Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 2===

A few days later, Jubei, Valkenhayn, Terumi, Hakumen, Trinity, and Celica all gathered in the room beneath the Mage's Guild at Nine's behest.

The room was by no means bright, lit only by a flame-colored magic light in each corner, which created a creepy atmosphere. All four walls, the ceiling, and the floor were made of aged wood, and there wasn't a single window in sight. This room, essentially one big wooden box, was the room where Nine kept Take-Mikazuchi's core. The core that had once been floating above the ground in here was now nowhere to be seen, and the magic circle that had stood below it had been erased too.

In its place, there was now a wide table with six different armaments lined up on top of it. Nirvana stood by the side of the desk as the seventh of the group.

"...We're all here. It's time we got started."

Her high heels clacking on the dark brown floor, Nine stepped in front of the desk and faced everyone else gathered in the room.

Her competitive eyes and tightly pursed lips betrayed her slight anxiety. No one had any doubt that the source of her nerves was that set of weapons behind her.

"I'm sure you could tell at a glance, but these are my newly developed weapons... the 'Nox Nyctores' causality weapons."

Jubei was the quickest to respond to her unfaltering declaration, thrusting his long whiskers forward as he wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

"Nox Nyctores? Ain't that Take-Mikazuchi's..."

"Yes. As I mentioned before, all of these weapons were created using Take-Mikazuchi's core as the base. Thus, they're all derived from Take-Mikazuchi... and all constitute a part of it. Basically, their fundamental structure is the same, so they're all Nox Nyctores too."

As Nine was giving her explanation, she waved her hand toward the weapons sitting silently behind her. A gun, swords, a staff... they came in some very familiar forms as far as weapons go, but it was hard to believe that they were all a part of that black colossus that had burned the Black Beast.

However, the strange weightiness of them seemed to speak volumes of just how abnormal they were.

"I'm sure I've said this to all of you individually at some point already, but let me say it again: the Nox Nyctores are far more powerful than they look on the surface. They're all purpose-built for just one thing, and that's defeating the Black Beast. Taking the Black Beast down is the whole reason that these weapons exist. If they're wielded in battle against the Black Beast, they'll manifest extraordinary power, but in exchange for all that power, they'll take an appropriately large toll as well."

"What do you mean, they'll take a toll?"

Jubei cut in to ask her what she meant by that ominous phrase.

Nine's eyes got even more serious, and she nodded her head before answering.

"Simply put, it's stress. These things constantly want their wielders to bring out more and more of their power. Their demands put mental pressure on the wielder, which manifests as stress, and the sensations and emotions that arise from that stress serve to further hone the weapons."

"So, their ability to kick ass depends on the mental condition of their wielder?"

"That's right."

If a Nox Nyctores' wielder could effectively control their weapon's influence on their mind, there'd be no limit to how strong the weapon could become. On the flip side, if the wielder were to be overcome by the weapon's influence, they wouldn't be able to preserve their own personality anymore and would eventually break down.

Nine knitted her eyebrows and continued her explanation with great reservation.

"The Nox Nyctores are very dangerous. You need to be careful what you choose to use them against, and you'll suffer more and more of the repercussions the more you use them. That being the case... I'm only going to hand them out to people who either have a very strong will or highly stable magical power."

Nine paused and took a breath to center herself, then addressed the six people before her once more.

"I always intended to give a Nox Nyctores to each of you. I believe that's the decision that's most likely to lead humanity to victory."

By this point, everyone in the Mage's Guild knew that Jubei, Valkenhayn, and Hakumen all had fighting skills far exceeding anything a normal person could do. For his part, Terumi was an expert in both close quarters combat and sorcery, and he had proven that he knew more about the Black Beast than anyone else. Trinity was outstanding both in her knowledge of and ability to use both alchemy and defensive magic, and Celica was second to none when it came to purifying seithr and casting healing magic. You couldn't find a better group for the job.

"The person who defeats the Black Beast is probably going to be one of us. In order to make that happen, I want you to use these."

Nine reached her hand out towards the weapons on the table as she spoke, but then she suddenly stopped short and looked back over her shoulder. She was looking at Valkenhayn, who stood one step back from the group.

"...Just to confirm one last time, Valkenhayn... are you really not going to use a Nox Nyctores?"

Nine asked the question just to be doubly sure of his answer. 

Throwing a sidelong glance at Celica and Trinity, who had turned around to face him, Valkenhayn shook his head no like he was answering the two girls instead of Nine.

"My answer will stay the same no matter how many times you ask. There's no need... I already exist outside of Logic. It makes no difference in the fight against the Black Beast whether I wield a powerful weapon or not."

"Hm... alright then. In that case..."

Nodding deeply, Nine faced the table again and picked up a staff.

The long stick was made of some strange material that looked like it might have been either metal or wood. It had a big, bell-like decoration affixed to the top.

Nine grasped it in both hands and walked over to Trinity.

"Let's start with yours, Trinity. This is Arma Reboare: Muchourin. It can supplement your diverse magical abilities and you can use it to create substances through embodiment."

