BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 4
Part 1
There was a person walking at a quick pace down the long corridor. The wooden-floored corridor creaked as he stepped on it, but there was no sound of his footsteps as he was half running.
The unique attire that seemed to blend into the shadows, covering the entire body and even the head and most of the face with cloth of the same color, was the attire of a "Ninja", the ancient spies of the Ikaruga Federation.
It was night. The sun had already set and the area had been swallowed up by darkness. The ninja hurried noiselessly through the corridor that was dimly lit and visited the room.
This is Wadatsumi Castle.
This is the castle where Tenjō, the sole person who rules over the Ikaruga Federation, lives.
Then the ninja slipped in and kneeled down, behind the sliding door.
"My lord, I'm back."
“Come in."
The reply was immediate. The voice was quiet and composed.
The ninja replied briefly, then turned himself around and quickly went inside.
He closed the sliding door noiselessly and turned around to see that there was a place at the back of the room that was a few steps up, surrounded on all sides by a light brown bamboo screen.
Normally, all the blinds should be down and you can only get a faint glimpse of what's behind them, but now only the one in front has been lifted and you can see the figure of the person sitting behind it.
At the back of the boarded-up room, behind a bamboo screen, sitting on a chair waiting for the ninja was a person dressed in the distinctive Ikaruga garb with its generous sleeves. The black, white, and red tones of the garment gave off an air of nobility that stood apart from that of the average person.
Their long, waist-high purple hair flowed from her shoulders to her back like a glossy shoulder strap, reaching the floor besides her chair.
The posture was flawless. Lifting her hands slightly from her lap, the one named lord spoke to her kneeling subordinate spy.
“Your hard work is appreciated. Lift your face up. Report."
Their voice was clear and unhurried, but somehow lacked a sense of energy and vitality.
The ninja raised his head and saw the lords face for the first time in a long time.
There was no human face there. What was there instead was a white mask.
The male ninja had heard that it was to hide a large scar on their face from an old battle. Very few people had ever seen the lord’s true face. This ninja had also never seen it.
A white-faced figure with an unblemished and noble appearance. That was the lord, or in other words, Tenjō Amanohokosaka, who was the ruler of Ikaruga.
"The Nox Nyctores "Deus Machina: Nirvana" stored in the Sector Seven facility in the northeastern part of Ikaruga, has been seized by the Novus Orbis Librarium. It seems that a large-scale battle occurred at the facility and many people died."
The purple-haired figure, Tenjō, exhaled deeply, their chest rising and falling at the whimsical report.
The ninja continued.
“Relius Clover, who was in charge of analyzing the Nox Nyctores, is currently missing, and Nirvana's current location is unknown. Kokonoe of Sector Seven was also at the scene and was injured..."
Just as he was about to say something, a violent cough interrupted the Ninja’s words. It was Tenjō, bent over, holding their chest and coughing bitterly.
The Ninja hurriedly raised his hips. However, Tenjō sensed this and controlled their subordinate with their hand while still suffering and gasping in pain.
“C-Continue.”
“But...”
“I'm sorry to interrupt. No need to worry."
They then raised themself heavily and their voice was so muddy it was impossible not to worry.
However, if he was asked to continue, he would not be able to avoid doing so. Pushing aside the uneasiness that came to mind, the ninja straightened his posture once again.
“So, uhm... Professor Kokonoe, who was present at the scene, was also injured, but it is not life-threatening and she is currently being transported to the headquarters of Sector Seven. Also, as the lord can conjecture... a high density of Seithr reaction was confirmed.”
The ninja spoke with uneasiness.
“...I see.”
After a full few seconds of pause, Tenjō also responded in uneasiness, then they closed their mouth again under the mask.
It was a thoughtful silence, but no one could see what Tenjō was thinking about, what their feelings were and what expression they were making.
Eventually, Tenjō looked at the Ninja from beneath their mask.
“Where is Bang?”
“The head is on a reconnaissance mission, my lord.”
“Tell him to come to me when he gets back.”
"Certainly!"
“You can go now. Get some rest."
The ninja remained on his knees, bowed deeply one last time and walked silently out of the room with the same swiftness with which he had come.
