Phase 0

A choking stench filled his lungs, but he couldn't do anything, not even move his limbs. After that, a dazzling light rained down incessantly from beyond. However that was all he could comprehend; the rest was vague and uncertain, as if he was sinking deeper into the middle of a dream.

'Where is this place, who am I, what was I doing? Am I alive, or am I dead? Do I really exist here and now?'

Not really understanding anything, he thought he probably was lying down on top of a grass patch somewhere.

"We found someone!"

Unexpectedly, he could hear someone's voice. He could hear people scrambling about, the clacking of armoured feet approached even closer.

"Are you alright?"

He thought he should say something in reply. However his body had no strength, and his voice couldn't come out.

"Those wounds are serious... take him back to the castle!"

That was his limit. He couldn't hold on to his consciousness anymore.

At the same time, he felt his body lurching suddenly, the world around him finally sank into darkness.

Just before he lost consciousness, the voices appeared to be saying things in a panic, but before long, he couldn't hear anything anymore.

When he opened his eyes, he saw an elegant, white ceiling made up of marble, and some decorations all around.

"Where is this place?" he wondered.

He was on top of a bed, not too comfortable, but at least better than where he was last time. On top of that lay the white-haired young man, and he scowled suspiciously.

He didn't recognize this scenery.

Moving his green eye he surveyed his surroundings. The bed was neatly tucked in, and he was in a large room. There were hardly any household goods and tools lying around. And his wasn't the only bed laid out here... though he was the only person laying down on one.

As he thought, he really didn't recognize this place.

"What happened to me...?"

His head was still dazed so he couldn't think straight. Just as he was about to get out of the bed, he heard a small sound coming from the open doorway.

"Ah. You've woken up, that's great."

A female voice. To his dazed head, the voice was like a splash of cold water waking him up.

A girl with short, pinkish hair and a slender body entered into the room.

As soon as the girl saw the young man, an expression of delight bloomed upon her face, and she rushed up to him. Casually and lightly, she picked up the young man's arm, and with a finger on his wrist, she easily took his pulse.

"Does it hurt anywhere? Do you feel ok?" she asked.

"No, not especially... I mean, who are you? Also, how did I wind up sleeping here?" he asked.

Not really understanding the situation, the young man looked at the girl. She looked like she was in her late-teens. Her white skin lacked a sun tan of any sort, and she had a refined face. There was a bit of an elegance that radiated from her, reminding him of a princess of sorts.

Wait, when did he ever know a princess in the first place?

It was hard to think that such a person would be here all alone, shouldn't there be more people?

"Ah that's right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Estellise." She answered, devoid of any weariness and with a friendly smile on her face.

This place was increasingly looking like a total mismatch for this girl.

"So uhh, what's your name?"

"Ah, I'm..."

It was an easy question, and he was going to answer it, but the young man choked on his words. Name. His name. Somehow it wasn't coming to mind.

It wasn't like he didn't have a name. However in his head everything seemed to be cross wired wrongly, whenever he tried to recall something his felt as though his consciousness was being swallowed by a white haze.

"... Ragna."

Pressing his head with his left hand and frowning deeply, the white-haired young man, Ragna pulled his name out from the chaos within his head.

He tried saying it with his mouth and it didn't feel wrong. Surely this meant that it was his name.

"Mister Ragna. I see..." Estellise said

"Hold it, hold it, just Ragna is fine. If you add the Mister before that, it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Hmmm, ok then. Nice to meet you, Ragna."

Looking at the wild hair and disturbed expression on Ragna's face, a tiny laugh escaped Estellise.

Ragna made a decidedly bad face in response. After that, he observed Estellise and the large room.

His body was still too heavy and he found it annoying that he couldn't move it.

"Hey, Estellise. I have totally no idea how I got into this situation. I only know I somehow ended up sleeping here, so please tell me the rest of the details."

"Ah, that's true. Well then I'll keep it short." She responded, frankly nodding in agreement, and moved to the edge of the bed to face Ragna directly. Her huge doll-like eyes looked straight at the lost Ragna.

"Ragna, you were found right outside the city of Zaphias, just outside the barrier where the monsters would have gotten you had the knights not noticed you... You had various injuries, and your consciousness was hazy, so they brought you to the castle infirmary room for you to rest in."

"They carried me here?"

"Not really... Ragna, you had hardly any consciousness left but you walked here on your own. Of course, you finally collapsed, and they called me here to help with some Healing artes."

Within the still thick haze of his mind, Ragna could feel faint memories stirring and asserting themselves. However who, and where? Whether those were really his memories... He had no confidence in them.

"Well, I treated your wounds, then I wiped your face and clothes. I had just finished rinsing the towel and came back in, and you had already awakened."

