Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 1===

The time they had left to them passed as inexorably as sand being eroded by a river.

Morning came, night came. The sun rose, the sun fell. The wind blew, the wind died away. Whenever something moved, someone flinched. The passage of time was like a stairway to oblivion, but that seemingly endless, illusory stairway was already nearing its end. Waiting at the bottom was their final battle. The final confrontation with the Black Beast, with humanity's survival on the line.

The city now seemed less like the Magister's City of Ishana and more like the Military City of Ishana. Soldiers were everywhere and combat vehicles rolled down the cobblestone streets. The curtain was just about to fall on dusk to make way for night. The sky shifted from a pale light blue color into a whimsical pink, and the western horizon was painted with a single orange line.

At this moment, the entire Mage's Guild was abuzz with activity, with everyone running to-and-fro looking for any more preparations still needing to be made. Inside one of the guild's spacious conference rooms, a solemn atmosphere reigned over a meeting in progress. More than thirty people were in attendance, but counting the secretaries, messengers, and the like who were coming in-and-out periodically, it was more like fifty.

The attendees consisted of the Ten Sages and the Duodecim of the Mage's Guild and the top executives and military directors of the Orbis Librarius Norma. Hakumen, Celica A. Mercury, Trinity Glassfille, Jubei, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, and Yuuki Terumi were also present.

Nine looked out over the faces of everyone who had been summoned to the meeting as she stood before them, giving a briefing. An alchemical screen projected a large map that already had three points marked on it.

First, a black x-mark indicated the location of the cauldron on the furthest western edge of the continent, where the Black Beast would appear in less than ten days.

Next, a white circle showed the antibody-bearing cave near the Kaka village.

Lastly, a red circle was drawn on the spot closest to where the Black Beast would appear that was still within range for their teleportation spell.

Indicating the black x-mark with a magical light and using magic to amplify the volume of her voice, Nine continued with her explanation.

"When the Black Beast appears from within the seithr, the Ars Magus Corps station directly to the north will commence a coordinated attack. This will restrict its vision and slow it down. In addition to halting its progress for a few seconds with a barrage, we hope to make it think that it is being assaulted from long range."

Her magical pointer traced the Ars Magus Corps' location, then she drew another mark in the woods to the east, very close to where the Black Beast would appear, indicating a second deployment of the Ars Magus Corps.

"Here, Hakumen and Jubei will lead their unit in a charge out of these woods to ambush the Black Beast, executing a direct assault on it. Using hit-and-run tactics, their objective will be to bait the Black Beast into following them."

In reality, the charge would actually serve another purpose as well. Using the Ars Magus assault and the charge as a smokescreen, Jubei would slice open the Black Beast with Hihiirokane and Nirvana would infiltrate the creature through the resulting rift with Celica in tow. Hakumen would be there to support them.

The part about Celica entering the Black Beast was kept strictly secret from anyone who hadn't been at the meeting in Trinity's workshop. No one else would have been able to understand it in the first place, and if the army didn't understand, they wouldn't cooperate with the plan. The second reason for their decision was that if they made this plan common knowledge, then Celica's special characteristic, the presence of Hihiirokane, and the existence of the Black Beast's heart would all become common knowledge too.

There would be no telling how some people might deviate from the plan if they got it in their heads that all they had to do was destroy the heart. Nine had been the one to propose keeping it a secret among their group, and even in this moment she was being careful to hold her cards close to her chest. To that end, Nine was slipping in lies during her briefing at this conference, which would be the final meeting of all the movers and shakers of Ishana.

"Those who participated in the one-month battle to delay the Black Beast will be familiar with the tactics we will employ to lead it along. That is the reason why command of this unit has been entrusted to Hakumen and Jubei."

Jubei had been sitting in an uncomfortable conference room chair and pretending to not be paying too close attention, but in this moment he unconsciously threw a glance at Nine. He had noticed how her statement had differed from the truth a little bit, but he wasn't foolish enough to speak up about it. But when he heard Terumi, sitting on the opposite side of Trinity from him, let out a cackle, Jubei couldn't help but shoot him a nasty glare.

"We will bait the Black Beast until we reach this location."

Nine's pointer moved to the red mark.

"All of the Ten Sages, myself included, will prepare a massive teleportation circle here. Once the Black Beast reaches the circle, our forces will surround it. Ideally, we don't want to let it take even a single step outside of the circle. Valkenhayn R. Hellsing will be serving as supreme commander of our army. Also, regarding the teleporation magic..."

Nine took a deep breath. This was the part she was most worried about. Running her eyes across the Ten Sages sitting together in a line, she surreptitiously peeked at Three and Seven, seemingly not wanting to meet their gazes.

