana. What do you have to say about that?"

With a heavy voice, Nine gave him a straight answer.

"That is the case, without a doubt. Having infiltrated Ishana with one of its heads, the Black Beast is now aware of the existence of this island. It also now knows that this place is... no, that we are a threat to it."

Furthermore, Take-Mikazuchi, which the Black Beast had already gotten its jaws on, was also there. It couldn't ask for a better guidepost.

"But will it really come here? I can't believe that the Black Beast would prioritize us like that."

Someone who worked in military funding sitting at the corner of the table grabbed his head and shook it sullenly from side to side. Voices expressing similar sentiments pressed in from all sides.

In that moment, at least, they must not have been paying attention to the data and reports they all ought to have received. From the bottoms of their hearts, they didn't want to accept the reality that the Black Beast was heading straight for them. Nine didn't want to either, but while they were all sitting in this undamaged building, drinking cold water and having one of their beloved conferences, the Black Beast was on the move, step by inexorable step.

And its destination was Ishana.

"Even if you can't believe it, it's the reality of the situation."

Nine said it like she was stabbing them. They couldn't postpone this problem. She needed to make everyone in this room share her acute awareness of the crisis to come, so keen she could feel it on her skin.

"It is an absolute fact that the Black Beast is coming."

Right that very minute, Seithr was flowing invisibly across the ground somewhere in the world, never slowing down even for a moment.

In the afternoon hours, the temperature of the wind cooled down a little.

A chain of command was finally established for the relief effort and the transportation of the wounded, and the chaos and clamor of the morning abated considerably. There were fewer injured people languishing on the street corners and cases of severely injured people in desperate need of healing magic only cropped up about once every hour.

Seeing things finally begin to settle down, Celica breathed a sigh of relief.

"I guess things are alright for now... wah!"

In that moment, Celica lost all the strength in her knees.

In a flash, Valkenhayn, from her right, and Nirvana, from her left, shot their arms out and caught Celica, supporting her limp body. As a result, Celica dangled there in the air between her two protectors, laughing pitifully.

"A- ahaha... thanks, I'm so sorry."

"...No, excuse me."

Valkenhayn lifted her body up into his arms a little awkwardly.

He sat her down on the stairs behind them just as she was, and she couldn't have stood up if she tried. She was still acting tough at noon, but at this point she really had exhausted absolutely all her mana. All she did was relax her tense body a tiny bit, but that was all it took for the fatigue to catch up with her and hit her body like a truck.

"Fwaaa～ That sure was rough... not that we're anywhere near done."

She wrapped her arms around her thighs and bent her upper body to lay her face on her knees. Valkenhayn grimaced (very understandably) down at her limply dangling ponytail and rained his deep voice down upon her.

"This isn't the first time I've said this, but that's enough for one day. I don't care how much you insist you're alright. I'm not letting you carry on any longer."

"Ugh... sounds good... I'll take a little break. But, we should get back to work in a minute..."

"Did you perhaps not hear me when I said I won't let you?"

Celica raised her head again with a smile, but Valkenhayn shot her down. With the same obstinacy and irrationality as Nine, completely unburdened by the concept of reason, Celica sat herself back up.

"Pouring your very heart and soul into the task of saving lives is profoundly admirable, but what do you expect to accomplish when you pass out? You're just going to take up one of the few open hospital beds. Getting the rest you need so that you have your strength when you're needed most is the responsibility of a rescue worker."

"Valkenhayn nagging Celica, now that's not something you see every day."

A third voice suddenly wedged itself into their conversation.

Celica's face lit up as she realized someone was backing her up, but Valkenhayn frowned disapprovingly and turned to face the owner of the voice.

"...I wasn't nagging: I was giving her a warning."

[[Image:BB_PS4_029.jpg|thumb]]

"Haha, that's pretty much the same thing in your case!"