Depending on what substances she made and how she used them, Trinity could turn her defense-oriented magic into attacks or further strengthen her already formidable defensive capabilities. Above all, Trinity excelled at alchemy, so if she could combine it with sorcery, she would be able to create arms and armor out of nothing.

Looking at the staff's feminine, curved outline, Trinity accepted it gratefully. Squinting her eyes like she was looking at something bright, Nine smiled at her.

"Thank you very much, I will take good care of it."

"You don't have to take care of the staff, just worry about taking care of everyone else."

"I will. You can leave that to me～"

Answering softly, Trinity gazed at the staff in her hands.

In the end, Trinity hadn't been entrusted with hardly any part of the development of this staff, save for the final calibrations. Nevertheless, this thing in her hands was without a doubt the product of Nine's efforts, so Trinity placed the end of the staff on the floor and hugged it to her chest, as if to pull in her overflowing feelings of affection.

The next one that Nine grabbed was a sword in a red scabbard. It was a strangely designed scabbard with hilts sticking out of both ends, and Nine passed it to Jubei.

"Mucro Somnio: Musashi. This one's for you, Jubei. It's a two-in-one sword, so you can draw it from both ends at once. It was made especially for you."

"Thanks. I'll have to put in the effort to be worthy of it."

Jubei didn't hesitate over the question of whether to take it or not. His big cat hand skillfully took the scabbard and hung it on his shoulder, managing to withstand his childish curiosity and not immediately draw it.

"Terumi next."

High heels tapping on the wooden floor, Nine picked up a metal chain coiled up like a massive snake off the table.

"Geminus Anguium: Ouroboros. I'm sure you can figure out how to use it on your own."

She dropped the cold chain into Terumi's hand. As the links slithered and coiled against each other, the chain seemed like a real snake for a moment.

Terumi unfurled it as soon as he got it, feeling it with his hands and twisting his lips into a smile.

"Hmmmm, would ya look at that. This is the real Ouroboros. It's just like back then, talk about interesting..."

He mumbled to himself in a low voice, looking like he was having fun.

Nine caught a bit of what he was saying and immediately furrowed her brow and got up close to Terumi, her bright eyes glaring at him with overflowing hostility.

"Interesting? You sound like you've seen that before."

"Hey, hey, hey now, don't go making such a scary face, would ya? I saw the blueprint during the development process. Didn't you hear me? I said 'this is the real thing.'"

Playing the fool, Terumi swung one end of the chain around in the air to make a swishing sound. The tip of the chain was adorned with a weight that looked like a snake head.

"...Whatever. This is the next one, Interfectum Malus: Ookami"

Sweeping her hair out of her face, Nine picked up the next weapon. It was a long-bladed katana, a nodachi. Actually, it was too long to qualify as even a nodachi. Its length easily exceeded Nine in height.

"This is Hakumen's sword."

Hakumen took the sword he was handed, and it became obvious that it was indeed made for him.

The abnormally long sword perfectly suited Hakumen, who stood over two meters tall. With Ookami resting comfortably in his hand, he looked every bit the demon clad in white.

"Lastly... Celica."

"Uh, yeah..."

Unlike anyone before her, Celica took a big step forward, unable to hide the emotions in her wavering voice.

Watching Celica awkwardly straighten her posture and stick her chest out, no one was surprised when Nine brought forth Nirvana from behind the table.

"Nox Nyctores Deus Machina: Nirvana. I'm entrusting her to you once again."

As if responding to Nine's words, Nirvana walked to stand in front of Celica.

Celica shot both arms out to grab onto Nirvana's big, solid hand.

"Welcome back, Nirvana."

This was their first time seeing each other in quite some time. They hadn't met at all during the span of several weeks in which Nirvana was being upgraded into a causality weapon.

Celica's reliable bodyguard didn't look any different on the outside, so even though this was their reunion after she became a Nox Nyctores, Celica still didn't get the impression that anything had changed about her.

On the other hand, Nine, who had been the one to upgrade her, had a dark look on her face. She tried to put her feelings aside, but there was an apologetic look lurking in her eyes nonetheless.

"...I'm sorry, Celica. I know you love Nirvana, but I didn't have the time to make a whole new model. And..."

"You made Nirvana to be a weapon against the Black Beast from the start, right? You've apologized a thousand times, and I keep telling you it's alright."

Celica had indeed heard the same apology from Nine over and over again over the last few weeks.

Nirvana was created to be Celica's bodyguard, but she was also created as an experimental autonomous weapon, and now she had been remodeled to become a purpose-made anti-Black Beast weapon. Nine had planned to eventually remodel her from the start, and to that end she had loaded her with systems she would need when she reached the next step. Creating a new model would have taken far too long.

The fact that Celica had come to love Nirvana and treat her like family was a big miscalculation on Nine's part.

Celica laughed lightly as she gripped Nirvana's hand.

"I was shocked, of course. You came to me with such a scary look on your face, I had no idea what was going on. But, I mean, she still looks the same now that she's a Nox Nyctores, and she can still be with me like she used to, right?"

They could still walk around town together, go shopping, clean the house, and spend the night in the same room. Celica cared about her ability to do stuff like that far more than she cared about how good of a bodyguard or a weapon she was.

