[please for god's sake who is texting him at midnight on the dot he's had enough emotional turmoil today getting that picture of his family he just wants to sleep off the broodi--
[Noctis doesn’t often pull late nights at the office. His business partner usually makes him get out and stay home when he tries—they’re trying to avoid crunch here, after all. Still, with Pride in high gear and the weekly game jams they’re holding for the month getting popular lately, Noctis has bargained one night in the office to fiddle with code to his heart’s content, so long as he agrees not to come in to supervise this weekend’s game jam. Which is fine, he was planning to sleep all day tomorrow.
He gets out of the office at a pretty late hour, and warps up to a fire escape. From there, he just starts making his way home via warping, a flash of bright blue in the night.
It’s as he’s readying the fishing lure for another toss that he notices a familiar figure in the alleyway below.]
["Ragna, don't go near anyone else. No one else. Ragna, listen to me. Stay with me. No one else. No one else. No one else. No one else. No one else. No one else."
Why won't she shut up... Why won't she just leave him alone... He's done what the bitch asked for, kept away from everyone. He got what revenge against the Order he could last month for her stupid desire. And that's how she tried to use the BlazBlue. He had to stop her and did.
She's not letting him even sleep anymore. She's so fucking loud... And for what? For fucking what?
Ragna is in an alleyway away from people, even those fucking roof cryptids the kids on Tiktok keep raving about. Only the taller ones would bother giving him the time of day and at least one of them won't bother him cause that black haired teacher avoids him like the plague. He wished he didn't hear someone's voice outside of his brain.]
Noctis...? ["Go away, go away, go away...!" He clutched his head.]
[This is sure a very worried message in a very small voice sometime after midnight on the 4th. Did you think this random sunshine girl cared this much? SHE DOES. Even if she doesn't think Ragna likes her all that much--]
There are things that aren't fireworks going on out here and I -- please tell me that you're okay?
['out here'... why yes, she is outside right now.]
[There's a long delay in responding, mostly because Ragna is extremely aware of the Not Fireworks having had to fight a few of them away from an apartment building. He very vaguely knew her voice but the smidge of familiarity is enough right now.]
If it makes a difference, I'm alive. [He sounded winded.] Yeah, I don't think giant fucking robots are the same kinda fireworks but me and a bunch of others turned them into that much.
[Ragna didn't know what to expect opening the file. He hovered over it and it didn't look like spam. So he opened the file.
And immediately upon reading the name "Aoko Juusan" he felt a headache. Like the ghost in his fucking head was close to screaming, but not in anger or vengeance desire. In fear. Even he felt a panic swelling in his heart from her.
He read what they had on him, sure. They got some of his past selves in on the Order somehow because they wanted the Azure Grimoire. Relius Clover was a disgustingly familiar name that made his skin crawl but more than anything made him angry.
Not even for his own sake. Just because the Order broke his past selves, didn't mean they'd ever break him if he was found. And they wouldn't find him ever again now that they're gone.
There's a long, long delay as if he's trying to settle himself. But he wasn't. If anything... he was trying to settle the shitheel gh... Settle Aoko.
He switched the feed to voice. On the other end it's clear in his tone that he was just barely holding back his rage but doing so for someone else's sake. In fact, Ragna's response might be a little surprising.]
What else did you find? On "Aoko Juusan". Did you find anything on her?
[this would be funnier if kuni didn't also put his name in this stupid ring. he sort of recognizes this kid, though and he's going through the effort to ask so.]
The little shit's an easier shop than he lets on. He used to craft but hasn't in a while. He's into cooking too. And cats.
[Ragna, this is Sabo's first Christmas. He doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You said you like cats.
[Do you lock your front door? It doesn't matter, Ragna is going to wake up on Christmas morning and there will be, somehow, a puffball of a white kitten somewhere in his home. She has a pink collar and a tag that says "THIS IS A GIFT" hanging off of it.
[Good luck.
[Also: you are now missing any milk and cookies that may have been in your home.]
[Now that he's had time to process the fact that he has a blood relative, he decides he's going to use that knowledge to tease Ragna a little. Plus, this way Harumasa can subtly check up on how his friend is holding up.]
