The Kaka Clan elder arrived at the Great Tree and knelt before it, its light radiating protective warmth. "O Great Tree," she intoned, old age accentuating her voice, "though I have nothing to offer and my request is abrupt, I beg you heed my call. Not for my sake, but the children and the world which continues to break and close in on doomsday. Please, grant us a light powerful enough to banish the darkness." For a moment all was silent. Wrinkled hands clenched in hopes her prayers reached the primordial tree. She dare not cry for fear of making the situation worse; the act of a mortal beseeching the aid of a higher being without compensation went unheard of. The elder knew her request was selfish but she could no longer stand idly by and watch the world crumble as innocent lives fell to darkness. The thought of her children, her precious, irreplaceable children, succumbing to that fate tore at her insides.

The elder was drowning in despair upon hearing of the destruction and carnage wrought by the evil now plaguing their world. She was tormented by nightmares depicting the deaths of her children and their horrified, lifeless faces. Heroes hailed by the people fell one by one, the world losing hope. Desperate tears spilled down her cheeks as she sought an answer.

Then it came.

A wave of appreciation washed over her as the tree glowed, a sign her plea had been heard. She was overwhelmed with joy, her sunless face shining brightly once again. Preparations needed to be made for the arrival of hope.


"How is your tea, Madam?" Rachel's faithful servant Valkenhayn inquired.

She smiled. "Perfect. Must you even ask?"

"A thousand pardons, Milady," the old man bowed, "but I wish only to provide the best service."

Rachel chuckled at her worrywart of a butler, then directed her crimson gaze skyward. "The full moon is lovely tonight."

"Yes, it is." Valkenhayn noted the hint of sadness in his mistress' voice, withholding consolation.

Rachel supped and returned to her previous meditations. With the Alucard house no longer under siege and a rival family skillfully handled, she could sleep easy… or so she assumed. Midnight had already come and gone yet she remained on her patio, unable to rest or eat. She had forced down the tea for her butler's sake, to prevent him from going on a hunt. Despite his current composure there was a beast within him that even her words could not reach when it took hold. Not that those traitorous wretches didn't deserve it, but Rachel planned to enact her own punishment. Valkenhayn's actions would seem merciful by comparison. "Valkenhayn, what would my father say?"

"Lord Clavis?" The abruptness of her question caught him off-guard.

"Yes. What would he have done to prevent infighting? Have I disgraced him letting so many suffer at the hands of such cretins? Have I lived up to the expectations of one bearing the Alucard name?"

"Madam..." Valkenhayn gazed at the flowerbed, melancholy washing over the old butler. Many times had he stood in this very spot guarding Clavis while he basked in the moonlight, enjoying tea and pastries with his daughter. Valkenhayn would rewind the clock if he were able; maybe then he would have been able to save his dear friend. "Lord Clavis would be proud of you. The people are safe and happy, and you have grown into a strong, capable young woman. That is all he wished for."

"…Thank you." Rachel kept her eyes forward as her butler exited. Nago and Gii, her two familiars—gifts from her father before his death—observed the sadness on her face. 'What answer was I expecting?' She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, sleep claiming her immediately.

But… what was this sensation? This chill? And who did this voice belong to...?

"Princess! Princess!" The desperate calls of her familiars snapped her eyes open as Rachel found herself on the ground, beholding as clouds sailed across the clear blue skies instead of twinkling stars beside the full moon. Her castle resided in a pocket space alienated from the rest of her world for protection against those who threatened to harm them; night never changed to day. And this unnerving sensation that gave her the jitters...

"Where have...?"

Nago and Gii smiled as she stood up. "Princess, are you ok?" the former asked.

"Yes..." She cast her gaze around to ascertain the alien environment, the dilapidated ruins profuse with moss and ivy which concealed most of the derelict cobblestone most suspicious of all. The shattered stone she stood upon upheaved by ever-growing plants and unkempt grounds further signs of no recent human activity. Unfamiliar carvings not covered by greenery and two statues stationed on either side of the entrance far too worn from age to identify like guards led Rachel to believe these ruins were once the home of religious activity in a long-since extinct civilization, but most certainly not a location she is familiar with. "But where have we gone?"

"We don't know. All of a sudden we got really sleepy. The next minute we woke up here!" Gii exclaimed, then gasped at the pained expression on his mistress' face. Rachel pressed a palm to her head as a ringing deafened her, but she only suffered for a moment and coherent thought along with the fearful voices of her familiars returned. A cave ahead begged the question of where it lead, perhaps to sentient life. Hopefully they spoke her language. As soon as she stepped forward she was greeted by fog seeping from the crevices of the rocks, forms reminding her of Lycans. Except these were shrouded in an ominous dark aura. And while similar, these were not the source of the malicious force contaminating the air.