For a while after that, Tenjō was alone in the large wooden room.
After a certain while, they stood up slowly, their long purple hair shaking. They turned their feet to another sliding door, located on the opposite side of the one the ninja had left from.
They pulled open one of the sliding doors to enter the next room and then opened the sliding door at the far end to go further in.
There was a small bed on the floor. It was made of soft-colored wood and wrapped with a fluffy comforter and clean white sheets.
On top of it, a baby who probably couldn't even stand up on their own was sleeping peacefully.
Tenjō’s footsteps crept up to the baby's side and they peered into the bed. The baby seemed completely at ease and didn't seem to be awakened by the approaching presence.
Tenjō wondered if the baby was having a good dream.
Their soft lips moved in small gulps as if they were trying to eat something.
A lovely child. Their eyes and nose were clear and they would grow up to be beautiful one day. Their hair was soft and lush, still pale, but black.
(I think your face looks a lot like mine, now that I think about it, but it would seem your hair color is closer to your father. It's better that way.) Tenjō thought as she, that baby's mother, gently stroked the baby's head.
"For you, a life of hardships has been decided. If my wishes would be granted, I would have preferred that you live in tranquility, but..."
It’s beyond her power.
As she whispered to her, Tenjō seemed to regret leaving, but she still gently let go of their hand and sat up.
For a while, she stared at the baby's sleeping face, and then left the room.
Bang hadn't arrived yet when she went back to the room where she had met the ninja earlier.
As expected. However, if she were to be at leisure here, her reliable head ninja might rush in like the wind.
Before doing so... Tenjō went around to the back of the screened area.
There was a small sliding door that you can only enter by bending down. Tenjō walked through it and down the dimly lit corridor that led to it. The wooden floor was old and occasionally creaked under her weight.
Every time she took a step, it felt as if she was being separated, from the small sliding door that was gradually moving away and from the sleeping face on the other side of the door.
At the end of the corridor, an old wooden door was waiting. It opened in both directions, with a crest carved across the two doors. Standing in front of it, Tenjō quietly chanted something and touched the crest with a finger that peeked out from her generous sleeve.
Then the heavy-looking double doors moved by themselves and opened.
Just enough for one person to pass through. Just enough for a Tenjō to get through.
There was no hesitation now. She walked in, her lustrous purple hair fluttering. The door closed slowly and naturally, locking the area into darkness.
Soon, however, a small purple light appeared at Tenjō’s feet. It wasn't a room. It was a device. A lifting device.
When the device sensed the lord, it made a small cowering sound and started to move. Down, down, so far down that it seemed to go on forever. Eventually, the device carried the lord to the lowest level of the castle and opened its mouth again without anyones intervention.
What was there was a small room made into a perfect cube.
It was not really a room though, but a "space". No walls, no floor, but a place that clearly exists somehow.
Talismans were attached one by one to the part corresponding to the apex of the cube so as to surround it.
Tenjō stepped out into the empty space surrounded by the talisman and stopped right in the middle of the cube, then crawled her white palm over the empty space in front of her.
A fine bell-like sound was heard, and a vertical straight line of light was created in the space Tenjō touched with her hand. With that light as its boundary, the space opened to the left and right like a door.
As soon as she did, the scenery around her changed completely.
What surrounded Tenjō was not a space covered with protective charms, but a large room lined with thick pillars inscribed with what looked like ancient scripts.
A series of pipes and cords ran from the pillars up to the high ceiling, connecting to various devices that filled the walls.
In addition, all the pillars had sturdy-looking chains attached to them. At the end of the chains, there was something large suspended in the air.
It was shaped like an upside-down triangular pyramid. A metaphor for it would be a huge lynchpin.
The size was incomparable with that of Tenjō. It wasn’t something that a human can carry.
The blackish surface was smooth, with vaguely greenish glowing streaks running in all directions.
It was a relic of the past, discovered after the Dark War.
It is called "Kushinada's Lynchpin."
On top of the wedge hung a smaller one of a similar shape that seemed to follow. If the huge wedge was a lynchpin, then the smaller one on top of it was probably a nail.
The nail was also heavily sealed with a chain wrapped around it.