She had given both of them a Nox Nyctores so that they would, theoretically, be able to bring much more magical power to bear in the fight. That was only going to matter if they managed to survive until after completing the teleportation spell, though.

"If we are able to catch the Black Beast in the middle of our formation and complete our preparations, we will carry out the teleportation spell. The teleportation circle will transport anyone standing inside it, so those who do not wish to be teleported should retreat when they see the circle start to glow."

Finally, the pointer moved to the white mark. It was a spot close to where a subway line had once run under a city.

"This will be the destination of the teleport. For some reason, something about this place gives it the power to suppress seithr. Once the Black Beast is teleported here, the activity of its seithr will be restrained, and it won't be able to go on a rampage like it has in the past. A unit of mages centered around the Duodecim will be stationed here, with Trinity Glassfille and Yuuki Terumi standing in reserve. We can also expect support from the Kaka Clan positioned in the nearby village. If we confirm the teleportation of the Black Beast, we will launch an all out attack utilizing every unit at our disposal and defeat it."

Finishing her speech, Nine used the back of her hand to push her long glossy hair behind her back and extinguished her pointer light with a motion like flicking away lint.

That was it for the complicated explanation, and Nine felt a small sense of relief. She didn't even want to count how many times she had already repeated this briefing in front of various organizations, bureaus, and executives. Doing this briefing that she had grown so sick of so many times was yielding results, however, as she had done it so many times at this point that no one in this meeting spoke up with their dissenting opinions or nit-picky concerns. Thanks to that, they were able to wrap up early.

Nine took another look at the meek-looking faces lined up on the other side of the desk, adding another lair of tension to the air as she stared them down with her aggressive eyes.

"As I've said before, if this plan fails, the Black Beast will resume its progress towards Ishana, and this time, it will almost certainly raze us to the ground. If that happens, there will be hardly anyone capable of using magic that can damage the Black Beast remaining and the techniques to make alchemical weapons will be lost along with the ones that currently exist, which will leave us with nothing more than the fledgling Ars Magus technology."

They were still reliant on the magic of the Mage's Guild to determine who was suitable to wield Ars Magus, so if all the mages were to disappear, it would be difficult to find any potential new Ars Magus wielders.

"The defeat of Ishana will spell defeat for all of mankind. On the other hand, if we win here, then humanity can be free from this calamitous war. We will be able to rebuild ruined buildings, cultivate withered land, and create new countries."

Then she wouldn't have to work without food or sleep to develop weapons or thrust her little sister into life threatening situations anymore.

"We all must bring everything we have to bear on this, and I don't mean that we must callously sacrifice lives... I am requesting that everyone contribute everything we have to offer to our common cause."

She made her declaration with a quiet yet hard-to-defy vigor that did not suit a young woman like her.

Nine's final words signaled the end of the meeting. All that was left was to look onwards toward their decisive moment, like they were being swept away by inescapable rapids.

There had been several days left still, but somehow the time passed in a flash.

It was the early morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was growing faintly brighter. In about an hour, the rising sun would be visible and the temperature would go up a little.

Celica, staring through her bedroom window from where she sat on her bed, turned her attention back to the rucksack resting on her lap and, packing away the hand towel she had been holding, closed it tightly shut.

"That should do it."

Giving it a light pat with her hands, she hopped off her bed.

She swung the light rucksack around and onto her back and turned her attention away from it to look up at Nirvana.

"It's finally time, huh?"

On this day, Celica was about to leave Ishana. She was going to get on one of the Joint HQ Army's massive ships and set sail for the continent, then from there get in a car and go to the forest where Hakumen and Jubei’s unit would be taking up position.

Her destination was somewhere that could already be considered part of a battlefield. There was no telling how long after she arrived that the Black Beast would appear, but the decisive battle should take place within the next two or three days.

If she was being honest with herself, it still didn't feel real to her. She wondered if she was really scared and anxious deep down, but perhaps because of the clear early morning air, she wasn't feeling any serious, paralyzing fear at that moment.

Instead, she actually felt a little bit optimistic. Her heart was racing nonstop like she was looking forward to something. Would it really all end with this? Would the Black Beast disappear, and would the war go away with it? Would everyone be able to eat and sleep in peace again? She hoped so, and she felt like this had to be the end. With a smile filled with an earnest wish and her sense of responsibility, Celica took Nirvana's hand.

"Let's go, Nirvana. We'll be together until the end."

Whether Hakumen's plan went well or not, Celica would probably be with Nirvana in the moment when the battle came to a close either way.