Rachel grabbed Nago as he transformed into an umbrella. With a wave of her hand she summoned a bolt of lightning to strike down the first creature to lunge at her, then zapped two more that followed, returning them to the smoke whence they came. Just as she prepared to annihilate the final creature deemed the leader by size alone, the infernal headache returned. She staggered as the ringing deafened her once more, vision blurry. Gii and Nago softened the blow from the pack leader but Rachel was still thrown back, the pain in her skull preventing her from counterattacking. All she could do was watch the beast's mouth open to gobble her up… but it abruptly shut as a massive blade pierced it. The beast whimpered and whined to its death and faded away like its kin. Calming, Rachel tracked the mysterious weapon to its odd-eyed wielder.

"Hey, you alright?" the stranger asked, resetting the oddly shaped blade on his waist.

"Yes, but..." She observed the less than proper state he was in, clothes torn and covered in injuries. "I should ask the same."

"These bug bites'll heal up soon. Can you stand?" Rachel's pained expression answered him. He fished out a potion that she scrutinized. "Look, I ain't askin' you to trust me. I don't trust you too much either, but if you wanna get better, drink this." She tentatively accepted it, sniffed it, and asked her familiars to taste test much to their dismay. Instead of dying like she assumed (poor them) the cat and bat appeared a little rejuvenated. Rachel downed the concoction and felt the potion work its magic as the minor injuries she'd sustained healed in seconds. She stood up and flexed her ankle. "Better?" the man asked.

"Yes, but might I trouble you for some answers? You speak my language and understand me. Are you perhaps an inhabitant of this world? If so, could you tell me where I am?"

"This world? Wait a sec, you're not from around here either?" He groaned. "Dammit, here I thought I could get some goddamn answers. Wish I could help ya, but I don't know crap about this place."

"We have both hit a wall, then. Ah, I have not thanked you properly for saving my life. If not for your arrival I may have found myself without a head. Would you be so kind as to give me your name?" The swordsman's eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. Rachel couldn't help but giggle a bit. "You needn't be so guarded."

"I just don't want you to bite me."

A genuine look of surprise claimed her features. "You can tell I am a vampire by looking at me? Are you familiar with my species?"

"Sorta. You feel like the real thing though, unlike the fakes I encountered back in my world. You give off a similar condescending presence that pisses me off."

Rachel didn't know how to respond to that, bordering between impressed at his keen detection and annoyed at how he describes the aura she exuded. "Rest assured I have nothing conniving in mind. What would I gain hatching some nefarious scheme when I am unsure of the stone I stand upon or even the air I breathe? I am also not the kind of vampire you hear in fairy tales or the ones whom you encountered. I detest drinking blood."

He considered her words. "I guess giving you my name wouldn't do much harm. Name's Ragna the Bloodedge."

"Bloodedge? Quite the peculiar surname, and it does not give off a sense of security. Perhaps it is I who should be the suspicious one, Mr. Bloodedge," Rachel quipped.

"You're a real smartass, y'know that?" Ragna put a hand on his hip. "Well, gonna tell me your name or stand there like some overpriced porcelain doll, Rabbit?"

"Excuse me? What did you call me?" The venom in Rachel's tone sent a chill up her familiars' spines.

"Ever looked in a mirror lately?" Ragna pointed at her ribbons. "If you don't wanna give me your name I'll just call you Rabbit, not that I give a damn either way."

"You have some nerve insulting me like that. If not for you offering your name first, I wouldn't dare grant a lowborn such as yourself the privilege of knowing mine." Ragna rolled his eyes. "My name is Rachel Alucard. You may call me Miss Rachel or Madam if you feel so inclined."

"Think I'll stick with Rabbit." he smirked, then threw himself to the side as a lightning bolt struck where he stood. "The fuck is your problem?!"

Rachel's rancorous gaze met his scalding one. "Do mind your tongue and address a lady with the respect she deserves. I have very little patience for dealing with impudent humans such as yourself, and you would do well to remember your place on the pecking order the next time you deem it wise to insult a woman such."

"How 'bout I cut yours off?!" Ragna threatened, grasping the hilt of his blade.

"You can try, but it would be a waste of time. I can play with you when we unravel this peculiar phenomenon, but for now, do calm down so we can return to the matter at hand."

"Tch, says the woman who tried to grill me two seconds ago." Ragna released his sword.

Rachel stood primly. "You hail from another world foreign to this one, correct? Certainly not my own."

He arched a brow. "How can you be so sure we come from different worlds?"