Tenjō looked up at the huge lynchpin and jumped like a feather towards it. The small leap softly lifted her body and carried her straight to the top of the lynchpins upper platform.
Silently, she landed on the Lynchpin of Kushinada. As soon as she did so, she saw that nail hanging above her, tied to the chain.
The nail was big if one might say. It was probably bigger than Tenjō’s body.
(I should stop. I shouldn't be thinking about it right now.)
Shaking off a sudden feeling of emotion, Tenjō looked up at the dangling nail and hurriedly removed her mask. Her face underneath, she was thin, gaunt, but beautiful.
Her skin was translucent white, and the blood in her cheeks was far gone.
It was not the beauty of life, but the beauty of death. The true face of Ikaruga was as beautiful as a dead woman.
There were no major scars anywhere, because that white mask was not meant to hide any scars.
Tenjō slowly lifted her eyelids and breathed in air that she hadn't felt in her lungs in a long time.
Her eyes were red. Like blood.
But soon, her blood-colored eyes flickered. A violent cough overflowed from her throat, shaking her whole body.
The whooping coughing that wrecked her lungs and tore her throat was due to the fact that her body was being poisoned by Seithr. The mask was meant to hide Tenjō’s true identity and protect her weakened body from the seithr in the air.
It shouldn't be widely known. The broken body of Tenjō, that was on the brink of collapse. “Who” she really was.
But now, no one will see.
And for what she was about to do, any aspect that blocks even a small part of herself from the outside world is only a hindrance. The coughing finally subsided. Tenjō grabbed her chest and breathed heavily, trying to get her badly erratic breathing under control.
If she were to handle it too roughly, it would break.
"...It seems my "vessel" is about to reach its limit very soon. If I could, I would have stopped... “it” from coming back, but I can't anymore, I failed."
It's very hard to achieve anything with her current body. This is why the lord needed a vessel that could withstand for her purpose. For this reason, she sought out the Nox Nyctores "Deus Machina: Nirvana". To inject her soul into it and make it a new vessel.
But that, too, was now lost.
She doesn't have time. This body, this vessel, is in a state that could break at any moment.
So, this right now is the best she can do before her vessel becomes unable to do anything.
"A new 'order' is about to be born in this world. One day, the world will regain it. That’s why..."
As she spoke, Tenjō reached for the large nail hanging in front of her, as she touched it with both hands and pressed her forehead against it, avoiding the cold chains, the lord closed her eyes.
"Nox Nyctores... "Phoenix: Rettenjō". For the sake of when that time comes, I entrust my soul to you."
The moment she whispered, something like a heartbeat pulsated in Tenjō’s chest. It was as if a shockwave that was blinde for everyones eyes had struck her heart or even her soul.
But the shock soon wore off and Tenjō’s heart returned to its calm and serene state.
She quietly lifted her eyelids. It was dark all around and the sensation of something seeping in, like cold water, surrounded Tenjō’s senses.
(...I see 'myself' in front of me.)
(...I see 'myself' looking at 'myself' with a sad face).
(I feel as if I were looking into a mirror, but what I see here is not a mirror. It is a gap. Inside and outside. Matter and space... The inside and the outside of Rettenjō.)
Tenjō could no longer move a single finger. She was only conscious. She has no arms, no fingers, no mouth and no eyes.
She will never hold someone again. She won't be able to touch anyone anymore. If she won’t be able to talk to anyone. Nothing will see her.
(This never ending “Death”... It is such a sad thing. I'm sure it's much, much sadder than I could imagine right now.)
However, Tenjō’s heart was not in despair, it was infact in hope.
(But aside from me, the one who is closest to “Death”. My child... "Homura." Because “Life” was born, the possibility of ending this unfortunate world od death will also be born...”.
Without a voice, Tenjō spoke to the "self" standing on the other side.
(I believe in it. I will bet my all on that... "Possibility.")
It may or may not turn out the way she wants it to, but that is no longer in her hands. It is for those who will be born and grow up after this to find and choose.
(Goodbye... Homura.)
If only one wish would be granted, please let this child "live", no matter how much pain there is. No matter How much suffering there is.