I found out that your cousin is my cousin by blood earlier, which is a WILD coincidence by the way. But, you know, if you marry me, Kunikaki will be your cousin AND your cousin-in-law!
Heeeeeey boys~! Hope things aren't too bad for you today, Squall And you better be listening to your men about resting, Bladie! I can send you two some of my music if you need the help for sleep
[Seems like Venti can tell that Ragna's not doing too hot with Aoko, but maybe he just means generally. Blade's obviously struggling and stressed, but that's why Venti's here to support them.]
Unfortunately, it's not a social call. I wanted to give you two a head's up that I'm about to do something that's going to make things dangerous to be pact bearers with me. At least, I think that's what's going to happen. I don't know with 100% certainty. I have an idea that might help people possessed by demons and spirits, and it's probably going to make them extremely mad at me. I'm giving you two a warning about it because I know you two didn't exactly sign up for something like that. So if you want to break off the pact now or in the future if it gets to be too much, you absolutely can and I will very much understand. I'd love to get into more detail about what I'm doing, but I'm afraid that Aoko might get too stressed out.
[The fact that he was admitting to it just goes to show how things are going for him. He's shocked that the notif for this message didn't get her to proverbially jump.
An idea though? A cleaner one, Ragna could only assume, than what they had to do with Blade and Ash. Well, cleaner in theory. Nothing about it can be called clean if it's gonna get Venti on a bunch of demons' shit list.]
you're probably thinking about doing something fucking stupid that would piss her the fuck off if you said it
[...]
but im not scared of some asshole demons and theyre sure as hell not gonna make me back out of the pact.
[It's a lovely day to be minding your own damn business for a change. Which, Ardyn considered, was actually kind of strange for him. He'd have to go annoy omeone later--maybe see if he could pop out of a shadow and make Husk go all startled-cat puffy.]
[...Gods, he used to be an assassin, and now he was barely more dreaded than a moderate annoyance. Not the worst career shift, but not quite what he had expected from this assignment. But maybe that was a larger thought for later on. For now...actually, he kind of just wanted lunch. So the world's most irritating eldritch horror casually wandered his way down the street, checking his phone as he went.]
[For once, he probably didn't really deserve what was coming to him.]
[Probably not, but neither of these two did for once.
Wherever Ardyn decided to pick up a quick bite from, on the side of it tucked away was someone breathing heavily and grunting in pain. Eventually the source of the noise started to hobble away from the place, mumbling to seemingly no one. Ardyn might at least recognize him from that awful stint in November where the false visage of his piece of shit brother reared his head.]
Shut up... just shut up...
[He looked terrible. Felt terrible, worse than he had in weeks and he's not been at home this week at all, staying on the town's outskirts.
Kind of weird, but none of Ardyn's business right? Except for what seemed like a very brief flash of a little puncture in reality following just behind Ragna.]
[Jun had been to the hospital earlier, as a caring brother making sure Harumasa was okay after the mission. And that had been his main focus, acting as support and being there for him.
That said, Jun was well aware it was the same hospital Wriothesley and the others had taken Ragna to. So, during that trip, he took one break from his brotherly duties- asking Belle and his other siblings to keep an eye on Harumasa as he used the bathroom. In truth... he had gone to the nurses station, and looked through their records to find out which room Ragna was in.
A few days later, giving Ragna enough chance to rest enough to become coherent again, he'll return. It took some doing to get into the hospital undetected - teleporting, shapeshifting, using the stealth power Varian's gift granted him. It's not like they let shrouded figures into the front doors of a hospital after all.
But, it paid off in the end. For Shroud now stood in the darkness of Ragna's hospital room- speaking up to let his presence be known]
[It took a few days for Ragna to be anything but delirious. He still needed to spend one more day in the ICU, but hopefully they'll get him the hell out of this space at least. It's creepy and unsettling as hell and he's had enough of ghosts for one lifetime...
... even if the quiet was really weird now. He didn't have it in him to unpack this all the way right now.