It was Jubei, laughing merrily. He had changed out of his battle armor in favor of something easier to move in but he was completely covered in dust and dirt, from the hooded jacket covering his triangle shaped ears, to the white and brown two-toned fur beneath it, all the way to his two split tails.

He must have been helping people get out of one of the piles of collapsed roof tiles until just now. As he was powerful despite his small size, Jubei and the Kaka clans folk who had been created from his DNA were very well suited to that sort of work.

"Are you taking a break too, Jubei-san?"

Resting her elbows on her knees and holding her face in her hands, Celica tilted her head to look at him. She was sitting on the staircase while Jubei was standing up straight, so their eyes were at about the same height.

She was getting a much closer view than normal of his one big, red cat eye, the left eye, and she thought that it was really pretty.

"Yup. We've gotten everyone we could detect with magic outta there, so now we just gotta haul Take-Mikazuchi off and clean up all the rubble..."

They had to retrieve the bodies of all the people who had lost their lives.

A despondent shadow clouded Jubei's eye for just a moment, and Celica once again felt pain in her heart for the deceased.

"The real cleanup work starts tomorrow. Apparently they're gathering up people to help with the injured 'til then."

Jubei dropped his shoulders with a heavy breath out, refreshing himself like he was splashing water on his face, then put some strength into his words. His soft cheeks rose as he gave Celica a big smile.

"Because of that, the hospital's at capacity for volunteers tonight. But don't you worry, 'cause tomorrow there'll be enough work to make your eyes spin. For now do what Valkenhayn says and save up your mana."

"Fine... if you both insist, I guess I can't say no."

Even as she said it Celica still had a childish look on her face that said she didn't want to, and Jubei and Valkenhayn met eyes and shook their heads ruefully at each other. Feeling the need to work far harder than was expected of them was a flaw that the Mercury sisters shared.

Celica looked past the two beastkin and suddenly her eyes were sparkling. They could tell what she was looking at just from her body language. Just as Celica bounced to her feet like a baby chicken, Jubei and Valkenhayn turned around to face where she was looking.

It was a little before dusk right now. Backed by a water-blue sky, so beautiful that it was hard to believe that something like the Black Beast even existed in this world, Nine was walking towards them. Celica waved her arms vigorously at her even though she wasn't very far away, and Nine ran straight to her, unhampered by her narrow high heels.

"Celica! I'm so glad you actually stayed with Valkenhayn!"

"Yep. The people tailing us didn't cause any trouble either, don't worry about me."

Celica had actually wanted to talk to her lookouts and try to get them to open up a little bit, but unfortunately, she hadn't gotten a chance to yet.

"More importantly, I hope you're okay. Did you handle whatever they wanted to talk to you about?"

It took a little while before the sisters calmed back down. Celica was laughing happily and Nine let her usual stern expression soften in the space of one breath.

"Yeah, for now at least. The Orbis Librarius Norma seems to love nothing more than setting up tables and holding meetings around them, so they'll probably call me back at some point. I can't believe I have to waste my time putting up with such nonsense from a bunch of impotents."

Still wearing a delighted smile that made her look like a completely different person compared to how she was during the council meeting, Nine uttered some biting criticisms.

Smiling awkwardly at her thorny words that were completely at odds with her face, Jubei asked a question.

"So, what're they gonna do with us?"

"Our sentence is postponed. So long as we don't piss them off, we're free to do as we will, like before. However, any and all operations against the Black Beast have to be done in conjunction with the Joint HQ from now on."

"The 'Joint HQ?' And that is?"

Puzzled, Valkenhayn asked for clarification, and Nine took a shallow breath.

"Simply put, an organization joining the upper echelons of the Mage's Guild and the Orbis Librarius Norma. Forget the Ten Sages, even the Duodecim are best buds with the OLN at this point."

The Duodecim were deeply ingrained in the Mage's Guild dating back to its foundation, and were essentially nobility.

The Ten Sages, chosen purely for their abilities, led the Mage's Guild and passed down sorcery and alchemy to future generations, but the Duodecim, inheriting their positions through lineage, governed the city of Ishana.