With Tenjō’s wish, the connected chain flew vigorously high, as if something had pulled it up, then fell straight down with a sharp-pointed tip in high speed ── towards Kushinada's Lynchpin.
Higher and louder, the sound of clashing metal echoed through the air.
For a moment, something like a shockwave spread, but without destroying anything. The lowest level of Wadatsumi Castle was enveloped in silence.
The heavy chains that had restrained Rettenjō' were gone before she knew it.
The large nail was released and held in the air just before it touched Kushinada's Lynchpin, holding it still.
There was no sign of anything anymore.
She was staring at the scene and before she knew it, that white mask was covering her face. Keeping her face covered, she touched the nail that was standing still in front of her with the palm of her hand. At that moment, a red pattern appeared on the white mask that should have been empty.
The pattern was tinged with a liquid glow only once. Tenjō muttered under her red mask.
"...Well. I don't want to keep Bang waiting for too long."
The quiet tone of her voice quickly disappeared into the dimness of silence.
Turning around, Tenjō climbed down from the Kushinada's Lynchpin and headed back the way she came.
Her steps were unsteady and unaccustomed. It is like she was a doll that had just started to walk by herself.
Part 2
Night— At the frontline base in the jungle of the Ikaruga Federation.
Most of the guards had already finished dinner and the ones who were on late lookout duty began to fall asleep.
It was then. Suddenly, all the lights in the base went out.
“What in the hell?”
The battalion commander, who was enjoying his after-dinner coffee in his tent, hurriedly kicked over his chair.
He walked out of the commander's tent, spilling his still-hot coffee and feeling very angry, then the lights came back on without a moments hesitation.
The guard straightened his posture into a salute and replied.
"Sir! It seems that for a short time, the power supply has stopped. It's working fine now."
“Power outage?”
“Yes... The cause is unknown, sir.”
The battalion commander clicked his tongue in disapproval at the guards answer and walked back to his tent.
It didn't matter if the cause was unknown or not, as long as it was working. His priority was to get a new cup of coffee ready.
Part 3
At the exact same time, in the dark forest of night...
Honoka, who was gathering twigs with a handheld light, looked up when the light in his hand suddenly flickered.
He looked up at the night sky and gasped, opening his eyes wide as if he had noticed something.
The next moment, the light in Honoka's hand disappeared completely, and at the same time, a panicked voice came from a short distance away.
"Whoa!?"
“What’s the matter, what's wrong?"
It was one of the soldiers from the 9th squad who raised his voice.
Another soldier nearby turned around to see what was going on.
The one who suddenly spoke up stared at his outstretched hands and dropped his shoulders with a scowl.
"My Vigilance Ars Magus suddenly ran out in the middle of work. Shit, now I have to start all over again..."
For a brief moment, it felt as if seithr had completely disappeared.
Muttering and swearing, the soldier began to construct the Ars Magus again. It was an Ars Magus that alerts them when an unidentified entity is approaching them.
"You may be tired, but you're still in enemy territory. It's not safe here either. Don't let your guard down."
Grimwood slurped down a canteen of water and drank it when he called out to the extent that it didn’t interfere with the Ars Magus procedure.
They were in the middle of the forest, only a short distance from the dead bodies of Sector Seven’s research lab.
They hadn't yet met up with the Ars Magus Vessel to return to the main force. If they had, they would have been able to get to an open area in 30 minutes by jeep, but the jeep they relied on had been completely destroyed and is of course now useless. No one mentioned what had caused it, but everyone thought that it was most likely the work of those moving corpses. Above all, no one had the energy left to discuss the culprit.
It didn’t matter who it was. If they can’t move, they wouldn’t be able to leave the forest. That was the only thing that mattered and it was because of that fact that Grimwood and the rest of the 9th squad were preparing to camp, unable to move far from the laboratory where they had suffered so much.
"Honoka. Where's the firewood?"
Jin called out to Honoka when he spotted him standing there a little distance away. Honoka came to his senses and rushed over to him.
“I'm sorry, I found it. It's just this..."
"This won't last a night. Oh well, I'll look for more later. You can rest now."
He took a handful of dead branches from Honoka and placed a few of them in the small fire that was already flickering.