The tall machine woman descended the staircase that was a little too tight for her, and they left the house the same way they always did. This time both they and Nine would be gone for a long while, so they made sure the doors and windows were securely locked, turning the key in the lock of the front door when they got outside.

Someone touched Celica's shoulder like they were patting her on the back, and her ponytail swung as she turned to face them. It was Nine.

"Onee-chan! Wait, why are you here?"

She had been working overnight at the Mage's Guild, and she had said yesterday that she was going to go straight from there to the ships.

"Did you forget something?"

"No, that's not it. I just figured we may as well go together, and you happened to be leaving right as I got here."

Nine shrugged and smiled wryly. With a hint of irony, she added on an extra comment, saying,

"Plus, what would we do if you got lost on the way to the harbor? "

Celica pursed her lips in protest.

"I'm not a kid anymore, I wouldn't get lost!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I guess you really don't get lost in Ishana very often."

"Yeah, see?"

"...The fact that you do get lost sometimes is the problem, though."

They walked off together while having their silly conversation.

Usually, the streets were quiet and the atmosphere was refreshing in the early morning in Ishana. This morning, however, things were understandably quite different. Countless men in military uniforms were running around busily while tanks rolled down the cobblestone paved slope, taking care not to run over anyone.

The sight of it served to make it clear that today was no ordinary day.

"We've never taken a walk together at this time of day, have we? "

Nine spoke up while looking onward toward their destination. The crisp sound of her high heels regularly striking the cobblestones sounded good.

"I don't think so. You don't like getting up early, after all."

"I just stay up too late."

This time Nine was the one to protest, making a slightly embarrassed face. Brushing some hair off her cheek, she narrowed her eyes and looked at Celica with incredible determination.

"...Did you eat breakfast?"

"Just bread and tea. I overslept a little. How about you, Onee-chan?"

"There's no way I could eat right now."

"Aww, I brought you something though. I made a jam sandwich."

"I'll pass. They'll ration me something at noon anyway."

"How can you say that after telling me to eat... you're always thinking of other people before yourself, Onee-chan."

Celica shook her head wearily. Nine, looking just as exasperated, crossed her arms under her chest.

"I don't want to hear that from you, of all people. I don't even want to think of how much you've worried me by being the way you are up 'til now."

"I don't wanna hear that from you, either, Onee-chan."

Celica intentionally said it in a bratty-sounding way, and Nine's hand immediately shot out and started patting her head like she was petting a kitten.

"Ahhh, how are you always this cute? Maybe I should specially teleport just you over after all. If you get on a boat full of shady soldiers I've never even met before and they all start leering at you, I'd have to dispose of every last one of them. Then the boat wouldn't be able to sail anymore."

"O- Onee-chan, you're messing up my hair! "

Trying to protect her ponytail that she had gone out of her way to tie up really nicely this morning, Celica bent over to escape Nine's hand. Feeling her hair with her hands, it seemed fortunately alright.

Watching Celica rub her head with her own hands, Nine breathed out lightly. She wasn't so much laughing at how silly Celica looked; it was more of a gentle sigh, like she was reflecting on something.

The pace of her high heels got slightly slower.

"...It's been a while since we last got to have a stupid conversation like this."

Her whispering voice was as fresh as the first breeze of the morning. Conveniently, in that moment, just such a breeze blew down the slope toward the harbor, tousling Nine and Celica's hair.

"You've been really busy."

Combing her hair one more time, Celica gave an honest smile.

Pushing a lock of windswept hair behind her ear, Nine returned with an unenthusiastic smile of her own.

"I'm glad I didn't go straight to the ships. I probably won't get any more chances to just spend time with you, after all."

She didn't just mean that she would be too busy attending meetings and giving orders as a member of the Ten Sages to spend time with Celica once they boarded the ships, though. The words that slipped out of her mouth sounded strangely ominous, and Nine furrowed her brow with a troubled expression on her face.

Celica, however, didn't pick up on how ominous they were at all; instead, she heard loneliness in her big sister's words. The rucksack on her back bouncing along with her ponytail, she shot out in front of Nine.

"It'll be okay. We can spend a lot of time together when we get back home."

Laughing without a care in the world, Celica looked from Nine to Nirvana.

Looking back at them from the front like this, it looked like Nine and Nirvana were walking side-by-side together. Faced with such a reliable sight, Celica's chest swelled with pride.

"Yeah, you're right."

Answering with a wry smile, Nine picked up her pace to catch up with Celica and continued forward, Nirvana following along behind them.

They could see the ocean at the bottom of the slope. The eastern sky would be turning white soon.

When the sun rose, the last fleet set sail for the decisive battle with the Black Beast.

The island of Ishana, with only those without the strength to fight remaining on it, saw them off.