"...It may be just a matter of time before the Orbis Librarius Norma swallows up the whole Mage's Guild."

Speaking listlessly, she swept her long hair back.

Seemingly having followed Nine, a group of people approached from further down the street, troubled expressions on their faces.

"Worry not, the Duodecim will not sell Ishana out."

With his placid voice and refined features and bearing, there stood Seven.

Beside him stood Eight, her large earrings swaying as she walked, and behind the both of them stood an old woman and a man in his mid-thirties that Celica did not know. Nine's eyes sharpened to daggers in an instant, and she wheeled around to face Seven so fast that her hair flew behind her.

"Should I take that as an official statement from Seven of the Ten Sages, or from the Kisaragi clan of the Duodecim?"

"No matter which one, you wouldn't care, would you?"

With a suspiciously composed countenance, Seven withstood the naked hostility of Nine's gaze.

The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife. The mild old woman who had come with Seven inserted herself into the conversation, saying,

"You're both members of the Ten Sages, so stop having such a childish fight out in the street."

Her voice itself was very soft, but the words she scolded them with revealed her exasperation.

The old lady was shorter than Celica and she wore a robe and mantle so long that it dragged on the ground. Atop her pure white hair, set in a high bun, sat a triangular purple hat. The tall, black haired man standing next to the old lady also wore such a hat.

They were both Sages.

Celica's jaw dropped as she watched this scene unfold before her eyes.

The Ten Sages could have up to ten members, but she had heard that they currently had fewer than that. There were five Sages present right now. In other words, more than half of the Mage's Guild's Ten Sages were standing on this street corner. Celica may have been a student in the Mage's Guild, but it was still the first time she had seen so many of them bump into each other in a place like this. She was shocked by the sight of so many of these triangular purple hats gathered out on the streets she knew so well.

Not noticing how star-struck Celica was, Nine deferentially shifted her gaze to the old lady. Compared to how she looked at Seven, her eyes were far less sharp. It was clear that Nine had a hard time dealing with this woman.

"If I may-"

"A lady ought to say, 'yes, ma'am' when reprimanded by her elders."

She cut Nine off with her hoarse but hard to disobey voice.

Surprisingly, Nine stopped and went silent. Clearly she really had trouble handling this woman. Celica, sneaking a peak at her sister's face, couldn't help but let a gasp of admiration slip.

Considering that matter handled, the old lady turned her amber eyes to address Celica's group standing dumbfounded to the side.

"I believe this is the first time any of us have met. I am the 3rd seat of the Ten Sages, Three, and this man is Four, another Sage. We're going to be joining you in concocting a strategy to combat the Black Beast, so this is a good time for introductions."

As the old lady, Three, gave her introduction, the taciturn man with posture so straight and well-guarded that he seemed like a bodyguard just stood there silently, bowing the bare minimum amount to count as an introduction when the time came. He was the 4th seat of the Ten Sages, Four.

"Huh? When you say you'll join them, you don't mean you're going to fight too, right, granny?"

Celica asked the question before thinking better of it, and so Four, who had hardly moved his body at all up until this point, looked squarely at Celica.

"Shut your mouth, Celica A. Mercury."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

Feeling like she had been yelled at by a teacher at the academy, Celica hunched her shoulders and covered her mouth with her fingers. It was certainly a rude thing to say to an elderly lady who was also one of the Ten Sages who stood at the pinnacle of the Mage's Guild.

However, the lady in question, Three, just looked at Celica with a little surprise for a moment before her face broke into a smile and she laughed like a witch out of a fairy tale.

"Hoho, I've heard about all of you already. Jubei-san, hailing from a village of beastkin, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing-san, of the Alucard house, and Nine's little sister, Celica-san."

The way Three said her name seemed a little formal to Celica. Celica didn't have any memories of her grandmother, but if she did, she thought she would be like Three. As she was thinking that, she straightened her posture under Four's intimidating influence.