When they escaped from the laboratory, it was nighttime.
If the jeep hadn't been destroyed and if Karenjina had been able to use her Seagull, they would have been able to travel to a place where they could meet up with the Vessel without having to deal with the night. But now they had neither. All their vehicle opitions are out and Karenjina could no longer sense a rabbit a meter away without rest.
Looking at the burning twigs, Honoka bowed apologetically.
"I apologize. Now, if you'll pardon me."
Honoka, his valet, would have recommended that Jin, his boss, to take a rest, but Honoka seemed to have reached his limit. With staggering and unsteady steps, he collapsed into a sofa seat near the fire.
The sofa seat originally belonged to the jeep. When it became apparent that it had been destroyed beyond repair and that encampment was inevitable, Grimwood half-heartedly pulled it out of the jeep and set it down. Likewise, he dragged down a sofa from one of the other destroyed Librarium vehicles left behind from the battle before they arrived, so he was able to make enough beds for all of them.
Grimwood's dexterity with the battle axe and dismantling of the jeep and other vehicles was quite impressive and when Jin mentioned it to him, he smiled broadly with a hint of exhaustion and said that he might start work like that when the war was over.
Incidentally, Karenjina was already asleep in her leather-smelling bed, covered with a blanket, as if she had fainted. She was barely conscious until the moment she collapsed, though she might actually be in a state of unconsciousness now.
“Well then," said the soldier who had just finished applying the Vigilance Ars Magus, apologizing to Jin and slipping into the sofa seat.
Grimwood stood beside Jin as he lightly patted his subordinate on the back and sent him off to a simple bed to get some early rest.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest first? You're the one who's most worn out."
He said with concern, raising an eyebrow at his troubled face.
Jin nodded lightly. Grimwood was talking about watchkeeping.
They were going to spend the night in a place like this and no matter how many precautions they took with their Ars Magus, they never knew what might happen while they slept. That's why it was decided to set up lookouts in turn and Jin was one of the first to be nominated.
Jin split a long, thin branch in two and threw it into the fire.
"I'm too nervous to sleep anyway. I need you to leave me alone for a bit."
“Is that how it’s gonna be?”
“That's how it's gonna be. Just go to sleep. Your body is in the way when you're standing next to me."
When Jin said it plainly without even looking at him, Grimwood chuckled as he spewed. He patted Jin on the shoulder and turned away.
Dragging his strong, well-trained body, he sank into the sofa he had peeled off.
All of them, not to mention Jin, were badly worn out.
The air of repose has the effect of making the body aware of a great deal of fatigue. Lying on the couch, the members of the 9th squad soon stopped moving and deep slumber could be heard from every coach.
Jin turned to the fire that he had built for light and protection and pulled Yukianesa from beside him.
The night in the forest was quiet.
There were no sounds of animals, no sounds of insects. There were no signs of any presence other than their own. What he had said to Grimwood had not been out of strength or concern. He was indeed very tired, but right now he wanted to be alone with his thoughts rather than resting with the rest of the 9th squad.
The fire sparks scattered.
Jin looked up at the night sky.
He couldn't see the moon. That was convenient.
He hated the moon.
(...Still, I am glad we made it out safely.)
Leaning on Yukianesa as a staff, Jin exhaled from being tired.
As he recalled, it was a messy situation. They finally arrived at the site of the mission, where there were no allies or enemies, only the bodies of dead people and then all of them got up and started attacking them out of nowhere.
It was an unbelievable number to the point it was hard to believe that no one had lost their lives or even been seriously injured and then be able to return to the surface while being tangled up in all of that. He was also curious about the puppet master, who was controlling that many at once.
(...Ha...Unbelievable.)
Jin thought to himself.
He still couldn’t believe it, even though the crisis is over and he was now doing things like watching the fire.
It was not about that pile of dead bodies that bothered him though. It's about his own actions inside the lab. The moment where they reached the "Cauldron".
Looking at his hands with narrowed eyes, Jin pulled off the gloves he was wearing.
...A long time ago, Jin killed his 'brother'.
With these hands and with this sword.