"I would call it lady's intuition, however…" she looked at his right arm, "you also give off an aura unlike any I have ever felt. Tis not sorcery or magic, but something else entirely alien to my world. You are clearly human, but far from ordinary. I assume you have never heard the term Tier Magic?"

"Nope. Guess you've never heard of Ars Magus, either?"

"Hm. While there is not much disparity in language, terminology and vocabulary differ somewhat. Have you been here long? Did you arrive recently?"

Ragna pointed to the ruins. "About an hour ago I found myself on the ground, then I decided to go have a look there in case I found the owner of that damn voice so I can give it a piece of my mind and maybe crack 'em in the mouth a couple times while I'm at it."

"Voice? Are you perhaps referring to—?" An eerie presence gained their attention and directed it to the dark mist forming a bigger hound; from it spawned two smaller ones. Rachel geared for battle. "We shall discuss this later. I do hope you can actually wield that massive sword you heave along with some form of elegance."

"And I hope you're not all lip," Ragna retorted, jumping into the fray. The two smaller creatures lunged first, swiftly dealt with by a swing of his blade. Conjuring the power of his grimoire to cloak his fist in darkness, he ducked under the beast's claws and delivered an uppercut that staggered it. Rachel summoned lightning but didn't expect him to leap in again, and he barely avoided it. Before Ragna could complain about nearly being vaporized, the enormous creature swatted him into a rock formation with a fierce swipe of its claws, revealing a foreign seal when its mouth opened to launch dark orbs. Nago and Gii defended against the assault as Rachel recited a short scripture to conjure a two-layered magic circle above the beast. The mystic runes sparked with electricity and brought forth a powerful blast of purple lightning upon its completion. The beast remained, sizzling, then was sent flying as Ragna's fist crashed into its jaw. However, while the beasts had been adequately dealt with…

"Oops."

…the cave's entrance was demolished.

Rachel gaped. "You buffoon! That cave could have led us to civilization, and you destroyed it! You are as every bit a brute as I thought you were!"

"Okay, that was my bad! I didn't mean to hurl him... there. Besides, you said you aren't from around here, so where exactly would you go?" Rachel opened her mouth to retort then closed it upon realizing he had a point. Even now she hadn't the slightest idea where to venture but hoped they'd find some intelligent lifeforms. Ragna sighed, sharing some of her frustrations. He had planned to use the cave after emerging from the ruins, and while busting through the debris was child's play, it would probably just make shit worse. But before then… "Hey, there's no one here but us now, you can come out." Ragna directed his voice to the bushes, and from them emerged a small creature. It resembled a cat but its face was shrouded by a hood it wore… or was that its actual face?

"You knew Tao was there?"

"It speaks," Rachel said, surprised.

"Our language on top of that," Ragna added. "Hey, do you live here? Mind telling us where we are? You won't believe us but we aren't from around here."

"Tao knows! Elder was the one who brought you here!" the cat explained.

"…What?" Ragna deadpanned.

"Tao was sent here to find you guys, but then those scary monsters appeared and Tao couldn't fight them off. But you guys are strong! Tao couldn't believe it!"

"Yeah, okay, fuck that for a second. What do you mean we were brought here? What kinda freaky-deaky shit did you pull?"

"Tao doesn't know, but the Elder will tell you. Follow Tao to the Kaka village!" Tao started off.

Ragna looked at Rachel when she took a step after the creature. "Sure we can trust this thing? We still don't know jackshit about where we are."

"Do you trust me?"

"Can't say I do. Still under consideration after you nearly roasted me," Ragna replied.

"T'was not my fault you got in my way, you only have yourself to blame." Rachel refocused on the distancing creature. "It is not like we have anywhere else to go and this beast seems rather simplistic, certainly lacking the ability to deceive us. For now, we proceed with caution. It is all we can do."

With a shrug and sigh Ragna followed behind her, relief washing over him when he stuffed his hands into his pockets and felt a trinket. "Still there. At least that's good."

Authors note: Ladies, gentlemen and that rainbow in between who has read my other stories wondering why this guy only good for writing half-assed smut fics is doing in the T section, I'll answer you: NO NUT NOVEMBER PERVERTS! WHO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! No smut fics for the entirety of November, and I just so happened to have one ready but then November hit. Sorry~

Okay, real reason: I have been working on this story for about a good month. Month and a half? I dunno, but the point is I've been working on this story for a while and am a little excited finally getting started. Note I do want to keep these chapters in a certain word frame, about 4k to 8k and will only fall out when needed.

Thank you Wild Blue Sonder for your incredible work as my beta! You're amazing!