"Yes, I am. I'm grateful for everything you have done for my sister."

"My, what a nice little sister. You have a strange feeling about you too."

Three exhaled quizzically as her amber eyes examined Celica.

As if to obstruct her view, Nine cut in.

"Three. Please don't pay my sister much heed: I don't want her to get involved with the Ten Sages."

Her tone was mirthless. As if the direction of the wind had changed, the already stiff atmosphere became palpably sharper, and Eight barked at Nine.

"Where do you get off talking that way to her, Nine!? Three is the longest-serving member of the Ten Sages and an exemplar of our organization. Are they not teaching propriety to little girls anymore?"

"I respect Three's abilities; she's got a head on her shoulders, unlike you."

Hearing Nine's comeback, dripping with sarcasm, Eight narrowed her eyes sharply.

"What did you just say... care to say it again!?"

"What, are you saying I ought to respect you as much as I respect Three? That sounds pretty insolent to me."

"You- you arrogant little... that's exactly the kind of attitude I'm talking about, like you're looking down on me!"

"Well, don't stand so far beneath my notice then. I'm sick of looking at you actually, so why don't you just drop off the face of the earth?"

"Would you two cut it out!? Think of where you are!"

Nine's intense hatred was showing clearly on her face and in her even more irritable than usual words. With sparks so intense flying between Nine and Eight that it seemed like they might catch on fire, Four roared with fury.

Seven, not wanting to get lumped in with them, had taken a step back and place a white-gloved hand on his forehead.

"I can hardly bear to listen to this."

"It's good for young ladies to be so energetic."

In stark contrast, Three's wrinkles deepened as she looked on like she was watching two kittens play.

Five purple hats had gathered on a street corner to bicker with each other: anyone who was familiar with Ishana would have thought that that was a very strange statement. After all, they were the ones who stood at the pinnacle of the Mage's Guild; the very symbols of wisdom. To a mere student like Celica, the sight of people on a level far exceeding hers acting like this was really damaging her perception of the Ten Sages.

"Feels like a bad time to try to join the conversation..."

"You could say that again..."

Celica murmured her thoughts aloud and Jubei agreed bitterly. Valkenhayn, having seen enough, shook his head from side to side.

"So this is what the Ten Sages of the Mage's Guild are like... I'm leaving. I must return to the manor and give a report."

Turning his wide back on the still bickering Nine and Eight, Valkenhayn loped off toward a side street with long strides. It wasn't long before his footsteps could no longer be heard. He most likely crossed through a portal as soon as he got out of sight. His destination was the Alucard Castle.

"Maybe I'll go home too. It looks like Onee-chan will be here a while."

Celica tapped her hands on her cheeks with a bitter smile. Nine would have surely come with her if she had asked, but Celica didn't want to do that.

It seemed like Nine didn't much care for Eight or Seven, but she would have to work together and fight alongside them from now on. It would cause problems if she ignored them and went home with Celica right now, and Celica wasn't going to put her sister in that position.

"Do you want to come too, Jubei-san? You're waiting for Onee-chan, right?"

"Nah, I've gotta go back to my post too. I'm worried about leaving the Kakas on their own for too long."

Jubei cast his gaze toward where Take-Mikazuchi still laid. He couldn't hear any commotion or other signs of trouble, but he was a little worried about how well they could behave themselves in this unfamiliar town. What's more, there was a profound sense of anticipation whirling about Ishana, and for better or worse, the unfamiliar kaka girls were probably standing out like sore thumbs.

With one bow of her head, Celica stealthily walked away so that Nine wouldn't notice her leaving.

"Well, come over if something comes up. The kaka girls are invited too; I'll make tea and set up a place for naps."

"Don't bother. You just get some rest yourself, ya hear?"

Casting a wry smile at the two antagonistic Sages' argument as it escalated into a full-on shouting match, Jubei waved goodbye with one big paw.

"See you later!"

Celica waved in response and ducked into a narrow alley with Nirvana to slip away.