The feeling of that moment was still firm in Jin's hand. He thrust Yukianesa's cold blade into his 'brother's' back as he fell, stumbling and screaming in anger.
After losing his brother and the home he grew up in, Jin was taken in by the Kisaragi family. Ever since then, Jin's life has had no meaning.
His 'brother' was everything to him. Everything about him had been established through his 'brother's existence'.
So the world without his 'brother' has no meaning and Jin's days have always been lacking without him. There was no desire for the environment around him. There were no expectations from the people around him. He thought he would just consume his remaining life span for a few more decades and eventually die for no reason.
But in that time. When he was surrounded by moving corpses in the basement. When Grimwood was alone.
For perhaps the first time, Jin wielded his power for... "friends".
To survive together...
As Jin watched the fire in his lamenting thoughts, he suddenly smelled a scent. Jin looked around and saw a flower blooming on a nearby tree. They were red flowers. Each one was large, probably as big as Jin's palm. He didn't know the name of the flowers.
But the color of the flowers reminded Jin of a girl.
A girl with the same hair color and unironically the same name as these red flowers.
The last time he saw the girl was at the port of an Ars Magus Vessel heading to Yabiko.
At the port, many of Jin’s classmates and juniors from the Academy had gathered to see him off. A little outside of the circle of these people, she was quietly looking at him.
She was not the kind of person who would push her way through a crowd of people. Jin looked her in the eye, received her troubled and sorrowful look instead of a farewell and planned to leave.
But just before he boarded the Vessel, her friends half-heartedly brought her before Jin.
He thought she was embarrassed and troubled, because she probably wasn't good at these kinds of occasions.
But as she looked back at her friend for help. She was still pushed forward and turned to Jin with big eyes filled with tears that looked like they were about to burst.
However, looking back at her friend asking for salvation, she was pushed forward and turned to Jin with big eyes that looked like they were about to burst into tears.
Amidst the expectations of good luck and success, and the concerns of injury and illness, she looks at Jin with the deepest sadness anyone could muster.
Her red lips were trembling. She was searching for words while being lost for them. She bit her lips and held back the tears that threatened to spill. Then she said it...
“Please 'live'... and return safely.”
That seemed to be all she had to say.
At that time, Jin simply thought that if he died, this girl would cry...
So he tried to reassure her with a little smile.
“I promise you, Tsubaki.”
With that, he boarded the Vessel.
Burnt twigs snapped and crumbled in the orange and fine sparks of fire fluttered in the air.
"...Promise, huh?"
As he plunged the new branch into the fire, Jin muttered to himself.
But before he could step into the swamp of sentimentality, Jin called out towards the back.
“What is it?"
"...You surprised me. I thought I'd erased my presence."
A voice came back, sounding impressed. It was Karenjina.
This time, she didn't pay attention to her presence and walked up to Jin's side.
“I'm taking over. Time to go."
Jin's eyebrows moved slightly when he was told. He felt a little clumsy. He didn't realize how long he had been seriously lost in thought.
“...I am still good to go."
He turned away from Karenjina and quickly put on the gloves he had removed.
As he tried to escape her gaze, Karenjina moved to the other side and looked down at Jin.
“You should get some rest, too. I'm fine now. Besides, I'm better at "spotting the enemy" than you are."
Karenjina said appealingly, as if she thought Jin was concerned about her health. Missing the point, Jin ignored the brown-skinned female mercenary.
An exasperated sigh fell from her lips. Jin expected her to just walk away, but Karenjina betrayed his expectation and sat down next to him.
With her chin resting on her lap, Karenjina gazed at the small bonfire. The flames that lit up her deep blue eyes looked rather wondrous.
“...My thanks.”
After a few moments of silence, Karenjina spoke.
"We're sleeping alive tonight because of you. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead in that basement. So, thank you..."
She says it in a softer tone than usual.
...
Note: Karenjina Parsett’s Drive: Seagull, is written with the Kanji for Search and Enemy 索敵 or Sakuteki, but is pronounced Seagull in Katakana: (シーガル) in the novel instead of the Onyomi pronunciation of each kanji, therefore, Seagull literally means spotting/searching for the enemy, or in this context, she is better at “seagulling.”
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