Unfortunately, speaking of creepy shit hearing his name just as he was about to nod off for the night after taking the stupid medications made him practically jump halfway off his hospital bed with a high pitched yelp because UM HELLO GRIM REAPER THAT'S HIS SHTICK AND HE'S STILL ALIVE FUCK OFF???
But... then he sees who it is. No less alarming, but at least it's an asshole he knows.]
Jesus FUCKING Christ, what the hell are you doing in here?!
[Noctis waits a couple days, then, in between getting off work and spending another night in Hyrule digging up star fragments, he drops by the hospital for Ragna, going through the front desk and getting a visitor's pass and everything. When he opens the door, he gives a tiny little wave.]
[One of the morons had to be normal about it, at least. Ragna was out of intensive care, but would need to stay in the hospital to be monitored for a while yet. They didn't want any surprises to rear their heads given the man lost an arm.
Noctis came in just as a nurse was leaving, so Ragna was awake at the very least. If back to his grumpy looking self, but he couldn't be blamed this time. Interestingly, both of his eyes are green now when they weren't before.]
I'm alive. [He could at least say that. He felt like absolute garbage but he was alive.]
[ When she heard of Ragna's recovery she knew she had to come immediately. Arcueid isn't in the best shape. She really pushed herself to the absolute limit for these past few days, but she doesn't care about that. She's more concerned for Ragna's safety.
Fortunately, he's got good friend and allies willing to fight along side him. That played a key role in the chain of events that lead up to Ragna's rescue. With unsteady movements, Arcueid rushes to see Ragna in the hospital. ]
[Arcueid likely wasn't allowed to see Ragna until he was out of some kind of surgery and cognizant, and she likely had to fight to see him in the ICU at all given she wasn't family like Kunikaki.
He was just barely aware and on some very strong pain medications when Arcueid stormed in. But because those were so strong, he didn't initially recognize her as herself but at someone else (4).]
Rachel...?
[He tried to move his right arm out of habit, but then remembered what happened. So dragged his left down his face instead.]
[Harumasa sends a text to Ragna. It's not just to continue with the bit, but also because he wants to check in to see how the man's doing in his recovery.]
Ragnaaaaa! I've been kidnapped by the fey and they're forcing me to play the role of Sleeping Beauty! I'm trying to convince them to not ACTUALLY use a sleeping spell on me.... But if I can't, will you break my spell with true love's kiss? Also, they cast someone as my prince and don't worry, it's just a show! It won't mean anything~
Ragna! A little white birdie told me you commissioned a cake for my birthday! When are you coming out of the hospital? I need to bring you to my favorite boba place to thank you properly.
Jesus fucking Christ, Shroud just HAD to open his big stupid mouth... The worst part of this is that Ragna was so damn bored he'd rather address this than ignore it.]
Goddamn Shrouded freak... they said if progress is good it'll be a few weeks. And what the hell are you talking about? You can just say "Hey, Thanks", and that's good enough. Don't bother taking me anywhere.
[this is his way of saying thank you will suffice and sorry for exploding]
Hi Ragna! Hope you're starting to feel a little better now you're out of hospital. Your arm's coming along great, but I'm at a point in building where I need to check in to see if you want any added extras to it. You know, like a torch, a gun, a sword or... bombs or whatever. I dunno. The city is pretty weird, and I don't really know how you fight the stuff that attacks us here. But if you want something like that added to your arm, now's the time to tell me!
What the hell? You don't need to add anything like that to it! All it needs to be is a functional arm that I can channel magic through. I've already got a perfectly good sword! And for the love of god do NOT add any bombs to it!
[The evening after Harumasa's talk to the group, Jun is sending a message]
Hello Ragna. This is Jun. I'm using my POKEGO account as this falls under my duties as POKEGO researcher.
[just going to get that out of the way so Ragna doesn't spend months lost and confused again]
My research on the Sundelions has completed. I have been able to successfully cultivate a domesticated batch, which means it could be potentially used to produce a medicine.
The key to growing them is that they require constant sunlight, due to them evolving to grow in an environment that is far above the clouds. Ergo if you wish to grow Sundelions yourself, I recommend using a Serenitea pot that replicates their environment as closely as possible.
