BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Rachel's Side

Rachel's Side

A long, long staircase led into a deep, deep darkness.

All I was aware of is the hard stone stairs beneath my feet and how cold they were.

The area was covered in thick darkness, so I couldn't even see any sign of what was beyond, or if there was anything at all.

The girl in the black dress, Rachel Alucard, walks down the long staircase as if to check each step. With her beautiful blonde hair tied up in two buns swaying and her red eyes looking straight ahead, her face was noticeably pale and had an almost inhuman color to it.

And that’s how it should be, after all she is a vampire who has lived far longer than any human.

Even though she looks like a child of about ten years old, Rachel has spent far more years with this body than she appears to have.

Normally, she would not walk down the stairs on her own like this since Rachel can manipulate the wind. Like rose petals dancing in the wind, she can float up and down in a breath. But she would not in this place, because it is very special to this little vampire. A place located deep within the underground of the Alucard family's castle.

This was the final resting place of the legendary Clavis Alucard, the father of Rachel.

When the stairs ended, a long corridor opened up beyond the darkness. From here, Rachel walked on her own two feet again. It was as if she was trying to retrace her own father's steps.

At the end of the corridor, she found a simple wooden door, a complete contrast to the massive doors she had passed through and by so far. The door was half open with no effort and behind it there was just one small, plain room that quite fit the simple doorway. Rachel did not enter the room, but gently touched the wooden door, which looked so fragile. Gently, as if caring for it.

In the past, this door had been sealed tightly by Clavis. What was sealed inside, and why did her father had to seal it? Who broke the seal in the first place, and why had they done it?

Rachel knew everything… and what happened as a result.

"Are you sure that was the right thing to do, Father?"

She has been asking this question for about a century and to this day, she still doesn't have the answer. She had no idea if there would be any at this point. But even then, in the first place, there is nothing Rachel can do about it.

"Miss Rachal. Is it this way?"

A man's voice came from behind, softly breaking the brief silence which seemed to had her immersed in a sea of thought. When Rachel looked around to follow that voice, she saw that the man was lowering his head.

Standing there was her butler Valkenhayn R. Helsing, an elderly gentleman with gray hair and a beard. He too is not a human, but a werewolf with a body that is physically stronger than any human.

Valkenhayn asked quietly as he held an antique lantern in his hand, illuminating Rachael's face in a refined manner that did not fit the crude image of a werewolf.

"Have you been thinking about Lord Clavis again...?"

"...Yes."

Rachel turned to the door again with a little smile, almost as if she were trying to communicate with it.

"My father loved roses, remember? I wonder how he would have reacted if he'd seen the garden in the castle now."

When Clavis was still the head of the Alucard family, the castle garden fell into ruin and waste the moment he passed away. Now that Rachel is the head of the family, the garden is rejuvenated and blooms with beautiful roses every day which hold a pleasant fragrance.

"I am sure he would have been delighted."

Valkenhayn said that with a gentle smile. Rachel's pale fingers caressed the dry wood of the door.

"I... always wanted to overlook the roses in the castle's garden with my father, with your tea and some fresh baked goods."

"Since Lord Clavis liked his tea with some honey, a rose tea with roses from the garden and sweets that are slightly bitter would have been ideal for milady."

"Hm, yeah. If I were able to do that..."

Sigh.

Rachel's red eyes held a gloomy shade. She let out a shallow sigh, a hint of sadness that did not match her young appearance.

"I want to ask him now. When my father created me, what was he thinking and what did he intend to entrust to me and..."

Do I live up to your expectations?

It is a dream that will never be reached. A wish that will never come true. But by being here, she felt closer to the gentle smile of her father, who had been so kind to her all this time. For Rachel, at least.

"Lord Clavis was always concerned about you, Miss Rachel. Until the very end.

Valkenhayn, carrying the small lantern, spoke calmly in a gentle tone. The way he gazed at his little master's back was that of a very protecting and supportive person.

"I am determined to protect you until very end of my life. No matter which decision you will make."

Rachel was well aware that his words were not just mere promises, nor that they were just an ideal of what he wished to be. With an honest and sincere "Thank you", Rachel waved her long blond hair with the pale fingers that had been touching the door the whole time. That's when it happened.

Suddenly, a sharp ringing struck Valkenhayn's and Rachel's ears.

"What... This is..."

With Valkenhayn's free hand at his ear, Rachel's eyebrows furrowed as she looked up.

This presence. There's no mistaking it.

"Takamagahara wishes to see you."

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