In response to Celica's question, Nine pursed her lips tightly.

"About that... everyone, listen up."

The atmosphere in the room went cold as the conversation took a sharp turn, and Nine crossed her arms beneath her chest. She looked at everyone present with determination in her eyes.

"If we win the war against the Black Beast, I'm going to seal away the Nox Nyctores."

Her unforgiving tone said that she would brook no arguments. This was her final decision and she wasn't open to discussing it, and she was making it clear to everyone in the room that they had no say in the matter.

Trinity, still hugging her staff, raised her hands reservedly and spoke up.

"You mean... you'll seal every weapon here?"

"Yeah. Nirvana, Take-Mikazuchi... all of them. These aren't the kinds of things that we can just pass down to future generations."

She looked at the desk behind her as she spoke, where a sword in a blue sheath and a pair of guns still sat.

"If the Black Beast dies, humanity will go back to waging war on each other someday. If the Nox Nyctores still exist when that time comes, they could throw the entire world out of balance. People who can't handle the mental burden the weapons inflict might lose their sanity and perpetrate unthinkable massacres. Having a Nox Nyctores or not could determine the fate of nations or give them an unreasonable amount of political sway."

That's just how much power they possessed.

What Nine was saying was nothing more than theories, but since she was the weapons' creator, she knew just how realistic those theories were.

"The Nox Nyctores are too strong. Even more than the weapons themselves, the pieces of Take-Mikazuchi's core within them... are far too dangerous."

Nine ran her finger along the cold surface of the gun she hadn't yet given to its owner. It wasn't a decoration: it was a magnificent weapon, meant to be wielded in a person's hand.

"Which means... I won't be able to see Nirvana anymore, then?"

Normally Celica would be bringing up so many arguments that the people around her would be surprised that she could spit so many out, but now, she stumbled over her words as she struggled to find any to say.

Nine lowered her chin.

"...That's right."

Celica had been touching Nirvana's hand this whole time, but now, she let go like her hand was slipping off. There was no helping her disappointment.

"Okay... so, when the war is over, we'll say goodbye..."

Celica didn't wish for even an instant that the war wouldn't end. Nevertheless, knowing that that would mean the end between her and Nirvana, she felt an incredible sense of loneliness.

Seeing Celica's despondent expression, Nine had to take on a cold attitude in order to keep any meaningless regret from leaking into her voice.

"I won't ask you to forgive me. I did this knowing that it was going to hurt you.

Nine absolutely needed Nirvana. She was strong and tough. As an autonomous weapon, her body wouldn't break easily, and even if she got damaged, she would simply continue stubbornly following her orders without panicking.

"Nirvana has a job to do. In the unlikely event that humanity is beaten by the Black Beast... Nirvana will summon Take-Mikazuchi and blast it. After that, she'll first dispose of Take-Mikazuchi, then herself."

That was humanity's last resort.

Take-Mikazuchi only had half of its core left, and while it could still be summoned and fire a shot, firing a second shot after that would require several years of recharging first.

If Nirvana summoned Take-Mikazuchi and fired one shot but failed to finish the Black Beast, the world probably would come to an end after all.

"But let's not let it come to that, of course. We will defeat the Black Beast, but..."

The word that followed immediately after her strong promise was conversely weak. Nine placed her hand on Celica's shoulder with the delicacy of a gentle embrace.

"As Nirvana's master, it's up to you to decide when Nirvana uses the last resort. If it ever comes to that... I'm counting on you."

With a faint sorrow in her eyes, thinking that she ought to at least look straight ahead without flinching, Celica laughed brightly as she gave her assent.

"Alright, I'll do it."

She nodded. Her affirmative nod was so straightforward that anyone other than Nine would have wondered whether or not she really knew what she was agreeing to. There was no worry in her face; in fact, it seemed like she thought she would never have to make that choice.

Nevertheless, if the time ever did come, she would undoubtedly make that decision. Celica had enough confidence to do that.

Nine couldn't bear it anymore, so she let out a sigh. She furrowed her brow in the shadow cast by the brim of her triangular purple hat.

"I'm sorry to give you such a grim job."

As an older sister, Nine was filled with regret at having to ask something like this of Celica, but Celica immediately shook her head. Her long ponytail swung from left to right.

"How selfish would it be if I didn't make even that simple of a promise?"

She was grateful enough that her sister had made a bodyguard just for her, and she had even gotten to spend all that time with Nirvana.

She was never going to resent Nine or blame her for how things turned out.

"And besides, we can still be together until the war ends, right?"

Nine's eyes watered as she thought of how often she found comfort in Celica's innocent nature. Looking exasperated, she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Yes, of course. She's still your bodyguard, even if she's a Nox Nyctores now."

"I'm glad."

Celica looked up at Nirvana with a joyful smile, and Nirvana seemed to be smiling back as she looked down.

"Let's keep on going like we have been, Nirvana."

Celica squeezed both her hands into fists and tried to hype up both herself and her bodyguard as those big, glassy, artificial eyes looked tenderly back at her.