I'm currently in the process of sending a sample to Baizhu so it's medicinal properties can be researched.
[... He would pick Olive as a username, wouldn't he? Just don't think too hard about the fact that if Jun hadn't said who he was Ragna would have asked.
He hated admitting Baizhu had this covered more than he did. He hated relying on other people for help.
But god... if he didn't exhaust every avenue he could he wouldn't be himself now would he?]
I don't have one of those teapots, but I'll note that down if one decides to drop on my head on some random fuckass Tuesday.
I'm still not gonna say no to anything you've got to tell me about cultivating more of them.
[Hey buddy it's the owner of the Bangboo who helped rescue you messaging you out of nowhere~
Because it's message him or look at the disaster of her store after Hugo, Lycaon, and then Luke rearranged it and frankly sometimes a girl just needs a break. Might as well.]
[Oh hey, it's the Random Play manager. He got your membership because it meant the weirdo in sunglasses wouldn't try to pet him and also you're just generally cool and came to rescue him too.
Unfortunately for her, Ragna has only just started to learn about socmed and review sites that aren't Tumblr.]
[After a brief conversation, Harumasa has immediately flown to Ragna's home. The man had been there during his almost disastrous reunion with Anby. It's only right to show up for Ragna, too. Crush aside, it's the right thing to do for his friend.
So he gives his signature, single knock on the door.]
[How quickly Harumasa's knock came after the text conversation ended was a bit surprising. It caught Ragna kind of off guard. Moreso than his increasing heartbeat did. But nonetheless, he opened the door to let Harumasa in with an expression of tired disbelief.]
Jesus Christ, you weren't kidding when you said that huh?
[A package arrives in the mail for Ragna from Harumasa! As well as a beautiful bouquet full of seasonal flowers resting on top. Each flower has been lovingly picked out to symbolize his feelings of love and gratitude for Luke's presence in his life. When he opens up the package, there'll be three perfectly wrapped gifts inside. All of them are the same shape and weight, so it's probably the same gift in three parts.
Unwrapping the first will reveal a scrapbook with a cover that's decorated in cutesy cookware and small dog stickers, and lovingly hand painted Reiki symbols and dragons. The cover is also embossed with gold ink in calligraphic numbers: 2017-2019. When he opens the front cover, there will be a note in Harumasa's handwriting on the front page. As the pages are flipped through, they're all photos mostly taken by him. It starts off very amateur and it's clear that when Harumasa's the subject, he's not quite comfortable in front of the camera. His smiles are awkward and don't really reach his eyes, looking more nervous or skittish than how he is now. Some are also very amateur landscapes and photos of the sky. However, as it progresses through his life, Ragna can see how Harumasa becomes more comfortable being photographed, how much more easily his smiles come to him and reach his eyes, and how his skill evolves. Every photo is dated and has a location underneath it, and every page is decorated to complement the photos on them.
The other two gifts are the same, but the numbers increase as they go through the years. 2020-2022, and finally 2023-2025. The final two pages of the 2025 book are dedicated to only two photos, one on each page. The one on the left is a Christmas photo of Harumasa with the siblings, their significant others, and Ragna. The one on the right is of the New Eridu crew. It's a candid photo that somehow captures all of them at the height of their joy during the Christmas party. Handwritten neatly at the top are the words: "Proof of the change your kindness brought to all of us."
As for the note at the beginning of the book, it says:]
Merry Christmas, Ragna!
Man, it's been a lot this year, huh? I never would've thought we'd see each other again after that fateful night eight years ago. But I'm glad we did. I'm glad I get to see the real you and not the you steeped in revenge.
Anyway, I hope we can travel again some time next year, too! There are some things that I've missed during my original wanderings and moving around. And maybe I missed those things because they're better experienced with people you care about, like Berlin's Christmas Market. Maybe you, Belle, and I can make a trip out of it for 2026! But even if that's not possible, just being able to spend this holiday with you has been enough. I can honestly say I'm really happy.
So, let's make the next year even more memorable together!
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