"You said I had wounds right. How come there's absolutely no signs of them?" he asked her.

Ragna inspected his own body. Black clothes and a long red jacket. Various stains and tears were present and had been patched or wiped. However as for his wounds, there were no scars left behind from the treament.

"Well, yeah... I told you I used Healing artes didn't I?" she replied, big pupils looking down at Ragna. Her smiling face had a trace of uncertainty spread on it.

Returning her stare, Ragna's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. So you're a sorceress? However those who are able to use healing magic, well this is my first time seeing one."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Estelle wondered. "They're basic healing artes, nothing major really."

Magic was a skill that had existed a long time ago. However because whether one could use it or not was influenced largely by natural potential, there weren't many people who could use it. However its existence and name was something that everyone was expected to know.

At least, this was the common knowledge present in Ragna's mind. Certainly he had seen someone use it before, but when he tried to recall who did it, it was buried somewhere in the white haze in his mind.

In front of him Estellise stood dumbfounded, and stared at him fixedly.

"Ragna... you're a weird person."

"The hell was that for?"

"No, it's nothing... it just feels like I'm talking to someone who's not familiar here. You're not from one of the Guilds are you?" she asked him.

Ragna twisted his neck. Now that was something hard to believe. But the look on Estellise's face as she said it was serious. "No, not that I know of..."

Were they even talking about the same kind of Guilds?

"Ah... but then there's that." Estellise said, and unexpectedly, within her eyes a look of sadness appeared. Gently moving her small hands, she touched Ragna's right arm. "No matter what I did, I couldn't heal your right arm or right eye..."

"Let me see." Ragna said.

Snapping out of it, for the first time since Estellise had entered the room, Ragna noticed it by himself. Thanks to her healing magic not a trace of his wounds was left on his body.

Except his right arm, and right eye. Although the structure and shape were correct, it was as if nothing had existed inside it and it was unable to move.

Even prodding it with his fingertips yielded no movement, and his eye was completely unable to percieve the light.

"What happened?" Tilting her head slighty, Estellise stole a glance sideways. Ragna personally touched his right arm and removed the glove covering his right hand, the hand that appeared looked as if it was made of solidified shadow; stained jet black. There were claws at the end of it. Stroked gently, the feeling of human skin was present. However there was no sensation whatsoever when it was touched. It was as if a totally different person's arm had been grafted on.

"... I can't remember" Ragna murmured.

"The reason that your arm is now like that?"

"No, not just that."

Ragna sighed. It was about time he finally admitted it. His was well aware that his arm and eye were strange.

"How I came to be here, and also just what exactly I am..."

As he said that his voice sounded more distant, and he had a bad feeling about the rest of his sentence.

"Other than my name, I don't remember anything"

A short pause. It seemed Estellise finally understood what Ragna was saying, however she was actually slowly opening her eyes wide to an impressive width.

Loss of one's memory. It was an easy thing to say, but it wasn't as if Ragna had forgotten everything. For example the world had air, water, and dry land. These things were stuck to the back of his mind, such common knowledge which needed no thinking about he firmly understood.

What he didn't remember was mainly the circumstances concerning his background. He had just barely recalled his name, but he didn't know who was the one who named him. Did he have parents? Or siblings? Where was he born, and where did he grow up? Did he have friends and what were their names?

He knew perfectly well that his memories were in his head somewhere, but he couldn't search for them.

Just before they could continue the conversation, the door to the room opened again.

"Lady Estellise, it's time to let the patient rest. And you do have a meeting with the council in a few minutes." One of the knights said.

"Oh, sorry Ragna, I need to go. If you want, I can introduce you to Flynn later on. I think you two would get along quite well." Estellise said, her nearly perpetual smile still plastered onto her face as she stepped away from the bed, waving her hands as she made her exit, the door closing behind her.

Watching her leave, Ragna leaned back down on the soft bed and tried to think. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself, looking to the left and noticing a sword with a uniquely broad blade propped to the side of his bed. That was his... right? "Well, whatever... I can try figuring out what else is going on later." He muttered, closing his eyes.

Of course, things don't go always as planned. Before the next day was over, he overheard people mentioning something about the Lower Quarter's blastia being stolen.

The heck was a blastia anyways? He'll have to ask Estellise later when she visits before night time.

Author's Notes:

Just an experiment of mine really. The first chapter is based on the Phase 0 Novel for Blazblue but with Ragna in Tales of Vesperia instead of travelling into the past. And unlike my other fics, he's the only character from BB appearing. This also doesn't take place at the end of the game, but right as Tales of Vesperia begins. Interesting ain't it?

*cough* Pairings with Ragna are going to be a pain though. *cough*